1 THE MICHIGAN DAILY )CAL CHAPTERS:, City To Collect 'Old' Tax !i By MALINDA BERRY For more than 50 years, Ann Arbor officials have failed to levy the state property tax against lo- cal fraternity and sorority chap- ters-but they hope to start this -year. State tax la* since 1908 has required that all property except charitable, scientific and educa- tional institutions other than fra- ternities and social organizations, shall be subject to taxing bylocal government. "Actually it is written into the law that fraternities and sorori- ties are exempt from the exemp- tion," City Assessor Howard Led- better said. Explains Laxity "The only explanation for the city's laxity in pressing the tax, is the political pressures that were brought to bear on previous assessors, and are being brought to bear on me. "It seems to me that in no one's interpretation could they legiti- mately be exempt," Ledbetter said. The Alumni Panhellenic Coun- cil has hired a lawyer to look into the possibilities of defeating the city's attempt to tax the groups. "The most obvious way the fra- ternities and sororities can hope to beat this is by trying to have a specific exemption written onto the books in Lansing. Actually, they can do nothing until the Legislature convenes, making pos- sible the passage of a new law," Ledbetter said. States Reasons "The reason we're even both- Eight Michigan Cities Map Plans To Revive Downtown Like Ann Arbor, which is ex- periencing a business slump in its downtown area, seven other Mich- igan cities have plans for a down- town renewal: Flint, Bay City, Saginaw, Kalamazoo, Grand Rap- ids, and Jackson. Flint's 'Mid-City Center' plan calls for construction of a three- block concourse, or mall, that would include several service buildings, street rerouting, the main shopping street rebuilt, and new parking lots. The project would be largely privately financed. Surrounded by Centers Grand Rapids, ringed -by six huge shopping centers, has plans for' a multi-millioii dollar down- town area. City planners see lack of parking among the reasons 'for downtown trouble. Saginaw, saddled with some 27 "economic' spooks,"' vacant; stores in the main shopping area, has initiated a downtown renewal ef- fort under a non-profit corpora- tion capitalized at $250,000. Both Saginaw and Grand Rap- ids find a need: for downtown merchants to "dress up their stores." Rising Overhead Bay City, which has no outly- ing shopping centers, still has some 20 "spooks," all victims of rising overhead costs. But $5 mil- lion has already been invested downtown, and new off-street parking should enhance the down- town district again. Muskegon has already launched a major rejuvination program. City planners have mapped a "skyline route', to funnel traffic downtown and are working out a complete traffic loop there to make maneuvering cars and park- ing easy. With a new shopping center hot on their heels, Jackson has also taken to the loop method, com- plete with one-way streets, and is sinking $3 million into downtown renewal. 'Kalamazoo, a pioneer in down- town renewal, with their mall, a first in the state, only two .'ears old, has a master plan for devel- opment over several years. It in- cludes more parking, a multi-mil- lion dollar business traffic loop, and private capital expansion.' For mer 'U' OG For Steaing JV A former security guard and University employe, Edward C. Kazulewski, was sentenced to a 21- month prison term for thefts from the University amounting to' $24,000. The arrest ended 18 months of thefts which ranged from boxes of floor tile to various electrical equipment. Kazulewski said he had no plans for using the articles stored in his home. Kazulewski had been a night guard for the private police agency which has a contract for the protection of University buildings. He also worked'. as a chef and caretaker at South Quadrangle., The 25 page list of articles mis- ering to, push this tax since it is causing so much trouble is that it is our job to see that all proper- ty bears its fair share of the taxes. Actually the amount which the city would receive would be negligible when considering the entire amount of taxes collected," he continued. The money would be given to the city and county even though the tax comes under a state law. Because the dormitories and other University buildings are owned by the state they aren't subject to the law. A personal property tax cannot. be levied on state owned build- ings. One way the fraternities and sororities could get around this is to deed their property to the University, then they would: be state owned and there would be no