1ti Iin31i zD Eighty-Seven Years of Editorial Freedom 420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109 On the rent strikes first birthday Thursday, February 3, 1977 News Phone: 764-0552 Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan Reporters have the right toshield t their sources A PROPOSED STATE "shield" law is a motion in the right di- rection, we feel. As the Nixon-pack- ed Supreme Court and assorted pow- er-mad judges take chunks out of the First Amendment on a regular schedule, it is necessary for state and local governments to affirm their reliance on the Constitution, to make freedom of the press , more than a catchy slogan.' In a humane society this sort of law would, of course, be unnecessary. A decent government would avoid treating the press like a yoyo: .a qua- si-legal Investigation unit in some circumstances, a gaggable source of interference in others. Under the pre- sent circumstances, the press must be allowed to stand apart clearly from the powers that be. Members of the press are as much entitled to protect the confidentiality of their sources as are the clergy,'phy- sicians, accountants and lawyers - perhaps more so, since without an independent press, everyone else's trust becomes subject to government control: instant banana republic. In addition to enacting an unam- biguous shield law, which protests confidentiality of sources but does not sanction illegal uses of the press, the legislature should examine the whimsical use of gag orders and the cynical use of "press trials" by prose- cutors with shaky cases. Congress act, quickly to remedy natural gas crisis IN THE FASTEST act of legislation in recept memory, the House and Senate quickly ironed out their dif- ferences and approved President Car- ter's natural gas bill - giving Car- ter the power to declare national or regional natural gas bill -- giving Carter the power to declafe nation- al or regional natural gas emergen- cies and to order gas moved from state to state to keep homes and hos- pitals warm. It is refreshing to find that 95th Congress fully comprehended urgency of this matter and acted cordingly. Perhaps they will bet ferent than the Congresses of the the ac- dif- old Editorial Staf Co-Editors-in-.Chief ANN MARIE LIPINSKI..........JIM TOBIN KEN PARSIGIAN .............Editorial Director Managing Editors JAY LEVIN, GEORGE LOBSENZ, MIKE NORTON, MARGARET YAO LOIS JOSIMOVICH................ Art Editor Magazine Editors SUSAN ADES ........ ELAINE FLETCHER Photography Staff PAULINE LUBENS.......... Chief Photographer ALAN BILINSKY.................Picture Editor BRAD BENJAMIN..........Staff Photographer ANDY FREEBERG ...........Staff Photographer CHRISTINA SCHNEIDER .... Staff Photographer Sports Staff Bill Stieg ........................ Sports Editor Rich Lerner .........Executive Sports Editor Andy Glazer......Managing Sports Editor Rick Bonino...........Associate Sports Editor NIGHT EDITORS: Tom Cameron, Enid Goldman, Kathy Henneghan, Scott Lewis, Rick Maddock, Bob Miller, John Niemeyer, Mark Whitney. STAFF WRITERS: Leslie Drown, Trom Cameron. Ernie Dunbar, Henry Engelhardt, Rob Evan, Jeff Frank, Cindy Gatziolis, Enid Goldman, Mike Halpin, Kathy Henneghan, Geoff Larcomn, Scott Lewis, Don MacLachlan,'Rick Maddock, Brian Martin, Bob Miller, Brian Miller, Billy Neff, John Niemeyer, Eric Olson, Dan Perrin, Dave Renbarger, Pat Rode, Cub Schwartz, Errol hifman,'T om Shine, Jamie Turner, Mark Whitney, Greg Zott. which would have twiddled their thumbs for months before passing the measure - only to emerge from the capital building to find that it was already too late. Now, we only hope that President Carter will act with the same speed and decisiveness. The bill gives him the power to force recalcitrant states to move gas along the inter-state pipeline system to areas in the North- east that are struggling to meet their increasing natural gas needs as this unbearably cold winter continues to ravage the nation. Carter must act immediately to force the Texas mo- guls who refused to sell their huge supply of natural gas - because all states except Texas have price con- trols on natural gas, these Texans could make 30 per cent more profit by- selling in Texas' free market - to sell it to the needy states be- fore it is too late. In a related event, closer to home, Governor Milliken requested that Michigan businesses voluntarily in- stitute a shorter work week, and ask- ed Michigan residents to lower the thermostats in their homes to ease the strain on Michigan's natural gas