I'

Merchants attempt to kill

bottle law

)

Xhr irbigan Bailn
Eighty-three years of editorial freedom
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan

420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Mi. 48104

News Phone: 764-0552


THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 1973

Citywide rent control needed

THIS CITY NEEDS rent control.
Anyone who has furtively searched for
decent housing at a less than outrageous
cost is aware of the need for controlled
rents. And once a person has finally lo-
cated and moved into a less-than-lousy
rental unit, this need is continually drill-
ed in with the annual notices from the
landlord that rent will have to be raised
due to "inflation" or "taxes."
The Human Rights Party is currently
circulating a petition which would place
a comprehensive rent control package on
the ballot as a city charter amendment
in April. This petition deserves both the
signatures and support of all tenants in
the Ann Arbor community.
In its essentials, the HRP rent control
plan is a three-part package. It provides
for:
W A rollback of all rents to pre-Sep-
tember levels, usually the time landlords
choose to raise rents;
0 The establishment of a formula upon
which all rents must be based. This for-
mula would correspond in the most part
to the actual costs to the landlord of
building and maintaining the rental unit,
plus a 14 per cent profit on equity;
0 And the creation of a nine-member
Rent Control Board, to be elected on a
partisan and, proportional basis. The
board would oversee the operation of the
rent control law and adjudicate any con-
flicts arising from it.
Included in the proposed charter
amendment is a provision which would
give landlords incentive to maintain and
improve rental units, as 150 per cent of
real maintenance costs and 110 per cent
of capital improvement costs would be
included in the rent formula.
The chief objection that is generally
made to rent control proposals is that
controls wreck the self-correcting mecha-
nism of supply and demand in the hous-
ing market. If there is high demand and
rents are high, laissez-faire soothsayers
intone, more units will be constructed to?
fulfill the demand, lowering or at least
stabilizing rents.
As anyone even marginally acquainted
with the Ann Arbor housing market
knows, this is a bogus argument. The
Editorial Staff
CHRISTOPHER PARKS and EUGENE ROBINSON
Co-Editors in Chief
DIANE LEVICK ............. . ......... Arts Editor
MARTIN PORTER...................Sunday Editor
MARILYN RILEY........ Associate Managing Editor
ZACHARY SCHILLER .............. Editorial Director
ERIC SCHOCH ..................... Editorial Director
TONY SCHWARTZ .................... Sunday Editor
CHARLES STEIN......................City Editor
TED STEIN......... ............ Executive Editor
ROLFE TESSEM ..................Managing Editor
EDITORIAL PAGE EDITORS: Marnie Heyn, Chuck
Wilbur, David Yaowtz
STAFF WRITERS: Prakash Awan, Gordon Atcheson,
Dan Biddle, Penny Blank, Dan Blugerman, Howard
Brick, Dave Burhenn, Bonnie Carnes, Charles Cole-
man, Mike Duweck, Ted Evanoff, Deborah Good,
William Heenan, Cindy Hill, Jack Krost, Jean Love-
Josephine Marcotty, Cheryl Pilate, Judy Ruskin,
Ann Rauma, Bob Sedenstein, Stephen Selbt, Jeff
Sorensen, Sue btephenson, David Stoll, Rebecca
Warner

