18-year-old found guilty of raping 13-year-old

A jury found an 18-year-old Lawrence man guilty Tuesday of raping an intoxicated 13-year-old girl this past summer.

The jury, consisting of five women and seven men, deliberated for about 75 minutes before finding William N. Haney guilty of rape. Haney declined comment as he left the courtroom.

One of his co-defendants, 18-year-old Dana S. Jackson, already has been convicted of attempted rape in the case as a juvenile. Two other men, a 27-year-old Lawrence resident and an 18-year-old from Tonganoxie, are set to stand trial in coming months.

The girl testified the men gave her alcohol and had sex with her June 14 at Jackson’s residence in central Lawrence. Under Kansas law, children under age 14 are not able to give consent for sex.

“There is no defense to having sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old girl,” prosecutor Shelley Diehl said.

Both Haney and Jackson told police that Haney had sex with the girl, Diehl said in a closing argument.

Book discussions focus on state’s history

Four book discussions and a Web course will help Lawrence residents celebrate the 150th anniversary of Kansas territory. The discussions, funded in part by the Kansas Humanities Council, each begin at 7 p.m. at the Lawrence Public Library, 707 Vt.

The schedule for discussions in Lawrence is:

• “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” by Harriet Beecher Stowe, led by Maryemma Graham, Kansas University professor of English, today.
• “The Englishman in Kansas” by Thomas Gladstone, led by Tom Kreissler, KU doctoral candidate in English, Oct. 22.
• “John Brown: The Legend Revisited” by Merrill Peterson, led by Jonathan Earle, KU assistant professor of history, Nov. 5.
• “The All-true Travels and Adventures of Lidie Newton” by Jane Smiley, led by Tom Averill, Washburn University professor of English, Nov. 19.

KU Continuing Education also is organizing a Web course, “The Kansas Territorial Experience,” to be offered in January 2004.

Audio-Reader seeks donations for sale

Fresh on the heels of its success with last month’s sale of recordings and equipment, Kansas Audio-Reader Network is preparing for a similar event next year.

Audio-Reader is accepting gently used vinyl records, compact discs, books on tape, turntables and other audio-related equipment for its 2004 fund-raiser. It also seeks a donation of climate-controlled storage space with easy access to use throughout the year.

This year’s sale raised $10,672 for the network.

To donate or to learn more about Audio-Reader, call 864-4600.

Congressman releases fund-raising figures

Congressman Dennis Moore’s 2004 re-election campaign has raised more than $542,000 and has more than $490,000 on hand, according to a release from his office.

Moore’s figures are from the reporting period between July 1 and Sept. 30.

Speaker to address ‘straight eye’ culture

Professor Josh Gamson from the University of San Francisco will present “Straight Eye for the Queer Guy: Reality Television, Shopping, and the New Gay Visibility” Friday at Kansas University.

He is the Clark Lecturer for KU’s sociology department.

Gamson is an author whose work includes “Freaks Talk Back: Tabloid Talk Shows and Sexual Nonconformity.” His research and teaching focus on the sociology of culture, emphasizing contemporary Western commercial culture and mass media. He is studying the effect of ownership consolidation and concentration in gay and lesbian media.

The lecture begins at 4 p.m. in Alderson Auditorium in the Kansas Union.

Herpetological society plans annual field trip

The Kansas Herpetological Society will conduct its annual fall field trip Saturday and Sunday at Leavenworth County State Lake.

Anyone who is interested is welcome to attend and join the search for toads, frogs, turtles, lizards and snakes. Nonvenomous animals are captured to be counted and then released unharmed back to the area where they were found.

The Kansas Herpetological Society encourages conservation and education about reptiles, amphibians and turtles. The information obtained is published in the Journal of Kansas Herpetology, and made available for agencies such as the Kansas Department of Wildlife & Parks and other conservation and education groups.

The field trip will begin at 9 a.m. both days. For more information, visit the Web site at www.ku.edu/~khs.