NEWS | 2
SPORTS | 2
ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT | 6
ANNIVERSARY
CROSS COUNTRY
MUSIC CONCERT
The Shocker Support Locker celebrates five years of operation.
Winny Koskei leads the Shockers to a second place finish.
Beautiful sounds filled Weidemann Hall during Sunday’s concert.
WICHITA STATE’S STUDENT NEWS SOURCE SINCE 1896 MONDAY
Volume 125
www.thesunflower.com
Feb. 8, 2021
Issue 14
ILLUSTRATION BY THY VO / THE SUNFLOWER
Student’s COVID vaccination experience provides her with confidence for the future BY LINDSAY SMITH editor@thesunflower.com / @Lindsay_KSmith
A
s the world is still finding ways to continue fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccinations are being administered to more and more people every day. Even though it has yet to be open to the general public, some college students have already qualified. Kari Coster, a junior majoring in health management, is one of the college students who qualified for the vaccine in its early phases. Coster, who currently works at a hospital, decided to get it because of the people she is constantly in contact with. “The main reason I got it is because I have older parents and also the main population at my hospital is the at risk older generation and it would hurt my soul so much if I was the one who caught it and passed it to someone who was way more vulnerable to the virus than I was,” Coster said. While a large amount of the population is able to get vaccinated if they choose to do so, Coster said that while she understands why some people may be hesitant, the vaccine is a safe way to help control the spread. “I’m very confident in the scientists and the research that was done for the vaccine,” she said. “I know a lot of
people are worried about how fast it came out, but my reasoning is they wouldn’t put it out if it wasn’t safe for people to get it.” As more and more information is coming out about the vaccine, many worry about the side effects that may come with it. Coster said that she experienced COVID-similar symptoms for a few days after the second needle administered, but she said that having symptoms was worth the end result. “Thirty six hours after having the vaccine basically all the symptoms were gone,” Coster said. “I think 36 hours of moderate symptoms is worth it for some kind of immunity.” Coster said once the vaccine is open to the general public, she hopes people will decide to take advantage of the opportunity to help safely re-open the university. “The more people who are vaccinated the less likely it is for it to spread as quickly … I think once we slow the spread the easier it will be to get it under control and that way we can start reopening things more safely,” Coster said. The county is currently in phase two of the vaccine distribution plan — which includes persons aged 65+, people who work in congregate settings, and high contact critical workers. The county has not announced when it will enter into the next phase — which includes
VACCINE PHASES PHASE ONE Healthcare workers, residents or patients in longterm care
PHASE TWO Persons aged 65+, workers in congregate settings, high-contact critical workers
PHASE THREE Aged 16-64 with severe medical conditions, other critical workers
PHASE FOUR Persons aged 16-64 with medical risks
PHASE FIVE rest of population 16+
individuals aged 16-64 with underlying health conditions. The general population will be able to receive the vaccine when phase 5 begins. For more information on the COVID-19 vaccine in Sedwick County, see page two.
Presidential search forums discuss diversity, leadership qualities BY LINDSAY SMITH editor@thesunflower.com / @Lindsay_KSmith
Wichita State community members gathered virtually Wednesday at the first two presidential search forums to share concerns, questions, and thoughts about the presidential search with AGB search representatives Sally Mason and Garry Owens. Leadership qualities, diversity, and pandemic complications were some of the topics brought up by community members.
AN ‘IN THE MIDDLE’ PRESIDENT Search committee member and Faculty Senate President Aleks Sternfeld-Dunn chimed in with his thoughts, adding that the committee needed to find a president that was in the middle ground. “I notice there are two types of broad brush presidents,” he said. “One who sees themselves as completely sort of outward facing, and delegating everything to their
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“[We need a president] who is the public face of the university and is going out there and moving the mission and the vision and trusting his or her team to do that work.” ALEKS STERNFELD-DUNN Faculty Senate President
executive team and their role is really just to be the public face of the university. And then there’s another kind of president who I think sort of sees themselves as an inward president and is just in the weeds of the work. “And I think we need a president who’s sort of in the middle.” Sternfeld-Dunn said that the university needs a president who not only does the inward work, but also goes outside of the @sunflowernews
@thesunflowernews
university to spread the word about the university’s mission and goals. “[We need a president] who is the public face of the university and is going out there and moving the mission and the vision and trusting his or her team to do that work,” he said. “But at the same time isn’t disengaged to what’s happening on campus that they’re not involved in sort of the day to day, kind of movement.”
‘A COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY’ Owens said that the firm is reaching out to candidates from diverse backgrounds to make sure the committee has a diverse group of individuals to select from. “We take [diversity] into account in every search we do and we certainly are doing that in this particular one,” Owens said. “[We have been] reaching out to candidates we know about, we have a number of colleagues who can help us with that at AGB search. “We’ll do our very best on that to get a
good selection.”
A DESIRE TO STRENGTHEN When asked if the search firm has seen less applicants from different areas due to the pandemic, Mason said it has been the opposite. “I was a little worried during the pandemic and during the lockdown that people would be reluctant to want to move,” Mason said. “And, quite the contrary, I think people are really now looking hard at opportunities in places where they would like to be and feel that they could have an impact.” Mason said that the COVID-19 pandemic has given applicants a higher motivation to come to the university in hopes to make it stronger and push through the uncertainty. “[There’s a] real desire ... to see an institution not only whether through the crisis but can come out of the other side stronger through it,” Mason said. SEE PRESIDENT PAGE 2