NSAN
Volume 125 Issue 13
Monday, September 10, 2012
GIAN . com
GGY
Quesadillas
handwiches
Longnocks
2:30
End Shot
150 Calls
1 Longnocks
2:30
at
run
11 Longnocks
2:30
e best
Bryce Harper hit Washington Nation-ones for the second ending Gio Gonzalez in a 9-1 rout of thenesday night.
pt up his tear at the
s for the Nationals,
straight and own
ne majors at 84-52.
7½-game lead over
st.
name in a row, Wash-ish record with six eyes he has hit three of, and his streak of one consecutive plate mapped by a seventh-
kansan.com
Associated Press
A SAD GOODBYE
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Dan Morelan, known as Dan the Bus Driver to many students, was fired Wednesday. Morelan's firing prompted students to make a petition asking for Morelan to be rehired.
ADRIVER DOWN
MV Transportation speaks out after terminating 'Dan the Bus Driver'
VIKAAS SHANKER
vshanker@kansan.com
MARSHALL SCHMIDT
mschmidt@kansan.com
The whistling, singing KU bus driver known by students as "Dan the bus driver" was fired Wednesday evening by MV Transportation, the company contracted by the University for bus services.
driving them from the Sept. 1 Kansas football game.
Bus driver Dan Morelain said several incidents involving the bus radio led to his firing. He was most recently cited with a work rule violation, his fourth, after singing Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline" with passengers while
He was pulled off his route Wednesday afternoon and advised to get union representation. After a meeting between his representatives and MV Transportation management, he received a call informing him that he was terminated.
Union representative and fellow bus driver Chef Lee said that unprofessionalism contributed to the decision to fire Morelan.
"Dan wasn't happy with me," Lee said, regarding Morelan's reaction to his termination.
"The operations manager already led me to believe this was
going to happen," Morelan said. "I'm heartbroken for the students. I love those kids like they're my own. And they're the ones I feel the sorrist for."
Morelan said he didn't accept and sign the final violation report related to the Sept. 1 citation.
An online petition to rehire Dan Morelan gained more than 1,700 signatures in 12 hours. As of Sunday afternoon, the petition had more than 3,000 supporters. The petition was created by Sean McDuffie, sophomore from Shawnee.
SEE DAN PAGE 6
Dan Morelan's four strikes
Any MV Transportation employee is terminated on the fourth work rule violation. Dan Morelan said he was cited three times with improper radio usage and a work rule violation about singing on the bus in the past year.
1. During the fall 2011 semester, when Morelan was assigned to transport a family back to the KU Visitor Center, he was cited after he said over the radio, "You didn't
tell me they were such a beautiful family."
in the back of the bus lane at the Kansas Union. He asked the bus driver to move the bus forward so he can drop off his passengers. When the bus driver didn't, Moreland said over the radio, "Could this idiot move forward."
2. In May Morelan was driving passengers to the University's commencement ceremony. When the traffic controller at the intersection on 11th and Mississippi streets was only allowing traffic to move on Mississippi Street, he said into the radio, "Can someone tell this idiot to count."
3. During the first week of school, Morelan said another bus stopped
4. On Sept. 1, Morelan sang "Sweet Caroline," a pop song by Neil Diamond, with passengers while transporting them from the Kansas football game. Moreland did not sign an acceptance of this violation with MV Transportation.
MV Transportation employee work rule violations
The disciplinary process states the fourth minor violation can result in termination:
**First violation** — Counseling session/ verbal warning
**Second Violation** — Written warning
Third Violation — Final warning and/or unpaid suspension Fourth Violation — Termination
Minor violations
- Repeated failure to follow work policies, procedures or duties
- Repeated failure to follow personal appearance standards
- Use of abusive or profane language
- Use of personal radios while operating a Company vehicle.
- Eating or drinking while operating a Company vehicle.
- Violation of the Internet, News group and Electronic Mail Policy, not considered to be a major violation
Source: MV Transportation Employee Handbook
CAMPUS
Shooting suspect had applied to University
RACHEL SALYER
rsalyer@kansan.com
A little more than a year before suspected mass murder James Holmes walked into "The Dark Night Rises" premiere in a Colorado theater, he applied to graduate school at the University.
Holmes is charged with 24 counts of first-degree murder and 116 counts of attempted murder. He allegedly opened fire July 20 in an Aurora, Colo. movie theater during the midnight screening for the latest Batman installment, killing 12 and injuring 58 people.
Documents obtained through an open records request by The University Daily Kansan show Holmes applied for Fall 2011 admission into the University's graduate neuroscience program.
In his application, Holmes wrote of attending a school attempting to curb gang rivalry in Castroville, Calif. He alludes that his life would have turned out differently had he chosen a path of violence.
