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

FRIDAY

IN THIS ISSUE

CAMPUS

Save the environmentThe Students’ Association passed a resolution Wednesday to promote recycling on campus, page 4

The OPTIMISTMarch 9, 2007Vol. 95, No. 43 1 sections, 10 pages www.acuoptimist.com• •

Church hoppingIn the past five years, more students raised in the Church of Christ branch out during college to find a new church home, page 4

SPORTS

Branching outThe ACU tennis teams will travel across Texas to play Division I, II and III opponents during spring break, page 10

Last chanceAlthough 125 applications to be a residence assistant have already been turned in, Residence Life is still accepting applications, page 3

Championship dreamsThe track and field team attempts to win this week while in Boston at the Indoor National Champi-onships, page 10

Making smart choicesLast week the Counseling Center sponsored Making Choices Week, which featured guest speakers, Chapel forums and infor-mation booths. See how the week went online at www.acuoptimist.com.

ONLINE

Boston correspondentJared Fields, managing editor of the Optimist, will be reporting from Boston this week with the track and field team as they compete in the Indoor National Championships.

LACI ADKINS STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Dan McVey, African missions coordinator, sits outside his African hut constructed on the outskirts of his property in Clyde. The hut reminds him of his love overseas and is a ministry tool he uses when preparing missionaries for a cross-cultural experience.

400+ students to spend break serving others

n Future plans for the university include renovating the Campus Center, growing the endowment, raising academic requirements and increasing scholarships.

By MALLORY SCHLABACHEditor in ChiEf

In an attempt to set the university apart from its main competitors including Texas A&M, Baylor and University of Texas, ACU will seek to in-

crease the level of academic challenge in the classroom, said Dr. Royce Money, presi-dent of the university, in a faculty and staff meeting Wednesday.

Wednesday’s presenta-tion alerted faculty and staff in two separate sessions to the plans for the 21st Cen-tury Vision, a document of future goals for the univer-sity to achieve.

Money said in a national

survey given to freshmen and seniors each year, seniors have responded that they aren’t sufficiently challenged in the classrooms. To change this, he said faculty need to feel empowered by the ad-ministration to implement a more rigorous approach to education, whether that is through more challenging courses, higher standards on tests and assignments or rais-ing the grading scale, all at

each faculty’s discretion.“It is far too easy for the

student culture to get side-tracked with extracurricular activities and social interac-tions,” Money said. “Take Sing Song for example; fac-ulty see an increased drop in attendance and grades during Sing Song.

“Don’t get me wrong, so-cial involvement is important

University to launch 21st Century Vision

A heart for missions abroad

By LAUREN SUTTONopinion Editor

The African hut with its mud walls and thatched roof stands out in the dust filled, tumbleweed landscape of West Texas.

Sitting in the back of ACU professor Dan McVey’s prop-erty, the hut is used for au-thentic African worship ser-vices, weekend retreats for interns preparing for cross-cultural living and as a ther-apy for its builder.

But more than these things, Dan’s African escape

serves as a reminder that, though his residence is now in Clyde, much of his heart still remains in the place where African huts aren’t such a novelty at all: Ghana.

Preparing for AfricaA graduate of Freed-Harde-

man University, Dan served as a preacher at a small Church of Christ in Southeast Mis-souri but dreamed of doing ministry overseas someday.

“I grew up in the moun-tains of East Tennessee; I didn’t have any international connection,” Dan said. “Still,

the intention was to go over-seas somewhere.”

In 1981, Dan took advan-tage of a month-long oppor-tunity to travel to Ghana for a church project and, after making connections with lo-cal Ghanaian Christians, be-came interested in moving to West Africa long term.

So Dan went back to Gha-na in 1982 to learn more about the logistics of living in Africa, but this time he took his bride, Brenda. Almost immediately after coming home from their two-week trip abroad, the two packed

the rest of their belongings and returned to Ghana where they would spend the next 21 years of their lives.

Beginning yearsSituated on the Gulf of

Guinea, Ghana is a West Af-rican country with a tropical climate and a rich heritage. Chieftaincy, tribal distinc-tions and traditional sys-tems remain prevalent in Ghana while other eastern and southern African coun-tries have lost many of their

n With the inception of the Halbert Institute for Missions and the addition of mission coordinators in the past six years, students have a new approach to missions.

By LAUREN SUTTONopinion Editor

In less than a week stu-dents participating in Spring Break Campaigns will ven-ture to meet the needs of locals in an array of national and international communi-ties, but this popular ACU tradition is not the only way students are learning about ministerial service.

ACU continues to offer a variety of programs and classes and hire overseas missionaries to foster an in-terest toward mission work and provide a spectrum of opportunities for stu-dents of all concentrations to reach the world in both domestic and international contexts.

With a mission to equip students for servant leader-ship across the globe, the university is making strides through the development of the Halbert Institute for Missions to relevantly con-nect its students to their culture with a unique mes-sage of hope.

Halbert Institute for MissionsSince as early as 1968,

ACU has provided students the option of majoring in missionary training, but in 2000 the Department of Bible, Missions and Minis-try reformatted its program

Missions Institute prepares students for world

See VISION page 5

See GHANA page 8See MISSIONS page 8

n Students involved in Spring Break Campaigns leave Friday for more than 24 destinations around the country and the world to help, build and work alongside others.

By ASHLEY ROBINSONStudEnt rEportEr

More than four hundred students are giving up their spring break to venture out, from coast to coast and inter-nationally, to spend the week serving others.

Spring Break Campaigns have been an ACU tradition for the past 30 years, and this year is no exception. With 24 cities across the U.S. and

four international locations, the impact Spring Break Cam-paign goers have on those they work with is massive.

“Programs like Spring Break Campaigns are unique and important to the ACU student body,” said Jennifer King, junior finance and ac-counting major from Grape-vine and student chair for Spring Break Campaigns. “These campaigns align so well with ACU’s mission statement.”

Spring Break Campaigns are student-led and allow students to take part of ACU and its values and impact the lives of others in a positive

way. The Campaigns offer people and their communities Christ-like service through Vacation Bible School, com-munity service, helping in shelters, building houses and hands on service.

“It shows whole commu-nities that there are people, college students, who genu-inely care about not only their physical well-being but their spiritual well-being,” King said.

This year, four new SBC cities are being offered: Ana-heim, Calif., led by Blake Earnhart and Jennifer King;

See SBC page 5

n A more rigorous approach to academics in the classroom

n Renovations on campus to create more spaces for community building

n Raising the ACT/SAT scores required to be accepted to the university

n Increasing the retention rate to 80 percent and the graduation rate to 60 percent

FUTURE PLANS

Dan McVey and his family lived in Ghana, Africa, for 21 years ministering to the people and developing life-long relationships

The map above shows the states where students will travel next week for Spring Break Campaigns. Several states have two campaigns going to different cities.

Seeing a rerunSome students who participated in FilmFest last fall are revising their films into a longer format to compete in FilmFest Too, page 3

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

FRIDAY

IN THIS ISSUE

CAMPUS

Save the environmentThe Students’ Association passed a resolution Wednesday to promote recycling on campus, page 4

The OPTIMISTMarch 9, 2007Vol. 95, No. 43 1 sections, 10 pages www.acuoptimist.com• •

Church hoppingIn the past five years, more students raised in the Church of Christ branch out during college to find a new church home, page 4

SPORTS

Branching outThe ACU tennis teams will travel across Texas to play Division I, II and III opponents during spring break, page 10

Last chanceAlthough 125 applications to be a residence assistant have already been turned in, Residence Life is still accepting applications, page 3

Championship dreamsThe track and field team attempts to win this week while in Boston at the Indoor National Champi-onships, page 10

Making smart choicesLast week the Counseling Center sponsored Making Choices Week, which featured guest speakers, Chapel forums and infor-mation booths. See how the week went online at www.acuoptimist.com.

ONLINE

Boston correspondentJared Fields, managing editor of the Optimist, will be reporting from Boston this week with the track and field team as they compete in the Indoor National Championships.

LACI ADKINS STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Dan McVey, African missions coordinator, sits outside his African hut constructed on the outskirts of his property in Clyde. The hut reminds him of his love overseas and is a ministry tool he uses when preparing missionaries for a cross-cultural experience.

400+ students to spend break serving others

n Future plans for the university include renovating the Campus Center, growing the endowment, raising academic requirements and increasing scholarships.

By MALLORY SCHLABACHEditor in ChiEf

In an attempt to set the university apart from its main competitors including Texas A&M, Baylor and University of Texas, ACU will seek to in-

crease the level of academic challenge in the classroom, said Dr. Royce Money, presi-dent of the university, in a faculty and staff meeting Wednesday.

Wednesday’s presenta-tion alerted faculty and staff in two separate sessions to the plans for the 21st Cen-tury Vision, a document of future goals for the univer-sity to achieve.

Money said in a national

survey given to freshmen and seniors each year, seniors have responded that they aren’t sufficiently challenged in the classrooms. To change this, he said faculty need to feel empowered by the ad-ministration to implement a more rigorous approach to education, whether that is through more challenging courses, higher standards on tests and assignments or rais-ing the grading scale, all at

each faculty’s discretion.“It is far too easy for the

student culture to get side-tracked with extracurricular activities and social interac-tions,” Money said. “Take Sing Song for example; fac-ulty see an increased drop in attendance and grades during Sing Song.

“Don’t get me wrong, so-cial involvement is important

University to launch 21st Century Vision

A heart for missions abroad

By LAUREN SUTTONopinion Editor

The African hut with its mud walls and thatched roof stands out in the dust filled, tumbleweed landscape of West Texas.

Sitting in the back of ACU professor Dan McVey’s prop-erty, the hut is used for au-thentic African worship ser-vices, weekend retreats for interns preparing for cross-cultural living and as a ther-apy for its builder.

But more than these things, Dan’s African escape

serves as a reminder that, though his residence is now in Clyde, much of his heart still remains in the place where African huts aren’t such a novelty at all: Ghana.

Preparing for AfricaA graduate of Freed-Harde-

man University, Dan served as a preacher at a small Church of Christ in Southeast Mis-souri but dreamed of doing ministry overseas someday.

“I grew up in the moun-tains of East Tennessee; I didn’t have any international connection,” Dan said. “Still,

the intention was to go over-seas somewhere.”

In 1981, Dan took advan-tage of a month-long oppor-tunity to travel to Ghana for a church project and, after making connections with lo-cal Ghanaian Christians, be-came interested in moving to West Africa long term.

So Dan went back to Gha-na in 1982 to learn more about the logistics of living in Africa, but this time he took his bride, Brenda. Almost immediately after coming home from their two-week trip abroad, the two packed

the rest of their belongings and returned to Ghana where they would spend the next 21 years of their lives.

