LAWRENCE, Kan. - Connie Schultz, nationally syndicated columnist for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, will give this year's lecture for the Jana Mackey Distinguished Lecture Series, entitled "Words from the Heart: Gender, Justice and Advocacy" on Wednesday, April 28 at 7:30 p.m. at the Dole Institute of Politics at the University of Kansas.

"We selected Connie Schultz to be this year's speaker because of her dedication to issues of concern to Jana," said Kathy Rose-Mockry, chair of the Jana Mackey Distinguished Lecture Series board. "Connie has spent her career fighting for the same causes Jana did--women's rights, equality, social justice and serving others."

The Jana Mackey Distinguished Lecture Series was established in 2009 to commemorate late women's rights activist and KU law student Jana Lynne Mackey.

TOPEKA, Kan. - Curt and Christie Brungardt, parents of the late Jana Mackey, applaud Kansas Governor Mark Parkinson for signing a new domestic violence law today in Topeka. Mackey was a 25-year-old law student who was murdered by her ex-boyfriend in Lawrence in 2008. "We are very pleased with the actions of our legislature and Governor in addressing this serious issue," said Christie Brungardt. "While we recognize that this new legislation alone will not stop domestic violence, we do believe that it is an important step in the right direction."

Originally recommended by the Governor's Domestic Violence Fatality Review Board, this bill is recognized as the most comprehensive domestic violence legislation ever passed in Kansas. This law will assist the criminal justice system in documenting crimes associated with domestic violence and track repeated offenders. The legislation also requires the courts to order assessment of the offender and recommend intervention treatment programs.

ELLIS, Kan. - Two Kansas politicians have been getting the kind of media attention in the last week that should make citizens of this state cringe with embarrassment. One of these Kansas politicians is a sitting U.S. Senator, and the other one wants to be.

TOPEKA, Kan. - The Kansas House Committee on Corrections and Juvenile Justice today unanimously recommended the domestic violence tag bill to the full body of the Kansas House of Representatives.

HB 2517 would require that domestic violence markers be attached to all criminal cases where the district court finds evidence that an offender committed any other criminal violations against a person with whom the offender had an intimate relationship. The list would include battery, arson, assault, kidnapping, disorderly conduct and destruction of property.

TOPEKA, Kan. - One day after testifying before the House Corrections and Juvenile Justice Committee in support of new legislation to help track crimes associated with domestic violence in Kansas, nationally recognized advocates Curt and Christie Brungardt are hopeful about the prospects for passage of the bill.

"Today was a very positive day for this legislation," Curt Brungardt said Tuesday. "We are much closer to having everybody who cares about this issue on the same page. "

The Brungardts, whose daughter Jana Mackey was murdered in Lawrence by an ex-boyfrend in July 2008, testified Monday in support of House Bill 2517. The bill would require that a domestic violence tag be placed on all legal documents associated with a criminal act that is based on an intimate relationship.

TOPEKA, Kan. - For most students, high school will always be high school, driven by concerns about homework, curfew, popularity and the prom. But students at Southeast of Saline High School received special recognition for their efforts to raise awareness and money to combat domestic violence in Kansas last week.

As part of the kick-off events and press conference for Jana's Campaign, www.janascampaign.org, the domestic violence advocacy movement announced by nationally known activists Christie and Curt Brungardt in honor of their daughter, the late Jana Mackey, the Brungardts drew attention to students in Juanelle Garretson's Life Dimensions class.

HAYS, Kan. - Throughout my career teaching college students I have encountered a recurring sentiment, often from the most earnest undergraduates. "I wish I could just study, go to class, and write what I really think, without everything being so competitive." The implication is that the way achievement is recognized in higher education is undermining the learning experience for the student.

Journalists often voice a similar regret - or excuse, depending upon your point of view - about how they would much rather be finding and reporting different kinds of stories, but the nature of the business requires them to operate according to standards the journalists themselves claim to resent. Perhaps the commercial realities of circulation, ratings, and advertising revenue are undermining journalistic freedom to pursue stories from a different perspective, shaped by a larger purpose. I don't know because I have never had to make a living within those realities.