A product of the JMC Network of student media at Abilene Christian University.
11
Department of Journalism and Mass Communication Abilene Christian University Serving the ACU community since 1912 FRIDAY IN THIS ISSUE CAMPUS Winter course More than 250 graduate and undergraduate students participated in January shortcourses Jan. 8-12, page 4 Honduran ministry Students from the Journalism and Mass Communication Depart- ment and the College of Business Administration traveled to Honduras to do mission work for a non-profit organization, page 8 The O PTIMIST SPORTS Falling short The Wildcat men’s basketball team lost its first conference game against Eastern New Mexico University on Thursday 86-82, page 10 January 19, 2006 Vol. 95, No. 29 1 section, 10 pages www.acuoptimist.com • • A new pad Mike Spell, former director of judicial affairs, left during break to manage the Grove Apartment complex, which can house students beginning in August, page 4 ONLINE Current construction Physical resources and other construction crews have been working during the break on residence halls. Find out what they’ve been working on online at: www.acuoptimist.com n Businesses that allow smoking in a public, along with the individual, can be cited and fined for lighting up now that the smoking ordinance has been in effect for the past few weeks. By KELSI PEACE FEATURES EDITOR Don’t light up in a public place in Abilene—unless, of course, you’re prepared for a citation and a fine. The new smoking ordinance, which went into effect Jan. 3, prohibits smoking “in all en- closed public places” and desig- nated outdoor areas, according to the ordinance. Voters supported the ban in the Nov. 7 election, passing the prop- osition 69 percent to 31 percent. According to the ordinance, more than 22,000 residents voted. The ordinance has spurred many concerned phone calls to the city with local business own- ers calling to ask how they are af- fected and how they can avoid a citation. “Every business is different; everyone has his own set of cir- cumstances,” said Daniel Santee, interim city attorney. Santee said all businesses be- came smoke-free on Jan. 3, when the Abilene Reporter-News pub- lished notice of the ban. Business- es that allow patrons to smoke can receive a citation along with the individual. Smoking is now prohibited in public places, including, but not limited to, bars, bingo facilities, places of meeting, waiting rooms and common areas open to the public. Apartment complexes are not included in the ban because they are residences; however, if the apartment is open to the public for any reason – for instance, day- Smoking ban takes effect during winter break BRIAN SCHMIDT SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER Tori Ahlers, sophomore biology pre-med major from Spring, walks to the Brown Library through the intermittent rain and 42 degree temperatures Thursday afternoon before another winter storm was expected to arrive in Abilene. n Social club members, class participants and members of the Sing Song production team have begun preparations for the 50th anniversary of Sing Song. By LAUREN SUTTON OPINION EDITOR The late-night gather- ings of various social clubs and classes on campus and the sound of light-hearted, funny lyrics adapted to fa- miliar tunes indicate that ACU’s long-lived tradition is close at hand. As the spring semester begins, preparations “shift into high gear” for the university’s largest student production of the year— Sing Song. “Shifting into high gear” is the theme for this year’s Sing Song and director of student productions Ken- dall Massey said the 2007 production will focus on the changes made at the university throughout the past 50 years. “I’m excited to see how the show comes together,” said Massey. Last weekend the Sing Song production staff met to discuss all that needs to take place in the coming month to get ready for the production. The weekend retreat had three objectives: to layout an effective production plan, to get to know every- one on staff and to find a spiritual focus. “We built on building re- lationships with each other and got to know each oth- er,” said Elizabeth Russell, a junior communications major from College Station. “We did a lot of group work together; we did activities centered around having to rely on each other.” Many of the clubs and classes participating in Sing Song began practices this week, and Russell, a participant in Sigma Theta Chi’s act and downstage manager said learning how to balance her time will be a challenge. Students ‘shift’ into Sing Song mode EMILY SMITH CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER Homer Winkles, owner of Royal Inn Lounge’s Bar, My Place, be- gan a petition to halt the ordinance. He needs 66,000 signatures. n Despite slightly warmer weather Thursday, the National Weather Service forecasts accumulation of rain, sleet and snow this weekend. By MALLORY SCHLABACH EDITOR IN CHIEF Students continue to ar- rive in Abilene three days after classes officially be- gan as winter weather moved across the nation. During the past week weather delayed travelers and often made driving unsafe. Many students were stranded in airports or at their homes as a mixture of rain, sleet and snow moved east across New Mexico into Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Missouri and Ar- kansas. Others attempted to drive in to Abilene on Wednesday despite snowy interstates between Dallas and Abilene. Tara McKee, sopho- more education major from Atlanta, had to delay her trip back to Abilene until Tuesday because of weather conditions in her hometown. “I was glad when they de- layed classes until Wednes- day because I couldn’t be here until Wednesday any- way. So it was nice that I wouldn’t miss classes,” she said. Unfortunately, the snow storm that struck Abilene and most of Texas on Tuesday night created treacherous driving condi- tions by the time she began to drive to Abilene at 5 a.m. Wednesday from the Dallas airport. “I probably didn’t drive more than 40 mph to get here today,” she said. McKee didn’t make it into Abilene until 2 p.m. because of all the car acci- dents on Interstate 20, and because part of the inter- state was closed because tractor-trailers couldn’t make it up or down a hill called Ranger Hill. “It was scary because I would lose control of the Sleet, icy weather create traveling problems, delays By MALLORY SCHLABACH EDITOR IN CHIEF To many, Tyler Sheets was a piece of heaven on earth. To others he was a super hero, brother, son and friend. At age 19, friends say he was one of the wisest people they knew, and the kindest. Tyler’s older brother Land- on remembers his brother and best friend as thoughtful, honest and hilarious. “He was always think- ing of others and a selfless person. I al- ways thought of him as absolutely hilarious,” said Landon, junior pre-med ma- jor, smiling. “He was one of those peo- ple who could tell a funny joke with a straight face, but he was also one that could laugh at other people’s jokes too, and he was sincere that they were funny to him.” Tyler, a freshman exercise science major from Muleshoe, was killed on Dec. 21 outside of Farwell when the truck he was driving struck a tree. The truck careened into the me- dian. When Tyler attempted to corrected it, he over corrected and the passenger side struck the tree shortly before 4 p.m., according to police reports published in the Clovis News- Journal. His mother, Bernita, said she felt God had put special blessings in their life, as a way of preparing them for his death. On Wednesday, the day before the accident, the Sheets family awoke to a snow-covered landscape in Muleshoe. Bernita said she didn’t want Gini and Shelley, ages 17 and 14 respectively, to drive to school with the weather icy, so most of the family spent the day at home that Wednesday. Although Bernita said she had wanted to clean and bake, she said the seven kids at home at the time: Sarah, Landon, Tyler, Gini, Shelley, Ben and Cori, bundled up and spent the morning playing outside and taking pictures of each other. Later that afternoon, she said Landon, Tyler and Ben, who is 12, wanted to go hunt- ing. Their father Kyle, a local physician in Muleshoe was supposed to be on call that evening, but decided to have someone else take his place so he could go hunting with the boys. “I know that they didn’t get very far to go hunting be- cause they kept getting stuck, but they just had a good time together and enjoyed each other’s company. We feel re- ally blessed for them to have been able to spend that time together,” she said. On Thursday, the day of the accident, many of the kids spent the day playing games together. The Sheets parents were getting ready to go to a Christmas party, and left the house at 3 p.m. “I don’t always do this to ‘We have no regrets’ See SHEETS page 5 See SING SONG page 9 See WINTER page 9 Sheets Friends and family recall the funny times, shared memories of freshman Tyler Sheets, who was killed Dec. 21 Faux food? The FDA announced ear- lier this week that cloned animals will be safe to eat, once introduced into the food industry. The organization that test foods for safety before public consumption, said it could not find a differ - ence between cloned and non-cloned animals. While some doubt the FDA’s opinion and wonder if the meat and milk will truly taste different, cloned animal meat is expected to hit the markets in the next five years. -UWIRE SPEED READS See WINTER page 9 On the Web www.acuoptimist.com
Transcript
Department of Journalism and Mass Communication Abilene Christian University Serving the ACU community since 1912
FRIDAY
IN THIS ISSUE
CAMPUS
Winter courseMore than 250 graduate and undergraduate students participated in January shortcourses Jan. 8-12, page 4
Honduran ministryStudents from the Journalism and Mass Communication Depart-ment and the College of Business Administration traveled to Honduras to do mission work for a non-profit organization, page 8
The OPTIMIST
SPORTS
Falling shortThe Wildcat men’s basketball team lost its first conference game against Eastern New Mexico University on Thursday 86-82, page 10
A new padMike Spell, former director of judicial affairs, left during break to manage the Grove Apartment complex, which can house students beginning in August, page 4
ONLINE
Current constructionPhysical resources and other construction crews have been working during the break on residence halls. Find out what they’ve been working on online at: www.acuoptimist.com
n Businesses that allow smoking in a public, along with the individual, can be cited and fined for lighting up now that the smoking ordinance has been in effect for the past few weeks.
By KELSI PEACEFeatures editor
Don’t light up in a public place in Abilene—unless, of course, you’re prepared for a citation and a fine.
The new smoking ordinance, which went into effect Jan. 3, prohibits smoking “in all en-closed public places” and desig-nated outdoor areas, according
to the ordinance.Voters supported the ban in the
Nov. 7 election, passing the prop-osition 69 percent to 31 percent. According to the ordinance, more than 22,000 residents voted.
The ordinance has spurred many concerned phone calls to the city with local business own-ers calling to ask how they are af-fected and how they can avoid a citation.
“Every business is different; everyone has his own set of cir-cumstances,” said Daniel Santee, interim city attorney.
Santee said all businesses be-came smoke-free on Jan. 3, when
the Abilene Reporter-News pub-lished notice of the ban. Business-es that allow patrons to smoke can receive a citation along with the individual.
Smoking is now prohibited in public places, including, but not limited to, bars, bingo facilities, places of meeting, waiting rooms and common areas open to the public.
