Portfolio: Front Page Design

Department of Journalism and Mass Communication :: Abilene Christian University :: Serving the ACU community since 1912

ACU WEATHER

Thursday FridayHigh: 86 Low: 46

Saturday

High: 72Low: 45

High: XxLow: Xx

Online Poll :What campaign promise do you

want to see come to fruition?

a. Longer library hours.b. Openess with the student body.c. Christ-centered leadership.d. Nothing is going to happen.

acuoptimist.com

Pg. 3 InsideThis Issue:

French athlete makes ACU history at Texas Relays

Student artwork to be on display Downtown

Hail to the Chief: Navajo president visits alma mater Monday

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a product of theJMC network

Thursday, April 9, 2009 :: Vol. 97, No. 48 :: 1 section, 10 pages :: www.acuoptimist.com

Videos :: Podcasts :: Slideshows

Pg. 7 Rope a Wildcat: See a photospread profiling the ACU Rodeo

Windy 60%

Design, construction plans cause ad kiosk delays

Students rope awards, good time at annual school-wide rodeoBy Tanner AndersonPage Designer

Tyler Allen might have resembled a rodeo veteran with his work gloves and dusty boots, but he actually

was a rodeo rookie. Allen, sophomore chemistry

major from San Antonio, played the cowboy role with numerous other students Tuesday at the ACU Rodeo.

For many students the annu-

al ACU Rodeo is an opportunity to shed the city slicker image, put on a pair of torn wranglers and cowboy boots and get in touch with their southern roots. The event also serves as a fund-raiser for the Department of

Agricultural and Environmen-tal Sciences, allowing students from the department to attend service trips, conventions and competitions.

“This is our one fundraiser for the year,” said Cason McIn-

turff, junior animal science ma-jor from Franklin, Tenn. “This is what allows us to do all of our [activities] and gives us a chance to promote our club

By Sondra RodriguezPage 2 Editor

An ad kiosk between the Campus Center and the Brown Library is coming soon – and university administrators say

they have not forgotten their promise to provide a place where students can advertise campus events.

Nearly five months have passed since the university announced its plan to build

an ad kiosk after enforcing a policy prohibiting students from advertising on campus.

Design and construction plans caused the delay, said Dr. Jean-Noel Thompson, Vice President and Dean for Stu-

dent Life. He confirmed Mon-day that parts were ordered for the kiosk, and he said he hopes to break ground in the next couple weeks.

In response to the ad policy, SA Congress passed a resolu-

tion in March stating students should be allowed to advertise on campus. Thompson said al-ternative means of advertising were offered during the meet-ing, all of which SA Congress candidates have utilized for

campaigning. These include venues such as myACU and the screens in Chapel.

Daniel Burgner, junior po-litical science major from

Godfrey wins VP race, Cochran new treasurer

Zak Zeinert :: chief photographer

Newly elected Students’ Association President-elect Charles Gaines, junior criminal justice major from Cedar Hill, delivers his campaign speech in Moody Coliseum on Wednesday. In his speech, Gaines promised the focus of his administration would be to make SA a “Christ-centered” organization.

Gaines gains SA Presidency

By Michael FreemanManaging Editor

This year’s Students’ Association exec-utive officers election, which featured the least voter participation in the past few years, also turned into one of the closest elections in recent history.

Charles Gaines, junior criminal jus-tice major from Cedar Hill, was elected as next year’s SA president Wednesday. He defeated Daniel Burgner, junior po-litical science major from Yorba Linda, Calif., by a mere 11 votes.

A total of 813 ballots were cast, which is 61 fewer votes than were cast last year. Gaines earned 411 votes, while Burgner

acuoptimist.com: See a video of students describing why and who they voted for in the SA election

Daniel Burgner

400Charles Gaines

411Tony Godfrey

475Scott Adrian

325Luke Cochran

790

Presidential Race Vice Presidential Race Treasurer

Disc golf course gliding soon to ACU campus

By Laura AcuffOpinion Page Editor

The registration deadline for this year’s Spring-Board Ideas Challenge has been postponed to Monday. This delay gives entrants additional time to register in light of this weekend’s Easter holi-day, said Jim Porter, Entrepreneur-in-Residence for the College of Business Administration.

The competition first took place last year, and is meant to encourage local entrepre-neurship. It requires participants to submit a 10-page mini-business plan detailing an idea for a new business.

Porter said the goal of the competition is to provide an outlet for and reward local creativ-ity and innovation.

“It’s a way to encourage students to formu-late their ideas and to give strong consideration to taking their ideas and building businesses from them,” Porter said.

Challengedeadline postponedfor Easter

By Katie GagerStudent Reporter

The Department of Exercise Science and Health will celebrate the grand opening of the ACU Wildcat Disc Golf Course at 3 p.m. on April 28 at the Sherrod Park property. The course will be the third disc golf course located in the Abilene area. The other courses in town are at Cal Young and Will Hair parks.

Project director and manager Deonna Shake, instructor of exercise science and health, began work on the project in August 2008. For the last eight months, she has strived to raise funds and bring the commu-nity together to build the course.

“It takes a village to make a park, and there have been a lot of people that have helped,” Shake said. “People have provided different sources of encouragement, whether it’s prayer,

See SpringBoard page 8

See Course page 8 See Elections page 8

acuoptimist.com

Visit our Web site to see a slideshow and video profiling the ACU Rodeo

See Rodeo page 8

See Kiosk page 8


aCU WEaTHER

Friday SaturdayHigh: 76 Low: 48

Sunday

High: 79Low: 51

High: 82Low: 53

Online Poll : If you could vote today, who would

you vote for?a. Sen. John McCainb. Sen. Barack Obamac. Other candidated. Sen. Hillary Clinton

acuoptimist.com

Pg 3InsideThis Issue:

Showdown in Canyon: No. 3 ACU to play ranked rival WTAMU

‘Jacob’s Dream’ documentary earns university Emmy nomination

Students skip Chapel to dine at local barbecue restaurant

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Pg. 5 Savory Sushi: New restaurant diversifies Abilene eating scene Friday, October 17, 2008 :: Vol. 97, No. 17 :: 1 section, 8 pages :: www.acuoptimist.com

More from the Log onto www.acuoptimist.com or www.you-tube.com/acuvideo to see weekly News casts and Sports casts from the JMC Network News Team, in addition to videos profiling various events and stories around campus and Abilene.

Classrooms incorporate devices By Colter HettichFeatures Editor

With most midterms behind students and faculty, the semester officially has reached the halfway mark. Freshmen re-ceived their iPhones 62 days ago, and one can hardly walk from building to build-ing without spotting someone looking at or talking on a mobile device.

The ACU community and the world have high expectations for the devices’ implementation in the classroom. In Uni-versity Seminar classrooms, the iPhone plays an integral role.

Ray Petitt, adjunct instructor of com-puter science, teaches a U100 for com-puter science majors. When he instructs his class to participate in a poll via iP-hone, the room comes alive with laughter and dialogue.

“This is looking painful, guys.” “Wait, I just submitted mine.” “Whoever’s voting more than once, stop it.”

One student calls out, “Who misspelled tasty?” Laughing, an anonymous voice

Provost retiring, moving WestBy Daniel Johnson-KimEditor in Chief

After almost 40 years of work in higher education, Dr. Dwayne VanRheenen is leav-ing college.

VanRheenen, who served as the university’s Provost for 13 years, a n n o u n c e d his plans to retire at the end of the fis-cal year at a Faculty meet-ing Tuesday afternoon.

The an-nouncement came as a surprise to some faculty members, but Van-Rheenen, 64, said it was a decision he and his wife Joan carefully deliberated. Al-though he said he thoroughly enjoyed his tenure as ACU’s chief academic officer, he and his wife are eager to move to the West Coast, where their children and seven grandchil-dren live.

“I’m sure I’ll stay very busy,” VanRheenen said. “We’ll be living close to Seat-tle on a little island out in the Puget Sound.”

Dr. Royce Money, presi-dent of the university, wrote in an e-mail that he was work-ing with the Faculty Senate to appoint a Search Committee to conduct a national search for VanRheenen’s replace-ment. Money wrote that the committee should be an-nounced and functioning by early November.

“During Dwayne’s tenure as Provost, the university has enjoyed significant gains in the academic area,” Money said in the e-mail. “My esti-mate is that he has overseen the hiring of about two-thirds of our current faculty.”’

Money added VanRheenen would still work as a con-sultant during the 2009-10 school year to help with the implementation of the new core curriculum and other “special projects.”

VanRheenen received his bachelor’s degree from Harding University and earned his master’s and doctorate degrees from the University of Missouri.

VanRheenen said he worked in the Department of Communication at the Uni-versity of Maine for 15 years; he was the Dean of Faculty for Seaver College at Pepper-dine University for 11 years and has been ACU’s provost since 1996.

While at ACU, VanRheen-en’s colleagues said he played a large role in increasing the size and quality of the ACU faculty and curriculum, al-though VanRheenen humbly

‘Prairie Home’ brings classic show to MoodyBy Michael FreemanManaging Editor

A Prairie Home Compan-ion, a public radio program with a national audience of more than 4 million lis-teners, will broadcast live from Moody Coliseum Sat-urday at 5 p.m.

“It’s the biggest thing to ever happen to KACU,” said Terri Peterson, KACU-FM membership director and business manager. “This is the most listened program in public radio.”

Based in St. Paul, Minn., the show, known for come-dic segments such as “The News from Lake Wobegon” and “Guy Noir, Private Eye”, tours the country, making about 10-15 stops every year.

After more than a two-year endeavor of bringing the ra-dio program to campus, ACU

VanRheenen


John Royse, freshman computer science major from San Antonio, completes a survey about college life with his iPhone during his U100 class.

Radio ClassiC

A Prairie Home Companion will broadcast live from Moody Coliseum Saturday at 5 p.m. The show, which has more than 4 million listeners, has broadcast from around the United States and world, including:

n Canadan Irelandn Scotlandn Englandn Germanyn Iceland

See Retire page 7 See iPhone page 7See Prairie page 7

Jozie Sands :: staff photographer

Donnovan Plummer, senior communication major from Mesquite, watches the final presidential de-bate between Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain at The Grove clubhouse Wednesday night.

Eyes on the Presidency


Nearly three dozen students attended a presidential debate-watching party in The Grove apart-ment clubhouse Wednesday night, sparking student cheers and jeers, but few changed minds. As the fi-nal debate between Republican Sen. John McCain and Democratic Sen. Barack Obama got under way, the students intently watched while quietly eating pizza from Little Cae-sars, chips and cake, all of which were provided by The Grove and both the ACU College Democrats and ACU Young Republicans.

“I was a little surprised with how many people were interested. It was a good turnout,” said Shan-non Martin, senior family studies

Students gather, react to debate

acuoptimist.com: Hear students’ thoughts on the third and final presidential debate

See Debate page 7

Marijuana in Edwards lands student in jailBy Daniel Johnson-KimEditor in Chief

An ACU freshman from Austin was arrested and jailed Oct. 7 after the ACU Police Department found a small bag of marijuana and drug paraphernalia in the stu-dent’s room in Edwards Hall.

ACU Police Chief Jimmy Ellison said ACUPD officers were called to the residence hall after several students and Kevin Claypool, Edwards Residence Director, reported a strong odor of marijuana coming from the student’s room on the first floor.

Ellison said two students were in the room, and ACUPD found drugs and several bongs and pipes. Only one stu-dent was found to be carrying drugs and was charged with possession of less than two ounces of marijuana, a class B misdemeanor. ACUPD arrest-ed the student, whose name university officials would not release, around 7 p.m. He was taken to Taylor County Jail.

“We found the drugs and placed him under arrest,” Ellison said. “It was a fairly open and shut incident.”

If the freshman is convict-ed, he may face a fine not to

exceed $2,000 and confine-ment in jail for a term not to exceed 180 days, according to the Texas Penal Code. Elli-son said the case already was filed with the Taylor County District Attorney’s office.

In addition to facing crim-inal charges, the student could face university sanc-tions and even suspension from the university.

According to the ACU Student Guide, using illegal drugs is a Category Three vi-olation of the university pol-icy. A Category Three viola-tion can result in suspension from the university, an ac-

countability agreement, loss of privilege, a minimum fine of $100, loss or reduction of scholarships, eviction from university housing, delay or prohibition of registering for classes and denial or read-mission without approval.

Although Ellison said this incident did not produce a further investigation into drugs on campus, he said it shows these types of crimes occasionally occur on and around ACU’s campus.

“There is no indication this incident was linked to any specific people or pat-terns,” Ellison said. “At the

same time I’m not so naïve to think this is the only in-cident that has occurred on campus. This is probably the one that somebody smelled and called.”

Ellison added that this hap-pens once or twice a semes-ter, and he does not believe it is fair to assume because of these incidents there is a “drug problem” on campus.

“Incidents such as this show ACU is not immune to people making poor choices,” Ellison said.

E-mail Johnson-Kim at: [email protected]


aCU WeatHer

Wednesday ThursdayHigh: 61 Low: 31

Friday

High: 49Low: 29

High: 53Low: 34

Online Poll :After one semester,

was the Mobile Learning Initiative

effective? a. Yes. ACU has done a great job.b. Yes. This is only the beginning.c. No. Students are not using them.d. Yes. Hand out iPhones to everyone. acuoptimist.com


A Holiday Secret: Students share discoveries of Santa Claus myth

The Campus Store partnership with Staples may improve supply quality

Fresh Bite: Jack in the Box opens near ACU’s campus

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Pg. 8 Halting History: Wildcats’ loss ends historical seasonWednesday, December 3, 2008 :: Vol. 97, No. 27 :: 1 sections, 8 pages :: www.acuoptimist.com

More from the Log onto www.acuoptimist.com or www.youtube.com/acuvideo to see weekly News casts and Sports casts from the JMC Network News Team and videos profiling various events and stories around campus and Abilene.

Officials happy with fall Chapel programBy Elizabeth SpanoStudent Reporter

After another semester of forums, guest speakers, small groups and special presenta-tions, Spiritual Life is wrap-ping up Chapel programs for the semester and taking stu-dent feedback into consider-ation in planning for changes in the spring.

“We are blessed to be in a very positive environment where [students and faculty] are supportive of Chapel,” said Mark Lewis, assistant dean for Spiritual Life and Chapel Programs.

Lewis said the Spiritual Life office has been pleased with the overall results of this semester’s campus conversa-tions, small group and Cha-pels in Moody Coliseum, and most of these programs have been well received.

“I felt like many aspects of Chapel improved this year,” said Beki Hamilton, sophomore integrated marketing com-munication major from Katy. “Tuesday Chapel was always good, and the speakers were interesting and relevant.”

Despite minor glitches with the new card readers, Lewis said they have succeeded in making Chapel traffic flow more smoothly. To improve the orderly exit, the installa-tion of additional card read-ers in sections G, E and M are being planned. This also will

By Lezlee GutierrezStudent Reporter

With the end of the fall se-mester near, many students are preparing for much more than finals and Christmas break.

Two hundred twenty-five students are expected to grad-uate next week at the 2008 De-cember Commencement and enjoy the bittersweet ending of their college journey. The cer-emony will be at Moody Colise-um Dec. 12 from 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Dr. Cheryl Bacon, chair of the journalism and mass com-munication department, will be the featured speaker.

“It was hard to leave home to move here and it will definitely be hard to move again and start the next chapter of my life away from ACU,” said Abbey Carthel, senior communication science and disorders major from Am-arillo. “I feel the Lord has used ACU and the entire Abilene community to transform my life in such a great way, and it’s been a wonderful experience.”

Abbey has been attending ACU for three and a half years and will be getting married next semester. She also will be working in College Station in the Spring and begin graduate school in the fall.

Although fewer students tend to graduate in Decem-ber compared to May, the ceremony is just as special and important for students. Factors such as credits and students finishing earlier than expected play a role in the need for a Decem-ber graduation. Many proud parents and families will be expected to visit ACU and enjoy a less-crowded Moody Coliseum as they watch their loved ones graduate and reach an important milestone in their lives.

Graduates to take stage in December

Half Full

A CU made multiple appear-ances in local and national media during the fall 2008

semester — some positive, some less than positive. The launch of ACU’s iPhone Initiative attracted attention from all over the world. As the initiative nears the end of its first semester, ACU’s commu-nity and onlookers around the world want to know one thing: is it working?

Dr. Bill Rankin, associate pro-fessor of English and director of ACU’s iPhone educational research team, has played a key role in the initiative from its inception.

Rankin and other initiative leaders designated the first se-mester to familiarity.

“Because it’s experimental, we wanted to set the bar low,” Rankin said. “We wanted to get [iPhones] in the hands of the fac-ulty, get people to get comfort-able with the functions.”

About half the faculty, 169, received their choice of iPhone or iPod touch. In addition to cov-ering the costs of their service

plan, iPhone-bearing faculty were required to attend two training sessions offered throughout the semester. By not requiring that professors use the iPhone in class, initiative leaders hoped they would use this time to acquaint themselves with the device and,

Mobile Learning Initiative’s first semester lays foundation for future expansion

ACU remembers former trustee’s leadership, influence By Michael FreemanManaging Editor

Whenever Dr. Prentice Meador Jr. would call his longtime friend Dr. Royce Money after going through the switchboard to reach the president of the university, he would not begin the conversa-

tion by stating his name.“He would not say, ‘Hi, this

is Prentice;’ he would start by saying, ‘There was this sales-man…’ And he would start out with this long rambling joke,” Money said. “He loved to laugh. He was very fun-loving.”

Meador, a former ACU board of trustee member

and the Batsell Barrett Bax-ter Chair of Preaching at Lipscomb University, died Nov. 25 in Nashville after a brief illness. He was 70. But many will remember him for more than his sense of hu-mor; they will remember his influences at ACU and on Churches of Christ.

“In my opinion, he was the most effective, all-around minister I’ve ever known,” Money said. “He could do it all. And he was a professor so he had the heart of teacher. But he had the voice of a prophet, of a public proclaimer of the

In my opinion, he was the most effective, all-around minister I’ve ever known…he could do it all.

:: Dr. Royce Money, president of the university

“

” See Meador page 7

Students commit to clean up Galveston over break By Linda BaileyStudent Reporter

A group of students, faculty and staff plans to spend a week during winter break, cleaning hurricane-damaged Galveston.

The group will leave Dec. 14 and return Dec. 19. They will spend the week with the Clear Lake Church of Christ in an effort to rebuild damaged houses in Galveston, said Em-ily Garrison in the Volunteer and Service-Learning Center.

“These trips are just anoth-er opportunity for students to live out their Christian call to love and serve others,” Garri-son said in an e-mail.

Garrison said she was not sure exactly what they would be doing in Galveston, but it probably would be similar to the first relief trip during fall break. During this trip the group spent two days gutting and clearing water-damaged houses.

Kate Huggins, sophomore biochemistry major from Abilene, went on the first trip and plans to return during winter break.

“I think disaster relief is a really good eye-opener for college kids,” Huggins said.

She said she thinks many people have forgotten about

See Chapel page 7 See Service page 7

See Initiative page 3


Tim Simon, senior youth and family ministry major from Lockhart, plans to graduate in December and tells about his time at ACU during Chapel Tuesday.

Meador

Winter Walk

More than 200 students will walk across the stage in Moody Coliseum to receive their various degrees at the December Commencement.

n What: December Commencementn When: Dec. 12 (7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.)n Where: Moody Coliseumn Who: Dr. Cheryl Bacon, chair of the journalism and mass communication department, will be the featured speaker.

“By Colter HettichFeatures Editor The capability

this device offers is the platform for opportunity.

:: George Saltsman, director of Educational Technology in the Ad-ams Center for Teaching Excellence

” Zak Zeinert :: chief photographer

See Graduates page 7


ACU WEATHER


Friday

High: 83Low: 47

High: 56Low: 34

Online Poll :Did you change

your myACU password?

a. Yes, I’m paranoid.b. No, I trust my information is safe. c. I couldn’t think of another password.d. Why should I change it again?

acuoptimist.com


Gang violence text message proves to be false warning

Local cookie company provides opportunities for unemployed refugees

On Call: Group of students volunteer to fight fires

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Wednesday, March 25, 2009 :: Vol. 97, No. 44 :: 1 section, 8 pages :: www.acuoptimist.com


Pg. 8 Softball team sweeps weekend, jumps to No. 1 in division

Heather Leiphart :: staff photographer

Above: Cody Veteto, junior electronic media major from Tulsa, Okla.; Breanna Wilkins, sophomore exercise science major from Clyde; and Kim Lewis, junior English education major from Abilene, celebrate on the stage at the Paramount Theatre after their film The Hunger was named Best Picture. Below: Travis Zahodnik, junior management major from San Antonio, smiles on stage after winning the Best Producer FilmFest award.

