The Optimist - Aug. 8, 2009

PHOTOS

Opening Ceremonies

Forecast InsideACU MEDICAL CLINIChires new physician. Her move to Abilene comes after eight years of medical mission work in Uganda, Rwanda, Sudan, and Zambia.

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CBS AND FOX SPORTSto nationally broadcast ACU football’s opening game on Thursday. Get a pregame breakdown and find out who to look for.

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Should ResLife havechanged curfew?

Visit acuoptimist.com to see whatthe ACU community is saying.

VIDEO

Sen. Hutchison in Abilene

Optimistthe

acuoptimist.comBREAKING NEWS, VIDEOS, PHOTOS, DISCUSSION AND EXCLUSIVE CONTENTVol. 98, No. 2 1 section, 10 pagesWednesday, August 26, 2009

The Chris Thomsen Show

PAGE 6

Liz SpanoArts Editor

Changes by the Office of Residence Life to resi-dence and housing regula-tions affect both freshmen and sophomores living on campus this semester.

These changes include new visitation and curfew

regulations for freshmen; resident director and as-sistant director responsi-bilities and qualifications; and a new spiritual focus, said Amanda Buchanan, senior psychology major and assistant director of Morris Hall from Lubbock.

Although Sunday through Thursday, mid-

night curfew will remain intact, Residence Life di-rectors eliminated week-end curfew for freshmen students. Also, weekend visitation is being consid-ered, in addition to visi-tation hours Thursday.

“Weekend curfew was changed in part because these freshmen are adults,

and we need to be able to treat them like adults,” Bu-chanan said. “It has been a process of trying to say to students that we want to be here to help you make wise choices, but it’s their decision to make.”

Buchanan said that Residence Life also had students’ safety in mind

when deciding to elimi-nate weekend curfew.

“The dorm needs to be a safe place,” Buchanan said. “If something hap-pens or plans change, it’s much better for them to have somewhere safe and protected to stay than for them to find a random acquaintance be-

cause they are locked out of the dorm.”

Jess Schell, junior youth and family ministry major and Gardner Hall resident assistant from Fort Worth, agreed the decision to eliminate curfew already has been positive.

ResLife redefines roles, rulesRESIDENCE LIFE

see RESLIFE page 6

CAMPUS

Colter HettichEditor in Chief

Moody Coliseum was filled to the top with students, faculty, alumni and visitors for Abilene Christian University’s traditional Opening Day Ceremonies Monday.

After faculty mem-bers filed in to the sounds of the Big Pur-ple Band, more than 100 students paraded around the coliseum carrying flags as a sym-

bol of the campus’ cul-tural diversity.

Dr. Jeanine Varner, provost, officially called the university’s 104th school year to order. Most of the ceremony mirrored years past, but there were some notice-able differences. Dr.

Royce Money, president of the university, an-nounced it was due time for modifications.

“For those of you who have been with us before, we’re changing things up a bit in our Opening Ceremonies,” Money said. “We’ve been doing it the same for over 20 years.”

This year’s ceremonies did not feature the tra-ditional arrangement of “Battle Hymn of the Re-public” or the lowering of

a massive American flag from the ceiling. Rather than display all the com-munity’s patriotism at one event, Money said it would be woven throughout the year, including into holi-days such as Veterans Day and Constitution Day.

After taking the po-dium, Money addressed more than 1,000 incoming freshmen before speaking to the rest of the crowd.

Sondra RodriguezManaging Editor

Alcohol, sex, eating dis-orders, stress, violence or spirituality – there is a place on campus to find help with all these issues.

The Peer Health Educa-tion program is a “prom-ising method for encour-aging college students to make healthy lifestyle decisions,” according to the program’s brochure.

It comprises ACU stu-dents who volunteer to train and serve as Peer Health Educators for participants struggling with personal issues.

Naomi Mandel is a counselor in the Counsel-ing Center and is involved with the student-to-stu-dent guidance program.

“A student will listen to a message better if they perceive the giver of the message as a peer rather than someone “preaching” to them,” Mandel said.

For this reason, stu-dents who volunteer to serve as educators must go through an inter-view process in March and attend training in the fields of spiritual mentoring, role model-ing and development of listening skills. After the training, educators

are nationally certified, Mandel said.

In the past, the program has prompted growth in each person involved.

“In educators, I see it develop more care and concern for fellow students. They become aware, observant and confident,” Mandel said. “It strengthens their faith, and they grow in their walk with God.”

For participants, sim-ply knowing about a support system on cam-pus makes a difference to someone struggling with a personal issue, Mandel said.

“It helps them know that there is someone here who really cares,” she said.

Claire Hardin, soph-omore English major from Lubbock, said she thinks students will benefit from student-to-student counseling.

“I think it’s more comfortable to talk to someone your own age than talking to a pro-fessor,” Hardin said. “It just seems like students would understand you better.”

Mandel said she hopes to see the program’s pop-ularity increase this year.

Peer HealthEducators toaid students

WELLNESS

Tanner KnauthSports Editor

For Billie McConnell, Shan Martinez and Dr. Rebecca Hunter, working at ACU is like coming home. They are among twenty new faculty members hired by ACU this semester, ten of whom are alumni.

Suzanne Allmon, as-sociate vice president for Human Resources, said the university is glad ACU alumni want to re-turn to teach, but legacy is not enough to get them in the door. There are a number of qualities the university looks for in new faculty members.

“Most positions re-quire a terminal degree,” Allmon said. “We look for demonstrated excellence of strong Christian char-acter, as well as strong academic credentials.”

McConnell, assistant professor in the Depart-ment of Teacher Education, decided to work at ACU be-

cause he knew the univer-sity put a major emphasis on technology that would allow him to teach “21st Century teachers.”

McConnell, who gradu-ated from ACU in 1984 with a Bachelor of Science degree in secondary educa-tion, said he “he is happy to be coming home.”

