The Michigan Daily-Thursday, September 9, 1982-Page 3-C
City offers a housing hodgepodge
anything from a dorm, where basically
all they have to worry about is getting
along with their roommates, to a co-op,
where they are in charge of the total
house budget, including room and
board costs.
Dormitories
Convenience. This is probably the
most appropriate word to sum up life in
a dorm. Meals are cooked, utility bills
are taken care of, and the lease mat-
ches the length of the academic year.
Dorm living also provides the ideal op-
portunity to meet people.
But you also must share those
prepared meals with up to 800 other
people, bathe with another 30, and see a
lot of people who you would sometimes
rather avoid.
MOST STUDENTS who leave the
dorm after one year do so because they
want to try a new living experience, ac-
cording to Ed Salowitz, University
director of residence operations. "Very
few say negative things about food
quality, rules, or cost," he said.
Although the University's housing of-
fice advises freshmen to live in a dorm
(98 percent do) and suggests to older
students it might be to their advantage
to try an alternative lifestyle, a number
of sophomores and juniors do live in the
dorms, Salowitz said.
University senior Jim Lochner said
he lived in West Quad for three years
because "it seemed like the easiest way
to do things."
DURING 1981, one-quarter of all
sophomores and 9 percent of all juniors
lived in the dorms, according to housing
office figures. The dorms are usually 99
percent full.
Although the cost per room in a dorm
runs higher than most off-campus
housing, many students feel it is worth
it to pay extra, considering added at-
tractions such as convenient and inex-
pensive laundry facilities and a library
within the dorm.
For the 1982-83 academic year, the
cost per person in traditional Univer-
sity housing (East, West, and South
Quads, the hill dorms, Barbour,
Newberry, and Bursley), is $2204.46 fbr
a triple, $2499.72 for a double, and
$2963.70 for a single.
THE ANNUAL price increase usually
ranges from 8 to 10 percent for these
traditional dorms, Housing Advisor
Marlene Martyk said.
Oxford Housing (University-owned
co-ops) include houses for French,
German, and Russian students.
Rooming options at Oxford range from
suites for four with a kitchen for
$1520.70 to double rooms where meals
are served and students are assigned
jobs for $1973.58. Three-person apar-
tments and quadruple rooms are also
available.
Other non-traditional University
residences include Baits, a co-ed com-
plex of mostly upper level and graduate
students, Fletcher, an all male unit
whose residents range from
sophomores to graduate students, and
See ANN ARBOR, Page 6
AATU stillt n the fight
for better local housing
By FANNIE WEINSTEIN
Although both landlords and tenants
are becoming increasingly aware of
their rights and responsibilities,
housing remains one of the most
distressing problems facing students in
Ann Arbor, said Dale Cohen, of the Ann
Arbor Tenants Union (AATU).
"I don't think there are as many
severe problems as there were 15 years
ago," Cohen said. "People are
generally more aware. There's more
information available." In Addition, he
said, the housing code has also been
made stricter.
COHEN ADDED, however, that the
Ann Arbor housing situation could still
stand to improve a great deal. "I
wouldn't say we're in heaven now," he
said.
A loosely organized group of students
who had been withholding their rent
from landlords to gain better main-
tenance service formed AATU in 1968.
The original group eventually grew to
roughly 1200 tenants who placed more
than $150,000 into an escrow account
that year.
THE RENT STRIKE gained national
attention and many tenants received
maintenance improvements. Others
were awarded partial reductions in
rent.
"All of a sudden, the city and the
state were aware that there were
problems in this area. . . that housing
was a major problem," Cohen said.
In recent years, however, AATU has
become a resource center, Cohen ex-
plained, which was not its original pur-
pose. The organization must redirect it-
self toward organizing campaigns to
improve housing, he said.
"There are no one time complaints.
We're seeing the same problems over
and over again," Cohen said. "We
really need to get at the root of the
problem."
Presently, AATU is working on
modifying city housing codes. Main-
tenance and security have always been
problems, Cohen said, and because-of
this, AATU is seeking improvements in
insulation standards, and security
measures, such as exterior lighting.
As a means of achieving reform, rent
strikes are usually successful, accor-
ding to Cohen, if they are organized
well.
COHEN SAID tenants shouldn't be
afraid to seek housing improvements.
"Clearly, what you're paying for is
worth your time. If you are not getting
what you paid for, it's worth kicking up
some dust."
Tenants must be beware, Cohen said,
because as do apartments, landlords
also vary in quality.
"There are some landlords I'd like to
see out of business and some are better
than others," he said. "It's not always
See AATU, Page 4
Daily Photo by JACKIE BELL
FORTUNATELY FOR students, the Ann Arbor housing situation isn't as
tight as it used to be.
Ann Arbor shopping has plenty of variety
Campus area provides stores
for almost all your needs .. .
By AMY GAJDA
Shopping in Ann Arbor can be a real
treat for both the pocketbook and the
personage. The stores on campus and
those in the surrounding area hold finds
from super radical to super prep, from
super cheap to super expensive.
jSay, for instance, you needa gift for
someone, but have class all day. No
problem. Literally on campus are all
types of shops. State and South Univer-
sity Streets are lined with them. On
*your' way to the MLB or East
engineering, a gift shop or a clothing
store is not hard to find.
JACOBSON'S DEPARTMENT store
has what one would expect from a
large, chain department store. Jacob-
son's is alone near State Street in terms
of its variety; most other stores
'mecialize for certain clientele.
1 Kresge's, the cheap, yet sacred Ann
Arbor tradition, is a miniature K-Mart
. on' the corner of State and North
University Streets. It may be tacky, but
you can always grab a hamburger at
the lunch counter while picking up a
much needed package of envelopes.
