the review washburn university
Serving Washburn University since 1897
volume 135, Issue 11 • MONDAY, nov. 10, 2008
Scuffle in the senate WWW.WASHBURNREVIEW.ORG • (785) 670-2506 • 1700 S.W. College • topeka, kan. 66621
Poor communication prompts heated infighting between WSGA members Travis Perry WASHBURN REVIEW As lightning flickered Wednesday in the stormy night, the tension between members of the Washburn Student Government Association was nearly as thick as the clouds which filled the dark sky. Stemming from the announced resignation of special events director Charity Hockman, many senators took offense to action taken by Whitney Philippi, WSGA president, regarding Hockman’s actions. At the Oct. 28th
WSGA meeting, Hockman announced her resignation would be effective as of the end of the fall semester. “I feel at this point the role of WSGA is to serve students,” said Hockman. “However, I feel this administration has not done this wholeheartedly.” Hockman continued by saying she felt it would be deceitful to continue to have her name tied to an administration which was not going in the direction she thought it should. Citing problems of accountability and upholding the WSGA constitution, Hockman informed Philippi and other members of the executive staff prior to her announcement before the senate. “I was seeing both sides of the coin, and I didn’t feel there was honesty and transparency,” said Hockman in an
Charity Hockman
File photos
Whitney Philippi
interview the following week. Following the resignation notice, Philippi agreed to allow Hockman to stay on through the end of the semester, a decision which was contradicted Wednesday when Philippi issued an early acceptance of Hockman’s resignation. Announcing the news prompted
cries of anger, frustration and unconstitutionality from senators at the Nov. 5 WSGA special session because the action Philippi attempted to take was not within her authority as president. “If your [Philippi] intent was to get rid of tension within the executive staff, you ended up creating a bunch of tension within [senators],” said R.J. McGuire, senator. Senator Will Lawrence concurred with McGuire, saying it is difficult for him and other senators to do their jobs when they don’t know what executive staff members, Philippi in particular, are doing. Josh Maples also voiced concern over the current state of the student government saying he felt they were becoming too divisive.
“These cliques within the senate are tearing us apart,” said Maples. Additional calls of Philippi stepping outside the boundaries of her position resounded during an Oct. 28th forum on the outdoor stage project. With additional funding for the project still up in the air, many senators feared Philippi, who was originally against the passage of the bill last year as a senator, would try to kill off the project herself and bypass the senate. Some even went as far as saying they felt she was trying to strip the senate of its legislative power. Philippi said it was not her intention to bypass the senate in either
Please see WSGA page A3
Overall enrollment declines Stage funds stalled Richard Kelly WASHBURN REVIEW
Recent numbers released by Washburn University show enrollment has dropped yet again, down 5 percent from where it was last year at this time. Kirk Haskins, director of admissions and Tom Ellis, interim dean of enrollment, said many contributing factors have led to the drop-off in enrollment. The economy, fewer graduating high school seniors and the retention of students are among several factors that played a role in the decrease in students attending Washburn this fall. “Economically speaking, these are challenging times, but they are also great times too,” said Haskins. We can assess why we do what we do and how we can make it better, building off our strong points and foundations we already have in place.” The stable population of Topeka is a contributing factor to the dropping enrollment. While the city has remained stagnant, the number of elderly individuals greatly outweighs the number of high school and college level individuals.
Travis Perry WASHBURN REVIEW
log 20 hours per week. According to Nincehelser, responsibilities include creating the WSGA budget, paying bills, data-entry, submitting account transfers and payment vouchers, auditing and reconciling accounts and creating and presenting budget reports. The director is also required to deal directly with student organizations and their advisors, submit payroll for the
The cornerstone of the Bowhay/ Keller administration has hit a jarring and potentially fatal roadblock. With funding problems up in the air since the middle of the summer, the future of the outdoor stage is uncertain. Currently, there is $36,000 in funding available for the project, $21,000 from the Washburn Student Government Association and $15,000 from the Memorial Union. Unfortunately, this leaves the project $25,000 short of its sticker price. A forum on the state of the stage was held at an Oct. 28 WSGA meeting, during which president Whitney Philippi addressed funding concerns. “We thought that a capital improvement request had been put in by the previous administration,” said Philippi. “We don’t know what happened to that.” Philippi, who as a senator voted against the original outdoor stage, had originally proposed to the senate that if funding was not available, she would take action with budget director Kevin Nincehelser to reclaim funds and deposit them into the WSGA reserves account. Many senators were displeased with this action, saying they felt as if Philippi was trying to bypass the senate in this decision.
Please see BUDGET page A5
Please see STAGE page A6
Photo by Matt Wilper, Washburn Review
Contrasting numbers: Tracy Hoelting is one of many students living in the Living Learning Center, which is currently near full capacity. While recent high school graduate enrollment is up, this is in stark contrast to the drop seen in the non-traditional student base. “If you saw Topeka’s population increasing even 1.5-2.0 percent, you could expect it would make an impact on Washburn,” said Ellis. “The problem is though, for the last 30 years or so, the population only increases about 0.5 percent a year.”
With other schools in the area, including Pittsburg State University, Emporia State University, Kansas University and Kansas State University showing an increase in enrollment this fall, further questions begin to surface. “It’s a good indication that Washburn
has some opportunities to build on its awareness,” said Haskins. The problem, Ellis and Haskins
Please see ENROLLMENT page A6
WSGA searching for new budget director
In the wake of Barack Obama’s victory, two students share their thoughts on the long campaign process.
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flood of interest so far. I believe that this is mainly due to the high expectations and high level of difficulty that this job entails.” Nincehelser also said the compensation for the position is not monetarily significant, and the reward comes in the form of valuable experience and having the power to create change. Those qualities are more difficult to market than an hourly wage. The duties of budget director are extensive, requiring the individual to
The Lady Blues basketball team gave KU and K-State a run for their money.
sports
news & opinion
The Washburn Student Government Association is on an active search to fill the position of WSGA budget director, as current director Kevin Nincehelser makes plans to travel to the Philippines to study abroad for the spring semester. Fliers, banners and Facebook notifications have all been utilized in hopes of attracting students to
fill out applications for the position. Nincehelser and WSGA president Whitney Philippi have also been in contact with professors from the School of Business to target students who are likely to be qualified and interested. So far, the search to fill the position has not been as successful as WSGA members had hoped. “It is a poor time to hire on campus due to the stress and pace of the last four weeks of the semester,” said Nincehelser. “There has not been a
Rising Nashville star Megan Conner put on a show last Thursday.
Argo 6 & 7
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Lauren Eckert WASHBURN REVIEW