Lawrence Journal-World 10-17-11

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KU funding, by the numbers

Feds put violent felons in crosshairs ——

Nick Krug/Journal-World File Photo

Research income largest slice of budgetary pie “We need to find out how to communicate that better. If we don’t, we’re going to be destined to live with the same problem.” The state in recent years has been pretty good at funding what McKechnie called “the boutique things” — such as the job-creating efforts in the School of Pharmacy and School of Engineering. “The problem is you’ve still got to have kids who can read, do math and chemistry,” he said. It won’t be easy, he said, to reverse the trend. “If I didn’t think there was a chance, I wouldn’t be serving on the board,” he said. “The goal is to miss the icebergs and not to hit them.”

By Andy Hyland ahyland@ljworld.com

As Kansas University officials continue to undertake efforts to spend less, here’s a breakdown of where KU gets its money. These percentages are from the 2010 fiscal year, which ended in June 2010 (2011 fiscal reports haven’t been fully compiled yet), and include all KU campuses (including KU Medical Center).

23 percent Grants and contracts This area now constitutes the largest single source of income for the university. Steve Warren, vice chancellor for research and graduate studies, said the percentage likely reflects the steady growth — “not spectacular, but steady,” he said — of external research funding in the past few years. Looking at preliminary data for 2011, Warren said he expected that external research funding would again rise to record levels. “This is one area we’ve continued to grow in,” he said. However, he said it’s important to remember that nearly all of this type of funding is locked in for specific uses. It can contribute to the teaching mission, by paying for salaries for graduate students, but use of the money is highly restricted.

20 percent Tuition and fees

Richard Gwin/Journal-World Photo

STUDENTS SPEND TIME OUTSIDE on the Kansas University campus on Friday. Tuition paid by students is the third largest source of revenue for KU overall, but on the Lawrence campus, tuition brings in more than state funds. AT TOP, the Kansas University campus is shown in a 2009 file photo, looking northeast from near 19th Street and Naismith Drive. “It’s a wonderful story, but it doesn’t mean we have a whole bunch of money sitting around that we can do whatever we want with,” Warren said.

22 percent State appropriations The state’s contribution to education continues to shrink at KU, having fallen by more than $4,300 per full-time student, adjusted for

inflation, since 1985. “Obviously, the trend of the last 20 years is not what you want it to be,” said Ed McKechnie, chairman of the Kansas Board of Regents. He said he served in the Legislature for 10 of those 20 years, and on the appropriations committee for four of those years. “The message that the university delivers just gets lost,” he said.

Tuition comprises the third largest source of revenue for KU overall, but if only taking into account the Lawrence campus, tuition long ago surpassed state funds, said KU Provost Jeff Vitter. In Lawrence, $248 million came from tuition revenue, and $134 million came from the state. “That’s the unfortunate reality,” Vitter said. Tuition costs have increased each year for many years, and more increases are likely as KU needs to maintain an amount of Please see KU, page 2A

Westar begins citywide hookup to smart grid today By Christine Metz cmetz@ljworld.com

Starting today, Lawrence will get a little smarter. Well, at least the electric meters in the city will. Westar Energy is beginning the mass installation of smart meters, a new technology that will mean no more drive-by meter readings, and energy usage information on 15-minute intervals. The meters, all 44,000 of them,

smart meters this morning. The meters should be installed in all residential neighborhoods by the end of the year. Of course, bad weather could extend that time line. Those with hard-to-access meters might not get a new one until after Jan. 1. The first meters will go in the south-central part of Lawrence, beWhen can I expect to see a smart tween 19th and 31st streets. From meter installed at my house? there smart meters will be deployed Westar will start installing the based on billing cycles.

are part of the $40 million SmartStar project. Half of the meters are being covered by federal stimulus dollars. Over the past several years, our readers have had many questions about the technology. Here, with the help of Westar’s SmartStar director Hal Jensen and director of meter operations Kevin Heimiller, we answer some.

