THE UNIVERSITY OF DARRY KANSAN
MONDAY APRIL 13, 2009
MONDAY, APRIL 13, 2009
NEWS
3A
STUDENT SENATE
Envision vice presidential candidate files complaint
BY BRIANNE PFANNENSTIEL
bpfannenstiel@kansan.com
Alex Porte, vice presidential candidate for Envision, filed a complaint with the Student Senate elections commission on Sunday against United Students vice presidential candidate May Davis for tampering with the election process.
"Our complaint is, essentially, that May used her social and political position to exploit these two girls on the elections commission for information," said Porte, Great Falls, Va., junior.
Porte said he felt the violation
deserved expulsion from the election or a severe fine.
According to a written testimony submitted by the two members of the elections commission, Davis, Clay Center junior, approached them after a
Porte
hearing in which United Students received a $350 fine for failing to include the elections commission Web site on its campaign posters
The commissioners, Caitlin
Taylor and Courtney Bone, live in the same sorority house as Davis. They said in their testimonies that they received angry text messages from Davis after the elections commission ruled in favor of firing Uited Students. They said they had disludged information to Davis about the deliberations, which were supposed to be kept confidential.
"I do understand that divulging the initial information to Ms. Davis was wrong, but I do think that speaking to her one-on-one is an intimidating situation that I was unprepared for," Taylor said in her statement.
Both Taylor and Bone said Davis had approached them on sev-
teral occasions to speak with them about matters pertaining to the elections commission and to discuss the validity of the decision to fine United Students.
Davis
In his complaint, Porte said this amounted to an attempt by Davis to "intimidate and harass" the commissioners into providing her with information. He said this
would put her in violation of the elections code, which said an attempt to "influence the outcome of an election by means of harassment, intimidation, bribery or fraud" was punishable by fines or even expulsion from the election.
However, when informed of the allegations, Davis said she was unaware that she, or any member of United Students, had violated the elections code.
"I have absolutely no idea what they can be referring to that I could have pressured somebody into doing." Davis said. "I don't see why that's a violation of code for an elections commissioner to
say something about deliberations, but obviously anything that an elections commissioner would say would be their own violation of the code, not mine."
Alex Herman, elections commission chair and Hays second-year law student, said the hearing would likely take place Tuesday evening.
"It's unfortunate that it's going to be that late, but at least it will happen." Porte said.
The Student Senate elections will be held Wednesday and Thursday.
Edited by Jesse Trimble
JOBS
Kansan accepting applications until 20th
Fall Kansan positions are posted online at jobs.ku.edu
News positions available include: correspondent, sports writer, columnist, editorial writer, news designer, opinion designer, Jayplay designer, photographer, illustrator and cartoonist. Applications are due Monday, April 20 at midnight. Please e-mail Brenna Hawley at bhawley@kansan.com with any questions.
Advertising positions are available online as well. Please e-mail Lauren Bloodgood at lbloodgood@kansan.com with any questions.
-Brenna Hawley
CAMPUS Green Fair comes to University to inform
The Green Fair, the first of more than 20 sustainable-minded events leading up to Earth Day, April 22, begins at 10 a.m. and will go until 2 p.m.
The lawn of Stauffer-Flint Hall will be transformed today with booths and activities to get students to start thinking green.
Chelsea Mertz, Topeka junior, helped organize the event.
"We want it to be interactive and educational,"Mertz said.
Mertz said there would be about 30 booths on the lawn, all aimed at informing students about sustainability, local and organic food, alternative energy and eco-friendly goods. Westar Energy, Chevron, Lawrence Sustainability Network and CReSIS will be among the groups represented at the fair.
Mertz said she worked with Student Union Activities to add interactive activities such as canvas bag decorating, frisbee painting, a moonwalk, food giveaways and even a snow cone machine.
"We will have a biodiesel generator running energy for the boots, the snow cone machine and the moonwalk," Mertz said.
