the optimist print editon: 11.18.11
DESCRIPTION
A product of the JMC Network of student media at Abilene Christain UniversityTRANSCRIPT
inside
Page 5 page 6 page 3
Senior art student brings home regional award with sculpture
Read why iPad textbooks can be a dangerous learning tool
Student organization’s fashion show to support breast cancer awareness
Abilene Christian University
Sportspage 8
arts opinion news
university
acuoptimist.com
Carmichael-Walling Lecture sheds light on Revelation
video
Varner to depart leadership post early
accident
vol. 100, no. 25 Friday, November 18, 2011 1 SECTION, 8 PAGES
Dr. Phil Schubert spelled out details of a $9.6 million univer-sity-wide budget realignment plan Thursday in a meeting with staff and faculty.
Schubert, president of the university, showed the dif-ferent areas of the university from which the money will be either cut or generated. Job eliminations and reduc-tions will save the university $2.7 million, and university-wide reductions will lessen the budget by $1.5 million. About $1.2 million in specif-ic program reductions and $1.1 in operating expense re-ductions also contribute to the $9.6 million overall plan.
About $1.1 million is ex-pected to be generated from online program revenue and increased gifts and auxiliary, and $2 million will be added by changing financial policy, including adjusting how the university builds its contin-gency fund and changing the university’s endowment spending policy.
The new plan calls for 35 university positions to be cut; 25 staff and 10 faculty mem-bers will be let go by sum-mer 2012 under the plan. Schubert acknowledged the decision to eliminate jobs would have a significant and personal impact on the en-tire university.
“We don’t ever want to be in a situation where we have to eliminate someone’s job,” he said. “But it’s impossible to avoid eliminating positions in a budget realignment plan on a $10 million scale.”
While moving forward with these adjustments, Schubert said he and the se-nior leadership team decid-ed to pull back on a plan that would require administra-tive coordinators to reduce hours and salaries by 20 per-cent beginning next year.
“After considering the impact that would have had on everyone involved, we’re changing course,” he said. “We’re going to offer re-duced workload and pay on a voluntary basis to all non-exempt staff.”
In the university-wide sec-
tion of the plan, Schubert said iPhones won’t be offered to in-coming freshmen in the 2013-14 school year as part of the Mobile Learning Initiative.
“A significant number of students already bring in similar devices, so we’re pull-ing back on that,” he said.
Schubert also said the team decided to slow capi-tal growth spending by 10 percent, the university will charge a fee for students who pay tuition with credit cards, and there will be re-duced fund allocation for cell phones for faculty and staff.
Smith and Adams Halls will be shut down after the completion of the 2011-12 academic school year as part of the specific program cuts to be made. Schubert said the remaining sophomore residence halls have suf-ficient room for incoming sophomore classes.
Schubert also said that Study Abroad and the Center for International Education will undergo a “radical shift” in its organization, manage-ment and funding.
“We’re not reducing the
importance of these pro-grams,” Schubert said. “There will still be the same amount of opportunity for students.”
The specific program cuts also include reductions in faculty requirements for the Core curriculum, and cam-pus custodial services won’t clean offices as often.
In the operating expense reductions, information ser-vices will take an 11 percent cut and Student Life and fi-nance and operations will lose 10 percent of funding. The executive division will be cut by eight percent and six percent of funds will be cut from both academics and marketing. Advance-ment faces a four percent decrease and athletics will lose two percent of funding.
“We don’t know what the future is going to look like, but this is a good plan,” Schubert said. “It wasn’t an option for us to sit where we were and decide this process was too painful. Some action needed to be taken.”
Schubert referenced the merging of several depart-ments that will occur in the
realignment. He said the mergers weren’t reflected in the cost savings.
Faculty and staff had submitted more than 80 questions for the university president since the plan was announced and the meet-ing scheduled. Schubert answered a few of the most common ones near the end of the meeting, when he temporarily dispelled talks of athletics moving up to Division-1 until $1.5 million more in gifts is secured and said that none of the admin-istrators are taking pay cuts in this plan.
Schubert ended the meet-ing by saying that lower en-rollment and the economy were to blame for the need for this realignment plan.
“We can’t have any flexibil-ity in the overall quality of stu-dents we allow into the uni-versity,” he said. “When the demand lowers, so must our enrollment, which is making these cuts necessary.”
Dr. Jeanine Varner will step down as provost before the end of December and join the Department of English full-time next semester.
Dr. Phil Schubert, president of the university, told faculty and staff in email Thursday he had decided to speed up Var-ner’s transition out of the post. She had told faculty and staff two weeks ago her original plan was to leave the position at the end of the spring.
“I have asked Dr. Jeanine Varner to complete her ser-vice as provost prior to the end of this calendar year rather than waiting until the end of the academic year as previously announced,” Schubert said in the email.
He said the university will conduct a nationwide search to fill the position. In the meantime, Schubert will designate an interim provost within the next few weeks who will work with Varner during a transition.
Schubert told faculty and staff in a university-wide meeting Thursday he valued Varner’s service.
“I have the utmost re-spect and admiration for Dr. Varner,” Schubert told faculty and staff in the bud-get realignment meeting Thursday.
Varner was granted tenure when she arrived at ACU in 2007 to serve as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. Even in administration and moving to the provost job in 2009, Varner has continued teaching as much as possible.
“The job will be quite dif-ferent – but I’ve always been focused on effective teaching and student learning,” Var-ner said in an email. “While I would not have chosen the set of circumstances I’m experi-encing now, I look forward to being with my students and my faculty colleagues.”
Dr. Cole Bennett, inter-im chair of the Department of English, said the depart-ment is glad to have her. He said class schedules have not yet been finalized so it’s unclear what courses she will teach when she begins her role as full-time profes-sor of English in January.
“She is a tremendous scholar and has a successful record of classroom teach-ing,” Bennett said. “We are thrilled to have her expertise in our ranks.”
THE PLAN AHEAD
daniel gomez chief Photographer
Dr. Phil Schubert explained changed to the university’s budget to members of the faculty and staff who gathered in Hart Auditorium in two hour-long meetings on Thursday.
The university is mak-ing some adjustments on campus to help several students involved in the Nov. 4 shuttle bus accident complete their semester.
Two of those injured in the wreck remain in the hospital, but the rest have been released and are ei-ther at home or are rein-
tegrating into campus life. Several suffer severe in-juries that limit mobility and are learning to adjust accordingly.
Merissa Ford, junior agribusiness major from Maple Valley, Wash., spent nearly a week in Hendrick Medical Center after the accident and said recov-ery will take some time.
“You never think that something like a car acci-dent, or especially a roll-
over, will ever happen to you,” Ford said. “And now is the hard part – it’s when we’re healing and dealing with the frustrations.”
Ford suffers from sev-eral broken and fractured bones after being ejected during the bus accident. She expects her injured vertebrae to take six to ten weeks to recover.
Anna Watson, sopho-more animal science ma-jor from Kerrville, incured
injuries that create limita-tions as well. She under-went two surgeries while in the hospital.
Watson returned to her home in Kerrville last week after being released from the hospital Wednes-day. She is unable to sit, walk and write well but is able to type and plans to do as much school work as possible that way.
Members of the Stu-dent Life team, the pro-
vost office and Ed Brokaw, chair of the Department of Agriculture and Envi-ronmental Sciences, met Tuesday to work out plans
for all of the students in-volved in the accident.
“We want to work very closely with them in their unique needs and get them through the semes-ter as successfully as pos-sible,” said Dr. Jean-Noel Thompson, vice president for Student Life and dean of students.
For some students, this may require moving classes from top stories to
samantha sutherlandfeatures editor
University makes adjustments for victims of bus crash
see bus page 4
Hannah Barneseditor-in-chief
contact barnes [email protected]
Mark Smithmanaging Editor
Perfect RecordWildcats look to improve
Restructuring to impact jobs, dormitory, iPhones and Study Abroad
merissa fordjunior agribusiness major from maple valley, wash.
