the optimist print edition 10.26.11
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A product of the JMC Network of student media at Abilene Christian University.TRANSCRIPT
inside
Page 8 page 6 page 3
Women’s soccer team won conference championship Sunday
Read why the new block tuition plan is good news for students
ACU Press releases first volume of hymnbook series
Abilene Christian University
Big, Bad BikersACU students compete
in local bike race
Featurespage 5
sports opinion news
acuoptimist.com
Homecoming brings campus together for celebration
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campus
vol. 100, no. 17 Wednesday, october 26, 2011 1 SECTION, 8 PAGES
Christopher North was con-victed of murder Tuesday for the shooting death of Austin David, which took place in February this year after a collision and confrontation on the corner of Sayles Bou-levard and S. 14th Street.
Closing arguments Tues-day morning wrapped up the ten-day trial. A jury made of ten men and two women spent about only two hours deliberating the decision.
North, 45, was accused of shooting and killing Da-vid, 21, on Feb. 9. Although North admitted to shooting
David, he insisted it was an act of self defense.
North and David were traveling southbound on Sayles, and upon stopping at the traffic light, both men got out of their vehicles. Wit-nesses of the scene testified in court that North exited his vehicle first, but David was seen first with a gun. Both men returned to their respective vehicles, and North put his pickup truck in reverse and slammed it into David’s Mustang.
The force shoved the Mus-tang into the median. Both men again got out of their vehicles, and this time, both were armed. North shot David in the head. Just more than an
hour later in the hospital, Da-vid was declared dead.
District Attorney James Eidson argued that North was the instigator in the situation and thus at fault. “He was mad,” Eidson said during closing arguments. “He was the aggressor in this incident.”
But North’s two defense attorneys, Sam Moore and
David Thedford, said the op-posite. Their argument stood on the foundation of self-defense, emphasizing David’s initial display of a weapon the first time both men stepped out of their vehicles.
“The only provoker in this is Austin David,” Thed-ford said. “The only reason that gun wasn’t found in his hand is because he dropped it when he was shot.”
A key witness to the trial was David’s girlfriend, Mc-Murry University student Stephanie Molina, who was in the Mustang throughout the duration of the incident. Molina testified North, after the shooting, said to her, “Next time learn not to pull
a gun on somebody.”Moore told the jury he
didn’t think Molina was tell-ing the truth and although she knew exactly what happened, she never revealed it in court. Prosecutor Eidson held fast to the truth of Molina’s words.
Another key witness was Tyler Casey. Casey said he was at the stoplight of the intersec-tion when the incident oc-curred, and in his opinion Da-vid was the aggressor. Video surveillance of the scene later proved that Casey was not at the location at the actual time of shooting. Eidson called Casey a liar, but Moore said whether he was stopped at the red light or not, he was focused on what was going on.
The trial lagged through a few delays, one of which was for blood work to indicate whether or not David had any illegal substances in his system during the incident. Judge Thomas Wheeler did not allow the test to be admit-ted as evidence because of conflicting results from dif-ferent laboratories and the causes for the differentiation.
Throughout the trial, North never took the stand to defend himself. Sentenc-ing begins Wednesday, and he faces a prison term of 5-99 years.
Abilenian convicted of murder in road rage death
Switchfoot rocks campus
daniel gomez chief Photographer
Fans raise their arms as Switchfoot performs on stage in Moody Coliseum. Switchfoot performed after Atomic Tom and Anberlin Sunday night, the last day of fall break.
farron salleystudent reporter
Switchfoot brought a night of rock performances on campus to an emphatic close Sunday in Moody Coliseum.
The final show of the na-tionwide tour also brought ACU’s fall break to an end.
Atomic Tom opened for Anberlin and Switchfoot, as they have throughout the month-long tour. The band members said they’d thoroughly enjoyed tour-ing with the popular rock bands. The band’s bassist, Philip Galitzine, said the other groups couldn’t have been nicer.
“They’re some of the most incredible people we’ve ever hung out with,” said Tobias Smith, Atomic Tom’s drummer. “As a sup-port band for two high pro-file groups, we weren’t nec-
essarily expecting to be so welcomed.”
Anberlin followed Atomic Tom’s 30-minute set without its lead singer, Stephen Christian, who left the tour early for fam-ily reasons. Phillip Sneed and Dan Marsala of Story of the Year have filled in as lead vocals for the final stretch of the tour since Tuesday in Dallas.
Nathan Young, Anberlin’s drummer, said the band made the decision to bring Sneed and Marsala on in the best interest of the fans.
“It’s been different; we’ve only played with Stephen before,” Young said. “We could’ve either cancelled or continued with different singers. We decided this would be bet-ter than cancelling.”
Audience members re-ceived the change fairly well.
“It definitely would’ve been better if their lead
singer had been there,” said Erik Soulek, sophomore ac-counting major from San Antonio. “But they did a good job; the whole band played a great set.”
Switchfoot, featured re-cently on ESPN’s college football broadcasts and Hawaii 5-0, headlined the show and ended the eve-ning with an hour-long set, featuring songs from both older records and from their recently released album, Vice Verses.
Jon Foreman, Switch-foot’s lead singer, said this concert was the first for which they played their new song “Blinding Light” out-side the recording studio.
Foreman played a small after-show outside Don Morris Center at midnight, about an hour after the con-cert ended. A small group of about 50 fans surrounded and sang along with him as he played acoustic songs
from his solo EPs and from Switchfoot albums. He said he really enjoyed the small-er after-shows with the smaller group of fans sing-ing with him.
The Abilene show ends Anberlin and Atomic Tom’s tour. While both bands expect to play a few shows before the end of the year, they are moving on to writing and produc-ing.
“We’re going to go into the studio in early February to start working our new record,” Young said. “It will probably be released in late spring or early summer.”
Switchfoot will take a two-week break from the road before heading over-seas early next month for a short tour through Europe.
contact smith [email protected]
contact salley [email protected]
Mark smithmanaging editor
Daniel Gomez chief Photographer
Jon Foreman, lead vocalist and guitarist, rocks out on stage during his performance in Moody Coliseum.
David ThedfordNorth’s defense attorney
The only reason that gun wasn’t found in his hand is because he dropped it
when he was shot.”“
26
42 29
27 28 29Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
11 a.m. “What’s In It For Him?” Part 2 in Moody Coliseum with Dr. Glen Villanueva
7 p.m. ACU volleyball at West Texas A&M
7 p.m. Frater Sodalis Haunted House
11 a.m. “What’s In It For Him?” Part 1 in Moody Coliseum with Dr. Glen Villanueva
11 a.m. Leadership Summit information meeting in COBA 301
6 p.m. ACU women’s soc-cer at Midwestern State
7 p.m. Me Addiction Tour in the Hunter Welcome Center
7 p.m. Frater Sodalis Haunted House
2 p.m. ACU football Pink Out game vs. A&M Commerce at Shotwell Stadium
6 p.m. Trojans Grub
7 p.m. ACU volleyball at Eastern New Mexico
7 p.m. Frater Sodalis Haunted House
Police Log
chapel checkup
@acuoptimist
The Optimist
Wednesday 10.26.11 2
announcements
An information meeting for Leader-ship Summit will take place Oct. 26 at 11 a.m. in COBA 301. All majors are welcome, and no prerequisites are re-quired. Leadership Summit will take place in Frontier Ranch, CO Jan. 3-9. Participants can earn 3 credit hours.
