The Optimist - 11.16.12

6
The Medical and Counsel- ing Care Center has been a part of the ACU commu- nity since 1984. While the MACCC has grown, so has the number of students they serve. Because of the number of students using the MACCC has increased over the years, it is becom- ing difficult for students to schedule appointments. Steve Rowlands, Coun- seling Center director, said the center is well staffed, but the demand and desire to see a counselor has been increasing over the past 10 years. Rowlands said this is a trend other schools have been experiencing. While other schools limit the number of sessions a student may schedule, the counselors of the MACCC want to take the best care possible of the students. “We are committed to helping students reach their life goals and to grow as individuals,” Rowlands said. “This desire has left us with a high demand and therefore our resources are stretched. Ideally, we would like to have addi- tional counselors to help meet this need.” Rowlands said 10-12 percent of students use the services provided by the Counseling Center. In Oc- tober, the center provided 576 hours of counseling to the ACU community. Row- lands said this was a new all-time record. He said the Counsel- ing Center staff consists of Abi-Haus, one of Abilene’s newest restaurants, finally opens its doors to the pub- lic Friday evening. After months of prepara- tion, co-owners Jim Jackson and ACU design professor Ryan Feerer will begin serv- ing their “honest American food” to patrons. During the past week, Abi-Haus has offered soft openings to its fans on Facebook. Previews of their brunch, lunch and dinner menus on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday night were each booked within an hour of being posted. “We’ve had private par- ties and soft openings with nothing but positive feed- back,” said Feerer. “The people who have already been to the restaurant have been wanting to come back and we’re not even open yet. So I think that’s a good sign.” Their Facebook page has garnered nearly 900 likes since its creation in July while sales of their sour- dough bread loaves and the soft openings have kept res- idents anxious for the grand opening. “I’m really excited to see a new restaurant in Abilene that will offer something different,” said Taylor Ed- wards, senior Ad/PR major from Houston. “It will be really nice to have a place with such a great atmo- sphere and some of the foods that I’ve missed here in Abilene.” The menu includes many American classics with interesting twists. Visitors can try a kobe beef burger with gorgonzola cheese, Korean fish tacos, smoked lamb shank and many other meals that can’t be found elsewhere in Abilene. Jackson and Feerer pride themselves on fresh, made from scratch ingre- dients from condiments and sauces to burger buns meats. “We really see it as an art and a craft, said Feerer. “We still want to keep things simple so you can enjoy the flavor of the food. We’re not trying to mask those fla- vors, just trying to enhance them with really fresh in- gredients.” If the food wasn’t enough, the restaurant’s physical design is artfully designed. Located at 959 N. 2nd Street, right next to Betty & June, the design has a look unmatched by any other restaurant in Abilene. Typography by alum Jeff Rogers and chalk let- terer Dana Tanamachi line the walls. Bold phrases like “Long Live Abilene” and “Good Food Ends In Good Talk” can be seen inside the restaurant,. “We just wanted some- thing classy and different,” said Feerer. “Where you walk into the space and it doesn’t feel like you’re in Abilene.” Hours, menus and con- tact information are avail- able at www.good-haus. com and the restaurant will offer tables on a first come, first serve basis. “It’s something we felt Abilene was lacking,” said Feerer. “We felt it was our duty to open something like this for the city.” Abilene Christian University The 12,000 Club QB Mitchell Gale’s numbers put him in an elite club Sports Page 6 vol. 101, no. 23 friday, November 16, 2012 1 SECTION, 6 PAGES NEWS acuoptimist.com Rex Fleming faces his cancer with bravery beyond his years VIDEO INSIDE acuoptimist.com Wide receiver Darian Hogg bringing new style to the football field VIDEO Page 3 Physics return from national conference in Florida NEWS Page 5 Library dean looking to extend library hours past midnight NEWS Cycling Club president wins national title acuoptimist.com acuoptimist.com ACU will replace Blackboard with OpenClass by Fall 2013 NEWS Page 3 Sing Song directors encouraging sign-ups NEWS ONLINE acuoptimist.com ACU honors armed forces at Veteran’s Day Chapel VIDEO deaNNA ROMERO staff photographer Andrew Lang, junior musical theatre major from Abilene, gives an emotional performance in the ACU Theatre production of “Time Stands Still.” New restaurant opens downtown local CURTIS CHRISTIAN staff photographer Professors Ryan Feerer and Nil Santana, of the Department of Art and Design, attend a soft opening of Abi-Haus. contact singer at [email protected] david singer opinion page editor Each year, the freshmen Cor- nerstone classes are required to attend a play put on by the De- partment of Theatre. This year’s Cornerstone production, “Time Stands Still,” is much more than an entertainment piece, it is an invitation to discussion. The play tells the story of Sarah (Rachel Faulkner), a photo journal- ist who was injured while on the job in Iraq and returns home to live with her journalist boyfriend James (Nick Palmieri). While recovering at home they are visited by their old friend Richard (Andrew Lang) and his much younger girlfriend Man- dy (Hannah Browning), who they quickly label as shallow. Together, the characters struggle to define marriage, overcome Sar- ah’s infidelity and adjust to a tradi- tional lifestyle after years spent wit- nessing horrible events. “Time Stands Still,” could eas- ily be taken as a political piece because of its allusions to the war in Iraq, but Donald Margulies, the author of the play, said the play is not so much about the issues but how the characters respond to the issues. During the rehearsal process for the show, the cast attempted to completely immerse themselves in the lives of their characters. They Performances that ‘stand still’ see play page 5 alikay wood copy editor page 4 Abilene needs a better nightlife than what it offers OPINION Page 6 Volleyball team ends season in LSC tournament SPORTS Page 6 Women’s basketball team loses late lead to UT Permian Basin SPORTS Demand increases for counseling melany cox online managing editor students deanna romero staff photographer Nick Palmieri, senior musical theatre major from Amarillo and plays James in “Time Stands Still”, attempts to console an emotional Sarah, played by Sarah Faulkner, junior musical theatre major from Bloomington, Ind. see counseling page 5

description

A product of the JMC Network of student media at Abilene Christian University

Transcript of The Optimist - 11.16.12

Page 1: The Optimist - 11.16.12

The Medical and Counsel-ing Care Center has been a part of the ACU commu-nity since 1984. While the MACCC has grown, so has the number of students they serve. Because of the

number of students using the MACCC has increased over the years, it is becom-ing difficult for students to schedule appointments.

Steve Rowlands, Coun-seling Center director, said the center is well staffed, but the demand and desire to see a counselor has been increasing over the past 10

years. Rowlands said this is a trend other schools have been experiencing. While other schools limit the number of sessions a student may schedule, the counselors of the MACCC want to take the best care possible of the students.

“We are committed to helping students reach

their life goals and to grow as individuals,” Rowlands said. “This desire has left us with a high demand and therefore our resources are stretched. Ideally, we would like to have addi-tional counselors to help meet this need.”

