The Optimist - 04.12.13

Page 1

Sports Page 6

Rained Out

vol. 101, no. 49

friday, april 12, 2013

1 SECTION, 6 PAGES

Softball team preparing for busy weekend after weeknight games were canceled

students’ association INSIDE OPINION An open letter from the weather to complaining ACU students

WE’RE NOT DONE YET

Treasurer candidates to face off on Friday

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OPINION Sophomore advocates for women’s rights to President Schubert Page 4

NEWS Committee to choose Study Abroad director Page 5

SPORTS

Benac elected president, Rodney Johnson to be VP mandy lambright chieF Photographer Above: J.P. Ralston, junior finance and accounting major from Plano, and Tyler Eidson, sophomore marketing and finance major from College Station, will face off on Friday in a runoff election because neither received the required amount of the vote, more than 50 percent. Ralston narrowly missed the victory, getting 49.5 percent. Left: Dylan Benac, junior political science major from Boerne, was elected the president of the Students’ Association with 51.2 percent of the vote. Right: Rodney Johnson, sophomore management major from Odessa, won the race for vice president with 59.7 percent of the vote.

Tennis teams to play final regular season match in Florida Page 6

staff report

SPORTS Goodenough’s rebuilding of the women’s basketball team is working Page 6

NEWS SA team to select greatest idea in challenge Page 3

ONLINE

Tyler Eidson and J.P. Ralston aren’t done campaigning for Students’ Association treasurer yet. Ralston, junior finance and accounting major from Plano, received 588 votes, or 49.5 percent of the 1,185 votes cast in the treasurer election. But, though he received the most votes, he had to get more than 50 percent of the total votes to be elected. Eidson, sophomore marketing and finance ma-

jor from College Station, received the second-most votes in the race, 373, and will face Ralston in a runoff election on Friday. The other two SA executive officers have been elected: Dylan Benac will be the next president of SA, and Rodney Johnson won the race for vice president. Ralston, who was five votes short of victory, said he had expected a runoff to occur. “I think Tyler had a really good advertising campaign, but I’m still very confident that I’m the best candidate

for the position,” he said. Eidson said he’s glad that if he doesn’t win, Ralston will. “He’ll do a great job and I’ll be happy for him,” he said. “And I’ll know it was God’s plan for him to win and that’s completely cool.” Benac, junior political science major from Boerne and current SA vice president, said he had been nervous about the election. “I’m really excited and kind of relieved honestly,” he said. “I was really wor-

SA election results compared to last year 2013 Overall 1,213 For President Benac: 614 Aaron Johnson: 418 Braddock: 167 For Vice President Rodney Johnson: 713 Rosales: 250 Fullerton: 231 For Treasurer Ralston: 588 Eidson: 373 Goodman: 224

2012 Overall 468 For President Dial: 443 For Vice President Benac: 439 For Treasurer Austin: 237 Bracken: 222

see elections page 5

campus venues

NEWS Ad/PR club tours agencies in Dallas acuoptimist.com

Advance booking frustrates planners brittany jackson student reporter

NEWS Sing Song co-chairs named, planning the February 2014 event acuoptimist.com

VIDEO Students gather for sunny All Club Rush to open rushing season

acuoptimist.com

PHOTOS Check our Flickr for more shots from club rushes

mandy lambright chieF Photographer Laura Kaminsky, junior business management major from Oceanside, Calif., performs with Sanctify Dance Co. in Cullen Auditorium last semester. The dance group was unable to book the auditorium for its spring show.

Cullen Auditorium has proven to be a challenge to book. Anyone planning an event must reserve the space a year in advance. This practice of claiming a space for venues in advance is not uncommon for event coordinators. In fact, it’s a “rule of thumb” that most sites are unavailable to secure locations at last minute. Because of its high demand as a multi-use facility, the auditorium functions on a large scale for securing activities. Therefore, the procedure for retaining a spot is tailored to the professional world, just as it is for saving a spot in the Civic Center or Paramount Theatre. Jacob “KP” Kilpatrick, junior Ad/PR major from Mesquite and captain of Sanctify, recently tried to book Cullen for the hip-hop group’s dance show. He said

he hasn’t been able to get the dance group into the facility for a spring show since he’s been at ACU. “I’ve never had a problem reserving it in the fall, only the spring,” Kilpatrick said. “And having a spring show that’s not in Cullen isn’t impossible. It just takes a little more work than usual and some focus.” Instead, the Sanctify members performed in the Beauchamp Amphitheatre last week. In this past year Cullen has housed 59 major events. Some events lasted two-three days while others lasted an entire week. The auditorium may seem empty at times, but the shows that occur take up a majority of its availability. For example, the ACU Opera reserved all of last week to prepare for its performance. These preparations involve more than simply booking Cullen and rehearsing. They require completing tasks such as fixing the lighting, adjust-

Successfully managing an event is a learning process.”

tom craig director of student activities

ing the sound system and constructing sets. Tom Craig, director of student activities and productions, said there are a lot of variables event coordinators must consider when organizing an activity. Things such as weather conditions, holidays and other activities happening in the community could significantly increase or decrease the event’s attendance. He advised that coordinators first work with the performers to find a reasonable date and then immediately put a hold on the spot in Cullen. “You have to think about all of those things,” Craig said. “Successfully managing an event is a learning see cullen page 3

local

Weather didn’t get the memo: it’s spring flickr.com/acuoptimist

OXFORD Marissa Jones, our Oxford correspondent, details her latest experiences abroad theoxfordcommablog. wordpress.com

below the freezing point on Wednesday morning. editor in chief With the 62-degree drop came a little more than an Don’t put away those sweat- inch of rain and some peaers just yet. The weather sized hail. The Wednesday just can’t seem to make up high of 50 was a record high its mind. minimum, according to an A cold front brought Abilene Reporter-News reTuesday’s high tempera- port. ture of 93 degrees down to This spring season has

mark smith

been unseasonably cool in Abilene, only nearing average temperatures, with a few exceptions, about a week ago. The inch of rain persuaded Taylor County Judge Downing Bolls to lift the burn ban on Wednesday. It also canceled two ACU softball games and convinced

Abilene Christian University

many students to stay inside. “I was looking forward to finally wearing shorts and not be freezing,” said John Martin, junior Ad/PR major from Pflugerville. “It’s supposed to start getting warm in April.” The weather on Thursday was a welcome change.

Sunny skies, a high near 70 and little wind made for a pleasant spring day. Dr. Kerri Hart, associate director of the Money Student Recreation and Wellness Center, said she had been complaining about how unpredictable, and ofsee srping page 3


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