HOUSEMA TES SHARE RESPONSIBILITIES
Co-ops integrate living,
BY TIM YAGLE
Of all the different types of housing on
this campus, cooperative living may be the
least understood.
Co-op living involves students in a par-
ticular residence dividing up the house
chores among themselves to save money.
Each person has a specific duty to perform
to ensure that the house functions
adequately - everything from buying the
food and cooking, to maintaining the
overall cleanliness of the house and groun-
ds.
EVEN THOUGH each co-op is in-
dividually operated, each house elects its
own officers, including president, vice-
president, secretary, treasurer, and
"work scheduler," the person who handles
the house duty roster and makes sure
things get done.
The Inter-Cooperative Council (ICC) is
the campus organization that oversees the
co-op structure. Janet Sobolak, a member
of-the ICC membership coordinating team,
says the entire house knows when one of
the jobs remains undone.
"If people don't fulfill their duties, it
would affect them (the house members)
directly," she said.
SOME CO-OPS have reportedly been
floundering in recent years because of
disorganization and inept management.
Others, however, have more or less
flourished due to competent officers and
efficiently-run houses, according to
residents and former residents.
Sobolak, who lived in Lenny Bruce
House last summer and Osterwald before
that, said she discovered co-ops through
her brother who lived in a co-op at another
university.
In order to join a co-op, Sobolak said, one
must go to ICC and fill out a form stating
which co-ops they would prefer to live in.
The only reason one might not be accepted
into a co-op, according to Sobolak, is if the
house is already full. About 600 University
students lived in co-ops last year.
ICC Treasurer Ed Trombley says co-ops
don't offer a sales pitch to try to lure new
students away from dorms, the Greek
sytem or apartments.
"PERSONAL taste - that's what it
comes down to," said Trombley, himself a
member of Joint House from 1974-76. .
"Our (ICC) real purpose is to provide
students with inexpensive housing and a
real living experience."
Each house, Trombley added, provides
all the necessities of living, including a
working
study center, laundry facilities and a kit-
chen.
Trombley said most people find out
about co-op life through word-of-mouth.
"There has never really been any heavy-
duty advertising. We count on word-of-
mouth," he said.
Trombley said the first thing that attrac-
ted him to co-ops was their lower rents
compared to dorms and Greek houses. He
forecast that each of the 22 houses, in-
cluding nine on North Campus next to
Baits dormitory, will average about $185
per month this fall, compared to more than
$200 per month in many apartments and
Greek housing.
Co-ops receive no subsidies from the
University and they all set their own
budgets, because members pay for
everything in the house, including food and
maintenance, according to Trombley.
Daily Photo by LISA KLAUSNEV'
TWO STUDENTS prepare a meal in a cooperative kitchen.
Financially, co-ops offer an attractive housing alternative,
but each member must sign up for a work detail as part of
the agreement.
Students scramble
for
A2
abodes
Shortage plagues
I
Greeks
Frats and sororities thrive on tradition
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E HERZFELD reputable and trustworthy lan-
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liar with the intense to check with the tenants of any
ompetition at the unit you are considering to see if
3ut there is another the landlord is reliable and if the
petition with which condition of the building is
)me all too familiar relatively sound.
lecide to leave the If you know what you want and
r of privately-owned who you want to live with, start
a housing market looking early. The housing hunt
nowledged shortage usually begins in January, well
d living accom- before the leases usually take ef-
e snatched up early fect the following September.
less housing-hunter Most leases are for 12 months,
mes aware of com- meaning you will have to find a
among the landlords sublettee - usually at a financial
expected, but rather loss - to live in the place over the
nants. summer if you will not be in Ann
cy rate in the city is Arbor during that time.
er cent - well below Many services are available to
eight per cent figure prospective tenants, including
d by tenants' groups those offered by the University
ble for competition. Housing Office and the Ann Arbor
ncy rate means lan- Tenants' Union.
freer to charge The relatively expensive state
gh rents for what of the housing market in the
ected to go for less campus area has caused many to
e. urge the school here to build
acteristic of the more University-owned housing.
Is to work against But administrators claim the
nany landlords buy high cost of construction coupled
uildings not so much with projections of declining
ntial rental income enrollment makes any new con-
as an investment. struction an unattractive option.
ings are often sold If nothing else, however, the off-
w years, so it is campus living experience offers
ifficult to persuade a chance to receive an education
to make more than in matters not generally found in
"s the academic section of the
RE ARE also many University.
