THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 29, 2009
NEWS
3A
NATIONAL
Sebelius ends term early
Former governor becomes HHS secretary; Parkinson takes over
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is sworn in by Tim Saunders, executive clerk of the White House, as President Barack Obama holds the Bible in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Tuesday.
TOPEKA — Lt. Gov. Mark Parkinson, wooed from the Republican Party three years ago by Democratic Gov. Kathleen Sebelius to become her running mate, became governor Tuesday when Sebelius resigned upon her confirmation as U.S. health and human services secretary.
Parkinson, a 51-year-old former Republican legislator and party chairman, has said he did not expect to make major policy or staff changes, and that he won't run for a full four-year term next year.
A letter of resignation Sebelius submitted Tuesday became effective with the U.S. Senate's 65-31 vote approving her appointment by President Barack Obama.
The resignation automatically elevated Parkinson to the state's top elected office. He was to be formally sworn in by the Kansas Supreme Court's chief justice.
Sebelius, 60, a former state insurance commissioner and state legislator, won her first gubernatorial election in 2002. She positioned
herself as a centrist and successfully wooded moderate Republican voters, gaining national attention as she won two terms in a GOP-leaning state.
GOP legislators were waiting to see how Parkinson would deal with the state's budget problems. Sebelius has tried to avoid cuts in education funding and has advocated suspending some planned tax breaks, tapping gambling dollars and diverting funds from cities and counties to boost state revenues.
The transfer of power marked the fourth time a Kansas governor has resigned before his or her term has expired — but the first in which a governor left early to join a president's Cabinet.
LIBRARIES Watson plays host to poetry reading Thursday
To celebrate national poetry month, KU Libraries is hosting a Favorite Poems Open Mic Reading at 4 p.m. Thursday on the third floor of Watson Library. The event is open to the public and registration begins at 3:30 p.m. Thursday.
Julie Buchsbaum, librarian and poet, said she and other Watson staff members looked at what other libraries across the country were doing to promote poetry and discovered that many were having poetry readings.
To Buchsbaum, poetry is a way of thinking and being different in the world. She said there was a benefit from reading poetry aloud.
"When you are performing your work in front of an audience, you suddenly become aware of the language in an entirely new way," Buchsbaum said. "It's kind of like putting it under a microscope because you can gage from the audience's reaction or lack of reaction whether it elicits any response or emotion from them."
There is a five-minute time limit to read a poem and students can choose to read their own work or someone else's.
This is the first year a series of events has been created to
highlight National Poetry Month, said Rebecca Smith, KU Libraries director of public relations and advancement.
Micole Aronowitz
Following the open mic reading, Buchsaum will give a lecture on "An Ordinary Evening in New Haven," written by American modernist poet Wallace Stevens.
Smith said the ultimate goal was to highlight KU Libraries' extensive poetry collection. She said the libraries had more than 28,000 books of or about poetry.
CAMPUS University competition tries to boost class pride
Class officers are inviting students to show their spirit today during a class competition from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in front of Wescoe Hall.
compete in a hula-hoop contest and play a bean-bag throw game to earn points for their graduating class.
Students can solve a riddle.
"We're trying to get it started, so we're doing little events right now, but in the future we're hoping to make it into a campus-wide thing," Lacey said. "We hope with the class competition everyone will be working toward a common goal, so hopefully that will create some unity in the classes."
Lauren Lacey, Troy, Mo., freshman, is one of the class officers who helped organize the event and said she hoped to see a lot of participation.
Candy and buttons for each class from 2009 to 2012 will be given away, and senior class T-shirts will also be on sale for $10 each.
FUNERAL (CONTINUED FROM 1A)
Family and friends spoke of Dalton's "dazzling smile," the potential of his impressive academic abilities and the pain of no longer having him around. Dalton had last gone home to Shawnee to spend time with his family the Sunday before he died.
"You were always the brightest one around," said Makenzie Hawkins, Dalton's younger sister. "You were more than perfect. Eighteen years with you was not long enough."
Jayson Jenks, Shawnee freshman and sportswriter for The University Dally Kansan, spoke on behalf of a group of about 15 of Dalton's close friends. Jenks
said none of the friends knew quite what they wanted to say at the service at first, but then they gathered around a table and shared favorite memories of their close friend.
Jens shared a story of a camping trip the group took together that ended with Dalton's infectious laughter.
"With Dalton goes a piece of our hearts." Jenks said.
Fangman said the standing- room only crowd showed how much Dalton was loved and that all the mourners were suffering a great loss.
"It's obvious Dalton was a very special person," Fangman said.
"And the awful reality is that life will never be the same without him."
Fangman spoke of the range of emotions Dalton's loved ones were experiencing — from anger to grief to shock — as they attempted to wrestle with the many unanswered questions surrounding his death.
Tim Hawkins, Dalton's uncle, used Dalton's love of cycling as a metaphor for his loved ones' attempts to remember Dalton.
"The wonderful memories on the ride through Big D's life," he said. "These are the memories that will ride with us forever."
Edited by Heather Melanson
CAMPUS (CONTINUED FROM 1A)
to LGBT Americans.
He said the panel would consist of two students, two professors and an 82-year-old former minister.
"I think we can have a seriously engaging discussion with the audience, whether they are gay or straight," Adkison said. "It'll be entertaining, it'll be educating and it will also raise awareness."
George Paris, the former minister who worked as state director for campus ministry for a Methodist church, said he thought the panel would be helpful for everyone involved.
"A lot of people have the problem of coming out to their parents." Paris said, "I had the problem of coming out to my children."
Paris was born in 1927 and started having sex with men in
college, but he got married in an attempt to suppress his sexuality
He did not come out to his five adult children until he was 70, after his wife passed away.
Paris said the discussion would give the panelists an opportunity to talk about their different experiences as gay people in the modern world and what that meant in today's culture.
Ashlynn Horras, educational outreach coordinator for Queers and Allies, said the panel would help her revise future panels to include important questions.
Horras, Knoxville, Iowa, junior, said the more she told her story and heard others', the more she appreciated her family's support.
"I think a panel like this gives the audience a unique look into the queer community and the opportunity to ask questions they
might not have thought of before or haven't had the chance to ask," Horras said.
Adkison said the audience would be free to ask any questions or discuss any topics that interested them at the panel discussion.
Horras said she was interested to hear what the older panelists thought about current events such as the passing of gay marriage laws and the use of the word "gay."
"We're trying to reach the student body who has never asked a queer person these questions," Horras said. "Students don't see enough multigenerational panels, and there's a lot to be gained from the wisdom of those older than you."
Edited by Chris Horn
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