the optimist - 02.01.12
DESCRIPTION
A product of the JMC Network of student media at Abilene Christian UniversityTRANSCRIPT
A power blackout caused by an American Electric Power transmission line problem darkened cam-pus and much of North-east Abilene late Tuesday morning for about 20 minutes.
ACU Police Chief Jim-my Ellison said the lights stayed on west of Campus Court.
“The power went off on the main campus and up and down Judge Ely Bou-levard, Ambler Avenue and Highway 351,” Ellison said. “The power stayed on at the police station, Barret Hall and Smith and Adams Halls.”
Ellison said the ACU police station receives a flood of calls whenever the power goes out, and he said the department often gets questions about issuing an ACU Alert during these
situations.“We get a lot of calls
asking why we didn’t send out an ACU Alert,” he said. “We only send
outage alerts if we know the power will be out for a long time or the outage is a part of an on-campus emergency. This was just
a typical, short power outage.”
Hunter Turner, sopho-more information tech-nology major from Trophy Club, said the blackout al-most forced him to change his lunch plans.
‘”I was going into the Bean when the power went out,” Turner said. “They had to stop making food but I was able to get some before they ran out. It was also really smoky in there.”
Jeanetta Norris, junior music education major from Ft. Worth, said she was in a meeting when the lights went out.
“I was upset when the power came back on be-cause I have a piano test to-day and I didn’t want to take it,” Norris said. “I was hoping classes would be canceled for the rest of the day.”
Pledging returned to cam-pus Friday night as three so-cial clubs accepted pledges for spring Bid Night.
Students pledged to men’s clubs Frater Sodalis and Pi Kappa and the re-cently rechartered women’s club, Zeta Rho. The pledg-ing process will last three weeks this semester.
Tara Lowe, sophomore elementary education ma-
jor from Springtown and co-recharterer of Zeta Rho, said Bid Night was an excit-ing experience.
“We’ve been working on this for a long time,
so it was great to see Bid Night finally happen,” Lowe said. “It helped us to grow closer together and learn more about each other.”
Jake Hall, sophomore music major from Spring-town, pledged Pi Kappa on Bid Night. He said Friday night was an encouraging experience.
“Every part of the night was intentional,” Hall said. “Everything was about building up the group, and
inside
Page 8 page 6 page 3
Lady Wildcats end losing streak against Texas Women’s
Read how house churches help and hurt Christians
Students react to the closing of the Abilene PacSun location
Abilene Christian University
Featurespage 5
sports opinion news
acuoptimist.com
Look for photos from the ‘Cats game against Midwestern
photos
vol. 100, no. 32 wednesday, february 1, 2012 1 SECTION, 8 PAGES
SPRINGSELECTIONS
obituary
university
Matt Phillips, son of Dr. Mark Phillips and Dr. Laura Phillips, died Sunday night at age 16. Phillips was a sophomore at Abilene’s Academy of Technology Engineering Math and Sci-ence. Matt’s sister, Allison Phillips, is a freshman mar-keting major and a mem-ber of the university’s vol-leyball team.
Matt was born with os-teogenesis imperfecta, a ge-netic disorder also known as “brittle bone disease.”
But he was remembered for an infec-tious laugh and an uplift-ing spirit.
At a me-morial ser-vice Tuesday at Hillcrest Church of Christ, Matt was described by many as an outgoing, funny and lively teenage boy. He was nick-named the social director of his family.
“Every week after church he would ask people to eat lunch with us,” said Laura, assistant professor of man-agement sciences. “He en-
joyed people of all ages.”She said her son enjoyed
math, science, robotics and playing video games.
“He was very sweet,” Laura said. “But he was the biggest trash talker when he played games.”
Matt was born in Beech Grove, Ind., and lived in Still-water, Okla., before moving to Abilene in 2004, when he was 8. Through his life, said family and friends, Matt did not let his brittle bone dis-ease slow him down.
“We didn’t know until af-ter he was born that he had it,” Laura said. “He just went with the flow, did what he
could. He just kept going.”He frequented university
baseball, basketball and vol-leyball games, and he twice tagged along with his par-ents on Study Abroad trips to Oxford, England. While the disorder kept Matt in a wheelchair, it did not stop
him from doing things he enjoyed and sharing laughs with others.
“He was always telling jokes that he thought were hilarious but weren’t actu-ally very funny,” Laura said. “He loved having college students over for dinner and he loved going to ACU sporting events.”
Inspired by Matt, in 2008, social club Gamma Sigma Phi raised more than $16,000 during a 68-hour volleyball tournament to help fund research into curing brittle bone dis-ease. Two years earlier club members raised $8,500 bi-
cycling to Malibu, Calif., from Abilene.
Matt was the president of the robotics club at his school, was interested in rockets and was an avid reader. Abilene High School sophomore Jackson Pybus said he enjoyed playing vid-eo games with Phillips and said his good-natured opti-mism inspired others.
“A lot of people knew him,” Pybus said. “He im-pacted a lot of lives.”
Hannah barnesEditor in chief
Phillips remembered for joyous spirit, smile
Tuesday morning power outage interrupts campus
see clubs page 3
Jake Hallsophomore elementary education
major from springtown
Every part of the night was intentional. Everything
was about building up the group, and rebuilding it as
a whole.”“
Intriguing InkStudents express themselves through tattooing
“-Tara Lowe,
sophomore elementary education
major from Springtown
jeanetta norrisjunior music education major
from ft. worth
I was upset when the power came back on because I have a piano test today and I didn’t want to take it.”“
It helped us grow closer togetherand learn more about each other.”
contact smith [email protected]
contact barnes [email protected]
Mark smithManaging Editor
Mark smithManaging Editor
photos by adrian patenaude stafff Photographer
Top: Zeta Rho pledges participate in Bid Night activities. Below: Frater Sodalis pledge David Gasvoda, sophomore English major from Houston stands with fellow pledges on the steps of the Administration Building.
Three social clubs began spring pledging with Bid Night on Friday
PhillipsDr. Laura Phillips
assistant professor of management sciences
He just went with the flow, did what he could.
He just kept going.”“
01
12 61
02 03 04Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
All Day - 60 percent refund begins
1 p.m. ACU Softball vs. East Central @ St. Mary’s
3 p.m. ACU Softball vs. St. Edwards @ St. Mary’s
All Day - Last day for 80 percent refund
All Day - Last day to enter courses for summer
11 a.m. Praise Day in Moody Coliseum
4 p.m. ACU Baseball vs. Arkansas Tech @ ACU
7:30 p.m. ACU Choirs Concert in the WPAC Recital Hall
All Day- Women’s ten-nis vs. A&M Kingsville, McMurry, Prairie V
2 p.m. ACU baseball vs. Arkansas Tech Double Header @ ACU
Police Log
Chapel checkup
@acuoptimist
The Optimist
WEDNESDAY 02.01.12 2
Volunteer Opp0rtunities
Volunteers are needed to help with the Newsboys “God’s Not Dead World Tour” Concert on Saturday at the Abilene Civic Center, 1100 North 6th St. The concert will also feature Anthem Lights, The City Harmonic, and Abandon. Help is needed beginning around 9:00 a.m. and throughout the day to help unload equipment from buses, set up equipment, take tickets, handle merchandise, help with take down after the concert, and any other associated tasks. Contact Susan Conwell at 325-437-1184 or e-mail [email protected].
