optimist_08.29.11
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A product of the JMC Network of student media at Abilene Christian UniversityTRANSCRIPT
For freshman Annique Den-tino, psychology major from Lubbock, the Candlelight Devo portion of this year’s Welcome Week was a spri-tual and surreal experience.
“I believe singing praise music is a form of talking and praying to God,” she said. “It was like they were praying over us; I actually started choking up while walking to the amphitheater.”
Dentino’s reaction to this year’s Candlelight Devo is not unlike many others. The Welcome Week tradition is in-
tended to be a spiritual, emo-tional event that brings out upperclassmen and members from the Abilene community to sing over the new students on campus.
This year’s Welcome Week theme, “Who am I?” was based on the biblical passage in 1 Peter 1:13-16, emphasizing the impor-tance of identity outside of actions, as in the scripture reference in verse 16, “Be holy, for I am holy.”
Bob Strader, director of ACU leadership camps, built on the theme at the Candle-light Devo on Tuesday night.
“I spoke about what shapes a person’s identity, especially the idea that we aren’t identified by mistakes
hannah barneseditor-in-chief
Parade of Lights
A shortfall in the number of freshmen and financial aid cuts by the state of Texas has led the university to cut several million dollars from its budget this year. Dr. Phil Schubert, president of the university, addressed the budget and enrollment is-sues at a meeting with facul-ty and staff on Wednesday.
Schubert and other members of the university administration finalized decisions to reduce the uni-versity’s costs over the sum-mer. They eliminated seven faculty and staff positions, closed one department and asked several departments not to fill vacant positions. Many departments have been asked to cut 6 percent of their expenses during the coming year.
Other steps taken to min-imize spending included reductions in the Core Cur-riculum budget, a reduction in planned Advancement expense increases and a re-duction in Information Ser-vices operating budgets.
For the past two years, fall freshman enrollment has been about 980 – up from 870 in 2008. But last week, Schubert told faculty and staff members his best guess is that this year’s fig-ure will be close to about 860. Official enrollment numbers will not be avail-able until Sept. 13.
“That’s a significant shortfall,” Schubert said. “It’s a tough situation we’re in.”
Schubert attributed the decline in enrollment to three primary factors:
• aggressive tuition in-creases by the university over the past two years,
• steps taken by some of the university’s stiffest competition to soften the effects of their own tuition prices, and
• a failure on the part of the university to execute its own five-year plan for enrollment.
“It’s hard to know how much of a factor each of these played, but we have to assume aggressive pric-ing increases are a signifi-cant player in that number,” Schubert said.
The university increased tuition to $787 per semester hour for the current school year, an increase of about 23 percent since two years ago. Those price increases are part of a five-year plan be-gun in 2008 to better reflect the value of an ACU degree.
Schubert pointed out that ACU remains priced at a midpoint between its chief competitors: Texas Tech, Texas A&M and Hard-ing University on the low
CHAPEL
The Welcome Week staff and a large team of up-perclassmen volunteers returned to campus early last week to help integrate hundreds of new students into the ACU community.
The week’s activities included a giant game of Twister, a candlelight de-votional, mentor group meetings and a service
project. Attendance at all of the week’s activities was high this year, said Erin Daugherty, senior English major from Stephenville. She said the freshman class as a whole showed they were ready to become an active part of the ACU community.
“I just feel really pas-sionate about the impor-tance of your first experi-ences at this university because they largely shape what kind of first year you
are going to have in col-lege,” Daugherty said. “Just getting to see people loving and enjoying and embracing things like candlelight devo and the service project and things that are really unique to ACU’s culture is so reward-ing for me.”
It took a lot of people to make Welcome Week happen, Daugherty said. Daugherty was a student director for Welcome Week alongside Meredith Mor-
daniel gomez chief Photographer
The incoming class of 2011 come together for a candlelight devotional at the Beauchamp amphitheater under the Tower of Light.
budget
mark smithmanaging editor
see lights page 8
see freshman page 8 see Budget page 8
samantha sutherlandfeatures editor
ACU welcomes incoming freshmen
daniel gomez chief Photographer
Incoming ACU freshmen have a ball in Moody Coliseum competing against each other to keep a inflated ball in
the air as part of the 2011 Welcome Week events.
Decreased enrollmentforces cuts in budget
inside
page 7 page 6 page 10 page 3
ACU welcomed hundreds of fresh faces during Welcome Week.
Ben Miller reveals his first creation as an Optimist cartoonist.
Five ways to find success in your fantasy football league this season.
The Royce and Pam Money SRWC will open
Sept. 2.
vol. 100, no. 1 monday, AUGUST 29, 2010 1 SECTION, 10 PAGES
Abilene Christian University
high hopes:Volleyball Teamplans to win conference
Sportspage 10
features opinion sports news
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01 70
30 31 01Monday tuesday Wednesday Thursday
Aug. 29
8 a.m. Fall Semester begins at ACU
5 p.m. The HSU Cowboys will play Southeast Prep at Hardin-Simmons University. Tickets cost $5 - $10 per per-son.
Aug. 30
10 a.m. Dancing by the Light of the Moon: the Art of Fred Marcellino will be on display at the National Center for Children’s Illustrated Litera-ture. Admission is free.
7:30 p.m. Catch a Rising Star will show at the Paramount Theatre, featuring the Houston Grand Opera Studio. Admission is free. Concert will benefit the Young Audiences of Abilene.
Aug. 31
10 a.m. Dancing by the Light of the Moon: the Art of Fred Marcellino will be on display at the National Center for Children’s Illustrated Litera-ture. Admission is free.
Sept. 1
10 a.m. Dancing by the Light of the Moon: the Art of Fred Marcellino will be on display at the National Center for Children’s Illustrated Litera-ture. Admission is free.
7:30 p.m. Noises Off! will per-form in Fulks Theatre in the Williams Performing Arts Center on the ACU campus. Tickets cost $15 per person
11 a.m. President Phil Schubert - Welcome to ACU in Moody Coliseum
7 p.m. Welcome to Abilene in the Teague Special Events Center
8 a.m. Fall Semester classes begin
11 a.m. Opening Chapel in Moody Coliseum
The university began dis-tributing new iPhones and iPod touches to freshmen and transfer students last week in the Brown Library, with a new option that al-lows those students to pay extra for an Apple iPad.
New students could pick up their new iPhone 4 or iPod touch Aug. 20-23. Team 55 and employees from AT&T were involved in the distribution of the devices. Kay Reeves, exec-utive director of informa-tion technologies, said the help from AT&T employees improved the process.
“Our distribution has been smoother this year than in several years,” Reeves said.
This is the fourth year ACU has distributed mo-bile learning devices to new students, but the first that students could choose between an iPhone 4, a new iPod touch or a $300 voucher toward an iPad. Bill Rankin, director of educational innovation, said 40 percent of incom-ing freshmen last year al-ready had an iPhone. Now new students who already have an iPhone or iPod touch have the option of an iPad.
“We see the iPad as a premier platform,” said Rankin.
Along with adding the iPad voucher to the list of choices, the university is continuing to expand the integration of moblie tech-nology into classrooms.
In the past, students could keep devices given by the university for two years and then trade them in for brand new devices. This year, instead of sim-ply replacing the devices, ACU is allowing students to keep their old devices when they receive their second device. Third-year students will receive their upgrades on Sept. 11.
