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/ NEWS / TUESDAY, APRIL 6, 2010 / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / KANSAN.COM
BUSINESS
Chris Cox, owner and operator of Shark's Surf Shop, 813 Massachusetts St., works behind the counter of his store. The surfer-themed store offers indoor tanning, which will be taxed an additional 10 percent starting July 1 as a provision of the federal health care bill.
Chance Dibben/KANSAN FILE PHOTO
Tax worries salon owners
A 10 percent tax on tanning will take effect July 1 nationwide
BY KIRSTEN KWON
kkwon@kansan.com
With summer quickly approaching, some college students are hitting the tanning beds for that bronze, summer glow. But starting July 1, that glow will come at an added cost.
A 10 percent tax on tanning was placed in the federal health care bill instead of the originally proposed 5 percent "botax," which would have taxed cosmetic surgeries. The Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation estimated the tax to bring in $2.7 billion dollars over the next decade — an amount local salon owners say is way too high. Salon owners don't expect the law to drastically damage their businesses, but some view it as a discriminatory policy.
Pam Scott, owner of Endless Summer Tan, 2223 Louisiana St.,
said the training industry will not bring in anywhere near that amount of money.
tax won't do much damage to her pocketbook because she doesn't tan often. She'll still pay to go tanning when she feels it's necessary
"I will probably buy another package come next January or
February when I am too white," she said. "But I consider the tax like any other tax on products that are unhealthy for society, like cigarettes."
The tan tax has been com-
"It doesn't make sense to me," Scott said. "The industry will
"I consider the tax like any other tax on products that are unhealthy for society, like cigarettes."
out how to do this on both the business side and the government side"
Scott and Lawrence said that they agreed the majority of their clients are young, white women.
pared to other sin taxes because of some harmful effects the ultraviolet rays can on the body. Indoor tanning has been linked to skin cancer such as melanoma, according to the Skin Cancer Foundation's website.
KATIE BEATTY
Senior from Overland Park
Lawrence said the tax was too high and targeted too narrow a group
"The industry will just not make that much revenue like the government says they're going to."
"10 percent is a ludicrous amount of money," Lawrence said. "It tar-
just not make that much revenue like the government says they're going to"
PAM SCOTT
Owner of Endless Summer Tan
Now that President Barack Obama has signed the health care bill into law, the tan tax will affect all tanning salons nationwide. Katie Beatty, a senior from Overland Park who tans at Sun Resorts, 1410 Kasold Dr., said the
The passing of the tax has surprised Lawrence salon owners. Kristi Lawrence, owner of Mango Tan, 4000 W. Sixth St., said she didn't know how the tax
would even work. It's unclear as of now where the money will be sent and what responsibilities owners will have in collecting and delivering the 10 percent tax to the government.
"I am surprised because it's such a huge number," Lawrence said. "It would make more sense to give us more time to figure
gets white women aged 18 to 35 and says, 'hey, these people need to pay for health care.' It's discriminatory,' Lawrence said.
Lawrence and Scott both contacted their lobbyists at the Indoor Tanning Association, who have kept them informed with the updates on the tax passing. Lawrence hung flyers in her salon advertising the anti-tan tax website, www.stophetantax.com, to make her customers aware of the tax and to encourage them to voice their opinions about the matter by contacting their representatives.
Scott and Lawrence are preparing to make changes in order to keep their businesses afloat. Scott said he is telling customers to purchase their tanning packages now before they have to pay the tax on it. Though they expect customers to still pay the tax, owners are waiting to see how consumers will react in July.
Edited by Michael Holtz
CAMPUS
Into the Streets for service
Community service week highlighted by Nobel Prize winner
"The speaker is not the focus, but we wanted to get someone that would get people really excited," said Greg Loving, a sophomore from McPherson and co-coordinator of Into the Streets Week. "There are not many Nobel laureates that have come to KU."
BY ANNA ARCHIBALD aarchibald@kansan.com
He said one of the specifications the co-coordinators had for a keynote speaker was an individual who would help "equip students with tools they need to become self-sufficient leaders at KU".
Collin Johnson/KANSAN
The Center for Community Outreach began its weeklong event in an effort to raise student awareness about community service opportunities on campus and in Lawrence.
Williams, with her background and history of humanitarian work, met that specification to a tee, he said.
About 40 students gathered in front of the Kansas Union Monday to plant a new bed of flowers and earn community service hours. It was the first of many events that will make up this year's Into The Streets Week, which features various community service activities and a speech from former Nobel Prize winner Jody Williams.
