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Monday, March 16, 1998
The University Daily Kansan
Section A • Page 9
Jailed teacher pregnant again
The Associated Press
DES MOINES, Wash. — A former teacher imprisoned for having a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old boy, is pregnant for the second time.
Mary Kay Letourneau, 36, is about six weeks pregnant, attorney David Gherek told reporters at his suburban Seattle home. Gherek said that Letourneau did not tell him who the father was.
"I didn't ask her and she didn't volunteer to tell me," Gehrke said.
But Gehrke said the father likely was the 14-year-old boy she considers the love of her life. And if that is the case, he said, she could face new criminal charges.
Gehrke said Letourneau, who has five children, told him the father is aware of the pregnancy.
Letourneau is serving 7 1/2 years in prison for her sexual relationship with the boy. Their daughter was born last year.
Letourneau received a suspended sentence in January after pleading guilty to second-degree rape. But she was imprisoned in February after she and the boy were found together in a car.
The boy told a counselor that he and Ms. Letourneau had sex before she went to jail.
Letourneau has had several miscarriages and her lawyer said she did not want her pregnancy to be disclosed until she had passed the first trimester.
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported her pregnancy Saturday, citing sources who said Letourneau underwent a sonogram Wednesday at the Women's Correctional Center. The sonogram showed a fetal heartbeat.
Letourneau is worried about her future and her pregnancy, Gehrke said.
"She's concerned about how this will lay on her future, her children, her image," he said. "It's another blow to everyone."
Telephone calls to the boy's lawyer were not returned. Prison officials also did not return calls.
Letourneau's husband has filed for divorce and moved to Alaska with their four children.
The boy's mother has custody of his and Letourneau's 9-month-old daughter.
Students socially enjoy unique language
Manon Heesen, Dutch instructor from Utrecht, Holland, serves pancakes for the KU Dutch Club Sunday. Hessen and students congregate every three weeks to socialize and plan activities. Photo by Sean Hailey/KANSAN
Members of the University of Kansas Dutch Club gathered yesterday to socialize, eat pancakes and — what else? — speak Dutch.
By Emily C. Forsyth
eforsyth@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
The Dutch Club meets every three weeks to practice speaking in a social atmosphere, talk about the culture, watch movies and eat Dutch food. The club has been in existence since Fall 1995.
Five students and the instructor of the University's Dutch program, Manon Heesen, Utrecht, Holland, graduate student, attended yesterday's meeting.
nose who attended said that they enjoyed studying Dutch because it was a unique language. the classes were small and it was fun.
Todd Johnson, Hutchinson junior, said he enjoyed participating in club activities and learning more about Holland.
"It is a really small country, but it has a really vibrant culture from pancakes to art." Johnson said. "Manon has put a big emphasis on the culture and learning about the people and their ways."
Catherine Weis, Groves, Mo., junior, said that the club was an important part of the class because the nature of the Dutch language was social.
"It's easier to speak Dutch on a more social level than learning it in a book." Weis said.
Students in Heesen's classes not only get a good dose of Dutch culture but also receive a
high rate of individual attention. Heesen teaches elementary, intermediate and independent study classes and has a total of 12 students in all three classes.
Scott Kuschmider, Olathe senior, said that the class size played a big part in his decision to study Dutch.
"I studied Spanish in high school, but it was always an environment of 25 to 30 people," Kuschmider said. "For me, that environment was too big to learn a language in."
Weis said that she began studying Dutch because she wanted more human interaction and because it was a distinct language.
"It was original," Weis said. "It wasn't something that everyone else was taking."
Heesen said that people also took the class because they had Dutch ancestors or a Dutch surname and wanted to learn more about the Germanic language.
Heesen, who came to the University last fall from Holland, will continue teaching through next Spring as part of an internship at Utrecht University. She tries to expose her students to the Dutch culture every chance she gets.
Yesterday, Heesen prepared Dutch pancakes for students. Dutch pancakes usually are eaten for dinner, and they are eaten with a Dutch syrup called stroop, Heesen said.
Heesen said that she tried to incorporate lessons about Holland's culture into her classes in addition to language skills.
"I sort of assume that those people who take Dutch do that at least partly because they're interested in the culture," Heesen said.
Phone charges slam students
By Jeremy M. Doherty
jdoherty@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Slamming and cramming, charging for a telephone company's services and products without authorization are on the rise.
An unapproved change of a telecommunications provider is known as slamming. Cramming refers to an unauthorized charge on products such as phone cards and Caller ID.
College students are particularly vulnerable to heavy charges for services they did not request, said Barbara Wilkinson, director of consumer marketing for Southwestern Bell Telephone Co.
"Typically, college students live in shared housing and on a shared phone line," Wilkinson said. "Potentially, there's a shared responsibility in handling the household expenses."
Wilkinson said students often bring about the high costs.
"In some circumstances, someone may have called and responded to an offer for a calling card or a rate on a long distance card." Wilkinson said.
Slamming charges often are related to home Internet service and calling cards, Wilkinson said.
According to figures released last month by Southwestern Bell, the company responded to nearly 558,000 slamming complaints throughout 1997 from customers in Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Texas. About 28,000 complaints came from customers in Kansas.
Figures on cramming are incomplete.
"Cramming is relatively new," she said. "We started seeing increases in it late last year."
AVOIDING SCAMS
For a free "Hang Up on Slamming" brochure
http://www.swbell.com
1-800-814-8448.
Editham Velez, Southwestern Bell representative, said students are easy targets for companies who put heavy fines on customers.
"He didn't know what they were offering to him," Haas said. "You've got to really listen to what they say and the way they word it. They know what they're doing."
Jeff Haas, Overland Park senior, said he splits his monthly bills with three roommates, one of whom fell victim to a scam.
Wilkinson said she did not know how many of the 558,000 complaints came from college students.
Cookie crook strikes out, might serve life sentence
The Associated Press
SANTA ANA, Calif. — A man who stole four chocolate chip cookies from a restaurant must serve 28 years to life in prison under California's "three strikes" law.
Judge Jean Rheinheimer refused Friday to reduce the sentence given in 1995 to Kevin Weber, previously convicted of a burglary and assault with a firearm.
"I just see no reason to say Mr. Weber is anything other than the three-strikes defendant the people and the Legislature had in mind when they enacted this law," the judge said.
Three-strikes laws mandate tough punishments after a third conviction. Weber, 34, is one of dozens whose three-strike sentences were re-evaluated following a 1996 Supreme Court decision giving judges flexibility in sentencing.
Prosecutor James Hicks said Weber, who fled the scene after an incident occurred near a life science company stealing only cookies.
"If we wouldn't have had an audible alarm, we probably would have found money stuffed in his pockets," Hicks said.
Weber's attorney argued for leniency, pointing out the crime itself carries a maximum three-year sentence.