Shan Martinez gradu-ated from ACU in 1986 with a B.S. in education and now has children in the Abilene Christian Schools system. Martinez had been out of the work force for years when she decided to work in the Brown Library, in part to help pay for her children’s education. Mar-

tinez said she is excited to work at a library that has changed significantly since she attended school.

“There’s a huge differ-ence,” said Martinez. “It’s really fun to see how the li-brary can change and morph with new technology.”

New faculty demonstrate character, credentialsFACULTY

Ceremony highlights international influence

JOZIE SANDS Chief Photographer

Dr. Royce Money, president of the university, addresses the thousands in attendance at this year’s Opening Day Ceremonies. Money, who will accept the role of chancellor next year, delivered his last Cpening Cay Ceremonies speech as president.

see HEALTH page 6

see FACULTY page 6

LOUDandCLEAR

acuoptimist.com

Watch video and viewphotos of OpeningDay Ceremonies.

see LIBRARY page 7

The Optimist maintains this calendar for the ACU community to keep track of local social, academic and service opportunities. Groups may send announcements directly to [email protected].

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 clarifications of published news articles will be printed in this space in a timely manner.

AboutThis Page

Announcements

CALENDAR AND EVENTS

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

The ACU Clinic will not give excuse notes for missed classes, Chapel or exams due to a clinic visit.

A mandatory social club information meeting will take place in Hart Audi-torium Thursday. Those interested in pledging a social club this fall must attend or pick up infor-mation in McKinzie Room 121. The deadline to reg-ister is Sept. 4 at 5 p.m.

Flag football registra-tion will take place Aug. 26 to Sept. 2. Information and papers are available online at www.acu.edu/intramurals or in Bennett Gymnasium. For more in-

formation, call 674-2555.

Students willing to vol-unteer at Summit Sept. 20-23 can visit www.acu.edu/summit under the “Work Opportunities” tab to submit an application form.

Lettice & Lovage, the fall comedy, will be pre-sented Thursday through Saturday from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. in Fulks The-ater. Call 674-ARTS, or secure tickets online at www.acu.edu/theatre.

Seekers of the Word, ACU’s drama ministry, will have an interest booth in the Campus

Center Friday from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Try outs will take place in September.

The Wildcat Express is now available online. The publication is a compi-lation of every student groups and leaders on campus. To download the Wildcat Express, go to www.acustudents.com/student_life.

Freshman Follies will take place Sept. 18 at 8 p.m. in Cullen Audito-rium. For more informa-tion or to buy tickets in advance, go to www.acu.edu/follies.

2CampusDay

297:30-9:30 p.m.Lettice and Lovage will be performed in Fulks Theatre. For more information or to buy tickets, call 674-2787.

SATURDAY


28 FRIDAY

7-9 p.m.ACU’s 2009 season-opening football game against Northwest Missouri State will take placeat Shotwell Stadium.


27 THURSDAY

9:30 a.m.-noonA food handlers course will take place at the Taylor County Extension Office. For more information, call 672-6048.

26 WEDNESDAY

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Chapel

CreditedChapelsto date:

Checkup

68CreditedChapelsremaining:

Volunteer OpportunitiesService Action Leader-ship Team applications are available in the Volun-teer & Service-Learning Center located in the lower level of the Campus Center. Applications are due Friday, Sept. 4 at 5 p.m.

The Optimist Club Bal-loon Fest needs volun-teers on Sept. 25-26 at Redbud Park. Volunteers will assist inflatables, ob-stacle course, giant slide and other activities.

The ACU Ministry Events needs volunteers to help with various part

of Summit Sept. 20-24. Volunteers will help with shuttle, receptionist and dispatcher duties, tech-nology, registration and childcare. Help is needed each day between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m.

The American Red Cross is offering “Sheltering Boot Camp” on Satur-day from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Attendees will receive specialized training that teaches new volunteers how to effectively work in shelters. For more infor-mation or to register for training, contact Allison

Coggins at 677-2622, or send an e-mail to [email protected].

The Christian Service Center needs volunteers Fridays and Saturdays from noon-4 p.m. to help fill requests for cloth-ing, bedding and kitchen utensils from the dona-tion center. Volunteers will also organize dona-tions and pick up donated items. For more informa-tion, call Jim Clark at 673-7531.

Chelsea HackneyCopy Editor

ACU has launched a full-scale version of class blogs as part of the myACU sys-tem this semester, after completing a pilot phase of the project last year.

Class blogs are a new way for faculty to present content to their classes. Although they are op-tional, 236 course blogs, representing 129 faculty members and more than 2800 students already have been created, said Hab Adkins, manager of programming and sup-port for Web Integration and Programming.

The blogs are intend-ed to give instructors a simpler, faster way to get content in front of students and facilitate discussion and closer class interaction, said Mike Wiggins, associ-ate professor of art and design, who was respon-sible for the design and production of the ACU blogs theme.

Wiggins, developed the project in conjunc-tion with the Web Inte-gration and Program-ming department and Dr. Kyle Dickson, associ-ate professor of English and director of the digi-tal media center in the Learning Commons.

The university was looking for a platform that could do two things not available in the cur-rent learning manage-ment system, Dickson said. The system in-cludes such myACU fea-tures as Blackboard and the ACU files system.

The first thing the new platform needed was mobile accessibil-ity, a feature already supported by the Word-Press software that was eventually chosen. The second was the ability to publish content quickly and easily.

“The files system is great, but it’s just a list of files,” Dickson said. “What it does well is dis-tribution. What it doesn’t do well is context.”

Providing context is the goal for the blogs this semester. Faculty and students can now post many different kinds of content in all kinds of ways, Dickson said.

One faculty member might distribute docu-ments, while another could use the same tool to allow students to in-teract and post their own content. A third, using the same core tools, could use it to supplement the textbook, he said.

This simplicity and flexibility is intended to “eliminate some fric-tion between faculty and students,” helping them “build vital con-nections,” Dickson said.

For some teachers, Blackboard almost has too many features, and Web sites can be diffi-cult to maintain, Wig-gins said. He said he kept that in mind when creating the simple, straightforward appear-ance and operation of the blogs. Wiggins has had a class Web site for several years and re-cently switched to using a blog instead.

