By RANDY GONZALES
FHSU University Relations and Marketing

Dr. Jim Rucker, a professor at Fort Hays State University for nearly 30 years, is remembered as a professional who cared about his students. Rucker died Oct. 21, 2010, after a battle with cancer at the age of 63, but his memory lives on.

On Saturday, Oct. 15, Rucker will be posthumously inducted into the Business Education National Hall of Fame at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater in Whitewater, Wis. Rucker’s wife, Jeanne, will be in attendance with their son, Jason Rucker, and their daughter, Jill Dilly. They will be joined at the ceremony by Scott Jones, instructor of management at FHSU, who nominated Rucker for the honor.

“He was the epitome of a professional in the way he carried himself and the things he did every day,” said Jones, who had known Rucker since 2004.

Jeanne Rucker was happy for her late husband being recognized.

“I thought it was a great honor for Jim,” said Jeanne, who moved to Overland Park after retiring from USD 489 to be near her children and grandchildren. “I thought it was pretty neat. The kids did, too.”

Rucker first came to FHSU in 1982 to teach in the College of Business. He won numerous awards while at Fort Hays State, including Faculty Member of the Year in 2003-04. He also received a regional Collegiate Business Teacher of the Year Award in 2000 and was the 2003 recipient of the Collegiate Teacher of the Year Award from the National Business Education Association.

“The students really liked him,” Jones said. “He had a dry wit, kept them on their toes in terms of his humor.”

Rucker battled cancer for more than two years. He was still in the classroom a week before he died.

“He said it was better to be around people than to sit around, think about what was to come,” his widow said. “He was positive up until the very end. We were grateful for that.”

Jones was excited upon learning Rucker was going to be inducted into the hall of fame.

“I thought it was really cool that it was kind of the last thing I could do for him,” Jones said. “He was a great guy.”

TOPEKA -Governor Sam Brownback is requesting a presidential declaration for the Public Assistance program for the incident period of September 2-12.

Counties named in the Oct. 10 request are Cheyenne, Cowley, Ellis, Graham, Greenwood, Kingman, Norton, Rooks, Russell, Sedgwick and Sumner. Brownback also requested activation of the Hazard Mitigation Program statewide.

The governor signed the initial State of Disaster Emergency for the incident period on Sept. 23.
According to the National Weather Service, prior to the incident period for this declaration request, south central Kansas received excessive rain.

On Aug. 18 and 19, 4-8 inches fell across parts of Sedgwick, Sumner, Butler and Cowley Counties. This initial rainfall event created saturated soils that were unable to tolerate the second excessive rainfall event of 6-10 inches that occurred on Sept 8-9. These flooding events happened over the same area in a short amount of time, resulting in record and near record river crests and significant flooding.

After completing preliminary damage assessments in coordination with Federal Emergency Management Agency, KDEM believes these counties have met the criteria to qualify for a presidential disaster declaration, opening the way for the federal Public Assistance Program.
In the request letter, the governor noted the personal and economic effects on the counties and cited the extent of damage to infrastructure in several counties.

The Public Assistance Program provides grants to state, territorial, local, and federally recognized tribal governments and certain private non-profit entities to assist them with the response to and recovery from disasters. Specifically, the program provides assistance for debris removal, emergency protective measures, and permanent restoration of infrastructure. Individuals, homeowners, renters, and business owners are not eligible applicants under the program.

Just after 1 p.m. Tuesday, Ellis County emergency responders were called to the scene of an accident on Old U.S. 40 at the junction with Eighth Street.

According to Ellis County Sheriff’s Deputy Brian Walker, Crystal Wolf, 30, was traveling eastbound on Eighth Street in a 2010 Chevy Camaro when she failed to yield the right of way to a westbound 2012 Ford Explorer driven by Philip Vigil, 31, Hays.

“The two vehicles collided in the intersection,” Walker said, noting the collision was not head-on, but a T-bone situation.

The Explorer rolled into a ditch.

“Everybody was OK. No one was taken to the hospital with injuries,” Walker said.