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The new permanent dean of the College of Arts and Sciences is a familiar face in the dean’s office.
Dr. Greg Straughn ac-cepted the change in posi-tion from interim dean for the college, which he had been serving as for the past six months. He had also filled this same position for a year in 2010 before Dr. Charles Mattis was named dean.
Straughn has also served in many other positions on campus such as interim pro-
vost, assistant provost of gen-eral education, honors dean and a professor and chair of the music department.
The College of Arts and Sciences is made up of 15 different departments bro-ken into four units, mak-ing it the largest college on campus. Straughn volun-teered to be interim dean
while also applying for the permanent position.
“We’ve got everything from the hard sciences to the fine arts and everything in between,” Straughn said. “It’s a vibrant mix.”
The college is looking forward to the stability his appointment will provide. Dr. Jeff Haseltine, associate
dean for the College of Arts and Sciences and the Col-lege of Education and Hu-man Services, said, “I expect continuity from what he was doing before and the types of relationships he had with the chairs and office staff.”
Making this appointment permanent will allow the college to continue build-ing off of the work Straughn has already done during his time as interim dean.
“We’re very happy about his appointment,” Hasel-tine said.
Straughn plans to start this semester by looking at the long-term goals for the
college. “I’m looking for-ward to taking some time this semester to look a little further down the road to see what will position the college best in the next 10-15 years,” Straughn said.
The College of Arts and Sciences will have a strong base for growth in the com-ing years under this new leadership.
“I’m happy to serve how-ever I can for as long as people need me to do that,” Straughn said.
Abilene Christian University
ArtsPage 5
vol. 101, no. 30 friday, january 18, 2012 1 SECTION, 6 PAGES
OPINION
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For more photos from around campus, visit our Flickr page
PHOTOS
INSIDE
Page 3
Lynay changes Schizuka study hours to increase use
NEWS
Page 3
Women’s basketball looks to continue conference dominance
SPORTS
Page 3
Classes moving from Blackboard to OpenClass
NEWS
Managing Editor Josh Garcia explores risky situations
Page 4
Page 4
Arts Editor Lindsay Palmer disagrees with the Affordable Care Act
OPINION
Page 6
SPORTS
ONLINE
acuoptimist.com
For recaps of the weekend basketball games, go to:
SPORTS
BIKE THEFTS BY YEAR2008: 23 on campus, 3 off
2009: 15 on campus, 5 off
2010: 40 on campus, 5 off
2011: 15 on campus, 3 off
2012: 15 on campus, 5 off
curtis christian staff photographer
JP Ralston, junior finance major from Plano, Josh Marshall, senior family studies major from Vernon, Chase Martin, senior graphic design major from The Colony, and Andrew
Lang, junior theatre major from Abilene, practice their sing song faces at Gamma Sigma Phi’s first rehearsal of the year.
contact greene [email protected]
Page 4
Gun control regulations should focus more on users, less on firearms
OPINION
Page 6
Men’s basketball team handily defeats Incarnate Word
SPORTS
Page 6
First baseball D-I recruiting class includes MLB player’s son
SPORTS
administration
straughn
CAS dean settling in familiar postkatie greenepage 2 editor
@acuoptimistThe OptimistACUOPTIMIST.COM [email protected]
Twenty bicycles were re-ported stolen or missing to ACU police in 2012, two more than in 2011.
Fourteen of these 20 bikes were reported stolen in the fall semester alone. Eleven were stolen from university property and
three were stolen from oth-er areas in Abilene.
One problem area was Smith-Adams; five bikes were reported stolen from the off-campus residence hall last semester. Hao Zhe Kok and Jonathan Teoh, Smith-Adams residents, are among those who lost their bikes to thievery. They said they were caught off-guard by the thefts.
Kok, sophomore com-puter science major from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, said he thought his bike would be safe at ACU.
“I am disappointed that such a thing could happen in Abilene,” Kok said.
Teoh, sophomore ex-ercise science major from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia,
see thefts page 3
Bike theft rates holding steadycrime
Dr. greg straughndean of the college of arts and sciences
I’m happy to serve however I can for as long as people need me to
do that.”“
university
During the 2012 fall semes-ter, ACU joined with Ha-nover Research to provide a consultant for faculty who are interested in writing grant proposals.
The liaison position be-tween Hanover and the uni-versity is being filled by Dr. Susan Lewis, interim vice provost.
Lewis said Hanover is a company divided into two branches: a research branch
and a grants branch. She said the university already has a contract with the re-search branch, and the con-tract with the grants branch was added in the fall.
“What Hanover does,” Lewis said, “is provide exper-tise in helping faculty mem-bers write grant proposals and find the grants that most closely relate to the research that the faculty are interested in doing. So they have a mul-titude of universities that they work with, and we’re actually quite excited to be working with them.”
Lewis said several proj-ects have already gone through the process with Hanover and she is pleased with the company’s work.
“The way that Hanover works is that we have a queue, so they work on one project at a time for us and, depending
on the depth of the project, it could take three weeks to six weeks,” Lewis said.
She said Hanover is cur-rently working with Dr. Matthew Garver of the de-partment of kinesiology and nutrition to put togeth-er a grant proposal. Lewis
said there are several other projects lined up that will be sent in when Garver’s proposal is complete.
