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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY
Warmer tomorrow with
Kansan
KS STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY
PO BOX 3585
TOPEKA, KS 66601-3585
Tuesday
February 03, 1997
Section:
A
Vol. 108 • No. 92
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Sports today
Former Kansas standout Scot Pollard has found that the NBA isn't as glamorous as one would think. He plays backup for the Detroit Pistons.
SEE PAGE 10A
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Senate hears student ideas on campaigns
By Melissa Ngomngo @kanson.com
Kansas staff writer
After listening to students debate Student Senate campaigning rules and spending limits in the preliminary elections code, the Elections Commission retired to executive session to make its final decisions.
The debate at last night's Elections Commission meeting centered around two issues — the rule limiting candidates to passive campaigning on election days and the spending limits imposed on candidates.
Passive campaigning means candidates cannot campaign on a street, sidewalk or paved pathway on campus unless they are
Fitzell: Proposes lowering election spending limits.
invited by a passer-by
free speech.
Scott Merchant, business senator, proposed that candidates be allowed to campaign in those areas as long as they do not obstruct or interfere with an individual's right of way.
Merchant said that when the commission ruled that candidates had to be in the grass and in the mud on election days, the commission was limiting the candidates' right to
"You have to be able to get your name and ideas out there, and this rule limits your ability to do that," he said.
Scott Kaiser, Nunemaker senator, agreed that the rule violated a candidate's right to free speech.
Jason Thompson, Nunemaker senator,
said he wanted to keep the rule.
"Fred Phelps is allowed to come here and say whatever he wants wherever he wants, but candidates don't have the right to campaign on the sidewalk," he said. "I don't believe that you hang up your constitutional rights on the door when you enter KU."
"Last year, students thanked us for staying out of their way," Thompson said. "I felt really good knowing that the people I was talking to wanted to talk to me."
(USPS 650-640)
Jason Fizell, Olathe senior, and Pau Mazumdari, graduate senator, proposed cutting the limit to $1,825 for presidential/vice-presidential candidates.
The second issue debated was the spending limits of $2,210 for coalition and independent presidential/vice-presidential candidates and $200 for independent Senate candidates.
Last year, the Unite coalition spent about $3,000 and the Delta Force coalition spent about $1,200 campaigning.
Mazumdar said he thought that a lower spending limit would be better.
"We should make candidacy available to all students, no matter how much money they have," he said.
Kaiser disagreed with the idea that lower spending limits would allow a more fair election. He proposed getting rid of spending limits altogether.
Kaiser said that the each coalition should be able to limit itself by following the budget that it turns in to the Elections Commission.
He said that campaigns educated students about candidate's ideas and that education equaled money.
"Students should be allowed to campaign as creatively and as freely as they want." Kaiser said. "They should be able to spend as much as they want. It's their money."
Kaiser said that if the spending limits were instituted this year, it would be the most restrictive campaign possible.
The Elections Commission decided on the final code in executive session after the complaints hearing.
"You'll have candidates in the mud with their wallets clamped," he said.
- Eliminate spending limits altogether.
PROPOSED REVISIONS
The final draft of the elections code will be released Friday.
Allow candidates to actively campaign on election days if they do not obstruct or interfere with an individual's right of way.
Lower spending limits for coalition and individual presidential/vice-presidential candidates to $1,825.
Getting milked? Girl Scouts want taxes cut from their cookie commerce
By Laura Roddy
roddy@konson.com
Kansen staff writer
If Kansas Girl Scouts have their way, selling Thin Mints and Caramel deLites will be a little
less taxing in the future.
Representatives from Girl Scouts of America appeared before the Legislature last week to make their case for exempting their annual cookie sales from Kansas sales tax.
Carolyn Gill, Overland Park sophomore and leader of New York Elementary
School's Troop 590, said the Girl Scouts deserved to keep the money that they pay in sales taxes.
Girl Scouts statewide would amount to $353,000. She said the money was needed because the cost of programming had been increasing and United Way allocations to the Girl Scouts had been decreasing.
"They are taxing girls' efforts to achieve self-sufficiency...It's just not right."
Roberta Campbell executive director, Kaw Valley Girl Scouts
"It kind of makes me wonder why the government puts its hand in non-profit organizations like the Girl Scouts," Gill said. "The troop uses the money from cookies for badges, field trips and other activities."
Roberta Campbell, executive director of the Kaw Valley Girl Scouts, said the organization had been working to get tax-exempt status for cookie sales since the 1995 legislative session.
She said the most compelling argument supporting the tax-exempt status was that it was a program for all girls.
Campbell said that the relief to the
Gill said the additional money especially was needed for troops such as hers, which is made up of girls from low-income families.
Campbell said it helped that Gov. Bill Graves included the organization in his tax-relief package. The governor's proposal includes $2 million in relief to purchases by parent-teacher associations, fees paid to humanitarian organizations, sales of broadcasting equipment and sales by the Girl and Boy Scouts.
"They are taxing girls' efforts to achieve self-sufficiency." Campbell said. "It's just not right."
Kansas is one of three states that charges Girl Scouts sales tax for cookie sales. The others are Hawaii and South Dakota.
that the Girl Scouts be granted sales tax exemption in his tax-relief package for fiscal year 1999.
