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Monday, April 30, 1990 / University Daily Kansan
Opinion
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Kansas Legislature
Lawmakers' hidden agenda curbs decisive action on reappraisal issue, which deserves high priority
Kansans are going to be the big losers of the 1990 legislative session.
With four days of the wrap-up session gone, the Legislature has little to show for its effort. Many appropriation bills are incomplete, a tax plan is incomplete and the biggest goal of the session, solve the reappraisal fiasco, is several days from completion.
Finally, though, the Legislature is looking for ways to generate revenue and balance the budget. However, neither chamber can agree on the other's proposal. Saturday, the Senate amended a House bill to raise the sales tax from 4.25 percent to 4.5 percent and raise corporate and individual income taxes. The Senate Assessment and Taxation Committee eliminated income tax increases and raised the sales tax to 5 percent.
The increase would have resulted in $160 million in new revenue, of which $135 million would have gone to property tax relief and the remainder to the state general fund.
But no, the Senate didn't like the bill and it was defeated. Perhaps it was because legislators do not want to be tagged as the people who raised taxes in an election year. Perhaps that has been the problem of the entire session.
The Legislature took on other issues earlier in the session, issues of morality including abortion and the death penalty, instead of making the reappraisal issue the top priority. During last year's wrap-up session, the $2.65 billion highway program, prison construction and property tax circuit breaker kept the legislature in check for seven days.
John P. Milburn for the editorial board
Simply put, the Kansas Legislature has a hidden agenda that has taken priority above reappraisal and the issues left to be resolved. Voters chose reappraisal in 1986. It took four years for the state to put in place the machinery to effect reappraisal. At the rate it's going, it may be next session before that machinery has a chance of running smoothly.
Nicaraguan politics Chamorro makes first mistake: retaining Ortega
The sight Wednesday of Daniel Ortega handing over the presidency of Nicaragua to Violeta Barrios de Chamorro was a welcome image to the war-torn region. But her choice for leader of the military was a dangerous first step.
Chamorro's decision to retain the Sandinista leader's brother, Gen. Humberto Ortega Saavedra, as commander of the armed forces puts her control of the government in doubt.
Chamorro might be trying to reconcile the differences in her country after a nine-year civil war, but her stunning decision to keep Gen. Ortega in the armed forces has heightened the political split in the country.
A serious obstacle is the contrasts, who are now saying "No one is willing to demobilize as long as Humberto Ortega stays." This statement might stand true even after the disarmament agreement signed April 19 by the contras. the Sandinistas and Chamorro.
Also, two of the people Chamorro has chosen for her cabinet have refused the posts after being informed that she was keeping Gen.
Ortega. This has created further questions of unity and power within the United National Opposition party.
Now it might be harder for Chamoro to start dismantling the Sandinistas, who have warned of a renewed civil war if any attempts are made to alter the armed forces in any profound way. And since there is no fixed date for Gen. Ortega's departure, many politicians think it will be difficult for her to dismiss the Sandinista leader without risking aggressive protests from his followers.
Gen. Ortega is no angel. He was the revolution's chief military strategist, oversaw the military buildup that created Central America's largest force and led the Sandinista army through nine years of war against the U.S. backed contras.
Though Chamorro might be on the right track in trying to reconcile the opposing forces in Nicaragua, the 60-year-old President made the wrong decision, thus provoking the first controversy of her administration.
Andres Cavelier for the editorial board
Nude man strikes at Clinton
thought I'd heard it all.
thought I'd heaill it about the wiethers. I'd read all about it, but we didn't see it in front of unsuspecting female students in the stacks at Watson Library, and . . . well . . . you know. I'd even heard of men who dash out of the bushes and do the same under the glow of头lights in sorority parking lots. But this takes the blue ribbon for weird sex-related crime in criminal abstraction, this guy would get it hands down, so to speak.
According to a Douglas County Sheriffs Office report, a 23-year-old woman was asleep Tuesday afternoon on a hillside at Clinton Lake when a naked man in his 50s or 60s sneaked up on her and whackered on the head three times with a hammer.
