Former mayor to seek Findley’s House post

Former Lawrence Mayor Marci Francisco is expected to be nominated to replace state Rep. Troy Findley, D-Lawrence, who represents the east-central 46th legislative district.

Francisco served on the city commission from 1979 to 1983 and was mayor from 1981-83.

Findley’s replacement will be selected Saturday by Democratic precinct committee members.

Allen Levine, who had earlier announced his candidacy, said Tuesday that he was dropping out of the race and urged all those who supported him to vote for Francisco.

Paul Davis, who has been endorsed by Findley, and Jason Fizell also are seeking the post.

Undergraduate students win research awards

Two students from Lawrence and one from Lecompton were among 19 winners of spring undergraduate research awards, Kansas University officials announced Monday.

Students were selected based on their proposal’s quality, their academic record and ability to complete the proposed project.

Shinying Chu, Lawrence senior, was awarded $500 for her project, “The Effect of Phonotactic Probability on Speech Production.”

Jesse Gruber, Lawrence sophomore, was awarded $250 for his project, “Modern Sexual Morality.”

Matthew Matheny, Lecompton junior, was awarded $500 for his project, “Subgap Leakage Current and 1/f Noise of Superconducting Josephson Junctions and Their Role in Quantum Computing.”

A full list of winners can be found at www.ur.ku.edu/ News/03N/JanNews/Jan6/research.html.

Roberts elected to lead intelligence committee

Washington — U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., was elected by his Republican colleagues to be chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Roberts also serves on the Armed Services Committee.