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

Log on to www.youtube.com/acu-video to see Friday’s sports newscast from the JMC Network Newscast staff. In this week’s sports newscast: the cross country ACU Classic, the vol-leyball’s canceled trip to San Antonio and the football team’s home opener.

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a. One word: iPhoneb. We have a winning football team.c. Who wouldn’t want to live here.d. God answers prayers.

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Athletics Department sponsors benefit run for ill infant

Find cheap places to eat around town beside your fast food favorites

Money theft: President’s portrait stolen during summer holiday

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Pg. 8 Nationally ranked football team to host home openerFriday, September 12, 2008 :: Vol. 97, No. 6 :: 1 section, 8 pages :: www.acuoptimist.com

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Zak Zeinert :: chief photographer

Jordan Johnston, sophomore Bible major from Carollton, casts his vote Wednesday in the Campus Center.

Authors’ forum gives students first-person perspectiveBy Kelline LintonHead Copy Editor

Gumercindo Holmes sat in Moody Coliseum, listen-ing intently as Ron Hall and Denver Moore told a tale of redemption, friendship and God’s love in Tuesday’s Cha-pel forum. Holmes had read the same story in the book the Same Kind of Different as Me, but hearing about the real-life events from the au-

thors themselves changed his whole perspective.

“When I first read the book, I was wondering who the char-acters were in real life, if they were authentic,” said Holmes, sophomore psychology major from Pennsgrove, N.J. “They were very real.”

More than 2,800 people from the Abilene and ACU communities packed Moody Coliseum to hear the authors discuss their book.

“It was truly amazing,” said Dr. Charles Mattis, dean of the First-Year Program, in an e-mail.

The authors’ visit was the

accumulation of the Freshman Common Reading, a new pro-gram sponsored by the First-Year Program. ACU freshmen and faculty were invited to

share in a campus-wide dis-cussion of the Same Kind of Different as Me, participating in a variety of activities relat-ed to the reading, including two discussions during Wel-come Week. The arrival of the authors on campus allowed students to interact with the creators of the book.

“The response to the en-tire program (reading, Wel-come Week discussions, wiki, blog, the creative contest and

the authors’ visit) was over-whelmingly positive; we will plan another reading next year, but this one will be very difficult to top,” Mattis said.

The Same Kind of Different as Me is a factual account of the lives of Hall and Moore. Moore, a homeless drifter after an escape from modern-day slavery, meets and befriends Hall, an upscale art dealer.

And the winners are...

By Daniel Johnson-KimEditor in Chief

The votes are in and sev-eral students earned spots in the Students’ Association Congress for the 2008-09 school year.

Only five of the 13 races for elected positions in the SA Congress were contested, and several of the students who lost various races may be ap-pointed to different offices in the future.

More than 400 students cast a ballot in the election.

All of the students who won offices are required to attend a Students’ Associa-tion Retreat where they will learn about parliamentary procedures and SA’s function on campus, said Vice Presi-dent Sarah Pulis.

“We have a lot of new members in Congress this year,” Pulis said. “The senior class last year was very ac-tive, and they all graduated, so a majority of our Congress are underclassmen.”

Zach Linge, Jacob Groves, Carson Henley, Hailey Clinton and Kelly Lytle defeated Amie Cavitt and Colin Barnard to win seats as Freshman Senators.

Jake Hutto and Connor Best defeated Jacob Raitz and Jay Morales for the Mabee

Enrollment numbers increase from 2007-08 yearBy Laura AcuffOpinion Page Editor

ACU officials announced enrollment numbers for fall 2008 Wednesday, confirming this year’s freshman class is the third largest in the last six years, according to an ACU press release.

“We had an aggressive en-rollment goal,” said director of Admissions Haley Webb. “To have the success that we did was something we at-tributed to the hard work put forth by our campus-wide partners and the entire en-rollment staff.”

Nine hundred and seventy-

four students enrolled in the 2008 freshman class com-pared to 890 enrolled fresh-men in 2007, a difference of 84 students.

The difference partially may be attributed to the Mo-bile Learning Initiative imple-mented this fall, but no one can know its exact impact; it

definitely excited students, Webb said.

While the greater enroll-ment numbers required some adjusting, Webb said the ACU community has handled it well and was happy to do so.

Changes this year included the housing of some fresh-man men in Edwards Hall and

the reopening of McDonald hall, which remained empty of residents last year.

Graduate and online pro-grams also increased enroll-ment; 764 graduate students and 260 online students en-rolled this fall compared to last year’s 679 and 124 stu-dents, respectively.

“There’s a lot of excite-ment right now at ACU,” said Phil Schubert, executive vice president for ACU, in an ACU press release. “We have a lot of innovative programs and initiatives, and that creates vibrancy on campus. We are

Students vote in 2008-09 Congress

Summit brings host of changesBy Michael FreemanManaging Editor

Lectureship will have more than a new name this year; it will have new fea-tured speakers, meetings and oppor-tunities for student in-volvement.

For 91 years, ACU’s annual week-long Bible lecture series was called “ L e c t u r e -ship”, but this year, the name for the event will be “Summit”.

“‘Lectureship’ is not real-ly a word that people on the outside have any knowledge of,” said Brady Bryce, direc-tor of ministry events. “It is also a word that communi-cates a one-sided conversa-tion—there is an expert at the front speaking down to a group of people.”

The focus of this year’s event will be to involve more people in a conversa-tion on daily ministry, bib-lical matters and moral is-sues, Bryce said.

Bryce researched the his-tory of Lectureship and re-alized students were heav-ily involved in the event when it first began. Over the years, Lectureship centered on church leadership and history and slowly became more of an alumni event.

“My desire is [to] bring the students back,” Bryce said. “For alumni, I think that they’ve been excited to hear about how students will be involved.”

Instead of in the morn-ings, most Summit meetings and classes will occur in the afternoons and evenings, a change tailored to work into students’ academic sched-ules. Twenty-three Chapel credits also will be avail-able for students during Summit, and in some meet-ings, students will have the chance to text in questions to the speakers to add their voices to the conversations, Bryce said.

The three featured speak-ers for Summit will be Brian McLaren, J. Matthew Sleeth and Sam Solomon. McLaren is a Christian author and church planter who has ap-peared on Larry King Live, Nightline and Religion and Ethics. Sleeth is an environ-mentalist and former emer-gency room doctor who has written the book Serve God, Save the Planet: A Christian Call to Action. Solomon is a former Muslim terrorist who converted to Christian-ity and became a lawyer and adviser to the United King-dom’s Parliament. Students played a role in helping to bring all three speakers to the campus.

“This is a great event,” Bryce said. “We need places where we can talk. I don’t want to have safe conversa-tions; I want to create safe places for conversations to take place and I feel like ACU can model that.”

For more information on Summit, students can visit www.acu.edu/events/summit.

Bryce

See Numbers page 4

See Elections page 4 E-mail Freeman at: mxf04b@acu.edu

It was like an assembly where they talked to us.:: JoJo Boyle, sophomore social work major from Memphis, Tenn.

“”

See Forum page 4

Virtuous African Heritage Sisterhood will have a cook-out Sept. 12 from 4 p.m.to 8 p.m. For more details, visit www.acuvahs.ning.com.

New Collegiate Cards have arrived in the Students’ Association office. Collegiate Cards are available free to every ACU student. Students can join other students and faculty for a time of unified in-tercession on Mondays at 7 a.m. at Jacob’s Dream. For more informa-tion e-mail kdl04a@acu.edu.

