The Michigan Daily
Edited and managed by Students at the
University of Michigan
Wednesday, May 28. 1975
News Phone: 764-0552
I the defense of ten nts
THE ATTENTION BROUGHT to Campus Manage-
ment's mismanagement of its rental property at 410
Observatory makes a convincing case for the need of a
strong and active tenants organization in Ann Arbor.
With the defeat of the rent control ballot proposal
in April's city election. Ann Arbor renters were left to
their own devices in combating the no-holds-barred pro-
fiteering and conspicuous-by-its absence maintenance
habits common to the local landlord legions.
The folks who made their marks on a Campus Man-
agement lease last Fall didn't quite know what they
were in for when they moved into 410 Observatory.
Faced with an endless barrage of leaking roofs, faulty
heat, shoddy construction, and numerous other code
violations, they soon found themselves in the same
sinking boats as thousands of other Ann Arbor resi-
dents.
I JNTIL THE TENANTS Union threw its energies and
expertise into the fray, and urged withholding of
rent payment. Campus Management had cast a blind
eye on the plight of the people at 410. TU staffers and
sympathizers staged a demonstration in front of the of-
fices of D. V. Lighthammer, Campus landlord, a few
weeks ago, and improvements in the Observatory proper-
ty magically began to appear soon afterward. Yester-
day's followup demonstration promises more of the same.
If the renting public hopes to hold its ground
against the money-hungry onslaught of land managers,
they must be prepared to challenge landlords who don't
live up to their contractual obligations, and throw their
support behind groups like the Tenants Union which are
equipped to help make such challenges worth the effort.

'Don't b
By BARBARA CORNELL Skinny d
\W HAT CAN you say of an being rs
exterminator who made me minators
turn in about two kilos of mari- smiles k
juana to the police? That he room do
hates Bach, Beethovan, Brahms, was no
and kids? masked
He looked innocent e n o u g h room? B
when he came to my apartment near as
to terminate the life of all those "Exci
mean beasties that had set up said pot
residence in my roommate's un-
derwear. He had a fatherly
smile and a soft voice t h a t
crooned, "Hi there, I came to
your apartment to get those fAU
beasties out of your roommate's
underwear." days,
And my apartment looked
innocent enough. A pipe here, a becan
lid there, and how was I to
kniow of the incredible stash
some (poor soul had forgotten was a
is a litter-laden kitchenc t uP.
hoard? How was I to know that the In,
I was a hardened-criminal per- ,
verting innocent students ny he sai
harboring horrendous halicino-
gens in my happy home? After to.' "
all, it was only 10:30 a.m. and
my slumbering cerabellum
found itself totally devoid of
thos4ht. package
"Mhlpyrtz whi fjrth, x tii.l board I
zwin," I chirmed in my usual see." M
early morning clear-headed roomma
way, and I escorted Mr. Exrer- it used
minator to the disasteri sght. week's1
"Bbuity cazooski." thought
mummif
AND HE went about his busi- flopped<
ness, rearratging the furniture to plaste
to suit his own taste, and spray- floor. "1
ing some god-awfbl substance marked,
that is orobably only toxic to hu-
man beings. I shuffled back to MR. I
my bedroom to catch onoter ped ext
28 winks, sire that I would be ily as I
of absolitely no assistance in ingly, u
my somnambulant state. His eyes
I dreamed about flowers and looked li
trees, things that any law abid- mary's'
ing citizen would dream of. sneered,

ogart
ipping in the Bel PN15,
ped in the Arb, ex'er-
with fatherly-lookmng
knocking at your O) d-
or. Wait, what? 'This
dream. What was 'h:,t
man doing in my bed-
esides, he was noliere
cute as the milk man.
se me, ma'am,' he
itely, "but I iound a
t narCs come in al
and the kindly old
ne Kojak with a fu
s if he had discove
cas or a lost Remb
id, 'if you don't cc
in your kitchen cup-
thought you'd like tg
ust be some sugar min
tes were hoarding when
to cost less than a
paycheck per pound, I
as my flannel nighty
ied my body and ' I
down from the top bunk
er my spine all oer the
Mztru abumputy," I re-
shaking my pead.
EXTERMINATOR r:op-
terminating momentar-
gingerly, and unsispect-
nwrapped the package.
began to bulge until he
ike next of kin t Rosa-
baby, and suddenly he
"You know, that there

that kilo, my
stuff smells an awful lot like Kojak to Hamilton Burger of
marijuana." I didn't owher to Perry Mason fame, Mr. Ex-
inquire how a law-abiding citi- terminator began babling
zen would know what . weed something about witnessing a
smelled like - especially one homicide and corrupting inno-
who was well on in years and cent children, dynamically fir-
had probably never resided in a ishing with, "You're going to
University dormitory. call the police, arrrenta'ts
I ripped open a small corner youuuuu?"}
of the bulky package, and it "What are you, craze? 'I
WAS marijuana. "We're rich"' snapped, already planning my
trip to the Bahamas. "Let npe
see, first I'll get a car, then
...................... a stereo, and you'll get your
share of course, and -
I shapes and sizes these "Listen lady,"' he said, leav-
ing his moralizing tones bhind.
exterminator suddenly "If you don't call the c-sps,
I'm going to."
ill head of gray hair. It Goodbye Bahamas, stereo,
car, I thought as I deleriously
red the lost treasure of fingered the telephone d i al.
red he I~f tea~ue O Ring ring, "'Ann Arbor Police
'Listn, Ldy,' Department."
randt . . sten,Lady, So S Itoldthe lady the story,
just the facts, just the facts.
all the cops, I'm going Did she faint? Did she inimned-
iately signal the dope squad thet
- they were about to make the
biggest bust of the year? Nope.
She laughed. In fact, shs was
laughing so hard, I had to call
I exclaimed, suddenly forgetting back and let her recover.
that I had another 14 wtnks
coming to me to complete the THE POLICEMAN to;k h i s
28. "I've never seen so much pretty little time getting to my
dope in all my life!" house. He had four accident re-
But nares come in all differ- ports he thought were a bit
ent shapes and sizes these days, more important than making
and the kindly, old exterminator the dope bust of the century.
suddenly became Kojak with a M4r. Exterminator was getting
full head a gray hair. It was as suspicious when a half hour
if he had discovered the lost had passed and no officer of the
treasure of the Incas or a .ntolen law had graced my threshhold-.
Rembrandt. I guess when you Had I merely called a friend
spend your life with only cock- and pretended it was the police?
roaches to talk to, even discov- He remedied the situation by
ering two kilos of used kleenex leaving my house and flagging
in a kitchen cupboard w o u l d down every police car tiat
seem exciting. passed by.
"I take it you don't indulge,"
chuckled the policeman, who
PAUSING TO change t r o rat appeared amused by the whole

friend'
situation. "You know t.uusi
we return lost property, 't
don't think we'll do t's. wi
this stuff."
He filled out a seemingly ne
er-ending series of forms, a
showed me that he marked
dope for destruction t) >pro
he wasn't going to 'ake the stu
to headquarters and have a pa
ty. After I had a good cr\,
tucked the package unle 'as
his arm and left.
So much for fleeting r
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