Egh t T na ialr Eighty-Six Fears of Editorial Freedom Security deposit hints 420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, MI 48104 Wednesday, April 14, 1976 News F Phone: 764-0552 f Michigan Edited and managed by students at the University o By MARTIN PORTER IT'S A HELLUVA lot of mon- ey to have tied up for such a long period of time, but ten- ants in Ann Arbor and else- where have no other choice. Landlords require security de- posits, paid before the first day of tenancy, to cover any dam- ages that might arise during the year. Most tenants take it with a grain of salt, digging deeply into their already dwind- ling bank accounts, not know- ing how, not knowing when if ever, they will get any of the money back. Some tenants, in fact, forget about the sum, splitting town and leaving their landlord with a tidy amount of money that legally becomes his to do with as he pleases. Security deposits are regu- lated by the Michigan Security Deposit Act (April 1, 1973). The law applies to all tenants in the state, including all subtenants. The law applies to oral as well as written rental agreements for any period of time and in- cludes period to period arrange- ments (ie. month to month, or week to week). The total security deposit charged cannot exceed one and one half times a month's rent. It is important to note that as defined by law security deposits include, "any required prepay- ment of rent other than the first full rental period of the lease." This a landlord may charge you one and one half month's rent ineaddition to your first month's rent. If the land- lord charges you last month's rent, you are only obligated to pay him one half month's secur- ity deposit. Furthermore, the Security De- posit Act, requires the landlord to deposit the money in a regu- lated financial institution.- The name and address must be giv- en to the tenant and the mon- ey may only be used by the landlord if a bond is posted in its place with the Secretary of State's office in Lansing. Infor- mation on whether or not your landlord has posted a bond for security deposits can be ob- tained by contacting the Great Seal and Trademark Division of the Secretary of State's Of- fice (517-373-2531). If a bond has been posted the landlord may use the money for his own purposes even though the deposit legally remains the property of the tenant. The land- lord is not required to pay in- terest on the security deposit. The security deposit act de- tails the rights and responsibili- ties of both the tenant and land- lord particularly with regard to transmitting information about the security deposit. In order to get your deposit back you much first notify your landlord of your forwarding address with- in four days of moving out of your apartment. If you don't do this, the landlord does not have to give you notice of damages, and can keep your money. That's why landlords fre in no rush to find you after you move out. 'If you want to rent an apartment and the landlord a s hs f o r more than one h a l f month's rent as a se- curity deposit in addi- tion to the first month's rent, advise him that this is against the law. If the land- lord persists, pay t h e deposit, move in, and then deduct the excess f ro n your first month's rent.' NEXT-WITHIN 30 days after you've moved out, your land- lord must mail you an itemized list of all damages which he claims you caused, the estima- ted cost of repair for each item, the amount he is charging you for each item and a check for the difberence between the dam- ages claimed and the security deposit. If this is not done with- in 30 days then you are entitled to the return of your entire se- curity, deposit. Within seven days after re- ceiving the notice of damages claimed, you must respond in writing indicating your disagree- ment with any of the deductions. If you properly notify the land- lord of your disagreement he must sue you for the, contested portion of the deposit and he must begin the suit within 45 days of when you moved out. If he fails to settle on your terms and does not sue within 45 days then you can sue him for double the withheld amount. According to the law, security deposits can only be used for- unpaid rent, unpaid utility bills, and "actual damages to the ren- tal unit." These "actual dam- ages" must be the direct result of conduct not reasonably ex- pected in the narmal course of habitation of the dwelling. Thus the landlord cannot deduct from the security deposit to pay for damages that are the result of inormal wear-and-tear to the apartment. Often the landlord requires more than the legal maximum security deposit. If you want to rent an apartment and the landlord asks for more than one and one half month's rent in addition to the first month's rent, show him a copy of the law and advise him of the legal maximum. If the landlord per- sists in requiring an excessive deposit you might as well