Page 4- The Michigan Daily- Monday, September 9, 1991 Wbe 3wb43gau iaiI 420 Maynard Street Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109 Edited and Managed by Students at the University of Michigan ANDREW K. GOTTESMAN Editor in Chief STEPHEN HENDERSON Opinion Editor Unsigned editorials represent a majority of the Daily's Editorial Board. All other cartoons, signed articles, and letters do not necessarily represent the opinion of the Daily. Kv: "}:d:v .".vv{{":":{{1'{{{.};"" {{rtv.}v ." ": r.".":.":::::;:: ~r::,v." :v,:v."." v.":::,v:; "n'o.. .".",111::" r.".".1:v:.:v ............................................... . ":.{":r.":+:r. .arr ".1"rrr.r':F.":"..r:..%%%.:.." :.::.::.................... .......................................... ...":.-:..v... .;."..,..............{............... Y" ..1 r.": ... . }r:: ,.r, "." 1 "rr.".".... .. r..f... . ....+.....J . r 1.. "r.","...... . }.'". F .. %..1.. r."r. vr+ " "r ".{ti %% 'i.": :i: M nion policy Administration must find a better way to ensure student safety °ReEoRM° M-o-N-E-Y ReFoRM! 1 EWCIS1pN T his past weekend, people trying to enter the Michigan Union were confronted with secu- rity checkpoints demanding a student I.D. for admission to the building. The tightened security was a provision of a new policy instituted last week by the Housing Office. Presumably implemented as a form of crowd control, the establishment of these checkpoints was misguided and just plain wrong on two counts. First, the planning and implementation of the new policy were conducted under a shroud of secrecy last week. The Housing Office never issued a press release, and certainly has not entertained any open discussion of the policy. Particularly disturbing is the fact that the Black Greek Asso- ciation, which frequently uses Union facilities on the weekend, was not included in the formation of this policy. For an administration which claims to value the input of students on decisons affecting theirlives, this particular process provided striking evidence of the failure to bolster that verbal com- mitment with actual deeds. After arguing on this page just last week for greater communication between students and the University administration, we at the Daily cannot help but feel that our message is not reaching the Fleming Building. Secondly, the very existence of these check- points - and the consequent exclusion of all non- students from the Union on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights - betrays this University's mis- sion as a public institution. In case those in the Fleming Building have forgotten, it is high time for them to again be reminded that the University of Michigan is paid for, in part, by the state's taxpayers. That means that its facilities in the Union - including the ground-floor food court, the public study areas, and the public lounges - are here for all the citizens of this state to enjoy. Assured public access to public property is a basic tenet of our state and federal laws. The University should not be so quick to disregard these legal traditions. Of course, the University has a responsibility to ensure students' safety in the Union and elsewhere on campus. Increased security measures may often be necessary for large events incorporating diverse groups of peoples. But the University must find a way to temper volatile situations without com- promising its obligations as a public institution. And it must do so with the full participation of students, faculty, staff and the surrounding com- munity. Limiting discussion of such drastic policy changes - and limiting access to people who are excluded by such changes - is not only prohibi- tive, but possibly illegal as well. If a concern for public relations is not enough to suggest that the University apologize for and revoke its new checkpoint policy, the law may demand it. :J.v',"f.{.' ' . "" ,'"4" L'"':J v tif . Off-campus living Tenants should know their rights, and ensure their protection Reprinted from September 1989 T he first time you take a shower in your new apartment, you discover an unidentifiable type of slime growing from the ceiling. The carpets are dirty; paint is chipping off the walls. The only emergency exit from the second floor, other than jumping, is an unstable-looking ladder propped up against an exterior wall. You pay your rent a week late and your landlord charges you a $20.00 late fee. You ask your landlord to do some repairs and after two weeks of no response, he or she arrives without notice as you are about to step into your slime-covered shower. All of these are violations of your rights as a tenant. You, as a tenant, can control the quality of your housing. You can demand that your rights be rec- ognized, and that you receive adequate compen- sation when they are not. Landlords are obligated to provide tenants with a copy of the Tenants'Rights Handbook published by the city. Failure to do so is punishable by a fine as large as $500, but it is incumbent upon the tenant to complain to the city's Housing Inspection Bu- reau. Many buildings in Ann Arbor do not meet the housing code due to lack of maintenance or fire code violations. If the landlord is unwilling to improve the situation, tenants can call the Housing Inspection Bureau. Landlords are obligated to provide to provide clean, tenantable housing at the time of possession. Failure to do so is either grounds for withholding rentuntilthe dwelling is cleaned or justification for charging the landlord the cost of cleaning by deducting the amount from the rent. As soon as possible after moving in, the tenant should compile a list of damages and assess the condition of the premises. Landlords are obligated to provide two copies