The Sunflower v. 124 i. 15

/The Sunflower WICHITA STATE’S STUDENT NEWS SOURCE SINCE 1896

THURSDAY, OCT. 3, 2019

@sunflowernews

VOL. 124 • ISSUE 15

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EASTON THOMPSON/THE SUNFLOWER United States Attorney General William Barr (right) speaks about reducing violent crime in Wichita Wednesday during a visit to the Law Enforcement Training Center on Wichita State’s Innovation Campus . Senator Jerry Moran was also in attendance.

‘BARRING SOME MAJOR ISSUE’ Moran, Barr visit Wichita State for roundtable on reducing violent crime

BY KYLIE CAMERON

S

en. Jerry Moran (R-Kansas) and Attorney General William Barr participated in a roundtable with local law enforcement Wednesday at Wichita State’s Law Enforcement Training Center.

Barr, who would not take questions from the press, discussed lowering violent crime via federal programs in his opening statement.

“We’re going to bring more resources to the table, expand our task forces,” Barr said of his approach to combatting violent crime.

Barr said there are some cities, especially in rural areas, that have seen an increase in crime recently.

“There’s still some places around the country where the crime rate is substantially above the national average and we’re seeing some upticks in crime,” Barr said. “Not only in our big cities, but we’re also seeing crime in some rural areas start going up as some of the

drug-trafficking organizations are avoiding the enforcement regimes of the bigger cities.”

Moran said that in his role as the chairman of the appropriations subcommittee, which appropriates money for the Department of Justice, he has channeled more money towards preventing law enforcement suicides.

“This is sad to me that this is necessary,” Moran said.

Barr, as the attorney general, is the head of the Justice Department.

Moran also discussed the need for funding to address mental health and drug problems at the local level, which he cited as an underlying cause of violent crime.

“I hear it from law enforcement officials . . . all the time is that we are housing people who we can’t help, but they are in our jails,” Moran said.

“They need care and treatment.”

Moran emphasized the need for funding and resources from multiple levels of the government to reduce crime.

Sen. Moran denounces impeachment inquiry

BY MATTHEW KELLY

“Kansas is a place where I don’t think you can be safe and secure without the cooperation of state, local, and federal law enforcement agencies.”

Wichita has received multiple grants and resources from the Department of Justice over the last year in an effort to reduce violent crime in the city.

“I wanted to come here to Kansas because this is one of the most successful federal, state, and local law enforcement partnerships we have in the country,” Barr said.

The Law Enforcement Training Center is located on WSU’s Innovation Campus.

Local law enforcement officials were involved in the roundtable, as well as WSU’s Interim President Andy Tompkins and Vice President for Research and Technology Transfer John Tomblin. Former Kansas Board of Regents member David Murfin was also in attendance.

this morning,” Moran said.

Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kansas) Members of the press were voiced his reservations about informed beforehand that Barr the impeachment inquiry would not take questions. After into President Donald Trump opening statements, Associated Wednesday after a law enPress reporter John Hanna forcement roundtable with asked Barr if he had discussed Attorney General William Barr Ukraine with Trump. Hanna at Wichita State. was escorted out of the room by “This latest conversation a public relations officer with about impeachment is pulling us the Wichita Police Department apart further,” the second-term as other reporters gathered their senator told reporters. equipment and filed out.

“We elect a president for four years. He or she, barring some major issue, should be able to complete their term.”

Moran said he and Barr, who We elect a president for four spent the day at engagements in years. He or she, barring Wichita and Topeka, did not dissome major issue, should be cuss Ukraine or the whistleblower able to complete their term.” complaint that spurred the latest ­— U.S. Senator Jerry Moran push for impeachment.

“No conversation occurred between the attorney general and Moran later held a brief press I in regard to the topic of Ukraine, conference, which was dominated and so I know nothing more today, by impeachment questions. at the end of this day, than I did SEE MORAN PAGE 3

Attorney general’s visit to WSU met by protesters

BY KYLIE CAMERON

MATTHEW KELLY/THE SUNFLOWER

Protesters argue with officers about if they have to move from in front of the Law Enforcement Training Center. They were ultimately allowed to stay ahead of the attorney general’s visit.

Protesters lined the streets Wednesday outside the Law Enforcement Training Center on Wichita State’s Innovation Campus ahead of Attorney General William Barr’s visit.

Barr traveled to WSU with Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kansas) for a roundtable with local law enforcement, where they talked about reducing violent crime.

Protesters were upset about Barr’s alleged role in covering up the whistleblower complaint of President Donald Trump’s phone call where Trump requested Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky investigate 2020

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, for Hunter’s business dealings in Ukraine. The phone calls in question took place as US aid to the Ukraine was being withheld.

“We are very unhappy about things going on at the federal level with our president and the coverup with Ukraine, is my issue,” Levi Griffey said. “I’m here because our president basically used money to get political influence over a political opponent.

“Maybe Mr. Biden did something, maybe he didn’t, but using a foreign government to dig up goods . . .” Griffey said. “They’re all in it up to their eyeballs. They all know

what’s going on.”

The protesters were originally asked to move by police, citing that the First Amendment activities must take place in one of WSU’s five “free-speech zones.” But after protesters pushed back against the request, police eventually let the protesters stay put.

Protesters also alleged Barr doesn’t work for the United States anymore.

“We don’t have a Department of Justice anymore; we don’t have an attorney general anymore. The president does,” Vicki Wagner said.

“He’s working for the president.”

SEE PROTEST PAGE 3

WHAT’S INSIDE CAMPUS SAFETY

ENROLLMENT UP

DOWN TO THE WIRE

49 YEARS LATER

WSU released its annual security and fire safety report.

WSU saw .99% increase in student enrollment from 2018.

Two WSU students won the 24-hour filmmaking contest in the student division.

WSU memoralized the lives lost in the 1970 plane crash.

