CAMPUS / AREA
University Daily Kansan/ Thursday, October 10, 1991
3
Problems in prosecution cut down rape convictions
By Melissa Rodgers Kansan staff writer
Although rapes in Lawrence have been reported in recent months more frequently than in the past, rape convictions are still rare.
From January through June of this year, 14 rapes were reported in Lawrence and three were reported at the University of Kansas, according to Kansas Bureau of Investigation statistics.
The KBI compiles rape statistics every six months. There have been no reported rapes on the KU campus since June, according to KU police.
Christine Kenney, assistant Douglas County district attorney, said she could recall only two rapes cases this year that were tried in Douglas County. Both cases led to convictions.
There have been no convictions in the three KU rape cases that have been reported this year.
One of those cases still is being investigated, the victim has dropped charges in another, and in the third, the alleged rapist is in custody in relation on separate charges, according to KU police.
Seven rapes have been reported since Sept. 1 to Lawrence police.
Detective Ed Brunt of Lawrence police said six of the seven rape cases could be termed date or acquaintance rape. No arrests have been made in any of the cases.
Three cases still are under investigation. In two of the cases, the victims have dropped charges. One victim is seeking a restraining order for her ex-husband, and one case was given
"I hope in the future victims will be more willing to prosecute."
Detective Ed Brunt
to the district attorney's office for review, Brunt said.
Many rape investigations are dropped by the victim before an arrest is ever made, he said.
Rape investigations require that a victim give
Victims may fear that the sensitive information will become public, he said.
Date-rape victims also may not press charges because the alleged rapist and the victim may have the same circle of friends, Brunt said.
Although many victims drop rape charges, Brunt said he thought more rapes were reported now than in the past.
"I hope in the future victims will be more willing to prosecute," he said.
Douglas County District Attorney Jerry Wells said he did not think a date-rape case had ever gone to a jury trial in the county.
Wells said that before his office prosecuted a case decided whether the case could be proven through evidence.
The key to prosecuting a rape is establishing a clear lack of consent from the victim, Wells said. Proving that in a date-rape case there are more difficult factors than a mere suspicion of the victim in a date-rape situation.
But juries are becoming more knowledgeable about date rape, he said.
A majority of sex crime cases, including rape, are plea-bargained, he said.
The public is beginning to understand that a woman's consent to a date and intimate contact does not mean that she has consented to have intercourse with that person, he said.
Diane Duffy, advocate at the Douglas County Rape Victims Support Services, agreed that convictions were difficult to achieve in date-rape cases.
Women are reluctant to file charges in data-terra situations, she said.
They may not think they have been raped because the person who committed the rape was a victim.
Or they are hesitant to prosecute in a date rape since the alleged rapist, if convicted, could spend a minimum of five years in prison or serve a maximum lifetime sentence.
The penalties for a date rape and a rape are the same, but a judge may consider the rape circumstances when sentencing. Wells said.
Based on her observations from working at support services, Duffy said she thought it was a positive step for rape victims to press charges.
*When a woman is raped she is stripped of control.** Duffy said
Overcrowded classes plague KU
Enrollment surge, fewer class sections force faculty to adjust
By Jennifer Bach
Kansan staff writer
ArtsandSciences.
Students sit cross-legged along the walls and on the steps of classrooms. They try to balance notebooks on their legs and scribble notes as they stretch to see the instructor.
This sight is not unusual. In fact, it is becoming more common as KU faculty members try to compensate for limited number of course sections by teaching more students at a time.
Lack of money from the state legislature has caused the University of Kansas to enroll more students in courses than University regulations permit, according to data compiled by the College of Liberal
Another problem is the shortage of faculty members to instruct an increasing number of students, and the need of the college undergraduate center.
Five years ago undergraduate enrollment surged, and the University is still trying to recover from it. Houston said.
The open-admissions policy allows any Kansas high school graduate to attend any of the Board of Regents universities.
Because of KU's open-admissions policy for Kansas residents, KU is not able to control the number of students who enroll, she said.
