K A N S A S
S TAT E vol. 126, issue 25 friday, february 26, 2021
kstatecollegian.com
OUT OF LUCK
Aggieville Business Association will no longer organize, promote Fake Patty’s Day JOSIE WHITAKER news editor
After 13 years of coordinating an unofficial holiday, the Aggieville Business Association will no longer contribute efforts to Fake Patty’s Day. Dennis Cook, executive director of Aggieville Business Association, said he can’t tell anybody not to celebrate in Aggieville, but the association will not be organizing anything. Bars in the business district can still do anything they like to promote Fake Patty’s Day, but ABA is not involved, Cook said. “We are not going to ask the city to close the streets, we’re not going to coordinate anything and they’re just going to be on Archive photo by Logan Wassall | COLLEGIAN MEDIA GROUP their own,” Cook said. Wynn Butler, mayor of Citizens from Manhattan and surrounding areas come to Aggieville to celebrate Fake Manhattan, said he is happy Patty’s Day with their family and friends. With games, food, and music, there are plenty that Fake Patty’s Day is no lon- of things to keep people coming. ger promoted. “One of the main reanesses that didn’t benefit from could have one more big week- went to all sponsoring bars sons that Aggieville Business District is not pushing it is be- the event, such as coffee shops end out of this,’” Cook said. throughout the day and did cause they weren’t really mak- and barbers, would close for the “Between some bar owners way t-shirt giveaways at each one back then and some students, on the hour,” Barlette said. “It ing that much money, and two, day on Fake Patty’s Day. “Aggieville is approxi- the idea got hot about how we was pretty fun, but nothing they were getting a black eye,” mately 100 businesses, and ev- could do a ‘Fake’ Patty’s Day.” big or well-organized the first Butler said. Drew Barlette, former year. The next year we did it Butler was elected for the erybody who can really benefit first time in Apr. 2011, just a out of Fake Patty’s Day is about program director of KSDB, again and the bars themselves 12 or 13 businesses,” Cook said. worked alongside Patrick got more involved. It really just month after Fake Patty’s Day. The evolution of Fake Atchity and Aaron Leiker to blew up from there into the “[There] was this huge outcry because we had all kinds Patty’s Day started in 2007 brainstorm the idea of Fake event that you know of today.” Barlette said the city and of incidents,” Butler said. “So, when Kansas State students Patty’s Day. Atchity worked at the next year one of the first couldn’t celebrate Manhattan’s Tubby’s at the time and talked police refused to acknowledge it things we did was put the fire St. Patrick’s Day race and pa- to the owner about working was an actual event for the first with them. few years, even though it was department down there to en- rade because of spring break. “Some bar people got “That first year we put being promoted throughout the force occupancy.” Cook said Aggieville busi- together and said, ‘Maybe we together a schedule where we Manhattan area.
“[RCPD] pretended that it was just some flash mob and refused to have extra security in Aggieville and that’s why it ended up getting so out-of-hand, and so much of the community now hates it,” Barlette said. Chris Swick, program director for Z96.3 KACZ and B104.7 KXBZ, was a junior in journalism and mass communications and news director for Wildcat 91.9 at the time of the first Fake Patty’s Day. Swick said he would talk about it on-air, run pre-produced liners and promos to hype-up the event. In 2009, the station heard about people coming from Lawrence and as far away as Arizona. “That’s really when it started to morph into what it became known for, with stories of drunk people passed out in random yards and the eventual need for an increase in police presence,” Swick said. “I don’t think [Fake Patty’s Day] will entirely go away, either with a bar still running it, or students holding house parties under the umbrella,” Swick said. “But as a massive event, I do think its time has passed.” Cook said they are working on other events this year that will be more inclusive of the community, including the Aggieville Showdown on Apr. 17. “We hope to attract a wider range of people,” Cook said. “The only people who would show up in Aggieville [for Fake Patty’s Day] are those participants, and everyone else stayed on their porches.”
EDUCATE Aspiring teacher adapts to COVID-19-restricted student teaching
Page 06 University could implement new fee model next fall
Page 03 Greek life undergoes changes to keep members healthy
Page 05 ‘Coming along’: K-State finally showing Weber’s blueprint for success
Page 09
Nate’s Notes: What happened to a women’s basketball team projected to win big?
Page 10
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NEWS
friday, february 26, 2021
Dowd, Koger win primary election, continues prioritizing students JOSIE WHITAKER assistant news editor
Michael Dowd, senior in animal science and global food systems leadership, and Cameron Koger, junior in marketing, took a 516-vote lead against their opponents in the primary SGA elections. The duo accumulated a total of 1280 votes. "We can celebrate tonight and make sure that we're giving ourselves a lot of credit and patting ourselves on the back for the hard work we've done, but also for us to stay hungry and work towards the future," Dowd said. Vedant Kulkarni, international affairs director and senior in management information systems and mass communications, said he and Maggie Billman, speaker pro tempore and sophomore in secondary education, will focus on outreach to organizations and increasing social media engagement for the next two weeks. Their team received 764 votes in the primary election. Kulkarni said the support from multicultural organizations across campus is the most successful aspect of his team's campaign.
"I am an international student, so you know our campaign represents a diverse population on campus," Kulkarni said. "That has been extremely successful, I believe." Throughout the campaign, Koger and Dowd wanted to spread awareness that voting for them wasn't just a vote for Dowd, student body presidential candidate, but a vote for both of. "My name being the only one on the ballot doesn't differentiate the fact that we're both in this together," Dowd said. "Our job is to be a duo and to work well together and we're very passionate about making sure that is the highlight and focal point of this campaign." Together, the duo wants students to feel comfortable bringing up tough topics so they can learn and grow. One of the campaign goals was to receive 158 ideas from students to help improve K-State, which they still promote. "We got some [feedback] that really dove into what students were expecting with this and also gave us some really helpful feedback," Dowd said. Koger said winning the primary election feels jubilant. "It's another step towards actually getting into office, but it also just feels
very humbling that over 1100 students would vote for Michael," Koger said. "That really says a lot about the type of individual that he is, and really reinforces my belief that I have in him that he was able to do so well." Dowd said one of the biggest changes for their campaign was when the duo started connecting and talking individually with their core teammates. "We really wanted to make sure that we weren't just coming up with initiatives and ideas," Dowd said. "We wanted to make sure that those were going to be initiatives and support from actual students instead of us just coming up with those ideas ourselves." From there, things started falling into place. "Starting tomorrow until the general election, we're going to be tabling every day," Koger said. "We want to have conversations with people that aren't in our sphere and really get to hear their story and to make a genuine connection." The duo said they will spend these next couple of weeks working hard with their campaign. They were unable to table in person, so they tabled virtually. "This is just a stepping stone and we are far from being over," Dowd said.
EDITORIAL BOARD Bailey Britton Editor-in-Chief
Lori Leiszler Asst. Culture Editor
Julie Freijat Managing Editor
Cameron Bradley Sports Editor
Sean Schaper News Editor
Marshall Sunner Asst. Sports Editor
Josie Whitaker Asst. News Editor
Nathan Enserro Asst. Sports Editor
Jared Shuff Culture Editor
Dalton Wainscott Multimedia Editor
Dylan Connell Deputy Multimedia Editor Gabby Farris Design Lead Blake Hachen Designer Sarah Unruh Designer Rachel Seiffert Marketing
Photo courtesy of Tegan Brandt
"This is going to be a marathon regardless of how the election goes because it is our goal to be here for students and to make a difference on this campus." "This is what wakes me up in the morning," Koger said. "I am so excited." Kulkarni said it is important that people keep up with both campaigns that are qualified for the general election to make their voting decision.
