WEDNESDAY November 28, 2007 Vol. 96, No. 24 1 sections, 8 pages www.acuoptimist.com
The good, the bad and the forgetful
OPTIMIST THE
ACU’s triple-overtime loss came after a record-setting day for the Wildcats, page 8
Deck the halls with singing
Men in McKinzie Residence Hall gather to sing Monday nights and welcome challenges, page 3
Ballin’ it up
The undefeated Wildcats put 101 points on the board Monday night over UT-Permian Basin, page 8
Galaxy looking for alternative to bridge Dr. Money By Val Valle Online Editor
After years of fundraising, members of men’s social club Galaxy are looking for new opportunities to use their donation for the campus. Their efforts to build a bridge over the new pond bordering Judge Ely were denied last year. Members and alumni of Galaxy began asking for donations to build the bridge about four years ago, said Jeffery Edwards, senior biology major from Bedford and Galaxy president. Edwards said previous officers had even re-
Chapel problems still exist
ceived permission to build the bridge. But last year after completion of the pond, the administrators told Galaxy it would be foundationally unstable and said they were also concerned about the liability issue. The grand total of donated money is estimated at $30,000, and Edwards said Galaxy is unable to touch the money they have raised. “It’s kind of frustrating for old alumni who donated that money to see something specific be built that could benefit our campus, and then be told that we can’t do it,” said Will Morris, senior busi-
ness management major from Houston and Galaxy member. “It’s just money sitting in the bank somewhere not being put to use.” Bob Nevill, director of physical resources, said the project ended up being more expensive than they originally thought. Nevill said the ground for the bridge was unstable, and that it would have taken a lot of work and money to build. “It wouldn’t have been practical,” Nevill said. He said new plans for building Galaxy’s gift to the university would take place after completion of the
updates ACU about 21st Century plan
Welcome Center near the pond, which will begin by January and take about 18 months to complete. Galaxy is in the process of getting plans approved to be able to use their donation to build a gazebo with benches and flowers, said Edwards. He said the spot would be a nice place for students to gather, or even a place to take photos for graduation, Christmas or engagements. “We just want to give a gift to the university, but there’s so much red tape,” Edwards said.
By Colter Hettich Student Reporter
Dr. Royce Money, president of the university, shared business updates and outlined the administration’s plan for making ACU “the premier university for the education of Christcentered, global leaders” by 2020. Money called ACU’s faculty and staff together Monday afternoon in Hart Auditorium for a State of the Union of sorts. Money addressed strengths and weaknesses, describing ACU’s strategy to remain a competitive university and still provide a community true to ACU’s mission. The numbers prove the university’s strengths lie in more than a few areas. Its endowment sits at about $285 million, twice that of any Church of Christ university, excluding Pepperdine University. In 2006, ACU received the CCCU Racial Harmony Award. The athletic program has earned the fourth highest number of NCAA national championships. Twenty-five percent of incoming freshmen in fall 2007 were U.S. ethnic minorities or international students, more than double the last three years. Yet ACU must still face the realities of maintaining and developing a private university. 2007’s fiscal year ended with a $1.6 million deficit not covered by the contingency. The administration projects a $1.5 million budget shortfall in 2008 and $3 million deficit in 2009. Over the past two years, the number of entering freshmen has dropped 12 percent, from 1,010 to 889. Retaining students is consistently a problem, Money said, because larger public universities have strong appeal. ACU is also preparing for a hit no university will escape. Looking ahead, national demographics show that in 2008, the number of high school graduates will peak and then begin to drop until 2018. Many difficulties stand before ACU, but the administration is prepared for the challenge. “We must think and respond as a university, not in the silos we represent,” Money said. Money has appointed a Vision Leadership Team, (VLT), to guide the process. The team is made of 14 faculty and staff members: four members of the Presidential Cabinet, four deans, three faculty members and three staff members. The VLT has three purposes: review the current situation, reallocate funds and priority and reinvest in the ACU community. The VLT will assess all aspects of the departments and programs, including external demand, cost, expenses, impact of program, opportunities provided by program and quality of the program.
E-mail Valle at: vmv04a@acu.edu
Change-ing the holiday
By Laura Touchette Student Reporter
In a recent request students received from the Office of Spiritual Formation, Dr. Jean-Noel Thompson, vice president and dean for student life, and Dr. Wayne Barnard, university dean of spiritual formation, asked Chapel attendees, both those interested in Chapel and those not as much, to please be respectful of Chapel. “While I simply have not been here long enough to adequately address these questions, I wouldn’t necessarily say that we have had more problems with Chapel-related dishonesty among students than in the recent past,” Thompson said in an e-mail. “There are plans for helping students maintain a greater sense of personal accountability with regards to Chapel attendance integrity,” said Barnard in an e-mail. “I do think that we can do much better with this and would like to continue to discover ways to challenge our students toward greater personal responsibility, respect, and care in this regard.” The problems that have been addressed as Chapel issues are students “sliding and gliding,” which is when a student slides their ID card for Chapel, leaves and returns to slide again after Chapel. Other problems include arriving late and being disruptive, talking and disruptive actions during Chapel and leaving Chapel before being officially dismissed. “So far, the results of the Chapel survey indicate about a 50/50 split on Campus Conversations. Some like them, some don’t,” Barnard said. “That’s the way it is with Chapel, which makes it very difficult to program, since it is impossible to ‘please’ everyone all the time. The same can be said for Thursday Connection Groups, Class Chapel, Departmental Chapel, etc.” But another, more ironic problem concerns too many people being in Chapel at once. Consuming Fire, the Chapel offered at Chapel on the Hill on Thursdays, has had to turn away students. “It has honestly gotten to the point where there are so many people coming in, it couldn’t fit anymore people,” said Jacob Lollar, junior Bible major from Tucson, Ariz. “We wanted to move but
See
CHAPEL page 4
Spare coins fuel the giving spirit for non-profits like The Salvation Army and give some the opportunity to return the gift, page 5. Story by Daniel Johnson Photo illustration by Katie Gager
See
PLAN page 4
Abilene United Way nears donation goal By Kelline Linton Student Reporter
United Way of Abilene is finishing its 2007 United Way Campaign with ACU’s active involvement. United Way is the largest charitable campaign in Abilene. It raises about $2 million each year, and the community uses 99 percent of those donations. “Almost every penny raised stays right here,” said Bob Hunter, campaign chairman for United Way. The Campaign has already raised
Department of Journalism and Mass Communication
$1.6 million, but this year’s total is expected to exceed last year’s sum, Hunter said. “We hope we can raise several million dollars because the more we raise, the more we can help,” Hunter said. This year, ACU has already raised $37,058. This is comparable to the average contributions from the last six years, said Dr. Royce Money, president of the university. Total ACU donations will probably be around $38,000, he said. “The ACU community is such a giving community,” he said.
The largest single donation from ACU in the past decade was $42,000. The 2007 Campaign will ideally reach its completion on Jan. 1, but may continue into the beginning of next year, Hunter said. The donated funds will be used to meet five goals for West Central Texas: basic human needs for all citizens, student completion of high school and preparation for work or higher education, senior adults living independently and staying connected, families living self-sufficiently and neighborhoods provid-
Abilene Christian University
ing safety and family-friendliness. This vision was formed from the results of a survey taken last summer when more than 1,000 people commented on Abilene, asking what matters most to them as citizens and what can be done to help the entire community, Hunter said. The Campaign has 49 community partners, including YMCA Abilene, Noah Project and Boys and Girls Club of Abilene. These partners use donated
See
GOAL page 4
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