RACHEL LAU PHOTO ILLUSTRATION

The Grand Ole Oplin has been serving the community of Oplin and surrounding areas as a Friday night dance hall for two-steppers since the 1980s.

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

FRIDAY

IN THIS ISSUE

CAMPUS

Batter up!In Buffalo Gap, students can see how locals reen-act baseball how it was once played, page 3

THEOPTIMISTMarch 30, 2007Vol. 95, No. 45 1 sections, 8 pages www.acuoptimist.com• •

Sweet indulgenceThe Mall of Abilene will sponsor a Chocolate Fest on Saturday, page 4

SPORTS

Spring trainingThe ACU football team, which began its spring training in March, will end after two inter-team scrimmages, the fi rst of which is Saturday, page 8

Pick-a-dateStudents came up with creative dates for under $15 this week as part of Sacred Relationships Week, page 3

Winning againBoth tennis teams won their matches on Wednes-day. The women won 9-0 against Southeastern Oklahoma, and the men beat a Div. I team 4-3, page 8

FlashbackSee how the men’s and women’s tennis teams have fared so far this semester online at: www.acuoptimist.com

ONLINE

n Beginning April 11, students, faculty and staff with ACU e-mail accounts will be able to switch to Gmail, the e-mailing system of Google.

By ASHLEY ROBINSONSTUDENT REPORTER

ACU is teaming up with Google, the world’s larg-est search engine, to offer Webmail users a new and improved e-mail experience.

Google is offering colleges and universities education-bundle, which include: e-mail, chat, calendar and en-hanced spam filtering. Kay Reeves, director of Tech-nology Support, is respon-sible for the communica-tion and technical support on campus.

“I am thrilled with the move to Google,” Reeves said.

As ACU’s electronic com-munication transitions to

the new Google system, Reeves will be overseeing the training and the techni-cal support for users. The transition to the new sys-tem will take place April 11. When users log into myACU and go to the Webmail tab it will take you to the Gmail in-terface and not Webmail.

Kevin Roberts, Chief Information Officer, is in charge of all technology and information services

on campus. “A combination of things

led us up to this point,” Rob-erts said. “Webmail hasn’t been the greatest client.”

Google will be hosting the new e-mail system, which will provide more function-ality, with a better e-mail in-terface and a more efficient way to send e-mails.

“Their ability to have a

University, Google fi nalize e-mail deal

ARTS

Turtle powerTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ latest movie shows good graphics but a weak storyline, page 4

A two-stepback in time

By KELSI PEACEFEATURES EDITOR

Just when you begin to think you’re lost, you’ve prob-ably almost arrived. Past a small cemetery, the occasional country home and countless miles of Texas prairie, you will discover Oplin’s dance hall, community center and former school — The Grand Ole Oplin, as the locals call it. Don’t al-low the aging building to put you off; instead, notice the full parking lot and listen to a few notes from the live music that dances across the still, coun-try air, much like the faithful two-steppers inside.

Evelyn and Fanas Tacker, long-time Oplin residents, will probably take the $4 admis-sion fee from you, just as they have been doing for years. The Tackers have been coming to Oplin’s Friday night dance hall since it opened in the 1980s.

While The Grand Ole Oplin,

(named by a Nashville film producer who once filmed the dance hall) may be the town’s pride, it also draws university students from Abilene and some from further distances to step into a cowboy culture reminiscent of an earlier time.

Shirley Ashbrook, from Aus-tin, returns to Oplin occasion-ally to dance and sit with her parents, the Tackers, by the door. Shirley said she’s been dancing at Oplin for about 24 years, and as she expertly nav-igates the dance floor, always smiling, it’s obvious the prac-tice has paid off.

“You know, the older people love the younger kids,” Shirley says. “Through the years, I’ve never seen so many kids from the universities.”

College students clump in corners with their friends, snapping pictures of each other in the dim lighting. A few dance with older men and

women, learning the art of two-steppin’ from the experts. Some dance with children, stooping down to reach them and grinning back at their nearby friends. Most dance with each other, following more experienced dancers to mimic their steps or twirling across the floor with the best of them.

Rachel Ballotti, freshman biology major from Summer-bridge, England, visited Oplin for the second time on Feb. 2. And while two-stepping is for-eign to her, Rachel said the ba-sics are easy to master and the atmosphere fun.

“I was surprised by the amount of people — especially the older people in the cowboy hats and boots,” she said.

On the other hand, Tymon Bloomer, sophomore environ-mental science major from

Just a stone’s throw away, students who

travel to Oplin experiencethe cowboy culture

of the past

n Although the university would not accept scholarships from the Grove to give to students who choose to live there, two $1,000 sponsorships will be offered.

By DANIEL JOHNSONSPORTS EDITOR

ACU students who live in the Grove student housing official name will be eligible to apply for two $1,000 spon-sorships that will go toward tuition at ACU.

The Grove is offering the resident-exclusive sponsor-ships after the President’s Cabinet turned down a pro-posed partnership that would provide three $1,000 schol-arships to any eligible ACU student. The recipients would have been mainly based on fi-nancial need.

Dr. Jeff Arrington, dean of Campus Life, said ACU chose to pass on the partnership with the Grove because the Cabinet did not know if the Grove’s goals were in line with the university’s mission.

“I think that their pur-poses and our purposes are probably not the same,” Ar-rington said. “Their purposes are to advance the Grove, and our purpose is to educate students, so we did not feel like that is a partnership we would like to enter.”

Mike Spell, general man-ager of the Grove, pro-posed the partnership to Arrington at the beginning of the spring semester, and said he wasn’t surprised by the university’s decision.

“For us to come on campus really puts the university in an awkward position,” Spell said. “I know the rumors that this is going to be a ‘party place.’”

But despite the rumors, Spell is adamant that the Grove is intent on creating a com-munity that is in line with the university’s mission and creat-ing a good relationship with the universities of its students.

“We don’t want this to be a party place; that’s not what we’re about,” Spell said.

The Grove already has es-tablished a partnership with Hardin-Simmons University to provide funds for three

Grove offers renters$1,000

n Candidates running for an offi ce in the Students’ Association say they hope to use social networking Web site ‘Facebook.com’ as a means to reach voters.

By JOHNNY BAUTISTASTAFF WRITER

The world of Facebook isn’t just for friends and pictures anymore. Students running for office are using Facebook to create groups and spread the word for their campaigns.

Students’ Association Ex-ecutive President Maher Saab said the Facebook group that was created for his campaign last year really helped with

mass communication and exposure.

“Facebook is a great way to communicate to other stu-dents because it makes it so easy to get your name out there,” Saab said. “The groups allow any member to invite other people that the candidate may not personal-ly know, and it helps getting your name out there and letting people know that you’re running for an office.”

Brandon Smith, junior senator and candidate for SA executive president, said the groups are almost equivalent

to making a Web site because it allows you to post your views and allows people to post their opinions.

“In the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s, people used to use posters,

fliers, TV and radio to ad-vertise things, but what

Facebook has done is made it easier for everyone to have

equal access to,” Smith said. “Facebook is

a huge form of mass com-munication; you can easily create a group and have 400 people join over night. [It’s] almost like a mailing list. On Facebook you can easily and

Facebook boosts SA candidates’ exposure

“You know, the older people love the

younger kids. Through the years, I’ve never seen

so many kids from the

universities.”

Shirley Ashbrook, Austin resident who’s

been dancing at Oplin on Friday

nights for 24 years

See GROVE page 5

See GOOGLE page 5

See STEP page 5

See CAMPAIGN page 5

Students’ Association cabinet hopefuls may be approaching to ask you to sign a petition endorsing them to run as candidates for president, vice president or executive treasurer.

The secretary is appointed. Debates between the candidates are scheduled for April 9, but the location has not been decided, said Maher Saab, SA executive president.

Early voting will be conducted the evening of April 9, and general voting will be April 10 and 11.

The candidates will address the student body with their speeches on April 11.

While gearing up for elections, Congress continues to consider how to use the $3,250 Congressional Budget, which will soon be reduced by $400

after money is allocated for free bowling in the Bean Sprout, which Congress approved March 9, said Tyler Cosgrove, SA executive treasurer and senior fi nance major from Amarillo.

Edwards representative Matt Lambro, sophomore youth and family ministry major from Grapevine, presented a bill requesting SA to appropriate $1,825 from the Congressional Budget for providing an air hockey table in Edwards. Lambro said Edwards is also fi rst on the list for an air hockey table from the Bean Sprout should the facility chose to donate one. Congress passed the bill 36-2 with absentee votes; two abstained.

-by Kelsi Peace, Features Editor

STUDENTS’ ASSOCIATION MINUTES

Honoring our ownKasey Pipes, class of 1995, will be honored as the Young Alumnus of the Year on Tuesday for his accomplishments, page 3

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 PageFriday, March 30, 2007

Announcements

Volunteer Opportunities

5 p.m.Deadline for submission for the GSA Research/Writing Competition and Symposium. Three cash awards of $50, $75 and $100 will be awarded to the fi rst, second and third place competitors in each of three categories: quantitative, qualitative and creative.