Lewis said representa-tives from Hanover will visit the university Tuesday and Wednesday. During that time they will attend meetings with faculty and advancement officers to discuss how Hanover can continue to support the work of the university.
Hanover to help faculty secure grantsmelany cox
online managing editor
josh garciamanaging editor
Gold WinnersGlobes include snubs, easy choices, surprises and disappointments
contact cox [email protected]
Dr. susan lewisinterim vice provost
What Hanover does is provide expertise in helping faculty members write grant proposals and find the
grants that most closely relate to the research that the faculty are interested in doing.”“
Tennis teams set to compete for last chance at LSC title
18 19 20 21friday saturday sunday monday
All Day - Martin Luther King Day
9 p.m. Sundaes on Mondays at the Campus Center Living Room
9 p.m. 9 o’ clock at University Church of Christ
All Day - Track Texas Tech Invitational
All Day - Track Texas Tech Invitational
1 p.m. Women’s Basketball at TAMU-Kingsville
3 p.m. Men’s Basket-ball at TAMU-Kingsville
Police Log
7 92@acuoptimist
The Optimist
friday 1.18.13 2
Police log
Announcements
Students interested in join-ing The Wildcat Reign can sign up at thewildcatreign.com. The Wildcat Reign aims to provide students the ability to facilitate Wildcat pride on campus and serves as a link-ing point between students and Wildcat athletic events.
ACU Leadership Camps is looking for college students to serve on summer staff. Pick up an application in Room 10 in the lower level of the Campus Center.
The 6th annual Student Art Contest for Summit is open for submissions. The ACU Ministry Events Office calls any current ACU student to submit their original art-work, photography, drawing, painting or other creation to visually communicate the 2013 Summit theme: Mar-gins. Submissions must be received digitally to [email protected] by Feb. 15. One se-lect work will be awarded a cash prize of $100 and used to advertize the 2013 Sum-mit.
The Tedd Tripp Parenting Seminar is Feb. 1 at 6:30-9:15 p.m. and Feb. 2 at 8:30-12 p.m. at South Side Baptist Church. Registration is $12 per person and ends Jan. 25th.
Zumba Fitness Party is Jan. 24 from 6-7:30 p.m. in SRWC. Cost is free for SRWC mem-bers and $5 for the general public. Special guests REFIT will be present.
Abstract submission for the Undergraduate Research Festival is now open. The 5th annual ACU Undergrad-uate Research Festival will be April 4-5. To submit your abstract or get abstract writ-ing tips and information on the review of abstracts go to the Research Festival Blog at blogs.acu.edu/researchfest.
01/08/2013 9:30 a.m. An ACU faculty member reported the theft of an iPad.
01/08/2013 7:23 p.m. ACUPD received the report of a suspi-cious male trying to get into vehicles. Investigation revealed that no vehicles had been bur-glarized.
01/09/2013 3:58 a.m. ACUPD officers assisted APD with a fight [assault/family violence] call at the Greyhound Bus Station on Highway 351.
01/11/2013 11:20 p.m. ACUPD responded to a loud party call. Warning issued. 01/13/2013 11:40 p.m. A resi-dent called ACUPD reporting a prowler on her roof.
Police Tip of the Week: ACUPD welcomes you back to campus. Have a safe semester and re-member to always report suspi-cious activity to ACUPD immedi-ately.
Administrative activity Alarm Animal call Assist Barricades Building lock/unlock Check building Disturbance Escort FightFoot patrol Found propertyHazard Information report
Investigation follow up Maintenance: university assetsMonitor facility/lot Motorist assist: Jumpstart Other UnlockOtherParking lot patrol Parking violation Patrol vehicle: Maintenance Refuel
Prowler Random patrol Report writing Suspicious activitySuspicious person Theft Traffic stop TrainingWelfare check
Total Events: 212
Volunteer Opp0rtunities
Chapel checkup
The Center for International Education is looking for conversation partners for international students to practice English, conversations and cultural learning. Partners meet for one hour each week at a time and place determined by the partners. For more informa-tion contact Laura McGregor at 325-674-2821 or [email protected].
St. John’s Episcopal School is seeking volunteers to paint metal playground equipment anytime Monday-Friday after 3 p.m. and Saturday anytime. For more in-formation contact Rebecca McMillon at 325-695-8870 or [email protected].
Center for Contemporary Arts needs a gallery assistant to greet patrons, answer phones and answer basic questions about the Center and its programs. This opportunity is open Tuesday-Friday. The Center for Contemporary Arts is located at 220 Cypress Street. For more information contact Jessica Dulle at 325-677-8389 or visit: http://www.center-arts.com/.
Rescue the Animals is seeking volunteers to take pic-tures and videos in preparation for the launching of their new website as well as maintenance of the site after the launch. This opportunity is open Monday, Tuesday, Thurs-day and Friday from 1 p.m. - 5 p.m. For more information contact Kathy Walker at 325-677-7722 or [email protected].
The National Center For Children’s Illustrated Literature is looking for volunteers to greet patrons, assist with art activities, sell books and make visitors feel welcome. Help is also needed for special events like Artwalk and exhibit openings. The NCCIL is located at 102 Cedar St. For more information on times and dates contact Debby Lillick at 325-673-4586 or visit: http://www.nccil.org/index.htm.
