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

FRIDAY

IN THIS ISSUE

CAMPUS

Canceled plansSpring FilmFest was canceled because there wasn’t enough student interest, page 3

THEOPTIMISTApril 27, 2007Vol. 95, No. 52 1 section, 8 pages www.acuoptimist.com• •

Talent on displayThe Art Department’s 29th annual student competi-tion winners will be on display in the Shore Art Gallery on Friday, page 4

SPORTS

Out of their handsThe ACU softball team has one more series against Cameron, but needs help from other LSC teams to make the playoffs, page 8

Senior starsTwo seniors who change the community through their service and integrity will be announced as Mr. and Miss ACU on Wednesday, page 4

BaseballThe ACU baseball team needs a sweep against last-place West Texas A&M this weekend to take the No. 1 seed in the LSC tournament, page 8

Reading Black TulipsSee the Shinnery Review’s poetry reading, called The Black Tulip, at:www.acuoptimist.com

ARTS

Eerie entertainmentRunning for the last weekend, ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ is both disturb-ing and enjoyable, page 5

ONLINE

BRIAN SCHMIDT SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

McKinzie representative Daniel Burgner, freshman political science major from Yorba Linda, Calif., asks a question during a questioning time at the Students’ Association meeting Wednesday.

n Students can now submit applications for the 12-member Chapel Advisory Committee, which will begin meeting to discuss Chapel next fall.

By KELSI PEACEFEATURES EDITOR

Students who love, hate or merely tolerate Chapel can of-fer weekly critiques and sug-gestions for Chapel — they just have to apply.

Dr. Wayne Barnard, univer-sity dean of spiritual forma-tion and assistant professor of family sciences, will select a 12-member Chapel Adviso-ry Council for the 2007-2008 school year from students who fill out applications.

“I hope the students on this council will be committed to prayer, to seeking the Lord’s leading and to being a voice for the ACU student body with respect to the spiritual needs and concerns of students that need to be addressed in Cha-pel programming in meaning-ful and relevant ways,” Bar-nard said in e-mail.

The council will begin weekly meetings in the fall, but will exchange e-mails over the summer to have some input on the fall se-mester Chapel, Barnard said. However, most of the fall Chapel will already be planned at that time.

“Chapel is rarely the same from one semester to an-other,” Barnard said. “I don’t think most people realize how much changes because of sur-vey feedback each year.”

Barnard said teaching in Oxford’s small community spurred thoughts of conver-sation and community, and traveling has reminded him of the challenge to share Jesus’ message. The difficulty with a larger community, such as ACU, is to create community, Barnard said. The council is intended to help.

Some students are skepti-cal of the council’s ability to change Chapel. Troy Havins, junior finance major from San Diego, said he thinks a committee of 12 is too small to accurately represent the diverse student body. But Chapel does need to change, Havins said.

Chanelle Wactor, junior political science and Span-ish major from Tuscan, Ariz., said Chapel needs to change to connect our generation, which does not always think inside the box. Wactor said a

Chapel council forms for next year

n After much consideration, the University Undergraduate Academic Council has recently approved 16 new courses, most of which will be offered next year.

By CHRIS HANSONSTUDENT REPORTER

Fifteen new courses will be offered next fall including four undergraduate, seven graduate and four online graduate courses.

Dr. Tom Winter, chair of

the University Undergraduate Academic Council and asso-ciate provost, said proposed new classes go through an intensive process to become a new course.

“A new course is scruti-nized very, very carefully to make sure it is as good as we can possibly make it,” Winter said. “In most cases, these courses have been taught as special topics courses so we usually have some infor-mation about how well the

course has been received.”The scrutiny includes

analyzing many different as-pects including enrollment, budget, library resources and many other areas.

“We try to include every-thing we need to make an in-formed decision,” Winter said.

The University Undergrad-uate Academic Council has approved 16 undergraduate courses, and most of them will be offered next year, Winter said.

Most of the approved classes are upper-division courses, but Winter said he expects more lower-division courses to be developed if the faculty approves the new undergraduate degree plan.

Of the seven new graduate courses, five will be offered in the new master’s in social work program, said Dr. Carol Williams, professor of mathe-matics, dean of the Graduate

New courses coming to ACU in fall

n Amendments for a student Bill of Rights and court did not receive the two-thirds of Congressional votes required to pass.

By DANIEL JOHNSONSPORTS EDITOR

In its last meeting of the year the Stu-dents’ Association, Congress discussed whether a separate student court was necessary in representing and provid-ing a voice for the student body.

Despite more than 30 minutes of discussion of three amendments that would have created a student Bill of Rights and established a SA student court, the amendments failed to gar-ner the two-thirds majority (38 votes) needed to pass — 17 congress mem-bers voted for the legislation, while 21 voted against it and four abstained from voting.

Senior senator Brandon Smith, in-ternational relations major from Kan-sas City, Mo., wrote and proposed the amendments Wednesday night to cre-ate what he claimed would be a court that would hold congress account-able and ensure students’ rights were not violated.

“Congress has never wanted to hold themselves accountable; why should I expect them to start now,” Smith said.

Smith had greater vision for the court, claiming that in time the court could evolve into an appellate court that would provide a voice for stu-dents in disciplinary decisions made by judicial affairs. Smith said the be-ginning stages of the court would be to prove its legitimacy before it could influence policy.

“To get to that point every other

Court amendment fails

n In response to the Quality of Life survey, a Staff Senate will form in May to build relationships between staff and administrators.

By MALLORY SCHLABACHEDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Beginning in May, staff on campus will have a way to ex-press their voices to admin-istrators with the creation of the Staff Senate. The Senate was spawned from results from the Quality of Life sur-veys Dr. Money, president of the university, sends out annually to gauge the atmo-sphere of staff and faculty

on campus. The surveys indi-cated staff members wanted to build more trust between themselves and administra-tors on campus.

Beth Holland, senior pros-pect research officer in the Development Office and co-chair of the Senate Planning Committee, said the Sen-ate will serve as an advisory board to Money as a way for staff members to discuss is-sues and programs they wish to have implemented.

“We hope that this Senate produces a unified spirit of community on campus among staff,” Holland said.

She said so many people

work on campus that staff members don’t often know each other, and the Senate will be a way to bring every-one together.

The Staff Senate was in t roduced to staff mem-bers just this week, and will have its first meeting June 5. Until then, much work is to be done still, said Karen Griffith, student ser-vices specialist in The Depot and chairperson of the plan-ning committee.

Through Friday, the com-mittee will take nominations for Senator positions. Ten exempt positions and 10 non-exempt positions will be elected for the Senate. Staff members can go online to the Senate’s Web site at www.acu.edu/staffsenate.com to nomi-nate fellow staff members. Once all nominations are in, the planning committee will then verify that each nominee is valid and see if they are in-terested in being on the Sen-ate. In two weeks, elections will take place via Web site.

More than 900 staff mem-bers work on campus, Griffith said, and it’s important for their

voice to be heard too, which is why the senate’s slogan is: “Your voice on campus.”

“I wasn’t sure what to think before our all-staff meeting Tuesday,” Griffith said. “Not many people knew about it before then, so I didn’t know if they would even want to do this.”

She said her fears were calmed after hearing the re-sponse this week and hav-ing staff members ask ques-tions about how the Senate will work.

Holland, too, said the excite-ment on campus, is apparent.

Quality of Life survey leads to staff senate creation

n Dr. Royce Money announced the hiring of a new vice president and dean of student life Thursday. Dr. Jean-Noel Thompson will begin his role July 1.

By MALLORY SCHLABACHEDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Dr. Jean-Noel Thompson from Grove City College, locat-ed in Grove City, Pa., will soon be a familiar face on campus.

Thompson was selected as the new vice president and dean of stu-dent life, a position that p r o v i d e s l e a d e r s h i p and vision for these areas of student af-fairs: Student O r g a n i z a -tions, Judicial Affairs, Volunteer and Ser-

vice-Learning Center, Campus Center, Residence Life Educa-tion and Housing, Leadership Development, Multicultural Enrichment, Counseling and Medical Services, Police and Public Safety and Spiritual Life. In addition, Thompson will also serve as a member of the President’s Cabinet.

