0 0 0 e 0 S " ""0 QUOTES OF THE WEEK e:~ih ABOUT CAMPUS -e,21 AML Ak x'r z 1 If I got cancer or needed a kidney, I'd go bankrupt. We all would.". - RUSS SARGENT, a 50-year-old bookstore owner in Portland, Me., describing the state's problems in providing universal health care. He typically has to pay doctors in cash, and he's worried that his insurance company won't cover him if he becomes seriously ill "I think I was trying to say 'Janes' as your right name. Maybe my writing looks bad, but I was just trying to say your right name." - GORDON BROWN, prime minister of Britain, explaining to a furious woman that he did, in fact, spell her last name correctly in a letter intended to console her after her son's death in Afghanistan I ILLUSTRATIONS BY JOHN OQUIST The quietest frat on campus A law school student haunt tucked behind West Quad Nestledbetween South Quad and West Quad is ahouse that remains a mystery to many students. Its large, brick frame and massive white col- umns have the appearance of an old-time Southern estate, despite being surrounded by plain-styled dorms on two sides. It gives off the essence of exclusiveness and grandeur, and while it may not be the home of an obscure University administrator, a unique campus group resides inside. The mansion is home to 25 Uni- versity law students, all members of a law fraternity called Phi Delta Phi. The first legal and professional fraternity established in the coun- try, Phid has now expanded to over 130 chapters, called inns, at law schools. The University of Michi- gan chapter, founded in 1869, is the only one with its own house. Phid took the house over in 1914, when it was an all-male fraternity complete with in-house cooks and cleaners. This setup evaporated several decades later, though, when women were first allowed into the fraternity in the 1960s. Ten years before that happened, though, Phid House itself almost disappeared. The University tried to claim ownership of the home in order to tear it down and build South Quad in its place. But Phid alumnus and former mayor of Ann Arbor, William E. Brown, Jr., was able to convince the University not to tear the house down. That forced the University to build South Quad into an irregular shape surround- ing Phid House. Despite being coined a fraternity by name, Phid House is quite dif- ferent from the Greek system vari- ety. For one, Phid has evolved to be a sort of cross between a frater- TALKING POINTS Three things you can talk about this week: 1. Obama in China 2. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed 3. Water on the moon And three things you can't: 1. Levi Johnston's Playgirl shoot 2. "2012, the movie 3. 2012, the year "Garlic is the best, forget the vaccines." - MARKO JANKOVIC, an elderly man from Belgrade, Serbia, expressing his belief that garlic will prove effective in guarding against the spread of swine flu among the population. Regarded as a good luck charm in Serbia, garlic has recently become more expensive as demand for it increases nity and co-op, which contributes to the community dynamic that draws many members to the house. Each fraternity member has house duties, like cleaning the kitchen and common areas, and everyone is responsible for preparing his or her own food, diverging from Phid's history of having cooks and house- keepers. Also similar to a co-op is the inexpensive rent - Phid presi- dent Robert Escalante said resident members only pay $400 a month. Despite sporting Greek letters, Phid House doesn't often host riot- ous keggers - law students can't often spare the study time. This more subdued atmosphere is what Escalante called the house's "law school personality." Phid House does host one big blowout each semester, though, which allows for many members of the Law School community to let their hair down for one night. To the chagrin of undergraduate stu- dents, however, Phid limits these bi-annual parties to graduate and professional students in order to prevent underage drinking at the house, Escalante said. But with the dorms soclose, Phid House isn't always successful in keeping eager freshmen out. Many an undergraduate have walked past those white columns, or snuck in the back door of the house after being rejected once. Members of Phid have a sys- tem of weeding out the non-grad students, which includes having bouncers at their parties and try- ing to figure out who may be beer- thirsty undergraduates by quizzing them with questions that are likely to trip them up. "(We) had to throw them out of the house, but (it) isn't fun," Escalante said, referring to a party last year at which members of Phid tossed out several undergraduates. "Everyone wants to get into the party." The rejected undergraduates can't be too hurt, though, as most don't seem to realize anyone even lives at 502 East Madison Street. Phid member Kate Mitroka said this is due to the studious nature of law students and the fact that undergraduates and law students tend to exist in different spheres on campus. "I think that sort of inherent dis- tinction