-Friday, October 14, 1977-The Michigan Daily
Eighty-Eight Years of Editorial Freedom
420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109
I. LXXXVIII, No. 32 News Phone: 764-0552
Edited and managed jpy students at the University of Michigan

Of the ubiquitous

By KEN PARSIGIAN
and JEFFREY SELBST

t

's follow UW

s lead and

t on S.

African holdings

UNIVERSITY of Wisconsin
nade% a commendable gesture
;t the apartheid policies of South
last Friday when its Board of
its voted to divest the University
k in all corporations dealing in
trife-torn country which fail 'to
the "Sullivan statement."
e Sullivan statement is an affirm-
action policy, with five prin-

vote is what our own Regents have
been doing about the over $40 million of
stock in companies operating in South
Africa which this University currently
holds.
The Regents have appointed a
committee to look into the problem, al-
though they have been hesitant to ad-
vocate breaking up the University in-
vestment portfolio through divestiture.
If divestiture is not a realistic way out,
perhaps the Regents should consider
an action modeled after the example of
UW as a first step towards cutting ties
with the world's most notoriously
racist state.

Some people contend that the
government is running the coun-
try. Others claim Communist
conspiracies, the Arabs, the oil
companies; but this is hopelessly
deluded.
The plain fact is, THEY are'
running things. Everything.
THEY run the schools, decide the
fashions, plan the latest chic din-
ner parties; dominate the media,
choose the year's -theatrical' en-
tertainments, and determine the
political candidates in each par-
ty.
AND WHO IS THEY? Oh,
you've met THEY before. When
you went shopping last with your
mother, and she picked out some-
thing horrible for you to wear,
and you refused to shell out your
bucks for it; she smiled sweetly
and said, "But dear, that's what
THEY're wearing."
Or: you pick up on rumors that
you're about to be fired. Who?
you demand to your closest
friend. Who says these things?
They smile sweetly (natch) and
reply, "Why, THEY do, of cour-
se."
At a cocktail party: "You
heard, certainly, of all the trou-
bles Liza Minnelli's show is hav-
ing out of town. THEY're all pre-
dictinga flop."
THEY clearly has taken over
the national consciousness. And
it's time something was done
about it. Now.

keep as low a profile in the future
as THEY do now; monthly man-
hunts will take the place of the
state lottery as a source of fun.
Each month, a list of suspected
THEYs will be published; thos'e
found are to be shot on sight and a
sum is to be paid. Depending on
the importance of the victim, the
size of the award could vary from
$25 weekly to a chance for the
$1,000,000 green game prize.
Not that those of THEY who
are not honored by the list get off
scot-free: you can always liti-
gate..
That's right, litigate. Trumped-
up charges will be acceptable -
the whole point is to mobiliz US
against THEY. "Take care ot the
sense, and let the sounds take
care of themselves." Lewis Car-
roll said that. When he wasn't
photographing little girls.
HAVE YOU GOT your evi-
dence? Now get a lawyer. Pay'
not too much for him; judges will
be inexorably favorable to your
cause. Bribes will be accepted, as
long as they aren't embarras-
singly large. Or too tastefully
dainty. Unmarked bills only.
Let's make out a list. Victim?
Check. "Evidence"? Check.
"Lawyer"? Check. "Judge"?

Check. Good. Now you're ready
to go to court.
THEYwill try to tell you that
this is unprecedented in legal his-
tory. Hogwash. Why, a famous
person some years ago claimed
he had the names of 57 of THEM
on a list. He waved the list at a
speech he gave. "I have THEIR
names right here," said his early,
perceptive crusader. And lo, hun-
dreds - yea, thousands of people
were forced out of THEIR closets
and out of work. Why was this
man discredited? The few of
THEY that he failed to bring to
justice multiplied like bacteria
and grew in. fetid numbers to
unify and defeat him. Moral:
GET THEM BEFORE THEY
GET YOU. Get them all. Go out;
that's right - go out NOW. Kill
two before lunch. Don't give
THEM a chance. Stuff it down
THEIR throats.
Back to the issue. Now you've
won your case (the judge is in
your pocket- if he rules urgfavor-
ably he is replaced; repeat until
one is found who agrees); this is
known in biological circles as a
marsupial court. Ignore
biologists. THEY simply like to
- sneer at YOU. ;
The question of punishmenttis
important. Hard labor is too

7HEY!,
good; death is excessive, for the
most part (we want no martyrs,
right?). What, then? Clearly
THEY must be publicly humilia-
ted. Painful revolting lies - or
better, painful revolting "truths"
- will be told about THEM
everywhere. Posters will go up.
And better - everytimhe THEY
buy clothing, YOU will dictate
that it go out of style in a week.
THIS PROCESS may take a
few years. But if you start now,
the amount of time you need
spend under THEIR domination
will decrease markedly. Sloth is
deadly. And if you're going to do
a job, do it right.
Well, well, well. Objectives ac-
complished. YOU are in control
now; YOU set the trends, YOU
are on the cover of Newsweek
and Time the same week. Make
sure they never get control back.
Bring up their memory from time
to time. Degrade them only as
much as needed. Season to taste.'
Well, YOU're on YOUR way
now. Good luck, and may the for-
ce be with YOU.
Daily editors Jeffrey
Selbst and Ken Parsigian
are considered dangerous
by their friends.

