Cable service thefts stimulate crackdown
Staff Writer
By JAN SMITH
They are TV thieves, but they steal the cable programs instead of the sets.
Sunflower Cablevision plans to crack down this year on illegal tapping of cablevision and Home Box
According to Kansas State Statute No. 21-3752, the cable of television services referred to cable services obtained by means of threat, deception, electrical, mechanical or electronic tampering.
John Dennis, general manager of Sunflower Cablevision, 644 New Hampshire, said recently that he decided to actively prosecute Lawrence residents for assaulting his office. He offered first-run movies, sports and special programs.
"In the last six months we decided to get tough because when people illegally use cable and HBO, they are in violation of Kansas statute concerning theft of service," he said.
ILLEGAL USE of cable television is a class C
misdemeanor and the maximum penalty in Kansas is $500 and one month in jail.
Dennis said there were about 8,000 basic cable subscribers in Lawrence last year and about 1,500 HBO subscribers. He said he did not know how much money Sunflower Cablevision lost from people illegally installing cable on their own, but even if the amount were small he said he would prosecute.
"When someone uses cable television or HBO without paying for it, that deprives us of revenue." he added. "I use cable TV for free."
Cable television costs $7 a month. To subscribe to HBO, viewers must also subscribe to cable. HBO costs an additional $10.30 a month with an installation fee of $10.35.
WHEN SUNFLOWER Cablevision started operation in 1972, the beginning rates for cable were $5.99 a month. HBO, which became available in Lawrence on October 5, 1976, has remained at $10.99 a month.
Community Antenna Television (CATV), the cable
Sunflower Cablevision receives broadcast signals from distant stations and transmits them by wire to Lawrence cable viewers. Signals for HBO are received from microwave transmissions by a
association Sunflower Cablevision belongs to, asked for a rate increase in 1970 because of cost increases. (The answer was that the rate increase was $25.)
Cabcision regions are regulated by the city. The quality and standards of its broadcerts are regulated by the state.
ACCORDING TO Mike Malone, Douglas County attorney, two cases concerning the use of cable service have gone to court in the last month and are pending sentence. There were two convictions last fall.
Malone said the usual penalty was $130 and an order to make restitution as a condition of probation. This means that violators must pay Sunflower Cablevision HDS services $4800 in both equally as well as a $40 court cost.
be pretty expensive TV," Malone said. "Several people in the audience have gone ahead and paid the bill with the money."
"After paying all these bills, cable TV turns out to
"It seems more economical to them to pay the monthly fee rather than to chance more court cases."
Malaone said there had been no HBO cases in evidence because evidence needed to prosecute was not available.
"THERE IS no HBO case unless we have a perfect case," he said. "When we prosecute for illegal HBO use, we are prosecuting for illegal use of cable services."
HBO is connected in much the same manner as basic cable. A cable runs from the utility pole, usually located in the back of the building, to the television set. To obtain HBO without paying for it a person would have to buy or make a device for unscrambling the HBO picture code.
"if the people买 a descrambler, we'd have no problem detecting that and we'd have an excellent
case," Malone said. "But when people use homemade devices for using HBO the question becomes "Can we prosecute someone under the statute for using his own devices?"
According to law, only the person or persons subscribing to HBO can use it. Large living groups, such as sororites and fraternities, are prohibited from using HBO on television sets in their living rooms. But they may subscribe to it for their individual bedrooms.
Dennis said that thus far he had no problem with illiteral HBO use in those places.
Dennis said, "If we do discover that these large living groups use HBO, we will disconnect it and move on."
HOWEVER, ONE student in a large living group said he had cable installed on a central television and that people living there had attached a describerman to it that enabled the entire group to watch HBO.
See CABLE page 12
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Lawrence, Kansas
Thursday April 13,1978
Senate to raise student health fee
By GENELINN Staff Writer
The University of Kansas Student Senate last night raised the student health fee, slashed the budget requests of several minority groups and sent the International Club's budget request back to a joint committee for further study.
the senate took these actions during a
and a half hour meeting on the second
night.
In its first meeting Tuesday, the Senate heard budget recommendations from one of
Watkins Hospital officials said an in-
tended patient can be held for the hospital to keep a large reserve pool.
The Senate voted to raise the current $38.50 health fee by $7.50 to $46.00. This action was taken after the Senate voted down a proposed $8.75 increase.
