TUESDAY,APRIL9.2002
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 3A
Commissioner's impartiality under scrutiny
By Sarah Hill Kansan staff writer
The Student Senate elections commissioner is under fire again for a possible conflict of interest.
Commissioner David Mitchell attended a party given by the Delta Force coalition this weekend. Members of other coalitions have raised questions about the commissioner's objectivity during elections.
"The commissioner has set up standards to be as nonpartisan as possible," Hayley Rumback, Wichita senior and campaign manager for the Vision coalition, said. "It just looks questionable."
Student senators questioned Mitchell's impartiality earlier this semester. Drew Thomas, Hays junior and off-campus Delta Force candidate, is Mitchell's roommate.
Mitchell said he went to the party because he had been friends with Jana Mackey, Hays sophomore and off-campus Delta Force candidate, and that he had close friendships with people in each of the four coalitions. The party took place at Mackey's house.
Mitchell said he had nothing to hide.
"As usual, if anybody has an issue they want to bring up, they should feel free to talk to me directly rather than through newspaper articles," he said.
Mitchell said he was attempting to be fair by going to the party, and would attend any parties given by the coalitions.
"I feel like there's two ways to be a fair administrator," he said. "One is to not be involved with any coalitions, or two, to be involved
with all of the coalitions."
Mitchell said he planned to attend all four of the post-election parties on Thursday night.
Elections commission member Scott Kaiser, Overland Park second-year law student, said he was uneasy with commission members attending coalition events.
"If the party was a Delta Force event, then his attendance at that party would be inconsistent with the election commission's goal of appearing impartial," Kaiser said.
Jonathan Ng, Leawood junior and KUunited presidential candidate, said Mitchell's presence set a bad example.
"I don'tthink the election commissioner should be involved with any coalition,but should remain neutral," Ng said.
Delta Force presidential candidate Karen Keith said she thought he would be more strict with Delta Force than the others because of Mackey's roommate.
"Dave Mitchell's a pretty cool guy," he said. "He invited me to his birthday party. I'll smile for him."
Paul Bammel, SMILE presidential candidate, said he thought Mitchell was being fair to everyone, because Mitchell invited all of the coalitions to his birthday party last weekend.
In the interest of full disclosure, Kansan staff writer Maggie Koerth is Jana Mackey's roommate. Koerth was an off-campus senator who ran with Delta Force last year.
RAINY DAYS
Contact Hill at shill@kansan.com. This story was edited by Andy Gassaway.
CHRISTINA NEFF/KANSAN
Students take cover under their umbrella as they walk down Jay hawk Boulevard yesterday. Tomorrow the high temperature is expected to reach the upper 60s with clear skies.
TAXES
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1A
a credit for the taxes they owe, so a filer without any income would not be able to use the credits.
The tax credits are available to whoever pays for tuition and fees
— the parents if they claim the student as a dependent, or students filing separately.
The credits aren't available for those who exceed a set income level, so some students with high-earning parents may need to file separately in order to take advantage of them.
Each January, the University sends each student a form called a 1098-T, which tells students how much they've paid for tuition and fees. This number is used to determine the size of tax credit that taxpayer will receive.
Getting help
Even without considering the education credits, many students are intimidated by taxes and seek professional assistance.
With the tax deadline only six days away, many sources of help are already booked. Legal Services for Students offers free tax advice for students, but no appointments are available until after the April 15 deadline for filing tax returns, said Lauren Reinhold, staff attorney.
Professional tax preparers like H & R Block and Jackson Hewitt Tax Service, 951 E. 23rd Street, have been busy with client returns for months. Appointment times with Legal Services for Student have been full since March 1.
Nevertheless, students who need help are not out of luck. Taxpayers who file a request for an Automatic Extension of Time to File (Form 4868) and pay their taxes on time gain four months to submit their paperwork. If it's
later found that money is owed back, the filer will receive a refund. Extension forms can be found in the Legal Services for Students office, 148 Burge Union.
Students can make an appointment with Legal Services, file an extension and receive assistance after April 15 in filing their taxes. Legal Services does not accept walk-ins or give advice over the phone, so students must make an appointment.
They can also use paid preparers, but H&R Block's Duerkensen said neither could help if taxes weren't paid on time.
"It's not an extension to pay," she said. "It's only an extension to get your papers together."
Taking it slow
An extention is important because it allows students to understand their taxes and not
make mistakes. Durkensen and Reinhold both said students could sometimes make mistakes if they didn't take time to go over their taxes with a legal or tax professional.
Durkensen said that when students looked for tax credits, they should be sure to avoid a common mistake and not list themselves as a dependent of their both their parents and themselves.
Reinhold of Legal Services for Students said students should be wary of other common errors. She reminded filers to list all forms of income including salary, tips, stock proceeds, bank interest and scholarships.
She said students sometimes didn't understand that scholarship money not used for tuition, fees, or textbooks was taxable as income.
Reinhold also said out-of-state students were sometimes
eligible for tax credits in their home state on their state income tax returns.
Students who want more information about taxes may consult the Internal Revenue Service website at www.irs.gov.To find out more about education credits, download IRS publication 970 Tax Benefits for Higher Education.
Other Web sites concerning taxes include www. taxmama.com or www.taxresources.com. Kansas residents can find information about state taxes at www.ksrevenue.org.
Contact Pracht at
aprecht@kansan.com or Shuman at mshuan@kansan.com. This story was edited by Sarah Smarsh.
Lifetime Learning Credit
- Up to $1,000 credit per return
- Available any time during
post-secondary education
post secondary education
Student does not need to be
pursuing a degree
Student needs to be enrolled in at least one course
Felony drug conviction exemption does not apply
Hope Scholarship Credit
Up to $1,500 per eligible student
Available only for first two years of post-secondary education
Student must be pursuing a degree and be enrolled at least half-time for at least one semester beginning during the tax year
Students with felony drug convictions are not eligible Source: IRS Publication 970 - Tax Benefits for Higher Education