University of Detroit - Tower Yearbook (Detroit, MI)

Page 25 text:

Detroit is indeed a grey city but }is at least unpretentious. It has ever claimed to have anything esides a lot of automobiles. The University of Detroit is lo- ated at Six Mile and Livernois, e second most dangerous inter- action in the city. This is a clue ) the kind of urban neighbor- ood which surrounds it. The ontrast between the areas north nd south of Six Mile is sharp. To e north, the neighborhood is ell-kept and fully integrated. he houses are upper middle lass and wealthy parishes like yesu cater to the kind of people ho live there. One of the best hopping districts in Detroit, the venue of Fashion, is located on ‘tic 7 tae a § i pcm shah sivernois between Seven and zight Mile. The small shops are xclusive, carrying the kind of merchandise that only their weal- hy clientele can afford. The ghet- o dwellers shop at sleazier cloth- ers and supermarkets which charge comparatively high prices for poor quality items. The area between Six Mile and Puritan is a kind of buffer zone. It is a deteriorating neighborhood which separates the nicer section above Six Mile from the ghetto south of Puritan. Anyone, black or white, who walks in the area below Puritan after six o’clock is taking his life in his hands. The area in which the Univer- sity is located has one of the highest crime rates in the city and in the nation. It was inevitable that as crime spread it would en- gulf the University’s campus. In 1968 after a co-ed was raped in the parking lot, the women resi- dent students made local head- lines by picketing the administra- tion building in a plea for in- creased security. The security budget was doubled and lights were installed, but crime spread, reaching phenomenal propor- tions in 1969. Finally, U of D se- cured Don Stevens, a public safe- ty man from Wayne State. Mr. Stevens added a touch of professionalism. He got rid of the inefficient Rager police who spent most of their time hussling local cuties and drinking beer in the basement. They were re- placed by public safety men com- missioned and trained by the De- troit Police Academy. Previously, the police patrolled on foot. Even though the campus is relatively small, furtive criminals had no trouble avoiding them. Mr. Ste- vens bought small hondas for the men to use in patrolling, and out- fitted an emergency vehicle for transporting more severe injuries to Mount Carmel Hospital. In the most controversial move of all, Mr. Stevens fenced in the University. When students re- turned to find the sagging, par- tially erected chain link fences, the Varsity News was peppered with letters. The fences may not have been good for the Universi- ty’s relationship with the commu- nity, but the fact remains that they have helped to dramatically reduce the crime rate on campus. The number of stolen cars was reduced from a peak of 28 last February to one in January of this year. Assaults and thefts in the dormitories are also down. The fences have been criticized as a peculiar move for a Universi- ty which prides itself on its urban commitment. From a security point of view the fences were necessary for the University to protect its students and staff. They have not decreased the crime rate in the areas surround- ing campus, however. Last Octo- ber young Matthew Hock was at- tacked and viciously beaten by a group of black youths in the ra- cially integrated area north of Six Mile. Mrs. Hock put some of the biame for her son’s beating on the University’s fences which, she claimed, had created a lot of racial animosity in the area. If the University is to live up to its urban commitment, the fences cannot be a means of isolating it from the surrounding communi- ty. An urban commitment does not mean adopting the communi- ty’s crime rate, but helping to al- leviate it. The University has taken some steps in that direc- tion. Many U of D departments offer courses on a part time basis for industry's employees so that they may attend school and work at the same time. The Career Op- portunities Program has opened courses to many middle-aged black women and Special Proj- ects has given college educations to many black students who would not otherwise have had the opportunity. The Centre for Neighborhood’ Relations has opened the University’s facilities to hundreds of neighborhood children. There are skating rinks in the winter, swimming at Palm- er Park and sports in the Memori- al Building in the summer, and basketball, football and baseball during the other seasons. These are only a start, however, and the University must constantly seek to expand and build upon the foundations of its professed com- mitment. The Livernois Strip is a de facto extension of the University of Detroit. Most of its small estab- lishments exist because of t he pa- tronage of U of D students and faculty. Leo's is on the corner of Livernois and Grove. It is run by a kindly old man named (you guessed it) Leo, who has been be-

Page 24 text:

The City of Detroit is facing a severe fiscal crisis. It has been forced to lay off a large number of employees, and the public schools may have to close as much as two months early this year. The zoo, which is forbidden by a city ordinance to charge an admission fee, has sought private donations in order to remain open and retain all its employees. The city is dependent upon the auto industry which, in turn, relies upon the health of the na- tion’s economy. What is good for The Setting Ford and General Motors is good for Uncle Sam and the City of Detroit — at least financially. The entire city is designed for cars and boasts an extensive free- way system. It is a sprawling, low density city with long wide streets. The streets themselves are laid out in a mile road system and if they seem to go on forever, it is because they do. Cities as distant as Pontiac and Ann Arbor are practically part of the ever- expanding metropolitan area al- ready. All the cars and freeways create an enormous amount of ear and air pollution. The noise level is deafening, but the air pol- lution is surprisingly low for a city of its size with so many cars. A great number of smaller cities have pollution levels higher than that of Detroit. The city is strangely divided. There are many heavily ethnic areas — Jewish, Italian, Chinese — even Belgian. Extremely hand- some residential areas are lo- cated, like tree-lined oases, be- side blank commercial avenues. Although Detroit’s government isn’t as victimized by corruption and political graft as other cities of its size, the city is crime infest- ed. It has the dubious distinction of the highest homicide rate in the country, but the incidence of other crimes is beginning to drop — slightly. ; On the brighter side, Detroit has the most popular art museum in the country. The Art Institute is a beautiful, moderately sized museum. It has the advantage of not being so huge as to be incom- prehensible. A visitor can discov- er the relationship of the wings to one another in a few hours, even if he cannot see everything in them. Despite the Art Institute, the city is notable for its lack of ‘cul- ture’ and night life. There are few good restaurants or night clubs and many a Detroiter’s notion of a night on the town is a trip to a bowling alley followed by a beer or two in a local joint. Drive-ins are also big in Detroit.

Page 26 text:

friending students for a long time. Leo’s is a warm little restaurant snack-type place where bleary- eyed students come to nourish themselves after all-niters or early morning tests. The food is cheap, but students have learned by now that they must purchase two hamburgers to get enough meat for one bun. Leo makes his hamburgers by hand and some- times forgets that they shrink on the grill. The front window and the shelf near the wall are filled with the dust covered kleenex, band- aids and toothpaste that nobody ever buys. Despite the dust, Leo’s is one of the cleanest places around. It’s the lunchtime hangout of the Sociology and English professors who have of- fices in Foley Hall next door. Dean Mahoney, who has not for- gotten his humble beginnings as a U of D English undergraduate, often comes back to haunt Leo's and can frequently be seen gest- uring wildly to make his point to some student or faculty member while looking past them out the front window. White Tower occupies the op- posite extreme of the Strip. Few students go there unless no place else is open. Many students find the waitresses unpleasant, the hamburgers greasy and the clien- tele undesirable. The U of D Pizzeria and the 20’s are someplace in between. The Pizzeria is one of the few places besides the Union which is open late enough for dinner be- fore an evening class. U of D stu- dents are the only people dumb and hungry enough to put up with disgusting food. The 20's is the only bar within walking distance, which is why it does such a tremendous business. Over the summer it was remod- eled; the bar was moved to the opposite side and kitchen facili- ties were included. The 20’s spe- cializes in umpteen varieties of submarine sandwiches, which are a lot of bread and not much meat. On a campus completely devoid of social life, the 20’s is the place to be on Thursday night. The new 18 year old drink- ers and old veterans pack the joint to anticipate the weekend and hussle a date for Saturday night. Last year the ABC Bookstore moved from Six Mile to a more central location on Livernois. ABC began a few years ago as an attempt to furnish its owner with a living, U of D students with cheaper books and supplies and the U of D bookstore with com- petition. It has succeeded in all three as its expansion into the neighboring storefront will attest. Ma Clayton’s is worth the trek down to Puritan. It is the cleanest restaurant around and features ‘“homecooked” food. Word has leaked out however. At noon- time, one must battle truck driv- ers and telephone linemen for a stool at the counter. The worst part about Clayton’s is devouring the generous portions of food to get to the homemade pie that’s for dessert. The other campus extension is the Fisher Mansion. The mansion was donated to the University by the Fisher family, who made their wad manufacturing Fisher bodies for General Motors. As a non- profit organization, U of D does not have to pay taxes on the house, but they are stuck with an aging building which requires a great deal of maintenance and is seldom used except for meetings, conferences, teas and small din- ners. Despite the cost of upkeep the mansion’s opulence and beautiful setting make it easy to overlook its flaws. The majority of the Universi- ty’s students are commuters. For them U of D is sort of an exten- sion of high school. There’s not much for them to do here except attend classes. They can fre- quently be found playing cards in the Union or eating lunch in their cars. If they are fortunate enough to belong to a car pool, they often wander around looking bewil- dered, trying to find their ride home for the night. Commuters usually cut out as soon as their classes are over and perhaps if there were something to hold them here, they would hang around longer and get to know more of the other students. The students who live in off- campus housing are divided into two categories. Some live within walking distance and consider themselves. resident students al- though they do not live in the dorms. Those whose distance from school dictates that they drive sometimes think of them- selves as commuters, while the students who remember their earlier years in the residence halls will always identify them as dormies. Until this year, if a commuter arrived at campus after nine o'clock he frequently had to cruise the two distant chuck- holed lots trying to find a parking place. If his search were reward- ed he still had to troop a half mile through knee deep mud and hope that his battery didn’t get ripped off before he returned. All that is changed now, well almost. For a mere $25 a year or $10 a semester a student can purchase a parking sticker which assures him a parking place somewhere in one of the University’s fenced- in lots. The security patrol oc- casionally tickets unstickered cars and, although the lots are still muddy, the chuck holes aren’t as deep as last year. Other than that not much has changed , except that there are more park- ing places available.