A product of the JMC Network of student media at Abilene Christian University.
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n Dining Services intends to create more food choices in the Bean by 2008 after receiving feedback from numerous surveys last semester. By SARA SNELSON STUDENT REPORTER Nothing is official yet, but Dining Services has some big ideas to revise meal plans and renovate the Bean by 2008, which could mean students will be able to use four meal plans in one day and have a better Bean with better food options than ever before. This renovation would include remodeling the Bean by making it bigger and more contemporary and adding new restau- rants and food places around campus. Last semester Dining Ser- vices conducted over 1,000 surveys on what students wanted to see changed on campus regarding the food they eat and the choices they have. 1,100 online surveys, 423 Palm Pilot surveys and seven focus groups were given and offered to stu- dents to help Dining Servic- es figure out what they can change and move towards in the future. From these surveys, Dining Services discovered students really wanted to see some type of sub sandwich restaurant on campus. Quiznos has been put in motion for being on campus next year. There has not been any renovation in almost 15 years, and Dining Services really wants to take this chance to improve the pre- sentation and content of our campus dining and make our dining not a caf- eteria but a restaurant, said Anthony Williams, head of Dining Services. “We will have the best looking restaurant,” Wil- liams said. “We are moving away from the cafeteria style to a restaurant that everyone Department of Journalism and Mass Communication Abilene Christian University Serving the ACU community since 1912 FRIDAY IN THIS ISSUE CAMPUS Dabbling in dominoes More students are needed to participate in Senior Buddies, a program where students play dominoes with residents of Christian Village each Monday evening, page 3 The O PTIMIST February 23, 2007 Vol. 95, No. 39 1 sections, 8 pages www.acuoptimist.com • • Tax relief Laura Blake will offer a workshop for international students wanting help in preparing taxes, page 3 SPORTS Grand opening ACU graduates opened a women’s fashion accessories store in downtown Abilene and featured a 24-hour grand opening, view it online at www.acuoptimist.com Saving the day The women’s basketball team is one win away from securing its spot in the Lonestar Conference preseason tournament, page 8 ARTS A night at the Oscars Find out the meaning and history behind the statue and this year’s top nominees, page 4 ONLINE Open Mic Night Essence of Ebony is sponsoring a night of poetry and fun for students Tuesday, page 3 n Students have until March 16 to apply for the new School of Information Technology, dubbed “iSchool,” and to apply for one of many scholarships. By SHARON RAPELJE STAFF WRITER The deadline for the School of Information Tech- nology and Computing scholarship is March 16. It offers $2,000 a year to full tuition. The scholarship ap- plication requires SAT and ACT scores, transcripts and a 500 word essay on how technology influences life. Applications can be turned in to the admissions and recruiting office in Zell- ner Hall, or it can be filled out online on the ACU iS- chool webpage. The department, which was formed in June of 2006, is at present comprised of 50 to 60 students from what used to be the Com- puter Science Department. The school is actively work- ing on recruiting students for next fall. Timothy Coburn, acting director and professor of statistics in the School of Information Technology and Computing, said in the past students would come to ACU looking for a major involving technical engineering, but it wasn’t offered, so they would look elsewhere. The school and scholarships were put in place to recruit these students. Coburn said the school is “one of the universities strategic initiatives for the 21st century.” The school has many enticing features such as iSchool offers full, $2,000 scholarships n ACU Police Chief Jimmy Ellison says not to be alarmed by a recent surge in car break-ins this month. Surveillance suggests students were not involved. By TAKISHA KNIGHT STUDENT REPORTER Students reported seven car break-ins on campus within the past two weeks, but authorities say there’s no need to panic. “These type of incidents don’t occur on a routine ba- sis here, and very typically, they occur when other inci- dents occur across the city,” said ACU Police Chief Jim- my Ellison. “On a night we had two or three break-ins, we probably had a dozen across the city.” For two weeks since Feb. 9, there has been a sudden increase of reports of bur- glary of motor vehicles. Most break-ins occurred between Feb. 9-11, Ellison said. Ellison said video evi- dence and eyewitness tes- timony suggests students were not involved in the burglaries. There have been three re- ports of break-ins at Univer- sity Park Apartments, two at the north Edwards lot and two at the Barret lot. Students report 7 break-ins n Fresher fruits and vegetables, and vegetarian meal choices are now served in the Bean. Nutrition information for most foods can be accessed online. By YURI SUDO STUDENT REPORTER Vegetarian students can eat fresher veggies, fruits and veggie burgers now on campus. ACU Dining Ser- vice has been renovating the campus menu since last semester by having weekly meetings. Last semester, the ACU dining service renewed the Web site that has the campus food menu and added a new link the students can access to the nutrition information Bean offers Vegan menu Renovations set for cafeteria in ‘08 n A resolution was passed Wednesday to support a more lenient attendance policy during Lectureship so students can benefit from the sessions. By KELSI PEACE FEATURES EDITOR Students desire a larger role in Lectureship, but feel they can’t play it—and there’s a Facebook group to prove it. The new Lectureship stu- dent track offers a venue tailored for student involve- ment, and the 40 student members of the committee that helped organize the 15- hour student track plan to strike a compromise with administration that will al- low more students to attend Lectureship in 2007. Commit- tee member Shelby Coates, senior broadcast journalism major from Clarksville, Tenn., created the Facebook group “Yeah- I’d go to Lectureship if my Teachers would let me out of Class” as a means to hear from the student body, and as of Thursday morning, the group had 273 members. SA tackles Lectureship policies BRIAN SCHMIDT SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER Julie Simpson, freshman undeclared major from Lubbock, and Emily Flatt, freshman Spanish major from Midland, fly kites at the Larry “Satch” Sanders Intramural fields on Thursday afternoon. Simpson said they were amazed people didn’t fly kites more often on nice days because they bought theirs for only $1 at Wal-Mart. EMILY SMITH CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER Allison Mitchell, sophomore journalism major from Plano, scans the salad bar for tasty toppings in the Bean on Thursday at lunch. Flying high in the sky See THEFT page 5 See SA page 5 See DINING page 5 See VEGAN page 5 n The finalists for the position of dean of the College of Arts and Sciences will be on campus during the next month to interview with department chairs. By MALLORY SCHLABACH EDITOR IN CHIEF Five potential candidates for the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences position will begin meeting with various groups on campus during the next month. Each candidate will spend two days in Abilene meeting with the department chairs, faculty, staff in the dean’s office, Pro- vost Dwayne VanRheenen and Dr. Royce Money, president of the university, along with the search committee, who nar- rowed the finalists down. The five were selected out of a healthy pool, said Dr. Car- ley Dodd, chair of the search Dean search narrowed to 5 n Dr. Angi Brenton, University of Arkansas n Dr. Jeanine Varner, Oklahoma Christian University n Dr. Greg Powell, professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry n Dr. Nancy Shankle, chair of the English Department n Dr. Foy Mills, chair of the Department of Agriculture and Environment FINALISTS See SEARCH page 5 See SCHOLARSHIPS page 5 Weekend play The softball team will play its final preseason games this weekend at Wells Field against Incarnate Word and Central Oklahoma, page 8
Transcript
n Dining Services intends to create more food choices in the Bean by 2008 after receiving feedback from numerous surveys last semester.
By SARA SNELSONStudent RepoRteR
Nothing is official yet, but Dining Services has some big ideas to revise meal plans and renovate the Bean by 2008, which could mean students will be able to use four meal plans in one day and have a better Bean with better food options than ever before.
This renovation would include remodeling the Bean by making it bigger and more contemporary and adding new restau-rants and food places around campus.
Last semester Dining Ser-vices conducted over 1,000 surveys on what students wanted to see changed on campus regarding the food they eat and the choices they have. 1,100 online surveys, 423 Palm Pilot surveys and seven focus groups were given and offered to stu-dents to help Dining Servic-es figure out what they can change and move towards in the future. From these surveys, Dining Services discovered students really wanted to see some type of sub sandwich restaurant on campus. Quiznos has been put in motion for being on campus next year.
There has not been any renovation in almost 15
years, and Dining Services really wants to take this chance to improve the pre-sentation and content of our campus dining and make our dining not a caf-eteria but a restaurant, said Anthony Williams, head of Dining Services.
