The faculty has approved changes to university policy that reduces the number of hours students can transfer from other colleges.

The new policy increas-es the number of hours students must take from ACU to graduate with a

degree from the univer-sity. Students will now be required to have earned at least 48 hours of credit from ACU to graduate, the old policy required only 32 hours of credit from the university.

Dr. Kim Pamplin, chair of the Faculty Senate, said the new policy will enable the university to have a

larger influence over stu-dents who graduate from the institution. A total of 76 faculty members affirmed the resolution; five did not affirm and 10 abstained.

“Our policy says that if you want to graduate from ACU you need to have a minimum number of hours,” Pamplin, also chair of the Department

of Chemistry and Bio-chemistry, said. “We want to have a little bit of ACU’s stamp on students before they graduate.”

The faculty also ap-proved a referendum changing the number of transfer hours students can earn after they enroll at the

university. Enrolled stu-dents who have taken less than 30 hours from ACU will be allowed to earn 15 hours from other institu-tions. Students who have earned between 30 and 59 hours at ACU can now only earn 12 additional hours outside of ACU. Those

A 6-year-old boy lives on the streets with his mother. She dies. The boy is then sent to live with his father, who wants nothing to do with his son. The father passes the boy off to his grandmother. After travel-ing 16 hours alone, he ar-rives at his drunken, abu-sive grandmother’s home.

That is the reality for Artyum, a Ukrainian child supported by Jeremiah’s Hope through a program called the Sasha Project.

The Sasha Project pro-vides Ukrainian children with groceries, school sup-

plies and other necessities. According to their website, Jeremiah’s Hope is now serving over 60 children through this program.

Jeremiah’s Hope also serves the children through village outreach, summer camps, orphan-age outreach and a tran-sitional home for children leaving the orphanage.

Andrew Kelly, ACU alumnus, founded Jeremi-ah’s Hope in 2004.

“We have kids who lived in a home who have been thrown out of second-story windows into dumpsters below on the ground floor, alive,” Kelly said. “They know that that’s their

background and they want to know, ‘What purpose do I have,’ so that allows us to really share who Jesus is and that your mother may have thrown you out of a window, but God is never

going to throw you out.”Multigenerational pov-

erty runs rampant in the villages in which Jeremi-ah’s Hope team works.

Optimistthe

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

acuoptimist.com

1 section, 8 pages

weatherinside

page 3

websitenewsThe Meek Blood Center is facing a blood shortage after winter weather caused four days without donations.

page 5

featureACU students have driven to Anson for several years trying to figure out the cause of its mysterious lights.

videosWatch a Valentine’s Day video of local flower and candy vendors preparing for one of their busiest seasons. 77° 56°

Wed. Fri.Thurs.

79° 51° 76° 49°

Small-Town Mystery, page 6

SOCIAL CLUBS

Bailey GriffithCopy Editor

Students help Ukrainian ministry

Vol. 99, No. 35

Abilene Christian University

Photos courtesy of JEREMIAH’S HOPEA Ukrainian girl living in a hospital colors a card from ACU.

With Sing Song known to host thousands of guests, finding a parking space might be as competitive as the actual show.

Moody Coliseum will be flooded with students, participants, family mem-bers and out-of-towners, and each will have the same question as to where to park their vehicle.

Tom Craig, director of student productions, said that although parking will be plenty, it might be farther

away than in past years.“Obviously, it’s a challeng-

ing year for parking across the board,” Craig said.

Lieutenant H.E. Jenkins of the ACU Police Depart-ment said he has one major piece of advice: Arrive early.

“Plan to deal with con-gestion and delays,” Jen-kins said. “It’s always a strain on our parking sys-tem to have so many peo-ple come at one time.”

Jenkins said he encour-ages all drivers to be flexible and patient. Depending on

SING SONG

Parking presents pesky problems

Christina BurchPage 2 Editor

see POLICIES page 4

The university is overhauling meal plans next semester in an effort to con-tinue their goal of creating a premier dining program. The new plan will of-fer meal plans by the day instead of by the individual meal.

Instead of having scheduled meal times, the Bean will operate from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. and students can enter and eat as many times as they want for

the number of days the plan allows. However, students will only be able to use meal plans in the Bean and must use Bean Bucks in all other dining ar-eas around campus.

Anthony Williams, chief business ser-vices officer, said ACU Food Services will offer just two plans to next semester’s un-derclassmen. Plan A will offer seven days a week of unlimited access to the Bean with $200 Bean Bucks and Plan B will of-fer five days a week (Monday-Friday) of unlimited Bean access with $400 in Bean

Bucks. Both plans cost $2,300 per semes-ter after taxes.

Upperclassmen can also choose plans offering $400 or $600 in Bean Bucks or 120 or 90 days of eating in the Bean per semester. With the 120-day plan, students will receive $275 in Bean Bucks for around $1,230 including tax, and with the 90-day plan, students will receive $500 in Bean Bucks for the same price.

see UKRAINE page 4

Jeff CraigManaging Editor

FACULTY

see FOOD page 4

Revamp of meal plan to change student dining options

panoramic by DANIEL GOMEZ // Chief Photographer

Students enjoy lunch in the Bean. To see the entire panoramic image, visit our Flickr site at www.flicker.com/acuoptimist.

Faculty approves changes to credit hour policy

Linda BaileyEditor in Chief

see PATIENCE page 4

quick factsThis semester’s top two meal plans: • Plan A: 21 meals per week, with $120 of Bean Bucks for about $2,381 each semester. • Plan B: 15 meals per week, with $120 of Bean Bucks for about $2,212 each semester.

Next semester’s top two meal plans:• Plan A: Seven days per week unlimited access to the Bean with $200 in Bean Bucks for about $2,300 each semester. • Plan B: Five days per week unlimited access to the Bean with $400 in Bean Bucks for about $2,300 each semester.

We want to have a little bit of ACU’s stamp on students before they graduate.

DR. KIM PAMPLIN // chair of the Faculty Senate‘‘ ’’

More Bean for your Buck

announcements

Wednesday 18Friday

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

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

National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature Students can greet patrons, assist with art activities, sell books and welcome visitors

from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. or 1-3 p.m. Tuesdays-Sat-urdays. For more infor-mation, contact Debby Lillick at 673-4586 or visit www.nccil.org.

The Center for Contem-porary Arts needs a gallery assistant to help with exhibit setup and prepara-tion. The work can be done any time from 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Tuesday-Friday. Call 677-8389 or e-mail info@center-arts.com.

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

Global Samaritan Re-sources Volunteers are needed to sort through clothing and repack

boxes Monday-Thursday at any time. Volunteers should call ahead. Contact David Catalina at 676-9991 for more information.

The Salvation Army Volunteers are needed at the 1726 Butternut St. Salvation Army to sort and price items and help with kitchen or yard work. Volunteers are welcome any time Mon-day-Saturday. Contact J.D. Alonzo at 677-1408 or visit www.satruck.com for more informa-tion on the program.

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

HERO Hendrick Equine Rehabilitation Opportuni-ties needs volunteers from March 22-May 5 to help with its horse therapy pro-gram. Volunteers will walk or jog alongside horses and provide safety for cli-ents as they ride. No horse experience is necessary. Volunteers must attend one of two training ses-sions offered prior to the beginning of the program. Contact Beth Byerly at 660-3465, or e-mail hero-coord@netzero.com.

