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

• First, here’s a brief update on an open records request I filed earlier to get access to the renovations and remodeling done for the provost’s and chancellor’s offices at KU.

KU initially charged me for two hours of business manager review and retrieval time at $65 per hour. We paid the $130. The university then came back later and said that the actual retrieval of the records took four and a half additional hours, meaning we owed another $292.50.

To be clear, this is all perfectly legal under the Kansas Open Records Act, but does again illustrate how records that are theoretically open to the public can be very cost-prohibitive to access.

A Heard on the Hill commenter suggested that most of these requests come from the press, and I can safely report that’s not the case. I’ve seen several years’ worth of all the open records requests the university received, and a small percentage come from media agencies.

However, the commenter’s real point was valid — that members of the general public aren’t the ones making these kinds of requests. The vast majority of open records requests came from businesses looking for all kinds of things.

Some wanted access to bid documents. A recovery business asked for stale checks. Another company wanted a look at the beverage and snack contract. You get the idea.

I dropped off the latest check on Thursday, and I’ll be sure to keep you informed.

• The KU School of Nursing is accepting nominations for its 20th annual “Nursing: The Heart of Healthcare” awards.

The program recognizes outstanding registered nurses in Kansas and metropolitan Kansas City for their dedication to patient care, their communities and the nursing profession, according to a statement I received about the upcoming program.

Ten winners are chosen from the hundreds of nurses who are nominated.

More information, including a nomination form, is available by calling 800-308-0890 or by sending an email to HOHCinfo@kumc.edu.

• Here’s just a brief detour over to Haskell Indian Nations University (I can hear for quite a long way from my perch on the hill), where Sharon Condon, acting dean of humanities at Haskell, received a recognition from the Society for Advancement of Hispanics/Chicanos and Native Americans in Science.

Condon, who has worked at Haskell for more than 25 years, received the 2012 Distinguished Tribal College Mentor award from the organization.

• I asked Wellcommons.com editor extraordinaire Karrey Britt for a good send-off that would get you to submit a tip for Heard on the Hill, but she didn’t have one, so I’ll just go ahead with the usual bit about you sending me an email at ahyland@ljworld.com.