The Optimist - Oct. 10, 2008 by ACU Optimist

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Pg. 5 Sex, Love and Rock ‘n’ Roll: Movie mixes message

Friday, October 10, 2008 :: Vol. 97, No. 15 :: 1 section, 8 pages :: www.acuoptimist.com

Inside This Issue:

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‘World Famous Bean’ tightens security after students sneak by

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Male student dresses as Kojie pledge, fools handful of gullible students

No. 3 Wildcats looking to remain undefeated this weekend

Obama adviser talks religion, politics By Daniel Johnson-Kim

acuoptimist.com

Editor in Chief

Dr. Shaun Casey, senior religious adviser for presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, urged ACU students throughout the day Thursday to rethink the Christian’s role in politics — Christians must participate in the political process, he argued. Casey, an ACU alumnus and associate professor of Christian Ethics at Wesley School of Seminary outside Washington, D.C., came to ACU and spoke to numerous classes, at a lun-

See a video of Dr. Shaun Casey’s visit to campus and Chapel forum cheon and at a Chapel forum titled, “Rendering to Caesar: Christians in American Public Life.” Casey began working for Obama in July as part of his faith outreach staff — an effort by the Democratic ticket to take evangelical voters and their influence on the race seriously. He has traveled across the country to talk to evangeli-

cal voters about Obama’s policies and how they may appeal to some evangelicals. He received his bachelor’s degree from ACU in 1979 and has three graduate degrees from Harvard University — a Master of Divinity, Doctorate of Theology and Master of Public Administration. “If you’re interested in politics, religion and the media, you are living through the most interesting period in my lifetime as well as in your lifetime,” Casey said. Casey repeated throughout the day that polls show issues evangelicals care about are no longer

limited to the “hot button” issues of abortion and same-sex marriage that have defined the evangelicals’ party affiliations in the past decades. Instead some evangelicals, specifically younger believers, are shifting their focus to issues like poverty and global climate change. And Casey argued the Democratic Party offers policies that some view can help affect those issues. “The old caricature of evangelical voters is they only are about two issues; it’s all about abortion and it’s all about same-sex marriage,” See

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Jozie Sands :: staff photographer Dr. Shaun Casey, senior religous adviser for Sen. Barack Obama, speaks with students during a luncheon in the Mabee Library Auditorium Thursday.

Six chosen to host ’09 Sing Song show

From WALL ST.

By Laura Acuff Opinion Page Editor

To CAMPUS

New York City

Weak economy may impact ACU community By Michael Freeman Managing Editor

The U.S. stock market has ridden a roller coaster of ups and downs in the past year — from the record-high Dow Jones industrial average closing price of 14,198.10 last October to the 777-point drop Sept. 29, the worst single-day drop ever. The recent turmoil on Wall Street has not only been felt locally, but globally. “The stock market primarily is struggling now because of fear,” said Terry Pope, professor of finance and associate dean of the College of Business Administration. “And what we’re experiencing is going on all over the world.” The current market crisis was sparked by housing loans made to people who could not afford to pay off the loans.

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The federal government has tried to rectify the crisis with the passage of the $700 billion bailout Oct. 3, and is planning to loan money to struggling corporations and banks. “It has certainly been a very difficult period with some unprecedented changes in the market,” said Jack Rich, senior vice president and chief investment officer. “There’s clearly a substantial amount of stress in the system right now, and nobody really understands how that will play out.” ACU students could feel the results of a troubled market in a variety of ways, but family savings accounts and unemployment rates would be two of the most prominent effects, Pope said. The national unemployment rate is currently at 6.1 percent, up from 4.7

percent just one year ago, according to the Associated Press. For graduating students, this means it will be more difficult to find a job. “There will be jobs out there; you will have to work harder to find them,” Pope said. The ACU Endowment also may feel the effects of the stock market. See

Economy page 4

After the second round of Sing Song host auditions, senior Donovan Plummer knew he had botched it. He e-mailed his accompanist, thanking him for his help. Then Plummer waited on the phone call to make his rejection official. “I was probably about 99 percent sure I did not make it and I had accepted that,” said Plummer, communication major from Mesquite. “I was just waiting to really hear it and to get on with my life. I didn’t try out with the intention of this making or breaking me. I was like, ‘well, that was fun, but I’m clearly not Sing Song material.’” The phone call never came, and Plummer had to e-mail his accompanist again, this time for helping him earn a spot among this year’s six Sing Song hosts and hostesses. Along with Plummer, Coy Greathouse, Adrienne Linge, Jessica Patterson, Jennifer Rasco and Sam Souder all made the cut in a two-part audition process that included vocal performances, sightreading and choreography, said Tom Craig, Sing Song’s managing director. Judges evaluated individual performances as well as group dynamics, looking for a group of five to seven students who performed well together. “The hosts and hostesses are a very talented group,” Craig said. “It’s always exciting

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I was probably about 99 percent sure I did not make it and I had accepted that. :: Donovan Plummer, communication

major from Mesquite

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to see the talent that we have on campus. This group is no exception. They are extremely talented in very many different ways, and that will be the exciting part of Sing Song this year, to see how that talent comes to life onstage.” While Sing Song began in 1956 with an emcee, hosts and hostesses were soon integrated because of their added entertainment factor, Craig said. They serve to provide additional amusement for audiences by singing with choreography for exactly three minutes between each act, allowing each competing group the same amount of time to transition onstage. “Very quickly, the host and hostess numbers grew into a very exciting part of the show in and of itself,” Craig said. “They create the atmosphere for the show. They help develop the theme for the show. They create a package that has grown into a big Sing Song tradition.” See

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Nominees kidnapped, elections to begin Oct. 15 By Tanner Anderson Page Designer

While a mass of students were on their nightly sojourn to University Church for another Wednesday night service, 10 other women started their own journey inside the Alumni Relations office. At 9 p.m. Wednesday, the ACU women were escorted to the alumni office and huddled around a table, wearing purple blindfolds to start the Homecoming Queen nominee

“kidnapping” ritual. Some of the nominees were retrieved from pledging activities and other areas around campus. “It’s definitely an honor; I don’t feel like I should be nominated because there are so many great girls,” said Sarah Sparks, senior marketing major from Memphis, Tenn. “I looked around the table after they took the blindfolds off, and it was exciting to see the other nominees,” Sparks said. “We’re all pretty good friends, and it was fun to think

acU weaTHeR

that 10 years from now we’ll be able to do this again.” Friday during Chapel all of the nominees will sit on the floor in the front row seats in Moody Coliseum and administration will introduce them to the student body. Now that students have selected this year’s nominees, voting for Homecoming Queen will begin Oct. 15-17. The Queen will be crowned during halftime at this year’s See

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