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Thursday, April 18, 1974
University Daily Kansan
KANSAN comme
Editorials, columns and letters published on this page reflect only the opinions of the writers.
Don't Mess with IRS
"Your tax money is returned to you in many ways," a smiling tax man is telling a bewildered taxpayer in one of the Wall Street Journal's typically unfunny cartoons. "My salary as well prosecuting attorney and the maintenance of the Federal prison system."
The cartoon is too painfully ironic to be funny. The irony is that to collect the taxes that maintain a government intended to guarantee life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, we've created a those pursuit of taxpayers little resembles the pursuit of justice.
Just last week, for example, the head of the IRS employees union told congressional investigators that IRS agents worked to meet production goals and quotas. Agents get praise and promotion for seizing a taxpayer's assets, rebuke for allowing a taxpayer to stay in business and pay his debts in installments.
The IRS audits fewer than 2 per cent of all tax returns each year, so it has to make every audit count. A self-employed businessman who had been audited several times recently told the Wall Street Journal of his settlement with IRS a few years ago.
After the usual grueling examination of the businessman's records, he said, the IRS agent admitted that the businessman probably wasn't breaking the law or defrauding the government.
However, the agent said he would have to find something wrong with the return to justify the time spent auditing it, so the businessman agreed to a nominal $20 settlement where the audit could be concluded.
Arguing with the IRS during an audit can be difficult, a Washington state couple told a Senate subcommittee last week. That's because the IRS doesn't shade by any freedom of information laws.
The couple said that even though it had won a court decision ordering the IRS to make available documents about IRS procedures and rules and the rights of tax payers, IRS still threw up roadblocks to their getting the information.
Political use of the IRS has been in the news for months, of course, and Sen. Lowell Weicker, R-Conn., documented before Senate subcommittees last week efforts to use the IRS against Nixon's enemies and against persons and groups advocating extremist views.
Such uses can mean Gestapo-like harassment. For example, the IRS cooperated in the government's assault on drug dealers by seizing majority of suspects in lieu of alleged unpaid taxes on drug-sale earnings.
In one such case, the Wall Street Journal reported last week, a one-legged Miami handyman fought a man who had carved the IRS had seized mistakenly.
The handman had been working in the house of a man arrested on a drug charge when the IRS showed up to seize the man's assets. Because the handman's car was stolen, the man was irked by the IRS seized it too, even though the handman showed agents a valid document of ownership.
The watches program will
assessment Program. Whistleset,
the problem, the solution.
Assets seized in less clear-cut cases are even more difficult to pry away from the IRS, even when a large number of illegal earnings from drug sales.
IRS gets its authority for these seizures from a 50-year-old law that permits it to decide whether a taxpayer may try to avoid paying his taxes, to assess quickly what it believes his tax should be and to seize his assets without notice if payment isn't quickly forthcoming.
When that happens, there is no appeal to the Tax Court, it seems. The Tax Court ruled last week that it couldn't hear an appeal from the victim of such a seizure because the IRS had issued no "notice of deficiency" before making the seizure. The notice is a procedural step required for an appeal to the Tax Court.
Of course, the IRS isn't so nasty in all cases. Not even a warning from its computers could induce it to give Nixon's tax returns more than a perfunctory review before Congress started asking questions.
—Bob Simison
Even so, it probably isn't wise to take the "Nixon deduction" that experts say many taxpayers took in at the time. But with which to get into trouble.
Operation Watchstop
A spokesman for the Office of the Dean of Men announced yesterday that the office had purchased 12,000 Bulova wristwatches which will be sold for $7.50 each to male KU students.
“This is really going to fix that rapist who's been asking women for the time before assaulting them,” he said. “Once we get these
"Men who buy the watches won't have to worry about having to ask a female student what time it is," the spokesman said. "Every male KU student has to own his own watch, or pretty soon this place is going to sound like a Keystone Kops convention."
watches sold, anyone who asks a stranger for the time will be grabbed immediately."
Wall clocks will be installed in every room of every building on campus, even restrooms, he said.
"We're even thinking about building a replica of Big Ben in front of Wesco Hall," he said. "Nobody, but nobody, is going to have an excuse for not knowing what time it is."
