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Complexity of City Housing
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Editorials printed in The Michigan Daily express the individual opinions of staff writers
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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7, 1964 NIGHT EDITOR: DAVID BLOCK
Student Action Group
Takes Wrong Approach
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By LEONARD PRATT
TrHE HOUSING PROBLEM in
Ann Arbor today is a very com-
plex situation. It is complex first
from the standpoint of its causes,
enmeshed as they are in city
administration and the civil rights
struggle. And second it is complex
because of its effects on the com-
munity, effects ranging from eco-
nomic to social and ethical. It is
because of this very complexity
that we must understand the situ-
ation; its importance lies in the
fact that it does affect so much
in so many unexpected ways.
Origins of the current housing
situation can be separated into
basically two parts. First is the
civil rights struggle with its ac-
companying emphasis on removing
discrimination in housing rentals.
The other major cause might be
labeled administrative; that is, it
derives its importance from the
fact that either the city or the
University, or often both, is act-
ing to promote a change in the
point, housing problems were
brought to the public eye some
eight years ago, when local civil
rights groups began to document
cases of discriminatory .housing.
This documentation brought to the
public proof, as opposed to mere
accusations, that there was need
for such regulations in Ann Arbor.
Sentiment within the inherently
conservative community g r e w
slowly at first, but students and
interested citizens gave the move-
ment the impetus it needed.
Thus ever increasing pressure
induced the city council to pass
the Fair Housing Ordinance in
January of 1964. The ordinance
authorized enforcement of most
of the demands which civil rights
groups had been making on the
city.
Yet passage of theordinance
was niot the end of fair housing
problems in the city. For the or-
dinance soon was takgen into court
in the Parkhurst and Arbordale
apartment case.
WELL, IT'S BEGUN. A great, seething
mass of student-humanity angrily
surged onto the Diag yesterday noon and
roared approval of Barry Bluestone's dia-
tribe against the "sorry conditions" at
the University.
About 200 showed up. Bluestone could
not be heard from the back of the crowd.
The occasional "Yea's" to his charges
that the administration doesn't care
about its students came from a few Voice
people already sympathetic to the glories
of mass protest.
Then one unplanned spectator shouted,
"Let's march on the president's house."
So off went the by-now 75, carefully
avoiding trampling the lawn, to interrupt
Mrs. Hatcher's lunch. She asked them to
come to tea today and said it was nice
that students were demanding something.
T IS. There are undoubtedly dissatis-
factions and ideas floating around the
campus. They don't get expressed or fol-
lowed up through Student Government
Council. So why not an ad hoc group?
No reason, as long as it realizes that
the case isn't one of the righteous stu-
dent body fighting an unheeding, evil,
ignorant administration. As long as the
members of that group realize just how
very little they really understand.
It was the simplism of that Diag "rally"
which was most disturbing, the demagogic
mass appeal, the painting of the Issues in
black-and-white.
For a crowd of desperate, repressed
people, that kind of appeal is both appro-
priate and necessary. For students-who
if they are not more intelligent than the
masses have little justification for exist-
ence-such an appeal is both inappropri-
ate and unnecessary.
HEN STUDENTS and a whole nation
were beginning to express their con-
cern with the Negro question, there was
good reason for emotions. When the issue
is the problem of administering a 29,000-
student University which spends more
than $150 million a year, however, ap-
peals to emotion are simply out of con-
text.
Student grievances-however passion-
ately some might feel them-just do not
lend themselves to simple, black-and-
white solutions, much less to that kind
of analysis.
LUESTONE'S VOICE and the large
capital letters on the leaflet proclaim-
ed that "WE DEMAND" more money for
teaching instead of the overemphasis on
research, new student housing, better
study and parking facilities, increased
student wages, lower costs for housing,
books and retail goods and "Campus De-
mocracy Now."
Such an appeal is more than just dis-
tasteful to those who realize all the mi-
nute complexities of the issues involved.
It is actually harmful to the process
through which changes will have to be
achieved.
Attempting to arouse students' emo-
tions over University policy is a laughing
matter to those who are aware of what
goes into the making of that policy. They
rightly sense the gross oversimplification.
FOR THOSE who are won over, however
-and there undoubtedly will be some
-it will be quite difficult to give their
grievances the concerted and essentially
boring study which is necessary. Blue-
stone decried the way SGC buries im-
portant business-such as a grievance list
he presented there a number of weeks
ago-in committee.
