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SUNFLOWER WICHITA STATE UNIVERSITY’S STUDENT-RUN NEWS SOURCE
MONDAY • FEBRUARY 9, 2015
VOLUME 119, ISSUE 62
Wichita State to lose $1.5 million from education budget cuts By TJ Rigg EDITOR-IN-CHIEF @TJ_Rigg
Wichita State stands to lose $1.5 million in funding from the state after Gov. Sam Brownback announced cuts to K-12 and higher education. Brownback announced Thursday that he plans to cut nearly $45 million from public schools and higher education in March. The governor also suggested lawmakers could head off reductions by withholding $54 million from public schools.
“The dramatic increase in state education funding that has occurred over the last four years is unsustainable,” Brownback said in a statement. Also Thursday, the governor said a high school’s purchase of a new grand piano, which cost the school $47,000, shows how Kansas’ plan for funding public education is flawed. In a statement, Brownback said the money spent on the piano should have been used to hire another teacher and reduce class sizes. In a statement released after the governor’s announcements, university president John Bardo
acknowledged that the cuts will have an impact on WSU. “The budget decision announced today is unfortunate and could slow us down a bit, but we are moving forward with our plans to support the people of Kansas,” Bardo said in the statement. Student body president Matthew Conklin said his first thoughts on hearing about the pending cuts were disappointment, especially after, he said, the governor publicly remarked that he planned to keep education funding steady. Conklin is also concerned about how the cuts will affect students. “Representing students and
their interests, I think it’s important that they realize that that $1.5 million could be going to tuition, to fund buildings, professor salaries or research,” Conklin said. “Instead, the lost dollars might translate to higher tuition rates, higher costs for students. That’s very unfortunate.” Conklin’s thoughts about tuition possibly increasing due to these funding cuts came from a discussion he had during the last student government administration. At the time, Conklin was treasurer for SGA, and met with the then-president, vice president and others to discuss tuition increases.
“We were talking about a certain percentage of our increase in tuition was a direct result of the decrease of the higher education funding from the state,” Conklin said. “So, students need to keep that in mind if tuition rates increase again.” Kansas public schools will also see a significant cut in education funding from the state. Conklin said he feels sorry for K-12 schools, because those schools did not anticipate the cuts, which are coming in the middle of the fiscal year. See CUTS on page 3
Shockers trap the Bears
Photo by Kevin Brown
Courtney Marshall is the new CEO of the Alumni Association.
Sunflower Spotlight: Marshall provides fresh personality, ideas for Alumni Association By Kevin Brown STAFF REPORTER @krbrownjr
Photo by Marcus Wright
Wichita State senior Tekele Cotton attempts to steal the ball Saturday night at Charles Koch Arena. The Shockers defeated Missouri State 78-35. For the full story and photos of the game, see page 4.
Sexual assault: fraternity men under a harsh microscope
In light of an alleged gang rape at the University of Virginia, fraternity men who do not fit the mold must now defend themselves, their brothers and their organizations. So what does this mean for fraternity men at Wichita State? As a sexual assault allegation saturates through Greek COLUMN BY communities DANIELLE PREWITT across the nation, it is seemingly redefining what it means to be a fraternity man. Last November, Rolling Stone Magazine published a harrowing narrative of a young woman’s alleged rape that occurred at a Phi Kappa Psi fraternity house at the University of Virginia in 2012. The young woman, “Jackie,” now a junior at UVA, shared with the magazine how she was invited to a party by a fraternity brother, led upstairs into a small dark room and allegedly brutally gang raped by other members of the chapter. At Jackie’s request, Rolling Stone did not contact the member of Phi Kappa Psi whom she claimed orchestrated the rape. However, as more details surfaced in the following weeks, so did the inconsistencies in Jackie’s story, causing her credibility to diminish. Rolling Stone published an apology on its website a few weeks later, recognizing the flawed narrative. After the initial publication, the story made national and international headlines, rendering a disconcerting attitude toward Greek Life across the nation. The issue has since cast an extremely dark light on fraternity men everywhere. It is the echoes of this rape, and other cases like it, that are redefining what it means to be a member of a fraternal