How will I know when my meter is exchanged? Before each exchange, Westar’s installation crews will knock on the customer’s door to notify them of the switch, explain the process and leave a packet of information. If no one is home, crews will go ahead and exchange the meter and then leave a packet of information that explains the SmartStar project and Please see WESTAR, page 2A

Prosecutors crack down on offenders with guns By George Diepenbrock gdiepenbrock@ljworld.com

It was an expensive trip to Walmart for 29-year-old Reuben James Zeller of Lawrence. And not because of the bullets he had someone purchase for him. That purchase a law enforcement informant made for Zeller on Oct. 6, 2010, in Topeka will cost him 15 years in federal prison because he was barred from possessing a gun or weapons because of his past convictions. Zeller is also accused of committing a drive-by shooting at a Topeka residence in October 2010. U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom, the top federal prosecutor in the state, is highlighting Zeller’s recent plea agreement with prosecutors as an example of cracking down on repeat violent offenders who don’t change their ways after they get out of prison. “They are back and hanging out with the same buddies,” Grissom told the Lawrence Central Rotary Club last month. He and other Department of Justice officials nationally are worried the violent behavior could continue to escalate, and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has stressed that federal prosecutors should work with local law enforcement to get guns out of the hands of felons. Holder’s order came after 162 law enforcement officers nationally were killed in 2010. Grissom, whom President Barack Obama nominated to the Kansas post in 2010, said that was the deadliest year for law enforcement in more than two decades and that the country was on track to beat that number this year. Grissom also highlighted a recent 11-month undercover investigation in Wichita conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in which 67 people were charged, and authorities, with Please see FELONS, page 2A

Exchange student embraces the foreign: football, Mandarin Chinese By Mark Fagan mfagan@ljworld.com

Markus Lisske knew he already was adding on another year of academics by leaving his native Germany, coming to Lawrence and enrolling as a junior at Free State High School. So the exchange student figured he may as well strap on pads, put on a helmet and hurl his 150-pound frame into three-hour practices every day at the Firebirds’ stadium. What better way is there to learn about America than to play football, the most American of sports?

“I just wanted to try something new and get a new experience from a very different sport,” says Lisske, a backup kicker who has played soccer and run track back home in Bernsbach. “I don’t have the chance to play American football in Germany — it’s absolutely not popular — so I just decided to try something completely new.” The 16-year-old arrived a day and a half before the Firebirds’ first football practice, and he’s been at it ever since: lifting weights, running sprints, learning plays, launching punts, reviewing films, kicking field goals and running some more.

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It helps that his teammates and coaches have embraced Lisske as a full-fledged football Firebird, occupying No. 13 on the roster and standing tall as a fixture on the sideline. “It’s been easy for me, and a lot of the other guys, to get a lot more respect for Markus because he’s been able to go through all this and actually continue on,” said Kale Joyce, a senior kicker who regularly practices with Lisske, Kevin Anderson/Lawrence Journal-World Photo who in turn assists Joyce with his FIREBIRD KICKER MARKUS LISSKE (13) stands on German I homework. “He’s done the sidelines as Free State played Shawnee very well.” Mission East on Oct. 6 in Overland Park. Lisske, a junior, is an exchange student from Germany. Please see EXCHANGE, page 2A

INSIDE

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And all that comes after more than an hour of homework following seven periods of classes — all in English — that start with U.S. Government in zero hour, which begins an hour after he awakens at 6 a.m. All this for grades that won’t ever show up on his transcript. He’ll return to Germany as a junior, just as he would have been had he never left. “That’s not the goal to come here, to get good grades,” Lisske says. “They wouldn’t care if I failed a test. I’m here for the experience, to improve my language and other things. That’s the main goal.”

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COMING TUESDAY We’ll have some details about plans for the Lawrence Public Library.

Vol.153/No.290 36 pages

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