Meals on Wheels needs volunteers to deliver noon meals to seniors and adults with disabilities. Routes are available 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. on Monday-Friday. Volunteers must be at least 18, with a valid driver’s license, auto insurance and a desire to serve. Training is provided. Students may be exempted from one Chapel per week if delivery time conflicts with Chapel. Contact Samantha Barker at 672-5050 or sbarker@mealsonwheelsplus.com.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

calendar & events16 Thursday17 19Saturday

iPad . iPhone . iPod

READTHE OPTIMIST

ON YOUR

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

volunteer opportunities

2Campus Day

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

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

ACUltimate The univer-sity’s ultimate frisbee club meets at 6 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays. Interested students can contact Kyle Thaxton at krt06d@acu.edu.

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

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

GRE Prep Course Students interested in registering for the GRE prep course need to sign up by Feb. 18. The course is designed to help students learn test-taking strategies for the computer-adaptive GRE General Test. Students can become familiar with the exam and identify study needs through lab practice tests. Sessions are Mon-days, 6:30-9 p.m. Feb.

21-March 28. For more information, visit www.acu.edu/pce.

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

Summit Art Contest ACU students can sub-mit original artwork in the form of photogra-phy, drawings, paintings or other creations to visually communicate the theme of next fall’s Summit. Entries must be submitted digitally to summit@acu.edu by Feb. 15. The winner will receive $100, and his or her artwork will be used during Summit. For more information, con-tact the Ministry Events Office at 674-3750.

ACU Connected Summit 2011 Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple, Inc., and the Rocketboys will be at the ACU Connected Sum-mit at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 28 in Moody Coliseum. Admis-sion is free for all students, faculty and staff with a current ACU ID card.

D!SCOVERY The Career Center is sponsoring a five-week workshop to help students decide, confirm or narrow their major and career choic-es. For more informa-tion, contact the Career Center at 674-2473 or visit www.acu.edu/ca-reercenter.

Springboard Ideas Chal-lenge The mini-business plan competition offers students the opportu-nity to get their business up and running and the chance to win cash prizes. Students must register at www.acu.edu/springboard by March 4 to compete.

Viva Flamenco! The Spanish Flamenco con-cert will feature Ronald Radford at 2 p.m. on Feb. 20 at the Williams Performing Arts Center Recital Hall. Tickets are $5 for students and $10 for regular admission.

11 a.m. Sing Song preview in Moody Coliseum

USAA on-campus interviews

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

7 p.m. Sing Song student discount night in Moody Coliseum (tickets are $5 at the door)

7:30 p.m. Eurydice in Fulks Theatre

11 a.m. Praise Day led by alumnus Sam Souder in Moody Coliseum

12 p.m. Softball Southeastern Oklahoma Crossover tournament vs. Washburn University in Durant

3 p.m. Baseball vs. East Central Oklahoma University

4 p.m. Softball Southeastern Oklahoma Crossover tournament vs. Henderson State University in Durant

7:30 p.m. Eurydice in Fulks Theatre

8 p.m. Sing Song in Moody Coliseum

9:30 p.m. Eurydice talk-back in Fulks Theatre

10 a.m. Softball Southeastern Oklahoma Crossover tournament vs. Southern Arkansas University in Durant

12 p.m. Softball Southeastern Oklahoma Crossover tournament vs. University of Nebraska-Omaha in Durant

1 p.m. Baseball vs. East Central Oklahoma University

2 p.m. Sing Songin Moody Coliseum

7 p.m. Women’s basketball at Eastern New Mexico University

7:30 p.m. Eurydice in Fulks Theatre

8 p.m. Sing Song in Moody Coliseum

9 p.m. Men’s basketball at Eastern New Mexico University

22

Chapel

Credited Chapels to date

Checkup51 Credited

Chapels remaining

about this pageThe Optimist maintains this calendar for the ACU community to keep track of local social, academic and service opportunities. Groups may send announcements directly to optimist@jmcnetwork.com.

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

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

Page 3CAMPUS NEWS

Hotels report limited rooms for Sing Song

While many local hotels are reporting no vacan-cies for Sing Song week-end, there are still rooms to spare.

It’s not too late for alumni, parents and friends to reserve a hotel room for Sing Song 2011.

Most hotels on the north side of town continue to accept reservations.

“We still have 50 rooms left for next weekend,” Justin Brumit, front office manager of Hilton Garden Inn said.

When contacting ho-tels, ask about discounts for ACU-affiliated parents and alumni. Whitten Inn

offers a 25-percent dis-count to those affiliated with the university.

“Yes, we do offer a dis-count and breakfast,” Sue Davis of Whitten Inn said.

Students also may host a guest of the same gen-der who is above age 17 in their dorm room for up to two nights. Students are required to gain approval

and register all guests with their residence hall directors beforehand. All guests must register their vehicles with the ACU Po-lice Department.

Sing Song is one of the busiest weekends of the year for ACU students and guests. If the hotel is not a hop and skip away from the campus, remember

to allow time for travel and parking. There will be less parking spaces avail-able this year because of construction on campus

and the influx of traffic for Sing Song.

Eyrah QuashieContributing Reporter

SING SONG

contact Quashie atoptimist@jmcnetwork.com

Abilene blood center reports serious shortages

A four-day-long dry spell has left the Meek Blood Center with a shortage of blood. Frances Baker, Donor Recruiter for Meek Blood Center, explained that due to inclement weather, the center went four days without having any donors. As a result, it came up about 200 pints short on blood.

The Meek Blood Cen-ter collects an average of 1,000-1,500 units of blood every month, or 50 units a day, according to Baker. In the past week, howev-er, the center has experi-enced a massive shortage of blood donations. It pro-vides blood to 15 different hospitals within a 120-mile radius of Abilene.

“We’ve had days where it was bad, but we’ve never had four days; so we’re trying to play catch up. We’ve been hav-ing to call donors,” Baker said.

Each patient typically donates one unit, or pint, of blood. A donation can be given every eight weeks

and each unit collected has the potential to save two lives. It is possible, if health conditions are met, to give double units. About 75 percent of the blood donated at Meek Blood Center comes from high school and college students. Baker said that students are the backbone of their blood supply.

“It benefits anyone in need of a blood transfu-sion. We don’t have any way to make blood in a laboratory; we rely com-pletely on donors. That is who supplies 100 percent of the blood used in the United States, and they’re anonymous donors. They don’t know who they’re go-ing to help,” Baker said.

Dr. Bo Green, professor emeritus of mathematics, had been a loyal blood do-nor for years when he was diagnosed with leukemia. Suddenly, his role changed from donating blood to re-ceiving blood.

He began donating in 1972 when a member of his church needed blood for surgery and turned it into a

personal ministry, donating a total of almost 16 gallons.

Green said, “It’s like I’ve lost a significant part of my life. I hate that I will never be able to give blood again. I still wear my 15 gallon [donor] pin just to encourage other people. It’s such a significant thing that people need to do.”

Green is currently cancer free. His treatment required a total of 31 units of blood from the Hendrick Medical Cen-ter’s facility. He stressed how important platelet donations, which can be given every two weeks, were for cancer patients. He said they really could not live without them.

“I encourage everyone to donate blood; it’s really needed and not that bad of a thing. You get free cookies and a T-shirt. It’s just a good feeling knowing you’re do-ing something like that to

save people’s lives,” Green said. “It’s good to realize how important it is to live a good life so your body can be healthy and you will be able to help instead of harm other people.”