Apartment complexes are not included in the ban because they are residences; however, if the apartment is open to the public for any reason – for instance, day-
Smoking ban takes effect during winter break
BRIAN SCHMIDT SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER
Tori Ahlers, sophomore biology pre-med major from Spring, walks to the Brown Library through the intermittent rain and 42 degree temperatures Thursday afternoon before another winter storm was expected to arrive in Abilene.
n Social club members, class participants and members of the Sing Song production team have begun preparations for the 50th anniversary of Sing Song.
By LAUREN SUTTONopinion editor
The late-night gather-ings of various social clubs and classes on campus and the sound of light-hearted, funny lyrics adapted to fa-miliar tunes indicate that ACU’s long-lived tradition is close at hand.
As the spring semester begins, preparations “shift into high gear” for the university’s largest student production of the year— Sing Song.
“Shifting into high gear” is the theme for this year’s Sing Song and director of student productions Ken-dall Massey said the 2007 production will focus on the changes made at the university throughout the past 50 years.
“I’m excited to see how the show comes together,”
said Massey. Last weekend the Sing
Song production staff met to discuss all that needs to take place in the coming month to get ready for the production.
The weekend retreat had three objectives: to layout an effective production plan, to get to know every-one on staff and to find a spiritual focus.
“We built on building re-lationships with each other and got to know each oth-er,” said Elizabeth Russell, a junior communications major from College Station. “We did a lot of group work together; we did activities centered around having to rely on each other.”
Many of the clubs and classes participating in Sing Song began practices this week, and Russell, a participant in Sigma Theta Chi’s act and downstage manager said learning how to balance her time will be a challenge.
Students ‘shift’ into Sing Song mode
eMIly SMITH CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER
Homer Winkles, owner of Royal Inn Lounge’s Bar, My Place, be-gan a petition to halt the ordinance. He needs 66,000 signatures.
n Despite slightly warmer weather Thursday, the National Weather Service forecasts accumulation of rain, sleet and snow this weekend.
By MALLORY SCHLABACHeditor in ChieF
Students continue to ar-rive in Abilene three days after classes officially be-gan as winter weather moved across the nation. During the past week weather delayed travelers and often made driving unsafe.
Many students were stranded in airports or at their homes as a mixture of rain, sleet and snow moved east across New Mexico into Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Missouri and Ar-kansas. Others attempted to drive in to Abilene on Wednesday despite snowy interstates between Dallas and Abilene.
Tara McKee, sopho-more education major from Atlanta, had to delay her trip back to Abilene until Tuesday because of weather conditions in her
hometown. “I was glad when they de-
layed classes until Wednes-day because I couldn’t be here until Wednesday any-way. So it was nice that I wouldn’t miss classes,” she said.
Unfortunately, the snow storm that struck Abilene and most of Texas on Tuesday night created treacherous driving condi-tions by the time she began to drive to Abilene at 5 a.m. Wednesday from the Dallas airport.
“I probably didn’t drive more than 40 mph to get here today,” she said.
McKee didn’t make it into Abilene until 2 p.m. because of all the car acci-dents on Interstate 20, and because part of the inter-state was closed because tractor-trailers couldn’t make it up or down a hill called Ranger Hill.
To many, Tyler Sheets was a piece of heaven on earth. To others he was a super hero, brother, son and friend.
At age 19, friends say he was one of the wisest people they knew, and the kindest.
Tyler’s older brother Land-on remembers his brother and best friend as thoughtful , honest and hilarious.
“He was always think-ing of others and a selfless person. I al-ways thought of him as absolutely hilarious,” said Landon, junior pre-med ma-jor, smiling.
“He was one of those peo-ple who could tell a funny joke with a straight face, but he was also one that could laugh at other people’s jokes too, and he was sincere that they were funny to him.”
Tyler, a freshman exercise
science major from Muleshoe, was killed on Dec. 21 outside of Farwell when the truck he was driving struck a tree. The truck careened into the me-dian. When Tyler attempted to corrected it, he over corrected and the passenger side struck the tree shortly before 4 p.m., according to police reports published in the Clovis News-Journal.
His mother, Bernita, said she felt God had put special blessings in their life, as a way of preparing them for his death.
On Wednesday, the day before the accident, the Sheets family awoke to a snow-covered landscape in Muleshoe. Bernita said she didn’t want Gini and Shelley, ages 17 and 14 respectively, to drive to school with the weather icy, so most of the family spent the day at home that Wednesday.
Although Bernita said she had wanted to clean and bake, she said the seven kids at home at the time: Sarah, Landon, Tyler, Gini, Shelley,
Ben and Cori, bundled up and spent the morning playing outside and taking pictures of each other.
Later that afternoon, she said Landon, Tyler and Ben, who is 12, wanted to go hunt-ing. Their father Kyle, a local physician in Muleshoe was supposed to be on call that evening, but decided to have someone else take his place so he could go hunting with the boys.
“I know that they didn’t get very far to go hunting be-cause they kept getting stuck, but they just had a good time together and enjoyed each other’s company. We feel re-ally blessed for them to have been able to spend that time together,” she said.
On Thursday, the day of the accident, many of the kids spent the day playing games together. The Sheets parents were getting ready to go to a Christmas party, and left the house at 3 p.m.
“I don’t always do this to
‘We have no regrets’
See SHEETS page 5 See SING SONG page 9
See WINTER page 9
Sheets
Friends and family recall the funny times, shared memories of freshman Tyler Sheets, who was killed Dec. 21
Faux food?The FDA announced ear-lier this week that cloned animals will be safe to eat, once introduced into the food industry. The organization that test foods for safety before public consumption, said it could not find a differ-ence between cloned and non-cloned animals. While some doubt the FDA’s opinion and wonder if the meat and milk will truly taste different, cloned animal meat is expected to hit the markets in the next five years.
-UWIRE
SPEED READS
See WINTER page 9
On the Webwww.acuoptimist.com
Department of Journalism and Mass Communication Abilene Christian University Serving the ACU community since 1912
FRIDAY
IN THIS ISSUE
CAMPUS
Winter courseMore than 250 graduate and undergraduate students participated in January shortcourses Jan. 8-12, page 4
Honduran ministryStudents from the Journalism and Mass Communication Depart-ment and the College of Business Administration traveled to Honduras to do mission work for a non-profit organization, page 8
The OPTIMIST
SPORTS
Falling shortThe Wildcat men’s basketball team lost its first conference game against Eastern New Mexico University on Thursday 86-82, page 10
A new padMike Spell, former director of judicial affairs, left during break to manage the Grove Apartment complex, which can house students beginning in August, page 4
ONLINE
Current constructionPhysical resources and other construction crews have been working during the break on residence halls. Find out what they’ve been working on online at: www.acuoptimist.com
n Businesses that allow smoking in a public, along with the individual, can be cited and fined for lighting up now that the smoking ordinance has been in effect for the past few weeks.
By KELSI PEACEFeatures editor
Don’t light up in a public place in Abilene—unless, of course, you’re prepared for a citation and a fine.
The new smoking ordinance, which went into effect Jan. 3, prohibits smoking “in all en-closed public places” and desig-nated outdoor areas, according
to the ordinance.Voters supported the ban in the
Nov. 7 election, passing the prop-osition 69 percent to 31 percent. According to the ordinance, more than 22,000 residents voted.
The ordinance has spurred many concerned phone calls to the city with local business own-ers calling to ask how they are af-fected and how they can avoid a citation.
“Every business is different; everyone has his own set of cir-cumstances,” said Daniel Santee, interim city attorney.
Santee said all businesses be-came smoke-free on Jan. 3, when
the Abilene Reporter-News pub-lished notice of the ban. Business-es that allow patrons to smoke can receive a citation along with the individual.
Smoking is now prohibited in public places, including, but not limited to, bars, bingo facilities, places of meeting, waiting rooms and common areas open to the public.
Apartment complexes are not included in the ban because they are residences; however, if the apartment is open to the public for any reason – for instance, day-
Smoking ban takes effect during winter break
BRIAN SCHMIDT SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER
Tori Ahlers, sophomore biology pre-med major from Spring, walks to the Brown Library through the intermittent rain and 42 degree temperatures Thursday afternoon before another winter storm was expected to arrive in Abilene.
n Social club members, class participants and members of the Sing Song production team have begun preparations for the 50th anniversary of Sing Song.
By LAUREN SUTTONopinion editor
The late-night gather-ings of various social clubs and classes on campus and the sound of light-hearted, funny lyrics adapted to fa-miliar tunes indicate that ACU’s long-lived tradition is close at hand.
As the spring semester begins, preparations “shift into high gear” for the university’s largest student production of the year— Sing Song.
“Shifting into high gear” is the theme for this year’s Sing Song and director of student productions Ken-dall Massey said the 2007 production will focus on the changes made at the university throughout the past 50 years.
“I’m excited to see how the show comes together,”
said Massey. Last weekend the Sing
Song production staff met to discuss all that needs to take place in the coming month to get ready for the production.
The weekend retreat had three objectives: to layout an effective production plan, to get to know every-one on staff and to find a spiritual focus.
“We built on building re-lationships with each other and got to know each oth-er,” said Elizabeth Russell, a junior communications major from College Station. “We did a lot of group work together; we did activities centered around having to rely on each other.”
Many of the clubs and classes participating in Sing Song began practices this week, and Russell, a participant in Sigma Theta Chi’s act and downstage manager said learning how to balance her time will be a challenge.
Students ‘shift’ into Sing Song mode
eMIly SMITH CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER
Homer Winkles, owner of Royal Inn Lounge’s Bar, My Place, be-gan a petition to halt the ordinance. He needs 66,000 signatures.
n Despite slightly warmer weather Thursday, the National Weather Service forecasts accumulation of rain, sleet and snow this weekend.
By MALLORY SCHLABACHeditor in ChieF
Students continue to ar-rive in Abilene three days after classes officially be-gan as winter weather moved across the nation. During the past week weather delayed travelers and often made driving unsafe.