Dr. Royce Money, president of the university, announced

Money names new VP n BA in organizational communication from Arizona State University.

n Master of science degree in student affairs in higher education from Colorado State University.

n Ph.D. in higher education and student affairs from Indiana University.

n Spent last four years as vice president and dean of student life at Grove City College in Grove City, Pa.

n Offi cially begins new role at ACU on July 1.

THOMPSON’S BIO

Thompson

See VP page 7

See CHAPEL page 7

See SA page 7

See SENATE page 7

See COURSES page 7

New courses coming to ACU in fall

napplications for the 12-member Chapel Advisory Committee, which will begin meeting to discuss Chapel next fall.

merely tolerate Chapel can of-fer weekly critiques and sug-gestions for Chapel — they just have to apply.

sity dean of spiritual forma-tion and assistant professor of family sciences, will select a 12-member Chapel Adviso-ry Council for the 2007-2008 school year from students who fill out applications.

council will be committed to prayer, to seeking the Lord’s leading and to being a voice for the ACU student body with respect to the spiritual needs and concerns of students that need to be addressed in Cha-pel programming in meaning-ful and relevant ways,” Bar-nard said in e-mail.

weekly meetings in the fall, but will exchange e-mails over the summer to have some input on the fall se-mester Chapel, Barnard said. However, most of the fall Chapel will already be planned at that time.

from one semester to an-other,” Barnard said. “I don’t think most people realize how much changes because of sur-vey feedback each year.”

Oxford’s small community spurred thoughts of conver-sation and community, and traveling has reminded him of the challenge to share Jesus’ message. The difficulty with a larger community, such as ACU, is to create community, Barnard said. The council is intended to help.

cal of the council’s ability to change Chapel. Troy Havins, junior finance major from San Diego, said he thinks a committee of 12 is too small to accurately represent the diverse student body. But Chapel does need to change, Havins said.

political science and Span-ish major from Tuscan, Ariz., said Chapel needs to change to connect our generation, which does not always think inside the box. Wactor said a

Holland

Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Calendar Events&

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

Groups may send announcements directly to optimist@acu.edu or to the Page 2 Editor at mxe06a@acu.edu.

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

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

About This Page

Friday, April 27 , 2007

Announcements

Volunteer Opportunities

30 Monday27 Friday 28 Saturday 01 Tuesday

Go by The Depot by Friday to retake ID photos to be used in the 2006-2007 Prickly Pear. Students may also go by the JMC offi ce and fi ll out an opt-out form to have their picture taken out of the Prickly Pear.

The Marriage and Family Insti-tute will hold an open house Satur-day from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. The Insti-tute, located on the second fl oor of the Onstead-Packer Biblical Studies Building, provides low cost therapy services for under insured families in Abilene and the Big Country. Dr. Jackie Halstead, associate professor and chair of the Marriage and Family Therapy Department, and Dr. Jaime Goff, director of the Marriage and Family Institute and assistant profes-sor of marriage and family therapy, will comment on the renovations and the institute’s services during a brief ceremony at 2:30 p.m. Clinic tours will be available from 2 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Students may nominate their

parents for ACU’s Wildcat Parents of the Year at www.acu.edu/wild-catparents. ACU’s Parents of the Year are recognized for the time and support they have given ACU, their own children and others. Parents will be honored during Parents Weekend 2007 on Sept. 21-23. Contact Sa-mantha Adkins for more information at (325) 674-2622.

The Offi ce of Admissions is looking for enthusiastic, hard-work-ing students with good communica-tion skills to be student recruiters this summer. Training will be provided. Hours will be Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. E-mail kas04c@acu.edu or call (325) 674-5161 or (805) 798-0457 for an application.

The Naha Teen Bible Camp,is looking for volunteers to work at the camp in Alaska on June 4 through June 8. For more infor-mation, contact Mark Lewis at mark.lewis@acu.edu.

The March of Dimes needs vol-unteers for WalkAmerica at Redbud Park on Saturday. Help is needed between 6 a.m. and 1 p.m. in one- to two-hour shifts to help with set up, registration and other aspects of the walk. For more information, contact the Volunteer Service-Learning Cen-ter in the Bean Sprout.

MOPS at Highland Church of Christ is having its annual Great Moms Walk and family day out on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Nelson Park. For more infor-mation, contact Julia Stewart at (325) 690-9023.

Looking for a one-week sum-

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

Freedom Fellowship Church needs volunteers to assist with a vari-ety of after-school activities for at-risk youth, such as tutoring, basketball and air hockey Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3:30 p.m. to 5:15 p.m. and Fridays from 3:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. Contact the Volunteer Service-Learning Center in the Bean Sprout

for more information.The Kiwanis Club of Abilene will

host its annual Kiwanis Pancake Day on Saturday, and they need volunteers throughout the day from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. to work in a variety of ways. This event raises money to help children`s organizations throughout Abilene. For more information, contact the Volun-teer Service-Learning Center in the Bean Sprout.

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

the Bean Sprout.The Ben Richey Boys Ranch will

host its annual Bilbo Golf Tournament fundraiser May 5 and 6. Volunteers are needed both days to work three-hour shifts from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. The tournament will be held at the Shady Oaks Golf Course in Clyde. For more information, contact the Volunteer Service-Learning Center in the Bean Sprout for more information.

Meals on Wheels needs volun-teers to deliver meals to seniors and adults with disabilities. This usually takes about an hour, and students can have one day of Chapel per week ex-

11:30 a.m.Dr. Jack Reese will speak in chapel on ‘God’s Will as a Way of Life.’

6:30 p.m. and 9 p.m.Last free movie in Cullen. ‘We are Marshall’ will be shown, and door prizes will be given away.

6:45 p.m.Dinner begins for Spring Dinner Theatre. Tickets for dinner and the ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ show are $25.

7 p.m.Freshman Formal at the Abilene Civic Center.

8 p.m.‘Little Shop of Horrors’ is performed in Fulks Theatre. Tickets for the show alone are $15.

8 p.m.Rock Paper Scissors third annual Craft Fair in the Campus Center Living Room. Students’ arts and crafts will be on display and for sale. Live music will be provided by Ryan Lindsey, Birds in Space and Gazelles.

8 a.m.Sprint for the Ranch, a sprint triathlon, will take place to benefi t the Ben Richey Boys Ranch. Participants will begin with a 300-meter swim in the ACU pool, then bike 20k through the city and end with a 5k run around the ACU campus.

2 p.m.Backyard Bash behind Smith Adams will kick off with a 150-foot slip ‘n’ slide and games. Live music and free food will begin at 5 p.m.

6:45 p.m.Dinner begins for Spring Dinner Theatre. Tickets for dinner and the ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ show are $25.

8 p.m.‘Little Shop of Horrors’ is performed in Fulks Theatre. Tickets for the show alone are $15.

11:30 a.m.Special Chapel presentation by Dr. Royce Money.

7 p.m.Free bowling downstairs in the Campus Center until 10 p.m. Sponsored by The Students’ Association.

CreditedChapelsto date:

CreditedChapelsremaining:

Chapel Checkup67 05

ACU Career InformationUpcoming Career Events and Workshops

This week’s CareerLink statistics:Number of part-time jobs: 154Number of internships: 271Number of full-time jobs: 827Number of employers in directory: 3,199

Career tip:Know your worth. Negotiate a higher salary by knowing average starting salaries in your fi eld. For more infor-mation, contact the Offi ce of Career and Academic Development.

Did you know?64 percent of graduating seniors say internships are “must have” experiences for students to better prepare for their career.

Source: ACU 2007 May Graduate Survey

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

cused for this service. Contact the Vol-unteer Service-Learning Center in the Bean Sprout for more information.

Friday, April 27, 2007 Page 3CAMPUS NEWS

n Delta Gamma Phi, the new women’s social club, was formed to bring more diversity to campus. The club’s official charter day is July 7, but it is already meeting.

By MICHELLE JIMENEZCopy Editor

The new women’s social club, Delta Gamma Phi, had its first informational meet-ing of the semester Monday. Although the intention of the “Black and White Affair” was to inform people of the pur-pose of the club, Stephanie Davis, club co-founder, said it turned out to be more of a bonding affair between the 17 charter members.

“It was a moment for us, the charter members, just to bond,” said Davis, sophomore social work major from Lib-erty. “It was so much fun to get to know them and learn

about their families and stuff like that.”

