Common backyard birds topic of ‘River City’

The birds of Douglas County take wing on an encore presentation of “River City Weekly.”

Host Greg Hurd visits with U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Biologist Daniel Mulhern, who talks about common backyard birds of the area.

Then U.S. Corps of Engineers Wildlife Biologist Mike Watkins talks about local eagles.

Franklin and Bethany Bidinger will describe the habits and benefits of the purple martin.

“River City Weekly” premieres on Sunflower Broadband Channel 6 at 6:30 p.m. Wednesdays with encore presentations at 7:30 weeknights, 8:30 weekday mornings and 9 a.m. Saturdays.

Lawrence students receive merit awards

Three Lawrence students were among 2,600 high school seniors to receive college-sponsored National Merit scholarships, officials said Tuesday.

Recipients were Glen Friedman and Annie McEnroe, both of Free State High School, along with Sean Hill of Bishop Seabury Academy, rural Lawrence.

McEnroe and Hill received W. Harold Otto scholarships from Kansas University. Friedman’s scholarship is from Carleton College in Northfield, Minn.

The three were among 54 Kansans to receive a college-sponsored National Merit award. Nearly half of the recipients — 26 — received Otto awards from KU.

Nationally, college and university awards provide between $500 to $2,000 annually and may be renewed up to four years.

Two other listings of National Merit winners were released earlier this year, with more college-financed awards to be announced in July. At the end of the annual competition, 8,000 finalists will have earned $30 million in scholarships.

University sets exam

Kansas University has announced the following final examination:

Jingfeng Jiang, civil engineering, “Finite Element Modeling of Bond-Slip Relationship-Constitutive Modeling and Computational Aspects,” 10 a.m. today, 2007 Learned Hall.

Disaster victims can apply for assistance

Residents of Douglas, Anderson, Osage and Woodson counties have until June 15 to apply for the Disaster Unemployment Assistance program. The deadline for Cherokee, Crawford, Labette, Leavenworth, Miami, Neosho and Wyandotte counties is June 8.

The program provides relief for those whose work place was closed because of the tornadoes and storms in early May. Those eligible may include the self-employed, farmers or people injured in the storms who were unable to return to work.

To apply for the program, call (800) 292-6333 to determine eligibility. Applicants must have a Social Security number, and self-employed applicants need to provide information about earnings from the previous tax year.

KU Student Union selects board members

Student Union Activities at Kansas University has selected its student board members for the 2003-2004 school year. They include four executive officers and eight committee coordinators who direct student programming at KU.

Members are Jacob Albers, Lawrence senior, vice president of administrative affairs; Erica Harper, Lawrence freshman, fine arts committee; Jamie Labrier, Lawrence sophomore, recreation and travel committee; Rachel Peart, Overland Park freshman, special events committee; Isaac Dill, McPherson sophomore, live music committee; Becca Swick, McPherson sophomore, spectrum films committee; Scott McKenzie, Salina senior, vice president of membership development; Pauline Pechin, Wichita sophomore, feature films committee; Lauren Stewart, Wichita junior, SUA president; Sean Pauzauskie, Topeka junior, forums committee; Jason Fraser, Stillwater, Okla., junior, public relations committee; and Laura Heidbreder, Houston junior, vice president of university relations.

KU seniors inducted into honor society

Two graduates of Lawrence high schools were among the 51 Kansas University students inducted into Mortar Board, a senior honor society, for the 2003-2004 academic year.

Mortar Board recognizes college seniors for distinguished ability and achievement in scholarship, leadership and service.

The Lawrence students, selected from 151 applicants, are Toluwalase Ajayi of Free State High School and Jacob Albers of Lawrence High School.