ial pay for blacks and whites.
ining programs to prepare blacks
r supervisory, administrative,
lerical and technical positions.
segregation of eating, working,
rd rest room facilities
provement of living conditions-
ousing, schooling, transportation
-for blacks outside of the
rmployment sphere.
reased numbers of blacks in
ianagerial positions.
ccording to the UW paper, the
y Cardinal, UW will give the cor-
tions an unspecified "reasonable.
irtunity" to adopt the Sullivan
ment before the university divests
oldings in them. The UW Regents'
sion followsl a May ruling by Wis-
in Attorney General Bronson La-
ette that university investments in
h Africa are unlawful under a Wis-
in statute prohibiting state invest-
ts in firms which discriminate on
asis of race.
y this action the UW Regents have
in themselves sensitive to the
it of black South Africans. Adop-
of the statement, of course, does
insure the end of South Africa's
st social system - it only guaran-
blcks certain rights within cer-
companies. ,
DECISION to divest might have
put more pressure directly on the
ter regime. But the UW Regents'
>n is an admirable first step, one
h deserves to be emulated.
he real question raised by the UW

1


CORRECTION
Due to an editing error, we in
vertantly left the signers' name
yesterday's letter concerning the L
Fader plan. The letter should ha
been signed by the LSA Student G
ernment. We apologize for the ov
i sight.
EDITORIAL STAFF
ANN MARIE LIPINSKI JIM TC
Editors-in-Chief
LOIS JOSIMOVICH....................... Managing E5
GEORGE LOBSENZ..................Managing Ei
STU McCONNELL............................Managing E
JENNIFER MILLER......................Managing E
PATRICIA MONTEMURRI.............Magaging E
KEN PARSIGIAN.............................Managing Ei
BOB'ROSENBAUM.........................Managing Ei
MARGARET YAO..... ..............Managing E
SUSAN ADES JAY LEVIN
Sunday Magazine Editors
ELAINE FLECTCHER TOM O'CONNELL
Associate Magazine Editors
JEFFREY SELBST
Arts. Editor;
STAFF WRITERS: Susan Barry, Richard Berke, Brian B
chard, Michael Beckman, Liori Carruthers, Ken, Chotiner, Ei
Daley, Lisa Fisher, Denise Fox, Steve Gold, David Goodn
Elisa Isaacson, Michael Jones, Lani Jordan, Janet Klein, G
Kriewall, Gregg Krupa, Paula Lashinsky, Marty Levine, Dot
Matunonis, Carolyn Morgan, Dan Oberdorfer, Mark Parr
Karen Paul, Stephen Pickoyer, Christopher Potter, Mai
Retallick, Keith Richburg, Diane Robinson, Julie Rovner, De3
Sabo, Annmarie Schiavi, Paul Shapiro, R. J. Smith, Elizal
Slowik, Mike Taylor, Pauline Toole, Sue Warner, Jim War:
Linda Willcox, Shelley Wolson, Tim Yagle, Mike Yellin, Barb
Zahs
Mark Andrews, Mike Gilford, Richard Foltman
Weather Forecasters

£

ad-
of
SA

ave WHAT IS TO be the solution to
ov- this admittedly sticky problem?
'er- Well, if THEY had a problem to
solve, they would first allocate $2
or $3 million for a research study.
- But we have no such funds.
Yet this doesn't exclude a sci-
entific approach. First, the grass-
roots level. When THEY is in
voked, you must pin down the
speaker. Force him to the wall.
DBIN Demand to know who THEY is.
That's right - to fight an enemy
ditor you need specifics. Height,
ditor weight, that sort of thing. Do not
ditor leave without them (this is vital).
lditor
ditor Next, all citizens should be re-
ditor quired to hold ID cards desig-
nated with a large stamp bearing
the legend (either) THEY or
YOU. This boils the issue down to
its basic paranoid roots.
Backgrounds of potential
1an- THEYs will be thoroughly inves-
enn tigated - sources could include
arth the blind meter-readers of maid-
~ilas e
ent, en (presumably elderly) aunts;
rtha testimony of friends and relatives
nnis will be accepted, though of course
Beth
ren, on consideration.
bara
IT IS NOT expected that there
will be many THEY cards issued
eventually. THEY will need to

