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Opinion
Friday, May 5, 2000
Self-interest is department's only guide
P lious pronouncements from Athletics Department officials about their support for the female soccer player who reported she was sexually battered by two Kansas football players are nothing more than public relations attempts to rescue themselves from their own callousness and stupidity.
The young woman who was the victim of the attack is a student in one of my classes and has discussed her situation with me at length. In my view, how the Athletics Department handled the attack on her had more to do with the power structure in Kansas athletics than with human dignity and simple justice.
Power sports like basketball and football get the money and attention.
The others — soccer, swimming, baseball, golf, etc. — get the leftovers. Men's sports get the cash and spotlight; women's sports get only what federal law requires.
Is it a coincidence that these factors converged in this unhappy situation and that athletics officials seemed more concerned with protecting two varsity football players from the consequences of their criminal acts than they were
with protecting a female soccer player who was their victim?
Contrary to what football coach Terry Allen said in his written statement, the young woman said he made it abundantly clear in his face to-face meeting with her that he did not want her to report the attack to police, that doing so could get "ugly."
Contrary to the concern he expressed in his written statement, athletics director Bob Frederick did not report the incident to police as the victim said he promised her he
Frederickson
guest columnist
opinion at kansasan.com
would do after their face-to-face meeting
Contrary to what soccer coach Mark Francis said in his statement about encouraging the young woman to report the attack to police, she said her coach suggested she first should report it to Coach Allen.
Now, why do you suppose a coach for a
women's team in a minor sport might suggest his player first should visit the rather large and luxurious office of one of the two highest paid officials in the KU Athletics Department?
Is the office of a football coach the logical place to report a sexual battery and seek justice?
Well, in this situation, the justice dispensed by this disciplinarian and self-appointed judge was making his two naughty boys run the stairs at Memorial Stadium. If Coach Allen has a daughter, would he be satisfied if someone who sexually attacked her had to run a few sprints to pay for his crime?
Because it was in his own self-interest to protect two players on his team, Coach Allen had a conflict of interest and should not have been consulted about how to handle a serious sexual battery allegation against them.
David Ambler, vice chancellor for student affairs, told me that the proper procedure to handle a sexual battery alleged by one KU student against another is to instruct the victim how to report the crime to police and refer the individual to rape crisis support groups and the Emily Taylor Women's Resource Center. It seems simple
enough — think first about justice and human dignity.
In my opinion, the Athletics Department thought first about consulting the coach of the two accused, second about keeping the victim from going to the police and third about keeping the bad news out of the newspaper.
Who was the advocate within the Athletics Department for this young woman? Her parents told me in an email message that they were very disappointed by the lack of support for their daughter within the Athletics Department after she was attacked.
were they so upset? Consider the details of what happened to their daughter outside a Lawrence bar. Two football players she barely knew, both standing 6 feet 5 inches, one of them 235 pounds and the other 275 pounds, picked up a woman not much taller than 5 feet against her will, placed her on top of a vehicle and mauled her. Mauled? This is how she described the experience in the written statement she gave to police:
"I could feel their hands everywhere on my butt, the inside of my legs and up my crock. They were sticking their hands and fingers up my crock in a
The victim says her academic counselor within the Athletics Department told her that her attackers had since been involved in a similar attack on a second woman outside of another Lawrence bar. She also said that Coach Allen acknowledged that fact in the second of two meetings she with him, and that Athletics Director Frederick indicated in his meeting with her that he was aware of that incident as well.
very violent and brutal way. If I would not have been wearing pants, their fingers would have been inside of me. They did not only grab me, they also spanked me. And while they were doing these awful and degrading things, they were laughing and saying, "You like that, huh. I hear you like this kind of stuff." Is running the stairs an appropriate punishment for that conduct?
Did they run the stairs again? If so, these two young rapists-in-training will be in top condition when the football season opens next fall. But should they be representing us and wearing uniforms that say University of Kansas?
Frederickson is professor and chairman of News and Information in the School of Journalism.
'Family atmosphere' not getting job done
It's been a shameful year for the KU Athletics Department. In a normal year, idiotic battles with tow-truck drivers and Taco Bell employees would be the worst athletics director Bob Frederick and his staff would have to worry about. But this year, drug connections, DUIs and charges against swimming coach Gary Kempf of mental and physical abuse are enough for a half hour lowlight reel. Punishments for these transgressions have been mild. In fact, instead of being removed, rebuked or even reviewed, Kempf was promoted.
Unfortunately, it appears that those incidents of bureaucratic incompetence have been trumped. A member of the women's soccer team has alleged that two scholarship football players sexually battered her in a bar parking lot. As she kicked and screamed, one of the two 200-and some pound players lifted her on to the hood of a truck and pinned her down. Despite her pleas for them to stop, they held her
Seth Hoffman
opinion editor
connie@anasan.com
while they laughed, spanked and groped her. It was certainly a shameful event, but even more shameful was the Athletics Department's reaction to her complaints.