Many students are glad to receive an upgraded de-vice. Sarah Groveunder, a Freshman Communica-tion Sciences and Disor-ders major exchanged her iPhone 3G for an iPhone 4.
“It’s a lot faster than my old phone,” she said. “I had no idea there would be so many new features.”
The number of students armed with mobile learn-ing devices is continuing to grow. Other schools have seen ACU’s success and are learning from the example.
“If we wanted to experi-ment with [mobile learning devices] we needed to pro-vide them,” Rankin said. “We are only beginning now to see new potential.”
11 a.m. Dr. Stephen Moore and student Emily Hood - Chapel 101 in Moody Coliseum
11 a.m. Dr. Dwain Hart and Dr. Kerri Hart - A Lifestyle of Wellness in Moody Coliseum
5 p.m. ACU Women’s Soccer vs. Dallas Baptist
7:30 p.m. Noises Off! in Fulks Theater
Around Abilene chapel checkup
@acuoptimist
The Optimist
Monday 08.29.11 2
announcements
An informational meeting for anyone interested in joining the Speech and Debate Team will take place at 4:30 p.m. Aug. 29 in the Sherrod Building Room 216. For more information contact Dena Counts at [email protected].
Welcome to Abilene will take place in the Teague Special Events Center Aug. 30 from 7 - 9 p.m. This event is for anyone who is new to Abilene. Prizes, coupons and free snacks will be given away.
The Grand Opening of the Money Student Recreation and Wellness Cen-ter will take place Sept. 2. The Grand Opening will be in Moody Coliseum at 11 a.m. RecFest will take place that night from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. RecFest in-cludes Open Recreation (leisure pool,
walleyball, basketball, shuffleboard, table tennis, air hockey, foosball, Wii and board games), demo classes, a movie and a pizza party. Students also can sign up for team tournaments. For more information go to acu.edu/srwc. Students can also sign up in the Cam-pus Center Aug. 30. The deadline to sign up is Aug. 31.
Mario Santoso will present a piano concert on Sept. 2 in the Williams Per-forming Arts Center Recital Hall at 7:30 p.m. This performance is a part of the ACU Guest Artist Series Concert.
Noises Off! will perform in Fulks Theater in the Williams Performing Arts Center, Sept. 1-3, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased online at acu.edu/theatre.
Anyone interested in pledging a social club can register online at acu.edu/so-cialclubs. Women must be registered by Sept. 4. Men must be registered by Sept. 18. A mandatory information meeting will take place in Hart Audito-rium on Sept. 1 at 5 p.m.
The Omega Dance Company will con-duct auditions Sept. 10 at 10 a.m. in the Rec Center. An informational meeting will take place Sept. 6 at 9 p.m. in Bible Building Room 103. A workshop will also take place Sept. 9th at 6 p.m. in the Rec Center.
An informational meeting for anyone interested in being a Sing Song Host or Hostess will take place in Cullen Audi-torium on Sept. 7 at 11:30.
Shades will conduct auditions Sept. 12-15 from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. in room 115 in the Bible Building. No experience is necessary.
A Part-Time Job Fair will take place at the Hardin-Simmons University Pond Area on Sept. 14 from 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. This casual fair will provide students with the opportunity to apply for jobs all over Abilene. For more information contact the Career Center at [email protected].
Anyone who has not completed a mem-bership form for the Student Wellness and Recreation Center can apply on-line. A membership is required in order to be able to use the new Rec Center.
Volunteer Opp0rtunities
The ACU Department of Theatre needs people to help with the children’s ensemble for the Homecoming Musi-cal. Students can be paid for 35 hours of work (about $250) and then count the remainder of hours as volun-teer service. This will require evening hours beginning Aug. 29 for most evenings until the musical on Oct. 15 & 16. Participants must undergo a background check for working with the kids. Contact Kari Hatfield, Asst. Pro-fessor of Theater, at 325-232-1980 or email [email protected].
Volunteers are needed for the annual Ben Richey Boys Ranch Chili Superbowl on Saturday and Sun-day, Sept. 3 & 4, between noon and 6 p.m. Help is needed in The Kid’s Place with games and activities for the children. Contact Dede Morris at 325-518-9536 or email [email protected]
The Service-Learning & Volunteer Resources office will host a Service Expo on Thursday & Friday, Sept. 8 & 9, from 10:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. on the main level of the Campus Center. Representatives from area agencies will be available at their displays to discuss with students ways that they can volunteer and serve in our Abilene community.
Abilene Youth Sports Authority needs volunteers for the Big Country Mudslinger Fun Run on Saturday, Sept. 10, in shifts between 7:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. Volunteers would help with parking, water stations, helping runners with various obstacles, and clean up at the end of the day. The even will take place at Seabee Park, FM 600 or West-lake Rd. Contact Katie Miller at 325-692-2972.
The Office of Ministry Events is looking for student workers to help during Summit. Volunteers are needed to help with childcare, technology support, registration, labor, and rePlay recording. Shuttle ser-vice drivers (must be 21 or older) and receptionists/dispatchers are also needed. For more information or to sign up visit the ACU website.
The Big Brothers Big Sisters program is looking for vol-unteers to participate in Lunch Buddies. Bigs and Littles wil enjoy lunch together at the child’s school once a week. Since visits are during chapel, students will receive chapel credit for each visit. Big Brothers Big Sisters is also looking for volunteers for its Community Based program. Bigs are matched with Littles in a one-on-one relationship and spend four to six hours per month together in the com-munity. A background check is required. To sign up or learn more contact www.bbbstx.org or call 325-674-3113.
ACU sustains Mobile Learning Initative, offers iPad upgrade
Melany CoxPage 2 editor
mobile learning
contact cox at
iPad . iPhone . iPod
READTHE OPTIMIST
ON YOUR
Monday 08.29.113 campus news
The Royce and Pam Money Student Recre-ation & Wellness Center is the big news on campus to begin the 2011-12 school year. The 18-month proj-ect has nearly reached its completion and will open on Friday, Sept. 2. RecFest, the grand opening party, is a free overnight celebration for students beginning late Friday night and continu-ing into Saturday morning.
“There’s no comparison between this and the old fitness center; the com-parison is like night and day,” said Director Brian DeVost. “We will have so much available that we’ve never had on campus in the past; there’s so much to be excited about.”
The $21 million rec cen-ter, sometimes referred to as “The Bank” (because it’s the Money Center; get it?), is a large addition to cam-pus at 113,000 square-feet, including the refurbished Gibson Health Center.
The Wellness Center features a bouldering wall, a lap pool, a leisure pool, a fitness center, and several basketball and racquetball courts, as well as a 1/8 mile running track, classrooms, studio exercise rooms, and the new smoothie bar, named “Oasis”.
“The fitness center will
probably be the most-used area of the center,” DeVost said. “It’s the first thing people see when they walk in, and it kind of highlights the building.”
On a sneak-preview tour of the almost-finished facility, DeVost explained what kind of impact the new campus addition will have on students and cam-pus life.
“Immediately, students and faculty and staff can and will be better educat-ed about their health. We’ll give them their starting point, show them where they are physically so they can set goals to improve their health and diet,” he said. “In terms of long-term effects, this will give everyone a better toolbox of things to draw from to keep them healthy.”
The new fitness center offers many options not
available last year to stu-dents on campus.
