THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY, MARCH 26, 2012
PAGE 7A
RESCUE
Band, spirit squad save trapped man
KATHLEEN GIER kgier@kansan.com
Little Rock, Ark. - The Kansas women's basketball band and spirit squad not only perform at games, but they also save lives.
Around 5:15 p.m. on March 18 before the women's basketball game, a group of nine young men from the band and spirit squad saw a man under a car with only his legs and waist exposed. They quickly concluded that he was trapped after a jack flipped and the car fell on top of him. They grabbed the car and lifted it up so the man could slide out.
ASHLEIGH LEE/KANSAN
Alex O'Nelio, a senior from
Pittsburgh and a member of the spirit squad, was one of the first to notice the man.
"It took us a second to realize what was going on," O'Nelio said. "A few of us realized that there was a car on top of a guy, so we just ran over."
When he emerged, he was smeared with blood and grease but stood up and thanked them. When the band and spirit squad saw that he was fine, they boarded the bus and continued to the game.
Senior spirit squad member Alex O'Nelio goes into detail about how he and other members of the spirit squad and band helped save a man's life after a car collapsed on top of him. Nine other students were at the media press conference where they were able to tell the full story to local television stations.
The men still don't know the identity of the man, but they said they hope he is doing well.
Edited by Taylor Lewis
STATE
Military school faces claims of abuse
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WICHITA — A California boy attends only four days at a Kansas military boarding school where he is tormented by staff and students after breaking both his legs in separate incidents. A Tennessee student's stomach is forcibly branded as a rite of initiation. A Florida cadet breaks his hand fending off a student with a history of sexual abuse who tries to grope him, and school officials refuse to investigate or inform his parents of the attack.
These claims are the latest additions to a growing list of former cadets who allege in a federal lawsuit they were abused at St. John's Military School in Salina, Kan. An amended complaint filed Friday in federal court in Kansas City, Kan., now includes six sets of named parents who have filed on behalf of cadets, plus one ex-cadet who is now an adult. The plaintiffs come from California, Florida, Tennessee, Colorado, Texas and Illinois.
The Episcopal boarding school, which charges families nearly $30,000 per year for students enrolled in grades 6-12, draws students from across the nation.
Two new defendants are named in the revised lawsuit: The Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America and the Episcopal Diocese of Western Kansas, entities which the suit says created the school.
"The parents of these kids don't want any other kids to suffer the way their kids did," said Dan Zmijewski, one of the plaintiffs' attorneys.
Their lawsuit, which was initially filed March 5, contends that the school allows and encourages older students to physically, mentally, emotionally and sexually abuse young students. According to court filings, the legal action purports to chronicle a "dangerous and disturbing culture at a boy's military school which must end."
St. John's has settled nine previous abuse-related lawsuits filed since 2006, court records show.
Amid widening media coverage of the latest lawsuit, more parents and cadets are coming forward with stories of abuse, Zmijewski said.
"It is just more kids who suffered extreme abuse at the hands of students while staff is watching — and
is more indicative of what is going on there," he said.
Derek Johannsen, an attorney for St. John's, sent an email statement Saturday on the school's behalf. In it, he said the school denies the existence of a culture of abuse, and pointed out that St. John's has a 120-year history of helping young men develop skills in a safe environment.
"(The school's objective is to provide a rigorous academic environment, opportunity for religious introspection and a structured campus life to help
develop young men with the highest degree of self-discipline and self-confidence," the statement read.
Johannsen also wrote that some of the allegations in the lawsuit were investigated by law enforcement and no charges were filed. He said a formal response to the amended complaint will be filed soon.
In a separate settlement last year, the school argued it had made
reasonable efforts to curb abuses, noting military schools nationwide have a problem with hazing. St. John's installed surveillance cameras in the hallways and instituted weekly bruise checks.
"The parents of these kids don't want any other kids to suffer the way their kids did."
The new filing includes as an exhibit the California boy's X-ray, showing abuse so severe that the right femur bone was displaced
DAN ZMJEWSKI
Plaintiffs' attorney
several inches above the knee. Also included in the court filing is a photograph that had been posted on Facebook depicting a uniformed cadet from Texas gagged, blindfolded and bound with black duct tape.
Other allegations come from a Texas boy who was urinated on by other students in the shower, a Colorado student who was beaten in a van in front of a faculty member after trying to hitchhike home to escape earlier abuse and an Illinois cadet who suffered a fractured eye socket after being kneed in the head.
MILITARY
Emerging details reveal Bales' financial troubles
SEATTLE — Military families aren't surprised when they hear about the financial struggles that Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, his wife and children faced at home. It's part of their lives, too.
They say money problems can never justify doing what the military says Bales did: kill 17 civilians in a nighttime shooting rampage through two Afghan villages on March 11. Still, the details emerging about his life served as a prominent reminder of the hardship they have endured over a decade of two wars.
Court records and interviews showed that he joined the military 11 years ago after a Florida investment went sour. He had a Seattle-area home condemned, struggled to make payments on another and failed to get a promotion a year ago. His wife has had two, one-year jobs since leaving Washington Mutual four years ago.
Last year, Mealey connected nearly 300 military families just like the Bales family with another 300 "angels" willing to help them pay a few bills or send a gift card. He said he answers calls and emails every week from military families who are having problems negotiating base life.
His wife put their Lake Tapps, Wash. home up for sale days before the rampage. They bought it home in 2005, records show, for $280,000. They listed it for $229,000.
Associated Press
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ASSOCIATED PRESS
WILDLIFE
Crossbows approved as hunting weapon
(BONUS QUESTION)
Mallott, Murphy, Spencer, Haworth, Carruth and Templin were all members of which single KU Fraternity?
WICHITA — State wildlife officials have expanded regulations to allow hunters to use crossbows to take down big game in Kansas, though the change won't take effect until this fall.
The change will make it legal for hunters 55 and older and those with a youth big game permit to use crossbows during archery big game and turkey seasons.
The change was approved Thursday by the Kansas Wildlife, Park and Tourism Commission, The Wichita Eagle reports.
Crossbows have long been legal in Kansas for those physically unable to hunt with traditional archery equipment. But in several other states, they are currently legal for all sportsmen.
Chris Tymeson, a commission attorney, said the regulation would not be in place before the opening of archery turkey season on April 1, but it would be for fall seasons for antelope, deer and elk hunting.
preferred to change Kansas' regulations rather than allow the Legislature to expand the rules.
Wildlife officials said they
"I think some may have underestimated the momentum of crossbows in this area," said Gerald Lauber, commission chairman. "I'd rather control our own destiny."
Tymeson said two bills legalizing crossbows for hunters of all ages were progressing through the Legislature, though supporters seemed willing to let the commission take the lead. However, legislators still could act on the legislation even with the commission's action, he said.
Commissioners voted 7-0 to approve the change. There were requests to not include youth permits, which are sold to hunters age 15 or younger. Although they liked the idea of getting more youth interested in hunting, those opponents said they feared a push would be made for youth to keep using crossbows once they outgrew the regulation.
Can you name all the buildings on the KU campus named for KU fraternity men and KU sorority women?