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Local Briefs Arrest occurs after dispute about music
An argument about music between two KU roommates Sunday resulted in one of the roommates being charged with misdemeanor assault yesterday.
At his arraignment yesterday in Douglas County District Court, Knarr pleaded not guilty, court documents stated. His trial is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. on March 10.
The incident was not reported until Monday afternoon. KU police arrested Knarr and booked him into the Douglas County Jay at 5:35 p.m. Monday on an aggrievance charge. Bond was set at $500. Knarr was released on his own recognition at noon yesterday.
According to police reports and the district attorney's complaint, Adam Lee Knarr, 20, Aberdeen, S.D., freshman, and Robert Edward Howell, 18, Wichita freshman, who both live at 633 McColum Hall, were arguing about music volume in their room Sunday evening. Knarr threatened Howell and drew a 3-inch knife, the reports said.
Jim Flory, Douglas County district attorney, said that after reviewing the evidence, he decided to file an assault charge against Knarr, rather than an aggravated assault charge.
He said the evidence did not indicate that Knarr had threatened Howell with the knife.
Suspect identified in reported rape
Lawrence police have identified a suspect in the reported rape of a KU student early Sunday at a party at Sigma Chi fraternity, 1439 Tennessee St.
Police are investigating the case further before deciding whether to arrest the suspect on charges of rape, a police spokesman said.
The suspect is a KU student between 18 and 20 years old, the spokesman said.
An 18-year-old KU student told police Sunday that she had been lured into a storage room at the fraternity house and raped sometime between 1:30 and 3 a.m. Sunday.
Police had planned to interview the suspect yesterday, but the suspect's attorney had conflicting appointments, the police spokesman said. The interview has not been rescheduled yet.
Deadline is today for orientation jobs
Students interested in summer orientation staff positions have until 5 p.m. today to apply Job descriptions and applications are in the office of admissions, 126 Strong Hall.
The summer orientation program, from May 26 to July 24, acquaints incoming freshmen and transfer students with various life andade programs and provides them an opportunity to consult academic advisers.
Student staff members will be required to attend all training sessions, staff meetings and orientation activities and also will assist with administrative and clerical work. Because of these duties, staff members should not attend summer school or have other jobs.
From Kansan wires
Campus and Area University Daily Kansan / Wednesday, February 18, 1987 IRS official defends new W-4 form
By PEGGY O'BRIEN
Ignoring the new W-4 form won't make it go away.
Staff writer
But Internal Revenue Service officials say bad press has led the public to think the new tax law is too tough.
All workers must file a new W-4 employee's withholding allowance form with their employers to make sure employers don't withhold too little or too much from employees' paychecks
The national Tax Reform Act of 1886, and its changes in tax law, made the new form.
James T. Manuszak, public affairs officer and an IRS spokesman in Kansas, said he blamed the media for the public's fear and lack of understanding about the new tax law and the new form.
Manuszak said that when the new form first
"It's taxes and people love to hate taxes," he said. "The majority of wage earners haven't even looked at the form yet and are prejudging it."
came out, news reports discussed only its difficulties and not its benefits.
"Don't hold your breath waiting for a simplified W-4. If they do make a new one it will be a clear trade of accuracy for simplicity. I don't think we could produce a more accurate form."
Richard Augustin, assistant comprtroller at Kaplan, said employees had more questions about the form.
But he said the new form took more work and required what he called reasonably accurate
He said students often wondered if they needed to fill it out and if they could still claim 'exempt' because they were full-time students. The answer to both questions is, yes, he said.
Ann Fleming, Overland Park senior, said she had no problem filling out the new form. She said she always claims zero allowances because, as a student, she doesn't make enough money to pay taxes. But Fleming doesn't claim exempt because she likes getting a tax refund each year.
He said the payroll office would help anyone walk through the form, but that it was up to the department to handle it.
"I didn't think it was any different than last year's," Fleming said of the new form.