The men of Frater Sodalis will host “The Re-turn to the Haunted Island” Oct. 27 - 31 be-ginning at 7 p.m. The event will be located on loop 322 between Highway 80 and I-20.
All students are encouraged to wear pink to the football game on Oct. 29 to support ACU athletics and Breast Can-cer Awareness Month.
The Me Addiction Tour, featuring co-median Bob Smiley, Speaker Reg Cox and Worship Leader Phil Joel, will take place Oct. 28 at 7 p.m. in the Hunter Welcome Center. Students who attend can earn three chapel credits.
A Graduation Fair will take place in the Hunter Welcome Center Nov. 1 from 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. This fair is only for stu-dents graduating in Dec. 2011.
Cheryl Bachelder, President of Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen and CEO of AFC Enter-prises, Inc., will speak in the Hunter Wel-come Center Nov. 3 at 11:45 a.m. as part of COBA’s Distinguished Speaker Series.
ACU Entrepreneur Bootcamp will take place Nov. 4-5 in the Hunter Welcome Center. This training event is designed for individuals who want to be entrepreneurs or have an idea for a business. Registration cost is $99 before Nov. 1, $249 after Nov. 1. The Griggs Center for Entrepreneurship and Philanthropy will host the event.
The 25th annual Carmichael-Walling Lectures will take place Nov. 10 in the Onstead-Packer Biblical Studies Build-ing Room 114. The first lecture will take
place at 4 p.m.; the second lecture will take place at 7:30 p.m. This year’s lec-turer will be Steve J. Friesen, the Louise Farmer Boyer Chair in Biblical Studies in the Department of Classics at the University of Texas in Austin. The lec-tures are free and open to the public.
A Grad School Application Workshop will take place in the History Depart-ment office Nov. 12 from 2 - 4 p.m. The office is located in the third floor of the Administration Building. History professors will be available to help stu-dents with their grad school applica-tions. All majors are welcome.
The Medical and Counseling Care Cen-ter Grief Group will meet in the new MACCC every Tuesday until Nov. 29 from 6:30 - 8 p.m. Grief Group is a free meeting for those who are grieving the death of someone close to them.
Flu shots will be available in the Medi-cal & Counseling Care Center for $15.
Makeover Mondays will take place in the Campus Store every Monday from 2 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. Students can stop by to try new beauty products or consult with the staff members.
Blood, Sex, Sweat & Dirt, a Chapel Forum by the ACU Social Justice Clubs, will take place in the Onstead-Packer Biblical Stud-ies Building Room 144 Tuesdays at 11 a.m.
Introduction to Equine-Assisted Psy-chotherapy will be offered Spring 2012 as a new 3-hour special topics course. The course will be offered Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3 - 4:20 p.m. The course will include lectures on Tuesdays and hands-on learning on Thursdays at ACU Rhoden Farm. For more informa-tion contact Steve Eller at 325-674-2878 or email [email protected].
Volunteer Opp0rtunities
The Oakridge Church of Christ is looking for volunteers to help with Trunk-Or-Treat on Oct. 29 from 6 - 9 p.m. at the church building located at 3250 Beltway South. Volunteers will help with set-ting up booths, working the booths, face painting and running games for the kids. To help with either event contact Emerald Lemmons at 325-370-1327 or email [email protected].
Love and Care Ministries needs volunteers for their annual Tent Revival Nov. 6-9 beginning at 6:30 p.m. each evening. Love and Care will provide food, cloth-ing, haircuts, flu shots, and more to those in need in the Abilene community. Each evening will also include praise, worship, prayer, and guest speakers. Volunteers can register at lcmin.com/newsite/?page id=2091.
Communities in Schools needs volunteers Nov. 11 from 1 - 3 p.m. or 5 - 9 p.m. at Ortiz Elementary School located at 2550 Vogel St. Volunteers will play games with children from 1 - 3 p.m. or help set up, run booths, and take down their Fall Festival from 5 - 9 p.m. Volunteers can work at one or both events. Contact Sheila Ashford at 325-671-4945 ext. 5351 or email [email protected].
The American Business Women’s Association needs volunteers Nov. 11 - 13 for various daytime and eve-ning shifts to help with an event at the Abilene Civic Center. Volunteers will help primarily in the main concession stand. Contact Sydnye Moore at 325-692-2633 or 325-428-1024 or email [email protected].
The International Rescue Committee is collecting coats, hats, jackets, gloves, and blankets for refugees in Abilene who came to the U.S. with few possessions and who will need warm clothing. Donations can be dropped off daily from 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. at 3303 N. 3rd St., Suite D. For more information contact Aly Shanks at 325-675-5673 ext. 19 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 pro-gram. 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.
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 S. 1st St.
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 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 National Center for Children’s Illustrated Lit-erature is looking for volunteers to work Tuesday - Saturday from 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. or 1 - 3 p.m. Volun-teers will greet patrons, assist with art activities, sell books and make visitors feel welcome. Help is also needed for special events like exhibit openings. The Center is located at 102 Cedar St. For more information contact Debby Lillick at 325-673-4586 or visit the NCCIL website.
Noah Project Inc. needs volunteers to help answer hotlines and do other office work any weekday at any time depending on the volunteers’ schedule. Training will be provided. For more information contact Yvonne Myers at 325-676-7101.
Breakfast on Beech Street is looking for volun-teers to help set up, prepare and serve breakfast to homeless or lower-income visitors any weekday. The event begins at 5:30 a.m. Mondays, Wednes-days, Thursdays and Fridays; 5 a.m. on Tuesdays. Serving time is 6:30 - 7:15 a.m. B.O.B.S is located at First Christian Church on N. 3rd Street and Beech Street in Downtown Abilene. For more information visit the First Christian Church website.
The Abilene Zoo is looking for volunteers to help with general labor such as grounds cleanup and painting any weekday at any time between noon and 4 p.m. The Zoo is located at 2070 Zoo Ln. Contact Joy Harsh at 325-676-6487 for more information.
The House That Kerry Built is looking for volunteers to assist in the day care of medically fragile children any day Monday - Friday from 8:45 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Contact Dave Kraly at 325-676-3104 or email [email protected] for more information.
The Betty Hardwick Center is looking for volunteers to participate in Special Olympics by helping mentally/physically challenged people play games such as bas-
ketball, track, and/or bowling Monday - Friday 8 a.m. - 2 p.m. The Center is located at 801 Cypress St. Contact Angel Seca at 325-690-5235 for more information.
The Salvation Army is looking for volunteers for a variety of needs including sorting items in the thrift store, helping in the kitchen and/or doing yard work. Times are flexible, and help is needed Monday - Saturday. The Salvation Army is located at 1726 Butternut St. For more information contact J.D. Alonzo at 325-677-1408 or visit www.satruck.com.
