The Optimist Print Edition: 02.09.11

The Department of Theatre’s per-formance of Eurydice was post-poned after wintry weather con-ditions delayed set completion, setting the cast back in rehearsal.

“With the snow last week, it didn’t allow us much time to work on everything. We’ve got a com-plicated set and we needed a little more time to get that up,” said di-

rector Emily Rankin, senior theatre major from Abilene. “We just didn’t think that we’d have enough time to be able to do everything we wanted to do with moving a week of work. [It’s] better to be prepared.”

As of now, the cast and crew are all back to regular rehearsal, and the production will run Feb. 17 through Feb. 19 with the talk-back session scheduled for Feb. 18.

Based on classic Greek mythol-ogy, Eurydice tells the tragic story

of a young newlywed couple, and the depths of which love will go.

“Orpheus and Eurydice are married, and Eurydice dies. Or-pheus misses her so much that he travels to the underworld to rescue

her,” Rankin said. “He then plays beautiful music so that he can con-vince the lord of the underworld to let him take Eurydice back.”

Rankin said that the particu-lar piece they will be performing

is an updated version, and finds that Eurydice must make a deci-sion, spinning the plot.

“The thing is that it’s from Eu-rydice’s point of view, so you meet her in the underworld and see what she goes through while Or-pheus is looking for her.”

In line with the Department of Theatre’s mission to deliver thought-provoking pieces, Rankin

The deadline to submit an application for the third annual ACU Undergradu-ate Research Festival was extended to Feb. 10 be-cause of inclement weath-er. The festival will take place in the Robert D. and Shirley Hunter Welcome Center on March 28.

The purpose of the festi-val is to showcase the under-graduate research activity

happening at ACU. It gives students a chance to present their research results while giving faculty, staff and stu-dents a chance to hear and see what’s going on in vari-ous disciplines across cam-pus. Students compete for a range of prizes, which, in previous years, have includ-ed cash rewards of $100.

Dr. Greg Powell, director of the Office of Undergradu-ate Research, said the festi-val has fostered some great collaborative work among

faculty members. Students have seen friends and col-leagues involved and have called his office asking how they can get involved, which is how he feels it should be.

The festival also offers students a chance to improve their public speaking skills and to develop confidence.

“We’ve all been in this spot before and we are here to learn and be friends, not critics,” Powell said.

He said the festival offers a professional but relaxed

atmosphere in an environ-ment that is meant to feel like a research conference.

Jade Jung, senior chemis-try major from Busan, South Korea is entering the festival for the third time. Jung said she is used to presenting her findings at chemistry con-ferences where the general audience already has a vast knowledge of science. At the ACU festival, however, she will be presenting in front

Optimistthe

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

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1 section, 8 pages

weatherinside

page 3

websitenewsThe Springboard Ideas Challenge is accepting mini-business plans for big-business ideas until March 4.

page 6

opinionChanges to Presidential Scholarships will give more students the opportunity to receive awards, but more is expected of recipients.

video archivesFind archived Optimist Sing Song videos from years past before this year’s show on our YouTube channel, youtube.com/acuvideo. 25° 14°

Wed. Fri.Thurs.

37° 23° 51° 28°

Let it Snow, page 5

RESEARCH

Samantha SutherlandContributing Reporter

Undergraduate Research Festival extends deadline

Vol. 99, No. 34

Abilene Christian University

SAMANTHA SUTHERLAND // Contributing Reporter

David Kempe, junior biochemistry major from Tulsa, Okla., inspects a test tube used in an experiment.

see PLAY page 4

V i c k i e Smith, in-structor of E n g l i s h , died Sat-urday in A b i l e n e , after a battle with cancer. She was 62.

Smith taught in the De-partment of English until the first day of classes this semes-ter but was unable to contin-ue after being diagnosed with abdominal cancer.

Dr. Cole Bennett, associ-ate professor of English and interim department chair, moved into an office across the hall from Smith when he arrived at ACU in 2000. He said Smith was always asking her fellow professors questions to be the most ef-fective teacher she could be. Bennett called Smith a “student of the craft.”

“Vickie was an outstanding teacher, and her voluminous office files are a testament to her devotion,” Bennett said. “She was continuously inventing, designing and re-fining assignments for the

Campus mournsEnglish instructor

FACULTY

see SMITH page 4

Jeff CraigManaging Editor

see UNDERGRADUATE page 4

Winter weather postpones Eurydice performanceMarissa Ferguson

Staff Reporter

THEATER

With the snow last week, it didn’t allow us much time to work on everything. We’ve got a complicated set and we needed a little more time to get that up.

EMILY RANKIN // Director of Eurydice and senior theatre major from Abilene‘‘ ’’

Stress is no new concept in the life of a col-lege student, but a recent study indicates that the emotional health of freshmen is worse than it was 25 years ago.

Only 51.9 percent of freshmen had above average emotional health, accord-ing to a press release from the Cooperative Institutional Research Program. This is a 3.4 percent drop from 2009 and a decline from the 63.6 percent of freshmen in that category in 1985.

The study is based on fresh-men’s self-ratings of their emotional health over the past 25 years. The CIRP surveyed 201,818 full-time freshmen at 279 of America’s four-year col-leges and universities last fall alone. The CIRP Fresh-man Survey is the largest and longest-running survey of American college students, surveying more than 15 million students since 1966.

John Delony, assistant dean for resi-dence life, said he believed the national trends extended to ACU. However, he be-lieves the rise in stress is more connected to economic uncertainty than an increase in the intensity of school loads.

“I don’t believe that study is indicative of just college students,” Delony said. “I think that if they did that study for society in gen-eral, they’d find the same trends.”

The study confirmed that the economy and financial strains on students’ families played a part in freshmen stress. The unem-ployment rate of students’ fathers (4.9 per-

cent) was at an all-time high and the rate of unemployed mothers (8.6 percent) showed increase as well. The amount of students getting college loans is at 53.7 percent.

Carly Henderson, freshman biology ma-jor from Edmond, Okla., agreed that college

Story by Christianna Lewis

IncomingA recent study shows freshmen stress levels hit 25-year high

Stress

see LEARNING page 4

Illustration by Morgan Davis

announcements

Wednesday 11Friday

The Dyess Youth Center needs help with a Ping Pong Exhibition from 4-6 p.m. every Friday. Vol-unteers will preside over tournaments and help with an exhibition for the students. Transportation will not be provided, and volunteers cannot have any sexual assault charg-es or charges pending. For more information, contact Sheri Frisby at 696-4797, or e-mail [email protected].

