Columbia Missourian Newspaper 1981-08-05

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73rd Year - No. 274 ' Good Morning! It's Wednesday, August 5, 1981 8 g 58 Ptges 25 Centfl
Public would raise taxes for education oy iven imss
Mlssourian staff miter
The words " tax cut" have become
synonymous with the economic tenor
of the times. However, in at least one
area higher education Boone
Countians seem willing to counter
the prevailing trend and bear the
burden of heavier taxation to ensure
quality service, according to a sur-vey
by the Columbia Mlssourian.
The survey shows that two of three
Boone County residents would be
willing to pay higher taxes to sup-port
higher education. And majority
support exists in every major seg-ment
of the population the old and
the young, men and women, rich and
poor, conservative and liberal.
Boone Countians are out of step
with their political leadership on an-other
important issue, too. Only one
of four local residents agrees with
Gov. Christopher Bond's decision to
freeze the salaries of state employ-ees,
while 56 percent disagree.
To a related question, survey re-spondents
agree by a 2-- 1 margin that
Columbia is being hurt by state bud-get
cuts affecting the University.
University administrators' action
in freezing salaries gets a more sym-pathetic
reaction than does the gov-ernor's
freeze.
For Mary Porter, 30, there's a
simple reason she would be willing
to pay more: " Higher education is
one of the most important things
there is, and it's been undersup- porte- d
for a long time."
MiSSQUmMXI
Insight
Although Lucille Henson, 67,
doesn't have children of school age,
she would favor higher taxes to en-sure
her grandchildren's future. And
her support doesn't stop with her
own kin. " I think underprivileged
children should have more opportu-nity
to learn because a lot of them
can't afford the education," she
said.
The strongest agreement with
higher taxation comes from those
connected with the University as stu-dents,
staff or faculty. Three of four
approved higher . education taxes.
But more than half of those without a
University connection also agreed.
Catholics were more likely to ap-prove
higher education taxes than
Protestants. Almost 73 percent of
Catholics said " yes" to 60 percent
for Protestants. Also, liberals and
moderates were slightly more likely
than conservatives to approve. Even
among conservatives, though, 58
percent would pay more.
Income level didn't substantially
alter responses on education taxes.
For all income groups almost two
out of three approved, although
those earning over $ 30,000 a year
were slightly more likely to support
higher taxes.
One of the minority was Frank
Shobe, 25. " I've yet to see where the
money actually goes when desig-nated
programs are involved," he
said. " I grew up in New Jersey, and
they instituted a state lottery for ed-ucation.
But it didn't work; educa-tion
was no better off after the lot-tery."
Nancy Fritsch, 42, is undecided
about paying higher taxes. Her hesi-tation
is based on a belief that our
taxes are generally high enough.
Still, she feels strongly about higher
education and laments what she sees
as a low regard for education
statewide. " It's sad for our state, but
sometimes we seem behind the
times."
On the salary freeze issue, Bond
recently defended his veto of a pay
raise for state employees and said
the action was necessary to avert
more state government layoffs and
cutbacks in essential services.
Most frequently mentioned by dis-approving
residents was Bond's ac-ceptance
of a personal pay hike in
January. L. O. Garrett typifies this
sentiment. " If he's going to raise his
own pay he oughtn't to freeze the
state employees. ' '
Actually, the governor's pay raise
was approved by the Legislature be-fore
he assumed office. However,
critics of his decision to freeze state
salaries say he has the option to turn
back the $ 17,500 raise that boosted
his salary to $ 55,000 a year. He
hasn't elected to do so. v
Those who work for the state gov-ernment
most strongly criticized the
governor's salary action. Alvin Ze- chi- el,
34, an employee at Ellis Fis- ch- el
State Cancer Hospital, acknowl-edges
that with cutbacks in federal
support, " the states are hurting."
But he added, I think more consid-eration
should go into where the cuts
should be made."
Zechiel views the state Legislature
as chief culprit. " I don't like the Leg-islature;
I don't think they should
vote on their own pay increases.
Most people would accept freezes if
the state officials didn't get any."
Another state employee, Elaine
Rochon, 30, agrees with the view
that the governor should have han-dled
the budget cuts differently.
" With the salary freeze many peo-ple
in my office at the Department of
Revenue have to take added part- tim- e
jobs at night. This definitely af-fects
morale and performance. Peo-ple
get so tired from trying to make
ends meet with a second job that it
affects their work."
Criticism of the governor's action
wasn't limited to state employees.
Bruce Beard, 32, works for Truman
Veterans Hospital, a federal employ-er.
Still, he says he can relate to the
.
Survey Results At a Glance
1. Would you be willing to pay higher taxes to support
higher education?
Yes No Don't Know
63 28 9
2. Do you agree, or disagree, with Gov. Christopher Bond's
action in freezing the salaries of state employees9
Agree Disagree Don't Know
26 56 18
3. Do you feel the University administration is handling
H the budget cutbacks correctly?