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 the Abilene Hope Haven website.
Abilene Nursing and Rehabilitation Center has vari-ous opportunities for volunteers ranging from visit-ing with residents to helping with Bingo. Volunteers are needed Monday, Wednesday, or Thursday from 2 - 3 p.m. The Center is located at 2630 Old Anson Road. For more information contact Rita Raymond at 325-673-5101 or email [email protected].
The Food Bank of West Central Texas needs volunteers to help sort and stock food and other items any weekday Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. - 3 p.m. The Food Bank is located at 5505 N. 1st St. For more information contact Janice Serrault at 325-695-6311 or [email protected].
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 com-puter skills. Locations are 4610 N. 10th St. or 1902 Shelton St. Contact Mark Denman at 325-672-1712 for more information.
Habitat for Humanity needs volunteers to help with various construction tasks including carpen-try, painting, cleaning up, installing cabinets and other tasks. Volunteers are needed any day Monday - Saturday anytime from 9 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Contact Steven Legget at 325-670-0489 or email [email protected].
Westgate Church of Christ needs volunteers to help with their prison ministry. Help is needed with the women’s ministry, Family of Offenders support group meetings and more. Volunteers will work at the Middleton Unit and/or Taylor County Jail. The project is ongoing and times vary. For more information contact Jeff Thigpen at 325-829-4149
Oct. 26
6:30 p.m. The champion-ship game for the Cow-boys for the Cure softball tournament will take place at Hardin-Simmons Uni-versity. The winners of the intramural tournament will face the HSU baseball team. There will be food, games, prizes and a concert featur-ing the Kirk House Band. Admission will be free.
Oct. 27
6 p.m. Archeologist Andy Cloud will give a lecture at the T&P Center at 901 N. 1st Street.
7 p.m. A Fall Festival will take place at the Mall of Abilene in the women’s Dillard’s court-yard. There will be games, prizes, candy and a costume contest. Preregistration begins at 6 p.m. Participating stores will host trick-or-treat-ing. Admission will be free.
Oct. 28
7 p.m. A Haunted House Tour will take place at Play Faire Park. The Tour will last through Oct. 31. Cost is $8 per person. Minia-ture golf admission will be reduced to $3 per person.
7 p.m. The 3rd Annual PosiPa-looza Concert will take place at the Paramount Theatre. Tickets cost $10 for students, military, and seniors.
Oct. 29
7:30 p.m. The Paramount Theatre will show Carrie as the annual Halloween film. All seats will cost $6.
8 p.m. Fright at the Museum will take place at Frontier Texas, featuring scenes based on the horrors of frontier life, along with some scary surprises. Tickets cost $10 per person.
Around Abilene
wednesday 10.26.113 campus news
Weekend events offer Halloween thrills
From haunted houses to masquerades, the ACU campus is gearing up for the Halloween season. Students will have the op-portunity to get spooked, dress up and watch a monster film this week in celebration of the fall holiday.
The annual Frater So-dalis haunted house, The Return to Haunted Is-land, will open Thursday night, marking the 30th year of the event. This year the haunted house has moved from Play Faire Park, where it has been for the past couple of years,
to a location on Loop 322 between Highway 80 and I-20, a bigger location with the intention of attracting a bigger crowd.
“This new location was used by Frats nearly five years ago, and it was our biggest haunted house yet. We are hoping to top it this year,” said Jack Sor-rells, head of fundrais-ing for Frater Sodalis and junior computer science
major from Waco.The event started as a
club fundraiser in 1981 and has been held most years since then. The haunted house stands as the biggest fundraiser for the Frats all year. Every-one from club members to club prospects – and even girlfriends – get involved and help out at the haunt-ed house.
The event runs Thurs-day to Monday, beginning at 7 p.m. each day. Tickets for the haunted house are $10 each. Thursday night is college night, with $8 tickets for college students with a valid college ID.
In addition to the haunted house, the Hon-ors College will host a
masquerade. The party will begin at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday at the Paramount Theatre, chosen because it has a “fun, Hollywood feel,” said Kelsey Evans, chief organizer of the masquerade.
The theme this year is “Calling all Characters,” and the movie Monsters Inc. will be shown. At-tendees in costume can compete for prizes at the end of the night.
“Last year students went all out and had some crazy costumes, we will also have a photo booth where you and your friends can have your picture taken and sent to you,” Evans said.
Honors students and
friends of Honor students are invited to pick up the free tickets for the event at the Honors College of-fice in Zellner Hall. Tick-ets are limited and will be given on a first come, first served basis.
The Honors College ex-pects to have a large turn-out Sunday with the new and exciting venue.
local
Jake bellstudent reporter
contact bell [email protected]
ACU Press initiates new series of hymnbooks
ACU Press released the first installment of a new hym-nbook series this week, complete with Bible com-mentary and original songs from lyricists, poets, Old Testament scholars and ACU faculty.
Timeless: Ancient Psalms for the Church Today will contain 108 new hymns, both traditional and con-temporary, within its three volumes, which will be re-leased over the next three to four years.
Dr. Leonard Allen, direc-tor of ACU Press, said he hopes the resource will help students learn to see the book of Psalms as a more relevant resource for Chris-tian worship.
“We really don’t sing many songs in churches anymore,” Allen said. “The
purpose of this book is to help Christians, young and old, reclaim those re-sources provided in book of Psalms.”
Allen said he believes the book illustrates the natural poetic nature of the word.
“Psalms were meant to be sung,” Allen said. “They made up the songbook of the early Christian church,
and they were created for the church today.”
Allen said he also hopes the publication will put the important messages of the Old Testament into contem-porary use through songs of praise as well as lament.
“Our song repertoire is mostly missing songs that help us express our struggles, pains and hurts,” Allen said. “Singing these hymns help us give that back to God.”
Timeless is edited by R. Mark Shipp of Austin Graduate School of The-ology. Contributing ACU faculty members include Dr. Jack Reese, dean of the Graduate School of Theol-ogy, Dr. Sean Pullen, direc-tor of choral activities, and Dr. John Willis, professor of Bible.
Willis said he believes Christians should look to the lyrics to find daily guid-ance and instruction.
“I think that whether it is in a nation, church, com-munity or family, what sus-tains us always are songs,” Willis said.
Willis said he frequently notices the correlation be-tween the psalms read and songs sung during Chapel.
“If people just paid at-tention to the words, they would be so encouraged and uplifted,” Willis said. “The most important part of any song is the words.”
The hymnbook is avail-able in the campus book-store, on Amazon.com or at the ACU Press office on 1626 Campus Ct. for $29.99 in hardback and $19.99 in spiral-bound paperback. CDs featuring performances of the new songs will also be available for purchase.
University
christina burchmultimedia managing editor
contact burch [email protected]
Warmer, drier winter weather projected
As leaves and temperatures begin to fall across the Big Country, ACU students are preparing for the imminent winter chill.
However, it may not be as chilly as some antici-pate. La Niña conditions mean this winter may have above-average tempera-tures and below-average precipitation, according to the National Weather Ser-vice in San Angelo website.