“I’m excited about The Bank,” said sophomore Sam Groom, a student desk-worker at the new fa-cility. “It’s going to be a new hangout spot for students on campus with plenty of new things to do.”
Doors open on Friday at 11:30 a.m., and lunch will be served on the lawn out-side Moody Coliseum.
“There’s also an out-door patio just outside the pool where we’ll have par-ties and barbecues,” added DeVost. “You can go for a swim, lay out on the patio, play on the outside bas-ketball court that’s right there, and spend time with friends. It’s going to be great.”
Wellness and Recreation Center to open Friday
mark smithmanaging editor
CHAPEL
contact gasvoda at
Daniel Gomez Chirf Photographer
Work was still being done on the Royce and Pam Money Student Recreation and Wellness Center throughout Welcome Week. It is to open for use Sept. 2.
monday 08.29.11 4campus news
ResLife: Freshmen move-in successful
This year’s freshman move-in was the most trouble-free John Delony has seen during his time at ACU, said Delony, as-sistant dean for Residence Life Education and Hous-ing. More than 800 stu-dents arrived on campus during the past week.
“All the campus part-ners were truly incred-ible,” Delony said. “This is hands down the smooth-est move-in I’ve ever been a part of. The students and their parents were great despite the heat.”
Students begin to move into their dorms during the summer and con-tinue to trickle in until a few weeks into the school year.
Tracy Wetsel, residen-tial services coordinator, is responsible for placing each student in a bed, De-lony said. She spent her summer contacting stu-dents and their parents to make arrangements for the upcoming year. Delo-ny was impressed with her dedication to her task.
“She can’t stop with 99 percent success, because that leaves 10 students without a place to live,” Delony said. “She’s really
hit it out of the park.”About half-a-dozen de-
partments work together to get between 800 and 1,000 students and their parents to the proper place on move-in day. The First-Year Program coordi-nates volunteers, ResLife handles check-in, and both Physical Resources and WWF, the university’s custodial contractor, are on hand to make repairs and clean up trash and spills. ARAMARK pitches in by providing food for the ResLife staff.
Delony said a large part of the move-in success was due to contributions of the returning resident
assistants. More of the ResLife staff returned for a second or third year than ever before, he said.
“It is great to have a core group of student leadership who could come in and already know what was going on,” De-lony said. “That’s a great foundation to build on.”
Gardner Hall is one of the halls that started a mentor program for its
ResLife staff. Five of the 10 resident assistants working in Gardner are returning juniors and se-niors. Amber Bower, se-nior family studies major from Fort Worth, is in her second year as an R.A. and said each of the new R.A.s has been paired with an experienced R.A.
“We do a lot of train-ing, and it helps a lot,” she said. “But there are some
things that you can only learn from experience.”
Chris Perkins, fresh-man political science ma-jor from Abilene, moved in Aug. 21. Perkins said plen-ty of people were willing to help move his luggage into the dorm, but he still had some hurtles to jump before settling in.
“The most hectic part was filling out the forms,” Perkins said. “My parents weren’t there, so I had to fill out the insurance pa-pers myself.”
housing
JOZIE sandsopinion editor
contact sands at
Freshman talent on display at Paramount TheatreWelcome week
David SingerArts Editor
contact Singerat
John delony
assistant dean for residence life and housing
All the campus partners were truly incredible. This is hands down the smoothest move-in I’ve ever been a
part of.”“
Students and parents filled the Paramount Theatre in downtown Abilene on Sat-urday night for the fresh-man talent show, the final event of this year’s Wel-come Week.
Over 700 were in atten-dance for the event’s sec-ond year at the Paramount Theatre.
Among the 18 perfor-mances were acts that in-cluded impressions, origi-nal music, beat boxing and body contortion.
Brantly Houston, a freshman advertising and public relations major from Abilene, was chosen as the host.
“I auditioned one morn-ing and just said some things and tried to act real spunky,” said Houston. “I’m not a [theatre] major, but I have done a lot of musical theatre, so I like being the center of attention.”
Along with the host, 27 other freshmen students came together to create the show under the supervi-sion of a student commit-tee that has been organiz-ing Welcome Week since the spring semester.
“We have been working on getting everything pre-pared since the end of last semester,” said Amy Ar-cher, senior Nursing major from Pflugerville.
The talent show alone involved auditions, two practices and a dress re-hearsal.
“We had a pretty good turn out for auditions, and it’s the best performance each of them had, so it
worked out really well,” said Archer.
Performances showed a variety of talents among the incoming class.
One student performed his routine of impressions which included George W. Bush, Ray Romano, Peter Griffin and more.
“My favorite act had to be the impressions,” said Caroline Nikolaus, sopho-more Psychology major from O’Fallon, Ill. “He had
skill and variety and he kept the audience laughing with his script.”
Most acts were musical-ly based, and the show in-cluded an a cappella quin-tet as well as original songs and covers of popular and worship music.
Brad Beard, freshman business management ma-jor from Houston, exhibit-ed his ability to drink three 12 oz. water bottles in five seconds.
“I don’t really do it of-ten, but when I want to get in good with people I just chug water,” says Beard.
At the close of the show, all acts were brought on stage for applause.
Organizers announced winners of the Welcome Week Olympics and Fun Run.
Above: Shelby Warwar performs acoustic version of “Mighty to
Save” at 2011 Freshman Talent Show.
Below: Judith Duran removes her glasses in her own unique way.
Daniel Gomez Chief Photographer
Brad Beard downs three water bottles in a few short seconds
Daniel Gomez Chief Photographer
monday 08.29.115 Campus news
A small but exuberant group celebrated the com-pletion of at least four – and often more – years of hard work at this year’s August Commencement. Ninety-four students walked the stage to receive their un-dergraduate or graduate degrees on Aug. 12.
The ceremony took place at Moody Coliseum with President Dr. Phil Schubert presiding and Dr. Joey Cope, assistant profes-sor of conflict resolution, giving the final “charge to the class.” This August 173
students finished their de-gree plans, but not all of them participated in the Commencement.
Two or three students finished their Master’s de-grees online and visited the ACU campus for the first time at the Commence-ment, said Amelia Emery, degree tracking specialist. They received special rec-ognition at the event.
The August Commence-ment has long had a great-er percentage of students receiving master’s degrees than the May or Decem-ber commencements, and that percentage has been increasing over the past few years.
The 2010 August Com-mencement had 62 gradu-ate participants and 37 un-dergraduate participants – which Registrar Bart Herridge said had been a higher ratio of graduate participants than normal. That ratio increased this August, when 70 graduate and 24 undergraduate stu-dents participated in the Commencement.
Morgan Myrick from Odessa got her graduate degree in marriage and family therapy at the cer-emony. She had already received her undergradu-ate degree in family stud-ies in 2009 and said this Commencement was very
different emotionally than the one she’d participated in two years ago.
Many friends and family attended Myrick’s under-graduate Commencement. Her graduate Commence-ment had a much smaller attendance, she said, but the bonds with her fel-low graduates were much stronger. That closeness made the ceremony pain-ful as well as meaningful.
“We’d worked with the same people for two years,” Myrick said. “It’s hard to let go of that.”
This Commencement was also momentous for Herridge. He has helped coordinate many com-mencements over the years, but this August’s cer-emony was very different than the rest. He was able to watch his wife, Laura Herridge from Abilene, re-ceive her master’s degree in social work.