Breakfast on Beech Street Students can help set up, prepare and serve breakfast for the home-less at First Christian Church on Third Street and Beech Street. Serving time is 6:30-7:15 a.m. on Monday-Friday. Visit www.fccabilene.com for more information.

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

The Center for Contem-porary Arts needs a gal-lery assistant to help with exhibit setup and prepa-ration. The work can be done any time 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Tuesday-Friday. Call 677-8389 or e-mail [email protected].

The Salvation Army Volunteers are needed at the 1726 Butternut St. Salvation Army to sort and price items and help with kitchen or yard work. Vol-unteers are welcome any time Monday-Saturday.

Contact J.D. Alonzo at 677-1408 or visit www.satruck.com for more information on the program.

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

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

Betty Hardwick Center Volunteers are needed in several departments at the Betty Hardwick Center, specializing in mental health. Students can help mentally and physically challenged people play games, run track and go bowling. Students can volunteer from 8 a.m.-2 p.m. on Monday-Friday. Contact Angel Seca at 690-5235 for more information.

Meals on Wheels needs volunteers to deliver noon meals to seniors and adults with disabilities. Routes are available 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. on Monday-Friday. Volunteers must be at least 18, with a valid driver’s license, auto insurance and a desire to serve. Training is provided. Students may

be exempted from one Chapel per week if delivery time conflicts with Chapel. Contact Samantha Barker at 672-5050 or [email protected].

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

Madison Middle School is looking for male volun-teers to participate in a weekly “Boys2Men” lunchtime program for 8th grade boys. Speakers will be addressing differ-ent aspects of growing up. Contact Jeff Womack at 692-5661 or [email protected].

Global Samaritan Re-sources Volunteers are needed to sort through clothing and repack boxes Monday-Thursday at any time. Volunteers should call ahead. Contact David Catalina at 676-9991 for more information.

HERO Hendrick Equine Rehabilitation Opportu-nities needs volunteers from March 22-May 5 to help with its horse ther-apy program. Volunteers will walk or jog alongside horses and provide safety for clients as they ride. No horse experience is necessary. Volunteers must attend one of two training sessions offered prior to the beginning of the program. Contact Beth Byerly at 660-3465 or e-mail [email protected].

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

calendar & events09 Thursday10 12Saturday

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volunteer opportunities

2Campus Day

Married Students Retreat Registration for the Mar-ried Students Retreat is now open. The retreat is Feb. 11-12 and is $65 per couple. Register at www.acu.edu/retreat or contact Steve Eller at [email protected] or the Counsel-ing Center at 674-2626.

Table Tennis The ACU Ta-ble Tennis Club is hosting a free Table Tennis Tourna-ment at 10 a.m. on Feb. 12 in the Campus Center Living Room. Students do not need to own their own paddle to participate. For more information, contact Benjamin Hayes at [email protected].

Online Summer Courses Registration opens Feb. 23 for online summer courses. Students can choose from 15 courses, and each course is three weeks long. For more information, visit www.acu.edu/summeronline.

Career Expo Current stu-dents and alumni have the opportunity to meet with employers from a variety of industries about potential full-time positions and internship opportunities from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. on Feb. 24 at the Abilene Civic Center. The event offers résumé reviews and mock inter-views. Professional attire is required.

ACUltimate The univer-sity’s ultimate frisbee club meets at 6 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Interested students can contact Kyle Thaxton at [email protected].

Civil Rights Tour Students can receive academic credit dur-ing Summer Session I by joining the ACU Freedom Ride on May 15-21. The seven-day, 1,800-mile guided bus tour will visit significant sites of the American Civil Rights Movement. Registration begins Feb. 23. For more informa-tion, contact Dr. Richard Beck at [email protected], Dr. Jennifer Dillman at [email protected], Dr. David Dillman at [email protected] or your academic adviser.

GRE Prep Course Students interested in registering for the GRE prep course need to sign up by Feb. 18. The course is designed to help students learn test-taking strategies for the computer-adaptive GRE General Test. Students can become familiar with the exam and identify study needs through lab practice tests. Sessions are Mondays, 6:30-9 p.m. from Feb. 21-March 28. For more information, visit www.acu.edu/pce.

FilmFest Entry forms for the 2011 FilmFest can be found in McKinzie Hall Room 122, at www.acu.edu/filmfest or acufilm-fest.tumblr.com.

The Shinnery Review Students interested in being published in 2011 issue of The Shinnery Review, the ACU student-run art and literary magazine, should e-mail original poetry, photogra-phy, short stories and art to [email protected] by Feb. 15 to be considered.

Equine-Assisted Learning The University Counsel-ing Center will host a “Walls & Fences” work-shop at 1:30 p.m. on Feb. 4. The free workshop will focus on learning to be aware of boundaries and assertiveness in relation-ships. Students should register to reserve a spot at www.acu.edu/eac. For more information, con-tact Steve Eller at [email protected].

Summit Art Contest ACU students can submit origi-nal artwork in the form of photography, draw-ings, paintings or other creations to visually com-municate the theme of next fall’s Summit. Entries must be submitted digi-tally to [email protected] by Feb. 15. The winner will receive $100, and his or

her artwork will be used during Summit. For more information, contact the Ministry Events Office at 674-3750.

FCA The ACU chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes meets at 9 p.m. every Thursday in the Campus Center Living Room.

11 a.m. Chapel with guest speaker Joy Eggerichs from “Love and Respect NOW” in Moody Coliseum

2 p.m. ”Open Mic Relationship Q&A” Chapel forum with Joy Eggerichs in Cullen Auditorium

5:30 p.m. Women’s basketball vs. West Texas A&M University

7:30 p.m. Men’s basketball vs. West Texas A&M University

11 a.m. Small Group Chapels (locations vary across campus)

8:15 p.m. Freshmen Devo at Chapel on the Hill

11 a.m. Praise Day in Moody Coliseum

7:30 p.m. Eurydice in Fulks Theatre

10 a.m. Table Tennis Tournament in the Campus Center Living Room

2 p.m. Women’s basketball at Texas A&M-Kingsville

4 p.m. Men’s basketball at Texas A&M-Kingsville

7:30 p.m. Eurydice in Fulks Theatre

17

Chapel

Credited Chapels to date

Checkup56 Credited

Chapels remaining

about this pageThe Optimist maintains this calendar for the ACU community to keep track of local social, academic and service opportunities. Groups may send announcements directly to [email protected].

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

Corrections and clarifications of published news articles will be printed on this page in a timely manner.