SEE NEWS • PAGE 2

SEE NEWS • PAGE 3

SEE ARTS • PAGE 4

SEE SPORTS • PAGE 6

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Wichita State releases annual Applications open for end-of-the-year security and fire safety report Student Fees Committee

BY KYLIE CAMERON

Wichita State University released its 2018 security and fire safety report Monday.

The report tallies and categorizes all crimes and fires at Wichita State’s main campus, as well as its satellite campuses and the National Center for Aviation Training at WSU Tech.

At WSU's main campus, there was an increase in motor vehicle thefts on non-campus property from zero in 2017 to 10 in 2018. There were two reports of motor vehicle theft on campus in 2018, just one more than the previous year.

Reported burglaries went down from 14 in 2017 to zero in 2018, but non-campus property burglaries went up from one to five.

While dating violence went down from four reports on campus to two, domestic violence went up from zero in all instances to four on campus and six on non-campus property.

There was only one reported rape in 2018 that occurred on non-campus property. There were no reports of rape on campus property last year. There was one reported rape at 2017, which the report says occurred at a residence hall.

There was only one reported hate crime in 2018.

“It was simple assault with race as a bias,” the report states.

There were no reports of hate crimes in 2017.

Nearly 100 disciplinary referrals were reported for alcohol violations at residence hall in 2018, about the same as the previous year. Between 2016 and 2017, referrals for alcohol violations nearly doubled from 57 to 101.

Disciplinary referrals for drug abuse violations doubled from eight in 2017 to 16 in 2018.

The report is released annually in compliance with the Clery Act, a federal statute mandating that universities receiving federal financial aid report annual crime statistics, maintain a daily crime log, and provide “timely reports” for criminal activity that is considered an ongoing threat to the campus community.

The security report includes crimes that occurred on campus, public property within and immediately adjacent to campus — such as streets, sidewalks, and parking facilities — and non-campus institutions related to the university’s educational purposes and frequently used by students, such as fraternity and sorority houses.

BY DANIEL CAUDILL

Student Government Association is hoping to get a head start on handling student fees this year.

While the annual student fees deliberations aren’t until February, SGA is already accepting applications for the Student Fees Committee and hopes to fill all 15 seats this month.

SGA Director of Public Relations Mackenzie Haas said filling the committee in the fall will allow the organization to better educate committee members about student fees.

“We think it is a good idea to have a training session, along with background information for the committee to understand the student fees process from start to finish,” she said.

The Student Fees Committee is responsible for hearing budget recommendations from organizations funded by student fees each spring, as well as making its own recommendations to the Student Senate. If passed by the senate, recommendations are then sent to the university president for final approval.

Each seat on the committee corresponds to one of the 15 voting blocks in the Student Senate, each of which is based on a field of study

or other student status.

The breakdown is as follows: • Fine Arts • Liberal Arts and Sciences • Underserved • At-Large • Applied Studies • Health Professions • Veteran • Returning Adult • Graduate • Business • Engineering • Freshman • Honors • International • Out-of-State Applications are due by 5 p.m. Oct. 11 and can be submitted to the SGA office in RSC room 219. Visit wichita. edu/sga to find the application form.

From the pool of applicants, Student Body President Kitrina Miller will nominate candidates for each position — subject to approval by the Student Senate.

Haas said SGA hopes to have all committee positions filled and confirmed by the senate by Oct. 16.

After the committee is filled, Haas said fall training would focus on informing members about the departments and organizations that utilize student fees.

In the spring semester, training will focus on “specific details

and understanding of the fees process,” Haas said.

“This is beneficial so students are able to make a more informed decision on the delegation of fees that affect a large amount of [groups] on campus.”

Along with the appointed student positions, this year’s committee will have three non-voting student members: SGA’s President Kitrina Miller, Vice President Michael Bearth and Treasurer Colleen Ostermann.

All faculty on the committee are non-voting members.

The previous session of SGA brought major changes to the end-of-the-year student fees process last semester, when it increased the number of student representatives on the Student Fees Committee.

In March, the larger fees committee prioritized student organizations over university departments during deliberations. The result was a 2.5 percent increase to Wichita State’s student fees budget, which allowed nearly full funding to all organizations’ requests.

The 61st Session’s changes also combined the committee with the now-defunct Educational Opportunity Fund Committee.

FORMER PHOTOGRAPHER BRANDON WHITE/THE SUNFLOWER

EASTON THOMPSON/THE SUNFLOWER Attorney General William Barr speaks to local law enforcement at a roundtable on Wednesday.

MORAN FROM PAGE 1 “It seems to me that some Democrats in the House have been interested in impeaching President Trump almost since the day he was elected,” Moran said. “‘Wolf ’ has been cried so many times in regard to impeachment — it really is time for us to work together. What I would say is, there’s an election around the corner.”

Moran said he has read the whistleblower’s report. Asked if he was troubled by Trump’s call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in which he pressured

PROTEST FROM PAGE 1 “They act so guilty, and yet people keep defending them.”

Some protesters said they were disappointed by the turnout of roughly 30 people. The protest

the foreign leader to investigate political rival Joe Biden’s son, Moran said he hasn’t seen any evidence of improper behavior.

“I don’t see that, and I’ve read what’s been available to me,” Moran said.

“I’m not of the view that there is a conclusion that impeachment should occur. I don’t see that evidence.”

Barr has not recused himself from handling the whistleblower complaint, which refers to him by name. Moran said he doesn’t see that as an issue either.

“At this point, I don’t know anything that the attorney general would recuse himself from,” Moran said. was scheduled for 1:30 p.m., according to a Facebook event by ICTindivisible.

“I thought there’d be hundreds of people here — a lot of them had to work, I know,” Janice Bradley said. “It was kind of sprung on us. They kept it secret for a reason.”

