Ingenuity goes long distance for free calls
BY RODNEY D. ANDERSON
Staff Writer
What this country needs is a free long-distance telephone call.
Thousands of Americans were thinking that last year, hobbling American Telephone and Telegraph for about £27 million in provable revenue losses, by using a little imagination.
Someone makes a long-distance collect call to a friend at a pay phone. The friend accepts the charges, and then answers.
A student calls home person-to-person and asks for himself after a long trip. That information, passed free of charge, lets his parents know he made the trip safely back to school.
Someone calls a refund-control operator on a pay phone, he says, lying just lost money in the bank.
A person who is good at electronics builds a “bite box,” a device that allows the user to dial any where in the world.
Knight said the most common form of phone fraud was the credit card trick. Someone obtains the credit card number of another customer and uses that number as his own.
THESE ARE just a few of the endless schemes to outfox the telephone company. People have tried them all, according to Polly Knight, manager of the Lawrence Southwestern Bell Telephone Office.
She said at least half of the customers in the shop had tried and at least once to cheat the shop company.
"That's just a guess, the number would probably surprise us," Knight said. "People may try it once more."
She said the attitudes of people who rip-off the phone company were interesting to analyze.
"There's nothing tangible about ripping-off the phone company. Knight said. "People really don't care."
telephone company has lots of money, they'll never miss that money."
"PEOPLE LIKE the idea of getting something for nothing. They justify their stealing by saying: The
The losses A.T. 4.T. has incurred are exorbitant.
Last year's loss of $27 million was the greatest since
1972, when losses reached $24 million. In 1976, losses
amounted to $30.3 million.
Those figures represent only the phone thefts A.T&T is aware of, and that the number of such much higher—perhaps 100,000.
According to Knight, there's no way to check the source of the phone thefts or the exact loss each year.
The losses don't amount to much money when compared to A.T.T.&T's total revenues last year, which opposes the phone company says it didn't work hard at sealing out the crooks, the losses would possibly be greater.
THAT'S ONE reason telephone companies request higher rates from the state corporation commission in the telephone company's operating area. The phone company also is lobbying for tougher penalties
for people who are caught defrauding the phone company.
Knight said the honest customer ended up paying for the revenue lost to phone fraud.
"It hurts the honest people the most," she said. "The guy who pays his bill phone bills up paying a bill for those who don't. It's not fair, but it's still an unfair job." It doesn't answer "it's the telephone company and the customer."
"IT'S NOT worth spending the money to
prosecute a first timer," she said. "But we do man-
ufacture them."
Federal penalties are stiff for the cheaters, a maximum of five years in jail and a $1,000 fee. Knight said that the phone company would seek only the maximum penalties for the chronic cheaters.
A University of Kansas student who worked for the Bell System in another state said the penalties were especially harsh. Jake, the student, did not wish to be identified.
"The laws are so heavily stacked in favor of the
phone company it's amazing, "Jake said." If a person steals a thousand dollars worth of long-distance phone time, he can be sent to jail for five years and fined up to $5,000.
"On the other hand, if a person robs a liquor store,
he could be on parole in less than six months or
two."
Jake admitted to be involved in phone fraud. He has three telephones in his modestly-furished off-campus residence. But he is only paying the phone company for one phone connection.
HE SAYS it is simple to do and almost impossible to
detect, if done correctly.
Jake said it was simple to get away with having more than one phone in a residence and paying for the rent.
The telephone company has equipment that measures the amount of current going to each
"The trick is to disconnect the wire leading to the magnet that rings the bell of the telephone," he said.
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY
the amount of current going to each
See LONG DISTANCE page 10
KANSAN
CLOUDY
Vol. 88, No.144
Lawrence, Kansas
Friday May 5,1978
Students react to tuition raise
By DENISE RUPP
Staff Writer
Copies of a petition opposing the tuition rate increase for medical students at the University of Kansas Medical Center were distributed to medical students yesterday.
The petition, which was written by David Carson, a Kansas City, Kan., lawyer, presents the arguments of the medical students against the tuition increase approved in March by the Kansas Board of Regements.
The Regents voted to increase in-state tuition from $1,125 to $3,000 a year and out-net the cost.
