Daily Archives: May 21, 2009

Athletic corporations need more transparency

May 21, 200912:09 p.m.

princerThe athletic corporations at the state’s big universities have long lacked transparency. The Kansas Legislature had to pass the “Lew Perkins law” in 2005 — named after the University of Kansas’ athletic director — to force them to disclose compensation agreements. But Kansas State University’s athletic corporation was so secretive that even K-State’s president and attorneys didn’t know about an agreement to pay former football coach Ron Prince (in photo) an additional $3.2 million to buy out his contract. K-State is suing to break the agreement, and it forced former athletic director Bob Krause, who made the deal, to resign from his current position at the university. But K-State, KU and Wichita State University need to make their athletic corporations more transparent. The combination of big budgets and little public scrutiny invites problems.

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Sports | Comments (11)

Church protected abusers

May 21, 20096:03 a.m.

priestabuseIt’s terrible enough that priests and nuns terrorized and abused thousands of boys and girls in Ireland, according to a commission report released Wednesday. But — as was the case with some of the sex-abuse scandals in the United States — the Catholic Church covered it up and, as a result, helped perpetuate it. The report concluded that church officials shielded their orders’ pedophiles from arrest to protect their own reputations, the Washington Post reported.

By Phillip Brownlee | Filed under Religion | Comments (174)

Open thread 5/21

May 21, 20096:02 a.m.

thread-comm58

By The Editors | Filed under Open thread | Comments (364)

Don’t let delay be death of land deal

May 21, 20096:01 a.m.

The Sedgwick County commissioners still had too many questions Wednesday to feel comfortable going forward with a proposal to buy 808 acres in Bel Aire for an industrial park. There is a lot to consider, especially with the county budget so tight and other priorities so pressing. But the delay should not be the death of the plan, which was harshly criticized by several local developers and anti-tax activists at the meeting. If the commission does what the critics want, which is nothing, the county will remain uncompetitive in the high-stakes contest to land large businesses with large numbers of jobs. It was good to hear Commission Chairman Kelly Parks indicate that he sees the urgent need for such a shovel-ready industrial park.

By Rhonda Holman | Filed under Business, Sedgwick County | Comments (9)

Late-night laughs

May 21, 20096:00 a.m.

biden1“Joe Biden started talking and accidentally revealed Dick Cheney’s secret hiding place. See there’s more proof you don’t need waterboarding to get secret information. Just give Joe Biden a couple of drinks.” — Jay Leno

“Well, this is surprising. A new survey shows that the happiest Americans are elderly, male and Republican. In other words, Republican.” — Jimmy Fallon

“Matt Damon has a new Jason Bourne film coming out. I guess he’s a CIA agent who tells Nancy Pelosi about waterboarding. Yeah, but see, in this one, she’s the one that gets amnesia. That’s the twist.” — Leno

By Rhonda Holman | Filed under Late-night laughs | Comments (7)