The student said that she told her coach, Mark Francis, about the incident, who suggested that they meet with football coach Terry Allen. Why Francis didn't advise her to get counseling or to immediately go to the police is unclear. It's probably a symptom of the KU Athletics' good ol' boy network, which tries to conceal behavior like this to avoid the bad press.
According to University Relations Director Lynn Bretz, the Athletics Department has a "family atmosphere." That's right, and family doesn't let family go to prison for sexual assault. Families conceal their problems so that the neighbors don't suspect anything.
Allen said yesterday that when he and the student met, he did not advise her against going to the police. Apparently though, whatever he did tell the soccer player convinced her that he would take care of the matter. He obviously did not. He made them run more than the other players.
in late April, Bob Kincaid, assistant director of student-athlete life, told the soccer player about the punishment received by the two football play
ers. According to the soccer player, Kincaid then said, "What kind of punishment did you want them to have? What would make you feel better?"
That's insulting. I can't speak for the student, but it's unlikely that any punishment dealt to these players would make her "feel better." It's not about vengeance; it's about ensuring that these players never do this sort of thing again. It's a lesson only the legal system should teach. Even then, no penalty can replace the dignity this young woman lost on the hood of a pickup truck at the hands of two drunk football players.
Running stairs is a punishment for showing up late to practice or mouthing off to a coach, not a punishment for violating a female student. That should require jail time. Allen said that if any "football student-athlete" were convicted of any crime stemming from this matter, he would be kicked off the team. This is confusing. If Allen already has punished these two players, reportedly by making them run at practice, isn't that a signal that he thinks they are guilty? Why wait then? At minimum, they should be suspended from the team until the matter is cleared. At maximum, they should be removed from the team, have their scholarships revoked and possibly be expelled from the University of Kansas. This may seem harsh, but because a second woman has complained that these two victimized her similarly, it's clear that they represent a threat to campus safety.
campus safety. The timing of this matter is unfortunate - because these types of things have a way of disappearing during the summer. There won't be as much pressure for the department to take action, and if it waits long enough, it might all go away. That can't happen. There needs to be an investigation. Punishments are required. The actions of Francis, Allen and Kincaid all should be reviewed by someone outside the Athletics Department.
Department.
It's clear that problems within the Athletics Department are slowly, but surely, damaging the reputation of the whole University. It must stop.
If these incidents are dismissed continually, the problems only are going to get worse.
I would urge the Chancellor, who thus far has remained silent in all athletics matters, to get involved and do whatever it takes to solve it. He and many others are working too hard to improve the national reputation of this University to let these events defile its good name.
Hoffman is a Lenexa senior in journalism.
Broaden your mind: Today's quote
"Bad policies, stupid policies, gutless policies have real consequences."
Molly Ivins
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Matt Carrey Derby sophomore
The recent allegations of sexual assault strike right at the problem in the KU Athletics Department. If the department tried to cover up this scandal, it raises the question of what else it has silenced.
As a student at the University of Kansas, the Jayhawk Tower D where most of the football players are housed is called the "Date Rape Tower" or "Danger Tower." However, throughout this year, I have seen other atrocities by the department, including the controversy with the Swimming Coach Gary Kempf. He, who had years of allegations of abuse, was promoted to an administrative position in the Athletics Department.
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Department there.
The department is a good ol' boy club and it finally has gotten itself into a heap of trouble. The department believes it is fooling everyone, but the cover slowly is coming off and its true colors are showing. The NCAA and the Big 12 governing bodies should investigate and the students themselves should tell the University that it is time for some change. The days of Bobby Knight are finished. KU Athletics Department; Welcome to the new millennium.
Sexual assault is devastating to its victims and leaves wounds that never fully heal. The Athletics Department immediately should have suspended the players, launched a full-scale investigation of its own and thrown their full support behind the victim and her desire to go to the police. By punishing the players, Allen has already established their guilt. By encouraging the victim to refrain from reporting the incident to the police, Allen has created a lapse that seriously will damage her case.
For the staff members in the Athletics Department to assert to a victim of sexual assault that justice is better served by not contacting the police reflects an offensive "boys will be boys" attitude. Sexual assault is a serious crime and should be treated as such; running laps is not the equivalent of a felony charge. It is evident that the Athletics Department is incapable of handling the punishment of sex offenders, which is understandable, considering that it is not the function of its organization. If an employee of the department attempted to dissuade an assault victim from filing charges, disciplinary actions must be taken.
Spoken language cannot adequately convey the outrage I feel in response to the accusations of sexual assault levied against two KU football players. The actions described in the May 3 Kansan sicken me to the core of my soul. Every bit as disgusting as the crime is the course of action recommended to the victim by Soccer Coach Mark Francis and Football Coach Terry Allen's punishment of the players.
This criminal behavior must not go unnoticed and unpunished. I appeal to the student body to educate themselves on this issue and not to allow a horrible crime to fade away during the summer break. Follow this case and make your voices heard. The student body must either voice its outrage about this disgusting crime and its consequent cover-up or passively support a repulsive double standard that destroys women and soils all of us with collective guilt.
