U of I Professor Accused Of Sexual Misconduct; Veterinarians Face Ethical Dilemmas; Fall Travel

On the 21st: University of Illinois law school faculty, staff, and students are speaking out about new details around a sexual harassment investigation involving one of its professors, Jay Kesan. Plus, a new study finds that many animal veterinarians struggle with ethical conflicts over what pet owners ask of them. But first, we talked about rising fuel prices, new FAA regulations and fall travel - and whether or not you’ll have any more room traveling this holiday season.

Students, faculty and staff at the University of Illinois College of Law in Champaign are speaking out about a sexual harassment investigation involving one of its tenured professors, Jay Kesan.

In 2015, the campus launched an investigation into allegations of sexual harassment against Kesan, after multiple women came forward to complain about his interactions with female faculty members and students. Ultimately, 38 people told investigators that they also experienced or observed troubling behavior involving Kesan.

Kesan has denied the allegations. As a law professor at the university, Kesan was once a guest on the 21st. And was a frequent commentator for our home station's, WILL, Legal Issues in the News. Since the report came out, WILL has made a decision to remove him as a legal commentator.

For more on this, we were joined by the U of I law faculty and students who are speaking out about this. Landon Webster joined us, he is a law student and representative with the U of I Student Bar Association. Paul Heald, a U of I law professor, was also with us. Heald was among the signees of a statement issued on Tuesday calling for immediate revisions to U of I’s sexual misconduct policies.

And Laura Beth Nielsen, a professor of legal studies at Northwestern University, joined us on the line from Evanston as well.

Christine Herman, a reporter at Illinois Public Media who broke the story, came on the show to share what she has learned. Christine obtained campus documents about this investigation through an open records request, and is still reporting it out.

And --

When it comes to our pets, many of us often think of these animals as members of our families. So when they get sick, we take them to the vet hoping to get news from trusted professionals.

But, a new study published in the Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine finds that most vets experience ethical dilemmas when it comes to what pet owners ask of them.

The study finds that almost 70 percent of vets said they felt moderate to severe distress about not being able to give animals proper care. And almost two-thirds were bothered by inappropriate requests for putting animals down.

Dr. Lisa Moses, lead author of the study, spoke to us in more detail about her findings. She’s a veterinarian at the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals-Angell Animal Medical Center and a bioethicist at Harvard Medical School.

And Kate Hamilton joined us at our studios. Kate is a licensed clinical therapist and social worker at the University of Illinois’ College of Veterinary Medicine.

But first -

The busy fall travel season is soon to be upon us. But fuel prices are already up, American Airlines just changed its rebooking rules but will cramped seats on airlines ever change?

NPR’s David Schaper has been reporting on that, as well as other transportation news, and he joined us today to share his insights.