Tiffany Williams, sopho-more social work major from Fort Worth and club co-founder, wasn’t able to acquire the exact number of people who attended the meeting but said the turn out was good.

“We had people come out, and they were interested,” Williams said. “[The meeting was] just to let them know we do exist basically.”

Although Delta Gamma Phi has yet to be officially charted, club founders have been working on forming the club since September. The official charter day is July 7.

Mauri Westbrook, coordi-nator of Student Activities and Organizations, has helped Delta Gamma Phi throughout

its beginning stages.“They’re going ahead and

getting their charter mem-bers and everything in place, so really the charter right now is more of a formality,” West-brook said. “It’s just a formal day that they actually come into existence, but they’re go-ing to start participating in the system.”

Delta Gamma Phi was cre-ated with the idea of bring-ing more diversity on cam-pus. Williams said one of the main purposes of the club is to bring more awareness to the range of cultures and

ethnicities on campus. “We kind of want to

make it a little bit more noticed that hey, this isn’t just a school for white kids or black kids,” Williams said. “This is an everybody school [made up of people] from all over the world, so we want to make sure that it’s known.”

Davis said that by starting this club, other clubs would soon follow by becoming more diverse.

“Our club isn’t going to be the only one that’s diverse. A couple of years from now

all the other clubs are gonna have so many other people in them, and it’s all gonna start in one place.” Davis said. “It has to start some-where, and the start is right here with us.”

Another purpose for the club was to form a sister-hood where members could expand their knowledge of other cultures and other peo-ple, Davis said.

“That’s the purpose of our club: being diverse and having different cultures from every-where so we can learn from each other,” Williams said.

Charter members of Delta Gamma Phi chose Proverbs 31:29-30 as the club verse to remind members of the im-portance of inner beauty.

“That’s everything that we’re about,” Davis said. “We want our girls and our sis-

terhood to understand the power of inner beauty, and that it doesn’t matter what you look like on the outside and what the world and me-dia tells you looks right, but it’s all about what’s in the in-side because that’s the only thing that’s going to get you to heaven anyways. It’s so important for people to un-derstand inner beauty more than outer beauty.”

The date for Delta Gamma Phi’s next activity on campus is unknown, but students wanting more information can contact club founders through the Delta Gamma Phi Facebook group.

“Delta Gamma Phi is just a name,” Davis said. “But it’s so much deeper than that.”

New women’s social club forms diverse ‘sisterhood’

n To encourage more interest, spring 2008 FilmFest will be announced next week, along with the theme for the fall FilmFest and competition’s new co-chairs.

By CAMILLE PAINTERStudEnt rEportEr

Last fall, films were played, awards were passed out, and the third season of FilmFest was coming to a close…but wait! Partici-pants heard talk of a spring FilmFest available only for students who completed a fall FilmFest to enter.

“I heard they were looking for sponsors for the spring and they were upping the ante,” said Daniel Gambero, senior broadcast journalism major from South Lake, a fall FilmFest participant.

Doug Darby, executive di-

rector of FilmFest, said he ini-tially decided to plan a Film-Fest exposition because some of the competitors wanted to stretch their creativity.

“We had several students wanting to expand beyond the original perimeters of FilmFest and see what they could do,” Darby said.

The FilmFest planned to take place this semester was to be different from the FilmFest in the fall semester. While FilmFest in the fall is a student short-film compe-tition made complete with several rules and specific requirements, the spring FilmFest was to be more open-ended only requir-ing those who enter to be in good academic standing and not to submit anything that violates ACU policy.

Darby said he wants students who apply in the spring to have completed a FilmFest so they can prove they’re dependable.

“If we’re promoting this and we’re going to the trouble of organizing, and it’s really of no cost to the participants other than what they do on their own time creating a film, then we want to make sure our participants are ac-tually people we can count on to deliver,” Darby said.

But two weeks remain in the semester and no spring FilmFest.

“I had a whole script ready to shoot for it,” Gambero said. “And even half way through the semester they were like, ‘We’re still going to do it; we’re still going to do it.’ Then one day they were

like, ‘We couldn’t get our sponsors; we couldn’t get any of that’ so it was really hard for them to do it.”

Darby said they didn’t find out until recently they wouldn’t be able to put the exposition on.

“We had an interest meet-ing. We had very low atten-dance at that, and subse-quent conversations that we had with people indicated that there just wasn’t a whole lot of interest,” Dar-by said. “There’s a couple of groups that talked about it, but for the amount of logistical overhead that it would require for us to ac-tually execute, we just didn’t have justification.”

“I can understand. It would’ve been hard,” Gam-bero said. “It would’ve been

right now that they probably would’ve been showing the films and what not.”

Doug Darby and Matt Max-well, director of FilmFest, determined that time had probably been the culprit for the lack of interest so they decided they’ll announce the spring 2008 FilmFest next week when they announce the theme for the fall compe-tition and begin their search for co-chairs.

Darby said doing this will give students a chance to participate with smaller impact on their workloads and develop their ideas more thoroughly without feeling rushed.

“We’ll try to ramp it up and see if there’s interest again next spring, but we’re not going to try to push

something that’s not in de-mand,” Darby said.

Maxwell said there’s growing experience every year for FilmFest.

The directors are search-ing for ways to make the next show more multidimen-sional and integrate more forms of media.

“Last year was such a monumental leap forward from the previous two years so there is high expectation for us to be able to grow to another level, but we’re only going to do as much as is needed,” Darby said. “We’re not going to try to push FilmFest as much as [trying to] be open to where it needs to grow.”

Spring FilmFest canceled due to low student interest

E-mail Painter at: optimist@acu.edu

“We want our girls and our sisterhood to understand the power of inner beauty, and that it doesn’t matter what you look like on the outside.”

Stephanie Davis, sophomore social work major from Liberty

E-mail Jimenez at: mmj04b@acu.edu

Page 4 Friday, April 27, 2007CAMPUS NEWS

n The Minda Street Church of Christ will host an annual a capella concert at the Paramount Theatre on Saturday. Some artists will perform at local coffee shops after the show.

By TAKISHA KNIGHTStudent RepoRteR

For the 10th annual A ca-pella Singing Extravaganza, organizers of the Minda Street Church of Christ are moving the celebration downtown.

In the past, the Minda Street church has conducted the event at its building, where members have resorted to pulling chairs out into the aisles. Now, they hope to pack the Paramount Theatre, which seats 1,200, in a similar fashion.

The event will begin at 6 p.m. Saturday at the Paramount

in downtown Abilene. Admis-sion is free.

“We want to make it a lot more memorable than in the past,” said Romel Derrick, mu-sic director of Minda Street Church of Christ.

Derrick organizes the mu-sic program for the event. He directs four choruses, teaches music at Minda Street and has headed the program for the past four years.

“It’s more of an opportunity to showcase a cappella music, chorus singing and ensemble music,” he said. “It’s an oppor-tunity to let people see what it’s really all about.”

To do this, Derrick and other organizers have made some changes.

This year, Derrick invited

more solo artists than choruses to help make the event more memorable. Solo artists include Wayburn Dean, former member and lead singer of the group A Cappella, Stephanie Booker and worship leader Paul Williams.

They also formed a com-munity chorus composed of voices from churches all over Abilene including Hillcrest Church of Christ.

Eric Mallet, junior commu-nication and Christian ministry major from St. Louis, went to his first Singing Extravaganza his freshman year as an observ-er, but the next year and ever since then he has participated in the Minda Street chorus.

“It’s a time for people to cel-ebrate and to enjoy a cappella gospel music,” Mallet said. “It’s

a time to bring different con-gregations together to praise God together as one.”

Mallet said the unity the event promotes has made him grateful for his unique style of worship and the wor-ship style of others.

“I look forward to the people we invited to sing,” he said. “I love and have a desire to see other people sing, other people who are prominent. It’s like the first day of Chapel — so full of life, man.”

After the event, solo artists will perform at Monk’s Cof-fee Shop downtown across the street from the Paramount and at the Cypress Street Café.

Minda Street hosts a capella extravaganza

n Students voted for Mr. and Miss ACU from eight candidates who were narrowed down from 250 nominations. The winners will be announced at Chapel on Wednesday.

