The diversity of ACU’s stu-dent body will be on display at the Ethnos Culture Show this weekend, with acts ranging from a Chinese pia-no duet to an Indian dance.

The International Stu-dents Association is spon-

soring the annual event, with shows scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Friday and Sat-urday. ISA vice president Veronica Whitt, junior el-ementary education major from Cebu City, Philip-pines, said this year’s pro-gram will feature 13 acts from a variety of nations and cultural backgrounds.

“For ACU students, the show is a really neat experi-ence to see things like dance from other cultures,” Whitt said. “For participants, they really like sharing a part of the culture to the community.”

Whitt said the show will focus on international stu-dents like it normally does, but will also emphasize cul-

tural groups like SHADES and Sanctify that are not tailored specifically to in-ternational students.

“This year one of the things we’ve tried to do is lessen the gap between American and internation-al groups,” Whitt said. “We

Optimistthe

Friday, November 12, 2010

acuoptimist.com

1 section, 8 pages

weatherinside

page 3

websitenewsProceeds from the Delta Theta Turkey Throwdown will go to Meals on Wheels and the charities of the winning teams’ choice.

page 6

opinionThe Editorial Board weighs in on how the recent elections will impact the effectiveness of Congress.

photo gallery Find more photos of students and veterans during ACU’s annual Veterans Day Chapel on our website, acuoptimist.com. 65° 40°

Fri. Sun.Sat.

64° 42° 57° 40°

Behind the Scenes, page 5

President Dr. Phil Schubert is giving the ACU commu-nity a unique opportunity to become involved with nonprofit organizations.

A new program called the Degree of Satisfaction, is being offered to ACU fac-ulty and staff to promote donations and involve-ment with the Abilene branch of United Way.

For years ACU has part-

nered with United Way of Abilene, the largest non-gov-ernmental funder of health and human services in the community, according to the organization’s website.

The Degree of Satisfac-tion was created by the

ACU Online team under the direction of Sally Sanchez, ACU United Way campaign coordinator and assistant instructional designer for ACU Online. The team cre-ated a public website where participants can learn

about United Way and its causes in under two min-utes. At the end, users are given the chance to donate to the United Way through a downloadable form.

“People are wary of e-mail requests to donate

money, so we really want-ed to make a creative way to do it,” Sanchez said. “We want to meet the goals that the university has reached in the past years.”

SERVICE

United Way Abilene looks to university for supportMeagan Hernandez

Contributing Reporter

see SATISFACTION page 4

DANIEL GOMEZ // Chief Photographer

Shaun Pullen conducts the ACU Choir in the “Star Spangled Banner” to close Thursday’s annual Veterans Day Chapel in Moody Coliseum.

Vol. 99, No. 24

Abilene Christian University

Ethnos to distribute Global News

Sean Henninger is a typical ACU fresh-man. He hangs out with friends, goes to class, puts off his homework and an-

swers calls on a brand new iPhone. But unlike the typical college fresh-man, Henninger didn’t come to college straight out of high school – he came from the U.S. Army.

Henninger, freshman youth and family ministry major from Jinx, Okla., spent 15 months as a sniper in Iraq before enrolling at ACU. It was an experience he said resulted in a

new-found maturity, a stronger faith and his decision to enroll at ACU.

Spending his childhood watching war movies and playing with GI Joes, Henninger said he always knew he wanted to go to the army right out of high school. In fact, when the U.S. entered Iraq in the early 2000s, he said jokingly he remembers thinking, “Don’t leave without me.”

After graduating from high school in 2005, Henninger went straight to basic training.

“I didn’t plan on going to col-lege,” Henninger said. “I hated

school and didn’t want to go, so the military was the perfect opportu-nity to get a jump start on life.”

But during his five years of army life stationed in Washington, Ger-many, Iraq and Louisiana, Hen-ninger said he changed his mind.

Former sniper transitions from soldier to student

see SNIPER page 4

DANIEL GOMEZ // Chief Photographer

Members of the Japanese Act for the Ethnos Culture Show perform a traditional dance with a modern twist.

In-Scope

CULTURE

Photo courtesy of SEAN HENNINGER

Sean Henninger, freshman youth and family ministry major from Jinx, Okla, stands in uniform during his service in the U.S. Army.

see ETHNOS page 4

Linda Bailey, Editor in Chief

acuoptimist.com

Find photos, watch video and read a story detailing Thursday’s

annual Veterans Day Chapel.

Jeff CraigManaging Editor

announcements

Friday 14 Sunday

The American Business Women’s Association is having a fundraiser for education Nov. 12-14.It needs volunteers to serve at the concession stand and prepare food from 5 to 9 p.m. Nov. 12, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Nov. 13, and 12 to 5 p.m. Nov. 14. For more information, contact Sydney Moore at (325) 692-2633 or (325) 428-1024 or e-mail her at moore-h@att.net

The Christian Service Center needs volunteers interested in business or design to put together an informational brochure. The work could be done any weekday afternoon before the end of Novem-ber. Contact Jim Clark at 673-7531 or jclark@cscabilene.org for more information.

The Dyess Youth Center needs help with a Ping Pong Exhibition from 4 to 6 p.m. every Friday. Vol-unteers will preside over tournaments and help with an exhibition for the students. Transportation will not be provided, nor can volunteers have any sexual assault charges or charges pending. For more information, con-tact Sheri Frisby at (325) 696-4797 or e-mail sheri.frisby-@dyess.af.mil.

Mesa Spring Healthcare Center needs volunteers from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. any day of the week to help with fun activities for the residents, including playing instruments, calling bingo and sitting and talking with them. All help is appreciat-ed. Contact Laura Reynolds at (325)692-8080 or lgreyn-olds@sears-methodist.com.

The Center for Con-temporary Arts needs a gallery assistant to help with exhibit setup and preparation, as well as an administrative assistant. The work can be done any time 9 a.m. - 5 p.m., Tuesday - Friday. Call (325) 677-8389 or e-mail info@center-arts.com for more information.

The Dyess Youth Center needs volunteers from 4 to 6 p.m. every Mon-day - Friday to assist students with homework in the areas of math, science, English and history. Transportation will not be provided, nor can volunteers have any sexual assault charges or charges pending. For more information, contact Sheri Frisby at 696-4797 or e-mail Sheri.frisby-@dyess.af.mil.

