Department of Journalism and Mass Communication Abilene Christian University Serving the ACU community since 1912

WEDNESDAY

IN THIS ISSUE

CAMPUS

Knights on campusA group of freshmen are rechartering men’s social club the Knights beginning in fall 2007, page 3

Tourney timeThe ACU tennis teams will host the Central Regional Tournament beginning Thursday, page 8

The OPTIMIST

Breaking recordsThe baseball team swept its final regular season series this weekend and broke its team record for wins in a season with 44, page 8

May 2, 2007Vol. 95, No. 53 1 section, 8 pages www.acuoptimist.com• •

Meal plans fight hungerStudents participated in a “Dining Hall Fast” on Wednesday and were able to donate meal plans, cash towards Oxfam, page 5

ONLINE

Sliding in sudsSee how students spent their afternoon Saturday at Smith-Adams Residence Hall online at www.acuoptimist.com

SPORTS

Laughter, determination reflect Stevens’ life

What’s eatingACU?

Friends remember Chastain’s dedication

Theatre to retry musical ‘Aida’

Millions of dollars, several hundred jobs and food across campus are provided through the university’s food provider: Aramark

Lauren Rodda usually begins her 10 a.m. Bible class with

a sausage burrito, cup of yogurt and bottle of water.

She uses her meal plan to purchase the trio three times a

week at the Fatted Café in the Bible Building and not just be-

cause she’s hungry.

“If I don’t get breakfast, I don’t spend my meal plans, and I

feel like I’m wasting money,” said Rodda, sophomore elemen-

tary education major from Carrollton. “It’s pretty convenient,

but sometimes the lines are a little long.”

Rodda’s meal and countless other students’ breakfasts,

Story by DANIEL JOHNSON

LITTLE KNOW fACTS ABOUT ARAMARK

400

$216

200

20

$4.1

Number of college campuses Aramark serves nationwide

The amount in millions that Aramark made through its venues globally

Number of people employed at ACU through Aramark — more than 40 of them are students

Number of years Aramark has served the university

The amount ACU spent on Aramark in 2005 in millions See ARAMARK page 4

n The university’s eighth president, Dr. John C. Stevens, died Monday after suffering a stroke in April. friends, administrators remember his life.

By KELSI PEACEFeatures editor

Dr. John C. Stevens, chancel-lor emeritus and eighth presi-dent of the university, rode his electric wheelchair around the two-mile Lunsford Trail just

two days before he suffered a major stroke, in a typical demonstra-tion of his love of life, said Dr. Royce Money, president of the university, in Chapel on Tuesday. The next day, Ste-vens attended church, telling his daughter, Joyce Cole, that he

would take himself to church if she wouldn’t drive him, a testa-ment to his constant determi-nation, Money said.

Money recounted Stevens’ famous lecture on the presi-dents of the United States, dur-ing which he would recite and categorize the presidents with-out any notes — and always with humor and insight. Ste-vens presented a similar lecture on England’s kings and queens.

Money painted Stevens as a

man of integrity, humor and de-termination, and said he hoped to give students a glimpse into the former president’s life.

Stevens, who was 88, died Tuesday morning in an Abilene hospital after suffering a mas-sive stroke on April 23, leaving behind a university, friends and family who will greatly miss his humor, attitude and leadership.

Stevens spent his lifetime in leadership roles, beginning

with his time as a student at ACU, where he served as presi-dent of the Students’ Associa-tion and of the A Club in 1937-38. He was also a member of men’s social club Sub T-16, Al-pha Chi National Honor Society and Phi Alpha Theta honorary historical society. Stevens left Abilene in 1938, graduating cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in Bible, to preach at

Stevens

n Director Adam Hester said decisions on casting should be decided by the end of finals week, following callback auditions this week and more next week.

By JARED FIELDSManaging editor

Two years after the rejection of “Aida” as the Homecoming musi-cal, the Theatre Department is giv-ing the musical a second chance.

Adam Hester, chair of the The-atre Department, said he feels this year is the best opportunity to fi-nally put on the production.

“The original reason that we chose to do it, is that it’s an excit-ing piece of musical theatre, and it’s one that hasn’t been done by ACU theatre or this area previous-ly,” Hester said.

He said issues regarding cast-ing were where the real concern with the role of Aida arose.

The play was chosen two years ago but was changed after com-plaints of having a white woman play the role of a Nubian princess.

“I made the decision that it would be better to show some

n Richard Chastain, the university’s historian and audio technician for more than 20 years who retired in 2004, died Sunday after a long battle with lung cancer.

By KELSI PEACEFeatures editor

Richard Chastain, an award-winning audio technician and faithful university historian, died Sunday in Abilene after a long bat-tle with cancer.

Chastain, who was 67, served on the Centennial Collections Task Force, restoring “at-risk” audio and video recordings that document the university’s history. Chastain was one of six alumni who received the Hashknife Award, also known as the John and Ruth Stevens His-torical Preservation Award, for his tireless work.

Chastain’s wife, Rita Chas-tain, said the award was a great

Slip ‘n’ slide funStudents slid down the hill behind Smith-Adams Residence Hall as part of its annual Backyard Bash, page 5

Stocking shelvesSee a video profiling the work of Aramark stock-ers, Blessed Matai and D’Angelo Sands, online at www.acuoptimist.com

Displace meStudent traveled to Austin last week for Displace Me, an organized rally dem-onstrating how Invisible Children live, view it online. See CHASTAIN page 7

See STEVENS page 7

See AIDA page 7

Photo illustration by EMILY SMITH

Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Calendar Events& The Optimist maintains this calendar for the ACU community to keep track of local social, academic and service opportunities.

Groups may send announcements directly to optimist@acu.edu or to the Page 2 Editor at mxe06a@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 clarifi cations of published news articles will be printed in this space in a timely manner.

About This Page

Wednesday, May 02 , 2007

Announcements

Volunteer Opportunities

04 Friday02 Wednesday 03 Thursday 05 Saturday

Dr. John C. Stevens, ACU chan-cellor emeritus and eighth president, died Tuesday at 12:20 a.m. at Hendrick Medical Center. Stevens, a former chancellor, history professor and civic leader, battled Parkinson`s disease for many years and recently had a series of strokes resulting in hospitalization. The Piersall Benton Funeral Home is handling arrangements. Visitation for family and friends is 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday at the funeral home, and servic-es are at 1 p.m. Saturday at University Church of Christ.

Richard Chastain died Sunday

morning at age 67 after a battle with cancer. He retired from full-time work at ACU in 2004 after 23 years as an audio-visual archive preservation spe-cialist and director of the ACU Tape Service. He continued to work part time on preparations for the ACU Centennial. Services are pending with Elmwood Funeral Home.

What do pizza, research and a picnic have in common? They are upcoming Graduate Student Associa-tion events. The last free pizza lunch of the semester will be Wednesday in the library atrium. Winners of the GSA Re-

search Competition will be announced. The annual GSA Family Day featuring free zoo passes and a cookout at Nel-son Park will be Friday. RSVP at www.acu.edu/gsa. Zoo passes are available at the pizza lunch Wednesday or in the Graduate School Offi ce.

The Athletics Department hosts the LSC Baseball Tournament on Sat-urday through Tuesday at Crutcher Scott Field. Tournament passes are $25 and will be sold through Saturday’s games. Passes can be purchased for $15 until 5 p.m. Wednesday. Individual passes for one day are $10. ACU stu-

dents can receive a free pass good for the entire tournament. Students must present their ACU ID to the Depart-ment of Athletics offi ce in Teague Spe-cial Events Center to receive a pass. Passes for children ages 6 to 12 are $5 for the whole tournament. For more information, contact (325) 674-2287 or see www.acusports.com.

Students may nominate par-ents for ACU’s Wildcat Parents of the Year at www.acu.edu/wild-catparents. Parents of the Year are recognized for the time and support they have given and will be honored

Fannin Elementary will have a fi eld day on May 18 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. and needs volunteers to help students in various events. For more information, contact the Volunteer Service-Learning Center in the Bean Sprout.

