Newspaper Page Text
C C Students Irked
PANTHER NOVEMBER, 1977
Continued from Page 1
Of them, 54 percent said
they feel the rent is too much,
and 46 percent said it would be
reasonable if conditions in the
four categories improved
considerably.
Reflecting the frustration
that many students feel at trying
to get Clark to listen to and act
upon their complaints one
s’udent said, “People should be
more considerate of tenants as
far as respecting their
requests.”
William W. Morrell,
direc'or of Business Affairs at
Clark, said that although Clark
owns the apartments, the day to
day operation of them is the
responsibility of BMC Realty, of
which Carter Coleman is the
manager. Coleman has a
resident manager in the Bir
dcage 'o handle tenant corn-
plain's.
Morrell said that the trash
problem, which used to produce
insec’s and rodents is under
con'rol, but he admitted that
'here still is a problem with rats
and roaches in the apartments.
, Cornelia Primous, resident
direc'or at CCC, added that
of>en when the exterminator
visi's, he must skip some
apar’ments because students
are not home. She suggested
'ha' students should be told
ahead of time when the ex-
'erminator will be spraying so
'ha' 'hey could arrange to have
'heir apartments open.
Concerning repairs,
ton ,’sr. .•s.
22QC* rjr! li*i* V?; ;> -
Continued from Page 1
Morrell said if he received
specific repair request, he
would see that something is
done.
He pointed out that every
time glass is broken out in the
sliding doors of students’
apartments, the replacement
cost is $72. Clark had seven
sliding doors replaced in May,
he said.
Morrell indicated that Clark
had placed 'he fense around the
cour's for security.
Moreover, after nightfall all
ga'es are sealed and after
midnigh' anyone entering the
cour's mus' show his or her
idemifica'ion, he said.
A'lan'a University Center
securi'y patrols about every half
hour, according to Morrell, so
'ha' 'here are more than one
securi'y guard in the courts. He
said 'here has never been any
losses or break-ins to his
knowledge.
Clark has spent $30,000 to
furnish 20 complete apartments
'his year, Morrell said.
However, the resident manager
dis'ributes the furniture among
'he apar'men's; therefore,
Morrell could not verify how the
furni’ure has been dispensed.
On the subject of fur
nishings, Primous said that
s'uden's are not blameless.
“They must learn to take care of
'he furniture as if they were at
home,” she said.
Primous emphasized that
s'uden's also have respon
sibilities, common to all tenants,
Convocation
of keeping their individual
apartments clean and taking
good care of the furnishings
therein.
"I know that Clark has not
forgotten the students in the
courts, but it takes time and
s'uden's have to be patient. 1
agree with many of the corn-
plain's."
Morrell said the late Clark
Presiden' Vivian W. Henderson
had planned before his death to
raise $250,000 to fix up and
furnish 'he courts. He added, “1
agree 'hat 85 percent of the
s'udents’ complaints are true,
but we have limited funds and
mus' make judgments about
where to spend them in the
cour's.
"Our aim is to outfit every
apartment up there and make
'hem liveable. It’s a slow,
'edious process and we have to
do 'he best we can."
Claiming to have heard
mos' of 'he complaints for the
firs* 'ime, both Morrell and
Primous suggested that
s’udents might get better
resul's if they filled out three
copies of requests for repairs
and presented one copy to
Morrell, one copy to Primous
(who will deliver them to the
resident manager) and retain
one copy ;for their records.
Priihdus added that
s'udents may also pick up an
“Apar'ment Condition Sheet”
from her at apartment C-30 and
list repairs needed in their
apartments.
m • - .
“If somehow a member of
the Supreme Court should vote
for Bakke and the same court
which gave us the 1954 court
decision, which gave rise to the
60’s, all of a sudden finds itself
standing in the school house
door,” he said, “that is indeed
something that is a serious
matter for all of us.”
Blake, dressed in a dark pin
striped suit, said that Blacks
should be aware of some facts
about their status in this society.
“We've been assaulted by
law enforcement bodies, court
systems, political, economical,
educational and religious in-
stitutitions in this society,” he
said.
“Up until the sixth decade
in this century, all of these
institutions excluded Blacks.”
Blake said that the ex
clusion of Black men were not
unjust according to whites
rather they were a natural result
of the inherit limitations of
Black men.
The argument by whites
has always gone, “one cannot
expect a society to endanger
itself by allowing incompetence
into key areas of responsibility
in American life,” he said.
“In the early 70’s the now
vice-president Richard Mondale
held hearings to give scholars
the opportunity to deal with the
work of Jensen, which put forth
that black men might well K<»
inferior,” he said. “The
problem with their education
was not the quality of the
eudcation but the quality of the in th< • Bakke cause issue the
mind, Jensen argued. same old refrain.