“We will have the best looking restaurant,” Wil-liams said. “We are moving away from the cafeteria style to a restaurant that everyone
Department of Journalism and Mass Communication Abilene Christian University Serving the ACU community since 1912
FRIDAY
IN THIS ISSUE
CAMPUS
Dabbling in dominoesMore students are needed to participate in Senior Buddies, a program where students play dominoes with residents of Christian Village each Monday evening, page 3
Tax reliefLaura Blake will offer a workshop for international students wanting help in preparing taxes, page 3
SPORTS
Grand openingACU graduates opened a women’s fashion accessories store in downtown Abilene and featured a 24-hour grand opening, view it online at www.acuoptimist.com
Saving the dayThe women’s basketball team is one win away from securing its spot in the Lonestar Conference preseason tournament, page 8
ARTS
A night at the OscarsFind out the meaning and history behind the statue and this year’s top nominees, page 4
ONLINE
Open Mic NightEssence of Ebony is sponsoring a night of poetry and fun for students Tuesday, page 3
n Students have until March 16 to apply for the new School of Information Technology, dubbed “iSchool,” and to apply for one of many scholarships.
By SHARON RAPELJEStaff WRiteR
The deadline for the School of Information Tech-nology and Computing scholarship is March 16. It offers $2,000 a year to full tuition. The scholarship ap-plication requires SAT and ACT scores, transcripts and a 500 word essay on how technology influences life.
Applications can be turned in to the admissions and recruiting office in Zell-ner Hall, or it can be filled out online on the ACU iS-chool webpage.
The department, which was formed in June of 2006, is at present comprised
of 50 to 60 students from what used to be the Com-puter Science Department. The school is actively work-ing on recruiting students for next fall.
Timothy Coburn, acting director and professor of statistics in the School of Information Technology and Computing, said in the past students would come to ACU looking for a major involving technical engineering, but it wasn’t offered, so they would look elsewhere. The school and scholarships were put in place to recruit these students.
Coburn said the school is “one of the universities strategic initiatives for the 21st century.”
The school has many enticing features such as
iSchool offers full, $2,000 scholarships
n ACU Police Chief Jimmy Ellison says not to be alarmed by a recent surge in car break-ins this month. Surveillance suggests students were not involved.
By TAKISHA KNIGHTStudent RepoRteR
Students reported seven car break-ins on campus within the past two weeks, but authorities say there’s no need to panic.
“These type of incidents don’t occur on a routine ba-sis here, and very typically, they occur when other inci-dents occur across the city,” said ACU Police Chief Jim-my Ellison. “On a night we had two or three break-ins, we probably had a dozen across the city.”
For two weeks since Feb. 9, there has been a sudden increase of reports of bur-glary of motor vehicles. Most
break-ins occurred between Feb. 9-11, Ellison said.
Ellison said video evi-dence and eyewitness tes-timony suggests students were not involved in the burglaries.
There have been three re-ports of break-ins at Univer-sity Park Apartments, two at the north Edwards lot and two at the Barret lot.
Students report 7 break-ins
n Fresher fruits and vegetables, and vegetarian meal choices are now served in the Bean. Nutrition information for most foods can be accessed online.
By YURI SUDOStudent RepoRteR
Vegetarian students can eat fresher veggies, fruits and veggie burgers now on campus. ACU Dining Ser-vice has been renovating the campus menu since last semester by having weekly meetings.
Last semester, the ACU dining service renewed the Web site that has the campus food menu and added a new link the students can access to the nutrition information
Bean offers Vegan menu
Renovations set for cafeteria in ‘08
n A resolution was passed Wednesday to support a more lenient attendance policy during Lectureship so students can benefit from the sessions.
By KELSI PEACEfeatuReS editoR
Students desire a larger role in Lectureship, but feel they can’t play it—and there’s
a Facebook group to prove it. The new Lectureship stu-
dent track offers a venue tailored for student involve-ment, and the 40 student members of the committee that helped organize the 15-hour student track plan to strike a compromise with administration that will al-low more students to attend Lectureship in 2007. Commit-
tee member Shelby Coates, senior broadcast journalism major from Clarksville, Tenn., created the Facebook group “Yeah- I’d go to Lectureship if my Teachers would let me out of Class” as a means to hear from the student body, and as of Thursday morning, the group had 273 members.
SA tackles Lectureship policies
brian schmidt SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER
Julie Simpson, freshman undeclared major from Lubbock, and Emily Flatt, freshman Spanish major from Midland, fly kites at the Larry “Satch” Sanders Intramural fields on Thursday afternoon. Simpson said they were amazed people didn’t fly kites more often on nice days because they bought theirs for only $1 at Wal-Mart.
EmiLY smith CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER
Allison Mitchell, sophomore journalism major from Plano, scans the salad bar for tasty toppings in the Bean on Thursday at lunch. Flying high in the sky
See THEFT page 5
See SA page 5
See DINING page 5
See VEGAN page 5
n The finalists for the position of dean of the College of Arts and Sciences will be on campus during the next month to interview with department chairs.
By MALLORY SCHLABACHeditoR in Chief
Five potential candidates for the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences position will begin meeting with various groups on campus during the next month.
Each candidate will spend two days in Abilene meeting with the department chairs, faculty, staff in the dean’s office, Pro-vost Dwayne VanRheenen and Dr. Royce Money, president of the university, along with the search committee, who nar-rowed the finalists down.
The five were selected out of a healthy pool, said Dr. Car-ley Dodd, chair of the search
Dean search narrowed to 5n Dr. Angi Brenton, University of Arkansas
n Dr. Jeanine Varner, Oklahoma Christian University
n Dr. Greg Powell, professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry
n Dr. Nancy Shankle, chair of the English Department
n Dr. Foy Mills, chair of the Department of Agriculture and Environment
FINALISTS
See SEARCH page 5
See SCHOLARSHIPS page 5
Weekend playThe softball team will play its final preseason games this weekend at Wells Field against Incarnate Word and Central Oklahoma, page 8
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, February 23, 2007
Announcements Volunteer Opportunities
7 p.m.Sundaes on Mondays - Free ice cream sundaes and discussion in the Living Room. This month`s topic: Is the United States ready for a Black President?
3 p.m.The softball team plays Incarnate Word at the Crutcher Scott Field.
7 p.m.The softball team plays Central Oklahoma at the Crutcher Scott Field.
7 p.m.Senior Art Show, “One of These Things is Not Like the Others,” at the Shore Gallery.
8 p.m.‘The Miracle Worker,’ the dramatic story of Helen Keller’s struggle to communicate, is performed in Fulks Theatre. Tickets are $12.
8 p.m.ACU Bands’ Winter Concert will be performed in Cullen Auditorium by the ACU Concert Band and Wind Ensemble.
1 p.m. The softball team plays Central Oklahoma at the Crutcher Scott Field.
2 p.m.Matinee of ‘The Miracle Worker’ in Fulks Theatre with sign language interpreters for the deaf community. After the performance, members of the cast and crew will host a talkback that will be mediated by the interpreters. Area high school students and other groups are welcome. Tickets should be reserved ahead of time and are $5 for anyone associated with the deaf community or for groups of 10 or more.
3 p.m.The softball team plays Incarnate Word at the Crutcher Scott Field.
8 p.m.‘The Miracle Worker’ is performed in Fulks Theatre. Tickets are $12.
7:30 p.m.Winter Abilene Collegiate Orchestra Concert at First Baptist Church in Abilene. The ACU Orchestra will perform with orchestras from Hardin-Simmons and McMurry and will be directed by Dr. Peter Isaacson, professor of violin studies at Hardin-Simmons University.
26 Monday23 Friday 24 Saturday 27 Tuesday
Barret LLC proposals are due before 5 p.m. Friday in the Residence Life Education and Housing offi ce.
A virtual reality alcohol awareness program will be avail-able on campus from 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. March 5. This is a na-tional touring High Impact Alcohol Awareness Program that is de-signed to heighten awareness of the dangers of intoxication. It in-volves a motion-based simulator that can accommodate up to 12 passengers at a time. The mod-ule is inside a semi-truck which will be parked on campus. Us-ing a multimedia film taken from a first person perspective, riders will experience the sensations of being at a party where drinking is taking place and of driving drunk afterward. Each ride lasts about five minutes.
The graduate program in speech and language pathol-ogy is applying for reaccreditation from the Council on Academic Ac-creditation (CAA) of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Asso-ciation (ASHA). In accordance with the CAA policy on Public Comment, the program invites interested par-ties to attend a meeting on March 1 at 4:30 p.m. in Room 117 of the
Don Morris building. This meeting will be facilitated by CAA site visi-tors to address how the program is meeting the standards for ac-creditation. A copy of the stan-dards and/or the CAA`s Policy on Public Comment may be obtained by contacting the Accreditation Offi ce at ASHA, 10801 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland, 20852, calling ASHA`s Action Center at 1-800-498-2071 or accessing the documents on ASHA`s Web site at http://asha.org/about/creden-tialing/accreditation/. Additional information regarding the time and location of this meeting may be ob-tained by calling Dr. Brenda Bender, program director, at (325) 674-2074.
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].
ATTENTION ALL MAJORS! Study while traveling this summer! Programs offered in Australia, Eng-land, Scotland, Ireland, Jamaica and more! Scholarships are available. The deadline to sign up is Feb. 28. See Ed Timmerman for more info or e-mail him at [email protected].
