Out of Africa Conways leave life in Kenya for school
vol. 103, no. 29
wednesday, january 14, 2015
1 SECTION, 8 PAGES
Feature Page 5
what’s INSIDE NEWS Intoxication at UP and other crime updates from Christmas break Page 3
SPORTS ‘Cats dominate and improve to 2-0 in conference
Page 8
OPINION Tiffany & Co. makes a statement with their first engagement ad featuring a same sex couple Page 6
NEWS Student ambassador program continues to grow Page 3
emily guajardo staff Photographer
ACU Police and the Abilene Police Department practiced emergency responses inside Chambers Hall over Christmas break.
Cops storm Chambers in training brittany jackson managing editor
OPINION Gas prices are unbelievably low, but we believe it doesn’t have the best results
Page 6
Chambers Hall was full of action during winter break with forced entries, low-scale explosions and hostage situations. The ACU Police Department and the Abilene Police Department organized a full-scale training operation on Jan. 7-8 in the building slated for demolition, calling in specially trained groups like the SWAT team, cri-
copy editor
Track starts season this week with A&M invitational
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NEWS More nightlife business moves to downtown Abilene
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what’s online
Colby Elizabeth McDaniel, an ACU freshman and lifelong Fort Worth resident, died unexpectedly in her home the morning of Dec. 21, 2014. Colby had recently celebrated her 19th birthday on Oct. 12 and seemed to be in perfect health before she died, family members said. She was pronounced dead at 10:37 a.m. at a hospital after being found unresponsive in her home. Her cause of death is still undetermined. A 2014 graduate of
Check out this week’s JMC Newscast with Laura Benson
Read more at acuoptimist.com
might break.” ACUPD roped off the Chambers building to set up for the two training days filled with four hours of exercises, the first day dealing with active shooter simulations, generic SWAT training and breaching doors with pry tools, forcible entry and explosive entry. Almost every ACUPD officer was able to simulate the active shooter event, reviewing their training on building searches, active shooter
formations, hostage situations and containment. Ellison said involving the APD helped simulate as realistic of a situation as possible, and encouraged communication between his officers and the APD officers continuing the long-standing practice of joint training. The second day focused on APD’s bomb unit which used one of its high-tech robots to blast open doors with its highsee police page 7
Southwest Christian School, McDaniel came to ACU in the fall as a music major and performer in the University Chorale. Gifted with a beautiful voice and a talent for acting, she spent much of her life performing in musical theater and choirs. She was planning on performing in the freshman act at Sing Song this spring. Colby’s death occurred on the same day as the wedding of her cousin, Garrett Jones. Garrett’s sister, Haley Jones, was close to McDaniel and said the support of family, friends and community was the only thing that got her through the
day. That same community support has helped her and Colby’s sister, Taylor Jones, in returning to school and celebrating Colby’s life while mourning her loss. “The support that I got from people at the wedding was from a lot of our friends and family, people from the ACU community and people from home, just people from all over who had come to wedding, so that was really cool,” Jones said. “But also, later when I posted on the Siggie Facebook page what had happened, I immediately started see McDAniel page 7
photo courtesy of taylor McDaniel
Colby McDaniel was a freshman at ACU.
SBCs make comeback on smaller scale rachel fritz
VIDEO
in this simulation, the officers didn’t have to worry about harming the building. ACUPD Police Chief Jimmy Ellison, said Scot Colley, executive director of construction and risk management, made the building accessible to the officers. Planning immediately pursued. “It allowed us to, if we had to, do what we would in a real-life situation,” Motz said. “We were allowed to use tools without worrying what we
Students mourn loss of Colby McDaniel emily seidel
SPORTS
sis negotiation team and bomb squad. “These kinds of attacks have become more frequent in institutions in our country, which demands a quick response and people who are well trained,” said ACUPD Lt. Randy Motz said. “You only get one chance at it, and you better make it right.” The simulation is not uncommon for ACUPD or APD, with one or two similar simulations scheduled each year. However,
copy editor Spring Break Campaigns have returned, though they are structured differently and are on a much smaller scale. SBCs began in 1976 when a group of ACU students went to Guatemala in response to an earthquake. The program transformed over the years into a multi-city, multi-country mission effort. Last year, confusion struck as the SBC program was tossed around
between the Center for Christian Service and Leadership and the Halbert Institute for Missions. In lieu of the campaigns that involved hundreds of students, the CCSL facilitated a local alternative, Service in the City. Three years ago, Mary Beth Cuevas, associate director for ACU Leadership Camps, was appointed as adviser for SBCs but played a small role planning the trips. This year, she is one of four faculty and staff members who have teamed with students to travel to four
destinations with ACU. “As an adviser, I attended one of the Chapels just to have an adult there,” Cuevas said. Cuevas was then asked to take a larger role in the program, but the timing proved to complicate things. “They wanted me to do them after all of the hoopla (last year),” she said. “Then, nobody signed up. It was kind of struggling.” Now, Cuevas has teamed up with Laura Combs, junior early childhood education major from Cedar Park and
Abilene Christian University
president of Treadaway Kids, to plan a campaign to Houston. “We are working with alumni at each site,” Cuevas said. “I’m working with some alumni in Houston to kind of plan it. Basically, alumni are planning it but with my input.” Cuevas, also the adviser of Treadaway Kids, approached Combs about the opportunity to help plan the campaign to Houston. “I went to Laura when I found out we’d be working with kids because that’s one of her passions,
so I asked her if she would help me with it,” she said. Each of the four campaigns will focus on helping the communities that each group travels to. Jake Hall, senior second grade education major from Springtown, is in charge of the Denver campaign with Jan Meyer, dean for student development and executive director of the Center for Christian Service and Leadership. “We’re still nailing down specific plans, but we’re planning on going see SBC page 3