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Online Poll : Are the NCAA punishments on ACU too harsh?

a. No. ACU deserves what it got. b. Yes. They were over the top.c. No. They should be harsher.d. Yes. ACU did nothing wrong.

acuoptimist.com

Pg. 2 InsideThis Issue:

Steady Streak: Wildcats extend winning streak to six games

Area churches provide array of options for Valentine’s Day

Sour sales cause local businesses to shut down

Pg. 3 Pg. 8

Optimistthe

a product of theJMC networkPg. 5 Musical version of ‘Little Women’ sings inconsistencies

Friday, February 13, 2009 :: Vol. 97, No. 36 :: 1 section, 8 pages :: www.acuoptimist.com

More from the Log onto www.acuoptimist.com or www.youtube.com/acuvideo to see weekly News casts and Sports casts from the JMC Network News Team and videos profiling various events and stories around campus and Abilene.

Start of ’09 sees rise in drunk drivers on city streetsBy Heather LeiphartStudent Reporter

As of Wednesday morning, the Abilene Police Department has reported 80 intoxi-cated drivers on the streets since Jan. 1, an increase of 60 percent from the same peri-od last year. The department expects total DWI investigations for 2009 to include at least 115 more incidents than last year, if the trend continues.

“DWI is a growing problem local-ly,” said Jimmy Ellison, chief of the ACU Police Department. “Not only may drinking and driving be on the increase, but law enforcement efforts at DWI enforcement are also signifi-cantly increased.”

SA Congress votes to close meeting to non-membersBy Daniel Johnson-KimEditor in Chief

The Students’ Association Congress voted to close its weekly meeting to students and student media Wednesday based on a concern that private conver-sations were being recorded.

Sophomore Sen. Tony Godfrey, soph-omore political science and English ma-jor from Burleson, motioned to close the meeting after he said Congress members were worried that their privacy was being invaded by a recorder Optimist reporter Kelline Linton, senior journalism major from Spring, uses to back up her notes.

“The thing that came up is the de-gree to which the recording was hap-pening,” Godfrey said.

Godfrey said during a recess, while members verified figures of a more

NCAA punishes ACU teams for list of violationsBy Grant AbstonSports Editor

The NCAA penalized the ACU track and field and football programs for viola-tions Tuesday after a year-long investigation.

The punishments for the violations imposed by the Di-vision II Committee on Infrac-tions include a two-year pro-bation, recruiting restrictions, vacation of records, athletic scholarship reductions and a financial penalty.

The NCAA penalized the two sports programs because of their extra benefits and paid visit violations and impermissi-

ble inducements violations, as well as the university and head track and field coach’s failure to monitor, according to the NCAA news release.

“After initially self-reporting an infraction to the NCAA in 2007, Abilene Christian Univer-sity has been cooperating with the NCAA during its investiga-tion into some of our athletics

programs,” said ACU president Dr. Royce Money in a prepared statement. “Our philosophy has been to self-report and self-cor-rect, and that was our process when we discovered an infrac-tion two years ago.”

Head track and field coach Don D. Hood provided imper-missible inducements to two prospective student-athletes

by signing the guarantor line on their apartment leases and giving them free running shoes, according to the NCAA news release. Hood also organized and attended holiday parties where 15 enrolled internation-al student-athletes received gifts from representatives of

Hood

Thomsen

Our philosophy has been to self-report and self-correct, and that was our process when we discovered an infrac-tion two years ago.

:: Dr. Royce Money, president of the university

“”

By Hannah BarnesStudent Reporter

This Valentine’s Day could be a romantic hol-iday for ACU couples who just began their rela-tionships, those waiting to be married or others who already have walked down the aisle.

Daniel Paul Watkins, senior political science major from Fredericksburg, Va., said he has something special planned for his bride-to-be, Briana Ribble, senior education major from Ar-vada, Colo., for Valentine’s Day.

Watkins and Ribble will be celebrating their second Valentine’s Day as a couple. Despite their recent engagement, Watkins said he does not consider this Valentine’s Day as special as Ribble might, but he said he thinks “getting en-gaged is the most romantic thing ever.”

On the dating scene, Lauren Fjordbac, fresh-man computer science major from Grapevine, and boyfriend Jacob Knettel, freshman business finance major from Boerne, are planning a Val-entine’s Day together. Dating for a mere two

Love still strong after five decades

Campus couples plan for holiday

By Katie GagerStudent Reporter

John and Evelyn Willis cannot help but laugh when remembering their first date in October of 1954.

“We attended the ACC bonfire, and it was extremely cold outside,” said Dr. John Willis, professor of Bible. “We then went inside to Sewell Auditorium, which was packed full with over 2,000 people, and it was boiling hot.”

The next day Evelyn came down with the flu because of the quick change of temperatures that night.

“We always say our first date made me sick,” said Evelyn Willis,73, with a grin.

After 53 years of marriage, four children, 14 grandchildren and one great grandchild, the Willis’ still find humor in their marriage and life together.

“You have to laugh about things and find things to laugh about,” Evelyn said. “You don’t

Zak Zeinert :: chief photographer

Naomi Walters, graduate student from Syracuse, N.Y., and her husband, Jamey Walters, graduate student from Dothan, Ala., enjoy each other’s company in the Biblical Studies Building Thursday.

What’s age got to do with it?

Heather Leiphart :: staff photographer

Dr. John Willis, professor of Bible, and his wife Evelyn Willis, reminisce about the first time they met on ACU’s campus in 1954. The couple have been married for 53 years.

See Couples page 7 See DWI page 3

See SA page 4

See Love page 3

NCAA PeNAlTy flAgsThe ACU track and field and football programs committed several NCAA violations, and both programs must adhere to self-imposed punishments and those issued by the NCAA.

See the entire list of violations and the NCAA punishments imposed on the ACU Athlietics Department at www.acuoptimist.com

Violations: n Failure to monitor by the university and head track and field coach Don Hoodn Illegal gifts given to athletes by ACU representativesn Illegal academic assitance for athletes

Punishments: n Two years of probation beginning Tuesdayn Football program must vacate wins from 2007n Reduction in track and field scholarshipsn Limitations on recruting and number of paid visits

See Violations page 4

All freshman residence halls will offer free tutoring Sunday through Thursday from 9-11 p.m. To find out the location in each hall, log in to myACU or call 674-2723.

The Shinnery Review is accepting student photography, poetry, short stories and artwork for its annual publication at the end of the semester. Students digitally can submit up to 10 pieces to shinnery@acu.edu by Saturday at 5 p.m.

Students can purchase Sing Song tickets in the Campus Center Monday and Wednesday from 1-5 p.m. or online at www.acu.edu/singsong or by calling 674-2847.

Applications for Summer II in Leipzig, Germany, with the College of Business Administration are available in the Study Abroad office. For more information, call 674-2429.

Students can still sign up to go on a Spring Break Campaign. For more information or to join a Campaign, go to www.acusbc.org.

The deadline to submit student artwork for Summit is Sunday. Artwork must be submitted digitally to summit@acu.edu.

CreditedChapelsto date:

CreditedChapelsremaining:

Checkup

24 49Chapel

Campus Day

Volunteer Opportunities

About This PageThe Optimist maintains

this calendar for the ACU community to keep track of local social, academic and service opportunities.

Groups may send announcements directly to jmcnetwork@acu.edu or to the Page 2 Editor at sar06g@acu.edu.

