KU receives $2M health care grant

KU will receive a $2 million grant over the next five years as part of a state effort to improve health care services for high-risk individuals, to help them stay employed and to help them remain independent. The grant comes from the Division of Health Care Policy.

Chancellor ‘influential’ in college athletics

Chancellor Robert E. Hemenway recently was named by Smith & Street’s Sports Business Journal as one of the 20 most influential people in college athletics. Hemenway was ranked seventh on the list. Until January, Hemenway served as chairman of the NCAA Division I board of directors.

KU awards scholarships worth over $10.3 million

Students on the Lawrence and Medical Center campuses have received more than 8,400 scholarships totaling more than $10.3 million from funds administered by the KU Endowment Association. The average amount of scholarship support received per recipient was nearly $1,400. Private funding accounts for 100 percent of scholarship dollars awarded by KU.

Scientist gives more than $500K for professorship

Irving S. Johnson, a scientist who supervised pre-clinical research at Eli Lilly and who is a national advocate for the role of molecular biology in genetic engineering research, has given more than $507,500 to endow a professorship in molecular biology. The gift will be matched through the Hall Family Foundation and the total will be eligible for matching support from the Kansas Partnership for Faculty of Distinction Program.

Continuing Ed offers environmental lit course

A new distance-learning course on environmental literature, ENGL 203 Topics in Reading and Writing: Environmental Literature, is now available through Continuing Education’s Independent Study program. For more information visit www.kuce.org/isc.

National club selects KU chapter as host for cycling events

USA Cycling has selected KU Cycling Club and the Lawrence Sports Corporation to host the 2005, 2006 and 2007 Collegiate Road Cycling National Championships. This year, competition will take place in the Lawrence area, with more than 500 riders competing in the three-day event May 13 through 15. The Collegiate Division is expected to draw 350 to 375 riders from universities and colleges from across the country. A Junior Division will be offered for riders 18 years and younger.

Education fund applications available

Applications are now available for the 17th year of the Educational Opportunity Fund. All departments, units and organizations on the Lawrence campus are eligible. Information may be picked up at the Student Senate Office, 410 Kansas Union, or in the Office of Student Financial Aid, 50 Strong Hall. Deadline is 5 p.m. Friday, Feb. 11. Please call 864-3710 or e-mail drhodes@ku.edu with questions or to request an application.

Grant to support speech-language training program

The U.S. Department of Education has awarded KU a four-year, $923,200 grant for an innovative speech-language pathology graduate clinical training program that will serve Lawrence students with communicative disorders and their families and teachers. Jane Wegner, director of the Schiefelbusch Speech-Language-Hearing Clinic, will direct the Augmentative and Alternative Communication in the Schools project, which will train 20 graduate students over four years beginning with the fall 2005 semester.

KU plays featured at competition

Plays by two KU students are being featured in separate competitions at the Jan. 17 through 22 regional Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Winners will be invited to the national festival of KCACTF in Washington, D.C., in April. “Weaving the Rain” is a two-act play by graduate student Dianne Yeahquo Reyner. “The Option” is a 10-minute play by senior Elizabeth “Libby” Dean. Both plays were written in playwriting classes at KU taught by Paul Stephen Lim, Conger-Gabel teaching professor of English and artistic director for English Alternative Theatre.

Multicultural students to enjoy lecture, basketball game

Multicultural Scholars Program students and program directors from disciplines across campus will join international business students from France on Jan. 22 for a lecture by Lewis Diuguid, vice president of the Kansas City Star and author of the book A Teacher’s Cry. The group then will attend the KU women’s basketball game against Missouri.