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photos by mandy lambright chief photographer
SHADES Step-Squad performed at their show, titled “Shades Sircus,” Friday and Saturday night in Cullen Auditorium. Approximately 500 people attended the show, and ticket sale proceeds went toward the Alliance for Women and Children.
inside
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Baseball team fight through windy weather at Lone Star Conference
Familiarity of religion disguises qualities others may see as far-fetched
Zeta Rho partners with Red Thread Movement for fundraising gala
Abilene Christian University
Featurespage 5
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acuoptimist.com
Go online to see more photos of the SHADES show “Shades Sircus”
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vol. 100, no. 51 wednesday, april 18, 2012 1 SECTION, 8 PAGES
A Walk on the Wild SideAbilenians support
Autism Speaks
SHADES step squad incor-porated some traditional favorites from under the big top at their annual spring performance last weekend. The show was appropriately titled: “SHADES Sircus.”
Acrobats and giant jack-in–the-box dancers were among many performances
at the show in Cullen Audi-torium Friday and Saturday.
“For the SHADES Sircus, we wanted to give a feel for how outside of the box our step-squad really is,” said SHADES head captain Bran-don Bolden, senior counsel-ing and psychology major from St. Louis. “We wanted to show our diversity while maintaining a circus theme so we made sure our show had performances like ac-
robats in full suits, guys on stilts who are controlling puppets and lion and lion tamer dancers.”
Approximately 500 people attended the performance, with all proceeds from ticket sales benefiting Alliance for Women and Children, the organization that typically receives proceeds raised at SHADE’s performances.
Bolden said the step-squad has done various projects with the organiza-tion but wanted to do more by giving them the pro-ceeds to all performances.
“We’ve partnered with Women’s for Alliance in the past – teaching children step performances, helping revitalize their playground, and also helping with a few other small projects. Through these different projects we have developed a good relationship with the organization,” he said.
Bolden said SHADES shows are not perfor-mances by individuals, but rather performances from a unified group driven by a
common goal.“SHADES has a family
feel to it. We have our tri-als and tribulations but at the same time, we stick together and fight for that common purpose in choos-ing to glorify God with our talents. That is one of the main reasons I have been a member for as long as I have,” said Bolden, who has been a member of SHADES for four years and has served as captain for two.
As the group’s final show of the season, the perfor-mance also served as the last SHADES performance for the seniors in the group.
“Everybody can dance. Everybody has his or her
own style. We have so many different races and personalities in SHADES that everybody shines in the performance. You get to see the individual as well as the group perform as one,” said SHADES wom-en’s captain, Destiny Hago-od, senior photojournalism major from Compton, Ca-lif. “As of now, we’re wrap-ping it up and preparing for new captains to come in to place. This group has a lot of freshman so it will be a great mixture for next year.”
Sarah Fathereestudent reporter
Many students have dis-played dismay at the re-moval of dead day from this semester’s finals week and one student has ral-lied others toward its rein-statement.
After realizing how crammed his finals week would be, Alexander Hill, sophomore biology major from Abilene, decided to spearhead the creation of petition to bring Dead Day back.
“Right now I am taking Honors Organic Chemis-
try and Cell Biology, and both of those are pretty rough classes,” Hill said. “I started making my finals schedule a couple weeks ago and I found that I have three finals on Monday.”
On the first day of the week, Hill will start with a Speech final followed by cu-mulative finals in Organic Chemistry and Cell Biology.
“I know I’m not going to be the only one because I have a bunch of friends who are going to be in a similar boat,” Hill said. “I did the petition to show that there are students who have particularly strong views regarding this day.”
Hill has received a large amount of support from the student body.
“Most students really value their study time and overall, students have been really responsive about keeping their study time or even just time to relax be-fore finals. You really can’t take a final on four or five hours of sleep and expect to do well.”
Eric Soulek, sophomore computer science major from San Antonio, under-stands how no dead day will effect him this semester.
“I know it is only one day,” Soulek said, “but it is a little more stress added on
to my schedule. Dead day was a day where I could kind of unwind. It allowed me to sort out everything I had to study and be more prepared. I think it is something that students want back that will help us succeed.”
Some students who do not want to see Dead Day return have also been vo-cal. One physics student protested Hill while he petitioned in the Campus Center.
“I completely respect the differences of opinion,” Hill said, “and I know not everyone did use dead day. But I think it is a nice con-cession for the people who
did use it.”After meeting with Bart
Herridge, the registrar, Hill turned in the petition with over 500 signatures from students and a small group of faculty members. He can’t say for sure that a change will be made but he is confident that the ad-ministration will hear the students’ voice.
“The administration is going to do what they’re going to do,” Hill said, “but I got the sense that they are willing to listen to students and they are willing to take our views into account.”
One solution that Hill offered was to drop Fri-
day classes during the last week of the semester to al-low both a three day week-end for studying and five days for finals.
Students will have an opportunity to voice their opinions and suggestions in a survey that will be sent out during finals week.
After working and peti-tioning to bring back dead day, Hill can offers a piece of advice: “Answer that survey because that is how we are going to make our voices heard.”
University
Student meets with registrar to revive dead daydavid singerarts editor
Destiny HagoodSenior photojournalism
major from compton, calif.
Everybody can dance. Everybody has his or
her own style.”“Student dance group shows off their skills in
spring performance
contact singer [email protected]
contact fatheree [email protected]
STEPPIN’OUT
18
12 61
19 20 21wednesday thursday friday saturday
8 a.m. Kirk Good-win Run
2 p.m. ACU Baseball vs. Tarleton State @ ACU
6 p.m. Sub T Formal
4 p.m. ACU Softball @ Midwestern
6 p.m. All School Ro-deo and Concert
7 p.m. Pi Kappa Formal
7:30 p.m. Emma- ACU Theatre
All day - ACU Class of 1963’s 50th Reunion
5 p.m. Gamma Sigma Phi Rush
7 p.m. Sub T Rush
9 p.m. Pi Kappa Rush
9 p.m. Zeta Rho Rush
5 p.m. Frater Sodalis Rush
7 p.m. Alpha Kai Omega Rush
7:30 p.m. Jazz Ensem-ble Concert
9 p.m. Sigma Theta Chi/ Galaxy Rush
Police Log
Chapel checkup
@acuoptimist
The Optimist
wednesday 04.18.12 2
April 18
12 p.m. The Center for Con-temporary Arts is showing the documentary, Art in the Twenty-First Century. Admis-sion is free.
