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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
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 1974
Registration politicking
THE RECENT FLAP about the Human
Rights Party's (HRP) door-to-door
voter registration campaign illustrates
the entirely partisan aspects which the
supposedly "neutral" process of voter
registration may take, if nothing else.
Trying to win elections by registering
voters and then getting them to the
polls on election day is one of the oldest
political tactics, as are attempts to win
by making it difficult for some por-
tions of the voting public to register.
The latter is obviously what city Re-
publicans have in mind by refusing to
allow door-to-door registration, and only
reluctantly approving fixed site registra-
tion in the various wards.
The Republicans know that those most
unable or unwilling to make the trip
down to city hall to register to vote are
those who would be least. likely to vote
Republican. Foremost in GOP minds are
students.
STUDENTS ARE ALSO foremost in the
minds of the Human Rights Party
members, for they are HRP's greatest
constituency. Thus it is not surpris-
ing that they favor going out door-to-
State of t
PRESIDENT NIXON'S State of the
Union Address Wednesday night was
the usual fare of platitudes and national
self-congratulation, which when stripped
away, left little of substance.
Perhaps the only really new proposal
offered was his general call for some
sort of national health insurance for
those who "currently cannot obtain or
afford .the private health insurance cov-
erage they need."
Several other vague suggestions made
which appear good on the surface in-
clude making credit more easily obtain-
able by women, transference of more
control over programs for American In-
dians to the Indiabs and investigation of
problems of invasion of privacy. The na-
ture of any actions toward those goals
remains problematic, though.
His vague suggestions for reform of
the welfare system and aid to education
programs will also bear watching, in
light of the Nixon Administration's pen-
chant for cutting back programs and
aid in the guise of reform.
E PRESIDENT'S remarks on Viet-
nam provided little assurance that
the U. S. government is even consider-
TODAY'S STAFF:
News Page: Dan Biddle, Dan Borus, Jeff
Day, Judy Ruskin, Chip Sinclair, Sue
Stephenson
Editorial Page: Ted Hartzell, Ma r n i e
Heyn, Eric Schoch, Joan Weiss, S u e
Wilhelm
Arts Page: Ken Fink, Diane Levick
Photo Technician: Karen Kosmauski
door and have done so, contrary to the
ruling of the city clerk but not in fact
illegally. It is unfortunate that HRP,
in sending registrars out to student dor-
mitories, found it necessary to deliver a
partisan pitch while registering voters.
Such actions only left them open to po-
litical attack.
The Democrats have seen their chance
to score a few political points by blasting
the HRP for "desperate" acts that "vio-
late the public trust," while claiming that
they too have wanted door-to-door regis-
tration all along.
One wonders whether such Democrats
as Thomas Wieder and Councilwoman
Carol Jones (Second Ward) would rather
have door-to-door registration or a
chance to get in a few licks at HRP.
IT IS OBVIOUS where the Republicans
stand. Any strong registration drive
in the campus area can only hurt them.
The ideal in our system of democracy
is to have as many people as possible
registered to vote. Door-to-door registra-
tion would be a good way to facilitate
this. Unfortunately, politics seems to
have gotten in the way.
he union
ing a policy of self-determination for the
people of that country.
Nixon was correct when he said that
"we still have a responsibility there,"
and that "men and women are still dy-
ing." America's responsibility is to see
that the Vietnamese are allowed to work
out their internal problems without con-
tinued interference from the United
States.
Moreover, it is the Nixon Administra-
tion's continued economic and military
aid for a government that has little popu-
lar support that is largely responsible
for the continual warfare carried on by
the Thieu regime.
Most remarkable, however, were Nix-
on's statements on Watergate, in which
he served final notice that "Operation
Candor" is a thing of the past.
JE AGAIN STATED that he would co-
operate with the House Judiciary
Committee considering impeachment in
a manner which he considers "consist-
ent" with his "responsibilities for the
presidency." In the past this has meant
minimal cooperation at best, and we can
expect no better in the future.
