the
SUNFLOWER
THURSDAY, APRIL 28, 2016 VOLUME 120, ISSUE 62
Rained out
Photo by Manny De Los Santos
Campus was nearly empty Tuesday after university administrators made the decision to cancel classes and other activities in precaution for threatening storms.
Campus closes Tuesday in advance of threatening severe weather EVAN PFLUGRADT
C
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF @evpflu
louds rolled in over the skies of Wichita State on Tuesday, and students, faculty and staff rolled
out. The university closed at noon Tuesday in preparation for severe thunderstorms and the threat of tornadoes. At 3:30 p.m. rain gravitated to the campus area, and in the oncoming hours it progressed to
severe thunderstorms with two-inch hail reported. Lou Heldman, vice president for Strategic Communications, said campus police and administrators monitored the weather closely early Tuesday morning. “We started serious discussions about closing Tuesday morning when we were getting reports of pretty dire forecasts,” he said. Administrators were presented with a webinar with the National Weather Service at 11:30 a.m. before making public their
decision shortly after noon. “We announced the closing five minutes after noon,” Heldman said. “We wanted to make sure, even though we weren’t able to have it out by exactly noon, that we could get the word out before 12:15 (p.m.) classes started.” Other surrounding area campuses followed suit and closed their campuses shortly after WSU. Heldman said the decision to close at noon was based on forecasts calling for severe weather as early as 1 p.m.
“In some ways we may have acted too cautiously, but Kansas weather is anything but a precise science,” Heldman said. Heldman said they monitored property damage to the university, but kept their focus on safety. “We didn’t want to take any risk with our students, faculty and staff,” Heldman said. “We have students who drive in from Hutchinson and even farther away; we wanted to make sure people coming from a distance stayed where they were, and gave
appropriate time for others to get home.” Wichita resident eyewitnesses reported larger than golf ballsized hail. Some city streets were flooded. The university’s physical plant reported no damage to campus property other than minor cleanup to a few basements with water leaks, which they reported is typical with large amounts of rain. “Our decision proved to be the right decision this time,” Heldman said Wednesday.
Graphic design seniors ‘freak’ for final show MARISSA CAMPBELL
REPORTER
Photo by Manny De Los Santos
Comedian Marlon Wayans entertains the crowd Wednesday evening at the Hughes Metroplex. Wayans has starred in the “Scary Movie” among many others.
Marlon Wayans: an act not for the easily offended If it weren’t for crude humor, Marlon Wayans wouldn’t have much of a COLUMN BY ANDREW show. LINNABARY Which isn’t to say there weren’t some decent jokes — there were a few, but many were dragged out to the point of exhaustion. Wayans performed Wednesday night at the Hughes Metroplex to a roughly two-thirds full crowd. Amongst the nearly continuous laughter from the crowd were more than a few groans, given Wayans’ tendency to focus on racist or crude sexual jokes. His niece, Chaunté Wayans, opened the performance, and was arguably a stronger act than Marlon. She is a proud lesbian, and focused a large part of her set on her sexuality. “I don’t want gay marriage,” Chaunté said. “When I used to mess up in my relationships I’d use the fact that it wasn’t legal as my go to. I’d be like, ‘Baby, if gay marriage was legal I’d be marrying you right now.’” After her twenty-or-so minute
set, she introduced Marlon, who jumped out from behind the curtain rapping along to Meek Mill’s “Dreams and Nightmares.” After his introduction, Wayans quipped, “That’s how we know we’re in Wichita, cause you’re all sitting here silent during the track like, ‘He’s singing poems of the streets.’” Early in his set, Wayans joked about the weather in Kansas. “I heard there was a hurricane yesterday, or a tornado. You all are too calm, like, ‘It came, it went.’” Wayans compared it to the weather in New York. He said he dislikes humidity, leading him to joke for five minutes about sweaty genitalia. From there, Wayans then expressed his jealousy of college kids. “You have so much life ahead of you,” Wayans said. “I failed at school, I failed everything. The only thing I learned was partying.” Later on, Wayans got on the topic of Prince.