The Sunflower, founded in 1896, is the student-run newspaper covering Wichita State University. The print edition is published Monday and Thursday during the fall and spring semesters and twice over the summer. The staff publishes daily online at www.thesunflower.com.

MISSION The Sunflower — both in print and online — will be a timely resource of information about the Wichita State University community. It will report on news, issues, activities, academics and athletics, in addition to offering a forum for discussion, reviews and commentary. It will also be an effective learnig experience for students, who will have the final authority over what is published.

Students, faculty and staff gathered at Duffy’s and other places with televisions across campus Tuesday to watch the reading of the verdict in the O.J. Simpson trial.

Sunflower Archives— Wednesday, Oct. 4, 1995

O.J. verdict takes campus spotlight

BY JASON CURTIS AND MICHAEL HULL

“Not Guilty!”

The refrain that people all over the United States were either hoping for or dreading.

O.J. Simpson, after a ninemonth trial, was found not guilty on all counts of murder in the death of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman.

Wichita State, though thousands of miles from Judge Lance Ito’s Los Angeles courtroom, came to a silent, tension-filled halt as the verdict was read Tuesday.

In Duffy’s, there were students standing on chairs to see over the people who were standing on the floor in front of the television. A low rumble came from faces that were all looking at the television.

As everyone waited, the collective heartbeat of the room could be felt.

“Just read the verdict,” one excited student whispered. Everyone else felt the same way, but many scornful eyes asked her how she could speak when The Trial was about to end.

Meet the Staff EDITOR IN CHIEF Kylie Cameron

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LEGAL One free copy of The Sunflower is available to members of the WSU community. Additional copies may be purchased for $1 in the newsroom, Elliott Hall 019. The Sunflower is private property and unlawful removal or use of papers is prosecutable. The Sunflower is funded by a combination of print and online advertisment sales and student fees allocated by the Student Government Association.

The opinions expressed in The Sunflower editorials, columns, guest columns, reviews, advertisements, letters and editorial cartoons are not necessarily those of the staff, publications board, student body or the university.

The Sunflower is a member of Kansas Collegiate Media, the Associated Collegiate Press and College Media Association.

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In Elliott Hall, classes were dismissed early to allow students (and faculty) to catch the noon pronouncement. Room 111 was filled with about 40 tense and pensively quiet people, all intently staring at the big screen TV. There was a single television camera from a local station with bright hot lights illuminating the room. But no one in attendance paid the cameraman much attention as he panned across the room, trying to capture the tension of the moment.

Everyone was staring fixedly at Judge Ito on the screen, listening to the perfunctory preamble before the verdict was read.

“Not guilty of the crime of murder … a felony upon Ronald Godman.”

An audible gasp, like air rushing out of a punctured tire, escaped from the crowd. A few people, those who thought — who knew — O.J. was innocent and the trial a hideous farce, were visibly elated.

“Yes,” they said. “Finally a little justice.”

Others, obviously from the

FIRST AMENDMENT Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

STAFF Morgan Anderson Olivia Babin John Darr Emily Dulohery Selena Favela Karen Galindo Brogan Gillmore Kamilah Gumbs Ben Jacobson Audrey Korte Sean Marty Khanh Nguyen Drake Robinson Nathan Schale Austin Shaw Lindsay Smith Maddie Spurlock Jeromiah Taylor Rhiannon Taylor Becca Yenser

Corrections The Sunflower is committed to accuracy in its publications. If you find an error in any of its publications, please email the editor at editor@thesunflower.com immediately.

Corrections and clarifications will be printed in this space.

guilty camp, were just as passively vociferous.

“What?” they demanded, laughing incredulously, “This whole trial’s been a joke.”

Back at Duffy’s, an overwhelming sigh bounced off the walls after the verdict was read. After a few seconds, about a third of the crowd clapped, but a few were crying and some even shouted obscenities.

But it was a heavy humor that caused a few people to laugh.

Grae Johnson, senior in communication, shook his head slowly and paused for a moment before speaking. He smiled a brief, sarcastic smile.

“I’m stunned,” he said. “After such short deliberation, I thought it would be a guilty verdict. I thought he was guilty, but …”

But was justice served?

“In O.J.’s eyes, I’m sure it was,” Johnson said.

James Jenkins, who was sitting in front of Johnson, also was shocked by the verdict.

Contact Us 019 Elliott Hall 1845 N. Fairmount Ave. Campus Box 134 Wichita, KS 67260-0134 ADVERTISING Madeline Deabler: 316-978-6906 admanager@thesunflower.com

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Century II, transparency and budget cuts dominate the Arts Council forum

BY EMILY DULOHERY

Nine candidates on Wichita’s municipal ballot took the stage Tuesday evening to talk arts in the community at an annual forum hosted by the Wichita Arts Council.

The panel included Mayor Jeff Longwell and challenging State Rep. Brandon Whipple, five candidates for city council, and two candidates for the USD 259 Board of Education.

For their opening statements, candidates were asked to describe their last arts experiences and the meaning art holds for them.

Whipple, who gave his introduction first, did not mention specific arts-related experiences, instead giving a brief history of his time in Wichita.

Longwell spoke next.

“I’m going to share a little bit about my arts background, because arts have always been important to me,” he said.

He listed his experience with the Maize school board, the Arts Council board, and the Museum of World Treasures board.

Each of the nine candidates was then given the chance to answer community-suggested questions, with 90 seconds allowed for each response.

The questions ranged in topic from initiatives for beautifying Wichita to the inclusion of arts education within traditional STEM subjects.

Candidates repeatedly emphasized the role of arts in education and community engagement.

“Before humankind knew how to read or write, we were

communicating through art,” District 4 hopeful Beckie Jenek said.

“Art helps us with learning, it helps us with education, and it helps us define who we are as a culture.”

Only a few specific policy ideas were brought up, however.

