Wednesday, September 2, 1970_
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Studeht Life----Page Five
~ Wednesday, September 2, 1970 THE MICHIGAN DAILY Student Life-Page Five
Cooperative a lternative
CONVENIENCE AND CATASTROPHE
Dorms: More
than room and board
+« By STEVE KOPPMAN
Living with 20 or so men and
women in a big house-sharing
the work, making the decisions,
saving money. An idyllic living
situation? A commune?
Not quite. A student co-oper-
ative house.
For a long time, the dominant
living setups on campus have
been dormitories, apartments or
rooms, and fraternities and so-
rorities. But in the last year,
the student-owned, student-run
co-ops have snowballed in pop-
ularity. Some 1100 students ap-
plied for spaces in the co-ops
for this fall-more than triples
the number of applications re-
ceived the previous year.
And with the opening this fall
of the North Campus co-ops-
made possible by the first U.S.
government loan ever extended
to students for the construction
of student housing-the Inter-
Cooperative Council (ICC) has
moved toward accommodating
the spiraling campus demand
for co-op living.
The "roomers" who live in a
co-op and the "boarders" who
I)' just take meals there are the,
shareholders in the ICC, which
owns the 25 co-op houses on
campus.
-Daily-David Baker
North Campus Co-opr
Each house is run by its own
members, who do the cooking,
cleaning, maintenance, manage-
ment, and everything else-re-
quiring an average of four hours
labor per week from each mem-
ber. Houses are generally di-
vided into triples, doubles and
quick professional, low-priced service
singles, with priority for room
selection based on seniority.
The 12 central campus co-
ops house some 250students and
provide board for about 125
more. The 13 new North Campus
houses will connect with each
other in a complex which will
house 216 students and feed an
additional 90. The North Cam-
pus co-ops will probably break
the tradition and hire one pro-'
fessional cook.
Costs at the central campus
co-ops hover around $350 per
term for roomers and $220 for.
boarders.. The ICC estimates'
costs for roomers at the North
Campus co-ops will be slightly
- higher, probably around $400
per term.
Co-ed living becomes the dom-,
inant mode of co-op living this
fall. As of two years ago, there
were men's houses, women's
houses, and a house for married
students. Last fall, Nakamura, a
men's house, accepted eight wo-
men. And this fall, outside of
Ti-House (where neighboring
Fmen's and women's houses share
eating facilities), only Michigan
House, a men's house on North
State, continues to buck the
tide.
t Co-op enthusiasts claim the
houses offer a welcome alter-
native to the isolatign of apart-
ment living, the institutionalism
of the dorms, the social pres-
sures of the fraternities, and the
high costs of all three.
There are neither restrictions
concerning pets, nor the impo-
sition of dress codes. The only
stipulation enforced by ICC is
that contracts of residents un-
der 21 be signed by their par-
ents, because state law forbids
minors to enter into 'a legal
contract.
The first co-op on campus
was started by several poor stu-
dents in the basement of the
fold Guild= House 38 years ago.
Since then, co-ops have been
widely considered idealistic and
experimental-hotbeds of "radi-
calism" and unconventionality.
Now, the most frequent rea-
son given for the rise in popu-
larity of the co-ops is the decline
of the Greek system. And some
old co-oppers claim the increase
in co-op popularity is drastical-
ly changing the character of the
ICC membership.
Generally. h o u s e s anxiously
seek boarders at the beginning
of the fall term. But those who
want to live in a co-op next
term are advised to contact the
ICC office in the Student Activi-
ties Bldg. early in advance.
By SHARON WEINER
From the miniscule cubes of Markley
to the cells with striped curtains of Burs-
ley . . . from Mosher-Jordan's elevators
to West Quad's somber stairwells . , .
from the rational to South Quad's kitch-
en, University dorm life is the fate of
over 8,000 students each year.
Granted, there are unquestionable ad-
vantages. to dormitory living, including
prepared meals, reasonable leasing agree-
ments, educational and recreational fa-
cilities, and no hassles with a landlord
over such trivias as garbage collection.
And last March, the Regents finally
abolished hours for women who lived in'
University housing, ending the last of
the University-wide dorm rules which
began disintegrating in 1967.
But although repressive regulations
have been abolished (except when the
residents vote them in), dorm living of-
ten hits levels less than ideal, albeit often
amusing.
For example, in the dorms- with over
1200 students, such as 'ursley, Markley
and South Quad, the student must learn
to cope with endless meal lines, a hier-
archy of staff there to "serve you" and
institutional living in general.
The smaller dorms, such as Betsy Bar-
bou rand Helen Newberry, offer slightly
different divertisements, with sit-down
dinners and girls-must-wear-skirts-in-the
dining-room type of rules.
But no matter what the size of the
dorm, the food is perhaps one of the
things uniting all dorm residents. Green
roast 'beef or ground round just isn't
prepared similarly anywhere else,;and the
coffee has a distinct flavor of its own.
But not only are they unusual -- the
kitchen staffs are creative, and some-
times approach cleverness.
