Chris Perkins (‘99) is featured on p. 5.
Stephanie Jarvis (‘09) is teaching for the
Abilene Independent School District.
Caitlyn McCoy (‘12) is now the Legal In-
tern for Cook Children’s Health Care
System.
Prentis McCarty (‘13) has been promoted
to inmate case manager, and now briefs the
Parole Board on early release decisions.
Student News
Page 1 of 5
Political Science
March 2014
Newsletter
New Scholarship Awarded!
Jeffrey ('71) and Freya Wendling of Kerrville, Texas, have
endowed a scholarship for Criminal Justice students at
ACU. They were guests of the Department on March 6. He
spoke in the Terrorism Studies class, in Department Chapel,
and to students interested in working for the federal govern-
ment. Two CJ students, Nick Richardson and Glenn Halbert,
were awarded the first two scholarships. Thank you to the
Wendlings!
Zach Wheat, Parker Gordon, Emmanuel
"Sony" Nshimirimana and other students
participated in the Texas Silver-Haired
Legislature forum on Feb. 4 on the ACU
Campus.
Caleb Orr, Freshman Class President,
attended the National Prayer Breakfast
in Washington, D.C., on February 6.
Abbey Moses is in an internship in the
Abilene office of Rep. Randy Neugebauer.
Alumni News
Luke Davis carries a box for
Zambia Medical Mission. (See pg. 3)
Jeffrey & Freya Wendling
The Wendlings with Mr. Nick Richardson
(left) and Mr. Glenn Halbert
Visiting Committee March 28
The Department welcomes the next visit from our
Visiting Committee, to be held on March 28.
Political Science March 2014
Newsletter
Page 2 of 5
Internship Opportunity
REP. TED POE’S OFFICE, WASHINGTON, D.C.
Representative Poe’s Office is looking for an ACU
intern for every semester and summer.
Congressman Poe is an alumnus of ACU. If you or
anyone you know (and of any major) may be
interested please have them contact his Office.
Save the Date Department BBQ
On April 24 at 5:30 p.m., please plan to be at
the Department Dinner at Dr. Coates’ home.
Make sure you put this fun, annual event on
you calendar now, and remember this is when
the Department honors our graduating seniors.
Faculty News
Neal Coates was a guest lecturer on the topic of “Religion and
World Politics,” in BMIS 458 Abrahamic Faiths on Jan. 30.
Neal Coates just reviewed two manuscripts in his role as a
member of the Editorial Advisory Board for The International
Journal of Information and Communication Technology
Research and Development in Africa. They were “Mobile-
Cloud Computing Technology Rural Applications Model
(MCC-TRAM): Envisaging Increased Market Power for
Remote Agriculture—Case Study of Namibia,” and
“Strategies for Enhancing the Utilization of Information and
Communication Technology (ICT)-Based Library Resources
in Research."
Mel Hailey attended the James Q. Wilson Conference at the
School of Public Policy at Pepperdine, Feb. 28-Mar. 1.
Mel Hailey and Dodie Kasper (Social Studies Coordinator K-
12 for the Frisco Independent School District) presented at the
2014 Law Related Education Conference sponsored by the
State Bar of Texas, held at the George W. Bush Presidential
Center on the campus of SMU on Feb. 7-8. Their topic
was Federalism Over Time, and used an interactive lecture
where teachers see first hand how embedded questions engage
different learning styles while allowing formative assessment
of students' understanding.
Special Guests
Taylor County Commissioner Precinct 4
Chuck Statler was a guest of the Department
on Feb. 10.
The Department was one of the hosts for the
2014 ACU Peace Conference hosted by the
Duncum Center for Conflict Resolution
on March 3. Featured speaker was Lisa
Shannon who wrote the best seller "A
Thousand Sisters: My Journey into the Worst
Place on Earth to be a Woman." She is an
activist for women in the Congo. The Pope
Fellows participated in a breakfast with
Ms. Shannon.
Jeff Wendling ('71), 30-year veteran DEA
Agent in Southeast Asia, spoke in the
Terrorism Studies class on Mar. 6. He
discussed his counter-drug and counter-
terrorism efforts against various organizations
including the New Peoples Army/Communist
Party of the Philippines, Abu Sayaff, Moro
National Liberation Front, and Jemaah
Islamiyah. Wendling also spoke to the
Department Chapel, and then to CJ students
afterward about careers in the federal service.
Political Science
March 2014
Newsletter
Page 3 of 5
Lending A
Helping Hand
Students worked several hours
loading a container for Zambia
Medical Mission on
February 1.
Top Right: Abigail Moses and Rachel Mallory help
sort supplies for Zambia Medical Mission.
Middle Left: Mike Mfashingabo displays a box of
supplies to be loaded.
Bottom Right: William Medlicott and Nicholas
Holloway load supplies into the container.
Above: Odies Wright (EXSC Faculty) and
Caleb Orr pose with buckets to be used on the
Zambia Medical Mission.
Political Science Department
March 2014
Newsletter
Page 4 of 5
CONSIDER A PUBLIC MANAGEMENT CAREER!!
POVERTY CURE SMALL GROUP CHAPEL, THURSDAYS RM. 130 BIBLE
Students are invited to Bible Building Rm. 130 every Thursday this semester during Chapel
to address the question of world poverty and what Christians can and should do to alleviate it.
