The Rocketboys returned to ACU on Tuesday to play a free on-campus concert for the first time since Feb-ruary of last year.

Composed almost entirely of ACU alumni, the Rocketboys started their journey as a band in Abilene after meeting through mutual friends on campus.

“I am most excited to be back on old stomping grounds,” said Bran-don Kinder, lead singer and guitarist for the band. “ACU is really our first or second home.”

The Rocketboys have not re-turned to their alma mater in about a year and a half due to scheduling conflicts. Over the course of four months they lost three members, forcing them to spend most of the last year rebuilding.

Through the hardships of the past year, the band has refocused on working on their music. Amidst line up changes and other compli-cations, the band produced their second full-length album, Build Anyway.

The album revolves around a tone of loss and regret, reflecting the band’s feelings about the loss of their original members. With lyrics

full of nostalgia and heartache, they hope listeners can hear and identify with the pain the band went through over the past year.

Hundreds of excited students flocked to Moody Coliseum the last time the Rocketboys came to ACU.

“I’m really excited to see the Rock-etboys again,” said Christen Cawley, junior marketing major from Con-roe. “I saw them my freshman year and I can’t wait to hear stuff from the new album.”

Sing Song this spring will be busy with six fresh hosts and hostesses, a full show of 17 acts and many new directors.

This year has the po-tential to set many re-cords. Gamma Sigma Phi is looking for their fifth win in a row and Alpha Kai Omega looks for a second victory since its charter in 2000. The senior class is also preparing for a class sweep, a feat rarely ac-complished.

Carly Branscum, senior Ad/PR major from Fort Worth, is a downstage co-chair for the second year. She understands the pres-sure on the senior class because the last time a class has swept all four years was the class of ’98.

“There is a lot of tradi-tion coming into this year,

with GSP and our senior class this year, and Alpha Kai Omega won for the first time last year, can they do it again?” Branscum said. “I think it is going to be a great show. I mean, yeah it will be nuts and all, but

with the help of five co-chairs instead of only three last year, it will be a good year for Sing Song.”

Hunter Clinton, senior social work major from Keller, said he is honored to direct this year’s GSP act.

“I have been around GSP and Sing Song all my life and worshiped the ground they sang on,” Clinton said. “Now I have the honor of leading them to another victory. We have had some really good acts

the last few years and I plan on this one topping them all.”

Members of Sub T-16 are reaching out to the commu-nity of Abilene through work and the Texas Ramp Project on Saturday.

Cody Crist, junior busi-

ness management from North Richland Hills, is leading the members of his social club to raise a ham-mer for those less fortunate.

“I work at a hardware store and one of my custom-ers works with a non-profit organization for people who need wheelchairs but can’t

use them because they don’t have ramps,” Crist said.

The organization, based out of San Antonio, aims to bring assistance to low-in-come disabled residents in 19 counties around Abilene. Its mission statement “Building freedom for the homebound,”

After being given instruc-tions and supplies, the men will be sent out to 12 differ-ent locations around the city to build these ramps from scratch.

“It may take only three hours, it may take up to six.

Abilene Christian University

Nail-biter in Commerce

Football team comesfrom behind for win

SportsPage 8vol. 101, no. 19 wednesday, october 31, 2012 1 SECTION, 8 PAGES

page 6

Evan Marks offers some Halloween costume suggestions

OPINION

NEWS

acuoptimist.com

Watch the ninth Ken Collums Show

VIDEO

INSIDE

Page 3

Hispanos Unidos members volunteer in pumpkin patch

NEWS

Page 4

Facilities management looking to improve sustainability

NEWS

Page 6

Mark Smith, editor in chief, responds to endorsement reactions

OPINION

FilmFest rules change to extend production time period

Page 4

Page 8

On-campus political groups gearing up for election

SPORTS

Page 5

Volleyball team gets final Word to end losing streak

FEATURES

acuoptimist.com

Virtuous Sisterhood to volunteer in Abilene schools

NEWS

acuoptimist.com

Frats social club scaring students, community in annual haunted house

NEWS

ONLINE

acuoptimist.com

Check out some of our footage from Homecoming events

VIDEO2013 SING SONG DIRECTORS

Alpha Kai Omega: Kylie Hanna and Alyssa Stanley

GATA: Corinne Morris

Ko Jo Kai: Keslie Bernard and Jamie Metscher

Sigma Theta Chi: Jessica Welshanns

Zeta Rho: Janessa Beach and Marissa Diaz

Frats: Jack Sorrells

Galaxy: Jonathan Bryant, Sam Greer and Seth Groveunder

Gamma Sigma Phi: Hunter Clinton

Pi Kappa: Josh Smith and Co-lin Harvard

Sub T-16: Vance Cato

Trojans: Matt Bowman

Freshmen: Ethan Alexander and Kirk Ferrell

Sophomores: Kealey Fabian

Juniors: Caroline Nikolaus and Jake Hall

Seniors: Nick Tatum

Graduate School: Emily Bushnell and Ashley Wheeler

International Students: Cheryl Bell and Kenyon Jackson

deanna romero staff photographer

The Rocketboys play during their free concert on the mall area lawn Tuesday night.

social clubs

contact the optimist atjmcnetwork@acu.edu

erika tanakastudent reporter

Rocketboys rock campus

After a trip to the hospi-tal earlier this semester, where she spent three days in a medically induced coma, Meghan Hancock is pledging Ko Jo Kai from her home in Fairview.

Hancock, sophomore physical therapy major, was hospitalized Sept. 4 after collapsing dur-ing her Lifetime Wellness class. She was rushed to Hendrick Medical Center where doctors put her in a coma.

Hancock is safely re-covering at home and said she is feeling great. She is excited about the oppor-tunity that has been given

to her to pledge while off campus.

Hancock said the clubs officers came to her hos-pital room and offered her a bid.

“I was told that I wasn’t going to get to, and when they showed up, that was a very big surprise,” Han-cock said.

Leigh Foith, Ko Jo Kai historian, said the officer team and sponsors for Ko Jo Kai went to Mark Jack-son, associate director of Student Organizations and Programs, to approve their idea of offering Hancock a bid for Kojies. A unani-mous vote of club mem-bers ensured the bid, and the officer team, Jackson and Ko Jo Kai’s sponsors went to Hendrick Hospi-tal to share the good news with Meghan.

“We prayed with Meghan, gave her a binder and a pledge pin, and let her know of our continued support for her in her re-covery,” said Foith, senior Ad/PR major from Plano. “She was so surprised and so thrilled.”

Hancock said she has wanted to pledge since freshman year and was

audrey schaffnercopy editor

Meghan Hancock pledging from home

social clubs

taylor langstonsports video director

see hancock page 4

contact the optimist atjmcnetwork@acu.edu

see service page 4

Sub T-16 to labor for project

jimmy isbellstudent reporter

Clubs, classes name 2013 act directorssing song

meghan hancocksophomore physical thera-

py major from Fairview

When they showed up, that was a very

big surprise.”“

31 1 2 3Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

All Day - Lone Star Conference Soccer Tournament

12 p.m. ACU Football vs West Alabama U

2 p.m. ACU Volleyball at Texas Woman’s U

8:30 p.m. Flat Tops and Scrunchies: A total 90s Party

All Day - Lone Star Conference Soccer Tournament

All Day - Paycom Interviewing in Career Center

7 p.m. ACU Volleyball at TAMU-Commerce

All Day - Halloween

All Day - Lone Star Conference Soccer Tournament

All Day - Last day to register for Elevator Pitch

All Day - Lone Star Conference Soccer Tournament

All Day - Davis Kinard interviewing in Career Center

11:00 a.m. WCTCC Graduate and Profes-sional School Fair

7:30 p.m. Grad School Coffee House

Police Log

72 25@acuoptimist

The Optimist

optimist@acu.edu

Wednesday 10.31.12 2

Announcements

Around Abilene

Oct. 31

7 p.m. The De Leon VFD will sponsor its annual Spook House at the old Anthony Hotel in De Leon. Admission is $10. Proceeds will benefit the fire department.