By JOSHUA PECK
Though much of the housing around
campus may seem ramshackle, there
are occasional islands of statelier,
more elegant houses. The stretch of
Washtenaw Avenue from Geddes down
to Hill Street and beyond, sports many
of the most statuesque mansions in the
area. Many of these houses have Doric
or Ionian columns adorning their
facades; quite a few have vast, perfec-
tly manicured lawns.
To the surprise of many students who
may take these glorious abodes to be
strictly the province of the rich, and
therefore outside the range of living,
possibilities for the average student,
they are indeed places where students
are welcome to live. They are the Greek
houses of Ann Arbor - the fraternities
and sororities - and they are open to
students of virtually any financial,
social, racial, or sexual category.
The Greek system has long played an
important part in University life, par-
ticularly in social life, and indeed,
tradition is the hub about which the
wheel of Greek following revolves. One
fraternity, DKE, lists scores of famous
frat brothers in its advertising for new
members, including American
presidents, show business celebrities,
and sports figures.
DURING THE sixties, both frater-
nities and sororities fell in popularity,
as politically conscious students felt
that the Greek houses were rather
regressive socially, and encouraged
sexual divisiveness and sexism (co-
operative houses simultaneously grew houses include pranks of various sorts their part, are notorious for sometimes
in popularity). But with the seventies, - last year, one house painted cryptic lining up chain-smoking Communist
the Greeks seem to be back in vogue, love letters on the sidewalk of virtually Party members and anti-smoking John
and as everywhere else, competition is every sorority house on campus - and, Birchers, or other such delightfully
tougher for rooms. of course, the perennial favorite of sit- compatible couples as roommates.
Part of the reason for the frats' fall ting on the fraternity house roof, beer in At the current time, there are ap-
from grace during the sixties was the proximately forty frats, including those
traditional initiation rites, known as .routside the FCC, and 16 sororities,
"hazing," that marked new recruits' ,' p which house some 12 per cent of
admission to the houses. In this respect, University students. For each of
at least, things have changed. Accor- last few years, a few frats have opened
ding to Chris Mumford, summer or re-opened chapters, and that trend is
president of the Fraternity Co- expected to continue. There are some
ordinating Council (FCC), all frats and sororities that are strictly
dangerous aspects of hazing have been social clans, and have no living quar-
barred by the Council, and so by all its ters. (The aforementioned Dekes are
33 member fraternities. one such frat, though they do have a
But there are fraternities outside of quaint-looking meeting hall tucked
FCC that have chosen to retain mysteriously behind a high wooden
traditional hazing initiation, according fence on William St.) There are also
to Mumford. Even here, though, rites frats geared largely to one particular
are unlikely to be nearly as severe as profession, including two dental Greek
they have been at times in the past. houses, a chemistry fraternity, and a
Once initiates. have been offered a couple largely inhabited by engineers.
"bid," or an invitation to join the frat, .
and accepted, activities they are much - STUDENTS WHO find the idea of
the same as they have always been. hand, and making rude remarks to living in one ofthe stately Greek houses
There are certainly fraternities and passers-by of the female persuasion. appealing, but who remain unin-
sororities that house the more studious,, Some things, to the dismay of local terested in joining in rushes and the
less rowdy types, and a good portion of feminists, never change. other routines of Greek life can live in
house dues in most frats goes to food, ROOM AND board in the houses run some houses without actually joining
drink, and entertainment for parties in the same neighborhood or lower than the resident frat or sorority, provided
held at least every other week. Often, the dorms, and this for food that is that the house is not fully stocked with
members of one fraternity or sorority generally considered more appetizing, Greeks. Rent may be higher for those
will hold a party exclusively for its own perhaps because it is prepared in who choose this option. .,
members and those of one opposite-sex smaller quantities. Other advantages "Rush," the recruiting perioder
Greek house whose inhabitants they include the fact that frats and sororities frats and sororities, is one element dat
find to their liking. give pledges the chance to decide who differs for the men's houses and'the
Favorite activities, in some frat their roommates will be. Dorms, for women's.
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Dorm-
images
reflect
unique
residents
By PATRICIA HAGEN
Worrys and concerns about what the
dorm will be like are often foremost in
the minds of incoming freshpersons -
for most of them, dormitory living
marks the first real escape from the
protective confines of home.
Three hill area (northeast of the
Diag) dorms, Mosher-Jordan, Markley,
and Couzens, are the residence halls
most often requested by new students,
according to the University Housing
Division.