CreditedChapelsto date:
CreditedChapelsremaining:
Chapel Checkup28 44
Big A Club of City Light Com-munity Ministries has an urgent need for volunteers to ride buses and vans with elementary-age children and to help with Bible studies. This takes place on Wednesdays from 4:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Contact the Vol-unteer Service-Learning Center in the Bean Sprout for more information.
Meals on Wheels needs volun-teers to deliver meals to seniors and adults with disabilities. This usually takes about an hour, and students can have one day of Chapel per week ex-cused for this service. Contact the Vol-unteer Service-Learning Center in the Bean Sprout for more information.
Fannin Elementary needs vol-unteers until the end of February to tutor fourth grade students in read-ing, writing and math in order to prepare the students for TAKS test-ing. Call to set up an appointment. For more information, contact Ro-salinda Walker at (325) 677-8085.
McKenzee Cheng, an interna-tional student, would like a female volunteer to help her pronounce vo-cabulary for her sociology class on Monday and/or Tuesday afternoons. If interested, contact McKenzee at (325) 669-7800 or at [email protected].
Opportunity to Interact with Older Adults: On March 1, an old-er adult aging conference, “Live Long & Love It,” will be held in the Abilene Civic Center. Students are needed to assist older adults at different times in the morning and at noon. Contact the Volunteer Service-Learning Center in the Bean Sprout for more information.
Girl Scout Troop #1550 needs young women who want to make a difference in young girls’ lives through Girl Scouting. The girls are from un-
derprivileged homes, and they need positive Christian infl uences in their lives. Volunteers will help conduct meetings, including arts and crafts. Help is needed every Thursday from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. until May. For more information, contact Diltzie An-drews at (325) 673-6379.
Big Brothers, Big Sisters is looking for young women will-ing to volunteer time and energy mentoring in a program called Y-teens. Through activities and service projects, this program will empower young girls with knowl-edge about life skills and will build self-confi dence while creating an atmosphere for learning and emo-tional growth. Help is needed every Thursday from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Franklin Middle School and Lincoln Middle School. For more informa-tion, contact Erin McMullen or MC Jennings at (325) 677-7839.
Day Nursery of Abilene needs help setting up for their annual Mexi-can dinner, prepare and serve food and clean up. The dinner will be held on March 24 at the Abilene High School cafeteria. Help is requested from noon to 10 p.m. For more information, con-tact Pat Peck at (325) 670-0002.
The Betty Hardwick Center needs help in their offi ce answering phones, fi ling, copying and running er-rands. For more information, contact the Volunteer Service-Learning Center in the Bean Sprout.
The Christian Service Center needs help maintaining its furniture room. This might include picking up donated items or delivering furni-ture. It is helpful to have a pickup truck. For more information, con-tact the Volunteer Service-Learning Center in the Bean Sprout.
ACU Police Tip of the WeekAs warmer weather arrives and you head outdoors for exercise, remem-ber to use well lighted areas such as the Lunsford Foundation Trail, never walk/jog alone, and always carry a cell phone.
Monday 02/12/2007 10:39 a.m. Jumpstart vehicle at 800 Harwell 11 a.m. Unlocked room at Sher-rod Apartments 4:45 p.m. Unlocked vehicle at University Park Lot 7:43 p.m. Unlocked room at Foster Science Building 9:09 p.m. Burglary report at Sing Song Warehouse on 1600 Treadaway
Tuesday 02/13/2007 3:30 a.m. Burglar alarm at Copy Stop, set off by cleaning crew 4 a.m. Gave access to McKinzie for student locked out 12 p.m. Unlocked vehicle in Bible Lot 5:20 p.m. Burglar alarm at Physical Resources, alarm reset 5:40 p.m. Assisted driver with dis-abled vehicle in University Church Lot
Wednesday 02/14/2007 4:14 a.m. Refueled vehicle 6:30 a.m. Unlocked Campus Center 8:40 a.m. Unlocked Bible Building 9:50 a.m. Jumpstart vehicle at Sewell Lot 2 p.m. Assisted student with moving vehicle out of the road at University Park Lot 5:50 p.m. Jumpstart vehicle at Sikes Lot 6:30 p.m. Jumpstart vehicle at Sikes Lot again 7:20 p.m. Unlocked vehicle at Sikes Lot 11 p.m. Unlocked room at Bible Building for Sing Song practice
Thursday 02/15/2007 1:30 a.m. Gave access to Bible Building to retrieve lost item 6:25 a.m. Report of suspicious subject on Campus Center Road, contacted worker all okay 8:35 a.m. Unlocked room at Don Morris Center 2:12 p.m. Refueled vehicle 2:15 p.m. Vehicle accident in Uni-versity Park Lot2:45 p.m. Checked in gun to safe-keeping for student 3:15 p.m. Jumpstart vehicle at Judge Ely and Teague Circle 3:35 pm Unlocked vehicle at CVS Pharmacy on EN 10th & Judge Ely 5:12 p.m. Gave access to room at Bible Building 5:41 p.m. Unlocked Moody & Gibson 6:55 p.m. Unlocked vehicle at 1633 Cedar Crest 7 p.m. Gave access to Learning Center at the Library 7:15 p.m. Unlocked vehicle at University Church Lot 9:30 p.m. Parking violation at Nelson Lot 9:45 p.m. Jumpstart vehicle at Gardner Lot
Friday 02/16/2007 12:20 a.m. Refueled vehicle 6:30 a.m. Unlocked Bible Building 11:45 a.m. Jumpstart vehicle at 1000 Washington 1:15 p.m. Jumpstart vehicle at Morris Parking Lot 1:30 p.m. Escorted ex-student to University Park Apartments 3 p.m. Disturbance with subject at University Park Apartments. One subject was arrested and trans-ported to Taylor County Jail 4:20 p.m. Unlocked vehicle at Bennett Gym 6:22 p.m. Unlocked vehicle at 2300 Campus Court 8 p.m. Fire alarm at Nelson Hall, all okay no fi re 8:30 p.m. Report of smell of smoke at WPAC, no fi re discovered, alarm reset 8:45 p.m. Locked up main campus 11:31 p.m. Report of smell at air conditioner system at WPAC, Phys-ical Resources will handle
Saturday 02/17/2007 1 a.m. Placed barricades at Big Purple and Moody Lot 2:30 a.m. Attempted to contact owners of vehicle to be moved at Big Purple Lot 6:38 a.m. Gave access to Business Building for Aramark 7:12 a.m. Unlocked Chapel on the Hill 7:23 a.m. Unlocked Business Building 7:28 a.m. Unlocked Campus Center 7:58 a.m. Unlocked Gibson 1:02 p.m. Burglary of Motor Vehicle at University Park Lot 8:30 p.m. Assisted Abilene Police with search of wanted subject off campus 9 p.m. Report of a prowler at 600 EN 16th, checked area unable to locate
Sunday 02/18/2007 12:39 a.m. Noise violation at 1900 Cedar Crest, contacted residents, party was over 2:37 a.m. Traffi c stop at EN 16th & Washington 3 a.m. Refueled vehicle 11:53 a.m. Alarm at Physical Resources, accidentally set off, alarm reset 2:06 p.m. Report of subjects throw-ing rocks in the lake, contacted juveniles and mother, all okay 5:26 p.m. Random patrol at The Grove Apts. reference to theft 6:42 p.m. Fire alarm at Morris Hall, false alarm, alarm reset 8:25 p.m. Parking violations on Campus Center Road 9:05 p.m. Parking violation at EN 16th & Campus Court11:30 p.m. Report of two subjects soliciting money, subject were gone upon arrival
Police LogEdited for space
Friday, February 23, 2007 Page 3CAMPUS NEWS
n One of the inductees of Alpha Chi national honor’s society, Carolle Ranaivoarivelo from Madagascar, will travel to San Antonio to make a speech at the national convention.
By CHRIS HANSENStudent RepoRteR
Alpha Chi’s honor soci-ety hosted an induction cer-emony to honor the top 10 percent of upperclassmen Thursday. The society hon-ors students who are leaders
and among the top of their class academically.
About 40 students were inducted into Alpha Chi 10 years ago, and the number of inductees has climbed over 70 in recent years. The members can participate in regional and national conventions, which give them a chance to show off their accomplishments.
Carolle Ranaivoarivelo, junior intercultural commu-nication major and a first
time inductee, will travel to San Antonio March 16-19 for the national convention to read “A Meaningful Life,” an autobiographical story about her transition from Madagascar to America.
“[The convention] gives the students a real sense of pro-fessional identify and develop-ment,” said Dr. Carley Dodd, professor of communication.
