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A little snow
High: 33
Low: 14
Today’s forecast, page 10A
INSIDE
Overtime concerns to affect shoveling ordinance
Lawrence woman’s generosity led to nation’s 1st scholarship hall
By Chad Lawhorn clawhorn@ljworld.com
THE CONCEPT BEHIND scholarship halls — as a place where students can live for reduced costs, provided they maintain certain grades and help cook and clean for other residents — began with Elizabeth Watkins’ idea in 1926.
Huge game looms for KU, Texas How much of a chance do the Longhorns have of ending the Jayhawks run of six straight Big 12 titles, not to mention KU’s home winning streak? A breakdown of how much this year’s Texas team has improved. Page 1B
Trial delayed in KU tickets case A federal judge has agreed to delay the trial for the last remaining defendant — Ben Kirtland — charged with conspiring to steal Kansas University athletics tickets, sell them to outsiders and then conceal the proceeds from KU and the IRS. Page 3A
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QUOTABLE
That’s what the tax code is now, it’s a whole set of winners and losers. If you reform it, you’re going to create new winners and new losers, and the losers always scream much louder than the winners cheer.” — Howard Gleckman, a fellow at the Urban Institute and editor of TaxVox, a blog on tax issues. Nine in 10 Americans are expected to hire someone or use a computer program to help them deal with complicated tax code. Page 6A
COMING SATURDAY A group of Kansas University students took on a 48-hour challenge: How to make electric cars more attractive to consumers. We'll tell you about their sales pitch.
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Photos courtesy of Watkins Museum
ELIZABETH MILLER — who would become Elizabeth Watkins upon her marriage — found a job as an office Mike Yoder/Journal-World Photo clerk at the J.B. Watkins Land and Mortgage Co. at the WATKINS SCHOLARSHIP HALL at 1506 Lilac Lane, pictured Thursday, has age of 15. She advanced in the company to the role helped generations of women obtain a college education. Current and for- of assistant secretary. She married Watkins in 1909 at age 47. The building at 1047 Mass. now houses the mer members of the hall will celebrate the 150th birthday of Elizabeth Watkins on Sunday. Watkins Community Museum of History.
Watkins Hall residents, past and present, to celebrate founder’s 150th birthday By Andy Hyland ahyland@ljworld.com
A group of Watkins Scholarship Hall alumnae and students will gather this weekend to commemorate the 150th birthday of the hall’s benefactor, Elizabeth Watkins, whose generosity has benefited Kansas University and Lawrence for generations after her death. Born in 1861 in New Paris, Ohio, Elizabeth Miller — who would become Elizabeth Watkins upon her marriage — found a job as an office clerk at the J.B. Watkins Land and Mortgage Co. at the age of 15. She advanced in the company to the role of assistant secretary. She married Watkins in 1909 when she was 47 years old.
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Though she enrolled in preparatory school, she had to drop out after two years to support her family. She devoted herself later in life to helping other women achieve the university education she was never able to obtain for herself. The concept behind scholarship halls — as a place where students can live for reduced costs, provided they maintain a certain grade-point-average and help cook and clean for other residents — began with Watkins’ idea in 1926. “Watkins is the first scholarship hall in America,” said Norma Hoagland, an alumna of the hall who is part of the group of former residents called Kitchen 8, one of a number of groups that shared cooking duties.