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

Springboard Ideas Chal-lenge

Service Saturdays Stu-dents have the opportu-nity to serve the Abilene community on Service Saturdays, starting Feb.5. Students can sign up during lunch hours in the Campus Center.

February 9, 2011 Page 3CAMPUS NEWS

SA solicits student opinion through survey

A Students’ Association survey released Wednes-day will give students an opportunity to express their opinions on multiple campus issues.

The 50-question Zoo-merang survey will cover topics including recycling, meal plans, attendance pol-icy, social clubs and volun-

teering. SA Vice President Jared Elk, said the survey is a great way for students to have their voices heard. Students can take the sur-vey through Friday.

“There are a lot of good surveys sent out. This is one of the most important,” Elk said. “This is the students’ one opportunity to take an SA survey while at ACU. It probably won’t be done again for several years.”

Elk, senior political sci-ence major from Savoy, said the survey allows students to help shape the course of SA for the next several years. Elk said the last sur-vey, sent out three years ago, helped change the university’s alcohol policy.

“The purpose of the survey is to try to figure out what the students’ wants, needs and goals at ACU are,” Elk said. “We

want to know how we can express those goals to the administration and get people working toward the same goals. “

Elk said almost 1,000 students took the last sur-vey and he hopes for simi-lar participation numbers with this survey. SA will award prizes to random students who take the sur-vey. The awards include an iPad, iHome, blankets

and other ACU gifts.SA Chief Development

Officer Connor Best said students should take the survey to tell SA what issues they deem to be important.

“It’s going to help SA re-ally understand what the student body wants,” Best said. “This Saturday we are planning a spring retreat and we want to put into ac-tion the information we’ve received. It’ll help us better

advocate on their behalf.”Best, junior political

science major from Sacra-mento, Calif., hopes to see an increase in participa-tion over the last survey.

“This is really impor-tant because the only way this is legitimate is if a bunch of students take the survey,” Best said.


STUDENTS’ ASSOCIATION

Shinnery Review seeksstudent art submissions

The Shinnery Review is ac-cepting submissions to be evaluated for publishing in its annual art and literary maga-zine from now until Feb. 15.

The Shinnery Review, ACU’s student-run pub-lication, features poetry, short stories, photography and other artwork. Bethany Bradshaw, Shinnery Review coeditor, said the publica-tion tries to keep away from certain profanities.

“Other than that, pret-ty much anything goes. We don’t usually take a lot of academic essays … it’s more creative writing than academic writing,” Bradshaw said.

Bradshaw, senior Eng-lish major from Henderson, said she hopes the publica-tion can start gaining di-versity amidst the students who submit their work.

“We’re trying to encour-age it to be more widespread across campus and try to

get students from different disciplines to get more in-volved and interested in the magazine,” Bradshaw said.

Most submissions come from the English and art departments.

Students who want to get involved with the magazine can go to the Shinnery Re-view’s small group Chapel that meets on Thursdays in the Inkwell, which is in the commons area in the base-ment of Chambers Hall.

“It’s just kind of an in-formal time where we can share information about the Shinnery and usually read some poetry,” Brad-shaw said.

That’s how David McMi-chael, senior English major from Abilene, was originally drawn into the magazine. He started going to meet-ings as a freshman and is now one of the coeditors of the Shinnery Review.

“It’s great to see all the talent from the other stu-dents on campus and to get to read their poetry

and see their photogra-phy,” McMichael said.

In his fourth year of involvement, the unique-ness of the publication keeps McMichael return-ing each year.

“There’s not really any-thing else like this on cam-pus,” McMichael said. “Al-lowing people to have a venue to kind of share their thoughts and share their art is very important to me.”

The Shinnery Review will be published near the end of the semester and will host the Black Tulip, their big poetry reading of the year, to celebrate. They also plan to bring an author to campus about a month before the release of the magazine.

To submit a piece of art to the editorial board of the Shinnery Review, e-mail [email protected] with your titled piece as an attached file.

Bailey GriffithCopy Editor

STUDENT GROUPS

contact Craig [email protected]

contact Griffith [email protected]

TANNER FREEMAN // Staff Photographer

Rachel Webb, senior marketing major from Beaumont, leads Ko Jo Kai Sing Song practice.

Warming Up Athletes support local child

The ACU Student-Athlete Advisory Committee has partnered up with the Make-A-Wish Foundation to help raise money for a local child’s wish.

The SAAC does not have the right to publicize the name, age, gender or medical state of the child. However, it was made clear that the child is from Abilene. The SAAC is working with representatives from Make-A-Wish to get the rights to publicize.

The Make-A-Wish Foundation is a non-profit organization that helps grant wishes to chil-dren with life-threaten-ing medical conditions. Make-A-Wish has granted 204,059 wishes as of Feb. 6, according to the Make-A-Wish website. Doctors, social workers or even parents refer children to Make-A-Wish.

Ann Varner, director of athletics academic ser-vices, said that the stu-dent-athletes heard about

social clubs adopting chil-dren’s wishes and thought it would be a good idea for the SAAC, which promotes volunteer opportunities for athletes to get involved with their communities. Varner supported the de-cision wholeheartedly.

Varner said in order to grant a wish with Make-A-Wish, you must raise a min-imum of $5,000. The SAAC has committed to raising the minimum amount and more if possible. Var-ner said it could take up to $7,000-$10,000 for the wish to become a reality.

“We felt like people would be willing to give more knowing it was a lo-cal child,” Varner said. “It made it more personal to have a local child.”

The SAAC will fundraise to reach the $5,000 goal. One way that the SAAC plans on getting the funds is through penny wars. The game in-volves athletic teams carry-ing around jars asking for pennies. The pennies are counted at face value. If a donor drops any silver in

the jar, the worth of the sil-ver is counted off from the total amount of pennies you earn. Whoever comes away with the most pennies wins the game. The money will go to the Disneyland wish – sil-ver and all.

Ijeoma Moronu, senior health promotions major from Fort Worth and chair of the SAAC has helped raise money all four years at ACU. She also plays vol-leyball for the Wildcats.

“It means a lot to me to help sponsor a local child,” Moronu said.

One way that students and social clubs can get involved is participating in the 5K walk on May 7 throughout the surround-ing neighborhood. The details of the walk are to be determined. The mon-ey raised will benefit the local child. There will also be fundraising events at Chick-fil-A on March 30 and at Rosa’s on May 7 fol-lowing the walk.

Zane GoggansContributing Reporter

ATHLETICS

contact Goggans [email protected]

Page 4 February 9, 2011CAMPUS NEWS

said that the play will tackle questions that stu-dents deal with in their daily lives.

