The Sunflower v.122 i.13

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2017 • VOL. 122, ISS. 13

THESUNFLOWER.COM

WICHITA STATE UNIVERSITY’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1896.

NEWS IN BRIEF

MUM’S THE

READING NOW, WRITING NOW Award-winning author Kristina Darling, who has written 27 books, will host a reading as part of the “Writing Now, Reading Now” series, co-sponsored by the English Department. The event starts with a reception at 5:30 p.m., Thurs., at the Ulrich Museum.

WAITING FOR DR. KING

WORD

The Black Student Union will host Former Student Body President’s lecture series, “Waiting for Dr. King.”

The event will take place at 6:30 p.m., Thurs., in 211 Hubbard Hall.

CHINESE PIANIST TO PERFORM AT WIEDEMANN

Award-winning Chinese pianist Dingyuan Zhang will perform at the Wiedemann Recital Hall on Thurs. The performance will begin at 7:30 p.m., with doors opening 30 minutes prior to the start of the show.

WSU OFFICIALS DECLINE INTERVIEWS, DEFER TO LETTER

VP CALLS ENROLLMENT COVERAGE ‘INCORRECT AND MISLEADING INFORMATION’

By CHANCE SWAIM, MATTHEW KELLY, & RAY STRUNK

R

ick Muma’s “Letter to the Editor” on page 2 of today’s Sunflower is the only university response offered to The Sunflower in attempts to follow up on our coverage of Wichita State’s enrollment that appeared in print and online Monday. Muma is the senior associate MUMA vice president for academic affairs and strategic enrollment management. In his letter, he called The Sunflower’s coverage of enrollment “incorrect and misleading information.”

In that story, published Monday, The Sunflower documented how, in the two weeks leading up to the official enrollment tally — after losing pace with last year’s student headcount — WSU enrolled 668 non-degree-seeking students in free, half-credit-hour badge courses and then reported the largest enrollment increase of any four-year university in the state.

The Sunflower reached out to Muma, President John Bardo, Vice President for Strategic Communications Lou Heldman, Vice President for Student Affairs Teri Hall, university relations, the WSU Board of Trustees, the WSU Foundation, other members of strategic communications, the admissions office, and several members of faculty senate. Those who responded either declined to comment or deferred to Muma’s letter to the editor.

Muma declined to be interviewed for this story.

Anna Lanier, director of operations for President Bardo, responded to The Sunflower’s request for comment from

KANSAS ECONOMIC OUTLOOK CONFERENCE

the president.

“My understanding is that Rick Muma … is working on a letter to the Editor to address the original article,” Lanier said.

Heldman did not respond to an email request for comment.

Hall said in an email, “The person you should really get a comment from is Dr Rick Muma.”

University relations also deferred to Muma.

The office manager for the board of trustees, Susan Johnson, said Andy Schlapp is responsible for the board of trustees, and he was traveling Wednesday. Schlapp is the executive director of operations for the board.

Johnson did not respond to The Sunflower’s request for her to forward our questions to other members of the board, and no one else from the board contacted The Sunflower by press time.

“The University supports the statements made by Rick Muma in his letter to the editor sent to the Sunflower earlier,” said Shelly Coleman-Martins, associate vice president and chief marketing officer for strategic communications, in an email.

Lynn Deckinger, director of marketing and communications for the WSU foundation, thanked The Sunflower for contacting her for an interview, but declined to comment.

“We do not believe that we are the best resource for this follow-up story,” Deckinger said.

The Sunflower asked each of these university officials if they thought the last-minute enrollment of 668

WSU’s Center for Economic Development and Business Research will host the 38th annual Kansas Economic Outlook Conference at 7:30 a.m., Thurs., at Intrust Bank Arena. KAKE News’s Deb Farris will moderate a series of discussions and presentations about the future of local, state, and national economies.

Hinshaw arrives amid UPD changes

By JENNA FARHAT

SEE ENROLLMENT PAGE 4

SGA postpones Las Vegas support resolution

By RAY STRUNK

After nearly one hour of discussion and debate, the Student Government Association voted to table the “Support for Las Vegas Shooting Victim and Families” resolution until Wednesday.