However, some on cam-pus pay more attention to the environment than to the weatherman. Emmett Miller, professor of envi-ronmental science, pays close attention to the ani-mals around him for a bet-ter perspective on weather patterns.
Old wives tales can tell us a lot about the weather, Miller said. Some say tur-
tles often venture across roads to get to high ground when they sense that rain is on its way.
“They can tell us more when weather is going to change than the weather-man can,” Miller said.
Grant Lawrence, junior range and wildlife manage-ment major from Bangs, doesn’t expect a winter like last year.
“It’s tough to say what the winter months will bring to Abilene this year,” Lawrence said. “I wouldn’t expect a full week off from school again, but the probability of snowfall is always welcomed with open arms.”
Students on campus are unpacking their heavy coats and already wear-ing the in-season boots for colder weather. Kelli Spen-cer, sophomore marketing and interior design major from Littleton, Colo., said she is excited to wear her
winter gear.“I love wearing scarves
during the winter and boots, too,” Spencer said.
Hollie Derrick, sopho-more advertising and pub-lic relations major from Monahans, said she enjoys how cold weather affects her dorm life.
“I love wearing warm clothes, drinking hot choc-olate and bundling up in blankets,” Derrick said.
Some students would rather skip the cold, but still enjoy some the as-pects of the cold months to come.
Sean Marmolejo, sopho-more psychology major from Waco, wants a repeat of last year.
“I’m not crazy about re-ally cold weather but I’m really hoping it snows again this year,” Marmolejo said.
regional
bethany morganstudent reporter
contact morgan [email protected]
kelsey evansadministrative coordinator
of the honors college
Last year students went all out and had some crazy
costumes.”“
daniel gomez chief Photographer
Jon Foreman, lead singer and frontman for Switchfoot, sings into the microphone in Moody Coliseum.
wednesday 10.26.11 4news
Dancing incorporated into fitness classes
Dancing has made its way into the ACU curriculum with the addition of two new dance courses offered to all students.
The courses, ballet and modern dance, are of-fered in the Royce and Pam Money Student Recreation & Wellness Center. People who wish to participate in these classes must regis-
ter and pay for the course. There is also a group exer-cise dance technique class offered which is not for credit. A $60 per semester fee is required to become a member of the Rec Center. Every student at ACU is a member of the Rec Center, making dance classes avail-able to all students who fill out the appropriate waiver.
Jackie Beth Shilcutt, ad-junct faculty, is the instruc-tor for ballet and modern dance. Shilcutt studied
modern dance at the Uni-versity of North Texas. She picked up ballet at age of three and has kept at it since then.
“I really work towards incorporating confidence, safe movement practices and strong bodies, and I try to challenge my classes to push beyond what they think they can do and to try something different,” Shilcutt said. “Even though it’s instructive, it’s also cre-ative for them.”
Shilcutt has a history with teaching dance at ACU. Last semester, she taught mod-ern dance only to theatre majors to help with their musical theatre program. The two new courses are open to all students includ-ing theatre majors looking to get help with musical the-atre, but theatre majors still have their own courses.
“We think we’ll appeal to them here [at the Rec Cen-ter] rather than going some-where else,” said Joe Bell,
chair of the Department of Kinesiology and Nutrition. “It’s certainly an opportu-nity here for them now.”
Bell had a part in bring-ing dance courses to ACU, but gave the choice of what dance courses to teach to Shilcutt, who chose ballet and modern dance.
“Dance is part of our academic field,” Bell said. “We felt we had to accom-modate students who are interested in dance.”
Dancing in an academ-
ic setting is not in viola-tion of the dance policy at ACU. The dance policy only prohibits dancing at ACU sponsored events unless approved otherwise, allow-ing academic dancing to be offered as a course.
“Dance is our medium of communication,” Shilcutt said. “It’s another way to embody life.”
campus
Zane goggansstudent reporter
contact goggans [email protected]
melany coxpage 2 editor
Piano accompanist seriously injured in severe car accident
The cast of The King and I joined hands last Friday to pray for the department’s pianist Laura Logan, ac-companist for the ACU’s musical theatre, who was critically injured in a mo-tor-vehicle accident on Oct. 14.
Logan, a resident of Clyde, suffered traumatic right arm injuries and head laceration. Her mother, Carol Ann Weston of Kerr-ville, suffered a wrist injury and several cracked ribs in addition to cuts and bruises from the impact.
Logan and Weston were driving a Chevrolet Trail-blazer when their car col-lided with a guardrail at Loop 322 and Oldham Lane. The vehicle fell over the side and onto the un-derpass of Oldham Lane. The vehicle rolled several times and came to rest right-side-up with most of the damage occurring on the passenger side, where Logan was sitting. Emer-
gency response teams were quick to respond.
Logan was in surgery to prevent arm amputation and treat head trauma with-in four hours of the impact. Three days later, Logan was relocated from the ICU to a regular room.
Laura Logan has been a pianist for the Department of Theatre for three years. She aids in private lessons, auditions and rehearsals. Logan also conducted the spring performances of The Pirates of Penzance.
Logan possesses rare musical skills, said Kari Hatfield, assistant professor and director in the theatre department. Logan offers knowledge in etiquette as well as the ability to sight-read any piece of music put before her, she said.
“She does so much more than she is required to do,” Kari Hatfield said.
Hatfield said Logan is a giver – willing to meet with students any time she is available.
“More than anything, she’s just become a really good friend,” said Peter Har-
grave, senior musical theatre major from Amarillo. “She’s someone you can always call and say ‘hey, I need to hear this song,’ and she will play it, and then you can hang out and talk for 10 minutes or something like that.”
The day after the acci-dent, a Facebook update from Logan’s husband, Eric Logan, said, “It will be a mir-acle if she regains upper arm use or plays piano again.”
Eric Logan elaborated more on his perspectives on Monday.
“As a professional pia-nist, the trauma to her arm is of great concern,” Eric Logan said. “There are questions only God knows the answers to. We remain faithfully optimistic about her recovery and her reha-bilitation.”
Hatfield remains opti-mistic as well.
“[Logan] is a spunky, feisty person,” Hatfield said. “If there is any shred of hope, she will fight for it.”
theatre
julie coppedgestudent reporter
contact coppedge [email protected]
Campus
Bootcamp to prepare entrepreneurs for success with business ventures, ideas
Creative business people all over the Big Country will be able to sharpen their ven-ture ideas at the ACU Entre-preneur Bootcamp Nov. 4-5 in the Robert D. and Shirley Hunter Welcome Center.
The session, hosted by the Griggs Center for En-trepreneurship and Phi-lanthropy, will assist any-one who aspires to be an entrepreneur, has an idea for a new business or has recently launched a ven-ture and wants to be suc-cessful, said Dr. Jim Litton, director of the Griggs Cen-ter for Entrepreneurship and Philanthropy.
“The purpose is to pro-vide resources for aspiring entrepreneurs in the region who are looking to start or grow a business,” Litton said.
Members of the ACU faculty, successful entre-
preneurs and profession-als from the region present during the training session. Participants will also expe-rience hands-on training, Little said.