April 19
7:30 p.m. The ACU Jazz Ensemble Concert will be held in Cullen Auditorium featuring the music of Radio-head, Pat Metheny, Gordon Goodwin and more. Admis-sion is free.
April 20
7 a.m. Abilene’s Relay for Life will be held on the ACU campus. Admission price per team is $25. Visit relayforlife.org/abilenetx for more information.
April 21
8 p.m. The Abilene Philhar-monic Orchestra presents their concert “New World” at the Abilene Civic Center. Tickets are $11 to $33.
The ACU Student-Athelete Advisory Committee will be hosting the 2nd An-nual Run for Wishes on May 5 from 8 - 9:30 a.m. Participants, area Make-A-Wish kids and families and volunteers will run together to help raise money for children with life-threatening con-ditions. Register at bit.ly/acurunfor-wishes. Registration costs $15.
Beginning Fall 2012, the Department of Art and Design is now offering a Minor in Interior Design. For more informa-tion call 325-674-2085 ext. 2087.
The ACU Theatre presents its spring romantic comedy, Emma. The play will be presented on April 19-21 in Fulks Theatre. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased online at acu.edu/theatre or by calling 325-674-2787.
All seniors are invited to the Senior Send-Off on April 26 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. in the covered porch behind the Hunter Welcome Center. RSVP at www.acu.edu/seniorsendoff and be eligible to win an iPad 2 and other door prizes.
Spots are still available for Nil Santana’s summer photography courses. Art 291-01, Introduction to Black and White Photography is being offered May 14-31. Art 440-01, Digital Art Photography is being offered July 16-August 2.
The 2012-2013 Executive Cabinet is looking for the next Executive Admin-istrator of the Student’s Association. Visit acustudents.com/executivead-ministrator to download the applica-tion for information. Applications are due Friday at 5 p.m. in the SA office.
Dr. Neal Coates will be teaching a spe-cial topics class, Politics of Israel, for the Fall 2012 semester. This class will be offered Tuesdays and Thursdays at 3-4:20 p.m.
The HACU National Internship Program is offering internships for Fall 2012. 10 to 15 week paid internships are open to undergraduate and graduate major. Apply online at www.hacu.net/himp.
Students are invited to a Racketcourt Devo held at the racket ball courts in the SRWC on Thursday at 8 p.m. E-mail [email protected] for more information.
Wishing Well presents a performance by slam poet, David Bowden, on Thurs-day night at 7 p.m. at the Amphitheater. Admission is free.
The AES Club and the Ag Department pres-ent the 57th Annual ACU All School Rodeo and Concert on Friday in the Horse Barn on the Taylor County Expo Grounds. The rodeo will begin at 6 p.m. with the concert following at 10 p.m. Admission is $10. Sign up at the Rodeo Booth in the Campus Cen-ter from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
The ACU Department of Music presents the ACU Bands Concert on April 26 at 7:30 p.m. in Cullen Auditorium. Admis-sion is free and open to the public.
ACU’s PULSE A Cappella will present their first concert on April 25 at 7 p.m. in the WPAC Recital Hall.
Medical and Veterinary Entomology is now being offered Fall 2012 taught by Dr. Qiang Xu.
Volunteer Opp0rtunities
Choose Life Recycling is looking for volunteers to help with their fundraisers during the Relay for Life Fund-raiser for the American Cancer Society. They will have four areas set up during the relay and need volunteers to work two hour shifts during the event. The relay will be on April 20 beginning at 7 p.m. and continue until 7 a.m., April 21 at the Elmer Gray Stadium on the ACU campus. Volunteers will need to be able to do some moderate to heavy lifting. Contact Eric mallet at 325-261-0430 or e-mail [email protected].
Wesley Court needs volunteers on Wednesday from 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. to help serve senior adults at a luncheon and to assist with clean up afterwards. The event will take place at Hillcrest Church of Christ. Contact Tonya Railsback at 325-660-8817 or e-mail [email protected].
Abilene Youth Sports Authority needs help on April 21 - 22 for their Primetime Basketball Tournament event. Volunteers will work in three hour shifts between 7:30 a.m. - 7 p.m. each day and will be selling tickets and concessions. The tournament will be taking place at Wylie Jr. High and Craig Middle School. Contact Laurie Musgrave at 325-692-2972 or e-mail [email protected] by Wednesday.
Volunteers are needed to work at Faithworks of Abilene on April 22 at 2 p.m. as part of “We Are The Sermon Day.” Volunteers will help with cleaning, painting and putting down new flooring in an office. Faithworks is located at 1229 N. Mockingbird. Contact Darrell Jordan at 2229-395-0151 or e-mail [email protected].
ACU for the IRC is hosting an Easter egg hunt for refugee families on Saturday at noon here on the ACU campus. Help is needed with hiding eggs around cam-pus, interacting with the families crafts and refresh-ments and clean up. Contact Jessica Backfisch at 267-772-0508 or [email protected]. Meet in the Campus Center at noon or before.
Abilene Hope Haven needs volunteers from May 4 through May 6 to help in a variety of ways with their annual youth soccer tournament. The event will be held at the Abilene National Soccer Complex at 3025 Maple. Contact Alan Jeter at 325-677-4673 or [email protected] or Kathy Reppart at 325-677-4673 or [email protected].
Ben Richey Boys Ranch is looking for volunteers for their annual Ben Richey Boys Ranch Clay Break Classic on May 5 for shifts throughout the day from 8 a.m. - 6 p.m. Duties will include set up, helping on the clay-break range, clean up and variety of other tasks during
the event. Contact Patty Dunn at 325-668-0557 or Karen Martin at 325-668-9554 or e-mail [email protected]. 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. - 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.
Medical Care Mission is looking for volunteers to assist medical or dental staff with patients any weekday from 8:45 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. For more information contact Dave Kraly at 325-676-3104 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.
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.
New Life Alliance is looking for volunteers to help
with their after school program on Monday through Friday from 3 to 6 p.m. You will help with snacks, homework, crafts, games and other activities in addition to mentoring and building relationships with youth. Contact Ashley Kee at 325-672-1636 or e-mail [email protected]. The House That Kerry Built is looking for volunteers to assist in the day care of medically fragile chil-dren any day Monday through Friday from 8:45 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Contact Dave Kraly at 325-676-3104 or e-mail [email protected] for more information.
Rescue The Animals is looking for volunteers anytime 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.
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].
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 325-677-6815 or e-mail [email protected].
Volunteers are needed to read to Taylor Elementary School students Monday through Thursday after-noons at UCC from 3:15-4:30 p.m. Enter through the south entrance. Contact C.G. Grey 325-668-2842.
