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SUN FLOWER MONDAY, MARCH 21, 2016
VOLUME 120, ISSUE 51
THESUNFLOWER.COM
Two students report attack by alleged Trump supporter ANDREW LINNABARY
Fashion show raises money for Flint water crisis | PAGE 3
End of an era 65 | 57
REPORTER
@linnabary
Two Wichita State students allege that a man shouting racial insults physically attacked them early on the morning of March 12 near the WSU campus. âIt was a gut-wrenching scene that I will never forget. Iâve never felt that helpless or faced that kind of humiliation,â Khondoker Usama said. Usama â Wichita Stateâs student body vice president, who is Muslim â said he and his Hispanic friend, who would like to remain anonymous, stopped at the Kwik Shop at 21st and Oliver streets for gasoline and snacks. Usama spoke about the incident during a news conference last week at the Kwik Shop. As they were coming back to their car, they saw a white man on a motorcycle shouting at an African American man who had asked for money, Usama said. The man then started using other racial slurs, Usama said, and then turned his attention to Usama and his friend. Usama said the man drove up and stopped in front of them. âHe pushed my friend and yelled at him, calling him brown trash and telling him you have to leave this country,â he said. Usama said his friend then told the man: âThis is my country. Who are you to tell me that?â Tension escalated quickly, Usama said. âI was just watching. I tried to defuse the situation, but in vain. The attacker started punching my friendâs face. My friend dodged a few punches, but one connected, and he took my friend to the ground,â Usama said. Usama said he then tried to restrain the man, but couldnât. He said after seeing the man reach into his pocket he took out his phone and called 911. âWhile I was waiting for dispatch the person kept kicking my friend,â Usama said. He said the attacker shouted, âTrump, Trump, Trump,â and, âWeâll make America great again. Weâll throw you over the wall.â The attacker left as they waited for police to arrive, he said. Upon arrival, the police took reports from Usama and his friend. Wichita Police released surveillance video last week of the altercation. Visit thesunflower.com to watch the footage.
SEE ATTACK ⢠PAGE 2 WATCH IT ONLINE Visit thesunflower.com to view surveillance video of the altercation.
Photo by Manny De Los Santos
Shocker players get emotional after a 65-57 loss against Miami in the Round of 32 of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday afternoon at the Dunkinâ Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island.
Miami steals second half comeback, Shockers fall in Round of 32 EVAN PFLUGRADT SPORTS EDITOR @evpflu
P
rovidence, Rhode Island â Fred VanVleet likes to steal a lot of things. In the first half of Saturdayâs second-round game, he stole two possessions away from Miamiâs fifth-year veteran backcourt of Angel Rodriguez and Sheldon McClellan â doing so, he surpassed Jason Perez as the schoolâs all-time steals leader. But on Saturday, there was one thing he couldnât steal â a Sweet 16 appearance. A first half of uncharacteristic offense, Wichita State fell into a 21-point deficit â an eventual 65-57 loss. Miamiâs fifth-year senior point guard, Rodriguez, picked off back-to-back steals and raced down the court for uncontested layups, he finished with four steals and a game-high 28 points. He scored the last 10 points of the game. WSU found ways to pressure Miami â improving on their 1-10 shooting performance to start the game and forcing 16 turnovers â narrowly trimming the lead again and again. VanVleet collected four steals and used crafty offense to toss in a challenged layup. Full court pressure prompted a Shaq Morris fast break dunk, and a Baker three gave Wichita State a brief 57 second advantage â as close as VanVleet and Baker could get to extending their history-making four and five-year careers. The center of debate for much of the NCAA Tournament talk has been about experience, and for
Photos by Manny De Los Santos
(LEFT) Senior Ron Baker gets set against the Miami offense Saturday. Baker finished the game with 11 points, two assists and two steals. (RIGHT) Senior Fred VanVleet drives to the paint against Miami on Saturday. At the end of the game, VanVleet had 12 points, five assists, five rebounds and four steals.
the first time all season, veteran seniors Ron Baker and VanVleet stepped onto the court with a backcourt equally as experienced. After 40 minutes, fifth-year seniors Rodriguez and McClellan extended their season another week, and the NCAA Tournamentâs No. 1 and 2 scoring and assist leaders, Ron Baker and VanVleet, walked off the court for their 13th (tournament record) and final NCAA Tournament games. âA couple of years ago, I told Fred that we would be back in the Final Four after we lost to
Louisville walking down the tunnel, and I wasnât able to keep that promise to him,â Baker said. âThe feeling right now, itâs not fun. I feel disappointed. I feel like I disappointed my teammates, my family.â Baker, eyes red and cloudy, showed expressions of sentiment, memories of his five-years experience racing through his head one by one. Next to him, VanVleet sat in disbelief. He had yet to be fazed by the end of his career. âItâs all good when itâs all good,
and when you lose, youâve got to wear it,â VanVleet said. âItâs been a hell of a ride, Iâm not looking forward in my future to anything else, just want to appreciate these guys, our fans and the program. Iâm going to be enjoying this moment.â VanVleet finished as the programâs career assist and steals leader â named a two-time Missouri Valley Player of the Year, he finished with 120 career wins in a Shocker jersey, tied with Tekele Cotton as the programâs all-time winningest. And as determined as the programâs all-time win leader would be, VanVleet said the one thing on his mind was planning to watch film on Saturdayâs game and prepare for the next round, an opportunity that will never be. âWe did it together, we fought back together,â VanVleet said. âWe had each othersâ backs throughout the whole experience, and I wouldnât have had it any other way. I want to thank everyone Iâve ever played with in my four years, and thank all the coaches and especially Shocker Nation.â Gregg Marshall took his time leaving the locker room. He wiped tears from his face before gingerly walking to a post-game press conference. At the presser he looked at VanVleet, then to Baker, and back again â concerning himself with memories, and painfully noting his final moments with each one of his seniors, he fought to hold back tears once again.
SEE ERA ⢠PAGE 4
Digital caliper levels playing field for blind pre-med student CHANDLER OCHOA
REPORTER
@chandlerwilli11
Senior computer science major Daryl Claassen thought building a digital caliper for a blind student was going to be a weekend project. âItâs never as easy as it looks, but also there are a lot of things you actually donât know until you start getting your hands dirty with a project,â said Claassen, an Army infantry veteran and Airborne soldier. After almost a month, Claassen and engineering students Richard St Aubin and Vlad Holovan finished the caliper and created a level playing field for pre-medical student Emily Schlenker. A caliper is a device that measures the distance between two opposite sides of an object. âThis gives me the opportunity to systematically take data and do it independently,â Schlenker said. Schlenker was born blind. Many of her science classes require the device, which made classes difficult or impossible for her to
take because it required being able to read the devices measurements. âI donât want to feel like other students are doing the bulk of the hands-on work for me,â Schlenker said. Schlenker now uses the caliper in her physics laboratory, and plans to take an anthropology class next semester because of her new device. The caliper is âgame-changingâ for Schlenker, who wants to be an osteopathic doctor in a rural or underserved setting. The digital caliper is one less barrier for Schlenker as she pursues a higher education as a mother and neuromuscular massage therapist. Finding textbooks in braille and the low expectations people have for blind students are other obstacles she faces daily. The closest replica of the device on the market is about $900. Claassen and his team made their caliper for less than $50.
SEE CALIPER ⢠PAGE 2
Photo by Jessica Green
Senior Emily Schlenker, a blind pre-medical student, demonstrates how her new digital caliper takes measurements for her and sends them to an audio program on her iPad.