The Ben Richey Boys Ranch will host its annual Bilbo Golf Tour-nament fundraiser Saturday and Sunday. Volunteers are needed both days to work three-hour shifts from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. The tournament

will take place at the Shady Oaks Golf Course in Clyde. For more in-formation, contact the Volunteer Service-Learning Center in the Bean Sprout for more information.

Looking for a one-week sum-mertime adventure in Alaska? The Naha Teen Bible Camp, spon-sored by the Ketchikan Church of Christ, is looking for volunteers to work at the camp, which will take place June 4 through June 8. For more information, contact Mark Lewis at mark.lewis@acu.edu.

10:15 a.m.The men’s tennis team plays in the NCAA Division II National Tennis Tournament fi nal at the tennis courts.

11 a.m.Last chapel of the semester.

11:30 a.m.Tree dedication ceremony honoring the late Wayne Miller in front of McKinzie Hall.

12:30 p.m.Women’s NCAA Division II National Tennis Tournament fi nals take place at the ACU tennis courts.

4:30 p.m.ACU’s Synchronized Swimming Club performs ‘A Splash of Synchro’ at the Gibson Pool Balcony.

8 p.m.Homer Hiccolm and the Rocketboys, Hero Factor and Quiet Company perform at Monk’s Coffee Shop.

12 p.m.Women’s Economic Empowerment invites women to ‘Dollar and Sense: Financial Management for Women’ at 1350 N. 10th to learn money management. The cost for lunch is $5.

2 p.m.The women’s tennis team plays Cameron at the ACU tennis courts

7 p.m.‘List of Demands,’ a dance show directed by Jonathan Prim, is performed in Fulks Theatre. Admission is free.

8 p.m.The Album Leaf performs at Monk’s Coffee Shop. Because of travel costs, this show will be $8 for presale tickets available for purchase at Monk’s. It will cost $10 at the door. Visit www.myspace.com/thealbumleaf for more information about the band and to listen to some of its music.

Cinco de Mayo

9 p.m.Brady Davis performs in the Bean Sprout. The show is free. Check out Davis and his band, who are students at UT Austin, before the show at www.myspace.com/bradydavismusic.

10 a.m.The second annual Red Dirt Adventure Challenge will take place at Lake Abilene. Hosted by ACU’s Outdoor Club and Hardin-Simmons University’s Outdoor Adventures, it will include approximately 2 miles by canoe, 6 miles by bike, 2 miles by foot and 3 challenges. For more information, visit www.acuoutdoorclub.org or contact Blake Dozier at acuoutdoorclub@gmail.com.

7 p.m.Adam Gnade, ListenListen, Art in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and The Walrus Brothers perform at Monk’s Coffee Shop. This show will cost $3.

CreditedChapelsto date:

CreditedChapelsremaining:

Chapel Checkup70 02

ACU Career InformationSummer Employment:Need a job in Abilene?Visit ACU CareerLink at www.acu.edu/careerlink and fi nd:380 Abilene employers in the directory, more than 80 Abilene part-time opportunities, and more than 30 Abilene internships.

This week’s CareerLink statistics:Number of part-time jobs: 108Number of internships: 266Number of full-time jobs: 834Number of employers in directory: 3,219

Hosted by:The Offi ce of Career and Academic DevelopmentMcKinzie Hall- Lower Levelwww.acu.edu/ocad(325)674-6400

IT’S NOT A JOB IF YOU LOVE IT:Recent jobs posted on ACU CareerLink(www.acu.edu/careerlink)Job ID #5546, 5547, 5548 Internships with Sony Online EntertainmentJob ID #5512 Media relations internship with the National Mental Health AssociationJob ID #5481 Summer tour guide with the ACU Offi ce of AdmissionsJob ID #5478 Assistant business manager with McMahon Law FirmJob ID #5421 Customer services operations coordinator with Cadbury SchweppesJob ID #5453 Field technology engineer with Halliburton (Houston)Job ID #5454 Advertising account manager with Centro, LLC (Dallas)

during Parents Weekend on Sept. 21-23. Contact Samantha Adkins for more information at (325) 674-2622.

Wednesday, May 2, 2007 Page 3CAMPUS NEWS

n Knights, men’s social club, will recharter for the third time in fall 2007. It was first charted in 1958 and again in 1989 before folding for the second time in 2001.

By HILLARY CRAWFORDStudent RepoRteR

Men’s social club, the Knights, is expected to be back on campus fall 2007.

Chris Herrington, fresh-man pre-architecture major from Abilene, is one of the students in charge of the re-chartering process.

“The idea of rechartering came to me upon conclu-sion of last semester when a buddy of mine had men-tioned something to me of how it would be a promising idea to bring back a social club that people for many years had hoped to accom-plish,” he said.

Herrington said there

was about a 10-20 year break where the Knights was on hiatus and then failed, and he is hoping to revive them again.

Mauri Westbrook, coordi-nator of Student Activities and Organizations, helped with the idea of the Knights returning to campus, Her-rington said.

Westbrook’s role has been to provide students wanting to recharter the Knights with information on the club, such as old traditions, possible spon-sors, old charters, histo-ries and rules.

“The vision of the Knights is to accomplish not only Christian brotherhood but Christian servitude above all else,” Herrington said.

Herrington said the Knights name is not as im-portant as the representa-

tion of being a Knight, which takes into account chivalry, servitude, strength, honor and integrity.

When the Knights are officially back on campus, Herrington hopes to hold of-ficer elections to help the re-chartering process happen as quickly as possible. Once elections have taken place the Knights will be back in circulation and new pledges can be found.

William Cones, senior business management major from Dallas, said, “I would like to see the Knights back on campus to give more students here at ACU an op-portunity to be apart of a so-cial club. What the Knights stand for should be what all people need to live by.”

Knights recharter, revive for fall 2007

n The Marriage and Family Institute, which provides counseling to families, couples and individuals, had an open house to display its newly renovated facility.

By CASSIE LEHMANNStudent RepoRteR

The Marriage and Family Institute opened its doors to the public to show off its recently renovated fa-cility, which was contrib-uted by an anonymous donor for $113,000.

The MFI is located on the second floor of the Onstead-Packer Bibli-cal Studies Building on campus. This institution provides counseling and therapy for couples, fami-lies and individuals at the lowest prices available in the Abilene community.

The donation was specif-

ically given to improve the institute’s look and feel.

“We wanted to create a warmer, more inviting envi-ronment for our clientele,” said Jaime Goff, assistant professor of the Depart-ment of Marriage and Fam-ily Therapy and director of the Marriage and Family Institute. “We jazzed it up. This works more to our cli-ents’ needs.”

The MFI installed new carpeting in all 11-therapy rooms, as well as new furni-ture to accommodate com-fort for everyone. The in-stitute also upgraded from florescent lighting to recess lighting and lamps, and the walls were painted from white to a variety of hues differing in each room.

David Todd Harmon, second year graduate stu-

dent of marriage and fam-ily therapy from Aledo, said, “It’s much more in-viting. The old style was sterile and had a doctor’s office feel. This is still pro-fessional but warmer and more comfortable.”

The Marriage and Family Institute serves people with problems ranging from extra-marital affairs to de-pression and anxiety, as well as child and adolescent behavior problems.

The cost is based on in-come from $5.50 per hour to $22 per hour.

Every counselor at the MFI is a student of the grad-uate program of Marriage and Family Therapy. Cur-rently there are 38 student counselors. To ensure cli-ents receive the best service possible, the MFI installed

cameras to record every therapy session so gradu-ate students can learn and be closely supervised by the licensed faculty. The institute logs around 8,000 hours per year.

Goff said the students are encouraged to try a vari-ety of therapy theories and practices to see which will best help their clients.

“We provide services for every kind of client,” Goff said. “We operate from the systemic theory. The differ-ence between marriage and family therapy and psychol-ogy is in paradigm. Psychol-ogy looks at the individual where marriage and family therapy looks at the context that influences the individ-ual’s behavior.”

Renovated institute opens doors

emily smith CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER

Dr. Royce Money, president of the university, shared stories of Dr. John C. Stevens, chancellor emeritus, in Chapel on Tuesday.