Beginning yearsSituated on the Gulf of

Guinea, Ghana is a West Af-rican country with a tropical climate and a rich heritage. Chieftaincy, tribal distinc-tions and traditional sys-tems remain prevalent in Ghana while other eastern and southern African coun-tries have lost many of their

n With the inception of the Halbert Institute for Missions and the addition of mission coordinators in the past six years, students have a new approach to missions.

By LAUREN SUTTONopinion Editor

In less than a week stu-dents participating in Spring Break Campaigns will ven-ture to meet the needs of locals in an array of national and international communi-ties, but this popular ACU tradition is not the only way students are learning about ministerial service.

ACU continues to offer a variety of programs and classes and hire overseas missionaries to foster an in-terest toward mission work and provide a spectrum of opportunities for stu-dents of all concentrations to reach the world in both domestic and international contexts.

With a mission to equip students for servant leader-ship across the globe, the university is making strides through the development of the Halbert Institute for Missions to relevantly con-nect its students to their culture with a unique mes-sage of hope.

Halbert Institute for MissionsSince as early as 1968,

ACU has provided students the option of majoring in missionary training, but in 2000 the Department of Bible, Missions and Minis-try reformatted its program

Missions Institute prepares students for world

See VISION page 5

See GHANA page 8See MISSIONS page 8

n Students involved in Spring Break Campaigns leave Friday for more than 24 destinations around the country and the world to help, build and work alongside others.

By ASHLEY ROBINSONStudEnt rEportEr

More than four hundred students are giving up their spring break to venture out, from coast to coast and inter-nationally, to spend the week serving others.

Spring Break Campaigns have been an ACU tradition for the past 30 years, and this year is no exception. With 24 cities across the U.S. and

four international locations, the impact Spring Break Cam-paign goers have on those they work with is massive.

“Programs like Spring Break Campaigns are unique and important to the ACU student body,” said Jennifer King, junior finance and ac-counting major from Grape-vine and student chair for Spring Break Campaigns. “These campaigns align so well with ACU’s mission statement.”

Spring Break Campaigns are student-led and allow students to take part of ACU and its values and impact the lives of others in a positive

way. The Campaigns offer people and their communities Christ-like service through Vacation Bible School, com-munity service, helping in shelters, building houses and hands on service.

“It shows whole commu-nities that there are people, college students, who genu-inely care about not only their physical well-being but their spiritual well-being,” King said.

This year, four new SBC cities are being offered: Ana-heim, Calif., led by Blake Earnhart and Jennifer King;

See SBC page 5

n A more rigorous approach to academics in the classroom

n Renovations on campus to create more spaces for community building

n Raising the ACT/SAT scores required to be accepted to the university

n Increasing the retention rate to 80 percent and the graduation rate to 60 percent

FUTURE PLANS

Dan McVey and his family lived in Ghana, Africa, for 21 years ministering to the people and developing life-long relationships

The map above shows the states where students will travel next week for Spring Break Campaigns. Several states have two campaigns going to different cities.

Seeing a rerunSome students who participated in FilmFest last fall are revising their films into a longer format to compete in FilmFest Too, page 3

Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Calendar Events&

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

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

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

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

About This Page

Friday, March 9, 2007

Announcements

Volunteer Opportunities

Spring BreakFreshman Action Council co-chair applications are due.

5 p.m. and 7 p.m.The softball team plays Texas A&M Kingsville at Wells Field.

12 p.m. and 2 p.m.The softball team plays Texas A&M Kingsville at Wells Field.

Spring Break

12 Monday09 Friday 10 Saturday 13 Tuesday

Dr. James Culp, former English professor, died Monday at the Mar-shall Co. Hospital in Benton, Ky. Dr. Culp graduated from ACU in 1949, taught English and was chair of the English Department from 1959-67. He won Teacher of the Year in 1962 and endowed the Culp Professor-ship in English and the Culp Schol-arship shared by the departments of English and history. Services will be on Friday in Benton. The family request that memorial contributions be made to the Briensburg Church of Christ Building Fund or to the Briensburg Cemetery Fund, C/O John E. Culp, 1482 Briensburg Rd., Benton, KY 42025.

The Women for Abilene Chris-tian University are accepting schol-

arship applications through March 23. The scholarship is for $1,000 a semester for the 2007-08 school year. For a copy of the applica-tion or more information, e-mail Samantha Adkins at samantha.adkins@alumni.acu.edu.

The First Annual 5k Saving Ba-bies Race will be April 28. This race will be held by March of Dimes in conjunction with Walk America. The race will start at 8:30 a.m.. Check in at 7:30 a.m. at Redbud Park. The Entry fee is $25. Awards will be giv-en to the top overall runners and the top three males and females in each age category. For more information, e-mail sks06k@acu.edu or call (325) 672-0566. Download an entry form at www.abilenerunners.com.

CreditedChapelsto date:

CreditedChapelsremaining:

Chapel Checkup38 34

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

Big A Club of City Light Com-munity Ministries has an urgent need on Wednesdays from 4:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. for volunteers to ride buses and vans with elementary-age children and to help with Bible stud-ies. Contact the Volunteer Service-Learning Center in the Bean Sprout for more information.

Meals on Wheels needs vol-unteers to deliver meals to se-niors and adults with disabilities. This usually takes about an hour, and students can have one day of Chapel per week excused for this service. Contact the Volunteer Ser-vice-Learning Center in the Bean Sprout for more information.

Girl Scout Troop #1550 needs young women who want to make a difference in young girls’ lives through Girl Scouting. The girls are from un-derprivileged homes, and they need positive Christian infl uences in their lives. Volunteers will help conduct

meetings, including arts and crafts. Help is needed every Thursday from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. until May. For more information, contact Diltzie An-drews at (325) 673-6379.

Big Brothers, Big Sisters is look-ing for young women willing to vol-unteer time and energy mentoring in a program called Y-teens. Through activities and service projects, this program will empower young girls with knowledge about life skills and will build self-confi dence while creat-ing an atmosphere for learning and emotional growth. Help is needed every Thursday from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Franklin Middle School and Lincoln Middle School. For more in-formation, contact Erin McMullen or MC Jennings at (325) 677-7839.

Day Nursery of Abilene needs help setting up for their annual Mexi-can dinner, preparing and serving food and cleaning up. The dinner will be held on March 24 in the Abilene High School cafeteria. Help is re-quested from noon to 10 p.m. For more information, contact Pat Peck at (325) 670-0002.

The Betty Hardwick Center needs help in their offi ce answering phones, fi ling, copying and running er-rands. For more information, contact the Volunteer Service-Learning Center in the Bean Sprout.

Friday, March 9, 2007 Page 3CAMPUS NEWS

n FilmFest will take place in spring for the first time, and it will try new ways such as an outdoor premiere, a variety of categories and a student voting system.

By JOHNNY BAUTISTAStaff writer

For the first time in its three-year existence, FilmFest will now be part of the spring se-mester. Doug Darby, FilmFest founder and executive director, said the recent popularity of the event is what drove him to do another show in the spring.

“It’s the third year and a lot of people know about it,” said Matt Maxwell, FilmFest student director. “We’ve even had in-coming students who already know about it.”

Darby said the fall show has more constraints and tests participants’ ability to execute while the spring show is more of a showcase.

“It’s the ability to just do your thing the way you want to do it,” Darby said.

“We’ve had a lot of success, especially this year,” Darby said. “The quality has im-proved tremendously over the past few years. We’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback from the judges, and we just felt

that the time was right.”Darby said the show would

probably happen during the first week of May and said this would allow students enough time to work on their films and give them a whole week during spring break to work on their project if they need to.

Many FilmFest participants know about the certain re-quirements the fall show en-forces, but Darby said with the spring show, students may use any kind of camera and software they would like to use for their film.

“We feel that having a show in the spring will help us estab-lish the event,” Darby said. “We want to make sure that we can find new ways to use this.”

One new thing the FilmFest crew will try in the spring is host the show outdoors. Darby said they are hoping to be able to have the premiere at the Tower of Light and make it a two-night event.

“We think it would be a more casual environment, and there is no money or admission fee required,” Darby said. “I think it will give us a chance to present this in a unique way.”

Another different aspect of the spring show is stu-

dents can make films for any category ranging from horror to musicals.

The winner of the spring show will be determined by stu-dent votes. Students will be able to watch the films on the Film-Fest Web site and each student will be allowed one vote for the “People’s Choice Award.”

Darby said the requirements for the spring show are the fol-lowing: participants must have participated in any of the three years of its existence, students must be in good academic standing, films must be compli-ant with ACU policy and, like the fall show, films must have an MPAA rating of PG or less.

“FilmFest is an interesting phenomenon,” Darby said. “We’re only in our third year, and it already feels like an es-tablished institute in the uni-versity. I think we touched on something that really ap-peals on a lot of levels to our students. We feel as though we provide another unique opportunity for them to ex-press themselves.”

An interest meeting will be held the week after students re-turn from spring break.

FilmFest Too marked for May

E-mail Bautista at: jjb02b@acu.edu

n Dr. Paul Ammons and 10 students will spend their spring break in Argentina, studying globalization at the University of Buenos Aires.

By EMILY SMITHChief PhotograPher

World globalization, city tours and a tango show highlight 10 ACU students’ spring breaks.

Dr. Paul Ammons, pro-fessor of social work and director of the School of Social Work, is teaching 10 students as a visiting pro-fessor at the University of Buenos Aires. The students earn a three-hour credit for a class, “Globalization,” through the university.

Ashley Jefferson, senior social work major from Austin, is going on the trip.

“A lot of other programs have study abroad courses, and we thought it would be

fun to go and do one our-selves,” Jefferson said.

The trip is more expen-sive than a Spring Break Campaign but less expen-sive than taking a class on campus. The total cost of the trip, $950, includes all meals, entertainment and board but does not include the cost of airfare.

Ammons said the class is especially useful since he will take the students around to different city sights and apply it to what they are learning in class.

“The class is about the effects of globalization on local life and the growing interconnectedness that we have throughout the world in political life, religious life and cultural life,” Am-mons said.

Students will experience native foods and a tango show as part of their trip.

They will also take a tour called “Ethnic Buenos Ai-res” where they will learn about the ethnic diversity that exists in the city, Am-mons said.

“We’ll go to Jewish sights, we’ll go to Islamic sights, we’ll go to catholic sights and compare and contrast those varying in-fluences on Argentine cul-ture,” he said.

Even though the class will only last a week, Am-mons said the students will have a better knowledge of globalization because they will learn about it and then go out into the community and visit people who are ef-fected by it.

“It will be a whirlwind tour of Buenos Aires,” he said.

R.A. applicants await responsen About 125 students have applied for R.A. positions for next year. The deadline has passed, but applications are still accepted in the residence life office.

By SHARON RAPELJEStudent rePorter

Shannon Buchanan says ‘hello’ to each girl by name, talking to her as though she were her best friend, as she walks pass.