Donors receive health benefits for donating as well. Baker said men in particular experience a positive change in the way they feel imme-diately after giving blood. It reduces the amount of iron in the blood and allows for increased oxygen levels. Do-nating four times a year can reduce the chance of heart disease by 35 percent.

To donate blood you need to weigh 120 pounds, be in good health and have the required levels of hemo-globin. Baker said the main qualification that knocks people out of being able to donate is travel. If the donor has been in a country with a

malaria risk, such as Mexi-co or Haiti, within the past year, they are deferred from being able to give blood for one year from the date of their return.

A blood drive has been scheduled on the ACU campus for April 7 from 11 a.m.-5 p.m in the park-

ing lot between Brown Library and the Admin-istration Building. The3 Meek Blood Center is lo-cated at 1150 North 18th St. in Abilene. They can be reached at 670-2805.

Samantha SutherlandContributing Reporter

LOCAL

contact Sutherland atoptimist@jmcnetwork.com

Group to celebrate Black History Month with walk

Essence of Ebony is plan-ning a “Walk Through Black History” to educate and en-tertain the ACU community in commemoration of Black History Month.

The production will take place Feb. 26 in the Williams Performing Arts Center at 6:30 p.m.

“This event is important because it gives us a chance as African American stu-dents to educate our fellow peers,” said Masci Sledge, president of Essence of Ebony. “It also gives us a chance to unite people on and off campus.”

The typically annual Black History Production

began a few years ago. Although, it was not pro-duced last year. Sledge says this year, they wanted to revitalize the tradition

George Pendergrass, di-rector of the Office of Mul-ticultural Enrichment, said maintaining such traditions plays a notable role.

“It is extremely impor-tant to consistently high-light the history of African Americans,” Pendergrass said. There is the saying ‘If you fail to study history, then you are condemned to repeat it.’ Because of this country’s sordid past, too often the history, backgrounds and contri-butions of African Ameri-cans are seldom known.”

The annual production,

lead by Essence of Ebony, is a collaborative project be-tween Essence of Ebony, the Student African American Brotherhood and Virtuous African Heritage Sisterhood.

Sledge said the organiza-tions wanted the event to be different past productions, which have included a guest speaker and several pro-grams. This year’s event will be a semi-formal banquet held on the campus.

“We will really be taking the audience back and hav-ing students recite speeches from well-known African Americans who made a difference in our history,” Sledge said.

Meagan HernandezStaff Photographer

STUDENT GROUPS

contact Hernandez atmkh05a@acu.edu

We don’t have any way to make blood in a laboratory; we rely completely on donors.

FRANCES BAKER // donor recruiter at the Meek Blood Center‘‘ ’’

quick factsAs of Tuesday, local hotels are reporting limited or no vacancies for Sing Song weekend.• Whitten Inn: Limited smoking rooms available• Holiday Inn Express: No vacancies• Residence Inn: Limited Vacancies Friday

SAMANTHA SUTHERLAND // Contributing Reporter

Retired teacher Karen Wilson of Abilene donates blood at Meek Blood Center as technician Stephanie Perez gives instructions.

February 16, 2011

Page 4 February 16, 2011CAMPUS NEWS

Some villages don’t have roads, running water, elec-tricity or gas. Many families are self-sustaining, growing what they need to survive.

“There’s a whole attitude of hopelessness. They just feel absolutely hopeless. So we’re able to share with them that God gives us hope. Yes, you may never escape the vil-lage, but you can find happi-ness and peace in a relation-ship with Jesus,” Kelly said.

Bonnie Kellum, senior psychology major from Allen, was an intern at Jeremiah’s Hope last summer through WorldWide Witness.

“I was there for the sum-mer and so I met all of these kids and spent a lot of time in the village just talking to the kids. Once I came home it was like I couldn’t just do nothing. You meet these kids and you hear these stories and some-thing changes in you and it’s placed on your heart to make a difference,” Kellum said.

Kellum, also president of GATA, came back to ACU and proposed to the club that they do something to give back.

Kellum knew she was go-ing to go back to Ukraine. She told GATA members she was going during winter break and that they could make gift bags for her to take back to the children.

“Everyone was really ex-cited,” Kellum said.

Marcus Womble, junior psychology major from Allen, was an intern with Kellum and two other ACU social club members at Jeremiah’s Hope.

“We saw how we had all these social clubs there and we were like, we should do something that gets them all together, brings awareness and gets clubs working together for something,” Womble said.

Last semester’s all-club grub, Giving Thanks for a Cause, joined ACU’s social clubs together for an event

where the admission price for the evening was simply bringing a small item for the gift bags that Womble and Kellum would take back to Ukraine during the winter break.

“We were thinking, wouldn’t it be so awesome if this could be something we did every year where your ticket in the door to come and hang out with all of your friends is something that goes for a good cause. We’re definitely trying to make kind of a legacy for people to follow and to keep giving,” Kellum said.

Frater Sodalis sponsors Artyum each month by pass-ing around a hat and ask-ing each member to donate about a dollar. It costs $15 a month to sponsor a child through the Sasha Project, and Womble said Frater So-dalis usually raises twice what it needs, enabling Jer-emiah’s Hope to provide gro-ceries and other provisions for Artyum’s entire family.

“Once you experience something like this, you’re never the same. I think it’s so important for us as Americans — us as Chris-tians — to give back, be-cause you never realize how materialistic and self-ish and just how worldly you are until you see some-one who’s without any-thing. It is very humbling and I think if more people did stuff like this, it would be a much better place to be,” Kellum said.

Womble said he wants to see the ACU campus become more aware of situations like those in Ukraine.

“I’d love for different so-cial clubs to take their own personal proactive steps toward assisting in any way that they can,” Womble said. “Just something cre-ative that shows the chil-dren of Ukraine the love that they need.”

with more than 60 hours of earned credit from ACU will only be allowed to trans-fer in 9 additional hours of transfer credit.

Hours earned previous to enrollment at ACU will not be counted toward the total.

“These are both efforts to say that if you are going to get your degree from ACU, we want to have at least a minimum influence,” Pam-plin said. “Taking a bunch of hours from somewhere else is less of an ACU education.”

The faculty also made sweeping changes to the faculty handbook. Pamplin said an effort to consolidate the handbook had not taken place in several years. He said this year’s consolidation

reduced the size of the book by nearly half.

“For the last several years, the handbook has had up-dates, but there has not been a comprehensive evalua-tion,” Pamplin said. “It cut down what was like 200 pag-es to around 100 pages.”

Dr. Cheryl Mann Bacon chaired the faculty commit-tee commissioned to evalu-ate the faculty handbook. Bacon, chair of the Depart-ment of Journalism and Mass Communication, said a main goal of the evaluation is to reduce redundancies.

“There had not been a comprehensive and up-to-date version of the handbook available for many years,” Ba-con said. “Neither had it been clear who was making assort-ed changes in the handbook. So the Faculty Senate appro-priately took the leadership role in setting the job.”

All approved referendums will become effective after receiving the approval of the provost, president, and Board of Trustees

All changes made to dining were determined by stu-dent input, Williams said – including the addition of an all-organic station in the Bean for the fall.

