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photos by mandy lambright staff Photographer
Top: The women of Zeta Rho pass out roses in the McGlothlin Campus Center on Valentine’s Day. Left: Pi Kappa spreads some love in the campus center by giving out cookies on Valentine’s Day. Right: The ACU Concierge Desk located in the campus center prepares to send out arrangements to students.
The university laid the groundwork for the open-ing of a salon and spa near campus to increase revenue.
“This will be a full ser-vice salon,” said Anthony Williams, chief auxiliary services officer. “It will be one of the largest, if not the largest in our community.”
The new salon is slated to open around the end of April and will fill the space left vacated by the Abilene
Educational Supply, locat-ed across the street from campus near the ACU Po-lice Department. Williams said although planning for the salon began almost a year ago, this is not the rea-son AES closed. He said it wasn’t producing the type of income projected.
Previously, facilities for the new nursing program were slated to fill that space.
“The expenses of the salon should cover the investment within three years,” Williams said, al-though he did not give an exact amount of how
much it will cost to reno-vate the space to serve it’s new purpose.
“There’s going to be eight stylists, four nail technicians, a masseuse and esthetician – person who gives waxes,” said Morris & Mitchell account director Katie Beth Ware. “They’ve hired us to create a marketing and strategy plan.”
“It’s going to have a very modern and very sleek feeling,” said Taylor Ed-wards, co-project manag-er. “We’re very intentional to choose an atmosphere
that’s attractive to men and women.”
Ware and Edwards both described the proj-ect as one that would not necessarily have ACU ties – a sentiment further rein-forced by Williams. “It will not be marketed as Abilene Christian University’s sa-lon, because it’s for the community,” he said.
Janelle Sands, a stylist already hired to begin work when the salon opens said, “Being an alumnus of ACU, I jumped at the opportu-nity.” Sands plans to bring all of her clients over to the
new facility, which means revenue from a group of about thirty diverse wom-en will, in part, go to ACU.
Although everyone working for the salon, di-rectly or indirectly in the planning stages, expressed enthusiasm about the opening, they each knew the new facility could face some backlash from others at the university.
“It’s really a tough area,” said Ware. “But in the midst of financial bur-dens, hopefully this will offset hardships the uni-versity is having.”
Williams described the salon as a proactive way to handle the situations faced last semester.
“On the surface, I could see why some may think that, but if we’re successful in this, we’re going to create an opportunity for some jobs to be maintained that otherwise may not be,” he said. “This endeavor and others are not done to ex-aggerate fiscal challenges, rather to address them.”
inside
Page 5 page 4 page 5
‘Cats win series against Colorado Christian University
Universities need to navigate the addition of campus amenities carefully
Dining services responds to students’ requests
Abilene Christian University
Sportspage 6
sports opinion news
acuoptimist.com
NFL Running Back Baron Batch speaks to FCA members at ACU
video
vol. 100, no. 36 wednesday, february 15, 2012 1 SECTION, 8 PAGES
Aroma ofLOVE
university
university
Salon to fill vacant Campus Court location
Campus, community unaffected by surprise snow
Six in a RowSoftball maintains
winning streak
farron salleymultimedia managing editor
After an unusually warm February, a wintry mix of snow and ice hit Abilene and the surrounding areas on Sunday leaving about an inch of snow.
Police reported several wrecks due to slick road con-ditions on Sunday night, and by 7 p.m. Abilene police were urging people to stay off the roads. However, these con-ditions were not enough for ACU or Abilene ISD to alter class schedules though many other Big Country schools delayed class. The snow and ice had almost completely melted by noon Monday.
Chief of Police Jimmy Ellison was relieved at the
small impact the snow had on campus.
“We could have had it a lot worse. Temperatures hung just at the freezing point. If the temperatures had dropped just a few de-grees colder, the amount of sleet, snow and freezing rain would have caused sub-stantial accumulations on roadways,” Ellison said. “We dodged a bullet this time.”
Sing Song practices con-tinued despite the snow on Sunday night to the relief of some students. Amy White, freshman act costume direc-tor, was glad that the snow didn’t interfere with their last week of practice.
White said, “The little snow we had was awesome, but we still needed to go to Sing Song practice and work hard since
the show is this weekend.”Though this was only
Abilene’s second snow of the season, some students are accustomed to much less.
Garrett Lane, freshman youth and family ministry major from Fresno, doesn’t see much snow in his hometown and appreciated the small amount Abilene received.
“I don’t normally experi-ence snowfall, but when I do it is an enchanting experi-ence,” said Lane. “My com-rades and I made the most of the snow.”
The forecast for this week does not call for anymore precipitation.
marissa jonespage 2 editor
Flowers and candy were plentiful around campus this Valentine’s Day
contact jones [email protected]
contact salley [email protected]
leslie lewis staff Photographer
A wintry mix fell on campus Sunday evening, but was gone by mid-morning Monday.
15
22 51
16 17 18wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
7:30 p.m. ACU Theatre- Proof @ Fulks Theater
5:30 p.m. ACU Wom-en’s basketball @ Incarnate Word
7:30 p.m. ACU Men’s basketball @ Incarnate Word.
3 p.m. ACU Softball @ MSU
4:05 p.m. ACU Baseball vs. Southern Arkansas @ ACU
8 p.m. Sing Song @ Moody Coliseum
11 a.m. ACU Softball vs. Fort Hayes @ ACU
2:05 p.m. ACU Base-ball vs. Southern Arkansas @ ACU
Police Log
Chapel checkup
@acuoptimist
The Optimist
Wednesday 02.15.12 2
Volunteer Opp0rtunities
Abilene Hope Haven Inc. needs volunteers to pro-vide childcare while parents are in class, any evening Monday-Thursday from 6:45 - 8:15 p.m. Abilene Hope Haven is located at 801 S. Treadaway Blvd. For more information contact Kathy Reppart at 325-677-4673 or visit www.abilenehopehaven.com/volunteer.
