Optimist the
FRIDAY
September 2, 2005
Vol. 94, No. 5 1 section, 8 pages www.acuoptimist.com
Kicking off
Short tenure
‘Grand’ opening
The Wildcats begin the season against No. 25 Central Oklahoma, page 8
Lipscomb University’s new president was an ACU trustee since the spring, page 3
Music lovers of all ages will enjoy A Grand Night for Singing, page 5
On-site director hired for Uruguay
Healing body and soul
n The hiring will allow Study Abroad students to return to Montevideo after a semester off. By MALLORY SHERWOOD Managing Editor
Photo courtesy of JASON MORRIS
A Zambian mother and child visit with an American doctor from the Zambia Medical Mission team in July in a rural African school building in Kanyanga, Zambia.
Zambia Medical Mission brings God and medicine to Africa By MALLORY SHERWOOD Managing Editor
After flying for 23 hours with more than 100 people from across the United States, Lane Miller was ready to disembark from the South African Airways airplane. He looked around the plane at the group of people sitting and sleeping in their black T-shirts with Zambia Medical Mission printed on the front, knowing the 20 or so from Abilene and smiling at the others. He glanced out the window as the plane was touching down and saw Victoria Falls. Finally, he thought, he was back again, back in Zambia, Africa. Miller, freshman exercise science major from Abilene, was one of nearly 180 people from across the world that had arrived nearly 8,000 miles from home on July 6, to work alongside local Zambians to serve with the Medical Mission, which brings medical care to villagers for the next two weeks. This was Miller’s second year to come to Africa and although he had been here before, his mind raced as he boarded the plane first in Dallas, then Atlanta, Johannesburg, Africa, and here in Livingstone, just a few hours away from where they would stay.
“I knew what to expect,” Miller said, “I just had nervous anticipation about getting there. I was excited to be serving the Lord.” As he waited at the airport, holding his small carry-on bag and pulling the red tote filled with donated medicine from across the world, a caravan of 14 vehicles was on its way to pick up the travelers and take them back to Namwianga, their host city. Coming in a yellow school bus, Julie McQueen, instructor of developmental mathematics, contemplated the past few days’ events. This was her third year here so she knew she had to get here early if she wanted to overcome the jetlag and seven-hour time difference before she began working. She had arrived three days earlier with her husband, Ronnie, to begin setting up for the medical mission that was to begin once the entire group arrived. McQueen had begun by sorting through dental equipment, an area she was familiar with and would be working in for the next two weeks. Her husband found himself busy with the task of setting up tents, finding water for when they traveled to remote villages and solving other problems as they arose. Now they were in Livingstone, wondering
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how all the people would fit with their luggage and medicine. As the group boarded the buses, Land Rovers, small pickup trucks and the back of an eighteen-wheeler, they curiously looked at the landscape on the trip to their headquarters, noticing how much it looked like West Texas and anxious to begin early the next morning, some ready to do what they had been doing for the past six years, some anxious because they had no idea what to expect.
URUGUAY page 7
Dyess stays unaffected by closings n Dyess Air Force Base will neither lose nor gain airplanes in this round of base realignments.
All in a day’s work The next morning at 6 a.m., the group awoke, and excitement was in the air as they loaded into the vehicles and drove 10 mph across dirt paths that had been made so the group could make it to the village. As they drove the 37 miles to the first village, Zambian volunteers broke out into song, encouraging them as they prepared for the first day. The mission was set up on school grounds, and by 9 a.m. the doctors, nurses, assistants and spiritual teams were ready to begin helping the people of Zambia. However, the locals had begun arriving hours before. “The villagers had heard about the mission from the chief of the village, and by the time it opened we had more than 200
Next spring, students will be able to return to Montevideo, Uruguay, to participate in the Study Abroad program that was suspended this fall until a permanent director was found when the on-site directors, Dr. Warren Roane and his wife, returned to the United States when their children began high school. Dr. Rhonda Collier, associate professor of English at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tenn., was named Friday to be the permanent on-site director for the Uruguay program beginning in January 2006. Collier, a professor at Lipscomb since 2001, graduated with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in industrial engineering from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville and Georgia Tech, respectively. She also earned a master of arts degree in English and in comparative literature from the University of Tenneesse-Chattanooga, according to the Nashville City paper. Collier also completed her doctorate in comparative literature.
Photo courtesy of CHAD MORRIS
Jason Morris baptizes a young Zambian mother a few minutes before his brother, Chad, baptizes the woman’s daughter as part of the Medical Mission. people descending upon us,” said Dr. Neal Coates, assistant professor of political science and a first-time member of the Zambia Medical Mission. “Either the night before they start arriving by the hundreds and set up campfires, or they arrive early in the morning.” As the people arrived, volunteers, such as Miller, began directing them into lines by gender because the men would cut in See
MISSION page 7
By TIFFANY TAYLOR Features Editor
The Base Realignment and Closures commission voted Aug. 26 not to transfer B-1 bombers to or remove C-130 cargo planes from Dyess Air Force base. No changes were made to the Abilenebased Dyess because the BRAC commission decided not to close the Ellsworth Air Force base in South Dakota, which would have resulted in Dyess receiving 24 B-1 bombers. The transfer would also have resulted in Dyess sending it’s 22 C-130 cargo planes to the Little Rock Air Force base. However, some thought the domino effect was unnecessary because Dyess’ runways and hangers have space for additional B-1 bombers and the C-130 cargo planes. “We can have the B-1s and keep the CSee
BRAC page 4
CSI experience comes to Abilene n Dr. Autumn Sutherlin led 16 Honors Program students in a colloquium Monday that allowed them to look into the world of crime scene investigation. By LAUREN SUTTON Staff Writer
Sixteen honor students analyzed a murder scene Monday and will attempt to solve the crime in the coming weeks. To teach students about forensic science, as well as to satisfy one of three re-
quired colloquium for the honors program, 16 students have been given the opportunity to participate in a new, sixweek course called CSI: Abilene. CSI: Abi lene began M o n d a y Sutherlin night with a mock crime scene in Foster Science Building. Students played the role of forensic
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investigators by observing, surveying and drawing sketches at the place where the mock crime occurred. For the next several weeks, students will analyze the data they found as they learn skills like taking DNA from blood samples and studying fingerprints. Autumn Sutherlin, professor of biochemistry, came up with the idea of CSI: Abilene while searching for ways to teach a fun, hands-on colloquium. After attending a workshop on
forensic science at Williams College, Sutherlin received the materials and wisdom to oversee CSI: Abilene. Chemistry, biochemistry and biology students couldn’t join the colloquium, Sutherlin said. “This limitation was put on because I felt that if there were both science and non-science students in the class, I would either bore one group with material that is already covered See
CSI page 7
BRIAN SCHMIDT/Chief Photographer
Seniors Daniel Wheeler, English major from Van, and Jason Knight, political science and English major from Abilene, pick up evidence from the mock crime scene in the Foster Science Building for the Honors colloquium, CSI: Abilene.
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