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TUESDAY • JANUARY 4 • 2011
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Coalition to oppose Kobach’s voter photo ID plan ‘You statistically have a better chance of being stricken twice by lightning than of encountering a genuine act of voter fraud in Kansas’ By Scott Rothschild srothschild@ljworld.com
TOPEKA — A coalition of voting rights groups has formed to oppose an effort led by Secretary of Stateelect Kris Kobach to require voters to show a photo ID to vote. The Kansas Voter Coalition said on Monday that the proposal by
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Kobach, a Republican who takes office Jan. 10, is “a solution to a problem whose existence cannot be demonstrated empirically.” Gov.elect Sam Brownback, a Republican, also supports voter ID. The coalition said that of 10 million votes cast in Kansas over the past six years, there have been six reported cases of alleged voter
fraud, and one was prosecuted successfully. “You statistically have a better chance of being stricken twice by lightning than of encountering a genuine act of voter fraud in Kansas,” the coalition stated. The coalition includes the Kansas State NAACP, the Kansas League of Women Voters, the Kansas chapter
of the National Organization for Women, the Kansas Equality Coalition, the Kansas chapter of the ACLU and several other groups. Kobach’s major Kobach campaign position was that Kansas elections were rife with fraud. In addition to voter ID, Kobach says he will push to require newly registered
KANSAS ATHLETICS
KU welcomes Zenger
INSIDE
voters to prove their citizenship. He also said he wants to restructure the secretary of state’s office to increase prosecution of alleged voter fraud. But the coalition said states that have approved voter ID make it more difficult for seniors, who no longer have driver’s licenses, to obtain the proper ID to vote. The coalition plans a news conference Jan. 19 at the Capitol. — Statehouse reporter Scott Rothschild can be reached at 785-423-0668.
Grants to fight crimes against women By George Diepenbrock gdiepenbrock@ljworld.com
KU women roll past ’Roos KU improved to 13-1 on the year with Monday’s win over the University of Missouri-Kansas City, and sits atop the Big 12 standings tied with Baylor and Texas Tech. Page 1B
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We know they are going to have to eat someplace, and we know there are other forms of commerce that will be going on.” — Bob Sanner, sports marketing manager for Lawrence Convention and Visitors Bureau. A youth basketball tournament in March is predicted to attract 4,500 participants, which would be a boost for Lawrence businesses. Page 3A
COMING WEDNESDAY We'll tell you what the City Commission has to say about a special taxing district for businesses west of 23rd Street and Ousdahl Road.
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SHEAHON ZENGER SITS IN THE AUDIENCE Monday before being introduced as Kansas University’s new athletic director at the Wagnon Student Athlete Center. Behind him are his parents, Sharon and Weldon Zenger, of Manhattan. BELOW are his children, from left center, Luke, 13, Jake, 9, and Abby, 12, and his wife, Pam Zenger. Zenger was previously athletic director at Illinois State University. See the video at LJWorld.com.
