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Brownback not among GOP leaders accepting ‘Obamacare’
One last hurrah
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Other Republican-led states allowing formation of insurance marketplaces Richard Gwin/Journal-World Photos
LILLY LEWIS, 2, OF LAWRENCE, tries to cool off by dipping her head in water on Monday at the Lawrence Outdoor Aquatic Center.
Perfect weather, holiday provide chance to enjoy end of summer By Ian Cummings and Meagan Thomas icummings@ljworld.com; mthomas@ljworld.com
For many people, Monday was the kind of day you just had to take advantage of. As the clock started to run out on summer, the Labor Day holiday coincided with nearly perfect 84-degrees-and-sunny weather, a treat for those who were free to enjoy it. Even those few actually laboring on Labor Day said they were exploiting the late-summer moment, getting some actual work done in peace before the start of the busy season. They were wise to seize the day: A new academic year is poised to swallow up much of the city’s population who either go to school or work for one in the fall. And if the Farmers’ Almanac is to be believed, a cold, bitter winter is lurking down the road. But summer doesn’t officially end until Sept. 21, and Monday offered at least one more chance to enjoy
KU GRADUATE STUDENT ELI GOLD, OF ITHACA, N.Y., spent Labor Day on campus working over some wood he salvaged. it while it lasts. For some, that meant soaking up some rays on the final day before the city pool closed for the season. For others, it was prime time for some family moments at the park or on the lake. Among those at Clinton Lake, watching sailboats drift around on the water and spreading sandwiches and cheese crackers over a picnic table, were Dwight Gipson and his family. While his grown children wrestled jet skis into the
lake, Gipson, 68, of Mission, pulled a floppy hat down over his head and settled into a lawn chair next to his wife. Gipson has been a truck driver for years and still has a week of vacation left, he said. He was pondering where the family might go for one last summer trip as he settled in by the lakeshore. But he seemed in no hurry to think much beyond the task at hand. “I’m going to kick back,” he said. “It’s a really nice day.”
By Scott Rothschild srothschild@ljworld.com
Some said it was better than nice. “It’s perfect,” said Will Chuber, 32, of Lawrence. Centennial Park was quiet, with only a few disc golfers scattered around, and the Chuber family was celebrating a special day for son George. “It’s my birthday,” said George, who turned 3 that day. After working up on appetite on the playground, he was looking forward to some lunch and a Jayhawk ice cream cake. Chuber, who spent part of his summer working in the relatively cool Pacific Northwest, said he was happy to get back to Lawrence in time to enjoy the summer. In the fall, he’ll be busy working as an ROTC instructor at Kansas University. “It’s going to be paperwork and all of that,” he said. “I wonder how long the weather will hold.” The KU campus, as might be expected, was largely deserted. But there still were a few dedicated individuals taking the opportunity to get some work
With a month to go before the launch of a major portion of the Affordable Care Act, Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback remains opposed to the law — even as some other Republican governors have softened their opposition and even begrudgingly accepted the new health insurance program in their states. In October, people without health insurance can enroll in the new health care marketplace at the healthcare.gov website for coverage that begins Jan. 1. The website is already up and providing information. More than 320,000 Kansans will be eligible for coverage through the marketplace, the Obama administration has said. “Soon, the Health Insurance Marketplace will provide families and small businesses who currently don’t have insurance, or are looking for a better deal, a new way to Brownback find health coverage that fits their needs and their budgets,” said U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, the former Kansas governor. But two years ago, Brownback rejected a $31.5 million federal grant to set up a Kansasbased marketplace under the law known as “Obamacare.” These marketplaces in each state are modeled after travel-shopping websites and allow people to compare and enroll in insurance plans. Because Kansas refused to set up its own website, the federal government will run the marketplace for the state’s residents. In several other Republican-led states, including Ohio, Iowa, Michigan, Florida, New Mexico and Nevada, governors have dropped their opposition and allowed for the formation of the state insurance market-
Please see SUMMER, page 2A
Please see HEALTH, page 2A
Honors program budget expanding despite campus cuts By Ben Unglesbee bunglesbee@ljworld.com
As statewide cuts to higher education have Kansas University schools and programs facing shrinking budgets, one university program is expanding. Starting last year the KU Honors Program budget got a $200,000 bump to swell its ranks and, program administrators hope, help persuade top-tier college applicants to go to KU. Tuition increases approved in 2012 fund the bigger budget, which has so far allowed the honors program to increase its in-
coming student numbers by 45 percent, from 275 to 400, beginning with this school year’s freshman class. The incomKANSAS ing class also includes the largest UNIVERSITY contingent of international students to date, with 30 total. Bringing more students into the honors program will help the university as a whole attract high-caliber students, said program director Kathleen McCluskey-Fawcett. “We’ve had to turn away so
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KANSAS UNIVERSITY STUDENTS shuffle along Jayhawk Boulevard Please see HONORS, page 2A while others wait for the bus in front of Snow Hall on Wednesday.
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many incredibly good applicants” in the past, she said. “We just couldn’t accommodate them.” Those students often go elsewhere after being turned down by the honors program. McCluskey-Fawcett sees the expansion as a way to lure students to KU who might otherwise attend storied academic heavyweights such as Stanford, Princeton, Harvard, Yale, Northwestern and Washington University, all of which the program considers its competitors. The budget increase helped
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A group that advocates for the rights of students is seeking to file a brief in a school finance lawsuit, but Attorney General Derek Schmidt’s office wants to keep that organization out of the case. Page 3A
Vol.155/No.246 20 pages