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"It's a safety measure to have students seek assistance for a friend or person they're with who might need assistance," said Jane Tuttle, assistant vice provost for the Department of Student Affairs.
A similar measure headed by students from numerous Kansas universities was introduced at the State Legislature. Dubbed Lifeline 911, Senate Bill 133 passed the Kansas Senate and was sent to a House Committee. This bill would grant state-level amnesty to people under 21 years of age who called 911 for themselves or on behalf of another individual in need of medical assistance.
The University policy covers situations involving alcohol as well as drug-related emergencies.
"If a student calls for help, by golly, we're going to help them," Tuttle said.
The National College Health Assessment, a survey issued every two years, reported that in 2013.52 percent of students reported binge-drinking habits. Seventy-four percent of University of Kansas students reported they had drunk within the last 30 days, and about 85 percent reported that they drank the last time they socialized.
The University's amnesty policy was a part of increased alcohol safety measures taken in
2009. The measures were taken in response to three local alcohol-related deaths. Student Affairs now oversees all student conduct policies, including those regarding alcohol and drugs, as well as the alcohol education course.
"We're about education and safety." Tuttle said.
When it comes to being safe, McKinley has one simple piece of advice for KU students: "Use common sense."
McKinley said having a designated sober friend was one of the most helpful things for those who choose to drink. A sober friend can help avoid over-consuming and public-intoxication citations.
Student Affairs' Buddy System initiative, also started in
2009 as an effort to keep students safe in situations involving alcohol and drugs.
"That includes sexual assault," McKinley said. "That's what the buddy system was born out of, making sure there's someone there to keep an eye on them."
Both the McKinley and Tuttle wanted to emphasize that their main goal for students is not incrimination, but safety.
"We want you to graduate with a degree, not a diversion," said McKinley.
- Edited by Emma LeGault
Fired reporter of WDBJ station in central Virginia kills 2 former coworkers on live TV
Associated Press
MONETA, Va. (AP) — He planned it all so carefully — a choreographed execution of two former colleagues, broadcast live to a horrified television audience. Hours later, he shared his own recording of the killing worldwide on social media.
Vester Lee Flanagan's video shows him approaching WDBJ reporter Alison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward, gun in hand, as they conduct an interview. He points the gun at Parker and then at Ward, but he waits patiently to shoot until he knows Parker is on camera, so she will be gunned down on air.
TV viewers heard about the first eight of 15 shots. They saw Parker scream and run, and heard her crying "Oh my God!" as she fell. Ward fell, too, and the camera he had been holding on his shoulder captured a fleeting image of the suspect holding a handgun.
That man, authorities said, was Flanagan — a former staffer who used the on-air name of Bryce Williams and was fired by WDBJ, a man who always was looking for reasons to take offense, colleagues recalled. He fled the scene but then video his own 56-second video of the murders on Twitter and Facebook. He later ran off a highway while being pursued hundreds of miles away and was captured; he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Wednesday's on-air murdersverberated far from central Virginia because that's just what the killer wanted — not just to avenge perceived wrongs, but to gain maximum, viral exposure. He used his insider's knowledge of TV journalism against his victims - a 24-year-old reporter who was a rising star and a 27-year-old cameraman engaged to a producer who watched the slaughter live from the control room.
Flanagan's planning may have started weeks ago when, ABC News said, a man claiming to be Bryce Williams called repeatedly, saying he wanted to pitch a story and needed fax information. He sent ABC's newsroom a 23-page fax two hours after the 6:45 a.m. shooting that was part-manifesto, part-suicide note — calling himself a gay black man who had been mistreated by people of all races, and saying he bought the gun two days after nine black people were killed in a June 17 shooting at a Charleston church. The fax also included admiration for the gunmen in mass killings at places like Virginia Tech and Columbine High School in Colorado.
He described himself as a "human powder keeg," that was "just waiting to go BOOM!!!!"
Parker and Ward were a regular team, providing stories for the station's "Mornin" show on everything from breaking news to feature stories on subjects like child abuse. Their live spot Wednesday was nothing out of the ordinary. They were interviewing a local official at an outdoor shopping mall for a tourism story before the shots rang out.
As Parker screamed and Ward collapsed, Ward's camera kept rolling, capturing the image of the suspect pointing the gun. WDBJ quickly switched to the anchor back at the station, clearly shocked, who told viewers, "OK, not sure what happened there."
Parker and Ward died at the scene. Their interview subject, Vicki Gardner, also was shot, but emerged from surgery later Wednesday in stable condition. Flanagan, 41, who was fired from WDBJ in 2013, was described by the station's president and general manager, Jeffrey Marks, as an "an unhappy man" and "difficult to work with," always "looking out for
people to say things he could take offense to."
"Eventually after many incidents of his anger coming to the fore, we dismissed him. He did not take that well," Marks said. He recalled that police had to escort Flanagan out of the building because he refused to leave when he was fired.
