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

• I spotted an interesting letter in the Journal-World from KU sophomore Lillian Kopaska-Merkel that referred to a movement to forgive student loan debt.

I’d heard it around campus before, too. Here’s a site that’s trying to organize people around the movement “to stimulate the economy.” I think the Occupy Wall Street folks have brought the issue back into public consciousness, but it’s been around since at least 2009.

Here’s a bit from the Wall Street Journal that addresses that “stimulating the economy” part.

It references this Freakonomics post that calls it the “worst idea ever,” which seems to take it down in pretty epic fashion, and challenged proponents to find one economist who supports it.

I’m not sure it’s the worst idea ever (I hear a lot of pretty bad ideas), but I’d be curious to hear your thoughts.

• In a case of “go to where your recruits are,” I spotted KU’s new assistant law dean of admissions, Steven Freedman, on an online law forum, starting up a thread and taking questions from potential law students.

Freedman joined KU on Sept. 1 from Drexel University, replacing Jacqlene Nance, who left for the University of Connecticut.

UPDATE: Thanks to a law professor who pointed out I got my people leaving KU law mixed up a bit in that last paragraph. It’s correct now!

Freedman and the staff at KU are fighting a trend of lower applications.

As Law Dean Stephen Mazza told me in June, the game has definitely gotten more competitive, as law schools across the nation have seen double-digit drops in their applications.

• Congrats to 1992 journalism KU alum and leukemia survivor Jay Steiner of Olathe, who finished the Ironman World Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, on Saturday.

His wife, Monica, also a KU 1992 journalism alumna, is battling Stage 4 breast cancer. They have two young children.

The race involved a 2.4-mile ocean swim, a 112-mile bike ride through hot lava fields, followed by a 26.2 mile run (a full marathon).

KU used their stories recently in a paid program to highlight the KU Cancer Center’s application for NCI designation.

He ran in the race to raise awareness for the family’s fund through KU Endowment to benefit metastatic cancer research being done at the KU Cancer Center.

• Keep those great tips for Heard on the Hill coming to ahyland@ljworld.com. Maybe someday I’ll throw a big party for Heard on the Hill tipsters so we can all meet in person.