s4w MWuimt ai +
Eighty-two years of editorial freedom
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan
Protecting your rights as a reporter
420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Mich.
News Phone: 764-0552
FRIDAY, APRIL 20, 1973
In support of Pirgirn
E FIRST YEAR of PIRGIM has not
been, a productive one on this cam-
pus. The students who supp'ort the or-
ganization financially have thus far seen
little in the way of return on their in-
vestment, largely because PIRGIM's pro-
jects have been statewide.-
It would be unfortunate; however, if
many students now proceed to take out
any negative feelings towards PIRGIM
by declining to fund the organization
when they pre-register for classes.
A year is not a long time, especially
when it comes to establishing an organi-
zation of such wide ranging activities as
PIRGIM. It is the opinion of this news-
paper that PIRGIM has still got a long
way to go before they fulfill the goals for
which they were established.
ONE MAJOR REASON for PIRGIM's.
current unpopularity may be that
the organization is too altrustic. It is
all very well to work on projects as they
have in the out-state of Michigan, -but
it is students at the University, not resi-
dents of the whole state, who are paying
for PIRGIM.
This altruism has given PIRGIM a low
visibility on campus, and what visibility
there is has given it some negative con-
notations.
But along with our disappointment at
the results to date, we also feel hope for
the future. PIRGIM promises to spend
much more of its time looking into the
problems of consumers here in Ann Ar-
bor. ,
ALTHOUGH PIRGIM's c a m p a i g n
against deceptive gas station adver-
tising resulted in new guidelines from
state Atty. Gen. Frank Kelley, we can
now expect locally based consumer in-
vestigations, comparative s h o p p i n g
guides and consumer warnings which can
really save us money.
PIRGIM has promised The Daily that
they will begin to provide a weekly gro-
cery price survey for the city. We feel
that this type of action is correct if PIR-
GIM's future success is to be .realized.
We urge students to fund PIRGIM
when they preregister. At the same time
we urge PIRGIM to concentrate their ac-
tivities locally where they probably have
a better chance to help the students and
the Ann Arbor community.
By JONATHAN ROSE
This article is a general guideline. You
should get legal advice for specific in-
formation relating to your case. Legal
Aid for University students is at 418
Michigan Union. 665-6146. The' Tenants
Union is at 1528 SAB. 761-1225.
LANDLORDS AREnotoriously overzeal-
ous in assessing as "damages", items
which should be considered "normal wear
and tear." You are not required for in-
stance,. to pay for painting walls that are
somewhat marred, or for replacing furni-
ture that is worn.
On the other hand you are responsible for
repair of a wall that was smashed by a
hammer, orwfor repair of a new couch
that you burned with a cigaret. (If the
couch is old and worn already you may
not be responsible for the damage)..
This article will discuss how to get your
damage deposit back, how to evaluate the
value or damages you have done, and how
to get a rent reduction for code violations.
GETTING YOUR DAMAGE
DEPOSIT BACK
There are several ways of getting your
security deposit back. One is to have. an
honest landlord and to do no damages. That
is the most difficult way because you are
giving your landlord the right to eval-
uate the damages.
Another way is to sue for its return.
There is a small-claims court in Ann Ar-
bor which you can use without a lawyer.
The filing fee is five dollars. Go to sixth
floor of City Hall and they'll give you
forms to fill out. It usually takes about two
months before the case is heard. If you
win, you get a judgment for the filing fee
as well. Collection or judgment is a hassle
if the landlord doesn't want to pay, but
you can do it.
Another way is to sue with a lawyer. The
advantage is th'at you might have a case
against your landlord for damages on code
violations as well, and you can have a
trial by jury. Jurors are often tenants. You
can get legal advice as to which type of
suit is best in your case.
A preferred way to get your deposit back
is to deduct it from the last rent payment
that is due.
This is by far the easiest method and
should be utilized in all cases when you
feel that the landlord might withhold your
deposit. This may technically be a breach of
lease but it's a sound and legitimate tactic.
If you are subletting for the summer, it will
require the cooperation of your subten-
ants.
If you withhold your last month's rent the
landlord may give you an eviction notice.
("7 day notice to quit for nonpaymedt of
rent"). Ignore it. If you've only withheld
one month's rent he's probably bluffing, and
in any case he can't evict without taking
you to court. Giving you this notice is pro-
bably the only hassle you'll get. Congrat-
ulations, you've just recovered your
damage deposit.
