The Optimist Print Edition 04.13.18

FilmFest awards six films for 2018 event Page 3

SPORTS

A student publication of Abilene Christian University since 1912

Friday, April 13, 2018 Vol. 106, Issue 27

SOFTBALL STUNS RED RAIDERS Page 6

ONE JUMP AHEAD OF FINALS

HOLLY DORN STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Laine Judge, freshman nursing major from Littlerock, California, jumps at MaxxAir Trampoline Park at a free Cabinet event Tuesday.

CALENDAR 4/13

Abi Haus to re-open with new chef

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Baseball Student Appreciation night at 5:45 p.m.

CONTENT MANAGING EDITOR

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Voices of Africa Gospel Fest at 6 p.m.

4/14 •

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Rugby Tournament at Madison Middle School at 10 a.m.

SGA Green Week service at 9:45 a.m. at the GATA Fountain Cabinet Kayak and Paddleboard at the Abilene State Park BSA Black History Production at 11:30 a.m.

4/15-4/20 •

SGA Green Week events

BOX OFFICE APRIL 6-8

Almost three weeks after announcing the closing of Abi Haus and Public Haus, owner Jimbo Jackson announced the two would reopen on April 21.

Jackson, who opened Abi Haus five years ago, said they announced the closure on Facebook, alongside a description of what they would need to keep the restaurant open.

“I knew at the time I didn’t have the money to combine the two spaces,” Jackson said.

When Abi Haus was two years old, Public Haus opened on the same block.

Jackson said when the

2. Ready Player One $24,624,178 3. Blockers

$20,556,350

4. Black Panther $8,704,968 5. Tyler Perry’s Acrimony

$ 8,380,983

COPY EDITOR

Since 1984, Galaxy has hosted the Kirk Goodwin Run, and this year it will support a former student who had to medically withdraw from school.

The first run raised money to help pay for medical bills for then Galaxy pledge Kirk Goodwin, who died while in a coma after a car accident.

EDITOR IN CHIEF

GRADUATION

FEATURE

OMEGA DANCE PRESENTS SPRING SHOW Page 5

bar and five indoor tables for people to eat at, all while keeping the family-friendly atmosphere for people to enjoy high-end, diner-style food and drink.

Jackson said combining the best of both worlds into one space is their main goal.

Jackson said although re-opening on April 21 makes for an “aggressive” schedule, it is doable because of local contractors and electricians who offered their help.

“The only reason we are on time to do it is because the community stepped up,” Jackson said.

With the revitalization, Jackson hired a new chef

“We’ve been doing it ever since,” said Michael Humphrey, senior accounting major from Abilene. “The t-shirts have Kirk’s name on it; his family still comes to the race to this day, and each year we choose a recipient who’s in kind of a similar circumstance where they have extremely high medical bills, and all the benefits of the race go to them.”

This year’s run will benefit Kaile Norris Williams, a woman who had to medically withdraw from the university three years ago due to gastroparesis, a disease that causes an inability of the stomach to process food or water. Since then Humphrey said she had to be put on feeding tubes, IV nutrition and undergo stem cell treatment in Mexico.

“It’s incurable, so they’re

running out of options,” Humphrey said. “She’s actually going to be at the race this year, and all of the money is going toward finding a cure, paying for her medical bills in the past, anything we can do to help.”

To register, visit the KGR table in the campus center between 11 a.m. and 12 p.m. any day before the run, scan the QR code on one of their flyers around campus,

or visit their website, www. thekgr.org. Individual registration costs $30, while registration for a team of two runners costs $50, a team of three costs $70 and a team of four costs $80.

The 5K run will begin at 9 a.m. on April 21 outside the Hardin Administration building.

English in Malaysia while Mackenzie Sanderson, senior political science and global studies major from El Paso, will teach English in Germany.

Jason Morris, director of the Office of Major Scholarships, said he hopes to have one student receive the award each year, but this is the first time two students received the award.

“We have great momentum to have multiple winners every year,” Morris said. “ACU has the type of students that can win these awards.”

He said the university does well with Fulbright scholars compared to other schools in the Counsel of Christian Colleges and Universities.

“You do have students who pick ACU because we have a sense of mission and they tie in wanting to go teach English as a ‘Fulbrighter’ as that sense of mission,” Morris said.

Lawson said learned about the opportunity for the Fulbright at a dinner provided by the Office of Major Scholarships during her sophomore year. She said experiences like study-

ing abroad in Uruguay, working with the Office of Multicultural Affairs and taking SANDERSON the Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) certification class.

Although LAWSON she studied Spanish, she will be teaching in Malaysia to students who

speak Malay or Mandarin.

“When you study other languages you learn so much about your own language,” Lawson said. “It makes you really empathetic with others as they’re learning.”

Lawson said the university also helped her spiritual formation which will help her know what she believes although the national religion in Malaysia is Islam.

“You have to be careful in the way in which you share your faith,” Lawson said.

A trial dish from Abi Haus’ new chef. from Austin named Johnny.

“He made us realize how amazing we could be,” Jackson said. “We decided it would be better to fight

the good fight and revitalize what we are doing.”

Johnny said he moved to Abilene to continue as a chef while he saves up to move to Seattle to work with seafood.

“It was hard for me to save money living by myself in Austin,” Johnny said. “My favorite thing to make so far is probably the pulled pork sandwich, but I like it all so there’s not one I can say that is my absolute favorite.”

Abi Haus will be opening with a new menu during their normal business hours.

