KANSAN.COM / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / FRIDAY, MARCH 12, 2010 / NEWS
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GOVERNMENT
Campus groups prepare for November state elections
Governor candidates backed by students
BY ROSHNI OOMMEN roommen@kansan.com
Even though the next Kansas governor won't be elected until November, campus groups are preparing for what could be one of the closest races the state has ever seen.
A current poll by Rasmussen Reports, a national polling service, states that Senator Sam Brownback, the Republican candidate for governor, is leading with 55 percent of the likely votes. Senator Tom Holland, the Democratic candidate, has 33 percent of the likely votes. The remaining 12 percent
either like another candidate, or are undecided.
Eric Foss, a law student from Overland Park, is chairman of KU's student Republican group, College Republicans. Foss said the group is preparing for next semester's campaign in big ways.
"This year, we've been mainly focusing on building up our organization," Foss said. "I think conservative students and students who consider themselves Republicans are pretty fired up at this point."
Foss said the elections of 2006 and 2008 were somewhat discouraging for the Republican party. But with Brownback as a favorite this election, the on-campus political group is finding some encouragement
"He's given hope back," Foss
said. "A lot of younger conservatives are unhappy with the ideological turn the country has taken. I think you'll see a lot of the same things that drove students of a liberal slant between 2006 and 2008 on the reverse side. It's pushing conservative students to be more active."
For the on-campus group in support of the Democratic Party, KU Young Democrats, it's too early to call the race for Brownback. George Dungan, a senior from Lincoln, Neb. and vice-president of KU Young Democrats, said the group still has hope for Holland.
"I know a lot of people think it's a dead race, but really that's just wrong," Dungan said. "From some polls I've seen, Brownback's approval rating has fallen below 50 percent. We're trying to get
education out there by letting people know it's not a fore-gone situation that he's going to win. We're telling people 'Listen, this guy's not popular, he's too conservative. We, as Democrats, can offer you a candidate that's going to reach across the aisle.'
Dungan said the group plans to mobilize next semester. The group has plans to join the campaign process of the Kansas Democratic Party by taking internships with the group and getting people involved at the ground level. He said the group will continue to push voter registration, which played a large role in the last election.
Edited by Cory Bunting
Tom Holland, the Democratic candidate for Kansas governor, will have support from University student groups during his campaign. Republican Sam Brownback is seen as the favorite in the November election.
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
LAWRENCE
Students organizing city-wide bash
'Larryville Luau' would be Lawrence's Fake St. Patty's day
BY ALISON CUMBOW alisonc@kansan.com
On April 24th, Chance Clark, a sophomore from Augusta, is hoping to get everyone in Lawrence "leid." He and his friends want to rival Manhattan's Fake St. Patty's day tradition with a bigger party in Lawrence, called "The Larryville Luau."
As of Thursday, the Facebook group for the party efforts had reached 6,994 members. Members who were "maybe attending" totaled 7,222, and 18,166 didn't yet responded to the invitation. Clark and the other student
creators have already signed up for the Luau's own Facebook fan page and Twitter account.
"We went to St. Patty's, and we didn't have a very good time," Clark said. So he said he and his friends decided to get something started in Lawrence.
According to the group's page,
will be like a football game day in the spring. Everyone is invited, the administrators of the group wrote on the page, and it doesn't matter what university they go to, which means K-State
students were also invited.
"Yeah, that sounds great," Cromwell said. "As long as it's under control, and they're having a good time."
The creators of the event are aiming to collaborate with bars around town. Clark said the "headquarter" base for the festivi-
"If it turns out anything like we hope, it will be awesome."
students are invited, too.
Aron Cromwell, city commissioner, said the party could be a good thing, especially if K-State
CHANCE CLARK
Augusta sophomore
ties would be at the Barrel House.
Clark said they would look into getting charities involved.
he said.
"Wed totally be interested," John Davis, manager of Louise's Downtown, said. "We could maybe
"We also want to help out the bars on Mass Street."
do drink specials."
Cromwell said he did not support the binge drinking that could potentially come with the party.
"I am hopeful that the promotions of this would be respectful of that in some way, and not as a drunken, riotous party," he said.
Clark said the party would be an all-day event.
"A lot of the bars have already agreed to open up at 9 a.m.," he said.
Clark said he wanted people to see that Lawrence is a fun town. "If it turns out anything like we hope, it will be awesome," he said.
To find out more about the party, visit www.Larryville.uau.com. The website will be up and running today.
NATIONAL
Janitor kills supervisor and self at Ohio State
ASSOCIATED PRESS
An Ohio State University janitor was armed with two handguns and more than 50 rounds of ammunition when he walked into a campus maintenance shop and shot two supervisors before killing himself, police said Thursday.