“One of my motiva-tions, originally, was I’d had other teachers come to me and say ‘Oh, you have a Web site. Could you show me how to have a Web site for my classes?’” he said. “Un-til two years ago, there was just no way. It was so technical.”

After experimenting with blogs, Wiggins re-alized how much they could benefit teachers with little to no experi-ence building a Web site.

“I realized right off the bat, I was adding tons of content to my class site really easily,” Wiggins said. “I was surprised at how much more content I could put in front of the stu-dents outside of class and how often I did it just because it got so much simpler.”

ACU blogs are set up so that only the instruc-tor and his class can view a particular blog, but the WordPress platform ac-tually allows users to share content with the entire campus or Web, opening up new possi-bilities for the future.

“It’s helped us to re-think how we conceive of the classroom,” Dick-son said.

Visit blogs.acu.edu for more information.

ACU adopts class blogsTECHNOLOGY

HEATHER LEIPHART Staff Photographer

Forrest Wilson, sophomore marketing major from San Antonio, ollies a set of stairs near the Don H. Morris Center Tuesday after class.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009 Campus News

contact Hackney [email protected]

August 26, 2009 Focus

Lights,

Sports show incorporates KRBC, student endeavors for production


Co-host Grant Boone prepares for a lighting test during the show’s first episode. Precise lighting guides the audience’s attention through the show’s various segments and camera angles.


Co-host Grant Boone looks on as makeup artist Jeanie Best picks the correct foundation color for his skin tone. Makeup keeps the show’s on-camera participants looking natural under stage lighting.


Co-hosts Kimberly Prather and Grant Boone look over their script before going on camera. The script introduces and tran-sitions between segments of the show.


Coach Chris Thomsen sits on set. Thomsen has served as head football coach for the Wildcats since 2005. The Chris Thomsen Show airs Saturdays at noon on KRBC.

LEFT: Multime-dia Managing Editor Som-merly Simser, senior broad-cast journalism major from Las Vegas, applies blush to co-host Kimberly Prather, senior broadcast journalism major from St. Louis, before the show. Camera,

COLLABORATIONJOZIE SANDS Chief Photographer

August 26, 2009 Campus News

Farron SalleyKACU Correspondent

Health care overhaul is at the forefront of American media cov-erage, bombarding political junkies and average Joes alike with news and analysis of the proposals. People on both sides of the debate are presenting strong opinions on the issue, most re-cently in the famed town hall meetings.

The city of Abilene is no exception. Many in the community at-

tended a town hall meeting Aug. 2 con-ducted by Congress-man Randy Neuge-bauer at McMurry University. During the meeting, Neugebauer gave a brief synopsis of the health care plan and where he stood on the issue.

“It is turning health care over to the federal government, and I’m just not for govern-ment-run health care,” Neugebauer said.

After detailing his opposition to the cur-rent health care bill, the

congressman opened the floor for questions. One man in attendance asked the senator if he thought it acceptable that this area claims one of the highest uninsured rates in the nation.

“I think in this de-bate, what we realize is there are a lot of people with statistics

out there,” Neuge-bauer said. “When we look at uninsured people in Texas, there are a lot of undocu-mented individuals.”

Some in attendance expected a more vigor-ous debate. One wom-an, in particular, said she viewed it as a “kind of subdued pep rally.”

A representative from the Dian Graves Owen Foundation in Abilene was most con-cerned about the local impact of the bill.

“We are the largest area in Texas without a tax-supported hospi-tal,” she said. “If the bill passes and they, in fact, reduce Medicare reim-

bursements and Medic-aid reimbursements, it’s going to be a tremen-dous loss for Hendrick Medical Center.”

The overall tone of the meeting was not the extremism seen on TV, although some did express discontent. In general, the attitude was one of agreement. When the meeting was over, people left smil-ing and shaking hands.

Town hall gives voters the chance to questionLOCAL

Linda BaileyOpinions Page Editor

At the beginning of ev-ery Fall semester, social club pledges are seen wearing their club’s colors Monday through Thursday. For two weeks, students cross campus dressed in brightly colored skirts, suits and ties, but this semester pledges may be required to wear their traditional out-fits longer.

After meeting with club members, advis-ers and other Student Life faculty, Mauri West-brook, director of stu-dent organizations, said they decided to keep the length of pledging at about six weeks, but

give clubs the option of extending Phase One. If a club decides to lengthen Phase One, they give up that amount of time in Phase Two, Westbrook said.

“We realized that in order for clubs to ac-complish the goals they have and what they are wanting to achieve, they needed a little bit more time,” Westbrook said.

The two-phase pledg-ing system was insti-tuted two years ago. Ac-cording to the Student Organization Hand-book, students during Phase One “work to-ward unity among the pledges, learning club traditions, and partici-pating as club activities as pledge. … The sec-

ond phase of pledging will focus on overall club unity and commu-nity building.”

Alpha Kai Omega Kai-O Queen Rachel Smith said there is a dis-tinct difference between the two phases, but the goal of both is unity.

“Phase One is really working on unifying the pledge class to-gether, and Phase Two is working on unifying pledges and club mem-bers into one whole unit,” Smith said.

Pledges wear their club “colors” during Phase One and partici-pate in a more tradi-tional style of pledging. Smith, senior elemen-tary education major from Richardson, said

she thought positively about the change be-cause it will allow pledg-es more bonding time and excitement.

“There is something about wearing your colors that gives you a sense of pride in the fact that people are aware of what you are doing,” Smith said.

The extension to Phase One is a change that Ko Jo Kai president Lanna Armstrong, senior ac-counting major from Dallas, thinks will be a good thing. She said students feel most like pledges during the first phase.

“Phase One is more traditional pledg-ing,” Armstrong said.

“I think that every-one is pretty excited about it.”

