Campus+city GREEK LIFE
STAT E NE WS.CO M | T HE STAT E N EWS | WEDN ESDAY, JA N UA RY 23, 2013 |
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CAMPUS EDITOR Rebecca Ryan, campus@statenews.com CITY EDITOR Summer Ballentine, city@statenews.com PHONE (517) 432-3070 FAX (517) 432-3075
W E AT H E R
COLD WEATHER TO CONTINUE By Michael Koury
Graduate student Katey Smagur walks past Farm Lane on Tuesday. Temperature high hit around 9 degrees Tuesday, but will warm up slightly toward the end of the week.
kourymic@msu.edu THE STATE NEWS ■■
DANYELLE MORROW/THE STATE NEWS
The Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity house, 1148 E. Grand River Ave., photographed Tuesday. The house was listed as one of the best fraternity houses in the United States by brobible.com.
DESIGN SETS SIG EPS APART AS NO. 16 BEST HOUSE NATIONALLY By Simon Schuster schust61@msu.edu THE STATE NEWS ■■
Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity was nationally recognized Monday as the No. 16 best fraternity house in the country for its historic architecture and luxurious amenities, including a “full-size stripper pole,” according to brobible.com, a men’s lifestyle site. Brobible.com associate editor Andy Moore said the top 30 houses were chosen from a pool of 60-70 self-submitted entries. Moore said the architectural design, history and notable residents of the houses also played an important factor. The house, located at 1148 E. Grand River Ave., was built and occupied by Beta Theta Pi from 1964 until 2006. Alpha Epsilon Pi lived in the house until switching residences with Sigma Phi Epsilon following Sigma Phi Epsilon’s spring 2012 expulsion from 225 N. Harrison Road. Alpha Epsilon Pi member and criminal justice junior Robbie Pasick lived in the house last year, but felt it was too large for his fraternity. “It was extremely big, it was unique. It was a cool architectural house,” Pasick said. “But as far as brotherhood and parties are concerned, it wasn’t a great house for us.”
Sigma Phi Epsilon President Mike DiFiglia declined to comment for this article. On brobible.com, members of Sigma Phi Epsilon noted the house’s indoor basketball hoop, two full bars and a “full-size stripper pole.” Moore said multiple fraternity members claimed the house was designed by renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright. City records do not name an architect. The house also does not appear on registries devoted to the architect’s work and was built in 1964 — five years after Wright’s death. Although it’s unclear who built the house, it still has historic meaning to East Lansing. In a 2008 report released by the East Lansing Historic District Study Committee, the house was the subject of architectural and historical surveys and was “significant under National Register Criterion C,” meaning that the building exemplifies the architectural style of the time period in which it was built. “This fraternity has a style that is unique to East Lansing and is a wonderful example of the contemporary, exuberant architecture of the late 1950s and early 1960s,” the report stated. “The river setting, bold design, modernistic style and large scale clearly designate this as a one-of-a-kind fraternity.”
