Page 4-Friday, January 27, 1978-The Michigan Daily Eighty-Eight Years of Editorial Freedom Vol. LXXXViII, No. 97. 420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, Mt 48109 News Phone: 764-0552 Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan 's delay in cancelling classes was uncalled for HEN University administra- tors were meeting yesterday morning to decide whether or not to close the campus, the snow drifts outside the Administration Building were knee-high. The weather forecasters were predicting more snow and high winds through the night. But by mid-morning, with hundreds of profs, students and staff already en route to campus through the most severe winter storm in the Midwest in three years, the administrators had not yet decided whether to close the University. In fact, it was not until shortly before noon that the decision was made. And many of. the bedraggled commuters got here just in time to find out they didn't have to come to campus at all. The delay in announcing the closing was an act of stupidity. It would be nice to blame a bloated bureaucracy and mounds of paper- work for this particular delay, but it would serve no useful purpose and would certainly not comfort those who suffered to get here. No, this one must be chalked up to the credit of slow- acting and unfeeling administrators, who, while pondering yesterday's snow drifts, no doubt reasoned, "If I could get to campus, so could everyone else." That is no way to run a University. By STEPHEN HERSH Under Michigan's Tenants Rights Acts of 1968, tenants in the state have the right to stop paying - rent if their dwellings need repairs which their landlor- ds refuse to make. The right to withhold rent is meant to be a lever for tenants to use in persuading their landlords to maintain their housing in keeping with the minimum health and safety standards set by the government. WHEN TENANTS withhold rent, landlords usually take their complaints seriously, because withholding rent often means withholding money which lan- dlords rely on. A rent strike may cut into alandlord's regular in- come; it may make it hard for him to make his car payments; and it may make it difficult or impossible for him to make his mortgage payments. when a group of tenants under a single landlord organizes to withhold rent collectively, the results are usually even more ef- fective than when a single tenant goes on rent strike. Here follows some information on when exactly a tenant can legally withhold rent, and what procedures it is best to follow in doing so. QUESTION: How do I know if my place is in bad enough shape to justify withholding rent? ANSWER: A good rule of thumb is, if you think the dwelling is in bad repair, it probably violates the housing codes, which would give you the right to go on rent strike. Accor- ding to Michigan law, "Every (residential rental) dwelling and all parts thereof.. . shall be kept in good repair by the owner." You can pick up a free leaflet giving a fairly detailed summary of the housing codes, by stopping in at the Ann Arbor Tenants Union office. The TU is located on the fourth floor of the Michigan Union, in room 4109, and the phone number there is 761-1225. QUESTION: If I decide to go on rent strike, should I let my lan- dlord know that I plan to stop paying my rent? ABSWER: Yes. You should tell your landlord in writing what you plan to do, by sending him or her a registered letter (certified mail) saying that you are exer- cising your right to withhold rent becayse of poor conditions in your dwelling. You should keep a carbon copy (not a Xerox) of the letter for your own file. Also, get some evidence that repairs are needed-take pictures, collect bugs in a bottle, or do whatever is necessary to prove that your rent strike is justified. Sometimes, just telling your landlord that you plan to stop paying your -rent. will be enough to convince him or her to make the needed repairs. QUESTION: Is there anything You say you want to hold a rent strike? you have the right to keep con- fidential the reason that you're opening a bank account. QUESTION: Should I start paying my rent again in ex- change for a promise from my landlord that the needed repairs will be done? Everything you 've always want- ed to know about a tenant's priv- ilege to withhold rent. Making intelligence units operate more intelligently IN SPITE of all the talk lately about our President's crumbling cam- paign promises, there has been at least one pledge preserved in the past year: reform and reorganization has begun in the country's intelligence agencies. Progress toward reform has been steady since Jimmy Carter took office. Among major changes for the CIA alone are a considerable reduction of "spy" personnel and a pledge by that agency to not use American journalists in intelligence activities anymore. On Tuesday, Carter signed an executive order altering some of the procedures by which the U.S. Defense Department, CIA and other intelligen- ce gatherers have come to operate. As the President himself and many others have noted, the move is another step closer to an intelligence community atmosphere more reflective of a free society. There is certainly a wealth of other procedures undertaken by these agen- cies which could stand renovation-the whole sphere of domestic spying ac- tivities, for instance-but the ad- ministration appears to be ap- proaching such problems with an open mind. This