SEE WAYANS • PAGE 2
@soupitup13
Walking through the WSU Shift Space gallery, patrons can see the works of 18 senior graphic design students hanging throughout the space. During their years at WSU, these students have been working toward creating portfolio pieces, as well as work for the “Senior BFA Exhibition: Freak Show, Graphic Design Rarities & Oddities.” Since April 20, the students’ pieces have been displayed in the Shift Space gallery located at 416 S. Commerce in downtown Wichita. From 5 to 10 p.m. Friday, the art will be shown for one last night during Final Friday festivities. “Our final product [in the show] is years of work,” said Megan Stessman, graphic design senior. “The actual material you see is probably from the last full year and a half, but everything we’ve been doing has been building up to this show — all of the classes, everything underneath and all of the projects that we’ve been brushing up on and spending hours on, in order to put in the show.” Senior Sahara Small said there are many different aspects to graphic design that the audience does not necessarily notice when walking through the gallery. “Seeing everything finally put up that I have worked on, and probably will continue to work on, will be a big relief,” Small said. “But like Megan said, no one is going to see all the hours I have stayed up late working, they aren’t going to see my X-Acto knife cuts, they are just going to see the completed project.” During the closing reception, the students will discuss their work with the viewers and participate in the freak show aspect of the gallery. Although the work shown does not mirror the theme, the class came up with it during a two-week discussion that included intense debates and reasoning about which theme
Photo by Jessica Green
Seniors in the graphic design program in WSU’s School of Art, Design and Creative Industries will display their work at Shift Space for Final Friday.
was better, visiting assistant professor of graphic design Jenny Venn said. “Ultimately we all decided that Freak Show was the best,” Stessman said. “We wanted to augment a side of each designer in the show.” Each student has taken on a character to be in the show. Each has come up with a reason for their character choice and made a costume to wear to the show. From a fire breather, the human cannonball, the futura teller and many more, each student created a work dedicated to their character and the graphic design meaning behind it. For example, the futura teller came up with her name based on typography. The students came up with their characters by combining actual ‘freaks’ seen in a show with a graphic design element. “One thing that we realized in discussion with the class was that all of us throughout our studies of graphic design have been considered ‘odd,’ or ‘a freak,’ for studying art or what we wear, what we collect, or
“
We found this common thread of finding beauty in the freak, and that it’s actually a positive.” JENNY VENN
Visiting assistant professor
what we do,” Venn said. “There’s always been moments that we have all encountered for being a freak for studying art, so we found this common thread of finding beauty in the freak, and that it’s actually a positive.” As the freak show wraps up during the Final Friday celebration, Stessman and Small are excited to show off their work and interact with the patrons that visit the gallery. “I think that graphic design exhibitions are really unique in that it is an event,” Venn said. “All of us have designed the evening as the theme is being carried out in the food, the signage and the outfits that everyone will be wearing. That’s why it’s really fun and unique to go to a graphic design show, because it’s not just the work, but an experience.”
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‘Criminal’ not worth apprehending Man, shout out to Kevin Costner’s agent. With all due respect to Costner (I love COLUMN BY “Field of ALEX PERRY Dreams” and I won’t apologize for it), the guy somehow keeps getting starring roles despite Hollywood’s predilection for younger, hunkier and probably more talented leading men. But Costner has a down-home every-man appeal to him. He’s single-handedly carrying the load for Midwestern Dad representation in popular cinema, and he should be applauded for it. “Criminal” represents a fairly serious departure for Costner, as he ditches everything I just said in favor of playing an empathy-devoid jerk who gets another man’s memories implanted into his brain. The intriguing themes at play here unfortunately fall by the wayside as the film shifts focus to bland, Tom Clancy-esque geopolitical strife. Bill Pope (Ryan Reynolds) is a CIA agent who gets killed about 15 minutes into the film. Unfortunately for everyone involved, he had some pretty important knowledge in his noggin that died with him. You know, how to prevent imminent worldwide chaos and whatnot. Pope’s CIA boss Quaker Wells (Gary Oldman, who shouts his way through the film) decides to enact an experimental procedure to transplant Pope’s memories into the brain of lifelong criminal Jericho Stewart (Costner) so they can be recovered. Stewart’s brain was damaged in a childhood accident, leaving him with an underdeveloped frontal lobe,
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resulting in a complete lack of ability to determine right from wrong. That makes him the perfect candidate for a non-consensual and possibly life-threatening government experiment. I think they’re supposed to be the good guys here, which is hilarious. Before I get into the meat of my substantive criticism, I want to commend “Criminal” for its excellent character names. Jericho Stewart is a great name for an anti-hero, Bill Pope and Quaker Wells fit right into the CIA, and Xavier Heimdal is the perfect name for an anarchist villain. Anyway, “Criminal” is at its best when it examines the concept of having another person’s memories, skills and emotions in your head.
