THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2015 VOL. 67, ISSUE 11

VantagetheSTUDENT VOICE OF NEWMAN UNIVERSITYsince 1968

Newman recieves a million dollar donationBy LAUREN SPENCERStaff Writer

Newman University is now a mil-lion dollars richer, after receiving a grant from the Dwane L and Velma Lunt Wallace Charitable Foundation.

Last week, the charitable founda-tion granted the million-dollar dona-tion, which will go toward supporting Newman’s science and health science programs, such as nursing and allied health.

Dwane Wallace created the founda-tion in 1989 along with his wife Velma. Dwane was one of the founders, with

his uncle Clyde Cessna, of the Cessna Aircraft Company in 1934 and served as general manager, president and chairman. He and his wife started the foundation in the hopes of supporting a wide range of organizations, mostly in the Wichita area, that would better the lives of the cities residents.

“Newman is truly grateful for this gift that will not only help our stu-dents in the science, nursing and al-lied health fields, but also enhance the quality of care for the residents throughout the Wichita region as our highly trained graduates go on to work in local hospitals, clinics and

health care facilities,” said President Noreen Carrocci.

“Thanks to the foundation they established, the Wallaces continue to impact our community in so many positive ways… We’re excited the Foundation made the decision to sup-port student excellence through this grant,” Vice President for Advance-ment J.V. Johnston said.

The Wallace’s other philanthropic work has provided financial support for community projects like Explora-tion Place.

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Students ask for exceptions over philosophy NSPs

DWANE WALLACE, former chairman of Cessna Aircraft Company, Courtesy Photo from news.newmanu.edu.

By JOHN DENNYEditor-in-Chief

Enrollment for Spring 2016 classes has been open for multiple weeks now, and various students have found that they are required to take a class they were not made aware of until it was almost too late. Certain classes in the Newman Studies Program that are “philosophy rich,” taught by philoso-phy faculty, are required for students to graduate, and a couple students have come forward saying their ad-visors did not tell them about this re-quirement, said Provost Michael Aus-tin.

“We’ve had a few and we’ve writ-ten exceptions,” he said.

Austin said philosophy-rich general education requirements are not new, though because the NSP program is new, they are being more lenient to-ward students who were unaware of the requirement.

“[It]’s something that is still in flux, so we are being very flexible with stu-dents when they come to us and they didn’t realize this.”

Dean of Undergraduate Studies Da-vid Shubert said while the Exceptions Committee is being understanding to-ward students’ troubles, filing for an exception is not like a “get-out-of-jail-free card.”

To file for an exception Shubert said students must fill out an excep-tion form and write a letter explaining the reasons that their case deserves an exception, and the committee will de-termine if their reasoning is valid.

Shubert said the fact that some stu-dents were unaware of this require-ment tells him that some advisors may need to be reminded about this par-ticular NSP requirement.

“This is clearly a signal that we need a refresher.”

He also said that students must take full advantage of their advisors and other resources like degree audits to make sure they are staying on track.

“You guys come here to have a re-lationship with the faculty and with your advisor, and I would encourage students to take advantage of those re-sources.”

By TYLER NEWMANGuest Writer

Newman University’s sports in-formation director Tim Hanson has turned in his resignation to accept a similar position at Rogers State Uni-versity in Claremore, Okla. Hanson’s last day at Newman will be Friday.

“They called, sort of out of the blue, wanting to know if I’d be interested in the position,” said Hanson, who also

said he couldn’t pass up the oppor-tunity to move himself and his fiancé closer to her hometown of Tulsa.

“Being able to move closer was a big priority.”

Athletic Director Vic Trilli said he was sorry to see Hanson go.

“Tim’s leaving on good terms,” he said. “He’s going to work for one of my best buddies, so I wish him the best down there. I’m happy for him, he’s starting a new life, a life as a mar-

ried man.”Hanson, who began his role as As-

sistant Athletic Director and Sports Information Director on Jan. 2, 2013, made it a priority to redesign the website, newmanjets.com, as well as to begin more social media coverage and more broadcast coverage of New-man’s athletic events.

Over his time at Newman, he made

Sports Information Director resigns post

See “Resigns” on Page 3

a&eTHURSDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2015

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TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALL GAME

STUDENTS rehearse “The Game,” a musical number from the upcoming musical, “Damn Yankees.” Hank Griggs, Photo Editor

The Newman University Music and Theatre Departments are gear-ing up for the fall musical “Damn Yankees,” which will open Thursday, Nov. 19.

“Damn Yankees” is about Joe Boyd, an aging Washington Senators fan who is willing to sell his soul to the devil for the Senators to beat the New York Yankees. He meets Applegate, the devilish trickster, who offers him a chance to play for the team himself. However, when Boyd starts to miss his wife, he questions whether he wanted it in the first place.