Throughout the first six weeks of the semester, a series of videos will be presented from Poverty
Cure, seeking solutions fostering opportunity and unleashing the entrepreneurial spirit in developing
countries. The video series was co-written by Dr. Jonathan Witt, a 1989 ACU alumnus and research
fellow at the Acton Institute in Grand Rapids, Mich., a Christian/free market think tank. The series
should be of interest to students studying economics and entrepreneurship, politics and international
relations, theology, media, and other areas.
Dr. Robert Bland of the University of North Texas forwarded this information for students
who may be considering a career in public service. The first is a recent article in the North
Texan on “Reviving Communities” that profiles several MPA graduates who are rebuilding
blighted neighborhoods. The second is a Web release by a newly formed organization,
Emerging Local Government Leaders, on the local government specialization at UNT.
http://northtexan.unt.edu/content/making-difference-2/?
utm_source=northtexannewsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=northtexanwinter2013
http://elgl.org/2014/01/16/campus-university-north-texas-mpa-program
Undergraduate Research
Festival Submissions
Stewart McGregor, “Streamlined Bureaucracy: A
Comparative Study of the E-Government System of
the United Arab Emirates Relating to the Petroleum
Services Industry.”
Amanda Bitner, “Art and Civil Disobedience
In Iran.”
Brandon Wianecki, McNair Scholar, “Will U.S. and
International Sanctions Prevent Iran from Developing
Nuclear Weapons?”
Law School Applications
Applications for Pre Law scholarships for
Baylor Law School and Pepperdine Univer-
sity are available in the department for pick
up. Deadline for submission is March 26.
Special Exhibit Several students in the Department attended
the special exhibit at the ACU Downtown
Gallery--The Courthouses of Central
Texas: Documenting the Buildings the Built
Texas, which was open Feb. 5-14.
Reprinted in part from: “Top Pollster Award Goes to LI Graduate,” Leadership Institute News,
January 9, 2013, by Lauren Day
Leadership Institute graduate and former intern Chris Perkins was recently named the top Texas
pollster by Capitol Inside’s bi-partisan “Political Consultants Power Rankings.” Maybe you’ve heard of
some his clients: Texas Rep. Doc Anderson, Texas Rep. Greg Bonnen, Texas Senator Donna Campbell,
Texas Rep. Stefani Carter, Texas Railroad Commissioner Christi Craddick, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz,
Texas Rep. Tony Dale, Texas Senator Kelly Hancock, Texas Rep. Charles Perry, Texas Senator Larry
Taylor, Texas Rep. James White, as well as Texans for Lawsuit Reform, Texas Republican
Representatives Campaign Committee, and Conservative Republicans of Texas.
Helping Ted Cruz win and head into the U.S. Senate was one of Chris’ professional highlights.
“Ted Cruz’s win was huge—for many reasons,” Chris told me. “The first poll I did for Cruz was in July
2011 and had him at 2 percent (with only a quarter of likely Texas voters that had ever heard him) - and
the margin of error was 3 percent. So it was a tall order and a full team effort taking him from 2 percent
in the polls into the United States Senate. For me personally, it validates our firm’s polling accuracy –
which is the best in the country – and validates the methodological tools we provide to campaigns that
show how voters move behind certain messages, how they gravitate toward candidates based on what
type of information that they are receiving, and what issues we are attacked on that we leave alone.”
Chris’ firm WPA took the 1.4 million Republicans who cast Republican primary ballots and
used four key demographic variables—age, gender, region, and voter history—to generate a probability
score for how likely each person would be to support Ted Cruz in the runoff. These numbers enabled
the Cruz campaign to target individual voters with selected pieces of information such as direct mail and
phone calls and get the voters to turnout in favor of Cruz on Election Day.
Chris took LI’s Candidate Development School in July 1998, the Youth Leadership School in
July 1998, Public Relations School in June 1998, Capitol Hill Writing School in June 1998, Youth
Leadership School in March 1998, Public Relations School in March 1998, and the Broadcast
Journalism School in August 1996. “All of the LI schools taught me valuable tools in how to engage
voters using skillful campaign techniques. They have been invaluable to me,” Chris said. So invaluable
that he volunteers his time to share his expertise as a LI faculty member at campaign, fundraising,
lobbying, future candidate, and youth leadership trainings.
Chris is a partner at WPA Opinion Research, which helps elect senators, Members of Congress,
and other leaders; helps not-for-profit organizations grow donor support; and helps companies weather
crises, enter new markets, and thrive in current ones. In the 2010 election cycle, Chris polled for 16
winning Republican candidates in the state legislature, U.S. House of Representatives, and in statewide
office in Arizona, California, Georgia, Illinois, Texas, and Virginia. Chris teaches ‘Polling and
Targeting’ for the Annette Straus Institute’s New Politics Forum at the University of Texas at Austin,
which provides college students a bi-partisan look at how modern political campaigns are managed.
Chris graduated in 1999 from Abilene Christian University with a political science degree.
While in college, he came to the Leadership Institute and interned. “Leadership Institute training is
necessary for any conservative who wants to learn campaign and communications techniques to
advance our public policy goals,” Chris said.
Political Science Department
March 2014
Newsletter
“Top Pollster Award Goes to LI Graduate”
Page 5 of 5