organization. “Wichita State Fraternity and Sorority Life is by no means stereotypical, and we’re proud of that,” said Lyston Skerritt, WSU’s assistant director of Fraternity and Sorority Life. Skerritt, a former fraternity man himself, said that fraternities and sororities are under the microscope because of the nature of their organizations, and now must hold themselves to a higher standard. “For us, it’s not so much as the spotlight is on us,” Skerritt said. “I’d say we need to look at this like it’s a challenge to ensure we are living out our values on a daily basis.” A recent study conducted in October by the University of Oregon sought to reveal the rate of sexual assaults occurring on campus, and if there was a correlation with the Greek system. The study revealed that 48.1 percent of females and 23.6 percent of males in fraternity and sorority life have experienced non-consensual sexual contact. Females not associated with fraternity and sorority life reported 33.1 percent, and males reported 7.9 percent. When you look at the percentages for men, that’s not a narrow gap between Greek and nonGreek reports. It is studies like these that create a negative perception that all fraternities, or Greek systems, rather, are institutions solely of social revelry and sexual disturbances. Sure, the Greeks demonstrate community service and scholarship, but that doesn’t make headlines. Hazing and sexual
Illustration by Tarun Bali
Fraternity members stand for honor, yet wake up to headlines of misconduct.
assault generally do. allegations in the Rolling Stone “It really hurts to have that article. But I know the men here perception from the public,” said at WSU do not fit the mold of a Matthew Brinkmeyer, a WSU cocky, beer-chugging party sophomore and member of Beta animal that could lead a young Theta Pi fraternity. woman into a gang rape. The As the fraternity only men I know “People start to associate me person in are genuine, his family with that [stereotypical] behavior. I respectful and to ever be get defensive sometimes, and I hold promihave to defend myself and my affiliated nent leaderwith a ship positions brothers, so it’s frustrating.” fraternal on campus. — Matttew Brinkmeyer, sophomore organizaSome tion, Brinkmeyer said he feels his members of the Greek communifamily perceives him adversely ty said they feel that fraternity based on what they see in the men at WSU do not conform to media. what is generally perceived by “People start to associate me those outside of the Greek system. with that [stereotypical] behav“The men here at Wichita State ior,” he said. “I get defensive do not fit that particular mold at sometimes, and I have to defend all,” said Emry Woelk, president myself and my brothers, so it’s of WSU’s Panhellenic Council, frustrating.” the regulating body for five As a member of the Greek different sororities on campus. community, and as a woman, it See FRATERNITY on page 4 saddened me to read such graphic
After living in Texas, South Dakota and throughout Kansas, Courtney Marshall has found a new home in Wichita. As the newly-appointed CEO of the Wichita State Alumni Association, Marshall said she has many ideas to tie the alumni association into the lives of Shockers, both past and present and young and old. “I want to make the association accessible and open to the university Foundation, Athletics and the community,” she said. An experienced résumé As a college student at Kansas State University in the mid-1990s, Marshall graduated with a bachelor’s degree in journalism, with an emphasis in public relations. Despite the degrees, she said she “didn’t want to do it forever.” In 2000, Marshall found herself looking through career listings on the website of her alma mater. Discovering an opening for the director of alumni communications and member services, Marshall decided to apply — and she got the job. Marshall stayed in that role until 2004, when she had an opportunity to become the executive director for the University of South Dakota Alumni Association, where she stayed until 2007, creating and managing the association’s $400,000 budget. Fast forward a few years after holding positions at Benedictine College and Texas Tech, Marshall moved back to K-State and became the major gift development officer at the College of Veterinary Medicine, a position that enabled her to arrange donors and gifts of more than $25,000 for the college. Making the Association accessible Although Marshall is not a Shocker alum, she said she has ideas to help grow the WSU Alumni Association into something greater than what is currently in place. “One of the main things I would like to do is restart chapters and societies,” Marshall said. “It is very important to connect our alumni and fans across the country to the institution. We want to take the university to Dallas or Chicago in order to keep those individuals engaged.” See MARSHALL on page 2