State finds link to Dailey parody

Posts for Web site came from computer in judicial system

A computer in the state judicial system was used to send messages promoting a Web site critical of Kansas University professor Dennis Dailey, a court spokesman said Wednesday.

And by Wednesday evening, anti-KU and anti-Dailey content had been removed from the site, replaced by an apology.

“It’s been traced to our firewall,” Ron Keefover, spokesman for the Kansas Supreme Court, said of the earlier messages. “We’re in the process of trying to track it down on our side of the wall.”

A firewall is software that monitors incoming and outgoing Internet traffic.

Using state computers for personal reasons violates state policy. Keefover said it was unclear if or how the message sender would be punished.

“It would depend on probably the quantity of time and resources spent, the person’s work history and a lot of other things,” he said.

The messages, sent to the Journal-World’s “Reader Reaction” message board between May 22 and Tuesday, promoted and defended a Web site posted by a group calling itself “Opposition to Publicly-Funded Pornography” or OPP.

Critical of Dailey and his Human Sexuality in Everyday Life class, the Web site — opp32.tripod.com — included an image of KU Chancellor Hemenway with a Hitler-esque mustache.

But Wednesday evening, the content that had been on the site was replaced with this message:

“OOPs, opp was a poor attempt to parody the controversy on a chatroom.”

Removed from the site were links to “Our Purpose,” “Becoming a Member,” “Contact Us,” “Calendar of Events,” “Definition of Porn,” “Newsletter” and “Proof of Allegations Against Dailey.”

At 7:20 p.m., the user identified as OPP wrote on the Journal-World’s “Reader Reaction” board that the site was a joke, and apologized to readers who took it as a serious attack.

“I assumed anyone reading this website would immediately be tipped off it was a joke and parody,” OPP wrote. “For those who didn’t you have my sincere apology.”

The OPP site did not include an address or telephone number. Instead, visitors were encouraged to e-mail inquiries or expressions of support to oppforks@yahoo.com — the same address used to send messages to the Journal-World from a judicial system computer.

Upset by the prospect that someone used a state computer to send the message, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius vowed to find the sender.

“The governor strongly supports getting to the bottom of this,” Governor’s Spokeswoman Nicole Corcoran-Basso said.