The resolution, co-authored

by Fine Arts Sen. Xan Mattek and Liberal Arts and Sciences Sen. Shelby Rowell, proposed that the 60th session of SGA offer “its deepest condolences to the families and victims of this act of domestic terrorism.” The resolution also acknowledged the state’s campus concealed carry law and SGA’s resolution opposing the law from last year.

Mattek said the resolution addresses an uncomfortable topic.

“This conversation is particularly uncomfortable because lives are at stake,” Mattek said.

“The climate of fear created by situations such as these unfortunately forces us to have these conversations and we have the responsibility to act with empathy.”

Multiple senators said that, while they support the victims in Las Vegas, they couldn’t vote for the resolution as presented.

REID LINOT/THE SUNFLOWER

SGA President Paige Hungate listens to Sen. Xan Mattek propose a bill Mattek expressing support for Las Vegas shooting victims.

Health Professions Sen. Chris Thiel said the resolution was polarizing.

“The way it’s worded, you either support the victims of the Las Vegas terrorist attack or you support campus carry,” Thiel said. “Those are two separate issues.”

At-large Sen. Taylor Williams said the bill should be split into two parts, one part offering condolences to the victims in Las Vegas and the other addressing SGA’s position on campus carry.

Returning Adult Sen. Timothy Dodd said both elements of the resolution were necessary.

International Sen. Haneesha Vishwa Sai said she supports the resolution, but it needed to be rewritten to be more specific.

Voting on the resolution was ultimately postponed until next week’s meeting to give senators the time to further research the bill and draft amendments.

Interim Wichita State Police Chief Robert Hinshaw spent 33 years working in the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s office. But he didn’t always know he wanted to be a cop.

After graduating from Wichita Southeast High School, he worked as a clerk at J.C. Penney at Towne East Mall. He got his first taste of law enforcement spending time around the mall security staff while they were catching shoplifters.

“What I really loved was you didn’t know what was gonna happen next,” Hinshaw said.

From there, he became a 911 dispatcher, and worked his way up to being elected Sedgwick County Sheriff in 2008.

He said he saw his duties as puzzles to be solved.

“When I was younger, I loved working the midnight shift, not knowing what was gonna happen next. I’ve worked tornadoes, I’ve worked blizzards, I’ve worked fatality car accidents,” Hinshaw said.

“Whether you ran across something or you were dispatched to something, the only thing I knew was I was going to a challenge that I was going to need to solve.”

Hinshaw retired from his career in law enforcement after he lost re-election for county sheriff in 2012.

And he said he plans to keep it that way. When contacted about serving as Wichita State Police Chief, he said yes — “as long as the emphasis is on ‘interim,’” Hinshaw said.

“I eventually said, yes, I’d be willing to serve as interim chief, but I have no desire to throw my hat into the ring to be considered for the chief full time.”

He said the university police department will be undergoing change, including a redefining of the police chief’s job description.

“Since you have a new chief coming in, you have the Innovation Campus coming in. . . They want everything to be focused with one voice and all in the same page of music,” Hinshaw said.

“A good time for that review is when there are changes going on SEE HINSHAW PAGE 3

WHY LIVESTREAM?

WILD & UNTAMED

BATTLE OF THE SEXES

18 YEARS AT THE NET

Why The Sunflower is livestreaming SGA.

Fall fun that’s not a pumpkin patch.

A misguided movie.

Volleyball coach reflects on his 18 years at WSU.

