The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 84, No. 17, Ed. 1 Friday, February 7, 1997 Page: 3 of 16
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It's that time 01 trie year again
Uncle Sam is at the door with his
hand extended, looking for his "fair
share" of what Americans have
earned in 1996.
The average American
family pays almost 24 per-
cent of its income to the
federal government each
year m taxes, up from a
mere 3 percent after
World War II. Not only is
the United States tax code
the most complex cre-
ation in the history of
mankind, but it has be-
come the primary method
by which bureaucrats in —
Washington gain political power, re-
distribute wealth, manipulate how
Americans use their money and re-
ward special interest groups. Steve
Forbes describes the current sys-
tem as an "anti-growth, anti-family,
legalized cesspool of corruption."
He is right: It's time to consider
dumping the current system.
The prevailing sentiment across
America is that major tax reform
must happen soon. The current sys-
tem is extremely complex and pe-
nalizes the successful who get
pushed into punitive tax brackets as
a reward for their hard work.
'Hie IRS code also has too many
targeted tax credits and exemptions,
which is nothing more than
Washington's attempt to control the
behavior and consumption patterns
of the taxpayers.
It is time for a new system, one
that is fair, simple, devoid of social
engineering, and achieves the one
objective a tax system should have:
to raise sufficient revenues to fund
the federal government.
The Armey-Shelby flat tax pro-
Allen
Lewis
RICE
REPUBLICANS
replace the gargantuan
code with a simple, fair, single-
rate system. Taxpayers would (>ay a
17 percent flat rate after subtracting
allowances of $13,100 for
a single person, $17,200
for a single head of house-
hold or $26,200 for a mar-
ried couple, plus $5,300
for each dependent. A fam-
ily of four earn ing $36,800
would pay no federal in-
come tax.
The first and most ob-
vious benefit of a flat tax is
that it is simple. Right now,
taxpayers spend 5.4 bil-
lion hours and $200 bil-
lion each year to pay their taxes.
The flat tax would be filled out on a
postcard-sized form and would take
about 10 minutes to calculate.
Another benefit of the flat tax is
that it is fair. The current tax system
has been manipulated by Washing-
ton bureaucrats to create an ele-
ment of class envy in our country.
Our current tax
system has got to go.
It's too complex,
unfair, and has
evolved into nothing
more than a tool of
the establishment. ...
Poor and middle class taxpayers
believe the system to be rigged in
favor of the rich. The rich feel as if
they ar£ being punished for their
success with punitive tax rates. A
flat tax would treat every taxpayer
equally, eliminating class envy in-
herent in the current system.
Opponents of the flat tax also
claim that having one marginal rate
is unfair to the poor because the rich
would not pay "their fair share."
However, once deductions are
factored in, the "flat" tax actually
produces a result in which the real
rate (total tax over total income) is
graduated. The rich pay a higher
real percentage of their income, con-
sistent with all notions of fairness.
One of the greatest benefits of
the Armey-Shelby flat tax is the ef-
fects it Would have on Washington
politics and special interest groups.
There are currently over 12,500 reg-
istered special "interests in the capi-
tal, and most of them are looking for
tax code favors.
Members of the House Ways and
Means and the Senate Finance com-
mittees average 30 percent more in
contributions than other members
of the legislature. It pays to write tax
laws — in more than one way.
Our current tax system has got
to go. It's too complex, unfair, and
has evolved into nothing more than
a tool of the establishment to con-
trol oUr lives and get political favors
from special interests. The flat tax
would solve these problems and.
along with a balanced budget, would
encourage economic growth and
fully fund the government while giv-
ing tax relief to all Americans.
The flat tax is an idea whose time
has come. Will anybody in Washing-
ton have the courage to make this
tough decision? Only time will tell.
Allen Lewis is co-chairman of Rice
Republicans and a Lovett College
senior.
Racism's source, solution are inside us
The atmosphere of racism at
Rite has been a hot topic in several
recent issues of the Thresher. Apollo
Amoko, other students,
faculty and staff have ac-
cused the Campus Po-
lice, the administration
and various members of
the staff of treating mi-
norities unfairly. As a
member of the Rice com-
munity, I am naturally
concerned about these
accusations.
