THURSDAY, MARCH 29, 2018 • VOL. 122, ISS. 48
THESUNFLOWER.COM
WICHITA STATE UNIVERSITY’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1896.
Student government wants The Sunflower to look like this next year Student Senate approved a student fees budget by a 21-18 vote Wednesday night, cutting The Sunflower’s funding request in half. The budget still has to be signed by Wichita State President John Bardo, but if he doesn’t restore The Sunflower’s funding to its previous level — $105,000 for the last two years and $158,000 before that
— papers would have to look a lot like today’s. The Sunflower’s total operation budget for next year is $196,000. $75,000 of that will come from student fees. That means the newspaper will be expected to sell $121,000 in advertisements to meet its budget. To make that happen, The Sunflower will have to sell
about three out of its four pages to advertisers. Besides the fact that’s an unattainable goal in the current state of advertising across the country, it would leave less room for The Sunflower to tell the stories Wichita State’s students deserve. Today’s paper is a reflection of that. If you want more news, opinion,
culture, and sports in next year’s paper, please urge President Bardo to restore The Sunflower’s funding. He can be reached at president@ wichita.edu. Let him know a university supported, student-run, editorially independent newspaper is vital to the Wichita State community. —The Sunflower editorial board
SUNFLOWER CUT
Here’s the budget the Student Senated voted 21-18 to approve FIXED-LINE ITEMS
Educational Opportunity Fund 2018 allocation: $260,041 2019 requested: $257,586 2019 recommended: $257,586 (100 percent)
STUDENT AFFAIRS
2018 allocation: $2,761,340 2019 requested: $2,876,059 2019 recommended: $2,871,059 (99.8 percent)
RHATIGAN STUDENT CENTER
2018 allocation: $4,849,000 2019 requested: $5,004,750 2019 recommended: $5,004,750 (100 percent)
THE SUNFLOWER
2018 allocation: $105,000 2019 requested: $158,000 2019 recommended: $80,000 (50.6 percent)
CAMPUS RECREATION
2018 allocation: $1,040,337 2019 requested: $1,043,550 2019 recommended: $1,027,412 (98.5 percent)
STUDENT GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION BRIAN HAYES/THE SUNFLOWER
Vice President of Student Affairs Teri Hall listens as student senators debate on the recommended student fees budget during the meeting on Wednesday night.
Senate narrowly approves cut to the Sunflower
T
HOW YOUR STUDENT SENATE VOTED ON THE STUDENT FEES BUDGET
YES
TOTAL FIXED LINE ITEMS
2018 allocation: $9,461,915 2019 requested: $9,598,152 2019 recommended: $9,497,014 (98.9 percent)
NO
NON-FIXED-LINE ITEMS BAJA SAE
2018 allocation: $15,000 2019 requested: $14,250 2019 recommended: $11,250
BY JENNA FARHAT
he student senate approved the student fees budget proposal by a 21-18 vote Wednesday night. The student senate cannot change the budget for fixed-line items, such as The Sunflower. They can only vote to approve or reject the student fees budget as a whole. The senate voted to give The Sunflower half of the $158,000 it requested. “The very first time I read these line items I asked myself, why is The Sunflower being picked on?” Senator Kathy Bond said. “As a communications major, I think it’s very important that we fund The Sunflower.” Because of this, Bond said she would vote against the student fees budget. Senator Matt Miller said this was an opportunity for student government to repair relationships with The Sunflower. “As many of us know, currently the relations between SGA and The Sunflower are not really the best,” Miller said during debate. “We hold an opportunity to extend an olive branch to them and I think we should take advantage of that,” Miller said, encouraging the senate to vote against the budget. “We should be giving as many journalism students as possible — and as many not-journalism students as possible — the opportunity to get involved and get real-world working experience about how to write, about how to engage in newspapers, and understanding the importance of news and the media. I don’t want to miss that.” Student Government’s Faculty Adviser Nancy Loosle reminded
2018 allocation: $281,197 2019 requested: $258,207 2019 recommended: $258,207 (100 percent)
BEARTH
BERGKOETTER
BERRY
BURDICK
AHUKANNA
BARRAZA
BOND
BRINKLEY
DODD
HOLLAND
HOOVER
BRUMLEY
BUCCHIN
FORMULA TEAM
2018 allocation: $66,066 2019 requested: $70,000 2019 recommended: $49,550
NOT PICTURED
DELEVANTE
(79 percent)
CAO
ENSZ
(71 percent)
CSG VISITING ARTIST
2018 allocation: $5,200 2019 requested: $5,200 2019 recommended: $3,345 (64 percent)
JIHAN
KABLER
KALSCHEUR
LAMPSON
MATTEK
MILLER
NORDBY
PAUL
MIKROKOSMOS
2018 allocation: $2,000 2019 requested: $3,710 2019 recommended: $3,710 (100 percent)
MODEL UN LOPEZ
MAJURE
RIVERA
SANDERS
RAFFI
ROWELL
RWEGASIRA
SANCHEZ
2018 allocation: $20,000 2019 requested: $20,000 2019 recommended: $20,000 (100 percent)
SHIFT SPACE GALLERY SANJUAN
WAGES
WILLIAMS
YANG
SOUPENE
TALAVERA
ABSENT
2018 allocation: $67,067 2019 requested: $67,067 2019 recommended: $67,067 (100 percent)
COLLEGE OF FINE ARTS PROGRAMMING
2018 allocation: $35,000 2019 requested: $45,000 2019 recommended: $40,000 (89 percent)
ZOUMY FRIEDERICH
student senators that time is limited to consider changes to the student fees budget, and that a decision had to be made soon. If the student senate had turned down the budget proposal Wednesday, it would have been sent back to the Student Fees Committee for reconsideration. “All departmental budgets have to be submitted by the end of April. This is a state timeline that
FRYE
KHAN
we have to adhere to,” Loosle said. Senator Greg Bucchin questioned the discretionary funding of $200,000 that the student affairs department received as a fixed-line item. “Yes, you’ve gone through what’s in that $200,000. But the real question is, did each of those requests come through the financing committee?” Bucchin said.
WRIGHT
“I don’t know that it’s appropriate for student government — and this might irritate some people — for student government to make a decision about staffing levels in student affairs. I’m sorry, it’s the truth,” Hall said. “The severity of the issues that we deal with, especially with this case manager position, was critical. These are students who are threatening suicide.”
ICAA - ECK STADIUM TURF REPLACEMENT (NEW)
2019 requested: $165,000 2019 recommended: $0 (0 percent)
GRADUATE STUDENT ASSOCIATION (NEW)
2019 requested: $10,818 2019 recommended: $0 (0 percent)
GRADUATE STUDENT PROGRAMMING (NEW) 2019 requested: $20,000 2019 recommended: $10,000 (50 percent)