“The ceremony was about her for me,” Her-ridge said.
Laura Herridge has been a neighborhood coordina-tor for Connecting Car-
ing Communities, a local non-profit organization, for almost a year, and the Herridge family lives in a Friendship House north of Hardin-Simmons Univer-sity, said Herridge. Laura Herridge’s new degree will allow her to supervise ACU interns, Herridge said.
Herridge said sitting in the stands gave him a different perspective on the ceremony he’s helped direct for years. He may tweak a few aspects of the Commencement because of his new point of view.
The Students Association will conduct its fifth an-nual Welcome to Abilene event from 7-9 p.m. Tues-day in the Teague Special Events Center, with more than 50 businesses and churches represented to help incoming freshmen and transfer students con-nect with the off-campus community.
S.A. President Connor Best said 30 businesses and 25 churches reserved booth space at this year’s event to greet the new stu-dents and provide them
with information about Abilene. Best said the event will well serve stu-dents who want to find a local church home.
“I think Welcome to Abilene is where they first meet the church they get connected to the rest of college,” Best said.
Terrence Crisp, college minister at Minda Street Church of Christ, agreed that the first year of col-lege is an important time to find a spiritual com-munity and that Welcome to Abilene helps fill that need.
“We just want to make sure the incoming stu-dents realize how impor-
tant it is to identify with a local church that can serve them, and they can serve in as well,” Crisp said.
This year’s Welcome to Abilene also will allow stu-
dents to connect with no-table businesses and restau-rants near campus. Students
can expect to see representa-tives and even some product samples from places such as Jason’s Deli, Monk’s Coffee Shop and many more.
Participation of local
business is not the only major change from last year’s event: Live enter-
tainment will replace the major giveaway. Last year, students flocked to Wel-come to Abilene in hopes of winning an iPad. This time the main attraction will be live entertainment.
The event will welcome back the sounds of The Light Parade. Band mem-bers and ACU alumni Kara DuBose and Alex Howard recently ended a summer tour in Ireland and have been performing at vari-ous venues in Austin since their return to the U.S.
Last year’s event took place in the Hunter Wel-come Center, but Best said the location was moved to the Teague as part of S.A.’s
effort to make Welcome to Abilene a “hang out” event. The S.A. is projecting a high attendance of 600 students and hopes the location change will cut down on lines inside the expo and the rush to leave.
“The first section of Teague will be the hang out spot with tables so they don’t have to leave as soon as they’ve been through all the booths,” Best said. “That’s where The Light Parade is going to be playing.”
August commencement numbers grow
Students to connect with local churches, businesses at annual event
Commencement
events
Christianna LewisCopy Editor
farron salleynews producer
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contact salley at
morgan MyrickMarriage and family
therapy Graduate from
We’d worked with the same people for two
years. It’s hard to let go of that.”“
Hickory Street Cafe Cici’s PizzaBig Brothers Big Sisters Schlotzsky’sMonk’s Coffee Shop Snappy LubeX-Stream Auto Clean Jason’s DeliComplete Nutrition While It’s HotWholly Cow Burgers Chase BankAbilene Mountain Man Frontier Texas!
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Major: Journalism
Classification: Senior
Hometown: Perry, Okla.
Jozie enjoys staring at typefaces she can’t afford for hours on end; she also plays the fiddle like a beast.
Minimally decentJozie SandS
Major: graphic design
Classification: junior
Hometown: pflugerville
David wishes this bio was based on humor to distract from his lack of interesting hobbies.
whoa! is medavid Singer
Major: graphic design and advertising
Classification: Senior
Hometown: El Paso
Hannah wants readers to know that her name is pro-nounced like ‘Donna’ but with an ‘H.’ Get it right.
once upon a hannahhannah barneS
Major: Journalism
Classification: Junior
Hometown: Richmond, Va.
Mark loves the Miami Dolphins. And sleep. And Relient K. And The Office. And Cherry Cokes from Sonic. And ...
well, this is awkwardmark Smith
Major: advertising and public relations
Classification: junior
Hometown: Brownwood
Samantha enjoys writing, so it’s only logical that she would write an awesome column.
VagabondageSamantha Sutherland
Major: broadcast Journalism
Classification: Senior
Hometown: fort worth
All you need to know about Farron is that you will see her on TV one day – and it won’t be a mug shot.
Farron heightFarron Salley
Oh Dear, Christian College Ben miller
the issue
This is where the editorial board briefly describes what is being discussed in the editorial.
our take
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Editorials spur campus dialogue
Monday 8.29.11 6Opinion
Hannah barneseditor in chief
Mark smithmanaging editor
jozie sandsopinion page editor
marissa fergusononline editor
christina burchmultimedia editor
daniel gomezchief photographer
david ian singer arts editor
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austin gwinsports director
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Unsigned editorials are the opinions of the Optimist and may not necessarily reflect the views of the uni-versity or its administration.
Signed columns, cartoons and letters are the opinions of their creators and may not necessarily reflect the viewpoints of the Optimist or the university.
The Optimist encourages reader response through let-ters to the editor but reserves the right to limit frequent contributors or to refuse to print letters containing
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Address letters to: ACU Box 27892Abilene, TX 79609
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World Famous Bean dresses to impress
Freshmen, I would first like to extend a welcome. It’s always nice to return to find 400 taller and old-er-looking guys roaming campus who are allegedly younger than me (there is no way that one guy is 18).
Now, today’s lunch is probably not your first in the World Famous Bean. You enjoyed its range of deliciously digestible dishes when you first vis-ited campus and during Welcome Week. You’ve sampled foods from ev-ery counter unless, like me, you prefer to stick to Captain Crunch and the dessert line. And, if you are anything like I was coming into my first year (awkward), then you may have a lofty impression of our renowned cafeteria.
But you are just a baby in the world of Wildcat cuisine, and I’ve always been skeptical of opinions formed by someone who can’t even talk yet. So there is something you need to learn: purple-shirted student tour guides, ACU logo-ed golf carts and a flock (or is it a herd?) of prospective students not only signals a Wildcat Pre-view Day but also signals the peak of the Bean’s cu-linary performance.
Of course, I don’t want to criticize the Bean. If it weren’t for our beloved cafeteria, my freshman year diet would have con-
sisted of something like microwaveable gas sta-tion burritos and ketchup packets. You just can’t al-ways be on top. Ask the U.S. economy, the Dallas Cowboys or my first year roommate who I forced to sleep in the bottom bunk (I sleep better at high altitudes, Brian). But that doesn’t stop all those things from being great.
So when the Bean doesn’t serve you the filet mignon and shrimp you ate during your visit, don’t be mad. Instead, enjoy the convenience of paying with meal plans (it doesn’t even feel like your spend-ing money). Be thankful that you can have scram-bled eggs waiting for you five minutes before your 8 a.m. class.
Relish in a selection that allows your taste buds to visit multiple continents. Get creative with your cu-linary combinations (ice cream cookie sandwich, you’ll thank me later). Fi-nally, appreciate that you can have chocolate milk for every meal.
And when golf carts full of high school seniors make you late to class, at least you can take pleasure in the fact that today, the World Famous Bean will be even better than usual.
hashtagaCu
The Opinion page serves a different purpose than the rest of the Optimist. While the Optimist staff strives to present the reader with unbiased news, the edito-rial board attempts to of-fer the reader an opinion.
