Providing a voice for Washburn students since 1897 Volume 144, Issue 14
News Pages 1-3 WTE after 10 years
washburnreview.org
January 17, 2018
Opinion Page 4 Reporting on ‘shithole’
Sports Pages 5-6 New Year’s fitness resolutions
Features Pages 7-12 Top 10 TV shows of 2017
? o g y e n o m r u o y s e o d e r e Wh WSGA $243,208.52 Student Media $119,230.38 CAB $66,239.10 University Child Development $32,000 Cheer Squad $8,000 Dancing Blues $8,000
Data from Activity Fee Allocation FY2016-2017 Graphic by Cody Dannar
WSGA audits student activity fee usage Jessica Knieff Washburn Review jessica.knieff@washburn.edu
The total amount of student activity fees collected for the 2016-2017 fiscal year was just over $500,000. This amount comes from the student activity fees paid by each degree-seeking Washburn student enrolled in six or more credit hours. Degree-seeking undergraduates who are enrolled in 12 or more hours pay $55 per semester into the student activity fee fund, while degree seeking undergraduates who are enrolled in six to 11 hours pay $29 per semester into the fund. This fund is broken up among a few major student organizations. According to the constitution and bylaws of WSGA, an audit of how these funds are being used should occur every year. According to Jessica Barra-
clough, director of student activities and Greek life and adviser to WSGA, the last time the student fee usage was reviewed and revised was during the 2014-2015 White/McAfee administration. Zac Surritt, WSGA budget director, along with the WSGA allocations committee, has been conducting interview style audits with the organizations that use student fee money. These organizations include: WSGA, Student Media, Campus Activities Board, University Child Development, Cheer and the Dancing Blues. Each semester the funds are broken up into two areas, fixed allocations and percentage allocations. For fixed allocations, UCD receives $16,000 per semester or $32,000 annually, cheer and dance each receive $4,000 per semester or $8,000 each annually.
After this money has been allocated, the remaining funds are broken up by percentage and distributed to the remaining organizations. WSGA receives 58% of the remaining funds- some of which are for student organization funding requests as well as other campus services. Student Media receives 27%, with 16.2% going toward the Washburn Review and 10.8% going toward the Kaw Yearbook and CAB receives 15%. Surritt says he hopes to form a committee soon with representatives from the organizations that “have a stake” in student activity fee usage to review the findings of the audit. He says that the auditing process helps to bring people together. “The auditing process kind of links everyone back together and brings everyone to the table in figuring
out what our goals are, as not just our own organizations but as a student body,” Surritt said. “In my opinion, Cheer, Dance, CAB, Student Media, UCD and WSGA all have similar interests in that they are in one way or another serving the student body.” Surritt said there are many safeguards in place to make sure that WSGA fairly audits their own use of student activity fee money. “It’s always an issue, having the organization that is responsible for divvying up the student activity fee also receiving the student activity fee,” Surritt said. As budget director, Surritt says he is the caretaker of the money that goes in and out of WSGA, so he keeps both digital and hard copies of all their expenses which then have to be approved by Barraclough. Additionally, the allocations committee as a whole is the
responsible party for conducting the audits which Surritt says helps with accountability. According to Barraclough, most schools have a much higher student activity fee because it covers things like student health services and student recreation facilities. “Washburn believes that you are coming to school and your tuition dollars should be for those things [recreation, health, and counseling services] because they are basic needs versus having to pay extra,” Barraclough said. If the findings of the audit reveal a need for an increase in the student activity fee, the allocations committee would have to draft a proposal. The proposal would have to go through their adviser, the VP of student life, the executive staff and finally the board of regents.
Students told to seek shelter after nearby shooting Jessica Knieff Washburn Review jessica.knieff@washburn.edu
One person was found dead after Topeka Police responded to reports of shots fired around 12:05 a.m. Sunday near campus. The victim has been identified by TPD as 37-year-old Travis Larsen of Topeka. On Monday, 21-year-old
Zachary Buck-Schrag was arrested following the shooting near campus.
Zachary BuckSchrag, a person of interest in the Jan. 14 homicide, turned himself in to the Lawrence Police Department. Buck-Schrag was arrested on charges of felony murder, criminal discharge of a firearm and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Before his surrender, TPD shared a photo of Buck-Schrag requesting information from the public and warning that he was likely armed and dangerous. According to a TPD release, the victim was found
in a car in the treeline area of 22nd Park and Mulvane. Washburn students received three messages from the iAlert system during the incident. WUPD encouraged students to “shelter in place until further details,” as the suspect may have
fled onto campus. This message came at 12:44 a.m. “Washburn Police are searching for a suspect in a shooting off campus who may have fled onto the campus. Please shelter in place until further details available.” A follow-up alert came at 1:03 a.m. and gave a simple description of the subject as “male in dark clothes running north from the area of Falley Field.” “Officers continue to check the area for the suspect. Only description was
a male in dark clothes running north from the area of Falley Field.” A final, all-clear message came at 1:41 a.m. informing students that “the suspect is no longer believed to be on campus at this time. There is no need to continue sheltering.” “Officers have been unable to locate the suspect. The suspect is no longer believed to be on the campus at this time. There is no need to continue sheltering.” Anyone who has any further information on this incident is encouraged to call in anonymous tips to Crime Stoppers at 785234-0007.