Morning Edition

this is morning edition i'm david naylor its last session the state legislature created a special panel asking the members of the panel of former governor and state senator a county treasurer and a university professor to review current state campaign laws was as a comparison against oneself is never objective the panel then turned to a federal commission for additional help that commission says carol williams gave the state all along to use as a yardstick williams is the executive director of the public disclosure commission she says this monologue is a compilation of laws from all fifty states laws that have proven to work well in governing campaigns comparing kansas law to illegal ideal was asking for a lot of changes but if the result she says were better for kansas it would be worth it williams says the chief problem with the way the kansas administers its campaign laws is simple there are too many loopholes we have no indication that are given to people who make a presentation what conceivably could be an organization want to pay fifteen

keynote speech you know on the very top we do not have any kind of you know craven cottage on williams says political action committees or packs specialize in using these and other loopholes and financing political campaigns and for years the influence and power the pats haven't campaigns have been questioned in a review of the last three legislative races in kansas william says forty nine percent of financing for statehouse candidates came from tax while candidates for the state senate use that money for thirty three percent of their campaign costs she says the panel's recommendation would affect of this incoming pac money but just how is another question

what about you the threshold for determining when you could put one and interpersonal contribution would be rather difficult to administer because you didn't to me it would probably be easier but no matter where the money comes from william says there are

more questions about how to spend it i do reported bill oh

another recommendation that may make its way to the legislature for change is a requirement for lobbyist who now have to file a report if they spend one hundred dollars or more daring anyone calendar month william says this proposal however would require them to file monthly reports whether they spend any money or not and another lobbyist really the recommendation is a requirement for all individuals testifying before a legislative committee to wear identification badge is registered lobbyist now have to wear these ids but if a private citizen or a state employee testifies they don't and williams has this would simply make everything equal william says there's another change that in and of itself may appear minor but it represents far reaching implications again i

agree carol williams is the executive director of the state public disclosure commission there are other recommendations as well one that would prevent lobbyists from serving as campaign treasurers and another that protects all state employees from pressured by their employers to financially support any particular candidate for office but all these recommendations first have to be passed on to the full review committee who will then determine whether they're passed on to the legislature and at that point the members of the legislature will be put in a potentially awkward position of passing laws are directly affect themselves republican state senator don silly as the chairman of the legislators election committee and a member of this campaign review panel he says now that may be an uncomfortable situation for lawmakers it's their job but he does look a measly and

recommendations that the full review panel says would curb conflict of interest that would prohibit legislators who have direct personal involvement with legislative action from participating either by having a passover or even barring of them serving on committees silly says that's nothing short of a dangerous precedent for the state of kansas so mccain people want would be to hear not to exclude certain proportion or i don't believe we should do that for example an attorney a huge one that's well pointed out anyone that might help contacts or any kind of business or represent a client or government there says there's a feeling even harder people you cannot

so when a legislature ever take the step and ratify recommendations like these take the suggestions of panels that would that would may have that effect it will be ruined would be so strict on rule that could serve anyone in some time as the public defenders were their former doctor lawyer to teach or whatever it's a lot that the buyers border protection and then there's a moment ago so the legislature is hesitant about trimming its power at the risk of excluding some of its own members or prohibiting future members in in some professions i suppose it is that we're left with relying on human

goodwill and good trusting the legislatures themselves that everything will be done properly well known that and all people can profit that really easily but less in regards to what to do you cannot but it's way more overtly shoot you really can't you can tell you you have a lot of sway people to be or they will go but they do it and if people are not honest about the church to be upfront and do the best they can i don't believe you can pass any laws that that will only prevail or unethical activity republican state senator don saline is the chairman of the legislature's election committee in hutchinson i'm david miller this is morning edition

