WEDNESDAY January 26, 2005
OPTIMIST THE
Department of Journalism and Mass Communication
Abilene Christian University
Vol. 93, No. 31 1 section, 10 pages www.acuoptimist.com
Serving the ACU community since 1912
Cooking with Lola:
‘Off the Charts’ is off and running:
In a groove:
Lola Molina now owns the Mexican food restaurant she has worked at for 25 years. Page 8
Hispanos Unidos and the International Students Association will compete with classes in the mixed-voice category this year at Sing Song. Page 3
David Baxter tied a school record with eight 3-pointers Monday night. Page 10
Debaters qualify for nationals Alvarez garners two first places; Rouse, Smith also earn firsts By TIFFANY WILLIAMS COPY EDITOR
For some, winning a debate tournament against Ivy League schools like the University of Notre Dame is just a dream. For ACU’s nationally ranked forensic team, winning is a dream worth having. And winning is exactly what happened when seven members of the team traveled to
Arkansas Tech University in Russellville, Ark., the past weekend to compete with teams more than twice their size. Brandon Smith, freshman political science major from Keller, and Elizabeth Alvarez, senior political science major from McAllen, won first place in parliamentary debate. Alvarez also won first place in extemporaneous speaking, which qualified her for the national tournament, said Holly McFarland, the team’s graduate assistant. Additionally, Layne Rouse,
senior communication major from Midland, won first place in communication analysis. Jennifer Knaupp, junior communication major from San Antonio, and Shelby Coates, freshman social work major from Clarksville, Tenn., won third and sixth place, respectively, in persuasive speaking. Alvarez, the team’s captain, attributed their success to team ethics. “Most collegiate teams have what we call inner-squad competitions,” she said. “That means you are competing with other members of your team
for spots and scholarships. As you can imagine, that doesn’t do much to foster team spirit.” She explained that at ACU, forensic teammates receive the same scholarship regardless of rank. They are required to put in the same number of practice hours and attend the same number of competitions. Alverez’s partner, Brandon Smith, agreed that the strength of the forensic team lies in its ethical beliefs, and credited Dr. Sally Gary, assistant professor of communication and director
Forensics first places • Elizabeth Alvarez, senior political science major from McAllen, and Brandon Smith, freshman political science major from Keller, first place in parliamentary debate. • Alvarez, first place in extemporaneous speaking. • Layne Rouse, senior communication major from Midland, first place in communication analysis.
See DEBATE Page 7
More than 800 students denied door access, meal plans
Students travel to D.C. for inaugural
By LORI BREDEMEYER MANAGING EDITOR
College Republicans experience inaugural address firsthand By JACI SCHNEIDER OPINION EDITOR
Several ACU students joined the hundreds and thousands of Americans gathered in Washington D.C. last week to witness the second inauguration of President George W. Bush. Five students from ACU’s College Republicans traveled to D.C last Tuesday to participate in the festivities. Tyler Cosgrove, junior finance major from Amarillo; Casey Bingham, sophomore political science major from Conroe; Billy Smith, sophomore marketing major from San Antonio; Missy Mae Walters, senior political science major from Abilene; and Hallie Roberts, freshman political science major from Fort Sumner, N.M., began planning their trip last April, Cosgrove said. “It was a very patriotic week,” he said. The group toured several memorials and sites in the city, attended the swearing-in ceremony, watched the President’s parade and met with senators Kay Bailey Hutchinson, RTexas, and John Cornyn, RTexas. “I really enjoyed being around the excitement of the swearing-in ceremony,” Roberts said. Along with the official See D.C. Page 7
New ID card system deletes records
EMILY CHASTAIN/Staff Photographer
Lindsay Epley, senior marketing major from Midland, and Laura Roberts, marriage and family therapy graduate student from Odessa, play dominoes Monday with Marie Mann, a resident in the Christian Village. Students play dominoes at Christian Village each Monday.
Students hope for domino effect Group visits Christian Village residents each Monday evening By MITCH HOLT STAFF WRITER
Every Monday at 6:30 p.m., a group of students makes the trek to Christian Village Retirement Community for dominoes and a good time. Members of what has come to be known as the Domino Club have built strong relationships with the residents of Christian Village. Nathan Gray, senior biology major from Memphis, Tenn., said the residents are often interested in the lives of each student. He said the students enjoy hearing updates about the residents’ families. The residents bring cook-
ies and chips for the students, and the students try to bring their smiles, Gray said. The club began as a part of the Students’ Association’s Senior Buddy program. Membership is casual and unofficial; anyone who attends can be considered a Senior Buddy.
ing is a regular occurrence during each Monday night domino extravaganza. “While one might expect a game in this setting to be polite and sedate,” Gray said, “it’s not uncommon to hear threats or taunting from both students and residents.”