This year, Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little made a service pledge of 100,000 community service hours to be completed by the University community by the end of this semester.
Not only will Williams speak on Wednesday night, but she will also be attending dinners and receptions with individual groups, such
Erin Atwood, a sophomore from Topeka and co-coordinator of Into The Streets Week, said she thought people didn't volunteer on campus because they weren't aware of the opportunities.
"This is a big campaign and it's really public so students realize there are a ton of organizations they can get involved with." Atwood said.
Atwood said students could log their service hours that count toward the chancellor's initiative on www.kuworks.ku.edu/service. So far, the website has logged 74,386 community service hours from students, faculty and alumni.
This year's events will lead up to Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little's inauguration Sunday, and also feature keynote speaker and former Nobel Peace Prize winner Jody Williams on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. in the Kansas Union. Williams won the award in 1997 for her humanitarian work and her involvement with the International Campaign to Ban Landmines.
Risa Myuki, a freshman from Osaka, Japan, decorates a pot with a painted heart outside of the Kansas Union Monday afternoon. Myuki was participating in In to the Streets Week, which is put on by the Center for Community Outreach to help encourage service work and equip students with the tools they need to become campus leaders in this field.
INTO THE STREETS WEEK EVENTS
TUESDAY: A Taste of KU, all day and Jubilee Café, 5 a.m. to 8:30 a.m.
WEDNESDAY: Movie Night, Hollywood Theatres, 6:30 to 8 p.m.
and speaker Jody Williams, , 7 p.m. in the Woodruff Auditorium
of the Kansas Union
THURSDAY: Crafts Day, 3:30 to 5 p.m. in the Burge Union
FRIDAY: Food Drive, 5 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. by KU Dining Facilities
and Jubilee Café
SATURDAY: Campus Advocacy Core, 9 to 11:30 a.m. in the Burge Union; Flapjacks for Philanthropy, 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. in Eaton Hall; and Dance Marathon, 3:30 p.m. to 3:30 a.m. in the Ambler Student Recreation Center
SUNDAY: Dog Jog, 11 a.m. at the Burge Union and Chancellor's inauguration, 1 p.m. at the Lied Center
as the University Scholars Program, whose topic this year is Rhetorics of the Nobel Prize.
"It brings out a lot of issues people aren't aware of and gets them involved with humanitarian work they didn't know existed or they had a means to contribute to the cause," said Sida Niu, a sophomore from Overland Park and co-coordinator of Into the Streets Week, of Williams' speech.
Throughout the week, volunteer groups and organizations will host multiple events for students to participate in, such as Lifeline, a program in which high school students shadow KU students for a day.
David Wilcox, a senior from Manhattan and co-director of CCO, said he thought the week of community service events was a
good way for students to not only learn more about themselves,but to make a difference in someone else's life as well.
"Community strength on campus and in Lawrence creates a sense of togetherness, and I think that helps a community move forth and progress." Wilcox said. "Lawrence definitely does feed off it."
Loving said he was looking forward to participating in the events this week, but, as a co-coordinator, he said he was more excited to help get other people involved.
"Ive done a lot with Habitat For Humainity, but that's just me doing one thing and with this you can reach a lot of different people and multiply your effect." Loving said.
Edited by Cory Bunting
NATIONAL
Crips gang member sentenced to prison
WICHITA — A Crips gang member in Wichita has been sentenced to more than 17 years in federal prison on drug and racketeering charges.
Clinton Knight was among 28 Crips members indicted in September 2007, in what the
The 31-year-old Knight was convicted in November 2008 and sentenced on Monday to 210 months in prison.
government called the first Kansas prosecution under the federal Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act
Prosecutors said the Crips used violence and threats in Wichita to create an ongoing criminal drug
trafficking enterprise
Several other members of the gang have been sentenced on similar charges; others are still awaiting sentencing.
Two bodies found scattered in trash
in several garbage bags along a residential street in Linden.
Union County Prosecutor Theodore Romankow said the bodies were found among four cloth laundry bags and two black garbage bags that were left on the street, possibly since Thursday.
Romankow says autopsies are under way. The male is believed to be Hispanic and between the
ages of 30 and 35. Details about the female victim are not known
Police and public works employees responded to a call Monday about bags left in the street,
and a public works employee opened one of the bags and saw body parts inside.
Associated Press
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