Specific topics to be cov-ered include attributes of successful entrepreneurs, recognizing and evaluating opportunities, strategies for the business, legal concerns for start-up companies, mar-keting strategies and more.
In addition, participants will receive a free, individu-al consultation after Boot-camp to create a plan for the future, free entry into ACU’s 2012 Springboard Ideas Challenge and eligibility to participate in the West Texas Innovation Network’s new Mentor Program.
The ACU Entrepreneur Bootcamp is sponsored by the West Texas Innovation Network, a collaboration that serves the region involving Workforce Solutions of West Central Texas, Texas Tech
Small Business Develop-ment Center and the Griggs Center for Entrepreneurship and Philanthropy at ACU.
The session only allows room for 50 participants, and Litton said he expects at least 30 people to register for Bootcamp. The registra-tion fee will be $99 for ev-eryone who registers before Nov. 1 and $249 for those who register after Nov. 1. Funding from the West Tex-as Innovation Network will help keep the cost of the session low.
More information about the ACU Entrepreneur Boot-camp and registration can be found at www.acu.edu/entreprenuer-bootcamp.
More information about ACU’s Griggs Center for En-trepreneurship and Philan-thropy can be found at www.acu.edu/griggs-center.
contact cox [email protected]
daniel gomez chief Photographer
Eric Espiritu, backup guitar and vocalist for the band Atomic Tom, rears back while playing his guitar in Moody Coliseum.
wednesday 10.26.115 featureS
Local bikers compete for Bent
Wheel Bash victory.
Several students in the ACU Cycling Club raced Sunday in the Bent Wheel Bash – and one took home a metal.
Liz Lurz, sophomore biochemistry from San Antonio, won first place in the category for women 19-39 on the 8.5-mile off-road course. Lurz had already participated in several cycling events this season, but she said she was shocked to take the prize.
“My goal is always to just finish and have fun,” Lurz said.
The Bent Wheel Bash is part of a state-wide series of races organized by the Texas Mountain Bike Racing Association. Individ-uals from across Texas gathered along the Buck Creek bike trails north of Abilene to participate in the event, said Asa Kusuma, senior computer science major from An-nandale, Va.
Kusuma said he was pleased with his personal time of 49 minutes and 54 sec-onds on the trail. He initially had difficulty getting around the other bikes – about 200 racers were on the trail that day, according to the Abilene Reporter-News – but his fa-miliarity with the occasionally rocky trails paid off in the end, he said.
“I didn’t get off to a very good start, but I finished well,” Kusuma said. “It was nice to see some of my friends cheering for me in support at the end.”
Kusuma said he enjoyed the speed and competition of bike racing. The outdoor activity is accessible to participants of all ages, including families, he said.
Lurz got involved in bike racing with her dad at the age of 10, she said. Biking has been a passion for Lurz ever since – so much so that she plans to change her ma-jor from biochemistry to business.
“My dream is to open a bike shop and train for the rest of my life,” Lurz said.
Christianna leiwscopy editor
BRAKE OUT THE BIKES
contact lewis [email protected]
Mandy Lambright CHIEF Photographer
Asa Kusuma, senior computer science major from Annandale, Vir., holds a strong lead in the Bent Wheel Bash bike race at Buck Creek Trails. Asa finished first in his category.
destiny hagood staff Photographer
Participants in the bike race find their places at the starting line and prepare to begin.
MANDY LAMBRIGHT staff Photographer
John Freemire, junior finance major from Bettendorf, Iowa, participates in the Bent Wheel Bash.Above Left: A participant in the category three race nears the finish line on the course at Buck Creek Trails. Above Right: Two competitors in the twelve-and-under category of the race towards the finish line at Buck Creek Trails.
DESTINY hagood staff Photographer MANDY LAMBRIGHT staff Photographer
I’ve been dismayed by ACU students twice this week.
First, when I read an Abilene Reporter-News article quot-ing ACU business students as they dismissed the plight of those posting on the “We Are the 99 Percent” blog as a problem of entitlement and too-high expectations. One woman was quoted compar-ing their expectations to her own childhood dreams of walking on the moon.
Second, when I read the editorial in Wednesday’s Op-timist, describing the Occupy Wall Street movement as “throwing a fit,” “immature” and “juvenile.”
Both of these cases dis-
play a saddening lack of empathy and, especially in the editorial’s case, betray a disappointing failure to learn about the movement in question or the circumstances leading to its creation.
A quick review of the “99 Percent” blog (http://weare-the99percent.tumblr.com) at the time I write this letter reveals a 35-year-old woman working three jobs who can-not afford gas for her car; a 39-year-old with a chronic illness who, after paying his bills every month, has $25 left over; and a 16-year-old boy who works nights to help his parents pay their mortgage.
I would not consider any of these people “immature,” nor would I say they were “throwing a fit” for voicing their objection to the system that has left them in this situ-ation. Their hopes appear to be well short of space travel; earning enough to pay for health insurance would seem to satisfy them.
I fear the ACU students whose voices have been heard on this topic are work-ing with an inaccurate view of post-collegiate life, be-lieving those who succeed have worked hard to do so while unthinkingly accept-ing the insidious corollary that those who have not
been successful must not be working hard enough.
The reality is much more complicated, and much more sobering. Occupy Wall Street was created to give the victims of this reality a louder voice because, for far too long, our political leaders have failed to listen to them. I only hope ACU’s students will not make the same mistake.
Paul A. AnthonyGraduate student in history and theology
Oh Dear, Christian College Ben miller
the issueACU’s new block tuition plan will allow students to take more hours more cheaply.
our takeThe new tuition plan will improve the educational experience for ACU students.
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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
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editorial and Letter Policy
ACU recently adopted a new tuition plan. The plan will allow students to take anywhere from 24-36 hours per year for one standard price, however many hours they take. It is to be imple-mented fall 2012.
Although new to ACU, block tuition has been utilized by many of ACU’s competitors such as: Uni-versity of Texas at Austin; Texas Christian Univer-sity; Southern Methodist University; Pepperdine and Lipscomb.
Block tuition is a smart move by the university. Not only does it move us a step closer to where our com-petitors stand, it will help students in several ways.
Block tuition was de-
signed to reduce the cost of a degree at ACU. It pro-motes taking more than 12 hours a semester and discourages just coasting through college. How does it do this? With the current tuition rate, most students may not be able to pay for 18 hours each semester; the price of each credit hour is much too high. The block tuition plan will help im-mensely in this area. It will allow students to take up to 18 hours per semester and pay the same price as they would if they were taking 15 hours.
For the student who just cannot handle 18 hours a semester, the plan will also extend into summer. This means that a student
can take 15 hours each se-mester and take another six over the summer, all covered by the umbrella fee. Any summer tuition, whether for classes on-line or in Oxford on Study Abroad, will be covered by the block plan.
Block tuition is for the student who does not want to spend more than four years in college and does not want to spend the money it costs to attend for that time. The plan has created a way for students to graduate on time while saving a decent amount of money. Some students are unable to afford ACU, es-pecially as tuition has con-tinued to increase. Some students must take as few
hours possible in order to cover their education in full. Other students take semesters off in order to work to pay their next tu-ition bill. Perhaps the new tuition block will be more affordable for these stu-dents and will help them graduate on time.