Aimee’s Art Studio is seeking volunteers from

9-10 a.m. or 1:30-2:30 p.m. Tuesday to assist with homeschool fine arts classes. No formal art skills or training is required. The studio is a five minute walk from ACU’s campus. For more information, contact Aimee Williams at (325)672-9633.

The Oakridge Church of Christ needs volunteers from 1 to 5 p.m. Nov. 20 to organize grocery goods into boxes and deliver them to families. Volunteers need a vehicle and driver’s license, or may come with someone who does. The event will take place at 3250 Beltway South. E-mail Emerald Lem-mons at emeraldlemmons@gmail.com if you would like to help. Contact him ahead of time so they know how many people to expect.

Meals on Wheels needs volunteers to deliver noon meals to seniors and adults with disabilities. Routes are available 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. 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 Elizabeth Rodgers at erodgers@mealsonwheelsplus.com.

Friday, November 12, 2010

calendar & events

12 Saturday13 15Monday

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

volunteer opportunities

2Campus Day

Mother Teresa is Dead, the Department of Theatre’s Cornerstone production, will show at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 16-20 in Fulks Theatre. For ticket-ing information call (325) 647-2787 or visit www.acu.edu/theatre.

Amahl and the Night Visitors The ACU Opera will perform Gian-Carlo Menotti’s opera at 5:30 p.m. Nov. 14 at University Church of Christ. Ad-mission is free, and any donations will benefit the CSC Feed the Hungry Drive. It will also show

at 8 p.m. Nov. 18 and Nov. 20 in the Williams Performing Arts Cen-ter. Tickets to these two shows will be $10 for adults and $5 for chil-dren and students.

The Boston Brass Con-cert The Boston Brass will play at 8 p.m. Nov. 12 in the Recital Hall of the Williams Performing Arts Center.

Turkey Throwdown The women of Delta Theta are sponsoring a double-elimination flag-football tournament Nov. 18-21.

The entry fee is $60 per team. Each team member will receive a T-shirt. All proceeds will be donated to Meals on Wheels to help feed hungry families during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. Teams can sign up from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Campus Center or e-mail Jessica Ellison at jle06a@acu.edu.

Sadies Week Beginning Nov. 16, the women of ACU can stop by the Campus Center after Chapel to pick up tick-ets for various things.

Nov.16: free Coldstone tickets. Nov. 17: free Sharkys tickets. Nov. 18: free Starbucks tickets.

Inception will be shown for free at 8 p.m. Nov. 19 in Cullen Auditorium. Doors will open at 7:40 p.m.

Ethnos: the Culture Show begins at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 12 - 13. Tickets are $3 for students and $5 for general admission. Tickets will be sold in the Campus Center from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Nov. 8-12 and will also be available at the door.

11 a.m. Praise Day in Moody Coliseum

7:30 p.m. Ethnos: the Culture Show in Cullen Auditorium

8 p.m. Boston Brass will perform in the Williams Preforming Arts Center Recital Hall

12 p.m. Home football game against Southwestern Oklahoma State

7:30 p.m. Ethnos: the Culture Show in Cullen Auditorium

5:30 p.m. Amahl and the Night Visitors opera at University Church of Christ

11 a.m. Chapel in Moody Coliseum

11 a.m. Season of Caring truck will be parked in the Williams Preforming Arts Center parking lot.

73

Chapel

Credited Chapels to date

Checkup18 Credited

Chapels remaining

ACU Police Tip of the WeekWould you like to receive emergency alert information immedi-ately? Make sure you are enrolled in ACU ALERT! It’s free and easy. To sign up visit www.acu.edu/acualert.

Police LogEdited for space

Sunday, Nov. 312:06 a.m. ACU Policed assist-ed Abilene Police with a noise violation on Garfield Avenue. Abilene Police issued a cita-tion for the noise violation.8:36 p.m. ACU Police stopped a vehicle in the Williams Per-forming Arts Center parking lot for failure to stop at the desig-nated point in the intersection of N. Judge Ely and EN 16th Street; ACU Police issued a verbal warning.10:25 p.m. Someone report-ed their neighbor approached him while the caller was un-loading groceries and asked for money. The reporting party said the man appeared to be under the influence of drugs. ACU Police searched the area and went to the house but de-cided not to make contact at that time.

Monday, Nov. 11:21 p.m. An ACU student requested ACU Police jumpstart his car.2:31 p.m. ACU Police un-locked a student’s vehicle at Gardner Hall Parking Lot.

Tuesday, Nov. 211:10 a.m. Someone reported the theft of their bicycle.2:50 p.m. Someone reported the theft of their bicycle.

Wednesday, Nov. 312:26 a.m. An alarm moni-toring company notified ACU Police of a fire alarm in McKinzie Hall. ACU Police contacted the residence di-rector, who told police a stu-dent had burned pancakes in the lobby kitchen area and there was no fire. 1:30 p.m. Someone reported the theft of their bicycle.

Thursday, Nov. 412:35 a.m. ACU Police as-sisted Abilene Police with a family disturbance on EN 16th Street. The parties involved

were separated for the night.3:00 p.m. Someone reported the theft of their bicycle.5:15 p.m. ACU Police informed a few students they weren’t al-lowed to skateboard on the boulders and rails between the Education Building and the Campus Center. The students complied and left the area.

Friday, Nov. 512:00 a.m. A citizen heard “banging” in her neighbor-hood. She spoke with an Abilene Police officer in the area who informed her that the Abilene Water Utilities Department was repairing a water leak.1:32 p.m. An ACU employee contacted ACU Police to re-port drug paraphernalia had been found on the ACU Disc Golf Course.

Saturday, Nov. 611 a.m. Someone called ACU Police in reference to a person inside her house on Ruswood Drive. Officers responded to the location and determined it was a misunderstanding. 3:15 p.m. Someone reported the theft of their bicycle.

Monday, Nov. 87:52 a.m. Abilene Police no-tified ACU Police of a fire alarm at Nelson Hall and said Abilene Fire Department was en route. ACU Police officers checked the alarm panel, which showed an alarm on the second floor. The Abilene Fire Department checked the room, and the occupants said they had burned toast.1 p.m. Someone reported her GPS had been stolen from her car and her radio had been damaged during the theft.

Report all suspicious activity to the ACU Police Department at (325) 674-2305.

November 12, 2010 Page 3CAMPUS NEWS

Delta Theta may have just the right pick-me-up for those students who have al-ready begun to feel the flag football postseason blues.

