page tkree alSe irt

SENSUOUS
High-80
Low-).
a warm moist day;
green trees and
gentle breezes

Wednesday, June 23, 1971 ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN News Phone: 764-0552

Majority age
bill approved
in committee
LANSING () - The Senate Judiciary Committee yes-
terday approved for passage the "age of majority" bill,
but struck out a controversial provision to lower the state's
drinking age to 18.
Backers of "full adulthood" for those between 18 and
21 promised a floor fight to put the provision back into the
measure during Senate debate.
The Senate committee made other minor changes in
the bill, but did not strike provisions to allow 18-year-olds
to gamble.
In addition, the bill ex-
tends to 18 - year - olds a Robt.Hunter
myriad of rights now reserved
only for those over 21. They in-
clude making wills, becoming in- no longer on
volved in civil court suits and
signing legal contracts.
The bill does not cover vot-
ing in state and local elections,
since that is a matter for, con-
stitutional change. Ann Arbor officials plan to
Gov. William Milliken, has remove fired assistant Human
said he supports the entire pack- Rights Department Director
age, including the lower drinking Robert Hunter from the city
age payroll effective last Friday.
He reportedly was pleased that City Attorney Jerold Lax told
the measure had become unstuck City Council last night that
from the committee, which had Hunter-who was removed from
been considering the bill for sev- his position in February-would
eral weeks. not agree to a hearing proced-
Judiciary Chairman Robert ure on his case.
Richardson (R-Saginaw I also had Hunter had appealed his fir-
supported the entire bill in the ing to Federal District Court in
form it passed the House in Detroit, which ruled the city
early May. must hold a hearing on the case
But Richardson and two com- and place Hunter on the pay-
mittee members, Daniel Cooper roll until it is completed.
(D-Oak Park) and Basil Brown In his suit, Hunter charged
(D-Highland Park) joined Sen. that he was the victim of racial
Donald Biship (R-Roch-rte) in discrimination.
approving the modified bill. "The court never ruled on the
The twoDemocrats indicatet merits of Mr. Hunter's claim of
they would work to reinsert tiie discrimination, for the court be-
drinking provision, came convinced that the pro-
Bishop was the chief force be- cedures which had been followed
hind deletion of that section. e in dismissing Mr. Hunter had
said he had found "nothin' con- not complied with constitutional
clusive," but said therea wer requirements," Lax explained.
indications that lowerng the 
drinking age would increase trf- Lax said city officials had
fir accidents among younger per-. planned to have the hearing
sons. conducted by the American Ar-
Bishop said statistics now show bitration Association, but said
a high accident rate after age 16 Hunter and his attorney "neith-
-when a person may eba n a er accepted the arbitration not
driver's license - and sgain aft- gave reasons for not doing
er age 21 - the legal age to be- 50.>
gin drinking. He added that Hunter and his
The House passed the a'e of attorney had been notified that
majority bill May 4, 73-30, after if they did not respond to the
long debate on the drinkiag an city's proposal by noon June 12
gambling rights. Milliken had en- Hunter "could expect to be re-
dorsed the package reconmend- moved from the payroll."
ed by his Special Commission on Hunter apparently was con-
the Age of Majority March 8. . eshttearhitaon

-Daily-nary V inam
"THE SHANT," a building with a long, myst 'rous past, may become a city historical site.
'U faterntyreoa s
secretold cty bu ilin

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By BETH OBERFELDER
A shroud of secrecy is being
W gently lifted to ensure preserva-
tion of "The Shant," the myster-
ious vine-covered structure, next
to White's Market on E. William
St.
The structure dates back to
1878, when the Delta Kappa Epsi-
lon (DKE) fraternity paid $3,000
to build a private meeting place.
This year the alumni may spend
close to $40,000 to preserve the
building that is meaningful to
both themselves and the City of
Ann Arbor.
Traditionally the DKE brothers
have been reluctant to reveal
their chapel's use. But now the
story is unfolding.
Questioning passersby con-
atantly interrupt the construction
workers who are completing the
building's renovation program,
which includes updating the build-
ing's fireproofing, creating men
and women's bathrooms and add-
ing heat and air conditioning to
the antiquated "Shant."
A brick - layer commented.
"They see me replacing this brick
and want to know if I'm tearing
it down. I should put a few num-
bers on it and say we're going
* to the Henry Ford Museum."
The future of the chapel, which
will remain at 6111%. E. William,
is uncertain. Options, according
to John Hathaway, president of
the Ann Arbor Historical Cotn-
mission, include a possible gift
of the restored "Shant" to either
the city of Ann Arbor or. the Ann
Arbor Historical Fo dation, with
a contingency clause that the
DKE alumni may organize a stu-
dent group to keep the building
active.
If a second option is chosen,
"The Shant" would remain un-
der private ownership while be-
ing designated by the city as a
historic building to be permanent-
ly preserved. This would allow
the city to provide a tax shelter
and also ensure the building's
safety-from either sale for com-
mercial use or destruction.

