The Michigan Daily
Edited and managed by Students at the
University of Michigan
Friday, August 1, 1975
News Phone: 764-0552
Smokinghazardous to all
THE NINTH government report on cigarette smoking
and health has reaffirmed that exhaled cigarette
smoke is dangerous to the health of non-smokers, and
asks Congress to legislate a ban on manufacture and sale
of those brands of cigarettes which have high tar, nico-
tine and carbon monoxide levels.
Cigarette smoking can no longer be minimized or
justified as merely a nasty personal habit. It is evidently
a cause of air pollution that menaces the public health.
The right to life is one of our inalienable rights. It
cannot be subordinated by a minority puffing in pursuit
of personal happiness.
usin Israel no solution
('URRENT RAMBLINGS in world diplomatic circles have
it that a large chunk of the African bloc is prepared
to line up behind the moneyed Arab states in an attempt
to oust Israel from the United Nations.
According to a report by Bernard Weinraub in yes-
terday's New York Times, the Arab nations may be in a
position to command the loyalties of a majority of the 41
African states in any point of international controversy.
As one East African cited by Weinraub put it, "The Arabs,
if they pick an issue, everyone has got to fall behind them.
They have the oil . . . the means for our survival."
For all their petro-power, the Arabs' conflict with
Israel will not simply vanish with the removal of. the
Israeli delegation from the floor of the U.N. Isolating the
Israelis cannot break that stubborn nation's will to per-
severe. If anything, it could prompt a premature and
unaffordable end to the peace all parties have struggled
so hard to preserve.
Letters:Hearings unr
To The Editor:
C'mon, folks, let's get serious.
If° keeping campaign promises
strikes you as worthy of atack,
as in the editorial on Wednes-
day, they maybe Al Wheeler
and some of the rest of us ought
to resign so we can return to
those thrilling days of ^ampaign
rhetoric which is quickly for-
gotten once you're in office.
Democrats said, during t h e
campaign, that if the voter regis-
tration charter amendment fail-
ed and we had either a majority
or a coalition possibiliti, we
would work to re-institute door-
to-door registration in this burg.
Notice I say re-institute. Be-
cause not too long ago, w h e n
Bob Harris was Mayor and Har-
old Saunders was City Cle t, we
had door-to-door. With he elec-
tion of one James Stephenson
as Mayor and a majority of Re-
publicans on Council and the re-
signation of Mr. Saunders, that
was put to a stop fast, because
the then-majority thought that
students were second-class citi-
zens who should not have the
right to vote unless they proved
themselves worthy.
Democrats think we should
bring government and the
means of participating in it to
the people, rather than requiring
the people to go to the govern-
ment.
One of the reasons the char-
ter amendment failed is that
neople who would have voted
"yes" (if they'd had the oppar-
tunity to register) had been ef-
fectively disenfranchised by the
lack of door-to-door. By intro-
dcing the resolution. 0e Mayor
th.oight (wrongly, perhaps, but
sincerely nevertheless) ihat he
was giving voice to the wishes
of those who had ben pro':ibit-
ed from exoressing their opinicn
themselves, because the power
structure had been set up to
exclude them is the first place.
Somehow I thought that this was
one of the duties of people like
the Mayor who ran on a re-
cord of representation of t h e
powerless. It is not sufficient to
represent the people wh) have
expressed their. opinion at the
polls; it is also necessary, in
my view, to advocate the views
of people who have been denied
participation in the process.
Let's talk about "bact-room,
power politics." The Mayor in-
troduced that resolution as the
chief elected official of his par-
ty. I could have introduced it,
or any of the other Democrats
on Council. The City Party has
been working on this issue. re-
presentatives talked to "tth the
Clerk and the Attorney's office
about .the specific reolution;
and Democrats campaigned on
a "plank" of support for d)or-
to-door registration. The f a c t
that the resolution was gol ig to
be introduced was broigh: up
at last Wednesday's agenda ses-
sion and the resolution itself was
available in the Monda -pack-
et at the public library for in-
spection by anyone who cared.
Let me finally mentian tat
technically the resolution as ir-
relevant. Under State law, the
City Clerk, on his/her awn re-
cognizance, has the right to
determine, within c e r I a i n
bounds spelled out in the law,
how, where and when people
can register to vote. There was
no resolution from the Harria
administration instituting, door-
to-door, as there was no resolu-
tion from the Stephenson dmin-
istration nrohibiting it. In both
those cases, the Clerk made his
own decision. But since t h e
Clerk is hired by Council, rhe
decides to follow the carse of
action supported by the major-
ity of Council (if s/he waits to
Letters should be typed
and limited to 400 words.