Many students were stranded in airports or at their homes as a mixture of rain, sleet and snow moved east across New Mexico into Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Missouri and Ar-kansas. Others attempted to drive in to Abilene on Wednesday despite snowy interstates between Dallas and Abilene.
Tara McKee, sopho-more education major from Atlanta, had to delay her trip back to Abilene until Tuesday because of weather conditions in her
hometown. “I was glad when they de-
layed classes until Wednes-day because I couldn’t be here until Wednesday any-way. So it was nice that I wouldn’t miss classes,” she said.
Unfortunately, the snow storm that struck Abilene and most of Texas on Tuesday night created treacherous driving condi-tions by the time she began to drive to Abilene at 5 a.m. Wednesday from the Dallas airport.
“I probably didn’t drive more than 40 mph to get here today,” she said.
McKee didn’t make it into Abilene until 2 p.m. because of all the car acci-dents on Interstate 20, and because part of the inter-state was closed because tractor-trailers couldn’t make it up or down a hill called Ranger Hill.
To many, Tyler Sheets was a piece of heaven on earth. To others he was a super hero, brother, son and friend.
At age 19, friends say he was one of the wisest people they knew, and the kindest.
Tyler’s older brother Land-on remembers his brother and best friend as thoughtful , honest and hilarious.
“He was always think-ing of others and a selfless person. I al-ways thought of him as absolutely hilarious,” said Landon, junior pre-med ma-jor, smiling.
“He was one of those peo-ple who could tell a funny joke with a straight face, but he was also one that could laugh at other people’s jokes too, and he was sincere that they were funny to him.”
Tyler, a freshman exercise
science major from Muleshoe, was killed on Dec. 21 outside of Farwell when the truck he was driving struck a tree. The truck careened into the me-dian. When Tyler attempted to corrected it, he over corrected and the passenger side struck the tree shortly before 4 p.m., according to police reports published in the Clovis News-Journal.
His mother, Bernita, said she felt God had put special blessings in their life, as a way of preparing them for his death.
On Wednesday, the day before the accident, the Sheets family awoke to a snow-covered landscape in Muleshoe. Bernita said she didn’t want Gini and Shelley, ages 17 and 14 respectively, to drive to school with the weather icy, so most of the family spent the day at home that Wednesday.
Although Bernita said she had wanted to clean and bake, she said the seven kids at home at the time: Sarah, Landon, Tyler, Gini, Shelley,
Ben and Cori, bundled up and spent the morning playing outside and taking pictures of each other.
Later that afternoon, she said Landon, Tyler and Ben, who is 12, wanted to go hunt-ing. Their father Kyle, a local physician in Muleshoe was supposed to be on call that evening, but decided to have someone else take his place so he could go hunting with the boys.
“I know that they didn’t get very far to go hunting be-cause they kept getting stuck, but they just had a good time together and enjoyed each other’s company. We feel re-ally blessed for them to have been able to spend that time together,” she said.
On Thursday, the day of the accident, many of the kids spent the day playing games together. The Sheets parents were getting ready to go to a Christmas party, and left the house at 3 p.m.
“I don’t always do this to
‘We have no regrets’
See SHEETS page 5 See SING SONG page 9
See WINTER page 9
Sheets
Friends and family recall the funny times, shared memories of freshman Tyler Sheets, who was killed Dec. 21
Faux food?The FDA announced ear-lier this week that cloned animals will be safe to eat, once introduced into the food industry. The organization that test foods for safety before public consumption, said it could not find a differ-ence between cloned and non-cloned animals. While some doubt the FDA’s opinion and wonder if the meat and milk will truly taste different, cloned animal meat is expected to hit the markets in the next five years.
-UWIRE
SPEED READS
See WINTER page 9
On the Webwww.acuoptimist.com
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Calendar Events& The Optimist maintains this calendar for the ACU community to keep track of local social, academic and service opportunities.
To ensure that an item will appear on time, the announcement should be sent at least 10 days before. The Optimist may edit items for space and style.
Corrections and clarifi cations of published news articles will be printed in this space in a timely manner.
About This PageFriday, January 19, 2007
Announcements Volunteer Opportunities
11:30 a.m.Sign up to be a Freshman Sing Song Usher at the Campus Center ticket windows.
Electronic check-in closes. 12:30 p.m.Southern Hills Campus Ministry hosts “The Amazing Race” until 8:30 p.m. Check in at 12:30 in the Gibson double gym. The day will include team spirit competitions, relays, a photo scavenger hunt, dinner, an awards ceremony, worship, and an after party.
10 a.m.A service expo will be held in the campus center for students to learn about service opportunities.
7 p.m.The Men’s Basketball team plays Angelo State in Moody Coliseum.
22 Monday19 Friday 20 Saturday 23 Tuesday
ACU Police Tip of the Week
Due to the weather situation, which delayed the beginning of on-campus classes this semester, the schedule for adding and dropping classes and for getting refunds from withdrawals has been changed. The following is a list of the new dates for these events. Now through Tuesday: 100-percent refund period, web add-ing and dropping of classes will be permitted. From Wednesday through Jan. 30: 80-percent refund period, web adding and dropping no longer permitted, classes marked as “W.” Jan. 31 through Feb. 2: 60-percent refund period, classes marked as “W.” The on-line check-in process will continue until the end of the add/drop period, which is midnight on Tuesday. In addition, for those students expect-ing credit balance refunds, Student Financial Services will begin posting those refunds to student accounts at 4 p.m. on Wednesday. These ad-justed dates do NOT apply to stu-dents in the ACU WorldWide masters programs. The existing refund sched-ule for those programs will still apply.
What do Tupac Shakur, Lau-ryn Hill and Kanye West have to do with Jesus? Come fi nd out Thursday evenings. “Jesus and the Hip-Hop Prophets” will take place at 8:30 p.m. in the Onstead-Packer Biblical Studies Building, Room 128. For more information, contact Matt Worthington at [email protected].
Meals on Wheels needs volun-teers to deliver lunch to the homes of homebound elderly and adults with disabilities. Volunteers may work alone or in teams of two or three to deliver meals during the noon hour Monday through Friday. This is a great way to serve in the Abilene community, and students can get chapel credit if their delivery time confl icts with Chapel. For more information, stop by the Volunteer Center in the Bean Sprout or call
Mitzi McAndrew at (325) 672-5050. Students in Free Enterprise
(SIFE) meets Wednesdays at 5 p.m. in COBA, Room 315, for those in-terested in sharpening business skills, entrepreneurial, leadership skills and service to the community.
Girl Scout Troop #1550 needsyoung women who want to make a difference in young girls’ lives through Girl Scouting. The girls are from underprivileged homes, and they need positive Christian infl u-ences in their lives. Meetings are ev-ery Thursday from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. This program will end in May. For more information, please contact Diltzie Andrews at (325) 673-6379.
WorldWide Witness is now ac-cepting applications for more than 40 summer internships around the world. Apply online at www.worldwidewit-ness.org. For additional information, contact Gary Green or Wimon Walker at [email protected].
Looking for an adventure this summer? Come intern with Dry Bones in Denver. Dry Bones is a ministry that works with homeless youth living on the streets of down-town in Denver. The ministry needs four city interns and one moun-tain intern who will facilitate youth groups backpacking in the moun-tains and working in the city. Visit the web site or contact Rebekah Duke at [email protected] for more information.
Wesley Court needs volunteers to work in their gift shop and assist with inventory Monday through Fri-day from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, contact Susan Conwell at (325) 437-1184.
Lee Elementary needs volunteers to play Scrabble with third, fourth and fi fth graders every Thursday from 3:15 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the cafeteria. For more information, contact Jennifer Clapp or Andy Blessing at 671-4895.
CreditedChapelsto date:
CreditedChapelsremaining:
Chapel Checkup02 70
Beltway Park Baptist Church Preschool Department needs two volunteers to paint a wooden counter top and a door on Saturday, Feb. 3, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. in the Fellow-ship Hall. For more information, please contact Sandi Muniz at (325) 692-6540, ext. 127.
Big Brothers Big Sisters is look-ing for young women willing to volun-teer their time and energy in a program called Y-teens every Thursday from 4 to 5 p.m. at Franklin Middle School and Lincoln Middle School. Y-teens will allow young women from Abilene High School the opportunity to men-tor girls from Franklin Middle School. Through activities and service projects, this program will empower young girls with knowledge about life skills and build self-confi dence while creating an atmosphere for learning and emotional growth. For more information, contact Erin McMullen or MC Jennings at (325) 677-7839.
Communities in Schools and Fannin Elementary needs volunteers to sit with a child at lunch to talk, give encouragement and mentor. Assis-tance is needed until May 18 on Mon-days, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 10:50 p.m. to 12:50 p.m. For more information, contact Sheila Ashford at (325) 671-4820.
Fannin Elementary needs volun-teers to tutor fourth grade students in reading, writing and math to prepare the students for TAKS testing until February. This will be held in Portable Building #8. For more information or to set up an appointment, contact Rosa-linda Walker at (325) 677-8085.
The Center for Contemporary Arts needs people to greet patrons, answer phones and help with gal-lery shows. Three-hour shifts are available Monday through Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Cen-ter for Contemporary Arts is at 220 Cypress. For more information, con-tact David Herd at (325) 677-8389.
The Christian Service Center needs volunteers to help in every-day operations, including inter-viewing clients, praying with clients and helping them get clothing. The Christian Service Center is at 901 Mesquite St. For more information, call Jim Clark at (325) 673-7531.
The Salvation Army needs vol-unteers to sort clothing and other items, stain shelves and do pricing.
Hours are fl exible. The Salvation Army is at 1726 Butternut. For more information, contact Dawn Pulscher at (325) 677-1408.
The Food Bank of West Central Texas needs volunteers to stock shelves with food and to clean and inspect food for distribution. Assis-tance is needed Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Food Bank is at 5505 N. 1st. For more information, contact Janice Serrault at (325) 695-6311.
Abilene Hope Haven needs babysitters for children whose par-ents are attending life skill classes. Volunteers are requested Monday through Thursday from 6:45 p.m. to 8:15 p.m. Abilene Hope Haven is at 801 S. Treadaway. For more infor-mation, contact Colleen or Anne at (325) 677-4673.