“There’s a lot of girls that I’m very good friends with because of this job,” said Buchanan, senior psy-chology major from Lub-bock, who has been a resi-dent assistant since her sophomore year.

Buchanan said she re-ally enjoyed forming rela-tionships and fulfilling the needs of others.

So far about 125 potential R.A.s have applied for the next academic year.

Although the deadline was in February, Rebecca Cates said applications are still being accepted and can be turned into the residence life office in McKinzie Hall.

Cates, director of Sikes Hall, said those applying must be at least of sopho-more classification to work in the freshman residence halls and at least of junior classification to work in the sophomore residence halls.

She said she would not turn anyone away because she does not want to over-look someone who would be great for the job.

“Were looking for someone who has a heart for people,” Cates said.

R.A. duties include working from 10 p.m. to midnight Sun-day through Thursday. During these nights, the R.A. can set up activities to interact with the residents. R.A.s also have a desk shift once a week.

Cates said a good R.A. goes beyond these basic duties. They try to be a friend, Christian guide and a brother or sister to their residents, Cates said.

“Some R.A.s really feel that being involved in residence life, is a ministry opportunity for them — a mission field for them,” Cates said.

Cates said some R.A.s reap-ply each year, but residence life appreciates new faces who bring fresh energy and ideas.

Class offered in Argentina for break

E-mail Smith at: eds04c@acu.edu

E-mail Rapelje at: optimist@acu.edu

EMILY SMITH CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER

Homer Hiccolm & the Rocket Boys perform at the Bean Sprout on Tuesday night.

‘Sprout’- ing a tune

Page 4 Friday, March 9, 2007CAMPUS NEWS

n ACU has kept to the Church of Christ tradition since its foundation, but today more students are branching out into other churches of diverse denominations.

By ANDREA LUCADOStudent RepoRteR

Zack Robinson felt un-comfortable the first time he visited Beltway Park Baptist Church. He did not like the preaching, the music or the environment. He thought the instruments were showy and the atmosphere was distant. It was not the conservative Church of Christ he had at-tended in Missouri, and he had only gone because of a friend’s persuasion.

When Robinson trans-ferred to ACU in fall of 2004, he believed anyone who did not attend the Church of Christ was going to hell, and he had believed that his en-tire life.

It wasn’t until he noticed that his friends outside the Church of Christ were seek-ing God just as much as he was that he began to change his mind.

“I changed the lens I read Scripture through,” said Rob-inson, senior marketing ma-jor from Poplar Bluff, Mo.

He said he began to no-tice what Jesus put impor-tance on in the Bible, and that made him think.

By his second year at ACU, Robinson had a new mindset and had become open to different ideas like instruments. He began go-ing to Beltway regularly and within a month he had fallen in love with the church and began to claim it as his own.

ACU has been firmly root-ed in the Church of Christ since 1905 when Col. J.W. Childers, a member of the Church of Christ in Abilene, became the school’s first fi-nancial supporter.

One hundred and two years later, Church of Christ roots remain deeply planted.

In recent years more stu-dents from Church of Christ backgrounds have chosen to visit and attend other Chris-tian churches in Abilene.

Steve Hare, adjunct faculty

in Bible, missions and minis-try and campus minister at Highland Church of Christ, has noticed this shift in ACU students and where they have begun to attend church.

He said over the last five or six years, the Sun-day morning college class at Highland has gone from between 150 and 175 in at-tendance to between 75 and 100 each week.

Hare said he believes in many reasons for this change; a main one being that students feel more free-dom today to venture out-side the Church of Christ.

Jordan Lott, senior family studies major from Abilene, grew up at Highland and then left the church for nine months during her sopho-more year to go to a nonde-nominational church.

Lott said when she re-turned to Highland she ap-preciated it more.

“There is wisdom in tra-dition,” Lott said.

Frances Green, campus minister at Southern Hills Church of Christ, agrees students feel more freedom as far as church searching.

She said as she was grow-ing up she was taught that the “Church of Christ is the only way,” and said that was a common teaching in her generation.

“Students are less bound by tradition … they’re look-ing for authentic relation-ships,” Frances said, refer-ring to current ACU students and why they have begun to frequent churches outside the Church Of Christ.

Unlike Highland, South-ern Hills Church of Christ’s college ministry has grown significantly since Frances and her husband Dr. Gary Green, missions coordina-tor for Latin America and ministry leader at Southern Hills, joined the congrega-tion a few years ago.

Frances said that five years ago the Wednesday night college service did not even have 30 attendees, and it now averages between 300 and 500 a week, vacil-lating with the seasons.

Gary said High Impact Praise or HIP, the Wednesday night college praise service, is probably what attracts most ACU students to Southern Hills while Sunday morning service attendance is lower at about 100 each week.

Although the Southern Hills college student popula-tion has not suffered from the shift of ACU students away from the Church of Christ, Gary has seen it on campus.

He said this is a result of the consumerist society students are immersed in today. This mindset applies to students searching for a church home when they move to Abilene.

Gary said the negative side to this consumerist approach is students tend to search for a church that best fits them and start to think it’s “all about me.”

“Our generation is the ‘feed me’ generation,” Lott said, meaning students to-day tend to want a church to serve them more than they

want to serve the church.Gary said a positive side

to consumerist church shopping is it can convict a church of not meeting the needs of its younger gen-eration if college student attendance is low, inspiring the church’s leaders to ac-tion and change in order to meet those needs.

Keith Roberson, univer-sity pastor at Beltway Park Baptist, said Beltway’s abil-ity to do this is why many ACU students are drawn to Beltway Park.

Roberson said the univer-sity population at Beltway averages 400 to 500 every week, and 65 to 70 percent of that is ACU students.

He said the main magnet for these students is the worship.

“We have a release from the traditional way of doing

things,” he said. “That con-nects with students.”

He said Life Groups have been a cause of growth for

ACU students, and more Life Groups are forming now than before he became the university pastor two and a half years ago. Around 130 to 150 ACU students are in-volved with these groups.

He said these small groups are not Bible studies — they’re life studies.

“The community among the college group really ap-peals to me,” said Robinson who was previously anti-Beltway and is now an ac-tive member.

Beltway is different from the conservative church he grew up in, and this may be why it attracts ACU students who come from a more con-servative Church of Christ background, like Robinson.

“When kids get a taste of God moving in a new and different way, that appeals

to them,” Robinson said. While many students

who attend ACU come from Churches of Christ, ACU is also attracting students of many various church back-grounds, both denomination-al and nondenominational.

Robert Heil, director of admissions and enrollment management and University Relations, said 60 percent of first-year students in fall 2006 were from the Church of Christ. This has declined from the 66 percent of first-year students that came from the Church of Christ in fall 2002.

Heil said this number is not statistically significant and said he has seen growth in both the Church of Christ and not Church of Christ groups. He did say, however, he has seen more growth in the non-Church of Christ group.

Heil said a reason for this could be that students looking into strong Chris-tian colleges are attracted to ACU even if they’re not Church of Christ members.

“If they’re looking for a serious Christian university, there’s not a lot of options,” Heil said.

Frances said she believes this shift is healthy, and

the only danger in church experimenting is hopping from one body to another for four or five years with-out becoming familiar with one place.

She said she encourages searching for a church but also said it is important for students to “land quickly somewhere.”

Lott said, “It’s not wrong to search, but stay ground-ed in the Scripture.”

Robinson and Lott see an exciting future for ACU.

Despite the undeniable drifting from the Church of Christ, Lott said she think there’s going to be more unity among students.

Robinson agrees and said he senses a spiritual renewal on campus that will result from students who are “hun-gry for Jesus and Jesus only.”

“I feel like ACU five years from now will be completely different spiritually,” Rob-inson said.

Students search for churches beyond denomination

Loop 322

Texas Ave

Southwest Dr

Willis St

Highland Drive

Buffalo Gap Rd

S 14th St

S 27th St

Ambler Ave

Fountaingate Fellowship Church

Baker Heights Church of Christ

Highland Church of Christ

Broadview Baptist

Southern Hills Church of Christ

South Pointe Church

LocalChurches

This map of Abilene shows a variety of churches in the area that students could attend or visit while at ACU, including Southern Hills Church of Christ, Fountaingate Fellowship Church, Southpointe Church, Broadview Baptist, Highland Church of Christ and Baker Heights Church of Christ.

n The Congress has passed the resolution to support recycling facilities on campus and weekly free bowling for students, beginning the week after spring break.

By KELSI PEACEFeatuReS editoR

Students can celebrate en-vironmental awareness with a free game of bowling, thanks to Wednesday’s Students’ Association meeting. With push from an environmental science class, the Outdoor Club, the Evangelical Youth Climate Initiative and now the Students’ Association,

campus may boast 15 to 20 new recycling receptacles — one per building — by the end of the semester.

At the SA meeting Wednesday, freshman sena-tor David Vanderpool, Bible, missions and ministry ma-jor from Brentwood, Tenn., presented “a resolution to support recycling facilities and to encourage their use among the students and fac-ulty,” according to the docu-ment. Congress unanimously passed the resolution.

According to the resolu-tion, the university produces

more than one metric ton of garbage per week, 38 percent of which is recyclable. Van-derpool said while there are receptacles on campus now, there are not enough. With the resolution, SA officially “request[s] that the university administration set up recy-cling receptacles in each dorm and building on campus, and encourage[s] students and faculty to help preserve the earth through recycling.”

The next step, Vander-pool said, is to write a bill requesting money from Con-gress for the receptacles, a

project Vanderpool said he plans to begin immediately. His goal, he said, is to com-plete the project before the end of the semester.

Vanderpool said while not all students are overtly concerned with the environ-ment, convincing apathetic students to support the project proved easy. He also said administration has been very supportive as well.

Congress also agreed to pay $600 to allow free bowl-ing for students, faculty and staff Tuesdays from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., after pass-

ing the bill by representa-tive Kat Edyvean, freshman nursing major from Spring, 38-7 with absentee votes.

The bill will allow free bowling beginning the week after spring break through the end of the semester, ex-cluding finals week.

“I think in the end, we’ll probably be getting the bet-ter end of it,” said Tyler Cosgrove, SA executive trea-surer and senior finance major from Amarillo.

Edyvean, who has been working with Joel Swed-lund, manager of the Cam-

pus Center, for the past five weeks on agreement, said SA is essentially renting the bowling alley for students.

“Part of it is just kind of a reward for students,” Edyvean said.

Cosgrove encouraged Congress to submit ideas for use of the $3,250 allot-ted to Congress; the funds will be used for the bowl-ing bill and could be used for the recycling initiative if Vanderpool submits a bill requesting funds.

Recycling issue, free bowling for students discussed at SA meeting

E-mail Peace at: knp04a@acu.edu

“It’s not wrong to search, but stay grounded in the Scripture.”

