THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
VOL.100.NO.75
THE STUDENT NEWSAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
(USPS 650-640)
ERIDAY, JAN. 19, 1990
ADVERTISING:864-4358
NEWS; 864-4810
Bush calls proposed tax cut a 'charade'
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — President Bush said yesterday that a proposed cut in Social Security taxes was a charade that would force either an increase in other taxes or a reduction in retirement benefits.
"And I am not going to do it to the older people in this country," Bush said.
The announcement was Bush's first public comment on a proposal by Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, D.N.Y., to roll back the Social Security payroll tax increase that began Jan. 1.
Vice President Dan Quayle took a similar stance.
"I think it's a political trap and once people understand it, they won't fall for it." Quaule said.
On the heels of Moynian's measure, Sen, Ernest F. Hollings, D-S.C., proposed a 5 percent value-added tax — a national sales levy — to replace revenues lost both by the Social Security tax cut and Bush's own proposal to lower the tax on capital gains.
Hollings' plan would raise $53 billion in 1991.
Quayle called Moynihan's plan "a subterfuge for a general tax increase" and pounced on Hollings' proposal as evidence of that.
"The cat's a little bit out of the bag
right now." the vice president said.
The White House has been put on the spot by Moynihan's plan because it has won support across the political spectrum, even from traditional allies of the president such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and conservative groups.
Moreover, it has exposed Bush to criticism that he is espousing a tax
See TAX, p. 5
Tax woes are nothing new to Kansans
By Rod Griffin
Kansan staff writer
The roots of the state's property tax quagmire stretch back almost a quarter of a century.
Reappraisal last was done in 1964. This year's increased taxes are a result of property reappraisal and classification required by an amendment to the Kansas Constitution. In 1986 voters approved the amendment.
See related story
"Reapraisal is not something anybody likes," said State Rep. John Solbach, D-Lawrence. "It becomes more and more painful every year it is not done."
Solbach said that in the late 1970s the state was sued by several taxpayers because of inequities in their property taxes.
"It became apparent that if somebody didn't reappear this property soon, the courts would order the reappraisal," he said.
If reappraisal were done under court order, every homeowner would pay 30 percent of his home's fair market value, Solbach said. Reappraisal and classification reduced that to 12 percent, but many people still saw their taxes increase more
Regents vote to lengthen year
By Mark McHugh
Kansan staff writer
KU will add six to 144-day schedule
TOPEKA — The Board of Regents yesterday unanimously approved extending the academic year and resolved to fight proposed cuts in the higher education budget.
The academic year will be extended to 150 days, six days longer than KU's 144-day year.
Stanley Koplik, executive director of the Regents, said that adding the extra days at the University of Kansas would save $12,742.
Five of the seven Regents schools already have 150-day years. Wichita State University, which has a shorter year, also will be required to extend its year to 150 days.
The extension will take effect in the 1992-93 academic year and will continue through Spring 1995. The Regents then will review the length of the year.
Regent Charles Hostetler argued against the proposal because it would reduce the amount of time allotted for final exams.
"What we're saying to KU is,
'Shorten your finals days and add two
or three days to your school year,'"
he said. "I just wonder if this is
enough."
KU's finals period will be shortened from 10 to six days.
Chancellor Gene A. Budig and Judith Ramaley, executive vice chancellor, did not support lengthening the year. They said KU faculty opposed the extra days.
In another issue, the Regents decried proposed cuts in higher education financing.
Ray Hauke, director of planning and budget for the Regents, said the Regents had requested $600 million for general use, but the governor recommended only $622.3 million. Hauke said that in the past the
Regents base budget had been safe from cuts, and that there had not been discussion of reducing the base until this year.
Koplik said that restoration of the cuts in the base budget should be the top priority. Kopik told the Regents they should seek restoration of the $2.03 million worth of cuts in operating expenses, $3.19 million for cost of living increases for faculty members and administrators and $4 million for
"There's much more on the table than has typically been the case in the study."
increases in students.
The Regents also requested $16.3 million for the third and final year of the Margin of Excellence.
See REAPPRAISAL, p. 5
Although the Legislature financed the first two years of the Margin, Gov. Mike Hayden's budget includes not only the $1.8 million requested for the 2013 campaign.
The Margin is the Regents three-year plan to bring the total financing of its seven institutions to 95 percent of their peer schools and to bring faculty salaries to 100 percent of their peers.
"I'm going to explain the impact to the governor," Koplik said.
Tomas Stargardter/SPECIAL TO THE KANSAN
A Panamanian girl stands behind the fence of the PDF headquarters in Puerto Armuelles, as U.S. soldiers occupy the Noriega stronghold
Panama invasion hits home for KU
Bv Ines Shuk
Kansan staff writer
About 11 p.m. on Dec. 19, Eira Jimenez and her friends went party-hopping around her tropical hometown, located 250 miles west of Panama City.
Two hours later, Jimenez, Chiriqui, Panama, freshman, and her family were awakened abruptly by the sound of mortars followed by a telephone call from her grandfather, who lived in the Cherrillo neighborhood of Panama City, near Gen. Manuel Antonio Noriega's central headquarters.
Trying to find official information about the invasion, Jimenez's
They heard the sound of grenades and rockets through the telephone receiver as dimness s. Browns were storming Panama.