Concern over the building pre-
sumably designed by William Le-
Baron Jenny, architect of the
first Chicago skyscrapewcs and the
first architecture professor at the
University, is prompted by its
historical and sentimental value.
The DKE chapel is toe only re-
maining Jenny building in Michi-
gan and is a good example sf 19th
century eclecticism. A congom-
eration of Rennaissance and
Gothic styles may be seen in the
structure's facade which is sym-
bolic of the secretive group that
used it. There are no windos's on
the first floor.
Until recently, the building sad
no electricity or heat. The. meet-
ings at half-past midnight every
other Saturday were lit by gas
light. Also, there had never been
plumbing within "The Shar."
Two of Jenny's historic inven-
tions have grown old with the

building. One is the heavy fire-
proof vault in the basement. Tn
other is a lightweight speedy ele-
vator, a hand dolly that rut';
from the basement to the presi-
dent's office on the second ficar.
Once, only male members of
the DKE fraternity were a llo.Vc.
to enter the building's sacred
chapel. Once when repair3 wet-v
necessary, the "Dekes" called on
a brother from Ohio to come and
do the job.
C-ange. after 93 years ties
ahead. Yet, because of the
changes made, the 1878 building
may become permanently pre-
served.
"Through historic prestrvat-
tion," cites Hathaway, "We can
make not only cities more attrac-
tive, but preserve some really
fine aspects of pedestrian so-
ciety."

POLITICAL GOALS

Strike support
By CHRIS PARKS
With the formation of a state-wide strike
support coalition, a Detroit sanitation workers'
strike set for July 1 may have implications beyond
the anticipated inconvenience for city residents.
The Michigan Strike Support Coalition (MSSC
organized by the National Caucus of Labor Com-
mittees-an offshoot of students for a Democratic
Society-is seeking through this strike and others
upcoming in the state, to press a series of politi-
cal demands.
The coalition is composed of members of var-
ious Michigan organizations including the Ann
Arbor Tenants Union and the Detroit Sanitation
Workers Union.
The idea of a strike support coalition is not
unique to the labor scene. Led by the Labor Com-
mittees, similar coalitions have been formed in
several cities across the nation including Balti-
more, Philadelphia and Nework.
The underlying thought behind these actions
has been expansion of local strikes by broadening
See COALITION, Page 10

coalition forms

group's decision would be bind-
ing, but Lax said he specifically
pointed out "that the arbitra-
tion was to be advisory."
"Because of Mr. Hunter's fail-
ure t agree t a procedure u-
der which the city had proferred
after much thought and which
could not reasonably be regarded
as unfair, it was concluded that
the city had made every effort
to comply with the judge's or-
der that Mr. Hunter be removed
from the payroll as of the close
of the current pay period," the
city attorney said.
Lax said he has filed a motion
in District Court asking that the
order to place Hunter back on
the payroll be modified or dis-
solved.
The Michigan Daily, edited and man-
aged by students at the University of
Michigan. News phone) 764-0552. Second
class postage paid at Ann Arbor, Mich-
ia. 420 Maynard Street, An Arbor,
Mtcalgae 48104. Pu'Oilshed daily Tues-
day through Sunday morning Univer-
sity year. Subscription rates: $10 by
carrier, $10 by malt.
Summer Session published Tuesday
through Saturday morning. Subscrip-
tion rates: $5 by carrier, $5 by mall.

SEVERAL MEMBERS of the Michigan Strike
Support Coalition meet in Ann Arbor last
night.