The Optimist - 08.31.12

ACU was ranked the nation’s 18th most beautiful campus in a list compiled by News-week magazine.

The rankings were based on ratings of campus aesthet-ics, sunny days per year, com-fort index of weather and the student body’s attractiveness

on a point scale out of ten. Ratings came from the web-site, College Prowler, where students can write reviews and rate different aspects of campus such as academics, athletics, dining and weather.

Dr. Robert Rhodes, pro-vost of ACU, could see the campus benefitting from the high ranking.

“Anytime that we have a chance to showcase the

great programs and facilities at ACU it is helpful for us,” Rhodes said. “We have a great story to tell and a great place to tell it from.

In an ACU press release, Jean-Noel Thompson, vice president and dean of stu-dent life, said he thought the university’s high ranking runs

Abilene Christian University

Frosh Got Talent Freshmen

display skills in talent show

ArtsPage 5vol. 101, no. 3 friday, august 31, 2012 1 SECTION, 8 PAGES

marissa jonesmanaging editor

page 6

No one wants to see Welcome Week couples’ PDA on campus

OPINION

OPINION

acuoptimist.com

Welcome to Abilene gives new students condensed look at city

NEWS

INSIDE

Page 3

Part-time ACU police officer dies of heart attack

NEWS

Page 3

Camp volunteer robbed at gunpoint in Barret parking lot over summer

NEWS

Page 4

Study Abroad looking for new director

NEWS

Guest column remembers the 100th year of the Optimist

page 6

Page 7

The sports staff predicts the outcome of the football game at McMurry

SPORTS

Page 8

Ken Collums Show to air Saturday morning before football game

SPORTS

Page 8

Softball team hires husband and wife as assistants

SPORTS

Page 3

Construction on Sewell Theatre completed

NEWS

ONLINE

Page 4

Rec Center lowers class prices so more students will enroll

NEWS

You’re beautiful,it’s true

iPad requirement still unconfirmed

The decision to require all full-time ACU undergrad students to have an iPad by August 2013 has still not been made yet.

Dr. Phil Schubert, presi-dent of the university, cre-ated a new team to work together to come to a con-sensus on the direction the university will go with mobile learning. The edu-cational innovations team, made up of many faculty and administrators from several different depart-ments on campus, met Thursday hoping to make progress toward its goal.

However, George Saltsman, executive director of educa-tional technology, said the members left the meeting confused.

“We met to re-examine where everything is go-ing with mobile learning,” Saltsman said. “There was confusion among the team because we’re unsure if one decision has been made across the campus, or sepa-rate ones among the differ-ent departments working on mobile learning.”

The team will meet again in two weeks for further dis-cussion.

Team 55 sent two sepa-rate emails to incoming freshmen and rising juniors in May and June encourag-

ing them to choose the iPad option from the Mobile Learning Initiative, because all full-time undergrads will be required to have an iPad in the fall of 2013. However, Saltsman said these emails were incorrect.

Team 55 declined to comment.

Saltsman said mobile learning wants to move away from handing out smartphones toward hav-ing only digital textbooks.

“Our numbers indicate 83 percent of incoming student will already own a smartphone, so it would be better to be prepared for digital textbooks than to se-lect a second smartphone,” he said. “We are working

toward a goal of digital text-books by fall of 2013.”

Saltsman said should students be required to have an iPad, he didn’t know if they would have to pay for it or if the university would provide it.

“It’s possible we can get the price down to where the iPad and digital textbooks cost less than current text-books, but there’s an as-sumption digital textbooks will ultimately save stu-dents money” he said. “We don’t know yet how they will be paid for.”

mobile learning

mark smitheditor in chief

all photos by mandy lambright CHIEF Photographer

ACU’ was ranked in the top 20 for most beautiful universities by Newsweek. Criteria included campus, people and weather.see newsweek page 4

Theme to wrestle with questions of faith

This year’s chapel theme, “Who is God? Who am I?” is a 9-week study of Genesis that will cover most of the major stories found in the first book of the Bible.

“Many of us have heard these stories, but we’re go-ing to be looking through the big lens of who God is and what that means for me and my life,” said Mark Lewis, as-sistant dean for Spiritual Life and Chapel programs

In order to help commu-nicate these stories, this se-mester’s chapel slate is filled with exciting guest speakers, Lewis said. One such speak-er, Curt Cloninger, is com-ing as a part of ACU’s efforts to incorporate the arts into Chapel on a more regular basis.

Cloninger, an actor and storyteller of sorts, will be performing a humorous, yet poignant skit taken from his video, “God Views.” In this skit, Cloninger will depict various stereotypical ways that God as perceived, in-

cluding perceptions of God as Santa Clause and God as a grandpa.

Lewis believes that Clon-inger’s performance will help students understand Cha-pel’s overarching questions of, “Who is God” and, “Who am I?” in a unique and cre-ative way.

“Cloninger’s skits give students a good way to take a broad look at the images we have in our minds as we pray and think about God,” Lewis said.

chapel

allison phillipsstaff reporter

see theme page 4

destiny hagood staff Photographer

Mark Lewis. assistant dean for Spiritual Life and Chapel programs, speaks during Chapel on Tuesday. Lewis, also known as “The Chapel Guy,” leads Chapel in Moody throughout the semester.

contact smith [email protected]

Dr. Phil SchubertDr. Robert RhodesDr. Allison GarrettDr. Bill RankinDr. Greg StraughnKay ReevesDr. John WeverKevin RobertsDr. Rodney AshlockDr. Susan LewisGeorge SaltsmanDr. Stephen JohnsonDr. Mark PhillipsDr. Lesa Breeding

The educational innovations team

ACU ranked 18th most beautiful campus by

Newsweek

The Abilene Zoo is looking for volunteers to help with general labor such as grounds cleanup and painting any weekday at any time between noon and 4 p.m. The Zoo is located at 2070 Zoo Ln. Contact Joy Harsh at 325-676-6487 for more information.