Graves recommended
Rep. Troy Findley, D-Lawrence and member of the House Taxation Committee, said it was too early to tell if the sales tax exemption would make it into law.
"It's something we've been trying to do for the last several years." he said.
Rep. Ralph Tanner, R-Baldwin and member of the House Taxation Committee, said the committee would wait for the Senate tax-relief package before bringing its bill to the House.
As of last week, the Senate equivalent of the bill did not include tax-exempt status for the Girl Scouts.
The Senate will debate the tax-relief package tomorrow, and a vote is expected Thursday.
How the cookie crumbles
Girl Scout Cookie sales fund community service, education and financial aid programs through regional councils and local troops.
Author Dennis Kimbro speaks about the secrets of success. Kimbro spoke yesterday night at the Spencer Museum of Art. His speech was sponsored by the Black Student Union. Photo by Tara Bradley/KANSAN
Speaker challenges students to flourish
By Sara Anderson
sanderson@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Kimbro spoke to a diverse group of students in the Spencer Museum of Art auditorium about "African Americans in Business: A Path Toward Empowerment," setting the tone for African American History Month.
Dennis Kimbro, educator and author, told students last night that if they listened to themselves, success would come.
"You need to listen to the inner beating of you own heart to be successful," Kimbo said. "To the extent you control the inside of your life, you'll control the outside of your life."
Jonathan Ladniak, Bloomington, Minn., junior, said Kimbro's presentation was amazing.
"He was incredible," Ladmiad said. "I've read lots of business books, and it's some of the best advice I've gotten in a while. A lot of people could have benefited from what he said."
Kimbro focused on the path to greatness and success. He said vision, goals and the drive for excellence were the keys to success.
obey his orders, he becomes Colin Powell. Get a dream, commit to excellence and serve somebody and you will do it."
"We live in a hyper-competitive society, and all it takes is excellence," he said. "Greatness and success is completely up to you. Make him shine your shoes, he becomes James Brown; dis-
Kimbro said he hoped his message reached students and sparked their interest.
"I want to get the idea out and help them make a better future for themselves," he said.
Kimbro was presented with a plaque from the Black Student Union and a University of Kansas sweatshirt after the presentation.
Tanya Cuthbert, Las Vegas sophomore, said Kimbro made success seem attainable.
"He talked about common people with common goals," she said. "He put it in perspective. He showed that anyone can do it as long as you have a dream and serve others."
"It's definitely something that everyone can do," she said. "It doesn't seem to far out there."
Sandra Barnes, Taylorsville,
Miss. graduate student agreed
Kimbro has interviewed notable black achievers, such as Jesse Jackson and Don King, about their ideas of personal greatness. He has identified and analyzed black entrepreneurial success in the United States and established how to leave positive legacies in communities. His publications include "Think and Grow Rich: A Black Choice," and "What Makes the Great Great."
Abortion bargain may alter hospital
House compromise to reform Med Center restricts procedure
By Brandon Copple and Lisa John bcopple@kansan.com and ljohn@kansan.com Kansan staff writers
The plan to reorganize the hospital at the University of Kansas Medical Center so it is governed by an independent board was approved yesterday by the Kansas House of Representatives without significant debate.
The bill, intended to make the hospital more competitive in the Kansas City health-care market, would create an independent board to govern the hospital and would ban most abortion procedures on hospital property.
Many legislators who advocate abortion rights voted in favor of the bill despite the anti-abortion provision.
Rep. Henry Helgerson, D-Wichita, said the provision was not as restrictive as it appeared.
"I'm pro-choice, and I don't ever want to say abortions can be prohibited," said Rep. Tomo Sloan, R-Lawrence. "But in this case, this is all we are going to get."
Sloan said the need to reorganize the hospital was so pressing that legislators were willing to accept the abortion provision.
"The intent of the House is certainly to ban abortions at the Medical Center," he said. "But there may be some loopholes that allow the board to circumvent that intent."
The restrictions on abortion would not prevent Med Center physicians or students from performing or learning to perform abortions off of Med Center property. Executive Vice Chancellor Donald Hagen said that arrangement was not uncommon.
"The restrictions are no greater than many states have at state hospitals," he said. "And the bill has significant changes in the governance which will really be much better."
The bill was introduced last year with significant support — it passed the Senate by an almost unanimous vote — but it stalled after the House added an abortion ban similar to the one approved this year. The 1997 Legislature also was unable to agree about whether legislators should serve on the board that will govern the hospital.
The House voted yesterday for creation of a 14-member hospital authority, which would include as nonvoting members the chancellor, the executive vice chancellor of the Med Center and the executive dean of the medical school.
No legislators would serve on the hospital authority, but the authority must report to a legislative oversight committee. The oversight committee represents the compromise reached between lawmakers who wanted legislators on the board and those who felt the hospital should be free of direct legislative oversight.
Rep. David Adkins, R-Leawood, said too much legislative oversight had contributed to the hospital's current financial displeasure.
"I don't like the idea of these full-time legislative oversight committees," he said. "One thing it will surely do is cause hospital administrators to spend a lot of time preparing information for legislators."
The Senate will consider the bill today. If passed, the bill would be submitted to Gov. Bill Graves for signature or veto.
Mike Matson, Graves' press secretary, said the governor was inclined to sign the bill should it reach his desk in its present form.
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