The Christian Ministries of Abilene: Food Pantry is searching for volunteers to greet and interview neighbors, do computer entries, shop with neighbors, take groceries to vehicles, bag, stock and pick up orders on Mondays and Fridays from 9:30 a.m. - 11:45 a.m. and 1 p.m. - 2:15 p.m. and on Wednesdays from 9:30 a.m. - 11:45 a.m. The Food Pantry is located at 701 Walnut St. For more information contact Becky Almanza at 325-673-1234 or [email protected].
The Christian Service Center is seeking volunteers to help assist with filling requests for items such as clothing, bedding, kitchen utensils, etc. from the donation center, sort and organize donations and occasionally pick-up donated items. Volunteers are needed every weekday
and the first Saturday of each month between 9 a.m. - 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. - 4 p.m. For more information contact Roberta Brown at 325-673-7561 or at [email protected]. For more information on the program visit: http://www.uccabilene.org/ministries/csc.htm.
The Food Bank of West Central Texas needs volunteers to help sort and stock food and other items any week-day Monday-Friday from 8 a.m.-3 p.m. The Food Bank is located at 5505 N. 1st St. For more information contact Janice Serrault at 325-695-6311 or [email protected].
Meals on Wheels Plus needs volunteer drivers to deliver afternoon meals to seniors and adults with disabilities Monday-Friday between 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. Drivers must be at least 18 years old and have a valid driver’s license. Training is provided. For more information contact Sa-mantha Barker at 352-672-5050 or visit: http://mealson-wheelsplus.com.
The Salvation Army is looking for volunteers for a variety of needs including sorting and pricing items in the thrift store, helping in the kitchen and/or doing yard work. Times are flexible. Volunteers are needed throughout the week Monday-Saturday. The Salvation Army is located at 1726 Butternut St. For more information contact J.D. Alonzo at 325-677-1408 or visit: www.satruck.com. The House That Kerry Built is looking for volunteers to assist in the day care of medically fragile children any day Monday-Friday from 9 a.m. - 11 a.m. or 3 p.m. - 5 p.m. Contact Keith Loftin at 325-672-6061.
The International Rescue Committee is seeking volun-teers to work with refugees who recently moved to the U.S., teaching English, helping with homework and men-toring. Contact Susanna Lubango to make an appoint-ment at 325-675-5643.
The Covenant Place of Abilene is seeking volunteers to lead singing and/or play piano for residents. For more information contact Ann Erwin at 325-793-1144.
University Place is seeking volunteers to help with the resident birthday party for residents the third Wednesday of each month at 2:30 p.m. For more information contact Linda Tijerina at 325-676-9946.
Breakfast on Beech Street is seeking volunteers to help set up, prepare and serve breakfast to homeless/lower in-come folks any Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at 5:30 a.m. or Tuesday at 5 a.m. B.O.B.S is located at First Christian Church on 3rd St. and Beech St. Service times must be scheduled in advance. To serve on Mondays con-tact Jody Depriest at 325-669-3312 or jody.depriest@
gmail.com. To serve on Tuesdays contact Allen Daugh-erty at 325-660-6949 or [email protected]. To serve on Wednesdays contact Jane Harvey at 325-695-0092 or [email protected]. To serve on Thursdays contact Margaret Beasley at 325-692-4149 or [email protected]. To serve on Fridays contact Rachel Brown at [email protected].
Eternal Threads is seeking volunteers to help with pack-ing and organizing shipments, labeling products, errands and cleaning any weekday from 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. For more information contact Pam Early at 325-672-6000 or [email protected].
Christian Homes & Family Services is seeking volunteers to do minor landscaping such as raking, trimming bushes, minor apartment repairs and general upkeep Monday-Saturday from 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. For more information contact Shaylee Honey at 325-677-2205 or [email protected].
The Abilene Public Zoo is seeking volunteers to help clean/feed animals, assist zookeepers and assist with educational classes any weekday any time between 12 p.m.-4 p.m. They are also seeking volunteers to help with general labor such as grounds cleanup and painting any weekday at any time between noon and 4 p.m. For more information contact Joy Harsh at 325-676-6487.
Hill Resources is seeking volunteers to encourage and entertain mentally delayed individuals Monday through Friday any time between 10 a.m.-2 p.m. For more infor-mation contact Michelle Espinoza at 325-673-3346 or [email protected].
The Oaks at Radford Hills is seeking volunteers to par-ticipate in activities, go on outings and provide social stimulation for residents any day at any time. For more information contact Michelle White or Sonia Serrato at 325-672-3236.
Rescue the Animals is seeking volunteers to work at the adoption center doing a variety of tasks including clean-ing, socializing and grooming the animals Monday - Sat-urday from 1 p.m.-5 p.m. For more information contact Mindi Qualls at 325-698-7722 or [email protected].
The CAC Department is seeking volunteers to partici-pate in Special Olympics, by helping mentally/physically challenged people play games and sports Monday-Friday from 8 a.m.-2 p.m. For more infomation contact Angel Seca at 325-690-5235.
For additional volunteer opportunities visit: www.acu.edu/campusoffices/ccsl/ministry-service/volunteer-opportunities/
Weekly Stats for week of Jan. 8-Jan. 15
72133
1274
1416311
4
111
527591
26
1148152531
contact [email protected]
Friday 01.18.133 news/sports
‘Cats prepare for TAMU-K Javelinas
The Wildcats will continue Lone Star Conference play in Kingsville this weekend as the Lady Wildcats will take on the Texas A&M Ja-velinas this Saturday at 1 p.m.