Although the thousands of residents
pay standardized rates for various
types of rooms, the dorms are not all
identical. Some are especially popular
with certain groups of students because
of the social atmosphere, special
programs, and staff unique to the
various dorms, said Assistant Director
of Housing Information Leroy
Williams. Williams said for the past
several years the dorm system has
been operating above capacity, forcing
the University to convert some doubles
into triples and other rooms converted
from lounges.
Each dorm and its residents present
a certain image, and the reputations
are usually passed along over the years
by word of mouth.
"Rumors stick around," Williams
said, adding that they aren't always ac-
curate.
At the risk of perpetuating even more
false rumors about the various dorms,
consider these descriptions of the
University residence halls.
In geographical terms, the Quads
could be considered the inner-city of the
University, the hill dorms the suburbs,
Bursley out on North Campus the
boonies.
Martha Cook - runs independent of
the University Housing office. Women
reside in elegance in this gorgeous old
building, the legendary "virgin vault"
of the-University.
South Quad - wins the honor of
having the worst.food on campus. Some
rooms with sinks, yelling fights with
West Quad. Lots of jocks.
Barbour and Newberry - a total of
240 women live in these two old
buildings. Quiet and boring..
West Quad - close to campus, yelling
fights with South Quad. The jocks used
to live here, some still do. Not as rowdy
as it used to be.
East Quad - many of the students
are housed here specifically for the In-
teflex accelerated medical program,
the Residential College, and the
Medieval and Renaissance Collegium.
Known for its pseudo-intellectuals,
radicals, and culture freaks.
Fletcher - Eighty men live in this
monastery down by the athletic cam-
pus. It's the only all-male dorm, and the
residents have to get a meal contract
somewhere else.
Alice Lloyd - something like East
Quad but without the class, lots of
vegetarians, Pilot Program, and out-of-
staters. Stark decor, abominable food.
Mosher Jordan - known for the at-
mosphere and nice old-fashioned decor
of the aging building.
Mary Markley - the Holiday Inn of
the 'U' reidence halls, but the rates
don't include private bathrooms and
color T.V. - the rooms are too small.
The identical doubles are decorated in
"basic bogue." Popular becaus kof
special programs, honors hou ,
close proximity to the Arb, and
close house system.
Stockwell - The women who live
are served the best food on ca
Nice old building, bay windows,'
fireplaces. The women are invit jt
lots of parties and men flock to theimi*
Couzens - a relatively sedate pJap
to live right across from the hospital,
making it a popular place for nursitg
students. Kind of nice, but dull.
Bursley - the furthest from campus,
but ideal for art and music students
who have North Campus classes.
Students learn to live according toabus
schedules. Renowned for lofts in sone
rooms with extra-high ceilings.
How to tolerate your roommat
Or, the joys of living in
a single
(Continued from Page 1)
in all of the appliances he received for
high school graduation-hair dryer,
popcorn popper, pee wee fryer, alarm
clock, and stereo. The poor sould ac--
cidentally tripped over an extension
cord when he came in late one night and
broke a leg.
FRESHPERSONS SOON discover
that all the stories they had heard about
cafeteria food are true. Go ahead and
complain-it's expected, and besides,
you paid for it. But isn't it kind of
strange that people usually complain
between bites of their third serving of
"roast beef"?
Happiness at college can depend on
your relationship with your roommate.
and conflicting bedtime and class
schedules and the need for privacy can
cause problems. This, however, is
inevitable when two people must share
a microscopic space.
Learn to cope. Dormitory living is
supposedly invaluable preparation for
the "real world." (If that is true, are
you sure you want to survive?) A TV
comedy writer could gather a season's
worth of ideas for a situation comedy
(could call it Two's a Crowd) after a
term in a residence hall.
COMPROMISE AND consideration
are the keys to surviving your room-
mate. For a happy year train your
roommate early or convert.
"Sit down and have honest conver-
learn to live with just about anyone
vast majority of pairs get along
enough-but some roommate co
seem doomed from the start. In t
cases drastic measures are nece
before full scale war breaks out
ween the frustrated parties. Pit
poor resident adviser who
negotiate a truce.
What if Sue "Isn't College
Sweet, who is determined to me
45,000 students on campus in
weeks or less, finds herself living
an antisocial type who hates po
and all that other fun stuff?
The dormitory may never seen
home, but it can be a fun place to
Dorm life is an .experience no