By ANDREA LUCADOStudent RepoRteR

The ballot box for Mr. and Miss ACU votes official-ly opened Tuesday.

Four female and four male candidates were nar-rowed down from the origi-nal 250 nominations.

Daniel–Paul Watkins, soph-omore political science major from Fredericksburg, Va., has been receiving nominations since last week via e-mail as his first duty as vice president of Students’ Association.

He said Mr. and Miss ACU are the face of the school and are “marked by service, integ-rity and a commitment to put others before yourself.”

According to an e-mail from Dr. Jeff Arrington, as-

sociate professor of physics, associate dean of Campus Life and assistant provost for student learning, Mr. and Miss ACU must be enrolled seniors at the university, un-derstand what it means to be a student and strive daily to change the world.

Takisha Knight, senior English major from Lake Charleston, La., said she was shocked and surprised when she found out she was nominated for this year’s Miss ACU.

“My first thought was ‘Who on earth nominated me?’” Knight said.

She said she thinks her involvement with ACU is the reason she is now a can-didate. Being a part of so many organizations on cam-pus like the LYNAY group, International Students Asso-ciation and Essence of Ebo-ny, Knight said most people probably know her from one

thing to the next.Jordan Williams, junior

finance and management major from Longview and former SA vice president, said the voting turnout was about 360 last year and mostly upperclassmen vote.

Amy Couchman, junior communication sciences and disorders major from Boerne, did not nominate anyone for Mr. and Miss ACU, but she does know whom she will vote for.

“I will vote for them be-cause they’re a good repre-sentation of ACU students,” Couchman said. “They should want to change the world through Christian leadership and service.”

While the winners are usu-ally announced during the an-nual senior dinner, this year they will be announced dur-ing Chapel on Wednesday.

Mr. and Miss ACU to be announcedn Art majors have submitted their works to the annual student competition. Selected pieces will be displayed in the Shore Art Gallery on Friday.

By SHARON RAPELJEStudent RepoRteR

The Art Department will be conducting the 29th annual student competition where its best works will be displayed Friday at 7 p.m. in the Shore Art Gallery.

Nil Santana, professor of graphic design, coordinates the competition. Santana said the competition will be com-prised of interior design and art majors and focus on such categories like graphic design and 3D. Winners can receive scholarship money, a book or a number of different prizes.

Victoria Zachary, senior in-terior design major from Dal-las, said students will enter work from this year that will show how well the depart-ment has been teaching.

Students are required to participate each year, Zachary said, which helps them see how much they have progressed.

Zachary will enter plans for a food franchise connected to a travel agency in Florida. She said she is anxious to go to the showcase to see what oth-er creative minds are doing.

Cheri Williams, junior inte-rior design major from Arling-ton, will present a piece based

on the architecture of Louis Sullivan, a famous architect that Frank Lloyd Wright, an-other well-known architect, apprenticed under.

Like Zachary, Williams also presented plans for a restau-rant and travel agency.

Williams said the competi-tion will show students out-side of the Art Department how much work goes into art. She said people think an art major is easy compared to others, but it is not. She said creating art is harder than studying for a test because a lot of time and effort is spent making it perfect.

“People don’t really seem to get that unless they have a friend who is an art major,” Williams said.

Leigh Bacon, sophomore interior design major from Aberdeen, S.D., is entering an acrylic piece, a picture of a swing in the park with alter-nating colors under a grid.

Bacon said she enjoys the competition because it allows her to see what others are do-ing, to get ideas and to see how diverse the art is.

All of the works will be judged Friday by ACU fac-ulty and outside interior designers.

Zachary said it would be an honor to win because profes-sional designers will recog-nize the work.

Art majors compete in student competition

E-mail Lucado at: optimist@acu.edu

E-mail Rapelje at: optimist@acu.edu

E-mail Knight at: optimist@acu.edu

n Students can join To Write Love On Her Arms, an organization to help students with drug addiction, depression, cutting and suicide.

By EMILY SMITHChief photogRapheR

Trey McCarty went to a concert last year and saw a cool shirt that advertised for a substance and abuse sup-port group.

McCarty, sophomore com-munications major from Bul-verde, is organizing a group that helps students with drug addiction, depression, cut-ting and suicide. The group, To Write Love On Her Arms, already has a Facebook group with 814 members.

He said he found out about the group at a concert.

“I saw some guy wearing a shirt, and I thought it was just a band name, and then my sis-ter told me it was an organiza-tion,” he said.

Marshall Thompson, junior interdisciplinary major from Council Bluffs, Iowa, has joined the Facebook group and plans on being active in the campus group next semester, he said.

“I heard about the story and started wearing the shirts and telling people about it,” Thompson said.

Students interested in ap-parel can visit the To Write Love On Her Arms Web site, TWLOHA.com.

The name, To Write Love

On Her Arms, was chosen, McCarty said, because of a girl named Renee.

“She had a problem cut-ting herself, and some people invited her to worship with them in their living room, and instead of a razor, they wanted to write love on her arms,” McCarty said.

McCarty said he wants to read a story during Chapel next semester to jump-start the group. He already plans on having a To Write Love On Her Arms clothing line, he said.

“I want to make people aware that there is a group that cares,” he said, “Our organiza-tion gives people hope.”

Group to help substance abusers

Rachel lau STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Members of the Ropu o te Rakau performs at the Black Tulip poetry night Tuesday in the library.

Jamming in the library

Nominees for Miss ACU:

n Shelby Coates, senior broadcast journalism major from Clarksville, Tenn.

n Betsey Noah, senior marketing major from Midland

n Takisha Knight, senior English major from Lake Charleston, La.

n Candice Wood, senior marketing major from Edmond, Okla.

Nominees for Mr. ACU:

n Scott Burge, senior biochemistry major from Amarillo

n Jordan Gay, senior psychology major from Austin

n Brad Hoover, senior management major from Allen

n Maher Saab, senior political science major from Abilene

NOMiNEES FOR

MR. ANd MiSS ACU

E-mail Smith at: eds04c@acu.edu

n The Album Leaf, Adam Gnade, Lymbyc System and Listen- Listen will join the Abilene music scene at Monk’s Coffee Shop Thursday and May 5.

By TODD PIERSALLArts Editor

Finals week is looming, and procrastinators are in luck. Those who are not ready to hit the books will have several different musical distractions to choose from.

Dustin Reid, senior elec-tronic media major from Rockwall and founder of Silence Sessions, is pro-moting several bands that will play at Monk’s Coffee Shop before the close of the semester.

“I’ve been doing mu-sic stuff for six or seven years. A lot of these bands I’ve met from different events,” Reid said.

Reid said the Abilene music scene is growing, because the artists enjoy the treatment they receive when they arrive.

“We have people come

out for shows, and they re-ally love it,” Reid said.

Monk’s Coffee Shop will host The Album Leaf, an in-strumental electronic band featured on The O.C., and Lymbyc System from 7:30-11 p.m. Thursday, and on May 5, Adam Gnade and the Confederate Yankees will play with ListenListen from 7:30-11:30 p.m.

Reid said he compares the style of Adam Gnade to that of the “prose and wit of Bob Dylan.” Listen-Listen is from Houston and use a variety of instru-ments when they perform.

Also, Ryan Lindsey, Birds in Space and Gazelles will playing Friday at the Rock Paper Scissors Arts and Craft Fair from 8-11:30 p.m. Besides being able to sell and purchase crafts, at-tendees will be able to hear free live music.

Page 5April 27, 2007

Newly released movies and gross rates for April 20-22. Total gross in parenthesis.

n Disturbia: $13,010,778($40,205,142)

n Fracture: $11,014,657($11,014,657)

n Blades of Glory: $7,677,569 ($100,951,439)

n Vacancy: $7,603,376 ($7,603,376)

n Meet The Robinsons: $6,967,089($82,089,99)

n Hot Fuzz: $5,848,464($5,848,464)

CoMinG Soon

Movies opening Oct. 13:

n The Condemned, starring Steve Austin, Vinnie Jones, Trent Sullivan, Rick Hoffman and Nathan Jones. A group of death row inmates compete on an abandoned island and the winner will be spared execution. (ACTION/DRAMA)

n The Invisible, starring Justin Chatwin, Margarita Leveia, Marcia Gay Harden, Christopher Marquette and Michelle Harrison. A high school senior is nearly beaten to death and left for dead. As his body slowly dies, his spirit watches his mother and police as they search for his body. (THRILLER/SCIENCE FICTION)

n Kickin’ it Old School, starring Jamie Kennedy and Maria Menou-nos. After slipping into a coma from a break dancing accident, Justin Schumacher remains unconscious for 33 years and loses everything he had, including his girlfriend to his arch nemesis. After waking up in a new age with new music, Justin tries to find his break dancing groove and win back his girl. (COMEDY)

Box offiCe STATS

n from fantastic art design to eccentric acting, the last weekend for ‘Little Shop of Horrors,’ will be a delightful discomfort for show-goers.

