Monday • April 17, 1995
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The Battalion • Page 9
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Efforts made to make tax-paying more fun
□ Dunking booths,
pies-in-the-face, free
postage and blood
pressure tests are all
being offered by the
U.S. Postal Service to
make tax day seem al
most enjoyable.
For $1, taxpayers in Santa
Rosa, Calif., will have the plea
sure of throwing a pie in the face
of an IRS agent.
In Harrisburg, Pa., filers can
— and no doubt, will — pay to
dunk tax collectors in a tank.
And in Manhattan’s main
post office, tax day will be a cir
cus — literally.
It’s all part of a trend by the
U.S. Postal Service to arrange
music, food and fun for folks
making the trek to local post of
fices to beat or meet the tax
filing deadline.
Monday is the big day for most
of the nation, delayed from the
normal April 15 because that fell
on the weekend. Taxpayers in
New England and
upstate New York,
who send their re
turns to Andover,
Mass., have until
midnight Tuesday
because Monday is a
state holiday in
Massachusetts.
Dunking booths
are popular this year, with peo
ple dressed as Uncle Sam or tax
collectors taking the plunge.
In Annapolis, Md., fees paid to
dunk Uncle Sam will benefit the
Leukemia Society while the local
AIDS-assistance network will re
ceive the money raised in Harris
burg, Pa. Taxpayers who success
fully dunk a “tax man” in Con
cord, Calif., will win free postage
for their tax form.
In Santa Rosa, the pie-throw
ing fees will go to the family of a
local deputy sheriff killed recent
ly. Several tax agents have vol
unteered to take turns in the
event, say local postal officials.
Ringling Brothers Circus is
providing elephants and clowns
to encourage New Yorkers to
mail early in the day, and there
will be giveaways of headache
remedies, antacids and food for
the 50,000 people expected.
The Springfield, Mass., post
office is renowned for such a good
party that some residents save
their taxes until the last day.
This year’s program features
quartets of postmasters singing
“Mailhouse Rock,” a concert by
the University of Massachusetts
jazz band and samples of
spaghetti and meatballs donated
by local merchants.
Ice cream is on the menu at
post offices in San Francisco, Lub
bock, Texas and Charlotte, N.C.
Pizza, free stamps or T-
shirts will be given out by local
radio personalities at post of
fices in Richmond and Roanoke,
Va., New Orleans, Philadelphia
and Fayetteville, N.C.
Abilene, Texas, has scheduled
a street party outside the main
post office. There will be coffee
and doughnuts at the Daytona
Beach, Fla., post office and coffee
and cookies in Olympia, Wash.
In Oakland, Calif., taxpayers
don’t even have to go to the post
office — returns will be collected
by postal workers at 10 East Bay
BART subway stations.
West Sacramento taxpayers
will be offered samples of the
“Presidential Chili” enjoyed by
President Clinton on his recent
visit to California.
T-shirts reading “IRS Took the
Shirt off My Back” will be handed
out by a radio station at the
Charleston, W. Va., post office.
Pittsburgh postal workers will
hand out pencils with the Postal
Service symbol and the boast: “No
Tax Dollars Used Since 1982.”
On a more sober note, nurses
will be on hand at the Staten
Island, N.Y. post office to pro
vide blood-pressure screening
to taxpayers.
Tax agents, volunteer accoun
tants and others will offer assis
tance to last-minute taxpayers
at hundreds of post offices.
And various headache and
stomach medicines will be of
fered in Atlanta, San Francisco
and Philadelphia, New York and
other metropolitan areas.
IRA, British show signs of continuing battle
□ Seven month cease-fire may
end because neither country
will give up its weapons.
CROSSMAGLEN, Northern Ireland (AP)
— Last year, when IRA sharpshooters were
picking off soldiers and police, mock warn
ing signs boasting “Sniper at work” ap
peared along the twisting roads of this bit
terly disputed borderland.
Now the signs say “Sniper on hold,” a token
of a cease-fire that has held seven months, but
also a warning that the Irish Republican
Army still has its guns and explosives.
Cutting through the complex rhetoric of
a slow-blooming peace process, the signs
suggest how fragile the truce could prove if
Britain sticks by its demand that the IRA
disarm first.
On Sunday, Irish police found a trove of
IRA weapons near Ballyjamesduff, about
85 miles northwest of Dublin. The cache in
cluded three home-made mortar tubes,
nine detonators and more than 1,000
rounds of ammunition.
Britain’s negotiators insist pro-British
“unionists” from the province’s Protestant
majority simply will not talk to the IRA-al
lied Sinn Fein party while facing the threat
of resumed IRA violence.
IRA tactics have shifted but the goal re-
rtiains “Brits out” of Northern Ireland so the
province can unite with the Irish Republic.
IRA supporters say it will not give up its ar
senal in advance because talks might not
produce an acceptable deal.
“People here are impatient for talks to
start, and they can’t understand why they
haven’t started,” said Jim McAllister, 50,
| . ' ; - ,~
"Give up our guns? Why's no
body asking the Brits to give up
theirs?"
— unidentified observer
Sinn Fein’s most prominent and popular fig
ure in South Armagh, a region of rolling
farmland with few pro-British Protestants.
