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ADMISSIONS INQUIRIES, WEBSITE VISITS SOAR DURING NCAA TOURNAMENT
Final Four run turns spotlight on WSU NCAA Tournament. The “Flutie Effect” was named for Boston College quarterback Doug Flutie after he threw a Wichita State may be in the early stages of the “Flutie Effect.” last-second Hail Mary pass that Its basketball run to the NCAA beat the University of Miami in 1984 in a play so famous that it Final Four last month touched off a high degree of interest in all became a TV commercial for UPS things Shocker, including becom- decades later. Admissions to Boston College ing one. Admissions inquiries and hits on the university’s web- jumped about 30 percent in the two years after Flutie’s fling. site skyrocketed during the
BY FRED MANN The Wichita Eagle
Since then, the term has been used whenever a college sports team reaches the summit of its possibilities, or at least comes close enough to earn national acclaim. The full impact of the “Flutie Effect” doesn’t kick in right away, at least not in basketball. Most high school seniors have committed to colleges by the time March Madness culminates in the Final
Four. At WSU, Bobby Gandu, director of admissions, predicted that the Shockers’ Final Four appearance will have minimal impact on enrollment this fall. But check back in 2014 when today’s high school juniors make their picks. “They’re really starting to open their eyes to Wichita State and Please see WSU, Page 13A
Jaime Green/File photo
Fans cheer the Shockers in the NCAA national semifinal game in April in Atlanta. Wichita State’s Final Four run brought exposure to the university.
RISK ASSESSMENT TOOL TOUTED
74% of lobbyist spending on lawmakers unaccounted for
Reduction sought in probation failure rate BY DEB GRUVER The Wichita Eagle
Criminals in Sedgwick County are “flunking out” of probation at a higher rate than the rest of the state, committing more crimes and jeopardizing public safety, officials said. The reasons are piling up. In part, it’s because offenders considered “very high risk” are getting sent to community corrections facilities instead of prison. In the past, the highest-risk offenders sent to corrections instead of prison landed in the county’s adult residential center, where they were closely monitored. But budget cuts reduced the number of beds at the center from 120 to 65. Fewer spots for higher-risk offenders means they “now live in the community with less
Brent Wistrom/The Wichita Eagle
Lobbyists look at new tax reduction plan estimates as negotiators from the Kansas House and Senate begin debating plans approved by their respective chambers. Lobbying is a big business at the Kansas Statehouse.
LOBBYING RESULTS
BY DION LEFLER AND BRENT WISTROM Eagle Topeka bureau
Kansas Bankers Association: Lobbying expenditure: $23,914 Result: Five bills passed, including one that reinstated a tax deduction that was inadvertently erased last year.
UnCork Kansas: Lobbying expenditure: $15,547 Result: A proposed bill to allow the sale of fullstrength alcoholic beverages in grocery and convenience stores remains stuck in committee.
AT&T: Lobbying expenditure: $12,537 Result: Passage of a law written by the company freeing AT&T from quality of service and consumer-protection regulations.
OPEKA — Lobbyists seeking to influence state laws have spent $380,000 feeding, entertaining and giving gifts to legislators in the first three months of this year. But you will never know how threefourths of that money was spent because the state disclosure law doesn’t require it. Records obtained from the Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission show that more than 74 percent of lobbyist spending, almost $285,000, was reported as “unitemized” on state forms, meaning that it can’t be linked to any particular lawmaker or event. In addition, the records show that 15 of the state’s top lobbying firms sometimes listed themselves as their own clients, further muddying an already unclear picture of who’s paying to influence lawmakers to do what. And when lobbyists take lawmakers to a basketball game or concert, they don’t have to disclose who was playing, where they went or even the date of the event. Legislative leaders defend the current disclosure law and their constant contact with lobbyists, who they say play a crucial role in the legislative process by bringing outside expertise to the lawmakers. “The wonderful thing is it’s all recorded and it’s open to the public and nothing can be given to a legislator without that being documented,” said Susan Wagle, R-Wichita and president of the state Senate. “I think we have excellent ethics standards. I mean, we do need communication with interested parties, all people, when we pass a bill, and I’m just glad that the
T
Please see LOBBYISTS, Page 12A
Please see PROBATION, Page 10A
CONVENTION THEME: ‘STAND AND FIGHT’
NRA members urged to be a political force BY JAMES DAO New York Times
HOUSTON — In speech after speech at the National Rifle Association’s annual convention this weekend, its top leaders and political allies blasted President Obama and other gun control advocates, warned against “all-out, historic attacks” on the constitutional right to possess firearms and issued a rallying cry to members to become a political force in next year’s midterm elections and the 2016 presidential race. Not surprisingly, perhaps, the convention theme was “Stand and Fight.” Praising the NRA’s membership for helping defeat a bipartisan Senate proposal to expand background checks for gun buyers last month, Wayne LaPierre, the association’s executive vice president and principal
AT KANSAS.COM Find out what special interest groups spent on any particular lawmaker, judge or legislative employee using The Eagle’s searchable online database.
©2013 The Wichita Eagle and Beacon Publishing Co., 825 E. Douglas, Wichita, KS 67202.
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