the optimist print edition: 09.16.11

8
Friday 09.16.11 The 105th annual Sum- mit will begin its focus on Isaiah under the theme “Enough” Sunday evening. About 150 sessions will take place around campus from Monday-Wednesday. Summit will feature speakers such as authors Max Lucado and Rachel Held Evans, columnist Su- san Campbell, and minis- ter/evangelist Billy Curl. Eric Peters and Mindy Smith will give concerts during the conference, and musical groups will perform during all three days of the event. Students will be able to earn up to 10 Chapel credits during Summit, which offers two credits per attendance of sessions by theme speakers or fea- tured guests. Dr. Brady Bryce, in- structor and director of ministry events, said that this year’s preregistration was up from the past four years. Last year’s Summit had a record attendance of 1200. The university is expecting an attendance between 6-8000, but the actual number of attend- ees is impossible to know beforehand because Sum- mit is free and does not require preregistration, Bryce said. Bryce chose the theme “Enough” for Summit based on the needs of to- day’s culture. Although Summit has focused on Isaiah before in the last 20- 30 years, the book is still essential for Christians to remember, Bryce said. “I just love how it be- gins with this indictment from God basically saying ‘I’ve had enough of the ways you’re thinking you’re pleasing me,’” Bryce said. “I’m hoping that by the end of the week people will say ‘We’ve had enough, too.’” Randy Harris, instructor of Bible, missions and min- inside page 8 page 5 page 4 ACU Golf team heads to second tournament of the year this weekend Read why ACU needs to combine new and old meal plans ACU students teach English in China over summer break Abilene Christian University European Scenes ACU professor’s art on display Arts page 6 sports opinion news acuoptimist.com Check out the fourth installment of the Chris Thomsen Show video see summit page 4 Annual conference to draw large number Overall enrollment declines Summit ENROLLMENT vol. 100, no. 7 friday, september 16, 2011 1 SECTION, 8 PAGES photo illustration by daniel gomez chief Photographer A firefighting helicopter drops flame retardant over a wildfire just north of Abilene last year. christianna Lewis copy editor T he wildfires that have scorched the Central Texas landscape since early Sep- tember are affecting thou- sands of people, including several in Abilene. The Texas Forest Service has respond- ed to about 150 fires for more than 17,000 acres during the previous week. Of Texas’ 254 counties, all but four have reported burn bans. Taylor Newhouse, sophomore nutri- tion major from Montgomery, has been feeling the effects of the wildfires, even though she is far from home. Her fam- ily was nearly forced to evacuated as the Fighting the Flames Featured Speakers Sharon Cohn Wu Rachel Held Evans Max Lucado Theme Speakers Barron Jones Dusty Rush Dan Rodriquez Billy Curl Rick Mars Mark Hamilton Harold Shank Find a full list of speakers and a Summit schedule at: www.acu.edu/summit Overall fall enrollment fell by 170 students, much of that attributed by university officials to a sharp decline in the total number of graduate students. In addition, fresh- men enrollment fell by about 12 percent year-to-year, the largest decline in more than 20 years, according to 12th- day numbers released by the university this week. Despite the decline in to- tal freshmen, overall under- graduate enrollment showed a year-to-year decline of about one percent, or close to 30 students. The 864 freshmen stu- dents combine with 150 transfer students to make just more than 1,000 new students on campus this school year. The total num- ber of freshmen is down by 118, or 12 percent, a statistic chief financial officer Kelly Young attributed to three main factors increased tuition, economic troubles and changes in recruiting techniques. “Tuition rose before this school year, which was a definite influence on the smaller enrollment,” said Young. “Also, the economy is causing many potential stu- dents to not be able to afford any private schools and in- stead opt for public or com- munity colleges, and we’ve had to change our market- ing strategies to high school students.” Young said the university isn’t worried about the de- crease in incoming students, though, because university success isn’t based on enroll- ment alone. “We’re focusing on more highly-qualified students who are more likely to stay all four years,” he said. “We’re improving as a qual- ity institution of learning.” ACT scores of the freshman class remained solid. An aver- age score of 24.6 is the second- highest in school history after last year’s freshman class, said Kevin Campbell, director of 0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000 1990-91 1995-96 2000-01 2005-06 2011-12 FALL SEMESTERS NUMBER OF STUDENTS FALL ENROLLMENT 1990-2011 Central Texas fires threaten lives, destroy homes see fires page 4 story by melany cox mark smith managing editor Kelly Young Chief Financial Officer We’re focusing on more highly-qualified students who are more likely to stay all four years.” see decline page 4

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Page 1: The Optimist Print Edition: 09.16.11

Friday 09.16.11

The 105th annual Sum-mit will begin its focus on Isaiah under the theme “Enough” Sunday evening. About 150 sessions will take place around campus from Monday-Wednesday.

Summit will feature speakers such as authors Max Lucado and Rachel Held Evans, columnist Su-san Campbell, and minis-ter/evangelist Billy Curl. Eric Peters and Mindy Smith will give concerts during the conference, and musical groups will perform during all three days of the event.

Students will be able to earn up to 10 Chapel credits during Summit, which offers two credits per attendance of sessions by theme speakers or fea-tured guests.

Dr. Brady Bryce, in-structor and director of ministry events, said that this year’s preregistration was up from the past four years. Last year’s Summit had a record attendance of 1200. The university is expecting an attendance between 6-8000, but the actual number of attend-ees is impossible to know beforehand because Sum-mit is free and does not require preregistration,

Bryce said.Bryce chose the theme

“Enough” for Summit based on the needs of to-day’s culture. Although Summit has focused on Isaiah before in the last 20-30 years, the book is still essential for Christians to remember, Bryce said.

“I just love how it be-gins with this indictment from God basically saying ‘I’ve had enough of the ways you’re thinking you’re pleasing me,’” Bryce said. “I’m hoping that by the end of the week people will say ‘We’ve had enough, too.’”

Randy Harris, instructor of Bible, missions and min-

inside

page 8 page 5 page 4

ACU Golf team heads to second tournament of the year this weekend

Read why ACU needs to combine new and old meal plans

ACU students teach English in China over summer break

Abilene Christian University

European Scenes ACU professor’s art on display

Artspage 6

sports opinion news

acuoptimist.com

Check out the fourth installment of the Chris Thomsen Show

video

see summit page 4

Annual conference to draw large number

Overall enrollment declines

Summit

ENROLLMENT

vol. 100, no. 7 friday, september 16, 2011 1 SECTION, 8 PAGES

photo illustration by daniel gomez chief Photographer

A firefighting helicopter drops flame retardant over a wildfire just north of Abilene last year.

christianna Lewiscopy editor

The wildfires that have scorched the Central Texas landscape since early Sep-tember are affecting thou-sands of people, including

several in Abilene.The Texas Forest Service has respond-

ed to about 150 fires for more than 17,000 acres during the previous week. Of Texas’ 254 counties, all but four have reported burn bans.

Taylor Newhouse, sophomore nutri-tion major from Montgomery, has been feeling the effects of the wildfires, even though she is far from home. Her fam-ily was nearly forced to evacuated as the

FightingtheFlames

Featured Speakers

Sharon Cohn Wu

Rachel Held Evans

Max Lucado

Theme Speakers

Barron Jones

Dusty Rush

Dan Rodriquez

Billy Curl

Rick Mars

Mark Hamilton

Harold Shank

Find a full list of speakers and a Summit schedule at:www.acu.edu/summit

Overall fall enrollment fell by 170 students, much of that attributed by university officials to a sharp decline in the total number of graduate students. In addition, fresh-men enrollment fell by about 12 percent year-to-year, the largest decline in more than 20 years, according to 12th-day numbers released by the university this week.

Despite the decline in to-tal freshmen, overall under-graduate enrollment showed

a year-to-year decline of about one percent, or close to 30 students.

The 864 freshmen stu-dents combine with 150 transfer students to make just more than 1,000 new students on campus this school year. The total num-ber of freshmen is down by 118, or 12 percent, a statistic chief financial officer Kelly Young attributed to three main factors – increased tuition, economic troubles and changes in recruiting techniques.

“Tuition rose before this school year, which was a

definite influence on the smaller enrollment,” said Young. “Also, the economy is causing many potential stu-dents to not be able to afford any private schools and in-stead opt for public or com-munity colleges, and we’ve had to change our market-ing strategies to high school students.”