Conner Halstead, senior youth and fam-ily ministry major from Odessa and president of Gamma Sigma Phi, said they have been working for the last two years trying to deter-mine what works best in the two-phase sys-tem. The second phase was the longer one, but also the phase that was most unfamiliar to club members. Halstead said he thinks the new length of Phase One will benefit the club.

“I’m not sure that the extra week will make pledging better, but I think it is more familiar to people and

so it will be easier to ex-ecute,” Halstead said. “I understand the mean-ing and purpose of the second phase, but it has been the hardest for us to fully realize what we need to do to make that the most effective.”

Club rushes begin next week, and there will be an informational meeting for all students interested in pledging Thursday at 5:30 p.m. in Hart Auditorium. Students seeking more information can visit www.acu.edu/social-clubs or look on the student events calendar found on myACU.

Social clubs given option to lengthen phasesCAMPUS

contact Bailey [email protected]

It is turning health care over to the federal government, and I’m just not for government-run healthcare.RANDY NEUGEBAUERU.S. Representative

contact Hettich [email protected]

August 26, 2009From Front

Dr. Rebecca Hunter knew she wanted to teach at a school similar to her alma mater, ACU. Hunter, who received a B.S. in biology in 2001, received an email informing her of an open position and said, “It just felt right.”

Hunter said she is looking forward to be-ing able to build relation-ships with students, an opportunity she would not get teaching at bigger schools.

“I’m looking forward to getting freshmen in-

terested in different as-pects of biology,” Hunter said.

For these three new fac-ulty members, coming back to ACU was a homecom-ing, but even for Lubbock Christian University gradu-ate Stephen Baldridge, get-ting to work in the newly established social work master’s program was too enticing to pass up.

Baldridge knew he wanted to work at a school similar to LCU, where he graduated in 2001. Baldridge said he loves be-ing around students and hopes to “learn as much

from them as they learn from me.”

Every new faculty mem-ber has different reasons for coming to ACU, rang-ing from the small campus size and level of personal attention to the opportu-nity to work in new and ex-citing fields. However, all the new faculty members have exhibited the charac-ter and academic integrity ACU students have come to expect.

“Year by year, little by little, our influence is growing,” she said. “The more people know, the more people will par-ticipate.”

The designated appli-cation and training time

was in March, but stu-dents interested in serv-ing as educators or stu-dents who want to make a counseling appoint-ment can e-mail Mandel at [email protected] or stop by the Coun-seling Center in the base-ment of McKinzie Hall.

Help is available from trained students who want to listen.

“If you need to go, go,” Hardin said

“There’s a definite differ-ence in attitude,” Schell said. “They are very ex-cited about it; they are more willing to trust us because they know we are willing to trust them, and we value their space and personal time.”

In addition, resident directors and assistant directors of all freshman

dorms have changed their work schedule and responsibilities this semester. Resident di-rectors will now rotate through all dorms in a weekly “on-call” position, instead of each director being responsible for a single dorm.

Residence Life is em-phasizing a new spiritual focus this semester, as well, Buchanan said.

Students and faculty will be encouraged to spend more time in spiritual solitude, and Come to the Quiet Chapel will be more frequent, so that students are provided with spiritual time with-out distractions.

Continued from page 1

Health: Peer EducatorsWELLNESS


contact Spano [email protected]

Reslife: New policiesRESIDENCE LIFE

Faculty: NewcomersFACULTY

contact Rodriguez [email protected]

contact Knauth [email protected]


Congressman Randy Neugebauer holds a copy of the health care bill while addressing his audience during a town hall meeting at McMurry University on Monday.


“I can tell you this is a truly outstanding class, per-haps, maybe, our best ever — we will see,” Money said, smiling.

Money used his final, Opening Day Ceremonies’

address challege students to confront adversity with faith. Money said when people are overloaded with informa-tion and anxious, they either react with fear or faith.

“They are either con-sumed by fear of the un-known, and are immobi-

lized or pulled in,” he said. “Or they develop a deeper, richer faith in God and act on that faith to do what they can with God’s help. That is what we do here.”


Ceremony: Be courageousCAMPUS


OpinionAugust 26, 2009

Unsigned editorials are the opinions of the Optimist and may not necessarily reflect the views of the university or its administration.

Signed columns, cartoons and letters are the opinions of their creators and may not necessarily reflect the viewpoints of the Optimist or the university.

The Optimist encourages reader response through letters to the editor but reserves the right to limit frequent contributors or to refuse to print letters containing

personal attacks, obscenity, defamation, erroneous information or invasion of privacy.

Please limit letters to 350 words or fewer. A name and phone number must be included for verification purposes. Phone numbers will not be published.

Address letters to: ACU Box 27892 Abilene, TX 79699

E-mail letters to: [email protected]

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Editorial and Management Board


Sondra RodriguezManaging Editor

Laura AcuffFeatures Editor

Linda BaileyOpinions Page Editor

Jozie SandsChief Photographer

Brandon TrippSports Media Director

Sommerly SimserMultimedia Editor

Chelsea HackneyCopy Editor

Liz SpanoArts Editor

Scott StewartPage 2 Editor

Jordan BlakeyCartoonist

Multimedia Desk(325) 674-2463

Kenneth PybusFaculty Adviser

Cade WhiteFaculty Adviser

Christi StarkAdvertising

Optimistthe

By Jordan BlakeyAtaraxia

Republican Randy Neuge-bauer gave voters a chance to speak their minds at a town hall-style meeting Monday afternoon at Mc-Murry University.

Unlike Sen. Arlen Specter and other sena-tors who have withstood verbal blitzkriegs, Neuge-bauer was on friendly turf. To no one’s sur-prise, health care and health care reform domi-nated the forums discus-sion; and to the surprise of few — and disappoint-ment of some — everyone in attendance kept their hands to themselves.

So what more could you ask for than a bit of civilized back and forth between representative and constituent?

We are asking for a few more university students.

