2006 09 15

Page 1

OPTIMIST

The Vol. 95, No. 7

IN THIS ISSUE CAMPUS Austin art

Art professor Dan McGregor opened a solo art gallery last weekend at Concordia University in Austin, page 3

ARTS

FRIDAY

1 section, 8 pages

September 15, 2006

www.acuoptimist.com

Professors tenured after tedious application n ACU gave eight professors from the university tenures and promotions. Tenure gives professors more educational freedom and trust. By SHARON RAPELJE Staff Writer

Eight faculty members from different departments received tenure and promotions this year.

When Dr. Bill Rankin, associate professor of English, was asked to define tenure, he used this example. Socrates was forced to drink poison because his teachings influenced his students to question their government. Socrates was killed because he dared to explore and question, but these are the things that tenure promotes, he said.

“A university is based on intellectual freedom that we should be able to talk about and think about anything,” Rankin said. Tenure is a pass from the college saying that it trusts the teacher and will allow him or her to discuss and examine things that the dominant culture or university culture may not agree with, Rankin said. However, he said, not ev-

eryone agrees with this freedom. “A lot of people think it is strange or even unfair, but if you think what a university is based on, it is pretty crucial,” Rankin said. The process is something both Rankin and Laura Baker, associate professor of the Brown Library, spent months preparing for. Baker said to apply you must have a port-

folio consisting of six categories: teaching/librarianship for librarians, scholarship, service, curriculum vitea, a statement about how we integrate faith with our work and collegiality. She defined collegiality as “cooperation and interaction with other departments on campus, being able to serve other departments See

TENURE page 5

Bid Night returns Superman returns again Stellar performances by Ben Affleck, Diane Lane and Adam Brody give ‘Hollywoodland’ a good review, page 4

SPORTS

All-nighter to unify woman pledges n Despite an early start to the rushing and pledging season, women’s club leaders said they feel prepared to begin the pledging activities Friday. By ATSUMI SHIBATA Page Designer

Hitting the road

The Wildcat football team has its first road game of the season Saturday against No. 10-ranked Southeastern Oklahoma State, page 8

ONLINE

Your future leaders

Elections took place this week for Students’ Association representatives and class senators. See the results at www. acuoptimist.com

SPEED READ Facebook frenzy

Facebook.com creator Mark Zuckerberg announced Wednesday the social networking Web site geared towards students will soon be open to the public. Outraged members formed groups with more than 2,300 members protesting only hours after the announcement was made. Members accused the creators of trying to compete with MySpace.com, a public networking Web site with more than 100 million members. With the news of the coming change, many members have vowed to leave the Web site once it goes public.

Women’s social clubs and pledges will have a devotional together at University Church of Christ on Friday at 5 p.m.; then Bid Night begins. Between 300 and 350 students are members of women’s social clubs, and about 250 female students participated in rushes this year. Women’s social club presidents have mixed emotions about the change of schedule this year, but they are mostly pleased with this rushing season’s turnout. “It was very stressful,” said Shelbi Watten, senior broadcast journalism major from Coppell and president of Ko Jo Kai. “We had to have everything ready before school even started. If we would have done Bid Night next week, it will be one or two weeks for Homecoming. That’s not enough time for girls to build a float.” Another women’s social See

WOMEN page 5

brian schmidt FILE PHOTO

The pledges of Gamma Sigma Phi hold watermelons last fall as one of their rituals that all pledges must go through on the steps of the amphitheatre.

Physical activities, initiation planned for men n To learn about club traditions, history and ‘to build boys into men,’ male pledges will endure a night of rigorous activities and secret traditions, unique to each club. By DENTON JOSEY Page 2 Editor

Bid Night is Friday, and men’s social clubs have prepared for a long night of initiation activities.

Because much of what social clubs do during Bid Night is secret, only so much can be learned without going through pledging. However, there seems to be only two sides to it: the pledges and the club’s current members. Brady Hilton, senior visual communication major from Abilene and president of Frater Sodalis, said Bid Night is one of the more important

things the club does, and he expects about 15 graduated members to show up for the event. “Bid night is a big deal for us, and the whole club comes and other guys from the past,” Hilton said. “Pledging is so you can teach traditions and build boys into men. You can teach them the values that we hold dear to us.” Bid Night is the only night

clubs are allowed to keep pledges out all night. Hilton said Frater Sodalis usually ends between 6 and 6:30 a.m., depending on the number of pledges. This year he expects to have between 20 and 30. “I would assume men’s pledging is more physically demanding than girls pledging,” Hilton said. “I don’t See

MEN page 5

Nine-week study looks at Jesus and hip-hop artists n Junior Matt Worthington created a Bible study for students that looks at the lyrics of hip-hop artists and how it relates to the life of Christ. By LAUREN SUTTON Opinion Editor

When Matt Worthington attended the student mission conference Urbana during

summer 2003, two of his passions collided. After hearing authors John Teter and Alex Gee speak on their book, Jesus and the HipHop Prophets, Worthington made a connection between God and the role of hip-hop music in modern culture. “If you don’t scream out, then the rocks will cry out,” Worthington, junior English

major from San Antonio, said of the scripture recited in hiphop legend Tupac Shakur’s eulogy. “You know, in a very real sense, hip-hop artists are the rocks that are crying out for truth in the world. It’s interesting because all truth is God’s truth, and it’s as if truth is desperate to be heard.” Students are “seeking the

Prophets could be implemented here. I thought of it as a means to develop cross-cultural relationships because there are so many different people who listen to hip-hop music.” When Mark Lewis, director of Spiritual Life, approached See

PROPHETS page 5

Fall enrollment exceeds record

Playing with fire

n Dr. Money, president of the university, announced Wednesday the 12-day enrollment count set a new record this year, with nearly 100 more students attending. By JARED FIELDS Managing Editor

brian schmidt CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER

Firefighters from the Abilene Fire Department demonstrate the dangers of lighting candles in residence halls Tuesday in the mall area.

Department of Journalism and Mass Communication

truth” by meeting weekly in a small-group setting to tell the story of Jesus through the poets of the day: hip-hop artists. Worthington’s idea to begin a small-group discussion on Jesus and the Hip-Hop Prophets was sparked by the cultural diversity at ACU. “I was wondering how the idea of Jesus and the Hip-Hop

ACU released official 12thday record-high enrollment numbers Wednesday for the fall semester with 4,796 students. This fall’s enrollment beats the previous record of 4,786 in fall 2004 and is an increase of 93 students from

last year. The enrollment includes 632 graduate students, 958 freshman and 4,164 undergraduates of students from 51 states and territories and 57 nations. ACU president Dr. Royce Money said, “This is a great way to end our Centennial year and begin our second century.” Robert Heil, assistant vice president for enrollment and strategic marketing operations, said in a press release that incoming freshmen are strong students and attracted to the programs here.

Abilene Christian University

“ A C U Enrollment c o n t i n u e s by numbers to attract an increas- The top three record enrollments ing numoccurred in the ber of stu- past six years: dents with high ACT n Fall 2006: 4,796 and SAT test scores, n Fall 2004: 4,786 strong high n Fall 2000: 4,761 school records and high involvement in their schools and churches,” Heil said. E-mail Fields at: optimist@acu.edu

Serving the ACU community since 1912


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.