Department of Journalism and Mass Communication Abilene Christian University Serving the ACU community since 1912

FRIDAY

IN THIS ISSUE

CAMPUS

Creating artStudents from Dr. Al Haley’s English class are creating pieces of art for the Grace Museum, page 3

The OPTIMISTMarch 2, 2007Vol. 95, No. 41 1 sections, 8 pages www.acuoptimist.com• •

Break the chainsThe International Justice Mission is sponsoring a Justice Fair on Fridayafternoon to raise awareness for Invisible Children, page 3

SPORTS

Laying it on the lineThe baseball team will put its undefeated streak at home on the line this weekend during a four-game series against Southeastern Oklahoma State on Friday, page 8

ARTS

Buzzing at the beehive Abilene’s newest steak house lives up to the awards its first branch in Albany received from Texas Monthly for best small-town steak house in Texas, page 5

Harmonizing tunesThe touring Vienna Boys’ Choir sang in Abilene on Monday night at the Civic Center, page 3

Representing ACUAudrey Maxwell and Alex Guiton were named to the first team all-Lone Star Conference South Division, page 8

n Students can discuss topics such as drunk driving, sex before marriage and the benefits of sleep next week during the Counseling Center’s Making Choices Week.

By BLESSED MATAIStudent RepoRteR

Making Choices Week is a week dedicated to students’ health and safety during spring break. The ACU Coun-seling Center and the Peer Health Education are the two

offices in charge of the events that will take place next week. On Monday, the two offices will be spreading awareness of drinking and driving, sleeping before long trips, sexual activi-ties before marriage and more said Steve Rowlands, director of Counseling Center. But the primary focus will be in drink-ing and driving.

On Monday a DUI simula-tor will be placed in front of the GATA fountain from 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. The DUI sim-

ulator program features a 24-foot trailer that has a driving simulator where students can operate the driving simulator wearing ‘‘fatal vision” glasses. The simulator is programmed to operate in an “impaired” manner where the student quickly recognizes their in-ability to drive safely while impaired.

Making Choices Week will also feature guest speak-ers Tuesday in Chapel and a Chapel forum from 7-8 p.m.

in Cullen Auditorium. At the forum, students will have the opportunity to ask all kinds of questions from sexuality to drug use. On Wednesday booths will be set up in the Campus Center to teach stu-dents about alcohol, sleep deprivation awareness and crime victim issues. Students will also have a chance to par-ticipate in events such as DDR (Dance Dance Revolution) and

Week highlights impact of choices

LACI ADKINS STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Jackie Hughes, a computer programmer in Computing Services Department, stands with her son Jchon Bahl, a freshman graphic design major from Abilene in her office on Thursday afternoon.

n Because of lack of interest, a British History Maymester and Communication Summer II course in Oxford were canceled; the Communication course will now take place in Honduras.

By JOHNNY BAUTISTAStaff WRiteR

Students who were looking for-ward to taking courses this summer in Oxford for Maymester and Sum-mer II will have to plan on taking their Oxford trip another time.

The British history class has been canceled because not enough students signed up. The communi-cations classes will now be offered in Honduras and will be partnering with Dr. Jack Walker and his medi-cal missions team.

Dr. Joe Cardot, chair of the Com-munication Department, said one of the reasons he thinks the Oxford trip didn’t work out was because the department didn’t push the op-portunity early enough for students

Study Abroad cancels two trips

n Jackie and Frank Hughes balance working full time, raising five children and both taking classes for journalism and mass communication degrees — and still have time for fun.

By MALLORY SCHLABACHeditoR in Chief

Inside the living room three little boys, stair-stepped in height, run around the suede couches playing football. The smallest two double team Isaac, the oldest of the three, and soon the game turns into a pileup of giggling boys.

Jackie Hughes just shakes her head as she walks past them in the hallway and shuts the door to the den. The French door only muffles their gleeful sounds.

“The problem is Noah and Langston had naps today, so they’re wired right now,” Jackie says laughing.

No one would guess as she sits on the plaid sofa in her sweats,

that she’s a mother of five who’s working on her second college degree. She also works full time at ACU in the Computing Servic-es Department. For her, juggling is a class act.

For the Hughes and their five children: Jchon, Samantha, Isaac, Langston and Noah, the madness begins at 6 a.m. each day, when Frank, Jackie’s husband of 10 years, gets off work at Dyess Air Force Base as a security guard.

As Frank sits next to Jackie on the couch flipping channels, he says days go by fast.

“Yeah, they’re fast-paced,” Jackie says.

“There’s a lot to get done around here,” he says, finishing her sentence.

“But it’s fairly routine. Every Monday is the same, and every Tuesday is the same. Frank works third shift, so he’s the first one up each day.

“So he gets home at 6 a.m. I get up at 7 a.m. What time does every

one else get up?” Jackie asks.“Noah gets up at 6:30 a.m.;

he wakes up by himself. The rest of the boys are up at 7 a.m.,” Frank says quietly, as Jackie jumps in again.

“He gets everybody ready, which gives me a great day. Usu-ally you can get irritable in the morning trying to get everyone ready. But since he’ s already up and not in a hurry, he can get ev-eryone ready without getting irri-table,” she says smiling at him.

Jackie’s a computer program-mer, which means she mostly works on ACU’s Banner or per-fecting the Police Department’s parking ticket computer system when she gets to work.

“But don’t call me if you get a parking ticket to get you out,” she says laughing. “Frank got one the other day, and I thought it was hilarious.”

She takes a break around 3

A juggling act for 7

SA learns art of grant writingn Members of SA recently attended a conference in Boston and learned to write grants. SA is working on a grant to receive money to open the south entrance of the Brown Library.

By KELSI PEACEfeatuReS editoR

On the edge of Tyler Cosgrove’s desk a thick handbook rests, a jar-gon-filled souvenir from his recent trip to Boston for a grant-writing convention on behalf of the Stu-dents’ Association.

Cosgrove, SA executive treasur-er, plans to write two of his own and tailor them to suit the needs of student organizations and the SA fi-nance committee before the chang-ing of the guard this spring. This way, said Cosgrove, senior finance major from Amarillo, SA won’t have to fund another conference any time soon—they can refer to the handbooks instead.

Kevan Kirksey, chief financial of-ficer, and Ryan Stephen, chief ad-vancement officer, also attended the convention.

The SA budget includes two con-ferences per semester; the grant-writing conference was allotted about $3,600, Cosgrove said and any extra expenses will come from

See CHOICES page 7

See HUGHES page 4

See OXFORD page 7

See SA page 7

n Monday: A DUI simulator will be in front of GATA fountain from 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. for students to simulate driving while intoxicated.

n Tuesday: Dr. Richard Beck, associate professor of psychology, will speak in Chapel; at 7 p.m., a Chapel forum will begin in Moody with a question/answer format to a panel of faculty, alumni.

n Wednesday: Booths will be set up in the Campus Center with information on making healthy choices.

MAKING CHOICES

Basking in the sunWith the warm weather breezing through Abilene last week, students skipped classes to enjoy the warmth, view it online at www.acuoptimist.com

ONLINE

Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Calendar Events&

The Optimist maintains this calendar for the ACU community to keep track of local social, academic and service opportunities.

Groups may send announcements directly to optimist@acu.edu or to the Page 2 Editor at mxe06a@acu.edu.

To ensure that an item will appear on time, the announcement should be sent at least 10 days before. The Optimist may edit items for space and style.

Corrections and clarifi cations of published news articles will be printed in this space in a timely manner.

About This Page

Friday, March 2, 2007

Volunteer Opportunities

Midterm grades due

11:30 a.m.A virtual reality alcohol awareness program will be available on campus until 5:30 p.m. This is a national touring High Impact Alcohol Awareness Program designed to heighten awareness of the dangers of intoxication. It involves a motion-based simulator that will allow riders to experience the sensation of being at a party where drinking is taking place and of driving drunk afterward.

Weekend Campaign leaves to serve with the Christian Hope Resource Center in San Antonio until Saturday. Students may still sign up for this activity until 1:30 p.m. Friday in the Campus Center ticket windows.

10 a.m.Broom Colloquium in the Learning Commons.

8 p.m.‘The Miracle Worker’ is performed in Fulks Theatre.

Service Saturday

8 a.m.GATA Garage Sale at 4072 N. 10th. Earnings will go towards a formal.

