The construction project in Moody is now complete. As part of ACU’s continu- ing efforts to comply with the Americans with Disabili- ties Act of 1990, the project aimed to provide accessible seating for individuals with disabilities. ADA requires that establishments, includ- ing universities, accommo- date for disabled individuals where feasible. Construction began in mid-March. A total of 30 handicapped seats were in- stalled. The project would nor- mally have been completed during the summer, but it would have interfered with cosmetic work being done for the transition to Divi- sion I. Scot Colley, executive di- rector of risk management and construction, was un- available for interview. In 47 weeks, Prentis McCarty, senior criminal justice major from Hous- ton, reached a life changing weight loss goal of 100 pounds through the Royce and Pam Money Student Recreation and Wellness Center. McCarty’s challenge began when a friend asked him to run a half marathon. Initially he hesitated, but through encourage- ment of friends Mc- Carty finished the race. However, this was only the start. McCarty’s workouts started out slowly as he began to reach his intended goal. He started out his program with the help of the SRWC staff by running for five minutes on treadmill at an average speed 3 times a week and then cycle for 10 minutes 2 times a week. “You have to start slow and progress each week, never give up once the pain comes,” he said. Each week McCarty pushed himself to run or cycle for another minute longer. He became a veg- etarian and began eating right and eventually added weights to his workout. As of Friday, McCarty has hit his goal of losing over 100 pounds in 47 weeks. He is plan- ning on trying to loose another 10 pounds before his one year mark on May 14. Abilene Christian University Arts Page 5 vol. 101, no. 50 wednesday, april 17, 2013 1 SECTION, 8 PAGES Two Loose Feet Theatre performing classic play for next two weekends ACU endurance athletes believe the bombing in Monday’s Boston Marathon has negatively changed the sport forever. Two blasts exploded near the finish line a little more than four hours into the race, sending the crowd and exhausted runners into a panic. The explosions killed three people, includ- ing an 8-year-old boy, and injured dozens more and caused major cities around the nation to heighten their security. Jonathan Martin, presi- dent of the ACU Triathlon Club, said race organizers will now have to tighten se- curity. “Every race is going to have to prove their races are safe,” said Martin, junior bi- ology major from San Anto- nio. “The sport of marathon will never be the same.” Drew Boles, a member in the Triathlon Club, ran the Austin Marathon in Feb- ruary. He said he fears the bombings and the precau- tions the organizers may take will discourage people from participating. “It’s already a hassle to Runners fear how Boston bombs will change sport marathon theoxfordcommablog. wordpress.com Marissa Jones, our Oxford correspondent, details her latest experiences abroad INSIDE acuoptimist.com ‘Footloose’ will entertain audience for two more weekends Page 8 Page 7 Baseball team takes last 3 of 4-game series, 1 game behind first place in LSC Black students share their experiences as minorities Page 3 acuoptimist.com Theatre chair chosen as director for New York festival Page 3 ONLINE flickr.com/acuoptimist Check our Flickr for more shots from club rushes Page 6 Nelson residents swap clothes, donate some of closets to charity Page 4 The newly elected SA officers address ACU with guest columns Writing Center to host Write Nights Softball team sweeps 3-game series vs. Angelo State OPINION NEWS VIDEO PHOTOS OXFORD NEWS NEWS SPORTS SPORTS NEWS Page 3 SAA receives awards for student advancement NEWS Although Sing Song only ended two months ago, new co-chairs for next year’s “What About Love?” show have already been selected and will be hard at work for the next several months. The new co-chairs for this coming year are Aman- da Clary, junior accounting major from Denton; Ashley Crisp, sophomore commu- nication disorders major from Dallas; Brady Johnson, junior multimedia major from Round Rock and Zeke Morgan, sophomore psy- chology major from Keller. “We had [co-chair in- terviews] all last week, so Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of last week,” said Mark Jackson, director of student organizations and programs. Co-chair interviews were open to all students. This year, 10 students ap- plied and went through the process of a 20-30 minute interview for each appli- cant. That list was narrowed down to four finalists. “In recent times we’ve had anywhere from three to five co-chairs,” said Tom Craig, director of student activities and productions, “but the norm is typically four.” Jackson said the students who applied were asked several questions dur- ing their interviews about this coming year including “Why do you want to do Co-chairs preparing for 2014 show of ‘love’ SING SONG mark smith editor in chief see show page 4 cristina williamson student reporter Senior drops 100 with SRWC’s help health see mccarty page 4 jonathan martin president of the triathlon club The sport of marathon will never be the same.” “ mccarty clary brock niederhofer student reporter crisp johnson morgan asia todd design editor Annelise Hernandez, senior psychology major from El Paso, serves up pancakes at the ‘Pancakes for Parkinson’s’ event in Gardner Hall. J.P. Ralston won the runoff for Students’ Association executive treasurer. Voting for president, vice president and treasurer took place Wednesday and Thursday. After tallying the results Thursday evening, Dylan Benac was declared SA’s next president, with Rodney Johnson securing the position of vice presi- dent. However, The election of treasurer was too close to call. Ralston, junior finance major from Plano, ran against Tyler Eidson and Karsten Goodman for the position in the initial elec- tion. Ralston received 558 votes; Eidson received 373 votes; and Goodman re- ceived 224 votes. To win, a candidate must earn more than 50 percent of the vote. Ralston earned 49.5 percent of the vote, just short of vic- tory. Ralston and Eidson squared off Friday in a run- off. A total of 710 students voted. Eidson, sophomore Elected officers preparing for terms benac students’ association josh garcia managing editor see elections page 4 mandy lambright chieF Photographer J.P. Ralston, junior finance and accounting major from Plano, won Friday’s runoff election with more than 60 percent of the vote. johnson events Another “boys vs. girls” com- petition raised more than $1,500 for Parkinson’s dis- ease research with breakfast food. On Thursday evening, about 250 students came through the Gardner West lobby to enjoy pancakes, live music and socializing with other students at the Pan- cakes for Parkinson’s fun- draiser event, led by Addie Schmitz, sophomore youth and family ministry major from Grapevine. Residents from women’s residence halls competed against men’s halls to see which side could donate the most be- fore the night was over. IHOP donated the pan- cakes, and student bands Jane and the Gentlemen and The Dogwoods performed. Addie’s father, Gary Schmitz, has fought Parkin- son’s for 13 years and spoke about his gratitude and struggle with the disease. Addie, a resident assistant in Gardner Hall, said she is glad that ACU helped the re- searchers get closer to a cure. “It meant the world to me to see everyone wanting to help out and support it,” Addie said. “The place was packed within 15 minutes and I was crying tears of joy that that many people cared. It really inspired my dad and my parents got to see the ‘ACU difference.’” Brandy Rains, also a Gard- ner RA, said it was touching to see how the disease has af- fected Addie and her family. “Being on Gardner’s staff with Addie made this event more than just donating to a good cause,” said Rains, junior art education major from Fort Worth. “I love see- ing what the ACU communi- ty can do at events like this.” Student event raises more than $1,500 for Parkinson’s research mark smith editor in chief contact smith at [email protected]see boston page 3 contact garcia at [email protected]Moody finishes wheelchair ramps construction josh garcia managing editor FLAPJACK FUNDRAISING
Transcript
The construction project in Moody is now complete.
As part of ACU’s continu-ing efforts to comply with the Americans with Disabili-
ties Act of 1990, the project aimed to provide accessible seating for individuals with disabilities. ADA requires that establishments, includ-ing universities, accommo-date for disabled individuals where feasible.
Construction began in
mid-March. A total of 30 handicapped seats were in-stalled.
The project would nor-mally have been completed during the summer, but it would have interfered with cosmetic work being done for the transition to Divi-
sion I.Scot Colley, executive di-
rector of risk management and construction, was un-available for interview.
In 47 weeks, Prentis McCarty, senior criminal justice major from Hous-ton, reached a life changing weight loss goal of 100 pounds through the Royce and Pam Money Student Recreation and Wellness Center.
McCarty’s challenge began
when a friend asked him to run a half marathon. Initially he hesitated, but through encourage-ment of friends Mc-Carty finished the race. However, this was only the start.