of an inventory checklist covering all the parts of the building that the landlord owns. Many lists are incomplete, so ten- ants should be sure to write in anything not in the list and keep a copy. A tenant can withhold rent if a landlord does not perform required repairs or agreed upon improve- ments. A letter containing a complete list of griev- ances should be sentby certified mail to the landlord instead of the rent. The rent should either be put into escrow at a bank or into a separate savings account until the issue is resolved. If the tenants are responsible for paying the heat, city law requires the landlord to caulk and weather strip all doors and windows and insulate the attic. Failure to weatherize is grounds for withholding rent and a complaint should be filed with the Housing Inspection Bureau. Landlords do not have the right to enter a tenants' residence without reasonable advance notice. Once tenants have made an agreement such as a lease and moved in, the apartment is their home and unauthorized entry constitutes invasion of privacy and trespassing. Landlords frequently charge students for cleaning, late rent, and tenant organizing by keeping security deposits. This is illegal. Security deposits are only supposed to be used for damage not expected during the normal course of living, or unpaid rent or utility bills. Dirt is not damage. Cleaning is not repairing. Security deposits cannot exceed one and a half month's rent. If the landlord charges too much deposit, either ask for it back or move and deduct it from the next rent payment. To get the security deposit back, the tenant must give the landlord a forwarding address, in writing, within four days of moving out. Within 30 days of the date the tenant moves out, the landlord must send an itemized list of any deductions claimed and the remainder of the se- curity deposit, or the full deposit if no charges are deducted. If the landlord does not meet this 30-day requirement, the landlord has then lost all claim to the security deposit and must return it in full, unless the withheld money is for unpaid rent. To help tenants become more informed, the Ann Arbor Tenants' Union (AATU) has published How to Evict Your Landlord: An Ann Arbor Ten- ants' Primer. The book contains a detailed account oftenants' rights and suggestions of how to prevent potential abuses. It is available at the AATU. Read the book. Know your rights. AATU is vital to students To the Daily: I was at the Michigan Student Assembly (MSA) meeting on June 25, where MSA President James Green proposed his budget for the upcoming year. He hoped to cut the student fee by 45 cents. The University Board of Regents actually cut the fee by 50 cents later in the summer. Most of the cut will be absorbed by the Ann Arbor Tenants' Union (AATU), which, according to the budget pro- posal, will see its allocation slashed in half. Green clearly doesn't think the AATU is giving students their money's worth. But how much money are we talking about? Only 67 cents of the student fee now goes to the AATU. For the price of a coke, students have a vital Tenants' Union advocating for them. Green doesn't seem to think that the AATU is so vital. But as I'd like to demonstrate, he is wrong. Since 1967 the AATU's "non-vital" phone and counsel- ing services have been helping nearly 2,000 students each year. The AATU also conducts workshops in most residence halls for first-time renters and holds periodic campus-wide workshops. We provide organiz- ing assistance for tenants with building or complex-wide problems. We publish an informational newsletter of tenant issues and distribute a tenants' rights handbook and other informational publications. We are establishing a computer conference for students on the Michigan Terminal System (MTS) and working with other campus offices to establish a fair housing center. Students benefit not only from the organization's direct services, but also from our efforts to pass and defend pro- tenant state and local legisla- tion. Regardless of whether students use AATU counseling services, they benefit from our legislative and educational. work through better housing conditions, security deposit refunds and a better under- standing of how rental housing works. Over the last decade we have greatly strengthened the housing code through such amendments as the 1985 "weather ordinance" and more recently, a "privacy ordinance." These campaigns have resulted in a higher quality of living for students. An integral part of Green's proposal involves halving the current staff of two. But training and supervising volunteers and work study students is, itself, a full-time job. So what will happen to the other services the AATU provides? Simple. They disappear. That means no more dorm workshops, no MTS confer- ence, and a limit on the informational handbooks we put out. In addition, counseling hours will be severely curtailed, leaving as many as 1,000 students without our services. I think the question that needs to be asked, is why is the president who campaigned around greater student services, choosing to do this? Jen Rubin School of Social Work AATU volunteer The Daily encour- ages responses from its readers. Letters should be 150 words or less and include the author's name, year in school and phone number. They can be mailed to: The Michigan Daily, 420 Maynard, Ann Arbor 48109. Or they can be sent via MTS to. The Michi- gan Daily Letters to the Editor. The Daily does not alter the content of letters, but reserves the right to edit for style and space consider- ations. If you have questions or com- ments, you should call Stephen Henderson at 764- 0552. O .. . ........ ...... .. . .. ia~ .......... Timm"" 'r,';?,: