Volume 128 Issue 58
Monday, December 8, 2014
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
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Kansan.com | The student voice since 1904
DALTON KINGERYKANSAN
CarmaHop, a ridesharing service, officially launched in Lawrence over the weekend. The service gives Lawrence residents whiteboards so they can write their desired destination for passersby to recognize.
Ridesharing service hits Lawrence streets
DALTON KINGERY
@daltonkingnews
After nearly two years of research and development, the ridesharing project CarmaHop officially launched in Lawrence over the weekend. The project aims to bring Lawrence's own community ridesharing program into the mainstream, and the early results are promising — 36 riders have already signed up and completed rides, and so far, riders have had to wait about seven minutes before being picked up.
CarmaHop Director jenny O'Brien said she foresees the project becoming a
useful asset to University students, especially those who don't have cars and rely on public transportation or the University bus system.
"This is something that everyone can use, and that includes students," said O'Brien, who gave a TED talk about the project in August. "If you don't have a car and need to get to the other side of town, this makes it much easier to do that."
"I got a little dry-erase board and walked outside to hold it up on the side of the street," O'Brien said. "I told myself that I'd give it one hour, and if nobody picked me up then I would just move on and be done with the idea."
the side of the road.
Looking back over the past two years, O'Brien said that her friends had told her that the idea simply wouldn't work and that nobody would ever stop for random strangers holding destination signs on
It took less than five minutes for someone to come down the road and offer her a ride.
Research into the viability of the project began in the spring of 2012, and the project has gone through significant changes since then, with the name change from Lawrence OnBoard to CarmaHop
SEE HOP PAGE 2
Political groups prepare for legislative session
ALLISON KITE
@Allie_Kite
As students wrap up the semester, political organizations are already planning their programming for next semester. From membership development to tabling, educating students seems to be key in programming among multiple political student organizations next semester. Chief among several groups' goals is education.
COLLEGE REPUBLICANS
COLLEGE REPUBLICANS College Republicans, headed by President Morgan Anderson, is focusing on educating students in the group and reaching out to students to share ideas. Anderson, a sophomore from McPherson, said she believes students were able to see the importance of the political process in this year's unusually close race.
"They were able to see how critical votes are during this election," Anderson said. "While it ended up not being as close as we thought it was going to be on election day, polls even a couple days out had the governor's race neck-and-neck and the Senate race neck-and-neck. I think even if students weren't happy with the outcome, they were able to see that they do have an opportunity to get involved in the political process."
Anderson said College Republicans will educate through tabling and bring in people
to speak. However, because she is transferring to Wichita State University, much of the planning will be up to the new president, who will be elected this week.
YOUNG DEMOCRATS
Brittany Bodenheimer, a sophomore from Topeka and president of Young Democrats, said they too would focus on outreach, hoping to attract more students and get them involved in the political process. However, they will also place emphasis on equipping its current members with skills like campaigning, fundraising and advocating on an issue.
"I want to be catering to what students care about rather than just what the exec board thinks we should be pushing." Bodenheimer said.
She said the organization would pay close attention during the legislative session and advocate on behalf of students on issues that will affect them. A great deal of emphasis will be placed on the budget.
Like College Republicans, Young Democrats is looking for politically engaged students to join them. Bodenheimer expressed concern that student organizations as a whole are struggling to find members and keep them engaged.
"Even if Young Dems doesn't match up with your ideologies and your politics, just get involved in some facet because we're also wanting to partner a lot more with other organi-
izations," she said. "I think that the biggest issue that organizations in general are having right now — political or not — is just a lack of student involvement, so I would just encourage students to get involved with whatever fits best with their ideas and really grab on to something."
STUDENT LEGISLATIVE AWARENESS BOARD
The Student Legislative Awareness Board, a bi-partisan civic engagement group on campus, will likewise be paying close attention to the legislative session while also educating its members.
SLAB and the Future Majority, a fellow bipartisan group, will be attending Kansas Higher Education Day Feb. 10. Higher Education Day brings students from the Kansas Board of Regents universities and Washburn University together in Topeka to advocate for student interests. SLAB will be advocating for a tax exemption on textbook purchases, amnesty for those seeking medical attention while underage drinking and higher education funding.
University fails to respond to Ferguson protests
SLAB will continue to pursue those issues throughout the semester by paying close attention to the activities of the legislature, making students aware of the issues and voicing student concern to legislators, according to SLAB chair Will
SEE CLUBS PAGE 2
Students at the University have taken to Twitter to ask why the University hasn't released a statement about the protesting in nearby Ferguson, Mo.
With hashtags like #RacistHawk and #RockChalkInvisibleHawk, students took to Twitter to voice concerns with how the University has stayed silent about the racial tension in Ferguson and how the University handles minority students overall.
