The Sunflower v.122 i.24

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2017 • VOL. 122, ISS. 24

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WICHITA STATE UNIVERSITY’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1896.

KBOR WSU visits

Kansas Board of Regents holds meeting on campus

BRIAN HAYES/THE SUNFLOWER

The Kansas Board of Regents meets in Beggs Ballroom of the RSC Wednesday. The regents, who govern state universities, usually hold their meetings in Topeka, but occasionally meet at state schools.

Wichita State requests housing rate increase

BY CHANCE SWAIM

Campus housing rates could go up next year.

Wichita State, which already has the highest priced on-campus housing of any public university in the state, is seeking approval to increase housing rates at The Flats and Shocker Hall next year.

WSU presented a first reading of the proposed increase to the Kansas Board of Regents Wednesday, and the measure will be voted on at the board meeting next month. The board did not discuss the proposal.

A one-bedroom apartment in The Flats this year is $5,900 for the academic year. A two-bedroom room is $4,380.

Next year, those same living arrangements will cost $9,000

and $8,300, not including a mandatory meal plan, if the board of regents approves the increase.

That increase makes The Flats more expensive than the rates the university announced last February that were met with significant negative feedback from students for being too expensive.

At that time, The Flats was to be a privately-run apartment complex on Innovation Campus.

It cost $8,460 for nine months in a single bedroom and $7,650 for a two bedroom. By July, however, fewer than one in five beds

were filled. Forty-eight students had signed up to live in the 280 available beds at The Flats.

That’s when the university stepped in to fill The Flats, which is owned, in part, by Dave Murfin, the chairman of the board of regents. WSU closed its most affordable student-housing option, Fairmount Towers, and moved about 300 students from there to the apartment complex on Innovation Campus three weeks before move-in day.

SEE HOUSING PAGE 6

THE FLATS

2017

2018

$5,900

$9,000

TWO BEDROOM

$4,380

$8,300

ONE BEDROOM

WSU finalizes merger with WATC, will move closer to enrollment goal

BY MATTHEW KELLY & RAY STRUNK

More than two years after the process began, Wichita State and Wichita Area Technical College announced Wednesday that a merger between the two institutions has officially been approved.

WATC will be an entity of WSU beginning July 1 of next year, according to a WATC press release, with WSU and the Kansas Board of Regents sharing governance of the institution.

WATC’s name will be changed to the “WSU Campus of Applied

Sciences and Technology.”

Tuition rates will not change for WATC students, and the institution will keep WATC’s open admission policy, according to the press release.

The orginal plan was to incorporate WATC as a college of applied sciences and technology at WSU. That plan changed prior to its presentation before the Kansas legislature in January — with WSU faculty expressing concerns about being left out of the decision-making process.

Since 2015, WATC has offerred the Shocker Pathway, a joint Associate of Art degree

that allows students to begin coursework at WATC and continue their studies at WSU. According to the press release, the Shocker Pathway will still be available to students.

WATC offers one degree and two certificate options — a two-year associate of applied science program, a one-year technical certificate, and a certificate of completion, which is usually completed in less than a semester, according to the WATC website.

WATC currently has an SEE WATC PAGE 6

Scenario-based active shooter training coming

BY RAY STRUNK

Wichita State will begin to offer on-campus, active threat training sessions after the Kansas Board of Regents approved tempoMOSES rary exemptions to the campus concealed carry Wednesday.

The university will establish temporary, adequate security measures for the training sessions.

Metal detectors will be used to detect and restrict the carrying of weapons into the area for the duration of the training. Armed personnel may also be present at entrances.

Wichita State general counsel David Moses said a gun-free environment is necessary for safety during the training sessions.

“You can’t have guns while you’re training on active shooters because it provides risk,” Moses said.

University police Captain Corey Herl said the scenario-based

training will be provided in addition to the classroom training.

“Essentially, what we do now is a classroom session — speaking to a group of people and that’s it,” Herl said. “There will be a secondary level of that training. It’s practical application of what we are discussing.”

Moses said the training is a response to concerns from students and faculty about the university’s preparedness for campus concealed carry.

“As we were getting ready for concealed carry, we were getting a lot of questions from the library or from faculty,” Moses said. “It was requested by our campus community so that they would have additional active threat training.”

The training sessions will take place in various areas on campus, depending on demand, Moses said.

“We cannot identify specific locations until we know the demand for the training and where it’s going to be located,” Moses said.

“We’re hoping that our campus community will take advantage of this training.”

WSU requests land transfer from state on Innovation Campus land

BY JENNA FARHAT

Wichita State requested that the state-owned property on Innovation Campus be transferred to WSU during the Kansas Board of Regents meeting Wednesday.

Approximately 120 acres of land — formerly Braeburn Golf Course — are being developed into Innovation Campus.

Of that, 8.27 acres of land are currently owned by the state of Kansas. Wichita State has requested that the land be held in the university’s name.

The proposed legislation says the land transfer will bring

“uniformity and consistency in land titles for the entire Innovation Campus and contiguous areas.”

The request also states that the transfer will provide WSU “the apparent authority on the land titles to authorize certain land agreements and transactions.”

There are no expected costs relating to the transaction “except for minimal cost of survey and title work.”