“We’ve been playing at a really high level recently,” head coach Julie Goode-nough said. “We have been taking away things from every game, whether wins or losses, and applying them to our future games.”
The Wildcats are com-ing off a 76-65 win against the Incarnate Word Car-dinals this past Tuesday. The win put ACU at 11-3 overall and 6-2 in the LSC which is good enough for
third place behind Tarleton State (7-1) and Midwestern State (7-2), and was Good-enough’s 300th career win as a head coach.
“I have been very blessed to have been a part of great coaching staffs all over and to have been able to coach great play-ers,” Goodenough said. “I received many phone calls and text messages congratulating me on the milestone; it means a lot to have people take the time to tell me that.”
The career mark is go-ing to have to be put on the side for now, as she says the main point is still to win games.
“Hopefully I’ll be able to take the time in the off season to look back and reflect,” Goodenough said.
“But for now, the main thing is Kingsville and making sure we can take care of business there.”
The Javelinas are 3-11 overall and last in the LSC with a 1-7 record. The Wild-cats are currently riding a four game winning streak.
“We want to be sure that we don’t get distracted,” Goodenough said. “When we stay focused and play the game like we want to, then we’re unstoppable.”
With a win on Satur-day, ACU would become the third team in the LSC to reach seven conference wins, and would tie them with Midwestern State for second place.
women’s basketball
Daniel Zepedasports reporter
contact Zepeda [email protected]
Schizuka now offical Lynay study room
A regular conference room in the Hunter Welcome Center, called Schizuka, has been repurposed into a study area for ACU program Lynay members.
Schizuka, the meeting room for the Lynay orga-nization, has in the past been available to Lynay members during sched-uled hours. However, this semester the faculty has made some changes.
Last semester, 500 hours were logged in Schizuka by Lynay mem-
bers during its limited hours. This year, with its new hours from 8 to 5, that number is bound to increase.
“Good grades may not come easily to everyone, but everyone can work hard to be the best they can,” states Mrs. Lea Watkins, pro-gram director of Lynay. The purpose of the changes to Schizuka are to make this hard work a little easier on the Lynay members.
Lynay is a program on campus led by Dr. Gary Mc-Caleb and Mrs. Lea Watkins that exists with the goal of establishing community through diversity.
This program contains 200 students who meet once a week. Each student has been identified as a poten-tial leader, and the program exists to help nourish these student’s leadership qualities during their years at ACU.
In addition to their meet-ings, each member of Lynay is required to complete 20 hours of community service a week. To fulfill this require-ment, many of the members are involved in programs such as Treadaway Kids, Big Brothers Big Sisters and Meals on Wheels.
While many study loca-tions exist around cam-pus, Lynay has sought to
further nurture the study practices of its members.
The locations around campus that are open to every student are fre-quently overcrowded and loud. The library itself has become more of a social meeting place than a qui-et place to study.
For this reason, the facul-ty has changed Schizuka into a place where its members can study in peace, anytime during regular school hours.
“Schizuka serves as a constant reminder of the im-portance of preparing and studying,” said Dr. McCaleb, vice president of ACU and executive director of Lynay. “Even though you are work-ing in the community and doing service hours, that does not diminish the im-portance of your studies and making the most of your op-portunities at ACU.”
McCaleb explained that Schizuka gets its name from the famous Japanese figure
skater who believes that hard work is the key to greatness and that success is not based on talent alone. This mirrors the faculty’s belief that hard work is the key to success, not just natural intelligence.
The changes to Schizuka are based on the effort, and the work, that is necessary for deliberate practice.
The room is now avail-able any time during regu-lar school hours for Lynay members to help these students on their road to success.
organizations
peyton mosleystudent reporter
contact Mosley [email protected]
OpenClass to fully replace Blackboard soon
The Spring 2013 semester is the last that students and faculty will see Blackboard.
Pearson’s OpenClass is the new learning manage-ment system that will be in full use by the Fall 2013 se-mester.
ACU’s contract with Blackboard ends June 1 of this year, which caused the Adams Center to start searching for a new learning management system that
could replace Blackboard and be more functional. OpenClass was just one of many learning manage-ment systems considered for full use in ACU classes.
OpenClass made its de-but on campus two years ago through beta testing in a small number of ACU classes. ACU has spent these past two years work-ing with Pearson to give feedback and develop the learning management sys-tem into what it is today. Students in classes that par-ticipated in the beta testing
were able to give feedback to their professors about what they wished to see changed in OpenClass.
Mindi Thompson, di-rector of Instructional De-sign for the Adams Center, said, “A lot of the things we see in the new versions are features that we recom-mended.”
This unique partnership between Pearson and ACU has allowed OpenClass to be more personalized for ACU as well as more func-tional for other schools who choose to use it across
the country. “We have been able to see from the ground up the ways that it was moving and developing,” Thompson said.
While there has been some negative feedback, the Adams Center looks forward to the new op-portunities that come with this learning management system. “It’s easy for us to forget back to when Black-board was new, how hard that was to learn,” Thomp-son said.