The deadline to rank all men and women’s social clubs is Sept. 12 in the Campus Center’s Living Room between 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Intercollegiate Competition Blood Drive to benefit those affected by hurricane Gustav is Sept. 12 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sept. 13 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Teague Special Events Center. Students receive one hour of volunteer service credit for donating.

The Google “App to School” road trip will be bringing its retro-fitted, eco-friendly bus to the campus Sept. 15 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Rep-resentatives will talk about Google Apps and listen to students talk about how they are using these tools on and off campus.

Hispanic Heritage Month at the Abilene Public Library will be cel-ebrated Sept. 16 through Oct. 16. The theme for this year is Getting Involved:Our Families, Our Com-munity, Our Nation.

6 p.m.“We Need Each Other The Tour”is a contemporary Christian Concert featuring Sanctus Real, Tenth Avenue North, VOTA and Sammy Adebiyi at the Paramount Theatre.Tickets are $10 in advance. Call 800-965-9324 to buy tickets.

8 a.m.-11 p.m. West Texas Fair and Rodeo

7:30 p.m. ACU Fall comedy: Moonlight and Magnolias in the Fulk’s Theatre.

8 a.m. 5K Run for the Heart to benefit the Cory and Lisa Stone Family. For information, call Jason Copeland at 674-2913.

8 a.m.-11 p.m. West Texas Fair and Rodeo

2 p.m. ACU football game versus Texas A&M Commerce (home).

8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.The Google Apps Bus will be in the Campus Center mall area to provide students with information and demos about Google Apps.

2:30 p.m.ACU golf versus Charles Coody West Texas Intercollegiate at the Diamondback golf course.

Calendar and Events

Volunteer Opportunities Announcements

Sunday12Friday Saturday Monday

Hurricane Ike is approaching our coast, so 2-1-1 Texas A Call for Help needs volunteers to answer phone calls from people who need assistance. Training will be provided. Volunteers should be able to speak English or Spanish. Fifteen volunteers are needed for each shift. The shifts vary from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m.; 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.; 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.; 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. Contact Mary Cooksey at the 2-1-1 Texas A Call for Help Community Resource Center by calling 676-7065 x1 or e-mail her at mary@unitedwayabilene.org.

Service Saturday begins Sept. 13. Join in a time of service to Abilene’s community by signing up to volunteer. A variety of sites are available. If you are unable to sign up, meet in the Amphithe-ater at 8:30 a.m. Sept. 13. Any-one can join a team at that time.

The West Texas Xtreme Softball Team needs volunteers to assist with the concession stands at the West Texas Fair Sept. 5 through Sept. 13. Volunteers will help with selling lemonade through-out the day and night. Proceeds will benefit the softball players.

The Legends Dove Hunt is in need of males to score at sta-tions for the clay shoot benefiting the Hendrick Children’s Hospital.

The event will be Sept. 13 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Abilene Clay Sports. Volunteers will receive a T-shirt and a free chuckwagon lunch.

The H.E.R.O. Program (Hendrick Equine Rehabilitation Opportuni-ties) needs volunteers to walk or jog alongside a horse on which achild with physical limitations will be riding. No experience withhorses is required. This is an eight-week program beginning Sept. 30 and requires one hour per week. Volunteers can help Tuesday or Thursday afternoons between the hours of 1:30 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Meals on Wheels has an ongo-ing need for volunteers to deliver lunches. Delivery takes 1 to 1 1/2 hours, and it does its best to assign routes that are close. Brief training is provided, and if you are a student, a Chapel exemption can be given for one day a week if your delivery time conflicts with Chapel. If you are able to help, contact Mitzi McAn-drew at 672-5050.

Key City Kiwanis annual fish fry needs volunteers on Oct. 3 and 4 at the Abilene Civic Center. Help is needed Oct. 3 from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. and Oct. 4 from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. with cooking, serving,

cleaning tables and trash pick-up. Volunteers receive a meal ticket to eat meals while working.

The Taylor Elementary Chess Club is seeking volunteers to help with the club Thursday from 3:15 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. Volunteers do not need to know how to play chess.

Sanctus Real Concert needs volunteers Sept. 14 to help with a variety of tasks from loading vehicles and providing security to selling merchandise anytime during the day from 9 a.m. until midnight. The concert will take place at the Paramount Theatre.

ACU’s Summit (Lectureship), Sept. 21 to Sept. 24, needs volunteers for a variety of jobs. Someone is needed to answer phone call requests for shuttle pick-ups, and 21-year-old drivers are needed to drive 15 passen-ger vans for the shuttle service (training required through ACU Physical Resources). Volunteers are needed to work the registra-tion tables in the Teague Special Events Center.

Find out volunteer opportuni-ties by visiting the Volunteer and Service-Learning Center’s Web site at www.acu.edu/vslc and clicking on Volunteer Opportu-nities. For more information or to sign up to help, contact the Volunteer and Service-Learning Center in the Bean Sprout.

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Friday, September 12, 2008

Campus Day2

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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 jmcnetwork@acu.edu or to the Page 2 Editor at mab07d@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 clarifications of published news articles will be printed in this space in a timely manner.

About This Page

Check out news briefs on the noose that was found, the West Texas Fair and Ro-deo and highlights from the “World Fa-mous Bean” grand opening celebration.

Log on to www.youtube.com/acuvideo to see Friday’s sports newscast from the JMC Network Newscast staff.

Online Newscast Webcast

By Sondra RodriguezStudent Reporter

To Travis Moore and David Vanderpool, Gibson Health and P.E. Center has all it needs for a swim team—a six-lane, 25-yard swimming pool. All it is missing is the swim team itself. Moore and Vanderpool hope to fix one by starting a co-ed swim team to compete against other NCAA Division II schools by the 2009 school year.

Moore, junior biology major from Fort Worth, said the swim team would be a good addition to ACU athletics.

“Swimming is a good outlet,” he said. “It gives students another way to be competitive in a sport that’s not football because not everyone can play football. This sport is for everybody—guys and girls.”

The idea developed after Moore and Vanderpool struggled to work around the limited swim hours in the Gibson Center.

Vanderpool, junior English, biblical text and pre-med major from Nashville, Tenn., said, “We said to ourselves, ‘What can we do to get swim time that fits our schedules better?’ Well, if we had a key, we’d be able to swim whenever we wanted, but what would it take to get

a key? Let’s start our own team.”

The two approached the director of athletics Jerry Mosely with the idea. They were told to research how to make the team a reality and present it to the school board. The two expect to present their proposal next week.

“We have to research the annual cost of running a swim team, funding, how much a coach would cost and if our current pool will be able to support 20 or so kids swimming in it everyday,” Vanderpool said.

He said funding will come from local businesses as well as companies from his hometown and will cover a salary for the coach, swim caps, goggles, uniforms and maybe sweats.

“Not anything terribly expensive,” he said.

Moore and Vanderpool are recruiting students for the coaching position and for the team. The two have created a Facebook group but said students should expect a Chapel announcement and interest meeting in the next week.

“Let’s get a key, let’s compete and let’s enjoy this,” Vanderpool said.

Students suggest co-ed swim team

In the editorial about the noose incident, it incorrectly stated Students’ Association President Daniel Paul Watkins, senior po-litical science major from Freder-icksburg, Va., was the first black

student to serve as Students’ Association president.C.B. Barber, a black alumnus, served as SA president during 1993-94 ACU school year.

Corrections /Clarifications

E-mail Rodriguez at: jmcnetwork@acu.edu

Kat Patton :: staff photographer

Brandon Kinder, piano and vocals performer for Homer Hiccolm and The Rocketboys, sings during a concert at University Baptist Aug. 28.