To prepare for the sta-tion, ACU Food Services is offering 10 students the chance to pilot the organic initiative for the rest of this semester in an effort to gauge enthu-siasm for organic eating and to find out which dishes are most popular, Zena Maggitti, director of ACU Food Services, said during Friday’s interest meeting for students.

The program will provide students with 10 meals per week: five lunches and five dinners Monday - Friday.

Wiepie Rojas, sopho-

more nursing major from Waxahachie, said she wrote a 5-to-8-page pa-per over Christmas break detailing why she should not be required to pay for a meal plan for health and financial reasons. While, she wasn’t able to get rid of her meal plans, she was approached by the uni-versity to discuss organic options – an initiative Maggitti said they had al-ready been looking into.

While, Rojas doesn’t feel responsible for changes, she does see her efforts as showing ACU dining that students are interested in eating organically.

“I think it was a matter of putting a little fire un-derneath them, showing them that there is a stu-dent interest and desire to change the way that we eat and that organic is becom-

ing more important as we find more evidence that it’s a lot more beneficial to your health,” Rojas said.

She has already signed up for this semester’s pi-lot program and said she looks forward to eating organically in the Bean and appreciates dining services for working with her beliefs about organic eating. Those beliefs, Ro-jas said, center around pesticide use, genetically modified food and treat-ment of animals.

“I think one of the things we forget is as a Christian is that we are called to filter what we watch and what we say and what we do,” Rojas said. “I don’t under-stand why we wouldn’t fil-ter what we eat.”

which parking locations fill up first, officers will direct cars to other lots to balance the congestion.

Sing Song parking is met with several chal-lenges this year, Jenkins said. The Teague Special Events Center will be housing the President’s Circle dinner on Feb. 19. The Saturday dinner will

require police officers to reserve the entire Teague parking lot and half of the Edwards north parking lot for both performances.

The second parking ob-stacle will result from the ongoing construction of the Royce and Pam Money Stu-dent Recreation and Well-ness Center. With three-quarters of the Campus Center lot consumed with construction, the Robert

D. and Shirley Hunter Wel-come Center will be opened for additional parking.

The third parking hin-drance is expected to come from the holding tents for the Sing Song participants themselves, Jenkins said. Without the usual space from the Gibson Health and P.E. Center, students in the show will navigate to and from Moody Coliseum by way of holding tents.

Officers and student workers will be man-ning several parking lots to ensure that traffic fil-ters smoothly. The Cam-pus Center lot, Morris lot, Teague lot and Edwards north lot are among them.

For students in the pro-duction, Jenkins said he strongly encourages park-ing in the Brown Library lot. Leaving the parking spaces closer to Moody

Coliseum will be respect-ful to the visitors, Jenkins said. Participants can also carpool and walk, for those close to campus and if weather permits.

For handicapped park-ing, the Edwards north lot will be the best, although it will be limited, Jenkins said. He recommends driv-ers looking for handicapped spots come early as well.

“Just be respectful of ev-

erybody and be patient,” Jenkins said. “We’ve never had anyone who has shown up the last minute and not been able to get in there and see the show.”

Jenkins said his final recommendation for all stu-

dents and participants is to leave immediately after the show to ease congestion.

McMurry narrows mascot search to final three

McMurry University has narrowed its search for a mascot to three finalists.

McMurry is currently searching for a mascot after having to drop the name Indians. In 2004, a total of 33 schools, includ-ing McMurry, had to sub-mit a report that explained their usage of their Native American identifications to the NCAA. In 2005 all NCAA colleges and univer-sities were required to dis-continue abusive, national, racial or ethnic nicknames or mascots.

The name Indians fell into these categories. Mc-Murry appealed the NCAA’s ruling, but was rejected

in August 2006. The uni-versity’s Board of Trustees decided to terminate the Indians mascot later that year. McMurry has been mascot-less ever since.

A mascot-finding com-mittee was created last year and has sifted through near-ly 150 mascot suggestions. The committee, made up of alumni, faculty, student gov-ernment and students have narrowed the list to three: Bison, War Hawks and Cir-cuit Riders, according to the McMurry website.

Some earlier suggestions included the Unicorns, Cra-zies, Clowns and the mythi-cal Greek sea monster, the Cracken. Mastodons were a popular choice in student polls but were eliminated just weeks ago.

McMurry Student Body President Josh Neaves said the three mascots are very accurate when considering the school’s history. Bison have been a part of Abilene history for hundreds of years while War Hawks tie into McMurry’s Native American feel.

Circuit Riders have a much different history. The term “circuit rider” was used to describe trav-eling Methodist preach-ers going from church to church preaching

Methodist circuit rid-

ers traveled across New Mexico and West Texas in the late-1700’s through the mid-1800’s. In an attempt to more identify itself with the Methodist denomina-tion, Circuit Riders became a unique mascot choice.

“I don’t know how we are going to represent ‘preach-ers’ at games,” Neaves said. “It’s interesting.”

Neaves said that the stu-dents may be leaning to-wards War Hawks as a favor-ite, but said information is not easy to come by. Alumni do not appear to have a fa-

vorite, but seem to like all three mascot finalists.

Final voting for the new mascot is expected to take place March 7-10. Students, faculty and staff can vote online. The com-mittee will gather all of the data to create a final proposal for the Board of Trustees. The new mascot will be announced March 11. From there, McMurry will begin to incorporate the new-found mascot and logo into the campus, sports, merchandise and the community according to Neaves. The Department of Advancement will come up with the new logo.

Neaves would not dis-close what his choice was. He said that some of his per-sonal favorites were already

eliminated including The Nation and Thunderbirds.

“I haven’t voted,” Neaves said. “I do have a personal opinion, though.”

McMurry student Zach Henderson, junior music major from Abilene, said he liked the previous choices better than the finalists.

“I don’t like any of the mascot choices. I feel the process was manipulated. The administration came up with a list of about 20 names, which a lot of stu-dents liked,” Henderson said. “Then they took that list away for some reason and came out with a new list with a lot of the old names missing.

Zane GoggansContributing Reporter

LOCAL

Ukraine: Social clubs work with local ministrySOCIAL CLUBS

Continued from page 1

Photos courtesy of JEREMIAH’S HOPE

A Ukranian child sits on the steps at the Pine Branch Christian Camp last summer.

contact Griffith atbng10a@acu.edu

contact Goggans atoptimist@jmcnetwork.com

Policies: Faculty approve handbook consolidations

FACULTY

Continued from page 1

contact Craig atjrc07d@acu.edu

DINING

Food: Plans sold by the dayContinued from page 1

contact Bailey atljb07a@acu.edu

Taking a bunch of hours from somewhere else is less of an ACU education.

DR. KIM PAMPLIN // chair of the Faculty Senate‘‘ ’’

SING SONG

Patience: Construction presents parking difficultiesContinued from page 1

contact Burch atclb10b@acu.edu

I don’t know how we are going to represent “preachers’ at games.

JOSH NEAVES // student body president at McMurry‘‘ ’’

FocusFebruary 16, 2011 Page 5

Ghost storya lost soul roams the hills northwest of Anson; others believe it’s a ghost swinging a lantern back and forth. Skeptics say it’s an unremarkable phenomenon easily explained by logic – but the only thing certain about a mysterious light in the sky near Anson, Texas, is no one is certain.

Anson, a town of 2,500 located about 30 miles north of Abilene, sits at the crossroads of U.S. Highway 83 and U.S. Highway 180. The city may first appear to fit every stereotype of a small Texas town. The town square sur-rounding the 20th century red-brick courthouse lost half its tenants long ago. Red dirt and small trees domi-nate the landscape.

