Eighty-Three Years of Editorial Freedom
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan
City's financial plight
420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Mi. 48104
News Phone: 764-0552
TUESDAY, MARCH 12, 1974
Support tenant rights Apr il
means
By GORDON ATCHESON
FOR THE PAST several months,
Ann Arbor's financial problems
have been the major concern
around City. Hall but last week the
situation became more than a
"paper" crisis - confined only to
administrative strategy sessions.
With the announcement that the
city will immediately lay off 168
municipal employes, the m o n e y
pinch began to directly affect lo-
cal residents for the first time.
The lay-offs, besides putting a lot
of people out of work, must cause
a marked reduction in basic city
services. Fire and police protec-
tion will not be as good. The gar-
bage will not be picked up as ef-
ficiently. The social services pro-
grams will reach fewer people than
ever before.
But most importantly this action
is just the first round in a des-
perate battle to eliminate the city's
unprecedented $1.2 million debt.
city is now forced to close one
of five fire stations. The station
which had served the north cam-
pus area will no longer be opera-
tional - meaning fire fighters from
other stations will respond to calls
in that zone.
CLOSING OF the north campus
station several times last sum-
mer created a very dangerous sit-
uation, according to many fire-
men, because response time to a
blaze in that area was greatly in-
creased.
Furthermore there is no reason
to assume the conditions are any
different now - meaning some
people's lives are being placed
in jeopardy in the event of a ser-
ious fire.
The other lay offs will probably
just cause inconveniences for city
residents. The police department
will not respond to non-emergency
calls quite as fast - having elim-
new cutbacks
THE LINES ARE forming. Sunday, Ann
Arbor housing interests announced
their plans to try to defeat the rent' con-
trol proposal which will go before voters
April 1st. The Ann Arbor board of real-
tors-the prime mover behind the op-
position to rent limits - has formed a
front organization called "Citizens for
Good Housing" to carry out their cam-
paign. This group has been sending out
unsigned letters to landlords, asking for
$5 per rental unit to finance the anti-
rent control drive.
The main tactic of these rent control
opponents will be to throw out a mist of
distortions, half-truths and lies about
the housing situation in Ann Arbor. They
will be saying that there really is no
housing problem in the city. They will
say that rent control will hurt tenants
by drying up the housing supply and low-
ering maintenance. They will attempt to
convince homeowners that rent control
will lower property values and raise their
taxes. And they will do all this in a huge
advertising campaign financed from the
massive profits which landlords have
been skimming from their tenants for
years in this city.
1VEMUST NOT be fooled! The real rea-
son for this massive landlord effort
to stop rent control is that rent control
would, for the first time, threaten the
cozy position that they have enjoyed for
years ,and would threaten to give ten-
ants some control over the conditions
and price of their housing.
The rent" control ballot proposition-
with its provision for a maximum profit
of 14 per cent for landlords and for tying
landlord profits to the amount of up-
keep performed by them is a vital first
step towards providing safe and well-
maintained low cost housing for all the
students,, poor, and working people in
Ann Arbor who desperately need it.
For rent control to pass, the tenants
of this city will have to see through the
sham that landlords are trying to per-
petrate, and they will also have to get out
and vote. Don't be fooled! Use the power
and vote YES April 1st.
-MARNIE HEYN
A significant cut can be expected in the social
service departments, while the police-who have
consistantly overrun their budget-will not suf-
fer such drastic reductions.
ically some services may be axed
altogether.
While the police, fire and refusc
departments will probably receive
just as much money as they do
presently, the human resource pro-
grams - day care centers, d r u g
help operations, and health care
- will be slashed to tne bone.
CITY ADMINISTRATOR Sylves-
ter Murray, who will draft the bud-
get, feels these programs are of
some importance but loes not give
them a top priority when it comes
to financing. Moreover, he must
submit next years budget to City
Council for final approval.
If the Republicans retain their
present strength on council in the
upcoming municipal election, they
can remake. the budget in their own
image - extensive support for the
police and refuse departments at
the expense of social service areas.