LMF14A@ACU.EDU

ECS13B@ACU.EDU

Two students earn Fulbright Scholar award

BY HALEY REMENAR

DAYS UNTIL

building owner changed the rent to month-tomonth, he thought they had more months in the bank than they did, but ultimately had to get out sooner than they thought.

Through social media and phone calls, Jackson said the community reached out to supply necessities to keep the doors open.

“We read all of those things on social media, and it made us feel worse than people were feeling,” Jackson said. “Everyone had the heartbreak, and it broke our hearts. At that point it’s on me; I don’t want to let anyone down.”

The Abi Haus dining area will now have a giant

KGR to fund former student’s treatments

BY STELLA WIESER

1. A Quiet Place $50,203,562

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BY LAUREN FRANCO

For the first time in university history, two students received the Fulbright Scholar award.

The award, presented by the U.S. State Department of State, grants funding to graduates to teach English in other countries. Applicants must be accepted by the Fulbright office and the government of the country where they will work. Lindsie Lawson, senior Spanish and global studies major from The Colony, will teach

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“But you also know as followers of Christ we do want to share that. Balancing that is going to be an interesting challenge.”

Abbey Moses, a 2017 graduate, received the Fulbright award last year and is also teaching in Malaysia.

Sanderson said she became interested in the Fulbright award as a freshman and throughout college she took jobs and internships that would help her stand out as an applicant. She worked in the Center for International Education and taught English to international students through the university’s ESL program. She interned last summer at the German American Heritage Foundation in Washington D.C. “There’s no GPA requirements with the Fulbright, but you want to be really competitive because so many people apply,” Sanderson said.

Sanderson learned German in high school because her family hosted several exchange students from Germany. She will teach English in the German state of Saxony Anhalt for 10 months.

HRR13B@ACU.EDU

Alumni host annual thrift sale

BY BRIAN SWEET STAFF REPORTER

The 16th semi-annual My Sister’s House sale will open to the public for a pre-sale on April 18, and continue through April 21.

ACU graduates Summer Walters and her sister Kate Stover have hosted the sale for eight years and grown it to around 2,000 transactions. From an event center downtown to the Abilene Fairgrounds display building for the past three years, each sale has 200-300 consigners that cumulatively bring in thousands of clothes, jewelry and household items to fill 16,000 square feet of space.

Despite being teachers, the sister duo runs their consignment sale parttime. Walters said they had a boost of confidence after winning Springboard in 2012.

University students get into the sale for free with a student ID, and can come to the public pre-sale at 6:00 p.m. The public sale, free for all entrants, starts on April 19 at 9 a.m. On Sunday, the half-price sale will begin at 9 a.m.

OPTIMIST@ACU.EDU

FRIDAY | APRIL 13, 2018

Kelly wins SGA presidential election

BY HALEY REMENAR EDITOR IN CHIEF

Ty Kelley won the election for Student Government Association executive president in a runoff against Adam Andrade Monday.

Kelley won 553 votes while Andrade won 299 votes. A total of 890 students voted with 38 abstaining.

Kelley and Andrade ran against Julia Kennedy in the election Friday, but none of the candidates received a majority of the votes. The SGA constitution requires a runoff between the two candidates with the most votes. Kennedy received more votes than

Andrade, but she chose not to continue the election process over the weekend. Current president Danny Burke announced Monday morning that Andrade would face Kelley for the position.

K e l l e y, a junior info r m a t i o n KELLEY technolog y major from San Antonio, said the runoff was unprecedented and at first he wasn’t sure how to move forward with his campaign.

“I reminded myself why I was doing it: I’m doing this

to serve students,” Kelley said. “I’m excited to put my campaign into action.”

Kelley ran on a ticket with Rachel Jones, junior communication major from San Antonio, who won the election for vice president. Kelley said before running for office, he and Jones agreed the top two SGA leaders should have the same goals.

“That doesn’t mean we are going to agree on everything,” Kelley said, “but that’s OK knowing at the end of the day, we’re there to serve each other.”

Kelley and Jones will work to hire the executive cabinet, including an

executive treasurer, chief financial officer, press secretary, chief of staff and marketing director.

Andrade, a senior political science and management major from Fort Worth, said he was surprised to find out Sunday evening that he would be back in the race. He said he heard from some students that some irregularities were allowed in the election.

“There were a lot of things that I didn’t agree with, but I felt that I ran a race that was moral and ethical,” Andrade said. “I’m disappointed of course that

I lost, but what happened has happened. That doesn’t mean I’m not going to be active in student government in the fall.”

Andrade said as a first-generation, Mexican-American student he felt “institutional racism” was revealed in the election.

“It felt like if you were from a social club, the right type of person, I feel like you’re guaranteed to win,” Andrade said. “I feel like there are things that could be done different to make the election more equitable.”

the Voices of Africa with the New Jerusalem Church choir and the band that frequently performs in chapel, led by David Mirambi. Cultures that will be represented at Gospel Fest include countries such as Ghana, Congo, Nigeria, South Africa and more.

“We hope people walk away feeling touched by God,” said Jemimah Wavamunno, sophomore business management major, ASA

vice president and member of Voices of Africa from Kampala, Uganda. “We want people to experience first hand our culture and values by upholding our ‘Ubunto,’ I am because you are, theme of unity.”

Prince Ofori-Nyadu, senior criminal justice major and singer from Gaithersburg, Maryland said the ultimate goal of Gospel fest is to show people how God is

praised and worshiped in different cultures.

“God is existent in the life of others even if we don’t speak the same language,” said Ofori. “I hope people get to feel the presence of God and know that this event is not just an event to showcase African praise and worship, but rather an event to come and worship God together.”

