Optimist Print Edition 11.09.18 (Volume CVIII, Issue XII)

OPTIMIST

@acuoptimist The Optimist @acuoptimist

SOCCER The women’s soccer team prepares to take on Baylor in the first round of the Div. I tournament.

A student publication of Abilene Christian University since 1912

Friday November 09, 2018

Volume CVIII, Issue XII News

Sports

The Department of Theatre prepares for the Cornerstone musical, John and Jen. This is the first musical in four years. In addition, the MakerLab is hosting an instrument building workshop.............Page 2

After coming off of a 49-47 win, football prepares to take on Sam Houston State for their last away game of the regular season. Soccer also heads out of town to play Baylor in the Div. I tournament.............Page 5

F S S M T W T Feature Though Veterans Day is often a time to honor those who have served our country, it is rare to question if they have the necessary means to succeed in civilian life, especially as students....................Page 4

Photo by RILEY FISHER | STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

CAMPUS NEWS

Kristy Ng, a junior marketing and management major from Plano, as well as the director and secondary script writer for Ethnos this year, reads the Optimist as part of an act during the annual production.

YAF constructs replica Berlin Wall in memorium “ LAUREN FRANCO EDITOR IN CHIEF

Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) built a Berlin Wall Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. between the library and the campus center.

YAF is a national organization that seeks to educate college and high school students about conservative principles such as limited government, individual freedoms, traditional values, free enterprise and strong national defense, according to their website.

Davis Dilling, a junior political science major from Vero Beach, Florida and president of the ACU YAF chapter, started the organization last spring to promote conservative values and principles.

Dilling said the Berlin Wall

It’s very attention grabbing, which I believe is the point, but it’s not very conversation starting, which I think should be the point.”

JENNA SALZMAN PRESIDENT OF ACU DEMOCRATS

project is part of Freedom Week, in which YAF encourages its chapters to participate in commemorating Veterans Day and the fall of the Berlin Wall on Nov. 9, 1989. The replica stands eight feet high and 12 feet wide.

The Wall took about three hours to construct and will be torn down Friday around 3 p.m. using sledgehammers. Throughout the week, students are encouraged to spray paint the wall in a way that represents how their freedoms have been in-

fringed upon. Participating in the tear down is open to all students.

“It’s just a chance to celebrate freedom,” Dilling said.

“I am anticipating that the Berlin Wall project is successful both in educating students–none of us were alive at the time the Berlin Wall fell–and its a good history lesson.”

Dilling said when he pitched the idea to administration, he was required to clarify details and address concerns. Thus far, he said there has been no student pushback.

Jenna Salzman, junior political science major from Fort Worth, said the wall targets the wrong reaction.

“It’s very attention grabbing, which I believe is the point, but it’s not very conversation starting, which I

think should be the point,” Salzman said. “I think conversation should be a really big component of political groups on campus. That should be the goal of all of us.”

Salzman said the easiest way to hear what others have to say is by attending Chapels and other events hosted by political groups, and dismissed the misconception that only people from the specified parties are welcome.

“A lot of these groups do want to foster conversation because there’s no point in learning in an echo-chamber.

You just become more entrenched in your own point of view,” Salzman said.

After the teardown, YAF is showing the 1984 version of Red Dawn Rising in Hart Auditorium.

YAF participated in one other national event previously. On 9/11, the group posted American flags around the mall area of the campus in memory of the lives lost.

doing,” Orr said. “You never really know until you get there and see the other people who are presenting against you.

We’ve won for the past three years so we knew the experience that we needed to get us to the win.”

In early October, the team submitted written video pitches to explain the progress of CEO throughout the past year for the Global Chapter of the Year Award.

In the past, three teams have been chosen to present at the conference; this year four teams were selected.

Orr said they were surprised to find this out from an email the night before they arrived at the conference.

“Normally, they pick the top three schools to present live,” Orr said. “There

was an exact tie because the judging had been so close. So we had, essentially, one more team that we were competing against than we were expecting.”

At the conference, the CEO executive team gave a 5-minute presentation, followed by a Q-and-A session on Thursday evening.

The team consisted of President Meredith Orr, Vice President Greg Johnston, junior information systems major from Coppell, Student Director of Startup Week and Startup Madness Cammie Seaman, junior marketing major from Georgetown, Vice President of Speaker Series Caroline Fairly, sophomore management major from Amarillo, and Presi-

Photos by LAUREN FRANCO | EDITOR IN CHIEF

Top: Students and faculty discuss the implications of the replica Berlin Wall.

Bottom: Members of YAF build the eight-by-twelve wall Wednesday afternoon between the library and campus center.

CEO wins national award for fourth consecutive year

ALLISON HARRELL FEATURES EDITOR

This past weekend at the Global CEO Conference, ACU CEO won the Global Chapter of the Year award for the fourth consecutive year, and Wildcat Ventures won the Best Revenue Generating Initiative Award.

The CEO and Wildcat Ventures executive teams traveled to Kansas City, Missouri, to attend the Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization Global Conference where they gave a presentation about their work on campus.

During the conference, CEO and Wildcat Ventures took part in seminars and sessions where they learned from some of the top CEO’s

CEO and Wildcat Ventures pose with their national award for Global Chapter of the Year.

(Back) Evan Beck, Shelby Watson, Greg Johnston, Caroline Fairly, Cammie Seaman. (Front) Courtney Eubank, Meredith Orr. around the world.

Meredith Orr, president of CEO and senior marketing and management major from

North Richland Hills, said she felt prepared when presenting.