Child Protective Services needs volunteers for clerical work as well as volunteers who can organize a play-room. Volunteers are needed any weekday anytime between 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Child Protective Services are located at 3610 Vine St. Background checks are re-quired and are done at the center. Background checks usually are cleared in about two weeks. For more in-formation call V. Danette Cummings at 325-691-8214.

Medical Care Mission is looking for volunteers to as-

sist medical or dental staff with patients any weekday from 8:45 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. For more information contact Dave Kraly at 325-676-3104 or email [email protected].

Abilene Hope Haven Inc. needs volunteers to pro-vide childcare while parents are in class, any evening Monday-Thursday from 6:45 - 8:15 p.m. Abilene Hope Haven is located at 801 S. Treadaway Blvd. For more information contact Kathy Reppart at 325-677-4673 or visit www.abilenehopehaven.com/volunteer.

Volunteers are needed to enjoy a free lunch with students at Bonham Elementary School on a weekly basis. This would be sometime between 10:00 a.m. and 1:15 p.m., and would involve spending lunch time

with students and having a positive impact on their lives. Contact Jason Shaw at 325-639-3745 or e-mail [email protected].

Meals on Wheels Plus needs volunteer drivers to deliver afternoon meals to seniors and adults with disabilities Monday-Friday between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Drivers must be at least 18 years old and have a valid driver’s license. Training is provided. A Chapel exemp-tion is available if delivery time conflicts with Chapel. Contact Jessica Stewart at 325-672-5050 or email [email protected].

For additional volunteer opportunities visit: www.acu.edu/campusoffices/ccsl/ministry-service/volunteer-opportunities/

31 1 2 3Friday Saturday Suniday Monday

All Day - Labor Day (Campus Open)

11 a.m. Mission Keep-ers’ Week

3 p.m. ACU Soccer vs. Our of the Lake U

11 a.m. ACU Volleyball vs St. Edward’s U

4 p.m. RecFest 2012

7 p.m. ACU volleyball vs SW Okla. State U

7:30 p.m. The 39 Steps - ACU Theatre

1 p.m. ACU Volleyball VB vs. Colo. State - Pueblo

5 p.m. ACU Volleyball vs SE Okla. State U

6 p.m. ACU Football vs McMurry U

7:30 p.m. The 39 Steps - ACU Theatre

Police Log

6 90@acuoptimist

The Optimist

[email protected]

Friday 08.31.12 2

Announcements

The ACU Roller Hockey Club Team is accepting new members who are interest-ed in playing roller hockey. For more information post on the ACU Wildcat Hock-ey Facebook page or email [email protected].

Students interested in joining The Wildcat Reign can sign up at thewildcatreign.com. The Wildcat Reign serves to provide students the ability to facilitate Wildcat pride on campus and serves as a link-ing point between students and Wildcat athletic events.

ACU Theater presents their fall comedy, The 39 Steps, in Fulks Theatre. The play will be showing on Aug. 31 and Sept. 1 at 7:30 p.m. For tickets, call 325-674-2787 or purchase tickets online at acu.edu/theatre. The Royce & Pam Money Student Recreation & Well-ness Center will be celebrat-ing its first birthday with RecFest 2012 Aug. 31 from 4 p.m. to midnight. Come play in the dodgeball tournament, and join the Zumba Party.

Seekers of the Word, a drama ministry group, will be hold-ing auditions Sept. 5 at 8:30 p.m. in Bible 130.

A general information meet-ing for Sing Song host and hostess auditions will be held in Cullen Auditorium on Sept. 6 at 11:30 a.m. ACU Speech and Debate Team is seeking new mem-bers interested in speech and debate. For more information email Dena Counts at [email protected] or text/call 325-428-6699.

Students’ Association Con-gress will be hosting an inter-est meeting on Aug. 30 from 4:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. Join the ACU Service Action Leadership Team (S.A.L.T.) for the opportunity to serve in the Abilene community. Pick up applications in the SLVR office located underneath McGlothlin Campus Center.

Omega Dance Company will be holding an information meeting Sept. 4 at 9 p.m. in Bible 103.

Volunteer Opp0rtunities

Chapel checkup

Friday 08.31.123 campus news

Construction on Sewell Theatre finished

Construction and repairs on Sewell Theatre have been completed.

The project to renovate some of the outdated fea-tures in Sewell began in July and was completed at the beginning of this week.

Scot Colley, the execu-tive director of Risk Man-agement and Construction, said that the project consist-ed of an installation of new equipment in Sewell

“We did an upgrade on

some of the systems in the Sewell Theatre, the bulk of which was an automatic sprinkler system, classroom remodel and some ADA en-hancements,” he said.

The auditorium, built in 1929 and located on the Southwest corner of campus, is currently by the theatre department as a home base for theatre design and construction. Colley believes the chang-es will benefit the Theatre department.

Throughout the con-struction, Colley said a total of 7 sub-contractors

worked on the project with anywhere from three to fif-teen employees working under them.

Though the majority of the repairs were focused in-side of Sewell itself, certain portions of the project were conducted outside. A trench for the sprinkler system was dug from Sewell to Cam-pus Court near the front of the Hardin Administration building.

The sprinkler system was tied into the water line on Campus Court and looped into Sewell. The surface re-pair of the road where they

connected the line is still to be completed.

