ge 66-Thursday; September 7, 1978-The Michigan Daily Shortages plague By RICHARD BERKE In most college towns, students don't concern themselves with the housing market. They figure housing is housing and besides scraping up enough cash for the monthly rent, there's little need to worry about it. Not so in Ann Arbor. IN THIS CITY, housing is a prime concern of students, whether they live in dormitories, apar- tments, or houses. Ann Arbor has one of the most expensive housing markets in the nation, with median rent 72 percent higher than the national median, according to U.S. Census figures. And on top of that, Ann Arbor's vacancy rate is less than-one per cent, which doesn't leave tenants much choice when searchinig for a place to live. Landlords; therefore, are able to call most of the shots. They can (and do) hike their rents as often as they please without losing tenants. ACCORDING TO the city's Office of Building and Safety Engineering, nearly every dwelling in Ann Arbor violates the government's minimum health and safety standards. Housing is so scarce, tenants are forced to take what they can get. Leases in Ann Arbor are almost as unique as the housing market itself. The Public Interest Research Group in Michigan (PIRGIM) last year examined a sample of Ann Arbor leases and found that all con- tained "objectionable clauses." PIRGIM said each lease contained an average of 6.6 violations. To make matters worse, students can't escape the off-campus housing crunch by living in dorms for four years. Current University dorm rates rank second highest among Big Ten schools, with average annual room and board rates nearing the $2,000 mark. THE CITY'S housing crisis has had an effect on soaring University housing costs. Some students fear renting off-campus and stay in dorms which, like the city, have an almost non-existent vacancy housing rate. To compound the problem, the University has not built any new student housing since Bursley Hall was completed on North Campus a decade ago. Since then, the University Regets have rejected plans for new housing, claiming construction costs are too high. They also point to demographic figures predicting a decline in University enrollment over the next few years. Tenant advocate groups do operate in Ann Arbor to help students cope with the housing crunch. The Ann Arbor tenants Union (TU), with offices in the Union, provides counseling services for students having difficulties with landlords. In the past, TU has also organized rent strikes as well as sponsoring other programs to advance tenants' rights. The Michigan Student Assembly (MSA) Housing Law Reform Project works with TU to inform tenants of their rights through booklets, films and counseling. The University Off-Campus Housing Of- fice also provides useful information for prospec- tive tenants, such as how to find housing and what to watch out for when signing a lease. CLASSES ONLY PART OF 'U' EDUCATION: Dorms By R.J. SMITH They come from Richardson, Texas, and Ann Arbor, Michigan. From the Panama Canal Zone and Osaka, Japan, they come to their dorm, unpacking popcorn and pencil sharpeners, more than a few questions on their minds. They may be tomorrow's dentists, bankers and teachers-today, though, they are the dope smokers and the bookworms. Life in a dormitory, for one's first year, is the only way to go. It's not the food or the decor, certainly; but dorms in many ways give you an education as important as the classes you will be taking in the fall. DORMS ARE places where you have a home, but precious little is "yours." There are no worries about the cooking, no fuss about the cleaning; but there is also no one to tell you how much detergent goes in what temperature water for how long when you wash those jeans. And no matter how many provisions you bring from home, you'll 0 Learning about living end up buying soap, and stamps, and paper plates, and animal crackers, and... A CIA surveillance man would envy places like Mojo or West Quad for their lack of privacy, but they are places where you can share in all the joys and miseries of sharing. That record, that hairdryer, or the five bucks you don't have is always around somewhere down the hall, and so is that radical viewpoint and disturbing prejudice. You learn to adapt and tolerate, or else you develop tunnel vision. The ratio between the two usually is split pretty evenly. IN DORMS, there are tiny rituals-individual rites of passage-which everyone has to go through. There are the first few days, when everyone is frightened of going down to eat, so whole halls eat together in self-defense. Or, there are the fights you have, such as the one when you learn someone dares to play Bob Seger at night, when you have an 8:00 class the next day. Finding out there are neither papertowels or any soap in the lavatories, after you have your hands wet. And sitting in the football block with your whole dorm on Saturdays. And then there are the two prime rituals of dormitory life: the parties and the food. Both are institutional. Vir- tually anything can be a reason for pur- chasing a keg or two, and the larger spectacles offer you a unique look at your dorm mates, as well as one of the best ways to get to meet them. As the school year rolls onward, the more sizeable jamborees tend