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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAS
PAGE 2A
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TUESDAY, MARCH 31, 2015
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news
NEWS MANAGEMENT Editor-in-chief Brian Hillix
Managing editor Paige Lytle
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Madison Schultz
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NEWS SECTION EDITORS
News editor
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Opinion editor
Cecilia Cho
Christian Hardy
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MICHAEL CONROY/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Indiana Senate Democratic Leader Tim Lanane (ieft) D-Anderson, and Indiana House Democratic Leader Scott Pelath, D-Michigan City, call for the repeal of the Indiana Religious Freedom Restoration Act during a news conference.
Indiana officials try to quiet new law's backlash
TOM DAVIES Associated Press
INDIANAPOLIS — Gov. Mike Pence called off public appearances Monday and sports officials planned an "Indy Welcomes All" campaign ahead of this weekend's NCAA Final Four in Indianapolis as lawmakers scrambled to quiet the firestorm over a new law that has much of the country portraying Indiana as a state of intolerance.
After a two-hour private meeting of House Republicans, Bosma said Monday that repealing the law isn't "a realistic goal at this point."
"I'm looking for a surgical solution, and I think the least intrusive surgery is to
Republican legislative leaders said they are working on adding language to the religious-objections law to make it clear that the measure does not allow discrimination against gays and lesbians. As signed by Pence last week, the measure prohibits state laws that "substantially burden" a person's ability to follow his or her religious beliefs. The definition of "person" includes religious institutions, businesses and associations.
"I call upon Governor Pence and the Indiana Legislature to fix this law. Either repeal it or pass a law that protects all who live, work and visit Indiana. And do so immediately. Indianapolis will not be defined by this." Ballard said.
"What we had hoped for with the bill was a message of inclusion, inclusion of all religious beliefs," Republican House Speaker Brian Bosma said. "What instead has come out is a message of exclusion, and that was not the intent."
The efforts fell flat with Democrats, who called for a repeal, and even some Republicans.
Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard, a Republican, said the law threatens to undermine the city's economic growth and reputation as a convention and tourism destination and called for lawmakers to add protections for sexual orientation and gender identity to Indiana civil-rights laws.
"They're scrambling to put a good face on a bad issue. What puzzles me is how this effort came to the top of the legislative agenda when clearly the business community doesn't support it," said Bill Oesterle, an aide to Republican former Gov. Mitch Daniels and CEO of consumer reporting agency Angie's List, which canceled expansion plans in Indianapolis because of the law.
clarify that (the law) cannot be used to support the denial of goods, facilities or services to any member of the public," he said.
Pence, who defended the law during a television appearance Sunday, canceled scheduled appearances Monday night and Tuesday, in part because of planned protests.
In an essay for The Wall Street Journal, Pence said 'the
"What we had hoped for with the bill was a message of inclusion, inclusion of all religious beliefs. What instead has come out is a message of exclusion, and that was not the intent."
BRIAN BOSMA
Republican House Speaker
of Indiana
law is not a "license to discriminate" and reflects federal law. But the Affordable Care Act, he said, "renewed concerns about government infringement on deeply held religious beliefs."
Republican Senate President Pro Tem David Long stressed that the new law is based on the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993, which has been upheld by courts.
The campaign's legal director, Sarah Warbelow, said the federal law was designed to ensure religious minorities were protected from laws passed by the federal government that might not have been intended to discriminate but had that effect.
"Faith and religion are important values to millions of Indiana residents," he said. "With the passage of this legislation, Indiana will continue to be a place that respects the beliefs of every person in our state."
The Indiana law, she said,
allows individuals to invoke
government action even
when the government is not
a party to a lawsuit. It also
allows all businesses to assert
religious beliefs regardless of
whether they are actually religious organizations.
But the Human Rights Campaign said it's disingenuous to compare the two laws.
She said one of the best ways
to fix the law would be to add language that explicitly says it cannot be used to undermine civil-rights laws.
Democratic House Minority Leader Scott Pelath said Republican legislators fail to admit the law is a mistake.
"They're not facing up to reality — this is a national embarrassment," Pelah said. "The bush needs to be pulled up by its roots and thrown into the fire."
Indiana University law professor Deborah Widiss said the Indiana backlash is being fueled by the legalization of gay marriage and last year's Supreme Court ruling in a case that found Hobby Lobby and other closely held private businesses with religious objections could opt out of providing the free contraceptive coverage required by the Affordable Care Act.