While the pros of block tuition greatly outweigh the cons, there are a few miniscule concerns that can be easily solved. Once students reach upper level classes, the workload in-creases in size and diffi-culty. How can a student maximize the tuition block by taking 18 hours of up-per level courses and sur-vive the semester? Sum-mer courses play a huge
role in this area. Rather than stressing oneself over taking 18 hours in one se-mester, breaking it up into three time frames (fall, spring, summer) will be extremely helpful.
Student fees, which are currently described in de-tail, may disappear into the new plan. Because stu-dents and parents want to know exactly what they are being charged for, it would be wise for the administra-
tion to continue to map out fees. People want to be cer-tain that they are not being overcharged for things like Academic Enrichment fees or Health and Safety fees.
Block tuition is intended to help students enrich their time at ACU, and de-spite a few concerns, it will achieve that objective.
Editorial
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Loving the choices of whoever is DJing the Bank today. @maeband @relientK #ACU
I wish three-ply toi-let paper was the real #acu difference.
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12:42 p.m. Sept. 27
7:38 a.m. Oct. 24 9:23 a.m. Oct. 251:17 p.m. Oct. 24
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Brugman: Optimist shows no empathy
Anthony: Occupy not immature
New block tuition benefits students
Both letters to the edi-tor on this page concern the editorial “‘Occupying’ won’t get you anywhere” printed in Vol. 100, No. 16 issue of the Optimist pub-lished Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2011.
Everybody is a critic. In a movement as large and widespread as Occupy Wall Street, the people who oppose the 99 are doing it for infantile rea-sons: “lack of organiza-tion or clear direction.” The Optimist’s statement that this should all be done “through normal government” misunder-stands the social move-ment process. The Civil Rights movement started with lunch counter sit-ins and bus rides. Resis-tance to Vietnam was run by a bunch of hippies sit-ting on the lawns of vari-ous state universities. All began “unorganized;” all had their critics. A move-ment doesn’t begin by “working through gov-ernment channels;” it be-gins with mobilization.
Occupy Wall Street has over 20 lawyers working with them, so obviously they aren’t entirely un-organized. Pretending to oppose a movement be-cause of its “lack of orga-nization” is the same ir-responsible action of the segregationists of the 50’s and 60’s. I would encour-age future journalists not to be that reactionary force in history.
OWS is a movement that asks for various things, but the consensus is corporate civic duty. Asking corporations to pay the same amount in taxes that the other 99% of Americans do is not an outrageous request. Last year, GE received a 3.4 billion dollar rebate on its 5 billion in taxable revenue. That left only 1.6 billion in taxable rev-
enue. This is not respon-sible corporate response, now that corporations are considered “persons” (thank you Citizen’s United), I expect them to pay the same percentage in taxes as the rest of us, and not give bailout mon-ey to CEO’s as “bonuses” for their failures in the market.
I’m disappointed that this reaction is coming from a media outlet that contains journalists hop-
ing to expose future injus-tices. We shouldn’t be the naysayers of society: they usually lose out. If you dis-agree that corporations should pay for the roads they use, the schools in which their employees are educated, or the police/fire/military officers that protect them, fine, but don’t belittle the efforts of the other Americans seek-ing a real change: change that will manifest in poli-cy in due time, but is now the beginning of some-thing huge.
Dylan BrugmanSophomore Political Science major
letter
Letter
contact the THE OPTIMIST [email protected]
contact THE OPTIMIST [email protected]
Wednesday 10.26.11 6opinion
All began “unorganized;” all had their critics. A
movement doesn’t begin by “working through
government channels;” it begins with mobilization.
Occupy Wall Street has over 20 lawyers working
with them, so obvi-ously they aren’t entirely
unorganized.”
“
Saturday night the Wildcats traveled to Midwestern State and suffered their worst loss in recent memory. Despite the tumultuous three hours for ACU on the field, cover-ing a game from the side-lines and press box was a wonderful experience.
An hour before the LSC matchup, players and coaches could be seen go-ing through drills or doing some light stretching on the sidelines.
The atmosphere gave off a sense of anticipation and adrenaline as the opening kickoff drew closer.
While the players exud-ed a quiet confidence and focus, media members and fans made small talk about potential game breakers and the big hitters that were critical to a LSC title or playoff run.
After a few minutes of shooting the breeze, free food was on the schedule. Anyone who was hungry or thirsty was handed a free Quiznos sandwich and a Dr. Pepper. Being down on the field before the game with a complimentary dinner was a dream come true, as it would be for any sports fan.
I had my fill of delicious sandwiches and all the soda I could drink. Then, it was time to head into the press box, which was complete with Wi-Fi, a padded chair and air conditioning. I felt like a swanky businessman entertaining clients, at least for the instant before I snapped back to reality. Then I realized I was just a student sports reporter.
Because the Wildcats were away from Shotwell,
most of the journalists were Mustang fans. This made for some awkward touchdown celebrations early in the game. The excitement of each big Wildcat play was met with glares of disdain from the enemy camp. Eventu-ally, as MSU began to pull away, silence became an ACU fan’s best friend.
After the first quarter, the intensity left the press box, and the group became more lighthearted, except for the two ACU writers. These two men sat somber-ly in the corner and watched their beloved team begin to crumble before their eyes. Watching the Mustangs compile over 700 yards of offense almost made me forget to appreciate my lux-urious surroundings.
When halftime finally rolled around, more re-freshments and food were given away free of charge. Once again, the writers were reminded of how sweet their job really is. Free food and free foot-ball, two beautiful things coming together to create a unique experience that is most commonly found in fantasies.
The second half proved to be just as horrific as the first, and the Wildcat faith-ful left Memorial Stadium shaking their heads. De-spite the loss, being treated like a superstar and having all the amenities of a movie theater though at a college football game left unforget-table memories.
wednesday 10.26.117 sports Jumps
mandy lambright staff Photographer
Junior midfielder Julie Coppedge advances the ball up the pitch on Oct. 7 against Eastern New Mexico. Coppedge had one assist against Texas A&M-Commerce over the weekend. Coppedge has five assists on the year.
Champs: ’Cats clinch conference crownplayed really well and read the game on a very high lev-el. They take care of busi-ness back there.”
The team went on to score two goals in the final five min-utes of regulation to trump Texas Woman’s 2-1 in a LSC match in Denton on Friday.
The Pioneers took a 1-0 lead in the first half follow-ing a Candice Davies goal at the 38:51 mark.
In much of the first and second half, the Wildcats’ shots simply were not falling.
ACU fired 23 shots at Texas Woman’s goalkeeper Beatrice Soto.
“We had ample amounts of opportunities to make something happen, but we simply didn’t for a variety of reasons,” Wilson said. “Their goalkeeper made a number of nice saves, but for the most part, it was on us.”
Sophomore Ashley Craig found Stephanie Heron in the 86th minute, and Heron, a junior transfer, put the ball past Soto to tie the game.
Scoring again and putting away the Pioneers didn’t take long, either, for the Wildcats.