McCarty’s workouts started out slowly as he began to reach his
intended goal. He started out his program with the help of the SRWC staff by running for five minutes on treadmill at an average speed 3 times a week and then cycle for 10 minutes 2 times a week.
“You have to start slow and progress each week, never give up once the pain comes,” he said.
Each week McCarty pushed himself to run or cycle for another
minute longer. He became a veg-etarian and began eating right and eventually added weights to his workout. As of Friday, McCarty has hit his goal of losing over 100 pounds in 47 weeks. He is plan-ning on trying to loose another 10 pounds before his one year mark on May 14.
Two Loose FeetTheatre performing classic play for next
two weekends
ACU endurance athletes believe the bombing in Monday’s Boston Marathon has negatively changed the sport forever.
Two blasts exploded near the finish line a little more than four hours into the race, sending the crowd and exhausted runners into a panic. The explosions killed three people, includ-ing an 8-year-old boy, and injured dozens more and caused major cities around the nation to heighten their security.
Jonathan Martin, presi-dent of the ACU Triathlon Club, said race organizers
will now have to tighten se-curity.
“Every race is going to have to prove their races are safe,” said Martin, junior bi-ology major from San Anto-nio. “The sport of marathon will never be the same.”
Drew Boles, a member in the Triathlon Club, ran the Austin Marathon in Feb-ruary. He said he fears the bombings and the precau-tions the organizers may take will discourage people from participating.
“It’s already a hassle to
Runners fear how Boston bombs will change sport
marathon
theoxfordcommablog.wordpress.com
Marissa Jones, our Oxford correspondent, details her latest experiences abroad
INSIDE
acuoptimist.com
‘Footloose’ will entertain audience for two more weekends
Page 8
Page 7
Baseball team takes last 3 of 4-game series, 1 game behind first place in LSC
Black students share their experiences as minorities
Page 3
acuoptimist.com
Theatre chair chosen as director for New York festival
Page 3
ONLINE
flickr.com/acuoptimist
Check our Flickr for more shots from club rushes
Page 6
Nelson residents swap clothes, donate some of closets to charity
Page 4
The newly elected SA officers address ACU with guest columns
Writing Center to host Write Nights
Softball team sweeps 3-game series vs. Angelo State
OPINION
NEWS
VIDEO
PHOTOS
OXFORD
NEWS
NEWS
SPORTS
SPORTS
NEWS
Page 3
SAA receives awards for student advancement
NEWS
Although Sing Song only ended two months ago, new co-chairs for next year’s “What About Love?” show have already been selected and will be hard at work for the next several months.
The new co-chairs for this coming year are Aman-da Clary, junior accounting
major from Denton; Ashley Crisp, sophomore commu-nication disorders major from Dallas; Brady Johnson, junior multimedia major
from Round Rock and Zeke Morgan, sophomore psy-chology major from Keller.
“We had [co-chair in-terviews] all last week, so
Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of last week,” said Mark Jackson, director of student organizations and programs.
Co-chair interviews were open to all students. This year, 10 students ap-plied and went through the process of a 20-30 minute interview for each appli-cant. That list was narrowed down to four finalists.
“In recent times we’ve
had anywhere from three to five co-chairs,” said Tom Craig, director of student activities and productions, “but the norm is typically four.”
Jackson said the students who applied were asked several questions dur-ing their interviews about this coming year including “Why do you want to do
Co-chairs preparing for 2014 show of ‘love’SING SONG
mark smitheditor in chief
see show page 4
cristina williamsonstudent reporter
Senior drops 100 with SRWC’s helphealth
see mccarty page 4
jonathan martinpresident of the triathlon club
The sport of marathon will never be the same.”“
mccarty
clary
brock niederhoferstudent reporter
crisp johnson morgan
asia todd design editor
Annelise Hernandez, senior psychology major from El Paso, serves up pancakes at the ‘Pancakes for Parkinson’s’ event in Gardner Hall.
J.P. Ralston won the runoff for Students’ Association executive treasurer.
Voting for president, vice president and treasurer took place Wednesday and Thursday. After tallying the results Thursday evening, Dylan Benac was declared SA’s next president, with Rodney Johnson securing the position of vice presi-
dent. However, The election of treasurer was too close to call.
Ralston, junior finance major from Plano, ran against Tyler Eidson and Karsten Goodman for the
position in the initial elec-tion. Ralston received 558 votes; Eidson received 373 votes; and Goodman re-ceived 224 votes. To win, a candidate must earn more than 50 percent of the vote. Ralston earned 49.5 percent of the vote, just short of vic-tory.
Ralston and Eidson squared off Friday in a run-off. A total of 710 students voted. Eidson, sophomore
Elected officers preparing for terms
benac
students’ association
josh garciamanaging editor
see elections page 4
mandy lambright chieF Photographer
J.P. Ralston, junior finance and accounting major from Plano, won
Friday’s runoff election with more than 60 percent of the vote.
johnson
events
Another “boys vs. girls” com-petition raised more than $1,500 for Parkinson’s dis-ease research with breakfast food.
On Thursday evening, about 250 students came through the Gardner West lobby to enjoy pancakes, live music and socializing with other students at the Pan-cakes for Parkinson’s fun-
draiser event, led by Addie Schmitz, sophomore youth and family ministry major from Grapevine. Residents from women’s residence halls competed against men’s halls to see which side could donate the most be-fore the night was over.
IHOP donated the pan-cakes, and student bands Jane and the Gentlemen and The Dogwoods performed.
Addie’s father, Gary Schmitz, has fought Parkin-son’s for 13 years and spoke
about his gratitude and struggle with the disease. Addie, a resident assistant in Gardner Hall, said she is glad that ACU helped the re-searchers get closer to a cure.
“It meant the world to me to see everyone wanting to help out and support it,” Addie said. “The place was packed within 15 minutes and I was crying tears of joy that that many people cared. It really inspired my dad and my parents got to see the ‘ACU difference.’”
Brandy Rains, also a Gard-ner RA, said it was touching to see how the disease has af-fected Addie and her family.
“Being on Gardner’s staff with Addie made this event more than just donating to a good cause,” said Rains, junior art education major from Fort Worth. “I love see-ing what the ACU communi-ty can do at events like this.”
Student event raises more than $1,500 for Parkinson’s research
12 p.m. As part of the “Art in the 21st Century” series, a showing of the movie “Protest” will be at The Center for Contemporary Arts, 220 Cypress St. Free admission.
April 18
8 a.m. A fishing tournament 9 a.m.-3 p.m. at Lake Fort Phantom Hill. Registration is open from 8-9 a.m. at Johnson Park. Admission is $5 for scouts and $10 for non-scouts. Proceeds will benefit Hawley Girl Scout Troop 7123. For more information call 325-669-9777.
April 19
8:30 a.m. A church-wide yard sale fundraiser will be open from 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. at Trinity Church of the Nazarene, 3302 State St.
April 20
11:30 a.m. Songfest Celebra-tion will be 1:30-5 p.m. at Northwest Church of Christ, 1141 N. Willis St. A hamburg-er and hotdog cookout will be 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Admis-sion is free. For more infor-mation call 325-518-2238.
Shades Step Squad presents Reminisc-ing the 90’s April 19 and 20 starting at 7 p.m. in Gym D of the SWRC. Doors will open at 6 p.m. Tickets are $5 pre-sale and $7 at the door. Tickets will be sold in the Campus Center from 11-2 p.m. April 15-19.
The ACU Career Center is now on Pin-terest. Go to pinterest.com/acucareer-center to begin following the boards from the ACU Career Center Pinterest today.
Upward Bound is still looking for male summer advisors to come work with high school students for six weeks this summer.
The 58th annual ACU Rodeo will be April 25 at 6:30 p.m. Registration is currently in the Campus Center from 11:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m. Monday-Friday.
The Brown Library is looking for a few students from different majors to help plan the next library learning space. The meeting will occur April 22 at 11:45 a.m. in the Adams Center Bamboo Room. Lunch will be provided. To sign up click on the link in the ACU announcements.
The 30th annual Kirk Goodwin Run will be April 27. Register at www.TheKGR.com.
ACU Theatre presents Footloose April 12-13, 19-20 and 26-27. Half-price tick-ets are available after 7 p.m. on the day of the performance. You must show your ACU Student ID at the WPAC Box Office.