The first reading of the proposed legislation took place Wednesday.

The proposal will be discussed further and voted on at a future Regents meeting.

INSIDE

FOO FOUGHT, FOO WON

PLAYING GAMES

READING WITH SHOX

See where the real innovation happens around these parts.

The Foo Fighters rocked Wichita.

Inspired by Barnes and Noble job, an alumna opens a board game cafe.

Athletes take time out of their busy days and read to schoolchildren.

OPINION • PAGE 2

CULTURE • PAGE 3

CULTURE • PAGE 4

SPORTS • PAGE 6

SHOWING OFF

OPINION

2 | THURSDAY, NOV. 16, 2017

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Now is the time to stand up for academic freedom

W

ichita State Provost and Senior Vice President Tony Vizzini said it all

last fall.

It was at a meeting about budget cuts, and a professor had asked about the future of liberal arts and sciences at WSU. Vizzini’s answer, as usual, was candid, but it was unexpected in its revelation of something most administrators wouldn’t just come out and say.

“We’re becoming less and less dependent on the state. Therefore, we see ourselves more as a private university,” Vizzini said.

What does that mean for the future of the university as a whole?

In many ways, WSU is in the eye of a perfect storm: a cash-strapped university with a debt problem in a state governed by a group hell-bent on the privatization of essential state services, including higher education. Mix in hyper-regulation, nationwide dips in enrollment, and compliance issues with increased cash demands, and there’s a lot to be concerned about.

Chief among those concerns, what deserves preservation through the stormy transition to privatization of Kansas’s higher education, is academic freedom.

A new policy developed by the Office of Human Resources for university employees, including tenured faculty, threatens the very nature of academic freedom.

The proposed policy for “Investigative Leave” allows the university to remove professors from their classrooms, access to their offices, and e-mail accounts while the university conducts an “internal fact-finding investigation” of alleged behaviors and/or actions that “may violate” WSU policy, rules, and/or employment expectations outside of the already wide reach of the Title IX Office.

The policy demands confidentiality of employees involved in an investigation.

With vague definitions of what constitutes grounds for

STAFF

EDITORIAL investigation, faculty will no doubt be even more on-edge at the heads of their classrooms.

Such policies are, in theory, not bad ideas. There needs to be a policy for such situations. But without any way of knowing the frequency or application of such a policy, it could easily be abused.

Furthermore, the timing of the policy is decidedly bad. On a campus that already has some serious unanswered questions and allegations of retaliation, this policy raises further questions about personnel matters.

“SUCH POLICIES ARE, IN THEORY, NOT BAD IDEAS. THERE NEEDS TO BE A POLICY FOR SUCH SITUATIONS. BUT WITHOUT ANY WAY OF KNOWING THE FREQUENCY OR APPLICATION OF SUCH A POLICY, IT COULD BE EASILY ABUSED.”

In the past year, The Sunflower has encountered an increasing number of students, faculty, and staff afraid to publicly voice their concerns with the direction the university is going for fear of retaliation.

Since last October, WSU has paid out at least $914,000 to at least 12 employees for undisclosed reasons from its general use funds — a combination of taxpayer money and student tuition dollars — two of which settled two separate lawsuits against the university citing discrimination and wrongful termination. Two others who signed the agreements were Dean of Students Christine Schneikart-Luebbe and Director of Campus Recreation Eric Maki, whose mid-semester resignations prompted concerns from student

leaders that the resignations were forced.

Wichita State spent more than $33,000 on a private, out-of-state attorney to investigate its student body president for bullying last spring after he raised concerns about a culture of fear at the university. He said the investigation was retaliation for speaking out against the administration.

The chilling effect of this combination of circumstances is real, and that’s why The Sunflower is asking faculty, staff, and students to continue to demand that WSU maintain its integrity and the principles of academic freedom in its transition into whatever it’s to become.

Rather than work to preserve and reaffirm the existential necessity of public universities, so far Wichita State has seemed to embrace the move towards privatization of higher education in Kansas, offering itself up as “the model” achieving its goals through “industry partnership.”

So far, this move has centered largely around infrastructure on Innovation Campus and funding for NIAR. But, inevitably, the effects of privatization are creeping into the classroom, and threatening the principle at the core of our institution: academic freedom.

A prime example of this is the Institute for the Study of Economic Growth, a Koch-funded institute expected to “play a transformative role in advancing the teaching, research and application of innovative and entrepreneurial activities in a free enterprise economy to enhance societal prosperity through economic growth.”

The institute will be housed in the Barton School of Business, and a $3.64 million grant from the Charles Koch Foundation will fund the salaries of the institute’s executive director, two faculty members, additional lecturers, and graduate student fellowships and assistantships for five years. After five years, the institute will be expected to

seek additional external funding to pay for the employees from then on (WSU is covering employee benefits).

Because of certain protections, such as tenure and a requirement that public agencies allow freedom of speech, state funding allows for the freedom of academic inquiry, governed by truth — not a political agenda.

Although WSU has said the creation of the Koch-funded institute will not infringe on academic freedom, the fact that faculty positions are reliant on external funding could lead to external-agenda-driven teaching and research.

WSU should continue to be transparent and uphold academic freedom with regard to the Kochfunded institute.

