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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY
TALK TO US: Contact Emily Hughey or Kyle Ramsey at (785) 864-4810 or editor@kansan.com
KANSAN
THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
WWW.KANSAN.COM
WEDNESDAY JULY 25,2001
ISSUE 143 VOLUME 111
Mind of a lawyer, heart of an officer
Former police officer, KU law graduate to defend accused killer, kidnapper
By Karen Lucas Special to the Kansan
Although Bob L. Thomas graduated from the KU School of Law a year ago, he is no stranger to the criminal justice system.
In defending his new client accused serial killer John E. Robinson, Sr. Thomas brings six years of experience as a police officer to the case.
Last week, Thomas informed Judge John Anderson III of Johnson County District Court that he would be representing Robinson. Three lawyers from the Kansas Death Penalty Defense Unit—Ron Evans, Alice Craig and Mark Manna—had been working with Robinson before.
Robinson has been charged with one count of first-degree murder and two counts of capital murder. He also faces charges of aggravated kidnapping, aggravated sexual assault, theft and interference with parental custody. His trial is scheduled for January.
On Monday, Anderson held a hearing on the case. According to the Kansas City Star, Thomas told Anderson about his legal background and plans for handling the case. The Star also reported that Paul Morrison, Johnson County District Attorney, had mentioned the possibility of Thomas working with a second attorney. Lawyers cannot comment on the case because a gag order has been issued.
As a law student, Thomas clerked for his present employer, Carl Cornwell, an Olathe attorney. Cornwell and his associates specialize in criminal defense.
Charles Briscoe, director of KU's Legal Aid Clinic, had nothing but praise for Cornwell.
"Carl is one of the finest criminal defense attorneys in Kansas," he said.
Thomas also worked with the law school's Defender Project, which legally assists inmates, and the Legal Aid Clinic.
Briscoe said Thomas was energetic and thorough with the criminal cases he handled for the clinic.
"He put everything he had into them," he said.
Thomas' interest in criminal justice also goes back to his undergraduate career at Missouri Western State College. After graduating in 1992 with a B.S. degree in criminal justice, Thomas joined the Prairie Village Police Department.
"I was ready to get out and see what life had to offer," he said.
The hearing will resume Friday.
Lucas can be reached at 854-9610-1001
writer@kansan.com
Tenure troubles past, present
Appeals Court rules University not guilty of retaliation charges
By Julie Carter Kansan staff writer
The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held that the University of Kansas had not acted in retaliation against former faculty member Marie Aquilino.
Aquilino, a former assistant professor of art history, claimed she was denied tenure from the University in 1998 after she had filed a sexual discrimination charge with the Kansas Human Rights Commission. She also claimed she was denied because of her sex.
Aquilino was awarded $35,000 for the retaliation claim by a district court jury in April of 2000, but rejected the discrimination claim.
The University appealed the decision resulting in yesterday's ruling that KU did not deny her tenure out of retaliation.
"We are very pleased with the decision. We were confident all along that the University did not act out of retaliation," said Lynn Bretz, interim director of University Relations.
The University also believes the recent decision upholds the original ruling made by district court. Bretz said.
Similar lawsuits have been filed with the University.
Mike Cuenca, former assistant professor of journalism, said he had fulfilled all requirements to receive tenure, but was denied by a committee of journalism faculty.
His case states that he was denied tenure out of retaliation for his 1998 racial discrimination lawsuit against the
Cuenca: Filed discrimination suit against KU.
Annett: Said KU retaliated against her.
University. Cuenca could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Cuenca was seeking $1.3 million from the University.
A federal district court upheld that the University did not act out of retaliation by twice denying tenure to Cynthia Annett.
Annett, a former assistant professor
of ecology and evolutionary biology, claimed she was not given tenure for opposing policies she felt were unfair to women and minority graduate students. Annett also felt her gender played a role in her denial of tenure.
Ray Pierotti, Annett's husband, filed a linked suit with her against the University. Pierotti, assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology and associate professor of environmental studies, said he thought Annett was denied tenure because of their interracial relationship.
Pierotti says he is saddened but not surprised by the ruling in the Aquilino case.
"It gives me the distinct feeling that justice is up for sale," Pierotti said.
E-mail restored after repairs
Carter can be reached at 864-4810 or write@kansan.com
OUTLOOK NOT SO GOOD
Hardware bug forces ACS to shut down server for faculty, staff
By Rob Pazell Senior staff writer
The KU e-mail server experienced glitches on Monday, which caused problems for faculty, staff and students trying to access their e-mail accounts.
Faculty and staff had been without email service from Thursday evening through Monday morning so Academic Computing Services could repair database corruption a hardware bug had caused. The system went back online Monday morning, but problems developed, forcing Academic
Computing Services to shut down the system again.