For instance, if something like apple-
sauce or fruit cocktail has a wilted let-
tuce leaf or a sprig of parsley on top, it's
salad; if not, it's dessert. The same apple-
Bursley: Out in the wilds
TYPING
EDITING
-Daily-David Baker
sauce often switches roles from lunch to
dinner.
Or the things ground round turns to
after the first day: Chile and chop suey
and spaghetti and beef pie - a veritable
international center.
Some of the dorms have been experi-
menting with frozen foods and standard
substitutes such as yogurt, so the future
holds some promise. But the food is cer-
tainly not considered one of the advan-
tages to dorm living.
Neither, however, is the room usually
a great bargain.
If you're lucky, you get a single with
a sink in South Quad. If you have no
luck at all, you get a double which has
been converted into a triple, or tempor-
ary housing in some dorm's cafeteria.
Another facet of dorm life is the house
government.,
All large residence halls are divided
into houses, which establish "quiet hours"
and visitation schedules, and which de-
cide how house dues are to be spent.
The dues, which range from nothing in
a few houses to $20 in others, but gener-
ally, between $5 and $10, are supposed to,
be used for snacks and parties-but at
the end of the year, some discover that,-
their dues has bought them the equivalent
of one pizza, a six-pack of Coke, and three
cookies. Maybe.
The dues are often set the year before
by returning, upperclass dorm residents,
and so last year, some students decided
to petition to abolish dues. And some
even tried to abolish house government.
But, for the most part, incoming fresh-
men still must deal with a government
set up the year before.
But some dorms do provide services
which apartments or co-ops lack. Most,
dorms have libraries, some of which claim
excellent re ord, magazine and book col-
lections, others w h i c h provide atmos-
phere and quiet. And certain dorms also
contain pool and ping-pong rooms, photo
dark rooms, weight-lifting rooms, music
practice rooms, snack bars, and pin ball
machines.
But location is actually the most im-
portant critereon for most students. Lo-
cation either attracts or- repels the ma-
jority of Bursley residents to their home
in the North Campus woods, repels most
residents of the Hill, and reconciles most
of South sQuad to the swill produced in
their kitchen.
Most of these factors, of course, don't
apply to East ,Quad, which houses the
Residential College, or to Alice Lloyd, lo-
cation of the Pilot Program. Those dorms
comtbine academics with dorm living, and
have unique advantages and disadvantag-
es of theiry own.
But it's Athe people who constitute the
character of a dorm, and the proximity
and numbers of your neighbors w 11
prove dorm living to be an advantage or
disadvantage over most apartment loca-
tions, depending on: what dorm you're
' in (certain dorms are far morel "social"
for instance,- than are others), who your
neighbors are, and how much privacy
you want.
And your roommate may prove to be
an educational experience in him/her-
self, Perhaps you'll be rooming with an
exotic Arabian princess (if such. things
still exist) - and you're a Zionist. Or
maybe as a potential anarchist you must
learn to live with a future WAC or'a
ROTC supporter.
And if you are stuck with an ideolog-
ical opposite, take heart-after a period
of time (called the "room freeze") you
will be able to switch roommates without
too much trouble for others will be in
the same position you are.
The possible combinations are endless.
But whether your memories will be of
the bats of Stockwell (who fly in from
the graveyard across the street) or the
Bursley bus ride, East Quad's architec-
ture or walks up the hill, your dorm ex-
perience will- fortunatelyor not'-- be
forever fused as an integral part of the
University Experience.
And it isn't easy to find an apartment
with an eight-month lease and a kitchen
staff.
PRINTING
CAMPUS MULTISERVICE
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214 NICKELS ARCADE
ANN ARBOR
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662-4222
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The greeks: A system on
the decline
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THERE IS A HI-Fl SHOP
ON MAIN STREET'
By HESTER PULLING
Sororities and fraternities on
campus are presently in a tight
struggle. for existence. Pledge
and rush figures for both are
not large enough for many
houses to continue operating,
and at least three fraternities
have recently closed down.
Since 1966, University frater-
nities have gathered fewer and
fewer pledges. The fall pledge
el dropped from over 500 in
1966 to less than 300 this part
fall. And although winter rush
increased, the fraternity system
still registered an overall drop
in pledges.
And these figures may even
be optimistic, as they do not
account for depledging. Alpha
Tau Omega, for example, had a
pledge class of six last fall, but
every man depledged.
Other houses have fared bet-
ter, and some, like Delta Sigma
Phi, are even on the increase.
The few exceptions don't make
the rule, however, and some
people in the fraternity system
are grim about the future.
"Hell, yes, fraternities are
dying," says ATO President John
Cotner, whose house suffered
particularly b a d 1 y last year.
"We used to get about 200 kids
to rush this house, but now 50
to 60 is considered good."
Aid Zeta Beta Tau dropped
out of the Interfraternity Coun-
cil and opened its doors to any-
one interested in living there.