The integrity of the institution as an independent body deserves to be preserved, and unpopular opinions — even dissent — should be protected.

Wichita State is in the process of a cutting its budget by 3.5 percent through the “internal reallocation of resources to fund strategic priorities of the university,” according to a tuition and fees proposal submitted to the board of regents in June.

Removal of university employees who don’t toe the line seems like a convenient solution.

The new HR policies are vague and, if applied, could seriously threaten the rights and reputations of faculty members without public scrutiny.

It is The Sunflower’s opinion that WSU should be mindful of the message and effect created by the introduction of vaguely worded policies during a time of dwindling confidence in the current administration.

WSU should exercise heightened sensitivity until confidence is restored in the administration and take steps to repair relationships with faculty and staff so that they don’t feel their careers are constantly on the line if they say the wrong thing.

Bardo gives tour of campus to members of KBOR

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With the recent visit of the Kansas Board of Regents to campus (KBOR), President John Bardo is eager to show off the most innovative student organization on campus: The Sunflower newspaper.

Hite: Is another Fort Sumter possible? I’m worried.

A COLUMN BY ROBERT HITE

The racist activity and homicide in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August made me think a lot, more than usual, about what is happening in our country. Tension has been building and building — think Ferguson, Missouri, and Dylann Roof — and has become more overt since Donald Trump was elected and sworn in as the 45th president.

I decided to find out more — what is going on on a deeper level — the underlying currents. The ice below the tip of the iceberg.

I found it in an Aug. 14 article

by Robin Wright titled “Is America Headed for a New Kind of Civil War?” in The New Yorker magazine.

Wright writes about the possibility of another civil war in America

by listing what events, quoted exactly, could act as a catalyst.

Wright references a former U.S. Army Special Forces officer, a national-security expert, Keith Mines, who now works for the U.S. State Department. He witnessed civil wars in other countries such as Afghanistan, Colombia, El Salvador, Iraq, Somalia, and Sudan.

I decided to read Mines’s article in the March 10 edition of “Foreign Policy.”

The scary — no, absolutely frightening — part is that the five conditions, quoted exactly, that led to the civil wars in those countries may exist here.

1. Entrenched national polarization, with no obvious meeting place for resolution 2. Increasingly divisive press coverage and information flows

3. Weakened institutions, notably Congress and the judiciary 4. A sellout or abandonment of responsibility by political leadership 5. The legitimization of violence as the “in” way to either conduct discourse or solve disputes

Unfortunately, that sounds familiar to me.

He also estimates the possibility of a second civil war in 10 to 15 years to be at about 60 percent.

Wright said a “sobering” consensus of experts put it at about 35 percent. Her article came out five months before Charlottesville.

Five months later, Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe declared a state of emergency and put the National Guard on alert on standby.

Even before I read Wright and Mines’s articles, I thought about the “what if” possibility of people

from opposing sides of a divisive, Charlottesville-esque situation shooting at each other.

Certainly, some of the people there were armed. That could spark something in people to start indiscriminately shooting at each other.

It would be like the Fort Sumter of our second Civil War. After all, we do live in “Bleeding Kansas.”

I genuinely felt depressed after reading Mines and Wright’s articles.

I felt helpless.

Comedian Tina Fey’s comments after Charlottesville made me feel a little better. I’m paraphrasing, but instead of getting into a senseless shouting match with a bunch of racists, strive for small, positive interactions with people we might not understand.

I intend to do that, and I hope you do, too.

CULTURE

www.thesunflower.com

THURSDAY, NOV. 16, 2017

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MATT CROW/THE SUNFLOWER

The Struts opened for the Foo Fighter Monday night in Intrust Bank Arena.

MATT CROW/THE SUNFLOWER

MATT CROW/THE SUNFLOWER

THE BEST OF

FOO MATT CROW/THE SUNFLOWER

Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters preforms in Intrust Bank Arena in Wichita on Monday night.

Foo Fighters rock Intrust for three hours

BY MARISSA CAMPBELL

T

he Foo Fighters packed a punch from the get go Monday night at Intrust Bank Arena, starting the evening off with a lineup of greatest hits — “Everlong,” “Monkey Wrench,” “Learn to Fly,” and “Pretenders.”

“Who wants to be here all

night? Who wants a three-hour show?” lead singer Dave Grohl asked as the crowd went wild.

From a Tom Petty tribute, a duo of “Under Pressure” between the Struts’s lead singer Luke Spiller and Foo’s drummer Taylor Hawkins, an Alice Cooper cover from lead guitarist Chris Shiflett, a “Grease” cover from bassist Nate Mendel (which

Grohl shut-down very quickly), and Grohl rapping the beginning of 50 Cent’s “In Da Club,” the evening not only showcased the band’s spunk and attitude, but the insane amount of talent each member brings to the table.

Sure, the Foo Fighters might sound like any other — freakin’ awesome — rock band, but once you dive into the carefully selected instrumentals, the perfect placement of Groh’s screaming, and the power of the two basses and two guitars, the multifaceted layers of the band are apparent.

Although the average Foo Fighters song clocks in at around

4 to 5 minutes, each song lasted double that runtime Monday, because of the band’s extracurricular grooving and jamming.