Weekend Campaign to H-E-B Camp in Leakey.

3 p.m.Fall registration for graduate, honors and Study Abroad students.

Weekend Campaign to H-E-B Camp in Leakey.

6 p.m.‘A Night of Elegance’ fundraising dinner will be held in the Williams Performing Arts Center. This dinner is hosted by graduate students in the Department of Marriage and Family Therapy, and all funds will go toward summer mission trips to Nigeria. Dinner includes a three-course meal, a silent auction, entertainment and more. Tickets are $40 per couple. Contact (325) 733-8318 or e-mail tjl98s@acu.edu to purchase tickets.

7 p.m.GSA Spring forum, “pSin and pSychology,” will be held in Hart Auditorium until 9 p.m. Panelists Dr. Richard Beck, Dr. Dan Stiver, Steve Hare and Dr. Brent Reeves (moderator) will discuss and answer questions about the spiritual dimensions in a psychological universe.

02 Monday30 Friday 31 Saturday 03 Tuesday

The Weekend Campaign to H-E-B Camp in Leakey leaves Friday. Sign up in the Campus Center ticket windows, or contact Tim Pittman at tjp03d@acu.edu, Mike Miles at mem04d@acu.edu, or Amanda Taylor at ajt04a@acu.edu for more details.

David Williams passed away Monday. Williams was an English professor at ACU from 1962 to 1999. The funeral service and burial will be at Memorial Park in Memphis, Tenn., Saturday at 10 a.m. A memo-rial service will also be held April 7 at the South Arlington Church of Christ at 2 p.m. in Arlington. Cards may be sent to the following address: 5811 West Highland, Midlothian, TX, 76065. Remember the Williams family in your prayers.

DATE CHANGED! There will be a junior meeting Tuesday at 11 a.m. in Hart Auditorium for all juniors interested in graduating. Students will learn about how to get ready for graduation next year and how to know if their degree requirements have been met.

Residence Life is looking for bands for the Backyard Bash on April 28. If interested, contact Jae Webb at jkw02a@acu.edu or at (325) 260-7347.

Seniors, come to Joe Allen`s Lytle Bend Ranch on April 19 from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m for free food and fun. Enter the drawings to win priz-es including gift certifi cates and a digital camera. Wear a crazy hat and compete for a prize. RSVP to (325) 674-2737 or seniorexperience@acu.edu by April 13. For more informa-

tion, go to www.acu.edu/seniors.Women`s Economic Empow-

erment invites enterprising pro-fessional women to its monthly luncheon, “Discovering Your Leadership Style,” on Wednesday from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. at the Al-liance for Women and Children, located on 1350 N. 10th. The guest speaker is Barbara Dahl of Hendrick Home for Children and Leadership Texas. Lunch is $5. RSVP to wee@afwconline.org.

The April ArtWalk will be April 12 from 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in downtown Abilene. Contact Mari-anne Wood at (325) 677-8389 for more information.

The First Annual 5k Saving Ba-bies Race will be April 28. This race will be held by March of Dimes in conjunction with Walk America. The race will start at 8:30 a.m.. Check in at 7:30 a.m. at Redbud Park. The Entry fee is $25. Awards will be given to the top overall runners and the top-three males and females in each age category. For more information, e-mail sks06k@acu.edu or call (325) 672-0566. Download an entry form at www.abilenerunners.com.

Come intern with Dry Bonesin Denver this summer. Dry Bones is a ministry that works with home-less youth living on the streets of downtown Denver. Four city in-terns and one mountain intern are needed to facilitate backpacking in the mountains and working in the city. Visit the Web site or e-mail rebekah@drybonesdenver.orgfor more information.

CreditedChapelsto date:

CreditedChapelsremaining:

Chapel Checkup48 24

The Abilene Philharmonic Or-chestra will host its annual Choco-late Fest on Saturday. Volunteers are needed to help set up Friday night, help with the Fest and help clean up afterward. The Fest will be held at the Mall of Abilene, and set up will begin at 9 p.m. after the mall closes. All volunteers will receive a ticket to Chocolate Fest. To help with this event, contact the Volunteer Service-Learning Center in the Bean Sprout.

Students are needed Saturday from 9 a.m. until mid-afternoon to tear down part of a house and move the trash to an alley. This effort will benefi t an indigent family whose home is being repaired by the City of Abilene. Contact the Volunteer Service-Learning Center in the Bean Sprout for more information.

ACU for Abilene is coming April 21. Students, staff and fac-ulty will join together to serve the Abilene community in a variety of ways at a number of locations. Watch for more information and make plans now to join in this time of service.

CAN, Interested Citizens of Abilene North, need help with its community clean up on April 14. Vol-

unteers will cut yards, trim hedges, plant gardens, pick up trash and help the elderly with tasks around their homes. Work will begin at 8:30 a.m. and continue until 2 p.m. Contact the Volunteer Service-Learning Center in the Bean Sprout for more information.

Freedom Fellowship Church needs volunteers to assist with a variety of after-school activities for at-risk youth, such as tutor-ing, basketball and air hockey Mondays, Tuesdays and Thurs-days from 3:30 p.m. to 5:15 p.m. and Fridays from 3:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. Contact the Volunteer Ser-vice-Learning Center in the Bean Sprout for more information.

MOPS at Highland Church of Christ is having its annual Great Moms Walk and family day out April 28 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Nelson Park. For more informa-tion please contact Julia Stewart at (325) 690-9023.

Volunteers are needed to be peer visitors or in a support group for amputees. Both men and women are requested to help. For more information, con-tact Wayne Briggs at (325) 691-1672 or (325) 829-1961.

ACU Career CornerUpcoming Career Events and Workshops

NOW WHAT?Career Discovery Workshop(Just because you’re about to graduate doesn’t mean you know what you’ll do for the rest of your life!) Monday, April 2 at 5 p.m.McKinzie Hall, Lower Level

WHO WILL NOTICE ME?Resume Enhancement Work-shop(You’re sitting there working on your “perfect” resume and the screen is blank. You need HELP... those templates are looking pretty attractive.) Monday, April 2 at 6 p.m.McKinzie Hall, Lower Level Tuesday, April 3 at 5 p.m.McKinzie Hall, Lower Level

BREAK OUT THE NUNCHUCKS AND LET THE JOB FINDING BEGIN!Job Search Workshop(How can you push harder, faster and smarter through network-ing, cunning job search and killer interviews.) Monday, April 2 at 12 p.m.Campus Center Living Room Tuesday, April 3 at 6 p.m.McKinzie Hall, Lower Level

Provided by The Offi ce of Career and Academic Development

Upcoming On-Campus Interviews

April 10: PFSweb, Inc. College Recruit Program Recruiting Communications and Business majors Sign-up deadline: April 1April 10: Lithia Motors Interviews Sales Representa- tives and Interns Recruiting all majors Sign-up deadline: April 3April 24: Association Mem- ber Benefits Advi sors (AMBA) District Manager Trainees and Interns Recruiting all majors Sign-up deadline: April 16

To schedule an on-campus interview, go to www.acu.edu/careerlink or contact Bradon Tharp at (325) 674-2653.

Did You Know? 2007 Career Headlines“Average Starting Salaries Con-tinue to Climb for New College Graduates”

“Employers Target New College Graduates to Lead Organizations, Inject Fresh Ideas”

Source:National Association of College and Employers

ACU Police Tip of the WeekUse common sense and appropriate caution when responding to sweepstakes letters and other correspondence promising fi nancial awards or assistance that appear too good to be true. Report suspicious letters and e-mails to ACUPD.

Monday 03/19/20079:20 a.m. Escorted visitor to Zellner Hall 9:49 a.m. Assisted student with fl at tire2:50 p.m. Criminal mischief at Nelson

Tuesday 03/20/2007 7 p.m. Stand by while ex-stu-dent moved from University Park Apartments 10:27 p.m. Jumpstart vehicle at Big Purple Lot11:11 p.m. Suspicious item found at McKinze Hall

Wednesday 03/21/200712:28 a.m. Parking violation at Gardner Lot 12:48 a.m. Parking violation at 1900 Campus Court 3:20 p.m. Parking violations on main campus 5:30 p.m. Theft at Powell Fitness Center 10:38 p.m. Vehicle accident at Mabee/Edwards Lot, no damage to vehicle, no report made

Thursday 03/22/2007 12:20 a.m. Contacted subjects soliciting at the Library, were asked to leave campus 10:04 a.m. Medical emergency at Sherrod Don Morris10:52 a.m. Vehicle hit and run ac-cident on ACU Drive, log entry 5:57 p.m. Incomplete 911 at Zellner Hall, unable to contact anyone at the phone 10:53 p.m. Contacted suspicious

subjects inside the Library, were placed on Criminal Trespass

Friday 03/23/2007 8:15 a.m. Assisted motorist at University Park Apartments Lot 10:10 a.m. Report of subjects so-liciting near WPAC Lot, subjects were gone upon arrival10:40 a.m. Escorted visitor from Business Building to the Library1:20 p.m. Contacted subjects smoking on campus at Teague and advised of policy

Saturday 03/24/2007 1:23 a.m. Report of subjects with alcohol at University Park Apartments, contacted residents all okay10:55 a.m. Report of vehicle accident 1600 Campus Court, handled by Abilene PD2 p.m. Report of skateboarders at the Education Building, contacted juveniles and they did leave campus 11:02 p.m. Report of subject throwing water balloons in the 500 block of EN 18th, checked area unable to locate anyone

Sunday 03/25/207 12 p.m. Gave access to Gibson to retrieve lost item 12:25 p.m. Report of lost item at Wells Field, checked area unable to locate 10:37 p.m. Report of fi re in the street at 600 EN 18th, contacted student photographing the fi re, all okay

Police LogEdited for space

Friday, March 30, 2007 Page 3CAMPUS NEWS

n A Nigeria mission trip group will host a fundraising dinner for $40 per couple to benefit its next visit in the summer. The group is also looking for nurses to join the trip.