To ensure that an item will appear on time, the announcement should be sent at least 10 days before. The Optimist may edit items for space and style.

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

Communities in Schools at Fannin Elementary School needs volunteers for one to two hours at 3 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Volunteers will give extra help to students in an after-school tutoring class. Come by the Volunteer and Service-Learning Center downstairs in the Campus Center for more information.

Noah Project, a center for victims of family violence, needs volunteers to answer its hotline from 6-10 p.m. Training will be provided, and after completing training, volunteers can sign up for time slots. Volunteers can sign up as often as needed.

Meals on Wheels is looking for volunteers to deliver meals to some of the homebound

members of the community. The commitment is once a week. Volunteers will pick up the meals from the Meals on Wheels building and deliver them to people around Abilene. It takes one hour each week. Call Mitzi McAndrew at 672-5050 to volunteer. Remember that this proj-ect is approved as a Faith in Action Chapel exemption project.

Find more volunteer opportuni-ties by visiting the Volunteer and Service-Learning Center’s Web site at www.acu.edu/vslc and clicking on Volunteer Oppor-tunities. For more information or to sign up to help, contact the Volun-teer and Service-Learning Center in the Bean Sprout.

Announcements

ACU Police Tip of the WeekKeep a record of the model and serial numbers of all significant valuables to help the ACU po-lice track and recover stolen property.

Always report suspicious activity to ACUPD at 674-2305 or 674-2911.

2 p.m.The film Chocolat will be shown at the Ritz Theatre. Tickets cost $7 at the door.

9-10 p.m.The weekly praise service, Nine O’clock, will be at University Church of Christ. Free drinks and snacks follow the service in the Family Room.

7-9 p.m.The Food Fusion Valentine’s Day Dinner will be offered in the “World Famous” Bean.

7:30-10 p.m.Little Women will be presented by the Department of Theatre in Fulks Theatre. To purchase tickets, call 674-2787 or go to www.acu.edu/theatre.

Valentine’s Day

7:30-10 p.m.Little Women will be presented by the Department of Theatre in Fulks Theatre. To purchase tickets, call 674-2787 or go to www.acu.edu/theatre.

7:30 p.m.The Liverpool Legends Beatles Tribute Show will be at the Civic Center. Tickets cost $21. For more information, call 676-6211.

Calendar and Events

Sunday13

Friday Saturday Monday

Friday, February 13, 2009

Campus Day2

acuoptimist.com

14 15 16

Watch videos to see the university’s re-sponse to NCAA violations, highlights of the vintage baseball game at the historic Buf-falo Gap, Sing Song ticket sales and Valen-tine’s Day ideas.

Log on to www.youtube.com/acu-video to see how newlyweds will spend Valentine’s Day, an older couple’s love story and how Vletas, a downtown candy store, makes its Valentine’s Day chocolates.

Online News Cast Webcast

Circuit City, Spaghetti Warehouse close doorsBy Linda BaileyStudent Reporter

Students seeking elec-tronics or Italian food in Abilene are losing options. Both Circuit City and Spa-ghetti Warehouse are going out of business.

Circuit City, the nation’s No. 2 electronics seller after Best Buy, filed for bankruptcy last November. Spaghetti Ware-house, located in the Mall of Abilene, closed Feb. 2 after its corporate office chose not to renew the restaurant’s lease.

Ken Terry, assistant man-ager of Circuit City, said the store on Ridgemont Drive does not have a set date to close, but it will probably be at the end of March.

Kristen Bell, junior ac-counting major from Waco, said she preferred Circuit City to Best Buy and was sad to hear it was closing.

“I bought a computer and camera there for cheaper than Best Buy,” Bell said. “The customer service was always really helpful too.”

Terry said the Abilene’s Circuit City was the com-pany’s No. 10 or 11 store. He also said the community supported the store, but

money and the economic situation were the main rea-sons for shutting down.

Circuit City is offering special sales to empty the store of merchandise. Items in the store ranged anywhere from 10-50 percent off.

Students craving Italian food also have one less op-tion in Abilene. Spaghetti Warehouse left its location in the Mall of Abilene in the be-ginning of February. Morgan Akens, junior education ma-jor from Abilene, did not ex-pect the restaurant to close.

“I am surprised they went out of business because they always looked busy,” Akens said.

Brett Walker, senior youth and family ministry major

from Irving, was surprised to hear the news that Spa-ghetti Warehouse was clos-ing. He said he preferred it to other Italian restaurants in town, but he thought its location in the mall was part of the reason it closed.

“I kind of think that the fad of the mall is going out, and it is turning into all teen-age stores,” Walker said.

While people no longer have the option of eating at Spaghetti Warehouse, they still can enjoy Italian food at Joe’s Pizza, Little Italy, Spano’s, Olive Garden, Fa-zoli’s and Johnny Carino’s.

Zak Zeinert :: chief photographer

Charles Chesshir from Cross Plains browses through calculators marked 20 percent off at Circuit City on Thursday.

TOugh Sale

Several stores and restaurants in Abilene have closed in the past year:

n Steve & Barry’sn Texas Expressn GAP in Mall of Abilenen Dunlapsn Goody’sn Stein Martn GW’s Burgers and More

e-mail Bailey at: jmcnetwork@acu.edu

Friday, February 13, 2009 Page 3CAMPUS NEWS/From the Front

E-mail Hoffman at: jmcnetwork@acu.edu

Churches across Abilene celebrate Valentine’s DayBy Katie HoffmanStudent Reporter

While people spend Valen-tine’s Day snuggled next to their significant other, others will spend their day forming new relationships at churches across Abilene.

Southern Hills Church of Christ’s Sweetheart Banquet is a tradition that cannot be broken. Since youth minister Ricky Pruitt has only been at the church a month and a half, he almost called off the event this year. But the seniors in

the youth group just “had” to host the banquet, so he let them organize it.

The youth cooked a meal and decorated to create Valen-tine ambience, inviting anyone over age 55 to attend. When Pruitt overheard a widow at-tending tell a young man, “You are the most handsome man I have ever had my picture taken with,” he said the night was a success.

On Sunday, more than 100 adults older than 60 enjoyed the night. In fact, many have “adopted” youth in the group because their own grandchil-

dren were unable to attend. Each dinner table had two teens per eight to 10 older peo-ple, and each table had talking questions ranging from “When were you baptized?,” to “How far have you ever traveled?” Prizes, hugs and bingo com-pleted the night.

Also celebrating Valentine’s is Champions Church with its fourth annual Valentine’s Ro-mance Banquet on Thursday at the Fairway Oaks branch of the Abilene Country Club. De-signed as a place where men can bring their dates and make them feel special, the event is a

fancy, fun, lighthearted night of dancing, dinner and fellowship. Each couple will personalize the night by submitting two songs meaningful to their relation-ship, which will be compiled into a CD played during the night, so the couples can dance to their songs and also have a memento of the occasion.

Sprinkled with a few short teachings, inspirations and testimonies, the black-tie af-fair celebrates dating, court-ing and marriage. Associate pastor Thomas Humphries has seen ticket sales increase over the years and said that

even non-attendees of Cham-pions Church have enjoyed the Valentine’s Banquet.