“The patch and repair of the street must be done by the City of Abilene. A request for this repair has been sub-mitted,” said Colley. “We are on their schedule but no specific date has been given.”

The traffic cones that are along the side of Campus Court will remain until the street repairs are finished by the city. Colley remarked that the traffic that normally runs through Campus Court had a minimal impact on the project.

Though the traffic did not cause issues during con-struction, Hilary VanSickle, junior communications dis-orders major from Mesquite finds the cones along Cam-pus Court a little intrusive.

“The construction is re-ally tiring. I feel like I’m go-ing to run into someone when I drive around it,” said VanSickle. “I just feel like not using that street at all.”

Other students, like Laura James, junior el-ementary education major from Midland, find that the construction is just a part of campus life.

“As long as it’s something that is important to the ad-vancement of the university, I can handle the slight dis-turbance for a short time,” said James.

campus

Audrey Schaffnercopy editor

contact schaffner [email protected]

Volunteer robbed behind Barret during summer

The ACU Police Depart-ment arrested three sus-pects in an armed robbery outside of Barret Hall on June 11. The arrests came that evening, less than 12 hours after the incident occurred.

Devin Jerone Tate, 18, Joshua Lynn Jiminez, 22, and Anthony Jermaine Ro-cha, 17 were arrested and booked into the Taylor County Jail, according to an Abilene Reporter-News report. Each were charged

with aggravated robbery, a first degree felony.

The three suspects drove into the Barret Resi-dence Hall parking lot just after 7 a.m. Monday and burglarized a parked ve-hicle. One of the suspects then approached Rick Antwine, an ACU Leader-ship Camp staff volunteer from Waxahachie, who was standing in the lot and robbed him at gunpoint. The suspects left campus immediately after.

ACU Police Depart-ment units immediately responded to check on An-twine, who was uninjured

in the robbery, inspect the area and begin the investi-gation.

Jimmy Ellison, ACU police chief, said the uni-versity police worked with the Abilene Police Depart-ment to find that this in-cident was related to two other robberies in Abilene.

Ellison sent an email to ACU students, faculty and staff Monday to warn people on campus to be alert and report suspicious activity to ACUPD.

“Crimes of this nature are highly unusual on campus and in the area surrounding campus,” El-

lison said in the email. “While we are thankful no one was injured, this is a good reminder that ACU is not immune to such inci-dents.”

crime



Part-time police officer dies

Dennis Wesley, part-time police officer with the ACU Police Department, died Monday night of a heart attack.

Wesley, 64, retired from full-time police duty two years ago but served in a limited capacity when he was needed.

ACU Police Chief Jimmy Ellison said Wesley was a good man, a servant to the community and someone they could depend on.

“Dennis was always there to help out,” Elli-

son said. “He was ex-tremely qui-et and mild-mannered, but at the same time i n c re d i b l y knowledge-able and a very experienced police officer.

Wesley was in law en-forcement for more than 44 years. He worked as a patrol officer, detective, homicide investigator, SWAT team supervisor, patrol division supervisor, detective supervisor and detective division com-

mander in police depart-ments in Texas and New Mexico. He began working at the ACU Police Depart-ment in September 2005.

Ellison said Wesley was dedicated to his position, and had reached a high level of expertise in police work.

“Dennis was a good example of the wealth of experience and prior law enforcement careers the majority of our staff have,” Ellison said. “He was an old-school veteran cop. We’ll miss how he came to work every day with a smile and an attitude of service for ACU.”

The funeral service for Wesley was at Elmwood Funeral Home Chapel on Thursday.

Other police officers at the department grew close to Wesley after working with him for about seven years.

“He was a very reliable man and a great friend,” said Sergeant Bob Delony. “He and his wife were best friends. They did every-thing together.”

The university flag was flown at half-staff yester-day in honor of Wesley.

Obituary



brittany williams Staff Photographer

Physical resources is working on several projects throughout campus such as a new sign near the corner of Ambler Ave. and Judge Ely Blvd.

jimmy ellisonACU police chief

This is a good reminder that ACU is not immune to

such incidents.“

wesley

Hilary Vansicklecommunications disorders

major from Mesquite

I just feel like not using that street at all.”“

friday 08.31.12 4news

Theme: Genesis survey to seek God’s identityBecause Chapel is consid-ered a part of ACU’s cur-riculum, Chapel themes are set up in a four-year rota-tion. As a result, this semes-ter is the only time Genesis will be a part of current stu-dents’ chapel experience.

Stephanie Day, sopho-more accounting major from Oklahoma City says that she is excited about the

opportunity for growth that this semester holds.

“I think that Genesis is a key part of the Bible that we often overlook in our study of who God is,” Day said. “We tend to view God through the lens of Jesus and His time here Earth, when in reality we get our first view of God in the Bi-ble’s opening chapter.”

Lewis shares Day’s views, and believes this study is

critical.“Genesis is so founda-

tional to the rest of the Bi-ble,” Lewis said. “It’s where we’re first introduced to who God is. The way you read the other 65 books of the Bible is greatly affected by how you read Genesis.”

chapel

contact phillips [email protected]

continued from page 1

Newsweek: Campus named 18th in nationdeeper than just the level of attractiveness of the cam-pus and students.

“We stand out for, among other things, having a beau-tiful campus and wonderful students,” Thompson said. “But it’s how everyone here is committed to making a difference in the world as a reflection of their commit-ment to Christ – that’s what

makes us truly special.”Some students were sur-

prised to hear about the ranking because of the com-petition across the nation.