7 p.m.Live music at Monk’s, including Streets of Simon Lee, Dylan Sneed, Kirk Thurman and Takisha Knight.

7:30 p.m.‘The Complete Word of God (Abridged)’ presented by the Fletcher Players in Cullen Auditorium.

8 p.m.‘The Miracle Worker’ is performed in Fulks Theatre.

7 p.m.Chapel Forum in Cullen Auditorium: MC 07 ‘Know Boundaries.’ The goal of the panel is to promote candid discussion about making godly choices when faced with peer pressure or our own desires, particularly in the areas of alcohol use and sex. Jeff Arrington will facilitate the panel, whose members are Dr. Richard Beck, Dr. Stephen Johnson, Cari Bonneau, Jared Mosley, Steven Moore, Marie Thomas and Dr. Traci Shilcutt. There will be additional panelists from the student body. Students who attend the panel discussion can receive two Chapel credits.

05 Monday02 Friday 03 Saturday 06 Tuesday

CreditedChapelsto date:

CreditedChapelsremaining:

Chapel Checkup33 39

Correction:The International Justice Mission forum was Thursday. It was not held Friday as stated on the Calendar in Wednesday’s issue. We are sorry for the misprint.

Big A Club of City Light Com-munity Ministries needs volunteers on Wednesdays from 4:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. to ride buses and vans with ele-mentary-age children and to help with Bible Study. Contact the Volunteer Service-Learning Center in the Bean Sprout for more information.

Freedom Fellowship Church needs help with after-school activities for at-risk youth on Mondays, Tues-days and Thursdays from 3:30 p.m. to 5:15 p.m. and Fridays from 3:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. Contact the Volunteer Service-Learning Center in the Bean Sprout for more information.

AnnouncementsThe Abilene March ArtWalk is

Thursday from 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in downtown. For a schedule of

events or more information, con-tact the Center for Contemporary Arts at (325) 677-1171.

Friday, March 2, 2007 Page 3CAMPUS NEWS

n Students made films, music, poems or cartoons as a creative project for an English course. Their projects will be displayed on The Grace Museum Web site.

By CHRIS HANSENStudent RepoRteR

“Christians and Creativ-ity” is an English class that doesn’t follow your typical read-and-write formula. In a usual English class, the ex-pectation is to read books and write essays, but there are no essays in the class. In-stead, the class learns about creativity by being creative.

Students create their own projects such as films, music, poems, cartoons and more. Starting this month, the student creative works will be displayed on The Grace Museum Web site along with the artwork that inspired the works.

Dr. Albert Haley, associ-

ate professor of English and professor of “Christians and Creativity,” said The Grace Museum opened its artwork vault so the class could view the museum’s permanent works and respond in their own creative way.

He then gave his students time to think about the art and let them explore their own creativity.

The painting “Twisted Oak” inspired Danny Gambero to make a short film.

Gambero, senior broad-cast journalism major from Southlake, said because he had plenty of time, he was able to develop his creative response. He changed the storyline and perspective of his film from being all about an oak tree to being about something else.

“The imagery to me wasn’t just the tree,” Gambero said. “It was what was going on around the tree.”

Haley said he wanted students to walk away with not just an appreciation of what creativity is but more creativity.

Creativity among the student varies between writing with lipstick on mirrors and sewing a dress that represents the dark and weeping oak tree.

“The project pushes cre-ativity to another level,” Gambero said.

Haley said the class also will discuss the history of art and the Church and how Christian’s should use their creativity.

“The Church used to be known for its art,” Haley said.

Visitors to the museum Web site can view the original artwork and the students’ re-sponse works later this month at www.thegracemuseum.org.

Student project exhibited online

n About 10 organizations will set up booths as a part of a Justice Fair, hosted by International ustice Missions, in the Campus Center on Thursday and Friday after chapel.

By CAMILLE VANDENDRIESSCHEStudent RepoRteR

International Justice Mis-sion will host a Justice Fair in the Campus Center on Thursday and Friday from 11.30 am to 2.30 p.m.

Brandon Smith, president of IJM, said IJM will not be the only association represented at the fair but also about 10 other

associations like the Service Action Leadership Team, Invis-ible Children, Homelessness in America, Child Soldiers, Mod-ern Day Slaves, Global Samari-tans and Poverty Link.

Students are encouraged to stop by both days. A Cha-pel forum also took place Thursday at 7 p.m. with a video about the Amazing Change campaigns.

Smith, junior international relations major from Keller, said the main goal of the fair is to present actions to stu-dents, explain how to get in-

volved and encourage poten-tial volunteers.

“Usually students are pret-ty receptive,” Smith said. “We are expecting a good turnout out of this event.”

Donny Tapie, junior Bib-lical text major from Orlan-do and IJM officer, said he hopes more people will be aware of IJM actions.

“IJM is already pretty popular; we try to make it even more,” Tapie said.

Justice fair to raise awareness

n The Vienna Boys Choir performed at the Abilene Civic Center 25 years after their last visit. The group interacted with the audience by teaching them how to yodel.

By MALLORY EDENSpage 2 editoR

The Vienna Boys Choir from Vienna, Austria, performed at the Abilene Civic Center as a part of its current tour across the United States on Monday.

The Vienna Boys Choir is a group of boys ages 10 to 14. It was founded in 1498 and is composed of four touring choirs of approximately 25 boys each who were chosen out of their entire school. The group’s artistic director, Gerald

Wirth, does not travel with the boys, but each choir does have a conductor, tour manager and two chaperones who accompa-ny them on the tours.

Each group tours for three months out of the year, sing-ing in a different city every night. The group, conducted by Keren Sezen, came to Abilene after touring the east coast and Florida.

Gwynn Haseltine, Classi-cal Chorus’ executive director who arranged for the Vienna Boys Choir to come to Abilene, said this performance was a rare opportunity.

“It has been 25 years since they have been in Abilene,” Haseltine said. “They are do-

ing a big West Texas tour this year. I received a call from an agent in New York looking for someone to host the boys. This is not something we normally do. One reason we did this was they are a world-famous group who hasn’t been here in a long time. Also the tim-ing was perfect. Kids from our choir here will be singing in Austria, including Vienna, this summer, and the timing was just too good to pass up.”

She said the Vienna Boys Choir probably will not be back to Abilene soon. The rarity of performances in this area is one on the reasons the choir has a large audience turn out.

“There was a nice audience

[Monday],” Haseltine said. “Peo-ple were very interested to hear a well-known group who may or may not be back in Abilene in their lifetime.”

The Choir’s performance varied widely. During the first half, they sang songs from a variety of composers like Mo-zart and Strauss. The second half was much lighter, com-posed of Broadway music and Austrian folk songs. The show ended with “Blue Danube,” followed by a few encores.

Audience members had the opportunity to partici-pate in the concert during the second half.

“They tried to teach us how to yodel,” Haseltine said.

“[Sezen] said it was probably our one and only chance to sing with the Vienna Boys Choir.”

This rare opportunity was one highlight of the show, but Haseltine said the perfor-mance is one that can be val-ued on many levels.

“It is beautiful music, and you don’t get a chance to hear singers like that often,” Hasel-tine said. “There is something about [their voices] that is very unique. It is something special. I also think interac-tion between children from around the world educates our young people and helps them grow. I think that leads to a better world. When they find that they have music in

common, they have a com-mon language.”

World-famous Austrian choir fascinates large audience

n March 2: El Pason March 3: Alto, N.M.n March 4: Albuquerque, N.M.n March 5: Winslow, Ariz.n March 8-9: Prescott, Ariz.n March 10: Wickenburg, Ariz.n March 11: Mesa, Ariz.n March 13: Santa Fe, N.M.n March 15: Gallup, N.M.n March 16: Sedona, Ariz.n March 17: Houstonn March18: Cerritos, Calif.

Schedule information from the Boy Choir & Solist directory Web site, http://www.boysoloist.com.

rEMAInInG Tour SChEdUlE

E-mail Edens at: mxe06a@acu.edu

E-mail Vandendriessche at: optimist@acu.edu

n Students and professors attended the Barack obama rally in Austin. Attendees and other students discussed obama’s chance to become the first black president.

By TAKISHA KNIGHTStudent RepoRteR

Thirteen ACU students and professors tried to enjoy their kosher meals but were interrupted by a flash from a nearby booth at Katz’s Jew-ish Deli in Austin.

