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Substance-free liig on the
rise in CamIs residence halls jI.
The MicIn Daily Weekend
21 State of the Arts
BRINGING LIFE TO DEATH
By Cortney Dueweke
For the Daily
Many students, while filling out their
housing request sheets, may have
noticed a space for selecting substance-
free housing. With the college student
stereotype of partying and drinking,
how many people actually opt to live in
these rooms?
More than you'd think.
In fact, says Alan Levy, Director of
Housing Public Affairs at the University
since 1993, about 30 percent of students
living in the residence halls are in sub-
stance-free housing,
The program was first offered as an
option to students in fall of 1989.
Unlike many other universities imple-
menting substance-free programs, the
University placed clusters of these
kinds of rooms in every residence hall
on campus instead of centering them in
one particular dorm. Why? Because
there are a number of living/learning
communities based out of different res-
idence halls.
"We wanted to make sure nobody
was precluded from any opportunities
because they chose substance-free
housing," said Levy.
When the program began, there were
500 spaces deemed substance-free. Even
that was not enough to fulfill demand;
700 of 1,200 applicants were turned away
in 1989. The option has expanded over
the years and the pool has since grown to
2,600 spaces. This year, substance-free
rooms were very close to being filled by
applicants, but a small decline in requests
forced a few students to be housed in the
rooms without previously applying.
Specially designated housing may
seem almost redundant since all dorms,
substance-free or not, are supposed to
penalize the use of alcohol and drugs in
the rooms.
"A THROBBING SUCCESS.
TUMULTUOUSLY PERCUSSIVE."
- DETROIT FREE PRESS --
"Parents and some students say to us,
'If these rooms are substance-free,tdoes
that mean that anything goes elsewhere
in housing?"' said Levy. "The answer is
'No.' We enforce Michigan policy in all
residence halls whether they are sub-
stance-free or not in regards to under-
age drinking."
But the substance-free areas are,
according to a housing statement, "an
additional measure of support for indi-
viduals who choose not to drink,
smoke, or use other drugs." Choosing a
substance-free room means committing
to an agreement between students that
they will respect the others in the area
by not smoking, drinking or using drugs
in their rooms. The only real difference
between penalties in substance-free and
regular housing is that a person living in
a substance-free room is more likely to
be removed on the first offense than
someone in regular housing.
When students who had lived in sub-
stance-free housing were surveyed by
the Housing Department, many stu-
dents said that they "were not necessar-
ily non-drinkers, but that in their home
they wanted to be free from the worst
aspects of a campus alcohol culture."
Many students request substance-free
housing to avoid the noise and varidal-
ism associated with alcohol consump-
tion. Other students simply don't want
to drink and choose substance-free
rooms in order to get roommates with
a similar outlook.
"I think it works pretty well," said
Engineering first-year student Thomas
Ambrose, a resident of Couzens
Residence Hall. "I never notice any-
body drinking or using anything in
here. I requested it so I could get my
studies done ... just because it's a little
bit of a better environment."
LSA first-year student Paul Tyll
lives in a substance-free room in Mary
Markley Residence Hall. "I requested
it because I'm looking for a quieter
atmosphere," Tyll said. "Some people
choose to drink but they don't drink
here, they drink elsewhere. We have no
problem around here."
"I wanted to be in substance-free
(housing) because I can't stand smok-
ing and drinking. There are a lot of
problems that can arise from that. I
If you recall from my last column, you
will remember that I spent May and June
in New Hampshire for the New England
Literature Program. While at .NELP I
studied the poetry
of the region, re-
examining the
witty meanings
and punctuation
of the beloved
Emily "D," trying
to bring some sort
of sense to her
maddened world.
When Emily
became tiresome Christopher Tkaczyk
we'd pick up the Daily Arts Editor
threatening black
and white volume of Bob Frost's nature
odes and wile away our days to merry
Irish tunes played on a cheap penny
whistle. Her and his words had evolved
into a sort of breath which became suffo-
catingly shut off when I restored myself
to Michigan.
After returning from New Hampshire,
I worked in the office of a district court
near my hometown. Longing for the
serenity of the East and desiring fulfill-
ment for my poetic void, I happened
upon my heavy volume of "The Norton
Anthology of Modern Poetry, Second
Edition" while searching through my
boxes of books. I had been trying to
recover my copy of "Poe's Poems" when
I chanced upon the Norton volume, for
which I paid a pretty 5,000 pennies at
Shaman Drum the previous fall semester.
