THE STUDENT VOICE SINCE 1904
SPORTS
INSIDE KU celebrates Neeli Bendapudi’s time at KU
How a Jayhawk has spent
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years laying a potential path to the MLB The University Daily Kansan
vol. 136 // iss. 30 Mon., April 30, 2018
Two local sculptors showcase collaborative work in new exhibit
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A NEW GENERATION’S SYSTEM
Stalking, domestic violence reports jump For students dealing with these types of sexual harassment, there are resources at KU and in Lawrence that can help
DARBY VANHOUTAN @darbyvanhoutan Editor’s Note: This story is the fifth and final in the Kansan’s series on sexual assault at the University in conjunction with Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Every Monday in April, there will be a new story on the topic. In the past few years, as instances of sexual assault have increased at the University, the Office of Institutional Opportunity and Access has reported that instances of domestic abuse and stalking have increased as well. At the University, the two areas in the Student Code of Rights and Responsibilities that encompass sexual harassment and violence don’t just include things such as sexual discrimination and rape. They also include instances of domestic violence and stalking. “Stalking is not accidental. It is an intentional effort to get any type of attention from that person, even if its negative,” Shane McCreery, IOA director, said. McCreery said the IOA — which is responsible for investigating instances of sexual assault at the University — has seen a large amount of these cases in the last few years. And, as he described, these instances range in their complexity and seriousness, sometimes overlapping
Illustration by Gracie Williams/KANSAN with sexual assault. “We’ve seen a rise,” McCreery said. “And I think it’s because some students think, ‘If I ignore it, it’ll eventually stop.’” The KU Public Safety Office received three reports of stalking and four reports of domestic violence in 2017, according to Deputy Chief James Anguiano. Since PSO officers are mandatory reporters, all of these reports were forwarded to the IOA. Reports made to the IOA, in any case, result in an initial communication
to the reporting party, or survivor. Regardless of whether a party wants to move forward with an investigation, McCreery said that interim measures are offered. One of these interim measures is a no contact order. “That includes not just contacting face to face, but through any type of social media [or] through third parties,” McCreery said. “It’s not like a restraining order where one party can’t come within 500 feet of another, but it does prevent them from commu-
nicating as we determine what happens.” There are also options for resolving housing or academic conflicts between reporting and responding parties. McCreery said his office works with advisors and student housing in these instances if students need to change classes or housing. In past cases, McCreery said IOA worked with large apartment complexes to help students break leases or move apartments. One option available to students in these instances is Legal Services
for Students. Although Legal Services for Students can help with disputes between tenants and landlords, they cannot settle disputes between students. LSS Executive Director Jo Hardesty said this is because of the way the office gets its funding — through a required campus fee. LSS receives $16 per student. “Basically all students have pre-paid for the service,” Hardesty said. “So we’re on retainer for everyone in the student body.” Another option avail-
able to students and Lawrence community members at large is the Willow Domestic Violence Center. Will Averill serves as director of community engagement of the center, which offers copious amounts of outreach services, training, a 24-hour-hotline and a shelter. They also do preventive work focused on educating individuals, including students, on what healthy relationships look like. “People don’t always equate healthy relationships with college relationships. Or college is seen as a time when you’re supposed to be exploring all of your boundaries,” Averill said. “Therefore, it’s easier to forgive what is, in fact, an abusive relationship.” The Willow has established programs to help change and educate on these attitudes, according to Averill, and has brought them to middle and high schools throughout Lawrence. The Willow even has a local branch of students at the University that does advocacy and education work also centered on changing the attitudes of students. “Anytime you’re in a situation where you’re not in control of the situation and someone else is controlling the situation, it is an abuse issue and it is something to be taken very seriously,” Averill said. “We would love to see that attitude change.”
Coalitions complain of election mismanagement that [the 72-hours] was kind of a pipe dream,” Jetty said. “And that’s something I think we can re-examine next year.”
DARBY VANHOUTAN @darbyvanhoutan Faulty time frames, miscommunication and sections of the rules that were “overlooked” were all reasons for the mistakes made in this year’s Student Senate elections. The elections wrapped up more than two weeks ago and Senate officially saw a turn over at its last full meeting Wednesday night. The one complaint filed during this election, which resulted in a hearing, is minimal compared to the 19 filed last year. However, liaisons from the three coalitions running in this year’s elections — who were responsible for communicating with the Election Commission — as well as the commission chair himself have shared their frustration with this year’s process.
SIGNATURE REQUIREMENT IGNORED First, all candidates, regardless of whether they acquired the necessary signatures and completed
VIOLATION COMPLAINTS
Bob (Jiatong) Li/KANSAN Presidential candidates Zoya Khan, Anna Buhlinger, and Noah Ries field questions at the second debate of the semester, hosted by the Elections Commission. the online test or in person training required of them for formal candidate, appeared on the ballot. This, according to Election Commission Chair Jeremy Latronica, is because of the short 72-hour window the commission had to check signatures. “The [elections code] allows for only a certain timeframe for the completion of checking all signatures on all forms,” Latron-
ica said. “Because of the amount, and the timing of it as well, our advisor was not able to get all of them done.” Signatures were an area of contention in last year’s election when 32 candidates were barred from running after the Elections Commission held that those students had not gotten the 25 required signatures from their constituents. Last year, however,
there was no required time frame in which the commission had to review signatures. According to newly elected Student Body Vice President Charles Jetty, the election commission’s advisor Jane Tuttle, who is also responsible for reviewing the signatures, was involved in setting the 72-hour window for reviewing the signatures. “Looking back, I think we should have realized
Only one violation complaint this year resulted in a hearing. This complaint was filed by the Crimson and Blue coalition against the Jayhawker coalition and resulted in a $30 fine. The complaint alleged that the Jayhawkers had failed to elect their presidential and vice presidential candidates by the Feb. 19 deadline and should in turn be disbanded. Although the allegation was found to be true, both the Elections Commission and the Court of Appeals found it to be a minor violation worthy of a fine. Zach Thomason served as the Election Commission liaison for Crimson and Blue and filed the complaint on behalf of the coalition. “For me as a person, if someone does not apply by the deadline, well sorry you’re not in, but the in-
terpretation that the Election Commission had was that deadlines were not necessarily impactful to the matter of the election,” Thomason said. The Jayhawkers filed a separate, previously unreported violation that was eventually rescinded. “Because of the early violation against us, we were kind of frustrated. I think we had filed one and then we were just like, ‘You know what, whatever,’” Jayhawker Presidential candidate Anna Buhlinger said. Another complaint was filed by the third coalition, Rise KU, by their Election Commission Liaison Hannah Ehmcke. According to Ehmcke, nothing came of it due to a lack of response from the Election Commission. “There was little to no communication from the Elections Commission regarding it, and it was eventually dropped because it was not addressed by the E.C. before the election,”
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