8 p.m. A haunted house will be open at Frontier Texas! Admis-sion will be $10. This event is not intended for young children.

Nov. 1

9:30 a.m. The West Texas Drought Outlook and Assess-ment Forum will be at the West Central Texas Council of Governments. Federal, state and local weather and climate specialists and water manage-ment experts will discuss cur-rent drought status, outlook and impacts.

Nov. 2

8 a.m. The annual Square & Round Dance Association garage sale will be open at the Wagon Wheel in Tye.

Nov. 3

9 a.m. The 30th annual Sagerton Hobby Bazaar will be at the Sagerton Commu-nity Center. Procees will go to community projects and a scholarship fund. Arts and crafts, baked goods, holiday items and a quilt raffle will be available.

Students interested in join-ing The Wildcat Reign can sign up at thewildcatreign.com. The Wildcat Reign aims to provide students the ability to facilitate Wildcat pride on campus and serves as a link-ing point between students and Wildcat athletic events.

The ACU Roller Hockey Club Team is accepting new members who are interest-ed in playing roller hockey. For more information on the team, you can post on the ACU Wildcat Hockey Face-book page or email acuhock-ey@gmail.com.

ACU Swing Cats is hosting les-sons for beginner and interme-diate levels of swing dancing Thursday nights in SRWC Stu-dio B. Intermediate lessons are at 8 p.m. and Beginners are at 9 p.m. Social dancing begins at 9:30 p.m.

Leadership Summit will be having an interest meeting Oct. 30 and Nov. 16 from 11 a.m. - 11:50 a.m. in COBA 201. Chapel credit will be provided.

Elevator Pitch registration is now open. Early registration is until Oct. 31 and costs $10. Late registration is until Nov. 6 and costs $20.

December 2012 Graduates should attend the Graduation Fair in the Living Room on Oct. 30 from 9 a.m.-5p.m. for all graduation needs.

PULSE A Cappella is having a logo contest. All entries should be submitted to wcr09a@acu.edu as a .jpg by Nov. 4. The winner will receive $75.

Graduate School Awareness Week continues Nov. 1 with a Graduate and Professional School Fair at 11 a.m. in the Hunter Welcome Center, Mc-Caleb Conference Center, a Communication Recruiting Dinner at 6 p.m. at the home of Paul and Raye Lakey and a Grad School Coffee House at 7:30 p.m. in the Hunter Wel-come Center Lobby.

Volunteer Opp0rtunities

The Center for International Education is looking for conversation partners for international students to practice Eng-lish, conversations and cultural learning. Partners meet for one hour each week at a time and place determined by the partners. For more information contact Laura McGregor at 325-674-2821 or laura.mcgregor@acu.edu.

St. John’s Episcopal School is seeking volunteers to paint metal playground equipment anytime Monday-Friday after 3 p.m. and Saturday anytime. For more information contact Rebecca McMillon at 325-695-8870 or flores@stjohnsabilene.org.

Center for Contemporary Arts needs a gallery assistant to greet patrons, an-swer phones and answer basic questions about the Center and its programs. This oppotrunity is open Tuesday-Friday. The Center for Contemporary Arts is located at 220 Cypress Street. For more informa

tion contact Jessica Dulle at 325-677-8389 or visit: http://www.center-arts.com/.

Rescue the Animals is seeking volunteers to take pictures and videos in preparation for the launching of their new website as well as maintenance of the site after the launch. This opportunity is open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 1 p.m. - 5 p.m. For more information contact Kathy Walker at 325-677-7722 or res-cuetheanimalsvolunteers@yahoo.com.

The National Center For Children’s Il-lustrated Literature is looking for vol-unteers to greet patrons, assist with art activities, sell books and make visitors feel welcome. Help is also needed for special events like Artwalk and exhibit openings. The NCCIL is located at 102 Cedar St. For more information on times and dates contact Debby Lillick at 325-673-4586 or visit: http://www.nccil.org/index.htm.

The Christian Ministries of Abilene: Food Pantry is searching for volunteers to greet and interview neighbors, do computer entries, shop with neighbors, take grocer-ies to vehicles, bag, stock and pick up orders on Mondays and Fridays from 9:30 a.m. - 11:45 a.m. and 1 p.m. - 2:15 p.m. and on Wednesdays from 9:30 a.m. - 11:45 a.m. The Food Pantry is located at 701 Walnut St. For more information contact Becky Almanza at 325-673-1234 or cmapantry@aol.com.

The Christian Service Center is seek-ing volunteers to help assist with filling requests for items such as clothing, bed-ding, kitchen utensils, etc. from the dona-tion center, sort and organize donations and occasionally pick-up donated items. Volunteers are needed every weekday and the first Saturday of each month be-tween 9 a.m. - 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. - 4 p.m. For more information contact Roberta Brown at 325-673-7561 or at roberta-brown51@hotmail.com. For more

information on the program visit http://www.uccabilene.org/ministries/csc.htm.

The Food Bank of West Central Texas needs volunteers to help sort and stock food and other items any weekday Monday-Friday from 8 a.m.-3 p.m. The Food Bank is located at 5505 N. 1st St. For more information contact Janice Serrault at 325-695-6311 or abfoodbk@camalott.com.

Meals on Wheels Plus needs volunteer drivers to deliver afternoon meals to se-niors and adults with disabilities Monday-Friday between 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. Drivers must be at least 18 years old and have a valid driver’s license. Training is provided. For more information contact Samantha Barker at 352-672-5050 or visit http://mealsonwheelsplus.com.

For additional volunteer opportunities visit: www.acu.edu/campusoffices/ccsl/ministry-service/volunteer-opportuni-ties/

Chapel checkup

Corrections

In the Oct. 24 edition of the Optimist we ran a story on the Students’ Association meeting without full edits. The story is correct online.

In the same issue we ran a story headline “Religious schools fight Obamacare” that was not the final version. The story is correct online.

In the same issue we ran a story on Becca Clay being crowned Homecoming Queen. We misidentified her father’s work. Randy Clay is a preacher in Utah at South Side Church of Christ.

Police Log

10/16/2012 3:10 p.m. An ACU student reported the theft of a Samsung Galaxy mobile phone from Moody Coliseum.10/17/2012 9:40 a.m. An ACU student reported the theft of his wallet from The Bean.10/19/2012 10:18 p.m. A student reported that someone was attempting to open the front door of her off- campus residence. Officers checked the house and area, nothing unusual located. 10/20/2012 1:54 a.m. APD requested ACUPD’s assistance at a large/loud party house party. A large number of people were found inside and outside the house. The party was

shut down, one person was arrested for public intoxication. 10/21/2012 2:10 a.m. ACUPD and APD responded to a large/loud house party at the same house as the night before. The primary resident was issued a Municipal Court citation for Violation of Noise Ordinance. 10/21/2012 6:55 p.m. A student reported the overnight burglary of his vehicle while it was parked at Smith-Adams parking lot.

ABANDONED VEHICLE 1 ACCIDENT 1 ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIVITY 17ALARM 3ANIMAL CALL 1ASSIST 3BARRICADES 4BUILDING LOCK/UNLOCK 10BURGLARY (MOTOR VEHICLE) 3CART PATROL 5

CHECK BUILDING 89CITATION ISSUANCE 1DIRECT TRAFFIC 1DISTURBANCE 3ESCORT 1FOOT PATROL 1FOUND PROPERTY 3HIT-AND-RUN 1INCIDENT REPORT 3INFORMATION REPORT 3

INVESTIGATION FOLLOW UP 4LOST PROPERTY 3MEDICAL EMERGENCY 1MONITOR FACILITY/LOT 1MOTORIST ASSIST: INFLATE TIRE 1MOTORIST ASSIST: JUMPSTART 12MOTORIST ASSIST: UNLOCK 15NOISE VIOLATION 1OTHER 8PARKING LOT PATROL 1

PARKING VIOLATION 1PATROL VEHICLE MAINTENANCE 9PATROL VEHICLE: REFUEL 7RANDOM PATROL 15REPORT WRITING 2RUNAWAY 1SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY 3THEFT 3TRAFFIC HAZARD 2TRAFFIC STOP 8WELFARE CHECK 1Police Tip of the Week

Reduce opportunities for thefts – Never leave your backpack, laptop or cell phones unattended. It only takes a few seconds for someone to walk off with your belongings.