The second annual Tur-key Throwdown flag foot-ball tournament will begin at 5 p.m. Nov. 18. and con-tinue through the evening of Nov. 21. The Turkey Throw-down is a seven-on-seven, double-elimination style tournament, guaranteeing teams at least two games.

The cost per team is $60. Teams are allowed to have as many members as they wish, but each team will only be given a maximum of 10 T-shirts. Those who participate in the tournament may pur-chase additional T-shirts for $8 each, and anyone else may purchase a T-shirt for $15 each.

Jessica Ellison, senior accounting major from Van and president of DT, said she expects to have more teams compete this year than last. She said teams

from ACU, Hardin-Sim-mons University, McMurry University and several local youth groups plan to par-ticipate in the tournament.

Ellison said DT organized the tournament to garner name recognition for the social club and because the club wanted to be more ac-tive in the community.

“We knew Meals on Wheels would probably be struggling to feed fami-lies this time of year, and they’re a local charity,” El-lison said. “We wanted to help someone nearby.”

All of the proceeds from this year’s tourna-ment will be donated to charity. Ellison said DT has promised the bulk of the money to Meals on Wheels, although the teams who win the men’s and women’s divisions will be given the unique opportunity to donate a sum of the proceeds to the charity of their choice.

In addition to a con-cession stand and football games during the week-end, DT has invited any nonprofit organizations on

campus to set up booths at the Larry “Satch” Sanders Intramural Fields during the tournament.

Megan Goldman, soph-omore business manage-ment major from Denver, was responsible for en-couraging the charitable groups to come get their names out during the tournament.

“We wanted it to be us connecting to people on campus, as well as all over Abilene,” Goldman said.

Students representing Eternal Threads, Inter-

national Justice Mission, Wishing Well and Global Innovations will be on the sidelines ready to share in-formation about their orga-nizations, Goldman said.

Students who wish to par-ticipate in the tournament or referee the tournament may sign up at the table in the McGlothlin Campus Center before 5 p.m. Friday or e-mail Kristen Lewis at kll06a@acu.edu.

Delta Theta to conduct flag football tournamentSOCIAL CLUBS

Alan CherryPage 2 Editor

contact Cherry atarc07a@acu.edu

contact Williamson atkkw07a@acu.edu

Students race for water wells

ACU students hope to raise enough money to build two water wells in Zambia in a competitive Race for Water run Saturday.

The second annual race is a class project for the Pol-itics in Developing Coun-tries class, taught by Dr. Neil Coates, associate professor of political science.

All entry fees for the 10k, 5k and one-mile fun run will be donated to build wells in the northwestern part of Zambia for the Ka-onda tribe. Each well costs around $1,500, so the class needs to raise a total of $3,000 for the construction of two wells.

“Water is a huge resource for people to have,” said Brittany Partridge, junior political science major from Annandale, Minn. “It’s kind of like a string effect.”

Partridge said a lack of clean water leads to disease and sickness, which in turn can hinder an individual’s educational opportunities. The current lifespan in north-western Zambia is 38 years.

Coates said several wells have been dug in the area in the past few years, but more help is still needed. Coates, who has been in-volved in Hillcrest Church of Christ’s mission work in Zambia, said he wants his students to realize hu-manitarian efforts should benefit both the physical and spiritual well-being of those in need.

“They can know the ulti-mate result is not just help-ing people live longer but helping people to change their souls,” Coates said. “Numerous studies have shown that organizations interested in the ultimate salvation of a person do a much better job of provid-

ing things that people need in their everyday lives.”

Partridge said organiz-ing the event has inspired the class to action.

“Instead of just learn-ing about something, we are taking initiative to do something about it,” Par-tridge said.

The race coincides with the visit of Chief Mumena to Abilene. Mumena, the leader of the 100,000-plus Kaonda tribe in Zambia, spoke in Coates’ class and will attend the run-ning events this weekend. Hillcrest Church of Christ is also holding a special dinner in honor of Mu-mena on Saturday night.

Partridge said she thinks Mumena’s presence will help make the need for clean water more personal for her and for her peers in Coates’ class.

The Race for Water 5k and 10k runs will begin at 8 a.m. at Hillcrest Church of Christ. The Fun Run is set to begin at 9:15 a.m. Participants can find reg-istration prices and forms at www.abilenerunners.c o m / f i l e s / R a c e 4 w a t e r-Form.pdf, or register be-ginning at 7 a.m. Saturday at the race site.

Kelsi WilliamsonArts Editor

STUDENT GROUPS

The last of six major road-work projects in Abilene be-gan Monday.

The resurfacing project was scheduled to begin Nov. 1 but was postponed due to weather conditions.

Megan Santee, Abilene’s Interim Director of Public Works, said the construc-tion begins at South Danville Drive and continues to South Pioneer Drive. Various lanes will be closed throughout the project, but at least one east-bound and one westbound lane will be constantly open to allow traffic flow. The con-tracted time for the project is 20 working days – or about four weeks – depending on the weather.

The project will cost the city a little over $100,000, but $97,000 comes from

the Federal Government’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, more commonly called the Stimulus Act. The city has already completed five oth-er major roadwork projects.

“The funding came through the Abilene Metro Planning Organization,” Santee said. “They evaluated the projects that qualified in the area and awarded the funding based on those qualifications.”

Abilene City Engineer Chad Carter said the city has contracted Stevens and Mar-tin Paving to resurface South 14th Street.

“The surface is going to be removed and repaved,” Carter said. “There will be no widening or lane changes – they will just be replacing and restoring the top level.”

Abilene begins last stimulus roadwork

LOCAL

contact Cherry atarc07a@acu.edu

Alan CherryPage 2 Editor

Water is a huge resource for people to have.

BRITTANY PARTRIDGE // junior political science major from Annadale, Minn.‘‘ ’’

encouraged American groups to participate, and that helps bridge the gap.”

The theme for this year’s show is “Global News.” Ken Lake, senior accounting major from Tokyo, Japan, and the show’s production man-ager, said the theme’s pur-pose is to tie the acts to-gether. Lake said students from the Department of Theatre will perform skits between each of the acts.

“Every year we have a theme, and this year its ‘Global News,’” Lake said. “The skit will be about a news station celebrating its 25th anniversary. The skits between each act will serve as a storyline tying the cultural acts together.”

Lake said the skits and the acts will work together to create a uniform perfor-mance that illustrates the level of diversity at ACU.

“The great thing about the Culture Show is that it shows how many coun-tries are represented at ACU,” Lake said. “It exhib-

its the cultural awareness that ACU holds. You can also see the great con-nections ACU’s interna-tional students have and how they work together to build up diversity on the ACU campus.”