."The State Street Business District,
.which includes Liberty Street, is
dominated by record stores and
clothing shops-most of which are
directed toward student tastes. There
are at least nine small clothing shops
and five record stores.
SHOULD YOU have the desire to do
even more reading than you're
assigned in class, Border's Book Store
has one of Ann Arbor's best selections.
Other State Street spots frequented'
by many students are Richardson's
Drugs for the answer to your December
sniffles and the Crown House of Gifts
for a huge selection of gift cards..
But if you're an engineering student
who lives on the hill, for instance, and
you don't have the desire to walk down
to State Street, South University Street
provides a nearly identical list of stores
(only the names are changed).
SIX CLOTHING stores line South
University Street. These are oriented
slightly more toward the preppy look,
with names such as Izod, Polo, and
Calvin Klein featured in several stores.
South University Street's collection of
specialty stores includes Middle Earth,
a shop with a great collection of other-
than-Hallmark cards, unique jewelry,
and gadgets and even clothing for the
earthy types. Don't be put off by the
store's exterior; once inside you'll find
an abundance of goodies.
For "just a pinch" of tobacco, a fine
$2 cigar, or just a cheap stogy, A-
Square Tobacconist will fill those sinful
desires. South University Street also
has a one-of-a-kind drugstore: The
Village Apothecary.
BALFOUR, SITUATED on South
University near the fraternities and
sororities, is the answer to anyone's
Greek letter needs. Balfour has Thetas
and Omegas on everything from mugs
to shorts and socks.
Although many underclassmen don't
realize it, life in Ann Arbor does exist
beyond the borders of campus. Most of
the city's larger stores are located in
the Downtown, or Main Street, area. De-
Ford, Goodyear, and Klein's are among
the city's well-established department
stores.
If the newsstands don't have enough
to satiate your pornographic appetite,
South Fourth Avenue is the city's own
little Times Square.
THE PLACE for preppies is Pap-
pagallos on East Liberty Street, where
everything that can be found or made in
Madras is in stock-even watchbands.
Harry's Army and Navy Surplus on
East Washington Street has all the ser-
vice gear you'll ever need (unless
there's a war) from sailor tops to army
boots. If the rabbit look is more your
Daily Photo by DEBORAH LEWIS
STATE STREET STOREFRONTS pull in students who may be looking for something to do between classes or
searching for the perfect gift.
style, try Lucky Costumes on Main
Street. Wilderness Outfitters does just
what the name says-it Fits you for
going Out in the Wilderness.
Ann Arbor has its own fancy subur-
ban shopping complex at State Street
and Interstate 94 called Briarwood. On
its outer edges are Sears, Hudsons and
Lord and Taylor. Inside is a world of
smaller shops with books, records,
clothes, and more.
ANN ARBOR'S lesser shopping malls
are Arborland-the home of Mon-
tgomery Ward-on Washtenaw Avenue
near U.S. 23 and Maple Village, which
is off Jackson Road at Interstate 94.
Even with the limits of a student
budget, the average University student
finds his or her way to many of Ann Ar-
bor's stores. At least many Ann Arbor
merchants count on it.
...For the prurient interest, there's 4th Ave.
By MICHAEL HUGET
Sleaziness pervades even the streets
Where scholars walk.
But moms and dads don't have to
worry. Ann Arbor's "red light" district
is confined to three fairly inconspicuous
establishments tucked four blocks
away from campus in downtown Ann
Arbor, a good distance away from the
University and the temptations of eager
freshpersons.
COMPARED TO some of Detroit's
"red light" districts, this is kiddieland.
An occasional prostitute can be seen
sauntering in front of the three
establishnents-Sensually Yours, The
Velvet Touch, and Adult News and
Books-but the loiterers most frequen-
tly are white males, both young and old.
The most unique of the three is The
Velvet Touch, a bogus bordello
decorated in a tacky '30s motif. Cheap,
paper-thin wood panelling covers the
walls of the stairway that leads up to
the dimly lit lobby of this "massage
parlor/escort service." Once there, you
are greeted by a sign proclaiming that
"all our girls are to be escorted to
public places. . ." Another sign adver-
tises the offerings-from a half-hour
topless massage for $30 to a deluxe
Roman bath for some exorbitant sum of
money.
BEFORE YOU get a good chance to
absorb the sordid surroundings, the
hostess greets you in the lobby and asks
if this is your first visit. After her brief
rundown of the offerings, a choice is
made-then comes the selection of the
"exotic girl" who is chosen through a
one-way mirror.
"Uh, her, I guess."
"Come out here, Sally."
YOU ARE then beckoned down the
hallway, past a shower/bath room, and
into a parlor meekly illuminated with
a blue fluorescent light, as disco music
pulsates out of the speakers. Mirrors
cover most of the walls, and the only
furnishings are a massage table and an
armchair off in the corner.
"Have you ever been here before?"
"No." ,
"Did you know what to expect before
you came?"
"Not really."
"Well, we can do a little extra, but we
aren't allowed to say. Sex is not
allowed. We can't do oral sex either.
It's considered penetration."
"Oh, and what does this little extra
involve?"
"Another $30."
THE PLACE is pure business.
They are extremely careful and try not
to cross that fine line that divides legal
and illegal massage parlor activities.
What is most unsettling, however, is
their prosaic treatment of you; it can be
just as annoying as going to Mc-
Donalds. The massages, which are
supposed to be less physical therapy
and more sexual, aren't really much of
anything. Unless, of course, you are
willing to spend a few more dollars.
Sensually Yours and Adult News and
Books each offer similar merchandise:
See FOR, Page 7
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