OPTIMIST THE
WEDNESDAY October 3, 2007 Vol. 96, No. 11 1 section, 8 pages www.acuoptimist.com
Our favorite Freshman Follies featured photos
FocusWednesday showcases the staff’s best pictures from the weekend’s shows , page 5
Cross Country
Salsa you can’t eat
New salsa class teaches students Latin culture through dance, page 3
Men’s cross country wins Oklahoma State Cowboy Jamboree, page 8
New director pleased with Follies By Kelsi Peace Managing Editor
This year, Freshman Follies exposed new freshmen to ACU and initiated newly appointed director of student productions Tom Craig to the world of show biz. “I had no expectations,” Craig said. “I went into the weekend with no expectations, but everything turned
out great.” Between the four shows, Follies gathered an audience of about 1,700, Craig estimated, drawing a crowd that contributed to the show’s energy. Craig said numbers were evenly distributed at all the shows. Without a cast, a production doesn’t have a lot to offer. “We had a wonderful group of freshmen this year,” Craig
said. “It’s a class that ACU will be proud of.” The group performed at least three original pieces, and this year’s co-chairs, Brent Bailey, Biblical text major from Kingwood; Wes Flach, Christian ministry major from Dallas; Rebecca Hopkins, communication disorders major from Edmond and Allie Souder, biology major from Arlington, provided
an unprecedented role in the production, Craig said. The group divided the responsibilities into four parts, and with Souder covering Large Chorus and theme development, Hopkins watching hall acts and dance troop numbers, Flach organizing stage details and Katie gager CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER
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FOLLIES page 4
Nelson 3rd floor performs, “Blast from the Past,” in last weekend’s Freshman Follies.
U-CAN find ACU info online By Val Valle Online Editor
todd piersall STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Katie Miller, sophomore sociology and youth and family ministry major from Overland Park, Kan., takes a virtual drive Monday during Wellness Week.
Wellness Week focuses on overall student By Katie Howerton Student Reporter
With a full list of activities planned, the seventh annual Wellness Week is in full swing this week. This year’s theme, “Starting the Journey,” will focus on the overall well-being of the ACU student body. “Our purpose of Wellness Week is to help provide information about services, resources and ideas about mental, physical and spiritual health,” said Steve Rowlands, director of ACU’s Counseling Center. “We know this time of the semester
is a time where lots of students are feeling stressed and overwhelmed … and we just want to help people refocus on [the question] ‘Here’s some steps I need to be taking to make sure I’m doing well.’” The entire week is sponsored by the Counseling Center, Medical Clinic, Campus Activity Board, and exercise science department and is directed towards all students. This year’s goal is “to get people involved and to be proactive and help people really kind of access their strengths and their weaknesses in this area and provide them with resources to improve,” Rowlands said.
Along with learning more about overall wellness, students will have an opportunity to win a bike or an iPod for participating in activities. This week’s activities have included an A.W.A.R.E. DUI simulator on Monday, educational information and screenings followed by a devotional on Tuesday, free popcorn given out on Wednesday, a Chapel forum with a theme of “Taking Steps with God into Wellness” on Thursday and ending Friday with a fitness walk around the Lunsford Trail before showing the movie “The Bourne Ultimatum” shown later that night.
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“We really believe in the notion of mind, body and spirit,” Rowlands said. “If you don’t take care of yourself physically or emotionally or spiritually, they all impact each other, and we want to bring all those together and give people resources.” For more information about Wellness Week or the Counseling Center and a complete list of the times and locations of the week’s events, visit www.acu.edu/campusoffices/counseling.
E-mail Howerton at: optimist@acu.edu
Rocketboys celebrate new album By Rachel Davis Opinion Editor
Homer Hiccolm and the Rocketboys are still flying high after the Austin City Limits performance they won in The Sound and in the Jury Contest and the recent release of their new EP. Philip Ellis, senior management major from Van, said the band received a lot of positive feedback at the festival. “A lot of people working with us at the festival wanted to keep in contact with us,” Ellis said. “Also, the venue owners at the after parties we played said they wanted to have us back.” Justin Wiseman, (’07), said the band expects to see some longterm effects from the festival. “We haven’t really had anything yet, but I think in the long run we’ll get some good press and public-
ity,” Wiseman said. After the hype of ACL, the Rocketboys threw a CD release party in Abilene and in Amarillo to thank the fans, Ellis said. “It was our way of telling everyone how much we appreciated their help in getting us to ACL,” Ellis said. Wiseman and Ellis both said the party planning became a little hectic after the bands that were originally scheduled to play with them cancelled, but in the end it turned out well, Wiseman said. “We ended up playing with a bunch of our friends, and it was great,” Wiseman said. Ellis said the band decided to play some old songs after the other bands cancelled. “It was great getting to play a bunch of our old songs,” Ellis said. “Especially for the fans that have been there from the beginning and appreciate them,” Wiseman said.
Department of Journalism and Mass Communication
The band sold about 150 of its new EP, “Sing, Bird, Sing,” and Ellis said seeing the CDs was amazing. “When we got the box and saw the CDs, it was the best feeling ever,” Ellis said. “To see them in our hands and know they were ready to be in other people’s hands — it was great.” Now that the band is back in Abilene and coming off the ACL high; Wiseman said they just plan to promote the new CD. “We just want to play a lot of shows and get the EP into as many people’s hands as possible,” Wiseman said. Ellis added the band is also looking for a new trailer to help with traveling around. The band’s next show is Oct. 12 at the Launchpad in Albuquerque, N.M. The Rocketboys are also planning another Christmas show for later in the year, Wiseman said. E-mail Davis at: red04a@acu.edu
kyle tafton CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER
Daniel Wheeler, Homer Hiccolm and the Rocketboys guitarist and ACU alum (’06), performs at the band’s CD release party.
Abilene Christian University
ACU is now part of a new online resource that launched last Wednesday, consisting of hundreds of institutional profiles that give information on different private universities and colleges for prospective students and their parents. According to its Web site, University and College Accountability Network (U-CAN) allows universities and colleges to provide consumer information for students and parents through profiles. Profiles include comparable data; however, if users can’t find what they are looking for on the U-CAN Web site, each profile contains nearly two dozen links that take viewers directly to the university’s Web site to help you learn more. U-CAN is a project of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU). NAICU has been working on this project since 2006. The organization asked ACU to be a part of their Web site, and ACU agreed to take part in it said
U-CAN page 4
Balloon Fest lands in Abilene By Pete Koehn Student Reporter
The 13th Annual Big Country Balloon Fest was in full swing at Red Bud Park last weekend, beginning Friday at 5 p.m. and ending Sunday around 9 a.m. The event was full of activities including hot air balloon flights, live music, craft booths, inflatable games, 5 and 10k charity runs and a silent auction. The Optimist Unlimited Club of Abilene, a non-profit organization, produces Balloon Fest each year. The festival serves as the club’s major annual fundraiser. The Optimist Unlimited Club of Abilene uses its funds to support a variety of youth programs including: Camp Quality, the Childhood Cancer Campaign, the P.A.L.S. Program, Project Graduation and the Special Olympics. Glen Moyer, editor of Ballooning Magazine, served as the event’s “balloonmeister,” which he described as a sort of director. The duties of the balloonmeister included taking into account the weather, flying conditions and skill level of the balloonists, making the final decision to fly or not, Moyer said. There are many factors that affect hot air balloon flight. “I consider them, stick them in See
Fest page 4
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