ACU resident assistants are adjusting to the recent changes made to their desk shift policies this year. R.A.’s no longer have to work desk shifts from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. during the day, and their dress code has changed. “The big change for the people actually working the desk is that I wanted it to be an elevated since of welcome,” said Dr. John De- lony, assistant dean of Resi- dence Life. “I wanted them to say hello to folks and not just shut the glass windows and do homework.” The Students’ Association met with representatives from numerous on-campus groups to propose, discuss and debate their budget for the semester on Wednes- day. A record number of stu- dent organizations request- ed funds from the SA this semester with 57 groups requesting approximately $108,000 total. At the start of the meeting, the SA had allotted $42,778.11 to meet the needs of the various clubs. Joseph Austin, SA fi- nance officer, said many of his decisions regard- ing funding were related to each group’s respective historical use of the money granted to them by the Stu- dents’ Association. With the exception of International Rescue Committee, no group was awarded all of its requested money. “One of the main things that we try to do for every student organization is to really meet their priority needs,” Austin said. “We’re trying to keep an account of how groups have spent their money in the past, and if they’re being good stewards.” The budget also allocat- ed funds to Homecoming, the “Welcome to Abilene” event, the Student Initia- tive, collegiate cards, class- es and SA expenses and stu- dent wages. SA’s proposals were ini- tially met with little opposi- tion, but congress and stu- dent representatives came into conflict over the bud- get for Hispanos Unidos, an active Latin American group with a large num- ber of members. Hispanos Unidos requested a large amount of money with a significant proportion to be used for Entra a la Plaza, an Abilene Christian University From the Ground Up Soccer coach finding early success Sports Page 6 vol. 101, no. 9 friday, september 21, 2012 1 SECTION, 6 PAGES page 4 Voter ID Laws claim to prevent voter fraud, but is it even a problem? OPINION NEWS acuoptimist.com Watch highlights from the football team’s comeback win in Dallas VIDEO INSIDE Page 3 Campus Store creates Purple Card rewards program NEWS Page 3 Increased enrollment affecting Bean, Campus Store NEWS Page 3 Student, faculty return from Democratic National Convention NEWS WorldWide Witness sends students on mission trips Page 3 Page 6 Sports Editor Edward Isaacs sounds off on Yunel Escobar’s mistake SPORTS Page 5 Our sports staff predicts the outcome of Friday’s football game SPORTS acuoptimist.com Replay offers additional venue to watch Summit lectures NEWS acuoptimist.com Honors students collaborate with CitySquare in Dallas NEWS ONLINE flickr.com/acuoptimist Go to our Flickr page for photos from social club rushes PHOTOS Class race ends after run-off After a run-off election, Colton McCoy was named sophomore class vice presi- dent. In the primary election, three candidates ran for sophomore class vice presi- dent. Colton McCoy, sopho- more biology major from Grandbury and Jamie Gor- don, sophomore political science major from San An- tonio, went head-to-head in the run-off election. After the initial voting, Gordon had received the most votes; however, her position as vice president was not secure because she had not received a majority of votes. “According to the con- stitution of the by-laws of the Students’ Association, in order for a student to get elected they must get 51 percent in support of their position,” said Dylan Benac, executive vice presi- dent of SA and junior po- litical science major from Boerne. “Jamie had the most votes out of the initial election, but she didn’t have 51 percent of the votes.” As a result, a run-off was conducted between the two candidates. Gordon and McCoy went back to the campaign trail and asked their peers to vote again. After the run- off, McCoy was officially elected sophomore class vice president. McCoy received 82 of 148 votes cast, 55 percent of the total. “Colton will be a great vice president, I know he will,” said Gordon. “He de- served it, too.” Gordon said she ran for sophomore vice president for the fun and the expe- rience. She was shocked when she received the highest number of votes and would be in the run-off election. “I had no idea there would be a run-off,” Gordon said. ”The whole time I was not thinking I would win, I thought there would be a good chance Colton would win because he was our vice president last year.” McCoy said he noticed a big difference between run- ning for election from last year. “The competition and campaigning was a lot tougher,” McCoy said. After winning the elec- tion, McCoy began plan- ning for the future of the sophomore class. “Last year we planned different events for the freshmen, including a slip- n-slide,” McCoy said. “We want to continue that and incorporate some new events.” Students’ Association lindsay palmer arts editor Curfew times for pledging will be the same this year, although incorrect infor- mation has been passed around during the rush- ing process to some stu- dents. Curfew is midnight on weekdays and 1 a.m. on the weekends for sophomores who will be pledging. Mark Jackson, director of Student Orga- nizations and Programs, clarified the rules for cur- few during pledging. “The biggest thing that we have mentioned to pledges is reminding them to check in each night with the person at their dorm that sits at the desk,” Jackson said. “If they are off-campus, they have no curfew, but our clubs know that once their activity is over for the evening, all activities cease for the remainder of the night.” The pledging process can be an enjoyable, but stressful time for stu- dents. Senior Bailey Mc- Math, speech pathology major from Missouri City and GATA Pledge Mom, said it should not be a complete deprivation of sleep. “We have scheduled activities at appropri- ate times to ensure that pledges have more than enough time to get to their dorms on time,” McMath said. “We know and un- derstand the importance of curfew and we want to respect our pledges and our club’s name by getting the girls back on time.” Senior Blaine Smith, biology major from Keller and Gamma Sigma Phi president, also comment- ed on complying with curfew this year. “GSP takes the pledg- ing curfew seriously and plans to have our pledges back on time so that they can take care of their school work and sleep.” While some students may not be the biggest fans of curfew during pledging, there are some who believe it is a good thing. Sophomore Alaina Williamson, digital en- tertainment major from Rockwall, sees the positive side of having a curfew. “I think that curfew during pledging is a great idea,” Williamson said. “It gives the people who are pledging a break from all the busy activities. It also gives them a chance to do homework and sleep.” elizabeth weiss student reporter Pledging curfew to relieve students student life kara stutesman student reporter Desk managers adapting to changes res life see managers page 5 josh garcia staff reporter SA hammers out fall groups budget Students’ association contact the optimist at [email protected]MAN IN PURPLE contact palmer at [email protected]see budget page 5 mandy lambright chief Photographer Randy Harris, instructor of Bible, missions and minsitry, speaks on the last day of Summit in Moody Coliseum on Wednesday afternoon. joseph austin sa finance officer One of the main things we try to do for every student organization is to really meet their priority needs.” “ dr. john delony assistant dean of residence life I wanted it to be an elevated sense of welcome.” “ Bailey mcmath gata pledge mom We want to respect our pledges and our club’s name by getting girls back on time.” “
Transcript
ACU resident assistants are adjusting to the recent changes made to their desk shift policies this year. R.A.’s no longer have to work desk shifts from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. during the day, and their dress code has changed.