The GOP council members blasted
these social programs when they
were first enacted but did not have
the votes to back up their rhetoric.
Unfortunately now the Republi-
cans do have the votes and it
would not be surprising to see them
eliminate all social services, claim
ing the move was necessary to
straighten out the budget.
Mayor James Stephenson, a Re-
publican, has also suggested the
city increase its property tax mil-
lage for one year to raise funds to
help eliminate the debt. This solu-
tion to the financial cunch is as
poorly conceived as the Republi-
can spending priorities.
EVEN WHEN the debt is elim-
inated, the city cannot maintain
its presentoverall service level and
still balance the budget because
the revenue sources do not pro-
duce enough income. What is need-
ed is another continuing income
source - not a one shot deal as
the mayor contends.
The most practical solution ap-
pears tosbeta city-wide personal in
come tax. If a graduated tax is
levied it should raise mutch need-
ed funds and tax those people who
can afford the increase
In any case, the chickens a r e
just now beginning to come home
to roost and unlike thei- fairy-tale
cousin the goose, they do not lay
golden eggs. Nonetheless, !ocal re-
sidents should not and cannot act
as if the sky is falling in and over-
look the longterm necessities of
operating a city properly - which
includes social and other services
coupled with the taxos to fund
them.
Hypocritical Nixon defenders
IT IS INTERESTING to note that apolo-
gists for President Nixon are saying
that their man and his subordinates are
innocent until proven guilty. They say
that though many former White House
and CREEP officials have been convicted
or pleaded guilty, that doesn't mean the
others should be deprived of their pre-
sumption of innocence.
This is simply the common rule of law
and not many people will argue with it.
In a court of law these defendants are
innocent until proven otherwise. How-
ever one wonders where these great civil
libertarians were in the past.
What were their feelings when the Chi-
cago 7 were being tried for conspiring to
disrupt the 1968 Democratic Convention.
Did any one of these people raise their
voice in protest over the treatment those
defendants received in Judge Hoffman's
court? Were they appalled at the way
Bobby Seale was bound and gagged?
Editorial Staff
DANIEL BIDDLE
Editor in Chief
JUDY RUSKIN and REBECCA WARNER
Managing Editors
TONY SCHWARTZ ................... Sunday Editor
MARTIN PORTER....................Sunday Editor
SUE STEPHENSON..................Feature Editor
MARNIE HEYN ...................."Editorial Director
CINDY HILL. ..................Executive Editor
KENNETH FINK .... ..............Arts Editor
STAFF WRITERS: Prakash Aswan , Gordon Atcheson,
Laura Berman, Dan Blugerman, Howard Brick,
Bonnie Carnes, Charles Coleman, Barb Cornell,
Jeff Day. Della DIFietro. Mike Duweck, Ted Evan-
off, Mat Gerson, William Heenan, Steve Hersach,
Jack Krost, Andrea Lilly, Mary Long, Jean Love;
Jeff Luxenberg, Josephine Marcotty, Beth Nissen,
Cheryl Pilate, Ann Rauma, Sara Rimer, Jiro.
Schuster, Bob Seidenstein, Stephen Selbst, Chip
Sinclair, Jeff Sorensen, David Stoll, Paul Ter-
williger.
DAILY WEATHER BUREAU: William Marino and Den-
nis Dismachek (forecasters)
Where were the cries of indignation
when Angela Davis was harassed and
jailed for her political views? Didn't she
deserve the rights she was entitled to?
These people can stomach injustice when
it comes wrapped in an American flag,
but when the president is charged with
subverting the constitution and taking
part in the largest criminal conspiracy
in the history of the U. S. government,
they turn their backs and demand jus-
tice.
WHAT IS IT ABOUT the presidency that
has the power to make black look
white in the eyes of so many? Do they
see part of themselves in Nixon?
They complain about the way the press
has treated the Nixon presidency. They
cry foul when finding of more illegal ac-
tivity on the part of the White House are
leaked. They label as irresponsible those
who speak unfavorably of the president.
