Page Two
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
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campus
Last, but not least, we
bring you campus & co.,
eight full pages devoted
especialy to giving you all
the news you need to put "
you in the know about stu-
dent and academic life on
this mammoth midwestern I
campus. We think it's our
duty to inform you about=
what you're really getting
yourself into, so our story
may -not be quite the same -
one the University has,
been telling you. But re-r
niember, even as you
wade through news of ris-
ing rental costs and spiral-
ling grades, that the b i g
U', despite its deficien-
cies, was your choice -
and ours.
the editors
There Sa t
difference"
PREPARE FOR:
" CAT Over 35 years *
" MJ9~ of experience "
A and success
OAT Smallclasses
0 LSAT Voluminous home
" GRSE study materials
SAU B Courses that are 0
e ~~constantlypdtd
*" WU eiw o ls lE Tape facilities for
OCAreviews of class "
-T lessons and for use
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materials "
SiFLEX rnMt Ma- for
: ECFMG missed lessons
NAT'L MED DOS
: NAT'L DENT BDS :
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" Ann Arbor 48103 "
' 662-3149 ""
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EDUCATONAL CENTER!
TEST PREPARATION
" SPECIALISTSSINCE 19M8"
" branches in Maior*U 5Cis
Housing:
A
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bag
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tenants plaUe
by landlord r piray C
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By JAY LEVIN
Welcome to Ann Arbor-one of the tightest
housing markets of any college town in the
nation.
From the glossy heights of the Tower Plaza
apartment building to the cinderblock charm
of Markley H a 11 to the color-coded frame
houses hugging the South Division area, Uni-
versity students are faced with sub-standard,
crowded conditions and rent payments which
border on the ridiculous.
AND WHO IS to blame? Clearly, the city's
high standard of living has helped precipitate
the spiraling rent costs, but the major con-
spirators in the housing shambles are the
town's notoriously avaricious landlords and
the University, which has done little to prevent
what has become synonymous with the city-
bad housing.
Indeed, the campus area vacancy rate-
according to the University off-campus housing
office-is a miniscule .46 per cent, a figure
ominously below the five per cent unhealthy
level set by the President's Commission on
Urban Housing in 1968. A forever rising Uni-
versity enrollment and a limited amount of
both on and off-campus housing has forced
students to cloister in large numbers in many
of the ill-kept residences dotting the central
campus region-units which are barely main-
tained by landlords who capitalize on the stu-
dents' limited housing choices by offering di-
lapidated dwellings at astronomical rates.
The plain fact remains that the University
is bursting out at the seams, and Ann Arbor
is unable to comfortably accommodate a stu-,
dent body which is one of the largest in the
country.
OFF-CAMPUS construction has been at a
virtual standstill over the past few years.
Bursley Hall on North Campus, the Univer-
sity's newest dormitory, was built nearly a
decade ago. And the University has also failed
to stimulate additional construction of housing
in the community, responding in part to the
cramped living conditions by instituting a
much maligned housing lottery which deter-
mines space priority in the dorms.
Peter Schooch, director of the off-campus
housing division, foresees one problem which
may sprout from the lack of housing-the
gradual disintegration of the Univeristy's resi-
dent community, caused by those who are
forced to move further away from the crowded
campus area, and become "commuter" stu-
dents of sorts.
Meanwhile, Ann Arbor's landlords, notorious
for their laxity in keeping their houses up to
city code and consistently irresponsive to the
needs of tenants, laugh all the way to the
bank.
FOR THIS REASON, the Ann Arbor Tenants
Union (TU), a student run organization with
offices in the Michigan Union, has lobbied
quite successfully for the improvement of the
city's living conditions.
Seven years ago, the fledgling TU organized
'a massive, city-wide rent strike which encom-
passed nearly 2000 disgruntled student tenants
and crippled ten local landlords. When the
strike finally ended in 1971, the Tenants Union
won v a r i o u s concessions for the striking
tenants, including a rental decrease.