In the unlikely event that your land-
lord starts an eviction case against you
in court, take the summons to a lawyer,
legal aid, or the Tenants Union as soon as
you get it. They will help you do a counter
suit for the damage deposit and possibly for
code violations.
Almost all cases are settled outside of
court to the tenant's advantage because as
soon as you file your countersuit the land-
lord will wish he never started the case.
That too-thin wall or lack of screens or
faulty whazzit is a breach of his legal
obligations to you.
HOW TO ASSESS DAMAGES
TO APARTMENT
If you do damage the apartment, the
landlord will try to charge you the cost
of repairs or replacement. This may be- an
excessive charge. For example, if your
dog destroys a table which costs $100 to
replace you may not have to pay $100, un-
less it was practically brand new.
You should only pay the current value
of the used table, or the cost to repair,
whichever is less.
If you throw a can of red paint at a
white wall during a party, you only have to
pay what the landlord lost as damages.
This may be much less than the cost of
painting, and it might be zero. If the
apartment looked like a garbage pit before
you rented it, or if you've just added some
art to a wall which is already decorated
in the same "style," the landlord would
not actually lose any rent because of your
contribution.
If on the other hand the wall that you
decorate is in a 5th Avenue type apart-
ment, the landlord will probably have to re-
paint it. To assess the damage, use the
following formula: ask how long it has
been since the wall was last. painted, and
how often it is painted as a routine..,Tf. it
is going to be painted this year anyway,
your damages are zero. If it is painted
every two years and it was just painted
before you moved in, you have deprived the
landlord of half the use of the previous
painting, and you owe him one half the
cost of painting the wall.
DO YOU HAVE A CLAIM
AGAINST THE LANDLORD?
In determining whether you owe the
landlord money for damages, or whether
you should pay the entire lease rental, you
should determine whether the.landlord owes
you money.
Michigan law permits you to deduct.rent
if the premises are in need of. repair. or not
up to code standards. If thetlandlord tries
to evict you for nonpayment of this :rent,
the need for repairs is a valid defense.
If you had no heat for a week, or if there
were roaches, or flies because of lack of
screens, or if the walls were paper thin
and afforded no privacy, you might be en-
titled to deduct a substantial sum. If
there was only a leak in a pipe you might
be entitled to only a few dollars. During
the Tenants Union strike a few years
ago, rent deductions ranged from $25 to
over $1,000 for an apartment for a year.
Jonathan Rose is an attorney for the
University office of the Washtenaw Coun-
ty legal aid services.
A
G'
4
11
Letters:* Book
burning a success
A belated Nixonturnabout
BECAUSE OF HIS previous attitude on
the Watergate bugging, it was fairly
surprising when President Nixon an-
nounced that he had "discovered" that
several White House aides might be in-
volved in the incident.
Of course, the fact that Nixon aides
might be involved in the case was not
very surprising to us. The. Washington
Post and others printed several stories
last summer and fall in which aides as
far up as right-hand-man H. R. Halde-
man were implicated.
At the time, the Nixon administration
-through its mouthpiece Ronald Zieg-
ler--called the Post stories fabrications
based on rumor and innuendo. At the
same time, President Nixon seemingly
took no action to determine the truth of
the charges - while his aides took mea-
sures to obfuscate the matter through
such methods as lying to acting F.B.I.
Director Patrick Gray.
Either the President thought that the
issue would dry up and blow away, or
else he was totally convinced that his
aides were completely guiltless. He was
either fooling himself or being fooled.
But scandals do not dry up and blow
Tod ' staff:
News: Robert Borkin, Dan Biddle, Penny
Blank, Mike Duweck, Cindy H i Il,
Tommy Jacobs, Sue Sommer
away, especially when those at wlom the
charges are directed refuse to try to
clear themselves.
President Nixon can hardly be con-
gratulated for opening up the investiga-
tion and allowing his aides to be ques-
tioned by Sen. Ervin's committee, for he
should have opened up the investigation
when news of the Watergate bugging
broke into the news. Nixon's earlier state-
ments giving blanket executive privilege
to all White House staff-which he now
describes as "inoperative" -- must make
him uncomfortable.
BUT HE SHOULD never have felt com-
fortable, and we suspect that he is
not going to feel any better once the con-
gressional investigation publicly begins.
We cannot see how he can help but fol-
low through on his promise to fire any
staffer subsequently indicted.
