The Michigan Daily - Thursday, September 22, 1988 - Page,3
A
Group helps
tenants deal
with owners
}BY ROSE LIGHTBOURN
Landlord-tenant disputes are
commonplace in Ann Arbor, as they
are everywhere else. Skyrocketing
3 rents, poor repairs, immense security
deposits, and lack of privacy are just
some of the gripes tenants have with
their landlords.
The Ann Arbor Tenants' Union,
although its most recent rent control
project failed, supports tenants hav-
ing problems with their landlords,
and lobbies for progressive legisla-
tion for renters in the city.
FINANCED through a Michigan
Student Assembly student fee, the
Tenants' Union was created 20 years
ago to aid tenants in the Washtenaw
County area. Staffed by two full-
time student employees and work
study students, the Union serves
students and non-students alike.
Most complaints concern repair
} problems. During the fall, however,
fees and security deposits are
tenants' greatest concerns.
the rent control vote against students
who worked for the implementation
of rent control.
i The rent control controversy be-
agan in late October 1987, when a bill
was submitted to the State Senate,
that would prohibit any municipality
from enforcing the regulation of rent
or practice "price fixing." The bill
passed the Senate and was sent to
the State House.
Yet active lobbying by corpora-
tions like MichCon and Detroit Edi-
son aided the bill's passage through
the House, she said.
GOVERNOR James Blanchard
signed the bill into law July 4, de-
spite a sit-in protest by the Tenants'
Union and other state-wide tenant
organizations.
Defeated in. the city's April elec-
tions, the proposed rent control ac-
tion would have limited increases in
rent to three-fourths of the inflation
rate, providing the apartment was up
to state standards. Some 120 cities
nationwide, including college towns
such as Cambridge, Mass. and
Berkeley, Calif. as well as New
York City currently have rent con-
trol.
Yet, the proposal lost by a 2-1
margin here, where 60 percent the
residents are renters.
KAREN HANDELMAN/Dcly
Not where the dorms buy theirs
Milan resident Al Kierczak sells vegetables at the Farmers' Market on Fourth Street. The market is open Wednesday and Saturday
mornings from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. All the produce, flowers, antl other goods are either homegrown or handmade.
Class stresses ethics in business
Tenants' Union employee
Claudia Green said attention paid to
last year's rent control controversy
put housing issues in the public eye.
As a result, complaints have
increased considerably.
BUT SHE SAID activism has
resulted in a "notable backlash" after
'THE
What's happening it
Speakers
EECS Seminar - Dr. John
Makhoul speaks on "Vector
Quantization." EECS rm 1200. 4
p.m.
Dr. Ali Mazrui - "Israel and
South Africa: Strange Bedfellows
or Natural Allies?" Rackham
Amphitheatre, 7 p.m. Sponsored
by Palestine Solidarity Committee.
Zecharia Kallia - "Joshua and
Judges 1 in Biblical Historio-
graphy." 3050 Frieze Building. 4
p.m. Sponsored by the Program on
Studies in Religion.
Saskia Kersenboom - "Dasi
Attam: The Ritual Repertoire of the
Devadasis of South India." The
a Museum of Art, 8 p.m. Free.
' David Peterson - "Aztec
Militarism and the Conquest of
Mexico." Ruthven Museums Build-
ing, rm 2009. 12 noon.
}Physical Chemistry Seminar
- "Structure, Bonding, and
Reaction Kinetics on Surfaces
using Synchrotron Based Spectro-
scopies." Prof. John Gland.
Chemistry Building, rm 1200. 4
p.m.
Peter Cryle - "Convincing and
Constraining: Aspects of Debate in
Literary Theory." West Conference
Room, Rackham. 4:10 p.m.
Sponsored by the Dept. of
Romance Languages and Literature.
Meetings
LIST
n Ann Arbor today
"How to evict your landlord."
meeting, MSA chambers,
Michigan Union. 7:30 p.m.
Mass
3909
BY M. ANNA SCHLOSSBERG
Ivan Boesky made headlines nationwide in
1987 when he was charged with insider trading
on Wall Street. In Ann Arbor, Gelman Sciences,
Inc. wants to pump ground water contaminated
with dioxane into a well, despite fears that they
may contaminate area drinking water.
In these and similiar cases, members of the
business community must decide what is the
"right thing to do."
The University is trying to ensure that its
graduates are trained to make such decisions.
THE SCHOOL of BusinesscAdministration
began to offer an elective class in business ethics
in the fall of 1987. This term there are three sec-
tions of the one credit, six week long pass/fail
course.
"Ivan Boesky is the greatest recruiter we
have," said Prof. LaRue Hosmer, who teaches
the course. "I think people are becoming more
aware of the ethical issues in business."
Hosmer, a professor of corporate strategy and
director of the Magna Office of Entrepreneurial
Strategies at the business school, became inter-
ested in business ethics many years ago when, as
owner of a company, he was offered a bribe.
Since then, he has focused his research and writ-
ing on the topic.
ACCORDING TO Hosmer, there are two
types of ethical dilemmas. In the first, the ques-
tion is, "Will I do the right thing?" In the second
- which is the focus of the class - the question
is, "What is the right thing to do?"