Gospel Fest is Friday from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in Cul-

len Auditorium. The event is free, and attendees will earn a chapel credit.

“We hope it will be the worship that touches people, but if it’s not, one interaction with a stranger in a new way can positively influence their lives forever,” said Wavamunno.

HRR13B@ACU.EDU

ASA hosts African Gospel music event

BY ASHLEY ALFRED STAFF REPORTER

ASA will host their second Gospel Fest–a night of praise and worship inspired by a combination of African and American cultures.

These performers will be singing praise and worship music from all regions of Africa, while incorporating common modern worship songs. The host choir will be

OPTIMIST@ACU.EDU

Board game becomes intramural sport

BY HANNAH JOHNSON STAFF REPORTER

Settlers of Catan, the strategy board game, will have its first intramural sports tournament on April 27 - 28.

Todd Rogers, director of intramural and club sports, said a survey was sent out last fall to give new intramural options for students.

Catan was the second most popular choice chosen.

The most popular choice was spikeball, which already had its first intramural tournament in March.

Rogers said the objective is to score points by gathering resources or building infrastructures, such as cities and roads. The first player to get 10 points wins the game.

On the official Catan website, the creator of the game is named Klaus Teuber. The game “is available in over 39 languages and has sold over 27 million units worldwide since 1995,” said the website.

If the game becomes popular, then it will continue to be offered as an intramural sport and other

similar alternatives will be looked at, Rogers said.

Rogers said the tournament will be running on a bracket. There will be four people in each game. Whoever wins will advance to the next round and keep playing until there is a final winner.

Zachary Casey, graduate theology major from Fort Collins, Colorado, is

the assistant director of intramural sports.

Casey said most intramural sports appeal to the athletic types and invovlving other skills besides athleticism to this game is exciting.

HVJ11A@ACU.EDU

Title IX poetry to address sexual assault

BY BRIAN SWEET STAFF REPORTER

The Title IX office will host a poetry slam Thursday at 7 p.m. on the rooftop of Dillard Hall. This is a part of ACU’s Sexual Assault Awareness Month program, which is helping students learn the signs of sexual abuse and how to report it.

The group of ACU students who created this event includes Scout Harrell, Madeline Dayton, Sarah Gallup, Tsion Amare, Ammie

Brooks and Jessica King.

Scout Harrell, senior social work major from Seattle, Washington, said the reason they picked slam poetry as an event is to show support to those who are victims in a unique way.

“We chose poetry because it’s a way to express your thoughts and feelings,” Harrell said. “I think this is a way for students to do that again just so that way they can say what they want to say, what is on their heart.”

Madeline Dayton, junior global studies and business management major from Katy, said people shouldn’t be afraid to voice their opinion.

“In my opinion, I think it’s something that is addressed only when it absolutely needs to be, and I think that is a problem,” Dayton said. “Just with the culture that we live in today and especially with the generation that we are a part of is not known for shying away from topics. I think we are known for approach-

ing them and also taking them public.”

Dayton says the event is open to both men and women and hopes people will come attend the event.

Harrell said that sometimes it’s hard for conservative Christian campuses to talk about subjects such as sexual assault.

“We are a conservative Christian campus; it’s very hard to talk about sexual abuse because it’s such a personal thing,” Harrell said. “I

think it’s really important that we start doing that as well on our Christian campus.”

Adiditonally, Harrell hopes to see ACU athletics engage with the Title IX office for the purpose of educating student athletes.

“I think athletics needs to step up and take a stand and get involved in making sure it doesn’t happen,” Harrell said.

where he learned the ins and outs of the sport. When he arrived at ACU, a number of people told him that with his background he should start a wakeboarding club, but he initially brushed them off until the end of last semester.

Over the past few months, Happe and others have been recruiting potential members and

exploring their options for obtaining a boat.

They are meeting with advancement to see if they can have the university purchase a boat for them.

Happe said a wake-boarding club would incentivize some students who wouldn’t normally consider ACU to look into attending. Additionally, they are looking into fundraising

and possibly getting a loan from a local Abilene bank.

There is a relatively substantial interest in the club, as over 40 students have signed a letter expressing interest in joining. Happe said the goal is to have a boat by the beginning of wildcat week next semester.

Reese Powell, freshmen accounting and finance major from Nashville Ten-

nessee is the groups treasurer. He is planning on getting a boating license this summer in order to operate the boat for the club.

“Right now we’re just planning the financial parts and the different fundraising events we want to have” said Powell.

BCS10C@ACU.EDU

Freshman starts campus wakeboarding club

BY EVAN RODRIGUEZ WEB EDITOR

A group of students are starting a wakeboarding club on campus. The club is the brainchild of Kyle Happe, freshmen business management major from Houston.

In high school, Happe worked at a wake boarding park in the Houston area

EMR16C@ACU.EDU

POLICE LOG SELECTED ACUPD CALLS FOR THE WEEK 04/07/2018 12:01 p.m.

ACUPD responded to a reported burglary of a residence in the 90 blk of Washington.

04/07/2018 12:09 a.m.

A citizen reported loud noise from people in the street in front of a house where a party was occurring in the 2000 blk of Cedar Crest Dr. Officers checked the area, no noise violations were heard.

04/07/2018 4:40 p.m.

A student’s wallet was stolen while at Wal-Mart. Various credit cards were subsequently used. Investigation open.

04/08/2018 12:15 p.m.

A Gardner Hall resident reported her license plates stolen off of her parked vehicle. The plates were recovered 2-days later, found displayed on a stolen vehicle in Abilene. Investigation ongoing.