Jerree Catlin, associate director of Academic Computing Services, said unforeseen problems occurred when Academic Computing Services began to restore the system, causing the server to be off-line termitently throughout the day
"Although the repair of Skylark's database appeared to be fixed, it became obvious later on Monday that the database was still seriously damaged," Catlin said. "We had intermittent outages throughout the day because of numerous log-ins and mail deliveries."
Catlin said that while Academic Computing Services staff were working on the system over the weekend, they collected all the e-mail sent to faculty and staff so it could be delivered by 4:30 p.m. yesterday.
Monday's glitches may cause messages sent on Monday from one Skylark user to another to be irretrievable.
"Any e-mail that was sent to or from somebody on Skylark and was received will not be restored." Catlin said.
The Academic Computing Center has been working to restore the Skylark among two phases.
server in two phases.
Catlin said phase one, completed yesterday, restored faculty and staff's address books, calenders, tasks and notes. Phase two, which was started last evening, will restore all e-mails that existed in Skylark users' accounts before the repairs began last Thursday.
"It sent us back to the phone system. Many students didn't even think to use the phone"
phone"
Max Utsler associate professor of journalism
Catlin said old mail would be restored alphabetically by user name, but he didn't know when the process would be completed.
"We're talking about a lot of e-mail," Catlin said. "We haven't started the process, and we don't know how quickly it will go."
Max Utsler, associate professor of journalism, teaches two classes for which students need to communicate with him about their final projects.
"It sent us back to the phone system." Utsler said. "It has inherent shortcomings. Many students didn't even think to use the phone."
Utsler said he didn't think Academic Computing Services communicated enough with faculty and staff about what was going on with the system. He thought the system could have been fixed at a later time.
"If they had done this next week, I wouldn't have a beef at all," Utsler said. "If it was more of an emergency, I could understand."
Pazell can be reached at 864-4810 or writer@kansan.com
KU graduate, advocate for women's causes dies
By Dawn North Kansan staff writer
Clinton gave her awards for work on Web about federal statutes
Mendenhall's brother, James, said the lifelong promoter of women's causes died of a sudden heart attack at home after a short stay in the hospital for pleurisy, an inflammation between the lungs. She was 55.
Janice K. Mendenhall, KU graduate and former national president of Federally Employed Women, died Monday.
He said at the time of her death, she was the highest-ranking government employee who had graduated from the
31 years. She was the assistant regional administrator for General Services Administration, in addition to being the vice president of the eastern region for the Federation of Government Information Processing Councils.
University of Kansas. Mendenhall had worked for the federal government for
Bill Clinton for her work on FedLaw, an Internet site she developed to make federal statutes accessible on the Internet.
Mendenhall recently received a moritorious citation from former President
Mendenhall:
died Monday
after a heart
attack
Mendenhall grew up in Wichita and graduated from Wichita High School East. James said Mendenhall had stayed in touch with her fellow graduates.
The site was created to see if legal resources on the Internet could be a useful and cost-effective research tool for federal lawyers and other federal employees.
When Mendenhall arrived at the University in 1963, she immediately became involved with the women's organization on campus. Emily Taylor, for whom the Emily Taylor Women's Resource Center was later named, was dean of women at the time.
"Janice was a real leader, and everybody seemed to like her," Taylor said yesterday.
Taylor said Mendenhall was one of
"Janice was a real leader and everybody seemed to like her."
Emily Taylor former dean of women
those people with whom one never lost touch. Taylor said the last time Mendenhall was in Kansas City, Mendenhall came to Lawrence to visit Taylor.
While at the University, Mendenhall was president of the Chi Omega sorority and an officer for the Association of Women's Studies. After graduating in 1968 with an undergraduate degree in French, Mendenhall earned her graduate degree in political science.
James said Mendenhall had been elected to the KU Women's Hall of Fame.
In addition to her daughter, Anna, and son, Daniel, Mendenhall is survived by her brother, James, and sister, Marsha Fry, both of Wichita; her mother Lucille Stewart of Wichita; and her ex-husband Lou Regenstein.
"She was always proud of KU," he said. "She proved that excellence could come from the plains."
Services will be at 2 p.m. tomorrow in Atlanta. Burial will be in Arlington Cemetery in Atlanta. Former president limmy Carter has been asked to give the eulogy.
North can be reached at 864-4810 or write@kensan.com
INSIDETODAY
WORLD NEWS ...8A
HILLTOPICS ...10A
WEATHER ...5B
CROSSWORD ...5B
COMING IN THE AUG. 20 BACK-TO-SCHOOL ISSUE OF THE KANSAN
BATTLING THE FRESHMAN 15: Some KU freshmen gain weight their first year on the hill.
MINORS IN POSSESSION: What happens when students are caught underage and under the influence.
8
The University Daily Kansas 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 25 cents. Subscriptions can be purchased at 119 Stauffer-Flint Hall.
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