GSP prepares for 68-Hour Volleyball Page 3
FEATURE
Friday, March 23, 2018 Vol. 106, Issue 24
A student publication of Abilene Christian University since 1912
JUNIOR BECOMES YOUTUBE PHENOMENON Page 5
GREATEST SHOWMEN
LAUREN FRANCO CONTENT MANAGING EDITOR Ethan Etter and Hope Martin, young people with Down Syndrome, spoke at Moody Chapel for World Down Syndrome Day Wednesday.
CALENDAR 3/24 •
68-Hour Volleyball
•
Children’s Business Fair at 10 a.m.
•
Outlaws and Legends Music Festival
3/25 •
68-Hour Volleyball
3/27 •
Undergraduate Research Festival from 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
•
Sophomore Housing signups in Hart Auditorium
3/28 •
Sophomore Housing signups in Hart Auditorium
BOX OFFICE MARCH 2-4 1. Black Panther $26,650,690 2. Tomb Raider $23,633,317 3. I Can Only Imagine $17,099,151 4. A Wrinkle In Time $16,256,879 5. Love, Simon $11,756,244
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DAYS UNTIL
GRADUATION
SPORTS
COMPETITION HEATS UP FOR TENNIS Page 6
McDonald Hall to shut down “ BY HALEY REMENAR EDITOR IN CHIEF
Female freshman and sophomore residence McDonald Hall will shut down for the next two academic years to save operating costs. Bart Herridge, dean of retention, said the hall will not be permanently closed, but after two years his office will reconsider how to use the building. The university will save operating costs of at least $70,000 per year and a total of $140,000 over two years, Herridge said. The hall currently has 56 beds for freshmen and sophomore women who choose to have a single room with no roommate. Three residence life employees staff the hall, in-
cluding two resident community leaders and one senior community leader. Those positions were not hired for next year. Using enrollment projections for the next two years, Herridge said Residence Life has calculated that the hall will not be needed for the next two years. “We were trying to decide, is there a way that we can help alleviate some cost issues but also create better environments within the residence halls?” Herridge said. “That’s a number of beds that we can afford to take offline.” Because the freshman class was smaller than the last two years, Residence Life has had more rooms than needed, Herridge said.
Smith-Adams Hall and Nelson Hall were at only twothirds capacity this year. “We don’t want to be at 100 percent capacity in all of our buildings, but we do want to have them full enough that we create communities,” Herridge said. Built in 1929, McDonald Hall is heated and cooled through window units, which are not cost-efficient. The rooms are also all different sizes, so many students didn’t know how big their room would be until they moved in. McDonald Hall provided single rooms to students who wanted or needed one, but even without the hall, Herridge said there will still be single-bed rooms for students who need it for medical reasons.
We don’t want to be at 100 percent capacity in all of our buildings, but we do want to have them full enough that we create communities”
BART HERRIDGE DEAN OF RETENTION
“We’re having a longterm conversation about residence halls in general,” Herridge said. “We know that we need to do updating, renovations; we need more common spaces.” HRR13B@ACU.EDU
ACU Dems petition SLT about LGBT BY HALEY REMENAR EDITOR IN CHIEF
ACU College Democrats, an on-campus partisan group, is petitioning the senior leadership team to reconsider the policy for LGBT student workers. The policy will prohibit all employees, including student employees, from having same-sex dating relationships. University president Dr. Phil Schubert said the policy will be updated to be more clear in the next edition of the Student Handbook. The policy has already been added to the mission statement on the university website. The policy on the website reads: “We also ask employees – faculty, staff and students – to refrain from same-sex dating relationships that are inconsistent with this biblical model. In some instances, such as those involved in spiritual formation, student employees will be held to the
same standard as full-time campus employees. Because they are asked to exemplify and support the university’s mission, they would be restricted from engaging in same-sex dating relationships. For a number of other student employment roles – especially those influenced by external regulatory and accrediting agencies, such as in academics and athletics – the employee standard will not be applicable.” ACU Democrats released an online petition after the group members heard about the policy update. “We made the petition so people could say what they wanted to say about the new policy,” said the group president, Trevor Wyatt. “We believe that anybody who is a student of the university, should be able to work in a place free of discrimination.” The petition states: “Many students are unhappy with this new rule. We would like the SLT to understand that the student
body does not agree with this position and would like them to reconsider a more accepting policy for LGBT students in order to ensure ACU is a place of acceptance and love.” Wyatt, a senior journalism major from White Settlement, said their goal is to get about 500 signatures before they send the petition to Schubert. They had 306 signatures as of Tuesday morning. The petition can be signed online by any student or alumnus. “We don’t want this to just become a ‘Hey, we’re upset about this for a week,” Wyatt said. “This could affect at least a dozen student employees on campus. Those people deserve to have their voice heard not just for a week but throughout the rest of the school year.”
HRR13B@ACU.EDU
W W W. A C U O P T I M I S T. C O M
SILENT PROTEST Rainbow hearts with Scripture references have been found at least seven locations across campus. It is unclear who is behind the statements.
Drunk driver who killed student sentenced BY HALEY REMENAR EDITOR IN CHIEF
The drunk driver who struck and killed student Casey Ellis on Thanksgiving Day in 2016 was sentenced to ten years in jail with probation, including one year served in jail and nine years on probation. Charles Schaefer, a 21-year-old Abilene resident, pleaded guilty to second degree felony manslaughter. He was driving while intoxicated on Nov. 23, 2016, and struck Casey Ellis, who was riding a bicycle at the intersection of Judge Ely Boulevard and Ambler Avenue. His sentence includes one year in jail and nine years of probation with certain conditions, said district attorney Dan Joiner. The standard probation conditions include community service and using a car that requires a breathalyzer to start, among other things. Schaefer will also have to read aloud to his probation officer a statement of impact written by the victim’s family each year on the anniversary of Ellis’ death. “They didn’t want him to spend his life in prison,” Joiner said, “but they wanted the impact to change his life.” A social work major from Bethel, Connecticut, Ellis was known for service and kindness. A plaque in her honor near the Hardin Administration Building reads, “Gentle, Fierce, Healer.” “If Casey wanted something, she did it,” said her mother, Susan Myers. When she was a child, she taught herself to ride a SEE ELLIS PAGE 3