SEE IT SKIP IT ‘Keanu’
SEE IT
Key and Peele make some funny stuff, so maybe their feature film debut is funny, too.
Stewart finds himself able to elude CIA capture and speak multiple languages in no time. It’s also fascinating (on the surface, anyway) to see someone develop empathy over the course of a few days after a lifetime without it. Stewart develops feelings for Pope’s bereaved wife (Gal Gadot, doing it big in 2016) and young daughter, complete strangers to him before this ordeal. Sadly, it keeps cutting back to this inane plot about a Dutch hacker who has control over the U.S. military and the evil Spanish guy who wants those keys. It would be the worst Jack Ryan movie and every time they cut back to that, I thought to myself, “Oh yeah, that’s a thing.” The handful of scenes focused on
‘Green Room’
Stewart grappling with the maelstrom in his head aren’t amazing cinema, but there’s at least a neat idea there. That alone wasn’t enough for the writers, though, so they had to tie it into some cyber-warfare panic nonsense, complete with stale action sequences and goofy hacker-speak about the “deep web” or whatever. If you just can’t get enough of Costner in your life, there’s enough of a sliver of intrigue to make “Criminal” worth seeing when it inevitably comes to Netflix. Otherwise, you’d be better off enjoying his fine catalog of baseball films.
SEE IT
Punk rockers battle skinheads in this dark thriller that’s received plenty of critical praise.
Marissa’s Melodies
Remembering Prince’s legacy; Beyoncé stirs up mystery in ‘Lemonade’ This past week ended up as a wild one for the world of music for COLUMN BY many reasons. MARISSA Beyoncé made CAMPBELL another secret album with the a one-hour premiere event broadcast on HBO last Saturday. Along with the highly anticipated album was the unexpected death of pop star Prince. Within just a three day span, the music industry was sure in a frenzy. “Lemonade” by Beyoncé Released: April 23 Genre: Pop/Hip-Hop
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THURSDAY, APRIL 28
PAGE 2 | OPINION
In a documentary-style video, Beyoncé released her sixth studio album “Lemonade” in a hushhush way, just as she did with her self-titled album in 2014. After her Super Bowl appearance this year with her new song “Formation,” members of the Beyhive have eagerly anticipated a new album. The performance also caused controversy, as themes of “Black Lives Matters” and other racial issues seemed to be prevalent in the performance and the music video. “Hold Up” focuses predominately on Beyoncé’s vocals with minimal instrumentals and seems to be hinting at signs of infedility within her marriage to Jay Z (“Sorry” also suggests the same topic). When watching the documentary, though, viewers can see that
WAYANS
FROM PAGE 1
“I loved Prince,” Wayans said. “When I was in college Prince was my foreplay. I didn’t know how to get none. You know Prince was good in bed. He was so little he probably crawled up in
“Lemonade” is about so much more than their relationship and its woes. With the heavy presence of black females throughout the film, it’s easy to tell that Beyoncé is trying to take a stand for black women everywhere and that she wants to lead the movement. “Lemonade” shows empowerment, feminism, the struggles of love and so much more in just one hour and 12 songs. Download: “Hold Up” “Purple Rain” by Prince Released: June 25, 1984 Genre: Pop
Usually Throwback Thursday provides us with a fun, exciting flashback from the current month. Unfortunately, instead of honoring this pop star in his rightful month, the Prince’s has called for a tribute to his memory. As someone who has provided so much to the music industry by writing for other artists, being an inspiration to different musicians and let alone knowing how to play more than 20 instruments, it was easy to tell that Prince’s greatest passion in life was music. “Purple Rain” is easily Prince’s most popular album, and one of his greatest hit songs, with a slow R&B groove. “Let’s Go Crazy” is an exciting upbeat jam that shows off Prince’s wild, eclectic personality and stage persona. Between his energy and crazy outfits, Prince put on energetic shows that never let the audience stop dancing and singing along to his music. “White Dove” is there.” Probably the funniest bit of Wayans’ set was when he got on the topic of the presidential election. “You know it’s bad when I would actually vote for Kanye West,” Wayans said. It goes to show that Wayans can actually be funny without being overtly crude.