Alpha Kai Omega is hosting a Kickball Tourney to raise money for the Ameri-can Cancer Society’s Relay for Life April 22-23. You can sign up on IMleagues.com. Sign ups will also be available in the campus center April 15-17 from 11 a.m.-1 p.m.
Volunteer Opp0rtunities
The Center for International Education is looking for conversation partners for international students to practice Eng-lish, conversations and cultural learning. Partners meet for one hour each week at a time and place determined by the partners. For more information contact Laura McGregor at 325-674-2821 or [email protected].
St. John’s Episcopal School is seeking volunteers to paint metal playground equipment anytime Monday-Friday after 3 p.m. and Saturday anytime. For more information contact Rebecca McMillon at 325-695-8870 or [email protected].
Center for Contemporary Arts needs a gallery assistant to greet patrons, an-swer phones and answer basic questions about the Center and its programs. This opportunity is open Tuesday-Friday. The Center for Contemporary Arts is located at 220 Cypress Street. For more information contact Jessica Dulle at 325-677-8389 or visit: http://www.center-arts.com/.
Rescue the Animals is seeking volunteers to take pictures and videos in preparation for the launching of their new website as well as maintenance of the site after the launch. This opportunity is open Mon-day, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 1 p.m. - 5 p.m. For more information contact Kathy Walker at 325-677-7722 or [email protected].
The National Center For Children’s Il-lustrated Literature is looking for vol-unteers to greet patrons, assist with art activities, sell books and make visitors feel welcome. Help is also needed for special events like Artwalk and exhibit openings. The NCCIL is located at 102 Cedar St. For more information on times and dates contact Debby Lillick at 325-673-4586 or visit: http://www.nccil.org/index.htm.
The Christian Ministries of Abilene: Food Pantry is searching for volunteers to greet and interview neighbors, do computer entries, shop with neighbors, take grocer-
ies to vehicles, bag, stock and pick up orders on Mondays and Fridays from 9:30 a.m. - 11:45 a.m. and 1 p.m. - 2:15 p.m. and on Wednesdays from 9:30 a.m. - 11:45 a.m. The Food Pantry is located at 701 Walnut St. For more information contact Becky Almanza at 325-673-1234 or [email protected].
The Christian Service Center is seek-ing volunteers to help assist with filling requests for items such as clothing, bed-ding, kitchen utensils, etc. from the dona-tion center, sort and organize donations and occasionally pick-up donated items. Volunteers are needed every weekday and the first Saturday of each month be-tween 9 a.m. - 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. - 4 p.m. For more information contact Roberta Brown at 325-673-7561 or at [email protected]. For more information on the program visit: http://www.uccabilene.org/ministries/csc.htm.
The Food Bank of West Central Texas needs volunteers to help sort and stock food and other items any weekday Monday-Friday from 8 a.m.-3 p.m. The Food Bank is located at 5505 N. 1st St. For more information contact Janice Serrault at 325-695-6311 or [email protected].
Meals on Wheels Plus needs volunteer drivers to deliver afternoon meals to se-niors and adults with disabilities Monday-Friday between 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. Drivers must be at least 18 years old and have a valid driver’s license. Training is provided. For more information contact Samantha Barker at 352-672-5050 or visit: http://mealsonwheelsplus.com.
The Salvation Army is looking for vol-unteers for a variety of needs including sorting and pricing items in the thrift store, helping in the kitchen and/or doing yard work. Times are flexible. Volunteers are needed throughout the week Monday-Saturday. The Salvation Army is located at 1726 Butternut St. For more information contact J.D. Alonzo at 325-677-1408 or visit: www.satruck.com.
The House That Kerry Built is looking for volunteers to assist in the day care of medically fragile children any day Mon-day-Friday from 9 a.m. - 11 a.m. or 3 p.m. - 5 p.m. Contact Keith Loftin at 325-672-6061.
The International Rescue Committee is seeking volunteers to work with refugees who recently moved to the U.S., teach-ing English, helping with homework and mentoring. Contact Susanna Lubango to make an appointment at 325-675-5643.
The Covenant Place of Abilene is seek-ing volunteers to lead singing and/or play piano for residents. For more information contact Ann Erwin at 325-793-1144.
University Place is seeking volunteers to help with the resident birthday party for residents the third Wednesday of each month at 2:30 p.m. For more information contact Linda Tijerina at 325-676-9946.
Breakfast on Beech Street is seeking volunteers to help set up, prepare and serve breakfast to homeless/lower income folks any Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at 5:30 a.m. or Tuesday at 5 a.m. B.O.B.S is located at First Christian Church on 3rd St. and Beech St. Service times must be scheduled in advance. To serve on Mondays contact Jody Depriest at 325-669-3312 or [email protected]. To serve on Tuesdays contact Allen Daugherty at 325-660-6949 or [email protected]. To serve on Wednesdays contact Jane Harvey at 325-695-0092 or [email protected]. To serve on Thurs-days contact Margaret Beasley at 325-692-4149 or [email protected]. To serve on Fridays contact Rachel Brown at [email protected].
Christian Homes & Family Services is seeking volunteers to do minor landscap-ing such as raking, trimming bushes, minor apartment repairs and general upkeep Monday-Saturday from 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. For more information contact Shay-lee Honey at 325-677-2205 or [email protected].
The Abilene Public Zoo is seeking volun-teers to help clean/feed animals, assist zookeepers and assist with educational classes any weekday any time between 12 p.m.-4 p.m. They are also seeking volunteers to help with general labor such as grounds cleanup and painting any weekday at any time between noon and 4 p.m. For more information contact Joy Harsh at 325-676-6487.
Hill Resources is seeking volunteers to encourage and entertain mentally de-layed individuals Monday through Friday any time between 10 a.m.-2 p.m. For more information contact Michelle Es-pinoza at 325-673-3346 or [email protected].
For additional volunteer opportunities visit: www.acu.edu/campusoffices/ccsl/ministry-service/volunteer-opportunities/The Oaks at Radford Hills is seeking vol-unteers to participate in activities, go on outings and provide social stimulation for residents any day at any time. For more information contact Michelle White or Sonia Serrato at 325-672-3236.
Rescue the Animals is seeking volunteers to work at the adoption center doing a variety of tasks including cleaning, social-izing and grooming the animals Monday - Saturday from 1 p.m.-5 p.m. For more information contact Mindi Qualls at 325-698-7722 or [email protected].
The CAC Department is seeking volun-teers to participate in Special Olympics, by helping mentally/physically chal-lenged people play games and sports Monday-Friday from 8 a.m.-2 p.m. For more infomation contact Angel Seca at 325-690-5235.
For additional volunteer opportunities visit: www.acu.edu/campusoffices/ccsl/ministry-service/volunteer-opportunities/
Chapel checkup
Though this year’s student body has the highest diver-sity percentage of any class, there are still many issues minorities have to face.
The last Sundaes on Mondays of the semester addressed the experiences of minorities at ACU. Byron Martin, director of the Office of Multicultural Enrichment, moderated the conversa-tions with students Kenyon Jackson, senior psychology major from Oxnard, Calif.; Catherine Narvaez, presi-dent of Hispanos Unidos and senior sociology major from San Antonio; and Gabriel Elorreaga, vice president of Hispanos Unidos and senior political science major from San Antonio.
The conversation was held in the Mabee Core Classroom from 8-9 p.m. The topic ranged from facing subtle racist remarks to the ignorance of not knowing the difference between eth-nicity and culture.
Some students explained their experience of racism through stereotypes.
“The most memorable experience happened in my freshmen year. My room-mate and I were Hispanics, but my hall would call us Mexicans,” Elloreaga said. “Once, after winter break, we received a card from the hall saying, ‘Merry Christmas Mexicans.’ My roommate and I just had to let it go and laugh about it.”
The students went on to discuss remarks people make unknowingly. Elor-reaga said the problem is not
about the noticeable attacks but rather the ones that are not noticed such as not using the correct terms when refer-ring to race or nationality.
Students also expressed the difficulties of acclimating to American culture. Com-mon themes included a lack of interaction, language and cultural barriers and differ-ent types of food.
As the discussions came to a close, each student gave a word to define their ACU experience: wealth; ig-norance; unexpected; eye opening; shocked; stereo-typical; challenging; contro-versial.