Miky Trivedi, sopho-more biochemistry major from Sikkim, India, is par-ticipating in the Culture Show for the second time. She said the show is a chance to help American students see what Indian culture looks like.

“The Culture Show is re-ally important because we have a large number of inter-national students at ACU,” Trivedi said. “This is our chance to show our culture.”

Laura Blake, assistant director of international students at ACU and ad-viser to ISA, said the Cul-ture Show is an important opportunity for interna-tional students to work together. She said her fa-vorite acts are those that involve students from multiple nations teaching each other customs from their cultures.

“It’s the biggest event of the year for ISA,” Blake said. “It’s a great experience in teamwork for them. It’s great for bring-ing students together.”

Tickets for the shows can be purchased at a booth in the McGlothlin Campus Center this week or at the door on the night of the shows. General ad-mission tickets are $5, but students can get in for $3 with an ACU ID.

Page 4 November 12, 2010FROM THE FRONT

quick factsThe 2010 Ethnos Culture Show will feature 13 acts from a variety of international and cultural groups.

n Omega Dance Companyn SHADESn Sanctifyn HSUn Chinese piano duetn Mime actn Swing Catsn Chinese traditional dancen Chinese ethnic actn Indian actn Korean actn Japanese actn Chinese traditionalinternational dance

contact Bailey atljb07a@acu.edu

Sniper: Former soldier adjusts to life at ACUHe said the army – and growing up in general – helped him realize the im-portance of a college de-gree for his future.

“In the military you’re pretty much forced to grow up,” Henninger said. “The structure and everyday life really enhances that.”

On a typical day sniper mission, Henninger said he and five other men would spend 24-48 hours at a time waiting and watching – not quite as glorious as it looks in the movies, he said.

For security reasons, they didn’t go out with few-er than six people at a time. Each man had a position as a shooter, spotter or secu-rity or radio operator. Hen-ninger was a spotter, the job with the most respon-sibility and the one that requires the most experi-ence. He said he basically picked out targets, told the shooter what to dial in on the scope and called when

to shoot.His position as spotter

came with a lot of responsi-bility. For the last two years, Henninger was in charge of up to eight men.

When they weren’t on sniper missions, he said he was kicking in doors and pulling people out of houses as part of a recon platoon.

Henninger said faith played a huge role in all the missions. While they were rolling out, he said he fre-quently lifted up prayers for his platoon – a strategy he thinks helped, seeing as there were no casualties in his platoon.

“My faith definitely got stronger as I went on, espe-cially in the last year,” Hen-ninger said. “I was realizing that you can’t live this life

without God, and putting him first is the most important.”

His faith is also part of the reason he chose to at-tend ACU.

“A year before I got out of the army, I was really look-ing at different schools and praying, and God really led me here,” Henninger said. “This was the only place I applied, and I got in.”

While his faith remains firm, other things about college life take some get-ting used to, Henninger said. ACU is much less structured than the army, and he is still learning how to prioritize without someone telling him ex-actly what to do.

When it comes to the question of whether ACU students treat him differ-

ently, Henninger said they don’t. In fact, he said the big-gest difference is simply the fact that he’s so much older.

Elizabeth Coffee, senior Ad/PR major from San An-tonio, is the group leader for Henninger’s Corner-stone class. She said his ex-periences in the army and his intuitive comments have benefited the entire group, and even she has learned lessons from him.

“He is a critical asset to our group in that he served as a leader right off the bat,” Coffee said. “The themes of Cornerstone are all things he has lived through.”

Talking with other stu-dents in the class, Coffee said it is obvious they lis-ten to him and have a lot of respect for the decisions he made before coming to ACU – and for coming to college in the first place.

Other students in the class agree. Jordan Derrick, fresh-man undeclared major from Denton, said Henninger’s experiences have helped pro-

vide a different perspective for the students.

“He’s added a different view coming from the mili-tary because we haven’t been through the things he’s had to go through,” Derrick said. “He has a whole different perspec-tive than most of us have.”

While the typical fresh-man isn’t a veteran, the typical freshman does hon-or those who have served the country on Veterans

Day. But this young veteran says he’s not the one who should be honored.

“I would say it’s good to remember those who have made the ultimate sacri-fice,” Henninger said. “The ones who have died for our freedoms are the ones we really should honor.”

VETERANS DAY

Continued from page 1

Photo courtesy of SEAN HENNINGER

Sean Herringer looks through the scope of his gun during his service in Iraq.

I would say it’s good to remember those who have made the ultimate sacrifice.SEAN HENNINGER // freshman youth and family ministries major from Jinx, Okla.‘‘ ’’

According to the Degree of Satisfaction program, United Way has invested

about $1.24 million in West Central Texas through-out the year. Out of every dollar that United Way re-ceives, 98.7 cents goes to

support the Abilene com-munity.

Sanchez said while do-nations have been com-ing in, a large amount

of funds still need to be raised to reach the uni-versity’s goal.

The Degree of Satisfac-tion program is intended for faculty and staff, but students can participate in the program as well.

“We considered getting students donating,” San-chez said. “Although we didn’t go that route, stu-dents are more than wel-come to donate.”

Schubert said the best method the ACU com-munity can use to help United Way is by giving financially, as the charity is set up to give money to different organizations across Abilene. While do-nating financially may not

be possible for everyone, there are also volunteer opportunities with the different nonprofit agen-cies that United Way sup-ports, such as Big Brothers Big Sisters.

Schubert has person-ally contributed to United Way since he began work-ing for ACU 17 years ago.

“I think they are very efficient, I think they are well-run, and the impact they can have on a city like Abilene, Texas is sig-nificant,” Schubert said. “I see them with a great degree of credibility, so I’ve always been very comfortable supporting them, encouraging others to do the same.”

To donate to the United Way cause this holiday season, visit sites.google.com/a/acu.edu/degree-of-satisfaction/. For more in-formation about the Unit-ed Way cause, visit www.unitedwayabilene.org.

Ethnos: Students to perform 13 acts at showCULTURE

Continued from page 1

contact Craig atjrc07d@acu.edu

DANIEL GOMEZ // Chief Photographer

Yotin Lei, junior journalism and mass communication major from Shenzhen, China, and Hui Hui Deng, graduate accounting student from Szechuan, China, practice for the Culture Show.