By KELLY DENNISContributivE WritEr

With the last weekend of ACU’s production, “Little Shop of Horrors,” approaching quickly, the cast has settled into their roles, the crew is feeling more comfortable with their assignments and more and more people are pouring into Fulks Theatre to be de-lightfully discomforted.

Those who are unfamiliar with the musical, which is based on the 1960s film of the same name, should be aware of a few things. The show stars Seymour (played by Seth Bazacas, sopho-more theatre major from Ocean City, N.J. ), a nerdy orphan who works as a florist’s assistant. Seymour’s low position and lack of self-esteem leave him feeling insecure and unworthy of his lovely coworker Audrey (Alyssa Vidos, freshman the-atre major from Waxahachie), who suffers from self-esteem issues herself. When she’s not working at Mushnik’s unsuc-cessful flower shop, Audrey is usually spending time with her sadistic dental-hygienist boy-friend, Orin (Caleb Todd, senior theatre major from Mesquite).

Just when things appear that they couldn’t get any worse for Seymour, he unveils his secret — a strange plant he has discov-ered that looks something like

a Venus flytrap. The plant, Au-drey II, as Seymour has named it, begins attracting the atten-tion of people all over town and seems to provide a new life for Seymour. But the plot thickens when Seymour realizes that in order to keep the plant thriv-ing, he must sacrifice the very life he was trying to create.

This comedy, intended to spoof 1950s sci-fi films, enter-tains some with its humorous parody, while others may feel bewildered or repelled. A word of caution — though nothing is particularly gruesome, if you feel queasy easily or you may want to skip the stuffed chick-en and pork that comprise the pre-show dinner and opt for a lighter fare so you don’t lose it during Audrey II’s rendition of “Suppertime.”

If you can look past some of the disturbing elements and see the humor and talent behind the show, you may find yourself longing for more. The designs of the play work together fairly well to form a cohesive whole. Between the warped shapes of the cartoonish set and the shrill voice of sweet Audrey, it doesn’t take long for the audi-ence to realize something is strangely amiss on Skid Row.

Similarly, the costumers up-dated the show by adding some modern pieces to the retro col-lection. Whether or not it was

intended, this too seems slight-ly off. You may not be able to point out the specificities, but you are aware that something is slightly disagreeable, enough to be alarming.

For the most part, the ac-tors succeed in playing their roles with a believability that is difficult to attain with such eccentric characters. From Vidos’ “Audrey” to Bazacas’ “Seymour” to Jeremy Varner’s array of characters (there were five or so), the audience is sure to see the talent of the actors as it shines against the omi-nous backdrop. And it would be criminal to fail to mention Audrey II, whose fantastic de-sign and construction (Travis Eason, freshman applied stud-ies major from Abilene), mas-terful manipulation (Terence Lindeke, sophomore theatre major from Anchorage, Ala.) and deep, effective voice (Josh Martin, senior theatre major from Abilene) combine in a way that makes it a star in its own right.

While the show maintains a light-hearted attitude, it does approach some thought-pro-voking ideas and, as with many pieces of good art, it raises some questions. So be prepared to discuss it afterward, over coffee or ice cream, just not

Talent, design build ‘Little Shop’

brian schmidt SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

Seymore, played by Seth Bazacas, performs for this years Spring Dinner Musical, ‘Little Shop of Horrors.’ Ticket prices are $27 for dinner and $15 for the show only.

e-mail Dennis at: optimist@acu.edu

n Rock Paper Scissors: Friday from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. in the Living Room in the Campus Center

n The Album Leaf: Thursday from 7:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. at Monk’s Coffee Shop

n Adam Gnade and ListenListen: May 5 from 7:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. at Monk’s Coffee Shop

For more information over concerts at Monk’s contact Dustin Reid at reid.dustin@gmail.com

UpCoMinG ConCerT SCHeDULeS

Bands to play at Monk’s Coffee Shop

e-mail piersall at: tdp04a@acu.edu

Page 6 April 27, 2007

The issue:The Theatre Department is attempting to perform ‘Aida’ for the second time for the 2007 Homecoming musical.

Our view:The Theatre Department’s attempt to bring resolution by trying again to put on ‘Aida’ is admirable.

The solution:Support the department’s desire to produce racially diverse shows by buying tickets and attending the ‘Aida’ production.

Theatre Department takes second chance with ‘Aida’The Theatre Department has

proven it is more courageous than to simply walk away from a controversial situation.

Two years ago, Adam Hes-ter, chair of the Theatre De-partment, pulled the Home-coming musical, “Aida,” after four months of production because of concerns from the community that a white ac-tress would play the lead role as a Nubian princess.

And with merely two months left before performance, “Aida” was replaced with the whimsi-cal musical, “Seussical.”

Although his research showed that the licensing com-pany had no ethnic restrictions on casting, Hester said the main factor in changing the musical was made in hopes of

keeping har-mony in the community.

Whereas the depart-ment could have chosen to play it safe and for-get this inconvenient bump in the theatrical road, ACU’s Theatre Department is revis-iting the issue by attempt-ing for the second time to perform “Aida” as the 2007 Homecoming musical.

Hester said he hopes every-one is sensitive about the de-partment’s decision.

Hester hopes that at-tempting to perform this show will build a bridge be-tween the community and

the Theatre DepartmentIn contrast to the first time

ACU attempted to perform “Aida,” three black women have been called back for the role of the Nubian princess for the 2007 production, and Hester said because of the women’s ability to sing that role, it is good timing for the department to come back to the controver-sial casting issue in hopes of fully making amends with the community.

With a de-sire to pro-mote harmony among differ-ent groups in the commu-nity without shying away from the con-

troversy, the department is courageous to take on the is-sue that has previously caused them stress and last-minute changes to its biggest produc-tion of the year.

Still, the department is acting as any theatrical group should by producing a show that is equally enjoyable for all indi-viduals and groups in Abilene and that strives to fairly present multiple cultures and races.

Choosing to produce ethni-

cally diverse shows and featur-ing talented actors of multiple backgrounds to fill these vari-ous roles is choosing to take the harder but higher road.

As the Theatre Department ventures forth in its decision to produce “Aida” for next year’s Homecoming musical, the Optimist hopes the com-munity will respond with as much respect as the depart-ment has shown it.

If harmony and absolute fairness is what we are all seek-ing from this situation, let’s meet the Theatre Department half way as they continue to build a bridge toward complete resolution.

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

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Editorial and Management Board

Mallory SchlabachEditor in Chief

Jared FieldsManaging Editor

Michelle JimenezCopy Editor

Lauren SuttonOpinion Editor

Emily SmithChief Photographer

Kelsi PeaceFeatures Editor

Daniel JohnsonSports Editor

Todd PiersallArts Editor

Shelby CoatesVideo Editor

Christi StarkAdvertising Manager

Kenneth PybusAdviser

The department is acting as any theatrical group should by producing a show that is

equally enjoyable for all individuals and groups in Abilene and strives to fairly present multiple

cultures and races.

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

Alex YorkLebensgefhar

In Your WordsWhat do you dread more

than finals?Machael Knutzsenior integrated marketingmajor from Grapevine

I dread going to Chapel 55 times in a semester.

Nicole Ochoafreshman international studies major from Austin

Not having any money before summer.

I daydream during Chapel.Mostly about impossible

scenarios, the perfect day and odd ‘what-ifs.’

T h i s week, now that only those with-out Chapel credits are a t t e n d -ing, a new daydream emerged.

W h a t if I had to speak in Chapel?