Abilene Youth Sports Authority needs volunteers on Saturday to help with the annual West Texas Sports and Fitness Expo at the Abilene Civic Center. Help is needed in three hour shifts from 8:30-11:30 a.m., 11:15 a.m.-2:15 p.m. and 2:00-5:00 p.m. Volunteers will take tickets, sell concessions, and help with the various contest booths and stations. Contact Katie Miller at 325-692-2972 or e-mail [email protected].
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 spend-ing 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 Cha-pel exemption is available if delivery time conflicts with Chapel. Contact Jessica Stewart at 325-672-5050 or email [email protected].
The Big Brothers Big Sisters program is looking for volunteers to participate in Lunch Buddies. Bigs and Littles will enjoy lunch together at the child’s school once a week. Students can earn Chapel credit for each visit. Big Brothers Big Sisters is also looking for volunteers for its Community Based program. Bigs are matched with Littles in a one-on-one relationship and spend four to six hours per month together in the community. To sign up or learn more visit www.bbbstx.org or call 325-674-3113.
The House That Kerry Built is looking for volunteers to assist in the day care of medically fragile children any day Monday through Friday from 8:45 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Contact Dave Kraly at 325-676-3104 or email [email protected] for more information.
Rescue The Animals is looking for volunteers any-time between 1 p.m. and 5 p.m., Monday-Friday. They need help around the adoption center with general cleaning, socialization of the animals, helping poten-tial adopters and other tasks. Contact Mindi Qualls at 325-698-7722 or email [email protected]. The center is located at 5933 S. 1st St.
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. and 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 infor-mation call V. Danette Cummings at 325-691-8214.
Young Life Ministries needs volunteers Mondays, Tuesdays and weekends from 6-9 p.m. Volunteers will hang out with kids, experience leadership roles, serve others and introduce students to Christ. Young Life is located at 1917 S. 6th St. For more in-formation contact Chuck Rodgers at 325-676-1211 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.
Communities in Schools needs volunteers at Ortiz Elementary School on Feb. 17 from 1-3 p.m. to play board games with elementary school students who are celebrating their perfect attendance for the fourth six weeks of school. Volunteers will need to bring a photo I.D. Contact Sheila Ashford at 325-671-4945, ext. 5351 or email [email protected].
Da’ Cipher 360, a program for at risk children is looking for volunteers on Monday evenings from 5-8 p.m. at the Rose Park Activity Center, 2625 S. 7th St. Volunteers can help in a variety of ways including helping with set up, learning activities for kindergarten-3rd graders, tutoring 4th-8th graders, and assisting with clean up. Contact Alvina Scott at 847-333-7026 or e-mail [email protected].
Care Inn of Abilene is offering various opportuni-ties for working with the elderly and is looking for volunteers who can play a musical instrument and would be willing to perform in the evening. Care Inn is located on S. 7th Street. For more informa-tion call Sally Diaz at 325-692-2172 .
The Betty Hardwick Center needs volunteers to partici-pate in Special Olympics by helping mentally/physically challenged people play games such as basketball, track, and/or bowling Monday - Friday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Center is located at 801 Cypress St. Contact Angel Seca at 325-690-5235 for more information.
HERO, Hendrick Equine Rehabilitation Opportuni-ties, is looking for volunteers to help with their spring program by assisting their clients as they ride horses for therapy. No experience with horses is necessary. Help is needed Tuesdays and Thursdays from Mar. 20 to May 3. Volunteers can help anywhere from one to six hours per week for the duration of the program. Volunteers must attend training on either Mar. 6 or 8. Contact Beth Byerly at 325-660-3465 or e-mail [email protected].
Disability Resources, Inc. is looking for volun-teers to assist developmentally disabled residence. Help is needed with activities, art projects, reading books, exercise activities, assisting with vocational training needs and other interactions Monday through Friday from 9 a.m-4 p.m. For more infor-mation contact Becky Moody at 325-677-6915 or email [email protected].
The Minter Lane Church of Christ is looking for volun-teers Wednesday nights from 6-8 p.m. Volunteers will eat with children from kindergarten to 12th grade and help during class time. Contact youth minister Joshua Alkire at 325-201-5342 or email [email protected].
ACU Treadaway Kids is looking for volunteers to work with underprivileged students Thursday evenings from 6-7:30 p.m. at the University Church of Christ. For more information contact Samantha Manski at 325-674-2828.
Access Learning Center is looking for volunteers to help elementary school students with homework, reading, computers and games. The center is located at 2102 Ambler Ave. For more information contact Bret Hines at 325-670-9727. Call ahead to schedule a time to volunteer.
The Abilene Boys and Girls Club needs help any weekday between 3:30-6 p.m. helping children of all ages with games, art, gym time, reading and computer skills. Locations are 4610 N. 10th St. or 1902 Shelton St. Contact Mark Denman at 325-672-1712 for more information.
The Abilene Zoo needs volunteers to help with general labor any weekday between noon and 4 p.m. Contact Joy Harsh at 325-676-6487 for more information.
Around Abilene
Announcements
Feb. 01
7 p.m. The UCC Campus Min-istry will offer an opportunity for community outreach in-cluding tutoring ESL students, visiting with shut-ins, serving children of refugees and more. Volunteers will meet in the UCC Family Room.
Feb. 02
8 p.m. ACU Swing Cats meeting will be held in Studio B of The Rec Center. Open membership is offered for a limited time.
Feb. 03
7 p.m. The Frank Arnold Ministries Gospel Concert will be held at the Abilene Civic Center. Admission is $20-25 per person.
7:30 p.m. The ACU choirs concert will take place in the WPAC Recital Hall. Admission is free.
Feb. 04
7:30 p.m. The Taylor County Expo Center will host the monster truck show, “Thunder Slam”, featuring AMP Tour Monster Truck, FMX and the Motorcycle Demolition Derby. Admission is $15-30.
7:30 p.m. The Abilene Com-munity Theater presents “Love, Sex and the IRS.” Admission is $10 for adults, $5 for children ages 12 and younger and $8 for students.
The 2012 Springboard Ideas Challenge is now open for registration. Students can submit a mini-business plan for a chance to win up to $10,000. Early reg-istration deadline is Mar. 1. Visit www.acu.edu/academics/coba/griggscen-ter/springboard to learn more about the competition.
ACU Leadership Camp staff applica-tions are now available in the Campus Center basement.
IBH Sing Song is still looking for peo-ple who want to be involved in a Sing Song act. Everyone is welcome. Email [email protected] for details.
World Wide Witness is still receiv-ing applications for Summer 2011. For more information visit www.acu.edu/worldwide-witness.
Students interested in participating in a Spring Break Campaign can sign up in the SBC office in the lower level of the Campus Center. For more information on campaigns that still need members, or to sign up, contact [email protected].
The Images of Aging Photo Contest is accepting entries through Feb. 24. Students with questions or comments regarding the contest may email [email protected].
Students who want to be involved in the ACU Undergraduate Research Fes-tival may apply online at www.acu.edu/researchfest. Deadline is Friday.
If your work schedule requires to miss chapel, Chapel Exemption Request forms are due within two weeks of your first day of work.
The Study Abroad Office is accepting applications for all study abroad pro-grams. Several departments will be taking students to locations around the world this summer. English, Psychol-ogy, Art and Design, COBA, Commu-nication, Music, Bible and Pre-Health majors are encouraged to apply. Pro-grams are also open to non-majors. For more information, email the Study Abroad Office at [email protected], call 325-674-2754, visit www.acu.edu/studyabroad or go to the Study Abroad Office in Room 124 of the Har-din Administration Building.
