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NEWS
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STATE
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2009
Governorship may open up
BY BETSY KUTCLIFF bcutcliff@kansan.com
Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius is rumored to be at the top of President Barack Obama's list of candidates for Health and Human Services Secretary. If chosen, Sebelius would head to Washington and leave the state in the hands of Lt. Gov. Mark Parkinson.
Sebelius
News about Sebelius' possibly
replacing Tom Daschle as the nominee for HHSSecretary began buzzing when she visited with Obama aide Valerie Jarrett on a routine trip to
Washington. While the governor's office in Topeka hasn't announced anything, the Associated Press reported that Sebelius was a top contender for the position. Bolstered by her strong ties with women's rights and eight years experience as Kansas insurance commissioner, AP said she would be Obama's second choice for the vacancy.
As of right now, the staff in the governor's office has no knowledge of possibly being given a new boss.
"As far as staff members are concerned, we work for the state as usual," Stacy Elmer, Topeka graduate student, said. Elmer works in Sebelius' office and said she could not comment on the possibility of Sebellus moving to Washington.
Should the move happen, David Gottlieb, professor of law and Parkinson's former instructor, said he had confidence Parkinson
would make a good governor.
"I think he's someone who's been very well-respected on both sides of the aisle his whole career," Gottlieb said.
Parkinson graduated from the University's School of Law in 1984 at the top of his class and moved on to private practice. His political career began when he was elected to the Kansas House of Representatives in 1990 and then to the Kansas Senate in 1992. He joined Governor Sebelius' ticket for office in 2006, and was recently appointed as Chairman of the Governor's Military Council, which advises any Kansas military actions ordered by the Department of Defense.
Burdett Loomis, professor of political science, said that the clear line of succession made transitions smooth, and that Parkinson would have no trouble functioning as governor. Loomis said Kansas citizens would probably
not notice any sort of direct change if the shift in leadership occurred.
While Sebelius announced in early
December that she wasn't considering any cabinet positions and wanted to focus on Kansas' budget problems, Loomis said she would be an ideal candidate for HHS Secretary.
"She has been extraordinarily interested in health care, and has eight years as insurance commissioner under her belt." Loomis said.
Edited by Casey Miles
Stop Day may come to end
CAMPUS
Calendar Committee considers eliminating day off and adjusting breaks
BY BRIANNE PFANNENSTIEL bpfannenstiel@kansan.com
Stop Day may be on the chopping block as the University Calendar Committee proposes changes to the academic calendar. The University Senate Executive Committee is holding an open meeting at 3:30 p.m. today in the Provost Conference Room in Strong Hall to discuss possible changes.
The majority of proposed changes to the calendar are aimed at reducing the number of class days from 150 to 148. Stop Day would be eliminated to condense the academic year so classes could begin on a Monday instead of a Thursday.
"Things add up," said George Bittlingmayer, professor of business who sits on the calendar committee. "You have one day here and one day there, and then instead of starting class on a Monday you have to go back to the previous Thursday."
University Calendar Committee chairwoman Barbara Phipps said the committee was considering cutting Stop Day because it was no longer relevant. Stop Day began when finals started on a Wednesday and students were given Tuesday off to study.
"Administrators and faculty feel that it's not as necessary as it used to be," Phipps said. "Very few universities have a Stop Day. Most do what we're proposing."
While some professors agree that Stop Day is no longer necessary, others argue that having a day off can be beneficial for students.
"I actually favor having a longer break between classes and exams or even putting a break in the middle of exams," said Daniel J. Bernstein, professor of applied behavioral science and director of the Center for Teaching Excellence. "There's a lot of integration that needs to be done and I find that students are tired and not being reflective when they're rushed from one thing to another."
The calendar committee's proposal would eliminate Stop Day and continue classes through the Friday before finals week.
Stop Day would be replaced by a "15th Week Policy," which would prohibit professors from giving exams worth more than 10 percent of the course grade during the week before finals.
Papers and projects could still be due as long as they were assigned in writing before the eighth week of the term.
Robert C. Umholtz, who sits on the calendar committee, has been a professor of mechanical engineering for 56 years and said he always held a dead week before finals in which he didn't assign anything.
He said he thought the "15th Week Policy" was similar and would be enough to keep students happy without Stop Day.
Some students,however,think the policy won't do enough to lessen their workloads.
"Even if a professor isn't giving a test that we there can still
be a significant amount of coursework due that wouldn't allow students to utilize that time to study," said student body president Adam McGonigle. "It only gives students two days to prepare for five days of finals."