Maybe these folks would appreciate a
change of scenery - like a country where
the press is repressed, justice non-exist-
ent, and dissent a criminal activity. Why
don't they move to some country with
these lovely features and a powerful dic-
tator they can worship to boot, and leave
America for Americans.
-BRIAN COLGAN
TODAY'S STAFF:
News: Dan Biddle, Jo Marcotty, James
Schuster, Sue Stephenson, Paul Terwilli-
ger, Becky Warner.
And things will get worse before
they get better.
THE LAY-OFFS were necessi-
tated as part of the initial phase
of 'a three year plan to completely
eliminate the municipal debt. Dur-
ing the upcoming fiscal year, $600,-
000 must be pared from the deficit
- twice the amount that is being
cut this year.
The city only adopted such a rig-
orous debt reduction schedule af-
ter state officials began putting
pressure on local officials, fearing
the budget situation had reached
the critical point.
The present personnel reductions
may have serious.repercussions,
however the prospects look even
grimmer for fiscal 1975 which be-
gins on July 1 of this year.
A significant cut can be expect-
ed in the social service depart-
ments which provide perhaps the
most necessary programs, v, h i l e
the police - who have consistent-
ly overrun their budget - will not
suffer such drastic reductions.
As the result of laying iff eight
people in the fire department, the
inated three patrolmen and 11 lim-
ited duty officers.
The District Court will lose
some of its clerical personnel
meaning a longer trial backlog and
poorer record keeping. Most oth-
er city departments have also lost
a significant number of people.
Thus the day-to-day bureaucratic
functions performed by the city
will be even slower and more frus-
trating for the average citizen.
PRESENTLY the city administ-
rators are compiling the budget
for fiscal 1975 and it appears they
will attempt to tighten the be't
several more notches by cutting
allocations to most . municipal de-
partments.
Generally each year departments
receive enough additional funds to
counter the effects of inflation and
to increase services somewhat.
But next year, from all indications,
the departments should expect a
reduction in funds.
Consequently the city can 1 o o k
forward to more personnel cuts
and the residents to even less ef-
ficient service. Perhaps most crit-
WILLIAM R EHNQUIST
By JOHN
MINOCK
,oryof
the claims of Communists and oth-
er criminal defendants, expansion
of federal power at the expense
of state power, and great sympathy
toward any government regulation
of business."
racism
of the Week Award
The Worst House
(Editor's note: The following is the second in The Daily's
weekly awards for "Worst House of the Week." Entries for next
week's awards can be submitted by mail or in person to The Michi-
gan Daily, 420 Maynard.)
By MARTY WEGBREIT
602 E. WASHINGTON is a quiet, tidy house located a block
from campus. Among its residents are several retired people, in-
cluding our heroine, Ms. Wynonah Le Tendresse, age 69.
The landlord, Mr. William Poulos, also lives there, spending
most of his time, it seems, counting his money and figuring
ways of getting more.
Recently, he rediscovered one method known only to the
nobility of the middle ages: raising the rents of people on fixed
incomes.
Last week, Mr. Poulos jacked up the rents a staggering total
of 40 per cent.
In justifying this increase, Poulos told Ms. La Tendresse that
his property taxes had gone up.
So they had: the munificent sum of $65.65 per year. The
rent increase amounted to over $100 per month.
But Poulos cited another heavy expense - a new furnace
costing $1100. No doubt there was good reason to have the furnace
replace. But similarly, there is no good reaon why its replace-
ment costs should have to be recouped in one year. Especially
not for a person with Poulos' assets.
MS. LA TENDRESSE has not been reaping any benefits in the
maintenance department, either. In the 18 years she has lived in
her apartment, she claims, the walls have only been painted once.
She says virtually no other maintenance has been performed
on the apartment. She also says she has received no help -
financial or otherwise - in such areas as repairing the plumbing
and replacing the thermostat on the stove.
The elderly woman has even had to shovel her own front
walk and steps in the winter.
Other tenants fare no better. One of the apartments is acces-
sible only by outdoor fire escape. Tenants have slipped on these
'steps on occasion, one even knocking out his front teeth.