Longwell relied on his track record of arts projects in Wichita — the East Bank project, emerging artist scholarships — while Whipple leveraged the state budget surplus into an argument for diverting more city and state funds to the arts.

“Our budget as a city is a reflection of our priorities,” Whipple said. “When we develop our downtown areas, we should be budgeting to add art to these structures by consulting our local art community here.”

‘A TRUST DEFICIT’

About halfway through the forum, moderator Tom Shine of KMUW asked the candidates how they would keep voters fully informed on the future of Century II and the organizations housed there.

The fate of the performing arts and convention center in downtown Wichita has been a subject of debate since the Century II Citizens Advisory Committee, formed by the city in February 2018, recommended building a new performing arts center elsewhere — rather than renovating the 50-year-old building.

Nearly all the candidates at the forum underscored the need for public input on the decision.

“The voters decided to build Century II; whatever happens to Century II, the voters should also

WSU reports 0.99% enrollment increase; overall enrollment slightly down at state universities

BY MATTHEW KELLY

Wichita State reported an enrollment increase of 0.99% from last fall, according to preliminary figures released by the Kansas Board of Regents Wednesday. WSU’s full-time equivalency is up to 11,397 from 11,285 in 2018.

Full-time equivalency (FTE) is based on the sum of credits taken by all students divided by 15 credit hours for undergraduate students and 12 credit hours for graduate students. The Regents switched to featuring the FTE metric for enrollment reporting last year instead of the longstanding 20-day headcount metric.

WSU's FTE increase was the

largest of any of Kansas' six state universities, narrowly edging out Fort Hays State's 0.94% increase.

Overall, Regents schools saw a slight decrease in FTE. WSU had a 1.0% increase in student course credit hours to 165,903, making fall credit hour enrollment its highest in school history, according to a WSU release.

WSU's first-time-in-college enrollment was down by 29 students to 1,579 after three straight years of the largest first-time classes in school history.

The University of Kansas reported a FTE decrease of 0.82% from 2018, and Kansas State's numbers are down 3.12%.

thesunflower.com

Mayor Jeff Longwell speaks at the fine arts forum at Wave on Tuesday.

have a say in,” District 4 candidate Christopher Parisho said.

District 2 candidate Rodney Wren said that public input is especially crucial now in Wichita.

“I’m going to address the elephant in the room — this is a big decision. There is a serious trust deficit at City Hall,” he said.

“Who are you going to trust to make the decisions that are transparent, that are above board, and that in no way reek of any kind of impropriety, perceived or actual?”

The Wichita Eagle reported Sunday that Longwell guided the largest city contract in Wichita’s history to his friends and supporters, conflicting with the decision a city selection committee unanimously decided on.

Longwell has denied the suggestion that he used his power inappropriately, saying it’s part of his job as mayor to steer the city in the direction he thinks is best.

The mayor did not respond to

Wren’s comment.

“We have a rich history in this community of saving buildings,” Longwell said. “We have to make sure that we engage this community on the East Bank, and it’s incredibly important that we get it right.”

FROM THE AUDIENCE

During the closing segment of the forum, questions were opened up to the audience. Susie Cunningham, a teaching artist at CityArts, asked the candidates to weigh in on school art supply budgets around the city.

“Sometimes I go and there will be schools that have plenty of supplies . . . but I was at Woodland Elementary last year, and they had $100 in their budget,” Cunningham said. “How do we balance it so that all the schools have paint and pencils and supplies?”

Sheril Logan, a member of the USD 259 Board of Education running for re-election, said each

MORGAN ANDERSON/THE SUNFLOWER

teacher at each school should have an equal budget for the year — and they can speak with their building principal about getting their needs covered if the budget is used up.

“We believe teachers shouldn’t not do a project because they don’t have crayons or they don’t have tempera paint,” Logan said. “So we’re trying to do everything we can to make sure schools do have everything they need.”

Joseph Shepard, 26 years old and a former WSU student body president, is Logan’s challenger for at-large seat on the school board.

“I think, as a board of education member . . . we have to ensure that the budgets we are allocating are equitable,” Shepard said.

“Regardless of where you teach or where you are, regardless of what zip code your school is in, regardless of if it’s a Title I school or not, we have to make sure that it’s equitable,” he said.

“Not equal — equitable.”

4 | THURSDAY, OCT. 3, 2019

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A&E

HAVE A STORY IDEA? contact The Sunflower’s editor-in-chief, Kylie Cameron editor@thesunflower.com

The strange worlds of Alexa Peters’s collages

BY BECCA YENSER

EASTON THOMPSON/THE SUNFLOWER Dr. Brittany Lockard, an assistant professor of art history, listens to a question posed by an eventgoer during a talk titled “The Secret Language of Food and Women’s Art” on Tuesday at the Ulrich Museum. The talk brought to the forefront ways in which female artists since the 1970s have explored and exploited phrases and ideas such as, “guilt free” and “indulgent” by making art about, with, and out of food.

WSU art historian talks food porn

BY OLIVIA BABIN

Food is often used in feminist art because of the implications it has on culture and body image.

Brittany Lockard, assistant professor of art history at Wichita State, gave a talk at the Ulrich Museum of Art Tuesday on how artists use food to comment on culture.

The talk was originally going to be about eating disorders and art about eating disorders, but Lockard said she didn’t feel like talking about vomit for another 50 minutes. Instead, the talk focused on food porn.

Lockard gave the talk like she was teaching one of her classes — she put images on the projector and asked the audience to give their own interpretation of the art. She began by explaining that food is not neutral. It has cultural, ritual, and other associations.

Lockard put a picture of Waldorf salad on the screen.

“When I see, smell, taste this dish, I am in [my grandmother’s] house,” Lockard said.

“It’s roughly 85 degrees. I”m sitting in a really uncomfortable chair and it’s Thanksgiving.”