By KACI FLORESStudent RepoRteR

Entertainment, a silent auc-tion, a three course meal and door prizes will comprise the Nigeria Mission Trip Fund-raiser Dinner on “A Night of Elegance” taking place Satur-day at 6 p.m. at the Williams Performing Arts Center.

All proceeds of the event will benefit the summer mis-sion trip to Nigeria. Cost is $40 per couple.

The entertainment will include a singer along with a fashion show focusing on

Nigerian headdresses, which will also be used for photo-graphs that evening. The pho-tographs can then be ordered and made into postcards if wanted.

The auction is also a main focus of the event. There will be at least 15 different packag-es to auction off. The packages range from Mary Kay beauty baskets to restaurant and ho-tel night stays.

Tobi Kuyino, second year marriage and family therapy graduate student from Lagos, Nigeria, is one of the six people attending the mission trip. She was also involved in the fund-raiser dinner last year that raised $3,600.

“My dream this year would be to double that amount be-

cause the money would be a blessing for some needy situa-tions in Nigeria,” Kuyino said.

The event will also include a PowerPoint presentation and videos of what the mission group will be doing in Nigeria.

This is the second year the fundraiser dinner will take place. Last year the mission trip was focused on marriages and families, so the theme “Sweet-heart Dinner” was chosen. In fact, “Sweetheart Dinner” was initially chosen as theme again this year before changing it to “A Night of Elegance.”

Janelle Liggins, second year marriage and family therapy graduate student from Au-gusta, Ga., is positive about the theme change this year.

“The benefit of this is that

it is just not for couples, so maybe this theme is not as intimidating to those who are not married or not even dat-ing,” Liggins said.

The 10-day mission trip this year will be focusing on three things: working with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), abstinence education and premarital counseling.

The mission group will con-sist of a teacher, a nurse, two students and two therapists. The group is still looking for more nurses to attend to make a group of at least 10.

If interested in attending the Nigeria Mission Trip Fund-raiser Dinner, e-mail tjl98s@acu.edu or call (325) 733-8318.

Dinner to benefit Nigeria mission trip

E-mail Flores at: optimist@acu.edu

n The third annual Study Abroad photo contest gathered more than 100 entries from students and faculty, and 12 winning photos were selected for four categories.

By EMILY SMITHChief photogRapheR

A mix of 12 faculty mem-bers and students won awards for capturing culture in a pho-to from a Study Abroad trip for the third annual Study Abroad photo contest March 22.

Every spring, Study Abroad students and faculty who were involved in the program have the chance to submit their

three favorite photos in a pho-to contest. There are four cat-egories: cross-cultural, just for fun, on site and landscape.

“The first year we had 27 entries,” said Lauren Graham, Study Abroad coordinator.

The photo contest is now in its third year and over 100 entries were submitted in this year’s contest.

“We give the photos to an outside photography expert, and we end up with 12 winning photos,” she said.

Tabitha Vail, senior English major from San Antonio, won a third place prize for her photo

entitled, “Afternoon Tea.”“I’ve done photography for

some friends of mine,” she said. “It’s one of those on-the-side passions for me.”

Vail’s winning photo was a picture of two children having tea in her dorm room.

“I had a great time travel-ing and being able to capture some of the great things I saw,” she said.

Kellie Ethington, sophomore speech pathology major from Kingswood, had two winning photos in the contest.

“I took a ton of pictures and figured, why not,” she said.

She won a first place prize for her silhouette of three class-mates climbing Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh, Scotland, and a third place prize for her photo of herself and three friends at the Eiffel Tower.

First place winners received a $25 gift card to Best Buy, second place winners received a $10 gift card to Chili’s, and third places winners received a $5 gift card to Starbucks.

“It’s more about the glory than the prize,” Graham said.

Study Abroad contest selects 12 photos

E-mail Smith at: eds04c@acu.edu

Kasey Pipes, class of 1995

Kasey Pipes, class of 1995, will be honored at a luncheon Tuesday as the 2007 Young Alumnus of the Year award in the Hilton Room. Pipes, who majored in communication and political science and was a president of men’s social club Galaxy while in college, was nominated by Dr. Neal Coates, assistant professor of political science. Pipes has served in various political arenas since his graduation from ACU. During his career he has worked on George W. Bush’s campaign staff, in the Bush Administration as associated director of the Office of Strategic Initiatives and as chief speech writer for California Governor Arnold Schwarzeneger’s re-election campaign. He resides in Fort Worth with his wife Lacie and operates a full-service consulting and public relations firm, The Pipes Co.Pipes will return to his alma mater amidst a book tour for his recently release biography: “Ike’s Final Battle: The Road to Little Rock and the Challenge of Equality,” a book about President Dwight Eisenhower’s fight for civil rights while president. Jama Cadle, alumni events coordinator, said Pipes was selected from more than a dozen nominations by both the President’s cabinet and the alumni advisory board. During the luncheon Pipes will be presented with an award by Dr. Royce Money, president of the university, and then will speak about how ACU shaped his career, and what he has done both professionally and personally since he graduated. Cadle said the criteria for the Young Alumnus of the Year award must be under 40 years of age, and have made both personal and professional achievements since the time they graduated. The Young Alumnus of the Year award is one of six awards given yearly by the Alumni Association. “This is one of the highest honors an alumnus can receive from the university,” Cadle said. “It means a lot to be recognized by alumni, faculty and staff for the award.”The Alumni Association has been honoring young alumni since 1990.

2007 YoUNg AlUMNUS oF ThE YEAr AWArd

The Peer Health Education Program sponsored the “Plan the Most Creative Date, and We’ll Pay” contest. Participants submitted a creative date plan that costs only $15 and a 100 word essay.

Winning entry:

n Matthew Dowell, freshman management major from Leon Valley

First thing, we could walk or drive to Subway and eat dinner. I could bring a candle along and light it when we sit down to eat. Next we could head to the Foster Science Building and watch a movie together in Walling Lecture Hall on the big screen. For concessions, we would buy candy bars, but pilfer the professors’ sodas from the third floor walk-in-science-refrigerator. We’d watch the movie Contact (PG), and then go up onto the roof through the hole in the greenhouse (which is always unlocked), fly paper air planes and chat while gazing at stars.

Other entries:

nKatrina Hillman, freshman management major from Fort Worth

Wearing comfortable clothes.Sweet Tea from Chicken Express ($1.50).Go to a park with a truck, lap top and blankets.Watch movie under the stars in the bed of a truck. No truck, no problem: lay in the field (under $5 to rent movie).After the movie, have a silly string fight in the park ($3-$5).Go to McDonalds and get ice cream cones (about $2.20).Go the the lake and talk/skip rocks or go home.Night of fun without spending much money (priceless).

nRyan Forde, freshman nursing major from the Woodlands

First, we would go to the batting cages by K-mart and spend $5 to buy four tokens. Each token is 20 balls in the cage. Then we would go to Sonic and get a slushy, costing $3.20, and then play volleyball for free with some friends. Then go to a park and lay out some blankets and talk and play card games by lantern light. Afterwards, go to Lake Fort Phantom and skip rocks, fish and get your feet wet. The whole date will cost about $10, maybe less, but it will be filled with adventure, intimacy and random fun on the town in good ole Abilene.

CrEATivE dATES ENTriES

n The Buffalo gap vintage Base Ball Club will host the vintage style of baseball game, which was a gentleman’s game with different rules, Saturday.

By CHRIS HANSENStudent RepoRteR

April 1 is the official start of the baseball season, and the day baseball fans have been waiting for all winter. There is a history behind America’s favorite pastime, which first began in the mid nineteenth century.

Base Ball, as it was called until the 1880s, wasn’t played quite the same way we play it today. A ball could bounce once and still be an out, there were no balls and strikes un-less someone swung the bat,

fielders didn’t wear gloves, and it was a gentleman’s game with numerous rules about player conduct.

This vintage style of play can be seen in action Saturday, March 31 at the Buffalo Gap Historic Village. The Buffalo Gap Vintage Base Ball Club will get an early start on baseball season when it hosts the sec-ond annual Texas Forts Trail Vintage Base Ball Tournament starting at 10 a.m. The four clubs, or teams, will wear nine-teenth century knickers, hats and jerseys and compete using vintage baseball rules.