The bands’ last stop in Wichita was in 2015 after the “Sonic Highways” album and Grohl’s iconic broken leg.

Since the release of “Sonic Highways” in 2014, the band has been unstoppable, first with the release of the “St. Cecilia” EP in 2015 and now with “Concrete and Gold” this year.

Before the Foo Fighters hit the stage, though, British rockers The Struts opened the show with a 45-minute set.

Exuding a Rolling Stones vibe and a Mick Jagger swag, Luke Spiller led the band, melding 80s hair band and 90s grunge, and channeling his inner Chris Baker from Mint Royale.

The Foo Fighters’ energy never seemed to dwindle through their three-hour set. Their mix of new tracks and greatest hits ensured that there was a song for everyone Monday night.

Between Grohl’s energy, humor, and stage presence, and just how damn good the Foo Fighters are, this is one band you won’t want to miss next time they hit Wichita.

MATT CROW/THE SUNFLOWER

MATT CROW/THE SUNFLOWER

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MATT CROW/THE SUNFLOWER

CULTURE

4 | THURSDAY, NOV. 16, 2017

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TANAT MAICHAN/THE SUNFLOWER

Sente is a new coffee shop in downtown. It is different from others as it is a board games coffee shop.

Alumna opens a cafe, chill spot with old-school games

BY JACK CLAYTON

T

hanks to places like Fireshark Gaming and Battlestations Gaming, video game hubs are a familiarity in Wichita. However, a board game cafe has not been so commonplace. That’s where Sente Games and Refreshments comes in.

The cafe, which opened earlier this month, offers a wide variety of board games, including chess, “Monopoly,” “Scrabble,” and “Cards Against Humanity.” It also offers more unknown options like the game “Go!” and other longer game forms.

Sente also serves refreshments — coffee, Italian soda, baked goods, and other snacks.

Located at 132 E. Douglas St. on Market St., Sente was founded by Caitlin Doolittle, a Wichita State alumna, and Thomas Koch. Doolittle said they chose the name based on the ancient Chinese game.”Go!” Sente is a move in the game equivalent to putting a player in check in chess.

“We liked the word Sente because it’s something that people would ask questions about, but it wasn’t overly nerdy and exclusive,” Doolittle said. use ona aplace lightlike color background, onand we “WeFor wanted this to hang out, uncoated materials.

hadn’t found one yet. When we started thinking of this idea, there weren’t any other board game companies in town yet.”

Sente made 90 transactions on the first day it was open.

Previously, Doolittle worked in the Barnes and Noble Café, which influenced her vision for Sente.

“I always thought, ever since I was a teenager, about how Barnes and Noble was a really cool place to go and hang out,” Doolittle said. “I guess I kind of wanted to bring along that atmosphere and that feeling.”

Doolittle said she is confident Sente has staying power in Wichita because of how interactive and unique it is.

“Not only are we a coffee shop, but we have that added bonus of providing board games for people,” Doolittle said. “I think that’s definitely a lot more interactive than sitting down and playing a video game.”

With over 200 games available, Sente has a lot to offer for hardcore gamers and casuals alike.

“We want people to be able to come in and try out a game, and if they love it and want to take it home, we’ll be able to have it for sale,” Doolitle said.

TANAT MAICHAN/THE SUNFLOWER

Caitlin Doolittle prepares a nitro brew for a customer at Sente board game cafe.

‘WE’RE FRIENDS’

Iranian student attempts to overcome social struggle, educate community For use on a dark color background, on uncoated materials.

BY HANNAH TOBIAS

NO BACKGROUND, on uncoated “WHEN YOU GIVE THEM THE CHANCE TO GET TO KNOW Whenmaterials. most college students YOU, THEIR IDEA ABOUT YOU hear the words “get involved,” COMPLETELY CHANGES.” activities like Greek life and — Parsa Kianpour sports are among the first things to come to mind. For Parsa Kianpour however, the idea of getting involved meant anything else, but we wanted to much more than enriching his be there to talk with them and to own college experience. help them.”

For usefrom on coated Originally Iran, materials.

The association hosts a Kianpour’s interest in aerospace number of cultural events each and industrial engineering led year in an effort to educate the him to Wichita State,where he community about Iranian culture has been since August 2015. and engage community members Shortly after classes began that on a personal level. While some fall, he discovered the Iranian of these events, like Interfest, are Student Association — a group held on campus, most are held in that has shaped his collegiate and other parts of Wichita. personal life.

In previous years, the mayor The group consists of both of Wichita and many WSU staff international Iranian students members including President of Iranian heritage born in the Bardao have been invited to United States. attend the student association’s Within a month of moving to events. the United States and joining the “Something I’ve experienced student association, Kianpour is that if you tell people where was elected vice president for you’re from, not necessarily from the 2015-2016 academic year. Last Iran, but just from the Middle year, he was elected president.

East, they kind of step back or “At the time, I was getting my put up a guard,” Kianpour said. masters in management, so I “But these same people, when really wanted to get some practice you give them the chance to get as a leader,” Kianpour said. “I to know you, their idea about you get very happy when the people completely changes.” around me are happy.”

