Page 4 University Daily Kansan, February 3, 1982
Opinion
Task force time again
It's time, once again, for the annual formation of the Task Force to Study Beer in the Stadium.
The issue has almost been studied to death.
For the past few years, groups of students have assembled to try to persuade the University administrators and the University of Kansas Athletic Corporation that beer sales in Memorial Stadium are what KU students want, and what the athletic program needs.
In 1979, the project was undertaken by the Concerned Students for Higher Education, a now-defunct student lobbying group.
And in 1979 everyone said it was a good idea. But the movement faded with the demise of CSHE.
After CSHE disappeared, some former members of the group took up the beer banner, with the same results.
Last year, those pushing for beer in the stadium tried a double-barreled tactic. Task forces from both Student Senate and Task
from KUAC tackled the issue. They failed. This time, supporters of the idea attributed its failure to political unpopularity, and the general conservative climate in the state.
So what's changed this year?
The new and improved Student Senate task force is again collecting information from schools that sell beer at football games.
The new approach is to tell KUAC to take the money and use it however it chooses.
They've adopted a slight twist to their sales pitch this year. In the past, those working for beer sales have said the profits should be used to fund women's and non-revenue sports.
The outcome will be interesting. Will KUAC and the University approve beer sales? Will the profits disappear into the vast unknown of KU's athletic budget? Will thousands of fans happily enjoy their favorite beverage while cheering on the mighty Javhawks?
Or will next year see the creation of yet another task force to study beer in the stadium?
Segregation an old tradition in women's residence hall
The University of Kansas sent out housing contracts last week to next year's freshmen.
If requests run true to form, GSP-Corbin Hall will be by far the most popular hall for freshmen women. It will probably fill up within the first two weeks. McElhene, director of residential programs.
If requests run even truer to form, the Corbin side of GSP-Corbin will be 100 percent white Anglo-Saxon. And the GSP side will closely mirror its sister half, except it will probably have a sprinkling of black women and perhaps even a foreign student or two.
The residential profile of GSP-Corbin has changed little since I lived there three years ago.
Out of 763 HSU-Corbin residents, approximately 11 were black, according to the
TERESA
RIORDAN
hall's residential director. All 11 live on the GSP side of the complex.
That tradition is, as MeElhennie aptly puts it, that GSP-Corbin is as a "springboard to the earth."
That means that if a woman is from the right class of Kansas society (i.e. white, middle-to-upperclass), she'll know that GSP-Corbin is "the place to live if she wants to go through rush.
Outwardly, it would appear that the office of residential programs is practicing blatant racial discrimination.
She'll know that she needs to send back her housing contract the day she gets it if she wants a place. And she'll know to put Corbin as her first choice and GSP as her second.
In comparison, the black population at Lewis Hall, KU's other all-women residence hall, probably numbers 40 to 50 out of 390, according to estimates made by its resident director.
anomal way that the Corbin side of GSP-
Corbin doesn't have, and probably never has but
they don't.
This segregation at GSP-Corbin exists, not because of a conscious effort on KU's part, but rather because the University allows a tradition to determine who lives in the hall.
The big wonder is that State Rep. Norman Justice, in his attacks against the KU Greek
After all, the Greek system "discriminates" on the basis of a whole slew of criteria. Justice might as well file a complaint against it for wrongdoing or the basis of family income or choice of wardrobe.
But this practice of discrimination is really not a "practice" at all. The office of residential programs, McEhlinen reminded me, will have no idea, when housing contracts for GSP-Corbin flood in during the next few weeks, what the race of any of those applicants is.
system for racial discrimination, has ignored such an obvious target as GSP-Corbin.
The University, on the other hand, has lifespan type, racial discrimination, under any circumstances.
Besides, the $14,000 worth of state-paid salaries that Justice is quibbling about is small-time compared to the more than $1 million annual operating budget of GSP-Corbin.
And if justice still wants to complain about the fact that KU's Panhellenic sororites have no black members, the foundation of his complaint will be drawn in to draw most of their members from GSP-Corb.
Far fewer white sorority members would be prone to say things during rush like "I just don't want I could live with a black girl!" had they had women, or women during their freshman year of college.