“The play asks ques-tions that are universal like what happens to us after we die, what parts of us get left, and what parts of us are we able to take once we leave this world,” said Rankin. “It also tack-les how strong the bonds of love are, and what kind of relationships we carry on even after this world has passed away. It’s a play about questions but not necessarily answers which is something a lot of people are drawn to.”

Dawne Swearingen-Churchville, assistant pro-fessor of acting, said Rankin brings something special to the stage as the director.

“[Rankin] was so well-rooted in the text and well-

researched. She already had a great understanding of what the story was and the direction that she wanted to go with it,” Swearingen-Churchville said. “Because she has put the trust in the students and has allowed them to try some things and take risks, there is a comfortable environment that’s there.”

As scheduled, the talk-back for the show on Feb. 18 will continue. This has served as a means of communication between stage members and the

audience in the past.“We find these ses-

sions very interest-ing and enlightening,” Rankin said. “We started doing talk-backs a few years ago, and it has re-ally changed our rela-tionship with our audi-ence. It helps open that dialogue more between the stage and the seats.”

Tickets may be pur-chased for $12 at the WPAC box office.

students in her composi-tion and British literature courses.”

Bennett said Smith was as concerned with her stu-dents’ spiritual develop-ment as she was with their understanding of con-cepts she taught in class.

“Because our office doors were often both open, I would hear her talking to students about their lives – troubles at home, illness, poor time management, faith mat-ters and integrity,” Ben-nett said. “Her students may have had difficulty understanding British poetry or essay writing at times, but they could not have missed the woman of unbridled and never-end-ing love standing before them each class period.”

Smith was born May 3, 1948. She graduated from Midwestern State University in 1972 with a bachelor’s de-gree in English. She earned her master’s in English from ACU in 1992 and began teaching full time in 1995.

Dr. Nancy Shankle, professor of English and associate dean of the Col-lege of Arts and Sciences,

remembers Smith as a teacher who loved her stu-dents and was passionate in her faith. Shankle said Smith expected her stu-dents to strive for excel-lence in her classes.

“Any student who came to class unprepared or made excuses about miss-ing homework quickly heard a lesson about ac-countability from Prof. Smith,” Shankle said. “However, she also worked overtime to help any stu-dent who earnestly wanted to learn. She often tutored students in her office to help them prepare for an assignment or test.”

Shankle said Smith was effective as a teacher because she used uncon-ventional teaching meth-ods. She said Smith would teach her Major British Writers course backwards, starting with more recent literature and then going back in time. Shankle said Smith wanted her students to participate in class.

“Professor Smith was also a champion for active learn-ing and would give students a text to discuss or a writing exercise and then leave the room,” Shankle said. “ When she returned, she challenged

students to tell her what they learned, and they always rose to the challenge.”

Dr. Mikee Delony, assis-tant professor of English, re-members Smith as a teacher who cared for her students.

“I’ve been part of the ACU faculty for almost five years, and Vickie was always helpful, encourag-ing, and willing to share ideas and resources,” De-lony said. “Many of my handouts have “Smith” in the header, indicating that she created them. She was often the first faculty member on the floor in the morning and the last to leave in the afternoon.”

Delony said Smith’s en-couragement was a posi-tive influence for those she worked with in the Department of English.

“She had a wonder-fully dry wit, a generous spirit, and will be missed by those of us who worked with her every day.”

Her funeral service will be at 1 p.m. on Thursday at Hillcrest Church of Christ.

She is survived by her mother, sister and other family members.

Learning: Majority of freshmen report stress

is more stressful for fresh-men today than it was 25 years ago.

“I think it’s probably a combination of the econ-omy, tuition and the idea of not being able to get a job when their done,” Henderson said.

Henderson said her family had difficulty cov-ering tuition. She also worries about her future

career, which she hopes will be in the medical field. Delony said uncer-tainty caused by systemic changes in the economy is driving students to stand out academically.

“My generation and be-yond was told that you go to high school, then col-lege and then get a job. That narrative I think is changing,” Delony said.

Delony said the notion of having one job or profession for an entire career is gone.

The survey may support this idea, as 75.8 percent of freshmen rated their drive to achieve as “above average,” showing an up-ward trend. Further, 72.7 percent of freshmen – the highest rate ever –believed that “the chief benefit of college is that it increases one’s earning power.”

Far fewer female stu-dents reported high levels of emotional health than male students, the rates at 45.9 and 59.1 percent re-

spectively. Henderson said she observed much more stress in herself and other female students than in her male classmates.

Delony said he believed that investing in experience-

based education is para-mount in these times where challenges and opportuni-ties are great. Any students experiencing high stress can take advantage of the Coun-seling Center, or approach

ACU staff and faculty.Henderson said she is

trying to manage her time better than she did last se-mester to reduce her stress. She is also going to church more and reading her Bible more regularly.

“Whenever I have my God time, it kind of helps me pull in my stress and get my thoughts in order,” Henderson said.

FRESHMEN

contact Lewis [email protected]

Students develop business plans for contest

Aspiring entrepreneurs and small business hopefuls are encouraged to submit the next big-business idea for the fourth annual Spring-board Ideas Challenge.

The competition is de-signed to support winning participants in their en-trepreneurial ambitions, with the help of cash and other prizes. Advancing participants will also have the opportunity to receive feedback and advice from current business owners.

Jim Litton, J.D., direc-tor of the Griggs Center for Entrepreneurship & Phi-lanthropy, said he encour-ages students to utilize this unique opportunity.

“The competition is a great way for students inter-ested in entrepreneurship or simply with a great busi-ness or nonprofit idea to get valuable feedback and potentially win significant prizes to help them launch their venture,” Litton said.

Each team must out-line their projected idea by submitting a written mini-business plan. The

plan should highlight core concepts and other expla-nations that would be of interest to new potential investors.

The challenge, sponsored by the College of Business Administration, is open to students and other interest-ed participants in the West Texas region. Teams can con-sist of up to four members and must register online by March 4. There is a $10 regis-tration fee.

Ashley Carroll, junior business marketing major from Prosper, said she be-lieves this challenge proves

ACU’s strong commitment to promoting student success.

“Not only does this con-test encourage students to think outside the box and push themselves to be in-novative, but it also gener-ates interest from potential investors,” Carroll said.

The competition will award winners in three divi-sions: Student, Community Pre-Revenue and Communi-ty Post-Revenue. From each of the categories, a first place winner will receive $7,500, a second place winner will re-ceive $2,500 and honorable mentions will receive $1,000.