Young said the university isn’t worried about the de-crease in incoming students, though, because university success isn’t based on enroll-ment alone.

“We’re focusing on more highly-qualified students who are more likely to stay all four years,” he said. “We’re improving as a qual-ity institution of learning.”

ACT scores of the freshman class remained solid. An aver-age score of 24.6 is the second-highest in school history after last year’s freshman class, said Kevin Campbell, director of

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Central Texas fires threaten lives,destroy homes

see fires page 4

story by melany cox

mark smithmanaging editor

Kelly YoungChief Financial Officer

We’re focusing on more highly-qualified students

who are more likely to stay all four years.”“

see decline page 4

Page 2: The Optimist Print Edition: 09.16.11

16

15 56

17 18 19Friday Saturday Sunday Monday

2 p.m. ACU volleyball at Texas Women’s

4 p.m. ACU football at Cowboys Stadium

7 p.m. Opening Re-ception for Summers Abroad by Jack Maxwell in the Shore Gallery

3 p.m. “Identifying Me” at ACU Rhoden Farm

5 p.m. ACU Women’s soccer vs. Incarnate Word

1 p.m. ACU Women’s soccer vs Angelo State

2 p.m. Trojans/Gamma Sigma Phi/Galaxy/Frats Coffees

7 p.m. Summit: Opening Theme Conversation in Moody Coliseum

11 a.m. Theme Con-versation in Moody Coliseum

3 p.m. Featured Guest in Moody Coliseum

7 p.m. Theme Conversa-tion in Moody Coliseum

9 p.m. Delta Theta Rush

Police Log

chapel checkup

@acuoptimist

The Optimist

[email protected]

Friday 09.16.11 2

announcements

Donations will be accepted for Texas Wildfire Relief through Sept. 16 in the Center for Christian Service and Leader-ship located in the lower level of the Campus Center.

The opening reception for Summers Abroad by Jack Max-well will take place Sept. 17 at 7 p.m. in Shore Art Gallery.

The registration deadline for the Springboard Elevator Pitch Competition is Sept. 21. This competition allows participants to submit ideas for new products, services,

or business concepts. To register go to www.acu.edu/springboard-elevator-pitch.

ACU Summit will take place Sept. 18 - 21. The opening theme conversation will be-gin at 7 p.m. on Sept. 18 in Moody Colisium. For more information, or to view the schedule, visit www.acu.edu/summit.

The Virtuous Sisterhood will host an ice cream social on Sept. 22 at 7 p.m. For more informa-tion email [email protected].

Women for ACU will host a luncheon on Sept. 29 at 11:30 a.m. in the North Lobby of the Williams Performing Arts Cen-ter. To RSVP call 829-1470.

The Medical & Counseling Care Center is located in the northwest entrance of the Rec Center. To make medi-cal appointments call 674-2625. To make counseling appointments call 674-2626.

Flu shots will be available in the Medial & Counseling Care Center for $15.

Leadership applications for Spring Break Campaigns are available in the lower level of the Campus Center. Applica-tions can be picked up from 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. They can also be downloaded by emailing [email protected].

ACU Upward Bound is now hiring tutors to serve the stu-dents of AISD. Contact the Academic Development Ad-viser at 325-674-2514 or visit the office located in the Brown Library. Tutors wil be paid. For more information visit www.acu.edu/upward_bound.

Volunteer Opp0rtunities

The Office of Ministry Events is looking for student workers to help during Summit. Volunteers are needed to help with childcare, technology support, registration, labor and rePlay recording. Shuttle service drivers (must be 21 or older) and reception-ists/dispatchers are also needed. For more infor-mation or to sign up visit the ACU website.

Volunteers are needed for Balloon Fest, the annual hot air balloon festival sponsored by Optimist Club Unlimited of Abilene. The festival will take place Sept. 22 - Sept. 25. Hours are from 8 a.m. - 11 p.m. The event will take place at Redbud Park, S. 32nd and Buffalo Gap Road (behind Southern Hills Church of Christ). On Sept. 22 help is needed in a variety of ways in setting up for the festival. Sept. 23-24 volunteers will sell tickets, food, drinks and t-shirts, work in the various booths, etc. On Sept. 25 help is needed to take everything down and pack up items. Contact Pat Young-Baack at 325-668-3224 or email [email protected]

The Walk to End Alzheimer’s will take place on Sept. 24 from 7 a.m. - 12 p.m. Volunteers will help set up tables, serve refreshments, register walkers, etc. The event will take place at the Rose Park Senior Activity Center lo-cated at S. 7th & Barrow Streets. Contact Libby Connally at 325-672-2907 or email [email protected].

The annual Putt “Fore” Children Miniature Golf Tournament needs volunteers on Oct. 1 between 8

a.m. - 2 p.m. This event will take place at Prime Time located at 4541 Loop 322. Volunteers will help set up for the event, register teams, act as course monitors, decorate tables, pass out goody bags and help with clean up after the event. Contact Shelia Cory at 325-376-1110 or email [email protected].

Cancer Services Network needs volunteers on Oct. 6 between 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. to help unpack chair cov-ers, confirm number with packing list, place covers on 540 chairs, unload auction items and help with other tasks for their auction event. This will take place at the Abilene Civic Center, 1100 N. 6th St. Contact Nancy Estes, 325-672-0040 or email [email protected].

HERO is looking for volunteers to walk alongside a horse while supporting and assisting a client Oct. 4 - Nov. 17 in one hour shifts from 1 - 5 p.m. at the Taylor County Expo Center. Volunteers must attend training sessions either Sept. 22 at 4:30 p.m. or Sept. 27 at 2:30 p.m. Allow two hours for training session. Contact Beth Byerly at 325-660-3465 or email [email protected] for more information.

Disability Resources Inc. is looking for volunteers to help with their annual Pumpkin Patch. They need help unloading pumpkins at 5 p.m. on Sept. 29. They also need help with the kids’ arena and selling pumpkins through Oct. 31. Shifts will vary between 10 a.m. - dusk Monday - Saturdays and 1

p.m. - dusk Sundays. The Pumpkin Patch is located at 3602 N. Clack St. For more information contact JoAnn Wilson at 325-673-7829 or email [email protected].

The AISD Early Childhood Program needs volun-teers to work in the children’s area Oct. 13 from 3:30 p.m. - 7 p.m. This includes air castle supervision, face painting, etc. Program will be at the Abilene Civic Center located at 1100 N. 6th St. For more information contact Mary Mcleod at 325-794-1368 or email [email protected].

Meals on Wheels Plus needs volunteer drivers to deliver afternoon meals to seniors and adults with disabilities Mondays - Fridays between 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Drivers must be at least 18 years old and have a valid drivers 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].

Rescue The Animals is looking for volunteers anytime between 1-5 p.m., Monday through Friday afternoons. They need help around the adoption center with general cleaning, socialization of the animals, helping potential adopters and other tasks. Contact Mindi Qualls at 325-698-7722 or email [email protected] The center is located at 5933 South 1st St.

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Fire - 1Alarm - 3Assist - 3Escort - 1Other - 5911 Call - 1Accident - 1Animal Call - 3Public Service - 1Bicycle Patrol - 2Check Building - 15

Attempt to Locate - 3Criminal Mischief - 1Direct Traffic - 1Found Property - 1Hit & Run - 2Investigation Follow Up - 5Lost Property - 3Motorist Assist - 16Noise Violation - 1Parking Violations - 15

Administrative Activity - 4Patrol Vehicle: Mainte-nance - 4Patrol Vehicle: Refuel - 5Report Writing - 2Stand By - 1Suspicious Activity - 8Theft - 3Traffic Stop - 3Welfare Check - 1Building Lock/Un-lock-12

Weekly Stats for Sept. 06 - Sept. 13, 2011

Police Tip of the Week: Help prevent theft. Never leave your backpack, laptop, or iPhone lying around unattended. It only takes a few seconds for someone to walk away with your belongings.

Police Log

09/08/2011 4:59 p.m. ACUPD and Abilene Fire Dept. responded to and apart-ment fire at University Park Apartments, Apt. #312. A recently installed dish-washer had an electrical problem and caught fire.

09/09/11 1:26 p.m. ACUPD received a report that someone had shot a paintball at the caller’s car near the corner of Ambler and Campus Court.

09/09/11 9:05 p.m. APD requested ACUPD investigate a noise violation in the pool area of The Grove apartments, 2702 N. Judge Ely

09/12/2011 11:35 a.m. ACUPD investigators recovered a students stolen iPhone from a pawn shop. A suspect was identified and the investigation is ongoing.