Giving a tribute

E-mail Lehmann at: optimist@acu.edu

E-mail Crawford at: optimist@acu.edu

Page 4 Wednesday, May 2, 2007FROM THE FRONT PAGE/ CAMPUS NEWS

lunches and dinners on cam-pus would be impossible without the unobserved work of more than 200 Aramark employees on ACU’s campus.

Behind the scenes and usually in purple, ACU’s dining services employees work at any one of the 12 eating locations to create a food service provider that prides itself as being one of the best among campuses across the nation.

“We’re very competitive,” said Andre Allen, interim food service director. “We behave as if we are the best at what we do.”

Aramark serves 200 mil-lion meals annually to more than 400 colleges and has been ACU’s food provider for more than 20 years for an average annual fee of roughly $4 million. Next to faculty and staff salaries, Aramark is ACU’s most ex-pensive yearly expenditure, but ACU’s bill barely dents the net worth of the No. 1 outsource service company in the world; Aramark net-ted $261.1 million in 2006.

In Abilene, Aramark feeds students at Cisco Junior Col-lege, McMurry University, Hardin-Simmons University, Abilene Christian schools and patients at Hendrick Medical Center.

And like all of its clients, Aramark’s objective at ACU is to embody and contribute to the university’s mission.

“When we are hired we understand the mission and

values of our customer,” Al-len said. “That’s why we’re called higher education din-ing now, to emphasize that we’re about the university.”

Top of the food chain

When it comes to ACU dining services, three peo-ple sit atop the food chain: Allen, retail manager Lex Hunt and catering director Jennifer Ellison.

The three split duties among the main departments Aramark supplies food for, and they all work together to make ACU’s dining facilities a quality experience.

“It’s important that we have attractive places to eat,” Hunt said. “Right next to academics, parents are worried about that.”

Allen oversees the Bean, Hunt manages the cafés, re-tail restaurants and conces-sions on campus, and Elli-son organizes and supplies food for numerous on-cam-pus events.

“When we go into a school, we’re a guest; we’re working for them.” Hunt said.

If Aramark is the guest, Anthony Williams, director of retail and The Campus Store manager, is ACU’s host.

Williams is the universi-ty’s liaison and makes most of the food-related deci-sions on campus.

“My job is to make sure our provider is someone that doesn’t only meet our needs, but exceeds them,” Williams said.

ACU purchases all the

manpower, equipment and expertise, and Allen helps make sure ACU is getting its money’s worth by confirm-ing all prices and menus from the retail stores and in the Bean.

“Basically, what I do is make sure that freshmen and sophomores on cam-pus using meal plans aren’t wasting their money,” Wil-liams said.

Aramark’s role as the pri-mary food provider on campus hasn’t been unchallenged.

At least twice and most recently in January, the food conglomerate has been put to the test by ACU, Williams said. The university request-ed proposals from Aramark and a competing food service provider to weigh its options and choose the best deal. ACU stuck with Aramark.

International flavor

The majority of Olha Kryv’yak’s Sunday’s are spent asking one question:

“Bean bucks or meal plan?”When the Ukraine native

isn’t in class or running for the ACU track team, she spends her time working at the Jelly Bean.

“Almost every weekend I’m gone, and when I come back, I work on Sundays,” said Kryv’yak, senior graphic design major from Novoy-avorivsk, Ukraine, said. “Some-times you feel like you don’t have any time for yourself.”

Kryv’yak and 29 other in-ternational students work for Aramark under the in-

ternational work-study pro-gram, and they do it for more than the occasional free meal.

“I send my money home — sometimes the whole check,” Kryv’yak said.

Like all working interna-tional students, Kryv’yak can only work on campus because she does not have a work visa necessary for off-campus employment. And she said she chose Aramark over another on-campus job because of the people, flex-ible scheduling and oppor-tunity for pay raises.

“I would have dreams about the Jelly Bean,” Kryv’yak said. “I was typing prices and asking if some-one wanted to used their Bean Bucks or meal plans.”

Although a majority of ACU dining services em-ployees are non-students, Allen said between 40-50 students are working for Aramark at one time.

Most part-time students work during the night and most full-time Aramark em-ployees cover the day shift.

“We got a decent mix-ture,” Allen said.

Robert Casky, Christian ministry major from Stock-ton, Calif., is the student manager of Java City in Barret residence hall and said he ini-tially chose Aramark because of the better pay and stayed because of the people.

“Most of the customers are pretty loyal,” Casky said. “Starbucks is more busy than us, and people could just as well go over there to

get coffee, but our custom-ers always come back here.”

Casky oversees Java City and does all the scheduling for the retail coffee shop.

“I like that I can make the schedule,” Casky said. “Ara-mark pretty much gives me complete control really.”

Favoring Feedback

Allen and Williams both say they love feedback.

Whether through online surveys, focus groups or personal interaction with students, feedback is key to Aramark meeting the stu-dents’ on-campus’ needs.

“I frequent the bean,” Wil-liams said. “To make sure I’m aware of any opposition we have and to make dining services better.”

And because of the feed-back they have received over the past couple of years, ACU is planning a summer makeover for ACU’s dining facilities.

Although finals plans have not been released yet, ACU will start the first phase of construction by taking out the Hilton Room and replacing it with a separate food court filled with retail restaurants Chick-fil-A, Piz-za Hut, Freshen’s Smoothies and a new Quiznos.

“I go [to Quiznos] when I’m not at work, so I know I’m gonna love it when its here,” Allen said.

In phase two, Williams said ACU plans to gut the Bean and redesign it so that it is a completely different dining experience.

Allen said it will be set up in a format where students can watch their food being prepared with fresh ingredi-ents directly in front of them.

“The renovations will take it to another level,” Al-len said.

Aramark has already re-sponded to some feedback from students by improving and adding food to the cur-rent services offered. The long list includes: a vegan section in the Bean, an im-proved salad bar, the addi-tion of homemade gelato instead of ice cream, the ad-dition of barbecue options to the Bean Sprout and opening the bean on Sunday nights.

But Williams is convinced the new improvements will take ACU’s dining services to a level it has never been before.

“I am confident it will not only be one of the better university dining facilities, but one of the better dining facilities in the city,” Wil-liams said.

But no matter how much the food venues change, there will always be work-ers behind the scenes pre-paring Rodda’s next burrito and numerous meals for the hoards of students eating on campus.

And behind the scenes is where most workers would prefer to stay.

“We should be a seamless part of what goes on cam-pus,” Hunt said.

Aramark: Food service connects workers and studentsContinued from page 1

E-mail Johnson at: djj04a@acu.edu

n Rock, Paper, Scissors, an annual arts and crafts event planned by students, took place Friday to display and sell students’ handmade arts and crafts.

By SARA SNELSONStudent RepoRteR

The Living Room was full of music, arts and crafts at the third annual Rock, Paper, Scissors event that took place Friday night.

Kelly Dennis, junior Eng-lish major from Houston, has planned this event for three years.

“I wanted to do some-thing that would encourage an appreciation of creativi-ty,” Dennis said. “I love mak-ing things with my hands, and I knew several other people on campus who felt the same way, so I wanted a place where people could showcase their work.”

The event featured three musical artists: Birds in Space, Ryan Lindsey and Gazelles.

“This was the first year we had off-campus and out-of-town bands play at the fair,” Dennis said.

Dustin Reid helped with the

event and was able to schedule all the bands that performed.

“I’m so thankful he was able to help me with that this year because it made the event a lot less stressful for me to plan,” Dennis said.

People sold their own art-work, jewelry, knitted bags and hats, along with hand-made printed jeans and shirts.

“I want people to be en-couraged to experiment with making things using different techniques and mediums. If someone sees something I have made and thinks, ‘Man I could do that,’ that would be fantas-tic,” Dennis said.

Another thing that was different this year than pre-vious years were the baked goods and crafts that were made to sell. All of the money raised went to Brent Hines, senior political sci-ence major from Belton; Matt Worthington, junior English major from San An-tonio; and Clarke Goodman, senior biology major from West Des Moines, Iowa, to support their mission trip to India this summer.

