THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
80th Year, No. 57
The University of Kansas—Lawrence, Kansas
Tuesday, Dec. 9, 1969
More GI pullouts promised by Nixon
WASHINGTON (UPI)—President Nixon promised Monday night to announce around Christmas time a further U.S. troop withdrawal from Vietnam and said the war would come to an end no matter what happens at the Paris peace talks.
Domestically, Nixon said he would veto the Senate's tax reform bill if it reaches his desk with a 15 per cent increase in Social Security benefits and a boost from $600 to $800 in the personal income tax exemption.
The President told a White House news conference that was broadcast nationwide in prime time on both television and radio that he would not "lower taxes for some Americans and raise prices for all." At the same time, he rejected higher taxes as an anti-inflationary weapon.
In his first formal meeting with newsmen since Sept. 26, Nixon
backed Vice-President Spiro T. Agnew's comments on the news media, chided a slow-moving Congress and deplored the alleged My Lai massacre—though apparently an isolated incident—and promised punishment for any GIs guilty of atrocities.
The President gave no figures on the size of the next stage of the U.S. pullout from Vietnam, which he said he would announce in two or three weeks. But he said it was made possible because there had been "more progress on all fronts than we anticipated."
The Pentagon said Monday there are now 475,200 U.S. troops in Vietnam, and Senate leaders said Nixon actually had withdrawn 9,000 more men than the 60,000 he had said would be out by Dec. 15.
The President said the chances of negotiating a settlement of the war in Paris were "not good,"
and he seemed in no hurry to appoint a successor to Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge,the chief U.S. negotiator who quit and returned home last weekend.
The United States, he said, is "well on the way" toward removing all combat ground forces from the war and submitting them with South Vietnamese. Developments since his Nov. 3 speech to the nation on Vietnam "have been on schedule." he said.
In any event, Nixon said, "the Vietnam war will come to a conclusion regardless of what happens at the bargaining table."
The first question posed at his first news conference in two and one half months asked Nixon whether he saw any sign of the Vietnam war "cooling off."
Nixon answered "yes," but made it clear that he was survey- (Continued to page 12)
(Continued to page 12)
Unlawful fees temporary: Frizzell
Special to the Kansan
Special to the Kansan TOPEKA — Although fees charged by state colleges and universities in Kansas may be lawful at this time, state Attorney General Kent Frizzell said Monday night that this situation was probably temporary.
A 1966 amendment to the state constitution legalized the establishment of tuition at state institutions of higher education. The amendment will be in effect only if the state Legislature authorizes the implementation by the Board of Regents. The legislature has
not yet done this.
This summer, Frizzell said, the Regents requested Richard Foth, assistant state attorney general, to draft a bill to be presented to the Legislature authorizing the regents to implement the 1966 amendment. The bill has been drafted and will be presented to the 1970 legislative session in January, Frizzell said.
Sunday Frizzell told the Kansas College Republican Federation he thought any parent might be able to contest the constitutionality of charging fees at state colleges and
universities. These fees were essentially tuition because they were "an overall charge for financing the institution and providing capital improvements rather than incidental fees affecting only some of the students."
The passage in the amendment Frizzell referred to was Section 6 of the amendment to Article 6 of the State Constitution. The passage reads, "The legislature may authorize the state Board of Regents to establish tuition, fees and charges at institutions under its supervision."
UDK News Roundup
By United Press International Apollo 13 plans made
SPACE CENTER. Houston-The space agency was expected to decide today when Apollo 13 will fly and where on the moon it will land, based largely on reports from the Apollo 12 moon explorers.
The space agency tentatively has selected March 12 as the launch date and Fra Mauro, a group of craters in the foothills of the lunar highlands, as the target.
Hanoi refuses 62 POWs
GENEVA—South Vietnam Monday asked the International Committee of the Red Cross to convince Hanoi to accept 62 seriously wounded North Vietnamese prisoners of war.
Release of the prisoners was authorized by the Saigon regime Nov. 20 but Hanoi declined the offer without explanation.
In a memorandum to the Red Cross, South Vietnam appealed to the organization to "use its moral influence and its authority as depositary guardian of the 1949 Geneva conditions to convince Hanoi to accept the 62 prisoners."
Miners vote for leader
WASHINGTON—Coal miners throughout the country choose today between incumbent W. A. "Tony" Boyle, the handpicked successor of John L. Lewis, and Joseph "Jock" A. Yablonski for president of the 195,000-member United Mine Workers of America.
A heavy turnout was predicted in the day-long voting at mines and union halls, climaxing one of the most bitter campaigns in the union's history. It is the first serious contest for the office in 110 years.
Crash kills 90 persons
ATHENS—Hundreds of police and firemen toiled in the rain today to recover bodies from an olive tree-covered hillside where an Olympic Airways airliner crashed in a thunderstorm, killing all 90 persons aboard disaster in Greek avia-
It was the worst disaster in Greek aviation history.
Committee favors lenient pot penalties
WASHINGTON (UPI)—The Senate Judiciary Committee voted Monday to sharply reduce penalties for the possession and sale of marijuana and other illicit drugs, a prime Nixon administration goal.
Under the measure, a person convicted the first time of possessing marijuana, heroin or any other outlawed drug could be jailed no more than one year. The judge could suspend the sentence, grant probation or even cancel the conviction so, for example, a youth picked up at a "pot" party would not have a criminal record
A second offense would carry a maximum penalty of two years and a fine of $10,000, but again the judge could suspend the sentence or grant probation.
Under present law, a first conviction for marijuana or narcotics possession carries a 2-to-10 year prison sentence and a fine of $20,000. The judge is allowed to suspend the sentence or grant probation.
The bill also would permit suspension of sentence or probation for a person convicted of selling drugs. Under present law, a convicted "pusher" is subject to a mandatory 5 to 20 years in prison, even for selling a few marijuana cigarettes.
For a second conviction, however, present law imposes a mandatory 5-to-20 year jail term and a $20,000 fine.
Under the bill, "professional criminal" drug pushers would get a mandatory five years to life prison sentence.
Photo by Mike Frederick
It's a bird...it's a plane...it's superbag
As Kansas temperatures continue to drop, inventive KU students have chosen a number of novel approaches to protect themselves from the elements—among them a large plastic bag, which apparently provided warmth in numbers.