Bronzing Abilene Professor sculpts stories vol. 103, no. 39
friday, February, 27, 2015
1 SECTION, 6 PAGES
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what’s INSIDE NEWS Bond Advisory committee approves $1.4 M for Cedar Creek Waterway Page 3
SPORTS Wildcats go for sixth straight win on the road
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NEWS SA dedicates office space to Dr. Willis, a long time supporter of SA officers Page 3
SPORTS Football schedules Baylor for 2018 season opener Page 6
OPINION
Mariana Cedillo staff photographer
Dancers in the Black Students’ Association perform in their production, “Unchained: A Black History Program.” The performance opens at 7 p.m. Friday at the Paramount Theatre. Tickets can be purchased from cast members, a BSA officer or online at www.acu.edu/ome.
SA approves raising student activity fee abby runnels
Madeline Orr calls on students to examine their responses to sexual assault story
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OPINION Recent graduate writes letter to the editor about indicted student Page 4
NEWS WANA provides support to students struggling with eating disorders Page 3
what’s online VIDEO Students take a break from school to play on an icy campus
Read more at www.acuoptimist.com
page 2 editor Students’ Association Congress approved a proposal Wednesday that will add a $25 student activity fee to undergraduate students’ tuition. The action passed with a 29-1 vote in favor of the implementation of the new itemized budget, said Caleb Orr, sophomore class president. “It was an idea that the treasurer, Andrew Tate, came up with and then worked on with Chris Riley and the Student Life department to finalize a proposal with an itemized budget for where
the money would go,” said Orr, sophomore political science major from McKinney. Some of the $105,000 per semester SA will receive from the new fee will go toward the creation of a new position in the Office of Student Life that will work on bringing more artists to ACU. “Sixty thousand of those dollars would go toward getting concerts to come to ACU,” Orr said. “The rest of it is divided up into SA, but would go toward student groups and congressional projects.” Students’ generally positive responses to the announcement of the Ben Rector concert in April
encouraged SA Congress members to vote in favor of the fee which will allow for more concerts in the future. “We expect at least one concert a semester,” Orr said. It is no secret that ACU has been trying to get Rector to come for a long time. Rodney Johnson, SA president, tried to get Rector to perform last year, but funding issues made it impossible, he has said. Orr agreed. “One of the biggest issues that we ran into was that our SA receives much less funding for student activities than other universities,” Orr said. “In fact, some universities that we compete with, like Harding and Pepper-
dine, had as much as double the amount of student activity funds that we had. When we’re competing with those colleges for students, it’s difficult sometimes when people complain about not having things in Abilene.” Student responses to the new fee have been varied, with some students willing to fork over a little extra to attend more local concerts. “I’m down for concerts on campus, but they have to be legit people that I listen to,” said Sterling Phernetton, sophomore psychology major from Big Spring. “So if that’s the case, then a $25 fee doesn’t sound too bad.” Other students take a different view on the issue,
such as Sarah Bateman, junior English for education major from Sugar Land. “I feel it wouldn’t be worth it because all people will not take interest in every artist or band that ACU would bring to perform,” she said. “There are bound to be people who are not interested in or do not like the artist. It would not be fair for those people to have to pay for concerts they are not attending.” Students can expect the $25 student activity fee as part of their tuition beginning in the fall. contact runnels at anr11a@acu.edu
Board of trustees appoints new members Madeline Orr editor in chief The ACU Board of Trustees appointed three new members at its February meeting during Sing Song weekend. Jana Hanner, Elise Mitchell and Randy Owen were voted to the university’s governing body and help comprise the 35 members of the board. Hanner (’81) is the comptroller of Hanner Chevrolet GMC in Baird, about 20 miles east of Abilene. Originally from Lewiston, Montana, she met and married her husband Mark Hanner
(’80) at ACU. Her ACU service includes University Council, President’s Venture Council, Lettermen’s Club and former president of Wildcat Parents. She lives in Abilene and has three children, all of whom graduated from ACU. Mitchell (’83), Outstanding Alumnus of the Year recipient for 2015, is the CEO of Mitchell Communications Group and CEO of the international Dentsu Inc. public relations network. After receiving her bachelor’s degree in mass communication from ACU, she received a master’s degree in public relations from the Univer-
sity of Memphis. Mitchell frequently writes and speaks on strategic communications and entrepreneurship. She lives in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Owen (’81) grew up in Abilene and graduated from ACU with a BBA in accounting. He is COO/CFO of Envision Healthcare, a publicly traded national healthcare company that owns the largest national ambulance service, American Medical Response, and one of the nation’s largest physician staffing businesses, EmCare. Owen and his wife Dara were married in 1988, have two children and moved to
the Denver area in 2003. Dr. Barry Packer, chair of the ACU Board of Trustees, said the new members have been approved but will officially start their term of service at their first board meeting in May. “All three of them are immensely talented,” he said. “They have a love and passion for the university, which is what we look for in trustees.” Packer said they bring a “tremendous amount of gifts” to the table, specifically their visions for ACU. “We look for people who don’t get caught up in the details and who are willing
to speak up on behalf of the university’s constituents.” Mitchell said she is honored to help the university as it grows and develops. “It’s an exciting time to be engaged in ACU’s mission to prepare students for Christian service and leadership throughout the world,” she said. “I have always been very passionate about these things in my career, so I look forward to supporting the university in this important work.”
contact orr at mco10b@acu.edu
Enrollment to potentially alter housing rachel fritz copy editor With the continuous growth of the student population, underclassman housing arrangements could see change, but not anytime soon. Bob Strader, director of residence life education and housing, said plans are in place to accommodate the growing class sizes.
In 2012, some of the incoming freshman women were relocated to Sikes Hall, a sophomore residence hall, to accommodate the inf lux of students. Last year, Barret Hall was transformed into an all women’s hall, though it housed men and women the year before. And this year, freshman men were moved into Edwards Hall for similar reasons. Though this is untra-
ditional, it doesn’t affect the underclassman oncampus experience. “I don’t think it matters where underclassmen live as long as they have an opportunity to form relationships and build community,” said Kholo Theledi, who was a resident assistant in Sikes Hall two years ago. These changes seem to be the result of an overf low of students, but that’s not the case.
Abilene Christian University
“There’s enough spots overall, but sometimes the freshman class of men would be a little larger, maybe the women’s would be a little larger or maybe it’s our sophomore class that’s a little larger,” Strader said. Last year, there were more than 100 empty spots open in residence halls proving that the relocation of students is done to utilize space efficiently.
“We’ve always had a cushion,” Strader said. “There was a cushion in other halls, there just wasn’t enough room in those halls.” However, plans are in place should student numbers exceed the number of spots available. Strader said the first step would be to turn to see reslife page 3