“I was pretty surprised when I heard we were in the top 25,” said Brian Lang, freshman business major from Abilene. “It’s hard to believe we are so close to Pepperdine in ranking be-cause Abilene is nothing like Malibu.”

Rhodes said the ranking is impressive and indicative of how the campus held up in the different criteria.

“The multiple factors that went into the rating such as helped paint an attractive picture of us,” Rhodes said.

campus

contact jones [email protected]

continued from page 1

Rec Center reaches one year anniversary

Saturday marks the one year anniversary of the Royce and Pam Money Student Recreation and Wellness Center. The Rec Center has been popular amongst students and fac-ulty alike due in part to the multiple gyms and ex-ercise classes offered.

“They’ve done really well,” junior account-ing major from Arlington Tino Angadicheril said, “They have changed some things like putting in lock systems for keys and wal-lets. It’s just an overall good place.”

Keys and locks aren’t the only changes the Rec has enacted within its first year. They also have a new executive director, Joel Swedlund. Swedlund has been a part of the Rec Center since the idea was conceived and was origi-nally the director of Facil-ity Operations. The former executive director, Brain Devost, decided that it wasn’t the best fit for him because he came from the corporate world, a very dif-ferent atmosphere from university life.

Though sad Devost is no longer here, Dr. Kerri Hart, associate director of the Rec Center, is very happy that Swedlund is in

this position.“He brings a very

hands-on, student-friendly atmosphere. It’s going to be great.” Hart said.

Swedlund is excited about this year and the new opportunities the Rec Center is offering students. One major add-on is the My Wellness Cloud app. There is an icon of each piece of equipment, and students can download the My Wellness app to their smartphone. Students can track their workouts and set goals for themselves on the app.

In addition, the Well-ness Key is now being released to the entire student population. The

Wellness Key is a device that students can pur-chase for $50. It comes with a fitness assessment from a personal trainer, two personalized work-outs and a workout per-sonality test. From there, the Key tailors workouts for the individual’s needs. If a student wishes to get a Wellness Key, they can submit a request and steps will be taken to ensure they receive one.

The Rec Center pays at-tention to how many peo-ple are in certain classes

and when the pool is be-ing used. They also use student feedback. This accounts for the greater variety of class teachers, adding more classes and dropping the price for classes from $60 a semes-ter to $30.

According to Dr. Hart and Joel Swedlund, the Rec Center administrators consider student feedback.

“We’re always letting the numbers dictate what we do.” said Hart. “We want to make sure we lis-ten to suggestions and

then do what we can to improve on those.”

Student life

kara stutesmanstaff reporter

contact stutesman [email protected]

Dr. Kerri Hartassociate director of

the rec center

He brings a very hands-on, student-friendly

atmosphere. It’s going to be great.”“

friday 08.31.125 arts

BIGGER

BIGGER TALENT

2012 freshmen talent show rivals previous years

This year’s freshman class completely and utterly amazed all those who at-tended the annual fresh-man talent show. Because this year’s class is larger than the class of 2011, does it mean that the tal-ent in the annual show was bigger too? After going to see the talent show myself, I believe it exceeded last year’s show.

The incoming freshman class of 2012 had so many people attend, the event was moved to the Abilene Civic Center instead of normal location at the Paramount Theater. This change in location did not hinder the way the talent show was put together.

Many freshmen have said that the show was one of their favorite parts of Welcome Week.

Nicole Rolland, fresh-man accounting major said, “The talent show was really well put-on and there is a lot of talent in my class”.

Though I commemo-rate all the freshmen that participated, a couple of acts really stood out while watching this year’s fresh-men talent show. One of the most memorable acts included Cheryl Bell, Spanish major from Tay-lor. Don’t let Cheryl’s pe-tite size fool you; this girl had a big voice.

I was completely blown away by the power and emotion that her voice displayed.

Mary Carol Fox, vocal performance major from Waco said, “She (Cheryl Bell) had soul and blew my music mind. In mid song I leapt up and screamed ‘Rock On!’”

Fox was not the only who felt this way; many people stood up and gave Bell a standing ovation.

However, Bell was not the only talent this year at the freshmen talent show. Notable performances include “Taylor the Latte Boy” performed by Ra-chel Hurst, pre-med ma-jor from Midlothian. Also, the trio of Tracy Richard-son from Katy, Ryan Haw-thorn from Roundrock and Bekah Smith from Katy, was definately crowd fa-vorite.

Another favorite was the acoustic performanc-es of verious songs that

were played throughout the night.

“I really enjoyed the acoustic players that sang and stuff; there are a lot of talented people at this school.” said Jackie Diaz, freshman nursing major from Murrieta, Calif.

ACU has conducted its annual freshmen tal-ent show for many years, and it has always been a sucess. This year was no different. It was once again a success that dis-played the many talented freshmen of Abilene Chris-tian University.

Although most believe the show was better than last year’s, a couple things could have been done to improve the show. Some sophomores think there should have been more variety.

“I would have liked to have seen some dancing or something like that,” said Sarah Taylor, sophomore exercise science major from Comanche. Although the singing was great, dancing, magic tricks and comedy were surprisingly not included in the show at all. Most would have loved to see some variety.

Last year’s show fea-tured some singers, but those types of performanc-es were not the only acts in the show. There was a beatboxing act last year. Also, last year there was an impressionist who provid-ed the crowd alot of enjoy-

ment; however, there was no such act in this year’s talent show.

Overall, the freshmen talent show was a great

success and an incredible experience for all of those who attended. We all look forward to next year’s show, and we will all be

hoping to see more talent displayed.

lindsay palmerArts editor

Brittany Williams Staff Photographer

The Freshman talent show MCs (Shown above) provided corny , yet excellent humor that added on to the entertainment of the show. Rachel Hurst (TP) performed her version of “Taylor The Latte Boy”.