Rowlands said 10-12 percent of students use the

services provided by the Counseling Center. In Oc-tober, the center provided 576 hours of counseling to the ACU community. Row-lands said this was a new all-time record.

He said the Counsel-ing Center staff consists of

Abi-Haus, one of Abilene’s newest restaurants, finally opens its doors to the pub-lic Friday evening.

After months of prepara-tion, co-owners Jim Jackson and ACU design professor Ryan Feerer will begin serv-ing their “honest American

food” to patrons. During the past week, Abi-Haus has offered soft openings to its fans on Facebook. Previews of their brunch, lunch and dinner menus on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday night were each booked within an hour of being posted.

“We’ve had private par-ties and soft openings with nothing but positive feed-

back,” said Feerer. “The people who have already been to the restaurant have been wanting to come back and we’re not even open yet. So I think that’s a good sign.”

Their Facebook page has garnered nearly 900 likes since its creation in July while sales of their sour-dough bread loaves and the soft openings have kept res-

idents anxious for the grand opening.

“I’m really excited to see a new restaurant in Abilene that will offer something different,” said Taylor Ed-wards, senior Ad/PR major from Houston. “It will be really nice to have a place with such a great atmo-sphere and some of the foods that I’ve missed here in Abilene.”

The menu includes many American classics with interesting twists. Visitors can try a kobe beef burger with gorgonzola cheese, Korean fish tacos, smoked lamb shank and many other meals that can’t be found elsewhere in Abilene. Jackson and Feerer pride themselves on fresh, made from scratch ingre-dients from condiments and sauces to burger buns meats.

“We really see it as an art and a craft, said Feerer. “We still want to keep things simple so you can enjoy the flavor of the food. We’re not trying to mask those fla-vors, just trying to enhance them with really fresh in-gredients.”

If the food wasn’t

enough, the restaurant’s physical design is artfully designed.

Located at 959 N. 2nd Street, right next to Betty & June, the design has a look unmatched by any other restaurant in Abilene.

Typography by alum Jeff Rogers and chalk let-terer Dana Tanamachi line the walls. Bold phrases like “Long Live Abilene” and “Good Food Ends In Good Talk” can be seen inside the restaurant,.

“We just wanted some-thing classy and different,” said Feerer. “Where you walk into the space and it doesn’t feel like you’re in Abilene.”

Hours, menus and con-tact information are avail-able at www.good-haus.com and the restaurant will offer tables on a first come, first serve basis.

“It’s something we felt Abilene was lacking,” said Feerer. “We felt it was our duty to open something like this for the city.”

Abilene Christian University

The 12,000 ClubQB Mitchell Gale’snumbers put him

in an elite club

SportsPage 6vol. 101, no. 23 friday, November 16, 2012 1 SECTION, 6 PAGES

NEWS

acuoptimist.com

Rex Fleming faces his cancer with bravery beyond his years

VIDEO

INSIDE

acuoptimist.com

Wide receiver Darian Hogg bringing new style to the football field

VIDEO

Page 3

Physics return from national conference in Florida

NEWS

Page 5

Library dean looking to extend library hours past midnight

NEWS

Cycling Club president wins national title

acuoptimist.com

acuoptimist.com

ACU will replace Blackboard with OpenClass by Fall 2013

NEWS

Page 3

Sing Song directors encouraging sign-ups

NEWS

ONLINE

acuoptimist.com

ACU honors armed forces at Veteran’s Day Chapel

VIDEO

deaNNA ROMERO staff photographer

Andrew Lang, junior musical theatre major from Abilene, gives an emotional performance in the ACU Theatre production of “Time Stands Still.”

New restaurant opens downtownlocal

CURTIS CHRISTIAN staff photographer

Professors Ryan Feerer and Nil Santana, of the Department of Art and Design, attend a soft opening of

Abi-Haus.

contact singer [email protected]

david singeropinion page editor

Each year, the freshmen Cor-nerstone classes are required to attend a play put on by the De-partment of Theatre. This year’s Cornerstone production, “Time Stands Still,” is much more than an entertainment piece, it is an invitation to discussion.

The play tells the story of Sarah (Rachel Faulkner), a photo journal-ist who was injured while on the job in Iraq and returns home to live with her journalist boyfriend James (Nick Palmieri). While recovering at home they are visited by their old friend Richard (Andrew Lang) and his much younger girlfriend Man-

dy (Hannah Browning), who they quickly label as shallow.

Together, the characters struggle to define marriage, overcome Sar-ah’s infidelity and adjust to a tradi-tional lifestyle after years spent wit-nessing horrible events.

“Time Stands Still,” could eas-ily be taken as a political piece because of its allusions to the war in Iraq, but Donald Margulies, the author of the play, said the play is not so much about the issues but how the characters respond to the issues.

During the rehearsal process for the show, the cast attempted to completely immerse themselves in the lives of their characters. They

Performances that ‘stand still’

see play page 5

alikay woodcopy editor

page 4

Abilene needs a better nightlife than what it offers

OPINION

Page 6

Volleyball team ends season in LSC tournament

SPORTS

Page 6

Women’s basketball team loses late lead to UT Permian Basin

SPORTS

Demand increases for counselingmelany cox

online managing editor

students

deanna romero staff photographer

Nick Palmieri, senior musical theatre major from Amarillo and plays James in “Time

Stands Still”, attempts to console an emotional Sarah, played by Sarah Faulkner, junior

musical theatre major from Bloomington, Ind.

see counseling page 5

Page 2: The Optimist - 11.16.12

16 17 18 19friday saturday sunday monday

11:30 a.m. World Wide Witness Interest Meet-ing

7:30 p.m. Fall Percus-sion Ensemble Con-cert at Cullen Audito-rium

8 p.m. Monk’s - Vocal Jazz recital

11 a.m. Leadership Summit meeting

7:30 p.m. Time Stands Still - ACU Theatre

7:30 p.m. SHADES Step Squad - STRENGTH

7:30 p.m. Piano Majors Recital

8 p.m. Men’s Basket-ball vs York College

3 p.m. RH - Jarrett Ward/Bree Hembree junior recital

6 p.m. Men’s Basket-ball vs Sul Ross U

7:30 p.m. Time Stands Still - ACU Theatre

7:30 p.m. SHADES Step Squad - STRENGTH

7:30 p.m. RH - Senior recital - Kristen Willis

Police Log

84 21@acuoptimist

The Optimist

[email protected]

friday 11.16.12 2

Police log

Announcements

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

The IRC in Abilene is collect-ing items such as towels and toiletries through Sigma Del-ta Pi on ACU campus in the Admin Building, Chambers Hall and the Campus Cen-ter throughout the month of November.

ACU Swing Cats is hosting les-sons for beginner and inter-mediate levels of swing danc-ing Thursday nights in SRWC Studio B. Intermediate lessons are at 8 p.m, and Beginners are at 9 p.m. Social dancing be-gins at 9:30 p.m.

World Wide Witness has an in-terest meeting Nov. 19 at 11:30 a.m. in the ACU Career Center. RSVP at ACU CareerLink under the events tab. Lunch will be provided.

