Thursday, September 9, 1976 Page Three
Thursday, September 9 1976
Page Three
00^As ~q N MAP AMm
Tenants U
seeks refor
city housing
By JAY LEVIN
The Ann Arbor Tenants Union (TU)
zation catering mainly to campus area
from obscurity during the past year as o
ericks in the search for local housing ref
Born almost a decade ago, the T
success when it organized last Novembe
tenants renting from Trony Associates
company, in a successful rent strike.
pegged Trony as their target in protest
allegedly inadequate maintenance and
unreasonable rent.
A SECOND RENT STRIKE action -
liable Realty Management Company an
stein - continued to brew through the
a good number of that company's hous
those' months.
The Trony strike-turbulent at times
salty rhetoric in and out of court-wa
action here since 1969, when some 2000
rent from ten local landlords, eventually
tenance concessions.
However ,the concessions won by th
Trony strike were substantially more
secured a collective bargaining agreem
its tenants - a milestone agreement rat
ancy. As stipulated by the accord, the
the sole bargaining agent for all Trony
right to negotiate the terms of the leas
ment company. In addition, the TU wor
4nnovatlve set of grievance procedures
* ;nants' -voice in the resolution of landlo
THOSE VALUABLE CONCESSION
easily acquired. At the height of the s
million lawsuit against the Tenants U
coercing tenants to join the action by me
pressure. The TU claimed it was only
of their legal right to withhold rent frog
TU official, Steve Downs, charged manaf
using "a ploy against a union."
See TU, Page 6
By JENNIFER MILLER WELL,
Sometime long ago, so far tors loved
back that I can hardly remem- bucks (for
ber, a strange malady known pat on the
as University Activities Center on my wa
(UAC) Computer Date Match I will sa
hit the campus. I am told by most excit
understanding friends that it event was
was around March; they realize tionnaire,
that it is an attempt to block to match
it out of my memory that has happiness
made me forget. The ques
My mind must be trying to Who the he
protect me from the horrors
.that ensued when, on that fate-........
ful day, I innocently signed up '
for the dreadful event.
.IT STARTED WHEN I saw a few
the ad in the Daily, proclaim- Igue
itig the appearance of a fun,
new activity for bored Univer- year-
sity students, faculty, and staff.
It was after all, almost the end type.
of the year, with only impend-
ing'finals to keep us busy. Only
impending finals? person sp
In true reporter style, I whether th
thought there might be a story ridiculous
in it, and (oh! how I now re- amusing.
gret It) I approached the edi- will, on a
tors with the idea. "I am pro
At that time I was new to the love to sh
journalism experience, and in I, PERI
my eagerness, was willing to row - mi
try any story. Not that I am few qualifi
not still eager, but now you of date. I
wouldn't catch me near this a four - fo
one again with the proverbial Buddhist
ten foot pole. type.
FIERY DEBATE:
CIA rec
By TIM SCHICK
Since the end of the Vietnam
War, there have been few is-
sues which have aroused ma-
jor debate in the University
community. But disclosures last
spring of domestic spying and
Soreign assassination by the
Central Intelligence Agency
'CIA) and the National Secur-
ity Agency (NSA) sparked a
loud argument over whether
these groups should be permit-
ted to recruit on campus.
For years, the early months
of spring have been the time
when recruiters from business-
es and government arrive on
campus to seek out new em-
ployes from the ranks of grad-
uating students. Only occasion-
ally has this Dractice been
auestioned. In the late 1960's
Dow Chemical Connynv wns a .:
II
haggles
over
gun
controt
pay
mon
'ins in Xj: -
scene
, a student run organi-
a renters, has emerged
ne of the brightest mav-
forms.
U enjoyed its sweetest
r over 100 disenchanted
, a local management
Tenants Union officials
of the rental agency's
security measures and
- organized against Re-
d its owner, Edith Ep-
summer, even though
es were unoccupied for
with both sides trading
s the first such tenant
0 tenants withheld their
winning rent and main-
e Tenants Union in the
far-reaching. The TU
ent between Trony and
re to the sphere of ten-
Tenants Union became
y tenants, and won the
e used by the manage-
n implementation of an
designed to amplify the
rd-renter disputes.