He didn't rob her, presumably because he had nowhere to put the loot, and he didn't sexually assault her. He just popped her on the head three times with a hammer.
Stan
Diel
Staff columnist
It might be unfair for me to call this a sex-related crime just because the man was naked. It could be that his nakedness was coincidental, and this was your run-of-the-mill hammer assault. We may never know. And I don't understand how the man got away from authorities at the lake. How hard can it be to spot a naked, hammer-toting, white-haired 60-year-old man running along the shoreline?
The woman, who must feel fortunate to be alive, was treated and released at Lawrence Memorial Hospital. So it seems likely that the man either didn't want to kill her, or he just isn't much at hammer assault.
But if the man is caught we can thank the Douglas County Commission for the fact that, in addition to naked assault with a hammer, he can also be charged with unlawful sunbathing, because last week he was sent to Clinton Lake to protect us all from the sinful, ninety minority. That will probably keep him in jail longer than the assault charge, if he is caught.
Where would somebody get the idea to wach another person on the head with a hammer, you ask?
Mario Joiner, the comedian who hosts the "MTV Half Hour Comedy Hour," and who has appeared on "Late Night with David Letterman" and "&AEE's An Evening at the Improv, does that?" The comedians " they're the best criminals in the world," he says. They sit around at their Criminal's Union meetings trying to think up new crimes and one guy says, "I
trunk I'll go pop somebody on the head with a hammer, that's a new one." He even offers a defense which the Clinton Lake Hammer Bandit might use if caught. "Your honor, she had a nail sticking out of her temple, what did you expect me to do? Any good hammer-utin" citizen would have done the same thing," he said.
That's Kansas for you, always a step behind New York and L.A.
If the naked, hammer-toting man got his idea from Joainer, do we now have to worry about copy cat criminals? Will naked, hammer-swinging pervers roam the stacks of Watson Library and lurk in the shadows of sorority parking lots? One Kanansa editor, roaming the newsroom for lack of anything better to do, remarked that “getting hammered” might take on an entirely new meaning on this campus.
I certainly don't mean to belittle the seriousness of the crime. A woman was assaulted and could have been killed. And as responsible citizens we should do all we can to help police in their search. So if you see a person with 50- or 60-year-old white-haired man running about, whacking sleeping people on the head, don't hesitate to call the authorities.
Other Voices
> Stan Diel is a Hutchinson senior majoring in journalism and economics.
Welfare support of education is healthy
Somewhere, somehow we have to begin breaking the cycle of poverty and welfare that traps the children who have children.
Toward that goal, we support new federal rules aimed at encouraging teen-age parents on welfare to finish school. We also have plans to receive a diploma or its equivalent.
The rules that go into effect in October are part of the Welfare Reform Act. They will cut the child support grants for teen parents by almost half if they can't prove that they are working toward a basic education. That's not harsh; that's encouraging change.
In welfare jargon, the action is called a "sanction"—losing part of welfare benefits for not complying with the rules of the system. Sanctions are meant to be constructive, though when they are not applied with some common sense and understanding of personal situations, they
can be detrimental.
But we can't imagine very many situations when a high school diploma or GED program would not be appropriate for a teen parent.
For the most part, the jobs in our society that give financial security require a basic education. In the case of a teen parent, a decent job means financial security for two young people: the teen-ager and the child. More important, education and the ability to depend on welfare dependency at a time when the teen parents still have the flexibility to change their future.
We have to be ready to offer more than just the requirement of an education. We'll have to provide both the education and the other support, like child care, that teen parents will need to make those changes.
From the World, Coos Bay, Ore. April 19.
