4 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, November 11, 1994
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'Jewish leaders must realize that they cannot trifle with
the attempt of unity among Blacks and at the same time
expect for Blacks to perceive them as anything but a
problem to be loathed and feared.'
-, Trinity Townsend, in the Nov. edition of the Black Student Monthly
420 Maynard
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Edited and managed by students at
the University of Michigan
Jessie Halladay
Editor in Chief
Smoking: a
Sam Goodstein
Flint Wainess
Editorial Page Editors
Unless otherwise noted, unsigned editorials reflect the opinion of a majority of the Daily's editorial board.
other articles, letters, and cartoons do not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Michigan Daily.
All
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Tenants bewar
LL~EC~E. J99Lf)
Resources are available to prevent lease trouble
11t
This is the time that many students begin to
seriously consider where they will be liv-
ing next year. For a large proportion of first-
year students and sophomores, that means
exploring off-campus living options. One look
in the classified section of this paper reveals
the scores of landlords offering their services
to such students. But be wary! There are
landlords in Ann Arbor that will take advan-
tage of unsuspecting students. With minimal
effort, there are many options that students can
pursue to ensure that when they do start look-
ing for off-campus housing, they will be fully
aware of their rights and responsibilities as
tenants.
It's true that many landlords in Ann
Arbor are honest and fully comply with the
rules and regulations set down by city and state
law. But one must keep in mind that, no matter
how friendly or honest a landlord appears,
they are in the realty business to make money.
Protecting yourself with familiarity of these
laws will go a long way in ensuring that the
contract signed with the landlord will be fair
and equitable. There are numerous ways of
finding out what your rights are. The Ann
Arbor Tenants' Union (AATU), located on
the fourth floor of theUnion orthe University's
Off-Campus Housing Office on the first floor
ofthe Student Activities Building, are just two
options. The AATU publishes a guide booklet
titled "How To Evict Your Landlord" that
does a good job of condensing almost every-
thing a prospective tenant needs to know into
a manageable size. The Off-Campus Housing
Office also has further information on most
known landlords that rent to University stu-
dents. It has files containing complaints against
landlords and should be able to tell anyone if a
particular landlord has had a history of com-
plaints against them. Also, if trouble begins
afterthe lease is signed, Student Legal Services
in the Union is a first step in finding out what
you can do to solve the situation.
If any student has had trouble in the past
with a particular landlord, it's also important to
let others know. If students don't make their
landlord grievances available to others, future
student tenants could go through the same
situation all over again. When a landlord does
something from just shifty to outright illegal,
chances are it's not the first time it has hap-
pened. Both the AATU and the Off-Campus
Housing Office will hear grievances against
landlords. If you were mistreated by a landlord,
don't keep it a secret.
It would be nice to think all landlords will
be completely honest, however, there are nu-
merous tenant/landlord disputes that end up
going to court every year because of failed
legal obligations. Unfortunately, the burden
lies on the student to be aware of his or her
rights in contracting a lease. The information is
readily available and there are many private
and University organizations whose main pur-
pose is to help Ann Arbor and University
tenants. We strongly encourage any person
thinking of living-off-campus to prepare them-
selves with knowledge of the law. The purpose
is not to encourage an adversarial relationships
with landlords, but one that is confident and
informed.
B3e a hero: gfiveblo
Competition with OSU raises awareness, pints
lmost everyone, at one time or another, donate every day. It's an important collective
as wanted to be a hero, and that stands to good from which everyone can benefit, and at
reason, as being a hero is a laudatory goal. It some point in their lives, most people will.
gives a person recognition, gratitude from Admittedly, the process makes some people
those whom he or she has helped and the uncomfortable, especially if they are donating
realization that the worldis alittle better off for for the first time. In reality, though, it is quite
his or her having walked it. Perhaps the best safe and painless. They sit you down, ask a few
thing about being a hero though is that it is so questions concerning health and lifestyle, check
easy. your temperature, pulse and blood pressure.
Even the most seemingly insignificant ac- Next, they draw about a pint of blood. This
tions can make a difference in a person's life, usually causes a momentary feeling of discom-
actions like giving blood. fort, but that quickly disappears. As for con-
It might not seem like a major thing, to tracting disease while donating, there is virtu-
donate a pint of blood, but the truth is that there ally no chance of it, as new sterile equipment is
are few deeds a person can do that can make a used each time. There are few if any side effects
more profound impact on the lives of others. as well. If they allow you to donate, you can
When you donate blood, you almost never get definitely spare it. They even give cookies and
to meet those who receive it, but they owe you juice at the end. What more could a person ask
their lives. More than merely being a heroic for? The University is sponsoring a campus
activity, however, blood donation is an impor- wide blood drive this week. Blood will be
tant community service that almost everyone collected at various locations ' until Friday,
can participatein. Every minute, patients across November 18. It is important that everyone
America use more than 36 pints of blood. That donate who is able not only because we are in
adds up to 53,000 pints of blood used every competition against Ohio State to see who can
day to save lives. It has to come from some- donate the most, but because the blood is
where, and it comes from ordinary people who needed to help save lives. Be someone's hero.
