SUMMIT

The International Students As-sociation is taking the lead to en-courage students to help with Ja-pan disaster relief. The club will

put on several events and set up donation booths to benefit the disaster victims.

About 25-30 ACU students call Japan home and ISA felt compelled to help, said Sebastian Karlsson, se-nior theatre major from Linneryd,

Sweden and ISA member.“Some of them had family that

were affected and some even had parents living in tents,” Karls-son said. “The proceeds from the booth are going to local churches in Japan that ISA members have

connections with, then from there the church will handle how the money is distributed.”

Total donations so far amount to approximately $1,600, both from Campus Center donations and from individuals sending

in money, said Asako Nemoto, junior theatre major from Iba-raki, Japan and ISA member.

ISA conducted the Interna-tional Food Festival last week and

ACU is saying “Enough” during Summit 2011.

Summit will incorpo-rate the theme, “Enough: Hearing God through Isaiah” and will feature speakers such as ACU alumna Max Lucado, best-selling author and preach-

ing minister at Oak Hills Church in San Antonio.

B r a d y Bryce, di-rector of m i n i s t r y events, said s t u d e n t s have been r e q u e s t -ing Lucado for years, and this year,

Bryce said he seemed like a perfect fit.

“He shows up every year on lists. We get hun-dreds of recommenda-tions, and he just seemed like a natural fit this year,” Bryce said. “Presi-dent Schubert mentioned him in his opening Cha-pel address and was kind of taken by his newest

book, and I thought, well this would be a good year, and Max had a cancella-tion, it really was a neat thing that it worked out”

Lucado graduated from ACU in 1977 and was Young Alumnus in 1991 as well as Alumnus of the Year in 2003. He said he

Optimistthe

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

acuoptimist.com

1 section, 8 pages

weatherinside

page 3

websitenewsACU’s speech and debate team won two national titles at the Pi Kappa Delta tournament in Portland, Ore.

page 8

sportsGrant McCasland was hired as the new men’s basketball coach after finishing the season with Midwestern State. 94° 62°

Wed. Fri.Thurs.

91° 59° 92° 64°

Giddy Up, page 5

Linda Bailey Editor in Chief

Lucado to headline fall Summit

Vol. 99, No. 47

Abilene Christian University

see AID page 4

Jason’s Deli is scheduled to open a new location this summer on the north side of Abilene near Walmart.

Daniel Helfman, Ja-son’s Deli spokesperson, said the restaurant will hold 180 people and will feature the original Ja-son’s Deli menu.

“We’ve been hear-ing from the customers for a while that this is something they wanted,” Helfman said. “Abilene has been a great town to us. We’re very excited to bring them another deli.”

Kirk Jeffries owns the Jason’s Deli on the south side of Abilene along with several other delis throughout West Texas. His new restaurant is scheduled to open in July, Helfman said.

Van Dexter Duez, ju-nior business manage-ment major from Altus, Okla., said he is looking forward to Jason’s Deli opening a location on the north side of town.

“The quality of food is really good,” Duez said. “The atmosphere is very chill and relaxed.”

Duez said he visits Ja-son’s Deli about three to four times a month. Al-though the new location

North Abilene to open Jason’s

see JASON’S page 4

A group of ACU students have partnered with the Advertising/Public Relations Club to put on the annual fashion show.

“In the RED Fashion Show” will take place April 30 at the Windsor Hotel and will support the Red Thread Movement.

The Red Thread Movement began in 2009 by Brittany Partridge, junior political science major from Annandale, Minn., and Samantha Sutherland, sophomore advertising/public re-lations major from Brownwood, to raise aware-ness of sex trafficking, specifically in Nepal.

Sutherland said she is happy to see the campus and community involving them-selves more with the program.

“One thing I love about the fashion show is it’s a group of students who come to us with a passion to help and raise awareness,” Sutherland said. “The fashion show team is incredibly talented and we are excited to see what they come up with.”

Tickets to “In the RED” will go on sale April

18 for $10 in the Campus Center. Each ticket comes with a Red Thread bracelet and all pro-ceeds support the Red Thread Movement.

Sutherland said that funds would help pay for traveling expenses to Nepal as well as going to four different music festivals, including Vans Warped Tour, this summer to help raise awareness on the road.

Whitney Puckett, senior advertising/public relations major from Melbourne,

Nikki MimmsContributing Reporter

see ENOUGH page 4

Red-y or Not

Nikki MimmsContributing Reporter

DANIEL GOMEZ // Chief PhotographerEyrah Quashie, junior advertising and public relations major from The Colony, helps secure a sign and mannequin for the In the Red Fashion Show display.

ISA encourages students to help JapanINTERNATIONAL STUDENTS ASSOCIATION

LOCAL

TANNER FREEMAN // Staff Photographer

Brady Bryce, director of ministry events, presents the 2011 Summit Art Contest winner, Leanne Kawahigashi, freshman graphic design major from Fort Worth.

Students raise awareness of sex trafficking through fashion

videoScan the QR code to watch students respond to next year’s nearly 10 percent increase in tuition. The increase bumps the cost of one credit hour to $787.

see FASHION page 4

Lucado

Matthew Woodrow, Opinion Page Editor

Study Abroad Fall 2011 Spaces still are available in the Oxford and Mon-tevideo Study Abroad Programs for Fall 2011. Students can enroll in CORE 120 and CORE 220 in Oxford, and $1,000 scholarships are avail-able for the Montevideo Study Abroad Program. For more information, visit the Study Abroad Office in Room 124 of the Hardin Administra-tion Building.

Online Summer Courses Registration for online sum-mer courses now is open. Students can choose from 15 courses, and each course is three weeks long. For more information, visit www.acu.edu/summeronline.

All-school Chapel The Chapel Office encourages students to participate in “Bring Your Professor to Chapel Day” and invite their professors to Chapel as a part of the campus-wide effort to attend Chapel every Monday.