News staff
Richard Brack...Editor
Richard Nieml...Managing editor
Christopher R. Ralston...News editor
Luke Mohr...Planning editor
John Milburn...Editorial editor
Candy Niemmел...Campus editor
Mike Correntine...Spirit editor
John Kirchner...Photo editor
Stephen Kline...Graphics editor
Kris Bergesulf...Art/Features editor
Fred Fenn...General manager, news adviser
Margaret Townsend ... Business manager
Tami Rank ... Retail sales manager
Misy Miller ... Campus sales manager
Kathy Stollie ... Regional sales manager
Mike Leatham ... National sales manager
Mindy Morrison ... Co-op sales manager
Nate Stannis ... Product manager
Mindy Lund ... Assistant production manager
Cristhia Stanley ... Marketing director
James Glanann ... Creative director
Janet Rorholm ... Creative manager
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Dan Hintz ... Sales and marketing adviser
Business staff
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LETTERS to the EDITOR
Fiber not guilty
The answer given for the first question of "How Green Are You?" self-test (April 20 Kansan) was the answer! The answer stated that carpets made of artificial fiber do not contribute to indoor air pollution. Anyone who has experienced an abrupt onslaught of unexplained illness such as headaches, nausea, a lingering cold and fatigue should examine their check list. It is not what the carpet is manufactured from, synthetic or natural fiber, that is the culprit. The average carpet contains two dozen or more chemicals designed to resist stains, insects, bacteria and fungus. Why do you think carpet stores smell so funny? Increased ventilation during the first few months after carpet installation may help reduce the severity of the symptoms. The Environmental Health Network, (415) 320-1724, can provide information and support for individuals
suffering from environmental illness
Bonnie Gardner Ingram McLouth Junior School is unfair
If you are a freshman considering a degree in design you should forget about staying at the University of Kansas.
When students start out in art and design they take basic design courses such as Drawing and Color and Design 1. A year is spent taking these prerequisite courses before a student declares a major according to his or her interests. With the lack of full-time professors and teaching assistants, the classes a student needs are filled within hours of the start of enrollment. Teachers have to turn away 30-50 students who desperately need these essentials to stay in school and graduate on time. The fact that we do not have enough teachers - full-time or part-time. Some changes have to be made. I am told that we do not have the money to hire anyone. But doesn't the money have to be somewhere if students are paying $800 to $1,200 a semester?
If KU wants tuition, it should provide those students with the education they are paying for, which includes getting students
into the courses they need and furnishing them with the proper equipment. Our school and equipment are scoffed at by other universities as well as by the junior colleges in the area. This means that the head of each department is taking his job. How are we to compete in the job market if we don't have decent equipment to produce a competitive portfolio?
I am a graphic design major graduating in May. I was forced to buy a computer that cost $6,000 because I figured I would need that skill to get a decent job after graduation. We are forced to design with computers, but we have no computer design courses because there is no money to pay for a teacher. The University is turning a 4-year program into a 5-year program, not because there are more requirements, but because it isn't willing to provide students with the courses they need to stay on track.
need of our students.
Architecture students have computer design courses and a type lab. We have nothing, and we are the students that need this skill.
Basically, we are self-taught because we never have had any direction by a teacher.
After taking prerequisite courses for two years there is a review given by the faculty to judge the students' work. The faculty tells about 80 percent of
these students that they cannot go any further and should find a different major.
I overheard a certain professor on the design faculty repeat the same conversation to several students during midterms that he also reiterated to me. He told many of his students that at one time he desperately wanted to be a basketball player but had to come to the realization that he just wasn't good enough.
I agree that students who aren't dedicated or who aren't willing to put the effort into these courses should be weeded out just as in any other field. But to devastate students who are working hard and getting good grades just because the school doesn't have room for people after taking their money for four semesters is wrong.
I am sure that the powerful alumni giving money to Campaign Kansas would be interested to know how their donations are helping to improve conditions.
seniors should have priority for enrollment in courses essential to their graduation. Students are being kept for a semester to pick up one essential course such as calculus or cost of extra tuition, extra living expenses and lost wages by the delay in entering the job market.
Suzanne Kanzig Gardner senior
CAMP UHNEEELY
EDITOR'S NOTE:
AGAIN, MR.
PATY IS TOO
BUSY WORKING
ON A PROJECT,
So BILL KENE
OF "THE FAMILY
CIRCUS" FAME
HAS MADE
THIS MAP OF
CAMPUS.
BY SCOTT PATTY
Y