week's reorganization applies mainly toward foreign intelligence ac- tivities. A series of codes and restric- tions has been put in place to prevent the future misuse or, as was many times the case, complete disregard for U.S. laws. One restriction bans outright any future attempted political assassinations by agencies. The new order, built upon previous orders han- ded down during the Ford Ad- ministration, establishes regulatory bodies to oversee covert activities and requires the U.S. Attorney General's approval for many types of counterin- telligence operations. All the attention being paid to the reform of the intelligence community has had nothing but constructive effec- ts on Congress, it appears. In the next few weeks alone, lawmakers will con- sider bills which would create new con- trol over the electronic surveillance of people in this country who are suspec- ted of being spies for a foreign power. The debate will be complex: not everyone agrees that the legislation proposed would have wide enough coverage. For example, while federal warrants would be required for agents to elec- tronically bug or wiretap individuals under investigation new technologyi permits surveillance without using conventional devices, and such ac- tivity would not be regulated. There are other controversial por- tions to the proposed legislation. The American Civil Liberties Union, a trusted ally of Constitutional rights, has simultaneously acclaimed some aspects of the bill and spurned others. Both President Carter and Congress are to be admired for their steps toward cleaning up the intelligence communuty's act. But it will take a long time to straighten out a system as lawless and inhumane as U.S. in- telligence has proven to be. in particular I have to do with the rent money I plan to withhold? ANSWER: There's no legal requirement at all about what you should do with that money; however, you're probably best off if you deposit the rent money in an escrow account-a separate bank account holding only the withheld rent funds. Keeping the money in escrow is a show of good faith. It also guarantees that you'll have the money available, so when you decide to finally pay any of the money to the land- lord, all the cash will be ready. Since it's money you were plan- ning to pay as rent, it should be no trouble to get the money to put in escrow. QUESTION: How do I set up an escrow fund? ANSWER: It's easy. Just open a new interest-bearing savings account at a bank, depositing the rent money each month when you would ordinarily by paying it to your landlord. If the other tenan- ts in your house or apartment are on strike along with you, you can open a joint account with them under all of your names, or you can open the account under a group name, such as "The Tenants of 999 Fifth Street." A word of caution; several local banks have refused to open ac- counts for tenants who say specifically that they want to open an escrow account. You may save yourself some hassle if you just tell the bank you want to open a savings account. By law, ANSWER: Until the necessary repairs are completed, don't agree to' pay the rent you've withheld, and don't agree to stop withholding future rent checks. You shouldn't be satisfied with a promise that the work will be done, because landlords have been known to go back on their promises to make repairs. And you shouldn't be satisfied when you see that the repair work has been started, because landlords have been known to have workers begin making repairs promptly but let the repairs drag on for weeks and months. Wait until the work is completed before you end. your rent strike. The more money you've withheld, the greater your leverage against your landlord, If you've escrowed ten months of rent, that's a lot of cash-and your landlord will probably be anxious to get hold of that money. Bear in mind that one tenant withholding ten months of rent has about the same bargaining nower as ten tenants withholding one month of :n, QUESTION: What if my land- lord doesn't agree to make the re- pairs, and decides to try to evict me? ANSWER: A legal proceeding brought by a landlord against a tenant can require a great deal of effort on the part of the tenant, and it can mean months of litigation. But if you've brought a responsible claim against your landlord, you have a justifiable reason for having stopped paying rent, and you have a valid legal defense, If you handle a court case properly, you have a good chance of winning court orders dictating that your landlord make the needed repairs and give you a refund of part of your rent for you inconvenience. If you have a serious claim and you can afford the effort to pursue it, you should pursue it. It's your right to defend yourself against unfair treatment by your landlord-and when you go to court with your landlord, you're helping not just yourself but all tenants. When landlords know that treating their tenants unfairly will likely lead to a court battle, they will be less likely to violate tenants' rights. As to what specific things you should do when faced with the threat of eviction: if your lan- dlord gives you a "Notice to Quit"-a notification that he or she wants you to move out-you should contact a lawyer, a free legal aid society (such as Washtenaw County Legal Aid),. or the Tenants Union. A Notice to Quit doesn't legally require you to do anything, but it puts you on notice that your landlord may