CRIME
Tyler Enders, Leawood sophomore, said the Green Fair would be a good way to kick off other sustainability efforts during the next two weeks.
Second man held for The Hawk drive-by shooting
A second Johnson County man appeared in court Friday charged with three counts of aggravated battery in connection with a drive-by shooting near The Hawk, 1340 Ohio St., that injured two KU students and one University of Chicago student March 26.
Derek Foster, 24, of Stilwell,
was arrested after Lawrence Police issued a warrant Thursday afternoon for
aggravated battery and assisting a felon. Foster's bond was set at $125,000, which the judge
upheld in the appearance Friday.
Foster
Foster requested that the amount be lowered because he was a full-time student and also needed to assist in caring for his father.
Amanda Thompson
Prosecutors said Foster was responsible for the shooting near 14th and Ohio streets because he "aided, abetted, advised or counselled" Joseph A. Muhammad, 22, of Overland Park. Foster was allegedly the driver in the drive-by shooting.
Muhammad was arrested in
connection with the shooting March 26 in Johnson County. He
also appeared in court Friday for a prescheduled preliminary hearing. At that hearing, Judge Michael Malone granted a pro
Muhammad
tion by the state to postpone the
Matt Lett, Salina senior, Alex Thies, Shawnee sophomore and Justin Lucas, 21, University of Chicago student, were injured in the shooting.
hearing until 2:30 p.m. April 24.
Foster's next appearance will be 2 p.m. on Wednesday. Both Muhammad and Foster remain in custody at the Douglas County Jail.
Alexandra Garry
Natural gas leak causes evacuation
Firefighters inspect a valve outside Malott Hall on Sunday night. Shortly before 9 p.m., fire trucks responded to a reported natural gas leak. A KUPD officer said that the building was evacuated and that people should leave the area.
Chance Dibben/KANSAN
MILITARY
Knights Out is first gay lesbian group for military
NEW YORK — As a cadet at the U.S. Military Academy, Dan Choi faced an ethical dilemma.
Yet as a gay man, Choi felt bound by the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy to be untruthful about who he was.
The academy's honor code was clear, beginning, "A cadet will not lie."
His announcement in mid-March was part of the launch of Knights Out, the first association representing gay and lesbian alumni of West Point. Already, it has at least 50 members who've publicly identified themselves on the group's Web site.
Last month, six years after his graduation and two years after serving in Iraq, Choi came out — even though her remains an infant officer in the Army National Guard.
Its stated mission is to advocate for repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" so that gays can serve openly in the military, and to help prepare the West Point community to be effective leaders after that policy change occurs.
Under the policy, which President Barack Obama says he wants to repeal after consultation with the Pentagon,the military does not ask recruits about their sexual orientation, while service members are banned from saying they are gay or engaging in homosexual activity.
"Forcing people to lie — it's absolutely a morally bankrupt idea," Choi said in a telephone interview from his home in Orange County, California.
The chair of Knights Out's board, Becky Kanis, has bitter memories of being investigated while at West Point on suspicion that she was a lesbian. She graduated in 1991 and served contentedly for nine years in the Signal
Kanis now lives in New York City, working for an institute that combats homelessness.
She believes the end of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" is imminent, and hopes Knights Out will be well positioned to serve after repeal as a resource on how the military can deal with gay/lesbian issues.
Associated Press
Corps, but said she eventually grew tired of the need to deceive
Early last semester, I began having problems with my car. It was making funny noises and the cruise control stopped working. I didn't know what to do. Normally my dad handled these things for me, but being an out-of-state student made that impossible now that I'm in college. I heard about Dora's Dorn from some friends and through the Kansan, so I decided to give them a call. I'm so glad I did! They were great. They were very nice and super understanding.
What students are saying about Dons
What impressed me most, was that they offered to my dad and consult with him every step of the way. Now, I always take my car to Don's
-Ally Nienhueser,
KU Sophmore from Nebraska
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