Leadership Summit is having an interest meeting Nov. 16 from 11 - 11:50 a.m. in COBA 201. Chapel credit will be provided.

Summit Student Committee meetings occur the first Fri-day of each month. Students interested in joining can email [email protected].

The men of Pi Kappa are host-ing the fourth annual Turkey Throwdown 2012 Nov. 15-18. For more information email [email protected].

SAND will be hosting the 2nd annual Zumbathon in the SRWC Dec. 1 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Tickets will be $12 dollars (with a free t-shirt) in the Campus Center or $15 at the door.

Connections Cafe is now open in the Business build-ing. La Popular breakfast burritos and Mission Lazarus coffee are among many of the new items on their menu.

11/06/12 11:37 p.m. A resident director at Mabee Hall reported to ACUPD that several students had returned to Mabee Hall smelling strongly of marijuana. Officers re-sponded to the room and investi-gated. No marijuana was found, the matter was referred to Judicial Af-fairs for administrative follow-up.

11/09/12 1:15 p.m. A student re-ported the theft of his bicycle from the rack outside of Smith-Adams Hall.

11/09/2012 11:37 p.m. ACUPD was called to respond to a loud party in building 3 at the Inn at Heritage Park apartment complex. Two minor ACU students were issued MIP citations.

11/09/2012 4 a.m. A Foster Sci-ence Bldg staff member reported that unknown persons had broken into room 200 in the Walling Lecture Hall on several occasions, damaging the lock and door hinges. It appears as though the people are attempting to use sound A/V equipment.

11/10/2012 2:51 a.m. ACUPD re-sponded to an RD’s report of a stu-dent consuming and possessing al-cohol in his dorm room. No arrest or citation, student referred to Judicial Affairs for administrative conduct follow-up.

11/10/2012 3:30 a.m. A student reported the theft of the spoiler off of her Mustang. The spoiler was lo-cated in the 1800 block of Lincoln. Of note, APD notes a recent rash of spoiler thefts from various locations throughout the city.

Volunteer Opp0rtunities

Chapel checkup

911 CALL 1 ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIVITY 6ALCOHOL INCIDENT 2ASSIST 4BARRICADES 1BICYCLE PATROL 2BUILDING LOCK/UNLOCK 9CHECK BUILDING 113CRIMINAL MISCHIEF 2DRUG ACTIVITY/OFFENSE 2ESCORT 3FOOT PATROL 1FOUND PROPERTY 3INFORMATION REPORT 3INVESTIGATION FOLLOW UP 5LOST PROPERTY 1MEDICAL EMERGENCY 1MONITOR FACILITY/LOT 2MOTORIST ASSIST: JUMPSTART 7MOTORIST ASSIST: UNLOCK 9

OTHER 6PARKING LOT PATROL 3PARKING VIOLATION 3PATROL VEHICLE MAINTENANCE 9PATROL VEHICLE: REFUEL 9PUBLIC SERVICE 1RANDOM PATROL 18REPORT WRITING 5SUICIDE (ATT & ACTUAL) 1SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY 2THEFT 3TRAFFIC STOP 7

Police Tip of the WeekLoud parties and alcohol violations in the ACU neighborhood are a recurring problem on week-ends. It is easy to keep your party legal – Keep the party small, keep patrons inside, keep noise levels down. And NEVER allow minors to be present if you have alcohol at your event.

The Center for International Education is looking for con-versation partners for international students to practice English, conversations and cultural learning. Partners meet for one hour at a time each week at a location of their choosing. For more information contact Laura McGregor at 325-674-2821 or [email protected].

St. John’s Episcopal School is seeking volunteers to paint metal playground equipment anytime Monday-Friday after 3 p.m. and Saturday anytime. For more information contact Rebecca McMillon at 325-695-8870 or [email protected].

Center for Contemporary Arts needs a gallery assistant to greet patrons, answer phones and answer basic questions about the Center and its programs. This opportunity is open Tuesday-Friday. The Center for Contemporary Arts is located at 220 Cypress Street. For more information con-tact Jessica Dulle at 325-677-8389 or visit: http://www.center-arts.com/.

Rescue the Animals is seeking volunteers to take pic-tures and videos in preparation for the launching of their new website as well as maintenance of the site after the launch. This opportunity is open Monday, Tuesday, Thurs-day and Friday from 1 p.m. - 5 p.m. For more information contact Kathy Walker at 325-677-7722 or [email protected].

The National Center For Children’s Illustrated Literature is looking for volunteers to greet patrons, assist with art activities, sell books and make visitors feel welcome. Help is also needed for special events like Artwalk and exhibit openings. The NCCIL is located at 102 Cedar St. For more information on times and dates contact Debby Lillick at 325-673-4586 or visit: http://www.nccil.org/index.htm.

The Christian Ministries of Abilene: Food Pantry is searching for volunteers to greet and interview neighbors, do comput-er entries, shop with neighbors, take groceries to vehicles, bag, stock and pick up orders on Mondays and Fridays from 9:30 a.m. - 11:45 a.m. and 1 p.m. - 2:15 p.m. and on Wednesdays from 9:30 a.m. - 11:45 a.m. The Food Pantry is located at 701 Walnut St. For more information contact Becky Almanza at 325-673-1234 or [email protected].

The Christian Service Center is seeking volunteers to help assist with filling requests for items such as clothing, bedding, kitchen utensils, etc. from the donation center, sort and organize donations and occasionally pick-up donated items. Volunteers are needed every weekday and the first Saturday of each month between 9 a.m. - 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. - 4 p.m. For more information contact Roberta

Brown at 325-673-7561 or [email protected]. For more information on the program visit http://www.uccabilene.org/ministries/csc.htm.

The Food Bank of West Central Texas needs volunteers to help sort and stock food and other items any weekday Monday-Friday from 8 a.m.-3 p.m. The Food Bank is located at 5505 N. 1st St. For more information contact Janice Ser-rault at 325-695-6311 or [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. - 1 p.m. Drivers must be at least 18 years old and have a valid driver’s license. Train-ing is provided. For more information contact Samantha Barker at 352-672-5050 or visit http://mealsonwheelsp-lus.com

The Salvation Army is looking for volunteers for a variety of needs including sorting and pricing items in the thrift store, helping in the kitchen and/or doing yard work. Times are flexible. Volunteers are needed throughout the week Monday-Saturday. The Salvation Army is located at 1726 Butternut St. For more information contact J.D. Alonzo at 325-677-1408 or visit www.satruck.com. The House That Kerry Built is looking for volunteers to assist in the day care of medically fragile children any day Monday-Friday from 9 a.m. - 11 a.m. or 3 p.m. - 5 p.m. Contact Keith Loftin at 325-672-6061.

The International Rescue Committee is seeking volun-teers to work with refugees who recently moved to the U.S., teaching English, helping with homework and men-toring. Contact Susanna Lubango to make an appoint-ment at 325-675-5643.