fact is that virtually all housing con-
struction in campus and near-campus
areas has come to a halt, even though
abnormally low vacancy rates continue
MOREOVER, the costs of housing con-
- struction are themselves rising all
the time, so rents on new units are likely
to be higher than those already preva-
lent. Individual landlords simply do not
gain by lowering rents to fill up vacan-
cies, at least in Ann Arbor.
The HRP petition, which needs 3,500
valid signatures by Jan. 2 to get on the
April ballot, had only 900 by last Sunday
night. It will take a massive effort to ob-
tain the necessary number of names.
In light of the amendment's provi-
sions, such as its elimination of the spec-
ulative gain lahdlords reap from resell-
ing already constructed units, there will
most likely be strong landlord opposition
if the proposal is placed on the ballot.
The task for time being, however, is clear:
Garnering the necessary signatures to get
rent control on the ballot.
Savingwater
MONDAY NIGHT'S MOVE by City Coun-
cil to alter the price rate system for
water is merely a step in the right direc-
tion, if the intent is really to promote
water conservation and not solely to in-
crease revenues.
The previous rate system was extreme-
ly regressive in that heavy users of water
were charged as little as 18 cents per 100
cubic feet while light users were charged
as much as 37 cents per 100 cubic feet.
The new rate is a flat rate of 33 cents
per 100 cubic feet, which will probably
have only a limited effect on water con-
servation. A flat rate merely removes the
previous financial incentive to use vast
amounts of water.
Only a "progressive" rater system suc~h
as the HRP-Dmocratic proposal that was
rejected, in which heavier users of water
would be charged more than light users
would provide an incentive to conserve
water. Such a system would hopefully
provide incentives for industrial users to
analyze ways in which water was being
wasted at their concerns, and might in-
fluence citizens to quit wasting as much
water.
Water is a resource that should be used
carefully and conserved like any other.
Thus it is pointless to go only half way
when more effective steps are readily
available.
TODAY'S STAFF:
News: Penny Blank, Charles Coleman, J.
Fraley, Chris Parks, Gene Robinson, Ted
Stein
Editorial Page: Cindy Hill, Eric Schoch,
David Yalowitz
Arts Page: Sara Rimer
Photo Technician: Steve Kagan

By PENNY KRAMER
ANN ARBOR'S Returnable Ordinance is
finally having its day - or month -
in court.
The law requires payment of a five cent
deposit on all soft drink and beer con-
tainers. By encouraging reuse of con-
tainers, the law will help reduce litter and
conserve natural resources and energy now
wasted on the production of bottles and
cans that are used only once.
The ordinance, which was passed last
March, after five months of debate and
research, was scheduled to go into effect
June 1. But on May 30 a group of Ann Arbor
merchants, led by John Kokales of Capitol
Market and Duane Calvert of the Beer
Vault, delayed it by filing a class action
suit against the city. Implementation of the
law was further delayed when the trial was
postponed until Nov. 7, to give the city
additional time for research.
The trial finally began this month with
three days of testimony from John Ko-
kales. Prosecuting attorney Edmund De-
vine painstakingly led him through a re-
cital of the merchant's complaints against
the law. His litany of retailer woe has been
repeated by a series of subsequent wit-
nesses.
BECAUSE MERCHANTS make a large
profit from society, it seems only reason-
able to expect them to make some sacri-
fices to benefit society. Assuming this, Ann
Arbor citizens can't understand how mer-
chants can oppose the returnable ordinance.
Their primary complaint is that the ordin-
ance will cause financial loss to the mer-
chants. Kokales claims that 99.5 per cent
of all beverages he sells are in non-reus-
able containers. The ordinance, he says,
would prevent him from selling these
items, and drive his customers to buy them
outside the city. In addition, he would
lose "related sales" in food - the bag
of chips to go with the customers' beer
-that accompany beverage purchases.
Merchants fear that under the ordinance
they'll be redeeming more non-returnable

"Because merchants make a large profit from society, it seems
only reasonable to expect them to sacrifice a fraction of this
profit to benefit society."

containers than they receive deposits for,
because area residents will return bottles
and cans purchased outside the city to col-
lect the deposit.
TO PREVENT THIS from happening, a
system of marking non-returnables would
be necesary to identify them as Ann Arbor
merchandise. But most merchants agree
with Duane Calvert that the cost of so
marking and marketing non-returnables

law presented various other plans for mark-
ing non-returnables, they were rejected on
the grounds that they were not part of the
original ordinance. The only other objec-
tions to these suggestions were that mark-
ing the outside of a 6-pack wrapper would
not work for single-bottle sales, and that it
would be awkward to turn away a "good
customer" who brought in containers with-
out their marked carton and asked for a
refund.