As it stands, few white GSP-Corbinites have had black roommates. Few have had black neighbors in the hall. Few have had catcaterain neighbors in the hall. Few have had conversations with blacks.
In short, many of them leave their affluent high schools, where few classes attend, to live in a city.
Small wonder that they pledge sororities without any black members and then keep up the pressure.
McEhlinen, alluding to the fact that most GSP-Corbin residents come from similar backgrounds, says he sometimes fears that the ball could turn into "vanilla ice cream."
Although he wasn't alluding to the racial composition of GSP-Corbin, the analogy is quite appropriate. But KU is still reluctant to take a stance on the hall's vanilla flavor, McEhline said.
One of those steps, he pointed out, is a black caucus at GHP-Corbin, which is supported by the team.
But those steps have been made largely because of the efforts of the black residents themselves and the efforts of a concerned director. And those steps have been long in coming.
He said, however, that steps have been made in the right direction.
The resident director said that a few of those black residents have expressed interest in living there.
Let's hope they get their contracts in before the rush of freshman hall contacts fills the hall, because Corbin, the state first women's college basketball coach last when it comes to further racial equality.
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"Nah governor, using that gun ain't a good idea . . . it might discourage them."
Income tax surpasses 'modest intent'
the ousted Americans may just barely remember, but there was a time when the federal government could not, by law of the Constitution, collect income taxes. And the country ran just fine—a modest budget surplus even existed.
But such a time is not in the distant future, nor is it in the past distant. In fact, it was only 69 years ago today that the last state, Delaware, ratified the 16th Amendment, giving Congress the power to "lay and collect taxes on incomes."
In 1913 Woodrow Wilson was the president-elect. Finley Peter Dumme was writing famous columns like "Mr. Dooley on William Jennings Bryan." Jim Thorpe, the Carlisle Indian who had his medals taken away after the 1912 Olympics, had signed to play baseball with the N.Y. Tremblay-admised him not to smoke, especially until times got a little easier.
But much harder to conceptualize is that in 1913 the net receipts of the government were less than $300 million, which was enough to create a surplus of $40 million. Corporate and excise taxes and tariffs brought in most of the money the government needed.
But Congress wanted another way to collect revenues. Abraham Lincoln had taxed incomes during the Civil War, but when it was tried again in 1885 the Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional, saying income taxes were direct taxes that had to be apportioned among the states. The 16th Amendment circumvented this ruling.
presidential salary of $7,000. The governor of
presidental salary with a salary of $10,000, would pay
$50 annually.
The initial intent was modest enough. Congress hoped to bring in $70 million by taxing 1 percent of the net income exceeding $70 million. Wilson would pay $700 annually on his
To collect the new tax, the Bureau of Internal Revenue, later renamed the Internal Revenue Service to stress "service," prepared to expand its staff of 277 people in Washington and 3,723 people in the field. To tell people how to prepare their taxes, the bureau prepared a 16-page document called the Internal Revenue Code.
The contrast to today is staggering. The IRS is now $1.5 billion operation, employing
CHRIS COBLER
Individual income taxes now bring the federal government nearly $300 billion, or almost half of the net budget receipts of nearly $600 billion. Despite these phenomenal individual taxpayer contributions, the budget deficit is approaching $100 billion.
more than 70,000 people throughout the world. The Internal Revenue Code has grown to a huge volume of 300,000 words, which must be interpreted along with the several hundred volumes of court decisions and IRS rulings which accompany it.
Obviously, much has changed in 69 years. The federal government has grown to monstrous proportions, largely at the expense of the individual taxpayer. And along with this awesome growth, the SKILLfully managed to keep the supporting dollars coming in.
Because the whole income tax system is voluntary in nature, the IRS has worked hard to indoctrinate the individual taxpayers. The IRS has a large public-relations program designed to "keep the taxpayer adequately informed" of his rights and duties. The IRS is happy to assist taxpayers who have questions or problems.
And the system works remarkably well. Voluntary compliance brings 97 percent of the IRS's revenues, while enforcement brings only 3 percent.
rine chief tool the IRS uses to get such a high percentage of compliance is the withholding system, which was reborn during World War II after being used by Lincoln. The IRS bills it as a service free to the taxpayers to spend on the year. This "free service" accounts for two-thirds of all individual income taxes collected in the United States.
the rest of the taxpayers meekly comply under the threat of governmental prosecution. And while some tax evasion and cheating does exist, it is certainly limited by the possibility of an IRS audit, which puts fear in the hearts of honest and dishonest taxpayers.