Relay for Life The American Cancer Soci-ety is organizing Relay for Life to raise funds for cancer research and to honor and celebrate the lives of cancer survivors and fighters. The event is from 7 p.m.-7 a.m. on April 29-30 at Elmer Gray Stadium. To sign up with an Abilene team, click on the Relay for Life myACU log-in ad or visit www.relayforlife.com.

announcements

08Friday

Just People, Inc. needs volunteers from 10 a.m.- 2 p.m. for the Abilene Kite Festival on April 16 at Red Bud Park. Volun-teers can help facilitate safety measures and as-sist festival participants. For more information, contact Justina Thomp-son at 672-2118 or email jthompson@justpeo-pleinc.org.

International Rescue Committee Students can work with refugees who moved to the United States, teaching English, helping with homework and mentoring. Volunteer times are flexible. Call Daina Juryka-Owen at 675-5643 ext. 16 to make an appointment. For more information on the Inter-national Rescue Commit-tee, visit www.theirc.org.

Dyess Youth Center needs help with a Ping Pong Exhi-bition from 4-6 p.m. every Friday. Volunteers will preside over tournaments and help with an exhibition for the students. Transpor-tation will not be provided, and volunteers cannot have any sexual assault charges or charges pend-ing. For more information, contact Sheri Frisby at 696-4797, or email sheri.frisby@dyess.af.mil.

Mesa Spring Healthcare Center needs volunteers from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. any day of the week to help with fun activities for the resi-dents, including playing instruments, calling bingo and sitting and talking. All help is appreciated. Contact Laura Reynolds at 692-8080 or lgreynolds@sears-methodist.com.

Windcrest Alzheimer’s Care Center needs volunteers to clean out and organize closets any day Sunday-Friday at any time during the day. Con-tact Chris Stephenson to arrange a time at 692-1533 or clstephenson@sears-methodist.com.

National Center for Children’s Illustrated Lit-erature Students can assist with art activities, sell books and welcome visitors from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. or 1-3 p.m., Tuesdays-Saturdays. For more information, contact Debby Lillick at 673-4586, or visit www.nccil.org.

Ben Richey Boys Ranch is seeking volunteers for its upcoming Annual Clay Shoot on April 30th. Volunteers will be pullers at stations, help with reg-istration or coordinate raffle ticket sales. Train-ing will be given for both shifts at 8:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m. or 11:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m. T-shirts and free dinner are included for volunteers. Contact Patty Dunn at 665-4058 for more information.

Abilene Hope Haven is seeking volunteers for childcare any night, Monday-Thursday from 6:45-8:15 p.m. For more information, contact Kathy Reppart at 677-4673.

Aimee’s Art Studio is seek-ing volunteers from 9-10 a.m. or 1:30-2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, to assist with ho-meschool fine arts classes. No formal art skills or train-ing is required. The studio is a five-minute walk from ACU’s campus. For more information, contact Aimee Williams at 672-9633.

Center for Contemporary Arts needs a gallery assis-tant to help with exhibit setup and preparation. The work can be done any time from 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Tuesday-Friday. Call 677-8389 or email info@center-arts.com.

Madison Middle School is looking for male volun-teers to participate in a weekly “Boys2Men” lunchtime program for eighth grade boys. Speak-ers will be addressing dif-ferent aspects of growing up. Contact Jeff Womack at 692-5661 or jeffrey.womack@abileneisd.org.

Abilene Youth Sports Authority needs volunteers April 16 and April 17 for a basketball tournament they will host at Abilene High School and Cooper High School. Students can help sell tickets and assist in the concession stand 8 a.m.- 9 p.m. Contact Katie Miller at 692-2972 or email khowerton@abileneysa.org.

Wednesday, April 06, 2011

calendar & events06 Thursday07 09Saturday

follow us on Twitter: @acuoptimist // become a fan on Facebook: The Optimist

volunteer opportunities

A log of the ACU Police De-partment’s daily activities will be printed on this page of the Optimist. The first Police Log will appear Friday.

2Campus Day

correctionThe Optimist misidentified Wildcats for Sustainability and its founder, Jared Perkins, in the Wednesday, March 30 edition of the Optimist. We regret this error.

11 a.m. Japan Disaster Response Chapel in Moody Colliseum

6:30 p.m. Square dance workshop at the Wagon Wheel in Tye

11 a.m. Small Group Chapels in various locations around campus

11 a.m.-5 p.m. Blood drive located in the parking lot between the Brown Library and the Hardin Administration Building

3 p.m. Texas Christian Schools Interscholastic Tournament at various locations across campus

3-6 p.m. Mall Jam at the Campus Mall

7:30 p.m. The Pirates of Penzance at Fulks Theatre

11 a.m. Praise Day in Moody Colliseum

8 a.m. Texas Christian Schools Interscholastic Tournament at various locations across campus

6 p.m. Softball at Texas Woman’s University

7 p.m. Baseball vs. Eastern New Mexico University

7:30 p.m. SHADES show in Cullen Auditorium

7:30 p.m. The Pirates of Penzance in Fulks Theatre

10 p.m. The Pirates of Penzance talk-back in Fulks Theatre

7:30 a.m. Texas Christian Schools Interscholastic Tournament at various locations across campus

8 a.m. Kirk Goodwin 5K Run starts at the Hardin Administration Building

2 p.m. Baseball vs. Eastern New Mexico University

7:30 p.m. Abilene Adult Chorus Concert at the Williams Performing Arts Center Recital Hall

7:30 p.m. SHADES show in Cullen Auditorium

7:30 p.m. The Pirates of Penzance in Fulks Theatre

52

Chapel

Credited Chapels to date

Checkup21 Credited

Chapels remaining

ACU Police Tip of the WeekWarm weather means more students are outside exer-cising. Students should use the lit Lunsford Trail, go in groups and always carry a cell phone.

Police LogEdited for space

Thursday, March 2410:22 p.m. An Abilene resident reported some-one launching water bal-loons from A.B. Barret Hall onto the Lunsford Trail. Officers were unable to locate the suspect.

Friday, March 252 p.m. A student report-ed that a subject had at-tempted to scam her out of a large sum of money by sending her a $2650 check for a computer software service he had promised to provide her. He requested the stu-dent deposit the check in her bank account, keep $500 as her service fee, then forward the $2150 balance to him. The student recognized this as a common scam and rejected the plan.

