¢ KU alum Phil Anschutz, the billionaire whose family’s name graces several KU buildings, is the subject of a profile in the New York Times. It focuses on both his empire and how that led to the signing of soccer star David Beckham._Today, Mr. Anschutz is one of the wealthiest – and most secretive – tycoons in the country, parlaying early oil coups into real estate paydays, savvy runs at the railroad business, and the creation of Qwest Communications International, a telephony company that became mired in an accounting scandal. Last week, Qwest’s former chief executive, Joseph P. Nacchio, was found guilty of federal stock fraud charges. (Mr. Nacchio plans to appeal the ruling)._¢ Sally Mason, the Purdue provost who served as dean of the KU College of Liberal Arts and Sciences until 2001, is mentioned as a possible presidential candidate at the University of Iowa in an article in the Des Moines Register._ Mason, whose field is zoology, spent 21 years at the University of Kansas. Mason may also be in the running for the presidency at Purdue._¢ A researcher at KU, Sam James, is mentioned in this New York Times commentary about earthworms._In spite of these difficulties, new earthworm species do turn up. Dr. Sam James, a research associate at the University of Kansas Natural History Museum, has named 80 new worm species in the last 20 years. These discoveries don’t garner the same level of attention that a new bird might – after all, a worm does little more than slither through the mud to attract a mate, and that just doesn’t make for good television – but they are important nonetheless. Earthworms are bellwether creatures; when they disappear, it probably means that vital habitat has been lost, too._