pay it. move in, and thensdeduct the excess from your first month's rent check. You are legally just- ified in doing this and the land- lord cannot prevent it. Explain why you have done this to your landlord and it's a good idea to write on the check something like - "October's rent, less one half month's excess security de- posit collected." .When you first move into your apartment your landlord is sup- posed to present you with a damage inventory list. If he doesn't - ask for one. This is your only protection against be- ing charged for damages that existed before you moved in. On this list, label and write in every damage you might spot, regardless of how minor they may appear to you. Paint chips, cracked windows,tbroken tile, stained sinks, scratches on furn- iture, torn upholstery - every- thing. Even if your landlord appears to be the nicest guy in the world, even if he prom- ises you that he never takes money from damage deposit, it is best to make a thorough list of the evisting damages. Former Daily Sunday Maga- zine Editor Martin Porter works for the VISTA housing project in Ann Arbor. By JOHN LOHR and MICHAEL CASTLEMAN ANTARCTICA (PNS) - Sail- ing in Antarctic waters they knew -to be several hundred fa- thoms deep, the crew of the research vessel Hero was start- led as their sonar equipment seemed to go haywire. The in- struments indicated a solid bottom 20 feet below the ship's hull. On an officer's hunch, the deck crew lowered a net over the side. Up came millions of tiny, wriggling krill. The offic- er estimated there were up to 25 square miles of them packed as dense as an iceberg 20-30 feet deep. Krill - transparent - bodied, shrimp-like crustaceans -- are so high in protein and so plenti- ful they could well become a 'worldwide food source over the next decade. The tiny crusta- ceans live in huge schools a few fathoms from the surface of the Antarctic Ocean, the world's most treacherous and storm- whipped body of water. (Spe- cies of krill also inhabit more temperate waters, but less is known about them as a poten- tial food source.) CHILEAN authorities esti- mated in 1975 that the total mass of krill on earth might be a staggering 11 trillion pounds - far surpassing the total mass of the human race - and that 150 - 200 million tons of krill could be harvested annually without appreciably affecting species reproduction. An annual krill catch of 150 million tons would alone be more than twice the entire planet's current annual fish catch - which wns around 65 million tons in 1972. The world's annual fish catch hais since been declining. Over-, fishing has endangered the ex- istence of some marine species by interfering with their abili- ties to reproduce. Seaside land development projects have de- stroyed many coastal estuaries, the "nurseries of the sea" where fish spawn. And pollution has threatened fish populations by upsetting the oceans' ecologic- al balance. Against this backdrop of di- minishing food supply and in- creasing famine on land, krill offer a potential breakthrough as a plentiful source of food - a self-generating staple protein supply. BUT KRILL MAY now be lit- tle more than a tantalizing mir- age. Before they reach the froz- en foods counter, they must be prevented from self-destructing. Krill decompose very quick- ly when killed. As they die, their bodies release an enzyme that putrifies them within an hour - so krill must be pro- cessed on the spot by factory ships that kill, process and package the catch on the high seas. The Soviet Union, Japan, Chile and West Germany have all begun research on krill pro- cessing. The Japanese, under worldwide pressure to find a substitute for the increasingly threatened whale, have made the most progress. The Japanese harvest krill and immediately process them into a bean curd-like paste on factory ships. Liquid is extract- ed at high pressure from the krill, then congealed with heat into conveniently stored and transported blocks of paste. They can be marketed directly in that form, or mixed' with cheese and butter. Krill paste has already been test-marketed in Japan with some success. It has a deli- cate flavor, not unlike shrimlp, and contains 13-20 percent pro- tein, comparable to most cheeses and fish and greater than the protein content of eggs or milk. The decline of the whale - long the krill's most important predator - has triggered the krill's population explosion. When stomachs of captured whales are split open aboard whaling vessels, two tons of krill sometimes spill over the decks. Krill grow to lengths of two inches in maturity. Living about two years, they spawn in deep water but spend most of their time in shallow water, where they serve as food for larger Antarctic fish and birds. Krill themselves feed on micro- scopic yellow organisms called diatoms, which are so plentiful in Antarctic waters they some- times turn icebergs yellow. John