The Newsboys along with The City Harmonic, Abandon and Anthem Lights will be playing at the Abilene Civic Cen-ter at 7 p.m. as part of the “God’s Not Dead Tour” on Saturday. Tickets cost $25 at the door.
Submissions are now being accepted for the 5th Annual Student Art Contest for Summit. Any current ACU student is encouraged to submit their original artwork, photography, drawing, paint-ing or other creation to communicate the Summit theme. The 2012 Summit theme is “intimacy.” Students need to submit their art digitally to [email protected] by Feb. 15. One work will be awarded $100 and used to advertise the 2012 Summit.
The ACU Table Tennis Club is look-ing for members. Interested students should contact [email protected].
The ACU Tenaska Campaign will hold a workshop in the Campus Center Living Room on Saturday from 9 a.m.-4p.m. Meals and snacks will be provided throughout the day.
wednesday 02.01.123 campus news
Abilene PacSun lease ends, store closes
The Pacific Sunwear store in the Mall of Abilene closed last week after the local retailer chose not to renew its lease.
Laurie McAdams, mar-keting and specialty leas-ing manager for the Mall of Abilene, said that a replace-ment store has not been of-ficially determined yet.
Students who shopped at PacSun are sorry to see the store go, but they look forward to seeing what new store will take its place.
“I loved PacSun,” said Annique Dentino, freshman psychology major from Lub-bock. “I was really excited to see that the Abilene mall actually had one. I would like to see it change maybe into an Urban Outfitters or
H&M, but those are high hopes.”
Dylan Brugman, soph-omore political science major from Aurora, Colo., would also like to see Pac-Sun replaced with a popular brand.
“I think it’s a bummer that PacSun is closing, but I wouldn’t mind seeing an Ur-ban Outfitters or Gap put in to replace it,” Brugman said.
Other students men-tioned they would like to see retailers such as Urban Out-fitters, H&M, Zara, Topshop, Sephora, Nike or Forever 21.
A specific timeline con-cerning the search for a new retailer has not been released.
The Mall of Abilene, on Buffalo Gap Road, contains more than 90 retailers. A list of these can be found at www.mallofabilene.com.
The mall is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. Shop-pers may also download the Mall of Abilene App, which features the mall directory, news and offers, upcoming events, services and more.
“We’re always looking for opportunities for our customers to have a good shopping experience when they come to the mall,” Mc-Adams said.
local
katie jenkinscontributing reporter
contact jenkins [email protected]
SHADES, Sanctify to combine for concert
SHADES will merge with Sanctify for an annual per-formance in April.
SHADES, a multicultural student step organization, and Sanctify, a new stu-dent hip-hop dance group, looked to schedule separate concerts in Cullen Audito-rium but only one weekend was available in the audito-rium. The two groups de-cided to merge their shows into one, and will perform on April 13-14.
Brandon Bolden, senior psychology major from St. Louis and head captain of SHADES, said the merger was disappointing at first but the groups are looking forward to joining forces to make the show even better.
“There are some SHADES members in Sanc-tify, and we’ve performed together,” Bolden said. “Ev-ery show is better than the one before, but this one will be a show you’ll remember for a long time.”
The name SHADES rep-resents the diversity within the step group. Bowen said
the tight-knit members of the group embrace their differences.
“We like to include peo-ple from different back-grounds and cultures who desire and enjoy glorifying God with their talents,” Bowen said. “We’re a fam-ily first of all, and we make
sure our family is in tact.”Sanctify is a hip-hop
dance group officially rec-ognized as a student or-ganization last year. The group’s purpose is to ex-plore and express the cul-tural impact of hip-hop movement in a Christian context.
Annique Dentino, fresh-man psychology major from Lubbock and Sanctify member, said she’s looking forward to the joint perfor-mance and the opportuni-ties it offers.
“It’s going to be awe-some because it’ll be a combination of both step-
ping and hip-hop danc-ing,” Dentino said. “This year’s show will feature more dancers and a lon-ger show, which will only make it better.”
Bolden encouraged all on-campus students to plan in advance to buy tickets to one of the two
evening shows.“The show is definitely
going to bigger, more fun, more exciting than ever before,” he said.
campus
mark smithmanaging editor
contact smith [email protected]
file photo courtesy of daniel gomez
The SHADES step team performs during the 2011 Homecoming parade.
brittany williams Staff Photographer
The space once occupied by PacSun is now empty in the Abilene Mall.
annique dentinofreshman psychology major from lubbock
I was really excited to see that the Abilene mall actually had [a
PacSun].”“
destiny hagood Staff Photographer
Members of the hip-hop company Sanctified practice for Sing Song.
Theatre department to run ‘Proof’ thru Sing Song
“Proof,” the story of math-ematical genius, mystery, drama and humor, will open Feb. 9.
The play will be put on by the Department of Theatre and directed by Adam Hester, chair of the department. Hester has high expects the play to intrigue and humor the audience.
“It won Tony awards for
best play,” Hester said. “It’s really well respected.”
“Proof,” written by David Auburn, is about a woman, Katherine, who grieves over the loss of her father, a mathematical genius. She tries to prove that an amaz-ing equation found among her father’s personal items belongs to her.
“‘Proof’ is a play that tries to take on this fasci-nating issue about what is the balance between genius and madness,” Hester said.
The cast of this play consists of two seniors, Jamie Patterson and Mi-chael Siemek, a sopho-more, Rachel Faulkner and a seasoned actor, Michael Duran, who will play Kath-erine’s father.
Michael Siemek, senior theatre major from Col-leyville, will portray the character of Harold Dobbs.
“I loved that we picked this play because it’s so different from a lot of the dramas that we’ve been do-ing,” Siemek said. “It still
fits in with the ACU the-atre’s mission statement.”
Lauri Simms, a local in-strumentalist, will create original scores for “Proof.” She played music through-
out the West Texas Christ-mas Carol at the Historic Paramount Theatre.
“This is a very, very funny show in a way and it makes you think,” Sie-mek said.
Proof will run in Fulks Theatre Feb. 9-11 and 16-18 and will have a full set on stage.
“It will have a full fa-çade of a house on set with imitation grass and lots of practical lighting,” Hester said.
The play also will show
during Sing Song weekend.“I know that we will sell
out every single night,” Sie-mek said, “everyone will have to decide to see Sing Song this night or the other way around.”
For more information on “Proof,” go to www.acu.edu/academics/cas/theatre/productions/season1112/proof.
culture
destiny hagoodstaff photographer
contact hagood [email protected]
jeff salmonexecutive director of Frontier Texas!
This competition doesn’t require prior
knowledge, just the ability to learn.”“
wednesday 02.01.12 4news
Summit encourages entries for Student Art Contest
Although next years Summit is still months away, the prep-arations have already begun.
The Summit Student Art Contest is calling for entries of creative pieces to be dis-played throughout Summit next fall. This will be the fifth year that the contest has been held in an attempt to bring the arts into Sum-mit activities.
“Too often Christians think of the expression of their faith as something that is done verbally or in written form,” said Brady Bryce, Director of Ministry Events. “They leave out the performed arts or – in this case – the visual arts and actual artistic pieces. This lets us stretch the bounds of how we think and imagine an event and to think about it artistically.”
