Thursday; September 9, 1971
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Page Three
Thursday, September 9, 1971 THE MICHIGAN DAILY
[he community which surrounds
you
Consumerism, Ann Arbor style
Ecology Center moves toward
cleaning up, educati~ng county
By P.E. BAUER and. ELLEN COLLINS,
After an initial foray to the local markets, students in
Ann Arbor can accept that their food bills will be up to 1/3
higher than they were at home.
In a sampling of major on- and off-campus stores in the
area, it was found that on-campus prices were consistently
higher than those found in stores farther away from the
campus.
It was found that of the non-food items surveyed, prices
were anywhere from 29 to 36 per cent more expensive on
campus than at larger stores in downtown Ann Arbor.
Price differences on food encompassed a much larger
range, including a very few items which were cheaper on
campus and the majority of others which were up to 61 per
cent higher on-campus than off.
Thus it is possible for a student to shop selectively and'
save anywhere from 29 to 61 cents on every dollar by shop-
ping off-campus.
Of the foods surveyed, convenience foods tended to be the
most inflated at local stores. Milk, surprisingly enough, was
about the same or cheaper than that found at larger chain
supermarkets. Presumably this is due to the attempts of local
merchants who hope to attract consumers to these low
prices so once in the store they will buy the other higher
priced items.
This difference in pricing presents problems for many.
Off-campus stores are very far away to students who rely
solely on their feet for transportation.
And, while Ann Arbor bus lines offer routes to all major
shopping areas, many find it difficult to juggle two weeks
worth of groceries in the midst of a rush hour throng.
Irate students can find limited comfort in the fact that
there are economic reasons for the higher on-campus prices.
On-campus stores offer convenience and are subject to high
overhead costs. And as they are small establishments, not
members of national chains, local merchants cannot buy in
bulk and lower their prices accordingly.
The adjacent price index juxtaposes on and off-campus
prices-of food and drug products. White's, Foodmart, and
Campus Corners are local food and drug stores. K-Mart and
A&P, both food and drug stores, are located a few miles from
campus. VIP is a local drug store, and the Cellar is the stu-
dent-run bookstore found in the Union's basement.
GROCERIES
White's Food- K-Mart
mart
Lipton beef strog.
Campbell tomato soup
Saltines, 16 oz.
Kellogg's cornflakes,
12 oz.
Frozen OJ, small
Chicken of the Sea
Tuna, 6Y oz.
Eggs, large grade ,A
Gallon milk
Lettuce
Oreos 15 oz.
.89
.17
.47
.89
2/.35
.43
.68
.13
.39
.39 .39
.29 2/.45
.59
1.18
.45
.57
.49
.63
1.13
.39
.22
.22
.39
.46
.98
.39
.49
VIP
.79
1.12
1.79
1.48
.99
A& P Campus
Corners
.69 .78
.13 .16
.37 -
.29 .29
.29 .25
.39 -
.43 .49
- .89
.39 -
.49 .55
By JIM IRWIN
The bustle and smiles at Ann
Arbor's Ecology Center, Inc. on
Detroit St. speak for the opti-
mism of its members who feel
they are helping to spread an
awareness of pressing ecological
issues to the community at large.
The Ecology Center sprung
from the workshops of the na-
tions first environment teach-in
here in May, 1970. Since then, it
has been Ann Arbor's most active
organization for environmental
protection.
One of the Ecology Center's
chief community - involvement
projects has been the recycling of
used glass and paper. A collec-
tion center for glass bottles was
opened at the Arborland Shopping
Center last May, collecting since
then over 13,000 pounds of glass
a day.
As well, a center to collect old
newspapers was opened at the
Westgate shopping center in
June.
Although the recycling project,
according to its organizers, has
been rather smallcompared to
the actual amount of waste in
Ann Arbor, it is a demonstration
of what they feel should be done
on a larger scale in order to con-
serve the ever-decreasing supply
of natural enerby and resources,
The Ecology Center also has
organized an organic gardening
project operated cooperatively
by students and residents on a
five-acre plot on North Campus.
According to Bill Kopper, ad-
ministrative head of the Ecology
Center, the project teaches people
skills that would be highly use-
ful, especially in the event of an
economic depression.