The Covenant Place of Abilene is seeking volunteers to lead singing and/or play piano for residents. For more information contact Ann Erwin at 325-793-1144.

University Place is seeking volunteers to help with the resident birthday party for residents the third Wednesday of each month at 2:30 p.m. For more information contact Linda Tijerina at 325-676-9946.

Breakfast on Beech Street is seeking volunteers to help set up, prepare and serve breakfast to homeless/lower in-come folks any Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at 5:30 a.m. or Tuesday at 5 a.m. B.O.B.S is located at First Christian Church on 3rd St. and Beech St. Service times must be scheduled in advance. To serve on Mondays contact Jody Depriest at 325-669-3312 or jody.depriest@

gmail.com. To serve on Tuesdays contact Allen Daugh-erty at 325-660-6949 or [email protected]. To serve on Wednesdays contact Jane Harvey at 325-695-0092 or [email protected]. To serve on Thursdays contact Margaret Beasley at 325-692-4149 or [email protected]. To serve on Fridays contact Rachel Brown at [email protected].

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 also seeking volunteers to help clean/feed animals, assist zookeepers and assist with educational classes any weekday any time between 12 p.m.-4 p.m. The Zoo is located at 2070 Zoo Ln. Contact Joy Harsh at 325-676-6487 for more information.

Christian Homes & Family Services is seeking volunteers to do minor landscaping such as raking, trimming bushes, minor apartment repairs and general upkeep Monday-Saturday from 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. For more information contact Shaylee Honey at 325-677-2205 or [email protected].

Hill Resources is seeking volunteers to encourage and entertain mentally delayed individuals Monday through Friday any time between 10 a.m.-2 p.m. For more infor-mation contact Michelle Espinoza at 325-673-3346 or [email protected].

The Oaks at Radford Hills is seeking volunteers to par-ticipate in activities, go on outings and provide social stimulation for residents any day at any time. For more information contact Michelle White or Sonia Serrato at 325-672-3236.

Rescue the Animals is seeking volunteers to work at the adoption center doing a variety of tasks including clean-ing, socializing and grooming the animals Monday - Sat-urday from 1 p.m.-5 p.m. For more information contact Mindi Qualls at 325-698-7722 or [email protected].

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

Weekly Stats For Week of Nov. 6-Nov. 13, 2012 - Total Events: 243

Page 3: The Optimist - 11.16.12

Friday 11.16.123 campus news

Society of Physics students attend conference

The Society of Physics Students is continuing its efforts to promote science through outreach follow-ing its trip to PhysCon last weekend.

On Nov. 8-10, two na-tional physics clubs, the Society of Physics Stu-dents and the Physics Honor Society, convened in Orlando, Fla. for the 2012 Quadrennial Physics Congress. Often simply referred to as “PhysCon,” the Quadrenniel Physics Congress is conducted once every four years. Over 800 students attend-ed, 30 of which were from ACU.

PhysCon is the only physics conference in the nation that is specifically geared toward undergrad-uates. It also serves as a platform through which the Society of Physics Students and the Physics Honor Society, also called Sigma Pi Sigma, can set their agenda for the next four years.

The theme this year was “connecting worlds through science and ser-vice.” Speakers presented ways students could use their physics degrees and encouraged them to look

outside traditional scien-tific outlets like teaching or spending time in a lab-oratory. Carson Brown, ju-nior engineering-physics major from Odessa, said he was exposed to infor-mation he wouldn’t nor-mally have been taught.

“I learned how much research and study is go-ing on outside of just the normal fields that you hear about,” Brown said.

SPS has been prepar-ing to attend PhysCon for the past four years. The total cost of the trip was about $20,000, including registration, the use of a charter bus and the cost of a hotel. The organization sought sponsorships and departmental funding, and also sold liquid nitro-gen ice cream, Sonic com-munity cards and baked goods to help fundraise. Ultimately, each student was only responsible for paying $50 to help cover registration.

A variety of speakers

and workshops focused on ways science could be spread outside of usual scientific platforms. Spen-cer Lynn, president of the ACU chapter of Society of Physics Students, said scientific outreach was promoted heavily at Phy-sCon.

“In explaining physics, we need to do it in a way that does not sacrifice the content of it,” said Lynn, senior physics major from White Oak. “But we need to present it in a way that is in a language everyone can understand.”

The Society of Physics Students is already heav-ily involved in promot-ing science outside of the classroom. Twice a year, the group hosts a “Sci-ence Cafe,” during which a physicist will give a brief presentation on a popular idea in physics. SPS also conducts “Physics Road-shows.” Members visit elementary schools and give scientific concepts to young children.

“We blow stuff up, we do different tricks, we use liquid nitrogen,” Lynn said. “We deliver a lot of content to the kids. They go home thinking, ‘Wow, science is cool.’”

The Society of Physics Students meets on Tues-days during Chapel in

Foster Science Building Room 350. Meetings are open to all students.

organizations

Josh Garcia staff reporter

contact garcia [email protected]

Class and club acts encourage applications

Sing Song auditions will begin this week, and class and club acts are calling all hopefuls to bring their best Sing Song faces to the stage.

ACU’s 57th Sing Song production is well under-way with class and social clubs acts mostly audi-tioning using a virtual first-come, first-serve sign-up.

The women’s social club Ko Jo Kai’s act will be led by senior elemen-tary education major,

Keslie Bernard. Bernard said it is a many girls try to score a spot in the act.

“Our audition process isn’t really an audition,” Bernard said. “We usu-ally send out an email and the first one hundred girls to reply are the ones that get in. Then we start a waiting list and girls will get to join if anyone drops out.”

For some class acts, like the three-year reign-ing champion senior class, director Nick Ta-tum also said it is always a challenge to cut it down to only one hundred peo-ple.

“There are no tryouts, but we have people fill out an online applica-tion,” Tatum said. “We choose based off of atti-tude and enthusiasm, not musical ability.”

Director of the fresh-man act, Ethan Alexan-der, a worship ministry major from Fort Worth, said he is expecting many people to come to try-outs.

“There have been a lot of people who want to try out,” Alexander. “A lot of people come up to me and say stuff like, ‘I’m not a good singer,’ or ‘I’m to shy, but I really want

to do Sing Song.’ We’re making the audition pro-cess as fun as possible by letting people try out in groups and having them sing whatever they want. We just want everyone who wants to be involved to actually be involved.”

Though Sing Song sea-son does not officially be-gin until next semester, the class and club acts have made it clear: the competition begins now.

“We are feeling pretty confident”, said Alexan-der. “We know that Nick Tatum has quite a reputa-tion around here for com-manding Sing Song. Me

and my co-director, Kirk, have watched a lot of past Sing Song YouTube vid-eos. We like to call ‘game film.’ We know what we have to do to win, and now it’s just about ex-ecuting.”