"Is it right for a company to cut costs by firing
lots of people? Is it right for power companies to
use coal, even though it creates acid rain? On the
other hand, is it right for them to raise consumer
costs by three billion dollars to pay for the
necessary filters? What do you do when benefits
to one group cause harm to another?" Hosmer
asked.
'Is it right for a company to cut
costs by firing lots of people? Is it
right for power companies to use
coal, even though it creates acid
rain?'
-Prof. LaRue Hosmer, who
teaches business ethics
"Ethics is not just opinion," he said. "There
are principles of analysis that can be used. Ethi-
cal question are touched on in other classes, and
students are asked what they think, but you don't
learn much from sharing-opinions based on intu-
ition."
RACHEL GOLDFADEN, a business school
senior who attends the course, said, "Business is
not just a profit and loss game anymore. It has
many social consequences which I feel I must be
aware of."
Josh Rossman, a junior majoring in finance,
agreed. "The general opinion among business
students is to go for the money, unless they take
a course like this. I thought I was missing some-
thing with that attitude, that my knowledge might
not be adequate."
The course attracts non-business students-as
well, including Susanne Schnell, a graduate st-
dent in the School of Education.
"I wanted to see the perspective they would
take. In any field you're going to run into
dilemmasathat have consequences. for yoursef-
and others," she said.
HOSMER hopes to teach ethics as a regular
three-credit graduate course next semester,
bringing together business, law, education, add
public policy students. Eventually, he would lilge
to see the course required for business students.-
"Professor Hosmer's class is very important,
and we are seriously considering expanding it
this winter," said Tom Kinnear, associate dean Of
MBA programs. "We are undecided abogt
making it a requirement, because we don't want
other professors to feel that they don't have t
address ethics in their classes."
"The tragedy of the United States is that at
one time our goal was liberty, justice and equal,
ity, but not anymore. Our goal now seems to b
success over the short term, and I don't like
that," Hosmer concluded.
Involved in Michigan
Political Action Committee
- Mass meeting, Michigan
Union, Alexander rm D. 6:30 p.m.
University Lutheran Chapel
- Bible/Topic Study, 1511
Washtenaw Ave. 7 p.m.
B'nai B'rith Hillel Foun-
dation - Mass meetings. Con-
ference on the Holocaust, 6:30
p.m. at Hillel, 339 E. Liberty.
Progressive Zionist Caucus, 7 p.m.
at the Pond Room, Michigan
Union. Tagar, 8 p.m. at rm 1209,
Michigan Union.
Israel Information - Yafet
Ozery, a representative of the
Jewish Agency's kibbutz aliyah
desk, will be at Hillel from 10
a.m. to 4 p.m. to answer questions
about programs in Israel.
Latin American Solidarity
Committee - Mass meeting and
film: "Witness to War," followed
by a speech by a Salvadoran
refugee. Anderson Rooms A and B,
Michigan Union. 8 p.m.
Macromolecular Research
Center - "Longitudinal Acoustic
Mode (LAM)xStudies of Poly
(Ethylene Oxide). Thesis
Colloquim by Kigook Song. IST
Bldg., rm 1114. 3:30 p.m.
Performances
The Beat - The Holy Cows
perform at 10:30 p.m. Doors open
9:30 p.m. 215 N. Main. $3 cover.
The University Club - Juice
performs at Soundstage. 10 p.m.
Save Big Bucks on a
Personal Comap uter!
U-!Mstudents,facufty, and staff can take advantage of
41% - 58% off retailprices on Apple, BM> and Zenith
personaif computers throug hi21-M's Computer K(ickff Safe..
, i
'
.
To help you decide on a system, take a test-
drive and talk to a representative at the
Hands-On Display
in the Michigan Union Mall
loam - 6pm
"'
... s
.,1
' " s
a
w
Student Struggle
Jewry - Weekly
MLB, rm B101. 6:30
for Soviet
meeting at
p.m.
w*
American Civil Liberties
Union - University of Michigan
chapter meeting. Hutchins Hall, rm
116. 7 p.m.
LSA StudentnGovernment -
Weekly meeting, 3909 Michigan
Union. 6 p.m.
Public Interest Research
Group in Michigan - Kickoff
for campaign to clean up toxic
waste, voter registration and edu-
cation. PIRGIM office, rm 4109,
Michigan Union. 7 p.m.
Career Planning and Place-
ment - Preparing for Medical
School. CP&P office, Student
Activities Building. 4:10 p.m.
r..nra t,.. Pno.. _ fw.. -R
a
The Ark - Susan Mazer
Dallas Smith perform New
Jazz. 8 p.m. Tickets $8.50.
and
Age
Furthermore
Arts All Day - Media
demonstrations and previews of
events for the coming year from
the office of Arts & Programs.
Michigan Union Pendleton Room,
2nd floor. 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Free.
Star Trax - Record your own
vocals over background music -
free! Zims, Briarwood Mall. 8:30
p.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Ushers - University Productions
Call 763-6181 for more informa-
tion, or pick up an information
book/order form at:
.1ff campus computing sites
Campus Information Center, Micigan 'Union
ComputingPResource Center
Photo and Campus Services
Order your computer today!
'/
*
a ,
4