Page 3: The Optimist Print Edition: 09.16.11

Lynay serves the university as a service-learning pro-gram promoting leadership and building community through diversity. Created by Vice President Dr. Gary McCaleb, this organization operates as the student component of the Center of Building Community and prepares its members to live out the university’s mis-sion statement of “Chris-tian service and leadership throughout the world.”

Since Lynay’s inception 13 years ago, the group has grown from accepting 100 students to 200. Lea Wat-kins, advisor of Lynay, said the group is made up of diverse students from dif-ferent majors and cultures. McCaleb believes bringing together a wide range of students is an important aspect of the organization.

“A lot of times the di-versity of whatever kind is what makes people uncom-fortable in being together,”

McCaleb said. “So this is the idea of overcoming diver-sity to build community.”

Potential members go through an interview and application process before being granted member-ship. Although the program seems exclusive, Lynay

member Stefanie Lazcano. senior communications major from The Colony, said anyone who wants to make a difference.

“There are two types of people in Lynay, leaders and exemplary followers,” Lazcano said. “I don’t see

myself as a leader, but there is something that Dr. McCa-leb saw.”

Other student members of Lynay attest to the impor-tance of community, leader-ship, as well as diversity and the impact the organization has had on their lives.

Ian Dowl, senior family studies major from Dallas knew from his first visit to ACU he wanted to be in-volved in the Lynay program. Now a senior, Dowl realizes the impact the organization has had on his life.

“The group brings to-gether people you might not otherwise meet. There is a great sense of commu-nity,” Dowl said.

Lozcano also aspired to be involved with Lynay be-fore coming to ACU.

“My brother was in Lynay and I always heard him talk-ing about it,” Lozcano said. “He was a person who made

impressions on people, and I looked up to him for that. So it seemed like something I would be interested in.”

With over 200 members, there are many other stories about the impact Lynay has had in students’ lives.

“The situations presented by Lynay promote growth, personally and in the lives of others,” Lozcano said. “I think it creates more chanc-es to make a difference.”

friday 09.16.113 campus news

Learning Studio opens first full school year with additional equipment

The AT&T Learning Studio has opened for its first full year of business.

Located on the third floor of the Brown Library, the studio is open to all stu-dents in need of help with digital media projects and space for group collabora-tion. The studio also offers gear for students to check-out, such as cameras and microphones, and a wide range of software for stu-

dents to use for projects or personal use.

Student media special-ist Ben Weaver, sophomore journalism major from Fort Worth, said he has seen an increase in faculty sending their students to the studio since its open-ing in February.

“Last year, it was new, so people didn’t know how to use it,” Weaver said. “A cou-ple people tried it, but now people [faculty] see that we’re here to help, that we’re here as a resource so they can send their students to

us to use the facility.”The projects brought to

the Learning Studio have varied this year, Weaver said.

“Right now we have a photography class who has come in to check out our DSLR cameras to take photos. There have also been accounting classes who come in and do stuff, and there’s been English classes. There are a lot of professors who are making their kids come in and use our facility.”

After opening in the spring of last year, director

of the studio Dr. Kyle Dick-son noticed a need for ad-ditional equipment.

“Over the summer we have added a significant number of new camer-as and audio recording equipment in the check out pool,” he said, adding that students and faculty with ACU identification will be ab

le to checkout different kinds of cameras and mi-crophones for two days at a time.

Additionally, Dickson has seen an increase in the num-

ber of academic programs that now use the studio.

“It’s been really encour-aging to see the growing number of students from majors across the campus using the facility for group study and project develop-ment,” Dickson said. “We feel like that’s the library finding a way to serve ma-jors that maybe in the past weren’t doing a lot of their focused research in the li-brary itself.”

The Learning Studio will also hold hands-on training sessions for students, some-

thing new to the facility.“So, for students inter-

ested in learning software tools, or more about some of the recording equipment, we’ll have training sessions on everything from Photo-shop to DSLR film making,” Dickson said.

For more information on the AT&T Learning Studio, visit http://blogs.acu.edu/learningstudio/.

academics

Marissa fergusononline editor

contact ferguson [email protected]

Mandy lambright Staff Photographer

Samantha Stein, sophomore accounting major from Georgetown, Gabriel Elorreaga, ju-nior political science major from San Antonio, and Josh Clarke, sophomore information systems major from San Antonio socialize before a weekly meeting hosted by Lynay.

Lynay has impact on student membersgroups

meagan Freemanstudent reporter

contact freeman [email protected]

Page 4: The Optimist Print Edition: 09.16.11

friday 09.16.11 4news

The ACU Online program hired a new director in June after former vice provost for distance edu-cation, Dr. Carol Williams, shifted to professor of mathematics.

Corey Patterson took over as managing director of online programs. Pat-terson moved from under-graduate admissions into his new role.

ACU Online provides students with the conve-nience of online educa-tion and the quality of ACU instruction, according to the ACU website. Three se-mesters make up an online academic school year, with an eight-week introduction course followed by seven

weeks of regular courses. The website also states online courses are not self-paced and each program takes 18-24 months of part-time study.

The online program of-fers four degrees: Master of Arts, Master of Education, Master of Science and Cer-tificate of Graduate Study.

“My mission is to be a servant of the depart-ments,” Patterson said. “They know best how to deliver the content of the courses.”

Patterson said about 400 students are enrolled in online courses. The de-partment hopes to grow the online program.

“Online education is becoming more and more prominent,” Patterson said. “We want to expand our on-line education program.”

Patterson’s job is to ap-proach faculty members and ask them to articulate their vision for their online program. He then helps the department reach that vision by determining the feasibility of the material based on a certain number of criteria.

In order to enroll in an ACU Online course, a student must complete the forms and procedures found at acu.edu/grad and pay a $100 application fee. The student must pay the fee before ACU Online will consider the application, according to the website.

acu online

zane gogganscontributing reporter

contact goggans [email protected]

Students teach in China over summer

Annual: Event to offer viewpoint variety

Fires: Disaster evacuates citizens of Bastrop

Decline: Enrollment numbers down

Nine education students brought some fun into their classrooms while teaching English in China this summer.

The students traveled to China for five weeks in July to teach at the Interna-tional Academy of Beijing, the only accredited Chris-tian international school in the country’s capital, as part of their academic career plan. The program provided an opportunity

for native English speakers to interact with students from several different in-ternational schools who speak English as a second language. This is the fourth year ACU has sent students to teach in China.

Melanie Catteau, se-nior education major from Denton said she loved touring a foreign country for five weeks and learning Chinese culture.

“My brothers are also adopted from China, and I had the opportunity to go to China eight years ago,” Cat-teau said. “I was very excited

to go back and see it again for a longer period of time and a more authentic experience.”

Dr. Sam Stewart, assis-tant professor of educa-tion, led the students and said teaching in China of-fers a unique opportunity for students to explore their career. It was for Catteau.

“I thought it would be an amazing experience to get to have my own classroom for four weeks,” she said.

Catteau and the other students worked to make school engaging and at-tractive for students. The teaching methods amazed

the parents from a differ-ent culture, Stewart said.

“I particularly had one parent I visited with who was really concerned that his child liked school so much,” Stewart said. “He just couldn’t understand why his son could have so much fun and still be learning.”

Not only did the students enjoy the process, but the teachers did also. Susanna Dietz, senior elementary education major, recalled spontaneously reading the book Pickles to Pittsburgh to the international school students after a school day

did not go as planned. She was amazed by how en-gaged they became in the reading.

“I grabbed the book off my shelf just to fill some time, but we ended up having a great time to-gether, Dietz said. “Even my students who typi-cally were less inclined to actively participate in ac-tivities were joining into discussions and having a good time.”

While they were there, the education students took a train trip to the city of Xi`an, climbed the Great

Wall of China and visited the Summer Palace and the Forbidden City.

“I also loved talking to them about the differenc-es between our cultures,” Catteau said. “It was so amazing to get to see the history of a beautiful for-eign country.”

year’s Summit gave birth to this year’s session titled “Cruciformity” by Harris. Smith’s teaching that ev-eryone must have a story to live by inspired Harris to contemplate the cruci-formed – or cross-shaped – life example that Christ left believers.

