University of Kansas - Jayhawker Yearbook (Lawrence, KS)

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U X v ' PROTES1' I 2

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PRCTESTI NG TAX O8 - O9 l JAYHAWKER CHANGE ea parties aren't just for little girls. Americans around the nation voiced their anger about tax increases at area tea parties, named for the famous Boston uprising that led to the revolution, held the night of April 15 - Tax Day. University students William Stewart-Starks, Lawrence senior, and Michael Shoykhet, Olathe junior, attended a party at johnson County Commu- nity College to join in the tax day protest. f'Tax increases are unfair and we need to do something about it, Shoykhet said. While the only tax law that has been passed under the Obama administra- tion was a 55116 billion tax cut for the working class, legislation that would raise taxes is currently working its way through Congress. But the nuts and bolts of the increase wasnit what drew Stewart- Starks tothe protests. He said he Wanted to support opening a dialogue about the issues that affect students when they don't even know it. I don't believe people understand where their money is going from income taxes, Stewart-Starks said. Michael Lynch, assistant professor of political science, said it was important for students to be able to track where the Hnances of the country come from and go to. The recent passage of the stimulus bill was President Obama's attempt to jump-start the economy and to help working Americans get out of debt. Some of the proposed increases include a heavier tax on energy producers, cigarettes, and individuals making more than S100,000 of taxable income per year. Protestors had concerns that the government was putting future generations into debt to pay for current problems. Congressman Todd Tiahrt of Kansas' fourth district spoke at thejCCC tea party and said that the tax system needed to be reformed, not increased. We need to rebuild our country from the ground up, not from the government down, Tiahrt said. One ofthe groups sponsoring many of the demon- strations was Americans for Prosperity, a Washington, D.C., based group that supports cutting taxes and limiting government involvement in Americans' lives. According to the group's Web site, the purpose is to advocate public policies that promote entrepreneurship. Derrick Sontag, state director of the Kansas chapter of Americans for Prosperity, said the goal of the tea parties was to get American citizens involved and aware of where their tax dollars were going, especially with the recent passing of the stimulus package. You cannot spend your way into prosperity, Son- tag said.

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I large group of people is sitting in a bar. Clasual conversation lloxi s over pitchers of beer and, every now and then, people glance at their cell phones or send .1 text. A pretty standard picture for a low-key bar night. except these people are all connected through updates ofeach other's lii es. They follow each other on Twitteitcom and they mingle at a monthly txyeetup-and this is the scene of a local tweetup athlo Shmo's March 24. Perhaps you'ye been an ayid Twittet user for years. or maybe you just want to know what all the Fuss is about. Either way, Tn itter is slowly joining l-acelwook as another major sllxjlL1leIlClfXX'Ol'l4ll1g site. A hybrid between Facebook status updates and blogs, 'l'n'itter allows users to give cjuick l4ll-characterup- dates, or 'ktiveetsf' about -or hat tliey're doing, post in- teresting links, or respond to someone else's tweets. Phil Nlartinez, l,,ixyrence resident and KU O8 O9 JAYHAWKER in 41 alumnus, says the simplicity of Twitter makes it worth it. nl don't want to look at pictures or interests or what- ever, he says. ul just want a short answer about what's going on with people. Facebook takes the fun out ofthatf' Martinez, who uses Twitter via text messaging, says that unlike other social-networking sites, Twitter allows users to specialize the groups of people they follow, or ufriendf' which creates a much smaller network online. Though Twitter offers a relatively small community, the number of users is growing rapidly. Nielsen Media Research reported that Twitter has now surpassed Face- book and others to become the fastest-growing site in the g'Memlier Communitiesu category for February. Twitter increased 1,372 percent in one year with 475,000 unique ll visitor: These l do not phone U quite l accou theirt meet' to oth l from ter is tocoi Depa area. to lia to ge tivee Defi and proi rhei lligl met Twi tive his