HE EXPLAINED that Watkins would be without funds from July 1 until student health fees are collected in August or September.
This fund is needed to pay the hospital's bills for July and August and to provide an emergency fund that would be used in case of an emergency. The Wollman, director of health services, said.
Classified workers include nurses, cooks and labtechicians.
James Strobl, associate director of health services, said that expected large pay hikes for classified hospital workers and a sizable increase in social security payments had prompted the hospital officials to ask for a fee increase.
"I think that an $8.75 rise is too large and that it should be as small as possible to achieve this goal."
Mike Harper, student body president, supported the hospital's request but did not agree to it.
WOLLMANN HAD SAID at least a $7.50 increase in fuel efficiency, but ran efficiently. Harper said.
After approving the increase, the Senate turned to budget recruitment. The Finance Committee and Committee are
quacky got into a long debate about cutting minority student groups' budget requests.
A number of Senators said the groups did not have a large enough membership to represent their views.
Susan Reger, committee chairman, said that although BAISA had only 21 members, the board was fully engaged.
Robert Gorton, La Conner, Wash,
graduate student, said the Black American
Law Students' Association had enough
Senate funding to spend $26.50 per member
compared to $1.54 per member for the
Student Bar Association.
AFTER LENGTHY debate, the Senate request BALSAs to cancel a request $74.70 to $39.75.
The requests from all other minority groups and women's groups should be examined as closely as BALSA's, Ed Duckers, Salina lunar, said.
Chicano Law Students Association, the next club on the agenda, was cut from $401 to $115. However, Art Solis, the group's principal officer, said the group could not operate on $115.
The next group to be considered was Blacktrace, a black architectural students' group.
The Senate then voted to increase the Chicano group's budget to $288.
Solis later said he thought the Senate was being unfair to minority groups.
AN ATTEMPT to slash the next minority group's request was defeated.
Steve Leben, former student body president at St. Joseph's, requested for $2,000 in money for out-of-state travel because previously considered minority clubs had been denied travel
SCORMEB is a group for minority engineering students.
engineering students. "We should be consistent," Leben said.
confession, "looks safe"
However, Regier argued that the request was justified.
'SCOREME is one of the most active and productive groups that the Senate
See HEARINGS page nine.
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN-
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN Capsules From the Associated Press, United Press International
Carter lauds Romanian president
WASHINGTON—President Jimmy Carter welcomed Romanian President Nicolae Ceaușescu to the White House yesterday by praising Ceaușescu's role in promoting direct talks between Israel and Egypt last year. Ceaușescu used the occasion to outline his own proposals for Mideast peace, calling for a new agreement on occupied territory, establishment of an independent Palestinian state and measures to ensure the independence and sovereignty of all states in the area.
Skies will be partly cloudy today, but there is a chance of scattered showers and thundershowers tomorrow. High temperatures today will be the mid-60s, and lows should reach the 40s tonight. Tomorrow, temperatures should be in the mid-to-upper 60s.
WASHINGTON - Sen. Dennis Deconcian, D-Ariz., sponsor of a controversial amendment in the Panama Canal neutrality pact, said yesterday that the administration wants to replace his amendment with a resolution, applicable to all countries in Panama. Deconcian said that he would fight the proposal. See story page two.
Senator promises amendment fight
Weather . . .
Although the animals on KU's natural history reserve are not lions, tigers and bears, they do provide a chance for KU students to observe wildlife in its natural habitat. Henry Fitch, who has been supervisor of the reservation for 30 years, will teach off his deer muck, acrobat ants and snapping trees. See story page three.
Iran speaker leads protest of fund cut
Locally...
solitary surroundings outside Wescoe cateraferia a peaceful place to get his business homework done yesterday.
Peaceful study
White ended her lecture to go with about 30 to 40 students, mostly Iranians, to a Student Senate meeting in the Kansas Union. They planned to protest a proposal to cut funds from the Iranian Student Union and the Organization of Arab Students.
Hando Tetsui, foreign exchange student from Japan, found the
What began as a lecture by Margot White, an international observer in Iran, focusing on the abuses of the Shah's military regime, turned into an activist's meeting.
The proposed cut in funds was allegedly because of the disruptions of Yitzkul Rabin's campaign.
The Senate, however, voted 40 to 26 to have the International Club's budget returned to a committee and was assigned to the Senate at a later date. The International Club is the parent organization for nine foreign student groups, including the Iranian and Arab countries.
