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THURSDAY, AUGUST 23, 2018 • VOL. 123, ISS. 2

WICHITA STATE UNIVERSITY’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1896.

Former WSU English instructor passes away after release of his first book BY MATT COOPER

Poet and former Wichita State English instructor Michael Cissell died last Thursday of a heart attack at the age of 45. Cissell was an English instructor at Butler Community College at the time of his death. Butler Associate Dean of Humanities, Social and Behavioral Sciences Troy Nordman commented on the department’s loss. “Thursday morning, I got a call from his family saying that he had passed,” Nordman said. “As one of his administrators and former colleagues, the hard part was having to tell his friends and former English instructors. It was a

Wichita State receives $2.5 million from U.S. Department of Defense

real shock to everyone.” Before his hiring at Butler, Cissell was a full-time member of the WSU English faculty from 2002-2008. His untimely death comes following the release of his first published book of poems, “The Cutting Songs of the Butcher Son,” earlier this month. “I’m glad his book was published,” Nordman said. “There is a legacy in those poems.” Nordman noted the poignancy of the initial success of Cissell’s book. “I called Watermark Books Friday,” Nordman said. “They had already sold out of the book, and I think that is a testament to his passion as a poet.” The book, dedicated to Cissell’s wife, Monica and two sons, Guthrie

and Rohan, was released just two weeks ago through Spartan Press. Days before his death, The Sunflower sat down with Cissell to discuss his book The scene was Phil Uhlik Music, downtown Wichita. Under dim lights and surrounded by amplifiers, JCM Marshalls, and vintage Fenders, Cissell jammed blues scales on a jet-black Gibson Les Paul Standard. He spoke of his book, “The Cutting Songs of the Butcher Son.” The poetry collection is an exercise in the cycles of life — a unique medium for the sordidness of fathers long gone and forever misunderstood. SEE CISSELL • PAGE 6

MATT COOPER/THE SUNFLOWER

Former Wichita State English instructor Michael Cissell sits with his guitar inside Phil Uhlik Music. Cissell passed last week.

bouncing back

BY JENNA FARHAT

Wichita State has received a $2.5 million research grant to fund programs at the National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR), which is located on WSU’s Innovation Campus. The grant comes from the U.S. Department of Defense. Tracee Friess, director of communication and special programs at NIAR, said students working at NIAR will have the opportunity to be involved in the research. Friess wrote in an email that the research is “an applied learning opportunity focused on the most advanced manufacturing technology.” The grant will fund research for technology that will specifically aid the U.S. Department of Defense, but will also apply to the manufacturing industry, Friess wrote. “Wichita State University has a strong reputation for research, development, test, and evaluation (RDT&E) in aerospace material certification, structures, and simulation,” Friess wrote in part. SEE DEFENSE • PAGE 6

JOSEPH BARRINGHAUS/THE SUNFLOWER

Courteney Castle (left) and Gabe Robertson (right) compete on an inflatable at the Back to School Bash on August 18, 2018. A variety of back to school activities kept students entertained before and during syllabus week.

Special election will fill open SGA positions Papa John’s order mishap

results in accusations of cultural insensitivity from Muslim student

BY DANIEL CAUDILL

At the first Student Government Association meeting of the semester, the Student Senate passed a resolution calling for a special election that would fill certain vacant positions in the senate. The resolution, authored by Business Senator Anisia Brumley, calls for a special election to fill vacant freshman senator seats and newly introduced underserved populaces senator seats. The senate previously passed a constitutional amendment to add underserved student populaces seats to the Student Senate, but Brumley said there was debate about whether the legislative journal would allow the appointment of new seats. “There’s been a question rising as to whether [the new seats] should be appointed or not because they have never been filled before this semester,” Brumley said. “To avoid that conflict, we’d rather go through the longer

The pair picked up their order in-store at the 3236 N. Wichita State gradRock location and took it uate student Mariem home. It didn’t take long to Berrada considered realize something was off with herself a loyal Papa the pizza toppings. John’s customer before “By the time we get the an order mixup that second bite, my friend tells BERRADA she said culminated in a me, ‘Oh, this is not chicken,’” store manager hanging up Berrada said. on her when she told him she was Upon examining the box, they Muslim and couldn’t eat the sausage discovered the meat was sausage. pizza they mistakenly gave her. Practicing Muslims don’t eat pork PJ Ops Kansas Director of due to religious guidelines. Operations Chris Duryee said Papa “The first thing that we do is that John’s does not record calls for we call Papa John’s and we make quality assurance, so there is no sure to tell them that there was a recording of the incident. mess-up in our order,” Berrada said. After a long day out last Tuesday, She said the manager who Berrada and a friend called in their picked up told them they could get order to Papa John’s — a large pizza the pizza replaced — they just had with mushrooms, olives, jalapeños, to pick it up in-store. and chicken. Berrada said she went to sleep hungry after a hostile interaction with a shift manager. SEE BERRADA • PAGE 6

BY MATTHEW KELLY

SELENA FAVELA/THE SUNFLOWER

The SGA cabinet gives their officer reports during the first session Wednesday, Aug. 22.

process of electing them.” People who belong to an “underserved” population, as defined by the university’s Strategic Enrollment Plan, will be eligible to run for the underserved student populaces seats. Freshman senators have traditionally been appointed by the student body president, subject to senate approval. “We added freshmen to [the

resolution] because they’re going to be getting appointed at the same time, so it gives them an opportunity to go through an election process,” Brumley said. “Also, the freshmen who step up and say ‘I’m willing to go through an election’ are the students who are little bit more dedicated and willing to put more work into SGA.” SEE SGA • PAGE 5

INSIDE

SUGAR HIGH

POETRY Q&A

SERVES UP

Check out the latest clue in The Sunflower’s medallion hunt.