“I loved the event this

year and the atmosphere that it provided for all who came. All of the bands were good, and there were very talented people displaying what they had made,” said Amy Vanlandingham, soph-omore graphic design major from Denver.

Dennis said the turnout was good with people constantly flowing in and out of the event all night looking at the crafts and listening to the bands.

“I was really pleased with the way everything turned out. The bands, the vendors, the at-mosphere, the crowd — it was all fantastic,” Dennis said.

Dennis plans on graduating next year but hopes Rock, Pa-per, Scissors will continue once she’s gone.

“I plan on organizing the event again next year, and I would love it if someone want-ed to continue it after I gradu-ate,” Dennis said.

Students showcase hand-made works

E-mail Snelson at: optimist@acu.edu

Wednesday, May 2, 2007 Page 5CAMPUS NEWS

n Nearly $600 was raised through students donating meal plans and cash for Oxfam in a student-led effort to raise awareness about hunger.

By ANDREA LUCADO andKRISTA MEYER

Student RepoRteRS

For the first time at ACU, students had the choice be-tween eating lunch or do-nating their meal plan, Bean Bucks or money to the hun-gry and starving people all over the world.

Between 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. on April 25 more than 200 students participated in the Fast to Fight Hunger and raised at least $575 for Oxfam America — the non-profit organization, which started the campaign more commonly called the Dining Hall Fast.

Oxfam America is a branch of Oxfam Interna-tional based in Oxford, Eng-land, and, according to its Web site, is an organization “that works to end global poverty through saving lives, strengthening com-munities and campaigning for change.”

Kelly Dennis, junior Eng-lish major from Houston, first saw the “Dining Hall Fast” on the Oxfam America Web site last fall. The Web site encourages students to start their own “Dining Hall Fast” at their university, and Dennis, having known about it since studying in Oxford during her study abroad ex-perience, decided to do this at ACU and called it the Fast to Fight Hunger.

Dennis said she was torn between conducting a hun-ger banquet or a “Dining Hall

Fast” but ended up going with the fast after research-ing it more on the Oxfam Web site. Dennis was very enthusiastic about students participating in something during lunch that would jar them out of what would oth-erwise be a normal day.

Dennis said she had been thinking about the “Din-ing Hall Fast” for about two months and really wanted ACU to participate in a fast in order to help students bet-ter understand the constant hunger some feel through-out their entire lives.

“One of the main purpos-es of the fast is for people to go without something, for us to experience not be-ing completely full,” Dennis said. “We won’t be starving or in terrible pain, but we may be a little uncomfort-able, and I think it is good to not always be comfortable, especially because in our society so much emphasis is placed on instant grati-fication and always doing and getting what you want. But God calls us to some-thing different; he calls us to be counter to our culture, to be sacrificial, to consider the needs of others, to not stuff ourselves while others are going hungry.”

While trying to organize the fast, Dennis was in con-tact with Anthony Williams, director of retail and The Campus Store manager; Shannon Wallis, assistant to Williams; and Andre Al-len, interim food service di-rector, to discuss how stu-dents could use their meal plans and Bean Bucks in the Fast to Fight Hunger. There wasn’t instant approval

by the administration, she said, but she refused to give up, and after a great deal of effort, she was finally given permission to hold the fast.

Dennis said it took about six weeks from the time she started talking to administration for her to get permission to actually hold the fast.

“In the process of trying to get permission I called Dr. Williams several times a day, every day to get infor-mation and ask questions. I’m sure him and Shannon Wallis — whom I spoke to when I couldn’t get in touch with Dr. Williams — were really sick of me calling, but in the end I was very appre-ciative that they approved the fast.”

Aramark and ACU agreed to donate $2 each from ev-ery meal plan donated to the cause and proportioned that same percentage to stu-dents who donated what-ever amount of Bean Bucks they wanted to give.

“This event was totally dependent on the students,” Dennis said. “I hope that the act of students sliding their ID cards and not receiving food will be a reminder for them of the things they take for granted and the people who are not as fortunate. I hope that they will take that opportunity to pause in their day, to interrupt their typical rhythms of eat, school, work, sleep, eat, etc. to remember that there is more to life than routine.”

She said 192 people donated Bean Bucks and meal plans, while about 30 students donated $175 in cash.

This money will go di-rectly to Oxfam America who will use it in its battle against hunger.

“I think that every little bit counts,” Dennis said.

Lisa Etchison, junior mar-keting major from Houston, slid her card on fast day, but instead of getting food, she skipped lunch and let her Bean Bucks go to Oxfam America.

“I felt like my Bean Bucks were going somewhere. I felt like I was making a dif-ference, even the smallest difference, to contribute to social justice,” she said.

Kyle Trafton, who also participated in the fast, helped oversee a prayer room in the Teague Spe-cial Events Center where students could go during their lunch hour and pray for the 850 million peo-ple in the world who suf-

fer from malnutrition and have grown accustomed to missing meals.

Trafton, junior market-ing major from Amarillo, said he and other students helped set up stations rep-resenting different conti-nents in the prayer room that displayed the injustices of each like poverty levels and enslavement numbers.

“We showed them what’s really going on and why we’re doing this,” he said.

Dennis said through the Fast to Fight Hunger, ACU students proved they could come together and reach a goal without the backing of an organization.

She said Aramark said this will be the only time it donates Bean Bucks and meal plan money, but she still hopes to do the fast again.

To show appreciation,

Dennis said during the fast there were three cards avail-able to be signed to express thanks to those who made the fast possible.

“We encouraged every-one to sign the thank you cards to express our grati-tude for allowing the fast to take place,” Dennis said. “I want to make sure that ev-eryone involved in approv-ing the fast know how much it’s appreciated. I’m hoping enough positive feedback is seen that we’ll be allowed to continue with the fast each year and allow other events such as this to take place.”

For students who do not believe skipping lunch could make a ripple in the ocean of hunger, Dennis said, “Have hope because things do make a difference.”

Donated meal plans, cash go toward feeding hungry

emily smith CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER

Caitlyn Shepard, sophomore youth and family ministry major from San Antonio, and Nick Martinez, junior accounting major from San Antonio, donate $5 in Bean Bucks and an afternoon lunch for the Fast to Fight Hunger, which raised about $575 on April 25.

n More than 200 people attended the Back Yard Bash Saturday sponsored by Residence Life and featuring a 100-foot Slip ‘n’ Slide.

By TODD PIERSALLARtS editoR

The Slip ‘n’ Slide, invented in 1961, turned a simple water-drenched plastic tarp into an es-sential element for a child’s perfect summer day. But even with more than 20 different kinds of Slip ‘n’ Slides now available in stores, one won’t find the one used for this se-mester’s Back Yard Bash.

The 100-foot slide followed by a tractor-dug mud pit behind Smith-Adams Residence Hall was the high-light for many in last weekend’s Back Yard Bash, hosted by Resi-dence Life.

The Back Yard Bash, first started in 2004 with Smith-Adams resi-dents going down a 50-foot slide in the back yard of the residence halls. Since then, the Bash has grown into a campus-wide event.

Michelle Lessly, assistant director of Adams Hall and coordinator for the Bash, said over 250 people at-tended the event.

“I think everyone had a great time and took advantage of the op-portunity to relax and have some fun before the end-of-the-semester

crunch time,” Lessly said. “It gets better and better every year.”

As well as the slide, participants of the Bash enjoyed live music from several bands and free hamburgers and hotdogs.

Caryn Carroll, junior speech pa-thology major from Abilene, helped coordinate the event and prepare the food. She said this semester’s Bash was the best one yet.

“It’s fun to watch people play-ing crochet, frisbee and random backyard things all day long,” Carroll said.

Carroll said this semester’s mud pit was a crowd favorite probably because it was the larg-est it has ever been.

“Last semester there were two pits and two slides; this semester the pit was massive. The biggest there has ever been,” Carroll said.

The mud pit was prepared the night before the event by several of the residence hall’s RAs.

Both Carroll and Lessly said they are optimistic about the Bash’s future.

