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Friday, December 1, 1989 / University Daily Kansan
Opinion
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Margin can't be sacrificed for property-tax problem
Disquieting news from Topeka reports that the Margin of Excellence could be the check that pays for reducing the property-tax burden. If true, it is too high a price.
However, the Margin need not be the budget line that gets crossed out in favor of much-needed tax relief.
In fact, lawmakers seem to be holding the Margin hostage to stall solutions to the tax problem. For example, State Sen. Dan Thiessen, R-Independence, has said, "If we were to pump a lot of money into property-tax relief, it would take it out of the general fund, and programs that have been funded before then would be hurt." Thiessen then added that the Margin would be a likely victim.
House Minority Leader Marvin Barkis, D-Louisburg, said Gov. Mike Hayden's budget would not include full financing for the final year of the Margin. Hayden has not yet specifically targeted the Margin but has said he would look at using the state's general fund to finance tax relief. The Margin is financed through the state's general fund.
Suddenly, the Margin, which has received strong support from the governor and legislators, would seem to be on the table. Lawmakers must recognize that ensuing public outcry would prevent a substantial cut in the Margin's final year. A more logical explanation is that the Margin is being used as a tool to delay substantive discussion on tax relief.
Both issues are too important for rhetorical games. The Margin has received full financing for two years and the support of the public. The final year must be financed in full to accomplish its goal.
The tax problem also must be remedied as soon as possible. The logical solution is to shift some gambling revenues from economic development to tax relief or to incorporate a "circuit breaker" into tax assessment that would prevent catastrophic increases in levies.
The Margin should not be a bargaining chip in the tax relief negotiations. Both issues suffer if they are placed at odds.
Daniel Niemi for the editorial board
Regents application price will benefit the University
The Board of Regents has finally put a price on applying to the University of Kansas.
A $15 application fee is now in effect at Regents schools, which brings KU in line with most other Big Eight schools. Admissions directors at the various Regents schools said recently that the application fees would help reduce the number of applicants that they would have to sift through each spring when they decide who will and who won't attend in the fall.
In fact, Bruce Lindvall, director of the office of admissions at KU, has predicted a 10 percent decrease in the number of applications his office will receive. He said yesterday, however, that it was too early to foresee exactly how this would affect in-state vs. out-of-state applications.
But the fee is a boon for all Regents schools in more ways than just reducing the number of applications that admissions employees will have to read.
The fee will generate about $300,000 for KU, according to local estimates. That money will stay at KU and will help finance additional staff. Obviously, that's a plus. And it's not a one-shot deal, either. This is money that will be coming in year after year.
With the third year of the Margin of Excellence in jeopardy, it would be nice to have another constant source of income for the University, one that we have never had before.
But there's a psychological factor here as well. People applying to KU in the past have had nothing to lose by doing so. Now, an applicant has to put his money on the line, and some people are not willing to do that. Although a fee of only $15 won't stop many people, it will stop those who weren't really serious about coming to KU in the first place. And that may save time in the lower-level classes because staff won't have to worry about teaching people who would rather have been semenlace else.
So it's about time that the Regents gamble on an application fee. The fees at other schools range from $10 to $50. Perhaps the next step should be to up the ante.
David Stewart for the editorial board
News staff
David Stewart...Editor
Ric Brack...Managing editor
Daniel Niemi...News editor
Candy Nieman...Planning editor
Stan Dietl...Editorial editor
Jennifer Corser...Campus editor
Elaine Sung...Sports editor
Leura Husar...Proof editor
Christine Winner...Arts/Features editor
Tom Eblen...General manager, news adviser
Business staff
Linda Prokop ... Business manager
Debra Martin ... Local advertising sales director
Jerre Medford ... National/regional sales director
Jill Lowe ... Marketing director
Tami Rank ... Production manager
Carrie Blaninka ... Assistant production manager
Margaret Townsend ... Creator
Eric Hughes ... Creative director
Chrissi Doolol ... Classified manager
Jeff Meeesy ... Tearsheet manager
Jeenne Hines ... Sales and marketing adviser
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Gorbachev's stake in Malta crucial
The truly remarkable changes that have been sweeping through Eastern Europe can be at least partly attributed to the reforms of Mikhail Gorbachev. The Soviet president initiated changes in communist doctrine and ideology that reached far beyond his country's borders. Ironically, the revolution that Gorbachev instigated may end up causing his ouster.
As George Bush depends for his first summit with his Soviet counterpart, U.S. policy toward the now volatile Eastern bloc remains unclear. President Bush's failure to articulate such a policy would, in any other situation, be unfortunate. But the sorry state of affairs in the Soviet Union and the growing discontent among its citizens make Bush's aloof inepteпtion not only acceptable, but desirable.
The Soviet Union and the United States have both undergone some dramatic changes since the days of the "evil empire." The Soviet government has shifted its focus from invasions of Third World countries to its allaying, centralized economy. This shift has allowed U.S. presidents to move from condemning the "communist threat" to contending with the growing influence of national television audience. Times have changed.
But now Gorbachev is in trouble. The notorious Russian winter is quickly approaching and the fruits of perestroika have yet to ripen. Strikes, domestic unrest and the inefficiency of the Soviet economy threaten to bring massive shortages of such essentials as soap, boots and even coal. The Soviet people have grown weary of Gorbachev's promises of better days and his support in the Politburo and the Communist Party is waning.