By Lydia MelbyArts Editor

The results are in for FilmFest 2009 “Anony-mous.” The fifth annual short film competition fea-tured awards in 14 different categories, screenings of seven of the 10 short films entered in the competition and four different musical performances.

Co-hosts Byron Martin, se-nior psychology major from Mesquite, and Jamie Lyn Spires, senior communication major from Arlington, intro-duced each new category, per-formance and film screening, as well as provided entertain-ment between segments.

“I was surprised at how many films were entered,” said James Vokes, junior art

major from Atlanta. “I had only heard of two or three other people doing it, so I didn’t know there were 10.”

Short film The Hunger swept the awards ceremo-ny, taking six of the 14 awards: Best Picture, Best Drama, Best Director for Cody Veteto, Best Writer for Blake Penfield, Best Ac-tress for Breanna Wilkins and Best Technical Director for Brian Escochea.

The idea for the film was one Penfield and director Cody Veteto had come up with and written two years prior, but they had not been able to produce the film un-til this year, said Penfield, senior political science ma-jor from San Antonio.

Filmmakers discuss issues with students

Hackerthreatens myACU securityBy Daniel Johnson-KimEditor in Chief

A university server con-taining students’ password and personal information was hacked, prompting Informa-tion Technology to urge stu-dents to change their myACU account passwords.

Although someone was able to illegally access the server, the evidence does not reveal that sensitive informa-tion was taken, said Kevin

By Colter HettichFeatures Editor

Several international cul-tures have found a niche at ACU. Annual, sold-out shows that demonstrate aspects of those cultures testify to the community’s openness and receptivity. ACU’s reputa-tion for diversity continues to spread, most recently to the People’s Republic of China. At least a few Chinese students will attend ACU next semester, launching an effort to draw

By Daniel Johnson-KimEditor in Chief

The uncertain economy and its effect on ACU was the central theme of the State of the University address de-livered by Dr. Royce Money, president of the universi-ty, to the fac-ulty and staff Tuesday.

M o n e y declared al-though ACU’s endowment, which is part-ly invested in an array of stocks and bonds, dropped more than $55 million since reaching an all-time high of $280 million in 2008, the effect of the economy on ACU is mi-nor compared to other universi-ties throughout the country.

In addition to a 7 percent tuition increase approved by the Board of Trustees in February, Money said the university will apply several measures in reaction to the sagging economy.

ACU plans to reduce its operational budget by more than $6 million, freeze salary increases during the fiscal year of 2010 and reduce the amount the university contributes to its employees’ retirement plans from 8 percent of what faculty and staff put away for retire-ment to 6 percent. Money said

Chinese endeavorwill bring students

Former student convicted of capital murderBy Michael FreemanManaging Editor

Former ACU student Bran-don Dale Woodruff was con-victed Friday of capital murder in the deaths of his parents and was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Twelve days after it be-gan, the trial concluded when

the jury in the 354th District Court in Hunt County re-turned a guilty verdict after five hours of deliberations.

Woodruff, 22, was stunned by the decision, said defense attorney Katherine Fergu-son. Ferguson said she al-ready has filed a notice of appeal with the 5th Court of Appeals in Dallas.

Woodruff was arrested on Oct. 24, 2005, six days after a family friend discovered the bodies of his parents, Den-nis, 43, and Norma, 42, on the couch in their home near Royse City. Autopsy results determined Dennis was shot once in the head and stabbed nine times, while Norma was shot as many as five times

from bullets fired from either a .44 caliber or .45 caliber gun. Woodruff pleaded not guilty to the murders.

Adrienne McFarland and Raphael Guerrero, prosecu-tors assigned to the case by the Texas Attorney General’s Office, made the argument

See FilmFest page 4


Craig Detweiller and John Marks answer questions from students Monday after screening their film Purple State of Mind in Hart Auditorium.

Woodruff

Trial Timeline

Judges feed ‘Hunger’ with awards

See Murder page 4

See Hacker page 4 See Changes page 3

Best Picture: The HungerBest Director: Cody Vete-to, junior electronic media major from Tulsa, Okla., for The HungerBest Actor: Joshua Jones, se-nior theater major from Ranchi-ta, Calif., for North SouthBest Actress: Breanna Wilkins, sophomore exercise science major for The HungerBest Producer: Travis Za-hodnik, sophomore manage-ment major from San Antonio, for Rootless Tree

President outlines budget changes in speech

By Tanner AndersonPage Designer

As John Marks and Craig Detweiler sat in front of the Campus Center for their book signing, Detweiler pulled out a bag of chips to complement his Quizno’s sandwich.

Before Detweiler had a chance to take a bite, his long-time friend and former college roommate John Marks fired off

a question, “Do you really think those chips are better for you than my delicious fries?”

For Detweiler and Marks, their differences go beyond their lunch decisions.

Detweiler and Marks are authors from different back-grounds; in college Detweiler began his journey into Christi-anity, while Marks decided to discontinue his. Although the men, who shared their thoughts

in a myriad of events on cam-pus Monday and Tuesday, have different religious perspectives, they are still friends and both collaborated on the film Purple State of Mind.

The men spoke at a special arts Chapel and had a one-hour discussion regarding faith, art and the business world Mon-day. This discussion was fol-lowed by another one-hour conversation that encompassed

the filmmakers’ views on gen-der and sexuality. Finally 8 p.m. arrived, and the two friends screened their film Purple State of Mind in front of a crowded room in Hart Auditorium.

The two friends shared a fondness for John Wayne and Bruce Springsteen that gradually transformed into a long-lasting friendship.

FilmFest ’09 Winners

acuoptimist.com

See the complete list of FilmFest winners, a video and photos from

the competition

Oct. 16, 2005: Dennis and Norma Woodruff murdered in their home near Royce CityOct. 18, 2005: Bodies discovered by family friendOct. 24, 2005: Brandon Woodruff arrested after his testimony proves inconsistentMarch 5, 2009: Capital murder trial begins in the 354th District Court in Hunt CountyMarch 20, 2009: Jury rules Woodruff is guilty of his parents’ deaths. He is sentenced to life in prison without parole.

See Issues page 7

See China page 4


Money

50%


ACU WEATHER


Friday

High: 87Low: 57

High: 78Low: 58

Online Poll : How are your midterm exams coming along?

a. I hope I live through them..b. I don’t have any hard exams.c. I’m stuck in the Brown Library.d. I’m just ready for spring break.

acuoptimist.com


Tourney time: women’s basketball team begins postseason play

Theologian’s journey: professor moves from fishing village to fishing souls

ACU professors collaborate on commentary of Bible

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Schools, corporations discuss mobile learning

ACU alumnus takes part in ‘Extreme’ project

Former student on trial for murder

University hires new Alumni Relations director

Two chosen as final options for Provost


Koen Daeren’s journey from Belgium to ACU for the ConnectED Summit was any-thing but short.

The senior research engi-neer for the global communica-tions company Alcatel Lucent traveled by train from Brus-sels, Belgium, to Paris, hopped on a more than 10-hour flight from the City of Light to Dallas and finished with a less than 40-minute flight to Abilene.

But Daeren said the trans-atlantic trek was worth the

jet lag; the C o n n e c t E D Summit was the perfect en-vironment to show off his company’s lat-est software projects and find possible partners in the higher educa-tion arena.

“It was the smallest plane I ever took,” Daeren said about the jet he sat on to Abilene.

More than 400 people from four continents, eight countries and more than 30 U.S. states convened at ACU

for the ConnectED Summit, a two-day conference built for collaboration between corpo-rations and educational rep-resentatives and organized for ACU to share its experi-ence in establishing a mobile learning initiative.

While on campus Thurs-day and Friday, conference

a t t e n d e e s — faculty, IT profes-sionals, de-velopers and administra-tors from a myriad of universities and schools

— listened to speeches, par-ticipated in workshops and attended sessions all focused on using mobile devices in an educational environment.

ACU faculty, staff, admin-istrators and students also shared and fielded ques-tions about how ACU’s Mo-

bile Learning Initiative took shape and the logistics of implementing and maintain-ing the initiative.

“The one thing we heard over and over was that it’s so great that ACU has been will-ing to be so open and share this,” said George Saltsman, director of the Adams Center for Teaching and Learning.

Saltsman said the Con-nectEd Summit would not have been possible without the effort of several ACU staff members and the people who worked under them. He said

By Lezlee GutierrezStudent Reporter

ACU welcomed Larry Mu-sick (’84) as its new director of Alumni Relations on Mon-day. Musick recently moved with his family from Tennes-see, where he was the senior director of marketing at Lip-scomb University, a Christian university in Nashville.

“We are very excited to be working with Mr. Musick,” said Samantha Adkins, coordinator


The capital murder trial of a former ACU student will be-gin this week in the 354th Dis-trict Court north of Dallas.

B r a n d o n Dale Wood-ruff, 22, has been in the Hunt County Jail ever since October 2005, f o l l o w i n g his arrest six days after a family friend discovered Woodruff’s par-ents, Dennis and Norma, dead in their home near Royse City.

Woodruff, who attended ACU in 2005, pleaded not guilty to the murders. He will


The Provost Search Com-mittee narrowed the search for a new university Provost down to two, according to an e-mail Dr. Royce Money, president of the university, sent Monday.

Dr. Rob Stewart, Interim Vice Provost at Texas Tech University, and Dr. Jeanine Varner, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, are the two finalists the Provost Search Committee recommended af-ter several weeks of interviews and deliberations.

Both candidates will meet with faculty and various groups on campus during the week after spring break.

“As we move toward a de-cision, I ask for your prayers that God will bless the candi-dates, the discernment of the search committee and the fu-ture of ACU,” Money said in the e-mail.

The hunt for a new Provost began after the current pro-vost, Dr. Dwayne VanRheenan, announced his plans to retire in October.

By Chelsea HackneyStudent Reporter

One ACU alumnus re-cently had the opportunity to demonstrate her artistic talent on the reality televi-sion show Extreme Home Makeover, an Emmy Award winning series that pro-vides home renovations to deserving families.

Rebecca Hull (’05) landed a position on the show partly because her cousin is on the crew of Makeover.

“About a year ago, I men-tioned to my cousin that I would love to work on the show if it ever came to Dal-las,” Hull said.

When the design team

headed to Keller in Decem-ber, he told her he would pass along her information. He did; she heard nothing.

Wednesday, Thursday, Friday went by. Hull waited on a phone call that never came. Finally, she said she gave up worrying.

“If God wants me to do this, they’ll call,” Hull said.

While sitting in a Taco Bell drive-thru, Hull received a call on her cell phone from Ann Cummings, the show’s producer.

“She just asked, ‘How soon can you get here?’” Hull said. She rushed home, grabbed her paint and some clothes and drove straight to Keller, just outside of Fort Worth.

“I blew in and got right to work,” Hull said.

She was responsible for completing a faux finish, which involves using paint to create the illusion of another material such as marble or plaster. She also helped another muralist with some stenciling work.

What seemed like an easy task turned out to be more than she expected.

“I didn’t finish until 1 a.m.,” Hull said. “I had to be there early the next day, so I just slept in my truck.”

But in spite of the cold and the stress, Hull was glad she chose to go.

“I wanted the opportunity and the experience of working with this caliber of designers,”


John Regan, vice president of Government and Education group for AT&T, gives his thoughts on mobile learning as a keynote speaker at ACU’s ConnectED Summit on Friday.

Connected Collaboration

I wanted the opportunity and the experience of working with this caliber of designers…I would love to do it again.

:: Rebecca Hull, ACU alumnus (’05)

“”

See Makeover page 4

Woodruff

See ConnectED page 3

See Trial page 4

See New Hire page 4

Pg. 8 Jumping up: Wildcats move to No. 3 in the nation

E-mail Freeman at: [email protected]

acuoptimist.comSee a myriad of pictures, stories and

videos on the JMC Network blog covering ACU’s ConnectED Summit


AcU WeATHeR


Sunday

High: 64Low: 49

High: 72Low: 45

Online Poll :What are you doing for Thanksgiving?

a. Stuck in Abilene.b. Heading home.c. Road trip!d. Doing homework.

acuoptimist.com

Pg 4AInsideThis Issue:

Bring Your Own Bean: Tailgate party scheduled for Friday

Championship merchandise sparks spike in The Campus Store sales

Local running club sponsors Turkey Day 5K race

Pg 6A Pg 7A

Optimistthe


Pg. 5A: A ‘Wedding’ to Remember: Play addresses racial issuesFriday, November 21, 2008 :: Vol. 97, No. 26 :: 2 sections, 12 pages :: www.acuoptimist.com


Gas prices drop dramatically in Texas, across nationBy Tanner AndersonPage Designer

With Thanksgiving a few days away, many stu-dents will make the long drive home. Gas prices have dropped to under $2, and while filling up their vehicles’ tanks may cause an economic blow for some travelers, the prices might have fallen just enough to ease the economic bruising.

Some gas prices were as high as $2.67 a gal-lon but now have dropped to about $1.88 a gallon, according to www.texasgasprices.com. This may place some people into a traveler’s limbo, not knowing whether or not they should take the journey home by plane or automobile. Many travelers consider early arrival, security checks and possible lost luggage as opposed to an on-road excursion filled with three or more pit stops to refuel a car.

Student traveler Luke Pinson, senior account-ing major from Cookeville, Tenn., was faced

with this dilemma. Pinson drives a Ford Escape, and for Thanksgiving he is traveling with his brother to Tennessee. While on the road, they usually stop three times in order to refuel, not including the first tank of gas they buy before they even begin the gas-guzzling trek.

“I drive home every year. No matter what the gas prices were, we were going home regard-less,” Pinson said. “It is a comfort to know that we don’t have to pay as much. I was pretty ex-cited when I saw that the prices had dropped; I put in $20, and the tank was pretty full.”

Pinson also said that before they travel he and his brother locate the cheapest gas des-tinations by using www.GasBuddy.com, a Web site that points out the cheaper gas stations on traveling route.

Stations around Abilene listed prices less than $1.80. The Shell on Judge Ely was $1.79, while the Fina and Allsup’s station next to it was $1.75. The Murphy USA next to Wal-Mart was

$1.75 and $1.72 if the consumer used a Wal-Mart credit or shopping card, and the Fina next to I-20 was $1.75 as well.

To enjoy Thanksgiving with his family, Ryan Rampton, senior youth and family ministries

Wildcat disc golf courseto be built on campusBy Sondra RodriguezStudent Reporter

ACU students can expect a profession-ally designed nine-hole disc golf course to open on the Sherrod Residential Park in the spring.

Deonna Shake, professor and Wildcat Disc Golf Project Director, said the course, currently under construction, was designed by Professional Disc Golf Association mem-ber Jay Redding and will feature cement tee pads, picnic areas, benches and tee signs. It will be free to use and available to students and community members.

Campus groups and social clubs were asked to donate $500 to sponsor a hole or $250 to split a hole with another donor. These donations will cover the estimated installation fee of $1,000 per hole, and sponsors will have their logos printed on tee signs throughout the course.

Social clubs such as Sub-T 16, Alpha Kai Omega and GATA have contributed, as well as The Campus Store, athletic department and the Campus Activities Board.

“I think it’s a great opportunity to get a club’s name on something that is perma-nent,” Shake said.

The course also will have picnic tables, benches and a kiosk. Shake said $13,000 was raised so far for the entire course.

Amy Finn, social director for GATA, said GATA was one of the first clubs to accept sponsorship of a hole.

“It’s another way to have our name out on campus,” she said. “A lot of people who aren’t in club will be playing on them, so it gets our name out.”

Women of the club had a three-day bake sale in the Campus Center to raise the $500.

Finn said because of the upcoming con-struction to Gibson, gym availability will lessen, and students will look for another sport to play.

“It’s another open field to add a sport to,” Finn said. “It will be fun to have a new sport on campus.”

Planning the disc golf course began this summer when Shake learned she had to teach the first disc golf class in the fall.

“It was my job to get familiar with the sport and be able to teach it,” she said. “It’s free, you don’t need much equipment to

ACU officials still determining fate of Bean SproutBy Michael FreemanManaging Editor

As traffic drastically de-clined in the Bean Sprout Grill and Café this semester, rumors circulated among stu-dents that the eatery on the bottom floor of the Campus

Center soon will close. How-ever, those are just rumors.

ACU Dining Services along with ARAMARK and a focus group comprised of about 20 students have been meet-ing and researching viable options for the future of on-campus eateries, such as

the Bean Sprout, for the last three weeks. No final decision for those eateries has been reached, said Anthony Wil-liams, director of Retail and Campus Stores Manager.

“We are firmly committed to creating a premiere dining experience on this campus,”

Williams said. “No final de-cision has been made. We’ve just had some conversations on what to do.”

Over the last two years, ACU has conducted a com-prehensive study of the din-ing on campus with the ob-jective of providing its users

the best dining experience. Last year, the Hilton Food Court, which features Quiz-no’s, Pizza Hut and Chick-fil-A restaurants, opened in the Campus Center. On Aug. 9, the “World Famous Bean” re-opened after a summer of extensive renovations and

improvements. Other food lo-cations around campus, such as the Bagel Wagon in the Hardin Administration Build-ing, the Connections Café in the Mabee Business Building, the Fatted Café in the Biblical


Gas prices across the state and nation dipped below $2. At this Shell station on South 1st Street, regular gasoline was selling for $1.75 a gallon Wednesday evening.

Prices To Be Thankful ForSee Sprout page 7A

See Drop page 7ASee Disc page 7A

Ice House skating rink returns to AbileneBy Zak ZeinertChief Photographer

The Ice House skating rink is returning Friday for its third year of winter fun and festivities.

Despite weather-related prob-

lems in its first year, the skat-ing rink is back once again to provide joy to the community.

Located at Nelson Park Fes-tival Gardens, the skating rink is sponsored by Habitat for Humanity and will benefit the

nonprofit organization, as well as the Dyess We Care team.

Karen Mendoza, event coordi-nator, said the skating rink was a big hit in the last few years.

“It really has. It’s been great for the community and

it’s family-fun entertainment,” Mendoza said.

The park will open at 6 p.m. Friday and will remain open every day of the week,

See Ice page 7A

Although gas prices dropped in past months, the average price per gallon since the beginning of the decade has increased.

Date U.S. TexasNov. 19, 2000 $1.44 $1.40Nov. 18, 2002 $1.37 $1.33Nov. 22, 2004 $1.90 $1.82Nov. 20, 2006 $2.21 $2.12Nov. 17, 2008 $2.02 $1.94

Source: Energy Information Administration

Rising PRices

The best part is just the fact that people are ice skating outside in West Texas.:: Karen Mendoza, event coordinator for the Ice House skating rink

“”


ACU WEATHER


Friday

High: 68Low: 37

High: 68Low: 38

Online Poll :Do you think Barack

Obama will be a successful president?

a. Yes, he is ready to lead.b. No, I’m waiting for 2012.c. He won’t make any difference.d. Only history will tell.

acuoptimist.com


A fine tuned story: Abilene piano tuner devotes life to craft

ACU for IRC sponsors weeklong donation drive to aid refugees

Part of the club: Social club pledging process comes to end

Pg 4 Pg 5

Optimistthe


Pg. 8: Nine down, one to go: Cats positioned to win LSC titleWednesday, November 5, 2008 :: Vol. 97, No. 19 :: 1 sections, 8 pages :: www.acuoptimist.com

More from the Log onto www.acuoptimist.com or www.you-tube.com/acuvideo to see weekly News casts and Sports casts from the JMC Network News Team and videos profiling various events and

stories around campus and Abilene.

Bands play to save ACU bowling alleyBy Laura AcuffOpinion Page Editor

In response to rumors that the Campus Center’s bowl-ing alley will be converted into offices, bands The Rock-in’ Extensions and Swing the Lead will perform a concert to promote the bowling alley

at 6:30 p.m. in the Campus Center Living Room.