"I know we have lower enrollment right now and a little less people and everything is so virtual, but we need people to go out and vote, no matter who they vote for," Kulkarni said. "It's important that they make their voices heard." The general election opens to voters March 9 and closes at 6 p.m. March 10.
ON THE COVER Kaylie McLaughlin COLLEGIAN MEDIA GROUP
Nicholas Onofrio, senior in education and mathematics, is a student teacher at Manhattan High School’s West Campus in a math class. As COVID-19 continues to disturb normal education processes, student teachers have to adapt to changing course modalities and classroom prevention guidelines.
The Mission of the Collegian Media Group is to use best practices of journalism to cover and document life at Kansas State University from a diverse set of voices to inform and engage the K-State community. The Collegian welcomes your letters. We reserve the right to edit submitted letters for length and style. A letter intended for publication should be no longer than 600 words and must be relevant to the student body of K-State. It must include the author’s first and last name, year in school and major. If you are a graduate of K-State, the letter should include your year(s) of graduation and must include the city and state where you live. For a letter to be considered, it must include a phone number where you can be contacted. The number will not be published. Letters can be sent to letters@kstatecollegian.com or submitted through an online form at kstatecollegian.com. Letters may be rejected if they contain abusive content, lack timeliness, contain vulgarity, profanity or falsehood, promote personal and commercial announcements, repeat comments of letters printed in other issues or contain attachments. The Collegian does not publish open letters, third-party letters or letters that have been sent to other publications or people.
CORRECTIONS
If you see something that should be corrected, call editorin-chief Bailey Britton at 785-370-6356 or email collegian@ kstatecollegian.com The Collegian, a student newspaper at Kansas State University, is published by Collegian Media Group. It is published Fridays during the school year and on Wednesdays during the summer. Periodical postage is paid at Manhattan, KS. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to 828 Mid-Campus Drive South, Kedzie 103, Manhattan, KS 665067167. First copy free, additional copies 25 cents. [USPS 291 020] © Collegian Media Group, 2021
TUITION & FEES University could implement new fee model next fall BAILEY BRITTON editor-in-chief
In order to make a more accessible tuition and fees model, Kansas State created a Tuition and Fees Task Force. The more accessible model could include differential tuition. Thomas Lane, vice president of student life and dean of students, said many students and their families find the current tuition and fees model hard to navigate. “I think that the desire ... really came from a broad consensus that the current tuition fees bonding that we have at the university is really complex,” Lane said. Dean of the College of Business Administration Kevin Gwinner said this will help K-State in the long run. “The goals are to simplify things to make them more transparent for students to make sure that we’re competitive as a university with other options that students have for education,” Gwinner said. “Then also to make sure that we are still bringing in enough money at the university level to be able to cover all the things that we do with tuition and fees.” Currently, the committee is considering two models, but Gwinner said they are not
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NEWS
friday, february 26, 2021
ready to reveal those to the public just yet. “We’re getting near a point where we’ll start to make some recommendations at the university level and then start to vet those recommendations with some different groups,” Gwinner said. Gwinner said those recommendations could be ready as soon as April. This is a two-phase process, Gwinner said. The university hopes to have the first phase implemented this fall. “This first phase is looking at that fee so it’s the per credit hour fees, the online fees,” Gwinner said, “There are some college-level fees, as well as the privilege fee, and the infrastructure fee, and the Global Campus fee.” The second phase focuses on differential tuition, Gwinner said. “It’s the idea that different programs at a university might charge different rates,” Gwinner said. “You know, by course. Let’s say if you’re taking engineering. If you’re an engineering major, perhaps you pay more for engineering classes than you do when you take ... an English class in arts and sciences — or it could be the other way around — but different colleges charge different amounts.” Gwinner said the uni-
versity would begin to look at this phase immediately after phase one. Currently, K-State uses a base tuition rate of $312.50 per credit hour for undergraduate Kansas residents and a rate of $841.70 per credit hour for undergraduate non-Kansas residents. Rates vary for graduate credit hours, the Veterinary Medicine program and the English Language program. Additionally, colleges and departments charge varying fees per credit hour. The College of Business Administration and the Carl R. Ice College of Engineering charge faculty tuition surcharges of $65 and $80, respectively. One factor that determines the differential rates include the cost of delivering instruction. The university established the Tuition and Fees Task Force in November. Lane said they hope to bring a proposal to the Kansas Board of Regents by June. “I think it’s an assertive timeline, but I think it’s also allowing us to be very thorough in our work,” Lane said. The committee consists of 14 members from around campus, including one graduate student representative and one undergraduate representative.
Photo Illustration by Kaylie Mclaughlin | COLLEGIAN MEDIA GROUP
Privilege Fee Committee recommends continuance for Lafene, Counseling Services, decrease to Fine Arts SEAN SCHAPER news editor
The Privilege Fee Committee recommended a continuance of $5,675,208 to the Lafene Health Center and $843,843 to Counseling Services for the next fiscal year, and a decrease of over $100,000 to the Fine Arts allocation for the next three fiscal years. The committee will evaluate the entities recommended for continuance next year in hopes that a more normalized environment post-COVID-19 will bring more accurate revenue and expense numbers. Jim Parker, director of Lafene Health Center and Counseling Services, asked for a continuance for both Lafene and Counseling Services. At Lafene, insured Kansas State students can receive an office visit at no cost as well as reduced prices in pharmaceuticals, lab work and physical therapy costs. A drive-thru pharmacy and flu vaccinations are also available at Lafene. "The mission of Lafene Health Center at Kansas State University is to offer an accessible, high-quality, affordable out-patient healthcare service on the Manhattan campus," Parker said. Additionally, the center offers asymptomatic COVID-19 testing. JW Wells, committee member and sophomore in agricultural economics, said Lafene offers a great service to the K-State community and favored the continuance. "Lafene exemplifies K-State privilege fee dollars very well," Wells said. "They know where they're good, they know exactly where they can approve and they definitely have strong leadership. ... Giving them a continuance to allow them — to give them a little bit more grace to figure out exactly where they financially stand." Counseling Services provides students with eight free counseling sessions a semester. Assistant director of training at Counseling Services Kodee Walls said Counseling Services needs to prepare for the mental health crisis post-pandemic. "We are all still only surviving," Walls said. "Think about battle during a war — we still haven't had time to reflect on the impact
of what's happening because we're still in the middle of it." Counseling Services may merge with Lafene in the next few months, becoming a department of Lafene known as Counseling and Psychological Services. The committee also reviewed the Fine Arts contract. Fine Arts includes the College of Architecture Planning and Design, McCain Auditorium, the art department, Ebony Theater, the music department — band and orchestra, choral and opera — the English department, International Student Center, theater, dance and Student Organizations. In two previous insufficient funds processes, the Fine Arts budget received a 63 percent reduction to their $304,100 budget. Total allocations for the next three fiscal years vary but will decrease by at least 58 percent. Fine Arts will receive $55,397.50 for FY22, 178,397.50 for FY2023 and $175,917.50 for FY24. The Fine Arts Reserve Accounts will need to contribute $15,000 each year to the total budgets. Both the College of Architecture Planning and Design and student organizations will not receive funding from the Privilege Fee in the next three-year cycle. Even though APD provides a service, it primarily benefits Architecture, Planning, and Design students, Max Harman, committee member and junior in global food systems, said. "If you tell the average student that they pay ‘x’ amount of dollars for the College of Architecture to bring in speakers, I don't think they would be very happy about that." Similarly, Ashley Grills, committee member and sophomore in business administration, said student organizations already get plenty of funding from different committees. "They're not going to have any less money by us taking this away," she said. "This is no loss to them." All recommendations for each entity passed unanimously, and student senate will review the revised Fine Arts Contract this week. The next Privilege Fee Committee meeting is 5:30 p.m. on Mar. 1 in Wildcat Chamber.
