The Optimist - 09.25.13

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Features Page 5

Meet the presidents vol. 102, no. 10

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

1 SECTION, 8 PAGES

Learn more about ACU’s social club presidents

INSIDE NEWS The campus responds to the new Apple iOS 7 update

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NEWS The Emineo art gallery is looking for three interns Page 4

NEWS Team 55 has implemented new hours due to budget cuts Page 4

OPINION Read the editorial board’s take on the new Harry Potter movie

Garon Goodspeed staff Photographer

Juniors Coleman Hammond, exercise science major from Lubbock, and Tyler Eidson, business management major from College station, pull the pig off of the spit at GSP’s pig picking rush. Page 6

NEWS The College Democrats look to expand popularity on campus Page 3

SPORTS Wildcat soccer remains unbeaten after a pair of weekend matches Page 8

NEWS Alumnus Steven Sheasby comes to campus to speak on South African nonprofit Page 4

Crash survivor sues party hosts provide safe transportation from the party hosted at Coldwater Cattle Co., Editor in chief according to court filings. After the musical’s endThe only survivor of the of-season party hosted by car crash involving cast Batson, a car carrying six members of the musical cast and crew members “Texas” has sued for more crashed, resulting in five than $1 million in dam- fatalities on Aug. 12. The ages. driver of the car, former Timothy Johnson is ACU student Clint Diaz, suing Amarillo resident had a blood-alcohol level Joseph Batson, his com- of .165, according to the pany, Coldwater Cattle Texas Department of PubCo., and Texas Panhan- lic Safety report. Indicadle Heritage Foundation, tions of marijuana were which produces the musi- also found in his blood. cal “Texas,” for failing to Diaz, former ACU the-

Marissa Jones

Jesse Harper student reporter

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ONLINE VIDEO Take a look at what fitness classes the Rec Center has to offer

acuoptimist.com

Channy wood Attorney of Wood Law Firm

ater major, transferred to West Texas A&M last spring semester. The petition said Batson’s failure to provide safe transportation for the cast and crew “constituted negligence that

directly and caused the injuries” because at the time of the crash “Diaz was acting as a... representative” of Batson. Texas law makes those who provide alcohol legally responsible for the harm caused by intoxication-related accidents. Channy Wood, Johnson’s attorney in the lawsuit, said the defendant has not filed an answer but probably will in the next two weeks. The family of Julian Arredondo, who was killed in the crash, has also filed

to join the lawsuit against Batson. Johnson is still recovering in the hospital, said Wood. “I think one of the things we all hope is that some light is going to be shed on what happened in this accident,” Wood said. “Hopefully we’ll be able to take some steps to prevent this happening in the future.”

contact Jones at mnj10a@acu.edu

ACU campus plagued by crickets

SPORTS

Jennie Loerch talks about the win against Texas Tech and her love for all things ACU

“Hopefully we’ll be able to take some steps to preven this happening in the future.”

Students utilized Twitter to address the field cricket and insect problem after seeing the Tower of Light covered in black spots. On Sept. 17, the Twitter page “ACU Crickets” hit news feeds. The page is filled with humorous comments from the supposed perspective of crickets. Some students have found amusement in this and re-tweeted the Twitter user, but many students on campus are concerned about the recent visitation. Nick Richardson, a junior criminal justice ma-

jor from Waco, said he has noticed the outbreak of insects. “Every night this week after I leave The Bean it seems like I’m being attacked by countless bugs,” Richardson said. Corey Ruff, director of Facilities and Campus Management, is in charge of handling the situation. “Every year around this time we have these visitors for approximately two weeks,” Ruff said. Ruff said that the climate is the reason for the increase of insects on ACU campus, which means the problem is generally short-lived.

paige otway Staff Photographer

see Crickets page 3 Piles of crickets litter the ACU campus.

Library extends hours on Fridays, Saturdays Rachel Fritz

Mark McCallon, assisStaff reporter tant dean of Library Service, said the extension The library’s hours have was a reasonable decibeen extended this se- sion. mester for both Fridays “We try to listen to and Saturdays. the students and the StuIn past years, the li- dents’ Association asked brary closed at 5 p.m. on if we could extend the Fridays and Saturdays, weekend hours and that but after considering stu- was a good request that dents’ requests the hours we could do within our have been extended until budget,” said McCallon. 7 p.m. for the weekend. Throughout the school

year, students would consistently stay in the library until closing on Friday and Saturday, so when the Students’ Association made the suggestion, it was immediately taken into consideration. “We saw that we still had students in the building even after we closed on weekends,” McCallon said. McCallon said that the change in hours is expect-

Abilene Christian University

ed to affect students who study in the library more than the librarians and student workers. “Now, students who may not get off work until 5 p.m. will have the opportunity to study in the library in the early evenings,” McCallon said. Budget was an essential concern in the decision to extend the library’s hours. “We looked at the stats

from the gates coming into the library and the amount of traffic at the front desk to determine whether to extend the library’s hours,” McCallon said. “Usage of the library was slower during the summer so we cut back the hours this summer from being open every day to being opened Monday through Saturday. see library page 3


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