However, Gorbachev's popularity abroad rivals that of the Pope. His new thinking has inspired the people of Eastern Europe to demand reform. And
Daniel Grossman
Staff columnist
reform was what they got. Instead of a wall in Berlin, East Germans now have pluralism in its infancy. In Warsaw, instead of military rule, they have Solidarity. And in Prague, CzechoSLavakia, instead of Soviet tanks they have promises of democracy. The era of Stalinist inflexibility and the Breznev Doctrine in Eastern Europe has been replaced by the icon of Mikhail Gorbachev and the future of freedom that he represents.
But this popularity that the Soviet leader enjoys abroad does not come without its costs. With the liberation of Eastern Europe, the future of the Warsaw Pact is drawn into question. Its disintegration could prove to be the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back in the Kremlin. Gorbachev would find it difficult to preach perestroika from the cold of Siberia.
Between his mutters of the merits of prudence, caution and staying the course, George Bush did manage to say that it was in the interest of the United States that Gorbachev's reforms succeed. In fact, this was the closest our president has come to taking a stand since his inauguration. His exact words were, "There is no greater advocate of perestroika than the president of the United States." If this is the case, then Bush's lack of policy in regards to the Soviet Union is fortunate.
The Malta summit offers both Bush and Gorbachev great opportunities. For Gorbachev, a successful summit could mean a boistering of his domestic support, perhaps enough to get him through the long winter that lies ahead. Success, for Gorbachev, includes an agreement with Bush that NATO and the Warsaw Pact must remain intact despite the changes in Europe. This might take some of the heat off of Gorbachev from Communist Party hard-liners. But such an agreement could help Bush as well.
Just the fax about new technology
It was one of those news items designed to elicit public outrage — a news item similar to those reports about the Pentagon spending hundreds of dollars for a single toilet seat.
President Bush continues to downplay the significance of the Malta summit, methodically reiterating the importance of moving slowly. But by issuing a joint statement with Gorbachev endorsing the continued presence and importance of NATO and the Warsaw Pact, Bush would, quite accidentally, both formulate a policy toward Europe and assert the eagerness of the United States to become involved in the ever-changing political atmosphere across the Atlantic.
This time, the items in question were not toilet seats. They were fax machines. It seems that the Air Force had purchased 173 custom-made facsimile machines under contracts amounting to almost $73 million. That amounts to $421,000 for each fax machine.
Gorbache's revolution under the banner of perestroika has sparked a political upheaval throughout Eastern Europe. Stalinist communism has been laid to rest and the Cold War may be next in the funeral procession. But Gorbache's survival is crucial to obtaining this objective. Bush must awaken from his policy hibernation and recognize the changes that are occurring in a world that is answering less and less to either Moscow or Washington. By asserting the importance of continued loyalty to the European alliances, Bush and Gorbache can make the Malta statute a significant step in stabilizing the volatile situation in Eastern Europe. If they fail, it will be a long, and for Mikhail Gorbache, a very cold winter.
As might be expected, the Air Force provided official explanations, which the press made fun of. An Air Force spokesman said that the fax machines really cost the government only $76,000 each and that the machines were "not your normal fax" — they were fax machines designed to withstand the dirt, havoc and extremes of battlefield duty.
Maybe so, maybe not. The thought occurs,
though, that if we go beyond the economics of this,
something even more interesting than money
emerges.
Let's start with the military fax machines themselves. The Air Force says that the machines
Nevertheless, it was duly reported that fax machines for homes or businesses generally cost between $600 and $1,500. The implication was that once again the Pentagon was being stupid.
Bob Greene
Syndicated columnist
are capable "of allowing a commander in a battlefield situation, who is managing fighter aircraft, to get transmissions from satellites to tell him what targets are out there that need to be taken out." The fax machines are able to receive documents instantaneously, can be operated anywhere in the world, are able to withstand dust, rain, sand and salt, and will work in temperatures ranging from minus 25 degrees to 125 degrees Fahrenheit.
Imagine if you had told a World War II commander about such a machine — a machine that, in an instant, was able to receive documents being sent from offices in Washington or anywhere in the world. The commander would have thought the idea miraculous, if not impossible.
The problem is that today everyone from a storeroom clerk to a Hollywood agent has the capability to receive documents in just that
manner. People grumble, perhaps chuckle, and shake their heads at the price the Pentagon is paying for the military faxes — and don't consider the dizzying truth of how amazing it is that such technology is available at all.
The point of all this is that what used to be special is now common. No wonder people don't get excited that documents can be transmitted to a battlefield, regardless of the cost. After all, we know what it means when the White House says it is "closely monitoring" a world crisis. The president is watching CNN. just like the rest of us.
It goes beyond this specific case. It's everywhere. Average people have access to products and services that n few years ago were the province of kings and millionaires. Remember all the publicity that Hugh Hefner used to get because he had hundreds of movies stored in a room at the Playboy Mansion and projectionists on call round the clock?
Now, or course, most of the country has the same option. With VCRs in tens of millions of homes, and video rental stores within a few blocks of most neighborhoods, the United States takes for granted the thing that seemed so special about Hefner's house.
Bob Greene is a columnist for the Chicago
Tribune.