In a similar manner, guests at Beltway Park’s Valentine’s Day celebration will enjoy a din-ner and watch world famous Ballet Magnificat perform. The Christian ballet group from Jackson, Miss., consists of the Alpha and Omega dance com-panies. The school of the arts raises up dancers to magnify the Lord, and the companies have toured internationally. According to the Beltway Park bulletin, it will be “an evening of worship and reflection on

the goodness of the Most High God!” The unique aspect of this night is not only the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to watch a Christian professional dance company perform, but also the fact that 100 percent of the proceeds from ticket sales will support 2009 Beltway Mission Outreaches, including Ireland, Israel, Mozambique, Peru and Mexico. Ballet-only tickets re-main on sale all week for only $12 and can be purchased on-line at www.itickets.com.

Love: Couple unveils long-lasting relationship advice want to always be serious.”

Throughout all the years of their marriage, the Willis’ have learned to depend upon one another. In the first year they moved more than 1,000 miles away from their fam-ily and began to develop the bond and reliance they still have today.

“We felt like we had to de-pend on each other, and there was a bond that grew that was

necessary,” Evelyn said. “It’s just a matter of learning to understand the other person, and we always have to keep a sense of humor.”

The Willis’ encouraged each of their children to do the same when they married. They believe it is important for a newly wed couple to have those first few years on their own to grow to love and respect one another.

Even after all these years, John, 75, believes it is impor-

tant to always remind the other person that you love them.

“I regularly send her flow-ers. I have for a hundred years, even though we have only been married for 53,” John said with a chuckle.

Evelyn said it is important to carve out special times with one another. Whether that means going out to eat or going to a movie, it always was about do-ing things together.

“We would go to what was considered something like the

McDonald’s of the time,” she said. “It isn’t about money. It was a place that we could go and spend time together.”

The Willis’ said they think they are different than most families on only one point; through the years as their chil-dren grew up, they always spent their time together as a family.

“So many families today do things on their own,” John said. “That isn’t wrong, but we liked to spend our time together.”

They would go on vacations together and were involved in many activities as a family, Evelyn said. In 1971, the Wil-lis’ took the entire family on a camping trip around Europe.

“It was something that we did that was very important, but you would never know it till after the fact,” John said.

Overall, the Willis’ stress the importance of getting to know the person you want to marry.

“You need to learn as much as you possibly can,” Evelyn

said. “Not just facts, but who they are. Be as honest as you possibly can and be patient.”

“I like the word ‘realistic’. You are going to get sick and you may have an accident and be out of work. That is when you need to be there for each other,” John said.

Continued from page 1

DWI: ACU Police say alcohol policy change weak link to riseThe APD’s Public Informa-

tion Officer Keith Shackle-ford, APD’s Public Informa-tion Officer, attributes the increased incidents to the recent economic downturn.

ACU has not experienced any significant problems relat-ed to the rise of drunk driving in Abilene. However, college

students in general can tend to make poor choices, and ACU is not immune, Ellison said.

ACU’s alcohol policy pro-hibits possession, consump-tion or distribution of alcohol-ic beverages on campus or at university-sponsored events. Off-campus students of le-gal age are no longer prohib-ited from drinking, but must abide by Texas law, a change

instituted last semester.The ACU Police Depart-

ment has not seen any drastic increase of deviant behavior or unusual activities attribut-able to the new alcohol policy, Ellison said.

“I don’t ever want to see people assuming that this new alcohol policy has any kind of correlation to a spike in DWI ar-rests or off-campus alcohol dis-

turbances because we simply have not seen it,” Ellison said. “I think that’s a credit to the ma-turity level of our students.”

Last year, 585 total DWI incidents were reported. In 2007, 477 were reported.

“The fact remains, wheth-er there’s more or less than there was before, there’s still too many that are out there,” Shackleford said.

“It’s an individual choice dif-ferent than any other crime because it’s 100 percent pre-ventable. There’s just no ex-

cuse to get behind the wheel after you’ve been drinking.”

Continued from page 1

E-mail Gager at: jmcnetwork@acu.edu

E-mail Leiphart at: jmcnetwork@acu.edu

The fact remains, whether there’s more or less than there was before, there’s still too many out there.

:: Keith Shackleford, APD’s Public Information Officer

“”

Page 4 Friday, February 13, 2009FROM THE FRONT

Violations: University plans to appeal football punishmentthe university’s athletic inter-ests and other members of the local community.

One of these student-ath-letes also received $545 and additional benefits from a representative of the uni-versity’s athletic interest, beginning when the young man was still a prospect traveling to campus for his initial enrollment, accord-ing to the NCAA.

“Ironically, the two pro-spective student-athletes that were the athletes in question were denied admis-sion to ACU and never en-rolled, but we self-reported anyway,” Money said. “We bent over backwards to be open and transparent about this situation.”

ACU reported the infrac-tions itself in 2007, alerting

the NCAA that the univer-sity inadvertently violated some regulations. While each infraction could have been ruled a secondary infraction, the committee found several other infractions of second-ary nature and decided that when put together, the infrac-tions resulted in a major in-fraction, Money said.

One self-imposed restric-tion the university has imple-mented was the reduction of track and field scholarships to 10.5 from 12.6 in each sport during the 2008-09 and 2009-10 academic years. As a self-imposed penalty, the uni-versity has limited the roster of any athletic team to five in-ternational student-athletes during the 2009-10 and 2010-11 academic school years.

“The track penalties that the NCAA imposed are virtu-ally identical, small changes,

but virtually identical to our self-imposed penalties that we already had in place be-fore the hearing,” Money said. “The football penalty was a surprise.”

Other violations took place when two prospective stu-dent-athletes were provided academic assistance by mem-bers of the football coaching staff in order to help them at-tain NCAA academic eligibili-ty at the university, according to the NCAA.

The athletes allegedly used the coaching staff’s office computers to complete as-signments and mail in course-work to the outside institu-tion to be graded. Due to the violations, the ACU football team will vacate all wins after the time in which the student-athletes competed, beginning the time the athletes academ-ically became ineligible in the

summer of 2007. Money said he was “shocked” at the foot-ball infractions and the uni-versity planned to appeal.

“Quite frankly, the football penalties surprised us, and we are considering an ap-peal,” Money said.

The vacation will apply to all regular season games, any post-season conference wins or NCAA football champion-ships. However, the vacation will not apply to the 2008 season, in which ACU won its first Lone Star Conference Championship since 1977.

“[It won’t apply to] 2008 because prospective students that were involved in the in-vestigation very quickly after that became eligible through natural channels,” Money said. “And so I would empha-size that there was never an allegation by the NCAA of moral failure or ethical fail-

ure, these were inadvertent infractions, and we do not believe they gave us any com-petitive advantage.”

The university will have a 15-day window to appeal the penalties imposed by the NCAA, and it may be up to three or four months before the final decision on the ap-peal is delivered, Money said.

Because of Federal Educa-tion Rights and Privacy Act, the university as well as the NCAA cannot release the names of the football players.

“It would probably be best not to comment beyond the fact that we are consid-ering an appeal,” Money said. “We will have to weigh the evidence and decide whether it is worth the ef-fort and whether we have a good case, so we are receiv-ing consultation, and we’re weighing the matter.”

Despite the allegations, Money said the violations will not blemish the school’s ath-letic reputation.

“NCAA officials compli-mented us on our openness and our transparency and our cooperation,” Money said. “We want to run a good pro-gram; we want to run one of the best in the country. Cer-tainly we have learned some lesson here. We regret that we are having to learn them this way, but we have already resolved, long before this be-came public to you, to make the necessary corrections, and we’re well on our way. So, I don’t think it will tarnish our image or hinder our re-cruiting process.”