1 Yes No Don't Know
1 27 23 50
1 4. Do you feel the City of Columbia is being hurt by budget I cuts affecting the University?
I Yes No Don't Know
1 53 23 24
I 5. Will the cutback in state spending affect you directly?
1 Yes No
48 52
plight of those directly affected by
the freeze. " It just seems like when
they talk about cutbacks, you very
rarely hear of big wheels taking
cuts. It's always the poor person who
does all the work that gets the ax in
the end."
Opposition to Bond's action was by
no means universal. A man in his
20s, Hiram Cooper, said, " Why give
anybody money when there's none to
give?"
Wandalee Riley, 62, prefacing her
comments with, " some people think
money grows on trees," obviously
has done her homework when it
comes to discussing budget figures.
" They criticize his veto of a cost- -
( See GOVERNOR'S, Page 14A)
Air strikers
face fines,
loss of jobs
President's edict
effective today
WASHINGTON ( UPI) - The gov-ernment
Tuesday warned air con-trollers
their whole careers rest on a
decision they must make before 10
ajn. CDT today: whether to go back
to work or be fired.
But the controllers, whose union is
being fined $ 100,000 an hour, refused
to call off their nationwide strike.
While thousands of passengers
scrambled for alternate transporta-tion
on the second day of the strike,
the government continued to crack
down on the controllers with fines,
restraining orders, contempt- of- cou- rt
proceedings and renewed
threats of mass firings.
At the White House, President
Reagan said he has " no choice" but
to fire the controllers unless they re-turn
to work by the deadline he gave
them 10 a. nx Missouri time
Wednesday.
" The law is very explicit," Rea-gan
said. " They understood the law.
They took an oath in writing they
would not strike. I think it's not a
case of firing. I think they quit."
Transportation Secretary Drew
Lewis, at a late- afterno- on news con-ference,
warned the controllers their
careers hinge on a decision they can-not
postpone.
" The choice must be made; the de-cision
cannot be deferred," Lewis
said. " The courts have ruled clearly,
firmly and consistently. I hope all
controllers understand there will be
no turning back, no second chance."
At a simultaneous news confer-ence
at union headquarters, PATCO
President Robert Poli accused the
government of attempting to break
the union by offering individual con-tracts
to induce air controllers to re-turn
to work.
" That's a traditional breaking- of- the- unio- n
tactic that has been used
in the past," he told reporters. " It's
called the ' yellow dog' concept and I
understand they are considering
doing that."
A Transportation Department
spokesman flatly denied the rumor.
" There will be no separate contracts
for individual controllers' he said.
Poli said only 38 of about 13,000
striking controllers had returned to
work since the strike was called
Monday morning. Altogether, there
are 17,000 controllers, whose job is to
guide air traffic in and out of air-ports
and among cities.
" In talking to our people, I feel
their resolve and strength is as
strong as it was yesterday when they
walked off the job," Poli said. " Our
position has not changed.' '
Meanwhile, the Federal Aviation
Administration postponed a decision
on whether to increase flights into
the nation's 23 busiest airports to 75
percent of normal capacity. Current-ly,
one of every two scheduled flights
is being canceled.
" We don't need the capacity to
- move the traveling public," said
FAA Administrator J. Lynn Helms.
He said the government's ' capacity
to handle existing air traffic " contin- -
( See AIR, Page HA)
i
Robert Roger
Mitchell Bennett, left, business manager of testers on a march around the University's
Public Service Employees Local No. 45, and Jesse Hall. The workers were protesting the
Willis Jones, president of the local, lead pro- - absence of wage increases for this year.
One- da- y strike
idles protesting
M. U. employees
By David Marcou and Paul Nowell
Mlssourian staff writers
Several hundred of the Universi-ty's
lowest- pai- d employees picketed
work sites, protested in Jefferson
City or stayed home Tuesday in the
first concrete action by Columbia
campus workers against Gov.
Christopher S. Bond's budget cuts
that denied them a pay raise.
University administrators esti-mated
that the " day of concern"
called by Public Service Employees
Local No. 45 resulted in 300 to 500 ab-sences
among the 1,100 laborers the
union represents. Many of the pro-testers
took a day of vacation time;
those who didn't will be docked a
day's pay.
The union protested the loss of an
expected 5 percent pay increase.
The loss was caused by Bond's 10
percent budget reduction.
The business of the University
went on uninterrupted, said spokes-man
Tom Shrout, despite the walk-out
and the presence of a few pickets
at the hospital and physical plant.
Some departments, however, had
to reduce services.
Half the morning maintenance
crew stayed off the job, leaving work
on buildings and grounds delayed or
not done. And, among craft workers,
80 to 90 percent were out, according
to Ria Fritjers, vice chancellor for
administrative services.