In the students’ de-fense, Rep. Neugebauer’s “Abilene coffee” could have been at a more con-venient place and time. In the future someone should inform our repre-sentative that 2:30 p.m. on the first day of class for Abilene Christian Uni-versity, Hardin-Simmons University, McMurry Uni-versity and every public

school in the city is a bad time. If he wanted to hear from the 18-25 year-old demographic or Abilene parents, he must not have wanted to hear it that badly. Who drinks coffee at 5:30 p.m., anyway?

A town hall meeting in Abilene might sound as exciting as picking weeds with your grand-mother, but what better opportunity do students have to literally make their voices heard?

Thanks to today’s me-dia, “health care” has be-come babies’ first word.

TV, Internet and radio

spew information 24 hours a day, some of it accurate, some not. Students must resist the urge to rely on only CNN, foxnews.com or NPR, although they are all great places to start.

National media do their best to analyze the local impact of events in Wash-ington, but students have the right-and the ability-to hear from their represen-tative’s mouth exactly how bills will affect them and why he or she is or is not supporting it. The United States government was de-signed to keep the power in the hands of the people.

Do not hand that power over to representatives by wondering where tax mon-ey goes or what you can do about it.Students can do something, and a chance passed through Abilene

Monday. Do not let anoth-er pass you by.

Town hall meetings offer voice to studentsEDITORIAL

Broken promises tarnish Obama’s reputation COLUMN

Self Examination Ryan Self

The front-page headline of the June 5, 2009, Irish Times proudly proclaims, “US president delivers l a n d -m a r k s p e e c h in Egypt.” This is a s t r a n g e choice for an Irish newspa-per, con-sidering that the United Kingdom’s prime minister, Gordon Brown, is facing a mount-ing crisis and a cabinet deserting him and calling for his resignation.

Despite the political unrest in Britain and the heated elections for the European Union in June, Obama still dominates the news in many Euro-pean newspapers. It ap-pears the world cannot get enough of America’s new president. Europeans love him. Foreign leaders around the world love him. The picture accom-panying the front-page story features two Islam-ic militants glued to their TV set watching Obama give a speech. Even ter-rorists love him. Always a good sign.

The major news of the cabinet members’ resignation in the UK and the possible resigna-tion of the prime minis-ter himself is relegated to Page 11, opposite a large photo of our com-mander in chief and a second and third story about Obama’s speech on Middle East-U.S. rela-tions, an opinion piece and a story about the Is-raeli reaction. The speech has been hailed by many leaders in the Middle East as “a great speech and a landmark,” ”historic” and comparable to Mar-tin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream” speech.

Things are much dif-ferent here in America. Those that live in Michi-gan, who have watched unemployment reach 15 percent, along with 14 other states living with double digit jobless rates after hearing from the president that the $787 billion stimulus would keep unemployment be-low 8.5 percent, are un-likely to hail Obama’s words as inspiring.

Those that heard Obama claim in February he would cut the federal deficit in half within his first term as president, but instead, saw the deficit bal-loon to an estimated $1.84

trillion by September—over four times last year’s record high—are likely to take his future claims with a grain of salt.

In the months leading up to the historic election of our first African-Amer-ican president, Americans were deeply moved by Obama’s speeches. People who heard his words could not help but find them-selves enamored with the picture that Obama paint-ed of the kind of America we would see under his administration. But today is not Inauguration Day, the election is over and the American people are look-ing for results rather than rhetorical flourishes about hope and change.

While Obama’s speeches across the world have helped Amer-ica’s image abroad, the words on the president’s teleprompter seem to be falling flat for the Amer-ican people. In only the past few weeks, support for health care reform, one of Obama’s main

agendas, has fallen from 50 percent at the end of July to 42 percent as of last week, according to Rasmussen Reports. Even former Presidents Bush and Carter enjoyed higher job approval rat-ings at the same point in their first term.

Every president comes to grips with the end of their “honey-moon,” when feelings of goodwill and endless possibility are confront-ed with the realities that come with the high ex-pectations of voters. Voters expect a lot out of their current presi-dent. They should; a lot was promised to them on the campaign trail. But unlike their Europe-an counterparts, Ameri-cans quickly are finding less and less inspiration and hope in the words of their charismatic commander in chief.

While Obama’s speeches across the world have helped America’s image abroad, the words on the president’s teleprompter seem to be falling flat for the American people.

contact Self [email protected]

THE ISSUEFew university students attended a recent town hall meeting with Rep. Randy Neugebauer.

OUR TAKETown halls provide a direct opportunity for voters to voice their concerns, and more students should take advantage of the few that come to Abilene.

Optimism in job offers true joy

COLUMN

Chelsea NowBy Chelsea Hackney

I got my first job the summer before my fresh-man year of high school. It was the first time I’d ever done anything in a non-b a b y s i t -t i n g -r e l a t e d capacity, so I was s t o k e d . Until I d i s c o v -ered the position was as an “administrative assis-tant” for a Certified Pub-lic Accountant.

Yawn. Our families went to

church together, and somehow, it got out I could crunch numbers and was easily intimidat-ed. I was hired.

The business was a one-man operation until I showed up. Unfortu-nately, two’s a crowd. My boss worked out of an office that was actually one room about the size of a closet. Add a desk, file cabinets and a 10-ton fax machine and you’ve got a room designed to take out the elbows, knees and toes of poor, unsuspecting interns.

Despite the bruises and the boredom, I loved that job. I mean, who else would pay a skinny 14-year-old kid with no experience $100 a week to recon-cile bank statements? For three months, I was hot stuff.

Now, I have a differ-ent job, but I still get the same thrill that I did in ninth grade when I walk into the office. True, I’m in a vastly dif-ferent place than I was, working a much more rewarding job—and get-ting up much earlier to do it.

But the joy is still there. I just didn’t know it until recently, while working at the Abilene Reporter-News.

The Reporter-News,

being the only newspa-per in town, gets a lot of press. (I’ll pause for the obligatory eye-roll). Teachers love to bring their classes through on tours, so we have one about once a month.

The exciting part of the tour is taking the kids to watch the reel-men printing the pa-per.