Sophomore Whitley Lind-
holm scored the game-win-ner at the 89:09 mark off a pass from Craig once again.
The ACU defense held the remaining 51 seconds, making the Wildcats’ 2-1 comeback victory concrete.
“Whether we went into overtime or won, I knew [scoring] would help our confidence,” Wilson said.
Wilson said the team is now watching the objec-tives set at beginning of the season unfold into reality.
“Winning conference and hosting the LSC Tournament are both goals we set out to obtain at the beginning of the year,” he said. “Our record shows what our girls have put in, how hard they have worked, and the investment they’ve put into each game.”
contact shake [email protected]
soccer
casey wilsonhead coach
ACU Women’s Soccer
Our record shows how hard our girls have worked and
the investment they’ve put into each game.”“
from page 8
The best seat in the house
column
contact sloan [email protected]
Inaugral ColumnMatthew Sloan
Season ends on high note
The men’s and women’s tennis teams wrapped up the fall season with a pair of top-five finishes.
The men closed the season at Tyler Junior Col-lege, and the women fin-ished their campaign at the University of Kansas.
Women’s doubles pair Emily Conrad and Mad-elyn Walker finished third out of 16 teams after win-ning their draw by defeat-ing the Universities of Kansas, Missouri at Kan-sas State and Iowa State.
“It feels really good to win. We ended on a good note at a good tourna-
ment with some great competition,” Walker said. “We have made a lot of improvement this season, and so it was a good way to end the season.”
The other doubles duo of Brittney Reed and Laura Mongin also finished third after defeating an identi-cal line up of Division 1 teams.
The top-seeded Univer-sity of Indiana duo beat the pair in a close match but the two came back to finish the day with an 8-4 victory over Iowa State.
Walker also won two straight matches in the singles division, en route to finishing fifth overall in the ‘E’ bracket.
Two players from the
men’s team made their collegiate debuts in Tyler.
Guilherme Gusser and Mi-chael Morris played in their first collegiate tournament.
The two were compet-ing in the place of Hans Hach, who finished his season at the Small Col-lege National Champion-ship in Alabama.
Seniors Nick Plum and Cody McCarty, along with junior Alfredo Desiati, joined Gusser and Mor-ris. Desiati and the men’s team faced many Divi-sion I opponents in this season’s final match, but came out with four draw wins under their belt.
“We had Nick Plum, Cody McCarty and Guil-herme, who’s a freshman,
all advancing to the semis,” Desiati said. “Overall our team did really well and had a good showing.”
With three seniors graduating next year, there are spots to be filled on the men’s team while all members of the women’s team plan to return for another winning season.
“We are a really young team. Nobody is gradu-ating,” said Walker. “I’m excited to have the same team next year as we had this year. It will be great because we can continue growing as a team.”
TAYLOR LANGSTONSPORTS REPORTER
contact langston [email protected]
TENNIS
Boost: ASU match provides small life for teamASU looked as though it had the match under con-trol after handily defeating the ‘Cats in the third set.
In the fourth though, ACU dug deep and recov-ered from a 23-20 fourth-set deficit by winning six of the last seven points. Jennie Hutt helped out by achieving two kills during the streak. She finished the match with 15.
Sara Oxford led the team with 16 kills and a .270 hitting percentage.
The Wildcats only hit .130 as a team. Borger had 13 kills and six block assists. She also scored 19 points.
The next match, the ‘Cats had a much less stressful result. In the game versus Texas A&M University-Commerce on Thursday, Oct. 20, ACU managed to sweep the Li-ons 3-0 (25-23, 29-27, and 29-27).
Commerce fell to 8-13 and 3-10 in the LSC after the defeat.
Mock was happy with the womens’ defensive showing.
“I was impressed with how well we kept the ball in play. We out-hustled the other team, which is great to see. Edwards had around 30 digs, so she was outstanding.”
Hutt registered 19 kills along with 19.5 points against Commerce. Kelsie Edwards put up 30 digs and Michie Johnson recorded 13 of the teams’ 65 total digs.
The Lions hit .175 in comparison to .252 for the ‘Cats. ACU had 58 to-tal kills and outdug Com-merce 65-50.
In the Wildcats last game at Moody Coliseum Saturday afternoon Oct.
22, the team had to claw its way back against Texas Woman’s University.
The girls were down but not out in a five set match that ended on a good note. ACU was able to tightrope to a victory 3-2 (20-25, 25-14, 25-16, 21-25, and 16-14).
The ‘Cats improved their record to 15-11 and 9-5 in the conference with six matches remaining on the schedule.
TWU lowered its record to 10-14 and 8-7.
TWU was tough despite its record said Mock.
“They’re one of the toughest teams to play in the conference. They have a couple of foreign-ers that are difficult to play against. For the girls to shut them down in this match was impressive.”
ACU was able to per-form some of its own magic in the fifth set down 14-13.
Borger tied the match at 14-14 with a kill. Then an at-tack error on the Pioneers all but finished off the victory.
Hutt finished the two teams’ second meeting of the season by hitting her 12th kill.
The ‘Cats set a record on
the season for blocks with 15.0 to TWU’s 9.0. Edwards and Johnson each shared a role in the digs with 32 and 21 respectively.
Haley Rhoads was criti-cal on offense. She had 54 of the team’s 61 assists.
Borger stated the team is currently in great position sit-ting at third place in the LSC.
“We’re kind of peaking at a perfect time in the schedule because we don’t have the pressure of try-ing to defend something yet we still have the urge to finish these last games strong.”
contact isaacs [email protected]
volleyball
DANIEL GOMEZ CHIEF Photographer
The team celebrates after winning a point Tuesday night against Tarleton State.
continued from page 8
kellen mockhead coach
ACU Volleyball
We out-hustled the other team, which is
great to see.”“
Wednesday 10.26.11 8sports
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Div.6-05-14-13-32-32-31-41-40-5
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TeamASUWTAMUACUTSUTWUMSUCameronUIWTAMU-K
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Ovrl.25-224-216-1114-1210-1415-913-1010-1412-12
TeamACUMSUENMUCommerceASUWTAMUUIWTWU
Div.11-08-36-35-65-64-73-71-11
Ovrl.15-010-48-57-86-97-85-71-13
Soccer earned the No. 1 seed in the Lone Star Conference Soccer Championship. The tournament will be the weekend of Nov. 3 to 6.
The volleyball team ended a three-game homestand with a 3-1 victory over Tarleton State Tuesday night at Moody Coliseum. The Wildcats won by scores of 25-23, 17-25, 25-20, and 26-24. ACU improves to 16-11 overall and 10-5 in the LSC with the win.
The football team dropped out of the top 10 in the American Football Coaches’ Association rankings that were released on Monday, Oct. 24. The Wildcats went from No. 9 to No. 19 after losing to Midwestern State 70-28 on Oct. 22.
Chicago Bears wide receiver Johnny Knox recorded three receptions for 53 yards against the Buccaneers on Sunday, Oct. 23. The Bears won 24-18 and are 4-3 on the season. Knox has 19 receptions for 348 yards and no touchdowns this season.