Continued from page 1

contact Hernandez atoptimist@jmcnetwork.com

Satisfaction: United Way enourages faculty, staff to giveSERVICE

I think they are very efficient, I think they are well-run, and they impact they can have on a city like Abilene, Texas is significant.

DR. PHIL SCHUBERT // president of the university‘‘ ’’

When the cur-tain rises on an ACU De-partment of Theatre pro-

duction, the audience can’t help but notice the striking, in-tricate sets. They quite literally set the stage for the actors and help audiences quickly pin-point the exact time and place they are being transported to during the production.

But all the audience sees during the show is the final product. What the audience doesn’t see are the countless hours of meticulous planning, hard manual labor and careful artisanship that go into design-ing and building every set.

Gary Varner, professor of theatre, has been involved in college theatre productions for 30 years and has designed dozens of shows.

“Theatres used to have roadhouses – the Paramount is a roadhouse for example,” Var-ner said. “Shows would come in and they would tell you in advance, ‘We need a garden scene, we need a library, etc.,’ and you would have drops for that. But those days are gone. Now every show has a very specific set that has to be de-signed and built for it.”

Varner said each show is unique and demands some-thing different from each set, so the crew must go back to the drawing board for every show and start from scratch.

“We rent the musical a lot,” Varner said. “But even when you rent a musical, there are things you have to adapt to your space, so that part is different.”

Other than some parts of the sets for the annual Homecom-ing musicals, the Department of Theatre builds all of its own sets (and props when needed).

Varner said since the De-partment of Theatre is a hands-

on department that gives students practice with creat-ing sets and props through required “practicum” classes. Depending on which practi-cum students are enrolled in, they will practice design-ing and creating sets, props, costumes or even working the box office. The practicum classes are open to students of any major, and the depart-ment frequently has students from other departments take practicums and help with set construction.

“I enjoy it when someone from outside the department comes to the show and you can see them tell their friends ‘I built that!’” Varner said.

Although set construction might appear routine, Var-ner said the upcoming show, Mother Teresa is Dead, has been more challenging than other shows because of the limited time the department had to put it together.

“We do a lot of our main construction over in Sewell, which is the old theatre on the corner of the campus,” Varner said. “It’s the second oldest building on campus. A show like this, where we have to build it so big and so quick, we had to do a lot of it on the [Fulks Theatre] stage – it was just bigger than Sewell could handle. We just had to do it very quickly. To really do a set this size, you need several weeks. This one we’ve really had to push.”

Josh Tumblin, senior the-atre major from Nashville, Tenn., is one of the four shop foremen who work directly under Varner and the other faculty advisers.

As a foreman, Tumblin said his role is to oversee the building and painting of sets and take on the more difficult projects other crew members

may not have the experience to handle. Tumblin said he en-joys being one of the first peo-ple to see the plans and then watch them develop from a sketch on a page to something actors can walk around and perform on. He also said he enjoys the problem solving as-

pect of set construction, even in the rushed environment for Mother Teresa is Dead.

“This set is really similar in scope to the show Rabbit Hole which we did last year, the dif-ference being that we had not nearly enough time to construct this one, and so we have been

working frantically pretty much around the clock,” Tumblin said. “I’m proud of it, though. I think it looks really good.”

ArtsNovember 12, 2010 Page 5

photos by JOZIE SANDS // Online Editor

Above: Students work in Fulks Theatre to complete the set of Mother Teresa is Dead before the opening night; Below: Ashley Kelleys, senior theatre major from Denton, paints the floor on the set to look like slate; Bottom: Clint Sojourner, senior business and sociology major from Abilene, paints lattice on the set of Mother Teresa is Dead. The show runs from Nov. 16 to Nov. 20 in Fulks Theatre.

Stage the

Department of Theatre students perform in front of large audiences, but first they must make sure

is Set Story by Alan Cherry

contact Cherry atarc07a@acu.edu

Little LindaBy Linda Bailey

When I was 6 years old, I desperately wanted to be a zookeeper. Stuffed animals, Zoo Books and a moun-tain of Beanie Ba-bies filled my room. I frequently fed and played with our two dogs, and I begged my parents to take me to the Abilene Zoo almost every day because I wanted to feed the giraffes, watch the lions and make faces at the monkeys.

The love and passion for animals that filled my young heart made me certain I would take care of animals as a zookeeper for the rest of my life.

But I’m graduating in six months with a degree in journalism.

O b v i o u s l y, the life plans I made as an ele-mentary school kid didn’t quite play out the way I expected.

I realized somewhere around middle school that being a zookeeper wouldn’t be as easy as I had always thought. My passion for zoo keeping was all in my heart – not in any tangible skills I possessed. Once I real-ized that science just wasn’t my thing, I gave up on my love for animals and focused on my other strength – writing.

At some point in school, teachers begin telling stu-dents they must focus on what they’re good at, but often this makes children forget to focus on things they love. Instead, teachers should be honest with stu-dents, letting them know they won’t all grow up to be the next star NFL player or the next Justin Beiber,

but encouraging children to combine the things they love with the talents they possess when considering career possibilities.

Now that I’m nearing graduation, I find myself taking lessons from “el-ementary school Linda.” Looking past the huge glasses and tangled mess of hair, I see a child who wanted to devote her life to something she loved.

I’m not planning on changing my major to zo-ology or anything like it, mostly because I really do struggle with science and honestly don’t really love animals anymore.

But everyone should feel that same passion, that same sparkle and that same joy for something in life and figure out a way to

turn it into a career. That’s not to say I don’t love jour-nalism because I do – I’m just not sure yet how to turn the parts of journal-ism I love into a successful career. And when gradua-tion and the real world is staring you in the face, it’s not fun to think of spend-ing the rest of your life do-ing something you don’t completely love.

My mom says work is hard, no matter what it is, and I believe her. But I cling to the hope that one day I’ll find a job that even amid the hard work, I can sit back and admit that I love what I’m doing – al-most as much as I once loved zoo keeping.

November 2, 2010: a day cel-ebrated by Republicans and lamented by Democrats.

In last week’s elections, the GOP gained 60 seats in the U.S. House of Represen-tatives so that it now holds 239 of the 435 spots – well over the halfway mark.

But how much will they actually be able to accom-plish? This election was a huge turnover that destroyed complete Democratic con-trol, but the U.S. Senate and the presidency are still con-trolled by the Left.

While we doubt the GOP will be able to completely remake the country in its image, the Democrats will not be able to now either.

