Page Two THE MICHIGAN DAILY Ih ~I ursdav. S atrI49.r1979 WJSArfl.W.Wflfln .nw.gnnAsv1w JVW 7, 1 7 1 V 1 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 * uarDI of supplementary materials " SiFLEX rnMt Ma- for : ECFMG missed lessons NAT'L MED DOS : NAT'L DENT BDS : ! write or call: " 1945 Pauline Blvd. a " Ann Arbor 48103 " ' 662-3149 "" * 4 * 0 EDUCATONAL CENTER! TEST PREPARATION " SPECIALISTSSINCE 19M8" " branches in Maior*U 5Cis Housing: A grab bag of d op tions i I 0=6 tenants plaUe by landlord r piray C pirasy y g? , 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. WATERBEDS s Hare's Ear , : y~~arl ;",: ... ......... j. ..,. . . ..i~r = SOFT FURNITURE SELLING ONLY LAP-SEAM WATERMATIRESSES KING, QUEEN, DOUBLE, OR SINGLEI ALL SIZES THE SAME PRICE! 9 I 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 GIFT i Let Us Sweeten You Up with a RUSSELL STOVER Candy GIFT BOX (PLFASE PRESENT THIS AD) ..k., _.:. . it ;'{ {ti' f :::#}.;:." >a>:: :i 'is " '"ic >: kY 'r:J