Poor conditions prompt rent strike
By PATTI MINTON
Of the Emerald
Eighteen tenants in an apart
ment house at 754 East 13th St.
(next to the Sun Shop) have
organized a rent strike over poor
sanitary conditions and fire
hazards
According to tenant Diane
Aiken, the renters can legally
withhold their rent for 10 days
before they can be evicted or
their personal belongings con
fiscated
Among their complaints are
fungus in the showers, mold in
the refrigerators, a dangerous
furnace, undefrosted freezer and
unpredictable water heater
In addition to the apartments,
the large green house is occupied
by Yankee Clipper Import Shop
and Kampus Kopy. The two
owners of Kampus Kopy. Bill
Muir and Bruce Poinsette.
manage the upstairs residences
Dean one of leasees
Muir and Poinsette are also two
of four partners in MPS Services,
Inc which is subleasing the
building A third member of MPS
Services is Emmett Williams.
Assistant Dean of Financial Aid
at the University. The cor
poration's lawyer is State
Senator Ed Fadeley of Eugene
A local real estate firm, Cougtll
and Hansen, actually owns the
property, however the tenants
allege that Williams and MPS
Services are in the process of
purchasing the lease Williams
denied the allegation Tuesday.
Because of William's alleged
connection to the building, most
of the tenants who receive
financial aid or are on the work
study program refused to be
identified
Miss Aiken. Karen Hagar and
Mary Welsh did consent to outline
the conditions which prompted
the strike, however
According to the tenants, there
were three different managers
for the aoartments when the girls
Fee committee sets
ASUO Senate hearing
i ne proposed guidelines for the
establishment of incidental fee
budgets at the University will be
presented to the ASUO Senate
Thursday evening for its ap
proval.
University President Robert
Clark appointed an ad hoc
committee to establish these
guidelines after the State Board
of Higher Education decided to
allow individual institutions to
establish their own incidental
fees
Fee measure
sent to floor
House bill 1589, the measure
which will guarantee fixed
amounts of money from in
cidental fees for student
governments, athletic depart
ments, and student unions at the
three major Oregon universities,
will go to the House floor Wed
nesday, April 21
As the bill is amended, student
governments would receive $5
per student per term, the athletic
departments get $6 and student
unions get $5
The State Board of Higher
Education will retain a measure
of control over the expenditure of
funds *'as the board deems
necessary or advantageous for
the students of the institution."
Under the existing system,
students of the University are in
direct competition with athletic
departments and other activities
for funds University students are
now paying $28 per term, of
which $7 goes to the athletic
departments
The University athletic
department had requested $10
per term dunng the hearing,
hoping to be included in the fixed
amount of monies available
The Incidental Fee Committee
is in no way connected with the
Fiscal Committee which is now in
the process of hearing testimony
concerning next year’s budget
At a meeting Tuesday af
ternoon, the committee decided
to add educational activities to
the list of Major Budget Ac
tivities This means that a
decrease in any of the
educational activities cannot
exceed 10 per cent of the
preceding year's allocation
without being submitted to the
student body on a referendum
and approved by a majority of
the student body
President Clark recommended
that a certain per cent of the
student body should have to
approve the decrease and that it
should be based on two con
secutive year budgets instead of
one
The other programs in the
major budget activities are the
Athletic Department and the Erb
Memorial Union
The other major division of
programs is the Minor Budget
Activities and the guidelines say
that "There shall be no specific
budgetary limitations placed on
Fiscal Hearings
Follow ing is the schedule for
today's ASUO Fiscal Com
mittee hearings
2pm EMU
t 3(1 pm Illahe school
5pm SAIF
7pm Proposal for a major
environmental education
project focusing on wilder
ness
7:30 pn, Chicano Student
Union
8 p m Sesamex
8 30 p m ASUO Executive
Branch
DUCK FANS
ms AHD THOSE OF YOU r
WHO JUST LIKE TO
JUMP AMO SCREAM
* LOT . . .
(J of 0 Rally Squad try-out* bofin
APRIL 26
Petifions available 3rd Floor. EMU
and due Friday. April 33 by 5:00
An orientation meeting for all interested males and
females w>Jl be Wednesday. April 21 at 6 30 p m in
EMU (Room will be posted)
changes in Minor Budget Ac
tivities
Clark's two recommendations
will hr* submitted along with the
other proposed guidelines to the
ASUO Senate to get the Senate's
reaction Its approval is not of
firially necessary
Another point that Clark made
was hr* would like to only concern
himself with the reviewing of the
major areas and have a
representative other than himself
set* to it that the minor areas and
the traditionally funded areas
"get their day in court," KMU
Director Dick Reynolds told the
committee members Tuesday.
The guidelines which the
committee has been working on
for the past several weeks will
not become final until they ape
approved by President Clark an*
the State Board of (education
moved in (all term Different
tenants were told different things
about janitorial service," said
one girl, including which parts of
the building would lx* cleaned
regularly,
Kach tenant paid a $25 cleaning
deposit "Fall term it was
discovered that the refrigerator
generated mold',” a renter
explained The girls then asked
their managers for specific
commitments concerning
sanitation and repairs, however
none were made they said
(Ui front range
During winter term, the
tenants discovered gas emissions
from the "antiquated" range in
the Kitchen as well as a water
heater whose pilot light often
gllt'S out
According to one renter, a gas
heater ignited on the first day of
the term and caused considers hie
smoke damage to one girl's
room
Teruints report that the house
has three different types of
heating facilities gas. elec
tricity and steam
To air their complaints, the
renters met with ASIIO Tenants
Union director Jim Teasdale
They later notified the City
Building Commission and City
Fire Inspector In the time
between the inis'ting and the fire
inspectors visit, the girls
reported that Muir and Poinsette
suggested rausing rent $2 50 per
room to cover the coat of fixing
the furnace
Assistant Fire Marshall ('apt
Floyd Dickey found the gas range
and furnace to tie unsafe and the
leaky refrigerator to be a fire
hazard He also noted that access
to the two fire escapes was
through individual rooms
According to the tenants, were
the rooms to be locked in the
event of a fire, the doors would
have to be forced open to reach
the escapes
The fire inspector issued a
compliance order to the
managers regarding the range,
furnace and fin' escapes, but
according to the tenants only a
"band-aid approach" was taken
Inspector Dickey told the
KmeraM Tuesday that he had the
furnace fixed "the very next
day " Tenants report that the
faulty range was replaced and
the firt exits marked, however,
"resentment built up." one
renter added
Itrvpondbility unclear
Th«> girls remained unsure as to
who hold responsibility for
cleaning the bathrooms,
hallways and kitchen floor They
maintain that the managers were
responsible for sanitation on a
regular basis, hut report that
Muir and Potiwettc "continually
complained about money "
The tenant s latest tactic is the
rent strike The renters recently
signed a statement of intent
listing their complaints and
presented it to Muir and Coin
setle
"The managers don't know
how long the rent is to lie
withheld," stated one girl,
although this will moat likely
come to a head within tin* next
three days In addition, the
tenants re {hit! that the managers
have not acknowledged the strike
or commented on it
According to the girls, their
strike represent* about $aoo In
withheld rent payments
Because of the building's
condition, the tenant turnover
this year has been extensive,
according to the current renter*
Of the lit original girls who
moved in fall term, wily seven
are still living (Imre
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