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Volume 128 Issue 81
Thursday, February 19, 2015
kansan.com
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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
The student voice since 1904
WEEKEND EDITION
CERAMICS CLUB Club will host nationally renowned artist Beth Cavener | PAGE 5A
Campus group joins lawsuit in Koch brothers-related case
FILE PHOTO/KANSAN
Students for a Sustainable Future and the University agreed the student group would be recognized as a third party in the lawsuit involving a professor and his ties to the Koch brothers.
ALLISON CRIST
@AllisonCristUDK
After submitting a motion to intervene on the case of Hall vs. KU, Students for a Sustainable Future and the University came to an agreement that the student group would be recognized as a third party in the lawsuit.
The lawsuit — which stems from a record request that the student group made last fall — was filed by business school lecturer Art Hall against the University to prevent the release of the records.
This decision will give SFASF access to court documents related to the lawsuit. There was originally a hearing set for the motion, but because the University and SFASF agreed to the terms, there was no need.
The student group stepped in to further their argument that because Art Hall, director of the Business school's Center for Applied Economics, works at the University, his records are subject to the Kansas Open Records Act.
Hall, however, said he believes the use of the open records law in this case is a misuse of the law and the records request violates his First Amendment rights.
"In my discussions with attorneys, every one of them agrees that there is a lack of guidance in how the law should be applied here," Hall said. "My lawsuit will allow a judge to provide guidance."
In April of 2014, SFASF requested numerous documents, even paying $1,800 last fall to receive them. The current law-suit arose with the part of the
request that sought out any of Hall's emails that mention specific organizations, dating back to 2004.
SFASF is particularly interested in the emails that mention Koch Industries or Koch family foundations. Schuyler Kraus, senior from Allen, Texas and president of SFASF, said the group is worried about Hall's previous experience with the business and has concerns about Koch influence over Hall's work at the University.
The Koch brothers gave a donation that established the Center for Applied Economics.
"There's just a lot of coincidences surrounding the relationship with Koch and KU," Kraus said.
Kraus said she wanted to make it clear that SFASF is only requesting access to these documents to find information regarding funding and
conflicts of interest.
"Whether we agree with the particulars of any expressed opinions they contain is irrelevant," Kraus said. "We have not and will not ever make our position on them part of the discussion."
McKenzie Ortiz, a freshman from Wichita and member of SFASF, said she agrees with Kraus on the matter.
"The fact that Art Hall is suing KU is really ridiculous," Ortiz said. "There shouldn't be anything to hide between Hall and Koch. We don't hate them because they are rich or successful; we are just cautious of the Koch brother's ties to the University because we deserve a fair and unbiased education."
This concern about a fair education was one of the main issues SFASF mentioned in the original request for Hall's records.
"If our professors are in their positions because they were placed by outside donors to control the dissemination of knowledge, our ability to learn about the world and make decisions is endangered," Kraus said.
Ortiz also said that it's not even known whether or not there are corrupt ties, and the Kansas Open Records Act request was supposed to help determine that.
Kraus said she and SFASF have additional concerns about the Koch brothers' involvement with politics.
"If you can purchase a place at a university just by donating funds, you can effectively gain access to academic credentials in order to legitimize a political agenda," Kraus said.
- Edited by Mackenzie Clark
ALI DOVER/KANSAN
Harrison Baker, a sophomore from Topeka, gives a speech during the Student Senate meeting Wednesday.
Committees pass transcript notation bill to full Senate
ALANA FLINN
@alana_Finn
Both the Student Senate Rights and University Affairs committees passed a resolution last night stating their support of adopting a non-academic misconduct notation to transcripts of students who were suspended or expelled for such. The bill would still have to pass through full senate next week.
If this were to be implemented, it would allow for communication between Kansas Board of Regents schools. For example, if a student with a non-academic misconduct mark attempts to transfer from KU to K-State, the latter school would be able to see that there has been a non-academic concern and contact the other school for more information on the policy violation. University administrations would then have access to the reasoning behind students' suspensions
they are admitted to another school. Originally, the proposal to adopt this transcript notation was proposed three years ago by the different offices of student life at Regents schools. However, the Kansas Board of Regents rejected it.