Columns, editorials, letters to the editor and cartoons make up the ma-jor pieces of the Opinion page. Each element serves a different purpose.
Columns, no matter how serious or light-heart-ed the topic, are meant cause readers to pause and consider the ideas placed before them. The writer decides what opin-
ions and topics will be presented in her column; this is why each column is signed by the author.
We write these columns with the hope that read-ers will consider the ideas presented and make their own decision from there.
In addition to columns, editorials are a staple of the Opinion page. Mem-bers of the editorial board come together weekly to discuss issues rang-ing from the local to the international. Topics are gleaned from news sto-ries, conversations and from what we think affects the student body.
The topic of each edi-torial is decided by the editorial board, which is composed of students from varied majors and backgrounds. Each stu-dent is chosen for the unique views and set of beliefs she brings to the conversation.
Editorials are discussed until the board comes to a consensus. Members may not agree on every aspect of the topic, just as readers may not. But, the board does share the opinion presented in the editorial.
When a consensus is not reached, two editori-als, each with an opposing
view, will be published. This allows us to accurate-ly present the argument of each side.
The editorial is pub-lished sans signature be-cause it does not reflect the opinion of one individual. We do not claim to speak for the university or repre-sent the thoughts of any-one other than ourselves.
The cartoon, one of the most popular features of this page, will often relate to the topic of the edito-rial. It may address issues and changes on campus and around the world.
By sharing our opin-ions, we aim to open a
forum in which students will shape and contribute their own views. The First Amendment recognizes our freedom of speech and of the press. Here we would like to exercise both rights. And by the end, we hope, each of us will be a better-informed citizen.
Feedback is a vital part of any media outlet. At the Optimist we encourage
readers to express their views. Readers can voice opinions by posting com-ments on stories at www.acuoptimist.com or writ-ing a letter to the editor. Comments and letters to the editor may be pub-lished in the Optimist.
2011-2012 Editorial Board
WHOA! IS MEdavid Singer
Major: electronic media
Classification: Senior
Hometown: Abilene
Along with producing a weekly radio show for KACU, Eye on Entertainment, Blane composes killer mash-ups.
Ones and zerosblane Singletary
Editorial
contact the optimist at
contact Singer at
column
Always hits me. The #ACU community is un-paralleled for a university. #candlelightdevo
I thought candlelight devo was on Thursday. . . but I’m old now, what do I know?
“I’m standing next to a strange statue with a baby” – a freshman on the phone trying to find Moody
@a_morrisonman
@emilyloper
@carlybscum
@ang_Wil
7:15 p.m. Aug. 26
2:26 a.m. Aug. 24Got caught stealing traf-fic cones from the ACU police. All in the name of Welcome Week. Thanks for the memories, @amyyeelizabeth!
11:02 p.m. Aug. 23
4:32 p.m. Aug. 23
The editorial board meets weekly to hash out editorial ideas for the next issues. The varied backgrounds and opinions of the members allow for a lively conversation. Editorial topics are gleaned from local and national news along with snippets of conversation we hear around campus.
Send your tweets @acuoptimist, or #aCu, to get your tweets printed in the optimist.
monday 08.29.117 featureS
ACU welcomed hundreds of fresh faces to campus last week during Welcome Week.
The week consisted of events such as a massive Twister game, a Candlelight Devotional, Wel-come Week Olympics and a canned food drive. It gave fresh-
men a chance to share in rich ACU traditions while familiar-izing themselves with campus and the other students.
The move-in crew greeted the new students as they arrived on campus.
“The move-in crew was just really excited and willing to help me move all my junk in,” said freshman Megan Hurley, nursing major from Denison. “So it set the
tone that everyone’s here to help each other and it’s a community.”
Hurley said she came to ACU not knowing anyone but has im-mediately felt welcomed into the ACU community.
“I feel like I have all these freedoms, but I’m not really sure what to do,” Hurley said. “Like the other night I didn’t have dinner because I’m used to my mom making dinner and it’s a
weird feeling having to take care of yourself after being home for 18 years.”
Jameson Smith, freshman un-declared major from Leander, said being at ACU was already better than expected. He enjoyed being able to meet with his men-tor group and was glad to have the extra time to get used to be-ing on campus.
Smith described leaving home as being sad and different but likes that ACU is small and offers a Christian atmosphere.
“I’m still kind of feeling like I’m away for the weekend,” Smith said.
Caroline Hardy, freshman marketing major from Arling-ton, said it was good to have a week that is just for meeting people to help her get used to college living.
She watched from the side-lines as hundreds of her class-mates linked arms with a part-ner on the giant Twister mat in Moody Coliseum on Tuesday during a group game.
“It’s not for me because I’m really clumsy and I don’t want to, like, knock everyone down,” Hardy said about the game.
Hardy said the dorms have been an adjustment, but the com-munity was welcoming.
“Everyone’s doors are open, and we just go in and talk to random people,” Hardy said. “Last night we had ten girls in our room and we watched Mean Girls; it was fun.”
Glimpses ofWelcome Week Students strive to find freshmen identities
Samantha sutherlandfeatures editor
Above: A group of freshmen reach for an inflated beach ball while participating in the Twister competition.
Top Right: Freshmen link arms for a hymn following the freshmen talent show.
Right: Incoming freshmen go bananas during the parade to kick off the Mentor Group Olympics.
Daniel gomez chief Photographer
Adrianna Smith, freshman psychology major from Aurora, Colo., contorts her body while competing on a giant Twister mat as part of the 2011 Welcome Week events.
contact sutherland at
Daniel gomez chief Photographer
Mandy lambright Staff Photographer
daniel gomez chief Photographer
Daniel gomez chief Photographer
Freshmen Jacob Alexander and Ryce Garren perform a mash-up during the freshmen talent show.
monday 08.29.11 8Jumps
Opening ceremonies launch semester
Freshman: Welcome Week staff orients
Budget: Cuts follow smaller enrollment
Devo: new students enjoy tradition
The semester will officially begin today with opening ceremonies in Moody Coli-seum. Students and faculty will gather to partake in this traditional welcoming of the new school year.
Students who arrive on time and stay for the en-tirety of the program will receive two chapel credits, said Mark Lewis, assistant
dean for Spiritual Life and Chapel programs.
University Events planned the opening ceremony to in-clude time-honored campus favorites, such as the read-ing of Paul’s Sermon on Mars Hill and the Parade of Flags, which celebrates the diversity on campus.
The ceremony will in-clude an address from Pro-vost Dr. Jeanine Varner and performances by the Big Purple Band as well as the Grand Chorus, said Event
Coordinator Jennifer El-lison. Dr. Phil Schubert, president of the university, will be the featured speaker for the second year.
Last year’s opening chapel centered arround Schubert’s presidential inauguration and his goals for the univer-sity. This year Schubert will share the university’s vision for the 2011-2012 school year, Ellison said.
“It’s just going to be kind of a charge to the students as well as faculty, staff and
alumni who are in atten-dance,” Ellison said. “It also focuses on our traditions and our promise.”
ACU’s customs are the core of opening chapel and aid in identifying the makeup of past, present and future Wildcats, Ellison.
“ACU is ultimately founded on tradition and a deep heritage,” Ellison said. “I think for us to continual-ly start the year off that way is a reminder of those that came before us.”
One tradition has been carried on since 1906.