“We are trying to focus on get-ting more off-campus people to the event next year,” Carroll said.

Students slip down 100-ft slide at Back Yard Bash

laci adkins STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Alan Williams, sophomore undeclared major from Houston, slides down the Slip ‘n’ Slide into the mud pit at the Back Yard Bash with Chad Vandenbergh, sophomore pre-architec-ture major from Glenrose, and Chad Johnson, sophomore accounting major from Plano.

E-mail Piersall at: tdp04a@acu.edu

n ACU’s Jazz Ensemble performed in Dallas this weekend at the Sacred Jazz Festival with nine other ensembles. The group was invited because of its talent and affiliation.

By VALERIE VALLEStudent RepoRteR

The ACU Jazz Ensemble was one out of 10 ensem-bles invited to attend and perform at the first ever Sa-cred Jazz Festival this past Saturday in Dallas, hosted by Lovers Lane United Meth-odist Church.

According to its Web site, the Sacred Jazz Festival’s purpose is “to praise God through jazz music and de-velop a network of sacred jazz ensembles to encour-age their department and mission work.”

The Festival invited ACU because of the Jazz Band’s

reputation and the Chris-tian affiliation with the school, said Eric Wyatt, freshman music major from Stamford.

“The Sacred Jazz Festival not only wanted top-notch ensembles from around the country but an even spread of denominations,” Wyatt said. “Many were like the ACU Jazz Band and were mainly affiliated with one denomination, although de-nominational ties were not an emphasized part of the program.”

The Festival’s featured band was Denver and the Mile High Orchestra.

“They were an amazing ensemble, capable of aston-ishing feats of volume,” Wy-att said.

Along with the ACU Jazz Ensemble, those who also

performed at the Sacred Jazz Festival included: Lov-ers Lane Jazz Band; Woods Chapel Jazz Band from Kansas City, Dallas Chris-tian Jazz Band, Foo McBub-ba from Dallas, Crosswinds Jazz Band from Carrollton, SMU Alumni band from Dal-las, Metro Praise Orches-tra from Irving, the Joshua Experience from Keller and Lovers Land Dixieland Band.

The ACU Jazz Ensemble performed “Celebration,” “The Preacher,” “Cubano Chant,” “Sanctus,” “Hallelu-jah Time” and “Friends and Neighbors” — an original composition for this year’s Sing Song show.

Jazz band performs at Festival

E-mail Valle at: optimist@acu.edu

n Essence of Ebony will sponsor Apollo Night at the Bean Sprout on Thursday for student to enjoy and participate in the open mic night to share song, dance and poetry.

By CAMILLE VANDENDRIESSCHEStudent RepoRteR

The second and last Apol-lo Night of the year will take place Thursday at 7.30 p.m. in the Bean Sprout. More than 20 artists like Barry Smith, junior management major from Abilene; Marie Thomas, class of 2002; and some of the SHADES mem-bers will perform in various ways: poetry, dancing, sing-ing, spoken words, mono-logue and freestyle.

“It is an opportunity to showcase talents in front of peers,” said Erica Ray, pres-ident of Essence of Ebony.

Ray, senior social work

major from Arlington, said Apollo Night is a main event for Essence of Ebony. She said even though this is only the second edition of the academic year, Essence of Ebony used to have four Apollo Nights every year in the past three years.

“But this year, we’ve had kinds of little Apollo Nights every last Tuesday of each month,” she said. “It was more informal.”

Besides Apollo Night, two big events are still to hap-pen before the end of the year for Essence of Ebony members. A formal will take place Friday, and “Fish Fry” will take place Saturday.

James Graham, who will be president of Essence of Ebony next year, said many of the social events will re-main the same.

“I would like to get peo-ple more involved, see more community work on and off campus,” said Gra-ham, sophomore youth and family ministry major from Abilene.

He also said Essence of Ebony may take part in Sing Song in 2008.

Essence of Ebony sponsors Apollo night

n Essence of Ebony’s Apollo Night will showcase students’ talents

n Where: the Bean Sprout

n When: Thursday at 7:30 p.m.

n The event will feature more than 20 artists performing poetry, dance, singing, spoken words, monologue and freestyle.

APOLLO NighT

E-mail Vandendreiscche at: optimist@acu.edu

E-mail reporters at: optimist@acu.edu

ViewswednesdayOptimist

As the final week of class-es approach, many students care about their grades and summer plans. Some might

think the se-mester went fast, but oth-ers might have been waiting for this day for a long time. Some might be expecting to get an ‘A,’ but others might have to retake the class. Howev-

er they did throughout the semester, they have paid the same amount of tuition. And what they should care about most is if they spent the money effectively.

This semester students

paid $521 per credit, which costs about $7,815 to take 15 hours. This means each school day cost approximate-ly $98, and it would increase if other fees are included (holidays are not excluded).

Also, the university has announced the tuition will go up after this semes-ter. According to the ACU Web site, undergraduate tuition per semester hour will be $557 as of May 1. It will raise the total amount to take 15 hours to about $8,355, which means it will

cost about $104 each day. Needless to say, it costs a

lot just to go to school for a day. I probably missed two or more whole days this semes-ter, which means I wasted at least $200.

Look back at this semester, and think if your education was worth thousands of dol-lars. Did you not skip or sleep in a class? Did you complete all the assignments? Did you learn anything at all?

Thousands of dollars are dedicated to each of your edu-cation; your parents, yourself

or scholarships pay for it. If you knew how much it costs to attend a class or how long it takes to earn that money, maybe you will appreciate your education more.

Getting a good grade is one way to measure how serious you are about your educa-tion, but also being satisfied with what you’ve done during a semester shows how much you appreciate your opportu-nity to be in school.

When you come back to school in August, consider how much it costs to be there, to listen to professors or to educate yourself.

The issue:Last week’s fast for hunger allowed students to pro-actively be involved in a worthy cause.

Our view:Students should pursue ways to follow through with their goals to help others.

The solution:Don’t give up on your ideas to help others. You can make a difference if you put in the effort.

Page 6 May 2, 2007

Fasting shows importance of student initiativeStudents endure many

hours of lecture and in-struction. We are told how, where, why, when and what to do and are rarely given the opportunity to act on everything told to us.

We are taught how to be Christian leaders once we leave school, but in all the learning that takes place during school, we take little initiative to act on our own.

If students are to go into the world and make a dif-ference, some of that must begin here.

Plenty of student organi-zations make great strides in reaching out and becom-ing actively involved. Social clubs, the Students’ Asso-

ciation and classes do a great deal in acting rather than talking.

H o w -ever, indi-viduals by themselves do little to take initiative and make a dif-ference. Many talk of great plans and visions, but rarely does something quantifiable come of it.

Last week’s “Dining Hall Fast” is a great example of a student following through with her ideas.

Kelly Dennis, junior Eng-lish major from Houston, organized the fast to ben-efit Oxfam, an international

group whose goal is to re-lieve the stress of poverty. Dennis’ fast took meal plans or Bean Bucks and donated them to the organization while students who partici-pated ate nothing after slid-ing their card.

Dennis said 192 students slid their cards. Two dollars from each meal plan went to Oxfam, the rest went to cover-ing the overhead cost for the Bean and Aramark. About 30

people also made cash donations to-taling around $175. The total amount donated is still unsure

because the meal plan and Bean Buck donations are not calculated.

According to Dennis, just $20 is enough to feed a fam-ily of four in Ethiopia for six months.

Dennis said she wants to make people uncomfort-able, even if just a little. By sliding an ID card and get-ting nothing in return, Den-nis said she wants students to think about the people

they are helping. Dennis’ lead sets a great

example for other students to follow through on ideas. The success from the “Din-ing Hall Fast” proves ideas can become real.

Who knows how many ideas have died because of doubts in their idea. People can make a difference, but not when they give up be-fore trying.

Don’t be afraid to make people uncomfortable. Only through being uncomfort-able can we see how com-fortable we are.