i'm david naylor rehabilitation is of course a process of change of recruiting a personality in an individual's habits from one condition to another when behavior turns into criminal offenses and a person is jailed or hospitalized for punishment or treatment it then becomes the state's job to help that person turn over a new leaf to undo the mental and often physical damage that's been done and that state officials are sometimes next to impossible promised overhaul as the chairperson of the kansas parole board city youth but our decisions are not based completely on that because rehabilitation a surgeon and esoteric kinds of there's no actually know if someone has been rehabilitated sometimes the public views rehabilitation as a symbol you turn a series of treatments that simply reverses mental problems incorrect physical defects but the commanding lead the director of mental health for the state of kansas says is that individual could walk the straight and narrow path of correct social behavior in the first place rehabilitation isn't going to change that simple fact

use your gun nut when they're going to live in an institution in the court could be our fight now and making it an even become continually members is it because human being and again and then and we're angry about it i don't know how if anyone of our commission lee mewes were rehabilitation democrats settle is a spokesman for la red state

hospital wellness as wide range too so i wouldn't think that for the most part people who all suffer from clinical mental illness alone would ever have the opportunity given or our present status our country to become fully functioning citizens in our community and many of them can return to make significant contributions but they always have this disadvantage of having the impairment which restricts what once was their potential but dimon really good analogy

and well these people but what if an inmate say housed in a prison or other facilities and diagnosed as being actually mentally ill one of his or her behavior while incorrect is deemed treatable why classes or less drastic measures in constant incarceration and what if the inmate while pretending to go along with the rehabilitation process is all the while biting his or her time just waiting to be released often that release comes even sooner for individuals like this because their behavior records are especially good annie lee says those cases are the most difficult for corrections officials to weed out some sociopath he says are smooth like a lot and very good social skills but that kind of positive behavior often sends off warning bells to officials whose job it is to be skeptical coastal cities had been imprisoned before a bit before board for before i think they know what the board wants to hear about

religion and they found god in this source of things which is great because it happen that the book is a little skeptical because it invades i think i've learned that that's a good thing to say so that doesn't necessarily carry a lot of weight with us we look for that our manifestations of that that about a disciplinary reports having very violent prison and probably that saddam a real feeling that they have a defense of religion in their lives so there are ways that we can look beyond and unsettling to inmates there's always been a determination to evaluations as to the legitimacy in and the statements or comments it's this type of inmates or patients and greg beal says needs the most help they know the system they know what to do the trouble is says this counselor at wichita state university they don't have the right motivation for doing it and gradually we did

i really did oh really i will the supervision that you referred to is the fact that inmates or patients often lead shoulder blocks behind bars or at a state hospital dr levy says that element of shelter prevents the

rehabilitation as much as anything else and go home and so they don't have as many variables to contend with and it did we did it officials like the members of the kansas pork board have to depend on the expert testimony of doctors and other witnesses who have had this long term contact with an inmate a patient before the board members to make their decisions from the staff members

evaluations the board then must decide whether an individual is ready to be released or not if all indications and records of the individual stay in the institutions say that individual is fit for release costolo says the board still relies on the nature of the crime public comments about any proposed relief and gut feelings about the individual before making a final decision it's not often she says that a true impasse has reached about an individual but when is wichita state councilor greg beal says the board has more of a responsibility to the public than it does to the individual i would consider it an educated earlier i'm not the goal of the company's rehabilitated i think that we live and i feel like a lot of humor in that coming down but allied i were there in terms of

you know where i can be here with them and had raped before we really raped and killed again that said could be horrible air but pro stovall says the whole question of is a person rehabilitated or not is better phrase who knows we don't claim to be able to predict human behavior and nobody can do that the world would be a safer place that people could but that's that's an ideal insist it's not possible to predict human behavior you can look at what their past isn't and make some guesses as to what they're likely to do perhaps inmates able to pull it together this time to be successful grow stovall was the chairperson of the cannabis parole board in hutchinson i'm david miller who's