Courtesy Photos
the persona of ‘80s rock with an ever-present theme of extreme electronic sounds. Although “Purple Rain” was his most popular record, Prince had many other hits including “Little Red Corvette” and “I Would Die 4 U.” Through his 57 years, Prince served as an inspiration to fans and musicians alike and will truly be missed in the music world.
With a sound similar to Mumford & Sons and The Avett Brothers, The Strumbellas are
not new to the indie scene, but have come to the forefront with their latest single “Spirits.” Although their indie sound is the base for their music, The Strumbellas are able to bring a rock vibe to some of the songs like “We Don’t Know” in order to steer away from the ever-present country sound. Between banjo, violin, tambourines and cellos, the band has created an extremely large sound that will be at the forefront of many festivals this summer. “Young & Wild,” probably the most upbeat track on the album, is a fun, danceable tune sure to be the anthem to your summer. The entire album is a hit and the group should definitely make their way onto your summer playlist. Download: “Young & Wild”
“It’s fun to watch white people be embarrassed by white people,” Wayans said. “When Trump talks, people hold their head in their hands like, ‘God, I wish I was black today.’” At the end of his set, Wayans provided some advice to the crowd of college students. “Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t be what you want to
be,” he said. “Success is all preparation. Success is not a destination. Success is a road that you travel.” Overall, Wayans’ performance was funny, but not without its warranted groans. For audience members easily insulted or not fans of crude humor, it was probably a miss. For others, it was an offensively good time.
“Hope” by The Strumbellas Released: April 22 Genre: Indie
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PAGE 3 | NEWS + SPORTS
THURSDAY, APRIL 28
SGA passes resolution Wichita school district to close early, will impact one WSU education major opposing governor’s budget options CHANCE SWAIM
REPORTER
@chanceswaim
TJ RIGG
REPORTER
@tj_rigg
One of Gov. Sam Brownback’s proposed budget options for fiscal year 2017 includes a five percent cut in funding to Wichita State. That cut would mean a loss of $3,728,210 in funding for the university, according to a resolution passed by Student Government Association on Wednesday expressing opposition to Brownback’s proposal. The proposal is one of three. Student Body President Joseph Shepard said cuts are being made to higher education across the board in Kansas. “We don’t want to sit back and say, ‘You know what, it’s going to happen regardless, so just let it sit back and let it happen,’” Shepard said. “I think it’s important to show not only the governor, but the legislators, that it’s bothering us.” Legislative Director Marilyn Morton wrote the resolution. She said she agrees to opposing Brownback’s proposal. “I don’t agree with what steps
he’s taken to cut income to the state with the business taxes being cut,” Morton said. “And now he’s also saying, ‘Oh, look, we don’t have any money, so we need to cut these things out.’ The problem is we would have money if he would stop cutting the income.” Morton’s mother, Jessica Morton, works in the Office of Research at WSU. Marilyn said she has heard several campus departments, including her mother’s, are worried about possible cuts. “They’ve been considering furloughs, not considering furloughs and just going through that process, and it’s really concerning now because they have less money than they were planning on,” she said. The resolution states SGA opposes further cuts to education, “with the concern that these large cuts affect education quality and overall quality of life for students.” “[The cuts are] affecting our education,” Shepard said. “[They’re] affecting our organizations, [they’re] affecting the way we live out our daily lives as students on campus.”
