Volume 128 Issue ##
Monday, January 26, 2015
Kansan.com
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
The student voice since 1904
FILM REVIEW
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ANNA WENNER//KANSAN
ANNA WENNER//KANSAN
THANKS, OBAMA
President Barack Obama waves to the crowd in Anschutz Sports Pavilion on Thursday, Jan. 22, during his visit to the University.
President Barack Obama speaks to a crowd of more than 6,000 on Thursday.
President talks Kansas, child care and community college in Thursday's speech
RILEY MORTENSEN
@RileyMortensen
From the front of the presidential stage to the back of the Anschutz Sports Pavilion, audience members waited patiently and erupted into a plause at the chance to finally see what many described as a "once in a lifetime" opportunity.
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
Introducing the president was senior Alyssa Cole from Garden City, Cole, a history and African-American studies major and single mother of three, wrote to President Obama in 2013. Cole wrote about issues surrounding affordable child care, education and the struggle between the two.
President Barack Obama visited the University on Thursday, Jan. 22, and was greeted by a crowd of more than 6,000 as he took to the podium saying, "It's good to be at KU," in his opening remarks.
"Education has maintained such an important role in my life and during that point in time I was almost forced to make the choice between obtaining an education, working or taking care of my children," Cole said. "I wrote the letter because I did not want to make the choice between the three."
Following Cole's introduction, Obama joked that while he was here for other business, he did take a moment to spend some time with coach Bill Self and the men's basketball team. He also thanked Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little and Lawrence Mayor Mike Amyx. He mentioned Bob Dole and the Dole Center for Politics, which he said he would be
proud of, too.
"This country provided universal child care because they understood that if women are working, they're going to need some help, right?" Obama said. "Research shows that it was good for the kids, good for the parents, but we stopped doing that."
Before diving into the themes of his speech, President Obama mentioned his deep roots in Kansas.
some hard times, but we've laid a new foundation, Jayhawks," Obama said. "We've got a new future to write. The young people here are going to write a new future for America. Let's get started right now."
"I'm a Kansas guy," Obama said. His mother was born in Wichita, his grandmother grew up in Augusta and his grandfather was from El Dorado.
"So we've made it through
"We've got a new future to write. The young people here are going to write a new future for America. Let's get started right now."
Obama transitioned to the issues at hand when he pointed out all the high notes for the year to kick off on including our economy creating jobs at the fastest rate since 1999, shrinking deficits and our troops coming home.
_BARACK OBAMA
President of the United States
He ended on a note of solidarity as a nation, saying we will disagree but that doesn't mean we have to be divided. We all share a common vision for our future, he said
Reactions to the speech were overwhelmingly positive and most people were happy for the opportunity to see a sitting president.
Obama's topics for the remainder of the speech focused largely on elements he touched on during the State of the Union on Tuesday night. He elaborated on middle class economics and how to make it work in our country as well as his ideas on free community college and increasing the competitiveness of our markets.
He also reiterated equal pay for women and men, which crowds roared over, and he made the idea of assistance with child care more personal by telling the story of his grandparents.
SEE OBAMA PAGE 2
Student volunteers humbled by rare opportunity to work presidential event
Surrounded by Secret Service agents and police officers last Thursday, Michael Garrett, a senior from Lenexa, knew this was not going to be an average day.
ALANA FLINN
As students, faculty and citizens from across Kansas filtered into the Anschutz Sports
@alana_flinn
cause of their experience with presidential events.
Amidst all of the chaos of the president being in Lawrence, Garrett feels privileged to have been able to volunteer for the event.
For Student Body Vice President Miranda Wagner, a senior from Shawnee, volunteering at an Obama event is not a new experience. In July, she assisted with Obama's speech at the Uptown Theater in Kansas City, Mo. However, she said
Pavilion, Garrett, a volunteer for the event, escorted patrons with disabilities inside.
"Where I was standing was where a lot of Secret Service were standing, which is really cool because you don't get to do
SEE VOLUNTEER PAGE 2
that every day," Garrett said. "It was awesome to see the whole operation of the police, White House staff and Secret Service and how they ran things."