White then suggested that everyone present go to the Senate meeting in the Kansas Union Ballroom to protest theronosal.
ANOTHER AMERICAN student then spoke to the audience saying that in a couple of hours the Student Senate would consider a motion to abolish the Student Association and the Organization of Arab Students. The proposal, she said, was motivated by the disgust of some people for the lack of a proper school.
THE MAIN TOPIC of discussion amongst White's audience of about 110 in Smith Hall was whether the disruptions of Rabin's speech were justified.
One tranmm student said of the disrup-
tion, "I think it was constructed by
dramatization."
White said that she supported the protestors of Rabin's speech and said that Israel had ties with the military regime of Iran.
White and about 30 others waited in the back of the Ballroom and in the hallway outside for the proposal to reach the Senate floor.
"We're talking about disrupting a speech," she said. "The lives of the Palestinians have been disrupted for years. They've had the same quantitatively or qualitatively."
One American student said the demonstrators' unruliness was justified because the expulsion of Palestinians from their countries was a standard academic question; it was a moral question.
Before voting that the proposal be considered by a joint Cultural and Finance and
See IRANIANS page nine
Move would hurt statue's art,scholar says
Rv.JOHN FISCHER
Staff Writer
To some, the Jimmy Green statue is a symbol of the tradition and history of the School of Law at the University of Kansas; to others, it lies at the piece of artwork by a famous sculptor.
Michael Richman, with the National Trust for Historical Preservation in Washington, D.C., is one who views the statue as a piece of artwork.
Others, however, want the statue moved to the new law building to carry on the work.
Richman strongly opposes this idea.
"They run the risk of disturbing an arm expression if the status is moved." Richman.
Richman is the editor of the Daniel Chester French papers and has done extensive study of French and his art work. He used the sculptor of the Jimmy Greenstatus
"It IS important for people to consider where it will be moved to," Richman said.
"Sighting is critically important," he said. "That's why French was a great gateway."
He said that many of French's artistic concepts would be altered if the statue was moved because French had selected the statue's current site. Among these concepts are the effects of light shadow, angle of the mirror, proportion of the monument to the building.
"I totally oppose the move," he said.
touched the people in our town. I "asked the difficulties of the people making the decision, but I can see no way in them." He said, "I don't want to go."
"What will happen if there is a new law school in 15 years?" Richman said.
Del Shinkel), executive vice chancellor,
said he thought the law school considered
them a part of its curriculum.
"I THINK that they are more concerned with it as a symbol of the law school, and not with it as a symbol of the criminal justice system."
However, Shankel said he personally opposed the move.
"Jimmy Green was the first dean of the law school, and ever since the statue has been in front of the law school, it has served as a symbol of the school and of the
Jeannette Johnson, assistant to the executive vice chancellor, agreed with
Martin Dickinson, dean of the law school,
could not be reached for comment.
DEANLEM TACHA, associate dean of the law school, said, "I can only speak for myself, but it is closely linked to the tradition and history of the law school."
relationship between faculty members and students," she said.
Currently the proposed move of the statue has been halted because of questions concerning its presence.
"It seems to me that faculty members and alumni probably fear that if the statue remains in its present location, law students who will not spend much of their time near old Green Hall will no longer identify the statue with the school of law," Johnson said.
Administrators wrote a letter February 17 to the Society, and Joseph Snell, director of the Society, responded March 20 allowing the move.
KU administrators were required to obtain approval from the Kansas State Historical Society to move the statute in order to comply with the 1977 Kansas State Preservation Act because the Green statue Preservation Building is the National Register of Historical Places.
IN HIS letter, Snell said, "While we believe that the proposed removal of the sculpture is not in the best interest of students and faculty, we recognize the retroactive nature of the state preservation law places the University in a difficult position, since the removal of the sculpture has been planned for some time—since, long before passage of the state act.
"Therefore, while we have strongly urged the University to reconsider its plans, we will not oppose the removal of the sculpture to the new building."
The letter also stated, "... it is our assessment that the proposed removal of the sculpture from its present location would manage the National Register property."
However, a report was issued March 28 from the attorney general's office that stated Gov. Robert F. Bennett would have to make the final decision on the move.
JOHN MARTIN, assistant attorney general who issued the report said, "Once Joseph Snell determines the move of the See STATEMENT page 12