OPEN 'TIL 11 PM
OPEN: MON.-THURS. 8:30-11 PM
FRI., SAT. 8:30- PM
in the Mid.. Union
Pext to U-Cellar 665-8065
e ,e
feb.16 & 17 8pm
Slauson School
1019 Wl. Washington
Tickets: 665-5129
also at the door
Michigan Theater future at stake;
city Considers
manager4
By ALISON HIRSCHEL of the in
The picture shows may stop but, city come
according to concerned- Ann Arbor its shirt"
residents, the Michigan Theater must theater. T
go on. A current lease to W.S. Butter- by Butteri
field, Inc. theater chain expires in Mar- into fours
ch, and several commercial offers have reasons.
already been made to change the THE C
historic theater into a mini-mall. visions a
Several groups in the city were in- Michigan'
terested in preserving the theater and self-suppo
approached Mayor Louis Belcher with tee plans
their concerns. Belcher said, "They and cut c
wanted some power behind this cause non-prof
and they wanted to consolidate their ef- organizat
forts." Belcher
AS A RESULT, the City Council en- sity has
dorsed a proposal last week to form a using the]
non-profit corporation which would buy types ofp
and rent the 1,800 seat theater. the Ann
In addition, the Council appropriated scheduleY
$2,000 from its general fund for legal groups m
and administrative fees. Council does 'that spec
not expect to make any further finan- Summer
cial contributions. A five-member Festival,
committee was also formed, which is facilities.
responsible for all negotiations. The M
The Michigan Theater was originally however,
built by Angelo Poulos as a vaudeville would b
house. Butterfield Enterprises has ren- Butterfie
ted the theater since it was built in 1928. tly nego
But, according to Richard Lotz, general determin
t _ _
keeping
of the Ann Arbor Inn and one
corporating members of the
mittee, Butterfield was "losing
with the ornate and expensive
The State Theater, also leased
rfield, is now being converted
smaller theaters for economic
OMMITTEE, however, en-
a profitable future for the
Theater and believes it can be
orting. Lotz said the commit-.
to make some adjustments
costs. In addition, it will be a
it and tax-exempt
ion.
r commented that the Univer-
expressed some interest in
Michigan Theater for specific
performances or lectures and
Arbor Civic Theater may
musicals there. Jazz and rock
ay also appear. Belcher hopes
ial events, like the Ann Arbor
Festival and Old Film
will be able to utilize the,
[ichigan Theater will not,
show any first-run films. This
e, in direct competition with
ld Enterprises. Lotz is curren-
tiating with Butterfield to
e what kinds of films would be
0 0rlW iad
acceptable. and hopes to come to an
agreement so that the Michigan
Theater can host film festivals.
JOHN HATHAWAY, another com-
mittee member who is interested in
historic preservation, feels the
Michigan Theater fills a need which no
other local auditorium can handle. It
has several dressing rooms, a green
room where performers can wait
before their shows, an orchestra pit,
and a large performing stage suitable
for musical performances. Hathaway
says the Michigan's organ, which was
restored in 1974, is "irreplaceable and
outstanding."
John Swisher III, of Swisher Realty,
is handling the sale of the theater for
the owners, He refused to comment on
the number of bids offered so fjar or on
the city's plan because, he says, "it is
very delicate as far as the city is con-.
cerned." He added, "we don't want a
bunch of people bidding now and
stirring things up." Swisher conceded
that the city's offer should be made in
the very near future, probably before
the Butterfield lease runs out.
Lotz, who is responsible for the
business aspects of the purchase.plan,
met with Butterfield Enterprises
yesterday. Lotz made it clear that the
committee wants to buy the theater.
"We'll lease the building," he commen-
ted, "but only if we have the option to
buy. We want to make a fair offer."
The major problem now is time.
Hathaway said, "We must act quickly.
If the doors are locked andthe building
is left vacant, it will deteriorate
quickly. In addition, it will stop being
used as a public theater so that the
public no longer goes there or thinks of
it for community entertainment."
Daily Photo by CYRENA CHANG
THIS SWEEPING STAIRCASE in the Michigan Theater may soon be incor-
porated into a mini shopping mall unless the city's bid to buy the theater is
accepted by the owners. The city hopes to preserve the historic theater in its
present form and make it a center for community entertainment.
I
{ ~Mountain.Leering#6.
ountaineering' is an
oral tradition. Over
the years, it has
been passed down
from teacher to
pupil, father to son, package
store owner to customer. As a
result, a folklore - a mythol-
ogy, if you will - has formed
around the mountains of
Busch. You, being a, student
of mountaineering, no doubt
wish to acquaint yourself with
these truths and half-truths,
these stories both accurate
and apocryphal.A wise deci-
sion. And, as luck would have
it, this ad is just the ticket.
One of mountaineering's
earliest legends is Bennington.