“Before we have the scripture reading of Paul’s Sermon on Mars Hill, we will sing ‘All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name,’” Ellison said. “That has actually been sung at every open-ing chapel since the begin-ning of ACU.”
Tuesday’s chapel will incorporate this semester’s chapel theme, Spirit/Flesh with focus on passages from Romans, Galatians
and Colossians.Lewis said his goal for cha-
pel is to prepare young Chris-tians for the future.
“Our aim this year is to have messages that speak into the lives of students, provid-ing answers and direction for the present, and preparation for one day launching from ACU to be Christian servants and leaders,” Lewis said.
CHAPEL
welcome week
Finances
Marissa FergusonOnline editor
contact Ferguson at
contact sutherland at
contact barnes at
contact smith at
we make or embarrassing things we do,” Strader said.
“In Luke chapter 3, Je-sus is baptized before he’s done any miracles. He re-ceived affirmation from
God for who he is, not what he does, and that’s the message I wanted to get across to everyone at the devo.”
The annual tradition has been a landmark event for students during wel-
come week. Organizers seek to plan a memorable experience as the new stu-dents are handed a candle to walk from Moody Coli-seum to the Beauchamp Amphitheater between a tunnel of upperclassmen and other members of the community, all singing worship songs.
“I have felt so welcomed here, and the Candlelight Devo was a great experi-ence,” said sophomore Kendyl Cooper, a trans-fer student from Mineral Wells. “At many other col-leges, upperclassmen tend to look down on freshmen and transfers, but here they really seem to love us and build us up.”
In the middle of a fast-paced week of change for new students, Candlelight Devo is intended to bring a more relaxed, spiritual moment in the middle of the first week at ACU for more than 800 freshmen and transfer students.
“The way the upper-classmen went ahead and made a path for us, and to be sitting with the entire freshman class singing as one, was really an inspir-ing moment for me,” said Dentino. “It meant a lot that so many people from the Abilene community came out to spend their time with us; it was just an awesome experience.”
gan, Amy Archer, Kim-berly Harris and Brandon Kahla. The Welcome Week Steering Crew consisted of 20 students who were di-vided into five committees focusing on transfer stu-dents, international stu-dents, activities, spiritual life and mentor groups.
“I really enjoy getting to witness the transitions you go through as a freshman when you first get here and
just seeing even the small development that happens from move-in to the end of Welcome Week,” Daugh-erty said.
Randee Nelson, junior history major from Carls-bad, N.M., worked with international students during Welcome Week and said the committee designed things a little bit differently for them. Lead-ers picked the students up from the airport, helped
them move in, took them to Wal-Mart, took them out to eat and helped them get settled in.
“One of the most impor-tant things is making them feel comfortable in their new world, being a friend and making them feel at home and accepted,” Nel-son said.
Nelson said the Steering Committee enjoyed watch-ing friendships sprout throughout the week from
behind the scenes. She said many of the incoming freshmen already are eager to get involved on campus and want to join in the campus community.
Nelson said, “I hope they walk away with con-fidence and excitement that their next four years – or however many years they’re here – will be good and will be fun and they’ll be involved and they’ll find their place here.”
Kelsi Wicks, senior ani-mal science major from Tyler, helped organize the events for transfer stu-dents. She said they had different options avail-able, such as taking a trip to Nikki’s Swirl Shoppe or playing volleyball at Sonic, so the week would not feel like a second freshman year to them.
Wicks said her fresh-man year Welcome Week experience was essential
to introduce her to other students, including many upperclassmen, and famil-iarizing her with all of the ACU traditions.
“The candlelight devo was that one defining mo-ment when I realized I made the right decision,” Wicks said.
annique dentino
freshman psychology
major from lubbock
I actually started choking up while walking
to the amphitheater.”“welcome week
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end and Baylor University and Pepperdine University on the high end. However, some more expensive competitors – such as Baylor and TCU – have made moves that re-duced the gap between them and ACU, Schubert said
Schubert also said in sev-eral key areas, the university has not executed its 5-year plan, specifically in the area of recruitment.
“This is not an easy mar-ket to work in,” Schubert said. “Before the 1970s, we didn’t even have a recruiting office. People just showed up. It’s not
that way any more.”Schubert said Kevin
Campbell, who has served as interim director of enroll-ment marketing since the departure of Buck James last fall, has accepted the permanent position this summer and will be charged with tackling the challenges
of improving freshman en-rollment.
In addition to the gap in tuition income this fall, cut-backs in the state of Texas budget have led to the loss of $700,000 in Texas Equal-ization Grant funds for ACU students. Chief Financial Officer Kelly Young and
Schubert decided to replace the lost TEG money with ad-ditional endowment funds. Schubert and SLT requested to spend additional endow-ment dollars to cover the aid cut by the state.
Despite the financial struggles, Schubert told fac-ulty and staff the university is
moving the right direction.“I’m convinced our plan
is the right plan moving for-ward,” he said. “It’s not time to bale out or to say we have the wrong plan.”
whereas Hutt achieved 306 kills and 19 aces in 110 sets last season.
The LSC conference isn’t going to be a walk in the park for ACU. West Texas A&M University has won the last five conference titles, while Angelo State finished 10-3 last season.
ACU was picked to fin-ish third in the confer-ence. However, they are the only Lone Star Con-ference team in the pre-season top 25.
“I think the most chal-lenging part of the sched-ule is the travel itself. Op-ponent wise, West Texas and Angelo State are going to be very good this year, but there’s not really a team
in our conference that isn’t good,” said Mock. “We have to play disciplined volley-ball. We need to finish in the top three in the con-ference at the end of the season, and then we need to shoot to win the confer-ence tournament.”
Borger, though, isn’t fazed by the stiff compe-tition. “I’m hoping we can be conference champi-ons. That’s a big goal,” the Amarillo native said.
The Wildcats open their season this week-end, Sept. 2-3 at the St. Mary’s Tournament.
ACU’s first home match is Sept. 13, at 7 p.m. against Incarnate Word.
monday 08.29.11 9sports Jumps
Golding: Team is readyGolding and his team won the Sun Belt Conference title and made an appear-ance in the NCAA Tourna-ment during his tenure.
“Even before we had the job open up, me and Joe talked about his desire to one day be back at ACU and to be a head coach, and that made working with him even more of a joy,” Mosley said. “He was in the process when we decided to go with Grant. He is just what the pro-gram needs, and will pro-vide a ray of light to all he comes into contact with. We are beyond grateful for
his desire to be here.”As a player with the
Wildcats from 1994-98, Golding played in all 108 games during his col-legiate career, and, as a senior, won the Teague Point Guard Award for his performance on the court. He shot 46% from the field throughout his ACU career and has made an impact in more ways than one already.
Helping Golding will be assistant coach Brian Burton. Burton was origi-nally a graduate assistant for McCasland’s staff after being hired away from the University of Utah where he was in charge of video scouting for the Utes.
McCasland’s assistant coach Rob McIlhaney, whom he hired to go with him from Midwestern State to ACU, will go back north to Wichita Falls to coach the Mustangs. Step-ping into Burton’s role of graduate assistant will be Jared Monroesenberg.
men’s basketball
contact gwin at
Cuts: Haircuts have purposeSo the new players could warm up to the look be-fore school, the haircuts were done weeks ago. As a whole, the players have ad-justed well to what could be considered an embar-rassing tradition.
