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

• Thanks for all of your great suggestions for questions for the president of Haskell Indian Nations University during our interview next week.

Perhaps one of the oddest ones I got came from a reader who lives nearby, and pointed this out.

“There appears to be an excessive amount of money spent on grounds maintenance,” she said. “I swear that they are mowing every single day over there. It seems as though they could cut a lot of that in half.”

Now, obviously, I’m not quite sure if this is true, but I do recall seeing grounds maintenance staff being fairly active during the times I’ve visited the campus, too.

I don’t know if it’s a question for the president, but it would be interesting to find out. If I hear more, I’ll be sure to pass it on.

• Elmer B. Staats, a KU alumnus who was the chief of the United States General Accounting Office from 1966 until 1981, has died of congestive heart failure at age 97.

He graduated from KU with a master’s degree in political science way back in 1936, according to The Washington Post.

He began his career in the federal government in 1939, and worked in the administrations of nine presidents, the Post pointed out, from Franklin D. Roosevelt to Ronald Reagan.

He sounds like an interesting fellow, and he certainly hearkens back to a different age, where, growing up in Kansas, he worked for a farmer who paid him 15 cents a day (and charged him a nickel a day for water, too, the article said).

• KU just posted its job opening for the director of federal relations.

The job has been open since Keith Yehle left to become manager of congressional affairs for Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, N.M.

The job will be based in Washington, with travel to Lawrence one to two times per month.

The person who takes the post will be an advocate for the university’s positions and a liaison with congressfolk, and will also, according to the job posting, “Ensure the university is aware of emerging areas of sponsored research and positioned to capitalize on these funding streams, including non-traditional or non-peer reviewed channels of support.”

When we get someone new, I’ll be sure to let you know.

• The water is always free here at Heard on the Hill world headquarters at Seventh and New Hampshire, but you’ll probably have to submit a tip to get in the door. Send it to ahyland@ljworld.com.