Students also explained, in one word, what was miss-ing in ACU: unity; accep-tance; openness; representa-tion.
Martin concluded the discussions asking what
could be done to make the students feel more accepted.
As some felt it was not easy to give a single solution for their problems, the stu-dents conversed on wheth-er, as minorities, ACU truly cared for them and about representing them properly.
“Though ACU is about a 100 years old now, it is still young when it comes to working with diversi-ty,” Byron said. “What is a norm now will change as we work to address these problems.”
Byron said the best way to address the issue was to dis-cuss it.
“I think when we talk about it then people will start to hear about it,” he said.
Students are invited to play in The Jinkerson Golf Scramble this Friday to raise funds for the Darryl and Cindy Jinker-son Study Abroad Scholar-ship Endowment.
The Golf Scramble will honor the memory of Dar-ryl Jinkerson, former pro-fessor of management, who died of a heart attack in October.
Amanda Carpenter, se-nior elementary education major from Abilene and
youngest daughter of Jinker-son, said golf was Jinkerson’s favorite sport.
“Since this is our one fun-draiser, we thought why not do something that was his passion and that could bring in a lot of people, a lot of fun, and as well as a lot of funds for the scholarship,” said Ra-chel Goodman (‘11), Jinker-son’s daughter.
Goodman said Jinkerson often golfed at the Abilene Country Club, which is why the tournament will be played there on Friday.
Students are encouraged to come in teams of four,
but can be paired with other students if they come alone. Ticket prices are $75 for students and $100 for non-students and include a shirt, two meals and the expenses of the game. The game starts at 8:30 a.m.
Another passion of Jink-erson’s was studying abroad. Goodman said her father traveled to Oxford, Hondu-ras, China and Australia.
Carpenter and Goodman said Jinkerson took care to get to know each one of the students traveling with him, often cooking homemade meals for the students and
even ordering them late night pizzas.
“He did really love the students that were studying abroad with him,” Goodman said.
All proceeds will benefit the Darryl and Cindy Jinker-son Study Abroad Scholar-ship Endowment, a schol-arship that was started by Dr. Phil Vardiman, associate professor of management in the College of Business.
“I saw that as a way to honor his memory,” Vard-iman said. “He was an ex-cellent teacher and he had a passion for students.”
Since Jinkerson left a lega-cy of helping students, Vard-iman said the scholarship will aid students that study abroad with COBA.
“He had a gift with stu-dents, where he could work and relate with them well,” Vardiman said. “I’ve had many students tell me how much he inspired them.”
Goodman and Carpenter said they hope the Jinkerson Golf Scramble will become an annual event to raise funds for the scholarship.
“We want to make it pos-sible for students to study abroad,” Carpenter said.
T-Shirts from the Jinker-son Golf Scramble will be on sale in the Campus Cen-ter for $12 the week after the event for students who can-not attend the event but still want to help.
For more information on the Scramble or to register online, visit http://www.acu.edu/news/2013/130405-inau-gural-jinkerson-scholarship-scramble-to-honor-dr-jink-erson.html.
The Student Alumni Asso-ciation was recognized by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, re-ceiving three awards as an af-filiated student advancement program.
CASE ASAP District Awards highlight the achieve-ments of student advance-ment programs. SAA com-peted in a district with 32
other schools from surround-ing states and Mexico.
SAA is an organization that serves as a liaison be-tween ACU alumni and cur-rent students, creating events for both to interact and enjoy.
They received awards for Outstanding Organization, Outstanding Tried and True Program and Outstanding In-ternal Program.
“We can now say we are an award-winning organiza-tion,” said Aubree Sellinger, former vice president and
now president of SAA. “It gives us more qualifications and credibility.”
SAA will advance to the national level and attend the CASE ASAP Network Conven-tion where the district win-ners compete and the overall winners will be announced.
“With the Alumni Board especially, it shows we are more credible, can receive more funding and can do more activities,” said Sell-inger, junior family studies major from Grapevine.
Each award was received for a separate event or pro-gram that SAA submitted. They were recognized for the spirit shirts passed out to freshmen during Welcome Week, as well as the King of Campus Court competition that was introduced during Homecoming last fall.
“After three years of re-starting the program, follow-ing a 15-year hiatus, we’re getting back on track,” said Samantha Adkins Senior Alumni Relations Officer.
Adkins said she is proud of the current SAA student lead-ership.
“They’ve done an out-standing job building a program from scratch and adding more to our current events,” she said.
SAA officers will attend the CASE ASAP 40th Annual Net-work Convention this August in New Orleans. They will at-tend workshops and meet student leaders in education advancement from all over the continent.
“The conference is a great opportunity for us to learn from other student organiza-tions,” Adkins said. “We get to showcase one of our own programs that we won an award for.”
SAA will present some of their activities and programs to other student advance-ment organizations attend-ing the conference.
Boston: Finish line bombs kill 3, injure dozensget checked into races, and now costs and se-curity could go up” said Boles, junior physics major from Waco. “I don’t think this sport will ever be the same.”
Boles had been training to run in this year’s Boston Marathon with a friend, but he got busy with school and his friend changed his mind, so Boles set his sights on next year’s race.
“The Boston is what ev-ery marathoner wants to run at least once,” he said. “I still want to go next year if I qualify, but my par-ents might have different things to say about that.”
Boles said he hasn’t yet
comprehended how tragic the bombings were.
“I still haven’t wrapped my mind around it,” he said. “It’s really sad. I’m still shocked that people died.”
According to a report by Fox News, President Barack Obama and Sec-retary of Defense Chuck Hagel identified the explo-sions as an act of terrorism. Whether the act was from a domestic or foreign threat remains unclear. Likewise, the FBI and Boston police have no suspects and have not identified a motive.
Sara Bishop, freshman biology major from Longmont, Colo., signs in at the Sigma Theta Chi Camp Siggie rush.
continued from page 1
Denzil limstaff videographer
university
The Writing Center will host Write Nights April 17 and April 23 from 6-10 p.m. in the Brown Library Core classroom.
The night of April 17 is targeted toward students in ENGL 112 while April 23 is intended for students in ENGL 107. However, any student is welcome.
Dr. Cole Bennett, director of the Writing Center, decid-ed to start Write Nights after hearing about the success of evening workshops at other universities.
“The concept is simple: bring whatever you are working on, at whatever stage of the process, and join others who are working on the same assignment,” Bennett said.
The purpose of Write Night is to help students
who are taking multiple sec-tions of the same class with the same assignment.
“Our first-year composi-tion sequence, ENGL 111 and 112, have similar essays all falling due on the same date,” Bennett said. “So an event like this provides a night for them to work to-gether, eat snacks and ask questions of Writing Center tutors.”
Grace Hall, assistant di-rector of the Writing Center
and instructor of English, supervised and tutored stu-dents at the first Write Night.
“The atmosphere is re-laxed and collaborative, with free snacks provided and a conducive work envi-ronment,” Hall said.
Twenty-five students at-tended the first Write Night on April 2.
“I’d love to see the room filled with students working on their assignments, bus-ily churning out essays and
getting help when needed,” Bennett said. “This is how most writing gets done—it’s a messy process of cranking out words, paragraphs and sentences, sometimes get-ting help from others.”
The remaining Write Nights will focus on the ENGL 112 research paper and the final ENGL 107 pa-per.
“Particularly with 112 students, Write Nights are great because you can get
tutors to help you with cita-tions and MLA formatting as you write, rather than after you’ve already tried and gotten frustrated,” Hall said.
For more information on Write Night or for assistance writing a paper, go to the Writing Center on the main floor of the library.
management major from College Station, earned 281 votes; Ralston earned 429, or 60.4 percent, of the vote.
Ralston said he was glad for the campaigning to be over.
“Tired is the best word to describe what I’m feeling right now,” he said. “I’m ex-tremely excited.”
Ralston has served as the COBA representative in SA Congress since enroll-ing in ACU. He said he was inspired by Carson Henley, who served as treasurer in the 2011-2012 school year.
“That’s kind of where the passion began,” Ralston said. “I really wanted to get involved in the Abilene Christian community.”