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U

-op apartments: Good for e

By STEPHEN HERSH

)ple like to retain control over
lives and over their finances.
's a simple fact of -human nature.'
he reason the American colonists
ted against the British. It's the
n the French revolutionists over-
'the monarchy. It's the reason for
rowth of labor unions in the indus-

trialized Western world. And it's the
reason the residents of the local Huron
Towers apartments are banding to-
gether in an attempt to turn their apart-
ment complex into a cooperatively
owned and run operation.
The complex, which consists of two
side by side 12-story buildings; is now
owned by the department of Housing
and Urban Development (HUD). It was
acquired by that federal agency when

the previous owners defaulted on their
mortgage. By law, HUD can only hold
on to the building temporarily, until it
finds a suitable buyer.
HUD HAS THE OPTION of simply
putting the building up for sale to the
highest bidder. But the Concerned Resi-
dents Committee of Huron Towers
(CRC) hopes that that doesn't happen.
CRQ is scrambling to organize support
in time to take advantage of a law

which required HUD to examine the
possibility of turning the complex into a
residents' cooperative, if 75 per cent of
the residents express an interest in
forming such a co-op.
Tom Stitt and Jonathan Klein, the two
Huron Towers residents who spearhead
CRC, explain thatthe advantages of co-
op ownership revolve around the fact
that the tenants, as cooperative owners,
would hold the decision-making power
over the property. The CRC, leaders
both work in local co-op housing groups.
Stitt explains that under a co-op plan,
it would be the residents who, decide
when it is necessary to raise the rents,
and by how much; it would be the
residents who decide such questions as
what repairs should be made in the
complex's apartments, and when. Says
Stitt, "Co-op ownership will yield the
best ratio of value to cost for the tenan-
ts' rent dollar. The co-op board can con-
trol costs much more effectively than a
landlord, because it's their own r'ent.
they're talking about."
CO-OP OWNERSHIP would keep
rent costs down for several reasons,
Stitt notes. Since there would be no
landlord earning profit on the building,
there would be no incentive to hike ren-
ts for profit. And a co-op purchase of the
property would keep to a minimum one
of the main monthly expenses of main-
taining the building: the mortgage cost.
Mortgage payments are set according
to the purchase price of the building -
the more a buyer pays for a building,
the higher the monthly mortgage fee.
Keepiig the mortgage payments low
helps keep the rent low.
Notes Klein, "HUD has the authority
to negotiate with us toset a purchase
price that will keep rent levels -the same

uses of property is its use as a tax
shelter - a means of qualifying for
large tax deductions. Federal tax laws
permit landlords to treat their buildings
as though they decrease in value as
they get older year by year. The lan-
dlords are permitted to deduct a yearly
"loss" from their taxes, based on the
value of their property. But the tax laws
are founded on an erroneous assum-
ption - rental property actually tends
to go up, not down, in value over the
years.
IN THE TEN DAYS that CRC has
been actively soliciting support at
Huron Towers, interest in a cooperative
purchase has snowballed. With 360 ren-
tal units in the complex, CRC needs the
signatures of the occupants of 270 units
to bargain with HUD for a co-op pur-
chase. "The residents of over 100 units
have signed," Klein reports. "We now
have a committee of floor captains on
every floor." Last Sunday, over 75 resi-
dents attended a CRC meeting to talk
about the possible co-op move.
The twin buildings which comprise
Huron Towers are located near the Uni-
versity's North Campus. The complex
is tucked between the Huron River and
the Arb, near the Amtrack railroad
tracks. The structures themselves,
built in 1960, are a modern-looking,
rather ugly buildings ringed by rows of
balconies. Although the buildings are
new by Ann Arbor standards, they are
in rather poor repair. "There hasn't
been any regular preventive mainten-
ance in six years," says Stitt. "When

/
people
something breaks down, the managers
have come out to fix things, but when it :
comes to keeping things oiled and mak-
ing sure they don't break down, that
hasn't been done." Some of the more
pressing maintenance problems are:
the roof needs replacing, as do the boil-
ers; the ceilings in many apartments
drip water; the driveway on the west
side of the building is sinking at a rate
of about two inches per year; and the
ventilation system does not meet hous-
ing code requirements. Co-op owner-
ship would eliminate the problem of
sluggish repair service. But the new co-
op owners would be faced with a very
long tally of accumulated necessary re-
pairs.
- The University was considering the
purchase of Huron Towers, with an eye
toward converting the complex for use.
as student housing. It's a good thing for
the local housing situation that the Uni-
versity's plan was scotched. While the'
shortage of University housing is a
pressing problem, the way to confront it
is not for the 'U' to displace large num-
bers of community residents to make
room for students. The University,
?should construct some new student
housing.
Cooperative ownership of HuronTow-
ers would be the best deal for the resi-
dents, and it would be best for the city's
inflation-ridden housing market. If
HUD sells the complex to a private bid-
der in order to make a quick profit, it
would kill a rare opportunity for some
local tenants to begin taking charge of
their own housing.
our reps

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