THIS WEEK

The Odd Life of Timothy Green All Cindy and Jim Green wanted was a child. One day they bury a box filled with all the things they wish for in a child and out comes Timothy Green. Though Timothy looks pretty normal, his parents soon learn that he is not at all what he seems.

Premium RushJoseph Gordon-Levitt plays a bicycle messenger who picks up a mysterious letter that attracts the wrong type of attention. This is an action packed movie you will not want to miss.

Sparkle A movie about a struggling star who has to overcome issues that are pulling her family apart.

PLAYING THIS WEEK

9/1- 39 Steps (last show) You don’t want to miss your last chance to see this fast paced, mysterious, yet comedical performance of the novel “39 Steps” by John Buchan, from the movie by Alfred Hitchock.

9/1- ACU vs. McMurryDont miss ACU’s first football game against McMurry University.

Mary Carol Foxsenior Vocal performance

major from Waco

She (Cheryl Bell) had soul and blew my music mind.

In mid song I leapt up and screamed ‘ROCK ON.’”“

contact PAlmer at

[email protected]

CLASS,

EVAN’s marks evan marks

You’re the guy who found the girl of your dreams in college. In fact, you found her and began dating her before your first college class started. You found your Wel-come Week Wife.

Welcome Week is the time to adjust to college life, have fun, and yes, meet people. You’ll meet many more peo-ple thoughout your collegiate

career than you have in Wel-come Week. Don’t rush any-thing. You’re young.

You will meet a signifi-cantly smaller number of people in your college career if your nights and weekends are filled with dates and cou-ples lunches.

Get out there and meet as many people as you can. Then you’ll have a quality base from which to choose your mate.

In your short time on ACU campus, you may have al-ready heard someone joking-ly refer to “Ring by Spring.” That’s spring of your senior year. Remember that.

As you continue to pursue this relationship that began days after meeting, you must understand that no one else really wants to see your PDA.

The only thing more dis-gusting than your puppy love is your utterly obvious oblivi-ousness as a freshman.

So keep in mind that Cha-pel is not the time or place for you to make out. We’ve

seen this happen several times, and we don’t want to see it while singing, “I see a man, standing by the Jo-o-ordan…”

It was not Jacob’s dream for you and your significant other to make out there, either. That’s where people go to pray and stuff. Wait until Thursday night from 6-11 p.m. But leave your door wide open and keep both of your feet on the ground. Or else.

We have not come to just condemn, however. We are prepared with solutions.

We propose creating “Makeout Zones” where you will not be penalized for smooching:

The middle of the GATA Fountain.

While running on tread-mills in the Rec Center.

Anywhere in the grass af-ter it rains, but both of you have to be sitting down.

The middle of the Lun-sford. Don’t worry, no one will run over you. We promise.

In front of the Chick-Fil-A line at 11:32 A.M. on week-days. Don’t worry, no one will run over you. We promise.

Or in the middle of the street. No one will run over you. We promise.

If you are already in a re-lationship that began during Welcome Week, you are not being judged. We challenge you to prove us wrong as to the relationship’s longevity. Just know that she might not be the same person you met during Welcome Week now that classes have started.

6FRIDAY 08.31.12Opinion

Mark Smitheditor in chief

marissa jonesmanaging editor

david singeropinion page editor

melany coxonline managing editor

asia todddesign editor

lindsay palmerarts editor

samantha sutherlandfeatures editor

taylor langstonsports video director

john edward isaacssports editor

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audrey schaffnercopy editor

alikay woodcopy editor

katie greenepage 2 editor

mandy lambrightcheif photogrpaher

destiny hagoodstaff photographer

curtis christianstaff photographer

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brance armstrongstaff videographer

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blane singletaryaudio broadcast reporter

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Unsigned editorials are the opinions of the Optimist and may not necessarily reflect the views of the university or its administration.

Signed columns, cartoons and letters are the opinions of their creators and may not necessarily reflect the viewpoints of the Optimist or the university.

The Optimist encourages reader response through let-ters to the editor but reserves the right to limit frequent contributors or to refuse to print letters containing

personal attacks, obscen-ity, defamation, erroneous information or invasion of privacy. Please limit letters to 350 words or fewer. A name and phone number must be included for verification purposes. Phone numbers will not be published.

Address letters to: ACU Box 27892Abilene, TX 79609

E-mail letters to: [email protected]

published by the department of journalism

and mass communication

editorial and management board

editorial and Letter Policy

You might say I was brainwashed into com-ing to ACU.

From the very be-ginning, I had “Future Wildcat” stamped on my passport of life.

Yeah. I was “that kid.”The one whose par-

ents and grandparents had gone to ACU. The one who grew up going to the homecoming pa-rade and Sing Song ev-ery year. The one whose grandfather served on the Board of Trustees. The one who was expect-ed by everyone at church to end up going to col-lege at ACU. My grandfa-ther even sent me a pic-ture during my freshman year depicting me, about one year old, sitting on

the lap of Dr. John C. Ste-vens, eighth president of ACU.

Now if that’s not des-tiny, I don’t know what is.

Even though I didn’t grow up in West Texas, I have so many childhood memories from my nu-merous visits to Abilene. As we would drive into the city each member of the family would try to be the first one to spot the Tower of Light. We would always visit the Campus Store and go bowling on nights when the bowling alley was open. My favorite thing to see was the Missions Globe in Sowell Rotunda, a wing of the Onstead-Packer Biblical Studies Building. I was always

disappointed if it wasn’t spinning when I got there.