between the two groups just sort of means their own lives and centers of gravity are sort of distinct," said Mitroka, who recalled times as an undergradu- ate here when she wondered what went on inside the mysterious brick abode she now calls home. Despite hosting the future law- yers of the nation, Phid house has faced its share of obstacles, includ- ing the threat of eviction posed last year. Escalante attributes this brush with homelessness to a lax attitude toward city regulations, which tend to slip the minds of Phid members who are busy work- ing toward their degree. Phid House provides something different to those looking to do more during law school than hole themselves up in the library. It offers a support system and sense of community for its members, which includes law students of all three years, ranging in age from 20 ILLUSTRATION BY LAURA GARAVOGLIA to 35. The members' diverse back- grounds and life experiences are a draw for many. "The idea of being around people who have different perspectives and come from different walks of life makes your living experience more robust and more fulfilling," Mitroka said. "And I think that's important when you spend so much time with your nose-in a book and in class and dealing with things that get you really wrapped up in yourself. "Living with family and with a community really helps you both stay grounded and gives you the distraction that's necessary to stay sane." A mystery to many, Phid House is a fulfilling home for its members and perhaps a source of resent- ment for University Housing. Next time you hear a cacophony of music and chatter coming from the mini- mansion, try your luck to get in. You may just see your polisci GSI doing a keg stand for the one and only time that semester. -NICOLEABER YOUTUBE VIDEO OF THE WEEK Birds of beauty For those who were disturbed by Alfred Hitchcock's harrowing 1963 movie, "The Birds," which depicts a town attacked by violent birds, this video might prove simply terrifying. Or, at the very least, astonishing. Filmed in Denmark, this clip showcases a flock of 300,000 birds swooping through the air in unison above a barren field. Other than a block of text that reads "300,000 starlings in spring ballet," the video features no commentary or intima- tions of how the producers found these birds. As the video progresses, the birds move in effortlessly coordinated waves, making different shapes that seem to be real objects. At one point, the birds array themselves in what appears like a voluminous gown, with thick sleeves jutting out from each side of a swaying and billowing. torso. After a second, though, they uniformly dissemble and become amorphous once again. The birds then begin moving gradually across the vast expanse of field, the little black dots scattering in a frenzy of activity. The birds' constant motion has a steady, almost soothing rhythm to it. The flock does, indeed, seem like a ballet, transitioning gracefully into various shapes patterned against a backdrop of blue sky. It is calming, stunning and aesthetically pleasing. Let's just hope they don't attack. - BRIAN TENGEL BY THE NUMBERS The ranking of Joaquin Guzman, leader of the Sinaloa drug cartel, in Forbes Magazine's list of the world's most powerful people The upward estimate, in dollars, of cocaine Guzman has shipped to the United States over the last eight years The amount, in dollars, federal authorities are offering for Guzman's capture Source, cNN THEME PARTY SUGGESTION Reading "Rogue" - Sarah Palin's new semi-auto- biographical, wholly confrontational book, "Going Rogue," isn't worth a lot as far as factual accounts go. But it could make for an interesting drinking game. Someone start with a criticism the McCain campaign made of Palin. The next person respond with a counter-attack from "Rogue." Go back and forth until someone slips up and has to drink. A Levi Johnston reference means players drink twice. Throwing this party? Let us know. TheStatement@umich.edu STUDY OF THE WEEK Men are more likely to leave a spouse with cancer Men are six times more likely to abandon a female partner who has cancer than females are to leave a male partner with cancer, according to a study recently published in the journal Cancer and led by Dr. Marc Chamberlain, a director at the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. In the study, the researchers took 515 men and women and divided them into different groups based on their diagnosis: 214 patients.had a malignant brain tumor, 193 patients had a solid tumor unrelated to the central nervous system and 108 patients had multiple scerlo- sis. The researchers observed the subjects from 2001 or 2002 until 2006. They found that the overall divorce rate among the group was 12 percent, which is lower than that of the normal population. However, when the researchers examined gender as a variable, they concluded that the rate was 21 percent when women were diagnosed with can- cer and only 3 percent when men had the fatal disease. - BRIAN TENGEL WWW.MICH IGANDAILY.COM/SECTION/BLOGS