KU links: U.S. Appeals Court nominee is son of former KU professor; KU Libraries ranked No. 3 for social media use; former KU student on ‘The Voice’
Any responsible and/or vain person keeps a close eye on anything being said about him or her on the Internet. If you care enough to be reading this blog, you probably feel the same way regarding anything said about KU. So here’s your weekly-or-so roundup of KU-related stuff from around the Web:
• Perhaps you’ve read about confirmation hearings set to begin today for Sri Srinivasan, the Obama administration’s nominee for a spot on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. And perhaps you’ve seen he grew up in Lawrence and played point guard for the Lawrence High basketball team, alongside Danny Manning.
Srinivasan has another KU tie, too: His father, T.P. Srinivasan, was a math professor and a leader in KU’s university governance groups. He was also part of the search committee that eventually brought Robert Hemenway to KU as chancellor in 1995. Sri’s sister, Srinija Srinivasan, is a former executive at Yahoo!, where she was the fifth-ever person hired by the company in the 1990s.
The New Yorker’s Jeffrey Toobin posits that Sri Srinivasan is a shoo-in to land on the Supreme Court eventually if he wins confirmation to this seat. He’s currently the principal deputy solicitor general of the United States.
• NPR’s “Morning Edition” spoke with KU professor of business Paul Koch about his research that suggests new ways to spot insider trading.
• The site LibraryScienceList.com published a list of the 100 most social media-friendly university libraries, and checking in at No. 3 is the KU Libraries system. The site ranked the libraries based on their activity on Facebook, Twitter and other sites.
• This USA Today story about multiracial college students focuses on a junior at KU, Sam Ho.
• And I’ve seen mentions in a few places that one of the competitors on the current season of the NBC music reality show “The Voice” is a former KU student. I can’t say I caught the episode she’s appeared on, but this New Jersey Star-Ledger recap says that 18-year-old Caroline Glaser withdrew from KU to shoot for a music career and that she sang Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer” on the show. I wholly endorse the second decision, at least.
You can watch video of her performance on this NBC page, which says for some reason that she is “currently studying” at KU. (She does not show up in the KU online directory.) She’s also on Twitter here.
I’d say I’m going to watch “The Voice” to keep you updated, but, hmmm, yeah, that’s not gonna happen. Best of luck to Glaser, though, and perhaps a “Voice” watcher out there will keep me informed on her progress. Send those updates and other KU news tips to merickson@ljworld.com.