Kevin Yoder admits he was somewhat brainwashed in crimson and blue while attending Kansas University.

Now a state representative from Overland Park, Yoder is getting a better picture of how the rest of the state views KU and Lawrence.

“I’d say there is a general animosity toward communities that are doing well from communities that are declining,” he said.

That animosity may be based in part on the “snob hill” moniker Lawrence has developed over the years. According to the 2000 census, Lawrence — per capita — is smarter than the rest of the state — and most of the nation.

In 2000, 42.7 percent of Douglas County residents 25 and older had at least a bachelor’s degree, compared with the statewide average of 25.8 percent and the national average of 24.4 percent. Lawrence ranked sixth in the nation.

That leads to work force demands not seen in other parts of the state.

“They’re not going to be real happy turning every nut that goes by three times,” said Bob Nunley, a retired geography professor at KU. “There are places with a less educated, less stable, more blue-collar population (for manufacturing businesses) to operate.”

Cheryl White, manager of the Lawrence Workforce Center, 2540 Iowa, said having an educated population meant Lawrence workers must be flexible with job choices.

“They have a broad spectrum of transferable skills,” she said. “It means the competition is stiffer in our community because so many qualified candidates have a higher education.”

The high percentage of educated residents also leads some people to be underemployed compared to their education. Some at Lawrence’s Hallmark plant fit this category.

“We have some hourly people who have college degrees, but they’re technicians and specialists who are good at what they’re doing,” said Bill Glover, director of human resources at Hallmark.

Bennett Griffin, president of Griffin Technologies, 916 Mass., and president of the Lawrence Technology Assn., said the high ranking could be used in promotional materials to attract businesses and residents to Lawrence.

“That becomes part of the story you tell,” he said. “Lawrence has had a history of being able to talk about the intangibles, and this is a nice, complementary, tangible fact of who we are. It’s something we can be proud of as a community and use as a business perspective when we sell the community in an economic development area.”

Lawrence’s education level may lead to some image problems within Kansas, though.

Yoder, a Republican, said Kansas State University may have more success with its pleas for funding with legislators because its agricultural emphasis seems more practical.

“When the farm economy is in the tank and people are struggling to survive, the university is looking for more money to hire more researchers, and that’s a hard sell,” he said. “It’s hard to make them convinced that’s important.”

Lawrence is sometimes a target for criticism because it is generally more liberal and younger than other Kansas cities. Yoder said he didn’t think most people who criticize Lawrence knew much about the town.

“I don’t know if the exposure has been there for them to experience the neat things about Lawrence,” Yoder said. “But I think some of the things we value and enjoy, the farmers and ranchers across the state might not appreciate anyway.”