Normally, we stand outside a glass wall and look inside at the ma-chines, ooh, aah, next. But last month, we ran into Ed. Ed happens to work on the press, and he knows just about ev-erything there is to know about printing a newspa-per.

It was obvious as Ed wove his way through the maze of machines that he’s great at what he does because he loves it. Yeah, he has ink all over his hands and face and clothes. He works until 2 or 3 a.m. every night. The work he does is hot and tiring. But it’s cool. And he knows it.

So the question I had to ask myself was: Do I love my work? Am I proud of it? Do I pour my heart and soul into everything I do?

I discovered the se-cret to surviving a bor-ing job. Give it one hun-dred percent.

So, my challenge for to-morrow? Try loving your job. See what happens.

contact Hackney [email protected]

Now, I have a different job, but I still get the same thrill that I did in ninth grade when I walk into the office.

Self

Hackney

Email the Optimist at:[email protected]

Defense: On the rise with the Wildcats as linebacker. Last season, he was third on defense in tackles, with 56 total tackles. 7.5 sacks put

Thompson into second on the team and fourth in the conference.

Tony Harp, secondary leader, recorded 53 tackles, one sack and one intercep-tion last season. He was

also voted to First Team All-Conference and is look-ing to lead the Wildcats on defense this season.

The Wildcat defense will be tested early in the game tomorrow night at

7 p.m. Fans are encour-aged to come early and wear purple.

contact Cantrell [email protected]


The Bearcats went on to win their semifinal game against North Alabama, but lost in the champi-onship to Minnesota-Duluth. Their cham-pionship loss marked their fourth consecu-tive runner-up finish in the Division II National Championship.

The Northwest Mis-souri State team enters the 2009 season ranked number two in the na-tion with hopes of a fifth straight championship appearance. The Wild-cats are not far behind

with ranking number five at the beginning of the season.

As game time ap-proaches, the hype con-tinues to escalate. CBS College Sports first de-cided to air the game nationally. Then, a cou-ple of weeks ago, ACU officials learned that Fox Sports Southwest and Fox Sports Houston would carry the game. For local fans who may not have any of those stations, KRBC will be picking up the feed from CBS College Sports.

With the nation’s eyes on the game, the spotlight will be on pro-

jected starter Zach Stew-art. Stewart was in the shadow of record-break-ing quarterback Malone last season but saw sig-nificant playing time af-ter Malone injured his thumb. The two starts Stewart had last year will not compare to the im-portance of this start.

The defense will be heavily tested against NW Missouri’s high-powered offense. In the 2008 sea-son, the Bearcats scored an average 40.0 points per game.

“We need to do two things. One is focus on fundamentals,” defensive coordinator Jason Johns

said. “The first game is hard because they may do the same thing or they may do things different. We will just have to make adjustments as the game goes on.”

The game will be at Shotwell Stadium at 7 p.m. Thursday. All fans are encouraged to wear purple, and there will be a tailgate party with free food at 5 p.m. in the Shotwell Stadium parking lot.

Rivalry: Shootout at ShotwellFOOTBALL

contact [email protected]


Wednesday, August 26, 2009From Sports


ACU will try to avenge last year’s playoff against the Bearcats at 7 p.m. on Thursday at Shotwell Stadium.

Central Oklahoma and Midwestern State.Individual preseason awards were also pre-sented. Standout Wild-cat goalie Crissy Lawson received the preseason Goalkeeper of the Year award. Lawson also won the Goalkeeper of the Year award at the end of last season.

Last year, Lawson, a senior from California, recorded 106 saves on her way to posting five shutouts. Her impres-sive résumé also in-cludes a First Team all-Conference selection, an average of .88 goals allowed per game and a .862 save percentage.

“Crissy is going to be a key player for us this season. We will definitely be relying on her senior leadership skills,” Wilson said.

Along with Lawson, there are three other all-Conference selections returning to the Lady Wildcats. Jordan Reese, Courtney Wilson and An-astasia Nelson will lead a Wildcat team full of young talent. At the end of last season, Wilson was able to sign six high school standouts and a

junior college transfer from California.

Ashley Holton, ACU’s new junior col-lege transfer, comes to the Lady Wildcats from Cayamaca College in El Cajon, Calif. Unfortu-nately, she will have to sit out this season, but her résumé is impres-sive. In her two years of college eligibility, Holton won the Pacific Coast Conference Player of the Year twice, record-ing a total of 41 goals and 30 assists. Holton also led the Cayamaca Coyotes to a conference title, while garnering all-Region honors.

Two new freshmen have gotten the coaches’ attention. Lexi Stirling and Julie Coppedge have looked good in practice, so far.

“They were great play-ers in high school, and we need them to make an impact for us this season,” Wilson said.

The Lady Wildcats will open their season Friday against Central Missouri at the Wildcat soccer field.

Expectations: Building blocks

SOCCER


contact Gwin [email protected]

Games: New intramural sports for Fall semester INTRAMURAL

The return of flag football in place of touch football is one of the biggest changes Edwards has made. She said several stu-dents commented they wanted flag football brought back.

“I love for students to have fun,” Edwards said. “I want them to play games they en-joy, with people they enjoy.”

Sanders participates in the highly competitive Champion-ship League, but he also is quick to note there are opportunities for athletes of all skill levels.

“There are teams that just

play for the fun of it and have a great time,” Sanders said. “Even if you are not the best athlete, you get to choose your level of competition. The real purpose of sports is all about having a good time.”

Intramurals not only serve as a way to expand your hori-zons at ACU, but also as a way to get plugged in. Incoming freshman Rebekah Horton, a business and English major from Weatherford, plans to participate in intramurals and views the program as a great way to get involved.

“I am really excited about

playing intramurals at ACU,” Horton said. “I really enjoyed playing basketball in high school, and I think that intra-murals are a great way to ex-ercise, stay in shape and meet new people.”