Since 2008, the Demo-cratic Party has controlled both the legislative and executive branches. Sev-eral laws and new regu-lations were passed un-der its leadership, and only time will tell if the changes were for better or worse. Even so, they were changes many conserva-tives fought every step of the way.

Now that the power has shifted slightly, it will be in-teresting to see what direc-tion the country will take.

It could be much harder for Democrats to pass leg-islation they deem benefi-cial. But without control of the Senate and with Presi-

dent Obama’s veto power, the Republicans will have an uphill climb as well.

We’re worried that these two years will prove to be one gridlock after another, with each side vying for complete control and re-fusing to budge an inch on anything. Look at how much trouble the Obama admin-istration had passing health care reform with complete control – and if Obama had waited until now, it would have been near impossible.

But why do the parties always have to be against one another? Each side claims to want what’s best for the people – but we’d like to see it.

Both sides have called for collaboration and talk about meeting in the mid-dle, but they always get hung up on issues neither will agree to budge on. Let’s hope they can forget their biases and get some work done this time around.

After all, Democrats and Republicans are not as different as it often seems. While certain is-sues won’t be solved for years to come, even those are far outweighed by the plethora of opinions that do coincide.

Each should take a firm stance on some debates, as they have with issues like abortion and the death

penalty that will always in-volve complex moral ques-tions. But that is not all our country cares about.

We hope Obama’s call for change will actually come about. We want things to happen in our country, but all too often it seems disagree-ments and a refusal to work together prevents effective legislation and keeps things from being accomplished.

With the recently split power, we hope the gov-ernment will seriously consider new proposals and work together to glean something of value.

Let these two years count for something – don’t make people wait for the next round of elections.

OpinionPage 6 November 12, 2010

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

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Optimistthe

Contentions in Congress should ceaseEDITORIAL

Treasured trash preserves past

COLUMN

Not Your Average JoBy Jozie Sands

Recyclables are killing culture.

The job description of an archaeologist, ac-cording to Wikipedia, is to “study past hu-man so-c i e t i e s p r i m a r -ily through the recov-ery and analysis of the mate-rial culture and environ-mental data which they have left behind.”

That basically means one era’s trash is another era’s treasure. So, when we recycle, we steal a cultural education away from our chil-dren’s children’s children.

“Material cul-ture” is trash. Those broken pots didn’t get there on pur-pose. People did not walk around burying pots. Somebody threw them away, and because some-one threw them away, kids can dream of grow-ing up to get a get doc-toral degree so they are able to go out with tooth-brushes and dig for years to find a piece of broken pottery that somebody used to eat soup out of 1,000 years ago.

I would hate to be the person who kills that kid’s dream 1,000 years from now, so I’m going to throw away a soup can. If we keep recycling and composting like we have been, one day archaeologists will run out of things to find.

This will hit the muse-um industry pretty hard, since archaeologists are

one of their main sup-pliers. And without any museums, elementary schools will only have two places to send kids on field trips – the zoo and the fire station.

Growing up, I went to museums to look at bro-ken pottery, old cloth-ing and those rocks they used before pillows were invented. I don’t want my descendants to go look at piles of nutrient-rich compost that used to be my bag of potato chips.

When Frito Lay made their Sun Chip bags 100 percent compostable, I thought I was going to have to resort to put-ting the empty bag into a time capsule before

throwing it away. Lucky for me and my descen-dants, a bunch of pota-to-chip snackers put up a big enough fuss to get the bags recalled. Way to go America – I trust you had the cultural ed-ucation of your descen-dants in mind when you posted all those whiny videos on YouTube.

Give your descen-dants a chance. Don’t erase a period of human history by recycling or composting. You may think you’re saving the planet, but you’re really just killing our culture.

My garbage is my legacy.

Sands

Work and love are not exclusiveCOLUMN

The life plans I made as an elementary school kid didn’t quite play out the way I expected.

By Morgan DavisThe Funny Funnies

If we keep recycling and composting like we have been, one day archaeologists will run out of things to find.

contact Sands atjgs07a@acu.edu

contact the Optimist atjmcnetwork@acu.edu

the issueCongress is often in constant gridlock, even while prob-lems still persist throughout the country.

our takeDemocrats and Republicans should look beyond differences and work together for the people, not just their own interests.

contact Bailey atljb07a@acu.edu

Bailey

November 12, 2010 Page 7FROM SPORTS

vs.

Offense

Defense

SpecialTeams

OptimistPick

Southwestern has the statistically worst offense in the Lone Star Conference. They are dead last in both scoring and yards per game. ACU holds the clear advantage here.

Even without starting middle linebacker Kevin Washington, ACU has depth to fill in behind him. Southwestern lacks both the starting talent and depth to compete with the Wildcats.

The Wildcats’ special teams have been arguably the most consistent aspect of the team this season. ACU has the ability to pin opponents deep with Mark Sprague and Spencer Covey.

48 10ACU is looking to wrap up both an outright conference championship and a perfect 11-0 season for the first time in the program’s history. There might be a bit of a let down emotionally from last week’s gutsy win, but in the end the Wildcats should have little trouble dealing with the sub-par Bulldogs.

’Cats prepare for ’Dogs

The ACU Wildcats will look to complete their first ever 11-0 regular season when the visiting Southwestern Oklahoma State Bulldogs come to Shotwell Stadium on Saturday.

On paper, the match-up against the Bulldogs seems incredibly one sided.

Southwestern is in the bottom three of every major statistical offensive category in the Lone Star Conference – dead last in scoring offense and total offense.

At 3-6 in conference, Southwestern has pulled some impressive upsets over the course of the season. The Bulldogs have beaten Texas A&M-Commerce, a pre-season favorite in the north; Eastern New Mexico, one of the top offensive teams in the conference; and Central Oklahoma, a team with high expectations coming into the season.

The Wildcats will need to look out for the potential trap game against a sub-par op-ponent coming off one of the biggest wins, both emotional-ly and in terms of the physical magnitude of the game.

“Coach T teaches us to try and take a game one at a time,” said senior tackle Tre-vis Turner. “The main thing is we just have to execute, execute, execute.”

One of the positions of strength for Southwestern is defensive tackle Henry Niutei, a junior transfer from TCU who has 4.5 tackles for loss and one sack on the season. He leads a defensive line that has allowed over 150 rush yards per game so far this season.

Mitchell Gale and the receivers will have to con-tend with an opportunistic defensive secondary. South-western has produced 13 interceptions on the season, tied for third in the LSC.

