FRIDAY
Optimist the
September 23, 2005
Vol. 94, No. 11 1 section, 8 pages www.acuoptimist.com
On the run
Taking to the skies
Not quite heavenly
Eastern New Mexico brings a potent rushing attack to Shotwell, page 8
The annual Balloon Fest will be Friday through Sunday, page 5
Just Like Heaven tries too hard to be like its predecessor, Ghost, page 4
Hurricane Rita hits home Students from Gulf Coast prepare for worst as families prepare to move out By MALLORY SHERWOOD Managing Editor
1801 Lincoln Drive may receive a few more room mates Friday as family and friends from the southern coastline of Texas and Loui siana flee and head north, some as far as Abilene. Ben Fike, junior Christian ministry major from Friends wood waits to hear from his parents if they will move in with him and his roommates until Hurricane Rita passes
through the Houston area and over their home. “They packed everything into the car that was irre placeable and left to come here yesterday morning,” Fike said of his parent’s move. His parents, along with more than 1.8 million resi dents in the two Gulf States, fled after a mandatory evac uation was issued in order to avoid a repeat of Hurri cane Katrina, which hit Lou isiana on Aug. 29. Hurricane Rita, the 17th
named storm of the hurri cane season, is currently wa vering between a Category 4 and 5 rating but is expected to return to full strength by the time it crashes into the coastline late Friday or early Saturday. Thursday afternoon, Rita sat 460 miles off of the coast traveling northwest at nine miles per hour sustaining winds of more than 165 miles per hour, according to the Na tional Hurricane Center. The Texas and Louisiana
coastlines are the hurricane’s target and where the nation’s largest concentration of oil refineries lies. This region ac counts for 25 percent of the nation’s oil output. Forecasters predict that Rita could be the strongest hurricane ever to hit Texas. To compare storm strengths, the last Category 5 hurricane to hit the United States’ coast line was Andrew, smashing into southern Florida in 1992. See
RITA page 7
“My parents boarded up our house, took all of our valuable items and paperwork and moved the rest to the second floor. It’s going to be gone, completely destroyed, though.” Kaia Jennings, sophomore special education major from Houston
Centennial speaker delays trip to Abilene n MSNBC anchor Lester Holt will stay in Galveston to cover Hurricane Rita, and the dinner event will be rescheduled as soon as possible. By JONATHAN SMITH Editor in Chief
The effects of Hurricane Rita hit the uni versity already Thursday, two days before it is expected to hit the Texas coastline, as Les ter Holt, anchor for MSNBC, postponed his Thursday speaking engagement in Abilene. Jennifer Ellison, Centennial activities coor dinator, said Holt, scheduled as the universi ty’s first of eight Centennial speakers, con tacted the university Thursday morning to inform organizers that he would not be able make it to Abilene because he would be cov ering the hurricane from Galveston, where the airport has been closed, and no flight was available to bring him to Abilene. Ellison said the university heard Wednes day that Holt’s plans to come to the univer sity were up in the air, but he had planned to have a plane fly him to Abilene for the 7 p.m. event at the Civic Center. Amber Peck, director of alumni relations and chair of the Centennial Events Task
Singing a song in search for support
See
HOLT page 7
SA supports addressing parking issue BRIAN SCHMIDT/Chief Photographer
Mariachi performer Abraham D.C. plays his guitar and sings outside the Campus Center on Wednesday as Dulce Vidana, sophomore marketing and accounting major from Zacatecas, Mexico, advertises Hispanos Unidos’ event, Entra a la Plaza, which will be at 7 p.m. Friday by the GATA Fountain.
Follies goes on ‘Mission’ n This year’s Freshman Follies production will include a studentproduced video, which will tie all the themes of the acts together under a central theme. By MALLORY SHERWOOD Managing Editor
Cullen Auditorium will be filled on Sept. 30 as members of the freshman class step onto the stage for the first showing of Freshman Follies: The Mission, a production
comprised of acts written and performed by the freshmen residence hall groups, solo ists, small groups and a large chorus. Follies, a tradition since 1972, brings family, students and members from the com munity to watch as the fresh men make their debut act on campus. Jessica Grice, freshman psy chology major from Detroit and performing soloist, said this class has a lot of talent.
“Come because we’re good, because it’s fun and because you should support everything,” Grice said. “What else are you going to do in Abilene?” This year’s theme, “The Mission,” focuses on both the university’s centennial year and a spin-off of Dan Brown’s best-selling novel, The DaVinci Code, with a treasure hunt unfolding in front of the audi See
FOLLIES page 7
Freshman Follies info Students will perform in Freshman Follies on Sept. 30 and October 1. Here are the details about the performances: • The theme for this year: “The Mission” • Performance times: Sept. 30 at 7 and 9 p.m. and Oct. 1 at 1, 3 and 7 p.m. • Where: Cullen Auditorium • Tickets cost $9 and can be purchased at the door or online at www.freshmanfollies.com/tickets. • New this year: An original film has been created by students to tie all the acts’ themes together.
n Congress passes resolutions to encourage Edwards Hall residents to park in the Big Purple lot and to investigate the high costs of intramurals. By TIFFANY TAYLOR Features Editor
Congress voted Wednesday to pass a resolution addressing parking problems at Mabee and Edwards residence halls. Freshman Sen. Hady Mawajdeh asked Congress to support alleviating the prob lem of congestion in the parking lot Ma bee and Edwards share. While discussing parking with residents at Mabee, where Mawajdeh lives, he found students were frustrated because their parking lot is often full, while the nearby library park ing lot is restricted to faculty and staff, Mawajdeh said. Mawajdeh surveyed 44 men in his hall and found that, this semester, they had amassed a total of more than 100 park ing tickets. Written in response to this problem, the resolution states that a solution may be reached by asking residents of Edwards See
SA page 7
Volunteers teach students art with Grace n The Grace Museum has organized a program sending volunteers and artists into elementary school classrooms to increase interest in art. By JACI SCHNEIDER Copy Editor
Anna Carroll/Staff Photographer
Beverly Kimbrough, outreach docent of the Grace Museum, introduces a guest artist at Fannin Elementary school on Sept. 15.
About 20 fifth graders stand silently in their class room, gathered around an artist as he demonstrates how to sketch one girl’s eyes. The students have already spent the morning learning to sketch cartoon characters, in cluding Garfield and Snoopy, but they are not bored or
Department of Journalism and Mass Communication
restless with the activities. This is as calm as the class has ever been, said their teacher, Sharissa Entrichel. Donovan Sparkawk, a lo cal artist, is in the classroom with Beverly Kimbrough, a volunteer outreach docent for the Grace Museum. Kim brough visits classrooms each month to teach children about art. “I have seen them engaged because it is something new they are learning,” Kim brough said. “But they don’t know they’re learning,” Kimbrough said when she first enters a classroom,
she tells her students three things: Everyone is an art ist; we’re all going to learn something; and we’re going to have fun. Kimbrough isn’t an art teacher. She never taught in a classroom before three years ago. The most art education she had was a summer course at an art museum in Dallas when she was 12 years old. But now, the retired banker, learns about art and teaches students throughout Abilene as part of the Grace Museum art outreach program. See
GRACE page 7
Anna Carroll/Staff Photographer
Donovan Sparhawk, a local artist, shows Fannin Elementary students artwork as part of the Grace Museum’s program to visit classrooms.
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