OPTIMIST THE
FRIDAY November 19, 2004
Department of Journalism and Mass Communication
Abilene Christian University
Vol. 93, No. 26 1 section, 10 pages www.acuoptimist.com
Serving the ACU community since 1912
Off and running:
Back to the ‘Futures’:
Held in check:
The men’s basketball team began its season by defeating Rhema Bible College. Page 10
Jimmy Eat World released its new album, Futures, which does not stray far from the band’s signature sound. Page 5
The Chess Club will sponsor a tournament Saturday in the Campus Center. Page 7
An attitude of gratitude SALT collecting money to provide 50 families with Thanksgiving meals during next week By DEE TRAVIS ARTS EDITOR
The Service Action Leadership Team is preparing to feed more than 50 families in need Monday for the Thanksgiving holidays. For the third consecutive year, SALT has worked in conjunction with Taylor Elemen-
tary School and University Seminar classes to make this service project happen. “It’s amazing to watch students and faculty come together in service,” said Wade Holmes, senior marketing major from Arlington and coordinator for the Thanksgiving Meals Delivery project.
SALT asked every U-100 class to donate money to feed one or two families for Thanksgiving. Holmes said the meals are big, full Thanksgiving meals, so $45 feeds one family. Therefore, in a class of 20 people, everyone was asked to donate $2. “Most of these families are near-homeless,” said Holmes. “It’s pretty cool that two dolSee SALT Page 8
Gardner Hall residents treated to Thanksgiving meal Thursday by staff in show of appreciation By MALLORY SHERWOOD STAFF WRITER
For 200 freshman women in Gardner Hall, it all came down to their gobble — and they should start practicing. On Thursday, Gardner Hall residents participated in a gobbling contest as one of the activities during a special
Thanksgiving meal given by Gardner staff in appreciation of the women. The meal, catered by ARAMARK for two meal plans, was in the Hilton Room in the Campus Center at 5:30 p.m. “The RAs [resident assistants] have been thinking of ideas of activities to do and
thought a gobbling contest would be fun,” said Pam Carroll, assistant director in Gardner Hall and senior composite interdisciplinary major from Hampton, Va. “They’ll probably see who is the loudest or who sounds most like a turkey; it should be really fun.” Although this is not the first year a Thanksgiving meal See GARDNER Page 8
Debate team to contend for nationals Several members could receive bid for tournament this weekend By MALLORY SHERWOOD STAFF WRITER
Lizz Alvarez has a chance. She went to nationals four years ago and placed 14th. Now she is looking to go again, this time to win. This weekend, ACU’s nationally ranked forensic team, a competitive public speaking and debate team, is expecting several of its members to receive a bid this weekend at the tournament in Minneapolis, Minn., to go to nationals in Akron, Ohio, in the spring. Alvarez, senior political science major from McAllen and captain of the forensic debate team, only needs to place fifth in this tournament to continue on to nationals. “Debating is what I really love to do,” Alvarez said. “We are working really hard, and I expect more than one of us will get our nationals’ bid this time.” Graduate assistant Nicole Ryerson, graduate student in human communication, said Alvarez she agrees with Alvarez that many could make it to nationals next weekend. “It’s really difficult to say how many, but the team is full of really talented individuals,” Ryerson said. Alvarez joins a team of around 14 students that competes on the weekends in places such as Connecticut, Indiana, Nebraska and Houston. She said many people at ACU don’t know about the forensic team, but the team is known and respected across the nation, as having members that are nationally ranked. ACU debates against teams from Concordia, University of Texas, Western Kentucky and See DEBATE Page 9
Campus Court closing Campus Court will be closed from EN 18th to EN 20th beginning Friday at midnight and ending Monday morning.
EMILY CHASTAIN/Staff Photographer
Dr. Caron Gentry, assistant professor of political science, looks at photographs she took of the landscape in the Middle East. She said the highlight of the trip for her was riding on a camel. Gentry visited the Middle East to conduct interviews for her doctoral dissertation.
Gentry targets terror in Middle East By CHRISTY GOWER FEATURES EDITOR
Six months after Sept. 11, 2001, Dr. Caron Gentry decided to go to the Middle East. America had recently invaded Afghanistan to remove al Qaeda and the Taliban. The fear of further attacks on Americans was still fresh. She went by herself. To meet with a well-known terrorist. “I was freaked out,” said Gentry, now an assistant professor of political science. “I had never been to the Middle East before … and I was quite anxious.”
As part of her doctoral dissertation on female terrorism in the 1960s, Gentry visited Jordan to interview Leila Khaled, who first gained fame in the late ‘60s for hijacking
two airplanes. Gentry received her master’s degree from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland in international security studies, and Dr. Paul Wilkinson, her doctoral supervisor, suggested she study the female terrorist. She said that as she researched, she found the female terrorist portrayed as a “demonic, rage-filled, nonrational, brainless, evil entity,” and she did not agree with this portrayal. “These women are still just as rational as male terrorists,” she said. “They’re driven by the same causes.”
Gentry came to ACU in the fall of 2003 and teaches in the Department of Political Science and the Honors Program. She said that she would one day like to see a course on terrorism studies; until then, she uses her knowledge and experiences in her current classes, like International Relations. As a framework for her studies, Gentry used the New Social Movement Theory, which argues that certain movements are cultural identity movements, like the Civil See GENTRY Page 8
Watson discusses meal plans with Congress SA tables plan for scholarship meant for student leaders on campus By JONATHAN SMITH EDITOR IN CHIEF
Kevin Watson, chief administrative services officer, spoke to Student Congress on Wednesday night and answered questions regarding the university’s meal plan policy. Watson talked to students for 30 minutes, answering questions that ranged from why students cannot swipe their cards multiple times per meal to if there are plans to extend some food vendors’ hours of operation. Much of the conversation centered on how the university budgets for students’ meals and if the students received their money’s worth. When asked why students could no longer use multiple meal plans at any given meal, Watson said it would likely increase the number of meal plans used, effectively increasing the price of the meal plans. “When we price our meal plans, we price them expecting you to eat between 75 to 80 per-
cent of those,” Watson said. “If meal plan usage ship. The amount of the scholarship each year goes up, we have to start charging more for it.” could depend on how much money was given Because ACU outsources food services to for the fund. ARAMARK, the university pays a fee for each The bill, presented by junior Sen. Sarah meal plan used. Watson said using ARAMARK Carlson and Rep. Ashley Downhour, Biblical seemed to be more cost-effective than if the uni- Studies Building, would have also set guidelines versity managed food services. for selecting the scholarship recipient. The Watson said individual students could have scholarship would be for students involved as a legitimate arguments against the current meal leader in at least two campus activities and plan system, but maintain at the current sysleast a 3.0 grade “There’s nothing wrong with setting a high tem in place point average. provides the Some memstandard for people you are going to pay.” most cost-effecbers of tive service to Congress quesBob Parsons, Administration Building representative for SA the most stutioned the dents. wording of sevThe Students’ Association also discussed a eral other of the scholarship’s requirements, bill creating guidelines for a future scholarship including that recipients never have been arrestfor student leaders on campus. However, as ed except for civil disobedience and never been debate brought the meeting near 7 p.m. and on academic probation. Congress drew close to losing quorum, memRep. Chris Smith, Foster Science Building, bers opted to table the bill until a later time. suggested replacing such phrases as “never The bill would have created the structure for a committee to select recipients for the scholarSee SA Page 9
BRIAN SCHMIDT/Chief Photographer
Kevin Watson, chief administrative services officer, speaks to the Students’ Association on Wednesday about the university’s meal plan policy.