WINNER! ACADEMY AWARDS INCLUDING BEST ACTRESS KATHARINE HEPBURN PETER Q'TOOLE Ends KATHARINE HEThursday HEPBURN LION IN JNE MERROW JOHN CksE WINTER TIMOTHYDOANTROR s secondI f hioiit ,Iage ir i ttn 34- aty NEWS PHONE: 764-053- BUSINESS PHONE: 764-0554 Saturday, September 27, 1969 Ann Arbor, Michigan Page Three TENANTS UNION ORGANIZES DIAL 5-6290 t( t ,A SHOWS AT 1:15-3:40 6:20-8:55 U MONDAY, SEPT. 29 8:00 P.M. PIONEER HIGH SCHOOL AUDITORIUM, ANN ARBOR TICKETS: $3.00 Advance' AVAILABLE: DISCOUNT RECORDS Ann Arbor GRINNELL BROTHERS Ypsiant i ti EDITR'SNOTE: Daily reporter Steve accompanied a Tenants Union organizer on his rounds to gather sup- port for the rent strike. This is his account of a night of organizing. By STEVE KOPPMAN It's not easy organizing a rent strike where people live in neat little apart- ments in nice, clean, two-story houses on tree-lined streets. You pound the pavement and you keep telling your- self how the landlords are screwing everybody and then you walk inside to talk to tenants who tell you how nice he is, The first lady you talk to doesn't even let you give your pitch. "Hi! I'm from the Tenants Union and . . .,," "No strike! We promised the land- lord!" "But.." "When we signed the lease, we promised t h e landlord we wouldn't strike! We promised him!" "But that's not really legally ." "Maybe not legally, but honorably! It's honorably binding! We promised!" Oh, hell. She promised. Of course. You ought to understand. You can't ng strikc ask someone to strike if she promised her landlord she wouldn't. Christ, suppose all the landlords thought of that? You keep knocking on the doors and you give your spiel and the people lis- ten intently and nod their heads ev- ery so often, and you wonder if you're getting through to them. The housing situation in Ann Ar- bor is bad, you tell t h e m, and the landlords are charging exorbitant rents, and the leases are unconscion- able. We need to make a collective ef- fort, we need to form a strong Ten- ants Union, so we can bargain collec- tively with the landlords. "The owner was here the other day to vacuum our rugs" says one girl. "He vacuumed your rugs!" "He swept out the bathroom too." "Holy.." "He paid my parking ticket." "My God" you say, "he's really up- tight about the rent strike." And you explain that this won't 1 a s t if the Tenants Union fails. And these girls understand, sort of, and they know the rents are too high, and they're inter- rs ested in your little form where you can check off defects in the condition of the apartment from the bookshelves to the towel racks and the screens. Doors in Ann Arbor o p e n slowly these days. You've climbed the stairs to the top floor and you knock and the girl wants to know who it is. "I'm John Doe - from the Tenants Union -- I'd like to talk to you for a minute." She asks again and you answer again, and now she's starting to unlock the giant door. She opens the door a little and peeks through. "Gee, y o u look legitimate. Come on in." She's beautiful. "Let me preface this that we haven't had any trouble so far," she says. Cool. You explain everything a n d she's real attentive and friendly, but you don't think she understands. Her roommate comes in - you don't like the looks of this one, and sure enough, she gives you a hard time. She must be a nurse. "We're hard-headed about this." she says, "we want facts and figures about how we're getting Jewed!" You're Jewish, of course. You tell them about Van Curler's 40 per cent profit, but you explain how this probably isn't typical. We need a Tenants Union, you say. We need pow- er. You tell them howe minor housing code violations will get them rent re- ductions if they have to go to court. "Well, if you're going to get picky, I guess everybody has some little viola- tions," says the beautiful one. "I mean like, we have our luggage in the back . and we have the hamsters." Yeah. Right. You're sort of depresssed now. You've hit six apartments, and maybe you'll get one or two, but nothing sure. In the downstairs apartment. you meet someone you know from the Ten- ants Union. You needed that. "You can take care of your room- mates!" you say. "No. I've tried," she says. Well, you're still pretty depressed. Sick and tired. People don't under- stand. They're so crass. Passive. Stu- pid. You're about ready to call it a night, but then you decide to try one more house. And it's good you did. "Yeah, I've really been thinking about it - and the people upstairs, they'll strike for sure" says the girl. You feel better already. You answer all their questions. They're