Union business manager Mitchell
Bennett said the purpose of the pro-test
was not to disrupt the University
so much as to signal the governor
that state higher education employ-ees
deserve cost- of- livi- ng increases
as much as workers in the private
sector.
Bennett cited Bond's acceptance
of a $ 17,500 raise this year as evi-dence
of the governor's bad faith in
dealing with the state's fiscal crisis.
And Bennett said the Legislature's
failure to pass a sales tax increase to
better finance education was a sign
of apathy in Jefferson City toward
the plight of lower- inco- me workers.
He contrasted the attitude of Uni-versity
administrators to the gover-nor's:
" I think they are making a
sincere effort to give us an increase,
while he is putting more emphasis
on himself," he said.
Ms. Fritjers sympathized, agree-ing
that the workers are not well
paid.
" We understand the frustrations of
the workers, but they're not the only
ones," she said. No wage increase
has been provided for University
faculty, either, for the 1981- 8- 2 year.
" It's an across- the- boar- d kind of
thing," Shrout said. The protesting
workers " are just being more vo-cal."
One union member put his views
succinctly: " Morale on campus is
shot to hell," he said.
Another member, Allie Femmuel- e- r,
criticized the campus beautifica- tio- n
project now under way. " For
hard times, it's certainly ridicu-lous."
Recently he applied for an off- camp- us
job after 19 years with the
University. " I think it's a damn
shame that after almost 20 years I
had to think about working some-where
else," the refrigeration work-er
said.
In Jefferson City, Gov. Bond an-swered
the charge concerning his
raise by saying he was obligated to
accept the increase adopted during
Joseph Teasdale's administration.
" In 1977, the Legislature estab-lished
new salaries to take effect in
1978 and 1980," he said. " And it can-not
be raised or lowered during the
term of the current officeholder."
Bond added that donating the raise
to the treasury ". would not appease
anyone or help the state's situation."
Pat Vanzant, a hospital shop stew-ard
and one of 25 picketers at the Ca-pitol
in the morning, said there was
little chance the protest would
change anyone's mind.
" But we can always hope," she
added.
Charter panel proposes seven- distri- ct plan
By Susan James and Wendy S. Tai
Mlssourian staff writer
The Boone County Home Rule
Charter Commission changed course
Tuesday night and decided that the
county's proposed legislative body,
not voters, should pick its chairman
to avoid political incompatibility
within the group.
In accordance with the change,
commissioners approved a tentative
redistricting of the county into seven
sections.
The 14- mem- ber commission also
voted to reaffirm, in writing, the
present, relatively autonomous oper-ation
of Boone County Hospital, and
decided the hospital's financial oper-ations
should be independent from
the county's.
On recommendation of a subcom-mittee,
commissioners unanimously
approved a modification of the top
echelon of county government. In-stead
of having a six- pers- on legis-lative
body elected by district, with
a seventh member, the chairman,
elected at- Iarg- e, commissioners
voted to have a seven- memb- er legis-lative
body, with its chairman elect-ed
by his constituents.
" I would like the commission to
reconsider because of the disadvan-tage
should the at- lar- ge chairman
not be a member of the majority
party," said commissioner Paul
Sturgeon, former Centralia mayor.
As a member of the subcommittee
to redefine district boundaries, he
and two other commissioners. Nor-ma
Robb and Dr. Jim Reynolds, ex--
j
pressed their concern about possible
conflicts at the top of county govern-ment
between the county executive,
who will be elected countywide, and
a chairman similarly chosen.
If elected at- larg- e, the chairman
may consider himself to have more
authority and power than other leg-islators
when he should merely pre-side
over the body, Dr. Reynolds
said.
While the idea of providing the vot-ers
with more a direct voice at the
top may be desirable, he added, it
does not seem feasible. " In theory,
having two elected- at- larg- e officers
may work," said Dr. Reynolds. " But
in practice, there may be conflicts."
To accompany that change, the
commission adopted a tentative
model of how the county would be di-vided
into electoral districts. The
model plan would give three seats to
Columbia, create three others domi-nated
by rural residents and split the
last district between of city and
county residents.
Commissioners agreed to recon-sider
boundary lines with an eye to-ward
possibly providing more rural
representation.
In a 10-- 3 vote, the commission also
approved a request to reaffirm that
the operation and management of
the Boone County Hospital be vested
in the hospital board of trustees.
It also expanded the board from
five to seven members, elected to
three- ye- ar staggered terms.
f
r
In town
today
Boone County Fair events :
9 ajn. Junior and Senior
Sheep Show, Sheep Barn.
1 p-- m. Local Pony and Horse
Show, Arena.
p-- m. Senior Beef Show and
Judging, Arena.
7 pjn. Horse Pulling Con-test,
Tractor Arena.
7 pjn. Baby Show for ages 1
to 2, Merchants Tent.
Index
Business ha
Classified .2- 4- C
Opinion 4A
Sports 6- 7- A
Theater 13A
1