w 4- The D True Hollywood Story It's Over Your Head I Architecture Column BAustin igWai "By the way, Detroit did the damn thing this year. It was a real city for one weekend." Simple and elegant, that quote comes straight from a friend's closing e-mail remarks telling me of his Super Bowl XL experience. That got me thinking. What is a real city? Can a place be a city just for one weekend? If so, Detroit must be an imposter most of the time. Detroit has tall buildings like a real city; Detroit has a downtown like a real city. Perhaps Detroit is like Pinocchio, wishing so badly to be real yet not knowing how to get there. Surrounding the Super Bowl hype, Detroit was both delighted and petrified. Detroiters were at once prideful of being the hometown to NFL legend Jerome Bettis, and also ashamed that national attention was placed on his child- hood home. A house which after Jerome left has since been sold, abandoned, transformed into a crack house, converted into a prostitute hang out and finally burned until it was left in the condition it is in now - a charred memory of what was once a home. Being real is about having an identity. According to a Gallup poll, Detroiters are more negative about their city than natives of any other locality in the United States. That means that if you ask someone from the Metro Detroit area where they are from, they will more likely tell you "Royal Oak" over "Detroit." Now ask a Chicagoland resident where they are from. The same distance from Detroit to Royal Oak in the Chicago area equates to only one response: "Chicago."- Detroit once had an identity - the Motor City. But as our country shifts to a service economy, that factory-work character of the D is outdated. While automobile manufacturing dwindles in the area, the city is now looking like a magician with only one trick. Is that alone attributing to Detroit's loss of real-city status? Detroit might not be a real city, but it is defi- nitely real. Think of its raw energy. The Lions are the heroes of gritty assembly-line workers. Remember that fight with Ron Artest versus the entire crowd of Pistons fans at the Palace of Auburn Hills? That was pure D-Town style. The city is home to the most unrefined rap styles and birthplace of the underground techno that spins at basement raves. Perhaps fueled by its own angst, Detroit has a harsh, but real, voltage. So Detroit was a real city for that first week- The Weeker I4Y~d~\T j0 Pop Up A Cappella Circle K presents a night of A cappella groups, with the likes of The Sopranos and the Dicks & Janes. The performance begins at 7 p.m. at the Rackham Graduate School. Tickets are $8 at the Michigan Union Ticket Office or $9 at the door. Eric Roberson The Black Business Students Associa- end in February and a great place to be. The downtown was analyzed and judged by out- siders and introspectively examined by native Detroiters. Then the Super Bowl came and went without a hiccup of trouble. Now basking in the aftermath of that successful weekend, when it had become a real city again, Detroit must use that momentum as positive energy for the future. This past fall, the University took a large step in reaching out toward the Detroit community when it opened the Detroit Center, a branch of the University located near the heart of down- town. Although most of the programs involved in the center had already been established, the center provides a symbolic gesture of support by providing a visible presence within the Detroit cultural center. Founded in Detroit during the year 1817, the University is now returning to its roots to solidify and expand its programs and research projects concerning Detroit citizens and organizations. The overarching theme of all these altruistic efforts is to revive the city and make it "real" again. As Mary Sue Coleman stated about the city during the unveiling of the Detroit Center, the University wants "to be a part of its revi- talization." Implicit in trying to help revitalize Detroit, the University is also learning about why Detroit needs that revitalization, and why it seems to be nothing more than a pseudo-city to many. Among the various programs at the center, the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning opened a community design center focusing on the physical space and planning aspects attributing to Detroit's current status. Architects and planners are very interested in the minute details that make up a real city. We, of all people, should know what a real city is and how it should behave. As of now, however, there is no perfect solution for how to create a real city, let alone reviving one such as Detroit. We do know that the characteristics of success- ful cities but do not know how the city will react to intervention. Okay, so here is the formula: diverse build- ings + walking space + shops + other people + bars + restaurants + offices + apartments + various other attractions = real city. Physically, the recipe is simply to provide the correct pro- portion of building to open space and provide the Office of Greek Life by 5 p.m. on the Monday before the event. A restricted event cannot be held on Sunday or Mon- day, but can be held on other days. A party with more than 200 people can only be held on Thursday, Friday or Saturday. A first-tier party can have as many as 100 people plus live-in membership, and must have at least three sober monitors. A second-tier party can have as many as 200 people plus live-in membership, and has to have six sober monitors. Third-tier parties may have as many as 400 people. These parties must submit registration one week prior to the normal registration deadline, in addition to providing a list of sober monitors to the SRC executive board, along with a statement of intent and registration. Third-tier parties must have six sober monitors plus at least one sober monitor for every 30 people over 200, and can serve beer only. "The policy has been a proactive step by the presidents in ensuring a safe social environment," Millman said. "The vary- ing degrees for party-size registration allow for stricter rules to maintain a safe atmosphere during larger parties, which pose more risk management issues for fraternities." The new SEMP also restricts the types of guests allowed at the parties to Greek- only. Guests must present a Greek ID or a state driver's license that can be cross- checked with a master list of Greeks. A house may have a guest list with non- Greeks, which cannot include more than four times the number of sober monitors. Last semester, these imposed restric- tions were extremely controversial. "(The new restrictions) may give the impression to freshmen that the Greek system is an organization only open to certain types of people," Jacob