Ranaivoarivelo’s story tracks her transition and
how her dying mother re-peatedly requested she ap-ply for the scholarship to come to America.
“It’s a spiritual journey,” Ranaivoarivelo said. “I had good moral principles and values, but I wasn’t a Chris-tian. I came here and I thought I would be happy with all the success and accomplishments I had made, but I wasn’t. I was missing something.”
Ranaivoarivelo said the
honor of being selected by her country to come to America was similar to the honor she received of being selected to read her paper at the Alpha Chi convention.
“It’s the same surprises,” Ra-naivoarivelo said.
After an interview with the Madagascar minister of education, Ranaivoarivelo said she was asked to sign a contract and told she would be leaving for America in a
month. Last week Dr. Dodd told Ranaivoarivelo she was eligible for Alpha Chi and asked her if she was willing to read her story at the national convention in a month.
“I don’t even know about [Alpha Chi],” Ranaivoarivelo said. “I just know it’s a bless-ing. I want to risk opening the doors of opportunity.”
Student to speak at Alpha Chi national honor convention
n Students can share their thoughts and talents and enjoy refreshments at Open Mic Night, an Essence of Ebony event, Tuesday.
By EMILY SMITHChief photogRapheR
Essence of Ebony will open the microphone for stu-dents interested in express-ing themselves Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the Living Room of the Campus Center.
Singing, dancing and poet-ry readings have been show-cased in past events, and students are encouraged to share other talents.
“It’s going to be a coffee-shop kind of feel,” said Anna Peters, sophomore children’s ministry and elementary ed-ucation double major from Houston and secretary for Essence of Ebony.
People sit on pillows on the
floor, relax and enjoy the tal-ents of others, she said.
“We got such a big response from the two we had last se-mester that people wanted to see more of them,” Peters said.
Essence of Ebony now has an Open Mic Night on the last Tuesday of every month, with a big one at the end of the semester.
The Open Mic night was for-merly called “Apollo Night.”
Kenneth Dinkins, sopho-more youth and family minis-try major from Toledo, Ohio, frequents the gatherings and puts his freestyle raps on dis-play during Open Mic Night.
“I rap mostly about life or whatever is on my mind,” Dinkins said.
The raps are spontaneous, he said. He goes from one thought to another and con-nects them to make a coherent rap. In the past, Dinkins said
he’s rapped about friends, family and struggles he’s had. He said he enjoys going to the Open Mic Night because he’s able to put a positive thought into his listener’s heads.
“People need a way to ex-press themselves,” Dinkins said. “I believe that everyone has a story to tell.”
Erica Ray, senior social work major from Arlington and Essence of Ebony presi-dent, said the invitation to come to Open Mic Night is campus-wide.
“I encourage everyone to come show off their talents, and if they are not perform-ing, to stay and watch every-one else,” she said.
Ray said refreshments such as cake, cookies, apple cider and punch will be provided.
Open Mic Night to show off talent
n International students can attend a workshop to learn how to file tax return forms Friday. Not filing the tax return form may affect applying for permanent residency.
By BLESSED MATAIStudent RepoRteR
A workshop to help interna-tional students file tax returns forms will take place Friday.
Laura Blake, director of in-ternational student services, and Sue Gibson, specialists and administrative coordinator for the Center of International and Intercultural Education, will help students at the workshop.
“A lot of students on cam-pus receive the W-2 forms and need to fill it out, but they don’t know what to do.” Blake said. “I am not an accountant, but I will help them with the basic information.”
Not filing the tax return form may affect students if they try to apply for permanent residency, Blake said.
Last year about 20 students got help from the international students’ office, and this year Blake expects more students to show up for the workshop.
Patrick Andrianony, ju-nior marketing major from
Antananarivo, Madagascar, had to seek help from a friend who is an accountant last year to do his taxes.
“As international students, I think we should have more workshops to better under-stand the tax system,” Andri-anony said. “We don’t know anything. We just know that we’re suppose to get some money back, but most of the time we don’t get it.”
The workshop will take place in Hilton Room from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
n The organization Senior Buddies seeks more students to voluntarily spend time with residents of a retirement living center, Christian Village of Abilene, on Mondays.
By ANDREA LUCADOStudent RepoRteR
More students are wanted to volunteer for an ACU organi-zation designed to spend time with the elderly. Senior Bud-dies, a small group of students that spends time at Christian Village of Abilene, Inc., an in-dependent retirement living center near ACU, has been an official organization for years, but many students are un-aware of its existence.
Every Monday, Senior Bud-dies plays dominos with the residents at Christian Village from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., and although the attendance of ACU students has increased this semester, the group could use a few more volunteers.
Nathan McKenzie, junior political science major from Albuquerque, N.M., and presi-dent of Senior Buddies, said there were times last semester when he was the only one to show up on Monday night.
McKenzie became president of Senior Buddies this semes-ter and already has plans to make the group more known through publicity, encourag-
ing students to participate and talking to Students’ Associa-tion sometime this month.
McKenzie said the num-ber of students fluctuates from three to 12 every week, and even though the space at Christian Village does not allow for a very large group, he would still like more people to show up.
“It’s good to see life through another person’s eyes,” McK-enzie said. Spending time at Christian Village allows for students to do this and learn from the residents.
Ben DuBose, management major from Ft. Worth, has been attending Senior Bud-dies for six weeks and said he brings a couple of friends with him each time but would like to see more ACU students come consistently.
He said playing games with the residents on Mon-day nights is one of his fa-vorite parts of his week, and the residents have taught him a lot about loving and being in community.
Senior Buddies has been around for a long time but has only been called Senior Buddies for about four and a half years.
Linda Mitchell, administra-tor of Christian Village, said the ACU women’s social club
Ko Jo Kai started the organi-zation as many as 15 years ago as an adopt-a-grandpar-ent-type group. It has since formed into and changed its name to Senior Buddies.
Mitchell said Senior Buddies is the only consistent group from the Abilene community that visits Christian Village.
“It’s a natural way to pro-mote inter-generational rela-tionships,” Mitchell said.
Mitchell said this has been a successful event because the environment on Monday nights is relaxed, and the resi-dents are not forced to form friendships with the students outside of game night unless they want to, and some do.
Mitchell said some stu-dents have even returned after they graduated to visit a Christian Village resident they formed a friendship with through Senior Buddies.
Mitchell said Christian Village has tried other ac-tivities before with stu-dents, but Senior Buddies has lasted the longest.
“Student have ideas,” Mitch-ell said. “We try them. Some-times we hit a real winner.”
There is also a 3 p.m. wor-ship service on Sundays.
Senior Buddies seeks volunteers
brian schmidt SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER
Kelli Jutras, freshman nursing major from Colleyville, reads a book on one of the rocks of the trailhead marker in front of Nelson Residence Hall on Thursday.
Leonardo DiCaprio: Blood DiamondRyan Gosling: Half NelsonPeter O’Toole: Venus Will Smith: The Pursuit of Happyness Forest Whitaker: The Last King of Scotland
Penélope Cruz: VolverJudi Dench: Notes of a Scan-dal Helen Mirren: The Queen Meryl Streep: The Devil Wears Prada Kate Winslet: Little Children
BabelThe DepartedLetters From Iwo JimaLittle Miss SunshineThe Queen
Offi cial name of statuette: “Academy Award of Merit”
Date of birth: 1929
Weight and Height: 13.5 inches tall, 8.5 pounds
Creators: Designed by Cedric Gibbons, chief art director at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and sculpted by artist George Stanley
Nickname: No one is sure how the statuette received its nickname, however, the most recognized story involves Academy Librarian, Margaret Herrick. Herrick commented that the statuette looked similar to her Uncle Oscar and the name stuck with the rest of the Academy staff. It wasn’t until 1939 when the Academy offi cially began using the name Oscar.
The statuette depicts a knight holding a sword standing over a movie reel. Each spoke of the movie reel signifi es fi ve original categories (actors, directors, producers, technicians and writers).
The statuette has only been altered once since 1929. The only time was in 1945 when the pedestal was made higher.
The casting process takes two to three weeks for 50 statuettes.
February 23, 2007Page 4
GETTING TO KNOW OSCAR
n Nicolas Cage gives Ghost Rider a witty persona, but lack of script leaves this movie in the dust from other successful comic book adaptations.
By COLE WILLIAMSCARTOONIST
Nicolas Cage has been try-ing to get the story of Ghost Rider to the screen for several years. Unfortunately, with the end result being what it is, he probably should have waited a little longer to get the great movie this mediocre one has become.
Cage plays Johnny Blaze, stunt-cycle daredevil star who years ago made a deal with the devil Mephisto (a de-licious Peter Fonda) to save his dad’s life from cancer. The deal didn’t go exactly as he hoped, as deals with the devil are wont to do. Now, the devil has come collecting on Blaze, using him to stop his renegade son Blackheart (Wes Bentley) from gaining power and seizing control of hell. To do it, Blaze is bonded with a spirit of vengeance and turned into a skeletal, leather-clad, motorcycle-riding, flam-ing-skulled bounty hunter for hell: the Ghost Rider.