As I grew up, the uni-versity seemed to grow with me. I remember vis-iting the Williams Per-forming Arts Center, the Hunter Welcome Center and Jacob’s Dream after they were constructed. When the time finally came for me to choose where I wanted to go to

college...well, it wasn’t even a choice for me. I’d known the answer since age three.

My family made it very clear that they would support me no matter where I wanted to go.

And while they showed a great interest in my deci-sion, they never put any pressure on me to chose their alma mater. I de-cided to take a campus tour as a prospective stu-dent, so I signed up for a Wildcat Preview Day. As soon as I stepped out of the car my mind was made up. Decision made. I belonged here. Done.

The truth is: it wasn’t destiny (though there actually might have been a little brainwashing in-volved). In the end, it was my decision to make. I know God called me to be here. For that reason I can’t help but feel pride for my school.

“James Arthur Slater founded the Optimist in 1912.”

I’ve heard that state-ment so many times and said it so often over the past 25 years, it’s easy to overlook the true and full story.

In the summer of 1912, Jesse P. Sewell was named president of the Campb-ellite-founded Christian college in Abilene – the fifth president in seven years. He knew he had to accomplish several things – provide some greater stability, get the debt un-der control, change the

name from Childers Clas-sical Institute to some-thing a little loftier. He also knew every great institute of learning had to have a great student newspaper.

And Sewell knew about a 22-year-old former stu-dent named Arthur Slater who was putting out a money-losing newspaper in nearby Clyde. Sewell approached Slater and told him to come back to Abilene and take more classes and finish his ed-ucation.

“I haven’t sufficient funds to pay my expens-

es in school,” Slater told him.

“You don’t need mon-ey,” Sewell said. “Bring your printing outfit to Abilene and start a school paper.”

Slater later described it this way: “I went on to become the founder of the Optimist. It was an eight-page paper devoted to the interests of Abilene Christian College, and to Christian education in general. I was not nomi-nally the editor of this journal, but when I failed to get the proper editors to fill their allotted space, it was my task to fill it for them.”

This August marked 100 years since Slater first printed the student newspaper at what’s now Abilene Christian Univer-sity.

And what strikes me looking back at the cov-erage of the university over the past century are not the stories and the columns written by Slat-er and the people who came after him. Instead, it has been the stories of the people themselves. These young, brash, self-conscious, bold, fragile, determined – occasion-ally mischievous – people who stepped into this larger story that is the Optimist.

It is easy to get caught up in the amount of time that has passed and these arbitrary round numbers and to overlook the im-portance of the Optimist and the significance of the person after person who has made it was it is – and what it will be.

And that’s not just

those who have had the fortune and opportu-nity to serve as editor. Dr. Royce Money, tenth

president of the univer-sity, once called that the hardest student job on campus – and I would not argue. But that goes for the reporters, photogra-phers, copyeditors, the page designers, cartoon-ists, the videographers and online editors.

The story of the Op-timist is the story of the people who have made it what it is.

People like Willie Pritchett Witt, who edited the Optimist in 1918. She wrote: “The publication of a school paper is one of the most vital things in school life, for nothing portrays the heart and in-ner soul of a school better than its paper.”

I’ve been connected with the Optimist for only about a quarter of its ex-istence, but I know Witt was right.

contact COX [email protected]

contact PYBUS [email protected]

contact the optimist [email protected]

column

column

Editorial

An open letter to Welcome Week relationshipsthe issue

Welcome week relationships are widespread among freshmen during the first week of school.

our take

These relationships can prevent students from meeting new people and often result in very public displays of affection. And no one wants to see that.

Born to be wild(cat): keeping the tradition

DISTURBANCEIN THE FORCE

MELANY COX

GUEST COLUMNKENNETH PYBUS

Anniversary a reminder of creation story

hashtagACUSkipping the last two days of the first week of school #senioritis #alreadylazy

@Lene_Botha @oHeyTyler @DrSchoobyDoo@bpbailey

3:18 p.m. Aug. 306:57 a.m. Aug. 29

10:06 p.m. Aug. 28A little part of me dies every time I swip my alarm to “on” before 7AM.

@WallnerPaige@Hwag12

6:08 p.m. Aug. 28

11:56 a.m. Aug. 30

And now begins my semester-long personal mission to get one of my tweets published in the ACU Optimist

Walked to get books by myself. A fresh-man mistook me for a freshman. She tried to befriend me. I had none of it. #nicetry

In light of NCAA Divi-sion 1 status, we’ll be giving chapel credits when 2 or 3 gather to exercise

$5 for a parking sticker. Oh, dear Christian col-lege, I love you.

12:50 a.m. Aug. 29

It was not Jacob’s dream for you and your

significant other to make out there.”“

What strikes me looking back are not the stories

and the columns written. Instead, it has been the

stories of the people themselves.

“

As I grew up, theuniversity seemed to

grow with me.“

FRIDAY 08.31.127 sports

Fifth year quarterback Mitchell Gale and his army of receivers will un-doubtedly be too much to handle for a McMurry secondary that struggled through much of last year even though they were a D3 team.

Linebacker Thor Woerner leads the Wildcat defense into battle for the first time this season. The purple and white will try to rebound from a tough year in 2011, but ACU has a more talented defense this year.

However, McMurry’s offense will create some problems for a Wildcat defense that gave up over 400 yards of of-fense last season. Look for veteran War Hawk quarter-back Jake Mullin to hold his own in this star-studded QB matchup. McMurry’s offense is no slouch, as they threw for over 4,000 yards as a team in their twelve games. Oth-er players to watch on the McMurry offense include wide out Eric Shaffer and offensive lineman Andrew Callaway.

