Volume 128 Issue 2
Monday, August 25, 2014
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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Kansan.com | The student voice since 1904
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Elections Commission issues Senate re-election
MIRANDA DAVIS
@MirandaDavisUDK
The Student Senate executive staff — senior Morgan Said from Kansas City, Mo., senior Miranda Wagner from Shawnee, and their hired officers — have been removed from office.
Former student body vice president Emma Halling, a senior from Elkhart, Ind., is acting as interim student body president until new leadership is determined with a re-election.
In a decision released Friday.
the University Judicial Board Appeals Panel overrode the results of the current Student Senate election and required a re-election of Student Senate positions, including President Said and Vice President Wagner, in the coming weeks.
The Panel met Wednesday to hear an appeal that argued the results were distorted because all votes for Jayhawkers, whose members were disqualified in April, were not counted. The Panel agreed in its decision and determined the Elections Commission should hold a reelection.
"We conclude that the only reasonable reading of the Election Code is that, first, the election results were 'materially altered by a violation of the Code,' and, second, a new election is required," the Panel said in its decision, signed by chair Thomas Stacy and Panel members Michelle Ginavan Haves and Lisa Wolf-Wendel.
Halling said last year's student body president, Marcus Tetwiler from Paola, graduated in May and for that reason she has stepped into the role. She said last year's
chief of staff, law student Tyler Childress from Coffeyville, will resume his former position.
"I will say that we are complying with what's been mandated and will continue to have the student body's interests in mind,"
Halling said she plans to
meet with Childress and Rueben Perez, director of the Student Involvement Leadership Center, to clarify the exact course of action moving forward based on Student Senate Rules and Regulations.
MORGAN SAID Former student body president
Said said she is confident in Halling's ability to lead the student body until a new president is elected.
"I will say that we are complying with what's been mandated and will continue to have the student body's interests in mind," Said said.
The Elections Commission
will also meet this week to set parameters for the upcoming Student Senate reelection, according to Mark Pacey, a graduate student from Manhattan and the acting chair of the Elections Commission. They will have to decide who is allowed to participate in the re-election.
Pacey said the Commission, previously led by Jake Rapp, a graduate student from Lawrence, has not yet met and does not have a date set for the election. He said he hopes to
THE RED ZONE
Campus administrators caution freshmen of the dangers of sexual assault
SEE SENATE PAGE 2
AMBER VANDEGRIFT
@AmberVandegrift
Reports of sexual assault at the University increase during a span of time called "The Red Zone," said Jane McQueeny, executive director of the Office of Institutional Opportunity and Access at the University.
She said this summer there were about two or three complaints of sexual assault on campus. In past years, McQueeny said when the year begins in the fall, there are an average of three complaints every week.
The New York Times defines The Red Zone as "a period of vulnerability for sexual assaults, beginning when freshmen first walk onto campus until Thanksgiving break."
"The Red Zone presents a more challenging time for students because it is a perfect storm in many ways," McQueeny said. "Students may be away from home for the first time. For some students they are just now learning about drinking or drinking with no parental supervision. Students may be more susceptible to peer pressure and feel less sure of themselves.New students are in unfamiliar surroundings and may be not familiar with resources."
Katherine Gwynn, a senior from Olathe and president of Students United for Reproductive and Gender Equity, said it makes sense that there are more sexual assaults during the Red Zone than the rest of the school year.
“[Freshmen are] being thrown in with a lot of people for the first time... being able to have pretty easy access to alcohol and to partying and they're uninformed about what consent is,” Gwynn said. “And then they're going out and having sex, or what they think is consensual sex without really realizing that it's not. They don't realize that if you're really, really drunk you can't consent to sex ... They've never learned that ... not saying no doesn't mean
that they're... actually saying yes."
McQueeny said some students simply have the attitude that sexual assault will not happen to them, so they do not take the necessary precautions. However, she acknowledges that to prevent sexual assault, consent awareness needs to be discussed among students with more weight.
"There needs to be greater dialogue on consent and what it looks like," McQueeny said. "Knowing, voluntary and active yes is consent. Incapacity is not consent and if you engage in sexual contact with someone who is incapacitated you have committed a sexual assault." Rachel Gadd-Nelson the director of community engagement at GaDuGi SafeCenter, a sexual violence support center for Douglas, Jefferson and Franklin counties, said it is up to students to talk to each other about consent.