Sharon Prohaska, president of the Medical Student Assembly, which represents all 400 medical students, said yesterday that the petitions would be used by Carson in asking for a court injunction to effect a law that would not affect the issue was resolved in court.
SHE SAID Carson planned to file his request for the injunction Monday.
Prohaska said the Assembly decided to hire a lawyer to write the petition because of the allegations.
"Students thought they were getting a raw deal," she said, and "they wanted a legal answer. People were demanding that the Assembly organize to do it."
Between 100 and 200 petitions are expected to be signed by then, Proshkaa said. More than 100 have already been signed, but the problem now is getting petitions to students at the Wichita branch and those who are working at various hospitals.
ALTHOUGH STUDENTS still favor using that money, Prohaska said, there is some question about whether the Assembly is allowed to pay for litigation.
Kay Saving, a representative on the Assembly, said that students voted several months ago to use funds from the Assembly's budget, the lawyer and to pay for the injunction.
"I don't know how much we can depend on the Assembly for money," she said. "It may have to be independently funded by the students."
Carson was the second lawyer contacted by the students. The original lawyer was replaced because he failed to begin working on the case for more than a month.
Carson wrote the petition after Prohaska and Saving gave him copies of the contracts, fees schedules and other materials they had received as medical students and outlined
for him the arguments the students thought were most important.
Saving the petition would serve as the students' official position paper on the issue.
THE PETITION has two major points, according to Prohaska. The first is that the students received a comprehensive fee schedule for their entire medical education and that they must indicate that the sudden increase in tuition will create drastic financial hardships for them.
The second point is that the tuition increase is not being made for financial reasons, but is part of a plan of the Regents and the Kansas Legislature to force students to practice in Kansas following graduation.
A bill passed by the Legislature would exempt students from paying tuition if they agreed to practice in Kansas and would allow students to be paid an additional $500 a month if they agreed to practice in medically underserved areas of the state.
"WE'RE NOT trying to start a war with the Board of Regents," Prohaska said, "but don't see how they can deal with this happening like this happened at KU, you know students would complain."
In describing the students' chances of successfully challenging the increase, what do you think about these statements?
"Students are probably the underdogs," she said. "But I don't think it's as clearc legaly as some people are saying. Although the general public isn't behind us, I think a lot of people at the Med Center are sympathetic to our cause."
Veteran fisherman
Archie Noble, 1634 Rhode Island St. did his fishing yesterday on a sand bar just east of
the old Massachusetts street bridge, on the Kaw River. Noble has been fishing on the Kaw since he came to Lawrence in 1943.
Staff Writer
Senate cheers free speech, chides Kansan
The University Senate passed two resolutions yesterday, one chastising the University Daily Kansan and the other a resolution supporting freedom of speech.
By CAROLINE TROWBRIDGE
Carl Leban, associate professor of East Asian studies, presented the resolution to the Senate, which lacked a quorum. About 140 members of the 1,408-member Senate were present, nearly 140 fewer than a quorum.
The resolution criticizing the Kansan stated "the Senate of the University of Kansas condemns the blatantly anti-Semitic cartoon which appeared in the University Daily Kansan of 24 April 1978."
The other resolution passed by the Senate was a resolution approved by the University Council a week ago and amended with a request from the Senate executive committee.
THE RESOLUTION was introduced by
Robert Friedau, professor of physics and astronomy.
The resolution endorsed freedom of speech at KU and urged "all segments of the University to reaffirm their unwavering support of a firm commitment on the side of compassion, sensitivity and deep concern for the sensibilities of all groups of society."
The Senate rejected a resolution by Leban that opposed the Friufi resolution.
Leban said yesterday that he thought the Kansan cartoon was offensive.
"THE CARTOON was anti-Semitic and biotased," he said.
Joe Bartos, Kansan staff artist who drew the cartoon, said that the cartoon depicted a "demonstrator holding a 'Bang Nazi Art' sign walking over a trampled and aslomised administration figure who says in their book *Requirements require different solutions, don't they?*
"The cartoon was improper for journalists, especially learning journalists, especially learning journalists on a University campus," Leban said.
"I was trying to represent a different policy by the administration concerning two different protests in two different ways." Bartos said.