Weekly Stats for Week of October 16–23, 2012 (Total Events: 253)

Graduate School Aware-ness Week will take place Monday-Thursday and will conduct events to provide information about ACU’s graduate programs as well as programs from colleges throughout the country.

According to ACU’s web-site for the graduate school, the events include an op-portunity to meet Tuesday with graduate admissions at the Learning Commons, where free burritos from La Popular will be available.

The Graduate and Pro-fessional Fair will take place Thursday in the Hunter Wel-come Center.

“I think this is a good week for undergraduate students to find out about the graduate programs that we offer at ACU,” said Bree Craig, graduate conflict res-olution major and market-ing intern from Arlington. “I think that it’s something that maybe isn’t as widely known across campus; not just that we offer programs, but what they are.”

Craig said the fee for ap-plying to graduate school is waived for any current ACU students who apply to the Graduate School during Graduate School Awareness Week.

Craig emphasized the importance of looking into graduate school early.

While Graduate School Awareness Week also pro-vides a chance for students to learn more about graduate programs at other colleges.

“It’s awareness about our programs, but then it’s also just graduate school in gen-eral,” said Stacy Shenefield, graduate admissions coun-selor. “If students are look-ing at going in to a program that we don’t offer, the staff is still more than happy to answer questions.”

Shenefield said repre-sentatives from graduate programs all over the coun-try will attend the Graduate and Professional Fair on Thursday.

The Graduate Students’ Association Coffee House, a new event this year, will take place in the Hunter Welcome Center on Thurs-day evening to bring the

week to a close.Corey Patterson, manag-

ing director of online pro-grams, said this event serves a dual purpose.

“Graduate students mainly look at the pro-

grams; they don’t really look at the school as a whole,” said Patterson. “However, when you get here, it’s easy to get lost, it’s easy to get to a point of feeling like, ‘You know I’m in this program,

I’m kind of by myself with just the people who are in my program.’ The event on Thursday is designed not only to give awareness to the undergraduate students, but other graduate students

from other programs and create a community in the Graduate School.”

wednesday 10.31.123 campus news

ACU group volunteers at pumpkin patch

The Disability Resources Pumpkin Patch received extra helping hands this Halloween season from ACU’s chapter of His-panos Unidos.

This is the first time in recent years that His-panos Unidos has vol-unteered in the Abilene community.

“We wanted to start getting our name out in

the community and what better way than a com-munity pumpkin patch?” said David Salinas, senior health promotion major from San Antonio.

Disability Resources Inc. is an Abilene based, non-profit organization. DRI’s mission is to assist developmentally disabled individuals achieve their full potential in a Chris-tian environment.

Mat Molina, Hispanos Unidos’ treasurer, has vol-unteered at the pumpkin

patch in previous years for LYNAY and set up the opportunity for Hispanos Unidos to volunteer at the DRI pumpkin patch, said Ana Arango, sophomore biochemistry major and Hispanos Unidos secre-tary from Plano.

“We volunteered be-cause we are doing our best to let ACU as well as the Abilene community know that we are here to help those that need it,” said Salinas. “We want to show that the ACU commu-

nity loves to be a part of the community around us.”

Hispanos Unidos is known around campus for their annual event, Entra la Plaza. Despite the popularity of Entra la Plaza, Hispanos Unidos has remained a small club for the past several years.

“We are really trying to make Hispanos Uni-dos grow and gain some notoriety,” said Arango. “We are really working on finding ways to reach out past our comfort zone and

have a more noticeable effect on ACU and the Abilene community. This was the first of what will hopefully be several little events Hispanos Unidos will try to participate in as a group.”

Several church groups and organizations joined Hispanos Unidos in un-loading a large truck full of pumpkins in piles on the front lawn of DRI fa-cilities.

“It was a lot of fun be-cause several groups and

churches came out to lend a hand and they even let some of the residents help out, which was something they did differently this year,” said Arango. “I’m excited to try some more projects and try this one out again next year and see if we can keep in-creasing the number of volunteers.”

organizations

Kara Stutesmanstudent reporter

contact the optimist atjmcnetwork@acu.edu

Grad School looks to increase awareness academics

Kyle Knappstudent reporter

Students earn state education honor

Two students from the De-partment of Teacher Educa-tion were selected as exem-plary teacher candidates in the Quest for Quality pro-gram in early October.

The Quest for Quality Teacher Preparation pro-gram recognizes state-wide commendable quality in teacher preperation in uni-versities.

Seniors Kaitlyn How-ell, education major from Rockwall, and Melanie Cat-teau, elementary education major from Denison, were two of the 33 students from around the state selected for the award.

“I am so excited and hon-ored to receive this award,” Howell said. “I was not ex-pecting to receive such an award and am truly excited. I simply put in all my effort

into being the best teacher I can be so that I can live out my calling to the best of my ability.”

Both students feel teach-ing is their calling.

Howell said she most looks forward to building relationships with her stu-dents. She also wants the students to know they are loved and to feel God’s love through her actions. How-ell is anxious to have her own classroom and to chal-lenge her students in ways they have never been chal-lenged.

Catteau said she has learned through the pro-gram that she is very inter-ested in childhood devel-opment and creating an optimal learning environ-ment for students.

“My goals for myself as a teacher are to keep up to date on research concern-ing best teaching practices,” Catteau said. “The teacher

I’m placed with right now changes her practice based on her reflection, research and other teacher’s recom-mendations. My goal is to not become stagnant in my teaching but to continue to grow as a professional.”

Both students raved about the professors in the education department and said they plan on imple-menting many of the teach-ing strategies they have learned at ACU.

The education depart-ment is proud and excited that two of their own were selected as exemplary teacher candidates in the Quest for Quality program.

Catteau and Howell are excited for the future and the journey that becoming a teacher will take them on.

Price Bahcallstudent reporter

contact the optimist atjmcnetwork@acu.edu

Brittany williams Staff Photographer

Rachel Patchen, Masters of Accountancy major from Arlington gets assistance from the Career Center at the Grad Fair on Tuesday in the Campus Center Living Room.

contact the optimist atjmcnetwork@acu.edu

Long-time KACU secretary to retire

After 24 years of being the KACU secretary, Sandy Byers will retire from Abilene Christian University at the end of this fall semester.

Byers started working at KACU in August of 1988 as the traffic manager and now at the age of 66, the 2012-2013 school year will be her last.

“Every memory I have made at ACU is a memory worth keeping,” Byers said. “It has been a fantastic ride. I love the students, hearing them talk about their lives and openly talk about the Lord. The students have truly been inspirational to me and I would like to tell them that the Lord is watch-ing over all of them.”

She said she has loved coming to work the past 24 years because of the students and staff she has

worked with. She has never experienced a cloudy day because the students have been her true sunshine, Byers said. The students have lifted her spirits and it is this community that she will miss the most.

“Sandy is always an en-couragement,” said Marcus Bowen, who has worked with Byers for the past 2 years. “She always has a smile on her face and she holds everything together here at KACU. Sandy keeps everyone connected and she is more than just a co-worker but also a friend. She cares deeply for the students and staff and is fully com-mitted.”

Byers will continue her life journey as she leaves ACU and plans to be with her family. She said she wants to be there for her family and watch them grow as she plans to pass on the student’s wisdom she has gained over her 24

years of work.Byers has two sons; the

oldest lives in Austin and the younger in Georgetown. She also has a 15-year-old grandson and a 3-year-old granddaughter. KACU has been her family for 24 years but it is time for her to go back to her first family she loves so dearly, she said.

“I want to thank them all. The students didn’t re-alize they have been my family, since my family is gone, so I have treated them as my family too,” said Byers. “The Lord was always in my life but I put Him aside, but the students have taught me to come back to Him. They brought me back to the Lord and I am forever thankful for that. I have been given the strength to retire and I am going to embrace it.”

