The Michigan Daily
Edited and managed by Students at the
University of Michigan
Friday, June 13, 1975
News Phone: 764-0552
Rocky's probe falls short
"IF THE ROCKEFELLER Commission, which was basic-
ally friendly to the CIA, could find out so much in
such a short time, there must be a lot more. "So said a
staffer of the House Select Committee on Intelligence
the other day, aptly establishing the present context of
pitched battle between the American people and the CIA.
Ge'ald Fnrrl as indicated that if he has his way all
probes into the domestic activities of the intelligence
community will he out to bed by next September. Picking
un on the old "Iong national nightmare-national secur-
ity" theme Ford's recent statements can only confirm
UDnicinns that the Administration is gambling on a few
crhmba of information satiating the public hunger for
the truth hehind the CIA.
Nelson Rockefeller, the administration's choice for
directing their orobe into the CIA, was a leading archi-
tect and advoete of U. S. cold war foreign policy in the
fifties and sixties. The proverbial wolf told to guard
the chicken coop. Rockefeller is about the least trust-
*orthv guardian of domestic freedom's against CIA in-
cursion the Pre 'dent could have chosen.
The shoekine range and death of criminal activities
broueht to lieht by the Rockefeller Commission should.
be viewed not as a testament to their integrity and
thoroughnesa but as a signal that more comprehensive
efforts must be made to break the intelligence agency's
stranglehold on national channel's of political com-
munication.
Ford must not he allowed to set a timetable for the
joint congressional CIA investigation, nor should the na-
tional legislators he intimidated to keep their inquiries
brief and slipshod in the name of the national interest.
If there was a lesson to be learned from Watergate, it is
that justice cannot be adequately served where deadlines
are imposed.
Business Staff
DEBORAH NOVESS
Business Manager
PETER CAPLAN ...... ... . ............. Classiftied Manager
BETH FRIEDMAN.................sales manner
DAVE PIONTKOW ...... ......A dv ertising Manager
CASSIE ST. CLAIR ............ ......... Circulation Manager
STAFF: aina Edwards. Anna Kwok
SALES: Colby Bennett Cher Bledsoe, Dan Blugernian, Sylvia Calhoun,
Jeff Milgrom
LETTERS:
Call for walkout,
TENANT'S CORNER:
'69 strilke a beginning
By LARRY COOPERMAN
and STEVE DOWNS
THE ANN ARBOR Tenant's Union is composed
of individuals who believe that people in
general, and tenants in, this instance, can play
an active role in determining the structure of
their lives. Specifically, we feel that by becoming
actively involved in the struggle centered around
the right to decent housing, we -can make funda-
mental changes in the structure of the present
landlord-tenant relationship. Our belief in our
capability to affect this relationship is not based
solely on what we feel can be achieved in the
future, but rather is, largely the result of the
past experience of theTenants Union.
Ia 1968 representatives of a dozen student
groups, including SGC, SDS, ACLU and a local
teacher's union, met to form a tenant organiza-
tion whose purpose was to initiate an all-Ann Ar-
bor rent strike, the ultimate goal of which was to
establish this fledging tenant's union as the col-
lective bargaining agent for all Ann Arbor ten-
ants. The conditions which precipitated the strike
were high rents, poor maintenance and the land-
lord's ability to arbitrarily set all the terms of the
lease.
WITHIN TWO months 1200 people had signed
a pledge to go on rent strike when the Tenant's
Union (TU) called for it. In early 1969 the rent
strike began and immediately it caused great
consternation among the landlords. This con-
sternation was more the result of the challenge
to the landlord's power that the rent strike re-
presented than the actual withholding of rent. This
is clearly shown by the landlords reaction; in
mid-April, 1969, a few of the big landlords, to-
gether with the John Birch Society, brought a
conspiracy suit against the organizers of the Rent
Strike. The TU organizers were charged with
conspiracy to encourage the breaking of leases
by tenants, and having as their ultimate goal the
THE LIGHTER SIDE:
establishment of public control over private pro-
perty.
In the negotiations and court cases which de-
veloped over the following two years all but one
of the tenants were successful in obtaining rent
reductions (the one tenant simply did not want
to go through with her court case and waived
her security deposit instead). In addition, land-
lords were forced to effect a countless number
of repairs. The Tenants Union was sufficiently
strong to force a few minor landlords to sign
collective bargaining agreements. It failed, how-
ever, to force the larger landlords to do the
same.
"A few big landlords, together
with the John Birch Society,
brought a conspiracy suit against
the rent strike."