The Daily reserves the
right to edit letters for
length and grammar.
iecessary
keep his/her job). Since a ma.
jority of Council supported door-
to-door when Harris was May
or, Mr. Saunders set uo te m
chanism to carry that out.
The charge of lack of public
hearing from the Reputicans
and your echo of the charge is a
red herring of the brightest cl-
or. It was simply a tactic to
delay what they )resume will be
a fact when it comes to a vote.
If anyone thinks that opinions on
the issue will be changed by a
ptblic hearing, that pers )is
crazy. We heard all the argu-
ments during the campaign. The
public hearing will be a sham.
Folks who support door-to-door
anyhow will come out and say
how good it 's which will ron-
vince the Council members wts
think it is a good idea anyhew
that they are correct in voting
for it. Folks who oppose dor-t¢
door will come out and say how
terrible it is which will con-
vince the Council members who
think it is a bad idea that the
are correct in voting against it
I can't imagine Democrats
and Harpies who campaigned for
it voting against it any more
than I can imagine Republicans
who campaigned against it now
voting for it. From myt prin' o
view we are merely putting oft
the inevitable and will be spend-
ins time listening to the s3are
old arguments when avet we
sholld really be doing is li;stcn-
ing to peonles' opinions on is-
sites that have not had meach
nrior discussion, and/or dealing
with minor matters like what to
do with $2.5 million worth of
CDRS money and .f2 million
worth of C'ETA money.
Sorry this is so long. Yours n
the hope tha tihe world's Supp]
of straw doesn' t run outlei
there be a shortage of s r.w
men,
-Elizabeth Keogh, Demovrat
Ann Arbor City Council
July 23
TENANT'S CORNER
Eviction without cause
PONO 1K A
STIKE W 01 HAEWO IL'P ORYU£
HAYW IfYODR~I Y
11 i
T W K-I
-!! rf/FFWUKFE JUR ?
By LARRY COOPERMAN
Last Friday, at about 3:30
p.m., David Culler returned to
his apartment in Tower lPlaza
to find his lock had been chang-
ed by the management. Ha had
nothing on him but the clothes
he was wearing. All his posses-
sions, including his Me ic:A:d
card, were locked inside his
apartment.
If he had been young, the sit-
uation would have been more an-
noying than dangerous, but Dav-J
id Culler is a middle-aged nan
living on a barely adeqia'a3 fix-
ed income, and he depends on
crutches to.get around.
Being forced to live otit of a
hotel with one change of coh-
ing is a degrading situation.
What could possibly have made
the Tower Plaza management
so callous as to have locked him
out?
There is even more tragedy in
the answer to this question. t.ast
December, David Cufler's ;ent
was raised from $160/month to
$230/month, a more than 40
per cent increase. He could not
afford this rent increasi and,
although he had paid him rent
faithfully every month before
that, he was faced with the al-
ternatives of leaving his home
or staying put, fighting any evic-
tion proceedings initiated
against him. Since that tiie, he
has continued to pay $t60 for
rent, except that he has paid
it into escrow rather than to
Tower Plaza.
A court date had ailready v
set when Tower Plaza dcidct
to became judge and ary by
themselves by locking Mr. Cal-
ler out of his apartment ie
management has been arroga. t
in this matter; their attitude has
been that they are merely try-
ing to speed up the court pro-
cess. They have also attempt/d
to justify taking the lawi to
their own hands by making rats-
er scandalous charges -.>ut his
desirability as a tenaCn cain-
ing they could not allow him to
live there anymore.
There are two issues involv-
ed here: the callous y vss with
which David Culler was put n
the street and the delibrate cir-
cumventing of the legal process
by the Tower Plaza manage-
ment. The first issue, while it-
portant, is only one more indi-
cation of the tendency of man-
agement companies to p 1 a c e
profits above the welfara of ten-
ants. The second issue is some-
what more important. Te oily
protection that tenants have
from the whims of these cor-
porations are their righ.s a
guaranteed by law.
"I was going to make it a
Supreme Court case " s a ; d
Mr. Culler.
When David Culler fights his
eviction, he helps every tenaet
and deserves our support.
Larry Cooperman is a
member of the Ann Arbor
Tenants Union.