Senate candidates Look inside for profiles on the nominees for president and vice president.
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WOLVERGREEN
TUESDAY, APRIL 10, 2007
WWW.KANSAN.COM
VOL.117 ISSUE 130
THE STUDENT VOICE SINCE 1904
PAGE1A
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
The Jayhawks hope to pay the Golden Eagles back for an early-season loss. 1B
Student Senate candidates answered questions about what they would do if they aren't elected. 4A
K-State
The Wildcats introduced their new men's basketball coach yesterday. 2B
An elderly man missed Christmas after he stole two hot dogs from a convenience store.
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Classifieds...5B
Crossword...8A
Horoscopes...8A
Opinion...9A
Sports...1B
Sudoku...8A
All contents, unless stated otherwise
© 2007 The University Daily Kansan
Men's basketball player Julian Wright touches the Javhawk statue as he leaves the Waunon Student Athlete Center on Monday afternoon. Moments earlier. Wright announced he was leaving Kansas for the NRA
Lisa Lipovac/KANSAN
Wright to skip junior, senior seasons to enter NBA Draft
Julian Wright's two-year career at Kansas has ended.
A swarm of media gathered Monday afternoon for his official announcement that he would be headed to the NBA.
"Things are probably going to work out pretty good for him," said coach Bill Self.
The Jawhaws lose one of their best players as well as a fan favorite. Wright, fondly known as "Jluu," thrilled crowds with his emotional play.
thundering dunks and knee-high tube.socks.
Inside, The Kansan takes a look at Wright's prospects as a professional, as well as fan reaction to his departure.
》 CHILD CARE
Michael Phillips
Extra rooms will 'soothe' wait list
BY BRIAN LEWIS-JONES
Six new classrooms are scheduled for construction this fall at the Hilltop Child Development Center at the University of Kansas, something that Pat Pisani, executive director of the center, says will soothe, but not eliminate, its waiting list, which has grown to more than 300 children.
The expansion, which will entail two new wings of classrooms and "desperately needed storage space," are part of a pre-planned "phase two of the building's original construction seven years ago, Pisani said.
"We have people calling before their kids are born, people calling before they're even pregnant to see what their options are," she said.
The expansion is expected to cost about $2 million, primarily from University contributions, Pisani said. She said while student fees pay for about 65 percent of the current building's bond. However, students are only paying for a small amount of the expansion.
The new classrooms will accommodate about 90 more children in addition to the more than 200 children currently enrolled, who range in age from one to 12 years old.
Scott Nuckolls, Lawrence senior,
has brought his three-year-old
daughter to Hilltop for two years.
Three-year old Felix Smolen and Sonora Vossen play in the Butterfly Room at the Hilltop Child Development Center. Hilltop will soon be expanded to accommodate the high demand.
Pisani hoped that both expansions would be open by the Fall 2008.
He said he was on the waiting list for more than six months,but the center's location and staff were incentives to enroll his daughter.
"Most of the student aides are out of the school of education," Nuckolls said. "It's a good school of education, you get good student aides."
director at the Emily Taylor Women's Resource Center, said more nontraditional students, including parent-students, are attending campuses across the country. She said its important for the University to provide services for those students
Kathy Rose-Mockry, program
SEE HILLTOP ON PAGE 4A
Five students win internships from K.C. law firms
》 GAINING IN THE FIELD
The association, whose members are law firms and independent attorneys, offered the clerkships as an effort to attract and retain diverse graduates to the Kansas City area. The clerkships are summer internships that give students hands-on experience working with a professional attorney.
University of Kansas law students recently won five of nine summer clerkships offered by the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association.
BY NATHAN GILL
Joy Batteen, coordinator of the association's diversity program, said the students were selected based on their integrity, leadership skills and personal diversity, which included race, ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual orientation and physical disability.
Diana Lee, publications coordinator for KU's School of Law, said the
"It provides a new, diverse perspective to the practice of law," Batteen said about the clerkship program.
full-time, paid clerks would work for attorneys or firms by performing research and attending legal meetings, such as depositions and hearings. A law school news release said that representatives from nine firms selected from more than 30 applicants from universities in Kansas and Missouri.
Vedrana Balta, Sarajevo, Bosnia- Herzegovina graduate student, will be a clerk for Polsiniella Shalton Flanigan Sueluha PC, a Kansas City, Mo, firm. Balta said her 10-week clerk-
"I'm just really excited." Balta said.
"I hope I do a good job."
ship would give her the opportunity to bring an international perspective to the firm. She said a law firm with diverse employees would help attract clients who are themselves diverse.
Kansan staff writer Nathan Gill can be contacted at ngill@kansan. com.
Edited by Darla Slipke
>> KANSAS FINANCE
Budget could grant raises
Proposal would give bonuses to state employees
BY JOE HUNT
All classified state employees would receive a 2 percent base-salary raise and an $860 bonus under a budget proposed to Gov. Kathleen Sebelius. 1,533 employees being paid below market value would receive an additional 5 percent base-salary raise.
An annual longevity bonus would also increase from $40 to $50 per year employed. The longevity bonus is for those who have been employed for 10 years or longer.
Ola Faucher, director of
The raise would not apply to faculty and staff at the University of Kansas. The University is no longer part of the State Civil Service System, so its employees are not considered classified.
resources at the University, said that the University left the State Civil Service System to have greater control and flexibility in employee pay and assignment of job titles. A pay raise is being considered.
"We train people and then they go into the private sector. We need to retain those people."
"We're formulating those plans now," Faucher said of the
Schwartz said that one of the problems with the state raise was that it was proportional to the salary, so those who made more got bigger raises.
SHARON
SCHWARTZ
(R-Washington)
"We train people and then they go into the private sector," Schwartz said. "We need to retain those people, they're good workers."
State Rep.Sharon Schwartz (R-Washington), chair of the House Appropriations Committee, said that increasing employee pay to offer competitive jobs was a deciding factor in giving the raise.
University raise." Final approval is dependant on Kansas Board of Regents authorization."
"It just continues to widen the disparity," Schwartz said. "But it's really a positive move in the right direction."
Gov. Sebelius had previously proposed a 4 percent raise for state employees.
Kansan staff writer Joe Hunt can be contacted at jhunt@ kansan.com.
Edited by Joe Caponio