S, however, were not
trike, Trony filed a $1
Jnion, charging it with
eans of social and moral
informing Trony tenants
m the landlord and one
gement at the time with
Split al~
By MIKE NORTON
Ann Arbor's City Council,
which has been uneasily divid-
ed between a Republican ma-
r jority and Democratic minority
since last April's decisive
election, was repeatedly shaken
by internal struggles during the
spring and summer months.
k>Yet after the combat was
done, in almost every case a
spirit of compromise emerged
among Council members which
allowed vital projects to be car-
's ried out.
TWO OF THE MOST fierce-
*'ly contested issues, in fact,
were settled in court.
;f One of these was the "pay
for Council" issue. During the
last season preceding the Ap-
" ril election, the Democrats -
_rwho were then in full control of
cty government - voted to give
~ salaries to all Council members,
and to increase the salary of
the mayor. This act was seized
on eagerly by the Republican
>; opposition, which used it as a
* highly effective weapon against
them in the April election.
When the new, Republican-
ruled Council took its seat that
month it immediately voted to
repeal the "pay for,, Council"
measure. Democratic Mayor Al-
bert Wheeler, however, answer-
ed by vetoing the repeal. This
established a vote-and-veto pat-
tern which is still being follow-
ed.
THE MATTER WAS abrupt-
ly removed from Council's
hands, though, when a circuit
court judge ruled that salaries
rfor Council members were in
direct violation of the City Char-
ter, and therefore illegal.
Much the same story can be
A told of the controversial guide-
lines for police use of weapons
;piraling rental costs drafted and passed by the last
session of the Democrat - cn-
: :": :'::trolled Council before it was
dissolved. These guidelines, in-
tended to regulate police use of
firearms, were the result of the
public outcry which followed
the police shooting of a 19-year-
old man earlier this year.
Police officials and represen-
tatives of the Patrolman's Asso-
ccused me of being a crazy ciation angrily opposed imple-
male out to get revenge on all mentation of the new guide-
ales, because of a bad experi- lines, and their cries were echo-
Oce at. the-age of 16. And all ed by the new Republican ma-
is because I showed up seven jority on Council. As in the
inutes latefor our 'date'. "pay for Council" case, they
I must have gone out with voted to repeal the guidelines,
bout eight of my 'matches' be- and once again Wheeler slam-
re I had finally had enough, med down a veto.
nd gave up in disgust. Only
ne more part of the horrific BUT ONCE A G A I N
xperience remained - the the courts intervened. A suit
ompter Date Dance. brought against the city by the
Patrolman's Association result-
"HOW DO YOU dance with ed in a temporary injunction on
See A COMPUTER, Page 4 implementation of the restric-
tive measures. Wheeler agreed
this time, to :ake the guidelines
back to committee and see if
they could be modified to suit
the Republican members.
The third major problem was
thrashed out through the months
of April and May, sometimes in
brutal public sessions, some-
times in all-night secret bar-
gaining meetings. The ques-
tion was, what should be done
with federal money given to the
city under the Community De-
velopment Block Grant (CDBG)
program.
The split between Republi-
cans and Democrats on this is-
sue was deep, revealing basic
ideological differences between
the two parties. Republicans
wanted the money directed into
public services such as street
repair and new equipment forj
the fire department. The Demo-
crats, on the other hand, strong-
ly favored using the federal;
funds for social services such
as day care centers, housingj
improvement, and counseling
centers.
DEBATE WAS LOUD, long,
and bitter. For many weeks
there was absolute and hopeless
deadlock: the Republicans had
enough votes to get what they,
wanted passed, but not enough
to override a mayoral veto.