Continued from page 1

SA: Congress members express worry over audio recordingthan $2,000 request for funds to help Milonga Latin Dance pay for the costs to attend the Texas Salsa Congress in Houston, word spread the re-corder was powerful enough to pick up private conversa-tions more than 30 feet from where Linton was sitting in Hart Auditorium.

“We were nervous about it because we didn’t know,” Godfrey said.

Congress passed the mo-tion to close the meeting, 20-10-3, and all non-members were required to leave the meeting. Before closing the meeting, Congress passed a motion to grant the Student Training and Research group $3,925 to help pay for the trip to the R.I.S.E. IX Global Student Investment Forum in Day-

ton, Ohio. After the meeting was closed, Congress passed the motion to grant Milonga $2,055 for its conference, said Parliamentarian Caleb Archer, senior political science major from South Lake.

Linton and Darrien Grays, senior information technol-ogy major from Cedar Hill and president of Milonga, were asked to leave before the private session began.

Grays said he was upset he did not get to see the final outcome of his money request and was confused as to why Congress closed the meeting. He thought it may be because Milonga was a dance team and some members did not want him to be in the room because they opposed SA funds sup-porting dancing at ACU.

“It bothers me a little bit that they would do that;

I was kind of concerned,” Grays said. “I wasn’t even aware that they could do that because I was under the impression that all the meetings were open and that any student could come in.”

Archer said the closed ses-sion is permitted under Rob-ert’s Rules of Order, which Congress uses in its meetings in addition to the SA Rules of Order. When a Congress mem-ber motions to close the meet-ing, members do not debate on the motion, and Congress im-mediately votes, Archer said.

“Unless you’re an appoint-ed [or elected] member of the Student’s Association, you have to leave,” said President Daniel Paul Watkins, senior political science major from Fredericksburg, Va.

Prior to Wednesday’s meeting, Congress has only

closed its meeting to the public once this semester, and Archer said no meetings were closed last semester.

Upon closer examination of the recording, Linton said no private conversa-tions were recorded, and she simply was recording the meeting, so the public meeting could be available to students who could not attend the meeting. The Op-timist planned on posting the recording on its Web site, www.acuoptimist.com.

Linton said she was sur-prised she had to leave the meeting and was not in-formed why Congress mem-bers felt the need to close the meeting to the public.

“If anyone asked me to listen to the recording, I would have readily com-plied,” Linton said.

Linton said she allowed two curious Congress mem-bers to use her headphones to listen to what the recorder was picking up, and that she told Watkins at the begin-ning of the meeting that she was recording the meeting.

Watkins made an an-nouncement at the begin-ning of the meeting, alert-ing Congress members that their words were being re-corded and to choose their words wisely.

“Just remember that I don’t see a reason why we would close this meeting, but you guys have that right to do that,” Watkins announced after saying a prayer at the start of the meeting. “It’s a high-powered mic, and Kel-line told me it is going to be broadcast on the Optimist Web site.”

Godfrey said Congress was open to its meeting be-ing recorded and encourag-es all students to attend, but the chance that students’ privacy had been invaded was a concern Wednesday, justifying the choice to close the meeting.

“We want to be transpar-ent and public, but even with that in mind, we are still students, so notions of pri-vacy are important,” Godfrey said. “When that concern was there, I felt like, and others felt like, it would be better to close the meeting so that it wasn’t a concern tonight.”

The recording in question can be heard online at www.acuoptimist.com.

Continued from page 1

E-mail Abston at: gda04b@acu.edu

E-mail Johnson-Kim at: djj04a@acu.edu

Page 5February 13, 2009

ArtsFridayE veryone loves tales of ac-

complishment, of over-coming the greatest or

even the most mundane of ad-versities, of romance and hap-py endings, and of course, tales that involve a loving, support-ive family. So if a story already has all these elements, what could possibly be done to make it better? Why, set it to music, of course.

The Department of Theatre is bringing the musical ver-sion of one of the best-loved stories in American culture to the stage. Little Women, which opened Thursday with follow-ing shows Friday and Saturday, will run Feb. 20-21 and 27-28 at 7:30 p.m. each night, and it is a fun adaptation of the clas-sic story about staying true to yourself, with all the sweeping drama and powerhouse songs of a Broadway musical.

This version of Little Women, however, is probably not the version you know. Gone is the March girls’ goodness to their less-than-fortunate neighbors and courage in the face of pover-ty; gone is the struggle between doing what is good for yourself or good for all; and gone is the carefree, yet poignant portrayal of childhood that so many have come to cherish. Instead, this musical begins with an agenda and rushes like a train to the ending. This is an understand-able adjustment made for the sake of time, since not many people I know would sit in a theatre for the time it would take to do justice to the whole story. However, one cannot help but wonder as the curtain falls if something was not left out or forgotten.

That said, ACU has once again pulled off a remarkable job of taking a less-than-perfect show and making it something worth watching. Armed with a minimalistic, yet beautiful set — something I am beginning to realize is a staple for ACU the-atre — the actors take the stage and dance, sing and emote their way through the show.

Charlene Koepf, who plays Jo March, is solid and be-lievable in her role, and her brash, confident vocals are ideal for the part. Although Koepf fails to convey her character’s growing sense of maturity with her small amount of lines, she com-pensates beautifully with a solid, unassuming voice, and her last few songs make the

whole first half of the play worth the wait.

Rebecca Wheeler, who plays Meg March, is good as the older and more reserved sister and has one of those voices that catches you by the wrist and yanks you, quite willingly, along with her. From her first appearance as the damsel-in-distress in Jo’s exotic fantasy world to the last number, you find yourself hoping in each scene that she will have at least a small solo.

Cara Leahy is delightful as the loyal and shy Beth March, and showcases not only solid acting but also a pure, lovely singing voice, which is grace-fully showcased in her last number, Some Things Are Meant To Be.

And of course, Jenavene Hester is perfect for the part of Amy March, accomplishing the difficult feat of making her character as obnoxious as we all remember Amy to be but also as lovable as the youngest sister should become.

Jerry Mendl is charming as Theodore Laurence, and his boyish goofy abandon provides a great counterpoint for the estrogen overload the hyper female cast sometimes brings. Peter Hargrave is great as Mr. Brook, and Jeremy Varner, as Professor Bhaer, also provides some needed calm and solid vocals, even if his accent seems to fluctuate from line to line.

The real stand-outs of the show, however, were not the main characters. Brittany Mur-

phy’s turn as Aunt March is quite enjoyable and saves the

show from becoming too melo-dramatic at times. Carlee Cagle gives an astounding perfor-mance as Marmee, which can be a hard role to play. However, her unobtrusive presence was both impressive and a relief, and her performance of Days of Plenty certainly wins my “Best Song” award.

And finally, Eric Hamp-ton steals the spotlight and the audience’s attention in his faultless character per-formance of the crotchety old Mr. Laurence; each ap-pearance he makes lends so much energy to the rest of the performance. His light-hearted duet with Beth was easily the best moment of the show, and also one of the most genuine.

All in all, this is a solid show. It is not the best I have seen at ACU, but it is still a quality per-formance. Even though one or two of the actors seem terribly miscast, they all take the ma-terial they were given and run with it. And while this results in a few extreme lows, the ex-treme highs more than make up for it. Overall, the perfor-mance is solid enough to carry the audience to the final curtain call. The set and costumes are appealing, and although many die-hard fans of Little Women may find this version of the sto-ry a tad lackluster, this particu-lar production is enjoyable and worth the price of admission.