With ACU preparing to move up to Divison I next year, and McMurry moving up to Division II this season, it’s safe to say that the Wild-cats have a more talented team. But don’t be surprised when the War Hawks come out ready to fight. The Wild-cats should come out with a W easily if they come fo-cused and ready to play.

The War Hawks will come out of the locker room with plenty of energy on Saturday when they prepare to face the ‘Cats. However, it won’t take long for ACU’s overall talent to outshine McMurry’s. Mitchell Gale should put up big passing numbers against the War Hawks secondary and by the fourth quarter this contest won’t be close.

Being a nationally ranked team for seven consecu-tive years, the ’Cats have everything to lose. McMur-ry, a team with all to gain, will no doubt be expected to charge the field seeing red. But if we’re being real, aside from the Quarter-back position, McMurry significantly lacks the tal-ent ACU possesses.

The ACU ‘cats will take on their cross-town rival War Hawks and should feel con-fident heading into the sea-son. With big expectations from QB Mitchell Gale, the Wildcats should be able to keep possession for the ma-jority of the game and leave the defense in their rearview mirror . The game should be highly entertaining and ACU should start off the year 1-0.

The ‘Cats will be flocking to the ball this year un-der new defensive coordinator Darian Dulin. For the War Hawks, former Nebraska Cornhusker and Abilene High product, Chris Williams, will be man-ning the second level as a hard hitting linebacker. D.J. Baiza had five interceptions in 2011. Baiza will be a player to watch as he mans up against a tal-ented ACU receiving corps.

Pick: ACU 59-21 Pick: ACU 56-30 Pick: ACU 56-14

Pick: ACU 56-35

Offense DefenseACUPICK:

McMurry (0-0) vs.#10 ACU Game Preview

Natalie Goin Edward Isaacs

Daniel Zepeda

Taylor Langston

A classic Big Country rivalry will be renewed Saturday night when the War Hawks and Wildcats face off in Sho-twell stadium. Although the War Hawks are talented of-fensively, they will not be able to hang around in this Texas-sized shootout for more than a half of a football. ACU should win big and start 2012 with a convincing W.

Pick: ACU 52-24

ACUPICK:

Matthew Sloan

and our goal is to make sure that ACU is getting out there into the com-munity and having them be involved with what’s going on, on campus,” she said.

The show is entirely student run and each week they put in hours of work to make sure the show is improving.

“We are really fortunate to have the studio produc-tions class that comes in and they record all of it for us,” Langston said.

“I am also the writer and producer of it, which

basically means I write the script, the questions I’m going to ask and I’m responsible for the pack-ages and features we do every week.”

Before leaving ACU, the original name of the show was called the Chris Thompson show.

Although it’s still fairly new, the show has greatly

improved in its production since it first aired on KTXS.

“I think the produc-tion of it has come so far,” Langston said. “I have been involved with it for the past two years and it has seen so much growth. We made a huge jump this year going to HD so we’re all very excited about that.”

The arrival of new coach Ken Collums has also brought much excite-ment to the set and the staff members.

“There’s a lot more per-sonality with the show and I think a big part of that is Ken Collums him-

self,” Langston said. “He’s got such a great, vibrant personality. He loves what he does and he makes do-ing the show a blast.”

With a new head coach and a ready-to-succeed production team, the members of the show are ecstatic and ready to see what this season will bring.

“The show will air ev-ery Saturday at 10 p.m. on KTXS,” Langston said.

Show: Collums takes TV reinsfootball

contact zepeda [email protected]

from page 8

mandy lambright chiief Photographer

Wide receiver Taylor Gabriel catches a pass and sprints past a defender during last season.

friday 08.31.12 8sports

Football opens its season on Saturday, Sept. 1 against McMurry University at Shotwell Stadium. Kickoff is at 6 p.m.

Soccer plays its first home game on Sunday, Sept. 2 against Our Lady of the Lake at 3:00 p.m. at the Wildcat Soccer Pitch.

The volleyball team travels to the St. Edward’s / St. Mary’s Tournament in Austin and San Antonio on Friday, Aug. 31 and Saturday, Sept. 1 to begin its season. The Wildcats open up the tournament on Friday in Austin when they play St. Edward’s at 11 a.m. and Southwestern Oklahoma State University at 7 p.m.

The men’s and women’s cross country teams travel to Waco to the Baylor Twilight Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 1 for their season opener.

volleyball

standings

briefings

ex- factor

Upcoming

On Wednesday Julie Coppedge, (soccer) Erik Forrister, (cross country) Kalynne Allen, (volleyball) and John David Baker (football) were chosen by ACU’s Athletic Department as student-athletes of the month for September.

Students will be able to use their meal plan or Bean Bucks to pay for the pregame party this Saturday at the ACU football game. The pregame party is from 4-5:30 p.m. at Shotwell Stadium. Kickoff is at 6 p.m. Adults can get into the game for $4 while ACU faculty/staff/students and families can get in for $3.

football

TeamACUASUENMUUIWMSUTSUCommerceTAMU-KWTAMU

Div.0-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-0

Ovrl.0-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-0

Texans defensive back Danieal Manning forced and recovered a fumble Saturday night against the Saints.

Daryl Richardson, run-ning back for the Rams, led his team against the Cowboys Saturday with 10 carries for 51 yards and a reception for 9 yards.

Bears defensive end Aston Whiteside played in the first game of his NFL career Friday in a win over the Giants.