Lohr spent 15 months in the Antarctic recently on a National Science Foundation- sponsored expedition. Michael Castleman is a freelance writer who contributes to the local Sun news pajer. Krill: Answer to foo shortages? Folk singer Phi Ochs dies PHIL OCHS, ONE of the most ob- viously radical and most consist- ently dedicated protest singers of the sixties, committed suicide last week- end. He had been depressed because for a long time he hadn't been able to pen any more of his folk songs. The words just couldn't come, one of his friends said. Though Ochs may not have been able to continuing writing with the degree of excellence he had during the Sixties, his followers will remem- ber him for bringing to life many of their own frustrations, joys and sorrows. In the same vein as Dylan, but in a more direct style, Ochs re- peatedly captured the essence of the most volatile political and social issues of the Sixties. His "I Ain't Marchin' Anymore" declared the refusal by many young Americans to fight in wars they felt were unjust. "Love Me, I'm a Lib- eral" captured the basic critisism many young people had with older liberals who Ochs described in his introduction to the song on a live album as being "Ten degrees to the left of center in good times and ten degrees to the right of center when it affects them personally." And his "Here's to the State of Mississippi" was one in a variety of songs dedi- cated to the civil rights movement which captured many of the frus- trations and targets. TODAY'S STAFF: News: Mike Blumfield, Pauline Lub- ens, Tim Schick, Bill Turque, Bar- bara Zahs Editorial: Phil Foley, Stephen Hersh Arts Page: Jeff Selbst Photo Technician: Allen Bilinsky LIKE THE "MOVEMENT'" in gen- eral, Ochs was a victim of the growing inactivity and complacency which took hold during the seven- ties. But even in his last few years, Ochs never gave up trying. In the '72 pre- sidential election, he actively cam- paigned for McGovern and did a ser- ies of benefit concerts. In the fall of '73 he did a show at Mendelssohn Theatre during which he pleaded with the audience to become politic- ally active. One of his last public appearances was a benefit he did in New York last year for Chilean miners which also featured Bob Dylan among oth- ers. Only with prodding from Ochs did Dylan consent to perform. But activism never swung back to the level that it reached in the six- ties, and this was apparently a big frustration for Ochs. He never got over it. Tditorial Staff ROB MEACHUM BILL TURQUE Co-Editors-in-Chief JEFF RISTINE....Ed...s-..-..Managing Editor TIM SCHICK Executive Editor STEPHEN HERSH............Editorial Director JEFF SORENSEN............... .Arts Editor CHERYL PILATF Magazine Editor STAFF WRITERS: Susan Ades. Tom Aien, Glen Allerhand, Marc Basson, Dana Bauman, David Blomquist, James Burns, Kevin Counihan, Tom Godel, Kurt Harju, Charlotte Heeg, Jodi Dimica, Mitch Dunitz, Elaine Fletcher, Phil Foley, Mark Friedlander, DavidGarfinkel, Richard James Lois Josimovich, Tomn Ket tier, Chris Kochmanski, Jay Levin, Andy Lilly, Ann Marie Lipinski, George Lobsenz, Pauline Lu- hens. Teri Maneau, Angelique Matney, Jim Nicoll, Maureen Nolan, Mike Norton. Ken Par- sigian, Kim Potter, Cathy Reutter, Anne Marie Schiavi, Karen Schulkins, Jeff Selbat, Rick Sobel. Tom Stevens, Steve Stojic, Cathi Suyak, Jim Tobin, Jim Valk, Margaret Tao, Andrew Zerman, David Whiting. Michae Beck- man, Jon Pansius and Stephen Kursman. I /iF 'zoo QO "' SHuUPV I'LL IK«C YOUR ASP! 7 Y IT! 1 Qr ,. ,y' 1 _- -__ __ --__ ._:z-... . , -- How films get to the local theater By DAVID BLOMQUIST A SHORT, ELDERLY WOMAN stops on her way out of the theater and knocks on the box office window. "I just wanted to tell you that I really enjoyed . The Hindenburg," she says. "I'm 69, and I was in New Jersey when that ship went down. It was just like the movie." This piece is the second in a series on the movie industry. Cheryl Johnson, general manager of the Briarwood Mall movie complex, smiles and thanks the woman for com- ing. Like most of today's theater man- agers, Johnson had virtually no con- nection with the selection process that brought The Hindenburg to Briarwood. But she still gets to accept all of the praise. Movies pass through several market- ing agents and middlemen before reach- ing the filmgoer, but only the last per- son in the chain - the theater man- ager - must deal regularly with the public that pays for films. And conse- quently, it is the manager who must bear both audience acclaim and criti- cism. "In a corporation, the manager's re- sponsibility gets less and less," says Fred Caryl, supervisor of the four But- terfield theaters in Ann Arbor. "In a smaller situation, you find the man- ager having an opportunity to actually get involved in the bidding for motion pictures. But I only make suggestions." The prime responsibilities of most theater managers today