Meanwhile, time was growing
short and the deadline for ac-
ceptance of the city budget was
drawing dangerously near,
Finally, at the very end of
May two days before the dead-
line, the Council met in a gruel-
ling all-night session and ham-
mered out the compromises
needed to produce a budget on
which they could all agree. They
met the following day in a re-
laxed public session and passed
the amended budget with smiles
and goodwill.
While the budget was cer-
tainly the biggest challenge
confronting this fragmented and
cantankerous Council, it was
not the last.
TOWARD THE END OF June
and the early days of July, ten-
sions had been growing in the
community over several issues.
One of these, the Special
Assessment Tax on property
owners in the Maynard-Liberty
area to finance repairs on the
Maynard Street carport, saw
Council take a firm but unpopu-
lar stand. In the face of con-
siderable popular opposition, the
members voted to levy the as-
sessment.
At this time yet another con-
troversy was brewing. The city
had submitted suggestions to
the Department of Housing and
Urban Development (HUD) for
the erection of a multi-dwelling
building for senior citizens. The
plan approved by HUD, was for
a high-rise apartment building
to be built near Briarwood Mall.
As public outcry, both pro and
con; mounted over the site,
Council members adopted sides
on strict party lines - with the
exception of Roger Bertoia (R-
3rd Ward), who originally voted
against the site because, as he
said, "I don't like high-rises."
See CITY, Page 4
Ong party lines
A tenant pickets outside her landlord's offices in protest of sr
S:Y "l::i:::::.: :::::.t
iputer
plays cq
OF COURSE the edi-
it, and with three
the entry fee), and a
back, they sent me
y.
ay right now that the
ing part of the whole
filling out the ques-
which was designed
up kindred spirits for
ever after.
stions were ridiculous.
ell cares how much a
With this in mind, I innocent-
ly sent off the form and waited
for THE LIST, which eventually
arrived complete with 15
names. Since 15 was the high-
est possible number of dates a
person could receive, I flatter-
ed myself on my success.
AS I NOW LOOK BACK, I
realize this high figure did noth-
ing to increase the chances of
finding "the perfect date". It
perhaps narrow-mindedly, did make
qualifications on my choice of date.
ss I realized that a four-foot tall, 63-
old Buddhist wouldn't be quite my
;.}4M 1i "?5":" .>?:{ . S.Mg4 ::.:1:}:"gi:"4
out on some d-d-da-dates.
There, I said it.
WELL, BELIEVE. IT or not,
one of the dates was for that
very night-obviously a rather
eager sort. My arorementioned
friends tell me that this was my
first mistake, that 2 should
have realized only a desperado
could be that zealous.
But what is the use of look-
ing back, it is too late now.
I went out and met this per-
son at the agreed upon time and
well, it was dreadful. Bored, I
sat and racked my brains for
an excuse to get out of it, all
the while mumbling 'yes' and
'no' to show that I was paying
attention. Finally I pleaded an
uncoming final as my reason
for having to leave after only
40 minutes - the time of year
came in useful after all.
IF I HAD HAD any sense I$
would have stopped right there,
told the editors that I had no
desire to lose my sanity, and
forgotten about the story. But
remember, the Daily had paid
for this, and I felt I had to go
on.
And go on I did. The dates
continued, each one worse than
the last. I had the misfortune to
meet one man who confessed
to me that he loved wars, and
ac
fe
M
e
th
m
at
fo
ar
o
e)
C(
Dorm lottery
runs smootl
By BARBARA ZAHS
The University this spring staged its second annual dorm lot-
tery with prizes ranging from a single room in the dorm of your
choice - to no room at all.
But though a few ousted students might object, most housing
officials agreed that the massive outrage and surprise that ac-
companied last year's drawing was virtually absent. In spring
of 1975, aproximately 800 students were unexpectedly denied
dorm leases for the following fall, when an unprecedented num-
ber of students reapplied to the residence halls. This time,
more applicants found places.
"I THOUGHT IT worked out pretty well (this year)," said
Leroy Williams, Markley Hall building director.
