KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / FRIDAY, APRIL 15, 2011 / NEWS / 3A
GOVERNMENT
Experts discuss the future, challenges of conservation
BY IAN CUMMINGS icummings@kansan.com
Energy experts presented views of concern as well as optimism when they discussed the future Thursday at the 2011 KU Energy Conference.
The conference was sponsored by the KU Energy Club and featured three panel discussions with 13 representatives of industry, government and not-for-profit groups, who answered questions on energy policy and technology for more than 60 members of the public in the Hancock Room of the Oread Hotel. They discussed carbon dioxide, transportation and the consequences of change in the energy industry. Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little introduced Gov. Sam Brownback, who delivered the opening remarks.
Brownback said he was excited by what he described as the rapid growth of wind energy in Kansas.
SUPPORTING RENEWABLE ENERGY
He described some of the challenges he saw in developing renewable energy resources, such as wind and ethanol. He said that any energy policy needed to balance energy needs, the environment and the economy. Brownback said he wanted to achieve that balance through market action rather than regulation.
After one audience member, an oil and gas professional, said he would like to see fewer subsidies for alternative fuels to make the market more fair. Brownback responded that the government was broke and the energy industry might see a drop in subsides even faster than they wanted it. He said he defended subsidies for
technologies like wind power and urged students to think about how they could conserve energy.
Brownback also said he hoped to see successful research in the harnessing of energy from the methane produced by livestock and the cultivation of certain types of algae.
"I want the 'wheat state' to be the 'renewable state," Brownback said.
State Representative Tom Sloan, of the 45th District in Douglas County, said the primary difficulty with both technologies was the long distance that energy and material would need to travel in order to reach large population centers.
THE POLITICS OF THE BUSINESS
"The world is not in a good place right now," he said.
John Hofmeister, a former president of Royal Dutch Shell, said the nation had never had an energy policy, and political action would be necessary to make a change.
"Nothing happened, and we're nowhere," he said.
Hofmeister said he had helped bring a bill to Congress in 2009 that would create a cap and trade program to provide economic incentives for carbon producers to reduce emissions. The bill was altered in the legislature and never passed.
Ward Burns, an environmental engineer in the Environmental Protection Agency, said the agency made its best effort to enforce the regulations in place, but was not permitted to lobby for further regulations.
"We depend on the legislature to give us the appropriate direction," Burns said.
Bill Eastman, director of environmental services at Westar Energy, said his company had to be involved in any discussion of energy policy in the state. Westar is the largest firm in the state and Eastman said it had spent $500 million to reduce emissions.
It also has been a sponsor of the Take Charge! Challenge initiative, an effort to rally energy consumers in Lawrence and 15 other communities to conserve energy. Eastman said the state was emitting more than 30 million tons of carbon dioxide each year, despite efforts by Westar to run as efficiently as possible.
THE ROLE OF THE PUBLIC
Hofmeister said energy policy was influenced by a variety of interested parties, including an industry whose primary obligation was to serve its shareholders. Change would have to come through participatory democracy and an informed citizenry he said.
"Until then, we will be the victims," Hofmeister said, "not the horses."
The key to protecting the environment and promoting a healthy energy economy was to get the citizenry involved, said Jeff Risley, a University alumnus and executive director of the not-for-profit Climate and Energy Project. He said the Take Charge! Challenge, which was organized in part by the Climate and Energy Project, had already reduced energy use by 7 million kilowatt hours in participating communities, a change that he said would be permanent as consumers change their behavior.
Chris Bronson/KANSAN Gov. Sam Brownback gives a speech at the Energy Conference held at the Oread Hotel, 1200 Oread Ave, Thursday morning, Brownback delivered a short message on the importance of energy and its effect on the consumer. After the speech, Brownback allowed a question and answer session. Activities for the Energy Conference continued throughout the day at the Oread Hotel.
Risley said he endorsed cap and trade legislation as a way to effective industry-wide changes in energy production and consumption.
"If you can put a price on carbon, you're going to reduce emissions," he said. "It's a money issue."
— Edited by Caroline Bledowski
LEARN MORE:
Read more about the Take Chargel Challenge at www.takechargekansas.org
TAXES
Students look for tax advice both online and on campus
BY LAURA THOMAS editor@kansan.com
Students whose yearly income requires them to file taxes have several options.
