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NEWS / THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2010 / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / KANSAN.COM
EDUCATION
Chancellor, KU professor visit White House
BY TIM DWYER
tdwyer@kansan.com
Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little and Joy Ward, associate professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, were both recently honored by President Barack Obama at the White House.
Ward was honored Wednesday
with the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. She received a five-year $869,000 grant from the National Science Foundation for her studies on the effects of rising carbon dioxide levels on plant life.
Gray-Little
President Barack Obama speaks in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., Jan. 6 as he honors teachers who received awards for excellence in mathematics and science teaching and mentoring during an "Educate to Innovate" event. KU Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little was seated in the front row for the event.
"I was humbled by receiving this award
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Ward
... appreciated ... that there was interest in understanding plant climate change." Ward said.
Ward's husband, Robert Ward IV, an assistant professor of molecular biosciences at the University, said the award was totally unexpected.
Robert Ward said the award would be a great help to his wife's research.
"I was thrilled for her," he said.
"I was surprised, and shocked, but just so proud."
"The important part is the career award, which funds a major research program and lets her continue to do her work and do a lot of outreach to women and other underrepresented groups," he said.
Gray-Little attended a separate ceremony Jan. 6 in the East Room of the White House to represent UKanTeach, a program designed in 2007 to increase the number of secondary math and science teachers.
The program allows prospective math and science teachers to graduate in four years. The program had its first graduate last May and is projected to graduate at least 120 students a year by 2014.
Gray-Little joined the presidents of the Universities of Colorado, Kentucky and Maryland in delivering a letter from 79 collegiate leaders pledging to address the nationwide shortage of math and science teachers.
In the letter, the university leaders promised "to substantially increase the number and diversity of high-quality science and math
ematics teachers we prepare."
Thirty-nine schools and three university systems also aimed to double the number of math and science teaching graduates by 2015.
The event was part of President Obama's "Educate to Innovate" campaign for excellence in Science.
Technology, Engineering & Math education.
— Edited by Katie Blankenau
STATE
Roeder trial not yet open for media coverage
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WICHITA — The trial of the man who admitted killing one of the nation's late-term abortion providers began behind closed doors Wednesday, after the judge overseeing it agreed to open only the latter part of jury selection.
Jurors will determine the fate of Scott Roeder, who is charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of Dr. George Tiller inside a Wichita church last May.
The process of choosing them started in secret after Sedgwick County judge Warren Wilbert ruled that representatives of four media outlets, including The Associated Press, could sit in the courtroom only once the pool was narrowed to 42. The four outlets had appealed his earlier decision to close jury selection entirely.
Some 18 questions probed jurors' exposure to media coverage of the case, their attitudes about the media and their news viewing
Late Tuesday, the Kansas Supreme Court ordered Wilbert to reconsider requests from the media outlets that wanted access to jury selection and the jury question The 88-question jury questionnaire, which Wilbert released on Wednesday, included a single query about jurors' personal opinions on abortion and seven questions about their religious beliefs.
habits. Most of the questions dealt with routine information such as their employment, marital status, family, military service, health and experience with law enforcement and the courts.
Wilbert had booted reporters from the courtroom during a hearing earlier Wednesday on the media access issue, after prosecutors and Roeder's defense lawyers said sensitive information about potential jurors would be discussed.
Media attorney Lyndon Vix later announced the judge's ruling about media access, which also forbid any broadcast or recording of the jury selection proceedings, including updates from the courtroom on mobile devices. The judge allowed only an audio feed to a media workroom.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Sedgwick County Kansas District Court Judge Warren Wilbert reaffirms Tuesday his ruling he made last Friday during a pre-trial motion hearing in Wichita. Roeder has been accused of shooting abortion provider George Tiller in May 2009.
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