“I can’t really go up to any one One of the association’s person and tell them who we are. primary missions is to help As an association, we try to show international students get settled that. That we don’t care about in and adjusted to life in America, the politics, just that we live here, but Kianpour said the group is that we respect the rules, and that also a place for students to seek we’re friends.” support.

Though no longer a leader of “We have meetings when the association, Kianpour is still things come up or when big heavily involved in the Iranian things happen,” Kianpour said.

Student Association, and said “When the travel ban thing time with the group was fulfilling. happened and that became a “Since I left, the association got concern for many students, some a new president with new ideas,” of them wanted to go back and Kianpour said. “Maybe even ideas visit their families and some of that I don’t know about, so it’s them were waiting for families still a good place to learn. … It’s to come in,” Kianpour said. “We always good to learn how other had a meeting to basically help people do things, so you can learn them relax. We couldn’t really do if those things are good.”

Student Workshop <--THERE IS A WHITE ONE

Sharon Louden ^ pantone 109 u

Living And Sustaining A Creative Life Harvester Arts visiting artist and educator Sharon Louden is the editor of Living and Sustaining a Creative Life: Essays by 40 Working Artists, and The Artist as Culture Producer: Living and Sustaining a Creative Life. Louden will lead a workshop for WSU students across all disciplines on the diverse roles artists use to approach careers, and sustain professional practices.

Presented by the Ulrich Student Volunteer Board. Brown bag lunch provided to those who register at bit.ly/UlrichFreeLunch.

This event is limited to students and students from any college may attend.

Friday, November 17 | 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Free Admission | McKnight 211 @ulrichmuseum | ulrich.wichita.edu | Free Admission | 316.978.3664 | 1845 Fairmount

PAID ADVERTISEMENT

NEWS

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‘Murder on the Orient Express’ choo-choos, but never leaves the station “Murder on the Orient Express” is a movie about a killing on a snowbound train — 12 strangers turned suspects thrown together by fate and trapped by circumstance. It’s an incredible premise — how could it not be, given that it’s an adaption of the Agatha Christie novel of the same name?

While the queen of crime was known for her airtight plotting and masterful sleight of hand, Kenneth Branagh’s attempt at filming this perfect crime isn’t nearly as successful as its source material, thanks to some strange directorial choices and poor editing.

Mystery films revolve around a single idea, an engine driving the narrative through space and time — who did it? As world-famous detective Hercules Poirot famously states in this movie, “If there was a murder, there must be a murderer.”

Much of the success of a mystery films lies in its ability to establish the cast of characters, making sure each one is memorable and distinct within the collective unconscious of the audience, so that when the murderer is eventually revealed, there is no confusion about who the culprit is.

It is on this crucial element that the movie first starts to lose steam.

While it does a nice job of setting up its protagonist — the eccentric, mustachioed, and aforementioned world-famous detective Hercules Poirot — the suspects surrounding him on his passage are much more difficult to distinguish.

MATT GARNER

MOVIE CRITIC • @SUNFLOWERNEWS

There are 12 characters aboard this train, and only half of them are given the screen time and script necessary to fully differentiate themselves. The others wither out of focus. It’s a shame, because the cast assembled is truly staggering, though the actors are never given enough breathing room or time to do anything meaningful.

Johnny Depp, Daisy Ridley, Judi Dench, Penelope Cruz, Kenneth Branagh, Leslie Odom Jr., William Dafoe, Michelle Pfeiffer — it’s a very talented cast of actors, but you wouldn’t know it from watching the movie.

Part of the reason the novel this movie is based on is so successful is the fastidious attention Christie pays to spatial logic and character motivation. Each detail of the murder and its plotting is carefully revealed to the reader, and the same amount of care is placed on characters’ physical location as establishing a timeline of events.

None of this careful attention is afforded to the film’s audience.

Instead, Poirot’s investigation is bogged down by a needless back-story involving his late lover and many superfluously dramatic scenes that are artificially injected to create some sort of tension, which detracts from the dazzling

detective work that made Christie’s novels famous in the first place.

Leaps in logic are commonplace, as Poirot makes deductions and insights without putting in the work to create their dramatic payoff. With each uncovered clue, the audience is left behind in a haze of rushed storytelling.

The original novel was claustrophobic and strung tight like a piano wire, but the movie makes the odd decision of letting its characters roam around outside the train, dissipating any of the would-be tension created by proximity. This strange decision dilutes the possibility for any real conflict, and furthermore, the movie’s puzzling need to explain how the train will be freed from its snowy shackles only serves as a distraction from the murder mystery that’s taking place.

It’s an odd decision that splits the audience’s attention. Murder mysteries need to stay focused on the murder mystery. Everything else plays second fiddle.

In one of the final scenes in “Murder on the Orient Express,” a frazzled officer picks up Poirot, telling him about a death on the Nile in Egypt, and eliciting murmurs of excitement from the audience. (Death on the Nile is one of Poirot’s more famous cases).

There are 33 novels in which Hercules Poirot uses his little gray cells to solve the seemingly unsolvable, but, if subsequent film sequels are anything like this first entry, they should stay on the page.

JOSEPH BARRINGHAUS/THE SUNFLOWER

Jessica Curtiss and Robert Stillwell perform on stage during the rehearsal of A Hedda Gabler.