Well he might-in referring to SGC
committees. Yet by his own admission,
during the few parts of his speech when
he turned away from the mass appeal,
only small groups giving intense consid-
eration to narrow areas of concern can
gain the knowledge from which mean-
ingful recommendations must be made.
Those students who come to tonight's
"mass" meeting of the new student group
expecting immediate and radical solu-
tions through demonstrations, strikes or
boycotts-and it is likely that most of
those who come will expect this-will be
sorely disappointed when they are as-
signed to committees. If they stay around
at all.
If it wants to build and keep a mem-
bership, the new group will have to pro-
vide excitement. The "march" on Hatch-
er's house is only a first indication. Yet
if it does this, there is little chance that
anyone in the administration will listen.
If the group takes its minority of emo-
tionally-charged students and demon-
strates, it will most likely, and 'rightly,
be ignored. If it takes its minority and
instead presents sound recommendations
based on understanding of the issues, it
faces the problem of being too small.
THE ONLY METHOD is combining size
and rationality. The group could have
begun with small units of dedicated and
intelligent people delving deeply into spe-
cific problems and then gone to the cam-
pus at large. The appeal would have
much more force, command much more
respect for being well documented and
for presenting viable creative alternatives.
As it is, it seems the procedure is being
reversed.
If the reason for this reversal is the
aversion for the committee method of
study-based on disappointing experi-
ences with SGC-the reasoning is mis-
guided. There is nothing inherently weak
or ineffective about committees. The
meaninglessness of SGC's studies is not
a result of the committee method but of
the ineptness of those on SGC.
It will be most unfortunate if nothing
comes of Bluestone's efforts, for there is
definitely a need at the University for
the expression of reasoned student opin-
ion. Without doubt, there are many cru-
cial issues.
BUT THE NATURE of the problems, the
fact that grievances about adminis-
trative procedures are just not equivalent
to grievances about civil rights, the fact
that where rationality is required, stu-
dents cannot be expected to act appro-
priately when the appeal is to emotional
simplism, these factors militate against
success for the student action group born
yesterday.
Hopefully, the group will reassess its
course.
-JEFFREY GOODMAN
field.
FROM THE civil rights
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR:
Second Look at Goldwater Rally
To the Editor-
I WOULD LIKE to make a few
observations on the caliber of
reporting in The Daily for Sun-
day, September 27, on the rally
for Senator Goldwater in Detroit
on September 26.
You included a paragraph which
reads as follows: "His speech in
Detroit's Convention Arena at-
tracted approximately 9,000 sup-
porters, one third of whom were
of high school age or less. The
speech was interrupted several
times by short demonstrations
from youthful supporters, who also
booed Romney when he appeared
at the platform."
I am taking issue with this para-
graph because I believe to be true
published evidence that newspaper
reporting which flirts with the
truth but never settles down to an
honest marriage with it has often
deliberately been used in efforts
to convince the public that a par-
ticular political candidate enjoys
little public support.
* * *
NOW, as a matter of fact, I was
in Cobo Hall Convention Arena
Saturday night, two hours before
the rally and I stood in the halls
watching the people stream in.
According to an official in the
Customers Relations Department
of Cobo Hall, whom I called on
thismatter,athe seating capacity
for Saturday night's rally was
slightly over 12,000 people. In the
hall, I saw that almost every seat
was filled except a few hundred
at the very top of the vast arena
and there were people on the three
lower levels standing and sitting
in the aisles. Saturday night was
a rainy night and Detroit has been
without newspapers since July, and
yet 12,000, not 9,000 people came
out to give a "thundering" en-
dorsement to Senator Goldwater.
(That last phrase is a direct quote
from the news commentators on
Detroit's Television Station, WWJ,
Channel 4.)
Both Detroit television stations
on their nightly newscast gave
the attendance figure as over 12,-
000 and they were joined in their
estimate by the Detroit Press, an
emergency newspaper. Now, just
where did your estimate come
from?