Michael Copeland Lawrence sophomore
Opinions are not subjective
As a long-time afficionado of campus politics and its inherent mischief, I can't stand Seth Hoffman — and I'm sure he feels the same way about me. We spent several years on the opposite side of a bitter political rivalry and we never shared an inch of common ideological ground. We still don't, but if anyone should stand up for Hoffman's right to manage the Kansan opinion page as he sees fit, it should be me.
I was the co-opinion editor of the Kansan during one semester one of those embattled years, and a columnist during the others. I'm sure that Hoffman and his friends of similar political bent hated every word I wrote. I'm sure they derided me for what they perceived as me using the opinion page and the editorial board to further my views. Were they right? You bet.
That was the job, and my views and the experiences that forged them were why I got it. Admittedly, bad press in the Kansan can hurt because everyone on campus reads it. On campus or anywhere else, when your side gets bad ink, the favorite response is to become a journalism critic, to question someone's "journalistic" integrity, ability or even worse, to question their "objectivity."
However, it is the absolute right — and the absolute responsibility — of a Kansan opinion editor to hold strong views about campus activities. To hell with "objectivity" on the opinion page. What's objective about any opinion? And if the editor's views are forged by experience in Student Senate or any other campus institution, be thankful.
Andy Obermueller 1998 KU graduate
If anyone perceives the opinion page's coverage as skewed at any time, there's always a solution; Lend your voice to the debate. Call. Write. Bitch. Cajole. I hated every word of every letter that Hoffman or any of his cronies ever sent me. But I printed nearly every word, every time. That was my job; that was the fight I loved. And I think, as much as I may dislike him, that Hoffman would be glad to do the same.
Celebrate that the opinion page is being run by someone who not only knows about what he is writing, but who also gives a damn. Objectivity is what you attack when you don't like the views of the other side and are unable or unwilling — to do anything about it.
Oh, and this: Never piss off a man who buys ink by the barrel — or who has security cameras on his loading dock.
First, I would like to say that the editorial board refers to him as the "Lord Seth" and we hold candle-lit vigils in his honor at every meeting. As a member of the editorial board, I can testify that all of Ohlens's claims are ludicrous and false. Despite being involved with Delta Force in past years, Hoffman was fair during interviews with this year's Student Senate candidates and he didn't have any influence on the decision of the board. He was simply a moderator, and the endorsements were made only by the editorial board members without any biased input from Hoffman.
Editor didn't shape opinions of editorial board members
I would like to write in response to Eric Ohlsen's May 3 guest column. It was very humorous to me, as he described Seth Hoffman as a manipulative dictator who controlled the thoughts and opinions of the editorial board.
Did Ohlsen stop to think that maybe the editorial board members formed opinions of their own and decided on their own that Delta Force was a better choice than United Students?
Ohlsen also accused Hoffman of dictat
ing opinions written by editorial board members and that members were selected according to their views instead of writing ability. Ohlsen nailed us right on the head! The only way that I or anyone else got on the board was by stating we would endorse Delta Force in Senate elections. We didn't have to fill out an application, go in for an interview or include a portfolio of past work.
All of the members are good writers and have opinions of their own. Hoffman has been fair all semester and has allowed the editorial board members to determine which editorials are run and which side they support.
Eric Borja
Springfield, Mo., freshman and Kansan editorial board member
I would like to respond to Eric Ohlens's May 3 guest column, in which he asserts that the Kansan editorial board did not favor the United Students coalition because Co-Opinion Page editor Seth Hoffman "diated" to them or because they were hired only for their views. As a member of last semester's editorial board who was hired in part by Hoffman, I find this totally inconsistent with my experience. At no time was I told what to say, and I often disagreed with Hoffman. Just as Ohlsen complains of being called a "lackey" without having been contacted, I feel the same regarding his claims about the editorial board.
Paper theft turned off voters
Additionally, I feel that Ohlens should perhaps refresh his memory regarding what an "opinion page" is. By definition, it is not objective. Indeed, one of the things that attracted me to it personally is that it lacks the pretense of being a "final word." I can only see Ohlens's complaints as that of a group so firmly and arrogantly entrenched in their stations in the status quo that to even be questioned is an affront to their essentially authoritarian instincts.
I also wish to congratulate the United Students coalition for its great "margin of victory." In turning so many people off from the democratic process — and thereby keeping people from voting against them and insuring their margin of victory — United Students made sure that people, instead of voting, would be doing other things, like studying. Hundreds of students' GPAs will benefit from their magnanimity.
Erik Goodman Dayton, Ohio, senior
I wish to congratulate Ben Walker, Marlon Marshall and rest of the United Students coalition for only stealing 9,000 copies of The University Daily Kansan. They were generous enough to leave more than 2,000 copies for the student body to read. I hope, and expect, that this generosity will continue throughout their terms in office.
In his May 3 guest column, Eric Ohlsen states that "One would think that with that margin of victory, at least one columnist would have favored Walker and Marshall enough to write a positive opinion," and that "It is time for action to be taken." In writing this letter, I am heading Ohlsen's call to arms.
Good job, and after reading Ohlsen's column, I know that we all can expect a great year from Student Senate.
Partha Mazumdar
Pittsburgh, Penn., graduate student
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