You never think that some-thing like a car accident,
or especially a rollover, will ever happen to you.”“
contact smith [email protected]
18
59 12
19 20 21Friday Saturday Sunday Monday
2 p.m. Private Eyes in Fulks Theatre
7 p.m. Private Eyes in Fulks Theatre
Last day to withdraw from a course
11 a.m. Praise Day in Moody Coliseum
7 p.m. Private Eyes in Fulks Theatre
9:30 p.m. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hal-lows Part 2 in Cullen Auditorium
All Day - Season of Caring 6 p.m. Hockey Game in the Campus Center Living Room
7:30 p.m. Manhattan Piano Trio in the Wil-liams Performing Arts Center Recital Hall
Police Log
Chapel checkup
@acuoptimist
The Optimist
Friday 11.18.11 2
Announcements
The ACU Theatre Department will show Private Eyes today through Saturday in Fulks Theatre. Tickets cost $15 and can be purchased at the box office in the Williams Per-forming Arts Center, or online at www.acu.edu/theatre.
A fashion show benefiting The Hope Fund will take place Friday at 7:30 p.m. in the Teague Special Events Cen-ter. Tickets will be sold in the Campus Center from 9 a.m. - 6 p.m. through Thursday and are $5. The fashion show will feature several different types
of Korean and Asian clothing styles. The clothes will be on sale after the fashion show.
Open Mic Night, hosted by University Park and BSA will take place Friday in the Cam-pus Center Living Room from 8 - 10 p.m. For more information, or to sign up, email [email protected] or [email protected].
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 will be shown in Cullen Auditorium Friday at 9:30 p.m. Admission will be free. The Campus Activities Board will put on this event.
The Manhattan Piano Trio will perform a concert Mon-day at 7:30 p.m. in the William Performing Arts Center Recital Hall. Admission will be free.
Frontier Texas! will be accepting applications for the Miss Fron-tier Texas Scholarship Com-petition through Monday. For more information visit www.missfrontiertexas.com.
A Zumbathon will take place Dec. 3 from 10 a.m. - 12 p.m. in the Royce and Pam Money Student Recreation and Well-ness Center. Tickets are $10
in advance, $15 at the door. Tickets can be purchased in the Campus Center. The Zumbathon will feature sev-en instructors from around Abilene. The Zumbathon is a fundraiser for the ACU Stu-dent Dietetic Association.
Flu shots will be available in the Medical & Counseling Care Center for $15. The Med-ical & Counseling Care Center is located at the northeast en-trance of the Royce and Pam Money Student Recreation and Wellness Center.
Volunteer Opp0rtunities
Season of Caring is working with with Taylor Ele-mentary School to help feed 75 low-income families. Donations will be accepted through Saturday. Vol-unteers are also needed to put meal boxes together Sunday or deliver meals Monday. Money can be do-nated through Facebook or at the information desk in the Campus Center. For more information or to sign up visit www.facebook.com/seasonofcaring.
Adopt-an-Angel will take place through Tuesday as a part of Season of Caring. Volunteers are needed to donate gifts to children by picking up a paper angel from the Campus Center. For more information visit www.facebook.com/seasonofcaring.
Volunteers are needed for Christmas on the Streets, a part of Season of Caring. Christmas on the Streets partners with Love and Care ministries to bring toys to Abilene children. Volunteers will bring new toys to the Campus Center, help wrap toys in the President’s Dining Room or help deliver toys during Christmas on the Streets. For more information or to sign up visit www.facebook.com/seasonofcaring.
The International Rescue Committee is collecting coats, hats, jackets, gloves and blankets for refugees in Abilene who came to the U.S. with few posses-sions 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].
Oakridge Church of Christ needs volunteers to help with a children’s Bible class. The class will take place every Wednesday night until Dec. 21 from 7 - 8 p.m. Volunteers will help with singing Bible songs, sanitizing toys and playing with kids. Free dinner is included with the service. For more information contact Emerald Lemmons at 325-370-1327 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 any-time between 1-5 p.m., Monday-Friday. They need help around the adoption center with general clean-ing, 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.
ACU Treadaway Kids is looking for volunteers to work with underprivileged kids Thursday evenings from 6 - 7:30 p.m. at the University Church of Christ. For more information contact Samantha Manski at 325-674-2828.
Meals on Wheels Plus needs volunteer drivers to deliver afternoon meals to seniors and adults with disabilities Monday-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 Litera-ture is looking for volunteers to work Tuesday - Saturday from 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. or 1 - 3 p.m. Volunteers 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 Lil-lick at 325-673-4586 or visit the NCCIL website.
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. Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday; 5 a.m. on Tuesday. 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.
Habitat for Humanity needs volunteers to help with various construction tasks including carpentry, paint-ing, cleaning up, installing cabinets and other tasks. Volunteers are needed any day Monday - Saturday any-time from 9 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Contact Steven Legget at 325-670-0489 or email [email protected].
Young Life Ministries needs volunteers Mondays, Tuesdays and weekends from 6 - 9 p.m. Volunteers will hang out with kids, experience leadership roles, serve others and introduce kids to Christ. Young Life is located at 1917 S. 6th St. For more informa-
tion contact Chuck Rodgers at 325-676-1211 or email [email protected].
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 provide 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.
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 computer skills. Locations are 4610 N. 10th St. or 1902 Shelton St. Contact Mark Denman at 325-672-1712 for more information.
Medical Care Mission is looking for volunteers to assist medical or dental staff with patients any weekday from 8:45 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. For more information contact Dave Kraly at 325-676-3104 or email [email protected].
Abilene 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 Day Nursery of Abilene needs volunteers to play with and read to children, assist teachers and help with other various tasks, any weekday between 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. The Day Nursery of Abilene has 4 different locations. For more information call Cyn-thia Pearson at 325-673-1110.
Weekly Stats for Nov. 08 - Nov. 15, 2011
Police Tip of the Week: Remember that most party related offenses and citations can be easily avoided by following simple rules: 10 Be respectful your neighbors, 2) Keep crowd size and music levels at a reasonable level, 3) If alcohol is present do not allow ANY under-age guests in, 4) End the party at a reasonable hour.
Police Log
11/10/11 4:30 p.m. DISTURBANCE: An ACU student called ACUPD to report a male subject being threatening and aggressive in an alley in the 600 block of College Drive. Officers found the individual and determined that he was intoxicated via paint thin-ner. He was arrested for Public Intoxication and transported to the Taylor County Jail.
11/10/11 10:43 p.m. NOISE VIOLATION/ALCOHOL INCIDENT: ACUPD received a noise violation call in Building 4 at The Grove apartments. Five minors were cited for Minor in Possession of Alcoholic Beverage.
11/11/11 10 a.m. INFORMATION REPORT: ACUPD assisted APD in the investigation of a criminal mischief incident where ACU students discharged fire extinguishers inside a local hotel. The student was identified and restitution was made to the hotel.
11/11/11 12:35 p.m. DISTURBANCE: ACUPD investigated the report that an Aramark employee in the World Famous Bean had alledgedly been assaulted/slapped by a student who refused to pay for their meal. A report was made and the case is open.
11/13/11 8:15 a.m. ANIMAL CALL: ACUPD officers responded to a report of a dead feral hog in the driveway of a private residence.
911 Call - 1Accident - 2Administrative Activity - 11Animal Call - 1Assault - 2Assist - 6Attempt to Locate - 1Barricades - 3Building Lock/Unlock - 12Check Building - 12Criminal Mischief - 1Disturbance - 4Fingerprint Service - 1Found Property - 3Information Report - 3Investigation Follow-Up - 9Lost Property - 5
Motorist Assist: Inflate Tire - 1Motorist Assist: Jump-start - 4Motorist Assist: Other - 3Motorist Assist: Unlock - 12Noise Violation - 3Other - 10Parking Violation - 6Patrol Vehicle: Maintenance - 4Patrol Vehicle: Refuel - 5Random Patrol - 2Report Writing - 6Suspicious Activity - 5Traffic Stop - 6
Total Events: 135
friday 11.18.113 campus news
Fashion show to benefit breast cancer awareness
The Chinese Student Schol-ars Association is hosting a fashion show in the Teague Special Events Center Friday. The show, titled Be Stylish, Be Casual, Be Smart, starts at 7:30 pm, and all proceeds will be donated entirely to the Hope Fund for breast cancer awareness.
