Tyler Holmes

After a successful six-year run, “The Kathy Sebelius Show” is going off the airwaves. Here’s why that’s a good thing:

1. Lt. Gov. Mark Parkinson’s not running for anything. Although there is concern from both parties about the former state Republican Party chair turned Democrat being the next governor, Parkinson’s withdrawal from running next year will allow him to make decisions that are in Kansas’ best interests.

2. The party-switching strategy is over. To attract moderate voters, Kansas Democrats brought prominent Republican politicians into the fold. Both of Sebelius’ running mates and former Attorney General Paul Morrison switched parties to run for office. But talk about a failed strategy. Neither Parkinson nor his predecessor, John Moore, will have served more than his initial four-year term, and Morrison resigned amidst a sex scandal. Finally, Democrats will have to look for a new plan.

3. 2010 can be a real race! With heavyweight Sen. Sam Brownback and his competition, four-term Secretary of State Ron Thornburgh, running on the Republican side, a real Democratic challenger could emerge. Sebelius’ departure might allow many new faces a spot in the limelight.

Stephen Montemayor

Surely departing Gov. Kathleen Sebelius found time during the past year to boot up TurboTax. Right?

Perhaps it’s safe to imagine that Sebelius won’t be the fourth Cabinet appointee to exit in a cloud of shame. Still, her transition brings with it two perspectives.

These are prime times to bail, be it for CEOs sailing into retirement, a chancellor waving goodbye or a provost taking a promotion on the West Coast. KU students can be forgiven for feeling left behind. After all, state employees’ pay and our income tax returns hung in the balance last month in a grapple about the budget.

A second way to look at this is that she couldn’t pass up a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It’s not every day one sees a Jayhawk in the White House. It is easy to hastily decry her decision but there’s always that outside chance that there is no conspiracy behind the move.

Sai Folmsbee

Health care reform may be one of Gov. Sebelius’ main policy objectives as the new Secretary of Health and Human Services, but she will also become a new leader of the nation’s scientific endeavors. She will oversee a variety of scientific governmental organizations, from the Centers for Disease Control to the Food and Drug Administration. But most importantly to the scientific community, she will supervise the National Institutes of Health, the agency in charge of promoting America’s medical research.

Sebelius will need to provide the leadership for basic and specialized research, which are both necessary to promote the growth of new technologies and ideas. These grants will not only provide a surge of scientific advancement, but the resulting innovations may help catalyze economic growth.

John Kenny

Sebelius is set to veto, for the fourth time, state legislation that would allow two large coal-fired power plants to be built in Holcomb. The question looming before everyone is: What happens if she goes to Washington first?

The answer seems promising: The person taking her place will be Mark Parkinson, who The Kansas City Star says “is the stronger opponent of the plants.” But it’s unknown whether Parkinson has the political capital to corral enough votes to sustain the veto. In the end, the question only reminds us how important it is that our voices are heard. As the nation moves forward on climate change, we need to start looking forward to clean energy solutions that create green jobs in Kansas.

Alex Nichols

I don’t read the newspaper, so when somebody asked me how I felt about “Kansas losing a great leader,” I felt absolutely blindsided. Then I feel like shouting at the top of my lungs:

“Why is Steve Walsh leaving as the lead singer of the seminal progressive rock group Kansas?!?!?”

Why would he leave thousands, nay, millions of fans hanging? “Carry On, Wayward Son” will never be the same without Walsh’s spellbinding tenor! “Dust In The Wind” just won’t bring out the lighters the way it did in the 70s! And they have other songs, too!

After asking around, I learned Walsh is leaving to join something called the Department of Heath and Human Services.That’s the crappiest band name I’ve ever heard. If Steve Walsh thinks I’m going to become a huge fan of this new project just because he’s Steve Walsh, he’s got another thing coming!

I mean, yeah, I’ll buy their album and go to their concerts, but I will NOT follow them throughout their entire tour the way I did with Kansas! No, sir!

Probably just their Midwest dates.