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Page 20-E-Thursday, September 10, 1981-The Michigan Daily
The Michigan Daily-Thursday, Sept
The local market
STUDENT GROUP FACES UNCER TA IN FUTUR E
PIRGIM
: consumer aid
0
Budget for eats
woe fully small
Shopping off-campus saves
By JENNY MILLER
Registering for classes at CRISP can
be a traumatic experience the first time
around. The confusion is often
heightened by people stopping you
every few feet in line to ask if you've
filled out your course evaluations yet (if
you did, you get a tootsie roll), or if
you'd like to check off your religious af-
filiation on your student verification
form, or if you'd like to contribute $2 to
PIRGIM.
"What's a PIRGIM?" new students
ask, and justifiably so. What is the
Public Interest Research Group in
Michigan, what does it do, and why
should it get our money?
PIRGIM IS A STATEWIDE con-
sumer action group, funded and con-
trolled by university students here and
at four other colleges in Michigan.
There are more than 170 "PIRGs" in
other states.
Safe energy, utility rate hikes, draft
registration, and women's safety are
some of the issues the organization is
concerned about, says Richard Levick,
campus programs coordinator.
PIRGIM works with "interests that
concern students as consumers,"
Cevick says, and the organization's
general goals are to provide services to
students, to educate them about
This is a
RUSH SLIP.
pressing issues, and to play the activist
role.
LEVICK SAID PIRGIM lost its
federal money from the Comprehensive
Employment Training Act because of
its anti-draft stance, and the
organization has drawn some criticism
that such a stance is not necessarily in
all of the public's interest.
Last year, 1,000 people participated
in a march co-sponsored by PIRGIM
to "take back the night" for women in
Ann Arbor. The march demonstrated
support for women's safety and for a
nighttime transportation service.
This year, the organization is backing
the "Truth in Heating Bill." It would
require landlords to show prospective
tenants copies of heating bills from the
previous two years.
LEVICK ALSO said PIRGIM will
continue to work this year on projects
concerning women's safety, housing,
safe energy, and recycling.
Past PIRGIM legislative successes
include the "Truth in Renting Act,"
which prohibits deception in tenants'
leases, and the "Lifeline Utility Rate
Structure Bill," passed in 1980.
This bill reverses the practice of
giving utility rate discounts for in-
creased use of electricity, which
discouraged energy conservation. Now,
the less energy used, the less paid per
unit of electricity.
THROUGH PIRGIM, information on
tenants' rights, toxic waste in Ann Ar-
bor's drinking water, and conscientious
objection to the draft is available to
students.
This year members are also
publishing a directory of doctors in
Washtenaw County, which will include
a listing of their fees and education.
Surveys of grocery stores, copy shop
prices, and banks in Ann Arbor are also
available.
PIRGIM is funded by a positive
check-off system. At registration,
students can contribute $2 by signing a
perforated section of their student
verification forms and giving it to a
PIRGIM representative.
The organization faced a possible loss
of this funding last winter. Under its
contract with the University, if student
support fell below 25 percent for two
consecutive terms, the CRISP privilege
could be revoked. This contract expired
last year.
PIRGIM SPENT most of the year
trying to rally student support and con-
tributions, and launched a drive to gain
support for a change in the new con-
tract from the positive check-off fun-
ding system to a refusable/refundable
system.
That system would have
automatically assessed each student $2
through tuition fees, but students who
would not want to support PIRGIM
could get a refund.
Although the University did not ap-
prove the change, the new contract
does not require that PIRGIM have a
minimum percentage of student sup-
port at CRISP.
Although student status is not
necessary for a person to become in-
volved in PIRGIM, Levick said 90 per-
cent of its volunteers are enrolled at the
University.
According to Levick, students can
gain experience in public speaking,
lobbying, formulating newsletters, and
organizing conferences through work
with the organization. They can "com-
bine the passive intake of education
with action," he said.
S.
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06
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Local museums lure
students from books
By JENNY MILLER
Tired of Quaddie burgers,aleftover
surprise, and fast "food" already?
There are alternatives to dorm food,
expensive restaurants, and Big Macs.
And if you're not a dorm-dweller, then a
delicious (depending on your cooking
expertise) home-cooked meal is only as
far away as your local food market.
Sticking to the food stores on-campus
may be detrimental to the budget,
though. Generally, the grocery stores
off-campus and the food co-ops are
cheaper, but there's a catch: transpor-
tation.
THE FOOD CO-OPS on Fourth Street
and on Packard are within biking or
walking distance, but the grocery
stores may require motorized transpor-
tation.
This problem is not as difficult as it
seems, however, even if you don't own a
car. There are two bus lines that run to
the Kroger's on Broadway. And, if you
live in an apartment building, there's
probably a lucky carowner there who's
willing to split gas costs to get to the
grocery store. Even with the cost of
gasoline, the savings gained by
frequenting the off-campus stores are
worth the trouble of finding transpor-
tation.
If you stick with the stores on cam-
pus, compare prices! Prices vary
greatly, and no single store is the
cheapest for everything, but the Village
Corners and the Food Mart on. S.
University come off as best best in a
PIRGIM market basket survey.
PIRGIM'S comparison between
Kroger's and Food Mart shows
Kroger's to be the cheapest. A basket of
milk, bread, orange juice, chicken,
eggs, margarine, and lettuce is $5.28 at
Kroger's, compared to $6.35 at Food
Mart.