Da’ Cipher 360, a program for at risk children, is looking for volunteers on Monday evenings from 5-8 p.m. at the Rose Park Activity Center, 2625 S. 7th St. Volunteers can help in a variety of ways including helping with set up, learning activities for kindergar-ten-3rd graders, tutoring 4th-8th graders, and assist-ing with clean up. Contact Alvina Scott at 847-333-7026 or e-mail [email protected].
For additional volunteer opportunities visit: www.acu.edu/campusoffices/slvr/vol_opps/
Around abilene
Announcements
wednesday 04.18.123 campus news
Theatre to close season with romantic comedy
The Department of Theatre will close its curtains for the 2011-2012 school year with its performance of the ro-mantic comedy Emma.
“Emma is known for being a period piece and a quick witted comedy. I think the cast did a fantas-tic job telling the story,” said Noa Dowl, freshman theater major from Dallas.
Emma was the fourth novel published by Jane Austen and the last before her death.
“Emma is the story of a spoiled rich girl who likes to play matchmaker. The tale follows her as she learns the consequences of meddling in people’s lives as she ma-tures quite a bit in a few short months,” said Allie Smith, freshman math education major from Crawford.
Alex Bonneau, sopho-more musical theater ma-jor from Dallas, plays Mrs. Elton, a character Bonneau describes as loud, obnox-ious, and full of herself.
“I love Mrs. Elton. That’s one of the most important essentials in acting, you’ve got to love your character, because they love them-selves,” Bonneau said. “I have actually been able to bring my own dry sense of
humor to the role and it has worked pretty well.”
After graduation, Bon-neau plans on buying a one-way ticket to New York City.
“I have a scrabble piece with the map of New York on it. It stays in my makeup bag,” Bonneau said. “My mom always tells me that ‘the standard is New York.’ It never fails to make me want to work that much harder.”
Before coming to ACU, Bonneau was involved in church musicals, school productions, and commu-nity theater.
“In addition to all of the hard work that the actors and our amazing director have done, Emma is visu-ally stunning. I have to brag about our set and costumes because they are simply beautiful. It’s like walk-ing into Jane Austen’s little world,” Bonneau said.
The last three perfor-mances will be Thursday – Saturday, at 7:30 p.m. in the Williams Performing Arts Center.
For tickets and more in-formation about the show, visit their website at http://www.acu.edu/academics/cas/theatre or visit the box office inside the Williams Performing Arts Center.
performing arts
brittany williamsstaff photographer
contact williams [email protected]
Students, clubs sign up for rodeo
Students will take part in rough-riding, roping, goats and cowbells at the 57th all-school rodeo scheduled for 6 p.m Friday at the Tay-lor County Expo Center. Registration for the event ends Wednesday.
The rodeo will include events from the past such as “udder goat madness” a concert featuring Jamie Richards, a Texas coun-try music performer who has had numerous singles hit the top 10 charts. Go-ing hand-in-hand with the concert will be some Texas two-stepping.
The Department of Agriculture and Environ-
mental Sciences will also take over the mall area on Thursday after Chapel for a rodeo demonstration.
“We will have a ro-deo exhibit,” said Grant Lawrence, junior wildlife management major from Bangs. “There will be goats, sheep, horses and roping dummies. We want it to be more visual.”
Students competing in events at the rodeo will earn intramural points for their social clubs. How-ever, not all clubs will be participating this year.
“We haven’t really dis-cussed it,” said Meredith Thornton, sophomore pre-med major from Cedar Hill and Alpha Kai intramural director. “I think the girls did it last year but most of
them didn’t really want to this year.”
Some other clubs, in-cluding Frater Sodalis and GATA are also choos-ing not to enter the rodeo this year.
But the women of Sigma Theta Chi will participate, said Libby Sinclair, sopho-more marking major and intramural director from Abilene.
“We are just signing up to have a good time and do the best we can,” Sin-clair said.
The men of Gamma Sigma Phi are anticipat-ing a victory again this year after last year’s first-place finish.
“We are really excited about the rodeo,” said Mi-chael Smith, sophomore
accounting and finance major and GSP intramu-ral director from Den-ton. “We’ve been working around the clock getting ready for it. Our guys won it last year, and they want a repeat. It is such a great event and we are just ex-cited to be a part of it.”
Sign-ups for the rodeo are in the McGlothlin Campus Center. It is $20 per event and each event requires four member-teams. The general ad-mission ticket is $10 and can be purchased at the door. It includes entrance to the rodeo and concert afterward.
intramurals
carole-marie wiserstudent reporter
contact wiser [email protected]
leslie lewis Staff Photographer
The freshman class took advantage of the new ACU dancing policy by making their formal theme “Dancing ‘til the cows come home.”
wednesday 04.18.12 4news
Hamilton to speak at annual Folklore Lecture
Dr. Mark Hamilton, asso-ciate dean for the gradu-ate of theology, will be the first ACU alumni speaker of the 3rd annual George W. Ewing Folklore Lec-ture. The event will take place at 7.p.m. April 19 in Room 117 of the Onstead-Packer Biblical Studies
Building.“It’s called the George
W. Ewing Folklore Lec-ture because Dr. Ewing taught Folklore at ACU before he passed and this is a way of honoring him,” said Dr. Steve Weathers, professor of English and event coordinator. “He was a great man and a very gentle person who served in W WII.”
Last year’s event had a
very successful outcome, said Mikee Delony, assis-tant professor of English and event coordinator. Dr. Phyllis Bridges a recipient of Texas Women’s Univer-sity and folklorist spe-cialist was the speaker at last year’s event. She con-ducted workshops in the afternoon for students to learn more about folklore diaries, the Oregon Trail, orphan trains, and mail-
order brides.“It went really well last
year. Dr. Bridges was really fascinating, and tied folk-
lore with mythology to get a better understand of the two,” Delony said.
Another goal of the event is to show the impor-tance of folklore studies.
Hamilton will discuss passages in the Old Tes-tament that are strange and hard to understand. He will provide a better understanding of the pas-sages using folklore.
“Folklore is a belief,
custom, or superstition by some people of a par-ticular culture that has been passed down orally by one family member to another but has some type of fictional belief that teaches a lesson,” Delony said.
english
armani williamsstudent reporter
contact williams [email protected]
Zeta Rho teams with Red Thread for gala
The recently recharted Zeta Rho opted out of a formal this year and chose to have a Red Thread Gala this weekend as a fund-raising opportunity.