“We have a crucified messiah,” Harris said. “He could have come to us any way, but he came to us as someone who goes to the cross. We are called to live

that life.”Harris said his three-part

presentation will be geared toward both students and visitors. He hoped that stu-dents would take advantage of the opportunity to hear both highly sought-after speakers as well as presen-tations from their peers.

One session led by stu-dents will feature alumnus Evelyn Henshaw and Mat-thew Hale, graduate stu-dent from Uvalde. The two will be present “Just Food,” a talk on what food means from both a nutritional

and a spiritual standpoint, Henshaw said.

“I would encourage any student who likes to eat to come,” Henshaw said.

Henshaw and Hale led the Locavore Club last year, and Henshaw said that their impact on cam-pus was enough to prompt students and faculty to request them for Summit. Henshaw said she hopes the session will inform and engage students the club’s activities this year.

Students and attendees can expect to be engaged

in vigorous discussion at the session “We Are All Lib-erals Now,” hosted by Dr. Vic McCracken, assistant professor of Bible, missions and ministry, and Dr. Cole Bennett, associate profes-sor of English. The two will converse about what the Bible says concerning so-cial justice, where Chris-tians agree on its applica-tion and where Christians disagree, McCracken said.

McCracken said the idea for the session came out of the long philosophi-cal discussions he had with

Bennett over the course of their friendship.

“Cole and I disagree with each other on a lot of things, but we both really like each other,” McCrack-en said. “We wanted to de-velop a session that would be a place of friendly and informed dialogue.”

This fall is a timely op-portunity to talk about what social justice means to different Christians as general elections loom ahead, McCracken said. He and Bennett also hoped the session would work

well in conjunction with Summit’s study of Isaiah.

“We thought that with the focus this year that jus-tice would be an appropriate topic since justice is often a theme in the Old Testa-ment,” McCracken said.

McCracken said he hoped the session would foster the kind of conver-sations on Christian faith and living central to Sum-mit’s values.

Newhouse’s family received an email instructing them to pack their belongings and be prepared to leave pending further notice. She said being unable to be there with her family was difficult, but she did the

best she could to help. She talked to her mother and made a list of items that the family needed to take with them. To their relief, the order to evacuate never came.

Wildfires have destroyed hundreds of homes, includ-ing the home of the parents

of Brent Isbell, preaching minister at University Church of Christ. He said his parents evacuated their home Sept. 4 and learned two days later that it did not survive the fire. Isbell’s parents, who live on the east side of Bastrop, had only 15 minutes’ notice be-fore they were forced to leave their house. They were able to grab only a few items to take with them.

Isbell said were it not for the actions of two of their neighbors, his par-ents could have lost many

of their treasured posses-sions. As the flames ap-proached, the neighbors brought an empty fishing boat and, with his par-ents’ permission, broke a window to enter the house and loaded the boat with their treasured posses-sions, despite warnings from the police.

“Five times they gave the officers Diet Cokes from my folks’ refrigerator to buy a few more minutes,” Isbell said.

Isbell said the neighbors are heroes for rescuing

many of his parents’ prized possessions.

Newhouse and Isbell of-fered suggestions for ways students can help dampen the effects of wildfires. Students should pray for rain and know where their important possessions are, Newhouse said.

“When the time comes you don’t want to be run-ning around the house try-ing to think of 50 things at once that you want to take,” Newhouse said. “Just think about it, because you never

know if something were to happen.”

Isbell said physical needs are the biggest priority.

“When you are trying to rebuild from square one, you need everything,” Is-bell said

ACU students have al-ready begun to respond to the call for help. Students donated almost $3,500 to help victims of the wildfires.

international

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Carol Williams named online director

continued from page 1

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with new management.“We’ve begun commu-

nicating with high school students much earlier,” Campbell said. “We’ll be in contact with students in their sophomore or junior years, and in some cases as early as their freshman year. We’re going to see the results from that by as early as next school year.”

The graduate program had 922 students enrolled last school year. This year, a 14 percent drop in gradu-ate students brings the total number down to 793. Kelly

said that the university hasn’t figured out the main reasons for the dramatic drop off.

“We just sat down in a meeting Wednesday to dis-cuss the numbers,” he said. “We’d been anticipating the smaller freshmen enroll-ment since late spring, but we’re still in the process of determining the direct cause of the smaller numbers in the graduate program.”

At the beginning of the year, President Schubert told faculty and staff that he expected the decline in freshmen enrollment, and university officials began seeking ways earlier in the

summer to cut costs be-cause of it.

Schubert and other members of the university administration finalized decisions to reduce the uni-versity’s costs over the sum-mer. They eliminated seven faculty and staff positions, closed one department and asked several departments not to fill vacant positions. Many departments have been asked to cut 6 percent of their expenses during the coming year.

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Page 5: The Optimist Print Edition: 09.16.11

For Dr. Brady Bryce, visual arts play a vital role in the manifestation of faith – and at Summit.

“Faith is not just about what we say or do in church. Faith is lived in the real world,” said Bryce. “Visual and creative arts remind us of that. They help give expression to what is in our hearts.”

Bryce, director of min-istry events, said Summit 2011 would showcase a featured concert, a perfor-mance from theatre stu-dents and the ever-popular iron pour. Other visual arts opportunities include a class, a matinee screening of a film and several coffee houses in the evening.

“In the past, people think of a conference as just a place where you hear peo-ple speak,” Bryce said. “In the last 4-5 years we’ve tried to make it a multisensory experience. That makes the arts a very important part of faith. People using their hands to help people across the globe is just as impor-tant as talking about it.”

Bryce is particularly ex-cited by this year’s featured

musical performance from Mindy Smith. Smith’s mu-sic is not labeled as Chris-tian music, but Bryce said her music still stirs up faith. Smith will perform at 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday in Moody Coliseum.

“Mindy Smith isn’t a Christian artist – not un-der the Christian label. But she was adopted into the home of a minster in New York and her music speaks to faith indirectly,” said Bryce. “That is often times more effective than overtly Christian music.”

Bryce also has high ex-pectations for two events Sunday evening. Students, faculty and staff from the Department of Theatre will interpret passages of scrip-ture through dance.

In Chapel on the Hill, a Taizé-style worship event will focus on communion, singing, scripture and si-lence. Bryce said the French tradition of Taizé could be

powerful. Both events are scheduled to begin at 8:30 p.m. on Sunday.

“Taizé is a more con-templative type worship. The worship comes from France and the lyrics are short and repeated over and over again,” he said. “It’s very meditative. It’ll be a mix of scripture and peo-ple singing these songs.”

Summit’s main visual attraction may be the iron pour. Geoff Broderick, as-sociate professor of art and design, said the event drew hundreds of spectators last year, as art students formed candlesticks from 2600-de-gree molten metal.

Broderick said proceeds from the sale of this year’s candlesticks would go to Eternal Threads to help edu-cate women in Afghanistan.

“The people that are at Summit come and watch us and see that ACU stu-dents are learning and they are involved in charitable work,” Broderick said.

He said the sculpting of molten metal not only helps a good cause but fulfills academic require-ments for some students. For Broderick, the iron pour is a must see for Sum-mit attendees. The iron pour is scheduled for 8 p.m.

Sunday in the grassy area west of the Teague Special Events Center.

“Seeing molten metal in the evening is impres-sive. Most people have never seen that,” Brod-erick said. “It’s almost al-ways impressive. It’s rare that the average person has ever seen something like this happen.”

However, even on top of all the visual arts offered at Summit, this year’s Summit T-shirt even has a flair for the artistic. Leanne Kawahi-gashi, a sophomore graphic design major from Fort Worth, won last year’s Sum-mit art contest. Her win-ning design will be featured on the Summit T-shirt.

“There is a white circle in the design surrounded by gray circles. Nothing seems quite as pure as one white circle. It almost looks like a light! This represents Jesus,” Kawahigashi said. “It’s always weird to see something I made on the computer in print. Espe-cially on clothing that peo-ple outside of the ACU stu-dent body can purchase.”

Professor of Art and De-sign Jack Maxwell opens his show, “Summers Abroad,” this Saturday. The gallery will display works that he created while on sabbatical this past year.

A sabbatical, which comes from the same root as “Sabbath,” is a faculty renewal program that al-lows professors to take a year off every seven years to focus on his or her concentration.

Maxwell graduated from ACU with a Bach-elor of Fine Arts degree in 1978. After earning a masters degree from The University of Tennessee,

he returned to ACU to teach. In over 25 years as a professor he has taught figure drawing, sculpture, printmaking and three-dimensional design. His wife, Jill, also teaches art at Abilene High School.

