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President Hugo
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His social revolution
encouraged the
and terrified
realthy.
poor
59%
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WEDNESDAY
August 2, 2000
Volume 106 ~ Issue 178
6 pages
(•MM *1 «i i I«1 wM Vi WIIV
Lack of Internet sales tax could lead to losses
;s
/ay (Hwy. 30)
BOONDOCKS
RECREATION/RANCH
★
huntsvilleJ
•1
Maureen Kane
The Battalion
Texas could be in for revenue losses greater
han$342 million in 2000 if an Internet sales tax
snot imposed at the state and local levels.
According to a report by the federal Gener-
1 Accounting Office (GAO), concerns have
risen because statesman tax residents' pur-
hases from out-of-state vendors, but "they
annot impose an obligation on those vendors
o collect the tax unless the vendor has a sub-
tantial presence in the state." Out-of-state sell-
irs meet the substantial presence rule if they
lave an office or place of business in the tax-
ng state. Since the U.S. Federal Supreme Court
tiled that contact with in-state buyers by mail
inly does not constitute a substantial presence
n the state, the debate over the extent the In-
met can be taxed remains unresolved.
The Advisory Commission on Electronic
Commerce, established by the Internet Tax
Freedom Act of 1998, issued a report on the
study of federal, state, local and internation
al taxation of Internet sales to Congress in
April. The study provides statistics of pro
jected revenue losses in states that do not
have an Internet sales tax.
"There is so much uncertainty because
there are no reliable estimates of Internet sales
right now," said Jim White, director of tax pol
icy and administration. "We constructed
some scenarios; in one of these, the losses are
as high as 2 percent of the state and local rev
enue. By 2003, under the higher scenario, the
potential losses are enough that it might start
to matter to state and local governments."
According to the study, Texas could lose as
much as $342 million in 2000 by not having an
Internet sales tax — more than any other state.
By 2003, the potential losses increase to be
tween $96 million and $1.12 billion.
"This is a significant portion of revenue for
states and localities," White said. "We built a
model to look at different scenarios to give Con
gress an idea of what the potential losses might
be. Texas was in the top three losses for two rea
sons: Texas is a state that relies more heavily on
sales tax than other states, and Texas is a large
state. They stand to lose a lot potentially if they
do not enforce an Internet sales tax."
Bill Fox, a professor of economics at the
University of Tennessee, said the problem
lies with collecting the use tax, a tax imposed
on the purchaser for the use, ownership or
possession of taxable goods or services.
"Sales tax is implemented already—the is
sue is with use tax, and whether states can col
lect it," Fox said. "Unless a business has a phys
ical presence in the state, tax can't be effectively
collected, it is not a question of whether the tax
is owed; it is a question of whether it can be col
lected. There are some challenges to collecting
this tax, but I do not know of any taxes that are
perfectly controlled. It can be made better by
federal government regulation."
Fox and other researchers at the Univer
sity of Tennessee produced a comprehensive
study that projected figures for the potential
revenue loss by states without Internet sales
tax from 2000 to 2003. He said some results
of the study were surprising.
"Most people think only about business-
to-consumer sales," Fox said. "But 90 percent
of e-commerce is business-to-business sales.
What was a little surprising was that the
business-to-business part is where the par
ticularly large revenue losses are
to states."
The Office of the Texas Comp
troller estimates that $50 million
in tax revenue is not being col
lected because there is no specif
ic tax on Internet sales.
Mark Sanders, spokesperson
for the Texas Comptroller's Of
fice, said Texas does have sales
and use taxes.
"We do not actively enforce
this on individuals, but on busi
nesses we do. We don't go after
individuals because we don't
have the resources," Sanders said.
The Office of the Comptroller
will provide the state legislature
with information in January about
potential revenue losses for the
state. The comptroller will not form an opinion
on Internet sales tax until more information is
made available by an appointed advisory group.
State and Local
SA1IS AND USE,
TAX LOSSES
/AC.
