Wednesday, June 7, 1995 - The MichiganDaily-- 3
ystery
ural
pices up
amn st.
Scott Bishop
ly Staff Reporter
What is 68 feet wide and demands
ttention? A few boards erected to pro-
ct pedestrians on the sidewalk of South
am Street have been transformed into
mural attracting notice for both its
unky art and its mysterious origin.
Ellie Serras, events coordinator for
he Main Street Area Association, said
at the eclectic mural is a welcome ad-
ion to the area. "We all think it's really
1. It's so typical Ann Arbor. It's artsy.
think everybody loves it. We love it,"
he said.
The eight-feet high mural shields
alkers along South Main Street from
e refurbishing of the former Kline's de-
artment store. It features many bright
ulti-colored painted faces of varying
hapes and sizes with large accented eyes.
Into this mix are hats, shirts, gloves
d pants that form the shapes of bodies.
'smatched shoes, plastic fruit, flowers
and ferns, paint-can tops, a cooking
strainer, a plastic shopping bag and a
rubber butterfly add even more to the
sensory overload.
So who are the artists that deserve
these accolades? That's the mystery, and
while there are suspects, the verdict has
not been reached yet.
Seras contacted the Art Department at
The three-dimensional mural that stretches down Main Street was created by an anonymous author.
Ann Arbor Community High about the
protective wall. "I said, 'We would like
to know if you've got students who
would be interested in decorating the
wall.' (Art teacher Elaine Hedley) said
sure," Serras said. "We both decided that
-if she had students interested they would
submit a proposal of what they thought
they'd like to do to the wall. That's how
we left it. I never got a proposal and I
never heard back from her. We have no
idea if Community High students did or
if somebody else beat them to it."
Ed Shaffran, owner of the property,
was likewise baffled. "We have no idea
who did it.... I was not contacted by
Community High School. We do know
that they did it at two or three in the
morning, because one of my employees
saw them."
Kris Hermanson, an art teacher at
Community High, said the school was
not involved. "No adult teachers in the
school had anything to do with this," she
said.
However, she did name two artists
and former Community High students,
Leif Ritchie and James "Twig" Johnson,
as artists possibly responsible for the
mural. "We announced it to our kids and
word probably got around to Leif. ... I
asked about it this morning and the kids
told me."
Neither Ritchie nor Johnson could be
reached for continent.
Whoever actually created the mural,
Shaffran is grateful. "People think it's
quite interesting. I haven't heard any
negative comments. We're just happy
somebody did a good job."
More students stay on campus; housing squeeze hits 'U'
By Maggie Weyhing
Daily Staff Reporter
Due to a large incoming class and a
high return rate of upperclassmen to the
residence halls, the University is experi-
encing a crunch in housing space.
Alan Levy, director of public affairs
d information for the Housing Divi-
sion, said many upperclassmen chose to
move back into the halls because of the
lack of eight-month leases available to
students who want to live off campus.
Levy also cited the Housing
Division's rigorous campaign to encour-
age students to move back as a cause for
overcrowding.
Although Levy said that he is pleased
with the heightened interest in on-cam-
s housing, he said that the high occu-
ancy levels of the halls can cause poten-
tial difficulties. He said one of these
problems is privacy.
"Because of the large amount of stu-
dents that are going to be living in the
dorms, we will have to make full use of
our converted triples," Levy said. "Obvi-
ously, we are very aware that converted
triples are not ideal living-arrangements.
In a different world we wouldn't use
0em, but they are necessary if we want
guarantee housing for all students who
want to live on campus."
However, Levy said that often times
even the doubles and singles do not pro-
vide sufficient room for today's student.
"In 1968, when our most recent resi-
dence hall was built, students used to come
to the University with two suitcases. Now
they.are coming with two U-hauls. People
today just have more things," he said.
Marc Kaplan, coordinator of resi-
dence education for the Mary Markley
residence hall, said that there isnot a
grave overcrowding problem at Markley.
However, Kaplan did say that many stu-
dents are having difficulties finding
enough personal space.
"The dorms were built in another gen-
eration. Previous generations weren't
used to having so much personal space,"
Kaplan said. "Most people shared rooms
and didn't have as much stuff. We now
have many affluent students who are used
to having their own rooms at home."
Along with a student's mass of per-
sonal belongings, most bring computers that have more modern residence halls. plans to build new residence halls. How-
as well. Regent Andrea Fischer Newman "When we are recruiting top students ever, he said that if the heightened inter-
(R-Ann Arbor) said that technology ad- and they come here to take a look at the est in on-campus housing continues, the
vancements have caused the campus, we know that we are competing University will consider turning the
University's residence halls to fall a bit against other universities that offer more Lloyd and Wynchell houses of West
behind the times. modern housing," she said. Quad, which are now used for office space,
"I know that there is a definite space Levy said that the University has no into rooms for students in fall 1996.
concern as far as the residence halls go.
We are currently reviewing the situation
and we keep going through various up-
grades," Newman said. "We have to
make renovations in the residence halls
so that students will be able to go online
with their computers. The dorms have to
be updated because when Markley was
built in the late 1950s. For example, no
one ever dreamed of such an elaborate
computer system.'
Newman also said the University is
concerned with competing with schools
i
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