John Weaver, dean of Libraries and Educational
Technologies, said, “Uni-formly what I have heard from faculty is that Open-Class is easier to use than Blackboard.”
This ease of use, among other things such as ad-ministrative use, features offered and cost were all things that the Adams Cen-ter considered while mak-ing the decision on what new learning management to system to use.
Like Blackboard, there is an OpenClass app
available in the Apple App Store through which student accounts can be reached without having to first access the myACU homepage.
For more information about OpenClass, visit their website at www.openclass.com or visit Pearson’s web-site at www.pearson.com.
academics
contact greene at
Thefts: Police preach preventiondid not file a police report. He said he was surprised someone thought his bike was worth stealing.
“I never thought people would be so desperate to steal a bike with flat tires and no air,” Teoh said.
Jimmy Ellison, ACU po-lice chief and director of public safety, said more of-ten than not, bike theft is committed by off-campus individuals who need trans-portation or are trying to make a quick dollar. He said victims should always file a police report.
“If you don’t file a po-lice report, you stand zero chance of getting your bike back,” Ellison said. “If we have that informa-tion, it enables us to iden-tify a trend or a pattern. It
gives us a more accurate picture of what’s happen-ing on campus.
In 2010, the ACU police saw a spike in bike theft. Forty bikes were stolen in the fall semester alone.
“That year, we did some targeted patrols, increased staffing and some specific surveillance operations around problem areas,” El-lison said. “We ended up making a couple arrests and recovering some of those bi-cycles. Once we did that, we noticed that our numbers went back down to average.”
Ellison said that while ACU police do as much investigative follow-up as they can, some crimes simply won’t be solved, especially if the police don’t have the necessary details.
“It’s critical for people to know the brand name and serial number of their bike,” Ellison said. “If you know those things, we can enter that bike into a com-puter, we can go around and check all the local pawn shop records to see if that serial number has been sold or pawned.”
Most serial numbers are on the bottom of a bicycle, near where the pedals meet. In addition to recording the serial number, brand and model, owners may also want to take a picture of their bike.
“Students could, to reduce the risk of a bike theft, always lock the bike if it’s not being used, and make sure it’s a quality lock,” Ellison said. “If you see somebody that’s hang-ing around a bike rack, or
acting suspicious around a bike rack or taking mul-tiple bikes off a rack and looking at them, there wouldn’t seem to be a le-gitimate reason for that. When you see that type of activity, call ACU police and report it.”
crime
Cage: Team wins 93-76 shared the basketball ef-fectively, tallying 19 as-sists and putting all five starters in double figures. Lloyd and Lawton played well off of each other all night long, accounting for 24 and 18 points respec-tively.
“It’s lovely to have a two-headed monster like that in the backcourt,” Lloyd said. “A lot of teams in our conference don’t
have two guys like Eric and I.”
Center Stephen Werner and power forward Corne-lius Cammock combined for 27 points, and Simms had a career high 17 points to go along with his nine rebounds.
“It was just a huge team win for us,” Simms said. “The unity we are forming with these type of wins are big for our team. I love it, the win is the best part for
me.”ACU will be back in ac-
tion Saturday when they travel to the beach to take on Texas A&M Kingsville in a matinee matchup scheduled for 3 p.m.
men’s basketball
contact sloan [email protected]
Lea Watkinslynay program
director
Good grades may not come easily to everyone, but
everyone can work hard to be the best they can.”“
mandy lambright chief Photographer
Megan Brackenbury, freshman interdisciplinary major from Oconomowoc, Wis., and Roy Cervantes, senior nursing major from McAllen, lead worship during the first Im-mersed chapel of the semester.
katie greenepage 2 editor
continued from page 1
continued from page 6
Columbine High School. Virginia Tech. A movie the-ater in Aurora, Co. Sandy Hook Elementary School.
A few years ago these names and places, scat-tered across the coun-try, would not have been grouped together. They represented something dif-ferent.
The recent shooting at
Sandy Hook has sparked a flurry of debate about gun violence and how to con-trol it. Sadly, shootings at schools, malls and other public places are not as uncommon as they should be. However, after 20 inno-cent children were gunned down in Newtown, Conn., politicians quickly took to disagreeing about how
to stop it from happening again.
What is the best way to control gun violence?
First, it is impossible to simply get rid of all the guns. It’s impossible and it’s unconstitutional. The second amendment clearly states, “the right of the peo-ple to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.”
During America’s revo-lution the British made ef-forts to disarm the Patriot militia and placed embar-goes on firearms and am-munition. The colonies felt their rights were being taken away.
So since citizens are al-
lowed to own guns, how do we keep them from getting into the wrong hands?
On Wednesday, President Obama presented 23 execu-tive actions to increase gun control. These actions in-clude requiring background checks for everyone trying to purchase a gun, a ban on military-style assault weap-ons and a 10-round limit for magazines.
The president urged Congress to “help rather than hinder” law enforce-ment by punishing those who sell guns illegally and keeping police officers on the job.
While gun rights activ-
ists might complain, in theory, the plan could help. But it’s important to look at the big picture.
A gun is just a weapon. Someone has to pull the trigger.
The law already re-quires licensed gun dealers to complete background checks before someone buys a gun from them. If Congress decides to make universal background checks the law, private sell-ers will have to complete them too. This includes individuals who sell their weapons at gun shows, which are one of the most popular places to buy guns.