A petition for students to sign may be circulated at the concert, said Tim Thyne, junior finance major from Chicago and bass player for The Rockin’ Extensions. At

Obama triumphs in historic race


Dakwaun Hampton, sophomore business major from Waco, cheers with other Barack Obama supporters at an election watching party in the Campus Center Living Room when the Democratic nominee was named president elect of the United States. Obama will be the first black president in the history of the United States.

See Bands page 7

acuoptimist.com: See a video profiling Election Day in Abilene.

Staff ReportJMC Network

Barack Hussein Obama did not win Texas or Taylor County, but the 47-year-old Illinois senator collected the electoral votes necessary to secure his position as the nation’s 44th president and first black president.

Obama, 47, defeated Sen. John Mc-Cain after accumulating substantially more than the 270 electoral votes nec-essary to win the presidential office. McCain won Texas’ 34 electoral votes 55 percent to Obama’s 44 percent, but after securing several swing states early in the night, it became evident that Obama would be the victor. The Illinois senator lagged far behind John McCain in Taylor County with McCa-in securing 72.36 percent of the vote compared to Obama’s 26.73 percent.

With an Obama figurine and mask on a shelf, a large white flag embla-zoned with the Democratic donkey and a similarly styled cake waiting to be cut in the kitchen, a dozen or so people gathered around the TV, watching the election results on the screen between two life-sized posters, one of a smiling Obama and one of a saxophone-playing Bill Clinton. The atmosphere was marked by relaxed attentiveness; individuals carried on soft conversations with one another. Several wore patriotic red, white and blue garb, others T-shirts colored with the smiling face of Obama. With each state called blue, the crowd burst into joyous shouts and hi-fived each other. As CNN declared the new president

Taylor County backs McCain


When Charlie Gibson of ABC News announced Sen. Barack Obama (D – Ill.) would be the 44th presi-dent of the United States of America shortly after 10 p.m. Tuesday, nearly 20 ACU students erupted in

cheers, applause and ex-hilaration at the Rock the Vote Election Watch Party in the Campus Center Liv-ing Room.

“This is monumental, baby!” one student yelled.

“This is past historical!” another shouted.

The students, most of

Students react with excitement, shock

Panel debates, discusses ’08 presidential electionBy Zak ZeinertChief Photographer

More than 100 students gathered in Hart Auditorium Wednesday to watch as Repub-licans and Democrats debated amongst themselves over the political candidates.

The Students’ Association and the JMC Network spon-

sored the event, titled “We the People,” to help better inform students on where each can-didate stands on key issues. Panelists were asked questions from a moderator and also took questions from the audience.

Neal Coates, professor of political science and a panelist Zak Zeinert :: chief photographer

Kristina Campos, assistant professor of communication, gives her opinion, while panel members listen at Wednesday’s political forum and debate. See Debate page 7

2008 Election ResultsU.S. Senate

Winner: John Cornyn (R)

TexasCornyn (53%) Rick Noriega (44%)

Taylor CountyCornyn (73.28%), Noriega (24.43%) Cornyn

U.S. Representative

Winner: Randy Neugebauer (R)

U.S. District 19Neugebauer (72%) Fullinghim (24%) Peterson(2%)

Taylor CountyNeugebauer (71.43%)Fullinghim (25.77%) Peterson (2.8%)

Neugebauer

State Representative

Winner: Susan King (R)

Texas District 71King (88 %) Walton (11 %)

Taylor County Sheriff

Winner: Les Bruce (R)

Bruce (32,573 votes) Casarez (13,508 votes)

Winner: Barack Obama (D)

Electoral CollegeObama (338 votes) McCain (156 votes)

Popular VoteObama (52%) McCain (47%)

TexasMcCain (53%) Obama (45%)

Taylor CountyMcCain (34,265), Obama (12,658)

Obama

See Obama page 3

U.S. Presidency

*Results as of 12:30 a.m. Tuesday evening

See Reaction page 7


ACu WeATheR


Friday

High: 70Low: 51

High: 77Low: 51

Online Poll : Are you going to watch the final

presidential debate?a. Yes, I still haven’t made my choice.b. Yes, [Insert candidate] will win.c. No, I’m tired of election coverage. d. Maybe if I didn’t have a midterm.

acuoptimist.com


Volleyball team loses to Angelo State for first time since ’02

One God, many languages: International church offers cosmopolitan atmosphere

Award recognizes ACU student’s research in microwave chemistry

Pg 5 Pg 8

Optimistthe


Pg. 8 Waiting game: Cats cruise past Rams, prepare for WTAMU Wednesday, October 15, 2008 :: Vol. 97, No. 16 :: 1 section, 8 pages :: www.acuoptimist.com



Asian fashion show to aid cancer fightBy Laura AcuffOpinion Page Editor

The Office of Multicultur-al Enrichment and the Ajisai Team combined to produce “Ajisai: Four Seasons Fash-ion Show,” scheduled to take place in the Teague Special Events Center Friday. Doors open at 7 p.m., and the show begins at 7:30 p.m.

“Ajisai,” Japanese for Asian fashion, adeptly titles the production, which fea-tures traditional and mod-ern Asian dress, free food, vocal and instrumental performances and a perfor-mance by ACU’s SHADES, said Whitney Puckett, a show

organizer and sophomore interior design major from Melbourne, Fla.

Ideas for the Asian-themed fashion show began forming after last semester’s fashion show, “Exposed: A Fashion Story,” Puckett said, starting with four or five Asian stu-dents wanting to share their

unique, culturally-shaped sense of fashion with the Abilene community.

“I think it was just very im-portant to them that Asians get represented in a way that was more modern and a way that’s not just cherry blossoms and kimonos and dragons and things like that Americans can

typically put in a stereotype for them,” Puckett said. “They wanted to be represented and they wanted to show what they’ve got.”

The production benefits the National Breast Can-cer Foundation, which will

Missions,dedication to students defines lifeBy Michael FreemanManaging Editor

Known for his scrupulous teaching style and passion for medical mission work, Dr. John C. Little, professor emeri-tus of biology, played an in-tegral part in shaping and guiding stu-dents’ lives during his 35 years at ACU. Little passed away Oct. 7 in Abilene after a long battle with leukemia. He was 71.

“He was interested in help-ing people,” said Dr. Perry Reeves, professor of chem-istry and premedical adviser at ACU. “He was an excellent teacher but a pretty challeng-ing teacher. His goal was to be sure students were prepared for the challenges they’d meet when they went to medical and dental school.”

Little served as a profes-sor, premedical adviser, chair of the Health Professions Ad-visory Committee and chair of the Department of Biology, all while helping more than 200 ACU students get into medical schools and more than 100 into dental schools. His attention to detail aided in students’ endeavors for life after ACU.

“One of the things that I was really impressed with him about was how well he knew course numbers across this campus,” said Dr. Jim Nich-ols, chair of the Department of Biology. “Like you could say ‘English 365,’ and he knew what it was. He was a really good person to help students plan out their schedules.”

Little began his teaching career at ACU in 1961 after earning an associate’s degree from Florida Christian Col-lege in 1956 and a bachelor’s

Balloon release aims to promote programsBy Michael FreemanManaging Editor

Flashes of purple and white briefly dotted Mon-day afternoon’s gray over-cast sky as ACU TRiO mem-bers released more than 700 balloons into the air. The purple and white bal-loons took flight as part of the third annual Columbus Day balloon release in front of Moody Coliseum, which was meant to endorse TRiO and its theme for this year “Discovery of the New World of Education.”

“We do this to promote the concept of TRiO stu-dents to those folks who may not know us,” said Mark Upton, director of the Talent Search Program. “And to continually keep our name in front of people, helping them understand how we help the students in Abilene and how we help the students on cam-pus. It’s also a nice way to promote ACU for our high school students.”

ACU TRiO programs, which include the Education-al Talent Search Program,

Upward Bound, the Alpha Scholars Program and the McNair Scholars Program, cater to middle school, high school and college students by helping low-income, first-generation college and disabled students with counseling, tutoring, test preparation, research tech-niques and internships.

“By hosting those four grants, [students] are able to start in the sixth grade here in Abilene, and we can assist them all the way through their PhD,” Upton said.

Six high school soph-

omore students from Abilene High School and Cooper High School at-tended the balloon release as well as Monday’s Chapel and toured campus before returning to school.

More than 1,000 students in the Abilene area current-ly are enrolled in one of TRiO’s four programs. The Department of Education supports the programs, all of which are grant-funded by the government.

Members from TRiO be-gan inflating balloons at 8 a.m. Monday. When Chapel

ended, more than 700 bal-loons had been prepared. After the balloon release, students partook of the about 1,000 soft drinks TRiO offered.

“Today’s balloon release was a ‘Discovery of the New World’ as we discover the new world of education for our students,” Upton said. “The balloons represent that the sky is the limit.”

By Zak ZeinertChief Photographer

Two professors conducted surveys among students to ascertain how debates change voter perception at ACU.

Cindy Roper, associate professor of communica-tion, and Kristina Campos, professor of communication, passed out surveys before and after presidential de-bates as part of a study done by Uvote2008. The next sur-vey is at the final presidential


Casper Hove-Mcghee, sophomore at Cooper High School, lifts a white tarp, sending purple and white balloons into the air at the third annual TRiO balloon release in the mall area Monday.

Little

Round ThRee

The third and final Presidential debate will be 8 p.m. Wednesday at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York. The debate will be moderated by CBS’s Bob Schieffer. Several stations will broadcast the debate.

n ABC, *Channel 4n NBC, *Channel 5n FOX, *Channel 6 n CNN, *Channel 54n MSNBC, *Channel 63n FOX NEWS, *Channel 44

*ACU cable channels

Purple and White Flight

e-mail Freeman at: [email protected]

“

See Little page 4

ACU joins national effort to survey young voters

”

See Debate page 4 See Fashion page 4

AsiAn FAshion

The Office of Multicultural Enrichment will sponsor the “Ajisai: Four Seasons Fashion Show”

n When: Friday, 7 p.m.n Where: Teague Special

40%

I think it was just very important to them that Asians get represented in a way…that’s not just cherry blos-soms and kimonos and dragons…

:: Whitney Puckett, sophomore interior design major from Melbourne, Fla.


ACU WEATHER


Friday

High: 67Low: 49

High: 72Low: 58

Online Poll :How do you feel about the ACU Student Recre-ation and Well-ness Center?

a. It’s about time.b. What a waste of money.c. If they build it, students will come.d. When does construction begin?

acuoptimist.com


ACU athlete wins NCAA heptathalon national title

The most altruistic meal of the day: Breakfast ministry helps homeless

Multicultural Enrichment office presents one-man show

Pg. 5 Pg. 8

Optimistthe




Pg. 8 Nationally ranked Wildcats split weekend series

Cabinet members say SA moving past impeachmentBy Daniel Johnson-KimEditor in Chief

New Students’ Association President Sarah Pulis said the SA Congress is focused on looking forward and mov-ing past the impeachment of her predecessor Daniel Paul Watkins, which rose after

long-lasting issues among the Cabinet members.

In her first interview since she became SA President, Pu-lis, senior political science ma-jor from Longview, argued the impeachment was a legitimate process that was a final solu-tion to resolve issues of uneth-ical behavior, deception and

divisive actions by Watkins, senior political science major from Fredericksburg, Va.

“I think that the impeach-ment was the right decision, not only for our Cabinet, but our student body,” Pulis said.

The Students’ Association Congress voted 25-5-2 to impeach Watkins on March

4. In the impeachment hear-ing, which was closed to the public, Chief Financial Of-ficer Luke Cochran charged Watkins with failure “to lead the Students’ Association in a positive manner,” accused him of “disrespect for the Abilene Christian University community” and said he did

not “adhere to the ethical standards of conduct as not-ed in the Abilene Christian University Campus Policies.”

Cochran said Watkins also damaged a chair worth more than $250 and damaged a framed picture in the SA Con-gress office that would have cost more than $200 to re-

place. Cochran said rather than spend students’ money on replacing the frame, the Cabinet members chose to purchase a cheaper frame.

Watkins refuted the charg-es and declared the impeach-ment was unconstitutional

‘A Question of When’

Malagasy president resigns after coupStaff Report

Marc Ravalomanana, pres-ident of Madagascar, re-signed Tuesday, a day after soldiers overtook a presi-dential palace and the cen-tral bank in Antananarivo, Madagascar, and an opposi-tion leader commanded the army to arrest the island country’s president.

Ravalomanana, who visit-ed ACU’s campus twice and spoke at the May 2008 Com-mencement, announced he was dissolving the country’s government and handing power over to the military, which stormed the gates of the unoccupied palace Mon-day with several tanks and armored vehicles, according to the Associated Press.

Randy Rajoelina, the former mayor of the capi-tal city, has led weeks of protests against Ravalo-manana. Rajoelina, a for-mer disc jockey, accused Ravalomanana of corrup-tion and running a dicta-torship. Rajoelina declared himself the leader of a transitional government during the weekend and

said no public elections will take place in two years, according to the AP.

According to the Times of London, the majority of the country’s army was behind opposition leader Rajoelina, but several mili-tary personnel still were supporting the president.


Testimony in the capital murder trial of former ACU stu-dent Brandon Dale Woodruff continued Tuesday in the 354th District Court in Hunt County after testimonies from current and former ACU students.

Prosecutors have alleged Woodruff killed his parents in October 2005; he has pleaded not guilty.

After nine days into the tri-al, Texas Ranger Jeff Collins, the lead investigator; Dr. Lynn Salzberger, medical examiner

ACU students testify in Woodruff murder trial

Some first year students fear weight gain, but ACU has a facility in mind that could make the “freshman fif-teen” a thing of the past.

The ACU Student Recreation and Wellness Center, SRWC, will cover 100,000 square feet of two stories. The eastern section of the Gibson Health and P.E. Center, includ-ing the double gym, single gym and racquet-ball courts, will be demolished or remodeled. Sixteen parking spaces between the Amphi-theatre and tennis courts will be removed to make room for the new center.

“We’re looking at the gaps in the total stu-dent experience, and there are some gaps,” said Phil Boone, assistant vice president for development. “[The SRWC] is the No. 1 prior-ity of the 21st Century Vision.”

At its core, the Student Recreation and Wellness Center is a tool the university thinks will attract, recruit and retain stu-dents, Boone said. He said many incom-ing and enrolled students expect access to a place on campus where they can workout

or play pick-up games of various sports; the minds behind ACU’s SRWC tailored the facil-ity to student needs.

“Student use is the No. 1 driving factor in these decisions, and the two things students said the most were free time and court space and ample use of cardiovascular equipment,” Boone said. “Basically, you walk in and always have a machine available. That really is the goal.”

Recreation centers that students enjoy today evolved over decades. In Trends in Collegiate Recreational Sports Facilities, Craig T. Bogar ex-amined the evolution process.

The University of Michigan constructed an Intramural Sports Building on campus in 1928. The $743,000 facility featured 13 squash courts, 14 handball courts and 3,000 lockers. The Intramural Sports Building is one of the earliest examples of an on-campus building dedicated to recreational sports.

Similar structures began popping up all over the country. In 1972, Title IX of the Education


Rec Center takes top spot in implementation of vision


Christina Cortinez, freshman elementary education major from Abilene, and other students exercise in the south exercise room in Gibson Health and P.E. Center. ACU is raising funds to build a new recreation and wellness center.

Courtesy of Tittle Luther Architecture

See Rec Center page 4

See SA page 4

See Coup page 4See Trial page 4

Early plans for the ACU Student Recreation and Wellness Center include a rock climbing wall that would be available for students to use.

The existing swimming pool in the Gibson Health and P.E. Center will be remodeled and a 5,000 square-foot leisure pool will be built in the SRWC.

At least one new “multi-functional” gym will be built for a total of 21,402 square feet of gymnasium space equipped for basketball and other sports and activities.

10,000 square feet of new aerobic space will be built on the second floor of the SRWC to meet a student demand for treadmills and other aerobic machines.

A “sunning area” will give students a place to work on their tan. The area will be built next to the new leisure swimming pool adjacent to the existing pool.

More than 9,000 square feet in the SRWC will be reserved to house weight lifting equipment that students can use on a regular basis.

Possible features of the ACU Student Recreation and Wellness Center

When he is home, Thomas Robinson lives with his parents at the top of a church. He attends every Sunday service and knows most of the faces at Manhattan Church of Christ, where his father is a senior minister.

However, Robinson does not believe in God.Robinson, senior English major from New York City, said he used

to be Christian but now is atheist.“It’s hard to say when it hap-

pened,” Robinson said. “It’s not one thing that kicked me off. I just had to be honest with myself. Admit-ting was a hard thing; it felt like I was betraying an old friend.”

Like Robinson, about 5-10 per-cent of the student body is not Christian, according to the office of Admissions and Enrollment Management. The proportion of non-Christians is greater among international students, the office said.

Steven Gist, international students’ recruiter, said the ma-jority of students from East Asia are not Christian, with the exception of Malaysians and Koreans. In Japan, less than 1 percent of the population is Christian, Gist said.

“I have no hard data, but 50-50 is what it feels like to me,” Gist said, relying on his conversations with interna-tional students and to the “preference” box students check on application forms.

Laura Blake, coordinator of International Students Servic-es, said she thinks the ratio of Christians to non-Christians among international students is a little higher, “maybe 60-40,” because most African and Latin American students at ACU are Christians.

Blake said international students come from diverse cul-tures and include Muslims, Buddhists and non-believers, but most feel welcome and fit easily into ACU’s student body.

“Some students struggle in Bible classes,” Blake said. “[Bible classes] are one of the most challenging parts of being a non-Christian student at ACU. It might help these students to talk to Christian friends who could help explain what is being discussed in the Bible classes.”

Dan McVey, professor of Islamic studies and world reli-gion and a former missions coordinator in Africa, lived in Ghana for 23 years and knows what it feels like to have a different faith than the majority. McVey lived in Accra, the capital of Ghana, for most of the time and also spent five years in Yendi, where Islam is dominant.

McVey said one of the difficulties for non-Christian stu-dents at ACU is dealing with classes that are colored with the perspective of a conservative, American Christian culture. He also said non-Christian students often feel a sense of conde-scension from many of the other students and even faculty.

However, McVey said international students are eager to ad-just and make the most of their educational experiences, and he is pleased with the steps the university has taken toward greater diversity in Chapel programs and the way classes are taught.

Patrick Wei, a Chinese exchange student from Shanghai, said he came to ACU to learn about communication and Christian culture. He said he is interested in learning how the Christian culture contributes to the social stability and has enjoyed the

hospitality of Christians in Abilene.


ACU WEATHER

Wednesday

40%

ThursdayHigh: 79 Low: 65

Friday

High: 84Low: 66

High: 82Low: 58

Online Poll : Is ACU welcoming to students who

are not Christians?

a. No. They are mistreated. b. I don’t know. I have not met one. c. No. They should leave. d. Everyone is welcome at ACU.

acuoptimist.com


West Texas Flames: An in-depth look at grass fires in the area

University to offer newpeace and social justice minor

Student wins SpringBoard contest with football-inspired business plan

Pg. 3 Pg. 6-7

Optimistthe


Wednesday, April 29, 2009 :: Vol. 97, No. 53 :: 1 sections, 10 pages :: www.acuoptimist.com


: Scott, Knox drafted into NFL; Malone earns try-out with Bills

Dick Schissler :: staff photographer

Lora Courtney, senior interior design major from Auburn, CA.; Casey Cope, graduate student from Coppell; and Angela Darden, graduate student from Midland study in the Brown library on Monday.


Nick Martinez, graduate student from San Antonio, and Jacob Luedecke, sophomore psychology major from San Antonio, paddle hard during the canoe section of the Red Dirt Adventure Challenge on Saturday.

By Shelby HoltStudent Reporter

The Red Dirt Adventure Challenge on Saturday proved successful, reaching its fund-raising goal and involving more than 30 teams.

The Outdoor Club orga-nized the marathon event, which included running, bike riding and canoeing.

“The turnout was good; we had 72 participants and about 30 volunteers,” said Alex Wann, president of the Outdoor Club and junior en-vironmental science major from Torrington, Wyo.

Although this year’s involve-ment numbers declined from prior years, no one’s spirits dropped, said Colter Lane, co-director of the Red Dirt Adven-ture Challenge and junior phys-ics major from Kalispell, Mont.

