THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2006
NEWS
3A
Candidates take on issues
Rep. Tom Holland is seeking to hold his position in the 10th district against two challengers. Roy Dunn is on the Republican ballot and Robert Garrard is a Libertarian. The 10th district covers a small portion of south Lawrence Holland, Baldwin City resident, has been a representative since 2002. He is the owner of an information technology business. Roy Dunn is a Franklin County commissioner and farmer and rancher. Robert Garrard is an electronics technician at Aeroflex Test Solutions, 400 New Century Parkway in New Century.
BY ERIN CASTANEDA
Higher Education
Holland: I'd like to see some incentive program be put forth by the legislature that would significantly cut costs of tuition for students. I believe there is a Georgia program that encourages students to work in the state after they graduate, I would like to see state incentives for kids to apply their knowledge in state. Basically we need to grow jobs here in Kansas.
Dunn: The cost of tuition reflects the times. Nationally tuition has gone up to meet the needs of colleges. I don't know what will slow down the phenomenon.
Garrard: Education should be separated from government to prevent controversies. Schools should be run like a business so customers can get what they want instead of having arguments about creationism and evolution. It should be run as a for-profit or non-profit to avoid problems like that.
Deferred Maintenance
Holland: Legislation needs to jump on that right away. I was on the legislative planning committee back in 2004 and Reggie Robinson (CEO of the Kansas Board of Regents) was talking to us about the issue then. I think it's imperative to the state we start working with the regent system to address those issues.
Dunn: There is $600 million. The
Kansas legislature is going to have to deal with this problem and will have to come up with the money somehow. It's not going to get any better if they don't take care of it.
Garrard: If maintenance really needs to be done and it's something that's been put off, I would look for places to cut and vote to fund that. I believe in the separation between school and state and I would look for other places in government to cut before I would fund that.
Economy
Holland: State government needs to provide a business environment conducive for outside businesses to come here and relocate. I think we do a pretty good job with our taxing policies and other business incentives now.
Dunn: I think this is a good opportunity. The economy in Kansas is just now recovering from 9/11 and Kansas offers a lot of opportunities for students just coming out of college. Baby boomers are approaching retirement and someone is going to have to take their place. I'm a baby boomer myself at 61 years and I'm thinking about retirement.
Garrard: I'm a capitalist. My belief is that the government doesn't need to regulate anything. I would repeal franchise fees that businesses have to pay state government. I would eliminate corporate income tax. One of the benefits is making education private to eliminate property tax and keep about $6 billion to $7 billion in
the pockets of the taxpayers instead of going back to the government.
Health Care
Holland: I introduced a plan for small businesses employees to be able to access the state health care program. As more and more graduates get out of school, they are going to work for more and more small businesses so I think it's important that everyone has access to affordable health insurance. It needs to be addressed on a national level. I'm in favor of a universal plan, but this is one way the state can come out.
Dunn: In Kansas, when people talk about health care the first thing that comes up in my mind is the rising cost of Medicaid. It's the fastest growing cost of finance in the state next to school funding. For college students it's an important issue because a lot of businesses don't offer health care and the cost of insurance is prohibitive. I think there needs to be an initiative to promote wellness and to keep the cost down.
Garrard: Health care should be restored to a free market. There are a lot of problems with health care because premiums are tax deductible so they are linked to the job instead of going through a private tax agent. I advocate eliminating state income tax and support limiting federal income tax so people would buy insurance through their tax agent. The medical industry is like any. The more government gets involved the more screwed up it's going to get.
Environment
Holland: I'm a big supporter of renewable energy. I support renewable energy. I think we ought to be using wind and nuclear energy. I think we need to curtail using coal fire plants. Or as new power plants come on I think we need to be looking at wind or nuclear sources to power them.
Dunn: The environment is a special concern of mine because I am a farmer and a rancher. I think farmers and ranchers have always been the stewards of the land to protect the environment. But we are hearing a lot about global warming now and I think it's a universal responsibility for everyone to come up with a solution to slow this process down. I think Kansas should have an initiative to promote biodiesel and ethanol protection. I think a lot of research should be done on hydrogen as a fuel source.
Garrard: I believe in the separation between government and state. I think the biggest polluter is the government and asking them to solve problems doesn't make sense. The solution is to make all property privately owned. Things like rivers and land that no one really knows about, the government can hire companies that can pollute it. So we need protection for private land.
Kansan staff writer Erin Castaneda can be contacted at ecastaneda@ kansan.com.
Edited by Aly Barland
Seeking out student voters
College political groups urge young adults to register to vote before coming elections
BY ERIN CASTANEDA
Because Monday was the last day to register to vote, the College Republicans and Young Democrats
made a final effort to register students.
The two groups have been passing out registration forms at events and on Wescoe Beach since the start of
Paul Morrison, Democratic candidate for attorney general, joined the Young Democrats on Wesco Beach Monday to encourage students to vote. Morrison is
"Voting is a civic duty and it's important to get (students) into politics early on."
RENEE KLINGES College Republicans president
the semester. Renee Klinges, College Republicans president and Overland Park senior, said they have registered about 30 to 40 people since the school year started. She said student political groups were important because college students were less likely to register to vote unless it was easily available to them.
She said it was important for Democratic and Republican groups to encourage students to vote.
"Voting is a civic duty," Klinges said, "and it's important to get them into politics early on."
Victor Aguilar, Dodge City senior, took advantage of the on-campus opportunity to register to vote. He said he would have registered anyway because it was important to "let our voice be heard."
running in a closely watched race against Attorney General Phill Kline.
"We're trying to get out as many students as possible," Morrison said. "Students
tend to be underrepresented in elections."
Morrison said students should be interested in the same issues that interested other citizens. Privacy is a hot topic in his campaign and he said it was something young people in particular needed to be concerned about.
Marc Langston, Young Democrats president and Wichita junior, said the attorney general was the most talked-about race in his political science classes. He said that it was a close race and that the candidates had several ads running to promote their campaigns.
Kansan staff writer Erin Castanea can be contacted at ecastanea da@kansan.com.
Edited by Dianne Smith
THIS WEEK ON CAMPUS
October 24, 2006
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