A “Most Fund-able” prize of $7,500 will be awarded to only one team, chosen from the three divisions. In addi-tion, the “Social Entrepre-neurship” award will grant $2,500 to one team in the competition.

The Springboard Ideas Challenge has launched past winners into main-stream success, includ-ing four ACU students who presented the idea of Sheepdog. Sheepdog, a research service aimed at helping organizations identify their customers’ preferred social networks,

was the first place winner of the 2009 Springboard Ideas Challenge. The com-pany was sold Fall 2010.

“It’s an opportunity to showcase talents and po-tentially put a business plan into action,” Carroll said. “The ultimate win-nings consist of an invest-ment to jump-start your business plan.”

For information regarding registration, deadlines and competition rules, visit www.acu.edu/springboard.

Christina BurchPage 2 Editor

ACADEMICS

contact Burch [email protected]

Continued from page 1


DANIEL GOMEZ // Chief Photographer

A memorial service for Vickie Smith took place during the English Departmental Chapel on Tuesday. Faculty members lit candles and Smith’s frog collection was displayed.

FACULTY

Smith: English instructoremphasized faith in class


Undergraduate: Studentsto display research abilities

of people who are not fa-miliar with the sciences which gives her experi-ence using a new method of presenting.

David Kempe, ju-nior biochemistry major from Tulsa, Okla., said ordinary lab work does not involve much public speaking, so it is good to have an event where they can practice those skills.

“It’s a really good expe-rience in terms of learn-ing how to speak pub-licly and learning how to present your ideas, especially complicated ideas, to a group of people who aren’t used to talk-ing about those sorts of things,” Kempe said. “It’s something I think anyone

who goes into research needs to be good at.”

The festival is open to all undergraduates and recent graduates who are seeking the opportunity to display the results of the research they con-

ducted the past year.Applications for the

festival can be found on the Undergraduate Re-search Festival website.

RESEARCH


Play: Opening weekend pushed back to Feb. 17

THEATRE


contact Ferguson [email protected]

The play asks questions that are universal like what happens to us after we die, what parts of us get left and what parts of us are we able to take once we leave this world.

EMILY RANKIN // Director of Eurydice and senior theatre major from Abilene

‘‘ ’’

SAMANTHA SUTHERLAND// Contributing Reporter

David Kempe, junior biochemistry major from Tulsa, Okla., and Jade Jung, senior chemistry major from South Korea, inspect test tube results in the Foster Science Building.

contact Sutherland [email protected]

I think it’s probably a combination of the economy, tuition and the idea of not getting a job when their done.

CARLY HENDERSON // freshman biology major from Edmond, Okla.‘‘ ’’

Page 5

FocusFebruary 9, 2011

Katie Greene, freshman undecided major from Abilene, tosses snow into the air outside of the McGlothlin Campus Center in front of the GATA Fountain.

photos by DANIEL GOMEZ // Chief Photographer

Below: Walker Nikolaus, junior physics major from Abilene, watches his friends play in the snow outside of Smith and Adams Halls after rolling down a hill on the Wildcat Disk Golf Course on Feb. 1. Left: Snow covers the lawns of the Onstead-Packer Biblical Studies Building.

Above: Caley Johnson, freshman business major from Omaha, Neb. and Savannah Smith fresh-man undecided from Dallas, stroll down the iced road between Mabee Business Building and the Education Building. Right: Moody Coliseum is covered in snow.

Let it SnowIcy weather offers students a break from classes

and creates a winter wonderland on campus

Laura AcuffCopy Editor

Bailey GriffithCopy Editor

Morgan DavisCartoonist

Changes made to the way Presidential Scholarships are awarded will give the university more flexibility in distributing the scholar-ships, the academic pinna-cle for incoming freshmen.

A record 453 potential stu-dents applied for the award this year, an increase from the 323 last year. This sharp increase in application num-bers serves as an indicator to the university that it is do-ing the right things to attract more academic scholars.

Students have compet-ed for either a half schol-

arship or full scholarship in past years, based on their ACT or SAT scores, however, students now will all compete for up to a full scholarship. The university has not estab-lished what the lowest scholarship award will be.

With the old system, the university could do one of three things for applicants It could give them no schol-arship, a half scholarship or a full scholarship. We be-lieve the former methods of distributing the awards limited the university too

much because students who were qualified for less-er amounts were left out.

Even if handing out more partial scholarships reduces the number of full scholarships awarded, we believe this will attract more gifted students to the university. Helping more students pay for col-lege is beneficial to fami-lies and to the quality of incoming classes.

With enrollment num-bers on the rise at ACU, a diverse scholarship pro-gram is necessary to meet

the needs of growing freshmen classes. The uni-versity will now be able to hand out scholarships they deem appropriate based on a student’s credentials.

Additionally, the uni-versity will be holding these gifted scholars to a higher standard; recipi-ents of the award will now be required to spend more time in the Honors Col-lege. This new standard for Presidential Scholars makes perfect sense for those who the univer-sity strives to hold to the

“highest standards of aca-demic success.”

Students who receive the scholarship will now be required to spend the mini-mum amount of time nec-essary to participate in the Honors College and join an extracurricular activity. Last year students were only re-quired to take Honors cours-

es. They did not have to par-ticipate in the college itself or any extracurricular activities.

These moves will at-tract more gifted students and are good places to start enhancing the uni-versity’s credibility.

OpinionPage 6 February 9, 2011

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

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

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

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

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

Address letters to: ACU Box 27892 Abilene, TX 79699

E-mail letters to: [email protected]

editorial and letter policy

By Morgan DavisThe Funny Funnies

Scholarship changes allow adaptability EDITORIAL

Snow remains constant irritant

COLUMN

Little LindaBy Linda Bailey

Growing up in the Texas Panhandle means I’m no stranger to the snow, but it doesn’t mean I like it.

T h o s e p e s k y flakes of solidified r a i n w a -ter turn roads and sidewalks into icy death traps canceling school and trapping people indoors.

Almost everything about the snow drives me crazy. Shov-eling driveways, scraping ice off my windshield, wearing at least six layers of clothes and slip-ping in front of Mabee Hall on the way to work.

And when heavy winds are thrown into the snowy mix, it feels like my face is be-ing pelted with large icicles – an experience I don’t enjoy.

Snowball fights are wet and dangerous when college guys try to see just how fast and hard they can throw the tightly packed sphere of snow. Snowmen are kind of creepy with their beady coal eyes, long carrot noses and crooked, stick arms. Snow angels are re-ally just a waste of dry clothes. And why make a snow fort in the bit-ter cold outside when you can make a blanket fort in a dry, warm liv-ing room?