“We want to keep the spirit of the game going,” said Bob Wettemann, asso-ciate professor of history at McMurry University. “It’s not

cutthroat competition.”Wettemann who goes by

the nicknames “Bone-Crusher” and “The Commissioner” said he’d like to expand the tourna-ment from the current four-game format to an eight-game structure in the future.

Warren Simpson, professor of fitness and sports at Har-din-Simmons University, who also plays on the team, said vintage baseball is a social, educational, fun and competi-tive game.

“When you hit a certain age you’re just not playing ball anymore consistently,” Simp-son said. “They don’t have little league for adults.”

Simpson, known to his teammates as “Spider” or “Coach,” said he doesn’t

play the way he was taught throughout his life. Instead he studies and uses battings stances from the time period.

Vintage Base Ball isn’t just different uniforms and rules, the game is also played in less-than-normal places such as fields with obstacles.

The Buffalo Gap field has a shed in center field, two trees in right field, a cactus patch in left field and antique trac-tors in foul territory down the third-base line. Additionally, the fence isn’t far from home plate so outfielders can play behind the wall.

“It’s a hoot,” Simpson said. “It makes for hysterical stuff.”

Vintage ball club to host game at Buffalo Gap

E-mail hansen at: optimist@acu.edu

n TMNT brings refreshing visuals through stunning animation but lacks the wit and story that made the first two live-action films so popular.

By TODD PIERSALLArts Editor

After making boatloads of money and achieving some critical acclaim, Warner Brothers arguably refreshed two iconic comic book char-acters, Batman and Super-man, through nitty-gritty visuals and realistic perfor-mances (Batman Begins/Su-perman Returns). It seems as though WB’s remaking/refreshing escapade has no plans of stopping, for better or for worse.

Enter the acrobatic, kung-fu fighting, pizza eating turtles of TMNT. The ninja turtles have come a long way since its creation as a paro-dy in 1984, building a huge franchise and two live action films. Now, through several years of silence the phenom-enon is back. Yet sadly, the WB’s refreshing animated makeover is muddled by lack of a refreshing story.

The movie takes place roughly a year after the Turtles victory over the spiked covered The Shred-der (see live-action turtles movie number two). Follow-ing a long introductory nar-ration (Laurence Fishburne) reminiscent of a Lord of the Rings movie, the audience

discovers that an evil from 3,000 years ago is about to rear its head in Manhattan. Where are the Turtles? They are in disarray, while sword-swinging Leonardo is on a walk-about in South Amer-ica. The other Turtles have taken up odd-jobs to fill the time: Bo-wielding Donatello is computer tech support, easy-going Michelangelo dresses up like a turtle for children’s parties, and hot-head Raphael fights crime at night in disguise. With the turtles taking a fighting hiatus, Splinter, the Turtle’s sensei and adopted father, forces the Turtles to work as a team before allowing them back into the crime-fighting scene. As Leonardo and Ra-phael clash, the Turtles must once again learn to become a team before the ancient evil takes over New York City.

Trying to focus on its comic book roots, director Kevin Munro enlisted the support of several notable voice actors including Pat-rick Stewart (Max Winters), Chris Evans (Casey Jones) and Sarah Michelle Gellar (April O’Neil).

The dark and nitty-gritty animated visuals, refreshing though they were, were lost in the bland storyline. When-ever there is an ancient evil lurking, the writers need to spend a little more time in the brainstorming room. It’s been done. The power strug-gle between Leonardo and

Raphael did bring a lot of unexpected depth and emo-tion as well as an intense fight scene (the animated rain worked very well), but a good portion of the movie lulls. Climatically, the story’s ending felt rushed and pre-dictable. Granted, the movie is aimed at a younger audi-ence but even the classic Turtle wit and humor from a generation ago is off.

Don’t get me wrong, a bad storyline doesn’t make for bad animation. Hong Kong based animation studio, Imagi, will be a likely Acade-my Award candidate for Best Animated Feature. The digi-tal animation gives the mov-ie a quick-paced feel, some-thing the live Turtle movies lacked, and even adding a wider range of emotions. The action was captured through a camera that whisked to and fro, creating a video game effect. Plus, without the cumbersome suits used in the live versions, the tur-tles actually look and fight like superheroes.

After ruling the box of-fice the first week of its re-lease, the Turtle’s franchise revival has begun and with it there is sure to be more Turtle paraphernalia. If it is anything similar to the first Turtle craze, I plan on eating ninja turtle ice cream on a ninja turtle dinner plate col-lection.

Friday, March 30, 2007Page 4

Box office sTaTs

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

n TMNT: $24,255,205 ($24,255,205)

n 300: $19,862,491 ($161,706146)

n Shooter: $14,523,571 ($14,523,571)

n Wild Hogs: $13,850,542 ($123,303,817)

iN THe THeaTeRs

Movies opening Friday:

n Blades of Glory, starring Will Ferrell, Jon Heder, Will Arnett, Amy Poehler and Jenna Fischer. In the world of competitive ice-skating two stars rule the ice, rocker Chazz Michael Michaels and youth prodigy Jimmy MacEl-roy. After being banned from professional ice-skating the two must work together to make a comeback. (COMEDY)

n Meet the Robinsons, starring An-gela Bassett, Jordan Fry, Tom Kenny, Harland Williams and Adam West. Boy-genius and inventor, Lewis, meets mysterious Wilbur Robinson, a boy from the future. Wilbur takes Lewis to the future and shows him the secrets of the eccentric Robinson family. After Lewis’ newest invention is stolen, the two travel once again into the future to try and recover his lost invention. (ANIMATION/COMEDY)

n Peaceful Warrior, starring Scott Mechlowicz, Ashton Holmes, BJ Britt, Amy Smart and Nick Nolte. Dan Millman, a college gymnast, has everything going for him and even has a shot at the Olympic qualifiers in men’s gymnastics. Still, he isn’t happy. After repeated terrifying nightmares, Dan meets an old man who calls himself Socrates. Listening to the advice of Socrates, Dan’s life gets turned upside down.

n The abilene Philharmonic orchestra hosts ‘chocolate fest,’ a fundraiser which will have chocolate from 17 different chocolate venders.

By TAKISHA KNIGHTstudEnt rEportEr

The Abilene Philharmonic Orchestra has found a new way to appeal to the tastes of wider audiences: chocolate.

The Orchestra will host its 3rd annual Chocolate Fest from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sat-urday at the Mall of Abilene. Tickets are available at the Abilene Philharmonic offic-es and at the Mall of Abilene customer service desk for $10. Tickets are $12.50 the day of.

Tim Graham, marketing and development director, said the event is catching on around Abilene.

“It’s a way to walk through the mall [and] get good exercise, while eating chocolate,” he said.

Participants will receive a ticket and a map to find the vendors scattered throughout the mall. Once they sample from one vendor, the vendor will check their names from a list. Participants aren’t required to eat their chocolate at the event. Organizers will provide Styrofoam containers for the chocolate samples participants may want to eat later.

“This event is a little differ-ent,” Graham said. “This year there will be 17 vendors. For a ticket, one person can sample from all of them.”

While organizers are not sure how many chocolate lov-ers will participate, they are prepared for 1,000 people.

“That’s enough chocolate to distribute from here to

the emergency room,” Gra-ham said.

“That’s like 17,000 samples,” Cecilia Danford, the Orches-tra’s executive director, added. “You’re going to get more than $10 worth of chocolate.”

Graham, said they hope to raise $8,000 for the Abilene Philharmonic Orchestra.

“Like all fundraisers, it goes to our operating expenses, but the unique thing about it is that it’s universal,” Graham said.

He said people who are not necessarily attracted to classical music will get to interact with the orches-tra through something just about everyone loves.

Graham said he noticed a little growth since last year’s chocolate fest. It’s only just now gaining popularity.

While the Philharmonic Gold Medallion Ball is the ma-jor fundraising event for the orchestra, the Chocolate Fest offers a feast of the senses. There’s the chocolate smorgas-bord for the taste, the sound of ACU Woodwind Quintet performance at noon, and the famous spectacle of the Pud-din’ Eatin’ contest where 9-year-olds race through their chocolate pudding.

“It’s hilarious,” Danford said. “We have different styles of puddin’ eatin’: those who very carefully won’t get anything on their clothes and those who dive in. It’s the most fun we have, a great photographic event.”

Volunteers are needed to help set up at 9 p.m. Friday night and the clean up after-ward. All volunteers receive a ticket to Chocolate Fest. To help with this event, contact the Volunteer Service-Learning Center in the Bean Sprout.

‘TMNT’: Fast action, slow story

Chocolate to help make money

courtesy of ROTTENTOMATOES.COM

Imago, the Hong Kong based animation company, provided the computer graphics for the Turtles new movie.