* *
NOW AS FAR as the arena au-
dience being one third composed of
high school age or under sup-
porters, there are a few facts
which contradict this assertion. I
have already indicated that I was
in the audience and could see from
the first'people who arrived until
the hall was filled that this was
not the case. I have a younger
brother who is Wayne County
Chairman for Teenage Republi-
cans and he shared the respon-
sibility for the teenagers who were
in the hall. As a matter of fact,
the teenagers who demonstrated
numbered about six hundred. They
had been recruited to engage in a
torch-lightprocession toescort
Senator Goldwater from his hotel
to the arena. A section of seats
had been reserved for this num-
ber in the back of the main floor
of the hall and its was these six
hundred young teenagers that
demonstrated on the floor.
One third of 12,000 people is
4,000 and one third of 9,000 is
3,000. There remains at last 2,400
youngsters to account for and
frankly, the only other young
people I saw were those that ac-
companied their parents along
with an expected proportion scat-
tered throughout the arena with-
out chaperons.
BUT THIS PROPORTION did
not make up anywhere near one
third of the audience - which
would be 3,400 youngsters by reli-
able estimates of the total cowd
made in Detroit. I just wonder
if this reporting is of thesame
caliber as the notice that appear-
Civil Rights
To the Editor:
YOUR ARTICLE on the situation
in McComb, Mississippi in the
Daily of Sept. 26 depressed me
greatly. It is clear from the em-
phasis of the story that you do
not understand the way things
work in Mississippi and especially
in McComb, one of the most
dangerous parts of the state.
The arrest of 20 Negroes in an
attempt to blame the civil rights
movement for the four bombings
of Negro homes and churches
since Sept. 20 exactly parallels the
claim made by white Mississip-
pians that the three civil rights
workers murdered in Philadelphia,
Miss., were actually "hiding out
in Chicago or in Mexico and
laughing about the publicity they
were getting." It is just another
case of the injured party being
charged with doing the injuring.
It is not uncommon for a person
involved in the civil rights move-
ment in Mississippi to be badly
beaten and then arrested for as-
sault and battery. I was told by a
Gulfport, Miss., policeman: .
you know there's no law in Mis-
sissippi."
What laws they do respect are
explicitly designed to preserve and
promote racial inequities there and
to make illegal any attempts to
change the present setup. The
"criminal syndicalism" statute, un-
der which 25 Negroes were just
arrested is disturbingly similar to
South African tactics. According
to the New York Times of Sept.
25, "It forbids' virtually all ac-
tivity that would lead to political
or social change in the state."
Bare facts without background
are inherently misleading. The
story as it ran in the Daily does
a great disservice to the civil
rights movement.
-Barry Goldstein, Grad
To the Editor:
A S THERE ARE only seve
didates for the six seats
upcoming Student Gover
Council elections, I sugges
students be asked to vote f
candidate they do not wan
simplifies voting and co
procedures as it is easier f
dents to vote for one pers
stead of seven; and it is
to count the one person wit
votes instead of trying to
out the six persons with t
most votes.
It would also be interest
have an election where th
didates try to tell voters wh
also save a candidate tim
should not vote for them..
-Yee C. Cher
Dear
To the Editor:
I WOULD LIKE to remi
students at this school w
registered to vote in Michiga
they have until Saturday, C
31, to apply for their absent
lots for the November 3 ele
This is a vitally importan
tion for all of Michigan an
our obligation as citizens of
nation to cast our ballots f
candidates of our choice. C
still a government of theI
our votes are an expressionc
lie opinion and therefore I
shape our community, sta'
nation.
I urge every student a
school who is qualified to
Michigan to obtain an at
ballot before the October 31
line. All you need do is t
your township or city cle
request and application. f
absent voters ballot, comp
and return it to the same c
mail.
-George Ror
Governor
THE CASE originated when the
manager of the apartments re-
stand- fused to rent an apartment to a
Negro, Bunyan Bryant. The Ann
Arbor chapter of the Congress of
Racial Equality reported the in-
cident to the city's Human Rela-
tions Commission, which had been
set up under the housing ordinance
to sift discrimination reports and
determine whether or not they
SGC should be prosecuted. HRC rec-
ommended that the city prosecute
the case and so it was arraigned in
n can- Municipal Court last spring.
in the But in the interim, Michigan's
nment new constitution had come into
t that effect, with a civil rights section
for the which allegedly pre-empted the
t. This civil rights field in the state; in
unting other words, local rights laws were,
or stu- held by the State Attorney Gen-
on in- eral to be invalid under the new
easier constitution, which had delegated
h most the authority to try rights cases
figure to its own Civil Rights Commis-
he six sion. This opinion was used in the
defense of the manager, and so
ting to the case became not only a case of
:e can- his guilt or innocence, but of the
ly they very constitutionality of the Fair
1e and Housing Ordinance.