Volunteers are needed to enjoy a free lunch with students at Bonham Elementary School on a weekly basis. This would be sometime between 10:00 a.m. and 1:15 p.m., and would involve spending lunch time with students and having a positive impact on their lives. Contact Jason Shaw at 325-639-3745 or e-mail [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. and 1 p.m. Drivers must be at least 18 years old and have a valid driver’s license. Training is provided. A Chapel exemp-tion is available if delivery time conflicts with Chapel. Contact Jessica Stewart at 325-672-5050 or email [email protected].
The Big Brothers Big Sisters program is looking for volunteers to participate in Lunch Buddies. Bigs and Littles will enjoy lunch together at the child’s school once a week. Students can earn Chapel credit for each visit. Big Brothers Big Sisters is also looking for volunteers for its Community Based program. Bigs are matched with Littles in a one-on-one relation-ship and spend four to six hours per month together in the community. To sign up or learn more visit www.bbbstx.org or call 325-674-3113.
The House That Kerry Built is looking for volunteers to assist in the day care of medically fragile children any day Monday through Friday from 8:45 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Contact Dave Kraly at 325-676-3104 or email [email protected] for more information.
Rescue The Animals is looking for volunteers any-time between 1 p.m. and 5 p.m., Monday-Friday. They need help around the adoption center with general cleaning, socialization of the animals, helping poten-tial adopters and other tasks. Contact Mindi Qualls at 325-698-7722 or email [email protected]. The center is located at 5933 S. 1st St.
Child Protective Services needs volunteers for clerical work as well as volunteers who can organize a play-room. Volunteers are needed any weekday anytime between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Child Protective Services are located at 3610 Vine St. Background checks are re-quired and are done at the center. Background checks
usually are cleared in about two weeks. For more in-formation call V. Danette Cummings at 325-691-8214.
Young Life Ministries needs volunteers Mondays, Tuesdays and weekends from 6-9 p.m. Volunteers will hang out with kids, experience leadership roles, serve others and introduce students to Christ. Young Life is located at 1917 S. 6th St. For more information contact Chuck Rodgers at 325-676-1211 or email [email protected].
Abilene Hope Haven Inc. needs volunteers to pro-vide childcare while parents are in class, any evening Monday-Thursday from 6:45 - 8:15 p.m. Abilene Hope Haven is located at 801 S. Treadaway Blvd. For more information contact Kathy Reppart at 325-677-4673 or visit www.abilenehopehaven.com/volunteer.
Communities in Schools needs volunteers at Ortiz Elementary School on Feb. 17 from 1-3 p.m. to play board games with elementary school students who are celebrating their perfect attendance for the fourth six weeks of school. Volunteers will need to bring a photo I.D. Contact Sheila Ashford at 325-671-4945, ext. 5351 or email [email protected].
Da’ Cipher 360, a program for at risk children, is look-ing for volunteers on Monday evenings from 5-8 p.m. at the Rose Park Activity Center, 2625 S. 7th St. Vol-unteers can help in a variety of ways including helping with set up, learning activities for kindergarten-3rd graders, tutoring 4th-8th graders, and assisting with clean up. Contact Alvina Scott at 847-333-7026 or e-mail [email protected].
Care Inn of Abilene is offering various opportunities for working with the elderly and is looking for volun-teers who can play a musical instrument and would be willing to perform in the evening. Care Inn is located on S. 7th Street. For more information call Sally Diaz at 325-692-2172 .
The Betty Hardwick Center needs volunteers to par-ticipate in Special Olympics by helping mentally/physi-cally challenged people play games such as basketball, track, and/or bowling Monday - Friday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Center is located at 801 Cypress St. Contact Angel Seca at 325-690-5235 for more information.
HERO, Hendrick Equine Rehabilitation Opportuni-ties, is looking for volunteers to help with their spring program by assisting their clients as they ride horses for therapy. No experience with horses is necessary. Help is needed Tuesdays and Thursdays from Mar. 20 to May 3. Volunteers can help anywhere from one to
six hours per week for the duration of the program. Volunteers must attend training on either Mar. 6 or 8. Contact Beth Byerly at 325-660-3465 or e-mail [email protected].
Disability Resources, Inc. is looking for volunteers to assist developmentally disabled residence. Help is needed with activities, art projects, reading books, exercise activities, assisting with vocational training needs and other interactions Monday through Friday from 9 a.m-4 p.m. For more information contact Becky Moody at 325-677-6915 or email [email protected].
The Minter Lane Church of Christ is looking for volun-teers Wednesday nights from 6-8 p.m. Volunteers will eat with children from kindergarten to 12th grade and help during class time. Contact youth minister Joshua Alkire at 325-201-5342 or email [email protected].
Volunteers are needed to read to Taylor Elementary School students Monday through Thursday afternoons at UCC from 3:15-4:30 p.m. Enter through the south entrance. Contact C.G. Grey 325-668-2842.
Access Learning Center is looking for volunteers to help elementary school students with homework, reading, computers and games. The center is located at 2102 Ambler Ave. For more information contact Bret Hines at 325-670-9727. Call ahead to schedule a time to volunteer.
The Abilene Boys and Girls Club needs help any week-day between 3:30-6 p.m. helping children of all ages with games, art, gym time, reading and computer skills. Locations are 4610 N. 10th St. or 1902 Shelton St. Contact Mark Denman at 325-672-1712 for more information.
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 Salva-tion Army is located at 1726 Butternut St. For more information contact J.D. Alonzo at 325-677-1408 or visit www.satruck.com.
The Abilene Zoo needs volunteers to help with general labor any weekday between noon and 4 p.m. Contact Joy Harsh at 325-676-6487 for more information.
For additional volunteer opportunities visit: www.acu.edu/campusoffices/slvr/vol_opps/
Around Abilene
ACU Theater presents their winter drama, Proof, in Fulks Theater. The play will be showing on Feb. 16-18 at 7:30 p.m. For tickets, call 325-674-ARTS or purchase tickets online at acu.edu/theater.
The Agriculutre and Environmental Sci-ences department is hosting the Anabel Reid Run for Water. It will be a 24 hour fund raiser at the ACU track on March 23-24. For more information, contact the A&E department at 674-2401 or Many Scudder at [email protected].