Cynthia Kuong, senior at Hardin-Simmons University from Macao, China, is serv-ing as the show’s director and invited her friends from ACU to be a part of her project.
“This semester I have an internship at Hendrick Hos-pital’s Vera West Women’s Center, so that made me no-tice more about how things for breast cancer operated,” Kuong said. “I wanted to raise money to support the Hope Fund. This show is raising funds to give free mammo-grams to women in the Big Country who could not af-ford them on their own.”
Kuong became involved with CSSA at ACU this se-mester because ACU’s inter-national population is much larger and more diverse than it is at her school.
“I came to a lot of ACU events like Ethnos and oth-er international events, and I just got to know a lot of people,” Kuong said.
“I was thinking maybe I could raise some money to help these people and do something meaningful be-fore I graduated,” she said.
Kuong said the fashions featured in the show will fit into four different categories:
cute, sporty, office casual and elegant. Kuong spent around $200 on the clothes, all of which are from Korea.
Kuong plans to sell the clothes after the fashion show Monday in the Cam-pus Center Living Room, with all proceeds also going to the Hope Fund.
Charena Camacho, se-nior advertisement and public relations major from McGregor, said she and Kuong chose female stu-dents from Hardin-Sim-mons and ACU to model in Friday’s show.
“It’s mostly international girls – not that we chose that way specifically, but it just kind of happened,” Ca-macho said. “It’s going to be a really fun fashion show. It’s not going to be anything like a vogue runway, not straight-faced models look-ing mad. It’s going to be a very fun, interactive show.”
“There’s models of all different cultures – Filipino, Thai, Asian, American,” Kuong said. “I wanted to show different people work-ing together.”
The show will last about two hours, Comacho said, and everyone in the Abilene community is invited to participate.
“It’s going to be so much fun,” Camacho said. “You can help something bigger.”
Tickets are $5 and are available at the door the day of the event or at the “Be” fashion show table set up in the campus center all week.
campus
bailey nealstaff reporter
contact neal [email protected]
Adrian Patenaude Staff Photographer
In preparation for a gingerbread house competition to be held in the Bean, employees set up a winter scene to be complete with a Christmas train set.
Holiday season offers service opportunities
From delivering food to pro-viding clothing, students have multiple opportunities to support their community as they enter this holiday season.
Lisha Cottrill, senior in-terior design major from Rockwall, said she believes the holidays are about giv-ing back.
“This is such a great time for us to get involved with giving,” Cottrill said. “I think it leaves an impact when we help others who don’t have much, so I think these min-istries are important.”
Students can serve break-fast to homeless or low-income families in Abilene through Breakfast on Beech Street, hosted by First Chris-tian Church on weekdays from 6:30-7:15 a.m. B.O.B.S. volunteers help set up, pre-pare and serve the break-fasts and leave no later than 7:30 a.m.
Members of ACU also have other chances to feed the hungry without getting up at the crack of dawn: The Food Pantry of the Chris-tian Ministry of Abilene needs volunteers to help bag, stock and pick up or-ders and donated groceries. The Food Pantry fosters a grocery-store environment so low-income Abilenians can shop for their own choice of food. The Food Pantry, located at 701 Wal-nut St., is open on Monday and Friday from 9:30-11:45 a.m. and from 1-2:15 p.m. and Wednesdays from 9:30-11:45 a.m.
Students can also both serve others and earn Cha-pel credit through Meals On Wheels. This minis-try allows volunteers to go door-to-door delivering hot meals to 12 to 16 to seniors and adults with disabilities. Volunteer hours are avail-able on Monday through Saturday between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. The main facility is located at 717 N. 10th St.
Clothing volunteer ser-vices are also available. Love and Care Ministries provide help for the homeless of Abilene and welcomes vol-unteers Monday through Thursday starting at 9 a.m. and for occasional evening events at 1 p.m. or 5 p.m.
Michael Ortiz, junior information technology major from Monahans, has been volunteering for many years.
“In high school our stu-dent council helped with Meals On Wheels. We got to see how thankful the families were,” Ortiz said. “These opportunities are good for students to see the other side of the story.”
More information on these volunteer opportu-nities and others can be found in the Volunteer Opportunities Registry at www.acu.edu/campusof-fices/slvr.
local
bethany morganstudent reporter
contact morgan [email protected]
WPAC to host classical music trio
The Manhattan Piano Trio will bring a taste of classi-cal music to Abilene when they perform on campus Monday.
The MPT is a professional band with three members: Wayne Lee, the violinist; Dmitry Kouzov, the group’s cellist; and Milana Streze-va, the pianist. The group has been recognized for its electrifying performances in international competi-tions. Since 2004, the trio has captured grand prizes at the Plowman Competition and at the Yellow Springs Competition; runner-up at the Chesapeake Competi-tion; and the Australian
Broadcasting Corporation Listeners’ Choice Award in Melbourne, according to the band’s website.
“They are a great group,” said Lynette Walters, the Department of Music ad-ministrative assistant. “We invite guest musicians to ACU to encourage our stu-dents to stick to their goals and keep practicing their skills by enjoying the mu-sic performed by those who have achieved professional level.”
The concert is open to the Abilene community as well as to students. Walters said the concert is a great opportunity for community members to enjoy qual-ity live performances. The concert is family-friendly and will last about an hour.
Keely Swim, sophomore vocal performance major from Abilene, plans to go to the concert.
“I haven’t grown up with piano, so it is going to be different for me,” said Swim. “But I am looking forward to the concert. I think it will be really good.”
Stephanie Frakes, senior vocal music education ma-jor from McAllen, has been playing piano for 14 years and also plans to attend the performance.
“I expect it to be really good,” Frakes said. “Piano trio is my favorite. Last year, we had a trio come in, and the performance was great. I expect a high-quality con-cert you don’t normally hear in Texas.”
The Department of
Music has been hosting concerts by inviting guest musicians to Abilene. Af-ter the performance of MPT, the Bands’ Winter Concert will take place on Dec. 8 in Cullen Audito-rium and the Christmas Vespers at Abilene’s First Baptist Church on Dec. 10. All sorts of performances, like choirs, orchestra, per-cussion and jazz, will take place until May.
The performance starts at 7:30 p.m. Monday at the Williams Performing Arts Center Recital Hall. Admis-sion is free. People interest-ed can go to acu.edu/music to get more information.
arts
keyi zhoustudent reporter
contact zhou [email protected]
The following Congress members were absent Wednesday’s meeting.
Brady KileSophomore President
Nolan Bryan Mabee Rep
Chad KelleyJunior Treasurer
Christopher SiskCOBA Rep
Brandon WilsonOff-Campus Rep
Ethan BrackenFreshman Treasurer
Katy MorricalOff-Campus Rep
Tino AngadecherilSmith-Adams Rep
SA reverses chalk ban, coordinates events
The Students’ Association voted unanimously to re-verse the two-year chalk ban and bring color back to the sidewalks of campus while also coordinating a host of festive events during Wednesday’s meeting.
The resolution about the new ACU Chalking Policy stated that sidewalk chalking serves as a simple medium for students to advertise events and fos-ters a creative outlet to build community. SA ex-ecutive president Connor Best said the now obsolete policy prohibited chalk writing on brick surfaces,
vertical surfaces and the Lunsford Foundation Trail circling campus.
SA will sponsor a Chalk It Up event Friday and sup-ply free chalk for students and organizations to use throughout the school year as needed.
“There will be an an-nouncement made during Friday Chapel, and imme-diately following that we’re going to have a couple of tables set up with candy, soda and a whole bunch of chalk,” said executive vice president Julianne Hart.
Best also called attention to SA’s involvement with the Season of Caring. He said they are trying to raise $3,000 to aid families of Taylor Elementary students
over the Thanksgiving holi-day, but have $300 so far.
“Things have been kind of crazy at ACU,” Best said. “It’s hard to get the word out about this and budget cuts have kind of made the mood a little rough for giv-ing but families still need a lot of help.”
He advised representatives to work a table in the Campus Center to raise awareness, or set a goal for each class or building to raise.
The holiday season was the focal point of most of the other business ad-dressed during the meet-ing. Plans for Christmas lights around the Campus Center and in the mall area are stalled due to pend-ing contracts, but are esti-
mated to be up for display when students arrive back from Thanksgiving Break, and the Christmas Slam is “moving along,” Hart said.
