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KANSAN.COM/NEWS | THURSDAY, APRIL 28, 2016
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66045
The University Daily Kansan is the student newspaper of the University of Kansas. The first copy is paid through the student activity fee. Additional copies of The Kansan are 50 cents. Subscriptions can be purchased at the Kansan business office, 2051 A Dole Human Development Center, 1000 Sunnyside Avenue, Lawrence, KS.,
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Memories and memories during the academic year except fall break, spring break and exams. It is published weekly during the summer session excluding holidays. Annual subscriptions by mail are $250 plus tax. Send address changes to The University Daily Kansan, 2051 A Dale Human Development Center, 1000 Sunnside Avenue
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KU's Project for Innocence helps bring justice to wrongfully-convicted man
▶ MATT OSTROWSKI
@matt01233
After spending a night at the Towne-Place Suites in downtown Lawrence, Floyd Bledsoe walked to the lobby for coffee.
The desk clerk looked up from his newspaper when Bledsoe entered the lobby. His eyes darted from the newspaper, to the television screen, and back to Bledsoe.
"Can I ask you a personal question? Is that you?" the clerk asked, pointing to the television.
That December 2015 morning was Bledsoe's first day of his new life. The previous day, he had been released from prison after being sentenced to life in 2000. Bledsoe's case was all over the newspapers and televisions.
He was convicted in 2000 for the murder of his 14-year-old, sister-in-law, Camille Arfmann. She was raped, shot, and had her body left in the family trash
Other than a brief ninemonth period from 2008 to 2009, Bledsoe spent the better part of 15 years serving a life sentence for that crime — which he didn't commit.
dump.
In December 2015, Bledsoe was freed with the assistance of the University's Project for Innocence, a law school program that specializes in post-conviction litigation. Earlier this month, three professors accepted the Sean O'Brien Award for outstanding work on this case.
The project receives about 200 letters a year requesting its assistance. Alice Craig, a Project for Innocence staff attorney, said the team opens about 100 cases per year, and currently they have 12 open.
After his release, Bledsoe soon learned that being free still had a price. He had no identification, no wallet, no money no clothes and nowhere to turn. When he finally released, the
Project for Innocence lawyers and law students were the ones he could rely on for everyday life questions.
"They were constantly checking on me, and talking with me and calling me to make sure every thing's all right," Bledsoe said. "Whenever I had a question, or burned eggs, they would so lovingly make fun of me and help me through it."
The beginning
University law professor Paul Wilson founded the Project for Innocence in 1965. Now, it exists as an opportunity for University law students to gain real experience in conviction reversals, having won 28 cases since 2009.
Contributed Photo Floyd Bledsoe after being released from prison, where he served nearly 17 years for a crime he didn't commit.
The Project for Innocence first became involved in the Bledsoe case in 2004. Bledsoe had just lost his direct appeal at the state level, and was about to begin state post-conviction, which happens after a di
SEE PROJECT PAGE 3
MSG FROM PAGE 1
Joe Monaco, spokesperson for the Chancellor's office, said in an email Tuesday that the Chancellor has received the Student Senate's budget proposal, but no action has been taken.
Gabby Naylor, the recently elected Student Body Vice President for the 2016-17 year as a part of the OneKU coalition, said regardless of the outcome of the Chancellor's decision, she, Student Body President-Elect Stephonn Alcorn and the rest of the coalition, will continue to support MSG.
"We are committed to finding ways to represent multicultural students, no matter what happens," Naylor said.
Richardson said the board plans to meet May 18. Universities typically present their budget proposals at the meeting. However, that day is a "floating deadline" and there is no guarantee budgets will be discussed if the
legislature is still in session, Richardson said.
Richardson said tuition proposals would be postponed if the legislature were still in session because the Regents would still be waiting to see the state budget, so allocation of funds would be difficult.
She said it is typical for Universities to submit budgets about two weeks prior to the meeting. The first reading would take place at the May 18 meeting, and a final vote would take place in June.
Although some details about MSG are up in the air, its leaders have gone forward with meetings and plan to begin in the fall semester.