Students interested in participating in a Spring Break Campaign can sign up in the SBC office in Room 31 in the lower level of the Campus Center. For more information on campaigns that still need members, or to sign up, contact [email protected].
The Shinnery Review is now accepting submissions for this year’s magazine. Send in original poetry, photography, artwork, fiction, creative nonfiction and other art to [email protected] by Feb. 22. For more information, visit blogs.acu.edu/shinnery.
The ACU Upward Bound Program is now hiring for Summer 2012. Call 325-674-2713 or email [email protected] for more information. Submit your applica-tion at the Brown Library, first floor. Ap-plication deadline is Mar. 16.
The Graduate School of Theology will be hosting Frederica Mathewes-Green, a nationally known speaker on Ortho-dox Christianity and the theology of the Eastern Church. There will be a presen-tation at 11 a.m. in Bible 219 and at 6 p.m. in Bible 114.
The Images of Aging Photo Contest is accepting entries through Feb. 24. Stu-dents with questions or comments re-garding the contest may email [email protected].
The Counseling Center is conducting “Life’s Obstacles”, a free horse workshop to navigate life’s obstacles using horses on Mar. 2 from 3 -4 p.m. Contact [email protected] for questions.
A Jostens Rep will be at The Campus Store from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. to take of-ficial ACU ring orders.
The Images of Aging Photo Contest is accepting entries through Feb. 24. Students with questions or comments regarding the contest may email [email protected].
Submissions are now being accepted for the 5th Annual Student Art Contest for Summit. Any current ACU student is encouraged to submit their original artwork, photography, drawing, paint-ing or other creation to communicate the Summit theme. The 2012 Summit theme is “intimacy.” Students need to submit their art digitally to [email protected] by Wed. One work will be awarded $100 and used to advertise the 2012 Summit.
The 2012 Springboard Ideas Challenge is now open for registration. Students can submit a mini-business plan for a chance to win up to $10,000. Early reg-istration deadline is Mar. 1. Visit www.acu.edu/academics/coba/griggscen-ter/springboard to learn more about the competition.
Feb. 15
12 p.m. The Center for Con-temporary Arts is showing the documentary 21st Century Art - Spirituality. Admission is free.
7 p.m. A banquet honoring the life and works of the late Abilene civil rights activist Claudie C. Royal will take place at the Abilene Civic Center. Admission is free, but dona-tions will be accepted.
Feb. 16
12:30 p.m. Free income tax preparation for low and middle income taxpayers will be provided at the down-town Abilene Public Library.
Feb. 17
8 p.m. ACU presents its 56th Sing Song at Moody Coliseum. Tickets will be sold for $16 and can be purchased online at acu.edu/events/singsong.
Feb. 18
7 p.m. Rescue the Animals hosts its annual Fur Ball. This includes dinner and dancing with your dogs, a costume contest, a doggie buffet and more. Proceeds will go to benefit Rescue the Animals. Tickets are $30 for adults, $15 for children and free for dogs.
Announcements
wednesday 02.15.123 campus news
Deadline for Campus Store fashion show approaches
A fashion show will show-case many products and brands that will be available in the Campus Store and feature the music of The Kirkhouse Band.
The show is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Mar. 23 in the lobby of The Campus Store. New items from Fossil, Vera Bradley and other merchan-disers will be on display.
“We’re going to display a lot of things that students don’t know we have – a lot of students know about our Vera Bradley – but not ev-eryone is aware that we sell Fossil watches and different brands,” said Jessica Owens, operations specialist of The Campus Store. “Our goal is to make more students aware of the different cloth-ing and items we have in The Campus Store, and also to have an opening debut for ACU’s new salon that will be opening in April.”
The Fashion Show will also offer an opportunity for student organization mem-bers to participate and dem-onstrate their ACU pride.
“In order to enter into the fashion show you must be involved in an ACU or-ganization. Anywhere from a Chapel group to a social club.” Owens said. “We want to have students in the show who are already involved on campus, and for them to come show their passion
and excitement for ACU.”The Campus Store fash-
ion show entry deadline is Feb. 17. Organization lead-ers believe the show will serve as a great opportunity to display what the store is all about.
“It’s just a time to mesh with the student body and let them know what we have and what we have to offer and give them the opportu-nity to be proud of ACU and be proud of what we have,” Owens said.
Scott Harsh, assistant director of The Campus Store, said the show is also a chance to exhibit stu-dent talents while featuring Campus Store products.
Harsh said, “We like do-ing the fashion show to highlight new styles and items that are coming in, and also to give students a platform to showcase dif-ferent gifts that they have and to be able to participate to team with students to draw more interest into the fashions that we’re offering in the store.”
organizations
brookelee gallestudent reporter
Virtuous Sisterhood group to host ‘Tacopocalypse’ event
ACU’s Virtuous Sisterhood group will be conduct “Ta-copocalypse”, a social event with food and games open to all women.
The event will take place from 6-7:30 p.m. on Tuesday in Room 316 of the Mabee Business Build-ing. Virtuous Sisterhood is inviting everybody out to the business building to have a good time with their organization. They will be cooking the food and serv-ing lots of tacos, rice and beans. Virtual Sisterhood is also going to be playing games, such as Taboo. They want everyone to enjoy the
night with fellowship and community.
“We really wanted to do something that stood out,” said Kimberly Har-ris, senior biology major from San Antonio. “People can come out, talk, meet us, chit-chat… even if people don’t want to join our group, we want them to find out who we are and meet other people.”
Last year, Virtuous Sis-terhood held an ice cream social similar to “Taco-pocalypse.” The passionate group wants the university to get to know their club and what it is about.
“I enjoy being around the atmosphere of people,” said Daniba Dan-Prince-will, a senior nutrition ma-
jor from Nigeria.Virtuous Sisterhood has
been a part of ACU since 2007. They currently have 27 members, meeting col-lectively with the whole group at least three times a semester. It is a club on campus that aims for a multicultural sisterhood. Harris, vice-president of Virtual Sisterhood, said the club meets to have em-powerment meetings, go
out to dinner or skating, in the name of sisterhood and building up who they are as women of God.
