Section A · Page 10
The University Daily Kansan
Tuesday. January 18. 2000
Law school ends search for new dean
Current associate dean will takeover position by beginning of July
By Ryan Devlin
writer@kansan.com
Kansas staff writer
It took more than a year of searching, but the University of Kansas School of Law finally has a new dean.
After two nationwide searches, Stephen McAllister, a 1988 KU graduate and a current associate dean and professor at the law school, was hired Dec. 27 to succeed current dean Michael Hoeflich on July 1. Hoeflich will continue to teach at the law school.
Chancellor Robert Hemenway praised the appointment.
"I would say that the appointment of McAllister is probably the most distinguished appointment of a law school dean this year." Hemenwav said.
McAllister, a native of Lucas, earned a B.A. from the University in 1985, and a J.D.
from the School of Law in 1988. Prior to joining the law school faculty in 1993, McAllister clerked for Supreme Court Justices Byron White and Clarence Thomas, as well as for Judge Richard
Posner of the 7th U.S.
Circuit Court of
Appeals. He also was
an associate at the
Washington, branch of
the Los Angeles-based
law firm of Gibson,
Dunn and Crutcher.
"How could you ask for someone with better credentials than that for your law school dean?" Hemenway said.
McAllister currently teaches constitutional
McAllister: Clerked for two U.S. Supreme Court Justices
litigation and torts and supervises moot court activities at the law school. He has published more than 20 academic articles, and his research interests include federalism, the eighth amendment and sex offender laws. He has briefed and argued
two Supreme Court cases while at the University.
In addition to his duties at the law school, McAlister serves as state solicitor under Attorney General Carla Stovall, monitoring and participating in constitutional cases that involve the state.
McAllister previously brought Supreme Court Justices White, Thomas and Antonin Scalia to campus for speaking engagements and was instrumental in organizing a return visit by Thomas, who will preside over a moot court competition in early April.
"I think we have an excellent school, but I think there are ways we can improve." McAllister said. "One of my priorities is to increase the school's national visibility and reputation. I think we're as good as many of the schools ranked in the Top 50 in U.S. News and World Report," he said.
McAllister also said that he would work to keep the environment at the law school student friendly and to increase scholarship opportunities. He also has set a goal to increase unrestricted annual giving to the law school by 10 percent annually.
Jill Bachman, second-year law student
"One of my priorities is to increase the school's national visibility and reputation. I think we're as good as many of the schools ranked in the Top 50 in U.S.News and World Report."
Stephen McAllister
law school dean
and member of the search committee that recommended McAllister to Provost David Shulenburger, said she thought the appointment would have a positive effect on students.
"Dean McAllister is one of the most well-known and highly respected professors among the students," Bachman said. "He was the only candidate students would call me on saying they wanted him to be the new dean."
Bachman said she thought McAllister would bring a new sense of energy and pride to the law school.
STATE OF THE STATE HIGHLIGHTS
In addition to promises to fund higher education restructuring, Gov. Bill Graves outlined the following issues in his State of the State address:
a five-principle budget based on 1) not spending money the state does not have 2) not using tax increases as substitutes for fiscal management 3) requiring the ending balance to follow state law 4) setting priorities and 5) reaffirming the commitment made to children.
providing funding for education, merit pay for state employees, increased support of adoption services, medical assistance costs, in-home elderly and disabled care, maintaining Johnson and Sedgwick county adult residential corrections centers and upgrading customer service, including a toll-free number for Kansas taxpayers.
changes in ethics and campaign finance.
ensuring the business of governing occurs in full public view.
occurs in full public view
stricter seat belt laws
- reviewing rules and regulations to be more understandable, reasonable and necessary.