Ms. La Tendresse further claims Poulos' harrasses his ten-
ants if they walk on the stairs too often, turn on the front outside
light for expected guests, or if their Sunday afternoon visitors are
talking too loud.
As a final indignity, she says, Poulos suggested she sublease
one of the rooms in her apartment to a college student to make
a little extra money to foot the rent increase.
IN ADDITION to owning the house on E. Washington free and
clear for the last three years, Poulos owns another house on W.
Washington, the site where the Ramada Inn is located, the
Metropolitan Insurance Building, the Michigan Theatre on E.
Liberty, and until recently, the site where the Municipal Court
Building was located.
The house on E. Washington has been offered a price of
$55,000 to $60,000. The Michigan Theatre has been mortgaged for
several hundred thousand dollars, with the bulk having been mostly
paid off. Hardly the type of person who cannot afford to put a
new furnace in his own house.
Now he is telling Ms. La Tendresse to pay up or get out.
Since she has no lease and pays on a month-by-month basis, she
has already had to pay the first increase.
Unless rent control is passed, she will have to Keep paying
that =increase or. scramble about town trying to find a cheaper
place to live and pray that her next landlord will not be so
callous.
Your sympathy cannot help this woman; your vote can. Vote
for rent control on April 1st.
Marty Wegbreit is a member of the Human Rights Party Hous-
ing Coin mittee and one of the drafters of the rent control pro-
posal that will appear on the April I ballot. He is also a graduate
student in political science.
Editorial Page: Brian Colgan,
Heyn, Cindy Hill
Marnie
Arts Page: Ken Fink, Mara Shapiro
Photo Technician: Stuart Hollander
16I?~4P'JU~E~ ~RE 2EA(~4 UP H~t'OLDGAN ~ M N~.D4
zI
'~ r .
"We are no more dedicated to
an 'integrated' society than we
are to a 'segregated' society..
(William Rehnquist, letter to the
Arizona Republic, 1967.)
"I suggest to you that this at-
tack of the new barbarians con-
stitutes a threat to the notion
of government of law which is
every bit as serious as t h e
crime wave' in our cities . . .
the barbarians of the New Left
have taken full advantage 0f
their minority right to urge and
advocate their viewstas to what
substantive changes should be
made in the laws and policies of
this country." (William R e h n-
quist, New York Times article,
May 2, 1969.)
William H. Rehnquist has been
invited again this year to partici-
pate in judging argument compe-
titions at the Law School and will
grace Ann Arbor with his presence
today, Tuesday March 12, at 2:30
p.m.
Last year, a substantial number
of law students and others whose
economic and civil rights are jeo-
pardized by Rehnquist's presence
on the United States Supreme Court
engaged in "unwelcoming" activi-
ties, including picketing and leaf-
letting at the entrances of Hutch-
ins Hall to protest Rehnquist's poli-
tical philosophy and the threat his
judicial actions pose to the Con-
stitutional freedoms guaranteed to
individuals in this country. Since
the good Justice missed it I a s t
year, it seems only fair that the
unwelcoming be held this year.
AS MIGHT be expected from a
man with the sentiments expressed
above, and the most extreme of
Nixon's right wing appointees to
the Court, Rehnquiet's record has
a lot for everybody.
After graduating first in his 1952
Stanford Law School class, he be-
came a law clerk for .Justice lRo-
bert H. Jackson, one of the more
conservative members of the Su-
preme Court at the time. The ap-
pointment lasted for eighteen
months, and Rehnquist :eturned to
sunny Arizona. By 1957, he had be-
come a major spokesman for the
conservative Republicans there.
In a speech before the Maricopa
County Young Republican League
on September 19, 1957, he denoun-
ced the 'left wing' of the Supreme
Court (Warren, Douglas and
IN 1964, REHNQUIST again
came to public attention for his
outspoken opposition to a public
accommodations law pending be-
fore the Phoenix City Council. The
law would have made it illegal to
discriminate in public accommoda-
tions on the basis of race.