However, the Cam-
pus Police and the ad-
ministration must be
complimented on their efforts to
keep the campus.as safe a®place
possible.
Rose
Wilde
ASST. COPY
EDITOR
In the Jan. 31 issue of the
Thresher, the lead news story ("Po-
lice claim gates cut crime"), dis-
cussed the benefits of improved se-
curity measures at Rice. In
the same issue, a letter to
the editor ("Racism per-
vades Rice attitudes") as-
serted that racism is deeply
ingrained in Rice's mental-
ity.,
These two issues stand
in opposition to each other
— at least from the point of
view of the Campus Police.
One officer remarked in
the crime article, "'During
late hours, people who are going t he
wrong way or seem lost [have] crimi-
nal records or |«rP| intoxicated "
The point at which the conflict-
ing goals of the Campus Police come
into play is when they must deter-
mine who looks lost. Obviously,
people moving slowly, making many
U-turns and turning flown deadends
will look lost. Who wouldn't appreci-
ate the assistance of a Campus Po-
lice officer wh<* will help them navi-
gate* through the campus maze to
Entrance,8?
However, the fact of the matter is
that police officers use more criteria
than ear maneuvers to judge who
might need assistance or who might
be a criminal looking for an unpro-
5 EC PREJUDICE PAGE
Rose Wilde is an assistant copy editor
and a Lovett College junior.
... .
to start at 1
been a
that very mo-
on
toaster
ment when my ears alighted
the sonorous tones of
an unknown radio an-
UD
javapi
COLUMNIST
. a horrid quotidian
ague had been trou-
bling me throughout
that fateful day, and
so I reached for the
remote as I settled into
my accustomed re-
cumbent position. Re-
laxed I wit* not to re-
mainfor long/The par-
ticular edition of "This
American Life" on KPFTrevolved
around the issues of crime, guilt
and forgiveness.
Over the course ofan hour,
the audience was transported
from war-shattered Bosnia to the
anarchic streets of suburban Ari-
zona listening in on how others
grappled with the way we deal
with criminals of all stripes. Of
course/the pitiable juvenile de-
linquents were not put in the
same league as the blood-stained
war criminalsin Pale, Bosnia, but
the parallels were considerable.
In quick
succession, / set
up a toll-free line,
put ads in all the
world 's papers and
called up the South
African Truth
Commission*...
. Perhaps .the greatest revela-
tion was tile one made regarding
contrition and its relation to for-
giveness; importantly, that the
latter is often predicated on evi-
dence of the former. In the final
segment of the show, that idea
was given full force when listen-
ers were granted the opportu-
nity to listen to excerpts from the
"Apology Line."
The Apology line was started
.in the 1960s in New York City by
Alan Bridge as a way to allow
people tocall in and anonymously
confess to-whatever was weigh-
ing on their consciences. Callers
either spoke to him or left mes-
sages on his answering machine.
-1■ From the Line's archives, sev-
The
-■ , ... ■ , r,:, ■'
ing his infant sister to death
when he was a child, hiding the
plastic bag before his
parents had returned
from a trip, though no
one suspected him of
lulling her, he spoke
in hushed tones of how
he still had nightmares
about that murderous
childhood prank.
Another man re-
corded his change of
tto'ns he had*tak^h«s
an Israeli soldier. He
and his comrades had together
killed six Arabs, he somberly
told the machine, and now he
was not sure that he had done
Che. right thing.
What stuck in my mind for a
long time afterward, however,
was the tearful fellow who re-
counted how he had found him-
self unemployed and desperate.
He returned home to take care
of his bed-ridden mother who
needed assistance with most of
her daily activities. Making no
excuses for himself, he went on
to describe how he had taken
advantage of his mother's So-
cial Security checks by demand-
ing $5 for every glass of water
that he would bring to her and
$10for every sandwich he would
make for her.
