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Email joke about turkey abuse backfires ——————
KU dean’s response to complaint about fraternity sent to unintended recipient By Ian Cummings icummings@ljworld.com
A Kansas University School of Education dean has apologized for joking about a turkey that was abused and killed at a fraternity house party earlier this month. Jim Lichtenberg, associate dean for graduate programs, emailed the joke to two other deans Wednesday in response to an email from an Indiana
woman who contacted the three deans to protest the recent incident in which the rented turkey was chased and choked before a student killed the bird to end its suffering. Jennah Dibiase, in Terre Haute, Ind., wished to send a message in protest of the turkey’s mistreatment and chose the deans from a list of faculty email addresses on a KU website. The dean’s response included a slang term de-
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scribing masturbation and was meant only for his two colleagues, he said later. But he inadvertently sent it to Dibiase as well. Kansas University spokeswoman Jill Jess said the university considers the reported treatment of the turkey reprehensible and expects anyone involved to cooperate fully with ongoing investigations. “The disrespectful levity used in this email does not reflect the opinions or
actions of the university on this issue,” she wrote in a statement. While the Lawrence Police Department investigates whether animal cruelty laws were broken, the Kansas University chapter of Beta Theta Pi, where the party took place, has been suspended “indefinitely” by the fraternity’s national organization. Lichtenberg has called his email joke stupid, unprofessional and embar-
rassing, and said he tried without success to recall the email after he realized he had included Dibiase in the reply. After learning Thursday from The Kansas City Star that Dibiase was displeased at his response, he contacted her to apologize. In an email to The Star, which Lichtenberg also provided to The JournalWorld on Friday, he wrote that his joke was not intended as a comment on
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INSIDE Jayhawks are rested, ready Elijah Johnson made the most of his brief Christmas break this week, and he and the rest of the KU men’s basketball team are ready to get back into action tonight against American University. Page 1B
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is now offering a $7,500 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of anyone involved in a string of suspected arsons in Lawrence. Page 3A
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By Scott Rothschild
srothschild@ljworld.com
Mike Yoder/Journal-World Photo
Reward raised in arson case
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I’m optimistic we may still be able to reach an agreement that can pass both houses in time.” — President Barack Obama, after meeting for more than an hour Friday with top lawmakers from both houses to talk about a deal to avoid falling off the fiscal cliff. Page 6A
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INDEX Business 7A Classified 1C-4C Comics 9A Deaths 2A Events listings 10A, 2B Horoscope 5C Movies 4A Opinion 8A Puzzles 5C Society 6C Sports 1B-8B, 10B Television 10A, 2B, 5C Vol.154/No.364 26 pages
— Reporter Ian Cummings can be reached at 832-7144 . Follow him at Twitter.com/iancummings4.
LEGISLATURE
Today’s forecast, page 10A
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the actual cruel treatment of a turkey and that he should not have written it. “That I would craft such an email was most certainly a significant lapse in judgment on my part,” he wrote. Lichtenberg’s original email to the two deans and Dibiase was not available to the Journal-World Friday.
ULYSSES DEMBY, A JUST FOOD EMPLOYEE WHO MANAGES FOOD DRIVES for the agency, left, and Just Food volunteer Fairley McCain put together new shelving for the food bank at the Just Food pantry, 1000 E. 11th St. The Ballard Center, Just Food, Penn House and Salvation Army are joining forces to create a food bank cooperative.
Just Food to stock local pantries, freeing means to combat poverty “
By Rebekka Schlichting
Just Food Pantry executive officer Jeremy Farmer hopes to be unemployed in five years. He would like to see the pantry shrink until it is no longer needed in the community, but recent trends show that’s not an option in the near future. “We served 10,000 people in a month,” he said. “I don’t see our numbers as a monument to success but a reminder that we have failed.” That’s why, with the help of the United Way, Just Food is teaming up
now stock the Ballard Center, Penn House and The Salvation Army food pantries as well as provide them with healthier foods, such as fresh bread and produce. This will free up the Ballard Center and Salvation Army to create programs to help their clients focus on their strengths and apply them to build a self-sufficient life. “It will provide people, who receive stabilization by the food, with an opportunity to pursue what they perceive as a better life so that in the future they aren’t dependent on these resources, which
The hope is that by working together, we can deliver the best services to the most people.”
— Erika Dvorske, director of the United Way with the Ballard Center, Penn House and The Salvation Army to try to fight the actual problem of poverty instead of just treating the symptoms. Under a new program called The United Way Self-Sufficiency Goal, Just Food will
is our ultimate goal,” said Kyle Roggenkamp, director of human services at Ballard Community Services. The overall purpose of the Self-Sufficiency Goal is to provide lowincome residents with affordable housing, job training and emergency services, Erika Dvorske, director of United Way, said. “The hope is that by working together, we can deliver the best services to the most people,” she said. Farmer said the cooperation among the organizations began Please see FOOD, page 2A
TOPEKA — When the 2013 Kansas Legislature begins work Jan. 14, buckle your seat belts. Gov. Sam Brownback will be leading a conservative charge, guiding a House and Senate chamber that he campaigned to make in his image. The partisan makeup of the Legislature remains at 92 Republicans over 33 Democrats in the House, and 32 Republicans over eight Democrats in t h e S e n ate. But it’s the players within the Republican majorities that will make the difference. Brownback, the Kansas Chamber of Commerce, the billionaire Koch brothers and advocacy group Americans for Prosperity teamed up to replace eight moderate Republicans in the Senate with eight conservative Republicans, which put conservatives in firm control of the upper chamber under new Senate President Susan Wagle, R-Wichita. The House, already in conservative hands, has 50 new members, many of them tea party Republicans, some of whom have gone so far as to voice support for legislation to authorize state and local law enforcement to arrest federal officials attempting to implement the Affordable Care Act. The outgoing House
2013 A look ahead
Please see LEGISLATURE, page 2A
Bicyclist ready to get back in the saddle ————
After serious injury in collision with SUV, full recovery expected By Shaun Hittle sdhittle@ljworld.com
For a man who spent three weeks in intensive care recovering from a skull fracture, retired Cordley custodian Don Varnau, 64, looked pretty good recently at his Lawrence home. No bandages, bruises, or apparent ill effects were visible less than two months after Varnau was flown by air ambulance to Kansas University Nick Krug/Journal-World Photo Hospital after suffering critical ON NOV. 14, Lawrence resident Don injuries in a Nov. 14 collision Varnau, 64, was hospitalized with a skull with an SUV near 11th and Kenfracture after colliding with a vehicle while tucky streets. riding his bicycle on 11th Street. Varnau, The driver of the SUV that who spent three weeks in intensive care, hit Varnau was not ticketed is expected to make a full recovery. and did not show any signs of
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Just waiting for warmer weather.” — Don Varnau, who’s ready to resume bicycling despite suffering critical injuries in an accident less than two months ago impairment, according to police. Varnau said he doesn’t remember much from the accident, and little from the first week in the hospital. He faded in and out of consciousness in those early days. “That’s what they tell me,” Varnau joked. Varnau — who retired from
the Lawrence public school district in 2011 — was released from the hospital earlier this month. He kept in frequent contact with the Lawrence Bicycle Club, giving updates on his health. He said he’s expected to make a full recovery, and admits he’s getting a little antsy “taking it easy,” per doctor’s orders An avid and experienced bicyclist, Varnau said he’s looking forward to riding again soon. “Just waiting for warmer weather,” he said. — Reporter Shaun Hittle can be reached at 8327173. Follow him at Twitter.com/shaunhittle.