1988_04 The Daily Collegian April 1988

              Page 2   Monday, April 11,1988
Opinion
"He's bald, has no teeth, he's either crying
or sucking on a bottle, and there's usually
something nasty in his pants. He's a natural
politician."
BLOOM COUNTY
by Berkt Breathed
For the
Record...
Valley Children's Hospital was incorrectly
identified as Valley Children's Medical Center
in the April 8 edition of The Daily Collegian.
Factual errors in The CoUegian can
be brought to our attention by calling 294-2486
or writing to us at the Keats Campus Building,
California State University, Fresno, Fresno,
Califorrua 937404042.
The Daily Collegian
JoAnn Baltau - Editor in Chief
Lisa Kim Bach- Managing Editor
Tracy Correa - News Editor
Amu Data- Copy Editor
Sharon Kuan - Ad Manager
Kenny Low - Business Manager
T.James Madison
Jon Matsune - Sports Editor
Kurt Hegre - Photo Editor
Richard McCue - Staff Artist
Rob Evans - Graphics Editor
Susie Tombs - Ad Production Mgr.
Jeff Markarian - Asst Business Mgr.
Entertainment Editor
Staff Writers- Jana Lee Briscoe, Christopher Dougan, Dina Douglass,
Barry Grove, Lois Henry, Kendall Kerr, Maryann Milligan, Linh Nguyen,
Angela Valdivia, Jennifer Wruteley
Sports Writers - Steve Fountain, Lee Passmore, Jim Proulx, Brian Veneski
Photographers - Mark Mirko, Akemi Miyama, Lane Turner
Advertising Reps - Eric Anderson, Jeff Bauman, Roderick Chow, Tony
Martin, Dave Spencer
Circulation - Bill Lerch Distribution - Steve Fountain
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Those taxing April
forms and reforms
It's April again. It's been April for 11
days, and that can mean only one
thing—taxes. New tax laws. New tax
forms. New lax problems. New tax aches.
"I think" said David Ftyor (D-Ark.),
chairman of the Senate Finance
subcommittee on IRS Oversight, "we've
created a monster here.'' I think, said
Noah, that a little rain may be falling.
My Los Angeles Times reminded me
yesterday morning that it was indeed time
to deal with taxes. I have the next four
days to wrestle with a tax form that has
been creating controversy and debate for
the past year.
The Congressional Joint Committee
on Taxation has been working overtime
to better our tax laws. Since 1981, there
have been more than 6,000 sections of
the tax code changed- In 1986 alone, there
were 2,700.
Wielding a scalpel of reform and
cutting through tax codes, the committee
removed loopholes, stitched together gaps
and eliminated most tax shelters trying to
improve the diseased tax code.
Ccmplicatiorts set in, however. The
tax code tumor grew and spread, creating
more problems.
Remember when this recent era of tax
reform started? Remember the unveiling
of the new W-4 Form? And then the
subsequent "new and improved" n w W-4
Form? Tax preparation was supposed to
become easier. Life in AitKrica would
truly be good with these problems solved.
But it didn't happen. Filling out a W-4
became a nightmare. Four pages of
instruction were needed to explain it, and
I was lost by the fourth paragraph.
As if filling out a W-4 isn't difficult
enough, there is Form 1040—the true
terror of any taxpayer's life.
The University of Akron's Center for
Taxation Studies says that only about
half of the nation's high school graduates
are able to understand this itemizing
honor.
Well, there is always the Internal
Revenue Service there to help. You can
call them with questions and they will
give you answers. But the IRS gets a " D"
in the fill-in section. According to a
General Accounting Office study, you can
expect the right answer only 61 percent of
the time.
If the IRS cannot help, there are always
die experts on taxes. That's right, H&R
Block is right around the corner. Fifty
percent of all filers turn to professionals
for help with their taxes. These
professionals are expected to earn $27
billion filling out those "simplified''
forms. According to a University of
Michigan study, the average lime needed
to work on each form is 22 hours (For
those of you waiting until Friday to do
your taxes, you need to start by 2 am. to
meet the midnight deadline).
Better than the new forms are the new
requirements. Students now have to pay
taxes on any grants or scholarships. No
tax loopholes here anymore.
But we are assured that the majority of
taxpayers at every income level will end
up paying less this year than they did
before the reforms. Of course, this
reassurance comes from the same people
who are responsible for making the new
tax code simpler.
JoAnn Baltau's column appears every
Monday in The Daily Collegian.
Reader
Response
to The* Daily Collegian is welcome. Please
send letters of no more than 250 words to
The Daily Collegian, Keats Campus Building California State University Fresno, Fres-
■:■>, California 93740-0042. Letters must be
signed and have the author's name, telephone number, and address.
Misinformed
Dear Editor,
In his recent letter to the editor
(Wedenesday. April 6), Scott Vick has
proven that be is sadly misinformed about
tbe goals and actions of the United Farm
Workers. In the last paragraph of his
letter be says the the UFW is
"counterproductive" and "needlessly puts
farmers out of work." This could not be
farther from the truth. The assertion that
the UFW has put farmers out of work is
ridiculous. I have never heard of any
instance where a strike completely shut
down a farmer.
The actions of the UFW have always
been undertaken in the spirit of cooperation. In every instance they have used
diplomatic means first to bring about humane conditions for the farmworker. Only
when bargaining has failed have the UFW
had to go as far as strikes and boycotts. Is
it needless and counterproductive to demand that you not be poisoned by toxic
pesticides while on the job?
The means and ends of the United Farm
Workers are no different from those of
any other respectable labor organizations
in the United States. It is the sweat and
coil of the common working man that has
built this nation, not the empty words of
smooth-talking fascist politicians.
Those involved in the UFW strike
against H J*. Metzler and the boycott have
made great personal sacrifices in order to
stand up for the rights of farmworkers and
their families. Maybe personal sacrifice
and human rights are something Mr. Vick
just doesn't understand.
W. Scott Stark
Campus issue
Dear Editor,
Am I correct in assuming that because
I disagree with the politics of the United
Farm Workers that I am a racist? I am
not. You seem less interested in debate
and more interested in personal slander. 1
sincerely apologize if my political dislike
for the methods of the UFW is racially offensive They are not intended to be. But
there are other avenues to pursue social issues, such as the United Farm Workers issue, besides student government, but no
other avenues to pursue issues related to
this campus other than student government. Student government is the only
place for someone to go with student issues. Can you imagine going to the city
council and demanding more campus
safety and longer library hours. As I see
it, if you had your way, student government would be a device for the advancement of your own personal social
issue agenda. My agenda is sincere and to
the point. The student government on
this university should be primarily concerned with issues that affect us all as
students. Namely the library, bookstore,
campus security and other issues common
to all students. Sorry, The UFW issue is
Please see LETTERS, page 3