Saturday, March 269:40 p.m. ACU police of-ficers received a call that three students in the back of a Ford pickup truck had been throwing

water balloons filled with orange juice. The bal-loons struck the caller’s dog while they walked on the Lunsford Trail. At the same time, the Abilene Police Depart-ment received a similar report of three suspects throwing water balloons near A.B. Barret Hall.

Sunday, March 2712:50 p.m. The ACU Police Department re-ceived an open 911 call from a call box located on the Lunsford Trail near Teague Circle. An officer saw two boys activate the 911 call box near Sikes Hall and run from the scene. The officer apprehended the boys, took them home and released them to their mother.

Report all suspicious ac-tivity to the ACU Police Department at 674-2305.

Weekly StatsMarch 23-30

911 CallAbandoned Vehicle AccidentAdministrativeActivityAlarmAssistAttempt to LocateBoot/Unboot VehicleBuilding Lock/Unlock

Motorist Assist: OtherMotorist Assist: Unlock Patrol Vehicle: MaintenancePatrol Vehicle: Refuel Report WritingSuspicious ActivityTraffic StopTrainingCheck Building

1

13

2

7

22

22

32

31

27

321

2

13

Criminal Mischief DisturbanceDomestic Disturbance ForgeryInvestigation Follow UpLost PropertyMedicalEmergencyMonitor FacilityMonitor TrafficMotorist Assist: Jumpstart

111

112

12

122

Wednesday

April 6, 2011 Page 3CAMPUS NEWS

Speech and debate team wins national titles

ACU’s speech and debate team had a successful last competition of the year. The team traveled to Portland, Ore., last week to compete in the Pi Kappa Delta na-tional tournament against more than 70 universities, including the University of Nebraska and Texas A&M University.

Dena Counts, director of forensics, said her team has learned to work together.

“Team dynamics is a real key to success. Our team won third overall in debate sweepstakes,” Counts said.

Team members Jared Perkins, junior political science major from Peru, Ill., and Jeff Craig, junior print journalism major from Granbury, contin-ued their success and are

ranked the 16th team in the nation, after being named top superior par-liamentary debate team at the national tournament.

“We did really well. It is becoming commonplace,” Perkins said.

The group also walked away with many individual awards. Freshman Sam Groom won novice top su-perior in individual public debate. Junior Margaret

Moore took sixth place in informative speaking with her speech on the use of echolocation among the vi-sually impaired. Senior Scott Adrian won sixth place in after-dinner speaking with a speech about male objec-tification. Senior Brianna Bowman won third place in communication analysis. Toni Maisano and Victoria Knaupp took third place in JV parliamentary debate.

“There were many other awards, these are just some highlights,” Counts said.

Perkins said his and Craig’s differences in po-litical thinking have con-tributed to their success in tournaments.

“I am very liberal, while Jeff is very conservative. We play off each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Because we do not think the same, we are able to

cover both sides. It makes it a lot easier,” Perkins said.

As the debate season ends, Perkins reflects on what he has gotten out of being a part of the team.

“I love the fellowship. I have developed a lot of close friendships, not only at ACU. I value friendship and camaraderie.”

Meagan HernandezStaff Photographer

DEBATE

contact Hernandez atmkh07a@acu.edu

JMC students win awards

Journalism and Mass Com-munications competed at the Texas Intercollegiate Press As-sociation (TIPA) in Ft. Worth last week, bringing multiple awards back to ACU.

Blane Singletary, junior electronic media major from Abilene and KACU an-nouncer, won first in radio documentary and third in news video and an honor-able mention in radio an-nouncing. He also received second in radio production with Meagan Hernandez for his weekly show, Eye On Entertainment, which airs every Friday after the News at Noon on KACU.

“It’s certainly a year to be proud of,” Singletary said. “We always come out and do so well.”

KACU-FM, public radio station and NPR affiliate, received first place in ra-dio sweepstakes. The win is KACU’s eighth win in 11 years. ACU defeated TCU 42-39 for the top place.

“We’ve got TIPA sweeps plaques as far back as ’99,” Singletary said. “We’ve got radio in the bag.”

Radio was not the only category ACU students had success in. students who competed in the newspaper category received four first places, two second places, four third places and four honorable mentions. The Optimist also received first place in best online com-munity engagement.

Optimist Editor in Chief Linda Bailey won first place in information graphic and Kelsi Wil-liamson won first place in headline, single subject and feature page design.

Bailey said she was glad her staff had the opportunity to be rewarded and honored for their hard work.

“Knowing how hard we work as a staff, I’m glad that we can be recognized for what we did,” Bailey said.

The Optimist did not place in sweepstakes after taking first last year. Texas A&M received the top spot

in newspaper sweepstakes.“I am very pleased with

the awards we did win,” said Dr. Kenneth Pybus, associate professor of journalism and mass communication. “The most important thing is that we serve our audience well.”

Although the Optimist did not place in sweeps, students and staff are up-beat about the future of competing in TIPA.

“We’ve got a better shot next year,” Singletary said. “This year we know what we need to work on.”

TIPA is the oldest colle-giate press association in the United States, first meeting in 1909 at Baylor University. Public and private Texas uni-versities, from Division 1 to Division 5, compete in over 30 categories of journalis-tic events. ACU students competed in the Division 1 category among the likes of Texas A&M, Texas, TCU, SMU, Texas State and the University of North Texas.

Zane GoggansContributing Reporter

JMC NETWORK

contact Goggans atoptimist@jmcnetwork.com

Blood bank to sponsoron-campus collection

The Meek Blood Center will bring two bloodmo-biles to campus Thursday for students to make a blood donation.

The mobile blood cen-ters will be located between the Administrative Build-ing and the Brown Library from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Brandon Schmermund, senior psychology major from El Campo, chooses to donate because of his rare blood type. Schmermund donated throughout high school and once at ACU.

“Everyone needs to try to donate at least once, if not more than that,” Schmer-mund said. “I got a letter in the mail the other day saying I’d saved a life. I feel great just knowing that.”

Although donors nor-mally are given the op-tion of making single or

double donations of red blood cells, the machine used for double dona-tions, ALYX, will not be available on the blood-mobile Thursday. Donors who wish to give double donations will need to visit the center to do so.

“We have a consistent need. It never goes away, the beauty of going to colleges is that there are just so many students there,” said Fran-ces Baker, donor recruiter for Meek Blood Center.