Nathaniel Brown, 50, who had recently received a bad job evaluation and was upset over his pending dismissal, fired nine times Tuesday morning, deputy chief Richard Morman said.
Police still aren't certain of Brown's motive, though they believe the shootings were work related. It's not clear if other employees may have been targeted, and it will likely be several months before authorities complete their investigation, Morman said.
The two handguns - a .45-caliber Glock pistol and a 9mm Luger have been sent to federal authorities to determine where Brown, who had a prison
Brown provided Ohio State with a birth date of June 5, 1959. Court and prison records list it as June 4, 1959. His middle name, Alvin, is consistent on all records.
Ohio State is reviewing employment policies to see if any changes are needed, spokeswoman Shelly Hoffman said.
Brown first began working at Ohio State as a temporary custodial worker in December 2008. An employment agency that placed him also conducted a background
Brown, who also was fighting foreclosure on his home, had become increasingly quiet and withdrawn in the past week, according to a search warrant filed by police who interviewed co-workers.
record, might have purchased them. Morman said. Brown's ammunition included two magazines for the Glock.
But the agency's report turned up no criminal records on Brown, who denied on his September job application that he had been convicted of a crime.
Many questions remain unanswered, including how Brown's criminal past went undetected.
Angela Bosworth, an executive vice president with OPENonline, said Thursday that the company stood by its screening process.
check. It, too.
didn't reveal Brown's criminal record,
Hoffman said.
Many questions remain unanswered, including how Brown's criminal past went undetected.
Ohio State hired an outside vendor, OPENonline LLC in Columbus, to conduct a background check on Brown, who spent about five years in prison in the 1970s and 1980s for receiving stolen property, according to court and prison records.
B r o w n
was told last
week that his
probationary
employment would end Saturday because of poor performance. Supervisors complained he was tardy, slept on the job and had problems following instructions.
One of Brown's shooting victims, building services manager Larry Wallington, 48, died at the scene. Preliminary autopsy results show he had multiple gunshot wounds to the head and neck.
The other victim, shift leader Henry Butler, 60, has been released from a hospital. He has not commented publicly on the shooting.
GROUND ZERO
Brown, whom police found in a garage bay at the maintenance shop, died of a single gunshot wound to the head, the coroner's office said.
New York settles with sick workers
New York City has agreed to pay up to $657 million to settle more than 10,000 lawsuits filed by ground zero rescue and response workers who say they were sickened by World Trade Center dust.
The settlement was announced Thursday evening by the WTC Captive Insurance Company, a special entity established to indemnify the city and its contractors against potential legal action as they moved to clean up the site.
The deal still must be approved by a judge and the workers themselves. It would make the city and other companies represented by the insurance company liable for a minimum of $575 million, with more money available to the sick if certain conditions are met.
Most of the money would come out of a $1 billion grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Associated Press
CRIME
$95M for families of murder victims
A jury on Thursday awarded $95 million in damages to the families of eight people who claimed their loved ones were among dozens of patients murdered by a nurse considered to be one of the most prolific killers the U.S. health care industry has ever seen.
The three-day trial was to determine what damages, if any, should be awarded.
County Judge Edward Reibman had ruled earlier that Cullen was responsible for the eight deaths after the nurse failed to respond to the lawsuit and did not mount a defense.
Lehigh County jurors deliberated three hours in the wrongful death suit against nurse Charles Cullen, who is already serving a life sentence in New Jersey after admitting he killed 29 people at hospitals there and in Pennsylvania.
Cullen has told authorities he killed as many as 40 people but has not been charged in the deaths of the patients named in the civil suit. All eight died at St. Luke's Hospital in Fountain Hill, where Cullen worked
from 2000 to 2002
The damages will allow the families to collect if Cullen ever sells his story for a book or movie, said plaintiffs' attorney Mark Altenose. The 50-year-old Cullen has said in court documents that he's broke.
The biggest share of the award — $18 million — will go to the family of Debra Shachter, who died at 41 and left behind a husband and three daughters.
Associated Press
RECONSTRUCTION
Corruption stalls Katrina recovery
NEW ORLEANS — New Orleans' watchdog has found serious problems with the work of an engineering company hired to oversee the rebuilding of city buildings and infrastructure damaged in Hurricane Katrina, including overbilling, billing the city for the theater tickets and Christmas gifts and questionable contract arrangements.
first made public Thursday by The Times-Picayune, said the recovery from the catastrophic 2005 hurricane had been hurt by the flawed contract.
The report by New Orleans inspector General E.R. Quatrevaux took aim at both city officials and Broomfield, Colo.-based MWH Americas Inc. The report,
MWH was hired in December 2007 to manage the massive rebuilding of city infrastructure after Katrina. As of February, MWH had been paid $29 million for its work, the report said.
City officials did not return messages seeking comment. MWH said it had helped the city rebuild.
Associated Press