“We really strive to be Proverbs 31 women in ev-erything we do, whether it’s academics, leadership, or having fun,” Harris said.
They want women to experience the community and fellowship that they share within the club, as well as having a close rela-tionship with Christ.
Information about the group and event can be found on the myACU ad-vertisement or searching for the event on Facebook.
organizations
contact fatheree [email protected]
sarah fathereestudent reporter
contact galle [email protected]
kimberly harrissenior biology major
from San Antonio
Even if people don’t want to join our group,
we want them to find out who we are.”“
The ‘Piano Man’ returns to Abilene, Bean
ACU’s “Piano Man” is back at the keyboard in The Bean. Mike Schuler played in The Bean from 1994 until 2008 when he took a four year hiatus.
“I love the way I can make people happy through music,” Schuler said.
Schuler came to Abilene from New York City to at-tend Hardin-Simmons University, where he ma-jored in trumpet and mu-sic theory.
“He turned dining into fine dining,” Jeremy Gar-ner (’10) said.
Garner was reminded of a day in The Bean when he walked in wearing a Char-lie Brown shirt and Schuler started playing Linus and
Lucy, the Charlie Brown theme, and greeted Garner with a ‘Hey Chuck.’
“He gave us all a rea-son to sit on the right side, he also kept the annoying freshmen who thought they could play piano off of the piano.” Garner said.
Garner said that Schul-er gave an ambiance to the college dining experience.
Jenni Williams, student services manager, and Bar-bara Wilson, campus con-cierge, agreed that Schuler has improved the morale of students and the envi-ronment in The Bean is better because of Schuler.
“The more they see him, the more they recognize him,” Williams said.
The Piano Man can eas-ily be recognized in the sus-penders lined with piano keys and a tie adorned with
images of pianos on it.“He got more of a re-
sponse in casual dress,” Wilson said.
There was no active search to fill the “pia-no man” position when Schuler contacted chief business services officer, Anthony Williams, to in-form him that he was back in town.
Schuler loves taking requests. Napkins line the top of the piano with names of songs written on them that students have requested. Requests vary from VeggieTales to Star Wars. Schuler has more than 5,000 songs in his repertoire.
After living in South Pa-dre, Schuler moved back to Abilene to raise his three children in the Abilene In-dependent School District.
“This is home. This is the best place to raise a family that I know of,” Schuler said.
Schuler can be found playing the baby grand pi-ano on the west side of The Bean Monday thru Thurs-day from 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. He also plays at the Cy-press Street Station and The Paramount Theatre during The Paramount Film Series.
campus
brittany williamsstudent reporter
contact williams [email protected]
Mike Schulerpianist
I love the way I can make people happy
through music.”“
brittany williams staff photographer
Mike Schuler, ACU’s “Piano Man,” returns to the Bean after a four-year hiatus.
jessica owensoperations specialist of
The Campus Store
We want to have students in the show who are already involved on
campus.”“
leslie lewis Staff Photographer
ACU students trek across campus in icy conditions as a result of Abilene’s bipolar weather.
A college education is ex-pensive -- probably too expensive. Nationwide, the price of an education has tripled since 1980. But building a career without a degree is increasingly diffi-cult, so we have to swallow the debt and do it.
Judging by recent chang-es to campus, it might be best to come to ACU for a massage and go somewhere else for an education.
The problem with this university is not the price; it is the choices administra-tors make when they decide what aspects of the univer-sity to enhance. The areas they spend time and money improving are the ones they value the most – and the ones that will attract students.
The on-campus spa scheduled to open in fall 2012 is the most recent example of some of ACU’s misplaced values. ACU emphasizing the college experience over education.
Choosing to invest time, money and effort into adding resort style conveniences instead of improving academic op-portunities shows that administrators are more interested in providing students with a four year vacation instead of an education that will help them build a career.
The expected spa, the recently renamed Campus Concierge desk in the Campus Center and the services offered through
it – including a limousine rental service – point to the increasingly strong emphasis ACU is putting on experience over substance.
Most campuses in the nation are dealing with this same issue of bal-ancing academics and perks to attract students. They are making changes similar to ACU’s in order to woo prospective stu-dents. Universities are competing for the same group of students who have achieved academic level and financial means necessary to attend.
If ACU wants to provide its students with an exception-al, innovative and real edu-cation, the emphasis needs
to be placed in the learning experiences provided to students, and therefore the quality of the degrees that leave this university.
The university needs to make investments in faculty. ACU’s current faculty members are ex-cellent, and many of them gave up more lucrative ca-reers elsewhere because they believe in ACU. Add to their ranks; use funds to build labs and librar-ies that the most qualified men and women in each field can’t resist.
A high caliber faculty and innovative educational fa-cilities will attract students who see the value in their professors and who want to spend time working out
problems in the lab. And instead of helping them re-lieve stress with a message, give them scholarships to avoid the initial stress.
The best experience a student can have during his four years on a col-lege campus one that will serve him for the rest of his life. This is always true, but as long as we are riding this tuition bubble, it becomes more impor-
tant that the student gets an education that is worth the money spent and debt incurred. Future employ-ers won’t care how much we enjoyed college.
We want to be part of a university that works to attracts quality minds – not well manicured nails.
America is getting bor-ing. All we talk about is the national debt, unem-ployment and a shortage of good presidential can-didates. The whole nation is my grandparents. But it doesn’t have to be this way. All we need is a prom-ise and some scientists. It worked in the 60s.
The remedy to this na-tional funk is a good na-tional hero. A tickertape parade caliber hero. A hero like that is created when a guy gets into a state-of-the-art machine built buy the company who gave the lowest bid on a govern-ment contract and orbits the Earth.
When’s the last time Manhattan saw a good tickertape parade? Well, It was actually in 2010 when the New York Giants won the Super Bowl. But I’m talking about a real na-tional hero, which the Gi-ants are not.
I want a parade where ev-eryone leaves work to throw confetti, scream and get pickpocketed on the streets of Manhattan in honor of group of people who did something amazing with an American flag on their sleeve. As of July 2011 there are 311,591,917 people in this country, surely a few of them are heroworthy.