Rockin’ Rocketboys

By Lydia MelbyArts Editor

Money was stolen from ACU this summer, roughly $5,000 worth, actually. But students should not worry because this story has a hap-py ending. Tuesday, just as inexplicably, it was returned.

In early July, someone took an original portrait of the ACU president, Dr. Royce Money, from the President’s Dining Room. The portrait was one of the series of original portraits ACU commissioned for commemoration of the uni-versity’s presidents.

No one saw the thief en-ter the dining room, which administration thought was left unlocked in the flurry of renovations taking place in the Campus Center, and although footprints were left in the dust on the Din-ing Room’s floor, no con-clusive evidence was drawn from them.

Although the ACU police formally opened a case on the incident, the theft was reported about a month af-

ter the fact, so it was diffi-cult for them to mount any kind of investigation.

After the incident gained local media coverage last week, both in newspaper print and on television, the thief apparently had a change of heart. Dr. Money received an anonymous mes-sage from the pilferer Mon-day night, the day after the Abilene Reporter-News ran a story on the event. The thief said he was sorry for taking the portrait and did not ex-pect it to be “such a big deal” and meant it as “a prank.” The message also said the portrait could be recovered the following morning at the back of Fulks Theatre.

Sure enough, the portrait was found and restored to its rightful place. The would-be prankster also called Money Tuesday morning from an ACU courtesy phone to relay a similar message, and Mon-ey assured him all was for-given and he would not be “sending anyone after him.”

“I’ve been here enough years to recognize and ap-preciate the occasional col-

lege prank,” Money said.While stealing a portrait

worth approximately $5,000 is not as harmless as ‘soap-ing the GATA fountain,’ Money added that from the beginning he “was prepared to treat the whole thing as a prank,” and although he had “a good idea about who it was,” he will not press charges because the action was not ill intentioned.

ACU Police Chief Jimmy Ellison said although “Dr. Money got a kick out of it,” the thief should be grateful for the president’s grace, since the painting is actually worth several thousand dol-lars, and this incident is “a good example of people who think they are just pulling a harmless prank but don’t think about the effects it might have on this campus

and other people.”Especially in light of the

recent noose incident, he said, “People need to think twice about their pranks and consider the problems they might cause; this one turned out with a positive ending, but pranks are not always funny, and people need to think about the consequences before things turn out bad.”

Although a few students found humor in the incident, most seemed baffled as to the prank’s purpose.

“I wonder, should we be watching for [the portrait] to show up on YouTube?” said Eryn Halstead, junior English major from Abilene.

Joshua Alkire, junior Eng-lish major from Abilene, said, “You kind of have to wonder what he did with it in the in-

terim… I mean, I understand you have blank spaces to fill on your walls sometimes, but c’mon, would someone really hang that above their bed or something?”

Candace Maple, junior psychology major from Dayton, likened the theft to stealing a masterpiece.

“It’s kind of like stealing a Picasso,” Maple said. “I mean, it’s Dr. Money, and he’s kind of like Picasso here.”

Friday, September 12, 2008 Page 3CAMPUS NEWS

Zak Zeinert :: chief photographer

The portrait of President Royce Money hangs in the President’s Dining Room. It was stolen during the summer.

Portrait of Money stolen, returned to Dining Room

New scholarships, internships available for Hispanic studentsBy Molly ByrdPage 2 Editor

ACU recently partnered with Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities in the effort to provide Hispan-ic students with more schol-arships, internships and ca-reer-oriented workshops.

Daniel Garcia, Multicul-tural Enrollment Marketing specialist, said ACU is taking action to make the campus a more diverse place. By net-working with other universi-ties through HACU, ACU will

learn ways to better serve its students, he said.

HACU offers Hispanic stu-dents access to academic re-sources on a national level; as a result of ACU becoming a member of this organiza-tion, students can apply for internships, scholarships and advancement programs.

Stephanie Robles, Hispan-os Unidos president, said she wants to get involved with HACU.

“I think it’s a good way to get connections and network with people to help you pur-

sue your career,” she said.If students realize how

many resources are available, they will more likely become active in the organization, she said.

HACU National Internship Program (HNIP) is HACU’s largest student program that puts hundreds of students in paid federal and corporate internships. Summer, fall and spring programs are offered, and students can earn credit for their internships.

Academic and conference scholarships totaling more

than $175 million are avail-able to students who attend HACU-member institutions.

HACU has an annual con-ference that includes a stu-dent track with workshops, lectures and career informa-tion. ACU can choose to se-lect student representatives to participate in the con-ference as student ambas-sadors. Ambassadors typi-cally have their conference expenses covered by the member institution.

Garcia said it is impor-tant to understand the back-

ground of HACU to fully comprehend what its mis-sion is trying to fulfill. It was established in 1986 by a group of leaders who recog-nized poverty and language barriers prevented Hispanics from reaching their full aca-demic potential.

According to the 2007 HACU Annual Report, the nation’s economic and so-cial success rests on the skill level and knowledge at-tained by Hispanics because they are the nation’s largest minority population.

The organization is com-mitted to Hispanic success by promoting and improv-ing the access to and qual-ity of postsecondary educa-tional opportunities.

“Over the next semester we want our students to take advantage of the benefits this organization offers,” Garcia said. “It is going to bring so much to ACU’s campus.”

Pi Kappa recharters for new yearBy Tanner AndersonPage Designer

After a two-year absence, the men’s social club Pi Kap-pa is back with 23 new pledg-es, a rewritten constitution and a new pledging process that focuses on service.

“It’s going great; we have all of our pledging stuff set up and for now we’re do-ing non-traditional pledg-ing,” said Robert Caskey, Pi Kappa president and gradu-ate student in Divinity from Stockton, Cal.

This year, Pi Kappa is planning its pledging activi-ties around two different service-oriented organiza-tions. Once a week, the club wants to participate with Habitat for Humanity, a nonprofit organization that provides housing for people in need, and the Global Sa-

maritan Outreach program, a nonprofit institution that delivers medical supplies across the world.

Caskey said the current pledge class also was thinking about chartering a brand new social club on campus, and Steven Moore, associate pro-fessor of English and former club sponsor, talked with the group about Pi Kappa. Caskey said it was the foundation and history of Pi Kappa that was the deciding factor in the club’s restoration.

The last recognized pledge class was inducted fall 2005; that year Pi Kappa accepted three new mem-bers. The men’s social club had a pledge class for the following year but was dis-banded after no club spon-sors were able to attend the pledging events. After two years of being off campus,

Pi Kappa is making its re-chartering debut with more than 30 members — 23 new pledges and 10 members who are still on campus.

In order to gain recogni-tion, the new and current members had to meet dif-ferent rules and regulations. The members had to rewrite the club’s constitution and construct an essay detailing the history of Pi Kappa, why it failed, remedies to the problem and the club’s cur-rent goals and expectations.

“I thought it would be good for the new guys,” Caskey said. “If you need to re-charter, you take on the history and tradition of the club, not just its name.”

It’s kind of like stealing a Picasso. I mean, it’s Dr. Money, and he’s kind of like Picasso here.

:: Candace Maple, junior psychology major from Dayton

“”

E-mail Melby at: lgm05e@acu.edu

E-mail Byrd at: mab07d@acu.edu

E-mail Anderson at: tsa04a@acu.edu

Page 4 Friday, September 12, 2008FROM THE FRONT

Today Moore and Hall still are the best of friends, and Moore is actually an artist with his own gallery.

