THE UNIVERSITY OF DARY KANSAN
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2006
NEWS
3A
Budget changes or more taxes?
State house candidates voice different opinions from higher education to economy
BY ERIN CASTANEDA
Part of southeast Lawrence is covered by District 38, which is represented by Anthony R. Brown. He is faced by Republican challenger Diane Bryant.
Brown served in the United States Marine Corps for six years. He taught social studies and at-risk children from 1993 to 1997. He currently works as a carpenter.
Bryant retired from the Olathe School District where she worked as a library media specialist for 31 years. She also taught fourth grade.
Higher Education
Brown: There has been kind of a downturn in funding here lately because I think the emphasis has been on K-12. We had a supreme court ruling hanging over our heads with the ruling.
in Kansas, we have a $12 billion budget. K-12 education got nearly seven billion of that $12 billion. So highways, prisons, state employees and Medicina all come out of the last five billion dollars. So there's always competition for the dollars. Kansas has a stagnant or now a declining population because our population is getting older so they are about to retire, increasing taxes exponentially on the working people.
Bryant: Tuition is too high. I'd like to see our state contribute more. That probably means bringing in more taxes. We have to keep tuition where we can get everyone to go to college. We want educated people in our society.
Deferred Maintenance
Brown: I know we have repairs to do at the university level. I know KU needs drastic improvement. All the universities have a level of maintenance we need to maintain. In 2001, the economy in Kansas was bad and what the state did was borrow against the future. Some of those bills are now coming due. Because of the downturn in the economy, we're standing on a better foundation now in K-12 education so we can turn over more money and address issues for higher education. I think we're going to correct that problem this year. We're going to increase installments to take care of the most needed repairs as they see fit. It's hard from the state legislator's point to know exactly what Pittsburg State needs versus KU or vice versa. Wed like to turn over that authority to the regents.
Of all jobs in America, only 20 percent of the jobs require a bachelor's degree or higher. Eighty percent don't require a full four-year degree. I think the emphasis is on post-secondary education. We need to do more with technical education and vocational as well.
Bryant: Unfortunately it is deferred and wasn't kept up with all along. I'm in favor of maintaining our colleges. It requires some sources of revenue like maybe gambling or expansion of the K-10 corridor. I'd like to see that K-10 corridor area developed to bring in more tax revenues.
Environment Brown: I'm real energized about
alternative fuel sources. That's one of my big three platforms. I'd like to see us burn more green fuels. I am in favor and have voted in the past and will continue to vote for any legitimate legislation that uses ethanol, sov diesel and biodiesel.
Kansas is trying to be an all-inclusive, very environmentally friendly, high-employment center.
Bryant: I'm concerned with global warming. One way to cut back on that is to cut back on fossil fuels. I'll work as hard as I can to develop wind, geo-thermal and solar energy. I encourage people to use energy-efficient light bulbs and have homes with better insulation. All those things add up. I think we should be a leader. I'd like to see our country sign the Kyoto agreement, and we haven't done that.
Health care
Brown: I think not only as a state but as a country, we need to stop talking about health care and start talking about health. We are not doing enough to make people aware of their health. It's much less expensive to take care of a person before they get sick than an unhealthy person. It's important to maintain a healthy America. I have seen studies that say one-third of children 14 and under are obese. And of those, 20 percent will contract adult diabetes. That is a huge number. We have not seen a health care crisis until 20 percent of our adult population is diabetic. That will drive health care cost through the roof. We have to start talking about health and prevention before we start talking about
health care.
Bryant: We need to have affordable health care for everyone. Massachusetts did it. It may be a good idea. It is making some insurance cheaper that way because everyone has to buy in. We can't drive a car without insurance; why do we let people run around without health insurance?
Economy
Brown: In Kansas, one in five jobs are in government. Government spending since 1997 has more than doubled wages in Kansas. We have to get control of state spending. We cannot continue to drive employment up in government and down in the private sector. It does not work out that way. You have less and less people paying taxes and more and more people making money off our taxes. We cannot continue to do that.
In my opinion, alternative energy in Kansas will be the largest employer in the next generation.
Bryant: The K-10 corridor, an area for biosciences, is a good opportunity for people with good paying jobs. They are looking for science backgrounds, but they need all kinds of fields to be open to them like accountants.
As a state candidate, I'd like to see the economy always growing.
Kansan staff writer Erin Castaneda can be contacted at ecastaneda@ kansan.com.
Edited by Shanxi Upsdell
ARTS
Downtown area to exhibit art
Red balloons to be used as tickets, markers for business venues, homes
BY DARLA SLIPKE
People attending the event will carry a red balloon and visit various venues, also marked with red balloons, in a two-mile radius around downtown where art will be on display.
About a thousand red balloons will speckle downtown Saturday during the Red Balloon To Do an annual celebration of local artwork.
Dominic Soba, who has helped coordinate the event every year, said he considered the balloons a performance piece in itself.
The event was started four years ago by a group
"Even if you make a doodle in class, we'll show it."
and simple, and they caused people to notice what was going on.
Since then, the event has grown from being a bunch of kids hanging out to an all-encompassing community event that children, adults, grandparents and teens all attend, said Chelsea Rae, an event coordinator. She said the event connected people from all across town who might otherwise have nothing else in common.
CHELSEA RAE Event coordinator
of artists that included many University of Kansas students who wanted to have a place to show their artwork. Soba had just graduated from the University and said that there weren't many opportunities for students to show their work aside from coffee shops.
Soba said when they had a couple of successful shows at private residences, they realized that they could make it work and began to expand on the idea. Several local businesses donated their space and services. Soba said all they were lacking at that point was something to tie everything together. They decided to use red balloons as a ticket because they were cheap, fun
The event displays all types of art, Rae said.
"If even you make a doodle in class, we'll show it," she said.
This year, art will be on display at three business venues - Mirth
Café, 745 New Hampshire St. Olive Gallery and Art Supply Store, 15 E. Eighth St., and Wild Man Vintage, 939 Massachusetts St. — and in two private residences — a loft located at 15 W. Ninth St. and a house at 913 Rhode Island. About 65 local artists are showing their work between 5 p.m. and 10 p.m.
People can start at any of the venues. A $1 donation is asked for the balloon and a program and map of the event.
Kansan staff writer Darla Slipke can be contacted at dslipke@ kansan.com.
- Edited by Erin Wiley