Watkins wanted to provide an opportunity — and a place to live — for women who could not otherwise afford college, said Beverly Benso, another alumna. “My sympathy has always been with the girls who must travel uphill,” Watkins told the University Daily Kansan in 1926. “... It has been my dream to aid self-supporting girls to get an education ... I have never done anything into which I have put more of myself.” And in Watkins Hall, 1506 Lilac lane, her memory is alive and well. Sarah Greenup, a Wichita senior, lives in the scholarship hall today. She said the residents know of Watkins’ story; they actually call her “Lizzie.” “Those who live in Watkins have a much dif-
Elizabeth Miller ferent relationship with our benefactors than people who live in, say, Ellsworth Hall,” Greenup said. Irvin Youngberg, a longtime KU Endowment Association leader, detailed Watkins’ contributions in a 1971 speech. They included funds to support Watkins and Miller scholarship halls, her contribution to the construction of Lawrence Memorial Hospital and her donation of her home atop Mount Oread that Please see WATKINS, page 7A
There may be one thing City Hall leaders hate worse than covered city sidewalks: overtime. Under the city’s snow shoveling ordinance, sidewalks covered by Wednesday’s snow storm need to be cleared by 8 a.m. Saturday. But city officials confirmed Thursday that city inspectors won’t be out investigating complaints until 8 a.m. Monday. City leaders, though, are encouraging residents to shovel this weekend anyway to aid pedestrians who need to use the sidewalks. Residents can submit complaints about unshoveled sidewalks during the weekend, even though inspectors won’t be out. The city’s phone system accepts complaints at 832-7700 or complaints can be made online at lawrenceks.org. Mother Nature may make the weekend question moot. The ordinance gives property owners 48 hours after the end of a snowfall or ice event to clear their sidewalks. So, if it snows before 8 a.m. on Saturday, residents would be given another 48 hours to comply anyway. But one note of warning: The city interprets the ordinance to mean a measurable snowfall. “The city does not consider flurries accumulating snowfall,” said Brian Jimenez, the city’s code enforcement manager. As of Thursday evening, the National Weather Service was predicting a 30 percent chance of light snow this afternoon, and then a 50 percent chance of light snow Saturday night through Sunday. — City reporter Chad Lawhorn can be reached at 832-6362. Follow him at Twitter.com/clawhorn_ljw.
● Few injury accidents
reported. Page 4A
Doctor says shoveling can be hard on the heart By Karrey Britt kbritt@ljworld.com
INDEX Business Classified Comics Deaths Events listings Horoscope Movies Opinion Poll Puzzles Sports Television Vol.153/No.21
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FRIDAY • JANUARY 21 • 2011
STATE GOVERNMENT
Sloan’s school proposal may have been trumped By Scott Rothschild srothschild@ljworld.com
TOPEKA — A proposal by state Rep. Tom Sloan, RLawrence, to create a commission that would make recommendations to the Legislature on what the state should fund in public schools may have been killed by Gov. Sam Brownback and House Speaker Mike O’Neal. Sloan is chair of the House Vision 2020 Committee, which earlier this week filed a bill that would set up the “constitutional education suitability commission” and present findings to the Legislature by Dec. 1, 2012. The commission would have 19 members including teachers, administrators, parents of public
school students, representatives from higher education, employers and Sloan others. Its task would be to make recommendations on curriculum components that should be funded by the Legislature. The fight over school finance, which takes up about half of the state budget, has been one of the toughest over the past several legislative sessions. Sloan said he figured it would be a good idea to get experts, stakeholders and businesses together to try
to determine what should the state fund. “The fight between Brownback education supporters and more conservative members of the Legislature can’t be addressed unless we get to a common point of what we need to fund,” Sloan said. Sloan said he believes members of the commission would be better suited than legislators to come up with a definition of what a suitable education should include. But Brownback, a Republican, on Wednesday assigned legislative
leaders to tackle school finance, Medicaid and the state’s public pension system, and deliver reforms by the end of the current legislative session. Brownback gave Speaker O’Neal, R-Hutchinson, the lead on school funding. “I’m not big on creating a commission to come back in two years,” O’Neal, R-Hutchinson, said when asked about Sloan’s proposal. He said Sloan was correct in focusing on determining what a suitable education is, and that there may be parts of the bill that could be used as a framework for discussion. But O’Neal added, “I have a shorter timeframe.” — Statehouse reporter Scott Rothschild can be reached at 785-423-0668.
Dr. Michael Zabel, a cardiologist at Lawrence Memorial Hospital, said the emergency room sees an uptick in patients with heart problems during wintry conditions. He said any extreme temperature — hot or cold — puts a significant stress on the body, especially the cardiovascular system. When you add activities such as shoveling snow, it can cause problems from mild to severe. He said the ER has had two heart attack patients since the first snowfall this season. Shoveling snow is especially dangerous for anyone who has had treatment or surgery for heart disease. “I am all for my heart patients being active, but that’s the wrong kind of activity. I don’t restrain my patients from doing very much, but shoveling snow is one of the very few things that I ask them to refrain from doing — almost universally,” Zabel said. “It’s just a horrible combination of bad weather and the wrong kind of exercise.” Please see DOCTOR, page 7A