Strumwas- ser, a brother of the Sigma Nu fraternity and a former IFC president, told the Daily last fall. The fear was that incoming freshmen would not have as much access to Greek parties, and therefore wouldn't be as likely to show up to parties. People were terrified of a lower rush turnout. "1 honestly think that it's going to ruin the whole Greek system," Nathaniel Stal- ey, a sophomore in Psi Upsilon, told the Daily last semester. The numbers suggest that these con- cerns were unfounded. Membership for fraternities in the IFC and sororities in the Panhellenic Council are up 10 percent from last year. In fact, the response has been so big that the IFC is looking into adding new fraternities. Eight hundred and twenty four girls went through Panhellenic recruitment this fall, a 10-percent increase. Each sorority was allowed 50 spots to give to pledges. Seiler said that every sorority except for two gave out 50 bids. change the fact that people at these parties are getting wasted." "The IFC can put as many restrictions as they want, but there will always be ways to get around it," he added. Brian Perry, advisor for IFC at Univer- sity of Texas-Austin, said that the IFC at Texas operates under a similar document to SEMP, which is based on risk-manage- ment recommendations from the Frater- nity Information Programming Group. 11 Candidly, a lot of (SEMP's) rules aren't really being enforced, and it doesn't really change the fact that people at these parties are getting wasted. - Kyle Anderson Beta Theta Pi Pledge believes the policy enforces a safer envi- ronment, and that therefore, "we strongly encourage our members to attend only parties that are registered through our policies. Parties that are not in compliance put our members at a greater risk because they often lack key risk management ele- ments such as sober monitors." But according to Anderson, sober monitors aren't really making it onto the scene of these parties much anyway. It Perry echoed Anderson's sentiments. "A document is only as helpful as the people who are enforcing it - some years it might be more effective than others," Perry said. He added that the policy seems to be effective at solving some problems at Texas, but they are still having problems with others. Millman said the number of fraternities and sororities that have registered parties is up significantly, which indicates that more fraternities are adopting the policy, which he said ultimately translates into a safer party scene. Lauren Kraus, president of the Panhel- lenic Association, said that the council is too early to make a sound judgement about the effectiveness of the policy, but the only way to avoid incidents in the future is to take the policy seriously. If Greek organizations start to slip from their guidelines, then they might as well not have a policy. Both the University and the IFC have taken significant steps over the past few years to implement positive change for the students on campus. The next few semesters will be important for tweak- ing specific rules and observing trends and effects, in order to continue keeping these movements heading in a positive direction. Despite the restrictions on alcohol in use in many chapters. Fans walk traverse through the changing downtown of Detroit. interesting architecture as visual flavor. Throw in a good transportation plan and let simmer for 30 years, stirring occasionally. Yet this plan does not necessarily equal success. The miss- ing ingredient is energy. There is electricity in Detroit, but it remains to be seen whether this is the positive energy needed to actually revive the city or a negative energy that will eventually harm it. City development is a natural evolution of interweaving factors, and any architect or plan- ner will have difficulty jumping in midstream and redirecting the flow. One might prescribe a specific plan that covers the many nuances of the city. It is wise to design based on knowledge that informs delicate decisions, but over-speci- ficity can hinder spontaneous growth when there is a good energy present in the commu- nity. Turning to the other extreme - designing a generic framework that absorbs the changes of the city - can go dreadfully wrong if the city provides a negative spark. Clearly, shaping a city is no walk in the park. Defining a real city and creating one is an arduous task, but reviving a city to real-city status is even more difficult. The energy within Detroit may not be fully understood, but the most important thing is that there is a network of people supplying a strong, positive current. The University's Detroit Center is only one example of its many initiatives aiding Detroit from the outside. Within Detroit are a vast number of community organizations who see Detroit's dilemmas not as problems but as chal- lenges that can be overcome. In their hearts, they know that Detroit is a real city full of posi- tive energy, and their goal is to show that to the rest of the world. ad Tist How well is the London Programs: new tion presents neo-soul artist Eric Roberson at Oz nightclub. Doors are at 8 p.m. for the 9 p.m. show. Tickets are $15 with a student ID and are available at the door. Satffvia\T 2080 Friends The School of Music presents "Friends," a play by famous Japanese playwright, Kobe Abe. The performance begins at 8 p.m. in the Trueblood Theatre in the Frieze building. Tickets are $12 and available at the Michigan League Ticket Office. Museum of Life and Death The School of Music presents the "Museum of Life and Death", a modern adaptation - using visual and sonic arts - of the classic play "Everyman:" The performance begins at 8 p.m. in the Media Union on North Campus. Tickets are free but required and available by e-mailing tickets @theater-as-music .com. 2.19'4o6 social policy working? . ''i ,. < ' .. . . . . . ,.. . Pieta Brown Contemporary folk artist Pieta Brown comes to The Ark. Doors for the all-ages show open at 7 p.m. for the 7:30 pm. concert. Tickets are $13.50 and are available online at www.tgeark.org. Cafe Shapiro The Shapiro Undergraduate Library presents another night of undergraduate poetry from up- and-coming writers. The readings begin at 8:30 p.m. at the UGLi. Admission is free. ome students are skepti- . . 0 cal about the effective- ness of the current policy. 7 McAlister Drive #41 Kyle Anderson, a current NwOrleans, LA 70118 pledge at Beta Theta Pi, said he doesn't believes aren't rea- the policy is achieving reay anything. "I remember hearing about it, and U m e s beginning of the year." Anderson said. FREEMAN COOL OFBSN ES "'Candidly, a lot of those rules aren't real- ly being enforced, and it doesn't really 4B - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, February 16, 2006