Cincinnati Bengals and running back Bernard Scott had the week off but Scott has over 30 carries for 85 yards and one touchdown this season.
Danieal Manning, Texans safety, had one solo tackle and one interception on Sunday, Oct. 23 versus the Titans. The Texans won 41-7 and are 4-3 on the year. Manning has 32 tackles and two interceptions so far this season.
The volleyball team travels to Canyon on Thursday, Oct. 27 to play LSC opponent West Texas A&M at 7 p.m.
Women’s soccer faces Midwestern State in Wichita Falls on Friday, Oct. 28 at 6 p.m. The team then plays West Texas A&M at the Wildcat Soccer Pitch on Sunday, Oct. 30 at 1 p.m.
Football goes up against LSC foe Commerce at Shotwell Stadium at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 29.
football
volleyball
Women’s Soccer
standings
briefings
EX- FACTOR
Upcoming
austin gwin sports director
Senior tight end Ben Gibbs hangs his head on the sideline during ACU’s embarassing 70-28 loss to Midwestern State on Oct. 22. The night belonged to the Mustangs as they put up 740 total yards of offense at their Homecoming game.
Mustang Stampedefootball
It was the worst defen-sive performance in ACU history. The Midwestern State Mustangs trampled the Wildcats 70-28 in a match-up that featured two unbeaten Lone Star Conference teams.
The 70 points and 740 total yards of offense are the most ever given up by ACU in a regular season game.
“It got to the point where they were scoring at
a good clip,” head coach Chris Thomsen said. “Of-fensively, we just couldn’t keep the pace.”
The Wildcats jumped out to an early 7-0 lead after their first drive resulted in a 17-yard from Mitchell Gale pass to Taylor Gabriel.
Every play on the drive was a pass, unusual for a conservative play-caller like Coach Thomsen.
Midwestern State an-swered quickly with a touch-down of their own when quarterback Brandon Kelsey found Edgard Theliar for a 9-yard touchdown pass.
The Mustangs kept scoring. Theliar found the end zone twice more in the first half, and Midwestern State went into the locker room up 35-7.
“In the first half, we just couldn’t stop the run game,” Thomsen said. “It just got away from us.”
It went from bad to worse in the second half as Midwestern continued their offensive tear.
The Mustangs scored five touchdowns in the final two quarters, includ-ing four on the ground in the rout.
The final Midwestern offensive play was a sum-
mation of the entire game. Facing 2nd and 10 at their
own one-yard line, backup quarterback Jake Glover hit Vernon Johnson on a slant route over the middle.
Johnson evaded the en-tire ACU secondary on his way to a 99-yard touchdown to cap scoring for the game.
The lone bright spot for the Wildcats was Ga-briel, who scored three of the Wildcats’ four touch-downs on the night.
The receiver finished with 138 yards on ten catch-es to lead the Wildcats.
Gale threw for the most yards all season – 413 – al-beit on 55 pass attempts.
“Everything I do is be-cause of my team,” Gabriel said. “It’s not me scoring. It’s my team scoring.”
Coach Thomsen was a little more upbeat on Ga-briel’s performance.
“Taylor has been do-ing this for us week in and week out,” Thomsen said. “He has put himself in a position to make plays, and he will continue to be big for us down the stretch.
The Wildcats will be back at Shotwell Stadium next weekend when they take on the Texas A&M-Commerce Lions.
“Just like last week, win or lose, you have to go back to work,” Coach Thomsen said. “We will watch the film and make adjustments.”
Austin GwinSports Director
’Cats defense stains ACU record books
chris thomsenhead coach
ACU Football
In the first half, we just couldn’t stop the game. It
just got away from us.”“
volleyball
Soccer
ACU hitting stride toward end of season
No. 2 Wildcats clinch top spot in LSC with pair of wins
After a 2-1 comeback vic-tory over Texas Woman’s Friday and a 2-0 win over Texas A&M-Commerce Sunday, the No. 2 ACU Wildcats clinched the Lone Star Conference’s No. 1 seed and will host the conference’s postsea-son tournament at the Wildcat Soccer Pitch for the first time on Nov. 3-6.
“This is a very exciting time for us as a program,” said head coach Casey Wilson. “It’s also some-what uncharted waters for the team. We did not get to host the tournament last year, so that will be a new, rewarding experi-ence for us.”
The pair of victories lift-ed the team’s record to 15-0-1, a mere two wins shy of last season’s record-break-ing total with two confer-ence games, a conference
tournament and, poten-tially, a national tourna-ment to play in.
“Where we are now is a testament to our program as a whole and how far it has come,” said sophomore forward Andrea Carpenter. “A dedicated, knowledge-able coaching staff willing to teach and invested play-ers striving constantly for their best and never set-tling are the reasons why we’re here now.”
The Wildcats used a
scoreless first half to fuel their second half offensive output Sunday.
Carpenter scored her twelfth goal of the season in the 55th minute off an assist from junior mid-fielder Julie Coppedge.
“My goal came off a great pass from Julie. I had lots of room behind me, so I turned the defender, and then it was a one on one with the goalie,” Carpenter said. “I placed it in the cor-ner, and it went in.”
Junior forward Krysta Grimm made it a 2-0 game in the 70th minute when she booted in a penalty kick.
The shutout marked ACU’s ninth of the year with goalkeepers Elliott London and Arielle Mon-cure combining for ten saves in the effort.
“Our defense has been tough all year,” Wilson said. “All four of the de-fenders on the field have
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The ACU volleyball team is 2-1 in its last three games, all against Lone Star Con-ference opponents.
The one loss ended the Wildcats’ three-match winning streak, as the team fell to Angelo State.
On Tuesday, Oct. 18 the ‘Cats lost a long battle at No. 17 Angelo State Uni-versity 22-25, 25-22, 12-25, 26-24, and 13-15.
The No. 17 Rambelles are currently to 25-2 on the season and 14-1 in LSC play.
ASU is tied with West Texas A&M University for first in the conference. ACU will have another
opportunity to upset the top-25 team on Nov. 1 at Moody Coliseum.
The Wildcats came back and tied the match at 1-1 and 2-2.
However, in the fifth set with a 13-11 lead, the team couldn’t find a way to ob-tain the final two points.
The Rambelles scored four consecutive points to seal the deal.
Head coach Kellen Mock wishes she could re-play the end of the match.
“Angelo State was a hard-fought match,” she said. “I’d give anything to go back and redo the last four points of that match, but overall it was one of our better performances.”
Despite losing, sopho-more Neely Borger sees the Angelo game as an in-tegral part in building the team’s confidence.
“The match was defi-nitely a confidence booster,” Borger said. “We hung in there with them. They’re ranked No. 17, so there’s no doubt we played a good club. It was heart-breaking to lose however, we’ll have another chance for revenge when we play them here.”
DANIEL GOMEZ CHIEF Photographer
Several ACU volleyball players watch the ball in suspense.
edward isaacsassistant sports editor
Kellen Mockhead COach
ACU Volleyball
Overall [the Angelo State match] was one of our better performances.”“
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bryson shakesports editor