How much does your education mean to you

There are few things in life as beautiful as wom-en. Their bodies, their hair, their personalities —

they’re liv-ing works of art. Few things come close. But to me, the things that come clos-est are also marvels of nature — living sculp-tures with designs so varied in

their beauty, delicacy and ferocity that its corpses in-spired our grandest myths. We are still captivated by creatures that have been dead for 65 million years. Of course, I’m talking about dinosaurs.

From Ju-rassic Park to museums in South Dakota, the sight of these great animals that t h u n d e r e d and echoed in our past — be it their bones, which over-shadow any s c u l p t u r e , to pictured imaginings of their bodies, which out-shine any painting — is only rivaled for me by the sight of the opposite sex. It would also be rivaled by Godzilla, except that he’s not real.

However, dinosaurs of-ten don’t get the respect they deserve; not just from a lack of apprecia-tion for the work God put into them, but also even a denial that God even made them. But where do they really fit in the scheme of God’s world?

First off, the entire con-cept of science vs. religion, where most of the con-troversy begins, is itself flawed. One of these is a process of understanding and knowledge, the other is a process of worship and praise — neither contra-dicts the other. Instead, it’s how people use them where the contradictions arise.

Next, the ideas that di-nosaurs never existed, or that they walked alongside man, are to me both wrong. That God or the devil cre-ated dinosaur fossils to

tempt man into believing a false past is a foolish way to avoid looking at facts and appreciating our growing knowledge of the world’s wondrous design.

Carbon dating shows that dinosaurs existed mil-lions of years before man. As for that infamous hu-man footprint that is next to dinosaur tracks in Glen Rose — keep in mind that this footprint is 19 inches long and does not match a normal human one — this is the only thing that comes close to connecting men and dinosaurs in the same time, unlike, say, mastodon and other prehistoric ani-mal fossils, which have ar-rowheads and wounds from early tools clearly in them.

Finally, to not just ap-preciate dinosaurs, but to place ourselves intellectu-

ally alongside others, we should under-stand that evo-lution is real. Evolution is the process of change. When your body becomes ac-customed to a virus and can overcome it, when men see that the Earth revolves

around the sun and not vice-versa, when God gives himself up for us, are these not examples of evolution?

We appreciate the work God has put into dino-saurs through millions of years of evolution. Can we not also appreciate what went into us? Of course, this leads into the discus-sion of whether you take the Genesis creation ac-count as fact or metaphor (and when it comes down to your salvation, is it re-ally that important?)

Honestly, when I began this column, I didn’t ex-pect to get what I got out of it. But dinosaurs, like any true beauty, don’t just give you something to look at — they challenge you and let you see the beauty and the divine craftsman-ship in everything else like them, from birds and in-sects, all the way up to us.

E-mail Williams at: cww02b@acu.edu, optimist@acu.edu

A DifferentVoice

AtsumiShibata

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

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Dennis’ fast took meal plans or Bean Bucks and donated them to the organization, while students who participated ate nothing

after sliding their card.

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

Cole WilliamsLet Loose

The entire concept of science vs. reli-

gion, where most of the controversy be-gins, is itself flawed.

E-mail Shibata at: axs03d@acu.edu, optimist@acu.edu

Digging for truth about dinosaurs

Getting a good grade is one way to measure how serious you are about your education,

but also being satisfied with what you’ve done during a semester shows how much you ap-

preciate your opportunity to be in school.

In Your WordsWhat are your summers plans?

Jennie Shepherdsophomore nursing majorfrom Tuscon

I’m traveling with a peformance group that raises money for non-profit organization.

Living here and working at Hendrick.

Jason Hendersonsenior biology majorfrom Plano

I’m going to intern at the Scott Howell Company in downtown Dallas for two months.

John Mark Atchleysophomore accounting and finance major from Grapevine

Mouth ofMadness

ColeWilliams

Wednesday, May 2, 2007 Page 7FROM THE FRONT/SPORTS JUMPS

surprise for the work her husband loved doing.

“I know he loved work-ing there,” Chastain said, “I know he enjoyed his job.”

Dr. Charles Marler, pro-fessor emeritus and se-nior faculty of journalism and mass communication, served as the Collections Task Force chair, and said Chastain left the university a historical record that will not deteriorate.

“It was his passion,” Mar-

ler said. “He knew that stuff inside and out.”

While Marler did not know Chastain well outside the Task Force, he said his work surpassed what was required of him.

“It was beyond the mini-mum he had to do to earn his money,” Marler said.

Chastain also recorded theatre, musical and video performances at the univer-sity and the Abilene com-munity, and his Centennial work contributed to ACU’s campaign film, The Mission.

Dr. Ed Mathews, professor of missions in the Graduate School of Theology, said Chastain was a close friend. Chastain and Mathews both ministered at the Central Church of Christ, often ate lunch together and worked on home-repair projects, Mathews said.

“I don’t know that I ever really saw him upset,” Mathews said. “Even when things didn’t seem to be go-ing according to the way he thought they would go.”

Mathews said Chastain

often showed him projects he was restoring for the university’s future.

“He took great pride in that,” Mathews said.

Chastain earned his bach-elor’s degree from Lipscomb University in 1962 and his master’s degree from ACU in 1982, and he also studied at Florida State University, Harding Graduate School of Religion and the Texas Tech-nical Institute. While at FSU, Chastain served in the Air Force ROTC and was a mem-ber of the professional mu-

sic fraternity Phi Mu Alpha.After serving more than 20

years as an audio-visual archive preservation specialist and di-rector of the ACU Tape Service, Chastain retired in 2004 but continued to work on projects for the ACU Centennial.

Chastain is survived by his wife, Rita; three brothers, John and Michael, who reside in Nashville, Tenn., and Kenneth, who resides in Atlanta, Ga.; daughter, Carola Martin, who resides in Sweetwater; son, John, who resides Abilene; and eight grandchildren.

Services are Wednesday at 2 p.m. at Elmwood Funeral Home in Abilene.

Chastain: Served the university for more than 20 years as audio techContinued from page 1

the Jasper Church of Christ for the next four years. From Jasper, Stevens moved to Beau-mont to preach at the Central Church of Christ for a year.

Stevens served three years with the U.S. Army during WWII as an army chaplain and earned several honors while in the ser-vice. He was discharged with the rank of major in 1946 and was later interviewed by the Dallas Times-Herald about his memories of Patton’s famous address to the troops. In his typical fashion, Money said, Stephens’ response was both humble and humorous when he told the Abilene-Reporter News about his appearance in a famous photograph of the 28th Infantry troops entering the Champs-Elysees in a victory parade in Paris. The Reporter-News quoted Stevens saying, “Never were so many led by one so unaware of where we were going!”

In 1948, Stevens returned to ACU as an assistant professor of history, where he met Mar-ian Ruth Rambo for the second time. The two were married in December of that year and were happily married for 57 years until her death in 2006.

Ruth Stevens often attend-ed her husband’s classes and wrote and graded his exams. Money said Stephens often joked, “Honey, without you, I would be Ruth-less.”

Stevens earned a master’s degree of history and political science in 1948 and a Ph.D. in history and political science in 1954 from the University

of Arkansas. His passion for history remained throughout his life, from his academic pursuits to his work as a uni-versity historian later in life. His written history of the uni-versity, No Ordinary Universi-ty: The History of a City Set on a Hill, was published in June 1999, an achievement Money called a “crowning moment in a very distinguished career.”

Dr. Charles Marler, profes-sor emeritus and senior faculty of journalism and mass com-munication, said Stevens loved reading almanacs and always greeted people by their full names — proof of his insatiable love of detail.

While he was an excellent administrator, Marler said, “At heart, he was a history professor.”

Once at the university, Ste-vens served in many leadership roles. He became dean of men in 1950, dean of students in 1952 and assistant president to then-president Don H. Morris in 1956. In 1969, Stevens was inau-gurated as the eighth president of ACU, a presidency known for Stevens’ policy of openness. Ever the history professor, Ste-vens continued to teach classes during his presidency.

During his presidency, Abilene Christian College be-came Abilene Christian Univer-sity, changing both the name and structure of the university, Money said. Cullen Auditorium and the Don Morris Building were also constructed during Stevens’ time as president.

