The World Is Full Of Beauty.–Open Your Eyes And See.
Vol. 101 OLD IS THE NEW NEW. Looks a bit different today, huh? One hundred school years ago, just six years after what would become ACU was founded, the Optimist was born. The front page of Vol. 1, No. 1, looked just like this one today, except the entire page was one opinion piece by Robertson Lafayette Whiteside, the president emeritus of the university, on the dangers and responsibilities of education. The headline and story design style, shown below, were incorporated in later issues. In that opening column, Whiteside wrote that a college-educated person, an intellectual giant, without a personal duty to God can be corrupted to further his or her personal gain, and as Christians we ought to stay rooted in the Bible’s teachings so we may use our education responsibly. As the reader, now 100 years in the future, flips through the rest of the eight-page issue, he or she will notice many more differences. The entire issue featured small, simple headlines and literally no photos. Ironically, many of the advertisements in that first, im-
The World is Full Of Good. Cheer Up. Quit Knocking.
ABILENE, TAYLOR COUNTY, TEXAS. WEDNESDAY FEB. 27, 2013 age-less issue are for photo studios and development. Nine ads for Tyson & Coffman, which apparently was a general store out in Clyde that sold everything from shoe repair to Japanese rugs to furniture, are thrown in in the middle of pages to separate stories. They looked just like several short news briefs, and would be confusing in today’s newspapers. “Don’t forget Tyson & Coffman when you want photos. Clyde, Texas,” read the ninth and last ad at the bottom of Page 8. The university’s president and administration used to write quite a bit of the publication’s content. In other stories, they were referred to with the title “Bro.” The inside pages also included a lot of unsigned opinion, poetry and new briefs that were more brief than news. The Optimist’s editor in chief and assistant editors had yet to be selected at the time of that first issue, and a short piece on Page 4 called for students to apply to be on staff: “If you would like to be the editor or one of the assistant editors … you had better get on the ground early and get to work.” Also in that original issue, published on
Aug. 1, before the school year started, is a call for readers to subscribe for the full year for a whopping 50 cents. It promised that the next issue would be “particularly interesting to all who have an interest in the school” because it would include how the semester began, school news, as well as “all the jokes concerning the students,” and would be flooded with college spirit. But we don’t know how the next issue actually looked. A fire in the old administration building destroyed a lot of the college’s records in 1929, leaving us with only one issue on record before 1916. Thankfully, it is Vol. 1, No. 1. It’s all very interesting, at least for those of us carrying on the tradition. Looking back on our predecessors’ work is enlightening as we see how much media, and this school, has changed over time. At the time of the first issue, the school had just started using the Abilene Christian College name, but wasn’t accredited as a junior college yet. Its campus was in downtown Abilene, and fewer than 300 students were enrolled. Of course, this is impressive considering six years earlier, our dear Christian college opened as the Childers Classical In-
NUMBER 40 stitute, with an enrollment of 25 students in grades 1-12. However, the lede (beginning of a story) for a front page news story more than 84 years ago shows some things never change: Jan. 31, 1929: ‘Pre-Law Club Is Organized For Students:’ “A. C. C. not only has preachers, teachers, doctors and pretty girls; but it also has lawyers.” This front page of this edition, the first in our four-issue “Throwback Series,” is our tribute to those who did the same work in the 100 years before us. The front page design is the only change. This and our next three issues will still include all of our usual news, features, arts, opinion and sports coverage of the day. We’ll also include gems from past eras –some of our favorite interesting or funny headlines and stories from back in the day –on the Opinion page. After all, we do have “all the jokes concerning the students.” – By Mark Smith, Editor in Chief Tyson & Coffman for tailor work. Clyde, Texas.
