Page 4-Tuesday, January 24, 1978-The Michigan Daily Eighty-Eight Years of Editorial Freedom 420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109 Vol. LXXXVIII, No. 94 News Phone: 764-0552 Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan Secret vote rights upheld There's no place like Kansas there 's no place like Kansas T HE MICHIGAN State Supreme Court yesterday handed down a decision which, while momentous, should certainly surprise no one. The Court ruled that the voters who cast disputed ballots in last year's Ann Ar- bor mayoral election do not have to reveal for whom they voted; in short, that the Constitution protects and san- ctifies the right of secret ballots. It was the only decision possible and consistent with the foundations of American law, yet the point is that at no time should this revelation have ,been necessary. The votes themselves are in question, and a recount of votes subtracting those in question ought to have been done. The fact remains that, though the voters were told that they lived in Take from t voting districts and were so certified by municipal election officials, their votes were never valid. The Daily's suggestion, which seems as good now as ever, is to have the voters actually re-vote, by secret ballot, and have there votes subtracted from the respective totals of each candidate. An argument may be raised that these voters may in fact alter their votes to swing support to their candidates, but in fact there was never any injunction to vote honestly in court except under threat of perjury, which applies here as well. Yet no matter how this turns out, the fact is that the Supreme Court has taken a courageous step in defense of basic liberation, the only step that could be taken. he poor . . .?" THE WAYS OF THE federal govern- ment are sometimes difficult to comprehend, but this time they simply defy rational explanation. A Treasury Department analysis of President Carter's proposed 1978 tax revisions revealed a disturbing and almost unbelievable flaw: the rich will pay less, while the working poor will shell out a bigger hunk of their much needed paychecks. According to the report, the head of a family of four who earns $100,000 per year would have his/her income taxes reduced by $240, while his/her Social Security taxes would increase the maximum $106, resulting in a net savings of $134. On the other hand, a family head: with three dependents who earns $5000 per year would receive no income tax cut, while suffering an increase in Social Security tax of $11. When Carter proposed the new tax plan, he promised it would reduce taxes for 90 per cent of the nation this year. The only problem is that the 10 per cent who won't benefit from the proposal includes those who need help the most. The problem here is not one of poor intentions; we don't believe Carter's goals are to make the rich richer and the poor poorer. It is probably the "result of inadequate preparation and :failure to scrutinize the more subtle ;aspects of the plan. Nonetheless, it is a "serious error, and one that cannot go unrectified. Before the proposal is ;even considered by Congress it should be pored over for similar inconsisten- cies, after which all such problem areas should be corrected by amen- dment. Many people in this country are badly in need of tax relief, but those who make over $100,000 per anum are certainly not in that category. By JAY LEVIN For those of you worrying about the state of the State of Kansas, relax. It's still there. It's still there, in all its flat, sprawling splendor - limitless horizons of level farm- lands punctuated every so often by a grain elevator, or maybe even a city. Kansas is still there, and it ain't going nowhere. Let me say that I'm hardly an expert on the state of Kansas - or the Great Plains, for that matter - never having visited the area until last week. To me, Kansas was always an out-of-sight, out-of-mind place. The Bread- basket of America, as we were drilled in social studies. The state where Dorothy and Toto were swept off their feet by a swirling twister, leaving behind their beloved Auntie Em for a dizzying romp