The 60s saw the great American heroes. It was the space age. At the heels of Russia, America was push-ing the boundaries of the known world. Our presi-dent promised us space, and a bunch of scientists
in Florida delivered. When John Glenn orbited the Earth three times on Feb. 20, 1962 in Friendship 7, we decided we had passed the
cosmonauts and were win-ning the space race. A few years later we were large stepping across the Moon for mankind.
That’s great and every-thing, but it was 50 years ago. I wasn’t there, so I won’t be able to tell my grandkids about it. The best story I have now is, “Ten years after terrorists attacked two NYC sky-scrapers, a group of Navy Seals killed the guy who planned it. But we don’t know their names. That’s classified, kids.”
America needs to step it up. If we are going to be in debt, it might as well be be-cause we XXXXXXXXXX. I don’t want to wait for another communist su-perpower to scare us into greatness.
Get with it, America.
Minimally decentJozie SandS
Oh Dear, Christian College Ben miller
the issueDegrees are getting more expensive and the job market is more selective.
our takeWe want the university to emphasize its value of education over college experience.
Hannah barneseditor in chief
Mark smithmanaging editor
jozie sandsopinion page editor
Leigh Foithonline editor
david ian singer arts editor
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farron salleymultimedia managing editor
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Unsigned editorials are the opinions of the Optimist and may not necessarily reflect the views of the uni-versity or its administration.
Signed columns, cartoons and letters are the opinions of their creators and may not necessarily reflect the viewpoints of the Optimist or the university.
The Optimist encourages reader response through let-ters to the editor but reserves the right to limit frequent contributors or to refuse to print letters containing
personal attacks, obscen-ity, defamation, erroneous information or invasion of privacy. Please limit letters to 350 words or fewer. A name and phone number must be included for verification purposes. Phone numbers will not be published.
Address letters to: ACU Box 27892Abilene, TX 79609
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editorial and Letter Policy
Editorial
An American hero, or lack thereof
Labor of Love
Experience vs. Education
Valentine’s Day was a lot more fun when I was a child. But it was a lot more work, too. I remember when we’d buy Valentines Day cards in bulk. A long folded sheet with perforated divisions. 24 cards per sheet, I think. Our mother would buy sev-eral boxes. Disney themed. Veggie Tales characters. All of them printed with the obligatory “To” and “From” lines so essential to child-hood communication. Clas-sic, tasteful; Some even had shiny edges. But the glittery gaudiness did not distract us from the laborious task ahead. What seemed like 2 million of those little cards had to be filled out and sealed
in envelopes to be delivered at our home school group’s Valentine’s Day party.
My brothers and I looked forward to this party with an excitement that nearly rivaled Christmas anticipation. The big event was always held at the most exhilarating venue in the Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The Play Station. The Play Station was a huge indoor playground. A three story maze of large plastic tubes in-terspersed with large bouncy areas, lake-sized ball pits and swift terrifying slides. We loved the Play Station, and we feared it. For every fun boun-cy area there was a dark and twisting labyrinth worthy of Tolkien.
The Play Station was not to be missed. But we had to earn our way there, to be sure. We’d receive a sheet with all our home school
“classmates” names. It was a long list, and everyone on that list needed one of
those charming Valentine’s cards. We worked at it like an assembly line. Someone had to carefully tear the cards out of the immense sheets. Someone had to write “The Miller Broth-ers” in the “From” spaces. Someone had to glue the envelope shut with a glue stick. (We went through about four glue sticks each February.) And someone then had to tape a lollipop to the outside of the enve-lope. It was a Herculean task. It was a mind numb-ing task. It was torturous. But finally, 2 million cards later, we were rewarded with the greatest indoor playground experience on the planet. That’s what we did for love. That’s what we did for Valentines Day.
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contact sands [email protected]
WEDNESDAY 02.14.12 4opinion
I want a parade where everyone leaves work to
throw confetti, scream and get pickpocketed on the streets of Manhattan...”“
hashtagaCU
Snow last night. Shorts this afternoon. #abileneweather
What is this rain/ice/sleet lookin stuff?
I will get good grades after sing song. Prob-ably. #whoneedstopass #idoactually
#ThatAwakwardMo-ment when Thriller is playing in the Bank, but I don’t see Steven Moore. @overheardACU
@KenliViertel
@a_campbell14
@chelseasergio
@Brotherdill
@ohhxandrea
@LaurenPeters_
@nicholetter92
@realzekemorgan
@_clpeterson
@PaigeLinaeW
3:01 p.m. Feb. 12 1:16 p.m. Feb. 62:28 p.m. Feb. 12
2:27 p.m. Feb. 12
2:55 p.m. Feb. 12
7:32 p.m. Feb. 13
10:43 a.m. Feb. 1310:43 p.m. Feb. 13
2:12 p.m. Feb. 13
I have seen the sweetest stuff on campus today! Wonder how many ppl got engaged? ;) #ringbyspring #ACU
“Well, as you can see here, our computer has been possessed by the devil...” #drWages #ACU
taking notes on the dating and relationships chapel form with @kristynalbert #singlegirlproblems
30k spent on education. Still can’t find a working dry erase marker in the library #ACUproblems
SING SONG WEEK!! No sleep, voice gone, sore muscles, skipping class and ditching home-work! Best week ever. #ACU
That awkward moment when you save a bunch of seats for your friends at chapel and then none of them come. #acuproblems
contact the optimist [email protected]
@SaRyForTweeting
@alainaw1992
8:57 p.m. Feb. 13
2:03 p.m. Feb. 131:35 p.m. Feb. 14
I would enjoy studying a lot more if there were massage chairs rather than desk chairs in the library. #timetoupdateACU
Victoria’s Secret catalogs in all the girls mail-boxes?? What message are you trying to send, ACU?? #ACUproblems
But finally, 2 million cards later, we were rewarded with the greatest indoor
playground experience on the planet.
That’s what we did for love. That’s what we did for
Valentines Day.”
“oh dear, christian collegeBen MiLLeR
contact miller [email protected]
wednesday 02.15.125 news
Requests prompt Dining Service revamp
ACU Dining Services has made some noticeable changes in order to sat-isfy requests made by stu-dents.
