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- ____________________________________......____._.....____-__..... ......<,. I