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Wednesday, March 8, 1978
University Daily Kansan
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Comment
Unused editors represent the opinion of the Kansan editorial staff. Staged columns represent the views of only the writers
Give to blood drive
There is no excuse why every semester only 4 percent of the students of the University of Kansas are willing to donate a pint of their blood.
The Douglas County Red Cross blood drive currently is being conducted in the Kansas Union. Enrollment figures indicate that almost 22,000 students attend classes on the Lawrence campus. But the goal of the blood drive, for the first three days of this week, has been to collect only 750 pints of blood. Historically, KU's blood drives fall short of their goals.
This dismal record has occurred despite the fact that college students are healthier than the members of an average population.
At 250 pints a day, KU isn't even contributing enough blood to accommodate the daily needs of the Wichita Regional Blood Center. The Wichita center uses 305 pints daily to supply about 140 area hospitals.
PEOPLE RELY on a variety of alibis about why they don't give blood. Some say they aren't healthy. But why not let the红 Cross give its tests to determine that? Others say they don't have time to wait in line. But time, like money, can be organized.
There are others who are just plain squeamish. May the squeamish never need blood.
Out of every 200 prospective donors, the Red Cross expects to turn away only 25. The most common reasons are that the individuals weigh less than 110 pounds, are on antibiotics or have abnormal hemoglobin levels.
Glad to take whatever it can get, the Douglas County Red Cross commits its goal of collecting blood from 4 percent of the population on the grounds that 4 percent of the University's students will, at some time, need blood.
JO BYERS, executive director of the Douglas County Red Cross, said this week that the young were naturally less aware of the reality that they might need blood someday. The Red Cross supplies more blood to older people than to the young. But when a young person needs blood, it usually is because of an accident—and then he needs more than the older person usually does.
Even if students are not motivated by altruistic reasons, they do stand to gain from donating blood. The Red Cross guarantees the blood needs of every person in the Wichita Region, which includes KU. Those who are entitled to this valuable insurance have an obligation to donate.
There simply is no good reason why more students at the University cannot donate one of their 12 pints of blood.
If there were to be an ideal property tax, it would apply to everyone, be fair to everyone and be understood by everyone.
Governmental tax efforts shaky
Kansas does not have an ideal property tax. Property assessments for tax purposes are going two ways at once. Opportunism is muddying the political waters, and officializing burdens to take actions that are not within their authority.
The state director of property valuation, Raymond Vaughn, started the hoopla with an initial investment in a property assessment manual. The 1978 version gives much-upholded farm machinery higher market values than previous models, allowing the amount of the valuations.
KANSAS LAW states that property will be valued at 30 percent of its market value. Vaughn's office has received many complaints from tracing the company's stock in the increased valuations.
Other counties have taken advantage of some leeway in the regulation against the manual's instructions. Finney County commissioners recently voted to reassess assessments on farm equipment.
Douglas County, in particular, has questioned the wisdom of the update. According to Darwin Rogers, County appraisal, most county farmers will be assessed 25 to 40 percent more this year than last.
Honor camp provokes mistrust
Human beings who have done something wrong cannot be trusted because they may have made errors.
No good law wants to live next to a bad guy. No law-abiding citizen should be forced to be near a criminal because criminals are prone to bad things to good people.
Such is the self-centered rationale being voiced by landowners near Clinton Lake against a legislative proposal to establish a prison honor camp in that area.
THE HEARING was called for by State
Representatives Mike and Glauer
Glover of the State Sen. Armold M.
prisoner, raised opposition to the prison honor camp has spurred Lawrence's state representatives to call for a public hearing on the matter. The hearing, which legislators will help them decide which way they will vote on the honor camp bill, will be at 7 p.m. tomorrow at Wakarusa Valley School south of Wakeau on the Lone Star Road.
The three representatives already have publicly declared their support. Berman says he remains "apprehensive" about the proposal.
The thought of having an honor camp at Clinton Lake has caused many landowners and Lawrence residents to raise their voices in opposition.
Last week members of the Clinton Landowners Association discussed the honor camp proposal. The members were almost unanimously against the camp, saying they feared that walk-aways from the camp could cause problems.
If passed, the bill currently before the Kansas Legislature would provide $3.16 million to build three honor camps. The camps would be built at Clinton Lake, at Tuttle Creek Reservoir near Manhattan and at El Dorado.
the group, however, postponed any official action or stand until more information could be obtained. The members did elect I.M. Stoneback, Route 4, as president of the association. They asked him to set up a public meeting on the proposed camps as soon as possible.
Steven Stingley
Editorial writer
STONEBACK SAID this week that if the association decided to take official action, it would be in the form of lobbying in Topeka against the passage of the honey camp bill.