“The big change for the people actually working the desk is that I wanted it to be an elevated since of welcome,” said Dr. John De-
lony, assistant dean of Resi-dence Life. “I wanted them to say hello to folks and not just shut the glass windows and do homework.”
The Students’ Association met with representatives from numerous on-campus groups to propose, discuss and debate their budget for the semester on Wednes-day.
A record number of stu-dent organizations request-ed funds from the SA this semester with 57 groups requesting approximately $108,000 total. At the start
of the meeting, the SA had allotted $42,778.11 to meet the needs of the various clubs.
Joseph Austin, SA fi-nance officer, said many of his decisions regard-ing funding were related to each group’s respective historical use of the money granted to them by the Stu-dents’ Association. With the exception of International Rescue Committee, no group was awarded all of its requested money.
“One of the main things
that we try to do for every student organization is to really meet their priority needs,” Austin said. “We’re trying to keep an account of how groups have spent their money in the past,
and if they’re being good stewards.”
The budget also allocat-ed funds to Homecoming, the “Welcome to Abilene” event, the Student Initia-tive, collegiate cards, class-
es and SA expenses and stu-dent wages.
SA’s proposals were ini-tially met with little opposi-tion, but congress and stu-dent representatives came into conflict over the bud-get for Hispanos Unidos, an active Latin American group with a large num-ber of members. Hispanos Unidos requested a large amount of money with a significant proportion to be used for Entra a la Plaza, an
Voter ID Laws claim to prevent voter fraud, but is it even a problem?
OPINION
NEWS
acuoptimist.com
Watch highlights from the football team’s comeback win in Dallas
VIDEO
INSIDE
Page 3
Campus Store creates Purple Card rewards program
NEWS
Page 3
Increased enrollment affecting Bean, Campus Store
NEWS
Page 3
Student, faculty return from Democratic National Convention
NEWS
WorldWide Witness sends students on mission trips
Page 3
Page 6
Sports Editor Edward Isaacs sounds off on Yunel Escobar’s mistake
SPORTS
Page 5
Our sports staff predicts the outcome of Friday’s football game
SPORTS
acuoptimist.com
Replay offers additional venue to watch Summit lectures
NEWS
acuoptimist.com
Honors students collaborate with CitySquare in Dallas
NEWS
ONLINE
flickr.com/acuoptimist
Go to our Flickr page for photos from social club rushes
PHOTOS
Class race ends after run-off
After a run-off election, Colton McCoy was named sophomore class vice presi-dent.
In the primary election, three candidates ran for sophomore class vice presi-dent. Colton McCoy, sopho-more biology major from Grandbury and Jamie Gor-don, sophomore political science major from San An-tonio, went head-to-head in the run-off election.
After the initial voting,
Gordon had received the most votes; however, her position as vice president was not secure because she had not received a majority of votes.
“According to the con-stitution of the by-laws of the Students’ Association, in order for a student to get elected they must get 51 percent in support of their position,” said Dylan Benac, executive vice presi-dent of SA and junior po-litical science major from Boerne. “Jamie had the most votes out of the initial election, but she didn’t have
51 percent of the votes.”As a result, a run-off was
conducted between the two candidates.
Gordon and McCoy went back to the campaign trail and asked their peers to vote again. After the run-off, McCoy was officially elected sophomore class vice president.
McCoy received 82 of 148 votes cast, 55 percent of the total.
“Colton will be a great vice president, I know he will,” said Gordon. “He de-served it, too.”
Gordon said she ran for
sophomore vice president for the fun and the expe-rience. She was shocked when she received the highest number of votes and would be in the run-off election.
“I had no idea there would be a run-off,” Gordon said. ”The whole time I was not thinking I would win, I thought there would be a good chance Colton would win because he was our vice president last year.”
McCoy said he noticed a big difference between run-ning for election from last year.
“The competition and campaigning was a lot tougher,” McCoy said.
After winning the elec-tion, McCoy began plan-ning for the future of the sophomore class.
“Last year we planned different events for the freshmen, including a slip-n-slide,” McCoy said. “We want to continue that and incorporate some new events.”
Students’ Association
lindsay palmerarts editor
Curfew times for pledging will be the same this year, although incorrect infor-mation has been passed around during the rush-ing process to some stu-dents.
Curfew is midnight on weekdays and 1 a.m. on the weekends for sophomores who will be pledging. Mark Jackson, director of Student Orga-nizations and Programs, clarified the rules for cur-few during pledging.
“The biggest thing that we have mentioned to pledges is reminding them to check in each night with the person at their dorm that sits at the desk,” Jackson said. “If they are off-campus, they have no curfew, but our clubs know that once
their activity is over for the evening, all activities cease for the remainder of the night.”
The pledging process can be an enjoyable, but stressful time for stu-dents. Senior Bailey Mc-Math, speech pathology major from Missouri City and GATA Pledge Mom, said it should not be a complete deprivation of sleep.
“We have scheduled activities at appropri-ate times to ensure that pledges have more than enough time to get to their dorms on time,” McMath
said. “We know and un-derstand the importance of curfew and we want to respect our pledges and our club’s name by getting the girls back on time.”
Senior Blaine Smith, biology major from Keller and Gamma Sigma Phi president, also comment-ed on complying with curfew this year.
“GSP takes the pledg-ing curfew seriously and plans to have our pledges back on time so that they can take care of their school work and sleep.”
While some students may not be the biggest
fans of curfew during pledging, there are some who believe it is a good thing. Sophomore Alaina Williamson, digital en-tertainment major from Rockwall, sees the positive side of having a curfew.
“I think that curfew during pledging is a great idea,” Williamson said. “It gives the people who are pledging a break from all the busy activities. It also gives them a chance to do homework and sleep.”
elizabeth weissstudent reporter
Pledging curfew to relieve studentsstudent life
kara stutesmanstudent reporter
Desk managers adaptingto changes
res life
see managers page 5
josh garciastaff reporter
SA hammers out fall groups budgetStudents’ association
Students interested in join-ing The Wildcat Reign can sign up at thewildcatreign.com. The Wildcat Reign aims to provide students the ability to facilitate Wildcat pride on campus and serves as a link-ing point between students and Wildcat athletic events.
ACU Speech and Debate Team is seeking new mem-bers interested in speech and debate. For more information email Dena Counts at [email protected] or text/call 325-428-6699.
ACU Career Center is con-ducting mock interviews Sept. 18, 21 and 26. Sign up for an interview time by creating a CareerLink account on the ACU Career Center homep-age. Dates and times can be found under the events tab on the CareerLink homepage.