Brady believes that art can play just as important of a role with Summit as a speak-er or other presentation.
“Art tends to evoke,” Bryce said. “It may be the best language to point to God. Rather than speak it, always concrete in black and white, sometimes we just need to be evoked and prodded towards something that is far beyond us, some-thing we can only begin to conceive of and imagine.”
The contest asks for stu-dents to submit art of any medium that portrays next year’s theme, “Intimacy.” The theme comes from the bibli-cal story of Hosea and Gomer, a showing of undying love.
“It is a theme that evokes quite a lot,” Bryce said. “It is pointing to the kind of love relationship that God has with us. In spite of our sin and the ways we reject God, he maintains intimacy. I’m hoping that someone can visually express what that looks like. That kind of deep persistent love that will help people think about intima-cy in new ways and point them towards true intimacy with God.”
Past winners include graduate James Davies, a two time winner, Richard Diaz, Jr., and Leanne Kawahigashi, sophomore art major from Fort Worth. Winning pieces have consisted of photogra-phy, painting and design.
Although the exact role of the winning piece has not yet been determined. Bryce said that once a win-ner is chosen, the piece will be incorporated into Sum-mit through the magazine, t-shirts or in some other manner.
Along with the chance to have their artwork used as a feature in Summit, the win-ning student will receive a cash prize of $100. Artwork should be submitted digi-tally to [email protected] before Feb 15.
“It is nice to involve stu-dents in as many ways as pos-sible,” Bryce said. “This has been a way that allows stu-dents to put their thumbprint on Summit and it is always exciting to see what they put together.”
summit
david singerarts editor
contact singer [email protected]
Clubs: Bid Night marks beginning of three weeks of spring pledging
rebuilding it as a whole.”Lowe said she’d planned
on being a part of Zeta Rho since spring of last year.
“I found this at the end of freshman year and de-cided that it was for me,” she said. “I’m really looking forward to getting to know the girls in the club better.”
Hall said he decided to pledge Pi Kappa about a week before the spring deadline.
“I’m an RA in Mabee Hall, and a few of the oth-er RA’s in the dorm told me they were going to pledge Pi Kappa because the process wouldn’t last
as long as fall pledging,” Hall said. “Then I learned more about the club, what it stands for and what the guys in the club are like, and I decided I wanted to
do it too.”Hall said the idea of up-
lifting community within the club intrigued him.
“I was looking for brotherhood outside the dorm,” he said. “I love the guys in my hall, but I’m looking forward to spend-ing time with guys who are my age and I don’t have to be an RA around.”
university
contact smith [email protected]
continued from page 1
Instructor, students create iPhone app
After several years of re-search and development, an education-based app created by ACU faculty and students is now available for all Apple devices.
Mitzi Adams, instruc-tor in ACU’s Department of Teacher Education, worked alongside three other ACU students to develop an application called “Count On It.” Ad-ams applied her 25 years of teaching experience to find a way to effectively and efficiently communi-cate math fundamentals
to children, educators and parents.
“I kept asking myself the question, ‘How is it that some students develop pro-ficiency regardless of my approach and others do not?’,” Adams said. “I won-dered if there was more in-volved than just the method of teaching.”
While pursuing a Mas-ters of Mathematics in Ele-mentary Education, Adams came across the term, “sub-itizing.” Subitizing is essen-tially the ability to look at a number value and know immediately what that val-ue equates to. Adams found that through extensive re-search, there was a relation-
ship between deficiency in basic math skills and poor subitizing skills.
Clement Ho, junior com-puter science major from Bejing, China, was hired as the mobile developer of the “Count On It” iPad app in December 2009. Over the past few years, Ho has tak-en on the responsibilities of developing and designing the website accompanying the mobile application to make the the application more user-friendly.
“We’ve spent a lot of time enhancing the user inter-face, making it visually ap-pealing and creating good user experiences for our customers,” Ho said. “We
needed to focus our atten-tion on making the applica-tion easy to use and under-stand so that our customers can take advantage of this useful tool.”
“Count On It” is made up of four functions applicable to math education: Quick Add and Add It Up, each used for strengthening men-tal math abilities, a virtual
abacus, a key feature for both visual and auditory learners, and a quiz function.
The creation of “Count On It” required more than just extensive research. Ad-ams felt that the use of ACU students and their skills would be much more ben-eficial and cost effective.
“I learned that to a hire a company would cost me tens of thousands of dol-lars,” Adams said. “I did not have that kind of money to spend. I wondered if there might be students here at ACU with the skills and in-terest.”
Lyndon Willoughby, se-nior graphic design major from McKinney, used his
graphic design background to bring a more polished look and unifying theme to the app. Willoughby ben-efited from the hands-on experience and feels better equipped in his future job search.
“I have learned a ton from ACU’s Graphic Design department, but hands-on work is so useful before graduating.” he said. “It was really beneficial for me as a student to work on some-thing that was actually go-ing to be released into the market.”
mobile learning
leigh foithonline managing editor
contact foith [email protected]
mitzi adamsteacher education
instructor
I wondered if there was more involved
than just the method of teaching.”“
Directory reinstates instrumental Churches of Christ
Churches of Christ with instrumental worship ser-vices have been returned to listings in a national directory of the religious group after being left out for more than three years.
A national directory of Churches of Christ in the United States omitted 21 churches from in its 2009 edition because they used instrumental music in at least one Sunday morn-ing service. That directory publisher, Nashville-based 21st Century Christian, has reinstated the church-
es that use instrumental music to the 2012 directo-ry. This change was made along with a change in how the directory defines a Church of Christ.
The the decision returns The Hills Church of Christ in North Richland Hills, one of the nation’s largest Churches of Christ, to the directory’s pages.
Churches that continue to identify as part of the Church of Christ religious group and whose music is historically a capella will be included in the future directories whether wor-ship services include in-struments, according to the publisher’s website.
Dr. Douglas Foster, professor of church his-tory and the director of the Center for Restoration Studies, acknowledges this as a positive revision to the directory. He said, a church might not want to remain identified with its heritage, but churches should not be dropped be-cause someone else makes the decision.
“It recognizes the de-sires of congregations whose history and identity are clearly in the Churches of Christ, but who have chosen for the sake of out-reach and evangelism to include services that use instruments,” Foster said.
Congregations that differ from the typical Churches of Christ have always been included in the classification, he said.
Even though ACU is recognized as a Church of Christ university, students are given the opportunity to worship in a variety of ways on campus. This including the small group Chapel, Im-
mersion, which features in-strumental music.
Samuel Skeirik, com-munication graduate stu-dent from Knoxville, Tenn., appreciates diversity in worship.
“Different people learn best through different means: visual, auditory, kinesthetic, logically. I feel like it’s the same with wor-ship,” Skeirik said. “We all want to draw close to the Lord, but He developed us to draw near to Him in different ways. One may be moved by a solidly con-structed sermon, whereas another may find God in the dance of worship or the singing of song.”
But in most worship settings at ACU, the music will continue to be a cap-pella, said Foster.
“I think the university will continue to honor the heritage of a cappella singing [in major worship assemblies], not because it is the only legitimate form of Christian worship, but because it is a wonderful tradition that encourages all to participate and that lends itself to allowing us to truly ‘sing to and en-courage one another’,” Foster said.
national
marissa jonespage 2 editor
contact jones [email protected]
samuel Skeirikcommunication graduate
from Knoxville, Tenn.