OPINION • PAGE 2

CULTURE • PAGE 3

CULTURE • PAGE 3

SPORTS • PAGE 4

OPINION

2 | THURSDAY, OCT. 5, 2017

www.thesunflower.com

LETTER to the EDITOR

www.thesunflower.com

THE STAFF EDITORIAL

Editor-in-Chief Chance Swaim

Focus on the small wins

Managing Editor Jenna Farhat Culture Editor Marissa Campbell Sports Editor Matt Crow Opinion Editor Evan Pflugradt Copy Chief Matthew Kelly Design Editor Madeline Deabler Photo Editor Brian Hayes Digital Editor Nicole Byrne

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Advertising Manager Christian Yost

ADVISING

Faculty Adviser Amy DeVault

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Send letters to the editor to editor@thesunflower.com or submit at thesunflower.com. Please keep letters to 400 words or less. All letters are edited for clarity and length. Please include your name, WSU affiliation and a phone number for verification purposes.

Our 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.

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The Sunflower (published for use by WSU students, faculty and staff) is private property and unlawful removal or use of papers is prosecutable. One copy may be taken for free. Additional copies must be purchased for $1 each. The Sunflower is also partially funded by the Student Government Association at WSU. 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 university. The Sunflower reserves the right to edit or reject any submission. We also reserve the right to edit or reject any advertisement.

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CORRECTIONS

10/02/2017, “Headcount Padding”: 2,301, not 2,031, freshmen were enrolled at WSU in 2014.

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REID LINOT/THE SUNFLOWER

The Sunflower’s livestream set-up for the Oct. 4 Student Senate meeting in the Rhatigan Student Center. The Sunflower is taking steps to ensure its livestream videos are accessible as soon as possible.

WHY THE SUNFLOWER IS

LIVESTREAMING

The Student Government Association of Wichita State is dropping their Facebook livestream of Student Senate meetings, and, effective immediately, The Sunflower is picking things back up.

The Sunflower will continue to stream for the duration of the year.

SGA is cutting their stream to remain compliant — they would like to add emphasis on their exceptional compliance. They’re adhering to a civil rights lawsuit by Emily Schlenker, a blind pre-med student. In July 2016, WSU entered into an agreement with the National Federation of the Blind, and appointed an accessibility coordinator to make university resources available to the visually impaired. The university, including all instructors, is on a two-year training period that requires compliance to new ADA-compliant visual standards in the classroom.

Accommodations for hearing-impaired students require closed-captions on all videos.

These enforced standards go into effect at the start of the 2018-19 academic year.

SGA took an early jump to maintain compliance. As a result, they have partnered with the Media Resource Center to stage a production full of cameras,

EVAN PFLUGRADT OPINION EDITOR

microphones, and a profusion of wires. They’ll record meetings and post them to YouTube at a later date.

YouTube offers a close-captioning service that will pick up audio and transcribe it — it’s choppy at best.

They could also offer more clear captions by having someone painstakingly transcribe the meetings.

But most meetings run for more than two hours, and that’s quite a bit of transcription.

Additionally, SGA said YouTube will reach larger audiences, adding that not everyone has access to Facebook. SGA’s page can also be accessed without logging into a Facebook account.

SGA leaders have vocally advised The Sunflower to follow suit and not engage in streaming.

The Sunflower is not streaming because SGA and the Media

Resource Center said “no.” We’re streaming because we can, because we should, and because we see it as a purpose to fulfill journalistic duties.

Live, up-to-the-minute reporting is an essential component of journalism at any level, including college newspapers.

SGA is free to follow any procedure they wish, but no set of regulations forbid The Sunflower or any other entity from livestreaming. Student Senate meetings are open to the public, and, like any public event, you’re free to produce live accounts of the events.

Livestreaming is an easy and effective method of documenting events and offering audiences real-time engagement. As we saw last year, things can happen in a hurry at Student Senate meetings.

Cutting the stream doesn’t mean SGA is attempting to break off transparency or hide anything from the student population — though they could hide something behind a blacked-out livestream.

The Sunflower is looking hard at the cost and availability of software to make our livestreams ADA compliant. For now, we have been told by the MRC that they are busy with the set-up for the Economic Outlook Conference.

We’re waiting to hear back. Until then, we’re doing our best.

Compliance is important to us, as it should be.

University responds to ‘Headcount Padding’ The Sunflower published incorrect and misleading information in the article “Headcount Padding: Wichita State MUMA reports largest student increase in state,” on Monday, Oct. 2.