makes such a system "too ridiculous to
try." Because they feel neither the alterna-
tive of redeeming out of city non-rewurn-
ables nor of marking them as Ann Arbor
merchandise is financially feasible, mer-
chants treat the ordinance as a total ban
on sale of non-returnables.
According to merchants, the cost of labor
and packaging makes the marking system
expensive. They claim they can't afford
to pay workers for time spent breaking
open cardboard 6-, 8-, or 12-packs to mark
individual cans and bottles. In addition,
merchants say, tearing apart these card-
board or plastic wrappings destroys "cold
packs" and makes containers less conven-
ient to stack and carry.
According to Kokales, the customer de-
mands this packaging. As he said, "This
is the package which has been accepted
by the American consumer. This would
mean destroying the advancements in
American packaging."
Even if the marking system were econ-
omically acceptable, each merchant seems
to fear that we will be the sucker who is
forced to redeem more Ann Arbor contain-
ers than he sold and collected deposits for,
WHEN CITY ATTORNEY Bruce Laid-

Merchants also claim enforcement of the
ordinance will put them out of business
because they have no space to store re-
turned bottles and can't pay workers to
count and clean them.
Finally, merchants consider the law an
experiment at their expense, and one that
is doomed to fail. They say it will not re-
duce litter, because beer and soft drink
containers make up only a fraction of litter.
And despite the ordinance these will be
bought outside of town and end up on city
streets.
WITNESSES FOR the city have not ap-
peared yet, so the city's answers to these
claims are only suggested by Laidlaw's
questions. But the city attorney drew pro-
secution witnesses' attention to the pos-
sibility of convenient marking systems,
and to the fact that someone must think
beer cans cause more litter than juice
cans, since "Do Not Litter" is printed on
these and not on containers of non-carbon-
ated or non-alcoholic items.
He also asked retailers if they don't
already individually mark many grocery
items anyway, and if the city didn't im-
pose other inconvenient statutes on mer-
chants without them taking it as their

cue to go out of business.
The merchant's legal case is based on
the claim that the ordinance denies them
equal protection under the law, and that
the hardships it imposes on them are not
offset by the benefits to the public. They
also claim the law operates in an area
which is outside the legal power of Ann
Arbor, since beer and ale containers are
regulated by the State Liquor Control
Board.
THE CITY'S defense is grounded in the
fact that laws duly passed by City Coun-
cil are presumed valid. Mere hardship to
certain individuals will not invalidate a law
if it produces contervailing benefits to so-
ciety. City Attorney Laidlaw says, "We also
claim non-returnables are a significant
factor in the litter problem."
Another argument against striking down
the returnable ordinance is that it's not
clear the ordinance will really impose
additional costs on merchants, since they
have the option of passing these costs on to
others. But the most important reasons to
sustain the ordinance are the benefits it
will bring to society. These include reduc-
tion of solid waste, and conservation of
energy and valuable natural resources.
The trial resumes Nov. 29 and will pro-
bably continue into December. No matter
what the verdict is, the case is expected
to be appealed. Cities and townships in
Michigan and throughout the country are
watching Ann Arbor with interest because
the outcome of this trial will influence
their determination to initiate similar legis-
lation.
THE DIRE consequences predicted by
merchants have not been substantiated by
similar ordinances in other locales such
as Oregon. The self-serving protests of
merchants need to be weighed against the
environmental needs of the larger society.
Penny Kramer is a graduate student
in American Studies.
wisdo*-m

t


Psychiatric skill and political

By JAMES WECHSLER
BACK IN THE autumn of 1964,
a now defunct magazine polled
14,000 American psychiatrists on
the issue of Barry Goldwater's fit-
ness for the presidency. More than
10,000 refused to respond. But 1,189
solemnly concluded that he lacked
sufficient "psychological stability
to hold the office" while 657 gave
him passing marks. None of those
who pronounced a judgment had
any record of first-hand contact
with him.
I wrote at the time that I
thought the whole exercise was an
appalling one, and the American
Psychiatrists Assn., officially re-
pudiated it. But there is no indi-
cation that any of the nearly 2,000
therapists who participated in the
poll were subjected to any interro-
gation about the psychological in-
stability or delusion of infallibility
that inspire their caprice.
The episode is recalled by way
of preface to some comments on
Dr. Arnold Hutschnecker's essay in
a recent New York Times in which
he renews his proposal for a resi-
dent psychiatrist in the White
House (irrespective of the identity
of the occupant). Dt. Hutschneck-
er's name has acquired a political
controversial aspect because of
reports - vigorously denied -
that he has given past psychiatric
counsel to both President Nixon
and Rep. Gerald Ford.
ONE MUST begin by acknow-
ledging agreement with Dr. Hutsch-
necker's outcry against the stigma
associated with therapeutic treat-
ment. It is apparently still a fact
of political life that no politician
can safely admit that he is now
or ever has been guilty of associa-
tion with a psychiatrist.
Apart from the effect of so
sweeping a taboo on aspiring pub-
lic figures who may be suffering
from some momentary trouble, as
a result, for example, of personal
tragedy, the prevailing mythology
is a cruel blow to thousands of
others battling the ravages of ser-
ious mental illness. For it strength-
ens their dread that they are not
only second-class citizens during