We all want to draw close to the Lord, but He
developed us to draw near to Him in different ways.”“
tara lowesophomore elementary education major
from springtown
I found [Zeta Rho] at the end of freshman year and decided that it was for me.”“
matthew sewell staff Photographer
Chelsea Butts, sophomore two-dimensional art major from Bedford, works on an art project in the Don Mor-ris Center.
wednesday 02.01.125 featureS
he way college students perceive their im-age has adapted and changed significantly in recent years. It has increasingly become the norm for college students to express themselves through tattooing, which has
become a more popular and accepted form of art and culture. And for many Christians, tattoos can also serve as an expression of their faith and beliefs.
A glance around the ACU campus affirms that, de-spite the stereotypes that may be associated with pri-vate Christian colleges, there are still a good number of students who choose to express themselves, and their faith, through tattoos.
Amy Wages, junior exercise science major from Van-cleave, Miss., has a full sleeve of tattoos covering her left arm. She said she never planned on having a sleeve when she got her first tattoo at age 17, but she has had about 25 hours’ worth of tattooing added since she got her initial cross tattoo.
Wages said many of her tattoos hold special mean-ings for her. When she looks at her tattoos, she is re-minded of the need to cherish life and to extend grace to others.
“I don’t usually share the stories behind my tat-toos because, for me, it’s not really about receiving attention,” Wages said. “I’m actually quite conserva-tive; I just like tattoos. More people are getting them because they’re trendy or because they do want at-tention, which to me is kind of the wrong reason to do it.”
Some people use charm bracelets to represent dif-ferent things they like, Wages said. She uses tattoos to serve the same purpose, only hers are permanent.
“It’s just expressing who you are and the things you like,” Wages said. “The fact that I have tattoos doesn’t mean I’m not a Christian, especially when some of mine are faith-based tattoos.”
Aaron Johnson, junior health promotion and psy-chology major from Houston, has 15 tattoos and each portrays a message about God.
“I think it can open doors,” Johnson said. “I’ve had a lot of people ask about them and it’s just another chance to share my testimony and what I believe about the Lord.”
Johnson said he sees himself as a canvas for Christ and he wants his life to glorify God.
“I think that it’s important that I blend in visually in the world,” Johnson said. “The Lord puts me in a lot of darker places to be a light and I’m able to blend in with people that are a little more rough around the edges.”
Johnson said some people will look at him and be in-timidated, but if they were to take the time to get to know his heart they would see that God lives inside of him.
“There is judgment. That’s what we do as humans, we judge each other based on looks and actions and words,” Johnson said. “Sometimes I think that maybe I’m viewed as marked, scarred or dirty. I mean, the tats and the dreads can be a bit much, but it’s me, and I love it, and I wouldn’t change it.”
Justin Lloyd, junior exercise science and health pro-motion major from Elizabeth, Colo., said he came into the church later in life and a lot of the older people in his church were not big fans of his tattoos.
“People always argue that your body is a temple,” Lloyd said. “I just say that I choose to keep mine decorated.”
Lloyd said he does try to stay healthy in other as-pects; he just likes to have a little bit of ink on him.
Brittany Williams, junior journalism major from Rockwall, said she believes this generation is more of an independent generation, so there is a different take on tattoos now.
“They’re a work of art in their own sense,” Williams said.Williams said her decision to get tattoos was not a
rebellious act; it was just something she wanted to do.“I don’t think there’s any blanket rule for tattoos, it
depends on the individual belief,” Williams said. “Even my pastor’s daughter has tattoos.”
Dr. Jean-Noel Thompson, vice president and dean for Student Life, said there is no current ACU policy against tattoos. There is only language discouraging the display of anything that could be considered of-fensive or inappropriate to the mission and Christian standards of ACU.
“My guess is that there was probably some enforce-ment against getting tattoos somewhere in ACU’s his-tory,” Thompson said. “What we have now is a broader standard in our dress code.”
Thompson said he believed there are probably new ways of thinking about tattoos now. He said, in the past, it seemed tattoos were acquired as an act of be-ing different and standing out, whereas now it is more to be a part of something and to follow along with what others are doing.
“I think we should have, as Christians, a reason-able standard in terms of what we cover our bodies with and knowing how they affect people around us,”
Thompson said. “Scripture is clear about our bodies being temples and that, unlike any other action we take, there needs to be extra caution in how we take care of ourselves physically and spiritually.”
Thompson said that those considering getting a tat-too should first ask the real reason behind why they want to do it and to determine what it is they want to accomplish through it. He said to pray and determine if it would be contributing to the kingdom or if it would be distracting from what God is calling them to.
“We cannot judge a person by the fact that they have a tattoo or if they have a pink streak in their hair,” Thompson said. “We live in a community where we value honoring God and one another. If there is some-thing inconsistent with that mission, then we should respectfully address each other.”
Wages, Johnson, Lloyd and Williams each said they currently plan on getting more tattoos.
Perspectives on tattoos change
with the culture
mandy lambright staff Photographer
Top: Justin Lloyd, junior exercise science and health pro-motion major from Elizabeth, Colo., displays a few of his tattoos. Left: Aaron Johnson, junior health promotion and psychology major from Houston, has tattooed his arm with a piece that represents the fruits of the spirit. Right: Amy Wages, junior exercise science major from Vancleave, Miss., has been adding to her full sleeve since she was 17.
T
Story by Samantha [email protected]
Christian
INK
Christians are coming out of the mega church phase in search of a more intimate form of worship, and rightly so.
Since the first centu-ry, the church has taken many shapes, and most – if not all – have been a reaction to the dominant church at the time. We are living one of those hairpin turns now.
In past few years, Christians have started to veer from from the mega churches that swept the worship landscape in the early 2000s for a more in-timate, discussion-based setting.
They got tired of the faceless droves and one-way messages that filled the super-sized audito-riums and sanctuaries of Protestant churches across America.
In increasing numbers, Christians are finding the close-knit commu-nity they seek in a liv-ing room. A 2010 study shows that 10 percent of Christians report that they worship in a house church setting.
The typical house church is made up of 10-15 people who meet in a member’s house. Instead of forming a larger con-
gregation as membership rises, churches split off ameba style. This forms a network of small groups of Christians who travel from between houses to worship.
The small size of a house church makes the biblical discussion and familiarity between members missing from large congregations easy to participate in. Lessons often consist of all of the members of a church dis-cussing a topic or verse that is relevant in their life at the time.
This type of spiritual learning works well in
an age where people like to participate in learn-ing through discussion and where an expert can be found online when needed.
While the house church is satisfying on a spiri-tual level, problems arise when it comes to other forms of support.
Because of the reduced number of people it can be hard for the members to support each other in monetary terms.
If one member gets in a bind, the others have to dig deep to help out. And it takes more from each member to help out with-
out the larger member-ship to spread the debt over.
One of the roles of the church is to serve as a community of support to its members and oth-ers who need help. The members must form a spiritual and economical safety net.
So, though members of a house church can ful-fill each other’s needs on a spiritual level, it takes more than a community of 10 to take care of each other economically.
I recently met a woman who started her own business. Prior to her leap of faith, she worked for a major company, made good money and lived comfortably.
Then her life changed.After she became preg-
nant, she was forced to stay on bed rest for the final 20 weeks of her pregnancy. It was during this time that she decided to quit her job and follow her dreams.