The charity event took place at the Abilene Coun-try Club Friday evening and featured a catered dinner and silent auc-tion. The night included a speech from Red Thread co-founder, Samantha Sutherland, who spoke to guests about the orga-nization and Zeta Rho’s history and service. All proceeds from ticket sales and auction items went directly to the Red Thread Movement.
Before the event, Zeta Rho President, Shan-non Rose, a senior biol-ogy major from Abilene, said preparations for the Gala had already met Zeta Rho’s goal of furthering the Red Thread Move-ment cause.
“The Gala has already accomplished much of what I had hoped for. We have been able to share the vision of the Red Thread Movement with local Abilene businesses and individuals in the community who did not
know about it previously,” Rose said. “The women of Zeta Rho have worked so hard in finding spon-sors and planning this event that it has brought them together in ways only planning an event like this can. Most of all, we are wanting to raise awareness of Red Thread in the Abilene Commu-
nity versus solely the ACU community.”
The Red Thread Gala illustrated Zeta Rho’s stated mission of service, the purpose behind their decision to host a formal for charity. Vice President Shawna McDanel, senior graphic design major from Early, said the event was in the works even be-
fore Zeta Rho became an official social club.
“While we were still in the planning process of re-chartering Zeta Rho, the idea of formal came up. We collectively opted to have a fundraising ban-quet for a worthy cause in lieu of a formal. At the be-ginning of this semester, we decided to invest in a
cause that we could re-ally stand behind- so our focus has been on the Red Thread Movement,” Mc-Danel said.
Because of venue con-straints, tickets to The Red Thread Gala were only available to Zeta Rho alum-ni and members, but club members hope to make this an annual event on a larger
scale and open to all of the Abilene community.
Throughout the year, Zeta Rho has been closely tied to Red Thread Move-ment, with ongoing volun-teering and promotion of campus and community awareness.
“During our pledging period, we had Service Saturdays. These Satur-days were set aside for service projects to as-sist Red Thread in what-ever way we could. We wrote cards to Samantha Sutherland and Brittany Partridge [founders of the Red Thread move-ment] and helped pack-age bracelets,” said Tara Lowe, sophomore ele-mentary education major from Springtown.
Lowe said since the Red Thread Gala project is fin-ished Zeta Rho’s focus on preparations for the fall semester.
“After the Gala is over, we are in full swing for spring rushes. We are very excited for the upcoming pledging season,” Lowe said. “Our new officers are already preparing themselves for next semester, and are busy praying for God’s direction for the club.”
social clubs
gabi powellstudent reporter
contact powell [email protected]
Abilene Philharmonics to close classical season
The Abilene Philharmon-ic Orchestra will close its classical concert sea-son with a production of Dvorak’s New World on April 21, led by Music Di-
rector and Conductor Da-vid Itkan.
Abilene Philharmon-ic’s performance of New World will take place in the Abilene Civic Center.
The program’s title comes from Dvorak’s Symphony No.9, popu-larly known as the New
World Symphony, com-posed in 1893.
Heidi Kelley, Abilene Philharmonic Executive Director, encourages stu-dents attend the show to hear the world-renown musical piece.
“If they only go to the concert, they will hear one of the most played and recognized sympho-nies on the planet – Dvor-ak’s No. 9. New World was inspired by Dvorak’s trav-els to America during the 19th Century and when he
heard African-American spirituals, he was moti-vated to write this mag-nificent piece that the world has embraced,” she said.
The show will also fea-ture Greg Hustis, the prin-ciple horn player for the Dallas Symphony. Kelley commented on the honor of having this musician’s appearance in Abilene’s orchestral performance and on the ACU campus.
“We are very excited to have Hustis joining us on
this concert. He will also be teaching an Artist Mas-ter Class at Abilene Chris-tian University on Friday at 3 p.m. This master class is free and open to the pub-lic. I hope that everyone who is interested in music attends and is inspired by the majestic sound of the French horn.”
For 61 years, Abilene Philharmonic Orchestra is, according to its website, “the only professional or-chestra within 100 miles of Abilene, drawing audi-ences from more than 50 Texas cities.”
Kelley said The Abilene Philharmonic Orchestra will have one more con-cert May 5, but they will be announcing its 2012-2013 season at the New World concert and make season subscription will be avail-able at that time.
When interviewed for a press release, conductor
and director, David Itkin, encouraged attendance to the show.
“Dvorak’s popular New World symphony is a per-fect way to cap off another great season at the Phil-harmonic. It’s themes of joy homeland and spiritual renewal are both a part of what great music and our city’s orchestra are all about,” he said.
To purchase tickets, call the Philharmonic office at 325-677-6710, visit online at www.AbilenePhilharmonic.org, or purchase them from the Philharmonic office located at 402 Cypress Street. College students may purchase $5 Student Rush tickets one hour in advance with their stu-dent IDs.
local
contact powell [email protected]
gabi powellstudent reporter
heidi kelleyabilene philharmonic executive director
If [students] only go to the concert, they will hear one of the most played and recognized symphonies on the
planet – Dvorak’s No. 9.”“
Refugees invited to campus for egg hunt
Refugees who have come from all over the world will gather April 21 for an Eas-ter egg hunt sponsored by ACU for the International Rescue Committee.
The student-led organi-zation will provide trans-portation for the refugees. The event begins at 1 p.m. outside of the McGlothlin Campus Center, and it is open to everyone.
“It is our hope that by
hosting our upcoming Eas-ter egg hunt, we will pro-vide the refugee families in the Abilene area with an-other opportunity for fel-lowship and to learn about American traditions,” said Jessica Backfisch, senior international studies ma-jor from Perkasie, Penn.
The refugees in Abilene are from all over the globe including Afghanistan and Congo. Backfisch, ACU for the IRC fundraising and development officer, said they expect an attendance of approximately 50 refu-
gee children at the Easter egg hunt. They also hope to see more than a dozen ACU volunteers at the event.
Volunteers should gath-er between 12:45 and 1 p.m. in the library in the atrium. An ACU for the IRC repre-sentative will be there to advise those willing to vol-unteer. The volunteers on campus will manage the arts and crafts and hospi-tality for people as they ar-rive and wait for the Easter egg hunt.
ACU for the IRC was founded in 2008 and serves
resettled refugees in the Abilene area by working with the local IRC office to participate in service proj-ects, mentoring, cultural events and English teach-ing. They strive to promote awareness of IRC on cam-
pus and encourage stu-dents to volunteer directly with the refugee families.
“I love having the op-portunity to share fun tra-ditions from my childhood with the families that have only recently joined our Abilene community,” said Heidi Nobles, instructor of English. “It’s been a joy to volunteer with the IRC in Abilene, and I’ve thor-oughly enjoyed serving as a faculty sponsor with ACU for the IRC this year.”