But Stevens also contrib-uted to the university and the Abilene communities in ways

most aren’t aware of. “His handprints are all over

the campus,” Money said. “Most of them invisible.”

In 1981, Stevens became uni-versity chancellor, and in 1991, he became chancellor emeritus. Also in 1991, Money said, Ste-vens became his mentor.

“He was an early encourage-ment for me,” Money said. “He was so positive.”

Stevens, who had Parkin-son’s disease, always exempli-fied grace, Money said.

“Even in his illness, he never lost his sense of humor. He was determined and tough, yet very gentle and caring.”

Stevens worked to secure financial aid for students at private universities through the Texas Tuition Equalization Grants, which many ACU stu-dents benefit from, Money said. When Pinkies, a local liquor store, offered to contribute to Hendrick Medical Center where Stevens served as the head of fundraising, Stevens was asked if he thought the facility should accept the money.

With his characteristic hu-mor, Stevens responded, “Let’s get it out of the hands of the devil as quickly as we can.”

Stevens’ sense of humor is very much a part of his memory.

“When I think of Dr. John,” Money said, “I think of him laughing.”

Dr. Gary McCaleb, vice presi-dent of the university, also re-members Stevens laughing. Ste-vens and McCaleb were part of a group of men that played golf together on Saturday mornings, a time McCaleb said allowed him to get to know Stevens out-

side the office.“He was the same man

whether he had a great golf shot or the worst golf shot,” McCaleb said.

McCaleb said Stevens just laughed at his bad shots, saying “Can you believe that?” His pos-itive outlook on the golf course merely mirrored his attitude about life, McCaleb said.

Students may remember Stevens as the man who often joined the ACU community for Chapel, sitting on the right side of the stage and wearing his UA baseball cap. Others remember Stevens, who had a pilot’s license, offering plane rides to faculty and staff. Ruth Stevens, Money said, al-ways refused to ride with him. But whether Stevens was pro-fessor, president or pilot, his passion and enthusiasm left the university transformed.

“It’s an amazing thing,” Money said. “The breadth, the scope, the expansive reach of his influence.”

Stevens was preceded in death by his wife, Ruth; his par-ents; his sisters Vern Stevens Lansford and Evalyn Stevens; and his brother, Dr. Clark Ste-vens. He is survived by his son, Clark Stevens; his daughter, Joyce Cole and her husband Jim; five grandchildren; two great grandchildren and several nieces and nephews.

Visitation is 6-8 p.m. on Fri-day at the Piersall Benton Fu-neral Home, located at 733 But-ternut. Services will be at 1 p.m. on Saturday at the University Church of Christ.

Stevens: Money remembers his humorContinued from page 1

E-mail Peace at: knp04a@acu.edu

E-mail Peace at: knp04a@acu.edu

postseason before this week-end, but conference members Eastern New Mexico and Texas Woman’s crushed those hopes by winning their games and bumping ACU to sixth in the division. Eastern New Mexico squeaked by Texas Woman’s to win the coveted fourth spot in the division. Only the top four teams go on to the postseason tournament, which will take place this weekend in Irving.

The Wildcats ended its season with a series that had little affect on its postseason chances. ACU played against Cameron on Thursday and

Saturday, losing both games Thursday and splitting on Saturday.

“Our first game was tough, but I am proud of the way the team bounced back [in] the sec-ond game,” Wilson said. “But

whenever you don’t play well, you could have done better.”

ACU finished the season with a batting average of .285 and ended with a 4.01 ERA.

Softball: Cats finish sixth in LSC SouthContinued from page 1

sensitivity and try to do more of a reconciliation with members of the com-munity who were concerned about that rather than mov-ing forward with the pro-duction,” Hester said.

Hester said he believes people now can play the part the way he wants to direct it and fit the role.

“We’ve had some female actresses who’ve come up and been trained who really are very capable of playing that role,” Hester said. “It felt like a great time to kind of bring this to a real resolution and to give us some opportunities to reach out and extend that privilege to be able to finish some of that.”

Auditions take place in three stages, Hester said. First is a general singing audition, then a general dancing audi-tion. In each audition the men and women are given a song or dance to perform. Tuesday night, the third tier of audi-tions takes place: callbacks.

“We’ll start out with the vocal audition where they’ve been called back for particu-lar roles, and they’ll also do some reading from the play,” Hester said.

Three women have been called back for the part of Aida: Michelle Alexander, Jasmin Richardson and Anna Peters. All three are African-Americans, and all three are sophomores. But only one, Pe-ters, is a non-theatre major.

“She has a phenomenal singing voice,” Hester said of Peters. “She really earned a callback based on her general audition.”

Peters said getting the role would mean a lot to her if she were to get it.

“It’s a powerful story,” Pe-ters said. “To be a part of that is amazing.”

As for Alexander and Rich-ardson, Hester said the two

majors are well prepared for the role.

“They’re theatre majors, and they’ve gone through the theatre classes,” Hes-ter said. “It’s really great to have some women who are both capable of doing it and who are going through our program as well.”

Hester will have most of the auditions finished Tues-day night, but will not be complete until the end of fi-nals week.

Rebecca Wheeler, sopho-more theatre major from Perkasie, Penn., is studying abroad in Montevideo, Uru-guay, and will officially audi-tion for two hours after get-ting back in Abilene. She is calling Hester on Wednesday to sing over the phone.

Hester said he didn’t want anyone to feel left out because they were in study abroad. The final selections will be made soon after finals. How-ever, planning for the show is already underway.

Sandy Freeman, associ-ate professor of theatre and the costume designer for “Aida,” said she has be-gun research and planning for the costumes.

“It’s a love story much more than it’s a historical sto-ry,” Freeman said. “It’s more of a larger-than-life story al-though based in the area of the Nile. But then there is a theatrical style that adds to the interest.”

No matter what elements add to the audience’s interest in the play, Hester said “Aida” is a great musical that the community will enjoy.

“Plus being able to do the production, it’s just a great show for us to get to do, and it will highlight our students,” Hester said. “It’s a well done, put together musical.”

Aida: Three called back for leadContinued from page 1

E-mail Davis at: optimist@acu.edu

13-3.50. Kyle Dennis placed fourth in the pole vault there with a height of 16-6.75. In Abilene at a duel meet with McMurry, freshman Landon Ehlers continued his steady improvement, posting a qualifying mark of 16-3.00.

Just a year ago in high school, Ehlers jumped 13-6.00. He attributes his im-provement to the coaching and hard work.

“I set goals at the first of the season, and I’m looking at it now, and they’re all

close now,” Ehlers said. Jessica Blair qualified in

the triple jump and pole vault in the Abilene meet.

Also in the men’s triple jump, senior Vladyslav Gorbenko finished seventh with a distance of 50-5.50 feet at the Penn Relays.

“He was a little dis-appointed,” Hood said. “Vlad’s mature enough to know that you don’t sac-rifice the end of the year for the middle of the year. I think he is fine. I know he would have liked to jump better at that big of a meet.”

Gorbenko also compet-ed in the long jump, plac-ing 10th with a jump of 22-6.25.

Also at Philadelphia, Ni-codemus Naimadu won an-other event, this time the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a national-best time of 8:35.55.

Olha Kryv’yak placed seventh in the steeplechase but bettered her previous provisional qualifying time with a time of 10:28.36.

Track: Qualifying continuesContinued from page 1

E-mail Fields at: jrf03b@acu.edu

E-mail Fields at: jrf03b@acu.edu

Monday

OUTDOOR SOCCERPlayoff tournament continues, see intramural bulletin board for schedule.

SOFTBALLSee softball schedule on intramural bulletin board.

SportSWedneSdayPage 8 May 2, 2007

SCOREBOARD

Standings

Upcoming

InTRAMURAL ROUnD-Up

n The intramural schedule and points seen on the Optimist sports page are not final and subject to change. Any last-minute changes can be viewed on the intramural bulletin board in Moody Coliseum.