In his statement to the c i t y
council, Rehnquist said: "The ord-
inance summarily does away with
the historic rights of the owner of
the drugstore, lunchcounter, or
theater to choose his own custom-
ers. By a wave of the legislative
hand, hitherto private businesses
are made public facilities, whicn
are open to all persons, regardless
of the owner's wishes . . . It is, I
believe, impossible to justify the
sacrifice of even a portion of our
historic individual freedom for a
purpose such as this."
In 1967, Rehnquist opposed a vol-
untary integration program propos-
ed by the superintendent of t h e
Phoenix schools. Although the de-
trimental effects of segregation
upon Black, Chicano and I n d i a n
children had been well documented,
Rehnquist wrote to, the Arizona
Republic: 'Those who would aban-
don it (the neighborhood school
concept) concern themselves n o t
with the great majority for whom
they claim it has not worked well.
They assert a claim for special pri-
vileges for this minority, the mem-
bers of which in many cases may
not even want the privileges t h e
social theorists urge to be extended
to them."
REHNQUIST had become friends
with Richard Kleindeinst in Ari-
zona, and when Kleindemst w a s
appointed Deputy Attorney General
in 1969 by Nixon, he brought along
Rehnquist to Washington. In his
tenure as Assistant Attorney Gen-
eral, Rehnquist defended the Pres-
ident's conduct of the war in Indo-
china, including the invasion of
Cambodia, the President's b a r-
ring disclosure of many govern-
ment documents, and the mass ar-
rests of demonstrators by Wash-
ington police.
He also strongly sunprted t h e
Nixon law and order package, in-
cluding "no knock" entries by the
police, pretrial detention, w i r e-
In n,'nna nti olnntrnnir- -mirvei.
William Rehnquist
For example, in March, 1971, he
told Senator Sam Ervin (D-N.C.),
the chairman of the Senate Com-
mittee on constitutional rights, that
although it would be "inappro-
priate" and a "waste of taxpay-
ers' money," it would not violate
the Senator's rights for the govern-
ment to put him under surveillance.
REHNQUIST WAS also a pri-
mary Administration spokesman
for denouncing anti-war demonstra-
tors and defending the May Day
arrests, where hundreds of inno-
cent bystanders were arrested and
held without charges, as zn appli-
cation of "qualified martial law."
On October 21, 1971,. Rehnquist,
along with Lewis Powell Jr., was
nominated by Nixon to the Supreme
Court.
He retreated enough from his
opposition to civil rights legislation
to win a twelve-to-four inproval
of his nomination by the Commit-
tee, and was confirmed by the Sen-
ate on December 10, 1971, by a vote
of 68 to 26.
THOUGH Richard Nixon may be
through politically, his despicable
imprint will be felt for years to
come through such people a; his
appointees to the Supreme Court.
Rehnquist and the other Nixon jud-
ges will assuredly continued to re-
present the interests of the rich
and privileged at everyone else's
expense.
Join us in giving Rehnqusl and
the rest of the Administration the
word that racism, sexism and fas-
,ncn, "ira nt ,x~s'n,'no in A-in Ar
Letters toThe
whiz kids asHistory
exposure t
To The Daily: sequent ab
I WISH to correct a statement bring to th
attributed to me in the Feb. 21 did I proj
Daily article, "Whiz Kids Go For the Depar
Baroque." The statement, "Ing- My experi
ram criticized the University's his- has beenc
tory of art program, claiming the the Depar
"U" relies too heavily on the text- ly co-oper
book, if one reads, one gets bog- paving th
ged down in abstractions, not real Tappan H
objects," maligns the context and ren".
the substance of my original state- -St
ments. F
When asked by the Daily report-
er, Mr. Heenan, whether the young [ etters
stu1den'tsnartiiotine in the course ____
Daily
of Art 101, would have
to wider reading and con-
bstractions whicn he will
he art object. At no time
ect a posture critical of
tment of, History of Art.
ence with the department
cordial and enriching and
tment has been extreme-
ative and considerate in
e way for this program in
all for the "giftedI child-
even Ingram
ebruary 24
to The Daily, should
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