FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2019 • VOL. 123, ISS. 34
THESUNFLOWER.COM
WICHITA STATE UNIVERSITY’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1896.
KEEPING IT IN-HOUSE
Regent’s company corners the marked on student housing
DECEMBER 2018 DECEMBER 2015 JANUARY 2015
WSU announces plans to consider another residence hall that would be built on Innovation Campus
AUGUST 2014
Shocker Hall opens, phasing out Wheatshocker Apartments and Brennan Hall as on-campus housing options
After surveying more than 1,500 WSU students in a university-commissioned study, an independent firm recommends phasing out Fairmount Towers and opening a new housing option on Innovation Campus
JUNE 15, 2015
Murfin’s company, MWCB, LLC, is awarded a universityowned dorm project on Innovation Campus
JUNE 16, 2015
Gov. Sam Brownback appoints David Murfin to the Kansas Board of Regents; The Wichita Eagle reports that WSU is not moving forward with construction on another dorm
FEBRUARY 2017
DECEMBER 2017
WSU officials announce the university will manage The Flats, even though Murfin’s company was originally supposed to; The Flats begins leasing rooms with priority to WSU students
JUNE 25, 2016
The Regents approve a lease that will allow Murfin’s company to develop and operate The Flats private apartment complex on Innovation Campus
KBOR approves WSU proposal to nearly double the amount the university pays to Murfin’s company; KBOR approves The Suites, a lower-priced residence hall to be developed by Murfin’s company
JULY 14, 2017
With The Flats below 20 percent occupancy, WSU announces without KBOR approval that it will close university-owned Fairmount Towers and move the roughly 300 students who signed up to live there to The Flats (relocated students still pay the cheaper Fairmount Towers rate)
KBOR approves rate increases for both Shocker Hall and The Flats, approves rates at The Suites that are comparable to Shocker Hall (which will become a freshman-only facility when The Suites open in fall 2019
AUGUST 2018
Students moving into The Flats pay an increased rate, and students relocated from university housing in 2017 can no longer pay the cheaper Fairmount Towers rate
Since David Murfin became a member of the Kansas Board of Regents in 2015, a company he partially owns has developed two on-campus private housing options BY MATTHEW KELLY
W
ichita State called off plans for more university-owned on-campus housing the same day David Murfin was named a member of the Kansas Board of Regents. Two years later, when Murfin was chairman of the board, WSU decided to lease space at the mostly empty private apartment complex developed by Murfin’s company. Murfin is one of four prominent Wichita businessmen with 25 percent ownership of The Flats of Kansas, LLC, the development company WSU is leasing The Flats private apartment complex from. Starting
next school year, — the same four men WSU will lease who would go on to own another Innovation The Flats of Kansas, LLC. Campus residence In a June 15, 2015 email hall — The to the company’s owners, Suites — from WSU Assistant Director Murfin’s company. of Purchasing Kim Two aging Sowell announced that MURFIN housing facilities a selection committee had were shuttered chosen them to develop when university-owned the residence hall. Sowell cited Shocker Hall opened in 2014. “significant concerns” related By early 2015, WSU was conto the cost of the project, but sidering a residence hall for wrote that “We look forward to Innovation Campus, which working with you as we attempt was still in its infancy. to produce a viable project.” One of four firms to submit The next day, Republican development proposals for the Gov. Sam Brownback project to WSU was MWCB, appointed Murfin, a longtime LLC, a company owned by political ally, to the board of Murfin, Steve Crossland, Nestor regents, which oversees and Weigand Jr., and Steve Barrett regulates state universities.
On the same day, The Eagle reported that WSU would not move forward with plans to construct the Innovation Campus residence hall. That summer, WSU commissioned a private firm to conduct a campus housing study. After surveying more than 1,500 students, the firm concluded that WSU should phase out 50-year-old Fairmount Towers and open a new housing option on Innovation Campus. The study identified cost as the most important factor in determining student interest in additional housing. It also outlined two financing options for a residence hall — a university-owned option and a public-private partnership.
University revenue would increase under the public-private option, but student rent would also be 16 percent higher, the study found. The study was released in December 2015. In April 2016, MWCB, LLC drafted a letter of intent to build a private apartment complex that the company would “own and operate.” “As members of this community, we are especially invested in helping Wichita State University thrive as a successful economic driver in the region,” read the letter, signed by Murfin and the other co-owners. SEE IN-HOUSE PAGE 3
Thursday classes cancelled after icy sidewalks lead to injuries — and salty students BY ANDREW LINNABARY
SELENA FAVELA/THE SUNFLOWER
Students walk to class Wednesday. Icy conditions have plagued students this week.
Madalyn Temaat hurried to her 9:30 Moral Issues class Wednesday morning, running behind because of the icy road conditions. Temaat had parked across 17th Street, so she had to cautiously trek toward campus. Then she slipped. It was black ice. It looked just like wet pavement to her. The fall hurt, and she cut up her hand, she said. But she tried to brush off the injury, focusing instead on class. “I didn’t think I had hurt anything [besides my hand],” said Temaat, a pre-nursing sophomore.
But by Wednesday night, she was having trouble sitting, with pain creeping up her lower back, she said. Icy sidewalks led to dozens of falls, slides and other embarrassing moments on campus Tuesday and Wednesday, and with sleet and snow bearing down on campus Wednesday evening, Wichita State cancelled Thursday classes. Two icy injuries were reported to police Tuesday. But there were many more slip ups. Frustrated students used social media to send WSU their thoughts on having to brave the ice on the way to Wednesday classes. And on campus
Wednesday afternoon, students were equally frustrated in person. One student, marketing sophomore Alessandra Salazar, said “WSU never properly handles ice.” “They always just do the main sidewalks,” Salazar said.w Molly Wright, a biological sciences sophomore, said the main issue is WSU “doesn’t salt ramps.” “I’m able-bodied, but people who aren’t — how are they expected to get to class?” But Chloe La Combe, a business sophomore, said WSU handles ice and snow better than her old college — Bethel College.
SEE ICY PAGE 3
INSIDE
COFFEE DONE RIGHT
HIGH EXPECTATIONS
B-BALL SCHOLARSHIP
EP showcases higher recording quality without sacrificing Old News’ sound.
Leslie’s Coffee Company serves up a great cup in a lovely environment.
Shocker Softball kicks off the season as a nationally recognized program.
Walk-on Eli Farrakhan was surprised with a basketball scholarship Monday.
CULTURE • PAGE 3
CULTURE • PAGE 3
SPORTS • PAGE 4
SPORTS • PAGE 4
LOCAL MUSIC