She began her company from absolutely nothing, finding a factory and work-ers across the world and completed samples of her products before giving birth.
Now her product is sold in major department stores all over the nation. She has been featured in various magazines and has become extremely successful.
She took a chance and was successful. She pursued her dreams and made them come true. Then she pushed things even further. She wanted to change the world, and she is well on her way to doing so. Some of her prod-ucts are created to benefit a greater cause.
So she urged me to do the same. She urged me to chase dreams and make them hap-pen. She urged me to believe that even I can change the world.
This woman is Darbie Angell. She began her com-pany without fear; she just went for it. Her career has taken off, and her dream to change the world is com-ing true. Along with many beautiful dinnerware sets, Darbie has one special col-lection called “Madison’s April in New York.” Madison was a young girl from Texas that suffered and died from
Leukemia. Darbie’s effort to commemorate Madison and desire to donate part of the collection’s proceeds is in-spirational to many, be it the housewife or the vice presi-dent of Macy’s Inc.
What is the lesson? We can change the world, so believe it. It is easy to think that one person can’t do much, but it just isn’t true. Another les-son? Think different and be your own person. Don’t fol-low trends; think for your-self.
Our conversation ended with a quote from Steve Jobs.
“Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holds - the ones who see things dif-ferently. They’re not fond of rules. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is ignore them because they change things; they push the hu-man race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius be-cause the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world are the ones who do it.”
once upon a hannahhannah barnes
Farron heightFarron salley
Oh Dear, Christian College Ben miller
the issueHouse Churches are gaining popularity in the realm of Chris-tianity.
our takeThese smaller churches serve well for spiritual development, but they fall short in other areas.
Hannah barneseditor in chief
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Unsigned editorials are the opinions of the Optimist and may not necessarily reflect the views of the uni-versity 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
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Editorial
Success doesn’t happen without taking chances
ACU appropriate ‘Bend and Snap’
House churches satisfy many, but not all, needs
Over the Christmas break, many “ring by spring” dreams came true. Most likely if you didn’t get engaged in the last two months, you know at least one person who did.
So what about the rest of us? Us – the single, maybe ready-to-mingle type girls.
Don’t worry, ladies. We still have options. You can always turn to Hol-lywood. My all-time fa-vorite way to get a guy’s attention was modeled so well for me by Reese Witherspoon. Who could forget the bend and snap on Legally Blonde?
Of course, there are al-ways more expensive op-tions. Pam Money’s Rela-
tionship 101 class will be offered again in the fall. We’re all going to be pay-ing back student loans, you might as well learn to get a cute date in the process.
But I’ve got an even bet-ter solution. It’s economi-cal and efficient. The sim-plicity of the bend and snap has finally met it’s Chris-tian match with the slide and smile. The slide and smile is a custom ACU guy-grabbing technique – and unlike the slide-andglide, won’t get you in trouble with Mark Lewis.
These are the steps to the proper execution of the slide and smile:
First, you must be alert in the jungle that is Chapel.
This requires the proper outfit that won’t be too re-vealing if you stand up or sit back down to praise. A cross necklace or James Av-ery jewelry rules supreme.
Next, you have to be on the prowl. Know where the target is sitting so you know which card reader he is most likely to swipe out.
As soon as you hear “Chapel is dismissed,” “Go and be merry” or any of the other tag lines that signify it’s over, attack.
Be cunning but not a creeper. There will be lots of people trying to slide out, and you need to be at the front of the line when he’s there to swipe – this may require waiting in the crowd for him to catch up.
When he is about to slide his card, move in like you were about to swipe. He’ll pause to wait for you to swipe and then you look at
him and smile as you slide your card.
If he doesn’t wait for you to swipe, he probably won’t hold a door open for you either, so I suggest count your losses and move on.
But if you make it this far, try to say something briefly about Chapel or swiping like “I really en-joyed the speaker today,” or “We’re never going to get out of here.”
That’s it.The bend and snap of
ACU. If anyone tries this, let me know how it turns out so I can compile my accuracy ratings like Elle did.
Also, you should know that I’m still single, so feel free to take any advice with a grain of salt.
column
Column
contact salley [email protected]
contact BARNES [email protected]
Friday 02.01.12 6opinion
She urged me to chase dreams and make them
happen. She urged me to believe that even I can
change the world.”“
hashtagaCUWonder what the Op-timist is going to post about me this issue? #ACU
no one knows how to drive during a power outage #Abileneprobs
This car has an acu bumper sticker but an hsu parking sticker...#youmustchoosebetwee-nus
Lost my purse, wallet, camelback water bottle, and a new pair of black pumps all within a week. Lord help me.
@grantste
@megmharley
@hollyyyholmes
@jocelynamg
@Grahamsensing
@shearattan
@stefaniemn27
@bryceorr
@lauraquile
@KatKessler9
5:36 p.m. Jan. 30
2:33 p.m. Jan. 31
1:10 a.m. Jan. 31
10:02 p.m. Jan. 31
11:54 a.m. Jan. 31
12:03 p.m. Jan. 31
11:28 a.m. Jan. 30 4:06 p.m. Jan. 307:21 a.m. Jan. 31
ACU Rec Center fail: Not allowing fans to watch from the track. Forced to stand on the side line. No fan is safe.
Walked in to an empty classroom, not bc I went to the wrong room, but because class got cancelled silly! Oh could there be a better feeling?
Writing with a stylus is NOT good for A type personalities. #OCD #iPadtroubles
Due to class cancel-lations, I’m about to start a 45 hour no class stretch. I’ve got some tv to watch.
Why I thought it would be a good idea to watch the Bachelor while writing a paper is beyond me. 1 para-graph down, a million to go.
3rd week in and I’m already skipping my 8 o’clock. I’m pretty proud of myself for making it this long actually.!! #boasting #sosad
contact the optimist [email protected]
@_clpeterson
@jaynerk
6:48 p.m. Jan. 31
10:31 a.m. Jan. 31
9:41 a.m. Jan. 31
I just had a girl at United ask me what Sing Song was. Really?
I need a vacation...
wednesday 02.01.127 sports Jumps
Ranked: ‘Cats look to avenge last season Reeves said. “They could end the year with five or six teams in the top 25 in the nation.”
Texas Woman’s sits in front of the Wildcats in fifth place with 142 points, while ACU is just seven points back at 135.
Rounding out the LSC are Tarleton State Univer-sity, Cameron University, Texas A&M-Kingsville and Eastern New Mexico University.
Another benefit of hav-ing the smaller LSC means
that the Wildcats will get to play more non-conference games, and the Wildcats are taking full advantage by playing in four regular season tournaments be-fore conference play be-gins, said Reeves.
“We are playing a lit-tle bit tougher schedule this year than we did last year,” Reeves said. “Hope-fully we can use that to our advantage.”
The ‘Cats will start their season in San Antonio at the St. Mary’s Tournament before they conduct the ACU Whitten Inn Classic.
After the six home tour-nament games they will hit the road again, first to Wichita Falls for the Mid-western State Classic and then to Denton for the Texas Woman’s Crossover.
All four tournaments lead up to the Wildcats first conference game which will be Mar. 2 in San Antonio against In-carnate Word.
contact GWIN [email protected]
softball
Tennis teams begin tough schedules
The men’s and women’s tennis teams are begin-ning their 2012 spring sea-sons this weekend.