Many people also don't understand the worksheet attached to the new form, Manuszak said. The worksheet contains a place to list spouse's income, and many people complain because they think they are revealing their spouse's income to their employer, he said.
You only do that if you hand in the worksheet 'which you are supposed to cut off,' he said.
The worksheet is private information and not part of the filed form, he said.
Manuszak said the media had convinced people that this could apply to them.
The media also focused on a $500 penalty warning for people willfully or deliberately filing the form incorrectly, he said.
"This has nothing to do with honest error," Manuszak said.
Kirsten Anderson, tax practitioner and owner of the Lawrence Tax Center, 1293 Iowa, said she thought people had problems with the form because they take time to get acquainted with it. But an enormous amount of people will benefit from the new tax laws, she said.
Despite all the dissension over the new form,
most people won't do anything much different
than they did before.
Janae Wiltse, Chanute sophomore, takes a moment away from work at Becerros, 2515 W. Sixth St., to check up on the Miss USA pageant. Wiltse is the first runner-up last December for the Miss Kansas title.
Kansas finalist plans for 1988 contest
Mamusak said, "Amidst all the hue and cry,
the majority of people only need to go to line
1."
Bv JOSEPH REBELLO
Staff writer
Last night Janea Wiltsie watched the Miss USA pageant on television with more interest than the average viewer.
She watched as the current Miss Kansas runner-up, determined to be named Miss Kansas in the 1988 pageant.
Wiltse, Chanute sophomore, said her childhood dream of representing Kansas in the Miss USA pageant was unfulfilled Dec. 29, when an Overland Park resident, Martina Castle, beat her and 31 other contestants for the Kansas title.
But, she said, she wanted to watch Castle's performance at the Miss USA pageant to prepare for her next bid for the title.
"I'm really curious to see how she does," Wiltse said. "I can learn a lot just from watching the pageant.
"I'd like to see her make it. I'd like to see her put Kansas on the map."
But last night, Castle was eliminated from the pageant in the semi-final selections. Michelle Renee Royer of Texas was crowned Miss USA.
Wilson, who stole peeks at a television between her duties at Becerros Mexican restaurant, 235 W. Sixth St., where she works short-time, said she was disap pointed that Castle didn't do better.
But not disappointed enough to be discouraged about her own bid for the title, she said. Until the judge approved the practice and more practice for her.
"You're up there on stage in this beautiful dress. It's one of the
greatest experiences a girl could have." she said.
Wilse said she had already made too much of an investment in working for the Miss Kansas title to give up now.
In December, between studying for finals and preparing for the Kansas pageant, Wiltse made several trips to Kansas City, Mo., to take modeling lessons at an agency there.
Also, she paid $400 for a designer dress that she wore at the pageant.
she said. Winning the runner-up title and a prize of $250 helped her recover some of the costs, but the dress has not quite paid its way
Jennifer Wacl. assistant to the Kansas coordinator for the Miss USA pageant, said that Wiltse had only narrowly missed being crowned Miss Kansas and that she was a strong candidate for next year's Kansas pageant
"We want a girl that feels good about herself and about other people. Janae is that kind of girl."
At Becerros last night, employees said they were surprised but delighted that there was a potential Miss Kansas in their midst.
Windell Scott, general manager of the restaurant, said Wiltse, who began working there three weeks ago, had not told him or any employee that she was a runner-up in the Miss Kansas pageant.
"I guess you could say we have a reputation for hiring pretty women," he said. "But it is not." He said a runner-up miss Kentucky. Miss Kansas.
Bill asks for consent for abortions on minors
Staff writer
By JOHN BUZBEE
TOPEKA - Juveniles couldn't get abortions without parental consent under two proposals now in the Kansas Legislature.
"A lot of these young teen-age girls don't know the importance of what they're dealing with," said State Sen Gwen McKinney and co-sponsor of one of the bills.
