THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2018 • VOL. 123, ISS. 9
THESUNFLOWER.COM
WICHITA STATE UNIVERSITY’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1896.
Regents ditch 20-day headcount metric BY MATTHEW KELLY
State universities reported their fall enrollment numbers to the Kansas Board of Regents (KBOR) Friday. The regents have yet to release official numbers, but when they do, they will use a different metric than in previous years. Instead of reporting 20-day headcount — the total number of students enrolled in for-credit courses on the twentieth day of class, the regents will
report full-time equivalency enrollment numbers. Full-time equivalency enrollment is based on the sum of credits taken by all students, divided by the number of credits required to constitute a full-time credit load. Wichita State President John Bardo addressed the metric change at Wednesday’s KBOR meeting in Topeka. “I think that’s really important — especially given what’s going on
with these continuous education courses now,” Bardo said, referring to courses aimed at non-degree-seeking students. In previous years, students enrolled in WSU’s badge course and lifelong learning programs were counted towards the university’s headcount enrollment number. Last year, WSU reported a headcount enrollment of 15,081, accounting for 901 students who signed up for badge and lifelong learning courses.
Wednesday, the regents also approved legal documents to help the YMCA — a non-for-profit — maintain tax-exempt status in the parts of the health and wellness facility they’ll be operating on WSU’s Innovation Campus. In May, the City of Wichita issued the Greater Wichita YMCA $25 million in industrial revenue bonds — $17.5 million of which was allocated to the construction of the facility at WSU. The facility is expected to open
in early 2020. For the second year, students are paying a health and wellness fee. Last month, the YMCA announced a $3 million partnership with Wesley Healthcare to bring an urgent care center to WSU’s new health and wellness center. Because Wesley is a for-profit entity, the YMCA asked WSU to execute legal documents to distinguish the taxable and non-taxable space in the new facility.
Dean of university libraries: Ablah doesn’t have the resources to stay open 24 hours BY MATTHEW KELLY
Weekdays at Ablah Library end abruptly when the intercom kicks on at midnight and bleary-eyed students are serenaded with an instrumental rendition of Ray Charles’s “Hit the Road Jack.” Dean of University Libraries Kathy Downes said calls to make Ablah a 24-hour facility are nothing new. “We’ve had requests for 24 hours before, which is one of the reasons why the 24-hour study room was built,” Downes said. The annex to the north of the library, which fits roughly 30 people, provides tables, computers, and vending machines — but no books or restrooms. Downes said there’s a science to determining Ablah’s hours of operation. A gate counter at the building’s entrance keeps track of visitors and calculates an hourly frequency for analysis. “What we’re looking at is how many people come in at certain times, and how many people are leaving, and then looking at those numbers to determine what hours we can provide within the budget that we do have,” Downes said. “Our budget has been relatively flat for a number of years.” The University Libraries operating budget for fiscal year 2019 is $3,108,727 — up from $3,045,401 for 2018 and $3,009,430 for 2017. Downes said the library’s hours are tailored to when the facility is in highest demand. “We used to have much longer hours in certain times in the weekend, but no one was coming, so if that’s going to happen, let’s take those hours and put them in the times where we’re seeing more people coming in,” Downes said.
ANDREW MONTANO/THE SUNFLOWER
Student Body Vice President Shelby Rowell (left) and Chief of Operations Matthew Madden lead a Student Government meeting Wednesday evening. The Student Senate voted unanimously to allocate around $2,600 to buy three new laptops.
Student Senate approves allocation of $2,600 to buy 3 new laptops
T
BY JENNA FARHAT
he Student Government Association voted unanimously to allocate funding to buy themselves three new laptops. The Student Senate voted to approve the allocation of $2,658.74 to pay for the laptops. The money comes from the SGA office expenditures budget. One of the three laptops will be used to aid the university’s effort to do a better job of complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), following a 2016
civil rights complaint filed by Emily Schlenker, a blind pre-med student. “Within office expenditure funds, we have a line item for technological updates that they put in last year just because they knew that the next session was most likely going to try to become ADA-compliant,” Student Body Vice President Shelby Rowell said. “They left $10,000 in that fund.” Aside from the laptops, $698 have been spent from the tech fund on the purchase of a camera and video kit for the purpose of livestreaming Student Senate meetings,
Rowell said. Rowell said that SGA hopes to begin livestreaming all Student Senate meetings by the end of the month. The laptop and camera combination would allow for a split-screen streaming of the meetings, to broadcast the meeting from different angles and show the PowerPoint presentations on the stream. ADA-compliance accommodations for the hearing-impaired would have to include closed-captioning on the livestream. One of the laptops will be available for student senators to borrow. The second laptop
will be used for livestreaming the meetings. The third laptop will be used to connect to a projector for presentations during meetings, Rowell said. Currently, SGA borrows a laptop from Student Involvement for that purpose, Rowell said. The laptops will be purchased from Dell due to a contract WSU has with the company, said SGA co-adviser Gabriel Fonseca. “The funds we have are technically state dollars, so we have to use whatever contract the university has,” Fonseca said.
SEE DEAN PAGE 4
Freshman aspires to be a Hero through mentorship program BY AUDREY KORTE
NEIMAN THOMPSON/THE SUNFLOWER
Cameron Morgan, a freshman with an undecided major, speaks about his position in the Men of Excellence program.
Real Men Real Heroes, a local non-profit organization, provides strong male role models and mentors to kids in from third to twelfth grade. It is a diverse group of professionals who work as entrepreneurs, managers, engineers, educators, and more. Coming from a similar socio-economic background as the kids, these adult mentors, or ‘Heroes,’ provide academic and emotional support to students. Kyle Ellison is the new executive director of Real Men Real Heroes. A WSU alumnus, Ellison is working hard to make a difference by inspiring young men in Wichita to be and do their best. “Real Men Real Heroes is an organization that is really led by
male role models who wanted to make a difference here in the community — who wanted to empower young people to be the best version of themselves so that they can then grow up and empower their communities in the way that they see fit,” Ellison said. Another arm of the organization is Teen Heroes. Teen Heroes provides peer-to-peer mentoring to students. They focus on the importance of high scholastic achievement, goal setting, and self-respect. Teen Heroes work with students as tutors and inspirational speakers here in Wichita. The successes of the Future Heroes are evident and far-reaching. Sometimes these successes come in the growth and determination of the volunteers themselves — the Heroes
and Teen Heroes. Cameron Morgan, a WSU freshman, is one such success story. Morgan was a Teen Hero until he graduated from high school last spring. “I thought this was a chance for me to give back — to be that bridge to help connect younger crowds with the Heroes because sometimes they can be a little timid,” Morgan said. “Sometimes, they don’t look at adults the same way they look at teenagers, so I thought I could be that bridge and help give back.” As part of the Teen Hero program, Morgan was able to work with a lot of younger kids and show them what responsibility and community engagement look like.
SEE FRESHMAN PAGE 4
INSIDE
BOJACK IS BACK
B-BALL SCHEDULE
LAMB’S LONG ROAD
Read about this student-led startup.
Season five of “Bojack Horseman” shows character development.
The AAC announced the conference schedule for men’s basketball.
WSU volleyball has been on the road for four weeks.
OPINION/CULTURE • PAGE 2
OPINION/CULTURE • PAGE 2
SPORTS • PAGE 4
SPORTS • PAGE 4
BIOTECH TATS