Regardless of what sport students enjoy most, or whether they are superb ath-letes, intramurals present a fun opportunity to get in-volved on campus. Visit www.acu.edu/intramurals or stop by the intramural office in Bennett Gymnasium for more information.


contact Craig [email protected]

QUICK FACTS

Students will have more sports options this year. Below is a list of Fall sports and the sign-up deadlines.

SPORT n Flag Football n Tennis Tournement n Disc Golf Tournamentn Waterball n Ultimate Frisbee Tournamentn Racquetball Tournament

DEADLINEAug. 26 - Sept. 2Sept. 14 - 18Sept. 28 - Oct. 2Oct. 19 - 23Oct. 26 - 30Nov. 2 - 6


Kendall McEachran, freshman psychology major from Alberquerque, N.M., goes for a block during Welcome Week.

I am really excited about playing intra-murals at ACU.REBEKAH HORTONFreshman business and English major from Weatherford, TX

August 26, 2009 Campus News

Kelsi WilliamsonStaff Photographer

Cross Canadian Ragweed returns Friday night to the Taylor County Expo Center for the second annual Taylor County Throwdown. This year, the band will perform with special guest Reck-less Kelly.

In its biography, the band describes itself as a “rock ’n’ roll” band.

AllMusic, a popular consumer guide to mu-sic, says, “They may be the last great Southern rock band still stomping the boards.”

Regardless of opinion, Cross Canadian Ragweed brings a crowd.

Pro Show LIVE, the Austin-based production company coordinating Throwdown 2009, expects a turnout similar to that at last year’s concert. Greg Henry, owner of Pro Show LIVE, estimates attendance of around 4,000.

“Abilene has been a proven market for them,” Henry said.

Natalie Friend, junior nutrition and health ma-jor from Tulsa, said that Cross Canadian Rag-weed has a high-energy country sound that she enjoys. Friend attended last year’s concert and hopes to return for this year’s performance.

“They are a good-name band to come to a small West Texas town,” said

Friend. “They get col-lege students excited and their lyrics are relatable.”

The lyrics are largely the work of singer/song-writer and lead guitarist Cody Canada, the band’s front man. He and three lifelong friends make up Cross Canadian Rag-weed, a name created using the last names of the band members. Al-though the foursome is popular in its own right, the foursome is known to play with notable art-

ists, such as country mu-sic star Dierks Bentley.

Cross Canadian Rag-weed’s performance will coincide with the debut

of their newest album, “Happiness and All Other Things,” which will be of-ficially released Sept. 1.

Advance tickets are

$20. They can be pur-chased online at www.proshowLIVE.com, as well as at the Taylor County Expo Box Office and Cav-

ender’s Boot City in Abilene. Doors open at 7 p.m.

Cross Canadian Ragweed returns to AbileneENTERTAINMENT

contact Williamson [email protected]

Courtesy of CROSSCANADIANRAGWEED.COM


ACU’s Medical Clinic welcomes a new director and physician this year, Dr. Ellen Little.

Little graduated from Abilene Christian Univer-sity in 1992, and received her M.D. from Texas Tech University in 1997. Dur-ing her medical school and residency in Lubbock, Little spread the word she was looking for work in the medical mission field. She had spent time working

and doing mission work in Guatemala, Mexico, Nigeria and Uganda, so she knew what she was getting into.

When she finished her residency, she was given the opportunity to work in Uganda.

“I had been praying all of that time,” Little said. “I felt like God had answered

all my prayers.”While in Uganda, she

traveled to Kenya, Sudan, Rwanda and Zambia to work. She said malaria is quite common in that area of the country, and the HIV rate is much higher.

In Zambia, Little met the clinic’s newest registered nurse, Michelle Drew. Drew

earned her m a s t e r s ’ in public health from Vanderbilt University and is a cer-

tified nurse midwife.Little loved her work

in Uganda, but the death of her father last year brought her back to the U.S. While in the States, a chance conversation led

her back to ACU.“I told a friend of mine,

‘You know, I think a great job would be a campus physician’,” she said. “ACU just happened to need a doctor at the same time.”

Having only arrived in June, Little is still read-justing to life here. One significant difference is the American demand for immediate attention.

“My patients there

thought nothing at all of sit-ting under a tree and wait-ing three hours for me.”

Little assures stu-dents if they call in the morning and request a sick visit, they should be able to receive a same- day appointment.

ACU clinic hires mission-minded physicianCAMPUS


My patients there thought nothing at all of sitting under a tree and waiting three hours for me.Dr. Ellen LittleACU physician

Sports August 26, 2009

FOOTBALL

Rivalry RenewedRyan Cantrelland Austin GwinAssistant Sports Editors

The 2008 football sea-son began and ended with the Bearcats. ACU football will start the 2009 season with a bang, as the Wildcats look to take revenge on the Northwest Missouri State Bearcats Thursday at Shotwell Stadium.

The rivalry between the Wildcats and the Bearcats runs deep, heightened during

two pivotal games last season. In the open-ing game of last year, the Wildcats made the trip to Maryville, Mo., and knocked off the third-place ranked Bearcats by a score of 44-27. Then, in the National Quarter-finals, the Bearcats halted the Wildcats undefeated streak and dashed their dreams of a championship, winning 45-36.

“We definitely have a chip on our shoulder,”

star safety Tony Harp said. “We have that loss in our minds going into the game Thursday.

Going into the North-west Missouri game at the start of the 2008 season, the Wildcats had high hopes for their team. The team, led by

the terrific trio of stars Billy Malone, Bernard Scott and Johnny Knox, fell behind early. At the end of the first quarter, they trailed 21-7.

The Cats changed gears, and over the next two quarters, scored 30 points while

the defense held the Bearcats scoreless. In the fourth, ACU was able to hold on and come away with a vi-tal victory to start theperfect season.