Sugarland brought country twang to INTRUST Bank Arena.

The Sunflower sat down with Michael Cissell five days before his death.

Volleyball kicks off season Friday.

CULTURE • PAGE 3

CULTURE • PAGE 4

SPORTS • PAGE 6

THE HUNT IS ON

OPINION

2 | THURSDAY, AUG. 23, 2018

www.thesunflower.com

THE STAFF EDITORIAL

Editor-in-Chief Matthew Kelly Digital Managing Editor Andrew Linnabary Visual Managing Editor Madeline Deabler News Editor Jenna Farhat Projects/Assistant News Editor Daniel Caudill Culture Editor John Darr Sports Editor Evan Pflugradt Photo Editor Selena Favela Assistant/Sports Photo Editor Joseph Barringhaus

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ADVISING

Faculty Adviser Amy DeVault

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Send letters to the editor to editor@thesunflower.com or submit at thesunflower.com. Please keep letters to 400 words or less. All letters are edited for clarity and length. Please include your name, WSU affiliation and a phone number for verification purposes.

Our Mission

The Sunflower — both in print and online — will be a timely resource of information about the Wichita State University community. It will report on news, issues, activities, academics and athletics, in addition to offering a forum for discussion, reviews and commentary. It will also be an effective learnig experience for students, who will have the final authority over what is published.

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Finer Spirit finds their sound in debut EP When I interviewed Finer Spirit about four months ago, they offered me tea as soon as I sat down in their mini art-gallery of a living room. The house was extremely tidy, but also densely decorated. It was as if a large hipster coffeehouse had closed down and all its contents had been rearranged in a much smaller space. Sitting down with the band’s debut EP “Well As You Pretend,” the arrangement makes sense. Finer Spirit makes warm, sprawling alternative rock with an unshakable composure. However, in place of arrangement density, Finer Spirit traffics in something much more valuable — ambition. Finer Spirit is certainly steeped in the atmospheric heartland rock of U2 and their descendants, The War on Drugs, but their songwriting is already matching the complexity of those groups’ best work. Opener and lead single “Wednesday Night” wastes no time in demonstrating the band’s prowess. The track effortlessly slips between waves of synth ambience and elegant drum grooves. Thought it boasts recognizable verses and a soaring chorus, “Wednesday Night” constantly shapeshifts between bridges and interludes that propel the track forward without losing focus. Ultimately, it crescendos to a gorgeous, driving guitar riff that recasts the track’s established elements in a new mold. “Wednesday Night” stands as an incredibly impressive construction for a new group,

JOHN DARR

CULTURE EDITOR and Finer Spirit delivers on its promise through the end of the record. No song falls into predictable territory; the band consistently detours from pop song structures into instrumental sections without losing focus. The atmosphere built around each track is lush, but the band never uses it as a crutch. The resulting EP is exquisitely balanced and satisfyingly complex. Given how cohesive Finer Spirit’s sound is, it can be easy to miss how accomplished the individual performances are on each track. Lead singer Caleb Curry’s clear, passionate vocals cut through each soundscape, traversing emotional highs and measured lows with poise. Nathan Harrison’s soulful lead guitar trades off with Curry’s vocals and often propels several of the tracks toward their musical peaks. Rhythm section Tyler Bowers (bass) and Rylan Waller (drums) add just enough variation to warrant close listening without pulling the focus away from Finer Spirit’s melodies. Will Morris’

COURTESY

“Well As You Pretend” is Finer Spirit’s debut EP.

synth arrangements flesh out the spacey sound without pushing into the territory of cheese or blurriness. There really isn’t a weak spot in the lineup, which is key to a band who is clearly striving for — and achieving — a cohesive atmospheric sound. As a result, “Well As You Pretend” registers as a fresh, futuristic record, despite engaging deeply with past records in the genre. On the record’s clear highlight,

“Wasteland,” Finer Spirit moves seamlessly through stripped-down acoustic sections, heart-pounding rhythmic builds, and a ripping guitar solo. It’s a dazzling display of a wide but controlled range. “Well As You Pretend” displays a band that has found a sound, but has the talent and ambition to take more risks in the future. If this record is anything to go by, they’ll succeed wildly.

Rating: 3.8/5

shocker street speak: Panda VS. Freddy’s Which new campus dining are you excited for?

Legal

The Sunflower (published for use by WSU students, faculty and staff) is private property and unlawful removal or use of papers is prosecutable. One copy may be taken for free. Additional copies must be purchased for $1 each. The Sunflower is also partially funded by the Student Government Association at WSU. The opinions expressed in The Sunflower editorials, columns, guest columns, reviews, advertisements, letters and editorial cartoons are not necessarily those of the staff, publications board, student body or university. The Sunflower reserves the right to edit or reject any submission. We also reserve the right to edit or reject any advertisement.