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New health order removes restaurant, bar restrictions, keeps mask ordinance BAILEY BRITTON editor-in-chief
Local health officer Julie Gibbs announced Health Order 20 on Feb, 24 which rescinds all parts of order 19 except the mask mandate. Beginning on March 1, restaurants and bars can stay open past midnight without customer limits, events and gatherings can exceed 50 people and there is no event request process. The health order states masks or a face covering still must be worn in public spaces. “This decision was made after looking at several factors. For the past four weeks, the number of cases has continued to decline and we have not seen any new outbreaks. Additionally, there is minimal strain on local and regional health structures. We’ve also been able to ramp up our vaccination efforts," Gibbs said. The health department still "strongly encourages" individuals to maintain social distancing. To move to this phase, the Emergency Operations Center created criteria Riley County needed to meet. This includes a positivity rate below seven percent for four weeks, the hospital system not be overwhelmed, less than five active outbreaks for six weeks and a decline in percent positives. The Riley County percent positivity rate sits at three percent. The EOC will review the health order in a month. “It’s important to be safe so we can continue to work through this and do not have to take steps backward. We need to start working towards what this new normalcy looks like, " county commissioner John Ford said. There are currently 97 positive cases of COVID-19 in Riley County.
NEWS
friday, february 26, 2021
DISTRIBUTION KAYLIE MCLAUGHLIN
staff writer
On Friday, Kansas State will open its vaccine distribution clinic, but the early roll-out will be limited in size and scope. That's because Kansas remains in the second part of its phased approach to vaccine administration, which inhibits who gets a vaccine and when. "Those phases would apply to our population of both faculty and staff and and the student population," Dr. Kyle Goerl, Lafene Health Center's medical director, said. Phase 2 includes people 65-years-old and older and some essential employees with a high risk of contracting COVID-19 because they are unable to work from home or can't always follow disease mitigation guidelines. Kansas' Phase 2 also includes people living in congregant settings, but students in residence halls are not
considered part of that group, Goerl said. "What [KDHE defines] as congregate living is it's basically the longterm care facilities and prisons," Goerl said. "Places where we've seen people living in proximity that is causing major outbreaks." Residence halls haven't been a source of major spread or outbreaks, Goerl said, so they just are not the top priority right now. While K-12 educators and school staff are part of Phase 2 in Kansas, university faculty, staff and administration will be vaccinated along the same criteria as the general public, Dr. Lee Norman, secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, said. This week, people who are eligible and indicated their interest through K-State's survey received information in their university email about setting up an appointment. Appointments are set up through the myLafene+ portal.
Vaccines available on-campus Friday — who is eligible?
Jim Parker, director of Lafene Health Center and Counseling Services, said K-State's initial allotment from the Riley County Health Department contained about 750 doses. They are Moderna's vaccine. Professor of practice in strategic communication Deb Skidmore would have been eligible to get a vaccine on campus through Friday's clinic, but she ultimately decided to get her first dose through a retail pharmacy clinic in Junction City. "I knew K-State was working on getting vaccines, but I wanted to get my COVID shot as soon as possible," she said via email. "I did not want to wait any longer for the shots than I had to. I am so anxious to see family and hug on my grandkids." She was a little nervous about getting the vaccine, but ultimately didn't have an side effects from the first shot. "I had no reaction whatsoever. My arm was not even sore. Now, who knows about the second shot," Skid-
more said. She'll get her second dose in midMarch at the same pharmacy clinic.
HERE'S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE ON-CAMPUS CLINIC: The K-State vaccine clinic will be located at the Peters Recreation Complex during the day on Friday. People coming for the clinic should come through the north entrance. Parking will be set aside on the west side of the building. Face coverings are required and you should not attend the clinic if you are currently isolating or quarantining. Bring your driver's license or campus identification card. Some additional paperwork is required — a vaccine consent form and a treatment agreement form available online. When you come to the clinic be prepared to wait about 15 minutes after the fact for observation.
K-State doesn’t plan to phase-out campus COVID-19 restrictions until fall KAYLIE MCLAUGHLIN staff writer
COVID-19 ON CAMPUS
Riley County plans to loosen some of its local COVID-19 restrictions as rates of community spread and hospitalizations continue to decline, but Kansas State won't be following suit — at least not for the time being.
STAYING IN PHASE 3
K-State plans to stay in its third phase of the Reawakening Framework — which requires on-campus masking, limits gathering sizes to 50, dictates class modalities and other rules — for the remainder of the semester and through the summer months. That's not because K-State's rate of spread is high — the current on-campus positivity rate is below two percent and dropping. Rather, it's because of progression limitations built into the framework. For the university to move into the phase-out period, therapeutic treatments and vaccines need to be widely accessible. "The main one is the vaccine — we're still not at a place where we just have widespread vaccine availability," Dr. Kyle Goerl, Lafene Health Center's medical director, said.
PHASE-OUT ON THE HORIZON
A return to some sense of normalcy could be on
for the week of feb. 15
1.69
13
755
66
27
percent positivity
positive tests
negative tests
students quarantining
students isolating
Infographic by Kaylie McLaughlin
the near horizon, however, Goerl said. Phase 3 will likely need to continue through the summer instruction period, but he sees no reason why phase-out couldn't safely start in time for the school year to begin in the fall. Some key thresholds required for a return to business as usual are already met, Goerl said, specifically, the aspect of decreased local spread and less pressure on the local health system. That means a reduction in campus COVID-19
limitations could be a matter of months away. In a K-State Today news release on Wednesday morning, President Richard Myers said progression into phaseout could begin as soon as Aug. 1.
To read more, visit kstatecollegian.com
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CULTURE
friday, february 26, 2021
GREEK LIFE UNDERGOES CHANGES ‘It is a fantastic opportunity’: TO KEEP MEMBERS HEALTHY Live Ideas hosts contest for short stories CLAIBORN SCHMIDT staff writer
Greek life at Kansas State adapted to the pandemic last fall to keep members safe, creating protocols and rules to do so while COVID-19 infections increased. As the school year continued, COVID-19 rates slowed and declined. Jackson Berland, sophomore in theatre and film amd Delta Sigma Phi member described the rate of infection in his fraternity house as a “wildfire.” “[COVID-19] moved through the house the second week of school,” Berland said. “That was a nightmare and a half because none of us knew what we were doing.” Some Greek houses couldn’t contain COVID-19 during the fall semester. “It pretty much ran through our house early in the fall semester and dwindled down as the semester went on,” Faye Smith, sophomore in agricultural communication and journalism, said.