One year might have been enough for
Watergate if the President had chosen
to provide the necessary materials to the
special Watergate prosecutor, the Ervin
committee and the House Judiciary Com-
mittee. Instead he has chosen to ob-
struct and cloud the investigation when-
ever possible.
Only when the necessary tapes and
papers are provided to the House and
the prosecutor enabling proper legal ac-
tions to be taken can we effectively turn
our attention to the rest of the issues
facing this country.
R
Mary)
By MARNIE HEYN heads t
MARY ROTH'S story is hardly ting wh
unique. In fact, the incidence of
small inequities like hers makes THT
each tale like this a microcosmic to any
chapter in the ongoing history of by som
labor struggles. hierarc
Mary was a waitress. titude."
She worked part-time at the Pur- ed, Ma
ple Pickle, a local version of the she to
Madison-Avenue-hippy sandwich press, 1
joint that enjoyed a brief period ployes.
of vogue a few years back. Early
She took the job because s h e sorted
needed the money. She accepted et line
the paltry wages offered because le. She
she didn't know that she was en- man R
titled to more. fellow P
The discovery that she was be- that th
ing cheated out of a fraction of signific
the legal minimum wage began custom
the transformation of her career, picket li
and provides a rallying point for All th
all those who are forced to t a k e what M
what they can get in order to sr- took th
vive, like waitresses. as nec
FIRST, SHE asked Tom Rusin- stances.
ow, the Purple Pickle owner, to lost her
pay wages according to the mini- in sight
mum standard. When he refused,
she took her complaint to t h e WHIL
Michigan Employment Se:urity the pic
Commission. Rusinow told her it hour th
would be a waste of time. policem
The Employment Securty Com- at theP
mission felt otherwise. They found told her
Rusinow to be in violation, and or- police s
dered him to raise wages, and to question
pay back wages to past and pre- Pickle &
sent employes. Rusinow told Mary Mary
that he would not attempt to pen- ed Dav
alize her, because she orny asked ied her
for what she was rightfully entit- ly enou
led to. one wa
On January 25, three months lat- the two
er, Rusinow fired Mary, allegedl to bef
for incompetence. number
Privately, he gave her different Rusin
reasons. According to Mary, he question
told her he was firing her "for his that he
mental health," because "no one namesc
respects me any more," because parentl
the employes were "gettin; their been c
Tips for
By JEANNE FOX
EACH SPRING, nearly half of the Univer-
sity's student population starts thinking
about where to live the following fall and
during the summer.,
According to Peter Ostafin, associate
director for planning and development in
the housing office, 46.45 per cent of Mich-
igan's enrollment, 15,346 students, lived off
campus during 1972. He estimates t h a t
slightly more liver off campus during
1973.
Everyone looks for an apartment in a
convenient location, and in good condi-
tion. Each choice is a compromise, espec-
ially as the overall quality of apariments
seems to deteriorate each year.
They also look for apartments that seem
soundly constructed and need few repairs.
Despite their patient search, many disputes
arise each year between the tenants and
their landlords over repairs, damage de-
posit returns, subtenants, etc.
HOW DO YOU AVOID as many hassles
as possible? Where can you go for help?
Whether you are a veteran apartment
dweller, or looking for your first apart-
ment, some tips from the people that work
with tenants' problems can help you avoid
many of them.
While looking at different apartments,
look closely at their condition, advises Her-
bert Booker, lawyer for Mediation Service.
"Most problems come about in areas of
constant use, so look closely at the fix-
tures. Make sure that everything is in
working order."
If there is something that should be done
to the apartment, such as repairs, have it
written into the lease. Also have whatever
comes with the apartment written into the
lease, e.g. storage space.
,Booker added that if the apartment is
furnished, ask what "furnished" means and
?oth: A
ogether, talking, an isplit-
en I come around."