“I was really confident in our team and what we’ve been

acuoptimist.com

dent of Wildcat Ventures Courtney Eubank, senior accounting and music major from Phoenix, Ariz.

Winners were announced Friday evening.

Orr said her favorite take away from the conference sessions after the presentation competition was getting to meet other presidents from organizations across the nation.

“There was a room of probably 50 presidents and we all just got to share ideas, see what’s working in our chapter and maybe why that’s not working in other ones,” Orr said. “It was just a really cool collaborative session that I thought was really interesting.”

Page 2 | Campus News Events

Friday 11/09 1. Freedom week movie night 2. Women’s basketball vs. Southwest 3. Men’s basketball vs.

Arkansas State Saturday 11/10 1. Football @ Sam Houston State 2. ACU disc gold fundraising tournament 3. Volleyball vs. Sam Houston State Monday 11/12 1. White Ribbon Week 2. Sping/Summer Registration: Sophomores 3. ACU Theatre - John & Jen Wednesday 11/14 1. Spring/summer Registration: Freshmen Thursday 11/15 1. Wildcat kids day - Women BKB vs.

Howard Payne 2. Psychology dept.

Outdoor Movie Night

12

days until Thanksgiving break CAMPUS NEWS

Fall Stomp gives students dance lessons LOGAN CHAPMAN STAFF REPORTER

The Swing Cats hosted their 8th annual Fall Stomp on Friday.

The event consisted of a variety of swing dances, accompanied by live music from the Jazz band. The Fall Stomp was open to students and faculty and included a free dance lesson beforehand.

“Swing Cats has been an integral part of my time here at ACU since freshman year,” said Raiden Sawyer, senior English major from Oklahoma City and president of Swing Cats.

Sawyer said the Fall Stomp is a great opportunity for the community to come together.

“We had a really good turn out of about 100 people and we had a lot of people who were engaging with the music and having a good time” Said Sawyer. “We really love dancing to live music and this is a great time for us to collaborate with the ACU Jazz band.”

Swing Cats is open to all students, despite dance experience. Beginners lessons take place in the SRWC and cost $1 per person.

“You can be an absolute beginner and learn something the very first time you come,” said Bennett. “People are welcome to come at any point in the semester and start learning.”

Friday, November 9, 2018 CAMPUS NEWS

Theatre prepares for Cornerstone performance LAUREN FRANCO EDITOR IN CHIEF

The annual Cornerstone production, typically a play, is a musical for the first time in four years.

John and Jen, a musical composed by Andrew Lippa, deals with trauma, PTSD and how negative relationships create and develop personality. The production opens in 1959 to John and Jen, siblings, as kids before he passes away at the end of the act.

John comes back in the second act through Jen’s son, who she names John. John goes to Vietnam to fight.

John is played by Carl Kimbrough, a seinor musical theatre major from Marietta, Georgia and Jen is played by Madison Massey, a senior musical theatre major from Fort Meyers, Florida.

Massey said the dramaturg, Casey Burchfield, helps the two get into character.

“Jen goes off to college during the 60s, so John is in the military and I’m a hippy,” Massey said. “I watched a couple of documentaries and YouTube videos about Woodstock and what life was like in college at that time, but Casey consumes the musical and the script and searches everything that sticks out.”

Because Jen loses her

brother, Massey said she also studied family psychology to understand how the character would remember John.

As a duo, Massey and Kimbrough said working together is easier than working in a large group.

“With a bigger cast, you lose time because people are talking and you’ve got to get their attention,” Massey said.

“Since this is such a small cast, we go through stuff quickly. We got the first act blocked in about two days.”

In agreement, Kimbrough said, “I think we’re both very professional and

Dawne [Meeks, chair of the theatre department] is doing a really good job of cranking out the blocking and getting us directed. So far it’s been a really pleasant process.”

Massey said her favorite part of the process has been discovering who she is outside of her typical comedic role. Both Massey and Kimbrough played roles in James and the Giant Peach as Aunt Spiker and James, respectively.

“It’s a chance to think, Yes, I can do both things,’” Massey said. “The hardest part is in the second act.

Jen has at least two or three

“

The hardest part is in the second act. Jen has at least two or three more solos than John, so I started thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, am I going to be able to do it justice? I am going to have to belt, sing my lungs out for seven shows back to back with no break.’”

MADISON MASSEY SENIOR MUSICAL THEATRE MAJOR FROM FORT MEYERS, FLORIDA

more solos than John, so I started thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, am I going to be able to do it justice? I am going to have to belt, sing my lungs

out for seven shows back to back with no break.’”

The duo will head to New York City with a majority of their graduating class next semester as part of the Tepper program, a partnership with Syracuse University.

“I spent a lot of time in New York as a kid, just doing acting and stuff, so I am excited to get back up there,” Kimbrough said.

“But I am also really excited to see my friends in the department experience their first time in New York and see them take route as they find themselves in the city.”

Maker Lab to offer instrument-building workshops this year ALLISON HARRELL STAFF REPORTER

The Maker Lab will host instrument-building workshops for $20 on certain Saturdays this year.

The first workshop will be at 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Nov. 10 on Saturday. in the Maker Lab. The Strum Stick workshop will be the first in a series of instrumental workshops offered.

Darren Wilson, director of the Maker Lab, said the first workshop had a limit of ten applicants and has

already reached capacity.

“The goal is for everyone to finish it in that day and we think everyone will be able to finish,” Wilson said. “We are trying to keep the price low enough to where ACU students can afford it. So they can go home with something nice and the price isn’t going to keep anyone for participating.”

Students who attend the Strum Stick workshop will learn how to design the parts of the instrument in Adobe Illustrator before

“

We are trying to keep the price low enough to where ACU students can afford it. So they can go home with something nice and the price isn’t going to keep anyone for participating.”

