Debate coach canned for mooning

FORT HAYS, Kan., Aug. 23 (UPI) -- A Kansas debate coach has been fired for expressing himself, caught on videotape, by mooning another coach, university officials say.

Bill Shanaha, a Fort Hays State University professor and debate coach, was let go for violating the school's faculty code of ethics, it was announced Friday. Shanahan had been seen nationwide via YouTube dropping his pants and bending over to expose his underwear-clad backside to a coach from the University of Pittsburgh last spring, the Salina Journal reported Saturday.

The YouTube video showed Shanahan engaged in a long, angry and obscenity-filled shouting match with Shanara Reid-Brinkley after she had been dismissed as a judge for a debate between Fort Hays and Towson State of Maryland. Both Towson State and Reid-Brinkley said "white hegemony" had been a factor in Shanahan's behavior.

"Everyone has the right to freedom of speech, but these actions are not acceptable for someone who is representing our university," Hays State spokesman Edward H. Hammond said at a news conference. "Professor Shanahan's conduct falls below the standard established to protect our university, its faculty, students and alumni. As a representative of Fort Hays, he had a duty of care that was seriously breached by his behavior."