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SATURDAY • APRIL 12 • 2014
‘Vulnerable’ Kansas tries to map future of water use
Leading by a hare
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Extending life of lakes, building giant pipeline are part of discussion for 50-year plan By Peter Hancock phancock@ljworld.com
professor, radio producer and novelist, credited social workers with doing the tough, everyday work of trying to improve the lives of Americans and the country itself. “Some of us find it hard to hear cries for help and turn
Finding ways to extend the life of reservoirs like Clinton Lake will likely be a big part of the state’s water plan for the next 50 years. And a controversial proposal to build a 450-mile pipe to pull water out of the Missouri River and send it to drought-stricken farmers Gov. Sam in western Kansas may also Brownback in December called be part of the vision. Those were just two of on state agenthe major themes that came cies to develop a out of a meeting Friday that 50-year “vision” involved some 250 partici- for the state’s pants from various state water resources. agencies, farm groups and other people with a vital interest in the state’s water resources. But groups trying to develop a 50-year strategic plan for the state’s water resources are also looking at other ideas, from developing new crops that use less water, to investigating ways for households to purify and reuse waste water. “I think Kansans, before this drought hit the whole state in the face … have taken water for granted,” said Tracy Streeter, director of the Kansas Water Office, which coordinates water planning and policy for the state. “The drought has actually been
Please see SOCIAL, page 2A
Please see WATER, page 2A
Nick Krug/Journal-World Photo
DIANE DOUGLAS, OF LAWRENCE, steps up to roll wearing an Easter Bunny head, alongside Lubbock Smith, a former Kansas University football player, during the opening round of the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Douglas County Bowl for Kids’ Sake event Friday at Royal Crest Lanes. The two were bowling as part of the Kansas Athletics Pin Pals team for the event, which consists of three sessions Friday and today that will benefit the Big Brothers Big Sisters programs of Douglas, Anderson and Franklin counties. Organizers have set a goal of raising $80,000 for the three counties combined.
Pitts touts value of social workers
Columnist and psychologist share keynote duties at annual KU event
By Ben Unglesbee Twitter: @LJW_KU
Citing Martin Luther King Jr.’s statement that “time is neutral,” the Pulitzer Prizewinning columnist Leonard Pitts Jr. disputes the idea that time will bring progress on its own. “We cannot wish for it,” Pitts told an audience Friday at the Kansas Union. “We have to work for it.” Pitts was one of the key-
Pitts
Lerner
note speakers at the Kansas University School of Social Welfare’s Social Work Day 2014, an event devoted to
informing and celebrating social workers. Author and psychologist Harriet Lerner also gave a keynote speech as part of Social Work Day. Altogether, the event drew more than 500 alumni, students and faculty, according to organizers. Pitts, a nationally syndicated columnist, college
Group recommends keeping an eye on quality of online classes Twitter: @LJW_KU
A group of Kansas University faculty, staff and students delving into the rise of online education recommends that the university keep watch over the quality
of digital courses and online learning while making sure that faculty are fairly compensated for their time developing courses. Instructors and administrators have pushed for the development of more online coursework to ensure KU
Business Classified Comics Deaths
Low: 60
Today’s forecast, page 10A
partments and schools and thousands of individual instructors and students. “Everybody is concerned about how things are going to go forward,” said Mike Williams, a KU associate professor of journalism and chairman of the online edu-
INSIDE
Partly sunny
High: 78
keeps up with its peers in the field. But trying to translate centuries-old instruction methods into online technology is tough. So is trying to determine how online classes can or should fit in at KU, with its dozens of de-
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Events listings Horoscope Opinion Puzzles
7A, 2B Society 5C Sports 9A Television 5C
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cation committee, which recently produced a report for the University Senate.
Decentralized strategy While the issues are many, the committee pointed to Please see ONLINE, page 2A
‘Hard 50’ sentence
KANSAS UNIVERSITY
Vol.156/No.101 24 pages
The Kansas Supreme Court reversed a ‘Hard 50’ murder sentence Friday but did not rule on the application of legislative changes. Page 3A
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By Ben Unglesbee