OPTIMIST THE
FRIDAY September 10, 2004
Department of Journalism and Mass Communication
Abilene Christian University
Vol. 93, No. 7 1 section, 8 pages www.acuoptimist.com
Serving the ACU community since 1912
‘Vanity’ fares well:
Fair and rodeo begin Friday:
Tennis season opens:
The newest adaptation of the novel Vanity Fair recaptures the 19th century well. Page 4
Students and faculty can participate in activities for the West Texas Fair and Rodeo, which opens Friday and runs through Sept. 18. Page 8
The tennis team opens its season Saturday with the Wal-Mart Open in Abilene. Page 8
Enrollment hits record high total After decreasing for three years, numbers jump by 111 students By JONATHAN SMITH EDITOR IN CHIEF
Wondering about
West Texas EMILY CHASTAIN/Staff Photographer
By APRIL WARD PAGE 2 EDITOR
Scanning the menu at the average momand-pop diner, a golden, chicken-fried steak with gravy and steaming fried okra are as commonplace as the classic hamburger and fries. And unless you opt for the signature glass of iced sweet tea, you can escape the West Texas sun by ordering a Coke — so long as you realize that Sprite or Dr Pepper fit that description as well. In fact, the friendly “how are y’all” may not come just from the waitress but from the strangers seated at the tables nearby. West Texas has a culture all its own. While new students often spend their first weeks at ACU acclimating to the scorching August heat, it’s only a short while before students new to Texas discover things here aren’t exactly like they were back home. New vocabulary words
“When people started saying ‘all y’all,’ I didn’t know what to think.” Abigail Evans, junior elementary education major from Gresham, Ore.
can help ease the transition, beginning with the word “y’all” and the Texas super-plural “all y’all.” “People here seem to say y’all a lot, and I got used to that,” said Abigail Evans, junior elementary education major from Gresham, Ore. “When people started to say ‘all y’all,’ I didn’t know what to think.” And as for the Texas accent, many out-ofstate students said that most natives didn’t sound that different. “The accent really wasn’t that bad,” said
Jeremy Davis, freshman missions major from Chattanooga, Tenn. “In fact, the guys make fun of me here for my Tennessee accent.” For Donnie Tapie, freshman chemistry major from Orlando, Fla., a little Texas lingo would be an important addition to his college education. “I had never heard the word ‘hoss’ (a slang term describing someone as being tough or athletic) used before,” Tapie said. “The first time I heard it, I was like, ‘Are you talking about a horse, what?’ I guess the word must be pretty common out here.” The collective name for carbonated beverages varies from state to state. While they all lump together under the name Coke in Texas, pop and soda are a few of the more popular alternatives. Still, the appropriate name is an
University officials announced record enrollment figures for the fall of 4,786 students — a 111 student increase from last year and the first increase since 2000. Jack Rich, executive vice president, during a faculty luncheon Wednesday announced the enrollment totals gathered from the 12th-day enrollment figures — the figures considered the official enrollment numbers released the third week of each semester. The increase, said Dr. Royce Money, president of the university, is due in large part to an increased emphasis on improving enrollment by hiring more people in certain areas of recruiting. Phil Schubert, vice president of finance, said about $600,000 was added across the board in recruiting. “In every area where we added, we’ve increased [enrollment],” Money said, including freshman, graduate and bachelor of applied studies enrollment. Rich said during the past year, the university has invested in new recruiters, improved the way students are recruited and increased personalization of the recruitment process. He Rich also pointed to good retention of students and a large freshman class of more than 1,000 students as other reasons for the increase. Because of the investment to recruiting, the university enrolled 90 more students than the 4,696 projected for the budget, Schubert said. That Schubert increase could generate about $1 million to $1.5 million of added flexibility beyond what was projected, although enrollment plays only a part of the budget as a whole. However, Schubert said it appears the investment has paid off tremendously. The 12th day enrollment figures are one of the early indicators of how closely the university will be able to follow its projected budget. Schubert said he will be meeting with the finance committee in the next week and will have a good idea about the budget toward the end of the month. “It’s a little early to get our arms around all the financial benefits,” Schubert said. “It’s been a while since we’ve felt this positively financially across all spectrums.”
E-mail Smith at: jvs02a@acu.edu
See CULTURE Page 5
Florida hurricanes leave families waiting to rebuild With Ivan en route, families wait to clean from Charley, Frances By RUBEN GONZALEZ STUDENT REPORTER
Charley came. Frances just left. Now Floridians have Hurricane Ivan to worry about as it is expected to sweep through Florida this week. On Wednesday, Ivan ravaged across the Caribbean, damaging homes in Barbados, St. Lucia and St. Vincent, while leaving thousands without water, electricity and tele-
phone service. Ivan has since been upgraded to a Category 5 tropical storm and will be the third hurricane this year, proceeding hurricanes Frances and Charley, which occurred early in the season. Estimated losses for Hurricane Charley were $7.4 billion dollars, and Frances’ early estimates range from $2 billion to $10 billion. “It is a mess out there right now,” said Ryan Bowman, junior communication major from Polk City, Fla. “Normally the cleanup would begin, but right now we have to wait on Ivan and see what it does.”
“I was scared for my family, definitely. But living in Florida, you get used to it.” Tabatha Hart, senior business marketing major from Eustis, Fla.
Bowman, who has family in South Miami and Orlando, said some family members have lost everything, but a disaster like this only strengthens the family bonds. According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency Web site, 472 shelters remain open in Florida, Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina, housing 92,715 evacuees.
One million gallons of water are in Florida now, and another 1.6 million gallons are in transit; 12.6 million pounds of ice are in the state, while another 8 million pounds are en route; 16,900 Meals Ready to Eat are on hand with another 1.1 million on the way; and enough baby formula and food to nourish 7,730 infants is en route.
Tabatha Hart, senior business marketing major from Eustis, Fla., said her family easily spends $300 in preparation for hurricanes and her family is used to going through these motions. “I was scared for my family, definitely,” Hart said. “But living in Florida, you get used to it. It’s like living in Kansas and having tornados.” Hart said that despite her family having no electricity, she spoke to her father on Saturday by cell phone, and he said everything was relatively OK. Demetria Thompson, sen-
ior history major from Charleston, S.C., has seen her share of hurricanes. Thomson said she remembers when Hurricane Hugo devastated the East Coast and is worried by the way it has been compared with Ivan. “If Ivan is anything close to Hugo, I feel really bad for those people because many will be left with nothing,” Thompson said. “The worst part of it all is that there is nothing that can be done to steer it away from its path.” E-mail Gonzalez at: optimist@acu.edu