Dean of students Senior leads class campus manAgement to leave ACU, student in sing song sweep, responds to feral life planning reception reflects on favorites cat population
Academics, athletics preparing for impact of division I move
Dr. Jean-Noel Thompson, vice president of Student Life and dean of students, announced last month that he will leave the university in March. The Office of Student Life plans a reception for all ACU faculty, students and staff to join in saying goodbye at his farewell reception. The reception will take place on March 5 from 2:30-4:30 p.m. in the Campus Center Living Room. All guests are welcome to come and go as they please. Tina Fleet, associate vice president for Student Life, said, “The Student Life Department has prepared a presentation to honor him at 3:15 p.m.” Thompson has been the vice president for Student Life and Dean of Students at ACU since June 2007. He is joining Faulkner University in Montgomery, Ala. as the vice president for student services. Before Thompson joined ACU he served as the vice president of student life and dean of students at Grove City College in Grove City, Pa., and as the vice president of student life at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, Ariz. Thompson earned his bachelor’s degree in organizational communication from Arizona State University. He also earned a master’s degree in student affairs in higher education from Colorado State University and a doctorate degree in higher education and student affairs from Indiana University. Thompson has also taught at both the graduate and undergraduate level as an assistant professor at each of the institutions he has worked. Thompson and his wife, Tonya, have seven children and are active members of the Southern Hills Church of Christ in Abilene. “Jean-Noel has been an integral part of the ACU management team, and has done a wonderful job assembling and leading one of the best student life organizations in the nation,” said Dr. Allison Garrett, executive vice president. “We wish him and his family every success in this transition.” As the vice president of student services at Faulkner, Thompson will oversee the dean of students, student life/activities, residence life, career services, campus security, student counseling, intercollegiate athletics and health services. –Story by Christina Williamson
When ACU joins the Southland Conference next fall, athletics is not the only department that will feel the effects of the move to a new conference. Academics will feel a definite impact of the adjustment as well. “The reason the new standards are being put into place is there are quite a few students who are playing sports for Division I institutions who, academically, are struggling and they’re not making it in college and they’re actually dropping out,” said Kevin Campbell, chief enrollment officer. “So the college presidents are actually trying to increase the standards so that student athletes are more even par with the remaining student body on an academic preparation standpoint, but also to try to improve the retention and graduation rates of student athletes.” Students eligible under the current standards, but not under the new standards, will still be able to be admitted under an academic redshirt, which would give the student a year to bring their GPA up, but would make them ineligible to participate in athletics for that period. “At the Division II and Division III level, there is a disparity amongst the academic qualifications and the preparedness of the student athletes versus the overall population, so one of the main drivers behind moving to Division I as to close that gap between our athletes and the current students,” Campbell said. Campbell said 30 percent of current basketball and football players in D-I schools nationwide will not be eligible academically under the new standards coming in 2016. Under the new standards that will come along with the move to the new conference, a student’s GPA and SAT or ACT scores would be put onto a sliding scale to determine their eligibility. In addition, transfer students will be required to have received their associate’s degree before transferring to a D-I institution. “It will also improve our overall student pool; our recruiting is very, very likely to improve,” retired professor of English David Merrell said. “It gives us a chance to raise our expectations for everyone.” Merrell said that he believed that, competition-wise, ACU was also a much better fit in Division I in most sports. “The big thing is not changing our academics, it’s changing our competition’s academics,” Merrell, former chair of the Academic Requirements Committee, said, “The schools in that conference are accepting students that look more like our students than the schools in the conference we’re leaving. Most of our student athletes are going to be eligible in Division I too, because our standards suggest that.” The value of an ACU graduate’s resume would also increase, because of the recognition that comes with Division I, Merrell said. In Division II there are 23 conferences, and in evaluating the university’s standings in the division, they found that the Lone Star Conference, which they were a part of, ranked 22nd, based on academic accomplishments, graduation rates among athletes, and ACT and SAT scores. “I think it makes the academics more difficult; I think it makes getting in more difficult, but it also attracts more people,” Samantha Pettit, senior special education major from Vancouver, Wash., said. According to an article on Southland Conference’s website, ACU has produced dozens of academic All-Americans, as well as 30 NCAA Post-Graduate Scholarship winners. (Continued on page 4)
Sanctify to offer workshop to benefit accident victims Sanctify will have a Dance Benefit Workshop in order to raise money for victims of the Jan.25 accident, Rebekah Cherniss and Deanna Romero. The workshop will be March 2 from 12:30-3 p.m. Cherniss and Romero were members of Sanctify last semester. “They loved to dance, and they loved to just be around,” said Byron Martin, director of the Office of Multicultural Enrichment. “They loved Sanctify.” During the first lesson, participants will be taught the hip-hop dance Cherniss and Romero first learned with Sanctify. The dance lesson will also have a free-styling session and a devotional. Lindsay Palmer, sophomore psychology major from Houston and organizer of the benefit, got the idea after hearing of the expenses (Continued on page 3)
