The Michigan Daily-Friday, September 5, 1980-Page 7-,
Eviction, financial woes
loom over Paper Chase
well. On IJUl 17 Gnrn d fil d fnrUI. bhnj auk i i.;UiI
By JOYCE FRIEDEN
Robert Gordon, owner of the Paper Chase copying
center located in the basement of the Union, is
currently running his business while thefdouble
threats of eviction and financial problems hang over
his head.
On March 19, the University filed suit against Gor-
don for "termination of tenancy," claiming that he
had been operating the store without a lease for
nearly a year.
BUT GORDON CLAIMED the University intended
to re-lease the property to him and continued sending
him bills for the rent even after his lease expired on
April 30, 1979. "If they did not intend to renew my
lease, then why did they send me a rent bill for
May?" said Gordon.
Gordon then took action, filing a counter-suit
against the University on May 2, charging that the
University had created a "hostile environement" for
the Paper Chase to operate in.
"The management is renovating the Union, and
they wanted to expedite the termination of our
lease," Gordon said of the suit. Earlier in the sum-
mer, Gordon said that his disagreements with Union
management over the operation of some foosball
games had turned his relations with the Union sour.
"THE FOOSBALL GAMES (located next door to
the shop) needed supervision, and they weren't get-
ting it," he explained. So Gordon took matters into his
own hands, leasing his own set of foosball games and
moving them into the copying center. Union officials
soon presented him with an order to remove the
games within 30 days, an order with which he prom-
tly complied, he said.
A District Court ruled in favor of the University in
the termination of tenancy suit in early May. Gor-
don's attorney has since appealed the case to the cir-
cuit court, but no new trial has yet been scheduled,
Gordon said.
Gordon's damage suit against the University is
scheduled to be tried by a circuit court jury next May.
Gordon's attorney has asked for the University to pay
$300,000 in damages in addition to renewing the Paper
Chase's lease for the next five years.
IN ADDITION TO his legal struggle, Gordon has
been having financial problems with his business as
wi. vnHy i, oruonneu zor oan rupcune
Chapter 13 of the bankruptcy act.
"This does not mean I am liquidating the
business," Gordon explained. "There are two kinds
of bankruptcy-you either liquidate your business or
your reorganize it. I have to submit a plan for
reorganization and I don't get any harrassment from
my creditors in the meantime."
In April of 1979, Gordon received a loan of $135,000
from the Small Business Administration. Gordon has
yet to make any payments on the loan. SBA, concer-
ned over the non-payment, sent an accountant from.
the Detroit accounting firm of Alam, Morris, and Co.
to investigate Gordon's business. The report, sent to
Gordon July 25, states: "during his first year of
operation, Mr. Gordon accumulated debts in excess
of $100,000. Considering the size of his enterprise, this
is a remarkable amount." The report also stated that
"bankruptcy seems inevitable."
Despite these problems, Gordon says he would like
to continue operating the Paper Chase. "I care about
this University, and I think business here could be
good. I tried my best, and they gave me an eviction
notice. It's a miracle I'm still in operation," he said.
University Information Services Photo
)EDUCATION PROF. PERCY BATES is holding on to his Ann Arbor home,
waiting for his appointment to a directorship in the Department of Education
to become more secure. Bates will fly to and from Washington, D.C. until the
presidential elections in November.
Ed. school prof
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By JULIE ENGEBRECHT
Percy Bates is probably hoping Nov.
4 comes soon. But chances are that he'll
be busy enough that he won't have time
to worry about the approach of election
day.
le probably won't even think about it
while on the plane that shuttles him
between Ann Arbor and Washington,
D.C. each Monday and Friday. After
all-among other things-he's got a $1
billion budget to worry about.
mUNTIL, BATES, AN assistant dean
and professor in the School of
Education, knows who's going to be
living in the White House come.
January, he will be sitting tight in his
Department of Education office. But
he's not living in Washington-yet.
As the new director of the Office of
Special Education, Bates is taking a
leave of absence from his job in the
School of Education until January. The
way he-looks at it, there's no sense in
moving lock, stock and barrel to
Washington until his job is more secure.
Bates would not automatically lose
his job if Jimmy Carter is not re-
elected. But he was appointed by the
Secretary of Education, who would
almost certainly be replaced if another
presidential candidate were-elected.
BATES, 48, ASSUMED the Depar-
tment of Education post Aug. 1. "The
Secretary (Shirley Hufstedler) called
one day and they said there was a
osition open," Bates said Wednesday
from his Washington office. "My name
had been mentioned. I went and talked
to the people there," he said.
The Office of Special Education is the
"federal shop" to monitor activities
under the federal special education
law, Bates said. Special education deals
not only with problems of the handicap-
ped, but also serves gifted and talented
children.
The office was formerly the Bureau
of Education for the Handicapped as
part of the Department of Health,
Education and Welfare. Bates'
predecessor, Edwin Martin, is his new
boss. Martin is the assistant secretary
for special educationand rehabilitation
services under the newly organized
department.
BATES IS NOT a newcomer to the
special education scene. He has served
as assistant dean since 1973, in addition
to holding a post as a special education
professor. He also directed the School
of Education's Special .Education
Program. Bates joined the University
faculty in 1965 as assistant professor
and director of the Mental Retardation
Teachter Training Program.
Bates said that despite the fiscal
crunch being extensively discussed in
Washington and elsewhere, special
education will be a high priority. At the
moment, he said, the office's $1 billion
budget hasn't given him too many
problems. He wouldn't be surprised, he
added, if his office receives a small in-
crease once the federal budget is
passed.
The program's money goes for
special education projects sponsored by
states, training of special education
teachers, developing "media" for the
handicapped, and researching new
programs such as those for preschool
children.
WITH THE PRESIDENTIAL elec-
tion upcoming, Bates isn't sure how
long he'll be with the federal gover-
nment. And School of Education of-
ficials have not yet decided how to fill
his temporarily-vacated position.
"I come down Monday on the 8:05 and
go back Friday on the 3:30 or 6:15--
depending when I get out of the office,"
he said, sounding as though he had got-
ten used to the idea-for now.
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