Although tax day usually falls on April 15, this year students have until Monday to file their taxes because of a little-known Washington, D.C., holiday.
Some get help from organizations like H&R Block or TurboTax
"I got my first job this year and my mom made me file my own taxes," said Dylan Fael, a freshman from Hutchinson who used TurboTax. "It was pretty easy and didn't take long."
In addition to online resources, organizations through the University of Kansas help students file taxes for free.
The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program, or VITA, is composed of KU law and business students. They prepare returns for Kansas, Missouri or Illinois residents who make less than $49,000 a year.
"I think free services like ours are extremely underutilized," VITA coordinator Courtney Sipe said. "We make it easy by filing it all for them so it gets sent to the respective agencies."
For students who are not residents in Kansas, Missouri or Illinois, Student Legal Services is another option. The organization has been aiding students with their taxes throughout the past two months.
"I don't actually have to because of the amount of money I make," Krista Mitchell, freshman from Overland Park, said. "But it's always nice to get some tax return money so why not?"
Some students are not required to file taxes. The requirements vary based on three major factors: age, filing status and type of income.
Income tax returns, however,
serve as an incentive for some
students to do so less as an obligation
and more of a way to earn extra
cash.
For students wondering whether they need to file taxes and how to do so correctly, resources exist both online and through the University.
WHEN FILING FOR AN INCOME TAX RETURN:
- Include the following student aid as sources of taxable income: federal work-study earnings, student employment earning, scholarships from all sources in excess of tuition, fees and required books.
W-2
1040
1040A
Include scholarship sources such as University scholarships, federal Pell and SEOG grants and state grants.
fax forms:
For more coverage of this story, check out KUJH's newscast today at 4 p.m. on channel 31 for Knology subscribers.
- Add books to the total only if you have the receipts.
- Consider winter and spring of the 2009-2010 academic year, and summer and fall of the 2010-2011 academic year.
1040EZ
1040NR
TICKET SCANDAL
Former KU employee sentenced will spend 57 months in prison
BY ALEX GARRISON agarrison@kansan.com
A federal judge sentenced former associate athletics director for ticket operations Charlotte Blubaugh to 57 months in prison for her role in the cash-for-tickets scheme.
She will also be responsible for paying $2.65 million in restitution to KU Athletics and to the Internal Revenue Service.
In her guilty plea entered in January, she admitted to working with co-defendants Brendan Simmons, Jason Jeffries, Ben Kirtland, Rodney Dale Jones and Kassie Liebsch to divert $2 million in tickets to sell to third parties for their own financial gain.
According to a media release from the federal prosecutors, Blubaugh misled athletics director Lew Perkins "to believe that a computer system was in place to prevent tickets from being stolen, converted or taken by fraud." The co-defendants also misled the NCAA.
Edited by Marla Daniels
Jones was sentenced to 46 months in prison, Liebsch to 37 months and Simmons and Jeffries to probation. Kirtland's sentencing is set for May 12. Blubaugh's husband, Tom, was sentenced to 46 months after being convicted of being a part of the conspiracy to steal tickets.
ODD NEWS
Beans help thwart a medicine thief
PASCAGOULA, Miss. - A pharmacist says a drug store
burglar got a surprise when he broke in to steal the pain medication Lortab — the pills were replaced with beans.
Pharmacist Mac Clark said
the store has been broken into several times, and each time the burglar got Lortab. He decided he needed a decoy.
Associated Press
Elizabeth Miller Watkins week April 16-23
Saturday, April 16
"Elizabeth, Betsy and Bess:
A Conversation with Elizabeth Watkins"
A play chronicling the life of Watkins
2 p.m.
Swarthout Recital Hall in Murphy Hall
Monday, April 18 - Saturday, April 23 Watkins Memorial Health Center will collect contributions to provide emergency aid for needy students, as well as maintenance of Danforth Chapel.
Tuesday, April 19 KU Endowment is serving cookies in Watkins' honor 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. or until all cookies are distributed Kansas Union
Thursday, April 21
A conversation about Watkins, led by historian
Mary Burchill
6:30 p.m.
Watkins Community Museum of History
(1047 Massachusetts Street)
All events are free and open to the public.
www.kuendowment.org
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