Hispanos Unidos is hosting Entra A La Plaza Sept. 21 at 6 p.m. outside the Williams Per-forming Arts Center with free food, music and entertain-ment.
The Avengers will be playing for free with a student ID in Cullen Sept. 21 at 9 p.m.
Homecoming Queen Nomi-nations are Sept. 17-21 at www.acu.edu/queen.
SBC Leader Applications are available for pick up in the Student Ministries Office. Ap-plications should be filled out and returned by Sept. 24th.
The ACU Roller Hockey Club Team is accepting new members who are interest-ed in playing roller hockey. For more information on the team, you can post on the ACU Wildcat Hockey Facebook page or email at [email protected].
ACU’s Speech-Language Pa-thology NSSLHA will be put-ting on a book fair Sept. 17-21, Monday-Friday at 11:30-4:30 and Tuesday at 6 p.m.-8 p.m.
09/15/2012 1:10 a.m. ACUPD responded to a student’s report of an ongoing disturbance at The Residence at Heritage Park apartment complex.09/15/2012 11:32 p.m. A student reported the theft of a backpack containing discs, a calculator and medicine from entrance to the Wildcat Disc Golf Course.09/17/2012 2:41 a.m. ACUPD & AFD responded to a fire alarm at Edwards Hall. The alarm had been activated by bathroom steam.
Weekly Stats For Week of Sept. 11-Sept 18, 2012 - Total Events: 258
Volunteer Opp0rtunities
The Abilene Zoo is looking for volunteers to help with general labor such as grounds cleanup and painting any weekday at any time between noon and 4 p.m. The Zoo is located at 2070 Zoo Ln. Contact Joy Harsh at 325-676-6487 for more information.
Child Protective Services needs volunteers for clerical work as well as volunteers who can organize a play-room. Volunteers are needed on weekdays anytime between 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Child Protective Services are located at 3610 Vine St. Background checks are re-quired and are done at the center. Background checks usually are cleared in about two weeks. For more in-formation call V. Danette Cummings at 325-691-8214.
Abilene Hope Haven Inc. needs volunteers to pro-vide childcare while parents are in class, any evening Monday-Thursday from 6:45 - 8:15 p.m. Abilene Hope Haven is located at 801 S. Treadaway Blvd. For more information contact Kathy Reppart at 325-677-4673 or visit www.abilenehopehaven.com/volunteer.
Meals on Wheels Plus needs volunteer drivers to deliver afternoon meals to seniors and adults with disabilities Monday-Friday between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Drivers must be at least 18 years old and have a valid driver’s license. Training is provided. A Chapel exemp-tion is available if delivery time conflicts with Chapel. Contact Jessica Stewart at 325-672-5050 or email [email protected].
The Big Brothers Big Sisters program is looking for volunteers to participate in Lunch Buddies. Bigs and Littles will enjoy lunch together at the child’s school once a week. Students can earn Chapel credit for each visit. Big Brothers Big Sisters is also looking for volunteers for its Community Based program. Bigs are matched with Littles in a one-on-one relation-ship and spend four to six hours per month togeth-er in the community. To sign up or learn more visit www.bbbstx.org or call 325-674-3113.
The Food Bank of West Central Texas needs volun-teers 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].
HomeFront Apartment Ministries is looking for vol-unteers to serve the families withing the apartments surrounding the Mission Abilene church. For more information call Heath at 325-665-2489.
New Life Alliance is looking for volunteers to help with their after school program on Monday-Friday from 3 to 6 p.m. You will help with snacks, homework, crafts, games and other activities in addition to mentoring and building relationships with youth. Contact Ashley Kee at 325-672-1636 or e-mail [email protected].
Center for Contemporary Arts needs a gallery assistant to greet patrons, answer phones, and answer basic questions about the Center and its programs. This oppotrunity 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 looking for volunteers anytime between 1 p.m. and 5 p.m., Monday-Friday. They need help around the adoption center with general cleaning, socialization of the animals, helping 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.
Young Life Ministries needs volunteers Mondays, Tuesdays and weekends from 6-9 p.m. Volunteers will hang out with kids, experience leadership roles, serve others and introduce students to Christ. Young Life is located at 1917 S. 6th St. For more in-formation contact Chuck Rodgers at 325-676-1211 or email [email protected].
Disability Resources, Inc. is looking for volunteers to assist developmentally disabled residence. Help is needed with activities, art projects, reading books, ex-ercise activities, assisting with vocational training needs and other interactions Monday-Friday from 9 a.m-4 p.m. For more information contact Becky Moody at 325-677-6815 or e-mail [email protected].
Da’ Cipher 360, a program for at risk children, is look-ing for volunteers on Monday evenings from 5-8 p.m. at the Rose Park Activity Center, 2625 S. 7th St. Vol-unteers can help in a variety of ways including helping with set up, learning activities for kindergarten-3rd graders, tutoring 4th-8th graders, and assisting with clean up. Contact Alvina Scott at 847-333-7026 or e-mail [email protected].
The Salvation Army is looking for volunteers 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 infor-mation contact J.D. Alonzo at 325-677-1408 or visit www.satruck.com.
Access Learning Center is looking for volunteers to help elementary school kids with homework, reading, computers and games. The center is located at 2102 Ambler Ave. For more information contact Bret Hines at 325-670-9727. Call ahead to schedule a time to volunteer.
The House That Kerry Built is looking for volunteers to assist in the day care of medically fragile children any day Monday-Friday from 8:45 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Contact Dave Kraly at 325-676-3104 or e-mail [email protected] for more information.
The National Center For Children’s Illustrated Litera-ture is looking for volunteers 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
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 lo-cated 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 Thursdays contact Margaret Beasley at 325-692-4149 or [email protected]. To serve on Fridays contact Rachel Brown at [email protected].
The Christian Ministries of Abilene: Food Pantry is searching for volunteers to greet and interview neigh-bors, do computer entries, shop with neighbors, take groceries 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 Camilla Becton at 325-672-1890 or email [email protected].
Volunteers are needed to read to Taylor Elementary School students Monday-Thursday afternoons at UCC from 3:15-4:30 p.m. Enter through the south entrance. Contact C.G. Grey 325-668-2842.
For additional volunteer opportunities visit: www.acu.edu/campusoffices/ccsl/ministry-service/volunteer-opportunities/
Police Tip of the Week:Motorists are reminded to use caution while driving on perimeter streets around campus. Always yield to pedestrian crossings and watch for vehicles exiting campus parking lots and driveways.
Seventy-three ACU stu-dents took two months out of their summer to live in another country. Sent out by the World-Wide Witness organiza-tion, these students took part in camps, medical missions, volunteered at orphanages, aided in lan-guage learning and many other missions.
Since the organiza-tion’s founding, more than 600 students have been sent around the world.
Gary Green, missions coordinator of WorldWide Witness, co-founded the organization in 2001.
“Our first year we sent students to 18 places,” Green said. “This year, we sent students to 29 places.”
These locations in-clude Chile, Croatia, Peru, Brazil, Zambia and Bronx, New York.
Along with numer-ous locations, WorldWide Witness also has many different types of minis-tries to get involved in.
“We’re always trying to open up a wider and wider range for our students,” Green said.
Missions are often found in rural places, such as Zambia where students are involved in agricultural and refugee mission work. However, there are also missions in urban areas like France and in Eastern Europe where students minister to battered women and
human trafficking. And in Japan, students continue to give aid to earthquake victims.
The offices for World-Wide Witness are found in the Onstead-Packer Bibli-cal Studies Building, but this doesn’t mean only Bible majors are involved.Out of the students who went on trips this sum-mer, only 10 were Bible majors. Many of them were graduate students, education majors and bi-ology majors.
Not only did these stu-dents reach out and min-ister to people across the globe, but they were also touched during their mis-sions.
Kyle Yarbrough, senior accounting and financial management major from San Angelo went on a mis-sion to Niteroi, Brazil.
“The Brazilian people were loving and compas-sionate,” Yarbrough said. “Living with the locals was a challenging yet re-warding experience in Brazil, because I got to learn the language and culture in a whole differ-ent way.”
Trevor Wait, senior bio-chemistry major went on a mission to South Africa.
“South Africa was an incredible experience where God revealed to me how truly prideful and selfish I was,” Wait said.
The experience of each student is different, but many made friendships that will forever impact their lives and live in their memories.
“I speak to my Singa-porean friends every oth-er day or so,” said Paige Berry, junior sculpture major. “I can’t wait to see them later this year.”
Recruitment for these
trips begins in the fall when WWW begins speaking in classes and interest meetings. Screen-ings also begin in the fall to ensure health and well-ness before the trip.
Students cannot go into these missions unpre-pared. There is a spring course that counts for a three hour advanced Bi-ble credit. In this course, students are grouped with others who are going on the same mission.
Every week, the course focuses on a different spiritual discipline and fundraising tactics. After the course is completed, students are sent out to their fields in June or July.
When students re-turn, WWW does not leave them to face culture shock alone.
“We really want to make sure you’re doing okay.” Green said. “We
like everybody to walk through a spiritual de-briefing process.”
Students take part in an evaluation of the pro-gram and a stress profile after their return.
Green said the organi-zation searched for a book to help with this process, but was unable to find one so they wrote their own.The book is to be sent to publishers soon and will aid students in spiritual ref lection and evaluation
of their trip.Green said, during re-
cruitment each student is interviewed and asked questions about talents and passions and is then paired with the location where their abilities may best be put to use. Stu-dents from every depart-ment are welcomed and needed.
friday 09.21.123 campus news
Campus Store introduces rewards program
This semester, the Cam-pus Store initiated a new rewards program for its customers. Utilizing a free “Purple Card,” consum-ers can register online and earn points that can be redeemed for gift cards to the Campus Store.
Officially dubbed the “Purple Card Rewards Pro-gram,” points are earned by showing the card and mentioning a phone num-ber or Banner ID during a purchase. Additional points can be earned by
selling textbooks back to the Campus Store, or by making a purchase online while signed in to the ac-count associated with the card.
Additionally, being a member of the rewards program also entails re-ceiving exclusive emails, in-store offers and sales throughout the year.
“We really wanted a way to give back to our stu-dents and our customers,” said Rachel Elam, market-ing specialist for business services. “It’s very popular with other retail stores, and other college stores have also been starting to
do it. So we just figured it was a great way to give back to students as they’re spending their money here.”
Elam was particularly excited about the pros-pect of being able to give back to the community that supports the Campus Store.
“We want to do every-thing we can to start creat-ing that relationship and giving everyone on cam-pus, and even off-campus, that special opportunity to interact with us.”
Approximately 2,500 Purple Cards have been handed out to customers
in the Campus Store since the beginning of Passport.
“We actually had to re-order our Purple Cards so we can get more in stock,” Elam said. “We’ve given away almost all of our cards.”
However, some stu-dents remain unconvinced
of the reward program’s value, with only a little more than 600 having ac-tually registered their card online.
Hao Zhe, sophomore computer science ma-jor from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, said, “I’ve had the card for a week, but I
haven’t seen a reason to activate it.”
Other students are ex-cited about the prospect of a rewards program.
“Everybody that I’ve talked to has had a posi-tive reaction and they can’t wait to redeem their points, so we’re excited about it,” Elam said.
Purple Cards can be obtained in the Campus Store and registered online at campusstore.acu.edu.
Two of ACU’s popular facilities, the “World Fa-mous Bean” and the Cam-pus Store, have made sig-nificant organizational changes to prepare for the rush of incoming fresh-men.
The Bean and Campus Store serve hundreds of students, faculty and staff a day. With a 10 percent in-crease in freshman enroll-ment, these two locations have been forced to make
changes in order to ac-commodate a much larger number of students.
The Bean has made several layout changes designed to improve em-ployee work-flow and in-crease the speed of ser-vice, said Tom Arellano, senior food service direc-tor.
“We went from three stations serving the home zone to four stations which shortened the lines pretty dramatically,” Arel-lano said.
The Bean has also cleared out table spacing
in the dining area, which allows the students to sit closer to the windows in-stead of bunched up by the food stations. Stu-dents seem to approve of the Bean’s new layout, and the lines at lunch time move faster and faster each day.
“The ‘World Famous Bean’ has improved a lot since last year. The work-ers are very attentive, welcome, and helpful. I enjoy the music and the people are always wel-coming and kind,” said Gabrielle Thompson,
sophomore vocal major from Los Angeles.
The Bean has also added music to its dining service to liven the atmo-sphere.
“This year we wanted to change it up a little bit,” Arellano said. “The feed-back has been really posi-tive and the music draws people into the Bean.”
The Campus Store is used to large crowds of freshmen and returning students.
“Its not like anything we haven’t dealt with be-fore, but we have been
working on customer service issues and some of the things in the front of the store,” said Cam-pus Store Director Scott Harsh.
The Campus Store changed their system from four lines to one big checkout line with four registers for easy service.
“The new look has worked great,” Harsh said. “I never liked that set up, so when we finally got the opportunity to change, it removed a lot of stress.”
The Campus Store has kept the book reserve ser-
vice to make it easier for students to pick up books without having to come into a congested store.