into the Land of Oz. And when Glinda the Good Witch finally had Dorothy tap her ruby slippers together three times, we felt good - because Dorothy and Toto were headed home to Kansas. Kansas. Auntie Em and Uncle Henry. Kansas. It's good to be home. SO IT WAS in this mental frame that I ven- tured last week into Kansas - not by a wave of Glinda's wand, nor by a vicious funnel cloud, but by a mundane combination of TWA and Continental Trailways. I was bound for Wichita in search of post-graduation employ- ment, hoping that few other people would be desperate enough to consider Wichita for any- thing. Even Jerry Shirar told me that Wichi- ta's no bargain, and Jerry Shirar should know. Jerry Shirar, let it be known, was the very first Kansan I met on my trip. We com- menced our brief comaraderie in the drab bus depot in Kansas City, Mo., waiting four our Silver Eagle Coach to zip up across the state line. Jerry Shirar has blond hair, a fair com- plexion and a demeanor as bland as the Wich- ita skyline. A farm boy from the college town of Lawrence, Kansas (Kansas' answer to Ann Arbor), Jerry Shirar was a sophomore at the State University at Pittsburg - "the largest Pittsburg in the country," he boasted. PROTEST I DID at that ridiculous asser- tion, but this Jerry Shirar was a coy fella. Pit- tsburg, Kan. is the largest of its kind in the country, he told me, only because of a techni- cality. Pittsburg, he said, is distinct from Pennsylvania's Pittsburgh, by the last letter. Picky, picky, picky. Despite that first surly episode, Jerry Shirar and I hit it off like a couple of crows in a cornfield. He filled me in on what like is like in Kansas - the paucity of discos in Pitts- burg, the archaic liquor laws, the dull towns, the boring western half of the state, the flat terrain, the conservative facade. His lulling voice was like liniment for my mind as our coach sped along the Kansas Turnpike on a clear, star-studded evening. "KANSAS ISN'T BAD, really," I remem- bered Jerry Shirar saying somewhere be- tween service plazas. He had been in Kansas City that day to take an eaxm for his broad- caster's license. Kansas City, he said, is as metropolitan as you can get around these ,here parts. But despite KC's relative glitter and glamor, Jerry Shirar said he'll take the state of Kansas anyday. Jerry Shirar disembarked in Lawrence (his Mom was waiting for him at the depot in the family truck), so I lowered my head and closed my eyes for the rest of the trip, stirring only to take a peek at Topeka, Emporia and El Dorado - the largest settlements before Wichita, but tired-looking places nonetheless. No sooner had ,l dozed off again when we began passing the Taco Grandes, Burger Kings, Arby's and McDonalds which sig- nalled our entrance into Wichita. Wichita itself isn't bad. A spotless town, it has a big, new arena and some glossy build- ings, as well as one of the world's largest calders. Like the Emerald City of Oz, it rises out of relative nothingness - an urban oasis in the land of wheat. It shelters a quarter million souls - half of whom stroll about wearing ten gallon hats - and spills into the prairie with little regard for political juris- dictions. DESPITE ITS SIZE, Wichita does leave a lot to be desired in the way of thrills. There aren't any. My host and hostess, reporters who were schooled in Ann Arbor, frequently lamented over Wichita's unexciting, unen- lightened, non-exhilarating veneer. The place, they said, is a frightful drag. The whole state of Kansas, in fact, is somewhat of a drag if you consider one sole statistic: tourism dollars. Kansas, I was told, ranks 50th amiong the states in the number of dollars spent on tourism. That's understand- able. The state's level terrain ensures that skiers will stay away; there are no big oceans show me what was good and exciting about Wichita. We ended up eating two meals at the Looking Glass,,.a trendy "club" with trendy prices and a trendy clientele situated on not- so-trendy Douglas Avene - Wichita's main street. The looking glass might have well been located in Ann Arbor, New York, Berkeley or any other city where trendiness runs