Hart said she needs 100-150 students to dance during halftime of the bas-ketball game because the office of student life is ap-proving use of the song Wobble Baby.
“Mark Lewis, who will be dressed as Santa Claus, will dance during halftime and take pictures before the game,” she said.
Prentice Ashford pro-posed a bill to pay half the cost to show the movie Elf after the Christmas Slam that passed unanimously. Ashford said the movie would encourage students
to stay the entire duration of the game. Also, once the school had the rights to show it once, it could air the movie on campus for years to come. The bill al-lotted for no more than $315 to be used.
SA began preliminary ideas for their return after the festivities concluding this semester. Plans to partner with the intramural sports office for an inter-class game of dodgeball are underway. A new committee may be formed specifically to orga-nize the event. Also, one rep-resentative will study abroad leaving a seat open.
Student’s Association
farron salleynews anchor
contact salley [email protected]
friday 11.18.11 4news
Optimist alumni recall deadline horseplay
The itching to keep friendly rivalry alive was enough motivation for him. On a late Tuesday night in 1974, while working on deadline in the shared office space in the basement of the Campus Center, Alan Miller cunningly decided to “play a little joke” on the then Prickly Pear editor who had gone home for the night. The timing and the plan were perfect.
“We really don’t know why we did it,” the 1974-75 Optimist editor said. “I’m sure there were some things that led up to it.”
With the help of other Op-timist staffers, Miller crept toward the door of Cheryl Bacon’s Prickly Pear office just a few steps away. Miller had to stand on a chair to reach the ceiling as he lifted the tiles to gain access to the locked yearbook office. The mission was simple: toss older, crumpled-up edi-tions of the newspaper into Bacon’s office and fill the en-tire 10-by-10 foot room from bottom to top with individ-ual wads of the on-campus newspaper – predictable, yet certainly unexpected.
Mission accomplished. When Bacon returned to work the next day, hun-dreds of balled-up news-papers flooded the floor around Bacon’s feet.
“She tried to figure out how we did it with the door locked,” Miller said. “She was a wee bit surprised.”
Fun, pranks and games are one side of the Optimist students and faculty rarely get to see, but is one of the most common experiences among staffers, especially in late-night, deadline settings. Miller, now in assistant pub-lic affairs management for State Farm Insurance in Col-
orado, and other former edi-tors and staff members have similar memories that reveal a behind-the-scenes look into the everyday publishing of the 100 year-old Optimist. Fun and games are as much a part of the Optimist as the journalism itself.
Former Optimist manag-ing editor Deana Nall, now a freelance writer near Little Rock, Ark., recalls an awk-ward moment during her time working for the paper. When she managed
The Optimist in 1992-93, the office was in the Don Morris building on the third floor with big windows over-looking Mabee Hall. Many Optimist staffers frequently work late nights trying to make the paper a reality for the following morning. And late hours plus open win-dows can lead to some inter-esting stories.
Nall said she and other late-night workers could see straight into the fresh-man men’s dorm – and not necessarily by choice.
“The guys in Mabee didn’t think we could see into their dorms,” Nall said. “The Optimist windows just happened to face Mabee.”
“One guy actually looked up and saw a group of people looking at him,” Nall said. “We weren’t trying to be per-verted, it was just funny.”
Awkward moments seemed to define Nall’s time at The Optimist. Nall and her friend Susie French wanted to kill some time and provide some entertain-ment for the rest of the staff who was attentively working on the paper. The duo made up a dance routine to the hit song, Hard Knock Life, a hit song from the Broadway musical, Annie, intending to
execute their cover version flash mob-style. The perfor-mance was anticlimactic. As the friends waved their arms and kicked their feet with dynamic enthusiasm, no one acknowledged them.
“We were supposed to be working on the paper, but we burst into song where every-one was working,” Nall said. “No one even turned to look. It’s like we didn’t even exist.”
The fun does not stop at crumpled up newspapers, open blinds and flash mobs. One game that seems to have withstood the test of time is chair-racing. This game can be traced in Optimist history
to before the 1970s and into the 1980s and 1990s in the long halls of the Don Morris Building, though the sport has seemed to have taken a back seat to other recent activities such as ping pong and Xbox. Chair races took place at that certain time of the night when everyone was tired and jittery at the same time, say former staffers.
“What it is, you get two people on rolling chairs and start at the door of the Optimist,” said former ’90-’91 sports editor Lance Fleming, describing the intensity of the spur-of-the-moment game. “You’re facing backwards, and you go as fast as you could down the length of the hall and back again. I’ve busted my head on the floors and the walls.”
Not everyone was cut out for such glory, said Fleming,
including Wendell Edwards, now an anchor and reporter for Eyewitness News 5 in Oklahoma City, Okla.
“Wendell Edwards, he was a horrible chair racer,” Flem-ing said. “We beat him like a mule every time we went up and down the halls.”
Competition, enjoyment, excitement and awkward-ness are very much a part of Optimist history. Behind the journalism, designing and story assignments, through optimistic times, through pessimistic times, beyond the awards and recognitions, fun and games are and have been a huge part of alumni recollections. Alan Miller loves to look back at his time on staff. He finds the fun times and the serious times go hand-in-hand to create his good memories of his ex-perience with the Optimist.
“We had a good-natured
staff working together,” Miller said. “Everybody was there because they wanted to be. It was great training for all of us.”
But Miller’s memories stem further than just great training and good-natured people. He was proud to be a part of something big-ger than himself.
“What I remember most are those Tuesday nights putting something to-gether we could be proud of and share with the en-tire school,” he said. “The Optimist is just an amaz-ing tradition; it’s just out-standing. It’s the kind of program the school needs, and it’s one that former students like me appreci-ate very well.”
optimist 100
zane goggansstudent reporter
contact goggans [email protected]
Bus: Victims continue recovery processthe bottom floor, utiliz-ing golf carts to assist students to class and giv-ing additional help to those now in wheelchairs, Thompson said.
“The school is hiring people to push us handi-capped people around,” Ford said. “They’re also let-ting us Skype in to classes we can’t get to and offer-ing to let us have an ex-tended semester where we can take some of our work home and finish it up.”
Thompson said each student has been assigned a staff or faculty member that regularly checks in on their statuses.
“I’m impressed with the level of coordination surrounding this; the care team is meeting a couple times a week to make sure there’s no holes in the system,” Thompson said. “We are doing all we can as a university to cater to their special needs.”
Both Watson and Ford said they were ready to get back to class. Ford was one of the first to return to class, and Tuesday was her
first full day back. Watson will remain at home for the time being.
Watson and Ford said healing has been difficult. They said it was an adjust-ment for them to learn to rely so heavily on others for help.
“I’m a very indepen-dent person, and I’m frus-trated with the limitations. If I drop something on the ground, then I can’t just reach down and pick it up without pain,” Ford said.
Ford and some other students in the accident are now adjusting to daily life in a wheelchair.
“I’m really learning what it means to be handi-capped. I’ve noticed that, when you’re in a wheel-chair, people don’t look at you. Someone could be talking to my mother right beside me and not even
talk to me at all,” Ford said. “But we’re people, too.”
Watson said she has learned to better accept help from others.
“I hate depending on others, but it’s good that the Lord is teaching me to depend on others and not to be so stubbornly inde-pendent,” Watson said. “We’re raised in a culture where you are what you produce and what you can do, and we’re raised to be so independent, but sometimes we need to re-alize that we need a help-ing hand.”
During their time in the hospital, both Watson and Ford had the opportunity to witness to nurses and others around them.
“Before, I didn’t know how to witness to people, and I didn’t think I had a testimony. I asked the Lord to mold me like clay and give me a testimony and bond me to my de-partment,” Watson said. “So basically I gave Him free reign in my life.”
Watson said she thinks she will be a lot stronger emotionally knowing she can stand something like an accident and knowing there are people there to help her.