This semester, they saw an improvement in the health of members in the houses. “[This semester] we have not had to have anyone quarantine or isolate, which has been fantastic,” Smith said. Many Greek houses formulated individual rules and protocols for members to abide by to prevent the further spread of COVID-19. “The chapters that have facilities spent the summer creating protocols based on CDC guidance, their insurance providers guidance, and of course local health orders,” Jordan Kocher, director of Fraternity and Sorority Life, said. The protocols included masks in common spaces, quarantine and isolation as needed, increased cleaning schedules and responsibilities and working with the Riley County Health Department as needed to contain the spread. Some sororities and fraternities looked to their national association for additional guidance on how to keep the houses clean and safe. “Our national fraternity
put out a huge guide on our website to help create our own individual plan,” Zach Hoeven, senior in professional strategic selling and former Phi Delta Theta president, said. Hoeven said it was important to keep a positive outlook on the situation. For some people, he said, this is their first year of college, and for others, this is their last. “I’d say we handled it well because we have had a positive outlook on it the whole way,” Hoeven said. “We’ve tried making the most of everything rather than sit around and pout about the bad things.” Smith said they came as a community to make sure they’re fighting COVID-19 the “best way possible.” Berland is happy to see things start to go back to normal. “I think we need to count our blessings right now of how no one in the house has died of this,” Berland said. “We now have a sense of normality in the house that we are allowed to be around one another safely and responsibly.”
ALEXIS LETTERMAN staff writer
The Live Ideas Journal is holding a contest for student writers to showcase their best short story, and the deadline to enter is March 3. The journal is published online once a semester and gives students a chance to be published. Once students submit their stories to the journal, they are peer-reviewed and are either approved or denied for publishing. However, even if students’ stories do not make it into the journal, it is still an opportunity for feedback and development. “It was a great opportunity to participate in, especially as an English major,” Alissa Rehmert, senior in English and peer reviewer
for Live Ideas Journal, said. “It’s important to get your work out there and get as much feedback as possible.” After submission, the turnaround is usually two to three weeks, Laurie Johnson, director of the primary text certificate program, said. The top three contenders will receive a cash prize — $200 for 1st place, $100 for 2nd place and $50 for 3rd place. However, the process of the contest will look different this semester as the stories will not be peer-reviewed; they will be judged by the editorial board. This is so the same people can judge each story under the same set of standards. These contests are typically held once a semester, however, the kinds of stories
vary. With new regulations because of COVID-19, distribution of the journal will be little to none. The best place to find the journal is online, but it can also be found at the Dusty Bookshelf. The journal will also publish stories that aren’t contest winners. “It is a fantastic opportunity,” Mark Crosby, department of English associate professor, said. “I wish there was such a journal when I was an undergrad.” As the entry deadline for the Journals Short Story Contest approaches quickly, applications for entry are still being accepted, and the Live Ideas website will house a virtual copy to read.
Religion Directory St. Isidore’s Catholic Student Center Saturday Vigil Mass Saturday 5 p.m.
Sunday Mass
9:30 a.m., 11 a.m., 4:00 p.m., 5:30 p.m. and 9:09 p.m.
Daily Mass
Monday-Thursday 9:09 p.m. Wednesday & Friday 12:10 p.m.
Dylan Connell | COLLEGIAN MEDIA GROUP
Many Greek houses formulated individual rules and protocols for members to abide by to prevent the further spread of COVID-19. Kansas State sorority Alpha Chi Omega on Jan. 28, 2021.
Chaplains: Fr. Gale Hammerschmidt Fr. Drew Hoffman
711 Denison
539-7496
Worship Service at 8:30 & 11:00 a.m. or livestream our services online. Adult and Children Bible Hour Classes
Offered at 10:00 a.m. 785.776.0424 www.gracebchurch.org 2901 Dickens Ave. (2 blks. E. of Seth Child)
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CULTURE
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Aspiring teacher adapts to COVID-19-restricted student teaching JARED SHUFF culture editor
For aspiring teachers at Kansas State, student teaching is the last step between completing assignments and grading them. However, when the COVID-19 pandemic closed all school buildings last spring, student teachers were left scrambling. Eileen Wertzberger, Office of Field Experience coordinator for the College of Education, discussed student placements over Zoom when the pandemic forced a change of plans.
Onofrio grew up in Wichita, Kansas, and developed a love of teaching thanks to a couple of inspirational teachers. While one encouraged his love of math, the other showed him the joys of teaching. “I also love to help people,” Onofrio said. “I think [teaching] is one of the best ways I can combine those two interests together.” Despite the shift in his educational path, Onofrio praised the College of Education and its response to pandemic restrictions, commending his profes-
When we talk about education, on what it means to be a teacher, it’s always in the context of a physical classroom with kids that are right there. So for [schools] to make that shift that now it’s going to be in a virtual setting, that kids may or may not be able to access the technology and get logged on ... it was just survival mode. Eileen Wertzberger
Field Experience Coordinator “In the middle of my spiel, the governor announces that the buildings are shut down for the rest of the year,” Wertzberger said. While student teachers adjusted to the modality of their observing teacher’s classroom, students in educational blocks and early field experience shifted to other learning methods. Schools could only support a small number of people. “I had my Block Two completely virtual, and I taught my first observation lesson probably a month ago,” Nicholas Onofrio, senior in education and mathematics, said. “That is the first time I have ever taught to more than like two or three people. It’s definitely a big trial by fire.”
sors’ efforts to provide students a fulfilling education. “I think they have done about as well as possible,” Onofrio said. “They’ve done well with finding [student teaching] placements. I can’t imagine how difficult that’s been.” Wertzberger and her office handle placements, contacting district offices and principals to set up affiliations with schools. She helps mediate any issues or concerns if school officials want to discuss a situation further. “We have undergraduate programs, we have graduate-level teacher licensure programs,” Wertzberger said. “I have my hand in a little bit of all of that.” Now a student teacher at Manhattan High School’s West
Campus, Onofrio describes his day as what one might expect from a high school teacher. He arrives at school by 7:15 a.m., gets one planning-period a day and generally leaves by 3:40 p.m. “I’m pretty much full-time now,” Onofrio said. “They’ve been phasing me in. ... It’s all pretty standard from what you’d expect for a teacher.” However, Onofrio notes the struggles he and his students face while learning in the middle of a pandemic. The loss of interaction and COVID-19 restrictions make daily learning a difficult task. “There hasn’t been as much time to build that class identity in each group,” Onofrio said. “I think that’s something that a lot of them struggle with.” Students are either fully in-person or fully remote, and anyone in close contact with a positive person is required to quarantine for 10 days. Onofrio says the response is a “mixed blessing,” praising the caution while pointing out the difficulties it creates. “It’s really hard to learn in that scenario,” Onofrio said. “I’ve had my teacher leave in the middle of the day to go pick up her daughter.” Technology is another source of headache for students and faculty alike. Many students do not have access to strong Wi-Fi and other necessary resources, causing a roadblock for their learning. “When we talk about education, on what it means to be a teacher, it’s always in the context of a physical classroom with kids that are right there,” Wertzberger said. “So for [schools] to make that shift that now it’s going to be in a virtual setting, that kids may or may not be able to access the technology and get logged on ... it was just survival mode.” Katelin Miller, senior in math education, said online learning points out many flaws in the current educational system.