KACU

Price Bahcallstudent reporter

contact the optimist atjmcnetwork@acu.edu

education

Wednesday 10.31.12 4News

FilmFest rules change to entice students

The annual FilmFest will take place again this year. But not as usual.

The production period students’ have to create their film as been extend-ed from about one month to five.

“Last year, the produc-tion schedule took place entirely in the spring semes-ter,” said Tom Craig, direc-tor of student productions. “This year we are expanding that, and it is actually start-ing in the fall semester for a longer production period with more elements that will hopefully create more opportunity for students to get involved and also to pro-duce better end products.”

The script-writing-peri-od has already begun, but students are welcome to join and participate at any time.

The first phase of filming begins on Nov. 12 and drafts of the films will be turned in

before Christmas break for preliminary critiques from on campus judges.

“I think this will allow higher quality, more impres-sive end products, because they will have the chance to get feedback and ideas and implement some of that along the way,” Craig said.

Another major change to this year’s event is the elim-ination of fees. Through funding from Campus Ac-tivity Board and Students’ Association, last year’s $45 entry fee will be covered and the FilmFest gala event next spring will be free for all students.

Cannon Spears, voca-tional missions major from Blue Ridge, a member of the student leadership teams, said that the team is doing everything they can to help student filmmakers through workshops and partner-ships with different depart-ments on campus.

“We want to engage with the English department in a workshop that focuses on script writing,” said Spears.

“We want to connect people with a common interest.”

Spears said they are also planning workshops that involve the theatre depart-ment for help with acting as well.

In addition to workshops, filmmakers will get to partici-pate in a judging symposium following the gala where they can receive detailed critiques of their films.

“The judges will actu-ally go through their films one by one and say this is is where it was good, this is what we liked and this is what can improve,” Craig said. “They’re getting indus-try feedback on their work and they gain industry rela-tionships.”

Students interested in participating this year can visit the Office of Student Productions for more infor-mation regarding the pro-duction schedule.

productions

David Singeropinion page editor

contact singer atdis08b@acu.edu

SA examines environmental sustainability

The Finance and Opera-tions Division is exploring ways to encourage environ-mental sustainability on campus.

Corey Ruff and Mary Ca-ton met with the Students’ Association on Wednesday evening to review Campus Sustainability Day that oc-cured on Oct. 24. During the event, the Facilities and Campus Management Team, University Purchas-ing Department and SA promoted recycling, tree planting and a zero-waste lunch at the Bean.

Caton, executive assis-tant of finance and opera-tions, said many initiatives that make ACU more en-vironmentally conscious have gone largely unno-

ticed in the past.“The vision that I really

have for campus sustain-ability is a little bit bigger than recycling,” said Caton. “It has to do with a mindset, a culture change. It just be-comes part of what we do and part of how we think.”

ACU does not provide financial resources for sus-tainability projects. The necessary funding may come from selling recy-clables like cardboard and aluminum, something Ca-ton said she is sometimes cautious about.

“If we’re going to col-lect cans, I want to know where they’re going to go,” said Caton. “If we’re going to give them to somebody, or sell them to somebody, and they’re going to go put them in a landfill, why bother?”

ACU partners with RWL

Recycling and knows the products sold to them are indeed being recycled.

However, Caton and Ruff both expressed inter-est in increasing ACU’s recycling output. Ruff, ex-ecutive director of facilities and campus management, said he would like to make recycling more accessible to students by increasing the amount of bins on and around campus in the near future and promoting cam-pus recycling awareness.

Ruff also addressed stu-dents’ concerns about en-ergy management and said the majority of the air con-ditioning control system is out-of-date.

A group of boilers, which costs about $1,500 a day to operate, determine if the air will be heated. The boil-ers are typically not turned on until temperatures are

consistently cold. During transitional climate peri-ods, the boilers struggle to provide the appropriate temperature in classrooms.

Ruff said he would like to replace the current boil-ers with modular boilers, which would provide in-creased control and better temperature circulation. The major issue prevent-ing energy updates is high expense, but Ruff would like to introduce a new de-partment to Facilities and Campus Management that would oversee green-ori-ented operations, aware-ness and funding.

“Heating and cooling is always a big issue on cam-pus,” said Ruff. “If we can truly get our sustainabil-ity department funded, it should pay for itself.”

Congress also approved a resolution to support

Christmas Slam 2012, an event aimed at promoting increased attendance at ACU basketball games. J.P. Ralston and Dylan Benac

introduced the resolution.

Josh Garciastaff reporter

contact garcia atjtgb10@acu.edu

Hancock: Absent pledging shows club community

happy she has been given the opportunity to do it, despite her circumstances at home.

Hancock has been able to participate in cer-tain activities, but cannot complete each pledging activity, as she is not on campus. She said she has

video-chatted with mem-bers during meetings and will be doing some “stuff for pledging” when she returns to campus in the spring.

Though she has not been able to do every ac-tivity, Hancock said she was able to participate in Homecoming events and the members of Ko Jo Kai

and the NuNu’s were ex-tremely welcoming.

“When I got there on Friday to help with the float, the girls just took me in like I wasn’t even gone, they just acted like I was there the whole time,” Hancock said. “They are very supportive of every-thing.

Foith said it was great to

see Meghan involved with her pledge class during Homecoming.

“Meghan fit right in with the rest of the pledge class, and definitely brought a positive and re-freshing light to a stressful weekend,” Foith said.

Foith said Meghan’s pledging has provided a chance for social clubs to

bring people together in community.

“Giving Meghan the opportunity to pledge is truly what social clubs on ACU’s campus are about,” Foith said. “We’ve been teaching our pledge class to lean on each other and carry each other’s burdens in the way that Christ car-ries ours. Meghan’s story

is a testament to the com-munity and support in-volved in being a member of not only this Christ-like group of women but being a Christian as well.”

social clubs

contact schaffner atals09d@acu.edu

Several representatives did not attend the meeting on Wednesday

Spenser LynnSenior class president

Gabe ElorreagaSenior class vice president

Bo BraddockJunior class treasurer

Rodney Johnson Sophomore class president

Brad HallMabee Hall representative

Emily PosaGardner Hall representative

JP FestaBarret Hall representative

Emily O’RearSherrod representative

Colin McClintock Chambers representative

Stevon CarrCOBA representative

students’ association

Service: Sub T serves community

But this is just our first time working with the project,” Crist said.

According to the Texas Ramp Project website, vol-unteers have built nearly 3,000 ramps in the past six years.

Although the organiza-tion is on a serve-as-needed basis, Crist said that he and the members won’t stop here, but will continue to work with the project in the future.

“When I heard the idea for the project, I knew that I wanted to get club involved in it. It would be a great op-portunity for us to get to serve people in the com-munity,” Crist said.

If you know of anyone that needs the assistance of the Texas Ramps Projects, you can visit the website at www.texasramps.org.

Social clubs

contact Langston atltl10a@acu.edu

Continued from page 1

Deanna Romero Staff Photographer

Paul Mc’Aniff, a Canon representative, discusses camera equipment with Ashley Ray-bon, freshman speech pathology major from Irving at the Learning Studio. The Learn-ing Studio is hosting several workshops helping students prepare for FilmFest.

Continued from page 1

Athletes get involved with Triathlon Club

Athletes on campus are eagerly anticipating the opening of the ACU Tri-athlon Club.

The club looks to bring students interested in preparing for triathlons together.

Jonathan Martin, junior biology major and experi-enced triathlete from San Antonio, is the president of the Triathlon Club and has

a desire to establish com-munity among fellow tri-athletes.

“Our focus is to increase interest in the sport on campus and provide triath-letes with community and support,” said Martin.

However, the club will not only target triathletes.

“We have people who have just done one, and then we have people who have never done one but are just interested,” said Martin. “You don’t have to be that good at all three dis-

ciplines. It’s not something you have to be good at to get started with.”

Martin foresees a variety of experience levels partici-pating in the club.

