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First in the Region, page 6
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Vol. 99, No. 21
1 section, 6 pages
POLITICS
Perry wins Texas, GOP gains House is already Texas’ longestserving governor. Managing Editor Susan King, a Republican representing the 71st Tuesday was a big night for Republicans in the State of district in the Texas’ House of Representatives, was also Texas and nationwide. Texas voters re-elected elected for a third term. Representative Randy incumbent governor Rick Perry for an unprecedent- Neugebauer, who represents ed third full term. Perry, Abilene’s district in the U.S. who took over the gov- House of Representatives, ernorship in 2000 when earned of fourth term in the George W. Bush resigned U.S. Congress, defeating to become U.S. president Democrat Andy Wilson.
Jeff Craig
The GOP also saw major gains across the nation, winning control of the U.S. House of Representatives. ACU College Democrats president Rebecca Dial, sophomore political science major from Lexington, S.C., said the losses were not a surprise in Texas or nationwide. She said the slow-recovering economy was to blame for the losses. ACU Young Republicans
Find video, photos and an extended story about Abilene election coverage.
acuoptimist.com president Aaron Escobedo, senior history major from Lamesa, said the GOP victories were a referendum on the Obama administration. DANIEL GOMEZ // Chief Photographer
Susan King, state representative, watches election coverage with supporters at the Cypress Street Station on Tuesday.
contact Craig at
jrc07d@acu.edu
Digital Upgrade
ACADEMICS
University to offer nuclear weapons course Christina Burch
Contributing Reporter
GENNA DUNCAN // Chief Photographer
Treay Smith carefully removes the base of a wall on the third floor of Brown Library. The wall was recently torn down during the construction of the new AT&T Learning Center on Nov. 1.
Library construction underway for new AT&T Learning Studio Kelsi Williamson Arts Editor
The construction of a large, white wall on the third floor of the Brown Library last week marked the beginning of construction on the new AT&T Learning Studio. The space between the Stanley Reading Room and the bay windows has been blocked off from the rest of the library and will remain separated until the AT&T Learning Studio’s grand opening in spring 2011.
Kyle Dickson, associate professor of English and director of the AT&T Learning Studio, said construction should not interfere with other student study spaces in the library. “We feel like working with the librarians and preserving quiet spaces while adding new capabilities is kind of key to the future successes of the library,” Dickson said. All areas on the first and second floors are still open for use, and the Stanley Reading Room can still be accessed through the
GENNA DUNCAN // Staff Photographer
Old books are stacked into a pile and set aside as construction begins on the AT&T Learning Center in Brown Library.
This spring, the Department of Political Science is offering a new class: POLS 488 – Iran and Nuclear Weapons. The class will focus on Iran’s domestic politics, religion, economy, culture and geography. This special-topics course will give students an in-depth look at Iran and its nuclear ambitions. Dr. Neal Coates, associate professor of political science, is teaching the class which will be offered from 3:30 to 4:50 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays. Coates said he encourages any student, political science major or not, to sign up for the course. “For the last seven years, most countries of the world have been very concerned with whether Iran has acquired or developed nuclear weapons, based on the idea that Iran is the world’s largest supporter and exporter of terrorism,” Coates said. “This class provides an entire semester to answer that question in depth.” Coates challenges students to learn more about
see AT&T page 3
see COATES page 3
CAMPUS
ACU improves to ‘D+’ on environmental report card Dr. Jim Cooke, professor of agriculture and environmenSenior Reporter tal science, said these grades ACU pulled up its annual have two interpretations. “The first interpretation is grade on its “Green Report Card” to D+ for 2011 from a D that we have a long way to go,” in 2010. The Sustainable En- Cooke said. “But we’re moving dowments Institute has yet to in the right direction.” Cooke has helped coorgive ACU a passing grade in dinate ACU’s participation environmental friendliness
Christianna Lewis
to departments and staff across the university to get information on environmental practices on campus. She recorded the university’s sustainability activities in nine categories, including food and recycling, administration and student involvement. The information was
website
inside news Students who are creative with a camera can enter ACU’s first 24 hour FilmFest on Saturday beginning at midnight. page 3
in the College Sustainability Report Card for the past three years. He asked Samantha Futrell, sophomore environmental science major from San Angelo, to fill out the Green Report Card survey this summer. Futrell, with the support of President Schubert, went
opinion The Editorial Board discusses the influence of celebrity input in the political spectrum.
later verified by the Sustainable Endowments Institute before it gave its final grade. ACU’s food and recycling grade shot up to a B from last year’s D. Futrell said she was very impressed with the practices of the Food Services. It uses a chemical-free floor cleaning and a waste
food centrifuge, which spins off fluid from leftovers to go down the drain rather than in a landfill with solid wastes, Futrell said. The trayless program also reduces the amount of water used for cleaning. see ENVIRONMENT page 3
weather video Construction has officially begun on the third floor of Brown Library to construct a new AT&T Learning Studio.
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