to become less See DORMS, Page 9 The give and take Daily Photo by PETER SERLING laxing on the porch of his off-campus abode, this student has put the worry house-hunting behind him., life at We're for aiming No. 1 ng . anization uWre r, 805 Oxfor Rd. Between Hill & Washtenaw The hunting and, hassle of off-campus housing By JOAN CHARTIER Displaying dormlike characteristics such as hall noise, some unusual residents and questionable food con- tent, University co-ops nevertheless offer a unique housing experience. Although usually seen as an alter- native to dorm or off-campus living af- ter the freshman or sophomore year, it is possible to join a co-op as an in- coming freshperson or transfer student: All you have to do is go to the Inter-Cooperative Council Office, located in the Union, and fill out an ap- plication for one of the 14 Central and nine North Campus co-ops. Later, the office will let you know which co-op will become your new home. CO-OPS have the reputation of being an inexpensive way to live. Typically, one can expect to pay about $150 a mon- th and receive two meals a day (not always the finest cuisine) and a double room. A work commitment of 4-6 hours per CO m-ops week is usually required with respon- sibilities varying from cooking and cleaning to maintenance and ad- ministrative duties. The theory is that by having students run the maintenan- ce of the house, costs are held to a minimum. Unfortunately, co-op residents don't always shoulder the burden equally and costs creep up. One factor to watch out for when living in a co-op is waste of electricity which everyone ends up paying for. House decisions for each individual co-op are made by that co-op's house consensus. House meetings are often confusing but always entertaining and definitely serve to create a communal atmosphere. The moral of the story is, of course, that if everyone cooperates equally the co-op experience can be a Jhappy one. Also, keep in mind that you don't have to live in a University co-op. If the: system suits your taste, you can get a4 house of people together and form your own. If a growir social org s what yo looking foi see us at: 995-4906 Human Sexuality Advocates The "Lesbian Advocate" and the "Gay Male Advocate" offer help with concerns about homosexuality/bisexuality through: By THOMAS O'CONNELL By the end of their sophomore year, and often as early as their freshman, most University students move out of their dormitories, driven away by a combination of concrete food, less-than- deluxe matchbox-sized rooms and the aggravation of having to endure washed-up ex-high school jocks who in- sist on demonstrating their virility by drinking too much and throwing up in the halls. The few masochistic stragglers who attempt to stay on into their junior or senior years are generally eliminated by a television game show type of com- petition called the dorm lottery, in which contestants vie for the privilege of retaining 33 percent of an "economy triple" with dimensions similar to those of an underfed Volkswagen. WHEN YOU DO move out of the dorm, however, be warned-it's not impossible to end up in a living situation that makes two semesters in South Quad seem like a Tahitian vacation. If you want to find decent off-campus housing, you'd better be willing to start looking early, do some walking and spend some money. If you aren't willing, you might find yourself living under somebody's porch paying outrageous rent. Ann Arborhas one of the highestrent rates and lowest vacancy percentages in the United States, so it's dog-eat-dog out there, kid. My three years living off- campus in Ann Arbor have included stints overpriced modern apartmen- ts, over priced rundown apartments and an overpriced house with seven other t, " peer counseling and referral " education " advocacy for civil rights " service to gay student groups CALL 763-4186 or 764-0207 OFFICES-3404, 3407 Michigan Union people, a dog, a cat, a parrot and three tanks of fish. There are some ways to make things easier, though. First, start looking early, especially if you want to rent a house rather than an apartment. Many students start hitting the streets as early as January to find a place for the See THE, Page 9 Cam pus Greek traditions flourish By MICHAEL ARKUSH Tucked away in the decrepit expanse of Ann Arbor's student ghetto, relief from the shabby apartments and rundown houses can be found in the well-kempt bastions of tasteful student housing-fraternities and sororities. Traditionally, the greek system has been an integral part of University life. And tradition is what fraternities and sororities are all about. DESPITE LIBERAL changes in the system wrought during the sixties when the greek houses faced serious membership slum- ps, life in the large, cozy homes goes on much the same as it did when the parents of current sorority sisters and fraternity brothers were in college. See GREEK$,Page 9 U of M's Daily Photo by JOHN KNOX Fraternity and sorority members disco the night away during a dance marathon for charity. Sororities Welcome You . Sorority F MASS MEETI September 2: RUSH DATE September 2 thru October 4 lush NG 1st E S r4 ?2 NA DELTA TAU DELTA FRATERN1 T Y f M i - II' b Hey Baby... going my way? find out! Advertise in the Daily Classifieds under Transportation.