“People don’t have to come down and find their own books when we go and pull them for them,” Harsh said. “Even if it’s 500-1000 orders, that’s 500 people that don’t have to come down here and add to the traffic.”
Kyle Yarbroughsenior accounting and financial management
major from San angelo
Living with the locals was a challenging yet reward-ing experience in Brazil, because I got to learn the
language and culture in a whole different way.”“
Rachel Elammarketing specialist for business services
We really wanted a way to give back to our students and our customers.”“
Student, faculty participate in National Convention
Dr. David Dillman, direc-tor of the Jack Pope Fellows Program, and Rebecca Dial, president of the Students’ Association, participated in this year’s Democratic National Convention, con-ducted from September 4-6 in Charlotte, N.C.
The Democratic Nation-al Convention is a gath-ering of members of the Democratic Party during which presidential and vice presidential candidates are officially nominated to run for office. Conducted every
four years, the convention was first organized in 1832.
Dillman, professor of political science, has at-tended every convention since 1980, save the gath-ering in 1984. Dillman worked as a “speaker track-er,” which he explained as being part of the po-dium operation, includ-ing production, rehearsal and speech writing. Dill-man helped get speakers through security into re-hearsal to prepare them for their speeches, includ-ing on the night of their speech.
“I think it’s an important part of the process,” said
Dillman. “Some of it may be sort of grunt work, but there are issues that arise, unusu-al situations that arise, that have to be dealt with.”
Dillman worked exten-sively with this year’s key-note speaker, Julian Castro, mayor of San Antonio. He also escorted Bev Purdue, governor of North Caroli-na, Arne Duncan, secretary of education and Jennifer Granholm, former gover-nor of Michigan.
In the past, he has worked with figures such as Nancy Pelosi, former House majority leader, and John Kerry, Massachusetts senator.
Dillman stressed that politicians are often wrongly portrayed in a negative light especially to students.
“Politicians, and the people in politics, are by and large good and decent people,” he said
Dillman also briefly met with student Rebecca Dial during the convention and showed her some aspects of his responsibilities. Dial, senior political science and finance major from Lexing-ton, S.C., was a member of the Credentials Committee and was one of nine Texas representatives tasked with finding any outstanding
delegation issues with the candidates.
“It’s basically about choosing the delegates who get to represent the state,” said Dial, who had never attended the con-vention before. “It was a re-ally good way to go and feel involved in the process.”
Dial praised the atmo-sphere and the speeches as full of passion and high energy. The speech that impacted her most was the one given by the women of the House of Representa-tives.
“All of the women who were representatives in the House came on stage and
spoke about what they’re doing. Seeing them all up there was really impactful to me as a woman.”
While Dillman said he might not attend the con-vention again, Dial is eager to go back.
“We have this huge group of people who are all fighting for the same causes and really feel pas-sionate about the same issues,” Dial said. “I want to continue to be a part of that.”
Apparently “the beast of the field” referred to in the bible are the wild cats that run around ACU #ACUdifference
EVAN’s marks evan marks
One of the biggest topics of the upcoming election is the possibility of voter identification laws in at-tempt to curb voter imper-sonation.
Voter ID laws are laws intended to make sure the voter is who they say they are. So in order to cast your vote at a polling place, it would be required to show a government is-sued photo identification.
Democrats and Re-publicans seem unable to come to an agreement on the issue with the later looking to end voter fraud and the former worrying about disenfranchising le-gitimate voters.
Currently, thirty-one states require some form of identification. Of those, 15 require any photo ID and five require one is-sued by the government.
Here on campus, nearly everyone has a legal ID. But for many in the nation, that is not the case.
According to a recent
study by Lawrence Nor-den and Wendy Weiser, there are currently 3.2 million Americans who do not own government-issued photo identifica-tion. Of these, certain demographics would be heavily affected. The Brennan Center for Justice estimates 25 percent of African-Americans and 18 percent of seniors do not have identification.
Requiring all voters to obtain a government ID may not sound like a big deal to most students, however, for many in America, it isn’t that easy.
In order to get a govern-ment-issued photo ID, you must bring your birth cer-tificate. And in order to get your birth certificate you must have a photo ID. This circular process makes it nearly impossible for those from broken homes or rural areas and others who don’t have copies of their birth certificate.
With many laws, it
is expected that a small number may be adver-sly affected in order to do good. So here’s the real question: Is preventing voter fraud worth prevent-ing the votes of up to three million entitled voters?
The short answer is no.This isn’t because voter
fraud is not bad. It’s be-cause voter fraud is nearly nonexistent.
Since 2000, over six-hundred million people have voted in three seper-ate presidential elections. A study by News21 reveals that during this same pe-
riod, there have only been 2,068 alleged cases of vot-er fraud.
According to another study from the Brennan Center, voter fraud hap-pens at a frightening rate of 0.0004 percent. It is just as likely as the poll-ing place being struck by lightning as you cast your vote.
Of this already small percentage, the majority of cases consisted of ab-sentee ballot or registra-tion fraud. Occuring out-side of the polling place, none of these would ha ve
been prevented by a photo ID requirement.
The law would only prevent in-person voter impersonation, of which there have been an in-credible 10 cases in the last three elections.
Requiring government-issued photo IDs is some-thing that we should aim for in future elections. Having more Americans with proper IDs would benefit more than the vot-ing process.
However, voter fraud is not nearly significant enough to warrant a
change in our system be-fore election day on Nov 6. This is a problem that does not need to be fixed because it isn’t really a problem at all.
In the end, voter fraud is something we should aim to eradicate, but dis-enfranchising nearly three million Americans to achieve that goal would be foolish.
4FRIDAY 09.21.12Opinion
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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
I realize my target audi-ence probably won’t read this, but I feel the need to address them anyway. I’d like to take a moment to address everyone who refuses to pick up a copy of the Optimist after Cha-pel.
Now, before anyone gets offended, let me ex-plain myself.
I understand that ev-
eryone has their reasons for not taking a copy of the paper. Maybe they plan to read it online. Maybe they’re environ-mentally conscious and want to save paper. May-be they’re in a rush get to the Bean before every-one else. Or maybe they just don’t want to.
The paper comes out every Wednesday and
Friday. On those days, the Optimist staff stands in the concourse of Moody Coliseum with stacks of newspapers waiting for Chapel to be dismissed so we can hand the pa-pers out to the swarm of departing students, fac-ulty and staff.
Let me point out that while we are waiting we are hungry, our hands are getting stained with ink and we work ex-tremely hard on each issue of the paper. We print it for you and we want it to be read.
There are several methods I’ve seen peo-
ple use to avoid taking a copy of the Optimist.