DARREN WILSON DIRECTOR OF MAKER LAB

cutting out the parts with a laser cutter and CNC router. They will then glue the parts together and assemble the strings and frets, being taught how to tune

the instrument before they take it home.

Wilson said the idea for the workshop came from a recent partnership with Chai Green, digital design specialist for the library.

“He’s a woodworker and an inventor,” Wilson said.

“He and I bounced ideas together. We came up with the idea because he’s always wanting to build stuff and we’ve got a lot of people that have expressed interest in doing some one-day workshops.”

The Maker Lab will host

more instrument building workshops, continuing the series in the spring. Wilson said they are planning on other instruments such as wooden Native American flutes and small, stringed banjos. However, the workshops will be set at a very limited enrollment.

“It’s just one-day builds,” Wilson said. “So it’s something that somebody can come in, can start at 9 a.m. and by the time they leave in the afternoon they’ll have a completed instrument they’ve made.”

COBA releases applications for Study Abroad trip to China ASHLEY ALFRED SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER

College of Business and Administration is now accepting applications for students to study abroad in China in July of 2019.

Students who attend the trip will have the opportunity to take Global Entrepreneurship (MGMT 419) taught by Jim Litton, associate professor of business and director of Griggs Center for Entrepreneurship and Philanthropy, and a business law course taught

by Andy Little, professor of business law.

The available business law course has not yet been determined but will be either Law and Entrepreneurship (BLAW 365) or Law, Ethics, and Corporate Social Responsibility in Asia (BLAW 440).

Little said he hopes students gain a deeper appreciation of the complexity and beauty of China and its people.

“It’s an amazing country with a rich history and culture,” Little said. “The people they will interact within China are creative, helpful, and friendly.”

Dr. Little said China resists categorization- the

labels used in the West to describe economic and political systems don’t fit into the Chinese reality.

“From a course competency standpoint, I want students to learn about the entrepreneurial culture and ecosystem that is present in China, and be able to understand the way a country’s laws, history and values affect entrepreneurial activity,” Little said.

COBA is planning to take 16-18 students on the trip.

Though there is no firm deadline yet, spots will fill up fast.

“I want students to come back humbled, a little disoriented by the vastness

of the world’s cultures and wiser and more critical in the way they receive information about other countries and cultures,” Dr. Little said. “I want them to experience the ways God moves and works in other cultures, with an appreciation for local religious and ethical systems.

The China Study Abroad program currently costs $5500, covering airfare, lodging, some meals, transportation, some excursions and cultural activities. Scholarships are available and details are subject to change.

“

From a course competency standpoint, I want students to learn about the entrepreneurial culture and ecosystem that is present in China, and be able to understand the way a country’s laws, history and values affect entrepreneurial activity.”

ANDY LITTLE PROFESSOR OF BUSINESS LAW

Little said he encourages students who are interested in the China Study Abroad program to contact him or Litton for more information.

POLICE LOG SELECTED ACUPD CALLS FOR THE WEEK 11/03/2018 11:45 p.m.

ACUPD Officers responded to the 800 blk EN 13th reference a loud party. Officers arriving in the area observed approximately 20 subjects in the street. All patrons left without incident.

11/04/2018 12:01 a.m.

ACUPD Officers responded to the 600 blk EN 16th reference a loud party. Officers made contact with the tenant(s) and advised of the noise complaint. The party was disbursed.

11/05/2018 10:50 a.m.

A resident reported their home was burglarized. Case being investigated.

911 CALL............................................................5 ABANDONED VEHICLE....................0 ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIVITY........................................................37 ADVICE..............................................................0 ALARM................................................................1 ANIMAL CALL...............................................1 ASSIST.................................................................2 ATTEMPT TO LOCATE..........................0 BARRICADES...............................................3 BICYCLE PARTROL................................0 BUILDING LOCK/UNLOCK......................................22 BURGLARY......................................................1 CART PATROL.............................................0

CHECK BUILDING..............................341 CRIMINAL MISCHIEF.............................1 DISTURBANCE...........................................5 DOMESTIC DISTURBANCE............0 ESCORT.............................................................2 FOOT PATROL............................................2 FOUND PROPERTY...............................3 HIT & RUN......................................................4 INFORMATION REPORT...................4 INVESTIGATION FOLLOW UP.................................................9 LOST PROPERTY........................................1 MAINTENANCE: UNIV ASSETS.................................................1 MEDICAL EMERGENCY.....................2

MONITOR FACILITY/ LOT.......................................................................9 MOTORIST ASSIST: OTHER.................................................................1 MOTORIST ASSIST: JUMPSTART.................................................11 MOTORIST ASSIST: UNLOCK.........................................................12 OTHER...............................................................0 PARKING LOT PATROL....................26 PARKING VIOLATION...........................9 PATROL VEHICLE: MAINTENANCE.........................................7 PATROL VEHICLE: REFUEL............................................................8

PROWLER......................................................0 RANDOM PATROL.................................6 REPORT WRITING.................................16 SOLICITING....................................................0 SPECIAL ASSIGNMENT.......................1 SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY.........................2 THEFT...................................................................1 TRAFFIC HAZARD...................................0 TRAFFIC STOP............................................0 TRAINING.........................................................1 VEHICLE COLLISION............................2 WELFARE CHECK...................................5 TOTAL...........................................................597

Chief Ellison’s Weekly Tip Thanks for your help in reducing loud party calls in the ACU neighborhoods. Remember that it’s easier and cheaper to control you party size and noise than it is to go to Municipal Court and pay city citations.