The men will travel to Kentucky, while the women stay in Abilene and face four opponents including Lone Star Conference foe Texas A&M University - Kings-ville.
Head coach Hutton Jones is confident in both the guys and girls clubs this spring.
“I have a high hopes for both of these teams,” said Jones. “The potential is there to have a better sea-son than we’ve ever had. We’ve been very success-ful in the past and with the pieces we currently have there is no reason we can’t go a step further this year.”
“Both squads are in the top 10 in the Intercolle-giate Tennis Association rankings, so we have solid teams,” said Jones.
“My goal this spring however, is to progress through the season, play better tennis, and get
stronger physically. Our tough schedules in com-bination with a lot of dou-ble-headers should allow us to do that.”
The guys have been as far as the quarterfinals of the Division II tournament, while the girls have reached the semifinals twice.
The men were supposed to have a match-up against the formidable University of Oklahoma on Jan. 24, however it was cancelled. As a result, they play Mur-ray State University at 9 a.m. and the University of Southern Indiana at 2 p.m. in Murray, Ky on Friday, Feb. 3 for their first two matches of the season.
On Saturday, Feb. 4 the men travel to Richmond, Ky and face-off against Eastern Kentucky University and Northern Kentucky Uni-versity at 1 p.m. (ET) and 6 p.m. (ET), respectively.
The team ends their road trip in Lexington, KY on Sun-day, Feb. 5 by playing NCAA Division I school and South Eastern Conference mem-ber University of Kentucky. The Wildcats are ranked in the top 20 in the preseason
poll. The time for the clash is yet to be determined.
Jones said the meets this weekend are designed to give the ‘Cats plenty of match play.
“The guys play three solid Division I schools. Eastern Kentucky won their DI conference last year and Murray State is always good. Playing four and five matches in one weekend puts you two weeks ahead.”
The women’s squad has one more match on Satur-day, Feb. 4 before Kingsville. At 9 a.m., the Wildcats play Prairie View A&M University.
Sunday, the ‘Cats take on Division I opponent Sam Houston State University at 12 p.m., then later finish off the weekend against the University of Texas of the Permian Basin. The Permian Basin match starts at 5 p.m.
“We should be compet-itive against some of the Division I schools,” said Jones. “I want my guys and girls to have the desire to win each match no matter
edward isaacssports Editor
contact Isaacs [email protected]
tennis
Blowout: Bell, Wildcats slash Patriots outscore the Patriots for-ty-two points to twelve in the paint.
“It was good for us to get our big guys going today,” Williams said. “We are going to need them to play well.”
The Wildcats continued the trend of first half domi-nance at Moody Coliseum, heading into the locker room with a 52-25 lead because defense lead by point guard Antonio Bell.
Bell also took over the game on the offensive end, scoring twenty points, in-cluding four shots from deep, and only missed one shot in the entire game.
“I think I am right where I want to be,” Bell said. “I have a lot of im-
provements I could make to help the team more but I am playing well.”
Zach Williams and Eric Kibi were also able to get into double figures, with fourteen and sixteen points respectively. What may be even more impressive is that each of the 11 Wildcats scored at least four points against the Patriots.
In the second half, freshman Da-Juan Cooper stole the show with eight
points on four dunks. Coo-per rose above the Patriot defense and brought Wild-cat fans to their feet with every rim rattling jam.
“I love it when the crowd gets excited,” Coo-per said. “It wasn’t just me getting open, it was the point guards having con-fidence that I can go up and get it.”
The Wildcats will put their two game winning streak on the line Tues-day night in Moody Coli-seum when they return to LoneStar Conference play against the Midwestern State Mustangs at 7:30 p.m.
contact sloan [email protected]
Men’s Basketball
Bain earns automatic qualifying mark
Three meets into the young 2012 outdoor sea-son, and the Abilene Christian Track and Field team has three athletes who have automatically qualified for nationals.
Junior hurdler Dennis Bain was the most recent to add his name to that list, as he won the 60-me-ter hurdles with a person-al record time of 7.95 sec-onds last weekend at the New Mexico Invitational in Albuquerque, N.M.
“I really learned a lot after competing in the first two meets of the season,” Bain said. “I really chal-lenged my competitors in New Mexico and dug deep. I don’t know, the times just came as a result.”
In the preliminary race,
Bain posted a time of 8.11 seconds, but trumped that when it mattered. That time tops his previous best time by .46 seconds and makes him ACU’s first au-tomatic track qualifier.
Bain joins the company of thrower Nick Jones and triple jumper Amanda Ouedraogo, the other auto-matic qualifying Wildcats.
In addition to his hurdles performance, Bain placed third in the 200-meter run, posting an NCAA provisional time of 22.13 seconds, and ran the first leg in the 4x400 meter relay, which also re-corded a provisional time of 3:19.62. That relay team is composed of Osei Ally-ene-Forte, Banjo Jayesimi, Jordan Geary and Bain.
“I’m really not a big fan of the 400,” Bain said. “But God blessed me with the talent to run that also,
so I’m looking forward to glorifying Him through that and helping my team in the process as well.”
Geary, a junior sprint-er, ran a provisional time of 21.88 seconds in the 200-meter, as did junior college transfer Shennae Steele, who recorded provi-sional times in the 200-me-ter (25.14 seconds) and 60-meter (7.72 seconds).
Junior decathlete Park-er Petty also provisionally qualified last weekend at the Air Force Academy Team Challenge in Colora-do Springs, Colo., placing
eighth out of 24 competi-tors in the heptathlon.
Petty tallied a personal record 4,836 points, which ranks him ninth among NCAA Division II heptath-letes. He recorded a per-sonal record in six event included in the heptathlon, including a time of 9.12 in the 60-meter hurdles.
“I finally put a whole heptathlon together in Colorado,” Petty said. “There are still quite a few events I can improve my times and distances with, so the goal will be to work on those to get a better provisional mark.”
Petty posted those marks despite tweaking his groin in the first round of the long jump, so he hopes to improve his long jump and all the others alike.
“I tweaked it in the long jump starting off,” he said. “I’m not really sure how I
finished. But I’ll be healthy at the next meet and hope-fully that will allow me to perform better.”
Senior Lavance Wil-liams matched his per-sonal record in the long jump, recording a leap of 24-6.5, which ranks sec-ond in Division II.
Junior thrower Shala-nia Lakey and transfer thrower Alexis Wilder fin-ished second and third in the weight throw with NCAA provisional marks of 54-03.25 and 54-02.50, while Nick Jones fell close to five inches shy of the provisional standard de-spite producing a winning toss of 57.00.25. Lauren Hartwick and Milo Par-sons each finished fifth with distances of 51-03.50 and 50-03.50.
Jones won the shot put with a distance of 58-07.50, and on the track in
Mew Mexico, Karla Hope (400-meter), Chloe Sus-set (mile) and Lexus Wil-liams (60-meter hurdles) each recorded provisional times in their events.
ACU athletes have re-corded 16 provisional marks in the young 2012 outdoor season, 12 of which happened last weekend. Petty said that is a testament to the depth of their team this year.
“Our team has defi-nitely taken a different role this year,” Petty said. “Last year, we had the four studs, and this year the team is more unified and everyone is contributing and doing their part in a more unified effort.”