Continued from Page 4 of the Feb. 22 edition of the Optimist. To see the beginning of this feature on Nick Tatum, grab a copy of that issue from last week or go to acuoptimist.com On top of directing the Senior Class, Nick Tatum, senior family studies major from Plano, also served as the assistant director for Trojans this year. “I was up till at least 3 a.m. for most of Sing Song,” he said. “The last two weeks of Sing Song were particularly rough this year.” Saturday night before the curtain rose, Tatum gathered the senior group one last time to pray, thanking God for the four-year blessing of performing with the class. “It was little things like that that made being in his group so worthwhile, even more than the trophies and awards,” said Courtney McGaha. But a fourth trophy won later that evening did not hurt. Tatum said the fourth and final win that night was surreal. “I couldn’t believe it was finally over,” he said. “I was mostly pumped that the pressure was finally going to be lifted, but I was also sentimental about participating one last time as an undergraduate student.” A four-time championship felt like justification for the many, long hours spent in singing, choreography, costume-constructing, set-building, said Elle Whitaker, senior management major from Plano. “Having won all four years makes Sing Song into more than just a good memory, it turns the competition into a bonding experience that I can’t put into words but will never forget,” she said. Even with all his hard work, Tatum makes it known the seniors’ success was not a single-handed task. “There is no way that a Sing Song director can be successful without some solid, capable assistant directors,” he said. “Our acts have been successful because of the hard work these friends have done over the past four years.” Whitaker acted as the choreographer for the class acts since freshman year, attending meetings, helping with song selection, developing themes and “acted as the devil’s advocate for all of Nick’s crazy and brilliant ideas,” she said. “Moses and the plagues? No questioning and no worry. We knew Nick could show us how to pull it off. Recreate an entire film? No fear, Nick knows us well enough to help us make it work.” The group members’ confidence in their director gave Tatum’s creativity full reign in creating the routines. “If we hadn’t had him as a director all four years, I don’t know if we would have found someone willing to take the same risks and, in turn, create some of the shows to the same level as we did,” McGaha said. Even with the promise of a sweep, Tatum admits moments of wanting to switch gears by trying something else. “I’ve always wanted to be a Sing Song host, and even considered trying to direct the Trojan act during my junior or senior year,” he said. “But in the end, I decided to stick with our class acts because of the great experience I knew that I would have.” His commitment to the class act was partially what led to the group’s cohesion, Whitaker said. “One of the best parts of class Sing Song over the years has been the familiarity and feeling of coming home that comes with the act,” she said. “That community has been fostered due in large part because of Nick and his consistency as a director.” (Continued on page 5)
ACU’s Facilities and Campus Management Department has come up with a plan to keep the campus safe from an overpopulation of cats. They are calling it the Feral Cat Initiative. For many years ACU has struggled with cats wandering in and remaining on campus, but actions are finally being taken. With a new Trap-Neuter-Return program, campus management will humanely capture the animals, have them spayed/neutered, vaccinated for rabies and then returned to campus. Corey Ruff, executive director of facilities and campus management, is a main advisor for the initiative. “TNR stabilizes the feral cat colonies, improves and protects their lives, and benefits the campus and the feral cats,” Ruff said. “Many of these feral cats on campus are the offspring of stray cats that have been abandoned.” Ruff said Dr. Dale Hembree, a local veterinarian, is partnering with the program by taking the cats to his clinic and determining whether they are in good enough condition to be spayed/neutered. Each cat is then eartipped for identification and given a rabies shot. The entire process is completed within a matter of hours, ending with the cats’ return to campus. ACU Police Chief Jimmy Ellison is aware of the growing problem, despite not being directly affected by it. “There are some people that think the cats are cute. And they want to feed and take care of them,” Ellison said. “But they wouldn’t want 50 stray cats living out on their back porch at their home. So why do they want them living in the alley on campus?” The purpose of the program is not to immediately eliminate the feline population, but to control it. Another step in this plan is to regulate the food supply of the cats. Marty Farmer, the facilities management’s carpenter, and his students are currently building stations that will be filled with food and water for the cats. They are also in search of people, perhaps those who are already feeding the cats, to volunteer as feeders specifically for the program. Through these actions, the cats will be encouraged to hunt rodents, snakes and birds as if they were in their natural habitat. Any one interested in helping by volunteering their time, skills or money for the program can email the group at feralcats@ groupmail.acu.edu. –Story by Brittany Jackson
Red boot roundup attracts more than 500, raises nearly $5,000 Almost a month after Lindsey Smith lost her life in a car accident, ACU students, faculty and staff gathered in Bennett Gym to celebrate her life through her passion for two-stepping at the Red Boot Roundup. The dance was put together by students who were close to Smith with the help of Student Life and the Students Association. Zach Stromberg, junior psychology and business financial management major from Putney, Vt., helped organize the dance. Stromberg said he was impressed at the amount of work and commitment given by everyone involved. “Everyone put their heart into this dance, and without it, the dance wouldn’t have been (Continued on page 3)
Abilene Christian University