4 Page 6-B- The Michigan Daily - Thursday, September 8, 1983 Students rush for campus Greek life By BARBARA MISLE Before students come to the Univer- ity, "rush," means getting to class in a hurry or the dizzy feeling in your head %ter you've been out in the sun too lbng. But at college, rush is the time- consuming process of choosing-and being chosen-to join one of the 52 sororities and fraternities on campus. STARTING SEPT. 11 for women and ept. 14 for men, sororities and frater- 9ities will sponsor parties on campus to tecruit, or rush, incoming students into tbeir organizations. i Rush works differently for men and *omen. 3 Sorority rush operates very formally for the nearly 850 women who undergo the three-week event. RUSH INCLUDES four sets of par- ties, with each session narrowing down the number of women sororities invite hack. The morning after parties, rushees pick up "invitations," (computer print- out sheets) in the Michigan Union listing names of sororities which have invited them back. Rushees can also eliminate sororities, or drop out of rush at any point along the way, said Panhellenic Association Advisor Mary Beth Seiler. The Panhellenic board oversees sororities and the rush process. FRATERNITIES OPERATE rush with considerably less structure. Fraternity rush begins on a Sunday night, and men can visit any house they choose. There is no initial rush fee, as there is with women, or computerized invitations for rushees. While some houses require men to sign in at the parties, others use more elaborate methods such as photographing each rushee and flashing his picture on a screen after. the party at the "hash session," said Scott Russell, rush chairman for the inter-fraternity council. The "hash-session" is a meeting following the rush parties when frater- nity or sororiity members discuss the rushees, to decide whether they will fit into the house, Russell said. Unlike the computerized invitations sororities use, fraternities can invite men to join at any time during the week, and the men are not required to respond until the last day. "NO ONE IS CUT from a house, but by the last day if a student hasn't received a bid, he gets the idea," said Russell. Following rush, men and women go through a pledge period until the end of the semester. During this time studen- ts decide whether they want to become an active member. On the average, sororities charge $350 in pledge dues and fraternities ask for $25. MOST OF THE fraternities and sororities on campus own houses and require members to live in them for some period of time. The costs are about $200 cheaper than the dor- mitories, and members say social fees and dues are comparable to a semester's cost of going to the bars. Students who rush shouldn't believe the stereotypes about certain houses, said Seiler. Every year students think there are only a few "good" houses, but each sorority offers advantages and they are not looking for a particular type of person. "Go through with an open mind and see if it can offer you something," she said. "Whether or not you join a sorority, it is a good experience to go through rush." There are no strict rules about what to wear, she added. "People wear pret- ty much what they are comfortable in," she said. Typically, however, the dress for women becomes more formal with each successive - party, Seiler said About 5 percent of students are in the Greek system, and 6.4 percent of the campus lives in a fraternity or sorority house in any given term. 14 I E COME JOIN US * FELT OWSfTIP " WORSHIP * Daily Photc Rush may be one of the most nerve racking periods of the year for some people, but once students enter the Greek system the nerves calm and the social life picks up. These Greeks race to stack kegs for charity. Co-ops offer more than I 4 tofu, sprouts, and hippies By JAYNE HENDEL Freaked-out hippie types subsisting on diets of tofu and alfalfa sprouts may be the stereotyped co-op resident, but they are rare exceptions among 600 University co-op dwellers. - Ranging from modern auadrangle buildings to a gigantic former sorority house, cooperatives house a diverse group of students linked by common living situations and the Inter- Cooperative Council (ICC). Cooperative houses are completely owned and operated by residents. Through house meetings and the ICC government, members set their own rents and share the responsibilities of purchasing and preparing food and keeping up the house. CO-OPS HAVE been able to sustain a solid membership for many years because of the cost savings and the group living opportunities they offer students, members say. They are a perfect compromise bet- ween fraternities and sororities and rental apartment living, says Rolf Wucherer, one of the four full-time ICC coordinators. "Co-ops are similar to fraternities or sororities except we're co-ed and we operate the houses, he said. "WE DON'T HAVE buckets in the Diag, and ask people to vote for the prettiest sorority sister," said Wucherer. "We're people living DalIy Photo by ELIZABETH SCOTT Minnies Co-op, better known as the "purple house." Campus cooperatives offer group living at cheaper prices than residence halls or sororities and fraternities. together as people." Todd MacGregor, a co-op resident, said co-op dwellers are "just like anyone else, except we might eat more tofu." The largest campus co-ops, Xanadu and Lenny Bruce, house 53 members, while the smallest, Osterweil, houses 13. "It's friendly and easy to find people that you like," said Clare I III Cloutier, president of Xanadu house. SAVING MONEY is probably the biggest advantage of co-ops. Co-ops are cheaper than most fraternities and sororities, University residence halls; and off-campus housing. Because each house is responsible for planning its own budget, the cost of living varies between co-ops. But on the average, residents pay about $235 a month for room, board, and extras such as cable television, free laundry, and newspapers, Wucherer said. University residence halls cost about $315 per month for room and board; while off-campus apartments and houses can cost over $200 without in= 4 cluding food. "WORK IS PART of the cooperative secret of how we can cooperate for so little money,"Wucherer said. Residents are required to work at the house for four to five hours each week. Duties include bread baking, bathroom cleaning, and dishwashing. Members can also receive work credit for being involved in ICC activities. Work is scheduled around members' classes and other activities. ALTHOUGH SOME jobs can get tedious, members say others are rather interesting. "The cooks really get into it, the food turns out really well," said ICC President Marcel Salive. In addition to helping keep costs down, the work requirement creates a sense of family among house residents, co-op members said. "Co-ops have- a great sense of community," Salive 4W ZIP% Iw' Wce" 11 ' i