been this is morning edition i'm david naylor it was a beautiful day for a party in crisp cool weather a brisk way in the set flags waving frantically plenty of people ready to have a good time and wherever you look someone with a famous name or a famous face or both this party to end all parties was held yesterday in abilene on what would have been the one hundredth birthday president dwight d eisenhower i grew up in a central kansas town population about six thousand more than a few hobbling residents remarked over the weekend that he would've been shocked to see his town's population explodes pulling in thousands of visitors for the big weekend celebration and big it was sherman tank's i can sing dance the issuance of the first eisenhower step or two airplanes all night vigil ickes gravesite more than a thousand world war two veterans in uniform and appearances and speeches from dignitaries after dignitary though the eisenhower center was virtually buzzing all weekend with

activities the real attractions came on sunday the former president's actual birthday at midmorning nearly twenty thousand people filled the grounds of the eisenhower center for an ecumenical service with evangelist billy graham during his twenty minute sermon graham took a different approach than the other dignitaries on the platform he remembered not eisenhower's military or political life but instead his spiritual life and he did that by referring to eisenhower's first inaugural when the new president astounded the crowd by leading them in prayer in spite of one of the commentators said i had no part in his career he wrote that prayer himself and the whole country was encouraged and blessed by that prayer he was not afraid to acknowledge god probably a publicly from that moment on many people had forgotten that it was president eisenhower who signed the law for the inclusion of the words under god in the pledge of allegiance following the service was dr graham other dignitaries and some descendants from key players in the eisenhower era troop on

stage to share their views of the man from abilene us archivist on wilson's at a yearlong celebration of the achievements of eisenhower isn't easy to pull off as he talked about the preparations of this mammoth series of events honoring it the four presidents planes roar overhead with some citizens of the citizens of the state is once again thousands of volunteer hours and private resources have gone into this we can all of which is intended to be predictable president eisenhower and a three billion heroic men and women sent to europe to liberate a comet in chains or two as the plane flew overhead and at other times throughout the day one couldn't

help but think about the power and the prestige of the presidency but a common theme of yesterday's celebrations was that twilight was great he was also humble don wilson or the eisenhower himself as you entered these buildings think of them not as a memorial to one man or one family but rather as a symbol children the opportunity to inspire so is willing to close the centennial of this is my hope and my pledge that the eisenhower center will not let up in its efforts to educate our youth and also that my citizens about this man's life and the qualities that he represents steel much of the kansas congressional delegation made a dabbling on sunday congressman pat robertson dan glickman and senators nancy kassebaum and bob dole as with any political parents especially one honoring a man who loved to campaign lawmakers bridge the memory of likes work with the work now going on in washington the federal budget negotiation process a

dog could easily take a lesson from like if we really wish you a lot of the major madly on this isn't any of his birth we were not just for his words will follow his example and then i'd read his memorial will be in america strong economically and spiritually the theme of pulling together and doing the right thing was echoed by a leader speaker and this one not from kansas or even of the us winston churchill the second the grandson of the british prime minister referred to the persian gulf crisis as he spoke to yet another dignitary on the platform churchill assured colin powell the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff of the continuing friendship between the us and british militaries just as his grandfather and i knew they could count on each other i'm sure that eisenhower and churchill would be glad to know that fifty years on from world war two britain british and american

forces are standing shoulder to shoulder once again that there is a common and i may i say your general paul but when the moment comes for action and it may not be too far away now the ten thousand british soldiers sailors and airmen deployed to the gulf will be happy to fight at the side of the americans and to serve under us command that i think is kind of attack but not always serious during the speeches churchill told a story about his headstrong grandfather and the diplomatic eisenhower sometimes he said world leaders can easily demonstrate their all too volatile humanity but one such occasion what springs to mind was mainly prime minister announced that he wished to accompany the d day invasion force to the normandy beaches i told him in simple terms but he couldn't the prime minister replied that the general might be the

supreme allied commander but since when they have or party to dictate the composition of the crews of his majesty's ships if the pie minister decided to show himself as a crew aboard royal naval vessel there was nothing in his submission that the supreme allied commander job like ike exasperated had to concede the point but that moment help came from an unexpected quarter my grandmother had asked mccain enjoys the six day intimate work on the king announced that if the prime minister word to accompany the invasion force on the day then he that king would feel impelled to be that you do as commander in chief of britain's armed forces the prime minister was adamant and won the day eisenhower's religious and personal life his political life and finally his military life all signs of white