“Due to the date of the event — it’s toward the end of the semester — and the amount of other events going on,

we’re happy with the out-come,” Lane said.

Extending the marathon’s registration deadline to Satur-day proved a success because the Outdoor Club had five teams sign up on the morning of the race, Lane said.

Even with the relative suc-cess of the event, some de-tails went awry.

“We had a miscommunica-tion between staff members and a few course difficulties, but everything worked out in the end,” Lane said.

One ACU student was in-jured in a biking accident that called for paramedics, he said.

“The student was ban-daged by the paramedic and insisted on finishing the race with his partner,” Wann said.

The marathon began with a running section, and then continued through the canoe-ing section.

The weather Saturday was

Library open late for final pushBy Lezlee GutierrezStudent Reporter

The pressure of the end of the semester and finals week may be on students’ minds, but the Brown Library is of-fering some extra help.

The library will extend its hours of operation dur-ing the last two weeks of the semester to assist students

as they prepare for final exams. The new extended hours began Sunday and will conclude May 7. The library will be open Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. until 3 a.m., including Wednesday evenings from 6-8:30 p.m. It also will be open Saturdays from 9 a.m. until 3 a.m. and Sundays from 1:30 p.m. until 3 a.m., including 5 -7 p.m. on

Sunday evenings. The library will close May 8, the last day of finals week, at 5 p.m.

“The most important as-pect of this idea is to provide a response to the request for additional hours at the library from the students,” said Dr. Mark McCallon, as-sistant director of the Brown Library and associate profes-sor of library science.

The addition of the ex-tended hours initiated as a request from the 2007-08 Students’ Association Con-gress for the library to offer more hours for students to study and use the comput-ers in the facility during fi-nals week. The library then began offering more hours

Students tackle Outdoor Club Challenge

The Faithless Few

By Camille VandendriesscheAssistant Copy Editor

Christian

Christian

Christian

Christian

Other

By Shelby HoltStudent Reporter

What is 650 feet long and can be found in Sherrod Park? Hole five at the new Wildcat Disc Golf Course.

Not only does ACU have the bragging rights to the longest disc golf hole in Abilene, it also has a one-of-a-kind course created by disc golf professional and world champion, Jay Reading.

Reading, who attended the University of Northern Iowa, played football and blocked for NFL quarterback Kurt Warner; but to re-lax, he and his friends turned to disc golf.

Now Reading and his wife, Des, are world champion disc golf professionals


Dr. Royce Money, president of the university, throws a disc at the Disc Golf Demo outside of Moody Coliseum on Tuesday. The demo was of-fered in conjunction with the grand opening of the Wildcat Disc Golf Course at Sherrod Park.

See Non-Christian page 4See Course page 5

See Library page 5

Disc golf pros help roll out campus course

See Outdoor page 5

The turnout was good; we had 72 par-ticipants and about 30 volunteers.

:: Alex Wann, president of the Outdoor Club and junior

environmental science major from Torrington, Wyo.

“”

Slice of student body pledges no allegiance

to Christian beliefs

Five to 10 percent of the student body is not Christian.According to the office of Admissions and Enrollment


Trace amounts of marijuana were found in a McKinzie Hall residence room Jan. 20, but the ACU Police Department did not press criminal charges because so little was found.

A resident assistant discovered flakes of marijuana in a trash can while conducting a room check and subse-quently filed a report to the ACU Police Depart-ment at 12:41 a.m. Of-ficers investigated the scene and confiscated the marijuana, which totaled to less than one gram.

The students living in the room were not present at the time of the investigation. Because the evidence was not a usable amount and nobody could be affir-matively linked to the marijuana, no criminal charges were filed; however, the Office of Ju-dicial Affairs is conducting an investigation to see if a policy violation was committed.

“While it may not be a criminal offense that can be filed because of the residual amounts and no one being present, it’s still conceivably a policy violation that the uni-versity would pursue,” said Jimmy Ellison, chief of the ACU Police Department. “The presence of any amount of drugs or contra-band on campus is still a policy violation.”

Violations of the university drug policy qualify as category three violations, accord-ing the drug policy in the 2008-09 Student Handbook. Disciplinary responses to cat-egory three violations may include eviction from university housing, loss of scholar-ships or suspension from the university.

The university philosophy of discipline outlined in the 2008-09 Student Handbook states that the “members of our community are called to a high standard of behavior in


ACU WEATHER


Friday

High: 53Low: 28

High: 60Low: 37

Online Poll :How did you

spend Tuesday’s icy break?

a. Sliding on the ice around campus.b. Off the roads and indoors.c. Catching up on homework.d. Thanking God for the extra sleep.

acuoptimist.com


Dino-Fight: Jurassic statue causes stir in Downtown Abilene

Free campus food a text message away for ACU community

Alumnus to take 19th century clock on ‘Antique Roadshow’

Pg 4 Pg 10

Optimistthe

a product of theJMC networkPg. 8 Another for the win column: ACU extends streak to three

Wednesday, January 28, 2009 :: Vol. 97, No. 31 :: 1 section, 8 pages :: www.acuoptimist.com


Fourteen Sing Song acts continue practice, preparation for show

Staff Report

It was a slippery, frigid and icy Tuesday for the ACU com-munity after a sudden sweep of cold weather, sleet, freez-ing rain and ice on Abilene’s roads caused university offi-cials to close down the cam-pus for the first time in more than two years.

An Arctic cold front came through the area Monday, caus-ing temperatures in Abilene to drop below freezing and stay in

the mid-20s. The freezing tem-peratures mixed with moisture that originated from the Gulf of Mexico and created the sleet and freezing rain that caused the day’s hazardous and slip-pery conditions.

“You just don’t see this very often,” said Patrick Mc-Cullough, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in San Angelo. “We only get a little bit of ice and snow every year, but it doesn’t take much ice to create some real travel issues.”

The last time ACU closed down its campus because of snow and ice was on Nov. 30, 2006, when a snow storm prompted university officials to cancel the school day and close all campus offices.

McCullough said more than one-fourth of an inch of ice covered Abilene’s roads Tuesday, and up to one-fourth of an inch of ice and sleet is expected to fall from the sky Tuesday evening. The ice should thaw by Wednes-

day afternoon, when temper-atures are expected to reach as high as 50 degrees.


Trent Dietz, freshman physics major from Longmont, Colo., scrapes ice from the windshield of a car parked by Nelson Hall on Tuesday afternoon.

By Zak ZeinertChief Photographer

From Nov. 30 through Dec. 12 Brown Li-brary extended its hours of operation from 7 a.m. to 3 a.m. Monday through Friday. The extension was intended to

give students the opportunity to spend more time studying for finals.

However, many students believe this extension should be the normal schedule. Some find it ir-ritating they cannot stay in the library past mid-night, and others dislike the random times such as Wednesday nights when the library closes for an hour and a half at 6 p.m.

Zach Cook, junior business management and finance major from Carrollton, said he thinks the current library hours could use some amending.

“They’re horrible. For one, they close down

for church and religious services. I think that a university that claims that you don’t have to be a Christian to go here shouldn’t close down stuff for religious reasons,” Cook said.

Mark Tucker, dean of Library and Information Resources, said the library hours barely have changed since he first began working at ACU.

“We have made some modest changes. We started opening at 1:30 p.m. on Sundays instead of 1 p.m. to allow workers to have lunch after church,” Tucker said.

He said requests have been made to open the library all day, every day, but logistically speak-ing, it is not something he can handle.

“That is very expensive, and we’re not funded to do that,” Tucker said. “That’s the best expla-nation I have.”

Cook said he can understand the library being

Time Dispute

Monday 7 a.m. - Midnight

Tuesday 7 a.m. - Midnight

7 a.m. - 6 p.m. 8:30 p.m. - Midnight

Thursday 7 a.m. - Midnight

Friday 7 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Saturday 9 a.m. - 6 p.m.

1:30 p.m. - 5 p.m. 7 p.m. - Midnight

Wednesday

Sunday

Library unable to meet student demand for longer hours

BrownLibraryHours:

See Library page 4

Wintry weather shuts down ACU

By Lydia MelbyArts Editor

The stakes are getting high-er and practices more intense as ACU gears up for what is perhaps its biggest event of the year: Sing Song. This year, the 53rd annual event is called

“Believe,” and its preparations are just as intense as in the years preceding it.

Although Sing Song 2009 may be as traditional as al-ways, it also will have some new features to offer. Along with the usual host and host-ess performers, fourteen dif-

ferent acts will participate. These acts showcase most of the men and women’s social clubs on campus, four class acts for each year/classifi-cation and the IEH multicul-tural act comprised of three separate clubs—the Interna-tional Students Association,

Essence of Ebony and His-panos Unidos.

Anna Peters, senior chil-dren and family ministry major from Houston, is one of the co-directors for the IEH act and said, “The three groups are having the time of their life. IEH this year wants

to give to Sing Song a taste of cultural competency and how the movement of choreogra-phy and music can bring us all together under one roof.”

The IEH act is not the only group reporting significant progress. Hannah Anderson, senior elementary education

major from Waco and direc-tor of the Sigma Theta Chi act, said her club also is moving right along in its practices.

“We’re just in the stage of perfecting it and polishing up our act. We’ve learned all the

Ellison

RA spots marijuana in McKinzie trash can

See Marijuana page 7

acuoptimist.com

See photos and a video of the wintry weather that blanketed Abilene

and ACU Tuesday.

See Freeze page 7

See Sing Song page 7


Students fill the Learning Commons in the Brown Library Monday evening. Despite a demand for longer library hours, officials say it is logistically impossible.


aCU WeaTHer


Sunday

High: 90Low: 67

High: 85Low: 68

Online Poll : Do you feel safe on ACU’s campus?

a. Yes. The ACU police do a fine job.b. No. I stay indoors at night.c. Only when I carry my gun. d. Not if there are freshmen around.

acuoptimist.com


Faustian Feature: Writer reviews devilish ACU performance

Essence of Ebony promotes voter registration at Rock the Vote event

‘World Famous Bean,’ The Den ammend hours of operation

Pg 3 Pg 5

Optimistthe


Pg. 8 Hitting Regionals: Men win spots, women to compete FridayFriday, October 3, 2008 :: Vol. 97, No. 13 :: 1 section, 8 pages ::



Sub T-16 pledge sent to hospital

Pledges plunge into second phaseBy Linda BaileyStudent Reporter

For almost two weeks, so-cial clubs have tested their pledges by enforcing many rules pledges are required to follow. As pledging intensifies, pledges may struggle to bal-ance the rigors of club and the academic challenges of school.

Matching outfits, pledge pins, binders, baskets, red mirrors, chain links and oth-er objects carried by pledg-es make them easy to spot around campus. Pledges of Ko Jo Kai also can be heard respecting Kojie Park by ex-claiming, “I will respect Kojie Park!” each time they pass the two benches.

“It doesn’t really embarrass me because I know everyone has to do it. I wasn’t the first one to do it and I won’t be the last one,” said Allie Souder,

Ko Jo Kai pledge and sopho-more exercise science major from Arlington.

Next week, the second phase of pledging begins. In the second phase, pledges will be involved in activities such as visiting and getting to know older members. Pledges could spend up to 15 hours per week doing activities, while in the first phase they only were allowed to spend 12 hours weekly.

“It’s really about budgeting your time and keeping your priorities straight,” said Al-pha Kai Omega pledge Abigail Sutphen, sophomore biology major from Houston.

Michael Goodman, Gam-ma Sigma Phi pledge and mathematics major from Keller, said he utilizes time in between lunch and Chapel and after night activities to do homework.

“It’s non-stop action all day trying to get everything done,” Goodman said.

Although pledging can be time consuming, pledges use

different means to keep from being overwhelmed. Souder said she planned her class schedule

Globe watching iACU


ACU raised eyebrows last February when the university announced it would distribute iPhones and iPod touches to its incoming class of freshmen. In fact, it raised eyebrows from ev-ery continent in the world with the exception of Antarctica.

More than 350 magazines, trade publications, newspa-pers, blogs, television stations and news Web sites have pub-lished articles about ACU’s Mobile Learning Initiative.

“It’s just unbelievable the

amount of publicity we’ve got-ten from this,” said Lynne Bru-ton, director of public relations. “Now saying that, it’s not all positive. There are some nega-tive pieces. But really, we’re get-ting our name out there. And the more you get your name out there, even though people are saying negative things, we’re still being perceived by our peer institutions as a leader in mobile technology.”

Some of the national news organizations that have re-ported on the initiative include

Initiative brings attention

There’s not a week that goes by when the phone rings or an e-mail says, ‘Hey, I’m so-and-so from such-and-such school and I’m really interested in what you’re doing.

:: George Saltsman, director of the Adams Center for Teaching and Learning.

“

”

See Globe page 4

See Pledges page 4

ACU police report drop in crime during ’07


The Students’ Asso-ciation Congress voted to grant money to help a stu-dent organization attend a conference and appointed two new members to the Congress on Wednesday.

After debating numbers for about an hour, SA voted to give more than $99 per member of the ACU student chapter of the Society for Human Resource Manage-ment to help pay for the group’s trip to the Human Resource Southwest Re-gional Conference in Fort Worth. The maximum SA voted it would provide was more than $1,100 if 12 peo-ple attended the conference,

which will be on Oct. 14-16.Congress decided on the

dollar amount that would come from the Student Re-quest fund—a sum of money set aside in SA’s budget to distribute among student groups—after voting each person on the trip should be required to spend $75 of their own money to attend the con-ference. The motion to allot the funds passed 31-2-5.

Chris King, junior human resource management major from Houston and president of the ACU SHRM chapter, made the case for the stu-dent organization, laying out the expected costs of the conference and the amount he was requesting.

By Brandon TrippVideographer

The ACU Police Depart-ment has released its 2007 Crime Statistics Report to the public in accordance with the Jeanne Cleary Act; crime as a whole has d r o p p e d from previ-ous years in most of the documented categories.

“Fighting crime is a community ef-fort,” said ACU police chief Jimmy Ellison.

The report covers 11 dif-ferent kinds of incidents: murder, robbery, aggravat-ed assault, burglary, motor vehicle theft, arson, forcible sex offenses, non-forcible sex offenses, liquor law vio-lations, drug law violations and illegal weapons charges and possessions.

CrIme ComParIson

Crime 2006 2007

Burglaries: 21 9

Vehicle Theft: 6 1

Arson: 1 0

Sex Offenses: 3 1

Liquor Violations: 3 1

Drug Violations: 3 1

Illegal Weapons: 1 1

To see the complete report, visit www.acu.edu/campusoffices/acu_police

By Elizabeth CoffeeStudent Reporter

Sub T-16 pledge Clint Holm-es was admitted to Abilene Re-gional Hospital at 9 p.m. Sept. 19 after his kidneys started to fail during a pledging activity. Hol-mes, sopho-more youth and fam-ily ministry major from Dallas, was driven to the emergency room by Sub T-16 member Brad Blanks, se-nior accounting and finance major from Haskell.

When Holmes was 15 years old, he was diagnosed with high blood pressure. Doctors determined through tests that it was a hereditary condition, and he was put on medication. After quitting his high school football team because of his condition, he has not had any problems until now.

“I figured I’d be fine on med-icine and I could handle it,” Hol-mes said.

Holmes was released from the hospital Sept. 25. Doctors said his muscle breakdown was blocking his kidneys, and they were functioning at one-third of what they should have been. The blockage prevented his kidneys from filtering properly. If he had not gone to the hospital when he did, he would have collapsed.

Dr. Jeff Arrington, associate dean of Student Life, said he investigated the incident and found no university policies were broken.

“There was no sense in which inappropriate action contributed to that situation,” Arrington said.

Holmes said he had men-

tioned his condition on his health form for pledging but never to any of the Sub T-16 members.

“Going into something like this, he should have made us aware,” said Quinn Powers, Sub T-16 member and sophomore education major from Eula.

Holmes did not want his condition to prevent his participation.

“Letting them know could have helped before it got worse, but I was too stubborn to let anybody tell me that I couldn’t do it,” Holmes said.

Powers said he thought nothing could have prevented the incident.

“If he had been doing any pledge activity for any club it could have happened; our members did as much as they could as soon as they could,” Powers said.

Sub T-16 President Derrick Bibb, along with other mem-bers, visited Holmes every day at the hospital.

“If anybody wanted to see the true character of Sub T-16, then they should have been in the hospital room as mem-bers sat and prayed for me,” Holmes said. “People don’t give them half the credit they deserve for being the men of God that they are.”

Bibb, senior animal sci-ence major from Abilene, said this year’s pledge class has done a good job of rally-ing behind Holmes.

Instead of tearing them apart, the incident has brought them together, Bibb said.

“The whole situation and how it was handled personifies what Sub T is about,” Bibb said. “We don’t leave a man behind. This gives this pledge class the idea of what we are about.”


Ko Jo Kai pledges Kortney Reeves, sophomore nursing major from Abilene, and Breanna Anderson, sophomore undeclared major from Keller, scream “I will respect Kojie Park!” in unison Thursday afternoon.

Holmes

ellison

See Crime page 4

SA decides to help fund student trip

See SA page 4

e-mail Coffee at: [email protected]


ACU WeATHeR


Friday

High: 57Low: 36

High: 60Low: 32

Online Poll : Are the NCAA punishments on ACU too harsh?

a. No. ACU deserves what it got. b. Yes. They were over the top.c. No. They should be harsher.d. Yes. ACU did nothing wrong.

acuoptimist.com


Steady Streak: Wildcats extend winning streak to six games

Area churches provide array of options for Valentine’s Day

Sour sales cause local businesses to shut down

Pg. 3 Pg. 8

Optimistthe

a product of theJMC networkPg. 5 Musical version of ‘Little Women’ sings inconsistencies

Friday, February 13, 2009 :: Vol. 97, No. 36 :: 1 section, 8 pages :: www.acuoptimist.com


Start of ’09 sees rise in drunk drivers on city streetsBy Heather LeiphartStudent Reporter

As of Wednesday morning, the Abilene Police Department has reported 80 intoxi-cated drivers on the streets since Jan. 1, an increase of 60 percent from the same peri-od last year. The department expects total DWI investigations for 2009 to include at least 115 more incidents than last year, if the trend continues.

“DWI is a growing problem local-ly,” said Jimmy Ellison, chief of the ACU Police Department. “Not only may drinking and driving be on the increase, but law enforcement efforts at DWI enforcement are also signifi-cantly increased.”

SA Congress votes to close meeting to non-membersBy Daniel Johnson-KimEditor in Chief

The Students’ Association Congress voted to close its weekly meeting to students and student media Wednesday based on a concern that private conver-sations were being recorded.

Sophomore Sen. Tony Godfrey, soph-omore political science and English ma-jor from Burleson, motioned to close the meeting after he said Congress members were worried that their privacy was being invaded by a recorder Optimist reporter Kelline Linton, senior journalism major from Spring, uses to back up her notes.

“The thing that came up is the de-gree to which the recording was hap-pening,” Godfrey said.

Godfrey said during a recess, while members verified figures of a more

NCAA punishes ACU teams for list of violationsBy Grant AbstonSports Editor

The NCAA penalized the ACU track and field and football programs for viola-tions Tuesday after a year-long investigation.

The punishments for the violations imposed by the Di-vision II Committee on Infrac-tions include a two-year pro-bation, recruiting restrictions, vacation of records, athletic scholarship reductions and a financial penalty.

The NCAA penalized the two sports programs because of their extra benefits and paid visit violations and impermissi-

ble inducements violations, as well as the university and head track and field coach’s failure to monitor, according to the NCAA news release.

“After initially self-reporting an infraction to the NCAA in 2007, Abilene Christian Univer-sity has been cooperating with the NCAA during its investiga-tion into some of our athletics

programs,” said ACU president Dr. Royce Money in a prepared statement. “Our philosophy has been to self-report and self-cor-rect, and that was our process when we discovered an infrac-tion two years ago.”

Head track and field coach Don D. Hood provided imper-missible inducements to two prospective student-athletes

by signing the guarantor line on their apartment leases and giving them free running shoes, according to the NCAA news release. Hood also organized and attended holiday parties where 15 enrolled internation-al student-athletes received gifts from representatives of

Hood

Thomsen

Our philosophy has been to self-report and self-correct, and that was our process when we discovered an infrac-tion two years ago.


