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The Chancellor's Lifeline
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
As the secretary for KU's top administrator, Jane Johnson is the calm in a whirlwind of activity
SUSAN BURRIS
By Hannah Naughton Kansan staff writer
PAGE 87
he may have one of the most important positions at the University of Kansas. Without her, the chancellor would be lost. She tells him what to do, where to go and who to see. She's his secretary.
Jane Johnson acts as the gatekeeper for Chancellor Robert Hemenway and is usually the first contact for those wanting to see or talk to him.
Tom Leninger / KANBAN
She is Jane Johnson, and she has been secretary for the chancellor for almost 20 years. Johnson has worked with Archi Dykes, Gene Budig, Del Shankel and now Robert Hemenay.
Johnson's duties are diverse and bring her in contact with all kinds of people. She arranges the chancellor's travel, sends and writes correspondence letters, and schedules his day.
"I really do enjoy my job because it's so varied, and it's so busy," she said. "I work really hard and don't get bored."
"He comes in every morning, and I have a card for him
telling him what he's got to do," she said.
"The most important part of my job is the chancellor's schedule," she said. "It's always very busy."
hat scheduling Heineman's day had taken more effort than previous chancellors because he was new to the position as well as the campus.
"Keeping his schedule is a full-time job," she said. "Especially because he's new, he's trying to get out to all of the departments."
Heineman also is busy with the English class he teaches, the Alumni Association and fund raising for the University, she said.
Johnson said that scheduling Hemen-
Marc Adin, director
of human resources, said chancellor's secretary was at the top of the profession in terms of background experience, evaluations, the ability to handle many tasks at once, being sensitive to the needs of the constituents of the University and always using the highest degree of professionalism.
"Secretaries serve as the nervous system to the University," Adin said. "Their role is to keep the entire organization from being fragmented."
Secretaries are the first-line representatives of the University, Adin said. More members of the public come in contact with clerical staff or secretaries than any other occupational category.
"He wants to meet with anybody who requests time," she said.
"You don't think of it as powerful," she said. "I'm just there to help make it easier for him and for people to get to him."
"She represents the chancellor, who represents the University," Adin said. "She's the first contact to the chancellor's office."
Johnson knows her job is important but keeps it in perspective.
Johnson was born in Emporia and grew up in Marceline, Mo. She studied business at Emporia State University and moved to Saudi Arabia for 27 months after she married her husband, Jerry Johnson. They moved back to Lawrence in 1959, and she and her husband became directors of Carruth-O'Leary Hall, when it was still the first and only coed residence hall on campus.
Johnson is now divorced and is planning to retire in four years. She said she had many ideas about what she would do
I like to work with girls, she said. Johnson, who has three grown children, said she wouldn't mind moving to where they live once she retires.
Her daughter, Jenny, lives in Boulder, Colo. One of Johnson's sons, Justin, lives in Dallas, and her other son, Jeff, is the
once she left the chancellor's office
Johnson also is thinking of moving to England or another country in Europe where she could get a job, visit old acquaintances and meet new ones.
manager of The Eldridge Hotel, 701 Massachusetts St.
Until then, Johnson said she would continue to work in the chancellor's office.
play golf, go to KU football and basketball games, and visit and go on walks with her 87-year old mother, who lives at Brandon Woods retirement home, 1501 Inverness Drive.
KU Life
"My job is my highest priority," she said. "My family in high, too; but they are grown now. Then comes golfing."
LEAD STORY
In March, police in New York City charged salesman Joel Levy, 32, with assault. According to police, Levy's live-in girlfriend arrived home unexpectedly after Levy had just put in an order for a call girl. Levy improvised a plan to intercept "Brandy" in his building's lobby, have a hlaison, and then to dash back upstairs before his girlfriend got suspicious. When he saw a good-looking woman in the lobby, Levy assumed it was Brandy. He nudged her into an elevator, and, according to police, pawed and fondled her while waving a $50 bill, saying, "You know you want it. You know you'll do anything for it." The woman was not Brandy. She was an assistant district attorney from Brooklyn.
Until July, when the state passed a law to correct the problem, hospitals in Alabama were allowed to charge rape victims for the forensic exams from which evidence, such as sperm and blood samples, were gathered. In other Alabama crimes such as burglary, the forensic examination for blood, fingerprints, etc., is paid for by the state.
GOVERNMENT IN ACTION
In July, an official in the office that supervises road construction crews in Minneapolis issued a directive in response to complaints that workers stop oglining women while on duty. In a subsequent clarification, the official said sneaking a look would be OK, and said men, as well, should not be ogled.
■ Eligonso Lopez, 39, recently was granted a new trial after five years of protesting his innocence in his 1990 rape conviction. An investigation into law enforcement, records by The Brownsville (Texas) Herald revealed that Lopz had an ironclad alibi that was ignored at his trial: He was in prison serving a sentence for drunken driving when the rape occurred.
In July, the U.S. Department of Transportation proposed to liberalize its procedure for drug-testing employees who have "shy bladders." Such employees are given 24 ounces of fluid within 2 hours to encourage urination. The department proposes 40 ounces in 4 hours and on July 25 issued a 4,800-word Federal Register notice explaining its proposal.
According to records disclosed in July by an Associated Press inquiry, Florida Gov Lawton Chiles, who makes more than $100,000 a year, has a lower salary than 798 other state employees, including his own chief of staff.