With a premise like that, Ghost Rider should have been a thrilling, at times scary, always exciting movie as imaginative and memorable as the hero’s look. Unfortu-nately that’s not the case, as a number of factors collude to douse the Rider’s flame.
One problem is the script. Even with the exciting material inherent to the story, it does nothing creative with them. Johnny’s search for a second chance is written far too sim-ply, the main plot points of the story are also spelled out for the audience and most of the dialogue is pretty weak.
But the movie’s main prob-lem is really just how cheesy it can be. It’s hard to find things as goofy as some of the ele-ments in Ghost Rider outside of bad cartoons and parodies.
When Mephisto shows up to make his deal, there’s thun-der and lightning in the back-ground. When the demonic bad guys talk, they all have that old, clichéd “scary” echo effect added to their voices. And some of the tongue-in-cheek jokes of the movie take away from the awe of the movie.
Ghost Rider may not be the most serious of subject mat-ter, even from a superhero standpoint, but movies like Constantine and Hellboy have shown that similar material can be handled seriously and still be fun and exciting
But even with the glaring fault of the film’s tone, there are also a number of things that keep the movie from wrecking.
The first is the main char-acter’s appearance. A leather-clad, flaming-skulled biker atop a bony-metal motorcycle with
flaming wheels — things don’t come much cooler than that.
The other big factor that salvages most of the movie is the performances.
Cage gives it his all here, pouring pathos and person-ality into Johnny and mostly managing to make the best of the script. It’s just too bad that when he transforms into the Rider, as cool as he looks, there isn’t a lot of that same personality left.
As the devil, you can hardly get better than Peter Fonda, who twirls around his evil plans enjoyably without chewing the scenery.
Also making the most of it, and nailing down a tone the rest of the movie should’ve had, is Sam Elliot as a myste-rious stranger (or not so mys-terious, since you see who he is coming a mile away) who aids and informs Johnny and also gets saddled with a lot of expository dialogue that, with his gravely voice, he does wonders with.
Unfortunately the rest of the main cast doesn’t fair as
well. Mendes’ is flat and bor-ing, and her main contribu-tion really seems to be having a half-open blouse.
As Blackheart, Wes Bent-ley chews the scenery and fails to inspire an ounce of threat. He and his fallen angel henchmen look more like they’re about to form a goth band rather than take control of hell.
Luckily there are more things the movie has going for it. It’s not set in New York like every other super-hero movie but, rather, out here in Texas. The effects, while not great, are pretty competent, and there’s some startling and compelling im-agery at times.
Along with Blaze’s terrify-ing transformation (something Bruce Banner would wince at), Ghost Rider certainly isn’t ter-rible; it just misses the mark.
Some probably aren’t sur-prised at how Ghost Riderturned out, considering its comic book origins. And while they should consider that movies such as Road to Per-dition, V for Vendetta and Sin City were also based on com-ics, they should also consider that movies based on super-hero comics have been done better and more complexly as in Batman Begins, the Spider-Man series and Hulk (which, I love; sue me). But, it’s also been done worse as in the lackluster X-Men 3 and, of course, Batman and Robin.
Ghost Rider falls in with such company as the Fantas-tic Four — there’s a lot that’s good, but there’s a bit more that’s bad. The resulting mov-ie just doesn’t live up to its source material.
‘Ghost Rider’ falls short from comic
COURTESY OF ROTTENTOMATOES.COM
Nicolas Cage plays Johnny Blaze, a stunt motorcyclist who fi nds himself becoming the devil’s bounty hunter.
The 79th Academy Awards will be aired at 7 p.m. Sunday on ABC (ACU cable Channel Four)
pages. Also, the Bean made a new section called “Vegan Bar” for people who are vegetarians and who like to have more veg-gies. The “Vegan Bar” offers fried rice, pasta or fresh fruits each day.
The Bean Sprout restored the veggie burger this semester.
“We are not finished,” said Andre Allen, interim food ser-vice director. “We like feedback.
It makes the job easier for us.”Most of the new menus
are from student requests. Allen said the exact number of vegetarian students is not known; however, it is a decent number. Using fresh products is less expensive than buying pre-made foods.
Coates, senior senator, and fellow committee member Brandon Smith, junior sena-tor and political science major from Keller, proposed a resolu-tion at Wednesday’s SA meet-ing “requesting faculty to allow students more opportunity to attend lectureship events.” Congress unanimously passed the resolution, and Smith said, the next step is to present the case to the Faculty Senate.
“We’re not coming in and saying, ‘We want all of our classes canceled,’” Coates said.
The idea behind the request is essentially to request a more lenient attendance policy dur-ing Lectureship to encourage student involvement — wheth-er that means offering incen-tives to attend, meeting at a lecture as a class or canceling class, Smith said.
Coates and Smith said they are confident they will be able to strike a compromise with administration. Smith also said the committee scheduled the student-track lectures for the afternoons or late evenings to avoid conflict with classes as much as possible.
The student committee formed last semester after members of the Onstead-Pack-er Biblical Studies Building and Dr. Wayne Barnard, for-mer dean of spiritual forma-tion, decided to create a stu-dent track. The group, which Coates said was impressively diverse, selected the top ten speakers and topic choices.
Prospective speakers include Dr. Mike Cope, adjunct profes-sor of Bible, Missions and Min-istry, a representative of the XXX Church, which ministers to people addicted to and in-volved with pornography, and
Audio Adrenaline’s lead singer, Mark Stuart. Speakers will ad-dress topics the committee se-lected, including conservatives and progressives in the church, worship styles, roles within the church and outreach ministry.
Kathy Koch has been invit-ed to address “multiple intelli-gences,” or gifts ranging from “nature smart” to “people smart,” which she discusses in her book “How Am I Smart?: A parent’s guide to multiple in-telligences.” Students will be able to take a self-survey that will profile their gifts.
Jordan Ziemer, Don Morris
representative and freshman broadcast journalism and po-litical science double major from Houston, suggested in-viting Koch to speak because he said it may help the ACU community better understand one another.
“We’re talking a lot about racism on campus right now,” Ziemer said. “We don’t under-stand ourselves sometimes, so by coming to a better under-standing of ourselves, we come to a better understanding of our community and gel better as a community.”
Invitations have been sent
to all prospective speakers, but none have been confirmed yet.
The steps that remain for the committee are to approach the Faculty Senate for support and to ensure students make an ap-pearance at Lectureship. Smith said an advertising campaigned geared toward students is planned for the fall.
“Once we get approved, we’re ready to let students know, ‘Hey, this is for you,” Coates said. “We took your ideas and ran with them.”
SA: New student lectureship track spurs resolution Continued from page 1
students no longer have to look for jobs after graduating. ACU started a company called Gen-esis Network Solutions, which is a software-testing company for telecommunication compa-nies such as Cingular, Sprint and T-Mobile. The goal is to recruit students to iSchool and give them an internship and job through Genesis.
iSchool offers two degree programs. The first is a tradi-tional computer science pro-
gram that can be combined with a software engineering concentration that Coburn said is the “hottest job in America right now.” The sec-ond is information technology, a more flexible degree oriented towards students who want to deal with the infrastructure of computing: hardware, net-works and security.
Arisoa Randrianasolo, junior computer science major from Madagascar, said iSchool is geared for students to expand upon their technology majors.
He said the previous Computer Science Department was strict-ly but now he can apply other fields to his major. He said now he can combine what he has learned in his computer science classes with business classes whereas before he could not. Randrianasolo plans on ex-panding his knowledge further in graduate school.
“I’m getting more and more interested [in] the major I’m studying,” he said.
Scholarships: Enrollment encouragedContinued from page 1
change the Bean, but wants to change the restaurant area out-side of the Bean.
“The area outside of the Bean has become so congest-ed with people trying to get food, get into the Bean and sitting down that we need to make changes so everything is more accessible and faster,” Williams said.
They also want to add more
food places around campus. “It is important to be seri-
ous and also have fun with our dining,” Williams said. “I would really like to see some-thing cool on campus along the lines of having a place that offers different types of cereal and different types of milk. I know students eat ce-real all the time and even for meals, so why not offer an ac-cessible cereal restaurant that students can use a meal plan or bean bucks at.”
The renovations and re-designing of campus dining should not increase the amount students pay for food.
“We want to upgrade and put our best foot forward,” Williams said. “We plan to present our dining services in a way that all students, on or off campus, want to eat here. I think this is very ex-citing, and we are on our way to getting there.”
Dining: Students influence changes Continued from page 1
Theft: Students not involved, police sayEllison said he noticed
an unusual pattern in some reports.