The Achieve Enrichment Pro-gram needs volunteers to tutor stu-dents in core subjects and to help with recreation activities and lessons planned by the staff. Assistance is needed Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 3:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. The Achieve Enrichment Program is lo-cated at 701 S. Pioneer St. For more information, contact Karen Smith at (325) 437-1337.
AISD Early Childhood Centersneeds people who are interested in working in a classroom with children ages three to four years are needed. Students may volunteer to help with special events throughout the year.Help is needed anytime. For more information and to make an ap-pointment, contact Mary McLeed at (325) 671-4594, ext. 5956.
The House that Kerry Built needs volunteers to help with vari-ous tasks including upkeep, clean-ing, reading to and playing with children, organization and clerical work. Assistance is needed anytime Monday through Friday from noon to 5:30 p.m. The House that Kerry Built is at 751 Hickory St. For more information, call Donna Salge at (325) 672-6061.
Christian Ministries of Abilene needs volunteers to paint and sten-cil the waiting area, as well as bag food on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Christian Ministries of Abilene is at 701 Walnut. For more information, call Camilla Becton at (325) 673-1234.
If you brought a new car back after the Christmas Break, remember to obtain a duplicate parking permit for it.
Monday 01/08/20072:30 a.m.: Refueled vehicle 7:05 a.m.: Unlocked Gardner Hall north door 12:07 p.m.: Gave access to Gard-ner Hall for construction workers3 p.m.: Briefi ng at the Station 3:20 p.m.: Refueled vehicle 3:55 p.m.: Unlocked vehicle at 1600 Campus Ct. 4:03 p.m.: Unlocked vehicle at Big Purple Lot 6:45 p.m.: Unlocked Central Plant for workers
Tuesday 01/09/2007 6:39 a.m.: Briefi ng at the Station 8:12 a.m.: Unlocked room at Zona Luce 10:37 a.m.: Assisted motorist with vehicle 1:42 p.m.: Refueled vehicle 2 p.m.: Checked on suspicious ve-hicle on Wildlife Trail and Parkway 3 p.m.: Briefi ng at the Station 5:40 p.m.: Medical emergency at Library 8:59 p.m.: Checked on suspicious subjects in front of Bennett Gym, Checked OK 10:45 p.m.: Briefi ng at the Station 11:02 p.m.: Gave access to Don Morris Center
Wednesday 01/10/2007 4:15 a.m.: Unlocked vehicle at 800 Vista 6:32 a.m.: Briefi ng at the Station 7:47 a.m.: Had vehicle moved at 2300 Campus Ct. for construction 10:19 a.m.: Report of suspicious person in Teague Lot, gone on arrival 11:16 a.m.: Incomplete 911 at University Park Apartments room 312, misdial2:20 p.m.: Refueled vehicle 3 p.m.: Briefi ng at the Station 4:50 p.m.: Jumpstart vehicle in Library Lot 6:50 p.m.: Unlocked vehicle at Powell Fitness Center Lot 7 p.m.: Unlocked room at Mabee Hall 7:50 p.m.: Gave access to Sikes Hall 8:05 p.m.: Gave access to Gibson
Thursday 01/11/2007 9:45 a.m.: Traffi c stop at Almond and EN 10th for speeding 11:50 a.m.: Vehicle accident at EN 16th & Washington, exchanged information, no report 2 p.m.: Briefi ng at the Station 3 p.m.: Unlocked vehicle at 500 EN 20th
4 p.m.: Telephone harassment at 1648 Campus Ct., case #07-005 9:28 p.m.: Assisted Abilene PD with fi ght at Whitten Inn.
Friday 01/12/2007 12:52 a.m.: Checked 2300 Campus Ct. for prowler, unable to locate 2:10 a.m.: Checked 1300 Wes-theimer for subject asking for money, subject was gone upon arrival 6:33 a.m.: Briefi ng at the Station 9 a.m.: Patrolled Abilene Christian Schools 3 p.m.: Briefi ng at the Station 6:48 p.m.: Report of suspicious vehicle at 1600 Cedar Crest, checked OK 8 p.m.: Locked up main campus 10 p.m.: Refueled vehicle
Saturday 01/13/2007 1:29 a.m.: Criminal Mischief at 2400 Church, case #07-006 6:55 a.m.: Briefi ng at the Station 7:30 a.m.: Assisted visitor locating Onstead-Packer Biblical Studies Bldg. 9:04 a.m.: Assisted visitor locating Onstead-Packer Biblical Studies Bldg. 9:30 a.m.: Subject fell on ice at WPAC, slight injuries, taken to 1300 Cedar Crest 12:43 p.m.: Unlocked vehicle at Lamar and Morrow 12:57 p.m.: Unlocked vehicle at 500 EN 20th 2:38 p.m.: Unlocked vehicle at 500 EN 20th 6:06 p.m.: Vehicle accident at EN 12th & Washington 7 p.m.: Briefi ng at the Station 8:48 p.m.: Attempt to locate stu-dent involved in accident, she was located at the hospital
Sunday 01/14/2007 8:30 a.m.: Unlocked Campus Center 2:44 p.m.: Report of squirrel inside of WPAC, opened door to let squir-rel out 3:01 p.m.: Contacted subjects inside of Moody playing Frisbee 4:16 p.m.: Report of suspicious subject at University Church of Christ, unable to locate 5:44 p.m.: Unlocked vehicle at Big Purple Lot 7 p.m.: Briefi ng at the Station 7:54 p.m.: Vehicle accident at Hwy 351 and Interstate 20, vehicle ran off road 9:10 p.m.: Unlocked vehicle at Sikes Lot
Police LogEdited for space
Friday, January 19, 2007 Page 3ADVERTISEMENT
Friday, January 19, 2007Page 4 CAMPUS NEWS
n Students spent the final week of Christmas break taking one of over a dozen January Short Courses offered by ACU as a three-hour credit.
By ATSUMI SHIBATAPage Designer
About 250 students spent five days from Monday through Friday to receive three Bible credits before school began.
The College of Biblical Studies offered 13 Janu-ary Short Courses last week: six undergraduate
courses, five graduate courses and two doctor of ministry courses.
Approximately 160 undergraduate students and 85 graduate and doc-tor of ministry students were enrolled, and most of the courses were full or near full.
Communication scienc-es and disorders, family studies, psychology and theatre also offered a few courses.
Dr. Glenn Pemberton, chair and associate pro-
fessor of the Missions and Ministry Department, said the number of en-rolled students this year was about the average.
Pemberton taught one of the graduate courses and said some students have misconceptions about January Short Courses.
Although classes only meet for five days, stu-dents have to do as much work as they do during a semester.
Some short courses re-quire students to work
on assignments before classes begin and a proj-ect, paper and final exam during the semester.
Pemberton said physical and mental endurance is one of the biggest challeng-es of taking short courses.
“Students are very tired at the end of the week,” Pemberton said.
But he also said short courses provide a unique opportunity for students.
Each year the College of Biblical Studies invites several instructors from
outside the university to teach January Short Courses, and Pemberton said he thinks it is a great opportunity for students.
Lauren Gray, senior graphic design major from Tulsa, Okla., took Arts & Culture of Christi-anity to fulfill Bible credit requirements.
Although she was ner-vous at first and tired during the week, Gray said she enjoyed the class a lot.
“It made me think
about it a lot,” Gray said. “If I have an opportunity again, I will take another January course.”
She said receiving three credits in one week is good, but she also felt like she learned a lot in such a short period.
“I would suggest any-one to take it,” Gray said.
Some short courses are offered in Maymester, and students are encouraged to enroll early to get in.
Students get three-hour credits in short course classes
n Mike Spell left his role as Director of Judicial Affairs during the break to become general manager of the Grove apartment complex.
By JARED FIELDSManaging eDitor
Being “that guy” is no longer concerning Mike Spell.
The former Director of Judicial Affairs served his last official day for ACU on Jan. 1 and is now the general manager of the Grove apartments located north of Abilene Christian Schools.
Spell said he was tired of handling disciplinary issues with students.
“A lot of it had to do with all of the negative things I was having to deal with,” Spell said of his decision. “I was bring-ing home a lot of that negativity. It was emo-tionally heavy.”
Spell spent over two years as the director of judicial affairs and was a student worker in the of-
fice previously.Dr. Jeff Arrington, As-
sistant Provost for Stu-dent Learning and As-sociate Dean, said a job o p e n i n g is posted t h r o u g h the ACU H u m a n R e s o u r c -es office with about six appli-c a t i o n s received so far. Dr. Ar-rington will assemble a review team for the appli-cations and determine the next course of action.
“I’m also considering bringing in a person on an interim basis,” Ar-rington said. Whatever decision the review team makes, Arrington said he doesn’t want to make a hasty decision.
“It is more important to be patient and thorough,” Arrington said.
Applications will be accepted for a few more weeks. Until a decision is
made, Arrington and Mark Lewis are splitting Spell’s former duties.
Arrington said he will handle calls from off-cam-pus and University Park Apartments and Lewis will deal with residence directors on campus.
Spell said his previous experience as a resident director at University Park led him to the Grove.
“I was looking for a product I could really get behind and really be ex-cited about and this is it,” Spell said.
The Grove is scheduled to begin leases Aug. 1 and targets college students. It offers two and three bedrooms apartments with a total of 192 units and 504 beds.
“Having Mike as the general manager at the Grove will facilitate com-munications between ACU and the Grove,” Arrington said. “I think that will work out to be an advantage.”
Spell leaves for Grove
brian schmidt SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER
Dannie Rio, second year Masters of divinity graduate student, helps Clystiah Evans, sophomore social work major from Waco, find her textbooks Wednesday in the basement of the Campus Store.
Sheets: Friends and family praise humor, heart and heroicsContinued from page 1
all my kids when we go some-where, but for some reason I turned around and gave Tyler a big hug before we left that afternoon,” she said. “I’m glad I did.”
