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 i