Opinion
Page 4
University Daily Kansan, March 8, 1963
KU grapples with rape
A gruesome, violent monster called rape has taken up residence in the dark, unprotected fields of the KU campus and city parks. His lair is unpatrolled, and those who venture into it are unprotected. Every year at least a few Lawrence women, most of them KU students, fall prey to the beast.
Two KU forces — the KU Police Department and a watch patrol currently being formed — have chosen to battle the monster. Both need help.
"Today, police officers fight crime with a pen," complains Jim Denney, director of KU police. He said the police department needs more money and personnel so that officers can spend more time on patrol and less time doing paperwork.
But the money just is not there.
The department needs about five more officers to have five officers on patrol at all times, which Denney said was the optimal number. Last year, the KUPD averaged about 3.5 officers on patrol at all times.
The beast seems to be breaking through the front lines of defense; but KU students and Lawrence residents still have another force preparing to go into battle.
John Beldock, Durango, Colo., senior, is organizing the Runner's Rape Watch Patrol. The patrol, made up of joggers, will run through parts of campus and South Park.
Eventually there will be different routes run each hour through each trouble spot. Information from police and rape seminars will be given to runners so they will be prepared, Beldock said.
All that is needed are volunteers - male or female. Those interested can call Beldock at 841-6389 after 11 a.m.
With support from concerned students and citizens, we can begin to hunt the monster, to overrun his lair. And perhaps, someday soon, the monster will be vanquished.
Times Beach buyout a boon
The U.S. government is planning to spend $3.1 million to "buy" Times Beach, Mo. What a change!
The profit potential of the Times Beach area is unlimited. One profitable scheme, which has already been proposed, is to turn Times Beach into a national park.
Tourists would love it. Think of it, a beach in the middle of Missouri!
The promotion campaign would be dazzling.
See the ruins of the dioxin disaster! See the
vacant houses, the shattered dreams, the empty
land, the malformed trees, the mutant wildlife!
The best on your block to experience dioxin
and its dangers is nowhere but in danger!
 won't be exposed long enough to be in danger!
Millions would not be able to resist such a chance. The Missouri tourist industry would
boom. An admission charge would allow the United States to recoup its investment in no time.
JON BARNES
Film crews would invade the area for the making of the next blockbuster TV min-series. People magazine would then publish a scandal and all the actors in the min-series began to die off.
After a few decades, the situation will be the same as it was before. Then Anne Gorsuch Burford Du Pont Kemp-Roth Carnegie Rockefeller III will head the Earth Protection Agency from her asteroid and commit $31.1 billion (adjusted for inflation) from the Superduperfur to clean up the new mess in Times Beach.
If this outcome is not acceptable to the government, there are other profitable uses for them.
Build an impenetrable, unscalable wall around the infected area. How about that for a job bills? Thousands of unemployed construction workers would be put to work at taxpayers' expense. It would be the greatest jobs program since the Pyramids or the original Great Wall.
When the wall is completed, the country's worst criminals can be transferred there. Guards would be needed only at the entrance, but it could be possible for them safe from the dangers of doxin exposure.
The government would spend nothing to feed or shelter the prisoners. They could grow their own food and produce their own seeds.
It would be a death sentence, so only those convicted of capital crimes would be sent there. But the prisoners would probably welcome a chance to live a full life while waiting for the dioxin to take effect. It certainly would be an experience over the despair and despondency of dead row.
Some might criticize the arbitrary effects of the poison. Some of the prisoners might die quickly. Others might live to old age and die of natural causes, like an ax wound. Still, it wouldn't be less fair than current practices of enforcing the death penalty.
And the criminals, who don't normally tend to avoid risks, would enjoy the excitement of the gamble as one final chance to stick it. to the system if they don't die.
Or, how about turning Times Beach over to the Pentagon?
No doubt, the keen minds in the denom-
industry could develop a way to use Times Beach
and its dixon as a weapon. Launchers could be
built into the rockets that laxion-filled cloads of
dirt with pinpoint accuracy.
The entire surface area of the Soviet Union could be covered in a few years and no one would notice. Then we could sit back, relax and watch the Red Menace slowly die off.
We could also begin nuclear disarmament with a clear collective conscience, knowing that we would still have the "Times Beach Bomb" in case anyone makes trouble.
With all of the benefits the U.S. government can receive from the ownership of Times Beach, the relocated former residents might look at the million they received and say, "We were robbed."