Once the family received word that Tyler had been in an accident an hour later, they all began to pray.
“We didn’t know what would
happen, but we began praying and calling others to be pray-ing for Tyler,” said Zach, the oldest of the Sheets siblings.
Only half an hour after the accident, nothing would be the same for the parents and nine siblings left to mourn.
“It’s hard for us to talk about our family right now because everything we do is associated with our family, and now it’s different,” Zach said.
Tyler, No. 6 of the 10 kids, was known as a jokester and the one person in the family who knew how to make every-one feel special.
“He had a way of making ev-eryone feel like they were the closest person to him in some way,” said his sister-in-law Kara. “I think all of his siblings and friends could tell you the way they felt closest to him.”
Her husband Zach said they were expecting twin boys in June, and because he had to commute to Dallas a lot last se-mester, Tyler would come over every day to make sure Kara was OK, to take out the trash and check on everything.
“I can’t tell you how much that meant to us,” Zach said.
“A lot of people may have good intentions in their life, but Ty-ler always did the right thing, no matter what.
“He learned things in life that most people never learn in a lifetime.”
Zach said that when the family went to clean out his room at college, that they found three lists that Tyler had written: goals he’d like to accomplish, and things that
brought him closer and drew him further from to God.
“His goals were all about making other people happy,” Zach said. “At the top of his list was to adopt an African child; to support Gini, Shelley, Ben and Cori, who are the youngest four siblings, in everything they do; to make one person smile every day. But I think he made enough people smile that he would have been good until he was 80, if he had lived.”
Tyler’s mom, too, said she felt that the lists were some-thing special God had left for them.
“Tyler is not the type of person to be organized like that,” she said. “When he lived at home, he and Ben shared a room and they had a bet on who was the messiest. Tyler promised it was Ben, but we all knew it was really Tyler,” she said laughing.
“Oh, and Ben wants me to let you know that he won the bet when Tyler went to college; the room is much cleaner now.”
The jokester
Bernita explained that Tyler often made bets with his sib-
lings, explaining that it was part of his mischievous nature.
“When he was 10 or 12 years old, he made a bet with his sis-ter Gini that he would pay her if he didn’t make it to the NBA by the time he was 15,” she said laughing. “He made a cer-tificate for her and I signed as a witness.”
Brady Black, his best friend growing up, said Tyler was passionate about basketball and other sports, and that he remembers the times they spent playing together since the seventh grade.
“I had a joke with him every time we played basketball that he couldn’t ever be aggressive enough on the court when he was guarding someone,” Brady said. “Tyler was just so nice that he could never get mean. I told him this every time, and it still makes me laugh.”
The week before Tyler came home for Christmas break, his mom said that he had been call-ing Ben and Cori, the youngest sibling, every day to tell them to get the Christmas decora-tions out, to get the lights out and test them so they would be ready to put up when he got home.
“Tyler was so excited about Christmas,” Bernita said, “We have an old tree that was from my husband’s family that is so old we have to tie green garland around it to cover up the holes where you can see through it. I kept saying it was time to get a new one, but Tyler insisted that it was the perfect tree. It was the first thing he set up when he got home. We’ll prob-ably never get rid of it now.”
Zach explained that the night before he died, Tyler wrote a letter to their parents telling them how much he ap-preciated them. Terah, the second oldest, wanted to sur-prise the Sheets parents for their 30th anniversary with letters and words of wisdom, so Tyler had written it to give to her.
“My favorite part of the let-
ter was when he wrote, ‘Papa, I love that we call each other when there are good games on to talk about them. Mom, I love laughing at corny jokes togeth-er. Those may seem like small things, but they are things I love every time.’”
Bernita said she often tells corny jokes and is the only one that laughs at them.
“Tyler laughed at my jokes with me every time, even if they were corny. He was the funny one.”
Cori, who is 10, said Tyler would help anyone and tease anyone, too. Her older siblings said that Tyler had about 500 different nicknames for her, or phrases that he called her.
“He teased me a lot. I always tried not to laugh, but it was hard because he was so funny. My favorite one he called me was the time he put Ted Nu-gent’s phone number, or fake number in his cell phone. Then he would pretend he had called him and say, ‘Cori, Ted Nugent just called and said he wants his shirt back.’ He and Landon did that all the time from Ocean’s 11 and it annoyed me so much. But I miss it.”
A super hero
Tyler’s uncle described him as a man after God’s own heart when they were discuss-ing the life he lived. Landon and Zach said they felt that he somehow understood and knew that things on earth re-ally weren’t that important, and that there were bigger things planned for him.
“Tyler really appreciated people and not just when they were around either. If you were talking bad about some-one, he would gently remind you, “hey, I like this about his person, or they just told me a really funny joke the other day,” Zach said.
Tyler planned to get mar-ried, have kids and be a high school coach. Zach said Ty-ler loved kids and especially loved spending time with his
younger siblings, Ben and Cori.
“I’m sure Zach would say the same, but if I even live to be half the man that Tyler was at age 19, then I’ll be happy,” Landon said watching Zach.
“I feel people can exaggerate who the person was af-ter they’ve died,” Zach said nodding in agreement. “It sounds like we’re talking about a super hero right now. But we’re not exaggerating. That’s truly who he was. And those who knew him, know exactly what we’re talking about.”
Brady Black agreed and said he considers himself blessed to have known a friend like Tyler.
“Tyler’s life motto should have been ‘carpe diem’ be-cause he seized life each day and lived like each one really was his last,” Brady said.
Saying good-bye
Tyler’s mom said the re-sponse from the community, friends and church has been amazing since his accident.
“People and love have come from everywhere,” she said.
More than $25,000 has been raised in Tyler’s honor so far, she said, and that money will be sent to Zimbabwe, Africa, to help the hospital that the fam-ily often goes on medical mis-
sion trips during the summers.“Going to Africa was one of
Tyler’s favorite things. He’d love that so many people are helping this cause,” she said.
With the death of a son, Ber-nita said that one only makes it by the grace of God and the hope that one day they’ll see him again in heaven.
“We know exactly where he is right now. I like to think he’s putting up more Christmas trees with grandma Sheets, who gave us our tree. The kids all think he’s shooting hoops with famous basketball players.”
She said she wanted par-ents to know this: “Families need to make sure that they love their children every day and lead them to God. We have wishes that he hadn’t drifted off the road that day, but we can seriously say we have no regrets about the way Tyler lived.”
Landon, Sarah and Tyler at an annual barn dance in Texico, N.M.
photo courtesy of the sheets family
Sheets’ family Christmas card picture, taken Thanksgiving 2006.
Page 6 January 19, 2007
The issue:Discussion concerning “the Ashley treatment” has sparked many questions as to whether halting a person’s growth is ethical.
Our view:Ashley’s story can be looked at from more than one perspective because it not only affects her and her family but others seeking medical help of this sort.
The solution:The Optimist has chosen to look at both sides of the debate. Read and decide where you stand on this controversial issue.
Ethical debate rises from “the Ashley treatment”
Unsigned editorials are the opinions of the Optimist and may not necessarily reflect the views of the university or its administration.
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Editorial and Management Board
Mallory SchlabachEditor in Chief
Jared FieldsManaging Editor
Michelle JimenezCopy Editor
Lauren SuttonOpinion Editor
Brian SchmidtChief Photographer
Kelsi PeaceFeatures Editor
Daniel JohnsonSports Editor
Todd PiersallArts Editor
Shelby CoatesVideo Editor
Christi StarkAdvertising Manager
Kenneth PybusAdviser
The case: Two and a half years ago, a family from Washington sought advice from the Seattle Children’s Hospital on how to limit their severely handicapped daughter Ashley’s growth and weight.
Ashley was 6 years old at the time and soon began undergoing treatments of high doses of estrogen to accelerate the natural pro-
cess of stopping her growth.
Ashley was born with a disability only known as static en-cephalopa-thy, a condi-tion doctors have no cause or cure for.
It left her with the con-dition unable to move by herself, unable to recognize people around her and with the capacity of an infant.
Her parents posted on their Web site that Ashley’s brain capabilities stopped grow-ing at three months. Ash-ley’s parents feared that as she grew older, it would be
increasingly harder to care for her, so they opt-ed to keep her small, growing no more than
4’5’’ with the estrogen treat-ments. In addition to these doses, the family also chose to remove Ashley’s uterus to prevent potential discom-fort from menstrual cramps
or pregnancy in the event of a rape, her appendix, and her breast tissue to pre-vent breast cancer because her family has a history of cancer. This treatment has sparked international de-bate over the ethics and de-cision her parents made for her. Here we chose to look at two sides of the debate.
Ashley’s parents feared that as she grew older it would be increasingly harder to care for her, so they opted to keep her small, growing no more
The circumstances sur-rounding “the Ashley treat-ment” are undoubtedly contro-versial because any situation that involves tweaking the genetic makeup of a human being touches ethical lines of right or wrong. And while Ash-ley’s surgical and hormonal procedures could create future opportunity for clearly unethi-cal surgeries to occur, at what point should loving, well-in-formed parents get to make decisions for their child with-out being questioned by the public as to what is best for her.
Before their decision to be-gin treatment, Ashley’s par-ents met with a committee of men and women from a vari-ety of medical disciplines as well as a judge to discuss the implications of Ashley’s treat-ment. Her parents were ethi-cally and legally entrusted to make the decision that would best benefit their daughter.
Ashley’s family has re-
ceived much publicity and criticism in response to their decision. Widely read publi-cations like Time and People magazine have recently run articles on the subject because many fear that Ashley’s treat-ment interferes with nature.
But medicine of any sort is an attempt to interfere with na-ture. The public wouldn’t argue against parents treating a child with cancer through radiation and chemo-therapy. People go to great medical lengths to help individuals, and though Ashley’s treatment is unique and relatively unexplored, it is ultimately intended to benefit her. Bedridden individuals are more susceptible to infections, but Ashley’s smaller, lighter size will decrease this chance. By performing a hysterectomy
and removing her breast tis-sue, Ashley will not experience the pain of menstrual cramps, and the possibility of get-ting breast cancer, which runs in her family, is eliminated.
