VOL.100, NO.78
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
(USPS 650-640)
ADVERTISING: 864-4358
WEDNESDAY, JAN. 24, 1990
NEWS: 864-4810
Bush lauds KC drug war
Bush praises the anti-drug efforts of the Ad Hoc Group Against Crime In Kansas City, Mo
Residents endeavors recognized
By Rod Griffin
Kansan staff writer
They wanted to see President George Bush.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Elementary students craned their necks, leaned sideways and tried to see past the people in front of them.
Bush yesterday addressed a crowd in the Kansas City Municipal Auditorium. Flanked by officials from Kansas and Missouri, he praised the efforts of Kansas to rid city streets of the drug problem.
"You took back what's yours," he said. "Took back your kids. Took back your streets."
Before going to Municipal Auditorium, Bush visited members of the Ad Hoc Group Against Crime and its founder. Alvin Brooks.
"Ad Hoc recognized early on that the war on drugs meant unconventional warfare — a battle to be fought day by day, house by house, family by family, child by child." Bush said.
The president tourned the inner city and saw what used to be called the "Drug Tree." Drug dealers put a basketball goal on the tree, at 33rd and Park streets, to draw children to the corner to hide the dealers' illegal activities.
Bush said community-based programs, like the Ad Hoc Group Against Crime, and cooperation between federal and local law enforcement were vital in eliminating the drug problem.
"Another part, an essential part, lies in the demand side — stoping drug use before it starts and help those who want to stop." he said.
Bush said record levels of financing for education and treatment were called for by the national drug strategy. But he said that merely providing education and treatment would not provide a solution to the "drug plague."
"There are people out there intent on doing evil," he said. "Cowardly. Amoral. And when they spot someone vulnerable, they should drug-infested corner to get home — they see their fellow man the
way a pack of jackals sees a wounded fawn."
New laws, he said, are needed to punish those who prey on children. And the new laws must be "fair, fast and final."
Bush advocated liberalizing the exclusionary rule, which prevents illegally obtained evidence from
being used in court, to "protect the truth and punish the guilty." He also proposed haebes corpus reforms to stop the appeals that clogged the courts, and a death penalty for drug dealers.
"Because for a drug dealer who kills a cop, no penalty is too tough." he said.
He called a current Senate crime bill a "sheep in wolf's clothing" that would only increase legal loopholes and red tape.
"I itooks like a real crime bill. Sounds like a real crime bill," Bush said. "But in actuality, it will
See BUSH. D. 5
City OKs stringent marijuana ordinance
The Associated Press
OVERLAND PARK — An ordinance requiring a jail sentence for first-time offenders convicted of marijuana possession was passed Monday night by the Overland Park City Council on a 9- vote.
The ordinance, which takes effect April 2, requires a minimum of two days in jail for a conviction on a first offense. People convicted of marijuana possession for the first time generally are fined or placed on probation.
"I think the council, by its unanimous vote, is sending a clear message that it intends to have a comprehensive anti-drug policy throughout the city," said Michael Santos, assistant city attorney. "I think you'll see other cities in the state and the country following suit."
Santos said he knew of just one other city in the United States, North Charleston, S.C., that required a jail term for first-time offenders.
Many of the people charged under the Overland Park ordinance are expected to enter diversion programs to avoid prosecution and jail time. Officials said the diversion programs would be similar to those for people charged with drunken driving. Those programs require a fine and participation in an education program.
Phil Ellsworth/KANSAN
Law enforcement officials in Johnson County have praised the city's ordinance but are concerned it could aggravate crowding at the county jail.
Jim Ranz, dean of the library, enjoys the mid-afternoon weather while taking a break in front of Watson Library. Temperatures reached the low 50s yesterday, making it a pleasant January day;
Panel considers plan for circuit breaker
Winter?
The Associated Press
TOPEKA — The House Taxation Committee yesterday began considering several property tax relief plans, even as supporters acknowledgment would not solve the real problems posed by large tax increases.
The "circuit-breaker" plans are designed to help financially strapped taxpayers by giving them direct tax refunds. The committee has before it three plans: one sponsored by House Speaker Jim Braden, R-Clay Center, Michigan, and one sponsored by licans and one Democrat, and one approved by the House but rejected by the Senate during last month's special session.
The handful of people testifying today, the majority of them lobbyists for interest groups, said they wanted to make a difference. A maker from the Legislature this session
"I'm in a crisis situation, and I do need immediate relief," said Linda Ferguson, who owns two video rental stores in Manhattan. "I'd also love to say the circuit breaker is going to solve my problem. I would like to see it passed with the understanding that it's a Band-Aid."
They said they wanted lawmakers to put before the people a proposed constitutional amendment to change the tax classification system adopted by voters in 1986.
Committee members also asked people who testified whether they favored decreasing local governments' reliance on property taxes. Dana Hummer of Topeka, spokesman for Citizens for Responsible Government, endorsed the idea of allowing school districts and cities to levy income taxes and more sales taxes.
See related story p. 9
"This is only a stop-gap measure," he said of circuit-breaker proposals.