A Cha-pel’s worth of thought de-voted to developing crite-ria for a successful speech ended by realizing failure at speaking.

The first, and possibly most important criteria for a successful, lasting Cha-pel speech is to reveal a dark enough secret or past, personal experience that everyone would have no choice but to listen.

In Cha-pel, if you have broken a Command-ment, been ostracized or done some-thing cultur-ally taboo, then you are Chapel gold. All ears are yours when you begin with a corny joke or gim-mick and then spill your life for 10 minutes.

I have no such secret to share.

After this revelation, I made the decision to be the best speaker possible without possessing such an experience. After all, people could still remem-ber me by employing a few corny jokes, a memorable gimmick or wearing outra-geous clothes.

The memorable gim-micks, good or bad, have been taken. Whether they were good or not in the viewers’ mind doesn’t mat-ter. Being remembered is all that counts.

Starting a speech from Section U has been done. Walking around the floor has been taken too.

I can’t even bring an animal on stage and play a clip of a popular Disney movie while making an ob-scure reference to a goal of mine. It’s all been done.

While thinking about what to do in such a situa-tion, planning what not to do is just as important.

Almost everyone in Cha-pel has taken Communica-tion 111, where we learn the most basic, structured way to give a speech. Be-cause we all know this formula, speakers should avoid it at all costs.

According to this mod-el, you begin with an in-troduction, present clearly stated topics with quoted attribution and concludes by referring back to the beginning.

After the introduction, we all know the points are next, and it’s another typi-cal Chapel speech. That is when the talking and disinterest occurs. Then, when you refer back to the introduction by using the same line you began with, we know you’re about to finish and people head for the stairs.

So while daydreaming about my h y p o t h e t i -cal Chapel speech, I found a solu-tion for Cha-pel indiffer-ence. Unless you have an emotionally capt iva t ing speech, form a Chapel c o m m i t t e e

devoted to developing as many gimmicks, jokes and anti-COMS 111 speeches as possible.

Being a good speaker will take care of itself, but the rest of the speakers need some help. Then we might daydream a little less.

Now, about the only thing not done has been to drop from the ceiling or stage a death. Maybe the two could be combined. In planning my imaginary Chapel speech, the only new gimmick I’ve come up with was too incorporate faking my death and de-scending from the roof. If you have something else in mind, the rest of us in the seats would like to see it.

No one can daydream through that.

Fields ofDream

JaredFields

Steps to become aneffective Chapel speaker

The recent Virginia Tech incident has forced univer-sities across the nations to examine more thoroughly its

health and c o u n s e l i n g centers.

I see this examination as a response to the fact that gunman Cho Seung-Hui had pre-viously been r e cogn ized by VT’s coun-seling center

as a prob- lem student and had undergone evalua-tions at a private psychiatric hospital after two women complained about annoying phone calls from him, and an acquaintance reported he might be suicidal.

Though his initial evalu-ation proved he could be a potential danger to others, he was released from the hospi-tal and sent back to VT.

After horrific events like the one our nation, in the

past two weeks, has repeat-edly viewed on the evening news, read through in news-papers and blogged about via the Internet, people are looking for reasons this in-cident occurred and ways to prevent such incidents in the future.

So with the knowledge of Cho’s mental instability, many have turned their at-tention to university coun-seling centers.

Across America, college counseling centers are ex-periencing a rising number of mentally ill students and a growing need for mental health services.

This growth coincides with the Americans with Dis-abilities Act, which allows mentally ill students the right to be at college with more sophisticated medica-tion, which help them func-

tion in a university context. Time magazine reported

that psychologist Sherry Benton, assistant direc-tor of counseling services at Kansas State University, has done studies showing that students’ mental health problems are more complex and severe than they were 20 years ago.

“We’re well aware that problems are getting worse, but what hasn’t happened is increasing funding for men-tal health services,” she said. “Most centers are now over-whelmed. Business has gone up and up, but the budgets have remained the same or been cut, and that’s a huge problem.”

A survey last year by the American College Health Association found that 8.5 percent of students have se-riously considered suicide,

and 15 percent were diag-nosed for depression. Also, the Anxiety Disorders As-sociation of America fond that 13 percent of students at major universities and 25

percent at liberal arts colleg-es are using campus mental health services.

Clearly, counseling cen-ters should be a top priority for every higher-education facility in the nation, but they often are not assessed during college’s accredita-tion reviews.

Though incidents like the massacre at VT are of-ten inevitable, let’s use this situation to lesson their likelihood by providing health care centers with bet-ter funding, accountability through accreditation and highly qualified staff.

We can’t completely pre-vent such occurrences, but any assistance and effort on our part is well worth the effort.

Improve the nation’s counseling centers

A Stateof Mind

LaurenSutton

So with the knowledge of Cho’s mental instability, many have turned their attention to

university counseling centers

In Chapel, if you have broken a Com-mandment or done

something culturally taboo, then you are

Chapel gold.

E-mail Sutton at: les03c@acu.edu or optimist@acu.edu

E-mail Fields at: jrf03b@acu.edu or optimist@acu.edu

Friday, April 27, 2007 Page 7FROM THE FRONT/SPORTS JUMPS

this decision Thursday to the leaders and administra-tors of Campus Life after a nationwide search that took several months to complete.

Money said Thompson is well qualified for this posi-tion because it is currently the same position he occupies now at Grove City College.

“Dr. Jean-Noel Thompson is an excellent person for this position and has im-pressive credentials to help him here,” Money said.

Thompson holds a bach-elor’s of art degree in or-

ganizational communica-tion, a master of science degree in student affairs in higher education and a Ph.D. in higher education and student affairs as well. Money also said he was a deeply spiritual Christian man who has been active in his church wherever he has lived.

Thompson said in an e-mail, he applied for the position because ACU’s philosophy of Christian higher education matches his own.

“I am excited about the fact that ACU embraces a collaborative and integrated

student development model that is strongly supported by the academic leadership there as well,” Thompson said. “The opportunities for campus-wide collaboration are endless.”

Friends and family con-nected to ACU have also praised the university ex-perience, Thompson said — among them, Dr. Rick Lytle, dean of the College of Business, who married Thompson and his wife 16 years ago.

Thompson, his wife Tonya and their four daughters will move to Abilene follow-ing the end of his semester

at Grove City. He is expect-ed to officially begin work-ing July 1, but will come to Abilene before then to make decisions about pressing matters that cannot wait, Money said. These matters include the organization of Campus Life and personnel decisions concerning what roles current Campus Life staff will take on.

Thompson said he has the ability to connect the cam-pus community and build a strong Campus Life team.

“The talent and dedication is already there and ready to be tapped,” he said.

For the past 10 years,

the dean of Campus Life and all the other facets in Campus Life have been under the direction of the provost’s office. With this change, Campus Life will mainly be under the direc-tion of Thompson, as the vice president.

“I’m doing this this way be-cause of the high importance of students and student life at ACU,” Money said. “It’s im-portant to raise the visibility of the Student Life division because of the affect it has on all our students.”

“To get to that point ev-ery other school has had to prove that their court can exist with legitimacy,” Smith said.

Vice president-elect and sophomore senator Daniel- Paul Watkins voted against the legislation because he felt it was taking to much responsibility away from congress.

“It’s our job to represent and help find solutions for the students, not a supreme court that the students get to elect anyways,” said Wat-kins, sophomore political science major from Freder-icksburg, Va.

The court would have had seven justices that would have been ap-proved by a two-thirds vote from Congress.

Senior senator Shelby

Coates, senior journalism major from Clarksville, Tenn., said she voted against the legislation because there were too many unanswered questions about the court.

“I think it is a good idea, but I don’t think it was as developed as it could have been,” Coates said. “We had a lot of open-ended ques-tions, and I’m glad Congress voted as it did.”

McKinzie representative Daniel Burgner, freshman political science major from Yorba Linda, Calif., voted for the legislation because of the accountability power the student court would have had.

“I feel like it would have kept Congress and the elec-tions committee account-able,” Burgner said.

Congress did unanimous-ly approve a resolution that called for the addition of recycling receptacles at Uni-

versity Park Apartments. Congress voted 41-0-0. But an amendment that would allow students to run as a representative of academic buildings if they had de-clared a minor in that build-ing lost 35-4-2.