The blood donation process takes about 45 minutes, including the examination and donat-ing period. During the first step, students will be asked to supply a brief medical history. Baker also encourages students to come prepared to give blood by eating a bal-anced iron-rich meal.

“It’s very important be-fore you donate blood to

eat a good meal and drink lots of water or juice,” Baker said.

Students who donate blood are eligible to re-ceive service hours. The service hour time sheet can be found in the Cen-ter for Christian Service and Leadership.

“It’s important for any-one who’s eligible to give blood because right now we don’t have an artificial substitute,” Baker said. “We have to get it from volunteer donors to give it to people who need blood transfusions.”

If students are not able to donate Thursday, they can schedule an appoint-ment with the Meek Blood Center for credit. Contact the center from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Fri-day at 670-2799.

Eyrah QuashieContributing Reporter

CAMPUS

contact Quashie atoptimist@jmcnetwork.com

considered the invita-tion to speak at Summit an honor.

“I’m very excited,” Lucado said. “I’m very proud of ACU and really excited about Dr. Schu-bert and his leadership. I don’t know him really well, but times I’ve spent with him were all really positive. I think ACU has a real, bright future and I’m really excited to

come back and connect with everybody.”

Summit 2011 will mark Lucado’s first year as a fea-tured Summit speaker and he will also present a Cof-fee Talk with co-minister Randy Frazee on neigh-borhood outreach.

“I appreciate the op-portunity to have a little question and answer time on neighborhood out-reach and the ideas that are really taking off for us,” Lucado said.

The Summit theme, Enough, comes from the book of Isaiah where God tells the Israelites he’s had enough of their sacrifices, offerings and external religion, and he calls his people to clean up their lives and then come into worship.

“The thrust of it is, we’re hearing God say this phrase, ‘I’ve had enough.’” Bryce said.

And, he said, this message clearly relates

to students, faculty and staff at ACU.

“I think students at Christian colleges tend to just have enough of God; I think they get over full of God and when God is almost like wallpaper, it’s easy to take God for granted,” Bryce said. “So all of us – students, fac-ulty, staff – all of us who have this God language around us all the time, we need to hear God scream-ing at us, ‘enough.’’

Hearing God could mean simplifying or eliminating things from our lives, Bryce said, but also he said it’s about examining our rela-tionship with God.

“It’s calling us straight to the heart of our rela-tionship with God and re-ally having to look in the mirror and see if it’s all just external or if there is something deeper there,” Bryce said. “It’s just a ma-jor danger when God is treated pretty casually.”

Students were able to participate in Summit early this year by submit-ting a design to be used during Summit.

Leanne Kawahigashi, freshman graphic design major from Fort Worth, won the contest with her design of circles.

“The white circle in it kind of defines God and purity,” Kawahigashi said. “There’s identical circles that aren’t white, they are gray and shades of gray, but nothing is as pure as white. God is enough, because there is nothing like him.”

Kawahigashi said she initially entered the con-test to appease her moth-er and spent little time on the design. She was surprised when she found out she’d won.

“I didn’t have confi-dence in my piece be-cause it took so little time, Kawahigashi said. “So I’m glad she had con-fidence in me.”

Page 4 April 6, 2011FROM THE FRONT

will be closer, he said he probably wouldn’t go any more than he does now.

“I’m a college student, so I will probably still go only a few times a month. But now, I won’t have to drive there,” Duez said.

Jason’s Deli will join

Cracker Barrel and Chili’s near Walmart on Highway 351. The new location will be closer to ACU and Hardin-Simmons University, mak-ing it easier for students on the north side of Abilene to enjoy the deli’s sandwiches, soups and salad bar.

Ashley Cherry, senior finance and marketing

major from The Colony, is excited about the prox-imity to campus.

“Thank goodness,” Cherry said. “Now I don’t have to drive like 100 miles out of the way for the best soup ever.”

donated the proceeds to an organization helping with Japan disaster relief.

ISA is planning to present at this month’s ArtWalk in downtown Abilene to raise more money for Japan, Nem-oto said. ArtWalk takes

place on the second Thursday of each month. Members will sell T-shirts on Thursday at the booths in the Campus Center. Global Samari-tan Resources, a local nonprofit organization, will collect the proceeds and use them to send supplies to Japan.

“We don’t really have a goal amount,” Nemo-to said. “Since ACU is a small community and far from Japan, we know the amount is little but we can still collect to help.”

Fla., is producing the fashion show and has been planning this year’s show since October.

“We hold a fashion show every year, but first we had to choose who we were going to support,” Puckett said. “We thought of the Red Threat Movement and how impressive every-thing they do is. But as much as they do they still need help getting the word out.”

One of the main ef-forts of this year’s fash-ion show is to expand community interest and involvement. Puckett said they were trying to get more off-campus organizations to partici-

pate and are pursuing outside media as well.

“Although you see lots of Red Thread brace-lets on campus, there are not as many off it.” Puckett said. “This is the first campaign which re-ally connects the ACU campus, Abilene, Eter-nal Threads and the Red Thread Movement.”

Dillards is donating all the clothing for this year’s show and is be-ing modeled by about 35 ACU students.

Students who wish to be involved can email areyouintheRED@yahoo.com or check out their Facebook or Twitter page.

SHADES to perform with new lighting, music

SHADES has stepped up its game this year by including new lighting, gender dy-namics, pumped-up music and a spiritual aspect.

SHADES will perform “SHADES Secret Mission: The Heist,” Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in Cullen Auditorium.

Tickets are $5 in ad-vance and $6 at the door. Students can buy tickets in the Campus Center at various times or from SHADES members.

The show centers on a bank robbery. Two differ-ent teams, Team Broke and

Team Money, will battle against each other to rob a bank and steal money be-fore the other team.

SHADES captain and treasurer Destiny Hagood, junior photojournalism major from Los Angeles, said the show will include four guest performers. Af-ter the guest performanc-es, each SHADES team per-forms five dances routines and seven to eight dances.

This year, SHADES has combined men and wom-en on stage for their perfor-mances. In years past, the performances were either only men or only women.

“There was no mixture because we wanted to have

them separate,” Hagood said. “But now this year, we’re trying to do some-thing new and have every-one do things together.”