reserves. He went on to say that if the voluntary requests were not ad- hered to, mandatory energy controls might be ordered. Congress' action assures some re- lief to the emergency- stricken states that should ease them through the crisis. Hopefully, the schools and busi- nesses that were closed will quickly be reopened, so that some semblance of normalcy will be restored, to the weather torn northeast. Furthermore, let': hope that Mich- iganders will heed Milliken's advice and turn down their thermostats and adopt a shorter work week. If fast action is taken voluntarily, the crisis that has hit many neighboring states, can' be averted here. If not, we have no one to blame but ourselves. THE BATTLE RAGES ON. February marks the first anniversary of the strike against Edith Epstein's Reliable Realty. And it seems as if Epstein is conducting a quick retreat - from the entire rental business. This is not to say, however, that she is bowing out gracefully; on the contrary, ten- ants report she is using "illegal and intimidating tac- tics", including frequent trespassing, verbal hrrass- ment, and even allegedly taking Tenant Union litera- ture fron a striking house. Tenants originally withheld rent from Reliable be- cause of the dilapadated condition of the houses which reportedly included: faulty plumbing, leaky showers, total lack of privacy due to poor soundproofing, broken windows and furniture, incessant drafts, peeling paint, infestation, and non-functioning fire doors, among other things. According to a present tenant, "These oppres- sive conditions have simply not been corrected since last year; she's made only 'band-ais' repaids." Ano- ther tenant added, "Thettoilets are fine now, but you can't put toilet paper in them." LAST YEAR THE tenants won an average of 2.4 months' rent rebate with Epstein allegedly paying out $50 000 in attorney's fees. The original tenants, however, have long since left and the new tenants have taken up the fight. Epstein, meanwhile, is taking action. Her houses are up for sale despite the liens placed on them by at least one maintenance contractor whom Epstein alleg- edly refused to pay. (A "lien" is a legal prohibition of the sale of property until the case involving that property is resolved or bond is posted.) On her 736 S. State house, where most of the recent struggle has focused, a formerly large single-family dwelling has been converted in'o a boarding house with new walls erected in the living room to create additional bed- rooms. Tenants report that the rent on the house has jumped in the course of the past few months from $650 to over $1100 per month, with rooms the size of closets (some are 8'x11') being rented for $115 or more The main charge tenants level against Epstein and her agents is the latter's use of illegal and intimidat- ing ing tactics. Tenants who -rent from her have been offered a standardized University lease - how- ever, according to the University's Office of Off-Campus Housing, the lease was illegally procured from that office and is being using without their sanction. According to a present tenant. "She and her agents enter ouri house wi'hout permission, they trespass, at least twice a week." "She screams and harasses us to the point where it's impossible to study or relax when she's around." Charlie, a tenant of Asian descent, as- serts he was told by Epstein's "right-hand man" to "go back where you came from." Ano her tenant comment- ed, "Epstein is always asking us 'Why don't you move Be6rkelej By JEFF SELBST Second of Two Parts WE FINALLY MADE IT to California, to Los Angeles and thence to San Francisco. Once there, we did all the standard tourist things - The Golden Gate Bridge, Chinatown, and Fisherman's Warf. Claudia had to get them all out of the way, because, having moved there, she was now officially a native and as such, could not dare be seen doing them. It was in the San Francisco newspaper that we found out what had happened in Amarillo that night. A fast-food pizza outlet had been held-up at around 11:30 p.m. and the cashier had been murdered in gruesome fashion-she'd been sleeping and the robber had shoved her head into the whirling dough mixer - osten- sibly to make -sure she never woke up. After hitting Albuquerque at 3:00 a.m., we headed south on I-25 to escape the snow; which is where we heard reports on the radio of mau- rading Mexican bandits crossing the border and harassing travelers. NOT WITHSTANDING, we made it to San Francisco (or as the newspaper weather col- umn breezily lists it "San