Jordan Lott, senior family studies major from Abilene

E-mail Lucado at: optimist@acu.edu

Friday, March 9, 2007 Page 5FROM THE FRONT PAGE/CAMPUS NEWS

at a university, and I love Sing Song and the other activities students are in-volved in, but if it takes away from the primary rea-son a student is here, than something has to change,” Money said.

Among Money’s goal of changing the student cul-ture on campus include recruiting more talented Christian students; increas-ing the retention and grad-uation rates to 80 percent and 60 percent, respec-tively; growing the $260 million endowment fund to $1 billion; and delivering a unique, Christ-centered experience that draws stu-dents into community.

Money said after dis-cussing where the univer-sity should go for the past two years, it is time to set forth a direction.

What he presented Wednesday was the same document also presented to the Board of Trustees at its biannual meeting in February. In August, the Board is expected to begin filling in the details of how this vision will work in each department.

More than 200 faculty and staff members were present at the presenta-tions and could ask ques-tions about the proposed vision.

“This might sound os-tentatious, but by 2020, ACU will become the pre-miere university for the education of Christ-cen-tered, global leaders,” Money said. “This is where we will compare against religious institutions that take their faith heritages seriously.”

Only two of the univer-

sities top 10 competitors are Christian universities, enforcing a trend the univer-sity has noticed of entering Christian freshman students who aren’t even considering ACU as an option.

“We’re too similar to our competition right now and it’s time we became a high-er quality of higher educa-tion institutions,” he said.

Money also said the Vi-sion includes renovations to the Campus Center, which will begin this sum-mer; updating technol-ogy in campus facilities; improving the quality of Chapel; changing the core curriculum; improving intramurals on campus for the more than 3,000 students that participate; name branding the univer-sity; nationally recruiting; and increasing the amount of scholarships available for students.

Faculty and staff were instructed to think about the proposed vision and to direct comments and questions back to Money following the meeting. A Zoomerang survey was sent out to faculty and staff concerning the vision Thursday, as well.

Money concluded the session by reiterating what the university will continue to do in the future.

“We will continue to be faithful and relevant, to focus on the heart and be accessible and affordable,” he said. “We want to keep our heritage of faith and aim for the quality of soul. This is not my vision or your vision right here, this is our vision.”

Vision: Board to make final decisions

Continued from page 1

E-mail Schlabach at: mes02e@acu.edu

Memphis, Tenn., led by Adam Dittemore and Sarah Crad-dock; Spearfish, S.D., led by Matt Adams and Matthew Miller; and Huntington Beach, Calif., led by Cassie Watson and Kim Leedy. There are also four international cam-paigns this year: Costa Rica; Honduras; Juarez, Mexico; and Nicaragua.

Campaign workEach Spring Break Cam-

paign destination offers a different experience. The services done by students on the Spring Break Cam-paigns vary from campaign to campaign.

“Each campaign is unique,” King said. “In Seattle and Denver they will be work-ing with the homeless, the Manhattan campaign serves in elementary classrooms in the Bronx, and Costa Rica and Columbus, Ga., cam-paigns are putting on VBS for the children there.”

Students attending the new campaign to Anaheim, Calif., will be working with the Central Church of Christ to reach out to the Latino community. The Spearfish, S.D., campaign will work with city ministry and the youth. The Huntington Beach, Ca-lif., campaign will serve high school students through the Young Life program.

Eric Johnson, senior fi-nance major from Boerne and co-leader for the Man-hattan, N.Y., campaign said, his team will work through the Shiloh Summer Camp to go into a public elementary school in the Bronx and help the students by tutoring and encouraging them to work.

“Our impact up there is showing students our consis-tency to be there that week and showing them uncondi-tional love,” Johnson said.

Most campaigns go un-til Thursday, but Johnson’s group will be working through Friday.

“We wake up at 7 a.m., take

the subway to the school in the Bronx to work, but we’re finished by 5 p.m.,” Johnson said. “So each night we will go out on the city together and see the city and what all is out there.”

The rewardsStudents are also af-

fected by the work they do on these campaigns every spring break.

“We have so much just coming to this college; an experience so many will never have,” Johnson said. “We learn to be thankful; it’s really an eye opener. We see that there is more to the world than just small town Abilene — our bubble — and we realize how blessed we are and come back with a new attitude.”

This Spring Break Cam-paign is Johnson’s fourth. His campaign is full and has 20 people on the waiting list.

“I tell freshman and oth-ers to join a Spring Break Campaign; they change you,

and it will impact your life more than you know,” John-son said. “It’s a really great thing. It just works; people just need to step up to the challenge and go for it.”

Signups for next year’s Spring Break Campaigns begin in October. There are also other ways to get in-volved with Spring Break Campaigns if you cannot attend a trip, such as ap-plying to be on the Spring Break Committee or making a contribution to help fund-raising efforts.

For more information on Spring Break Campaigns visit the ACU’s SBC Web site at www.acusbc.org or call the SBC War Room at (325) 674-6051.

SBC: 2008 signups begin in OctoberContinued from page 1

E-mail Robinson at: optimist@acu.edu

n Sandra Larson will make her dream come true in May when she joins the staff at Disney World to work in merchandising and take college courses.

By KELSI PEACEFeatures editor

When Sandra Larson was in elementary school, she made a poster saying when she grew up she wanted to work at Disneyland. More than ten years later, San-dra’s about to live up to the dream that she keeps pinned to her wall.

Sandra, junior interdisci-plinary major from Tuscan, Ariz., recently received her acceptance letter to the Walt Disney World College Pro-gram, where she will work in merchandising and take two college classes during the program.

“I’ve wanted to work for Disney for a long time, and

this just seems like the per-fect way to get my foot in the door,” Larson said.

According to Business-Week, it is. In its “Best Place to Launch a Career” for 2006, the magazine named Disney No. 1.

Larson said she hopes the internship will be the oppor-tunity she needs to begin a career with Disney, possibly in event planning, she said.

“This is such an entry into the Disney company,” she said. “Most of the people who are working for Disney started here, so that’s kind of reassuring.”

Future cast members swap advice, excitement and concerns on their Facebook group, WDW College Pro-gram Fall 07. The program maintains strict regulations on everything from a no-tolerance underage drink-ing policy to maintaining the “Disney Look,” with no

visible tattoos or excessive piercings.

Larson is part of the Fall Advancement Program, which means she will begin in May and end in January. In keeping with its goal of entertainment, Disney refers to its employees as “cast members,” Larson said. Cast members work “onstage” in the park and wear “cos-tumes” rather than uniforms — all of which makes it more fun, Larson said.

“It’s kind of cliché, but I’m excited about being a part of people’s magical adven-tures,” she said. “I remember going to Disneyland so many times, and just little things that cast members do, it still sticks in my mind. I’m just excited to be that person who helps create those memories for people.”

She is hoping to create those memories from Ep-cot’s World Showcase, the

kingdom in Disney World that allows visitors to take a “passport” and tour the world, enjoying the food, cul-ture and costumes of many countries. Larson won’t find out where she will be work-ing until she arrives, which she said is a little nerve-rak-ing. While acting as a Disney character was one option, Larson said an extra audition was required and she select-ed merchandise instead.

Disneyland is familiar ter-ritory to Larson, who recalls going often while growing up in Arizona, and she has been to Disney World sev-eral times as well. In fact, her spring break plans in-clude a family vacation to the Magic Kingdom, Larson said, laughing.

If only her elementary-school self could see her now.

Student to work at Disneyland, earn credit

E-mail Peace at: knp04a@acu.edu

ADRIAN CRUZ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Matthew Dowell, freshman management major from Leon Valley, shops at the GATA garage sale on Saturday.

Finding a deal

n Two students created a place where international students can receive help on the English language skills and in studying for classes on Thursdays.

By MORGAN WILLIAMSstudent reporter

International students are given a chance to in-teract and practice skills of the English language through the campus-wide organization called Con-versation Thursdays. The group meets every Thurs-day from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in Room 250 of the Onstead-Packer Biblical Studies building.

“One goal of Internation-al Students Organization is to bring the American com-munity and the interna-tional community togeth-er,” said Erin Rodermund, senior vocational missions major from Dallas.

Thursdays are designed

to help meet the three greatest needs internation-al students on our campus have. Rodermund describes these needs as: community with national students, help with conversational English and tutoring in classes, spe-cifically Bible classes.

Rodermund puts to-gether different activities for each week that allows the international students a chance to practice con-versational English in ways they might not have the chance to do on an every-day basis.

Rodermund is seeking people to help with tutor-ing for Bible classes Tues-day from 6:30 p.m. until 7:30 p.m.

“I am not looking for people who know the Bible well,” Rodermund said, “But they need to be able to explain the vocabulary to the students.”

Ryan Campbell, graduate

student in the College of Bib-lical Studies from Thousand Oaks, Calif., came to Roder-mund with the idea for Con-versation Thursdays.

“Ryan is the original vi-sionary who asked me to join him in dreaming about how we can move radically on our campus for the in-ternational community,” Rodermund said.

Campbell has been living with an international stu-dent from Rwanda for the past year.

“When he came here, he did not know English,” Campbell said. “Because of our relationship and oth-ers like it, he is now a great English speaker.”

“Our meetings are for ev-eryone,” Rodermund said. “Our hope and prayer is that all people will come.”

Help sought to tutor English

E-mail Williams at: optimist@acu.edu

All week students heard to make good choices and to know boundaries. While this usually results in many students tuning out, the advice and approach of this year’s Making Choices Week has served as a reminder of safe thinking before spring break more than a preachy list of do’s and don’ts.

About 400 students will be part of Spring Break Campaigns. Others will go home, stay in Abilene or travel to other destinations. There are helpful tips for any student to consider be-fore the break.

Steve Rowlands, director of University of Counseling Center, said there are more things to consider than the much-talked-about topics

of sex and al-cohol.

When think-ing about spring break, R o w l a n d s asked stu-dents to think about their actions instead of trying to give a list of what not to do.

Three points he made were to: think before you do, ask what your choice will look like the next day, and ask if it is worth the cost right now.

Another point of concern for everyone before spring break is sleep. ACU has lost students to car accidents caused by people falling asleep at the wheel.

“We have lost a lot of kids falling asleep at the wheel,”

Rowlands said. “It’s similar to driving while intoxicated.”

College students become accustomed to low amounts of sleep at school, but on the road, students should try to be well rested before a long trip or have some-one to trade driving duties with, which Police Chief Jimmy Ellison said reduces the chance of falling asleep dramatically.

While Rowlands and the Counseling Center have fo-cused on making healthy choic-es this week, Ellison’s advice

focuses more on planning.

“I think of things chrono-logically,” Ellison said. “You have to get in your

car, drive it to where you’re going, and then arrange for where you will stay.”

For students who are traveling during spring break, checking your ve-hicle before leaving is an easy way to avoid potential breakdowns on the road. Ellison said once at your destination, you should think with safety and com-mon sense.