“”

By Hannah BarnesStudent Reporter

This Valentine’s Day could be a romantic hol-iday for ACU couples who just began their rela-tionships, those waiting to be married or others who already have walked down the aisle.

Daniel Paul Watkins, senior political science major from Fredericksburg, Va., said he has something special planned for his bride-to-be, Briana Ribble, senior education major from Ar-vada, Colo., for Valentine’s Day.

Watkins and Ribble will be celebrating their second Valentine’s Day as a couple. Despite their recent engagement, Watkins said he does not consider this Valentine’s Day as special as Ribble might, but he said he thinks “getting en-gaged is the most romantic thing ever.”

On the dating scene, Lauren Fjordbac, fresh-man computer science major from Grapevine, and boyfriend Jacob Knettel, freshman business finance major from Boerne, are planning a Val-entine’s Day together. Dating for a mere two

Love still strong after five decades

Campus couples plan for holiday


John and Evelyn Willis cannot help but laugh when remembering their first date in October of 1954.

“We attended the ACC bonfire, and it was extremely cold outside,” said Dr. John Willis, professor of Bible. “We then went inside to Sewell Auditorium, which was packed full with over 2,000 people, and it was boiling hot.”

The next day Evelyn came down with the flu because of the quick change of temperatures that night.

“We always say our first date made me sick,” said Evelyn Willis,73, with a grin.

After 53 years of marriage, four children, 14 grandchildren and one great grandchild, the Willis’ still find humor in their marriage and life together.

“You have to laugh about things and find things to laugh about,” Evelyn said. “You don’t


Naomi Walters, graduate student from Syracuse, N.Y., and her husband, Jamey Walters, graduate student from Dothan, Ala., enjoy each other’s company in the Biblical Studies Building Thursday.

What’s age got to do with it?


Dr. John Willis, professor of Bible, and his wife Evelyn Willis, reminisce about the first time they met on ACU’s campus in 1954. The couple have been married for 53 years.

See Couples page 7 See DWI page 3

See SA page 4

See Love page 3

NCAA PeNAlTy flAgsThe ACU track and field and football programs committed several NCAA violations, and both programs must adhere to self-imposed punishments and those issued by the NCAA.

See the entire list of violations and the NCAA punishments imposed on the ACU Athlietics Department at www.acuoptimist.com

Violations: n Failure to monitor by the university and head track and field coach Don Hoodn Illegal gifts given to athletes by ACU representativesn Illegal academic assitance for athletes

Punishments: n Two years of probation beginning Tuesdayn Football program must vacate wins from 2007n Reduction in track and field scholarshipsn Limitations on recruting and number of paid visits

See Violations page 4


ACU WeATher

Sunday MondayHigh: 87 Low: 63

Tuesday

High: 88Low: 63

High: 88Low: 62

Online Poll : How do you feel about Lectureship’s

name change?a. It’s about time they changed it.b. It was unecessary.c. Hopefully, the new name sticks.d. Who cares? I still won’t go.

acuoptimist.com

Pg 3AInsideThis Issue:

For Rent: Movies one might have overlooked and shouldn’t have

Former ACU quarterback Rex Lamberti and others are inducted in Hall of Fame

Students to lead, contribute to Summit throughout event

Pg 1B Pg 5B

Optimistthe


Pg. 4A & 5A: See an array of photographs from Bid NightSunday, September 21, 2008 :: Vol. 97, No. 7 :: 2 sections, 16 pages :: www.acuoptimist.com


With increased student participation as a goal of this year’s Summit, the Student Track received a facelift this year, said Brady Bryce, direc-tor of Ministry Events.

“How it’s been done differ-

ently is I feel like we’ve really involved students even better this year—really taken their ideas and run with them,” Bryce said. “I think the great-er student involvement in the planning is going to show up. For this past year, we involved student leaders. We tapped the shoulders of different

people and said, ‘OK, who are leaders on campus? Who would be good to involve?’”

While in the future, Bryce said even more student input may be sought in an effort to increase student input in planning Summit this year, an ACU Student Planning Team offered feedback on ways to

engage students. The team included students of a variety of classifications and back-grounds.

The team began meeting last semester to discuss top-ics and speakers that would interest students, said team

Environment, Islam on slate for speakersBy Michael FreemanManaging Editor

One new session for this year’s Summit will include three featured guest speakers of national and international acclaim. Brian McLaren, J. Matthew Sleeth and Sam Solomon will discuss issues ranging from environmentalism to radi-cal Islam.

“Maybe the more exciting change is the featured guest slot,” said Brady Bryce, di-rector of ministry events. “It perfectly lines up with the academic calendar.”

Each lecture will start at 3 p.m. in Moody Coliseum and last 45 minutes. Stu-dents can earn three Cha-pel credits for attending each lecture.

McLaren will speak Mon-day. He is an acclaimed au-thor and church planter and has appeared on broadcasts including Larry King Live and Nightline. In Time mag-azine’s Feb. 7, 2005, issue, McLaren was recognized as one of the “25 Most Influen-tial Evangelicals in America.” He has written more than

10 books and is a leader in the “emerging church move-ment.” In Monday’s lecture, he will discuss how to reach Christians for Christ.

“It sounds kind of s t r a n g e , ” Bryce said. “A lot of us assume that we’ve al-ready been reached for Christ. But what about our perspec-tives of Jesus aren’t quite realistic and what needs to change?”

The Gradu-ate School of Theology, the Youth and Family Minis-try program and the Adams Center for Learning helped bring McLaren to campus.

The Adams Center, along with the Department of Agricultural and Envi-ronmental Sciences and

Social clubs begin first phase of pledgingBy Colter HettichFeatures Editor

After receiving their bids Thurs-day, students pledging a social club endured the first, and notoriously most strenuous, night of pledging: Bid Night. Although the administra-tion has tightened the reigns on clubs for Bid Night and pledging as a whole, club members were determined to make it a night to remember.

Alpha Kai Omega put two to three months of preparation into the night. Al-pha Kai President Erin Chappell said each

club must have an approved, Bid Night agenda, so careful planning is essential.

“You have to know exactly what’s happening every minute of the night,” Chappell said.

Derrick Bibb, Sub T-16 president, said he and fellow club members started plan-ning for Bid Night in May. Friday marked the one-year anniversary of Bibb’s pro-motion from “Gob,” a Sub T pledge, to an official member, or “Subber.”

“This is our chance to show [the

pledges] why this is so important to us,” Bibb said. “It’s a brotherhood.”

He said the night’s events were “exact-ly, 100 percent like we did it last year.”

With rules forbidding classic, Bid Night ingredients, such as “any ac-tivity that requires pledges to recite knowledge orally” or “any activity that involves water unless in a swimming pool with appropriate supervision,”

No Pain, No Entry


When Dr. Leroy Garrett takes the stage at the Summit opening Theme Conversation in Moody Coliseum Sunday, it may be a moment of vindica-tion for the 89-year-old schol-ar who was known through-out his life as a radical in the Churches of Christ.

“During the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s I would go to the Lecture-

ships back in those days and I was a skunk at the garden party,” Garrett said of involve-ment in past Lectureships.

The former “stinker,” a re-nowned schol-ar, preacher and historian from the Stone C a m p b e l l movement, will begin the

Theme Conversations at 7 p.m. Sunday with a lesson titled “Righteousness of God Revealed through Faith and for Faith.”

Garrett said he will discuss Paul’s message in Romans 1:8-17 and how God’s righteous-ness encompasses all people.

“You are not OK because of our selfishness and pride, and I am not OK but that’s OK because of God’s grace,” Gar-rett said.

After Garrett begins the Theme Conversations Sun-day, David Fleer, Kevin Mur-ray, James Thompson, Randy Harris, Eric Wilson and Chris Seidman will each speak throughout the week on vari-ous passages of Romans, ty-ing into the Summit theme of the “Righteousness of God.” Brady Bryce, director of Minis-try Events, said each speaker brings an original style to the stage that will provide variety

for the Summit audience.“Everyone needs to be who

they are,” Bryce said of the theme speakers. “If the per-son is a scholar they don’t need to be cracking jokes pretending to be who they are not, if someone is a great ora-tor, let them be that.”

In an effort to make this a conversation and to step away from the old style of simply


Jonathan Sanders, sophomore English major from Henderson, leans back in pain while holding a watermelon as part of a Gamma Sigma Phi Bid Night activity at Beauchamp Ampitheatre Friday afternoon. GSP pledges, or Siblings as they are called by members, held watermelons for two hours.

acuoptimist.com: See video of each clubs’ on-campus Bid Night activities.

See Bid page 7A

‘Radical’ to launch Theme Conversations Sunday

By Emily JorgensonStaff Photographer

The freshman class par-ticipated in the traditional Freshman Follies to vocalize its experience at ACU so far in its production of iFollies Friday and Saturday in Cul-len Auditorium.

Freshman Follies was themed “iFollies” to convey the distribution of iPhones and iPod touches to the freshman class as part of the Mobile Learning Initiative. Tom Craig, director of Stu-dent Productions, said the production team focused on what is current for these students and relatable.

Although this year’s program has a few changes to this year’s production, the purpose of iFollies was the same.

“Freshmen Follies is a way

Student Track gives opportunity to attend

See Follies page 7A

Garrett

Emily Jorgenson :: staff photographer

Lindsey Riley, freshman early childhood education major from Pampa, dances with McDonald Hall during Freshman Follies.

Freshmen dance, sing in ‘iFollies’

See Theme page 7A

See Student page 7A

See Featured page 7A

Theme SPeAkerS

Seven men will speak in the Theme Conversations in Moody Coliseum.

n Leroy Garretn David Fleern Kevin Murrayn James Thompsonn Randy Harrisn Eric Wilsonn Chris Seidman

Sleeth

mcLaren

Inside This Special Summit Issue:

Pg 6B View the complete Summit schedule

Pg 6A Class to focus on drug abuse

Pg 6A Race addressed in Summit class

Pg 3B Highlight Classes offer insight

acuoptimist.com

See freshmen dance, sing and show of their

talents online at www.acuoptimist.com


aCU wEaTHER


Sunday

High: 88Low: 59

High: 88Low: 59

Online Poll : What did you think of Summit 2008?

a. It was more student friendly.b. The presentations were dull.c. I was happy to get Chapel credit.d. Too many old people.

acuoptimist.com


ACU soccer team to open Lone Star Conference play Friday

Transfer students react to freshman iPhones and Mobile Learning Initiative

Blowing Hot Air: Balloons to soar into Abilene skies Friday

Pg 5 Pg 6

Optimistthe


Pg. 6 No. 4 Wildcats looking for fourth-straight winFriday, September 26, 2008 :: Vol. 97, No. 10 :: 1 section, 6 pages :: www.acuoptimist.com


While testing audio speak-er levels for his Chapel fo-rum Thursday, Washington Post staff writer Hamil Har-ris playfully grabbed a mi-c r o p h o n e and broke into sing-ing Amazing Grace with Wade Hug-gins, junior worship min-istry major from Abilene and Cullen Auditorium sound technician. Harris’ friendly personality bubbles over to almost everyone he meets, and his message of enjoying life and being thankful was one of the top-ics he covered during his lec-tures at ACU.

“I’m so blessed,” Harris said. “I’m just trying to bring a mes-sage of hope and optimism. It doesn’t make sense to be a prophet of doom and gloom.”

Harris, who is in Abilene as a special guest of the Depart-ment of Journalism and Mass Communication for Friday’s Grand Opening of the JMC Network Student Media News

SA votes to award funds to society


Firefighters hose down a house that caught fire in the 1400 block of Westheimer Road Wednesday afternoon.

Westheimer fire forces students to relocateBy Kelline LintonChief Copy Editor

A house caught fire Wednesday afternoon in the 1400 block of Westheimer Road, leaving two ACU stu-dents, one Cisco Junior Col-lege student and a married couple safe but with their res-idences gutted and burned.

The house was a duplex with a double-sided dividing wall that separated the two halves. ACU students Philip N. Greer, junior finance and marketing major from Colo-rado Springs, Colo., and Jus-tin W. Isham, fifth year senior from Colorado Springs, Colo.,

See Fire page 5


Adriana Planes, sophomore art major from Spain, Jessalyn Massingill, junior art major from Abilene, and Cameron Broderick, freshman at Abilene High School, pour iron in a grassy area in front of Teague Special Events Center Monday. The students use traditional cupola furnace techniques to make iron bowls and skillets as part of the Summit Empty Bowls project and presentation.

Bringing the Heat

See Lab page 10

Harris

Exodus, ‘Mountaintop’ to be Summit ’09 focusBy Lydia MelbyArts Editor

Wednesday night concluded an event-filled four-day Sum-mit with a lecture by keynote speaker Chris Seidman, whose message calling for acceptance within the church came from Romans 15.

Brady Bryce, director of ministry events, introduced the last speaker of Summit 2008, commending those in attendance for their interest and attentiveness, saying, “It has been a great sum-mit… we cannot leave this place unchanged.”

Bryce also introduced the theme planned for the 2009

Summit, which he called “On the mountain with God.” The mountaintop theme will tie in to the idea of Summit both visually and spiritu-ally, and the key messages will be taken from Exodus.

“I wanted Exodus, and it fits well to have a visual image of Summit… Mountains throughout Scrip-ture are a place to be with God,” Bryce said. “It will em-phasize spirituality and really emblazon the Summit theme in people’s minds.”

In the past, it has taken al-most all year to prepare for Lectureship, and next year’s Summit likely will follow suit.

Bryce confirmed he had spoken to several speakers who had been requested by students and had “between 10 and 20 others in mind.” A theme verse has not yet been picked, but Bryce said he was considering a verse from Exodus 15 that would follow the theme of meeting God on a mountaintop.

Bryce also said that plan-ning his second Summit will be facilitated, not only by the connections he has made and the leads he already has for speakers, but also by the suc-

cess of this year’s series.“[Summit] went really, really

well. The theme speakers and featured guests were each phe-nomenal. The student partici-pation was amazing as well… they were respectful and at-tentive; I felt like the students did a great job and I couldn’t have asked for more,” Bryce said. “ACU lived out Romans 15 this week…it’s difficult to listen to people you disagree with, to enter into those con-versations, to welcome some-one to campus that you don’t know everything about. But those welcoming times help us grow in Christ, and it just adds to our humility.”

Bryce was not sure whether

any changes to the new Sum-mit format would be made for 2009, but said he would wait for feedback from students, speakers and other attendees. Bryce also said he felt the new Summit format had been fairly successful, and although atten-dance seemed high, Bryce said he would keep the focus on quality for Summit 2009.

“I’d love to have as many people as possible…but I’m not really a numbers guy,” he said. “If we have 100 people come, and they leave encour-aged and equipped to be min-isters in their real-world lives… then I’m happy.”

D.C. writer to speak at News Lab opening


The Students’ Associa-tion Congress voted to give a group of ACU physics stu-dents a little help Wednesday.

Daniel Jumper, engineer-ing physics major from Rich-ardson and president of the Society of Physics Students, came before Congress to re-quest $2,200 to help pay for the society’s trip to the Sigma Pi Sigma Quadrennial Con-gress conference in Chicago.

A motion to give the Soci-ety of Physics Students the amount requested passed

35-0-1. The amount given re-duced the overall amount in the Student Request fund—a sum set aside in SA’s budget for Congress to distribute among the student body and student groups—from $10,389.79 to $8,189.79.

The motion passed only after Congress debated the issue for nearly an hour.

Jumper explained to the student congress how the conference would benefit the students who attended and was in line with the ACU mission. Jumper said the

E-mail Melby at: [email protected]

Bryce

See a special section the Optimist staff printed to commemorate Friday’s Grand Opening of the JMC Network Student Media News Lab

inside this issue of the Optimist. To find more information about the JMC Newtork visit

www.jmcnetwork.com or www.acuoptimist.com.

Washington Post staff writer Hamil Harris will speak Friday in Cullen Auditorium as the special guest at the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication’s Grand Opening of the JMC Network Student Media News Lab.

When: 11:45 a.m. - 3 p.m.Where: Morris CenterWhy: Grand opening of JMC Network Student Media News Lab

nEw nEws LaB

See SA page 5


ACU WEAtHER


Friday

High: 74Low: 49

High: 68Low: 39

Online Poll :How are race relations in the United States?

a. They are still horrible. b. There are no issues of racism.c. Racism exists, but it is limited.d. Things are slowly getting better.

acuoptimist.com


Perfect Finish: Football team wins title, remains undefeated

Bowl of Service: students team up to benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters

Study Abroad Office reduces summer program application fee

Pg 4 Pg 8

Optimistthe


Pg. 6 Outback Lessons: ACU duo endure Australian journeyWednesday, November 12, 2008 :: Vol. 97, No. 23 :: 1 sections, 10 pages :: www.acuoptimist.com



Committee begins hunt for provost replacement

By Kimberly WolfordStudent Reporter

With the victory of Pres-ident-elect Barack Obama, the 2008 election season is concluded. The two student-led political organizations, Young Republicans and Col-lege Democrats, are reflecting on events they sponsored and the results of the election.

“Obviously, we were pretty excited,” said Jared Perkins, vice president of College Dem-ocrats and freshman psychol-ogy major from Waco. “But we recognized very soon after that we needed to remember that we were all Americans and we need to unite not only as a cam-pus but as a country also.”

His words mimic those of Dr. Royce Money’s speech during Chapel on Friday. Per-kins said it is time to support of the new president, and people should be respectful

even when voicing opposing opinions.

Jordan Hancock, president of Young Republicans and ju-nior political science major from Abilene, said reactions to the results of the 2008 election varied from member to member.

“I cannot speak for the en-tire club,” Hancock said.

Both organizations spon-sored debate-watching parties during the pre-election pe-riod. Hancock said the Young Republicans also had an in-formational meeting that was open to everyone. The Col-lege Democrats had a results watching party in collabora-tion with other student-led organizations on campus, as well as voter registration for a week in the Campus Center.

As for the future, both clubs are busy planning events.

“Right now, we are just having club meetings and get-

ting ready for voter registra-tion sometime next semes-ter,” Hancock said.

Perkins said he has thoughts for the College Democrats.

“I have some things I’m very excited about planned for next semester,” Perkins said.

He said his ideas include a possible bi-partisan infor-mational fair about the local governments and candidates before the 2010 election.

“As students and Demo-crats, we need to be socially involved and socially aware all the time, not just at elec-

tion time,” Perkins said.For more information on

the College Democrats or Young Republicans, look on the ACU Web site under the “Student Organizations” and “Special Interests” tabs. Fac-ulty advisers for the College Democrats are Dr. Kristina Campos, Steven Moore and Dr. David Dillman, while ad-visers for the Young Republi-cans are Dr. Neal Coates and Dr. Mark Cullum.

Themes, directors chosen for ’09 Sing SongBy Michael FreemanManaging Editor

Next February’s Sing Song already is beginning to take shape. Direc-tors, themes and show order were selected Saturday.

Social clubs and class acts worked with the Students’ Associa-tion and the Sing Song management team to pick their directors and themes. Class act directors were interviewed for their positions. The process for selecting class directors

took about two weeks, while social clubs worked at their own pace for their selection processes.

“We make sure everything is where it needs to be,” said Tom Craig, director of Student Produc-tions. “Plus it helps for them to work on it throughout the entire length of time instead of working on it at the last minute.”

An approval process will be used to ensure no acts duplicate shows

Zak Zeinert :: staff photographer

Jared Perkins, freshman psychology major from Waco and vice president of the College Democracts, shows his support for President-elect Barack Obama at the election-watching party in the Campus Center Living Room on Nov. 4.

History’s Witnesses

Black students, professors react to Obama victory

Illustration Courtesy of Changethethought.com

Nov. 4, 2008


Disbelief. Joy. Trepidation. In-spiration. Hope.

A myriad of emotions overcame members of the ACU community when Barack Obama was elected President, but regardless of when, where or how they heard the news, several black students and faculty members at ACU said they were proud to be witnesses to history — the United States of America elected its first black president.

Byron Martin, senior psychol-ogy major from Mesquite, followed the returns results at the election watching party in the Campus Cen-ter Living Room when several news organizations declared Obama had secured a majority of electoral votes and won the election.