04/08/2018 10:03 p.m.

ACUPD assisted APD on an investigation of threats made online. Reported by an ACU student.

04/09/2018 1:50 p.m.

ACUPD responded to a male who had been walking on campus, acting erratic, threatening people.

Officers located the man in the field near Facilities Management. Subject was taken for mental evaluation.

ACCIDENT 2 ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIVITY 18 ALARM 3 ASSIST 3 BUILDING LOCK/UNLOCK 4 BURGLARY (MOTOR VEHICLE) 4 CHECK BUILDING 325 CRIMINAL TRESPASS WARNING 2 FOOT PATROL 10

FOUND PROPERTY 6 INFORMATION REPORT 4 INVESTIGATION FOLLOW UP 8 MAINTENANCE UNIVERSITY ASSETS: CCTV 1 MAINTENANCE: UNIVERSITY ASSETS 2 MONITOR FACILITY/LOT 5 MOTORIST ASSIST: JUMPSTART 5 MOTOR ASSIST: OTHER 2

MOTORIST ASSIST: UNLOCK OTHER PARKING LOT PATROL PARKING VIOLATION PATROL VEHICLE: MAINTENANCE PATROL VEHICLE: REFUEL PUBLIC SERVICE RANDOM PATROL REPORT WRITING SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY

13 3 46 4 3 8 1 10 8 1

SUSPICIOUS PERSON SUSPICIOUS VEHICLE THEFT TRAFFIC STOP TRAINING WELFARE CHECK

1 1 3 5 1 2

TOTAL

527

POLICE CHIEF TIP OF THE WEEK: April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month: Remember - consent MUST be STATED, CAN’T be IMPLIED and absolutely CANNOT BE GIVEN BY AN INCAPCITATED PERSON.

N E WS

FRIDAY | APRIL 13, 2018

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What a Rush: Potential members meet clubs

Members of Pi Kappa wait for a watermelon to explode at all club rush.

Above: Abigail Mayer talks to a rushee at all club rush last Thursday.

PHOTOS BY HOLLY DORN Bottom Left: Frater Sodalis gathers for their club song after a rush last Monday.

Bottom Right: Sub T-16 members greet rushees at all club rush last week around the GATA fountain.

FilmFest awards six films Best Picture – “Jars” People’s Choice – “The Cheeseburger Squad” Best Director – Forrest Lorenzen and John Puckett, “Eastbound” Best Producer – Brittney Johnson, “Year-Round” Best Writer – Rankin Dean, Brittany Taylor, “Jars” Best Editor – Esther Tsuneki, “The Cheeseburger Squad” Best Cinematography – John Greer, “Year-Round” Best Production Designer – Michael Scales, “American Sinners” Best Sound Designer – Cole Spears, “Count” Best Actor – Rankin Dean, “Jars” Best Actress – Jemimah Wavamunno, “American Sinners”

BY LAUREN FRANCO CONTENT MANAGING EDITOR

FilmFest 2018, themed Awaken, took place last Friday with 13 total student-made films.

Producer of “YearRound,” Brittney Johnson has produced six films in three years, and won best producer every year since 2016.

“FilmFest has meant so much to me the last three years,” said Johnson, a graduate student from Universal City. “I’m humbled with every win of ‘best producer’ since 2016. To know that industry professionals believe in me, and every filmmaker, to such a degree is incredible.”

Rankin Dean, who won three awards, decided to transfer to ACU after attending FilmFest last year.

“I was still considering

where to transfer to and was invited to FilmFest and loved it,” said Dean, a junior acting theatre major from Colorado City. “The idea of a school having their very own film festival blew my mind, since I’ve lived in a small town my whole life. So that experience definitely sealed the deal for to go to ACU.” For his first time competing in FilmFest, Dean said he wrote “Jars” to represent his core talents as a filmmaker while also creating something everyone would enjoy.

“This was my first time ever competing for awards for a short film and I tried not to think about it. I wasn’t trying to make a film that was going to win everything,” Dean said.

“So to win three awards was absolutely thrilling for

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the whole production team, but it was also great reassurance that we don’t have to be Hollywood in order to make something enjoyable and touching.”

LMF14A@ACU.EDU

U R G R A D UAT E W I T H A H O N O R YO

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IN ACU’S CAMPUS NEWSPAPER The Optimist - Commencement Edition 2018 PURCHASE ONLINE AT: acu.edu/optimist-ad

DEADLINE APRIL 27

Small, Medium or Large ad sizes available.

Color or Black & White options. Prices vary.

For additional information, please contact Optimist Advertising at 325-674-2819 or optimist@acu.edu.

FRIDAY | APRIL 13, 2018

F E ATUR E

5

Dancing Away On The Stage

Omega Dance Company prepares to showcase their latest moves for their spring show

BY EMILY GUAJARDO AND ALLISON HARRELL ARTS AND FEATURES EDITOR CONTRIBUTING WRITER

S

howcasing new and carefully choreographed routines, the Omega Dance Company prepares the final touches for its spring showcase I Am. With nine official members and a couple of alternate dancers in between numbers, the dancers are eager to perform. While Omega is known for its interpretive dance routines, its mission is “to glorify God

through creating community, educating others, and praising Him through dance.” In both small and big group numbers, each dancer is able to fully express her talents on the stage.”

Filled with multiple turns, countless arm movements and head turns, the spring show will represent the dedication and hard work each member has poured into the making of the show.

Premiering on April 20-21 in Cul-

len Auditorium, Omega will present various dances including a couple of jazz, hip-hop and modern numbers.

With high hopes after hours of intense practice, the dancers are eager to finish the year off strong.