Friday, November 9, 2018

News | Page 3

LOCAL NEWS

Consignment sale moves downtown for 17th biannual sale ASHLEY ALFRED SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER

The 17th biannual My Sister’s House sale has relocated to downtown Abilene – the fourth location for the consignment sale since its opening sale in the spring of 2010.

ACU alumni and sisters Summer Walters and Kate Stover began hosting the consignment sale as a place for the community to browse thousands of clothes, jewelry and house-

hold items available for purchase. Each sale receives products from 200-300 consignors to fill a large warehouse space.

Stover said the duo has not yet entertained the idea of expanding outside of Abilene but is excited to host the event downtown again.

“Nobody just happened to drive by where we were before,” said Stover. “People were having to come out and find us, so we’re going to get a lot more walk-in traffic. This venue

is definitely going to attract more shoppers.”

Walters said when they first started hosting the event, it was on a much smaller scale. Now they have a new computerized system that progressed the sale from its old system of all handwritten tags.

With the old system, they would have to cut tags as people were checking out, total the amount on a calculator and separate all cut tags into files by consignor number. When the sale concluded, they would

retrieve the tags from the files and total the amount owed. Now, consignors can log in at the end of the day and see how many products they sold that day and how much money they made.

In 2012, the sisters won Springboard, an Abilenebased competition in which young entrepreneurs can win up to $100,000 to use as they develop their business locally. Walters said Springboard happened to occur at the same time as their spring sale, forcing

the volunteers to take over while they competed.

She said when they decided to enter the competition, they were unsure about how much to invest back into the event.

“We had sort of jumped into a business without having a business background,” said Walters. “We are teachers and young moms. We thought, ‘this will force us to write a good business plan and meet with people who know how to invest in a business.’ It was a great process to help us learn.”

This year, the My Sister’s House sale has reached its highest number in its history of registered consignors and items entered.

Participating food trucks will be in attendance at every event, and Coconut Cactus Co. will have a succulent building activity on site Saturday.

There will be a public sale Friday from 9 a.m.-8 p.m., a half-price, pre-sale Saturday with a $5 entry fee at the door and a public half-price sale on Sunday from noon-5 p.m.

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Page 4 | Feature

Friday, November 09, 2018

STILL FIGHTING

Student veterans find themselves fighting the battle to transition into civilian life in college

The veterans awareness group is having a toys for tots in the campus center this month to give charitable to children and bring awareness to their group.

ALLAYNA FORD MANAGING EDITOR

Two students enlisted in the army–one enlisted to escape his hometown, while the other was following in the footsteps of his family members who served in the military. However, they now fight the battle of transitioning into a civilian lifestyle.

David Sirchia and Rowdy McElfresh are two student veterans, who said they find little help at home when it comes to their academics. Sirchia served in the military for four years and was deployed once to Afghanistan and was in the ground unit with the marine corps.

McElfresh served for five years and remained in Hawaii as a hospital foreman with the marine corps as well.

“ACU has on their website that they are a veteran-friendly school, but they don’t actually meet any of the requirements for being veteran friendly,” said McElfresh, a junior business management major from Abilene. “Outside of Hannah Vance, the Veteran Affairs rep, which is a required

position–ACU only has one person assigned to us.”

ACU is on the Military Friendly list for 2018. For a school to be labeled as Military Friendly, they must have at least a 50 percent or above retention rate, graduation rate and job placement rate, and must not have a veteran complaint rate over five percent per academic year.

A veteran complaint rate is the number of veteran students who file an official complaint against the school with the VA. McElfresh said after he left the forces, he originally was not interested in attending school but enrolled because he can no longer work a physically taxing job. Sirchia said he knew after leaving he would want to attend a university, and his fiancé is the reason for his enrollment.

Both students said they are in jeopardy of dropping classes because their grades are poor, but they are offered little support academically.

“I’m failing two classes, and that’s probably the biggest thing; we are failing,” said Sirchia, junior kinesiology major from Cleburne.

The two are forming a

club and said the purpose is to bring awareness on campus to prompt a positive change in how they are treated.

“I want to bring more people here,” Sirchia said.

“I want to show that we are here to support them, and to have us would bring a good balance to everything that goes on at a university.”

The group is also meant to create a community space for people to feel accepted and to voice the problems they are facing as students.

“A huge issue with student veterans is suicide,” McElfresh said. “The statistics are pretty staggering.

So by just having a group of like-minded people with shared experiences, we could knock down that number here.”

In contrast, the city of Abilene is addressing the concerns of veterans and their needs and pursuing ways to help. In a press conference, Mayor Anthony Williams issued a challenge to end veteran homeless in Abilene within the next 100 days.

John Meier, the supportive services for veteran fam-

ilies program director, is at the forefront of ending veteran homelessness with the West Texas Council of Governments. Through a case management program, they create a stability plan for the veteran which includes provided temporary or permanent housing and employment.

Meier was a homeless veteran assisted through the program in 2014 and now offers the same help to people who are in the same situation he was in.

“I look at it as a new lease on life because you’re in a crisis,” Meier said. “You have either lost housing or been without housing for a while so it’s an extremely low point in life. It’s extremely rewarding being able to connect with them and assist them.”

Meier said since Jan. 1, the program has helped 84 veterans in the city of Abilene, but the program covers a total of 19 counties.

Abilene is also addressing the mental health of veterans with the Military Veteran Peer Network program, a federally funded.

The program offers vet-

erans a space to come together through social programs such as the ArtHeals initiative, where they work with the Center of Contemporary Arts, veterans use art as an outlet of expression.