The landowners and area residents have a legitimate beef. The fear of escapes from the honor camp's light safety is a natural one, but it is incredibly easy for one to beat up elusive supervision.
Here are a few of the voices of the opposition:
"I don't think, in my opinion, that they ought to put it (the camp) where there's going to be thousands and thousands of tourists."
"I can't think of anything that would hurt the value of your land more."
"We've got our own people to take care of without taking care of a case of convicts."
"A farm would be the first place they (escapers) would land because of the extra
"I am concerned primarily about inmates walking away from the camp. The camp is not a safe place for them."
"I FEEL like what they're doing is all right, but I think they'd just do as much good in an area where there isn't the opposition."
"I can't see a prison farm and a recreational area together, especially with young people using it."
Most of the opposition hints of caution and mistrust of the "criminal" in general. Of course, it is natural that area residents be concerned—it would be the same anywhere but it is hoped that at some time the benefits of this proposed benefit benefits of an honor camp system.
Mistrust is not the key to criminal rehabilitation, and that surely should be the primary objective of the Kansas penal system. If the honor camp bill is passed and such a camp is located at Clinton Lake, area citizens could take part in the process without wrong doors the opportunity to change direction and re-enter the mainstream of society.
INMATES for the honor camps would be carefully selected, all of them near eligibility for parole and close to re-entering society as "normal" citizens.
Kansas has only one existing honor camp, but it has proved to be a success in aiding the inmates and in protecting neighboring residents. It also serves the voir, and its area residents, like Lawrence residents, were at first apprehensive about the construction of a camp near them. But the camp had had few walk-aways and has ventured to it is a safe and desirable venture.
It is hoped that Clinton Lake area residents will not let their mistrust turn into an irrational paranoia and that they will exert pressure on the Governor and effectiveness of the Toronto honor camp.
The honor camp concep can be a vital and humane component of the state's entire penal system. The criminals of yesterday are toilers to be into the good citizens of today and tomorrow.
But Vaughn defends his actions by saying that the market values put on farm machinery in past years have not been realistic. The trade-in value a farmer could get for a piece of machinery can be much higher than the 'fair market value' given by the manual. The state presumably was losing money.
BETTER THE state than the farmers, responded farmers and their supporters. Political leaders, looking to their constitencies, ordered that action be taken to reduce the tax burden on the farmers. The state will last week blasted Gov. Robert F. Bennett for not personally lowering the valuation rate.
Vaughn himself has been urged to lower the valuation rate, perhaps to 20 percent or to roll back the higher market values contained in the new manual. But Kansas Attorney Schmidt Seward says that Vaughn cannot lower the rate itself.
Schneider issued a legal opinion last Saturday stating that neither Bennett nor Vaughn can reduce the valuation rate. The power to order corrections in the rate can be made only through the use of the option, according to the opinion, and the only thing Vaughn can do is bring the matter up.
There may well be a problem with the state property tax system. Assessments may well be unreliable, and communication in state government—of determining who has authority over what and of non-coordination between tax change effects—does not occur in the way it corrects any problems. Indeed, governmental efforts seem almost intentionally to go several ways at once, like the use of an anotice skier The whole system tumbles.
Meanwhile, Lyle Clark, Vaughn's administrative officer, said that Vaughn had been reviewing to see whether he made a mistake in ordering a prescription; but checking to make sure we don't have a clerical error," Clark said Monday. "But I don't
suppose there's going to be any revision of the new values."
AN OUTGROWTH of the problem is that Kansas farmers don't know whether they have any recourse at all. If they feel they can be held accountable it is questionable whom they can call. Carlin said Bennett could do something, Vaughn warned to think he could do that. Bennett, Schneider, nobody but the tax appeal board can do anything.
natorial candidates can take note.
THE CONTROVERYSY about personal property taxes is accompanied by the flap about real estate taxes. Because urban legislators have tied up the use-value plan—already constituted by law, this constitutional amendment that is still undefined—the entire future of property taxes is murky.
Quirk of fate leaves 'Hawks out
To the editor:
Sure, KU did get into the tournament and should consider itself fortunate that it has gotten this far. Unlike K-State
It was bound to happen. It always does this time of year. Jack Hartman turns on his bionic basketball and suddenly his K-State team is seen in the national rankings all year. This year it was our Jayhawks who were the victims of the metamorphosis. KSU played a brilliant game Friday night (who the hell is playing that?) with an at-large berth in the Far West region against UCLA.
Letters
and Missouri, KU stood on its season record (24-4) and didn't need the farcical Big Eight postseason tourney to be selected. But there's more to it than this. Somehow it seems as though the spirit of the game has been lost in how completely of how completely the Jayhawks dominated the conference race and, on the basis of their record, deserved to represent the conference in the finals that KU won as many conference games as Missouri and
K-State combined? Sad, but true.
