Optimist the
Vol. 98, No. 19
Faces In the Crowd
PAGE 5 1 section, 8 pages
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
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BREAKING NEWS, VIDEOS, PHOTOS, DISCUSSION AND EXCLUSIVE CONTENT STUDENT LIFE
Free activities, food available for Sadie’s Week Emily Loper Contributing Reporter Female students will line up after Chapel every day this week, while men on campus hope for an invitation to one of five free Sadie Hawkins events. The Campus Activities
Board is sponsoring free, offcampus activities for Sadie’s Week this year. Erika Goldman, senior family studies major from Denver, said the CAB office will pick up the tab for five “dates” during Sadie’s week. Women can pick up two tickets in the McGlothlin Campus
Center after Chapel each day and invite someone to join them in that day’s activity. “It doesn’t necessarily have to be a date,” Goldman said. “It’s a great opportunity to get a group of friends together and enjoy something fun provided by ACU.” Goldman, CAB officer,
said most of the participating businesses have welcomed students for Sadie’s Week, as well as for the Free Nights Out sponsored by CAB throughout the semester. Tara Shoemaker, junior see SADIE page 4
QUICK FACTS Sadie’s Week provides five opportunities for the ladies to take the guys on a date, courtesy of the Campus Activites Board. Monday: free ice cream from Cold Stone Creamery Tuesday: free coffee from Starbucks n Wednesday: free burritos from Sharky’s Burrito Co. n Thursday: one hour of free miniature golf or bowling and a $10 arcade card at Prime Time n Friday: hypnotist at 7 p.m. in Cullen Auditorium n n
STUDENT LIFE
Women discuss
After receivin g more than four times th seasonal flu eu vaccinations , ACU studen sual number of community are facing tw ts and the Abilene o months of
taboo topics Bailey Neal Contributing Reporter
Every Wednesday night, women living in Adams Hall get together for “Sex Talk and Tea Night,” a discussion group where women can share their thoughts about relationships. The women began gathering last year because they wanted a safe place – among a group of friends – to talk about common issues. The tradition carried over to this semester, and so far, seven girls have come to the meetings. Abby Youngblood, social work major from St. Louis, with the help of fellow Adams Hall resident assistants Abby Hill and Abby Register, chose Wednesday nights to sit down and talk with sophomore residents and other female Residence Life members; these conversations frequently turned back to the topics of sex and relationships. “Last year, I was an RA in Adams, and some girls in my hall were in my room one night just asking questions about sex and what God thinks about it,” Youngblood said. “We were able to have a discussion on that and ask questions that people didn’t think they were able to ask
Colter Hettich Editor in Chief The ACU Medical Clinic has administered its last seasonal flu vaccination and likely will see no more this flu season. The clinic ordered 1250 doses this semester – more than four times the number administered in past years. Michelle Drew, nurse practitioner at the ACU clinic, said medical facilities traditionally begin offering seasonal flu vaccines Oct. 1, but the university’s clinic started during the last week of August. “We’re on a waiting list to get even another shipment,” Drew said. “So many of the manufacturers have switched over to producing H1N1 [vaccinations],
so the supply is very tight.” In addition to a diminishing supply, Drew also said people who normally do not consider getting vaccinated have sought flu shots this year. The seasonal flu typically begins circulating Nov. 1, but the body needs a few weeks to build the antibody response needed to fight the virus, so Drew thinks the campus is well-prepared for the season. “Hopefully, this will mean that instead of getting their flu shot when it’s already circulating, their bodies have actually had the time to build up the bodies and have the protection they
should have,” she said. The university has yet to offer a vaccination for the virus that has earned the most media – the H1N1 strain, also known as the swine flu. The state has prioritized which clinics will receive H1N1 vaccines first, based on their population’s risk for complications, the most common being pneumonia. Areas with high concentrations of pregnant women and young children are at the top of the list. “We first became aware of H1N1 in see FLU page 4
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Get 7-8 hours of sleep each night. If you contract the virus, stay home and rest. Anyone with the flu should avoid public places.
Cover your coughs or sneezes with your elbow. This is the best way to prevent the virus from traveling via your hands.
Wash your hands thouroughly and often. Hand washing can greatly reduce your risk of contracting the influenza virus.
Eat healthily and exercise. Vitamin supplements are helpful, as well. Also, be sure to drink plenty of water.
see SEX page 4
TECHNOLOGY
Scam scare reinforces importance of security Casey Oliver
ing on the Internet. Wilson said she first Contributing Reporter learned of the scam when A faculty member’s e-mail she was awoken at 5 a.m. was hacked by an unknown Tuesday by a phone call from a friend who rescam artist last week. Lorraine Wilson, asso- ceived a suspicious e-mail ciate professor of exercise from her. “I was called early in science, was the victim of what ACU Police called a the morning by a con“common scam” circulat- cerned friend who was
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checking to make sure I was all right,” Wilson said. “She told me she got Wilson an e-mail from me saying I was in need of money.”
Wilson’s friend received an e-mail claiming Wilson was stranded in the U.K. without a passport, money or credit cards. The e-mail was asking for friends to send money quickly so Wilson could make an appointment at the U.S. Embassy. Wilson said she imme-
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VACCINATIONS HAVE become a hot topic, thanks to the threat of the H1N1 virus. Are they necessary? Dangerous? Our editorial board fills you in. Page 6
diately sent a mass email to ACU faculty explaining what happened, then contacted her email provider, AOL, to report the situation. Wilson said the AOL representative told her she had been the victim of e-mail spoofing, a technique commonly used in
spamming to obscure the origin of an e-mail. Once the spammer had her password, the email was sent to all of Wilson’s contacts using a return address almost identical to Wilson’s. Wilson learned more see SCAM page 4
Online WILDCAT FOOTBALL suffered its second loss of the season to Tarleton State on Saturday. Find out if the team still has a chance at the playoffs. Page 8
VIDEO
LOUDandCLEAR
Should the government mandate vaccines? a. Yes, it’s their responsibility to keep us safe. b. No, it is a private decision. c. Doesn’t matter. I do what I want. Homecoming 2009
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