He said that the protestors he referred to were a protest at a speech by former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and a protest against Israel's policies, like the Rise and Fall of Hitler's Germany.
Barbara Rosewicz, Kansan editor, said that she reviewed the cartoon before it was made.
"THE KANSAN is not anti-Semitic and has proved so by its record," she said.
He said that the cartoon appealed to stereotypes and preconceptions that people
rosewicz said the Senate resolution was unfair and unjust.
"As with any work of art, a cartoon is open to interpretation. The cartoonist was merely making a statement after the closing of the exhibit," she said.
Bartos said he thought that the ad-
dress would be a total reversal of waifu and a total reversal of policy.
Chancellor Archie R. Dykes said he had not seen the cartoon in the paper.
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
have more important and better things
See KU* SENATE* nare 13
News Capsules
From the Associated Press, United Press International
S. Africa attacks Angola
CAPE TOWN, South Africa—South African troops invaded southern Angola yesterday in an effort to counter a build-up of guerrillas from the South West African People's Republic. In response, the U.S. Defense Department minister, announced yesterday. See story page two.
BONN, Germany—Soviet President Leonid Brezhnev, in apparent ill health, spoke to West German officials yesterday about the perils of the neutron bomb. It was his second visit to West Germany and was made to push a series of proposals on disarmament and economic cooperation. See story page two.
Brezhnev protests bomb
Weather ..
The dreary drizzle of yesterday might be gone, but a 30 percent chance of showers remains for today and
The high temperature today will be in the mid 50s, dropping to the 30s tonight. Tomorrow's temperature should reach about 50, according to the National Weather Service.
NEW YORK—Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, speaking in New York during his tour to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Israel's independence, called for resumption of peace talks but refused to burden
Begin
from his hard-line stand on a Palestinian homeland.
His arrival in New York signaled the end of his week-long tour through Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington and New York.
Begin ends tour, wants negotiations
Locally...
Prescription drug prices are often too high, doctors and
caregivers in these groups differ over a remedy pres-
ched by the Kaiser Permanente.
The Legislature passed a bill this session that allows patients to ask their doctors to prescribe generically labeled medicines instead of the more expensive brand-name drugs. The doctors say the drugs might not be the same chemically; the drugglers say there isn't that much difference. See story page nine.
Competency education bill signed
Rv TIM SHEEHY
Staff Writer
A bill that sets into motion the testing of Kansas school children to determine their educational competency was signed into law yesterday by Gov. Robert F. Bennett.
The two-year pilot program in competency-based education will begin next year in those school districts that volunteer for the program. In 1980 the program will be extended to all 307 school districts in Kansas.
Tests in math and reading, made up by the state board of education, will be given to students in second, fourth, sixth, eighth and eleventh grades. School districts are free to add any other subjects they deem appropriate.
THE BOARDS OF education in the
various school districts will decide whether to volunteer for the program the first year
The program will be discontinued at the end of the second year unless the 1981 Kansas Legislature finds the results of the program favorable and votes to continue
CARL KNOX, superintendent of schools in Lawrence, agreed that the competency-testing program in Lawrence schools was to spot children with educational problems.
Charles Oldfather, a member of the board of education for Lawrence Unified School District, didn't discuss the matter yet but that he thought the program wasn't needed in the Lawrence school district because his own school already adopted their own testing program.
Knox said if there were no changes in the bill, the Lawrence School District would participate when the program was put into action in two years.
"At this point, competency-based education isn't a major concern to us," Knox said. "We began our program long before the Legislature got into this, and we don't want to deter ourselves from what we are already doing."
Dale Scannell, dean of the School of Education at KU, said that sentiment among faculty members in the school was split regarding the issue.
SCANNEL SAID that many instructors in the School of Education thought that the program would only serve to remind unsuccessful students of their failure and wouldn't be successful in upgrading existing remedial programs.
TESTS NOW being drawn up by the Kansas Department of Education will focus on basic reading and math skills in the second, fourth, sixth and eighth grades, but the test for the eleventh grade will focus on "life skills."
The life skills test will seek to determine whether students are competent to perform survival functions such as balancing a checkbook or applying for a job.