CONTACT THE SUNFLOWER 019 Elliott Hall 1845 N. Fairmount Ave. Campus Box 134 Wichita, KS 67260-0134

“I like Asian food. They had a Panda Express at K-State in their student union, and I used to eat there all the time . . . I love Freddy’s too.” — Cameron Tredway Industrial Engineering

“Are you kidding? Ice cream on campus? Some days you just need ice cream and french fries.” — Katelyn Koch Design and Technical Theatre

“I’m more excited about Panda. I always loved Chinese food. I go, I get the plate, the rice, the honey walnut shrimp, and the orange chicken . . . Freddy’s, their fries are too skinny.”

“I usually eat Freddy’s at least once a week. My record is 11 days in a row.” — Harrison Shively Mechanical Engineering

— Azah Barnes Business

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MOBILE HOME FOR SALE 2 bedroom 1 bath $3950 lot rent $200/month text 316-288-1706 for more info

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A review of ‘Two Paths’ by John Kasich

“Followship” is not a word I can find in the dictionary on my desk. I first heard of the term while reading former Republican presidential candidate John Kasich’s book, “Two Paths.” He describes it as people only listening to the media outlets and politicians that share their preconceived point of view instead of at least entertaining new perspectives. Kasich suggests this is dangerous because it creates a divisive, narrow outlook that eliminates opportunity for compromise or negotiation among elected officials and the public. People get stuck in the mold they want to be in and close themselves off to others. We have become less tolerant of others, divisive and adherent to groupthink. Politically, this results in politicians not wanting to be seen working across the aisle, lest they offend their base of support, Kasich says. The result is gridlock; the atmosphere becomes noxious.

ROBERT HITE COLUMNIST

I’m not sure how long followship has been around, but I feel confident it’s accelerating in today’s political environment. Republican president Ronald Reagan (1981-1989) and Democratic president Bill Clinton (1993-2001) are considered to be successful commanders-in-chief. I think their success can probably be attributed to Democratic Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill working well with Reagan and Republican Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole working well with Clinton.

Compromise happened, and legislation got passed. I voted for president in the 2016 primary and general elections. I did not vote for Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump in the general. I disagreed with a lot of the issues each stood for, but agreed with each on some. I have never met anyone I agree with 100 percent, nor have I ever met someone I disagree with 100 percent. Kasich also criticizes the media. In short, he says many media outlets pursue stories that cater to readers and viewers of a certain mold. However, I understand that, without profits, we would not have news organizations. The 24-hour news cycle is driven by analytics. What people are interested in knowing about? What’s trending? What’s trending is often found through social media — the news stories people are reading, posting, and circulating. I’m skeptical of social media stories.

I’m also skeptical of the nighttime news programs with “guests” that have specific agendas promoting themselves, previous candidates they worked for and might again, or anyone else. I’m skeptical of anyone with another agenda other than informing readers and viewers. At the same time, I do listen to what they say and keep an open mind. I try to learn about someone else’s mold and check the shape of mine. Overall, I wonder if I am, or to what degree, involved in followship, too. Do I listen to the same radio station news? Read the same periodicals? Watch the same news programs? To some degree, the answer is yes, but I do my best to be open-minded and simultaneously critical. I’m glad I read Kasich’s book. It gave me something to think about. I hope this article gave you something to consider, too, especially because we’re in an important election season. But then again, they all are.

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opline@thesunflower.com By submitting an opinion, you agree to have it published online/in print at The Sunflower’s discretion.

CULTURE

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THURSDAY, AUG. 23, 2018

At Sugarland, the show’s a party, and the duo’s the soundtrack

ANDREW LINNABARY DIGITAL MANAGING EDITOR

Dang, that’s a lot of drunk white chicks. That was my first thought as I left the Sugarland concert at Intrust Bank Arena Saturday night — a two-hour set that touched on all their hits, past and present. Sugarland, a country duo consisting of lead singer Jennifer Nettles and vocalist and guitarist Kristian Bush, started the show silhouetted behind a curtain. It dropped, and they immediately broke into the title track from their 2018 album, “Bigger.” The music sounded a lot like how Nettle’s sparkling tights looked — fun, loud, sugary. Sugarland makes country-tinged pop music, a style of music which, like too much sugar, can get old quick. But for someone who had only heard “Stuck Like Glue” before Saturday (and binged as many songs as I could in preparation), I didn’t feel sick to my stomach an hour into the set. In fact, I was enjoying myself. There was the moment the stadium came together singing “Stay,” one of Sugarland’s biggest hits, taking the reins from Nettles as they sang: “I’m so tired of bein’ lonely/ Don’t I give you what you need?” There were the couples dancing, laughing and singing through “Stuck Like Glue,” toasting bottles of Bud Light and kissing while Nettles flailed her arms to her music. And, in one of the few instances

SELENA FAVELA/THE SUNFLOWER

Sugarland performs at Intrust Bank Arena Saturday, August 18. Formed in 2002, the band has persevered through losing a founding member and a stage collapse in 2011 that killed seven.