Ralston met with Benac and Johnson over the week-end to determine what their cabinet will look like.
“I want to start getting to see and know all the dif-ferent groups on campus,” Ralston said. “I’m going to
make a packet on how to fundraise, and I’m going to work with these groups to do that.”
Three positions still need to be filled in the executive cabinet: executive adminis-trator, chief financial officer and chief communications officer. Hiring will take place over the next few weeks. Benac, junior political sci-ence major from Beorne and current SA vice presi-dent, said he, Johnson and Ralston discussed what they were looking for in filling these seats.
“I felt like it was impor-tant for us to know where we stand on hiring the rest of the cabinet,” Benac said. “We are looking for people that work well with the team and can meet the needs of the Students’ Association.”
Ralston intends to elimi-nate the conference request fund, a line item in the con-gressional budget set aside for student groups taking trips. This semester, approx-imately $6,500 was placed
in the conference request fund, but over $40,000 was requested.
Joseph Austin, current SA treasurer and election co-chair, said he supported Ralston’s plan. Austin said the little amount of money SA is able to grant specifi-cally in conference requests would best be spent else-where.
“I’m talking to depart-mental advisors and bud-get coordinators about why they’re not giving money for conferences, because this is a pressing concern for Students’ Association,” said Austin, senior accounting pre-law major from Hous-ton. “I’m going to invite JP in on some of these meetings.”
Austin will remain trea-surer until May 2. He will spend a few weeks after that making sure everything is financially in order for next semester.
wednesday 04.17.13 4news
asia todd design editor
Men’s and women’s dorms compete to raise money at the Pancakes for Parkinson’s event on Thursday.
Nelson Hall residents cleared out their closets with a clothes swap April 9. After a day of each person looking at one another’s items the rest of the girls’ clothes were donated.
Shannon Kaczmarek, area coordinator of Nel-son and McDonald Hall, helped to initiate and or-ganize this hall activity. As the associate director of Residence Life, Kacz-
marek has witnessed and participated in the event four times out of her five years on staff.
The clothes swap is meant to encourage the freshman residents to go through their stuff and determine what they can leave behind. This year, at least a couple hundred shirts were donated, along with a multitude of pants, shorts, dresses, shoes, bags, scarves and belts.
“A lot of people just throw their stuff away,” Kaczmarek said. “This is
an opportunity for it all to not be wasted, but to be used.”
Each year the left over clothes are donated to a greater cause, either a nonprofit in town or an organization that will disperse them to people in need. This year, half of the clothes will go to the Christian Service Center, while the other half will help people outside of the United States.
Ali Stratton, freshman nursing major from Beau-mont, took the oppor-
tunity to serve the com-munity even more and volunteered to drive the clothes to be donated.
“I have a passion for community service… due to my school work load it’s hard for me to find time to volunteer,” Strat-ton said. “After sharing a bit of my heart about this with Shannon she encour-aged me to take part in what they were doing… even though I am simply bringing clothes from one place to another, I still get to serve in some way.”
The remaining half of the clothes were given to Aaron McDermott, junior accounting major from Flower Mound. He and Eric Dice, junior crimi-nal justice major from San Diego, held a garage sale this past Saturday to raise money for people in Guatemala. McDermott will give all of the money raised directly to impov-erished people after es-tablishing relationships with them through his mission work there this summer.
Kaczmarek said the Center for Christian Lead-ership and Service usually holds their own recycling event at the end of the semester. Students can bring what they want to get rid of and look for new things. Furniture, clothes, decorations and more can be donated and swapped out. Leftover items are do-nated to organizations in Abilene.
Nelson Hall residents exchange, donate clothesbrittany jacksonstudent reporter
Elections: Officials planning aheadStudents’ Association
The zombies are coming.The second annual Buf-
falo Gap Historic Village Zombie Run will take place May 4 in Buffalo Gap.
The Zombie Run has three categories: Fast Food, Finger Food and Buffet Style. Fast Food is a timed 5K, Finger Food is an un-timed 5K and Buffet Style is a one-mile family fun run/walk.
Race participants wear five orange flags. Every participant has a mission to run out of town to col-lect the cure for the “zom-bie disease.” On the run through Buffalo Gap His-toric Village, people dressed as zombies try to pull off the runners’ flags. Finish-ing without flags means the participant did not survive the zombie apocalypse.
Heather Reed, Buffalo Gap Historic Village web-site manager, is in charge of the event. Reed said she is a fan of the TV show “The Walking Dead.” She is also a
runner.“When I came across
a website for the national Zombie Run called ‘Run for your Lives,’ it sparked an idea,” Reed said. “A Zom-bie Run would be a great way to raise money for the preservation of the Buffalo Gap Historic Village build-ings while providing a fun, healthy, family activity for younger generations that may not typically visit the village.”
The first Buffalo Gap Historic Village Zombie Run took place in Dec. 2012. Over 450 people par-ticipated in the running events and 50 volunteers dressed as zombies. Volun-teers must have first aid/CPR training.
“All of our ‘zombie’ vol-unteers were members of the local law enforcement, fire departments, EMS, nurses, doctors and many airmen from Dyess,” Reed said.
Anyone interested in running the race has the option to register individu-ally, as a team of four or less, or as a spectator. The regis-
tration fee is $35 for indi-viduals, $100 for a team and $10 for spectators. The indi-vidual student fee is $30.
Bailey Jarvis, junior Ad/PR major at Hardin-Simmons University from Abilene, participated in the first Zombie Run.
“I would warn people that the adrenaline in-volved makes it more tiring than your regular 5K,” Jarvis said. “It was really fun, kind of like a video game.”
All participants receive a free t-shirt and water bottle. At the end of the race par-ticipants are invited to the “Apocalypse Party,” which includes food, live music and information about emergency situations from the American Red Cross and the State Department of Health.
To register for the Zom-bie Run or get more infor-mation, go to https://bgh-vzombierun.webconnex.com/mayregistration.
Zombies to invade Buffalo Gap in 5Klocal
this?” and, “What role do you see yourself in?”
“In a nut shell it’s a job interview, so we’re looking for the best person with the right skillset who we think can accomplish the job best,” Craig said. “They
need to have organization, communication, vision, the ability to see the big picture and relate how Sing Song impacts students, faculty, staff, guests and the univer-sity.”
While many students won’t be thinking about Sing Song until sometime
next semester, these four co-chairs will start prepar-ing for the show next week. They will be responsible for brainstorming ideas for the show, coordinating the pro-cess of putting together a production team and com-ing up with ideas to make next year’s show great.
Co-chairs have the re-sponsibility of coming up with ideas along the lines of songs for the hosts and host-esses on the down stage, auxiliary items such as merchandise, props for the show, sound and lighting and anything else they feel would improve Sing Song.
“Some of the perennial questions we get are ‘What about pyrotechnics?’ . . . and ‘Can we use harnesses for the down stage groups to make them fly?’” Craig said.
To the dismay of some students, the answer to both of these questions is
always no, due to several safety and liability reasons. However, Sing Song co-chairs have come up with several new and innovative ideas over the years.
McCarty said faith played a big role in his success.
“I give all praises to Je-sus Christ, my lord and savior,” he said. “Without him, I couldn’t have done it.”
McCarty said it is im-
portant for people to treat their lives as temples.
“The advice that I can give people is to be com-mitted, to have dedica-tion,” he said. “Your life is worth so much more with than being unhealthy.”
The SRWC has a variety of ways to exercise. The
facility is 113,000-square feet and includes three racquetball courts, four basketball courts, a boul-dering wall, a 41-station cardio center, an aquatic center and a jogging track. The center also provides students with a healthy snack bar, a leisure pool, a
patio for relaxation, nutri-tion counselors and group studios.
The SRWC provides a place for students to stay involved, hang out with friends and enjoy staying physically active.
The center was built on the foundation of pro-
gramming excellence in fitness and wellness, in-formal recreation and in-structional programs. With the efforts of a high quali-fied and enthusiastic staff, they strive to ensure a quality recreational expe-rience for the entire ACU community.
The center is open to all ACU students and has now announced that any-one who has completed at least one full academic se-mester at ACU is eligible to
McCarty: Faith played big part in weight losshealth
Casey Malone, senior psychology major from Southlake, enjoys the Zeta-Rho rush.
