THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
N
PAGE 2
+
NEWS MANAGEMENT Editor-in-chief Brian Hillix
Production editor Madison Schultz
Managing editor Paige Lytle
Digital editor
Stephanie Bickel
Web editor Christian Hardy
Social media editor Hannah Barling
Director of art and brand magagement Cole Anneberg
ADVERTISING MANAGEMENT Advertising director Sharlene Xu
Sales manager
Jordan Mentzer
Digital media manager Kristen Hays
NEWS SECTION EDITORS News editor Miranda Davis
Associate news editor
Kate Miller
Opinion editor
Cecilia Cho
Co-associate sports editors
Shane Jackson
Scott Chasen
Arts & features editor Lyndsey Havens
Design Chiefs Hallie Wilson Jake Kaufmann
Designers
Frankie Baker
Robert Crone
Tara Bryant
Grace Heitmann
Multimedia editor
Ben Lipowitz
Associate multimedia editor Frank Weirich
Special sections editor Amie Just
Special projects editor Emma LeGault
Copy chiefs Casey Hutchins Sarah Kramer
ADVISERS
Sales and marketing adviser
Jon Schlitt
Content strategist
Brett Akagi
The University Daily Kansan is the student newspaper of the University of Kansas. The first copy is paid through the student activity fee. Additional copies of the Kansan are 50 cents. Subscriptions can be purchased at the Kansan business office, 2051A Dole Human Development Center, 1000 Sunnyside Avenue, Lawrence, KS, 66045. The University Daily Kansan (ISSN 0746-4967) is published daily during the school year except Friday, Saturday, Sunday, fall break, spring break and exams and weekly during the summer session excluding holidays. Annual subscriptions by mail are $250 plus tax. Send address changes to The University Daily Kansan, 2051A Dole Human Development Center, 1000 Sunnyside Avenue.
KANSAN MEDIA PARTNERS
Check out KUJH-TV on Wow! of Kansas Channel 31 in Lawrence. See KUJH's website at tvku.edu.
KJHK 90.7 is the student voice in radio.
CONTACT US
editor@kansas.com
www.kansas.com
Newsroom: (785) 756-1491
Advertising: (785) 864-4358
Mostly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of rain. Wind ENE at 9 mph
FRIDAY
HI: 75
LO: 51
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
weather.com
2000 Dele Human Development Center
1600 Sunnyside Avenue
Lawrence, Kan., 66045
The Weekly Weather Forecast
KANSAN.COM
MONDAY, APRIL 13, 2015
Partly cloudy with a 10 percent chance of rain. Wind E at 13 mph
TUESDAY
HI: 68
LO: 48
Thunderstorms with an 80 percent chance of rain. Wind ESE at 10 mph.
WEDNESDAY
HI: 68
LO: 48
THURSDAY HI:76 LO:51
Morning showers with a 60 percent chance of rain. Wind ENE at 8 mph.
Kansas bans second-trimester abortions
In another move by the Republican-led Kansas Legislature to make abortions illegal, Gov. Sam Brownback signed a law last Tuesday making Kansas the first state to ban a common type of second-trimester abortions.
The "dismemberment" procedure is a common abortion practice in the 12th to 14th week of pregnancy. Rep. Barbara Bollier (R-Mission Hills), a former anesthesiologist, said she finds issues with lawmakers making medical decisions.
KELLY CORDINGLEY
@kellycordingley
"I am troubled by the continuation by the legislature trying to practice medicine," she said. "I want to be very clear: No one is pro-abortion. These [second-trimester] abortions are not done by what I'd call choice. There is something gravely wrong with the pregnancy and it needs to be terminated; it's not someone saying, 'I don't want to be pregnant anymore.'"
One of the tragic circumstances Bollier mentioned is when a woman's water breaks, a rupture of the membrane, before a baby can survive outside the womb. This can result in serious infection if not treated, and she said this bill limits a practice that in some cases is a necessity.
"I got a letter from a woman who had this happen and had to have a second-trimester
abortion," Bollier said. "She said this was a horrible, terrible circumstance, but it needed to be done to protect her, her children and future children she wanted to have. Limiting a doctor's choice to do the safest thing in those circumstances makes no sense to me."