To read more, visit kstatecollegian.com
Kaylie McLaughlin | COLLEGIAN MEDIA GROUP
Nicholas Onofrio, senior in education and mathematics, is a student teacher at Manhattan High School’s West Campus in a math class. As COVID-19 continues to disturb normal education processes, student teachers have to adapt to changing course modalities and classroom prevention guidelines.
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07
CULTURE
friday, february 26, 2021
Black Student Union hosts Ilyasah Shabazz as Black History Month speaker LINA SATTARIN staff writer
Kansas State’s Black Student Union hosted Ilyasah Shabazz for the annual Black History Month speaker on Tuesday. Shabazz is an award-winning author, former professor, activist and daughter of civil rights leader Malcolm X. Malcolm X was an African-American leader during the Civil Rights Movement and a supporter of Black nationalism. He was a vocal spokesperson and urged many Black Americans to stand up for their rights. “My father came along and said ‘Look, we demand our basic human rights ordained by God,’” Shabazz said. “I will always be in absolute awe of him. I often take a step back and look at both my mother and father — these two human beings who made so many significant sacrifices.”
Shabazz talked about the influence of her mother and father in her life. Her mother — Dr. Betty Shabazz — overcame firebombings, constant surveillance and seeing the assassination of her husband. “What my mother did is, she kept my father alive in our household, she made sure we knew who our daddy was, who her husband was and what his value system was,” Shabazz said. “She did it so that we would not think that our father left us, but that we would know that he loved us.” Shabazz was only two years old when her father was assassinated. Sheila Ellis-Glasper, K-State graduate and founder of the Black Entrepreneurs of the Flint Hills, talked about the way history compares Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. “Malcolm X is oftentimes
misunderstood or incorrectly represented,” Ellis-Glasper said. “Most students are typically taught about Dr. Martin Luther King being a peacemaker and Malcolm X being more radical, it’s almost like we are expected to choose between Malcolm and Martin.” Shabazz spoke of the unique relationship between her father and Dr. King in response to Ellis-Glaspor’s statement. “Malcolm and Martin were both men of significant values, both serving God and they were able to put their differences aside for the benefit of 22 million African-Americans who were oppressed in the worst way,” Shabazz said. “They had a special relationship and respect for one another because they both understood the specific work that was required of them.” BSU President Cara
Bruce spoke before the event about the opportunity to have Shabazz come to K-State virtually and impart her wisdom on students in Manhattan. “She is incredibly wise and has written several books about her father, but also about the Black power struggle,” Bruce said. Writing “The Awakening of Malcolm X” allowed Shabazz to focus on the humanity of the Black Americans she was writing about. She compares the writings in her books to the modern-day Black Lives Matter movement. “It seems that our society is moving forward and bigotry and all its ugly hate is losing,” Shabazz said. “The lesson we should take from this is that cheaters lose, moral character wins — and so I take my hat off to the Black Lives Matter movement organizers.” Shabazz believes the first step to moving past the clash
Dylan Connell | COLLEGIAN MEDIA GROUP
The Black Student Union hosted Ilyasah Shabazz, award-winning author and daughter of civil rights leader Malcolm X, for the annual Black History Month speaker. A viewing party occurred in Forum Hall on Feb. 23, 2021. between the oppressed and the oppressors is improving the education curriculum and learning more about Black history — which is American history, she said. “It is so important that we understand our history, and know
who we are and what we are capable of accomplishing,” Shabazz said. “It is inspirational and empowering to love ourselves, and once we know how to love ourselves we can begin to love others.”
CLASSY CATS RISE TO THE CHALLENGES OF SOCIALLY-DISTANCED DANCE, VIRTUAL WORKSHOPS AISHAH CHAUDHRY staff writer
Taylor Hashenberger | COLLEGIAN MEDIA GROUP
Classy Cat Virtual Workshop hosted in Nichols Hall by Coach Heptig and the Classy Cat team. Zoom, Feb. 20, 2021.
The arts have changed since the COVID-19 pandemic hit; venues are closed, performances are virtual and rehearsals are socially-distanced as much as possible. Despite the restrictions, the Kansas State Classy Cats dance team continued to work. “Going into the season, we had a lot of unknowns,” Sara Heptig, head coach of the Classy Cats, said. “We were constantly adapting to the situation, so we ended up doing our entire summer via Zoom and so these girls rose to that challenge.” Many of the performances and events were moved online. “The mantra of our team was ‘go with the flow’ … that was very amplified this year,” Jordan May, Classy Cats member and sophomore in graphic design, said.
This year, the workshop consists of a morning and afternoon filled with technique, combinations and helpful hints for college dance team tryouts. It is online through Zoom and is $20 per participant, per workshop. “We’ve been able to have people from across the country, coast to coast,” Heptig said. “It’s been neat because of the online opportunity, more people have been able to join us.” Kia Warren, Classy Cats member and junior in elementary education, said the workshops can be difficult because there aren’t many good ways to give feedback and wearing a mask in the studio is difficult. However, the workshop can give future members more personal interactions with breakout rooms on Zoom. The Classy Cats say they are getting better with each workshop and settling into the flow of things, but the lack of
face-to-face interaction still comes with challenges. “A downside of the virtual clinics ... in my rookie year, I was reliant on meeting other rookies trying out and other Classy Cats at the time because it helped me to become more comfortable with my surroundings.” May said. The Classy Cats team has had cancellations, changes in routines, and an overall new outlook on how lucky they feel just dancing at all. “We have shown a lot of flexibility this year,” Heptig said. Both May and Warren are grateful for having practices and performances of any kind, even if they are online. Other colleges have canceled their dance team’s entire season. “We’re all just a huge family and we’re all sisters to each other on the team,” Warren said. “The experiences we’ve gone through, I don’t think I’d wanna go through with anybody else.”
08
SPORTS
friday, february 26, 2021
Baseball returns home, aims to build around starting pitching, young talent CODY FRIESEN staff writer
The Kansas State baseball team (2-2) returns home this weekend after a roller coaster of an opening series at the Sanderson Ford College Classic in Surprise, Arizona. “2-2 is not our expectation level, that’s for sure,” head coach Pete Hughes said in his press conference on Thursday. “Any time you have quality starting pitching, you are going to have a chance to beat some people, but we need to play cleaner baseball.” Starting pitching was far from the issue over the weekend, led by sophomore Jordan Wicks and redshirt freshman Connor McCullough. The two combined for 19 strikeouts over 14 innings.
Wicks was named the Big 12 Pitcher of the Week and took the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) National Pitcher of the Week on Monday. The southpaw is at the top of college baseball with a 0.00 ERA, and a .71 walks and hits per innings pitched. “He’s constantly getting better and evolving,” Hughes said. “With a starting pitcher, you want your pitch ability to get better, and adding a new pitch to your repertoire usually does that so you can go through a lineup three or four times.” According to Hughes, Wicks has been able to add a cutter that he developed over the spring and summer. Having only played four games so far this season, players are still competing for roles as the bullpen takes shape.