Before the cease-fire in September, the
IRA’s South Armagh units were recognized as
the outlawed group’s most technically compe
tent and determined. The British army sur
rendered the roadways to the IRA after curb-
side bombs claimed too many soldiers’ lives.
Instead the army operates from hilltop
surveillance and listening posts, moving sup
plies and troops by helicopter.
In other parts of Northern Ireland the
army has been withdrawn to barracks and
two battalions have been ordered home. In
South Armagh, soldiers continue to patrol
fields and buzz about by helicopter.
Crossmaglen is a few miles from the border
with the Irish Republic. Some locals fear that
negotiations will not eliminate the border.
“We have peace. Ordinary people do feel
sort of disappointed all the same. You can’t
help wondering what it all’s been for,” said
Paddy Short, who runs a pub.
Last month. Short recalled, he talked
with Sinn Fein chairman Mitchel McLaugh
lin during a protest in the town square call
ing for the release of IRA prisoners.
“I asked him, honestly, how the whole
process was going,” Short said. “He sounded
optimistic, but then he would, wouldn’t he?
He’s part of the crowd that wants into the
political game. From where I’m standing, the
Brits don’t seem to be budging.”
“Give up our guns? Why’s nobody asking
the Brits to give up theirs?” said one of the
men, who would not give his name.
Plagued by damaging splits in the past,
the IRA seems determined to stay united.
Any hint of disposing of weapons would be
divisive, and there is evidence hard-liners
are waiting for their chance.
THE MEMBERS OF THE TEXAS A&M
CHAPTER OF THE NATIONAL
ASSOCIATION OF BLACK ACCOUNTANTS
IN CONJUNCTION WITH
ARTHUR ANDERSEN & CO. FOUNDATION
INVITE YOU TO ATTEND
A RECEPTION AND AWARDS CEREMONY
IN HONOR OF CRYSTAL MILLER
WHERE: CLAYTON WILLIAMS ALUMNI CENTER
WHEN: MONDAY APRIL 17, 1995
TIME: 5:30 P.M.
RECEPTION FOLLOWS
BUSINESS ATTIRE
Tk.s is it T
ARTFEST ’95
the winners' exhibit
NSC 289 thru April 30
NOW W HAT?
f v. ■ '>' - " ' ' '. ’ ' * '' ' .
Chest speaker forum
Mondax *Aprilit->t:bo pm-RudderTmeatre
BETTV Ho O E B X .TexaxNatbral Rexobbce
Gonxervation Commixxion
Nlltltl llEIDTa R.S. PXBK.IC INTEREXT
RexearcmOroer
Dp.Tuomax Dunlap.
THMB Mixtorx Dept.
Jean Bow man . friendx
<J ■ x t Peace Inxtitete
*TllEPE WILL BE a QUESTION AND DIXCUXXION PERIOD*
i:j * i *^* Part of E A RTH DAV EXTRAVACANZA 1995
/4 \ge
Tuesday April 18, 7 p.m. vs. Lamar
Chick Fil-A Coupon Game
Friday April 21, 7 p.m. vs. Texas Tech
Saturday April 22, 4 p.m. vs. Texas Tech (DH)
Tom Light Chevrolet Apple Fatting Contest
Sunday April 23, 2 p.m. vs. Texas Tech
(La(% AggS© Sofitlbal
Wednesday April 26, 6 p.m. vs. SFA (DH)
IMsoffa it W®Dnn(Scni , s TsomauSs
April 22-23 Host SW^C Tennis Championships
^ Tickets to all events: 845-2311
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Student Counseling
elpJlink
'fire IJau a aaod listener?
‘ U
Vo you like to help others? fire you a
responsible and committed person?
(DVolunieers tleeded(£) f!
to begin service in the Summer OR the Fall Semester.
Summer training will take place the first week of June.
*** INTERVIEWING NOW ***
Applications available in Room 104 Henderson Hall.
*** Application DEADLINE is THURSDAY, APRIL 20 ***
for further information call Ms. Susan Vavra at 845-4427 ext. 133
Texas A&M University has a strong institutional commitment to the principle of diversity in all areas.
In that spirit, admission to Texas A&M University and any of its sponsored programs is open to
all qualified individuals without regard to any subgroup, class or stereotype.
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Sigma Alpha Epsilons 5th Annual
MggA CHILIFEST
9&* featuring
The Bellamy Brothers
Head West • Jason Manning
April 22, 1995 • Starlight Ballroom • Snook, TX
Rain or Shine
Doors open at 11 a.m. and showtime at 4p.m.
Proceeds Benefit the Brazos County United Way
TICKETS: $10 IN ADVANCE, $12 AT THE DOOR
TICKETS AVAILABLE AT:
CAVENDER’S, TEXAS AGGIE BOOKSTORE,
MSC AND THE SGA OFFICE
For more information, call the Student Government Office at 845-3051
Office of Student Life Programs
Commuter Students
drop in for free breakfast
Texas A&M University
Wednesday, April 1 9
anytime between
7:30 AM - 9:30 AM
Governance Room
1 44 John J. Koldus Bldg.
Free breakfast in exchange for your opinions
on University services SC programs
Hosted by
Women's Programs- O.S.L.P.