FRIDAY
Optimist the
August 26, 2005
Vol. 94, No. 3 1 section, 10 pages www.acuoptimist.com
Starting to settle
New faces
Sunshine state bound
The football team’s starters take shape as their first game approaches, page 10
Three academic departments added new faculty members this semester, page 3
The volleyball team plays Friday in Florida at Tampa University, page 10
Officials delay changes in pledging rules n Pledging activities will be scrutinized more closely this fall to reduce risk management and safety issues as future rule changes are considered. By JONATHAN SMITH Editor in Chief
Pledging rules for this year won’t change significantly after all, after a summer of discussions between Campus Life and university
Invested money showing returns n After increasing $75 million during the past three years, the university’s endowment pushed past the $200 million mark for the first time last week. By JONATHAN SMITH Editor in Chief
For the first time in its history, the university’s endowment climbed above $200 million last week after a $4 million gift came through, said Jack Rich, executive vice president of the university. After a strong year for donations to the university and investment returns, Rich estimates the endowment will have grown about 14 percent this year, about double what the university estimates to be average returns on an investment portfolio. Last week, Phil Schubert, vice president for finance, said strong investments helped the university’s total net worth increase to $234 million, which takes into account the endowment, the university’s operating budget and other gifts to the school. However, very little of the funds in the endowment go toward the university’s regular operating costs. In most situations, less than 5 percent of the endowment is used in the university’s operating budget, which now provides an additional $9 million to $10 million per year. The rest of the money is invested to collect returns—returns that have been strong during the See ENDOWMENT page 8
officials and social club advisers and officers. Dr. Wayne Barnard, dean of Campus Life, said, however, that risk management will be more highly scrutinized as the university tries to reduce safety and hazing concerns in the pledging process. “We’re looking through a different lens,” Barnard said. “We’re looking at risk
management more closely.” Much of the concern was raised after the university brought in Rick Barnes, speaker for a nationwide Barnard program that sends people around the country to address issues
such as hazing, to address club leaders and review each club’s pledging proposals. Barnard said some of the concerns raised included: the extremely physical nature of pledging, particularly with men’s clubs, sleep deprivation that comes from Bid Night lasting all night and the use of blindfolds, among other examples. After hearing Barnes and
having discussions with other administrators, Barnard said the general concensus in the spring was, “We need some pretty significant changes.” With summer quickly approaching when many clubs plan pledging events for the fall, Barnard said club officers wanted to know about possible changes. On Monday of finals week in May,
they were given a draft of possible changes. Although those changes were not finalized, Barnard said the list “created a furor.” Frater Sodalis president Mac Leavell, senior youth and family ministry major from Abilene, said the list of possible changes—which included items like no calSee PLEDGING page 8
Taking stock of the past n With the task of documenting the university’s Centennial collection, Becky Estrella spends her days in a house full of 100 years of ACU’s history. By TIFFANY TAYLOR Features Editor
Becky Estrella spends her days in the attic, playing with old school sweaters and reading other people’s mail. Of course, as curator of the university’s centennial artifact collection, Estrella is paid to sift through 100 years of school history that departments and alumni have sent her way. Estrella works in the “attic,” which is what she and her two assistants have named the house on Avenue E that used to be a children’s facility. Now, thousands of university artifacts lay in the house waiting to be sorted. As curator, Estrella’s job is to appraise, document and decide the destination of each piece. But for Estrella, this is anything but “just a job.” “When I get collections from people, I feel like I know those people,” Estrella said. “We talk about them just like we talk about our friends.” Such enthusiasm for historical artifacts and her extensive training in public history prompted the Centennial Collection Task Force Committee and the administration to choose Estrella for the position. “She is just so excited with evidence of our historical past,” said Dr. Charles Marler, professor emeritus of journalism and mass communication and chair of the task force. The university has since
Brian Schmidt/Chief Photographer
Bethany Allen, junior history major from Abilene, assists Becky Estrella, Centennial curator, in organizing a display outside the president’s office in the Administration Building of items from almost each of the presidents in the university’s history. placed Estrella in an old child development center, complete with rusty front yard swing set, close to campus to complete her work.
Sifting through the past She walks past rooms full of trophies the university has accumulated over the years, brought to the attic in order to organize and take stock, to get to the largest room in the house, where the main collection of artifacts wait; some, such as the white metal antique clothing iron, are large enough to sit on the floor, while the smaller items are organized on shelves. Wrapped in tissue paper, Estrella’s favorite item, a wooden jewelry box handmade by a young
man in his woodworking class at the university, sits on her desk. Pulling away the tissue paper, Estrella explained why she still can not bring herself to put the item on display. “It’s just a jewelry box,” Estrella said, “It’s just something that was made in 1971. Who cares? Well, I do. “He gave this to his fiancé for Christmas, they were married in February, I think, 1972, and he died three years later. And his wife sent this to us—and I just think this is the most sentimental thing for a person to send,” Estrella said. She can’t bring herself to add the jewelry box, which still plays music, to a glass case because she doesn’t want people to see
Brian Schmidt/Chief Photographer
Becky Estrella, Centennial curator, sorts through items inside a jewelry box, which is part of the Centennial collection. the wooden box without understanding its significance. However, Estrella said eventually she would probably rotate the contents of the display cases and add the jewelry box. Part of her job is to decide what is
appropriate to include in the displays, although not all decisions have been as difficult as her favorite artifact. Glass cases around campus will usually inSee ESTRELLA page 8
Theatre puts on one ‘Grand Night’ n A Grand Night for Singing, the fall dinner show that features songs from 30 classic shows, opened Thursday and continues for the next three weekends. By MALLORY SHERWOOD Managing Editor
Brian Schmidt/Chief Photographer
Ben Jeffrey, senior theatre major from Kansas City, Mo., and Sunday Ibok, senior theatre major from Abilene, perform during the final dress rehearsal of A Grand Night for Singing on Wednesday.
Thursday was a night of love, food, music and dancing as 10 theatre majors began the year’s first production with “A Grand Night for Singing,” a dinner theatre celebrating the emotions of
Department of Journalism and Mass Communication
love in relationships. The fall dinner theatre, directed and choreographed by Dawne Swearingen, associate professor of theatre, is a Rogers and Hammerstein production with 30 classic shows represented through song. Swearingen said the cast will perform popular songs familiar to the audience from plays such as Oklahoma!, The King & I, Pipe Dream, The Sound of Music and Carousel.
The show was first produced in 1994 in New York and is not a typical performance, Swearingen said. “Those who come will get to enjoy a cabaret evening with the cast standing next to the piano singing familiar songs,” Swearingen said. “There is not a lot of costume and stage work that had to be done.” She said she chose five men and five women, twice as many as normally per-
Abilene Christian University
forms the play because she wanted to give the students more learning opportunities. Swearingen, a 1995 graduate of the Theatre Department, arrived in July to begin directing the production as a guest director and ended up landing a position in the Theatre Department. She taught for a short time at Baylor University and See THEATRE page 8
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