Some have argued that “the Ashley Treatment” to make life more convenient for her parents. But by helping them-selves, Ashley’s parents are im-proving her quality of life. With the mental capacity of a three-month-old, Ashley is complete-ly dependent on her parents for survival and happiness.
The medical world will always challenge society in what is ethically sound, but the heart of this story is a family going to whatever mea-sure they can to love and help their daughter through whatever means they can.
Con: ethically uncertain
After hearing why the parents chose to stunt the growth of their 6-year-old daughter, one can’t help but think, even briefly, if their choice was ethically right. While this form of treatment might be the best choice for Ashley right now, what kind of precedent does it set for other families with disabled children, or even for people with sick children who wish to ease their pain? If doc-tors can hormonally alter the height and weight of a child and remove organs, where does one draw the line? It seems the medical field might be walking a fine line between ethically right and wrong.
Because Ashley has the mental capacity of a three-month infant, we can under-
stand why the parents would want to limit her growth po-tential, in order to be able to care for her like an infant. But removing her uterus and breast tissue seems extreme. One question that could be raised by this treatment is the fact that she was only 6 years old when this surgery occurred. A critic was cited in Time magazine’s feature on “the Ashley Treatment” as saying that mentally dis-abled children develop much slower than children with full mental capabilities. Ash-ley may not have reached the growth potential pro-jected, and she may not have been capable of having men-strual cycles either. While it may seem silly to ask “What If” questions, these ques-
tions could be important in deciding future treatment plans for disabled children.
Many bioethicists have brought up the idea that if it is OK to stunt a child’s growth, will it one day be OK to ampu-tate legs if the child can’t use them because it would make it much easier to care for a child without legs? While this idea sounds preposterous, it shows just how crazy choices could become in the future. In Britain, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gyne-cology has proposed that doctors be allowed to kill the sickest infants in a form of euthanasia. This is already accepted in the Netherlands. While this decision is in no way as extreme as killing sick infants, it is important to note the acceptability society can take if the medical field begins allowing everything to be done to patients for the sake of the quality of life.
Pro: family’s choice
Alex YorkLebensgefahr Better the world, don’t play God
The cutting edge of yester-day’s science is a dull butter knife today.
But with the ever-chang-ing scientific world also comes an ever-chang-ing ethics book.
W h e r e is the line drawn be-tween what is and is not “playing God?”
T o d a y , more than
ever, we are playing the role about God in our decisions of how to deal with controversial issues regard-ing the medical world.
I am no ethics expert nor can I speak for other people. But for me the only per-son I want playing God with my life is God himself.
Two years ago, the nation was torn by Terry Schiavo’s case. Under no circumstances would I want to be involved in a case like that.
I want someone to save my life if possible. I just want it to be saved, not left in medical limbo.
Defining what it means to “play God” is difficult. Is it performing any life-saving operation to prolong or save a life, or is it only when we act in a way that delays death by unnatural means?
I think “playing God” comes at the moment when we make
decisions for someone else instead of letting nature run its course. I’m not referring to procedures like getting braces to straighten teeth that are genetically supposed to be crooked, but keeping some-one clinically alive when their mind is already dead.
When the chances for re-covery are lost, so should our attempts at playing God be given up. Taking chemo therapy or having the best medical treatment is different from knowing when the game is over.
The debate gets even tougher and I won’t begin to draw boundaries between do-
ing what we can to better mankind and overstepping that line.
However , when it comes to me, let God star in the role of Himself. People should not try to fill
in that role.If I’m a vegetable, I don’t
want to be kept around when I am half-dead and using up a hospital room, electricity and money. Besides not being eco-nomical, it’s very greedy.
I can’t understand how keeping someone alive by technicality is beneficial to anyone.
It doesn’t help the vegeta-tive person.
Let them go. Give their or-gans away.
Make it easier for someone else to live, not harder to die.
If I’m a vegetable, I don’t want to be kept around when
I am half-dead and using up a hospital room.
In Your WordsHas the medical world crossed ethical boundaries?
Alyson Aaronsenior elementary education major from Fort Worth
Cloning has overstepped the boundaries because God is the creator, and that is taking creation into human hands.
Justin Simsjunior youth and family ministry major from Houston
I don’t think it has gone too far because you can’t put ethical limits on a society.
Yes. I am against abortion and cloning.
Heather Bruntsjunior social work majorfrom San Antonio
If doctors can hormonally alter the height and weight of a child and remove organs, where
does one draw the line?
Her parents were ethically and legally entrusted to make the decision that would best benefit
their daughter.
Friday, January 19, 2007 Page 7CAMPUS NEWS
n About 230 students graduated in the final graduation of the centennial year on Dec. 15. Don Crisp, Board of Trustees chair, gave the commencement speech.
By NATHAN STRAUSStaff Writer
When Kathy Redman walked across the stage to graduate, there was some-thing different about the mood. It wasn’t so hot in the graduation robe, the room wasn’t filled to capacity, and the tem-perature wasn’t a steamy 90 degrees.
Redman, now an infor-mation specialist working in the registrar’s office, said a few factors can con-tribute to the necessity for a December graduation.
“A lot of times it has to do with how your credits fall,” Redman said. “You may need a few more to be able to graduate.”
About 230 students walked at the commence-ment on Dec. 15. Among them were 30 graduate stu-dents, Redman said.
Kacey Higgins, assistant to the dean, said the num-ber of December graduates was slightly lower than in past years but close to the average. Those who walked got a special treat, she said.
“Don Crisp, retiring chair of the board, gave the com-mencement speech,” Hig-gins said. “It was his last ceremony to officiate.”
Higgins also said despite the program’s lack of mention about the centennial, graduat-ing students were still part of the centennial event.
Redman said the cer-emony lacked some of the pomp and circumstance of the May commencement. As a result, the December cere-mony was slightly shorter.
In addition, Redman said, instead of having separate ceremonies for different col-leges, everyone graduates in one ceremony that is far less crowded than the May graduation.
“It’s cooler too,” Red-man said, “not as hot under those robes.”
The reception afterward, which was handled by the Alumni Association, fea-tured dim lights and spot-lights with snowflakes deco-rating the walls.
A chocolate fountain was provided for refreshments.
“It seems like they had more in the refreshments department this year,” Hig-gins said.
Redman said most univer-sities offer a similar Decem-ber graduation opportunity.
Crisp addresses fall graduates
n KACU will air student essays until Tuesday as part of the ‘This I Believe’ program. Students reflected on their personal beliefs for the 500-word essays.
By MALLORY EDENSPage 2 editor
Throughout January, KACU will be airing This I Believe es-says written and read by seven ACU students.
The This I Believe series is based on the 1950s radio se-ries, which focused on bringing together beliefs.
Revived in 2005, This I Be-lieve has aired essays by the likes of Colin Powell, Bill Gates and Tony Hawk on its news programs Morning Edition and All Things Considered.
The student essays, which also focus on belief, were writ-
ten last semester after a study of religious texts like the Sha-ma and the Nicene Creed in Dr. Kyle Dickson’s English class. Dickson, assistant professor of English, took seven students’ 500-word essays, which were chosen by fellow classmates, to KACU’s General Manager John Best. The essays were then re-corded in the KACU studio be-fore Thanksgiving.
Dickson said the essays al-lowed students to learn to write with a personal goal, to clarify their own beliefs, rather than merely write for a grade.
“These kinds of assignments put writing back into the public sphere as an essential skill of the community leader,” Dick-son said. “First-year students need to learn to listen as much as to speak or write. Meeting
together in writing workshops, they read the work of their peers, listened to essays from the national series and reflected on the strength of our diversity as a community of students, citizens or believers.”
Dickson said he believes it is important to participate in per-sonal reflection as freshmen.
“As they move away from the comfort of home, freshmen are trying on a series of identi-ties or personas looking for the right fit,” Dickson said. “Wheth-er through their music, dress, conversation or even their writ-ing, students are experimenting with a voice that will represent who they are. What we don’t often acknowledge is that, like our music and hairstyles, our beliefs are also being shaped and refined over a lifetime.”
Freshmen who will be fea-tured are Matthew Davis, fi-nance major from Malibu, Calif.; Andrea Haugen, psychol-ogy major from Spring; Daniel Kramar, computer science ma-jor from Grand Rapids, Mich.; Ashley Musick, psychology major from Fairview, Tenn.; Nathan Pickle, physics major from Colorado Springs, Colo. Douglas Walton, sophomore biology major from San Anto-nio and Adellin Randriantari-ka, junior computer science major from Packistani, will be featured as well.
Musick said the hardest part of writing the essays was choos-ing a suitable topic.
“It was very hard for me to separate in my mind the things that I wished I believed from what I actually believe,”
she said. “I believe that your beliefs are necessarily defined by your actions. And as I truly examined how I live my life, it became obvious that I really do believe in being equal without patronizing.”
Students whose essays are not being aired also find the assignment worthwhile.
“I’m just starting to under-stand who I am and what I want to do with my life,” said Katie Barnard, freshman history major from Abilene. “It really helps to start with the most ba-sic part of me, what I believe in. Even though I won’t be sharing my beliefs with a national audi-ence, it was really helpful to get my thoughts and feelings out on paper.”
Dickson said he thinks the aired essays will impart to lis-
teners the many dimensions of ACU students.
“One strength of the NPR series is how its contributors reflect the wide spectrum of beliefs that lead us to action in our everyday lives,” Dickson said. “The essays that will run on KACU reflect the wide spec-trum of our campus from elo-quent reflections on diversity and doubt to music and slum-ber parties.”
Until Tuesday, the essays will run on KACU-FM as news breaks during Morning Edi-tion and afternoons during All Things Considered. If the na-tional This I Believe program chooses any of the submitted essays, they will be aired on NPR nation-wide.
Students share beliefs in KACU radio series this month
n After more than two years of planning, construction on a Lowe’s hardware store near the intersection of I-20 and Highway 351 could begin soon.