Baxter-Beningto. Adventur, ,
international bon vivant and
inventor of the phrase "your
check is in the mail'it was he
who perfected the finer points
of expedition financing. While
other mountaineers resorted
to such bizarre extremes as
gainful employment, Benning-
ton subsidized assaults on the
Busch mountaintop with cre-
ative economics. An amalgam
of paper schemes, franchised
dreams, dummy corporations
and corporate dummies kept
him in clover for high on 20
fiscal years. Asked at th
culmination of his
,. -apersciMfraaaIseddrear . S
mry corporations ancorporate
duaxm k kept him In coe
-,
yy
". ' .... - " _,dry
Of
ethe enngwasoves "I can make you a mathe-
matical model, baby' Talk
about your wildlife!
° But when looking for
sheer courage, W Dexter
Poole must rank in lore
among the top mountain-
eers. Fond of saying "The
road to truth goes through
bad neighborhoods;'Poole
enjoyed skirting with
danger and approached
mountaineering as a test of
- Survival SkillS. In his most
famous challenge, Poole,
equipped only with 30 water-
proof matches and a major credit
card, parachuted into a remote
area known as Cleveland He
was up to the task. Within 24
hours, Poole was bask-
**v ing under the hot sun of
Antibes, downing the
smooth, cold, refreshing
mountains of Busch Beer.
A credit to his
colleagues
and a col-
league on
credit. Poe
What'
career to reflect upon the se- becomes n enes
-a legend Card
cret of success, Bennington a-legendr..udin
revealed his first rule: "Keep mht
all your assets liquid'
Another frequent subject.
of mountaineering lore is
the wildlife. Numerous r
tales abound, but perhaps'
the most famous story is
that of the 1973 Muncie
Mathematics Convention. All
Defaults
on loans,
discussed
at meeting
C9
(Continued from Page 1) -
President for Academic Affairs
Richard English, Assistant to the Vice-
President Charles Allmand, and Policy
Coordinator Virginia Nordby.
"We're gathered here to' inform:i
university presidents about what's
going on in federal government
programs and to hear from them as to
what their problems are and what they
think the ACE cdn do to get the job
done," said Director of the ACE's
Division of External' Relations
Thomas Stauffer. -
"We don't always agree with people
in the federal government, and
sometimes they make us mad," he ad-v
ded, "but I want to make it quite clear
that'I don't know of any group of people
that are more receptive to represen-
tatives of higher education than the
present people in the federal gover
nment."
The federal issue which received a
great deal of attention from those at-
tending the conference involved the
large student default rate on federal
loans.
"WE HAVE AN amazing number of
defaults," said Peter Relic, deputy
assistant Secretary of Education. "Up
until recently, there was a great deal of
HEW inactivity in this area."
Relic said that in order to solve the
default problem, the HEW, has now
enacted a special computerized method
of more efficiently finding and contac-
ting those students who have avoided
paying back the loans.
"The HEW was collecting on defaults
at a rate of $8 million per year, and now
it's two-and-a-half times that amount,"
said Relic. "We are now, for the first
time in history (of the 11 year-old finan-
cial assistance program), decreasing
the backlog of defaults."
THE UNIVERSITY currently has
1,924 students in default
status-amounting to $780,000 and a 10.4
per cent default rate-which is below
the national average of 16 per cent.
Relic said he expects the nationl
backlog of all student defaults to be en-
tirely cleared up by the end of 1980. He
also said the biggest problem has been
collecting those debts from National
Student Direct Loans-those loans
which the individual college campuses
are responsible for distributing and
collecting.
On the other issues, Charles Saundes,
ACE's vice-president for governmental
relations, said that although there may
be increases in the federal budget for
general university research, serious
cuts may take place in funding for:
medical schools and nurse training
programs-as well as the elimination of
the College Libraries program.
"It's going to be a difficult year," he
11
75 prodigies, whiz kids and
befuddled geniuses initiated
an after hours expedition.
It beganharmlessly enough.
But soon, the Busch moun-
taineers reached the Mobius
Strip, a racy nightspot catering
to highbrow hij inks. Before the
evening was over, several of
them were bending the slide
rules. Others were smoking big
cigars and telling every woman
in sight they were agents with
a eye for figures, claiming,
is (one) a matter of subjective
judgment and (two) in a con-
stant state of flux. Keep in mind
legends are created every day. So
when you flex your mountain-
eering muscles, be
true to the tradi-:. -0
tion. At best, -
you'll be part
of history.
At least,r
you'11 be a -
near-myth-
f
":.
::.
K
H-h
dountaineering is the science and art of drinking Busch. The term originates due to the snowy, icy peaks sported by the
abel outside and perpetuates due to the cold, naturally refreshing taste inside. The above mountaineers and these sceese
f their exploits are legendary, any similarity to actual people, living or dead is purely coincidental.
- YL.
* I
I