But will private sellers comply with the law?
Possibly. But what if they are more focused on the money in the custom-er’s hand?
Gun control isn’t the real issue. The real issue is “people control.”
Yes, the law should be used to control the sale and use of guns, but it should also be used to help people who have the potential to become violent. Don’t treat the symptoms and ignore the disease.
The American people are fundamentally risk takers.
I say this as a spineless wimp myself. It’s all right, it’s true. I can’t imagine jumping from a plane or going in big on a horse race. Or even getting too physical in a sport.
I’ll spare you the cheese of recounting the many moments in American his-tory that involved a suc-cessful gamble, political or otherwise, but we’ve been laying all the cards on the table since the birth of the nation. While capitalism
thrives on risk, there was a lot more at stake than money when Americans declared independence, pushed west or explored interstellar space.
Perhaps the most re-markable risk of all is the extraordinary amount of freedom granted to each citizen. Just about all of these freedoms can lead to less than ideal results. Liberty does not neces-sarily lead to safety, pros-perity or goodwill, but we made the bet on liberty. That was a pretty danger-
ous thing to do.Our risky nature may
be subconscious; it may be that we don’t fully un-derstand the deep sea of potential consequences that lurk beneath the free-doms we’ve bestowed on ourselves. Then again, history has shown us just about every possible nega-tive outcome of our life-style. Our rights have been abused countless times, some abuses obviously more horrific than others. Our political and econom-ic systems have failed us throughout our history.
Maybe we do want the risks themselves—maybe we just can’t imagine life without them, maybe we would somehow feel less free if they were elimi-nated. Or maybe we are just willing to make the
trade-off. After all, we’ve been taught that through risks are rewards. It may not be the best way, but it’s part of the American way, whether we consciously realize it or not.
We surrendered to the idea of playing an all-or-nothing game when we could just modify a few rules. Nations all over the world have found and are continuing to find a balance between safety, risk and freedom. Surely America could do the same. The question is, would we want to? Would altering America’s inher-ent risk shred part of its identity?
I have always been proud of my country. Being a part of a country where everyone is free to believe what they want is an amazing thing we all should be proud of. It makes me proud to be part of a country that does not force laws prohibiting my rights as a human being or as an American Citizen.
Lately, as we listen to what is going on around us, there seems to be things changing. Where our country is headed,may not be where we want it to be. In America we are granted human rights which are defined by the Declaration of Independence as “Right to Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness.”
I feel as though some of
our liberties to do what we want, have been changing.
In 2010 Congress passed the Affordable Care Act and now it has become one of the most talked about and controversial man-dates.
The Affordable Care Act has the requirement that most health plans must
provide contraceptive cov-erage to women, despite the fact that it may violate companies’ religious free-dom and liberty.
Attorney Peter Dobel-bower, lawyer for Hobby Lobby, says that Hobby Lobby does not provide coverage for abortion-in-ducing drugs in its health care plan. The result of their refusal to comply is a $1.3 million fine for each passing day. What gives the government govern-ment the right to violate the religious freedom and liberty of this company?
The more research I did, the deeper the information went. I was glad to see that religious entities such as places of worship are ex-empt from the Act. How-ever, this has not stopped the assault of lawsuits that have started.
Many non-profit Catho-lic Universities and hos-pitals have complained about the Affordable Care Act because it violates Catholic Doctrine. It was reported that a compro-mise that was hopefully underway.
But why should we have to compromise what we believe? I understand the other sides stance and I re-spect it. However, I do not personally believe that a country that prides itself in having so much freedom should be infringing on the religious freedoms of its citizens.
EVAN’s marks evan marks
4Friday 01.18.13Opinion
contact Palmer [email protected]
column
column
Editorial
Regulate the criminal, not the weapon the issue
SInce the mass shooting at Newtown, Conn., the government has focused its attention on gun control policies.
our take
The government needs to give more attention to the people pulling the trigger than the guns themselves.
Human rights for everyone
CROOK IN THE GUT
JOSHUA GARCIA
CALL ME, MAYBELINDSAY PALMER
The great American risk takers
hashtagACU
@hollyyholmes @lindsay_vandy @wild_indeed@Shacara_Shacara
6:47 p.m. Jan. 167:56 a.m. Jan. 168:01 p.m. Jan. 15
Used a staple remover to help me peel my banana this morning. #excep-tional #innovative #real
@addiefs@sydney_alicen
2:19 p.m. Jan. 16
9:00 a.m. Jan. 15
I consider buying textbooks as a form of cruel and unusual punishment.
“Does it smell like rodent urine to anyone else in here?” -first words from my history teacher’s mouth. Gon-na be a good semester.
How would I de-scribe my first week of classes? Like an Aretha Franklin song. Because it’s raning homework.
I clearly hate myself which is why I signed up for 8 am classes everyday.
I tried to respond to my teacher calling role but my mouth was still frozen.
8:27 p.m. Jan. 16
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contact the optimist [email protected]
It makes me proud to
be part of a country that
does not force laws that
prohibit my rights as a
human being or as an
American Citizen.”
“
contact garcia [email protected]
@DarciHalstead @HowToJimmer12 @AimeePhill@joshsmith_93
3:26 p.m. Jan. 17
9:59 a.m. Jan. 17
11:59 a.m. Jan. 17
Nicki Minaj is probably my favorite Dr. Seuss character.