State Rep. Joan Wagnon, D-Topeka, questioned whether a circuit breaker really would help taxpayers pay for emergency medical several months after paying their bills.
"First and foremost, we want to say that the first priority in handling the property tax problems which we face is to develop a new property tax system," said Karen France, a lobbyist for the Kansas Realtors Association.
Braden's proposal would provide at least $40 million in tax relief to small businesses, paying for it by eliminating a sales tax exemption on mail-order catalog sales, accelerating the collection of some state taxes and placing a 25 percent tax on tax savings of businesses whose property tax liabilities decreased by $1,000 or more.
Parking garage using new payment system
European design leads to confusion for some drivers
By Eric Gorski
Kansan staff writer
Curtis Garrett pulled his car up to the exit gate at the Parking Facility on ivining Hill Road yesterday and immediately at the machine in front of him:
Garrett, Detroit senior, pushed the assistance button on the machine and was told by a Parking Department employee that he had to go to the adjacent parking office to pay the 50 cents an hour fee.
As Garrett struggled at the garage's exit, the car behind him drove to the only other exit, one lane to the left, and pulled onto Irving Hill Road.
Garrett backed his car up, parked near the office, went in and paid his
"It doesn't make any sense," said Garrett, who parked in the building before his 9:30 class. "It takes a lot of time to go inside and pay."
Donna Hultine, assistant director of the Parking Department, said people would need time to adjust to the new payment system, which is widely used in Europe.
"This is the first such method used in the country," Hultine said. "People haven't run across anything like it, and it takes some getting used to."
There have been no major traffic jams near the exit because of drivers confused by the paying system, Hulttine said.
The $5.4 million garage, built to help ease parking congestion on the west side of campus, opened Oct. 23.
Hultine said that eliminating the outdoor booth and moving the place of payment inside eased the burden of hiring employees during cold weather.
At the entrance of the five-level, 778-space garage, drivers take a ticket from a machine and then park. Before leaving, drivers must walk into the adjacent office to validate their tickets
Drivers insert the validated ticket into another machine at the exit, and
a bar is raised, allowing them to leave. Tickets that have not been paid will not be accepted by the machine.
The office is open from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. The machine at the entrance stops giving tickets to drivers at 5 p.m.
Huline said that drivers trapped in the garage after 11 p.m. could leave if an unvalidated ticket were inserted into the exit machine.
Hultine said that instructions explaining the process were posted on signs in the garage and printed on the parking tickets.
Applications for parking spots in the garage were sent out to faculty, staff and students who work or study there. The office is located Hall and Green Hall, Hultine said.
People who purchased parking stickers and filled out applications were given cards that open both the entrance and exit gates at the garage. Cardholders can use the utility at any time for additional costs.
Faculty, staff and students have 370 spaces, and 400 are reserved for vistors to KU. The other eight spaces are reserved for handicapped parking.
Huline said that there were about 375 cardholders, almost equally divided among faculty, staff and students.
"If compared to meters, the price is doubled," Huline said. "But it's owned parking, it's secured and it's a close proximity to campus buildings."
However, anyone can park in the garage at any time as long as the hourly fee is naid.
She said the 50 cents an hour rate was comparable to other covered garages.
Hultine said KU police regularly patrolled the garage, and there have been reports of vandalism.
"In spring and fall, there are people that come to KU to recruit students for employment, and they're expected to use the garage." Hultine said.
The garage has not been full recently, but Hultine said it was a bad time of year to determine if the garage was being fully utilized because fewer visitors came to the University during the winter months.
Congress faces a longer agenda in second session
WASHINGTON - The 101st Congress began its second session yesterday, facing an agenda suddenly expanded by the emergence of democracy in Eastern Europe and a cut to Social Security taxes at home.
The Associated Press
Lingering issues also abound, including capital gains relief deficits.
The Senate almost immediately began debating a far-reaching plan
for cleaning up the air — a bill that is more costly and more sweeping than the president wants. Opposition is based more on geography and competing regional interests than on party lines.
The House also made plans for an attempt to override Bush's veto of legislation aimed at preventing the deportation of Chinese students who have sought refuge in the United States. The House originally passed the bill on a 403-0 vote.
On the other side of the Capitol, Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, D.N.Y., formally introduced a bill to reduce Social Security taxes — an idea that had prompted a full-scale White House attack when he proposed it last month. Moynihan said workers were being deceived because their Social Security taxes were being used to make the federal deficit appear far smaller than it was.
His bill, which has drawn widespread interest but few sponsors would roll back the tax increase that took effect Jan. 1 and reduce another scheduled for next year. That would save a worker with income over $51,300 about $600, and leave the Social Security system with just enough money to pay retirees' checks. Movinah said.
Sen. Ernest F. Hollings, D-S.C., a member of the Budget Committee, did what is seldom done in Congress these days: He introduced a bill
proposing a tax increase. He recommended a 5 percent national sales tax that would exempt food, health care and housing.
Hollings said that would raise enough money to roll back Social Security taxes, cut taxes on capital gains from stocks and bonds, expand tax-deductible Individual Retirement Accounts and create a revenue-sharing program for state and local education.