THE UNIVERSITY OF JAHY KANSAN
EDRIDAY SEPTEMBER 26, 2009
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2009
NEWS
3A
TOBACCO (CONTINUED FROM 1A)
the tax from 24 cents per pack to 79 cents. According to state budget reports, the tax jump increased state revenue to more than $129 million in the first year — an additional $81 million.
Since that time, the amount of money collected from state cigarette taxes has declined. In fact, approved revenue from the state cigarette tax for this fiscal year, which began July 1, is $102 million, a decline of about 26 percent from seven years ago.
That's still double what the state made before the tax increase, said Mary Jayne Helleburt, executive director of the Tobacco Free Kansas Coalition. But as economic times get tougher and federal
tobacco taxes get higher, smokers are learning to either curb their addiction or find other means to alleviate their nicotine cravings.
Anderson said he started rolling his own cigarettes freshman year, both for the novelty and for the decreased cost. Now he only rolls when he doesn't have enough money for the Pall Malls, which he said was about every two weeks.
Three years ago, he said he could make about 30 cigarettes for $1.10. That cost has increased to about $4.25, he said, but it's still 10 cents cheaper per cigarette than the ones that come in a box.
Part of that is because loose tobacco qualifies as one of many "other tobacco products", which
also includes chewing tobacco. In Kansas, OTPs are taxed, and have been since 1972, at 10 percent of the manufacturer's cost.
OTPs are expected to generate $5.8 million for this fiscal year.
CESSATION
The deterrent effect the tax has on smokers is one of the top benefits of the tax cited by its proponents.
Several studies have found that a 10 percent increase in tobacco tax reduces overall cigarette consumption by 3 to 5 percent. That number jumps to as high as 7 percent for minors.
When Kansas passed its tax increase in 2002, the number of smoking adults ages 18 to 24 declined about 5 percentage points during the next year, according to a survey conducted by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. As of 2007, that number had declined another 10 percentage points.
A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study found more conservative results, noting a 12-percentage-point drop for that age group in Kansas from 2001 to 2007.
"Price is a strong deterrent to smoking." Hellebust said. "Particularly with young folks who have other things they might want to purchase."
This has held true for Dean
Fessenden, Junction City senior, who decided to kick the habit last Sunday after six years of on and off smoking.
"I'm broke," he said. "It's too expensive a habit for me to keep up."
He said he started budgeting the cost of his cigarettes — $5.36 for his Camels — with necessities such as rent and electricity, before finally realized he didn't have enough income to pay for it all.
But for smokers like Anderson and Cento, quitting hasn't yet become an option.
"There's really nothing we as smokers can do about it," Anderson said. "They've got us in their evil clutches because of their
addictive chemicals."
Ken Sarber, health educator, with Student Health Services, said he had helped dozens of students quit smoking, but the main motivator couldn't be the price per pack.
"There have to be more reasons than just cost for people to successfully quit smoking," he said.
The next legislative session for Kansas meets in January, at which point leaders of the state will decide the fate of the tobacco tax. Until then, Kansas will most likely retain its place as the 35th highest state tax on cigarettes in the United States.
- Edited by Megan Morriss
SAFETY (CONTINUED FROM 1A)
A self-defense class will be held at the Ambler Student Recreational Fitness Center on Oct. 3 from 1 to 3 p.m. "The point is we were always considering our safety," McKay said. "People need to consider safety 24 hours a day, seven days a week."
Jerry Wang/KANSAN
"You're supposed to feel safe in your home, and I don't feel safe," Matheny said.
that the door to her room did not have a peephole like the doors in renovated dorms on campus.
Robertson said Oliver was scheduled for renovation in the "distant future" and student housing was taking suggestions to make students feel safer.
Matheny said since the incident had occurred she made the decision with a group of friends to enroll in a self-defense class.
Annie McKay, assistant director of the Emily Taylor Women's Resource Center, said three self-defense classes were held every semester to teach students how to respond to attacks. The last class offered this semester is scheduled for Oct. 3 from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Ambler Student Recreational Fitness Center. The class is free and anyone can register by calling.
"The point is we're always considering our safety," McKay said. "People need to consider safety 24 hours a day, seven days a week."
McKay said students could adopt a number of habits to ensure their safety. She said students needed to be more aware of their surroundings, by maybe taking headphones off while walking, not texting while walking and observing their surroundings. She said little changes in awareness could make all the difference.
— Edited by Lauren Cunningham
SAFETY TIPS
- Don't hesitate to report suspicious activity to police, apartment/complex managers and/or campus authorities.
- Be aware of your environment — someone following you, suspicious car in your parking lot.
- Install good locks on your doors, windows and sliding glass doors.
