Police and guns
The All-Student Council Tuesday night heard the second proposal in as many weeks concerning campus policemen carrying guns. The resolution introduced Tuesday seemed much more workable than the one of a week ago which called for the campus police to never carry firearms.
The new proposal would require police to carry no guns except inside patrol cars between the hours of 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. This would give the police easy access to their weapons without disturbing those who are psychologically affected by a weapon worn on the hip of a peace officer.
Contentions by those in favor of restricting policemen's use and carrying of firearms include the fact that the weapons are dangerous, that they provide a psychological and social aura that disturbs some students and the question as to whether they are actually needed or not.
Granted, firearms are dangerous, especially in the hands of incompetents. There is always the possibility of an accident, however, in actuality, one can just as easily trip over a B&G man's shovel.
As to the second argument, one could ask how often a student sees a policeman during the student's daily travels on the Hill. Secondly, unless he is specifically looking for it, does the student notice the gun the officer is carrying?
Thirdly, it has been quite a long time since a KU patrolman has had to take his pistol from its holster in the line of duty. There is probably a good chance he would never have to use it. Proponents of abolition of guns say police on other campuses don't carry guns. On these other campuses there is a difference. The KU Traffic and Security officers are also peace officers under Kansas law. At many other universities they are only hired by the university and do not go off campus to aid local police. At KU they may be called by the Lawrence police or the county sheriff.
Because they have little use for guns, is not a valid reason for taking them away. Campus police at the University of Texas probably had little use for their guns before Charles Whitman climbed into the tower and began shooting students. (ATJ)
The Hill With It by john hill
The underclassman nervously entered the office of His Assigned Advisor.
"Excuse me, sir," he said, "for bothering you now that enrollment is over with, but I wanted to begin to plan what to major in and I wanted your indifferent, hurried advice."
"That's quite all right, my boy," said the advisor, smiling a friendly, burgese manner, "a good advisor should always be ready to be misleadingly apathetic whether he has to or not. Sit down," he yawned, "and tell me what you want to major in."
"Well, I don't know for sure," he said, setting down the sub-machine gun case that secretly housed a violin inside which he always carried on campus. "What's your advice?"
"Natural aptitude is important," said the advisor. "Tell me what some of the things are that you do, and that are important to you about college."
"Uh, I've spent a lot of time recently running around being busy, busy, busy in campus politics, and I have a real strong interest in who gets to be in things like Rock Chalk and the Frosh Hawks."
"Say, I think I've got a great major for you," said the advisor, getting enthusiastic, "but keep talking!"
"Well, I always make sure that my W. C. Fields' poster is right next to Steve McQueen on a motorcycle, and I spend a lot of time making sure my sideburns look neato, and—"
"Yes! Yes! Keep going! What else is important to you?"
"I always make sure that my enrollment cards are in the right order before I turn them into Table 8, and I recently put my new license plate with my initials on the front of my car, and I traded in my old round peace-symbol for a keen tear-shaped one—"
"That's great! You'll be perfect for it! There's a brand new major that's just for you! You can major in Irrelevancy."
"Irrelevancv?"
"Sure! That's as important a part of higher education as ROTC or campus police. You see, the University figured that as long as somuch of both official and extra-curricular time is spent on things that are totally irrelevant to a university learning situation that they might as well make it an official major."
"Well,would I have enough hours?"
"You've got a good start, that's for sure. Some of those are even five hour courses! Now be sure to devote a lot of time getting into clubs or activities which are supposed to look good in your senior summary. That's one of the main prerequisites."
"Well, sir, what activities should I try to pick up in the semesters to come? I want to take some puds if you know some."
"Getting real upset when people in your living group miss song practice is a good one, cause that's real important, and join lots of professional fraternities too," said the advisor. "Sav. you'll have enough hours for a minor in Trite—"
"Sir, I've got to be going," said the student, who was getting into more work than he wanted. "But I have a question. I always thought that a major, like the University itself, should prepare you for making your way in society."