Dormant for four years after that strike, the
Tenants Union rekindled tenant activism in
Ann Arbor last November by organizing a rent
strike against Trony Associates, a small, rental
agency dealing with older homes. However,
from that one tenant action, which encom-
passed only about 100 strikers at its peak,
See HIGH, Page 5
Greekreviva
By JIM TOBIN
Twice a year, in a paneled chamber buried in the twisting,
dusty cellar of Phi Gamma Delta, the officers of the fraternity
light low candles as a long line of men shuffle into the room.
With eyes covered, they clutch the shoulder before them; the
blind lead the blind.
They are "pledges" of the fraternity approaching their initial
tion ceremony. They have dined occasionally at the house during
the several weeks of their "pledge period," palled around with
the members, drunk the fraternity's beer, eyed each other with
the caution of strangers who will soon live under the same
roof. Now, for the first time, all is grave. They have never been
allowed in the fraternity's chapter room before, and they sense
the difference.
THE FRATERNITY BROTHERS wait in silence, pressed to-
gether on benches along the walls of the stuffy room. A whisper
breaks the stillness now and then, a muted chuckle. The door
swings shut as the last pledge steps inside, and a century-old
rite unfolds before them - a curious piece of the past on a
campus preoccupied with the present.
"I wouldn't be at all unhappy if you were to join a fraternity
once you get out to Ann Arbor," my father told me my last year
in high school, but I resisted quietly. Why did I hesitate? Was
it tales of hazing, fear of conforming to a tradition that seemed
foreign to the glamorous, activist, Sixties?
For whatever reason, I shied from the idea, and my peers
in the Residential College (RC) certainly did nothing to promote
the grand, Greek tradition. During my freshman fall, I strolled
down State St., Hill, and Washtenaw Ave., casually taking in
the stately fraternity and sorority houses tucked under tower-
ing trees, but the thought of attaching myself to such a place
belonged to my father's era.
WHEN HE WAS president of Phi Delta Theta thirty-five
years ago, fraternity-sorority balls .topped the Daily's feature
pages. Men weren't allowed past the porches of sorority houses
even on Saturday nights, so from midnight on twenty or thirty
couples in unabashed embrace would festoon sorority steps.
Homecoming weekend saw friendly but determined competition
between the houses. The Phi Delts drank at Starbuck's on Main
and the Phi Psis drank at the Pretzel Bell on Liberty; seldom
did the brotherhoods mix.
These images lasted in my mind for some time; I presumed
the decades had swept past fraternities, leaving them untouched.
What was more, formal dances and beer bashes seemed part
of high school. Through my apprehension ran the belief that fra-
ternity men were snobs, upper-middle-class prep school boys
grown old. But the Residential College, like many organizations,
had its own share of snobs, I soon learned.
One cold January Friday evening I wandered down past the
corner of Hill and Washtenaw, gazing at glowing fraternity win-
dows as laughter escaped into the cold. I basked in the evening's
wistful corniness, but beyond that, I saw comfortable, rambling
old homes which appealed to me. Would their occupants be as
inviting? Would the images of the 40's come alive if I ventured
inside?
This house-complete with boarded windows, unkept
shrubbery, and a trash pile which city inspectors trans-
late into a potential fire hazard-is just one of many
eyesores in the student-housing district.
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Dorms: Securil
By LANI JORDAN
Six stereos blast six different types of music into the hall.
Twenty-foot telephone cords weave in and out of rooms. Sud-
denly a woman runs screaming down the hall followed by
someone carrying a bucket of water. Doors open and assorted
heads appear, surveying the situation with disgust.
The only possible setting for this scene is a dormitory.
FOR MOST freshpersons, living in a dormitory their first
year is a predetermined choice. "I needed a sense of security
my first year," said junior Jeanne Sellnau. "And dorm life is
supposed to be exciting."
Another junior, Lloyd Snider adds, "It's the easiest thing
to do. They (the University) send you all the information. Be-
sides, you're taken care of. You get fed, they clean everything
but your room, and plan activities for you."