ACU should be able to have little trouble keeping the ball since it has the fewest turnovers in all of Division II (7) and the No. 1 turnover margin in the LSC at +14.

“Mitchell has to continue to protect the ball,” head coach Chris Thomsen said. “We just have to execute and finish this out.”

Defensively, the Wildcats will have to do without star middle linebacker Kevin Washington, who is out with a broken arm. Washington

broke his arm against West Texas A&M last weekend on a touchdown run by Tyson Williams in the second quar-ter. But even without Wash-ington, ACU should have little trouble handling the LSC’s worst offense, which has eclipsed 20 points three times this season.

Red shirt freshman Thor Woerner is likely to at least see significant time at mid-dle linebacker this weekend and possibly even start.

Quarterback Dustin Sten-ta comes into the final game of his season with a 92-passer efficiency rating. Stenta has thrown just six touchdowns in his 10 starts compared to 10 interceptions.

The strength of the Southwestern offense lies in the running game. The Bulldogs average over 105 yards per game on the ground, mostly on the legs of Dwight Pete, who is av-eraging less than 50 yards a game and has six touch-downs on the season.

ACU and Southwestern will square off at Shotwell Stadium on Saturday. Kick off has been moved to noon.

FOOTBALL

contact Tripp atbjt07a@acu.edu

Canyon: ACU smashes Texas Woman’s hopes

With the win, the Wildcats will face third-seed Angelo State at 5 p.m. Friday in the second round of the tournament. ACU has already seen the Rambelles twice this season and had little trouble dismantling them.

“Angelo will really be gunning for us cause we’ve swept them twice already,” said student coach Daniel Graves. “But it doesn’t re-ally matter who is on the other side of the net. If we play our game we will come out on top.”

Both matches went to the Wildcats, 3-0. Angelo only lost three games to other teams from the LSC, with two of them coming at the hands of Coach Mock’s squad. After losing to ACU for the second time in the beginning of Oc-tober, the Rambelles went more than a month before their next loss, a 0-3 defeat against West Texas.

ACU beat Angelo in the second round last year and went to the LSC tournament championship last year, but it fell to WT in the finals, 3-1.

With 80 straight wins against LSC opponents,

the Buffs are almost as-suredly going to the championship game. If the Wildcats also get to the championship, they will have to find a way to beat WT for the first time in five years.

“If and when we make it to the conference finals, then we can deal with WT again,” Mock said. “Until then we have to focus on beating one team at a time and doing it the way we have done all year.”

VOLLEYBALL

contact Gwin atagg07a@acu.edu

Continued from page 8

Whitaker: Senior sets examplewill pay large dividends on the court for us,” Lav-ender said.

Autumn Whitaker is the lone senior on the roster and has played an integral role for the Wildcats even before the season’s start.

“We are really blessed to have Autumn on our roster this year,” Lavender said. “She brings about a sense of purpose and desire to win that is so important to have, espe-

cially on a team with inex-perience. She provides a great example to the girls on and off the court and has really stepped into a leadership role.”

The team is returning six players from last year’s roster, including Whitaker, sophomore guards Shelby Shipley, Cecilee Perez, Danielle Hartley and post Emily Miller.

Kelsey Smith, a sopho-more transfer post player from Missouri State Uni-versity, has shown great

potential and should be a dominant force in the post game for the Wildcats.

“Kelsey is definitely going to be a force in our conference,” Lavender said. “I’m really expecting her to take a lot of the load down low for us and have a solid year.”

Freshmen Savannah Smith, Hillari Adam, Re-nata Marquez and Mack Lankford will all see play-ing time for ACU this year.

“I am so excited for this season,” Whitaker said.

“We have a great group of girls who are committed to working hard and improv-ing. We have seen so much progression through our scrimmages, and I just can’t wait to see what this team will accomplish this year.”

ACU will open up its regular season at noon Friday in San Antonio against Hillsdale College, and then play St. Edwards at 2:30 p.m. Saturday.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

contact Shake atbxs09a@acu.edu

Continued from page 8

Cole: Defense holds key to winsnew faces, but we’ve re-ally come together, and we’re all very ready for the season to get in full swing. We have a lot of talent this year, and we’re ready to start taking it out on the whole conference.”

The exhibition portion of the Wildcats’ season began last Saturday with a tough game against the University of Houston. The ’Cats lost the game in a devastating last-min-

ute surge by the Houston squad, 71-68. Senior Gior-dan Cole led the Wildcats in scoring with 16 points, while he and junior team-mate Desmond Woodber-ry tied for the team lead in rebounds with six each. The Wildcats were disap-pointed with the loss but remain positive about their upcoming season.

“The offseason has been built around becom-ing a better team,” Cope-land said. “We’ve been emphasizing defense and

letting the defense allow our offense to get easy transition baskets. Our strength is quickness. That will be something that our opponents no-tice this season.”

The Wildcats hope to show off that defense and quickness when they

open up play in Moody Coliseum for their first home game of the season against the University of Texas of the Permian Ba-sin at 7 p.m. Friday in the confines of Moody.

MEN’S BASKETBALL

contact Johnston atjdj10a@acu.edu

Continued from page 8

DANIEL GOMEZ// Chief Photographer

Zach Williams competes in the dunk contest with a windmill jam.

DANIEL GOMEZ // Chief Photographer

Hillari Adam shoots during the three-point shooting contest.

This offseason has been built around becoming a better team.

JASON COPELAND // head coach of ACU men’s basketball‘‘ ’’

Brandon TrippSports Director

SportsStandings

Briefs

n The ACU cross country team jumped to No. 20 in the nation and moved to No. 2 in the South Central re-gion in the latest UST-FCCCA Poll released this week after their strong showing last weekend at the LSC championship meet.

n Shawna Hines was named the Defensive Player of the Year in the LSC for the third straight year, and Ijeoma Moronu earned Setter of the Year. Both women made the first team all-conference team, while Jennie Hutt and Jordan Schilling were named to the second team. Neely Borger garnered honor-able mention.

PlayerProfile

n Chloe Susset, redshirt freshman from Clery Vexin, Spain, finished third last Saturday at the LSC championship meet, running the course in 16:29.76. Susset’s time played an integral part in ACU’s success, helping the Wildcats come in third at the conference champion-ships. With Susset and Belledant’s top five finishes the Wildcats improved five spots from their disappoint-ing eight place finish last season at the championship race.