For, IRS tax auditors can find something wrong with almost any form prepared. The complexity of the tax laws makes it nearly impossible to be totally accurate. People on a president's enemy list are audited by the IRS. Big-time criminals who police can't touch are no match for the tax form and are brought in on charges of tax evasion or tax fraud.
Thus it is that in the relatively short span of 70 years the income tax has pervaded the entire American way of life. Americans accept paying taxes on their income just as they accept the passing of each day. But a saturation point does exist.
American workers are becoming more and more angry about giving one third or more of their wages to the federal government, which in turn wants more. The election of Reagan was an expression of this outrage. Americans would be good for as long as he would cut income taxes.
Certainly, the government of 1892 is more complex and attempts much more than the government of 1913, but Americans will not accept an Orwellian "1984" either. The corpulent federal government must be chopped before it suffecates the people it is supposed to be serving. No one will benefit when the workers have been taxed to death.
Letters to the Editor
Security deposit bill would benefit tenants
1. If the editor:
   In response to your editorial about State Rep. Birch-Bryl's bill calling for interest on security deposits, this is not a new issue in Topека. It has been a part of broad landlord-tenant legislation for years, but has not received much support in the past. The idea has received increased attention in the past few years with soaring interest rates.
interest on security deposits is a truly fair proposal and should give acceptance or rejection on its own merits. In your editorial you quoted a representative of the landlord association saying that the refund would simply be passed on. That argument is not a new one. Opponents of the severance tax have made the pass-on argument a popular one. Yet, why are the oil companies and the landlords working diligently to defeat these pieces of legislation? If they can simply pass on the increases, then why should they care?
To the Editor:
The rental business has become more competitive and competitive. Competition might be the reflexive difficulty to pay rent.
make the return to landlords are arguing this point. It is irrigating that some landlords are arguing that the interest will be passed on and others are saying that it cannot be. They increase skepticism when they argue completely opposing views.
interest rates skyrocked a few years ago. Take a moment and compute how much money a landlord, who owes 200 units and charges $200 deposit has available every August. At current interest rates, a good amount can be made by May.
Your suggestion that ASK be concerned with self-heLP is understandable, but just because
ASK might support interest on security deposits does not mean they would have to abandon self-help. The self-help issue has nothing to do with interest on security deposits.
Interest on security deposits is not a panacea for tenants. It is not designed to solve all landlord-tenant problems. It is simply designed to return to the tenants what is rightly theirs.
State Rep. Betty Jo Charlton
D.Lawrence
I encourage you to look into this legislation more thoroughly. I cannot accept the pass-on argument because it landlords work on a strict time limit, and landlords receive a rebate when interest rates soared?
Group not ridiculous
To the Editor:
In his column "Fight Fairlwell and gang with reason," Tom Bontragre made a statement that I need clarified. Tom, what is the "inherent business" of the Moral Majority's position?
I personally see nothing ridiculous in their stand, and even those people who don't appreciate their views can't exactly call them ridiculous—off-base, perhaps, but not ridiculous.
As for Bontrager taught Art Buchdwell, well, anyone that knows of Buchdwell, knows what the subject is about.
I see that Bontrager wrote "laugh at," not "laugh with." He also put "themselves" before
"others." At least the Moral Majority puts others first and themselves last. As for their not being able to laugh, that's a joke in itself. I know of no other person who smiles or laughs as much as the organization's founder, Jerry Falwell. Since Bontrager has such a misconception of the type of individuals who join the Moral Majority, he should spend more time listening to their message rather than attacking the speaker, with bad arguments at that.
Also, Bontrager wrote, "The reason humor can be so destructive to the Moral Majority is that they can never laugh at themselves or their own misdeeds. They must mix well with an air of solemn condemnation."
As an after thought, I would like to point out to Bontrager that the intent of the separation of church and state clause was to separate the state from the church, not the church from the state. I think that the state is clearly a separate state, but that doesn't mean that they should abstain from politics and silence their opinion.
Gordon Blake Clark,
Gordon Blake Clark,
Shawnee Mission freshman
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