‘Hedda Gabler’ weaponizes silence, challenges stereotypes

BY ABIGAIL FAFLICK

Within five weeks rehearsal time, actors in the School of Performing Arts analyze, develop and bridge centuries together.

In their interpretation of “Hedda Gabler” adapted by Nigel O’Hearn, showing Nov. 16-18 at 7:30 p.m. and Nov. 19 at 2 p.m. in Wilner auditorium, actors connect the original Henrik Ibsen play from 1891 to O’Hearn’s present adapted version.

Danette Baker, director, shares how the story applies to both time periods in the portrayal of each character, specifically Hedda.

Actors accept the challenges of portraying characters beyond surface level as they seek to demonstrate through meaning of action option to inner thought.

For example, while Hedda is first seen as manipulative on the surface, the development of the story calls for greater understanding behind her action.

“The play calls to understand what drives people to the actions that they take,” Baker said. “To understand what despair does to an individual.

“Understanding has grown and deepened [since the original] and we cannot just dismiss her. This allows for people to have trouble and not stereotyping things.”

The subtleties within character development of the play compel all involved to evaluate their roles in society.

“It is challenging because of the ideals present in the piece” Baker said. “Students are digging into the complexities of the characters… it’s easy to label them as one thing, but looking for the nuances is a challenge worth seeking.”

The play also calls students to connect with a story more than a century old by relating its message and deeper meaning to audiences of present day.

“We are trying to tell the story of people desperately reaching for something,” Baker said. “How to grab the change that you’d like to, but maybe don’t have the courage to… making it a worthwhile piece to explore with the students.”

Baker said the story is almost more accepted as individuals are open to change and struggle, while still challenged by societal norms.

Her hope is that “Hedda Gabler” will provoke audience’s thinking and connection, while also challenging her student actors.

“The goal is delving into the lives of these people in ways the audience can connect,” Baker said. “Helping the actors to find their connections to the lives of these people and enhance their development as young artists, learning how to bring out that story so the audience can sit here and experience it.”

The playwright, Nigel O’Hearn, will also be conducting a play writing and developing workshop on from 2-5:30 p.m. on Saturday for free. “Dialogue as an entry point” is open to all students with an RSVP to performingarts@ wichita.edu.

The session will center around how to use silence to draw audiences into characters, as O’Hearn does within his adaptation of the Ibsen classic, similar to Baker’s overall philosophy regarding “Hedda Gabler.”

“I don’t like to make statements for plays, I like plays to speak for themselves,” Baker said.

THURSDAY, NOV. 16, 2017

|5

SGA addresses basketball game-day parking changes

BY DANIEL CAUDILL

The Student Government Association discussed changes coming to men’s basketball game-day parking at Wichita State during Wednesday’s Student Senate meeting.

Sarah Graham from Campus Parking Services spoke to the senate during public forum, addressing changes such as the availability and increased price of reserved stalls. “[A reserved stall] is $275 for the semester,” Graham said. She continued by explaining that people who do not purchase a stall on the first day will receive a refund of $1.80 per day passed since its availability.

In addition to the changes made to reserved stalls for game

days, Graham said WSU Parking took steps to improve the process of sending out game-day texts to students, employees, visitors, partners, and owners of reserved stalls. “[The text message] sends you to the direct site of where you can and cannot park,” Student Advocate Rheanna Pierce said.

The link sent in the text message includes a map that indicates reserved lots in red, ADA parking in teal, and other reserved areas in black. According to the website, “parking improperly in a reserved lot will result in a $150 citation.”

Reminder text messages will be sent out one business day before games to all recipients, as well as an additional alert for students on the day of, Graham said.

Faculty Senate raises concerns over ‘investigative leave’ policy

BY JENNA FARHAT

Faculty Senate discussed changes to a proposed policy Monday that would allow Wichita State to force an employee to turn over their office keys and access to their email account and take a mandatory leave pending the outcome of an investigation into alleged misconduct.

The proposal, which was approved by the Faculty Senate’s executive committee, would allow WSU to place any university employee on “investigative leave” and confiscate their office keys and email access before an investigation is concluded.

The changes will not be approved by the senate, but its input — to endorse or not to endorse the policy change – will be considered by Human Resources and the Office of Equal Employment Opportunity.

The policy defines investigative leave as a “mandated leave that removes an employee from the University pending the outcome of an internal investigation of alleged behaviors and/or actions that may violate University policy, rules and/ or employment expectations.”

According to the latest draft of the proposed policy, employees placed on investigative leave can be told to surrender their WSU ID, keys, and other university property or information “as deemed appropriate,” pending the outcome of an investigation.

Additionally, employees placed on investigative leave can have access to their university emails and computers revoked. The draft also says the employee is expected to maintain confidentiality regarding the investigation.

Several senators objected to details of the proposed policy.

Doug English, a senator from the chemistry department, voiced concern over the possibility of wrongful accusations.

“If somebody just doesn’t like that individual, and accused them of theft, for instance, what protects that person if they’re wrongly accused?” English asked.

Director of Human Resources Judy Espinoza said an employee may be spared from investigative leave if the accusations don’t involve a “threatening” work environment.

“It depends on what people are saying. You definitely have to find out — is it credible?” Espinoza said. “There’s a lot of fact-finding.”

