WEDNESDAY September 12, 2007 Vol. 96, No. 6 1 section, 8 pages www.acuoptimist.com
OPTIMIST THE
International student numbers increasing
Enrollment slowly on the rise for international students since 9/11, page 3
Tuesday night football
See highlights and reactions from intramural football’s start Tuesday at, www.acuoptimist.com.
Surprise, surprise
Wildcats ambush larger division foe with unlikely win, page 8
City park plans pose greener future for ACU By Lauren Sutton Copy Editor
With the partnership of ACU and the city of Abilene, the community may see a new park area close to Interstate 20 in its near future. ACU has proposed the creation of a greener, more manicured park area near Rainy Creek east of Judge
Ely Boulevard and northeast of the campus, and thus far, the city has been in compliance with ACU’s plan. In this instance, ACU would provide labor and equipment, and the city would provide assistance in the channeling of Rainy Creek for the completion of the project. “We would have to change
the channel, and when we do that, we trigger the need to go through the state and federal levels who deal with floods; it changes the flood plane,” said Bob Nevill, director of physical resources. Though doing anything about the channel is at least a year away, the university is “doing what it must” to have engineers study the re-
channeling of Rainy Creek, Nevill said. The university began thinking about developing a park area about 18 months ago and proposed the idea so people would feel ACU’s presence after driving under I-20. ACU had landscape architects from Dallas look at the area around Allen Farm and
make suggestions as to how to best use the space. “I wouldn’t expect it to be as formal as the entrance of the campus,” Nevill said. “It will be irrigated and kept up with. There is a lot of conversation around that.” Not only would a park area provide a more aesthetically pleasing view of ACU campus from the interstate,
it would serve as a venue for pedestrian walkways. Other ideas for the space include placing student artwork around the creek. “There have to be some interest points to attract people to it,” said Nevill. “We want a nice view from the interstate.” E-mail Sutton at: les03c@acu.edu
Blown away at the fair
katie gager CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER
Taylor Miller, age 9, from Abilene blows a 5-inch bubble in the bubble-blowing contest Tuesday at the West Texas Fair and Rodeo. See our photographer’s favorite photos from the fair on page 5.
Residents voice concerns Delony addresses worried residents at Sherrod forum
“Sherrod’s a long list of really serious, expensive infrastructure issues.” Bob Nevill, director of physical resources
By Kelsi Peace Managing Editor
Residents of Sherrod Hall voiced concerns and heard from John Delony, director of residence life, Police Chief Jimmy Ellison and Bob Nevill, director of physical resources, at a forum Thursday night. After complaints of poor safety and living conditions were levied at the university housing facility, Delony scheduled a meeting Tuesday with Kevin Watson, associate vice president for administrative services and chief operations officer, and Jean-Noel Thompson, vice president and dean of student life, to discuss Sherrod’s future. Delony asked the residents, among whom only four families were missing from the 20 living in the complex, to e-mail him by Monday morning so he could compile a recommendation. At the meeting, Delony, Watson and Thompson discussed Sherrod’s future — whether it should be torn down, phased out or renovated. At press time, Delony said
in an e-mail he did not have any decision to announce from the meeting, but all attendees have been given the task of obtaining further information on issues, including pricing and long-term planning. “We’re not going to put you on the street,” Delony told residents at Thursday’s meeting. Delony appointed a student assistant director, Rebecca Cates, graduate student from Olathe, Kans., and Sherrod resident, to act as a lesion between residents and the university, filling a position that has been vacant since this summer. Cates will e-mail Delony a copy of every maintenance request to create a paper record of requests. At the meeting, Nevill said in the past year, 300 work orders have been put in for Sherrod; requests were responded to in an average time of four days. Currently, 34 work orders are open, with about 10 preventative orders and seven cricket complaints.
Department of Journalism and Mass Communication
“Sherrod apartments are in terrible, terrible physical shape,” Nevill said. “Sherrod’s a long list of really serious, expensive infrastructure issues.” But Nevill said residents should not feel isolated, and part of the problem could have come from poor communication between past residence directors who failed to report problems to his office. “If you call, we come,” he said. As for safety, Ellison assured residents the patrol frequents the area. In 2006, the complex had 11 criminal instances, Ellison said, which were part of a campus-wide car break-in epidemic. “We don’t get many calls at Sherrod,” he said, adding that sometimes citizens don’t call because they think it won’t help. One resident said he has noticed prostitutes in the area; others complained that strangers knock on their doors. See
SHERROD page 3
Speaker addresses reconciliation By Kelsi Peace Managing Editor
Dr. Brenda Salter McNeil challenged students to preach with more than just a “big stick” at the second Chapel forum in the Faith Alive forum series. The true message, Salter McNeil said, is that of the cross — both vertical and
horizontal relationships. And without the horizontal reconciliation of human relationship, the truth gets lost in translation, she said. “All we’re preaching is just a big stick you use to hit people over the head,” she said. Salter McNeil returned to the university as a speaker who has been on campus several times before. A keynote
speaker at Urbana, a student missions convention, last winter, Salter McNeil hails from Chicago and addresses issues of reconciliation across racial, socio-economic, gender and other boundaries. Using the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well from John 4, See
SPEAKER page 3
Class surprises police with cake By Kelsi Peace Managing Editor
A senior-level political science class gave the ACU Police Department a sweet thank you on the sixth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Studying Marxism in Melanie Castleberg’s Eastern European Politics class spurred the idea to thank the department, Castleberg said. “[Studying Marxism] has made the whole class appreciate their freedoms a lot more,” she said. Castleberg and her eight students presented the police department with a strawberry-filled cake from McKay’s Bakery and a few words of gratitude for their hard work
during the shift change at 3 p.m. Tuesday. The Political Science Department sponsored the cake. Police Chief Jimmy Ellison said the event was appreciated and while not the first demonstration of gratitude the department has received, it was the first tied to Sept. 11. “Police work’s not real popular,” Ellison said, adding that the thank you was nice. Castleberg said the gesture could become an annual event. And Ellison said the department will continue its work. “Day in, day out, there’s always someone there,” he said.
Abilene Christian University
E-mail Peace at: knp04a@acu.edu
Emily Smith SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER
Bob Delony, a new ACU police officer of seven months, cuts a piece of memorial cake Tuesday at the ACU police station.
Serving the ACU community since 1912