I’m responsible for leading the university’s enrollment efforts, and much of the misinformation could have been prevented had I been interviewed prior to the story being published.

The fact is, during the past two years, hundreds of students, faculty and staff have been involved in the university’s enrollment efforts. More than 40 students are currently employed in the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, and many more are associated with enrollment efforts in their colleges and academic departments.

To state that the university padded enrollment at the “last minute” is absolutely false and a disservice to the hundreds of university employees, including student workers, who have worked on our enrollment efforts. It implies that their work was somehow nefarious in nature and questions their integrity.

As the leader of WSU’s enrollment efforts and one who believes integrity is so important as a professional, it sickens me to think that somehow The Sunflower believed that we were leading the university down a path that lacked integrity.

I’d encourage everyone to revisit the university’s Strategic Enrollment Plan (SEM) – wichita. edu/semplan. In our efforts to be transparent, our plans for growing enrollment have been available on

LETTER to the

EDITOR that website for the past two years.

It utilizes best practices readily available in the higher education literature.

In that plan you’ll find the university’s enrollment goals, including Goal 5 to increase non-degree for-credit enrollment (badges, market-based tuition courses, etc.) by 14 percent annually through fall 2020. This goal is the main focus of The Sunflower article pointing out “last-minute enrollment of non-degree-seeking senior citizens, high school students and working professionals in half-credit-hour courses.”

The truth is the Faculty Senate approved a document to allow and encourage such offerings in 2015 – www.wichita.edu/j/?5917. There was nothing “last-minute” about this goal.

In order to reach the SEM plan enrollment goal of more than 18,000 students by 2020 (not counting WATC students), we will need to grow enrollment by about 5 percent annually in all areas, traditional, transfers, online and even non-degree bound students.

After surveying local employers and getting their input, we were confident that we’d see an increase in badge enrollment with the right mix of offerings. That’s why more than 30 new badges were developed by the colleges and approved by faculty during the last year in various subjects.

We started marketing and offering scholarship incentives for some of our badges in early August

because most working professionals with families wait until school resumes before enrolling. Several of our employees have been involved in developing badges and travel the U.S. speaking at conferences about this innovative approach that opens up access to higher education.

Providing these types of opportunities, including the timing, are nothing new to WSU. For example, the previous administration annually provided hundreds of thousands of dollars of scholarships for students, which grew our high school concurrent enrollment.

In the fall of 2011 the university provided full scholarships for 402 high school students and 906 the following spring. Those enrollments counted in past headcount totals.

In addition to enrollment increases in non-degree initiatives this fall, we have increases among first-time new freshmen (1,436, the most in university history for the second consecutive year) and minority students among all freshmen (24.2 percent).

We also saw continued growth in students majoring in online programs (32 percent increase) and continued growth in students living along the I-35 corridor (38 percent increase). All of these increases are a result of our SEM plan goal of growing enrollment to 18,000 students.

We intend to continue using the SEM plan to guide our enrollment efforts, and we will likely see increases in non-degree initiatives.

We believe this is the wave of the future and a game-changer for higher education.

- RICK MUMA, SENIOR ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT FOR ACADEMIC AFFAIRS AND STRATEGIC ENROLLMENT MANAGEMENT

One week ago, I was walking through the Rhatigan Student Center and a bittersweet thought passed through my mind. In less than a year, I will no longer be walking in these halls. I will no longer be Student Body President at Wichita State. I will no longer be a collegian. This is an unusual feeling as a senior, but man, I am proud of Wichita State. I know I will leave the institution with a heavy heart but also as a proud alumni.

After a conversation with Dr. Jim Rhatigan following the election, he explained that focusing on the small wins is the most useful way of leading. Then, in a conversation with one of the Kansas Regents, he stated something along the lines that of the things he accomplishes, he will most likely not benefit from.

Similarly, a Kansas State administrator told the Student Advisory Committee to not lose ourselves in the large issues that no one can ever solve, but instead to set out plans for long term goals and also concentrate on the small things we can get done now that may result in change.