1985 MIAMI NEWS
In more ways than one
IRS squeezing non-profit press
The Internal Revenue Service is working. hard to become the official U.S. censor. In recent years, the agency has forced several non-profit publications that rely on their tax-exempt status to survive to go through costly and exhaustive audits to prove that they should keep their tax status.
The IRS operates under the Internal Revenue Code regulations, a huge body of law drawn up by Congress that gives the agency the power to scrutinize the non-profit press's editorial contents, advertising policies and business practices.
Only those non-profit publications that are primarily educational, literary, religious or charitable can qualify for special tax-exempt status. Suen status allows them to offer tax deductions to their financial contributors and to pay a substantially lower postage rate.
This is the crux of the problem. The IRS wields tremendous power over non-profit publications, which depend on tax-exempt status to stay alive. The agency, in effect, can decide what the non-profit press can or cannot say and how it can say something.
Editors walk a fine line to meet the ISR's rather vague regulations. The editorial content must be "useful to the individual and beneficial to the community" and must present a "sufficiently full and fair exposition of the pertinent facts." The publications must also show that they operate differently from commercial publications.
Sounds good, except that the IRS auditor has the final say about an article's educational value and worth. One IRS ruling banned publications from printing the answers to questionnaires they sent to political candidates. The agency viewed that as intervention in a political campaign.
After much sharp criticism, most notably from the League of Women Voters, the IRS ruled that it would decide on a case-by-case basis whether the publication of candidates' replies
was evidence of bias and reason to revoke a publication's tax-exempt status.
One of the more recent cases concerns Mother Jones magazine, an award-winning, San Francisco-based investigative reporting publication. In the past few years, it has won acclaim for its news-breaking articles about the Ford Pinto gas tank explosions and sales by American corporations to Third World nations of products outlawed in the United States.
The magazine is no friend to the Reagan administration. It has run numerous articles criticizing administration policies and relationships with titles such as, "America Held
KATE DUFFY
Hostage! Day 365 of the Reagan Takeover" and "Investigating Reagan's Brain. And Other Stories."
In 1890, the IRS began what was to be a "routine" audit of Mother Jones and its parent foundation, the Foundation for National Progress. The auditor examined 1978 records including editorial and financial records, contracts between the magazine and writers, information about the writers' qualifications and every 1978 issue of Mother Jones, as well as the publications that the foundation's other six projects put out.
The audit turned into a nightmare for the Mother Jones staff soon after Reagan took office in 1981. The IRS auditor returned to the magazine's office with her supervisor and warned the staff that the IRS was considering revoking the magazine's tax-exemption status.
Mother Jones' attorney argued with the IRS and sent it detailed information spelled out the
differences between Mother Jones and commercial operations. The magazine did not want to make a profit (it usually operates about $500,000 in the hole each year), and Mother Jones' charitable and educational goals put it in constant conflict with big business; that means losing such business firms as advertisers. The magazine pulls in only about 11 percent of its revenues from advertising, whereas 50 percent is considered normal for that type of magazine.
But last August, the IRS revoked the magazine's tax-exempt status by using what Mother Jones publisher Robin Wolander called a "voodoo accounting" method in its report, the IRS counted all revenues and only some of the expenses. But another Mother Jones appear to be making a profit.
Wolaner said she had shown the IRS's accounting procedures to several tax accountants and attorneys. They all claimed to have never seen anything like them before.
"It breaks all rules of accounting" she said
"It breaks all rulns of accounting," she said. Although Wolanar said she had been trying to keep an open mind about the audit, she said she thought that the IRS was trying to put Mother Holmes on the hook; she saw the final report that not only revoked her status, but also charged it $390,000 in back taxes. Wolanar also said she thought that the local IRIS district commissioner had been trying to win political points with the Reagan administration by revoking the tax-exemption status.
The magazine is appearing the decision and will eventually end up in court with it. Wolanar said that she was sure Mother Jones would win on a First Amendment argument. However, the legal battle will cost thousands of dollars that have to come from donations. A less influential and well-known publication might not be able to afford such a battle.
Letters to the Editor
Congress has begun an inquiry into the IRS audit of Mother Jones. But until Congress begins regulating the IRS better, the agency can continue to play censor to the non-profit press.
Americans need to listen to Europe
To the editor
Much has been written by the American press about mass protests, the youth movement, neutralism, anti-Americanism, etc., in Western Europe. A European view may help readers understand some of the differences between Americans and West Europeans.
