Student election candidates listed
Story on page 9
80th Year, No.90
The University of Kansas—Lawrence, Kansas
Tuesday, March 3, 1970
Students speak against bill
By MARILYN McMULLEN
Kansan Staff Writer
TOPEKA-Four University of Kansas students spoke against Kansas Senate bill 434 at a House of Representatives committee hearing Monday.
The students were; Gordon Jones, Pittsburg senior; Kathy Hoefer, Prairie Village junior; Kent Longenecker, Fairway senior; and Barb Blee, Bonner Springs senior.
If passed, Bill 434 would remove statutory tax exemptions from residence halls and union facilities at the six state-operated colleges and universities in Kansas.
The bill was passed by the Kansas Senate and is presently being reviewed by the House Assessment Taxation Committee.
Jones told the committee that taxation of residence halls might prove to be a hindrance to higher education. With a possible $80-$150 increase in residence hall fees, he said, prospective students might not be able to afford rising costs.
He explained that the University's adoption of year-long residence hall contracts next fall, which would require students to purchase contracts for a nine month period, might cause a greater number of students to live
in apartments rather than pay the high price of living in a residence hall.
Robert M. Stark (R-Salina) asked Gordon if he thought it was fair to other property taxpayers in the state that residence halls and union facilities did not pay taxes. Gordon replied that private industries and private residence facilities made profits, while university residence halls and union facilities did not.
Gordon added that the main concern of students was that the tax burden would be passed on to them.
"Apartment complexes, which do make profits, will probably increase their rent rates if the bill passes," Gordon said. "With a flood of students moving into apartments, landlords aren't likely to charge the same rates they charge now."
Longenecker presented assessment figures to the committee and explained that scholarship halls and married students apartments operated by the universities would also be taxed.
Franklin D. Gaines (D-Augusta) asked Longenecker if married students and faculty members lived in residence halls.
Longenecker replied that married students lived in apartments maintained by the universities and located on state property. Faculty members, he said, did not live in residence halls.
Miss Hoefer noted that residence halls are subsidized by the state, and said she also believed students would move into apartments rather than pay the added expense of living in residence halls.
Max Bickford, executive secretary of the Kansas Board of Regents, spoke against the bill from the standpoint that taxation would probably cause university residence halls to have trouble meeting occupancy quotas. He noted that KU has not begun the construction of a new residence hall in three years.
Bickford was asked what rate KU residence halls charged students.
"Nine hundred dollars per year," he answered.
"Do you think that's the right rate?" asked Lawrence Slocombe (R-Peabody), chairman of the committee.
"That is what they must charge to meet expenses and bond payments," replied Bickford.
Sloccombe remarked that each student attending a state college or university in Kansas represents a $1,000 deficit to the state.
J. Byron Brooks, (R-Manhattan) noted that students moving out of residence halls and into apartments could cause difficulties in paying off bonds. He added that he didn't think the bill would help.
Only six counties in Kansas would benefit from taxes on residence halls and union facilities. These taxes, classified as property taxes, would go directly to the county in which the college or university is located, and not to the state.
Miss Blee, past president of Panhellenic Council at KU, was asked by Slocome how the cost of living in a fraternity or sorority house compared with the cost of living in a residence hall. Miss Blee said the cost of living in a house averaged $200 a year more than the cost of a residence hall.
Miss Blee added that the committee should consider the educational facilities offered in university residence halls. Besides the libraries and meeting rooms, she said, some classes were held in KU residence halls, and the College-Within-the-College Program at KU allowed incoming students to attend classes with other students in their living groups.
Photo by Ron Bishon
Lawrence school illustrates problem
A sign on the Woodlawn School in North Lawrence tells the story as 500 Kansas school teachers and local government officials delivered notice Monday that they will hold legislators responsible for local fiscal problems if a lid is imposed on property taxes and budgets.
BSU re-submits paper
William T. Smith Jr., director of the KU printing service, said the Black Students Union (BSU) has re-submitted a work order for their controversial newspaper, Harambee.
Smith said the paper would be printed as soon as the editor of the Harambee was named in the paper. Smith said the naming of the editor is in compliance with a resolution passed by the Student Senate Executive Committee (SenEx) last week.
Smith said the resolution made it implicit that all publications printed by student groups clearly name the editor and those responsible for publication.
Smith said that when John Spearman, president of BSU, placed the order, Spearman said the editor of the paper would contact Smith Monday. Smith said that as of late Monday, he had not been contacted by the BSU.
Monte Beckwith, Wichita freshman and managing editor of the BSU newspaper, said the SenEx ruling that any publication funded by the University have the name of the editor listed in the publication was made after the BSU had taken the paper to the printing service. He said the ruling was "not real" if it applies to this issue.
Beckwith said he was not going to put his name on the publication. He said it was common knowledge who the editor was.
Beckwith said in the next issue of the paper he would be "more than happy" to indicate that he was the editor.
It is possible that the issue
may be discussed at a SenEx meeting held today.
Committee denies racist statements
The Human Relations Committee of the University of Kansas has denied that any racist comments were made by head track coach Robert Timmons. The so-called racist statements were attributed to Timmons in leaflets distributed on campus last week.
Chancellor E. Laurence Chalmers, Jr. Friday ordered an investigation to identify the source responsible for the allegations and threats to Timmons.
Robert B. Sanders, assistant professor of biochemistry and chairman of the Human Relations Committee in a statement said "The University of Kansas Human Relations Committee announces that it is categorically untrue that Coach Timmons, or any other member of his staff, made the statements attributed to Timmons in a recent duplicated flyer distributed on the campus.
"Coach Timmons' comments on black students and athletes were, in fact, complimentary. Coach Timmons and his staff were in agreement with the policy of the HRC that encourages the correction of imbalances.
"The Kansas Relays staff has therefore, initiated affirmative action to provide for a new system of nominations and method of judging that will result in the selection of three queens, at least one of whom will be black. The three queens will have equal recognition and equal responsibilities," Saunders said.
"In light of the findings by the Senate Human Relations Committee refuting the state-
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