“I feel like this whole event is a box wrapped up in a lot of blessings,” Wat-son said. “It was meant for harm, but God used it for good.”
university
contact sutherland [email protected]
continued from page 1
dr. Jean-NoelThompsonvice president and dean for student life
I’m impressed with the level of coordination surround-ing this; the care team is meeting a couple times a week to make sure there’s no holes in the system.”“
brian schmidt former staff Photographer
Arts editor Sarah Carlson battles with sports editor Jared Fields as opinion page editor Dani Linthicum joins in.
friday 11.18.115 arts
Before the play even started it was clear that Private Eyes would be very different from the outrageous action of Noises Off or the musical-ity of The King and I. The study guide promised themes of deception, in-fidelity and relationships while the advertisements warned that it “is intend-ed for mature audiences over age 13.”
I was joined by an energetic audience of mostly freshman who
took their seats in Fulks Theatre on Wednesday night for ACU Theatre’s Cornerstone Production. The modular city scape on stage and the jazzy soundtrack emanating from the speakers set the scene for the intriguing story of love and lies that was about to begin.
It was mere minutes into the first act that the audience is posed with questions regarding love, truth, vanity and reality.
“You don’t just come out and tell someone the truth,” exclaimed Adrian a director engaged in an extramarital affair with
his actress (played by Dom Huynh, senior the-atre major major from Beaverton, Ore.). “Not when you’ve gotten away with it.”
It’s mature and reflec-tive themes were paired with very adult bits of sex-uality that are quite unor-dinary for an ACU produc-tion. However, without it, the secret romance and workplace infidelity would not have felt nearly as real or believable.
Aside from it many se-rious moments, Private Eyes also brought a help-ful dose of humor. Quick witted verbal and situ-
ational humor dotted the two hour performance.
The cast portrayed an interwinding, non-linear tale of deceit with expertise. Nick Palm-ieri, senior theatre ma-jor from Amarillo, and Melanie Godsey, ju-nior theatre major from Highland Village, were forced to play a variety of roles as their charac-ters were also acting a play (in which Godsey’s character was also audi-tioning for a role).
The audience was left not knowing what to be-lieve as they were often told what they had just
seen was not reality, but instead part of a play or daydream. This was most noticeable when what the audience thought was a simple lunch turned into a daydream of revenge and dancing on tables.
As much as I would like to see future depart-ment productions step away from the gimmicky play-within-a-play sto-ry line that was also so much a part of Noises Off, the cast and production crew managed to create a performance that was funny, thought-provok-ing and in all aspects very different from any-
thing previously seen on ACU’s stage.
See the final perfor-mances this Friday at 7 p.m. as well as Saturday at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. After each performance there will be a talkback giv-ing audience members a chance to discuss the play with its cast, crew and directors. Tickets can be purchased on-line, in person or by call-ing the ACU Theatre Box Office at 325-674-ARTS (2787).
Morgan Hallmark, senior art major from Garland, worked mostly in 2D me-diums until she signed up for her first sculpture class because her boyfriend was in the class. One year later, she has fallen in love with working with the third di-mension and is winning re-gional awards for her work.
The art department at the public high school Hallmark attended only offered courses in paint-ing and drawing because there wasn’t funding for anything more. When she began to study sculpture she discovered a set of new opportunities in a medium she had never experienced.
She found a long list of
materials and possibilities in the physical art.
“It is the third dimen-sion – the form – that sets sculpture apart,” Hall-mark said. “I’ve always been interested in form. I had a portrait business in high school. But adding that other dimension is re-ally a challenge and opens up so many options.”
Hallmark wasn’t ex-posed to the artist life un-til the 5th grade when she attended a summer camp. With both of her parents working in the field of engi-neering, she said, she hadn’t been given the opportunity to make much art.
“I ended up getting burned by hot glue while I was there – I still have a tear-drop-shaped scar on my hand,” Hallmark said. “But I was so happy
to be there that I just kept working on my project. I was like ‘I just love this so much I want to keep doing it.’ I’ve been doing it ever since then.”
Hallmark entered a piece in the Big Country Art Association show Nov. 5, a region wide show, where she won first place in her category.
“I also entered last year, and I think I got honorable mention, or something,” Hallmark said. “I decided that wasn’t good enough, so I did it again.”
Hallmark entered her piece An Unusual Al-legory for Christ (Fossil and Swallows) to compete against students and pro-fessors from ACU, Hardin-Simmons University and McMurry University. She wasn’t overly confident about her odds, but said she knew she had a chance at placing.
“I was honestly just hoping to get third place so I could get a little mon-ey to pay for the bronze,”
Hallmark said.The piece Hallmark
entered this year is titled An Unusual Allegory for Christ (Fossil and Swallows). She began work on it this summer as a personal project then continued working on it in her sculpture class this fall. This project came to fruition just in time for the show. It was cast on Thursday, finished on Friday and turned in on Saturday.
“It takes a lot to finish a bronze piece even once it is cast. It took me six or seven hours to get all of the ceramic shell off, and another six or seven hours to grind down the gating,” Hallmark said. “Then it took another two or three hours to do the patina.”
“I chose an extinct ani-mal to represent past life,
and the swallows repre-sent new life,” Hallmark said.
The two-foot-tall bronze mastodon molar with two swallows sitting on it weighs almost 50 pounds.
After many ruined shirts and scarred hands since she began her first sculp-ture project a year ago, Hallmark is hooked. She said the feel of the art and the interactivity of the me-dium guarantee her return.
“I still have a love of painting, but for me it’s not the main course,” Hallmark said. “Getting messy and working with my hands ev-eryday is more satisfying. Painting is just illusion on a flat surface. That’s just not as much fun.”
Sculpting Success
Hallmark places first at Abilene area
art competition
david singerarts editor
contact singer [email protected]
jozie sandsopinion page editor
contact sands [email protected]
photos by adrian patenaude Staff Photographer
TOP: Hallmark, senior art major from Garland, works on a bronze piece on a class-room table in the Don Morris Art Building. Hallmark recently won first place in sculp-ture for a different artwork in the Big Country Art Association region-wide show. ABOVE RIGHT: A bronze sculpture Hallmark stands on a table in the Don Morris Art Building. LEFT: Hallmark’s prize winning sculpture, An Unusual Allegory for Christ (Fos-sil and Swallows), is a two foot tall bronze cast that weighs almost 50 pounds.RIGHT: Hallmark applies chemicals to color the bronze of this artwork green.
photo courtesy of morgan hallmark
Private Eyes: addresses love, charms viewers
It is the third dimension - the form - that sets sculpture apart.”
Oh Dear, Christian College Ben miller
the issueDigital textbooks will soon replace traditional learning mate-rials in the classroom.
our takeAlong with benefits, digital textbooks offer weaknesses that may hurt a students’ education.
Hannah barneseditor in chief
Mark smithmanaging editor
jozie sandsopinion page editor
marissa fergusononline editor
christina burchmultimedia editor
daniel gomezchief photographer
david ian singer arts editor
samantha sutherlandfeatures editor
austin gwinsports director
bryson shakesports editor
john edward isaacsassistant sports editor
ellen smithcopy editor
christianna lewiscopy editor
ben miller cartoonist
melany coxpage 2 editor
amanda lambrightstaff photogrpaher
destiny hagoodstaff photographer
adrian patenaudestaff photographer
marcus bowenvideo project editor
kyle kramervideographer
philip miranda videographer
lucius patenaudevideographer
farron salleynews producer/anchor
taylor langstonsports producer/anchor
kristen goodspeedsports producer/anchor
blane singletaryaudio broadcast reporter
cade whitefaculty adviser
kenneth pybusfaculty adviser
cara lee cranfordadvertising
newsroom
(325) 674-2439
sports desk
(325) 674-2684
photo department
(325) 674-2499
advertising office
(325) 674-2463
multimedia desk
(325) 674-2463
subscriptions ($40/Year)
(325) 674-2296
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
E-mail letters to: [email protected]
published by the
department of journalism
and mass communication
editorial and
management board
editorial and Letter Policy
Ones and zerosblane singletary
Editorial
Game quality trumps advertising campaign
Meyer: Offer daily Chapel respect
Team: Fan support spurs victory
Austin: Paterno’s inaction caused irreparable harm
Digital texts assist, hinder education
Two eagerly anticipated video games were released last week: Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3, and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. EA’s Battlefield 3 came out just weeks before.