Caitlin Hanisco, senior children and family minis-try major from Memphis, Tenn., is also anticipating the club’s arrival on cam-pus. Competing in close to a dozen triathlons along with a half-Ironman with Martin last April, Hanisco said she has been “bitten by the bug” of triathlon racing.

“I see the triathlon club benefiting new and sea-soned athletes alike,” said Hanisco. “For those of us who have competed before, it will be a means by which we can share our passion for the multi-sport and train alongside a community of people who make training a lifestyle. For those desiring to get more involved in the sport, it will be a place to learn and grow in all of the different disciplines.”

Martin and Hanisco ex-pect the club to be success-

ful because of the growing popularity of the sport.

Club meetings will focus on training, information, stories and opportunities to get involved. Members are hopeful that they will achieve their goals of re-establishing the ACU Triathlon and com-peting in USAT collegiate races in the near future.

“My advice for those who might be interested in participating is to not be intimidated by the sport,” said Hanisco. “Anyone who is willing and able can get

out and train. Everyone has to start somewhere, and the only place to go is up. Start running, get in the pool, hop on a bike, and sign up to be a part of our team.”

Contact Caitlin Hanisco, cmh08b@acu.edu, or Jona-than Martin, jfm10a@acu.edu, for more information on getting involved.

organizations

Delaney Noelstudent reporter

contact the optimist atjmcnetwork@acu.edu

wednesday 10.31.125 featureS

To vote or not to vote? Students encourage participation in coming elections

urrounded by the clanking cof-fee-making equipment in the Brown Library Starbucks, voices in a nearby computer pod and the frantic typing for last-min-ute assignments, a simple ques-

tion is finally considered by the pair: Why do you think it is important to vote?

Laura Kate Music, recruiting direc-tor for College Republicans, and Dylan Brugman, vice president for the College Democrats, sit facing each other in black plastic chairs, ready to share their opin-ions on voting.

Though the two have similar stories of becoming more involved in politics in high school, they also come from different back-grounds and adhere to different political beliefs, one Republican and one Democrat. However, these differences do not prevent them from sharing one opinion: everyone should vote.

Music and Brugman both said they have been interested in government since childhood, and that this interest led them to become more involved in the political sphere.

Music, junior psychology and pre-health major from Abilene, said her in-terest in politics took off in high school during the 2008 election and that hear-ing about the College Republicans on campus sparked her interest, so she de-cided to get involved. Brugman, junior political science and sociology major from Denver, Colo., said he felt he always had an interest in politics and that his-tory classes in high school spurred his passion for learning about governments and their policies.

Taking a stand

Brugman said, when it comes to vot-ing, he has a hard time taking people seri-ously who complain about Congress (and the policies the House and Senate enact) if they haven’t participated in the latest elec-tion and voted on referendums in local elections or their representative.

“I think that your strongest political arm, the most say you have in a society is where you cast your ballot,” said Brugman. “It is important for people to realize that we don’t just have to talk about policy change. If you want policies to get changed then you can do things like go out and vote.”

Music agrees. She says voting is tak-ing an active step in what is happening in our country and that step is essential and important.

“Voting is stepping up,” said Music. “You want to put your two cents in.”

When people who are not involved at all claim to have absolutely no prefer-

ence in who is elected or what policies they bring about, both Music and Brug-man hold fast to their belief that voting is an important part of society.

Forming an opinion

Music said to think a person can be completely void of opinion is is impracti-cal, especially when he or she is present-ed with the issues that will play a factor in this election.

“Given the correct information, reli-able information, and having enough knowledge, can get people interested,” said Music. “And that can make them want to change things or keep them the same depending on how they feel.”

Brugman also said people should claim the opinions they have, even if those be-liefs are not popular or mainstream.

“It is impossible for somebody to claim that they don’t have an opinion either way. They are trying not to step on toes and are trying to be civil, and being civil is really important,” said Brugman, not-ing that being civil, or wanting to appear as fair and balanced to everyone, should not be an excuse for a person to neglect his or her right to vote.

Brugman also said potential voters have no reason to be oblivious or unknowing about the issues because of the media-filled society that surrounds each person.

“I think that it is silly to say that you don’t have an opinion on politics, especially in the age of Google, when our Facebook feeds are blasted with political articles,” said Brugman. “You can hear a candidate say something on television and then you can go look it up. You can actually educate yourself on the issues.”

As they are speaking, one look around the room they are meeting in shows multiple computer screens with Facebook or Twitter open, and smart-phones on every tabletop; a plethora of information is available at the swipe of a finger.

“In the past, all of the candidates have tried to appear overly professional, very detached from people,” Brugman said. “Now we can see through things like Twitter and Saturday Night Live, these candidates come onto these programs and use these examples of social media in order to appear more human to peo-ple that would otherwise be apolitical. So, the 18-25-year-olds feel like they can relate to those candidates.”

Both believe social media is a becoming a way to bridge the gap between the older generations and the younger generation.

But Music is more cautious. She sees the good and the bad in social media, yet still believes it can be used in a pro-ductive way to help spread information about the election.

“Anybody can put anything on social media,” Music said, “but if it’s used in the right way by a reliable person I feel like it can get a message out there to people that don’t see other than on social media.”

Both the College Republicans and the College Democrats are using some form of social media, including web-sites, Facebook and Twitter, to spread information about the election on cam-pus. Will reaching out in this way, and through other mediums, be enough?

Acting on opinions

To spread the word about the upcom-ing election, both clubs have participated in various events geared toward encour-aging the community to vote, and each is hoping to host election night parties.

Music said the College Republicans, consisting of about 20 members, have had four debate watch parties, a tailgate and conducted a voter registration with the College Democrats. The local media has covered a few of their events, includ-ing most of their debate watches.

“Our events have gone very well,” said Music. “We are always excited about our turnout, and to see how many ACU stu-dents are interested in becoming informed this election season.

The College Republicans plan on hav-ing a party on election night to watch the results of the upcoming election.

Brugman said the College Democrats, consisting of about 15 members, have also been busy, helping with political events around town and getting ready for the election.

“We have worked with the Taylor Coun-ty Democrats in hosting Paul Sadler, the Democratic candidate for Senate,” Brug-man said. “We also worked the Taylor Democrat booth at the County Fair, and we held a voter registration drive with the College Republicans earlier this month.”

The College Democrats are also think-ing about hosting an election night event, though no plans are set in stone, said Brugman.

Both clubs have been involved in get-ting students informed, registered and ready to vote. Now the only thing left to do is get out there and vote, said Music.

audrey Schaffner copy editor

contact Schaffner atals09d@acu.edu

paige otway staff PhotographerParker Gordon, sophomore music major from Lipan, Brittany Williams, senior convergence journalism major from Lavon, Ryan Galindo, junior biology major from San Antonio, and Jennifer Moser, sophomore from Brownsville, watch the presidential debate in the Learning Studio.

