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Volume 128 Issue 73
Thursday, February 5, 2015
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Kansan.com
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The student voice since 1904
WEEKEND EDITION
FOOD REVIEW
AARON GROENE/KANSAN
Senate bill to protect off-campus victims of sexual assault passes
Emma Halling (left) and Angela Murphy address questions concerning a bill that would give the University jurisdiction in off-campus sexual assault cases that involve University-affiliated people.
ALANA FLINN
@alana_flinn
A bill proposed by Student Senate's Graduate Affairs Director Angela Murphy and senior Emma Halling that protects off-campus sexual assault victims passed through rights committee of Student Senate on Wednesday.
The bill is a product of the University's Sexual Assault Task Force. It gives the University jurisdiction to pursue sexual assault cases that involve people affiliated with the University, but don't occur on campus.
The bill, which will change the code of student rights and responsibilities, is an attempt to clarify the existing code and bring the University into compliance with Title IX.
Murphy said this bill is important because the original law did not apply to intimate-partner violence that occurred off campus.
"As co-chair of the task force, I am charged with finding solutions to the problem of sexual assault, and the major problem the University claimed we had was jurisdiction," Murphy said. "Emma and I, and the rest of the task force members, realized we could make the language and code (of the bill) more specif-
ic. It also doesn't apply to intimate-partner violence, which is key to protect students of all genders and classifications."
Murphy and Halling drafted the bill over winter break, and they solicited sponsors last Wednesday.
According to Halling, the hope is that this new bill will also protect students studying abroad.
"So long as that student is a student here, we are obligated under law to protect them," Halling said.
Murphy also announced there will be a sexual Assault Task Force meeting Friday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the chancellor's suite.
Another bill that passed through the rights committee is the approval of an ROTC student senator position.
Sophormore Garrett Farlow from Tecumseh authored the bill because he felt the ROTC members were underrepresented.
"This is something I've wanted to do since I was ... a freshman here and not even in the program yet," Farlow said. "It's important everyone on this campus is represented fairly. And right now, ROTC students don't have that unifying senator."
Edited by Mitch Raznick
What The Kansan's push to become digital-first means for its readers
KANSAN EDITORIAL BOARD
@KansanNews
In a decision made by The Kansan student management team, its advisers and The Kansan Board, the University Daily Kansan will print two days per week instead of four, beginning in fall 2015.
Currently, The Kansan prints four days per week: Monday through Thursday. Once the printing schedule is modified in the fall, the print edition will come out Mondays and Thursdays.
After analyzing years of data and readership statistics both at the University and on
a national level - it is in the best interest of our audience to make this change. We believe the money used to print and distribute Tuesday and Wednesday papers can be allocated more effectively in a way that will best benefit our readers. We aren't changing the news just how you consume it.
While the production of the printed paper will be reduced by half, The Kansan will not cover only half the news. Without the stress and pressure of producing content for four print editions per week. The Kansan staff will focus its resources on breaking news,
multimedia and online-exclusive content, as well as in-depth articles for the two print editions per week for news, arts and features, sports and opinion content.
Keeping up with trends in journalism, The Kansan has taken multiple steps to revamp its online presence. We have a new website that allows us to optimize and organize content in a way that is the most user friendly to our readers. Staying true to our name, The University Daily Kansan, we will still produce content on a daily basis. Our website will continue to be updated
throughout the day and can be counted on as a source for the latest news that affects our campus and beyond.
A top priority at The Kansan is to tell meaningful stories. By utilizing online resources, we can tell better ones. We are able to include videos, photos, galleries, tweets and links in our stories, which will improve the overall reader experience. In an age where smartphones and laptops are always within arm's reach, staying up to date with The Kansan is easier than ever.
SEE KANSAN PAGE 4A
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO BY BAYLEE SOWTER
Index CLASSIFIEDS 3B A&F 5A SPORTS 1B OPINION 4A PUZZLES 6A BREW 3B All contents, unless stated otherwise, © 2015 The University Daily Kansan
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY BEN LIPOWITZ/KANSAN
Student Housing proposes bill that would ban smoking items
Don't Forget
"We have had several fire alarm situations related to vapor," Wamelink said. "So, independent of the tobacco-free conversation, we've been saying that we probably need to take the step of prohibiting cigarettes and vaping devices in Student Housing."
CHANDLER BOESE
@Chandler_Boese
As it stands now, students living in on-campus housing cannot smoke traditional cigarettes in the building, but electronic cigarettes or vaping devices are allowed. In addition to the proposed ban on tobacco paraphernalia, the SHAB has also talked about prohibiting the smoking of electronic cigarettes and vaping devices.
"Residents could have them in their bag or their purse inside the residence halls," she said.
The University's Department of Student Housing is considering a new proposal that would prohibit all smoking paraphernalia from scholarship halls, Jayhawker Towers and residence halls.
Housing's Associate Director for Student Life Jennifer Wamelink said this proposal does not include cigarettes.
Wamelink said the SHAB, composed of representatives from the different student governing bodies, as well as faculty members, was encouraged by the campus-wide initiative to go tobacco-free.
If the policy is enacted, students would be unable to enter any on-campus housing with items including, but not limited to bowls, pipes, bongs, hookahs, rolling papers, etc., said Daniel Skinner, a Student Housing Advisory Board (SHAB) member.
Drink your coffee.
"With the [tobacco-free initiative]," Wamelink said, "our student leaders have been invited to some preliminary conversation and we're thinking about what would it look like for KU Student Housing to go completely tobacco-free. Should we
JENNIFER WAMELINK Student Housing's associate director for student life
"We have had several fire alarm situations related to vapor. So ... we've been saying that we probably need to take the step of prohibiting cigarettes and vaping devices in Student Housing."
Skinner, who is also the president of ASHC, said most of the people he's spoken with don't have a problem with the ban on electronic cigarettes, but do take issue with the ban on tobacco paraphernalia.
Both policies are currently being discussed by residents of on-campus housing, especially within the residence organizations like the Association of University Residence Halls (AURH), All Scholarship Hall Council (ASHC), and the Jawhawk Towers Tenants Committee.
wait for the campus to do it, or should we go ahead and make that step? That's one of the conversations that we've been having."
Currently, the draft policy proposed by the tobacco-free initiative does not apply to Student Housing, said Ola Faucher, the director of human resources and a member of the tobacco-free steering committee. If the policy were to go into effect, all facilities operated by Student Housing would be exempt.
Sunny. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph.
"In terms of paraphernalia, most of the opinions I've been hearing, especially from students who live in the scholarship halls, is that they aren't very much in favor of banning the paraphernalia," said Skinner, a senior from Wichita. "Most of that is because a lot of people aren't sure that it's enforceable; a lot of them aren't sure that it's necessary."
Today's Weather
— Edited by Laura Kubicki
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HI: 36
L0: 25
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