Although sororities are in a
better pledge state than their
brother fraternities, they too are
having trouble filling their
quotas. Sorority officers and ad-
visors are devoting a major part
of their meetings to discussions
on why freshmen and sopho-
more girls no longer come out
in the quantities they used to.
The Greeks have been at-
tempting to combat this decline
in pledges by relaxing dress
codes, liberalizing rush rules,
abolishing Hell Week, and open-
ing up their TG's to those out-
side the fraternity-sorority sys-
tem. Many students, however,
claim these are just token ges-
trues and do not get at the crux
of the problem.
"Fraternities are notoriously
apolitical," notes Sigma Alpha
Epsilon member James Pidgeon.
"They concentrate most heavily
on social and athletic areas."
"Over the whole group of
students coming in now, there is
a new sort of socialawareness,"
adds Alpha Phi Delta member
Paul Johnson.
Many Greeks see their prob-
lem as one of combating a bad
and unfair image-racoon coats,
football games and Saturday
night ,beer blasts. They see this
image as untrue, but can not
find a way of changing it.
"People coming here are very
idealistic," says Leon Duletsdy.
of Phi Kappa Psi. "They see
people getting turned down for
very minor points and say,
'sorry, that's riot for me, that's
just not right.' "
"This inequality is inherent in
fraternities, though," he adds.
Part of the problem faced by
fraternities and sororities has
involved charges of racial dis-
crimination.
In 1968, the Panhellenic As-
sociation became embroiled in a
four-month controversy over
alleged racism: The dispute cul-
minated in the walkout from
Panhel of the two black soror-
ities on campus, Delta Sigma
Theta and Alpha Kappa Alpha.
The dispute focused on the
requirement by most sororities
that each pledge must secure
a recommendation f r o m an
alumnae who belonged to the
sorority as a prerequisite to
pledging.
In the fall of 1968, Studentn
Government Council stated that
sororities which continued to
Baits reskC
By LINDSAY CHANEY
The first attempt by tenants
within the University housing
system to bargain collectively
with the University began last
January with the formation of
the Baits Tenants Union (BTU).
The University, via Housing
Director John iFeldkamp, has
recognized BTU as the official
representative of Baits tenants.
Negotiations between BTU and
the University should begin this
fall, according to representa-
tives of the Tenants Union (TU)
with which BTU is affiliated.
use the so-called binding rec-
ommendations would no longer
be considered student organiza-
tions. This would have the effect
of not allowing the members of
the sororities to live in their
sorority houses.
In addition, SGC ordered each
sorority to get a waiver from
its national chapter to halt the
use of binding recommenda-
tions.
The two black sororities left
Panhel after they became con-
vinced that the organization
would not take. any action to
halt the use of the recommen-
dations.
Because freshmen coming to
campus are more aware and
more political, many Greeks
say, they do not want to involve
themselves in what they view
as a limited and discriminatory
life pattern.
However, the Greeks see these
preconceived views to be false
ones. They point to the bene-
fits of sororoity and fraternity'
living - a comfortable house,
good food, friends always there
to hear a problem' and support
on school .work-as reasons for
joining their houses. Developing
meaningful interrelationships be-
tween groups and individuals, Is
also an asset to living, in a sor-
ority or fraternity, Greeks claim.
However, the whole Greek sys-
tem-good or bad-is facing a
crisis and many are pessimistic
about thieir being able to pull
through-,at least in their pres-
ent form.
leuts Organ
Baits housing, located on
North Campus, is primarily for
graduate students and upper-
classmen. 1
The main complaint of Baits
residents involves what they
consider to be unduly high rent
for the facilities which the Uni-
versity provides.
For example, a 12' x 12' room
at' Baits rents for $122.50 a
month while a University-owned
Northwood apartment with a
kitchen, more space and more
privacy rents for $95 a month
plus utilities.
size
Union
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Other grievances include no
kitchens, and showers without
regulators, so the water runs al-
ternately hot and cold.
Organizing at Baits began last
December. when 45 residents
signed petitions demanding the
University Housing Office rec-
ognize the right of students ten-
ants to collectively bargain with
the University concerning rent
reductions.
In January, BTU was formed,
its constitution adopted, and its
affiliation with the TU initiated.
At the end of January, Baits
residents began a rent strike
against the University, putting
their rent in the TU escrow
fund.
And the University withheld,
the credits of the strikers-the
usual practice-of the University.
for dealing with delinquent fi-
nancial accounts. TU members
say they are preparing to take
the University to court over the
legality of withholding credits
for rent striking.
In March, BTU staged a
"tent-in" to protest conditions in
University residence halls. Tents
were pitched on the Diag, and
BTU members passed out liter-
ature pertaining to the Univer-
sity housing situation.
"We had two main objectives
for the "tent-in" explains BTU
President Chet Kulis, Grad.
"The first is an educational aim.
We want to make people aware
that the University and the
private landlords have a com-
mon goal, which is to make
housing an open market in Ann
Arbor."
"We also hope to point out
the University's obligation to
students to provide low cost
housing," Kulis continues. He
"adds that as the number one
landlord and emplover in Ann
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