STORY will sound iamiliar
body who's been criticized
nebody higher up in t h e
hy for "having a bad at-
Instead of being chasten-
ry was so outraged that
ok her complaint to the
the public, and other em-
this week, Mary and as-
supporters threw up a piwk-
ip front of the Purple Fick-
was joined by friends, Hti-
ights Party membecs, and
Pickle workers.The; claim
e Pickle's lunch trah_- was
antly diminished because
ers refused to crass t h e
ine.
is political activity was not
Mary had in mind Wien she
job, but she accepted that
essary under the circum-
She got her back pry, and
job, but the end is no: yet
t.
E MARY was standing on
ket line during the lunch
is past Wednesday, t w o
en who had ev-dently eaten
Pickle approachedbher and
rthat she was t j be at the
tation at 3 p.m to answer
ns about a robbery at the
Saturday night.
got a lawyer. She contact-
e Goldstein, w'io accampan-
to the police station. Odd-
gh, no one expected her, no
nted to question her, and
policemen were nowhere
found. Goldsteia left h i s
and they departed.
ow told Mary that the
iing would be routine, and
had given the police the
of all his emu;oyes. Ap-
y, no other employe has
ontacted thus far. Mary
feels like she is bel; harassed.
OTHER PICKLE workers agree.
Peggy Staiger has worked at the
restaurant for a year, and has
joined Mary on the picket line.
She says that she has gone out
on the line because of what she
feels are Rusinow' s unfair labor
practices, and because of Mary's
firing.
Peggy didn't get all the back
pay .she is entitled t- -and which
she says Rusinow praxmised her-
because she's only l?. She says
that he fired people on the grounds
that he didn't iik them, regard-
less of the quality of the r work.
She also said that he "burned peo-
ple out," worked thm hovertime
hours, and then fired them when
they were too tired to work any
longer.
She said, "I'm out on tha line
because he lied to me about the
back pay, and because of what
happened to Mary.' Rusinow s :- i d
that she was in~ mipetent :nd that
she didn't get &'Jong with the other
people. That's nt true- s- c wrk-
ed hard and w is friendly with
everyone except Rusinow, and she
tried to get alond with him.
PEGGY EXPEcTrs to get fired,
but she's willing to rrike t h a t
chance. She wan-s to get a oetter
paying job anyrhow.
Mary Rothis anot atone in feel-
ing ripped offsoy local restaurant
owners. There is an enormous
working out housing hassles
waitress fights back
ask about the condition of the furniture.
"No one should walk into an apartment
with furniture in poor condition and pay full
price. It's not worth it. Ask for a rent
reduction."
WHEN SIGNING the lease, Booker recom-
mended watching out for "disclaims of lia-
bility" in which the landlord can say what
he isn't neglible for, "including his own
gross neglibility." For example, if the roof
leaked, and damaged the tenant's clothes
or possessions, if such a clause was in the
lease the damages wouldn't be the land-
lord's responsibility.
In addition, if there is something in the
lease you don't want, try to negotiate with
the landlord to have it taken out.
Needed repairs and loss of utilities suzh
as heat and water frequently occur during
the time of the lease. Report anything
in writing to the landlord as soon as it
happens, keeping a copy. In such situations,
you can also ask for a rent reduction or
rebate for the period of time you had to put
up with the loss of a utility, or with some-
thing unuseable until it was repaired.
"According to the lease, the landlord is
providing furniture, utilities, etc. Any time
there is a loss of anything the landlord
is failing to keep his part of the contract
and the value of the apartment is less,"
said Mr. Booker. He added that the land-
lord will rarely suggest rent rebates the
tenants must ask for it.
CHARGES MADE against the damage de.
posit and the condition of the apartment
after moving out is another headache and
source of contention between tenants and
landlords. One way to agree on the extent
of the damage is to make an appoint-
ment with your landlord to take a check
of inventory.
In the past many deductions were made
against the damage deposit for cleaning
charges. According to the new housing
legislation that went into effect last April,
landlords can no longer deduct money for
cleaning, only for damages.
But Booker said that the new legislation
is very vague about what constitutes dam-
age, and still has to be tested in court.
Under the new laws, the landlord must
notify his tenants within 30 days after tbe
end of the lease of any charges being made
and return the rest of the damage deposit.