These games’ release dates have been etched into many gamers’ calendars, and their release has been watched by numerous media sources. They each sold millions of copies within days after be-ing released.
It’s no question that these games generated much hype. Many games before them have achieved this ominous status of becoming “game of the year” before they were ever released. These games seem to attract a huge fol-lowing of wide-eyed gamers who camp outside a game store for a midnight release.
But even if a game has a multimillion-dollar mar-keting campaign, a trailer directed by Michael Bay and special limited-edition exclusives for people who pre-order, the quality of the game determines whether or not people will keep playing it after launch week.
For example, let’s take a look at the previous in-stallment of the Call of Duty franchise, “Black Ops.” This game had an absolutely massive launch, thanks mainly to the huge success of its predecessor, “Modern Warfare 2.” Game companies hailed it as the 4,000-pound elephant in the room and adjusted their release dates accord-ingly so they wouldn’t have to compete with it.
While its launch commu-nity was big, within months, some people began to trickle back to Modern Warfare 2. It’s not that Black Ops was a flop by any means, but these people viewed its predeces-sor as the better game.
In an example of true game community permanence, we see Valve’s Counter-Strike. This game franchise was re-leased in 1999 and has only
received one sequel since then, which was really more of an update. But today, 12 years later, you can still find thousands of active servers filled with both veteran and new players.
So what is Valve’s secret? Shortly after the game was released, they also released their very own develop-ment tools, free, so gam-ers could create new maps, characters and challenges. It’s this spring of user-cre-ated content that has kept the Counter-Strike com-munity alive for this long.
In contrast, Activision’s Call of Duty franchise is surviving on a new block-buster release every year. It hasn’t released its de-velopment tools and in fact charge for download-able map packs. If Activi-sion were to announce it was completely pulling the plug on the franchise, how long would gamers continue playing it?
There comes a time when hype means nothing and the quality of your product means everything. If a game company wants its game to be remembered in a good way it needs to focus on that quality, not the ad campaign, and then find ways to foster that connection with its au-dience for years to come.
ACU Men’s Basketball wants to give a special thank you to the ACU students, staff and Wildcat basketball fans who came out to watch the Men’s basketball team last Friday and Saturday during our opening weekend.
We were very fortunate to get out to a fantastic start of
the 2011 - 2012 season pro-ducing a 2 - 0 record largely because of your encourage-ment and support. We are dedicated and determined to continue to work everyday at providing a product that the ACU Basketball fans and supporters can be proud of. We are really excited about
this new era of Wildcat Na-tion Basketball.
We hope to not only have your continued support and attendance at our games, but also hope to keep at-tracting new people to join us all in building ACU Bas-ketball into a Champion-ship Program. We appreci-
ate all of you and we need your support to take ACU Basketball to the top!
We look forward to see-ing you next Tuesday at 7 p.m. in Moody Coliseum when we match up against UT Permian Basin.
ACU Men’s Basketball
In response to the recent article in the Optimist about the firing of Joe Pa-terno I would like to pres-ent my reasoning for his firing being justified. I love JoePa as much as the next sports fanatic and I feel like he is my grandpa with-out ever meeting him. He’s built a great legacy on wins, morals and pride. Gwin in his article refers to Paterno as an “icon for the univer-
sity.” All of us who follow sports know that Paterno is bigger than just football. He is higher than the for-mer athletic director, Cur-ley and former president, Spanier. I agree with Gwin that Paterno is much big-ger than football. But, that is just it, Paterno is bigger than football, he is more than just wins and losses. Gwin tells in the article it is not Paterno’s job to be in-
volved in the personal lives of students. This is where I kindly disagree.
When JoePa recruits for his football team, he prom-ises thousands of parents your boy is in my hands now! When the former grad-uate assistant came to Joe Paterno in the beginning with the allegations this is what the face of Penn State should have done when the graduate assistant ap-
proached Paterno with the allegations: Randy this is where you can put in your great phrase and I can quote you in the article “Our lives just got tougher, but we are in this together. I will pro-tect you and I will put you under my wing and give you the best support I can to stop what you just saw.”
But, that did not hap-pen, Paterno just passed on the message knowing
that boys were being raped from eye witnesses. The face of Penn State could and should have done more to stop those hor-rific acts done by former assistant coach Jerry San-dusky. The nation of Penn State is in outrage and shock and rightly should be. The grandfather figure we all know and love so well who we have branded the face of Penn State did
nothing more to stop the injustice being done to children then pass a note on to a colleague. Joe Pa-terno cannot be the face of a university with the inac-tion he demonstrated in this ever developing case.
Joseph Austin
It must have happened when I wasn’t looking. Surely I would have noticed…But I didn’t…until Friday.
When did America earn the right to garner more respect than the God of the Universe?
I was overcome with re-spect and gratitude this past Friday as together the ACU community and many visitors honored each branch of the mili-tary and the service per-sonnel who are part of ACU. I was overwhelmed to listen and watch as the crowd responded to Rodney Johnson’s har-monica renditions of our Alma Mater and God Bless America. And I was proud, since both of my parents are Army veterans.
What surprised me was an unexpected observa-tion. It came during the national anthem. From my vantage point on the floor of Moody Coliseum, I could see almost every part of the crowd, and this crowd was into the nation-al anthem. Every person I could see was into the mo-ment, standing out of re-spect (or habit, I’m aware) and singing. The in-be-tween moments of song phrases that we all are so familiar with in Chapel… those ones where you of-ten hear the sounds of peo-ple talking… were silent. There was a reverent spirit throughout the crowd. It was quite a moment. This crowd loved America and seemed committed to the
words they were singing, with hand over heart.
And in that moment, it hit me. I have rarely seen the crowd in Moody Coliseum so united, so respectful, so “into it” quiet during a Chapel moment. We often have a great spirit and great participation in Chapel, don’t get me wrong. But this was different.
This was the kind of disciplined yet heartfelt response that at first real-ly confused me…How did this happen? What could possibly have created that kind of desired response, and how can we make that happen more often in daily Chapel?
Sadly, I thought of one answer. I fear that many
in our culture have more of a disciplined and heartfelt response to the familiar sports event, with its regular national anthem ceremony and ex-pectations, than the same crowd has for the God of the Universe who delights in us as we meet Him for daily Chapel.
For regular Chapel-go-ers, then, I ask… When did America earn the right to garner more respect than the God of the Universe? How does your participation in Chapel reflect the respect and gratitude that He is due? It seems something may have happened to us when we weren’t looking.
Jan MeyerACU staff member
Digital textbooks are no lon-ger a futurist’s dream.
Publishers are beginning to release books in a digi-tal form. Students are more comfortable in a digital set-ting. And the devices are cost effective and user friendly.
As with any new tech-nology, some benefits are obvious. Digital textbooks open opportunities for col-laboration, allow for con-stantly updated informa-tion and make education less of a top-down system.
But the introduction of any new medium renders an element of an existing
medium obsolete. The old medium is not extinct, but its effect on society’s land-scape is diminished and its contributions are muted.
Radio’s glory days faded as television gained popu-larity in the 1940s. As we gained a visual medium we lost one well suited for dis-seminating abstract ideas.
This cycle of gaining and losing is accelerating as technology evolves. We have little time to see the negative effects of a new technology before society accepts it as normal. It took decades for the majority of American
households to own a tele-phone, but less than one for iPods to saturate our culture. With technology moving at this rate, it will be only a few years before the book as we know it – and as Gutenberg knew it – finally will have to adapt to the 21st century.
We have to consider the features that will be gained relative to those that will be lost as we move toward this new system of present-ing information.
We will miss the way a book feels and smells, but that is nothing compared to the possible detriment of
the new technology to stu-dent learning.
Students will no longer have to comprehend the information they are giv-en in order put it in their notes. They will be able to copy and paste with ease. Notes and sources for a paper can be compiled so easily that the student doesn’t analyze the text thoroughly. It is easy as-sume that possessing the information is the same as knowing it. That isn’t necessarily true.
Readers will not need to have a clue about the context
of the facts and terms they look to find in the digital text. The search feature will allow students to cherry pick excerpts off of their study guides.