George Dehner, a senator from the history department, said there was no need for faculty placed on investigative leave to be barred from their offices and email accounts.

“If you’re doing research, why would you be shut off from your research?” Dehner asked. “If you’re emailing your colleagues and you have those emails on your work email, why would you be cut off?

“Faculty don’t have, generally, proprietary information to the university.”

Espinoza said the decision to deny a faculty member access to their office depends on the violation they are accused of.

“There would be times where you would not want them to be accessing information that belongs to the university,” Espinoza said.

Dehner said the confiscation seems to be the university’s default approach when an employee is placed on investigative leave.

“It seems to be a default process that removal from the university means removal from your office and email,” Dehner said.

The draft of the policy states that the potential confiscation of office keys and email access may be implemented by the university “as deemed appropriate.”

Dehner asked how often university employees are placed on investigative leave, and what the review process looks like.

“We have no way of determining who determines that’s appropriate,” Dehner said.

Associate General Counsel Molly Gordon said it isn’t often that employees are placed on investigative leave.

“Maybe one or two a semester,” Gordon said.

Espinoza said sometimes employees are placed on investigative leave to remove them from an unsafe work environment, and that the Human Resources department struggles with the negative connotation that comes with the term “investigative leave.”

“Sometimes we might be placing someone on investigative leave ... to protect them,” Espinoza said.

Dan Close, a senator from the Elliott School of Communication, suggested that the senate table the vote on whether or not to endorse the proposal. The senate agreed to refrain from voting Monday so as to continue discussing the policy at a future meeting.

“It can’t be like that. It can’t be that simple,” Close said. “The university can’t be that hard-nosed about wanting to strip faculty from this university the way it has been showing itself to be in the last few years.”

Faculty Senate President Carolyn Shaw said the handling of alleged Title IX violations is distinct from investigative leave.

“Processes are different, investigation is the same,” Shaw said.

Dehner said he had heard of faculty being removed even when cases did not involve “sexual harassment or some immediate thing.”

“It just seems to be a matter of course that when HR begins an investigation, that faculty members are removed from their offices and removed from their email.”

SPORTS

6 | THURSDAY, NOV. 16, 2017

www.thesunflower.com

AP Pollster has Shockers ranked No. 15

ALIYAH FUNSCHELLE/THE SUNFLOWER

Ethan Kossover, WSU cross country and track athlete, talks with Heather Crumps’ third grade class at Adams Elementary.

Shocker athletes give back through reading program

BY ALIYAH FUNSCHELLE

Wichita State Athletics and Adams Elementary School partnered to create Reading with the Shockers, a program that brings a different WSU team to the school each month.

Athletes read to students and conduct educational activities with alternating third grade classes.

“The program helps the kids see what they can be,” program facilitator Esteban Aguilar said.

“A lot of the kids don’t know much about WSU. They see it everywhere, but don’t really know about it.”

The reading program not only lets the athletes read to the children, but gives them the opportunity to talk about their involvement with the team and campus.

“It feels really good to give back to the kids,” cross country and track athlete Rita Schnacker said. “It’s a unique experience to be able to work with them. They were excited to learn about what sports we were in and different things we do around campus.”

When the track athletes came to read, they also added their insight on scholarships. Third grade teacher Heather Crump said she believes that made a big impact on her students.

“We were specifically talking about scholarships today, so paying for college is a big deal for our students,” Crump said. “Just that drive to want to go to college, play a sport, do music or something to get a scholarship ... it seems more attainable for the kids.”

Crump said the reading program has also increased her students’ enthusiasm for reading.

“The kids really look forward to the reading, so it increases their engagement in joy of reading,” Crump said. “They get super excited.”

The athletes create teaching points for each book to share with students.

“It felt really nice to be around little kids and help them grow up and give them life lessons throughout the book,” cross country and track athlete Miles Griffith said. “My favorite part was being around them. They’re really nice kids, really ambitious, happy to be there, and happy to see us.”

Aguilar said the athletes inspire the children, even to the point where they want to pursue the athletes’ sport.

“The kids talk about it for the whole rest of the week,” Aguilar said. “Having younger people definitely inspires them.”

“I guarantee you, now there will be a bunch of kids saying ‘I want to do cross country.’”

WSU volleyball could clinch AAC with road wins this weekend

BY MATT CROW

Wichita State volleyball is on the verge of being crowned the American Athletic Conference champion with road wins over Tulsa or SMU this weekend. Tulsa is 8-8 against American teams this season and was swept by the Shockers last month in Koch Arena.

Defending AAC champion SMU, who is second in the AAC at 13-3, put up more of a fight on the road but ultimately lost 3-1 to the

Report of handgun pulled in attempted frat house robbery

BY JENNA FARHAT

A handgun was allegedly used in an attempted aggravated robbery at the Beta Theta Pi fraternity house Saturday night, according to the Wichita State police crime log.

According to the log, three juvenile males approached a resident of the fraternity house, showed a handgun, and demanded money.

No money was given and no one was injured, police said.

Three males were arrested on Wichita State’s campus that night. They were then taken to the Sedgwick County’s Juvenile Intake and Assessment Center.

Beta Theta Pi fraternity house is located just west of WSU campus along Hillside Street.