A man in braces pretend-ed to have nothing to do with the camera flash, but as the group looked to him for answers, he explained he couldn’t resist taking a pic-ture. He was a volunteer at the Barack Obama Rally in Austin, and he remembered seeing the unlikely group to-gether just hours ago.

He didn’t expect to see them again, he said, but at one table, the Socialist, Dem-ocrats, the lone Green party voter, two African Ameri-cans, an Asian American and a Messianic Jew complete with suspenders and a yar-mulke (pronounced yamaka) broke bread together. A Ko-dak moment, he thought.

The group caravanned to Austin Friday morning to par-ticipate in the largest politi-cal rally in the country for the 2008 elections. According to Texansforobama.com, approxi-mately 21,841 people attended the rally hosted by University

Democrats and the African American Culture Committee at UT-Austin. Howard Dean drew 3,000 to Austin’s last Democratic rally in 2004.

News anchors dubbed the Il-linois Senator “rock star” in re-cent headlines since he hit the national scene with his 2004 speech at the Democratic Con-vention. Now, Obama is stirring up conversation on campus.

Courtney Cagel, junior math major from Arlington, didn’t go to the rally but was eager to learn more about Obama at Sundaes on Mondays, an open forum sponsored by the Of-fice of Student Multicultural Enrichment. Monday’s topic was “Is America Ready for a Black President?”

“I think it’s a lot more interesting than a bunch of middle-aged white guys,” Ca-gel said. “You get them con-fused so easily.”

With culturally uniform presidential candidates, the platforms are often similar, she said. Sometimes hair col-or is the only way to distin-guish between them.

“With more diversity we can really see differences, embrace differences,” she said. “I feel like we have more of a choice.”

Some voters are skeptical about his chances, however.

Chandra Lewis-Qualls, in-structor of English who at-tended the rally said, “I want to be an optimist and say he has good chances, but I don’t know

if he does in Texas.”At “Sundaes on Mondays,”

students, teachers and staff discussed Obama’s chances, potential smear campaigns, voter turnout, but most of all, how big of a role race and gender will play in the up-coming elections.

Jennifer Nissen Gross, English major from Ma-comb, Ill. said smear cam-paigns are inevitable.

“That’s what the other side does,” she said.

Scott Gross, integrated Eng-lish and philosophy major from Atlanta, who also attended the rally and the discussion said his views are not a form of reverse discrimination.

“Being a Socialist, I think it is imperative that America embraces diversity, and the great first step in that is hav-ing the first black American president.” Gross said. “Di-versity counteracts racism.”

Byron Martin, psychology major from Mesquite, said he doesn’t know if race is a big of problem nationally as it is locally.

“I don’t think it’s if America is ready for a black president. The question is if ACU is ready for a black president?”

While the group of students, faculty and staff members at the meeting agreed on the ques-tion, the answer was elusive.

Election arouses student interest

E-mail Hansen at: optimist@acu.edu

E-mail Knight at: optimist@acu.edu

EMILY SMITH CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER

Blythe Smith, senior broadcast journalism major from Longview, admires the work of Brandon Craddock, senior art major from Lilbum Georgia.

Impressed by talent

Page 4 Friday, March 2, 2007FOCUS

p.m. when her three youngest boys get out of school down the road at Taylor Elementary. On days when she can’t take a break, Jchon Bahl, her old-est and a freshman graphic design major, picks them up and drops them off at home near Riatta Ranch, two miles away. From there, Samantha, a sophomore at Abilene High, takes over baby-sitting after school until Frank wakes up for the evening before going back to work at 8:30 p.m.

To those outside the Hughes family, they seem like superheroes to be able to ac-complish everything.

“I really think God gives us more minutes in our day to get everything done,” Jackie says earnestly. “Because there’s no way we should be able to get everything done. But our fam-ily works as a team.”

She explains she and Frank take a night class together at ACU on Tuesdays, and that Samantha makes sure she comes home early to watch the boys. If Samantha has to work at Target, then Jchon watches them.

“That’s an example of how we manage everything,” she says. “But having a routine helps. After church on Sun-days when everyone gets home, everyone cleans up like an automatic thing. I don’t have to tell them be-cause they know we’ll have company at noon.”

Jackie says she’s learned the most important thing about teamwork is the team leaders have to be strong, which is why she dedicates so much time to keeping her marriage strong with Frank.

She says she’s heard most couples fight about finances first, then kids. Other than a few disagreements, she’s says it has never happened to her and Frank. She asks herself out loud why that hasn’t hap-pened and Frank answers.

“We have the same goals for them to be respectful and disciplined,” he says.

“The husband and wife come first before the chil-dren because they were there first before the children,” she adds. “It takes a hus-band and wife to have chil-dren. I think him and I, [and] our relationship together is very important. We’ll try to honor each other’s ideas and thoughts. It really doesn’t matter if they’re grounded for a week or not. Our unity matters more,” she adds.

“As they are yelling and screaming in the background,” Frank says as he looks behind the couch to the door.

“Yeah, they’re playing football. You hear all that yelling in there? Usually dad is involved in that too,” she says, giving Frank a look dar-ing him to question what she’s said.

He just smiles back.

“We had to get a bigger house, so we’d all have our space. And I’m glad we did cause I couldn’t tolerate that in the same room as me all the time,” she says, grimacing as the yelling gets louder.

Spending time togetherAlthough it’s a weekend,

the Hughes family is at home, except Samantha. Jackie and Frank aren’t sure where’s she’s off to right now.

“That reminds me,” Jackie exclaims, “I need to call her cell phone and see why she’s not home yet.”

Frank laughs at Jackie and tries to recall where Saman-tha’s supposed to be today.

Between five kids and the oldest two both working at Target, he says he can’t re-member where everyone’s supposed to be.

With both Jackie and Frank working at opposite times, Jackie says they don’t see each other much dur-ing the week. So they try to spend time together taking classes at ACU.

Jackie’s been taking class-es since 2003. In December 2007 she’ll finish her sec-ond bachelor’s degree, this one for digital electronic media. In 1993 she gradu-ated from Farris State in Michigan, with a degree in office automation.

She originally wanted to get a master’s degree in elec-tronic media, but said the department dropped the pro-gram before she could begin.

“At that point, I had already looked through all the classes and they were fascinating. I decided the bachelor’s degree was similar, so I went ahead and did it,” she said. “I actu-ally think it’s a blessing be-cause bachelor level classes are easier than the master’s level classes.”

Just a semester after Jackie began taking classes, she en-couraged Frank to join her.

“He needs to get a de-gree and wasn’t sure what he wanted to do. I had been taking classes for a semester, and I would come home and tell him how exciting every-thing was. So he started tak-ing them too,” she says laugh-ing at herself.

Both take two classes a se-mester, but because of Frank’s work schedule, he can only take 8 a.m. classes. He says he wants to graduate in the next four or five years.

“By 2011, hopefully, but we’ll see. Hopefully you’ll graduate before Samantha does,” Jackie teases.

Frank will already graduate behind Jchon, which Jchon finds funny.

Jchon wants to design board and card games, an interest he’s developed after spending many years playing games, he says. He also thinks his mom’s creative side has helped him.

Jchon’s features favor

Jackie, with his light brown skin and black head of ring-lets. He visits her every other day at her office, but talks to her more than that, he says.

She says if he doesn’t stop by, he’s usually text messag-ing her just to say hi.

Frank interrupts her to say he saw Jchon for the first time on campus Wednesday.

“Really? Oh yeah, he told me about that,” she says. “It’s amazing that you actually saw him.”

“He was leaving to go to his class and was late,” Frank said laughing. “He was walking and looking around. I thought he saw me, but he was half asleep and walking along groggily,” Frank says, imitating Jchon with half-opened eyes. “So I bumped into him before he realized it was me.”

Jackie laughs at his imita-tion, and then begins talking about going to school with Frank again. Frank just shakes his head at how she jumps around in conversation.

“I enjoy taking classes with him. I just enjoy being with him,” she says sudden-ly. “It doesn’t matter what we do. We’ve been fortunate to take about four classes together so far: history, art, golf and health.

“We had fun golfing to-gether. Whatever we’re do-ing together is fun. We’re not even watching anything right now,” she says, as she points the remote at the big-screen TV. “We’ve been flipping chan-nels for an hour, haven’t we? I enjoy that mostly because all week long we’re busy, and we don’t see each other. When we are home, we enjoy each other’s company.”