The authors participated in a closed question-and-answer session for ACU students and faculty at 2 p.m. before discussing their book in the open Chapel forum at 7 p.m.

“It was like an assembly where they talked to us,” said Jojo Boyle, sophomore social work major from Memphis, Tenn.

The authors spoke about their personal lives, the events depicted in their book and the impact the book has wrought in their readers’ lives.

Holmes was impressed with one tale the authors told about a woman who read their book and decided to help two men she saw dumpster diving. She gave them chicken and $20 each. Several months later, one of the men came to her house and told her his story.

The man said he was go-ing to use her $20 to get

“trashed,” but at the local bar, he met a woman bar-tender who wanted to hear about his life. When he told the bartender his family thought he was dead, she bought him a one-way ticket to see them. He went home, got a job and cleaned up his life. He eventually asked the bartender to marry him and went to see the woman who gave him chicken and money to invite her to his wedding.

“All this happened just because that woman read the book, gave him money and helped him out,” Hol-mes said. “The main mes-sage they were trying to get across was that one person can change the world.”

Winners of the Fresh-man Common Reading creative contest also were announced at the Chapel fo-rum. Zach Linge, freshman political science major from San Antonio, won first place for his creative art, which students can soon see in the Brown Library’s Learn-ing Commons. Amanda Arizigian, freshman phys-ics major from Edgewood,

Colo., won second place for her creative essay, and Sara Ray, freshman business management major from Ol-ney, won third place for her creative art.

Many freshmen partici-pated in the contest after several freshman-level classes included the book in their curriculum; Holmes read the book for his Eng-lish class and said he rec-ommends it to everyone.

“For me, it made me miss the gap in my heritage; Denver is very wise, but his knowledge comes from experience,” Holmes said. “The songs he sang and the different things he remem-bers we don’t have anymore; they weren’t passed down.”

Holmes said he liked the Freshman Common Reading.

“If they have books like this,” he said, “I hope it continues.”

committed to promoting an environment that is innova-tive and real; when students come to our campus, we want them to see that what we pro-mote is real. This is a great time for students to choose

ACU,” he said.ACU boasts more than

4,500 students from 47 states and 68 nations. Webb said pro-gressively increasing enroll-ment is an admissions’ goal.

“We believe that future classes will be this big and we intend to continue to grow en-

rollment,” he said.Enrollment figures are tra-

ditionally finalized on the twelfth day of class, giving stu-dents time to adapt to new en-vironments and adjust sched-ules, Webb said.

Hall Representative seat. Keri Gray defeated Ashley Alton for the McDonald Hall Representative seat, and Jar-ed Elk defeated Kyle Smith for the Edwards Hall Rep-resentative seat. Amanda Paramore defeated Breanna Anderson for the Sikes Hall Representative seat.

Hutto was elected as one of the two Mabee Hall Repre-sentatives in the race and said he decided to run because he liked to be involved.

“There were four of us running, and we all knew each other and we all knew any of us could make it,” Hutto said, adding he was eager to get started.

In the uncontested races, Rachel Morris, Karissa Wolf, Danielle Urias and Scott Adrian were all elected as Sophomore Senators; Da-vid Vanderpool and Dan-iel Burgner were elected as Junior Senators and Matt Gauntt and Kyle Pickens were elected as Senior Sena-

tors. C.C. Crowley and Ju-lianne Hart were elected as Gardner Hall Represen-tatives, and Ryan Gertner was elected as Chambers Hall Representative. Aaron Escobedo was elected as Education Building Repre-sentative; Nathan PIckle and Colter Lane were elected as Foster Science Building Representatives and Jor-dan Hancock was elected as the Hardin Administration Building Representative.

Although not everyone won, SA President Daniel Paul Watkins said some, if not all, of the students who ran for an office would be appointed to a seat so they could still serve on the SA Congress.

Representatives and Senators are required to

attend weekly Students’ Association meetings and work in the Students’ As-sociation office at least 30 minutes a week.

Last year the SA Con-gress had trouble with at-tendance at meetings, but Watkins said if that happens again this year, the pressure should be on the Executive Cabinet to make meetings worth attending.

“To me it’s not about how Congress members are apa-thetic,” Watkins said. “It’s about us being more dynam-ic and more engaging so that it attracts congresspersons to attend the meetings.”

Zak Zeinert :: chief photographer

Masha Boyle, junior social work major from Houston, reads Same Kind of Different As Me, in The Den in Bar-ret Hall. The book’s authors, Ron Hall and Denver Moore, came to campus for a Chapel forum Tuesday.

Continued from page 1

Forum: Authors give insight

E-mail Linton at: krl04b@acu.edu

Elections: SA eager to beginContinued from page 1

E-mail Johnson-Kim at: djj04a@acu.edu

Enrollment: Freshman numbers up

There were four of us running...we all knew any of us could make it.

:: Jake Hutto, newly elected Mabee Hall Representative

“”

E-mail Acuff at: lka06a@acu.edu

Emily Jorgenson :: staff photographer

Leianne McMillan and Ben Johnson, co-hosts of the Connecting Caring Communities’ Community Showcase, interrupt Abilene Mayor Norm Archibald during the show Saturday.

Comedy for a Community

Continued from page 1

Page 5September 12, 2008

ArtsFridayEating well on budget is possible in AbileneBy Sara SnelsonStudent Writer

In the heart of fried food heaven with gravy on the top and midnight runs to Whataburger, cheap, fast, and fat are the menu items for common consumption.

When fast food joints are the only options surround-ing campus, students go with what is cheapest and closest. Price also comes into play when eating out.

I, for one, do not necessar-ily dislike fast food but am just sick of consuming the options around me. So, I went on a search to find non-fast food eateries that please my palate and my wallet.

Within close proximity to campus, most places I found were downtown. I personally never thought of downtown Abilene as a hopping food scene, but when I looked closely, quite a few options with good food and good prices made themselves known.

My favorite of them all is Alley Cats. This restau-rant, which is decorated with scenes and signs of old television shows like Cheers and Seinfeld, has a fun and laid-back atmosphere. With plenty of options to choose from, whether sandwiches, wraps, a daily hot food bar, daily specials and home-made chips, Alley Cats will give you a run for variety.

I recommend the chicken salad sandwich on marble rye bread with everything on it (the “Aristocat”). Prices for food range between $4

and $8 (depending if you get a meal). Perk: Alley Cats serves a cheap, tasty break-fast. And when I say cheap, I mean $3–$5. However, if you are going for lunch, try to go either a little early or a little late— between noon and 1 p.m., the line can get lengthy. Alley Cats is open weekdays from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. week-days at two locations: down-town at 401 Pine St. and in the Mall of Abilene.

Bogie’s, which is named after and decorated in the theme of Humphrey Bogart, gives more sandwich vari-eties than any menu I have ever seen. With choices of different meats, vegetables and breads, Bogie’s builds a

mean, healthy sandwich for a small price. With chips and a drink included, you can expect to pay around $5. Perk: for vegetarians and health food fanatics, many sandwiches are meat-free, and items such as mushrooms, sprouts and avocado are on the menu. Creatively, each item on the menu is named after a Humphrey Bogart film.

“Options” is the name of the game on this menu. Perk: phone in your order and pick it up if time gets in your way. Bogie’s, whose motto is “Here’s Eating With You, Kid,” the famous line taken from Bogart’s 1942 Oscar winning film, Casa-

blanca, is located at 211 Cypress St. downtown (next to Monks coffee shop).