“I was really excited then I just kind of had to stand there for a while and actually see it because I wasn’t really sure,” Martin said.


The provost search committee met for the first time Wednesday, with the uni-versity President Dr. Royce Money in at-tendance, to begin the search to replace current Provost Dr. Dwayne VanRheenen.

Earlier this semester, VanRheenen an-nounced his intent to retire at the end of the fiscal year and move to the West Coast to be closer to family.

Dr. Rick Lytle, Dean of the College of Business Ad-ministration and a search c o m m i t t e e member, said the commit-tee’s break-fast meeting served mainly to set basic g u i d e l i n e s for how to proceed with the search for candidates to fill VanRheen-en’s position. The commit-tee reviewed the provost’s job description, discussed a plausible timeline and examined certain human resource issues, Lytle said.

One human resource issue includes the possibility a search committee mem-ber might desire to apply for the position, Lytle said. In such a case, the committee member could submit his or her own nomination but would then need to recuse himself or herself from the committee.

Tentative plans set the search commit-tee at submitting a candidate for consid-eration by April, Lytle said. Ideally, the

See History page 5

I think it’s a very strong team…a team that under-stands the importance of this position for the ACU campus to move forward.

:: Dr. Rick Lytle, dean of

COBA and provost search

committee member

“

”

See Hunt page 5

Political groups prepare for life after election

As students…we need to be socially involved and socially aware all the time, not just at election time.

:: Jared Perkins, freshman psychology science major from Waco

“

”

E-mail Wolford at: [email protected]

Singing ComPEtition

Five student groups will pop their arms and sing their tunes in each division of the 2009 Sing Song. The theme for the ’09 show is “Believe,” and the event is scheduled for Feb. 20-21, 2009.

Men’s social clubs Women’s social clubs Mixed group acts

n Frater Sodalis n Alpha Kai Omega n IEHn Galaxy n Ko Jo Kai n Freshman Actn Gamma Sigma Phi n GATA n Sophomore Actn Sub T-16 n Delta Theta n Junior Actn Pi Kappa n Sigma Theta Chi n Senior Act

See Song page 5


ACU WEATHER


Sunday

High: 77Low: 56

High: 83Low: 43

Online Poll :What is your

favorite part of Homecoming?

a. The football game.b. The parade and carnival.c. The musical.d. Seeing all my old friends.

acuoptimist.com

Pg 1BInsideThis Issue:

Intramural Legend: Club sponsor plays 37 years and counting

‘Supernanny’ reality show auditioning families in Abilene

No. 2 ACU football team to take on Tarleton State at Shotwell Stadium

Pg 10A Pg 3B

Optimistthe


Pg. 8B: A Rockin’ good time: ‘All Shook Up’ worth the ticket priceFriday, October 24, 2008 :: Vol. 97, No. 18 :: 2 sections, 22 pages :: www.acuoptimist.com

Elvis lives at Homecoming Parade By Colter HettichFeatures Editor

Elvis has left Midland, and he is on his way to Abilene. No Elvis-themed event would be complete without an Elvis impersonator, so Dee Carter will do his best to fill the King’s shoes. In addition to multiple performances and appearances throughout the Homecom-ing Weekend, Carter, complete in classic Elvis attire, will lead the 2008 Homecoming Parade as grand marshal.

During his time at ACU, Carter sang with the men’s Glee Club and a quartet. After spending several years in California with the musical group Silver Creek, he returned to Texas and almost dropped music en-tirely. But 10 years ago, after a fateful Elvis performance at a church party, he got back into the business.

“I started getting calls to do birthday par-ties and such. The more serious it got, the more serious I got,” Carter said.

Homecoming attendees will get to see Cart-

er in four or five different costumes and a Broadway Wig Company Elvis wig. He watched All Shook Up on Broadway and called ACU as soon as he heard the Homecoming Musical choice.

“I get a lot of kick out of [performing]. It’s just a whole lot of fun,” Carter said. “Some people don’t like Elvis, and that’s fine. I tell people up front I don’t live his lifestyle.”

Spectators who do not see the grand mar-shal will have plenty more opportunities to get a taste of Elvis.

“All the floats this year were encouraged to choose an Elvis song and incorporate it into their float,” said Samantha Adkins, coordina-tor of alumni projects. “It will be interesting.”

The parade will begin at 9:30 a.m. and is scheduled to end by 10:30 a.m. at the lat-est. Eighteen floats and other entries will file down East North 16th Street and Campus Court, spreading Wildcat pride. Five judges will decide the winners of the traditional float

Students to spend fall break restoring damaged city By Sondra RodriguezStudent Reporter

Nearly two dozen stu-dents will travel to Houston for fall break to help restore the suburb of Clear Lake, which was hit by Hurricane Ike in mid-September.

Emily Garrison, who works in the Volunteer Student-Learning Center, said about 20 students signed up for the trip so far.

“We have over 20 who are interested but we’re still working on the details, and once we get those, we can fi-nalize our list,” she said.

The group will leave Thurs-day afternoon and return to Abilene on Sunday. Garrison said volunteers plan to spend Thursday traveling, work Fri-day and Saturday and then return on Sunday after wor-ship at Clear Lake Church of Christ. The group will stay at

the church building as well.Garrison said she is not

sure what exactly they will be doing but plans to do what-ever is needed.

“It just depends on what the people need,” she said.


Jonathan Bragg, senior theatre major from Rowlett, and Je-navene Hester, senior theatre major from Abilene, interact during an All Shook Up dress rehearsal Wednesday night.

Physical Resources director to leave after 14 yearsBy Michael FreemanManaging Editor

As several departments plan on moving to the Bob Hunter Welcome Center at the end of the semester, an effort to reorganize some of the de-partments’ staff positions and responsibilities is currently under consideration. One such department that will be reorganized is the Depart-ment of Physical Resources

and its direc-tor of which is leaving at the end of the month.

Bob Nev-ill, director of Physical Resources , has worked at ACU for nearly 14 years, the last four at his current position. He served as the director of com-

puting and network services for his first decade at ACU.

“I do believe in the mis-sion of ACU; the time I have spent here has been the best,” Nevill said. “I would not trade anything for the 14 years I’ve spent here.”

During his time in the computing and network ser-vices department, Nevill was involved with setting up the campus-wide network, install-ing the Enterprise software

that includes Banner and help-ing in early Web development. When he switched to Physical Resources, he worked with contractors and oversaw the construction of the Conflict Resolution Center, the Educa-tion Building, Barret Hall, the Lunsford Walking Trail, the Bob Hunter Welcome Center, the artificial turf at the foot-ball practice field, the Jacob’s Dream statue and renovations to the “World Famous Bean”

and Sikes Hall.“I’ve been really fortunate

to be part of a growing and improving environment rather than a maintaining one,” Nev-ill said. “We do maintain and we take a lot of pride and that, but the real excitement is the change part. It’s been fun.”

Scot Colley, associate di-rector of Physical Resources, will be taking over Nevill’s re-sponsibilities when he leaves on Oct. 31. During his career,

Nevill worked as a consul-tant, a cable-television station manager, city manager and a technical analyst for a mili-tary aircraft manufacturer. He is still looking for his next career choice.

“There’s no question there’s something very spe-cial about ACU, its mission and its people,” Nevill said. “Unlike a lot of other places,

2008 Musical to open FridayBy Laura AcuffOpinion Page Editor

The Elvis-themed 2008 Homecoming Musical, All Shook Up, opens Friday at 8 p.m. at the Abilene Civic Center.

Tickets range from $5 to $18 for the opening night performance and successive performances, Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sun-day at 2 p.m.

The musical features 24 Elvis Pres-ley songs, creating the soundtrack for the story of a motorcycle-rid-ing, guitar-playing roustabout who romances a small-town girl with big dreams.

Seth Bazacas, senior musical theatre major from Ocean City, N.J., plays “Dennis” in the musical, a character Bazacas described as lov-able, goofy and a “typical nice guy who ends up finishing last.”

Bazacas said he hopes the comedy of the production, which he compared to comedy in shows like Little Shop of Horrors, will appeal to the student body.

“It’s funny,” Bazacas said. “It is just a blast. The whole show is high energy the whole time.

See Musical page 11A

Special Homecoming Stories Inside

This Issue:

Pg 5A

Homecoming Carnival

See Parade page 11A

Pg 1B

Pg 9A

Homecoming Chapel

Pg 9A

Pg 10A

Pg 8A

Pg 4A

Football Preview

Homecoming Court

Wildcat Weekend

Behind the Musical

ACU Class Reunions

Pg 9B

JamFest Preview

acuoptimist.com

See a video with clips of the Homecoming

Musical ‘All Shook Up’

See Nevill page 11A



Nevill

It’s a great way to touch someone’s life. No one plans on this happening; our lives can change at any minute.

:: Emily Garrison, Volunteer Student-Learning Center volunteer

“”See Ike page 11A

Pg 5B

Set design for show


ACU WEATHER


Sunday

High: 78Low: 54

High: 75Low: 52

Online Poll :Did SA do the right thing by

impeaching the president?

a. He should have kept his job.b. They overreacted.c. Who cares about SA Congress?d. He deserves being impeached.

acuoptimist.com


Track and Field team prepares for national championships

The Boys are Back in Town: Rocketboys band returns to Abilene

Violence in Mexico changes Spring Break Campaign plans

Pg. 5 Pg. 8

Optimistthe


Friday, March 6, 2009 :: Vol. 97, No. 42 :: 1 section, 8 pages :: www.acuoptimist.com


Pg. 8 Wildcats bounced from tournament with last-second shot


The list of people who may become ACU’s next Chief Academic Officer is down to two: Dr. Jeanine Varner and Dr. Rob Stewart.

The Provost Search Com-mittee narrowed the search from five applicants to two after several weeks of inter-views and deliberations, and each candidate will visit with

the committee, administra-tors, faculty and other groups on campus before the com-mittee issues its final recom-mendation. The final decision of who the university will hire as its next provost will be made by Dr. Royce Money, president of the university.

Varner, dean of the Col-lege of Arts and Sciences, was surprised to hear she was one

SA Congress impeaches presidentWatkins: Ousterdisregards rulesof constitution

Representatives approve removal of student leaderBy Staff Report

After spending more than five hours Wednes-day debating and discussing charges of irrespon-sible leadership, manipulation, disrespect and unethical behavior against Students’ Association Congress President Daniel Paul Watkins, the SA Congress voted to impeach Watkins, immediate-ly stripping him of his title and responsibilities as president.

The SA Congress voted 25-5, with two mem-bers abstaining, in a closed hearing Wednes-day to impeach Watkins, senior political sci-ence major from Fredericksburg, Va. Watkins, who was elected by 59.5 percent of students that voted in last April’s general elections, is the first SA Congress president to be im-peached in ACU’s history.

Sarah Pulis, senior political science major from Longview, succeds Watkins as the new stu-dent body president, vacaing her office as vice president. SA Congress will hold a general elec-tion where the student body will vote to fill the vacant vice president position.

Pulis declined to comment. Watkins said the action was unconstitutional and was considering challenging the impeachment.

Watkins’ impeachment hearing began in Hart Auditorium and moved to Room 115 of the Bibli-cal Studies Building after going on for more than two hours. The meeting began at 5 p.m., and Freshman Sen. Zach Linge, digital media major from San Antonio, said the hearing was a heated exchange and a “circus” at times.

“It was clear to me and the overall majority of the executive officers that [Watkins’] attitude is negative, manipulative, divisive, and it is clear to me he is not the type of president that should reflect Abilene Christian University,” Linge said.

Sophomore Sen. Scott Adrian, political science major from Glendale, Calif., was surprised Wat-kins was impeached and said the impeachment process seemed unfair.

“He was more progressive than anyone,” Adri-an said. “He’s a student advocate more than any-one in the Students’ Association.”

Chief Financial Officer Luke Cochran, junior accounting major from Round Rock, wrote Wat-kins on Wednesday, informing him of charges he was bringing against the former president and that he was pursuing impeachment and Watkins’ removal from office.

According to the letter Cochran wrote to Wat-kins, he claimed Watkins failed “to lead the Stu-dents’ Association in a positive manner,” showed “disrespect for the Abilene Christian University community” and failed to “adhere to the ethical standards of conduct as noted in the Abilene

Daniel Johnson-KimEditor in Chief

Former Students’ Association Congress President Daniel Paul Watkins declared he was a victim of character assassination and his im-peachment was unconstitutional, illegitimate and illegal.

“It felt like a kangaroo court and a Mickey Mouse trial,” Watkins said.

Watkins was stripped of his title and respon-sibilities as student body president Wednes-day after SA Congress voted 25-5-2 to remove him from office. SA Congress Chief Financial Officer Luke Cochran, junior accounting ma-jor from Round Rock, brought charges against Watkins and called for his impeachment.

Cochran claimed Watkins failed “to lead the Students’ Association in a positive manner,” showed “disrespect for the Abilene Christian University community” and failed to “adhere to the ethical standards of conduct as noted in the Abilene Christian University Campus Policies.”

Watkins said these charges were not im-peachable offenses, according to the SA Con-gress Constitution or By-laws, the governing documents of ACU’s student government. He added he was unable to defend himself for two hours, while Congress members and ex-ecutive officers gave testimony.

According to Article V of the SA Congress Constitution, a three-fourths majority of Con-gress is required to impeach an officer.

Watkins declared the constitution clearly stat-ed 75 percent of the entire Congress must vote to impeach an officer, which therefore voided the vote taken by SA Congress on Wednesday.

Watkins said he was able to address the charges brought on by Cochran and defend himself but was asked to leave the room dur-ing the time Congress members and testimony from the other executive officers was delivered. He said during the time he was not in the room, Congress members slandered him, and he was unable to respond to their accusations.

Watkins said the SA Congress most likely would not have impeached him had the process ended with Cochran’s accusations and Watkins’ rebuttal. It was the time the two were asked to leave the impeachment hearing that Watkins said Congress was turned against him.

“It became character assassination, and I was not given a chance to refute any of the charges that were brought up against me,” Watkins said.

Watkins denied he used profanity when re-ferring to faculty members or used his position to manipulate and deceive the other executive officers. Watkins said the only time he did not

Committee narrows search for Provost

Flames char Big Country homes, landBy Colter HettichFeatures Editor

The latest blaze in West Tex-as’ string of grass fires burned more than 300 acres Thursday, leaving only ash and burnt mesquite in its wake. Firefight-ers from Buffalo Gap, Ecca, Jim Ned, View and other surround-ing towns worked together ef-ficiently — with crucial help from Texas Forest Service (TFS) — and contained the flames just after dark.

“I wouldn’t even want to think what it would have looked like had [TFS] not re-sponded as quickly as they

did,” said Les Bruce, Taylor County sheriff.

Bruce has his own ideas of what sparked the fire and assured Abilenians that a memo would go out Friday morning, enforcing a zero-tolerance litter policy.

“Where I’m standing, it looks like a careless motorist,” Bruce said. “We all need to be much more careful.”

Cynthia Newman, County Road 154 resident, was one of the first to discover the blaze. Newman spotted smoke as she drove down CR 158.


Jim Newman grieves over some of his property that was destroyed in Thursday’s fire. Firefighters were able to save residents’ houses.


Daniel Paul Watkins sits at the front of Hart Auditorium during a Students’ Association Congress meeting Sept. 24. On Wednesday, Watkins became the first president in SA Congress history to be removed from office.

See Watkins page 3See Removal page 3

See Char page 4See Provost page 3

Voted to impeach Watkins:Aaron Michael Escobedo, Educa-tion Building rep.Amie Cavitt, Don Morris rep.Brent Dill, Junior senatorByron Martin, Senior senatorDaniel Burgner, Junior senatorJared Elk, Edwards Hall rep.Jordan Hancock, Administra-tion Building rep.Ryan Gertner, Chambers Hall rep.Steven Cardona, Junior senatorZach Linge, Freshman senator

Voted to not impeach Watkins:Danielle Urias, Sophomore senatorKyle Pickens, Senior senatorScott Adrian, Sophomore senator

Abstained from vote:Erin Kessler, Senior senator

Chose not to reveal vote:Grant Boston, Junior senatorHailey Clinton, Freshman senatorKelly Lytle, Freshman senatorLaura Christine Ruiz, Gibson rep.

Could not be reached:Jacob Groves, Freshman senatorCarson Henley, Freshman senatorKarissa Wolf, Sophomore senatorStacey Klinge, Barret Hall rep.Julianne Hart, Gardner Hall rep.Jake Hutto, Mabee Hall rep.Connor Best, Mabee Hall rep.Keri Gray, McDonald Hall rep.Melanie Wheeler, Morris Hall rep.Amanda Paramore, Sikes Hall rep.Sarah Whitworth, Smith-Adams

Hall rep.Ashley Alton, Administration Building rep.Chris Shim, Off-Campus rep.Kyle Moore, Off-Campus rep.Kyle Smith, COBA rep.Trevor Brunt, COBA rep.Matt Mastalka, COBA rep.Stephen Moore, COBA rep.Nathan Pickle, Foster Science Building rep.Colter Lane, Foster Science Building rep.Breanna Anderson, Chambers Hall rep.Randy Woods, Don Morris rep.Chris Simpson, Zone Luce rep.Minda Hyde, Gibson rep.

acuoptimist.com: See a slideshow of photographs of the fire

How They Voted The impeachment hearing was closed to the public. SA Con-gress members used a secret ballot system to vote on the im-peachment of Daniel Paul Watkins. Congress members had the choice of voting for removing Watkins’ from office, against Wat-kins’ removal from office or abstaining from voting. The Con-gress voted 25-5-2 to impeach Watkins.



Former ACU athletes compete in 2008 Beijing Olympics

Ready and Reading: Freshmen eager to read ‘Same Kind of Different As Me’

ACU named ‘Technology Innovator’ for Mobile Learning Initiative

Pg 8 Pg 12

Optimistthe


Log on to www.youtube.com/acu-video to see a short newscast from the JMC Network News Cast staff. The JMC Network News Cast staff will post news, sports, arts and fea-tures casts weekly on the JMC Net-work’s YouTube Web site.

:JMC networkMore from the

Webcast


ACU president Dr. Royce Money assured members of the faculty and staff during his State of the University speech in Cullen Auditorium Wednesday he intends to con-tinue serving as president to see the 21st Century Vision implemented.

“In May, the Board [of Trustees] asked me to extend my time as president, which I am very happy to do,” Money said. “I believe so much in this vision; I want to see it successfully launched.”

But Money discussed more than his decision to stay with the university. He informally began the event by distrib-uting gift cards and joking about staff members’ birth-days. Then after reviewing the Board of Trustees’ plans for the rest of the week and rec-ognizing certain staff mem-bers for their work over the summer, Money spoke about the 21st Century Vision.

The 21st Century Vision is a plan for transforming ACU within the next 12 years into the top university for Chris-tian students. For the next five years, the university has four goals: “to produce leaders who think critically, globally and missionally; build distinctive and innovative programs; cre-ate a unique Christ-centered experience that calls students into community and to extend ACU’s Christian influence and educational reach nationally and internationally,” accord-ing to ACU’s Strategic Plan for 2009-2013.

The exceptional plan is not an original endeavor for ACU because school leaders have been aiming high since the university was founded, Money said.

“Don’t get the idea that we’re inventing this,” he said. “We’re a link in the chain.”

Money wrapped up his State of the University speech with his account of a discussion between two recent ACU Malagasy gradu-ates and an international banking executive when he

Welcome Week starts a ‘rLOVEution’ for incoming studentsBy Lydia MelbyArts Editor

Welcome Week 2008, titled “rLOVEution,” followed the traditional format and includ-ed the usual favorites like the world’s largest game of Twister, the Candlelight Devotional, the free movie and the Freshman Talent Show, as well as the re-turn of the mentor group Olym-

pics and an open mic night. All of these events made

Welcome Week memorable for its participants; however, it’s the changes that were made to Welcome Week and the First-Year program that will make this year revolutionary.