Each year more fresh-men enter equipped with iPhones, making iPad text-books the next step for our
wired campus. If we aren’t careful, we might get lost in the technology and inad-vertently weaken students’ educational opportunities.
column
Letters
contact singletary [email protected]
contact the optimist [email protected]
Friday 11.18.11 6opinion
Game companies hailed it as the 4,000-pound
elephant in the room and adjusted their release
dates accordingly so they wouldn’t have to
compete with it.”
“
contact the optimist [email protected]
FRIDAY 11.18.117 sports Jumps
This game will feature two quarterbacks who are finalists for the Harlon Hill tro-phy, Division II’s Heisman, in Mitchell Gale and Dane Simoneau . Both have thrown for over 3,000 yards and com-plete about 60 percent of their passes.
Neither of these two defenses is top of the line, but the Ichabod D is bet-ter than ACU. Washburn ranks 56th in the nation while the Wildcats are 125th out of 150 teams. That stat can be deceiving, however.
Gale is third in the nation in total offense while Simoneau is right behind him in fourth. While passing might reign on Saturday, don’t overlook the run game. The Ichabods feature two running backs who have combined for more than 1800 rushing yards and 18 touchdowns this season. Of course the Wildcat rushing attack of Richardson, Brown and West has combined for 17 touchdowns as well.
Although ACU’s defense gives up a lot of yards, inside the 20-yard line, they are stout. They rank 13th na-tionally in red zone defense and have only given up 24 touchdowns in 42 opponent trips. Expect defensive end Aston Whiteside to cause fits for the Ichabod of-fensive line which has given up at least two sacks in six games.
ACU is also peaking at the right time. They have had arguably their best two games of the season the past two weeks putting up 40 and 61 points, respectively. This Saturday will be the fifth away playoff for Coach Chris Thomsen as the head coach of the Wildcats. The team is 1-3 in those four games with their only victory coming at Midwestern State in 2009.
Offense Defense Intangibles
Washburn (9-2) vs. ACU (8-2)Game Preview
The Wildcats got the best of the Icha-bods in 2010 when the two teams met to kick off the season. ACU won 36-24 at Washburn, so the Wildcats should go into the game with confi-dence, knowing a win is possible.
Well the Wildcats accpom-plished their goal: getting to the playoffs. Forget what happened in the previ-ous 10 games. Every team gets a fresh start in the playoffs, and the Wildcats are peaking at the perfect time. Coming off two big
wins, the boys in purple and white should come out ready to play. ACU has been knocked out of the playoffs by an MIAA team the last three years. Don’t count on it happening in 2011.
Pick: ACU 27-21
Austin Gwin
With the start of the playoffs comes a fresh mindset and clean, happy thoughts. And luckily for the Wildcats, they are playing their best foot-ball at the most opportune time. The Wildcats are riding the coattails of two big wins, and those should serve as a
cataylst for the team. A bal-anced offensive attack and a few timely sacks will propel the team as Mitchell Gale and company embark on a journey that all hope lasts quite awhile.
Pick: ACU 31-17
Bryson Shake
For the sixth year in a row ACU is going back to the playoffs. Their first oppo-nent is Washburn, whom they beat in 2010, 34-26. The Ichabods, like the Wild-cats, are led by their quar-terback Dane Simoneau who has over 10,000 yards
passing in his career. For the ‘Cats to win, the ACU defense must step up and make Simoneau’s job dif-ficult. This is going to be a close ballgame but I see the Wildcats squeaking it out.
Pick: ACU 35-28
Edward Isaacs
Cross country
Chloe sussetJunior
ACU cross country
I’ve never made it to Na-tionals for cross country,
and I’m just excited.”“
Series: Familiar foes to meet in Californiasoccer
Susset receives region’s top award, will compete at nationals Saturday
Cross country runner Chloe Susset, junior busi-ness management major from France, was voted Women’s Athlete of the Year for the NCAA Division II’s South Central Region.
The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coach-es Association honored Susset with this award Tuesday, Nov. 8.
Susset is the fourth Wild-cat cross country member to receive the region’s top
tribute over the past three seasons, joining previous runners Anais Belledant (2010), two-time winner Amos Sang (2009, 2010) and Julius Nyango (2010).
Susset and teammate Alyse Goldsmith, junior accounting major from Katy, will compete at the NCAA Div. II National Championships in Spo-kane, Wash., on Saturday.
“I’m very excited for na-tionals,” Susset said. “I get to see some French people from the other teams that made it to the meet. I’ve never made
it to nationals for cross coun-try, and I’m just excited.”
Before the NCAA Div. II South Central Regional, Susset told herself that her reward for finishing in the top five would be buying warm clothes for the national tournament. She not only came in the
top five but won the meet with a time of 21:37.90.
“The night after the meet, I treated myself to warm running outfits. I look for-ward to buying a dress for the national banquet. It’s go-ing to be cold, and I have ev-erything to be warm now.”
Susset said she uses cross country as a way to train herself for the upcoming track season, which begins early in the spring semester.
“I really don’t like cross country to tell you the truth, but I know this is
going to make me better for track,” she said. “I’m improving my time all the time and can see what’s go-ing to happen for track.”
Head coach Chris Woods said Susset has a tendency to fall to the ground when she finishes a race.
“I’m done, so I have to lie down; it’s a habit I learned when I was young,” Susset said.
Susset said she’s running at a faster speed this year.
“I want to enjoy the trip, make my coach proud and bring my teammates to
the highest level. I want to place in the top 40 so I can be an All-American.”
Woods said he doesn’t think Susset or Goldsmith have peaked yet, but with the way they’ve been run-ning, the peak should be the next race.
“I think they can be All-Americans,” Woods said. “It won’t be an easy thing to do, but I definitely think it’s a possibility.”
kristin goodspeedsports reporter
contact GWIN [email protected]
DANIEL GOMEZ CHIEF Photographer
Sophomore forward Andrea Carpenter strikes the ball at the Wildcat Soccer Pitch. Carpenter has 33 points on season.
“We definitely have a lot of respect for Dallas Baptist,” Carpenter said. “They are a great team and have earned all they have received this year. Those are the type of teams that are fun to play.”
The Patriots began the season going 5-4-1 over their first ten games, but quickly turned things around.
Lea Sedwick and Dan-ielle Presley, both of who are among the national leaders in points and goals per game, lead the Dallas Baptist offense, which av-erages 2.27 goals per game.
For the Wildcats, Car-penter leads the offense with 15 goals and 33 points followed by junior forward Krysta Grimm, who has 10 goals and 26 points.
“This is definitely exciting for our team to travel togeth-er and experience new things as a team,” Grimm said.
Southern California could not serve as a more welcom-
ing host, as three players re-side from the area.
Senior midfielder Ashley Holton, transfer Stephanie Heron and freshman Ol-ivia Englesman all hail from southern California. Wilson also grew up in the area, so he expects a solid Wildcat following this weekend.
“I already feel like we have somewhat of a home-field advantage built in for our next match,” Wilson said. “I have a lot of friends and brothers who live out there that haven’t seen this team play yet, so it’s going to be exciting for them to get that chance.”
Grimm echoed the unique opportunity that playing in California has for many fans.
“It will be great for families to get to come out and watch when they’re not normally able to,” she said. “That will give us an extra boost and motivation to play well.”
contact shake [email protected]
from page 8
Record: Golding, team hoping to make statement
The Dust Devils have a talented team and will be looking to build off of last year’s success.
This game will be an ear-ly measuring stick for the Wildcats after an impres-sive start to the season last weekend that undoubtedly
turned heads en route to their 2-0 start on the young 2011-12 season.
“Coach always talks about how the good teams are the ones that can win on the road, so we want to go down there and let our play speak for itself,” said guard Desmond Woodber-ry said. “We are aiming to
put ourselves in the right situation to be considered a good team.”
Just three years ago, A&M International failed to win a single game all season. Now they form a talented basketball team that has rebuilt its pro-gram from the ground up.
This matchup on Satur-day could provide a sneak peek into the future of the ACU basketball program
that is looking to put aside past struggles and return to prominence in the Lone Star Conference.