One method people use is to politely say “no thank you” when they are offered a paper. To those people I say “thank YOU.” Even though you didn’t take a paper, you did so politely and we appreciate that.
The most common method is to avoid eye contact and ignore the person trying to hand you a newspaper. To this I say, no one ap-preciates being treated like a newspaper rack instead of a newspaper staff member. The least
you could do is say “no thanks.”
There is one final method a few people use to avoid taking a paper, whether they realize it or not.
They f linch.To these people I
would like to very gently point out that the paper will not hurt them... and we don’t bite.
There are several out-lets, besides the news-paper, that allow you to keep up with the Opti-mist. There’s Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, the iPad and iPhone apps and, of course, the website. I
don’t like to brag, but we are the best source for on-campus news. And staying up to date with on-campus news is criti-cal because, believe it or not, it does affect you.
And to all the people who are reading this now because they accepted a paper after Chapel, I haven’t forgotten you. Thank you, from the bot-tom of my heart and my ink-stained fingertips.
For years we have strug-gled against the op-pression and bondage of slavery. We were told early on that slavery has been abolished. We have heard the words “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights that
among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness,” engrained in our minds. But is that statement true?
We know about hu-man trafficking because we have been made aware through the many great organizations that come on campus and talk to us. We are made aware of human trafficking in
other nations, but do not hear enough about those who are trafficked here in the United States.
For years America has initiated war against hu-man trafficking. We have pledged to end all those who suffer from human rights abuses and have asked other countries to do the same. However, we are failing to seek out the thousands who are victims and help them.
We talk about one part of human trafficking but we have to understand that there are two differ-ent sides to this violation of human rights.
There is “Labor Traf-ficking” and “Sex Traf-ficking”. We know about sex trafficking but labor trafficking is slightly dif-ferent. Labor trafficking is recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing or obtaining a person for la-bor or services using force.
According to the Fed-eral Bureau of Investiga-tion there are well over one hundred thousand children and young wom-en being trafficked in America alone. The ages for those who are forced into this lifestyle range from as low as nine to 19. The average age for those
who are trafficked is 11.Coming from a fam-
ily of six kids with the youngest being eight, to think that she could be labor trafficked or sex trafficked is a revolt-ing thought. The thing is, this could happen to any one of us or someone that we know.
The FBI says that predators are no lon-ger snatching runaway children and kids who have been abandoned. Instead they have devel-oped more sophisticated and intelligent ways. They prey on childrens’ and teenagers’ weak-
nesses and they use peo-ple they know.
Human trafficking in America is a scary sub-ject that we would rath-er overlook because we don’t want to acknowl-edge it could happen to us. Now is the time to open our eyes and real-ize that once we get be-yond our denial, we can decide to change.
1:42 p.m. Sep. 20Just feeding the real ACU wildcats pastries. Saving the world one stray at a time!!
I don’t get it when people with Lifeproof iPhone cases don’t put their iPhone in their drink at every meal.
Is it a new fad at ACU to break your leg and get a scooter?
The day after Summit everyone on campus looks like they were mugged behind a dumpster
Puddles: the ACUdifference
event that has been con-ducted for over 20 years and will be organized again on Friday. Group representatives believed SA had not granted enough funds for the event to be successful.
Wilson White, senior history major from Ozona said, “It got a little hot at times, the groups having budgeting issues, other groups wanting to take money from other groups.”
Ultimately Jeff Ar-rington, associate vice president for Student Life, said Entra a la Plaza would go forward as planned af-
ter speaking with Byron Martin, interim director the Office of Multicultural Enrichment, by telephone regarding the deficit in funding. Hispanos Unidos, which has traditionally not performed fundraisers, may now consider ways it can raise additional funds on its own.
The meeting lasted ap-proximately two hours. Discussion also included the possibility of purchas-ing some requested items, but after cycling through the list of organizations and resolving the issue with Entra a la Plaza, the proposal was met with lit-tle debate and the budget
was passed successfully.“Overall, I think the
meeting went well,” said David Sanderson, sopho-more biochemistry major from El Paso. “I believe there are times that it was more tense, as all meet-ings are, because not ev-ery student group can get funded all the money. We got some good clari-fication between student groups, and I think all the money was spent well.”
friday 09.21.125 news/sports
The ACU offense exploded the last thirty minutes of the Tarleton State game last week, and fans can expect more of the same in San Angelo tomorrow. Look for the offensive line to push around a Ram front four that has only accounted for
Despite the fact that the ACU defense is considerably banged up, they should have the edge in this game. Defensive end Nick Richardson has registered more sacks than the entire Angelo State team, and he’ll be busy again tomorrow.
two sacks this season. Quarterback Mitchell Gale will have plenty of time to survey the field and find his out-staning recievers. For Angelo State, the player to watch is former blue chip recruit Jermie Calhoun, who played at Oklahoma before a devastating knee injury halted his ca-reer. Now Calhoun lines up in the Angelo State backfield, with a Division I pedigree and a chance to get back to his playmaking self. The ACU offense will clearly be the class of the game tomorrow night.
Safety L.B. Suggs suffered a broken thumb last week, but look for him to secure the back end despite the injury and continue to make big plays. For Angelo State, sophomore linebacker Rush Seaver will be carrying a heavy load. Seaver is leading the team in tackles and started half the games in his freshman campaign as well. Seaver is cleary the best player on a mediocre defense.
Offense DefenseACUPICK:
#19 ACU (2-1) at Angelo State (1-2)Game Preview
ACUPICK:
Ken Collums has superior talent at every posi-tion, so the Wildcats should look to dominant the entire game. Angelo State will come out trying to shock the world, but there is almost no chance of that happening this weekend.
Intangibles ACUPICK:
The Wildcats will have momentum after a huge win last week, while the Rams are heading in a different direction. ACU has owned the Rams in recent years, and there is no reason to suspect that will change this season.
After last week’s excit-ing comeback against Tarleton in Cowboys Sta-dium the Wildcats will have momentum going into San Angelo. The Rams have struggled against ACU for the last decade and their team lacks the talent of the Wildcats on both sides of the ball.
The Rams haven’t had a conference game yet and will be looking to play spoiler in this one. I don’t see that hap-pening. The ‘Cats have dominated this series for the last 10 years, winning nine of the last 10 meetings. ACU will continue that streak on Saturday.
Blake Hamblin is among the few threats that the Rams pose. Beside the passing game, however, the Angelo offense and Jermie Calhoun will likely be held to very few points. Let’s call it a 24-7 win under ACU’s belt.
This week’s game against Angelo State shouldn’t have as much drama or be as close as the game at Cowboys Stadium. The Wildcats are much better in nearly every catagory and should have no prob-lem in taking on the Rams this Saturday as we can all expect a big win from the purple and white.