“Have a plan before you go out,” Ellison said. “Use the buddy system.”

Rowlands agreed with El-

lison, saying safety doesn’t have to be a chore but an easy thing that can help with overall safety.

“It’s about going places at safe times in safe ways,” Rowlands said. “Tell others where you are going.”

While some of the advice sounds like most any par-ent, Rowlands and Ellison acknowledge that not all stu-dents will heed their advice.

“We’re not trying to be their parents,” Rowlands said. “We just want all of us to think about what we’re doing and the con-sequences [good or bad] it can have.”

Page 6 March 9, 2007

Lebensgefahr Alex York

Know your boundaries this spring break

Prepare for the surprise of the century: Ameri-cans are flunking religion. Nearly 60 years after the

S u p r e m e Court ruled it unconsti-tutional for students to be taught religion in schools, 45 years after the Court ruled prayer unconstitu-tional and 27 years

since the Ten Command-ments were no longer al-lowed to be displayed in public schools, Americans are shocked to find they don’t know the first five Commandments, much less any of them.

In a USA Today article on religion Thursday, a religious professor at the University of Boston has found 60 percent of Ameri-cans can’t name five of the Ten Commandments, and

half of high school seniors think Sodom and Gomor-rah were married.

While some may find this humorous, many religious professors and institu-tions find this disconcert-ing. The reason? America’s ignorance of world reli-gions, much less their own, could become dangerous in a world where religion plays a large role in under-standing what’s going on in Iraq and why people are opposed to capital punish-ment and gay marriages.

While America may be fighting the connection between church and state, other countries around the world allow religion and religious beliefs to dic-tate their behavior — and if Americans don’t know the history behind world religions, they won’t be

equipped to deal with peo-ple in the world or even in their own neighborhood.

Schools may not be teaching any less about world religions and the his-tory of religion than they were in the 60s before it was banned, but today they are as many Muslims in America as there are Jews. How many people know much about the Ramadan? When surveyed, 17 percent of high school seniors be-lieved it to be the Jewish Day of Atonement — not the Islamic holy month.

If knowledge is power, as people say, why aren’t chil-dren taught about religion in schools? Wouldn’t one think to know a little bit about those in neighboring houses, states or countries would help improve rela-tions in the world?

Think outside the world we know right now, inside our community, church and schools. Whether peo-ple believe it or not, the heart of the world lies in the belief of God — a God, a higher being, a spirit in the sky. If a child cannot learn about religion in the classroom, they’re missing a vital part of what makes up culture in the world.

Religion is infused into every day life. It’s in the choices we make, and for some, its even in the peo-ple we associate, marry and trust. Learning about a religion other than what one believes in doesn’t make one a traitor of the faith nor does it brain-wash one into believing other religions. It simply offers a different world-view than most know, and puts one’s personal reli-gion into perspective.

Recounting old fears from Miami

World needs knowledge of God

The issue:With spring break quickly approaching, many students will be leaving campus for the week.

Our view:Students who are preparing to leave Abilene for spring break need to approach this break with caution.

The solution:Take Steve Rowlands’, director of University of Counseling Center advice and think before you do, ask what your choice will look like the next day, and ask if it is worth the cost right now.

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

College students become accustomed to low amounts of sleep at school, but on the road,

students should try to be well rested before a long trip.

Face theFactsMallorySchlabach

E-mail Schlabach at: mes02e@acu.edu or optimist@acu.edu

Whether people believe it or not, the heart of the world lies in the belief of God — a God, a higher being, a spirit in the sky.

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

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

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

attacks, obscenity, defamation, erroneous information or invasion of privacy.

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

Address letters to:ACU Box 27892

Abilene, TX 79699

E-mail letters to: optimist@acu.edu

Published by the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication

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Online:www.acuoptimist.com

Mallory SchlabachEditor in Chief

Jared FieldsManaging Editor

Michelle JimenezCopy Editor

Lauren SuttonOpinion Editor

Emily SmithChief Photographer

Kelsi PeaceFeatures Editor

Daniel JohnsonSports Editor

Todd PiersallArts Editor

Shelby CoatesVideo Editor

Christi StarkAdvertising Manager

Kenneth PybusAdviser

Anytime someone refer-ences Miami International Airport, I cringe.

Not only is Miami airport lacking in the s l e e k n e s s of LAX, the closeness of DFW or the massiveness of O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, I have a spe-cial, distinct distaste for

this particular airport at the tip of the Sunshine State.

I had frequented Miami airport multiple times going to or returning from interna-tional locations, but it wasn’t until spring break of my ju-nior year of high school when I was stuck at Gate 34, Ter-minal C of the Miami airport for more than 24 hours that I decided this airport may be my least favor-ite airport in the world.

T r a v e l i n g back from a week long mission trip to Kingston, Jamaica, I, as well as the 50 other sun burnt students with me were grateful for the week behind us but ready to be home. Customs at the Mi-ami airport was the last ob-stacle in us getting home.

This obstacle ended up be-ing larger than any of us had anticipated as our team had unwisely booked our flights too close together and had not thought about the real-ity of baggage claim and cus-toms at an international air-port during spring break.

It was a mad house. Peo-ple traveling back from all over the Caribbean packed the baggage claim area as we piled our luggage on carts, ran through the crowds and headed toward customs in hopes of mak-ing the flight to DFW.

All that was keeping me from being home was a stamp in my passport, but

the mile-long line at customs kept this aspiration from coming true.

In the next 24 hours I be-came well acquainted with Miami airport as the group of 50 high strung high school students tried to en-tertain ourselves despite poor lighting, frigid air and uncomfortable chairs. I soon learned from this experience that there are only so many Starbucks specialty drinks you can consume and People magazines you can read be-fore going crazy.

Because 50 irritable, stir-crazy students stuck in an airport isn’t bad enough, let’s add drama and injury.

To add to the series of unfortunate events, three people out of this group re-ceived phone calls during the 24-hour period and were

told they had relatives pass away, and an-other was sent to the emer-gency room af-ter falling and knocking out one of her teeth. We were quite the circus.

But as with all people wait-ing for a stand-by flight, I did

eventually make it home. Come to find out, the air-port had overbooked our flight, and even if the group had made it through customs, we would have been left without seats on the plane.

The experience was as frustrating as it was memo-rable. I have never been so grateful to set foot in DFW and to know that I was only half an hour away from home than I was after this experience.

So to everyone going through Miami International Airport on the way to some tropical tourist location, good luck, and, as for me, I choose from this point for-ward to avoid the Miami air-port at all extremes.

A Stateof Mind

LaurenSutton

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

I have never been so grateful to set foot in DFW and

to know I was only half an hour away

from my home than I was after this experience.

In Your WordsWhat are you doing for Spring Break?

Cole Smithsophomore youth and family ministry major from Temple.

I’m going home to be with my family.

Amanda McLemorejunior English major from Aledo.

I’m going on a Spring Break Campaign to New York.

n ‘Zodiac,’ a true story based on several serial killings in 1970s San Francisco, offers an intricate plot along with a story rich in detail and police work.

By COLE WILLIAMSCartoonist

In the unseemly history of serial killers, few were as memorable, or as media sav-vy, as the Zodiac. During the late 60s and early 70s, the Zodiac killer would murder seemingly random people and send taunting letters to police and newspapers, along with cryptic messages written in code that suppos-edly gave out details about his identity. He paralyzed the San Francisco area in fear, and as the decades pass since his case went unsolved, it only adds to his legend.

Officially, the Zodiac’s identity was never uncov-ered, but a few intrepid in-dividuals, over the course of decades of work, might have figured out who he was. Their search for his identity, and the toll it took on them, are the subjects of David Fincher’s latest film, one that eschews the stylistic flashes of his previous movies even as it handles darker subject matter than in any of them before. But with its real-life subject matter and detailed, intricate fact-based plot, the film is better for it.

Zodiac starts with a stark recreation of the Zodiac’s first murder and barrels

forward into the attempt to uncover his identity. Re-porter Paul Avery (a perfectly acerbic Downey Jr.) and car-toonist Robert Graysmith (a wide-eyed and eventually weary-eyed Gyllenhaal) watch as the Zodiac’s first letter is opened by the editorial board of the San Francisco Chroni-cle, and a lifelong fascination with the case is seared into both. Meanwhile, Detectives Toschi and Armstrong (a sto-ic Ruffalo and solid Edwards) do the actual police work as they gather details on the Zodiac’s murders.

“Detail” is the key word to this film. Almost every fact about the Zodiac’s murders and the hunt for him is gone over, from the type of gun he used to a misleading APB put out on him. And with all these details, be warned — this is a very, very talky movie.

However, that’s not a det-riment; as the facts of the case are poured over, your attention is never lost, and good performances, dia-logue and a little bit of sar-casm keep things lively.

Screenwriter James Vanderbilt’s job of adapt-ing Graysmith’s non-fiction book, while at the same time telling Graysmith’s story of writing the book, could not have been easy, but is ex-pertly done.

That the movie is 2 hours and 40 minutes long and doesn’t feel it shows how tightly packed and well paced it’s written, acted and

directed. Just make sure you go to the bathroom before-hand, because if you take a break, you will assuredly miss something.

Generally great perfor-mances keep you glued to the screen as well. As people try and fail to uncover the identity of the Zodiac, the horror and thrill of the film comes not from the Zodiac’s killings, but from the effect the dogged pursuit of him had on those pursuing him.

An expectation added to the movie is that it comes from the man who direct-

ed such seminal movies as Se7en and Fight Club, and deals with subject matter similar to the former. But many of Fincher’s visual tricks are toned down or ab-sent here, allowing the story to not be overwhelmed by the visuals. That’s not to say the movie doesn’t look good, because it does, and has a few neat tricks in it — just nothing too flashy. Neither are the Zodiac’s killings per-formed in any sort of gore-hound way; in fact, they’re all the more unsettling be-cause of its matter-of-fact

nature. However, there are only about three or four in-stances of violence, so those expecting a scare fest, ala Se7en, are going to be disap-pointed.

But those expecting a richly detailed, intricately plotted, and well acted and directed story about the real-life hunt for a real-life serial killer will not by disap-pointed by what Zodiac has to offer.

n Appearing in more than 1,100 albums, the hymn ‘Amazing Grace’ continues to inspire, but the story behind the song is largely unknown.

By TODD PIERSALLarts Editor

“Amazing grace, how sweet the sound…” is prob-ably the most well-known and powerful hymn that stirs the hearts of men and women of all nationalities.

Recently released in the United States was the pow-erful movie Amazing Grace, directed by Michael Apted. Through a gripping portray-al of William Wilberforce’s passionate struggle to end slave trading in the Brit-ish Empire, Apted provides an entertaining documentary timepiece. However, as power-ful and gripping as the movie is, the true story of the song is somewhat left in the dark and details on the song itself are somewhat muddled.

