Hughes symposium wins national attention

Last year’s Kansas University symposium on poet Langston Hughes has won a national award for community outreach.

KU’s Office of University Relations received a 2003 gold award from the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education’s Circle of Excellence Awards Program for Alumni Relations, Communications and Development. It is the eighth award the symposium has received.

The symposium, in February 2002, recognized the 100th anniversary of the birth of Hughes, who spent some of his childhood in Lawrence. It was directed by Maryemma Graham, professor of English, and administered by KU Continuing Education.

Hughes is pictured below in Harlem, where he spent most of his adult life.

Education

Forum to address ‘No Child Left Behind’

A town meeting will be convened Oct. 30 in Lawrence to tackle implications of the federal education law “No Child Left Behind.”

The panel discussion, called “No Dollars Left to Spend,” will focus on how the law influences local public schools.

The gathering is 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the auditorium of Central Junior High School, 1400 Mass.

Langston Hughes

Invited to the meeting are U.S. Rep. Dennis Moore, D-Kan.; Randy Weseman, superintendent of Lawrence schools; Leonard Ortiz, Lawrence school board member; Sharen Steele, principal of New York School; and Barbara Bishop, director of Arc of Douglas County.

The meeting is sponsored by the Lawrence for Dean organization, which is supporting Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean.

Conservation

Energy events draw hundreds of participants

High energy costs are causing area residents to have a continued interest in conservation, those who organized this year’s Lawrence Home Energy Conservation Fair said.

About 250 people stopped Sunday by the Douglas County 4-H Fairgrounds to look at exhibits promoting products and services that will conserve energy and cut costs. Among them were natural gas and hybrid electric vehicles and methods for finding small and big drafts in homes, just to mention a few.

“One of the things several people have asked me is why they can’t get more information about energy conservation from (Lawrence) City Hall,” said Bruce Plenk, a member of the Lawrence City Recycling and Advisory Board, which puts on the fair. “They wonder why there isn’t an office to go to.”

Also Sunday was the Douglas County Sustainable Homes Tour, sponsored by the Heartland Energy Society. More than 80 people took the tour.

Gasoline prices

Pump Patrol seeks deals

The Journal-World has found a Lawrence-area gasoline price as low as $1.52 at Citgo, 2005 W. Ninth St. If you find a lower price, call 832-7154.