Tickets wil be sold for $7 at the door.

EAG13A@ACU.EDU PHOTO BY LYDIA LAWSON

What’s New On Netflix?

Nailed It!

Wild Wild Country

TV-PG

Not everyone is meant to be a top chef or baker.

Buzzing the internet with famous memes, Nailed It takes poor home bakers who seek another chance in the kitchen – and win $10,000 in the process.

Staring Nicole Byer and pastry chef Jacques Torres, three contestants must prove their skills while their “masterpiece” is put to the test. In each competition, bakers must try to recreate a carefully designed and created pastry all while racing against the clock. However, as one might have guessed, things don’t really come out like they’re supposed to. With crumbing cakes, awful frosting and drippy fondue, Nailed It brings back the humor and fun of baking.

TV-MA

Set in Antelope, Oregon in the early ‘80s, Wild Wild Country is a documentary about the events which occurred under the influence of Indian guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. Wanting to build a utopian-like society in the middle of a ranch, the series shows how this group of individuals became the faces of America’s most beloved and hated cult. In various interviews with ex-members of the group, the audience can see how the sermon of peace, love and happiness filled the air in one of the most heated times in the nation’s history. Whether you argue for or against the guru and his teachings, Wild Wild Country will bring you to the edge of your seat.

Everything Sucks

Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee

TV-14

Following the lives of six high schoolers, Everything Sucks takes the audience into the world of scrunchies, denim and graphic tees. Set in the ‘90s in Boring, Oregon (pun intended), the show stars a couple of outcasted and overly dramatic kids part of the AV club who just want to be noticed. Kind of like a spin-off of Stranger Things, this show takes the audience back to a simpler world without high-technology and smartphones. Infused with drama, young love, LGBT interests, satire and crude humor, Everything Sucks makes sure you remember the good and bad times of high school.

TV-14

Just when you thought you could forget about Jerry Seinfeld, Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee comes racing on an adrenaline high– and a dose of caffeine. While some guests range from classic comedians like Jim Carrey and Steve Harvey, the show gives the audience an inside look into what these icons are really like. In each show, Seinfeld strategically picks one guest and finds just the right vintage car that best represents their personality.

From Station Wagons to classic Mustangs, each guest is welcomed with a cool car and the unique voice of Seinfeld yelling “Get in the car. Let’s get a cup of coffee.”

What’s Hot On Spotify?

Kacey Musgraves

Golden Hour

The country goddess returns with songs of heartbreak, falling in love and the search for love in the midst of chaos. Golden Hour is Musgraves fourth major album following Pageant Material and Same Trailer Different Park. Released on March 30, Golden Hour follows Musgraves’s love for falling in love. In the midst of bending notes, listeners can hear the maturity in Musgraves’s voice. Unlike her previous albums or single hits, Golden Hour is relevant for every 20-something year old girl who knows her worth is far more important and valuable than what others have to say. Golden Hour brings out the girly aspect of falling in love while still being a confident woman.

The Weeknd

My Dear Melancholy Only a few weeks on the market,The Weeknd’s newest album My Dear Melancholy has already launched straight into the hot picks for Spotify.

Contrasting from his previous album, Starboy, My Dear Melancholy is exactly fitting to The Weeknd’s strong and sad message of heartbreak. From the very start, fans will immediately be transported into a state of melancholy; reminiscing about past relationships and feeling the heartache all over again. Although rumors believe the album was inspired by recent breakup with Selena Gomez, The Weeknd’s rigid openness about his personal pain has given fans a strong and intimate album to accompany difficult days.

Cory Asbury

Reckless Love Reckless Love has easily become a worship service favorite among Christians because of its powerful message of God’s overwhelming and ever-chasing love. Released in January, it is apparent that Asbury has taken his time in writing each equally beautiful and powerful song. His new music, although produced by Bethel Music, is personally written and seems to whisper thankfulness for his personal testimony. The never ending love of the Heavenly Father is the key theme of the lyrics, and the music sends out a soft and delicate message. Asbury is clearly passionate to praise the story of the gospel in his heartfelt ballads with his soothing voice.

Various Artists

Revamp

Just like its title, Revamp is reconstructing the heart-tugging tunes of the great Elton John. Featuring various artists like Lady Gaga, Little Big Town and Logic, Revamp is essentially covers of John’s classic hits. While the songs themselves haven’t changed drastically, many publications have raved on how the essence of John’s voice has not left the covers even though they’ve been sung by current artists. Classic songs like Rocket Man and Bennie and the Jets have been converted to vivacious songs full of life while still retaining the classic lyrics John intended.

Cardi B

Invasion of Privacy She’s back! And she’s ready to tell you what a big mess you really are. This in-you-face-so-listen-up album is a nasty composition of Cardi B’s anger, frustration, self-expression and attacking moods all compiled into a 13 song, 48 minute sonnet. With hits like Bodak Yellow and Be Careful, Invasion of Privacy is quite the opposite from its title. Instead of keeping her secrets to herself, this queen wants to expose the liars, haters and blockers Cardi has faced since her stardom. Without a single excuse or apology, Cardi has stepped to the plate and is taking the world of rap by storm.

George Ezra

Staying at Tamara’s Bringing back good-feeling tunes, George Ezra returns with another round of poetic songs in his latest album, Staying at Tamara’s. Released in March, Ezra sings about the miserable lives people live today – full of regret, hatred and disgust for the finer things in life. However, like in all of his songs, Ezra tries to bring the listener good news. Singing songs about looking at the bright side of life and finding a savior for our love, Ezra’s hodgepodge of childlike-melodies can make any indie listener eager for the next album to come.

