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

• Dropping enrollments aren’t only of concern at KU; Emporia State University was the only other of the six state universities in the Board of Regents system to see an enrollment decrease this fall.

The Emporia Gazette conducted an unscientific Web survey (that’s about as unscientific as surveys get) to get a sense of what the community felt was the reason behind the school’s enrollment decrease.

That community’s reasoning seemed to mesh with many comments on the story I wrote about KU’s enrollment decline. (Pretty much everything I write, I guess, is kind of like an informal unscientific Web survey).

Both communities seemed to think that increasing tuition was a major reason behind the enrollment dropoffs.

It’s an interesting thought, but it made me think a bit. I’m certainly not discounting the impact of the ever-increasing tuition hikes on families’ pocketbooks.

Emporia State has the second-lowest tuition in the state, far lower than Kansas State, which has certainly increased tuition right along with the other Kansas schools. Kansas State, however, saw enrollments increase by 275 students this year, or about 1.2 percent.

I’m going to be looking further at KU’s admissions efforts soon. If you’ve got something you’d care to share on how KU recruits students, please do.

• NASCAR, in an apparent attempt to drum up interest among a college-aged crowd, has appointed two KU students — Jaime Grabel and Apryl Tillman — as NASCAR ambassadors for the KU campus.

The mission of the program, according to NASCAR, is to “expand our interaction with the college audience by integrating the NASCAR brand into the college lifestyle.”

I’m not sure if NASCAR and colleges are necessarily a match made in heaven, but, using the program, they hope to “integrate NASCAR into the college lifestyle” with viewing parties, NASCAR 2011 The Game video game tournaments and even car washes.

Perhaps I ran with the wrong crowd in school. Is there a big NASCAR following at KU that I’ve missed?

• An effort from KU to help public school students achieve higher standards in the arts got some regional press attention after KU released a statement on the program on Tuesday.

The Institute for Educational Research and Public Service and the Music Research Institute for the KU School of Music, and the Kansas City, Kan., public school district are collaborating on a $777,187 federal grant.

The funds will allow KU to conduct professional development to 50 schools and 121 arts educators in the district, and will help them incorporate new techniques into their classes, in the hopes that the skills will translate into academic gains.

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