"Can you think of a better one these days?" said the advisor, falling asleep, and the enlightened student quietly left.
Evans, Novak report
Nixon, legislators working for tax reform
BY ROWLAND EVANS and ROBERT NOVAK Copyright 1969, Publishers-Hall Syndicate
WASHINGTON — In a dramatic turnaround unthinkable even a month ago, President Nixon is now gingerly pushing passage of a tax reform bill in 1969.
With Secretary of the Treasury David Kennedy sitting in, Mr. Nixon expressed disagreement with some specifics suggested by Byrnes—a conservation Republican who is becoming the leading Congressional firebrand for tax reform. But in general, the President gave his blessing to Mills and Byrnes for some kind of tax reform.
The President disclosed his switch Feb. 3 in a private meeting at the White House with the two top tax-writers in the House: Rep. Wilbur D. Mills of Arkansas, Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, and Rep. John Byrnes of Wisconsin, the committee's senior Republican.
Before the Feb. 3rd meeting, that same surprising word had been passed to Congressional tax reformers by the new high command at the Treasury. Although it will not have specific recommendations ready for the Feb. 18 opening of Ways and Means tax
Aside from pledging retention of the oil depletion allowance, Mr. Nixon said nothing about the tax structure during his campaign. His lieutenants patronizingly gave that subject a very low priority, to be considered late in his administration—if ever.
---form hearings the Treasury says it
will testify before the hearings end—probably in mid-April.
Thus, both executive and legislative branches are now pushing a cause that seemed dead beyond revival as the year began.
As for President Johnson, he had denied his own Treasury team's reform program the status of a presidential proposal, despite a Congressional mandate.
So gloomy was the atmosphere that in late December Mills, long an advocate of tax reform, was ready to postpone his long-planned reform hearings scheduled for early 1969.
What revived both Mills's optimism and the general prospect for action this year was that rarity in American politics: a spontaneous grass roots revolt. Without any organized propaganda campaign, the middle-class tax-paying public suddenly rose up in rebellion over giving the government a
good hunk of their weekly paychecks while millionaires and near-millionaires escape taxation.
The much-quoted warning of a tax revolt from Joseph Barr, Mr. Johnson's last Secretary of the Treasury, was merely new gasoline on a fire already roaring. With protest mail pouring into the Hill, Byrnes took the lead in demanding reforms and Mills scheduled his hearings. The Nixon administration was late to pick up the demand, but it has done so.
There remains, rightfully, considerable skepticism among tax reformers about how deep the administration's desire for the program really is. Kennedy, a Chicago banker, and his Under Secretary, Charls Walker (a former spokesman for the banking industry) are by no means enthusiastic reformers. Nor is tax lawyer Edward Cohen, expected to be unveiled this week as Assistant Secretary for Taxation, regarded as a zealous loophole closer.
Moreover, pocketbooks of businessmen who contributed heavily to the Nixon campaign will be a direct target once the tax-writers get to the thorny details in the Ways and Means Committee.
Against tibs, however, is the rare agreement between Mills and Byrnes
on major aspects of the bill. They both want to crack down on real estate tax-shelters, tax-exempt municipal bonds, and tax dodges involving charitable contributions, among other abuses. They both want an increased minimum standard deduction to discourage tax-payers from itemizing their deductions and thus simplify the tax collection process. And they both agree the 1969 bill should not attempt reduction of the oil depletion allowance.
Overall, the most important ally of reform is the public outcry. If ignored now, Byrnes has warned the administration, the tax revolt might escalate, forcing Congress to legislate in a mood of hysteria. Agreeing, a conservative Nixon fiscal adviser told us: "We now regard this as an idea whose time has come." It was this recognition that the President acknowledged at the White House Feb. 2.
A student newspaper serving the University of Kansas, Lawrence.
Published at the University of Kansas daily during the academic year except holidays and examination periods. Mall subscription rates $15.00 a month postage paid at Lawrence, Kan. 66044. Accommodations, goods, services and employment advertised offered to all students without outgoing fees. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the University of Kansas or the State Board of Regents.