INTERNET
Low
High
Scenario
ScenaiLOiMn-i
Texas
— 26 —
-342
Arkansas —
2 —
-25 C
California —
23
- 533
Louisiana—
7
—8*1 i
New York
— 22 —
-asm*
Oklahoma —
4
45
Dollars in millions
wich
expires 08/15/00
is Ave.
lopping Center •
(er’s)
'I
&
D $ 3
| Solar Nails <
>/white powder ;
ire :
Reg. ‘35
Students feel
SSD does not
accommodate
Fire alarm
Anna Bishop
7 service.
kyNexUa ‘fivniiuii
}g Aggie Bucks!
mmm « nmmm
sent coupon
er, camber & toe set j
pecifications,
fer. Expires 01/10/01.
ii
The Battalion
Some mentally ill students,
like Ashley Womack, a speech
communication major who is
registered with the Services for
Students with Disabilities
(SSD), say SSD is more willing
to accommodate students with
physical disabilities than those
kith mental disabilities.
But, David Sweeney, coor-
iinator for adaptive technolo
gy services at A&M, Said A&M
ioes not discriminate against
Udents with disabilities.
Womack said the SSD Web
page has guidelines for faculty
hat explains how to address
tudents with physical disabil-
ties, but the page makes no ref-
rence of ways to assist stu-
lents with mental illness.
“The ADA con
tains a great
deal of infor
mation regard
ing equal repre
sentation for all
handicapped
persons/’
— Donna Williams
counselor for the SSD
CAMPUS
xas Ave.
404
tMING
d 12, 2000
oupon
faction Guaranteed
12th 8 a.m.-6 p.m.
I "Visit the SSD Website,"
— Womack said. "Do you no
tice any literature regarding
, Mentally ill students who are
| protected under the Ameri-
| Cans with Disabilities Act
5 (ADA)? The answer is no."
r-d A counselor for SSD, Don-
I—i f Ha Williams, said the Univer
sity aims to help students
with all types of disabilities.
I "A&M deals with stu
dents with learning disabili
ties on a case-by-case basis,"
Williams said.
"To say the department dis-
minates against students
r
with this type of learning dis
order is far from the case. [The
department] works with the
students and professors to al
low extended time on tests, of
tentimes in an atmosphere free
from distractions. If anything,
A&M bends over backwards to
accommodate these students."
However, Womack said,
when students take tests
through the Students with
Disabilities Department, the
students sit in a room where
they hear fax machines, ring
ing phones and phone con
versations.
Williams said the ADA
defines equal treatment for
all physically or mentally
disabled people.
"The ADA contains a
great deal of information re
garding equal representa
tion for all handicapped per
sons," Williams said.
Roganne Thueson, accom
modations counselor, said the
mental disabilities the de
partment encounters range
from psychological disorders,
such as anxiety disorders and
depression, to learning dis
abilities, such as dyslexia, at
tention deficit and hyperac
tivity disorder (ADHD).
Physical disabilities, she
said, range from cerebral pal
sy and quadriplegia to health
impairments such as diabetes
and chronic fatigue syndrome.
Womack said the depart
ment's classification of men
tally disabled students is a
cover the department uses so
it can say it helps students
with mental disabilities.
Womack said the SSD fails to
recognize that psychological
disorders such as bipolar dis
order, require different ac
commodations than dyslexia.
Williams said the biggest
population of mental dis
abilities at the University
comes from tliose with
learning disabilities.
"Students make such accu
sations (that the department
See SSD on Page 4.
College Station firemen extinguish burned building supplies at a future auto parts store in College Station.
One of the suspected causes of the fire was high temperature.
Aggies volunteer weekends, skills
DBIA members construct play deck for Texas A&M Children’s Center
Kim Trifilio
The Battalion
Texas A&M students who are mem
bers of the student chapter of Design
Building Institute of America (DBIA)
are spending weekends volunteering
their design skills to construct a safe
play deck for infants and toddlers at the
A&M Children's Center.