What turned this poem, written around 1780, into a passionate hymn appearing in more than 1,100 albums with over 972 different ar-rangements? The story.

The story of the famous tune begins with John Newton,

son of a ship captain. Pressed into a life at sea at an early age, Newton went through several hardships, including indentured servitude. On a homeward journey, Newton’s ship went through a severe storm in which he prayed for deliverance. His “great deliv-erance” marked his conver-sion to Christianity. However, even after his conversion, Newton came to become a captain of a slave ship. Sev-eral years later, Newton left the slave trade to become a

minister. He spent the later part of his life speaking for the abolition of slavery.

Between 1760 and 1770, Newton wrote a poem en-titled “Faith’s Review and Expectation.” After many years of additions and al-terations, the poem took the name “Amazing Grace.” It wasn’t until many years later, in America, the famil-iar tune was added to the lyrics.

Because of the power-ful lyrics and stirring tune, the song has been widely adopted by every Christian group and even by many non-Christian groups. This is illustrated by the many renditions of a wide spec-trum of musical artists.

Hundreds of music art-ists either reference the song or have recorded their own version of the song. Including several artists such as Judy Collins (in 1970 spending 67 weeks at the top of the Brit-ish charts), Aretha Franklin, Destiny’s Child, Elvis Presley, Jars of Clay, Johnny Cash, Sufjan Stevens, Willie Nelson and Diana Ross. There are very few songs in which Jars of Clay and Aretha Franklin share in common.

Hopefully Amazing Grace

will continue to inspire, re-deem and encourage lis-teners for years to come. For more information go to

Amazinggracemovie.com

Page 7March 9, 2007

Newly released movies and gross rates for March 2-4. Total gross in parenthesis.

n Wild Hogs: $39,699,023($39,699,023)

n Zodiac: $13,395,610($13,395,610)

n Ghost Rider: $11,553,469($94,810,845)

n Bridge to Terabithia: $8,904,512($58,207,144)

n The Number 23: $6,486,304($24,119,947)

n Norbit: $6,398,696($82,905,396)

n Music and Lyrics: $4,888,337($38,673,388)

n Black Snake Moan: $4,143,199($4,143,199)

CominG Soon

Movies opening Friday:

n 300, starring Gerard Butler, Lena Headey, Michael Fassbender, Vincent Regan and Dominic West. A graphic novel adaptation by Frank Miller. 300 Spartans battle a massive Persian army at the famous Battle of Thermo-pylae. Against, all odds, the Spartans use their valor to try and hold Persia and unite Greece. (ACTION)

n The Ultimate Gift, starring Drew Fuller, James Garner, Ali Hillis, Abi-gail Breslin, Lee Meriwether. After his wealthy grandfather dies, Jason Stevens, a fast-cash man, expects to receive a large fund. Instead, he receives twelve gifts which leads him to question whether money can truly make someone happy. (DRAMA/RELIGION)

Box oFFiCe StAtSAttention to detail is a good sign for ‘Zodiac’

Courtesy of ROTTENTOMATOES.COM

Jake Gyllenhaal and Adam Goldberg co-star in a real-life mystery thriller about a serial killer who terrorizes the San Francisco Bay area in the 1970s. The “Zodiac” killer left signs and clues for police, leading to an intense and desperate search.

e-mail Williams at: cww02b@acu.edu

‘Amazing Grace’ never ceases to amazee-mail Piersall at: tdp04a@acu.edu

Page 8 Friday, March 9, 2007FROM THE FRONT

under the direction of Son-ny Guild, now the direc-tor of the Halbert Institute for Missions.

“In 1999, prior to the Hal-bert Institute for Missions, there was a strong missions department,” Guild said. “But Dean Reese wanted missions to be at the heart of what the Bible program was all about.”

With the hope of achiev-ing this focus, the university hired five overseas missionar-ies for the newly created posi-tion. Mission coordinators:n Dr. Gary Green for Latin American Larry Henderson for Asia n Dan McVey for African and Islamic regionsn Yann Opsitch for Europe n Dr. Kent Smith for North America

The missionaries were brought on staff to collaborate in missionary and team unity and to bring unique skills and perspectives from their par-ticular regions of study.

“Jack Reese has been work-ing for quite a while to get a strong, experienced, well-ed-ucated group of former mis-sionaries here for the Halbert Institute for Missions,” said Mark Clancy, graduate stu-dent in the College of Biblical Studies from Houston. “The vision is to train teams to go to the field, and so I think these professors have been recruited for several years. This is really starting to kick off where they have a group of successful professors that

can train missions teams.”With these specific changes

to the department and a size-able donation given in 2004, the Halbert Institute for Mis-sions officially was set in to play. HIM partners with mis-sions academic programs to provide co-curricular programs in missions training which in-cludes assessment of mission-ary candidates, team develop-ment and specific training.

The first missions team that has formed through HIM is a group comprised of five family units who will move to Lima, Peru, in two years. HIM will help the team find a congre-gation to support them finan-cially, offer mentorship as they prepare to move overseas and provide training in missiology.

Clancy, a member of the Peru team, anticipates HIM to help aid in this preparation in regards to living overseas long term.

“I’ll have spiritual develop-ment through the program that will help in my ministry,” Clancy said. “I’ll have professors that I will be able to contact if I need help in those areas. In some ways, the unknown is always terrifying and how can anyone every really be prepared? But in other ways, I feel prepared be-cause of how they have taught me to approach Biblical and spiritual issues.”

“The institute has an ex-cellent program and has one of the best gatherings of professors of any train-ing institute,” said Gary Green, mission coordinator for Latin America.

World Wide Witness

Mission opportunities at ACU are not restricted to long-term missionaries and Bible majors. With the cre-ation of World Wide Witness in 2001, a 6 to 10 week mis-sion internship, students of all concentrations can travel and serve people in multi-ple U.S. cities and countries across the world.

In 2002, 32 ACU interns participated in WWW; last summer 60 interns were sent to 23 different locations.

“Response has been very good,” said Green, director of World Wide Witness. “We have grown every year. We are just now becoming known on campus where students are looking for WWW more than they used to.”

WWW internships are broad. Some students will work on college campuses, some work with medical missions and some in orphanages. Intern-ships range from a summer in the Bronx, N.Y., to a summer in a village in Ghana.

“It’s incredibly broad and students are beginning to learn that there is a breadth, and you can find your niche,” said Green.

Adrienne Carpenter, ju-nior Spanish education major from Austin, will spend her summer with WWW study-ing at a language school in Costa Rica and working with a local church.

After returning from a WWW retreat in February, Carpenter said she had never

been around so many people with such a strong desire to do missions.

“It was encouraging to see the vast amount of countries people were visiting as a re-sult of World Wide Witness,” said Carpenter. “These are solid, growing connections that ACU has made all around the world.”

North American Missions While overseas mission

work remains a strong em-phasis for HIM, the institute offers a domestic alterna-tive for students who are taking a less conventional approach to mission work. Green said there has indeed been a postmodern shift in the world, and people can no longer assume the U.S. and mostly developed nations are Christian.

“We are waking up to the fact that we can not take it for granted that people living in the United States are some-how automatically churched, and so our mentality has to be changed,” Green said. “We are catching up to the real-ity of what is going on in the world. Therefore, to reach people in all these different locations, there has to be a broadening of how to apply missions. The principle is the same, but the applica-tion has broadened.”

A branch of HIM, The Mis-sionary Residency for North America, is a specific gradu-ate program that is broaden-ing its vision for mission work and applying it within the U.S.

This “hands-on internship” accepts six students every year, and these students pick a specific site to do ministry in upon completion.

One location is in New York where former students have formed the Bronx Fel-lowship Church. Instead of planting a downtown church, putting a sign up and expecting people to at-tend Bible school, the team is working in apartments and small groups. They have no intent to build a build-ing, but are producing a net-work of small, intimate cell groups that meet in homes and apartments.

In Denver, former students are spending time, providing for nutritional needs, build-ing relationships, and shar-ing the gospel with homeless teenagers as their ministry. Rather than coercing teenag-ers into church settings, this team plays pool and eats pizza with the homeless as they help them develop com-munity and understand who Jesus is.

“To be a missionary in North America is to wake up to its changing cultural re-alities,” said Kent Smith, mis-sions coordinator for North America.

Smith said the latest polls show the U.S. has the third largest un-churched popu-lation in the world and less than one in five people are in church on Sunday.

“We must wake up to what most of us have been sur-rounded by and begin to see

the mosaic of people around us who don’t know Jesus and have no way to know him,” Smith said.

Regardless of the ways the university views mis-sionary work, Green says there is always room for more than one model and these models should run parallel to each other.

“We need to be cautious about buying into one-model fits-all regardless of what model that is. No one model fits all situations.”

Missions: Students reach beyond traditional missionsContinued from page 1

E-mail Sutton at: les03c@acu.edu

Ghana: A passion for people impacts student livesContinued from page 1

E-mail Sutton at: les03c@acu.edu

According the organization’s Web site at www.acu.edu, Halbert’s goal is that “By the year 2010 [to] prepare 200 men and women to be used by God to establish and nurture at least four church planting movements on each continent.”

The university hired five overseas missionaries — one for each continent.

n Dr. Larry Green: Latin America

n Larry Henderson: Asia

n Dan McVey: African and Islamic relations

n Yann Opsitch: Europe

n Dr. Kent Smith: North America

“World Wide Praise and Prayer,” a small-group Chapel, is offered Thursdays at 11 a.m. in Room 117 of the Biblical Studies Building.

HALBERT INSTITUTE FOR MISSIONS

LACI ADKINS STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Dan McVey says his home in Clyde, including this African hut in his backyard, is only a temporary stopping point. McVey said he wants to return to a cross-cultural context someday.

traditional roots. “It is considered to be one

of the few pure African cul-tures that still exist because the African cultural values and the traditional lifestyles are very strong in Ghana,” Dan said.

The McVeys moved to Ghana at a time when the country was considered one of the five poorest in the world. Though full of abun-dant natural resources, a drought nearly caused the country economic collapse. Ghana lacked gasoline, and the food supply was limited.

“That really forced us to adjust our style of liv-ing completely and imme-diately be immersed in the local day-to-day struggle to survive, which was hard, but it was good,” Dan said. “It helped us identify with the people; they accepted us much more readily. It en-abled us to be of assistance to them.”

Though the young couple arrived in the capital city of Accra with only two suitcases and $36, Dan said the Lord took care of them abundant-ly. They lived in a rent house that missionaries before them had lived in.

“We didn’t have much money, but we didn’t need much money,” Dan said.

Though the McVeys strug-gled through the drought, the famine and the political chaos taking place in Ghana when they arrived, these conditions ultimately aided Dan in his fresh ministry to the Ghanaians.