Alan Bridge's life and dedi-
cation to his community were
cut short when he was the vic-
tim of a fatal hit-and-run acci-
dent by a jet skier while on vaca-
tion in late 1995. When asked if
Bridge would have forgiven the,
jet skier had fie called to ex-
press remorse, his widow de-
clared that he.probaMy would
have been upset at such a stupid
waste of life, but that he prob-
ably would have. .
inspired by such a story, T
resolved to take Mr. Bridge's
example as "a model. In quick
succession, ?set up a toll-free
line, put ads in all the world's
papers and called up the South
African Truth Commission for a
little free advice from Bishop
Tutu. With the mechanisms
in place, i kicked back and
waited for the phones to starf
ringing.
This column is the first in a
three-part series.
Massoud Javudi
College senior.
.is o Wiess
Electronic media should
not
Computer technology is a
wonderful thing. I will be the first to
admit that I love e-mail and use it all
the time. Without such a great way
to stay in touch, I doubt I
would talk to high school
friends, family or friends
from other universities an
often as I do.
That said, though, I do
not worship my computer.
In fact, I often fear it.
To a greater and great-
er extent, computers are
taking over our lives. We
talk, do business, shop
and even start relation-
ships over e-mail or the
Internet. With a few well-planned
keyboard strokes, we can have an-
other person's, life history at our
fingertips. I can't speak for anyone
else, but I don't know if I want any
computer freak getting offat my exit
on the information superhighway.
I got a letter from a good friend
yesterday He is off e-mail for now
9k jl
hp , w-;.
Anne
Kimbol
BUSINESS
MANAGER
since he il^n vacation from his uni-
versity, so we have been relying on
snail mail. After lamenting being
away from e-mail, he made
a few good points for
an old-fashioned letter.
There is the wonderful
surprise of finding it in
your mailbox, and the ex-
citement of opening it up
and knowing someone
spent the time to write it
and mail it to you.
Then he mentioned
one of the things which
scares me — the state of
written communication
today. No one (myself in-
cluded) seems to know how to write
a letter anymore. Without a key-
board and a quick send command,
things don't get said, or at least not
as well. The art of letter-writing —
SEE COMPUTERS PAGE A
Anne Kimbol is the business manager
and a Baker College junior.
SINCE lilt
Mnrty Beard. Vivek Rao
Editors in (lucf
m
! - ■ 6
Anne Kimbol
Business Manager
NEWS
Angelique Siy, Editor
Felisa Yang, Assoc Editor ' %
Maya Balakrtshnan, Asst. Editor
Michael Castillo, Asst. Editor
OPINION
Nick Writer. Editor
Jeff Zinsmeister, Asst Bditor
FEATURES
Vikki Otero, Editor
David Gordon, Assoc. Editor ■
ARTS * ENTERTAINMENT
Noelle Berryman, Editor
Peter Debruge, Editor
Davic^ Ge^key, Editor
Michael l.indsey, Asst. Editor
Brie Mtiftoz, Asst. Editor
SPORTS
Jeff-Mercer, Editor
Kathleen Corr, Asst Editor
Anders Ryerson, Asst. Editor
o
CALENDAR v
Chris Strathmann, Editor
Andrew Bagley
Advertising Manager
BACKPAGE
Nate Blair, Editor
Chuck Whitten, Editor
PHOTOGRAPHY
Stephen fanning. Editor
Dave Herman, Asst. Editor
GRAPHICS
Christof Spieler, Editor
COPY
Kathy Usher, Editor
Joe Billiard, Asst Editor
Rose Wilde. Asst. Editor
ONLINE
lace Frey Editor
Tiger Woods, Shaft Editor
Packy Saunders. Ad Production Manager
David Lyons, Asst Ad Manager
Ginger Milts, Asst Husiness Manager
David Gordon, Distribution Manager
Eric Muftoz. Macintosh Manager
Charles Klein, Senior Editor
David Hale, Visiting Editor
The Rice Thresher, I lie official student
newspaper at Rice University since 1916, is
published each Friday during these hoolyear,
except during examination periods and
holidays, bv the students oi Rice University
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Thresher is rated an ACP AH Amerit an paper.
C> COPYRIGHT 1997
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Beard, Marty & Rao, Vivek. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 84, No. 17, Ed. 1 Friday, February 7, 1997, newspaper, February 7, 1997; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth246559/m1/3/: accessed June 20, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.