Wednesday’s meeting marked the session of the 84th SA Congress.

“I can’t believe it’s been a year,” said current presi-dent Maher Saab, senior political science major from Abilene.

The newly elected execu-tive officers will officially be-gin their terms on Tuesday.

SA: Recycling bill passesContinued from page 1

council has potential to af-fect Chapel, but it is “polling from the wrong audience.”

Her ideal council, Wac-tor said, would be made of the very people who sit at the top of Moody C o l i s e u m , sending text m e s s a g e s , talking to friends and not paying a t t e n t i o n because they are the ones who don’t like Chapel. But, Wactor said, they are not the people who will fill out an application.

“I just think that for all the people that don’t like Chapel, why would they apply to be on a Chapel committee? Why?” Wactor said. “The ones that you’re trying to affect and change are the ones that don’t care

about Chapel.”Others say the council

will make a difference if its voice is heard.

Casey Carr, freshman environmental science ma-jor from Canadian, said 12 students should be enough

to represent the student body, but all classifications need representation.

Students talk about the same issues: making a di-verse student body feel that Chapel is relevant to every-one, meeting daily and be-ing required to attend.

Barnard said he is used to hearing both new and old ideas when students discuss Chapel, but Cha-

pel is always changing. Some things, however, do not change.

“Chapel should be one place where our hearts and minds are touched in com-mon ways to think differ-ently about Jesus and his

call in our lives,” Bar-nard said.

The coun-cil applica-tion was sent to the stu-dent body April 17, and

all students are welcome to apply to review and contribute to Chapel.

“There is no ‘magic’ Cha-pel plan or answer to engage everyone in meaningful ways,” Barnard said. “Such engagement will always be a personal choice.”

Chapel: Students to speak upContinued from page 1

E-mail Peace at: knp04a@acu.edu

School and assistant provost for research and service.

The other two graduate level classes will be offered as part of the second year of curriculum for the master’s in higher education program.

The master’s in conflict resolution program and the master’s in leadership and learning program will each offer two new courses online next fall and one this sum-mer, Williams said.

Second semester first-year Greek will be the new under-graduate online course and will be offered this summer.

Williams said undergradu-ate online courses are not typical, but the class is being offered because students who studied abroad were not able to take the course.

Two or three other new graduate courses will also be offered next fall, Williams said.

Course: online classes available this fallContinued from page 1

E-mail Hansen at: optimist@acu.edu

“We’ve had nominations coming in steadily for the Senator positions,” she said. “I wondered if they were ex-cited to do this, and with these nominations pour-ing in, I think it indicated the interest.”

Once the Senate begins meeting, which will take place each month, the 20 Senators will begin discuss-ing issues important to staff. Staff members not serving as a senator can submit ideas or issues to their senators by e-mail to staffsenate@acu.edu or go to the Web site to submit ideas.

Griffith encouraged staff to make nominations if they haven’t already and to re-turn to the Web site in May to elect the senators.

“I think this is going to be a positive thing for the ACU community,” she said.

Senate: Staff to select senate in MayContinued from page 1

E-mail Schlabach at: mes02e@acu.edu

VP: Money says position affects all students

Angelo State once this sea-son, while ASU swept TWU in their series.

ACU went into the sea-son with higher hopes than it has now. Before this season, the Wildcats had back-to-back postsea-son appearances and were the preseason pick to win the division this year.

Junior pitcher Kim McDon-ald received special mention from the LSC for her per-formance in last weekend’s

series against WTAMU. She went 3-0 and allowed just five runs on 19 hits, three walks and had 16 strikeouts in 18 innings of play.

The team is scheduled to play two games Thurs-day and two games Satur-day at home.

“We just need a good solid team effort in order to have a good series,” Wilson said.

Softball: Wildcats to play last series of 2007 Continued from page 8

Continued from page 1

He said Perkins was an in-spiration to his teammates during his time at ACU, and their friendship continued years after their athletic ca-reers ended.

“Johnny was the type of

person that made you better when you were around him,” Montgomery said.

Perkins was an all-Lone Star Conference selection at wide receiver and punter for ACU. He was also named team MVP, LSC Lineman of the Year, first team NAIA all-America

and second team Associate Press Little all-America. He played in the Senior Bowl and Blue-Gray all-star games af-ter his senior season in 1976, was named to the 1970s all-decade team and the ACU all-Century football team.

Perkins’ funeral will be at

2 p.m. in his home town of Granbury, and Montgomery said he expects everyone Per-kins touched during his life to be there.

“I think anybody that can walk and any of those guys that played with Johnny are probably going to be there,”

Montgomery said. “Johnny was the type of guy every-body loved.”

Perkins: Friends, teammates remember his heart Continued from page 8

E-mail Johnson at: djj04a@acu.edu

E-mail Schlabach at: mes02e@acu.edu

Track: Three meets bring chance to add qualifiers

the next person takes off after the previous person passes them.

Distance runners will also be competing at the Penn Relays. In the steeple-chase, Nicodemus Naimadu and Olha Kryv’yak will run in the event.

Naimadu has automati-cally qualified for the step-plechase, along with the 5,000- and 10,000-meter runs. Beside the steeple-chase, Kryv’yak has quali-fied in the 1,500-meter run. Kryv’yak’s time of 10:38.35 currently ranks her second in the nation in the steeple-chase and her provisional time of 4:31.40 last weekend at TCU in the 1,500 ranks her sixth in the nation.

The men’s team is running two relays in Philadelphia: the 4x200 and sprint medley.

Meanwhile, the women’s team is running four relays: the 4x400, sprint medley, 4x800 and 4x200.

“I think the mile relay has a chance,” Hood said. “I think they’ve got a good op-portunity to do something there. Hope to get under 3:40.”

Currently the relay ranks third in the nation with a time of 3:41.28.

Hood also likes his men’s 4x200 relay team’s chances of doing something this weekend.

“The 4x200 was second last year, and may have a chance to be better if the sticks are good,” Hood said.

After this weekend’s events, the Wildcats have the LSC Championships in Commerce on May 4-6.

E-mail Fields at: jrf03b@acu.edu

Continued from page 8

E-mail Davis at: optimist@acu.edu

“There is no ‘magic’ Chapel plan or answer to engage everyone in meaningful ways.”

Dr. Wayne Barnard, university dean of spiritual formation

E-mail Johnson at: djj04a@acu.edu

Monday

OUTDOOR SOCCERPlayoff tournament will begin next week.

SOFTBALLSee softball schedule on Intramural board.

SPORTSFRIDAYPage 8 April 27, 2007

SCOREBOARD

Standings

Upcoming

INTRAMURAL ROUND-UP

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

Scoreboard as of Thursday

BASEBALLTeam Div. OverallACUAngelo St. TarletonTAMK-UENMU

WTAMU

13-312-47-97-94-103-11

40-1137-1525-2624-2619-3112-33

SOFTBALLTeam Div. OverallAngelo St. TAMK-UTarletonENMUACU

TX Woman’s

19-113-711-99-1110-147-13

42-630-1631-1426-2424-2121-32

WTAM 3-17 15-34

Upcoming

Tuesday

BASEBALLACU 2, Texas-Permian Basin 1ACU 14, Texas-Permian Basin 6

Scores

BriefsWinning Ways

n The ACU baseball team reached 40 wins after sweeping Texas-Permian Basin on Tuesday The 40- win season is the ninth for head coach Britt Bonneau in his 11 years of coaching. ACU is only two wins away from breaking the ACU record for wins in a regular season.

Best on the Trackn Nicodemus Naimadu continued his remarkable track and fi eld season and picked up another Lone Star Conference Athlete of the Week honor after setting the course record in the 5,000 meters at the TCU Invitational last weekend. Naimadu shattered the old record by 20 seconds with his time of 14:13.54.

n Olha Kryv’yak also received Athlete of the Week honors after winning the 1,500 meters at the TCU Invitational with a time of 4:31.40. Kryv’yak’s time at TCU bettered her qualifying time for nationals by two seconds.