At the core of the problem is the East-West relationship, and particularly the question of how the West should deal with the Soviets. The United States as a superpower views world affairs favorably under West European emphasize regional or even national aspects of the East-West conflict.
In practically all West European countries, social democratic and even Communist parties have had a strong influence on both voters and governmental policies. They are recognized and rewarded for their role in the country beckoned with in West Germany, France, Italy, Britain and other West European countries.
Europeans have grown accustomed to having socialist countries as neighboring states. More importantly, they learned to deal with leaders and other people on the other side of the Iron Curtain. This does not mean that they support the political systems of Europe or the United States, but the growing conversation that cooperation over ideological differences is to be preferred to confrontation.
Statements by high-level American officials have only encouraged a growing belief in Western Europe that Europe would be the battleground of a direct military confrontation between the superpowers. Having lived close to Soviet missiles, Warsaw Pact troops and mined borders for more than three decades means that most Europeans see a solution to the danger of
Finally, and most importantly, a growing fear has overcome Europeans of all ages and professions. Memories of war and past World War II have grown with the loss and 35 years is too short a time to forget the past.
war between East and West not in tough policies and more aggressive rhetoric but negotiations designed to achieve a mutual reduction of forces and weapons. The present political crisis between Western Europe and the United States might be less severe if Americans would try to understand the Europeans' concern with their own survival.
Expert's claims wrong
assistant instructors, political science
Beat Kernen, Peter Shearman.
In his article on Feb. 21, Jeff Taylor reports that Ron Francisco, associate professor of political science, said that for younger West Germans, the Cold War is just something written in history. It doesn't admit that the West German youth has a hard time understanding how Germany got divided.
We have hardly ever read a better accumulation of stereotypes and superficial babble than this brief article coming from a "German expert." Saying that the youth in West Germany don't understand the history of the Cold War is simply wrong.
To the editor
Because Germany is divided, its youth probably know more about the Cold War than any other group of young people. The world divides right through Germany. We live the Cold War every day. If Francisco says that the Cold War for younger West Germans is just something written about in history books, he stresses the ability of our parents to pass on their experiences and the deep feeling the Berlin Wall — a monument of Cold War — causes in us.
Congratulations, Francisco!
In talking about the coming German elections, Francisco totally ignored the "Green Party," a political power whose votes are mainly young people. This party will possibly be represented in
the next German parliament and is strongly opposed to the installation of Pershing II
We would never claim to be experts on West Germany, but in this case we seem to know better since we are the ones talked about. It is probably not worth mentioning that the German student's life as Francisco describes it is a generalization and does not distinguish us from other students in the world. Or don't you talk, drink, or watch movies 'a lot'.*
Wilfried Petersen
Wilfred Petersen
Thomas Trautmann,
Christine Hansen,
and 13 other Worc. Co.
Broadcast less sports
To the editor
I have become very disturbed over the past
two months at the amount of valuable air time given
This letter concerns the broadcasting policy of KU athletic events on KANU.
KANU makes little money from these broadcasts. If KANU is the "flagship" station, shouldn't it enjoy the profits of the broadcast and still have to compete as exclusive carrier of KU athletes in Lawrence?
The same broadcast can be heard on several commercial stations. Public radio programming being a rare commodity, should such redundancy be set policy? Third, the blantat athletics (not necessarily at KU) makes such events inappropriate for KANU to broadcast.
One must ask the disturbing question: Is the athletic department setting policy in a field they should be seperate from? This cannot be tolerated in a community-supported institution
For these reasons I strongly urge the public to let its feelings be known to KANU.
David Fern. Lawrence resident
Letters Policy
The University Daily
The University Daily Kansan welcomes letters to the editor. Letters should be typewritten, double-spaced and should not exceed 500 words. They should include the writer's name, address and phone number. If the writer is affiliated with the University, the letter should include his class and home town or faculty or staff position. The Kansan reserves the right to edit or reject letters.
The University Daily KANSAN
*The University Daily Kisanan (USP$ 60-440) is published at the University of Kansas, 118 Flint Street, Lawrence, MA 02138. Subscriptions to the regular school year and Monday and Thursday during the summer sessions, including Sunday through Saturday for the summer sessions, include a payment at Lawrence, Kan 6004. Subscriptions by mail are $15 for six months or $27 for two years. Students pay through the student activity fee (POSTMASTER) send address changes to the subscriber.*
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