Pick: ACU 35-10 Pick: ACU 45-14 Pick: ACU 24-7 Pick: ACU 42-21
Natalie Goin Edward Isaacs Taylor Langston
The Wildcats are better than Angelo in all three phases of the game, and it will be obvious after Saturday night. ACU will be rolling offensively, and defensively, the Wildcats should bounce back from last week with a big time performance in this Lone Star Conference match-up. Wildcats win big.
Pick: ACU 45-17
Matthew Sloan Daniel Zepeda
Ken Collums show continues this Saturday
The Ken Collums Show will air at 10:30 a.m. this Sat-urday on KTXS. The show runs every Saturday during the football season at 10:30 a.m.
Casey: Coach utilizes diverse experiencementor as a soccer coach.
“My high school soccer coach really furthered my love for the sport,” Wilson said. “That was the begin-ning of his coaching ca-reer, and I felt that he had a lot of qualities even then that I could tell he was really going somewhere. He’s been an outstanding mentor to me as I have come back into the soccer world.”
Ali Khosroshahin serves as the head women’s soccer coach at the University of Southern California, where he finished his 2007 season with a NCAA Division I na-tional championship.
“He is coaching at the pinnacle of the soccer world,
and it has been fun to see his success,” Wilson said.
Wilson was the first and only coach in the history of ACU’s soccer program, which was born in 2007. Since then, the program has quickly been built from the bottom up, be-coming one of the top pro-grams on campus.
“I did what I could to start this program well,” Wilson said. “We had to rebuild the softball pro-gram back up in 2004, and I saw this as another chance to start something new again.”
In just five years, Wil-son’s winning percentage is at an outstanding .662 with an overall record of 64-31-7 before the begin-ning of this season.
He has led the ‘Cats to 64 victories, four LSC Con-ference tournaments, two NCAA championships, and a conference title.
“I have been blessed with having great help here with my assistant coaches,” Wilson said. “I couldn’t have built this program without them. I was fortunate to learn my strengths and weak-nesses as a softball coach, and where I needed help in certain areas and that was beneficial in helping the whole program going forward.”
Managers: Workers adjust to new policies In years previous, R.A.’s would talk with their friends, do homework and greet the residents they personally knew.
Rebekah Perry, junior youth and family ministry and missions major from San Antonio and R.A. in Nelson Hall said, “It’s fun greeting everyone because before if I didn’t know them I didn’t want to weird them out. Now that it’s a requirement, they still look at me wierd, but I think
they feel welcomed into their dorm.”
Another major policy change is R.A.’s no longer have day desk shifts. There is now an assistant director on call from 8-5 for the stu-dents who lock themselves
out of their room.“The desk manager
shifts are not safety posi-tions, but they are custom-er service positions,” said Delony. “These older poli-cies assume that students don’t respect their place
of living. We have experi-mented over the last few years with leaving the pool stuff out and what we’ve found is that students take care of their stuff.”
The final major policy change is the R.A. desk shift dress code. Normally R.A.’s were able to wear pajamas, sweats and snug-gies. Under the new policy, R.A.s are required to dress up for their shifts; even those working the 1-5 a.m. shifts must wear nice or professional clothing.
Lauren Land, senior
social work major from Prosper and assistant di-rector of Nelson Hall, said women now have to wear nice blouses with jeans or a dress, and men have to wear polo shirts and khaki pants.
“I wanted them to dress like they would profes-sionally so that they can act professionally,” Delony said.
Perry said she under-stands the reasoning and doesn’t mind dressing up more than usual.
“I think each decision
has a purpose behind it,” Perry said. “Dressing the part helps us be more re-sponsible.”
Though the R.A.’s have changes to get used to, they are all taking it in stride.
“Some of the R.A.’s might be frustrated with the changes, but in a year or so these changes will be the new norm,” Land said.
Sophomore midfielder Sarah Schoch clears the ball at the Wildcat Soccer Pitch.
Lauren Landsenior social work major from prosper
Some of the R.A.’s might be frustrated with the changes but in a year or so these changes will be the
new norms.”“
Head soccer coach Casey Wilson was a star in two sports in college, neither of which were soccer.
Wilson grew up spending most of his time on the field, playing football, soccer and baseball at Canyon High School in Anaheim Hills, Ca-lif. He also played club soc-cer for the Western Regional championship team, who finished the season 50-8 in 1989.
In college, Wilson contin-ued to be a multi-sport ath-lete, competing in both base-ball and football. At Santa Ana College in California, Wilson was an All-American place-kicker for the Dons football team. He also played on the baseball team for a year.
Wilson then transferred to Central Michigan Univer-sity to play on the football team. In 1996, Wilson set the school record for total PATs in a season. His record was untouched for over 10 years, until Rick Albreski made 48 PATs in 2007.
“I was looking to transfer once my years of eligibility were over at Central Michi-gan,” Wilson said. “That’s when I transferred to ACU to play two years of base-ball. I used all 10 semesters of eligibility that I had to play sports.”
Wilson wouldn’t have even heard of Abilene Chris-tian if it hadn’t been for his older brother.
“My dad had inquired about ACU looking for a place for my brother to play foot-ball,” Wilson said. “He had done some research while I was up at Central Michigan. He then kind of mentioned it to me one day. We had a fam-ily friend who went to school here back in the 50’s so I was interested. I was looking for a warmer place to play base-ball once I was done with my football career. And that’s just how I ended up here.”
Hitting .300 for the Wild-cats, Wilson was a member of Britt Bonneau’s 1998 base-ball team. Bonneau is still currently serving as ACU’s head baseball coach.
“I think I beat myself up a lot playing baseball,” Wilson said. “Baseball was some-thing that I was always pres-suring myself with, and soc-cer was kind of my release. When I played it, I loved it. I played starting at five years
old and played until I was a senior in high school.”
Wilson graduated from ACU in 1999 with a B.B.A. in marketing and later received his M.B.A. with an empha-sis in entrepreneurship from Concordia University in Ir-vine, Calif.
Wilson moved back to Abilene in 2002, and his ex-wife Chantiel Wilson took over the softball program at
ACU. An alumni player for the ‘Cats, she was named head softball coach in 2005. Wilson helped out as her as-sistant coach, as well as being the program’s recruiting coor-dinator and hitting coach.
“I enjoyed working in soft-ball,” Wilson said. “That’s how I got into coaching. I loved ev-ery minute of it.”
During Wilson’s career in the softball program, the
Wildcats made the national championship tournament four times, (2005, 2006, 2008, and 2009) three LSC Tourna-ment championship game appearances, and two LSC South Division titles in 2006 and 2009.