S

POWER OF A

VOTEtaylor county polling places

Precinct #

101 Johnston Elementary School – 3602 North 12th, Abilene

102 Church of Christ – S. 11th & Willis – 3333 South 11th, Abilene

103 Bonham Elementary School – 4250 Potomac Ave., Abilene

104 Westminster Presbyterian Church – 4515 South 14th, Abilene

105 Baker Heights Church of Christ – 5382 Texas Ave., Abilene

106 Dyess Elementary School – 402 Delaware Rd., Abilene

107 Tye Community Center – 103 Scott Street, Tye

108 View Baptist Church – 250 Boynton Rd, Abilene

109 Pioneer Memorial United Methodist Church – 7302 FM 126, Merkel

110 Shep Community Center- FM 1086, Shep

201 First Baptist Church – University Place – 302 Hickory, Abilene

202 Cobb Park Recreation Center – 2302 State St, Abilene

203 Sears Park Recreation Center – 2250 Ambler Ave, Abilene

204 Abilene Primitive Baptist Church – 3565 Hickory St., Abilene

205 Elmcrest Baptist Church – 517 N Pioneer Dr., Abilene

206 Merkel Middle School Gym – S 3rd & Ash, Merkel

207 First Financial Bank - 117 North Main, Trent

301 Southwest Park Baptist Church – 2901 South 20th, Abilene

302 Southern Hills Church of Christ – 3666 Buffalo Gap Rd., Abilene

303 Tuscola City Hall – 418 Graham, Tuscola

304 Allie Ward Elementary School – 3750 Paint Brush Dr., Abilene

305 New Beginnings United Church – 5535 Buffalo Gap Rd., Abilene

306 Zion Lutheran Church – 2801 Antilley Rd., Abilene

307 Beltway Park Baptist Church – 4009 Beltway South, Abilene

308 Buffalo Gap City Hall – 709 Litel St., Buffalo Gap

401 New Life Temple Assembly of God – 2465 Old Anson Rd, Abilene

402 Hillcrest Church of Christ – 650 E. Ambler Ave., Abilene

403 University Church of Christ – 733 EN 16th St, Abilene

404 Highland Church of Christ – 425 Highland Ave, Abilene

405 Bowie Elementary School – 1733 S 20th, Abilene

406 Thomas Elementary School – 1240 Lakeside Dr, Abilene

407 Lytle South Baptist Church – 1125 East Industrial Blvd., Abilene

408 Potosi Community Center – 3802 Potosi Rd., Abilene

409 Lawn City Hall – 150 Main St., Lawn

We knew many people would not agree with our endorsement of President Obama.

What we didn’t expect is that instead of com-plaining to us, the seven-student editorial board that wrote the editorial, most of the strong nega-tive reactions would be taken out on ACU.

I am sad to see the uni-versity receive these re-sponses when it had had no participation in our endorsement.

ACU does not endorse political candidates or parties. As the disclaimer at the top of the endorse-ment (and at the bottom of all Opinion pages) reads, the Optimist’s endorse-ment only represents the views of the seven mem-bers of the editorial board, not ACU’s administration, Board of Trustees, faculty, staff or student body.

Many readers have found it difficult to dis-tinguish why the board’s endorsement is not a re-f lection of ACU’s politi-

cal stance. President Phil Schubert is the Optimist’s publisher, but our en-dorsement does not rep-resent him or ACU.

Allow me to illustrate with an example. If the Abilene Reporter-News were to write an endorse-ment of either candidate, like many newspapers do, it would not be ref lective of the beliefs its owner and publisher, Scripps Interactive Newspaper Group. It works the same way with us and ACU.

Specific responses

While we always re-spect and welcome con-structive criticism, com-ments that insult our parents, education, com-mon sense and religious beliefs help no one.

Of the constructive feedback we received, predominant themes have been, to paraphrase:

How can a group of Christian students en-dorse everything the Democratic Party stands

for, and why is a student news source trying to af-fect the election?

We do not believe in all of the standard ideals of the Democratic Party or President Obama. Most of the members of the edito-rial board would not iden-tify themselves as a Dem-ocrat and do not agree with all of the ideals of the party. None of us think it reasonable to agree 100 percent with either party.

Many newspapers write editorial endorsements of political candidates each election. The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Dallas Morning-News and Houston Chronicle are just a few examples of publica-tions that have made en-dorsements this year.

This is a customary journalistic practice, and it is our chance for a learn-ing experience, especially for those of us who will go on to work for news-papers in the future. The Optimist is a living labo-ratory, a training exercise for journalism students to gain valuable experience in many different aspects of media.

The purpose of the en-dorsement isn’t to affect the election results, but to encourage discussion.

If I’ve learned any-

thing about politics, it’s that there is no right an-swer. Two or more schools of thought dispute most issues, each person be-lieving he or she is right on the issue while every different view is wrong. In some cases, everyone might agree on a goal or truth, but not everyone will agree on the best way to achieve that goal.

The issues of same-sex marriage and abortion

are mentioned in many of the reactions we’ve seen in online comments, emails, phone calls and other forms of responses. Most asked how we can endorse a candidate who supports gay marriage and is pro-choice.

Do we agree with Obama’s stance on abor-tion? No.

And while none of the

board members person-ally support gay marriage, the majority agrees the government has no place restricting select citizens’ rights, in line with every American’s constitutional right to happiness.

We didn’t address abortion specifically in our endorsement because it falls under the issue of health care, under which we agreed Romney has the better plan. And does our opinion on same-sex marriage trump more pressing problems like national debt, foreign policy and health care?

Multi-partisanship

Confusion and murki-ness abound when politi-cal views are presented as truths rather than ideas. When Republicans and Democrats collide on an issue, both sides of-ten present their beliefs as facts. Both sides argue they are right when too often, neither are.

We don’t have all the answers. We don’t think Obama is the perfect choice, and we don’t think Governor Romney will be unsuccessful if elected.

We could have used sev-eral different processes to go about selecting the can-

didate we would endorse. We chose to look at three important issues, decide our stances on them blind of the parties associated with our beliefs and then find which candidate bet-ter matched our stances. We found President Obama better fit our views on for-eign policy and the econo-my, while we agreed with Romney on health care.

This is why we stress the importance of a multi-partisan government. We actually agreed with Gary Johnson, the libertarian candidate, on all three is-sues and side with him on many others as well (but not some of his more ex-treme ideas). But the way the current political sys-tem is organized leaves us with only two realistic op-tions, and we don’t wholly agree with either.

Our endorsement is not pro-liberalism or anti-conservatism. It is not pro-choice or pro-gay marriage. It’s absolutely not anti-Christian. It is an endorsement for the can-didate we believe has the best plan for the most im-portant issues facing our nation today.

EVAN’s marks evan marks

6WEDNESDAY 10.31.12Opinion

Mark Smitheditor in chief

marissa jonesmanaging editor

david singeropinion page editor

melany coxonline managing editor

asia todddesign editor

lindsay palmerarts editor

samantha sutherlandfeatures editor

taylor langstonsports video director

john edward isaacssports editor

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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 let-ters to the editor but reserves the right to limit frequent contributors or to refuse to print letters containing

personal attacks, obscen-ity, 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 27892Abilene, TX 79609

E-mail letters to: optimist@acu.edu

published by the department of journalism

and mass communication

editorial and management board

editorial and Letter Policy

Response to Oct. 24 endorse-ment by Jonathan Martin, ju-nior biology/pre-med major from San Antonio.

My initial response to En-dorsement: Obama for a Second Term posted online and in last Wednesday’s pa-per was annoyance at sever-al mistakes in the article but also respect to the editorial board for writing an article that is obviously not going to be very popular in West Texas. Much less Abilene. Much less ACU.

I believe this discus-sion is necessary at ACU to help get students involved in the debate and not just voting for who their par-ents are voting for. I appre-ciate the editors’ online apology and correction of three of the mistakes, which can be found in the comments section below the endorsement.

The original claim that, “Before Sept. 11… the last time a military battle oc-curred on American soil was the Civil War,” was criticized (i.e. Pearl Harbor) and has since been revised to say, “...most Americans have never experienced war as a domestic issue.” This revision is still not ac-ceptable because it does not exclude the 9/11 at-tacks. In fact, most Ameri-cans have experienced war as a domestic issue.

In addition, to imply that military spending is not as necessary if there are not battles on home soil doesn’t cover the issue. Are we to wait to be attacked before ever going to war?

In my opinion, a strong military will ward off at-tacks while a weakened mil-itary will encourage them. America needs to be ready. We have real enemies. We have learned that the hard way too many times.

I realize that Gover-nor Romney does not have the foreign policy experi-ence that President Obama has. Romney has criticized Obama multiple times, though, for not being tough

enough on threats like Iran and the Al-Quaeda groups in Libya. I was surprised to find no mention of this lat-est terrorist attack on our U.S. Embassy in Benghazi, in which four Americans were killed, including Am-bassador Chris Stevens.

How are we discussing foreign policy and not even bringing this up?

Furthermore, to state that “massive military spending is not the answer to our country’s foreign problems” right after try-ing to make the point that America doesn’t have prob-lems with “war as a domes-tic issue” seems counter-productive. Doesn’t that imply that because of our strong military, we have been successful in warding off attacks? This seems un-clear to me.

