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Kansas Prof. Apologizes for E-Mail 11 minutes ago A University of Kansas religion professor apologized for an e-mail that referred to religious conservatives as "fundies" and said a course describing intelligent design as mythology would be a "nice slap in their big fat face." In a written apology Monday, Paul Mirecki, chairman of the university's Religious Studies Department, said he would teach the planned class "as a serious academic subject and in an manner that respects all points of view." The department faculty approved the course Monday but changed its title. The course, originally called "Special Topics in Religion: Intelligent...

Intelligent design — already the planned subject of a controversial Kansas University seminar this spring — will make its way into a second KU classroom in the fall, this time labeled as a “pseudoscience.” In addition to intelligent design, the class Archaeological Myths and Realities will cover such topics as UFOs, crop circles, extrasensory perception and the ancient pyramids. John Hoopes, associate professor of anthropology, said the course focused on critical thinking and taught how to differentiate science and “pseudoscience.” Intelligent design belongs in the second category, he said, because it cannot be tested and proven false. “I think this...

KU prof's e-mail irks fundamentalists http://www.kansas.com/mld/eagle/living/religion/13252419.htm Associated Press LAWRENCE - Critics of a new course that equates creationism and intelligent design with mythology say an e-mail sent by the chairman of the University of Kansas religious studies department proves the course is designed to mock fundamentalist Christians.In a recent message on a Yahoo listserv, Paul Mirecki said of the course "Special Topics in Religion: Intelligent Design, Creationisms and Other Religious Mythologies": "The fundies want it all taught in a science class, but this will be a nice slap in their big fat face by teaching it as a religious studies...

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) - An internal review at the University of Kansas implicates former basketball coach Roy Williams in a violation of N-C-A-A rules. The school says Williams, now the head coach at North Carolina, approved payments to graduating players and other players who had exhausted their eligibility. Kansas reported the violations to the N-C-A-A last month. They were among several involving the men's and women's basketball programs, and the football program, ending in 2003. The university put the athletics department on two years' probation. It says there will be no television or post-season sanctions, but instead a reduction of...

Ann Coulter causes stir at KU Heckling, standing ovations interrupt right-wing commentator By Mike Belt, Journal-World Wednesday, March 30, 2005 Conservative columnist and author Ann Coulter was greeted with a mixture of standing ovations and heckling after she took center stage Tuesday night at Kansas University's Lied Center. As soon as she stepped up to the microphone, Coulter fired off one zinger after another about liberalism while promising to answer questions from left-wing members in the audience who could "thrash their way to a coherent thought." "I've come to find I like liberals a lot more," Coulter said early in...

Wagle: Fight over class was about decency, fairness By Sen. Susan Wagle Special to The Capital-Journal My attempts to de-fund or regulate a human sexuality class at a Kansas university received a significant amount of press attention during session, and continues to draw the ire of many editorial writers across the state. My work has been criticized in most newspapers as an attack on free speech and academic freedom. Reports fail to mention, however, that these activities are financed by taxpayer dollars, and taxpayers have the right to demand accountability from all institutions and agencies they fund. In addition, few...

KU Sexuality Class Professor Speaks Out Dailey Finds Experience 'Frightening, Hurtful' POSTED: 11:15 a.m. CDT June 2, 2003 UPDATED: 11:38 a.m. CDT June 2, 2003 LAWRENCE, Kan. -- University of Kansas professor Dennis Dailey said he was hurt and frightened by a controversy that flared this semester over the human sexuality class he teaches. Dailey said his "Human Sexuality in Everyday Life" class is designed to help his students end up in healthy relationships. "Probably 40 to 50 percent of the students in my class are the products of failed relationships," Dailey said. "They've grown up seeing their parents...

TOPEKA, Kan. -(KRT) - Complaints brought by state Sen. Susan Wagle against a University of Kansas human sexuality class are getting the attention of the university and the governor. The university says it is investigating Wagle's complaints that class materials are pornographic. Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, meanwhile, has until Monday to decide whether to sign the budget bill, which would withhold state money from university departments that use materials deemed obscene under state law. Wagle, a Wichita Republican, attached the provision to withhold the money to the state's main budget bill. Sebelius has called the amendment "micromanaging" academic material but has...

Dressed as a tree, Maggie Beedles, Lawrence senior, eludes a Boise corporate lumberjack played by Scott McKenzie, Salina junior. Students put on the performance yesterday to protest the paper company´s destruction of old-growth forests. John Nowak/Kansan. Protesting deforestation caused by logging companies, members of the KU Environs simulated a clash between old-growth forests and executives of the Boise corporation on Wescoe Beach yesterday. Two members of the group, dressed as businessmen, pretended to “tear down” another student dressed as a tree to highlight what they said was Boise´s (formerly known as Boise Cascade) abuse and neglect of the environment. Members...

The students of the University of Kansas should strongly oppose war against Iraq. As educated citizens and students, we should not endorse the violence and racism inherent in the proposed armed aggression. While sustained engagement with global terrorism is important, confronting Iraq in war has broad implications and ramifications beyond opposing terrorism that are unacceptable. The war on Iraq and the sanctions against the people of Iraq are motivated by profit and politics. The Bush administration justifies its position against Iraq under the guise of supporting democracy, freedom and security around the world. The reality is that the war expands...