“Where typically the suspects are smashing out a window and then burglar-izing the interior of the car and in some cases, they are not having to smash out the windows because peo-ple are leaving their cars
unlocked,” he said. “Nearly all of these cases involved vehicles that had items lay-ing out in plain sight.”
While Ellison assures the public that ACUPD is tak-ing appropriate measures to increase patrolling and investigate any follow-up information to help pre-vent future crimes, he said everyone “must play their part.”
“Obviously, lock your car. Keep any valuables out of sight. The campus over all has good lighting, but try to park in the best lighting you can find,” El-lison said. “Be alert and observant and report any suspicious activity to the ACU Police Department immediately.”
Ellison said ACU police officers were only a few
seconds from apprehend-ing a suspect because a student witness immedi-ately reported a break-in.
“It’s not a crime wave by any means, but it is a prob-lem we want to address,” Ellison said.
committee and professor of communication, and include: Dr. Angi Breton, University of Arkansas; Dr. Jeanine Varner, Oklahoma Christian University; Dr. Greg Powell, professor of chemistry; Dr. Nancy Shankle, chair of the English Depart-ment; and Dr. Foy Mills, chair of the Department of Agriculture and Environment.
Dodd said the search com-mittee formed in January. A na-tionwide search was advertised
in the Chronicle of Higher Edu-cation and the Christian Chron-icle, to allow for a larger pool of candidates, he said.
Each of the eight members of the search committee evalu-ated each candidate according to a matrix with 20 qualifica-tions created by Dodd and then discussed how each candidate might work in the College on a qualitative basis.
All three candidates from ACU said they were honored by being selected as a finalist.
Shankle said she was hon-
ored to be chosen as one of the finalists among such as “pow-erhouse of faculty members se-lected.” During her 17 years at the university, she has served on various committees, as well as been chair of her department for the past seven.
“My leadership style is con-sensus building collaborative style, which allows me to work well in teams, bring people to-gether and enact new programs, which is a leadership style that is unique,” she said.
Dr. Greg Powell, professor
of chemistry and biochemistry, said he felt called by God to ap-ply for the position.
“Through a series of events recently, I felt God was calling me to do this,” Powell said. “He may just be wanting me to learn something from this, but we’ll see.”
Powell said he was good at listening to problems and finding solutions, as well as re-sponding to the needs of fellow faculty. He has served as chair of his department for three years previously and serves as
chair of the Faculty Senate. Dr. Foy Mills, chair of the
Department of Agriculture and Environment, said al-though he enjoys his position in the department, he too, like Powell, felt called to apply for the position.
He said he saw himself as a pragmatic visionary, and one who worked well in collabora-tion with others. A professor at the university since 1989, Mills has served on committees and held leadership roles, as well as been a mentor to many stu-
dents in his department. Dodd said some of the main
qualifications are: commitment to the mission of the university, experience in academic admin-istration and the ability to work collaboratively with faculty, staff and students.
VanRheenen and Money will make the final decision on the new candidate to fill Dr. Colleen Durrington’s position by mid-April, which is a goal, Dodd said.
Search: Selected candidates share strengths, experiences Continued from page 1
Only 39 percent of regis-tered voters showed up to vote in Taylor and Nolan counties in November, despite a major election with two hot issues on the ballot: the tax-freeze for the elderly and the citywide public smoking ban. Nearly four months later, business owners of local shops and res-taurants, where smoking was once allowed, turned in more than 8,000 signatures by 5 p.m. Monday protesting the smoking ban that took effect in December.
The city requires the own-ers to have at least 6,557 valid signatures, which means sig-natures of Taylor county reg-
istered voters. While it will be next week be-fore enough signatures are validated, there is a chance the petitioner could cause a re vote on the smoking ban issue.
With so much opposition appearing now, why did more voters not turn out to vote back in November? Did voters not realize the issue would ac-tually be enforced? Or did the smokers in the city just not turn out to vote?
If only a mere 6,500 signa-tures could be the deciding factor to give voters a chance to swing the ban back to allow-
ing smokers to smoke in pub-lic places, what could happen if this many people had sim-ply showed up to vote? Voting in one’s hometown or place of residency is important for more than the fact that by vot-ing one shows support of his city. Voting also creates chang-es and sets trends.
Elections in local towns are important because they di-rectly affect the voters, but what about the national elec-tions? What would happen if
no one showed up to vote, but thousands were opposed to who was on the bal-
lot? Petitions on a signature would not be able to reverse that election.
The 2008 presidential election has already gained steam with Democratic can-didates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama touring the country more than a year and a half before the election will take place.
Begin researching candi-dates in the party you sup-port. It’s never too early to begin thinking about politics.
The next person elected could change the face of America and ultimately reverse the war in Iraq, among other key is-sues. Decide which candidates inside that party best suit your needs and then make the ef-fort to register and vote in No-vember 2008.
Apathy doesn’t suit anyone, nor does it solve anything. Take a stand and speak up for what you believe in — whether it’s for the smoking ban in Abilene or if it’s against the war in Iraq. Every vote counts.
Page 6 February 23, 2007
Lebensgefahr Alex York
Make an educated decision to vote
In a recent commercial aired on national televi-sion, a group of attractive people stand in the middle
of a corn field as one individual asks, “What if we could reduce our d e p e n -dence on oil?”
“ W i t h E85, the g r e e n fuel,” re-plies an-
other individual. E85 is the new term for
a lead-free blend of 85 per-cent ethanol and 15 per-cent gasoline that is pre-dicted to be the tank fuel of the future.
More and more, U.S. poli-ticians are pushing for the use of ethanol. This would help to reduce “America’s addiction for oil” claimed President Bush in this year’s State of the Union
address. With Democrats and Republicans united on this issue analysts expects one-third of all vehicles in the U.S. to be driving on ethanol by 2030. Already individual cities like Wilm-ington, Del., have made the switch to ethanol in all pub-lic sector vehicles.
The low-energy fuel ap-pears to be a home grown answer to the United State’s pollution problems as well as our dependency on for-eign oil. But as the cliché goes, some things are just too good to be true.
The problem with etha-nol as a vehicle fuel lies within the amount of corn needed for its production and how that has affected neighboring countries. Ex-porting yellow corn to im-porters like Mexico costs
substantially more than it has in the past.
Under the 1994 North American Free Trade Agree-ment, Mexico received cheap imports from the U.S., but as more U.S. corn is being di-verted into ethanol produc-tion, supply is dwindling.
Consequently, the price of tortillas, a staple food in the Mexican diet, has risen from approximately 63 cents per kilo a year ago to $1.81 earlier this month. As a result, many Mexican fam-ilies are struggling to feed their families as they are easily spending one-third of their income on tortillas or are forced to eat less.
Looking at the interests of the United States, find-ing more domestic ways to fuel our cars makes sense. But I find it ironic that in an
attempt to become less de-pendent on the Middle East for oil, the U.S. is ultimately hurting our neighboring country, Mexico.
In a situation that seems out of my control, I realize that I, as well as other col-lege students, can do small things to amend the situa-tion. I can walk or ride my bike to school, I can carpool with other students when I go out of town, and I can choose to own fuel-efficient cars as opposed to over-sized automobiles that con-sume large amounts of fuel.
These things may seem miniscule and perhaps trite in relation to the amount of people this situation touch-es, but in a conflict where more tanks will be filled than stomachs, I want to be-lieve small lifestyle changes will be enough to help pro-vide dinner for one if not more Hispanic families.
Warcraft claimstwo new victims
Making fuel, not tortilla chips
The issue:As seen in the local election, many people with opinions don’t vote and then are frustrated with election results.
Our view:The future of the U.S. is determined by citizens who make educated votes concerning their communities and country.
The solution:Begin researching the presidential candidates for the 2008 election so you can vote for the most apt candidate.
The problem with ethanol as a vehicle fuel lies within the amount of corn needed for its pro-
duction and how that has affected neighboring countries.
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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For over two years a plague has been creep-ing across the world. It has devoured lives, cost
millions of dollars, and is still go-ing strong. And unfor-tunately, it has recent-ly claimed two more victims, my roommate and me.
The World of Warcraft has taken in. For those who don’t know, or have only heard terrifying stories, World of Warcraft is an MMOR-PG, massively multi player online role-playing game, where you create a digi-tal character from one fac-tion (the Al-liance, which has humans, elves and such, or the Horde, made up of Orcs, the Undead and other things much cooler than the Alli-ance) and adventure in the world of Azeroth, where other players from around the world explore with, or against, you.
The Warcraft game se-ries began as a strategy game, where you’d build bases and armies and pit them against each other. After Warcraft III, Blizzard, the company behind the game, decided to let play-ers live in Warcraft. World of Warcraft was released in 2004 and has been grow-ing strong since.