were examined and extolled by one person or another over the weekend but it was the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff colin powell who suddenly broke from his spit shined ramrod straight to meet or to say what was on everyone's mind leslie harris fire buys example leslie year renewed wisely and service level of attention now that our spirit is not the lives of our spirit lives happy birthday nico as the afternoon wore on the crowd estimated at twenty seven thousand field the grounds of the eisenhower center and the streets of abilene boasting i like bike pins waving flags and wearing smiles there were no presence no kagan no birthday wish on the one hundred candles on it was a happy birthday party nonetheless at the close of the day against

the dark kansas night and the stubborn stars and huge fireworks show the grounds of the center and electronic three d image of it and his signature cut across the dark sky eisenhower era that's right but there was no more this centennial celebration is officially over now there is one more like related event schedule in abilene at a conference on white house living on november second but this year white has grown and crested and left in its wake kansans who know much more about their thirties with president than they ever did before it's been a long time since at ninety and two thousand it is still quite a ways off but who knows perhaps somewhere in a quiet archive office someone is

planning a humdinger of an eisenhower bicentennial in abilene and david miller one hundred years ago this sunday october fourteenth at ninety the man later known simply as mike was born in dennison texas despite his lone star state or jim dwight d eisenhower always referred to the sunflower state as his home in return the state of kansas would allow during nineteen ninety to honor the memory of this five star general who later took up residence in the white house as the nation's thirty fourth president to have dwight d eisenhower's five living successor gerald ford and ronald reagan this at abilene during the summer to honor the memory of eisenhower current vice president dan quayle also paid a visit but the number of dignitaries who visited ellington was microscopic compared to the numbers of tourists who descended on central kansas especially during the summer months the state wanted all those tourists and it got the barber ii is the director of the state's bureau of travel and tourism

i did it it has often been called a favored son of kansas but why exactly

what everybody gets excited about eisenhower's and ten i know general i do that might explain the international visitors interest in this what about toby one right here in town right here in the states that are willfully with like him and what he's achieved

you're welcome no way it is

again you're right and today and doubtless you are pleased with the results or you saw from thirty five thousand dollars at the state put it will it be a big letdown using for the state and or particular towns once does eisenhower's interview comes to a close it

is i mean it is i suppose the next question might be or what happens next to else would be the focus of a state wide program like this is a video of a yearlong focused as a mid life of alf landon

you're right bob murray is the director of the state's travel and tourism division this weekend the eid celebration of officially concludes in abilene with enough of it to make any i go file happy from seven o'clock saturday night to seven o'clock on sunday morning the gravesite of it came at an their first son will be open to the public during an all night vigil and on sunday morning on what would have been ickes official one hundredth birthday the arrival of a thousand world war two veterans and various dignitaries is followed by a church service featuring evangelist billy graham early afternoon kansas senators bob dole and nancy kassebaum will join john eisenhower winston churchill the second and colin powell in addressing the

crowd powell is the chairman of the us joint chiefs of staff he is attending as a designee of president george bush and late sunday night is the fireworks extravaganza what officials are calling a fitting finish to the eisenhower centennial on monday we'll have a report on this weekend's events we'll meet some of the people who made this weekend and busier happen as well as talk to some of the individuals that decided simply to swing by abilene and remember like i'm david miller oh oh coach says he was surprised at the findings but a former

judge it to be good says he wasn't judge michael barber teaches law at washburn university as secretary of corrections for kansas in the mid nineteen eighties barbara says the findings were exactly what he was seeing five eight years ago that number since that time have reinforced his theory but coach says know the facts do indicate non whites are at a disadvantage in the court system he says it's not racism pure and simple and i'm sure you are a probation we destroy you all

right surgery in the mortuary that doesn't change it

changes you can order a trial oh boy i believe that there is a whole new world and i think the bain the factors in determining whether portland oregon and confinement in an education and

that i wasn't in it the country and because of the color no protection nothing really on that but in a bikini speaking of building tendencies it's not a built in tennessee the judge and to be prejudicial know

