OPTIMIST THE
FRIDAY November 30, 2007 Vol. 96, No. 25 1 sections, 8 pages www.acuoptimist.com
‘No Country’ gives killing galore, with side of suspense ‘No Country for Old Men’ keeps audience tense but lacks feel-good ending, page 4
SA fills temporary position Doubling up
Congress appointed its first chaplain to the new position it created earlier this month, page 3
The ACU men’s and women’s teams posted home wins Thursday night, page 8
Appointed team to change curriculum Joe Allen, Spano in By Lauren Sutton Copy Editor
The faculty senate recently appointed an implementation team for the upcoming changes that will be made through the new Liberal Arts Core. The team, consisting of
14 faculty members and led by co-chairs, Colleen Durrington, former dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and Charles Mattis, dean of the First-Year Program, will make recommendations to the university concerning proposed changes as part of the 21st Century Vision.
In forming the team, each department chair made suggestions to the faculty senate as to who they thought would best represent their department, and the senate then chose the current team from those suggestions. The implementation team had their first meeting
Nov. 8 where they received a charge from the provost, and members will begin their work at their half-day retreat on Dec. 14. Durrington said she was honored to be chosen as a See
CORE page 7
Minimum wage war
Cahoots over building By Laura Acuff Student Reporter
Local Abilene establishment Spano’s Italian Restaurant, which closed earlier this month, is now scheduled to reopen in the space once known as Cahoots Catfish and Oyster Bar, 301 South 11th St. as early as January of next year. Cahoots, which also closed in early November, was attached to Joe Allen’s Pit Bar-B-Que restaurant. Both restaurants were owned by the Allen family, who is now leasing the Cahoots space to Joe Spano, Jr. Spano said he looks forward to the more advantageous location Cahoots offered, with more visibility and exposure than was previously available to the restaurant at its shopping center location on Buffalo Gap Road. “Joe and Josh Allen came to me and made me an offer, and I took them up on it.” Spano said. “I’ve been friends with them for years, and they came to me, and the timing just worked out perfect. It wasn’t premeditated at all.” Allen attributed Cahoot’s closing to product costs and lack of wait staff. “It wasn’t making any money, and I’ve had a hard time keeping help,” Allen said. “The labor force is just real tight. I think every restaurant in Abilene is looking to hire people.” Despite cheaper seafood available from overseas markets, Allen said his res-
taurants serve American products, which also adds to the cost of running a seafood restaurant. “All of the seafood products and the catfish products are expensive,” Allen said. “And there’s been a lot about it in the news lately about the China fish, and it’s about $8 or $9 cheaper than the American fish, and we just refuse to buy that product. If it is made in the ‘U.S. of A,’ that’s what we want. No. 1: I think that our products are better products — the ones from the USA, and No. 2: Man, if everything we buy is from out of the United States, that’s not too good, especially for our economy.” Most of Cahoot’s seafood specialties, including catfish, shrimp, oysters and chicken fried steak have been adopted in his next-door restaurant, Joe Allen’s Pit BarB-Que, and all of Cahoot’s former employees, including some ACU students, were given the opportunity to relocate to Joe Allen’s Pit Bar-BQue as well, Allen said. “If anybody wants catfish, they can still have it; it’s the same quality,” said Amy Cullers, junior nursing major from Garfield, N. M., who worked at Cahoots prior to its closing. “We just combined restaurants. Our regulars have moved over to Joe Allen’s, and they still love the food, and they still come, so it’s not like [Cahoots is] a goner or anything.” E-mail Acuff at: optimist@acu.edu
Hunter awarded for higher education work By Sara Snelson Arts Editor
katie gager CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER
Student worker James Woodruff, sophomore undeclared major from Nashville, Tenn., plants flowers around campus with the campus landscaping crew. This fall season he helped plant more than 4,800 pansies around campus.
New minimum wage act benefits students, strains employers By Michael Freeman Assistant Sports Editor
Elizabeth McCormack quit her job at the ACU Student Recruiting Center after working for more than a year without receiving a pay raise. Had she worked a little bit longer, the government would have given her the raise instead. On May 25, President Bush signed the Fair Minimum
Wage Act of 2007 into law. The act raised the minimum wage from $5.15 to $5.85. McCormack, junior social work major from Moran, left the Recruiting Center, which was paying $5.15 at the time, to find more profitable work. After going through a couple of local jobs over the course of several months, McCormack settled on a job she enjoys. This semester, she works as a student coordinator at the Adams Center for Teaching Excellence. “I love it,” McCormack said. “I couldn’t ask for a bet-
Department of Journalism and Mass Communication
ter group of people to work with. I really like the position. I think it gives me good work experience.” But the best part of her new job is that she gets paid more than minimum wage, she says. Some ACU students have jobs that pay more than $5.85 an hour, although most on-campus jobs are minimum wage positions. With the minimum wage set to increase even more in the coming years, students and the ACU administration are looking for ways to adjust. Part of the Fair Minimum
Wage Act of 2007 includes annual raises until the year 2009. Under the new legislation, the minimum wage will stay at $5.85 an hour until July 25, 2008 when it will boost up to $6.55 an hour. On July 25, 2009, it will rise to its final amount of $7.25 an hour. The required pay increase will also affect many local businesses. Daniel Black, sophomore business administration major from
See
WAGE page 7
Bob Hunter, vice president emeritus, was awarded the Independent Colleges and Universities of Texas (ICUT) 2007 Founders’ Award for his significant contributions to the independent sector of higher education. The ICUT Founders’ Award is the highest honor the independent higher education board bestows upon an individual. Hunter has made his name known among people all over the world and has contributed much of his life to helping others through various organizations and jobs he has been a part of. Hunter has helped many students’ financial needs regarding tuition. In 1969, Hunter was named vice president for public relations and development at ACU. Deceased ACU president John Stevens volunteered him to assist ICUT in passing a bill through the legislature providing financial aide to needy Texas students attending 40 independent institutions of higher education. His passion and desire for helping students get the financial aide they needed led him and other ICUT trustees to persuade TEG (The Evaluation Group) to help Texas meet its need for college graduates. “This was not an easy to get passed but was worth every minute of it,” Hunter said. “I am much delighted to have worked with all of the people who were involved in this over the years.” The bill passed,
Abilene Christian University
Photo courtesy of bob hunter
Bob Hunter stands with his ICUT Founders’ Award Sept. 16 at the Omni Houston Hotel. Dr. Royce Money presented the award. and now every year TEG receives millions of dollars to offer students as grants to attend higher education universities in Texas. Texas was the sixth state in the U.S. to pass this bill. This major bill being passed was what ultimately sparked Hunter as the recipient of this award. Hunter found out in March that he would be receiving the award and on Sept. 16, he was awarded at the Omni Houston Hotel. The night included dinner with the 40 independent institutions’ presidents and trustees and the Founders’ Award presentation. Dr. Royce Money, president of the university, presented See
HUNTER page 7
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