Tweets posted Wednesday on the gunman's Twitter account — since suspended — described workplace conflicts with both victims. He said he filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against Parker, and that Ward had reported
"Our sympathy goes to the entire staff here, but also the parents and family of Alison Parker and Adam Ward, who were just out doing their job." JEFFREY MARKS WDBJ General Manager
him to human resources
Marks said Flanagan alleged that other employees made racially tinged comments to him, but that his EEOC claim was dismissed and none of his allegations could be corroborated.
"We think they were fabricated" the station manager said.
we think they were labranced," the station manager said. Dan Dennison, now a state government spokesman in Hawaii, was the WDBJ news director who hired Flanagan in 2012 and fired him in 2013, largely for performance issues, he said.
"We did a thorough investigation and could find no evidence that anyone had racially discriminated against this man," Dennison said. "You just never know when you're going to work how a potentially unhinged or unsettled person might impact your life in such a tragic way."
Court records and recollections from former colleagues at a half-dozen other small-market stations where he bounced around indicate Flanagan was quick to file complaints. He was fired at least twice after managers said he was causing problems with other employees.
Both Parker and Ward grew up in the Roanoke area, attended high school there and later interned at the station. After Parker's internship, she moved to a smaller market in Jacksonville, North Carolina, before returning to WDBJ. She was dating Chris Hurst, an anchor at the station and had just moved in with him.
"We were together almost nine months," Hurst posted on Facebook. "It was the best nine months of our lives. We wanted to get married. We just celebrated her 24th birthday. She was the most radiant woman I ever met."
Ward, who played high school football, was a devoted fan of his alma mater, Virginia Tech. His colleagues said he rarely, if ever, missed a game. They called him a "happy-go-lucky guy" — even during the early morning hours that are the proving ground for so many beginning journalists.
Ward's fiancee, station producer Melissa Ott, was in the control room marking her last day on the job when the shots rang out. Ward had planned to follow her to her new job in Charlotte. North Carolina.
Marks helped lead the live coverage Wednesday after the station confirmed its two employees were dead. He said he and his staff covered the story despite their grief, to honor their slain colleagues.
"Our sympathy goes to the entire staff here, but also the parents and family of Alison Parker and Adam Ward, who were just out doing their job today."
Kansas judge allows voters to continue suit over citizenship rule
THAD ALTON/AP
Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas judge is allowing two voters to continue pursuing a lawsuit challenging how Secretary of State Kris Kobach is enforcing a proof-of-citizenship requirement for registering to vote.
JOHN HANNA Associated Press
But Shawnee County District Court Judge Franklin Theis isn't blocking Kobach from enforcing the requirement as he has for more than a year. Kobach told county election officials in June 2014 that the relative handful of people who use a federal form to register to vote are eligible to cast ballots only in presidential, U.S. Senate and congressional races, not state and local ones.
Kobach is the architect of the state's proof-of-citizenship law, which took effect in 2013 and requires people registering in Kansas for the first time or after living in another state to provide a birth certificate, passport or other documentation of U.S. citizenship. The federal registration form requires only that people affirm that they are citizens, without requiring additional papers.
Theis last week rejected Kobach's request to have the case decided in his favor before a trial, and the judge said in his 67-page order that the secretary of state is exceeding his authority by "proclaiming" a policy "which does not exist" in state law — and contradicts other statutes.
The American Civil Liberties Union filed the lawsuit in 2013 on behalf of voters Aaron Belenky of Overland Park and Scott Jones of Lawrence, as well as Equality Kansas, the state's leading gay-rights group.
Theis granted Kobach's request to dismiss Equality Kansas from the lawsuit, agreeing that the group had no standing to sue.
Kobach declined to respond to 'Theis' comments because the case is ongoing. But Kobach said the ruling is "very early" in the case.
"We're still, I think, a ways from a final decision," he said. Kobach championed the proof-of-citizenship requirement as a way to prevent non-citizens from voting, particularly immigrants in the U.S. illegally. Critics contend the requirement suppresses turnout, with nearly 32,000 registrations suspended as of Wednesday because the prospective voters haven't documented their citizenship.
Theis also said Kansas law requires a "unified" ballot that includes all races, so that voters who registered with a federal form now have their ballots set aside and examined later — potentially invading their privacy. The judge said the Legislature could have specifically authorized a dual voter registration system in 2014 or earlier this year but did not.
Belenky's and Jones' registrations were suspended for months in 2013 and 2014 for the same reason, but both men separately provided passports when obtaining driver's licenses. Kobach's office checked for such records last year — with the lawsuit pending — and had local election officials update their voter registration records for them.
Kobach then argued that the lawsuit should be decided in his favor because the issues causing Belenky and Jones to sue were resolved for them. But Theis compared Kobach's actions to supporters of a runner's opponent dragging the runner across the finish line to ensure his disqualification.