Going all the timeFrank rubs the top of his

head; his hair is cut close to his scalp.

He says he’s used to her going all the time. She’s in-volved at work, at church and with the kids in whatever they do.

“She’s just always going,” he says laughing. “I’m used to it now. I just tune it out.

“At first it made you tired watching her do stuff and not sit still. Now, I just ignore her and let her run around and do what she does,” he says as she gently slaps his arm.

“Now he just looks at me with this blank stare and I never know what he’s think-ing,” she says. “I’ve had to learn to try to sit down and do nothing for a little bit. He needs me to sit down. He won’t admit it, but he does.”

Jchon, too, was surprised with how much Jackie accom-plishes in a day.

“I don’t know how she doesn’t have a brain trauma from all she does,” he says laughing. “I really don’t know. She’s really spontaneous, but she gets everything done. She must have a planner built in-

side her head.” Joking aside, he says one

of his favorite characteris-tics about his mom, is to see how much respect others have of her because of what she does.

“It’s cool to have so many people talking to me about her, how good of a person and lady she is. Everyone likes her. She’s loving and caring and would do anything for any-one, even if she doesn’t have the time. She’ll make time.”

Frank and Jackie don’t necessarily want their kids to grow up to be just like them, they just want them to learn a few things from them.

“I want them to work hard and be dedicated in what they do,” Frank says. “[I want them] to find something they like to do and give every effort to do it. If you’re not doing what you like to do, it makes life more difficult.”

Jackie agrees.“That was good,” she says.

“I want them to learn to make good choices and be respon-sible for their choices. Not to be a whiner, not to make excuses, and to keep trying,” she says. “I think most of all between those two things, we want them to put on the Lord and to have a strong faith because without that, every-thing else falls apart.

Frank nods his head in approval.

Jchon says if he’s learned one thing from his mom, it’s to rely on the Lord for everything.

“She brings up God in ev-ery situation,” he says. “She’s told us if we’re in need of something, to go to God first. To pray to God first, to trust in him first. It’s true. His love never fails.”

Jackie’s lesson is some-thing, she too, takes to heart.

She has big dreams of what she wants to do one day, but that is not what’s important.

“I really believe God has a plan for our lives and whatev-er that ends up being, it will make us happy,” she says.

One day at a timeShe just wants to do some-

thing in life that not everyone can do.

“I worked at a gas station one summer, and I remem-ber one weekend doing the cashier and all these people came in with their boats and jet skis and all that stuff,” she recalls. “All I’m think-ing is, they could do this job. Anyone could do this job. But they’re out having a good time. I like having a job that not anyone can do.”

She says it doesn’t hurt to dream though, so it would be cool if she could work for an NFL team one day. Frank agrees, and wants to be on the sideline during a Super Bowl game doing anything.

For now, they’ll settle on watching their three young-est play football in the living room, or watching football on TV on Sunday afternoons.

Jackie says to do so much in life, they’ve had to realize there is always a way to bal-ance things.

“A lot of times I am not afraid to say no, but I try not to take on more than I can handle. During midterms, I’ll start freaking out, like ‘I don’t know why I told someone I would to this because it’s too much,’ but what I’ll end up thinking about is that it isn’t too much. I’ve been doing fine all this time except for this

week. I can handle it.” Frank jumps in. “If you think about it, it

becomes overwhelming. But if you just do it, one thing at a time, it all happens. If you schedule your whole semes-ter and see everything you have to do, you’d always say you couldn’t get it done.”

“Frank’s right,” Jackie says. “We just look at it one day at a time.”

Jackie enters the living room and checks on the three boys. They surround her laughing, panting and pep-pering her with questions.

“Mom, they got me good today,” Langston, who’s 7, says panting as he surveys his brothers smirking on the fireplace.

“Mom! I need a cough drop,” yells 10-year-old Isaac from the couch.

In an instant, they’re running around with the ball again.

“Boys, slow down! One of these days they’re gonna hurt themselves on the fireplace.”

She opens the front door and in a second all three are outside in the 40-degree weather without coats set-ting up in formation to hike the ball.

“Oh, boy. They’re really putting on a show now!”

Dressed in athletic pants and a white long-sleeved shirt, she shivers and jumps in the air, shifting her bare feet off the concrete sidewalk.

“OK. Enough football tonight. Everyone in now. Bedtime. One, two, three go,” she says.

In a line, they file in. The day is almost over.

Hughes: Balancing hectic days of school, work, familyContinued from page 1

E-mail Schlabach at: mes02e@acu.edu

laci adkins STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Jackie Hughes balances night classes, working in the Computing Services Department and caring for her children. Her goal is to have a job that not everyone can do.

“She’s really spontaneous, but she gets everything done. She must have a planner built inside her head.”

Jchon Bahl, freshman graphic design major from abilene

n The newly opened Beehive Restaurant and Saloon offers fantastic food as well as a unique and sophisticated country atmosphere downtown.

By TODD PIERSALLArts Editor

When someone talks about a frontier-style res-taurant that has sophistica-tion and class, it is hard not to laugh. From creaky floors to musty air, comes a per-ception of where “country cooking” should take place. Who hasn’t seen the restau-rant with walls completely covered with random items ranging anywhere from croc-odile heads with cowboy hats to sleds with no blades.

However, the Abilene Bee-hive Restaurant and Saloon which opened nearly three weeks ago in downtown Abilene, breaks through that misconception.

From the outside, Bee-hives looks ordinary. Yet inside lies a classy, modern interior that still maintains an old-time feel from an Abilene long ago. Instead of creaky floors and dusty walkways, elegant furniture and unique paintings can be found. The restaurant is separated into three dining sections, all dimly lit with comfortable dark-colored walls and ceilings.

Helping provide the unique country-theme were the menus. Designed to look like old Abilene Reporter-News, the menu is covered with articles covering the history of Abilene. One ar-ticle told a story of a young man being horsewhipped by his girlfriend on the sidewalk. Another article explained how an ice ware-house was converted into a

school, starting the Abilene school system. However, time spent reading the arti-cles is time taken away from browsing the food on the menu (It took the waitress about three trips to finally get my order).

The owners of the down-town restaurant also own a similar restaurant in Albany. That particular restaurant was named, at one time, Texas Monthly’s “Best small-town steakhouse in Texas.” Needless to say, there steaks are pretty good.

I must admit I didn’t have a steak (I know, I’m sorry). The burgers, however, are fantastic. For most people, burgers are always a safe bet and are often relied on as a safety item. If the first choice doesn’t work out, here is always the burger. In Beehive’s case, the burg-er should be one of the first choices. The bacon cheese-burger has the perfect blend of seasoning and spice. In-stead of slapping meat on the bun, the burger is pre-sented in a creative way. The freshly cut fries were also delicious (each burger and sandwich comes with fresh cut fries).

Aside from burgers and sandwiches, Beehive offers seafood, chicken, steaks and a variety of vegetables. Also, the second weekend of every month Beehive offers rack of lamb.

While the burgers are moderately priced, the sea-food, chicken and steaks can get pretty expensive, though steak restaurants are known to be pricey. Steaks are all in the mid $20 range but the burgers are only about $7 (similar to Chili’s). The chicken and seafood options range anywhere from $11-18.

For the quality of Beehive, the prices are reasonable.

Adding to the over-all enjoyment of the restaurant was the owner’s interac-tion with the guests. As he brought out food he warmly made his way to different tables, shaking hands and even hugging the guests. Af-ter one guest received their beverage in a unique looking glass, the owner walked over and said the glass was a ma-son jar. (Who wouldn’t want to drink out of a mason jar?)

Also, the service was first-rate and the food didn’t take long to prepare. Though, the menu does point out the filet mignon needs 35 to 45 min-utes to cook (Hey, look on the bright-side, the menu is great reading material).

Overall, Beehive Restau-rant is a friendly place to have a nice dinner with a date or with friends and family.

Abilene Beehive Restaurant and Saloon is open Tuesday through Friday. Lunch hours are from 11a.m. to 2 p.m., din-ner from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. and on Saturday from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. It is located downtown on 442 Cedar St.

Page 5March 2, 2006

Beehive: dining with stylen Design and Art majors show off their artwork in the Shore Art Gallery as a part of five different art shows required before they graduate. This is the third show.

