THURSDAY, JANUARY 18, 2018 • VOL. 122, ISS. 30
THESUNFLOWER.COM
WICHITA STATE UNIVERSITY’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1896.
STREAK SNAPPED
Time’s up: students weigh in on national movement BY ROBERT HITE
Wichita State Senior Emily Griffin knows about being sexual harassed and receiving unwanted attention. “I have been in that situation before,” she said. Griffin said the first time it happened was during high school while living in Lawrence. Other times have been during her college years in Great Bend and Wichita, including a man watching her dance on the dance team during basketball games last year. The first times she spoke about it with other people were not satisfying. “They looked at me like it was my fault,” she said. Griffin, a psychology major, said the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements are making it easier for her to talk to people about it. She works in a bar and alerts the security personnel if she thinks someone might be paying undue attention to her. Jodie Simon, senior lecturer in the sociology department, said the issue has been developing and becoming more open in recent years. “People are no longer staying silent on this issue,” she said. “There has been a reckoning, as some people are calling it.” Mark Green is a psychologist and prevention specialist in the Counseling and Testing Center. He came to WSU four and a half years ago and has noticed more people speaking openly about it, meaning that the stigma is lifting. “The biggest obstacle is the blaming factor,” he said of people coming forward. “They will be blamed, they will be in trouble.” Green said the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements are shifting from victim- blaming to perpetrator-blaming. “People are feeling more confident something will be done,” he said. Student Body President Paige Hungate expects one result of the movements is people reassessing their behavior. “People are becoming more cognizant about what they say and do,” Hungate said. “They realize some things come off in a bad manner.”
SELENA FAVELA/THE SUNFLOWER
Wichita State guard Austin Reeves and Southern Methodist University players grapple for a loose ball during the game Wednesday evening at Koch Arena. The Mustangs snapped the Shockers’ 27-game home winning streak 83-78.
SEE PAGE 3
National champion debater uses his persuasive powers to lead Elliott School BY MATTHEW KELLY
Jeff Jarman is the bowtie guy on campus at Wichita State. He also happens to be a member of the Maize school board, the coach of a nationally recognized college debate team, and, as of December, the Kansas Health Foundation (KHF) distinguished director of the Elliott School of Communication. Jarman, who was appointed interim director in the fall of 2016 and director last November, received his new title in the form of a KHF endowment that provides financial support for activities in the Elliott School. Jarman said one of his goals is to use the grant money to expand applied-learning opportunities that provide valuable connections for communication students. “Our hope is to partner with a wide range of businesses — not
just traditional communication businesses, but agencies of all kinds,” Jarman said. “We’ll send them our best and brightest,” Jarman said. “We’re now able to provide some financial support to try to make those partnerships meaningful and more available.” A Wichita native, Jarman said his commitment to the university and the Elliott School runs deep. “This is the only job I’ve had — working at Wichita State,” Jarman said. “I came here directly out of graduate school, and I have a real passion for the department and what we do.” It was the allure of college debate that drew Jarman to a career in communication. “I won the national championship in 1992, and kind of at that moment realized that I might want to stay in debate and become a
BRIAN HAYES/THE SUNFLOWER
Jeff Jarman is a Wichita native and the director of the Elliott School of Communications, He’s known for his stylish bowties.
debate coach,” Jarman said. “Historically,” he said, “debate coaches were professors of communication, and so, even though I had a political science undergrad degree, I went to grad school in communications.” Jarman was hired at WSU in 1996, and has since built a debate program that consistently competes on the national level. He said the skills he has learned from more
than two decades of debate have aided him in his role as director of the Elliott School. “A part of my job as director is to advocate on behalf of the department, and I certainly think that my background in argumentation — debate — gave me some preparation to do that advocacy,” Jarman said. SEE JARMAN PAGE 3
SEE TIME’S UP PAGE 3
Vizzini will continue to receive $297,353 salary while on leave BY CHANCE SWAIM
Wichita State does not have a specific policy that provides for Provost and Senior Vice President Tony Vizzini’s paid leave this spring “to focus on his professional goals,” but a university spokesperson said President John Bardo has the authority to grant leave if it is “in the best interest of the university.” Vizzini will continue to receive his $297,353 salary this semester while on leave but will not be involved in the daily operations of the university. The Sunflower reported in November, near the end of the fall semester, that Vizzini had been named a finalist in a chancellor search at another university. Before the start of spring classes, Bardo released a written statement to the WSU community announcing Senior Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs and Strategic Enrollment Management Rick Muma would replace Vizzini and serve as interim provost until a national search is conducted to fill
Timeline of Vizzini’s job search SPRING 2017 Arkansas State, Chancellor FALL 2017 South Dakota School of Mines, President Washington State Tri-Cities, Chancellor
VIZZINI
SPRING 2018 Vizzini takes leave with pay “to focus on his professional goals.”
the position. “Tony (Vizzini) will be available to wrap up some matters and advise us, but he will not be involved in daily operations,” Bardo said in the announcement. “Vizzini is in his fifth year as chief academic officer, which is a normal career point to consider new positions,” Bardo said in that same statement. But publicly available lists of candidates for positions at other universities show that Vizzini has been job hunting since last spring while being involved in the daily operations of the university. Vizzini has not responded to
attempts to reach him for comment since November, when The Sunflower reported that he was a finalist for the chancellor position at Washington State Tri-Cities. “The President always has the authority to act in the best interest of the university,” said Joe Kleinsasser, director of news and media relations at Wichita State. “The first sentence of the Policy Statement on the first page of the Policies and Procedures manual is: ‘All policies and procedures are under the authority of the President.’” The Kansas Board of Regents, the governing board for state-funded
universities, has a policy allowing leave with pay, but Vizzini’s situation does not fit the policy, which allows leave with pay “in order to fulfill jury duty, National Guard duty, or other civic obligations.” When asked if it was appropriate that Vizzini was still receiving his salary while on leave to focus on his own professional goals, the board of regents spokesperson Matt Keith said, “The Board is not involved with personnel decisions at the university level, with the exception of CEOs.” Bardo is the CEO of WSU. Vizzini was hired as vice president of academic affairs at Wichita State in 2013. In 2014, he was promoted to provost and senior vice president. Last year he served briefly as acting vice president for student affairs, along with his other responsibilities as provost. In Bardo’s written statement, he called Vizzini “a wonderful colleague” and said he has “treasured his (Vizzini’s) leadership, critical thinking, enthusiasm and entrepreneurial spirit.”
WHAT DOES THE PROVOST DO? 1. Exercises a coordinating role among the vice presidents and other senior administrative officials 2. Works closely with the college deans in all academic matters 3. Prepares academic budgets, advises the President on overall budget strategies and priorities 4. Responsible for all faculty personnel matters 5. Responsible for the promotion of research programs 6. Provides active liaison with external agencies and boards 7. Works with the Faculty Senate 8. The Provost and Senior Vice President assumes administrative responsibility for the University should the President be unable to act. —Source: Wichita State University
INSIDE
WOMEN WILL MARCH
PENTAGON AND PRESS
SHAMET VS. EMELOGU
Student backpacker shares his story.
Second annual local women’s march will be held this weekend.
Thinking about seeing ‘The Post’ this weekend?
Some of the nation’s top three-point shooters face off.
CULTURE • PAGE 2
CULTURE • PAGE 2
SPORTS • PAGE 3
SPORTS • PAGE 3
TRAVEL BUG