Wednesday 04.17.135 arts
Adrian Patenaude All Photos
Above: The cast of Footloose performs its final number during dress rehearsal. Below: Owen Beans, junior theatre major from Greenville, IIl. leads the Footloose cast in a singing number. Bottom Left: Jacob Alexander, sophomore theatre major from Amarillo, and Amanda Jarufe, sophomore theatre major from Coppell, perform during a Footloose run-through. Bottom Right: Cast of Footloose perform another musical number during full dress rehearsal.
Kick off your Sunday shoesThe ACU Department of Theatre put on an emo-tional and lively showing of the 1998 Broadway mu-sical Footloose that had some audience members quite literally singing out the doors.
Based on 1984’s film Footloose, the musical is similar in most important ways. After moving from Chicago to the backwoods town of Bomont, teenager Ren McCormack discovers that his energetic person-ality and love of dancing are both firmly opposed by the older residents. Unbeknownst to Ren, the town was shaken to its core by tragedy after four teens met their demise in an alcohol-fueled car acci-dent, prompting Reverend Shaw Moore to pressure the town council into ban-ning dancing altogether. Moore insists that danc-ing encourages the evils of substance abuse and loose morals, and his wife and daughter feel hopelessly ignored by the staunch reverend. As Ren attracts the attention of Moore’s daughter, Ariel, and the ire of the town’s adults, the youth must ultimately decide whether to unite in
protest against the law.For students, this par-
ticular musical prods both deep emotional wounds and recent controversies. ACU revised its policy that had banned dancing at social events just last year. But more seriously, the student body has had
to endure more than its share of tragic losses at the hands of vehicular ac-cidents. Instead of seeing Footloose as a black-and-white battle between tra-dition and youthfulness, the audience is able to empathize with those in the play who act out of
their grief and deeply un-derstand what it means to find a way to move on from tragedy.
Of course, it’s the actors and crew who truly make for a memorable evening. Jace Reinhard (Ren Mc-Cormack) definitively em-bodies the combination of
teenage angst and carpe diem attitude that brings life to silent Bomont, Pleasantville-style. But the best performance of the evening has to go to Jacob Alexander for his truly re-fined delivery as the Rev-erend Shaw Moore. Where some of the cast seemed
to have voices made raw by constant rehearsal, Al-exander’s only weariness was the emotional burden of his character, a man struggling daily to balance his obligations to God and community with the needs of his family. As he cries out to God for guidance, the persona of a heart-less antagonist falls by the wayside.
What really has the audience on their feet is more than just acting, though. From Ren’s first heated dance number to Coach Dunbar’s hilarious tango with his basketball, the action, like Ren him-self, “can’t stand still.” Simply the name Foot-loose brings back the urge to break out in the iconic titular song. It’s catchy. No fan of the ‘80s, rock, danc-ing, great acting or feeling alive will want to miss out on this one.
Footloose will be run-ning on Friday and Satur-day nights for the next two weekends, April 20-21 and 26-27, in Fulks Theatre at 7:30 p.m.
By Dylan Benac, presi-dent-elect of the Students’ Association
The dust is settling from two long weeks of campaigning and three hard days of voting. There are still random bits of evidence that our student body elected next year’s executive officers, but for the most part the cam-paign material is down and life goes on. For many students the Students’ As-sociation returns to being the office in the basement of the McGlothlin Campus Center where you go to get a collegiate card or money for an event. At least that is
what it seems, but in real-ity the work is just begin-ning.
In the next three weeks the elected executive team of the president, vice pres-ident and treasurer will be hiring an executive ad-ministrator, chief finan-cial officer and chief com-munication officer. All of these positions are key to making sure that the Stu-dents’ Association is able to meet the needs of stu-dent groups and facilitate conversations between the administration and students. Much like the elected officers, the hired-on team members are
paid, work a set amount of hours per week and get the pleasure of serving the student body.
So where do we go from here? I want to answer that question in two different ways. First off I want to encourage you to be in-volved in student govern-ment on our campus. In my opinion, we needed an election like the one we just had. Students needed to see that the Students’ Association has value and the executive officer posi-tions are more than mere titles. Beyond that, I want to challenge you to be an active participant in the
decisions that are made in this next year. Run for a
Congress position, repre-sent your fellow students, and serve your university.
The second way that I want to answer that ques-tions is to say that it is vital that you have an opinion about the decisions our
university will be making in this next year. If you fail
to have an opinion you are doing an injustice to the countless students attend-ing ACU in the next couple of years. More than that, I encourage you to voice your opinion. Come to the SA office and let us advo-
cate you, write a letter to the editor of the Optimist, create a petition or write an appropriate email to a University administrator. By having an opinion and voicing it, you are having an impact on ACU.
So where do we go from here? I will say it plainly. We move forward, look-ing to the Lord for guid-ance, and always seeking to make sure that ACU is better at the time we leave than when we arrive.
By Rodney Johnson, vice president-elect of Stu-dents’ Association
I am very excited about this upcoming year. I feel like Students’ Association is in a unique position in that we as an organiza-tion have the opportunity to make a huge impact on this campus. As the execu-tive vice president, my job will mainly deal with the internal affairs of the stu-dent body, like events and overseeing the congress-men by promoting ac-countability.
Next year, I plan to work closely with the athletic department. I would like to see SA partner with it in order to increase atten-dance at games. I would like to create more things, like Christmas Slam, that give us the ability to rally
around our student ath-letes while also promoting our student organizations.
I also want to do more sur-veying of the student body to see what things they think have worked and what things have not. It is my goal that this commu-nication be an opportuni-ty for students to present ideas as well.
I also have plans to de-velop congress. I would
like to possibly create a small group Chapel for Students’ Association
because I think it would greatly benefit us as an or-ganization. Chapel would make us more cohesive, relational and account-able with one another all of which are crucial to be-ing a successful congress. I want to work closely with the chief communication officer to increase the vis-
ibility of the Students’ As-sociation office. We want students to feel welcome to come to the office and to always be aware of what is going on. This will re-quire us to develop more social media initiatives and creative ways to reach the student body.
Overall, I’m excited about being able to be a part of making ACU a more connected and vibrant campus and I cannot wait to serve you. Please be in prayer that the Lord will move through us as an or-ganization and use us to bless this university.
By JP Ralston, treasurer-elect of Students’ Associa-tion
I’d like to first start off by saying thank you to ev-eryone who went out and voted Wednesday, Thurs-day, and more important-ly, Friday. Your voice as a student has significant power! I am extremely excited to begin working with all of the student or-ganizations on campus, and begin working with Dylan and Rodney, the newly elected president and vice president.
My plan as Students’ As-
sociation’s executive trea-surer, besides injecting the funds from the conference request fund back into the fall and spring budget, is becoming an asset to help-ing students raise funds on campus. If the student or-ganizations on campus are seeds, I want them to see me as the fertilizer. I want to help each individual group grow in the upcom-ing year, allowing them to make a more significant impression on ACU’s im-age.
I want campus events to be awesome, and some-times awesome requires more funds from just Stu-dents’ Association. I want the groups to see me as their friend who wants
to help them reach their goals, not the guy who tells them how much money they are allowed to spend. I am planning on creating “Fundraising 101,” guides for all students to have ac-cess to, teaching them how to raise money in different places.
Some people are made to run organizations, make their ideas come to life, and make a lasting im-pression on our campus. Sometimes, fundraising isn’t in that person’s goals. I want to help them under-stand the values in learn-ing to fundraise, so they can go above and beyond any limitations set before them.
To the students who are reading this now, and have already planned out what they need in the fall bud-get from Students’ Asso-ciation: Be excited. Dylan, Rodney and I are already preparing for next year’s plans. We are fired up and ready to hit the ground running the first day of school in the fall semester. We want to be as transpar-ent and as friendly as pos-sible to every student on campus.
We encourage each student to come and talk to us in our offices under the Campus Center about any concerns, thoughts, or prayers they have. Once again, thanks again for all the student support dur-ing the election process last week. Don’t forget to apply for the executive ad-ministrator, CFO, or CCO if interested. Be prepared student body: The “Dream Team” is almost here.