I pondered all of those wise notions and realized what I am concentrated on — how can I leave campus better in one year? How can I leave campus a finer institution for when my cousins are of age to attend college? What will the legacy of Student Government be? Why do we do what we do? This is about much more than me, much more than my cabinet — this is about you, about us working together toward the common goal of advancing Wichita State University.

There is still work to be done, but it is important to note, a lot has been accomplished. Too often, students and the media get overly interested in the bad that the good gets lost in the hustle. I write to you today to tell you: there are good things happening. After you read this, I invite you to focus on the good. Shockers are helping Shockers. It happens each and every day — whether you see it or not. The Shocker Support Locker has grown immensely, and we are seeing more students than ever utilize the facility, inquire about volunteering and how to donate necessary items. Additional cameras have been installed in the Flats parking garage. Prices have been lowered at Fast Break. A Lunch and Learn series for females to learn more about how to succeed has been developed.

Our Senate is filled with some of the most dedicated students at WSU — 50 to be exact. The Senate is committed to all students and to ensuring that your life is better off than when you began as a student.

They advocate for you each and every Wednesday at Senate and all throughout the week in several ways. Whether it is by developing legislation that supports you and your interests, by hosting tables in the RSC and other campus buildings to open up dialogue to fellow students, or by attending your events — the Senate is here for you.

I encourage you all to not only reach out to those in the executive roles in SGA, but to those in the legislative branch who are interested in representing you.

Speaking of the cabinet, these eight individuals who serve in the leadership roles of the Association or as committee chairs could not be better. They have one interest in mind when making decisions — you. We come into the office for hours each week to make your time here at Wichita State optimal by advocating for your thoughts in important meetings with administration. I could not be happier with Breck who was elected alongside me, with Kylen, Bailey and Marshall who were approved by the Senate, and with the chairs, Elle, Haneesha, Taylor and Walter, who seek out the issues and make those changes transpire. Rest assured knowing that there are 60-plus individuals at work for you.

My message to you today should not be confused with blind optimism with everything happening at Wichita State. I understand, there are issues to be solved. Instead, what I write about is in hopes that I can instill confidence and positivity into each person who reads this. I’m hopeful in what Student Government can do and convinced that the small wins will add up to be great successes.

Focus on the good. And, more importantly, focus on the small wins.

- PAIGE HUNGATE, SBP

OPINION

www.thesunflower.com

THURSDAY, OCT. 5, 2017

|3

WILD AND UNTAMED Beer, musicals, films to fill your October calendar

By MARISSA CAMPBELL Walking through a corn maze, running through a haunted house, and going to a pumpkin patch are all stereotypical fall activities, but in Wichita, there’s plenty of fun to be had throughout October. Instead of spending hours lost in a field, try one of these out.

BLOKTOBERFEST 2017 WHEN: 5-9 p.m. Oct. 13-14 WHERE: Wichita Waterwalk

Burgers, brats, and beer will speckle the streets downtown for the second annual Bloktoberfest. The two-day event is free and will be full of food, live music, carnival games, and contests. The Bloktober Beer Fest, 6-9 p.m. Oct. 13 is $40 per ticket, which provides food, beer and different activities than those at the free event. Instead of sitting at home all weekend, get out, put on your best Oktoberfest outfit, and join the fun at the Waterwalk.

TALLGRASS FILM FESTIVAL WHEN: Oct. 18-22 WHERE: Downtown Wichita (multiple venues)

This fall marks the 15-year anniversary of the Tallgrass Film Festival. Individual ticket prices vary by the film, or you can buy a package deal to attend multiple showings. The fest features independent movies from both local and national directors. Rose McGowan, grindhouse movie star, will be in attendance as she receives the Ad Astra award for starring in and directing independent films.

“LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS” MUSICAL WHEN: Oct. 26-29 WHERE: Wilner Auditorium

This month, the Wichita State School of Performing Arts presents the musical “Little Shop of Horrors.” Based on the low-budget cult classic from the 60s, characters Audrey and Seymour are terrorized by a man-eating plant. The performance is free to students with a WSU ID. “ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW” MIDNIGHT SCREENING WHEN: Oct. 27 WHERE: The Orpheum Theatre

“Rocky Horror Picture Show” has had an intense following since its release in 1975. Between Tim Curry dressed in lingerie and the iconic Time Warp, this event is sure to sell out. Tickets are $15 each with the party pack, or $10 without. Get dressed up, have a toast, and see what’s on the slab.

MADELINE DEABLER/THE SUNFLOWER

HINSHAW

FROM PAGE 1

BRIAN HAYES/THE SUNFLOWER

Robert Hinshaw, former Sedgwick County Sheriff, is serving as the intern university police chief. A campus map and a stack of files sit behind him as he adjusts to his new office.

anyway. This is a perfect opportunity for us to take a hard look at ourselves.”

In the world of law enforcement, integrity is the most important value, Hinshaw said.

“The idea that you’re gonna be the same person in your public life that you are in your private life.”

Hinshaw said that was something he stressed in nine years of teaching a course on core values at the

County Sheriff’s Office.

“If you cannot be fair and unbiased, I don’t have any use for you,” Hinshaw said. “You need to take the badge off and find another job.”

He said among the problems he saw with the university police were a short-staffed 47-person department, and parking.

“The biggest problem I see is parking on campus,” Hinshaw, a Wichita State alum, said. “Quite frankly, that was a problem in 1975 when I was trying to find a parking place. I don’t think that’s ever going

to go away.”

Hinshaw said that he also wanted to work on policy relating to how traffic citations are handled.

“Traffic citations, they’ve never been issued. Parking, yes, but we’re talking about speeding tickets, stop signs.”

He said verbal warnings were the extent to which traffic violations were punished previously.

“There was never a mechanism in place,” Hinshaw said.

“It doesn’t do any good if there are no sanctions or repercussions to inappropriate behavior.”

‘Battle of the Sexes’ is admirable but misguided Over 40 years ago, during the crest of second-wave feminism, more than 30 thousand people gathered in a concrete coliseum to watch Bobby Riggs play Billie Jean King in a televised tennis match dubbed “The Battle of the Sexes.”

Bobby, an aged Wimbledon champion, claimed that women only belonged in the “kitchen or bedroom.” Billie, the younger blood known for her activist roots within the sport, disagreed. Bobby was known for his outrageous and misogynistic statements, outlandish persona, and ridiculous photo-shoots where he paraded around in front of the camera in costume.

Billie, conversely, was already a venerable figure among the tennis community despite her status as a woman. It’s a watershed moment in sports history, one where the preconceived gap between biology and athleticism was broken. It sounds like a great premise for a sports movie, right? Unfortunately, the movie that was implicitly promised only arrives during the last third of the film, and while it’s a well-made section, it arrives too late to salvage the muddled and shallow two-thirds that precede it.

Ostensibly, this is a film about that infamous tennis match whose results had implications far outside the realm of professional sports.

However, the construction and

MATT GARNER MOVIE CRITIC

content of the film belies that implicit idea. The film bounces from the founding of the Women’s Tennis Association to Bobby Riggs’ gambling problem to King’s exploration of her sexuality at a time when homosexuality faced even more of a stigma than it does today.

This isn’t to say that these individual parts are poorly made or incompetent, it’s just that their juxtaposition with one another is clunky and unfocused. It’s a film whose scope is so wide that it ends up not saying much about any of the things it brings to the table. Is it a film about the foundation of the league? The first half-hour would make you think so. What about Bobby Riggs’ gambling addiction and estranged marriage with his wife as he tries to stay relevant in an increasingly modern world? There’s

COURTESY

a bit of that too. King’s exploration of her lesbianism and the dissolution of her sham-marriage? Throw that in there as well. It all adds up to a whole whose parts don’t cohere and gel in the way the filmmakers want them too. You can tell there is a grander back-story and important history that leads up to this match that they want to capture, and I don’t fault them for trying to capture it. However, in trying to say a little bit of everything, it ends up saying almost nothing.