Sen. Garrett Love (R-Montezuma) is one of the senators who sponsored this bill. He said this issue tugged at his heart because it came around the same time he became a father.
"I am troubled by the continuation by the legislature trying to practice medicine. I want to be very clear: No one is pro-abortion."
REP. BARBARA BOLLIER R-Mission Hills
"My wife and I had a baby girl last November," Love said. "I remember leaving session for the first sonogram and then around 19 to 20 weeks we were able to see fingers, toes, hiccups, get her blood type and see her smile and frown. So, it was sickening that babies at this age were having their arms and legs ripped off to kill them. So we wanted to end that type of abortion in Kansas."
Under federal law, abortions are legal if they're performed before 24 weeks. Kansas' new bill bans this type of abortion
after week 12. This new bill follows another abortion bill from the Kansas Legislature that bans abortions if the fetus, as deemed by the legislature, can feel pain. Love argued that if this goes to the courts, it'll be held up, and Bollier said the bill's supporters probably saw this fight coming.
"I contend this bill will go to the court system, and this is why they didn't try to pass a fetal heartbeat bill or an all-out personhood bill, setting it up at conception, and thus, no abortions," Bollier said. "They don't want to do that because they don't have people in place on the [Kansas] Supreme Court that would rule differently. It's a political maneuver."
The bill also does not allow for these abortions in cases of rape or incest, but does allow them if it preserves the life of the pregnant woman or if the pregnancy will cause "irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function of the pregnant woman."
"We want to reduce or eliminate abortions, and I wish we could." Bollier said. "I wish there was never a woman who was raped or a baby whose membrane ruptured early. I wish that we never had horrible fetal anomalies, but they happen, and God gave us the ability to do the right thing and take care of women."
However, Sen. Molly Baumgardner (R-Louisburg),
who also supported this bill, said there are other ways to perform second trimester abortions if there are extenuating circumstances.
"There are other forms that don't use dismemberment, and at a point like this, that baby is dying from rapid blood loss and if it doesn't die from that, when the doctor crushes the skull, it will be killed," Baumgardner said.
The bill graphically describes what is commonly known as dilation and evacuation, referring to the bill as "protection from dismemberment abortion act." Bollier said the language use is a tactic by those who would like to see abortion illegal in every capacity.
"This is all about language use or abuse," Bollier said. "You can make anything sound horrific. You ought to hear a description of open heart surgery."
The description given by an abortionist during a committee hearing is something Love said stuck with him. While the description in the bill is graphic, Love said it needs to be to depict what really happens.
"It literally made me feel sick," Love said. "To describe that practice, you have to describe what you're not allowing. It's a barbarian procedure that makes you feel sick."
Currently a Johnson County Community College professor. Baumgardner used to be a high
school teacher. She said young people don't always realize the nature of the procedures being performed, which is why technical language needed to be used in this bill.
"I had students who'd had surgical procedures performed speak to me and tell me they didn't really know what was being done," Baumgardner said. "It's a surgical procedure, so the information was specific because that's what it is."
This bill also criminalizes the doctor performing the abortion. The first offense would be considered a misdemeanor, and the second would be a felony. Furthermore, the woman on whom the abortion is performed, the father of the unborn child who is married to the mother and the parents of a minor on whom the abortion was performed can seek civil action for any damages inflicted.
Bollier insisted women will still have this procedure performed, but they'd have to leave Kansas to have it done safely.
"Trying to stop this from happening makes an already difficult, tragic situation even worse," Bollier said. "Now you can't even have a safe procedure done in Kansas. Potentially, if someone ends up not getting a procedure done that they should have and they die, those are potential consequences."
Edited by Samantha Darling
4. THE BILL ITSELF USES LANGUAGE TO GRAPHICALLY DEPICT THE PROCEDURE BEING BANNED.
1. KANSAS GOV. SAM BROWNBACK SIGNED INTO LAW A BAN ON SECOND-TRIMESTER ABORTION PROCEDURES. THE LAW WILL TAKE EFFECT JULY 1, 2015.