For those on the fence about participating in this years Sing Song show, director of student productions Tom Craig

said, “Sing Song is a great experience, one you will remember for the rest of your life. Every ACU stu-dent should experience Sing Song at least once in their ACU career.”

sing song

Series honors women entrepreneurs

The Griggs Center for En-trepreneurship and Phi-lanthropy welcomed April Anthony, founder of En-compass Home Health, to campus Tuesday afternoon for the final event in the fall Entrepreneur Speaker Se-ries.

“For the Entrepreneur Speaker Series we have dif-ferent areas of focus for dif-ferent events,” said Dr. Jim Litton, director of the Griggs Center. “Today’s focus was on women’s entrepreneur-ship, and April is a great example within our ACU community of a successful woman entrepreneur.”

Also as a part of the Wom-en’s Entrepreneurship se-ries, Darbie Angell, founder of CRU Dinnerware, spoke to about 50 students who were a part of the Women in Business and the Collegiate

Entrepreneurs’ Organiza-tion (CEO.)

Angell addressed the group via a video confer-ence and shared her story of being a young mom and entrepreneur.

A group of students and community members had the opportunity to engage in a question-and-answer session with Anthony at a luncheon following Angell’s Chapel talk.

Rachel Katagiri, sopho-more international studies major from Arlington, is a member of CEO and said listening to Anthony speak was encouraging to her, be-cause she plans on becom-ing an entrepreneur in the future.

“It’s awesome that ACU even hosts these types of events because it’s not like you’re going to run into these people just walk-ing down the street, so it’s cool that they give students opportunities to come to

events like this,” Katagiri said.

Katagiri said students do not have to already have an idea for a new business to come to these events and encouraged more students to take advantage of the opportunity to learn more about the business world.

Anthony said she enjoyed the opportunity to speak to students.

“It is fun to share your story and let people turn the textbook into reality,” An-thony said.

Anthony encouraged students to follow their pas-sions and find a job that they love doing.

“Her story embodies what ACU is all about, being successful in your work but also focusing on faith and giving back to others,” Lit-ton said.

Coba

Samantha sutehrlandfeature editor

contact sutherland [email protected]

spencer Lynnpresident of the acu

society of physics students

In explaining physics, we need to do it in a way

that does not sacrifce the content of it.”“

paige otway Staff Photographer

Laura Kaminsky, senior management major from Oceanside, Cali., performs with Sanc-tify Dance Co. Sanctify and SHADES will perform together on Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in Cullen Auditorium.

gabi powellstudent reporter

contact the optimist [email protected]

Students, faculty volunteer with United Way

For many years ACU stu-dents, staff and faculty have served many non-profit organizations with the help of the United Way of Abilene.

The United Way of Abilene directly benefits local organizations such as FaithWorks, Big Broth-ers Big Sisters, the Food Bank of West Central Tex-as, the Noah Project and other organizations. Many

students, staff and faculty at ACU are involved with these organizations, and directly benefit from the pledge drive hosted by ACU each year.

The United Way of Abilene provides opportu-nities for students to work and serve in the Abilene community. Some stu-dents have to complete an internship requirement in order for them to gradu-ate, but others see a need for more student service by volunteering.

Each year ACU chooses

a representative on cam-pus whose job is to en-courages our community to be involved with United Way of Abilene. This year’s representative is Greg Wil-son.

“All of these organiza-tions in town that benefit through the United Way of Abilene help raise aware-ness for the things that are aligned with the mis-sion of ACU, to educate students for service in the world,” Wilson said.

Chancellor Royce Mon-ey spoke in Chapel on Oct.

31 about his involvement with the United Way of Abilene in the past and the many opportunities stu-dents and faculty have to support this cause.

“I have been involved with the United Way since the early 1980’s, and I was drawn to the organization because it’s the best way I think, to contribute to the many nonprofit organiza-tions the United Way of Abilene supports,” Money said. “It makes a lot of sense to see the problems in a community, and to

contribute to an organi-zation that helps multiple ministries, rather than just one ministry. The United Way of Abilene does just that.”

The United Way strives for organized account-ability with the nonprofits they partner with. They want the people volun-teering their time and money to know their dol-lar is not going to waste. The companies meet their goals, with the help and support of the United Way of Abilene.

There are currently fif-ty-six students who work for the nonprofits fund-ed by the United Way of Abilene, but they are still in need of volunteers. For more information on vol-unteer opportunities pick up the pledge form fill out the key information and return the document to ACU Box 29106 by Friday.

service

jimmy isbellstudent reporter

contact the optimist [email protected]

Page 4: The Optimist - 11.16.12

At 1:17 a.m., the line is a twenty minute wait. Al-most every table is filled with college students from ACU, Hardin Sim-mons and McMurry. Sev-eral cops sit together to make sure nothing gets out of control.

Business is booming as usual at Whataburger.

But what else are col-lege students supposed to do after midnight? Or

even after 10 p.m.? The sad fact is, Whataburg-er has a monopoly on Abilene night life.

Yes, the Honey Butter Chicken Biscuit is deli-cious. But a town with al-most 9,000 hungry college students deserves more than that.

However, this isn’t just about the college students. This is about good busi-ness. If Whataburger is

any indication of what this town wants, then there is a large amount of money just waiting to be made.

But students don’t just want quantity. We want quality. More Whataburg-ers aren’t the answer. We crave a certain atmosphere.

And Abilene has a downtown that has the potential to give us that.

There are already some businesses that display downtown’s potential.

Monks Coffee Shop with its eclectic furniture, sur-prisingly trendy live music and snarky slogan– “keep Abilene boring”– creates an atmosphere that suc-cessfully reflects what stu-dents are looking for.

Hickory Street Cafe is always crammed full of

female college students looking for delicious sandwiches and tea and a comfortable European atmosphere.

Betty & June is a wom-en’s clothing boutique with high prices but carries ex-

tremely tasteful clothes and accessories. It stands out from the other usual Abilene boutiques that pro-vide dresses that should only be worn with boots.

Abi-Haus, celebrat-ing its opening today, is a restaurant with “hon-est American food” and a modern, typographic inte-rior. Abi-Haus is co-owned by ACU art professor Ryan Feerer who understands the market the colleges provide. The restaurant will create the atmosphere college students want until 1 a.m. on Fridays. He sees the potential in downtown Abilene.

It’s historic. It has char-acter. It should be hopping.

With higher-quality things to do and to eat, the universities will have more leverage to get high-er-quality students and professors.

The students who choose Abilene do it pure-

ly because their desire to attend these schools is greater than their disdain for the town. If Abilene is revitalized, then poten-tial students won’t have to sacrifice the quality expe-rience of ACU for a quality college-town culture.

Abilene is brimming with potential. And the town is slowly realizing that. It’s like a pre-teen who has exited puberty and hasn’t realized his voice isn’t cracking any-more. Abilene just needs a little confidence.

Until then, Whata-burger will continue to be extremely profitable.

For many, the college years are when reality re-ally hits. Serious illnesses become more real, friends get divorced, families fall apart, houses get robbed, buses crash, money gets tight and good people miss out on opportuni-ties they deserve because of circumstances that are out of their control. More and more students will experience people they know dying. And, after about four years, they will part ways with many friends for the last time as they move to various cor-ners of the world.