Dick Schissler :: staff photographer

Clockwise from Top: Beth, Jo, Meg and Amy March perform for themselves in their attic; Jo ponders where she was “Better” off; Marmee reads a letter from their father at war to her daughters, the March sisters.

E-mail Melby at: lgm05e@acu.edu

‘Little Women’ enjoyable despite some shortcomingsBy Lydia Melby

Arts Editor

ViewsFridayPage 6

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Editorial and Management Board

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Lydia MelbyArts Editor

February 13, 2009

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Optimistthe

Valentine’s Day is upon us. That means the endless amount of heart-shaped boxes of chocolate, flowers, teddy

bears, cards and empty wallets are back too.

Try to hold your shock, but I’ve never been a big fan of Val-entine’s Day. Even I some-times think this beauty queen who

loves romance is the perfect candidate to be the poster child of Valentine’s Day.

The truth: I think it’s a pretty shallow “holiday” that is one of the few days couples go above and beyond to express their love for one another.

What makes it any different than any other day?

Other than the millions of people around the country wasting loads of money on ted-dy bears with giant hearts sewn to their paws or time waiting for a table at a crowded restau-rant, it is just another day.

And as for the country’s sin-gle people, they are either bit-ter or completely disinterested in the whole Valentine’s mess. They are probably avoiding eating out Saturday night, un-less of course it is to celebrate “singles awareness day” with a group of friends.

Me? I’ll be celebrating a long-distance day of love because my boyfriend is sta-tioned overseas. Even if he were in Abilene, we would not spend the night in the midst of hundreds of other couples in an overpriced, overbooked restaurant, a crowded movie theatre or the rowdy Primetime Family Entertainment Center.

No thanks.

I prefer a quiet evening to ourselves. One where we can tell each other what we enjoy best about one anoth-er while sitting together and doing my favorite thing — holding hands.

But an evening like that does not sound different than any other day of the year beside February 14. So why so much emphasis on this one day?

If you have a special some-one in your life, take every opportunity to let him or her know how special he or she is to you every day. Do not rely on this one day to give you a reason to show your love.

Those in the 18-24 age range are predicted to spend an aver-age of $113.68 on Valentine’s Day, according to the National Retail Foundation. For most, the final damage to the bank account will be a lot less, but it could be more.

Think differently about your plans for this “special” day.

Buying cheesy gifts from the Valentine’s aisle in Wal-Mart, eating out and buying flowers are so overdone.

Use this day not as a crutch, but as the first step to making each moment with the person who gives you butterflies count.

All I expect is a nice card with a note inside, reminding me why my man loves me be-cause I will not get what I truly want this Valentine’s Day: to hold hands with him.

Don’t take love for granted, and keep the spending to a minimum. Cook a homemade dinner together and avoid the droves of couples out on the town. Find a quiet place to re-lax or rent a favorite movie and snuggle up to watch it.

Remember, it’s the simple, free things like telling someone why you love them and holding hands that truly count.

They are people you see every day. They smile at you, ask you how your weekend was and usually

are interest-ed in your wel l -be ing . They may be some of the most influ-ential people in your life, and, if you choose, you could learn so much from them. H o w e v e r , since they

are available all the time, I find most people our age take them for granted. No, I’m not talking about your friends — although I guess you shouldn’t take them for granted either — I’m talking about your teachers.

Whining about teachers is like whining about Cha-pel and saying, “I’m a prin-cess, so treat me like one!” — all three fall under my biggest pet peeves. Every time I hear someone whin-ing about their homework assignment or their “bor-ing” teacher whose tests are too hard, I wonder how that person ever made it out of high school. I mean, this is college; did you think ACU had naptime worked into your homework schedule? I’m sorry if you hate to read and write papers and take tests, but since “learning-by-osmosis” has yet to be successful, this is the best system society has.

So quit whining and try to get it through your hazy minds that teachers give a lot for their jobs, and al-though you (or probably, your parents) are paying a lot for tuition, most of the money does not go to the person actually working, but rather funds things like statues and ponds and wel-come centers. So instead of showing up late to class or skipping altogether, instead of laying your head down on your backpack and going to sleep right in front of the teacher and instead of tex-ting and whispering to your neighbor, you should try to pay attention for a change. I mean honestly, you can (and probably will) always catch up with your texting in Chapel.

This is not to say I don’t understand the occasional

teacher frustration. Schools always will have smug, con-descending teachers who love to play favorites and talk about themselves and how great they are at what they do, but this sort of teacher really is the excep-tion to the rule. I think we can all agree most teachers, or at least the ones at ACU, try to make their classes a rewarding experience, if not necessarily enjoyable. And remember, especially in today’s economy, these people can help you with

connections and referenc-es, and if you give your in-structors the respect they reasonably deserve, they should be willing to recip-rocate. Who does not like it when everybody wins?

I think we should cele-brate a once a month “teach-er appreciation day,” maybe a day where every student gives their teacher an ap-ple, the symbol of students’ gratefulness for the time and effort their teachers have put into the classes.

Save your griping for the end of the semester evalua-tion, where it actually might do some good and not an-noy those around you. Your underappreciated educa-tors deserve some recogni-tion, so get them a card or something every now and then — just not a Valen-tine’s Day card, since that might be weird.

Anyone who has just been dumped will prob-ably not enjoy Valen-tine’s Day. It is for the

lovers — the ones who are so grotesquely intertwined in an intimate relationship that the rest of the world feels like the awkward third wheel.

But ask a lover the history of the holiday. The usually ignored torture, blood, martyrdom and misery in the historical theories surrounding Valentine’s Day suggest the holiday was never intended for lovers.

The first historical account, documented by The History Channel, claims St. Valentine was a priest in Rome under Emperor Claudius II. Claudius forbade young men to wed be-cause he believed they served better lives as soldiers, so St. Valentine began to secretly

marry young couples. When Claudius discovered the acts of St. Valentine, he had him publi-cally tortured to death.

The second account claimed a different St. Valentine helped Christians escape brutal perse-cution from the Romans. He was caught, thrown in prison and fell hopelessly in love with the daughter of his Roman guard. The torture of seeing his lover walk freely around outside of his cell and knowing he could never touch her caused his death — along with poor nutri-

tion and living quarters. Before his death in mid-February 270 A.D., he wrote her a desperate love note and signed it: “From your Valentine.” The expres-sion and his love has lived on to today.

The third account involves the pagan Lupercalia festival of fertility that happened in mid-February in Rome. Young men sacrificed a goat and a dog to symbolize fertility and purification. They skinned and bled the sacrifices and dipped strips of goat hide in the blood.

They then ran through the vil-lage streets, slapping women with the bloody goat hide as they passed. If a woman was slapped with the bloody hide, she would be fertile for the husband chosen for her later that night in a marriage lottery. Eligible men randomly selected an eligible woman’s name from a vase and would be matched with that woman for one year, until the next lottery rear-ranged the matches. The event was named “St. Valentine’s Day” by Pope Gelaius in 498 A.D., but many of the practices were deemed un-Christian and eliminated. The name stuck as a day for marriage, partnership and fertility.

So, if you despise Valen-tine’s Day because you’re feeling pain, think of St. Valentine, publicly tortured

for supporting young love. If you despise Valentine’s

Day because you are alone, re-member St. Valentine sitting alone in prison and waiting to die of a broken heart.