The organization con-ducts the annual Easter egg
hunts as well as Thanksgiv-ing meals. They have also prepared donation drives each semester.
Refugee guests attended an ACU baseball game and volunteers taught them pitching and batting basics beforehand.
More information can be found on Facebook at www.facebook.com/groups/acufortheirc.
organizations
brookelee gallestudent reporter
contact galle [email protected]
heidi noblesinstructor of
english
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed serving as a faculty spon-
sor with ACU for the IRC this year.”“
dr. steve weathersprofessor of english
Dr. Ewing taught Folklore at ACU before he passed
and this is a way of honor-ing him.”“
brittany williams Staff Photographer
Left: Samantha Sutherland, co-founder of the Red Thread Movement, speaks at the Red Thread Gala. Right: L.J. Hood, sophomore psychology major from Franklin, Tenn., and Tara Lowe, sophomore elementary education major from Springtown chat during dinner at the gala.
wednesday 04.18.125 featureS
he Walk Now for Au-tism Speaks took place at 9 a.m. Saturday at the Abilene Zoo. The walk,
which raised over $1 million for Autism Speaks, brought together thousands of people from the sur-rounding community who came to support families and individuals affected by autism.
Autism is a brain development disorder resulting in difficulties with communication and social interac-tion according to the Autism Speaks website. It can be characterized by repetitive behavior.
Some people with autism show great strengths in areas such as math, art, music as well as other vi-sual skills.
Autism affects more than 2 mil-lion people in the United States alone. Autism Speaks said autism research focuses on discovering ways to diagnose autistic children earlier so therapy to adjust behav-iors can begin sooner.
Autism Speaks is the nation’s largest autism advocacy organi-zation. Its purpose is to fund re-search, raise awareness and help meet needs of families affected by autism.
Walk Now events are hosted all over the country. Abilene is the host of one of six walks currently scheduled in Texas. Walks will also take place in San Angelo on May 12 and in Odessa on April 28.
Abilenians gather at zoo to support Autism Speaks
T
Photos by Adrian Patenaude
Abilenians gather at the zoo for the annual Walk Now to raise funds for Autism Speaks, an organiza-tion dedicated to raising awareness and finding a cure for autism.
ZOOA Walk in the
samantha sutherlandfeatures editor
contact sutherland [email protected]
Humans need to believe in something bigger. We often feel and act like we are the only part of the world that matters, but we know we are a small piece of a bigger picture. And as we mature, we realize tiny our role ac-tually is. And since we can’t control of this world, surely a greater force must be set-ting the laws of nature.
Most people believe in some sort of higher power. And no matter the per-ceived legitimacy of a per-son’s form of worship, it is a way to help us cope with questions we cannot an-swer.
Our tendency is to ask why things exist in the
manner they do. The hu-man race progresses be-cause we have these ques-tions and we look for the answers. We question our-selves, our lives and our fu-ture, and we try to change them for the better. We want to know what makes us the way we are and what we can do to make the fu-ture different.
Some of these questions have easy answers. And following a thread of logic can lead us to the answers of many questions we en-counter. But once the logi-cal end is reached, answer-ing questions takes more than reason.
That is where faith
comes in. Maybe we were raised in a church, or maybe something about a specific religion that catches our heart. And we decide something about this higher power makes it the correct answer to our questions.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 ac-knowledges the inability we have when it comes to understanding the vast-ness of creation.
“He has made every-thing beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity (ignorance) in the hu-man heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.”
One of the things we can
not know is the legitimacy of our God. Our Bible w
We cannot pretend one faith is more right than the others. For all any-one knows we could all be wrong. We can believe it, and we can convince oth-ers of it. But we can’t do anything more.
Hard evidence of heaven, hell or a creator doesn’t ex-ist. This is the reason faith – once attained – forms such a strong bond.
An image has been f loat-ing around the internet that describes Atheism as “the belief that there was nothing and nothing happened to nothing and then nothing magically exploded for no reason, creating everything.”
So Atheism is an insane belief? No.
When any religion is generalized it will seem equally – if not more in-sane – than this igno-rant description of Athe-ism. In fact, it is possible that many would prefer this ideology to that of a group who eats the body and blood of a man they believe was raised from the dead.
No religion, ours or others, is simple enough
to be characterized in a single sentence or para-graph. All religion is network of many stories and beliefs intertwined. And with many religions, these stories and beliefs can often seem abnor-mal.
But it is exactly com-plexity and insanity that makes religion great. To be other-worldly, religion must stray from our soci-ety’s definition of sane. Whether Christianity or any other belief, it is the stories that stray from sanity and seem impos-sible that separate reli-gion from things of this world.
One of the most impor-tant principles of Chris-tianity, faith, is nothing
without insanity. There is no beauty in “complete trust or confidence” in something that is utterly believable. “Normal” re-ligion defies the actual definition of religion: a belief in a superhuman power.
The only reason re-ligion seems custom-ary and conventional in our minds is familiarity. Growing up in Christian-ity or any belief, we be-come accustom to stories of f loods, resurrections and virgin births that to a new audience would sound preposterous.
Just like a habit be-comes engrained in our mind to the point where it no longer stands out to us, as we repetitively
partake in the stories of Christianity, the peculiar aspects quickly become indistinguishable.
When presented to anyone for the first time, Christianity will seem equally as insane as the generalized description of Atheism. Although we disagree with these views about our own re-ligion, it is important to understand that in the same way we are unfa-miliar and possibly con-fused with other reli-gions, those of differing beliefs are in the same boat when examining Christianity.
Oh Dear, Christian College Ben miller
Hannah barneseditor in chief
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Unsigned editorials are the opinions of the Optimist and may not necessarily reflect the views of the university or its administration.
Signed columns, cartoons and letters are the opinions of their creators and may not necessarily reflect the viewpoints of the Optimist or the university.
The Optimist encourages reader response through 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
SANITY
THE
OF RELIGIONStepping back for a look at the craziness of Christianity and religion in general
The strangeness of faith should not be ignored
Religion is never normal, only familiar
Feeble minds need a higher power
If your beliefs don’t seem strange to you, you haven’t thought about them much. If you are a Christian, your reli-gion should leave you at least a little confused.
I don’t mean the cheap imitations of Christianity we see all over the place with their blasphemous perver-sions and simplifications like “Do good things so you can go to heaven” or “Fol-low some rules, then you can pray and get stuff.”