MUNICIPAL Court Judge Fran-
n, '65 cis O'Brien ruled the ordinance
unconstitutional early in May, so
line ending the first phase of the
struggle over the ordinance; the
case has been appealed to Circuit
Court Judge James R. Breakey,
nd the and whatever the decision there
'ho are the issue is certain to be appealed
in that to the Michigan Supreme Court for
)ctober a final decision.
ee bal- The importance of the case is
ction. that its significance reaches far
it elec- beyond Ann Arbor; it is a state-
d it is wide issue, as it will provide a
a free precident for future law enforce-
for the ment in the rights field. It will
Durs is be the basis of future decisions as
people; to whether state civil rights law
of pub- is to exist independently in Michi-
help to gan or whether it will co-exist
te and with local regulations. And as
such, the housing ordinance case
it this will set the pattern for all future
vote in Michigan civil rights movements.
bsentee * * *
dead- AS OPPOSED to the civil rights
o write housing situation, the administra-
rk and tive housing situation breaks down
or the into two sections. First and most
lete it prominent of these is the sub-
lerk by standard housing situation and
second is the very recent question
cney of high-rise campus housing.
Substandard housing is, in itself,
probably the least complex of all
the issues involved in current
housing difficulties. Basically it is
simply housing, either student or
otherwise, that is below standards
set forth in legal building codes.
Of course there is great variation
within this range; "below local
building codes" includes everything
from a leaky pipe or a frayed
light cord to falling plaster and
lack of heating. A second matter
which must be noted is the vary-
ing time sequences involved in the
different substandard locations;
some buildings remain on the sub-
standard role for only a few weeks,
time enough for their owners to
effect the necessary repairs.
Others have obviously been sub-
standard for months if not years
with little likelihood of the owners
ever voluntarily modernizing them.
Substandard items with either
a very short time of repair, or of
a'very minor nature, do not really
enter into the housing problem.
What is of concern are those
major long-neglected items which
indicate that their owners are
not at all concerned with the
quality of the housing they pro-
vide; their sole interest is in their
margin of profit which increases
as their repair bills decrease.
* * *
THE SIZE of this problem was
indicated several weeks ago when
City Manager Guy C. Larcom re-
ported to the city council that
there were "at least" 317 cases of
substandard housing in Ann Ar-
bor. The city has been working
under great handicaps in its at-
tempts to enforce both city and
state building codes. (Ann Arbor,
incidently, is one of the few cities
in the state which at least makes
the attempt to enforce state build-
ing codes.) Primary problem is,
of course, the money to pay the
manpower to keep such an in-
spection program running; this
simply has not been forthcoming.
Ann Arbor, therefore, finds it-
self in the unenviable position of
promoting housing regulations
without enforcing them. An end
to this absurdity may be in sight
if Larcom's request for additional
funds is granted.
High-rise campus housing is a
problem new to the University. So
far as most people are concerned,
the issue presented itself only this
fall when it became known that
a Milwaukee firm, Towne Realty
Inc., and 'an Ann Arbor builder,
Robert Weaver Inc., were cooper-
ating in the construction of an
18-story apartment building on
South University.
Several problems occur with the
construction of this building. The
major one is parking; the build-
ing will house some 800 students,
and the cars which these will add
to already congested South Uni-
versity traffic will be phenominal.
The city and the University are
now considering joint study of the
problem by an independent study
organization.
THE SECOND PROBLEM is
that of a blesing in disguise. High-
rise apartments are needed in that
they will ease the burden of stu-
dent housing on the University.
Yet a multiplicity of these apart-
ments, such as will appear if this
one is successful and no limita-
tions are put on, such building,
could easilyucongestAnn Arbor
traffic beyond repair, make the
parking problem literally impos-
sible and shrink the rest of the
University's campus into absurd-
ity beside the gargantuian build-
ings.