i don't think that will really feel that way that i would not but they will go and do that develop the public and distinguish between what the quarter one of border a pedal i do and when individual judge years or believes until twenty years ago but the courts haven't that the commission included

now to make certain that there is no discrimination and the system is built so that cannot be anti discrimination that credibility people to take care of these factors that incarceration least probation is based upon the merits of the case in the individual not because of his color of racial background then coach says findings like these in other states may give non white inmates an opportunity to bring complaints or even lawsuits for reconsideration of their cases or the state of kansas itself could step in and do it that however would create more problems with the courts because outside involvement and close scrutiny of port operations are very touchy subjects with judges and lawyers correcting this apparent by us will not be easy for a giant barb or says one part of the solution is ensuring that more non whites find their places on judges benches and in the core group while their presence would reverse this trend automatically he again referred to the impartiality of individual judges it would send the necessary signal to the public as he says is being

addressed in appreciation of the social economic problems are talking about here is no question who would help them if we got more women judges we got more judges background racially ethnically no question about that on a mission you gotta have a good cross representation on these matters year you would help solve the bubble well the only way to work here come up with a way of a poem that will guarantee that any notion of an individual will be determined right but and whether they're right michael barbara is a former judge now teaching law at washburn university in

topeka i'm david maier as bonnie what i know when i was a kid i had the benefit of listening to be st louis symphony and i remember i was very serious music student i gather the symphony's energy an exquisite moment and right in the middle of being transported to another place especially in the winter people would have been caught and would just ruin the moment liam burke the music director of the hutchinson symphony pope's a new idea in wichita will curate unfortunate situations like that so do plenty of other conductors and simply officials around kansas the idea is during this season's performance of the wichita symphony to pass out five flavors of halls cough drops and throat lozenges to cut down on the very odd melodic sounds issued by seven ignores the idea says what it awesomely assistant manager julie

failing isn't new but it does seem to work i don't know anyway i know and then i

know it is sin i don't remember and everybody but getting audience members quiet isn't the only difficulty seventies face in the wintertime liam burke says it may be necessary to pass out cough drops and other remedies to the performers as well and so cost for long long periods of time but when you're really focused on the music

and you can do that but of course it's easier for a professional musician to go into this trance and controlled body because you're so intent on listening to this for the average listener so london symphony conductor eric stein says however that his symphonies focus too much on creating us outlets audience they destroyed part of the beauty of a live performance well quiet is appreciated absolute silence is as it is not necessary or even desirable but he also says if a symphony tries to help audience members when they can't help themselves as in the case of this cough drop giveaway and also may need to help the audience when they could easily help themselves often he says subtle hints art enough come on we're remembering again

and then i'm ready and then lumber listening to that which is that one has to maintain a proper environment to receive the music and i do believe that most concert goers are very well is it edited its manners it's something just like your mother would tell you i don't you vote with your mouth open and always say please and thank you i think it's

just basic to a concert going public radio symphony program we often publish a list of concert etiquette that has turned off your beating watch please and the bumps and your heart beat with the music and other things like that that address what you just asked me about i believe that if you do need to leave i mean doctors who are being paged and people that have a coffin attack i believe that the patriots would much rather have you quietly and quickly exit the hawk then to go ahead and talk converse red or coughing fit with in the musical environment do you think they're taking the precaution of putting those instructions in the program though is going far enough to do some people simply need to be hit over the head as it were i believe you already a program i'd have noted in past years that even in new york

city is that these points of cards printed in the program especially for you consumers especially as these orchestras are really trying to bring more people into be a concert hall of course they have so many concerts it's very necessary for them to approach a new audience and so on these are credit even in the large houses but i believe that the most that ushers worried that if they find that someone as a real offender will come down and gently reminded them and i don't know what other cities have for beer head archers but it sure is a big guy and he works for case ira and if he asked me be quiet let me tell you i would be quiet liam burke is the music director of the hutchinson symphony actually fail and has won chief concern about her symphony's new plan that will be confirmed or dismissed only as the symphony season

