Your daily dose of news, notes and links from around Kansas University.

• Here’s one from the wonderful world of Twitter.

Rob Riggle, KU alum and former correspondent for Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show,” tweeted on Wednesday that he was rolling down I-70 to go do a show at Kansas State. That was right before he tweeted the following:

“Lots of people asking why I have performed at MU & KSU but not KU? KU hasn’t invited me! MU & KSU did! Pretty simple.”

This set off a small firestorm (or a small TwitterStorm, perhaps) of a variety of replies, eventually leading KU — in the form of Student Union Activities, the student group that handles such things — to extend him an invitation on Twitter.

He could be the emcee at the university’s annual Traditions Night, they suggested. He could even fire the T-shirt cannon. They left a number for him to call.

Riggle eventually responded on Twitter later in the day, limiting himself to a mere 105 characters:

“KSU & MU never made me call them for an invitation? Thanks 4 making it awkward. Just don’t worry about it. Still a Proud J-Hawk!”

Now, I bet there’s more than meets the eye here. Typically, these sorts of appearances come with some kind of fee for the person performing. And SUA operates with a relatively limited budget.

And, while I have no idea how much Rob Riggle charges per appearance, let’s just say I’ll bet the idea of inviting Riggle — a KU alum for goodness sakes — has come up before in SUA’s planning sessions, and wasn’t pursued.

Could be wrong (goodness knows I have been before), but if I were a betting man, I’d wager that money is involved here somehow.

• Here’s a quick link to an interesting story.

KCTV in Kansas City caught up with the parents of KU student Jessica Roark, extremely kind young woman whom I had the pleasure of profiling back in 2009.

She died last September from adenoid cystic carcinoma.

KCTV told how most banks forgave her student loan debt after she died, but one holdout didn’t — Wells Fargo, the station said, demanded $6,000 from her parents until the TV station inquired about it.

I talk to a lot of people every day in this job, many of whom are truly remarkable. Jessica was one of those, and her outlook in the face of great adversity was truly admirable. Her kindness stuck with me — as it did for a lot of people at KU, too. And I’m glad the student loan situation worked out in the end.

• KU film professor John Tibbets has made his videotaped interviews of several movie stars from 1980 until a few years ago available through KU’s ScholarWorks site.

I first spotted this in KU’s online employee newsletter.

That site is the repository for all kinds of KU research in the public domain.

It’s interesting to bounce around in there for awhile. Here, for example, is a collection of recorded oral histories of gay, lesbian and transgendered folks in the state.

There’s a whole bunch of other KU research on there, too.

• Here’s a quick Heard on the Hill tip of the cap to former KU law faculty member and administrator Judge Deanell Tacha, who will become the new dean of law at Pepperdine University.

I dealt with her extensively on this topic ever since she was announced as a candidate, and she was nothing short of delightful and kind during the whole process. Kudos to her, and good luck in the new post.

• Fire the Heard on the Hill Tip Cannon my way any time you’d like. You can go all Rob Riggle and tweet me @LJW_KU. Or just e-mail me at ahyland@ljworld.com.