No, those kinds of beliefs make a lot of sense to us – to much sense. Everything’s ti-died up and in place. They let us come up with a quick an-swer for anything that hap-pens. It’s comfy, and it fits the way our brains work.
But that’s just because we made it up with our brains. It fits in our heads nicely be-cause we built it out of our-selves.
If you want a faith that’s transcendent, something that has a divine spark of revelation to it, it shouldn’t fit. Maybe you can wrap your mind around part of it, but not all of it simultaneously.
Don’t shy away from ideas that go beyond what makes sense to us. Many of the tru-est things we know about seem absurd. Dig down even a little into our understand-ing of the universe, and things start to get funny. But it doesn’t mean they’re not true, it just means we’re not used to them.
That New Testament we’re fond of reading around here
talks about the “mystery of the gospel” a lot. A mystery isn’t something we’re sup-posed to be able to figure out and be okay with in a few minutes – or in a lifetime.
Strange doesn’t mean wrong. It means strange. Different. Not of ourselves. And that’s great, because a true faith is supposed to be revealed from a God who is beyond us.
The oddness of Christian-ity gives credence to it being of God. The bizarre elements of the incarnation give us-cause to think it wasn’t just made up by some fishermen. If it was, they did a poor job of making something easily believable.
Finding ways to make your faith easier to believe works against its purpose. Don’t be afraid to think about the weird things.
Admit to yourself that you don’t understand everything about your religion, or about God’s plan, or about salva-tion, but take some solace in the fact that something from God should not be easy to understand.
We value our religious heritage, traditions and the commu-nities that come with it. But when we take a semi-objective look Christianity sounds insane. All religions do.
The editorial board discussed this topic and came to three conclusions presented in unsigned editorials below.
EDITORAL
EDITORIAL EDITORIAL
hashtagACU
Wednesday 04.18.12 6opinion
things that are sitting in my stomach and are probably best friends in there: pickles, sausage, turkey bacon. i fear NOTHING.
@jillkd
11:41 p.m. Apr. 16
There are so many wild cats on ACU’s campus...
only in Abilene do you get cut off twice on the way to class... by tractors... going 50+ mph.
The girl next to me just asked me how to spell our teacher’s name. It’s Crisp. #goodluckonthetest
what I heard after talking about alcohol in chapel: “I need a drink after that. Who wants margaritas?” hahaha. #ACUproblems
#ringbyspring is some serious stuff. Just saw a freshman get engaged... @overheardACU #ACU
@arcarpenter1@MeghanMMorgan
@emilykatjones @courtdwendell @wingostar1@kenlishea
@janners7 @Lene_Botha @BethJohnston30@JOhrEl2
@KatKessler9
2:47 p.m. Apr. 12
7:49 a.m. Apr. 17
1:37 p.m. Apr. 17 11:37 a.m. Apr. 179:37 a.m. Apr. 17
9:25 a.m. Apr. 16
The only thing I hate about rushing season is the use of the phrase “sweet girl”. #stopsay-ingthat #annoying
contact the optimist [email protected]
contact the optimist [email protected]
contact the optimist [email protected]
9:27 p.m. Apr. 16
10:11 a.m. Apr. 17
11:06 a.m. Apr. 179:23 a.m. Apr. 17
11:27 a.m. Apr. 16
Started a sentence today with “an old buddy of mine from college...” I am getting pretty old. Who says buddy?
My freshman year RA just came to talk to me in the Library. Needless to say I was flooded with memories. #Grace #GardnerDays
Just heard someone say “you better pray to every Jesus you know” #excusemewhat?
Well it’s only 9:22 and I’ve already managed to roll both both ankles this included falling down the stairs in public.
There’s a lot of empty seats in the reserved faculty spots during chapel today. They must be done with chapel credits...
IN-
A true faith is supposed to be revealed from a God
who is beyond us. “
wednesday 04.18.127 sports Jumps
ClassifiedRENTAL HOUSING NEAR ACUAvailable June 1, 2012•649 EN 15th: 3 bedroom/1 bath, includes washer and dryer, $700•649 EN 16th: 1 bedroom/1 bath, $400No pets, no smoking. Deposit requiredCall (325) 677-1943
Tough: Wildcats earn split despite rough weather Cameron made a fero-cious comeback in the bottom of the fifth putting eight runs on the board to tie the game at 9-9.
“We had trouble throw-ing strikes,” Bonneau said. “The conditions weren’t ideal but it all goes back to staying focused.”
The team, led by Du-arte, responded with five runs in the top of the sixth and three in the seventh to claim the 17-13 victory. Duarte was 3 for 5 and scored three runs. He hit a solo home run to left-cen-ter field in the seventh.
“Getting hot this late in the season has really helped the team,” Duarte said. “I’m happy I’m play-ing and hitting well.”
In the first game of Sat-urday’s scheduled double-header, the Wildcats scored two runs in the top of the third inning, but the Aggies rallied with a single run in the third inning, two in the fourth inning, one in the fifth inning and three in the sixth inning to steal a 7-2 win.
The only players to cross the plate for ACU were Ryan Luckie on an RBI fielder’s choice and Michael Cris-tiani after he stole home.
The ‘Cats rallied late in the finale to earn a split of
the series. Down 10-6 in the eighth inning, the team managed to cross home plate four times and then score three runs in the ninth inning to break a 10-10 tie.
“That last game was huge,” Duarte said. “If we had lost it would have made it much harder to reach the tournament.”
“That’s the difference in us being in last place right now,” Bonneau said.
Mike Keegan, Emmett Niland, Kyle Conwell, Dun-can Blades and Duarte all contributed to the come-back. Freshman Tyler Eager had the game tying double
to make it 10-10 and Blades knocked in the go-ahead run in the ninth inning.
Pitcher Brady Rodri-guez tossed 4.1 scoreless innings of four-hit base-ball to finish the game.
“Rodriguez was the key to that game,” Bonneau said. “He came in and threw four shut-out innings.”
Depending on how ACU fares in the next two series, the team could jump several spots in the division standings.
“The LSC is such a tight race,” Bonneau said. “There could be a lot of movement in these last
few weeks between all the teams in conference.”
contact isaacs [email protected]
baseball
from page 8
matt sewell staff Photographer
Senior infielder Megan Brigance prepares to throw a runner out against Eastern New Mexico University. She is batting .213 this season with four home runs and 21 RBI. Brigance and the Wildcats take on Midwestern State on Friday and Saturday.
Sound pitching, timely hitting aids ‘Cats
The ACU Wildcat softball team used sound pitching and timely hitting to win two of three games last weekend from the Eastern New Mexico team, win-ning the series against the conference foe.