In the fall the Ecology Center
plans a "Living with the Earth
Seminar Series" which will deal
primarily with ways of living
that are alternative to depend-
ence on allegedly pollutive in-
dustry and our "high-waste"
economy - and especially with
systems of transportation alter-
native to the automobile.
Kopper says that awareness of
ecological problems has become
widespread in the community and
the country and that the ques-
tion now is what sort of action
is to be taken.
"Our recycling and gardening
projects can have only a limited
effect," says Kopper and adds
that the thrust of environmental
campaigns should now be more
political in order to force indus-
tries to adopt more ecologically
feasible policies.
Steps toward change by indus-
try have been minimal, says
Kopper. "Industry has not moved
towards comprehensive recycling
and pollution control but has in-
stead advertised their limited ef-
forts. Other businesses have ex-
ploited public awareness of eco-
logical problems to sell their pro-
ducts." he says.
To help coordinate a political
voice for environmental protec-
tion and coordinate community
effort in studying ecological is-
sues, a wide variety of concerned
groups and individuals formed a
coalition called the Washtenaw
Environmental Council (WEC)
last spring.
4,r
TV. RENTALS
$10.50/mno.
NEJAC T.V
662-5671
Crest, fam. size
Right Guard 7 oz.
12 oz.
Tampax, 40
Contac, 10
DRUGS
Campus
Corners
.99
1.34
2.49
1.79
1.29
Cellar
.73
1.15
1.76
1.49
.99
K-Mart
.75
.99
1.39
.97
I'
GIMME SHELTER
Finding a place to hang your
hat in an overcrowded town
'hat
Is
Circle-K?
'S
By MARK DILLEN
For the average student, a
four-year community transient,
the housing problem is probably
the most irritating one he will
face while at the University.
A housing shortage and infla-
tionary rents have added to the
problem that changing attitudes
of students toward housing
styles have brought about.
In the dismal financial times of
late, the city and campus have
grown a little bit each year with-
out a corresponding increase in
the amount of housing.
Consequently, the close-at-hand
central campus area becomes a
bottleneck of traffic, crowded
apartments, and homes.
Apartments evolve into exten-
sions of impersonal landlords
who own several buildings each.
The older homes are divided into
several ,apartments whose indi-
vidual rents stretch student bud-
gets to the limit.
The first step in the progres-
sion is invariably the University
and its mammoth system of hou-
ing, the mainstay of which is
still the traditional dormitory.
Though these institutional struc-
tures provide the foci for social-
izing the student into the Uni-
versity community, they also are
the target of any complaints con-
cerning the sameness and incon-
veniences of living in massive
cubic amalgams with little in the
way of privacy or personal ex-
pression.
Another salient characteristic
of dorm life is regimentation
around meals, which are generai-
ly viewed with distatste by those
who must eat them regularly.
But, most importantly, the cost
of dormitories is no longer the
stay away, the higher the rates
become and the mo :e services
are cut.
The dorm situation has a %ay
of driving students quickly into
the arms of the Ann Arbor land-
lords (the University's liberal
housing policy has no rules keep-
ing students in dorms other than
parental permission for fresh-
men to live on the outside).
r alternatives
Unfortunately, while this helps
the student to save money, it also
drags him into the perilous straits
of the expensive eight-month
lease, the damage deposit, the
often decrepit state of facilities
in older houses, and perhaps
eventually into the Ann Arbor
Tenants Union.
Over two years ago, the TU
became the focus for student dis-
satisfaction with the treatment
of tenants in private housing.
Normal tenant complaints, such
as lack of maintenance and high
rents were the basis for the dis-
sent, but the roots of disaffection
were so deep That 7U became the
knight out to slay the few large
dragons that control price ard
quality levels of Ann Arbor stu-
dent housing.
Yet, unreturned damage de-
posits-payments commonly held
by landlords to cover pcssible
damages and not so commonly
given back to student tenants
once gone-and the, standard
high-priced eight-month lease still
remain today, accompanied by a
less active TU.
The new cause became the ac-
quisition of low-cost housing,
outside the realm of the untrust-
ed private sector (whose ability
to initiate new housing was
checked by unfavorable eco-
nomic conditions).
In a series of student demon-
strations last fall, the pressure
was again put upon the Univer-
sity, specifically the Regents,
who finally approved a proposal
to get government aid for build-
ing at least 100 low-cost hous-
ing units on a North Campus site.