By KRISTA MEYERstudEnt rEportEr

Seven art and design students participated in the art show entitled “One of these is not like the oth-er” on Friday in the Shore Art Gallery on campus.

“All art and design stu-dents participate in this show, it’s a requirement for graduation,” said Beverly Rama, administrative coor-dinator in the Art and De-sign Department. “We have a lot of students graduating this year. This is our third show out of five scheduled for this semester.”

All art and design ma-jors are given a date when they have to participate in a show, and those who are all grouped together figure out what they want to do with the show; it’s completely up to them.

Jeremiah Willis, senior art major from Fort Worth, said this particular group was told last semester when they would be showing their work; everything else was up to them from then on.

“Professors would help answer questions about the show. They would open up the gallery for us to set up, but we were in charge of the whole project,” Willis said.

“We all chose our own

pieces, but we did decide on the theme together,” said Mark Walker, senior art major from Abilene.

“I chose to show the variety of mediums we use in art from photography to illustrations and painting,” Willis said.

The theme “One of these is not like the other” came from the realization that most of the students who were part of this par-ticular show were art and design majors with one having a concentration in illustration.

“I wasn’t there when the group picked the slogan, but I think we later found out that there were about two to three others who weren’t art and design ma-jors,” Willis said.

For some of the stu-dents, such as Willis and Walker, this was the first show in which they have ever participated.

“I had never displayed my art anywhere before, so I was excited to see ev-eryone’s reactions,” Willis said. “I did get a comment from a professor on one of my paintings; she said she really liked the colors I used.”

The pieces displayed from this group of stu-dents will be on display until Friday for those who were not able to attend the show on Feb. 27 or for those who want to see the chosen works again.

Student art on display

n The Art and Design Department is seeking students to pose as models for the figure drawing classes, a paid position for about six hours a week.

By CAMILLE VANDENDRIESSCHEstudEnt rEportEr

Models are needed in Dan McGregor and Rob-ert Green’s figure drawing classes. McGregor, assis-tant professor of art and design, said it usually takes six hours a week, and the salary is the same as other student jobs.

“It is very important to learn how to draw from a live model instead of pho-tographs,” McGregor said. “It helps to translate from three dimensions to one dimension.”

McGregor said models have to be able to hold still for a while, 25 to 30 minutes being the longest. They can be asked to pose in standing, seating or lying position.

“It is harder than it sounds,” McGregor said.

Sarah Box, junior art ma-jor from Tahoka, has been modeling for one month in McGregor’s class. She said before she applied for the job, art students used to model for each other.

“I first thought it would be awkward and uncom-

fortable [to be a model], but it was not,” she said. “I used to be uncomfortable with people looking at me on campus; I realized it’s not that of a big deal.”

Box said posing in front of a whole class actually in-creased her self-confidence outside of the class.

Amanda Buchanan, fresh-man psychology major from Lubbock, started as a model last week in Robert Green’s class. She said she found out about the job after her older sister Shannon, who was a model for art classes last year, told her about it.

“It is very difficult to stay still,” Buchanan said.

She said it is also fun because she gets to meet the students, see how they draw and see their prog-ress.

Models can also be asked to pose in swimsuits or box-ers but not naked because of ACU policy.

“Anybody can be a mod-el; all shapes and sizes are good,” McGregor said. “I’ve never turned down some-one. I prefer models who are not perfectly built.”

McGregor said he has one model now and would appreciate to have two more so they can rotate. He said models usually have fun and often come back.

Art models wanted

Todd Piersall ARTS EDITOR

Beehive Restaurant and Saloon is located in downtown Abilene on 442 Cedar St. Beehive Restaurant spe-cializes in steak but also offers burgers, chicken and seafood.

Newly released movies and gross rates for Feb. 23-25. Total gross in parenthesis.

n Ghost Rider: $20,067,443($79,027,540)

n The Number 23: $14,602,867($14,602,867)

n Bridge to Terabithia: $14,357,726 ($47,005,760)

n Reno 911!: Miami: $10,273,477 ($10,273,477)

In TheATReS

To see a complete list of movies playing in Abilene visit movies.yahoo.com.

n The Astronaut Farmer

n The Breach

n The Number 23

n Ghost Rider

n Bridge to Terabithia

n Amazing Grace

n Music and Lyrics

ComIng Soon

Movies opening Friday:

n Black Snake Moan, starring Samuel L. Jackson, Chistina Riccia, Justin Timberlake, John Cothran Jr., Michael Raymond-James. A former blues player, Lazarus, lives in afflicted desperation after his wife cheated on him. It wasn’t until he discovered Rae, the town tramp, when she was left half-dead on the side of the road. After nursing her back to health, Lazarus and Rae find their way to redemption. (DRAMA)

n Full of It, starring Ryan Pinkston, Teri Polo, Craig Kilborn, Carmen Electra and Kate Mara. A 17-year-old habitual liar desperately tries to fit in to his new school by composing elaborate sto-ries to impress the popular kids of the school. However, his lies soon come back to haunt him when he becomes the big man on campus. (COMEDY)

n Wild Hogs, starring John Travolta, Tim Allen, Martin Lawrence, William H. Macy and Tichina Arnold. A group of middle-aged men decide to break the pattern their suburban life by taking a motorcycle trip. Putting their problems behind them, the group sets our on a freewheeling motorcycle trip ends up with an en-counter with the Del Fuegos, a rowdy gang of motorcyclists. (COMEDY)

n Zodiac, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr., Anthony Edwards and Brian Cox. A serial killer taunts San Francisco police with letters and clues. Four men search for the killer through an endless trail of clues. (SUSPENSE/THRILLER)

Box offICe STATS

n Open Tuesday-Friday

n Lunch: 11a.m -2 p.m.

n Dinner: 5 p.m.-10 p.m.

n Saturday: 5 p.m.-10 p.m.

n Friday and Saturday: Prime Rib and Chef Specials

n contact info: 325-675-0600.

BeehIve houRS

e-mail meyer at: optimist@acu.edu

e-mail vandendriessche at: optimist@acu.edu

e-mail Piersall at: tdp04a@acu.edu

Page 6 March 2, 2007

The issue:CNN reports that violence has increased this year toward the homeless community in the U.S.

Our view:Because society has dehumanized homeless individuals, it is easier to harm them and not feel remorse.

The solution:Keep in mind that regardless of where you are in life, every human is the same and every life counts.

Stop violence, change attitude toward homelessKilling the homeless for

sport is an increasing prob-lem, according to CNN.com, which cited a study by National Coalition for the Homeless reporting that the most attacks on record in a decade occurred in 2006. According to the report, 122 attacks and 20 murders occurred.

In most cases, teenagers at-tack the homeless with objects like paintball guns, baseball bats and rocks, a crime now being referred to as “sport kill-ing,” CNN reported.

Looking back, attackers appear bemused by their actions, telling reporters they didn’t mean to kill the victim. In an interview with CNN, attacker Nathan Moore, who participated in killing a 49-year-old homeless man, told the reporter the crime reminded him of a violent video game.

While some may point ac-

cusing fin-gers and blame vio-lent media for these crimes, they should ques-tion what prevents a 15-year-old from distinguishing be-tween fiction and real life.

Some sport killings may be pre-meditated, which is greater cause for concern. The Corpus Christi Caller Times reported in Febru-ary that attackers filmed themselves beating a home-less man, going so far as to turn him around to face the camera to display his inju-ries. While this is an isolat-ed case, this disturbing act clearly shows the attackers felt their crime was worth documenting (and getting caught could not have been too concerning).

Mark Hewitt, director of Love and Care Ministries in

Abilene, said he hasn’t no-ticed an increasing trend of violence in Abilene; how-ever, he said violent crimes have occurred, mostly when kids are “goofing off” or when homeless people at-tack one another.

“I think a lot of people think homeless people are nothing. They’re feeble; they’re not all there. I think [people] take that opportu-nity to take what they have or beat them,” Hewitt said.

Hewitt estimated the homeless population in Abilene is about 300-400 people, and said many Abile-nians are unaware the num-ber is so high.

Abilene’s homeless are pro-

tected to a de-gree because Love and Care visits their camps to offer food, clothing and

medical supplies, Hewitt said, which may be one reason for fewer crimes against them.

Andrew Stevens, Love and Care intern, said he’s no-ticed many Abilenians avoid the homeless, when getting involved with them could bring some understanding.