Mitchell Cota, a senior from Overland Park, said this is an issue that affects a lot of University students, and many are from the area where protests and unrest are taking place.
"They haven't said anything at all, and this is something that's affecting a significant portion of the population in a big way, a lot of students are from St. Louis, a lot of students of color are being put through the wringer right now," Cota said.
Cota, Student Senate chief of staff, said last year Senate released a report on the status of minorities at the University. He said the report shows concern over how the University's choice to raise admission standards may affect minority students.
Cota said the task force that compiled the report and sent it out to many within KU's administration and did not get a response.
Last week, student groups including the Black Student Union, organized several events on campus to protest the issues going on in Ferguson and discuss what was happening
with students.
"There was event after event, every day, Monday through Friday and there was not a word from administrators on campus and I feel that that shocked many students, it shocked me," said Cassie Osei, a senior from Shawnee.
Osei, who created the hashtag #RochChalkInvisibleHawk said it came out of her shock about the lack of University response.
Kansas State University president Kirk Schulz and Provost and Senior Vice President April Mason released a statement to students and encouraged them to engage in a positive discourse when it came to conversations involving race.
"The university family applauds recent efforts by the Black Student Union, Staley School of Leadership Studies and other groups to have a wide-ranging dialogue on racial tensions," the statement said. "Given recent national events, this thoughtful approach is a shining example of student and campus leadership. We encourage all students, faculty and staff to engage in conversation about how we can be respectful in our differences."
"In stark contrast to these positive efforts, another dialogue has been taking place behind the anonymity of social media. On these platforms, the dialogue has been base, racist and often hateful. This reflects poorly on the entire K-State family and even more poorly on the individuals who are making these posts. The K-State community is better than this and we expect more of ourselves," part of the message said.
University professor Zamir Bavel has appealed the decision of his sexual harassment case in 2011. The hearing is scheduled for Jan. 14.
Miranda Davis
CHANDLER BLANTON/KANSAN
Professor unhappy with University's handling of sexual harassment case
CHANDLER BLANTON
@ChandlerBlanton
After professor Zamir Bavel was accused of sexual harassment by one of his female students in May 2011, the University conducted a six-month investigation and found Bavel guilty. He was suspended for two weeks without pay, ordered to take sexual harassment training and denied a salary raise for the next year. Now, three and a half years later, Bavel said the claims are still affecting his life both personally and professionally.
Bavel, 85, has decided to go down fighting this decision. After originally being found guilty by KU, Bavel took his case to the Douglas County District Court, where the court sided with the University. In response to that decision, Bavel took his case to the Kansas Court of Appeals and is currently waiting for that court to make a ruling on whether the University handled his case fairly. His hearing is scheduled for Jan. 14.
The accuser, whose name was never released, claimed Bavel placed his arm around her shoulder and his hand on her knee as he helped her study material from his symbolic logic course at Perkins - a place where he has met with students to provide help for
Bavel also said he provided evidence that his hand was never on the accuser's knee. The two were sitting in a booth right next to the kitchen where the serving staff is often going in and out, and Bavel is well known by the staff because of how often he visits the restaurant. Bavel also cited the accuser's unusual behavior.
"One of the original charges was that I had my arm around the accuser's shoulder for half an hour," Bavel said. "I showed the dean evidence that I'm unable to do that for even five minutes because of arthritis in my shoulder."
"The accuser always sat across from me, but this time she asked to sit next to me," Bavel said. "The request seemed odd, but nevertheless I moved deeper into the booth to make room for her."
Whether KU made the right decision on the case, Bavel said there have been consequences in both his personal and professional life. When the Lawrence Journal-World recently published a story on the subject, Bavel's son, who lives in Lawrence, was asked about the accusations at work.
years. Bavel, however, said he provided sufficient evidence demonstrating these two charges were impossible.
about this."
"My son was shown the article at work, and obviously he was hurt by it," Bavel said. "There have been reactions
Aside from the accusations affecting his personal life, Bavel has also become slightly more cautious when it comes to meeting with students to help them outside of class, though he's tried to continue to provide as much assistance as possible.
1 still meet at Perkins with students between six and eight hours a week. I look at my students as my children or grandchildren, so my main goal is to help them."
While Bavel continues to be passionate about teaching at KU, he said decisions like these were typical of the University.
"Now, anytime a student asks to sit next in a booth, I'll refuse." Bavel said. "However,
CLASSIFIEDS 8 CRYPTOQUIPS 6 SPORTS 10
CROSSWORD 8 DPINION 4 SUODKU 6
"They [KU] will not admit
SEE PROFESSOR PAGE 2
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