where the music wasn’t doing the talking, the crowd laughed as Bush talked to a man in the crowd dressed in shorts and a white T-shirt: “You in the white T-shirt — you look like you didn’t plan on being here. You look like someone made you come here. Your girl made you come here? “Well, that’s what Sugarland is all about.” It was a fun set with big hits, low stakes, and a lot of bad dancing. I felt sad when I noticed the girl who I thought was Sugarland’s biggest fan — who stood screaming the words to each song she knew — was gone before the halfway mark of

CLUES

CLUE ONE: Welcome to campus! The hunt has begun. You seek a gold flower medallion of sun. Searching three hundred-plus acres is crazy – Cut the map down to places you wouldn’t put baby. CLUE TWO: The last clue was worthless, you say. More specific! Well think geometric – cause then it’s terrific. And after you’ve scoured day one’s clue for loot, Cut out one option that bears rotten fruit. CLUE THREE: And then it was three, and the map still enormous… “These clues must be better!” you cry and implore us. Be patient, my friends, no one likes a whiner. Avoid a search option ‘tween legal and minor. CLUE FOUR: “The clues are too silly! Too vague and too dumb! Too this and too that! One more and I’m done!” Well that’s fair enough – you’re cornered at last, Just stop keeping score and you’re on the right path.

the set. And it was upsetting to see the two 20-something dudes next to me leave minutes after asking if I was enjoying the show, though I could understand, if their whispers of a friend outside receiving a MIP were true. Sugarland’s music is like a party, so it made sense. People were coming and going. Emotions could overtake at one moment, replaced with dancing the next. Everyone was having fun. And just like any good night, through it all, the music — in this case, infectious, bubblegum country music — was the highlight.

SELENA FAVELA/THE SUNFLOWER

Frankie Ballard performs as one of the opening acts for Sugarland at Intrust Bank Arena Saturday, August 18.

2018 MEDALLION HUNT

CULTURE

4 | THURSDAY, AUG. 23, 2018

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The poet jams and speaks

The Sunflower sat down with Michael Cissell to talk poetry five days before his death

BY MATT COOPER

YOU’VE EXPRESSED IN THE PAST A CONNECTION WITH THE BEAT POETS — GINSBERG, KEROUAC, BURROUGHS, AND CASSADY. THEY WROTE ABOUT BEING SYMPATHETIC TO READERS AND THE CYCLICAL EXISTENCE OF HUMANS MORE GENERALLY. IS “CUTTING SONGS OF THE BUTCHER SON” WRITTEN IN THE SAME SPIRIT?

The whole book is trying to point out cycles I think. Here’s an example. Let me tell you something that happened once with my son, Guthrie. When he was about two, we were outside and came across some dead birds. Then, out of nowhere, Guthrie asked Monica, my wife, if humans were all equal. To this, she said, ‘Well, of course they are.’ Then, instantly, Guthrie belted back, ‘But then why is that dead bird over there in the trash can?’ Those types of experiences found their way into the book.

WHAT IS YOUR TAKE ON THE NEGATIVE LIGHT SOME COLLEGE-LEVEL PROFESSORS SHED ON SOME OF HISTORY’S MORE CONTROVERSIAL PIECES OF LITERATURE?

I fall to my knees and bow to the body of literature. And when professors let their own politics get in the way of teaching the classics, it’s inevitable that some kids will develop aversions. Though It’s an antithesis not to communicate the love within classics. It’s just about feeling what other people are keeping on the inside. Anything else is just relevant to the place and time of the author.

WITHIN “CUTTING SONGS,” YOU VERSIFICALLY SPEAK TO AND ACKNOWLEDGE THE WIT AND PROLIFIC STYLINGS OF POET AND FORMER WSU INSTRUCTOR ALBERT GOLDBARTH. WHAT IS YOUR CONNECTION TO GOLDBARTH?

I had read Goldbarth when I worked in the library at Brescia College in Owensboro, Kentucky, prior to moving to Kansas, but, it all

really started in 1993 when I moved to Wichita and began looking into local poets and literature. Then I picked up a copy of Golbarth’s book, “Marriage and Other Science Fiction.” It was mind-blowing stuff, and he, through his writing more than anything else, nurtured me — turning my ideas of what literature and poetry were upside down. What he really loves are the classics, though, and I found that interesting. He is a tremendous influence on me. AS FOR THE BOOK ITSELF, WHERE DID ALL OF YOUR MATERIAL COME FROM?

Some of the material is recycled. I took from material, some of which was used in my thesis called “Natural Hunger.” They were sort of family-related and speaking of my father, who was a butcher. Looking deeper though, the poems to me were about the more symbolic meat that my family came from. So, I kind of adjusted and reworked some of those to fit in with newer poems that featured recycled voices. POETS SO OFTEN MAKE THEMSELVES THE CENTRAL SPEAKER IN THEIR WORK. IS THIS SO WITH THE BUTCHER SON?

It’s me and it’s not me. YOUR GRANDFATHER WAS A BLACKFACE MINSTREL IN KENTUCKY. YOU’VE ATTEMPTED TO ILLUSTRATE HIS CHARACTER IN YOUR BOOK. IN DOING SO, DO YOU THINK YOU ARE PLAYING WITH LANGUAGE THAT SOME READERS WILL READ ON A SURFACE LEVEL AS RACIST OR BIGOTED? WHAT IS YOUR RESPONSE?