This is where the problem lies — we have dehuman-ized our homeless, which in turn makes committing vio-lent acts against them seem trivial. When did it become acceptable to act out grue-some scenes reminiscent of Lord of the Flies?

Perhaps society has an un-spoken attitude toward the homeless that is passed on to children, who retain this

attitude into their teenage and adult years. Because this violent trend is only against the homeless, there must be an attitude toward them that sets them apart. The solu-tion is obvious — attitudes need to change.

Realistically, one cannot expect every member of soci-ety to spill into the streets to learn more about the home-less. But it is reasonable to expect people to make a little effort to understand — not to judge — and to remem-ber that whether sitting on a street corner with a sign or sipping Starbucks on a col-lege campus, we’re all the same. Maybe then someone will stand up and offer a voice for the voiceless.

Unsigned editorials are the opinions of the Optimist and may not necessarily reflect the views of the university or its administration.

Signed columns, cartoons and letters are the opinions of their creators and may not necessarily reflect the viewpoints of the Optimist or the university.

The Optimist encourages reader response through letters to the editor but reserves the right to limit frequent contributors or to refuse to print letters containing personal

attacks, obscenity, defamation, erroneous information or invasion of privacy.

Please limit letters to 350 words or fewer. A name and phone number must be included for verification purposes. Phone numbers will not be published.

Address letters to:ACU Box 27892

Abilene, TX 79699

E-mail letters to: optimist@acu.edu

Editorial and letter policy

Published by the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication

Newsroom:(325) 674-2439

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Online:www.acuoptimist.com

Editorial and Management Board

Mallory SchlabachEditor in Chief

Jared FieldsManaging Editor

Michelle JimenezCopy Editor

Lauren SuttonOpinion Editor

Emily SmithChief Photographer

Kelsi PeaceFeatures Editor

Daniel JohnsonSports Editor

Todd PiersallArts Editor

Shelby CoatesVideo Editor

Christi StarkAdvertising Manager

Kenneth PybusAdviser

Hewitt estimated the homeless population in Abilene is about 300-400 people, and said

many Abilenians are unaware the number is so high.

E-mail the Optimist at: optimist@acu.edu

Alex YorkLebensgefhar

In Your WordsWhat do you see Abilene’s

response being to its homeless community?

Darren Rossfreshman physics majorfrom Fort Worth

I don’t see them responding; I see them in the park, and people just driving by.

Andrea Shiversjunior biology majorfrom Keller

I see a lot of homeless people but not a lot of response.

Dylan Wannjunior environmental sciencemajor from Torrington, Wyom.

Unless it is some organized thing, I don’t see much being done outside of random acts of kindness.

Shannon Lairjunior elementary education major from Apple Valley, Minn.

I see Abilene reaching out to the homeless community through organizations like Love and Care Ministries.

The glory of God was felt in incredible force Wednesday night as two ACU students and one mili-

tary airman first class witnessed the power of prayer.

E a r l i e r that day, at around 1 p.m. in Connec t i -cut, a preg-nant wom-an and her h u s b a n d got into a

serious car accident when a semi-truck crashed into their Corvette. They weren’t supposed to live through it. The woman’s brain began to hemor-rhage. She had a 3 per-cent chance of living.

F o u r and a half hours later, a knock was heard on the front door of a small A b i l e n e apartment. The airman en-tered the apartment of the two ACU students and sat down. He talked about what happened to his friend’s best friend. The three de-cided to join hands and pray for a miracle.

One hour later, the air-man received a phone call. He found out that just an hour earlier, as the doctors where do-ing their best to stop the hemorrhaging within the woman’s brain, the bleed-ing stopped instantly. The doctors witnessed it with their eyes. They can’t ex-plain it, they said. They didn’t understand how it could happen.

But the three who

joined together in prayer understood exactly how it happened.

After realizing my prayer for the young woman was heard and answered, I was left speechless and in awe. Never have I experienced the power of God as I did then, and never will I for-get it. God has once again proven faithful.

The power of prayer can be witnessed in the great and in the small — from life being restored to morning doubts being cleared by nighttime. God hears and he answers.

Rosalind Rinker, author of “Prayer: Conversing with God,” describes prayer as “the expression of a hu-

man heart in conversation with God,” and as “a dia-logue between two persons who love each other.”

But often times, prayer is misjudged and likened to a magic wand. People get the i m p r e s s i o n

they can ask for any ri-diculous thing, and it will automatically be given to them. Prayer doesn’t work that way. Yes, God hears, but he isn’t a pushover or a fool.

Prayer is meant to build a relationship with him — not to command him. It’s an essential tool in get-ting to know our Heavenly Father and him getting to know us. Be raw and un-censored before Christ. Bare your soul. You just might witness a miracle.

ComeUndone

MichelleJimenez

Believing in the power of prayer

A great TV day is when I can watch A&E Biographies, the History and Discovery channels and maybe a few epi-

sodes of “Law & Order.”

What I love about the pre-vious three channels are the shows of the unknown, mys te r ious and even the g r o t e s q u e . The best ex-ample of a show I used

to schedule my life around is anything dealing with Atlantis. The show has so much mys-tery and intrigue with enough evidence to support a possibil-ity of its existence. These char-acteristics make it my perfect kind of show.

My freshman year, ABC ran a two-hour special on UFOs. I don’t know if I believe in them

or not, but the show drew me in nonetheless because I wanted to see proof in its existence.

Sunday, the Discovery Chan-nel is showing a documentary by Titanic producer James Cameron entitled, “The Lost Tomb of Jesus.”

But with the similarities in the promises of the titles, I will not watch this show, even though it is in my genre of shows I would enjoy because I know the ending

Basically, in the tomb os-suaries were found with some inscriptions of biblical names surrounding Jesus such as his mother Mary, Mary Magdalene and a possible son. I bet the show doesn’t get much farther than experts arguing about this. Controversy surrounds

this documentary because of the legitimacy of the claims. Some say the names were com-mon at that time and the loca-tion of the tomb is wrong.

What these shows have in common is the end. Anyone who has seen one of these shows knows how they end. You see a commercial or the introduction for the show and you think, “Wow, they’ve found Atlantis! I’ll watch to see where it is!”

Then the show comes to the conclusion and you see they know no more than at the be-ginning of the show and you just wasted an hour of your time to learn nothing.

I have seen a large amount of coverage about the Discov-ery Channel documentary on

the news. Religion leaders and experts are refuting it, a small number are defending the show. I don’t care. I have seen enough of these shows to know they know no more about the

subject than me. The filmmak-ers are just good at drawing out the information they have for a long time.

Thank you Discovery Chan-nel for wasting my time when I thought I was going to learn something. Some people will be pulled to their sets on Sun-day night to see if the tomb of Jesus has been found. All I see is another ploy to draw Chris-tians en masse to a show for a ratings hike. I’ve been duped enough times by TV shows to waste my time, but it won’t work this time.

Don’t waste your time on Discovery

Fields of Dreams

JaredFields

You see a commercial or the introduction for the show and you think, “Wow, they’ve found

Atlantis! I’ll watch to see where it is.”

People get the impression they can ask for any

ridiculous thing, and it will automatically

be give to them.

E-mail Fields at: jrf03b@acu.edu or optimist@acu.edu

E-mail Jimenez at: mmj04b@acu.edu or optimist@acu.edu

Nunez and Kevin Beedy fell to Texas Tech’s Bojan Szumans-ki and Christian Rojmar 8-4.

ACU then went on to lose every singles match without winning a set. The closest singles match was Beedy’s 7-6 (3), 6-3 loss to Sinisa Markovic.

On Saturday at 9 a.m., both ACU teams will play the Tyler Junior College teams. Then, at 2 p.m., the men will play New Mexico Military, and the wom-en will play Tarleton State.

Friday, March 2, 2007 Page 7FROM THE FRONT PAGE/SPORTS JUMPS

to plan ahead.“I think this will be a

better experience for the students because of the tie-in with missions,” Car-dot said of the trip to Hon-duras. “Since it’s a differ-ent language, it becomes a different experience and it is more of a third-world en-vironment so the students will be able to see and ex-perience living experiences that are dramatically dif-ferent than in Oxford.”

The deadline to turn in an application for the commu-nications courses is March 9 and a $100 deposit is re-quired. The courses offered will be: COMS 345/545: “Intercultural Communi-cation,” COMS 383/583: “Communication in Multi-national Organizations” and

COMS 440/683: “Cultural Case Studies.”