"Everyone was ready," he added. "People were informed at
the beginning of the year that there might be a lottery."
That, in itself was an improvement over the year before, when
students complained that they had received virtually no warning
that there was a lack of space. Lottery losers were unprepared to
find other living accommodations. Furthermore, they charged, the
shortage. of space was not unexpected by 'U' officials, but part
See DORM, Page 6
Frye
assumes
deanship
ends on clothes, or
hey like all pets? But
or not, they were
Answer this if you
scale of one to five,
oud of my body and
ow it off".
NAPS RATHER nar-
rdedly, did make a
Ications on my choice
guess I realized that
ot tall, 63 - year - old
wouldn't be quite my
only meant I was so common
that anyone could match up
with me.
I am coming to a painful part
of my narrative, forgive me if
I pause to gather my strength.
My analyst says that if I can
cleanse my mind of the sordid
details, I will be on the way to
recovery. I believe they call it
catharsis.
Here goes: I called some of
the names on my LIST, and oh
God, I actually arranged to go
ruiting approved
By ANN MARIE LIPINSKI and KEN PARSIGIAN
There were no screams of protest and no exclamations of
surprise when Vice President for Academic Affairs Frank
Rhodes announced last February that Billy Frye had been
selected as the new dean of LSA. Just big headlines that Friday
the thirteenth-the kind that accompany any prestigious appoint-
ment.
The deanship search boondoggle of the year before ended
quietly, as Frye shed the title of Acting Dean he had worn for
nearly two years to become the official headmaster of LSA.
FRYE'S APPOINTMENT ended a controversial 20 month
search for an administrator to fill the post Rhodes had vacated
in 1974 to become vice president. Jewel Cobb, black woman dean
of Connecticut College, had originally been approved by the Uni-
versity Board of Regents in January, 1975 as Rhodes' successor;
but the administration, despite charges of racism and sexism,
offered Cobb a meager two-year no-tenure contract. (The con-
tract normally offered for such an important appointment is
for five years, with tenure guaranteed.)
Cobb, feeling slighted, declined the administration's offer,
and the Regents were called in once again to clear the matter up.
In late January, the Regents agreed to extend the contract
duration to five years, but said they could not interfere with the
faculty's perogative to deny Cobb tenure in the zoology depart-
ment. Anxious to fill the post, Cobb indicated she would settle
for those terms, although she was not fully satisfied. But Rhodes
and University President Robben Fleming claimed a non-tenured
administrator would be "unbearable", and denied Cobb the
deanship.
RHODES AND FLEMING, who both admittedly favored Frye
for the job, were accused of racism and sexism by much of the
University community. In an attempt to answer these charges,
the Regents commissioned an investigation into the "Cobb af-
fair." The inquiry began in February and concluded two months-
later by chiding both Fleming and Rhodes for failing to accord
Cobb "the courtesies that generally accompany professional ne-
gotiations of these sorts," and for a "manifestly inadequate"
tenure review procedure.
But all this did little to change the fact that Frye was acting
dean, and Cobb was still dean of Connecticut College.
Frye
Frye. The Regents never personally interviewed any of the can-
didates before authorizing Fleming last February to negotiate a
contract with Frye.
THE FUROR AND excitement of-the year before was absent;
Frye simply took on a new title and continued the job he's
been doing for nearly two years. The soft-spoken zoology prof
was unruffled by the controversy that surrounded his appoint-
ment. For even though there were charges that the University
had failed to follow affirmative action guidelines, no one ever
questioned the ability or qualifications of Frye. He had an ex-
cellent rapport with the faculty, who, in January, provided the
Regents with a petition in support of him signed by over two-
thirds of the entire LSA faculty. The administration that had
backed him all along, backed him even more during the second
search since he had already shown he could do the job.
"That the faculty and administration were behind him so
strongly went a long way towards convincing us that he was the
right man," said Regent David Laro (R-Flint). "But the most
imnortant thing." Laro continued. "was his performance as act-
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I