Unfortunately, there’s a lot of backlash when someone like me, or anyone else, tries taking in the voice of someone’s other than their own. It’s unfortunate, because with the empathy required in our craft, at times, you are indelibly required to imitate the characteristics of other people. So yeah, that will probably happen in some form, and I’m ready for that.

MATT COOPER/THE SUNFLOWER

Michael Cissell picks a blues scale inside Phil Uhlik Music while giving an interview to The Sunflower about his new poetry book, “The Cutting Songs of the Butcher Son.” Cissell died last week, five days after giving the interview.

‘Eighth Grade’ nails the highs, lows of its namesake

The first two things that eighth grader Kayla (Elsie Fisher) learns on her high school shadow day is that “High school sucks . . . but also, it’s like amazing.” The insane emotional ricochet of being a teenager has spawned countless movies over the years, but very few — if any — nail its highs and lows like Bo Burnham’s astounding directional debut, “Eighth Grade.” The camera pans dramatically between theatrical, sweeping shots and frantic pacing while the soundtrack soars and soothes. The colors veer from vibrant, summery pastels to neon-punctuated bedroom darkness. A stunning soundtrack by Anna Meredith swings from intense unease to sky-scraping ecstasy. Anchoring these grand stylistic gestures is Burnham’s sharp realism. His characters mostly look like real

JOHN DARR

CULTURE EDITOR people, not movie stars, and they go through uncomfortable situations that are intimate and intense but so common as to be overlooked by many writers. No one’s pants fall down and no one gets tripped in the cafeteria. Instead, we have a nightmarish scene where a popular girl reacts to Kayla’s birthday present with disgust.

Back to school events to look out for BY DANIEL CAUDILL

students. Food will be provided.

STROLL OFF COMPETITION

FAIRMOUNT COFFEE CO. ONE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION

When: 6:30 p.m. Thurs., Aug. 23 Where: CAC Theater The Greater Wichita NPHC will host the “I Bet You Won’t” Stroll Off Competition. Entry is free with two non-perishable items at the door, or $3. CLASH OF THE COLLEGES

When: 4 p.m. Fri., Aug. 24 Where: Cessna Stadium The WSU Office of First-Year Programs will host the annual Clash of the Colleges, in which WSU’s academic colleges compete against each other in a series of outdoor activities. For more information, visit wichita. edu/clash. GLOBAL WELCOME BASH

When: 2-6 p.m. Sat., Aug. 25 Where: RSC 142 Student Government Association will host a meetand-greet event for international

When: 8 a.m. – 8 p.m. Sat., Aug. 25 Where: Fairmount Coffee Co. To celebrate one year of operation, Fairmount Coffee and the Lutheran Student Center will host a day of live music. Each hour, a different artist/group will perform. ICE CREAM SOCIAL

When: 3:30 – 4:30 p.m. Mon., Aug. 27 Where: Lindquist 503 Sigma Tau Delta will host an event for students to socialize over ice cream. PAINT U DANCE PART

When: 9 p.m. to midnight Thurs., Aug. 30 Where: RSC east courtyard Student Activity Council will throw a colorful dance party free to the general public. Prepare to be covered in paint.

When the film reaches its darkest moment, there’s nothing visually on screen to rationalize the film’s R rating. Burnham refuses to cut corners with graphic content — relying instead on the natural tension created by hierarchal relationships and personal insecurities. Lead actress Elsie Fisher rises to the challenge, embodying neither a bland everygirl nor a quirky vessel for witty dialog. She’s simply a person surviving middle school in a technologically obsessed world, trying to manage several presentations of identity at an age when one is difficult enough. “Eighth Grade” could be called an exercise in empathy, but it’s simply too fast-paced, beautiful,

and sporadically hilarious to be categorized as such. It’s a film that embodies the rush of possibility that comes with a new chapter of life. It investigates struggle but asserts the possibility of hope and love to overcome it. After the credits roll, you can’t help but believe, like Kayla, that change — even technological and cultural change that overwhelms and terrifies us — is a good thing. Burnham’s film stands as the first evidence of that change: we can understand our brave new world if only we acknowledge the complex humanity of those who seem to be swallowed by it.

Rating: 4.9/5

COURTESY

CULTURE

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THURSDAY, AUG. 23, 2018

Sunflower Archives- 1977

Professor recalls Nazis, Hitler regime BY MINDY BERGNER “I remember World War II as the time of Hitler and his dictatorship, a time of tyrannical government sustained by force, secrecy, and lie only,” Gisela Ritchie, associate professor of German at Wichita State University, said in an interview. It is a time she does not like to remember. Her father, a prominent attorney and an attorney general in the Weimar Republic in the 1920s, lost his position after the Nazi regime began because he insisted on jailing a long-time party member who had committed perjury. “Justice first,” her father said. “It doesn’t matter what happens to my family.” When the war began for Germany in 1939, Ritchie was 13 or 14 years old; her three brothers and two sisters were all younger. The government announced that their father was ill, and after a sick leave, he was given a less influential post in Berlin. Even so, as one judge with other judges, he continued to apply the law to all persons equally. Her father had been asked to join the Nazi party years earlier, but had refused because he believed lawyers and judges should not be involved in politics. “If you join the Nazi party, then you leave the community of the people,” he said. “The more intelligent people were against the Nazis.” Ritchie noted. However, many who followed the Nazi banner did so half-heartedly, and only to preserve their careers. “I can only regret that there were not more who showed character,” she said; Hitler’s power might not have last so long. But persons who spoke out disappeared into labor camps.

