2A
The Inside Front
Monday January 25,1999
News
from campus, the state, the nation and the world
NATION
ACLU challenges law against public cursing
STANDISH, Mich. — Timothy Boomer made a bigger splash than he bargained for after a tumble from a canoe landed him in a fight over whether foul language is legally protected free speech.
A sheriff's deputy says he heard Boomer explode in a three-minute barrage of profanity after the mishap on the Rifle River last summer, loud enough to be heard a quarter-mile away. What's more, he says, a woman and her two young children were nearby.
So the officer ticketed Boomer under an 1897 Michigan law that prohibits cursing in front of women and children.
Defense attorney William Street, who took the case on behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union, says that even if Boomer was boorish, he was within his First Amendment rights.
Assistant Arenac County Prosecutor Richard Vollbach said the case is a simple matter of disorderly conduct.
If the case goes to trial and Boomer is convicted, he could get up to 90 days in jail and a $100 fine.
Kary L, Moss, executive director of the ACLU in Michigan, said the law that bans cursing unconstitutionally singles out women for special treatment and "is based upon outdated stereotypes about women's sensitive nature and need for protection."
"Additionally, the law is ... a classic violation of the First Amendment," Moss said in a statement.
Boeing ends $15 million discrimination lawsuit
SEATTLE — Rhonda Capps says she had seen so little advancement of fellow African-Americans during 13 years of work at The Boeing Co. that she recently felt ready to quit.
"The other day I changed my mind," said Capps, an electrical engineer and one of the suit's plaintiffs. "I want to see this work."
But a settlement forged between the aerospace giant and African-American workers who sued the company for various discriminatory practices has given her hope.
Boeing agreed Friday to pay $1.5 million to settle allegations it discriminated against African-Americans in hiring, promotions and workplace treatment. The company admitted no wrongdoing.
The proposed settlement, which mostly will go to 20,000 past and present African-American employees, was announced by Boeing chairman Phil Condit, the Rev. Jesse Jackson and lawyers for the plaintiffs.
About $3.7 million will be used for equal-opportunity and diversity training at Boeing.
The deal would settle two class-
action lawsuits filed last year. It is subject to approval by a federal judge.
The lawsuits were filed on behalf of employees in the Seattle and Philadelphia areas who alleged they were treated with hostility and passed over for promotions that went to less-qualified white employees.
IRS splits into divisions in effort to reorganize
WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service is splitting into four new divisions, three of which will have headquarters outside the nation's capital.
IRS Commissioner Charles Rossotti said the reorganization would make it easier to focus on needs of taxpayers large and small.
"Organizing around specific customer segments is a major step toward modernizing the IRS," Rossotti said.
The four operating divisions were announced Friday. Their locations are:
announced Friday. Their locations are:
Wage and Investment income,cov
ering 88 million tax filers, headquan trend in Atlanta.
Small Business and Self
Employed, 40 million filers, Washington, D.C.
Large and Mid-Size Business
Large and Mid-Size Business, 170,000 filers, to-be-announced site in central New Jersey.
Tax Exempt, 1.5 million filers, New Carrollton, Md.
The reorganization, expected to take two years, will not change any of the local officers providing assistance to taxpayers.
WASHINGTON — U.S. warplanes patrolling Iraq's northern "no-fly" zone Sunday attacked Iraqi surface-to-air missile sites in separate incidents.
In the first, around 2 p.m. Iraqi time, a U.S.F-15E launched a precision-guided missile on an Iraqi installation after aircraft in the area reported they were illuminated by an Iraqi surface-to-air missile system, said Air Force Lt. Col. Dennis Linn at the Pentagon.
A pilot whose plane is illuminated, or "painted" by radar, assumes he is about to be fired upon.
The Pentagon said the AGM-130 missile suppressed the Iraqi site and there was no damage to American and British planes enforcing the no-fly zone. The planes returned safely to the NATO base in Incikilk, Turkey.
Later, between 2:30 and 3:30 p.m. Iraqi time, a U.S. marine EABG Prowler and two U.S. Air Force F-16 CJ Fighting Falcons fired high-speed, anti-radiation missiles after being targeted by Iraqi air-aircraft artillery systems near Mosul.
Another F1.6 fired an anti-radiation missile at an Iraqi surface-to-air missile system, according to a statement from Operation Northern Watch in Incirlik.
On Saturday, American warplanes,
threatened by Iraqi MiGs and anti-air
craft ground fire, dropped laser-guided bombs on two surface-to-air missile sites in southern Iraq.
Welfare recipient numbers at lowest level in 30 years
WASHINGTON — The number of people on welfare has fallen to its lowest level in 30 years, President Clinton will announce today. But the n-w figures also show the dramatic declines of recent years are beginning to slow in certain states.
The president also will offer a package of programs aimed at helping more people get jobs and encouraging businesses to continue hiring them.
Nationally, just under 8 million people remained on welfare at the end of September, down 44 percent from 14.3 million in 1994. But state officials and academics alike have long cautioned that, at some point, nearly all the people who can move off welfare with relative ease will have left. That will leave those with deeper problems such as substance abuse, domestic violence and very little education.