“The people on the back end have expended their roles, and that is going to take a little bit to get used to,” Hughes said. “That is what we try to find out here in these early series. It gets competitive whoever wants that role; they will show through.” The bullpen provided some dominant outings but overall still gave up 11 total runs in the final three innings over the weekend. “We have to be a great team from the seventh, eighth and ninth inning on,” Hughes said. “We are going to get quality starts, that is no news flash, and we have to own those last three innings, and it will be super competitive for these guys to identify what role they have.” Senior pitcher Kasey Ford is an option to come out of the bullpen because of the
nature of college baseball with multiple days between games. He is listed as the fourth starter in the rotation, and the Wildcats have some flexibility with his role. Offensively, true freshman infielder Nick Goodwin had a solid opening series at the two-spot and as the cleanup hitter. “[Goodwin] has been one of the most consistent guys since he stepped on campus,” Hughes said. “It is amazing because he didn’t even play his high school season in the spring.” In 12 appearances at the plate, the Overland Park, Kansas, native led the Wildcats, batting .417 with four RBIs and a .611 on-base percentage. Not only was he making contact, but he showed patience at the plate with six walks and only two strikeouts.
Goodwin jumped into the new role and impressed right out of the gate. “The kid just plays even keel, and those guys, if they are talented enough, they have success right away because no moment is too big for them,” Hughes said. To bat in the heart of the order on a first career start, on opening day, is not a typical role at the higher levels of baseball, but Pete Hughes saw enough of Goodwin to have confidence in his young infielder. “I didn’t hesitate on putting him in at the top of the lineup because he has been battle-tested against our arms, and I think our arms are pretty good,” Hughes said. The Wildcats will have the luxury of home-cooking for nearly three-weeks with an eight-game home stand. K-State only played at home five times
before the 2020 season came to a sudden halt because of the COVID-19 pandemic. “Our guys feel comfortable at home,” Hughes said. “I set up the schedule to get our guys feeling good before we head into Big 12 play, and there is no better place to do that than at home.” The Wildcats will open with a three-game series against Western Michigan who kicks off their season with the series. First pitch for game one is slated for 3 p.m. on Friday. Wicks (1-0) will pitch for K-State, and sophomore Easton Sikorski (0-0) will toe the slab for the Broncos. Redshirt sophomore Carson Seymour will pitch Saturday, and McCullough will finish the series on Sunday. All games are available on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ and KMAN radio.
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09
SPORTS
friday, february 26, 2021
COMING ALONG K-State finally showing Weber’s blueprint for success
MARSHALL SUNNER assistant sports editor
Sometime before Tuesday’s game against No. 7 Oklahoma, Kansas State head coach Bruce Weber called freshman Nijel Pack — the young point guard struggled shooting the ball and Weber needed to know one thing. Did Pack have anything left in the tank? “I called Nijel and asked him if he had any pop left,” Weber said. “He said, ‘Coach, it’s hard.’ He’s not the only one. It’s a long grind season.” With the way the season went, it’s an answer many expected. After enduring multiple program-worsts and loss
after loss — which includes a single-season-worst 13 game losing streak — the Wildcats finally got what it looked for on Saturday at TCU. A win. As senior guard Mike McGuirl said at the time, it was just one game, one win. On Tuesday though, a shocking 62-57 top-10 upset against the Sooners proved more than just a win — this team still had juice left in the tank. K-State is showing what it can do in the future — something that wasn’t seen when the team was at its worst or when fans called for Weber’s job after a loss to NCAA Divison-II Fort Hays State. How do the Wildcats display the blueprint for the fu-
ture? Resilience. “They’ve been resilient,” Weber said. “I’m just thrilled for them. To come from where we were to this week, this last couple of games, and hopefully, it’s not over.” After trailing 53-47 in the second half on Tuesday, the Wildcats responded with 11-straight points. McGuirl had his season-defining moment as well, knocking down three-straight threes to give K-State the lead. Even though the offense still has loads of work to do to make shots, at least the Wildcats are starting to get better looks, thanks to the players not settling for isolated three-pointers. It also helps that the guards get the ball in
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the post more, allowing playmakers to get open and swing the ball more around the perimeter. On Tuesday, freshman center Davion Bradford capitalized in the interior, playing a huge role in the upset. Weber called the post “exceptional” after recording 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting while grabbing eight rebounds. With Bradford on the floor, the Wildcats outscored the Sooners by 15 points. However, the biggest difference down the stretch is the team’s defense. “We started showing some of our former teams and how they guarded just to make the guys understand,” Weber said. “I don’t think they understand what it’s about. Some of it is we didn’t have basic habits or concepts. We missed a lot of stuff. Now as the season has gone on, slowly but surely they’ve figured some things out. We’re better one-on-one.” K-State held opponents under 60 points for threestraight games, which is reminiscent of the team’s of program past. It allows the team to only worry about what it can do, which is play with high energy and effort. It’s all something McGuirl and sophomore DaJuan Gordon felt coming together for some time now. But now, the results show. “Honestly, we sort of felt it together coming all along,” McGuirl said. “It really started with Texas A&M, and then just with the schedule we have in the Big 12, you play tough teams, so we were coming along the whole time, and then last game against TCU we finally found it, and now that we found it, we feel like we can keep pushing forward and win some games. Gordon agreed with the senior. “We’ve been like this the whole year, trailing at the end,
Photo courtesy of Scott Weaver | K-State Athletics
Senior guard Mike McGuirl slams home a dunk in Kansas State’s 62-57 upset victory over No. 7 Oklahoma on Tuesday night. close. Close with a lot of the teams we played, and we let it go,” Gordon said. “Today, Mike [McGuirl] showed up big and helped us, Davion [Bradford] showed up big, everybody showed up big and helped us. Everybody stood their ground.” Weber talked about these performances since the start of the season, but it’s just now that they’re finally occurring. The young promise only starts to show, but with Pack figuring out how to impact the game without scoring (nine assists on Tuesday), the duo of Bradford and sophomore Kaosi Ezeagu being productive and with Gordon back in the lineup, K-State fans can finally see what Weber has been wanting to prove all year. “When we got back from Oklahoma State, I said, ‘It’s winding down guys. Value each day. Value each opportunity’,” Weber said. “For them to stick with this ... I don’t want this season to end, because I know we’ve improved.
I know it hasn’t been with wins, but we’ve gotten better as a team.” K-State, and Weber, came a long way from the loss against Fort Hays — or even the 48-point blowout to No. 2 Baylor. Weber went from fans wanting him gone to standing ovations and elongated “Bruce” chants Tuesday night. K-State is headed in the right direction, showing so much promise ‘Sandstorm’ even returned to Bramlage Coliseum against Oklahoma. But the season isn’t over yet. Weber knows his team deserves to ride this high, but also knows another top-10 match-up occurs on Saturday against No. 10 West Virginia. “We’ve gotta get ready for West Virginia,” Weber said. “We were not very good here, 28 turnovers. We’ve got a chance to beat another top-10 team. I know it won’t be easy, but I hope they come with the right focus and mindset that we’ve had and we go and we battle our butts off.”