Agreement at the Union
Recognition and appreciation should be given to Union officials for their efforts to
come to a mutual agreement on the long standing debate on Christmas decorations.
Last month, they held forums on the issue and an arrangement was reached that will
enhance mutual religious respect at the University. Any MSA -registered student group
may reserve space in certain sections of the Union for up to 12 days in which they can
put up religious displays. While it would have been disappointing, and downright
bland, to do away with all festive decorations, the decision to allow decorations year
round willfoster awareness and interest. But more important is the process in which
the agreement was reached. Student input and open forums were utilized so that all
those who wished to voice concerns would be heard andthatthefinalpolicy would have
the approval of everyone. To all involved: Nice job. -Jeff Keating
The Daily
goes downhill
To the Daily:
I have always seen the Daily
as symbolizing the great things
a group of motivated college
students can do. Three years
ago, I was a part of the Daily as
a sports reporter. I couldn't
believe just how much time
some staffers spent over on
Maynard Street. It was a great
feeling to see my name over
articles in the Daily, and I felt
tremendous pride over having
a hand in the tremendous task it
is to put out a daily publication.
I wanted every person in the
country who called our gen-
eration "lazy and pathetic" to
just spend one evening down
on Maynard Street, watching
staffers pour their effort into
our newspaper. Not for re-
wards, because there are none,
but for the pride we felt when
we went to class and saw ev-
eryone reading what we found
so hard to create.
Being a sports staffer, I
never really paid much atten-
tion to the political views of the
Daily. I knew I didn't agree
with what was on our editorial
page, but I just kept writing my
sports stories. I was satisfied
that even though I didn't agree
with the editorial and news
staff's opinions, these staffers
wrote well and represented our
staff well. They were profes-
sional in their actions. Lately,
I'm not so sure this has been
the case. More and more I see
articles which spit out the same
rhetoric I see in all of the major
newspapers. I'm starting to
wonder if the diversity and fresh
ideas on this campus really are
dead.
This week's article, "'U'
students appalled by mudsling-
ing,"represents an all-time low.
How the Daily can run this
story at all, much less as a side
to the lead, I really don't know.
The second sentence calls the
survey "unscientific." Talk
about an understatement! The
82 people surveyed is not
enough to support the Daily's
headline, much less the state-
ment proclaiming "Also, Uni-
versity students would elect
virtually everyDemocratic can-
didate on the ballot."
I wasn't surprised that the
survey found majority support
for each of the candidates which
the Daily endorsed, with the
lone exception of Ingrid
Sheldon, incumbent Republi-
can mayor of Ann Arbor. Why
did this piece run? This is the
poorestexcuse for journalismI
have ever seen in the Daily, for
which there is no excuse. Why
couldn't more people have been
surveyed? This wasn't a sur-
prise election!
The Daily is an important
part of this University. It is
something I am proud to read
Daily news
errs in article
on SAFE
House shelter
To the Daily:
I am writing in reference to
an article entitled "SAFE House
Acquires New Facility with
Millage Funds," which ap-
peared in the Daily on Oct. 25,
1994. This article, which de-
scribes the funding of the Do-
mestic Violence Project
(D.V.P.)/SAFE House's new
shelter site, contains some glar-
ing factual errors. To be spe-
cific, the article states: "...the
shelter's location is being
treated with sensitivity and dis-
cretion. The old location was
next to the Washtenaw County
Sheriff's Department, but the
new location is confidential."
In actuality, the situation is re-
versed. The old shelter's loca-
tion was confidential; the new
shelter site, which is public, is
located next to the County
Sheriff'sDepartment. This may
seem like a minor point, but it
reflects a major policy change
on the part of the D.V.P./SAFE
House.
The decision not to seek
another secret shelter site was
made for a number of reasons
both philosophical and practi-
cal. First of all, a secret loca-
tion just reinforces the notion
that battered women have done
something shameful for which
they must go into hiding. This
is certainly not the case and it is
the public's responsibility to
see to the safety of families
victimized by assailants. Fur-
ther, a public location makes
D.V.P./SAFE House much
more accessible to battered
women and children as well as
to the public. Finally, it would
be unlikely for a community to
give $3.2 million to a shelter
that community members could
not visit or see.
In making this policy shift,
D.V.P./SAFE House greatly
considered safety factors. In
light of the following, it was
concluded that a new, public
shelter location will not be a
serious threat in terms of safety
to residents and staff of SAFE
House. Battered women's shel-
ters across the country have
moved to public sites and there
have been few incidents where
assailants have hurt residents
or staff.
These few incidents were
not found to be correlated with
the public/private issue. In ad-
dition, almost no assailants
have visited the current D.V.P./
SAFE house shelter site al-
though its address has been in
the phone book for four years.
Furthermore, the new shelter
facility will have a state of the
art security system and its
grounds will also be patrolled
by the Washtenaw County
Sheriff's Department twice a
day.