question. Assess Tax The amount would not neces- sarily be negligible to the indi- vidual fraternity or sorority. The money would be based on an as- sessment of the furnishings of a specific house. The main variant would be the question of age since depreciation and . deterioration would be taken into consideration. For example, on an assessment of $10,000 worth of new furnishings, the 'amount paid annually would be $200. On older furniture it would be considerably less. The actual deadline for the pay- ment of the tax is December 31, 1961, however, since the groups -have not been paying the tax for 50 years the city assessor's office is granting them a grace period until December 31, 1962. This would give them time to have the Legislature act on any possible proposal for amendments to the tax law before the. deadline. ard Sentenced hie on Duty sed by the University included 400 pounds of sugar, furnace filters, carpenter's tool's, photographic equipment, 'and weight-lifting equipment taken from the Uni- versity High School Gymnasium. Other thefts included a wash- ing machine, a chain hoist, a hydraulic garage jack, 38 drapery panels, a mattress, two tuxedos and furance filters. Security guards are given keys to University buildings which must be turned in when the guard goes off duty. Officials explained that Kazulewski had evidently stolen the items while on duty and carted them' to his home, perhaps with an accomplice. COMIN' FROM BOSTON-A man of 'many talents, Boston Pops Orchestra Conductor Arthur Fiedler will tear into Detroit's Masonic Auditorium for a one-night stand with his world-famous 'light' orchestra. This is but one stop on their annual tour of' the country. Masonic Bill To Offer Boston Pops Orchestra ii rI The Masonic Auditorium's An- nual Concert Series will open Oct. 13 with the appearance of the New York City Ballet, under the direction of George Balan- chine. "The Mazowsze Dance Company, Polish equivalent of Russia's Moi- seyev Dancers, will be presented Nov. 3. The company features about 100 singers, dancers, and musicians. The piano team of Pierre Lubo- shutz and Genia Nemenoff will return to the Auditorium on Dec., 16. Zino Francescatti, one of the world's foremost violinists, will be presented Jan. 12, and soprano Mary Costa will appear in her De- troit debut Feb. 2. The Boston "Pops" Orchestra, conducted by Arthur Fiedler, is scheduled for Feb. 17, and pianist Artur Rubinstein will be present- ed March 23. WSU Theatre... The Wayne State University Theatre will open its thirty-sec- ond season with the Detroit pre- miere of Anton Chekhov's recent- ly discovered farce "A Country Scandal." The play, a comedy of a verbose, philosophical Don Juan in reverse, will be presented Oct. 21-22, and 26-28, under the direc- tion of Gary M. Witt. The annual Shakespeare pro- duction, December 1-2 and 7-9, turns from comedy to tragedy, featuring "King Lear," one of Shakespeare's most monumental works. Leonard Leone, head of the theatre, will direct. T h e theatre,'s international' touring company will present five performances of "Where's Char- ley?", Jan. 5-6 and 11-13. This production of Frank Loesser and George Abbott's musical version of "Charley's Aunt" is the main work in a touring repertory which See WSU, Page 18 L i FOR RESEARCH: Industries, Universities Use 'U' Ford Nuclear Reactor The University's one megawatt Ford Nuclear Reactor was used by five industrial organizations and Wayne and Michigan State Uni- versities during the past fiscal' year. Research groups from the uni- versities and industries used the reactor for time segments from two seconds to 3,447 hours. The University 'used the reactor for some 5,300 hours of the 8,900 ex- periment hours in which the re- actor operated. It was used by various departments. Industrial organizations using reactor time were Bendix Systems Division in Ann Arbor, General. Motors Research Institute in Lansing, Consumers Power Co., Anaconda Copper and Ford Sci- entific Laboratory. The reactor is connected with the 'Michigan Memorial-Phoeix Project. The statistics on its use were reported to President Har- lan Hatcher in the Project's an- nual report to the president. PAPER-BOUND BOOKS Huge stock for all classes PROMPT SERVICE. On Special Orders OVERBECK'S BOOKSTORE Read the Classifieds U THE KNIT and WEAR SHOP 220 SOUTH FOURTH AVE NO 5-5644 WELCOME STUDENTS! Come in and see our large selection of fine yarns by UNGER, SPINNERIN, PAULINE DEN- HAM, REYNOLDS, and many others. We have just received a new shipment of yarn from France in many splendid colors. The KNIT and WEAR Shop e-- .3 LA --LI^ &C&