Bryson ShakeSports reporter
contact shake [email protected]
track and field
from page 8
from page 8
Dennis BainJunior hurdler
Acu track and field
I really learned a lot after competing in the first two
meets of the season.”“
da-juan cooperfreshman forward
acu men’s basketball
I love it when the crowd gets excited inside
Moody.”“
mandy lambright CHIEF Photographer
Junior guard Kendall Durant stares down a Patriot defender Saturday in Moody.
wednesday 02.01.12 8sports
TeamTSUMSUWTAMUCameronUIWENMUTAMU-KACUASUCommerce
Div.11-09-27-57-57-56-63-82-82-82-9
Ovrl.19-116-213-611-711-813-88-1210-109-117-12
TeamTSUMSUCameronWTAMUASUTWUUIWENMUACUTAMU-KCommerce
Div.12-010-29-49-48-45-75-84-93-93-90-12
Ovrl.15-514-413-511-810-810-810-96-138-104-141-17
Zach Williams, senior from Dallas, transferred from Stephen
F. Austin after his sophomore year. He is one of only two players to start every game for ACU this year. He leads ACU in scoring for the second consecutive season. Williams is a workhorse on the glass as well, snatching up the second most rebounds this year. Zach is also one of the best defenders on the team, leading the ‘Cats in blocked shots and steals. ACU will be counting on Williams to finish as a Wildcat by dominating on both ends of the court.
The men’s basketball team will play Cameron in Lawton, OK on Saturday at 4 p.m.
The women’s basketball team will face Cameron in Lawton, Okla. on Saturday at 2 p.m.
The men and women’s track and field teams will compete in the New Balance Collegiate Invitational in New York, N.Y. on Friday and Saturday.
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The men and women’s track and field teams have been ranked No. 24 in the nation in the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches’ Association pre-season ranking.
Dennis Bain joins Nick Jones and Amanda Ouedraogo on ACU’s list of NCAA Championships’ automatic qualifiers in track. Bain is the first automatic track qualifier of the season.
Aston Whiteside and Daryl Richardson were invited to the Players All-Star Classic at War Memorial Stadium. They will be playing for the South team this Saturday at 3 p.m. Central time. The teams will feature players from all levals of college football
Softball is ranked sixth in the Lone Star Conference pre-season poll. The ‘Cats finished with 135 votes, while No. 1 ASU had 232 votes.
men’s basketball
matthew sloansports reporter
Wildcats pick up key conference win
The Wildcats’ losing streak finally ended this weekend as the Wildcats rallied for the win late in the second half, fighting for the 69-57 win over Texas Women’s.
“I was extremely proud of the way our girls played on Saturday,” head coach Shawna Lavender said.
The ‘Cats, desperate to place high enough to at-tend the Lone Star Con-ference post-season tour-nament, were faced with a game in which a win was critical.
ACU went into this game with a 2-9 confer-ence record, putting them ninth in the polls.
Only the top eight teams get a chance to play in the LSC tourna-ment, and at this point in the season, the Wildcats are playing like they have nothing to lose.
But the ‘Cats didn’t seem to have any prob-lems taking care of the Pioneers, leading the de-
fending league champions nearly the entire game.
Halfway through the second half, the Wildcats had a 48-43 lead, but that wasn’t enough to keep TWU from coming back to tie the score 48-48.
But with just over seven minutes to go in the con-test, ACU took control of the game, crushing their opponents 21-9.
Kelsey Smith caught fire, scoring a game-high of 21 points, 19 of which were in the second half. The junior forward quick-ly shifted the momentum in the ‘Cats favor.
“I felt like we executed very well both offensively and defensively,” Coach Lav-ender said. “We played with a lot of emotion and stayed in the game for 40 minutes.”
Smith finished with 21 total points and 14 re-bounds for her third dou-ble-double of the season, and ninth of her career at Abilene Christian.
Mack Lankford, sopho-more guard, finished with 16 points, four assists, one block and three steals.
This win improved the Wildcats conference record to 3-9 and 8-10 overall.
The victory gives the squad some encourage-ment and momentum go-ing forward as they look ahead to playing Mid-western State University this Tuesday.
“Right now we are just taking it one game at a time and we are hoping to build off the momentum from our win on Satur-day,” Lavender said.
“Midwestern is a very solid team, but we feel like we match up well with them,” said Laven-der. “The key for us will be to continue playing for 40 minutes and execute on both ends of the floor.”
The Wildcats will return to action Tuesday night against the Mustangs in Moody Coliseum. Tip off is at 5:30 p.m.
natalie goinsports editor
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WOmen’s BAsketball
‘Cats bump Arlington Baptistmen’s basketball
Mandy Lambright CHIEF Photographer
Junior guard Antonio Bell drives the ball to the basket Saturday, Jan. 28 in ACU’s 96-57 victory over Arlington Baptist. Bell lit up the board offensively, with twenty points. Four of his shots were from deep behind the arc. Bell only missed one shot the entire game.
Softball ranked sixth in pre-season
One year after just miss-ing a playoff spot, the Wildcat softball team was picked to finish 6th in the Lone Star Conference Pre-season poll.
Last year, the ‘Cats season came down to the final weekend, but ACU lost a tiebreaker with Tex-as Woman’s and fell just short of the final playoff
spot in the LSC Postsea-son tournament.
This season, the Wild-cats were picked by coach-es, sports information directors and writers to fin-ish in the LSC’s top eight, which is good enough for a playoff berth.
“I don’t pay much at-tention to the rankings in the preseason,” head coach Bobby Reeves said.
A slimmed down Lone Star Conference also gives the Wildcats a better chance
at a playoff spot. Only 10 teams remain in the LSC eliminating the North and South divisions.
Last year, the top four teams from each division made the tournament. This year the teams with the eight best records will advance.
“I would say getting into the playoffs this year would be easier,” Reeves said. “I don’t know if you can say anything about the LSC being easy though.”
The top four teams were all tightly bunched at the top of the rankings. Finish-ing atop the poll was An-gelo State. The Rambelles received 232 total points from voters as well as eight first-place votes.
Right behind ASU with 214 points was Incarnate Word, whose baseball team was picked by the same group to win the LSC.
Just two points behind Incarnate was West Texas A&M with 212. The Lady
Buffs won last years tour-nament and garnered sev-en first-place votes.
Just behind WT fell Midwestern State. Despite their fourth place ranking the Lady Mustangs nabbed nine first place votes to lead all teams, showing just how closely bunched the top four teams are.
“The (LSC) may be the best (Division II) con-ference in the nation,”
Austin Gwinsports director
softball
see ranked page 7
Saturday afternoon the ACU men’s basketball team scored a season high nine-ty-six points on their way to a 39-point rout of the Ar-
lington Baptist Patriots.The Wildcats started
off the game with a three pointer by Kendall Du-rant and never gave up the lead.
ACU was cold-blooded from three-point land over the weekend, shoot-
ing nearly fifty-five per-cent from behind the arc.
“It was good for us to get out there and play hard going into Midwest-ern,” senior Zach Wil-liams said. “We got to see the ball go in the whole a lot today, so it was good
for us.”Arlington Baptist was
also out manned in the paint and gave up tons of layups and open looks from close range. This allowed the Wildcats to
see blowout page 7
Zach Williamssenior guard
acu Men’s basketball
It was good for us to get out there and play hard going into
Midwestern.”“
DANIEL GOMEZ CHIEF Photographer
Senior center Sarah Reno attempts a lay-up in Moody Saturday against Texas Women’s.