2. THESE TYPE OF ABORTIONS MAKE UP ROUGHLY NINE PERCENT OF ABORTION PROCEDURES IN KANSAS.
6 TAKEAWAYS
3. THE LAW CRIMINALIZES DOCTORS WHO PERFORM THIS PROCEDURE. THE FIRST VIOLATION IS A MISDEMEANOR, SUCCEEDING VIOLATIONS ARE FELONIES.
5. THE BILL DOES NOT ALLOW FOR SECOND-TRIMESTER ABORTIONS IN CASES OF RAPE OR INCEST.
6. THE SUPREME COURT RULED THAT A WOMAN HAS THE RIGHT TO AN ABORTION UNTIL THE CHILD COULD BE VIABLE OUTSIDE THE WOMB AT ROUGHLY 24 WEEKS. WHETHER THIS NEW BILL IS CONSTITUTIONAL IS LIKELY TO BE CHALLENGED.
TAX FROM PAGE 1
is more complicated than for U.S. citizens.
"This is a new system for me," said Eltom Hassan, a post-doctoral student from Sudan. "I've been working in Saudi Arabia for seven years. I worked in Sudan for five years, but I've never filed taxes in a similar way like this."
International students have to worry about factoring in U.S. tax treaties with their respective countries. Most tax treaties will allow students to exempt a substantial portion of their income from taxes, which can be up to $10,000. However, if a student is in the U.S. for more than four years, sometimes claiming a tax treaty can mean students pay more.
While the state and federal governments encourage everyone to file by April 15, international students have until June 15 to file something, even if they didn't work.
Hardesty said this year has overall been a success for the LSS workshops, but hopes they can get laptops from the IRS to get more students help faster next year.
Edited by Samantha Darling
The free tax software and tax extension form can be found at legalservices.ku.edu.
Thomas has held his position since July 2014. He said in a short period of time, "we've done a lot," crediting his team.
OMA FROM PAGE 1
Thomas said "of course" the position is not enough, but "we've gone from zero to having something."
Thomas said the University is trying to strengthen affinity groups on campus, which he believes will make underrepresented populations feel they belong here. This year, he said, the administration established the Asian and Asian-American faculty and staff group, and it is also trying to strengthen the Native American, African-American and Hispanic groups.
One example, Thomas sa was the creation of two pa time positions, a Haskell community liaison and a multicultural community coordinator. He said no specific position had existed to support Native-American students.
will impact them.
"If we're going to be able to recruit people here, people have to know that they can connect and have a sense of belonging." Thomas said.
He said having the right people in place across
campus can help cultural competency to flourish. For example, he said directors of the Multicultural Scholars Program are working with leaders in different colleges, including the School of Business and the School of Education.
"What can happen is, as we're trying to move forward and we're trying to become better, is that we create the intervention without having the [institutional] structure," Thomas said.
Jones said she feels one positive aspect of the University's approach to diversity is the approach itself. "For instance, I just had $p$
diversity roundtable that I had an overwhelming amount of support for, so it's comforting to know that the interest is there," she said.
785. 832.8228 944 Massachusetts Street
A negative, Jones said, is the common assumption about what diversity and inclusion mean.
"I think diversity is something that spans beyond race and sexual orientation," she said. "[...] In every situation, there should be difference to accommodate everyone's identities and opinions."
She also called representation a huge issue and said cultural competency training should be instituted from the orientation level.
Thomas said one of the next steps is to conduct a yearlong comprehensive climate study he believes will aid the
He said he hopes the University will be seen as a leader in diversity in the Big 12 and the Association of American Universities within the next five years.
"While we know that we have work to do, we are invested in that work," Thomas said.
Precious Porras and Cody Charles, associate directors of the OMA, were unavailable for comment. Harding said last week he had recommended both as his potential interim replacements.
administration in formulating a strategic plan for diversity.
Edited by Yu Kyung Lee
WASHBURN
SCHOOL OF LAW
TAYLOR
CONCANNON
Washburn law, '14
WASHBURN LAW
THE RIGHT CHOICE
Our graduates are PRACTICE READY. Washburn Law prepared Taylor for her career at a large Kansas City law firm.
law firm.
Spring and Fall Start Scholarships Available
800. 927.4529 washburnlaw.edu/admissions
4
+