Or, if you despise Valentine’s Day because you believe the holiday is a waste and you sim-ply do not agree with it, think of the Lupercalia festival and

smile because you don’t have to sacrifice any animals for the sake of a stranger’s fertility.

For anyone who does not have the cookie-cutter, Hall-mark image of Valentine’s Day love, celebrate because Valen-tine’s Day is for you.

Teachers deserve more recognition

Even singles may appreciate Valentine’s Day’s evolution

Couples should normalize holiday’s appreciation

E-mail Melby at: lgm05e@acu.edu

E-mail the Optimist at: jmcnetwork@acu.edu

The issue:Valentine’s Day brings an annual celebration of love among couples around the world.

Our view:While the holiday celebrates love, it leaves some singles lonlier in their lack of a significant other. The solution:Although the holiday may be a sickening celebration of couples today, even singles can be thankful how much it has evolved.

Colter HettichFeatures Editor

Kelline LintonChief Copy Editor

Cody VetetoChief Videographer

DeLaina ParkerBroadcast Manager

Sondra RodriguezPage 2 Editor

Kenneth PybusAdviser

Cade WhiteAdviser

Christi StarkAdvertising Manager

If a student has a high grade and good atten-dance, I agree that the fi-nal shouldn’t be very hard for them.

But personally, I have had classes where my grade has consisted of nothing more than a few essays written

throughout the semester. That sort of grading policy is great for someone like me that is a horrid test taker. I can know every bit of infor-mation that I need to know, and as soon as my professor slaps a sheet of paper on my desk with “FINAL EXAM”

written at the top, my mind goes completely blank.

If I have proven my abil-ity to do what is asked time and again throughout the course, I should be allowed to exempt the final. Espe-cially because as everyone knows, finals are no fun.

You just end up stay-ing up all night going over notes and flash cards and doing all sorts of little tricks to just hang onto the information long enough to regurgitate it back onto

your Scantron at test time. It really doesn’t help you learn the material.

I really hope ACU makes finals exemptions a reality.

Letter to the Editor

Jamie Elswoodjunior accounting major from

San Antonio

In response to the column, ‘Diligent students deserve

option to exempt finals’

Exemptions reward learning

E-mail Simser at: sas04d@acu.edu

acuoptimist.com

Log online to hear Melby podcast

her column.

Quite whin-ing and get it through your hazy minds that teachers give a lot for their jobs.

“

”

“...if you despise Valentine’s Day because you’re feeling pain, think of St. Valentine, publicly tortured for supporting young love.

”

By Sommerly Simser

Love and the University

By Lydia Melby

Your (A)Typical Coffee Addict

explosion against Texas Women’s on Jan. 5. Laven-der was pleased with the play of her forward against the Javelinas.

“She played great all the way around,” Lavender said. “Her three-point shot was falling, and she was scoring

inside. She hit some turn-around jumpers and played very aggressive defense.”

Lavender was also pleased with the play of point guard Kat Kundmueller. Kund-mueller dished out nine assists while committing only one turnover. Lavender described Kundmueller as having exhibited good ball

control against a team that used a lot of traps.

The Wildcats’ next game will be Saturday in San An-gelo against Angelo State. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. at the Junell Center.

to put up a bad shot. Guard Royce Gaye grabbed the re-bound and was able to run out the clock.

“I think we played well for the majority of the game,” said head coach Jason Cope-land. “I think we didn’t finish the first half well and went into the half down seven. We came out in the second half

and played good defense and got back in it. We missed some free throws down the stretch and did not execute on the final set in overtime.”

A major factor in the game was the loss of ACU’s lead-ing scorer Dejan Sencanski, who missed the game due to a back injury. The Wildcats only used seven players in the game. Forward Milos Kilmovic stepped up for the

team, scoring a season-high 20 points off the bench. Guard Dante Adams also played well, recording his first career double-double with 17 points and 12 re-bounds, while guard Riley Lambert had a game-high six assists. The Wildcats shot just 50 percent from the free-throw line (12-24) and committed 23 turnovers.

Guard Royce Gaye led the

Javelinas with 16 points and nine rebounds, while Flavio Milam scored 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds.

The Wildcats are looking to bounce back this week-end in San Angelo against Angelo State. The Rams are 17-5 overall and 5-2 in con-ference. The team is led by guard Lionel Brown, who is averaging 18.2 points a game. Guard Ryan Bennett

is second on the team with 15.5 points per game.

“Their point guard is one of the league leaders in scoring,” Copeland said. “We need to do well on him and control the glass; that’s where they really hurt us last time. If we do these things, we will have a good chance to come out with a win.”

The Wildcats will play An-gelo State Saturday at 8 p.m.

The Rams are 17-5 overall and are third in conference with a 5-2 record and have already defeated the Wild-cats 77-67 on Jan. 24.

improved their provisional qualifying statuses and they now rank ninth and 11th in the 400-meter national standings, respectively.

The women’s squad also showed signs of improve-ment as Wanda Hutson, who had already automatically qualified, won the 55-meters in 6.96 seconds. Kim Prath-er improved to fourth in the nation in the 200-meters with a time 24.26 seconds, placing second in the event.

Callie Young improved to ninth in the nation with a

clearance of 12-3.5 inches in the women’s pole vault and should have a good shot at qualifying, Hood said.

Kelli Clements automati-cally qualified in the shot put with a throw of 47-0.75, which places her third in the nation thus far.

The teams were sched-uled to compete in Arkansas this weekend but decided instead to travel to the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo., for a meet on Friday and Saturday.

“Hopefully this week all of our distance runners will compete, and we can

get some others qualified,” Hood said. “We are hop-ing to have three or four distance guys qualify, and Loice Cheboi also has a good shot at making it.”

Hood said the men’s squad also intends to have three men qualify in the 200-meter, and the men’s distance med-ley relay will also have a good shot at qualifying.

914. UT-Brownsville brought two teams to compete, and its “A” team finished in third place with a 918. In-carnate Word did not play well in the final round and fell from second to fourth with a final total of 922.

The “B” team for UT-Brownsville shot a 967 for fifth place; host squad Texas

A&M-International shot a 972 for sixth; Oklahoma Panhan-dle State finished in last place with a 987 overall.

“Each time we tee it up, we want to win,” Campbell said. “We know it is a long season and semester, but our even-tual goal is to make it to the national tournament. It is a good first step, but we want to improve every week, and hopefully we will build on

this first tournament.”Campbell said the team

begins qualifying for the St. Edward’s Spring Invitational on Friday.

“We will just keep doing the things we have been do-ing,” Campbell said. “We’ll keep working hard on the short game and the range and keep playing.”

on Thursday, winning 13-11 in the opening game. The Wild-cats will play Emporia State and Lone Star Conference North Division opponent Northeast-ern State in a double-header on Friday. The Wildcats will finish against LSC North Division op-ponent Southeastern Oklahoma on Saturday.

“I think we need to learn how to play at our highest level no matter who our opponent is,” said head coach Chantiel Wil-son. “No matter who is on field for us, we need to go out and compete and try to win every inning and keep that mentality whether we are playing the No. 1 team in the nation or some-one that is not ranked at all.”