Straightening the dog-eared paperback
cover, I hefted the book out of the box and
lugged it to work with me the next day.
Covering an age range from 22 to 62,
my fellow employees were mostly
women. Everyday I slaved to the sounds
of office conversations boasting grand-
children, flower gardens and the latest
going-out-of-business sale. While the
atmosphere of the office was mostly
menopausal, it was a wholesome experi-
ence in the presence of good people.
But there was something missing.
Amid the constantly ringing phones of
the traffic bureau and the nagging "cus-
tomers" who appeared religiously every-
day to pay fines and costs, I found not
one speck of cheerfulness. The dreary
sadness of the judicial world had crept
out from underneath the judge's gavel
and into our small office, a source for the
world's bad news. I detested informing
irate individuals of their overdue traffic
citations. "No, sir, your $75 speeding
infraction doesn't go into my pocket."
While my temporary position at the
court didn't exactly pervade me from
giving orders to my fellow workers, I
took it upon myself to send a staff-wide
memorandum which would instill a new
intra-office policy. I hadn't asked for per-
mission to do such a thing, but I figured,
"What the hell? What can I lose?" When
I distributed the news, the response was
less than favorable. "A poetry reading?
Here? What does the judge think of this?
Maria (the court administrator) won't
like this idea."
My plan had been simple: Each day, I
wanted to lead the hesitant workers in the
reading of a poem. We were to interrupt
our procedures at 3 p.m. everyday while
one person read aloud from my Norton
anthology. After the initial radical shock
penetrated the office, Barb confessed
that her reading voice wasn't so good,
and that she wouldn't be able to partici-
pate. Dolly, always a fun-loving individ-
ual, agreed to a reading. "But you'll have
to pick one out for me," she said. "I
haven't read much poetry since I was in
school." Cindy and Wendy, the office's
youngest workers, helped provoke inter-
est when they agreed to read poems by
Sylvia Plath and Adrienne Rich. For the
first reading, I chose Yeats' "When You
are Old." Dolly had often joked with me
about my age and how she was envious
of my nightly doings and goings. At first
she seemed insulted that I picked a poem
about old people for her to read. It had
a
..z
lSA first-year students Hilary Gallanter and Gennifer in Mary Markley Residence Hall, live
in one of University housings dozens of substance-free halls.
think substance-free housing is a good
policy," said Mosher-Jordan Resident
Adviser Robert Reid.
Some other students, however, were
less eager to praise the program.
"I don't think it makes any differ-
ence," said LSA sophomore Julius
Bunek, who lives in a substance-free
room in Mosher-Jordan Residence
Hall. "If people want to, they drink
anyway. I don't think it's any quieter
here:'
"The people that want to drink just
close their doors. Substance-free
(housing) reduces the incidence of
drinking, but if people want to, they
are just as able here as anywhere else,"
said fellow Mosher-Jordan resident
and LSA sophomore Mark Powers.
Plenty of students living in the sub-
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stance-free housing say they are fairly
satisfied with the program and were
more than happy to vouch for its suc-
cess. Overall, substance-free housing
seems to mark a new consciousness in
college attitudes. Some students are
now - at least, in theory -- saying
"no" to the typical college drinking
habits, or at least separating them from
their academic lives in order to accom-
plish what they came here for.
"I respect people who are in sub-
stance-free housing," said LSA first-
year student Steven Kyritz, who lives
in Mary Markley Residence Hall.
"There is a lot of peer pressure on
campus and I respect the fact that
they're willing to take a stand and say,
'No, I'm not going to get involved in
that."'
EVERYTHING
YOU NEED
TO KNOW
AND WHY
IS IN***s
THE LisT.
[N Video Pick of the Week
Oct. 8: "Hairspray"
Staring a younger and more round Ricki Lake before she hit the big
time with her own high-brow TV show. This movie first brought us;
"Shagging" before the days of Austin Powers and the British
Invasion. You remember, when the term referred only to the inno-
cent-enough dance popular down South? Well, we remember.
.