their hospitalization but that they
will be doomed to bear the stigma
even after they have achieved what
appears to be full recovery.
Thus men holding office w h o
might be genuinely helped througn
temporary travail may allow their
condition to deteriorate rather than
risk exposure of their involvement
with a "shrink" or any form of
treatment. And many anonymous
patients may yield prematurely to
despair because any mental dis-
tress is popularly deemed a malig-
nancy.
IF DR. HUTSCHNECKER h a d
confined himself to the modest pro-
position that there are times when
national leaders should feel free to
seek the guidance of members of
his profession, there could be lit-
tle quarrel.with so minimal a plea
for enlightenment.
But his vision of the psychia-
trist's role is more grandiose.
"A President has a personal phy-
sician watching over his physical
health," he writes.
"Why could a man of outstand-
ing leadership not have a physic-
ian watching over his and his

staff's mental health?"
The answer, a layman must sug-
gest, is that there is still a vast
gap between the capacity of medi-
cine to deal with ills of the body
and the mysteries still associated
with the torments of the mind.
Perhaps even more important, the
role of a doctor regularly check-
ing the blood-pressure of a Presi-
dent and that of a psychiatrist
"watching over" his psyche is-
or could be-very different.
The dependent relationship in
which a President might find him-
self with a psychiatrist could ulti-
mately project the question of
which one was running the White
House. This, in turn, would surely
invite widespread concern about
the choice of the psychiatrist.
Would he be subject to a screen-
ing panel of his peers? How would
they be chosen? And how would the
man finally selected offer any as-
surance that he could draw a
clear line between political and
psychological counsel?
THESE APPREHENSIONS a r e
heightened rather than diminish-

ed by some of the claims Dr.
Hutschnecker advances in support
of his proposal.
"Let us imagine . . . if the tow-
ering figure of Abraham Lincoln
could have been helped to under-
stand the nature of the anguish
produced by his inner -conflicts. It
would not have diminished his
greatness and perhaps there would
not have been any need for the
bloody killings of the Civil War."
I suspect Dr. Hueschnecker
would have difficulty finding a re-
sponsible body of Civil War schol-
ars to support his view that the
presence of a psychiatrist could
have spared the nation that trial.
Indeed, what is perhaps most vul-
nerable about his essay is the in-
timation that he or his counter-
parts might have so decisive a

bearing on history.
As far as I have been able to
detect, there is no discernible cor-
relation between psychiatric skill
and political wisdom; I view with
mingled skepticism and anxiety
those who may subconsciously - if
the word will be forgiven - visual-
ize themselves as Rasputins of a
national Administration. It might
even be remarked that convention-
al psychiatry should at least es-
tablish firmer credentials in the
treatment of ordinary mortals be-
fore projecting itself into the halls
of power.
James Weschler is Editorial Page
Editor of the New York Post.
Copyright 1972 - New York Post
Corporation.

