Page Two

THE MICHIGAN DAILY MAGAZINE

Thursday, September 6, 1973

Page Two THE MICHIGAN DAILY MAGAZINE



PIRGIM

By TERRY JURRENS
While nationwide media pro-
claim the demise of student rad-
icalism, the non-partisan Interest
Research Group In Michigan
(PIRGIM) battles bureaucracy,
unfair legislation, and illegality.
Modeled and lnentored by Ralph
Nader, PIRGIM was established
on campus in 1972 following a
student referendum. It is funded
by students a pre-registration
who voluntarily choose member-
ship in the organization for $1.50
per semester.

In its year and a halfc
ence PIRGIM has dev
self to researching and
on problems confrontingt
eral public, ranging fr
ants' rights to the energ
Now represented at five
es across Michigan, the co
efforts of the state-wide
zation provide resources p
ly unavailable to the soli
izen.
A RECENT PIRGIM re
posed unsafe ambulance
tions. Coordinated by Un

fights
of exist- PIRGIM board member Michael
oted it- Peisner, the report entitled
acting "They're Supposed to Save Your
the gen- Life" details unconscionable con-
om ten- ditions in the private ambulance
y crisis. industry.
e colleg- The seven-month study con-
oncerted ducted especially in metropolitan
organi- areas of Michigan including Ann
revious- Arbor, revealed rampant and
tary cit- flagrant violations of the law:
unsafe vehicles, inadequate
port ex- equipment, unqualified, under-
opera- paid, overworked employes, cut-
niversity throat competition, and hesitant

or

the

consumer

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and incompetent enforcement by
state officials.
Earlier this year PIRGIM spon-
sored a study on gas price ad-
vertising which resulted in dra-
matic action by the state at-
torney general's office.
Discrepancies between the ad-
vertised price and pump price
and signs listing fractions-of-a-
cent prices in figures too small
to be read by passersby no long-
er victimize Michigan motorists.
HERE IN ANN ARBOR PIR-
GIM has been conducting weekly
food pricing surveys each week
which are printed in The Daily.
Inspecting 47 items in 14 area
supermarkets, PIRGIM ranks
stores to separate the tittle rip-
offs from the big time.
PIRGIM operates on the ener-
gy of student volunteers and a
full-time staff located at the
Lansing headquarters. The Lan-

sing staff works year-round, giv-
ing continuing attention to pro-
jects to which students cannot de-
vote full time.
PIRGIM volunteers are encour-
aged to suggest, organize, and
carry through projects for which
they feel a need exists. The Uni-
versity PIRGIM office provides
coordination and resources for
projects undertaken in the Ann
Arbor area.
PIRGIM has sponsored classes
through the LSA Course Mart, en-
abling students to earn college
credit while working on PIRGIM
projects.
One PIRGIM course offered
winter term 1973, for instance,
carried the controversial t i t I e
"The Breakdown of the Free En-
terprise System.' Other courses
sponsored were sections of Ecol-
ogy 301 and classes on health

services and prison conditions.
ASIDE FROM the popularity of
PIRGIM courses, PIRGIM mem-
bership itself is on the rise at
the University, judging from re-
turns collected at pre-registration
to date.
Ann Arbor PIRGIM chairper-
son Joan Anderson predicts that
by the time registration is com-
pleted in the fall, almost 20,000
students will be PIRGIM mem-
bers, 58 per cent of the total
student body.
Encouraging active participa-
tion, however, PIRGIM welcomes
students to visit the office on the
second floor of the Michigan Un-
ion (phone 662-6597). Students
can meet board members, pick
up copies of the group's publica-
tion, PIRGIM's Progress, or
- last but not least - volunteer
services.

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Master list connects
students with clubs

Even the most serious student
. at the University can find time
to pursue extracurricular activi-
ties - the problem, predictably
enough, is finding the campus or
community organization t h a t
matches your interests.
That's why Ray Stakenas of the
University's Office of Organiza-
tional Services has designed
what he calls the "Organization
Locater," a multi - purpose list-
ing of organizations in town and
on campus.
Interested in the Word of God
movement, folk music, or may-
be karate? One of the Organiza-
tion Locater lists, alphabetized
by activity, can help you locate
these.
"We'd like to make its distribu-
tion as wide as possible," says
Stakenas. "We want to have it in
a workable, self - petpetuating
form. We're hoping to keep it
accurate and up-to-date."
To expose the list to as many
students as possible, Stakenas
says it will be posted on dormi-
tory bulletin boards as well as in
a variety of University offices.
ALTHOUGH Stakenas uses the
University's computer system in
compiling the Organization Loca-_
ter, the list will be distributed in
some form other than a computer
print-out. For example, the list
was displayed in a 17-page book-

let form for freshpersons during
orientation this summer.
A general list of Organization
Locater gives contact people for
each group plus its permanent
address, while a third listing is
designed to generate a mailing
list.
To accomplish the same goal
as Organization Locater, the Uni-
versity Activities Center (UAC)
my r'mn a campus activities day
this fall.
In the past, activities days
have been held on E. University
and in the Michigan Union ball-
room, but Tom Clark, director of
Organizational Services, hopes
that the Digg will be chosen as
this fall's site "to divert the at-
tention of all the people waiting
in registration line for Waterman
Gym.",
UAC HAS historically run into
problems with activities days be-
cause if they are held during
registration, most campus groups
are not yet organized enough
after the summer break to par-
ticipate effectively. Also, students
whose schedules and study hab-
its are not yet finalized tend not
to seek out extra-curricular ac-
tivities.
Whether or not the; activities
day comes off, the Organizational
Locater ,should give you a boost
in finding the most popular to the
most esoteric of our area's
groups.

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