Catrina Bailey, SHADES member and sophomore design and technical the-atre major from River-side, Calif., said that a few years ago, men and women would not see each other until the show.

“It used to be guys and

girls wouldn’t even practice together,” Bailey said.

Another change audi-ences can expect in this year’s show is the lighting used in the production.

Hagood said the new lighting, compared to the older lights previously used in Cullen Auditorium, is more up to date. Older lights had to be positioned manually but the new lights rotate and have different

designs and shapes.“We’re using totally dif-

ferent lights; different ev-erything,” Hagood said. “We went out on a limb. We used a lot of money to make this better for ACU’s student body.”

Hagood said she would like to see different reac-tions to the show this year because of the integration of new elements.

“I want them to be blown away because we’re doing something entirely different,” Hagood said.

Bailey said this year’s show also incorporates more instrumental music with more beats than in previous years.

Some of the songs SHADES will step to include Whip My Hair by Willow Smith, a rendition of the In-spector Gadget theme song and He Wants It All by For-ever Jones, Bailey said.

The team will also per-form a spiritual dance to the song He Wants It All , which was not part of the show last year.

“This year, we’re mak-ing sure that we know that we’re not stepping for us; we’re stepping for Him,” Hagood said.

Hagood said the show lasts just over one hour.

Bailey GriffithCopy Editor

STUDENT GROUPS

contact Griffith atbng10a@acu.edu

TANNER FREEMAN // Staff Photographer

The band Pleasant Run Valley plays bluegrass at the Just Food Fair last week. The event was sponsored by the Locavore club.

Will play for foodFashion: Show to raise funds

CAMPUS

contact Bailey atljb07a@acu.edu

Continued from page 1

Enough: Summit theme urges personal examination SUMMIT

contact Mimms atoptimist@jmcnetwork.com

quick factsOther featured speakers and musical performers scheduled to attend Summit 2011 include: • Rachel Held Evans, award-winning author, speaker, and blogger from Dayton, Tenn.• Sharon Cohn Wu, senior vice president of structural transformation for International Justice Mission• Mindy Smith, contemporary singer-songwriter

Aid: Campus helps JapanINTERNATIONAL STUDENTS ASSOCIATION

contact Woodrow atmrw08a@acu.edu

Continued from page 1

Continued from page 1

contact Mimms atoptimist@jmcnetwork.com

Continued from page 1

Jason’s: Deli to open in JulyLOCAL

We went out on a limb. We used a lot of money to make this better for ACU’s student body.DESTINY HAGOOD // junior photojournalism major from Los Angeles‘‘ ’’

FocusApril 6, 2011 Page 5

BOOTS CHAPS COWBOY HATS

JULIE COPPEDGE // Contributing Photographer

Top: Participants pull a stubborn steer to the center of the stadium during the double mugging event. Left and Above: Parti-pants ride steers as long as possible in the roughie event.

HANNAH BARNES // Features Editor

Right: Senior exercise science major Lacey Holmes participates in a goat dressing event, along with fellow Alpha Kai Omega members. Below: There were 108 females and 44 males that

participated in the ACU Rodeo on March 31.

ACU’s annual rodeo steers students into a rough-and-tough intramural competition.&

Scan this QR code to read a story and watch video from the rodeo.

Little LindaBy Linda Bailey

Coffee. Sometimes I make it, sometimes I buy it and sometimes I find it for free – the best mornings are when I find it for free.

However, this particu-lar morning I paid $2 for a cup of vanilla ha-zelnut from Einstein Bros. Bagels. Don’t get me wrong, it was delicious, but it was still $2. And 33.9 oz. of Folg-ers is still going to run you about $10.

After incessantly throw-ing down cash for a cup of joe, I realized that free coffee is the best coffee. And that led me to ponder other everyday items I al-ways would like to have.

No. 5: CoffeeOther than reasons list-

ed above, the caffeinated beverage wakes me up in the morning and keeps me

going all day. If I don’t have time for a full meal, I’ll grab a hot cup of java. That al-ways tides me over until I can find something more substantial. While coffee is often relatively easy to find for free in break rooms across campus, one day when I grow up and move to a cold, hard apartment in the city, it won’t be as easily accessible, so view this one as planning ahead.

No. 4: Plane TicketsThe biggest hurdle to

traveling abroad, at least for me, seems to be the cost of the ticket and the commitment that comes with buying one. If you could fly wherever you wanted at the drop of a hat, worrying more about what you would need after you got to the destination instead of how to get there in the first place, you’d have a lot more fun and be a lot less limited.

No. 3: InternetNow, I realize it’s rela-

tively easy to find free Wi-

Fi in certain coffee shops or fast food restaurants, but what I’m referring to by Internet is free Internet wherever I go. Because, let’s face it, I get stressed when I don’t have wireless at my fingertips. Whether on my smart phone, at my house or at my parents house, I don’t want to pay to get online. Dial-up In-ternet started free, and I’d like to get that back.

No. 2: MusicLet it be known that I

love supporting the arts. And, I realize that ille-gally downloading music and stealing music from friends is kind of lame, but if musicians could still be compensated, I would love to get music for free for the rest of my life. I’d save so much money if I didn’t have to pay iTunes $1.29 just to buy this week’s big-gest hit, or $10 for that al-bum I think I might like. I love music, but I hate pay-ing for it. Music is always changing and often, I can’t keep up monetarily. So, if

you didn’t have to pay for music, think of how much more music you would lis-ten to, how much easier it’d be to get into different types of jams (the music, not the food) and a perfectly free weekend activity.

No. 1: TacosI realize this sounds a

little ridiculous, but if I’m going to pick a free food, it has to be something versatile yet consistent while being crunchy, yet soft. I never get sick of tacos. They are my go-to food. From Taco Bueno to Blue Taco to Rosa’s Taco Tuesday, tacos never get old. And they come in all sorts of shapes, sizes and flavors. The soft, crunchy, spicy and sweet treat comforts me in my lowest lows and accompanies me during my highest highs. The only thing that could strengthen my love of tacos would be if they were free.