Now some are probably wondering what the big deal is, and why so many people would sink so many hours
into a virtual place; I had seen other MMORPG’s like Everquest and Star Wars: Galaxies, and wondered that myself. But a year ago, I saw WoW in action, and I knew why.
For one, as is the main at-traction with all MMORPG’s, playing with other people is fun. Sure, fighting a dragon is cool, but teaming up on that dragon with your best friend or even a stranger builds a sense of unity.
I think a big reason WoW and other MMORPG’s are popular is you get a sense that this is a world you have control over. You decide what missions to do, who to
play with, and if you die you just run your ghost back to where your body fell.
So, I knew WoW would absorb me, and tried to avoid it until gradu-ation. But my friend Jamie
got me a copy for Christ-mas, and I couldn’t say no. Now my roommate has got it, and we have spent many a day plugging in eight hours or more into WoW. Some might argue the game is addictive, but that would be like saying that alcohol itself causes alcoholism or guns cause violence. Still, I haven’t noticed any ad-verse affects on my health, except that I’m looking kind of gaunt, and I can see the bones in my arms and legs.
Oh wait, that’s just my Undead priest I’m looking at. Got confused there for a second.
I am a junior class senator in the Students’ Association. I am here to say I believe that Facebook has had a positive effect on the way I am able
to communicate with those I seek to represent. I under-stand the need for students to have meaningful person-to-person communication. Facebook does not replace a good conversation or a po-litical rally. However, where our parents sent out letters and passed out leaflets, we create Web sites and even Facebook groups.
I am an avid Facebook user. Two of the groups ref-erenced in the article con-demning Facebook users as pointless in their efforts were started by me. One in particular, the Lectureship attendance policy group, is a part of an initiative that is being discussed by the SA Congress, and eventually the Faculty Senate. This ef-
fort has been, in part, driven by ACU Facebook users.
It is my goal as an SA Senator to represent the interests and goals of my fellow peers and actively advocate for those goals and interests. Facebook has empowered me, in part, to do this. If you look to the results of Facebook groups like the Save Dar-
fur or Invisible Children campaigns, you will see the results are hundreds of thousands of students rallying in DC and across the nation. I dare say that without Facebook such effective communication would not have been pos-sible. Look to the results Facebook groups have been responsible for; may-
be then we will see the effectiveness of the Face-book social utility.
Brandon Smith junior political science major from Keller [email protected]
SA officer argues Facebook effective way to bring change
So, I knew WoW would absorb me, and I tried to avoid it until
graduation.
A letter to the editor in response to Jared Field’s column headlined “Facebook: the new way to protest” published in the Feb. 19 issue of the Optimist.
LETTEr TO ThE EDiTOr
Friday, February 23, 2007 Page 7SPORTS JUMPS
said. “Stephen Knight also had a really good tournament,”
Knight, the newest ad-dition to the Wildcats this season, placed 13th in the tournament. Knight is play-ing at ACU after transfer-ring from San Diego State, where he red shirted.
While some would see plac-ing seventh in the tournament as a setback, Campbell feels it will help the team keep focus.
Despite windy weather Monday, the first day of the
tournament, ACU shot the best score of the day.
The Wildcats next tourna-ment will be in San Juan Cap-istrano, Calif., at the Southern California Intercollegiate host-ed by the University of Califor-nia-San Diego on March 4.
“It will be a fun trip,” Campbell said. “Marbella Country Club is a good course and it will be an all-elite tournament.”
Ranked: Next tourney in March Continued from page 8
Guard Norman Alexan-der, another Wildcat se-nior, sees this last game as his chance to make an impact as an ACU player.
“This is the last time to leave my mark on the pro-gram,” Alexander said.
The first time ACU and Kingsville met, the Jave-linas outscored the Wild-cats 85-74. But playing at home doesn’t necessarily give Kingsville an advan-tage; Kingsville is 1-3 at home in conference play.
ACU is 1-10 in confer-ence and 10-16 overall after losing to Angelo State 67-64 Monday. The loss was ACU’s eighth straight in conference play and first to Angelo this year.
Ross led the Wildcats in scoring and rebound-ing with 19 points and 15 rebounds. Ross also grabbed three steals in the loss.
ACU led by as much as seven points in the second half against An-gelo but was unable to maintain its lead when it counted most.
Although this season has found the Wildcats on the losing end most of the time, Alexander said winning the last one is important.
“We’re gonna try and win it; it’s the last one,” Alexander said.
ACU will take on Kings-ville at 4 p.m. Saturday.
Affect: ACU finishes on roadContinued from page 8
South Division and is ranked No. 19 in the nation with a team batting average of .275 and an ERA of 2.78.
Last weekend ACU played in the Triple Crown Fast-pitch Division II Leadoff Classic in Phoenix and came away tied for third place. The team played top-ten teams and extended its overall record to 8-6.
One of the most consis-tent bats for the Wildcats in Phoenix was junior center fielder Leisha Johnson, who was 6 for 13 (.462) with five runs scored, one double and four home runs and six RBI.
However, the team as a whole has been playing in-consistently when it comes to batting and scoring runs in every inning.
“We have been specifi-cally working on our focus by making sure we make the most of every in-ning of every game,” Wilson said. “This season so far we have been following great games with poor performances. We need to learn to play and fight ev-ery game.”
This weekend’s games are
ACU’s last games before divi-sional play begins on March 2. Wilson said they are try-ing to keep a mindset that all of their games are impor-tant, not just the divisional games.
“Every game we play counts whether it is confer-ence or non-conference,” Wil-son said. “This team knows we need to get up for every game if we’re going to make it to regionals.”
ACU plays Incarnate Word on Friday and Saturday at 3 p.m. and takes on Central Oklahoma on Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 1 p.m.
End: Conference on the horizonContinued from page 8
Forwards Kristee David-son and Lacey Blau con-tributed seven points each during the run. Davidson completed the game with 12 points and seven re-bounds. Guard Alex Gui-ton had 10 points, three assists and two steals for the game. Blau, who had nine points and seven re-bounds, made one of the biggest plays in the wan-ing seconds of the game.
With the game tied at 63-63 and 17 seconds to play, the Wildcats called a timeout to discuss its final possession.
“We pretty much told our girls to take a smart shot or call a timeout,” Twilligear said.
As the clock ran down, Blau dribbled along the 3-point arc before finding Kundmueller wide open in the left corner. After receiv-ing a quick pass from Blau, Kundmueller buried the 3-pointer with 1.84 seconds remaining in the game.
“We actually had a dif-
ferent play called,” Laven-der said. “Something we preached really a lot for the last two weeks is make the extra pass, and Lacey did that last night.”
Texas Woman’s followed by launching a last-second shot to tie the game, but it fell short. The Wildcat win eliminated Texas Woman’s from playoff contention.
“It was such a big win,” Lavender said. “Our girls did a great job. It just shows how much they’ve matured over the last several weeks.”
On Monday, Maxwell was named the Lone Star Conference South Divi-sion Player of the Week after stellar performanc-es against Eastern New Mexico and West Texas A&M the previous week. In those two games, Maxwell averaged 19 points and 19.5 rebounds per game. Maxwell has recorded 12 double-doubles on the sea-son, including one Tues-day night.
One away: Cats win close gameContinued from page 8
after outscoring East Central 58-5 in four games on Feb. 16 and 17, will play North-eastern Oklahoma State in Talequah, Okla., Saturday in the Wildcats first LSC cross-over four-game series on the road.
“This series is just anoth-er road test for us,” Bonneau said — a test Bonneau said is essential to his team’s success this season.
“I know from the past you got to learn how to adapt on the road,” Bonneau said.
ACU is 2-2 on the road with both losses being against Southern Arkansas on Feb. 10 and Feb. 11.
For catcher Jordan Schmitt, playing well on the road requires blocking out all distractions of the road before the series starts.
“You got to block out ev-erything else and just focus on what you have to do,” Schmitt said.
Northeastern State, who ACU swept last season, is 2-0 at home and 5-2 overall after winning three of four
games against LSC South op-ponent Eastern New Mexico. The last time ACU played Northeastern on the road in 2005, ACU split the series with the Redmen.
ACU has been consistent at the plate with seven play-ers hitting a batting average above the impressive .394 team average. Three of the most averages have been designated hitter Matt Mc-Guire (.522), shortstop and utility player Willy Uechi (.512) and third baseman Alec Sowards (.463).
“We got to control what we can control when we play on the road,” Bonneau said.
On the mound, ACU holds .252 team ERA and four of its starting pitchers are un-defeated at 2-0.
One such pitcher is senior Ben Maynard who has been lights out for the Wildcats.
Maynard, who hasn’t started since pitching against Incarnate Word on Feb. 13, will start Saturday with a .60 ERA.