I believe these correc-tions give Governor Rom-ney the foreign policy point. President Obama has not been hard enough on real threats to our homeland. Cutting the military budget and weakening our military is not the answer.

Lastly, I would’ve liked to see this article focus on points more relevant to a Christian college student’s perspective, as it claimed from the beginning. The Christian college student should be concerned with the candidates stances on issues regarding Christian values like welfare, gay mar-riage and abortion.

College students in gen-eral want to know where candidates stand on issues like making college more affordable and getting a job right out of college in a struggling economy. I know that when I graduate, before I focus on who we’re at war with or getting health in-surance, I’m going to want to pay off my student loans and get a job.

contact smith atmds10a@acu.edu

contact the optimist atjmcnetwork@acu.edu

COLUMN

Obama pick: addressing the criticism

LETTER

Martin: Mistakes in board’s endorsement of Obama

FROM THEEDITOR’S DESK

MARK SMITH

hashtagACU

@truewire@AudreyLucille

@adriana_renee11 @jNAV12

@jcraigacu

@CaraBwaynez@ninjagirl52

@R_ricker @haley_kaczyk

@McGowMatt

11:15 p.m. Oct. 29

11:43 p.m. Oct. 29

6:47 p.m. Oct. 285:36 p.m. Oct. 28

6:35 p.m. Oct. 28

11:30 p.m. Oct. 2911:07 p.m. Oct. 29

6:34 p.m. Oct. 284:27 p.m. Oct. 28

3:49 p.m. Oct. 28

Watching Facebook and Twitter get bombed with complaints about a late-night fire drill makes social network-ing worth it.

I think I have partial hearing loss after that fire drill. Ouch.#warnabrother

i swear the cowboys stress me out more than my college work-load does

As soon as I get back to Abilene and turn on the tv we score. Since then we have been scoring. LETS GO COWBOYS!!!!!!

I’d fire Jason Garret for his last 3 play calls....why

Another tweet about fire drills because I’m sure you haven’t seen enough

Fire drills at 11pm when I am in bed, and don’t have a bra on are not fun.

should I be embar-rassed to be a cowboys fan?

well someone’s gonna be in a terrible mood later...thanks cowboys #smh

I hate being a cowboys fan... But it’s still early in the game!

@Bigeezy60@JwalkinJohnson

6:58 p.m. Oct. 286:45 p.m. Oct. 28 Great comeback boys

but you shouldn’t have had to do it in the first place #lovemyteam #cowboysfanforlife

Being a Cowboys fan is like constantly being a Rangers fan in October. #UpsBUTtheDOWNS

When Republicans and Democrats collide on an

issue, both sides often present their beliefs as facts. Both sides argue they are right when too

often, neither are.”

“

wednesday 10.31.127 sports

Wildcats back to winning waysThe Wildcats broke their second-longest losing streak of the season Sat-urday when they defeated University of the Incarnate Word in Moody Coliseum.

Head coach Kellen Mock emphasized the im-portance of that win.

“It was a good thing to leave Moody Coliseum with a win in the 2012 season,” she said. “It was a big boost going into a couple of week-ends on the road where we’ve got to win to go to the conference tournament.”

“For placement in the conference tournament,

we had to win that match,” said junior outside hitter Madelyn Robinett. “Hope-fully we can take that per-formance and run with it.”

The victory ended a stretch where the ‘Cats had won only one set out of their past 13. For the week, ACU had a record of 1-2. They lost to both Texas A&M University-Commerce (25-23, 25-23, 30-28) and Texas A&M University-Kingsville (25-21, 25-19, 31-29).

The Wildcats are cur-rently sitting at 10-16 over-all and 6-10 in the Lone Star Conference. They are seventh in the conference standings out of 11 teams.

Robinett had a breakout game against Incarnate

Word. She doubled her sea-son kill total with 10 (.286) for the match.

Robinett also had 18 digs, smacked an ace and recorded a block assist. She finished the match with 11.5 points. The 10 kills were only one shy of her career high 11 against UIW last season.

“I haven’t played on the front row all season but everyone stepped up and made my job easier,” Robi-nett said. “They really took all the pressure off me.”

“Maddy is one of our captains and is a natural leader,” Mock said. “We feed off her energy and positiv-ity. She was a big reason we won the game on Saturday.”

Senior Kalynne Allen recorded 10 kills in her last game at Moody. Freshman Corrie Reeder had 13.5 points to go along with 12 kills and two blocks.

The squad dug out 79 balls, which is the most this year for a three-set match. Freshman Jennie Loerch had a season-best 15 digs.

Setter Sarah Siemens made her presence known on the court with all but one of the team’s 44 assists.

The ‘Cats won Satur-day’s match by scores of 25-23, 26-24 and 25-22 and got even with the Cardinals after being swept by them earlier this season.

ACU lost a close game to Commerce. They let a late

four-point lead go down the drain in game one and could not muster a large enough rally in game two.

The Wildcats were one point away from extending the match to a fourth set at 24-22 but, after an Allen kill, the team allowed the Li-ons to score three-straight points - two on attack errors.

The ‘Cats would grab the lead two more times at 27-26 and 28-27 however, Commerce played with a stubborn attitude and closed the gap each time.

“That match was rough,” Mock said. “We lost the lead at every point we had a chance to win it. We let their one best player beat us.”

“It’s exhausting when

the match is so close and you see it fall the other di-rection,” Robinett said.

The team begins its fi-nal stretch of the regular season on the road this weekend. Friday, the squad gets a rematch with Com-merce at 7 p.m., and Satur-day they face Texas Wom-an’s University at 2 p.m.

“We’re at a turning point where we either push our-selves further up in the con-ference standings or we don’t go at all,” Mock said. “We have to focus on winning ev-ery game that we can.”

VOLLEYBALL

Edward isaacssports editor

contact isaacs atjei08a@acu.edu

curtis christian Staff Photographer

The Wildcats celebrate after winning a point in Moody Coliseum. The team went 1-2 last week against three Lone Star Conference opponents. They defeated Uni-versity of the Incarnate Saturday, 3-0, snapping a four-match losing streak.

Escape: Team narrowly beats Commerce the red zone to kill a Commerce drive with five minutes left in the game. The pick kept the game tied.

But the defensive hero of the game was corner-back Justin Stewart who intercepted a pass deep in his own territory and ran out the clock, ending Com-merce’s hopes of a home victory and sealing a Wild-cat win in one fell swoop.

“It felt really good to help my team out. Coach called the play and we ran it,” Stewart said. “When the quarterback

threw the ball up, I just went and got it.”

The Wildcat defense was physical all game long, delivering several violent hits to the Lions, includ-ing Stewart and safety An-gel Lopez. They registered double digit tackles for the third straight week.

“It felt good to deliver a big hit,” Stewart said. “I know the team wanted to run out on the field, but we couldn’t because we would get penalized.”

The Wildcats will look to start a winning streak this Saturday when they play a non-conference game against the Univer-

sity of West Alabama at Shotwell Stadium.

“It’s huge for us to fin-ish strong,” Hogg said. “The seniors have two games left, and we are try-

ing to send them out on a high note.”

football

contact sloan atmes11a@acu.edu

from page 8

mandy lambright chief Photographer

Wide receiver Darrell Cantu-Harkless sprints downfield.

Seed: Playoffs begin with MSU rematcha second goal to have a lit-tle cushion really makes the other team press.”

The Mustangs barely challenged the ‘Cats, only placing one shot on goal. But Wildcats senior goalkeeper Arielle Mon-cure dove for the save, ensuring her sixth shut-out of the year.

“All throughout the season we were strug-gling, both the players and the coaches knew that all we needed was a spark to get us going,” Wilson said.

“It wasn’t that we were playing bad, but it was more that the breaks were not there. When we started to get more confidence, the chances started coming more fre-quently. The more chanc-es you have the more

likely you are to score.”The Wildcats will re-

turn to action this week-end at the start of the LSC post-season. Their first match will again be against Midwestern State.

ACU has played the Mustangs 12 times, more than any other team in the conference and has won five out of the seven meetings.

Four of these matches have taken place in the post-season tournament, including meeting twice in the championship game.

