4A THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
NEWS
Production in precipitation
Taylor Miller/KANSAN
Kaylee Miller and Mindy Ricketts, Olathe sophomores, film KU students outside of Wescoe Hall yesterday for a journalism project. Production was hard for the two, however, because of the on-again, off-again rain.
Westar duo face charges
COURTS
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Federal prosecutors urged jurors to convict two former Westar Energy Inc. executives yesterday, saying that instead of protecting the interests of thousands of company shareholders, the duo had manipulated the system for themselves.
A defense attorney for former chief executive David Wittig disagreed, saying the government had manufactured the case to punish a rich, sometimes abrasive corporate executive. If Wittig was guilty, attorney Adam Hoffinger said, so were dozens of other executives at the utility who had received the same benefits.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Hathaway used a PowerPoint demonstration to run through three months of testimony and boxloads of documents, trying to show how Wittig and former chief strategy officer Douglas Lake had wring extravagant compensation from the company through a myriad of schemes, even when stock prices were falling.
From abusing a corporate relocation policy to having Westar put money in companies in which they had private investments to planning a windfall from a proposed merger of
and Westar's board of directors.
Westar with a New Mexico utility, Hathaway said the two men constantly looked for ways to manipulate what they saw as a weak system of internal controls
"Every program related to executive compensation was taken advantage of by Mr. Wittig and Mr. Lake," Hathaway said.
He said Wittig began laying the foundation for his crimes from the moment he joined the Topeka-based company
You were not going to get a case based on real evidence; you were going to get a case based on slander, based on innuendo.
about some of their compensation and left out key information from reports filed with regulators.
in 1995. Hathaway said Wittig, brought in by then-CEO John Hayes to diversify the utility, began eyeing companies that he could acquire and later spin off.
Wittig later brought Lake, an acquaintance from Wall Street, into the conspiracy, first appointing him to help run a small-home security company he wanted to buy, and later as Westar's chief strategy officer, the prosecutor said.
Hoffinger, however, said Wittig got written approval from the
Hathaway the two kept the company's board in the dark
Adam Hoffinger
Attorney
board for everything he was legally required to. He said prosecutors had yet to show an instance where information that needed to be disclosed to regulators hadn't been.
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 24, 2005
(regulators), systematic memorialization through e-mails and memos and board notes?" he said.
"What kind of systematic looting includes systematic approval by directors, systematic filing with
In particular, prosecutors have focused on the use of company airplanes for vacations and other personal trips. One prosecution witness, using the price of charter flights, estimated Wittig took trips worth almost $964,000 on Westar planes during his tenure but didn't declare any of it as income, as tax officials typically require. Lake
took trips worth $1.2 million,
prosecutors said.
Hoffinger said those numbers were arbitrary and based on flights that had some business purpose. He said the company had never developed an internal policy for how executives should account for personal use of the planes on their taxes, noting that 35 other Wester officials had used the planes outside of business.
"How are we charged with looting and they're not?" Hoffinger said.
Hathaway earlier noted that Wittig and Lake, as the company's top two executives, knew officials had wrestled with the airplane question since 1989 but resisted attempts to draw up rules or even audit the amount of flights.
"They had an obligation to tighten the ship," he said.
Hoffinger saved his angriest comments for what he perceived as Hathaway's attempt to make allegations without introducing evidence, such as testimony mentioning Wittig buying paper shredders and asking about document-retention guidelines even though neither man is charged with destroying documents.
"You were not going to get a case based on real evidence; you were going to get a case based on slander, based on innuendo," Hoffinger said.
TOPEKA — James H, Tate pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $100,000 while executive housing director of Junction City Housing Authority, U.S. Attorney Eric Melgreen announced.
STATI
Man admits that he embezzled $100,000
Tate, 58, entered his plea yesterday during a hearing before U.S. District Judge Richard Rogers.
tween December 2002 and Nov.6,2004,he stole $102,701.23 from the housing authority,which receives federal funds.
Tate admitted that be-
Sentencing is set for Jan. 13, 2006
He faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine up to $250,000.
Tate said he started working for the housing authority in 1990 as a handyman and was promoted to executive director in January 1992.
Kansas
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6A
The Associated Press
The monument is the only remains of the ocean that once covered Kansas.
Barbara Shelton, one of the owners of the Keystone Gallery, across from the road leading to the monument, said the gallery had attracted more than 60,000 visitors in the 15 years it's been open.
Shelton said many people visited the monuments in hopes of finding the fossilized remains of ancient sea creatures.
"I tell them you can dig to China and still not find any fossils out there," she said.
Visitors to the gallery can look at the many fossils and minerals on display and get directions to the monument.
The monument is also part of the University of Kansas' Wheat State Whirlwind Tour which takes University personnel throughout the state to visit students' hometowns.
OAKLEY
Oakley isn't just home to a large statue of Buffalo Bill Cody; it is also home to Prairie Dog Town and the world's largest prairie dog.
How large is the world's largest prairie dog?
For $6.95 per adult, visitors can answer that question and see a variety of animals native to western Kansas.
Visitors start off at a gift shop where they can buy T-shirts and other memorabilia that captures the experience of seeing animals such as goats, buffalo and of course prairie dogs, in the couple of acres that make up Prairie Dog Town.
If it doesn't seem like its worth it to pay nearly $7 to see a giant replica prairie dog, checking out Prairie Dog Town's six-legged cow may make a difference.
GOODLAND
Heading west on I-70 brings travelers to Goodland. Goodland continues the theme of big attractions in the state with its giant 80-foot easel with a replica of one of Vincent Van Gogh's sunflower paintings. The easel is one of only three giant Van
Gogh replicas in the world.
Canadian artist Cameron Cross first got the idea of replicating the paintings in 1997. Cross said he brought the idea to the people of Altona, Canada, which is the sunflower capital in Canada.
With a couple of sketches and blueprints made, the former high school art teacher presented his idea to the city, which gladly accepted it.
Since then, Cross has made presentations in Altona's sister city, Emerald, Australia, and in Goodland where the easels were built.
Cross recently came back from Taiwan, China, where he pitched his ideas to a Dutch bank that also sponsors the Vincent Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.
Cross said reception of his ideas was "generally positive and almost automatically gets a smile."
"People are just generally enthused," he said.
Souvenir shops and educational exhibits are planned for the Goodland easel.
MT. SUNFLOWER
Travelers planning on conquering great mountains like Kilimanjaro or Everest can add Mt. Sunflower to their list.
While Mt. Sunflower doesn't technically hold the title of mountain, it does hold the title of the highest point in Kansas at 4,039 feet above sea level.
Those willing to travel the near 30 miles south from Kanorado on K-267, will be treated to a sight that defines the prairie grasslands of Kansas.
The mountain, but technically hill, is owned by the Harold family.
The Harolds invite guests to walk or drive up into their land where visitors can see as far as the Kansas/Colorado border, which is half a mile away.
A mailbox, an American flag, the world's largest metal sunflower and a couple of signs mark where the highest point is located.
While up there, guests can also eat lunch at the picnic table provided by the Harolds.
Edited by Alison Peterson
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