Now, student senates at six KBOR schools have decided to try again. KU Student Body President Morgan Said wrote the new language of the bill, which accompanies the old language student affairs used last time.
This bill is especially important at KU, as it will hopefully counteract recent sexual assault problems on campus. Student Body Vice President Miranda Wagner said if this bill passes, it would offer communication abilities among KBOR schools.
"It's a matter of student safety and enabling the institutions to communicate
SEE SENATE PAGE 8A
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY BROOK BARNES
Senate leaders propose bill to help impaired minors
ALANA FLINN
@alana flinn
For many student leaders across Kansas, knowing drunk minors are afraid to seek help in fear of facing legal repercussions is not an acceptable way to handle underage drinking. For a lot of these student leaders it's time for a change, so they have introduced a bill to help underage students seeking medical help when they are drinking.
The bill is known as Lifeline 911. It passed in state-level
conference committees yesterday, and if it comes full circle through state legislature, the law would allow anyone in Kansas under the legal drinking age to be granted amnesty from charges related to drinking should they seek medical attention while intoxicated.
While universities across the nation already have laws in place to protect minors who seek medical attention while drinking, Kansas institutions are just now catching up. The hope is to save lives, according to Kansas State University
"I've been to parties, I am a member of a fraternity, I've seen these kind of issues happen," said Kays, who is also president of the Kansas Board of Regents' Student Advisory committee.
Kays said young people are often too worried to call officials for help while intoxicated and instead choose to sleep it off or have their friends watch over them to make sure they're OK.
Student Body President Reagan Kavs.
SEE BILL PAGE 2A
OPINION 4A
A&F 5A
A sophomore University student from Topeka, who wishes to remain anonymous, was scammed out of $4,250 from a Care.com posting. A woman contacted the student via email and told her she was relocating to the area and needed a nanny for her 3-year-old. The woman was going to pay $350 a week, and she told the sophomore she would send a check for the first payment.
Student scammed $4,000 from nannying website
Care.com is advertised as a friendly way to find caretakers or a family in need of a babysitter. The small children on the website's commercial explain that their parents need time to relax, and they need a good babysitter. While the site certainly caters to that need, it has also become a place for running scams.
CLASSIFIEDS 2B
DAILY DEBATE 2B
Index
KELLY CORDINGLEY
@kellycordingley
"I thought this was very weird because they hadn't moved here yet and I hadn't started nannying for them yet, so I didn't understand why I was getting paid, but I was like 'OK, sounds good';" she said. "Then I get this check in the mail for $4,250. I was like
The sophomore was told the money needed to be wired to the landlord who the family would be renting a home from. The student said she understood the family might be busy getting ready to move but was caught off guard and called her mom for advice. When the student's mom asked whether they should speak to their family's financial adviser about the check, she said she doubted it would be necessary since she trusted the website.
"I was like 'No, it's a nannying job and a safe website so I don't think it'll be anything bad,'" she said. "So I got all the money, and this is before the check cleared my account, so it said I had an available balance, but it hadn't cleared vet."
Don't Forget
The money the student wired through Western Union was her own money, and she expected the woman's check to clear in her bank account; however, it never did. The check the woman sent was fraudulent, and although the amount showed up in the student's account, the money showed up as "pending" and
'Oh, this is a lot of money."
All contents, unless stated otherwise, © 2015 The University Daily Kansan
The student contacted her bank and Western Union, but there was nothing that could be done once the money had left the account and had been picked up at Western Union. She said her family was just as surprised as she was that this had happened.
"He basically was like 'Yeah, you're getting scammed. People go on websites and get your information and whoever is gullible enough to go through with it gets scammed;'" she said.
After the student wired the money, she received frantic text messages from the woman warning her not to respond to any messages or emails she had previously sent because the woman's account had been hacked. Confused and concerned, the student called her mom who advised her to call the police. A dispatch officer came to investigate and explained this was not the only instance of scamming through this site they'd heard of.
"I'm lucky that my family
Happy Chinese New Year
had not yet been accepted.
SEE CARE PAGE 2A
Today's Weather
Cloudy with a possibility of snow. Wind ESE at 12 mph.
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