BERRADA

FROM PAGE 1 “So we go a step farther and we offer to pay for the pizza that — to pay for the delivery because we just want it to come to us because we’re not going out again,” Berrada said. “There was no way. I was tired.” Berrada said they told the manager they would gladly tip the driver, because it was not their mistake. “The guy just starts reacting very badly. He’s like, ‘Oh my God, you think you’re a manager now? Are you giving me options?’” The call dragged on for over half an hour. Berrada says that’s when she decided to explain to the manager why they couldn’t eat the sausage pizza. “I was like, ‘Sir, the mess up was that we’re Muslims — we cannot eat the pizza you gave us,’ and that’s when the phone hangs up,” Berrada said. At first, she thought the call dropped. She called back. “He was like, ‘You’re harassing me. Never call me again and you’re not allowed in the store anymore.’” Berrada said. “He hung up as soon as he heard I’m a Muslim, and he called me a harasser as soon as he heard I’m a Muslim, and that’s when there was a problem.” The Sunflower was told by a manager on location that employees could not discuss the incident. Duryee later set up an interview with Tom Wylie, owner of the Wichita-area Papa John’s franchise. Wylie said he was given a different account of the events of Tuesday night. “My understanding from our folks was that the lady called back and said ‘Hey, you didn’t make the pizza right,” and our shift manager said ‘Hey, we’ll get something out to you, but we’re going to have to charge a delivery charge because we don’t collect that — we have to pay our drivers to take runs,” Wylie said. Berrada maintains that she and her friend were more than happy to pay the delivery charge and tip the driver, but the manager refused to accommodate them. Wylie said he was told that Berrada’s friend became verbally abusive with the shift manager. “My understanding was that the lady put a gentleman on the phone — I don’t know who that gentleman was — was extremely verbally abusive, and then our shift manager just basically indicated that, you know, we were trying the best we could to relieve you of the situation or what have you, but we couldn’t — we can’t deal with someone cursing at us,” Wylie said.

She said most Germans did not know the labor camps were death camps. “The victory of the Allies did not only liberate the Nazi-occupied countries, but also the German people from a regime of terror,” Ritchie said. Daily life was hard, too. “The Nazis said, ‘The German people don’t need butter, but guns,’” she said, and butter rationing began in the mid-1930s. Food rationing began when the war did. “You could never eat to feel satisfied,” she said; each person got one-half pound of meat per week, and a little bread. Although many Germans sold their silverware and books to buy food on the black market, her father refused to take anything beyond his ration. On the black market, bread sold for 200 marks a loaf. After the currency reform in 1949, a loaf sold for one mark. Even after the war, rationing continued. Dinner sometimes was “a big pot filled with water, into which you put some flour” shipped in from Canada, Ritchie said. A little iron stove used for heating and cooking was fueled with dry leaves when coal was scarce. School continued during the war, even though the schools had to close when there was no coal to heat the buildings. Some teachers were not very enthusiastic about the Nazis, she said, but other teachers were, and read chapters from Hitler’s autobiography. Ritchie began university studies in literature in 1946. She took her degree at the Free University of Berlin in 1949. The university was labeled “free” because it was not political, while the University of Berlin was communist. One of her professors, who had

Berrada maintains that neither she nor her friend cursed at the manager. “There’s two sides of the story,” Wylie said. “We have Muslim employees in our restaurants and they — you know, if that happened, I’ll be the first one to apologize for that.” Wylie said there’s no excuse for treating customers — or anyone for that matter — differently based on their race, ethnicity, or religion. In a subsequent call with Papa John’s corporate, Berrada said the woman she spoke to was understanding and apologetic. She said she made it clear she did not want the shift manager to be fired. “In my call with her, I made sure to say, ‘Please don’t get that guy fired,’ because stuff like this happens, and if we get him fired, this is just going to be happening elsewhere,” Berrada said. “I know that attitudes like that are not solved, so we were asking for the guy not to be fired, but for him to go into a training or anything like that just so he knows how to handle other people.” Wylie said such an offense would result in the immediate termination of an employee. “If I ever heard an employee say something like that, I can tell you that’d be their last day, regardless of what [Berrada] wanted,” Wylie said. “ it would be her last day or his last day, without question.” Wylie said diversity training is already a common practice at Papa John’s. “Our company does diversity training on a regular basis,” Wylie said. “We have a company policy that governs our stores, and diversity is a huge piece of that.” Wylie said Papa John’s employees are held to a high standard of sensitivity when dealing with customers. “You have to sign our employment agreement, and it absolutely, positively is something that our people have to understand,” Wylie said. “Our employee handbook is very detailed.” The Papa John’s brand took a hit last month when company

SELENA FAVELA/THE SUNFLOWER

Gisela Richie, a German professor at Wichita State in 1977, was a teenager in Nazi Germany during World War II.

taught at Yale for 20 years, aroused her interested in the United States, and she came to the U.S. in 1953. “It was almost like coming home,” she said. She already had many friends here — her students from the Army Education Center in Germany, where

she taught literature and worked to improve her English. Ritchie came to Wichita in 1959 with her husband — one of her students from the Center. Gisela Ritchie continues her studies in literature in an atmosphere of freedom.

