The Michigan Daily-Thursday, June 1,8, 19$1--Page3 AATU urges tenant activism By PAMELA KRAMER Daily staff writer "What'll you do?" sigh thousands of students, year after year, about Ann Arbor's "unique" housing situation. The woes of high rents and sometimes poor living conditions in the city are endlessly voiced as students throw up their hands in exasperation ... and usually do nothing more. The hesitancy of students to do something more than whine about housing conditions is a problem, according to members of the Ann Arbor Tenant's Union. Housing rates and conditions do not have to be controlled absolutely by landlords, they say, if only tenants would take an active role in trying to change the situation. THE AATU WAS founded when tenants-many of them students-did exactly that. In 1968, local housing conditions were generally worse than they are now. One day that year, a sign was posted on the wall of ail apartment building on E. Hoover. The sign read: "Join the Tenant's Union Rent Strike." Within three months, 1,500 tenants had pledged to withhold their rent in what was hailed as the nation's largest rent strike. Rent strikes-withholding rent in an escrow ac- count for maintenance-have become fairly common over the last several years, according to AATU member Dale Cohen. And, he said, they are perfectly legal and valid. IN MICHIGAN, Cohen explained, there is a legal understanding between the tenant and landlord: If rent is paid, the place has to be well-maintained. But things don't always work out that way. Tenants of one house cited by Cohen went to move in, and found there were no locks or latches, but there were more than 100 bags of trash in the backyard. The lan- dlord, Dale Newman, "just didn't do any maintenan- ce," Cohen said. According to Cohen, this is not uncommon. In another house Cohen described, support beams in the basement had been cut for heating installation; the chimney had "fallen through the ceiling," there were no smoke detectors, and there were half a dozen other problems. "Typically, not so many things happen at once," Cohen said. But if the place isn't well-maintained, and if the landlord ignores requests for repairs, withholding rent is the "most effective" line of action a tenant can take, he said, explaining that it's like saying to a landlord, "Look, you're not going to get any money from us without the repairs. Why not spend a little on the repairs; you'll still be ahead." ONCE A RENT strike has been initiated, the lan- dlord will probably try to sue for the money. At that point, Cohen advised, tenants should talk to someone from the Tenant's Union or Legal Services, and the next action is usually the filing of a counterclaim that the landlord didn't hold up his or her part of the rental agreement. "In some cases, people have gotten back more (in compensation) than they paid in rent," Cohen said. Last spring, tenants of the house at 736 S. State St. See AATU, Page 11 Doctors in Michigan: surplus or shortage? By JENNIFER MILLER Daily staff writer In the next ten years, Michigan may suffer from either a severe shortage or a severe surplus of doctors, depending on who you believe. Conflicting reports on the state's needs for doctors have been issued by the state Office of Health and Medical Affairs and a private research firm commissioned by the state Senate. The Public Sector Consultants' report ACKIE BELL to a Senate study group recommends that medical school enrollments be maintained at the present level, as it reports there will be a shortage of doc- tors. OHMA HAS asked for a reduction in enrollments to stave off the future sur- plus of doctors it predicts. The two reports agree on one point: there is a need for state planning to create incentives that will lure doctors to medically underserved areas in Michigan. Gerald Faverman, president of PSC, said, "There are 70 counties he mayor, (out of 83) in the state that either don't have doctors or have a below-average" epartmen- distribution. cated. For "Our difficulty is that we need to do of heavy things to encourage retention and bet- t may have ter distribution of physicians, and there is not stress more primary care," Faverman ts and the said. THERE IS evidence that "increased m glad we supply has relieved maldistribution," vent along Faverman said. Research indicates jor Walter that "where students finish residency is d he would where they're most apt to settle. We n" twice a think we need a continuing supply of doctors," he said. emergency Elliot Wicks, chief of special studies eople about and analysis at OHMA, disagrees. "It is d cut down highly unlikely that an increase (of doc- tors) will result in doctors going to emergency shortage areas," he said. "Most oothly, but physicians will continue to go to the were some same areas they go to now," adding to the unequal distribution and increased alistic, yet health care costs, he said. you see the Wicks said the conflicting reports are hitting city a result of "differences in See DOCTORS, Page 10 Daily Photo byJ Exploring the underworld Two young children carefully investigate a sewer grate on campus near the Diag. RADIATION, FIRE, AND TORNADOES: Mock disasters hiei By JOHN ADAM Daily staff writer Yesterday was a busy day for the city's emergency per- sonnel. A tornado ripped through Ann Arbor, splitting the city in two and destroying countless homes and businesses. Train cars derailed in the area, spilling radioactive materials. Trees fell around the city, blocking streets and tearing down telephone and electric wires, and a major fire broke out at the hospital. ALL OF THIS happened over the course of one and a half hours during the city's disaster simulation. And though it would be an exaggeration to say the only real disaster was the operation itself, the mayor and other city officials all acknowledged that the city was less than well prepared to deal with such crises., Secretaries and police explorers shuffled back and forth between departmental desks marked "Disaster Court," "Fire," "Shelter Operations," and a half dozen others in the mock disaster preparedness operation conducted in City Hall's basement yesterday afternoon. THE TOTAL OPERATION took about one and a half hours. At the end, Belcher recommended that the city change the emergency system. "The problem is we don't have the communications," said the mayor, "and we need to prioritize problems." The communications between the departments might be aided by a more centralized approach, said tl possibly by using a computer. He said under the current system individual d ts don't know how the city's total resources are allo instance, one department may have a surplus equipment and personnel, and another department a severe shortage. Yet, under the present system, t much contact between the different departmen inequities would remain. "WE MADE AN awful lot of mistakes and I' made them," said Sprenkel, who coordinated the e with the director of the city's Civil Defense, Ma Hawkins, of the police department. Hawkins saii like to see an "Emergency Operation Simulatio year. Last July an authentic disaster caused a real f in Ann Arbor. Belcher reminded the crowd of 50 pf the July, 1980 storm that caused trees to topple an wires producing multiple fires and blocking roads. HE SAID THAT two years ago the city had anE simulation like this and that everything, went sm when real disaster struck last July there v problems. The tone of yesterday's simulation was re Hawkins noted one contrived convenience: "If3 path of the tornado, we purposely avoided it 1 hall."