The shocker is, each students’ life is going to be filled with a lot more of these life-shaking experi-ences. There is an option, however, for students to decide that the difficult things he or she encoun-ters in life will not be made into a tragedy. The alternative is to be devas-tated and debilitated by each grievous event.

Many have done the latter, and their lives are still in shambles from past events, whether that be something like a breakup, being passed over for a po-sition they really wanted or losing someone close to them. Not only are the outcomes of those events still tearing them apart, but those outcomes affect their loved ones as well, since they must watch them continue to suffer defeat. But those who do the opposite, who contin-ue to find their joy in God, bless those around them and all others who might have been affected by the incident.

Maybe the real pain comes as a result of not being able to see the com-plete plan and how one painful event fits into it. People can give that one event the power to destroy them or change their life

constructively.So, how do people cope

with evil in the world?The default response

seems to be to assume that God must be unable to control everything, but that leaves very little room for faith in Him. Who would want to only be able to trust Him to in-tercede in the situations He can supposedly ‘han-dle’? God is all powerful, and He does have total control. However, He has granted humankind the ability to choose. There-fore, the better question is: Why do people let bad things happen?

Perhaps asking this question could change the way people react to or receive evil events. People ask why God lets people starve, but why do they themselves let people starve? People ask why God let a tragic event mess up their plans for a happy and perfect life, but why do they let at-tacks from Satan shake them and their faith so successfully?

It may remain hard to justify the evil that hap-pens in people’s lives, but one thing that can change is the way it is received. If people chase to view themselves as victims, attacks by the Devil will continue to wreak havoc on the world.

Those Christians that have refused to let their faith and optimism wa-ver despite the pain and torture they have experi-enced have shown us all that there exists a genu-ine hope that, in times of trouble, continues to ra-diate light in the absolute darkest of places.

EVAN’s marks evan marks

4FRIDAY 11.16.12Opinion

Mark Smitheditor in chief

marissa jonesmanaging editor

david singeropinion page editor

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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

I have a confession to make. I’ve already put up my Christmas tree.

Here’s my reasoning behind it:

According to tradi-tion, the holiday season starts on Thanksgiving (or after Santa makes his appearance at the end of the Macy’s Thanksgiv-ing Day Parade). Once I return from Thanksgiv-ing break I will only have three weeks left in my apartment before I have to pack up and go home for Christmas. These three weeks will be rid-dled with tests and last minute assignments, and will therefore leave me with little time to enjoy my decor.

So my roommate and I went ahead and put our tree up now. All the more time to enjoy the ambiance.

The weeks following Halloween but preced-ing Thanksgiving are al-ways an awkward time. It’s like the “lame-duck” period of the holidays or, as I prefer to call it, “pre-Christmas.”

During pre-Christmas, there are a lot of mixed feelings about the season. Walmart has already had their Christmas decora-tions on the shelves for weeks and Starbucks is now selling those amaz-ing peppermint mocha lattes. But what hap-pened to Thanksgiving? You’d think for a country that loves any excuse to eat food and throw par-ties would make a bigger deal about Thanksgiving.

Here are the pros and cons of pre-Christmas.

Pro: The Christmas spirit is creeping into the

air. Christmas is the most magical time of the year. Why wouldn’t we want that spirit to linger for as long as possible?

Con: Thanksgiving is for being thankful while Christmas is about giv-ing and receiving. We of-ten forget that we must first be thankful before we receive our wonderful presents. I think that’s why God planned to have Thanksgiving prior to Christmas.

Pro: The longer we think about Christmas, the more time we have to get a jump start on our Christmas shopping. And there are some great deals this time of the year.

Con: Black Friday is getting out of hand. The store hours are ridicu-lous, but the craziest part is the people who actually wait in line at something o’clock in the morning for hours on end to get that perfect item. Don’t get me wrong, shopping is tons of fun. But the obsession with stuff kind of defeats the purpose of Thanks-giving.

Bottom line, there’s nothing wrong with get-ting in the Christmas mood a little early, but Thanksgiving is too im-portant to be simply over-looked.

So on Thursday, spend time with people you love, eat some delicious food, watch the Macy’s Parade or some football and, most importantly, take some time to be grateful.

contact the optimist [email protected]

contact SUTHERLAND [email protected]

contact cox [email protected]

EDITORIAL

Column

Downtown Abilene’s much needed facelift

Keeping faithful, even in darkness

the issueDespite the town’s three colleges, downtown Abilene has long been associated with everything but college life. The restuarants close at 9 p.m. and the yellow lights flash at 10 p.m. All that’s left is Whataburger.

our takeStudents are more than ready for a city center with nightlife, entertainment or at the very least a couple good restaurants that stay open late.

COLUMN

Pros and cons of “pre-Christmas”

hashtagACU

@KarenH007@DJD_83@LaramieGreene@megkeav@marafleet @MasonCobern

11:24 a.m. Nov. 15

11:17 a.m. Nov. 15

11:02 a.m. Nov. 159:59 a.m. Nov. 149:16 a.m. Nov. 15 6:18 p.m. Nov. 9

Brownies go out to the owner of the most cre-ative tweet about me falling...ready,go!

@KarenH007 walk much?

Typical @KarenH007. Falling in front of the whole chapel to make an announcement. I expect nothing less.

The world would be a better place if we all loved anyone even half as much as Annie loves everyone.

Kudos to the guy still brave enough to wear Chacos #BabyItsCold-Outside

Ready for some peace and quiet this weekend. And guns. And football. #ManStuff

DISTURBANCEIN THE FORCE

MELANY COX

CULTURAL CLICHÉSAMANTHA SUTHERLAND

You’d think for a country that loves any excuse to

eat food and throw parties would make a bigger deal

about Thanksgiving.”“

Abilene is brimmingwith potential. And it’s slowly realizing that.”“

Page 5: The Optimist - 11.16.12

three full-time counselors, one part-time counselor, a part-time psychiatrist and himself. He said the center has approximately 30 hours of appointments available each day.

When the center is at full capacity and unable to schedule any more ap-pointments, Rowlands said they give clients the option of being placed on a waiting list, participat-ing in group activities or given a list of references in the community. He said most students choose the waiting list, but a few ask to be referred.

“Additionally, even during peak times of the semester when our sched-ules are full we evaluate each request for counsel-ing and those who are in crisis or have significant

needs are worked in as soon as possible,” Row-lands said.

Rowlands said leaders in Student Life and the university are aware of the situation and are working to find a solution that will benefit the students.

Dr. Jeff Arrington, as-sociate vice president for Student Life, described the work done in the Counseling Center as a “tremendous service” to the students and the ACU community.

He said he has made three suggestions to Rowlands in order to benefit the center. These suggestions include the use of group therapy/counseling when nec-essary and the use of a waiting list “in combina-tion with Steve’s profes-sional judgement about the situations that merit

immediate attention.”Another solution Ar-

rington has suggested is to ask the staff to work to-gether to decide if any cli-ents are staying in therapy too long.