“Almost” is the operative word

there, as I would be remiss not to praise the film’s final third, which revolves around the eponymous match that helped define sports history. It’s an affecting, if safe, conclusion to the scattered snippets that came before it. The match itself isn’t as nearly as exciting or tense as the directors want it to be, partially because of its assured outcome, partially because tennis itself can be a bit dull to watch. There are several shots of spectators moving their heads back and forth rhythmically to the metronome of

the tennis ball, as if the game is performing a type of hypnosis to lull the audience to sleep.

The strongest scenes in the film occur after the end of the match, where the two respective players retreat to their locker rooms and contemplate the magnitude of what just happened. The solemn singular shot of King crying into her palms as the camera situates itself right under her face is nicely contrasted with the distance and cool demeanor of the defeated Riggs. It’s here that the film almost breaks free from the standard Hollywood sheen that envelopes the entire production. Emma Stone and Steve Carell do what they can with the script they’re given, and they both put their acting skills on full display for the camera, but the energy and talent dissipates when the structural problems of the film overpower it.

“Battle of the Sexes” is a film whose faults lie in the underlying structure that support it. Instead of focusing and giving a developed perspective to one of the elements of the story — all of which deserve the run-time of a feature film — it instead tries to tackle a little bit of everything, resulting in a bit of a blurry mess. It’s a shame because the last third really pulls everything into focus; it’s just unfortunate it’s too little too late.

SPORTS

4 | THURSDAY, OCT. 5, 2017

www.thesunflower.com

Chris Lamb

Volleyball’s best-kept coaching secret

By MATTHEW KELLY

I

n his 18 seasons at the helm of the Wichita State Volleyball team, Head Coach Chris Lamb has gained national acclaim for his perennial success.

According to his coaching contemporaries, however, he deserves more recognition.

In a NCAA coaches poll, Lamb was recently named the No. 1 coach in the country who doesn’t get the credit they deserve.

“It’s flattering,” Lamb said.

“There’s no one I’d rather hear that from than my colleagues.”

Lamb said volleyball lends itself to well-kept secrets.

“Volleyball’s not on TV every night,” Lamb said. “It doesn’t go running across the ESPN ticker tape at the bottom, so I think there’s a lot of best-kept secrets in volleyball.”

If Lamb was in it for the recognition, he could leave to coach at a higher-profile

volleyball school. He said he gets plenty of offers.

“I’m not ashamed of having offers,” Lamb said. “I’m honored that people are interested in what we do, but I think I’ve made it pretty obvious that I’m happy.”

He said he couldn’t imagine anyone else as the head coach at WSU. “Who else is supposed to do this job?” Lamb asked. “This is my job. I don’t expect anyone else to do my job.”

“I just want to be the one that keeps coaching this volleyball team.”

The American Athletic Conference offers most WSU teams a higher level of competition than the Missouri Valley Conference could.

The Shocker Volleyball team, however, left behind a strong field of MVC opponents.

“Nobody gets more quality volleyball bang for the buck so to speak than the Valley,” Lamb

said. “I’m proud of the Valley.”

The AAC is less of a volleyball conference — there isn’t even a conference tournament — but Lamb said he sees great potential from a player and coaching standpoint.

“The AAC volleyball is good,” Lamb said. “They have all the potential in the world. It’s a conference on the rise.”

WSU is currently 4-0 in AAC play, but Lamb said facing new opponents on the road is no easy task.

“It feels like the Wild, Wild West a little bit in conference right now,” Lamb said. “We’re walking into unfamiliar places — it seems like we have a target on our back.”

Lamb encouraged students to come out and support the team when they welcome new opponents to Koch Arena.

“I just appreciate the support,” Lamb said. “Come out and see them play. They go hard.”

BRIAN HAYES/THE SUNFLOWER

Coach Chris Lamb looks at his bench after a play during the match in Koch Arena.

