Page 8E-E-Thursday, September 4, 1980-The Michigan Daily
d
FEELI
G
VIED?
Detroit area thrives with
culture, ethnic variety
u
U
FOR
:,
URE
OF
OU RSELF?
By KEVIN TOTTIS
If one city in the United States is
continuously marred by negative
publicity, it is Detroit. But despite the
"Motor City's" high crime rate and un-
sightly.downtown area, it offers studen-
ts a spectrum of cultural and social ac-
tivities just waiting to be taken advan-
tage of.
Anyone willing to make the 45-minute
drive to reach downtown Detroit has
the opportunity to experience anything
from a rowdy afternoon at Tiger
Stadium to a serene venture through
the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA).
REPUTED TO BE one of the top
museums in the country, the DIA is
commonly referred to as the heart of
Detroit's cultural scene. Some of the
museum's highlights include the Dutch
and Flemish galleries, the recently
opened African and Native American
gallery, and the unique Graphics Arts
Center, which is the newest in the coun-
try.
Across the street from the institute
sits the Detroit Historical Museum,
which is one of the largest municipally
run historical museums in the country.
The most popular of the museum's
exhibits is the "old fashioned city,"
located in the museum's basement.
Here, visitors can take a stroll back
through a rendition of Dearborn's
historical Greenfield Village.
Sitting majestically on the Detroit
River is the most recent addition to the
city's skyline-the Renaissance Center.
Regarded as the city's biggest tourest
trap, the center features 73 story Plaza
Hotel, Detroit's largest office building.
Surrounding the hotel are four identical
office buildings and a large collection of
boutiques, restaurants, and other
assorted stores. At the top of the hotel is
Detroit's only revolving restaurant,
known as The Summit. (The view is
spectacular, but the food, unfor-
tunately, does not always reach the
same heights.)
A FEW MILES from the Renaissance
Center lies the London Chophouse. This
restaurant's international cuisine is ex-
cellent, but since it is a five star
restaurant, expect to pay five star
prices.
After dining out, it's always nice to
complement the evenings by taking in a
play at the Fisher Theater. Its schedule
generally includes big productions,
such as "Annie," "Chorus Line," and
"The Best Little Whorehouse in
Texas."
Playgoers should also eAlore the
Music Hall, Wayne State Uversity's
Hilberry Theater, and the Attic
Theater.
Dance patrons can take advantage of
the Music Hall recital series, which in
recent years has featured the Martha
Graham and Alvin Ailey Dance Com-
panies. The series usually lasts from{
October through April.
IF YOU ARE not interested in
theater or dance, Detroit's various con-
cert halls consistently feature headline
acts like Ted Nugent, The Clash, and
Earth, Wind, and Fire among other
prominent rock bands. Most concerts
take place at either Olympia Stadium,
Cobo Hall, the new Joe Louis Arena, or
the smaller Masonic Temple.
If the wailings of Ted Nugent have a
tendency of contorting your Beethoven-
bred mind, the Detroit Symphony Or-
cherstra may satisfy your craving for
classical music. It is one of the top
symphony orchestras in the country,
and under the direction of Maestro An-
hemisphere, and features an.
acquarium and a "conservatory."
"Greektown" has been around the
city for years, although it wasn't such a
popular ethnic neighborhood until
recently. Appetities yearning for
baklava can be satisfied on Monroe St.,
nearby downtown Detroit. Fresh hot
Greek bread can be found early in the
morning at any of the Greek town's
bakeries.
For ethnic activities other than those
found in Greek town, the riverfront's
a
".
I
Daily Photo by MAUREEN O'MALLEY
DETROIT'S RENAISSANCE CENTER has become the dominating figure in the
motor city skyline. The 73-story complex is one of the many attractions that
draw University students from Ann Arbor.
J
pro:
two-
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tal Dorati, the symphony is rapidly am
proaching international fame.
Local'jazz buffs can often find their
favorite artists playing at intimate.
nightclubs in the midtown area. The
two most popular establishments,
Baker's Keyboard Lounge and Watts
Club Mozambique consistently host
major mainstream and progressive
jazz musicians.
One of the area's highlights during
the day is Belle Isle. It is one of the only
island parks in the western
Hart Plaza features a n er of ethnie
festivals from late May to September
Various nationalities, such as Polish
Japanese, and Albanian are'represen
ted throughout the summer months.
Baseball fanatics continue to flock to
the newly renovated Tiger Stadiumi
The Olympia, Cobo Hall, Pontiac's
Silverdome, and the Joe Louis Arend
also sponsor a wide range of
professional sports teams, including
the Lions, Pistons, Red Wings, and the
Express.
Hopwood awards encourage
student writer aspirations
a
By GEOFFREY OLANS
Encouragement is rarely so important
as it is for the aspiring writer.
Wrestling with frustration, despair and
lingeijng self-doubt, he must plod along
that not-so-unfamiliar, crumpled-
paper-strewn path unknowing where it
will leave him.
At the University, however, the
writer's plight has not gone unnoticed.
Several campus-based groups have
long acknowledged talented student
writers and helped them develop the
self-confidence necessary for greater
literary achievement.
THE HOPWOOD Organization is the
most notable of these. Located in the
Hopwood Room at 1003 Angell Hall, it is
best known for the Jule Hopwood and
Avery Hopwood Awards it has presen-
ted since 1930. The Hopwood Awards
are presented twice a year, in April and
in August, in honor of Avery Hopwood,
a former U-M student famous for
writing and producing bedroom farces
for the Broadway stage. Jule Avery
was his mother.
In his will, Avery Hopwood left
$300,000 to the University for the pur-
pose of encouraging creative writing.
He stipulated annual awards be presen-
ted to student writers "who perform the
best creative work in the fields of
dramatic writing, fiction, poetry and
essary." He also said "the new, the
unusual and the radical shall be
especially eneouraged."
Today, after 50 years of tradition, the
contest is still "unique and one of its
kind," according to Hilda Bonham,
assistant to the director of the Hopwood
nraninat.in nt 9ar 45 m anuserin-
4
Daily Photo by DAVID HARRIS
One of the Hopwood room's many features is what seems like an infinite number
of literary periodicals and magazines.
test, where the prize money is often
much greater and the competition
much keener.
Each year judges are chosen from
among the men and women who have
distinguished themselves in writing and
include such people as Thorton Wilder,
W. H. Auden and John Erskine: Con-
testants tend to be judged less for their
"polished professionalism" than for
signs of creative promise. Among
several well-known past winners are
Arthur, Miller, John Ciardi, and the
Universitv's own Prof. Robert Hayden.
decisions to persevere. Others, some of
whom are still on campus, said the
money was a big incentive and winning
the award made life much easier. F
Other creative writing awards the
Hopwood Organization adminsters are
the Marjorie Rapaport Award in
Poetry, the University of Michiga6
Childen's Book Council Award, the Jef-
frey Weisberg Memorial Prize ip
Creative Writing, the Academy of
American Poets Prize, the Bain-
Swigget Prize and the Michael R. Gut-
terman Award.