Kevin Kehl, executive director of the Center for International and Inter-cultural Education, said classes being canceled in Oxford do not happen very often. The decision to can-cel the history class was made in early February.

“Oxford is a popular destination and a wonder-ful learning experience for both faculty and students and teachers were obvious-ly disappointed with the classes being canceled,” Kehl said.

“I think there are a lot of competing activities that students have to choose from and I think that’s an issue when it comes to de-ciding whether or not to go,” Kehl said.

Students who had paid

their fee for the applica-tion have been refunded their money.

Dr. Tracy Shilcutt, assis-tant professor of history, said she has talked to stu-dents who signed up for the class and can see the sadness in them from not being able to go on the trip to Oxford.

“I’m very sad for the students because there is not a better place to learn about British history than in England,” Shilcutt said. “I’m hopeful that the next time it’s offered that they will be able to go.”

The British history class will not be offered this summer at ACU and is only offered every other Maymester.

Oxford: Class moves southContinued from page 1

E-mail Bautista at: jjb02b@acu.edu

the discretionary fund. At the convention last

week, attendees learned how to research foundations, evaluate usefulness and net-work with perspective grant-ors. They briefly discussed establishing a non-profit and were expected to complete “homework,” applying for a mock grant with a non-prof-it of their choice. Cosgrove said he used the Noah Proj-ect. Attendees heard from both parties — experienced grant writers and grantors attended the conference and offered insight.

Cosgrove said SA has ap-plied for a few grants and has not received any yet; however, he said he felt the process became clearer af-ter attending the conference. Sometimes, SA approaches the same foundations as the university, which makes find-ing grants difficult, Cosgrove said.

“You go and you find out that ACU is applying to the same foundation for $1.5 million, and we back off re-ally quick — both of us will have the ACU stationary,” Cosgrove said.

This semester, SA is seek-ing grants for Treadaway Kids, Wildcat Kids and an initiative to open the south doors of the Brown Library.

“There are a ton of foun-dations that are required to give money, with lots to give,” said Kirksey, sopho-

more financial management major from Tyler.

He said SA cannot fund every project on campus, but it can apply for grants for established programs like Wildcat Kids and Treadaway Kids that have very limited resources.

Ryan Stephen, sophomore financial management ma-jor from Spring, said SA ap-plied for a grant from the Community Foundation of Abilene to fund opening the library doors and making them handicap-accessible. The process has stagnated because SA still is waiting to hear from the founda-tion and the changes to the library’s infrastructure have made some unhappy.

“We ran into some major brick walls,” Stephen said.

Stephen’s position as chief advancement officer is a trial position, and he said one re-sponsibility is to work with organizations to find grants.

“My biggest thing with the chief advancement officer position, I’ve been saying, is to fund a dream,” Stephen said. “And that’s just so hard to do if you don’t know that dream is there.”

Stephen called the respon-sibility two-fold, and said SA needs to be informed and or-ganizations need to be will-ing to put in the extra work. Organizations also need to consider the future and re-member the slow nature of grants, Stephen said.

“These student groups are going to outlast any person’s

stay here at ACU. I can be an officer in the Students’ Asso-ciation, but when I leave, the Students’ Association is still going to be here,” Stephen said. “While I’m here, I’m supposed to do everything that I can to make sure SA is better when I leave. And I feel like that’s something we really need to instill in our student groups.”

SA: New representative addedContinued from page 1

E-mail Peace at: knp04a@acu.edu

“On spring break some students use time to really escape and go have fun. We allow them to have fun but do it responsibly; we want them to come back from spring break,” Row-lands said.

This year’s theme will be “Know Boundaries.” Rowlands said he expects to impact a number of stu-dents who participate and help them think before they do something that can harm someone else.

“We don’t want to take away peoples fun. We want them to have fun but be responsible,” he said.

“I just want to remind the students about the danger of driving long distances without enough sleep, and [the danger of] drug use during the break,” said Cara Flanders, therapist for the Counsel-ing Center and coordinator for the Peer Health Education.

“I am little nervous about planning this event,” Flanders said. “But I am ex-cited, and I want students to have a chance to hear some of this stuff and ask questions that they might not always feel comfort-able asking on a Christian campus.”

Choices: Center sponsors week

Continued from page 1

E-mail Blessed at: optimist@acu.edu

n After it was determined that leaders of NESLA, a speech pathology organization, did not receive e-mails telling them requirements to submit a budget, the appropriations committee voted via e-mail to allot $2,400 to the organization; an additional $600 was given from the discretionary fund. (The organization submitted a budget request but did not receive an e-mail with the requirements; they did not attend Invision and were not granted any money.)

n Maher Saab, SA executive president, estimated that about 500 cards have been signed asking for tax-free textbooks. SA had 1,000 printed, and they plan to deliver the cards to the state senator’s Abilene office on Monday. Voters registered in Texas and Texas residents can sign the cards, which are available in the SA office.

n Congress approved Caroline Hare, sophomore youth and family ministry major from Nashville, as the new Morris Hall representative.

SA UPdATES

.388 batting average and .975 fielding percentage.

Southeastern is 5-7 after two straight losses to Oua-chita Baptist on Tuesday and split both of its four-game se-ries against other LSC South teams Texas A&M-Kingsville and Eastern New Mexico.

No. 20 Ouachita routed Southeastern 12-4, 17-4 and swung for 32 hits in the two games.

Despite Southeastern’s recent slump, starting pitch-er Ben Maynard said South-eastern is his first challenge this season.

“To me this is the first real test of the season,” Maynard said. “Inter-conference com-petition is a lot different than those early games.”

The 2005 LSC Pitcher of the Year is 2-0 this season and holds a team best .60 ERA. Maynard, who has never been a power pitcher, said he

expects Southeastern’s lineup to be scrappy and to fight to get on base and around the diamond, but he will adjust to fit their hitting style.

“I’m a junk pitcher,” May-nard said. “I’m not gonna blow anybody away [at] 84 [mph]; I’ve got to adjust.”

Bonneau said pitchers Bri-an Kennedy, Matt Davis and Trey Watten will start on the mound against Southeastern.

Matchup: Cats travel to Denton

Continued from page 8

E-mail Freeman at: mxf04b@acu.edu

Tennis: Men lose to ranked Texas Tech

Continued from page 8

E-mail Johnson at: djj04a@acu.edu

weekend in its first inter-con-ference game of the season.

The Wildcats will play a four-game series against TWU in Denton on Friday and Saturday.

“Four games is always a grind, especially against the same team,” said head coach Chantiel Wilson. “But we have four fresh pitchers who have all been throwing well. So, hopefully, that will be to our advantage.”

Wilson said TWU was going to be tough because they are a team with good players at ev-ery position.

A four-game series is tough,

said second baseman Tayler Wilson.

“It’s hard to play four games in a weekend, but it’s also nice because we get each opponent out of the way,” said Tayler.

Last weekend, the team did not play the final two games of the ACU-CBS Round Robin Classic because of the dust storm that blew through town. However, the women made up for those lost games this week in practice with some inter-squad games, Coach Wilson said.

Wilson said there was no specific way to prepare for the weekend’s games, but the team knew every game was important.

“We had two inter-squad games this week in order to get some real games in as well as get our pitchers the work they need to be consistent and for the batters to continue to see live pitching,” Wilson said. “Our focus has been to keep up our level of play and carry it onto this weekend.”

Tayler said the team has had some weaknesses so far, but she thinks they are still playing well.

“We have a big team and depth in all of the positions, which is a great advantage for us,” Tayler said.

Streak: ACU faces Savage Storm

Continued from page 8

E-mail davis at: optimist@acu.edu

n The ACU’s men’s and women’s tennis teams will play two matches each this Saturday at the Eager Tennis Center. Both teams are nationally ranked.

By MICHAEL FREEMANOnline editOr

The ACU men’s tennis team fell 7-0 to Texas Tech, the No. 34 team in the Divi-sion I national poll, Tuesday in Lubbock. The loss drops the Wildcats, who are ranked No. 22 in Division II tennis, to an overall record of 10-3.

The ACU men will play again Saturday when they host Tyler Junior College and New Mexico Military Institute

at the Eager Tennis Center. The Wildcat women, No. 5 na-tionally, will also be in action Saturday.

