Frosh Got Talent Freshmen display skills in talent show vol. 101, no. 3
INSIDE NEWS Part-time ACU police officer dies of heart attack Page 3
NEWS
friday, august 31, 2012
Arts Page 5
1 SECTION, 8 PAGES
You’re beautiful, it’s true ACU ranked 18th most beautiful campus by Newsweek
Camp volunteer robbed at gunpoint in Barret parking lot over summer Page 3
NEWS Study Abroad looking for new director Page 4
OPINION No one wants to see Welcome Week couples’ PDA on campus
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OPINION Guest column remembers the 100th year of the Optimist page 6
SPORTS The sports staff predicts the outcome of the football game at McMurry
marissa jones managing editor
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SPORTS Ken Collums Show to air Saturday morning before football game
ACU was ranked the nation’s 18th most beautiful campus in a list compiled by Newsweek magazine. The rankings were based on ratings of campus aesthetics, sunny days per year, comfort index of weather and the student body’s attractiveness
on a point scale out of ten. Ratings came from the website, College Prowler, where students can write reviews and rate different aspects of campus such as academics, athletics, dining and weather. Dr. Robert Rhodes, provost of ACU, could see the campus benefitting from the high ranking. “Anytime that we have a chance to showcase the
great programs and facilities at ACU it is helpful for us,” Rhodes said. “We have a great story to tell and a great place to tell it from. In an ACU press release, Jean-Noel Thompson, vice president and dean of student life, said he thought the university’s high ranking runs see newsweek page 4
all photos by mandy lambright CHIEF Photographer ACU’ was ranked in the top 20 for most beautiful universities by Newsweek. Criteria included campus, people and weather.
mobile learning
iPad requirement still unconfirmed mark smith Page 8
SPORTS Softball team hires husband and wife as assistants Page 8
NEWS Construction on Sewell Theatre completed Page 3
NEWS Rec Center lowers class prices so more students will enroll Page 4
editor in chief The decision to require all full-time ACU undergrad students to have an iPad by August 2013 has still not been made yet. Dr. Phil Schubert, president of the university, created a new team to work together to come to a consensus on the direction the university will go with mobile learning. The educational innovations team, made up of many faculty and administrators from several different departments on campus, met Thursday hoping to make progress toward its goal.
NEWS
acuoptimist.com
toward a goal of digital textbooks by fall of 2013.” Saltsman said should students be required to have an iPad, he didn’t know if they would have to pay for it or if the university would provide it. “It’s possible we can get the price down to where the iPad and digital textbooks cost less than current textbooks, but there’s an assumption digital textbooks will ultimately save students money” he said. “We don’t know yet how they will be paid for.”
contact smith at mds10a@acu.edu
The educational innovations team Dr. Phil Schubert Dr. Robert Rhodes Dr. Allison Garrett Dr. Bill Rankin Dr. Greg Straughn Kay Reeves Dr. John Wever Kevin Roberts Dr. Rodney Ashlock Dr. Susan Lewis George Saltsman Dr. Stephen Johnson Dr. Mark Phillips Dr. Lesa Breeding
Theme to wrestle with questions of faith staff reporter
Welcome to Abilene gives new students condensed look at city
ing them to choose the iPad option from the Mobile Learning Initiative, because all full-time undergrads will be required to have an iPad in the fall of 2013. However, Saltsman said these emails were incorrect. Team 55 declined to comment. Saltsman said mobile learning wants to move away from handing out smartphones toward having only digital textbooks. “Our numbers indicate 83 percent of incoming student will already own a smartphone, so it would be better to be prepared for digital textbooks than to select a second smartphone,” he said. “We are working
chapel
allison phillips
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However, George Saltsman, executive director of educational technology, said the members left the meeting confused. “We met to re-examine where everything is going with mobile learning,” Saltsman said. “There was confusion among the team because we’re unsure if one decision has been made across the campus, or separate ones among the different departments working on mobile learning.” The team will meet again in two weeks for further discussion. Team 55 sent two separate emails to incoming freshmen and rising juniors in May and June encourag-
This year’s chapel theme, “Who is God? Who am I?” is a 9-week study of Genesis that will cover most of the major stories found in the first book of the Bible. “Many of us have heard these stories, but we’re going to be looking through the big lens of who God is and what that means for me and my life,” said Mark Lewis, assistant dean for Spiritual Life and Chapel programs
In order to help communicate these stories, this semester’s chapel slate is filled with exciting guest speakers, Lewis said. One such speaker, Curt Cloninger, is coming as a part of ACU’s efforts to incorporate the arts into Chapel on a more regular basis. Cloninger, an actor and storyteller of sorts, will be performing a humorous, yet poignant skit taken from his video, “God Views.” In this skit, Cloninger will depict various stereotypical ways that God as perceived, in-
cluding perceptions of God as Santa Clause and God as a grandpa. Lewis believes that Cloninger’s performance will help students understand Chapel’s overarching questions of, “Who is God” and, “Who am I?” in a unique and creative way. “Cloninger’s skits give students a good way to take a broad look at the images we have in our minds as we pray and think about God,” Lewis said.
Abilene Christian University
see theme page 4
destiny hagood staff Photographer Mark Lewis. assistant dean for Spiritual Life and Chapel programs, speaks during Chapel on Tuesday. Lewis, also known as “The Chapel Guy,” leads Chapel in Moody throughout the semester.