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OP I N I ON

FRIDAY | APRIL 13, 2018

How should we judge university success?

Many students, staff members and alumni will agree that our university has a beautiful campus, great professors and an even better community, but one problem we are facing is how we judge success for ACU. We have a wonderful stadium, beautiful buildings and a new line at the bean.

This, however, is not what makes ACU our home.

We need to be emphasizing our faculty and staff: Dr. Richard Beck will continue to be a freshman favorite, the hilarities from Dr. Steven Moore keep us on our feet at chapel and we can’t forget about Miss Sharon always greeting us at the bean.

ACU is already well known for having views everywhere on campus, but every campus is known for its beauty. What makes our university home is the family, the community and our faith. We have all of these great buildings, but what matters the most is what’s on the inside. The first thing we saw on our

campus tour was the tower and Jacob’s dream, but the things we remember are the people experiences.

We cannot simply judge our success on the amount of students who attend our university or whether or not we have D1 championship titles.

These things, of course are great, but they aren’t what we value most here.

Ask any student what their favorite thing about ACU is and you’ll hear answers such as “rushing traditions,” “caring people” and “support from our fellow wildcats.” We can continue to try to increase the amount of students we have on campus, but our actions will be futile if we don’t focus on why students came in the first place.

Looking back to the LGBTQ issue, the university wants to clarify our stances and make them more consistent with other policies and ideals.

This, however, upset many of the students, alum and general public. While we are under no authority to

@acuoptimist

entertain the opinion of outsiders, it is very necessary for our campus to be happy with the policies that affect our students.

Multiple university departments even sent out emails showing love and

compassion immediately after the announcement.

This is just an example where ACU wanted to better our university, but missed the point for why student love it. We are here for love and compas-

HALEY REMENAR EDITOR IN CHIEF

@OliviaDahl4 04/03/18 8:58 A.M. Today I put a nap into my to-do list... @miss_madison07 04/10/18 4:03 P.M. I need those end-of-the-semester surveys to come around that give you chapel credits just for completing them bc I’m sitting on 1 credit right now and I’m not sure that’s going to cut it @AMCrand 03/28/18 11:18 A.M. If you thought GATA Formal was lit Venmo me a dollar //@ AshlynnMckay // @KailaRHS 04/04/18 7:17 P.M. Who has bean bucks and can buy me coffee? Ya girl needs it @rocksteplindy 04/11/18 5:01 P.M. I was made aware today that my Great Western Railroad account was hacked. All I can think about now is how much I miss riding trains across England. @bowenarrow43 04/09/18 8:09 A.M. The worst part of Facetiming into class each week is when your professor brings cinnamon rolls and there is no way for you to eat one. #getonitapple @CollegeStudent 04/11/18 8:02 P.M. Me walking into class knowing that I’m going to fail the exam

Senior convergence journalism major Albuquerque, New Mexico

After four years of buying Scantrons, I’m formally calling out all the teachers who forced me to spend $2 on the pointless pieces of paper.

We have Canvas for a reason, and all professors should be using it. I’m not just writing this because I want my own professors to use Canvas –using Canvas for all multiple choice tests would save the school time and money in the long-run.

invasion of privacy. Please limit letters to 350 words or fewer. A name and phone number must be included for verification purposes.

Phone numbers will not be published.

Address letters to: ACU Box 27892 Abilene, TX 79609 E-mail letters to: optimist@acu.edu

Canvas stores the questions even after the test ends, students can look back at previous tests without having to keep pieces of paper.

Professors who use Canvas for tests save the time it takes to create a test key, input the answers in the Scantron machine, scan all the Scantrons and then input the grades to Canvas. If they put tests on Canvas, they eliminate the need for all the other steps.

Finally, using Canvas for tests saves paper, and it saves money. A 100-question test can be 5 or 6 pages long, and that’s a lot of pages to waste, especially for large classes.

It also saves students the money to buy Scantrons.

I’ve been lucky enough to only need one pack of Scantrons per semester, but some students have to buy more. That’s money that could be spent elsewhere for students –or at Tea2Go for me.

The university pays for Canvas and for full-time tech support for faculty.

Why isn’t every professor taking advantage of this?

Canvas allows for essays, multiple choice and even short-answer formats. Every professor should be using it instead of Scantrons. To all my professors who still use Scantrons: you know who you are.

to a private company which specialized in these agreements before their freshman year and submit their college of choice and degree they will be pursuing.

For example, if after scholarships a student at ACU would still owe $20,000 per year, the company would loan them $10k each semester to cover the remainder of their balance. When the student graduated, they would owe that company a fixed percentage of their income based upon the job placement record of that university and the degree plan they had chosen. For example, someone with an accounting degree would owe 5 percent of their income over 10 years. Someone with an undergraduate degree that has lower chances for job placement compared to accounting, such as psychology or gender studies would owe a higher percentage of their income closer to 10 percent. It’s not that these degree paths are not important or that job placement is all that matters, it’s that these degrees generally require more education beyond an undergrad degree to be profitable.

If students reach or exceed their earnings potential after college, the company who had originally made the loan would come away with a profit which would offset those students who did not.

Whether you work as a waiter out of college or start with 6 figures, this percent wouldn’t change.

It incentives colleges to produce degree programs with high job placement.

It holds universities accountable and would also help with lowering costs as universities would cut programs which weren’t helping students find jobs.

Some universities have begun setting aside parts of their endowments for income sharing agreements. This benefits the endowment by potentially causing it to grow and by saving students from burdensome loans with high inflexible repayments.