Indiana's lack of a law banning discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity is also a contributor she said.
Long and Bosma did not appear eager to add such protection into the measure, noting that it is a big policy decision and that only four weeks remain in this year's legislative session.
Meanwhile, the fallout continued. The public-employee union known as AFSCME announced Monday it was canceling a planned women's conference in Indianapolis this year because of the law. The band Wilco said it was canceling a May performance.
Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe issued a letter to Indiana corporations saying Virginia is a business-friendly state that does "not discriminate against our friends and neighbors," while Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel sent letters to more than a dozen Indiana businesses, urging them to relocate to a "welcoming place to people of all races, faiths and countries of origin."
As a similar bill advances in Arkansas, Warbelow said lawmakers need to take notice.
Washington state Gov. Jay Inshee said he was imposing an administration-wide ban on state-funded travel to Indiana.
"We hope that the state legislature is paying attention ... and taking seriously that the whole world is looking at them," Warbelow said.
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Debate team finishes regular season at No.1
SKYLAR ROLSTAD
@SkyRolNews
For the third time in the last 10 years, the University's debate program has ended the regular season as the top-ranked team in the country, according to a University news release.
The team will travel to the National Debate Tournament, its last competition this year. April 3-6 at the University of Iowa.
Nick Khatri is one of the students competing in the tournament. He and his partner, Chris Carey, reached the Round of 16 in the Cross Examination Debate Association National Tournament last week, but said the debate team considers the NDT its "national championship."
The University qualified three teams to compete in the national tournament, which is the maximum number of teams allowed from one school.
"For me personally, it's been an interesting year," Khatri said. "We have pretty consistently had similar results through the year. For the squad as a whole, we have surpassed the expectations that we had."
The team's top performers, Jyleesa Hampton and Quaram Robinson,qualified for the national tournament as first round at-large qual-
OMA FROM PAGE 1A
McFarland said the class hopes its research will make a difference in the bigger picture of diversity on campus.
of the OMA, what the campus believes is our mission, have we been effective and most of all, how [we can] better serve students" Harding said.
"From the other research we've been doing in class leading up to this, I think it really contributes to how we view diversity on campus and how students view it," he said. "That's kind of our overall goal, but it's still a long process."
Joseph Erba, assistant professor of strategic communications, said his class works with an on-campus office each semester. Students spend part of the semester learning about the process of conducting research; then they put their knowledge into practice by collecting data through focus groups and surveys.
Erba said the School of Journalism has been working to build a relationship with the OMA. Since his class needed a client and the OMA needed this type of research, he called it a "win-win."
In total, the class plans to hold 10 sessions, the last of which will take place Thursday. The groups last approximately 90 minutes, and Erba said they aim to include 10 to 12 student participants in each one.
Recycle this paper
iffiers in February, which means they are in the top 16 debaters in the country.
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Hampton, a senior from Overland Park, received the Johnston Award at the CEDA tournament as the top debater in the nation.
For the squad as a whole, we have surpassed the expectations that we had."
NICK KHATRI Debater
"Jyleesa is an outstanding debater and an inspiration and role model for the entire debate community," Scott Harris, the debate team's director, said in the release.
Harris was awarded the Brownlee Award, which recognizes the National Debate Coach of the Year.
Khatri said it has been a successful year for Kansas debate.
"It has definitely been a long season," Khatri said. "We've been to a lot of tournaments and it's consumed a lot of weekends. It's difficult to miss school and spend your weekends flying and driving to tournaments. But it's fun. The competition makes it worth it."
"The OMA is also very interested in perceptions from faculty and staff, but it would not be possible to do everything in one semester." Erba said.
Edited by Emma LeGault
Erba said he also believes focusing research on student participants allows students in the class to be more comfortable. For many of them, he said, this is their first experience in hands-on research of this nature.
"From the other research we've been doing in class leading up to this, I think it really contributes to how we view diversity on campus and how students view it."
PATRICK MCFARLAND Junior from Olathe
Michael Curnes, a sophomore from Lenexa, participated in a focus group Friday. He said he had heard of the OMA before but didn't truly understand its purpose.
1 nad the preconceived notion that you go there because you have an issue that needs resolved," he said.
Curnes said he believes the more people who are included in conversations about diversity, the more good ideas will emerge from discussions.
Edited by Chandler Boese
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