Melting snow is even worse. Water drips from rooftops into yards cre-ating muddy, wet pud-dles of ice and snow. Snowmen become even creepier when their eyes, nose and arms slide into one big snowy

clump. Water lines the streets creating streams of cold liquid I’m forced to jump over – and I have short legs.

Growing up, my family never went skiing. We spent winter break in South Padre and California.

Needless to say, I could do without the snow. Sure, it’s fun for the first five minutes of a snowball fight until the snow soaks through my mittens and I’m left wondering how long it takes for frostbite to cause me to lose my fin-gers. Sure, I won’t com-plain about multiple

days of canceled class. And sure, playing in the first snowfall of the year in the middle of the night with my closest friends is fun at any age.

But after four days, I just want to feel warm and dry, walk on solid ground, and be able to drive my truck to school.

So, perhaps you could describe my feelings toward snow as a love/hate relationship. I’ll admit that a blanket of fresh, white snow is in-comparably serene, but in the end I will always see snow as just really cold rain.

But growing up in Tex-as, I’ve at least learned to tolerate it – but only in two-inch intervals, not in blizzard form.

Those pesky flakes of solidified rainwater turn roads and sidewalks into icy death traps canceling school and trapping people indoors.

contact the Optimist [email protected]

the issueACU is changing the requirements attached to the Presi-dential Scholarship, as well as the amounts awarded.

our takeWith a growing number of applicants, these changes will grant more students money and encourage success.

contact Bailey [email protected]

Teacher impacted students’ livesHomeskoolValidictorianBy Jeff Craig

I don’t think I’ll ever for-get Vickie Smith.

My sophomore year at ACU I enrolled in Ms. Smith’s English 112 class, as-suming it would be easy. I quick-ly found out that Ms. Smith had no intentions of ever teach-ing a blow-off class.

The first day of class she told us her course would be the hardest class we’d ever taken. She wasn’t lying.

Ms. Smith died on Sat-urday at age 62, and the university lost one of its truly unique personali-ties. She was tough, per-sistent and frankly, she was intimidating.

But from the first day of class three things were glaringly apparent: she loved teaching, she loved

God and she loved her students.

At the start of ev-ery class, she would pass a prayer jour-nal around the class. She told stu-dents to put whatever was in their heart in the journal. It wasn’t a fan-cy book, but Ms. Smith wasn’t fancy. She said she would pray for us. Again, she wasn’t lying.

Her unconventional teaching style made her unique. Sure, we talked about all of the literature stuff, but looking back, Ms. Smith had an un-canny ability to weave life lessons into her class les-sons. Discussions about purity, integrity and re-sponsibility were far more frequent in her class than discussions about com-mas and phrases.

However, she still ex-pected her students to work hard. Ms. Smith

was all about effort and the more effort a student put into an assignment, the better grade he or she would receive.

Ms. Smith gave me a bad grade on my first es-say, and I was pretty up-set. I asked her what I did wrong and she asked me to come meet with her. She proceeded to spend almost two hours of her own time helping me be-come a better writer – for two hours I was all that mattered that her.

People like Ms. Smith are rare. She would stay after class to help stu-dents as often as they needed. For Vickie Smith, teaching was not a job – it was a ministry. She rel-

ished the opportunity to influence students.

I only had her for one semester, and there were times I wanted bang my head against a wall do-ing one of her essays. But looking back, it’s easy to recognize that I was fortunate to have been taught by an out-standing teacher.

Vickie Smith knew when it was time to make her students laugh. She knew when it was time to be tough, and she knew when it was time to show compassion.

This campus is going to miss her.

COLUMN


Bailey

Craig

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Optimistthe

People like Ms. Smith are rare. She would stay after class to help students as often as they needed. For Vickie Smith, teaching was not a job – it was a ministry. She relished the opportunity to influence students.

February 9, 2011 Page 7FROM SPORTS

Season opener on horizon after weather delay

After having its season opener delayed by four days, the Wildcat baseball team will have to wait an-other four days to get its 2011 season under way. Weather has forced the Wildcats to cancel both the series with Incarnate Word and Delta State, two of the top 40 teams in Divi-sion II baseball.

ACU will now face off against Texas A&M-Kings-ville this Friday in Kings-ville with a three-game se-ries against the Javelinas.

The Wildcats will not be able to make up their series with Incarnate Word due to Lone Star Confer-ence bylaws which give teams three days to com-plete a series once both teams are in town.

“That’s baseball,” said Head Coach Britt Bonneau. “The bylaws give you three days to get your games in, and we couldn’t.”

Bonneau and his players will get their shot at Delta State. The Statesmen will come back to Abilene in late March to make up the series lost this week because of the winter weather.

With the cancellations, ACU has managed to make it through the roughest part of their schedule with-out a loss and never took a swing or threw a pitch. The three opponents the Wildcats were scheduled to face over the last week were all in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper’s top 40 pre-season poll heading into the season.

“It would have been a great test for us to play those teams,” said senior pitcher Chay Lytle. “But we just have to keep practic-ing and working hard and be ready for when we do get to play.”

Both Incarnate Word and Delta State have pushed back their season openers because of the cancellation of games with

ACU because of the inclem-ent weather. St. Mary’s, on the other hand, has begun their season with a record of 3-0 and will face ACU in a makeup game March 1 in San Antonio.

The biggest challenge for the players and coach-es has been having to be patient with the wait of an impending season.

“We are frustrated, but we know we will get to play eventually,” said Bonneau.

Abilene Christian also will now have to begin a season that had six home games scheduled to start the year off on the road

for its first three games. The Wildcats were 3-1 in a series with the Javeli-nas last year and also de-feated Kingsville 16-7 in a post-season matchup in the Lone Star Conference Tournament, which the Wildcats went on to win.

Texas A&M-Kingsville comes into the season as the No. 7 ranked team in the LSC pre-season poll, receiving 243 total votes in-cluding one first place vote, one of only two that didn’t go to the Wildcats.

Brandon Tripp Sports Director

BASEBALL

We are frustrated, but we know we will get to play eventually.

BRITT BONNEAU // Wildcat baseball head coach ‘‘ ’’

Rematch: ACU falls to ASU

ACU was coming off its first win in conference play as they upset this same ASU on Saturday 74-71 in overtime. This snapped a six-game losing streak and was also the first division road win since Feb. 25, 2009. As big as that win was for the Wildcats, it could not carry over into Monday’s game.

