Keepers Newton and Dombrowski lead ‘Cats in goalie box
vol. 103, no. 15
what’s INSIDE NEWS A former Wal-Mart executive spoke to students yesterday on campus Page 4
“
wednesday, october 15, 2014
1 SECTION, 8 PAGES
Sports Page 7
I assure you, the reality on the ground in West Africa is worse than the worst report you’ve seen.”
SPORTS Wildcats dominate in final nonconference game on Saturday
Page 8
FEATURE A professor and his wife publish an illustrated book they wrote for their children Page 5
NEWS Members of SA Congress ask for better lighting around campus Page 3
paige otway staff photographer
Dr. Kent Brantly shares his Ebola story on stage with Dr. Randy Harris in Moody Coliseum on Friday afternoon.
Brantly speaks on behalf of West Africa madeline orr editor in chief
OPINION The number of Americans winning Nobel prizes is dwindling and it’s for the best
Page 6
INTRAMURALS It’s playoff season and Daniel Block fills us in on which teams should head to the championship Page 2
NEWS University takes another look at proposal for doctoral education degree Page 4
Dr. Kent Brantly attended ACU Homecoming this weekend for the first time since he graduated in 2003, but he didn’t come just to reconnect with alumni; he came to share with students about his experience with the Ebola virus. Kent was the Grand Marshall of the Homecoming parade on Saturday morning. Brantly spoke in Chapel on Friday morning. Then, he and his wife, Amber (‘06), spoke in two afternoon sessions with students and in a public question-and-answer
session with Dr. Randy Harris in Moody Coliseum. Harris, instructor of Bible, missions and ministry, asked the Brantlys about the crisis in West Africa, Ebola’s spread to the U.S. and their story of faith. Kent and Amber both insisted that, in spite of their journey, they are just regular people. “We’ve been labeled as narcissistic idiots, and we’ve been labeled as heroes, and we don’t feel like either,” Kent said. “We’re just two ACU alumni who were seeking to be faithful to God’s call in our life.” For Kent, 33, that call was to be a medical missionary in West Africa. He was in Libe-
ria when the Ebola outbreak began in April. After treating thousands of patients suffering from the deadly disease, he contracted Ebola on July 23. The Brantlys have been in the national spotlight ever since. Kent said he was unaware of media reports when he was sick in Liberia and when he arrived in America. “This is not about me,” he said. “This is about our great, loving, compassionate God who has called us to love our neighbors. This is about the more than 3,800 people who have died from the Ebola virus disease in West Africa.” He said there has been so much media attention on the
Ebola case in the U.S., and that while those who have been in contact with the patient need to monitor their symptoms and cooperate with authorities, the rest of us don’t need to be afraid. “We’ve had a national frenzy about one case of this disease, while the World Health Organization says there have been over 8,000 cases in West Africa in the last 10 months,” he said. “We need to stop worrying about the irrational and start figuring out how to love our neighbors now to effectively end this outbreak in West Africa.” Harris said in some ways, they have become the faces of what it means to be a faith-
contact orr at mco10b@acu.edu
Dryer sets fire in Barret laundry room daniel block intramurals editor ACU Police and Abilene Fire Department responded to a call from Barret Hall early Friday morning and found smoke gushing from a clothes dryer. At 12:08 a.m., officer Mike Walters of ACUPD received a call from a student regarding a possible fire in the Barret Hall laundry room, Lieu-
tenant Randy Motz said. Walters proceeded to notify the fire department. Walters entered the laundry room to the sight and smell of smoke, Motz said. He pulled the smoking dryer away from the wall and unplugged it. Once the fire department arrived, the fire crew removed the appliance from the laundry room and unloaded the smoldering clothes in the parking lot. The clothes were hosed
down so a fire would not ignite. Motz said the problem did not arise from a faulty dryer. “The gist of the problem, it wasn’t the dryer it appears; (Walters’ police report) says the dryer had too many clothes inside,” Motz said. “It was so packed full of clothes from top to bottom it could barely spin and it could barely get any air in it. You couldn’t fit another
article of clothing in it.” No one claimed the clothes nor the use of the dryer at the time of the incident, Motz said. Tyson Tindol, sophomore from College Station, owned the clothes in the dryer. He declined to comment. ACUPD will not pursue the investigation further, Motz said. “The reason we didn’t follow up on it is ... it wasn’t done on purpose,” Motz
said. “But it’s not a crime; we just follow up on the crimes. As far as doing stuff that wasn’t real smart or student conduct-type affairs, that’s handled with Res Life ... I want to stress it’s not a criminal act.” Motz offered a reminder to the student population regarding ACUPD’s role on campus. see fire page 5
Mystery solved: Freshman drives fan van Linsey Thut features editor
what’s online VIDEO Kai Cremer, GATA president, wins Homecoming Queen
Jarred schuetze chief photographer
Read more at acuoptimist.com
ful follower of Jesus in extraordinarily difficult circumstances. “It’s a huge responsibility, and I don’t want to treat it as a burden, but it’s heavy,” Amber said. “So many people have prayed for us and prayed for Kent. We need those prayers to continue that we steward this responsibility and do it well.” When asked, “What’s next?” Kent answered, “We don’t know.” He said for now they are focusing on being parents to their two children, ages 3 and 5.
A student’s Mystery Machine was driven in the Homecoming parade on Saturday.
Abilene Christian University
Jinkies! The case of the Mystery Machine van parked in Gardner Hall parking lot has been cracked. The mysterious driver of the acclaimed van from Scooby Doo is none other than Nathan Reynolds, a freshman biology major from Kingwood. The idea for the van came to Reynolds his freshman year of high school when he realized he would be driving the family’s 17-year-old gray GMC Safari van. “It was old and not in the best condition, so I was like ‘I should fix this up,’” he said. During his senior year,
after finally getting the car engine to run, Reynolds took the car on its first drive – to his school’s auto shop. “It is probably a $3,000 paint job or more, but I only paid like $665,” Reynolds said. Reynolds’ Mystery Machine is based off of a toy keychain of the van from Cracker Barrel that, though faded, still hangs from his key ring. “Anyone that worked on my car got these and I said, “Make my car look exactly like this,’” he said. And that’s exactly what he got. The Mystery Machine could pass the test of any true fanatic, with likenesses to the cartoon both inside and out. With purple see van page 4