8:58 a.m. April 12Just had a brief interac-tion with Schubes him-self. Morning=sucess. Thought it might be inappropriate to ask for a picture though... #acu
EHRMAGERSHBLEURBERNETTS*AND*URNDIANPERNTBANCHES
Whoever is passing all this gas in the library is just foul.... #NotOkayACU wifi hates me.
Mark Smitheditor in chief
josh garciamanaging editor
Mark Smithopinion page editor
melany coxonline managing editor
asia todddesign editor
lindsay palmerarts editor
gabi powellfeatures editor
taylor langstonsports video director
john edward isaacssports editor
Matt sloanassistant sports editor
Madeline Orrcopy editor
Cara Kramarcopy editor
katie greenepage 2 editor
mandy lambrightchief photogrpaher
Deanna Romerostaff photographer
curtis christianstaff photographer
Paige Otwaystaff photographer
Adrian Patenaudestaff photographer
Lucius Patenaudechief videographer
Brance armstrongstaff videographer
JP Festastaff videographer
Denzil Limstaff videographer
Stephen Reyesstaff videographer
evan markseditorial cartoonist
leanne kawahigashipage designer
marissa jonesoxford correspondent
Wyatt morganarts writer
anne-marie coffeepage designer
cheryl baconfaculty adviser
cade whitefaculty 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 university or its administration.
Signed columns, cartoons and letters are the opinions of their creators and may not necessarily reflect the viewpoints of the Optimist or the university.
The Optimist encourages reader response through let-ters to the editor but reserves the right to limit frequent contributors or to refuse to print letters containing
personal attacks, obscen-ity, defamation, erroneous information or invasion of privacy. Please limit letters to 350 words or fewer. A name and phone number must be included for verification purposes. Phone numbers will not be published.
Address letters to: ACU Box 27892Abilene, TX 79609
Laying under this tree was really relaxing until I heard a bird right above me #pleasedontpoop
It’s a 20 minute morn-ing. #justlookpresent-able #lol #jk #justtry-toresembeahuman
If you fail to have an opinion you are doing an injustice to the countless students attending ACU in the next
couple of years.”“
@tfrank64
11:07 a.m. April 15
Moody’s seating is up to ACU standards now with couples and for-ever alone seating. @overheardACU
I want to help each individual group grow in
the upcoming year, allow-ing them to make a more
significant impression on ACU’s image.”
“
@tayyyhunt
8:24 a.m. April 12
I’ve burned more calo-ries trying to kill this girl than I do during insanity #assassins
@salvatoreangela
3:18 p.m. April 16
Words of advice to the guys who think they are cool, stop with the cargo shorts.
@wild_indeed
1:31 p.m. April 16
Talks about animal cruelty in ethics class...quietly eats chicken sandwich in next class. #itsjustsotasty #ACU
@megkeav
3:32 p.m. April 16
It’s baffling to me that ACU is behind on this trend of anonymous campus crush twitter accounts. After all, it is spring. #thatringtho
@TFlo1213
9:29 a.m. April 16
You know it’s going to be a bad Friday when-ever you wake up and it’s Tuesday.
wednesday 04.17.137 sports
‘Cats are streaking after sweepLyndi Smith and Madison Buckley dialed long dis-tance this past weekend sealing Abilene Christian’s series sweep over the Ag-gies of Cameron University.
The pair combined 10-for-13 with six runs and seven RBI’s throughout the series.
The three-run walk-off in game two from Smith added to her already superb season as a fearless hitter.
“It was great for Madison and I to have home runs to-gether in the same game so we could jump for the lead,” Smith said.
Smith’s batting aver-age (.370) is second be-hind leadoff hitter Keanna Winkfield (.399), but leads the team with 43 RBI’s, twenty more than Wink-field. She hopes to reach double digits in home runs with nine so far in the reg-ular season.
Buckley finished the weekend 8-for-10, with six of her eight hits in game one.
The team won a close game Friday night, 5-4, but won both of the double-headers on Saturday 10-2 in five innings based off of the softball run rule.
“Getting the sweep this series was crucial for us
because it gave us momen-tum in to the next week be-ing that we have San Ange-lo and Eastern New Mexico this week,” Smith said.
Caitlyn Crain (11-9) earned her fourth save of the year striking out two of the last four batters she faced in the first game.
She finished the series 2-0 recording eight strike-outs. She was in com-mand of the majority of her pitches.
“It felt great to finally play like we know we can and get a sweep,” Crain said.
“I feel pretty confi-dent that we’ll do what we need to do to get the wins,” she said. “We’re just trying to take it one game at a time.”
The wins over Cameron elevated the ‘Cats season and conference records to 24-20 and 8-10.
The success from this past weekend drives the Wildcats to perform at their best level with only seven games left.
The team played a doubleheader yester-day against San Angelo, and finishes the week-end playing Eastern New Mexico in a three-game series at ENMU.
softball
paige otway Staff Photographer
Senior shortstop Sara Vaughn throws to first base at Wells Poly Field. The ‘Cats swept Cameron this past weekend.
The Wildcat’s track and field team competed over the weekend at West Texas A&M Open and Multi com-petition. ACU got great performances from seniors Cassie Brooks and Matthew Stark, as they each record-ed personal best.
“Overall I feel like the team did very well,” soph-omore Lauren Hartwick said. “There were a lot of personal records and it gave us the opportunity to perform where conference will be held. We had some
girls move up on the list for nationals as well so that is always very promising.”
Brooks took home victories in the 100-me-ter hurdles, shot put and long jump.
She placed among the top three through the first three events, and then fin-ished fourth in the 200-me-ter dash (25.28) before com-ing back with a win in the long jump (18-2.25/5.54m) and runner-up showing in the javelin (109-8/33.42m).
Her marks in the long jump and javelin were both personal bests, as was her first-place throw in the shot put (40-
4.25/12.30m). Brooks fin-ished the weekend with 4,954 points – a personal record by 153 points.
“Cassie started the weekend off right for us,” Hartwick said. “She did awesome in her multi and set the foundation at WT for us.”
Stark won four events en route to scoring 6,276 points – bettering his pre-vious career best by 172 points. He finished his first day with personal bests in the 100m (11.32), long jump (21-8.75/6.62m), shot put (34-1.5/10.40) and the 400m (51.11).
During the second
day of competition, Stark won the pole vault (14-5.25/4.40m) and 1500m (4:50.26) with a personal record in the javelin (140-11/42.96) sandwiched in between.
“I have mixed emotions on my performance,” Stark said. “Overall, I got a personal best in the decathlon and got a few personal bests in the in-dividual events along the way, but fell short of my expectations in some of the other events.”
“It’s always exciting to improve your score but frustrating at the same time when you realize
how many points you left on the track.”
Also for the Wildcats, freshman Andrew Hud-son took first in the discus (167-3/50.97m) and ham-mer (166-4/50.71).
Sophomore Osei Ally-ene-Forte finished first in the 400m (49.38) and Hartwick registered a ca-reer best of 169-9/51.74m in the hammer throw, moving her into the top 20 nationally and into fifth on ACU’s all-time perfor-mance list.
“The team is doing very well and we have overcome every obstacle that we have faced,” se-
nior Jordan Geary said.The Wildcats return to
action next Saturday for the Dr. Pepper/Michael John-son Classic hosted by Bay-lor’s Hart-Patterson Track and Field Complex in Waco.
“I think that we will be in a good position at the end of the season,” Stark said. “As always, confer-ence will be a dog fight for both the men and women, but I think that we have the talent and determination to win conference and have a shot at nationals as well.”
The intramural office is hosting the intramural sports closing ceremo-nies to cap off the end of the spring season. The event will take place April 30 at 9 p.m. in Ben-nett Gymnasium.
“We will have be giv-ing out awards, we’ll have a slide show, and we’ll have free sundaes,” said Kyle Pinson, assistant
intramural director. “Ev-eryone is invited. It’s go-ing to be a lot of fun and it will be a great way to end our intramural season.”
With the intramurals season winding down, the university total point leaders are coming right down to the wire. Points are awarded for first and second place finishes along with participation points.
For men’s intramurals, Galaxy holds a slim lead with Gamma Sigma Phi
trailing by just 40 points.Galaxy finished in first
place in the champion league for waterball along with a first place finish in the pledge league for f lag football. GSP gained
points for its first place finish in the champion league in both f lag foot-ball and volleyball.