E-mail Piersall at: tdp04a@acu.edu

E-mail Knight at: optimist@acu.edu

1984: Comic book debut

1987: Animated series begins

1990: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles films debut

1991: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze

1993: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III

1996: Animated Series ends

2003: Fox debuts the next generation of Ninja Turtles animated series

2007: TMNT debut

Trivia: When the original animated series aired in England, censorship regulations forced the removal of the word “ninja” in the title. The series then assumed the title of “Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles.”

TuRTle TiMeliNe

Friday, March 30, 2007 Page 5FROM THE FRONT

Houston, appears to belong at the Grand Ole Oplin. Dressed in a cowboy hat and boots, he jokes that he comes to Oplin’s dance hall for the girls.

“I’ve never picked up a girl here,” Tymon said, “but it’s just another chance.”

Mykal Green, broadcast journalism major from Hous-ton, isn’t at Oplin to get a date, but he does appreciate the clean atmosphere, he said.

“It’s dancing that’s not everybody bumpin’ and grin-din’,” Mykal said.

He’s right. The only bumpin’ at Oplin occurs when an unsure dancer leads his partner into another couple.

“These kids will dance to any-thing,” said Roland Smith, from Oplin, gesturing at the dance floor filled with students.

Roland played in the dance hall’s first band, the Road Runners, for 35 years and saw Friday nights at Oplin switch from a musical event to a dance in order to raise extra money. Roland said the band still plays under the name Country Classics, but he no longer performs with the group. The former guitar player couldn’t pick a favorite song from his days as a band member.

“Oh lord,” Roland said. “Too many [songs] to name. Anything rousing, a good dance tune.”

Feb. 2 happened to be Ro-land’s birthday, which didn’t escape the notice of the dance hall’s community. Just before the band’s break, they broke into an upbeat “Happy Birthday,” and Roland was presented with his very own cake, topped by a candle shaped like a question mark. He laughs when he’s asked his age, but confesses he is 83 years old.

While the band takes its break, dancers spill into the kitchen to enjoy the treats they brought to share. Pat, who withheld her last name, glides into the room hum-ming along with the radio music. Pat has been an Oplin regular for a few months and says she has danced with her share of students. She laughs about a memory, and then shares aloud that on New Year’s Eve, during the Grand March, she was partnered with a boy she estimated to be about 9 years old.

“He turned to his friends and said, ‘Look what I got,’” Pat said, widening her eyes to mimic the boy’s excited expression.

He was a little lost on the dance floor, Pat said, “But we did move around on the floor a little bit.”

When the band starts up again, the room clears ex-cept for the week’s volunteer “snack ladies,” Pam Rum-field, the community’s secre-tary and treasurer and Paula Windham, an Oplin native.

As she convinces a few university students to eat an extra piece of cake, Pam explains that Oplin’s weekly dance used to be for senior citizens only. Today, it has evolved into a family event, sometimes with about 300 people attending. In Oplin, the bottom line is communi-ty, Pam said.

“Most of the folks who’ve lived here have lived out here forever and ever,” Pam said.

And the town’s weekly two-stepping earns money that is donated to the fire de-partment, local churches and the cemetery at the end of the year. Last year, the dance hall donated $1,000 to help with victims of the Cross Plains fire, Pam said.

Paula, who is retired from Hardin-Simmons University,

agrees the culture is com-munity centered, despite the population decline from her time growing up in Oplin.

“It’s still a very close knit community; we all hang to-gether,” Paula said.

For Paula, Oplin’s dance hall holds a lot of memories — both as her school and her community center. She mo-tions toward the pictures of the “Grand Ole Oplin” in its days as a school house and laughs about the day every-

one played hooky, a day she snuck out the window and mounted a horse. She has seen the lunchroom disap-pear and the study hall room become a restroom. She has seen funeral lunches, wed-ding showers and anniversa-ry parties in the dance hall. And she has seen plenty of inexperienced dancers.

“Just relax, listen to the music, and you’ll get it,” she said. “We’re just delighted that you college kids are com-

ing out here.”Now in its last hour, the

dance is going full swing. Dancers mingle during the Grand March, when men stand in one line and women in another, waiting to dance with the person across from them. Students flood the floor when the Chicken Dance begins, so they can participate in the elbow-flapping, hip-twisting dance that leaves many giggling and breathless.

After the last song, the dancers mill around for a while, the students make plans for the rest of the eve-ning, and the Oplin regulars catch up with one another. On the way out the door, dancers grab a piece (or five) from the candy dish and step outside to the quiet air. The parking lot clears out, and the small town settles in quietly for the weekend.

Step: Generations come together at Grand Ole OplinContinued from page 1

rachel lau STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Josiah Kennedy, sophomore financial management major from Denver, spins Mary Elizabeth Walker, a Hardin-Simmons University student.

photos by rachel lau STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

UPPER RIGHT: Dancers partner off for a two-step at Oplin’s Friday night “Grand Ole Oplin.” Some have been going since it opened in the 1980s.BOTTOM RIGHT: During the Grand March, men line up on one side and women on the other. Dancers are partnered with person across from them.

E-mail Peace at: knp04a@acu.edu

way to send e-mails. “Their ability to have a

consistent uptime is substan-tially greater than Webmail,” Roberts said.

Meaning users will be see-ing less e-mail downtime and outage messages, while hav-ing more functionality.

“This is one of the things that we are really excited about as well,” Roberts said.

Google is offering these bundled applications to col-leges at no charge.

“It’s hard to pass that up,” Roberts said. “Gmail offers a completely different approach in how they handle e-mail.”

Instead of the traditional e-mail folders, Gmail sorts them by conversations and logs those messages.

“It’s a more robust inter-face,” Roberts said.

Reeves has already had an opportunity to use the e-mail and shared documents.

“They are very user friend-ly, and I like being able to ac-cess them from anywhere,” Reeves said.

Roberts and the technol-ogy department are working to make sure there is as little impact as possible.

“Although we are tran-sitioning to the new e-mail system and new e-mails will be retrieved through Gmail, all old e-mails will remain in Gmail,” Roberts said.

Users will be able to click back and forth between Web-mail and Gmail. The IT de-partment considered the is-sue of not losing old e-mails versus the inconvenience of having to link to the new and

old e-mail systems. “It is a greater risk to try

to move those e-mails to the new system,” Roberts said.

There is nothing students need to do, the changes will be directly applied to all ac-counts and user e-mail ad-dress will remain the same.

“One day it will be there and the next it won’t be,” Roberts said.

Roberts is hoping their ef-forts will make this a seamless transition, and the experience is superior for students.

“We are doing everything

we can to make sure the changes take effect smooth-ly,” Roberts said. “We are checking to make sure user accounts are OK, and that everything is set up properly and working correctly.”

They are also working to make sure passwords stay the same.

There are only nine schools in the country using Google’s education package, and ACU is the first school in Texas to sign up. Arizona State Uni-versity was the first school to sign up.

“Having all of this in one interface is very convenient, and I believe that they will constantly improve their product, offering us very up-to-date and innovative solu-tions,” Roberts said.

There will be more an-nouncements over the next few weeks about information and how to log on. For more information and a preview of the new Gmail system, go to www.acu.edu/e-mail.

Google: Gmail should reduce system outages, repairsContinued from page 1

E-mail Robinson at: optimist@acu.edu

$1,000 scholarships for HSU students, and has sponsored campus activities at HSU.

One such activity was a Val-entine’s Day event organized by HSU and the Grove.

Lindsay Snodgrass, coor-dinator of student activities at HSU, said the Grove was helpful and cooperative at the Valentine’s Day event and is confident the Grove’s presence in Abilene is a positive one.

“I think that the Grove is great for Abilene as a whole,” Snodgrass said. “They’re just trying to have good ties with the university and be involved

in what we’re doing.” Spell said he has been try-

ing to coordinate and spon-sor events at ACU like he has been doing at HSU, but he has run into roadblocks. Spell has tried to network with the Campus Activities Board and Students’ Association to find ways the Grove can be active-ly involved in ACU activities. But so far he said he has not been successful.

Spell, who was residence director of University Park from 2000-02, says ACU’s choice not to accept the scholarship program may be influenced by the universi-ty’s connection to UP.

“I think a major part of [it]

is because of the school’s rela-tionship with UP,” Spell said.

However, Arrington said if UP or any other company or person wanted to donate money to the university, they would have to go through the selection process that the Grove did.

“I would think that any-time someone approaches the university to enter into a relationship with us, that we would go with the same sense of examining whether our mis-sion or their mission match,” Arrington said. “We just don’t know the Grove.”

Grove: Funding availableContinued from page 1

E-mail Johnson at: djj04a@acu.edu

quickly send out messages to a large number of people.”

Matt Worthington, execu-tive secretary and candidate for SA executive president, said one of the benefits of creating a group is it makes it easier to let people know of upcoming events.

“The groups help with spreading the word of dif-ferent events that are going

on,” Worthington said. “Last week we had a campaign, and about 20 people showed up even though it was a last-min-ute thing. … The Facebook groups help get our names out to people on campus and allow other people to find out what you’re about.”

SA vice president Jordan Williams said although groups are a good thing for campaigns, candidates should not get too excited about the number of

people in their group.“Facebook groups tend

to be a really good aspect,” Williams said. “They show who’s running and who’s do-ing what, but I think lots of times, people’s groups might have 1,000 people, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to get all of those votes.”