However one year of this is enough for many students. This
past spring only 42 per cent of dormitory residents reapplied
to return to the dorms. Many students cite a need for inde-
pendence as the reason they forsake dorm life for more inti-
mate living situations such as apartments, sororities and
fraternities, or co-ops.
ty
and
insanity
THE UNIVERSITY operates 11 traditional dormitories as I EXITED the RC for good in the spring and decided to give
well as Oxford Cooperatives and Baits Housing for upperclass- what lay behind those warm windows a chance. A month later
persons and graduate students. Combined, these units provide I d
housing for approximately 9,200 students. asa lege
One fraternity man's view is not omniscient, but fraternity
Several different living situations are available within the and sorority rush statistics point to a general reexamination of
dormitory system. Three dorms-Stockwell, Barbour, and New- Greek life - a return to the relative tranquility, if not he ot-
berry-are exclusively female and one, Fletcher Hall, is all clusiveness, of fraternity life in the 40's and 50's. The trend
male. All others feature coed living by wings and halls. points to an appreciation of the closeness of Greek life tempered
"I lived in a coed hall and I'd recommend it," said one by-a rejection of elitism and a reduction-in. its tradition.
sophomore woman. "It was very natural and definitely a Most of the campus's 50 sororities and fraternities are full,
learning experience."
YVONNE EVANS summed up the disadvantages and Ad-
vantages of life in all female Stockwell saying, "It'2 a good
place to study. The life there isn't bad if you have a steady
boyfriend.
Some of the larger dorms resemble self-contained com-
munities. Many have their own libraries and recreation rooms
complete with pinball machines and pool tables. Bursley Dorni-
tory on North Campus has its own student run store and East
Quad operates the Half-way Inn snack bar.
Most dorms have their own student governments whichI
organize events such as dances, movies, and special activities.
Both Bursley and Couzens have sponsored "Little Siblings"
weekends for residents' brothers and sisters.I
DORM LIFE does have its disadvantages, however. Study-
ing is 'almost impossible with the constant noise and activity.
Continual pranks occur ranging from stealing toilet paper to
phone tampering. In one dorm, a men's hall lined a women's
hall with 3000 liquor bottles collected after a football game last
fall.
Dorm services have been de::lining in the past decade.
Linen service and breakfast are no longer available. Janitorial
and maintenance services have also de;:lined.
All in all dorm life is not bad . . for a while. Snider sums
it up: "It's like marriage, the first year is fun but after that
you want out."
Bicycle craftsmen S C' N N O
of the world. -
_____Peugeot
with roughly 1,000 fraternity members and roughly 750 sorority
members. From a handful of members to over 60, each house
displays an attitude of its own, its own particular combination
of the old and the new. Greek life at the University, struggling
to deal with that blend, is embarking upon a new era.
ousin hunt hassles
By GEORGE LOBSENZ University Mediation Service.
Well, here you are at the Also, before you head out into
"Harvard of the Midwest" - the housing jungle, be stre to
home of high tuition, cheap dope pick up a copy of the Housing
and indisputably one of the most Code. This will give you an
rapacious rental markets in the idea of what to look for when
country. you're inspecting your potential
An incredibly low vacancy future home.
rate, a geographically. confined IF YOU FIND any faults with
market and Ann Arbor's own the dwelling, get your landlord
special species of landlord - to promise to fix them before
landlordius maximus dollarus- you move in. Then, write up
all conspire to make the search that same list of problems and
for the perfect off-campus pad make sure your landlord signs
a disillusioning if not debilitat- a statement binding him or her
ing experience. to make the repairs. This is the
HOWEVER, DESPITE the dis- one cardinal rule when dealing
mal housing scenario, the hap- with Ann Arbor landlords: al-
less, greenhorn tenant-to-be need ways get it in writing.
not despair unduly. There are It's also a good idea to check
several organizations in town out your prospective landlord.
that can succour, aid and abetI The best way to do this is to
you in your mission. talk to the present tenants of
A good place to start your any particular apartment or
quest for a humble abode is the house.
University Off-Campus Housing Be sure to ask the present
Office, located on the first floor tenants about utility costs. More
of the Student Activities Build- and more with the energy crisis,
ing. It offers such helpful serv- heating bills are figuring heav-
ices such as a complete listing ily in the over-all monthly pay-
of all forms of available hous- ments.
ing, a free phone to make hous-
ing inquiries, and hook-ups with Some final words of advice to
the Tenants Union (TU) and the See HOUSE, Page 5
GET ACQUAINTED
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