Eight straight ACU football secures another winning season Sports Page 8 vol. 102, no. 25
wednesday, november 20, 2013
1 SECTION, 8 PAGES
@ACUCrushes warned of policy violation
INSIDE
ymous comments about other students via ask. fm, which would then be posted to the account. The Twitter account @ The Twitter account ACUCrushes was issued is one of many like it on a cease and desist warn- college campuses across ing from the university Texas and in the country, last Tuesday. including Baylor, UniverSince its creation on sity of Texas and Hardin Oct. 7, the popular ac- Simmons University. count has gained over Stacy Campos, sopho1,200 followers. more nursing major from @ACUCrushes allowed Garland, has been menstudents to submit anon- tioned on @ACUCrushes
Abigail runnels
FEATURES
student reporter
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, students, faculty and staff share what they’re thankful for
but was not fond of the attention. “I don’t care for it,” Campos said. The rising popularity of the Twitter account resulted in more than 400 tweets, some of which could be considered lewd or offensive. As a result, the university (@ACUedu) mentioned @ACUCrushes in a tweet on Nov. 12 that contained a link to the warning.
“We wanted to make you aware that posts on your Twitter account may violate Abilene Christian University’s Anti-Harassment Policy,” the warning stated. “In other words, you are risking the possibility that someone may file a harassment complaint against you.” The warning also instructed the account holder to stop posting and warned against contact-
ing anyone who could file a complaint. The warning was issued under Title IX of the Education Acts of 1972, which states: “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program see Tweet page 4
Block tuition encourages minors
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NEWS The university and student groups work to create opportunities for students to recycle Page 3
rachel fritz staff reporter
SPORTS Renata Marquez’s connection to basketball brings her close to her dad
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NEWS Students will perform slam poetry at Starbucks to raise funds for Wishing Well Page 3
OPINION The editorial board gives a list of top ten ACU specific things students should be thankful for
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NEWS
Deanna Romero staff photographer
SA works to regulate when the Tower of Light shines purple to encourage tradition Page 3
SPORTS
Senior theatre majors Owen Beans, from Greenville, Illin., Alex Bonneau, from Dallas, and Jace Reinhard, from Greenville, Illin. perform in Next to Normal. Next to Normal is showing every day at 7:30 p.m. until Monday.
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OPINION Kirsten Holman implores the members of Duck Dynasty to visit ACU Page 6
ONLINE VIDEO Watch a recap of this weekend’s Pink Run, a 5k fundraiser for breast cancer
acuoptimist.com
see block page 4
Bomb call-in chalked up to mistake eric terrazas
The ACU baseball team finishes up the Purple vs. White World Series
Block tuition has made it easier for students to graduate with minors. ACU has Since offering block tuition beginning the Fall 2012 semester, ACU has gradually increased the number of students graduating with minors. “In May 2010 we had 124 degrees awarded with minors, in May 2011 we had 95 degrees awarded with minors, in May 2012 we had 126 degrees awarded with minors and in May 2013 we had 132 degrees awarded with minors,” said Lisa McCarty, assistant director of institutional research. Block tuition allows undergraduate students to take up to 36 hours a year at a f lat rate, which reduces the cost of a degree. Students are able to save up to $17,500 over three and a half years. The goal of block tuition is to help students and their families pay less for an education and reduce debt after graduation. Block tuition has not necessarily made more students want to add minors, but it has made it easier for those who do. “My mom and dad weren’t too sure about me minoring in something because of the cost of classes, but when they found out about block tuition they were more on board with it,” said Kariana Williams, sophomore vocational ministry
Student reporter The sidewalk talk initiative resulted in sidewalk potential threat, as ACUPD received a call about a suspicious box in front of Moody. In the 13 years that Chief Jimmy Ellison has been a part of ACUPD, he has never heard of any bomb threats on or around the ACU campus. “The positive thing here
is that people are observant and report suspicious activity,” Ellison said. A staff member mistook the small chalk box set out for student use by the benches in front of Moody for a small bomb. Resulting in police officers investigating the suspicious box, which they found to be merely a chalk box. Ellison mentioned that while ACUPD has had a few suspicious devices reported, they have all resulted to be
completely harmless. He also said that the bulk of these calls were soon after the attacks of 9/11, when people were on a more high-alert. Lieutenant Randy Motz added that while reporting suspicious activity is a good thing, making a false report about a bomb threat is a very serious matter and can result in a Class A misdemeanor. Class A misdemeanor is the most serious, non-felony offense which can result in the defendant paying up
to a $4,000 fine and spending up to a year in jail. The Texas Penal Code Section 42.06 states, “an offense under False Alarm or Report is a Class A misdemeanor unless the false report is of an emergency involving a public primary or secondary school, public communications, public water, gas, or power supply or other public service, in which even the offense is a state jail felony.” Chief Ellison said that a
simple solution to avoid this in the future would be to make the chalk box less suspicious looking or placing it in a less suspicious manner. “We definitely don’t want to be accused of chalk harassment, but we’re glad that that’s all it comes down to,” said Ellison. “So, thankfully, the score lies at 1-0, chalk to bombs.” contact The optimist at optimist@acu.edu
Elevator Pitch picks entrepreneur finalists Brittany Jackson copy editor The Springboard Elevator Pitch competition, brought to ACU by the Griggs Center for Entrepreneurship and Philanthropy, announced its top 10 finalists Tuesday afternoon. Jim Litton, director of Griggs Center for Entrepreneurship and Philanthropy, helped organize Entrepreneur Week at ACU, which kicked off the
challenge. “For the Elevator Pitch competition, it’s a way for students to take that first step of sharing their ideas and getting some feedback through the competition, have some fun and, possibly, win some money,” Litton said. The competition allows students of ACU to pitch a two-minute entrepreneur idea in front of a panel of judges. This year, there were about 30
SPRINGBOARD COMPETITION FINALISTS GreenStrip, Troy Bonneau ThingsTrend.com, Tyler Eidson Grickets , John Blackwell vcard, Rudy Garza Man Cave Heaven, Shane Birchfield and Barrett Corey
see Contest page 4
Abilene Christian University
StickeBibs, Liz Lurz and Casey Duncum Serial Story, Zach and Alex Carstens Project Run, Carlee Finkelstein Kidnapp, Rebekah Washington SignMeUp, Jeff Johnston