“It was really a good time for people like us to come in who were young, willing to learn, who were flexible, which is not to say that we did everything correctly,” Dan said. “We made tons of mistakes. I think what af-firmed us the most was that the Ghanaian people, espe-cially the church people, accepted us. They took us under their wings, and we grew together.”

Working among Ghanaians

The McVeys were the only missionaries in Accra for much of the time they lived in Ghana. Most Ghana-ian missionaries associated with the Churches of Christ would stay only two to three years and then return to the states. But the McVeys felt it was important to remain in Ghana for a minimum of five years in order to learn the language well and to connect with the people.

“We weren’t trying to measure things in time,” Dan said. “Longevity on the mis-sion field is valued, and the longer you can be in some places, the more effective you can be.”

Dan traveled around the country preaching among Churches of Christ in the Accra area as well as con-ducting leadership train-ing and special studies seminars.

“He really resonated with the people,” said Brenda McVey, Dan’s wife. “He learned the language so well. When he wasn’t with me, he went wherever the people went. He slept wher-ever they slept. He ate what they ate. He did what the people did.”

Dan’s primary job was serving as director of Heri-tage Christian College, a school that trains indi-viduals for the ministry. Dan taught many types of Bible courses and though he worked long hours, the school grew immensely dur-ing his time as director.

The McVeys were also involved in developing church plant teams, provid-ing literacy projects in the villages they lived in and helping with community development projects.

“99 percent of all we ever did in Ghana was never strategy or plan,” Dan said. “We would have strategies and plans and they would go nowhere. It was just things that would develop. We would be at the right place, at the right time for those things to develop, and that continued the whole time we were there.”

Moving North

The last five years he lived in Ghana, Dan moved his fam-ily, which had grown from two to four, to the village of Yendi to work with a northern branch of Heritage Christian College. Yendi differed from Accra in its rural atmosphere and its heavily populated Is-lamic community.

“It was just a time when Dan felt like it was good for us to leave Accra,” Brenda said. “He needed to step out of his position at the school. He wanted to leave it to the Ghanaians.”

This transition meant moving from a stone house to one made of mud, raising livestock for the first time and dealing more with Afri-can illness.

“It was really hard,” Brenda said. “We had lots of sickness.”

But despite the change of lifestyle, the McVey’s pre-ferred the North to living in the capitol of Accra.

“We’re really close because we were forced to be close growing up,” said Kyle McVey, Dan’s son. “I didn’t have any American friends.”

Not only did Dan’s family experience closeness among one another, they enjoyed their tight-knit relationships with their friends from the church community.

“It’s more than just work-ing together, it’s living in each other’s homes and sharing everything because that’s the African culture,” Dan said. “You don’t hold back any-thing … everything is shared and you seek out each other for advice.”

Dan said his ministry philosophy was similar to the Apostle Paul’s in that he sought relationships with a small group of peo-ple, trained them and then stepped out of a leadership position so locals could fill those roles.

Bringing the passion to ACUDan’s experience with

African people made him a prime candidate for ACU’s new position of African mis-sions coordinator, and af-

ter teaching a short course on approaches to Islam, the university offered Dan the job.

The McVeys initially turned down the position, but after prayer and consid-eration, decided that timing might be right for re-en-try into the United States. Kyle’s preparing for col-lege in the states and Dan’s father’s illness with cancer were factors that helped in the decision-making.

“It was almost overnight when we thought, ‘Yes, this would be good,’” Dan said. “We weren’t looking to leave Ghana, although, the proj-ects we were working with were at a point where it was a good time to ease out of that. I had been working myself out of a lot of those things already.”

Since 2004, Dan has taught courses on Islamic studies like “Intro into Mus-lim Evangelism” and “Islam, Spiritism and the Sovereign-ty of God.”

Byron Rodgers, senior Christian ministry and youth and family double major from San Antonio, took one of Dan’s classes the first se-mester he taught at ACU and has since developed a deep respect for his professor, friend and mentor.

“He had this aura about him,” Rodgers said. “He was humble and kind and very passionate about what he was teaching. Not a loud voice, but a deep-seeded passion that plays out in every aspect of his life.”

Dan’s love for Islamic people and his students has established him as a much-loved and highly respected professor on campus. He can be seen speaking in Chapel, heading up a project for Af-rican Mission Fellowship or serving homemade Ghanaian pastries to his classes.

“I don’t define myself by what my dad’s done, but it’s nice to introduce my-self as Dan McVey’s son,” Kyle said.

“Dan has a lot of wisdom and experience in a lot of ar-eas that so many of us don’t,

especially among young peo-ple who have spent our lives in America,” Rodgers said. “He’s willing to embrace and tackle issues and topics that aren’t taught very readily that we usually try to sweep under the carpet.”

Dan’s current home in Clyde is not a permanent one. While he is content to teach at ACU, he said he someday hopes to work again in a cross-cultural context. Though times and dates are not certain, Dan said he longs to experience

life with people from differ-ent cultures and religions, especially Islamic people.

“I think for a long time, Dan has realized that he’s a small part of a huge king-dom,” Rodgers said. “He is not the paramount or the center piece, but at the same time, amazing things happen through him.”

“Dan really resonated with the people. When he wasn’t with me, he went wherever the people went. He slept wherever they slept. He ate what they ate.

He did what the people did.”

Brenda McVey, Dan McVey’s wife and Ghana missionary

mile-relay team at nationals, as the Wildcats have had in the past, puts more pres-sure on each individual.

“We are under pressure. We do have the potential to win,” said Sylvester William-son, who qualified in the 60-meter dash. “All we need to do is have our qualifiers have better scores than the other team’s.”

Senior Marvin Bien-Aime echoed Williamson’s thoughts on the pressure. In previous years, Bien-Aime said he could run without pressure because of a larg-er number of qualifiers. He said there is no nervous-ness now, but he does sense greater individual pressure.

“I’m not going into it ner-vous at all,” Bien-Aime said. “Now that we’re thin, we’re getting to feel what pres-sure is like.”

For the men, there is a lot of talk about performing to the level each member is ca-pable of. The only concern is if that will happen or not.

“As far as capability, if we just do what we’ve done then we’ll be alright,” Hood said.

The women’s team, Hood said, is right where he thought they would be at this point. Fourteen women qualified for the meet, and

Shawna Kaye-Thompson was the only one to qualify in three events: the 60-me-ter hurdles, 200-meter dash and in the 4x400-meter re-lay. Seven other women qualified in two events.

Denise Morgan is one of those who qualified in two events. Morgan is a member of the distance medley relay and will run the 800 meters.

“We have a very good chance because we have the

most ranked very high and everybody is healthy,” Morgan said. “I am looking forward to returning the championship.”

Morgan’s words spoke for the entire team, accord-ing to Hood.

“They want to be the team that brings it back,” Hood said, referring to the women’s na-tional championship. “Every-body’s pulling for everybody.”

Friday, March 9, 2007 Page 9SPORTS JUMPS

brian schmidt SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

Triple jumper Vladyslav Gorbenko lands in the sand pit after jumping during practice on Jan. 29. Gorbenko qualified for the NCAA Division II Indoor Na-tional Championships with a triple jump of 51-4.25. Gorbenko is one of 12 men from the ACU track and field team that qualified for the indoor nationals.

brian schmidt SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

Wildcat Irene Squillaci runs toward a ball during her match against Chrissie Cooper of Tarleton State on Saturday. Squillaci won the match 6-3, 6-3. Squllaci and the rest of the ACU women’s tennis team will play a throng of matches on the road over spring break.

II rankings, will play a total of seven matches over the next week and a half in an attempt to improve their 12-3 record.

First, the Wildcats will play Sch-reiner on the road. Next, the men will go up against two Division II teams: Incarnate Word, ranked No. 27, and St. Edward’s, ranked No. 9.

The Wildcat men will then play three Division I teams, all ranked in the top 75, over spring break.

“You just can’t get any better qual-ity practice than playing all these D-I matches,” Jones said. “It’s not like it makes D-II easy, but we’re not intimi-

dated by any level of play — we’ve played against the best.”

On Wednesday, ACU will play one of the best tennis teams in the coun-try, Texas A&M, No. 35 in the nation-al Division I poll, in College Station. The Wildcats will then take on TCU, No. 66 nationally, in Fort Worth on March 17.

The Wildcat men will go up to Norman, Okla., to play Oklahoma, the No. 42 in the nation, and then go on to play Lone Star Conference rival East Central on March 18.

“It’s going to be hard to beat A&M and Oklahoma,” Jones said. “But I’d rather play them than go play schools that we’re just going to crush.”

The ACU women, No. 5 in the Di-vision II rankings, will take their 9-2 record on the road as they play three matches this weekend. On Saturday, the Wildcats will play Schreiner and Incarnate Word. ACU will play St. Ed-ward’s, the No. 23 team in Division II tennis, Sunday.

“These should be some quality matches for the girls,” Jones said.

After this weekend, the women will not play again until March 20 when they host Barton Community College.

Tennis: Quality matches aheadContinued from page 10

Texas Woman’s University last weekend.

Junior pitcher Kim McDonald was honored for her 2-0 record and an ERA of 0.50 for her two starts against TWU. Junior des-ignated hitter Jes-sica Johnson was named the LSC South Hitter for fin-ishing the four-game series 5 for 6 with two runs scored, one double, two home runs and five RBI and a slugging percentage of 2.000.

The team has been working all week to improve consistency at the plate, Wilson said.

“We just need to find a way on base

and come through at the plate when the opportunity presents itself,” Wilson said.

The team, who is 12-4 and 2-2 in conference play, will need to play aggressively to beat Texas A&M-Kingsville, Wilson said.

“Kingsville will bring a pret-ty well-rounded team here this weekend,” Wilson said. “They have a good pitching staff, and they seem to be hitting the ball well enough to have won plenty of games already this year. We will need to play aggressively and not hold anything back to be successful this weekend.”

The team plays games Friday at 5 p.m. and 7 p.m., and Satur-day at 12:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m.

The next games are scheduled for Tuesday against Mesa State.

Softball: Team to face ‘well-rounded’ opponent

Continued from page 10

E-mail Davis at: optimist@acu.edu

Florida ran away with the tourna-ment, out shooting the closest com-petitor, Barry University, by a whop-ping 27 strokes. Currently, West Florida is ranked seventh nationally.

The Wildcats went into the tour-nament ranked fifth in the nation, according to the Golf World/Nike Golf Coaches poll after placing seventh in the St. Edward’s Invita-tional in Austin last week.

Among the Lone Star Confer-ence that competed, ACU shot the best at the tournament. Central Oklahoma University placed ninth, shooting four strokes behind ACU. Cameron was three strokes behind them placing tenth, and East Cen-tral University placed twelfth in the tournament with five strokes behind Cameron University.