By JEREMY PONDStaff Writer
For evidence that Abilene is growing, one needs to look no further than the intersection of I-20 and Highway 351 on the north end of town.
In recent years, the intersec-tion has been the site of the construction of a new Wal-Mart Supercenter, Cracker Barrel, Chili’s and numerous smaller entities. Now more hotels are being constructed, adding to the already significant presence of lodging facilities in the area.
The largest project cur-rently underway is the con-struction of Abilene’s second Lowe’s hardware store. Ken-neth Musgrave, Abilene land-owner and developer, said the project has been in the works
for more than two years.“It’s been a long time com-
ing,” he said. “Now we’re just trying to get the site prepara-tion work finished, and con-struction will begin.”
Musgrave said he was unsure exactly how long the site prepa-ration would take to complete with recent inclement weather proving a significant factor in slowing the work down.
“Once everything’s ready to go, though, I’ve been told actual construction could be com-pleted in as few as 120 days,” Musgrave said.
Musgrave did not hesitate for a moment when thinking about Abilene being able to support a second Lowe’s.
“You’d better believe it,” he said. “People had the same concern when we built the new Wal-Mart up there, and look at it now.”
Musgrave pointed out that the two stores will be serv-ing two different areas, and
people in outlying towns will likely choose to frequent the store closer to them. He also remarked on the current work-load faced by the Lowe’s store on the south side of town.
“The store has more busi-ness than it can handle right now,” he said. “The traffic down there is terrible. The way we see it, the new store will serve to compliment the old one and take some of the pres-sure off.”
Accounting for the time it will take to complete site prep-aration and construction, Mus-grave said he hopes to see the new store open for business sometime in May or June.
Even then, it seems the de-velopment of that area will only be getting started. As it cur-rently stands, a major theatre and several other retailers are already inquiring about pur-chasing land in the vicinity.
n Students and an alumnus use media and marketing strategies to help advertising efforts for a non-profit organization in Chouleteca, Honduras.
By DANIEL JOHNSONSportS Editor
Seven ACU students and one alumnus learned first hand that you don’t have to be a Bible major to do mis-sion work.
The combination of stu-dents from the Department of Journal-ism and Mass Com-municat ion and College of Business Administra-tion spent Jan 3 to 8, s h o o t i n g video, taking pictures and developing a
marketing plan for the non-profit organization Mission Lazarus in Chouleteca, Hon-duras.
“It was really cool,” said sophomore Brian Escho-chea, electronic media ma-jor from San Antonio. “I actually got to learn more over there than I have in any class because of the on hand experience.”
The students used equip-ment from the JMC Depart-ment to document Mission Lazarus’ various ministries helping the Honduran peo-ple. The more than nine hours of video accumulat-ed will be used to create a promotional video while the more than 1,000 photos taken will to create a bro-chure. Both of which will be used to help the organi-zation raise funds for their ministries.
Sponsor Joyce Haley, ad-junct professor of advertis-ing, said the students will finish the video and bro-chure next month and pres-ent the finished product in Chapel on Feb. 27.
“Now we really have to
get busy,” Haley said.Mission Lazarus founder
and ACU alumnus Jarrod Brown will also be there for the Chapel presentation.
In addition to the hands- on experience, a majority of the students received three hours of credit for the trip.
The students paid or raised money to pay the near $1,000 fee for traveling ex-penses.
Haley led the two teams made up of JMC majors while Dr. Monty Lynn, pro-fessor of College of Busi-
ness Administration, led a team of COBA majors. Lynn and the COBA majors helped develop a marketing plan to help raise funds.
“It was kinda like we were indirectly helping the Hon-durans by helping Mission Lazarus,” Eschochea said.
Lynn said students toured all parts of the orga-nizations ministries to get a feel for the work Mission Lazarus did.
Brown started Mission
Lazarus in 1998 after Hurri-cane Mitch damaged Hondu-ras’ economy and landscape. According to the Mission Honduras Web site, the hur-ricane killed 5,273 and in-jured 1,932,482 people.
The hurricane destroyed at least 70 percent of the country’s crops and de-stroyed most of the roads.
Haley said she was most impressed by the hard work of the students and dedica-tion they showed to helping the organization.
“The whole time we were down there, they really worked together beautiful-ly,” Haley said. “You could really tell they really en-joyed being with the Hondu-ran people and were getting a lot out of the experience.”
Haley said she hopes this experience will not be the last for ACU students at Mission Lazarus.
“I would love to see it happen again,” Haley said.
Page 8 Friday, January 19, 2007CAMPUS NEWS
Students aid Honduran ministry through media, marketing
“ I actually got to learn more over there than I have in any class because of the on hand experience. ”
Brian Eschochea, sophomore electronic media major from San Antonio
Friday, January 19, 2007 Page 9FROM THE FRONT PAGE/SPORTS JUMPS
car and swerve off the road even going as slow as I was,” she said. “It probably took close to three hours to go only nine miles at one point. I was just glad to make it back safe.”
Provost Dwayne VanRheen-en announced Sunday eve-ning that the beginning of the spring semester would be de-layed until Wednesday, post-poning classes for a day. Since then, Dr. Jeff Arrington, act-ing dean of students, has been updating the ACU Web site
to keep students informed of what to do in case they are still stranded outside of Abilene, or what students should do if the weather changes.
In addition to students com-ing in for the spring semester, the group of students leaving to study abroad in Oxford, England had to delay their trip for a day because buses were unable to travel to Abilene to pick up the students. The group of students, including professors, Drs. Wayne and Mimi Barnard, dean of spiri-tual formation and dean of residence life education and
housing respectively, met at the Big Purple Parking Lot, be-hind Edwards Residence Hall to leave at 9 a.m. Thursday.
Despite seemingly better weather Thursday, the Na-tional Weather Service has is-sued a severe weather watch for Taylor country Thursday night through Saturday. The NWS has that the weather will transition from rain to sleet to possible snow or ice throughout the weekend, with the possibility of large accumulations.
care — it is then considered a business, and the ban will apply.
Any smoking parapherna-lia, such as ashtrays, must be removed from all public plac-es, and businesses have until Feb. 1 to post signs prohibit-ing smoking and officially in-form their employees of the no-smoking policy.
Santee said despite all the concerns raised, the or-dinance is no different from any other city ordinance.
“This is like any law that our police officers are asked to enforce,” Santee said. “We don’t take away their ability to exercise their discretion.”
Some business owners, however, aren’t as concerned with receiving a citation as they are concerned with los-ing business.
Homer Winkles, owner of the Royal Inn Lounge’s bar, My Place, estimates he has lost 50 to 60 percent of his business.
“People are just floored that they included the bars, the game rooms and the Bin-go halls,” Winkles said.
He would prefer to make his own decisions as a busi-ness owner and said, “If you don’t like smoke, don’t come in.”
Despite his frustration, Winkles said he has been en-forcing the ordinance at his business.
However, he is not giving up.
Winkles began a petition to revise the ordinance 11 days ago and, as of Wednes-day, said he had 26,080 signa-tures. Petitions are available to sign at the Royal Inn, most
tobacco stores and most bars, Winkles said.
The petition must have 65,057 signatures from vot-ers who are registered to vote in Abilene by 5 p.m. on Feb. 19.
If enough voters sign the petition, the City Secretary must verify to the City Coun-cil that all signatures are from voters registered in Abilene.
The Council will then ei-
ther repeal the ordinance or put it to a vote.
If set to a vote, interim city attorney Santee said, the vote must be held on a uniform election date, and enforce-ment will be suspended.
Nicolas Acosta, graduate student in the School of The-ology from Abilene, said he plans to sign the petition.
While not a cigarette smok-er, Acosta said he enjoys smoking an occasional cigar or pipe.
Acosta said he feels the ordinance infringes on the rights of citizens and busi-ness owners, and “seems kind of whiney overall.”
“I’d like to be able to go to a pub and smoke,” Acosta said. Instead, he said he will go to The Leaf.
Others are grateful for the ban.
Appalonia Little, junior nursing major from Houston, said she supports the ban, especially because her father suffered from bronchitis after
major from Edinburgh, agreed that a smoke-free Abilene is a good thing.
“I’m all for it,” Varela said. Varela said she is especial-
ly excited at the prospect of being able to go to a bowling alley and not leave smelling like smoke.
Santee said students who have questions about the ban
should feel free to call the City Attorney’s office.
“We’re taking any opportu-nity that we have to explain things to people and to help them with compliance,” he said. “We want to see it suc-ceed because that’s what the majority of people have asked for.”
Santee said a lesson can be learned from the controversy over the ordinance.
“I understand how people are upset, and I understand that they feel like this was unfair, but I think the un-derlying message to college students is that your vote counts,” Santee said. “This is a great example of why it’s so important to vote.”
The smoking ordinance is available online at www.abile-netx.com. Any questions re-garding the ordinance can be directed to the City Attorney’s office at (325)-676-6251.
Smoking: Some protest with petitionContinued from page 1
“I have a lot of practices as well as a lot of responsi-bilities that come with being on production staff,” said Russell.
Regardless of the time commitment required for involvement in Sing Song,
approximately 900 students participating in the produc-tion continues to prove that Sing Song is important to the student body.
“The most important thing is the students are involved,” said Massey. “I want each student to have fun with the show and learn something
about themselves. I actually enjoy the song a lot more when I know the journey of how they got there. It’s the personal things that they find out about themselves that makes the performance that much stronger.”
University of Montana State-Billings and Missouri West-ern University, the latter be-ing nationally ranked No. 13 in NCAA Division II.
“First game was prob-ably the worst game we’ve played all year,” Lavender said. “The second game we actually played pretty well. I was glad to see that after playing so poorly the first
game that they were able to refocus and play well the second game. I think we did learn a lot from that tourna-ment.”
The Wildcats will now begin a two-game road trip against conference oppo-nents. The first match-up will be against the Univer-sity of West Texas A&M on Saturday at 2 p.m. Then, ACU will go up against Texas Woman’s University
on Wednesday. West Texas A&M has a record of 14-3, and Texas Woman’s has a record of 8-7.
