Sports Page 6
One Step Back
vol. 101, no. 33
friday, february 1, 2013
1 SECTION, 6 PAGES
Men’s basketball falls behind in playoff race
accident INSIDE OPINION The family of Jeffrey Davis writes an open letter to ACU Page 4
OPINION
Cherniss to undergo surgery mark smith editor in chief Rebekah Cherniss, one of the freshmen injured in the fatal accident last Friday night, will undergo surgery Friday morning on her back and jaw to repair injuries from the accident. Cherniss, freshman Ad/ PR major from Katy, has
been in Hendrick Medical Center since Friday night. She improved to fair condition on cherniss Tuesday, but has several fractures on her L4 and L5 vertebrae, located in her lower back. Her mother,
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Susan, said the surgeons Everybody here has been will fuse the two vertebrae absolutely amazing. We’ve together, using a bone graft. While she is still under, they been blown away with the will also repair her the right whole community.” side of her jaw, near her wisdom teeth, with a plate to susan cherniss replace her damaged skull. rebekah’s mother Deanna Romero, the other student injured in the accident still in the hospital, remains in good condition. has seen significant imSusan Cherniss said she provement in her daugh-
ter’s condition. “She’s engaged, having conversations, making silly remarks,” Susan said. “She still gets confused, but she’s remembering more and more.” The doctors told her family that if everything goes as planned, Rebekah could be able to be discharged in see cherniss page 5
memorial J.J. Abrams could restore Star Wars’ original legacy
Family, service remember Smith’s life
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NEWS Recent graduate auditions, makes the cut for American Idol Page 5
NEWS
staff report
BSA brings back ‘Sundaes on Mondays’ after long absence
More than a thousand p e o p l e packed Oakwood Baptist Church for Lindsey Smith’s mesmith morial service in New Braunfels at 11 a.m. on Thursday. Smith, 20, died in the car crash on Friday night. She and five friends, all injured, were headed to two-step in Oplin. The other driver, Jeffrey Davis, also died. Friends and family picked up pink bracelets that read “Loving Lindsey.” Seekers of the Word, the on-campus religious drama group Smith was involved in, performed two skits before her mother, Linda, shared her love of laughing with “The World According to Lindsey.” Her childhood friend, Michael Lehman, played a song he wrote. Then her dad, Todd, spoke about her passion and her impact, and he challenged everyone in attendance to use the bracelet as a testimony to someone else. Mark Smith and Elizabeth Weiss contributed to this report.
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NEWS Mike Cope leaves ACU for Pepperdine University Page 3
SPORTS Baseball team to begin season in Minute Maid Park Page 6
ONLINE PHOTOS
For photos from the accident site and events in remembrance, visit: flickr.com/acuoptimist
VIDEO JMC students ‘pay it forward’ to community acuoptimist.com
VIDEO Accident survivor Callie Kerbo describes the crash in exclusive interview
acuoptimist.com
VIDEO Watch video reports about the accident and local response
mandy lambright chief photographer Luke Sorrell, senior biochemistry major from Coppell, goes up for a layup during intramural basketball. For more on intramurals, see page 6.
contact the optimist at jmcnetwork@acu.edu
Crime
Suspicious door-knocking reported melany cox online managing editor The ACU Police Department has received three calls in the past 10 days about a suspicious male knocking on doors of students living off-campus and asking the residents strange questions. Lt. Randy Motz of the ACU Police said they were first notified of a suspicious male knocking on a student’s door on E.N. 13th St. on Jan. 19. They received two more calls, one on Fri-
day from College Drive and another on Tuesday from Washington Boulevard. Motz said ACU Police has an agreement with the Abilene Police Department: when a call comes from within a one-mile radius around campus, APD will call the ACU Police to respond, because they are closer and can arrive faster. Motz said an unidentified male knocked on students’ doors and offered to do odd jobs, then began to ask personal questions. The man would ask the students
if they lived alone, about their schedules, if they were married, if they were students, if they lived with their parents and other personal questions. The students became suspicious and called APD, who immediately informed ACU Police, who quickly responded. “Always be cautious about opening your door to strangers. I know it’s hard in a Christian community where we are called to help people,” Motz said. Motz said the suspect was described by several
witnesses as tall with brown hair, skinny and “grungy looking,” possibly in his 40s. He said if anyone sees a man fitting the description knocking on doors, they should immediately call APD or ACU Police. “Get a good, detailed description of what this person looks like,” Motz said. While the man had not threatened or hurt anyone, Motz said “common safety tips” such as locking doors and vehicles should be observed. He said people should pay attention to sur-
roundings and never give out personal information to strangers. Motz said the priority of ACU Police is the safety of ACU students, including those living off-campus. He said the department is increasing off-campus patrols and there are “a lot of eyes around campus.” If anyone sees anything suspicious, they should call the police immediately. contact cox at mkc09b@acu.edu
social clubs
Pi Kappa pulls out of Sing Song late katie greene page 2 editor acuoptimist.com
OXFORD Marissa Jones, our Oxford correspondent, updates us on her experience theoxfordcommablog. wordpress.com
Pi Kappa dropped out of Sing Song a week before the Spring semester began. The men’s social club intended on having a Beach Boys theme to fit in with the overall theme of Sing Song Vacation. The set list is normally made permanent in early
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We decided that rather than throw something together with not enough people, it would be better to pull out altogether and focus on other things.” robert hull pi kappa president
November so that each act will be given the proper amount of time on stage. After that, acts are not al-
lowed to drop out. Tom Craig, Director of Student Activities and Productions, said that usually, if clubs
Abilene Christian University
are having trouble, they are able to talk with the club to help them work it out. Pi Kappa was an exception to this rule. Robert Hull, junior piano major from Ripon, Calif., and president of Pi Kappa, said the officers discussed it over break. “We decided that rather than throw something together with not enough people, it would be better to pull out altogether and focus on
other things,” Hull said. This will be the second year in a row that Pi Kappa has not had an act in Sing Song. Last year Pi Kappa served as Sing Song security, keeping participants in designated areas and helping to direct acts, telling them where to go and when. They hope to serve in a similar capacity this year. see late page 5