TeamACUASUCameronENMUUIWMSUTSUCommerceTAMU-KTWUWTAMU

Div.0-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-0

Ovrl.0-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-0

soccer

TeamACUASUENMUUIWMSUCommerceTWUWTAMU

Div.0-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-0

Ovrl.0-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-0

Husband, wife duo join ‘Cats staff

The husband-and-wife team of Teddy and Debby Abbott were recently hired by softball head coach Bob-by Reeves to serve as assis-tant coaches.

Debby is taking over for Reeves’ daughter-in-law as ACU’s full-time assistant coach. Teddy is serving as a volunteer assistant coach.

Debby worked with Reeves while he coached at Texas Tech University. She has not worked with a college team since 2003 although, she was a club

consultant and assisted in-volved her husband when he was a coach at the Uni-versity of Tulsa and East Central University.

Reeves said the hiring of Debby and Teddy was a no-brainer.

“Anytime a head coach goes through the process of hiring assistants, you have to hire the people you know will help you be successful,” he said. “Having coached with Debby before, I knew exactly what she was about.”

“Her and Teddy both are great people,” Reeves said. “It was an easy thought pro-cess for me.”

Debby played softball for

the University of Oklahoma and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in educa-tion from Northeastern State University.

Before working with Reeves at Tech, she was a coach at Muskogee (Okla.) High School for five years. The Roughers played in five regional championships and two Large Division 6A State Championships dur-ing Debby’s tenure.

Debby is happy to be reac-quainted with Coach Reeves.

“I am thrilled to get back to coaching with Coach Reeves,” she said. “It has been a good reunion. To be able to coach again with

my husband is great too.”Teddy’s college coaching

experience includes three years assisting at East Central and then two years at Tulsa.

He also coached at the high school level and worked for 20 years in the summer ball league and club team circuits. He was on ECU’s staff last season when they lost two of three games to the Wildcats.

“I was somewhat fa-miliar with ACU’s team already,” Teddy said. “We played them for three years while I was at East Central. I didn’t know what ACU had to offer until we got on cam-pus. It’s a special place.”

Teddy and Debby have been married for over 30 years and have two chil-dren. Their daughter, Lindsey, played softball for Oklahoma and Wichita State University.

The entire pitching staff will return to next year’s squad, in addition to all-region outfielder Keanna Winkfield and Lone Star Conference Newcomer of the Year Courtney Flanary.

The ‘Cats begin their season Feb. 1 at St. Mary’s University.

softball

Edward isaacssports Editor

contact isaacs [email protected]

Football show back with a new face

With the ACU campus and student body finish-ing out the first week of classes and the football season beginning this Saturday, that can only mean one thing: The Ken Collums show is back.

The Journalism and Mass Communications

studio productions class has been working non-stop to ensure that this season will be one to re-member.

“The Ken Collums show covers and reviews the games we’ve played, previews future games, does feature packages for players and coaches and pretty much covers ev-erything there is for ACU football,” said co-host of

the Ken Collums show, Taylor Langston.

“It’s a student run produc-tion and most of the students

involved are interested in re-porting and broadcasting.”

The show serves as an outlet to the Abilene

community, covering ev-erything there is to know about Wildcat football.

“I believe that the show was created mainly to promote ACU football and sports in general,” said Langston, senior broad-cast journalism major from Lubbock.

“This is the fourth or fifth year it’s been around,

football

daniel zepedasports reporter

Tomorrow night the long awaited return of ACU foot-ball will come to an end, as the Wildcats take on the McMurry War Hawks in an intracity match-up.

In an interesting juxta-position, McMurry will be playing in their first ever Division II football game, while the ‘Cats are headed to the greener pastures of the Southland Conference when this season comes to a close.

ACU has been a staple

in the Division II playoffs for the last few years, and will be looking to kick-start another successful season and prove that they are the best team Abilene has to offer.

“They have a great coaching staff, those guys are really good,” head coach Ken Collums said. “They are a legitimate pro-gram, and if you are not ready to play them, you are going to get beat.”

There will be no short-age of offense on Saturday, as both teams scored over 35 points a game in the 2011 season, largely because of

their ability to move the ball across the field.

“We have that air raid offense and it’s no mystery what we are going to do,” McMurry student Reid Frazier said. “But we went into UTSA last year and beat them in their own sta-dium, so even though we

are the underdog anything is possible for us.”

McMurry quarterbacks Jake Mullin and Stephen Warren split time last year, racking up over 4,000 yards and over 40 touchdowns. However, Mullin took the lion’s share of the snaps and scored 34 touchdowns in his junior campaign.

“They are going to throw the ball, and if Jake is on, they are a tough team to beat,” Collums said. “Mc-Murry is going to be ready to play on Saturday.”

The key to the game for ACU will be to not let the War Hawks hang around.

The Wildcats have superior talent at nearly every posi-tion, and should be able to put this game away in the first half.

There is nothing better than spending a Saturday night under the lights and taking in a college football match-up, especially when city bragging rights are on the line. Kickoff is at 6:00 p.m. on the field of Shot-well Stadium.

football

matthew sloansports reporter

contact sloan [email protected]

Ken Collumshead coach

acu football

McMurray is going to be ready to play on

Saturday.”“

taylor langstonsenior broadcast journalism major from lubbock

I believe the show was created mainly to promote ACU football and sports in general.”“

mandy lambright chief Photographer

Junior running back Charcandrick West takes the hand-off and speeds past an offensive lineman. West will be one of the keys to the Wildcat’s running game this year. He had 1,194 all-purpose yards last year and scored five touchdowns.

Wildcats to play McMurryfor the first time in 41 years.

CROSS-TOWN RIVALRY RENEWED

see show page 7

The Optimist - 08.31.12

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Transcript of The Optimist - 08.31.12