want to fight you over the rent. If you receive a Summons to appear in court, you should get legal help immediately. If you decide to fight the thing out in court, you can do it with a lawyer representing you, or with advice from Legal Aid orb the Tenants Union. However you do it, good luck! * * * Most Ann Arbor tenants don't know much about their right to withhold rent-or any of their other legal rights as tenants. That's why the Coalition for Better Housing is put- ting two proposals, aimed at spreading information about tenants' rights, on the city ballot for the April election. The proposals are called "Truth in Renting" and "Fair Rental Infor- mation. " If you care about tenants' rights, you'l/ want to votefor them. You can cast your ballot for the two proposals only if you're registered to vote in Ann Arbor. If you live in Ann Arbor, you can register to vote here at City Hall, or at the Tenants Union of- fice (4109 Michigan Union). And in the next few weeks deputy voter registrars willbe going-door to door in dorms and in various parts of the community; if a registrar comes knocking on your door you can register with him or her. S Stephen Hersh is com- munity education director of the MSA Housing Reform Project. Smoke issue can 'tget igniteo I By FRANK CORMIER The Associated Press WASHINGTON-The anti-smoking drive launched by Joseph Califano, Jr., the refor- med smoker who, is secretary of health, education and welfare, has gotten a decidedly mixed, if not skeptical, reaction at the White House. Press secretary Jody Powell gave it a mild endorsement, while snuffing out one cigarette and igniting another at a daily news briefing. PUBLICLY, President, Carter has said nothing at all. Privately, the non-smoking president has decided it's not his fight. When an aide sent him a memo on the sub- ject of smoking a few months ago, Carter sent it back with a terse, handwritten message: "I ewduar to be drawn into this fruitless issue." Another skeptic is Fr. Peter Bourne, the president's special assistant for health issues. Bourne, a psychiatrist, finds much to applaud in Califano's personal crusade, yet has deep misgivings about one of its aspects. "A PART of my skepticism," he told an in- terviewer, "derives from what's happened in China. The Chinese have dealt with virtually every social problem that you can imagine by fiat. The one thing they haven't touched is cigarette smoking." Bourne is particularly concerned lest the Califano approach make the nation's 60 million smokers feel like outcasts. He argues that experience with treating drug addicts, alcoholics and the mentally ill shows that "the more you stigmatize people ... in manu instances the more difficult it is to get those people to overcome the problem they have." Although Bourne applauds Califano's call for strengthened efforts to educate smokers about the hazards of their habit, he said a number of studies "show that virtually everybody who smokes is already very aware of that information, and that 60 per cent to 70" per cent of the people who smoke want to quit "THERE'S a limit to what you can further achieve by telling people how bad the hazards are." Bourne also is skeptical about smoking cures, saying "the success rate has been very WASHINGTON TODAY THE MILWAUKEE JOURNAL DIST.FIELD NEWSPAPER SYNDICATE, 1979 '4 '4 *4 *4 w w ". - .4 14 i ---2Mi ' 80 f PAN'A q VO0 *1077 f "" .. 1 t 9 pal4 v! low," with about 85 per cent of the quitte retrning to cigarettes within six months. I said other ways should be found to "he people achieve what they would like achieve anyway." Seeing a parallel with efforts to mal driving safer, despite the certain knowled that some will drive recklessly, Bour agrees with Califano that government shout do more research on hazardous elements ifh 7/l tobacco and cigarette smoke and "look for things like safer cigarettes," with Uncle Sam subsidizing the search if the tobacco industry balks. BUT BOURNE has serious reservations about a Califano proposal to ban smoking on airliners. Because "a lot of people still have severe anxiety about flying" and find relief in cigarettes, he believes a ban would cause a dramatic increase in the consumption of alcohol aloft, "and I'm not sure that's a useful tradeoff." He also believes a ban would be unenforceable. Bourne also has questions about a Califano suggestion that workers who do smoke be of- fered work space separate from those who do. "There is some rather tenuous evidence that the inhaling of ambient smoke by non- smokers may produce some health con- sequences," said Bourne. Bur he said the evidence is so shaky that until the facts are established, "I think it's a very hard argument to make as to whose rights are being violated." Bourne also has some distrust of laws that try to "dictate personal behavior," believing they raise grave questions of civil rights ver- sus government interference. Although Bourne personally is opposed to smiking, and quit while Califano still was a tow-pack-a-day man, he does not view the problem as a black and white issue. He feels it raises fundamental questions "in terms of how much one has a right to misuse one's own body, and how much the government has a responsibility to protect you from yourself." With Carter standing above the- battle, Califano's crusade seems certain to fall short of its objectives I. " WYd)L'1A IA I I h r l w 4 rw i F- --- __Ogg" 00001'a, Wi 1 ir 1 t i 943W1 H 1 11 1 I