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KANSAN
FRIDAY, JANUARY 15, 2010
WWW.KANSAN.COM
VOLUME 121 ISSUE 78
CRIME
Man waives rights in case
BY ELLIOT METZ emetz@kansan.com
The man charged with a hit-and-run incident that killed a former KU junior has waived his rights to both a preliminary hearing and a jury trial, indicating that he might be working on a plea agreement with the Douglas County District Attorney's Office.
Joel Cedric Hernandez, a 21-year-old former student at Haskell Indian Nations University, faces four charges in the accident, which led to the death of 20-year-old Rachel Leek, of Lawrence. The charges include failure to give notice of an accident resulting in death, failure to stop at an accident resulting in death, vehicular homicide and improper passing. The charges include two felonies, a misdemeanor and an infraction, respectively.
Hernandez allegedly struck Leek, who was riding a bike, with his car during the early morning of Oct. 16 near the intersection of 10th and Tennessee streets. Leek eventually died from the injuries she sustained.
On Jan. 6, Hernandez waived his right to a preliminary hearing. The hearings are usually held to determine whether the prosecution has enough evidence for the case to be tried, but waiving such a right does not in any way admit guilt.
"When you waive that, it speaks to the strength of the case," said Jelani Jefferson Exum, a professor in the KU School of Law who specializes in criminal law.
"It saves the prosecution the trouble of gathering and presenting all of the evidence before the actual trial," she said.
That action, along with the waiving of the right to a jury trial, could be an indication that Hernandez's attorney is working with Charles Branson, the Douglas County district attorney, on a plea agreement. But Exum warned to not jump to any conclusions.
"If you're giving up these rights, it's pretty likely that you're doing it to appease the prosecution," Exum said. "But it doesn't necessarily mean that there is a deal in the works."
Branson declined to comment as these events didn't occur in open court. District Attorney's Office representatives said they were unable to comment on events that didn't happen in open court. Phone calls to Hernandez's attorney were not immediately returned.
Health care legislation would add 10 percent "tan tax"
BY KIRSTEN KWON
kkwon@kansan.com
After a hard day of classes, Samanthe Overfield visits the tanning bed to unwind.
"Usually I do it to relax my body and get some form of sunlight when I can't lay-out outside" said Overfield, a sophomore from Lawrence.
But her stress-relieving ritual may become less cost effective if Congress passes its latest sin tax.
Written into the Senate's health care package, the "tan tax" will cause tanning salon customers to pay an additional 10 percent per visit. It was introduced to the health care plan as an alternative to the "bo-tax"; a 5 percent tax on cosmetic surgeries. When the cosmetic surgery industry fought against the tax, the Senate looked for other ways to produce revenue for health care legislation through personal cosmetic treatments by turning its attention to tanning.
"I don't think that there should be a specific tax on tanning," said Pam Scott, owner of Lawrence's Endless Summer Tan, 2223 Louisiana Street. "I'm not opposed to a self-tax, like a tax on getting your nails done and your hair done, but it should be fair and across the board — not just tanning."
As recent studies have directly linked indoor tanning to melanoma, the last minute addition to the health care package can be viewed as an attempt to keep people from harmful exposure.
Patty Quinlan, supervisor of nursing at Watkins Health Center, said the decision to ditch the "bo-tax" for the "tan tax" could be a way to halt the chain of dangerous behaviors.
SEE TAN TAX ON PAGE 8A
KANSAS "SINTAXES"
Sin tax, or extra tax on products or services that could be considered harmful, are often imposed to discourage an activity and generate revenue. Here's the going rate for sin tax in Kansas:
Cigarette tax: $0.79 per pack
Spirits tax: $2.50 per gallon
Table wine tax: $0.30 per gallon
Beer tax: $0.18 per gallon According to The Tax Foundation, As of July 1,2009
ADMINISTRATION
Schools look to fill open positions
BY ANNIE VANGSNES anniev@kansan.com
Candidate interviews for three key administrative positions at the University of Kansas will begin in the next two months.
Interview dates for the deans of the School of Music and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences were announced this week. The search committee for the vacant provost position has not announced specific interview dates yet, but officials anticipate on-campus interviews to begin in February. The University announced last week that the departure of Gail Agrawal, dean of law, would introduce a fourth administrative vacancy at the University.
University spokeswoman Lynn Bretz said the respective search committees review candidates and invite them to interview on campus. While the candidates are here they will meet with members of their departments, tour facilities, and meet with the interim provost and possibly the chancellor.
Interim Provost Danny Anderson said each candidate would have the opportunity to give a brief public presentation to faculty, staff and students to discuss his or her vision for the job. The presentation will be followed by a question-and-answer session and attendees can provide input to the search committee with feedback forms.
Candidates' names and resumes will be posted on the provost's website 48 hours before candidates arrive on campus.
Anderson said there is no set timeline between campus visits and a final decision, but the University's goal is to bring the best candidate to campus as soon as possible. The review of candidates for the Provost and the deans of music and liberal arts and sciences began in November.
Anderson said he would appoint a search committee for the School of Law post sometime this spring, and candidate interviews would begin in the fall.
"Right now KU is in a wonderful strategic position because the chancellor is bringing a new vision to the campus," Anderson said. "Deans who are already here and deans who are arriving will have a lot of opportunities to encourage conversations about directions we can take the University in the future as part of the chancellor's vision."
Anderson said the four administrative vacancies do make long-term decision making difficult. He said the University has highly-skilled interim deans that make good decisions, but they
SEE ADMIN ON PAGE 8A
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