“Don’t get me fired,” said Alex Crow, an education major at Wichita State who works in the Wichita school district. “Everyone is really nervous right now.” Next school year, USD 259 faces cost increases of up to $30 million and no additional state funding. In an effort to save money, the Kansas Board of Education approved ending the school year early this year. Instead of ending May 24, a Tuesday, the school year will end May 20, the Friday before, the district announced in a news release Monday. The cuts have put Wichita teachers on edge about being quoted by media because of fear for their jobs, but Crow feels that’s part of the problem. Crow has worked for USD 259 for five years — the first three as a high school dance coach at Wichita High School North, the last two as a dance coach, substitute teacher and paraprofessional. According to the news release, May 23 will be used as a district in-service day and May 24 will be a non-teaching duty day. Most of the money saved will be from the cost of transportation and
substitutes, like Crow. “As a substitute, I don’t get to work summers,” Crow said. “But in those two days, that’s $200 I’m not getting that I thought would be an option. “I’m not subbing to make money, but when you have expectations, it’s disappointing when things fall through, you know what I mean? Especially as a full-time student.” The “calendar revision” became a possibility because the district did not have any snow days this school year. The district will exceed a 1,116-hour school year, the number of hours required by state law. Shortening the school year by two school days will save the district about $400,000. The district hopes to apply that money to the remaining $12.1 million that needs to be cut from the budget for next year, the release said. Teacher pay and schedules already in place will not be affected by the calendar change, the release said. Beyond her substitute roles, Crow also worries about her position as dance coach at North High, where she danced in high school and graduated in 2010. “The arts, dance, band, music and sports — they’re all in danger. At least that’s the perception,” she said. Crow said she doesn’t want to
seem too doom-and-gloom about the Kansas education budget, but she doesn’t want to be naïve. “Don’t get me wrong,” Crow said, “I love the district. I love the teachers, I love the students and I love the administrators — I think the district does a great job with what they are given. “But the state budget as it relates to the school districts is a lot like telling an engineer to build a building without any wood. Like, ‘here’s a hammer—good luck, kid.’” As an education major, Crow said she’s anxious. She plans to graduate in 2018 and teach middle school science. She’s from Kansas. She loves Kansas, she said. She eventually wants to teach here. “I do, I really do,” Crow said. “But when someone like me, who was born and raised here and has been involved for five years is being forced to reconsider whether teaching is even a viable career path in the state of Kansas or whether I should move where I’ll have the proper support — I think that’s a sign that there are some issues.” Crow said she thinks the budget cuts from this year and next year will affect the number of education majors at WSU.
SEE SCHOOL • PAGE 4
Baseball looking better than record indicates
File Photo by Jessica Green
Redshirt senior Cacy Williams rounds the bases after a homerun. Williams hit her 37th home run of the season Wednesday against Tulsa.
Softball beats Tulsa to win eighth straight game GRANT COHEN
REPORTER
@gforce4preach
Wichita State had a comfortable lead in the second inning of Wednesday’s road game with Tulsa, staying ahead 7-0. Three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning cut the Shockers’ lead to two runs, 7-5. The Golden Hurricane managed to leave the tying-run on base, WSU forced a flyout to win their second straight against Tulsa, and sales@gmail.com their eighth straight overall. Senior Cacy Williams got things started for the Shockers in the top
Sunflower:
mn x 3”
of the first inning, hitting her 37th career home run to put Wichita State up 2-0. A bases-loaded double by junior Ashley Johnson scored two more Shocker runs in the top of the second inning. Junior Paige Luellen followed with a double to left field that cleared the bases to make it a 6-0 Wichita State lead. A single by junior Macklin Hitz pushed Wichita State’s lead 7-0 in the second inning, with Luellen scoring from second.
SEE SOFTBALL • PAGE 4
A hit late in the game can mean more than just a win. Freshman designated COLUMN BY hitter and utility NICK BEACH man Alec Bohm lined a single into center field to give Wichita State a walk off 10-9 victory Sunday against Bradley. This gave the Shockers consecutive home series victories against teams considered “stronger” than them — Missouri State and Bradley. Wichita State is 15-25, a .375 winning percentage, but lately have played better than their record indicates. An issue for the Shockers this season has been their inability to win on the road — having two wins in 15 away games. Wichita State arguably played the hardest non-conference schedule of any team in the Missouri Valley with matchups against TCU, Cal State Fullerton and Oklahoma State. Now the Shockers face conference play. They’re nine games in, and stand with a 5-4 record and third place in MVC play. The Valley is no easy ride, but WSU may have a real shot at competing. Dallas Baptist leads the conference with a 7-1 record. They are
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currently ranked No. 17 in the country and are considered the favorites to be crowned regular-season Valley champs. Evansville is the only other team to prove they are better than Wichita State. They sit in second place at 6-3 with a home series win over the Shockers. Missouri State is 28-11 overall and was ranked for some time; they are 3-5 in conference-play. The Bears fell to the Shockers, so it will be tough for them to get back. Indiana State and Southern Illinois both trail Wichita State in the standings at 4-5, but have proficient records overall. Bradley has a talented bunch, but WSU took care of business against them, claiming the weekend series. Illinois State has only two wins in MVC, and the turning point of WSU’s season could happen this weekend in Carbondale, Illinois. Wichita State head coach Todd
Butler has helped his team figure out how to win fairly consistently at home. Wichita State’s hitting has been the reason a 15 win team still has a chance in the Valley. It all starts with senior centerfielder Mikel Mucha at the top of the lineup. Third and fourth hitters freshman utility man Greyson Jenista and sophomore catcher Gunnar Troutwine have stayed consistent. At 6-foot-4-inches, 240 pounds and with his nearly pro-ready swing, Jenista is the future star of this team. If some road wins could come, WSU can realistically expect to finish second place in the conference if all things fall into place. While 2016 hasn’t been Butler’s best season, staying consistent could very well have the Shockers fighting for the Valley’s NCAA Tournament automatic-bid one month from now. The Shockers are much better than their record shows.
