The chances for a cooperative environment in the coming Kansas legislative session aren’t looking good. At a time Kansans need the best out of their elected officials, it appears divisions among legislators are likely to be just as intense and distracting as in the past several years, and Gov.-elect Kathleen Sebelius is the target of a suit filed by many of the state’s newspapers claiming she is violating the Kansas Open Meetings Act. It’s not the best way to kick off the 2003 session.

This week, House Republicans elected Doug Mays as speaker for the 2003 session. Mays then made committee chairman appointments that indicate he may be harboring hard feelings in connection with his narrow victory in the speaker’s race over Kenny Wilk of Lansing and Mike O’Neal of Hutchinson.

To the victors go the spoils, and Mays didn’t waste any time in claiming his spoils. He dumped Wilk as chairman of the important House Appropriations Committee and removed O’Neal as chairman of the Judiciary Committee. This should be of particular interest to those interested in higher education because Wilk has been an outspoken supporter of higher education.

Mays is putting his personal stamp on the coming legislative gathering. There are 19 House committees and Mays retained only six chairmen from the 2002 session. And the impersonal manner with which he handled the appointments has left a bitter taste in the mouths of many state legislators.

Mays may talk about his desire to mend fences within his party and the Legislature, but so far his actions speak louder than his words. It looks as if the serious and damaging rift between moderate and conservative Republican House members is just as deep, perhaps deeper, than it was during the last session.

This does not bode well for the state, for the Republican Party or for any hope that legislators and the governor will be able to have an effective, forward-looking approach to the legislative session. It’s reasonable to think legislators would learn from history, but apparently they either don’t care about the Legislature’s past ineffectiveness and its negative impact on the state or some lawmakers are determined to keep the GOP divided to the detriment of the state.

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News that successful Alabama football coach Dennis Franchione has accepted the football coaching job at Texas A&M causes many Kansas University football fans to consider what might have been at KU.

Franchione is a native Kansan who coached at Peabody High School in 1976-77 and Pittsburg State University in 1985-89. He also coached at New Mexico and Texas Christian University.

He has a proven record as a head coach, leading Alabama to a 10-3 record this year. He also had a 10-1 record during his last year at TCU and a 9-4 record in his last year at New Mexico.

When KU officials were seeking a replacement for Glen Mason, who left KU for the Minnesota job, Franchione wanted the Jayhawk coaching position. “He wanted that job in the worst way,” one very knowledgeable source told this writer. “He’s a Kansan, this is his home state and I can’t overemphasize how much he wanted this job. He has the proven ability to turn programs around, he’s a good person and there’s every reason he would have been successful here at KU.”

However, for some reason, either KU Chancellor Robert Hemenway, former Athletics Director Bob Frederick or members of the KU Athletic Board thought Terry Allen would be a better coach for KU. Whether Franchione got serious consideration by KU officials is not known, but it is known he wanted to lead the Jayhawk team.

Who knows what the KU football program would be today if Franchione had been selected rather than Allen?

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It is unfortunate the world-famous Menninger Clinic will be leaving Kansas. Earlier this week, Menninger trustees voted to join forces with the Baylor College of Medicine and The Methodist Hospital. This marriage was due to be consummated more than two years ago, but serious differences surfaced that prompted both parties to back away from the altar.

Since then, new leadership at Baylor entered the picture, and a number of other situations that had caused serious concern were either modified, reduced or eliminated, leaving both Menninger and Baylor officials enthusiastic about the merger.

Kansas is the loser, and it is debatable what might have been done to keep this prestigious psychiatric clinic in the state.

Early on, after Menninger decided it couldn’t remain in Topeka, a professional firm was hired to see which organizations might be interested in working out a deal with the psychiatric clinic. Menninger officials wanted to partner with a university and, at one time, KU and Menninger officials were giving serious thought to an alliance. Representatives of the governor’s office, KU officials, KU Medical Center representatives, Kansas City officials and individuals representing private interests all examined various possibilities.

Although no details have been released by Menninger, it is believed the alliance of KU and Kansas City interests made it to the semifinals. It is questionable whether this partnership ever reached the finals. It is understood there were two major drawbacks. The private interest that originally indicated it might be willing to contribute many millions of dollars to help build a facility for a Menninger clinic in Johnson County announced it no longer would provide that money. Also, there was some degree of concern that the teaching staffs of Menninger and KUMC might have difficulty working together.

These may be excuses offered by some at Menninger for why they did not try harder to hammer out a partnership with KU and KUMC. Maybe they really were not that interested in a move to Kansas City, and, just as important, maybe KU really wasn’t that interested in trying to work out something with Menninger.

It’s too bad, and Kansas has lost one of its best-known and most-respected assets. The state cannot afford such losses.