Remembering the 1970 Wichita State football team

Women’s tennis to play exhibition matches, offer clinic at Fairmount Park

By ANDREW LINNABARY

SELENA FAVELA/THE SUNFLOWER

President Bardo gives a speech during the memorial held for the 1970 Wichita State football team members that died in a plane crash in Colorado en route to Logan, Utah for a game against Utah State.

Housing proposes increased rates for next school year

ENROLLMENT FROM PAGE 1

non-degree-seeking students in free, half-credit-hour badge courses was a conscious effort to skew the enrollment numbers in a positive fashion for WSU and whether they thought it was best practice to continue to count people enrolled in half-credithour badge courses as students in the future.

The Sunflower scheduled a tentative interview with Bobby Gandu, director of university admissions, which he later cancelled.

“I’ll be deferring this request for a unified university response,” Gandu said, referring to Muma’s letter to the editor.

Matt Keith, spokesperson for the Kansas Board of Regents, said regent universities, such as WSU, may include any student enrolled in a course with credit — such as WSU’s half-credit-hour badge courses — in its headcount, regardless of degree-seeking status.

“However, we do not see fall semester enrollment numbers as the most accurate way of capturing systemwide participation,” Keith said. “As we noted in the news release that we sent last week with the 20-day headcount, academic year enrollment is a much better metric for analyzing systemwide participation.”

The Sunflower reached out to administrators at the University of Kansas, Fort Hays State, and Kansas State, three other

universities governed by the board of regents who reported enrollment numbers to the state last week.

KU and Fort Hays State did not respond to requests for an interview by press time.

But K-State did.

Like WSU’s badge program, K-State’s professional and personal development program is aimed at engaging non-degree students.

Unlike WSU, however, K-State does not count such students towards enrollment because their classes are not offered for credit.

Pat Bosco, vice president for student life at K-State, said he could not comment on another university’s enrollment procedure, specifically, but that the academic integrity of K-State prevented it from counting students in the Professional and Personal Development program towards overall enrollment.

“The integrity of our numbers have always been historically important to us,” Bosco said. “It’s just not something we would consider.”

K-State reported a decrease of 984 students in its 20-day headcount last week.

Kimberly Moore, director of WSU’s workforce, professional, and community education program called WSU “pioneers” in the realm of for-credit badges, but Bosco said K-State will not follow suit any time soon.

“It’s just not on our radar,” Bosco said. “It’s not how we do business at K-State.”

The Wichita Police Department and the Wichita Parks and Recreation Department are hosting a community cookout in Fairmount Park Saturday, and, since the park has a recently renovated tennis court, the Wichita State women’s tennis team is adding their rackets to the mix.

The cookout, hosted by the WPD’s North Patrol, will run from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The women’s tennis team will tentatively be at the park from around 10 a.m. until noon to play exhibitions and give lessons to anyone — kids or adults — interested in learning. They will provide mini tennis nets for kids to play on, along with rackets and balls for anyone to use.

“I wanted to highlight this beautiful new tennis court and draw some attention to it,” Women’s Tennis Head Coach Colin Foster said.

The two tennis courts at the park were redone about a year ago. One became an updated tennis court, the other a futsal court.

Foster was notified about the event by Ted Ayres, general counsel emeritus and leader of the Shocker Neighborhood Coalition.

Foster and his team held a tennis clinic in the park about a month ago with help from Ayres and the city’s parks and recreation department.

It was a come-and-go event open to all ages.

“Everyone had a good time,” Foster said. “We said we didn’t want this to be a one-time thing.”

The goal of bringing tennis and the team to the park is for everyone to have some fun along with their food, Foster said.

“Whether we make a new fan for Wichita State tennis or make someone fall in love with the game, we’re just here to have some fun,” Foster said. “Hopefully, people come out and have a good time. Wander over to the park and pick up a racket.

We’d love to have you.”

IF YOU GO WHERE: Fairmount Park

WHAT: Tennis with the Wichita State women’s tennis team at a community cookout

WHEN: Sat., Oct. 7. Tennis

is from 10 a.m to noon. The cookout is from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.