But a light dancing across the sky northwest of town makes this sleepy West Texas town anything but ordinary.

The Mystery“The first time I was there I saw a mysterious light

bobbing in the sky along the road,” said Vince Somoza of Anson. “Some people think it’s a ghost, but personally, I don’t think that’s what it is. I don’t believe in spirits.”

Somoza works at the 7-Eleven on Highway 277 just north of town. He said visitors, especially college stu-dents, often come into the store looking for directions to the light. Somoza said he thinks the light comes from a barn north of town, but his theory is one of many.

“Legend has it, the light is the spirit of a mother out searching for her lost children at night,” Somoza said. “The light is her lantern.”

Visitors to the lights can only view them from a deso-late dirt road west of town. Scraggly mesquite trees and waist-high grass line both sides of the road, which runs parallel to Anson’s Mount Hope Cemetery. A faint glow from the city lights of Anson provides the only reminder

of civilization in this remote location.Visitors must travel south down the bumpy dirt road

then turn around to face north because the light can-not be seen from the highway. The light seems to rise from the horizon and sway back and forth. It appears and then disappears.

The AdventureKayla Avery does not believe in ghosts or spirits. How-

ever, the sophomore psychology major from Longview is still fascinated by the light and the adventure that comes with the trip to Anson. She said she has been to see the light several times, even though she believes the light has some sort of explanation.

“We were told to turn the car around and flash the headlights three times to make the light appear,” Avery said. “What we saw looked like a light swinging back and forth across the end of the road. It was eerie. There are lots of trees around and it is really dark, but there is nothing to be afraid of.”

She believes the light is nothing more than a flashing traffic light in the distance. However, not everyone who searches sees the light, further complicating the mystery.

Margaret Moore, junior youth and family ministry and secondary education major from Houston, visited Anson with three of her friends in search of the mys-tery last year, but she didn’t see anything. Moore said she had heard about the light and wanted to investigate for herself.

“I had heard that the lights shifted across the street like a swinging lantern that swayed back and forth,” Moore said. “But it was funny because we didn’t see anything. One person in the car was freaking out which made me nervous. It is in the middle of nowhere and you still be-come paranoid thinking about mysterious things.”

Moore said she finds the idea of ghosts illogical, but she still wonders what the light could be. She thinks the glow is caused by car headlights on a nearby road, but she’s not sure.

While the light itself may be an unsolved mystery, some people find the experience itself more thrilling than the idea of a “ghost light.” Suzi Summers, sopho-more elementary education major from Mesquite, said she thinks the light is an optical illusion of some sort. Summers said her biggest fear when visiting the light was mischief from other people – not ghosts.

“It was fun, but it was kind of freaky at the same time. You just see these little bouncing lights. It was dark and we had to turn off the headlights, and you felt like something might pop out,” Summers said. “People like to scare people to get a reaction. But it seems kind of

dangerous if you have people pop out with cars. It’s a bad idea.”

Despite fears that the area is dangerous, Anson Police Chief Barrett Thomas said the area is perfectly safe. He said deputies from the Jones County Sheriff’s depart-ment frequently patrol the area because they know the light is a popular destination for area students. Thomas said as long as students stay on the road and off private property they will be fine.

“We have students from all three Abilene universities come out all the time,” Thomas said. “We love to have them out here; we’re happy to have them. It’s perfectly safe.”

The Unsolved PhenomenonFor visitors to the Anson lights like Avery, Moore

and Summers, the adventure is what provides the ex-citement – not a hope to see something paranormal. For Anson residents like Somoza and Chief Thomas the Anson lights serve as a magnet, bringing visitors to the town. They all have two things in common: They don’t think the lights are paranormal and they believe the lights are explainable. But even so, the Anson lights re-main a mystery.

The mystery of the lights, the short trip to Anson and the spookiness of the location of the light itself make the trip a popular venture – even for skeptics.

contact Craig atjrc07d@acu.edu

photo illustration by JOZIE SANDS // Online Editor

photo illustration by HANNAH BARNES // Features Editor

The small town of Ansonattracts visitors

with an eerie legend

Some say story by Jeff Craig

Conscientious ConjectureBy Laura Acuff

The 5 a.m. crowd at Any-time Fitness looks signifi-cantly different than the gym’s daytime patrons.

P e o p l e rarely wait on exercise equipment. They tend to avoid ma-chines direct-ly adjacent to those cur-rently in use. In fact, we hard-ly acknowledge each other’s presence at all, short of the occasional, silent nod.

I am one of those people. At least five days a week, I race daylight and hit the gym, baring uncooperative circumstances of course – like snow days or forgetting that I’ve parked my car clear across campus.

The standoffish clien-tele doesn’t bother me. Call me crazy, but I’d rather not have to make small talk about the weather before the sun even rises.

Only a few days after beginning my 5 a.m. re-gime, I could recognize

the other early risers, I knew who was new and who was a regular. And I could tell the other regulars recognized me.

There’s an almost tan-gible respect, an elitism shared between regular at-tendees. Outsiders have to prove their dedication to earn the morning head bob.

But still, nobody talks. And that almost worried me Monday morning.

Like any other Monday, I had rolled out of bed and dragged myself to the gym. I had finished my run on the treadmill – one of my better runs, actually – and proceed-ed to the weight machines, when I realized something wasn’t quite right.

My heart rate hadn’t slowed like it should have; I’d broken into a cold sweat and begun to shake. As I closed my eyes, I felt ver-tigo start to kick in.

This was not normal exercise fatigue, I finally admitted to myself. But neither was it an altogether new experience.

Prone by heredity to hypoglycemia, I usually

monitor pretty carefully what I eat. And generally, I can predict and prepare for, if not avoid, my sys-tem’s sugar slumps.

However, every now and then, I awake to find the situation already upon me. The trick is clearing my groggy head and ac-tually noticing quickly enough to avoid fainting.

Cradling my head in my hands, I fought back the familiar sense of panic and tried to rationally assess how capable I was of driv-ing back home for some food and a pre-class nap.

Looking around, I realized I was surrounded by strang-ers, and none of my Abilene area “emergency contacts” would be awake for a while.

But it’s OK, I remem-bered. This is Texas. This is Abilene. And this is my 5 a.m. workout club.

I don’t know their names, but I do believe that in a gym emergency, I’d have caretakers.

Eventually, I stood up, made my exit, and drove my-self home to cook breakfast. But my impromptu lesson on community lingered.

At ACU, community can seem ready-made. No matter how academically rigorous, in some ways, college forever seems like a yearlong sum-mer camp for overgrown kids. We are surrounded by people just like ourselves, eager to build relationships and make friends and sharing many of the same challenges.

But community also comes from less obvious sources: our pew neigh-bors at church, rock climb-ing companions, a familiar Walmart greeter, or a 5 a.m. gym crowd.

It may not be as overt as the bonds we share with our closest friends, but, espe-cially in crisis, unconven-tional community can be just as critical.

Laura AcuffCopy Editor

Bailey GriffithCopy Editor

Morgan DavisCartoonist

ACU Food Services is un-veiling an improved meal plan program that we think will give students more Bean for their buck.

With the new program, the Bean will be open be-tween 7 a.m. and 11 p.m. on weekdays and have ex-tended hours on the week-end. These new hours will give students more op-tions for eating and allow students to fit eating into their schedules instead of fitting their schedules around dining hours.