Campaign: Tactics turn to WebContinued from page 1

E-mail Bautista at: optimist@acu.edu

Page 6 March 30, 2007

The issue:The news coverage from Anna Nicole Smith’s death brings up questions on how the media should appropriately cover news.

Our view:The media should cover hot issues but should also avoid over-sensationalizing topics just to sell a paper.

The solution:As readers, the public should be aware of imbalance in the news.

Value truth over sensationalized newsThe New York Times

gained its reputation as a great newspaper partially for its refusal to succumb to the sensationalist journal-ism that was characteristic of many papers in the ear-ly days of journalism. And even today, papers like the Times and the Wall Street Journal tout the appear-ance of being publications that rise above sensational-ist news. Yet search “Anna Nicole Smith” on the Times’ Web site, and you will find 16 links that pertain to her recent death. In a span of less than two months, the media managed to examine an intense custody battle over Smith’s five-month-

old daugh-ter, feuding over Smith’s burial and allegations that Smith was mur-dered. And it all seems a little sensa-tionalized, especially when a medical examiner deter-mined on March 26 that Smith’s cause of death was an accidental prescription drug overdose.

The whole incident raises questions about the purpose the media serves, which is to act as society’s watch-dog. In other words, the me-dia reports on the actions of government officials, public

figures and public enemies to allow the people to use the truth to hold these peo-ple accountable. As an add-ed bonus, these figures are well-aware the media is cov-ering their every move, and usually temper their actions.

The media also seeks to improve public health by way of education. For exam-ple, printing the news that Smith killed herself by way of drug overdose increases

public aware-ness of drug abuse, and h o p e f u l l y o v e r d o s e s are prevent-ed. Reports on crime and

the punishments dealt for crimes serve first to remind the people of society’s val-ues and second

Newspapers like the Times also act as papers-of-record, the publications that document our history as a nation or community.

The media serves several roles, but is always walking the fine line of reporting in-formation the public needs to know without sensation-

alizing or overdramatiz-ing an issue. Did the Smith case become more of an issue than it should have? Yes. The media needs to be wary of over-emphasizing an issue, or for that matter, of creating an issue out of something trivial. Smith is a public figure, and her death is newsworthy. But petty feuds along the way hardly count as news worthy of public knowledge. In the future, perhaps media will remember their role: to report on news, not drama, and to champion truth above all else.

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

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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

The media serves several roles, but is always walking the fine line of reporting information

the public needs to know without sensationaliz-ing or over-dramatizing the issue?

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

Alex YorkLebensgefhar

In Your WordsWhat issue has the media over-sensationalized?

Christian Francisjunior bio chemistry major from New York City

The war in Iraq.

Delaina Parkerjunior business managementmajor from Phoenix

Anna Nicole Smith

April Butlersenior interdisciplinary majorfrom Denton

The Rosie O’Donnelland Donald Trump issue.

Nolan Rampyclinical psychology graduate student from Austin.

I find a general theme of overgeneralization in the slips of the tongues from politicians.

There is a child in Peru who calls me “madrina” and shares her life with me. Her birthday is Janu-

ary 13. Her p a r e n t ’ s names are J a c i n t a and Ale-j a n d r o . She has a dog named Rayo. Her f a v o r i t e color is red, and her favor-ite meal to

eat is chauffe rice. She enjoys acting and attend-ing church. She also en-joys playing group games. I know all these little facts about this child, but to her I might just be only a name and a number. I am her s p o n s o r parent.

She and I were in-t r o d u c e d t h r o u g h the orga-n i z a t i o n called Com-p a s s i o n , which, ac-cording to its Web site, is a “Christian child advo-cacy ministry that releas-es children from spiritual, physical, economic and social poverty and enables them to become respon-sible, fulfilled Christian adults.”

Every month since January a portion of my money has gone to Pame-la, my sponsor child, and her family to aid them in whichever way they need. Every month I pray God will use my barely there

finances for her well-be-ing and to further secure her future.

I see her face everyday as I pass her tacked up pic-ture on my wall. I read her words to me in a letter that begins with “hola madrina,” meaning “hello godmother” when translated to English, and ends with a “despide con un beso a la distancia,” meaning she sends me a goodbye kiss from the dis-tance.

Even though she and I are literally worlds apart, we are both affected by each other. She through my finances and I through her words. I don’t know how much of a help I am, but I pray she is being fed both physically and spiritually.

S p o n s o r -ing her is the only way I can show her Christ’s love and help her to know she is important and worthy of a better life.

I believe God put us together for a reason, and maybe one day we will meet and be-

come more than just words on a sheet of paper. This friendship that has begun with know-ing just a name and a num-ber will continue to thrive, for already Pamela has taught me how to be a ser-vant and has reminded me of Jesus’ words: “whatever you did for one of the least of these, you did for me.”

ComeUndone

MichelleJimenez

More than just a friend on paper

Put Christmas, Fourth of July and the last day of school together and I wouldn’t be as excited as I

am for this weekend.

The first weekend of April is the greatest time of the year. The classic Christmas-time song, “It’s The Most Won-derful Time of the Year”

comes to mind each year at this time.

And if I need to explain, this is the most wonderful time of the year because of college basketball’s Final Four and for baseball’s Opening Day. Throw

in April Fool’s and it’s the per-fect time.

As somewhat of a sports lover, I think nothing could be better. There is the men’s Final Four, which is enough to be my favorite time of the year on its own. No other sport brings out as much emotion in me as college basketball. At the beginning of March Madness, which co-incidentally coincides with Lent, I make deals with my-self and God so my favor-ite and most hated teams advance or lose the way I want. It never works. By now I should have learned better,

but I get desperate beginning on Selection Sunday.

Then, as an extra little bo-nus from the heavens, this weekend is also MLB’s Open-ing Day. From now until July, I will follow the Texas Rangers and believe they have a shot at a playoff spot. In August, when I realize they’re horrible, foot-ball will be starting, so it’s OK. Life is good as long as I have baseball during the summer months to accompany me on many summer evenings and lazy, sleepy afternoons.

Now, April Fool’s Day is a prankster’s favorite day, even if it is on a Sunday. If you have

forgotten about April Fool’s, then I’m glad to remind you. Make me proud with your tomfoolery and shenanigans. I will be too busy napping through baseball games to put much effort into prank-ing innocent people.

I can’t think of a day or weekend any better. Saturday is the emotion of the Final Four. Sunday comes the hilar-ity of April Fool’s and the la-ziness of baseball. Then you top it off with the Final Four championship to help make a Monday into a good day.

Add in the spring weather and how great the rain and green grass are, and no one can ever convince me of a bet-ter time.

Anticipating the greatest time of the year

Fields of Dreams

JaredFields

The classic Christmas song, “It’s the Most Won-derful Time of the Year” comes to mind each

time this year.

Every month since January a portion of my money has gone to Pamela, my spon-sor child, and her

family to aid them in whichever way

they need.

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

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

Friday, March 30 , 2007 Page 7SPORTS JUMPS

ACU did not compete as a team in this tournament, however, the golfers placed individually.

Wildcat golfer Hugues Joannes led the Cats in scor-ing a 74 the first day, which was four strokes away from the daily leader, and a 76 the second day. His overall score of 150 was the same as his teammate Stephen Knight, putting them both in a seven-way tie for 15th place.

Patrick Hanauer was in a three-way tie for 24th, ty-ing him with Peter Fallon of McLennan Community Col-lege and Travis Wolf of Texas Christian University. Behind Hanauer was Curtis Harris, who tied Alex Wasinger of Hutchinson Community Col-lege and Nick Nelson from Odessa Community College for 27th place. Wildcat Tra-vis Watson shot a combined score of 157, which tied him with Joseph Totah and Mi-chael Hillis, both from Odes-

sa Community College, for 38th place. Erik Manning and Michael Andrucheck brought up the rear of a very close scoring field with 49th. ACU golf coach Mike Campbell said he was glad the team played in the Invitational.

“The course was tough; but it was good to play in an extra tournament, and I think it helped us out,” Campbell said.

The Wildcats did not have a tournament last week, how-ever, on Monday and Tues-day the team was in Edmond, Okla., and competed in the University of Central Okla-homa Kickingbird Classic. The Wildcats played a solid tournament, leading the first two rounds. While winning the tournament was in its grasp, Saint Edwards Univer-sity, which had been close behind ACU for the major-ity of the tournament, pulled out in front of ACU and won the third round and the tour-nament overall.

ACU ultimately placed

third overall with St. Ed-wards in first and Central Oklahoma placing second. The three teams were within three strokes of one another. Coach Campbell said he was pleased with the tournament even if they didn’t win it.

“Its hard to be disappoint-ed when we played that well,” Campbell said. “Curtis and Hugues had a really strong tournament.”