Friday

TRACK & FIELDACU at Drake Relays, Des Moines, Iowa, all day

ACU at Penn Relays, Philadelphia, all day

BASEBALLACU at West Texas A&M, Canyon, 4 p.m. (DH)

Saturday

TRACK & FIELDACU at Drake Relays, Des Moines, Iowa, all day

BASEBALLACU at West Texas A&M, Canyon, 4 p.m. (DH)

SOFTBALLACU at Cameron, Lawton Okla., 3 p.m. (DH)

n Home games listed in italics

BRIAN SCHMIDT SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

ACU pole vaulter Callie Young clears the bar at the TCU Invitational on Saturday. Young fi nished eighth with a height of 3.65 meters.

n If ACU can sweep West Texas A&M this weekend, it will secure fi rst place in the Lone Star Conference South Division and a No. 1 seed in the LSC tournament.

By DANIEL JOHNSONSPORTS EDITOR

It appears the 13th-ranked ACU baseball team is ready for the postseason.

ACU is first in the Lone Star Conference, has one of the deepest pitching staffs in the LSC and has already reached its team goal of 40 wins.

But before ACU can start swinging for an LSC champi-onship, the Wildcats will have to sweep its final series to put them in the best position to make a run at the title.

“Our goal is to win the South, and we need to sweep so we can do that,” said head baseball coach Britt Bonneau.

ACU will secure first place in the LSC South and guaran-tee a No. 1 seed for the LSC Tournament on May 5-7 if the Wildcats sweep its four-game series in Canyon against West Texas A&M this weekend — a feat that isn’t unreasonable.

West Texas is last in the LSC South with a 3-11 confer-ence record and 12-33 overall record, an unimpressive 7.18 ERA, bats .303 as a team and is last in the division in er-rors with 257.

In comparison, ACU is first in the LSC South with a 13-3 in conference 40-11 overall, is first in the LSC with a 4.20 ERA, is No. 8 in the nation in batting aver-

age at .362 and has the least amount of errors in the con-ference with 174.

ACU also has a chance to break the team’s regu-lar season wins record this weekend after sweeping a two-game series against Texas-Permian Basin on Tuesday. ACU beat Permian Basin 2-1, 14-6 and is two wins away from breaking the former record of 41 set by ACU’s 1998 squad and

tied by the 2005 squad. “WT is a big series,” said

closer Jameson Maj.Maj had another big se-

ries against Permian Basin on Tuesday, picking up two saves in three innings of work to extend his LSC and ACU single season saves re-cords. Maj’s 16 saves puts him in the top three for saves in the nation.

“Just keep them coming,” Maj said. “I just go out there and close games.”

ACU put six pitchers on

the mound in preparation for the postseason, but the most impressive outing was a sur-prising performance by relief pitcher Matt Sullivan.

Sullivan’s first start of the season became his second win after he held Permian Basin to four hits and one run in six innings of work.

Bonneau said knowing that Sullivan can pitch well when needed gives the Wild-cats insurance going into the postseason.

“We needed Matt to feel

good about himself,” Bon-neau said. “It’s good to know if we ever need a fifth starter in the playoffs, we’ve got a guy to go to.”

Sullivan, said the win helped him personally prepare for the upcoming postseason.

“This was a huge con-fidence booster,” Sullivan said. “I just got to get some good work in before play-offs start.”

Cats seek sweep to fi nish fi rst

n Former ACU and New York Giant wide receiver Johnny Perkins died Wednesday morning after suffering complications from recent heart surgery.

By DANIEL JOHNSONSPORTS EDITOR

Wally Bullington will al-ways remember Johnny Per-kins for more than his ath-letic ability.

“He just got along with everybody,” said Bullington, who coached Perkins from 1974-76. “If you didn’t like Johnny Perkins, there was something wrong with you.”

The former ACU all-Ameri-can, ACU’s all-time leader in

receiving yards and New York Giants wide receiver died Wednesday morning at age 54 from complications after recent heart surgery.

Perkins is survived by his wife Debra; a son, Jasmine; and a daughter, Jia.

“One thing I’ll remember most is how family-oriented he always has been,” said Bullington, athletic director emeritus. “Johnny Perkins had a happy nature about him.”

Perkins played at ACU af-ter transferring from Ranger College and was a vital part of arguably one the best offens-es in the history of ACU and college football. Combined with fellow wide receiver Cle

Montgomery, record-setting quarterback Jim Reese and hall of fame running back Wilbert Montgomery, Perkins was part of the reigning NAIA offense during the 1970s.

“He was a great team man and didn’t worry about the stats,” Bullington said. “But of course they took care of themselves.”

Perkins is still the highest draft pick to come out ACU —

he was picked 32nd in 1977 NFL Draft — and is the all-time leader in receiving yards (2,529 yards), third in touch-down catches (22) and sixth in receptions (116).

“Johnny was pretty much, during our days at ACU, the glue behind our team,” said Perkins’ college roommate Cle Montgomery.

Former ACU all-American dies Wednesday

n The ACU track and fi eld team will be separated between three meets this weekend, one in Pennsylvania, on in Iowa and one down the street at McMurray University.

By JARED FIELDSMANAGING EDITOR

Wildcat track and field members are separated throughout the country this weekend at the Penn and Drake relays, while others are staying in Abilene for a meet with McMurry.

Pole vaulters Kyle Dennis and Angie Aguilar are the

only athletes traveling to Des Moines, Iowa, for the Drake Relays.

“Kyle’s ready to jump 18 feet if the weather’s any good,” said head coach Don Hood.

Dennis ranks first in the nation with a jump of 5.2 meters. Similarly, Aguilar tops the women’s pole vault rankings.

In Philadelphia at the Penn Relays, Hood is taking 23 athletes.

Vladyslav Gorbenko is re-

turning after a three-week hi-atus to compete in the triple and long jump.

“Vlad looks very good,” Hood said. “He practiced [Wednesday] and looks re-ally good.”

Davy Manga is competing in the triple jump, trying to better his provisional mark while also competing in the shuttle hurdles relay.

In the shuttle hurdles, four people line up in two lanes and each run the 110-meter hurdle race. Like a relay, the

Team separates among meets

COURTESY OF CREATIVE SERVICESJohnny Perkins was the highest draft choice to come out of ACU. Perkins was drafted 32nd by the New York Giants in 1977 NFL Draft.

BRIAN SCHMIDT SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

ACU second baseman Willy Uechi dives for a ball between the third base line while third baseman Alec Sowards watches during practice April 18.

Baseball

E-mail Johnson at: djj04a@acu.edu

n The ACU softball team will need a series of wins and loses throughout the Lone Star Conference this weekend to make the LSC postseason tournament.

By RACHEL DAVISSPORTS WRITER

The Wildcats have their final regular-season games this weekend against Cam-eron University, but there is nothing they can do to in-crease their chances of mak-ing the Lone Star Conference Postseason Tournament.

ACU’s games against the LSC North Opponent Cam-eron University will have no effect on ACU’s grim post-season picture, but head coach Chantiel Wilson said they are just as important as any other game.

“We take every game se-riously whether we have a chance or not to get into the postseason,” Wilson said. “We schedule these games at the beginning of the year with hopes that they will

prepare us for the postsea-son if we make it.”

Cameron, who is ranked fourth in the LSC North, will be going to the conference tour-nament. It is 15-9 in its confer-ence games, whereas ACU is 10-14 in conference play.

“Cameron has been hit-ting the ball well all year, and they are a pretty solid team all around,” Wilson said.

Currently, the Wildcats are ranked fifth in the LSC South Division, and its post-season hopes hang mostly on this weekend’s series be-

tween Eastern New Mexico and Texas A&M-Kingsville.

“We still have a shred of hope to get into the confer-ence tournament based on this series,” Wilson said.

ACU must hope Texas Woman’s loses one game to West Texas A&M, which would leave ACU and TWU tied for fourth place with 10 wins each. Because ACU and TWU split their series, the Wildcats would win the tiebreaker because it beat

ACU needs help to make postseason

BRIAN SCHMIDT SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

Pitcher Kim McDonald winds up during ACU’s series against West Texas A&M last weekend.

Softball

Track & Field

On the Webwww.acuoptimist.com

n See an online video profi ling the nationally ranked and fi rst place ACU baseball team and its success this season at:

www.acuoptimist.com

See SOFTBALL page 7

See TRACK page 7

See PERKINS page 7

“If you didn’t like Johnny Perkins, there was some-thing wrong with you.”

Wally Bullington, athletic director emeritus