This marks the third consecutive series the team has won, and it is providing momentum as the regular season comes to a close.
The Wildcats (28-12, 14-8) won the opening game Friday 4-1 and the front end of the doubleheader 6-2 before falling 4-2 in the series’ rubber match.
“This was a big series win for us,” head coach Bobby Reeves said. “Any-time you can take two of three from a conference opponent, we’ll take it,” he said. “Obviously, we were hoping for a sweep, but we shot ourselves in the foot in the third game, and the Eastern New Mexico pitcher was solid throughout the game.”
In the opener Friday night, ACU starter Caitlyn Crain continued her dom-inance from the mound, throwing a complete game, four-hitter against the outmatched Zias.
She had seven strike-outs and retired the first nine batters of the game. Not a single Zia reached base until the fourth in-ning, when Melanie Al-derette hit a single.
“Most of my pitches were working,” Crain said. “I was
able to keep them off bal-ance, and my defense played really well behind me. It was a total team effort.”
Eastern New Mexico then scored in the seventh on a sacrifice fly.
ACU’s run came by two, two-run homeruns by Erin Gilliland and Megan Brig-ance. Gilliland hit hers in the second, and Brigance followed in the fifth.
On Saturday, ACU opened with a 6-2 win behind a dominant per-formance by sophomore pitcher
Peyton Mosley (11-5). Mosley threw six solid innings against the Zias, and the shutout was taken away in the seventh on a solo homerun off of Shel-by Hall.
ACU scored all of its run in the third as it sent ten batters to the plate. Gilliland smoked a bas-es clearing double that scored three ACU runs.
In the nightcap, East-ern New Mexico decided they were going to leave Abilene’s friendly confines on a good note, as they won 4-2.
ACU led for most of the game after Keanna Wink-field scored runs in the first and third innings. But the Zias stood tall, as Josette Aguirre hit a solo
homerun in the fourth to make it a 2-1 game.
Aguirre came through again in the sixth, scoring the tying run on a single.
Starter and winning pitcher Katie Ramsay (2-12) scored on Aguirre’s hit, and after her team-mates scored twice more on Kuuleiokealoha Von-Schriltz’ double to left-center gap, she retired six of the final seven Wildcats she faced.
“Going through innings like that is tough,” Reeves said. “But they’re going to happen. You just play for the next out and give it your best effort always.”
ACU had several op-portunities to score early on in the game, but did not come through. A dou-ble play ended a threat in the first, and a runner was stranded at third with one out in the second inning.
“Seeing our offense not finish is something we’re not used to,” Reeves said. “They have been great all year, but we have to re-member they are human and it’s part of the game. I have full confidence in them at all times.”
Then in the fourth, the Wildcats drew back-to-back leadoff walks only to see Ramsay rebound by the retiring the next three batters on two fly balls and a strikeout. ACU recorded just two more singles over the final three innings without advancing a run-ner past first.
bryson shakesports reporter
contact shake [email protected]
softball
Hockey fights add drama, diminish play
If you are a casual sports fan, you might not care about the National Hock-ey League, but the NHL playoffs are the most hard fought, closely contested sporting event you will see.
There are occasionally upsets, but the reason it makes for great TV is the intensity with which the playoff games are played.
Rivalries form immedi-ately between previously un-familiar teams and tempers flare repeatedly on the ice.
With two big rivalries in the first round, the 2012 Stanley Cup playoffs were primed to be drama-filled. One of those rival-ries, the Nashville Preda-tors vs. the Detroit Red Wings, didn’t disappoint in their first game.
While the game itself was close, a Predators 3-2 win, the main story line came after the final whistle.
The Preds defender and All-Star Shea Weber gave
Red Wings forward Henrik Zetterberg a cheap shot that glanced off his face, before taking Zetterberg’s head and slamming it into the boards.
Despite it being more like a wrestling move, We-ber was only fined $2,500 and more importantly was not given a suspension.
While I am a resident of Nashville and a hardcore Preds fan, even I think that
Weber’s play was deplor-able and deserved at least a one-game suspension.
The punishment hand-ed down by NHL discipli-narian Brendan Shanahan sent the wrong message to the NHL.
The lack of a suspension gave the impression that now dirty play would fly in the playoffs. With that mes-sage sent, bad judgement has pervaded the playoffs.
The other big rivalry, the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Philadelphia Flyers, ended up being more of an street brawl on ice rather than a hockey game.
There were a com-bined 158 penalty min-utes handed out and three players were ejected. The final result was an 8-4 Flyers wins, but the goals weren’t as important as the fighting. Many casual fans love a good fight or two in a game, but when there is a fight every stop-page of play, it isn’t hock-ey, it’s mayhem.
Brawls have also broken out in the St. Louis Blues and San Jose Sharks series.
Referees and play-ers need to get the fight-
ing under control. Play-off hockey is exciting for its intensity, but also for the good hockey that is played. There has been a lack of that with play-ers only looking for ven-geance rather than goals.
If you want to watch a fight, I hear the Hunger Games movie is pretty good. If you, like me, en-joy hockey the way it is supposed to be played, let’s hope the playoffs can provide some of that in the weeks to come.
contact GWIN [email protected]
column
the sports jediAUSTIN GWIN
Many casual fans love a good fight or two in a game, but when there is a fight every stoppage of play, it isn’t
hockey, it’s mayhem.”“
Caitlyn crainstarting pitcher
acu softball
I was able to keep them off balance and my
defense played really well behind me.”“
wednesday 04.18.12 8sports
TeamASUTWUACUWTAMUTSUMSUUIWCameronTAMU-KENMU
Div.19-415-714-814-914-913-109-146-175-185-18
Ovrl.38-833-1328-1232-1529-1723-2022-2015-2917-2813-32
Softball plays a three-game series against LSC foe Midwestern State in Wichita Falls Friday at 4 p.m.
The baseball team will face LSC opponent Tarleton State at Crutcher Scott Field beginning on Friday. The four game series starts at 7:05 p.m.
Men’s tennis competes in the Lone Star Conference Tournament Championship in Southland beginning on Friday at 1:30 p.m. The team’s first opponent is Cameron.
Women’s tennis travels to Southland for the LSC Championship Tournament. Matches begin Friday at 6:30 p.m.
softball
standings
briefings
Player Profile
Upcoming
The Wildcat softball team is ranked No. 4 in the first NCAA Division II South Central Region softball rankings. The top eight teams in the poll at the end of the regular season will be invited to the regional tournament.