Some of the changes made to the activities were fairly minor, like the addition of a mechanical bull to the pep rally fun or the

removal of the tug-of-war event from the mentor group Olym-pics. Due to weather issues, the Candlelight Devotional and the Paramount movie events were switched, and although this re-sulted in the “Cool Runnings” movie premiering in Moody Coliseum instead of the Para-mount Theatre, students were still enthusiastic about the film and managed to easily fill the

available seats.Other changes to Welcome

Week were more significant and were meant to have last-ing effects on the students’ first year at ACU. The First-Year Program added a session called Campus Conversations, which Eric Gumm, director of Orientation, said were “simi-lar to the Chapel forums from last year [and were] designed

to introduce new students to the kind of intellectual discus-sions that they will encounter in Chapel or in class or just around campus with other stu-dents and teachers.”

Perhaps the most meaning-ful addition to Welcome Week was the voluntary Freshmen Common Reading program. The freshmen who chose to participate received a free copy

of the book the Same Kind of Different as Me, a biographi-cal account written by Denver Moore and Ron Hall, which tells the story of the friendship be-tween a homeless drifter and an international art dealer. Students could participate in a variety of activities based on the readings, including two

See Welcome page 9

Dr. Money pledges to remain president

See Money page 9

Pg. 6 & 7 See photos from various Welcome Week events


3G has come to ACU with the AT&T installation of four 3G towers around campus, ac-celerating the initial plan to equip the city of Abilene with 3G capability sometime in 2009. These towers support the recently launched mobile learning initiative because 3G technologies enable operators to offer users a wider range of more advanced mobile phone services including a faster wire-less connection.

“We’re about a year-and-a-half ahead of the rest of

Abilene,” said Kevin Roberts, Chief Information Officer and director of re-engineering. “So it was kind of just a gesture of goodwill on the part of AT&T to say, ‘Hey, you know what? We appreciate all you’re doing. We will bring these towers up as 3G. We’ll blanket your campus with 3G as well.’”

Of the four 3G towers, two are stationed on top of ACU buildings, and two are located off, but near, campus.

“We work really hard for those towers not to be obvious,” Roberts said. “Aesthetically, we

ACU Mobile MyACU MobilePocket GuideBy using the ACU Mobile Web site at http://m.acu.edu students can find out what is happening in Chapel, find maps and directions around campus and Abilene and have several other resources a finger tap away:

n Information about ACU

n Weekly Chapel schedules

n Upcoming Campus Events

n Maps of Abilene and ACU

n Campus News

n Directory of Students, ACU Departments and Faculty

Whether students are looking for a good place to eat, or need to find the nearest movie theatre, they can access information about a variety of venues in the Pocket Guide feature of the ACU Mobile Interface:

n Local Sporting Facilities

n Museums

n Local Churches

n Movie Theatres

n Restaurants

n Local Art Galleries

Just by tapping their My Mobile icon on their iPhone or iPod touch, students can see how many Chapel credits they have, their meal plan balance and their account balance, but that is only the tip of the interface:

n Class Schedule

n Meal Plan, UniPrint Balances

n Chapel Credits

n Access to Class Folders

n Access to Google Calendars

n Access to Class Documents

ACU WEATHER

Monday TuesdayHigh: 95Low: 72

Wednesday

High: 96Low: 73

High: 97Low: 72


Luz Hernandez will miss her red Samsung flip phone, but not that much.After waiting in line Aug. 16 with a multitude of other freshmen and their families,

Hernandez, freshman business marketing major from Sulfur Springs, made her way to an open table where an AT&T representative was waiting to hand her an iPhone — one of the most cutting edge mobile devices in the world, compliments of ACU.

“This is weird,” Hernandez said, while holding her iPhone in her hands for the first time. “I have a friend that has one of these, and he said that you miss the buttons on a regular phone.”

More than 950 freshmen received an iPhone or an iPod touch as part of ACU’s Mo-bile Learning Initiative, an effort to incorporate the Apple mobile learning devices in the classrooms and hallways of ACU. The distribution of the devices began Aug. 16 and is


Freshmen will not be the only people beginning the school year with a free iPhone. About 150 faculty members will be equipped with iPhones or iPod touches to use in their classes this semester.

“I’ve found my colleagues very supportive,” said Dr. Kyle Dickson, associate pro-fessor of English and co-di-rector of the Mobile Learning Research. “Media is not solely about entertainment, but it’s also a key tool in education.”

Many faculty members be-

gan ordering their iPhones shortly after the 3G version went on sale in July. Most have received their iPhones; however, a few are still wait-ing for their iPhones to arrive at the local AT&T store. Fac-ulty, including adjunct and part-time instructors, who will be teaching freshman-level courses had first prior-ity to the iPhones.

“We tried to make sure that people who were teach-ing classes like University 100 had first access to these devices,” said William Rankin,

Abilene Mobile University

Faculty join freshmen, eager to add to initiative

ACU first in Abilene to add AT&T 3G Network

University dishes out more than 950 Apple devices

See 3G page 9See Faculty page 9

August 25, 2008 :: Vol. 97, No. 1 :: 1 section, 10 pages :: www.acuoptimist.com

In Other NewsObama chooses Biden

See Initiative page 9

Presidential hopeful Barack Obama offi-cially announced his selection of Joe Biden, D-Delaware, as his running mate Saturday. Obama appeared with Biden, 65, in front of the historic building where Abraham Lin-coln served as a state legislator and where Obama launched his 2008 presidential campaign.

Source: Associated Press


acU wEatHEr


Sunday

High: 58Low: 28

High: 62Low: 37

Online Poll : Does ACU have a chance to win its

NCAA appeal?

a. Manna from heaven.b. It won’t put a dent in my bill.c. It does not affect me.d. What a waste of money.

acuoptimist.com


Former ACU offensive stars catch scouts’ eyes at NFL Combine

Local theater to project week-longIndependent Film Series

SA Congress debates lowering Executive Officer scholarships

Pg. 5 Pg. 8

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a product of theJMC network ONLINE EXCLUSIVE: Read the Optimist’s blog covering the Con-nectEd Summit

Friday, February 27, 2009 :: Vol. 97, No. 40 :: 1 section, 8 pages :: www.acuoptimist.com



Kenneth Dinkins, senior Bible youth and family ministries major from Toledo, Ohio; Eric Powers, graduate student from Houston; Arielle Collier, freshman vocal performance major from Mesquite; Vincson Green, freshman theater major from Vancouver, Wash.; Anna Peters, senior ministry to children and families and elementary education major from Houston; Caleb Rob-inson, freshman theater major from New York, N.Y.; and Sherrita Gardner, sophomore journalism major from Dallas, sit at the table for dinner in Melting Pot.

ACU appeals ‘excessive’ NCAA football penalties By Grant AbstonSports Editor

Nearly two weeks after the NCAA penalized the ACU football and track and field programs for several violations, the university has weighed its options and de-

cided to appeal the ruling that would vacate the football program’s wins and records from the 2007 season.

ACU was penalized Feb. 2 and had 15 days to decide if it would appeal the violations. After making the decision to appeal, the university will

have a 30-day window to sub-mit an appeal to a sub-com-mittee of the NCAA Division II Management Council.

Dr. Royce Money, presi-dent of the university, said the decision to appeal was his alone, and he made the deci-sion after seeking the advice

of other ACU executive offi-cers as well as director of ath-letics and compliance direc-tor Jared Mosley and ACU’s own legal council.

“We had a window of oppor-tunity that we had to declare

Race on the Table CBS Sports producer chosen as Alumnus of the YearBy Michael FreemanManaging Editor

Lance Barrow will never for-get last Sunday.

He said he will not forget the laudatory remarks from his close friends and family, the congratulatory video from sports com-mentators Phil Simms, John Madden and Jim Nantz and the honor of being selected as ACU’s 2008 Outstanding Alumnus of the Year.

“It’s a blessing to be hon-ored by a university that you think so much about and that you love so much,” Barrow said. “The awards I’ve gotten at Abilene Christian mean more than any award I’ve gotten in my professional life.”

Barrow, a 10-time Emmy award-winning producer for CBS Sports and ACU alum-nus (’77), was honored as the Alumnus of the Year by the ACU Alumni Association in the Bob and Shirley Hunter Welcome Center on Sunday. The award recognizes ACU alumni who through lifetime achievements bring honor to the university in their per-sonal and professional lives.

Production explores issues raised by interracial dating By Katie GagerStudent Reporter

Essence of Ebony will present the 12th annual Black History Production, titled Melting Pot, at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday in Cullen Auditorium.

This year’s show will focus on the topic of mixed race re-lationships and the difficul-ties two families experience to reach acceptance, said the show’s director Byron Mar-tin, senior psychology major from Mesquite.

“There are two big les-sons to be learned from this show,” Martin said. “One is to be aware of what you learn from generations that came before you, and the second is to realize that we are all alike and have the same is-sues and problems.”

The show was written by a group of five students, including Byron Martin, Kenneth Dinkins, Anna Pe-ters, DeMarco Howard and Shelby Coates (’06). Work on the show, including ac-tors and set building, be-

gan in January when class-es resumed.

“This year, we have the most diverse cast we’ve ever had in a Black History Pro-duction,” Martin said.

The show tells the story of a black girl dating a white boy and the difficulties both fami-lies have accepting their rela-tionship. Because of the nature of this year’s theme, the show will include an “audience talk back” session directly after Friday’s show, Martin said.

“This provides the au-dience a forum in which

there can be basic interac-tions about what is seen in the show,” Martin said. “After seeing the show, there are going to be a lot of thoughts and feelings that need to be discussed.”

Martin said he thinks no matter who views the show, everyone will be able to rec-ognize someone they know represented within each of its characters.

“I’m pretty sure at some point in the show you will

Historical sHow

The 12th annual Essence of Ebony Black History Production, Melting Pot, will debut this weekend in Cullen Auditorium. The play was written by five ACU students.

Showtimes: n Friday, 7:30 p.m.n Saturday, 7:30 p.m.

Tickets are $3 in advance and $5 at the door.

Our main concern is that the 2007 season was vacated, and we think that is an excessive penalty.


“”

See Barrow page 4See Production page 4

See Appeal page 4

Barrow

acuoptimist.comRead Web exclusive stories and view

photographs and videos covering the ACU ConnectEd Summit online.

Fire scorches more than 1,000 acres


A helitanker gathers water in southern Taylor County while smoke from a grass fire fills the West Texas sky. The fire started after a transmission line fell and set dry grass ablaze.


Dark clouds of smoke blanketed the sky because of another grass fire Thursday afternoon. The relentless blaze was found in the Mulberry Can-yon area, where two helicopters and 13 fire departments from Dyess Air Force Base and the Texas Forest Ser-vice battled to extinguish the flames that consumed more than 1,000 acres and threatened at least seven homes and 12 buildings.

Several wind turbines stood with-in the mass of billowing smoke, but officials said it was too early to tell whether any of the turbines had been

damaged by the fire in southern Tay-lor County. A handful of houses and families also were evacuated, but so far, no injuries have been reported and no houses have been damaged, said John Ussery, a volunteer with the Nolan Fire Department.

Ussery said numerous acres had burned inside Taylor County and au-thorities closed off County Road 618 and evacuated residents in the path of the fire.

Allen Craft, a Public Information Officer for the Texas Forest Service, said the origins of the fire stemmed from a previous fire two days ago. Local officials and the communi-ty had been monitoring the area,

but current conditions caused the blaze to reignite. The origins of the first fire was created when a trans-mission line fell and ignited nearby brush and dry grass.

The Texas Forest Service and 13 other departments battled the blaze with an air and land assault using two

acuoptimist.com

See more photos of Thursday’s grass fire and photos from a blaze

in Callahan County on Tuesday

See Fire page 4


ACU WEATHER


Sunday

High: 55Low: 30

High: 64Low: 40

Online Poll : What do you look forward to at Sing Song?

a. The class acts. b. The social club acts.c. The performances between acts.d. The day after the show ends.

acuoptimist.com

Pg. 9A InsideThis Issue:

A Night with the Stars: The 81st Academy Awards Preview

Former ACU Olympian makes a livingas a bail bondsman in Abilene

The Show behind the Show: Students prepare for Sing Song

Pg. 1B Pg. 9B

Optimistthe

a product of theJMC networkPg. 4A-5A Check out this year’s acts and our Editor’s predictions

Friday, February 20, 2009 :: Vol. 97, No. 38 :: 2 sections, 20 pages :: www.acuoptimist.com

Better ‘Believe’ Sing Song ’09 Has Arrived

Spring enrollment down, but follows retention trend


Skunks? Mice? Judges? Oh my. Sing Song must be upon ACU. After months of preparation and practice for the

myriad of performances that make up the 53rd an-nual Sing Song 2009, Believe, the students who are part of this year’s show will put on one performance Friday and two more Saturday.

Tom Craig, director of Student productions, said, “Right now I’m excited because all of the wheels are in motion, and the talent this year so far has been great.”

More than 1,500 students will participate in this year’s show as either a host or hostess, co-chair, member of a social club act or class act, as part of the production or video staff or as a member of a student dance team, Craig said. The first show begins at 8 p.m. Friday, and a matinee show will be at 2 p.m. Saturday with a finale at 8 p.m.

Craig said he checked the ticket sales on Wednesday evening and no show had sold out yet, but the sales were ahead of the 2008 show.

Ezra Witt, senior youth and family ministry major from Tulsa, Okla., said Sing Song is unlike any other event he has performed in and is excited about donning an orange jump suit as part of the Frater Sodalis men’s social club act.

“I love Sing Song,” Witt said. “It’s just a time to hang out and just have fun with a show.”


Shortly after ACU’s un-veiling of the Mobile Learn-ing Initiative in the fall of 2007, Executive Vice Presi-dent Phil Schubert found himself in the Bean Sprout, visiting with a group of pro-

spective students for a fall preview day.

Upon meeting one family, the mother frankly said, “Pleased to meet you; we’re here because of the iPhone.”

Immediately, Schubert protested, saying, “Oh no, don’t say that.” But the woman continued.

“No, I mean that in a good way,” she said. “It’s not be-cause you’re giving my son an iPhone. It’s because we want our son to be educated in a place that is pushing the boundaries of innovation and is going to expose him to the kind of environment where he’s going to learn how to

think outside the box. When I heard about what you guys were doing, I knew that ACU was going to be the right place for my son.”

Relieved, Schubert said he appreciated the mother’s un-derstanding of the culture the Mobile Learning Initiative seeks to support.

Whether the addition of iPhones and iPod touches to ACU’s campus has supple-mented the fall’s increased enrollment numbers and sub-sequently high spring enroll-ment numbers, Schubert said he does not know. Regardless, he said he hopes it adds to the environment that attracted the

largest increase in entering stu-dents in ten years.

“If it’s because kids got a phone, then obviously that doesn’t begin to touch on the substance of what we are try-ing to create here in our effort to lead the world in a mobile


Some people learn to run before they can walk; they de-cide to dive in headfirst right into a challenge no matter how shallow the water may be.

Others pursue a dream with conviction, passion and fervor until their goal is met. Two of this year’s six Sing Song hosts and hostesses used these two methods with great success.

Hosts, Hostesses ready to entertain audiences


A group of 30 alumni, music professionals, faculty and staff will choose the winners of this year’s Sing Song. The names of the judges will not be released until the time of the show.

The judges will be broken up into 10 judges per show, three to judge

vocals and seven to judge originally, entertainment and appearance.

The names of the judges are not released to protect the judges from being swayed in their vote, said Tom Craig, director of Student Productions. When the scores are received, the high-est and lowest scores from each judge are also dropped to ensure fairness.

30 judges to choose winners

See Judges page 7A

See Enrollment page 7A

Businesses expect Sing Song surgeBy Molly ByrdAssistant Copy Editor

Three hotels near ACU already are completely re-served for Sing Song week-end, and some of the finer restaurants in Abilene also are nearly booked to capac-ity. Other area businesses are preparing for the flood

of families who will be look-ing for entertaining things to do and places to dine.

“The Whitten Inn has been booked full for several weeks,” said Carri Hernan-dez, front desk manager at Whitten Inn. “The hotel is getting ready for the Sing

The Whitten Inn has been booked full for several weeks. The hotel is getting ready for the Sing Song rush.

:: Carri Hernandez, front desk manager at Whitten Inn

“”See Surge page 7ASee Hosts page 7A

See Sing Song page 7A

Pictured: Adrian Dennington, junior biology major from Austin, and Aubrey Bonneau, senior graphic design major from Dallas

Pictured: Cody Duncum, senior infor-mation technology major from Deca-tur, and Abigail Sutphen, sophomore biology major from Houston

Photo Illustration by Zak Zeinert and Heather Leiphert :: photo staff

Sing Song

acuoptimist.com

acuoptimist.com

acuoptimist.com@videos,

slide showsPodcasts


Acu WeAther

Tuesday WednesdayHigh: 88 Low: 63

Thursday

High: 88Low: 61

High: 86Low: 60

Online Poll : Did you pledge a social club this fall?

a. No, I am not a sheep.b. Yes, and I regret it.c. What is a social club?d. Yes, I couldn’t be happier

acuoptimist.com


Rolling on the Road: Wildcat football team moves to 3-0

ACU leads charge with Facebook university application

Chapel monitors on guard for ‘Sliders and Gliders’

Pg 4 Pg 10

Optimistthe


Pg. 6 Photos from the Freshman Follies performances Tuesday, September 23, 2008 :: Vol. 97, No. 10 :: 1 sections, 10 pages :: www.acuoptimist.com

Students plan to recharterTrojansBy Tanner AndersonPage Designer

Hundreds of students sub-merged into the pledging world Friday. Pledges will dis-play their new pledge pins and learn about their clubs’ tra-ditions during pledging, and now, more than 30 young men want to add to that custom and revive history by jump-starting the social club Trojans.

“Every year guys I know have gotten together before pledging begins and talked about bringing back a so-cial club. Now we have 33 guys who are interested in attempting to re-charter the club,” said Matt Lambro, se-nior interdisciplinary major from Colleyville.

The Trojans are off cam-pus and are not recognized by ACU as an active club. Af-ter meeting with Mauri West-brook, director of Student Organizations, Monday, Lam-bro said the men will need to develop a new constitu-tion and write a paper on the club’s history, its status the last five years and where the men hope to take the club by the end of the semester in order to complete the re-chartering process.


In front of an audience of more than 2,000 people Sunday, Dr. Leroy Garrett challenged those filling the seats in Moody Coliseum to rethink how they define the Apostle Paul’s writings on God’s righteousness.

Rather than accept what he called the popular translation of Paul’s words in Romans 1:17, Garrett told his audience of varying ages to de-fine the “Righteousness of God” as

the Lord’s grace given to all people who do not deserve it.

“The Gospel reveals how God be-cause of what he did through Christ says to a sinful man, ‘Not guilty,’ even when he is guilty,” Garrett said.

“In God’s court of law because of Christ we are treated as if we have never sinned at all.”

The 89-year-old scholar, who throughout his life was known as a radical and outsider in the Churches of Christ, was the keynote speaker for Summit and launched the Theme Conversations that will continue through Wednesday.

Randy Harris, instructor of Bible, ministry and missions; Eric Wilson,

Pledging numbers down from 2007

Summit classes tackle topic of same-sex attraction By Colter HettichFeatures Editor

Sally Gary, assistant professor of communication and Center Peace founder, opened her three-part session Monday morning entitled “Nothing Can Separate Us: God’s Love for the Same-Sex Struggler.”

Gary provides compassion and support for Christians struggling with same-sex attraction person-ally and through her ministry, Center

Peace. She also leads a support group on the ACU campus for students who may have nowhere else to go.

Brady Bryce, director of min-istry events, said some student leaders approached him with the idea of inviting Gary to speak, and she willingly agreed. The session deals with what remains a sensitive subject in the Church, although Gary said she has seen a growing compassion and awareness in the Churches of Christ. Bryce hopes no

one will avoid the class out of fear or insecurity.

“This is not a hidden, no room number, come for anonymous strug-glers,” Bryce said. “Everybody is in-terested because we are all touched by it and are all involved in it.”

Gary feels such a strong desire to minister to this demographic be-cause she knows what it is like.

“I grew up, like many of you, going to church with parents who were actively involved in church,”

Gary said. “But at the same time, there were a lot of things we didn’t talk about.”

What was not being discussed was Gary’s unhealthy, and many times abusive, relationship with her father. The consequences of spend-ing her childhood ”starved” for her father’s attention and affection lat-er manifested itself in the form of same-sex attraction.


