OPTIMIST THE
FRIDAY April 22, 2005
Department of Journalism and Mass Communication
Abilene Christian University
www.acuoptimist.com
Serving the ACU community since 1912
Tracking success:
Executive officers to take office:
Taking pride:
The Wildcats will likely be the teams to beat at the LSC Championships. Page 10
This year’s executive cabinet will formally end its administration and transition to next year’s officers at the Students’ Association’s Changing of the Guard. Page 4
The Theatre Department enters the final week of its show, Pride’s Crossing. Page 7
Students elect ten senators Seniors will end year with only one Congress representative By JACI SCHNEIDER OPINION EDITOR
Last week, 286 freshmen, sophomores and juniors voted
online for the first time for Students’ Association class senators. The executive officer election was supposed to be conducted online earlier this month but couldn’t because of technical problems. Patrick Leech, elections chair for SA, said the e-vote was successful, in spite of a few techni-
cal problems. “There are some things we could fix in the future,” Leech said, “but it went pretty well.” Leech said the biggest problem with elections this year was awareness. “I was trying to get e-vote
Class senators • Sophomore: Alaina Bearden, Shelby Coates, Hillary Moore, Brandon Smith and Matt Greenburg • Junior: Casey Bingham, John Gainer, Eric Lemmons and Andrew Tuegel • Senior: Sarah Carlson
See SA Page 9
By SARAH CARLSON ARTS EDITOR
Spiritual Life Assistants will be absent from residence halls next year to make room for the large numbers of students living on campus, said Dr. Mimi Barnard, director of Residence Life Education and Housing. Barnard said the decision of removing SLAs is not permanent but is rather seen as a hiatus for the position. “The No. 1 issue was space,” Barnard said. “We are busting at the seams in Residence Life and Housing, and we can’t really put the RAs on hiatus.” The number of RAs will increase next year with the addition of Barret Hall, which will open to house sophomore women in the fall. Barnard said the choice to
Competition only invites those who have first-place finishes By LORI BREDEMEYER MANAGING EDITOR
Two seniors finished their forensics careers this week at the National Forensic Association Tournament on April 1619 in Akron, Ohio, and though they did not advance out of their preliminary rounds, both said they have been pleased with their performances this year. Lizz Alvarez, political science major from McAllen, competed in extemporaneous speaking, and Layne Rouse, communication major from Midland, competed in rhetorical criticism at the Alvarez NFA tournament, where participants only received bids if they placed first at previous tournaments during the year. “You go to Rouse those things knowing that—it sounds like a cliché—but it really is an honor to be there because they’ve had to perform well at tournaments consistently throughout the year,” said Dr. Sally Gary, director of forensics and assistant professor of communication. “So you know they’re the cream of the crop when they get there, and it’s going to be difficult for them to advance.” Alvarez, who has been on the forensics team for four years and has been captain for three, had already won a national championship in Lincoln-Douglas debate at a previous tournament this year. She said she was a little disappointed about not advancing at her last tournament, but she’s enjoyed her time on the team. “The more I thought about it, I thought, ‘What if I came home the national champion?’ If that would make me feel better about myself or different about myself, that’s bad, and I’m probably not as good of a role model as I would like to be.” Rouse has competed with the team for a year and said the experience has been challenging and a good learning experience.
Residence hall SLA positions go ‘on hiatus’ Temporary change made to accommodate large hall populations
National tourney finishes debaters’ careers
See DEBATE Page 8
Vol. 93, No. 51 1 section, 10 pages
remove SLAs had to be made when considering national trends of students coming to college. She said that according to national demographics, the pressure of a large number of students living on campus will likely continue through 2008. Mark Lewis, director of Spiritual Life and Student Ministries and adviser of the Spiritual Life Core, said he and members of the Spiritual Life Core have discussed options of working with Barnard the residence halls beginning next year. He said they are only in the early stages of dialogue and no plans have been made, but possible areas the Spiritual Life Core could aid would be in coordinating Bible studies and prayer groups, as well as See SLA Page 9
FilmFest videos to play Friday Organizers hope event will spark interest in fall’s competition By LACI ARMSTRONG STUDENT REPORTER
EMILY CHASTAIN/Staff Photographer
Scott Duncan, manager of University Mail Services, reloads the stamp machine that can be found in the back corner of the mail center. When not in Mail Services, Duncan also works with Kevin Watson, chief administrative services officer, completing whatever project needs completing.
Managing the mail After 18 years, Scott Duncan still leads mail services By JONATHAN SMITH EDITOR IN CHIEF
A community of more than 6,000 individuals large enough to have its own ZIP code. About 4,500 pieces of
mail comes from the post office to distribute each day, and campus mail accounts for another 2,000. Another 3,000 pieces of outgoing mail to send. Scott Duncan, manager of University Mail Services, oversees it all. But that is only half of his job. Although many students may never see Duncan, every
piece of their mail is distributed by a system or on a schedule he devised. When not overseeing Mail Services, Duncan works for Kevin Watson, chief administrative services officer, completing whatever project needs completing. Duncan’s job seems to morph to fit whatever needs See DUNCAN Page 9
Students can view movies that premiered at FilmFest in the fall at a meeting arranged to arouse interest in the upcoming FilmFest production. The meeting will be 6:30 p.m. Friday in the Hilton Room. “This meeting is a way we can allow current students to prepare for next fall,” said Doug Darby, creative director and assistant director of faculty development. Darby said students can attend a second interest meeting during Welcome Week in August. The meetings are open to anyone, including faculty and staff. At the meetings, the new theme ‘Milestones’ will be discussed. “Milestones was chosen because of the Centennial
Celebration,” Darby said. “Last year, FilmFest was about testing the waters; this year, it’s about trying to solidify how FilmFest works. We want to use it as a tool to allow people to express themselves and reach out to a community broader than ACU.” “FilmFest connects students with what they’re learning in their classes. It’s a unitybuilding event for the community,” said Lisa Phin, FilmFest co-chair and senior marketing management major from Carrollton. The FilmFest staff is preparing for next fall, after the last show exceeded its initial targets by 300 percent. “We’re anticipating a sellout after this year’s students completely blew our objected participation,” Darby said. One of the major changes for next year at FilmFest is the prescreening that will take place the night before the actual FilmFest awards ceremony. See FILMFEST Page 8
Developers hope Wal-Mart will spark business Supercenter to be first step in developing north section of town By MALLORY SHERWOOD FEATURES EDITOR
Kathey Garner can’t help but smile as the people walk inside in droves. Her cherryred hair glows from the sun setting outside. She fiddles with her bright pink returns stickers, pulls the shopping carts apart as new customers walk in while cheerfully calling out, “Are you ladies doing all right, this evening?” Garner works the evening
shift as a greeter at the WalMart Supercenter on Southwest Drive. From inside WalMart, she has watched the recent changes happening in Abilene on the south side of town. Change is slowly creeping toward the north side of town, too. After a decade of watching the growth take place south of Loop 322, students and residents on the north side of the city soon will see development begin to make a difference in the community by bringing more jobs and adding variety to shopping. But many question whether development
alone will be the key to Abilene’s future. Change in Abilene will affect the job market and economy as new businesses look to hire workers and larger retail stores and nationally known restaurants begin to build. One change students can see from campus is the construction of the new Wal-Mart Supercenter. The 20,000square-foot complex, expected to be completed by July, will be larger than the Wal-Mart Supercenter on the south side of town and will create more than 150 jobs. See DEVELOPMENT Page 8
BRIAN SCHMIDT/Chief Photographer
Construction continues on the Wal-Mart Supercenter at the corner of Interstate 20 and Highway 351. Construction should be complete in July.