10
SPORTS
NATE’S NOTES NATHAN ENSERRO assistant sports editor
The Kansas State women’s basketball team sits at 2-12 in Big 12 Conference play and 7-14 overall going into their final stretch of games for the 2020-21 season. The team was supposed to play much better than that. Coming into this season, it seemed a more experienced, reloaded version of the team that finished in a logjam at the top of the conference the year prior. At 10-8 in Big 12 play, the team tied with Iowa State for fourth and a single game behind third-place Texas last year. I told the Collegian’s Monday Morning Brief listeners before the season that a top-half finish was reasonable and that the team could finish as high as third. That prediction was in line with the Big 12 preseason coaches’ poll, which ranked the Wildcats fourth behind
Baylor, Texas and Iowa State. But, with a hectic fourgames-in-eight-days to go, the team sits half a game behind expected bottom dwellers Kansas and TCU. What the heck happened? The Wildcats’ early-season schedule was a mess, but the first real challenge was a Dec. 3 date with a top-15 Kentucky squad in Manhattan. The Wildcats had an advantage for a good part of that game, but you could see the issues that would plague K-State all season long. Sophomore center Ayoka Lee, who the team counts on to dominate both ends of the court, went out with a significant ankle injury which put her on crutches. The team turned the ball over too much and fell apart at the end to lose by 11. “Coach [Jeff] Mittie has been pushing us in our head now to expect the unexpected,” junior
friday, february 26, 2021
What happened to a women’s basketball team projected to win big?
guard Christianna Carr said after the Kentucky game. “Injuries are going to happen, COVID’s going to happen, but that doesn’t mean we are going to sit there and stop. I feel like we had some energy, but the game’s got to go on.” Carr’s quote was a microcosm of what would come. Lee returned to dominate and the Wildcats would use her to roll off three straight wins going into a tough start to conference play: a road trip to Iowa State and a date with at-thetime No. 20 Texas. Then disaster struck: the team missed five games and all practices over the course of a month because of a COVID-19 outbreak. Head coach Jeff Mittie later revealed all but two of his players were impacted by either the virus or contact tracing during that period. From there, it was fatigue, not enough practice
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time and a lack of confidence that doomed K-State to several late-game collapses. “There’s not a time in my career where I’ve had a 30-day layoff,” Mittie said after his team fumbled away a 12-point second-half lead against West Virginia in the first game back. “So to have precedent to it, know what you’re going to deal with, fatigue, all those things. We had the game where we wanted, we had the pace where we wanted, we were executing things very well, offensively we were doing some good things, we just didn’t finish.” Mittie had a delicate balancing game to play: practice too much and the players won’t have the legs to play deep into games, too little and he can’t fix the onthe-court problems the team had. “As a coach, you have to kind of pick what you are going to work on,” Mittie said after a second-half collapse against Kansas the next game. “Some of that has to be conditioning and playing. It’s a real challenge for our players. We’re probably more limited than I’ve ever been in late-game situations.” A 15-0 run by Oklahoma State to finish off K-State in their third game in six days showed the Wildcats’ glaring issues with fatigue, ball handling and confidence. “Whenever you play games back to back to back to back, the physicality catches up to you,” Carr said after that game. “I felt that tonight a lot. I was tired tonight. I started to feel it there in the fourth quarter.” As the losses mounted, Mittie made it clear the COVID-19 pause was no longer the culprit of the teams’ issues. The team got its legs back and resumed normal practice. The games got closer, too. With fatigue no longer a major factor in the coach’s eyes, he blamed the Wildcats’ struggles on a few factors: struggles on offense, an inability to break the press, foul trouble and a lack of confidence in late-game situations. “The type of turnovers we had were frustrating,” Mittie said
Photo courtesy of Sharon Ellman
Head coach Jeff Mittie speaks to his players as junior guard Christianna Carr walks past him in K-State’s 78-67 loss to TCU on Feb. 10 at Schollmaier Arena. after a two-point loss to Oklahoma. “The majority of our turnovers were self-inflicted.” Oklahoma, like many other Big 12 teams, put the full-court press on K-State in the second half to grind the Wildcat offense to a standstill. TCU did it too and it affected K-State’s confidence. “Part of it is confidence in being able to go make plays,” Mittie said after the TCU loss. “When you’re struggling — particularly against the press — you’re trying not to turn the ball over as opposed to trying to advance the ball to go make a play.” The same issues arose in loss after loss for K-State while the Wildcats suffered injuries to Carr and senior point guard Sydney Goodson. The Wildcat lineups were thrown off. “Our problem is that our guards don’t really play well together like they need to,” Mittie said after a loss at Texas. “What I mean by that: our timing’s off, our ball movement’s off, we don’t always move it to the right player. That ends up with a number like you see today: four assists, 21 turnovers.” As a team, K-State averages nearly six more turnovers than the team forces opponents into, which is equating to nearly eight more points off turnovers for K-State opponents. The Wildcats showed flashes of breaking out of those bad habits, though. A Feb. 24 win over Texas Tech showed K-State only
turning the ball over 13 times and finishing out a game where it lost a 17-point lead. “We gave up a big lead tonight, but we didn’t give in to that and we made some plays down the stretch and that should give us confidence going forward,” Mittie said after that game. It was nearly deja-vu for K-State, but they survived. “There is always going to be that voice in the back of your head that’s like, ‘holy crap deja-vu.’ I feel like you just can’t have that,” Carr said. “With this team, we just have to realize that we are experienced enough and we have been in a heck of a lot of close games. I think the best part is just to keep trying to be motivated and try to continue to do the right thing and understand that mistakes are going to happen.” Now, with confidence seemingly restored, some of the teams’ demons exorcised and post-season play extremely unlikely, success in K-State’s remaining schedule is important going into an offseason where the entire roster could return. The team visits No. 7 Baylor on Saturday, host TCU on Monday and West Virginia on Wednesday and then travel to Oklahoma to finish out their regular season on Sunday before the start of the Big 12 Tournament. A record of 2-2 in that stretch is very possible if K-State continues to play with confidence and takes care of the ball.