For one more down-town stop, venture to The Loft, located upstairs in the shop Under One Roof. With soups, salads and sandwiches on the menu, The Loft serves basic lunch food with a New York, Ital-ian deli feel. Homemade soup with New York ba-gel chips and sandwiches served with prosciutto has the statement “unique and hard to find in Abilene” ringing true.

Expect to spend anywhere between $2 - $8. Perk: the at-mosphere is quaint and calm-ing — you don’t have to yell

over everyone for the person across from you to hear. The Loft is located downtown on 244 Pine St. and is open from 11 a.m to 2 p.m.

These are not the only res-taurants that offer taste and low prices. Other places in-clude Ann Thai Kitchen (which has a gluten free menu), Mc-Kay’s deli located across from Monk’s and known for their desserts, the salad/pasta bar at United Supermarkets and Rick and Carolyn’s Burgers & Fries. All of these restaurants are enjoyable and provide unique options, so quit search-ing— Lunch is served.

BOX OFFICE statsTop ten movies last weekend with weekend gross (Sept. 5-7)

n Bangkok Dangerous (R): $7.8 Million

n Tropic Thunder (R): $7.2 Million

n The Dark Knight (PG-13): $5.5 Million

n The House Bunny (PG-13): $13 Million

n Traitor (PG-13): $4.2 Million

n Babylon A.D. (PG-13): $4.1 Million

n Death Race (R): $3.7 Million

n Disaster Movie (PG-13): $3 Million

n Mamma Mia! (PG-13): $2.8 Million

n Pineapple Express (R): $2.2 Million

MusIC sCEnE

n Saturday, Sept. 13:The Abilene Philharmonic Orchestra will be performing classical music from Dvorak, Ravel and Tomasi. The concert will begin at 8 p.m. at the Abilene Civic Center.

n Sunday, Sept. 14:Tenth Avenue North, Sammy Adebiyi, Vota and Sanctus Real will perform at the Paramount Theatre at 6 p.m.

aBIlEnE arts

n Sept. 13-14:Breakfast at Tiffany's to be shown at the Paramount Theatre at 7:30 p.m.

n Sept. 18-20:Abilene Community Theatre Company to perform Arsenic and Old Lace at 8 p.m. at the Abilene Community Theatre.

Zak Zeinert :: chief photographer

Alley Cats, a restaurant located downtown, is known for its great variety of food items, unique decor and glowing atmosphere.

E-mail Snelson at: jmcnetwork@acu.edu

Changes coming for FilmFestBy Tanner KnauthStudent Writer

FilmFest, ACU’s short-film competition, has been histori-cally “student-run and student-driven,” said Christina Johnson, one of the event co-chairs. This year FilmFest will be no differ-ent, but will also focus more on involving the community.

“Our goal is to not only engage students, faculty and staff but Abilene itself,” Johnson said.

She hopes moving Film-Fest to the spring semester, with a tenative event date set for March 20, 2009, will allow ample time to gener-ate interest and curtail the dwindling audience num-bers of the last few years.

Tom Craig of Student Pro-ductions said time will help students and allow them to in-corporate lessons they learn in class into their films.

Johnson said fall semester will be devoted to raising aware-ness about FilmFest and also working with the students to improve the quality of the films they produce. Several work-shops will be available this fall to help students in areas such as: screen writing, directing, acting, set design and lighting. Beginning Sept. 25, a FilmFest Chapel will meet in Chambers Hall Room 115 on the last Thursday of every month.

Johnson said the Oscar-themed event this year should encourage participants to dress up and have fun with the event. Craig said the theme will allow for some creativity from the event management.

Each film, which will be three-to-five minutes long, will be judged with cash prizes for the winners. The names of this year’s judges have not been released yet, but Johnson said they are “all Christian people in-

volved in film and Hollywood.” This year’s FilmFest will

rely on the experience of Jona-than Davis, the other FilmFest co-chair. Davis brought back several ideas from his intern-ship with Revolution Pictures under Randy Brewer (‘93), who produced the music video for Carrie Underwood’s Before He Cheats. Davis’ experience was key in organizing FilmFest this year, Johnson said.

Craig said any professional experience a student can gain offers a “broader depth of ideas and more creativity.”

Johnson said she is both ex-cited about the possibilities for FilmFest this year and optimis-tic about the turnout during the FilmFest interest meeting at the end of September.

“We want to use this year to grow and see how far we can go with FilmFest,” she said.

E-mail Knauth at: jmcnetwork@acu.edu

It’s interesting to see how details in your life you once thought to be crucial end up being magnified and labeled as insignificant.

I got up today with my regular worries and my regu-lar routine, my mind c e n t e r e d around class, f r i e n d s , club and the starting of the new Dal-las Cowboy season. It

wasn’t until I put the date on one of my papers I realized today was Sept. 11, 2008.

This isn’t meant to be a sappy, sob story or a justifi-cation of how America made the right decision with the Iraq War. It’s just a friendly reminder and reflection to remind myself more than anyone that seven years ago, thousands of people ended

up losing and sacrificing their lives on a day that was originally thought to be an-other average day.

After the attack, some-thing occurred you only have the chance to see every so often. Seven years ago, our country set aside cul-tural, ethnic and religious boundaries to provide help, comfort and healing to ev-eryone who was affected by the 9-11 attack. At that mo-ment, the American Spirit was embodied in millions of Americans across the nation. Donations poured in left and right; people were donating money, blood and their lives as soon as the attack hit the American soil.

Slowly but surely, our country began to heal, and New York began to re-build. Right now, I ask that our campus come together in such a way.

The recent incident in-volving our Students’ Asso-ciation President Daniel Paul Watkins may be perceived as nothing more than a taste-less joke gone awry. Others see it as a blatant display of racism and bigotry. Whatev-er view you hold, one thing is true: there is a division within our campus, and if a Christian campus can’t pro-vide a sanctuary of learning to any individual regardless of gender, color and creed, then we as a student body

have failed.Don’t misinterpret that

I’m comparing the tragedy of 9-11 to the recent issue here on campus because I’m not. Instead, I’m asking for students to remember what makes our country so great, what gives our country pow-er and hope for the future. The power of our country is embedded within its people.

Today, I ask you remem-ber the attack of 9-11. Re-member all the people who lost loved ones and sacri-ficed their lives in order to help others and remember we embody our nation’s spirit during this time. Let’s look at Today not as another ordinary day but as a day to promote change, comfort and healing.

We may be getting a lit-tle ahead of ourselves. And by we, I mean the scien-tists working on the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The

LHC sits in Geneva, S w i t z e r -land, as the most pow-erful par-ticle accel-erator ever built. Sim-ply put, the m a c h i n e l a u n c h e s protons in o p p o s i t e direct ions

around a ring, creating al-most a billion collisions a second at an energy of 14 trillion electron volts.

No worries, mate.Reuters conservatively

described the particle-smasher as “giant.” Con-sidering the $9 billion, Star Trek-esque machine is securely attached to a 17-mile underground ring, I would have used a slightly stronger word.

What do scientists hope to discover by smash-ing subatomic particles together at a speed just slower than the speed of light? For starters, they merely hope to recreate the Big Bang, the theoreti-cal explosion many believe created our universe, on a small scale.

The president of a high school physics club would have a better idea than I do on how to recreate the Big Bang, but I’m sure the scientists in-volved know what they’re get-ting themselves into. At least, that’s what I thought.

Edward Kolb, chair of the Department of Astron-omy and Astrophysics at the University of Chicago, said this experiment “is opening the door into un-charted territory … rather than creating a black hole that destroys the universe, we expect to discover new laws of nature.”