Senior Wesley Williams, who plays Applegate, said that the experience has been fun for him because he’s got-ten the opportunity to perform a role

he’s always dreamed of having.“I was exposed to this musical at a

very young age,” he said. “It taught me that musicals can be a lot more than just singing. They can be about cool stuff like history and baseball. I’m enjoying every minute of it and just trying to soak it all in before the inevitable final curtain closes and we have to call it an end.”

Technical Director Jamison Rhoads said the set build process has been a good experience, as he’s had student help along the way.

“A show like this I call ‘a show of little houses’ because Welch’s office is a small office on a platform and Meg’s house looks like a house in the 50s on a platform,” Rhoads said. “I’m excited to see it come together because when it all comes together and things are moving and things are shifting, it

should be pretty neat.”Freshman Joel Sponsel who is play-

ing Joe Hardy, one of the two male leads said he is excited for the show to open.

“It’s a really good cast,” he said. “It’s been a lot of fun and I’m really excited.”

Students prepare to perform musical ‘Damn Yankees’ Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack

more infowhat: “Damn Yankees”

when: 8 p.m. Nov. 19-21 and 2 p.m. Sunday

where: De Mattias Performance Hall

how much: $12, adults, $10 students, $5 students, free to NU students

By KATI BUSHA&E Editor

Hispanic club brings diversity to NU campusBy WESLEY WILLIAMSSports Editor

The Hispanic-American Leader-ship Organization (HALO) has had a full schedule of events this semester and is looking to further their activ-ity both on and off campus.

“Our mission is to help out in both the Newman and Wichita communi-ties,” said Andrea Estrada, president of HALO. “We also learn about lead-ership skills within our group and do volunteer work or put on different events.”

Estrada said that HALO also seeks to add diversity campus, which she believes is important to get stu-dents to try new things.

“Maybe people aren’t willing to try different aspects of different cultures,” she said. “But if they see different cultures, that may make the want to try different foods and differ-ent cultures that they can then share at home.”

For Sonja Bontrager, head of the Spanish department, HALO helps Newman be able to reflect the cur-rent make up of the United States.

“The United States is the num-ber two country in the world that speaks Spanish, second only behind Mexico,” Bontrager said. “It’s one of the U.S. languages, and I think it is important for people from a variety of communities to feel themselves represented on campus.”

HALO recently completed a fun-draising event where it sold enchi-ladas on campus, and now they are working on volunteering, sending members to conferences, and recruit-ing at area high schools.

Bontrager says that interacting with a group like HALO can trans-late to valuable skills later in life.

“I think anytime you build re-lationships with people who come from a different culture than yours, there are skills that will carry over later in life,” Bontrager said.

The club is open to any student on campus and meets every other Wednesday. Students can contact Estrada for more details.

sportsTHURSDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2015

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Senior Ashley Gonzalez leads team on and off courtGonzalez finishes volleyball career with team and conference honors

The Newman University women’s volleyball team has improved to 23-8 after a thrilling win against Eastern New Mexico in a five game battle on Saturday and they were led by senior Ashley Gonzalez who earned 20 kills in the match.

Gonzalez has developed an un-stoppable reputation amongst her opponents. She has led the Jets with 483 kills up to this point in the season, almost a third of her team’s total.

But who is she?Gonzalez, an education major from

Camanche, Iowa, started her col-legiate career in Cedar Rapids, Iowa at Kirkwood Community College, where she was a second team All-American and first team all-Confer-ence. She led the Eagles with a .306 hitting percentage and is 10th all time in Kirkwood history in kills and hit-ting percentage.

She transferred to Newman for her sophomore season. Gonzalez started 26 of 27 matches and led the team in blocks for the 2013 season. Her junior year she was named All-Heartland Conference First Team, led the team

with 325 kills, posted a career-high 23 kills in a single game (a victory over Bethel College), and started all 29 matches.

In addition to her success on the volleyball court, Gonzalez has made the most of her leadership role. When asked about Gonzalez’s role on the team, first year head coach Destiny Clark said that Gonzalez is a natural leader.

“I never worry about her,” Clark said. “She is a fantastic leader as team captain. She makes sure everybody is doing what they are supposed to be doing and that they are where they are supposed to be on time.”

Clark also said that Gonzalez adapted to the change in coaching staff from last year well made it easier for both the team and the coaches.

“She’s picked up what I wanted really quickly, so I wouldn’t have to give people a whole lot of direction after the first two or three weeks into the season because she knew what I expected and she was doing that,” Clark said.

Gonzalez is a leader away from Newman as well. She participates in the Big brothers Big sisters of Sedg-wick County.

“Her little sister is always around and she’s great with her,” Clark said. “She’s great with little kids in general, like the ones we’ve had come to the games.”

The Jets have posted an impressive record up to this point. They have two Heartland Conference games remain-ing before heading off to the Heart-

land Conference Tournament where they are expected to be ranked atop the conference, with a likely opening game against Lubbock Christian.