The women will play two matches, one against Ty-ler Junior College and one against conference rival, Tarleton State. The Tarleton State match will be ACU’s first conference match-up of the season.

“I don’t think they’re go-ing to be quite as good as last year,” head coach Hutton Jones said of Tarleton State. “But, I think they’re going to be pretty good.”

ACU will also play Tyler

Junior College, one of the top junior college tennis teams in the nation. The Tyler men are No. 2 and the women are No. 4 nationally.

“I think Tyler is going to be a tough match,” Jones said. “The points won’t be easy, so that’s going to be good. I think that’s on the girls’ and guys’ side.”

On Tuesday, the ACU men gave Texas Tech a scare in doubles. In two of the three doubles matches, the Wild-cats were within a few points of winning the match. The duo of Luke Hawk and Ryan Hudson were up on Texas Tech’s Teddy DiBlasi and Greg Jones 7-6, but ended

up losing in a tiebreaker 9-8 (5). Also, the doubles team of George Carstens and Bryce Hicks were on serve down 5-6 and had a chance to tie the

match but let the opportunity slip away as they lost 8-5. In the other doubles match, Juan

VOLLEYBALLIntramural volleyball will begin Tuesday. View the schedule on the intramural bulletin board in Moody Coleseum.

Monday

BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS

Men’s champ leagueSemifinals:Bennett gym, 5 p.m. and 6 p.m.

Finals:Bennett gym, 10 p.m.

*Men’s and women’s Intramural basketball tournament results will be in Wednesday’s issue of The Optimist

Friday

BASEBALLACU vs. SE Oklahoma State, 4 p.m. (DH)

SOFTBALLACU at Texas Woman’s 5 p.m. (DH)

Saturday

BASEBALLACU vs. SE Oklahoma State, 1 p.m. (DH)

SOFTBALLACU at Texas Woman’s 1 p.m. (DH)

MEN’S TENNISACU vs. Tyler Junior College, 9 a.m.

ACU vs. New Mexico Military, 2 p.m.

WOMEN’S TENNISACU vs. Tyler Junior College, 9 a.m.

ACU vs. Tarleton State, 2 p.m.

Monday

GOLFACU at Southern California Intercollegiate, San Juan Capistrano, Calif.

Tuesday

GOLFACU at Southern California Intercollegiate, San Juan Capistrano, Calif.

n Home games listed in italics

SportSFridayPage 8 March 2, 2007

SCOrEBOArd

Standings

Upcoming

INTrAMUrAL rOUNd-UP

n The intramural schedule and points seen on the Optimist sports page are not final and subject to change. Any last-minute changes can be viewed on the intramural bulletin board in Moody Coliseum.

Scores

Tuesday

WOMEN’S BASKETBALLCentral Oklahoma 76, ACU 57

MEN’S TENNISTexas Tech 7, ACU 0

Scoreboard as of Thursday

BASEBALLTeam Div. OverallACUAngelo St.ENMUTAMK-UTarleton

WTAM

0-00-00-00-00-00-0

11-310-510-68-59-72-9

SOFTBALLTeam Div. OverallAngelo St. TarletonTAMK-UACUENMU

TX Woman’s

0-00-00-00-00-00-0

19-510-410-510-611-108-14

WTAM 0-0 5-9

Upcoming

brian schmidt SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

Lana Pavlin practices her forehand in preparation for the Wildcats’ two matches Saturday.

brian schmidt SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

Left: Guard Alex Guiton drives down the court. Right: Forward Audrey Maxwell goes to the basket. Both Guiton and Maxwell were named to the first team all-Lone Star Conference South Divi-sion team after their performances in the Wildcats’ 2007 season. Guiton averaged 15.1 points-per-game and 3.8 assists-per-game, while Maxwell recorded 12 double-doubles in 2007.

n The ACU baseball team will defend its undefeated home streak against Southeastern Oklahoma State on Friday in the first of four games this weekend.

By DANIEL JOHNSONSpOrtS editOr

The ACU baseball team has not lost a game at home; the Wildcats have downed every challenger to play at Crutcher Scott Field in 2007 and now holds a No. 9 na-tional ranking because of it.

But this weekend against Southeastern Oklahoma State, ACU will defend its undefeated home record without lead-off hitter, leading-base stealer and starting second baseman J.J. Pacheco.

“Not having Pacheco in the lineup changes things,” said head coach Britt Bon-neau. “We’ve got to ask a guy to step up and play. And whoever that is we will need him to be able to produce.”

Pacheco injured his shoul-der during ACU’s series against Northeastern State on Feb. 23 and Bonneau said he will most likely be out of the lineup for 3-4 weeks.

Pacheco, who is in his first year with the Wildcats after transferring from Chabot Community College, has a .396 batting average, leads the team with seven steals and six doubles and has committed no errors in 14 starts for a perfect 1.0 field-

ing percentage. Bonneau said utility play-

er Willy Uechi will start in Pa-checo’s spot at second while outfielder Matt Spotanski will be lead-off hitter. Uechi has a .973 fielding percent-age and Spotanski has a .412 batting average.

Beyond the loss of Pa-checo, Bonneau said he is concerned with Southeast-ern’s starting pitchers.

“We got our hands full with Southeastern,” Bon-neau said.

Southeastern’s bullpen holds a 6.37 ERA and has only five wins, compared to ACU’s conference leading 3.23 ERA and 11 wins. ACU is also first in the LSC with a

Home-field streak on the line

n Guard Alex Guiton and forward Audrey Maxwell made the all-Lone Star Conference first team after a successful 2007 season. The honor was a first for both Wildcats.

By MICHAEL FREEMANOnline editOr

ACU junior point guard Alex Guiton and sophomore center Audrey Maxwell were both named to the first team all-Lone Star Conference South Division, according to the vote of division coaches.

“I think both of them are really well-deserving of the honors,” said head coach Shawna Lavender.

Guiton finished the sea-

son averaging 15.1 points per game, the seventh best average in the Lone Star Conference. She also ranked sixth in the conference in as-sists (3.8 per game), fourth in 3-point field goals made (2.2 per game), seventh in free-throw percentage (79 percent) and first in minutes played (36.4 per game). This year was the first year Gui-ton was named to the first team all-conference. In her sophomore year, she was named to the second team all-conference, and in her freshman year, she received an honorable mention.

“It was actually a sur-prise to me,” Guiton said. “I know I couldn’t have done it without the help of my teammates.”

Maxwell ended the sea-son with 12 double-doubles. She averaged 13.5 points per game and 10.1 re-bounds per game. Maxwell’s rebound average was the second-best in the Lone Star Conference; only Elizabeth Richards of Eastern New Mexico had a better average of 10.4 rebounds. Among all conference players, Maxwell also ranked third in field goal percentage (54 per-cent), sixth in blocked shots (one per game) and first in

offensive rebounds (3.3 per game). This year marks Max-well’s first year to receive all-conference honors.

“I’m really excited about it,” Maxwell said. “I think it’s definitely a team thing. Especially at my position as post, it depends on every-one else too. I think when-ever I do really well, that means that the whole team has done really well.”

The Wildcats’ season end-ed Tuesday with a 76-57 loss to Central Oklahoma in the quarterfinal round of the Lone Star Conference Post-season Tournament. In the game, Guiton led ACU with 16 points, and Maxwell con-

tributed with 10 points. ACU finished the season 17-12, a definite improvement from last season’s 12-15 record.

“You look at the end of the year and you’re never happy when it ends before you really think it should,” Lavender said. “But the good thing is that we definitely have a very bright future with those two coming back and all of our freshmen get-ting good experience this year. So, I think the future is definitely bright for us.”

Guiton, Maxwell net all-LSC honors

Tennis teams to play two weekend matches

n The ACU softball team will kick off Lone Star Conference play against Texas Woman’s in denton this weekend. ACU is 10-6 so far this season.

By RACHEL DAVISSpOrtS Writer

Preseason play is over for the ACU softball team, and they will take on Texas Woman’s University this

Texas Woman’s first LSC matchup

brian schmidt SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

Utility player Willy Uechi hits a ball during practice Wednesday. Uechi will start at second base for the injured J.J. Pacheco on Friday.

Tennis

See TENNIS page 7

Women’s basketball

Baseball

E-mail Freeman at: mxf04b@acu.edu

See STrEAK page 7See MATCHUP page 7