WEDNESDAY October 13, 2004
OPTIMIST THE
Department of Journalism and Mass Communication
Abilene Christian University
www.acuoptimist.com
Serving the ACU community since 1912
Learning from Lightfoot:
Radio station looks for pledges:
Comeback Cats:
Through the past 46 years, Dr. Neil Lightfoot has been a constant for ACU. Page 5
KACU, the university’s National Public Radio station, hopes to collect $30,000 in listener donations by Oct. 20. Page 3
The football team overcame a 10-point deficit to win Saturday at Shotwell. Page 8
‘ACU has lost a true friend’ Charles Trevathan, 68, dies from apparent heart attack By JONATHAN SMITH EDITOR IN CHIEF
Dr. Charles Trevathan, instructor of sociology and social work and associate general counsel for the university, died Tuesday evening after suffering an apparent heart attack. He was 68. Trevathan collapsed while in the office of the Department of Sociology and Social Work and was taken by ambulance to Hendrick Medical
Center where he died after 5 p.m. At press time, funeral arrangements were pending through the Elliott-Hamil Funeral Home Trevathan came to the university in 1987 after practicing law in Kentucky for 26 years to serve as associate general counsel with Dr. Gaston Welborn, vice president and general counsel. “I have lost one of my closest friends and colleagues for over 17 years,” Welborn told the Office of Media Relations. “While Charles did not graduate from ACU, he bled purple and white. His greatest love at
ACU was his students.” Trevathan began working more closely with students in 1991 when he became vice president of the Student Service Office, now Campus Life, in addition to associate general counsel. Trevathan moved into the classroom in 1997 after resigning his role as vice president. He joined the Department of Sociology to begin teaching — a role that at the time he called “a dream for this stage of my life.” Trevathan
See TREVATHAN Page 4
By JACI SCHNEIDER OPINION EDITOR
President George W. Bush and Sen. John Kerry, D.-Mass., debated each other twice last week over various issues and policies, leading up to the election on Nov. 2. Two ACU clubs met to watch the debates together. The College Democrats met with the College Republicans on Sept. 30 in the University Park Apartments Clubhouse to watch first of the four televised debates. “About 30 people came I think,” said Amy Perez, sophomore education major and chair of the College Democrats. “All the chairs and couches were full, and people were sitting on the floor.” The Democrats organized the evening and offered free pizza to lure students to come. Although not as many people attended the second presidential debate or the
Campus gymnastics club entertains local groups with skills By BRIAN SCHMIDT STUDENT REPORTER
The Flying Cats gymnastics club is hanging around, having fun and learning new skills while it waits to be called on to perform for various local groups and events. The club, which officially began 53 years ago, does not participate in competitions. Instead, members simply have fun and learn gymnastics while offering their performance services to the community. “We allow members to learn and practice skills, as well as putting together performances, which we present at local elementary schools, Boys and Girls Clubs, as well as during halftime of ACU basketball games,” said faculty sponsor Ben Zickefoose, associate professor of exercise science and health. John Sanderson, Flying Cats captain and senior Bible major from Keller, said he sees the club as a way for students to “have fun, giving them an opportunity to do their thing.” The club performs three to six times a semester for certain groups, Zickefoose said, including a monthly Super Stunt Thursday. This is a time when club members put together a small performance for friends and family to show off their skills. The club is open to anyone interested. In fact, Zickefoose said, the majority of incoming members have no experience at
Campus partisan clubs meet for debates College Republicans, Democrats struggle with group numbers
Flying Cats soar through shows
See FLYING Page 7
Vol. 93, No. 16 1 section, 8 pages
See DEBATES Page 7
Flu vaccine shortages cancel clinic Supply of shots cut in half after possible contamination By LORI BREDEMEYER MANAGING EDITOR
BRIAN SCHMIDT/Chief Photographer
Flying Cats captain John Sanderson, senior Bible major from Keller, performs a back flip off the trampoline in the clubs’ practice room in Gibson Health and P.E. Center on Tuesday. Flying Cats is the university’s gymnastics club that performs in events for various community groups. It practices for about an hour every Tuesday and Thursday.
The possible contamination of about 48 million doses of the flu vaccine in a British manufacturing plant has cut the supply of flu shots in the United States in half. Vaccine clinics across the country were canceled, including one at ACU on Friday, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a list of recommended qualifications for those who should receive the shot. Dr. Tony Rector, medical director for clinical services, said although two planned clinics have been canceled on campus, he still hopes to have a small supply of the shots to administer to those who meet the CDC’s criteria. “It is not 100 percent confirmed, and that ambiguity probably reflects the unsuredness that everybody’s facing right now,” he said. “This really blindsided the health-care industry here.” See FLU Page 4
Students finish films for fest Deadline for filming, editing finished product is Wednesday By JENNA LUCADO STUDENT REPORTER
EMILY CHASTAIN/Staff Photographer
Kurt Boyland waits at the table in the Campus Center Thursday where students could enter to win prizes for voting on their favorite Wellness Week booths. Wellness Week began October 4 with a blood drive in the Living Room and concluded Friday with Unstress Day. For more on Wellness Week, see Page 4.
Michael Breeden can bang the bass drum and then crash a cymbal—all with the click of a mouse. “I am trying to use drum sounds to create the perfect gun noise for my movie,” Breeden said from behind a 20- inch Macintosh computer screen. Breeden, sophomore electronic media major from Memphis, Tenn., is one of 86 students participating in the new FilmFest, a film festival that includes a film and expo-
sition competition open to students and faculty. In addition to the festival, a workshop was offered to educate students on creating and using Apple software to make a film. Students had to submit film proposals by Sept. 8 and will turn in the final product by Friday. “It’s crunch time,” Breeden said. As one of the lab assistants, Breeden spends an average of 10 hours a week in the new computer lab — located in the Industrial Technology building — created solely for the use of FilmFest participants. Local Apple representatives have loaned 10 new
computers until Thursday, agreeing to help Doug Darby, ACU’s multimedia coordinator and an instructor for visual media, and his vision for FilmFest. Darby said he hopes FilmFest can be an event that might give students a chance to express their creative ideas and other messages through film and advanced technology. “The mode of how we communicate is changing,” Darby said. "Students coming in to ACU are accustomed to using a technological means of communication as a way of learnSee FILMFEST Page 7