The spokesman seemed undaunted by the possibility that the rapist might change his strategy or for their opinions about Watergate.
"If that happens, we'll figure out some other plan," he said.
Chuck Potter
Israeli Crisis Dims Hope of Peace
By ERIC ROULEAU Special to the Los Angeles Times
The picture of the Middle Eastern scene—reflected by the resignation of Prime Minister Golda Meir—has suddenly darkened. The political crisis in Israel is the most severe in the history of the Jewish State, and it is creating a dangerous vacuum in the area.
Much depends on its outcome—not only the fate of the leadership of the Zionist movement and the alignment of Israel's political parties, but the prospects for a peace settlement.
On the face of it, Meir is paying for the so-called Meldahim (omissions or negligences in Hebrew) that accounted for the setbacks at Arab hands during last October's war. The unpreparedness of the Israeli army cost Israel more than 2,300 fatalities in 18 months, and its dispatches three times the total of American losses during the entire war in Vietnam.
Meir never offered an explanation of what she tends to present as a technical and accidental mistake. Neither has she attempted to define the responsibility.
True, an investigating body, the Agranath Committee—named after its chairman—has been set up. But its findings, published recently in a lengthy interim report, disappointed many Israelis. The committee placed the whole responsibility on the shoulders of one Gen. Faid Elazar, the chief of staff who has resigned in protest.
Although Elazar was in formal command of the Israeli defense forces, he could hardly
Mossad, the Israeli counterterspionage agency, had full information on the Arab military preparations many days before the Oct. 6 attack. On Sept. 26, the U.S. CIA reported that the Egyptian army had been placed in a state of alert and that reservists were being mobilized. Two days later, the chief of the Mossad was said to have held a meeting with several top military and civilian officials and briefed them on intelligence reports concerning Egypt's and Syria's plans to initiate hostilities.
be considered the only person to blame.
The meeting was attended by Eilyahu Zeira, the head of military intelligence, Elazar, and Defense Minister Moshe Dayan. The latter expressed profound skepticism about the militias and their capacity for war. None of the participants insisted that steps be taken to fact-check Dayan's views or, as some argue, because his charismatica figure made it impossible to document.
Dayan had the full confidence of Meir. She was kept informed of the intelligence reports that were piling up about Egypt's and Syria's plans to go to war. Not only did she discard them, but she also withheld the information from her cabinet only hours before the war broke out.
The hawks underestimated Arab economic and financial power. They scuffed at those who, pleading for more flexibility, feared that the Arabs might unite and then use the oil weapon, stated in a speech on April 10, 2016, once stated that the oil weapon was "double-edged" and called Arab threats a bluff. Dozens believed the view that in any case, the western powers would not give in to ' Arab blackmail.'
Even then, no adequate measures were taken to face the imminent peril. Only 600 soldiers were on the Bar-Lav line to defend it against the massive Egyptian assault.
These faulty evaluations led Israel leaders to believe that they could pursue treenpologies at no risk. If the Arabs were divided and weak and if Israel therefore could disregard the danger of outside pressures while benefiting from unflinching American support, the territories conquered in 1967 could be progressively integrated into the Jewish State. Dayan felt that Israel could live at peace for five or 10 years, by which time the Arabs would have to accept what he called the "accomplished facts."
"This rampant expansionism," said Ariel Eilei, "was in fact inciting the Arabs to go to where they were left with no other means to conclude what they consider an honorable persecution."
Although many Israelis would not share entirely the views of such dovish leaders, the widespread feeling in Israel is that the country has been somehow sold out.
Everything is being challenged: the civilian and military leaderships, national policies and the government and the electoral system. Meir was certainly anwhen she stated: "I can no longer be a president."
Today several Arab states are quite prepared to end the 50-year-old feed in the Middle East. For the first time, peace could be within reach. Unfortunately, Israel—because of its location and the nature of its territory—is not ready for such a transition.
Nixon Gives Bad Axe What It Wants
Secretary of State Henry Kissinger is thus confronted with a dilemma: Either he remains a passive onlooker and faces a serious diplomatic setback, or he twists Israel's arm and risks engendering new tensions in the United States. Many Israeli doves would insist that risk rather than allow the stalemate to degenerate into a fourth Arab-Iran war.