Laura AcuffCopy Editor

Bailey GriffithCopy Editor

Morgan DavisCartoonist

The intramural department at ACU provides students with the opportunity to compete in a wide variety of sports on campus. Organiz-ing referees, brackets and space for multiple teams, is no easy task and intramural directors have done a great job this year keeping stu-dents informed.

But as successful as the program is, one thing is miss-ing: coed competitions.

Students interested in coed play have few op-tions. They can join the City of Abilene’s coed soft-

ball league or play a pick-up game on their own time. But students should be able to play coed sports on campus also.

All intramural sports this year are segregated along gender lines, and many co-ed groups across campus must either divide their group into two teams or not play as a group at all.

Clubs like Hispanos Unidos, ACU Swing Cats or even the Optimist who may not be able to generate enough interest from one sex, might be able to form

a coed team. Band, orches-tra, choir and theatre could battle it out on the field to see which fine arts group is really the best.

And, freshmen girls who aren’t yet on a club team, may wish to pair with their new male friends from Mabee Hall.

Coed teams might allow more students and more organizations on campus to represent themselves in intramurals.

The major hindrance to the formation of coed intra-murals at ACU is the lack of

space on campus for more teams they would bring in, said Kenli Edwards, direc-tor of intramural sports. She said with more space available after the opening of the Royce and Pam Mon-ey Student Recreation and Wellness Center next year, they hope to offer indoor coed teams.

Given the space con-straints, it’s understand-able that segregated teams would get first priority. But the intramural direc-tors should offer at least one coed intramural next

year when more room is made available.

Sports such as waterball, could get tricky going coed, but volleyball, basketball, badminton, soccer and softball could all function as viable, coed options.

Students can start pick-up games whenever they like, but being able

to form a team with all their friends – no matter the gender – to compete against others will allow more people to partici-pate in intramurals and foster a completely new sense of community.

OpinionPage 6 April 6, 2011

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

Signed columns, cartoons and letters are the opinions of their creators and may not necessarily reflect the viewpoints of the Optimist or the university.

The Optimist encourages reader response through letters to the editor but reserves the right to limit frequent contributors or to refuse to print

letters containing personal attacks, obscenity, defamation, erroneous information or invasion of privacy.

Please limit letters to 350 words or fewer. A name and phone number must be included for verification purposes. Phone numbers will not be published.

Address letters to: ACU Box 27892 Abilene, TX 79699

E-mail letters to: optimist@acu.edu

editorial and letter policy

By Morgan DavisThe Funny Funnies

Coed sports would foster communityEDITORIAL

Faith fortified through pain

COLUMN

Self-ExaminationBy Ryan Self

Not feeling pain may seem like a blessing, but it does serve a purpose.

There are people who can’t feel pain. Not emotional pain, but p h y s i c a l pain. Those who have been diag-nosed with the extremely rare genetic disorder (there are only 17 people diagnosed in the U.S.), congenital insensitiv-ity to pain with anhidrosis (CIPA), have lost their use of sensory perception to touch. It sounds like an enormous blessing: to never feel pain, to never feel the hurt of ev-erything from a skinned knee to a serious injury. But as any parent of a child with CIPA will tell you, the disor-der is a nightmare.

Pain has a purpose. You learn through experience to avoid burning yourself, to go indoors when you feel too hot, or that falling on a gravel road is painful. These children can’t learn that be-cause they can’t feel pain. One of the early warning signs that a child has CIPA is that when they begin teething, unable to feel pain and wanting to gnaw on ev-erything in sight, they will gnaw through their fingers and tongue.

When it comes to emo-tional pain we all wish it was something we could escape from. We all wish that we could be immune to the hurt of a lost friend-ship, a lost loved one or any number of things in this world that cause us serious emotional pain. But pain has its purpose. Pain is a warning sign that something is wrong. We learn through pain to avoid dangerous and hurtful situations. Pain is often the result of an un-expected event: the loss of a loved one, a life-altering

accident or any number of traumatic events. It is in the midst of these moments that a relationship with God may be tested and strengthened as a result or abandoned altogether. It is the difficult questions that arise out of these experi-ences that can cause real growth to occur.

Strength training and building endurance are what builds muscles. The pain felt in the muscles means that, in a few days, the tears will begin to re-build and grow stronger. The heart is one of the hardest working muscles in the body and, in the same way, it grows stron-ger after enduring pain. Few people would under-stand this better than the late Pope John Paul II who, after spending his teenage years in Nazi-occupied Po-land, lost his father, moth-er and brother before the age of 20. The late Pope credits the death of his fa-ther with his decision to enter seminary.

C.S. Lewis explored many of the difficult ques-tions that arise when ques-tioning the purpose of pain. In A Grief Observed Lewis lamented that, “(Man) has to be knocked silly before he comes to his senses. Only torture will bring out the truth. Only under torture does he discover it himself.” It is in grappling with the difficulties of pain that we might discover the true test of our faith.

Pain has a purpose. It warns us against dangerous situations and causes us to realize we have lost some-thing valuable. Working through deep loss causes us to seriously question our relationship with our Creator and may lead us to a better understanding. Pain has a purpose. And it is when you don’t feel pain that you know something is truly wrong.

contact the Optimist atjmcnetwork@acu.edu

the issueThe ACU intramural office does a great job in all areas with the exception of the availability of coed teams.

our takeMixed-gender teams would allow many clubs and organiza-tions to compete and increase interaction among students.

contact Bailey atljb07a@acu.edu

Best things in life should be freeCOLUMN

contact Self atrcs06g@acu.edu

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Self

April 6, 2011 Page 7FROM SPORTS

Wins: Lower three singles carry ’Cats

of Alabama Birmingham against Samford University and UAB. ACU lost to Sam-ford 1-4 before defeating UAB 5-2. ACU put together another solid performance in order to defeat Division I foe UAB. ACU would win the doubles point tak-ing two of three doubles matches against the Blaz-ers. ACU then would earn single match victories from Jaclyn Walker, Micah Hermsdorf, Emily Conrad and Natalie Friend on its way to a 5-2 victory.

The women’s team then traveled to Mont-gomery, Ala. to take on AUM. The No. 4-ranked Senators knocked off the Wildcats 6-3. Just like the men’s team, the women’s team would bounce back against eighth-ranked Columbus State, defeat-ing the Cougars 6-3. ACU

would win two of three doubles matches and then four of six singles matches. ACU got singles matches victories from Julia Mon-gin, Walker, Hermsdorf and Friend.

