MONDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2017 • VOL. 122, ISS. 21
THESUNFLOWER.COM
WICHITA STATE UNIVERSITY’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1896.
ABOVE THE RIM
Shockers begin play with high hopes
Shocker men’s basketball jumped on Henderson State early and closed the game with a 90-53 win in its first exhibition game of the season. Never a close game, 12 Shockers scored in its early season game against an NCAA Division II opponent. WSU is now 23-0 in preseason exhibition games since 2001 and 12-0 under Coach Gregg Marshall. The Shockers are entering this season with its highest ranking since the 1981 season. That year the team was returning Shocker legends Antoine Carr and Cliff Levingston for their junior seasons after an Elite Eight appearance. This year, the Shockers are returning the top eight scorers from last season’s 31-win team that lost a nail-biter to Kentucky in the NCAA Tournament. On Monday, the Shockers will take on Division II Newman University, also from Wichita, in a charity game at Koch Arena. Proceeds from the game will go to hurricane relief. The Shockers men’s basketball team will square of in its first regular season game of the season Nov. 10, against UMKC at Koch Arena. — CHANCE SWAIM
PICK UP THE BASKETBALL GUIDE THIS THURSDAY FOR IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS, EXCLUSIVE PLAYER PROFILES INCLUDING RASHARD KELLY, ASBJØRN MIDTGAARD AND MORE
MATT CROW/THE SUNFLOWER
Wichita State forward Darral Willis Jr. (21) attempts a dunk during Saturday’s exhibition game against Henderson State at Koch Arena. (Nov. 4, 2017)
Safety Walk addresses unsafe spots on campus BY DANIEL CAUDILL
Students and university police surveyed Wichita State’s main campus Thursday night for safety concerns during the annual Campus Safety Walk. Students and officers discussed potential safety issues, as well as brainstormed solutions. Chad Agnew, a university police officer, said the safety walk plays a key role in determining what changes should be made to increase campus safety. Efforts in the past have included adding lighting and increasing the number of emergency boxes on campus. Agnew said the annual walk serves as a learning experience. “We want to raise the awareness of students,” Agnew said. “Especially at night.” During past safety walks, university police officers have hidden in potentially unsafe spots to test students’ alertness. “Students should know that they
TANAT MAICHAN/THE SUNFLOWER
Student Body Vice President Breck Towner and univeristy police officers lead the participants at the Safety Walk.
need to keep their head on swivel,” Agnew said. The WSU physical plant addresses potentially unsafe spots on campus by adjusting landscape that may provide hiding spots. “There’s a fine line between a beautiful campus and a safe campus,” Agnew said. “You want a
happy medium.” Students contributed ideas to help provide a secure atmosphere on campus in the evening. Senior Ryan Siebuhr suggested increased lighting around the Grace Memorial Chapel. Other areas students raised safety concerns about were the
Eck Stadium parking lot, sidewalks surrounding McKnight, and a strip of sidewalk between the Heskett and the Corbin Education Centers. Freshman Mikaela Cutaran said she was particularly concerned with the safety of the strip. She recalled defensively using pepper-spray on someone in the strip across from Corbin prior to attending Wichita State. “It was in junior high after a club volleyball game on campus,” Cutaran, said. University police officer Brandon Dorian said the walk helps to establish a positive relationship between the UPD and students. “I personally attend about 10 or 12 student events per week,” Dorian said. “We don’t want people to see officers on duty and think, ‘What’s wrong?’” “I want students to see us and say, ‘Hey, that’s Officer Dorian,’ or, ‘Oh, Sergeant Agnew is here.’”
WSU responds to designated driver claims against Rep. Whipple BY MATTHEW KELLY
Wichita State will not pursue an investigation of a state representative and WSU lecturer following accusations that he had unpaid, student interns act as his designated drivers in the state capital, university officials said Sunday. The university condemned sexual harassment at both the state and national level, but said the state representative’s actions are “not illegal or WHIPPLE immoral” nor do they warrant a university investigation. The Sunflower reported last week that Wichita State political science lecturer and Kansas state Rep. Brandon Whipple (D) asked student interns to be his designated drivers in Topeka. A former legislative intern for the 2016 session said he and another female student intern acted as Whipple’s designated driver on different occasions. The former intern said he drove Whipple and three other members of the state legislature to a fundraiser dinner where guests were served alcohol without being carded. In an email to The Sunflower, Vice President for Strategic Communications Lou Heldman offi-cially responded to the accusations on behalf of the university. “There are serious and necessary national and state discussions underway about work-related sexual assault and harassment,” Heldman wrote. “Those acts are illegal and are never acceptable. But asking a legislative intern to serve as a designated driver isn't illegal or immoral.” In an email, Carolyn Shaw, political science department chair and president of Faculty Senate, said she sees no need for a university investigation into Whipple’s actions. “Rep. Whipple had periodically used interns as designated drivers until the concern was raised in the legislative leadership group about this practice,” Shaw wrote. “At that point he discontinued the practice. He was appropriately responsive to the concern and has been open in talking about the issue. I see no need for an investigation.” Heldman said in his email that interns benefit from attending events with members of the leg-islature outside of standard working hours. “The process of government and politics doesn't only take place 8 to 5 in the chambers and committee rooms of the Capitol,” Heldman wrote. “Valuable relationships are built and knowledge gained in the meals and social gatherings that are shared after hours. They are also part of the learning experience.” Heldman wrote that university employees supervising applied learning programs should advise students on how to stay safe. “Faculty and staff supervising internship and co-op programs should provide coaching on how to stay safe, whether students are headed into student teaching, a manufacturing, healthcare or office environment, the Legislature or any one of hundreds of other workplaces WSU students go to for applied learning,” Heldman said.
INSIDE
ELECTION DAY ‘I HAVE FAMILY HERE TOO’
STUDENTS OF THE YEAR
SHOCKERS GIVE BACK
City council elections are this Tuesday.
This Nigerian student came to the United States at age 17.
What makes these two students stand out?
Shocker basketball teams up with American Red Cross.
NEWS • PAGE 2
CULTURE • PAGE 3
CULTURE • PAGE 3
SPORTS • PAGE 4
MEET THE CANDIDATES