THURSDAY, MARCH 1, 2018 • VOL. 122, ISS. 42
THESUNFLOWER.COM
WICHITA STATE UNIVERSITY’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1896.
BARDO CALLS FOR PUBLIC STUDENT FEES DELIBERATION BY CHANCE SWAIM
BRIAN HAYES/THE SUNFLOWER
Vice President of Student affairs Teri Hall speaks at the SGA meeting on Wednesday about tabling the student fees under an open discussion can take place. Bardo emailed Hall, calling for a deliberation re-do.
An hour before the student senate meeting where the student fees recommendation would ungo a first reading, Wichita State President John Bardo emailed a statement to Vice President for Student Affairs Teri Hall, calling for the Student Fee Committee to “reconvenes and holds its deliberations in public, so that the campus and the community know we are committed to the First Amendment and the freedom of speech required in a first-class university.” The Student Fees Committee — a group of students from the Student Government and university administrators — met Friday behind closed doors, barring reporters from The Sunflower and The Wichita Eagle from entry to the student fee deliberations. Claiming the committee is not subject to the Kansas Open
Meetings Act, university administrators and student government members discussed how to allocate $9,642,314. Monday, The Sunflower wrote about how members of the Student Fees Committee might be retaliating for investigative reporting. That evening, the committee released its recommendations, cutting The Sunflower’s operating funds in half and its request by a nearly two-thirds. Bardo’s full statement was: “The current discussion on Sunflower funding has raised First Amendment questions. I have spoken numerous times about my concern regarding First Amendment censorship at universities, especially involving freedom of speech. The fee committee, I believe, acted within the rules of the Kansas Open Meetings Act, however, there are normally not constitutional questions regarding
fees. At this stage of the student fee process it is a student senate decision. SGA recommends fees to the President. I think that recommendation will have more credibility if the fee committee reconvenes and holds its deliberations in public, so that the campus and community know we are committed to the First Amendment and the freedom of speech required in a first-class university.” Student Senate tabled discussion of the proposal and Hall delivered Bardo’s remarks. Hall said the meeting would take place by the end of next week. Organizations requesting funds will not present their requests again. It’s unclear what committee members will be allowed to consider. Hall made clear this did not mean Bardo was changing the recommendations of the committee.
‘This is our livelihood’
SELENA FAVELA/THE SUNFLOWER
The Santa Fe Room in the RSC was full to the brim with people on Wednesday to hear the first reading of a student fees recommendation. The recommendation was tabled, but many spoke out.
Fees committee recommends $0 for Mikrokosmos literary journal
Automotive engineers speak against potential funding cuts BY RAY STRUNK
BY JENNA FARHAT
The oldest literary journal in Kansas could cease to exist if the Student Fees Committee recommendations pass. The committee recommended that Wichita State’s literary journal, Mikrokosmos, receives no student funds this year. The literary journal, whose first issue was printed in 1958, requested $3,700 for next year. Mikrokosmos Editor-in-Chief Katie Amundsen said during public forum of Wednesday’s student government meeting that she wasn’t surprised by the committee’s recommendation. “Without the support of SGA, it is very likely that Mikro will cease to exist,” Amundsen said. She urged student senators to vote against the cut, saying many students do not understand how important it is for WSU to have a literary journal. “Any reputable higher learning
BRIAN HAYES/THE SUNFLOWER
Aaron Bristow Rodriguez asks Student Senate to read the student services requests submitted to the Student Fees Committee. Senators asked Rodriguez questions that were answered in Mikrokosmos’s student fees request.
institution has a literary journal,” Amundsen said, including Butler Community College. “Without Mikro, our graduate program will be much less enticing for prospective students in all disciplines.” Amundsen pointed out that graduate students teach the majority of English composition classes at WSU, which is a required class for all undergraduate students. “It’s obvious that you’d want qualified, high-quality instructors as the first point of contact for first year students in all major.” Amundsen said publishing is not limited to English students, and that the literary journal presents
opportunities for art and design students, who help with the design aspect of the journal. Aaron Bristow-Rodriguez, poetry editor of Mikrokosmos, said the journal has requested less funding throughout the years to align with budget cuts. Last year, the literary journal sought $4,200 in student fees and ended up receiving $2,000, compared to fiscal years 2014 and 2015 when the journal received $5,500 in student fees. “We are working with these budget cuts,” Bristow-Rodriguez said. “We are looking at options to save money in order to continue to print this magazine. “
Two automotive engineering student organizations are facing potential funding cuts. The Formula Team and BAJA, both affiliated with the Society of Automotive Engineers, were set to see their funds cut in half under the original budget recommendations released Monday. The Formula Team, a group of students who design, build, and race a small race-car for competitions, requested $70,000 in funding. The committee recommended $33,033, a nearly 53 percent cut. The group received $66,066 each of the last five years. BAJA is a group that designs and builds a small all-terrain vehicle for competition. “We go over big hills and break things,” Ryan Lynch, captain of BAJA, said during Wednesday’s student senate meeting. The group would face more than a 47 percent cut under Monday’s budget recommendation. They requested $14,250. The committee recommended $7,500. Representatives from both groups said the recommended funding cuts
would be devastating to the groups’ futures. Formula Team Captain Harrison Luginbill-Ruder and BAJA Treasurer Colton Brennan joined lynch in appearing in front of the student senate Wednesday to speak against the recommended cuts. “Is it not the goal of the university to promote student involvement and experiential learning?” LuginbillRuder said. Brennan said the recommended funds would not be enough to buy parts. The engine alone would take up nearly two-thirds of the funding, he said. BAJA has experienced some difficulty over the last couple years. Car crashes and lack of access to manufacturing have prevented the group from competing. The group is preparing to compete next year, after recently moving into the Experiential Engineering Building. Lynch said he felt the group had “made the longest stride in BAJA history” until he saw the recommended funding cut. “This is our livelihood,” Lynch said. “I don’t know what I can do with my future if politics outweighs students.”
INSIDE
SCREENED LUCID DREAMS
TABITHA TRIES OUT
LUCKY NUMBER SEVEN
‘Little Women’ comes to campus in musical form this week.
‘Annihilation’ is bold, bizarre and worth a watch.
Tabitha Brown tries out for U.S. National Team.
The Shockers look for a seventh straight win against UCF.
CULTURE • PAGE 2
CULTURE • PAGE 4
CULTURE • PAGE 4
SPORTS • PAGE 4
LITTLE WOMEN SING