"Looking back, my life could have gone in a completely different direction had I not possessed the foresight to choose the path of knowledge," Holmes wrote. "I chose to appreciate an education, cultivating my mind. Since then, I
have strived to find new and better ways to learn, to improve."
But before the University had the chance to interview Holmes for admission, he withdrew his application in February 2011.
His transcript shows a long line of As and a 3.94 GPA from the University of California-Riverside, where he graduated that summer with a bachelor's in neuroscience.
Emails between Holmes and the University showed interest in obtaining funds to bring Holmes in for an interview, and a letter to Holmes expressed disappointment in the withdrawal of his application.
"I was sorry to hear from Dr. Doug Wright that you are no longer interested in our program as we would have been most interested in having you come for an interview," Elias Michaelis, professor and codirector of graduate studies for the neuroscience program, wrote to Holmes in March 2011.
Holmes was enrolled as a Ph.D student in neuroscience at The University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora. According to multiple news outlets, he dropped out in early June after failing a key oral exam.
—Edited by Allison Kohn
ASSOCIATED PRESS
James Holmes, accused of killing 12 people in a shooting rampage in an Aurora, Colo., movie theater, appears in Araapaha County District Court with defense attorney Tamara Brady in Centennial, Colo. Prosecutors allege Holmes may have been angry at the failure of a once promising academic career.
Online sexual harassment course required for all University students
REBEKKA SCHLICHTING
rschlichting@kansan.com
A mandatory sexual harassment course was issued by the University to students, faculty and staff last week.
Joseph Monaco, University Public Affairs assistant communications director, said University officials, faculty and staff planned this training. The goal is to encourage an inclusive, comfortable and productive community.
"In a campus climate survey of students at KU, almost 80 percent did not know how to file a sexual harassment complaint and whom to contact," Jane McQueeny, IOA
Cagil Albayrak, a first year graduate student from Istanbul, Turkey, said he took the time to read everything during training because he thought it was important.
executive director, said. "This mandatory training provides you with the tools to report and prevent sexual harassment."
"International students may not know that people in the United States really care about their personal space or sexual harassment issues," Albayrak said. "They may not find it interesting at first, but
The training will be overseen by the Institutional Opportunity and Access (IOA). Its mission is to promote and support a safe and diverse campus. The IOA also investigates harassment and discrimination reports.
this is a really important issue and I think everyone should take part in some conferences or classes before students come to school here."
62 percent of female college students and 61 percent of male college students report having been sexually harassed at their university.
Monaco said the training will
39 percent of students who experienced sexual harassment say the incident occurred in dorm rooms.
be expanded, and University officers, faculty and staff are thinking about incorporating the training as a workshop in new student orientation.
10 percent or less of student sexual harassment victims attempt to report their experiences to an employee.
35 percent or more of college students who experience sexual harassment do not tell anyone about their experiences.
Xing Zhou, first year graduate
80 percent of students who experi-
encased sexual harassment report being harassed by another student or former student
51 percent of male students admit to sexually harassing someone in college, and 22 percent admit to harassing someone often or occasionally.
31 percent of female college students admit to harassing someone in college.
Source: American Association of University Women Educational Foundation research on sexual harassment, Drawing the Line
CRYPTOQUIPS 4
OPINION 5
Zoe Jewell, a freshman from Lawrence, thought the sexual harassment training was similar to the alcohol education online course the University requires for all freshman to complete.
"For us Asian girls, if sexual harassment happened to us, we would probably just avoid talking about it," Zhou said. "It's not a publicly spoken topic. To know that we can talk about this and how to solve this problem is really important."
CLASSIFIEDS 8
CROSSWORD 4
"I think people will probably blow it off and not really care about it," Jewelsall said. "People will think it's just a pain and they don't
student from Suzhou, China, said before she took the training, she didn't know who to talk to if she witnessed or experienced sexual harassment.
SPORTS 10
SUDOKU 4
"We've discussed putting holds on accounts for students who don't complete the training, much like we do for students who have unpaid parking tickets, bills or library late fees," Monaco said. "But we're optimistic students will complete the training before it gets to that point, as the training is helpful, informative and only takes about 15 or 20 minutes to complete."
—Edited by Andrew Ruszczyk
Students who do not complete the sexual harassment training may have to face consequences.
All contents; unless stated otherwise, © 2012 The University Daily Kansan
want to waste their time, kind of like the alcohol ed thing, which I didn't really do very well."
Don't forget
Today is the last day to cancel a class. Stop by Strong Hall if you have any questions.
Today's Weather
Mostly sunny with a chance of rain
HI: 83
LO: 53