@austinkilcullen@kendram34
9:31 a.m. Jan. 17
10:03 a.m. Jan. 17
Dr. Beck plays 80’s music before class! #Respect
In your introduction you can say if youre single and available and if you are you can put your number on the board. #acu #typical
Contemplating asking the kid in my class how much he wants for the llama sweater he’s wear-ing #itsasweetsweater #noshame
Singing the Veggie Tales theme song in psychology. #theACUdifference
My semester wouldn’t be right if I wasn’t in a class full of fresh-men. #TheyHateMe #NoIDontEatInTheBean
9:06 a.m. Jan. 17
friday 01.18.135 arts
Sundaes on MondaysCampus Center Living Room @ 9pm
Zumba Fitness Party6pm @ Rec Center21 24
EVENTSJANUARY
The stars were out to dazzle once again as they hit the red carpet last Sunday evening for the 70th annual Golden Globe Awards ceremony in Beverly Hills, Calif. The event was co-hosted by former and present SNL actresses, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler.
The ceremony, which highlights outstanding films, television series, and their stars, saw a few productions that
dominated the field. Collectively the crew behind Les Misérables walked away from the theater with three Globe Awards. The films Argo and Django Unchained followed closely in Les Misérables’ wake with two awards each.
This year’s ceremony, as expected, experienced multiple snubs, pleasant surprises, and easy choices as the awards were allocated and the stardust settled at the end of the night. The biggest surprise of the evening came when former U.S. President Bill Clinton appeared onstage
to introduce a montage for the Spielberg-produced presidential flick Lincoln. Shortly after Clinton left the stage, emcee Amy Poehler cracked, “Wow, what an exciting special guest… That was Hillary Clinton’s husband!” For as brief of a cameo role as Anne Hathaway had in Les Misérables she was awarded Best Supporting Actress for her touching performance as Fantine. Not only did Ben Affleck’s thriller film Argo escape with honors for Best Motion Picture in the drama category, but Affleck himself,
was awarded Best Director for his work.In the television category, Game
Change, HBO’s political drama film centered on Sarah Palin, won three awards. HBO also claimed two awards for their rising hit television series Girls. Notably at the top alongside Game Change with three awards was Showtime’s series Homeland.
18 Phillip MahonMEZAMIZ COFFEE HOUSE
Eric LoganMEZAMIZ COFFEE HOUSE 19
GOLDEN GLOBES
WINNERS
NOTABLE
•Best motion picture•Best director for motion picture (Ben Afleck)
•Best television series-drama •Best performance by an actress in a television series-drama (Claire Danes)
•Best mini-series or motion picture made for television •Best performance by an actress in a mini-series or motion picture made for television. (Julianne Moore)
Wyatt Morganstaff writer
contact Morgan at [email protected]
•Best motion picture - Comedy or Musical•Best performance by an actor in a motion picture (Hugh Jackman)
70th ceremony features surprises
•Best performance by an actor in a supporting role in a motion picture (Christoph Waltz)•Best screenplay for a motion picture (Quentin Tarantino)
•Best performance by an actor in a motion picture (Daniel Day-Lewis)
The men’s and women’s basketball teams play at Texas A&M Kingsville on Saturday.
The track and field team will be in Lubbock Friday and Saturday for the Masked Rider Invitational at Texas Tech University. Both the men’s and women’s teams compete there.
The women’s tennis team will play their first exibition of 2013 at Texas Tech on Saturday.
women’s basketball
standings
briefings
ex- factor
Upcoming
The ACU volleyball team will be holding open tryouts January 27th in Moody Coliseum for ACU students, high school seniors and potential walk-on players. The tryout will be held at 1:30 p.m. To get more information, contact head coach Kellen Mock or assistant coach Jason Bibler.
men’s basketball
TeamMSUUIWCameronTAMU-KWTAMUCommerceENMUTSUACUASU
Div.7-15-25-34-33-43-42-52-52-52-5
Ovrl.11-49-69-58-611-410-76-98-68-75-10
All former ACU football players in the NFL have been eliminated from post season play. Rookie runningback Daryl Richardson fin-ished the season with 475 yards rushing and 163 yards receiving for the Rams.
Wide Receiver Clyde Gates had 224 yards receiving for the Jets in 2012.
Safety Danieal Man-ning recorded 77 tack-les, had two intercep-tions, and forced three fumbles and started all sixteen regular season games for the Texans.
The Bengals’ Bernard Scott and the Bears’ Johnny Knox are both rehabbing from inju-ries they suffered in the NFL and hope to be back for the start of training camp next season.
TeamTSUMSUACUUIWASUWTAMUCommerceCameronTWUENMUTAMU-K
Div.7-17-26-25-34-44-43-53-53-62-61-7
Ovrl.11-312-311-39-57-78-95-84-105-103-133-11
friday 01.18.13 6sports
‘Cats cage the CardinalsThe men’s basketball team took on the best team in the Lone Star Conference Tues-day night, and ACU domi-nated Incarnate Word for 40 minutes in route to a 93-76 victory.
The final score did not reflect the way the game looked, as the Cardinals
scored several buckets down the stretch when the Wildcats had already taken their foot off the gas and coasted to a huge home victory.