Glen McGraw the MVPN Coordinator directs veterans to the proper organization to help them when they are struggling mentally or need help understanding their military benefits and how to utilize the VA to get help.

“A lot of the things that they don’t realize when they leave is camaraderie,” McGraw said. “Within six months, they realize something is missing and they don’t know how to replace it.”

McGraw said he can personally relate to the people he helps because he is a veteran who has anxiety and depression from a brain injury he received. After therapy, he was able to overcome his mental illness, leading him to advocate for veterans to seek help as he did.

Other organizations that are helping address veteran needs in Abilene include the Veterans Af-

fairs office, the Texans Veterans commission and the Airmen and Family Readiness Center.

Tressie Taylor, the manager of the Airman and Family Readiness Center said they educate and help military personnel in a year-long program while they are still in the force.

The program then assists military personnel in finding a job or enrolling in a university after they no longer serve.

McGraw said student veterans have difficulty in college because of the behavioral differences from their classmates and a stark difference from the world they were conditioned to live in with the military.

“It’s such a big deal,” McGraw said. “It’s chaos, and they want consistency, they want people that understand them.”

We reached out to Hannah Vance, the VA representative on campus to speak on behalf of ACU and involvement with veteran students and any possible programs the school has in place, but she was not able to comment as a

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Friday, November 9, 2018

Opinion | Page 5

EDITORIAL

To Pepperine: You are not alone in this tragedy On Nov. 7, about 100 people, including college students, went to a local bar to spend their Wednesday night with their friends, unaware of the horrific events to come, affecting their lives forever.

At 11:20 p.m., a gunman opened fire at the Borderline Bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks, California killing 12 people and wounding many others. Among those who lost their lives, a fresh-

man English major at Pepperdine University.

We write this editorial in remembrance of Alaina Housley, and the eleven others who passed away Wednesday night.

In an email to students, faculty and staff, Dr. Phil Schubert, president, said: “We are deeply saddened to learn that among those who passed away in last night’s mass shooting in Thousand

Oaks, California, was Alaina Housley, a Pepperdine University student. Reports from their campus indicate that as many as 16 students were present at the scene, and we know there must be tremendous anxiety and grief among those at our sister school in Malibu.”

As students, we have dealt with tragedy many times, and come together as family and community to grieve the peers

we have lost. Now more than ever, Pepperdine is family too.

“It wasn’t until I clicked the linked article that I realized the shooting hit incredibly close to home,” Keaton Ross said in an opinion editorial for the Oklahoma Christian University’s student publication, the Talon News.

And as it was for us.

With each mass shooting that occurs, they seem to be getting more relevant and par-

allel to our lives. It was difficult to feel safe in our newsroom after the Capital Gazette shooting, and now it’s difficult to feel safe in the places we enjoy, too.

The students at Pepperdine, similar to those of us at ACU, were only going to spend time with friends the way many do at Guitars every Thursday. The situation is so parallel that it becomes difficult to grasp. Our

schools have similar values, our students have similar experiences, so how much closer until it’s us.

To Pepperdine: We are in constant prayer for your students, faculty and staff, as well as the families affected by the death of Housley. There is unimaginable pain in losing those close to you, a pain we have come to know all too well. Remember as you grieve, you are not alone.

STAFF COLUMNS

Veterans Day: It means more than just a day off UP FROM THE ASHES ASHLEY ALFRED SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER

Senior convergence journalism major from Mansfield

Sunday is Veterans Day, a time to show gratitude for the people who fought or continue to fight for our freedom. Without them, who knows where we would be today?

Veterans Day is more than the local parade, more than American flags lining the streets and it’s certainly more than a simple post on social media as a brief ac-

knowledgment.

I come from a family full of veterans, each of whom are some of the toughest, yet most loving, people you will ever meet. My grandfather served in the Korean War and stared the possibility of death in the eyes on multiple occasions. My Uncle Joe served in the air force overseas for years away from his loved ones and my

great-grandfather served in a brutal World War II. Aside from family, two men who had a huge impact on my life spent numerous years in the most selfless journey anyone could choose to embark on.

Each of these people have impacted my life in ways I cannot explain, however, my gratitude runs much deeper than the relationships I have built with them over the years. I have heard their stories and been hurt by their stories, while they remain strong in telling them.

I have listened to my grandfather’s dreams of horrible memories from the war,

and I’ve had emotional conversations about each of these veterans’ brushes with death or the losses of close friends they made while serving.

As Americans, we spend our entire lives discussing those who “fight for our freedom,” but we undermine the fact that they literally fight for us. All the while, we sit on our couches watching the World Series or Sunday Night Football on our high definition televisions talking about how proud we are to be Americans.

We are too proud. We are forgetting how we got where we are today. We have forgotten everything this coun-

try has to fight for.

We are able to watch the Dodgers and Red Sox face off in game five because we are free, however, baseball shouldn’t be what makes us proud to be American. We do not maintain freedom by watching sports, listening to rock n’ roll or shooting off fireworks on the Fourth of July. In fact, most of us make no contributions to our own freedom.

We wear whatever we want, say whatever we want and worship whoever we want because we are free. But we are free at the expense of others, and their unconditional love

and loyalty.

The violence, the brutality and the danger men and women face as they serve is unparalleled. As a granddaughter, a niece and a friend to multiple veterans, I believe what these men and women have seen is our worst nightmare.