Kolb didn’t volunteer his defense against dooms-day predictions. Groups already have organized against the project. The or-ganization Citizens Against The Large Hadron Collider filed a lawsuit in attempt to shut down the project. This month, the father of a 16-year-old girl in India said his daughter killed herself after “being trau-matized by news reports of doomsday predictions,”

according to reuters.com.For every reaction, there

exists an equal and oppo-site reaction. What pos-sible result could balance all the fear and paranoia surrounding this experi-ment? Thursday, Reuters reported, “Experiments using the LHC, the biggest and most complex machine ever made, could … unlock secrets about the universe and its origins.”

Right.And why is Kolb not the

slightest bit skeptical of this seemingly unpredict-able technology?

“The reason I’m not con-cerned is that nature has already done this experi-ment. It was done in the early universe,” Kolb told Reuters’ correspondent Ju-lie Steenhuysen.

Why, yes, it was. And the result of that theoretical explosion is what we now call our universe. I feel saf-er already. And to further ease the minds of those skeptics out there, scien-tists had to stop the par-ticle beam’s spin Wednes-day—the first day it was turned on. Problems with the machine’s magnets “caused its temperature to warm slightly,” according to reuters.com.

Warm slightly. Like sitting a little too

close to the campfire?The only reassuring

news I’ve read is it will take months, if not years, for the machine to reach full speed. I still won’t re-lax completely until the morning of Dec. 13, 2012. The Mayans stopped their calendar at 12/12/2012 for a reason.

Trash talk is cheap. But the ACU community should get ready to pull out all the stops

because this year, Wildcat football might be even big-ger than the hype.

After beating the No. 3 ranked Northwest Mis-souri State Bearcats on their home turf, a feat not accom-plished by any team since October 2005, the Wildcats clearly have shown they’re ready for a record-breaking season. Now ranked No. 4 by the American Football Coaches Association Divi-sion II Coaches’ Poll, the team is ready to take to the home field in force with five returning all-American selections and a nation-

al championship in their sights.

While head coach Chris Thomsen said in a recent Op-timist article the team tries to avoid focusing on the score-board, with show-stopping players quarterback Billy Ma-lone, running back Bernard Scott and wide receiver John-ny Knox, fans can expect im-pressive results.

Malone, senior manage-ment major from Paris, cur-rently has LSC’s all-time leading passer title. Scott,

senior from Vernon was a 2007 Harlon Hill runner-up, an award given to Division II college football player of the year. Knox, senior physical education major from Hous-ton, earned the title of 2007 LSC South Receiver of the year. Called “one of the most dangerous trios in college football” by Optimist Sports Editor Grant Abston in a re-cent article, they all return for their senior years backed by one of the nation’s top Division II offenses.

With such an impressive lineup, our fans at home should match the intensity of the team representing us. Let’s fill the bleachers and show that even if we can’t claim an ACU-owned sta-dium, we can make Shotwell our own every home game, dominating on the field and in the stands.

As for away games, the more who can come, the better. Our boys on the field are playing for us, whether we’re there or not. So let’s be there.

After a bye-week, the Wildcats face A&M-Com-merce Saturday at Shotwell Stadium. With a team ready to fully employ its incredible potential, the ACU commu-

nity should, in turn, be ready to offer its encouragement.

So “purple-out” to ex-tremes for game days this year, yell as often and as loud as possible and just be there, standing in the bleachers from kick-off to final snap, to show we care.

Our team works hard to

make us proud. This sea-son, in spirit and support, let’s return the favor.

ViewsFridayPage 6

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

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Editorial and Management Board

Daniel Johnson-KimEditor in Chief

Michael FreemanManaging Editor

Sommerly SimserMult. Managing Editor

Laura AcuffOpinion Page Editor

Zak ZeinertChief Photographer

Colter HettichFeatures Editor

Grant AbstonSports Editor

Lydia MelbyArts Editor

Kelline LintonChief Copy Editor

Big Bang Theory recreation generates unnerved reactions

September 12, 2008

Wildcat football prepares for phenomenal season

For every action, there exists an equal and opposite reaction. What possible result could balance all the fear and paranoia surrounding this experiment?

“

”

Cody VetetoChief Videographer

DeLaina ParkerBroadcast Manager

Molly ByrdPage 2 Editor

Multimedia desk:(325) 674-2463

Optimistthe

Kenneth PybusAdviser

Cade WhiteAdviser

Christi StarkAdvertising Manager

9/11 memories inspire desires of campus unity

By Tanner Anderson

People Say I Talk Too Much

By Colter Hettich

Running of the Bull

Slowly but surely, our country began to heal, and New York began to rebuild. Right now, I ask that our campus come together in such a way.

“”

E-mail Hettich at: clh05d@acu.edu

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

E-mail Anderson at: tsa04a@acu.edu

The issue:With one of the top-ranked Division II offenses in the nation, ACU football promises a memorable season.

Our view:Potentially record-breaking sports seasons should not go unnoticed and without ACU community support.

The solution:The ACU community must come together in support of Wildcat football, showing support at home and away games.

With such an impressive lineup, our fans at home should match the intensity of the team representing us.

“”

In Your WordsHow do you plan to support ACU

football this weekend?

James GreenTuba performance majorfrom Cedar Hills.

“I’m a member of the Big Purple Marching Band. I’ll be at the game playing tuba.”acuoptimist.com

View videos of student responses

for the “In Your Words” questions online at a later date at www.acuoptimist.com

Chase KiserFinance majorfrom Abilene.

“I’m gonna go commando because it’s good luck.”

Casey McKinneyAccounting majorfrom Abilene.

“I’m going to go watch. I’m going to wear purple. And I’m going to cheer.”

a necessity.Before I conclude, I

want you to go to d2foot-ball.com, and you will find a list of 12 NFL pros-pects in Division II who will more than likely get drafted or get picked up by NFL teams after the season. Three out of the 12 players are Wildcats, more than any other team. Quarterback Billy Malone, running back Bernard Scott and wide receiver Johnny Knox are all list-ed, giving ACU three of the top skill position play-ers in the country. If you are missing “your” home team each Saturday, stop complaining and make ACU your home team. A top five team that features some of the best players in the nation is something

that doesn’t come along too often.

While I struggle to find activities to do dur-ing an entire school year in Abilene, especially on the weekends, I still must thank the unknown schedulers out there who keep me entertained for nearly half of the year. I owe it to them, we all do, because without them, we would have nothing to complain or celebrate about Monday morning.

Great: Wildcats have rare talent

E-mail Abston at: gda04b@acu.edu

Continued from page 8

Volleyball: 8-0 team looks to remain perfect

(.093). The team is averaging two more assists per set and twice as many aces per set than its opponents. The Wildcats, who have committed half as many errors as their opponents, have won 24 of 28 sets and have never had a game extended to a fifth set.

“I am just so proud of the consistency of this team,” Mock said. “They work hard and they want to be disciplined. Some-times it is hard to always be pushing a team to get better when they are playing so well, but this group of girls takes that negativity and turns it into a positive.”

Mock said that her team is always finding a way to get better and that it is a very coachable group.

Following the trip to San Antonio, the Wildcats return to Abilene for their first home game of the 2008 season.

The team will play Texas-Permian Basin on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in Moody Coliseum. Last season, Texas-Permian Basin won the Heartland Conference.

“There has been a lot of rec-ognition and hype about how well we have played this year, and the girls are excited to ac-tually show our home fans how well we can play,” Mock said.

veteran group as well as explosive group so we feel good about them.”

Running back Ber-nard Scott rushed for 177 yards and two touchdowns against Northwest Missouri State and will be counted on again to help the Wildcats control the clock and wear down the Lions.