The ‘Cats scored 55 points in the first half alone, while shooting over 60% from the floor. Shooting guard Elliott Lloyd knocked down a cou-ple of open three pointers to set the tone for a fast-paced first half.
“My point guard Eric Lawton penetrated they left me open,” Lloyd said. “When he drives I have been taught to just slide to the corner and be ready to knock down shots, so that’s what I wanted to do for my team and get us going offensively.”
Incarnate Word was rid-ing a five-game conference winning streak into Moody Coliseum, but they were un-able to match the ‘Cats te-
nacity on the glass, as ACU out rebounded the Cardi-nals, 30-23.
“We told ourselves be-fore the game and this whole week that we were going to come out strong and play as hard as we can,” senior Dosh Simms said. “Mentally we were focused and physically we prepared ourselves, so to come out the way we did was exactly what we wanted to do.”
ACU also throttled the Cardinals down low, rack-ing up 51 points in the paint and 15 second chance points. ACU’s physical play led to frustration for the Cards and eventually three technical fouls would be as-sessed to various UIW play-ers and coaches through-out the contest.
Meanwhile, the ‘Cats
men’s basketball
deanna romero Staff Photographer
Senior center Steven Werner shoots a layup in Moody Coliseum Tuesday night against the University of the Incarnate Word. The Wild-cats defeated the second place Cardinals, 93-76.
Teams set to trample competition
After a successful end to their season last year, the men’s and women’s tennis teams have begun their last run for a Lone Star Confer-ence title as well as another successful postseason.
The teams hit the weights and condition before sun-rise, and practice up to three hours per day to prepare for an expected path to the 2013 National Championships.
Both teams are confident this season with many new
faces swinging their rackets, including Nada Marjanovic for the women’s team. Mar-co Bensley, a South African, and Nicklas Wingord from Buenos Aires, Argentina, play for the men’s team.
The team reached the national tournament for the past two years and ex-pects to reach the national tournament for their third consecutive season.
Senior Alfredo Desiati from Rome, Italy, believes this year’s team is ACU’s best ever.
“We have a solid team with high expectations for
ourselves. I expect to win the conference title, play our best during regionals and try to compete at our high-est level at nationals. If all of us play our best that week, I think we’ll have a pretty good chance winning na-tionals,” Desiati said.
Like all teams have their rivals, ACU has multiple within the LSC and nation-ally. Saint Edwards Uni-versity has always given ACU trouble throughout the years.
“We’ve always been bet-ter than them in conference play, but we always seem to
have minor problems that lead to us losing. So this year we are looking forward to destroying them,” Desi-ati said.
Junior, Micah Herms-dorf was awarded ITA Aca-demic All-American last fall and looks to play con-ference rivals Cameron and Midwestern State.
“Usually at nationals we meet Lynn University a rival the past few years. For years we never beat them in team tennis, but last year we final-ly beat them in the quarterfi-nals,” Hermsdorf said.
The men’s team kicks
their season off at home against Oklahoma Chris-tian, Trinity and Tyler Col-lege. The women’s team plays Centenary College and Northwestern State Uni-versity in Natchitoches, LA. Each team plays Feb. 1.
The team would love your support as they play at home this year.
“Most of our matches are right after chapel or in the evenings, so we’d like a big crowd,” Hermsdorf said.
Tennis
jimmy isbellsports reporter
contact isbell [email protected]
matthew sloanassistant sports editor
D-I class features son of MLB player
ACU sports is already seeing the effects of moving to Di-vision I next semester. Head coach Britt Bonneau and his coaching staff signed the first D-I recruiting class in Wildcat baseball history.
The group consists of seven high school players and includes the son of a former Major League Base-ball all-star.
“The guys that we signed is the start of a foundation of freshmen that will come in and begin our future in Division I baseball,” Bon-neau said.
A breakdown the recruits are below along with com-ments from assistant coach and recruiting coordinator Brandon Stover.
baseball
edward isaacssports editor
contact isaacs [email protected]
2012 Division I Recruiting Class
INF Gunnar Buhner (Fall City, Wash./Mount Si High School):Hit over .350 this past summer with the Kansas City Royals Area Code team and the O’Brien Auto Group 18U squad. “The son of former MLB player Jay Buhner. Can play around the field, should be able to play any-where for us.”
C Kendall Kerns (Tyler/Brookhill High School):Batted over .500 the past two seasons and earned back-to-back first team all-state honors. “Big strong kid who needs to polish up a little bit but should be able to do a lot of good things for us.”
C Connor Messman (Scottsdale, Ariz./Brophy Prep High School):Helped team reach state championship game “Tall and skinny, can throw and hit. Should be
good behind the backstop.”
SS Tanner Buxton (Aubrey/Aubrey High School):“Big kid who will continue to grow and fill out. Should be a really good infielder for us.”
SS Aaron Draper (Plano/Plano West High School): “Hard-nosed, plays the game the right way.”
OF Taylor Waters (Mesa, Ariz./Basha High School):“Hard-nosed guy who plays the game aggres-sively all the time, a max effort guy.”
RHP Joe Boyce (North Bend, Wash./Eastside Catholic High School):“Big strong kid who throws in the upper 80s low 90s. Should develop into a good pitcher and achor our pitching staff for the next few years.”
see cage page 3