Upcoming

n The ACU soccer team (16-3) will play Angelo State at noon Friday in Austin at St. Edwards University in the first round of the the NCAA Div. II women’s soccer tour-nament. The champi-onship game is at 1 p.m. on Sunday.

n ACU volleyball will play Angelo State at 5 p.m. Friday in the LSC Conference Tournament. The finals will follow at 7 p.m. on Saturday.

November 12, 2010Page 8

Familiar first round draw favors ’Cats

The Wildcats will take on Angelo State University for the third time this season in their first NCAA Division II tournament appearance in the program’s history. St. Ed-ward’s University earned the top seed in the region and will host the Wildcats and the Rambelles in Austin.

“I don’t think our game plan against them is going to be any different,” head coach Casey Wilson said.

“We are looking to come out and play well and pass well, and hopefully things will take care of themselves.”

ACU has already over-achieved this season, as it was originally picked fifth in the conference at the begin-ning of the year. ACU won the conference tournament last weekend and leads the Lone Star Conference this season in goals.

After winning the LSC tournament, the Wildcats were given the fourth seed in the South Central Re-

gion. ASU lost to the Wild-cats in the second round of the tournament but held onto the fifth seed in the region. The winner of this first round match will take on the St. Edward’s Hilltop-pers, who went 16–1–1 this season and earned the top seed in the region.

Both ACU and ASU will be making their first NCAA tournament appearances and will be seeking their first NCAA tournament wins. ACU defeated the Rambelles 3–0 earlier this

season in San Angelo and again last weekend in the LSC tournament, 2–0.

St. Edward’s is making its fourth NCAA tournament ap-pearance and second straight trip to the postseason. The Hilltoppers were unbeaten this season until last week when they lost the regular season finale to St. Mary’s.

The Wildcats will take on the Rambelles at noon Fri-day, with the winner advanc-ing to play the Hilltoppers at 1 p.m. Sunday. The winner of this match will advance to

the NCAA Sweet 16.“We have looked forward

to this since we started back in August,” said sophomore Julie Coppedge. “We are excited and we feel truly blessed to be where we are now. We are hoping to defeat Angelo for the third time. That’s what we are looking at right now – all that mat-ters right now is ASU. We are focusing on how we play, not who we play.”

Ryan CantrellSports Multimedia Editor

SOCCER

FOOTBALLTeam Div. Ovrl.ACUTAMU-KWTAMUE. CentralMSUENMUTarleton StAngelo St.UIW

6-05-14.-25-13-33-32-41-50-6

10-09-17-35-57-34-63-74-52-8

VOLLEYBALL

Team Div. Ovrl.ACUWTAMUAngelo St.MSUTarleton St.TAMU-K

13-114-012-29-58-64-10

25-424-817-1115-1322-910-16

WOMEN’S SOCCERTeam Div. Ovrl.ACUMSUCen. Okla.WTAMUNE St.ENMU E. Central

9-2-010-16-4-14-6-13-5-32-9-01-9-1

16-3-016-3-011-8-18-7-37-6-55-13-05-11-2

WT rematch on horizon The regular season may have ended, but the fun is only just beginning for the ACU Wildcat volleyball team.

“We’ve had an outstanding year,” said head coach Kel-len Mock. “We are 25-4, and I couldn’t be happier with how this team has played.”

Over the weekend the Wildcats will try to make it to the Lone Star Confer-ence tournament cham-pionship for the second straight year. Even though it isn’t the top seed or host of the tournament, ACU sits in a great position in the bracket.

By getting the sec-ond seed, the ’Cats will avoid having to play rival West Texas A&M until the championship game. In their side of the bracket, the Wildcats have only lost one set out of four matches during the regular season.

The Wildcats beat Texas Woman’s University Thurs-day 25-14, 25-17, 25-22 to advance. Jordan Schilling closed out the contest with a tomahawk kill to win the match in straight sets.

Austin GwinSports Editor

VOLLEYBALL

DANIEL GOMEZ // Chief Photographer

Jordan Shilling skies for a kill in a match Nov. 4 against West Texas A&M. If both the WIldcats and the Lady Buffs win Friday in the LSC tournament, they will face off Saturday in the championship match for the second straight year. Last year WT beat ACU 3-1.see CANYON page 7

Hitting the Hardwood

Volleyball, football and soccer are nearing the end of their seasons, but the ACU men’s basketball team is ea-ger and ready to replace them. The Lone Star Conference league office voted the ACU team to finish last in the South Division this season, but head coach Jason Copeland doesn’t expect that to be the case.

“This is a team that is ready to compete for the conference champi-onship,” Copeland said. “We’ve been implementing new things, and with them, this team will be able to com-pete and be a tough team to handle.”

The Wildcats only have three play-ers returning from last year’s team, but among them is sophomore Dosh Simms, last season’s LSC Freshman of the Year. Simms played in all 27 games last season, starting in seven of them. He had a 53 percent field goal per-centage on the season and averaged over four rebounds per game.

The team doesn’t seem to think the new faces and low number of return-ing players will affect its success at all and is eager to prove it.

“We’ve come a long way since the beginning of the year,” freshman Grant Wilson said. “We have a lot of

Jeff Johnston Sports Reporter

DANIEL GOMEZ // Chief Photographer

Junior Ben Warton goes up for a 360 dunk during ACU’s dunk con-test. Warton won the event with his high-flying skills.

The ACU women’s basketball team is getting excited for what looms on the horizon for this upcoming season.

The Wildcats boast a young roster full of underclassmen who are eager to dip their feet in the pool of college basketball.

Head coach Shawna Lavender said she is excited about the beginning of a new season in which several players will have the opportunity to compete at the colle-giate level – something foreign to them.

“The fun thing about this year is that we’re very new,” Lavender said. “For a lot of these girls, this is their first go-around with college basketball. It’s been both fun and rewarding to see them develop as a team from September to where they are currently at. We’ve come a long way and made several strides in the right direction.”

“New” is the appropriate adjective for this group of girls, with the roster comprised of one senior, one junior (a transfer student), six sophomores and seven freshmen.

With these new players comes a sense of excitement and anticipation for the season ahead – emotions corresponding to a drive to succeed and work diligently in all phases of the game, Lavender said.

“All of the girls have worked their tails off this offseason in preparation for the season, and I know that their hard work

Bryson Shake Assistant Sports Editor

Men’s Basketball:Finding an identity

Women’s Basketball:Building on success

see COLE page 7 see WHITAKER page 7

contact Cantrell atjrc07f@acu.edu