WHILE THE All-Ann Arbor Rent Strike was an
outstanding victory for all tenants involved, it
was only a temporary victory for the Tenants
Union and for :tenants in general. The s a m e
conditions which precipitated the-first rent strike
still exist. The need for a powerful tenants organ-
ization is even more urgent today. The Tenants
Union believes that the time is long overdue
for tenants once again to unite in concerted
struggle against the unchallenged power and
dominance of the landlords.
Next week this column will explore the reasons
for the collapse of the first Ann Arbor Rent Strike
and the recent resurgence of the Ann Arbor
Tenants Union.
Larry Cooperman and Steve Downs are
staff members of the Ann Arbor Tenants'
Union.
Overridden consumer gripes
To The Daily:
I AM CALLING out to all the
members of UAW Local 2001
to unite and take complete trust
in our bargaining committee.
After the disaster at the meet-
ing held Jime 11 it was obvious
'that many, many ueople were
confsed. I don't blame them
either! We were there to v yte
on a contract, and it ended np
that we were voting on whether
to strike now or in September!
We hadet even discussed or vot-
ed on whether the contract
would be rejected or accepted!
Now that the ratification vote
has been settled with an 85
per cent of the total count re-
jecting the contract the, issue
at stake is whether sr not to
strike in two weeks or t- wait
for two more months.
I believe that we should sup-
port w'r bargaining committee
and strike in two weeks. Our
baresicing committee would
not ask "s to strike if they did
not truly believe that le would
have as much power now s we
would in September.
WITH ALL > 4us toget ner 'he
University of Michigan would
come to a complete standstill.
Does this university really run
ONLY on the existence of the*
students? If this is so, why are
we working during the summer
months? Will you lose y ur job
to a replacement when that re-
placement would have to cover
2000 employees? How would
any calls come through without'
the operators: at their posts 7
And remember the operators al-
so handle incoming emegency
calls at the hospital How could
the UM Hospital run without its
clericals to keep things organ-
ized? For that matter, h o w
could any department run with-
out its clericals? Who wo'ld
type up the budget reports in
time for the end of tie fiscal
year? Come now, oeopls, this
University of Michigan loves us.
And we'll prove that love by
strikes and getting them to of-
fer us a contract we can be
aroud of! I say the time to strke
is now .. . I say we uppcrt
oar bargaining committee or
otherwise expect the whole ,thug
to go down the drain!
-Mary Cullen
Secretary C-4
* June 12
By DICK WEST
WASHINGTON - It's a pity
the bill to create a federal con-
sumeruprotecti agency is still
hung up in Congress.
Were the agency operative, it
probably would be getting an
important phone call about now.
"Good morning. Consumer
Protection Agency. May we be
of service?"
"Yes, ma'am, you sure can.
I'm Speaker Albert of the House
of Representatives and I would
like to lodge a complaint."
"Very well, sir. We'll help
you we can. What is the na-
ture of your beef?"
"LAST YEAR some of us
leaders on Capitol Hill noticed
that Congress was losing pow-
er and. prestige as well as sip-
ping in the popularity polls.
"Why one national survey
even ranked us below trash col-
lectors in public esteem.
"We were talking about this
in the cloakroom one day and
someone suggested that maybe
we were using the wrong anti-
veto formula.
"He said a busy legislative
body that enacts a lot of bills
naturally runs a high risk of
executive nullification.
"He said he had a feeli-tg that
with the anti-veto formula then
in use Congress was only half-
safe. And he was right.
"An active le isuative body
needs all the veto protection it
can get, you know."
Letters should be typed
and limited to 400 words.
The Daily reserves the
right to edit letters for
length and grammar.
v
"Yes, sir, I know. W h a t
happened next?"
"WELL, THERE was this
commercial on television about
a new anti-veto formula called
Override. It consiscs of t w o
Democrats toane Renublican
in the House and a three-two
ratio in the Senate.
"They claimed it wiul make
a legislative body veto-proof for
up to two years. So we decided
to try it.
"I see. Then what happened?"
"The formula doesn't work.
We have used Override three
times this year and we still
have as much troble with exe-
cutive nullification. as ever. It
wouldn't even stop itr,o mine
vetoing."
"'Are you sure you r, usin:
it properly?"
'Exactly as direc'ed on the
label."
"Well, sir, I'm afraid vhs: es
only one way to make a legisla-
tive body veto-prokf You've
got to stop vetoing before it
starts with your own brand of
Prexy."
Dick West is a syndicated
UPI columnist.
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