As temperatures drop and snow falls in the city, there’s little relief in sight for students dressed more for an arctic expedition than a walk to Brody Hall. It was 8 degrees yesterday in the Lansing area, with a low of minus 4 degrees in the early morning, according to the National Weather Service in Grand Rapids. Temperatures will rise throughout the rest of the week, reaching a high of 27 degrees Sunday. But with brisk winds, it will feel like temperatures are dipping below zero, National Weather Service in Grand Rapids meteorologist Brandon Hoving said. Despite the recent low temperatures, not much snow has fallen on East Lansing, leading to a surplus of salt for the city and campus roads. According to the National Weather Service, since Dec. 1, 2012, there has been 6.7 inches of snow in East Lansing. During the same time last year, there was 13.2 inches. Temperatures have been comparable to last year’s averages, but changes in temperature this year have been “more brutal,” National Weather Service Grand Rapids meteorologist Jared Maples said. Temperatures reached a high of about 43 degrees Saturday, then dropped below 20 degrees for most of Sunday. Landscape Services Acting Manager Sean O’Connor said he is surprised at the lack of snow this year, which has translated in using less salt. O’Connor said so far, 300 tons of salt have been used on campus since Nov. 15, 2012. During the same time period last year, 700 tons were used. “This has not been a normal winter for us,” he said. “To be almost in February and the small amount of snow that we’ve had … it’s surprising.” Director of the East Lansing
statenews.com AC A D E M I C S & A D M I N I S T R AT I O N
JUSTIN WAN/THE STATE NEWS
Department of Public Works Todd Sneathen said the city used 156 tons of salt between Jan. 1-18. Since the beginning of October 2012, the city only has used a total 177 tons of salt. Last year, the city used 752 tons of salt in January alone and 1,995 overall from October 2011 to April 2012. Sneathen said the city will store any remaining salt to be used next year. About 800 tons of salt are in storage now, the maximum that can fit in available storage bins. The city budgeted for an addition-
“This has not been a normal winter for us. To be almost in February and the small amount of snow we’ve had...it’s surprising.” Sean O’Connor, Landscape Services acting manager
al 1,000 tons if necessary. Packaging junior Jeff Dennis said even in the face of cold weather, it doesn’t deter him from not going to classes. “Welcome to Michigan,” he said. “It gets cold here.” There is no strong indication for snowfall for February or a
change in temperatures, Hoving said. That might mean more salt to melt ice next year, both on campus and in the city. “Unless we have a pretty bad February, I’m guessing we’re not going to use as much salt as last year,” O’Connor said.
Crossword
L.A. Times Daily Puzzle Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Lewis
STUDENTS, COMMUNITY REFLECT ON ISRAELI ELECTION As democratic parliamentary elections were held in Israel on Tuesday and took the international spotlight, many are wondering what effects this will have not only on Israel, but on an international scale as well. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party inched out opponents in the election, which many expected and polls projected. According to exit polls, the Likud party and Netanyahu captured 31 seats to win, as of 6 p.m. Tuesday, The Huffington Post reported. MSU community members are weighing in on what implications the election might have on peace talks and foreign affairs. SAMANTHA RADECKI | STATENEWS.COM/BLOG.
ACROSS 1 Exemplar of cruelty 7 Approach furtively, with “to” 14 Split and united? 15 2001 Disney film subtitled “The Lost Empire” 17 Pioneer transports 18 Animal’s paw warmer? 19 Boston-to-Providence dir. 20 Strauss’s “__ Rosenkavalier” 21 Neighbor of Ger. 22 Subject of a China/ India/Pakistan territorial dispute 26 Tokyo airport 29 Animal’s hiking gear? 30 Animal’s laundry? 31 Put in a zoo, say 32 Tippy transport 33 Suffix like “like” 34 Sets the pace 36 Marcel Marceau character 39 Indian spice 41 Assistant professor’s goal 44 Animal’s golf club? 47 Animal’s undergarment? 48 Like some bagels 49 Undoes, as laws 50 Heart lines: Abbr. 51 Brief life story? 52 HEW successor 54 Animal’s apartment?
58 Melodic 61 Wet ink concern 62 Night noises 63 One on the lam 64 Hot spots
DOWN 1 Stitches 2 The Palins, e.g. 3 Animal’s timepiece? 4 Wall St. debut 5 Obama, before he was pres. 6 NFL stats 7 More secure 8 “Do __ else!” 9 CCLXXX x II 10 Trail 11 Lab blowup: Abbr. 12 Paradise 13 Turns on one foot 16 Psalm instruction 20 Cartoonist Browne 23 Health resort 24 Crone 25 Neil __, Defense secretary under Eisenhower 26 Continuous 27 Past 28 “The American Scholar” essayist’s monogram 29 Portuguese king 30 Swindled 32 Low islet 35 Coastal flier 36 Animal’s instrument? 37 It surrounds the Isle of Man
38 Vigor 39 Gp. in a 1955 labor merger 40 Coffee holder 42 Ram’s mate 43 Ultra-secretive org. 44 Burns bread and butter? 45 Tips may be part of it 46 Lively Baroque dances 47 Corp. head honcho 49 Fingerprint feature 51 Ruination 53 Cong. meeting 55 Anatomical bag 56 Victorian, for one 57 Die dot 58 Donkey 59 Biological messenger 60 Debtor’s marker
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