“There will never be only one player with a haircut, so it’s not bad at all. Community is what we’re shooting for with the haircuts. Everyone knows that you play football, so they understand why you have the haircut. Yes, it’s embarassing, but it’s all in good fun,” Spears said.
Although it’s a less- than-desirable look, Na-
than Butler seems to be enjoying the attention he has been receiving and is basking in the limelight.
“Girls will usually come up and ask about it,” But-ler said. “But it’s really not that bad, and I enjoy the attention just about all of the time.”
Thanks mainly to Se-nior offensive lineman Neal Tivis, these creative and humorous new looks are for the ACU commu-nity to enjoy.
Tivis has been giving new players a reason to be recognized for the past few years, and he gets more imaginative and in-novative as the years go on. Although there are a
number of haircuts be-ing recycled from years passed, there are also a few new looks that are be-ing recognized as well.
For instance, the infa-mous “Friar Tuck” look just might give the ACU favor-ite “bowl cut” a run for its money. This monk-inspired design was sported this year by Hunter McAnnally, another offensive lineman from Flower Mound.
Other looks include
the popular Wildcat hand sign, the ACU logo, phras-es, mottos and more. The possibilities are limitless.
For quarterback Mitchell Gale, this humorous exercise serves more of a purpose than a good laugh or two.
“Yeah, it’s fun to mess around with the incoming guys, but it serves more of a purpose than you’d think,” Gale said. “It’s our way of wel-coming the guys to the team, and it signifies to them that they are part of our family.”
For a good laugh, be on the lookout for students who could use another haircut, this time from a professional.
Jared mosleydirector of athletics
at ACU
It was a joy working with him. We are grateful for his (Golding’s) desire to
be here at ACU.”“
blake spearsjunior offensive lineman
from abilene
Everyone knows that you play football so they
understand why you have the haircut.”“
Fantasy: Tips from a past championIt doesn’t matter which one you get as long as you get one of these seven guys: Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Philip Rivers, Matt Schaub and Tony Romo. They can be draft-ed in the second or third round, but don’t wait too long, or you could end up with the wrong Manning and reeling your loss with your team’s record.
Grab the Ocho. In Oak-land, Randy Moss was a mid-level receiver on a terrible team. In his first year after being traded to the New England Patriots, Moss set the single season touchdown record for wide receivers with 23 and was a fantasy gem. This same story could happen to for-mer Cincinnati Bengals receiver Chad Ochocinco. Although he is a character and a dominant personal-ity in the NFL, Ocho is a quality receiver who was on a terrible team, much like Moss. Now that he is a Patriot with a future Hall of Fame quarterback in Tom Brady throwing to him, he is due for a breakout season and is sure to be a welcome addition to any fantasy football team.
Know the rookies. Ev-ery year, first year players come into the NFL and will have breakout seasons. Some are highly praised coming in, and end up being fantasy busts. The lockout this year impacts
rookies more than anyone because they now have to get accustomed to the NFL faster than ever. A couple of rookies I see having an impact this year are re-ceivers A.J. Green of the Bengals and Julio Jones of the Atlanta Falcons. Both were drafted high in the first round and have shown glimpses of their greatness in the preseason. Both should be available in rounds four to six.
Steal a Wildcat. With even more ACU Wildcats in the NFL this year, there is a better chance one could help your fantasy team. Last year, I won a champi-onship with Johnny Knox as my second receiver, and the same tune could be playing with Raymond Radway and Edmund Gates this season. If you are looking to add some purple and white to your team, Knox or Edmund Gates could be a late round steal that could make your draft expertise the talk of the fantasy league. I also wouldn’t overlook former ‘Cat running back Bernard Scott, who is one injury away from starting for the Bengals and could play an integral role in the Ben-gals’ rushing game.
With these tips, you can be a champion. Good luck, and may all of your fanta-sies come true.
Four: Group parts on top
Nick Jones won the dis-cus to start the decisive last day of the meet. That marked the third time in the last four years that Jones has won the discus.
In the process, Jones broke Randy Heiser’s 28-year old meet record with his first throw before breaking his own record a mere ten minutes later with a heave of 199 feet, 3 inches.
Midland native Des-mond Jackson, sprinter, followed suit by winning the 200 meters, leading from wire-to-wire. He
also finished third in the 100 meter dash.
Senior Ramon Sparks finished third in the triple jump while Sang wrapped up his ACU career with a win in the 10,000. The long-distance star clinched the trophy by gliding to fourth place in the 5,000 meter run.
The 400-relay team for the Wildcats also had a strong showing with a second place finish.
That team, consisting of Jackson, Paris Robert-son, Lavance Williams and Jordan Geary, picked up the other eight points for the ‘Cats.
The group of four has played the cornerstone role for the ACU men’s track and field team and were a part of two national champion-ships in their final season together as a quartet. The quartet has played a major role in the prominence of the program during their tenure as well.
Sang summed up their accomplishments in a
way that brings light to the special bond they have formed as result of competing for four years together, but, he did so in a less-than-analytical way and non-textbook way.
“This group of people is something you can’t put a number on no matter how many meets or champion-ships we’ve won together. These four guys have poured everything they have into this program for four years, and as a result of that, the results speak for themselves.”
track and field
amos sangLong distance runner and
member of ‘fab Four’
This group of people is something you can’t
put a number on .”“
contact shake at
daniel gomez chief Photographer
Jordan Schilling jumps for a kill last year at Moody Coliseum.
Year: Youth excited to play
contact gwin at
Volleyball
contact isaacs at
football
contact langston at
from page 10
from page 10
from page 10
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It’s that time of the year again, sports fans. Time to pull out the ole’ pigskin, don your favorite jersey, set your laptop in front of you and draft your fan-tasy football team.
This offseason was a grueling six months of not knowing whether we, as fantasy athletes, would even get to play our beautiful game thanks to the lockout. However, the commis-sioner, the owners, the players all bro-hugged it out, and now, here we are, staring football in the face.
I started playing the game six years ago, and since that first fantasy football draft, I have been hooked. In my five years of experience, I have won three champi-onships. Does that make me an expert? Yes.
I realize, though, that some of you might not be as experienced as me, so here are some tips to drafting a winning fan-tasy football team.
Avoid one-year won-ders. Arian Foster and Michael Vick were golden last year, but chances are slim that they will pro-duce those kind of num-bers in 2011. Go for more stable guys who have produced year after year like Adrian Peterson, An-dre Johnson or Ray Rice. If you do decide to pick Vick, be aware. He is high risk, high reward and is al-ways a threat to injury due to his run-first mentality.
Get an elite quar-terback. There are only seven elite fantasy quar-terbacks in the NFL right now. They will all give you big time points, bar-ring injury, and are head and shoulders better than the other 25 start-ing QB’s in the league.
daniel gomez chief Photographer
Madelyn Robinett and several ACU volleyball players celebrate after winning a point at Moody Coliseum last season.
monday 08.29.11 10sports
TeamACUMSUENMUWTAMUAngelo St.TAMU-KCentral Okla.SE Okla. Tarleton St.