Maxwell took a half year sabbatical to plan Jacob’s Dream in 2006. Although he specializes in sculp-ture, this show displays only some of the 90 paint-ings he finished during the one year span.

“A year goes by quick-ly when you are doing something you enjoy,” Maxwell said.

Many of the said paint-ings in this show are based on pictures from his past years of travel which includ-ed Italy, Spain, Wales and other European countries.

“I think the pieces are very traditional and ac-cessible,” Maxwell said. “They will appeal to people who have little art training or no art educa-

tion, but people with an artistic eye will still see that they are well done.”

The gallery will dis-play nearly 30 of Max-well’s paintings which give a very classical view of some of Europe’s most beautiful locations.

The artist statement makes his intentions clear.

“My hope is that these simple marks, scribbles and dabs of pigment on paper might some-how allow you to catch a glimpse of the inexplica-bly sublime beauty of our Father’s world,” Maxwell wrote to welcome show attendees.

The opening ceremony for “Summers Abroad” will take place this Saturday in the Shore Art Gallery at 7 p.m. The show will run through October 14.

6

St. Vincent is full of contradic-tions. Take for example the mastermind behind the proj-ect: Annie Clark.

A native of Dallas, Texas, Clark has collaborated with many artists including Bon Iver, and was part of Sufjan Stevens’ touring band. First impressions of the female songwriter would lean to-wards “adorable,” given her small stature and prepossess-ing charm.

Listening to her deeply in-trospective, almost brooding style of songwriting lays these assumptions to rest. In a re-cent interview with Pitchfork.com, Clark acknowledged the contradiction.

“I know that, physically, I’m a very demure-looking person,” Clark said. “But I certainly have as much ag-gression or anger as the next person, and that’s got to come out somehow.”

That aggression came out in Strange Mercy, St. Vincent’s third full-length recording.

Annie Clark isn’t the only contradiction of St. Vincent; the music itself seems to suf-fer from schizophrenia. Ac-tually, “suffer” is the wrong word. Clark’s music shines because of its self-contradict-ing nature.

Her two previous albums, Marry Me and Actor, each displayed her uncanny abil-ity to weave together con-trasting ideas and musical elements into cohesive songs. This feat is exhibited perfectly in Strange Mercy’s opening track “Chloe in the After-noon.” Clark’s airy vocals en-ter amongst an angelic choir, only to be interrupted by a distorted, menacing guitar riff. Yet somehow, they melt together in perfect unity.

“Cruel” follows and show-cases Clark’s knack for creat-ing melodic hooks that beg the listener to play them on repeat. Strange Mercy carries on and continues to be an expose for Clark’s self-analyt-ical songwriting. “Cruel” and “Surgeon” appear to be the standout tracks of the album and warrant numerous plays in order to completely grasp everything the songs offer.

While her guitar solos often border on experimen-tal, driving percussion and intriguing melodies create a very accessible listening ex-perience. This album gives listeners the unique opportu-nity to make sense their own internal contradictions, and it’s in this light that Clark’s un-suspected vocals and aggres-sive instrumentation allow listeners to relate with Strange Mercy on a personal level.

The album is currently available for online streaming via NPR.

Neon Indian’s newest effort, Era Extraña, released Sept. 13th, makes yet another big splash in the burgeon-ing “chillwave” movement (also known as “glo-fi”) that is dominating the indie-pop scene. Puns aside, it’s a solid and fun album.

Chillwave is a weird cross between ‘60s psyche-delic (think late Beatles and fringe jackets) and ‘80s new wave (think Human League, Depeche Mode, and acid wash jeans). De-spite its upbringings, it somehow works… and it works well.

Neon Indian originally started out as a side proj-ect for Denton native Alan Palomo but has since be-come his primary focus. His debut album, Psychic Chasms, was well received and critically acclaimed in 2010. Currently touring on the festival circuit, Neon Indian has become a heavy player in the music scene. If you like electro-pop music, then this is something you definitely will want to check out for yourself. Neon Indi-an could easily be described as more spirited version of Washed Out and a more produced Toro y Moi.

Era Extraña is a more mature album that we all want and will quickly love. While the first two singles from the album, “Fall Out” and “Polish Girl” are note-worthy songs, “Halogen (I could be a Shadow)” is Palomo’s finest song yet. It shows nuanced depth yet does not sacrifice the pep-py, danceable factor of his earlier music. There are one or two misses in the album, however. “Suns Interrupt” could stand to be a min-ute shorter, and the end-ing track, “Heart: Release,” allows Era Extraña to trail away. It lacks a firm sense of resolution to the album. But in the same regard that the album is an exten-sion (of sorts) to Psychic Chasms, maybe this album is lending itself to be lead-in to Palomo’s next work.

If you’re looking for something to listen to whilst walking across campus to class, or jogging around the Lunsford, then this album is the perfect juxtaposition to such activities. It’s en-ergetic in some places but easy-going in others.

Overall, Era Extraña will be the magnum opus of the Chillwave canon. Until of course, Neon Indian out-does himself yet again.

The album is currently available for online stream-ing via NPR.

Strange MercySt. VincentSeptember 13 via 4AD

Era ExtrañaNeon Indian

September 13 via Mom + Pop

Michael mckissickContributing reporter

Mackenzie NorthContributing Reporter

jeff craigstaff writer

review

Summit

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contact jeff [email protected]

New music from North Texas natives

Visual arts play key role at Summit

david singerarts editor

contact david [email protected]

cour

tes

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f st

ereo

gum

david singer arts editor

Courtesy

jack

maxw

ellco

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Summers AbroadSabbatical art on display in Shore

LEFT: Jack Maxwell, pro-fessor of art and design, shares some information on his new art exhibit, Summers Abroad. The show is scheduled for Saturday night in the Shore Art Gallery.ABOVE: From left to right, his two works “Firenze Eve-ning Vista” and “White Boat on Palamos Beach” were based off photographs taken during Maxwell’s travel in Italy and Spain.

A year goes by quickly when you are doing some-

thing you enjoy.”“Jack Maxwell

ProfessorDepartment of art

Faith is lived in the real world. Visual and

creative arts remind us of that.”“

dr. brady brycedirector of ministy events

friday 09.16.115 arts

Page 6: The Optimist Print Edition: 09.16.11

Vagabondagesamantha sutherland

Oh Dear, Christian College Ben miller

the issueFreshman and sophomore meal plan options changed drasti-cally this summer.

our takeFreshmen and sophomores have to deal with limited dining experiences because of the new system.

Frosh, sophs face fewer options

Hannah barneseditor in chief

Mark smithmanaging editor

jozie sandsopinion page editor

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daniel gomezchief photographer

david ian singer arts editor

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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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We like to call it humor, your Honor

Near the end of last se-mester, the university announced a change in the meal plan system options. Freshmen and sophomores no longer have a limited number of meals per week available to them but unlimited ac-cess to The Bean for either five or seven days a week. The All Access 7 comes with $200 in Bean Bucks while the five-day option is partnered with $400 Bean Bucks.

Complaints have sur-faced from students re-garding the new options. Unlimited access is conve-nient, but many students

don’t have the time, ability, or appetite to take full ad-vantage of the $2,328 spent on either All Access plan.

Last year, the biggest complaint was that the 10, 15, or 21 meals per week couldn’t roll over to the next week. Use ‘em or lose ‘em.

The university did insti-tute rollover for Bean Bucks. Any Bean Bucks not used at the end of fall semester roll over to spring semester, but not after that.

Before this semester, stu-dents could use meal plans at any other dining locations on campus. However, the value of those meals avail-able with a card swipe didn’t

match the per-meal price of the meal plan. Real dollars were sacrificed for the con-venience and variety of the Bagel Wagon in the Admin building or the Fatted Café in Onstead-Packer.

Those days are gone. Now it’s either meal plan at the Bean or Bean Bucks anywhere else.

Juniors and seniors are able to purchase Lifestyle or Freestyle plans that are much cheaper than the All Access options. For $1,245, upperclassmen get 120 meals in the Bean and $275 Bean Bucks with the Lifestyle 120. The Lifestyle 90 contains 90 meals and

$500 Bean Bucks. Free-style plans are exclusively composed of Bean Bucks.

The university listened to students’ complaints and requests to come up with the current services available. Some students are realizing the grass isn’t always greener.

