Community: KU history Web site to be launched today

After two years and thousands of research hours, a Web site dedicated to Kansas University history will be unveiled today.

“This Week in KU History” – at www.kuhistory.com – features 123 articles, 600 images, 700 internal links and 500 links to related Web pages.

The project, led by graduate student Henry Fortunato, was funded by the KU Memorial Unions.

“For anyone who has been looking for readable, accessible and reliable material about the history of KU, the search is over,” Fortunato said.

The site also includes hyperlinks that Fortunato said could connect any two figures in KU history in six clicks or fewer.

A related project, the “KU History Galleries,” will bring 50 panels related to KU history to the Kansas Union. Ten of the panels are set for display soon.

State government: Graves names Lawrence residents to council

Gov. Bill Graves on Friday appointed two Lawrence residents to the new Kansas Advisory Council on Intergovernmental Relations.

Shirley Sicilian, general counsel for the Kansas Department of Revenue, and Jocelyn Johnston, associate professor of public administration at Kansas University, will serve on the council.

Tom Sloan, a Republican legislator from Lawrence, also was appointed to the council by legislative leaders.

The 2002 Legislature created the group to study various types of government in Kansas, including services provided, division of responsibility, potential for improving organizational structure and operational efficiency, tax structure, revenue requirements and fiscal policies.

Education: Professor donates books to Afghan university

Kansas University professors are helping replenish the library at Kabul University in Afghanistan.

Adrian Melott, professor of physics and astronomy, organized a drive in his department to send about 50 books – mostly physics and math texts – to the library. The university recently reopened and has begun readmitting women, who were prohibited from attending when the Taliban took control of the nation in 1996.

“I had at one time heard they were looking for books to rebuild the library,” Melott said. “I filed it in the back of my mind and decided to act on it.”

The books were sent by ship to Pakistan and then trucked to Kabul.