CAMPUS AND AREA
University Daily Kansan, March 29, 1984 Page 8
Hearings held on proper tax
By United Press International
TOPEKA - Classification of property for tax purposes is an undesirable tax structure but one that several states have relied on to prevent tax shifts caused by reappraisal, a university professor said yesterday.
Glenn Fisher, professor of urban affairs at Wichita State University, told the Senate Assessment and Taxation Committee that by enforcing property limitations on property not allowing them to get out of killer, states could avoid classification.
Fisher is also a member of the state revenue consensus group, a consortium of state tax officials, economists and budget analysts who meet periodically to project state tax collections in light of changes in data. The group is supposed to meet today.
THE SENATE COMMITTEE conducted two days of hearings this week on the House-passed classification measure, which would allow different
types of property to be taxed at different rates.
Rather than debate the House measure directly, the committee decided yesterday to start from scratch by debating the policy questions involved and decided to devise their own schedule for taxing different types of property.
Committee members directed staff researchers to calculate what the state would have to do to protect residential and agricultural property owners if it all other real and personal property at 30 percent of its fair market value.
CURRENT LAW REQUIRES the "uniform and equal" assessment rate of 30 percent for all property. However, the failure to keep property values up to date the past 20 years has resulted in artificially low valuations that brought effective assessment rates far below 30 percent.
The result is that residential homes on the average are assessed at about 8 percent, farm land at 6 percent and
commercial and business property at 12 percent. The Legislature already has passed a reappraisal bill that would collect updated property valuations.
If those valuations were put on the tax rolls under the current system of 30 percent, homeowners and farmers would experience drastically higher taxes while most business and industrial property would see a tax decrease.
TO PROTECT HOME and farm property owners against that, the House has passed a classification measure that would amend the state constitution to allow residential and agricultural property to be assessed at 6 percent. Other types of property would have higher rates up to the 30 percent mark.
Several classes of property would be exempt, including farm machinery which already enjoys that status, livestock and merchant's inventory.
Heeding Fisher's advice, Senate lawmakers on the tax committee said they wanted to try to keep the property tax base as broad as possible.
Scholar discusses Grenada invasion
By PHIL ENGLISH Staff Reporter
The U.S. invasion of Grenada was an effort to demonstrate political credibility for an administration that was in a bad state of foreign affairs, a scholar in Caribbean history, politics and culture said yesterday.
In a University Forum speech at the Ecumenical Christian Ministries Center, 1204 Oread Ave., Dennis Conway said that the United States invaded the country in a show of dominance over Caribbean nigris and as a message to Nicaragua.
"There are several precepts involved in analyzing the situation," said Comway, who is a member of Universities Field Staff International, a group of scholars supported by the University of Kansas and seven other universities.
The government is in some ways trying to anesthetize us from what pain we are feeling.
The first pretext, that U.S. citizens were in a dangerous situation on the tiny island, was the only legitimate reason for the invasion, he said.
However, Conway said, no indications had surfaced on the island as to the degree of danger for the U.S. inhabitants there. Furthermore, he said, the Reagan administration was determined that Moscow erupted during the 1980 hostile crisis in Iran and wanted to avert such a disaster.
Conway said that the only success of the invasion was that none of the enemy forces had to leave.
The second justification the Reagan administration used for invading Grenada stemmed from the various invitations the U.S. received from Grenada and its neighboring countries for military aid, he said.
"There were no legalities involved at all," he said. "There was a secret message that Reagan received on the 19th of October, asking for intervention. This was two days before the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States wanted to formally request U.S. military help."
But, Conway said, American diplomats might have prompted the organization, referred to as the OECS, to ask for Military help.
"When the viability of the request was questioned, another confidential witness told the judge that he
Conway said that Tom Adams, the prime minister of Barbados and a member of OECS, informed the U.S. on Oct. 24 that the Gov. General of Grenada, Paul Scoon, wanted to ask for U.S. help.
"Scoon is a frightened man, who had been in contact with the British on several occasions to get himself out of Grenada," he said. "On reflection of Scoon said that he had thought about abducting a kid on Sunday the 23rd. This was untrue, since the U.S. was planning the invasion days before."
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The degree of Cuban presence on the third reason the Administration cited for the invasion, Conway said.
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"The people that had gained power in Grenada, following the assassination of former Prime Minister Maurice Bishop, had no support from the people.
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"The problem was not so much the threat of Cuban expansionism," he said, "but rather a political threat to the people of Grenada.
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"The invasion was an effort to obtain political gains. The Reagan foreign policy was suffering from many blows, and it is easy to imagine that occurred earlier in the month."
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An overlooked gem that demonstrates the elegance of the horror film as social and psychological metaphor. Cine Fantastique
GRUB STREET, KU's literary magazine, will meet at 7:30 p.m. in the library on Friday.
CANTERBURY HOUSE will sponsor
a Episcopal Eucharist at noon in
Dance Club.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The University Daily Kansan welcomes listings for its On Campus column. These events must be free and open to the public and they must be submitted to the Kansan, 111 Stauffer Flint Hall, three days before publication. The Kansan publishes On Campus as a public service and does not guarantee publication of every item.
LATIN AMERICAN Brown Bag Lunch will feature Chris Kuehl on "Soviet Policy in Central America" noon to 1:30 p.m. in 169 Lippincott Hike
"TOWARD A CULTURAL Practice," a lecture by Mary Louise Pratt, will be at 4 p.m. in the Jayhawk Room of the Union.
KU SWORD AND SHIELD will meet in 30 p.m. in the Walnut Room of the Auditorium.
ORTHODOX CHRISTIANS On Campus presents "The Virgin Mary" byFr. Nicholas Dufault at 7 p.m. in the Regionalist Room of the Union.
DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS will
come p.m. in the Trail Room of
the Kapsa Castle.
ON CAMPUS
GEOGRAPHY DEPARTMENT Col-
lectors will be at 3:30 p.m. in 412
Lincoln.
TODAY
SPINSTERS BOOKS Speaker's Bureau and Gay and Lesbian Services of Kansas will meet at 7:30 p.m. in the International Room of the Union.
AND . .
Buy 2 panties
SAVE $3.
TOMORROW
WARNERS
YAR SLAVUTICH, professor emeritus at the University of Alberta will attend on the Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko at 4:30 p.m. in 421 Weschel Hill
21 W. 9th
749-0004
All you can eat $4.95
Sr. Citizens 3.95
Children under 12 2.95
*Featuring:* Eggs Benedict • Scrambled eggs
• Bacon • Sausage • Hash Brownns • Biscuits &
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Tonight 7:30 p.m. THE LEOPARD
$1.50 Woodruff Auditorium
Friday & Saturday 3:30,7&9:30 p.m.
$1.50 Woodruff Auditorium
MIDNIGHT MOVIE Friday & Saturday
$2 Woodruff Auditorium, Kansas Union