Frisco). The first thing I wanted to do was have a look at the fabled city of Berkely. Claudia's new room- mate, a very nice girlish-type named Mary, told us how to get there. So we stepped off the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) line right into downtown Berk- ely, and the first impression I was struck with was that it looked a lot like Ann Arbor ("the Berkely of the East," though I am rather more inclined to call Berkely "the Ann Arbor of the West"). They have a van waiting outside the BART terminal, a free shuttle to campus winsome- ly named "Humphry Go-BART." We hopped it and away we went. THIS WAS U C-BERKELY, alright. But un- like the city atmosphere of Ann Arbor, Berke- ly's campus is a large grassy square, set off, from town by gates. They have their own cun- ning roads, and a spot that passes for a Diag, but the first impression one gets is of aca- demic sobriety. The second impression is of militancy's last stand. Like the Diag on warm days (and, annoyingly, Berkely really doesn't have any cold ones"), all kinds of card tables with lit- erature were set up, plugging uncountable mi- nority alliances, gay rights groups, petitions to sign proclaiming the fourth of July "Zam- bian Rights Day," and whatnot. Claudia and I walked around campus quite a bit; she was planning on taking a class there next term and wanted to familiarize herself with it. Both of us, I think, had the same feeling - that it tried too damn hard to be Berkely, with all the traditions of non-tradi- tion. WHAT WAS AMUSING THOUGH, was that all these originals have their counterparts in The wes tern out?' and she threatens to call the police at every mo- ment." RECENTLY, HER threats concerning the police have in fact materialized. On Friday, January 7, the Ann Arbor police accompanied Epstein to 736 Sou h State and arrested the person sleeping in the basement. The house was originally rented with the basement to be considered a bedroom; then the city declared the base- ment an illegal permanent bedroom and prohibited its use as such. The guest was arrested, however, not on the charge of occupying an illegal bedroom, a charge that probably would not have held up, but rath- er for an outstanding traffic ticket. The guest was released the same day upon paying his $25 fine. On Saturday, January 15, Epstein's agent was again accompanied by the police reportedly in a search for the same guest. The agent, not finding the person in the basement, then proceeded to use his key to a tenant's room, entered, and departed, leaving the door wide open with the tenant's valuables in full view. Ac- cording to the resident manager, the police recognized that the agent's actions were illegal and informed the agent that they (the police) would have to corro- borate the fact of an illegal entrance if a tenant filed a complaint. The agent repor edly left soon after. TENNTSRISINGE by RICHARD DUTKA kL The same day the resident manager was informed that he wa# fired and was ordered out by the follow- ing day or else face the police. The agent is reported as telling the manager, "I sent you over here for one specific job and one specific job only." That "specific job" was, according to the manager, to remove all the strikers from the house. Epstein had also allegedly ordered the manager the week before the bodily remove a specific tenant. Both tenants, and the manager have stated that managers for Epstein have been offered $60 for each striker evicted and $60 for each new non- striking tenant. The police never showed up the next day but they did come with Epstein later that week, allegedly to finally evict the manager. The- manager reports that he came out of his room with a letter from his attorney, Jonathan Rose, which explained the legal implications of the situation. The polic reportedly acknowledged the letter and requested that he phone the police sta- tion to advise them of the circums'ances. The police, according to one tenant, then advised Epstein not to call the police again regarding these matters and to, instead, use her a torney and the court process, as do the tenants. ALTHOUGH IT SEEMS as if Epstein won't have the support of the police in the near future, tenants don't expect her actions to level off. Ye the striking tenants are all extremely confident of victory. Each action by Epstein, they feel, strengthens their case in court and the potential for recovering an extraordinary award of back rent and for inconveniences suffered (to say the least). They are. however, also willing to negotiate