By BRYCENELSON
"That's right," said Marion Frederick, plant chairman for the UAW. "They heard him say it, and they hope he's telling the truth." But he doesn't know whether you respect the man or not."
It was in Bad Axe that Republican James Sparling decided to invite President Nixon to this district in his special congressional campaign against Democrat Bob Traxler, according to one Republican leader here. In his announcement, Sparling said he was inviting the President to discuss Watergate and other controversial issues, but the
BAD AXE, Mich.—"I had my boys put the flag for him today even though I'm a Democrat," said Attie, Amy F. Woodworth, as he sat in ePette S barriing his beer last week. Making a sharp pierce with the flag added, "Dammit, he is the President."
BY BRYCE NELSON
The Los Angeles Times
"They heard the President say today that they wished he would," said Dorothy Horton.
It was the first time that the President had visited Michigan's "thumb," the man who was sitting on the "mitten" outline, which stocks into Lake Huron, and the people of this small thumb town loved it. They were happy the governor signed and they listened to what he had to say.
A group of female United Auto Workers members from the Firestone Sheet Belt plant sat around the table discussing the excitement of the day. They said they thought the President had swayed the people of Bad Axe.
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
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Kansan Underplayed Senator's Opinion
Readers Respond
I hereby charge certain members of the student senate sports committee with conflicts of interest. I also charge the majority of the committee with letting down some of the rules after failing to "find the time" to investigate the budget of the KU Athletic Association.
As the April 11 Kansan stated, I recommended giving the WICA the token amount $30,000. The client paid $25,000.
Never let it be said that the University Daily Kansan has given preferential treatment to student senators representing the School of Journalism.
Well, this was the fault of the majority of the sports committee. The committee could hold a meeting.
John Beinser, student body president, said after last Wednesday's KUAA budget meeting that student representatives didn't get time to study the KUAA budget.
After I spent 15 hours building a case in opposition to funding additional student money to Women's Intercollegiate Athletics (WICA), the Kansan managed to find room for almost two column inches of my statements in opposition.
To the Editor:
To the Editor:
It would have been better had they not quoted me at all.
If there are concerned students who may wish to know why I opposed funding the WICA, then I suggest they enter Flint Hall and read my statement on the bulletin board.
I didn't just say that the WICA budget request was padded, I said that it was ENORMOUSLY PADDED. I seriously question the credibility of the WICA.
Jeff Simpson said in his "Whistlestop" editorial that there was a "rape hysteria" on the KU campus. We suggest that this is not exactly the case. Women in Lawrence are rearranging their lives to suit a rapist's (s) intentions. If they are women who can't go out alone, or die
Michael Cacioppo
Writer Whistles Dixie
Overland Park senior, student senator
Finally, it may be possible that some women are paralyzed from fright, but from personal experience, I can state that it is also possible to simply lose the use of the vocal cords, in which case a whistle could be blown. Since it has been proved that rapes in cities that use Whistles as perhaps that "rane hysteria" is instituted
*Tayla Tobias*
Natalie Bailen, freshman
Gayla Nebissit
Des Moines freshman
Marsha Albaugh
Grand Forks, N.D., freshman
Buffalo City freshman
Bluff City freshman
Patty Tobias
that matter, athletic coaches or even police officers? Certainly, investigation won't hurt if there is the possibility that someone may be in danger.
Many of those interviewed on the streets of Bad Axe after the visit thought that it had helped Sparling because of the enthusiasm generated and because it would help bring people in to this heavily Republican area, always a task for both parties in a special election.
Marion Frederick watched the faces of her fellow workers as they listened to the broadcast of the President's speech in the plant.
"A lot of people were against President Nixon and Sparing and now they're swayed toward them," Frederick said. "The President's speech is what people want to hear. You could tell by people's expressions that it affected them."