After getting off to a slow start in week one, the Wildcat defense will look to get things started earlier after giving up 14 quick points on the first two drives against NWMSU. After the first quarter, the Wildcats shut out NWMSU over the next two quarters to control the game.

“The bye week gave us an opportunity to stay in synch and get our swagger down,” Kern said. “We have it down and we just have to come out faster and we don’t want anyone scoring 21 points on us, especially that quick. We just need to come out with more focus.”

Leading ACU’s defense will be linebacker Eric Ed-wards, who led the Wildcats with nine tackles in week one. Safety Nick Fellows added seven tackles with two passes defended and a fumble recovery. To help slow the Lions’ offense, the defense will be critical in controlling their speed and keeping containment.

“It’s going to be a good

game,” Thomsen said. “It’s a top-20 matchup and they are well-deserving of that rank-ing. It’s going to be a tough one, I just hope the weather holds up.”

The game, originally sched-uled for 6 p.m., was resched-uled to avoid possible weath-er issues with Hurricane Ike.

The Wildcats play the Li-ons at Shotwell Stadium on Saturday at 2 p.m. The Wild-cats lead the all-time series 37-27-1 and won the last matchup in 2005, 27-18.

Friday, September 12, 2008 Page 7SPORTS JUMPS

Run: 5K proceeds to help with expenses

as a university to help some-one in a time of need.”

This Saturday, the De-partment of Athletics will host a 5K benefit run. Copeland is coordinat-ing the events, which will start at the Powell Fitness Center Saturday morning at 8:30 a.m. To register for the race, you can stop by the athletics office this week or register the day of the race starting at 8 a.m. at the Powell Fitness Center. The cost is $20 to run, and the first 100 peo-ple to register will receive a free T-shirt.

All proceeds from the race will be going directly

to the Stone family. The family will come down from their home in Rockwall and accept the donation at half-time of Saturday night’s football game against Tex-as A&M-Commerce.

“We appreciate every-thing ACU has done, and we love this school,” Corey said. “We need prayer, but any other contributions help. Our focus is not on the surgeries, but on get-ting our daughter better.”

To find out more infor-mation on Lia Kate Stone, visit the family’s blog at li-akatestone.blogspot.com.

Football: Game moved to 2 p.m.

Soccer: First home game against HSU

weekend Saturday against Our Lady of the Lake. The Saints enter the game with a record of 5-1-1. They are led by Amanda Bonds, who has five goals al-ready this season. The Saints present a very balanced team as they have already had 10 different players score goals.

The Wildcats have played talented teams early in the season and have been able to compete. They feel that the talent is there but need to cut down on making mistakes, co-captain and forward Jordan Reese said.

“We know we have a good team this year, so we don’t want anyone to be able to capi-talize on our little dumb mis-takes,” Reese said.

Despite loosing some close matches, Wildcat goal-ie Crissy Lawson has only allowed three goals this season. Lawson has made 19 saves this season and re-corded two shutouts. Lynd-

sey Womack, the all-time leading scorer with 10 goals, will lead the Wildcat offense and hope to generate more offensive opportunities.

“We have been working hard in practice to build teamwork and to improve our passing,“ said midfielder Rachel Patch-en. “Our defense is good, but we need to be able to improve on completing our passing.”

The Wildcats will play their first home game Tuesday. They will face cross-town rival Hardin-Simmons University at 5 p.m.

“We are playing Hardin-Simmons, who is usually a yearly nationally ranked Divi-sion III team, so I expect them to bring a bunch of fans out here,” Wilson said. “The atmo-sphere is great with the open field to come out, watch some soccer and check things out.”

E-mail Abston at: gda04b@acu.edu

E-mail Cantrell at: jmcnetwork@acu.edu

E-mail Craig at: jmcnetwork@acu.edu

Continued from page 8

Continued from page 8

Continued from page 8

Zak Zeinert :: chief photographer

The football team will have its first home game Saturday when it plays Texas A&M-Commerce.

E-mail Harris at: tch05f@acu.edu

Emily Jorgenson :: staff photographer

Outside hitter Erin Curry serves during practice. The Wildcats are 8-0 and will play three games at the Heartland/LSC Crossover.

Emily Jorgenson :: staff photographer

The soccer team will travel to Cedar Hill Saturday. The Wildcats are 1-2-1 and will play John Brown and Our Lady of the Lake.

Continued from page 8

By Chandler HarrisAssistant Sports Editor

The Wildcat volleyball team will attempt to build on what has been a great start to the 2008 season when they travel to San Antonio this week for the Heartland/LSC Crossover. Due to Hurricane Ike, the team was forced to cancel one of its games and re-schedule the other two for earlier times.

The team played one game Thursday night against St. Mary’s, but the results were not available at

deadline. The other match-up will be played at noon on Friday against Incarnate Word. The team decided to cancel its game against St. Edwards because the teams have a n o t h e r s c h e d u l e d matchup in November, head coach Kel-len Mock said.

“Basically, the hurricane is likely to hit San Antonio Fri-

day night or Saturday morn-ing,” Mock said. “Along with the weather, [residents from] Corpus Christi are being evac-uated to San Antonio, so it was going to be a little bit of a mess to play there. None of the teams in the tournament wanted to chance losing the matches so we decided to find a way to make it work. The new schedule is going to get us out of there before the hurricane hits, which is my number one priority: to keep them safe,” she said.

Mock said the competition this week would play a vol-leyball style more like that of

the Wildcats, as opposed to its recent out-of-state opponents. These teams have smaller players who emphasize ball control and play offense and defense like the Wildcats.

The team is off to its best start (8-0) since 1991 when the team coached by Kent Wieb began the season with 12 straight wins. The 2008 team has been dominating its oppo-nents in almost every statisti-cal category.

The Wildcats’ season hitting percentage (.220) more than doubles that of its opponents

SportsFridaySeptember 12, 2008 Page 8

Friday

Women’s SoccerACU vs. John Brown, 1 p.m.

VolleyballACU vs. Incarnate Word, Noon

Saturday

Women’s SoccerACU vs. Our Lady of the Lake, 3 p.m.

FootballACU vs. Texas A&M Commerce, 2 p.m.

:: Home games listed in italics

Standings

Upcoming

Friday

SoccerACU 0, Incarnate Word 1

VolleyballACU 3, Dixie State 0ACU 3, Palm Beach Atlantic 0

Saturday

VolleyballACU 3, Montana St.-Billings 0ACU 3, Ft. Lewis College 1

FootballTeam Div. OverallTarleton St.WTAMU ACUMSUENMU

TAMU-K

0-01-00-01-01-00-0

2-02-01-01-01-11-1

Angelo St. 0-0 0-2

VolleyballTeam Div. OverallMSUACUSE Okla.WTAMUCameron

Tarleton St.

0-00-00-00-00-00-0

9-08-08-17-24-44-4

Women’s SoccerTeam Div. OverallWTAMUTX Woman’sTAMU-CAngelo St.Cent. Okla.

East Central

0-00-00-00-00-00-0

2-03-13-1-13-23-2-12-2

MSU 0-0 2-2ENMU 0-0 2-3ACU 0-0 1-2-1NE St. 0-0 1-2SW Okla. 0-0 1-3

Match-up

Scores

Fall sports

Team TennisStarts: Friday, Sept. 12Sign-up Deadline: Thursday, Sept. 11Cost: $40 per team

FootballStarts: Thursday, Sept. 16Sign-up Deadline: Thursday, Sept. 11Cost: $275 per team

SCOREBOARD

InTRAmuRAl ROunD-up

Run to benefit alumni’s daughterBy Jeff CraigSports Writer

Corey and Lisa Stone knew their baby wouldn’t be per-fectly healthy. The couple, both former ACU students, found out in the 18th week of Lisa’s pregnancy that their new baby would have some heart defects. But knowledge of the child’s illness didn’t get in the way of celebrating the

birth of their baby Lia Kate on July 22 last summer.