The men’s team improves to 13-8 overall this season, while the women’s team moves to 17-7 this season.

“The level of competi-tion is very high right now, and we are very tired right now. The fact that we can go out there and still compete at that level is only going to prepare us,” junior Jake Hendrie said. “I say right now, we aren’t even playing at our best, but we are play-ing as a team so that is why we are able to win.”

The men’s team will be back in action Saturday in Stillwater, Okla. to play Oklahoma State University.

TENNIS

contact Cantrell atjrc07f@acu.edu

Continued from page 8

Coach: Defense key to winningIn an athletics program where the players are more important than the wins, McCasland knows the first priority is getting to know his players on a level that extends off the court.

“My main goal is to get to know the players per-sonally,” McCasland said. “I know what they are basket-ball wise from the times we have played against them.”

With the recruiting pro-cess already well underway and national signing day just around the corner on April 13, McCasland knows

that he has to get moving to find the players he needs to make ACU a contender.

“We’ll go out and find the right fit for ACU and we will build a team that is going to compete for championships next year,” McCasland said.

McCasland does have experience on the bas-ketball court to go with his leadership from the sidelines. As a four-year walk on guard at Baylor University, McCasland earned Big 12 Academic all-Big 12 honors.

MEN’S BASKETBALL

contact Tripp atbjt07a@acu.edu

Recap: Schedule remains tough

ACU took an early lead in the top of the second when J.R. Roland scored on a wild pitch. The next batter, Cameron Watten, would send a single past the in-field, scoring Ian Tomkins.

The Bronchos would counter the Wildcat runs in the bottom of the second, bringing the game to with-in one. They then would take a 5-2 lead in the third when Kevin Blue hit a two-RBI single to center field.

Both teams exchanged a run in the fourth before ACU mounted their comeback.

Will Calhoun led off the fifth with a solo home run, one that was essential for the comeback effort.

“That was a big mo-ment for us,” Calhoun said. “It showed the team that we’re still in it and we

aren’t backing down. One swing of the bat instantly turned a three-run lead into a two-run lead and provided a much needed spark for our guys.”

An RBI Calhoun single and wild pitch that allowed Cameron Bankston to score in the sixth would prove to be the clinching factors in the eventual 7-6 win.

Calhoun was the starting pitcher, going four innings before being relieved by Kevin Justice, who picked up the win.

Sky Valenzuela pitched a perfect eighth before Zach

Sneed closed out the game, picking up his first save of the season.

“I was very impressed with our bullpen.” Bon-neau said. “They came up big and really stepped up when we needed them the most.”

In the first game of the doubleheader Saturday, the Wildcats ran out of the gates early with a 4-0 lead and never relinquished it, topping UCO 7-5.

In the nightcap, ACU got out to a 12-7 lead going into the sixth. But the bull-pen let that lead slip away

as the Bronchos scored four runs in the fifth and eighth, which propelled them to victory.

The Wildcats (19-14, 12-9) sit in seventh place in the LSC South with 12 con-ference games remaining. They will be back in action Friday as they take on East-ern New Mexico.

The rest of the schedule plays to the Wildcat’s favor from now until the end of the season. Remaining se-ries for the ’Cats include games against Cameron University, West Texas A&M University and Southwest-ern Oklahoma Univerisity. All three teams are ahead of ACU in the LSC standings. Wins in those games could continue to boost the Wild-cats in the standings.

BASEBALL

contact Shake atbxs09a@acu.edu

Continued from page 8

Continued from page 8

DANIEL GOMEZ // Chief Photographer

The Wildcats play McCasland’s Mustangs in the ’10-’11 season.

Meet: Relay grabs second in nation

TRACK AND FIELD

“I feel that as a team, we’re coming along great. Every week we’re getting better,” said senior sprinter Desmond Jackson. “We just have to keep qualifying and we have to stay focused on our goal of an out-door national title.”

Both track and field teams will head to the Texas Relays in Austin on Wednesday for

four days of competitions. In Arlington, Jackson fin-

ished fifth in the 200-me-ter dash and anchored the 4x100-meter relay. Their relay time of 40.55 seats the Wild-cats second in the nation.

“It was a good meet against great competition on a good day to run fast,” Jackson said.

contact Smith atmds10a@acu.edu

Continued from page 8

One swing of the bat instantly turned a three-run lead into a two-run lead and provided a much needed spark ...

WILL CALHOUN // senior outfielder for the ACU Wildcats‘‘ ’’

SportsStandings

Briefs

n The softball team had a subpar weekend as they traveled to the LSC Crossover Tournament in San Angelo. The team went 1-4 over the three-day tournament but maintained their second-place standing in the LSC South stand-ings behind Angelo State. Their weekend was highlighted by a 4-3 win over Cameron on Saturday.

n Cyril Bouniol finished in a tie for third while Alex Carpenter and Tyler Sheppard tied for ninth leading the Wild-cats to second place at the UCO/Kickingbird Classic in Edmond, Okla. Bouniol fired a 72 on Tuesday despite winds that wreaked havoc on the competi-tors’ scores.

April 6, 2011Page 8

n The baseball team will host Eastern New Mexico on Friday at 7:05 p.m. The team will then play a dou-bleheader Saturday starting at 2 p.m at Crutcher Scott Field.

n Softball will travel to Dallas to play Texas Woman’s University Friday at 6 p.m. and then play a double-header Saturday start-ing at 1 p.m.

Upcoming

BASEBALL

Team Div. Ovrl.

Tarleton St.SE OK St.SW OK St.UIWWTAMUCameronACUTAMU-K

15-615-617-716-813-813-812-913-11

24-719-1226-919-1224-1020-1119-1416-15

SOFTBALL

Team Div. Ovrl.

