Thursday, May 13, 1976 THE MICHIGAN DAILY\,, Page Three Thursday, May 13, 1976 THE MICHiGAN DAiLY Page Three TU claims partial win in legal clash By MICHAEL YELLIN The Ann Arbor Tenants Union (TU) and Reliable Realty Management Com- pany both claimed partial victory yes- terday in their second of three court battles this week. The Fifteenth District Court jury of three women and three men ruled in favor of a suit filed by Reliable Realty owner Edith Epstein, seeking the re- lease of $1620 rent withheld by the strik- ing tenants. The jury also ruled in favor of a counter-claim filed by TU in re- sponse to the Epstein suit, and awarded the tenants $400 in damages. TU ORGANIZER Larry Cooperman termed the verdict, "definitely not a defeat," and added, "As long as we continue to get a reduction in rent we're doing fine." Epstein has refused to go on the record regarding any of the TU litigation. The strike against Epstein, initiated in February, protests alleged unreason- able rent as well as violations of the Michigan Tenants' Rights law. Accord- ing to TU members, tenants in 19 of Reliable's 36 houses have joined the strike, and all are scheduled for court appearances within the next three weeks in response to Epstein suits. Unless the strike is resolved out of court, it will drag through each individual suit, house by house. See TU, Page 5 G EO adds to demands By SUSAN ADES In a session highlighted by fits of temper from the Graduate Employes Cr ganization (GEO) bargainers and si- lence from University negotiators across the table, a comprehensive presentation of GEO new contract demands continued yesterday. The meeting at the Michigan Union was dominated by a clarification of the GEO non-discrimination proposal. Seeking to broaden the contract which expires August 31, the union has de- manded an expansion of the present non- discrimination clause. The union has proposed that the contract protect Grad- uate Student Assistants (GSAs) from discrimination in these key areas, among sonme 16 others * the use of alcohol or drugs when such use does not interfere with job per- formance. * public displays of homosexual af- fection "short of sleeping with one an- other on the Diag," according to GEO I ~ - 1 G Who's on first A Detroit news poll released yester- day shows President Ford and Jimmy Carter are the most popular presidential candidates in Michigan this year. How- ever, one-third of those polled had not made up their minds who to vote for, leaving those undecided holding the bal- ance of the votes. Carter's support was found to cut across all voting groups from the conservative to the liberal. Ford's support came from all groups except liberals. But, Ronald Reagan's support was bunched in the conserva- tive wing of the electorate according to the poll. Morris Udall ranked as the seventh choice of the electorate after Fad, Carter, Humphrey, Kennedy, Rea- gan, Wallace and Jackson. Happenings * . . are hard to find today. From 8-4 the Reading and Learning Skill Center is holding their signup for the spring term courses in speed reading, writing and study skills at 1610 Washtenaw. Weather or not It looks like more great weather to- day as the skies will be mostly sunny with temperatures in the mid 60's near- sog 70. However there is a 20 per cent chance of rain. bargainer Dan Tsang. The present con- tract contains a clause which forbids discrimination on the basis of sexual preference. THE UNION has also demanded that the non-discrimination clause protect applicants for GSA positions. Although the six-man University team did not respond to the demand concern- ing GSA applicants at the table, chief administration negotiator John Forsyth later told The Daily, "It's been a Uni- versity policy that you don't commit yourself to hiring practices according to the contract." In opposition to the University's po- sition however, GEO negotiator Dan Tsang said, "Where employers have a history of discriminatory practices, unions try to write into contracts pro- visions for non-discriimnation in hiring." GEO HOLDS that it only wants the University to conform to federal law and its own existing policy as stated in its "Affirmative Action Program for GSAs." "We're giving the University the chance to show that it is a progressive force in this society." GEO member Bob Thurston declared. GEO also proposes the creation of a Commission on the Status of Lesbians and Gay GSAs to investigate alleged dis- crimination on the part of the Univer- sity community against these groups. AGAIN, FORSYTH only commented after the meeting on this issue, saying "The University would first have to con- sider the whole contract proposal to de- termine if the establishment of the com- See GEO, Page 5 AP Photo Patricia Hearst leaves the Los Angeles Hall of Justice following a hear- ing yesterday where her attorney told a judge she was mentally incom- petent to enter a plea. Hearst is being held at the federal Metropolitan Correctional Center in San Diego where she is undergoing tests. inCopetent' Hearst to standt rial alone LOS ANGELES (A,,)-Patricia Hearst will not stand trial with William and Emily Harris, a judge said yesterday as the heiress stood mute at a hearing with the couple and refused to enter a plea to state charges on grounds of. mental incompetency. Superior Court Judge Mark Brandler declared that Hearst will not be tried with the Harrises, now her sworn enemies, and granted a request by her lawyer for a special hearing May 28 on her mental state. BUT ATTORNEY Al Johnson said federal authorities might not let pri- vate psychiatrists enter the San Diego federal prison where Hearst is now undergoing court-ordered evaluation. The issue of Hearst's mental com- petency-which has been raised by her attorneys virtually since the day of her arrest-came as a surprise in yesterday's proceeding. Hearst was previously ruled competent to stand trial in federal court at San Francisco, where she was convicted March 20 of bank robbery. Exhaustive psychiatric evaluation began then and continues now. "If the present position remains," Brandler said, and a hearing is im- possible, "a plea of not guilty would be entered for her." That procedure was followed in San Francisco, where she also refused to plead. ALTHOUGH he did not rule specific- ally on a motion to sever the two trials, Brandler said, "It would ap- pear obvious to this court that a joint trial is regrettably impossible." See 'INCOMPETENT,' Page 5 '76politics bore students By The Associated Press Joe Freeman hawks Bicentennial but- tons on the University of Pennsylvania campus for $1 each, and business is good. Nearby, however, few pause at a pam- phlet-filled table for a Democratic presi- dential contender's free campaign button. Across the country, on the Los Angeles campus of the University of Southern California, Dr. James Appleton looks out the window of his student affairs office and also observes that pditical interest is just about zilch. "I SEE two students promoting Ronald Reagan but there are no students talking with them," he notes. At the other end of the square several hundred are listening to a guy selling property on the moon. "We have given students ample op- portunity to get interested in the political race but they sure haven't warmed up to it as yet," Appleton says. A sampling of American colleges, big and little, indicate the campus attitude everywhere is similar-very few are excited about the presidential election campaign as it has developed so far, or about any major political issue. TODAY'S STUDENT apathy contrasts with the activism of the '60s and early '70s, an activism based largely on stu- dent opposition to the draft and to American involvement in Vietnam. -The unrest resulted in violence at Kent State, where Ohio National Guardsmen killed four, at the University of Wiscon- sin, where a bomb blast in an Army building killed a student, and at Jackson State College, where fighting with police resulted in two student fatalities. There's peace and quiet at those schools now. The campus kiosks are covered with posters advertising movies, poetry readings and lectures. And more students line up at trucks selling pizza, hoagies and soft ice cream than rally for discussions on abortion, environment, marijuana or government ;orruption. "IF THERE was an -over-all burning issue, like reinstituting the draft or getting involved in Angola, people would get steamed up," claims Austin Ranney, a visiting political science professor at the University of California's Berkeley campus. Paul Magarill, 20, of Fort Lee, N.J., who took off two semesters from Union College in Schenectady, N.Y., to work for Indiana's Sen. Birch Bayh, say: it's difficult to motivate students pliCcally. "They are very reluctant to do volun- teer work," Magarill says. "They'd rather do nothing. They see politics as unimportant, uninteresting, not exciting." JAMES LYONS, Stanford University's dean of student affairs, says he gets the See '76, Page 5