These changes include: extending the hours of the Bean, offering more of a variety of foods and solv-ing several problems that occurred last semester.
Joshua Garcia, fresh-man convergence journal-ism major from Lexington, N.C., eats at the Bean al-most everyday for lunch and dinner. Garcia noticed a difference in the ketchup, mayonnaise, and mustard dispensers.
“The new dispensers
are a lot more convenient,” Garcia said. “It is much easier than scooping with a spoon.”
Tom Arellano, senior food service director, said the dining style surveys giv-en to students along with one-on-one conversations helped determine the direc-tion of the program.
“A lot of the comments we receive from our din-ing style surveys are partly what we use to mold the program,” Arellano said. “It’s based on things the students want. I also get a lot of information from students I talk to.”
Dining Services has been tweeting these changes since October.
Arellano said he recent-ly added soy milk as an op-
tion because of a comment made by a student.
A change in the hours of the Bean during weekdays and weekends was student requested as well. The Bean is now open between 11-11:30 a.m. Monday-Fri-day. Dinner service is now available Monday-Thurs-day from 7-8 p.m. and on Saturday nights to 7 p.m.
“The general consensus was 7 p.m. seemed like a more reasonable time to end dinner on Saturday,” Arellano said. “Last Fall we noticed people would go workout and then come in late to eat. We stayed open until 7:30 p.m. as a cour-tesy, however by that time there was nothing to eat. That’s the reason we decid-ed to stay open until 8:00
p.m. Monday-Thursday.”“Opening from 11-11:30
a.m. is nice for people who have received all their Chapel credits or who just need some food in for the rest of the day,” Garcia said. “It’s a good change.”
When students return from the holidays or other breaks on Sundays, The Bean will be open later to accommodate different arrival times.
From a food and drink standpoint, ACU Dining Service is giving students the opportunity for more choices throughout the day.
Garcia said the inter-national grill station has made improvements.
“The food in the interna-tional line is more gourmet than it used to be. There
are more choices too.”Breakfast omelets are
now served Saturday and Sunday mornings in addi-tion to Monday-Friday.
Gatorade and a four-flavor fruit juice dispenser have been added to the beverage line up.
Honey mustard dress-ing is available in the salad bar. Because of its popu-larity, yogurt and granola toppings can be found in the salad bar all day.
In the dessert area, waffle cones for ice cream are now a second option to the regular cones. Arellano said Dining Services has also included more flavors of cookies and changed the size of them.
“The cookies we were making were the larger
ones, so we thought if they were smaller students could take two or three of a variety,” Arellano said.
Last semester, a fly manifestation became a problem in certain parts of the Bean. To eradicate the flies, traps were set. Arella-no said the traps have suc-cessfully eliminated most of the pests.
A second problem was with the new meal plans. Students are allowed a cer-tain number of guest pass-es for family or friends. This function was not ac-tive in the Fall, but is now operational.
dining
edward isaacssports editor
contact isaacs [email protected]
Peet’s closure to open door for Red Mango
Six years after opening, Peet’s Coffee & Tea on Judge Ely Boulevard is closing its doors. A Red Mango fran-chise will take its place later this year.
“We know frozen yogurt has become a popular fam-ily treat, and Red Mango is one of the healthiest in its category,” said Wes Jack-son, chief merchandising officer for United Super-markets, LLC.
Red Mango serves all-natural, non-fat, gluten-free, frozen desserts and
was named as the No. 1 Smoothie and Frozen Yo-gurt in Zagat’s 2011 National Chains Survey, beating out top competitors, Pinkberry, Jamba Juice, Smoothie King and TCBY.
“Both United and Red Mango share a commit-ment to the health and wellness of our guests, so we feel this is a natural fit. We are excited to offer our guests a unique in-store ex-perience with Red Mango,” Jackson said.
“I am totally fine with a smoothie place,” said Mad-elyn Robinett, sophomore family studies major from Amarillo. “But I think it
sounds like a fad like the fro-zen yogurt thing was. I am definitely a coffee person.”
Peet’s may have failed to gain popularity with the majority of students, but some, including senior po-litical science major, Daniel Borrego, will be sad to see Peet’s go.
“Since I moved off cam-pus, I’ve stopped at Peet’s in the morning to get my cof-fee. It’s how I start my day,” Borrego said.
The Red Mango counter will continue to serve Ar-riba! coffee, United’s house brand, in the deli prior to the opening. The Judge Ely store will be the first Unit-
ed location to house Red Mango. Construction is set to begin inside the store Feb. 13.
“We believe that Red Mango and Arriba! will resonate with our Abilene guests and are delighted to be offering these new ser-vices,” Jackson said.
Red Mango is the first frozen yogurt retailer to earn the National Yogurt Association’s Live and Ac-tive Cultures seal for meet-ing the required criteria for healthy frozen yogurt.
dining
erin coldeweystudent reporter
contact coldewey [email protected]
matt sewell Staff Photographer
Peet’s Coffee will close after six years of business next to Sharky’s and United.
‘Cats go 3-0 in home opening weekend
Frigid temperatures and a precipitation-filled week-end could not slow down the ACU softball team, as the Wildcats went 3-0 and improved their record to 6-1 following an undefeated weekend of softball.
The Wildcats dominated their competition, winning by a combined score of 21-3 against the likes of East Cen-tral and Missouri Southern.
“This was a great week-end for us,” head coach Bob-by Reeves said. “We were re-ally clicking on all cylinders and our players came to play in each of the games.
ACU was tabbed to host the Whitten Inn Clas-sic from Friday-Sunday, but frigid temperatures snagged three games from the ACU team that Reeves would like to get back.
“You know, there’s not much you can do about the weather. That’s simply part of the game,” he said. “There’s a really fine line be-tween toughing it out and playing and being stupid. ”
In Friday’s first game against East Central, the Wildcats overcame an early 2-0 deficit in come-back fashion en route to winning 4-3.