ASUACU

Tarleton St.UIW

WTAMUTWU

5-4

6-37-2

5-4

4-54-5

17-16

21-2030-5

20-18

27-1121-17

TAMU-K 3-6 22-19ENMU 2-7 10-28

PlayerProfile

Peyton Mosely, fresh-man pitcher from Coppell, had a terrific

outing on the mound Sunday as she was a bright spot for

the Wildcats in their game against South-western Oklahoma. She pitched six strong innings, allowing only three hits and three runs, all of which were unearned, over that span, but the ’Cats still fell 3-0 to the Lady Bulldogs despite her performance. Mosely (4-3) boasts 33 strike-outs and 52 innings pitched for the Wild-cats. With her four vic-tories, she has played an integral role on the ACU pitching staff as a first-year player.

Mosely

Outdoor season begins with ’Cats on top

Last weekend, most of the ACU track and field teams competed in the UT-Arling-ton Bobby Lane Invitational, while some of the school’s throwers instead went to the Elite Discus section at the meet at Texas Tech on Friday and Saturday.

In the UTA Invitational, which took place over the weekend in Arlington, the men’s team as a whole fin-

ished in fifth place, while the women’s team fin-ished eighth.

At the Texas Tech meet, senior Paige Newby and junior Nick Jones were in-vited to throw in the Elite section on Friday and com-peted in the open section on Saturday. Newby threw an all-time best score at the meet, and all of her throws were personal bests. Nick Jones also threw a record for the season on Friday and continued to get bet-

ter Saturday. Tyler Fleet, Jessica Sloss and Newby all improved their provisional marks in the hammer.

“I’m really glad that I was invited to compete with such great athletes,” Jones said. “I threw a sea-son’s best on Friday, and

then did even better on Saturday, and I’m glad that some of the young-er throwers were able to come so they know that ACU can compete with the best in the country.”

The ACU men’s track and field team won the

national championship in indoor competition, and begins the outdoor season with the No. 1 ranking in Division II. The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Coun-try Coaches Association released the rankings last week. This news comes in at the same time as Head Coach Roosevelt Lofton was named the Division II National Indoor Men’s Coach of the Year in 2011.

Mark SmithSports Reporter

TRACK AND FIELD

ACU fills coaching void

Athletics Director Jared Mosley delivered good on his word when he said a new men’s basketball coach would be in place before April 1. Mosley in-troduced Grant McCasland as the program’s new head coach on March 30.

“We are very excited to have him on board,” Mosley said. “He matched everything we were look-ing for in our next head coach.”

Coach McCasland just finished a 25-9 2010-2011 campaign in which he took his former team, the Mid-western State Mustangs, to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight for the second year in a row.

McCasland will take over a fledgling ACU bas-ketball program that has amassed just one winning season since the late ’90s.

The Wildcats finished a dismal 9-17 on the season and managed just one win in the Lone Star Confer-ence, the third time in five years the team has failed to win multiple LSC games in a season.

“It’s all happened so

fast so I haven’t had a lot of time to get into the par-ticulars of our program,” McCasland said. “But I know what I want to see and when I go in there and get a feel for our guys.”

During his time at Mid-western, McCasland went 56-12 in just two seasons as the head of the Mus-tangs’ program. Prior to his tenure at MSU he spent five years as the head

coach of the Midland Col-lege Chaparrals. In those five years, McCasland lead his teams to the Elite Eight three times, one of which ended with an NJCAA Na-tional Championship.

“We looked at his track re-cord as a head coach,” Mosley said. “It’s certainly undeniable that coach McCasland brings that (record) to the table.”

Brandon TrippSports Director

MEN’S BASKETBALL

BRANDON TRIPP // Sports Director

New Wildcat men’s basketball Head Coach Grant McCasland address the press and the ACU family at a press conference last week. McCasland has coached at Midwestern State University where he led the Mustangs to back-to-back Elite Eight appearances.

see COACH page 7

Wildcats pick up critical wins

ACU won two out of three conference games against the University of Central Oklahoma last weekend. Head Coach Britt Bon-neau said winning those two games was crucial to the Wildcats’ late-season push to the Lone Star Conference playoffs.

The ’Cats won their first game against the

Bronchos 7-6 Friday night. The ’Cats split the doubleheader Saturday winning two out of the three games in the series.

ACU sits in seventh in the Lone Star Conference South Division standings, making every series from now until the end of the season vital in to grab a spot in the LSC playoffs.

“The goal has always been to take two out of three in a series,” Bon-

neau said. “It’s even more critical and we’re placing even more emphasis now as we begin to head down the home stretch of our schedule.”

In the Friday opener, the Wildcat bullpen was the headline as it held Central Oklahoma to four scoreless innings en route to the 7-6 victory in Ed-mond, Okla.

Bryson ShakeAssistant Sports Editor

BASEBALL

DANIEL GOMEZ // Chief Photographer

Aaron Oliver tags out a base runner in an ACU loss to Delta State University last week.

Teams produce top-15 victories

The men’s and women’s tennis teams both split a pair of matches on the road this weekend, as both teams lost to Auburn Uni-versity Montgomery before rebounding to defeat Co-lumbus State University.

The men’s team played well against the No. 3 ranked NAIA power, Au-burn University Montgom-ery, but came up short in the singles matches. ACU would win doubles against the Senators in the No. 2 and No. 3 spots. However, the Senators would rebound back winning in the top five spots in singles matches. All five of AUM’s singles victories came from play-ers ranked in the top 50 in the nation. John Strahl was able to win the lone singles match for the Wildcats as ACU fell 6-3 to Auburn Uni-versity Montgomery.

ACU would bounce back Saturday against 13th-ranked Columbus State defeating the Cou-gars 6-3. ACU got two wins again in doubles as Bryan Joiner and Nick Plum won in the No. 2 spot and Eldad Campbell and Alfredo De-siati won in the No. 3 spot. ACU would also win four of six singles matches to defeat the cougars 6-3.

“As a team, I think ev-eryone is pretty tired from all the traveling we have been doing, but we were still able to go out there and win 6-3 against the 13th-ranked team in na-tion,” Plum, a junior, said. “The team this year has been awesome with every-body growing together.

The women’s team stayed busy playing four matches in three days. Thursday ACU split a pair of games at University

Ryan CantrellSports Multimedia Editor

TENNIS

see MEET page 7

I’m really glad I was invited to compete with such great athletes.

NICK JONES // senior thrower for the ACU Wildcats‘‘ ’’

see WINS page 7see RECAP page 7

Wildcats lure Elite Eight coach from Midwestern State