During this season of gratitude, I encourage you to go to the local parade, take pictures of the American flags lining the neighborhood and even make that social media post thanking veterans for their service, but this time remember why we celebrate their lives.

ico, and Camp Eagle, located in the hill country. When they talked to me about the jobs, it wasn’t a counselor position that sparked my interest, it was the accounting intern position (yes, a summer camp has internships for accounting). As a bright-eyed freshman accounting student, I was eager to apply and get my foot in the door for my future career path.

I left the Campus Center and immediately went to my dorm to apply for the accounting intern position at Glorieta Camps.

To say I had high hopes was an understatement.

After several weeks of anticipation and a couple of interviews, I heard back Glorieta with a “yes.” I

was extremely excited to spend my summer in the mountains of New Mexico while also getting the opportunity to learn more about my future career surrounded by amazing and adventurous people.

Glorieta has the mission to inspire Christ-like change through outdoor adventure, authentic relationships and Biblical truth. I knew this mission statement before I showed up for work at the end of May, but it wasn’t until I went that I was able to truly experience this mission for myself and see the things the Lord is doing there.

Not only do campers grow in their faith, but so does the staff.

Working at Glorieta was

such a blessing in my life. I was surrounded by a community who was there to speak the Gospel intentionally. Even as an accounting intern, I could experience the Lord through worship, community and outdoors.

I enjoyed it so much, so I went back the next summer and did it again, still working as an accounting intern.

Then I went back for a third summer.

My third summer at camp, I was a counselor. It was an incredible time of learning, growth and fun.

As a counselor, I was paired with another college-aged adult to lead a group of kids. Each week, there was a chance to build relationships with the new group of kids that would

come to camp, disciple them, encourage them, play with them, care for them and share your life with them.

If you missed the camp fair, saw it and walked past, or even talked to some of the camp representatives and are thinking about working at a camp, do it.

Each of the camps that visited, and even others, have values and missions to share Christ to campers in fun ways. I encourage you to spend your summer doing something meaningful, doing something you enjoy, in a place you would love.

Working at a camp could be more than just a summer job, it could change your life.

Work a summer camp, it will change your life NATURE NICK NICHOLAS CROMWELL CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER

Accounting major from Dallas

This time of year, every student has holidays on their mind, but many students also start thinking about the upcoming summer and what they should do between school years.

This week on Nov. 7-8, there was a summer camp job fair in the Campus Center, including a variety of camps from across and country. Each of the 12 camps in attendance discussed basic information–location and available positions as well as mission

and ministry.

Each of these are Christian camps with great missions to bring people closer to Christ. Some have lots of sports, some have great outdoor adventure and some focus on the relationships they build. But all of them desire for their campers to know Jesus Christ, and I think that is the most important part.

The first two camps to catch my eye when I was a freshman were Glorieta Camps, based in New Mex-

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Is free speech worth the challenges?

DAVID KNEIP ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF BIBLE

An oft-quoted saying with regard to free speech goes something like this: “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” Often mis-attributed to the 18th-century French philosopher known as Voltaire, the quote certainly reflects the budding “freedom” movement of that era, which blossomed strongly with events like the American Revolution and texts like the Bill of Rights.

To be sure, this statement is wholly modern—it reflects modern sensibilities—but it is not particularly Christian.

I write this because ACU’s chapter of the Young Ameri-

cans for Freedom has recently erected a “wall” on campus that they intend to tear down as a celebration of Veteran’s Day and a commemoration of the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

However, per YAF’s instructions, the ACU chapter has inscribed various things on their wall that they claim to be “ways in which their freedoms are being infringed upon.” As of Thursday afternoon, the phrases mirror those found at the YAF website: “microaggressions,” “safe spaces,” and “trigger warnings.” Presumably, these phrases are meant to reflect concerns expressed by many cultural observers about a perceived “fragility” on the part of college students; see, as just one example, George F. Will’s September 12 column in the Washington Post.

Unfortunately, critiques of these ideas, and of the policies

and movements that encourage us to be mindful of them, often degenerate into attacks on the individuals who might ask us to be mindful of them, or whom they might benefit. And as a university, this is where things get difficult. As an educational institution, we seek both to challenge and to care for one another, and sometimes those aims clash with one another.

On the one hand, it is critical to our mission for learners to be exposed to ideas that challenge them. We know that the process of “doing difficult things” helps us learn in ways that rote repetition of simple tasks does not. We want to reason well, and one way to build cognitive “muscle” comes from lifting difficult intellectual and conceptual weight. To these ends, free speech is a critical component, as we must be able to hear views with which we disagree.

EDITORIAL AND LETTER POLICY 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 79609 E-mail letters to: optimist@acu.edu

nick boone @Nickboone5

However, in many cases, we want to learn, and yet we face difficulties that are not of our own making and over which we have little to no power. Just to name a few: we may come from families marked by divorce or addiction; we may have been abused, neglected, or otherwise traumatized; we may have experienced significant losses in the recent or distant past. As we learn, we may become overwhelmed— not through hot-button topics or social issues, but rather because a course’s subject matter hits close to home, through discussing child abuse in a social-work class, grief in a psychology class, or the exploitation of workers in a business class. Learners such as these may benefit from institutional policies that express care for students.

READ MORE ONLINE

THE

Mulan is kinda the Chris Kyle of China Andrew Boone @andrewboonedog The Democrats took the House, but the Republicans kept the Car and the Kids (except every other weekend) em @emily_douthit i just wanna know what’s going through a guy’s head when he wakes up and puts on 8 different shades of gray???? brotnoff @brotnoff good afternoon friends, today I woke up with a sore throat so I’m putting on breathin and acting like my body isn’t crumbling alongside this country Calena @kalenakimm The bread is stale. what. @ragingfloortile Is it possible to get taco poisoning?