She then asked the audience to share some of the dishes that they associate meaning to. It illustrated the point that food is not neutral or natural — it has meaning and significance in our cultures.

Eating is also not natural.

Lockard said we are constantly influenced by food advertisements as to what we should and should not be eating. She used Campbell’s Chunky Soup, yogurt, Hungry-Man dinners, etc. to explain.

“It’s never too early to start worrying about how fat you are,” she said when she brought up an image of the “Got Milk” ad with Taylor Swift on it.

The bulk of the images used were “deliberately pornographic.”

Lockard discussed Natalia LL and her images of models eating phallic foods.

“She’s fellating a banana — it’s a singe entendre if you will,” Lockard said.

Lockard allowed the audience to share some of their observations about the piece. People noted the critique of consumerism and the fact that the woman is not actually eating the banana.

Lockard also showed Marilyn Miner’s 100 Food Porn. The images show hands breaking, squishing, and cracking foods.

They aren’t innately sexual, but they give pornographic vibes with the dripping paint and red colors.

Lockard concluded by talking about one of the pieces included in Teachable Moments: The XXII Faculty Biennial, “Tick Tock.”

Lockard projected a still from the video of a woman smashing eggs in her underwear.

Wichita State students, Down to the Wire Film Festival winners discuss process

BY JEROMIAH TAYLOR

You are tasked with creating a short film. You must film on a bus, include a line from a book, and focus on the character traits “pudgy” and “treacherous.” The finished product will be entered into a juried competition, and one more detail — you have 24 hours.

Such is the prompt confronting contestants in the Down to the Wire Film Festival (DTTW), which took place last weekend.

DTTW Student Spotlight Awardwinning Team members Caitlin Cody and Ryan Riese are both Wichita State students.

Cody is a film major and Riese is an animation major. Cody was the director for their team, and Riese was the lead editor.

Their winning film, “Confession” is a five-minute kidnapping thriller that managed to include all the required elements.

“The judges said it was similar to ‘The Usual Suspects’ film,” Cody said. “It’s an interrogation of this guy who was in a kidnapping, and there’s a twist ending.”

Cody and Riese are both passionate about film. Cody works for the Tallgrass Film Festival as a programmer, and Riese has been making videos since his sophomore year of high school.

Cody has created multiple collaborative short film projects.

“I’ve worked on short films with my friends, so I usually write them and direct them and do the cinematography, and then have my

friends help with the other aspects of it,” Cody said.

The team started writing the script at 7:30 a.m., shot film for five hours, edited into the night, and spent the early morning refining audio and setting the film to music.

“You don’t sleep the day of,” Cody said.

Although both Cody and Riese said they are proud of “Confession,” the time constraint makes creative compromise necessary.

“I think it’s good but flawed in the sense that your time is limited and you can’t do everything you’d like, so you have to turn in a product that you’re content with, but at the same time, you can see room for improvement,” Riese said.

Much of the intense prioritization takes place during the editing process, Riese’s specialty.

“You prioritize what you need to get the story across,” Riese said.

“I would have liked to spend more time getting the audio at the same level, but when that’s going to take away from getting the cuts you need to tell the story, you have to put that on the back burner.”

Cody and Riese said they are already looking forward to their next creative journeys.

Cody has completed a project that is showing at several festivals and, and she’s working on writing another project.

Riese is interested in exploring how film informs animation and vice versa.

“Confession” can be viewed on YouTube.

Alexa Peters is describing her search for the right animal heads.

“I was trying to find animal heads that were all the same size. It would be so easy to Google a picture, but I feel like that’d be cheating.”

Twenty-six-year-old Peters, a Wichita native, creates collages painstakingly assembled from old magazines, many of which she finds at Paramount Antique Mall. Her technique is to find a central image that interests her, then peruse more source material for background clips.

“I like the older magazines like “Life” and “National Geographic” (from the 1960s) because the print on them is different, so if I put them next to something modern, it really pops,” Peters said. “A lot of the advertisements are so unusual.”

Since the creation of her art is somewhat dependent on found images, sometimes the process can feel limiting, she said.

“It can be pretty time consuming.

If I get a certain picture in my head, I need a certain size or a certain item,” Peters said. “So, I’m looking through magazines looking for that specific image. ‘Vaccinate Your Monster’ took one month to make.”

And Peters’s careful eye to detail

has paid off.

In “Post-Apocalyptic Ball,” three figures with animal heads are talking to women in formal gowns. The animal heads are of a raccoon, a bull, and a gorilla. The scene, though clearly depicting a soiree, features an old building in the background with a hand-painted sign that reads, “Heartbreak Motel.” Beyond that is an atomic orange mushroom cloud, which rises eerily into the shade of a Kansas sky before a storm.

The more you look at the piece, the more details are revealed. The experience is a bit like looking at “Magic Eye” posters that were popular in the 90s.

“I like to make things that are kind of weird,” Peters said.

Another work of hers, “If You Don’t Vaccinate Your Monster,” features King Kong and a woman in a skimpy dress (perhaps the fictional character of Ann Darrow) in a torrid embrace. A giant hand appears from the right-hand corner of the frame, poised with a needle above King Kong. Behind them are tanned, leisurely swimmers on a lake. And on a cliff behind them is a giant clock, with its hands at 2 p.m.

Peters’s art is a juxtaposition of ideas that feels fresh and

invigorating. Your mind can’t help but try to make sense of these strange new worlds. And while her paste-ups incite discomfort, they also provide an absurdist humor.

A relative newcomer to the art scene, Peters says she’s been making collages for about three years. Her first show was about a year ago, at Third Place Brewing, for a Final Friday. She describes the atmosphere of the local event as “very social.” It was also profitable.

“I sold, like, three or four pieces,” she added.

But Peters’s motivation for making art is personal.