"The University is not funded based on the number of students we get." Houston said.
The lack of money makes it difficult for the University to hire new faculty and to provide additional courses, she said.
Subsequently, many students find that the courses they need to graduate are quickly filled and overcrowded.
Beth Davies, Cheshire, Conn., junior, said many faculty members allowed students to enroll in courses already filled to maximum capacity.
But helping students can create additional problems, she said.
"To have a class with 1,000 students is outrageous," Davies said. "I don't see how anyone could learn from a moment with that many students."
Dan FitzGerald, Kansas City Mo., sophomore, said he thought many students came to the University expecting an assembly-line education and large classes.
The open-admissions policy encourages Kansas residents to enroll at KU who would be better off at a junior college before coming to a large state university, FitzGerald said.
For example, FitzGerald said, too much money has been spent hiring additional police to patrol the campus. Some of that money could go toward opening more course sections
If the University would reallocate some of its finances, it might be able to improve the quality of education he said.
"If the University cannot provide more funding, then I think it's fine to cram them into classrooms," FitzGerald said.
Keeping it going
As a variation on the traditional method of juggling, Rick Momsen, Appleton, Wis., sophomore, concentrates on keeping a baton moving using only two sticks. Momsen was practicing yesterday afternoon in front of Strong Hall.
Exxon research shows new biological method to clean oil spills effectively
Kansan staff writer
By Mauricio Rios
Bioremediation played an important role in the cleanup of the 1899 Exxon Valdez oil spill into Prince William Sound, Alaska. Exxon's lead scientist said in a speechy-ester-
formemulation, which stimulates the natural biodegradation process, is a method in which bacteria eat oil faster than normal, and this may allow Jackson's Bioremediation Monitoring Program.
During biodegradation, a compound, in this case oil, can be decomposed by natural biological processes, he told about 80 people in 2002 Learned Hall.
Prince, who graduated in 1974 with a doctorate in biochemistry from the University of Bristol, England, said that for bioremediation the beach must be washed of most of the oil.
He said the washing was a crucial step because the bioremediation fertilizer would
Oil-eating bacteria were fertilized to speed up their consumption of the Exxon Valdez's Alaskan spill
be effective only on thin layers of oil.
Prince said washing the beaches and fertilizing to stimulate bacterial growth complex.
On March 24, 1989, the oil tanker Exxon Valdez spilled nearly 11 million gallons of oil. The tanker's captain Joseph Hazelwood later was found guilty of negligence.
During the initial cleanup, the U.S. Envi-
pronential Protection Agency, Exxonand the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation started a program to identify the sources of bioremediation in cleaning the oil silt.
By early August 1898, scientists concluded in the immediateiation would work effectively. Prince said.
if bioremediation had not been used, it would have taken five to 10 years to clean the basin.
"It is essentially clean after two years," he said. "So bioremediation came to be the major tool."
The cleanup was completed this summer.
The cleanup was completed this summer. However, there were concerns about using fertilizer, a chemical, to clean up other chemicals, Prince said.
"Great, it works," he said. "But does it do any harm?"
Prince, whohas worked for Exxon's Corporate Research Laboratories since 1983, said that he had been one of the company's largest partners.
No,it does not, he answered.
tilizer to determine the right doses to use
"We have not caused any toxicity," he said. Nevertheless, Prince recognized that the Vatican had a problem.
They were careful to use low levels of fertilis-
so that the wild life would not be harmed he
said.
The spill contaminated more than 1,000 acres of coastline, claiming a heavy toll on wildlife.
Within a week of the spill, the oil was at shore, Prince said.
"Twenty percent of the shore line was affected by the snail." he said.
Hamed Ghazali, Cairo, Egypt, graduate
sail, said the presentation was interest-
ing.
Ghazali, who has a master's in petroleum engineering and is working for another master's in civil engineering, said he thought the student did a good job in measuring the results.
Roger Prince,research scientistfor Exxon Corp.
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