Richard Nixon is first and foremost a
politician, so it is no surprise that he
announced White House cooperation on-
ly after Republican congressional pres-
sure and rumors that GOP campaign
contributions were drying up.
Partisan politics had much to do with
Nixon's refusal to admit any possible
White House.connection with Watergate,
and that delay has darkened the cloud
of scandal around 1600 Pennsylvania
Avenue. We doubt the cloud will be en-
tirely removed no matter what results
from the investigation, no matter how
many White House aides are fired,
At least we will now know what hap-
pened last spring at the Watergate Hotel,
who planned the operation and who gave
the final permission. It is about time.
To The Daily:
IT IS A SHAME when women
have to burn a copy of a book to
get the subject of medical mal-
practice against women into the
public eye: The book-burning was
a last desperate attempt and a
successful one, to bring the at-
tention of doctors all over the na-
tion to an urgent issue which they
have heretofore refused to ack-
nowledge. The response to the
Ibook - burning from middle-aged
women in particular has been tre-
mendous. Letters and phone calls
have poured into Advocates for
Medical Information, urging us to
insist that newspapers focus on the
CONTENTS of the burned book
and the heal-damaging instructions
it gives to aspiring doctors con-
cerning treatment of women.
Our action has opened discus-
sion in medical communities across
the country on ' the revision of
medical textbooks which prejudice
medical students to believe that
organic illness in women is ac-
tually emotional and that, rather
than being medically treated, they
should be referred to psychiatrists
instead. In its efforts to focus on
the burning rather than the hide-
ous quotes in the book, the me-
dia has censored us whom they
accuse of censorship.
In its likening of the book-burn-
ing to Hitler, the media has over-
looked the fact that Hitler con-
ducted medical experiments on
people, just as doctors at major
hospitals quietly conduct medical
experiments on women without
their knowledge, and with the re-
sults of inducing fatal disease. Why
is the media upset about our dam-
aging our own property, and not
upset about the number of phy-
sicians who perform unnecessary
operations on women every year?
Congratulations to Advocates for
Medical Information for sacrific-
ing itself at the stake.
Following is a statement from
a middl, aged group of women:
President Fleming's remarks
were outrageous by the omissions;
it is distressing that the president
of a "prestigious campus" should
condemn your symbolic book-burn-
ing tactic (which, indeed, contri-
buted to Dr. Willson's royalties
and deprived no future readers of
the book) and yet not be disturbed
by the distorted, political remarks
in a purportedly scientific textbook.
I am equally distressed that the
president did not remark "in hor-
ror' about the Nixon-like tactic
Dr. Willson is choosing - of hid-
ing and saying nothing when the
heat is on. Aren't scholars ac-
countable for what they write?
Doesn't the dean of the medical
school require some sort of answer
when his faculty members are
challenged? To quote Mr. Louis
Graff, is this a "free exchange of
ideas and opinions"? And we all
might question Dr. Willson's good
mental health when we read his
opinions about the normal sex act
and rape.
--Kay Weiss
April 19
Power axis
To The Daily:
THE ANN ARBOR News and its
reporters, Robin (sic) Fleming,
The Michigan Daley (sic) and its
editors and writers, and o t h e r
such ilk consistently misread local
political actions. Their perspective
is confused: (1) because of their
position of power, the power to
have their opinions published; and
(2) because they must rely upon
their own resources for their
analysis. Their traditional failure to
see clearly was demonstrated once
again in regard to the recent book
burning.
Being themselves in the power
elite, and taking such power for
granted, the people and organiza-
tions described above are unable to
distinguish between the oppressive
policies of people with power and
the acts of resistance by the vic-
tims of oppression. On one side we
have privileged class (read pro-
fessors), white, adult, straight
males and their allies reinforcing
a system that dehumanizes the vic-
tims of that system and with all
the machinery of that system at
their disposal; and on the other
side there are the victims, inhibit-
ed and repressed, who have only a
very limited means of reacting
against their oppression. To com-
pare the actions of one group with
that of the other is an absolute ab-
surdity.
Those outside the power estab-
lishment cannot be compared with
those inside it. From their position
of publication power, the Fleming-
Daley-News partnership (adminis-
tration-news producing complex) is
forever condemned to failure, to
being unable to distinguish be-
tween those who control the media,
who can fully express and therebv
enforce their prejudices, and those
who are disenfranchised and must
suffer under them.