“The counselors are wonderful people who do what they do out of a de-sire to help people face tough challenges,” Ar-rington said. “Sometimes this desire to help makes it hard on a counselor to suggest that a particu-lar client does not need to continue therapy. For a person with a heart to help others, this can be a particularly challeng-ing conversation. They have implemented a peer review process to help insure that students and others with critical issues are able to see a counselor that merit immediate at-tention.”

Arrington said he has great confidence in Row-lands’ leadership and professional judgement in regards to Student Life’s resources with the best possible service for the MACCC’s clients.

were lucky enough to have a Skype session with David Lesson, a war photographer from Dallas.

The cast said Lesson fo-cused a lot on the greater good versus the greater guilt. He discussed the eth-ics of war photography and the complexity of dealing with such a delicate moral issue.

Andrew Lang who por-trayed Richard in the play said their job as actors was essentially the same as war photographers, instead of going overseas to shoot pic-tures or write stories that tell truth, actors portray these universals through their plays.

“We’re telling truth of what happens and how this affects people,” Lang said.

Although “Time Stands

Still” deals with intense is-sues of war, truth and ethics it is, at its core, a love story. The play is poignant, well acted and unsettling, leav-ing students with questions long after the curtain drops, the final one taking place on Saturday.

friday 11.16.125 news/sports

Library hours, checkout could be extended

The library is considering extending its hours from 12 a.m. to 1 a.m. during the week.

Dr. John Weaver, dean of library services and edu-cational technology, met with the Students’ Associa-tion Wednesday evening to discuss changes the library could make to improve its service to students. Several SA members voiced their desire to extend library hours, but Weaver said in-creasing hours would be a challenging endeavor.

“We’re hearing all the time that our students want longer hours. The reality is this is a time where we are

facing budget challenges at ACU,” Weaver said. “I’ve actually had to reduce stu-dent-workers hours in the library by 10 percent this year, and that’s directly re-lated to our ability to keep the library open longer.”

The library closes at mid-night on Monday-Thursday. Weaver said by the next academic year he plans to move closing time from 12-1 a.m on those days.

“My goal would be to be open 24/7. We’re not go-ing to be there for a while,” Weaver said. “What we’re hearing is that if we can at least move to 1 a.m. that would be a significant step.”

Weaver also addressed the amount of time a stu-dent can have a book checked out. A student can

hold a book for up to six weeks before having to re-new the checkout period. Weaver said he hopes to extend this time to a full semester, but it might take until the end of the aca-demic year to implement.

“I am arguing for longer check out periods,” Weaver said. “Not only students, but also the faculty think in terms of at least a semester duration for this material.”

Additionally, Weaver

said the library may add additional outlets on the top floor; formally desig-nate quiet zones; replace the current elevator and increase awareness about library services.

Congress also voted to pass a resolution in support of Basement Bash, an event meant to increase social interaction between stu-dents. The resolution was introduced by Junior Presi-dent Brady Kyle, Junior Vice

President Bryson Shake and Junior Treasurer Bo Brad-dock.

“Basically, Basement Bash is the going-away party for the bowling alley,” said Braddock, junior biol-ogy major from Deer Park. “We did an event similar to this last year and it went well.”

Basement Bash will be conducted on Nov. 27 from 7-9 p.m. in the Campus Center bowling alley. The funding for Basement Bash will be provided by fresh-men and juniors, but stu-dents from all classes are invited to participate.

Congress will not meet next week because of the Thanksgiving holiday break.

students’ association

Josh garciastaff reporter

contact garcia [email protected]

Several representatives did not attend the meeting on Wednesday

Asim DobuniMcKinzie Hall representative

Kaitlyn Warton McDonald Hall representative

Emily O’RearSherrod representative

Alex FalconHarding Administration representative

Counseling: Center under high student demandStudents

Continued from page 1

Play: Production encourages CORE discussiontheatre

contact wood [email protected]

contact cox [email protected]

Wildcats disappointed with tough loss

The Wildcats Women’s bas-ketball team suffered their first loss of the season Tues-day night as they were un-able to catch up to Texas-Permian Basin. ACU let a twelve point lead slip away in the second half and was never able to recover as UT-PB walked out of Moody Coliseum with a 74-71 win.

“We were disappointed with the way the game turned out but we aren’t focusing on the loss,” senior Kelsey Smith said. “We have a couple weeks of practice before our next game, so that’s where our focus is right now.”

Just like in their season opener against Texas A&M International, the game was very close starting off, as neither team was able to establish much of a lead. UT-PB tried to work the ball inside on offense, but the Wildcats defense was im-penetrable as they forced bad shots and turnovers.

ACU came alive towards the end of the half, pushing the lead to nine and forcing three shot clock violations on defense. The Wildcats went into the locker room with a 38-29 half time lead.

“Both teams came out fighting and ready to play and it was a back and forth battle for a lot of the first half,” Smith said. “In the locker room, we talked a lot about our inten-sity. We knew we needed to pick up our intensity and the way we do that is with our defense. When we play with that intensity, we are capable of really shutting people’s of-fenses down.”

UT-PB played like a team possessed in the sec-ond half. They became very physical, played lock down defense, and passed the ball around, resulting in easy, wide open shots. With 12:30 to play in the second, they tied the game at 47-47 and never looked back. The Wildcats offense was almost non-existent, as they shot 2-14 from behind the arc in the second half, along with

missing 7-18 FT attempts collectively as a team. They also turned the ball over twelve times, which led to an 18-6 UT-PB run and helped give them the mo-mentum and eventual win.

“On any given night we could have a bad shoot-ing game, sometimes shots just aren’t falling for you but that’s when we should turn back to what we can con-trol; our defense, our com-munication and our inten-sity,” Smith said. “Mentally having to play catch up is hard but we are much more mentally tough than we showed on Tuesday.”

Smith had a double dou-ble in the loss, recording thirteen points and twelve rebounds. UT-PB was led by Taniqua Ards with a game high 21 points on 9-16 shoot-ing. The Wildcats will look to get back on track against Lone Star Conference rival West Texas A&M on Nov. 28.

women’s basketball

daniel zepedasports reporter

contact zepeda [email protected]

Continued from page 1

Legacy: Gale, teammates reflect on careertalked just about life things. He is a guy that’s easy to love because of his heart. I even had a bus

driver the other day tell me he was so impressed with Mitchell because he takes treating people special very seriously.”

Although Gale’s days

in the purple and white are over, his football ca-reer may not be. Gale will be pursuing a chance to play at the highest level next season.

