| Show I 7 Editorial TAX ROLLBACK what is on z every politicians politician's lips today Taxes are what everybody complains about and taxes are what snakes makes the government govern govern- ment function Two years ago on a cold winter morning a large group of people gathered ted AXES on end The Tax Limitation Coalition of Utah then came up with a plan to cut taxes in Utah that is similar to California's Proposition 13 The Tax Rollback Initiative is now an issue all Utahans must face It affects all of us in different ways but we at Horizon feel that the students ts of must know how the if it were passed First and foremost students term tax means money and that roiling rollIng roll roll- ing back taxes basically means less money According to the Tax Limitation Coalition of Utah less money means cutting cutting cut cut- ting amounts equal to the current current current cur cur- rent of five of the nine public colleges in Utah While closing down five schools is unlikely the result of the Tax Rollback Initiative could prove devastating to some of Utah's smaller col col- col- col leges The current proposed cut is 34 million One of the more outspoken proponents of tax cuts and rollbacks is Merrill Cook the Independent gubernatorial candidate Cook says that Prosperity follows tax cuts What Cook doesn't realize is how much these proposed tax cuts would devastate Utah's public colleges Not only would these cuts hurt the colleges colleges colleges col col- leges but they would make it more difficult for the average Utahan to attend college Tuition Tuition Tuition Tui Tui- tion increases of up to 30 percent percent percent per per- cent would hamper students' students chances of attending college Colleges in Utah would cut entire programs reduce fa faculties faculties cul- cul ties which would reduce teaching quality not to mention mention mention men men- tion decreasing the enroll enroll- ment Cook says he has a plan to make education funding more cost effective but we at Horizon have yet to hear any specifics Cook also has stated that cutting class sizes and Increasing increasing increasing in In- creasing average teaching hours bea bet bet- tion funds What Cook has forgotten is that not every college college college col col- col- col lege in Utah has the average teaching capacity of the the college that Cook uses as an example True faculty members at the theU theU theU U of U teach an average of six hours per day due to the great abundance of research committed committed committed com com- to the university but at teachers are asked to take on heavier loads every year as enrollment increases A tax cut such as the one proposed would only worsen the situation here and only have a minor effect at the U of ofU U. U What we at Horizon would like to say to the students of is before you vote for a tax cut you should consider the outcome Do you want to jeopardize your education for fora a small decrease in taxes or ordo ordo ordo do you want better use of current current cur cur- rent funds already in existence existence existence exist exist- ence The decision is yours To Merrill Cook we would say Sorry but we wan t more than |