The report was made around 8:23 p.m., according to the incident report.

One victim and one witness are listed on the UPD police report.

Shockers.

A win over both teams would make the Shockers the outright conference champion and would earn them an automatic bid in the NCAA tournament in December.

It would be the first American conference championship for a Wichita State sport since joining the conference in July.

Wichita State returns home for senior night on November 24 where they will face University of Memphis.

College basketball’s first weekend was limited in surprises.

Top-ranked teams beat down on low-level opponents. No team really stood out in the headlines, minus the Utah Valley Wolverines.

Utah Valley started a campaign Wolverine Head Coach Mark Pope coined the “toughest 24 hours in college basketball history.” The series entailed traveling to Kentucky for the Wildcats’ season opener, then to Cameron Indoor Stadium to face Duke in their season opener less than a day later. Expectations were limited.

What maybe wasn’t expected was Utah Valley’s 12-point lead in the first half against John Calipari’s top-ranked freshman class. The Wildcats trailed at home by nine points at the half — and although the Wildcats pulled away with a 10-point victory, the scare didn’t go unnoticed.

Voters in the AP Poll — a group of 65 national sports writers — moved the Wildcats down two spots to No. 7 in the polls. Wichita State jumped the Wildcats and moved up a space to No. 6 after the first weekend of action.

But this too-close-for-comfort game that should have been a bench-clearing Kentucky blowout didn’t matter for Doug Doughty of The Roanoke Times.

EVAN PFLUGRADT OPINION EDITOR • @EVPFLU

Doughty didn’t see eye to eye with the majority of AP voters.

He not only ranked the Wildcats (previously No. 5 in Doughty’s preseason rankings) ahead of the Shockers at No. 4 in his poll, but moved WSU outside of his top 10 entirely.

Doughty dropped the Shockers from No. 4 in his preseason rankings to No. 15 in his week two ballot after the Shockers soundly dispatched of the University of Missouri-Kansas City, 109-52.

Uhhhhhhh.

Three Shocker forwards stepped outside the perimeter for three pointers while the team racked up 13 threes altogether — two shy of a school record — against the Roos. WSU led by as many as 62 points before Gregg Marshall called in his walk-on reserves with just under five minutes left to play.

KenPom ranked the Shockers No. 2 in his rankings following the first weekend of action.

Doughty moved Florida, which

didn’t play its first game until Monday night, up from No. 11 in his preseason rankings to No. 7 in his second set. While Florida ultimately put the hurt on Gardner Webb, 116-74, the game wasn’t played until after the rankings were published.

Doughty also placed UCLA, which narrowly defeated unranked Georgia Tech, 63-60, better than the Shockers, holding the Bruins at No. 14.

Sure UMKC isn’t exactly a powerhouse. The Roos are No. 309 out of 351 Division I teams ranked

by KenPom. Doughty might be the first voter to drop a team 11 spots for winning a game by 52 points.

Jeez.

Step up your game, Doug Doughty. Try harder next week.

AP VOTES FOR WSU Published Monday, Nov. 13 Two votes for No. 3 Four votes for No. 4 17 votes for No. 5 13 votes for No. 6 15 votes for No. 7 10 votes for No. 8 Actual ranking -- No. 6

BRIAN HAYES/THE SUNFLOWER

Wichita State Shockers fans cheers as the team enter the area at the start of the game against College of Charleston in Koch arena.

WATC

FROM PAGE 1

enrollment of 3,592 students. Next year, all WATC students will be counted toward WSU’s overall enrollment.

This will bring the university’s enrollment number closer to Bardo’s stated goal of 22,000 students by 2020. WSU reported an enrollment total of 15,081 this fall, making it the fourth largest university in Kansas, 19 students behind Fort Hays State University.

With the addition of WATC students, WSU will surpass FHSU but still likely remain behind the University of Kansas and Kansas State University — which reported enrollments of 28,447 and 22,795 students respectively for the fall.

The university’s strategic plan was developed in 2016 to account for the influx of WATC-merger enrollees in a “one-time gain

of 4,000 students from Wichita Area Technical College pending merger.”

The merger is no longer pending.

The Kansas Board of Regents approved the merger in January.

Governor Sam Brownback approved it in April.

The Higher Learning Commission approved it Wednesday, WATC announced.

In the press release, WSU President John Bardo cited the decision as an economic one.

“The economic success of this state is at the very heart of what Wichita State does and informs every decision that we make,” Bardo said in the release.

Bardo announced the approval to the Kansas Board of Regents at the start of their monthly meeting Wednesday.

“We look forward to continuing the process of developing together,” Bardo said to applause from the regents and audience.

HOUSING

FROM PAGE 1

This year those students are paying Fairmount Tower rates to live in The Flats.

Shocker Hall residents can expect a much smaller increase — below 3 percent — from $8,650 to $8,900 for a one-bedroom/1-bath dorm room, and $7,730 to $7,950 for a 2 bedroom suite/1 bath.

Student involvement with the proposal included three 30-minute “task force meetings” on Oct. 3 and Oct. 4.

“These meetings were held to allow for student feedback on the current housing structure, future rates and room assignments,” WSU’s proposal to the board of regents said.

If approved, the rates will become effective on July 1, 2018.

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