Berkeley’s Tau House may have to pay up
UC Berkeley’s Tau House  which has battled for years with
city rent regulators over whether it overcharged its predominantly
foreign student residents  could be forced to slash its rent
and reimburse tenants as the result of a court decision handed down
last week.
In a four-page decision filed on Wednesday, Alameda County
Superior Court Judge Sandra Margulies denied a request made by the
attorney representing Alpha Epsilon Phi, Tau Housing Association to
protect the former sorority from city rent regulations.
The judge instead granted the city’s rent stabilization board
authority to lower rent charged by Tau House management, which
currently runs upwards of $1,050 a month.
This decision means that they are subject to rent control like
any other boarding house," said city attorney Donald Tine.
Although city officials have not decided when they will start
enforcing the court’s ruling, they could now demand that Tau House
officials pay more than $50,000 to the approximately 30 tenants who
filed complaints against the nonprofit housing operation in 1992,
according to Tine.
Tau House management has stated that it is not overcharging
residents because the rent students pay includes the cost of food
and also helps fund laundry facilities, recreation rooms and
cleaning services.
"The city is wrong," said Tau House attorney Michael Ciraolo of
last week’s ruling. "It’s not the last word."
Ciraolo, who had not received the decision as of last Friday,
said he was not certain what course of action he planned to take
with the case.
According to court rules, Tau House representatives have 60 days
to file an appeal to Margulies’ latest decision.
Part of the ruling stated that there was "substantial evidence"
showing that the Tau House failed to meet three of the stipulations
agreed to in 1984, including lack of "active" members and no tenant
representation in decisions influencing housing rent levels.
Brown speaks at UC Berkeley
Former California Gov. Jerry Brown spoke with more than 300
students at UC Berkeley Wednesday, mocking President Clinton for
inviting wealthy donors to spend the night in the White House.
When pressed by attendees, Brown remained noncommittal on
whether he has considered running for political office in the
future. Brown has been named as a potential candidate in Oakland’s
next mayoral race.
Brown cancelled his daily radio show to speak to a political
science class that meets once a week to hear different political
speakers.
In his speech, Brown said he was flabbergasted that political
donors would, in effect, pay thousands of dollars to sleep in the
White House. Brown said that Republicans also have embraced their
own brand of unsavory fund-raising tactics.
"Our government is like a whorehouse," Brown said. "Politicians
are selling themselves for funding."
Following his attack on political financing, Brown switched his
focus to the state government, saying that it was spending too much
money on prisons and too little on education.
Explaining that when he enrolled at UC Berkeley in 1960 it cost
just $100 per semester to attend the university, Brown blamed
subsequent fee hikes on a shift among state legislators, who came
to emphasize prisons and law enforcement rather than education.
Brown cited the 19 new prisons built in California during the
last 10 years as a big part of the problem, and contrasted this
with the single state college built in the same period of time. He
attributed the surge in prisons to the addition of over 100 new
crimes that require imprisonment and said the problem is that most
college students and prison inmates don’t vote.
Professor Alan Ross said that he continues to ask Brown back
because of his unique commentary.
"He raises issues not raised by other speakers," Ross said. "He
realizes that problems are not refined, but systemwide."
Compiled from Daily Bruin wire services.