At MSG's first community forum on April 14, leader and advocate for the group Katherine Rainey said the MSG will work in a similar way to Student Senate. For example, it would include executive officers and senators, but the two entities would be separate.
ate the way that a student government would, but with our new spin and our specific purpose and our specific goals," Rainey said during the meeting. "I think the notion of centerering multicultural students is just so different."
"We're going to oper-
committed to finding ways to represent multicultural students, no matter what happens."
She added: "It's literally never been done before, so by nature it's going to be different, and it's going to be set apart."
Part of the approval of the MSG was the agreement that the dispersal of the Multicultural Education Fund, or MEF, would be up to the discretion of the MSG. Naylor said she does not expect the two entities to be isolated.
"I definitely anticipate a lot of collaboration, especially with [Multicultural Education Fund]," Naylor said. "I think they can go through MSG, and I also see those groups still being able to come through Student Senate and get that money that they deserve as well."
At the forum, Rainey said she expects MSG and senate's relationship to be driven by a common goal: To provide for students at the University.
"Understanding that there are going to be differences," she said. "And there are going to be disagreements, and there are going to be times where we're going to be frustrated."
Right now, plans for the MSG are in the beginning stages. Rainey said
ADA FROM PAGE1
She said when she first came to campus, she learned there were many resources that weren't widely publicized.
"Of course everybody points you to the AAAC, which is resource number one. But there are other parts to having a disability than just the classroom," she said. "If you're in the classroom or on campus or out in the community, you still have to deal with a disability."
Marcinkowski said her experience as an independent living specialist helping people in several Kansas counties live at home with disabilities helped establish what resources needed to be available on the site.
Some of the resources available on the website include the Kansas Commission on Disability Concerns and Alphapointe, which services vision/low vision. Part of bringing these resources together is helping members of the University community with disabilities that come not only from Lawrence and
"After two years working in the field, I was able to pull together all of these different resources to cover all different aspects of life with a disability — not just for students, but for the KU community as a whole," Marcinkowski said.
Kansas, but from around the country and the world as well.
"We've filmed some brief videos of faculty, staff and students using the Hawk Route," Johnson said. "We've filmed six or seven so far. We hope to film 25 total, for the number of years ADA has been around."
When it comes to accessibility on campus, Johnson said the Hawk Route, the accessibility path around campus, is a resource the Center has worked to promote.
"We want to provide as much of a one-stop shop as possible for students, faculty and staff, no matter where they are coming from," Marcinkowski said.
"We hosted the first lunchtime conversation on [April] 15," Johnson said. "We had around 20 people show up to talk about the new website and what the future lunches will be like. Anyone on campus is invited to come."
Johnson also said the Center will host more lunchtime conversations, where KU community members are invited to eat and discuss topics like equity and inclusion in regards to disabilities.
Johnson said the next lunch will likely happen in late May or early June.
The Original Rules Gift Shop will be the home to special one of a kind memorabilia and other merchandise for every basketball fan.
The DeBruce Center is open. While James Naismith's Original Rules of Basketball will be installed in the coming weeks, the building, located at 1647 Naismith Drive, features a full dining facility and gift shop to serve students, faculty, staff, alumni and campus visitors. There are exhibits throughout the building and grounds that honor the extraordinary history of the Rules and their link to KU.
The Courtside Café is a modern dining facility that is highlighted by a full Freshens $ ^{\textcircled{2}} $ Fresh Food Studio, the Prairie Fire Grill, featuring skewered, marinated, pit-roasted meats, and many more options. The DeBruce Center will also offer a Roasterie Coffee concept.
News From The U
The KU Memorial Unions open DeBruce Center Services
For more information about the DeBruce Center, visit debrucecenter.ku.edu.
Find us online @DeBruceCenter
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the summer will be a time to hold workshops and additional meetings. That way they can figure out how the MSG will operate beside Student Senate, who will be involved and how it will serve multicultural students at the University.
Union KU Help
- Edited by Brendan Dzwierzynski
THIS WEEK
THURSDAY, APRIL 28
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STEAMBOAT BANDITS
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