¢ Lori Messinger, an associate professor of social welfare at Kansas University, says ongoing policy discussions on same-sex-partner benefits at the University of Kentucky and University of Michigan could have effects on other campuses.Messinger, who is quoted in this week’s Chronicle of Higher Education is conducting a study on campus policies toward gays and lesbians for the American Association of University Professors._”It matters who your president or chancellor is,” says Kansas’ Ms. Messinger. “If this is something they’re not interested in, or not willing to spend political capital on, it’s just not going to happen.”_