OPTIMIST THE
FRIDAY October 1, 2004
Department of Journalism and Mass Communication
Abilene Christian University
Vol. 93, No. 13 1 section, 10 pages www.acuoptimist.com
Serving the ACU community since 1912
Classic movie review:
Web site links students with careers:
Crossing over LSC:
Arts Editor Dee Travis reviews the black-and-white film Casablanca this week. Page 7
The CareerLink Web site allows students to post resumes and search for available job and internship opportunities. Page 5
The Wildcats play Lone Star Conference rival Southeastern Oklahoma State. Page 10
SA supports Opening Chapel flag Congress also creates committee to research student meal plans By JONATHAN SMITH EDITOR IN CHIEF
The Students’ Association showed support for the controversial American flag displayed during Opening Day Cere-
monies in Chapel. Anxious to respond to a petition that circulated last week against the size of the flag, Congress passed a resolution showing its approval of the flag and its size. “Students from other countries do not have a problem with the flag,” said Mabee Hall Rep. Jeremy Pond, freshman journalism major from
Burkburnett, concluding that the student body as a whole would also have no problem with it. However, some members of Congress did have a problem with the resolution, questioning whether enough feedback from students had been collected to make that decision. Pond said he and other members had collected more
than 90 signatures supporting the size of the flag in a couple of days, about equal to the number of signatures collected last week against the flag. Accounting for the number of signatures from both petitions plus the number of Congress members at the meeting, about 250 students have had the opportunity to voice their opinion on the
flag—a number several members said was too low to have an accurate view on student opinion. Some, although they might have supported the resolution’s intention, tried to refer the petition to SA’s constituent relations committee to do more research and poll a more signifSee CONGRESS Page 9
SA agenda • Approved a resolution in support of the large American flag displayed during Opening Day Ceremonies in Chapel. • Unanimously approved the creation of a committee to study student meal plans and ways to improve them. • Appointed Adam Smith, junior youth and family ministry major from Whitehouse, as Biblical Studies Building representative.
A life changed By JACI SCHNEIDER OPINION EDITOR
Paul Goncalves easily blends into the crowds of students loitering campus; students would have trouble picking him out from a crowd of young men with shaggy hair and baseball caps.
BRIAN SCHMIDT/Chief Photographer
Thomas Robinson, freshman Bible major from New York City, attacks Paul Goncalves, freshman biblical text major from Itu, Brazil, on the second floor of McKinzie Hall on Wednesday. Goncalves and his friends purchased the gorilla costume this semester because he said he wants to wear it to make people laugh.
Theme selected for homecoming Alumni Relations Office encourages students to ‘Go Wild with the Cats’ By APRIL WARD PAGE 2 EDITOR
“Go Wild with the Cats” is the theme for Homecoming, which is Oct. 21-24, and Steering Committee member Kathleen Pina said preparations for the event are under way. “The alumni office picked the theme,” said Pina, senior political science major from
San Antonio. “They wanted to do something that is really inventive that we can have a lot of fun with.” The annual Homecoming Parade will be Oct. 23, and Stephen Moore, professor of English, and Susan Lewis, instructor of journalism and mass communication, were selected to lead the parade as grand marshals. “Steering Committee members were asked to nominate a male and female faculty member that demonstrate See PARADE Page 9
He’s similar to most young men his age; he fiddles around on the guitar, plays soccer in his residence hall hallway, and he’s still trying to find a church in Abilene to call his own. Like many freshmen, Paul, a freshman biblical text major, has a story. When asked by people why he chose to come to ACU, he can say because his parents and his sister came here. He can say because it’s a good school. But his story goes deeper, and it begins several thousand miles away in the cities of Brazil and in a different lifetime. Paul’s problem with pornography began before he became a teenager and continued for several years. He struggled with all types, but he said the real issue isn’t the pictures. “The problem is what it causes,” he said, “contamination of the mind — lust.” His parents brought him up in a church environment. He was part of a church-planting team in Brazil, but nothing ever clicked. “I grew up in the Church of Christ, but I wasn’t a Christian,” Paul said matter-offactly, in the same way he talked about his addiction to pornography. He’s not ashamed, but ready to let people know that he made it out alive. “The Lord brought me out of that,” he stated, without shame, without blinking eyes, without reddened cheeks. “When I was 16, the Lord found me,” he said. “I don’t believe any human being caused it.”
Paul said his conversion was a sudden event, a complete and abrupt turn, and even his family was amazed by the change in his life. “It was absolutely stunning,” said his sister, Ali Kaiser, a senior Bible major, but a freshman at ACU at the time. She said she heard about his baptism, but when she went home, she saw the full transformation. “Paul was a different person from the inside out,” she said. “I literally saw him go from the dark to the light.” Paul transformed from Ali’s sometimes-violent and jealous kid brother, to a cherished friend. He even walked Ali down the aisle at her wedding this summer because their father performed the ceremony. Paul explains the change simply as a work of God. “Hearing the Lord’s voice is a powerful thing,” he said. “I think that most people who have an addiction, whether drugs or alcohol or anything, they don’t believe that there’s hope,” Paul explained. “They think that’s who they are — it’s the greatest trick Satan ever played.” But he learned that the only way out was to give in to the truth of Christ. “Jesus said, ‘You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free,’” Paul quoted from the Gospel of John. The power of Christ’s truth changed Paul’s life from an existence with no satisfaction to an “awesome adventure.” See GONCALVES Page 8
Voting Reminder
Memorial service planned
• The last day to register to vote is Monday. To register online, go to: www.rockthevote.com or www.delcareyourself.com
Student could face manslaughter charges for fatal collision
• Or pick up a voter registration form at the information desk in the Campus Center. Forms must be postmarked by Monday to be valid. • You will need to register to vote in Taylor County or request an absentee ballot for your home county. • To request an absentee ballot, go to your state’s official Web site or call your county clerk.
By JACI SCHNEIDER OPINION EDITOR
A memorial service for former student Emmanuel Anyanwu is being tentatively planned for Thursday night in the Chapel on the Hill. Anyanwu, 22, died early Saturday evening in a car wreck on North First and Mesquite streets. He was partially ejected from his Mitsubishi sports utility vehicle after it was hit from behind. According to the Abilene Police Department accident report, Anyanwu died
at the scene. Jamie Cromwell, senior chemistry major from Pinehurst, was driving the other vehicle, a four-door Mitsubishi, and may face charges of manslaughter later this year. Both vehicles were traveling east on North First Street when the accident occurred. “I was on my way to work, brushing my hair – same road I take every single day,” Cromwell said. “It’s so random because it’s something you do every single day, then it’s just different.” Cromwell said the brush got tangled in her hair, and she dropped it. She bent down to pick it up, and when she looked up she saw the SUV
stopped at the intersection in front of her. “I knew I was going to hit him,” she said. When the two vehicles collided, Anyanwu’s vehicle flipped. According to the accident report, he was not wearing a seatbelt. “I saw it flip, and I started freaking out,” Cromwell said. After getting out of her car, she tried to help, but couldn’t get him out of the vehicle. Eventually, another car pulled up and called 911. An emergency medical technician also happened to drive by the scene and stopped to help. “It could have been seconds, See WRECK Page 8