“Once you start confer-ence, there are never any easy games,” Lavender said. “You’ve got to pick up a cou-ple of road wins in confer-ence for sure.”
Forward Lindsey Blau shoots a jumper over Greyhound guard Missy Kirkland Thursday. Blau scored 10 points in the Wildcats’ 72-67 win over Eastern New Mexico. ACU is 2-1 in divisional play and will move on to play West Texas A&M in Canyon Saturday.
school’s best. At least that’s how coach Hood and the team feel.
“As a whole everybody was able to train hard this fall,” pole vaulter Angie Aguilar said. “Being run-ners-up was good, but we know we can do better.”
Aguilar had a full fall
training program, missing the previous fall to knee sur-gery. She said she wants to have good technique in Lub-bock, but also wants to get a good height while there.
”I’d at least like to go over 13,” Aguilar said.
No one is more anxious to see what the 2007 sea-son holds than Hood, but he wants to reign in that ex-
citement and treat the meet like a preseason scrimmage. But he said his main goal doesn’t involve any results.
“The No. 1 goal — stay healthy. That’s the bottom line,” Hood said. “And see some improvement.”
“People are just floored that they included the bars, the games rooms and Bingo halls.”
homer Winkles, owner of the royal inn Lounge’s bar
FridayTRACK & FIELD
ACU at Wes Kittley Invitational, Lubbock
Saturday
WOMEN’S BASKETBALLACU at West Texas A&M, Canyon, 2 p.m.
MEN’S BASKETBALLACU at West Texas A&M, Canyon 4 p.m.
TRACK & FIELDACU at Wes Kittley Invitational, Lubbock
Tuesday
MEN’S BASKETBALLACU vs. Angelo State, 7 p.m.
Wednesday
WOMEN’S BASKETBALLACU at Texas Woman’s, Denton, 6 p.m.
n Home games listed in Italics
SportSFridayPage 10 Friday, January 19, 2007
SCOREBOARD
Standings
Upcoming
INTRAMURAL ROUND-Up
Upcoming
BASKETBALL
Sign up Deadline: Jan. 25Amount per team: $125Season Begins: Jan. 29
WATERBALLTournament will be played on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. View complete schedule on intramural board.
Monday
WOMEN’S WATERBALLKojies vs. Alpha Kai, 7 p.m.Siggies vs. Delta Theta, 8 p.m.
MEN’S WATERBALLFrat 2 vs. Frat 3, 9 p.m.
Tuesday
MEN’S WATERBALLSteak vs. G-2, 6 p.m.Frat 1 vs. GSP 2, 7 p.m.GSP 1 vs. G1, 8 p.m.
n The intramural schedule seen on the Optimist sports page is not final and is subject to change. Any last-minute changes can be viewed on the intramural bulletin board in Moody Coliseum.
n The ACU men’s basketball team dropped its first conference game Thursday after losing to Eastern New Mexico 86-82.
By DANIEL JOHNSONSportS Editor
After being held scoreless in the first half, ACU guard Philip Brooks ral-lied to score a team high 17 points in the second.
But the surge was too little too late as the ACU men’s basketball team dropped its first Lone Star Conference South Division game 86-82 to Eastern New Mexi-co Thursday.
The loss dropped ACU’s conference re-cord to 0-1 and over-all record to 9-6.
ACU is 8-2 at home and will be on the road Saturday against West Texas A&M.
“I thought Eastern just played good,” head coach Jason Copeland said. “They went on a roll and got go-ing.”
The Greyhounds roll began early in the second half when they went on a nine-point rally and pulled ahead 65-53.
“We missed a lot of layups and made bad decisions,” said guard Elmo Williams. “They were just on today, good from the field and the three-point line.”
After slowly chipping away at the ENMU lead, Brooks capped off a come-back late in the second half, draining a three pointer in the middle of the court and later making two free throws to
pull the Wildcats within one at 81-82.ENMU guard Justin Redman-Trotter
responded by sinking his next two at-tempts at the line to extend the Grey-hounds lead.
After a missed free throw by ACU forward Marcos Hubner, an open court block by Norman Alexander gave the Wildcats a chance to pull ahead in the waning seconds of the game.
Williams dribbled down the court but missed the would-be-game-win-ning shot that would have finished the comeback.
Trotter sank two more free throws to extend the game out of reach for the Wildcats.
“It was crazy,” Williams said. “It is the same thing every game, we’re too busy worrying about other things.”
Despite leading by as much as nine throughout the beginning of the first half, ACU’s missed opportunities and turnovers gave ENMU the push they needed to tie the game at 21-21.
ENMU pulled ahead 23-21 and a Norman Alexander three-pointer re-claimed the lead for ACU.
After the two teams traded a one-point lead back, ENMU pulled ahead 39-31 with less than four minutes re-maining in the half.
ACU rallied late in the first half and a Tiago Souza three-pointer cut the ENMU lead to two points.
Despite the inconsistent play of the Wildcats, Williams said he is confident that conference is far from over.
“We’ll steal us one,” Williams said.
ACU drops conference opener
brian schmidt SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER
Guard Courtnie Ross drives past Greyhound forward Donald Young for a layup during ACU’s 86-82 loss on Thursday. Ross recorded 15 points in the Wildcats first game against a Lone Star Conference South opponent. ACU is now 0-1 in conference and 9-6 overall.
brian schmidt SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER
Forward Kristee Davidson banks in a layup over Rikka Lentonen during ACU’s 72-67 win Thursday.
Six Wildcats named Southwest all-region
n Six ACU football players were named to all-Southwest Regional teams after the Wild-cats’ 8-3 season.
First TeamBilly Malone, quarterbackTravis Carpenter, defensive end
Second teamChris Conklin, fullbackNathan Young, offensive linemanCorey Jordan, cornerback
Third teamJerale Badon, wide receiver
Briefs
n Danieal Manning recorded five tackles in the Chicago Bears’ 27-24 overtime playoff victory against the Seattle Seahawks on Jan. 14. The win is the Bears’ first in the playoffs since their 1985 Superbowl winning season and will move them forward to the NFC Championship Game against the New Orleans Saints. In Manning’s rookie season, the Bears have an overall record of 14-3 and are closer to a Super Bowl than they have been in 18 years.
MANNINg TRACKER
cOUrtEsY OF crEativE sErvicEs
n The men’s and women’s track and field team will begin their 2007 indoor track and field season at the Wes Kittley Invitational in Lubbock.
By JARED FIELDSManaging Editor
Despite gloomy weather keeping practices inside, the ACU track team is prepared for its first indoor meet of the season at the Wes Kittley Invitational in Lubbock.
The men’s and women’s teams are coming off runner-up finishes at the indoor na-
tionals last year. Both teams are talented and looking to improve on last year’s indoor fin-ish.
“The hard thing is not getting too e x c i t e d , ” head coach Don Hood said. “I’m kind of anxious to see what happens. There are a lot of question marks; I’m
most anxious about seeing who can really step up when it’s time to do it.”
Both teams begin the sea-son with a deep mix of expe-rienced and new athletes.
The men’s team added depth since last year and retained a lot from their national outdoor champion-ship last spring.
“There’s a confidence about them,” Hood said. “They realize they have a chance to win [national cross country, indoor and outdoor championships] and that puts pressure on them.
That’s a good thing.” Senior Marvin Bien-Aime,
who won the 200-meter dash at the Kittley Invita-tional last year, said he feels more relaxed and confident this year after putting too much pressure on himself last year.
“The main goal I have this year versus last year is just to run a lot better,” Bien-Aime said. “Last year I put way too much pressure on myself.”
However, Bien-Aime said the chemistry and the com-fort that has come after
Hood’s first year has helped him and the team the most compared to last year. Ad-justing to a new coach was challenging, but the tran-sition to this year seems smooth.
“There is a lot more team chemistry,” Bien-Aime said. “Last year was coach Hood’s first year.”
In a program dominated by the success of the men’s program, this year the wom-en’s team may be one of the
Texas Tech indoor meet kicks off ‘07 season
Hood
Track & Field
n The ACU women’s basketball team moved to 2-1 in conference and 11-6 overall after defeating Eastern New Mexico Thursday.
By MICHAEL FREEMANonlinE Editor
The Wildcats won a 72-67 thriller against Eastern New Mexico Univer-sity on Thursday night in Moody Coliseum. ACU shot 89 percent (25 of 28) from the free throw line to as-sure the Wildcats’ first win in nearly two weeks.
“As a team, I think we did awe-some,” center Audrey Maxwell said. “We were prepared for this game. I think we came out strong. We worked great as a team.”
With the victory, the women’s basketball team now owns an over-all record of 11-6 and a 2-1 confer-ence record.
The Wildcats got off to a quick start against the Zias of Eastern New Mexico by hitting 58 percent (11 of 19) of their field goals in the first half. ACU went into halftime with a 42-26 lead. But, the Zias struck back in the second half, and cut the Wild-cat lead to 66-62 with 1:09 left in the game. But, Maxwell hit a clutch short jump shot to stop the Zias surge. Maxwell finished the game with 23 points and a career-high 16 rebounds. Guard Alex Guiton also ended up with 22 points. And, forward Lacey Blau had 10 points. The victory came off of two straight Wildcat losses on the road.
“Right now, we are playing a lit-tle bit inconsistently,” head coach Shawna Lavender said. “At home, we’ve been playing really well. On
the road, we’re not quite as aggres-sive. I think that’s something we need to start working on.”
All of ACU’s losses have been on the road. During the Christmas Break, the Wildcats played a total of 10 games, and only three were home games. Despite having a tough schedule as of late, the Wild-cat women have fought valiantly. On Dec. 9 in a game versus the Uni-versity of Central Oklahoma, Guiton scored 39 points, which was the eighth-best scoring game by a single player in ACU women’s basketball history. Unfortunately, ACU lost 100-91 in overtime.
From Dec. 19 to Dec. 20, the Wildcats traveled to Honolulu, to compete in the Hoop ‘N Surf Tour-nament. There, ACU lost to the Uni-