Volunteers were chosen for various reasons. Most were selected because of their involvement with Union Programs, which was the group in charge of organizing the event. Others were asked to volunteer be-
Sexual assault task force,IOA review progress
TIM MCGINNIS
@tim_mcginnis
The University's sexual assault task force is continuing its effort to combat the prevalence of sexual assault on campus. In a meeting Friday, the task force talked with Jane McQueeny, executive director of Institutional Opportunity and Access, about the progress that has been made in the prevention and handling of sexual assault at the University.
"The dialogue on campus about sexual assault has been great," McQueeny said. "The task force has done a great job of creating awareness."
McQueeny briefed the task force on the investigation process that occurs after a sexual assault case is filed, as well as the training programs IOA conducts. McQueeny said IOA is working with multiple campus organizations and the Lawrence Police Department to create a better plan for preventing assault.
IOA received 168 sexual assault complaints in 2014, which is more than double the amount they received in 2012. McQueeny said the increase in awareness and activism has prompted more people to report sexual assault.
Of the 168 complaints that were reported, about 40 percent of them have been fully investigated. McQueeny said IOA will investigate all of the reports, but it will take time. IOA has four investigators who handle sexual assault cases, which she said can make it difficult to review the increased amount of complaints. The average investigation takes about 132 hours and cooperation from the victims is sometimes difficult to receive, McQueeny said.
"These are challenging cases that seriously affect peoples' lives," McQueen said. "Our job is to guarantee equal access to education for all students, and that involves handling sexual assault."
McQueeny said the majority of sexual assault cases are brought forward by student housing, but there are many more that are not reported. To fix this issue, IOA is currently working with the Lawrence Police Department to create a memorandum of understanding, which would give IOA access to sexual assault cases that were reported to the police.
The task force, created in November, will use McQueeny's information in the final report it will give to Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little on April 24. Gray-Little said the task force was constructed "to recommend how the University can better prevent and respond to sexual assaults."
"We are trying to open as many lines of communication as we can." McOueenv said.
The task force is also working with GaDuGi SafeCenter, an organization that helps victims of assault, and The Willow Domestic Violence Center in order to learn more about how to handle sexual assault cases. The center also want to reach students who aren't engaged and encourage people to come forward about instances of sexual assault.
Angela Murphy, co-chair of the task force, said she wants the University to be the leader in sexual assault prevention, and she thinks other Kansas schools will follow its lead.
Murphy is currently working with Student Senate to create a policy that would allow the University to add a note to the transcript of any student that is found guilty of sexual assault. This mark would allow other universities to see that a certain student was suspended or expelled for a sexual assault violation.
"I really do feel like with the University's support we are making a real difference on the campus," Murphy said.
Edited by Kayla Schartz
Suspect still sought in Jayhawker Towers arson
Around 7:20 p.m. on Friday, the KU Public Safety Office received a call about smoke in one of the Jayhawker Towers buildings. Sgt. John Dietz of KU PSO said officers found that somebody had burned newspapers, causing a small fire in the sixth floor stairwell in tower
A. Dietz said there was no damage besides the burnt newspapers. Dietz said the investigation is continuing and the police are still trying to figure out exactly when the fire began. Anyone with any information on this crime should call the KU Public Safety Office at 785-864-5900.
— Ryan Miller
Man convicted in accident that cost student his legs
A former KU student who was charged in an accident that cost another KU student his legs has been sentenced to three years in jail, according to the Douglas County District Attorney's Office.
Julian Kuszmaul was convicted on charges stemming from the Aug. 26, 2012, accident: a second-offense DUI, possession of marijuana and refusing to submit to drug or alcohol testing.
Kuszmaul is ordered to pay
At around 1:30 a.m.
Aug. 26, 2012, officers responded to the accident, where Kuszmaul's vehicle hit another car and pinned KU student Colby Liston between the cars.
After the accident, Liston,
a sophomore from Derby, had
to have both legs amputated.
Kuszmaul had a blood alcohol
level of 0.25.
CLASSIFIED 9 CRYPTOQUIPS 6 SPORTS 10
CROSSWORD 6 OPINION 4 SUDOKU 6
Kuszmaul's attorney was unavailable for comment at the time of publication.
$2,500 in fines as well the
$400 Kansas Bureau of Invest-
igation lab fee.
Check back with Kansan.com for updates on this story.
Domino's has $2.99 one-topping medium pizzas with valid KU student ID.
All contents, unless stated otherwise. © 2015 The University Daily Kansan
Kansan staff
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