The new plan also gives students an unlimited number of Bean trips per day. Instead of swiping for meals, students can enter the bean multiple times a day for as may days as their plan allows. Again, this modification gives students more flexibility with their dining eliminat-ing the need to “save up” meals for certain times later in the week. It also might curb the urge to eat as much food as possible per trip to the Bean.

The only downside to the new plan is that ACU Food Services will only accept meal plans in the Bean, while other on-campus eateries will only accept those precious Bean Bucks. Some stu-dents might find this as an annoyance, but the new plan makes up for this change by providing more Bean Bucks per semester, allowing students to con-tinue enjoying places like the Fatted Café and Ein-stein Bros. Bagels.

The price for all the modifications per student is around $2,300 for the semester for underclass-men – a steep price, but relatively comparable to this semester’s Plan A and Plan B. Of course we’d like to see lower prices for on-campus dining, but we re-alize only so much can be done, and we appreciate the fact that at least prices won’t rise too sharply.

Anthony Williams, chief business services officer, said he and others in dining

services are looking into en-hancing and changing some food court locations. How-ever, they are still looking at data and student input be-fore making a decision – and it appears they really have listened to students.

It seems like the new plan is the perfect com-

promise between rea-sonable hours and large amounts of food. The price may be high, but the unlimited access to the Bean could make every-thing worth it.

OpinionPage 6 February 16, 2011

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

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

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

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

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

Address letters to: ACU Box 27892 Abilene, TX 79699

E-mail letters to: optimist@acu.edu

editorial and letter policy

By Morgan DavisThe Funny Funnies

New meal plan fits students’ schedulesEDITORIAL

Rangers disloyalto faithful star

COLUMN

Rounding the BasesBy Brandon Tripp

It appears as though it will be the end of an era in Texas this coming season. Michael Young has now p u b l i c l y asked for a trade and the Rang-ers seem more than willing to c o m p l y with his request if the right deal presents itself.

Although nothing of-ficial has happened yet, it appears that one mom has jumped the gun and broken the news to her young son.

The You-Tube video, which is quickly mak-ing its way around the Web, shows a young boy, presumably a toddler, dis-traught and upset about the news that Young won’t be with the Rangers next season.

The boy at one point takes off his Rangers ball cap, drops it on the ground and says the Rangers are no longer his team because his fa-vorite player is gone.

It’s funny that the re-action from a toddler is about the same as the reaction I had when I learned my favorite player wanted out of Arlington.

Even if Young doesn’t end up leaving, it is still hard to know that the face of the franchise, and the most popular player on the team for nearly a decade, wants to leave.

I know everyone wants to be happy and I understand Michael Young completely. What is hard to understand is how the Rangers fran-chise and GM Jon Dan-

iels have treated Young, the face of a team that had nothing going for it before 2010.

Daniels has been ac-tively listening to propos-als from teams since the winter meetings, despite reassuring both Young and the public that the Rangers were not shop-ping the six-time all-star. It seems as though the Rangers have given Young every right to feel “betrayed” and “misled,” even if they won’t admit it to anyone.

The designated hitter role and super utility po-sition that was promised to him is seemingly all but gone with the addi-tion of Mike Napoli and

rumors of Texas going af-ter another possible DH before spring training.

The way Young, who has accepted two posi-tion moves before this off-season, has been treated by an organization that owes him so much is a borderline travesty. The Rangers would not have been the team they were last year without his lead-ership. Now it appears the Rangers have taken him for granted one too many times and enough is enough.

Now all of us who claim the Rangers as our team may have to go through the next few years without seeing No. 10 out on the diamond. And it is a shame.

I don’t know their names, but I do believe that in a gym emergency, I’d have caretakers.

contact the Optimist atjmcnetwork@acu.edu

the issueACU is reformatting student meal plans to a day-by-day basis, rather than a certain number of meals a week.

our takeThe proposed plan allows students to come eat at their own schedule and not worry about partitioning meals out.

contact Tripp atbjt07aa@acu.edu

True community fosters comfortCOLUMN

contact Acuff atlka06a@acu.edu

Tripp

Published by the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication

newsroom(325) 674-2439

sports desk(325) 674-2684

photo department(325) 674-2499

advertising office(325) 674-2463

subscriptions ($40/year)(325) 674-2296

editorial & management board

Linda BaileyEditor in Chief

Jeff CraigManaging Editor

Jozie SandsOnline Editor

Matthew WoodrowOpinions Page Editor

Brandon TrippSports Media Director

Sandra AmstutzArts Editor

Christina Burch Page 2 Editor

Hannah BarnesFeatures Editor

Daniel GomezChief Photographer

multimedia desk(325) 674-2463

Kenneth PybusFaculty Adviser

Cade WhiteFaculty Adviser

Cara Lee CranfordAdvertising

Optimistthe

The way Young, who has accepted two position moves before this off-season, has been treated by an organization that owes him so much is borderline travesty.

Acuff

February 16, 2011 Page 7FROM SPORTS

Win: Kimbrell to host games

Head Coach Shawna Lav-ender said. “The trip to Kingsville is tough but I felt good about where we were, and where we are.”

After going down 5-0, the ’Cats clawed back and knotted it up at 6-6 at the 16:36 mark of the first half. Freshman Renata Mar-quez then proceeded to hit back-to-back 3-point-ers to double the Javeli-nas’ score 12-6. It was easy sledding from there as ACU’s lead swelled to 23 at the break 47-24.

The second half was much of the same as the lead ballooned to as much as 30 at one point with the score finally settling down at an 18-point margin.

“Their record isn’t great, but they have lost a lot of close games,” Lav-ender said. “We played like we knew we were the better team.”

Mack Lankford, the leading scorer in the LSC South was at it again pac-ing the field with 21 points and seven assists. Junior Kelsey Smith had a career night with 19 points and 16 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the sea-son. The 16 boards match her season high she set in a game early in the season against the University of Texas-Permian Basin.

The win greatly helps the Wildcats’ playoff push. ACU (9-13, 6-4) sits in a tie for third place in the Lone Star Confernce with Angelo State. The Ram-belles hold the tiebreaker over the ’Cats thanks to a season sweep of the Wild-cats last week. Also, the Wildcats hold a 1.5 game advantage on fifth place Midwestern State. If the current standings hold, then the ’Cats would be able to grab the last play-off spot in the South, but would have to play the top seed from the North, cur-rently Northeastern State.

Another critical game is up next for the Wildcats as they play the sixth place team in the standings, In-carnate Word. It is techni-cally a home game for the Wildcats, but because of Sing Song preparations, the game will be played in McMurry University’s Kimbrell Arena. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.

“The important thing for us is that we prepare like it’s a normal home game,” Lavender said. “We will do the same thing that we do when we are in our gym, and it should be about the same because we will have our home fans there.”

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

contact Gwin atagg07a@acu.edu

Continued from page 8

Nine-run seventh dooms ACU

The No. 8 Wildcats dropped two of three in Kingsville, including a nine-run seventh inning comeback by the Javeli-nas, over the weekend to open their season 1-2.

After having their opener delayed by more than a week, the Wildcats were on cruise control six innings into their season opener leading 13-5. But the ACU bullpen was un-able to contain the Jav-elinas who stormed back, scoring nine runs in just two-thirds of an inning and on only two hits.