Gonzalez’s action does not stop at the end of volleyball season. She can be seen this winter on the basketball team as well.

SENIOR ASHLEY GONZALEZ, RIGHT, celebrates with a teammate. Gonzalez passed 1,000 career kills on Nov. 7. Hank Griggs, Photo Editor

By KYLE MAZZAStaff Writer

sure most sporting events had high definition video coverage and he set up live audio broadcasts for baseball, softball, and select men’s and wom-en’s soccer games.

His work made it easier for recruits to look at what Newman has to offer athletically and also benefited families of nonlocal students, Hanson said.

Hanson served as the media liaison for the athletic department and all 18 sports teams at Newman University and has served as the official scorer for all home athletic competitions.

Trilli said the search for a replace-ment is ongoing, though they hope to have someone soon.

From “Resigns” on Page 1

opinionTHURSDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2015

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Are the NSPs really good for the Humanities?I imagine many of you think this

will be an attack against the four especially demanding classes every Newman graduate must complete, but I assure you it is not. I have no problem firmly asserting that the Newman Stud-ies Program core courses, which form a required “cap-stone” of sorts, are good, enlightening, and even – dare I say – useful. The problem I see with the program is while on the one hand it is being sold as a way of preserv-ing the liberal arts tradition of the university, it is actually sucking up an incredible amount of resources from those very liberal arts disciplines it purports to be saving.

For instance, consider that while there are only two full-time phi-losophy faculty at Newman (plus Bo Bonner who teaches an NSP and philosophy course now and then) we require that every upper-level student take at least one philosophy taught/co-taught NSP (the ones ending with 53). Because NSPs are deliberately kept under a certain size, this means that basically we have to offer about six such philosophy rich NSP each

semester and both of the philosophy professors (plus Bonner) must spend their time offering two to three such NSPs each, which when combined with their other duties including administrative work in the case of Professor Bonner (our Title IX coor-dinator), advisor duties, and gen-ed courses in philosophy this leaves very little time for providing elective courses for Philosophy majors or mi-nors, let alone other interesting course offerings.

Before you think this is merely another bleeding heart liberal-arts student ranting, let me point out that this also affects other disciplines. For instance, in the pre-law minor Logic 1023 is a recommended course (and in fact logic is a big part of the LSAT which every Law School-hopeful must take) and yet we seldom offer it anymore.

While NSP courses can be used as upper-level electives as well, this does not really solve the problem. After all, as anyone can tell you, the com-petition to enroll in the NSPs is fierce (especially the philosophy-rich 53s) and naturally the priority is going to be given to students who need the course to graduate on time.

For those of us who are students of philosophy, it is difficult to swal-low that the only way we can get our needed hours is to take intensive, but

not exclusively philosophy-focused, courses.

Another problem arises in that without adequate staffing, it has es-sentially become impossible for our philosophy faculty to take sabbatical, that is, taking a semester off to work on authoring papers, books, and do-ing research.

Similarly, those less-pronounced problems arise within other depart-ments, as well; English, history and theology are all under strain to provide enough time for both NSP courses and their own elective courses. Cheryl Golden, professor of history, is tasked with teaching three NSP courses next semester, in addi-tion to her standard history offerings and her role as director and coordina-tor of the international studies and study abroad program. Professor McCormick, in Theology, is slated to handle three NSPs himself while also acting as director of the Gerber Institute and teaching courses in undergrad theology. While the strain is not quite as great on theology, the fact that everyone must take a theol-ogy professor taught/co-taught NSP course (Quest for Meaning) again ensures that the department must be able cover roughly six such courses each semester.

There are more faculty in the theol-ogy department (four professors plus

our chaplain Fr. John Fogliasso), but the fact that we also run an online graduate program further thins out the amount of resources offered to theology undergrads. Further, it is a bit ironic that we have an NSP course on world religions being taught by Golden and Smith, neither of whom are theology professors, when such a course already exists (but is rarely ever offered). It seems clear as well that the humanities department is tasked with supporting the NSP pro-gram more than other departments, for instance the various sciences, whose time it seems the administra-tion values more. These strains on the humanities departments are illustra-tive of the larger question about what the NSP program is supposed to be.

The bottom line is I like the NSP program’s core courses and the goal of ensuring that every Newman student regardless of degree has the liberal arts experience. I think it is a noble and worthwhile program and we should all work to continue to im-prove upon it. But I worry that unless the administration is willing to hire enough faculty to actually teach the courses, we risk so watering down the liberal-arts majors that this will be-come the only place where that ideal is preserved. This is why I don’t hate the NSP program, but I do fear it.

David Reed

Senior, Interdisciplinary

major

Published every Thursday, except during University breaks and the summer session. De Mattias Hall, Room 266 3100 McCormick Ave., Wichita, KS 67213.

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