For women’s sports, Sigma Theta Chi is lead-ing in total points and
has a chance to be the overall point’s leader for women for the third con-secutive year. GATA is in second place with Ko Jo Kai in third.
The Siggies gained points for winning both the champion league and the rec league for volley-ball while GATA came in first place in the cham-pion league for waterball.
Over 3,000 students participated in intra-mural sports at ACU this year. Darci Halstead, ju-
nior family studies ma-jor from Odessa, partici-pated in nine intramural sports this year.
“It’s been a really fun year this year,” Halstead said. “Intramurals are a great way to get involved. If you’re not playing in-tramural sports then you’re not getting the full ACU experience.”
Race: Lone Star Conference up for grabs after winsCameron. They won the first game 2-1. Carter Hahn (7-2) was filthy on the mound in that contest. He gave up just four hits in a complete game effort while striking out nine Aggies.
The nightcap included another solid pitching per-formance by a ‘Cat. Aaron Lambrix threw 6.2 innings, but got a no-decision in a 4-3 final. ACU might have had luck on their side to help secure the victory.
The Wildcats had two outs in the top of the sev-enth and led 2-1 before a couple of hits and two errors put the team in a 3-2 hole.
However with one out in the bottom half of the in-ning, Giusti earned a walk to bring up Kyle Conwell as the game-winning run. Conwell was walked and replaced by pinch-runner Mason Smith.
Schuetze then stepped in the batter’s box and smashed a single to left to plate Giusti and move Smith into scoring position.
Luckie followed as a pinch-hitter and struck out swinging for the sec-ond out. But Bonneau had both runners moving to avoid an inning-ending double play.
Cameron’s catcher tried to gun down Smith at third, however his throw sailed high into left field and Smith scored the game-winning run.
“There’s times you just have to try and make some-thing happen,” Bonneau said. “That time luck went our way.”
With very few arms out of the bullpen, ACU has really benefited from its starters going deep into ballgames.
“Right now we’re relying on six guys,” Bonneau said. “It’s given them (starters)
confidence knowing they’re expected to pitch six or sev-en innings. They’ve been good enough to do that.”
The ‘Cats and Texans will begin their series at 3 p.m. on Friday, followed
by a 2 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday and a 1 p.m. game on Sunday.
Intramurals are a great way to get involved. If you’re not playing intramural sports then you’re not getting
the full ACU experience.”“
mandy lambright chief Photographer
Junior starting pitcher/outfileder Ty Taylor slides underneath the second baseman’s glove at Crutcher Scott Field over the weekend. The Wildcats took three-of-four from the Cameron University Aggies.
The men’s tennis team takes on McMurry University Wednesday afternoon at 4:30 p.m. at home.
The baseball team plays at Tarleton State University Friday at 3 p.m. in the first game of an important four game set.
The softball team plays at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. against Eastern New Mexico University in a Lone Star Conference matchup.
The men’s and women’s tennis team plays in the Lone Star Conference tournament Saturday all day long.
women’s tennis
standings
briefings
Who’s Hot
Former ACU running back and Harlon Hill winner Bernard Scott signed a contract to stay with the Cincinnati Bengals.
Scott tore his ACL in his final year under contract with the Bengals last season. Scott will compete with BenJarvis Green-Ellis for the starting running back spot next season.
men’s tennis
TeamCameronUIWACUMSU
Div.19-211-512-1416-5
Ovrl.3-01-21-21-2
Heptath-lete Mat-thew Stark domi-nated the West Tex-as A&M Open.
Stark had a career-best day in the 100m, long jump, shot put and the 400m. All of these great performances al-lowed him to take first place in his outdoor season debut. The rest of the ACU heptathlon competitors also had a good showing, as the Wildcats were able to sweep the podium by securing second and third place as well.
The Wildcats were shutout 8-0 in the first game against Cameron University but strong starting pitching, like it has for most of the season, allowed the team to win the final three games of the series and take three-of-four from the Aggies.
“Those were probably the biggest wins of the year,” said head coach Britt Bonneau. “It’s going
to be hard to not make the conference tournament now. That’s a good feeling to have.”
The ‘Cats remain in sec-ond place in the Lone Star Conference with a 25-16 overall record and a 13-7 mark in the LSC. Tarleton State, who is in first place, lost to Angelo State on Sun-day, so their lead on ACU is down to one game.
The Texans and Wild-cats will play a four-game series in Stephenville this weekend. TSU enters the
series at 14-6 in the con-ference.
ASU is third at 11-9 fol-lowed by Incarnate Word, West Texas A&M and Texas A&M-Kingsville.
Sunday’s finale was a 12-4 romping. The squad blew the game open when they scored five runs in the fourth inning.
Utility-man Travis Schuetze got the rally start-ed with a leadoff double. He later scored on a Kyle York-man single to make it 2-0.
With the bases loaded
four batters later, Seth Spiv-ey hit a ball over the glove of the second baseman to drive in two runs and make the score 4-0.
First baseman Tyler Ea-ger would then smack a double and infielder Kyle Giusti singled him and one other runner in mak-ing it 6-0.
Giusti recorded three hits on the day and drove in four runs.
The Wildcats came back and scored six more runs in the bottom of the seventh.
Infielder Chuck Duarte sin-gled in Schuetze making it a 7-3 game.
A walk to Rodge Macy to load the bases followed by another walk to Ryan Luck-ie made it 8-3.
Starter Ty Taylor tossed six innings while scattering seven hits.
He allowed just two runs and improved to 4-4 on the year.
Saturday, the team swept a doubleheader against
baseball
edward isaacssports editor
see race page 7
ACU places 2nd in LSC tournamentgolf
Women take down D-I War Eagles
It wasn’t all sunshine in the Sunshine state for the Wildcats this weekend as both teams ended their regular season with a two day tournament in Pen-sacola, Florida.
Friday, it was a battle for the better cat as the the Wildcats matched with the Tigers of Auburn University.
The men’s team fell 1-8 under the pressure, while the women’s team came out on top with a 5-3 win.
Borja Cortes gained the only team point from his singles match where he defeated Othmane
Lalami 7-6 (7-5), 3-6, 6-4.The women’s team
gained points for 2 of 5 of their singles matches and all three of their doubles matches.
Laura Mongin chal-lenged M. Fernanda Vargas 6-1, 6-0. Kaysie Hermsdorf was also vic-torious 6-1, 7-5 in defeat-ing Morgane Zowczak.
Day two in Florida proved to be a repeat of disappointment as the men’s team went 1-8 against the University of West Florida.
Hans Hach was the only point received for the team, as he took on Kevin Duros 7-6, 7-5.
The ladies were able to hold their own, beating
West Florida 5-4.There were 3 of 6 of the
singles matches won and only 2 of 3 doubles.
Micah Hermsdorf matched with Monika Kochanova 6-3, 5-7, 6-4. Mongin defeated Mari-ana Sonnervig 6-3, 6-1, and Jamie Lee Denton went up against Fernada Amaral 5-7, 6-2, 6-4.
M. Hermsdorf and Hannah Kelley along with duo Brittney Reed and Mongin served up a 8-5 in their doubles matches.
Despite the women’s team missing superstar senior, Julia Mongin due to injury, they were able to finish the season strong, adding two wins
to their streak making it a total of nine games in a row.
“It was hard [for the whole team] without Ju-lia,” sister Laura Mongin said. “But we [managed] to play good matches.”
Overall the team dom-inated this season going 21-5 with an undefeated 5-0 in conference.
The men’s team has faced a lot this season, and is still growing together. They were 12-14 overall and 1-2 in conference.
Both teams will be heading to the Lone Star Conference Champion-ship in Southland this weekend to defend their conference titles.
“We played tougher
matches this season,” Mongin said. “ We are more than ready for the confer-ence championship.”
At the end of the battle for conference and divi-sion champs, both teams will have to say good-bye to seniors Alfredo Desi-ati, Tucker Mueck, Han-nah Kelley, and sisters Laura and Julia Mongin.
“As a senior, I couldn’t have asked for a bet-ter last season,” Kelley said. “I think our team as a whole has matured through having to step up in various matches.”