High-rise housing problems have
been further complicated by a
series of misunderstandings as to
the nature of the buildings and
of the University's relation to
them. Construction officials at
first were said to have given the
impression that the University had
given full approval to. the project.
This progressed to such an extent
that officials of the Office of Stu-
dent Affairs thought it necessary
to deny any connection with the
building project.
As in many other housing'situa-
tions, the University finds itself
on the horns of, a delemma. On
the! one hand, it wants the ad-
ditional housing and certainly
cannot put itself in the position
of' stifling private enterprise on
its campus for any reason. Yet
it is undeniable that the Univer-
sity has a responsibility to keep
its campus , area functioning
smoothly and reasonably attrac-
tive. The solution to this problem
can lie only in cooperation between
University, city and the builders
concerned. But it is much too early
to tell what form this cooperation
will take or when its effects will
begin to be felt.
The components of the housing
situation, both from the civil
rights standpoint and from the
administrative standpoint must be
clearly separated in our minds.
For theysoperatedentirely indepen-
dent of one another and will have
entirely independent effects and
resolutions.
THERE ARE two things which
must be avoided in thinking about
the housing situation. First, the
complexities and difficulties fac-
ing those attempting to cope with
these problems must never be un-
4
4
.4
I
STANLEY QUARTET PREVIEW:
Begins 16th University Season:
Premier of Memorial to Kennedy
i
By JEFFREY K. CHASE
THE STANLEY QUARTET, rec-
ognized as one of the finest
quartets-in-residence in the coun-
try, is entering its 16th season at.
the University.
For the first of its four Ann
Arbor concerts this year, on Oct. 7,
the Quartet will feature Schubert's
"Quartet in A minor, Op. 29,"
Beethoven's "Quartet in C major,
Op. 59, No. 3" and the premier
performance of the "Quartet No.
hard and Carter have accepted
these commissions and have re-
sponded with imposing composi-
tions.
Forty works comprise the con-
temporary portion of an impres-
sive repertoire and the program-
ming of one classical, one contem-
porary and one romantic compo-
sition in each concert has become
the trade-mark of this resident
quartet.
The members of the quartet-
Gilbert Ross and Gustave Rosseels,
year, the composition is in four
sections, played without pause.
"The Quartet is a brief work of
several moods ranging from the
robust, the almost jovial, to a
quiet solemnity. Its totality, how-
ever, is not a programmatic eul-
ogy; it is, rather a musician s
humble statement of remorse."
In addition to four string quar-
tets, Cooper's recent works in-
clude several sonatas-for piano
solo, and for viola, violin, cello,
and flute, each with piano. His
Disqualification Reversal
BARRY BLUESTONE, Student Govern-
ment Council's source of vitality, has
sacrificed principle in rationalizing his
support for disqualifying one student last
week from being 4a candidate for Stu-
dent Government Council.
The student in question was assisted by
friends in getting petitions filled in order
to qualify as a SOC candidate. In so do-
ing an election procedure was violated.
Bluestone, in a letter to the Daily, ex-
plained that he opposed the petition re-
quirement last spring and intended to
attempt to revise the Credentials and
Rules Committee ruling to disqualify the
candidate.
That the disqualified student would
have been only the seventh in a field of
candidates seeking six offices is adequate
empirical justification for concluding the
petition requirement is neither a neces-
sary nor a desirable qualification for
SGC candidacy. Bluestone is correct in
raised at last week's meeting, it seems
the student in question failed to appear
in person before SGC to appeal the C & R
committee's ruling. Instead a committee
on her behalf pleaded her case. This in
addition to the -assistance she received
obtaining signatures led Bluestone to rea-
sonably, if not correctly, conclude that
she was not running for SGC as an in-
dividual but as the proxy of a committee.
Our inspired SGC representative decid-
ed that such a candidacy "violated the
spirit" of Council. Apparently there is
neither a resolution disqualifying candi-
dates absent from appeal proceedings nor
one articulating the "spirit of SGC." Oth-
erwise these would have been the express-
ed reasons for disqualification.
It appears that he judged it is his prer-
ogative to define and defend the "spirit
of SGC." In order to effect his judgment
he utilized the spuriousapetition ruling.
It is because nuisance laws are used in
COOPER AND THE STANLEY QUARTET
4" by ~ Paul Comenr.
violins: Robert Courte. viola: and
"Concerto for Harpsichord and