Sports Page 6
Blowout Win
vol. 101, no. 36
wednesday, february 13, 2013
17-point victory not as close as it appears
1 SECTION, 6 PAGES
events
administration
INSIDE
CBS dean candidate cancels interview
OPINION Indiana Jones scene provides allegorical take on Valentine’s Day
Page 4
josh garcia managing editor
NEWS SHADES and Sanctify add new members after auditions Page 3
NEWS Blood Drive receives more donations than last year Page 3
SPORTS
Men’s baseball splits first home series 2-2, now 4-4 on the season Page 6
SPORTS Softball Catcher Lydni Smith ends series with walkoff homerun Page 6
photos by adrian patenaude staff photographer Above:Virtuous Sisterhood member Denysha Taylor, junior speech pathology major from Waco, dances during Cultural Crossover, an event hosted by the Office of Multicultural Enrichment. Below: Dr. Ron Morgan, professor of history, stops by the Hispanos Unidos booth.
A TASTE OF HOME
Students share culture samples from Nigeria, Greece and more
ONLINE NEWS Springboard Challenge winner launches art gallery website acuoptimist.com
NEWS Shinnery Review accepting submissions acuoptimist.com
NEWS
gabi powell features editor
Spring enrollment dips, but interest in new enrollment is up acuoptimist.com
VIDEO Houston Church impacts Wildcat baseball team
acuoptimist.com
PHOTOS Check our Flickr for the latest shots on campus during Sing Song week
flickr.com/acuoptimist
OXFORD Marissa Jones, our Oxford correspondent, details her latest experiences abroad theoxfordcommablog. wordpress.com
During Saturday night’s basketball games, the Moody track was crowded with tables, giving the community a taste of culture in celebrating the first annual Cultural Crossover. The Office of Multicultural Enrichment-sponsored event showcased Greece, Nigeria, the Czech Republic, the U.S., Spain and Mexico at the Crossover, with campus international student clubs putting on display food, music and information from their own country. Rodney Johnson, an OME student staff member, said they even showcased cultures on ACU’s own campus that go overlooked. “It created an environment that al-
lowed people to celebrate where they come from and who they are, which is what the Office of Multicultural Enrichment is all about. We strive every day to be a voice of culture and acceptance for this campus and its students.” Jamilah Spears, junior communications major from Covina, Calif., and President of the Virtuous Sisterhood club, ran a table representing Nigeria. Their space served a Nigerian dish consisting of tomato stew, rice and a fried plantain with up-beat Nigerian music playing in the background. “The crowd seemed to have enjoyed the table. Especially when we prompted them to dance or take a taste of the food,” Spears said. But it was the student group Hispanos Unidos who walked away with the $100 prize awarded by OME for
the best booth contest. Their members prepared a spread of quesadillas, tacos, Spanish rice and salsa music and flags of different Hispanic countries. Liz Chavez, senior psychology major from San Antonio, works with the Office of Multicultural Enrichment and helped with planning the event. “A few people would pass, making double takes because they did not know what was going on,” she said. “But when they found out there was free food, they quickly returned for some and got to learn about the different cultures. It was a hit for our first event ever like it.” Chavez said Cultural Crossover is sure to become an annual event with hopes of more student clubs participation in the future to provide the community with some global perspective. “It helps enrich students at ACU who do not have much of an opportunity to get to know different cultures around the world. It is a way to bring the cultures to our very own school and what better way than with food and music?” Chavez said. contact POWELL at GMP10B@acu.edu
reslife
Students seek visitation revision madeline orr copy editor Residents of A. B. Barrett Hall are requesting help from university staff to extend visitation hours for guests of the opposite gender. J.P. Festa, sophomore multimedia major from McKinney, is the Barrett Hall representative for the Students’ Association. He is proposing more visitation hours, possibly on weekends, in addition to the currently allotted Thursday 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. hours. “I always want to have someone to come hang out,
to play games and watch football on the weekends when I have actual free time,” Festa said. Festa will meet with Dr. John Delony, associate dean of students, on Wednesday to discuss his proposal. “I’m always in favor of finding ways that students can be in community without having to leave campus,” Delony said. Previously, Barrett did not have a lobby or common area like other dorms on campus, other than The Den coffee shop, making it difficult for students of the opposite gender to congregate. The Den closed at the beginning of this semester.
Festa said he hopes to get the momentum for a new visitation policy started and to get the university on board. “I’m completely on board with reexamining [the policy],” Delony said. Delony said the process involved listening to students’ opinions to compile data, then working with the Student Life team to develop a policy. “I like hearing student voice because that is the right place and the best place to start,” Delony said. Caitlin McKnight, sophomore speech pathology major from Pittsburg, Kan., is a resident of Barrett Hall.
Abilene Christian University
“I think it would be awesome. Especially because we’re all 19, 20 or older – at that age we can handle it,” McKnight said. Student Life has yet to consider a policy revision. Delony said he is less concerned with the timing of a policy and more with whether it is the right thing to do. “My plans are just for Barrett Hall but I think it would be great for every dorm,” Festa said. “It’s something the students would definitely appreciate.” contact orr at mco10b@acu.edu
Dr. Eddie Sharp, pulpit minister at University Avenue Church of Christ in has sharp Austin, w i t h d ra w n his candidacy for dean of the College of Biblical Studies. Dr. John Weaver, chair of the CBS dean search committee, thanked Sharp for his consideration and service in an email on Monday. “After a process of discernment, Dr. Eddie Sharp has withdrawn from the CBS dean search,” said Weaver, dean of library services and educational technology. “He and his wife have concluded that their future remains in congregational ministry with the University Avenue Church of Christ in Austin.” Sharp began preaching in 1971 as a junior at ACU and was the preaching minister at University Church of Christ in Abilene for 28 years. He and his wife Annette moved to Austin in 2008. Sharp is also a member of the ACU Board of Trustees. Sharp said he and Annette enjoy working with each other at University Avenue and considered the decision together. “We want to be able to make decisions that are formed by faith, covered in see CBS page 5
crime
ACU Police apprehends, arrests door-knocker melany cox online managing editor ACUPD arrested a suspicious male who was knocking on doors of off-campus residencies for several weeks and asking strange questions. The man was arrested Monday at about 3 p.m. for charges unrelated to the door-knocking. Police Chief Jimmy Ellison said ACUPD received a call about the man and officers located him near EN 14th St. and Avenue E. The man fled, but was apprehended after a short foot chase and taken to Taylor County Jail. The man was identified as James We l d o n Bradford, 38. Ellison said Bradford had a warrant for bradford his arrest issued out of Comanche county. He was on parole for burglary of a habitation and the warrant was issued for a parole violation. A story about a suspicious man knocking on off-campus doors was published in the Feb. 1 edition of the Optimist. Ellison said the police received a lot of see arrest page 5