Sophomore outfielder Courtney Flanary blasted a pinch-hit, walk-off RBI double in the sixth inning to send the ’Cats to the dugout victorious. Flanary stepped into the batter’s box with two on and two out and ripped an Ali Manship pitch
down the left field line, scor-ing Sara Vaughn and ending the game.
“Courtney stepped in and did a fantastic job in the situation she was put it,” Reeves said. “That’s one thing about our bunch: ev-ery one of us can hit and we have lots of depth on our bench. I feel confident in asking anyone to step in and hit in that situation. I’m glad it was Courtney.”
Transfer pitcher Caitlyn Crain (3-0) threw another complete game in the con-test, scattering ten hits and allowing three runs.
“Caitlyn threw a great game,” Reeves said. “She has complete confidence in the defense behind her to make plays, and that allows them to do their job. That shows the maturity of a pitcher, not doing too much and allowing the defense to do its job.”
The Wildcats dominated the latter half of the Friday doubleheader, stomping the Tigers 9-0 in five innings, and completing the sweep.
ACU scored at least one run in five innings.
“Our offense is doing a fantastic job hitting the ball right now,” Reeves said. “They’re kind of on a hot streak and we’re going to ride it.”
Sophomore Lyndi Smith had two RBI’s in the contest, as she hit a solo homerun in the second and had a sacrifice fly in the third.
“When Lyndi makes contact with the ball, it goes places,” Reeves said. “She has really come on this season, and she hits the ball as hard as any-
body I’ve ever coached.”The Wildcats scored three
runs in the fourth, aided by three singles, three stolen bases, a wild pitch and a throwing error by the Tigers.
Junior infielder Kimberly Briggs brought the game to a close when she smoked a two-run homerun in the fifth to end the game due to the eight-run mercy rule.
Starter Peyton Mosley went the distance and sur-rendered only four hits, not allowing a single Tiger bas-erunner past second base.
Saturday, the Wildcats thumped Missouri South-ern 8-3, and the offense was the story once again.
Senior Megan Brigance and Smith each had two RBI’s, and junior Shelby Hall threw a complete game against the Lions.
The 20-mile per hour winds and chilly air did not halt the Wildcats, as the team completed its homestead in style.
Brigance hit a ground-rule double in the fourth that scored three runs to put ACU up 7-1.
Hall (2-0) retired the first ten batters she faced and al-lowed all three runs between the fourth and fifth innings.
ACU hit whoever was on the mound as their bats continued to stay hot.
The Wildcats, carrying a six-game winning streak, return to action at the Midwestern State Classic on Friday at 3 p.m. against Midwestern State.
bryson shakesports reporter
contact shake [email protected]
softball
Sweep: Wildcats take series and three times in the fifth to push ahead 10-1.
“I was just hoping to put the ball in play,” Eager said. “I wasn’t trying to hit a home run. It just happened.”
Jordan Herrera got the start, pitching four innings to nab the win. He allowed four hits and struck out three batters.
The nightcap was a
sloppy performance for the ‘Cats despite pulling out the win. ACU committed eight errors. The team also left 16 runners on base.
Colorado Christian led 4-2, 4-3 and 5-4 until Mark Bailey tied the game in the bottom of the ninth with a double to left-center field to drive in Macy.
The Cougars responded in the top of the 10th with four hits to grab a 9-5 ad-
vantage. But the Wildcats weren’t finished yet.
ACU batted around in the bottom of the 10th. Eager started the rally by reaching on catcher’s interference. He would eventually score on a bases loaded walk.
In his second plate ap-pearance of the inning, Eager ended all hopes of a Cougar victory with a line drive down the left field line.
“The pitcher left the ball
high and inside,” Eager said. “I slapped at it and the ball ended up landing just fair inside the left field line barely out of the reach of the fielder.”
“We knew going into the inning, it had to be a team ef-fort for us to get the win. That’s why we came out on top.”
contact isaacs [email protected]
baseball
from page 6
matt sewell stafF Photographer
Junior shortstop Sara Vaughn gets ready to throw one out Saturday in the Whitten Inn Classic Saturday against East Central University. The Wildcats won every game at their home-opening series this weekend, maintaining a 6-0 record.
WEDNESDAY 02.15.12 6sports
TeamMSUTSUUIWWTAMUCameronENMUTAMU-KACUASUCommerce
Div.14-212-210-69-59-76-86-103-113-112-12
Ovrl.21-221-315-915-613-913-1011-1411-1310-147-15
TeamTSUMSUWTAMUCameronASUTWUUIWENMUTAMU-KACUCommerce
Div.15-114-312-410-79-77-97-106-106-114-120-16
Ovrl.18-618-514-814-811-1112-1012-118-147-169-131-21
Senior right- handed pitcher Aaron Lambrix from North
Tustin, Calif. has been stellar in two appearances this season. He has pitched 11 innings, allowed three earned runs and seven hits. Opponents are batting .175 against him. Lambrix’s ERA is the fourth lowest on the team (2.45). In his most recent outing versus CCU, Lambrix threw six shutout innings and struck out four batters.
The men’s basketball team will play Kingsville in Moody Coliseum on Sunday at 4 p.m.
The women’s basketball team will face Kingsville in Moody Coliseum on Sunday at 2 p.m.
The baseball team will compete against Southern Arkansas at Crutcher Scott Field on Friday and Saturday beginning at 4:05 p.m.
women’s basketball
standings
briefings
Player Profile
Upcoming
Soccer added two players to the 2012 roster. Lindsey Jones from McKinney Boyd (Texas) High School and Krystal Sommers from Clear Springs High School will become Wildcats next season. Jones was a member of the 2011 state championship team at McKinney. Sommers played four years of varsity soccer.
The Second-Annual Volleyball Alumni Weekend has been scheduled for March 31. This year, the event will feature a match between alumni and current members of the volleyball team. It will begin shortly after the Wildcats’ spring volleyball tournament. Alumni who wish to attend must register.
men’s basketball
Baseball
TeamTSUACUASUTAMU-KENMUCameronUIWWTAMU
Div.0-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-0
Ovrl.4-16-26-23-12-16-40-20-0
LSC tournament hopes stay alive
Desperate to keep their tournament hopes alive, the Wildcats pulled off a huge win Saturday against Eastern New Mexico in Moody Coliseum.