4

Psychiatrists questioned the abilities of Gold-
water as president in 1964. Is a White House
staff psychiatrist needed to keep Nixon on an
even keel?

paragraph ics
By BETH NISSEN
PERHAPS NO ONE felt as badly after Saturday's game as Mike
Lantry. One long field goal attempt missed by only a few inches
and an especially crucial try missed its mark to deny Michigan a
much-desired win over archrival Ohio State. The failure to get those
three points in lights on the scoreboard disappointed Lantry, Bo, and
a record number of Michigan fans.
The crowds streaming from the gates were subdued, trying to decide
whether to feel enthusiastic or depressed. Their team had not scored
a victory, but neither had they lost. And the team had assuredly won
the right to the Rose Bowl. Even so, it was an effort to muster ex-
citement. The some words were spoken a hundred times: "If only
Lantry had kicked that field goal.. ."
No one wishes the field goal attempt had been good more than
the place kicker himself. "Everything depended on me," said Lantry.
"Scoring the last dying gasp touchdown or field goal is something
every kid dreams about. I had that opportunity with a national champ-
ionship at stake, and I didn't come through."
IT IS difficult to imagine the amount of pressure Lantry must
have faced: a tied score in a battle with a renowned rival, a running
clock, 105,000 people screaming, and the championship in the balance.
"I consider myself fairly level-headed," explains Lantry. "The
crowd didn't bother me. But being a place kicker takes a good amount
of concentration. In about 1.2 seconds, the kick is all over. When I'm
getting myself ready to'kick, I try to block out distractions around
me. But for the first time, I noticed something unusual. I was aware
of the Ohio State player climbing over the center. I'm not sure if he
was offside, and whether he was or not isn't very important now. I'm
not trying to offer any excuses for the kick. I knew it was bad, but
I really thought there might be another chance if the referee called
offside.
"When I realized that there wasn't going to be another chance, I
did feel dejected," continued Lantry. "But everyone thought we would
still go to the Rose Bowl. We were proud that we had accomplished
everything we had set out.to do.
"THERE HAD been a very real desire for revenge against Ohio
State based on previous years. The team was emotional as they could
be for the game. And I get excited for all games, even as a'place
kicker. I had just as much feeling and anticipation for this game
as they did. The game really meant everything; everything that we
wanted, everything we had worked for all season; rode on this one
game."
"After the game was over, I went to the coach's locker room and
I shook Bo's hand," said Lantry. "I said I was sorry, and he said he
wasn't angry. I felt a little better, but after I went home, I was
a blank for awhile. I didn't want to talk to anybody; I just wanted
to be alone. And I kept telling myself that I had kicked .well during
the rest of the game and that the team still had one more game to
play."
That comfort evaporated on Sunday. "I'll never forget the shock
of that announcement," continued Lantry, shaking his head. "I think
the record home crowd and the many television viewers knew Mich-
igan played a better game. We showed in the second half that we were
a championship team. It was very hard for the team to realize that the


Letters to Th e Dall

Smith successor
To The Daily:
THE DAILY on November 27 and
the University Record on November
19 carried stories on the naming
of a Vice-President of Academic
Affairs to succeed Allan Smith. In
the interest of giving the selection
procedures wider publicuy and
greater clarity, I would like to
make two points.
First, President Fleming h a s
asked that any member of the
University community who wishes
should submit to him 'y mid De-
cember names of individuals whom
they believe to be qualified for
the post. I submit that th:s invi-
.tntn zhn li h, nk vry ;e-

with representatives of a variety
of student groups, we plan to meet
with representatives of a variety
of faculty groups in order to base
our recommendations on thye wid-
est set of reactions time will al-
low. SACUA's recommendations
are due by the end of January ac-
cording to the current timetable.
-Frederick L. Goodman
Chairman, SACUA
Nov. 27
ctross country
To The Daily:
IT IS QUITE obvious toit the
University athletic department cat-
ers to football and basketball.
.-..u : -rn i r n .-.r - sn ' in

from the Nationals is outrageous.
I can't understand the decision. A
$1,200 travel fee is a drop in the
bucket next to the thousands spent
on football. Our harriers work hard
and deserve our support. However,
they aren't number one. It seems
that Michigan is ashamed when
they have less than the oast. If
this is the case, then our whole
philosophy of competition needs to
be examined.
The cross country team -an now
look to this revised motto: I 's not
if you win or lose, but IF you
play the game.
-Cathy Suyak '77
Nov. 16, 1973
I . . - - ,l . . -, , I

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