“I was trying to get somebody up in the bull-pen that could throw strikes,” said Head Coach Britt Bonneau. “It’s not like we were putting bad pitchers out there.”

The Wildcats were un-able to rally in their final

two innings and fell to Kingsville 14-13 in the season opener despite five errors by Kingsville ac-counting for six of ACU’s 13 runs.

Saturday the Wildcats were again poised for a victory up this time 4-1 heading into the bottom of the sixth inning. The lead was built off four errors from Kingsville; but start-ing pitcher Adam Lambrix struggled to contain the Javs giving up four straight hits to open the inning be-fore being pulled by Bon-neau. Senior Will Calhoun came on in relief but could not hold back the flood-gates giving up a double to his first batter. Calhoun was responsible for two runs one of them earned.

Kingsville pitcher Aaron Aspaas, younger brother of ex-ACU pitcher Cameron Aspaas knocked in two RBIs in the game.

The Wildcats had their

chances in the seventh in-ning with the tying run at the plate twice, but were unable to capitalize.

“We struggled with pitching,” said senior Will Calhoun. “I think it was a lack of intensity in the mid-dle of the game and that gave them momentum.”

It looked as though the Wildcats would be swept out of Kingsville in game three going down 3-0 be-fore ACU took a turn at a comeback victory.

Coach Bonneau’s team was down in the sixth in-ning before scoring one run in the seventh, eighth, and ninth to send the game into extra innings. In the 10th, ACU took over scoring two runs on a double by Camer-

on Bankston. Bankston was thrown out trying to stretch his double to a triple.

Peter Goudeau and Abe Williams both doubled to make it three runs in what would prove to be the fi-nal inning for the Wildcats. Calhoun sat the Javelinas down in order in the bot-tom half of the inning on just 21 pitches finishing off Kingsville 6-3.

ACU will take their 1-2 record into a matchup against East Central Uni-versity this weekend. The games are scheduled for Friday at 4:05 p.m. and Saturday at 1:05 p.m. and 3:05 p.m.

Brandon Tripp Sports Director

BASEBALL

contact Tripp atbjt07a@acu.edu

DANIEL GOMEZ // Chief Photographer

Junior guard Preston Davis drives the ball past West Texas A&M defenders in a game last week. Davis led the Wildcats with 17 points in the loss to Texas A&M-Kingsville.

Defeat: Davis drops 17 in lossMEN’S BASKETBALL

ACU played in a home game Tuesday night against Incarnate Word. The game was moved over to Kim-brell Arena at McMurry University due to Moody Coliseum hosting Sing Song rehearsals Tuesday night. The results of the game were not available in time for publication.

Both Desmond Wood-berry and Alex Richman missed Saturday’s game due to injury.

“When you are in that kind of injury situation you need to have other guys step up and make some plays. We weren’t able to make the plays, but I felt that our guys played really hard,” Copeland said.

The Wildcats will return to action Saturday, as they travel to Portales, N.M. to take on the Eastern New Mexico Greyhounds.

Continued from page 8

contact Cantrell atjrc07f@acu.edu

Woes: Struggles increase driveWildcats did not stay down for long, rebounding to de-feat Tarleton State, 7-2 in the tournament. Though the TexAnns took an early 2-1 lead, ACU persevered and went on to impress by win-ning all six singles match-es against Tarleton State. Freshmen Micah Hermsdorf

and Emily Conrad both won matches to secure the vic-tory over Tarleton State.

The loss drops the Wild-cats to a surprising 2-3 re-cord on the season.

“I think both teams need to play more matches, plain and simple,” Head Coach Hutton Jones said. “But, the season is just getting started and there is a lot of room to

improve and playing these tough teams gives us a real assessment of where we are.”

Bryan Joiner reiterated that fact and will use the weekend’s loss as motiva-tion for the matches ahead.

“Everyone has tough losses they have to deal with. But you don’t learn from your wins, you learn from your losses. We’ll learn from

them, improve in practice, and get ready for the next one,” Joiner said.

The women’s team will head north to face four Okla-homa schools as the men take on Air Force Academy and Metro State in Colorado Springs, Colo.

TENNIS

contact Jefferies atblj10a@acu.edu

Continued from page 8

Sunday: ’Cats rebound with three crucial winsSunday the Wildcats re-bounded from the West Texas A&M loss in resilient fashion. In game one, Shel-by Hall threw the ’Cats to victory over Texas Women’s 6-3, pitching a complete game allowing only three runs and striking out four. Up 2-1 in the bottom of the sixth, ACU opened up its lead when they added four runs. Brianna Fowlkes sin-gled home Kaylee Crozier. Then Gilliland continued to swing a hot bat, drilling a double off the left field wall, scoring Ashley Calles and Lyndi Smith.

Freshman Peyton Mos-ley picked up a win in her first ever collegiate start in a 5-2 win over Camer-on during Sunday’s night game. Mosley threw a complete game, allowing seven hits and two runs while striking out seven.

“Peyton [Mosely] did a fantastic job for us in the Cameron game. She had ev-erything working, and really stepped up in a big way for us. I was so impressed with her performance in that game Sunday,” Reeves said.

ACU got on the board early in the first and would add three more in the third inning when Valentina

Nabayan scorched a home run over the center field wall to put ACU up 4-0.

A Kelsy Hebert home run for Cameron would make the score 4-2, but the Wildcats held on.

ACU would add an insur-ance run in the sixth when Sarah Martinez hit her first home run of the season, so-lidifying the 5-2 victory.

The ’Cats improve to 4-4 on the season after going 3-1 last weekend. They will travel to Oklahoma next weekend for the South Central Region-al Crossover Tournament.

SOFTBALL

contact Shake atbxs09a@acu.edu

Continued from page 8

I was trying to get somebody up in the bullpen who could throw strikes.

BRITT BONNEAU // head coach of ACU baseball‘‘ ’’

iPad . iPhone . iPod

READ THE OPTIMIST WHEREVER YOU GO.

For the iPhone and iPod, visit

acuoptimist.com and add the

Optimist to your home screen.

Download the iPad app from Apple’s

App Store.

SportsStandings

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Team Div. Ovrl.

Tarleton St.MSUWTAMUASUUIWENMUTAMU-KACU

8-16-36-46-44-54-53-71-9

17-418-519-410-1215-69-128-149-13

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Team Div. Ovrl.Tarleton St.WTAMU

ACUAngelo St.

UIWMSU

6-4

7-39-0

6-4

4-53-6

9-13

14-919-2

13-9

8-137-14

Briefs

n ACU cheerlead-ing will host a junior cheerleading camp on Feb. 26 at the Teague Special Events Cen-ter. All children ages 5-10 are welcome. Visit www.acusports.com for details.

n Tickets for the Lone Star Conference Bas-ketball Championship are now available for purchase. The tourna-ment will take place March 2-6 in Bartles-ville, Okla. Tickets cost $35 and can be purchased through the Lone Star Conference online at www.lonestar-conference.org. Call 325-674-6853 for more information.

PlayerProfile

n Erin Gilliland, junior catcher from Midland, had an impressive of-fensive showing at the

Whitten Inn Classic last week-end. She racked up seven hits, eight RBI’s and

scored three times, lead-ing ACU to a 3-1 record at the tournament. In the St. Mary’s game, Gilliland knocked in six RBI’s, in-cluding a walk-off grand slam. Gilliland was an all-conference catcher at Odessa College prior to coming to ACU.