Curtis Harris and Hugues Joannes had tied combined scores, placing them both fifth in the tournament. Pat-rick Hanauer shot a combined score of 213 at the Classic that put him in an eight-way tie for 16th. Kyle Byerly and Stephen Knight were tied with two other golfers for the 26th spot. Zach Starnes shot a combined score of 231, which put him at 73rd, and Erik Manning was five strokes behind Starnes plac-ing Manning 79th overall in the tournament.

With regular season play coming to a close within the

next month, Coach Campbell said he felt the team is play-ing well overall and is only going to get better.

“After this tournament we feel a lot better about where we are,” Campbell said. “Our team wants to peak at the right time, and I feel like we will peak around conference play.”

Next Monday and Tues-day, the Wildcats will head to the South and compete in the North Alabama Spring Clas-sic in Florence, Ala. The clas-sic is another step in helping the Wildcats peak when they need to in order to win the National Championship be-cause it is where they will play its NCAA Division II South Central Regional Tour-nament on May 7.

“This tournament will re-ally benefit us because it will be three extra rounds we get to play where we will play in May,” Campbell said.

Golf: Cats next tourney in AlabamaContinued from page 8

of guys that will constantly be there competing with the right attitude and the right spirit every time we play,” Walker said.

Next up for the women is a three-day stint in Okla-homa where the Wildcats will take on three Lone Star Conference rivals and one Division I school. On Friday, ACU will play Central Okla-homa in Edmond, Okla., at 9 a.m. After that match, the Wildcats will move on to Stillwater, Okla., to take on Oklahoma State, who is ranked No. 52 in Division I polls, at 2 p.m.

Saturday, ACU will trav-el to Tulsa, Okla., to play Northeastern State, the No.

13 team in Division II ten-nis. Finally on Sunday, the women will end their road trip in Ada, Okla., to go up against the No. 25 team in Division II tennis, East Central.

“I expect to win, and I expect our girls to ex-pect to win,” said head coach Hut-ton Jones. “These will not be easy matches, but if we’re ready to play and we’re mentally wanting a tough match, I re-ally, really like our chances.”

The men will go to Dal-las on Saturday to play two Division I teams, Prairie

View A&M and Arkansas-Little Rock. ACU will take on Prairie View A&M, a team the Wildcats defeated last year 6-1, at 9:00 a.m. Then at 6:30 p.m., the men will play Arkansas-Little Rock, who is currently tied for the No. 75 spot in the Division I rankings.

“I look for it to be a close match,” Jones said about the Prairie View match. “And then I look for [Arkansas-Little Rock] to be the favor-ite, but with us to be within range of upsetting them.”

Tennis: Women to take on Oklahoma State Cowgirls Continued from page 8

brian schmidt SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

Irene Squillaci returns a ball in the corner of the court during her singles match against Southeastern Oklahoma State’s Amber Thompson. Squillaci won the match 6-1, 6-2 as ACU went on to beat Southeastern 9-0.

fifth and sixth innings are its strongest offen-sive innings, they are also some of the team’s weak-est defensive innings. Op-ponents have scored over 43 percent of their runs during those innings. The team has also been out-batted by its opponents — the team’s average is .262 — but opponents are bat-ting .296 against the ACU pitchers.

The Wildcats 6-10 con-ference record and fifth-place LSC South ranking does not put them out of the picture for making the postseason, but ACU will

have to pass 5-7 Eastern New Mexico in conference rankings if it wants to make its third straight LSC conference tournament appearance.

“We’re just going to work hard on keeping fo-cused,” Wilson said. “We’re still in the hunt for a con-ference tournament spot and regionals.”

Irving: Hard work necessary for wins

Hood said Naimadu may run the 10,000k instead of the 5000k at nationals this year.

Besides Naimadu, four men distance runner and only one woman runner, Ohla Kryv’yak, are going to Stanford. Laurant Ngiraka-maro, Serge Gasore, Phillip Birgen and Julius Nyango are the other men going to Stanford to compete.

The other 21 women and 17 men competing this weekend will go to the Uni-versity of Texas at El Paso.

Jessica Withrow will be at UTEP competing in the high jump and 100-meter hurdles. Withrow, who has provisionally qualified in the heptathlon, said she is doing the two events as practice for the heptathlon.

“I want to jump five-feet and eight inches in the high jump and get in the 14s in the hurdles,” With-row said. “I feel like I am doing better than where I was at this time last year.”

Withrow said she was disappointed when she missed making the trip to Boston for the indoor championships, but her to-tal of 5,294 points leaves her about 40 points off the school record.

Hood is running a lot of athletes at just less than full health, but said he is looking forward to seeing how they perform.

“[Marvin] Bien-Aime’s going to run the relays this week. Keva [Wilkins], we’re going to test her in the 400 and see how she does,” Hood said.

Hood said freshman hurdler and sprinter An-drew McDowell is back to running and has looked good in practice.

“It’s going to be a good meet,” Hood said. “It’s not a really big meet but the quality of the competition is good.”

Naimadu: Wildcats split between meets

North rivals and defending LSC champs Central Okla-homa; a series Bonneau feels his team is aptly prepared for the rigorous divisional play ahead.

“This past weekend UCO prepared us for the type of in-tensity that’s going to be the next five weeks,” Bonneau said.

For Bonneau, ACU success depends on the performance of the team’s four starting pitchers.

“Our pitching really has to match theirs,” Bonneau said. “If that happens I think our bats can get us the wins we need.”

ACU’s bullpen is the LSC’s best with conference-leading 4.76 ERA and an opposing batting average of .274.

Tarleton’s bullpen’s boasts the Lone Star Conference Pitcher of the Week Josh Kel-ley. The 6-3 starter pitched a

complete seven-inning game against Southeastern Oklaho-ma and picked up the 1-0 win in the pitcher’s duel.

Tarleton also has the LSC’s best pitcher in 2007 so far, Brian Babbitt. The right-hand-ed junior holds a conference best 2.52 ERA and picked up a win against ACU in 2006.

“He’s gonna come out and throw a good game against us,” Bonneau said.

Starting right-hander Brian Kennedy, who has a 5.71 ERA and is tied for a team-best five wins, said he is ready to match off with the Tarleton pitchers and is looking forward to the advantage of a home crowd.

“I love playing for the home crowd; the more the merrier,” Kennedy said.

And ACU doesn’t lose of-ten in front of its home crowd at Crutcher Scott Field — the Wildcats have a conference-best 15-1 record at home.

“We’re pretty much unbeat-

able at home,” said catcher Jordan Schmitt.

ACU and Tarleton will play their first game doubleheader at 4 p.m. Friday and the sec-ond at 1 p.m. Saturday. If the Friday games are cancelled be-

cause of weather conditions, the series will be rescheduled to start at 1 p.m. Sunday.

Bonneau: ACU starts LSC South playContinued from page 8

brian schmidt SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

Head baseball coach Britt Bonneau discusses a pitch with starting pitcher Chris Wiman in the bullpen at Crutcher Scott Field. Wiman is 4-2 and has a 5.36 ERA and has struck out a team-leading 32 batters.

Continued from page 8

Continued from page 8

E-mail MacDonald at: optimist@acu.edu

Jones

E-mail Freeman at: mxf04b@acu.edu

E-mail Fields at: jrf03c@acu.edu

E-mail Johnson at: djj04a@acu.edu

E-mail Davis at: optimist@acu.edu

Monday

VOLLEYBALLFinal week of regular season for champ league begins, rec league tournament continues. See schedule on intramural bulletin board in Moody Coliseum.

OUTDOOR SOCCERSeason begins, see intramural board for schedule and teams

TEAM TENNISGames begin, see intramural board for match times and locations.

Wednesday

MEN’S TENNISACU 4, Illinois - Chicago 3

WOMEN’S TENNISACU 9, Southeastern Oklahoma 0

SPORTSFRIDAYPage 8 March 30, 2007

SCOREBOARD

Standings

Scores

INTRAMURAL ROUND-UP

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

Scoreboard as of Thursday

BASEBALLTeam Div. OverallACUAngeloTAMK-UTarletonENMU

WTAM

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

24-822-917-1418-1615-188-21

SOFTBALLTeam Div. OverallAngelo St. TAMK-UTarletonENMUACU

TX Woman’s

15-111-17-55-76-102-10

19-510-420-1020-1710-611-25

WTAM 2-14 10-26

Upcoming

Friday

TRACK & FIELDACU at Stanford Invitational, Palo Alto, Calif.

WOMEN’S TENNISACU vs. Central Oklahoma, Edmond, Okla., 9 a.m.

ACU vs. Oklahoma State, Stillwater, Okla., 2 p.m.

BASEBALLACU vs. Tarleton State, 4 p.m. (DH)

SOFTBALLACU at East Central, Irving, 10 a.m.

ACU at Northeastern State, 2 p.m.

Saturday

TRACK & FIELDACU at UTEP Spring Invitational, El Paso

MEN’S TENNISACU vs. Prairie View A&M, Dallas, 9 a.m.

ACU vs. Arkansas-Little Rock, Dallas, 6:30 p.m.

WOMEN’S TENNISACU at Northeastern State, Tulsa Okla., 2 p.m.

SOFTBALLACU at Southeastern Oklahoma, Irving, 10 a.m.

