Vol. 94, No. 34 1 section, 10 pages
WEDNESDAY
February 8, 2006
www.acuoptimist.com
Strong start
New heights
Open season
The baseball team opened the season with four wins, page 8
Some students have begun rock climbing several times a week, page 3
The Wildcats’ team tennis season began last week at home, page 8
Campaign lacks $50 million n Administrators said reaching the $150 million goal by December will “be quite a stretch,” but fundraisers will continue to pursue that goal. By JACI SCHNEIDER Copy Editor
Fundraisers have raised about two-thirds of their goal
for the Centennial Campaign but need to raise $50 million more to reach their goal by Dec. 31. The campaign, which began in 2001, has a goal of $150 million, said Brett Magner, director of development for the university. “As of right now we have a little over $100 million,”
Magner said. Since the early ’90s, the university has raised money with campaigns, Magner said. Every gift a donor makes counts toward that campaign’s goal. The Centennial Campaign divides into three categories: the annual fund, which is what helps run the university on a day-to-day basis; capital, which
includes building projects and library acquisitions; and an endowment fund, which provides reliable income and scholarships for the university every year through interest. Each category has its own goal and its own typical kind of donations, Magner said. See
FUND page 5
Magner
Lining up for some soul
Popular music attracts audience n The new course, which focuses on music during the 20th century, also will be taught during Summer I and maybe next fall. By LUKE HARRIS Staff Writer
Students are learning about the popular music of the United States in the new popular music course this semester. The new course is offered in one section in its first semester and, so far, the professor said it seems to be going well. Greg Bush, director of jazz studies, teaches the class and said students seem to be receiving the class well. The class is offered as a fine arts elective to all majors and is a study of popular music from the 20th century, starting from the early Bush 1900s until almost a decade ago. The course seeks to explain what music was popular and what social and political causes were behind the music’s popularity. “I really enjoy it, and I hope that the students are enjoying it as well,” Bush said. Bush said the class has 84 students and is taught in Walling Lecture Hall, which holds 150, but Bush said he believes the class has a very strong number considering it was offered on fairly short notice last semester. The class is listed as a special topics class this semester, but Bush said it is being worked on to where it will be offered as a music course. Emerald McGowan/Staff Photographer
See
David Galaz, junior international studies major from Elsa, serves food to students Monday during the Soul Food Festival, an event to celebrate Black History Month.
Ag department adds four tracks n Dr. Foy Mills Jr. said he anticipates the move could increase the department’s enrollment by almost 50 percent in a year and a half. By MALLORY SHERWOOD Managing Editor
The Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Department added four new tracks to its environmental science major this spring, a move the administration hopes will boost the department’s numbers in the future. “We anticipate by this fall, but more likely by the fall of ’07, that we will have 100 majors,” said Dr. Foy Mills Jr., chair of the Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Department. The department houses 68 total majors divided between environmental science, agribusiness and animal science. Mills said the track additions stem from a 10-year plan the department developed in 2002. “We took a look at where the current employment and projected employment opportunities were for our students,” said Dr. Kent Gallaher, associate professor of environmental science, “and wanted to craft the emerging technology with the emerging careers that would resonate with
our current and future students.” By fall 2006, students will be able to begin on the new concentrations, although students are already transitioning into the concentrations this semester, Mills said. Each of the concentrations, which are phase two of the 10-year plan, partner with a different department on campus, which will help the students with this major in the future, Gallaher said. “We’re reinventing the department Mills to make it stronger, more focused and flexible, so students can focus on specific career objectives,” he said. The concentrations, including Wildlife and Natural Resources Management, Outdoor Studies, Politics and Public Policy, and Field Technology, partner with the exercise science and health, chemistry, political science and biology departments, respectively. “Frankly, we had to face reality and envision what the future would be like when we reviewed our deSee
AGRICULTURE page 5
Department of Journalism and Mass Communication
Presidential, National Merit Scholarship change Effective immediately for all Presidential and National Merit scholars, scholarships can be used: • For nine consecutive semesters, instead of eight • For summer courses, including Maymester, between the first and ninth semester
MUSIC page 5
Scholarship rules changed n Presidential and National Merit scholars now can use their scholarship over nine semesters and for summer courses to give their schedules more flexibility. By JACI SCHNEIDER Copy Editor
Presidential and National Merit scholars now have more
flexibility in the time frame of their educations. The scholarship recipients now will have nine semesters to complete their coursework and can take classes during the summer and have their scholarships apply toward their summer tuition. The changes will apply to all scholarship recipients
immediately, said Dr. Chris Willerton, director of the Honors Program and professor of English. “It will be a little more expensive for the school,” Willerton said, “but it will serve the students, and the flexibility is worth it.” See
SCHOLARSHIP page 5
University installs new bicycle racks n After the Department of Foreign Languages donated $7,000 for the cause, bike racks were put in by the Administration and COBA buildings and the Campus Center. By KATHERINE FLANARY Student Reporter
Students who ride their bikes around campus might have noticed new bike racks. A group of students circulated a petition on campus to have new bike racks located around campus. When the petitioning students approached Jeff Haseltine, associate professor of foreign languages and assistant dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, he informed them the Foreign Languages Department was already donating $7,000 to the cause, said Bob Nevill, director of Physical Resources, in an e-mail.
“The beginning of the bike installations are credited to them,” Nevill said. Physical Resources received a request in the later part of November by Haseltine to put together a cost estimate to install the bike racks around campus. “Physical Resources received costs from several vendors and contractors, then put together an estimate that [Haseltine] and Melanie Booker, executive vice president of the Students’ Association could look at and decide where they wanted the bike racks to be installed first,” Nevill said. Nevill said the new locations of bike racks include the south entrance of the Administration Building, the east side of the Campus Center, the west side of the Campus Center and the See
BIKES page 5
Anna Carroll/Staff Photographer
Mitchell Halstead, junior youth and family ministry major from The Woodlands, unlocks his bike from the rack by the Onstead-Packer Biblical Studies Building.
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