OPINION CONNOR COTTENMYRE staff writer
As the men’s basketball team reaches the end of its disheartening season, frustration grows with head coach Bruce Weber. Many fans call for his removal for the abysmal performance of a Kansas State team that just two years ago won the Big 12 Conference. The Wildcats sit second to last in the Big 12 with a conference record of 3-13 and a 7-18 record overall. The team currently sits dead last in the Big 12 in multiple categories — field goal percentage, defensive field goal percentage, threepoint percentage, defensive three-point percentage, defensive rebounds, block and steals. A lot of bad with this year’s team, I know, but just hear me out for a second as to why Weber should stay. The Wildcat’s only had one returning senior — Mike McGuirl — in an injury-plagued season, with one of the youngest rosters in the country, during a global pandemic. Weber constantly adjusted the starting lineups and minutes every week while praying none of his players contracted COVID-19 or came into close contact with it. On top of that, he’s coaching in the best division in college basketball where all but three teams are either ranked or were at some point this season. A division that has the No. 2 team in the country in it — Baylor. With everything going on with the roster, we expect
11
SPORTS
friday, february 26, 2021
this team to beat them? Be realistic. Now I’m not saying we would have zero shot with to keep it competitive at the moment because, as of late, the Wildcats are a completely different team than the one that lost to Fort Hays State back in December. Pulling off an unprecedented upset over No. 7 Oklahoma is the highlight of the season, and the team showed real growth since losing 13-straight games and having the worst scoring margin loss in school history. Playing every opponent closely rather than being blown out, K-State showed fight and the will to win regardless of the opponent, including keeping up with No.14 Texas (80-77) and No.18 Texas Tech (73-62) when both teams previously dismantled the Wildcats. I think Weber deserves some of the credit for the team’s late resurgence in play. The Wildcats are a “grind out, beat you in defense and turnovers,” type of team. It is the model for how they win games and has been for quite some time. Why should we ask the team to win when its strays from that model? Are the Wildcats really going to outshoot the likes of No. 2 Baylor or any other Big 12 opponent? No — the Wildcats make teams play the game and take advantage of the opponent’s mistakes. K-State didn’t even outshoot No. 7 Oklahoma when the Wildcats won. It shot just 39 percent from the floor but
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Bruce Weber should continue coaching despite lackluster year
held the Sooners to 39 percent as well. The Wildcats shot better than Oklahoma from beyond the arc and from the charity stripe. The numbers from both of those categories were not better than usual but the defense was the star of the show, anyway
— holding the Sooners to 20 percent from three and just 64 percent from the line. Before the game against the Sooners, the Wildcats gave up the most points of any other team in the Big 12 in both of those categories. Some of that is because
of the players and some of that is buying into the culture of K-State: play for each other, play defense and limit mistakes. When the Wildcats do this, they can play with anyone in the conference. Weber should return to coach K-State next fall and the following year to man the helm of this young team. I believe he has earned the right to see this group of players grow and graduate. We will either see another strong senior class like that of
the 2018-2019 Wildcats, or we will see Bruce Weber gone. Either outcome should satisfy K-State fans. Connor Cottenmyre is a senior in journalism and mass communications and a Collegian staff writer. The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Collegian. Please send comments to opinion@kstatecollegian.com.
Photo courtesy of Jay Biggerstaff | USA TODAY Sports
Head coach Bruce Weber reacts to a play in K-State’s 74-51 loss to Kansas on Feb. 2 at Allen Fieldhouse.
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12
SPORTS
PREVIEW
CAMERON BRADLEY sports editor
It was the win of the year for the Kansas State men’s basketball team on Tuesday night, taking down No. 7 Oklahoma (14-6, 9-5) in a 62-57 thriller. Now on a two-game win streak, K-State (7-18, 5-12) has yet another shot to take down a top 10 team on Saturday — No. 10 West Virginia. The Mountaineers proved once again it is one of the top teams in the Big 12 Conference and it has shown throughout the 2020-21 season, coming into Saturday’s matchup with a 16-6 record overall and a 9-4 record in the Big 12. This is not the West Virginia team of old though, where it was all about the “Press Virginia” defense, in fact, this team struggled defensively and currently sits at ninth in the Big 12 in scoring defense, allowing 72.1 points per game. This team can score though, averaging 77.6 points per game while having two of the top 10 scorers in the Big 12 in sophomore Miles Mc-
Bride and junior Derek Culver. The Mountaineers come off of two hard-fought road wins, including an 84-82 victory over No. 14 Texas. West Virginia had its opportunity to make it three in a row stripped away as their marquee matchup at No. 2 Baylor on Thursday was canceled. “Tough, tough challenge on Saturday at West Virginia,” head coach Bruce Weber said while previewing the game at his press conference on Thursday morning. “Oklahoma is playing really well and actually beat them recently, but West Virginia is playing at a high level. It’s amazing what Bob Huggins has been able to do, especially the consecutive wins on the road.” Mountaineers head coach Bob Huggins is a familiar face for many K-State fans — he was the head coach for the Wildcats in the 2006-2007 season before resigning. His resume since he left speaks for itself, taking West Virginia to nine NCAA Tournaments, five sweet sixteens and one final four.
friday, february 26, 2021
K-State travels to West Virginia looking for another top 10 upset
Another NCAA tournament is inevitable for Huggins and the Mountaineers this season with the success the team has. The young guard McBride proved himself as one of the top players in the Big 12, averaging 16.1 points per game and a team-high 42.7 percent from beyond the arc while also leading the team in steals with 38. Right behind him is the junior forward Culver with the top field goal percentage on the team, shooting at a 49.6 percent clip and averaging 15.1 points per game while also leading the team in rebounds, averaging 10.1 per game. While Saturday’s game might seem like a tall task for K-State looking at the matchup on paper, this K-State team improved drastically over the past three weeks. And Weber knows that. “Yeah, I don’t think there’s
any doubt. You saw it even in the games where we didn’t win,” Weber said. “We’ve had a little bit of continuity even though the other night we were still missing players. Our core group is there. They’ve figured out some roles, what they can do and how they can help the team. Now the big step is figuring out how to win.” Keeping games close with No. 18 Texas Tech, No. 14 Texas and at the time No. 23 Oklahoma State gave K-State the confidence it needed leading into the twogame winning streak that the team has right now — capped off with the upset victory over No. 7 Oklahoma. While shooting is K-State’s weak spot this season, ranking last in almost all scoring categories, it is the defense that stepped up over this past month. Holding the last two op-
ponents to under 60 points has been crucial to K-State’s success and it is something that the Wildcats need to keep up down the stretch. “I called Coach Southwell and asked him what we had to do against TCU,” Weber said. “He said, ‘Coach, we gotta score’. I told him that I think it’s the other way. We’ve gotta stop them. We haven’t scored. That’s not changing right now. ... If we can continue this through the last stretch of the season, it gives us a chance to be competitive and find ways to get wins, too.” DaJuan Gordon’s return from injury was helpful for K-State’s offense, as he scored in double digits in two out of the three games he’s played in since his return. His performances took a back seat to senior guard Mike McGuirl’s play over the past two games, leading the team in scoring, including some
clutch threes in crunch time. Sophomore forward Antonio Gordon and junior guard Rudi Williams’ return is also a boost for the Wildcats on Saturday, but currently, the status of both players is up in the air. It’s going to take a lot for K-State to pull off a second straight upset victory on Saturday, but who knows? The way K-State played lately, a victory over No. 10 West Virginia is a lot more possible than it was the last time the two teams met on Jan. 23 where the Mountaineers dominated the Wildcats 69-47. “This group has been really resilient,” Weber said. “They want to do well. When we’ve lost, they’ve come in and watched film. When we’ve won, they’ve been in to watch film. ... I told them three weeks ago that I don’t want the season to end.” Saturday’s game is set for a 3 p.m. tip-off on ESPN2.
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NOW HIRING Politics, comic books, sports, romance. Whatever your interest is, you can write about it. Not much of a writer? We also need page designers, photographers, and other behind-the-scenes help. • Students of any major can apply • No experience required • Staff meetings are 5 p.m. Mondays, 5:30 p.m. Thursdays • Editors can be found in the newsroom most days anytime between noon and 10 p.m. Apply online at http://www.kstatecollegian.com/apply
785-370-6356 • 116 KEDZIE HALL
Photo courtesy of Scott Weaver | K-State Athletics
Freshman guard Selton Miguel attempts to pressure West Virginia’s Taz Sherman as he shoots the ball in K-State’s 69-47 loss to the Mountaineers on Jan. 23.