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

• KU Student Body President Hannah Bolton released her own State of the Union-style speech last week, in digital form.

It’s what Student Senate folks say is the first ever “Student Body Address,” and it’s delivered via YouTube video.

In the clip, Bolton summarizes for the student body some of Student Senate’s projects this year — the addition of cellphone kiosks, the pursuit of a new Spanish minor, a student designated-driver program involving bars around town and the new gameday recycling group.

She also touches on some of the initiatives coming from the administration — the revamping of the undergraduate curriculum and other parts of the “Bold Aspirations” plan.

I must say the speech has some advantages over the U.S. president’s State of the Union address — namely that it is a snappy 4 minutes long, and that it does not include endless interludes of superfluous applause because Bolton is simply speaking to the camera.

• An interesting juxtaposition of academia and popular music will take place Thursday at the Kansas Union.

It’s called “Tribute to Lauryn Hill,” and it will be a look at how the ’90s-era rapper/singer left a legacy with her lyrics.

Helping to do so will be poet and author Jessica Care Moore, who will perform some of her work and also discuss Hill’s lyrics. A Kansas City-area female rapper, MC Storm, will also perform, and then a panel discussion involving experts from several different disciplines will ensue.

It’s sponsored by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences CLAS Acts program, which aims to make research accessible to people in the community. This event certainly sounds like an interesting attempt to do so. Several other campus departments and groups are helping out, as well.

The “Tribute” will take place from 7 p.m to 9 p.m. Thursday in Alderson Auditorium at the Union.

• One other thing Bolton included in her address was an exhortation for students to get out and vote next week. In the interest of that worthwhile goal, here’s your daily reminder that you can vote in advance this week on campus if you have a free moment between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. today through Thursday.

Just head to the Drive Room at the Burge Union. If you’re registered to vote in Douglas County, you can vote there.

• The state of Heard on the Hill is strong, if a little bit brief today (sorry about that). But whether it remains that way depends on you: Send those tips, please, to merickson@ljworld.com.