The idea isn’t a perfect one, and I encourage you to look into it more, but I believe it is a better path forward than the current one we are on.

EDITOR@JMCNETWORK.COM

The School of Nursing seems to be more on board with the system than most departments. In nursing classes, teachers use Canvas for most tests, even long ones with 50-100 questions. This allows students to see their grades immediately, which can be helpful if the teacher doesn’t have time to grade tests immediately.

Some professors give cumulative tests or reuse test questions. Because

HRR13B@ACU.EDU

We are in need of a student loan reform I CAN’T EVAN EVAN RODRIGUEZ WEB EDITOR Junior management major Sugarland, Texas

First, let’s start off with some numbers so you can understand the absolutely miserable situation we are in: $1.48 trillion in total U.S. student loan debt, 44.2 million Americans with student loan debt, Student loan delinquency rate of 11.2 percent (90+ days delinquent or in default), Average monthly student loan payment (for borrower aged 20 to 30 years): $351 and Median monthly student loan payment (for borrower aged 20 to 30 years): $203.

That delinquency rate of 11.2 percent? During the peak of the housing crisis, the delinquency rate on home loans only reached 10.6 percent. The $1.48 trillion in student loan debt is $620 billion more than the total U.S. credit card debt.

Obviously, these numbers have been driven by the increasing cost of attending college.

According to Gordon

Wadsworth, author of The College Trap, “…if the cost of college tuition was $10,000 in 1986, it would now cost the same student over $21,500 if education had increased as much as the average inflation rate but instead education is $59,800 or over 2 ½ times the inflation rate.”

The path we are on is not a viable option for us or for future generations.

Stopping rising costs is a tough task which has been tried by both political parties to no avail.

What we need to do is rethink student loans.

A radical new idea has been proposed by some senators and a few private universities. The idea is known as Income-Sharing Agreements and were first proposed by Milton Friedman in 1955. Since then, the idea has evolved.

An Income-Sharing Agreement is fairly simple.

A student would reach out

T H E

EDITORIAL AND LETTER POLICY Unsigned editorials are the opinions of the Optimist and may not necessarily reflect the views of the university or its administration.

Signed columns, cartoons and letters are the opinions of their creators and may not necessarily reflect the viewpoints of the Optimist or the university.

The Optimist encourages reader response through letters to the editor but reserves the right to limit frequent contributors or to refuse to print letters containing personal attacks, obscenity, defamation, erroneous information or

what makes it home, but if we pair bettering campus with emphasis on our community, then we will see what real success is.

Canvas tests better than the rest RATED R

@AshleyStirman 04/07/18 1:53 P.M. #ACUDifference: just walked past someone sharing his testimony with a friend in the library and no one blinked an eye. I love this school.

sion for all who attend.

Any attempt at making our university better is wonderful as long as it’s done with pure intentions in mind. We can not focus on material things with our college because that’s not

EMR16C@ACU.EDU

O P T IM IST

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6

SPORTS

FRIDAY | APRIL 13, 2018

STANDINGS Baseball

Team

Ovrl. SLC.

SHSU 23–10 SELU 24–13 UCA 19–13 UIW 22–12 McNeese 13–20 HBU 14–19 NWSU 17–14 NOU 17–17 Nicholls 13–21 SFA 12–20 TAMU-CC 18–16 ACU 16–15 Lamar 7–26

11–1 11–4 10–5 8–4 9–6 7–5 6–6 7–8 5–7 4–8 3–9 3–12 3–12

Softball

Team

NICK CROMWELL STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Senior outfielder Brianna Barnhill makes her way to first base after making a hit.

Wildcats stun Texas Tech in walk-off fashion

BY DAVIS DENTON SPORTS WRTIER

Freshman utility player Katelyn Belch hit a walk-off home run to lead the Wildcats to a stunning 11-10 comeback victory against Texas Tech Tuesday evening at Poly Wells Field.

Similar to its comeback win against Monmouth earlier in the season, ACU pulled out some late-inning magic to erase a 10-3 lead by the Red Raiders scoring two runs in the sixth, and six more in the seventh to complete the rally.

The Red Raiders piled on four runs in the first inning to take an early 4-0 lead. Senior first baseman Brianna Barnhill cut the deficit to 4-2 in the bottom of the first inning with a single that scored senior shortstop Peyton Hedrick and senior center fielder Braegan Hamilton.

The Red Raiders would then go on to take a 9-2 lead with a five-run fourth inning, but the Wildcats weren’t ready to give up yet, as junior right fielder Donelle Johnson sparked her team’s late comeback with a home run in the

fifth inning.

“I had just missed in my two at-bats before that one and so coach just told me to hit something hard so I went up with a new approach and the outcome was great,” Johnson said. “Every run was important that game and every person on the team had a role and I think that the home run was just one of the pieces to the puzzle that just helped to keep the inning going.”

Texas Tech’s redshirt sophomore outfielder Karli Hamilton hit a homer in the sixth to take a

10-3 lead, but this would be the final run for the Red Raiders. The Wildcats would then score eight unanswered runs capped off by Belch’s walk-off home run.

Head Coach Bobby Reeves said everything was clicking for his team Tuesday evening.

“The home run changed the momentum.

They were fighting, hitting, pitching and defending and refused to lose,” Reeves said. “We have struggled at times this year with having all three phases of the game, hav-

ing 2 or only 1 working during a game but tonight it was all together, and tonight all worked which will hopefully carry into this weekend.”

The Wildcats will next dive back into conference play as the team will host Incarnate Word for a three-game series this weekend. The first game is scheduled for Friday at 6 p.m., then game two and three will be played Saturday at 12 and 2 p.m.