“I think over there [in San Angelo] we did a good job contesting shots and here in Abilene we didn’t,” Copeland said. “We let them get shots that were uncontested and unguard-ed. Good shooters will get into a rhythm, and they shot the ball exceptionally well last night.”

Giordan Cole had a sea-son-high 17 points in the loss. He was able to get go-ing early as he had three big dunks in the first half. Cole

was only two points away from his career high and also had seven rebounds in the game. Dosh Simms was next for the Wildcats in scoring as he added 13 for the Wildcats.

Richard Thomas for ASU was the game’s lead-ing scorer with 29 points to lead Angelo to victory.

The Wildcats will be back in action Wednesday night against fellow Lone Star Conference South team West Texas A&M. The game is set to tip off at 7:30 p.m. in Moody Colliseum.

MEN’S BASKETBALL

contact Cantrell [email protected]

Dallas: NFL gives away tickets to displaced fans

who hadn’t arrived early even missed the kickoff.

For the most part I have always been a fan of Jerry Jones. However, this week-end Jones just disappoint-ed me. I am not sure the next time Dallas will host a Super Bowl, but hope-fully no fans will be left out whenever that day comes.

Don’t feel too bad for the 400 fans though. It turns out that they were eventually brought into the stadium and allowed to watch the game from a plaza level on a TV screen.

They received a refund of three times their ticket value and got to go on the field after the game. If that wasn’t enough the NFL announced Monday that they will give all 400 fans who were displaced and not able to receive a better seat to the game, tickets to next year’s Super Bowl. In my opinion, that Super Bowl gaffe turned out to

be a pretty good deal for those fans.

For those who are curious, next year’s Super Bowl will be played in Indianapolis. So, instead of having to brave ice and freezing temperatures in Dallas, those 400 fans will most likely experience the same weather in Indy.

COLUMN

contact Cantrell [email protected]

Loss: ACU in final playoff spot

as Angelo State closed out its fifth conference win of the year.

In a game marred by fouls, ASU dressed only eight players. When two of their eight fouled out it looked like ACU had all the momentum. But, in a matter of 30 seconds, Mack Lankford and Smith fouled out. With two big offensive threats out of the game the Wildcats instant-ly became sloppy with the ball and ultimately gave the game away.

“As coaches and players you have to learn to adjust to the way the game is of-ficiated,” Lavender said. “Because of almost 50

fouls neither team could get into a rhythm.”

But Lavender was quick to give credit to a good An-gelo State squad.

“They did a lot of things right even though they only had six play-ers available there at the end,” Lavender said. “A lot of tough and unfortunate injuries have really affect-ed their season, and for them to come in and get a win on the road with only eight was a testament to their coaching.”

It was a team effort when it came to giving the ball to the Rambelles. Four Wildcats committed at least four turnovers while eight had at least two. The Wildcats’ three main scor-ers posted double digits in points with Smith at 22, Lankford at 15 and senior Autumn Whitaker at 13. Other than those three, the rest of Lavender’s team combined for a mere 12.

The loss was a big one for the Wildcats as it dropped them into fourth

place and turned the pres-sure up to get some cru-cial wins down the stretch. Only the top four Lone Star Conference South teams make the playoffs and LSC newcomer Incar-nate Word is right on the Wildcats’ heels only a half game back in fifth place.

A chance for some re-demption comes quickly though as the ’Cats will play their third game in five days on Wednesday in Moody Coliseum against West Texas A&M Universi-ty. The women’s game will start at 5:30 p.m followed immediately by the men’s game at 7:30 p.m.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

contact Gwin [email protected]

Tourney: ’Cats ready to play on home soil“For most of the game, we played very well. Angelo State is a great team, and we showed that we can hang with them. We were clicking on all cylinders, and then let things get out of our hands. We just need to play a complete game and work on our mental skills. Physically, we’re doing well, but we need to get our minds right and have the right attitude in order to win games,” Sar-ah Martinez said.

In the night cap, ACU found its stride early once again, jumping out to a 2-0 lead when an Ashley Calles single scored two. Calles would continue to swing a hot stick, adding another RBI in the sixth

when ACU roped out four hits and scored three to tie the game at five.

However, St. Mary’s Sarah Lee drove in the winning run in extra in-nings, as the Lady Rattlers were victorious 6-5.

ACU played a double-header on Sunday in the same tournament to open their season.

In their opener, starting pitcher Brittany Rexroat had a solid outing, going five innings and giving up five hits, which helped propel the ’Cats over St. Edwards 7-4.

Nabayan and Brigance both hit back-to-back home runs in the fourth inning, giving ACU a 4-2 lead. Sarah Martinez would get her second hit with a double and would

later score on a Mendoza single. Mendoza would then score on a Hilltop-per error.

ACU would put up two more runs in the seventh when Mendoza doubled and later scored on a Can-dice Miller single.

In their second game of the day, ACU could not find an offensive flow, as Texas A&M International’s Clarissa Salinas halted the ’Cats offense. She allowed five hits and three runs over the game.

The Wildcats (1-3) will return home to host the Whitten Inn Classic on Friday and Saturday. The Wildcats will play at 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. each day.

SOFTBALL

contact Shake [email protected]





contact Tripp [email protected]

In my opinion, that Super Bowl gaffe turned out to be a pretty good deal for those fans.‘‘ ’’

JULIE COPPEDGE // Staff Photographer

Eric Milam drives past an Angelo State defender Monday night.

Because of almost 50 fouls neither team could get into a rhythm.

SHAWNA LAVENDER // head women’s basketball coach‘‘ ’’

SportsStandings

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Team Div. Ovrl.

Tarleton St.ASUMSUUIWENMUWTAMUTAMU-KACU

6-15-34-34-34-34-42-61-7

15-49-1116-515-49-1017-47-139-11


Team Div. Ovrl.Tarleton St.WTAMU

ACUAngelo St.

UIWMSU

4-4

6-27-0

5-3

3-42-5

7-13

13-817-2

12-8

6-126-13

Briefs

n The ACU women’s tennis team finished with a split in their first tournament of the spring season. The Wildcats lost to New Mexico 5-2 but de-feated Western New Mexico 7-0 in Albu-querque last weekend.

n Tickets for the Lone Star Conference Bas-ketball Championship are now available for purchase. The tourna-ment will take place March 2-6 in Bartlesville, Okla. Tickets cost $35 and can be purchased through the ACU Department of Athletics on the Web at www.lonestarconference.org. Call 325-674-6853 for more information.