ACU is now 4-12 in the Lone Star Conference rankings, and 9-13 overall. The win leaves the Wild-
cats in 10th places out of the 11 conference teams, but has boosted the confi-dence of the team.
“I thought we played a much more complete game on Saturday,” said head coach Shawna Lavender.
The 74-61 win over the Zias was one of the team’s best games of the season, just days after their worst loss of the year.
The Wildcats dominated
the court the whole game, only behind once after the Zias’ first possession. ACU forced 23 turnovers, had 11 steals, and allowed ENMU to shoot less that 30 per-cent from the field.
Mack Lankford led the game in nearly every catego-ry, finishing with 31 points. The sophomore guard left the court with a sixth career game of at least 30 points. She had seven rebounds,
three assists, and four steals that drove ACU to a win.
Junior center Kelsey Smith finished after Lank-ford with 15 points, five rebounds, two assists, and blocked five shots.
The ‘Cats are now two games behind the eighth place team, and a chance of playing in the post-sea-son tournament. ACU has four more opportunities to win conference games,
and if they win two they will have a good shot.
The Wildcats return to action this Sunday against Texas A&M Kingsville at 2 p.m. in Moody Coliseum.
“Right now we are play-ing one game at a time and focusing on what we need to be doing,” said Lavender.
natalie goinsports editor
contact GoIN [email protected]
‘Cats declaw CCU Cougars
Freshman center fielder-Tyler Eager is making his presence known in the ACU baseball program.
Eager, in the second se-ries of the season, hit a three-run home run, and a bases-loaded, two-out single down the left field line to drive in the game-winning run in the final game against Colorado Christian University.
As a result, the Wildcats swept a four-game series from CCU this weekend at Crutcher Scott Field.
The ‘Cats won 5-2 then 10-run ruled the Cougars, 11-0 on Friday.
ACU walloped Colorado Christian again Saturday, 10-2 in the first meeting. The final game went into extra innings where Eager sealed the deal in the bot-tom of the 10th with his sin-gle making the final 10-9.
Head coach Britt Bon-neau was impressed with his pitchers.
“Overall I thought our pitchers bounced back and showed more aggressiveness in the zone,” Bonneau said.
The sweep gives the Wildcats a five game win-
ning streak and improves its overall record to 6-2. The Cougars leave Abilene with an 0-4 record.
Bonneau is satisfied with the team’s current standings.
“6-2 is a good record,” Bonneau said. “But there are still mental aspects we need to work on.”
In the series opener, the ‘Cats scored three times in the second and two times in the third to take a 5-0 lead. Starter Clint Cooper allowed six hits and two runs through five innings, picking up his first win of the season.
Michael Curtis pitched
a scoreless seventh to get the save.
Senior Ryan Luckie had two RBI, while Mike Kee-gan drove in a run.
The second game on Friday was all ACU. Senior pitcher Aaron Lambrix was a big reason why. He scattered three hits in six shutout innings. Lambrix never allowed a runner past second base.
“Aaron is such a competitor,” Bonneau said...”He had his change-up working and he estab-lished his fastball.”
Senior infielder Dun-can Blades was the key
figure offensively. He went three for four with one run scored and two RBI.
Junior catcher Rodge Macy had two hits and scored three runs.
The Wildcats put the game away with eight runs in the third. The in-ning included a two-run double by Macy.
Eager smacked a three-run home run to right field, beginning a five-run sec-ond inning in the day game Saturday. Abilene Christian came across the plate two more times in the fourth
edward isaacssports editor
baseball
Wildcats take big win from ENMU
On Saturday afternoon, the men’s basketball team took to the court in Moody Coli-seum with hopes of taking down the Eastern New Mex-ico Greyhounds and getting back on track. ACU played outstanding basketball for forty minutes in order to se-cure their third conference win of the season 79-68.
The Wildcats were able to play efficiently on the of-fensive end the entire night, dishing out seventeen as-sists and shooting above 50 percent from the field.
“I like the way our offense looks and flows with Durant at the point guard,” head coach Joe Golding said.
The ‘Cats were able to put four players in double figures over the weekend, lead by point guard Kend-all Durant with seventeen points. Eric Kibi chipped in with 14 points to go
along with his six boards. Marc Little and Antonio Bell had 11 and 10 points respectively.
Early on, Wildcat fans may have expected a blow-out if it had not been for EMNU’s Reggie Nelson, who was tearing down the nets at Moody Coliseum, hitting seven three-pointers and finishing with 35 points.
“He is a great player.” Golding said. “That’s the LoneStar Conference, there are really good guards on every team.”
However, he was the only Greyhound that showed up to play on the offensive end, and the teamwork that ACU displayed was enough to win the game by a com-fortable margin and propel them back into contention for the eight and final spot in the LSC tournament.
“That is all we really play for.” Durant said. “We don’t do this just because or for recreation, we are trying to hang another
banner up there.”In a game that saw nine
ties and eight lead chang-es, it was apparent that the Wildcats simply wanted to win more than Eastern New Mexico. Their deter-mination reached a peak with less than a minute left, when several Wildcats were diving all over the court for a lose ball.
At the end of the play, nearly every ‘Cat was sprawled out on the floor, including senior Ben War-ton, who had thrown him-self onto the hardwood twice in the span of about three seconds, revealing the heart this team has played with the entire season.
The Wildcats will be back in action this Wednes-day when they take on In-carnate Word in San Anto-nio at 7:30 p.m.
men’s basketball
mandy lambright CHIEF Photographer
Freshman forward Da-Juan Cooper goes up for a shot.
WOmen’s BAsketball
Matt sewell staff Photographer
Junior first baseman Luke Mejia dives for a ball at Crutcher Scott Field against Colorado Christian University. Mejia was walked in his last at bat, loading the bases before freshman centerfielder Tyler Eager made the game winning hit. Mejia went 2 for 4 at bat, and had a run Saturday night.
Matthew sloansports reporter
see sweep page 5
contact sloan [email protected]