The Associated Press contributed information to this story.
mother tuned in to Radio Impacto, a Costa Rican station. Impacto was the only station transmitting information — mostly unconfirmed — about the invasion, because Norlgea had ordered Panamanian media to ignore it, Jimenez said.
"Norigeia ordered the battalions to kill the leaders of the opposition and to destroy and plunder the cities," she said.
The Jimenez family stayed at home for four consecutive days trying to avoid Noriega's Dignity Battalions, which were composed of armed "wicked civilians" who escaped to provinces far from Panama City, Jimenez said.
"We could hear the maydays from the American troops on the FM music stations," she said.
See PANAMA: o. 12
A U.S. ranger stands guard at Panamanian defense headquarters.
Feds arrest D.C. Mayor Barry on drug charge
WASHINGTON — Washington D.C., Mayor Marion Barry, whose last years in office were tarnished by accusations of drug use, was arrested on a narcotics charge last week in what federal authorities
The Associated Press
described as "an ongoing public corruption probe."
A federal law enforcement source said authorities had a videotape of Barry smoking
Marion Barry
manon Barry
Burry's arrest at a downtown hotel came just three days before the
mayor planned to formally announce that he would seek re-election to a fourth term and a day before long-time Barry associate Charles Lewis was scheduled for sentencing on drug charges.
Lewis testified in federal court that he provided cocaine for the mayor, but it was not clear whether last month connected to the Lewis investigation.
The source said that cocaine was seized from the hotel room but that specific charges would not be filed
The law enforcement source said the investigation was designed to catch Barry with an illegal drug and thst authorities had Barry on film.
Barry steadfastly has denied that he used drums.
until the substance could be analyzed. He said enough cocaine was seized to charge the mayor with possession for personal use.
A second federal law enforcement source said the arrest was the result of a "sting" operation in which FBI agents observed a prearranged meeting between the mayor and an unidentified friend in the downtown Vista International hotel, about six blocks from the White House.
The U.S. attorney's office said Barry would appear before a federal magistrate for arraignment on drug charges today.
The undercover operation, which had been in place for several weeks, involved setting up film equipment to photograph and record the mayor in
the hotel room, sources said.
Barry, 53, was arrested at the hotel shortly after 7 p.m. (CDT) as a result of an undercover operation conducted jointly by the city police department's internal affairs division and the FBI, according to a statement by U.S. Attorney Jay Stephens and Thomas DuHadway, special agent in charge of the FBI's Washington office.
There was no word of additional arrests.
A city official, who asked not to be identified, said Berry had no events on his schedule at the hotel Thursday night.
News of the arrest was broadcast
See BARRY, p. 5
Winter storm carries snow
Bv a Kansan reporter
If you were missing snowy, cold weather, today may be your lucky day.
The KU Weather Service yesterday predicted that a storm moving toward Lawrence could bring as much as 6 inches of snow to the area.
There is a 70 percent chance of freezing rain and snow today and tonight, ending tomorrow morning, said Rob Edmston, forecaster for the weather service.
The sudden change in weather will occur because of a high pressure center, Edmiston said.
The Associated Press
Buckey not guilty, says LA jury
LOS ANGELES — Preschool operators Raymond Buckey and his mother were acquitted yesterday of 52 child molestation charges in the nation's longest and most costly criminal trial, inciting outrage among parents of youngsters in the case.
Jurors deadlocked on 12 counts of sexual abuse against Buckey and a single conspiracy count against him and his 63-year-old mother, Peggy McMartin Buckey. Superior Court Judge William Pounders declared a mistrial on those charges.
The investigation of alleged mass molestation at the suburban McMartin Pre-School ignited a nationwide wave of worry about child abuse when it came to light in 1983. It produced widespread fear among working parents that their children might be at risk at school.
former student at McMartin Pre-
T
Chris Collins
School
They're making a big mistake. When I woke up this morning, I thought they would be going to jail the next day. The justice system has let us down.'
The trial lasted nearly three years and cost $15 million, making it the longest and most expensive criminal proceeding in U.S. history.
Buckley, 31, spent nearly five years in jail because of the charges, and his mother was jailed for almost two years. Prosecutors scheduled a hearing for Jan. 31 to determine if molestation charges against Ray Buckey would be re-filed.
Announcement of the not guilty verdicts brought gasps and sobs in the packed courtroom while the jury were still waiting were restrained in their reactions.
"I've gone through hell and now we've lost everything," his mother told me. "I have to be for him, and what they've done to me has my son would never harm a child."
Buckey's parents said they were happy to see the end of the trial.
The conspiracy count alleged that Buckey and his mother conspired to commit an assortment of lewd and inappropriate acts on children under 14 years old.
"I'm still in shock," parent Jackie McGailey said about an hour after the verdict was read. "... When I first heard it, I didn't believe it. I thought someone had made a mistake."
Peters said she could not tell from watching the taped interviews of the children with psychologists whether the children were telling what actually happened to them, or if they were merely repeating what their parents told them.
"They're making a big mistake," said Chris Collins, 18, who as a child was a student at McMartin Pre-School. "When I woke up this morning I thought they would be going to jail the next day. The justice system has let us down."
Buckey, who was released on $1.5 million bail in February, and his mother, free on $295,000 bail, were required to stand trial after an 18-month preliminary hearing. Five teachers who worked at the preschool had charges against them dismissed.
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