“It’s therapeutic for me,” she said “I get in the zone when I do it.

I put on some music and it’s nice to just focus on this one thing for a little bit.”

Peters said she’s optimistic about Wichita’s change from Final Friday to First Friday.

“I would hope there would still be crowds and people who want to support local artists,” she said.

Peters’s art reception is this Friday at the Vagabond (614 W. Douglas). Her work will be on display through Oct. 26.

More of Peters’s work can be found at on her Facebook page.

EASTON THOMPSON/THE SUNFLOWER Far Left, “Post-Apocalyptic Ball,” a collage made by Alexa Peters, hangs in the Vagabond Cafe on display.

Left, “If You Don’t Vaccinate Your Monster,” a collage made

by Alexa Peters on display. The collage will be for sale at the Vagabond Cafe for a period of time.

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THURSDAY, OCT. 3, 2019

Opinion

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5

HAVE AN OPINION? contact The Sunflower’s opinion editor, Kevin Benavides opinion@thesunflower.com

Quit going on mission trips and volunteering abroad Every year, thousands of rich Americans travel the world to help people. It may seem like the best thing to do — travel the world and help the less fortunate out along the way. But your unskilled labor and short-lived connections aren’t doing as much good as you think.

Voluntourism, as it is commonly referred to, is not an inherently new form of tourism. It involves people going on vacation to more impoverished countries to volunteer their time as well as experience the finer sides of tourism. Experts have begun to question whether this volunteering is really doing the good it is supposed to.

When people head to countries to provide their time and labor, they often don’t think about how the community will be affected. Building someone a home might provide them with shelter, but a home won’t feed them, give them clean water, or provide them medical help. It won’t pull them out of poverty.

People often go with a complete misunderstanding of the culture and values of the people they want to help.

It seems like enough to just know that there is poverty and a presumed

OLIVIA BABIN COLUMNIST

neediness in the community. This can lead to condescending and superficial relationships that make the volunteer a “savior” and the communities into charity cases.

Teaching English might seem like it would be easy — I mean, you’ve spoken English your whole life — but many “voluntour” teachers don’t understand the local language and do not have any previous teaching experience.

Volunteering at an orphanage? It has been proven in numerous studies that the constant forming of connection with volunteers only to have them severed after a few days or weeks can

Achieving body confidence is more complex than one might think Confidence is the key. But I know personally that achieving confidence can be tricky business.

See, I can’t be too confident.

Because then I’d be full of it. But I can’t be too insecure either, because then I’d be fishing for compliments.

For example, if someone told me I looked good and I told them that I agreed, to some or even many, that would come across as being full of it or having a big ego. So instead, I might take the “humble” approach and disagree with them, stating that I did not, in fact, look good that day.

Then, it’s almost like I’m asking for them to compliment me even more.

As a result of this thought process, society as a whole has accepted the “smile and say thank you” approach which I have no problem with. It’s nice, it’s polite and it gets the point across. There are no lines to read in between and there’s almost no way someone can distort its meaning.

And yet, we are told on a daily basis that we should know our worth and we should own our confidence. So, how far do we go?

That’s a question I have yet to find an answer to. If I had someone next to me looking at themselves in the mirror and I heard them say, “Oh, I look good today,” I couldn’t help but have some sort of thought cross my mind that they might be full of themselves. Is that true, or is that just what society has taught us?

Before I continue, I am very much aware that there is a difference between being “full of it” and being confident. Being “full of it” can mean someone flaunting their looks to make other people feel bad, while being “confident” means to be comfortable in your own skin and be proud of who you are.

But, sometimes, especially for young girls and boys, it can get confusing when trying to achieve their own confidence.

When you’re growing up, everything is black and white. But as you grow older and mature in perspective, the lines begin to blur and

LINDSAY SMITH COLUMNIST

distort into different ways for each person. Body image and confidence are a couple of these things.

Social media, movies, television, magazines, and many more all play a part in the complexity of body image. In a world where society sets the ideal of beauty, it’s already hard enough to reach it. This fear of being considered “over-confident” only adds to the already flaming fire that we all have to walk through every day.

So, how do we decide what is “too” confident and what is the “perfect amount” of confidence?

I say we don’t.

I think there are other more important issues we could spend our time and energy focused on instead of discussing with our friends about if that one girl who said she looked good in her Instagram caption is full of herself.

Instead, I propose this: we all stop competing with each other.

And when we feel the need to make assumptions, we should ask ourselves why. Why are we spending valuable time making assumptions about people who have nothing to do with us? Aren’t their better things we can do with our time?

I propose we all help each other along the journey to finding confidence. I propose that we all support and compliment one another. I propose we all start being happy when someone starts feeling good in their own skin. I propose we all choose kindness.

Kindness is the most beautiful trait, after all.

As a political science major, it is extremely important for me to keep on top of what’s happening in the world.

When you are an international student who is a political science major, it is even more important to understand the current sociopolitical climate in both your country and region of origin and current country of residence.

This is quite an interesting experience for me as both of these countries are going through some kind of political turmoil.

I am from the two-nation island of Sint Maarten/Saint Martin.

Sint Maarten is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and Saint Martin is a Collectivity of France.

I am from the Dutch side of the island, and since 2010, the year we were awarded our country status, our government has not been stable.

Our political system is a parliamentary system, similar to the British. In this system, parliament can send home the government, which is the executive branch, and the government can retaliate and invoke Article 59 in our constitution and call for elections.

Article 59 was invoked just last September when the parliamentary majority was no more, and parliament did not support the current government.

Now you may be wondering to yourself, why is this that big of an issue? Well, when you have had nine governments in the span of nine years, it’s a problem — a big problem.

This is an even bigger issue when all the members of the voting bureau, the office that’s in charge of making sure that elections are free and fair democratic contests, resigns.