Jessica @JessWhineygirl “Puppy nova is the reason I came to ACU” - Stacia Roberts, 2018

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Page 6 | Sports FEATURE

Friday, November 9, 2018

A CAREER TO REMEMBER

Owens reflects on her friendships and achievements in her final season LEXI KIRGAN SPORTS REPORTER

Senior forward Dylan Owens has started her entire career for the Wildcats and just added another accolade as her team defeated Stephen F. Austin for the Southland Championship.

Owens, an advertising and public relations major from Willard, Missouri, began playing soccer at 5 years old, sparking her passion for the sport.

Dylan’s mother was the coach for every indoor soccer team she played on, while her father was her high school coach.

During Dylan’s high school career, she racked up many accolades on and off the field. As a freshman she scored 25 goals, 30 as a sophomore, 32 as a junior and 47 as a senior. Not only was she a top scorer on her high school team, she also contributed to its win in the 2014 and 2015 district championship.

Dylan was named first team all-district and all-region. She was also all-area honoree and given the Ozark’s Sports Zone Ath-

Photo by LAUREN FRANCO EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Senior Dylan Owens celebrates her team’s Southland Conferance Championship victory.

lete of the Week citation.

She graduated as the best offensive player in the district, totaling the most goals in her area.

As she prepared to graduate high school, Owens was recruited heavily in the Missouri area including Drury University, Missouri State University and Missouri University of Science & Technology. She also was in contact with several other universities across the country.

Owens said Casey Wilson, head soccer coach, was the primary reason she chose ACU. “I talked with a lot of colleges in high school all over the country,” Dylan said. “Casey Wilson recruited me and he was the main reason I choose to play here, I felt like he believed in me.”

Dylan said she enjoyed the transition from high school to college, but can’t believe her journey is almost over.

Her success both on and off the field was not an easy feat. As a freshman, she contributed to the Wildcats’ success greatly. She was named all-conference second team, was on the Southland Conference Commissioner’s Honor Roll and played in every game.

She scored the team-high of 18 points, ranked seventh in the league in points and scored two game winning goals.

During her sophomore season, she was again on the Southland Conference

Commissioner’s Honor Roll and started in all 19 games of the season.

Her junior season, she was named to the first team Southland Conference All-Academic team, and the Southland Conference Commissioner’s Honor Roll for the third year in a row.

She led the team with 18 points, started all 20 games and scored five game-winning goals.

Though Dylan acknowledges her achievements, she said she has made friendships along the way that outweigh success.

“This will sound cliche, but the relationships are the most special to me,” Dylan said. “I have made some lifelong friends here with memories that will never fade.”

As her senior season comes to an end, Owens said she hopes the ending is greater than just a win.

“We use he hashtag #E4C, meaning excellence for christ, and that’s what I hope we end the season on,” Dylan said.

“No matter what happens, I hope we show excellence and joy and pure happiness because we are able to do and play a sport we love.”

SOCCER

Soccer crowned Southland Champions, to face Baylor next MAX PESTON SPORTS DIRECTOR RACHEL POE SPORTS REPORTER

Since beginning the transition to Div. I in 2013, the soccer team won its first Southland Conference Championship after defeating Stephen F. Austin 3-1 Sunday afternoon in Beaumont.

The championship win also gave ACU an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, a first for all of Wildcat athletics.

Sophomore midfielder/ forward Christina Arteaga put the Wildcats on the board first with a goal assisted by junior forward Sam Vestel 31 minutes into the game.

Four minutes later, ACU found the back of the net

once again with a long strike from senior defender/midfielder Caity Acosta.

This gave the Wildcats a comfortable 2-0 lead going into halftime.

Acosta said she did everything she could to help her team win and was thankful for sealing the win with her team.

“I was just trying to score and do whatever it takes to get our team on top,” Acosta said. “We worked so hard for this all season, we had the goal of winning conference at the beginning of the season and we did it.”

In the second half, Arteaga earned her second goal of the game at the 60-minute mark, putting her team up 3-0.

With 18 minutes left to go, SFA broke its silence

with a with a goal from junior defender Katie Jennings. ACU held up defensively after the Lumberjack goal, however, and cruised to a 3-1 championship win.

Rachel Johnson, redshirt junior goalkeeper, saved one shot on goal in the game and let one other go by. With the shutout against Central Arkansas, Johnson and the Wildcats tied the Southland record of shutouts in a season with 13.

Johnson said she gives credit to her team for making her time in the net less difficult.

“I’m just so thrilled to be able to have this experience with my family,” Johnson said. “They worked so hard and made it easy for me because I didn’t have to do a lot this

tournament, but I’m really proud of them for everything they’ve done.”

ACU doubled SFA’s shots in the game taking 18 while the Lumberjacks took nine.

At the conclusion of the game, junior midfielder/defender Shay Johnson was awarded most valuable player of the Southland post-season tournament.

She scored two goals over three games, including the lone score in her team’s win over Central Arkansas.

After being given the bid to the NCAA tournament, the team held a watch party Monday afternoon in the football stadium to see who they would play in the first round.

It was revealed the Wildcats would face Baylor once again this Saturday.

ACU played the Bears for its first game of the season on Aug. 16. The team fell 2-0, however, the Wildcats managed to keep the Bears out of their goal until the 59th minute.

Baylor earned the program’s sixth NCAA bid while also earning the right to host the opening round in Waco for the fifth time. The Bears have won back-to-back postseason bids for the third time, and earned a national seed just one other time.

The Bears are 5-4-2 in the NCAA tournament and is on the hunt for a repeat of their 2017 run, where they advanced to the Elite 8 for the first time in history.