happy to have you. You don't feel like an un- welcome guest any more. Upstairs, it's even better. People who are like you. People who understand. "Yeah, well, my father's paying the rent, and the landlords been nice to us - but the rents are really high, and I go along with the union stuff," says the guy upstairs. And you stay in the last apartment a long time. A girl who's visiting tells you about light bulbs that fall on peo- ple's heads, and chair legs that fall off spontaneously. She's with another landlord, one who hasn't got tense yet about t h e strike. Everyone there agrees they'll join the strike, and the union is a great thing. You go outside and you feel heady. Out of ten apartments, maybe you'll get five. You've worked over t h r e e hours but it's been worth it. from the sa tisfied $3.25 of Door mEII *u.u~upjZImuIIEIIhE 1 i' '1I LI I I LI .1 LI I I I I I , 00 I s"4 And nights you'll be back in a couple of to try some more. M I "I-I VITTORIO DESICA'S The Bicycle Thief and ALAIN RESNAIS' Night and Fog SEPTEMBER 26-27 Fri.-Sat. 7-9:30 Aud. A 75c (cheap) IHA presents BUFFY SAINTE MARIE Saturday, Oct. 4 - 8:30 P.M. HILL AUDITORIUM TICKETS: $2.00 -$2.50- $3.00 On sale at SAB Sept. 29 -Oct. 3 Mail Orders and Block Ticket Requests (Sept. 22- Oct. 1 ) I HA Concert, 151 1 Student Activities Bldg. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor the news today b.)' It Assocad P11re, n c( ollec Press Serice PRESIDENT NIXON attacked yesterday Congressional pro- posals for a final deadline for American troop withdrawal from Vietnam. In his first televised news conference in three months, Nixon de- clared that while he wants to end the war next year, the imposition of a specific cutoff deadline would undermine the Administration's' peace efforts. Nixon said he would not be affected by campus strikes and dem- onstrations planned for next month. On other issues, Nixon claimed that the administration's anti- inflation measures are working; defended his policy on school deseg- regation and reiterated his support of his Supreme Court nominee. Clement Haynsworth. TWELVE DEMOCRATIC SENATORS, along with an equal number of House members, met yesterday and agreed to ally themselves with student opponents of the Vietnam Wliar. It is reported that the group will support the Vietnam morator- ium planned for college campuses Oct. 15, and will introduce propos- als in both Houses for the complete withdrawal of American troops from Vietnam. In the face of President Nixon's insistence that setting of dead- lines for troop withdrawals would undercut peace efforts, the group is embarking on an effort to "escalate the pressure" for such withdraw- als. The group included Sen. George McGovern IrD-S. D.), Sen. Ed- ward Kennedy (D-Mass.), Sen. J. W. Fulbright (D-Ark.) and Demo- cratic national chairman Sen. Fred Harris (D-Okla.) A MILITARY JUNTA headed by General Alfredo Ovando Canadia ousted Bolivia's civilian government yesterday. The new regime's first official act invalidated the oil law under which the American-owned Bolivian Gulf Oil Company operates. In a message to Bolivia's peasants, Ovando declared "the revo- lutionary government is on your side" and will "defend the rights of the peasants." Ovando pledged to strengthen the land reform act of 1953. WHITE CONSTRUCTION WORKERS demonstrated sporadi- cally yesterday in Chicago, as Labor Department officials there heard testimony on claims of discrimination against black workers. Several hundred white workers massed in front of the U.S. Customs House jeered as the Rev. Jesse Jackson, head of Operation Breadbasket, entered the building to testify. A helmet was thrown at Jackson and the group of blacks accompanying him. The hearing is investigating charges of racial discrimination in' hiring of workers on federally financed projects. STUDENTS AT THE University of Puerto Rico invaded an ROTC building there yesterday and set fire to furniture inside. The demonstration erupted soon after word spread that one stu- dent, Edwin Feliciano Grafals, had been sentenced to a year in prison for refusing to serve in the U.S. armed forces. Police were not called to the campus and no arrests were made. Hair-raising a t the courthouse Lee Weiner and Abbie Hoffman, right, wrap themselves in white paper while supporter Dick uses large shears to prune a lock of hair, in front of Federal Building in Chicago. Weiner an man are on trial there with six others on charges of conspiring to incite mob action during1 Democratic Convention. See story on page 1. Monday IN strike UIDa called