McGonigle sits on the University Senate Executive Committee, which will make the final decision about the calendar committee's proposal.
Phipps said the committee would discuss Stop Day as well as possible changes to fall break during its meeting today.
She said the committee had considered combining fall break with Thanksgiving break so students would have a full week off in November, but said the committee was divided on the issue.
The calendar committee plans the calendar several years in advance and any changes made would not go into effect until the Fall 2012 semester.
- Edited by Casey Miles
PUTTING A STOP TO STOP DAY
The proposed calendar changes are intended to reduce the number of class days from 150 to 148. Classes would begin on Monday.
CURRENT FIRST WEEK OF CLASSES
PROPOSED FIRST WEEK OF CLASSES
CRIME
Wed. CLASS
CURRENT LAST WEEK OF CLASSES
CLASS
STOP DAY
PROPOSED LAST WEEK OF CLASSES
Mon.
CLASS
Tue.
CLASS
Wed.
CLASS
Thu.
CLASS
Fri.
LAST DAY OF
CLASS
BY ROXANA HEGEMAN
judge denies lower bond for nurse connected with 59 drug overdose deaths
Associated Press
WICHITA — A judge refused Monday to lower the cash bond for a jailed nurse who, along with her husband, is accused of wrongfully prescribing drugs at a clinic linked to 59 drug overdose deaths.
But the Pain Relief Network, a patient advocacy group that supports Linda Schneider, said just minutes after the ruling that family and friends have come forward
with the money. Network president Siobhan Reynolds said Schneider, who has been jailed for more than a year while awaiting trial, could be released within days.
U. S. Magistrate Judge Donald Bostwick ruled Monday that nothing has happened to change his earlier finding that Schneider is a flight risk. He said the additional $100,000 cash bond — on top of a $325,000 unsecured bond and electronic monitoring — is necessary to ensure she appears in court and
to protect the community.
Schneider and her husband, Dr. Stephen Schneider, were arrested in December 2007. They are charged in a 34-count indictment with conspiracy, unlawful distribution of controlled substances, unlawful distribution of a controlled substance resulting in death, health care fraud, health care fraud resulting in death and illegal monetary transactions.
The doctor was released on an unsecured bond in April. But Linda
Schneider had been held without bond after Bostwick determined she had the desire and means to flee to Mexico.
Bostwick set bond last week because the trial has been delayed while prosecutors appeal another judge's ruling limiting the case.
While the indictment links the couple's Haysville clinic to 59 overdose deaths, U.S. District Judge Monti Belot has ordered prosecutors to limit the trial to just four deaths.
Bostwick said their appeal of that ruling will delay the trial for at least another year.
In refusing to reduce the bond, Bostwick noted Linda Schneider's prior conviction on a Social Security fraud case involving an illegal immigrant. He also pointed out that she has both a home and bank accounts in Mexico.
Since the hearing, prosecutors filed a request to modify the bond conditions to require a secured $325,000 for each of the defendants, citing inconsistent reports to the court and financial institutions about the value of their assets. They also now want the defendants to disclose how they spent money not seized by the government.
DISASTER
Prosecutors contend the Schneiders either lied to the court about their assets or committed bank fraud by submitting false loan applications to various financial institutions indicating they didn't have mortgages on their homes in Kansas, Oklahoma and Mexico.
Aussie wildfire toll hits 173
BY TANALEE SMITH
Associated Press
WHITTLESEA, Australia — Disaster teams found charred bodies on roadside and in crashed cars — grim signs of the futile attempt to flee raging wildfires fed by 60-mph winds, record heat and drought that caught even fire-savvy Australians by surprise.
A Whitlessea, Australia, farm house was destroyed by wildfires Monday. The deadliest wildfires in Australia's history wiped out entire towns, officials discovered as they reached farther into the fire zone. The death toll stood at 173 Monday night.
The fires near Melbourne in southeastern Australia destroyed more than 750 homes, left 5,000 people homeless, and burned 1,100 square miles of land, the Victoria Country Fire Service said.
The death toll rose Tuesday to 173 in Australia's worst wildfire disaster.
a nation that endures deadly firestorms every few years. Officials said panic and the freight-train speed of the walls of flames probably accounted for the unusually
The scale of the disaster shocked
"I cannot fathom in my mind anything more hellish, firewise," said Jim Andrews, senior meteorologist at accuweather.com.
high death toll.