Senior Nick Jones moved into third place on the all-time NCAA Division II performance list in the discus. He launched a throw of 203 feet, three inches at Kidd Field at the UTEP Invitational.
Second baseman Chuck Duarte and southpaw Brady Rodriguez were named the LSC’s Co-Player and Pitcher of the Week on Tuesday. Duarte batted .571 over the weekend against Cameron University. He scored five runs, had five extra-base hits and seven RBI. Rodriguez was 1-0 in 8.1 innings of work and he struck out four hitters.
Baseball
TeamASUWTAMUTAMU-KUIWACUCameronTSUENMU
Div.13-713-712-811-810-109-119-112-17
Ovrl.29-1326-1224-1116-1522-1920-2117-1812-25
Outfielder/first baseman Tyler Eager has been a force to be reckoned with all season at
the plate. Despite being only a freshman, he is hitting .321 in 41 games and is leading the team with 43 runs scored. Eager is also the team leader in hits (52) and triples (5). Against Cameron this weekend, he went 5 for 14 and drove in six runs.
Team sweeps post-season awards
The ACU golf team dom-inated the Lone Star Conference post-season awards Sunday, follow-ing the end of the regular season.
For the third consecu-tive year, junior All-Amer-ican Alex Carpenter was named LSC Men’s Golfer Player of the Year. Carpen-
ter finished the season ranked No. 10 in NCAA Divison II with three wins and eight top-10 finishes.
In addition to Carpern-ter’s award, the Wildcats claimed two more titles for the third straight season.
Head coach Mike Campbell received the LSC Men’s coach of the Year award, and Corbin Renner was voted LSC Freshman of the year. Car-penter earned the title in
2010, and sophomore Trey Sullivan in 2011.
Carpenter, Renner, and Sullivan were all named to the LSC first team. Fresh-man Luke Carpenter, Alex’s younger brother, also re-ceived honorable mention.
The ‘Cats have been recognized all season for their success.
Two weeks ago, Alex Carpenter received the LSC golfer of the week af-ter helping the ‘Cats finish
fourth at the Grand Can-yon Thunderbird Invita-tional in Phoenix, Ariz. Carpenter tied for seventh with a score of five-under-par 216 against competi-tion from six of the coun-try’s top-20 ranked teams in Division II according to Golf World/Nike Golf Coaches’ Poll.
Sullivan won the same title back in March, after tying for third place at the UST Mamiya Texas Inter-
collegiate in Fort Worth. The first Wildcat to be recognized, Sullivan fired a 4-under-par 140, match-ing his best score all year.
The No. 8 Abilene Christian golf team is fa-vored to win the Lone Star Championship this week at the Trophy Club Golf Club in Roanoke.
natalie goinsports editor
contact GoIN [email protected]
golf
‘Cats fighting for LSC spot
The baseball team contin-ued its fight for a spot in the Lone Star Conference tour-nament in Lawton, Okla., this past weekend, despite rough weather conditions.
The ‘Cats took on Cameron University in a four-game set and un-fortunately, could not turn their fortune around against conference op-ponents this season. The team split with the Aggies by losing the first game 3-0 and the third game 7-2. They won the second and fourth games 17-13 and 13-10 respectively.
“It was a tough week-end,” said Head Coach Britt Bonneau. “There were high winds, tornado warnings and a suspended game. It was hard to main-tain momentum.”
Second baseman Chuck Duarte also said the weath-er was difficult to play in.
ACU is now 22-19 over-all and 10-10 in the LSC. The team has split all five four-game conference se-ries this season and sits in fifth place in the league standings, one-half game ahead of Tarleton State University. The Texans travel to Abilene this week-end to take on the Wild-cats. The ‘Cats then finish up the regular season next weekend at Angelo State University, who is in a three-way tie for first place with Texas A&M-Kingsville University and West Texas A&M University.
The ‘Cats were victims of a one-hit shutout in the first game against Cameron. Ag-gie pitcher Clay Vanderlaan froze the ACU offense in 7.0 innings of work. He struck out nine and allowed the only hit to Duarte.
Starter Josh Stone pitched 4.2 innings, al-lowed two earned runs and struck out four but received no offensive support.
The second game of the series was suspended after the fifth inning due to in-clement weather.However, it picked back up on Satur-day with ACU leading 9-4.
edward isaacssports editor
baseball
mandy lambright CHIEF Photographer
Junior shortstop Luke Mejia plants and throws to first base at Crutcher Scott Field. Mejia is hitting .228 on the season in 31 games played. He has scored 18 runs and knocked in 14 RBIs.
Wildcats end season on high note
The men’s and women’s tennis teams finished up their regular season cam-paigns this weekend with a west coast swing to Cali-fornia. The men finished the weekend 1-1 while the women went undefeated.
The sixth ranked wom-en’s tennis team dominated both of the teams they faced this weekend with a pair of 8-1 victories. The women started the weekend by tak-ing care of California State University at Los Angeles.
Although the Golden Ea-gles are ranked 17th in the nation, they did not provide much resistance for the ‘Cats. Led by LSC female player of the week Micah Herms-dorf, ACU swept the singles matches and only dropped one doubles match.
The next day the Lady ‘Cats made quick work of the University of California at San Diego in another 8-1 victory.
Once again, ACU won each of their six singles matches, including Han-nah Kelley blanking her op-position 6-0, 6-0. The rest of the ‘Cats followed suit, as nobody dropped a single set against the Tritons.
The men’s tennis team spent their weekend in Mal-ibu, where they took on both Pepperdine and the Universi-ty of California at San Diego.
To start the weekend, the Wildcats suffered their worst loss of the season against the Pepperdine Waves 7-0. The nationally ranked D1 Waves simply overpowered the ‘Cats.
However, the doubles team of Hans Hach and LSC player of the week Nick Plum were able to grab a victory 8-5, so ACU was not shut out.
“It was cool to earn the LSC player of the week,” Plum said. “I have never had it before, so it was nice to see all that hard work we have done this year paying off.”
The next day, the ‘Cats finished up their week by dismantling the Tritons of UC at San Diego 6-3.
Junior Alfredo Desiati won his match 6-3. 6-0. ACU was able to finish their schedule with a win to gain momentum leading into the LSC tournament.
“We play all these matches to prepare for conference, regionals, and nationals, ” said Hach.
Both ACU teams are cur-rently undefeated in confer-ence play and will compete in the LSC tournament Fri-day in Southland.
matthew sloansports reporter
tennis
matt sewell staff Photographer
Senior Nick Plum tosses the ball up during his serve.
see tough page 7
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