ACU at Southwestern Oklahoma, Irving, noon

BASEBALLACU vs. Tarleton State, 2 p.m.

SundaySOFTBALL

ACU at East Central, Ada, Okla., 1 p.m.

n Home games listed in italics

Upcoming

BRIAN SCHMIDT SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER

Luke Hawk returns a shot in his match-winning game against Andy Lockhart. Hawk’s victory gave ACU a 4-3 win over the Division I Illinois-Chicago at Eager Tennis Pavillion on Wednesday. The win was the nationally ranked ACU men’s tennis team’s fi fth-straight.

n ACU will open its LSC South division play against Tarleton State on Friday. ACU and Tarleton have split their four-game series the last two seasons the teams have met.

By DANIEL JOHNSONSPORTS EDITOR

Head baseball coach Britt Bonneau doesn’t anticipate any high-scoring games in the Wildcats series against Tarleton State this weekend, and based on the program’s past battles his prediction is well founded.

ACU and Tarleton have split the series the last two season’s and ACU slightly leads the se-

ries historically 62-50.“In the couple of years

past, it hasn’t mattered what the teams’ records are, we’re two teams who are gonna fight,” Bonneau said.

The nationally ranked ACU baseball team will open Lone Star Conference South division play at home with a four-game series against Tarleton State this weekend. ACU will play two nine-inning doubleheaders, one on Friday and another on Saturday.

ACU leads the LSC with a 24-8 record for a .750 win-

ning percentage, and No. 17 ACU is also the lone LSC team nationally ranked. Tar-leton holds the fifth best re-cord in the LSC at 18-16 and finished last place in the LSC South in 2006.

But regardless of his team’s past or current ac-complishments, Bonneau is confident the series is up for grabs.

“They took two away from us last year; it’s going to be a good series to watch,” Bon-neau said.

ACU is coming off of a hard-fought series with LSC

Bonneau expects competitive series

n The ACU golf team recorded two third place fi nishes over the past three weeks. ACU placed third at the Harbor Lake Invitational and at the Kickingbird Classic.

By NATHAN MACDONALDSPORTS WRITER

The ACU golf team com-peted at the Harbor Lake In-vitational in Granbury during spring break and placed third overall.

The two-day tournament, hosted by Odessa Commu-nity College, was also won by Odessa, winning both days and taking the tournament by only two strokes.

ACU golffi nishes third twice

n Three-time Division II cross country national champion Nicodemus Naimadu and fi ve other ACU distance runners will compete in California on Friday.

By JARED FIELDSMANAGING EDITOR

Long-distance standout Nicodemus Naimadu will do something he’s never done before this weekend — run 10,000-kilometers at Stanford.

“It’s the best place in the world to run distance,” said head coach Don Hood. “It’s a great atmosphere and the premier distance meet in the nation.”

Naimadu attempts new race Friday

n The 18-16 ACU softball team will play in the Lone Star Conference Crossover series against LSC North division teams in Irving this weekend.

By RACHEL DAVISSPORTS WRITER

The Wildcat softball team will play four games in the Lone Star Conference Cross-over Tournament this week-end in Irving.

The tournament has a clas-sic format, which means no winners will be determined. It gives a chance for LSC teams, which are split into North and South divisions, to play teams from the opposite division.

ACU is going into the tour-nament with an overall record of 18-16 and a conference re-cord of 6-10.

The women are sched-

uled to play East Central and Northeastern State on Friday, and Southeastern Oklahoma State and Southwestern Okla-homa State on Saturday.

“I think all the teams will be tough to play,” said head coach Chantiel Wilson. “We’re playing four teams from the North side of the conference, and that’s a very competitive conference.”

The team has been work-ing this week on increas-

ing batting consistency and other elements of the game. Four players, Tayler Wilson, Chessie Brehm, Kim Partin and Leisha Johnson, lead the team with batting averages over .300.

“We’ve been working on our fundamentals and work-ing on our assets that we bring to the game,” Wilson said. “We’re really trying to remain consistent at the plate.”

Currently the team’s bat-

ting average is .262, which is the 12th highest average in the LSC. The team is 7th in pitching with an ERA of 3.48, and the team’s strongest in-nings are still the fifth and sixth innings. ACU has scored 42 percent of its runs during those two innings.

So far this season, ACU has been outscored by its oppo-nents 129-124, and while the

Wildcats ‘Crossover’ with LSC North in Irving

n Coming off of one of ACU’s most successful football seasons in almost 30 years, the ACU football team is using spring training to build focus in preparation for 2007.

By DANIEL JOHNSONSPORTS EDITOR

Spring workouts bring fall wins — at least that is what the ACU football team hopes will be the equation for 2007.

ACU, which started its spring training on March 19, hopes its focus and a work-equals-wins mentality during the offseason will be the fuel behind the Wild-cats second-straight winning season and another playoff ap-pearance in 2007.

“This is where all the work comes in, and in the fall we put it to use,” said returning all-con-ference linebacker Cody Stutts.

Spring training will end on

Thursday after two inter-team scrimmages. ACU’s first scrim-mage will be played at Shot-well Stadium at 10 a.m. Satur-day, and another scrimmage is scheduled for Thursday at Sho-twell at 7 p.m.

ACU is on the heels of one of the best seasons in the pro-gram’s history — 2006 was the Wildcats’ first NCAA Divi-sion II playoff appearance, its first eight-win season since 1981, and ACU finished the season with a No. 20 national ranking — and the coaches and players understand the pressure on their shoulders to meet the expectations after a successful season.

“How well we play later is a direct reflection of the work we put now,” said defensive coor-dinator Jason Johns.

Johns, who is in his second year as the Wildcats’ coordina-tor, said he anticipates his de-fense to be ready come August.

ACU will open its season against the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond, Okla., a game that returning starting quarterback Billy Malone is al-ready focused on.

“I’m just thinking about UCO,” Malone said.

UCO is one of 11 teams ACU will play in 2007 and the first in a list of preseason opponents scheduled to prepare the Wild-cats for the always-competitive Lone Star Conference South divisional play. Probably one of the Wildcats’ toughest oppo-nents scheduled is NCAA Divi-sion I-AA Texas State.

Malone, a sophomore, is coming off of the best season of his career and will most likely be the Wildcats’ starting quar-

terback for his third season in a row. But despite his experience, Malone admits he still has a lot to gain from spring training.

“You can never learn enough,” Malone said.

Jody Walker, sophomore outside linebacker, said his personal goals for spring training is to get stronger and focus on finishing when it counts the most.

“It started after we lost [in the playoffs],” Walker said. “The main point is we need to finish everything,”

Walker said the work put in is worth the fruits of success in the fall, but sometimes the early morning workouts get to him.

“Those 6 a.m. workouts are tough at times,” Walker said.

Spring brings chance to continue success

n The nationally ranked ACU men’s tennis team won its fi fth straight match after defeating Division I opponent Illinois-Chicago.

By MICHAEL FREEMANONLINE EDITOR

The ACU tennis teams each racked up another win on Wednesday at the Eager Tennis Pavilion. The Wildcat women trounced Southeastern Oklaho-ma State 9-0, while the men slipped by Illinois-Chicago 4-3. The women now own an overall record of 16-2, and the men are 18-7.

The ACU women, currently ranked No. 6 in Division II polls, swept through most of the matches against conference opponent, Southeastern Oklahoma State on Wednesday. After winning the three doubles in convincing fashion, Aina Rafolomanantsiatosika, Irene Squillaci, Meagan Brown and Sarah Drummond smashed their opponents in singles play. Dina Pavlin and Alexsandra Vucic each won their singles matches in third set tiebreakers. In the end, the women picked up their 13th straight victory.

“The girls are just tough,” said assistant head coach John Walker. “They’re pretty much winning these matches just because they’re better than other teams.”

Also on Wednesday, the Wildcat men, the No. 26 team in Division II tennis, played a highly contested match against the University of Illinois at Chicago. Both teams split wins in singles matches, half of which needed three sets to decide the winner. The determining factor came in doubles play where the ACU men dug down to take all three matches.

“I just feel like we’ve got a good group

Men down D-I opponent

On the Webwww.acuoptimist.com

n See an online video profi ling the nationally ranked ACU tennis teams and their success this season at: www.acuoptimist.com

BRIAN SCHMIDT SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER Linebacker Nathan Scott makes a one-handed catch during spring practice on Wednesday.

Football

Softball

Baseball

See GOLF page 7

See TENNIS page 7

See NAIMADU page 7

See IRVING page 7

The ACU baseball team is the only team in the Lone Star Conference that is nationally ranked and is in the top three in numerous categories in the LSC.

n Runs scored — 291 (1st)

n Hits — 361 (1st)

n RBI — 254 (2nd)

n Team batting avg. — .367 (2nd)

n Triples — 20 (2nd)

n Slugging pct. — .572 (3rd)

n Doubles — 72 (3rd)

n Homeruns — 27 (3rd)

BASEBALL BREAKDOWN

See BONNEAU page 7

E-mail Johnson at: djj04a@acu.edu