-Donnie
April 18
Film groups
To The Daily:
IN EARLY March of this year
all non-subsidized, all-campus film
grougs began meeting and the Un-
ion of Film Organizations w a s
formed. Membership in UFO is
open to any non-subsidized, all-
campus film group showing on a
regular basis. The UFO is con-
cerned with co-operation in ad-
vertising, scheduling of auditor-
iums and negotiations with com-
mercial film distributors. In this
spirit of co-operative self regula-
tion we will investigate any com-
plaints about ticket fraud, personal
profiteering, and interference with
the operations of our member or-
ganizations.
--Ann Arbor Film Co-op
Cinema Guild
Cinema II
Friends of Newsreel
New World Film Co-op
April 15
Swingers
To The Daily:
IN REGARD to the letter from
Mary Howard (Apr. 16) concerning
Swing-Match, I would like to com-
ment on several inaccuracies.
First of all, Swing-Match d o e s
not involve itself with wife-swap-
ping. The type of people who sub-
scribe to our service are intelli-
gent, interesting and liberated,
they are not the type prone to act
or think in such a sexist, possessive
manner. Swingers, unlike swap-
pers, consider the sexual relation-
ship a part of the friendship, not
the entire purpose. Swingers are
friends, wife-swappers a r e ac-
quaintances.
Secondly, our questionnaire, while
explicit, is not obscene. The ques-
tions indicate areas of interests"
without being detailed. However, in
recognition of the highly interest-
ing and unexpected differences be-
tween Ann Arbor swingers and
those from other areas of- the
country, we are in the process of
changing the questions and enlarg-
ing the. areas of interests. When it
is in use it will indicate a broader
range of compatability than our
current form.
I suppose it is not to be totally
unexpected that Ms. Howard is
upset, however her letter indicat-
ed that she is not aware of the
uniqueness of swingers in Ann
Arbor. Perhaps if she would at-
tempt to look into the local groups
and discard all her misconceptions
e about wife-swappers and swingers
she would find this uniqueness plea-
santly enjoyable.
--Kristin
April 18
Thanks
To The Daily
WITH ALL THE hoopla sur-
rounding graduating seniors, we'd
like to recognize a far greater
achievement. Professor Arthur W.
Bromage, of the political science
department, is retiring after 43
illustrious years at the University
of Michigan.
We consider Mr. Bromage an
unequalled authority in the field
of municipal government. In ad-
dition to teaching, he has been a
councilman in Ann Arbor, an as-
sistant to four different governors,
an active member of the National
Municipal League, and an invalu-
able charter consultant to numer-
ous cities.
"My chief concern is that I'll
miss my students," he said. "Be-
ing in the game for 43 years, one
gets habituated to classes, stu-
dents, and the success of college
generations. It's a major part of
my life. Although I've written var-
ious books and over 100 articles,
the satisfaction doesn't compare
with that of my relationships with
students here and after they grad-
uate."
We would like to thank Mr. Bro-
mage for his outstanding service
to the university, and express' our
deepest sorrow concerning his re-
tirement. It is indeed unfortunate
that the academic community is
being robbed of such a scholar at
the expense of a foolishly con-
trived compulsory retirement reg-
ulation. We wish him the best of
everything in the future.
-Pam Goodman
Michael Kern
April 17
Tenure
To The Daily:
EACH OF US has read the let-
ters and articles in T'le Daily
concerning the tenure issue in the
English' Department. Each of us
has also had Prof. Mullin for two
different courses during two dif-
ferent semesters. He represents
true excellence in teaching, and is
honstly concerned for each of his
students. As undergraduates (one
of us is a freshperson, so this is
especially true for her) teaching
ability like this is rare in a uni-
versity this size.
Hopefully, Mr. Mullin will see
this and keep it for his resume,
wherever he goes next. The job
of a school is to teach, aid it is
obvious that Mr. Mullin is very
proficient at this. It may be ex-
pected of all professors to teach,
but not all can. Yet the bores and
intellectual snobs who manage to
publish are kept on the staff, and
again the students''right to an
education for which they pay dear-
ly is subjugated 'to the prestige of
the institution. "Publish or per-
ish" must perish, before we are
left without beautiful people like
Professor Mullin in our colleges
and universities.
Good professors, like good wines
and Rolls Royces, improve with
age. Theyare all three also ex-
pensive, but worth the price. Un-
fortunately, through clear fault of
its own and recognizable error, the
English Department of the Col-
lege of Literature, Science and the
Arts of the University of Michi-
gan loses the benefits of a great
teacher. Moreover, it is the stu-
dents who are robbed.