Nationally, Cameron and Cen-tral Oklahoma are tied for ninth place. Cameron and Central Okla-homa are both previously ranked No. 19 in the nation before the St.

Edward’s Invitational. The Wildcat golfers will spend

their spring break in Granbury, competing in the Harbor Lakes In-vitational. Coach Campbell said he is ready for the Monday-Tuesday tournament.

“There’s a good diversity since there will be a mix of Division I and junior colleges at the Invitational,” Campbell said

Texas Christian University and University of Texas at Arlington are among the Division I schools, while Odessa College and Midland College will both be there also, each of them winning the Junior College National Championship in the past three years.

After the Invitational, two tour-naments will take place before postseason competition begins at the Lone Star Conference Champi-onship in Roanoke.

Golf: ACU best LSC team in tournament

Continued from page 10

Nationals: Limited qualifers add pressure Continued from page 10

E-mail Fields at: jrf03b@acu.edu

ACU’s only three losses have been on the road, and Southwestern is coming off of a four-game sweep over Eastern New Mexico.

“They’re up and down right now, and since they just got the sweep over Eastern New Mexico, I’m sure they’re feeling good,” Bonneau said.

Despite losing its original lead-off hitter in Pacheco, ACU’s batting lineup has been more than good, hitting a con-ference leading .397 team batting average and 194 runs scored.

Bonneau said he would need bench players to continue to step up if they want to overcome his team’s early injuries.

Tests: Early injury not an issueContinued from page 10

E-mail Johnson at: djj04a@acu.edu

McDonald

E-mail MacDonald at: optimist@acu.edu

E-mail Freeman at: mxf04b@acu.edu

Cats chase national titles

INTRAMURAL VOLLEYBALLIntramural volleyball schedule will be posted on the intramural bulletin board in Moody Coliseum after spring break.

Friday

TRACK & FIELDACU at NCAA Division II Indoor Championships, Boston.

BASEBALLACU at Southwestern Oklahoma State, Weatherford Okla., 1 p.m. (DH)

SOFTBALLACU vs. Texas A&M-Kingsville 5 p.m. (DH)

Saturday

TRACK & FIELDACU at NCAA Division II Indoor Championships, Boston.

BASEBALLACU at Southwestern Oklahoma State, Weatherford, Okla., noon (DH)

SOFTBALLACU vs. Texas A&M-Kingsville noon (DH)

WOMEN’S TENNISACU vs. Schreiner, San Antonio, 9 a.m.

ACU vs. Incarnate Word, San Antonio, 2:30 p.m.

MEN’S TENNISACU vs. Schreiner, New Braunfels, 9 a.m.

ACU vs. Incarnate Word, San Antonio, 2:30 p.m.

Sunday

WOMEN’S TENNISACU vs. St. Edwards, Austin, 2 p.m.

MEN’S TENNISACU vs. St. Edwards, Austin, 2 p.m.

Tuesday

BASEBALLACU at Delta State, Cleveland, Miss., 6:30 p.m.

SOFTBALLACU vs. Mesa State, 3 p.m.

Wednesday

BASEBALLACU at Delta State, Cleveland, Miss., 2 p.m.

MEN’S TENNISACU vs. Texas A&M, College Station, 10 a.m. n Home games listed in italics

SportSFridayPage 10 March 9, 2007

SCOREBOARD

Standings

Upcoming

INTRAMURAL ROUND-Up

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

Scoreboard as of Thursday

BASEBALLTeam Div. OverallACUTAMK-UAngeloTarletonENMU

WTAM

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

15-312-513-611-910-104-11

SOFTBALLTeam Div. OverallAngelo St. TAMK-UACUTX Woman’sTarleton

ENMU

4-04-02-22-20-00-4

19-510-410-610-1613-511-14

WTAM 0-4 5-13

Upcoming

n The ACU baseball team will play 10 games over spring break, including a two-game series against nationally ranked regional opponent Delta State.

By DANIEL JOHNSONSportS Editor

Despite losing veteran pitcher Ben Maynard and starting second baseman J.J. Pacheco to injury, the ACU baseball team has already posted the third-best start in the program’s history.

And if the 15-3 Wildcats want to add on to its superb start, it’ll have to continue to win over spring break.

“Everybody on this team

hasn’t had a spring break in I don’t know how long,” said third baseman Alec Sowards.

The Wildcats will kick off its spring break with six games on the road — four against Southwestern Okla-homa State in Weatherford, Okla., and two more against Delta State in Cleveland, Miss. — and will end it with a four game series at home against Cameron University on March 17-18. ACU will play South-western on Friday and Satur-day and then travel to Missis-sippi to take on Delta State on Tuesday and Wednesday.

“I like long road trips,” said

head coach Britt Bonneau. “It’s just another chance to build as a team and learn to play on the road.”

Arguably the toughest of the Wildcats spring break opponents will be nationally ranked Delta State. No. 14 Delta State has won eight of its last 10 games for a 16-4 record and the second-best record in the Gulf South Con-ference West Division.

Another challenge will be overcoming the environment of Delta State’s home field, which Bonneau said should be a good road test for the Wildcats.

“That environment is kind of like when teams come and

play us here,” Bonneau said. ACU is 12-0 at home and

has outscored its opponents 148-40.

No. 8 ACU is ranked higher than Delta State, and head coach Britt Bonneau said the tough competition would help prepare his team for the long haul.

“We can’t get a big head or assume we’ve won something; you don’t get any awards till the end,” Bonneau said.

ACU’s first spring break series against Southwestern will be its first on the road since splitting a series with Northeastern State on Feb. 23.

Road tests ahead for No. 8 Wildcats

n The ACU softball team will play its first home Lone Star Conference South series against Texas A&M Kingsville this weekend.

By RACHEL DAVISSportS WritEr

The Wildcats will play Texas A&M-Kingsville this weekend in a four-game series at home.

The team is scheduled to play two games Friday and two games Saturday.

Currently, Texas A&M-Kingsville is ranked higher than ACU in the con-ference standings — ACU is fifth and Texas A&M-Kingsville is fourth, but that doesn’t bother the team, head coach Chantiel Wilson said.

“It is sometimes more tough to be on top because the pressure is always on to stay there,” Wilson said. “We know what we can do and what we are capable of doing. Whether a team is ranked or not nationally means nothing to us.”

That seems to be the case seeing as two ACU players swept the weekly con-ference honors from their play against

Women face fourth place Kingsville

n The nationally ranked ACU men’s and women’s tennis teams will be on the road against Division I, II and III teams over spring Break.

By MICHAEL FREEMANonlinE Editor

The ACU tennis teams hit the road this weekend to play a trio of Central Texas teams. Both the men and women will play Schreiner, a Division III team, Saturday in San Antonio at 9 a.m. Both Wildcat teams will stay in San Antonio to play Incarnate Word later in the day at 2:30 p.m. On Sunday, the Wildcats will travel to Austin to take on St. Edward’s at 2 p.m.

“We want to win,” said head coach Hutton Jones. “But even higher than that, we want to have a strong emo-tional showing. Whether we win or lose, I want the other team to know this team really competes.”

The ACU men, No. 22 in the Division

Tennis teams hit road for spring break

n The ACU golf team placed eighth overall at the Southern California Intercollegiate Tournament. Hugues Joannes shot the lowest score for the Wildcats in California.

By NATHAN MACDONALDSportS WritEr

The ACU golf team played next to the world’s biggest water hazard Monday and Tuesday: the Pacific Ocean.

The Wildcats played in San Juan Capistrano, Calif., at the Marbella Country Club for the Southern California Intercollegiate Tournament,

finishing eighth overall in the tournament.

Hugues Joannes was ACU’s top shooter for the tournament, shooting a solid 68 the first round, 73 the second round and finished with a score of 76. Joannes was three strokes shy of winning the first round, losing out to Barry University’s Juan Weissenberg. Hilton Funk placed 34 in the tournament, tying with Noah Moss of Uni-versity of California-San Diego and ACU’s Stephen Knight. Kyle Byerly wasn’t too far be-

hind Funk and Knight, placing 42 overall. Byerly was in a five-way tie for 42 with Matt Lazzo from Washburn University, Spencer Shishido from Sonoma State, Tyler Kimrey from East Central and Zach Jones from California State University at Dominguez Hills. Curtis Har-ris finished the tournament at 61st place, which tied him with Austin Alfonson from UCSD and Raphael Malabanon from CSUDH.

ACU golf coach Mike Camp-bell said he felt good about Monday’s game but just didn’t feel they had it on Tuesday.

“The first day we were all playing really well, but yes-terday was disappointing; things just weren’t going our way,” Campbell said. “We had one of those days that every-one has when they play the game of golf.”

Campbell also said he thinks the ingredients are there; however, the team just needs to mix them together.

“We have sporadic good rounds; we just need to put it all together,” Campbell said.

The University of West

ACU golf finishes eighth at California tourney

n The dynastic men’s and women’s track and field team are both competing at NCAA Division II Indoor Championships in Boston this weekend. ACU qualified 26 total athletes.

By JARED FIELDSManaging Editor

On paper, the men’s and wom-en’s track teams may not be the favorites, but a title at the national indoor meet would not be that far of a stretch for the imagination.

“Sneaking up from behind is a lot easier,” said head coach Don Hood.

Hood was referring to the men sneaking up, who qualified 12 peo-ple for the meet, with Johnny Ja-

cob, Nicodemus Naimadu and Ju-lius Nyango participating in more than one event.

Naimadu, the reigning national cross country champion, qualified for three events: the mile, 5,000k and as part of the distance medley relay team.

“Twelve is a lot of guys. If ev-ery guy scores six points, that’s 72 points,” Hood said. “They do what they’re capable of doing, and we’re in the hunt.”

While 72 points can put a team in the hunt for a title, not having a

Boston bound

On the Web www.acuoptimist.com

brian schmidt SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

Shawna K. Thompson clears a hurdle during practice on Jan. 29. Thompson qualified for nationals in two individual events, the 60-meter hurdles and the 200 meter dash. Thirteen other women and 12 men qualified for the Indoor National Championships.

brian schmidt SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

Third baseman Sean Nourie catches a ball on Saturday against Southeastern Oklahoma State.

Track & Field

Baseball

Golf

Nationally ranked ACU finished seventh at the Southern California Intercollegiate Tournament in San Juan Capistrano, Calif.

Individual Scores

n Hugues Joannes, +7

n Hilton Funk, +16

n Stephen Knight, +16

n Kyle Byerly, +19

n Curtis Harris, +26

CATS IN CALIFORNIA

See TESTS page 9

See TENNIS page 9

See SOFTBALL page 9

See NATIONALS page 9

See GOLF page 9

Fields

Managing editor and track writer Jared Fields will cover the ACU men’s and women’s track teams at the NCAA Division II Indoor National Championships in Boston Friday and Saturday. Read Fields event-by-event articles from Boston at: www.acuoptimist.com