Identical bills in the House and Senate would require a girl less than 18 years old to have the permission of her parents, if she had a legal abortion, if she had a legal guardian
parent's permission for all surgeries except abortion.
"Someone who is not of age should not be making terrible critical decisions," she said.
"Parental consent is needed for any kind of surgery for a minor," said Anderson, who co-sponsored the Senate bill.
Yost's bill is in the Senate Judiciary Committee. But the committee's chairman, State Sen. Robert Frey, R Liberal, said yesterday that the legislative session because he could give other bills a higher priority.
State Sen. Gene Anderson, D-Wichita, said that it didn't make sense to require a juvenile to get a
Frey said that some juvenile girls might need abortions.
"Shall we acknowledge that minors are engaged in sexual activity," he said, "or should we stick our heads in the sand and say things like they have to get parent's permission?
"You've got to have the consent of a parent who may be an abusive
parent, who may be a part of the problem."
Yost's bill would allow for abortions without parental consent in medical emergencies. It also would allow girls to go to court to get permission if they couldn't get their parents' consent.
But State Sen. Wint Winter Jr., R-Lawrence and a member of the Judiciary Committee, said young girls wouldn't want to ask a court for permission for an abortion.
Two other bills in the Legislature would, in effect, make any abortion illegal, but Frey said one of them, the law, was a suicide certificate, would not see the light of day
"There might be a fight somewhere over this issue, but it won't be much."
unborn child. The bill defines several offenses regarding harming unborn children voluntarily or involuntarily.
Under the bill, killing an unborn child would be a Class A felony, which is punishable by a sentence of life in prison.
The bill would define a fetus from the time of conception to birth as an
"This is a very radical bill," Frey said. "Every woman in the state should rise up in opposition to a bill like this."
State Sen. Bill Mulich, D-Kansas City, asked the Senate Judiciary Committee to draft the bill. He said it arose from an alcohol-related car accident in Kansas City, Kan., in which a fetus was killed
"If that baby would have lived half a second, it would be classified as a human being," he said. In that case, the baby would be charged with vehicular manslaughter.
Petition hits legal obstacle
By MICHAEL MERSCHEL
Special to the Kansan
Opponents of a downtown Lawrence mail encountered a legal obstacle at last night's City Commission meeting.
Gerald Cooley, a Lawrence attorney who represents the city in legal matters, told the commission that although a petition submitted by Citizens for a Better Downtown had enough valid signatures, the wording of the proposal did not conform to Kansas law.
City Clerk Patty Jaimes certified the validity of the petition earlier vesting.
The petition asks: "Shall the following be adopted? Massachusetts Street and Vermont Street shall not be closed or vacated from Sixth Street to Eleventh Street." Ayes vote would be a vote against the proposed mall."
Those who signed the petition hope to see the question on the April 7 ballot.
Cooley said that under Kansas law, such petitions must first ask the commission to adopt an ordinance, which would go to a public vote if the commission did not act in 20 days. The petition lacks such wording, he said.
Cooley listed what he called technicalities that prevented the petition from being workable, such as detimination and "vacated," and its lack of a title.
John Nitcher, a Lawrence attorney, said that technicalities hadn't prevented the city from passing ordinances before and that it could have a binding public vote if it wanted.
He argued that although technicalities stood in the way of putting the item to a public vote, they could be corrected by the city staff.
However, Cooley said Kansas law required petitions to be put on the ballot without alteration.
Arguments by Cooley and Nitcher took more than an hour of the two and a half hour meeting. Much of the discussion centered on whether the election would be the final word on having a mall at the proposed site, or whether the election would merely be informative.
The commission finally instructed the city staff to draft an ordinance to be discussed at next week's meeting. The commission would not decide, however, if the election would or would not be binding.
After the meeting, Commissioner Ernest Angst he said thought even an informational ballot would be more binding on incoming commissioners.
There is now a Typing Room available in Watson Library
This is a new service provided by Student Senate.
- The typing room will be open during regular library hours,and is free with a KUID.