If there are any charges that the tenant
disagrees with, he must write the land-
lord within seven days or else lose his
right to challenge the charge.
This is because the landlord must fiie suit
within 45 days after the termination of the
lease about any charges in dispute.
A large number of students sublease their
apartments, or look for apartments each
simmer. Subleasing causes many prob-
lems as subtenants "usually do more dam-
age on th whole to the apartment and leave
it dirtier than the prime tenants," corn-
mented Elizabeth Leslie, director, Media-
tion Service.
TO CIRCUMVENT some of the trouble,
Leslie suggested that the prime tenants
request an inspection with the landlord when
they move out. Subtenants must also put
down a damage deposit, and this can be
as much as one and a half month's rent.
When tenants feel that they need help
with a problem, there are several places
they can go. The first is the Mediation
Service, at 2205 Michigan Union. The Media-
tion Service will work on any tenant prob-
lem, including noise, illegal pets, co-tenant
problems, damage deposits, and those
brought to them by landlords.
Booker and Leslie have found that land-
lords will usually cooperate and work with
the mediation service, unless "the land-
Doily Photo by TOM GOTTLIEB
transient -- not necessarily by
choice - popul tion of women who
work where thev car, wear them-
selves out at menaol jobs, and lose
those jobs by as 'ng for what they
deserve.
This situation may not last much
longer. There is growing sentiment
that Ann Arbor shoold have a wai-
tress union similar to the -ne in
San Francisco, s that waitresses
can earn a living wage without
toadying to management or cus-
tomers. It's an idea that's waited
too long as it is.
In the meanti re. actiivtv arond
the Purple Pickle will go on. "m
going back," says Mary Ro:h.
"lie's not going to intimidate me."
lord has a great deal of' money involved
or there is a lot of antagonism against the
tenants," said Booker.
After a case is brought into the Mediation
Service, one of the staff talks to both par-
ties to try to reach a settlement. If no set-
tlement can be made, they go into a media-
tion session. If they agree to have the
mediators make a recommendation, the
derision is considered binding.
IF THEY DON'T want a recommenda-
tion, and no settlement is made, then it is
suggested that the party with a complaint
take it to court.
The Student Legal Aid office on the
fourth floor of the Michigan Union also
handles many tenant cases. Jonathan Rose,
director, said that the majority of their
cases consist of landlords trying to evict
their tenants, or disputes over damage de-
posits, repairs, pets, and such.
The Legal Aid office will generally take
anv case brought to them, if the individual
f-lls into the necessary income bracket to
3q'ialify for legal aid. Most of the cases
are usually settled out of court, or are
taken to a District or circuit court.
CURRENTLY THE Legal Aid staff is
very active in trying to change the exist-
i"R housing legislation.
According to Rose, two of the staff are on
the Rent Control Commission. Rose would
like to see rent control adopted in Ann
Arbor, in which the rent commission would
freeze rents at the August 1973 levels, and
landlords would have to apply for rent in-
creases.
Rose would also like to see a total re-
structuring of the landlord function, and
senaration of the financing and mainten-
ance functions.
Jeanne Fox is a senior in journalism and
political science at thb University.
SEE! 1 TOLD YOU
ISENATOR' 3'?CTT SAYS HE'S SEEN
DOCUMENTS AT THE WHITE HOUSE
THAT WILL CLEAR THE PRESIDENT
OF ANY WATERGATE INVOLVEMENT!