Lia was 7 pounds, 1 ounce and a healthy 19 inches long but was born with two ma-jor heart defects, Tricuspid Atresia and Transposition of the Great Vessels. Lisa and Corey, a former ACU basket-ball player and still ACU’s all-time leading points scor-er, knew that Lia’s condition was serious.

“She doesn’t have a work-ing right ventricle, and will need surgery to bypass the right, and use the left ven-tricle to pump blood to the heart and lungs,” Corey said.

After hearing about their daughter’s condition, Corey and Lisa began searching for ways to help cure their baby. While they knew no decision would be easy, they learned that Lia’s condition was treatable, but would re-quire three dangerous open-heart surgeries.

After hearing about Lia’s situation, the ACU Depart-ment of Athletics, along with men’s head basketball coach Jason Copeland, began to search for ways to help out the Stones and the cost of the surgeries. The Athletic De-partment and Copeland even-tually decided on hosting a benefit run.

“It’s a great chance to help one of our own, it’s al-ways a sad situation to go through when you have a sick baby,” Copeland said. “This is a great opportunity

* 6 of 14 LSC Teams

See Volleyball page 7

See Run page 7

Hurricane Ike forces Cats to reschedule

By Ryan CantrellSports Writer

The Wildcats are trav-eling to Cedar Hill this weekend to play a pair of games, looking to improve their 1-2-1 record. Friday, the Wildcats will play John Brown University before tak-ing on Our Lady of the Lake on Saturday.

John Brown enters the match with a 1-2 record. The Golden Eagles are led by midfielder Jodi Knack, who leads her team in goals and assists. The Wildcats will have their hands full as John Brown went 9-0 in confer-ence play last season. Head soccer coach Casey Wilson feels this should be a good test for his team.

“We are expecting good competition from both NAIA teams we play this weekend,” Wilson said. “John Brown has been in the top 20 already this year, and Our Lady of the Lake will be a solid team. They have done

well so far. One of the main things we are going to focus on this weekend is trying to re-establish our offense and get some things to work in the next four games before our first conference game.”

The Wildcats will have little rest as they play their second game of the

Soccer team will face tough tests in Cedar Hill

Volleyball

acuoptimist.comCheck online

throughout the year for intramural

schedulesphoto courtesy of liakatestone.blogspot.com

Lia Kate, shown above, was born with two major heart defects. The ACU Department of Athletics will host a benefit run for Lia’s family this Saturday.

Mock

By Grant AbstonSports Editor

After defeating previous-ly ranked No. 3 Northwest Missouri State, the Wildcats jumped to No. 4 in the na-tion before their bye week, earning one of the Wildcats’ highest rankings ever. Af-ter getting a week off, the Wildcats are ready to back up their ranking when Texas A&M-Commerce comes to Abilene Saturday for the first home game of the season.

ACU enters Friday’s game as the No. 4 team in the na-tion according to d2football.com and the American Foot-ball Coaches Association poll, its highest ranking ever in the AFCA poll. A&M-Com-

merce enters the game 1-1 after defeating Angelo State 13-10 last weekend.

“Commerce is a really good team, and they have a really good defense and have some explosive play-ers on offense that are re-ally good,” said head coach Chris Thomsen.

The Lions finished last season 5-6 and were tied for first in the LSC North Division. The Lions lost their first game this season to Northwestern State be-fore defeating Angelo State, and will feature an athletic team that has speed in the skill positions including quarterback, running back

and wide receiver.Quarterback Terry Mayo

leads an offense that aver-ages 13.5 points per game and 281 yards per game. Running backs Nabil El-Amin and James Jamison along with wide receiver Willie Thornton will all contribute offensively and will be tar-geted by the Wildcats.

“They have good athletes and speed at the skill po-sitions,” said Wildcat line-backer Mike Kern. “We have to control and contain the offense and not let their ath-letes get out and make big plays. Overall, we just have to play disciplined.”

The Lion defense has only given up an average of 254 yards per game but will be

facing an ACU offense that is averaging over 500 yards af-ter one game. The Wildcat of-fense, led by quarterback Bil-ly Malone, scored 44 points in week one and will look to get out quickly and take the lead. Wide receivers Johnny Knox, Edmund Gates and Jonathan Ferguson will lead the Wildcats after combin-ing for 11 catches, 221 yards and two touchdowns.

“Those two guys (Knox and Gates) can stretch the field, and Jonathan Ferguson had a touchdown catch; so we’ve got some guys that can stretch the field, and there’s a lot of veteran experience,” Thomsen said. “It’s a good

marching undefeated

Wildcats host Texas A&M-Commerce Saturday

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Football

Soccer

photo courtesy of Creative ServicesBernard Scott runs against Northwest Missouri State in week one. The Wildcats defeated NWMSU and jumped to No. 4 in the national rankings. ACU will play Texas A&M-Commerce (1-1) Saturday at 2 p.m. at Shotwell Stadium as the Wildcats look to move to 2-0.

Soccer gaMeSUpcoming games for the Wildcat soccer team.

n John Brown UniversitySept. 12 @ 1 p.m.

nOur Lady of the LakeSept. 13 @ 3 p.m.

n Hardin-SimmonsSept. 16 @ 5 p.m.

n Paul Quinn CollegeSept. 19 @ 5 p.m.

n Home games in italics

It’s that time of the year again

I have noticed a trend through the years that has slowly grown more appar-ent lately. For me, as soon as school ends on Friday, and for those who finish work on Friday afternoons, everything stops for the w e e k e n d . We have no need to make plans because we have our plans already made for us, usually years in advance.

Of course I am talking about foot-ball season, a time where we seem to not care about anything else for four to five months. I wait for it all year, and it always seems to finish a little more quickly than I want. But this year, I am go-ing to try and slow it down, taking advantage of my cur-rent situation.

I can’t complain about this situation. The Cowboys are one of the early favorites for the Super Bowl, and how could you argue? ESPN has the Cowboys as No. 1 in their power rankings, and even though it is early, how could you disagree after last Sun-day? My favorite college team is ranked in the top 10 in the nation and is nationally tele-vised from here on out. Local-ly, ACU is ranked in the top five in the nation and is one of the top teams in Division II, looking to make its first appearance in the Division II national championship game.

It is almost ridiculous how much football coverage you can find. College football usually provides you with a nationally televised game Thursday, sometimes Friday and all day Saturday. The NFL has games Sunday, Mon-day and Thursday later in the season. And if that is not enough, you can find a high school game anywhere in the nation on Friday.

The opportunity to watch these games will capture just about any audience you can imagine. Don’t believe me? Go to a NFL game or attend a tailgate party before a col-lege football game. Eat a pre-game meal with the high school team or travel to a small town where football is the weekend. Football binds sports fans together, no matter what differences are out there, tying individuals together over the course of a season. Some might argue it’s

By Grant Abston

Hot Sports opinions

One key match-up to look for in Saturday’s football game against Texas A&M-Commerce will be the Lions’ running backs versus the Wildcat linebackers. The Lions feature two good backs and will need to be kept in check in order for the Wildcats to control the clock and give the ball to the offense.