As someone who will eventually plan and work with the policies of my country, this is some bad

KAMILAH GUMBS COLUMNIST

history to deal with. As someone who keeps up to date on the turmoil, it is really stressful to deal with. Unfortunately, all I can do now is sit and observe what’s happening.

If you haven’t heard the latest American political news yet, it’s obvious that you’ve been living under a rock, but the Democrats in the House of Representatives have finally launched an impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump.

I’ll be honest with you. I personally found that it took too long for them to start impeachment proceedings, but the time is finally here. I am not a fan of the media praising Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the white freshman representatives, when it’s been clear that the POC freshmen one of the team’s only meets outside of the Midwest this season representatives were calling for impeachment as soon as they won their seats.

However, I’ll accept that it’s finally happening. Now folks might be wondering, why am I, an international student, invested in United States politics?

Well, two things: again, I am a political science major, and also, when America sneezes, the Caribbean catches the cold. And us catching the cold is the last thing we need right now.

The impeachment process is a very delicate process that the House and the Senate have

to deal with. Many political scientists are certain that it would pass the House, but the investigation has to bring very detailed and damning information for the Senate to convict.

Also, there are many other worries that I and others have if Trump actually gets impeached.

Everyone knows that Vice President Mike Pence is extremely conservative. His policies and ideologies lean so much to the right that even some conservatives call out the extremes.

He is also an actual experienced politician and knows the system pretty well. Having a president that intense would push back a lot of the social development this country has seen.

My second worry is Donald Trump deciding that he might not leave the White House. We know it’s a common trope for many people in this country, both liberals and conservatives, to think and say that these things only happen in “third-world countries” and not here because our democracy it too strong.

Well, when you have such terms as #CivilWarSignUps trending on Twitter, there is definitely a problem.

I personally do not have a clear and easy solution for any of this.

My advice to those who are eligible to vote is to do your research and make the right decision for you.

If you are eligible to vote and you don’t want to, as an outsider, I don’t blame you.

The political arena is messy, and it’s tricky, and it’s really designed for one type to win, but change will come eventually. The question of whether it’s good or bad is up to you. Meanwhile, I’ll continue to scream at every news article my mom sends me.

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Corrections: The Sunflower is committed to accuracy in its publications. If you find an error in a story, email editor@thesunflower.com

addresses an underlying issue such as poverty and does more than just build a home (a home won’t pull someone out of poverty).

2. Make sure the project partners with the community. You should be working directly with community members to make sure things are being solved in a way that works for them.

3. Choose a program that promotes cultural learning and understanding.

Make sure you will not be pushing your own culture and values onto those you are helping. Study the culture before you get there so you have an understanding of what they value, and then you can help using their values.

4. Do not go to make yourself feel good. The project should have nothing to do with you and making you feel like a good person. If that is why you want to be there, don’t volunteer; just spend your money and stimulate their economy.

5. Use a program that is well-known for making a difference. Do not just trust whatever your organization or church sets up for you. Do your own research to make sure that the above criteria will be met.

Whether in the U.S. or the Caribbean, politics are crazy

Opinion Letters should concentrate on issues, not personalities, and must be fewer than 350 words. Letters may be edited for accuracy, clarity and length. Please include your name, WSU affiliation and a phone number for verification purposes. To submit letters, email opinion@thesunflower.com or submit at www.thesunflower.com.

destroy a child’s psyche. There are also cases of orphanages that will purposely maintain the poverty and image of need so they can receive donations from volunteers. It is a good, sustainable profit machine for the owners, and the volunteers can feel like they made an impact.

There are many cases where volunteers will do all this work building a house, but due to their unskilled labor, the community members will have to go back, take everything apart, and rebuild it before work starts again the next day.

If that’s the case, wouldn’t it be more helpful to just donate your money to the project so the work goes to the community members and it can also provide them with income? Probably.

I am not telling you to never go on a mission trip or never do a volunteer excursion, but if you do it, do research to make sure it will actually be helping and not just inflating your ego.

Here are five tips to make sure the program you’re using will make a difference: 1. Make sure the project is sustainable. It should be something that

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Sports

HAVE A STORY IDEA? contact The Sunflower’s sports editor, Marshall Sunner sports@thesunflower.com

In rememberance

MORGAN ANDERSON/THE SUNFLOWER

Melissa Hasty, director of Campus Ministry, reads the prayer at WSU’s Football Memorial ‘70 on Wednesday.

MORGAN ANDERSON/THE SUNFLOWER

Former WSU football players Bill Moore and Bruce Gerleman place a wreath during the memorial.

Wichita State hosts annual memorial service to honor plane crash victims

BY MARSHALL SUNNER

Bruce Gerleman looked out the window of his plane. What he saw wasn’t a pleasant sight. Oil was spilling from his plane’s engine.

Wichita State was traveling to Logan, Utah, for a game against Utah State in the upcoming days.

It was a clear and calm day, and Gerleman’s plane, the second of two that was scheduled to land, arrived safely in Logan. The first plane, however, wasn’t at the airport.

At 1:14 p.m., the first plane carrying passengers made up of WSU football players, coaches, and Athletic Director Bert Katzenmeyer crashed into the side of a mountain eight miles west of Silver Plume, Colorado. Out of 37 people, 31 died.

Pilot error, including poor in-flight decisions and inadequate pre-flight planning, was reported as the official cause of the crash.

“The crash was the most traumatic event in all of our lives,” Gerleman said Wednesday.

Every year on Oct. 2, members of the team come back to Wichita to remember those who lost their lives on that day years ago.

“We come to celebrate and be thankful for the lives that we have, that we were spared and given, and be thankful that we were the ones that survived, but to also honor those guys that never had a chance

to live a life like we did.”

Gerleman is one of the lucky ones who gets to continue his life today.

But he said the crash victims will never be forgotten.