“Those of us who have found it to be a unique time with friends will continue to play ... as long as the calendar has Monday nights.” Nathan Gray, senior biology major from Memphis, Tenn.
“We are constantly inviting other students to come,” Gray said, “in hopes that the domino hook will break the thin skin near their cheek and keep them coming back.” Gray said that trash talk-
Although most of the students involved are college seniors, those who will reside in Abilene can continue the weekly event after graduation. Several regulars have already graduated. Gray said he plans to
attend medical school after graduation and will not be able to attend Domino Club into his post-graduation days. The tradition will only be carried on if new students join the club. The group is based on friendship and a willingness to spend time each week with the more mature in age. “Those who do it for service hours or to fill some extracurricular requirement will come and go,” Gray said, “but those of us who have found it to be a unique time with friends, young and old, will continue to play as long as we’re here and as long as the calendar has Monday nights.” E-mail Holt at: mah02f@acu.edu
More than 800 students were inadvertently removed from the ID card system last week, denying them from using meal plans and accessing buildings and computer labs. Officials from the CS Gold card system’s parent company, Diebold, are working to find the problem and prevent it from happening again, said Eric Wallace, system programmer. On Thursday at about 4:30 p.m., Wallace said he discovered that 711 students had been deleted from the system and then immediately reloaded with a different Wallace patron identification number (PID), making the cards ineffective. “What happened was they (students) were deleted and immediately reloaded, and there’s no process that Diebold has to do that,” Wallace said. “My concern is that this never happens again, and they don’t want it to happen either.” Diebold officials said extra white space at the ends of the lines of imported data caused the system to be unable to read the information, so it assumed it was a mistake and deleted it. As the technology department worked to restore the original PIDs to the cards, which would reinstate all the current student information to them and make them functional again, Wallace said 128 more students were discovered who had been deleted. “I know to the people that were affected that it was a big hardship, and I’m sorry for that,” Wallace said. To help alleviate the problem, Wallace said temporary cards were created for the resSee CARDS Page 7
Alumnus takes football coaching job Thomsen spent time with Wildcats as player, coach from 1993-2000 By KYLE ROBARTS SPORTS WRITER
BRIAN SCHMIDT/Chief Photographer
Chris Thomsen speaks at a press conference Friday after being named the head football coach. Thomsen is taking the job after Gary Gaines accepted the executive director of athletics position with Ector County Independent School District earlier this month.
The Gary Gaines’ era came to an official close on Friday when athletic director Jared Mosley announced Chris Thomsen as ACU’s 18th head football coach. Thomsen might be the new head football coach, but he isn’t new to ACU. He spent time with the Wildcats as football player and coach from 1993-2000.
His undergraduate career began at Texas Christian University as a two-sport athlete in baseball and football. After Thomsen’s junior year at TCU, he joined the Oakland Athletics’ organization and played minor league baseball for two seasons before coming to ACU to play football for his final year of eligibility in 1993. Thomsen’s move to ACU not only benefited his career as an athlete, it also launched his coaching career when he joined as a graduate assistant in 1994 before former head coach Bob Strader made him a full-time assistant in 1995. His experience at ACU was
one of the selling points for Mosley and the search committee that also included Dr. Royce Money, president of the university, and Dr. Gary McCaleb, vice president of the university. “We wanted to seek someone who had a clear understanding of what an ACU education and what an ACU student athlete experience should be like,” Mosley said. “It was very obvious to Dr. McCaleb and me and the rest of the search committee that got to visit with Chris that he brings a great love and passion for the university and what we stand for.”
Mosley also emphasized that Thomsen fit the other criteria that the committee wanted to see out of the new coach. He said they were looking for someone who could recruit, someone who would bring an exciting style of football and someone who had the ability to create relationships with players, the ACU community and the Abilene community as well. Thomsen’s most recent stop in his coaching career before joining the Wildcats was Central Arkansas University — a team that went 8-3 last seaSee COACH Page 7