DBIA's mission is to design and build
almost any type of structure for local'
schools, churches and other organizations
in the Bryan-College Station community.
Texas A&M architecture students, including DBIA officers
(1 to r) Lucian Nesline, historian; Jathan Floren, secretary;
Brent Pilgrim, president; and Bo Steinert, editor, are
building a play deck for the Children's Center.
Di Fontenot, director of the Chil
dren's Center, a facility for children of
faculty, staff and students, said the cen
ter continually strives to provide a di
verse educational environment for chil
dren. The center approached DBIA
because it needed a place for infants and
toddlers to play outside.
"The large play deck will give toddlers
and infants a controlled, shaded, outdoor
place for them to play,' " Fontenot said.
"This is to encourage development be
cause it will be a sensory area. There will
be things for the chil
dren to see and touch."
Brent Pilgrim, presi
dent of DBIA and a con
struction science gradu
ate student, said the
design of the play deck
is similar to a child's
playpen.
W'T A,, 3 "It is a deck concept,
r s like a big playpen," Pil
grim said. "It consists of
wood, but also Plexiglas
panels to add color and
stimulate their senses."
Pilgrim said the or
ganization was eager to
assist the children's center in designing
the new play deck.
"We are simply offering our design
skills," Pilgrim said. "It is a good op
portunity for students to learn more
about design and how it can be applied
to a variety of real-life situations."
Dr. Keith Sylvester, assistant profes
sor of construction science, said DBIA
faced only one challenge in building the
children's structure.
"The biggest hurdle for the students
is using what they have learned from
books and applying it to the real world,"
Sylvester said. "The students were the
ones who generated the design."
Sylvester said that, after three weeks,
the project is near completion.
"The project, in my perspective, is
about 75 to 80 percent dbne,"Sylvester
said. "We are waiting for the sensory el
ements and then the rest of the work
will be finished."
Pilgrim said DBIA will have more
opportunities in the near future to gain
design and construction experience.
"We have future projects, but noth
ing is defined," Pilgrim said. "We just
want to be known to day cares, schools
and the entire community."
Settlement
reached in
hazing death
DALLAS (AP) — The parents of a
University of Texas-Austin student who
died of alcohol poisoning have reached
a $2 million settlement with the Phi Kap
pa Sigma fraternity and 11 of its mem
bers. A lawsuit is still pending against
five other fraternity members. '
Jack and Judith Ivey of Plano, Texas,
alleged that fraternity members tricked
their 23-year-old son. Jack Ivey Jr., into
drinking too much, stripped him down
to his underwear and tied him up before
driving him around in the back of a truck
on the night of his death in 1998.
The Iveys filed the lawsuit in April
1999 in Tarrant County District Court
against the fraternity's national offices,
based in Chester Springs, Pa.; the UT
Austin chapter and 16 members.
The settlement, reached last month,
includes a one-year suspension of chap
ter operations, an action also imposed
this summer by the national Phi Kappa
Sigma office, said Jerry White, one of the
family's attorneys.
White would not release a financial
breakdown, but "the majority was paid
on behalf of the fraternity entities."
The Iveys' settlement also requires
that no one currently in the fraternity be
allowed to return if the chapter reopens.
Also, the chapter would be supervised
by a board of fraternity alumni.
66 ... The majority
was paid on behalf
of the fraternity
entities/’
— jerry White
one of the Iveys' attorneys
Robert Miller, the executive vice pres
ident of the fraternity's national offices,
referred all calls for comment to Jim Ew-
bank, the fraternity's Austin-based
lawyer. Ewbank was out of the state and
did not immediately return phone calls
to Associated Press.
Miller would not confirm whether
the UT chapter was suspended* by the
fraternity's national office.
The Iveys have been ordered by the
court not to share evidence in their case
with the public, law enforcement au
thorities or University of Texas-Austin
officials. White said.
"Nothing would satisfy the Iveys
more than to tell what happened to their
son, but based on the order, it would be
too hard to comment on any of this."