Pitcher Jacque Gregoire earned all three wins last week-end after pitching 21.0 innings and allowing just five earned runs in her three starts. Gre-

goire boasts a team-high 2.14 ERA and 15 strikeouts and will be counted on for two to three quality starts this week-end. Pitchers Kim White (0-1) and Britney Benedict (0-1) could get the other starts for the Wildcats.

“Gregoire is a great competi-tor,” Wilson said. “She dealt with injuries last year and didn’t get to pitch as much, but she wants the ball every time and has con-fidence that she can get the bat-ter out every time.”

The Wildcats averaged 3.6 runs last weekend and are led by catcher Jessica Shiery. Shiery leads the team with a .533 bat-ting average and eight hits and is tied for the team lead with 4 RBI. Outfielder Shelby McElvain is second on the team with a .455 batting average and leads the team in home runs after hitting two last weekend. First baseman Katie Cornelison (.438) and outfielder Caitlin

Nabors (.368) also will lead the Wildcat offense after combin-ing for 6 RBI last weekend.

“Jessica Shiery had a great weekend hitting the ball and teams that know her pitch around her,” Wilson said. “Shelby McElvain had two home runs and had a really good weekend offensively.”

The Wildcats will play 2008 Division II runner-up Emporia State (3-1) at 4 p.m. and North-eastern State (0-5) at 6 p.m. on Friday. The Wildcats will conclude the weekend against Southeastern Oklahoma (6-1) at 4 p.m. on Saturday.

“I think [the players] look forward to having a good game and trying to keep that momen-tum going,” Wilson said. “If we have a rough game like we did last weekend, we can let it go and we have another one to re-deem ourselves.”

Softball: Pitcher Gregoire leads Cats Track: Teams travel to Colorado

Golf: Wildcats claim top three spots

Basketball: Rambelles next on schedule

with a 4.50 ERA and 10 strikeouts after two games started. Pitcher Max Grocki (0-0) has a 3.00 ERA, and pitcher Drake Acord (1-0) has started one game and is holding opposing batters to a .235 average.

“We want to get started out on the right foot,” said starting pitcher Preston Vancil. “When every team in our conference comes here, they are going to bring their

‘A’ game. Getting off on the right foot is really impor-tant to us, and I’m looking forward to this weekend.”

Vancil (0-0) enters the weekend with a 1.59 ERA after two starts and leads the team in innings pitched (11 1/3) and strikeouts (13). Matt Sullivan (0-0), Cooper Paige (0-1) and Cameron Aspass (1-0) all started last weekend and will be counted on again for strong pitching performances. Closer Brad Rutherford (2-0) picked up

two wins last weekend and is second on the team with eight innings pitched.

After a slow start of-fensively last weekend, the Wildcats scored 13 runs in their last two wins, which matched the number of runs scored throughout their first three games. Shortstop Willie Uechi leads the team with a .400 batting average after go-ing 7-16 last weekend. Third baseman Cameron Watten is second on the team with a .385 batting average, while

catcher Jordan Schmitt leads the team with 5 RBIs and one home run.

The Wildcats swept South-western Oklahoma State in a three-game series last season on the road, and the Bulldogs will be looking for payback.

“We’re going to need two good practices and work hard and be ready to go to war again,” Bon-neau said. “From this point on, every game we play is a confer-ence game and it’s time to go.”

The series began on Thursday with a 8-1 victory

over Southwestern Oklaho-ma. The Wildcats will play a doubleheader on Friday at 3 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. before

finishing up the series on Saturday at 1 p.m.

Friday, February 13, 2009 Page 7SPORT JUMPS / FROM THE FRONT

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E-mail Cantrell at: jmcnetwork@acu.edu

E-mail Harris at: tch05f@acu.edu

E-mail Harris at: tch05f@acu.edu

E-mail Craig at: jmcnetwork@acu.edu

E-mail Cantrell at: jmcnetwork@acu.edu

E-mail Abston at: gda04b@acu.edu

Baseball: ACU to take on Southwestern Oklahoma at home

ACU: Men’s basketball team falls to 8-13 overall after loss

Couples: Day marks time for affection

they will be celebrating their first Valentine’s Day as a couple.

“Valentine’s Day is a special day to share with those you love and those that mean the most to you,” Fjordbac said. “I am so glad I can share this day with him.”

She said being with her boyfriend has given her a new outlook on the day.

“I want to do something for him to show I care,” says Fjorbac. “This has caused me to think about the other people I love; I want to show my love for all of them.”

Married for about seven months, Naomi Walters, grad-uate student in Biblical studies from Syracuse, N.Y., and her husband Jamey are celebrat-ing their second Valentine’s Day together.

“We spent last Valentine’s Day as an engaged couple, and we’ll be spending this Valentine’s Day as a married couple, but we never actually had a dating Valentine’s Day,” Walters said.

Walters considers Valen-tine’s Day to be a good excuse for the two of them to let go of commitments for a day and just be together with no laptops, no books and no papers to grade.

Walters said she does not think Valentine’s Day means something completely different than it did before her marriage. Walters thinks Valentine’s Day “becomes more meaningful as the relationship deepens.”

“We’re certainly sharing our lives more this year than we did last year and probably will be closer next year than we are right now,” Walters said. “In that sense, Valentine’s Day always means a little some-thing more, regardless of how we celebrate it.”

Continued from page 1

E-mail Barnes at: jmcnetwork@acu.edu

By Grant AbstonSports Editor

After splitting last week-end’s series against New Mexico Highlands, the Wildcat baseball team will look to build off head coach Britt Bonneau’s milestone victory this weekend against Southwestern Oklaho-ma State University.

Despite splitting the four-game series against New Mexico Highlands, the Wildcats moved to 3-2 on the season, dropping from No. 11 to No. 24 in the na-tional polls. But after winning game three last weekend and

picking up Bonneau’s 500th ca-reer win, the Wildcats have won two-straight going into their first Lone Star Conference se-ries of the season.

“We have a Southwestern team coming in this weekend with a lot of new faces, but they are playing with a lot of confidence,” Bonneau said. “It’s big home series for us to start out conference.”

The Bulldogs enter the se-ries at 4-2 after winning three of four against Oklahoma Panhandle State and defeating

Mid-America Christian Uni-versity before losing to Em-poria State last weekend. The Bulldogs are hitting .392 as a team, averaging more than 11 runs a game, and are led by outfielder Kenny Hare, who leads the team with a .579 batting average, two home runs and nine RBI. Third baseman Rick Kirby leads the team with 13 RBI and is followed by infielder Nelson Espinal, who has 11 RBI.

Starting pitcher Scott Branch (1-0) leads all starters

n Pitcher Cameron Aspaas earned LSC Pitcher of the Week honors after appearing in two games in the first week of the season. Aspaas went 6 2/3 innings against New Mexico Highlands, giving no earned runs while striking out eight to earn the win. In Tuesday’s game against Incarnate Word, Aspaas threw three innings of scoreless relief, giving up one hit while striking out two.

Team to play first home games

By Grant AbstonSports Editor

The women’s basketball team beat Texas A&M-Kings-ville Tuesday night 78-70 in a game that was not as close as the final score indicated.

The Wildcats got off to a hot start against Kingsville, holding them without a made field goal for the first 6:42 minutes of the game. The Wildcats complemented their stingy defense with some good early shooting. With just

more than four minutes gone in the game, guard Kelsey Darby knocked down a jump shot to give ACU a 13-1 lead from which they would nev-er look back. In January, ACU defeated the Javelinas 71-62, but this time head coach Shawna Lavender saw many improvements.