Scoreboard as of Tuesday

BASEBALLTeam Div. OverallACUAngelo St. TAMK-UTarletonENMU

WTAMU

17-315-510-108-125-133-15

44-1140-1627-2726-2920-3412-37

SOFTBALLTeam Div. OverallAngelo St. TAMK-UTarletonENMUTX Woman’s

ACU

21-315-913-1111-1311-1311-13

44-832-1833-1620-3425-3224-21

WTAM 3-15 12-37

Upcoming

Thursday

SOFTBALLCameron 1, ACUCameron 1, ACU 2

Friday

BASEBALLACU 5, West Texas A&M 3ACU 2, West Texas A&M 0

Saturday

BASEBALLACU 9, West Texas A&M 4ACU 4, West Texas A&M 1

SOFTBALLCameron 1, ACU 2Cameron 1, ACU 2

Scores

BriefsFour best in the LSC

n ACU swept the Lone Star Conference South Division all-conference awards, earning eight first team picks and four individual awards Tuesday. ACU head coach Britt Bonneau was named Coach of the Year, Trey Watten was named Player of the Year, Willy Uechi was named Freshman of the Year and Jameson Maj was named Pitcher of the Year on Tuesday. Watten, Uechi and Maj all made the first team and were joined by pitcher Chris Wiman, catcher Jordan Schmitt, third baseman Alec Sowards and center fielder Matt Spontanski. Pitcher Brian Kennedy was also named to the all-conference team.

Three earn all-conference honors

n ACU junior centerfielder Leisha Johnson was the only Wildcat softball player to earn first team all-conference honors. Johnson hit a team best 13 home runs and 29 RBI while batting a .354 and was one of three Wildcats honored by the LSC. Catcher Samantha Borgeson and third baseman Nicole Deel were both named to the second team.

Saturday

WOMEn’S TEnnISACU at West Texas A&M, Canyon, 4 p.m. (DH)

n Home games listed in italics

n Whether it was the triple jump, pole vault or running events, ACU track and field athletes won at meets across the nation this weekend.

By JARED FIELDSManaging Editor

Whether in Philadelphia, Des Moines, Iowa, or in Abilene, the ACU track and field teams enjoyed plenty of success this past weekend.

Davy Manga won the triple jump at the Penn relays with a Division II-best distance of 53-11.75 feet.

Manga was also part of the men’s 110-meter hurdle shuttle relay that came away with a surprising victory. Matt Pugh ran the final leg, making up a 10-meter gap to overtake the leader and win the event for the Wildcats. Along with Manga and Pugh were Andrew McDow-ell and Chris Pounds.

“I don’t think they were the favorites going in,” said head coach Don Hood. “I think three of the four ran their best times of the year.”

At the Drake Relays in Iowa, Angie Aguilar won the wom-en’s pole vault with a height of

n The ACU softball team did not finish high enough in the Lone Star Conference South Division to qualify for the LSC tournament and split its final series against Cameron.

By RACHEL DAVISSportS WritEr

The Wildcats will not be making a third straight Lone Star Conference tournament appearance after a season that most did not expect.

ACU went into the preseason as the number one pick to win the LSC South division, but end-ed up with a 25-24 overall re-cord and 10-14 conference re-cord which wasn’t good enough to claim a spot high enough in the LSC South to move into the postseason.

“I just don’t think everyone was on the same page at the same time,” said head coach Chantiel Wilson. “We didn’t hit well enough when the pitching was there, and we did not pitch well enough when the hitting was there.”

The Wildcats had a small shred of hope of making the

brian schmidt SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

All-LSC catcher Jordan Schmitt hits a ball against Eastern New Mexico on April 20. Schmitt and the rest of the Wildcats broke the single season record for wins in a season, won the LSC South and secured a No. 1 seed for the LSC tournament after sweeping West Texas A&M.

n The baseball team won the Lone Star Conference South Division title and set a new record for wins in a regular season after sweeping West Texas A&M.

By DANIEL JOHNSONSportS Editor

The ACU baseball team’s last regular season series was an appropriate ending to its record breaking season.

ACU swept West Texas A&M, broke the record for wins in the regular season, won the Lone Star Confer-ence South Division and se-cured a No. 1 seed for the upcoming LSC postseason tournament.

“We went out there knowing we needed four wins,” said head coach Britt Bonneau. “But we still know

there is a lot of work to be done as far as getting to where we want to be.

The 13th-ranked Wild-cats ended its regular sea-son with four wins over last place West Texas to extend its record to 44-11 and win its seventh LSC South title.

ACU beat West Texas, 5-3 and 2-0, on day one and 9-4 and 4-1 on day two.

ACU closer Jameson Maj continued to add onto his saves record, picking up three more against West Texas. Maj’s total of 19 is now the best in Division II baseball and one away from breaking the NCAA record for saves in a single season.

“I’m just proud of that guy,” Bonneau said. “He’s re-

ally helped us out and helped us win some close games.”

After winning two close games on day one, ACU set the record for wins in a season. The new record, 44 wins, broke the old record of 41, but Bonneau said his team was only focusing on sweeping the series.

“No one even talked about it,” Bonneau said. “We knew we needed to win two more.”

ACU went on to sweep the second day and won its third LSC South title in the last four years, and Bon-neau picked up his 450th career victory.

Bonneau said his team didn’t play as well as he would have liked, but they got the job done when needed.

“Sometimes its tough going somewhere and play-

ing when you know you’re already in the tournament and you’re playing a team that isn’t in the tourna-ment.” Bonneau said.

ACU’s starting pitching corps only gave up eight runs in the four games, and ACU’s lineup rocked West Texas’ pitchers.

No. 1 seed ACU will take on No. 6 seed Texas A&M-Kingsville in the LSC tour-nament Saturday, and Bon-neau said its up to his most consistent players to win the tournament.

“You got to rely on the guys you relied on dur-ing the year,” Bonneau said. “It’s kind of a chess match—you hope you make the right move.”

Swinging the South

ACU breaks record, wins LSC SouthBaseball

brian schmidt SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

George Carstens returns a ball against Cameron on April 6. ACU will host both Central Regional tournaments this week.

n Starting Thursday, both ACU tennis teams will host the nCAA Division II Central Regional tournaments with the tournament’s no. 1 seeds.

By MICHAEL FREEMANonlinE Editor

The ACU men’s and women’s tennis teams will both be No. 1 seeds and hosts at the NCAA Division II Central Region ten-nis tournaments Thursday and Friday. Both tournaments will be played at the Eager Tennis Pavillion on ACU’s campus.

“I’m really pumped for the girls and guys,” said head coach

Hutton Jones.The Wildcat men, who are

24-9 overall and this year’s Lone Star Conference champi-onship title, will be off Thurs-day because of a semifinal bye. ACU will play the winner of the Cameron-East Central match Friday at 10:15 a.m. for the re-gional championship.

The ACU women, who are 24-5 on the season, will face Cameron, the No. 4 seed in the tournament, at 2 p.m. Thurs-day. The winner of the match will take on either No. 2 seed St. Edward’s or No. 3 seed Mid-

western State at 12:30 p.m. Friday for the regional cham-pionship. The winners of the regional championship will ad-vance to the NCAA Division II national tournament, which is set for May 9-12 in Altamonte Springs, Fla.

“I think we’re ready to play,” said assistant head coach John Walker. “We should do well, and if we play like we can, we’ll advance, but we’ve got to take care of business, and we can’t assume anything.”

On April 19-20, both ACU teams fought for the Lone Star Conference championship in Oklahoma City. The men took

the title with a 5-4 victory over Midwestern State. The women, however, fell to Northeastern State 5-3.

“If the girls put that out of their mind, learn from it and move on, I think we’re fine,” Jones said. “And if the guys will just keep doing what they’ve been doing, I like our chances.”

The ACU men have won five regional tournaments in the his-tory of the tournament, the last coming in 2004. The women have won seven regional tour-naments in a row dating back to 2000.

Teams host Regional tournamentsTennis

E-mail Freeman at: mxf04b@acu.edu

See SOFTBALL page 7

See TRACK page 7

Softball team misses playoffs

Wildcats place at various meets

E-mail Johnson at: djj04a@acu.edu