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Pay raises OK’d for 1 in 4 state workers
‘Usually it is the children who follow the parents, but here the children came first and brought us with them’
Nick Krug/Journal-World Photos
NEELI BENDAPUDI, DEAN OF THE KANSAS UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF BUSINESS, left, shares a moment with her parents, Ramesh and Padma Thippavajjala, following a naturalization ceremony Monday in which they were granted American citizenship. Ninety-seven individuals took the oath of citizenship during the ceremony at the Dole Institute of Politics. The three TOP PHOTOS are scenes from the oath-taking.
KU dean speaks at ceremony where her parents become U.S. citizens By Matt Erickson merickson@theworldco.info
ONLINE: Audio slideshow at LJWorld.com
One of Neeli Bendapudi’s first memories from growing up in India, she said Monday, is of telling her friends about the Kansas University Jayhawk. When she was 5, her father left to study for his doctorate in English at KU, and, for nearly four years,
she heard from him only through letters and short phone calls made from a neighbor’s house. When she saw a picture of the mythical Jayhawk, she thought it was something one might find in the United States. “Yes, in America, birds did wear shoes!” she recalled telling her friends. Bendapudi, the dean of the KU School of Business, spoke Monday afternoon at a U.S. District Court naturalization ceremony
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TOPEKA — Kansas officials on Monday approved $11.2 million in pay raises for 4,300 state employees whose salaries are below those of similar private-sector workers. That represents approximately one in four state classified workers. The State Finance Council, led by Gov. Sam Brownback, approved the increase after the funding had earlier been approved by the Legislature. Among those getting raises were more than 1,000 corrections officers who were getting 7.5 percent pay raises. The raises took effect for the current pay period. Brownback said the increases were essential to recruit and retain personnel in corrections and law enforcement. The Finance Council, which includes legislative leaders, endorsed the plan on a unanimous vote, although House Republican Leader Arlen Siegfreid, R-Olathe, voiced misgivings. “I’m not sure this is such a good idea with the budget problems we are facing,” Siegfreid said. Raises went to more than 50 classifications and will affect workers across the state, including those at regents universities, except Kansas University, where employees voted several years ago to leave the state’s classified system.
Obama will be on ballot; birther leader attends state meeting By Scott Rothschild srothschild@ljworld.com
Day on Sept. 17. The new citizens included students, professors, doctors and business owners, and their home countries included Iran, Egypt, Tajikistan, Sudan, Argentina, Antigua and Barbuda, South Korea and Canada. U.S. District Judge John Lungstrum presided over the ceremony. “I promise each and every one of you that this is
TOPEKA — Kansas officials on Monday ended a “birther” challenge to putting President Barack Obama on the state’s November general election ballot. On Thursday, the State Objections Board caused a national furor when it delayed a decision on a challenge brought by Manhattan resident Joe Montgomery, who said Obama was ineligible to be on the ballot because he wasn’t a U.S. citizen. Taitz The all-Republican board — composed of Secretary of State Kris Kobach, Attorney General Derek Schmidt and Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer — said it needed more time on the matter to get documents certifying Obama’s birth certificate
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at KU’s Dole Institute of Politics. Among the 97 new American citizens seated in front of her were her mother and father, Padma and Ramesh Thippavajjala, who swore their allegiance to the country that 5-yearold Neeli so closely identified with the Jayhawk. People from 39 countries became U.S. citizens at the annual ceremony, which has been held at the Dole Institute each year since 2003 to mark Constitution
By Scott Rothschild
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As baby boomers age but stay behind the wheel, more elderly drivers are on the roads, both in Kansas and nationally. Assistance is available to help keep them safe. Page 3A
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