Freshmen and sopho-mores are required to have an All Access plan. Many requests to down-grade to a Lifestyle plan have been submitted.

ACU should offer both the unlimited plan and a set-number-of-meals-available-per-week for freshmen and sophomores.

Accessibility and conve-nience is the name of the game. If a student is able to go to the Bean enough to take advantage of the unlimited plan, then this is a good plan for him or her. But the student who isn’t on campus as often and prefers the conve-nience of Chick-fil-A or Starbucks should have the option of using a limited

number of meals on such dining options.

The different meal plan services meet the needs of different students. Stu-dents should have the abil-ity to choose the one that best meets their lifestyle and budget.

WHOA! IS MEdaVId sInGer

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Kudos to the brazen

I can appreciate random and outrageous displays on campus from people who boldly go where no others dare to go.

Asking permission and then commencing to tackle someone else’s snowman in front of them, especially after having watched them labor to construct it, takes a special kind of person.

You have to smile when you see a student in the library excitedly plug-ging in his new lava lamp, despite the stares. And I am anxiously waiting for some guy to start dressing up in a red striped shirt so we can play a community game of Where’s Waldo? in Chapel every week.

I have a friend who feels absolutely no shame in apologizing to a random stranger for her mistake af-ter having run across cam-pus shouting the name of the person she thought it was, cutting him off on

the sidewalk and knocking him off his bike.

Some people are too embarrassed to even look up as they pass someone they know because they’re not sure if that person will return their glance. And they definitely won’t say hello, just in case the other person is listening to their iPod and doesn’t hear them or something like that.

However, it’s the shame-less people that I feel are empowering themselves to do great things. Many feel justified to mock these peo-ple because they have put themselves in this position and the attention – whether good or bad – was some-thing they chose to receive as a result of their actions.

But who do we talk about at the end of the day? We talk about them, and we smile, and we re-member, because they lack the staleness that our own polished, non-em-barrassing lives possess.

We are missing the re-markable attribute this kind of personality and outlook requires: confi-dence. Confidence might just be that one defining characteristic that will determine whether or not you engage in a life of op-portunities or if you sit and meekly watch them pass.

It seems a lot of things I’ve done boldly were

things I initially resisted but forced myself to do. That’s the thing about get-ting out of your comfort zone; you actually have to be uncomfortable with your decision to be un-comfortable. If someone asks me to share in front of a group, which I still get nervous to do, it doesn’t matter if I feel like it. God gave me a chance to speak out, and I should take it.

People are afraid of re-ceiving negative attention, or any attention at all, and probably rightly so. How-ever, we are called to be salt and light on this earth. Salt that would rather hide in its sealed canister next to pepper and light that is scared to ignite because it would rather remain in-visible isn’t really doing much good.

It may seem a bit of a stretch to say those who aren’t playing a game of tag in the business build-ing or offering to pray in the middle of class aren’t really living out their pur-pose, but it’s more than just being bold or odd – it’s about not being scared to use your voice, not being scared to act.

If you can act boldly in little things, like learning to rip stick in the middle of campus where people can see you fail, then you will be able to act boldly in big things. It’s when I begin to shy away from silly small opportunities that I realize I’m getting farther and far-ther away from being able to take on the big impor-tant opportunities that re-quire even more boldness.

I find it very commend-

able that some girls on campus choose to go with-out makeup, even though it makes them uncomfort-able, and that guys will ask a girl they want befriend to coffee although they have no desire to date her, be-cause they don’t care what it looks like to outsiders.

I think it is those kinds of attitudes that we really need to cultivate in our community here. It’s an attitude that says we have little regard for our own selves because we priori-tize the self we are in God and the self we are in the community above us.

You may embarrass yourself when you reach out to another, but the gesture has the potential to change an individual’s life. Why do so many peo-ple here feel lonely when there are so many loving people surrounding them? Part of it is the embarrass-ment we have when we put ourselves in the vul-nerable position required to really reach out.

The bottom line is that, although we were raised to protect and esteem our own individual identity, we are letting it get in the way of our real work here. Servants don’t look im-pressive, but what they do is incredibly impressive.

Confidence is inexpress-ibly important – not confi-dence in yourself but con-fidence in what God can do through you after you lay yourself aside.

With summer coming to a close, my friends and I took a trip to Port Arkansas.

I drove more than 500 miles that weekend and with about five miles to go on the way home I received a ticket for “failure to slow or evacuate lane for an emer-gency vehicle.”

The “emergency vehicle” in question was an un-marked police car. After some time on the Wikipedia page for “Mistake of Law” and a few emails with a lawyer and family friend re-garding Texas Transporta-tion Code (Section 547.305 to be exact) I decided to fight it. About a month later I now have a court date and a law-yer: myself.

But court is boring. Even if you plan to win.

So in case you ever end up representing yourself in court for an undeserved traffic ticket or a probably deserved child support pay-ment here are some tips to make it fun:

The Clothes – Your ap-pearance is your first im-pression, your first chance to display professionalism. Or you can use the trial as an excuse to buy that green suede suit from Goodwill.

The Examples – To fare well in court you need to learn from the best. But it’s no fun to stick to Atticus Finch and that white-haired guy from Law & Order. So before your court date, grab some snacks and study up on My Cousin Vinny and Le-gally Blonde.

The Jargon – You have to talk like a lawyer if you want to be treated like one. Object to something, ask to “ap-proach the bench,” attempt to strike something from the record. If you’re lucky you’ll get threatened with contempt.

The Famous Cases – Past cases may not have set a precedent for your argu-ment against that parking ticket but you should still try to work Roe v. Wade or Brown v. Board of Education into your argument.

The Recess – At some point you’ll need a break. So request a recess and then get your swing and slide on at the nearest playground. (Don’t worry about getting dirty; your suede suit only cost about $10.)

The Witnesses – Call a friend to the stand and see how far you can get into the “you can’t handle the truth” speech from A Few Good Men. Bonus points if your friend gets to admit he or-dered the Code Red.

The Closing Argument – This is your final chance to sway the jury. It doesn’t matter what you are being tried for. Simply step up, look the jurors in the eye and say “If the glove doesn’t fit, you must acquit.”

Whatever you do, don’t take it seriously. Judges hate that.

column

column

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We smile, and we remember, because

they lack the staleness that our own polished,

non-embarrassing lives possess.”

“ contact singer [email protected]

hashtagaCu

Fascinating scene near Anytime Fitness involv-ing ACU Police, Animal Services and the capture of a large goose. Desper-ate for more info.

“Do I believe in democ-racy? No. We need a good Roman emperor.”#quotesfrommyhistory-prof @overheardACU

@overheard two girls walking in the rain & stop under a tree “it’s not raining right here, HOW BIZARRE!”

@stewllenium

@ashleystroup

@bradybryce

@leannekawa

9:50 a.m. Sept. 14

11:00 a.m. Sept. 153rd week of classes. Guy on phone “NO, listen to me. If you have a class on Tues that meets u HAVE class on Thurs!!”@overheardACU

2:22 p.m. Sept. 13

9:46 p.m. Sept. 13

send your tweets @acuoptimist, or #aCu, to get your tweets printed in the Optimist.

friday 09.16.11 6opinion

Page 7: The Optimist Print Edition: 09.16.11

FRIDAY 09.16.117 sports Jumps

ACU quarterback Mitchell Gale found his form in the fourth quarter against Tarleton. The Wildcats racked up over 430 yards of offense in the win, 335 of which came via Gale’s arm as he also threw for three touchdowns in the win.

The Lions may not boast the best defense in the country, but they do have one of the best defensive play-ers in the nation lined up at corner-back in Janoris Jenkins.

It’s the No. 3 team in the nation against the No. 4 team in what is the biggest Divison II football game of this young season in iconic Cowboys Stadium no less.

Despite the offensive line’s struggles at times, the ’Cats put up some great numbers offensively against Tarleton. Gale came through, as did running back Daryl Richardson. Richardson didn’t see the field much against the Texans due to a lingering hamstring strain, but he will be healthy going into Saturday’s game against North Alabama. Look for ACU to continue to pound the ball on the ground while taking the occasional deep shot down the field.

ACU has always scheduled a tough non-conference opponent at the beginning of the season, and this year is no different. It doesn’t get much better than this matchup and with Cowboy Stadium as the back-drop, this should be a game for the ages. I think this one could go either way, but I think North Alabama has too much talent.