Karen Maltter
Nursing '7b
Suzanne Rivard
Education '73
Libels strikeout
To The Daily:
ACCORDING to Sunday's Daily,
The Libels won the game.
Those slabs will go to any length,
To preserve an ounce of fame.
The sports staff is illiterate,
Made up of such vain men.
They had to lie about the games,
Which were won by, CBN.
In Reality
WCBN 18
Libels 0 (That is zero - nothing
-shut out!)
WCBN s
Libels 4
-The Staff of WCBN
April 16
tiCle
because of a desire to rob the
Arabs of their land. Perhaps if the
Arab governments . would redue
their cries for Israel's destruction,
Israel would no longer fear the
Arabs in their land.
The Palestinians are tragic vic-
tims of a centuriesld conflict.
They are pawns of the Arab gov-
ernments who use them to distract
their own populace from their prob-
lems at home.
The Palestinians' fate is not in
Israel's hands, however, it is the
Arab governments who have the
power to accept Israel's right to
exist and eliminate their pledge
of its destruction. It is thea that
Israel will feel safe to revise her
policy.
Mr. Mendenhall calls I raeli e-
forts to obtain money fortheir
cause "an eaborahw:Am.-
x
i
It
r
x
Editorial Page; Kathleen
Schoch, Martin Stern
Ricke,
Eric
Arts Page: Richard Glatzer, Mara Shapiro
Photo Technician: Stuart Hollander
r_,,
.0A
*I
Readers respond to
Israel ar
To The Daily:
DAVID MENDENHALL'S recent
"Look at *Israel and the Palestin-
ians" unfortunately .was a look
through distorting 1 e a s e s.
His claim that the Kibbutz system
is based on the cheap labor of
foreign idealists is such an ob-
vious lie that it is laughable. He
is careful not to say which Kib-
butzim he has visited or whether
he visited any at all. Mr. Menden-
hall refers to "the systematic de-
struction of hundreds of Arab vil-
lages by the Israeli army from
1948 to the present." But he does
not publish the list of these vil-
lages.
Yet he neglects to mention that
every single Jewish settlement
which had the bad fortune to fall
into Arab hands in 1948 and 1949
was destroyed and its inhabitants
expelled. Does he have a double
murder and intimidation - at a
time when the Jews did nothing
more aggressive than draining
swamps and planting trees on land
they had bought. from the Arabs.
Then there was the massacre of
the Jewish men, women, and chil-
dren in Hebron in 1929 and the
looting and destruction of many
Jewish villages. There were no
Arab refugees then to serve as an
excuse for those acts of violence.
But I am sure that Mr. Menden-
hall will be able to justify all of
them..
The Palestinian Arab leader at
that time, Grand Mufti Haj Amin
el-Husseini, we'nt to Berlin during
World War II. He visited Ausch-
witz as the guest of SS chief Himm-
ler where he was priviliged to wit-'
ness the mass murder of Jews. He
constantly agitated for a speed-up
in the murders.
found by direct negotiations be-
tween the two sides, and this the
Arabs refuse to do.
-Ernest Fontheim
Department of Electrical
and Computer Engineering
April 18 =
To The Daily:
"A LOOK AT Israel and the Pal-
estinians" by David Mendenhall in
the April 17th edition of The Daily
should be retitled "A look with
one eye closed at Israel and the
Palestinians," for he possesses no
understanding of the Israeli point
of view.
Mendenhall's first sentence states,
"The Arab - Zionist conflict in
the Middle East is now over SO
years old." This week is the Jew-
ish holiday of Passover, w h i c h
commemorates the flight of the
ews fmrom rvf ellaver ,2(Ma
the American Indian. The J e w s
had been residing on what Menden-
hall calls Arab land centuries be-
fore Mohammad's -birth, before the
concept of an Arab state was even
a dream. It was Babylonians, Assy-
rians, Greeks, Romans, Turks, and
Englishmen who forced the Jews
from their land and who scat-
tered them throughout the world
to face such genocidal attempts as
the Crusades, the Inquisitions, and
Nazi Germany. The American In-
dian found the only way to remain
alive was to stay on his own re-
servation; the Jew knows that the
only hope for his continued sur-
vival is a Jewish land in which
he will not be subject to the whims
of the ignorant.
ISRAEL IS not the military-in-
dustrial complex Mr. Mendenhall
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