PlayerProfile

n Amos Sang, senior long distance runner from Kenya, won the

5,000 -meter run and set a new personal record with a time of

14:05.82 at the New Balance Collegiate Invitational meet in New York last weekend. Sang beat out several Division I runners in the process. An All-American and one of the best runners in ACU’s history, he will compete in the Nebras-ka Tune-Up Feb. 18.

February 9, 2011Page 8

Sang

ENMU 2-5 4-15TAMU-K 1-7 3-17

n The men’s and wom-en’s basketball teams will host West Texas A&M on Wednesday. The doubleheader will begin with the women playing at 5:30 p.m. followed by the men at 7:30 p.m.

n The softball team hosts St. Mary’s at 4 p.m. followed by West Texas A&M at 6 p.m. Friday at Wells Field as a part of the Whitten Inn Classic.

n The baseball team will host Texas A&M-Kings-ville at 6 p.m. Friday and then play in a double-header on Saturday starting at 1 p.m.

n The women’s tennis team will host Tarleton State on Friday.

Upcoming

ACU drops three in opening tourney

The softball team saw a pair of leads diminish Monday as it dropped a couple of close games in San Anto-nio at the St. Mary’s Col-lege Softball Classic to cap off its opening weekend of the season.

The Wildcats fell to Lone Star Conference South Di-vision rival Angelo State 15-11 before losing 6-5 to tour-nament host St. Mary’s.

The Rambelles of An-gelo State put together a nine-run sixth inning, eras-ing the Wildcats’ eight-run

lead, which had them lead-ing leading up to that point. Pitcher Shelby Hall had a solid outing, but came up on the on the losing end of a tough decision.

The Wildcats got on the board first when Valentina Nabayan singled in Tiana Tuinei to start things off in the right direction in the first inning.

In the top of the sec-ond, the floodgates opened and a track meet began for ACU. The scoring party be-gan when Briana Fowlkes tripled to lead off the in-ning and would later score on a single from Tuinei that

also scored Erin Gilliland. Melissa Mendoza would then drive in Tuinei on a single. The ninth hit came off the bat of Lyndi Smith who smoked a two-RBI single right through the left field gap scoring Megan Brigance and Nabayan.

The ’Cats put up a goose egg in the third be-fore adding three more runs in the fourth.

Angelo State would inch closer with one run in the fifth, but a nine-run outburst in the sixth inning propelled the Rambelles to victory.

Bryson ShakeAssistant Sports Editor

SOFTBALL

see DALLAS page 7

Empty seating angers fansJust A Bit OutsideRyan Cantrell

I am not one to point fin-gers, but Jerry Jones, I blame you.

D a l l a s had one shot to show off to the world, and quite frank-ly, Jerry, you left many

fans disappointed.Football was not the

problem on Sunday. The game was exciting and emotional, as it would come down to the final pos-session, before the Packers emerged victorious. Many fans traveled across the country to Dallas for the Super Bowl experience and while most of them enjoyed the game as planned, 1,250 fans were told just before the game that their seat was not available for the game.

Jones decided to add seats to the stadium in order to maximize profit and break the attendance record at a Super Bowl. His game plan was genius like always, but his execution of the plan failed.

The seats were all add-ed, but were not all safely installed in time. The prob-lem was the railings, risers and steps in some sections were deemed unsafe. Jones was able to relocate 850 of the 1,250 to equal or bet-ter seats, but 400 fans were unable to attend the game in a seat.

This is completely ri-diculous. Four hundred fans were left out of the game. This would be bad if it was any game, but it was not just any game it was the biggest sporting event in America. This gaffe was as big as Jerry World itself and made all of Dallas and Texas look bad.

The weather didn’t help as it played a role in delaying the installation of the seats. It also ended up blocking off four of the 10 entrances into the sta-dium. This caused mass confusion as fans were herded around the sta-dium to other entrances. Many fans were upset with this as it took some people over an hour and a half to get into the game. Fans

COLUMN

Turned-over

Thirty turnovers. That is a turnover every 1 minute and 33 seconds.

The Wildcats could have

won the most important basketball game of the sea-son Monday night if only they would have commit-ted 28 turnovers. But two bad passes on late posses-sions doomed the ‘Cats to their second straight loss to the Angelo State Univer-sity Rambelles.

“Giving a team 30 extra possessions is not going to win you a basketball game,” head coach Shaw-na Lavender said. “We got away from doing things right. It was a disciple is-sue the entire game.”

With 6 minutes left the Wildcats found them-

selves down by eight and in need of a comeback. They got just that thanks to six crucial points from center Kelsey Smith. With 2 minutes left the Wildcats led by one, 62-61, but the ’Cats wouldn’t score again

Austin GwinSports Editor



Hillari Adam loses a ball to an Angelo State defender Monday night in Moody Coliseum. It was just one of the Wildcat’s 30 turn-overs in a 68-62 loss to ASU. Eight players for the Wildcats had at least two turnovers in the loss.

Rematch goes south for ’Cats

After upsetting the Rams in San Angelo on Satur-day, the Wildcats were unable to defend their home court as Angelo State avenged its loss, defeating ACU 90-74 on Monday night.

Angelo shot 59 percent from the field, includ-ing 11 3-pointers, as they would score 90 points in the game. ACU took 26 more shots than Angelo, but it would not matter, since the Rams did not miss many shots.

“I was pretty disap-pointed, I felt like we played really good Sat-urday over there, and we tried to make a few ad-justments but basically stick with the same game plan. I felt that our ener-gy level was not where it needed to be,” said Head Coach Jason Copeland. “I thought, with our depth, we could wear on them, but I think it worked the other way around as they wore on us.”

The Wildcats were able to keep the game close by pressing the Rams and forcing turnovers. ACU forced 28 turnovers as the full-court press caused havoc for ASU. ASU was too hot from the field though, as they earned two big runs by the Wild-

cats in the second half.“On defense, we need

to locate the hot man and focus on getting stops,” senior guard Preston Da-vis said. “Transition de-fense will be key against [West Texas A&M].”

ACU played well in the first half, only trail-

ing by four at halftime 36-32. However, during the second half, the Rams were able to score enough points to put ACU away.

The loss drops ACU to 9-11 overall and 1-7 in LSC South Division play.

Ryan Cantrell Sports Multimedia Editor

MEN’S BASKETBALL

see REMATCH page 7


Marcus Washington dribbles past an Angelo State defender Monday night at Moody Coliseum.

Cantrell

FILE PHOTO // Heather Liephart

ACU softball lost three of its four-game series last weekend.

see LOSS page 7

see TOURNEY page 7

Wildcats give away lead with poor play

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The Optimist Print Edition: 02.09.11