WICHITA STATE UNIVERSITY’S STUDENT NEWS SOURCE SINCE 1896 www.thesunflower.com
Sept. 21, 2023
Volume 128 Issue 5
MOWING MACHINE A goat chews grass from one of the lots by the innovation campus on Sept. 14. The goats were an inexpensive and eco-friendly way to cut down grass in the area. | Photos by Kristy Mace / The Sunflower
Two goats headbutt playfully by the Innovation Campus. The goats, in a large fenced area near Airbus, spent the day eating grass in a cheaper and more eco-friendly manner than mowing.
A goat chews on grass by the Innovation Campus. There was a total of 140 goats on campus.
As a cheaper and more eco-friendly option, goats were used to “mow” the grass. The 140 goats were able to roam in a large fenced area by the Innovation Campus.
‘It’s an all around benefit’: Goats visit WSU Campus LYDIA STEEBY
T
steebylk@gmail.com
all weeds and grass on campus were no match for a fleet of goats unleashed on overgrown plots of campus land last week. Rex Rutledge and his herd of grazing goats are new to the business scene, and with this being their second summer on the job, he’s hoping to expand throughout Wichita. In the summer, the City of Wichita contracted Rutledge’s business, Restoration Grazing LLC, to clear brush and poison ivy at Sim Park. “(I’m) just trying to spread the word and get this practice more accepted as a
city, and hopefully, it turns into a wider tool of land management throughout the city,” Rutledge said. The goats were invited to Wichita State to graze an eight-acre area of land between Woolsey Hall and Innovation Campus as an alternative to spraying herbicide. According to WSU Facilities Services, the goats will be on campus for the next three to four weeks but aren’t scheduled to return this summer. According to a KMUW article written about Rutledge’s goats, they have a preferred diet of many Kansas weeds, such as poison ivy, multiple types of tree saplings and the highly invasive Chinese
bush clover, and will eat as much as they can. “(The goats) eat their fill of plants, and they take a sip of water, and then they go lay down,” Rutledge said. According to Rutledge, the use of goats has many benefits when compared to other land management techniques, such as handling more challenging terrain and being better for the environment. “You’re not using lawn mowers or combustion engines and cutting all this stuff down,” Rutledge said. “The goats, you know, they eat, and then they poop, and their poop is organic material that
gets incorporated into the soil. You’re going to improve your soil health, you’re going to bring some vitality back to the soil.” Rutledge explained that improving soil quality boosts water absorption, which creates less flooding and a healthier water cycle. He also explained that using goats has benefits outside of environmental health. “It’s cost-effective and entertaining, and it’s just a cooler way to do it than running lawn mowers over it,” Rutledge said. “It gives students something cool to come and enjoy.”
‘He kept those relationships alive for years’: Students, faculty remember emeritus Wichita State professor MALEAH EVANS
maleah.evans04@gmail.com
Wichita State Emeritus Professor Melvin Kahn had an unconventional style of teaching political science; he would dress up as the historical figures he was lecturing about. The former professor, who had taught at WSU for over five decades, died of natural causes at the age of 92 on Sept. 13. He was described by colleagues as a dedicated educator and held his students in high regard. Chris Hex, Kahn’s former student and a Wichita State graduate, described him as an incredibly welcoming person to anyone who had questions or simply wanted to debate something they heard in his classes. “He was always excited and his office was a train wreck, but if you walked up to his door, he would throw more papers into a pile and talk to you,” Hex said. “He truly had that vibe of ‘my door is always open.’” Kahn was known for taking his former and current students to lunch, and a few were invited to his home for dinners and discussions. “I had many of those coffee
lunches with Mel and had dinner with him and his wife a few times,” Hex said. “He was just always the most engaged person and curious to hear what was going on (with us).” Kahn had many lunches with alumni throughout his career. “He knew students going back decades … He could remember their names and things they told him,” Carolyn Shaw, political science professor, said. “He just kept those relationships alive for years. It’s powerful.” Kahn also inspired his coworkers. Shaw said she hoped to be like him as an educator, touching students’ lives. “He helped hire me when I came into the department as a new professor and served as a mentor when I came on board,” Shaw said. “As a new faculty member, I was so jealous – I wanted to know students like he did, and I aspired to that.” Kahn was well-known for dressing up as historical figures in his classroom, especially in his political theory classes. “He decided he was going to make history come alive for students,” Shaw said. “And theoretical writers like John Locke
Two Hands Corn Dogs prepares to open at WSU MIA HENNEN
editor@thesunflower.com
Melvin Kahn, an emeritus professor of political science, died earlier this week. | Photo courtesy of Wichita State University
and Plato, they’re very abstract and hard to connect with, so he decided, ‘Well, I’m just going to make this very real and personal.’” When Kahn dressed up as these characters, he put on a persona and answered questions as they would in their time period. He also took these personas to local high schools, answering questions for students there. Alongside teaching, Kahn created the WSU Washington D.C. and Topeka Student Internship Program. This program sends students to Washington, D.C. or Topeka to work with various
political figures in Congress, the executive branch or embassies. Throughout his career, Kahn’s many awards include receiving the Regents’ Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1982, the Carnegie Foundation Kansas Professor of the Year in 1989, the WSU Academy of Excellence Teaching Award in 2007 and the Marquis Who’s Who Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018. A graveside service for Kahn took place on Monday, and a memorial will be established at the Circle of Friends Larksfield Place Independent Living.
Those looking for Koreanstyle street corn dogs will have a new place to eat this week. Two Hands Corn Dogs plans to open its doors on the Wichita State campus on Friday, Sept. 22. Founded in 2019, the Los Angeles-based business will include items like corn dogs, fries, tots and elotes with Korean-style twists, in addition to various drink selections. Two Hands joins several others on Braeburn Square, like recently opened Jersey Mike’s Subs. The restaurant does not offer in-restaurant dining, meaning customers will have to grab their food and go. For its first day, the restaurant will have special hours, from noon to 7 p.m. Two Hands will also have a celebratory opening on Sept. 23 and 24 from noon to 2 p.m. Patrons can typically expect the restaurant to be open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.