the
SUN FLOWER
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2015
VOLUME 120, ISSUE 20
WSU softball team defeats Seminole State College Tuesday 16-3 |
THESUNFLOWER.COM
PAGE 4
Delayed response
Photo by Manny De Los Santos
A rug inside Grace Memorial Chapel is rolled out Tuesday for Muslim students to pray on. Pews were removed from the space last spring after a resolution was passed in an attempt to transform the chapel into an “Interfaith Prayer Space.”
University to direct discussion on chapel’s future ASCHA LEE
REPORTER
@aschalee
Photos by Danielle Prewitt
Artist in-residence Chris Flynn conducts a workshop Wednesday in print making. Flynn is the second visiting artist in the Ulrich’s Shockpress series.
Shockpress: Expression rather than industry DANIELLE PREWITT
MANAGING EDITOR
@danimal902
Ink lathered hands delicately trace the edges of the finished bronze canvas. Etched onto it is an ambiguous design. The design is a key concept of the Ulrich’s artist in-residence Chris Flynn, a print-maker from Chicago. His work embodies the extension and ideas of morbidity and mortality, while expressing bodily empathy. He incorporates drawing, traditional printmaking and handmade paper together to craft works of paradox and timeliness. “Printmaking is an art method.” Flynn said. “The nature of
the technique combined with various concepts develops and creates an exchange of ideas and helps grow those ideas.” An art form, Flynn says, that is an expression rather than industry. To create the print, Flynn layers ink onto a bronze-plated canvas, etched with a design. He then spreads the substance evenly and gently wipes the ink away using a thin cloth until the engraved image appears. A blank sheet of paper is placed over the top and the canvas is rolled underneath a press. Flynn cranks the press slowly until the canvas reappears from the opposite side. He lifts the sheet of paper off the canvas and a flawless imprint appears.
The Grace Memorial Chapel underwent renovations last spring in an attempt to make the space more accommodating to all faiths, but a recent and delayed backlash has ignited conversation and confusion among students and community members. The chapel, located in the heart of the campus north of the Rhatigan Student Center, was built in 1963 with funds made available to WSU by Mrs. Harvey D. Grace, donated in memorial of her husband. Last fall, the Student Government Association developed and proposed an idea for several changes to be made to the interior space of the chapel, including the removal of the pews and altar, to convert it into “a flexible, faith-neutral space where the spiritual needs of all students, faculty, and staff can be accommodated,” the proposal read. It also mentioned that Grace made it clear in her will that anyone from any creed or background would be welcome to use the chapel, and that it was not built specifically for any religion at all. The proposal was approved the following spring, and the changes were made shortly thereafter, according to previous Sunflower articles. The chapel, or Interfaith
Prayer Space, is now equipped with removable chairs in place of the pews and carpeted floors for students of various faiths to practice their religion. However, after an individual Facebook post sparked controversy about the changes, the Grace Memorial Chapel Use Committee, which met Wednesday to discuss the issues, is making reconsiderations. The Facebook post, which was created Friday and criticized the renovations, gained attention quickly and drew the community’s attention to the chapel. Some of the comments on the post were considered by many to be derogatory, and started a discussion about Islamophobia, or prejudice against Muslim individuals. Many of the commenters on the post used words such as “disgusting,” “terroristic” and “scary” directed toward Muslims. WSU Student Body President Joseph Shepard said he thinks many of the controversial views were expressed out of misinformation. “I personally believe that these comments being made were out of a lack of education,” Shepard said. “I think a lot of people don’t understand what it means to have an Interfaith Prayer Space. It does not mean that we’re disrespecting the Christian faith.” Shepard, who released his own
rebuttal Tuesday on Facebook, said it was disheartening for him to see the comments that were being made about the Muslim community. “This just shows us that we’ve come a long way, but we still have a very long way to go,” Shepard said. “I think that we need to take this opportunity to educate these individuals and teach them what it means to be culturally competent, what it means to be diverse, and what it means to be an inclusive campus.” The Grace Memorial Chapel Use Committee members came together Wednesday to discuss what steps they will take to move forward after the online dialogue over the weekend. A town hall forum will be scheduled in the near future for community members to gain more information about the renovations, Shepard said. Shepard also said he hopes to have the new and improved resolution out by the beginning of November, which will take the views of the community into more consideration following the forum. The new resolution will be presented to university President John Bardo, who will ultimately make the final decision, said Eric Sexton, vice president of Student Affairs.
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Master’s degree in physics revived after 12 years BRENNEN SMITH
REPORTER
@brennen19_26
The first master’s degree in physics was received at Wichita State in 1950, according to a list of past master’s degrees in physics. Not one year went by without a WSU student receiving a master’s in physics until 2007, when all master’s degrees in physics abruptly stopped. “Historically, we had a successful program,” said assistant physics professor Mathew Muether. Ron Matson, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, said the physics program usually made it by with the minimum requirements, but in 2003 the physics master’s program, a two-year, research-based program, was officially suspended by the Kansas Board of Regents because it did not meet the required minimum number of graduates. Matson said he was able to justify the proposal over the summer because there was a small amount of funding available to get it started. “[They] put together a very
Photo by Tarun Bali
Professor Elizabeth Behrman lectures to students in a solid state physics class Tuesday in Jabara Hall.
persuasive set of materials,” Matson said. Hired in August of last year, Muether chaired the committee that submitted the five-page proposal to revive the master’s program, which included 50 pages of appendices.
“They (Matson and Provost Anthony Vizzini) hope that a strong physics program will help other programs (engineering, geology, math),” Muether said. “[They] hope it can enhance the university as a whole.” Muether cited a broad range of
STEM-related career paths, a strong foundation for STEM disciplines on campus and a master’s in physics being one of the top earning master’s degrees in his proposal for reinstatement of the master’s program. Holger Meyer, director of the
physics program, said they have been waiting for the opportunity to reinstate the program, but setbacks like the 2008 recession and a group of physics professors leaving for other universities kept that from happening. Enrollment increased after Professor Nickolas Solomey was hired in fall 2007, Meyer said. Fall physics course enrollment went from 736 in 2007 to 1,140 in 2014, according to Muether’s proposal. The addition of Muether and assistant professor Terrance Figy in the last few years made it possible to reinstate the master’s program and get the graduate program moving. “We were strapped for faculty,” Meyer said. “[We now have] eight tenured faculty, which is still small compared to Kansas University and Kansas State, even though enrollment [here] is higher.” Muether looks forward to having master’s students so that he can get more research done. “There’s a huge amount of topics I want to explore,” he said.
SEE PHYSICS • PAGE 4