Whether this will be the solu-
tion thus far elusive, remains to
be seen.
4 :
1
The Ann Arbor
CIRCLE-K is a
comparative value it was once
considered. It'll cost you $1,135.68
to stay in the average two-man
this fall, up about $100 from last
year and $200 from the year be-
fore.
Thus, many are reticient to re-
main in the dorms, and their
cubicles wind up inhabited large-
ly by freshmen. The more who
campus and
community SERVICE organization
IF YOU would like to:
Troubled? Drop into Ozone
' {
--Spend an hour or two a week helping someone else
4
.; ,.
By ROB BIER
So your roommate is freaking
out on some little pill he took and
you don't know what to do. Or
your kid sister's best friend ran
away from home and is here ask-
ing you for help. Or maybe you
just want to know when the Com-
mander Cody concert starts.
Crises like these, big and small,
happen in Ann Arbor every day.
And on the corner of E. Liberty
and Fifth is a house which exists
for the purpose of helping people
through and out of such prob-
lems.
The sign on the door reads,
"Ozone House, Inc., Drug Help,
Inc., Free Peoples' Clinic, Inc."
Operating an a shoestring, these
three organizations work to meet
the special needs of Ann Arbor's
youth culture.
Ozone House is basically a cen-
ter for runaways, begun in Jan-
uary 1970 in the basement of the
old Canterbury House on May-
nard. Last November, after sev-
eral moves, Ozone House and
Drug Help took over the house on
East Liberty and the Free Clinic
came in a few months later.
"The only attitude we have
at Ozone is we want to meet the
needs of the runaways," says
Ken Kendall, one of the organiza-
tion's seven paid staff members.
Because the Ozone staff believes
runaways 'to be a social prob-
lem, rather than a legal one,
meeting their reeds means help-
ing them deal with the problems
which made them leave home.
On the second floor of Ozone
House is the Free Peoples' Clinic.
Staffed largely by medical stu-
dents, with a few doctors offer-
ing their services, the clinic pro-
vides a fairly wide range of medi-
cal help, free of charge.
Abortion counseling, testing for
venereal disease and pregnancy
tests are just a few of the more
common services offered.
Officially, its hours run from
seven to 9:30 p.m. four days a
week. But more often, the staff
can be found working long after
that, trying to deal with all the
people who come in seeking help
and advice.
Working around the clock to
help those who need advice on
drugs, Drug Help's phone (761-
HELP) is open 24 hours a day for
most of the week.
On a typical night, calls might
cover anything from bad acid
trips to overdoses to a father wor-
ried about his son who has
"turned on" while in Vietnam.
If it is an emergency, the
caller is asked to come to the
house, if possible. If not, a team
of a man and a women goes out.
Emergency medical treatment is
available, if necessary, at Uni-
versity Hospital and a variety of
clinics, no questions asked.
In addition to helping runa-
ways, Ozone is involved in a num-
ber of other projects. One of
these is Ann Arbor Network,
which is a phone (769-6540) man-
ned by the Ozone people. For in-
formation on concerts, other
events, places to crash in other
cities, legal referrals and almost
anything else, one can call Net-
work.
Ozone also helps out youths
powers that be, but "with a lot
of organizations, we're really on
good terms," Kendall adds. "The
city council really likes us and
is in nearly complete agreement
with what we're doing."
"The only people who are down
on us really are the police. I
think they see us as doing some
of their work for them. But our
relationship is becoming a lot
stronger and we've got to do that
if we're going to keep on."
T.V. RENTALS
$10.50/mo.
NEJAC T.V.
662-5671
("UGODLUE..
Be a Winner
BUY
U of M
--Meet people
--Have fun
If YOU would like to get involved in:
--Working with disadvantaged children
--Dealing with ecological problems in the Ann Arbor area
--Restoring a run-down playground in the community
--Entertaining hospitalized children
--Raising funds to support campus and community service projects
COME TO OUR MASS MEETING
Sunday, September 12, 7:00 P.M.
Michigan Union
For Further Information Mail This Coupon To:
PAUL SMOCK, 921 OAKLAND, APT. NO. 1
ANN ARBOR, MICH. 48104
awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwrwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwinwwwwwwwrmmwwwn.
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