THE STUDENT VOICE SINCE 1904
SPORTS
INSIDE KU has a number of interim positions open; administrators say it’s not unusual p. 2
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vol. 137 // iss. 4 Mon., Aug. 27, 2018
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Lejuez to stay interim provost
firm will be used in the process to find candidates. Lejuez told the Kansan he has already applied for the permanent Provost position.
“I’m very honored to be in this role and I look forward to serving over this extended interim period.” Carl Lejuez Interim provost Kansan file photo Chancellor Doug Girod recently announced that Interim Provost Carl Lejuez will stay in the position through spring of 2019. Lejuez has taken the reigns on the University’s $20 million budget cuts.
NICOLE ASBURY @NicoleAsbury Chancellor Douglas Girod announced on Thursday that Interim Provost Carl Lejuez would remain in the position until spring of 2019. “I’m very honored to be in this role and I look forward to serving over this extended interim period,” Lejuez said in an email with the Kansan.
In his original statement on the vacancy of the position in April, Girod said a decision would be made “in the coming weeks.” In the wake of $20 million budget reduction, Girod decided to keep Lejuez on board as “there is value in stability during such a complicated budget process.” Lejuez, who was previously the dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, came into the
Spencer Library unveils new exhibit honoring Star Trek writer p. 6
position after the previous provost, Neeli Bendapudi, left the University to be president of the University of Louisville in Kentucky. Lejeuz has been the primary spokesperson for the ongoing budget town halls and the $20 million budget cuts. The nuances of the search for the Provost are expected to be revealed during the spring 2019 semester; though, a search
In addition to Lejuez’s extended tenure, the search for the Vice Chancellor for Research is still ongoing, according to Girod. Currently, Rodolfo Torres holds the interim role for the position, after taking over from previous interim vice chancellor for research, John Colombo. Candidate visits for the vice chancellor position are projected to occur in September, and the University is said to be on track to announce finalists by the end of the semester.
Read more at kansan.com
Provost to hold town hall meeting NICOLE ASBURY @NicoleAsbury
Still have questions about the University’s recently-announced $20 million budget cuts? Interim Provost Carl Lejuez will be hosting another budget town hall in Eaton Hall on Aug. 27 from 3:30 to 5 p.m. Lejuez will be updating the breakdown of the $20 million cuts, and answering questions from students and faculty about the budget reduction and strategies to address the cuts. “We’re committed to making sure students have the academic research and
quality of life they came to KU for,” Lejuez said. This is the second town hall Lejuez has hosted in an effort to be transparent with University students and faculty, as he stated in an earlier interview with the Kansan. “We put the budget in a PowerPoint, and that’s never happened. Any spending we do, we’re going to share it,” Lejuez said in the interview. “My goal is — no matter who the next Provost is — I want to make the culture here one of transparency. So at all times, our student and faculty don’t have to trust me, they can see it for themselves.”
Student shares human trafficking scare experience KALLI JO SMITH @kallijosmith After stopping outside of a gas station in Hays on her way home from a Universal Cheer Camp, Olivia Bannister, a junior from Iola, noticed a man in the gas station that seemed oddly interested in her. As Bannister used the restroom, she said the same man continued to wait directly outside for her and proceeded to ask her questions about her personal life. “At this point I’m getting kind of creeped out and he follows me to the checkout counter and asks if I’m sure I don’t need any help and I say yes, and as I’m paying for my drink he asks, ‘Well can I talk to you for a second?’” Bannister said. Walking toward the cashier, he followed Bannister out to her car, she said. Becoming frustrated, Bannister walked to another car that wasn’t hers as the stranger asked her questions like, “Why are you out here by yourself?” “Do you have a boyfriend?” “Where are you from?” After the incident, Bannister said she didn’t call the police, but did take to Twitter to express how the incident had scared her, cautioning others to be vigilant when out by themselves. Bannister is not the first to share a story like this. In the past month, multiple people in the Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa areas have taken to social media to caution women and girls about traveling places alone by sharing incidents
Illustration by Hadley Kubicki/KANSAN
similar to Bannister’s. As many post about their fears of sex trafficking in the Midwest area, Adrianne Nuñez, human trafficking program coordinator for the Willow Domestic Violence Center, said it’s an issue that needs to be discussed, but with the right facts. Nuñez said individuals who are already in vulnerable situations to start with are the most likely victims. In 2017, of the nearly 25,000 runaways reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, one in seven were most likely victims of sex trafficking, according to NCMEC. Of those runaways reported, 88 percent of those children were in the care of social services when they went missing.
“Honestly, what I see the most of from those who are sex trafficked are individuals in vulnerable communities that get recruited through emotional and psychological restraints,” Nuñez said. “Last fiscal year we served 70 something people, a very
small amount of those people were being physically taken or restrained. I do have clients it’s happened to, but a majority of clients were homeless, or in rehab for substance abuse.” The Kansan reached out to the Lawrence Police
Department and KU Public Safety Office to comment on local trafficking risks, but neither party returned those requests. Another vulnerable group of individuals are LGBTQ children and children in the Foster Care System who later find themselves on the street, according to Nuñez. Nuñez cautioned however, this wasn’t a reason for others to not be vigilant. According to the National Human Trafficking Hotline, between the years of 2012 and 2017, 2017 saw the most amount of reports, 51, for sex trafficking in Kansas. However, Nunez said statistics on sex trafficking are hard to distinguish due to the of the lack of reporting that actually takes place. “Most of the time these people aren’t reporting because of the repercussions they could face from their own traffickers,” she said. Nunez mentioned hotspots for trafficking in Kansas tend to be in larger cities like Topeka and Kansas City, which connect
to main highways, but advised trafficking can happen anywhere. Nuñez said the biggest ways in which individuals are recruited for sex trafficking, especially young people, are by traffickers reaching out to them on social media, typically in a romantic way. Other ways in which traffickers might get ahold of young people is by posting advertisements that offer payment for traveling or modeling, Nuñez said. “Don’t trust those because those are definitely recruiting tools for sex trafficking,” Nuñez said. Nuñez cautioned that everyone should carry mace with them and consider taking self-defense classes. “We live in a day and age where if someone, women especially, want to go to a grocery store or out for a run, we have to think about what time of the day it is,” Nuñez said. “My advice to people is to trust your gut. If you feel threatened in anyway, get out of that situation.”
Illustration by Huntyr Schwegman/KANSAN