MONDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2017 • VOL. 122, ISS. 12
THESUNFLOWER.COM
WICHITA STATE UNIVERSITY’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1896.
HEADCOUNT
WHAT IS A BADGE COURSE?
PADDING
0.5 credit hour Online • Self-directed, selfpaced • No grades assigned • Appear on transcript • Free to anyone who signed up between Sept. 1 and Sept. 15 • Counts towards university’s enrollment numbers • •
In the two weeks leading up to the official enrollment tally — after losing pace with last year’s headcount of 14,474 — WSU enrolled 668 non-degree-seeking students in free, halfcredit-hour badge courses. Then the university reported the highest enrollment increase of any four-year university in the state.
0.5 credit hour Offered at area churches, retirement centers • Tuition-free • Four, two-hour-long class sessions • Fees were waived to anyone who signed up prior to Sept. 15 • Counts towards university’s enrollment numbers • For students 60 years and older • •
FREE BADGE COURSES OFFERED
CLASSES BEGIN 2016 ENROLLMENT
WHAT IS A LIFELONG LEARNING COURSE?
AUG. 21
SEPT. 1
2017 ENROLLMENT
14,474
15,081 SEPT. 18 OFFICIAL COUNT REPORTED
CHANCE SWAIM AND MADELINE DEABLER/THE SUNFLOWER SOURCE: OFFICE OF PLANNING & ANALYSIS
WSU reports largest student increase in state
DEGREE-SEEKING STUDENTS AT WSU 13,977
13,802
O
By CHANCE SWAIM, RAY STRUNK, & MATTHEW KELLY
verall enrollment numbers at Wichita State are up, but fewer students are seeking degrees at the university this year than any of the last seven years, despite a multi-million dollar investment in student recruiting. But Friday, the university announced enrollment numbers indicating the fastest growth of any four-year school in the state. That increase was achieved largely through the last-minute enrollment of non-degree-seeking senior citizens, high school students, and working professionals in half-credithour courses. Since 2012, President John Bardo has stressed reaching a goal of 22,000 students. According to the university’s master plan, framework for the Innovation Campus is based on the assumption that enrollment will reach 22,000. Total headcount reported Friday was 15,081, nearly 7,000 from that goal, even with the last-minute enrollees.
The number of degreeseeking students at Wichita State has decreased each of the last three years.
13,977
13,665
13,655 13,506 13,370
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
CHANCE SWAIM/THE SUNFLOWER
LIFELONG LEARNING COURSES BIBLICAL CITIES AND LANDSCAPES - Bel Aire Senior Center
INTRODUCTION TO METEOROLOGY - Oxford Grand Assisted Living KANSAS’ SACRED PLACES - Westside Baptist Church LEAD TYPE, BULLETS AND BRAZEN NERVE - Westside Baptist Church MCCONNELL AIR FORCE BASE: PAST, PRESENT & FUTURE DIRECTIONS - Derby Senior Center
SEE ENROLLMENT STORY PAGE 3
WICHITA LOOKS AT ROCK AND ROLL - Larksfield Place Retirement Community
State approves Westar, WSU land exchange By CHANCE SWAIM
The Kansas Legislature and board of regents have approved a land exchange between Westar Energy and Wichita State to build a Kansas Gas and Electric Company substation on Innovation Campus. “This partnership will bring increased reliability and capacity to Wichita as well as learning benefits to the engineering students at WSU,” said Jaycee Breese, a spokesperson for Westar in an email. At last month’s board of regents meeting, WSU sought approval MOSES of the land exchange. Wichita State will give Westar $260,000 worth of property in exchange for $86,400 worth of property owned by Westar. The request said KG&E had a plan to make up for the $173,600 cost difference. “To make up this difference, KG&E buried overhead electrical lines along 21st Street, between Mike Oatman Drive and Oliver Street.” KG&E estimated burying the lines cost an extra $537,000 than hanging them. “Not only will this add safety and reliability to the area by having the lines underground, the aesthetics will hopefully be a contributing factor in promoting economic development along this corridor,” the request to reads. David Moses, WSU’s general counsel, forwarded The Sunflower the legislative proposal for the land transfer, which said the exchange would provide KG&E with the space necessary to replace an aging substation and increase reliability and capacity through larger transformers and additional circuits. “These upgrades are essential to the anticipated growth of WSU and the surrounding area,” the proposal said. The proposed site will provide KG&E space to convert from 64 kilovolt lines to 138 kilovolt lines. “In addition to the aforementioned, the exchange would improve access to WSU’s material storage area due to the closer proximity of the Physical Plant complex,” the proposal said. The new substation will be near the Experiential Engineering Building on Innovation Campus.
Welder-turned-painter turns ordinary objects to art By ABBI FAFLICK
Full-time student and father of three boys, Collin Allen is also an artist who transforms common materials into jewelry, wallets, clothing, and furniture in his studio in the GoCreate space. After completing his associates degree in welding at Wichita Area Technical College, Allen returned to school to pursue a bachelor of fine arts in studio painting. “I’ve spent my whole life learning how to make things — anything” Allen said. “The skills that I have are kind of unusual, because I feel just as comfortable sewing as I do welding or cutting a board on a saw.”
“I look at art differently in that I don’t just do fine art painting ... I look for needs and make something. All of those skills help me build what I need.” Allen’s interest in art began when he learned how to sew and make jewelry at age 9. Now, at 41, Allen blends all forms of his artistry into making a variety of pieces, from paintings and sculptures to functional items. With the various labs available in the GoCreate space, Allen can combine his diverse skills in applied art more efficiently than he could at home. He said that as tools and technologies develop, artists can create more efficiently.
“The GoCreate space gives you more time to create efficiently ... [there is] a constant evolution here of ‘what can I do next; what can I create?’” Allen said he balances time spent making art with time spent studying and taking care of his family. Before he went back to school, Allen stayed at home with his sons until they were old enough to all be in school “That gave me the ability to have them with me in the shop. They could experience a lot of things they wouldn’t normally be exposed to,” Allen said. “It was a very important thing for me in that making art SEE ARTIST PAGE 5
BRIAN HAYES/THE SUNFLOWER
Collin Allen, a welder-turned-painter, works at a sewing machine, one of his many different artistic tools utilized at the GoCreate Makerspace.
INSIDE
SPACECRAFT COMMANDER
A SOUTHSIDE TRADITION
A VOLLEYBALL HUNTER
The Sunflower will be livestreaming SGA meetings.
Four questions with a former Shocker working at NASA.
Po Boy pizza passes the test.
Star volleyball player also an avid elk hunter.
NEWS • PAGE 2
CULTURE • PAGE 4
CULTURE • PAGE 4
SPORTS • PAGE 8
SGA DROPS LIVESTREAM