Finally, ifany security prob-
lems do arise, area police agen-
cies including the Sheriff's
Department, with which
D.V.P.JSAFE House has a
close working relationship, can
be called upon for assistance.
Lori Grubstein
Graduate Student of
Social Work
and D.V.P./SAFE house
Intern
prosperous
career move 4
I understand why people smoke.
Really, I do. It all became clear to me
when I was 15, and a friend of mine
came up to me.
"I'm going to start smoking,"
she said.
"Why?" I asked, impudently.
"Because," she said, befuddled,
"I can breathe now, and, quit
franly, I don't enjoy it very much.
And it's not just the breathing -my
whole body is basically healthy. My
voice is clear, I have energy, my hair
smells clean, for God's sake. I don't
like it. And I'm not just going to sit
around and live for another 55 or 60
years. I'm going to do something
about it."
"Like what?" I asked, still with
out any pudents.
"Didn't you listen?" she said,
still full of fuddles. "I'm going to
start smoking. Not just a little bit,
either. A couple of packs a day. I
figure within a few months they'll
be measuring my breathing with a
Richter scale."
"But you'll be hanging out with
different people," I said. "How will
I be able to find you?".,
"I've done the math," she re-
plied. "On a clear day, you'll be able
to smell me from anywhere in the
county."
"Cool," I said. "That should be
quite the sniffing experience. I'm
really looking forward to it. I feel
like Scooby Doo."
"You're welcome," she said.
"Listen, could you do me a favor?'
"Sure," I said. "What would you
like?"
"Can you run down to the store
and get me a big bucket?" she asked.
"I'll need something to hold theciga-
rette butts."
"Absolutely," I said. "You know
me. I'm always willing to help you
hold butts."
"I don't think I'll ever be able to
run down the street again," she said
"Hell, I don't think I'll ever be able
to get out of bed again without being
out of breath. It's nice. Every time I
walk up a flight of stairs, I'll have to
stop halfway up, before my lungs
burst. It's good to have something to
rely on."
"This is quite a commitment," I
said.
"It is," she agreed, agreeab
"I'm really concentrating on it.
haven't been this proud since the
seventh grade, when I set off that
smoke alarm with a belch."
"That belch was impressive," I
said, reminiscing. "It was a two-
Coker, if I remember correctly."
"One-and-a-half," she said. "But
I had a pack of Fizz Wizz with it, so
you round up to two."
"Right," I said. "Now, suppose
you wanted to repeat that feat. Could
you do it when you're smoking two
packs a day?"
"Depends on the wind," she re-
sponded, respondently. "ButI doubt
it. You see, every time, I want to
belch, I cough."
"So how do you plan to do get
into the addiction?" I asked.
"Well, I'm going to start on 4
couple of Marlboro Lights every
day," she said. 'Then, I'll move up
to a pack, then two packs."
"Then you're all set?" I asked.
"No," she said. "That would take
a few years off my life, but I want to
really mess with my health. When I
get to two packs a day, I'llbe switch-
ing to regular Marlboros, then
Newports."
"Wow," I said. "That sounds like4
you won't ever have to breathe
again."
"Yeah," she said. "That should
be enjoyable for a while, not breath-
ing. But it could get boring."
"Then what?" I inquired, inquisi-
tively.
"Well," she said, "I figure that
thinking may get boring after a while.
That's where the drugs come in. I'14
start with marijuana, then move on
to bigger and better things, like co-
caine and heroin. That should stop
any kind of brain activity. Of course,
I may get bored with not thinking at
all."
Il
H
College Dems
thank voters
of all parties
To the Daily:
On behalf of the U of M
College Democrats, we would
like to thank those students
who exercised their right to
vote on Tuesday. We thank
those of you who voted here in
Ann Arbor and those of you
who voted back home by ab-
sentee ballot. Whether you
voted Democratic, Republican,
or Libertarian is not the issue.
The fact that you did vote is.
Of course we encouraged
students to vote Democratic,
but our main goal was to in-
crease student turnout. We reg-
istered well over 1,000 stu-
dents to vote this Fall, we
brought BOTH local and state
candidates to campus and pro-
vided students with candidate
information, all in an effort to
increase participation. Your
vote and your voice made a
difference in this election.
Those of you who did vote
here in Ann Arbor elected a
Democratic U.S. Congress-
woman, a Democratic State
Senator, two Democratic State
Reps., a Democratic County
Commissioner, and four
Democratic City Council mem-
bers.
For example, in the 4th
Ward, it was the student pre-
cinct (South Quad) that was
responsible for the Democratic
victory for City Council.
We are very thankful for
your participation. Democrats
in Ann Arbor have had a suc-
cessful election day. Our vic-
tories, however, are tempered
by Republican successes across
the nation. We congratulate
both our Democratic and Re-
publican victors. We hope that
the next two years are produc-
tive and that we can work to-
gether to benefit the common
good and improve the commu-
nities in which we live.
Mike Pokrywka
Robin Evans
U of M College Democrats
N
m
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