February 16, 2011Page 8

ENMU 2-7 4-17TAMU-K 1-9 3-19

n The men’s and women’s basketball teams will play at Eastern New Mexico on Saturday. The doubleheader will begin with the women playing at 3 p.m., fol-lowed by the men at 9 p.m.

n The softball team will play in the South-eastern Oklahoma Crossover Tournament Friday-Sunday in Du-rant, Okla.

n The baseball team will host East Central University this weekend at Crutcher Scott Field. They will play Friday at 4:05 p.m. and will play a double header Saturday. First pitch for game one is 1:05 and game two will follow at 3:05 p.m.

Upcoming

Gilliland

Early season woes plague men, women

The men’s and women’s tennis teams are both in for a rough ride with mul-tiple Division I opponents ahead. Recent losses and their upcoming schedule can attest to that.

This weekend the men’s tennis team was defeated by Rice University, 1-6, but defeated Division I Prairie View A&M, 4-0 to combat the prior loss.

In the match against Rice, the ACU men’s team suffered their first loss first loss of the season. Red-

shirt freshman Hans Hach claimed the only victory with a singles win over Rice’s Philip Seifert, 6-3.

“The match against Prai-rie View A&M showed we were a little rusty. But soon we will be ready for confer-ence and we are hoping to win nationals. We just need to regain our composure and focus and look to the road ahead,” said Hach.

The following day the ACU men fell to Lamar Uni-versity, 2- 5, to even up their overall record for the spring season at 2–2, and bring about their second loss of the young spring season.

The Cardinals won the doubles point Sunday with wins at Nos. 2 and 3 dou-bles, including a 9-7 win at No. 2 when Denis Ermilov and Dusan Savkovic barely edged ACU’s tandem of senior Bryan Joiner and ju-nior Nick Plum.

On the women’s front this past weekend, Divi-sion I opponent Louisi-ana-Lafayette proved to

be a formidable foe by de-feating the No. 6 Wildcats, 1-6, in their first home match of the spring sea-son at the Teague Special Events Center indoor ten-nis courts.

“I thought going into it we could win that match. Some of the matches were close. The one, two and three singles matches were barn burners and in

the two and three singles matches, we had the op-portunity to and could have won. I think we were right there with them and competed well despite ev-erything,” said senior Lau-ren White.

Jaclyn Walker, a senior from Abilene, and Julia Mongin, a sophomore from Jaurnay, France, won the No. 1 doubles match that proved to be the team’s only victory against Louisiana-Lafayette.

Despite the loss to Louisiana-Lafayette, the

Brenna Jefferies Sports Reporter

TENNIS

Slam highlights tourney The Abilene Christian soft-ball team got back on track after a 1-3 showing at the St. Mary’s Softball Classic in San Antonio Feb. 5-6, going 3-1 at the 2011 Whit-ten Inn Classic on Satur-day and Sunday.

The Wildcats used solid hitting and strong pitching in the games to finish victo-rious, two things that Head Coach Bobby Reeves said is essential to success.

“Our three wins last weekend can all be accred-ited to either strong pitch-ing performances, solid hitting or a combination of both. I was very pleased with the way we played in those aspects of the game,” Reeves said.

In their home opener Saturday afternoon against St. Mary’s, ACU turned the bats on and senior pitcher Brittany Rexroat threw a solid five innings, allowing five hits and four runs in that span, proving Reeves’s previous hypothesis correct. The ACU offense shelled out 10 hits and took advan-tage of five Rattler errors en route to a 15-4 win.

Three Wildcats accumu-lated multiple hits in the ef-fort, including junior Erin Gilliland, from Midland, who

hit a walk-off grand slam, giv-ing ACU the win due to the 10-run mercy rule. Gilliland had three hits and six RBI’s while also scoring twice and hitting a double.

The Wildcats lost to St. Mary’s last weekend at their tournament, and Kara Stutesman used that

to fuel her the second time around.

“That win was a big one for us. We proved to our-selves that we can hang with anyone and are a qual-ity team. We don’t like to lose, so we definitely had this game circled on our calendar,”Stutesman said.

In the night cap, the previously loud ACU of-fense went silent at the hand and arm of West Texas A&M pitcher Shel-by Cockrell, who tossed a no-hitter against the ’Cats and acted as a catalyst in the No. 6 Lady Buffs’ 11-0 blowout win.

“You’ve got to give her lots of credit,” Reeves said. “She had our number and was throwing very well all night. She was mixing her pitches up and just made it hard on our batters to pick up on anything.”

Bryson Shake Assistant Sports Editor

SOFTBALL

see WOES page 7

DANIEL GOMEZ // Chief Photographer

Erin Gilliland sets to bunt during the Whitten Inn Classic hosted by ACU. Gilliand hit a walk-off grand slam to give the Wildcats a 15-4 mercy rule victory over St. Mary’s University. The Wildcats won three out of their four games in the tournament and are 4-4 on the year.

see SUNDAY page 7

Javelinas get best of Wildcats again

Turnovers and poor shoot-ing plagued the Wildcats on Saturday night, as ACU dropped to 1-9 in the LSC South Division. The Javeli-nas defended their home court in Kingsville to defeat the Wildcats 71-65.

“I think we lost because we didn’t give 100 percent for the whole game,” guard Preston Davis said. “We would play hard for parts of the game, but then not play hard at some points.”

The Wildcats started off well as they led for most of the first half. The Javelinas would rally back at the end of the half to take a 34-31 lead into halftime.

Kingsville would never relinquish its halftime lead as they opened up the game in the second half. After falling behind by as much as 12 the Wildcats would rally and cut the

deficit to four with the fi-nal minute of the game. However, the rally would come up just short as the Javelinas earned the six-point victory.

“I thought we played hard. We didn’t take care of the ball like we should,” Head Coach Jason Cope-land said. “I think we ran out of gas in the second half. We had a couple guys out that were normally in our lineup and we got worn out in the second half.”

The Wildcats committed 25 turnovers in the game and shot 34.6 percent from the field. This was ulti-mately the difference in the game as the Wildcats fell just short Saturday night.

Davis led the Wildcats and all scorers with 17 points in the game. Zach Williams and Marcus Wash-ington added 12 points and 10 points respectively.

Ryan Cantrell Sports Multimedia Editor

MEN’S BASKETBALL

see DEFEAT page 7

Lankford keys blowout win

It was a relatively easy game on a tough Lone Star Conference schedule for the Wildcats, and they took full advantage of the matchup against a weak Texas A&M University-Kingsville opponent with an 82-64 victory.

It was the second time the two teams have played this season, and it was the same result for the Wildcats as the first time – a win. This game went quite differently than the first, though.

Two weeks ago at Moody Coliseum, Kings-ville took the Wildcats into overtime before the

’Cats eked out an 84-82 win. The trip to Kingsville went much more smooth-ly than the home game as the Wildcats dominated all but the first 4 minutes.

“There is always the chance of a letdown espe-cially coming off our huge win against West Texas,”

Austin GwinSports Editor

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

see WIN page 7

DANIEL GOMEZ // Chief Photographer

Mack Lankford sets a screen for fellow Wildcat Renata Marquez last weekend.

The season is just getting started and there is a lot of room for improvement.

HUTTON JONES // head tennis coach at Abilene Christian University‘‘ ’’