“I was very pleased with the way the girls came out ready to play against Kingsville,” Laven-der said. “We hit some shots,

and we did a good job on de-fense forcing them into some shots. The key to the game was how we started; it gave the girls a lot of confidence.”

The Wildcats have now won six consecutive games and have a 15-7 record. The Wildcats’ conference record also improved to 6-1 on the season. Meanwhile, the Jav-elinas’ overall record fell to 13-10, and their conference record dipped to 3-5.

The Wildcats continued their recent trend of exhibit-

ing a well-balanced attack by having six players with more than seven points. However, Tuesday night belonged to the Meyer sisters. Forwards Jamie and Jody Meyer combined for more than half of the Wildcats’ points. Jody Meyer scored 12 points, while her sister Jamie scored 32 points. Jamie’s 32-point game was the second-highest individual total by a Wildcat this season, bet-tered only by her 49-point

By Chandler HarrisAssistant Sports Editor

The golf team began the spring season in the best way possible last week, win-ning the Dustdevil Open by 20 strokes in Laredo. Morgan Johnson, whose score did not figure into the composite team score because he plays unattached, won the individ-ual title by three strokes over teammate Hilton Funk.

The Wildcats owned the top-

three individual performances in the tourna-ment led by Johnson. John-son shot 70 in each of his first two rounds and fired a 74 in the third and final round for a total score of 214. Funk shot 70-72-75 for a total of 217 and second place

overall. Cyril Bouniol followed closely behind in third place with a 219 (71-72-76).

“Those three guys played really well this week, and it was a nice accomplishment, but the main goal was the team winning,” said head coach Mike Campbell. “That is what we strive for each tournament, so that was our biggest accomplishment of the week.”

Michael Andruchek also played unattached from the

squad of five and finished in 10th place overall with a 227 (77-76-74). Jose Gutierrez fin-ished 13th after shooting a 229 (80-73-76); Zach Sadau shot a 233 (81-77-75), and Charles Levitte shot a 235 (77-79-79) to place 14th and 16th respectively.

The five-man team shot a total of 894 for first, while the second-place school, Col-orado School of Mines, shot a

By Grant AbstonSports Editor

The Wildcat softball team will play its first home games of the season this weekend at the CBS Insurance Classic against St. Mary’s, Emporia State, Northeastern State and Southeastern Oklahoma.

The Wildcats competed in the St. Mary’s Tournament last weekend, winning three of five. The Wildcats defeated Rollins, Washburn and Midwestern State while losing to Texas A&M-International and Cam-eron. ACU played St. Mary’s

By Ryan CantrellSports Writer

ACU lost a 76-75 heart-breaker on Tuesday night in overtime to Texas A&M-Kingsville. The Wildcats fell to 2-5 in LSC South Division and 8-13 overall, while their postseason chances took a hit after the loss.

The Wildcats have five games remaining and will have to jump to fourth place to make the postseason tour-nament. The Javelinas im-proved to 16-7 overall and 6-2

in the division with the win.The Javelinas trailed

throughout most of the over-time before forward Flavio Mi-lam got to offensive rebounds and scored on the put-back attempt with 34 seconds left to earn the one-point victory. The Wildcats had the ball for the final shot with 34 seconds left; however, the offen-sive set did not work, and the Wildcats were forced

SportsFridayPage 8 February 13, 2009

Standings

SCOREBOARD

Friday

Track & FieldACU at Air Force Invitational, 2:30 p.m.

Men & Women’s TennisACU at Phoenix Duals, TBA

BaseballACU vs. SW Okla. State, 3 p.m.

SoftballACU vs. Emporia State, 4 p.m.ACU vs. Northeastern State, 6 p.m.

Saturday

Track & FieldACU at Air Force Invitational, 9:30 a.m.

Men & Women’s TennisACU at Phoenix Duals, TBA

BaseballACU vs. SW Okla. State, 1 p.m.

SoftballACU vs. SE Okla. State, 4 p.m.

Women’s BasketballACU at Angelo State, 6 p.m.

Men’s BasketballACU at Angelo State, 8 p.m.

:: Home games listed in italics

Upcoming

Thursday

SoftballACU 13, St. Mary’s 11

BaseballACU 8, SW Okla. State 1

Scores

Golf team wins by 20 strokes in opener

Protecting the Streak

Wildcats begin LSC play this weekend at home

Zak Zeinert :: chief photographer

Guard Autumn Whitaker defends Tarleton guard Tara Towns on Jan. 28. The Wildcats are 15-7 overall and 6-1 in the LSC.

Athletes improve national rankingsBy Chandler HarrisAssistant Sports Editor

The men and women’s track teams had another successful w e e k e n d in which they added four more automatic qualifiers and three provision-al quali-fiers to an already long list headed to the NCAA Division II Na-tional Championship meet in March. The teams com-peted in the Texas Tech Invitational in Lubbock and had three athletes win their respective event.

“I was really pleased because the whole team looked tired going into the competition, but they com-peted real well,” said Don Hood, head track and field coach. “I am very proud of their effort.”

On the men’s side, Ca-mille Vandendriessche won the indoor heptathlon with a total of 5,453 points and clinched an automatic quali-fying berth for the national meet. He had personal bests in four of the seven heptath-lon events, Hood said.

“Camille had a pretty good weekend,” Hood said. “It was unbelievable how well he performed, and he was honestly the highlight of the week. He made it look effortless, and it was just a fun com-petition for him.”

Landon Ehlers won the pole vault event with a mark of 16 feet and 6.75 inches, good enough for an automatic qualifying berth to the national meet. Cory Altenberg and Aaron Cant-rell finished second and fourth, respectively, in the event. Altenberg already had automatically qualified during a previous meet, and Cantrell’s mark of 15-9.00 was enough to provi-sionally qualify him for the national meet.

Hood said both Ramon Radway and Jordan Johnson

Women defeat Kingsville, earn sixth-straight victory

Golf

Basketball

Baseball

See Golf page 7

See Wildcats page 7See Softball page 7

See Track page 7

See Basketball page 7

See Baseball page 7

Basketball

Men’s BasketballTeam Div. OverallMSUTAMU-KAngelo St.WTAMUTarleton St.ACUENMU

6-26-25-25-33-52-50-8

17-616-717-515-815-88-134-19

Women’s BasketballTeam Div. OverallWTAMUACUAngelo St.Tarleton St.TAMU-KMSUENMU

8-06-14-34-43-52-60-8

20-315-713-913-1013-107-159-17

ACU playoff chances hinder on turnaround

Hood

Campbell

BaseballTeam Div. OverallSE Okla.CameronWTAMUENMUNE State

SW Okla.

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

3-05-14-14-24-24-2

Central Okla. 0-0 2-1ACU 0-0 3-2Angelo St. 0-0 4-3TAMU-K 0-0 1-1Tarleton St. 0-0 3-4East Central 0-0 0-2

SoftballTeam Div. OverallAngelo St.TAMU-KWTAMUTX Woman’sACU

Tarleton St.

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

7-06-03-05-33-23-2

ENMU 0-0 2-3

Jozie Sands :: staff photographer

Second baseman Jackie Gentile makes a throw Thursday against St. Mary’s.

Heather Leiphart :: staff photographer

First baseman Bret Bochsler fields a ground ball during practice.

acuoptimist.comGo online to see and hear the university’s statement regarding the NCAA violations