Animated storyteller
Legislators vote against Kansas primary
Chancellor Robert Hemenway acts in the African-American folk tale *Br'er Rabbit* for Pinckney School, 810 W. Sixth St., third- and fourth-graders. The Pinckney students were studying African-American writer Zora Neale Hurston, who collected folk tales with poet Langston Hughes. Hemenway, who wrote a biography of Hurston, said he began visiting schools to tell Greek myths and folk tales when his own children were in elementary school. He said he learned early what it took to make sure children paid attention. Photo by Jim O'Molly/KANSAN
Limited budget outweighs need for state contest
By Katrina Hull
writer@kansan.com
Kansas staff writer
A presidential primary has no place on the prairie, state lawmakers say — at least not in a year when a budget pinch leaves legislators pruning state spending and the primary price is $1.5 million.
The Senate and House both passed bills last week that removed money for the April 4 presidential primary. Committees will discuss a bill to delete the primary itself from state statutes this week in order to prevent counties from having to pay for a primary on the books but not funded by the Legislature.
things." Graves said.
Little precedent prevails for a Kansas primary either, as the state has staged two in the past, one in 1980 and one in 1992.
"I don't think it's particularly a huge issue," said Paul Schumaker,
political science and department chairman. "I don't think the Kansas primary would be of much consequence or candidates would spend much time in the state."
And minus a primary, even
Graves: Recommended keeping state money
ress of a chance exists for prospective presidents to visit the state or the University of Kansas. Both the KU Young Democrats and the Senate Legislative Awareness Board invited presidential front runners to stop in Lawrence.
Michael Henry, SLAB community affairs director, said that although the primary might not put Kansas
on the map, students missed mixing with politicians.
"The major disadvantage for us is that we don't have the opportunity to interest and put on programs or events involving the candidates." Henry said.
Bob Choromanski, a KU Young Democrat and statewide campus coordinator for the Bill Bradley campaign, said he thought Bradley would have visited the University if the primary race were close in April.
In 1996, with Kansan Bob Dole vying for the Republican nomination and Bill Clinton unchallenged on the democratic side, Kansas canceled the primary. But Choromanski said this year could be a different story with John McCain challenging George W. Bush and Bill Bradley racing neck-and-neck with Al Gore.
"For the first time in many years there are real, alternative choices on both the Republican and Democratic side," Choromanski said. "Many people are getting excited about the campaign because of the choices."
By April, however, Schumaker said party nominations already
might be determined. That, along with Kansas's small population, often makes Kansas unattractive to the candidates, he said.
State Rep. Troy Findley, D-Lawrence, voted against the bill ousting the primary because fewer people would be involved in the democratic process, he said.
Schumaker said the loss of the primary was not necessarily a loss for democracy because those who voted in primaries tended to be more ideologically motivated in the first place.
Kansas Secretary of State Ron Thornburg is working to create a Midwest or prairie primary that would combine several states for 2004, something Graves, Schumaker and Findley agreed was a good idea that could make the Kansas primary more significant.
This year, however, legislators have decided that budget concerns outweigh the political primary process — a decision not everyone agreed with.
"It is a lot of money, but it's once every four years," Choromanski said. "I think the state could spare the money because we have two meaningful races."
Second woman files complaint against Regents
The Board of Regents has been hit with its second gender-bias complaint in the last year and could be facing a third.
Debra Bonewitz, a former research associate for the Regents, filed the most recent complaint near the end of last year with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
The Regents have not received
Bonewitz's complaint yet, said Regents associate general counsel Mary Prewitt, but they were notified that she filed a complaint with the EEOC. Prewitt said she could not talk about the complaint until the Regents received it.
Christine Crenshaw, former associate director of fiscal affairs for the Regents, filed the first gender-bias complaint against the
Regents in June with the Kansas Human Rights Commission.
Crenshaw's attorney, Kirk Lowery, said that Crenshaw and the Regents were in the mediation process, meaning he could not comment on the proceedings.
Crenshaw began a new job as the director of student financial aid at Kansas State University on Friday, Lowery said.
Former Regents communications director Barb Conant is considering filing a gender-bias complaint, according to the Lawrence Journal-World.
After Conant left her job in October, her position was combined with another and the pay was increased.
— Doug Pacey
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