The Wildcats have dreams of winning the conference and being competitive throughout the year, so this game is an opportunity for the Wild-cats to signal that they are
here to stay.“We are looking to make
a statement about where the program is.” Wood-berry said. “Every time we step on the court we plan to make a statement.
contact sloan [email protected]
men’s basketball
from page 8
desmond woodberrysenior guard
acu men’s basketball
We are looking to make a statement about where
the program is.”“
Friday 11.18.11 8sports
TeamMSUACUWTAMUTSUTAMU-KASUUIWENMUCommerce
Div.8-07-16-25-34-42-62-61-71-7
Ovrl.10-08-27-36-56-55-62-82-91-9
TeamWTAMUASUACUTSUTWUCameronTAMU-KMSUUIW
Div.19-117-314-613-711-99-117-137-136-14
Ovrl.33-230-521-1320-1413-1715-1515-1515-1612-18
TeamACUMSUENMUCommerceASUWTAMUUIWTWU
Div.13-09-46-56-65-65-83-71-12
Ovrl.19-114-68-88-96-99-105-71-14
Chicago Bears wide receiver Johnny Knox recorded one reception for 18 yards and no touchdowns versus the Lions on Sunday, Nov. 13. The Bears won 37-13.
Cincinnati Bengals running back Bernard Scott had 7 rushes for 38 yards and no touchdowns Sunday, Nov. 13 against the Steelers. The Bengals lost 24-17. On the year, Scott has 65 carries for 223 yards and a lone touchdown.
Danieal Manning, Texans safety, fractured his tibia on Sunday, Oct. 23 against the Titans. He had surgery to repair the fracture on Monday, Oct. 24. Manning is expected to be out for four weeks.
Men’s basketball plays in the UTPB Classic in Odessa Nov. 18 and 19. The first game for the ‘Cats starts at 7:30 p.m.
The women’s soccer team will face Dallas Baptist on Friday, Nov. 18 in the N`CAA Third Round Post-Season Tournament. The game is in Los Angeles, CA at 4:30 p.m. (CT).
Football goes up against Washburn at 1 p.m. in Topeka, KS on Saturday, Nov. 19 for the first round of the NCAA playoffs.
football
volleyball
Women’s Soccer
standings
briefings
EX- FACTOR
Upcoming
Andrea Carpenter, Julie Coppedge, Ashley Holton, Elliott London, Lexi Stirling, and Lyndsey Womack were all named to the Soccer All-South Central Region first team on Tuesday, Nov. 15.
Jennie Hutt was voted to the Daktronics Volleyball All-South Central Region first team on Wednesday, Nov. 16. Hutt is one of seven players honored. It’s the first time she has received this award.
Vince Jarrett, former ACU golf coach and current ACU associate director of athletics, was selected for induction into the Golf Coaches’ Association of America Hall of Fame on Monday, Dec. 5.
soccer
DANIEL GOMEZ CHIEF Photographer
Junior midfielder Stephanie Heron prepares to kick a ball at the Wildcat Soccer Pitch Sunday against Midwestern State in the South Central regional title match. Heron is one of four current Wildcat soccer players that are from southern California, where the team is playing this weekend.
Wildcats enter wild, wild West
The No. 17 ACU women’s soccer team is in unchar-tered waters. For the first time in the program’s short five-year program history, the team has made it to the third round of the NCAA playoffs and is a mere two wins away from heading to Pensa-cola, Fla. for the national semifinals.
Standing in the team’s
way is Dallas Baptist (16-5-1), one of the hottest teams in the nation right now, whom the team will play Friday in Los Angeles at 4:30 p.m. Central Time.
The Patriots enter the match after a 1-0 win over Central Oklahoma and a 3-1 win over Central Missouri.
“Dallas Baptist is one of the most talented teams in the country, hands down,” said head coach Casey Wilson. “They are loaded with talent and present challenges to every team
they face. We will have our work cut out for us.”
At one point in the sea-son, the Patriots sported a nine-game winning streak in which they outscored opponents 26-1 during the latter half of their con-ference schedule.
“They have the ability to dominate and take over games, and quickly, so it will be key to establish the tempo of the game quick-ly so we’re not playing the game how they want to,” Wilson said. “They play at
a very high intensity and use lots of pressure in their defensive gameplan.”
ACU defeated DBU 2-1 in overtime during their season opener on Sept. 1, and if the top-seeded Wildcats (19-1-1) can get past the Patriots again, they’ll face the winner of the match between Chico State and Cal State Los Angeles on Sunday.
In the first game, Lone Star Conference Offen-sive Player of the Year Andrea Carpenter scored
the game-winning goal in the 94th minute of play to propel the ’Cats to a 2-1 win to start the season.
“We’ve definitely been watching film from our first meeting against DBU,” Wilson said. “More so as a reference because we’re both different teams than how we started the year, but it still helps.”
The two teams are famil-iar with one other, as ACU leads the all-time series 4-1.
bryson shakesports editor
DANIEL GOMEZ CHIEF Photographer
Junior Antonio Bell drives to the basket at Moody Coliseum against East Central on Nov. 12.
men’s basketball
’Cats head to Odessa for tourney
The ACU men’s basketball team will head to Odessa this weekend to take on UT Permian Basin and A&M International in the UTPB Classic.
The Wildcats are look-ing to build on their im-pressive 2-0 start when they play their first two road games of the year be-ginning Friday.
ACU takes take on the UTPB Falcons Friday night in the first of two Novem-ber matchups between the teams.
ACU is preparing to show the world that their program has taken the next step, and they are ready to win a true road game.
“Every time we step on the court we are looking to prove people wrong.” Senior Ben Warton said.
“We are all aware we got picked to finish last in the conference, so that is mo-tivation. Coach has been talking about going on the road and winning, so it is a good opportunity for us to win and take an-other step.”
The second game of the UTPB classic will take place Saturday afternoon against the A&M Interna-tional Dust Devils.
Coming off a 20-win season, A&M International will be the stiffest compe-tition the Cats will see un-til conference play begins.
“This game will help prepare us for the grind of the tough teams we will be playing in the Lone Star Conference.” Warton said. “We are motivated every night to go out and beat anyone regardless of their record.”
matthew sloansports reporter
see series page 7
ACU loses heartbreaker in five, end season in Missouri
It was a tale of two different half’s for the Wildcat volley-ball team and the No. 1 seed University of Central Mis-souri on Thursday night, Nov. 17 at the NCAA Divi-sion II South Central Region Tournament in Missouri.
The Wildcats won the first two games 25-22 and 25-21, respectively, but lost control of the match in the next three sets, which weren’t even close (8-25, 14-25, and 7-15).
The Wildcats came out of the locker room ready to up-set UCM, and it showed from the beginning of the match.
The first game ACU main-tained a slim lead and had several short runs where they scored three straight points.
Two kills by freshman Sara Oxford and an attack error by UCM’s Paula Harris made the score 10-7, ‘Cats. The Jennies would cut the deficit back to one at 11-10 when Jennie Hutt was charged with an at-tack error.
ACU built its largest lead of the set on four straight points (16-11).
That was enough for the Wildcats to close the door on game one. Despite UCM recording six of the final 10 points, Kalynne Allen smacked a timely kill finishing the game, 25-22.
Central Missouri jumped out to a hefty mar-gin in the second game. The ‘Cats didn’t score a single point until UCM had already built an 8-0 advantage. The Wildcats showed resilience, how-ever and showcased their most important comeback of the entire season.
Down 9-1, the ACU squad
clawed its way back into the set at 15-15, using a 7-0 run to accomplish this feat. The Wildcats continued this momentum and ended the game on a service error by UCM’s Julia Bates.
The last three sets were a heart breaker for the ‘Cats. The girls scored a combined 29 points in all three games which included only eight in set three. The Jennies, on the other hand, turned a complete 360 during this period. They went from not being able to hit the volley-ball straight in game two to using perfect ball place-
ment and defense.The Wildcats hit .325 in
games one and two compared to .023 in three, four, and five and had only five attack er-rors. UCM hit an impressive .374 in the final three sets.
Sara Oxford led the ‘Cats with 13 kills. Jennie Hutt, in her last match as a Wildcat, had 10 kills and 12 digs. Senior Kelsie Edwards fin-ished the night with 29 digs and was a key contributor to the ACU defense.
edward isaacsassistant sports editor
volleyball
see record page 7
contact isaacs [email protected]