The brightest stars shine the brightest when in the spot-light, right? So is the case for this matchup. Quarterback Mitchell Gale will make his case for the Harlon Hill tro-phy. Aston Whiteside will wreak havoc in the North Alabama backfield, causing several mistakes. Expect a defensive battle that comes down to ball possession.

The Wildcats face the tough-est test they will have all season. The combination of playing in Cowboy Stadium and the top 10 matchup will cause player’s nerves to be higher than normal. As a re-sult, the game will start off slow offensively but expect a close game and ACU to score a touchdown late in the fourth quarter to pull away.

Despite the ‘Cats’ shaky sea-son opener against Tarleton, Mitchell Gale was able to pull out a ‘W’ in the last quarter. As much as I would like to say I expect the same in Sat-urday’s game again North Alabama, I’m hesitant to say it will happen again. The Li-ons’ defense will be hard to overcome, especially with key players like Janoris Jen-kins and James Brooks.

If the name sounds familiar, it’s because Jenkins spent his first three college seasons at the Univeristy of Flor-ida. Jenkins won a national championship with the Gators in 2008 when he was named to the Freshman all-America team. Jenkins has already made an im-pact for the Lions, not only in the secondary but also on special teams. Last Saturday, Jenkins returned a punt for a touchdown. Against a green receiving corps from ACU, Jenkins could have a field day.

It’s rare that Coach Thomsen sees a coach across the sideline who has had a more prolific career, but he will see one in UNA head coach Terry Bowden. Bowden, who was the head coach at Auburn Univer-sity in the 90s, now he leads a Lion squad that has been to the Div. II playoffs each of the last two sea-sons. This will be the first time for the two teams to play in a venue like this, so nerves and awe might play a factor early in the game.

Pick: UNA 34-31 Pick: ACU 17-10 Pick: ACU 27-21 Pick: UNA 35-28

Offense Defense IntangiblesACUNorth Alabama TIE

PICK:

#3 ACU vs. #4 North AlabamaGame Preview

PICK:PICK:

Austin Gwin Bryson Shake Natalie GoinEdward Isaacs

After their struggles against Tarleton, these ‘Cats have something to prove, and there’s no better place to prove yourself than against a quality opponent in a mag-nificent venue. This is sure to be a four-quarter battle of two very talented teams, but the lights of Cowboy Stadium should bring out the best of Mitchell Gale and his offense.

ACU vs. North Alabama is a huge early season matchup of two LSC powerhouses. The matchups on the out-side will be a must see Satur-day in Cowboy Stadium with ACU’s playmakers at wide reciver matching up against a talented North Alabama secondary. I think this game goes ACU’s way in the fourth quarter although it will be a tight game for sixty minutes.

Pick: ACU 35-34 Pick: ACU 31-27

Matthew SloanCody Weems

Rally: Home crowd ignites comebackonly close match against a conference opponent. In their first conference game of the year, ACU went five sets with Texas A&M University-Kings-ville and came out on top.

Senior Jennie Hutt had a monster game with a ca-reer high 32 kills, a .424 hit-ting percentage, nine digs, a block and two assists.

Hutt played a major role in all five sets. In the first set, Hutt had 10 kills . Then Hutt ended the sec-ond set with a kill coming

straight off the bench. The third and fifth sets

were much the same, col-lecting 15 more kills along with no errors. In the tight fifth set, Hutt put the Wildcats on the board early 2-0.

The Cardinals would fall behind 7-3 only to mount a comeback and

take the lead 12-10. Five points later during

a match winning oppor-tunity for Incarnate Word, Hutt hit a clutch strike to tie it at 14-14.

The ‘Cats and Cardinals were neck and neck until the score hit 16-16. Steph-anie Bonura committed an attacking error to give

ACU the chance for the fi-nal blow.

Robinett would crush the match winner off an assist from Caley John-son.

Robinett was more than pleased to score the final point.

“I was ecstatic. A rush of relief came over me when the ball hit the ground,” Robinett said. “I’m glad I had the opportunity to make the winning shot.”

Johnson had 49 assists, only two shy of her per-sonal best.

Freshman Haley

Rhoads saw playing time and chipped in with 16 as-sists while Kelsie Edwards led the team with 28 digs. Robinett was among three other teammates in dou-ble-digit kill totals (11).

For Mock, games such as these can be both excit-ing and stressful.

“On my end, it does make you want to pull your hair out sometimes,” Mock said. “But I love watching the girls bond together and decide they’re going to ac-complish their goals even when the deck is stacked against them.”

ACU travels to Denton on Saturday, Sept. 17, for a con-ference game against Texas Women’s University at 2 p.m.

Texas Women’s is cur-rently 1-6 overall and 1-2 in the LSC. Their only win came against Mid-western State University in five sets.

Last season, the Wild-cats played the Pioneers twice, beating them once in the regular season and once in the LSC Post-Sea-son Tournament.

contact isaacs [email protected]

volleyball

madelyn robinettoutside hitter,

ACU Volleyball.

I was ecstatic. A rush of relief came over me when the ball hit the ground. I’m glad I had the opportunity to

make the winning shot.”“from page 8

Start: ’Cats ready for conference games

glad we’re off to a quick start, but it’s a long season and this is just the beginning.”

“But, we are not going to let this define us or our play. We are still going to go put there and play like we know how to play, no matter what we’re ranked,” he said.

All-American forward Andrea Carpenter echoed Wilson, saying while the recognition is fulfilling, it does not define the team or their play.

“The recognition is awe-some and well-deserved for our team, but we don’t place

a whole lot of importance on where we’re ranked. All we can do is keep quiet and play our game,” Carpenter said. “And that’s what we plan on doing.”

On a regional scale, ACU is ranked second be-hind No. 2 St. Edwards, and, that is the number they are focused on.

“While the national poll is the poll people out-side of our program place lots of importance on, it is just a scale,” Wilson said. “The regional poll is the one we need to make sure we as a team are looking at because it determines the

longevity of our season.”Averaging 3.25 goals

per game, the Wildcats are ranked 17 nationally in scoring offense. Their de-fense is noteworthy also, as the unit ranks among the nation’s 50 best.

Incarnate Word enters Friday’s matchup at 2-0-1 and is coming off a 3-3 tie with Truman State. The Wildcats beat Truman 4-2 last weekend.

Lead by forwards Am-ber Guenther and Sarah Johnson, the Cardinals offense averages 3 goals a game to giving up 1.33.

That said, the ACU de-

fense will have their hands full with those two, and sophomore defender Brie Buschman said the only way to contain them is by com-munication and teamwork.

“The key to containing two forwards like these is to always be alert, to com-municate with others, and by working together,” Buschman said. “If we do that, we’ll be fine.”

Angelo State plays Midwestern Friday before traveling to Abilene. The Rambelles (1-3) average 1.75 goals per game and allow 1.50 to opponents.

They are led by Brandie

DeBacker and Maggie Schaffer, who each have scored three goals.

“Both of these teams pres-ent tough matchups for us. They will come out swinging and we expect nothing less than a battle,” Wilson said.

ACU will host the Car-dinals at 5 p.m. Friday and then play Angelo State at 1 p.m. Sunday.

contact shake [email protected]

soccer

from page 8

Fall: Team preparedThe women have won their regional title for the last 15 years.

Fall is more of an individ-ual season, and spring is the main team season, he said.

Jones said the biggest goal in the fall is the ITA South Central Regional Tournament. Last year,

both Wildcat teams won singles and doubles. He said the team goal is for someone to win Regionals.

“I’ve got good players,” Jones said. “It won’t be easy, but I definitely think we will be the favorite to send players to Nationals.”

tennis

contact goodspeed [email protected]

from page 8

Page 8: The Optimist Print Edition: 09.16.11

friday 09.16.11 8sports

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Div.1-01-00-00-00-00-00-00-10-1

Ovrl.1-01-12-02-01-00-10-10-20-2

TeamWTAMUASUACUMSUCameronCommerceTWUUIWENMU

Div.4-03-02-02-12-11-21-21-31-3

Ovrl.10-011-06-46-23-22-31-64-62-8

TeamENMUACUUIWMSUCommerceASUTWUWTAMU

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ACU’s Alumni Relations Office announced Friday, Sept. 9, that the pregame party at Cowboy Stadium as part of the Lone Star Conference Football Festival is sold out. Wildcat fans will still be able to join the Dr. Pepper End Zone festivities prior to the 4 p.m. kickoff. Fans who are interested should go through Entrance B, or section 244 from inside the stadium.