Fl:
,F
jA,
2 IE
Letters:
To The Daily: against
I WOULD LIKE to clarify sev was pl
eral misrepresentations arising out or two
of the recent HRP door to-door re- slowly1
gistration affair. attract
A significant fact which neither Fran
the Daily nor Frank Shoichet seem be don
to realize is that Councilwoman impress
Jones and Tom Wiede. are not of- wouldt
ficial spokespersons of the Demo- dorms
cratic Party. Carol represents the was nc
voters who elected her and Tom visible
represents himself. Fran
When, in his letter on Jan. 30, registr
Frank spoke of the atti-ude of tY-e nonpar
Democrats he should have said I'd bee
the attitude of Ms. Jones and Mr. man, w
Wieder. Although I am a precinct gistrati
captain for the Democratic Party would 1
I do not speak for it, but only for that it
myself. partisa
In his letter Frank mentioneo my HRP h
involvement in HRP's r-egistrationi to Lloy
activities. I would like to unravel they b
the facts that Frank so neatly in the
twisted together. Although J had My 1
considered the possibilizy of unau- tra eff
thorized registration and nad sp-)x trationb
en to Frank about it on several oc- amount
casions, I eventually came to the table i
conclusion that it was uwise. noons.
I was concerned that if it came last da
* - + I
the one night biitz IIRP
anning. I suggested that one
registrars going quietly and
through the dorm w o u 1 d
less attention.
k responded that it had to
e in one night giving me the
sion that similar drives
be conducted in all of the
on campus and that there
ot enough time to use less
means.
k also assured me that the
ation would be completely
tisan. I soon learned that
n misled. A very angry wo-
who had helped with1 the re-
on on the assurance that it
he nonpartisan, informed me
had in fact been Intensely
n. It also turnad out that
had restricted their efforts
yd and East Quid, where
elieve their strengtn to be
Second Ward.
ater assistance to the 'ex-
orts in student area regis-
," which Frank mentioned
ted to staffing a re i ;'ration
n the Union several after-
t wasn't aware until t h e
y I was at the table that it
a dissimilar tactic from that of
the Republicans, who are trying not
to register persons they think will
vote against them.
In relation to door-to- Toor regis-
tration it should be remembered
that the City's Democrats have
long been in support of it. It was
the Democrats on City Coincil
who first introduced door-to-door
registration to Ann Arbor in early
1972, before HRP had any mern-
bers on Council.
THE FINAL POINT I would like
to make is in respect to Frank's
claim that the Demac-ats h a d
gotten "one of our opptvents to
forget to run a candidate in the
Second Ward". There is absolutely
no truth to that claim. As a pr -
cinct captain and a me nber of the
2nd Ward Candidate Search Com-
mittee I never heard an.' sugges-
tion that no Republican would Vle
petitions. Neither Frank no- any-
one else has offered an,, evidence
in support of his allega on.
-Tim Smith
Law '75
Jan. 31
HRP
and
voter registration
members present" to vote. It only
needs a simple majority and Selbst
after covering so many SGC meet-
ings, should know this.
Correction number 2: In the last
paragraph, Selbst says, "But by
calling them (David Faye's mo-
tion on Constitutional revisions) a
new constitution, they could be
come immediately effective, ni-
stead of being ratified by refer-
endum." This is blatantly false.
Faye never termed his motion a
new constitution and his propos-
ed changes would not become ef-
fective until students did ratify
them. I wish Selbst would learn
the facts before printing f a ls e-
hoods.
I WOULD ALSO like to ,omnient
on Marcia Fishman's quote about
breaking q'iorum, "They've done
it before." While I'm not defend-
ing anyone who breaks quorum,
it is not true that they have done
it before so that a motion could
not be discussed. The fact is Mar-
cia and Dan Fishman did break
quorum to disrup an SGC meeting.
Although I've come to realize
that it must be in the Daily's char-
(and also SGC member) Robbie J.
Gordon.
-Robert Gordon
SGC member, Dorm Dist.
Jan. 25
cut short
To The Daily:
I GREATLY enjonv d the lecture
by Ralph !V'der at Hill Auditorium
on Jan. 29. I hope the Future
Worlds lecture series continues to
present relevant topics of major
interest. My only regret was thot
the question and answer session
was cut short, apparently by the
Futjre Worlds people ;snce Nader
seemed eager to answer more ques-
tions. Uonefully, this practice will
not continue during s ;P iuert lec-
tures.
-Steve Rogers
Thomas Rode
Jan. 29
fE
president
To The Daily:
I//AIII1\4 ~I. JVEIIIfill N .4MONMbi
I