Men’s Tennis

Team

UIW ACU TAMU-CC Lamar Nicholls NOU

Ovrl. SLC. 10–9 14–8 17–8 7–12 5–11 4–12

4–0 3–0 2–1 1–2 1–3 0–5

Women’s Tennis

Team

McNeese NWSU TAMU-CC ACU UCA SHSU NOU UIW Nicholls SELU Lamar SFA

Ovrl. SLC. 14–3 14–6 12–6 12–7 12–5 10–5 9–9 5–15 11–9 6–12 4–14 2–16

9–1 8–1 7–1 6–3 5–3 5–3 3–6 3–6 2–7 2–7 2–7 1–8

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK Baseball

BY MAX PRESTON ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR

LAUREN FRANCO CONTENT MANAGING EDITOR Adam Dorrell and team take the field for spring purple -white game. since 2016 after taking care of his grades during the 2017 campaign.

Fuller was nothing short of impressive in his return catching eight passes for 146 yards and two touchdowns all from redshirt freshman quarterback Luke Anthony. Anthony also had an excellent showing completing 20 of his 28 passes for 291 yards and three touchdowns with

only one interception.

Freshman outside linebacker Qua’Shawn Washington, who was moved to the position during spring, grabbed Anthony’s only pick of the evening and turned heads defensively making 10 tackles, with one being for a loss, and one pass breakup.

With a lot of success and momentum coming out of

the spring, Dorrel said he plans to keep progressing with his team in the next few weeks.

“We’re going right back into the weight room next week,” Dorrel said. “We’re not going to wait until June 1. We’re going to start having captains practice in another week which will be on their own. We really think that’s going to help us to get going quick-

er in the summer.”

With the conclusion of spring drills, the football team will begin its official summer workouts on June 1. After summer off-season the team, with its new recruits, will then come together to participate in preseason practices in late July.

MJP14B@ACU.EDU

Wildcat throwers impress at Baylor, head to UIW next

BY RACHEL POE SPORTS WRITER

The track and field team put together a successful weekend at the David Noble Angelo State Relays and the Baylor Invitational, sneaking its way into 13 top-five finishes.

Junior Kai Schmidt headlined the weekend placing first in the shot put (17.59m) and discus (55.64m) in the Baylor Invitational.

Schmidt said the wins were a big confidence booster.

“Winning is always fun, no doubt. But the main reason we came to Baylor was to get that competition in to see if we can execute the changes we made,” Schmidt said.

“For me personally the meet was meant to be to build up confidence in my technique and the win is just a nice little extra to it.”

11–4 11–4 10–5 9–6 9–6 9–6 8–7 7–8 6–9 5–10 4–11 1–14

DMD14A@ACU.EDU

Football ends spring with purple-white game Football concluded spring ball on Friday night, as the sophomore Luke Anthony found junior Josh Fink on a 42-yard slant to score a late touchdown and defeat the defense 24-22.

The spring game was a conclusion of 14 practices and one scrimmage that saw the team make a steady progression and become acquainted and re-acquainted with new and old talent.

Head Coach Adam Dorrel, who has now concluded his first spring coming off a regular season with the team, said he saw big improvements from when he arrived a year ago.

“As a whole for 15 practices, it was a great body of work, I thought it was exponentially better than last spring,” Dorrel said. “I feel like we’re moving in the right direction as far as getting better in a lot of ways.”

On the offensive side, senior wide receiver D.J. Fuller returned to the field for his first live game action

Ovrl. SLC.

Nicholls 26–11 NWSU 24–12 McNeese 28–14 SELU 23–16 SFA 21–17 UCA 20–18 Lamar 23–19 ACU 14–20 SHSU 14–26 UIW 12–21 HBU 7–23 TAMU-CC9–28–1

LAUREN FRANCO CONTENT MANAGING EDITOR Junior thrower Ryan Simmons prepares to throw the javelin.

Schmidt wasn’t the only Wildcat thrower that impressed as Junior Kayla Melgar took second in

the discus (50.34m) and fourth in the shot put (13.97m). Her teammate Junior Lonnie Smith fin-

ished right behind her in the discus with a throw of 50.02m.

Junior Ryan Simmons

set a personal best in the discus with a throw of 54.11m. He also finished third in the hammer throw at 48.29m and sixth in the javelin at 49.34m.

The Wildcats will next travel to San Antonio for the University of the Incarnate Word Invitational this upcoming Friday.

“It will be a good competition to see where everybody is at and where we need to be so that we can make improvements during the next few weeks in order to be ready for conference,” Schmidt said. “I am really thrilled to see what this team is capable of.”

The meet will last all day Friday and will last through Saturday.

RKP15A@ACU.EDU

The baseball team defeated Dallas Christian 1-0 Tuesday.

Brasher got the nod Brasher to start on the mound in the game and had a solid outing throwing six innings with giving up only three hits. The team will next host a three-game conference series against Houston Baptist this weekend.

Softball

The softball team pulled off an incredible comeback win over Texas Tech Tuesday Belch thanks to Belch’s walk-off two-run homer in the seventh inning. The home run was her only hit of the game, and it came at the perfect time for the Wildcats. Softball will stay at home this weekend and battle Incarnate Word in a three-game series.

Track and Field

The track and field team had an impressive weekend at at San Angelo and Waco Schmidt last weekend. Schmidt was the standout athlete placing first in both the shot put (17.59m) and discus (55.64m). The team will next travel to San Antonio this weekend for the UIW Invitational.

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