rampant. Trendy decor, trendy chicken cordon bleu, trendy breadsticks, trendy menus. We had a very trendy time. Trouble was, after dinner on Friday night, we left the trendy Looking Glass only to set foot outside on Douglas Avenue, where a cavalry of cars were screeching their tires and burning their fuel in an all-out attempt to out-race one another. Dozens of cars, driven by dozens of high school students who had nothing better to do than drag on Douglas. That, Iwas told as we walked away from the Looking Glass, is the real Wichita. My brief stay in this strange state soon EDITORIAL STAFF ANN MARIE LIPINSKI Editors-in-Chief JIM TOBIN LOIS JOSIMOVICH..... ............... Managing Editor GEORGE LOBSENZ......................... Managing Editor STU McCONNELL.........,.................Managing Editor JENNIFER MILLER.................. ......Managing Editor PATRICIA MONTEMURRI.................. Magaging Editor KEN PARSIGIAN....,........... .... . Managing Editor BOB ROSENBAUM .............. Managing Editor MARGARET YAO .. ... ....Managing Editor SUSAN ADES JAY LEVIN Sunday Magazine Editors ELAINE FLECTCHER TOM O'CONNELL Associate Magazine Editors STAFF WRITERS: Susan Barry, Richard Berke, Brian Blan-, chard, Michael Beckman, Lori Carruthers, Ken Chotiner, Eileen Daley, Lisa Fisher, Denise Fox, Steve Gold, David Goodman, Elisa Isaacson, Michael Jones, Lani Jordan, Janet Klein, Garth Kriewall, Gregg Krupa, Paula Lashinsky, Marty Levine, Dobilas Matunonis, Carolyn Morgan, Dan Oberdorfer, Mark Parrent, Karen Paul, Stephen Pickover, Christopher Potter, Martha Retallick, Keith Richburg, Diane Robinson, Julie Rovner, Dennis, Sabo, Annmarie Schiavi, Paul Shapiro, R. J. Smith, Elizabeth! Slowik Mike Taylor, Pauline Toole, Sue Warner, Jim Warren, Linda Willcox, Shelley Wolson, Tim Yagle, Mike Yellin, Barbara Zahs, Jim zazakis Mark Anarews, Mike Gilford, Richard Foltman Weather Forecasters SPORTS STAFF KATHY HENNEGHAN .................,........Sports Editor TOM CAMERON. .., .... Executive Sports Editor SCOTT LEWIS ............ Managing Sports Editor DON MacLACHLAN....................Associate Sports Editor JOHN NIEMEYER.... ........ .... Contributing Sports Editor NIGHT EDITORS: Paul Campbell, Ernie Dunbar, Henry Engel- hardt, Jeff Frank, Gary Kicinski, Rick Maddock, Brian Mar- tin, Bob Miller, Brian Miller, Dave Renbarger, Cub Schwartz, Errol Shifman and Jamie Turner. to lure bathers; there are no pro sports teams; there are few bodies of water; and the state laws prohibit liquor-by-the-drink, unless you join a special "club." The biggest attrac- tion in Wichita seems to be something called "Cow Town," and the postcard display in Wichita's Airport looks as though it has been untouched by human hands. Howdy Doody-= Welcome to Kansas! Hi from Wichita! Wish you were here in Topeka! They're all there, in ample numbers. Apparently, some airport people must be cognizant of the state's repu- tation, or they wouldn't have displayed a sign which welcomes travellers into Wichita in several different languages. "Wilkommen a Wichita," "Bienvenudo a Wichita" and some such. Wilcome to Cosmopolitan Wichita, the pulsating heart of Kansas. Oh, brother. MY HOST and hostess, however, wanted to came to an end. I was displeased with my in- terviews, and resigned myself to the prospect of never again having to set foot into Kansas. Oh, well. Kansas, I found, was about as ex- citing as I had expected. I didn't do much sight-seeing, but then, there probably wasn't much to sightsee. The weather was brisk and the people friendly. Above all, there seemed to be an air of statusquo which permeated every inch of Wichita and environs. Dull? Yes. Ugly? Parts. Invigorating? No. If I were Dorothy, I'd have asked Glinda to wave her wand and land me in Vegas. But on the other hand, it must've felt good to get back to Aun- tie Em. " Jay Levin, co-editor of the Sunday Magazine, was born and raised in New York City, and considers Michigan a western state. 4 _ _ s I'm wir f7OIJG AfJ(Th~l, IFH A COMWf?6$HALJ 1ZjRAP ME I YOURW Vl!& 1 TOOUCH T ()CH '('M ICAf 4O/NEY! 'ALA JUl AV- I z - 8VT 13IAM WIS06i RAPED. ih 1 0 REAJAAJT AI?4/s)AUl- ML'