founder John Schnatter resigned as chair of the board of directors after admittedly using the n-word on a conference call with a marketing firm in May. Wylie said that, of the roughly 5,000 Papa John’s restaurants worldwide, about 4,200 are owned by individual business people and ownership groups. “We’re not corporate,” Wylie said. “Obviously, what’s going on with the brand — clearly it’s heightened things as it relates to the brand, but our brand . . . our ownership group is minority-controlled.” “From an ownership perspective, we are probably 50 percent or more owned by minorities.” Berrada said she hopes insensitivity at Papa John’s isn’t systemic. “I like to think the best of people, so I hope it’s not systemic,” Berrada said. “ I hope it’s an isolated incident and someone who just messed up.” Berrada, originally from Morocco, said she hopes sharing her story will keep others from experiencing the same thing. “I don’t want this to happen to anyone because I’m so very, very sad about it,” Berrada said. “I went to my therapist and we were talking about it for an hour because it really affected me.” Wylie said an investigation into the incident is ongoing. “I’m not on anybody’s side,” Wylie said. “I just want to make sure that we’re addressing her concerns properly and that she feels that whatever happened, in her mind, is vindicated and that she feels supported by us.” Berrada said that, when a different manager called the next day to apologize, all she was offered was a reimbursement for the $13 pizza. However, the shift manager from the night before had already flagged her Papa John’s account. “He clearly said that I was not welcome at any Papa John’s location — that I should not go there,” Berrada said. “Okay, well, you bet I’m not going there.” “At this point, I don’t want to eat pizza anymore.”

FREAKS AND GEEKS WELCOME

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SPORTS

6 | THURSDAY, AUG. 23, 2018

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Volleyball starts season Friday BY EVAN PFLUGRADT

Sports Six Trivia 1. The women’s bowling team has won how many national championships? 1. 2. 3. 4.

ichita State volleyball returns to action Friday when they enter a threegame road stretch to open the season. They’ll travel to the East Coast to face James Madison before traveling to Howard and Virginia Commonwealth on Monday. Senior outside-hitter Tabitha Brown is expected to fill the departures of seniors Abbie Lehman, Mikaela Raudsepp, and Emily Hiebert — key pieces of a team that went 20-0 in the American Athletic Conference and led WSU to host its first NCAA Tournament game in school history. Brown finished her junior season with 385 kills, second only behind Lehman. Brown was named a unanimous selection to the AAC’s Preseason All-Conference Team. Against James Madison, Brown will compete with junior outside-hitter Bryn Recker. Recker led her team with 366 kills, an average of 3.42 kills per set. James Madison finished 23-6 last season. They appeared in consecutive NCAA Tournaments after capturing Colonial Athletic Association titles in each of the last two seasons. They exited in the first round of the NCAA Tournament last year after being shut out by Colorado.

6 3 9 7

2. Which year did Wichita State win the College World Series? 1. 2. 3. 4.

1994 1999 1981 1989

3. Volleyball Head Coach Chris Lamb has coached at WSU for how many seasons? 1. 2. 3. 4.

19 12 10 13

4. Former Wichita State point guard Landry Shamet was drafted by which NBA team? 1. 2. 3. 4.

Los Angeles Lakers Boston Celtics Philadelphia 76ers San Antonio Spurs

5. What year will Wichita State host the first round of the women’s NCAA Tournament? 1. 2. 3. 4.

2021 2022 2019 2024

6. Which Shocker was taken by the Philadelphia Phillies with the No. 3 overall pick in the MLB Draft? 1. 2. 3. 4.

Answers will be posted in the sports section of Monday’s edition of The Sunflower.

SELENA FAVELA/THE SUNFLOWER

Wichita State senior Tabitha Brown serves during a practice scrimmage in Koch Arena.

CISSELL

FROM PAGE 1 Cissell discussed the freneticism that becoming a father entails. “Fathers, sometimes they just go crazy,” Cissell said, smirking and palm-muting an E minor chord. Then, just five days later, he was gone. Cissell had been a part of the Kansas literary community since traveling to Wichita in 1993. Working at bookstores, including the now defunct B Dalton Books and later at Watermark Books, Cissell absorbed himself in all Kansas and Wichita had to offer in the way of culture, books, art, and poetry. He taught English classes as a graduate student instructor at WSU. Espousing the ethos, logos, and

DEFENSE

FROM PAGE 1 In 2015, WSU was awarded a $7.1 million research grant by the U.S. Economic Development Administration, a federal government agency that provides financial assistance to communities to aid in economic development. The 2015 grant was awarded to WSU “based on its designation as a U.S. manufacturing community,” Friess wrote. The most recent grant is an extension of the 2015 grant, Friess wrote. Friess said the university is looking into building a center for