Perfection was shat-tered in the playoffs, however, when NW Mis-souri took vengeance for their earlier defeat. The Wildcats fell behind early again, and this time, ACU was unable to muster a comeback.

acuoptimist.com

Get instant updates and analysis as ACU takes on NW Missouri State at 7 p.m. Thursday.

see RIVALRY page 8

StandingsFOOTBALL

Team Div. Ovrl.ACU

VOLLEYBALL

MSUENMUWTAMUAngelo St.TAMU-KCentral Okla.SE Okla.TAMU-K

0-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-0

0-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-0

Team Div. Ovrl.ACUWTAMUTarleton St.TAMU-KENMUAngelo St.

0-00-00-00-00-00-0

0-00-00-00-00-00-0

n Fomer ACU standout Delloreen Ennis-London finished third in the final of the 100-meter hurdles during the IAAF World Track and Field Championships at Olympic Stadium in Berlin.

Ennis-London won eight NCAA Division II national championships in the hurdles for the Wildcats from 1996 to 1999. She finished only .04 seconds behind new world champion Brigitte Foster-Hylton, Ennis-London’s Jamaican teammate.

The 33-year-old Ennis-London is still running well on the Eu-ropean circuit, winning the 100 meter at the Ostrava Golden Spike in Ostrava, Czechoslo-vakia, two months ago with a time of 12.79 seconds.

n New Director of Intramurals, Kenli Edwards has annouced an intramural special event, Exhibition Extravaganza. The event will be Sept 3 from 5 to 11 p.m. at Larry Sanders Intramural Fields.

The event will feature the intramural flag footbal teams playing pre-season games, hot dogs and drinks will be sold for those in attendance. Intramural T-shirts will also be sold for $10.

Any students interested in participating in intramurals are encouraged to visit the Web site, www.acu.edu/intramurals, or go to the intramural office in Bennett Gymnasium.

Briefs

WOMEN’S SOCCERTeam Div. Ovrl.ACUAngelo St.MSUWTAMUCentral Okla.East CentralENMUNE St.TAMU-C

0-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-0

0-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-0

TX Woman’sSW Okla.

0-00-0

0-00-0

Ryan CantrellAssistant Sports Editor

The Wildcats’ defense is looking to pick up where it left off last year. In a perfect 10-0 season, the defense was the stron-gest it has been in re-cent history. However, in their quest to repeat perfection, a lot of pres-sure will be put on the defense to be better than last year.

The defense put up some strong numbers last season. They were giving up an average of 16.2 points per game in the regular season. After the playoffs, that

number was 22.9 points per game, while the of-fense scored an aver-age of 52.3 points per game. They were also very good at buckling down when ACU need-ed it the most. They only gave up an average of 4.25 points per game in the fourth quarter.

The Wildcats are re-turning six starters this season on defense. Trans-fer students and under-classmen will join these players to make up anoth-er strong defensive unit.

The defensive line was a big part of the Wildcats’ success last year. They led the Lone Star Conference in sacks with 38 for the season. Last year, Aston Whi-teside led the team in sacks and was second overall in the LSC with nine sacks for the year.

Whiteside was voted First Team Defense for the conference last year. He also won Freshman

of the Year and Co-Defens ive Lineman of the Year for the confer-ence.

B r y s o n Lewis re-turns on de-

fense after a great sea-son last year when he was voted Second Team all-Conference. Lewis was fourth in tackles for the team and had one forced fumble.

Fred Thompson re-turns for his third year

HEATHER LEIPHART StaffPhotographer

The Wildcat defense prepares to face a tough NW Missouri State offense Thursday.

Defense big part of Cats’ success

We will be flying around, I can tell you that.TONY HARPFree Safety

see DEFENSE page 8

Austin GwinAssistant Sports Editor

This season, “surprise” is spelled W-I-L-D-C-A-T-S. The return of the Goal-keeper of the Year pre-season pick and three other all-Conference honorees is sure to help the Lady Wildcat soc-cer team exceed already high expectations.

“We want to be a play-off team this season. We have to remain healthy and take down some of the top teams in our conference,” said head coach Casey Wilson.

Three weeks ago, the Lone Star Conference preseason polls were released. The Lady Wild-cats were picked to fin-ish fifth in the LSC after

going to the playoffs last season for the first time in their short history.

West Texas A&M was picked to place first, following a season in which they won the regular season title and postseason tournament. Behind WTAMU are Texas A&M Commerce,

High expectations

SOCCER

see EXPECTATIONS page 7


Courtney Wilson dribbles past a defender.

Jeff CraigSports Writer

When it comes to tradi-tions at ACU, intramural sports play as important a role in ACU culture as Sing Song and Homecom-ing, and now, students have more opportunities to participate.

The program this year will be under the guidance of new director of intra-mural sports, Kenli Ed-wards, who said intramu-rals should be a big reason students come to ACU.

“It’s a good extracur-ricular activity,” Edwards said. “You can meet new people and be on teams with your friends.”

This fall, students will have a chance to partici-pate in more sports than ever before. In addition to traditional ACU intra-murals such as flag foot-ball and waterball, stu-

dents can play ultimate Frisbee, disc golf, tennis and racquetball. Edwards also said there may be special intramural events throughout the year.

Jonathan Sanders, ju-nior English major from Henderson, serves as the intramural director for the men’s social club Gamma Sigma Phi. Sand-ers thinks intramurals are an integral part of the ACU experience and en-courages fellow students to play.

“Now is the time to join intramurals,” Sand-ers said. “We are going back to more crowd-pleasing, adrenaline-pumping sports. New director Kenli Edwards has done some phenom-enal work putting a lot of time and effort into the program. Things can only get better.”

Director addsnew sports

INTRAMURALS

see GAMES page 7

THURSDAY

FootballACU vs. NW Missouri St., 7 p.m.

FRIDAY

VolleyballTruman State, 2:30 p.m.

Nebraska-Omaha, 7 p.m.

Women’s SoccerACU vs. Central, 5 p.m.

SATURDAY

VolleyballNorth Alabama, 2 p.m.

Minnesota-Mankato, 6 p.m.

SUNDAY

Women’s SoccerACU vs. St. Mary, 1 p.m.

Upcoming

The Optimist - Aug. 8, 2009

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