Discussing the practical use of whistles, Stinson says, "Are dog trainers, athletic coaches and police officers going to be prohibited from using whistles?"... How many times recently have you heard a whistle in public from dog trainers? Or, for
Later, the editorial suggests that the whistle to end classes might be confused with someone's distress signal. If Stinson can't tell the difference between a foghorn whistle that only goes on at certain times, and a little whistle worms around the neck—or maybe a grim musicic, because he's probably tone deaf. A hearing test wouldn't be a bad idea, either.
Tom Lowery, an appliance store owner,
has 'too far up away he to get the full sweep.
But the strategy apparently didn't sway the urban voters since Traxler won the election with a strong showing in the urban areas.
In visiting these small towns in the thumb, President Nikon visited the most heavily Republican area in this eight congressional district. The thumb is a substantially rural area of bean, corn and sugar beet farmers.
"The President came here rather than going to Saginaw and Bay City because he knew he was going to get a warm welcome there," she said, after GOP finance chairman for this county.
Edward Moore said, "There hasn't been this much excitement in Bad Axe since the fire of 1881. That fire destroyed most of the town." Moore added that he hadn't seen the fire since it rained and ruinously showed free movies when he was a kid during the Second World War."
President mentioned the need for more fertilizer here and ignored Wategate.
There were a few demonstrators carrying Impeach Nixon Now" and "Jail to the House." They were very aggressive.
Edward Draves Jr., a beer distributor, said, "This will make Bad Axe known all over the world; people are proud of this. When you tell people in other parts of Michigan that you're from Bad Axe, they've heard of it but they don't know where it is."
"I told one of those long-haired freaks to 'shuffle your f mouth' and he shut it," said Arnold Koehn, an older local resident. "This man was a wonderful thing that ever hit this area."
to have traveled here from other more urban parts of Michigan.
S. African Finds Freedom in Exile
By ALBIE SACHS Special to the Los Angeles Times
The exercise yard of a prison and the floor of an interrogation room wouldn't seem the most propitious places for making important decisions. Yet, if you are South African and fighting oppo- nies you can't always choose the time and setting for decision-making.
It was as a prisoner, running in solitary around a high-walled yard, that decided to vent through writing—my outrage with the South African system. It was two years later as a collapsed figure, surrounded by the shoes of my interrogators, that I made a more crucial decision to leave South Africa and to work for reform from without.
South Africa was the country of my birth, where I had chosen a legal career because it seemed a way to struggle against race domination. For seven years I practiced my profession. I led a schizoid existence, handling "respectable" matters on the one hand while appearing for an ever-increasing number of people branded as enemies of the state on the other. A decent society and a just system of law have honored rather than hounded the poor in South Africa. But the groups are more likely to set into trouble for being good than for being bad.
To represent antracists in a court setting meant, strangely, that I had to accept the laws and procedures under which they were charged. Most judges and magistrates—there were no juries—were polite and concerned to maintain legal punishio.
South Africa has no bill of rights or constitution. A whites-only parliament has passed laws that can't be challenged in the courts and that expressly penalize blacks for activities in which whites may freely engage. The courts exercise only marginal judicial
The full measure of the oppressive side of the law came home to me only when I was locked up—for reasons never made known to me. The case became public and drew thousands of fans.
review around the edges of legislation, and the nation's great social and moral issues are reduced to technical exercises. Counsel can do little more than attempt to expose irregularities and give his the opportunity to denounce the court and government system.
When I eventually was released, I began writing almost immediately, for I knew that any moment the police might arrive and confiscate the manuscript. I wrote at night, as though working on my briefs. In three months the book was complete. Getting it typed and smuggling it to London caused me more trouble than the writing, and before it could be published I was detained again.
I left South Africa in 1968. Now I live in Britain, an exile. I have the kind of personal freedom that I have not known for years.
have the skills I have travel 6,000 miles from my country to discover its true beauty. I analyze its present and put it all down on paper. The work is complete now. Copies of "Justice in South Africa" can make their way into homes and onto library shelves wherever English is spoken—everywhere, that is, except South Africa, where it is banned under the 1950 Suppression of Communism Act.
The one audience I most wanted to reach will not see or read the book or any other which I and a whole generation of other 'bannaries' want.
But I am a small part of a silenced generation in prison and exile. We know what has happened, we know who in the outside world has helped us in our struggles, and we know who has hindered us. We work to see our generation freed.