SGA

FROM PAGE 1 If all the freshman positions are not filled by a special election, Student Body President Kenon Brinkley said the senate would use the traditional appointment process to fill them. During the debate portion for the resolution, multiple senators expressed concerns over holding an election that only freshmen would be able to vote in. AtLarge Senator Zubair Khan was among them. “For freshman senator seats, I believe it’s probably better to have appointments since we don’t have any empirics on special elections, we don’t know what the turnout will be like,” Khan said. “Even if only five people voted in

pathos doldrums of Comp 1 and Comp 2, Cissell would later take on faculty status at WSU. There, he taught classes on the beat writers — Kerouac, Burroughs, Ginsberg. All of this landed Cissell working a gig as a full-time member of the English department at Butler in El Dorado. There he taught undergraduates core English and how to comprehend the madness and beauty of John Berryman’s “Dream Songs” for the first time. Kentucky, though, was where the poet’s past stemmed from, setting the scene for most of his book. Telling of his grandfather, a blackface minstrel in Paducah, Cissell solemnly plucked the guitar during his last interview, and answered questions about his home state, his family, and how, “The Cutting Songs of the Butcher Son” came to be.

testing a specific technology in the aerospace industry: hypersonic vehicles, which deal with “the complex physical phenomenon that accompany high-speed flight,” Friess wrote. Other programs that will be researched include: • Automated fiber placement and tape-laying technology optimization • Cold spray technologies for restoration and manufacturing of aircraft parts • Robotic programming with motion-tracking systems that record and analyze motion • Tooling systems that build new defense and commercial aircraft equipment quickly

the election, the senate would have to accept that result,” Khan said. Khan motioned for an amendment that would remove freshman senator seats from the special election, but it ultimately failed. Now that the resolution has passed, SGA will begin the selection process for an election commission, which involves the appointment of commissioners by Brinkley. Appointees for the election commission must then be approved by the Student Senate. Once the election commission is formed, it will be up to them to decide on election guidelines. Each session of SGA is only allowed to select one election commission, meaning that the same commission will form the guidelines for the spring 2019 election.

Conor Gillaspie Alec Bohm Trey Vickers Gunnar Troutwine

93-year-old Freddy Simon talks basketball, custard at WSU BY EVAN PFLUGRADT

Few are as quick to call themselves lucky as Freddy Simon is. Simon, co-founder and namesake of Wichita-based Freddy’s Frozen Custard and Steakburgers, says he’s the luckiest man in the world, and he loves to explain why. Simon, who will turn 94 in February, was in attendance at the soft opening of Freddy’s Frozen Custard and Steakburgers in the Rhatigan Student Center Friday. He returned — shaking hands and smiling with students — on Monday for the grand opening. The location on a college campus is the first of its kind for Freddy’s. Simon graduated from the Municipal University of Wichita, now Wichita State, in 1949. He completed work for a bachelor’s in business administration in three-and-ahalf years after returning from service in World War II. He received a Purple Heart for his service in the war. At WSU, Simon played intramural basketball for two years. Simon’s wife was pregnant with their first son, and Simon quit intramurals after his

second season to “get down to business.” He finished his degree in business administration in three-and-a-half years. Simon has avidly followed WSU basketball since his departure. In his eyes, Dave Stallworth is still the greatest to play for the university — though some, like Fred VanVleet, have been equally as talented, he said. “We’re working on a store in Rockford, Illinois,” said Randy Simon, Freddy’s son and president and CEO of Freddy’s Frozen Custard and Steakburgers. “We’d love to get Freddy (VanVleet) with Freddy.”

Freddy Simon worked for 56 years in wholesale liquor before he planned to open the first Freddy’s store near 21st and Tyler in Wichita in 2002. Freddy opened the store with his two sons, Bill and Randy, and business partner Scott Redler. The operation served food reminded them of what they grew up eating. Freddy Simon said he never envisioned more than a single store — neither did his sons. “It was food Dad used to cook for us — food we all liked,” Randy Simon said. “We weren’t sure everyone shared our taste. Looks like they do.” Freddy Simon frequents franchise locations in Wichita. He says he’s a fan of all the custard toppings, but he tends to stick to either a turtle sundae or chocolate custard with whipped marshmallow. He also likes a steakburger with extra pickles. Chartwells is WSU’s food service provider. Randy Simon said he and Chartwells executives will monitor the success of WSU’s Freddy’s and determine if they will expand this project to other college campuses. Chartwells is the food service provider at more than 200 college campuses.

Selection committee ditches RPI system for ‘contemporary’ NET method BY EVAN PFLUGRADT

The NCAA is changing the way it evaluates college basketball teams. Announced Wednesday, the NCAA will scrap the rating percentage index, commonly known as RPI, and replace it with a new system. RPI ranks teams based on their wins and losses and strength of schedule. The RPI system has been in use for selection of the men’s NCAA Tournament since 1981. NET, of the NCAA Evaluation Tool, will replace the RPI system, effective immediately.

The new metric system will be used solely by the men’s selection committee. Other NCAA sports will continue to use their own versions. RPI is comprised of a team’s winning percentage, its opponents’ winning percentage, and the winning percentage of those opponents’ opponents. NET accounts for more factors, including game results, strength of schedule, game location, scoring margin, and efficiency ratings. NCAA officials call NET a “contemporary method” of analyzing basketball. The NCAA Selection

Committee previously considered RPI among other metrics when considering at-large teams for the NCAA Tournament. Wichita State has been selected as an at-large team in three of their last four tournament appearances, including last season. “As has always been the case, the committee won’t solely focus on metrics to select at-large teams and seed the field,” Dan Gavitt, senior vice president of basketball for the NCAA, said in a release. “There will always be a subjective element to the tournament selection process, too.”