"We all have a responsibility and a right to have open communication about consent in our personal or sexual relationships," Gadd-Nelson said. "We don't know about our own definition of consent or of our partner/ date/friend's definition of consent unless we talk about it."
Campus Assault Resources and Education defines consent as "positive cooperation involving an act of free will, absence of coercion, intimidation, force, or the threat of force."
"There needs to be greater dialogue on consent and what it looks like."
JANE MCQUEENY Executive director of the Office of Institutional Opportunity and Access
McQueeny said fully understanding consent is essential in preventing assault, not only during The Red Zone, but throughout the year.
"Steps students can take to prevent sexual assault [are] to understand and communicate about consent and what they are comfortable doing sexually," McQueeny said. "[Wait] to make sure you understand you have consent and that your partner is actually willing to engage in sexual activity with you."
Gadd-Nelson said in addition to discussing consent, sexual assault awareness needs to address "perpetrator-focused" education.
"It should not be the potential victim's responsibility to prevent sexual assault," Gadd-Nelson said. "A lot of these victim-blaming messages are targeted towards women in our society and we [GaDuGi SafeCenter] work hard to destroy the myths and stereotypes that surround sexual violence issues."
Gwynn said simply focusing on potential victims when trying to prevent sexual assault is not as effective.
"Usually we teach [sexual assault prevention] from a way of 'OK, try to not get yourself sexually assaulted,' and that's usually the way that so much sexual assault prevention has gone in the past, ... which is ... like you know, giving someone a fish instead of teaching them how to fish, like you're not actually stopping the source of the problem," Gwynn said.
McQueeny acknowledges that alcohol is a contributing factor in sexual assault. She said about 75 percent of sexual assault reports on campus involve alcohol, and knowing how to handle alcohol can prevent assault.
"Students need to understand responsible drinking," McQueeny said. "Know what you are drinking and who poured it. Pace yourself; drink water between drinks."
McQueeny said alcohol can also negatively affect the understanding of consent and clarity of communication.
"Drinking can muddle communications," McQueeny said. "The law and University policy is very clear, there can
ON CAMPUS:
5 sexual offenses (forcible) in 2010
2 sexual offenses (forcible) in 2011
3 sexual offenses (forcible) in 2012
OF THE ABOVE, THE FOLLOWING OFFENCES TOOK PLACE IN ON-CAMPUS HOUSING:
2 sexual offenses (forcible) in 2010
1 sexual offenses (forcible) in 2011
2 sexual offenses (forcible) in 2012
— ope.ed.gov
What to do if sexually assaulted or harassed, according to the University website:
— Call 911
— Call KU Public Safety at 785-864-5900
— Call Emily Taylor Women's Resource Center 785-864-3552
FOR COUNSELING AND PSYCHOLOGICAL SERVICES: Call 785-864-2277
FOR AN EMERGENCY:
be no consent if the party is incapacitated. Students need to recognize and understand what incapacity looks like and to make sure they are not engaging in sexual contact with someone who is incapacitated. Students need to intervene if they see someone trying to take advantage of someone who is incapacitated."
Gwynn said the University is making progress in educating students about sexual assault, but that "all universities could be doing more."
All universities need to listen to students themselves on how to best provide prevention and consent-based education on sexual assault to students, and keep our communities safe," Gwynn said. "The Title IX Committee has started to bridge the
"I wouldn't say I remember too much, just because it seemed kind of like common sense to me, but it was a year ago, so it's been a while," Stuke said.
Gwynn said in past years, the University has provided a mandatory online course for students to educate themselves on sexual harassment and assault. However, Gwynn said the University has not provided consequences for students not taking the course. Because of this, she said it's not as effective as it could be.
remember a lot of what it addressed.
gap between students and administration, but more needs to be done, as there is always need for more when it comes to an issue as embedded and complicated as sexual assault. Students need to be the most prominent voice when it comes to our own safety and needs."
The University and other campus partners are continually making efforts to prevent sexual assault, including the online sexual harassment course, training students and staff. Sexual Assault Awareness Week (April 7-11), consent campaigns and the Jayhawk Buddy System, as well as community organizations like GaDuGi.
Luke Stuke, a sophomore from Topeka, said he took the sexual harassment online course, but he does not
Edited by Benjamin Carroll
Index
CRYPTOQUIPS ##
OPINION 4
CLASSIFIEDS 12
CROSSWORD ##
SPORTS 14
SUDOKU ##
All contents, unless stated otherwise, © 2014 The University Daily Kansan
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