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THURSDAY, APRIL 28
PAGE 4 | SPORTS
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Quarterbacks at 1-2; Defenders round out the rest of Round 1 With Jared Goff and Carson Wentz likely to be taken up with the one and two picks in the 2016 NFL Draft, defensive players are in desperate COLUMN BY need for the teams with GRANT COHEN the top 10 picks. The San Diego Chargers have the third pick of the NFL draft, and it is highly doubtful that they are going to waste their pick on an offensive lineman. San Diego needs to improve its defense, noted by giving up 2,000 rushing yards and 17 rushing touchdowns during the 2015 season. Logically, Oregon defensive end DeForest Buckner would fall perfectly in line with the Chargers, who need a good run and pass defensive player. Buckner has the size for the NFL, standing at 6-foot-7-inches and 287 pounds. He can make life difficult for offensive linemen. As a plus, Buckner went to the University of Oregon, a program that knows something about winning. The sports culture in Eugene, Oregon, will certainly help bring the party back to life in San Diego. For the Dallas Cowboys, Jerry World is looking like losers’ world with how horrible this team played in 2015. Yes, the Cowboys suffered a lot of injuries, including losing quarterback Tony Romo to a broken collarbone. It is defense, however, that takes most of the blame for the failures in Arlington. The Cowboys gave up 23.5 points per game last season, and if their defense does not improve, they will be watching the playoffs from that large TV screen at AT&T Stadium. Selecting fourth in the 2016 NFL Draft, Ohio State defensive end Joey Bosa is who the Cowboys should select because of the suspension of Demarcus Lawrence. Bosa,
unlike the mess that is Greg Hardy, is far more disciplined and could actually help the Cowboys understand the definition of defense. The last time Dallas made a top 10 selection, the Cowboys drafted offensive lineman Tyrone Smith. Smith ended up playing in the Pro Bowl by his third year in the league. Who says that Bosa cannot do the same? Going back east, Jacksonville has not played in January since 2007. They have been so putrid since that the Jaguars have not had a winning season in nine years. Offensively, the Jaguars have some potential star breaking pieces with Allen Robinson, Chris Ivory, T.J. Yeldon, and Julius Thomas. If quarterback Blake Bortles can keep improving, the Jaguars have an arsenal of weapons. Defense is another story, but backs are not as crucial of an issue with Prince Amukamara and Nick Marshall. Dante Fowler Jr. was selected third overall in last year’s draft, so getting another quality defensive player would help make Jacksonville a scary opponent for offensive powerhouses. Standing 6-foot-1-inch and weighing 245 pounds, UCLA linebacker Myles Jack is one of the most athletic and explosive defensive players in the draft. He gave offensive opponents complete tantrums at the collegiate level. Jack is a guy who is able to make plays all over the field, and those plays could be what sends Jacksonville to the top of the AFC South and help them get that elusive playoff spot. Watch out for these defensive players, while there are many others who will go into the top 10 of the draft. Defense always wins games in sports, but these defensive players could help win a championship or two in the near future.