The ‘Cats first game in

the tournament is at 2:30 p.m. in Canyon.

“A good amount of the team has experience in post-season play and the goal is to take one game at a time,” Wilson said. “We know MSU is go-ing to be up for the game Thursday, and if we con-tinue to play our game, you never know what we may be capable of doing this weekend.”

soccer

contact goin atnsg10b@acu.edu

from page 8

casey wilsonhead coachAcu soccer

If we continue to play our game, you never know what we may be capable of doing this weekend.”“

mandy lambright chief Photographer

A group of Wildcats walk out to the football field before an away game. The ‘Cats squeaked past Commerce on Saturday, 24-17. The team was down 17-3 late in the third quarter but rallied behind an 85 yard touchdown catch by Darian Hogg.

Football will face the University of West Alabama in their last home game of the year at Shotwell Stadium. Kickoff is on Saturday at noon.

The soccer team will play its first game of the Lone Star Conference post-season tournament on Thursday against Midwestern State at 2:30 p.m. in Canyon.

The volleyball team will be on the road this weekend as it travels to Commerce to play Texas A&M-Commerce at 7 p.m. on Friday, and then to Denton to face Texas Woman’s Univeristy at 2 p.m.

The baseball team is in the middle of its best-of-five intrasquad Purple/Black World Series taking place at Crutcher Scott Field. Game four is on Wednesday at 4:05 p.m., and game five is on Thursday at 6:05 p.m.

volleyball

standings

briefings

ex- factor

Upcoming

Dub Winkles, who was inducted into the ACU Sports Hall of Fame on Oct. 19th, passed away on Saturday in Abilene. Winkles was a long-time supporter of ACU athletics, and worked on campus for 20 years. He was the 20th recipient of the ACU Sports Lifetime Achievement award.

The men’s basketball team visited Hendrick Children’s Hospital last week. They were introduced to several children who are battling various illinesses. The team offered words of encouragement and support to the kids.

football

TeamWTAMUMSUTAMU-KTSUASUACUENMUUIWCommerce

Div.6-06-14-34-33-33-41-51-51-5

Ovrl.8-17-15-44-44-55-42-62-71-7

New York Jets wide reciever Clyde Gates played the best game of his NFL career on Sunday, recording seven receptions for 82 yards in a 30-9 loss to the Miami Dolphins.

Former ACU wide reciever Raymond Radway is heading to Chicago, joining an injured Johnny Knox. Radway will become a member of the Bears’ practice squad.

TeamASUTSUWTAMUTWUCommerceTAMU-KACUUIWCameronMSUENMU

Div.15-113-312-312-410-66-96-105-103-133-131-14

Ovrl.22-320-621-418-619-713-1110-168-168-195-216-19

soccer

TeamWTAMUUIWASUMSUACUTWUENMUCommerce

Div.10-49-58-5-16-5-36-7-16-7-14-104-10

Ovrl.11-6-19-710-7-16-9-38-9-17-9-25-135-12

wednesday 10.31.12 8sports

D-I powerhouse blows out team

The Wildcats were unable to keep up with the No. 18 Baylor Bears, as they were blown out 103-75 in an exhibition loss Thurs-day in Waco.

“We showed a lot of fight in that game, and most importantly, we stayed together as a team,” said junior L.C. Alexander.

The Wildcats were led by senior center Steven Werner, who had 15 points on 3-of-5 shooting from the field and 9-of-11 from the free-throw line. ACU also received significant contri-

butions from senior guards Elliott Lloyd and Eric Law-ton, who each finished with 12 points. Freshman guard Parker Wentz fin-ished with 11 points on 4 of 6 shooting including 2 of 4 from 3-point range.

“We proved that we can score, but we have to de-fend and rebound a lot bet-ter,” said senior Desmond Woodberry.

The team is in its final weeks of preparation, after coach Joe Golding took on the challenge of bringing in eleven new players to the team this season with only one returning player from last year’s squad.

“At first it was pretty

hard; I mean it’s going to be a struggle whenever you have, literally, a complete-ly new team,” said senior Trevor Wait. “Now, I can say that our team chemis-try is excellent.”

After a sub-.500 season last year, Coach Golding hopes to put more games in the win column and make ACU a competitive team in his second year as head coach.

“Coach Golding is a go-getter and his attitude is contagious,” Alexander said. “When he talks to us, we get fired up just listen-ing to him and he brings out the fight in us every day.”

Senior guard Woodberry

is the only letterman re-turning to the team in 2012-13, so his leadership and experience will be needed desperately this year.

“This team is going to change the face of ACU basketball and how it is viewed,” Wait said. “We have excellent senior lead-ership along with talented and coachable freshman.”

With a new and re-vamped roster, the Wild-cats will also be changing their playing style from last year.

“We’ll be an inside out team,” Wait said. “We’re going to be very system-atic, disciplined and un-selfish. We’re going to do

what we do and do it well. We’ll manage the flow of the game.”

The Wildcats expect big things and have said that even with a new team, they still expect to be competi-tive and win games.

“A successful ACU basketball season is go-ing to be contending for the LSC Championship,” Wait said.

The Wildcats will open the regular season Nov. 10, in Dallas when they take on Dallas Baptist University.

men’s basketball

daniel zepedasports reporter

contact zepeda atdjz11a@acu.edu

‘CATS ESCAPE THE LION’S DEN

The Wildcats traveled to Commerce looking to stop a two-game skid, and suc-ceded when they overcame a slow start and ruined the Lions Homecoming with a 24-17 win.

ACU looked flat in the first half, when it finished the second quarter trailing a one-win Commerce team by double digits. To make

matters worse, the Lions got the ball and scored again in the third quarter.

Down 17-3, the Wildcat offense exploded behind wide receiver Darian Hogg, who caught two touch-downs in the second half, including an 85 yard bomb from quarterback Mitchell Gale to give the ‘Cats a lead they would not relinquish.

“I told coach the drive before the safeties weren’t getting off the hashes and they were in cover two,”

Hogg said. “If we ran the play we ran, we could have some success with it. The O-Line held up, Mitchell threw it, and I ran it in.”

Gale finished the game

with a modest 236 yards through the air, with both of his touchdown passes going to Hogg. However, Gale threw the ball less than 30 times, in part, be-

cause running back Char-candrick West rushed for nearly six yards per carry.

Defensively, the ‘Cats took the Lion’s best shot in the first half, and weath-ered the emotional storm.

They held Commerce to only three points in the second half and forced a couple of key turnovers along the way.

Linebacker Justin Ste-phens intercepted a ball in

football

matthew sloansports reporter

see escape page 7

Wildcats secure seed in LSC tourney

The women’s soccer team secured its fifth place seed in the Lone Star Confer-ence post-season tourna-ment in a 2-0 victory over Midwestern State Friday afternoon.

It was the second time that the ‘Cats have met the Mustangs this season, fin-ishing in a 1-1 tie in dou-ble-overtime in Witchita Falls back in September.

But the Wildcats were searching for a victory this weekend, and came out with a much-needed win.

“We have been cutting down on our unforced er-rors which were hurting us throughout the sea-son,” head coach Casey Wilson said.

Junior forward Andrea Carpenter scored the first goal for the ‘Cats in the 31st minute off of an as-sist from senior midfield-er Julie Coppedge. It was Carpetner’s fifth goal of the season.

The Wildcats’ sec-ond goal came in the 56th minute following a blocked shot by Mustang goalkeeper Mallory Whit-worth. Senior defender Stephanie Heron inter-cepted the deflected shot by Carpenter, and fired it back in the goal to se-cure ACU’s victory. It was Heron’s first goal of the season.

“Stephanie did a great job of being in a position to finish that ball,” Wilson said. “Anytime you can get

SOCCER

NATALIE GOINASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR

mandy lambright chief Photographer

Forward Andrea Carpenter moves the ball upfield at the Wildcat Soccer Pitch. see seed page 7

darian hoggwide receiveracu football

If we ran the play we ran, we could have some success with it. The O-Line held up, Mitchell

threw it, and I ran it in.”“