E M P O R I A S TAT E U N I V E R S I T Y
The B ulletin T H U R S DAY, O c tob er 5, 2017
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O U R V O I C E S M AT T E R
NEWS
Kansas Supreme Court holds session at ESU
Kansas Supreme Court Justices Eric Rose (above), Marla Luckert, Lawton Nuss, Carol Beier and Lee Johnson listen to Randall Hodgkinson, attorney for appellant, as he argues that his client did not receive a fair trial in a 2010 firstdegree murder trial. Emporia State President Allison Garrett (right) chats with Chief Judge Merlin Wheeler, 5th judicial district, in the audience at the Kansas Supreme Court hearings, Tuesday at ESU. Wheeler was among the local judges who helped the justices plan their visit. Sarah Spoon | The Bulletin
R ayna K arst rkarst@esubulle tin.com
The Kansas Supreme Court heard two cases in a special session Tuesday evening in Webb Hall in the Memorial Union. This is the first time that the Supreme Court has held a session in Emporia, and the seventh time that they have heard cases argued in the evening. “Since 2011, our court has made an effort to be more accessible to the people that we serve,” said Lawton Nuss, Chief Justice of the Kansas Supreme Court. “This outreach effort helps Kansans learn about our court and the role of the judicial branch in Kansas government.” This was only the 14th time the Kansas Supreme Court held session outside of its chambers. The Court has held special sessions in Salina, Greensburg, Overland Park, Wichita, Pittsburg, Kansas City, Hays, Garden City, Topeka, Hiawatha, Hutchinson and Winfield, according to Nuss. “To paraphrase an old Beach Boys song that Justice Johnson likes to sing, ‘round
round get around, we get around,’” Nuss said. The first of the two arguments presented came from a wrongful death action that was filed in 2010, when Jason Patterson and Cortney Brewer were killed in a car wreck while traveling on Road 322 in Cowley County, which changes from blacktop to gravel and ends at the Arkansas River. The car ran off the road into the river, filled with water and both passengers drowned. This case was taken to the Court of Appeals, which ruled in favor of Cowley County and Bolton Township, giving them immunity from liability for the lack of warning signs, according to the program for the special Kansas Supreme Court session. Jeffery Carmichael, attorney at law, represented Rochelle Patterson, Jason Patterson’s ex-wife, on behalf of their children. “There were absolutely no signs, no warnings, no barriers, nothing to indicate that the road would intersect with the Arkansas River,” Carmichael said. “My clients be-
NEWS
Seven CECE staff members did not report abuse A llie C rome acrome@esubulle tin.com
An investigation of the Center for Early Childhood Education, conducted by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment and in conjunction with the Department of Children and Families, found that seven of the 12 employees witnessed acts of abuse and did not report the instances to a supervisor. Four families filed a civil lawsuit in August against Emporia State, the CECE, Keely Persinger, who was the center’s former director and Kimberly Schneider, a former teacher, alleging the emotional and physical abuse of four
children. The families are asking for an excess of 2.1 million in damages from the center. The two surveys, completed in April, found multiple instances of child abuse, including verbal, physical, and emotional abuse. An employee was observed by other staff members yelling at children and telling a child “you won’t be laughing when I get to you,” according to the investigative survey conducted by KDHE. Gwen Larson, assistant director of media relations, could not comment on whether the seven staff members
lieve that that is a wrongful death claim in which they’re entitled to recovery damages from the township and from the county for failing to have adequate signage as to what was going on on that road.” Carmichael requested that the Supreme Court send this case back to Cowley County to be tried again, arguing that the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Device (MUTCD) states that whoever has control over the roadway is responsible to place warning signs on roadways. They said they cannot claim a recreation exception because the death did not occur in a recreational area, and that the MUTCD requires Cowley County to conduct an engineering study to determine whether or not a warning sign should be placed. “The incident that we’re talking about, the failure to have signage, the failure to have warning all occurred on a county road or a township road,” Carmichael said. Attorney Charles Millsap, who represented Cowley County, argued that the recreation exception did apply because the injury occurred
in the Arkansas river, which is within the boundaries of the Kaw Wildlife Area. “The fact of the matter is, the district court found, and it hasn’t been challenged in this whole appeal, that these injuries occurred in the wildlife area,” Millsap said. He also argued that under the MUTCD manual, the
county is not required to post outlet signs, advisory warnings or dead end signs. “The plaintiff must recognize, when we get inside the manual, there is no place to find a mandatory duty to do
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Senators debate faculty termination policy S arah S poon
sspoon@esubulle tin.com
An argument over whether tenured faculty members have special protections against dismissal when charged with sexual misconduct dominated the Faculty Senate academic affairs committee meeting on Sept. 26. At issue is which of conflicting university policies would apply when a tenured professor has been determined by the university to
have engaged in sexual misconduct with a student. The conflict arises because the University Policy Manual is at odds with some provisions of Title IX, a federal directive of the university handling of rape, sexual violence and harassment. “This is a topic that has come up in the past because some of the language in the policy manual, it doesn’t always reconcile with itself,” said Rob Catlett, president
of Faculty Senate, director of the Center for Economic Education and assistant professor of mathematics and economics. Under the university policy, tenured faculty have the right to have a hearing in front of a Faculty Senate committee to plead their case before the committee makes a recommendation to the president for or against that
see SENATORS page 6
see CECE page 3
hornets ’
Z BUZ
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Faculty Senate Academic Affairs Committee argues whether faculty with tenure should have protections from termination Poll of 105 students taken in the Memorial Union, William Allen White when it concerns sexual misconduct on Sept. 26 in the Roe R. Cross room in the Union. Currently, tenured faculty members Library and Science Hall. Infographic By Sarah Spoon | The Bulletin are required to have a hearing with colleagues before they can be dismissed. Gabriel Molina-Maruda | The Bulletin