Keep doors locked even when you're home.
Protect personal info on Facebook, MySpace, etc.
Vary your normal routine, don't be predictable.
- Don't leave house keys under a mat, above the door, behind a flower pot, etc.
- Install and use peepholes.
Walk with another person. Offenders are less likely to attack pairs or groups of individuals.
- Walk in well-lit areas and be aware of your surroundings.
- Avoid jogging alone, alternate running patterns/ times, and be aware that headphones can interfere with your awareness.
- Walk with confidence and self-assurance.
- Always trust your instincts.
- Take a self-defense course.
- Do not attach anything to your key ring that indicates where you live.
CAMPUS AND COMMUNITY RESOURCES
24-hour Kansas Statewide Crisis Hotline:
The Emily Taylor Women's Resource Center
KU Public Safety Office:
Watkins Memorial Health Center:
Counseling and Psychological Services:
Women's Transitional Care Services:
Headquarters Crisis Counseling Center:
Lawrence Crime Stoppers Hotline:
Rape-Victim Survivor Service Advocate:
1-888-363-2287
785-864-3552
785-864-5900
785-864-9500
785-864-2277
785-843-3333
785-841-2345
785-841-TIP5
785-841-2345
1-888-899-2345
or 1-888-899-2345
MACBETH
The University of Kansas University Theatre presents
by William Shakespeare
7:30 p.m. October 8,9,10,13,2009 2:30 p.m. October 11,2009 Crafton-Preyer Theatre
Somethin $ \sigma $ wicked this wav comes.
Original music composed by Fabian Obispo Directed by guest artist Tazewell Thompson
Reserved seat tickets are on sale in the KU ticket offices: University Theatre, 864-3982, and Lied Center, 864-ARTS, and online at www.k theatre. com. Tickets are $18 for the public, $17 for senior citizens and KU faculty and staff, $10 for all students. All major credit cards are accepted for phone and online orders.
PARKING (CONTINUED FROM 1A)
The University Theatre is partially funded by the KU Student Senate Activity Fee; funding is also provided by the Kansas Arts Commission, a state agency, and the National Endowment for the Arts, a national agency.
the tenants' contracts.
Trytten said that usually the agreement between the renters and the homeowners is up to the homeowner or the management company.
This Saturday, the Kansas football team will be playing Southern Mississippi at 11 a.m., but the mad dash for parking will begin much sooner.
Macbeth is an associate entry in the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival XLII.
he felt that if they do all the work, they should keep the profit.
"I rent the house to them and it's part of the perks," Kieltyka said.
Edited by Jonathan Hermes
Karaua Arts Commission
Jeremy Auman, Lawrence resident, lives near Eighth and Alabama Streets and said he and his neighbors alternated who could charge for parking during home games.
"It hasn't been much a tradition until the last few years,"
The University of Kansas
STUDENT
SENATE
Ben Trytten, general manager at Midwest Property Management, said the company included the option of charging for parking in
KU UNIVERSITY
THEATRE
The University of Kansas
Auman said. "It gets people close to the thing, you get some camaraderie out, people tailgating in my backyard and get some camaraderie that way." Auman said he could usually fit eight to 10 cars in his backyard and earned an average of $160 to $200 per game.
NATIONAL Jordanian man arrested in Dallas on bomb charges
DALLAS — A 19-year-old Jordanian man living in Texas was arrested Thursday on charges he intended to bomb a Dallas skyscraper, federal officials said.
Hosam Maher Husein Smadi was arrested after placing what he believed to be a car bomb outside the 60-story Fountain Place office tower Thursday, according to a statement from the U.S. attorney's office in Dallas. The decoy device was given to him by an undercover FBI agent, the statement said.
Smadi is charged with
attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction.
White declined to comment on the specifics of the case
He was in federal custody in Dallas without bond, said Special Agent Mark White, spokesman for the Dallas FBI office.
An undercover FBI agent discovered Smadi in an online group of extremists, according to an FBI affidavit that did not specify a date..
"He stood out based on his vehement intention to actually conduct terror attacks in the United States," FBI supervisory special agent Thomas Petrowski wrote in the affidavit.
met with Smadi over several months, posing as members of an al-Qaida sleeper cell, according to the court documents.
Three undercover agents eventually communicated and
Agents provided Smadi with what he believed was a car bomb but was actually an inert device, according to Petrowski's affidavit.
Smadi drove to Dallas on Thursday, met one of the undercover agents and then drove to the targeted building, the FBI agent wrote. Smadi then allegedly drove a vehicle with the device inside into the parking garage beneath the building, parked it and attempted to detonate the bomb.
Associated Press
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