L (Continued from Page I1 ministration Bldg. and dispersed. Afterward, Fleming remained on the plaza for three hours and talked informally with throngs o 7 students about the bookstore issue. yesterday's arrests, and war research. "The Regents should be more accessible to the students. There isn't an effective mechanism for student input into the decision making. And there should be," Fleming said. But Fleming added that the Re- gents would unanimously be "un- willing to discuss the SGC book- store proposal any more." Fleming was adamant in his justification of the police action. He argued that the protesters were asked to leave peaceably t h r e e times. and refuse. O'Brien "We went the injunction route nd Hoff- because we thought the people the 1968 would leave and no charges would be brought about. Injunctions are usially adhered to," Fleming as- serted. "We did not read the trespass statute because that would have brought in the police. Only if you don't obey the in- junction do you end witth the police," acknowledged Fleming. "We did not want to arrest anybody, If they had left there would have been no police, no arrests." he said. e I Fleming did not believe that the de a decis- students were legitimate in their ce but had occupation. He claimed that tac- )ly file out, ties of this sort did not belong in remained the University community. Throughout the day, the ad- ng officers ministration maintained tight se- ays. How- curity in the Administration Bldg. ze some of No persons were admitted by se- le rougher curity guards without elevator ele- a number vator keys or appointments. Stair- arily rough way doors were locked. OPPOSE DISRUPTION: Faculty supports Fleming on police Theatre' D WINNER . BEST ACTRESS F ""EXUBERANT"LOOK "A MASTERPIECE" "GLORIOUS"N "MONUMENTAL"A MADE "BEAUTIFUL" COSM "IMMENSE" -NE "MAGNIFICENT" --N :15-3:45 6:15-8:45 IAL 662-6264 Countinued [rmin Page University Affairs, the top faculty body, agrees with Barritt's ob- servations and even goes so far as to turn the statement around: "Fleming's reaction is kind of like the faculty's." he says. While accepting Fleming's state- ment of philosophy on disruption as an' honest one, some have sug- gested that more pragmatic con- siderations influenced the presi- dent's decision to call in the police. Mayor Robert Harris insists Fleming is under a great deal of pressure from the State Legisla- ture, with the distinct possibility of an appropriations cut if he does not handle disruption firmly. And the president's relationship with Gov. William Milliken may also be at stake. In a television interview following the North Hall takeover earlier this week, Milliken expressed confidence in Fleming's ability to handle the situation- but added that he expected him to deal with it firmly. Milliken was in frequent contact with Fleming Thursday night. But Fleming denies that such pressures influenced him to call in the police. "It was my decision,," he says. "It wasn't forced on me by other people." Denital appoinlthe1nts The University of Michigan School of Dentistry is making ap- pointments for examination of new patients. Interested persons should call 764-1516, 764-1517. or 764-1518. Prof essor submits to arrest Corn inued frm Pa The students had ma ion not to resist the poli also decided to not simp Wehrer says. Everyone seated. Most of the arrestir were "firm." Wehrer s ever. he would "criticiz them for being a litt than they should be -- of them were unnecessa with no seeming reason the way the people wer "You could see the betwen one policeman other," Webster adds. result, a few of the demo though not treated bru "unnecessarily manhan "There was absolute sistance on anyone's par declares. 1969 FILM 'ESTIVA L i based on 'e inside. difference and an- And as a onstrators. tally. were, dled." adds ly no re- r1." Well'er. The -Michigan Daily, edited and man- aged by students at the University of M!ichigan. News phone: 764-0552. Second Class postage paid at Ann Arbor, Mich- igan 420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Michan 48104. Published daily Tues- day trough Sunday morning Univer- sit e. Subscription rates: $10 by c Xrer 10 by mail. Summentr Sess;ion published Tueayc tlvrough S aturdav morning. Subscri-1) tion rat7e- : $3.00 by carrier, $3.00 by mil. MAGAZINE PLAYBOY EWSWEEK EMOISELLE OPOLITAN W YORKER J.Y. TIMES BLOCK TICKETS FOR THE Martin Luther King Scholarship Fund' Benefit Concert SATURDAY, OCT. 11-8:00 P.M.-EVENTS BLDG. TER U presents COLUMBIA RECORDING ARTISTS GOOD NEWS I' "THE PERFORMANCE THAT SHOhID HAVE WON " II.