THE STUDENT VOICE SINCE 1904
INSIDE
SPORTS
The accusations that came out during MSG’s first general assembly meeting this semester p. 3
How a small Kansas team continues to take down giants The University Daily Kansan
vol. 136 // iss. 6 Mon., Jan. 29, 2018
University lecturer inspired to write poetry by father’s illness p. 5
SEE BASKETBALL • PAGE 7
Illustration by Gracie Williams/KANSAN
Tax cut prompts Westar to reduce rates RYAN LISTON @RyanListonUDK
Westar Energy, the sole provider of electric services for residential and business properties in Lawrence, intends to pass along around $65 million in tax benefits to its customers by reducing its electricity rates, according to a press release issued on Jan. 18. According to the press release, the plan comes as a result of the federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which took effect on Jan. 1 and reduced the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent. However, updates
in electricity, natural gas, liquid pipeline and telecommunications utility rates must be approved by the Kansas Corporation Commission, a state regulatory agency. State law specifies that the commission has 240 days after the rate change request is filed to complete the approval process and issue a decision. “In those eight months, we’ll have the commission staff and interested interveners who usually represent customers all review our case and maybe put forward other decisions or other alternatives, maybe
ask us for more information in other areas and really go through a complete litigation process where we have to make sure we’re really making the case for the prices that we’ve proposed,” said Gina Penzig, Westar’s media relations manager. Once Westar files its plan with KCC, a specific plan to adjust prices, based on the cut and on how much revenue Westar needs to fund its operations, will be developed, Penzig said. Westar also plans to factor into its updated rates its tax savings
from the time of the implementation of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act until the new electricity rates take effect, according to Penzig. She said another important step to the process is holding a public hearing a few months into the approval process to get input from customers who do not have a legal team engaged in the formal approval proceedings. “They also have different means for people who maybe aren’t able to attend in-person to submit their comments to the commission for their consider-
ation as well,” Penzig said. “Typically it’s by either a traditional mail letter or by email. I think maybe even sometimes there’s opportunities to do it by phone as well.” If the new rates are approved, college students living off campus who pay for electricity will see their bills reduced. “Unfortunately for the past several years, since we’ve been in a building phase, usually when we go to the commission and ask for prices to be reviewed, it’s a request for an increase,” Penzig said. “So this
is actually kind of a nice change of pace for us.” Penzig said Westar expects the plan to be approved and implemented by next fall. “We, of course, provide the commission with the best information and important documents that we can, so they can make an informed decision,” Penzig said Representatives for KCC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Student expelled over tweets comes back to KU
TIANNA WITMER @KansanNews
Editor’s Note: Mark Johnson, who is quoted in this story, is the chair of the Kansan Board of Directors. Navid Yeasin, engineering student at the University, was expelled in November 2013 as a result of an ongoing domestic dispute between him and his ex-girlfriend. After going through a years-long lawsuit as a result, he is currently enrolled this semester. Yeasin was expelled after tweeting inappropriate comments about his former girlfriend after they broke up. After winning both appeals to return to the University after expulsion, Yeasin took it one step further by suing Vice Provost for Student Affairs, Tammara Durham, for violations of his First Amendment rights. Yeasin lost the lawsuit, but not because of the First Amendment. “He started out initially as a domestic dispute, [Yeasin and his former girlfriend] break up and he didn’t take the break up very well, and on at least one occasion she was in his car and he wouldn’t let
her out,” said Mark Johnson, lecturer in both the journalism and law school. Johnson is also a practicing lawyer. It was after the incidents in the car, Johnson said, that Yeasin “started tweeting about her and a friend of hers pointed the tweets out. She wasn’t aware of it until a friend told her about it.” Upon returning to the University from summer break in fall 2013, Yeasin’s ex-girlfriend reported the incident to the Office of Institutional Opportunity and Access. “At that point, she filed a complaint with the IOA, and they investigate, and eventually this gets up to Tammara Durham. She makes the decision that he should be expelled for what he wrote,” Johnson said. Yeasin challenged his expulsion in the Douglas County District Court on grounds that the University doesn’t have jurisdiction to discipline him based on off-campus activity. The University expelled Yeasin due to violation of the school’s Title IX policy, which strictly prohibits sexual harassment. “The idea is that KU has
Photo Illustration by Andrea Ringgenberg/KANSAN a rule saying that you can’t intimidate somebody, students can’t intimidate other students,” Johnson said. “So the question in the lawsuit became, does that rule extend to students in their off-campus activities? And the courts eventually said it does not, and they reversed Durham’s decision.” The student returned to the University this semester, but not without further action. After the repeal of the University’s decision by the Douglas County Court, Yeasin sued Durham directly.
“His argument is that ‘I would have graduated in 2015 and I would have been out in the workforce making money, and because I’m going to graduate three years later than I normally would have, I am losing that money.’ So, he sues Durham personally in a totally separate lawsuit,” Johnson said. “He argues that ‘I have First Amendments rights to say what I want about my ex-girlfriend.’” During the second trial, the court observed that the University had not established a rule dic-
tating whether or not it could punish students for off-campus activities. “They didn’t reach the question of whether it violated the First Amendment. So, in the lawsuit, the court said [Durham] had immunity because the constitutional rule which she was alleged to have violated isn’t established,” Johnson said. Due to Durham’s immunity, the case ended without ramifications. It was determined that the rule that led to Yeasin’s expulsion didn’t apply off campus.
According to Richard E. Levy, a distinguished professor of constitutional law at the University, there are a few regulations that the University could change in the aftermath of the lawsuit, specifically the University disciplinary code regarding off-campus activities. “Do you change the KU disciplinary code to more clearly allow discipline for activities that are off campus, not part of a KU program, that don’t use KU facilities or property, but that have an impact on the educational environment for a student at the University?” Levy said. Although Yeasin lost the third lawsuit, it had no impact on his enrollment and he is currently registered for classes this semester. However, because he was not successful in his suit against Durham, Johnson said there are questions that still need to be answered as to what power the University has when it comes to the First Amendment.