“For the memorial, they say, those were some of the luckiest guys in the world. Who else when they die has a memorial in remembrance of them every year for 49 years?” Gerleman said. “Every year, all of these people come back to remember them. Most of us, when we die, go up to the cemetery and no one shows up out there for you.”

“These guys are frozen in time as these big, strong, fast, powerful, young men at the height of their career — at the height of their life — the healthiest people during that time, and that’s how we remember them.”

The NCAA stepped in after the accident to play a bigger role in ensuring travel safety for college athletes.

“They had chartered some really old planes,” Gerleman said.

“After this accident, it actually was a change for the good, because the NCAA got involved and started requiring all college travel to review all the travel arrangements for universities around the nation.”

Not only did Wichita State’s incident improve travel conditions nationwide, but the NCAA also put in new rules that would allow

These guys are frozen in time as these big, strong, powerful young men at the height of their career.” ­— Bruce Gerleman

college freshmen to play in varsity games. Before the crash, the NCAA didn’t allow freshmen to participate in games.

“The other part of that is after the crash, the NCAA ruled that freshmen could play college sports,” Gerleman said. “That’s the first time in the history of the NCAA that freshmen could play. Up to that point, there was a freshman team and the varsity team, and so that changed dramatically in college sports.”

Ed Plopa, another team member that was on the plane that landed safely, said the annual gathering is an important opportunity to connect with others who were affected by the deadly crash.

“Some people come a long way and I get to see a lot of my buddies this way,” Plopa said. “I get to see the daughter of the head coach who was only 15-years-old at the time of the crash, and over the years, I had the chance to really meet with her and know her. I’ve made lasting bonds because of it.

California governor signs bill to allow college athletes to profit off of name, likeness

BY MARSHALL SUNNER

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the controversial “Fair Pay to Play” act, giving college athletes the opportunity to get paid based off their name and likeness.

The bill does not allow athletes to be paid by the university directly with a salary. Endorsement deals that go against the school’s branding is also prohibited. The bill is slated to go into effect in 2023.

NBA superstar Lebron James helped announce the signing on his HBO show, “The Shop.”

The NCAA has since responded to the signing by saying that they “will consider next steps in California while our members move forward with ongoing efforts to make adjustments to NCAA name, image and likeness rules that are both realistic in modern society and tied to higher education.”

Their statement also went on to say that “as more states consider their own specific legislation related

to this topic, it is clear that a patchwork of different laws from different states will make unattainable the goal of providing a fair and level playing field for 1,100 campuses and nearly half a million student-athletes nationwide.”

Previously, the NCAA sent a letter to Newsom when the bill was proposed earlier this year saying that the 52 sanctioned colleges in the state were at risk of losing their NCAA eligibility if the bill was passed. Controversy has already consumed the California schools and the Pac-12 Conference because of the bill. Pepperdine Athletic Director Steve Potts told The Wall Street Journal that he doesn’t “want to put our student athletes in a position where they’re not allowed to compete at the highest level.”

The Pac-12 released a statement Monday morning disavowing the bill.

“The Pac-12 is disappointed in the passage of SB 206 and believes it will have very significant

negative consequences for our student-athletes and broader universities in California,” the Pac-12 said in their statement.

“This legislation will lead to the professionalization of college sports and many unintended consequences related to this professionalism, imposes a state law that conflicts with national rules, will blur the lines for how California universities recruit student-athletes and compete nationally, and will likely reduce resources and opportunities for student-athletes in Olympic sports and have a negative disparate impact on female student-athletes.”

The conference went on to say that they continue to lead student-athlete reform, but “firmly believe all reforms must treat our student-athletes as students pursuing an education, and not as professional athletes.”

ESPN’s Tom Luginbill said the “kids are going to go where the money is,” which is a recruiting controversy the bill could spur.

“I don’t expect a total embracing of Wichita State or the city, because they simply weren’t there. Most people think that was the last year that we had the football team, and we had football until 1986. That was 16 years later.”

One thing that Plopa said he’s noticed over the years is the lack of knowledge about the event.

“As time has worn on, less people know about it and don’t understand the significance of it,” he said.

The people who attend the memorial every year have discussed moving next year’s memorial service to the crash site in Colorado because it will be the 50th anniversary.

“There is already talk about having a committee formed and a lot of stuff that they’ve really organized for a larger attendance,” Plopa said. “We also plan to periodically take trips to the mountainside, and next year, we plan to have one of the survivors there sometime in September.”

Gerleman said that for him, the memorial is also about being there for his fallen teammates and friends.

“It is just to honor their memories and honor their sacrifice and be thankful for our lives that we were given, and just come together as a team and preach all those stories and re-bond again as a team,” Gerleman said. “We are still a team.”

Baseball announces schedule for annual Fall World Series scrimmages

BY MARSHALL SUNNER

Wichita State baseball announced its Fall World Series and Alumni Weekend dates this week.

The annual Fall World Series, consisting of intersquad scrimmages, will be held from Oct. 12-19 at Eck Stadium. The opener is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. Admission to the games will be a canned food item that will be donated to the Kansas Food Bank.

The game on Oct. 12 will be held in accordance with the Wichita State Baseball Alumni Weekend. The weekend is kicked off with the annual Shocker Baseball Alumni Golf Tournament.

Prior to the 1 p.m. start on Oct. 12, there will be tours of the new additions at Eck Stadium starting at 11 a.m. The additions being added are a part of the Bombardier Learjet Practice Facility.

IF YOU GO FULL SERIES SCHEDULE SATURDAY, OCT. 12 1 p.m.

MONDAY, OCT. 14 1 p.m.

TUESDAY, OCT. 15 1 p.m.

FRIDAY, OCT. 18 2 p.m.

SATURDAY, OCT. 19 2 p.m.

DID YOU KNOW? All games will be held on campus at Eck Stadium.