"With welfare reform, the more you succeed, the harder the job becomes," said Don Winstead, who heads Florida's welfare reform program.
WORLD
Inflation haunts Brazil; retailers increase prices
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil — A computer store removes price tags in Brazilian currency and writes them in dollars. General Motors Corp. hikes prices and hastily lowers them when the government threatens retaliation.
The ghost of inflation is back to haunt South America's biggest economy, days after the government abruptly devalued the real on Jan. 12 to stem a hemorrhaging of foreign exchange.
The currency, left to float freely, has already lost 30 percent of its value against the dollar in the last two weeks, prompting manufacturers and retailers to try to protect profits with price increases.
GM announced last week it was raising prices 12.8 percent and Ford Motor Co. said it would do so by 11 percent.
Some computer stores in Sao Paulo illegally marked up prices in dollars or indexed them to the exchange rate.
Inflation has plagued the nation for decades. But soaring prices were brought to earth when President Fernando Henrique Cardoso introduced the Real Plan in 1994 and pegged the real to the dollar.
But now, weeks into Cardoso's sec- d term, Brazil has scrapped its inflation-busting plan, battered by global market turbulence and investor flight. The six-month drain of $45 billion in foreign reserves proved too severe.
The Associated Press
ON THE RECORD
A KU student's checks and other miscellaneous property were stolen between noon Dec. 27 and 1:30 p.m. Jan. 21 from the student's residence in the 2200 block of Harvard. The items were valued at $240.
A KU student's checkbook was stolen between 9:30 and 10 p.m. Jan. 19 from Super-Target, 3201 Iowa St.
A KU student's Kansas license plate was stolen between 9 a.m. Jan 16 and 9 a.m. Jan. 21 in the 2500 block of Crestline. The plate was valued at $4.
A KU employee's personal checks were stolen between Oct. 1 and Jan. 14. A total of $252.77 in forged checks was written on the employee's account.
Miscellaneous tools and a tool box were stolen between 9 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Jan. 20 from Joseph R. Pearson Hall. The stoler property was valued at $750.
A KU employee's wallet was either stolen or lost between 11:05 and 11:40 a.m. Jan.
21 in Strong Hall. The wallet and its contents were valued at $23.
Residence conference asks future assistants to be more than leaders
An accident involving two cars occurred at 8 a.m. m. Jan. 2 at 11 th and Missouri streets. Both cars received minor damage.
By Jamie Knodel
Konson staff writer
Kansan staff writer
Trainers at Stepping Stones, a leadership in residence life conference, told future KU housing leaders that being a leader meant more than getting people to take action.
In round table discussions and several panels, students were taught that leadership skills can help achieve goals and set agendas.
"These skills are very transferable," said Ken Stoner, director of the Department of Student Housing. "They can apply to larger and smaller issues alike."
About 70 KU students attended the two-day conference at the Kansas Union Friday and Saturday.
Conference organizers said the goal for sponsoring the workshop was to encourage people interested in housing leadership positions to become involved.
"Stepping Stones is about trying to empower emerging leaders," Laura Bennett, Watkins scholarship hall director and conference leader, said.
Participants said the workshop was a good way for them to learn how they could improve communication and organizational skills.
"There was a major emphasis on improving interpersonal relationships," said Robert Nelson, Smithton, Mo., freshman.
Nelson said he attended the conference because he wanted to be a resident assistant at a residence hall next year.
Bennett stressed that leadership, involvement and diversity were key elements stressed to participants interested in pursing leadership opportunities in residence and scholarship halls.
She also said that the conference's only focus was not housing-related skills, but a broader picture — inc'uding the importance of networking and being able to communicate with people.
Stepping Stones was open to anyone interested, and Bennet said that participants had various motivations for attending.
Many of those who attended hoped to apply for resident assistants positions in the future and wanted to get more insight into the system.
"We want to give focus on why these students want to be in the leadership positions, and how they can accomplish their goals." Bennett said.
Mike Schnidler, All-Scholarship Hall Council president and conference organizer, said the housing department hoped to offer this type of training at an annual Stepping Stone conference.
ON CAMPUS
Student Union Activities will have an information table from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. today through Friday, Feb. 6 at the SUA Gallery in the Kansas
Union. The table will be about SUA's history and how anyone can be a part of it. Call the SUA box office at 864-3477 for more information.
Writer's Roosts, sponsored by Writing Consulting; Student Resources, will be open at the following times and locations: from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday at 4003 Wescoe Hall; from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday at the Sunflower Room in the Burge Union; from 1 to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday at Alcove I in the Kansas Union; from 9 a.m. to noon Monday at 156 Strong Hall; from 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday at Conference Room 109 at the Multicultural Resource Center; and from 7 to 10 p.m. Sunday at Templin, ARC, Call 864-2399 for more information.
The St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center will sponsor daily mass at 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday at 1631 Crescent St. Call Father Vince Krische at 843-0357 for more information. The St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center also will sponsor mass at 12:30 p.m. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at Danfort Chapel. Call Father Ray May at 843-0357 for more information.
The International Students Association will have a general meeting at 6 p.m. today at the International Room in the Kansas Union.
ET CETERA
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