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

• I’m still digging out of a mound of emails after being away for a day (why does everyone always wait until I leave to write?) but here’s one item I found to be pretty interesting.

Inside Higher Ed gave a pretty good rundown of how a Republican 2012 budget proposal would affect higher education.

Two items in particular piqued my interest. One is a proposal that would cut $2.3 billion from the Pell Grant program that helps low-income students attend college.

The maximum Pell amount, which often is targeted for a reduction when budget cuts are threatened, will actually stay the same (at $5,550) under the most recent proposal.

The proposed changes have more to do with who qualifies to receive aid. Students who attend less than half-time wouldn’t be eligible to receive aid, according to the article. Neither would students who are eligible to receive 10 percent of the maximum grant. The bill would also lower the income level that results in an expected family contribution of zero, among other things.

The second item I noticed was that the Republicans’ budget actually called for an increase in the budget for the National Institutes of Health, which I’m sure would be welcome news to those waiting to hear whether KU receives National Cancer Institute designation.

• The University of Missouri’s student newspaper brings us yet another story of the Kansas/Missouri feud that’s been simmering since the Civil War.

University of Missouri football coach Gary Pinkel went on a local radio station, apparently, and mentioned that it was strange that the city’s buses were red and blue — KU colors. A campaign to change the colors was born, and today, the city is rolling out its newly designed buses. They’re black and gold, with tiger eyes and tiger tails.

“I could not believe we didn’t do this years and years ago,” the radio host said, according to the newspaper. “And I hate to give Gary trouble, but I wish he would have complained sooner. But it was great to have his story. It was so funny. He came to town and said, ‘Why do they have KU colors on their city buses?’ I mean that’s all he saw was KU colors. And you know what? My personal opinion, I think they were ugly too.”

The newspaper did not, that I could see, report on how much the city spent to redesign its buses.

But all that said, I think black and gold buses tooling around Lawrence would be pretty darned ugly, too.

• KU journalism assistant professor Crystal Lumpkins is the recipient of a $600,000, five-year National Cancer Institute grant (I don’t think too many journalism professors get NCI funding, so that’s pretty spiffy).

Lumpkins will conduct a five-year study of the role of African-American churches in communicating colorectal cancer prevention among blacks in Kansas City, Mo., and Kansas City, Kan.

She has studied cancer communication before, and will examine the role of the church in promoting good prevention habits, such as frequent screenings.

The award is a research scientist development award, awarded to minority scholars who have the potential to contribute new findings in the field of cancer research and to go on to successful research careers.

• I’m out scouring the city for black and gold things we can paint crimson and blue. So you’ll have to email me those tips for Heard on the Hill to ahyland@ljworld.com.