Junior forward Krysta Grimm was named one of the LSC’s Top Performers for the week on Wednesday for her play last week for the Wildcats. Grimm scored one goal and dished out two assists last weekend, helping the ’Cats win both games.

Chicago Bears wide receiver Johnny Knox began his third season right where he left off from last year. He had three receptions for 60 yards against the Atlanta Falcons. The Bears won the game 30-12.

Bengals running back Bernard Scott saw limited playing time in his first game of the ‘11 season. He had four carries for three yards and zero touchdowns in their 27-17 win over the Clevland Browns. Last season, Scott had 299 yards rushing on 61 attempts and 60 receiving yards.

Danieal Manning, Texans safety, had two solo tackles against the Colts on Sunday, Sept. 11. Houston won 34-7.

The volleyball team will travel to Denton on Saturday, Sept. 17 to play Texas Woman’s University at 2 p.m.

Women’s soccer hosts Incarnate Word at the Wildcat Soccer Pitch at 5 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 16 and Angelo State at 1 p.m. Sunday.

Football plays the University of North Alabama in the Lone Star Conference Festival in Cowboys Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 17 at 4 p.m.

football

volleyball

Women’s Soccer

standings

briefings

EX- FACTOR

Upcoming

Hach, men lay strong foundation

The Wildcat men and wom-en’s tennis teams started their fall season last weekend with the men competing in the Ag-gie Tennis Invitational, where Hans Hach, sophomore, won the single’s competition, and the women competing in Ste-phen F. Austin Invitational.

“The fall is about getting your legs under you and fig-uring out who your doubles mate will be in the spring,”

said Head Coach Hutton Jones. “Truly laying a foun-dation and establishing a starting point for the season is what the fall’s all about.”

At the Aggie Tennis In-vitational, hosted by New Mexico State University, Hach won the singles title, defeating New Mexico’s Sammy Iftikhar in the finals.

Other schools compet-ing at the tournament in-cluded University of New Mexico, New Mexico State, Arizona, Northern Arizona and Western New Mexico.

Jones said until now, the men’s team has started its fall season at the New Mexico State fall tourna-ment, but no Wildcat has ever won in the top ranked grouping – the “A” draw.

Hach said he didn’t have a strategy. He just fo-

cused on getting through each match.

“It was pretty tough,” Hach said. “I had to play eight matches – two a day. The tournament was made up of Division I schools and was physically really hard.”

Hach’s quarterfinal match lasted three hours, and Hach only had a one-hour break before the semi-finals began.

“It was a struggle for him and competitive all the way through,” Jones said. “It was neat to see

Hans at another level of fitness and strength com-pared to last year.”

Hach said winning the tournament was an en-couraging accomplish-ment, but he is focused on the Regional tournament, which will take place Sept. 29 in Springfield, Mo.

At the Stephen F. Austin Invitational last weekend, the women’s team finished with a 14-10 singles record and an 8-4 mark in doubles.

kristin goodspeedsports reporter

tennis

hutton joneshead coach,

ACU Tennis Team.

Truly laying a foundation and establishing a start-

ing point for the season is what the fall’s all about.”“

see fall page 7

mandy lambright staff Photographer

Neely Borger and Kaylnne Allen celebrate after winning a point at Moody Coliseum Wednesday night. Tied at 2 games apiece, the Wildcats overcame a scare to top UIW.

Clutch ’Cats rally for win

The Wildcat volleyball team provided plenty of enter-tainment for fans Tuesday night in Moody Coliseum.

ACU battled back and forth with University of the Incarnate Word through five sets, and, despite los-ing a 2-0 advantage, was able to come out with a 3-2 victory (25-17, 25-21, 21-25, 26-28, 18-16).

The Wildcats have played two Lone Star Con-ference teams and are 2-0. The win moves them to an overall record of 6-4 on the year. Incarnate Word’s re-cord drops to 4-6 and 1-3 in the LSC.

Sophomore outside hitter Madelyn Robinett was hap-py the team fought back.

“I was really proud of us,” Robinett said. “It shows we have a lot of character to be able to pull out the win after losing the lead like we did.”

“We got complacent af-ter winning the first and second sets. We lost men-

tal focus but regained it in the fifth,” she said.

Head Coach Kellen Mock said you have to be careful when playing teams in the LSC.

“If you come out on top against a team in our con-ference and your domi-nating, it can be hard for them to get back in the match,” she said.

“On the other hand, the moment you ease up on the accelerator they have an opportunity to get something rolling which can become hard to stop.”

Mock also said the team performed extremely well the first two sets.

“I think our team over-all played well at times. Our serve receive was much better. Game one and the first half of game two were probably the best we’ve played in the last week,” she said.

“Winning under those circumstances gave the girls confidence that they can overcome their own messes.”

This wasn’t the ‘Cats

Edward IsaacsAssistant Sports Editor

volleyball

Carpenter hopes to ride win streak

The ACU golf team will hit the road for the season’s second tournament Mon-day and Tuesday at the Dornick Hills Classic.

After their success ear-lier this week at the Charles Coody Intercollegiate Tour-nament, Coach Mike Camp-bell is looking forward to see-ing his team compete again.

The ‘Cats finished second overall soon after Central Okla-homa won by two strokes, and both teams played very well, according to Campbell.

“We hung right up there with more experi-enced teams than our-selves,” Campbell said.

“I expect that with each tournament we will see our individual golf-ers grow more and more as players and as a team,” said Campbell. “I just can’t wait to see how we do at the next tournament after such a great start.”

Junior Alex Carpenter, the recent winner of the Charles Coody Intercollegiate tour-nament, also looks forward to the upcoming contest.

“I was very happy with how we played,” Carpen-

ter said. “My mindset go-ing into the next tourna-ment is to do my best, and hopefully that will be enough to win.”

Carpenter said manag-ing his expectations in the last tournament and hav-ing fun was what allowed him to focus. Alleviating the pressure ultimately helped him win the indi-vidual title.

Campbell is also excited to see what Carpenter will continue to do this season.

“Alex is playing fantas-tic golf right now,” Camp-bell said. “He continues to impress, and I can’t wait

to see how he performs after starting the season off so well.”

“I hope to do just as well in Oklahoma next week,” Carpenter said. “I just need to have fun and do my best because that always makes me success-ful and keeps me on top of my game and stress-free.”

As the already success-ful Wildcat team looks for-ward to the next tourna-ment, they also take each time to play as a way to work towards a title. “We have a lot of good players, new as well as old,” said Campbell. “Each tourna-

ment is a time for them to gain experience and prove that we are capable of what we set out to do.”

This will be the first time the Wildcats will make an appearance in this tournament, and the team has every reason to believe that they will make a good first impression.

ACU’s golf team will play their second tournament of the season September 19-20th at the Dornick Hills Golf and Country Club in Ardmore, Oklahoma.

natalie goinsports reporter

golf

destiny hagood staff Photographer

Andrea Carpenter fights for a ball against a DBU defender.

soccer

Motivated ’Cats ready for weekend

Following a 4-0 start and week that has included jumping 12 spots in the latest NCAA national poll, students might be asking, “What’s next for the ACU women’s soccer team?” Lone Star Conference play, that’s what is next.

The No. 12 Wildcats (4-0) will kick off their 2011 LSC schedule Friday, hosting Incarnate Word at 5 p.m. at the Wildcat Soccer Pitch.

“This is always a fun part of the year,” midfielder Ju-

lie Coppedge said. “Starting conference play is something we always look forward to, as it is important and relevant to the goals we hope to reach as a team. We have a clean slate, and the road ahead is all we are concerned about.”

This game comes on the heels of unchartered waters for the young ACU women’s

soccer program. The team, in its fifth year as a program, was ranked No. 12 in the nation by the National Soc-cer Coaches’ Association of America’s weekly poll.

For Head Coach Casey Wilson, this news serves as motivation, but noth-ing the team plans to hang their hat on.

“I think it’s fantastic that we are receiving some much deserved recognition for our play as of late. A lot of it comes on the heels of our great year last year,” Wilson said. “I’m

bryson shakesports editor

julie coppedgejunior midfielder,

acu soccer.

This is always a fun part of the year. Starting confer-

ence play is something we always look forward to.”“

see rally page 7

see start page 7

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