The rematch will take place on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at Betty Lou Mays Soccer Field.

FOOTBALL MATCHUP PREVIEW

STANDINGS Volleyball Team

Ovrl. Div.

SFA UCA SHSU ACU HBU NWSU TAMU-CC UNO UIW McNeese Lamar Nicholls SLU

27-2 22-5 20-7 13-14 15-14 11-13 8-20 12-17 9-16 8-21 6-19 3-24 2-25

Soccer

Team

Ovrl.

UCA HBU Lamar ACU McNeese SLU NWSU SFA UIW TAMU-CC SHSU Nicholls

16-4-1 10-8-1 12-6-2 15-5-1 13-7-1 7-7-4 10-10 7-9-3 3-12-1 5-9-3 3-12-3 3-15

14-0 12-2 12-3 10-5 8-7 7-7 7-8 6-8 6-8 6-8 3-11 1-13 1-13

Div. 10-1 8-2-1 7-2-2 7-3-1 7-3-1 4-4-3 4-7 3-5-3 3-7-1 2-7-2 2-7-2 1-10

Football

Team

Ovrl.

McNeese Nicholls UIW ACU UCA Lamar SHSU SLU NWSU SFA HBU

6-3 6-3 5-4 5-4 5-4 5-4 5-4 4-6 3-6 2-6 1-8

Div. 5-2 5-2 5-2 4-3 4-3 4-3 4-3 4-4 2-5 2-5 0-7

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Soccer

Arteaga Sophomore midfielder/ forward Christina Arteaga netted two goals in the Southland Championship game against Stephen F. Austin Sunday afternoon.

She scored one in each half of the match. Her team cruised to a 3-1 victory and earned an automatic bid to Baylor in the first round of the NCAA tournament Saturday.

Basketball

2018 STATS

ABILENE CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY

34.1

POINTS PER GAME

30.9

175.0

RUSHING YARDS PG

132.0

296.1

PASSING YARDS PG

293.3

30.0 POINTS ALLOWED PG 30.2

(5–4)

MAX PRESTON SPORTS DIRECTOR

RACHEL POE

SPORTS REPORTER

Lewis

SAM HOUSTON STATE UNIVERSITY (5-4)

BRIAN SWEET SPORTS REPORTER

LEXI KIRGAN

The basketball team started its season off right with a lopsided 107-54 victory over Arlington Baptist Tuesday evening. Senior forward Jaren Lewis lead his team with 18 points on the night. He also had four assists and two rebounds.

The team will remain at Moody and host Arkansas State for its second game Friday at 7:30 p.m.

SPORTS REPORTER

Everybody knows I’m a big believer in the Wildcats now.

They’re playing with a lot of heart and making the right plays when needed. Their game against Northwestern State was a bit of an ugly win however, they came through at a clutch time on defense to seal a fourth conference victory. The only thing hurting this team in its upcoming game is the status of Billy McCrary. He suffered an injury against the Demons and sat out for the rest of the game. His presence in the backfield keeps defenses guessing in the rushing game. If he’s good to go before game time, the Wildcats have a strong chance to win. Either way, Luke Anthony still seemed to be comfortable against the Demons, even without his leading rusher.

Sam Houston has two talented receivers in Nathan Stewart and Davion Davis. Stewart has the second most receiving yards in the Southland Conference and Davis ranks second in reception touchdowns.

If the Wildcats can hold this duo of wideouts, I think they come home with their fifth conference win and stay in the playoff race.

The Wildcats are on a three game winning streak and are on a hunt for a playoff spot. The Wildcats momentum is higher and stronger than ever before. The Bearkats hardly stand a chance. SHSU is already coming off of a loss last week to UIW. ACU, however, has not managed to pull a win against Sam Houston aince 1983. On paper SHSU has outnumbered ACU. The Bearkats have the best defense in the conference and two great receivers, but do they have the passion and drive that the Wildcats have had the past three weeks? My bet is that ACU will be returning to Abilene with a win.

Sam Houston State has owned the Southland Conference for years as the Bearkats have won multiple conference titles and have represented Southland in the FCS Tournament for more than a decade.

The Wildcats travel to Huntsville on Saturday and will attempt to be the f irst ACU football team to beat Sam Houston State since 1983.

The Wildcats will have to get the ball out of Luke Anthony’s hands quickly as Sam Houston State has one of the best defensive lines in the conference. The O-Line will have a challenge in f ront of them trying to stop their very complex blitz packages. While I think the Wildcats are outmatched statistically on paper, keeping their playoff hopes alive may be enough to motivate ACU to win.

Both teams are 4-3 in conference, so this is going to be a big-time game for the Wildcats.

Last week, the Wildcats got their third win in a row against Northwestern State while the Bearkats fell to Incarnate Word 26-43. They are tied in second place and this win would help them clinch a spot in postseason play which is something the Wildcats have never done as a Div. I program.

I don’t think there is a chance for the Bearkats this weekend. I think they are going to come out on Saturday ready for war and really put a smackdown on this team.

FINAL SCORE: ACU 28 SHSU 24

FINAL SCORE: ACU 27 SHSU 17

FINAL SCORE: ACU 35 SHSU 23

FINAL SCORE: ACU 24 SHSU 7

Football

James

Redshirt junior running back Tracy James helped his team to a 49-47 win over Northwestern State last Saturday. In the absence of junior transfer running back Billy McCrary, he found the end zone three times, including a one-handed grab from redshirt sophomore quarterback Luke Anthony, and ran for 93 yards in the game. The Wildcats are back in action with a game against Sam Houston State in Huntsville Saturday.

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