Blake said that the "The argument is still the
hearings produced over 900 same — that Blacks who are
pages. inferior are going to debauch
“The way I look at it is why the medical school, drag down
in the world it would take 900 their standards. quality;
Photo by Kenneth Hodges
pages of arguments about the
Black man’s equality or the fact
that his brains worked just like therefore, something must be
white men. done to keep them out.”
“It’s somewhat frightening Blake said that Black in-
and chilling to think that sort of stitutions like Clark must find
thing is still going on.” methods and approaches which
Blake said the arguements W 'M deal w '^ the development
Housing!
Continued from page 1
Prior to the rent increase,
the tenant group investigated
the WSU Housing Authority
budget and found no
justification for an increase.
After the increase was initiated,
the group retaliated by not
paying the increase. The
University retaliated by saying
it would place holds on records
at fall registration.
At this time, the outcome is
uncertain. Next week’s
registration will show how
successful the boycott was. The
group lost some support from
summer students who left, said
member Robin Watt, but with
another rent increase expected
in January, increased resistance
is 'o be expected.
Tenant unions organized
on a city or state wide basis
seem to be enjoying the most
success, mostly in the form of
rent control ordinances. These
laws set up a system of when
and how much rent can be
increased. Rent control groups
meet opposition frequently from
landlord and real estate
organizations who are usually
backed by large sums of money.
Progress often takes on a see
saw format.
Last year in California, for
example, real estate interest in
the form of the California
Housing Council backed a bill
prohibiting local rent control.
Several citizen groups, in
cluding the AFL-CIO, the
California Renter’s Coalition,
the National Council of Senior
Citizens, and the California
League of Cities, joined to
oppose the bill, which was saved
five minutes before it was to
become law when Governor
Jerry Brown vetoed it.
During last spring’s
primary, the Housing Council
of black minds.
“We must give them (Black
Students) a sense of their own
intellectual power, confidence in
their own ability to achieve, and
to do it in a framework which
informs them about the larger
social and political context
within which educated Black
Americans must function.”
Blake said that on one side
Black schools must develop
professional competence of the
first order and technical
proficiency of the first order.
“On the other side, we
must develop abiding insight
into the fact that any educated
Black amerjcan has a
responsibility to deal with the
current that still flows in
American life from the time of
Jensen to the current and future
time of Bakke.”
Page 3
reportedly raised over $300,000
and contributed over $40,000 to
key legislators, they are ex
pected to back a similar bill this
legislative term, relying on a
June 16 Supreme Court decision
affecting a pro-tenant rent
control initiative passed in
Berkeley. It was declared un
constitutional because it would
have confiscated landlords'
property.
Similarly, in Florida two
local rent control laws passed in
1969 and 1973 for Miami Beach
were declared unconstitutional
before a third one was adopted
in 1974. This one lasted until
December of last year, when it
was defeated by City Council.
The tenants are back at it, this
time with a petition drive for a
voter referendum.
Once rent control is in
stituted in a city, studies show
definite effects. After
Washington, DC passed a rent
ordinance in 1974, income from
garden units rose only 5 peccent
during 1974-75 in comparison to
7.6 percent in Maryland and 8.6
percent in Virginia. Elevator
apartments showed
corresponding percentages. The
figures in DC may change,
'hough, as a new law passed in
August, 1976, allowing lan
dlords to raise rent higher and
more often.
Rent control groups have
found their task not to be an
easy one. But their struggle
could reconstruct the basics of
real estate. Rent control, says
Professor Beau Brincefield of
'he American University
business school, will “alter the
concept of property being
viewed as a social resource that
must be committed to the best
in'erest of society.”
Lpe Elected
Dr. Carson Lee, professor
of pyschology at Clark, has been
elected to the Atlanta Board of
Education.
In the run-off election on
October 18. Lee was elected by a
whopping 63% margin over Earl
Starling in the 5th district race.
Lee, who was supported by
such organizations as the
Atlanta Association of
Educators, the American
Federation of State. County,
and Municipal Employees
(AFSCME), and Parents for
Poli'ical Action, and by such
noted individuals as Julian
Bond, Q.V. Williamson, Ira
Jackson, and Arthur Langford,
had a surprising victory over
Starling.
Lee said, “It’s surprising
for an unknown to win by such a
large margin.”
PANTHER STAFF
Co-Editors Deborah Lipscomb, Thomas Torrrence
News Editor - Larry Simpson
Features Editor - Benita McShan
Layout Editor - Ann L. Wead
Sports Editor - Rita Twinkle Campbell
Photographers - Jerome Bailey, Kenneth Hodges
Staff Writers - Charles Anderson, Suleiman Azeez, Vererly
Byrd,. Jerome Gwinn, Robin L. Johnson, Maricia Jones, Gail
McCIary, Nedra Powell, Robert A. Richardson, Christine
Williams, Yvette Williams, Eliza Woods.