and avoid the court hassles. There are those who feel that the Tenants Union (TU), the organizer of the strike, and tenant activists are merely defea ing their own objective. By driving landlords from Ann Arbor, they say, the TU is also cut- ting down on the already severely limited housing. This, is a misconception. There should be no lament- ing the "loss" of Edith Epstein. Epstein wasn't "driven out of town" - she is driving herself out by refusing to nego iate and provide decent and peaceable living conditions. Moreover, tenants are, not organizing to attract more landlords to Ann Arbor; they don't have to. Given the existing housing set-up, Epstein's exit is simply a signal for another landlord's entrance. Hav- ing won their case against Epstein, the TU and ten- ants in general, are in a far stronger position to secure livable housing from future landlords. The argumen' against tenant actions can be stated another way: Uniting tenants are, in effect, making the housing market less attractive and thus deterring developers. The fact is however, there has been no significant rental housing construcion in Ann Arbor since 1967 (a reflection of the critical housing shortage nationally), despite the-sky-high rents and the rapid turnover of the student population ( he higher the'turn- over rate, the more opportunity to raise the rent). The solution to the problem thus must be a submissive ten- ant population suffering the indignities and degradation of, poor housing. This, needless to say. is no'solution at all. Tenants niust unite to fight a struggle on two fronts: 1) for more housing, and 2) for decent existing hous- ing. One struggle given up for the other will mean either some high-priced decent housing on an even more limited scale than at present, or else - plenty of hov- els. Given this awesome task, it is a tribute to tenants that they are still uniting; in fact, they're uniting quite rapidly. Trony Associates recently gave in to all TU demands on the new bargaining agreement, while else- where three new rent strikes cropped up in the past few weeks with more in the offing. And so the battles rage on. 'One year of "Reliable" striking this month - Happy Birthday! group was out playing for everyone and had attracted an enormous crowd. The crowd it- self was jaded - this sort of thing apparent- ly happens every day - or often enough, not to attract special notice. That must be some- thing at least. Ann Arbor has its Diag music- ians, but it seems to me they rarely sound like much. It must be the climate. While ev- eryone in Ann Arbor is hunched over fight- ing the wind, Berkely is green, and I may add, growing. Enough of that. Ever since we left ,Kan- sas City, I had the feeling that we were pass- ing boom towns. Certainly one thinks of the Old West in Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona; but more than that the communities all had a special transitory feel- ing about them. Certainly the West and South- west are established, and have been for a cen- tury. But both in regards to Berkely and the rest of,, California, there is a kind of tenta- tiveness, a lingering, linguistic, regional, inse- curity. I WAS TALKING with Claudia's roommate Mary, and she referred to Ann Arbor as "back East." This took me for a moment - I am un- accustomed to thinking of Ann Arbor as east of anything (what anything? you ask. New York? Aha!). Mary has lived her entire life on the West Coast and she said that she'd nev- er been as far east as Michigan. Why 'then "back East?" I told her that we called any- thing from Colorado to The Coast "out west." So it works both ways. Linguistically, the East regards the West as foreign, possibly not legitimate; the West regards the East as es- tablished, possibly decadent. Which,- to me, accounts for some of that Berkely bravado, which really goes too for the rest of the state. If I say that I'm moving to New York, somebody's sure to wrinkle their nose and say, "Why don't you try living here? You may find you'll never want to go back." A2 ARROGANCE. I I found at Berkely, think it was arrogance and that may be what I made my fhair stand on end. I had revenge, though. In mid-afternoon it began to rain on campus. No one hurried to get under cover - they stood, horrified, eyes staring straight at the sky, wondering, on such a lovely day, how the elements dared to turn on them. I laughed quietly as we boarded the bus back to BART. We're from Ann.Arbor, I smirk- ed, and we're used to that. 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