Div.0-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-0
Ovrl.0-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-0
TeamACUMSUENMUWTAMUAngelo St.TAMU-KCentral Okla.SE Okla. TAMU-K
Div.0-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-0
Ovrl.0-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-0
TeamACUMSUENMUWTAMUAngelo St.TAMU-KCentral Okla.SE Okla. TAMU-K
Div.0-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-0
Ovrl.0-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-00-0
Both the men’s and women’s cross country teams were regionally ranked by the U.S. Track and Field Cross Country Coaches’ Association Poll, which was released Tuesday. The men’s team was ranked ninth and the women were ranked tenth in the South Central Regional Poll, respectively. The men’s team is coming off a season where they ranked 20th nationally.
Ryan Spears, a 15-year coaching veteran, was named the assistant coach for the women’s soccer team August 18 by head coach Casey Wilson. Spears was the head coach for Arkansas’ Bryant Soccer Club and lead staff coach for the Arkansas State Soccer Association.
Danieal Manning saw a change of scenery as he was traded from the Chicago Bears to the Houston Texans recently after a five year stint in Chicago. He has two tackles in each of the first two preseason games so far.
Bears wide receiver Johnny Knox has started off his third season with the Bears on the right foot. He has three receptions so far and is coming off a near 1,000 yeard receiving season.
Rookie receiver Raymond Radway caught his first NFL touchdown pass in the Cowboys’ first preseason game against the Denver Broncos that resulted in a 24-23 win.
The women’s soccer team will host Dallas Baptist University Thursday at 5 p.m at the Wildcat Soccer Pitch.
Volleyball will play in the St. Mary’s Invitational Tournament Friday and Saturday in San Antonio.
Football will travel to Stephenville Thursday to take on Tarleton State at 7 p.m. at Tarleton Memorial Stadium.
Cross Country will compete at the Baylor Twilight Invitational Thursday in Waco.
football
volleyball
Women’s Soccer
standings
briefings
EX- FACTOR
Upcoming
McCasland out, Golding takes over
Grant McCasland was hired to turn the men’s basketball program around after two years of mediocrity. That job will now fall to former Wildcat player and former assis-tant coach Joe Golding.
In July, McCasland left his new coaching posi-tion with the Wildcats and headed southeast to Waco
to be an assistant coach at his alma mater, Baylor Univeristy.
“When you have been in athletics for as long as I have, there is never really a great opportunity, or the timing never seems to fall like you would like it to for a move like this,” director of athletics Jared Mosley said. “I was really looking forward to what Grant was bringing to the table.”
According to Mosley, McCasland approached
him about the potential move when the opportu-nity to take the job at Bay-lor came up.
“While I didn’t neces-sarily like it, it made a lot of sense for him,” Mosley said. “It is one of those op-portunities that you can’t pass up: the ability to go to your alma mater. You can’t fault a guy for that.”
McCasland came to ACU four months ago with high expectations after leading Midwestern
State to back-to-back Elite Eight NCAA Tournament appearances. He leaves without coaching a game for the Wildcats.
Golding, who was a can-didate for the head coaching position, was immediately hired to fill the vacancy left by McCasland.
“I am extremely ex-cited that we were able to get Golding to come in,” Mosley said. “I know he is going to step up and take over the great recruiting
job that Grant did, and hopefully he can turn this program around.”
As a previous Wildcat assistant, Golding was a part of Jason Copeland’s staff that led the Wildcats to a 20 win season in 2007, the last time the team had a winning record. After that season Golding was hired to be a part of the staff at Division I school, Universi-ty of Arkansas-Little Rock.
Men’s basketball
Austin gwinsports director
DANIEL GOMEZ chief Photographer
Chris Thomsen talks to some players with crazy haircuts.
Football is my fantasy
Haircuts keep freshmen buzzing
Freshmen are the easiest stu-dents on any college campus to identify, but at ACU it is even easier to spot the fresh-men football players.
A new tradition that was started by the up-perclassmen continues
to entertain students and faculty alike by catching their eyes.
Yes, those haircuts that have been seen by many on campus are the football team’s way of introducing new team members to the university and its promi-nent football program.
However, some nar-rowly escape this team
initiation according to Junior offensive lineman Blake Spears.
“It’s kind of based on which position you play. Almost every new offen-sive lineman will get one, and a few other positions but it really depends,” said Spears.
‘Fab Four’ brings home another championship
The quartet of track ath-letes known as the ‘Fab Four’ added another ac-complishment to Abilene Christian’s storied track and field history by gar-nering another national championship May 28, this time at the NCAA Di-
vision II outdoor national meet in Turloch, Califor-nia. The same group led the men’s track and field team to a national title at the NCAA Division II in-door national meet.
The ‘Fab Four,’ com-posed of Desmond Jackson, Amos Sang, Ramon Sparks and Nick Jones, earned 60 of the Wildcat’s 68 total points at the meet, 13 more
than second place Adam State. The first place finish is ACU’s 19th outdoor na-tional championship and the school’s 57th overall.
“Like we’ve been say-ing around here for quite some time, those guys are the ‘Fab Four.’ We won’t be able to replace any of them. They’re such great competitors and have such tremendous heart. The
thing about those guys is that 10-20 years from now we’ll still be talking about how special those guys were to this program,” ACU head track and field coach Roosevelt Lofton said. “I just hope the younger guys on our team have been watching those guys and will be ready to step into
No. 23 ’Cats ready for 2011
Summer has come and gone, and that means it’s time for the Abilene Chris-tian University women’s volleyball team to gear up for another successful sea-son.
The Wildcats ended 2010 with a 27-6 overall record and a 13-1 mark in the Lone Star Conference.
The Wildcats’ 2010 cam-paign ended when the team was knocked out in the semifinal round of the Divi-sion II South Central Region Tournament by Washburn University last year.
The No. 23 Wildcats have somewhat of a new look
this year as several key play-ers have departed, includ-ing All American Shawna Hines, two-time first team all-Lone Star Conference honoree Ijeoma Moronu and LSC second team mem-ber Jordan Schilling.
Hines lead the team in kills and points in 2010 with 323 and 422 respec-tively. Schilling recorded 273 kills along with a team high 25 service aces, while Moronu had 1,169 assists and is now second all-time at ACU with 4,847.
The 2011 roster is filled with new faces and young talent with an improved roster that includes seven freshman (two redshirted) and four sophomores.
Despite the youth on
the current roster, ACU re-turns a number of experi-enced starters and players from last year.
Libero Kelsie Edwards, rightside hitter Kalynne Allen, outside hitter Jennie Hutt, and LSC Freshman of the Year and middle block-er Neely Borger return to this year’s squad. All four saw significant playing time in their 2010 seasons.
“We have five new play-ers coming this fall. They are all playing really well, so you might see all five on the floor,” Head Coach Kellen Mock said. “The girls are very scrappy. They don’t let down or give up. They are a mentally tough team for their age.”
“We do lack experi-
ence,” Borger said. “Los-ing those three seniors was huge. Fortunately, we have a strong group of freshman this year. We’re coming to-gether as a team and have bonded really well.”
When asked about the intensity of practice, Borger said, “I’ve picked up my intensity level from last year. I have more of a leadership role compared to last season.”
Borger was named an honorable mention all-conference selection as she appeared in 118 of 119 possible sets in 2010. In addition, she had 194 kills and 23 aces last year.
Kalynne Allen clocked
EDWARD ISAACSASSIstant sports editor
VOLLEYBALL
TRACK AND FIELD
BRYSOn SHAKEsPORTS EDITOR
FOOTBALL
TAYLOR LANGSTONsPORTS reporter
The Sports Jediaustin gwin
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