“It is an exciting time because I have a chance to get to the ultimate goal of my craft,” Gale said. “I am blessed to have the God-given gifts and tools

to have a chance. I am not sure what the next few months will look like, so right now I am just trying to seek wise council, but it is exciting to have an

opportunity.”

football

from page 6

paige otway Staff Photographer

Sophomore Mackenzie Lankford extends for a layup against UT Permian Basin.

contact sloan [email protected]

Dr. John WeaverDean of library services

and educational technology

My goal would be to be open 24/7. We’re not going to be there for a while.”“

Page 6: The Optimist - 11.16.12

friday 11.16.12 6sports

The men’s basketball team will host the annual Whitten Inn Classic this weekend in Moody Coliseum. Their first game is against York College Friday at 8 p.m.

The men’s basketball team will also have a game Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. against Dallas Baptist University held in Moody Coliseum.

The next women’s basketball game will be Wednesday, Nov. 28 following Thanksgiving break. The Wildcats will travel to Canyon to take on West Texas A&M University at 6:00 p.m.

volleyball

standings

briefings

ex- factor

Upcoming

Junior volleyball player Caley Johnson was named to the Capital One Academic All-District 6 First Team by the College Sports Information Directors of America.

Three volleyball players were recognized by the LSC. Sophomore Sara Oxford was named to the second team all-LSC, freshman Sarah Siemens was named Freshman of the Year, and Johnson was named Academic Player of the Year.

Siemens was also named Player of the Week for the third time this season after her performance against Cameron and Midwestern State.

Four ACU athletes were named the Student-Athletes of the month for November: Senior cross-country runner Alyse Goldsmith, junior tennis player Hans Hach, junior basketball player Mackenzie Lankford and junior football player Blake Spears.

men’s basketball

TeamUIWMSUWTAMUASUCameronCommerceENMUACUTSUTAMU-K

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

Ovrl.2-02-02-01-01-02-11-10-10-10-0

Houston Texans de-fensive back Danieal Manning had three total tackles, an interception and a forced fumble in Sunday’s 13-6 win against the Chicago Bears. Man-ning was named the MVP of the game.

Rams running back Daryl Richardson rushed for 58 yards against San Francisco. His longest run was 32 yards. St. Louis tied with the 49ers 24-24.

TeamASUWTAMUTWUTSUCommerceTAMU-KACUUIWMSUCameronENMU

Div.18-217-315-515-511-99-118-127-135-154-161-19

Ovrl.25-427-422-722-820-1017-1312-1810-207-2310-226-24

women’s basketball

TeamTSUASUTWUMSUUIW ACUENMUWTAMUCameronCommerceTAMU-K

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

Ovrl.1-01-01-01-02-11-10-10-30-20-00-0

Quarterback Mitchell Gale has been a fixture of ACU football for the past four seasons, shattering Lone Star Conference records and building relationships along the way. Now Gale’s college career is over, but it will not be soon forgot-ten in the Big Country.

“I have grown so much in my five years here,” Gale said. “Not all of the lessons I learned were comfort-able, but Coach Thomp-son when he was here

and Coach Collums have helped me grow so much in my athletic maturity.”

Gale became the LSC’s all-time leading passer Saturday, taking down a record that was set by his mentor Billy Malone. Of course, the record was special for Gale, but not as important as finishing off the season with a win.

“The ACU football pro-gram is built with a team first attitude,” Gale said. “The record was a testa-ment to all the teammates who have helped me get where I am, and it was a great blessing and honor.

But we had a goal as a team to finish the season 3-0, and it wouldn’t feel right if the game was about me, so finishing the season with three wins was highly sat-isfying and highly reward-ing in itself.”

Gale quickly became a leader on the football

team. In his four years as a Wildcat, Gale helped ACU win 30 games as the start-ing quarterback.

“The best thing about Mitchell’s leadership is the accountability he has for himself and others around him,” junior John David Baker said. “He is one of

those guys that never takes a day off, a play off or a rep off. The ability he has to hold himself and oth-ers to a high standard is a rare quality that few guys have.”

But Gale matured off the field as well, where he is a good student and head coach Ken Collums be-lieves he has developed as a person as well.

“Mitchell wants so bad to be a quality husband and a quality father,” Col-lums said. “I don’t know how many hours we have

football

matthew sloansports reporter

mandy lambright chief Photographer

Quarterback Mitchell Gale completed his ACU career on Saturday with new conference and ACU passing records, surpassing former Wildcat Billy Malone as all-time leading passer.

‘Cats swept out of LSC tournament

The Wildcats kept their first-round Lone Star Conference Champion-ship match close, but No. 2 seed West Texas A&M ultimately swept the ‘Cats out of the tourna-ment 27-25, 25-20 and 25-21 in San Angelo.

ACU entered the tour-nament on a two-match winning streak. The team ends their LSC and Divi-sion II career after the loss.

The Wildcats finish the season with a 12-19 overall record and an

8-12 conference mark. It is the first time the team has ended the season with a losing record un-der Coach Kellen Mock. She took the reigns in the Spring of 2005.

The squad upset the Lady Buffs earlier in the year by a 3-0 margin in Moody Coliseum. It was Mock’s first victory over WTAMU in her coaching career.

ACU and the West Tex-as fought back-and-forth throughout the entire contest. In the first set, the Wildcats were down by as much as five points (16-11) but they went on a 10-4

run to claim a 21-20 lead.The advantage was

short-lived however as the Lady Buffs tied the score 23-23. Freshman middle blocker Jennie Loerch smashed a kill to knot it up at 25-25. WTAMU racked up the next two points on a kill and an at-tack error by sophomore Sara Oxford.

The ‘Cats held an 11-9 lead in game two but WT responded with a 7-2 run that put them up 16-11. ACU got to within 22-20 only to see their arch ri-val score three-straight points to end the set.

Set three was all Lady

Buffs until the very end. West Texas let a five point lead slip to two at 23-21. A costly service error by Sarah Siemens and a block on a Kalynne Allen hit shut the door on the match.

The Lady Buffs out-blocked the Wildcats 10 to eight. Freshman Cor-rie Reeder had a hand in all but one of those blocks.

Oxford led the team with 13 kills along with a .233 hitting percentage. Unfortunately, the ‘Cats only hit .096 as a team and recorded 23 errors in games one and three. They made just two in set two.

Siemens was the leader in assists as she put up 34 to finish her first collegiate season with 1,123. Fresh-man Madison Hoover had 30 digs. She finishes the year with 541, the fourth-highest single-season to-tal in ACU history.

West Texas A&M will play in the semifinals Friday against No. 3 seed Tarleton State University. TSU defeated No. 6 Texas A&M University-Kings-ville in five sets.

volleyball

edward Isaacssports editor

contact isaacs [email protected]

Back-to-back QB’s to throw 12,000+

Mitchell GaleACU

2009-12

Colt BrennanHawaii

2005-07

Case KeenumHouston2007-11

Billy MaloneACU

2005-08

Timmy ChangHawaii

2001-04

Kevin KolbHouston2003-06

see competition page 9

LEAVING ALEGACYGale reflects on his historic past and hopeful future

mitchell galequarterbackacu football

Not all of the lessons I learned were comfortable, but Coach Thompson when he was here and Coach Collums

have helped me grow so much in my athletic maturity.”“