While the campus food stores aren't
cheap, they do have some advantages
other than proximity over the larger
grocerystores. These smaller stores of-
fer more personal service, and many
have liquor licenses. They also are open
at later h'ours, a relief for the desperate
late-night munchies.
However, they cannot match the
grocery stores' selection. You won't
find everything you need at the campus
stores, and the shelves are usually
small and cramped.
MOST STUDENTS FIND that
making compatible food-sharing
arrangements with their fellow living
mates is easier on the budget than fen-
ding for themselves. Some share the
total cost of all food, and take turns
cooking; others share only for staples,
or choose some other arrangement that
pleases everybody.
If you hate to cook, but don't live in
the dorm, you can either get a meal
contract at one of the dorms (horrors!),
join a fraternity or sorority, latch onto a
roommate who cooks, or live in one of
the housing cooperatives. In a co-op you
can avoid the kitchen and get a decent
meal by doing other chores.
Because the eats budget is woefully
limited, students often eat un-balanced
meals, relying on starchy fillers and
junk food. This isn't necessary;
vegetables and fruits can round out the
average student's diet without too
much budget strain.
DURING THE summer and fall,
fresh vegetables, fruits, and other
items can be found at a good price at
the Farmer's Market at Detroit and
Ann streets. Somehow, sterile grocery
stores with grouchy check-out clerks
can't compare to mingling elbow-to-
elbow with fellow-Ann Arborites, chat-
ting and haggling prices with farmers,
and hugging the puppies (there are
always people looking for homes for
puppies).
Thefood co-ops are just down the
street. Certain items, such as milk and
peanut butter, are cheaper at the
grocery stores, but the food is generally
inexpensive here, even without a mem-
ber discount. Be careful, though; wilted
lettuce or rotten oranges are not worth
it at any price.
If you have the time, working as a
volunteer at one of the co-ops will earn
you a substantial discount. And if
you're a culinary buff, the Herb and
Spice Co-op is so outrageously cheap
you'll feel like a thief.
It is possible for the resourceful
student to eat well on a budget in Ann
Arbor. Work out a budget for yourself,
stick to it, compare prices, and make
use of the various food stores in the
area. Happy eating!
RUSH SLIP
LIST COURSE NUMBER
DEPARTMENT INSTRUCTOR COURSE NO. SECTION NO.
Just fill it out and
hand it to one of our clerks.
Your books will be brought to you.
It's that simple.
MORE THAN A BOOKSTORE
549 E. University at the corner of East U and South U. 662-3201.
Milk, whole, 2.35 2.15 1.79
one gallon
Eggs, large, .99 .89 .66
one dozen
Butter,1 lb., 2.30 2.09 2.05.
Land O' Lakes
Yogurt,8 oz., .60 .49 .61
Dannon
Bread, 20 oz., .95 .89 .39
cheapest brand
Head of lettuce .75 .69 .88
Orange juice, .50 .53 .42
61/% oz. concentrate
Potatoes, 1 lb. .30 .43 .35
Peanut butter, 2.70 2.29 2.07
18 oz.
Cookies, 19 1.45 1.79 1.75
oz., Oreos
By ANNETTE STARON
Before a final, when trying to get out
of the rain, or for just a moment of quiet
serenity, ducking into one of the
University's four museums and
galleries might be a good idea.
"Nydia" greets visitors to the
University's Museum of Art. This mar-
ble statue of a young girl was the
University's first piece of art work,
purchased in 1862. Since then, the
University's art collectionhas grown to
contain thousands of pieces, including
works by andy Warhol and Helen
Frankenthaler.
NONE OF THE collection is stored
beneath the Museum in a climate-
controlled basement. Selected pieces,
especially museum visitors' favorites
(like the Monet and Whistler), are
almost always on display in the West
Gallery. Upon request, others in the
basement can be viewed.
Special shows are set up in the rotun-
da area on the second floor and in the
North and South Galleries. Past shows
have included exhibits of Ansel Adams
photographs, French etching, and work
by 44 Southeast Michigan artists in one
regional show.
The Museum, which usually has two
shows in addition to the permanent one,.
is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday
through Saturday and fromj 1-5 p.m. on
Sunday.
* * *
ON STATE STREET, not to be con-
fused with the Helen Newberry
women's residence hall stands the
Kelsey Museum of Archaeology. A step
inside the stone and mortar building
will transport the visitor to a time and
place removed from the harried pace of
University life.
Treading on creaky wooden floors,
peering into glass cases and into the
faces of men and women portrayed in
marble, stone, and pottery from long
ago, it's easy to become lost in ancient
Greece, Rome, and surrounding
Islamic countries.
Named after Francis Kelsey, who
started the collection of archaeological
objects in 1893, the building was bought
by the University for $1 in 1937. Now,
the museum collections holds 90,000 ob-
jects from the Mediterranean and Near
East.
IN THE .BEGINNING, most objects
came from gifts or purchases. But in
1924 the University began excavations
which yielded more artifacts than
gifts and purchases had. The ex-
cavations produced pottery, bones,
figurines, coins, bronzes, and building
materials:
More recently the University has
taken part in other excavation ex-
peditions to Palestine, Syria, Libya,
See LOCAL, Page 23
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