With the No. 1 overall pick, the Rams — newly relocated to Los Angeles — spent a lot to acquire their position in a trade with COLUMN BY Tennessee. They’ve NICK BEACH made clear they want a quarterback, and they’ve made clear they value California quarterback Jared Goff over the comparison in North Dakota State quarterback Carson Wentz. Goff is considered to have more talent than Wentz as a passer. Goff has a knack for throwing the long pass, and an experienced quarterback coach in Jeff Fisher couldn’t hurt his early development. As Philadelphia raised to the second pick in the draft, snagging a trade with the Cleveland Browns, the Eagles expressed their desire for a new signal-caller, and veteran quarterback Sam Bradford expressed his desire for a new home. The answer for Philadelphia is Carson Wentz from North Dakota State. Although Wentz played in the FCS while at NDSU, he possesses a characteristic Goff has been unfamiliar with during his college career — winning. Wentz was a member of a five-time National Championship team, and the Eagles see him as the future of their franchise, whether he spends a year behind Bradford, or not. He has the ceiling of a Ben-Roethlishberger-type if he improves his long-ball passing. At No. 3, San Diego stands as the only team to so far hold its ground in draft position. And the reason could be because the Chargers have a bevy of needs in this year’s draft, and it’s hard to gauge which is the most glaring. The most evident just may be the offensive line. Aging veteran Phillip Rivers cannot continue to air out
long shots more than 50 times a game, making former Ole Miss offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil the answer for the Chargers. Tunsil has the size and skill to be an efficient pass blocker, but also to anchor a run blocking scheme designed to turn San Diego’s 2015 first round pick, Melvin Gordon, into a force in Ken Whisenhunt’s offense. At No. 4, to the dreary eye to many fans who call the Cowboys ‘America’s team,’ Dallas comes off of a 4-12 season plagued by injuries. Most might say they have a glaring need at cornerback, and the answer should be to draft the best available player. But Ezekiel Elliott, running back from Ohio State could rise to the occasion, locking up the fourth spot in the draft. Veteran running back Darren McFadden recorded his first 1,000-plus yard season since 2010, but with the offensive line Dallas possesses, some believe Elliott can be a 2,000-plus yard rusher. Some call this choice a reach, but Jerry Jones might see it as the steal of the draft. For Jacksonville, with all the trades that have occurred over the last couple of weeks, the Jags are eager to evaluate the board at No. 5. A clear candidate for the Jags may be cornerback Jalen Ramsey. Ramsey has size, coverage skill and the ability to find the ball — much to the likes of a young Patrick Peterson. As arguably viewed by some as the most talented player in the draft pool, Ramsey has the ability to hold the Jaguars’ defense, who signed Super Bowl Champion defensive lineman Malik Jackson this offseason. With Ramsey, the Jags just might have all the pieces to make a playoff push. The NFL Draft begins televised coverage of Round 1 at 7 p.m. Thursday on ESPN and the NFL Network.
SOFTBALL
down, working through two straight outs to help the Shockers hang onto the win 7-5. Tulsa managed to hit .346 percent against WSU to go along with 13 hits. WSU’s pitching and defense didn’t allow the Golden Hurricanes to capitalize with opportunities, leaving Tulsa runners on base when the side was retired in six of the seven innings at Collin’s Softball Complex. The Shockers managed to get eight hits in 30 at bats, batting .267 percent in Wednesday’s victory. Johnson and junior Mackenzie Adams got two hits each — Johnson driving in two Shocker runs along with Williams and Luellen. Wichita State (29-18,14-5) won their eighth straight game at Tulsa on Wednesday night, sweeping the season series by winning 11-3 in five innings at Wilkins Stadium on March 30th. The Shockers travel to Terre Haute, Indiana, to face Indiana State in a three-game series. A doubleheader on Saturday followed by a single game on Sunday, all starting at noon.
SCHOOL
money, but these budget problems don’t make the profession any more attractive. It just worries me, is all. “Everything is up in the air. Everyone is scared about losing their jobs, scared to say anything that will get them fired — everyone’s trying to watch their backs.”
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Tulsa responded in the bottom of the fourth inning, scoring two straight runs. A wild pitch by junior Katie Malone and a single by the Hurricanes cut the Shockers’ lead to 7-2. The Hurricanes did not go away quietly, scoring off seven hits in the bottom of the fifth inning. After Tulsa managed to get runners on first and third base with no outs, junior Jenni Brooks came in to pitch for Malone. Malone pitched six innings, not allowing a run to score in five of those. Getting her 11th win of the season, Malone managed to strike out two Tulsa batters while only giving up one walk in the Shocker’s victory. A sacrifice groundball to shortstop, along with an RBI single to center field brought in two Hurricanes, cutting the lead to 7-5. Brooks, however, would not let her team
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FROM PAGE 3
“Education majors are already scarce because teachers don’t get paid that much,” Crow said. “No one gets into teaching for the