Dr. Leroy Garrett gives his interpretation of Paul’s letter to the Roman church in a sermon titled “Righteousness of God Revealed Through Faith and For Faith” during Summit’s opening Theme Conversation in Moody Coliseum Sunday. Garrett was the first of seven speakers chosen by Brady Bryce, director of ministry events, to explore Romans.

SeidmanWilson

See Garrett page 9


Ryan Hodges, senior marketing and management major from Cimarron, Kan., encourages pledges Brian Patterson, sophomore chemistry major from Rowlett; Kevin Goodpaster, sophomore management major from North Richland Hills; and Jeffry Bankes, sophomore business and finance major from Fort Worth, during Bid Night Friday.

See Trojans page 9

Still on the Schedule

Three speakers remain on the schedule for the Summit Theme Conversations

n Randy Harris (Tuesday, 7 p.m.)n Eric Wilson (Wednesday, 11 a.m.)n Chris Seidman (Wednesday, 7 p.m.)


Students across campus are sporting a new dress code. Some of the men are wearing wrinkle free suits and ties, while some women can be seen wearing different colored buttoned up shirts and skirts. If students are not sure what to think, they should know it is all just the start to a new pledge season.

About 80 men and 166 women accepted their bids this year. According to Op-timist archives, those num-

bers are substantially down from 2007 when 223 women and 108 men pledged. They are even lower than in 2006, when 235 women and 142 men pledged.

“It was a smaller pledge class, but we had a smaller freshman class last year,” said Mauri Westbrook, direc-tor of Student Organizations.

“We’re in the second year of implementing the new rules, and all of our clubs seem to be doing a great job abiding by our expectations,” she said.

New rules were created to

ensure the safety of current pledges, while other rules lim-ited the amount of pledges a social club could have; it is known around campus as a pledge cap. The pledge cap seems to work as an equaliz-er, a chance for larger clubs to retain their size, while giving other clubs a chance to grow.

“I think there are some posi-tive and negatives,” said Jamie Lyn Spires, president of Ko Jo Kai and senior communication major from Arlington.

“It’s good for smaller clubs

Garrett ties righteousness to grace

“In God’s court of law because of Christ we are treated as if we have never sinned at all.

:: Dr. Leroy Garrett, Summit keynote speaker

See Gary page 9

Log on to www.youtube.com/acu-video to see Tuesday’s newscast from the JMC Network Newscast staff. In this week’s newscast: a review of Summit events and classes and foot-age of Friday’s Bid Night activities.

:JMC networkMore from the Webcast

”

acuoptimist.com

See footage of Dr. Leroy Garrett’s sermon on the “Righteousness of God”

acuoptimist.com

See a video of Monday’s “Nothing Can Separate Us: God’s Love for the Same-Sex Strug-

gler,” Summit class online.

Gary

PledGinG numberS

More than 200 students are pledging various social clubs this fall.

Menn Frater Sodalis — 4n Gamma Sigma Phi — 31n Galaxy— 33n Pi Kappa —1n Sub T-16 — 12

Womenn Alpha Kai Omega- 41n Delta Theta — 19n GATA — 10n Ko Jo Kai — 48n Sigma Theta Chi — 48

See Numbers page 9


ACU weAtheR


Sunday

High: 78Low: 47

High: 72Low: 48

Online Poll :What other

country would you want to

Study Abroad?a. Chinab. Mexicoc. Australiad. I’m fine staying in Abilene.

acuoptimist.com


Wildcat pitcher hurls no-hitter against UT-Permian Basin

Faculty and staff take on students in wheelchair basketball game

SpringBoard winners to be announced at Friday dinner

Pg. 7 Pg. 8

Optimistthe


Friday, April 17, 2009 :: Vol. 97, No. 50 :: 1 section, 8 pages :: www.acuoptimist.com


Pg. 5 A tad short: ‘Shorts’ entertaining, but lacks consistent quality

40%

Maymester participants to design iPhone applicationsBy Heather LeiphartStaff Photographer

The School of Information Tech-nology and Computing will offer a new Maymester class that potential-ly could pay for itself and more.

Dr. Fortune Mhlanga, profes-sor of information technology and computing, and Dr. Brian Burton, assistant professor of information technology, will teach mobile com-puting, a course in which students will learn how to create their own

iPhone and iPod touch applications. ACU obtained educational licenses for students and faculty to create and test applications, and students who want to sell their creations will need to purchase a $100 com-mercial license, Burton said.

“I would love to see all of the stu-dents develop an application that they can sell and make a little bit of money off of,” Burton said. “The fi-nal project for the course is to make an application, and depending upon how much interest and commitment

they’re going to make, they could po-tentially create something that they could market on the Apple Web site.”

What students learn will be ap-plicable to other devices such as


Emily Blacklock, freshman undeclared major from Temple, dances Wednesday during a pre-view performance of SHADES annual show.


Three faculty members of the College of Business Administra-tion returned from China after spending 10 days examining in-

ternship and career opportuni-ties for students.

Dr. Rick Lytle, dean of the Col-lege of Business Administration; Dr. Jonathan Stewart, associate profes-sor of finance; and Mike Winegeart, assistant professor of marketing

and director of COBA’s global pro-grams, met with Dr. Richard Chang, CEO, president and founder of Semiconductor Manufacturing In-ternational Corps, SMIC, in Shang-hai and discussed the potential for a working relationship.

“If we were to say we were missionaries, we’re not getting into the country,” Lytle said. “But as business people, the door is wide open.”

SHADES clocks into ‘The Office’ for annual show

Online poll discloses uneasiness with coreBy Tanner AndersonPage Designer

Dr. Brent Reeves, chair of the Facul-ty Senate sent out an e-mail two weeks ago asking a hypothetical question to ACU’s faculty: Would you fund the new curriculum with your retirement?

Eighty percent of those who par-ticipated in the survey responded with no.

The survey sent to faculty mem-bers was not meant to distinguish the implementation of the new core cur-riculum, but was created to discover the faculty’s opinion of the relation-ship between recent university deci-sions and the cost of implementing the curriculum, said Reeves, associate professor of management science and computer science.

As part of a plan to cut back costs, the university will reduce the amount it matches in faculty retire-ment percentages from 8 to 6 per-cent, and there is a freeze on faculty raises. These changes would loosen the current budget belt enough to implement the new curriculum, Reeves said.

By Megan HaggertonStudent Reporter

Fans of The Office can enjoy a spe-cial treat this weekend when SHADES performs its annual show, also titled The Office, which is a play off the pop-ular television sitcom.

SHADES per-formed a preview of the show in Chapel on Wednesday, and the actual perfor-mance will be 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday in Cullen Auditorium.

For all their per-formances, SHADES members choreo-graph their own moves without out-side help. They cre-ate their own stomp routines, making their shows unique.

Denarco Howard, junior fine arts ma-jor from Houston, has been a member of SHADES since his freshman year.

“The Office is about two main char-acters who have an attraction to one another but are too shy to say any-thing,” Howard said. “The rest of the cast will play co-workers who try their best to boost the soon-to-be couple’s confidence in order to help them start a relationship.”

The Office cast consists of five men and nine women, 12 of which are brand new to SHADES. This year the members of SHADES are all newcomers, except for the two captains, Jasmine Jones and Howard, who are returning par-ticipants. Emily Blacklock, freshman marketing major from Temple, said she practiced each week for the show to make it entertaining.

“The Office will be a very interest-ing and entertaining show that will showcase ACU’s diversity as a student

Study Abroad adds German site to options

Business faculty explore student opportunities in China


The Study Abroad program will be expanding its global experi-ences by adding Leipzig, Germany, as an additional location that stu-dents may choose to study at in spring 2010.

The program now includes two locations in Oxford, England, and Montevideo, Uruguay, and hopes to see the Leipzig location as a new op-portunity for students to learn about the world through studying abroad,


Tommy Walden, dressed as the American symbol Uncle Sam, stands on the corner of North 4th and Pine streets at the Big Country TEA Party, a local protest organized in conjuction with similar protests throughout the nation to voice distaste with the government.

See SHADES page 4

See China page 4

See Survey page 7

Not Their Cup of PolicySteP Show

SHADES will perform its annual show in Cullen Auditorium this weekend.

n Where: Cullen Auditoriumn When: 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturdayn Cost: $5 in advance; $6 at door

See Germany page 4

See Class page 3

See Protest page 4



There was no harbor and no Native Ameri-can disguises, but that did not stop more than 1,000 Big Country residents from sponsoring a TEA party protest to voice their opposition to what they call unnec-essary spending by the federal government and socialistic policies.

The TEA — an acronym for Taxed Enough Al-ready — party participants gathered at all four corners on the cross roads of North 4th and Pine streets from 6-8 p.m. Big Country residents of

Residents protest ‘wasteful’ government


Above Right: Bob Kazma signs a peti-tion at the Big Country TEA Party on Wednesday. Hundreds of protestors signed a petition that will be sent to the White House in Washington, D.C.Right: Mary Ross, an organizer of the Big Country “Taxed Enough Already Party,” voices her criticism of the spending policies of the federal gov-ernment. The mother of three led a crowd of more than 1,000 in chants of “No More!” and “Enough!”

acuoptimist.comVideos and a slideshow of photographs from Wednes-day’s Big Country TEA Party


ACU WeAtHeR


Friday

High: 72Low: 42

High: 65Low: 33

Online Poll : Would you rather live in a house

or an apartment complex?

a. A house with friends.b. An apartment complex.c. Neither.d. I’d rather live with my mom.

acuoptimist.com


Former Jamaican professional awaits turn to swing for ACU

Students collect prom dresses for underprivileged youth

The ‘World Famous’ Bean offers romantic evening for students

Pg. 3 Pg. 5

Optimistthe

a product of theJMC networkPg. 8 Baseball head coach hits milestone in career wins

Wednesday, February 11, 2009 :: Vol. 97, No. 35 :: 1 section, 8 pages :: www.acuoptimist.com


‘Shinnery Review’ content deadline approachesBy Lezlee GutierrezBroadcast Assistant

Saturday marks the final day for students to submit art and literary work for the publication of the Shinnery Review this year.

The Shinnery Review is a student-run literary magazine printed annually at the end of the spring semester. The mag-azine features poetry, pho-tography, short stories and general artwork submitted by ACU students. The staff members of the magazine meet each Thursday to judge and choose quality work that will be published.

Students lately have sub-mitted an average of two en-tries a week, and as the end of the week draws near, staff members hope more work

Nearby apartment complex to open in MarchBy Ryan ElamStudent Reporter

Construction for a new apart-ment complex is nearing comple-tion on the corner of Ambler Av-enue and East Lake Road, next to Wal-Mart. Trinity Hughes, LLC, a construction company based in Wichita Falls, is building the com-plex, which will open in March.

According to building permits filed with the city, the Residence at Heritage Parks will consist of four 29,469-square-foot build-ings, five 28,842-square-foot buildings and 196 apartments. It will cost $10.2 million to build.

Lezlie Sifuentes, onsite man-ager for the complex, said that aside from being brand new, the Residence at Heritage Parks will provide some special amenities for its residents.

“We will have a [state-of-the-art] fitness center, a business

center where students can work on computers and access the In-ternet and a swimming pool with a grotto,” Sifuentes said.

Other amenities include a ste-reo system in the pool area for resident activities, alarm systems available in every apartment and

a tennis court, basketball court and sand volleyball court.

The Residence at Heritage Parks is also the exclusive housing pro-vider for the Ruff Riders, Abilene’s professional indoor football team, and will provide exclusive promo-tions for residents only.

“We’ll give away door prizes and tickets. Residents can qualify to uti-lize our season passes that we get in the VIP section, and we’ll have a ‘meet and greet’ with the players and cheerleaders,” Sifuentes said.


The glitz and glamour of a typical fashion show was all but unappar-ent at the first annual Black History Month Fashion Show, Fade 2 Fashion, Saturday night in the Bean Sprout.

Instead, the show had a comfortable and intimate feel as 20 models strutted down the runway. And that was exactly the feeling producer Mallorie Frank (‘08) wanted for the show.

“Everything that everyone wore came out of their closet,” Frank said. “What you wear in some way shows who you are, and I wanted to cele-brate that.”

The show drew more than 150 people; that was fewer than last year’s show, in which more than 250 came to see students strut their stuff, Frank said. Despite the lower numbers, Frank said the show was a success. Last year, the fashion show was in the Williams Performing Arts Center, but she want-ed a more comfortable place for this year’s show.

“It was a closer setting, and a big space can seem intimidating to some people,” Frank said. “You can have a lot more fun because you’re not afraid to talk, laugh and wave at your friends who are walking down the runway.”


Tony Harp, junior excercise science major from San Antonio, flexes his muscles while strutting down a runway at the Fade 2 Fashion fashion show on Saturday in the Bean Sprout. More than 150 people attended the event put on to honor Black History Month.

Southern Hills’ video seen by millions on ‘YouTube’By Kaitlyn SellgrenStudent Reporter

When Stephen Corbett up-loaded Stethoscope, a less than three-minute video he produced in October, onto www.YouTube.com, he said it was optimistic to assume at least 1,000 people might see it.

More than three months later, the video Corbett, congregation life minister at Southern Hills Church of Christ, assembled as a supplement to a sermon pre-pared by Phil Ware, Southern Hills preaching minister, is ap-proaching 3 million views and being screened in churches

throughout the nation.“It’s hard to get your mind around

2.5 million or 3 million people view-ing something you’ve produced,” Corbett said.

The video was made as an illus-tration to accompany a sermon by Ware that focused on Colossians 1:27, which reads, “And the mys-tery is Christ lives in you, and he is your hope of sharing God’s glory.”

To make the video, Corbett and other church members brainstormed ideas, and Corbett filmed the video in downtown Abilene without a script and only a camera, stethoscope and a Slurpee. They shot the video in 45 minutes and Corbett edited it later.

This video, just like all other

videos Corbett produces to ac-company sermons at Southern Hills, was intended to be used one time on Oct. 12, 2008. Corbett said the video to his private You-Tube account and embedded it on the Southern Hills’ Web site.

“We were anticipating 1,500 sets of eyes laid on this video, and it’s obviously gone beyond that,” Corbett said.

In the short time it was online, Corbett watched the views of the video soar past 1,000, jump above 100,000 and the church replayed the video at the beginning of one service in December to celebrate


A bulldozer drives around the construction site at the Residence at Heritage Parks apartment complex. The complex consists of 196 rooms and will open in March.

Students shine at annual show

Renting oPtions

Residence at Heritage Parks will soon join the ranks of several apartment complexes around or near ACU’s campus:

n Riatta Ranch, 1111 Musken Road n University Park Apartments, 2150 N Judge Ely Boulevardn Cimarron Apartments, 500 N Judge Ely Boulevardn The Grove, 2702 N. Judge Ely Boulevard

Source: www.apartmentratings.com

See Fashion page 4

See Complex page 4

Appropriations Committee: Granted $600 to Galaxy for the annual Kirk

Goodwin run and $2,967.20 to Jack Pope Fellows for a trip with Fannin Elementary (Title I school) 4th Graders to Austin.

Of the $10,205 allotted to the Appropriations Committee from the SA spring 2009 budget, $6,637.80 remains in the committee’s funds.

Research and Development Committee: Considering signature events for the student

body, like a bon fire, lawn slip-and-slide and Play Faire Park event

Internal Affairs Committee: Organizing an SA-sponsored basketball game

that would break the Guiness World Book of Re-cords’ world record for the world’s longest bas-ketball game ever played.

Read coverage of Wednesday’s Students’ Association Congress meeting online at www.acuoptimist.com and in Friday’s edition of the Optimist.

sA UPdAte

See Shinnery page 4

See YouTube page 4

acuoptimist.com: View a video and a photo slideshow of ‘Fade 2 Fashion,’ a fashion show held on in honor of Black Histo ry Month


Log on to www.youtube.com/acu-video to see Wednesday’s newscast from the JMC Network Newscast staff. In this week’s newscast: the Bean ribbon cutting ceremony, the noose incident, the West Texas Fair & Rodeo and the recent rain.

:JMC networkMore from the WebcastACU WEATHER

Wednesday ThursdayHigh: 85Low: 69

Friday

High: 89Low: 68

High: 90Low: 67

Online Poll :What action should be taken for the noose

incident?a. ACU should investigate.b. There should be open discussion.c. The culprit should be expelled.d. Forgive and forget.

acuoptimist.com


Executive Perspective: Guest column by Daniel Paul Watkins

Newly renovated ‘World Famous Bean’ officially opens for business

The West Texas Fair & Rodeo will be in Abilene until Saturday

Pg 7 Pg 8

Optimistthe


Pg. 6 Take a spin around the rides at the West Texas Fair & Rodeo Wednesday, September 10, 2008 :: Vol. 97, No. 5 :: 1 section, 10 pages :: www.acuoptimist.com

Students condemn act as hatred, wrong By Tanner AndersonPage Designer

Students across campus say they are filled with rage and frustration after Wednes-day’s noose incident, and they strongly desire to bring togeth-er ACU’s diverse community.

What baffles and surprises many students is that such an action happened on a Chris-tian campus.

“I’m a little disappointed that it happened in ACU. It’s sad that something of that caliber and hatred took place here,” said Kelsey Evans, se-nior interior design major from Gresham, Ore. “Hope-fully this will never happen again, and the community can come together and have a better Christian focus.”

Although most may not agree with the action, it has created a small wound within

the ACU community, students said. Several people are dis-appointed to see such racism shown in this day and age, and others are upset there exists a fraction of students attending a Christian university who put race before religion.

“I think our campus is smart enough to know that this action was caused by a


As the ACU Police Depart-ment investigates the noose discovered in the office of Students’ Association Presi-dent Daniel Paul Watkins, faculty members speak out against the event.

“I don’t think this inci-dent captures what we are all about,” said Dr. Steven Moore, associate professor of English. “Whether you’re black or white, I think it affected all of us.”

Moore said he and sev-eral faculty members he had spoken with were behind Dr. Royce Money, president of the university, and supported the decision to investigate the incident and treat it as a seri-ous matter.

“The investigation is be-ing taken very seriously, and I trust exactly what Dr. Money

said, and the faculty and staff I’ve been talking to also trust what President Money said in Chapel,” Moore said.

Dr. Neal Coates, associate professor of political science, said he was shocked when he heard about the incident in-volving Watkins, senior politi-cal science major from Fred-ericksburg, Va., whom he has had in class.

“I was astounded that someone could be so insensi-tive to American History and how African-Americans have been treated in the past,” Coates said.

Both professors said stu-dents in at least one of their classes discussed the event.

“We try to be careful to ex-plore issues of race and other issues that society suffers with,” Moore said. “I think


In Chapel Friday, Dr. Royce Money, president of the university, called the noose in Students’ Association President Daniel Paul Watkins’ office an “outrageous act, which flies in the face of everything this institution stands for.”

Episode initiates class discussion

‘An outrageous act’SA noose incident sparks investigationBy Michael FreemanManaging Editor

Students’ Association President Daniel Paul Watkins said he went through a rush of emotions after he discov-ered a noose on his office chair around 12:35 p.m. Sept. 3.

“It didn’t seem real,” Watkins said. “I didn’t believe that it was happening; that was my first reaction.”

Immediately, feelings of shock, anger, hurt and re-venge all crossed his mind, Watkins said. But then, he stopped on the idea of forgiveness.

“I realized that although that was what my flesh want-ed that it’s important to overcome that and react the way that God has called me to, out of love and forgiveness.” Watkins said. “Nothing positive would really come out of getting angry. My only hope for achieving anything posi-tive is to react in love and progress from there.”

Dr. Royce Money, president of the university, addressed the student body on the incident in Friday’s Chapel.

“Whether it was intended to be a thoughtless and in-sensitive prank or whether there was more serious in-tent, I see it as an outrageous act, which flies in the face of everything this institution stands for,” Money said.

See Noose page 4

See Students page 4 See Class page 4

Courtesy Daniel Paul Watkins SA Congress President Daniel Paul Watkins snapped a photograph of the noose he discovered in his deskchair in the Students’ Association office.

70% 20% 20%

“

”

It’s sad that something of that caliber and hatred took place here.

:: Kelsey Evans, senior interior design major from Gresham, Org.

acuoptimist.com

See an interview with Daniel Paul Watkins

about the incident and his thoughts on the

university’s reaction.

Portfolio: Front Page Design

Documents

Transcript of Portfolio: Front Page Design