THE STUDENT VOICE SINCE 1904
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
FRIDAY, JANUARY 28, 2011
WWW.KANSAN.COM
VOLUME 123 ISSUE 82
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Sophomore forward Thomas Robinson and his seven-year-old sister Jayla arrive at funeral services for their mother, Lisa Robinson, Thursday at Antioch Baptist Church in Washington, D.C.
THE LISA ROBINSON SCHOLARSHIP FUND
SNR Denton US LLP
1301 K Street NW
Suite 600 East Tower
Washington, DC 20005-
3364
Send donations to:
All donations will benefit Thomas Robinson's seven year-old sister, Jayla.
THE JAYHAWKS WILL FACE THE WILDCATS
The team shows a united front both on and off the basketball court, particularly in light of the recent player tragedies. See if they can showcase their solidarity in a happier setting during the game.
Men's Basketball | 12A
ROBINSON'S MOTHER REMEMBERED
Family, friends and Robinson's teammates travel to Washington, D.C., to honor Robinson's mother. See Kansan.com for watch the video from the funeral.
Thomas and Jayla gain support of thousands throughout Jayhawk nation
BY ANDY MARSO editor@kansan.com
WASHINGTON, D.C.
Thomas Robinson got out of a black limousine and immediately went to comfort his seven-year-old sister Jayla, who was waiting outside Antioch Baptist Church Thursday morning.
Jayla's hair was done up in meticulous braids with blue beads at the tips. She clung to her brother's waist and scrunched down against the fur lining of her parka's collar.
It was the third funeral in less than a month for Robinson, a sophomore forward on the University of Kansas men's
basketball team. Robinson's grandmother died in late December and his grandfather died less than three weeks later. Then, last Friday, the most shocking blow — his mother, Lisa Robinson, died from an apparent heart attack at age 43.
Robinson's family and friends arrived throughout the morning, driving through half-plowed
By the end of the day Robinson's pain would bring together the people from this neighborhood on the east side of Washington, D.C., and the entire Kansas men's basketball team. Together, in a modest red-brick church, they remembered Lisa Robinson and sought to comfort Thomas, Jayla and their brother Jamah.
streets after a storm dumped several inches of snow on the District the night before.
Javorn Farrell played with Robinson at Riverdale Baptist High School in Maryland. Now a sophomore guard at the University of Massachusetts, he had a game Wednesday at St. Bonaventure University, but caught the first flight out of Buffalo, N. Y., Thursday morning to attend the funeral.
"When I got the news, I was heartbroken," Farrell said. "Thomas is like a brother to me."
Just before noon, Robinson's current basketball brothers
SEE ROBINSON ON PAGE 5A
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Members of the basketball team stop to console teammate Thomas Robinson, left seated, during funeral services for his mother, Lisa Robinson, Thursday at Antioch Baptist Church in Washington, D.C.
Classifieds ... 11A
Crossword ... 4A
Cryptoquips ... 4A
Opinion ... 3A
Sports ... 12A
Sudoku ... 4A
INDEX
WEATHER
TODAY
56 26
SATURDAY
Mostly Sunny
4322
Partly Cloudy
SATURDAY
37 18
contents, unless stated otherwise, © 2011 The University Daily Kansan
SIMIEN | 12A
Partly Cloudy
No.23 jersey to be retired during game tomorrow
Watch Saturday's halftime as Wayne Simien's jersey is ceremoniously raised.
DEPRESSION | 9A
Learn how to beat those blues
Winter can be a dark time — for the skies and the mind. Read about how to lighten up and defeat Seasonal Affective Disorder.
SCANDAL | 9A
Ticket defendant pleads guilty
Former Associate Athletics Director Blubaugh admits to involvement in the athletics ticket scandal and now faces prison time.
右
ADMINISTRATION
Gray Little looks to future
BY ADAM STRUNK
astrunk@kansan.com
With the University facing below average graduation rates and the uncertainty of an ever-shrinking state funded budget, Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little stood at the podium and spoke about the promise the future held.
While Gray-Little spoke of journeying to a new horizon, she listed a number of challenges the university must navigate before reaching its goals.
"We will continue our journey toward a horizon that will herald the dawn of a new day for the University of Kansas," she said in her second State of the University speech Thursday to a filled Woodruff auditorium in the Kansas Union.
The first challenge she addressed was improving the University's graduation and retention rates. Both rates are below the American Association of Universities Average.
"I do not believe that these deficiencies reflect a decline in quality at KU, but the advancement of comparable universities," she said. "Change is needed and is already under way."
Gray-Little said she hoped to make these changes by energizing the educational environment, recruiting, and increasing discovery. She said this would involve redirecting certain scholarship funds that were previously split among KU institutions to student recruitment
"Scholarships are one of our
SEE SPEECH ON PAGE 5A
CELEBRATION
amcnaughtonkansan.com
History brought alive for Kansas Day
BY ANGELIQUE MCNAUGHTON
The year was 1861 and a tumultuous year it was.
After nearly a decade of fighting and debates regarding slavery, Kansas had become known as "bleeding Kansas."
At the height of those battles and in the midst of the uncertainty that faced the nation, President James Buchanan signed the bill admitting Kansas, a free state, as the 34th state in the Union.
Kansas Day on Jan. 29 will mark the sesquicentennial, Kansas' 150th birthday, as well as the 134th observed celebration of Kansas' statehood. Events and activities statewide will help commemorate the day.
"Kansas Day is a good opportunity to raise awareness of our state and make people proud to be a Kansan," said Mary Madden, the director of education and outreach for the Kansas State Historical Society and lecturer in the Museum Studies program at the University of Kansas.
Madden, who is originally from Cleveland, but came to Kansas to
SEE TRIBUTE ON PAGE 9A