Big Fish The Homecoming Musical promises big splash
vol. 103, no. 14
2 SECTION, 14 PAGES
friday, october 10, 2014
Arts Page 5A
THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE
what’s INSIDE NEWS The Maker Lab celebrates its one year anniversary in the Library Page 3
ABILENE
SPORTS Wildcats welcome Ava Maria for Homecoming game on Saturday
Page 8A
jarred schuetze chief photographer
OPINION The Editorial Board dug some clips about past construction projects out of the Optimist archives Page 4B
NEWS The JUST program took a group of ACU students and inner city students from Dallas to India Page 3A
FEATURE As demoltion nears, faculty members reflect on memories the Chambers building still holds
Page 1B
paige otway staff photographer
Siggies played Kojies in the flag football rivarly game (Above). Jonathan Steffins, sophomore musical theatre major from Bixby, Oklahoma (Top right). Pledges of Alpha Kai Omega work on their parade float (right).
sarah bateman staff photographer
Brantly to share Ebola story elijah evans staff reporter Dr. Kent Brantly will share his story of surviving the Ebola virus Friday. Brantly and his wife, Amber, return to ACU for Homecoming and will speak at Chapel on and at the Chapel forum at 4 p.m in Moody Coliseum. “They will share their incredible story and the impact it has had on their lives,” said Grant Rampy,
director of public relations at ACU. Numerous faculty within the school adbrantly ministration and various professors have relationships with the Brantlys and wanted to give them the opportunity to share their story with the students and community, said Rampy. Randy Harris, instructor
in the Department of Bible, Missions and Ministry and CBS spiritual director, is one professor who knows the Brantlys. “I’ve always liked and admired his work and had a little contact with him through the ordeal,” said Harris. “I’m looking forward to seeing him.” The event will be a Q&A discussion with both Kent and Amber Brantly, Rampy said. Harris, the master of ceremonies, will ask the questions and direct the
discussion. “We are going to ask things about faith and what makes a guy with extraordinary medical training want to go to Africa,” Harris said. “And what does it feel like to come so near death, what do all of his experiences mean to a person of deep faith – these are some of the things I am interested in.” The event will highlight the Brantlys and give them a platform to share their near-death experiences and the necessity of deep faith.
“He’s a really good person to have that platform because he is a person of deep faith, great mind and great reflection,” Harris said. “So I’m just interested in hearing what it looks like and what it feels like.” While traveling to Abilene on Wednesday, Brantly made the news again by donating blood to an infected cameraman. contact evans at ece12a@acu.edu
New float rules lend to more creativity SPORTS Freshman Baylee Mitchell continues scoring serge for soccer this season Page 8A
NEWS The Kirk Goodwin Run will host a benefit dinner on Friday night Page 2B
what’s online VIDEO The computer auction in Cullen auditorium sold over 400 electronics
Read more at acuoptimist.com
jonathan ward staff reporter The Office of Student Activities and Productions has extended the number of hours pledges can work on Homecoming floats and removed limits on club spending for floats. Club floats will be featured in ACU’s annual Homecoming Parade with the theme “There’s No Place Like Home.” Student Activities is coordinating the club portion of this year’s floats while the ACU Alumni Association organizes the rest of the parade floats. “With the shortened length of pledging, we’re
allowing clubs to be more creative with what they do for their floats,” said Tom Craig, director of student activities and productions. Craig also said floats will not necessarily be measured for size this year, but he expects club members to adhere to safety rules. “Basic rules of safety and traffic must be followed,” he said. “For example, the float has to fit under power lines and traffic lights, and when the float turns, it must be able to turn without tipping over.” Members can have as much product donated as needed to build their
sarah bateman staff photographer
Student organizations were given new regulations to follow in building their floats.
see parade page 3
Women seek Tri Kappa Gamma re-charter rachel fritz copy editor Three sophomores have taken on the task to recharter a new women’s social club, Tri Kappa Gamma. Tri Kappa Gamma was started in 1986 by Lisa Lane, now Lisa Herndon, April Bullock and Cindy Leeper. “At the time, there were not a lot of options for girls to pledge,” said Dena Counts, instructor of communication and director of
forensics.”They started the club with their freshman class.” Counts was a member of TKG and was part of the first large pledge class of ‘87 that consisted of 60 women. “It was a pretty big club,” she said. “We won Sing Song when I was a senior. The goal of the club’s creation was to attract a unique, diverse set of women. “We wanted a club that would draw all types of people, not just stereotypes,” Counts said.
However, the club started to die out in the ‘90s and was eventually discontinued due to a lack of funds. Aside from a re-charter in 2005, the club has not been active. Until now. Kelly Shelton, Desiree Tresslar and Brooklyn Merkford are attempting to re-charter TKG. When the three realized they wouldn’t be able to pledge the same club this semester, they took matters into their own hands. “We originally all wanted to be in the same club,”
Abilene Christian University
Shelton said. “We all went through rushing together but we didn’t all get into the same club. That was our main goal – to all be together.” The three were shooting for Sigma Theta Chi, but Merkford, an education major from Round Rock, was the only one who received a bid. Shelton, a finance major from Austin, and Tresslar, a secondary education major from Austin, both received bids from GATA. After withdrawing from the pledge process just be-
fore bid night, the three went to Mark Jackson, associate director of student organizations and programs, to see what they could do to keep their dream of pleading together alive. “We went to Mark and were like, ‘How hard would it be to start a new club?’” Shelton said. “He gave us a list of clubs we could recharter and told us that Tri Kappa Gamma was the best as far as alumni that we would be able to talk to.” After that, the trio set out see social club page 3