In case you mssed it 00
What famous folks are saying
about anything and everything.
"Volvo-driving-type liberals are looking for Kenneth Starr costumes
... They want to support the president."
- Mary Papayotou, owner of Chicago Costumes. Despite the buy-
ing power of those liberals, Bill Clinton and Monica Lewensky are
far and away the best costume sellers of this Halloween season.
"Russians. They're great. But they're like students. They're not
listening. There just isn't that swing."
- Wynton Marsalis, describing Russia's reaction to jazz while per-
forming in Moscow.
"is this a commitment I can really make? I care about 33 charac-
ters already on TV. Can I care about 10 more?"
-- Christopher Keyser, co-creator of "Party of Five, " summing up
the ever-changing way viewers approach a new television series.
"Films are a response to where we are today ... What's taboo any-
more? Look at television. Look at the newspapers."
- Todd Solondz, whose controversial independent film, "Happiness,"
was a sensation at the Cannes and Toronto film festivals.
Top 10 videos
(Last week's top videos and
the number of weeks released)
4 . _
1. "City of Angels," Warner Bros.
2. "Mercury Rising," Universal
3. "Wild Things,"
Columbia/TriStar
4. "Titanic," Paramount
5. "Primary Colors," Universal
6. "The Wedding Singer," New
Line Cinema
7. "U.S. Marshal's," Warner
Bros.
8. "Deep Rising," Hollywood
9. "He Got Game," Touchstone
10. "Hush," Columbia/TriStar
Source: The Associated Press
Top 10 Albums
(Billboard's top albums for the
week)
1. Lauryn Hill, "The Miseducation
of Lauryn Hill"
2. 'N Sync, "' N Sync"
3. Kiss, "Psycho Circus"
4. DC Talk, "Supernatural"
5. Marilyn Manson, "Mechanical
Animals"
6. Keith Sweat, "Still in the
Game"
7. Beastie Boys, "Hello Nasty"
8. Soundtrack, "Rush Hour"
9. Barenaked Ladies, "Stunt"
10. Shania Twain, "Come on
Over"
Source: Billboard Magazine
only been one week earlier th
joked about her own sex life.'
for this weekend. Ron will bi
Viagra. How long does it sta
My book became a prized
Throughout each day, I four
stealing away to browse throu
lengthy selection of verse. I
them to Galway Kinnell,
favorite. After hearing son
"After Making Love We Hear
many of the mothers in
recalled fondness for their c
as Kinnell conveys in
Describing a son, the poem t
one whom habit of memory
the ground of his making, / s
the mortal sounds can sing a
blessing love gives again into
My most effective influen
one day when the civil clerk
that she'd written a poem. W
day, in and out, on the cloc
make sense of the trials
wrong-doing, these workers
are sometimes blinded to the
ty of it all. My intentions v
make poets out of each of t
bring a sense of divine appr
an artform so often forgotten
ness world. I was ecstatic. I 1
prompted someone to take t
juices and put them towards
Top 10 movies
(Last week's top grossing movie
1. "Antz," DreamWorks
2. "What Dreams May C
3. "Rush Hour," New Lin
4. "A Night at the Roxbt
4. "Ronin," MGM/UA
6. "Urban Legend" Sony
7. "There's Something A
8. "One True Thing," Un
9. "Saving Private Ryan,
10. "Simon Birch," Disn
Top 10 Singles
(Billboard's top songs for the w
1. Monica, "The First Nigi
2. Barenaked Ladies, "On
3. Aerosmith, "I Don't Wa
4. Jennifer Paige, "Crush"
5. Edwin McCain, "I'll Be"
6. Dru Hill Featuring Redrr
7. Faith Hill, "This Kiss"
8. Usher, "My Way"
9. ln'j, "Time After Time"
10. Five, "When The Light
Top 10 Books
(The week's best-selling books)
1. "Bag of Bones," Step
2. "Rainbow Six," Tom C
3. "The Loop," Nicholas I
4. "I Know This Much Is
5. "Tell Me Your Dreams,
6. "Memoirs of a Geisha,
7. "Field of Thirteen," Di
8. "No Safe Place," Rich4
9. "Summer Sisters," Juc
10. "Message In A Bottk
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SEE PAGE
14-15.
Source: Associated Press