progresses willie's cough drops however affected themselves backfire thank you that's right julie failing is the assistant manager of the wichita symphony that with any luck silent cough drop giveaway begins with the symphonies first performance this saturday october thirteenth in hutchinson i'm david miller until now plans designed to lessen the effects of the state's property tax system on taxpayers have been forthcoming from gubernatorial candidates but almost nothing has been heard from a special taxation committee now meeting in topeka to discuss property tax alternatives until now last thursday republican always a representative and snowboarder proposed allowing counties

rather than the state to set property tax rates doing that would mean altering the state's constitution which now sets the rates for businesses homes and other items still berger says his proposal doesn't provide a complete overhaul of the property taxes to what it does change one key element of it mm hmm mr wilbur yesterday's plan for a moment they're going to work and that may not be necessary to grasp though is what happened when we put wide assessment rate on the property when he presented do you feel like your

fellow lawmakers will say no let's push for a decrease in reliance on property taxes rather than simply changing how we get those property taxes to fill in the gaps left by his proposals snowboarder says the state needs to start looking at property taxes as a cash machine uses a can do that by building legislatively on his plan pretty good we are snowboarder has presented his proposal to the other members of the interim taxation committee and so far their responses have been mixed a few into issa's plan others are wary of changing the constitution or that the state would lose control of the entire system though under

snowboarders plan the state one hundred five counties or how far more power than they do now many of them are unsure about having a power sedgwick county commissioner bill hancock calls the proposal ridiculous we get into a system of competitive appraisals and it was a disaster and if i i think that when we begin to intersect amid competitive another word you know we would be out there bidding on the beach and that he says would only make things worse way we would be in competition with new britain

and we maintain our own inventory also has an evelyn johnson chose to change that they were going to say twenty five percent of its valuation on the commercial within the us going on the border we are going on woods isn't it

and we do and if you had to reduce our work we do snowboarder says he's concerned the county's feel it would have to change the right now administered by the state they could he says but it wouldn't have to we don't know so we would have some counties with the rate currently by the state and others to decide to go on their own we

were in monroe county it is the snowboarder is a republican state representative from a later the adirondacks committee is scheduled to meet at least two days during november before the next legislative session begins in january during their meeting still continue to consider his property tax proposal and others the iron out any problems ahead of time which should smooth the way for statewide property tax relief no matter what if it looks like in hutchinson i'm david miller in the cultures of ancient athens and rome the victors of athletic contests received a leafy crown a symbol of honor

that signified achievement anti standing in modern kansas there will be no leafy crowd for the victims in the political contest going on this year instead some of the candidates who win the election will according to law have to submit to drug testing the law enacted by the legislature in nineteen eighty eight is still very new beginning a new sort of tradition this year the kansas secretary of state bill graves contacted candidates for various state offices yesterday notifying them of their legal duty to show that win the election in november john reinhart is the spokesman for the secretary of state's office he says this law while serious is more of a symbol than anything else i do

let's tackle that issue of importance of disaffected has reared its head in several campaign races with politicians as you said saying i would have a drug test one opponent to do the same does that trivialize the issue of drugs in government that's right reinhard says kansans may look at this drug testing law and

wonder about its long term effect because candidates face no penalty if they dont subject themselves to the test or if they fail the test the public may see the law as toothless and on top of that the public will never know the result of any test on west a candidate releases it like every other drug test the results of this one would be confidential bobby mariani is the director of the state's personnel drug testing program only an employee can't comment or oregon and paint on them and in my determined that you're going to safety sensitive positions and in my mind and neighbors can bet

on location in cuba is that it nobody covers the so youre the test what about a candidate who refuses to that but that's not all bobby mariani is the director of the state's personnel drug testing program john reinhart hopes that future legislatures will take up this issue of protest for state officials this time adding not only a penalty for refusal or failure but also taking a look at the whole philosophy behind the program now

secretary of state is not one of those reasons but ard is the spokesman for the kansas secretary of state in hutchinson and david miller