are basically administrative: keeping the house clean (an important factor at family-oriented theaters, like Butterfield's Wayside), as- sembling promotion and advertising, and selling as much popcorn as possible. In fact, popcorn income may be the most important profit element in an indoor theater. "You kind of start living off of that popcorn stand profit," Caryl notes. "You want the best pictures, so you've got to bid for them. And to get the best pic- tures, you've got to pay the higher per- centage to the distributor." THE STANDARD BOOKING contract in Ann Arbor calls for 60 per cent of the box office gross to be returned to the distributor. On special high-budget features like Jaws, however, the dis- tributor may demand royalties of up to 90 per cent of admission income. Given those staggering expenses, it's not easy to make money in film ex- hibition off ticket prices alone. "If you can break 50-50 all through the year and get one or two good movies, then you're all set," says Caryl. "The big problem for us is a house like the Michigan, with 1,813 seats, faces overhead that's rising every year. We've really got a problem looking after it, compared to tht Briarwood complex, which is much more automated and has lower maintenance costs." "'You kind of start living off of that popcorn st a nd profit,"' a movie theatre of- ficial notes. "You want the best pictures, so you've got to bid for them. And to get the best pictures, you've got to pay the higher percentage to the distributor."' "A single downtown theater that may be So years old has a hard time turn- ing 'a profit," agrees Briarwood man- ager Johnson. "You can't get the peo- ple in there like you can in a shopping center theater such as Briarwood - there's no parking. We make money because we're four different theaters 'showing four different movies, running continuously all day long." THE MODERN BRIARWOOD complex, which opened late in 1973, has un- questionably cut into attendance at the three downtown Butterfield houses= which are partially owned by the Uni- versity. "Briarwood has advantages over us,' Caryl admits, "but we still hold our ground. We try and maintain our image. We had an image before they were here. We're not trying to reduce it or thrown some slop at the public. We're going to stay right in there and fight as hard as we can." So far, however, a large share of the best new releases have been picked up by Briarwood. And when a theater gets a poorer-than-average film, about the only measure a manager can take to boost business is to plan an aggressive advertising campaign -, a task which often proves difficult. "Some pictures are just total bombs that you have to get out there and sell anyhow," Caryl states. "That's sort of the hard sell factor: regardless of wheth- er the picture is good or $bad, you've just got to get out there and do it." But sometimes the ad budgets (to which both exhibitor and distributor con- tribute) run out, and the manager can do little more than sit back .and wait for the next'film his regional supervisor tells him to play. "It's a big risk game," Johnson says. "The whole business is one risk after another." David Blomquist writes regularly for the Arts and Entertainment Page. THE CANAL ZONE ... IS SOVEREIGN' U.S. TERRITORY ... THE SAME AS ALASKA! WE BOUGHT IT, WE PAID FOR IT .AND WE INTEND TO KEEP IT! / / G t :. FOREIGN POLICY ISN'T A J C Letters to The Daily DOESN'T MR. REAGAN KNOW WE'R IN PANAMA BY VIRTUE OF A TREAT DIDN'T HE LEARN THAT IN CALIFORNIA? 1 L FOREIGN POLICY ISN'T A BIGGIE IN DISNEYLAND! /?% KGB murder of Israeli athletes in To The Daily- Munich. For four years, they have been prevented from THE USSR'S PERSECUTION working and constantly haras- of emigration - seeking Jews sed by the KGB. After years of usually stops short of prolonged waiting, some of the Goldsteins' imprisonment. The Soviet gov- colleagues and superiors have ernment would rather avoid the been allowed to go ,to Israel. world disapproval that would But the Goldsteins have been follow its discovery. But the marked for "special" treat- tourists have been the only The first road requires sub- source of information for the stantial conservation and re- last six months. The Soviet duction in route to a low ener- government appears to believe gy consumption society. To in- that once the out-of-contact dustry, a reduction in produc- world forgets, it will be free tion would collapse the econo- to imprison them or worse. my, with staggering unemploy- Joel A. Levitt ment. To the residential popula- Social Concerns tion, elimination of air-condi- Committee tioning, limited heating, cook- the breath from hundreds of t h o u s a n d s in under- ground mines. THE TECHUOLOGY of nu- clear power must be evaluated in terms of the alternatives which realistically exist. The nuclear power industry is the safest and most closely regu- lated industry in the country.