“He’ll [Maynard] be fresh,” Bonneau said.
Schmitt said he is confi-dent ACU’s starters’ experi-ence will help them get the job done.
“Most of them are upper classmen who have been around,” Schmitt said. “They know how to pitch.”
Road: Focus needed to win Continued from page 8
The ACU baseball team is ranked No. 11 nationally and leads the Lone Star Conference in team batting average, slugging percentage, hits, doubles, triples, runs scored, runs batted in and total bases.
n After winning a come-from-behind game against Texas Woman’s on Tuesday, ACU needs to win its last game to secure a spot in the postseason tournament.
By MICHAEL FREEMANOnline editOr
The Wildcat women’s bas-ketball team won a 66-63 nail-biter on Tuesday night against Texas Woman’s in front of an energized crowd of nearly 750 fans in Moody Coliseum.
Guard Kathryn Kundmueller drained the game-winning 3-pointer with 1.84 seconds left in the game to bring ACU a step closer to securing a play-off spot.
“It was a must-win in order to make the playoffs,” said as-sistant coach Terri Twilligear.
The Wildcats are 16-11 overall and 7-6 in the Lone Star Conference. With that record, ACU is third place in
the LSC South Division. The top four teams in the divi-sion advance to the postsea-son, and thanks to Tuesday’s win, the Wildcats can secure a berth in the playoffs with a win Saturday against Texas A&M-Kingsville or a Midwest-ern State loss in one of its last two games.
ACU will play Texas A&M-Kingsville in Kingsville Satur-day at 2 p.m.
“Saturday’s game is a game we really need to win,”
said head coach Shawna Lavender. “I think the big thing for us is to use the last game to hopefully get some momentum going into the conference tournament.”
On Tuesday night, ACU had to erase a 13-point sec-ond half deficit in order to beat Texas Woman’s 66-63. The first half was highly con-tested, and ACU entered half-time with a slim 35-34 lead.
Texas Woman’s went on a 18-4 run to open the second
half and led 52-39 with 13:06 left in regulation. Texas Wom-an’s had eliminated ACU from the postseason two of the last five years, but the Wildcats were determined not to let that happen again on Tues-day. Led by center Audrey Maxwell, who finished with 20 points and 14 rebounds, ACU mounted a comeback that featured a 27-11 run in the final 13 minutes.
Friday
BASEBALLACU at Northeastern State, Talequah, Okla., 3 p.m. (DH)
SOFTBALLACU vs. Incarnate Word, 3 p.m.ACU vs. Central Oklahoma, 7 p.m.
WOMEN’S TENNISACU at Stephen F. Austin Invitational, Nacogdoches
Saturday
WOMEN’S BASKETBALLACU at Texas A&M-Kingsville, Kingsville, 2 p.m.
MEN’S BASKETBALLACU at Texas A&M-Kingsville, Kingsville, 2 p.m.
BASEBALLACU at Northeastern State, Talequah, Okla., noon (DH)
SOFTBALLACU vs. Central Oklahoma, 1 p.m.ACU vs. Incarnate Word, 3 p.m.
WOMEN’S TENNISACU at Stephen F. Austin Invitational, Nacogdoches
n Home games listed in italics
SportSFridayPage 8 February 23, 2007
SCOrEBOArd
Standings
Upcoming
INTrAMUrAL rOUNd-Up
n The intramural schedule and points seen on the Optimist sports page are not final and subject to change. Any last-minute changes can be viewed on the intramural bulletin board in Moody Coliseum.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALLTeam Div. OverallWTAMTarletonACUAngelo St. MSU
TX Woman’s
12-08-47-66-65-75-7
23-316-716-1114-1012-1211-15
ENMU 3-9 12-12TAMK-U 3-9 8-17
Scores
Monday
MEN’S BASKETBALLAngelo State 67, ACU 62
Tuesday
WOMEN’S BASKETBALLACU 66, Texas Woman’s 63
Scoreboard as of Thursday
BASEBALLTeam Div. OverallACUENMUAngelo St. TarletonTAMK-U
WTAM
0-00-00-00-00-00-0
10-28-46-56-64-42-5
SOFTBALLTeam Div. OverallAngelo St. TarletonTAMK-UACUENMU
TX Woman’s
0-00-00-00-00-00-0
18-23-110-58-68-76-10
WTAM 0-0 2-8
Women’s basketball
Upcoming
INTrAMUrAL BASKETBALLSee intramural bulletin board for schedule.
brian schmidt SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER
The ACU women’s basketball team bench celebrates after guard Kathryn Kundmueller sank the game-winning 3-pointer with 1.84 seconds left in the game against Texas Woman’s on Tuesday.
brian schmidt SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER
Third baseman Jamie Parker catches a ball during fielding drills Tuesday. ACU will play its final preseason games in town Friday and Saturday.
Beating the clock
Wildcats one win away from postseason
n The 10-16 ACU men’s basketball team has a chance to knock Texas A&M Kingsville out of postseason contention in its final game of the season.
By DANIEL JOHNSONSpOrtS editOr
The playoffs are out of the picture for the ACU men’s basketball team, but that doesn’t mean its last game of the season has no effect on the postseason.
If ACU beats Texas A&M Kingsville in its season closer Saturday, the Wild-cats can dash the Javeli-nas’ hopes of making the Lone Star Conference post-season tournament.
“We wouldn’t mind spoil-ing that for them,” said guard Cortnie Ross.
The Javelinas are 4-6 and would need to beat ACU and have Tarleton beat 5-5 East-ern New Mexico to make the LSC tournament. An out-come Ross says isn’t going to happen.
“We’re going to win,” Ross said. “I give you a
guarantee.” Despite the chance to
spoil Kingsville’s playoff hopes, guard Tiago Souza is only concerned about get-ting the Wildcats’ first win since Jan. 23.
“I don’t think about k n o c k i n g them out too much,” Souza said. “I’m just t h i n k i n g about win-ning the game.”
S o u z a , who is one of three seniors that will play their last game as a Wildcat Saturday, said winning would be a pleasant ending to his two-year career at ACU.
“A lot of stuff is go-ing through my head right now,” Souza said. “We just need to make the last game special and try to get a vic-tory in Kingsville.”
Last game affects postseason play
n The nationally ranked ACU baseball team will play Northeastern Oklahoma State in its first Lone Star Conference road series.
By DANIEL JOHNSONSpOrtS editOr
After beating East Cen-tral University with ease in its first Lone Star Confer-ence Crossover series, head baseball coach Britt Bon-neau isn’t expecting this weekend’s series against Northeastern Oklahoma State to be quite as easy.
“I wouldn’t expect any-thing to be given to us,” Bonneau said. “We’ve got to earn everything.”
No. 11 ACU, who moved up seven spots
Redmen first LSC North road test
n The ACU softball team will end its preseason with four games against two regional and conference opponents Incarnate Word and Central Oklahoma.
By RACHEL DAVISSpOrtS Writer
The Wildcat softball team will play its last preseason games in a round robin set-up at home this weekend.
The team will play Lone Star Conference North Divi-sion opponent Central Okla-homa and Incarnate Word twice this weekend.
Head coach Chantiel Wilson
said the team has been focus-ing on playing these games to get in the right mindset for the conference competition on the horizon.
“We want to play this weekend as a preview perfor-mance for our first division series the following weekend against Texas Woman’s,” Wil-son said. “We need to put to-gether four strong games to get this team going.”
Currently the team is ranked fourth in the LSC
Preseason ends at home
n The ACU golf team jumped two spots to No. 5 in the Golf World/ Nike Golf Coaches national poll after placing seventh at the St. Edwards Spring Invitational on Tuesday.
By NATHAN MACDONALDSpOrtS Writer
The nationally ranked ACU golf team kicked off its 2007 spring season with a seventh
place finish with a combined score of 58 over par at the St. Edwards Spring Invitational on Tuesday.
ACU’s high placing moved the Wildcats up two spots from No. 7 to No. 5 in the Golf World/Nike Golf Coaches Poll.
“Seventh place will mo-
tivate us, but we still have high expectations for the season,” said head coach Mike Campbell.
The Wildcats competed against some of the nations top ranked Division II pro-grams, including Lone Star Conference programs Camer-on University and University of Central Oklahoma. ACU, though, is the highest ranked
team in the LSC. Third ranked St. Edwards,
who was ranked No. 6 prior to the tournament, won the tournament by only three strokes. Barry University, who is ranked fourth nationally, finished second.
Belgium born Hugues Joannes placed highest in-dividually for the Wildcats, shooting 80 the first round,
77 the second round and a 68 the third round to tie for eighth with Northeastern State’s Sam Powell.
Campbell said he was proud of how Joannes did along with the rest of the team.
“Hugues played really well; it was good to see him play in the final round,” Campbell
