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The Sunflower

Wichita State's independent, student-run news source

The Sunflower

Wichita State's independent, student-run news source

The Sunflower

Staff editorial: In quest for change, move toward action

Editorial Board November 16, 2015

A racially charged controversy at the University of Missouri resulted in mass protests, a call for the elimination of discrimination and ultimately the resignation of its president. In response to the...

My body, my decisions

Victoria Hendricks November 9, 2015

I am a female. As such, I have certain body parts that men do not. One of these includes breasts. Well, men have breasts, too, but you know what I mean. Gasp. I said breasts. Can we all just stop for...

Audience members enjoy the production of “Morning Joe.”

Put phones down; cherish moments both beautiful, sad

Amanda Hansen November 9, 2015

When the pope arrived in America in September, a photo went viral depicting a crowd of attendees capturing the moment on their cellphones, except a single woman, who watched, smirking in delight with no...

Letter to the editor: On Planned Parenthood

Junior Marilyn Morton November 9, 2015

There have been numerous attempts to smear Planned Parenthood in recent months. Some of them have been carefully crafted, others have been on the nonsensical side. One thing missing from both categories...

On anniversary of Fairmount Park attack, reflect on violence in society

Editorial Board November 9, 2015

It will be one year Saturday since Letitia Davis, 36, was attacked at a nearby park, raped and set on fire.It was a cool November evening, the night the men’s basketball team played New Mexico State....

Learn of counseling resources on campus, be companions to fellow students who need it

Editorial Board October 26, 2015

Wichita State was stricken with an emotional tone after a student was found unresponsive in a Shocker Hall dorm room last week. It was later determined by a preliminary coroner’s report that she died...

Power lies with the people; use it

Victoria Hendricks October 26, 2015

It happens every election year.“I’m not going to vote because it won’t matter, anyway.”There seems to be a pandemic of this attitude that breaks out among citizens each year around election time,...

Tattoos in the workplace: To ink or not to ink?

Marissa Campbell October 26, 2015

Tattooing in the United States started in the late 1890s, but was frowned upon. It was something that illiterate, vulgar people would do, and most of the time, they were shunned from the socialites, according...

Tallgrass Film Festival offers variety, quality in this year’s movie selections

Alex Perry October 22, 2015

More than 200 films from around the world were screened at the Tallgrass Film Festival last weekend in Wichita. Here are short reviews of three films that were heavily promoted throughout the festival.‘Band...

On Grace Memorial Chapel

October 19, 2015

As an alumna of WSU, I would like to direct this letter to those students who believe that the recent controversy about the use of the WSU chapel is, as a Kansas City Star writer put it, a “tempest in a teapot.”  

Members of the alumni community can care about this issue and at the same time support the change of the chapel to make it a more flexible, more inclusive and better-utilized space.

If in the end and into the future the place is not normally used by one faith to the exclusion of others, the donors’ intent will have been satisfied and the university community will have achieved something good.

The concern I have is not so much with the changes made but with the response to the alumni who raised those concerns. The implication by some writers is that they are prejudiced, selfish, antiquated, ignorant or hateful.   

Muslims and Christians are being killed for their faith, and Grace Chapel, a place which, when built, had lovely pews and artifacts particular to Christian use, has been changed.  The changes may be constitutionally required, fitting with the donors’ intent, and beneficial for use as a chapel, mosque, synagogue and temple.  

But the change is no less meaningful for some than taking rugs from a mosque or scrolls from a synagogue would be for others. And it comes at a time when some of the classes that once formed the core of a liberal arts education, such as western civilization, seem under siege or neglected. In this context, why wouldn’t some in the larger community be saddened and alarmed that they are dismissed or belittled for caring about the chapel that is no more?

Perhaps the first “interfaith” and heartening lesson we have learned from this controversy is that at least two groups cared very much about their faith. One is the Muslim students who wanted a place to pray and another is the group of alumni who expressed concern.  

To neither group was the change a small thing. To both it meant something.  

If we understand that and give their individual members the benefit of the doubt and assume they are acting in good faith, willing to share the space in spirit as well as in deed, then we will have a start toward fulfilling its purpose.

— Carroll Hoke, WSU alumna, ‘84

CNN unethically removes poll showing Sanders as Democratic debate winner

Victoria Hendricks October 19, 2015

Unless you’re living under a rock, just about everyone knows about this past Tuesday’s Democratic debate on CNN, not without its controversies.A massive uproar erupted when CNN conducted a poll reflecting...

Concert etiquette: Cellphone usage

Marissa Campbell October 19, 2015

As the lights go down and your favorite band takes the stage, the crowd goes wild in anticipation.You are so excited to see your favorite band and sing along and get lost in the music.But out of the corner...

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