Yet because of the need, whether imagined or real, of most of the teams for a little more revenue, KU had to prove itself again. Sure, the Hawks deserve it. Coach Owens deserved to win the game. But what bothers so many people, including Coach Owens, is the chance given to teams like K-State and Missouri, which seemed to be many places other than on a basketball court at K-State. So they partnered for three games and steal the whole show.
publicity, the team ends up on its own as an at-large team.
It don't know whether Commissioner Chuck Neimas is embarrassed by the fact that he has an evidence in the NCAA's. He certainly should be. But he probably is very happy sitting somewhere complacently money his tourney raked in.
Students say box requests justified
To the editor;
The Kansan recently ran a front page article about the newspaper Today's Student. Today's Student is a national newspaper that is distributed on more than 40 campuses and to readers across the United States. The reason for the Kansan article was to report on our request to the University Events Committee to increase the number of distribution boxes that we currently have on campus. We would like to ex-
-KANSAN-
We asked to be able to increase the number of possible locations for future distribution to 18 from the present 10 location. We also asked the flexibility to determine which places are good for distribution and which places should be abandoned as ineffective. Our request was turned down because some of the members of the community felt laughed at the saturation point with the campus. It was also mentioned that perhaps there would be a litter problem. No one says that there is a litter problem at the moment, but on the possibility of eliminating it, a problem in the future we offered to monitor the boxes more closely.
Letters
Tom Hedrick said that each team received $30,000 from the tournament. But if his figures are anything like his broadest close, at any rate, there is a lot of money to be made from the postseason tournament and because of that, the tournament has always been a time. Beneath all the double talk and trite interviews, our basketball team has to feel somewhat cheated, as do many players. We already purchased tickets to the games in Wichita and Lawrence. Let's hope that the at-large berth is enough of a deal for us, and our team we’ve all been ranking and raving about all season long.
We recently took a survey, in January of this year, to determine the extent to which students at KU. It turned out that now those figures have some bearing on the question of whether we are saturating the demand for students distributing about 3,000 copies a week for the Lawrence campus of 21,984 students. We interviewed a total of 754 students weeks of classes this semester.
There was also some concern that a local address be given that would enable students to get in touch with the local nurses, the committee meeting, the committee suggested that we could display our name and address on the boxes to give the club more publicity. Because our goal was to distribute newspapers, we felt we would rather not put the information on each box. This last meeting was the first time that we were actually requested to name on the boxes. We are now compiling with that request.
From those people we determined that 36 percent did not know the paper was being distributed and that 40 percent
had never read it before. If we project these figures, it means that 7,914 students do not even know that the paper is being distributed and more than 8,000 students have not read it even before they learn. It seems to indicate a saturation of the campus, especially if we
received and would like to be able to continue exercising our constitutional right of freedom of the press at no cost to KU students. We do appreciate the committee's continued willingness to work with us and we are presenting an alternative educated viewpoint on events and trends in the world today. That's why we have chosen the name of Graduate Students
Overall we do not feel that our request for a few more distribution points on campus is unreasonable. We have continued to comply with all of the instructions that we have
keep in mind that the Kansan uses 42 distribution points daily. Our survey also indicated that 64 percent of those who had used it again and that less than 4 percent found it offensive.
Presenting an Alternative.
Tom Tehan
Tom Tehan
Randy Malkin
John Vanderbilt
Irwin Cumm
Lawrence graduate students
Todav's Student
It really speaks well of the Big Eight to have had two mediocre teams play in the finals of its tournament, while one of the finest teams, the Eagles, were mere in the stands. With all the talk and effort going into building up the Big Eight's basketball reputation, it seems awfully difficult for a team to find a fortune finally has a team that can compete nationally and bring it some respect and
offers answers
To the editor:
This note is to express my concern for the decision made by the University Events Committee concerning the acceptance of Today's Student, a national student newspaper. As a reader of the paper, I wish to offer my support in furthering its distribution. This support is not only on my behalf but on the support of many students and faculty when reading Today's Student.
I I
Tammy Stubbs Lawrence junior
I feel that the paper is relevant to student interest. The articles presented face current issues with a refreshing viewpoint. You can read the newspaper quite enjoyable to read. I agree that not all of the content is cheery—but neither is the present world situation. What I do appreciate about Today's Student is that it is an accessible, interesting crisis, which most newspapers do not. It offers solutions.
John Herbert Lawrence senior
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Published at the University of Kansas daily August 13, 2016 Subscriptions at www.ku.edu/college/books/June and July are accepted Saturday, Sunday and holiday; August is only online. 66455 Subscriptions by mail are $ a subscriber or $15 for a year outside the county. Student subscriptions are a year outside the county. **Student subscriptions are a year outside the county.**
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