“Being involved with the softball program the first few years I was a coach, I really found my niche,” Wilson said. “I found out how to run a pro-
gram well, especially at ACU. I kind of just took that model over to soccer.”
Beginning in 2007, Wilson was working as both the head soccer coach and the assis-tant softball coach, and did both until 2010 when he de-cided to focus on soccer.
Wilson credits his high school coach as his biggest
friday 09.21.12 6sports
Football will travel to San Angelo on Saturday for their third LSC game against Angelo State. Kickoff is at 6 p.m.
Soccer will have two home games this weekend. The Wildcats take on Eastern New Mexico Friday at 5 p.m. and West Texas A&M on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Wildcat Soccer Pitch.
The volleyball team has two home matches this weekend. The ‘Cats will play Tarleton State on Friday at 7 p.m., and Angelo State on Saturday at 2 p.m. in Moody Coliseum.
The men’s tennis team will play on the road Friday-Sunday at the New Mexico State Invitational in Las Cruces, N.M.
The women’s tennis team heads to Lawrence, Kan. this weekend to play in the Kansas Invitational Friday-Sunday.
volleyball
standings
briefings
ex- factor
Upcoming
ACU’s new student section, The Wildcat Reign, organized a White Out for Friday’s volleyball match. The event will include mini-ACU volleyball toss and a rafle for team-autographed volleyball. Raffle tickets cost $2 each and all proceeds will go to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. For Saturday’s match, the first 100 fans will receive a rally towel.
Football moved up one spot in the American Football Coaches’ Association NCAA Division II Coaches’ poll released on Monday. The ‘Cats jumped to No. 19.
football
TeamENMUWTAMUACUTAMU-KMSUTSUASUUIWCommerce
Div.1-01-01-11-11-11-10-00-10-1
Ovrl.2-12-12-12-11-11-11-21-20-3
Running back Daryl Rich-ardson had a 53-yard run, an 18-yard catch and a two point conversion for St. Louis Rams against the Redskins on Sunday. He fumbled late in the fourth quarter after getting the first down. Richardson never fumbled in his three years at ACU.
Wide reciever Clyde Gates made his first catch for the Jets on Sunday against the Steelers. The 10-yard catch led to a touchdown.
The Wildcats are coming off a fun-filled trip to Jer-ryworld, but this weekend they will pack their bags again and travel to San An-gelo to take on the Angelo State Rams in a Lone Star Conference showdown.
ACU is coming off of a thrilling come-from-be-hind win against Tarleton State, in which the ‘Cats erased a 10-point halftime lead in order to secure their first conference win of the 2012 campaign.
“Not many people get
to play in such a big ven-ue,” linebacker Thor Wo-erner said. “So it’s been a blessing for me. When Jerry opened that up to us, it was hard to put into words. It’s a lot of fun.”
Wildcat fans came out in droves to support the purple and white in what could be their last trip to Cowboys Stadium in the foreseeable future.
On the flip side, Angelo State has lost their last two games by double digits, in-cluding a 33-point drubbing at the hands of Valdosta State last week.
The Rams have gotten the short end of the stick
against ACU recently, falling to the ‘Cats once a year for over a decade.
“We are not looking past anyone,” head coach Ken Collums said. “We have to handle Angelo State. They are a well-coached team; they are big, strong and physical. They are going to line up and try to out execute you on offense and defense.”
Defending LSC offen-sive player of the week Taylor Gabriel and the rest of the ACU offense should be able to move the ball against an Angelo State defense that gave up more than 40 points last week.
Another matchup to
watch is the ACU offen-sive line against the Angelo State pass rush. The Rams have only registered two sacks on the season, so quarterback Mitchell Gale should have a clean pocket to deliver the football.
The new-look ACU de-fense has played good foot-ball in the first few weeks, and should be able to put togeth-er another strong showing against a Rams team that has scored only one touchdown in each of the last two weeks.
A Ram to keep an eye on is running back Jermie Cal-houn, who played for the Oklahoma Sooners before a gruesome knee injury put
his career in jeopardy.The speedster was one of
the top recruits in Texas, and is finally making his way back onto the gridiron after more than a year of rehabilitation.
“I think we’ll do fine be-cause our guys are going to compress the running lanes and get him to bounce the ball so he is running side-ways instead of north and south,” Collums said.
The Wildcats will face off against the Rams at 6 p.m. Saturday in San Angelo with a chance to improve to 3-1.
Casey Wilson is in his sixth year as the head soccer coach of the Wildcats. He was the 2011 Lone Star Confer-ence and NSCAA South Central Region Head Coach of the Year.
Baseball athlete Yunel Es-cobar has been a controver-sial player before, but not like this. Last week, Escobar was apart of something that goes beyond baseball.
The professional baseball player for the Toronto Blue Jays was seen wearing a mes-sage on his eye black during a game last Saturday. The mes-sage was a gay slur printed in Spanish. It was originally found by a Jays fan who was taking pictures from behind
the Toronto dugout. The fan posted the picture on Flickr which started an uproar on the internet.
Escobar, who is from La Habana, Cuba, was sus-pended for three games by Major League Baseball on Tuesday. According to the team, he will also be required to attend sensi-tivity training.
It is estimated he will lose $83,000 as a result of the three-day suspension, which will hardly make a dent in his two-year $10 million contract.
The Blue Jays held a team meeting on Tuesday to inform the other players
of Escobar’s punishment. Escobar recently spoke at
a news conference through an interpreter. He apolo-gized for the slur, but would not go into detail on why he did it, saying it was just a joke and was not meant to offend anyone. He admitted that the phrase is frequently used in baseball clubhouses and has no meaning.
This is disturbing to me. Whether it was in-tended as a joke or not, Escobar had no right dis-playing something so of-fensive in public. I am a Christian and, as such, we are called to love one an-other unconditionally.
Escobar was not showing that kind of love. I think an appropriate saying for this incident would be “actions speak louder than words.”
Escobar went on to say he has nothing against homo-sexuals and even listed some of his friends who are gay.
We cannot know for sure what’s true and what isn’t in Escobar’s testimony. What I do know is if the phrase is used as frequently in club-houses as he said it is, MLB has a huge problem.
Why didn’t his team-mates say anything? Did no one see it? Were they that oblivious to what was going on? I highly doubt it.
Even though Escobar is known for writing both inspi-rational and humorous state-ments on his eye black, I bet at least one player or coach was aware of the situation.
If it is widely used across professional baseball, the team must have known the meaning behind the slur.
A true team is account-able to one another. The Jays don’t sound like that kind of team. Someone should have stepped up and told Esco-bar what he was doing was wrong, no excuses.