New A.D. to make $450,000 a year By Matt Tait mtait@ljworld.com
It may have taken four months and two offers for Kansas University to find its next athletic director, but it took only a fraction of a minute for Sheahon Zenger to say yes. Zenger, a native Kansan who spent the past six years as athletic director at Illinois State, was introduced as KU’s 16th A.D. at a news conference Monday. Though he showed emotion for what he was leaving behind, the joy for what he was inheriting far surpassed it. Asked how long he mulled things over after being offered the job at KU, Zenger recalled exactly. “It took about 10 seconds,” he said. “I want to be here.” Zenger, 44, will start his new job on Feb. 1, and his contract will run through June 30, 2015. It will pay him $450,000 per year. The contract includes language that seems to be a reaction to the controversial circumstances that led to Lew Perkins’ earlier-thanexpected resignation last September. None of that fazed Zenger, who preaches transparency, personal relationships and doing things “the old-fashioned way.” “There are no secrets in this business,” Zenger said. “There is only hard work.” Zenger’s introduction featured dozens of references to his days in Kansas. From being born in Salina to his f irst house in Lawrence near 20th and Ousdahl, just minutes from
Mike Yoder/Journal-World Photo
Allen Fieldhouse, to the time he spent as a 5-foot-9 quarterback at Hays High. Wearing a red-and-blue striped tie and a Jayhawk pin on his suit, Zenger came across as a man wellversed in the history and traditions of KU. He spoke of watching football games from Campanile Hill, wearing No. 10 to honor Bobby Douglass and donning a Gale Sayers jersey in his fourth-grade school pictures. Throughout the course of the athletic director search, KU Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little ensured that she and the committee would find “the right fit” for Kansas. Monday, it was clear that GrayLittle believes that to be Zenger. “We gave ourselves several months; we were hoping for early spring,” she said. “To have it done by the beginning of the year, I think, is very helpful with regard to planning, with regard to questions people had about who they’ll be working with. This is an
outstanding outcome.” Beyond all of his rockchalk rhetoric, Zenger’s core message as an administrator came through loud and clear. “I will ask every studentathlete, every coach and every staff member to be assignment correct, fundamentally sound and mentally tough on the field of play, in the classroom and in our personal lives each and every day,” Zenger said. As Zenger talked about his vision for KU’s future, his wife, Pam, and their three children — Luke, Abby and Jake — sat in the front of Hadl Auditorium and beamed with pride. Nearby were Zenger’s mother and father, Weldon and Sharon Zenger, surprise visitors for the day, along with his high school football coach, Tom Cross, and several others who helped Zenger come home. ● Read more in Sports.
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Colleagues describe driven scholar, humble man By Andy Hyland ahyland@ljworld.com
Those who remember new Kansas University Athletic Director Sheahon Zenger from his days as a doctoral student at KU recalled a highenergy, focused and driven man who remained humble and true to his Kansas roots. His doctoral training in educational leadership and policy studies and familiarity with how a university works could give him an edge when relating to the academic side of the Please see KU, page 2A
Douglas County prosecutors and Lawrence police say they want to work in 2011 to reduce incidents of domestic violence. The district attorney’s office and police department have received grants to fund positions for a prosecutor and detective to investigate and prosecute domestic violence and other crimes against women. “We’re hoping that we’ll be able to enhance our services and, most importantly, provide an avenue of constant contact with victims from domestic violence from Branson the detective to the prosecutor,” District Attorney Charles Branson said. Matt Sarna, Lawrence police’s public affairs sergeant, said the department would set benchmarks and goals for the new position. He said in 2009 officers responded to 975 domestic disturbance calls and investigated 71 rapes, 598 incidents of domestic battery, plus 24 sexual battery and 11 stalking cases. “Our goal is to educate the public on these crimes and the importance of reporting them,” Sarna said. “We would like to see a decrease in all of these numbers.” The grants, made available by the federal STOP Violence Against Woman Act, are administered through the governor’s office. City and county leaders have until Thursday to accept the grants. A request from interim police chief Tarik Khatib is on tonight’s consent agenda for city commissioners to match nearly $18,000 for the $53,613 grant. Sarna said the one-year grant would essentially allow for promotion of an officer to detective to investigate violent crimes against women and the hiring of a new officer to replace the detective. Branson said Douglas County commissioners will likely consider his office’s request on Wednesday. The matching funds would include fringe benefits for the new prosecutor and the cost of office equipment. Even though funding is only guaranteed for one year, he’s hopeful about money for future years. Domestic violence cases can be difficult to prosecute, Branson said, because the victims and offenders know each other and have a relationship beyond the criminal prosecution. But he said the cases are too common in Douglas County. “One of the things we’re looking to do is educate (victims) about the system and better understand how the system can help them and then make a good decision based upon all that information,” Branson said, “to try to resolve the case in a fashion to where they won’t need us in the future.”