The Optimist Print Edition: 11.10.10

Dr. Phil Schubert is encour-aging students, faculty and staff to start rummaging through their dorm rooms, closets and garages in search of items to donate to the Abilene community.

Donations are just one part of the Season of Caring event which will involve the entire ACU community and

span from Nov. 15 to Dec. 15.During the month-long

service opportunity creat-ed by President Schubert, students, faculty and staff can help the Abilene com-munity by volunteering at several events and donat-ing a variety of items to help Abilene families dur-ing the holiday season.

“I recognized there were incredible opportunities for our student body and our

community to have a signif-icant impact in this Abilene community for people who need help and who can benefit in tremendous ways

from our generosity and willingness to be involved in their lives,” Schubert said. “What a great oppor-tunity for our students and

our faculty and staff to be a part of things that matter and make a difference in the lives of others.”

Many university-orga-nized service opportunities for Abilene families during the holidays have been con-ducted for years, but Schu-bert decided to expand and combine them with Love and Care Ministries’ holi-day services to create the Season of Caring.

To start off the event, a large yellow truck will sit at the corner of Judge Ely and North 16th street Monday through Wednesday, Nov. 18, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. The ACU com-munity is encouraged to fill it with clothes, blankets, sleep-ing bags, jackets, non-perish-able food, household goods, toys, bikes or anything else to help families in Abilene make

The iPhone made room for ACU’s newest toy last month. The iSchool won a Google Nexus One phone Oct. 18 as a part of its ad-mission into the first round in a competitive mobile education grant.

Unity Technologies chose ACU as one of 20 interna-tional learning institutes to receive the phone and Unity Pro software, valued at $3,000, said Dr. Brian Bur-ton, assistant professor of information technology.

“Having the reputation for doing mobile learning at ACU gave us a leg up,”

Burton said. “That is re-ally what sold them.”

The 20 finalists will use the Unity materials in developing a one-semester curriculum for a mobile games develop-ment class, Burton said. Unity will choose three schools with the best curriculum propos-als to receive the full grant. It will equip the schools to per-

form application testing with 20 Google Nexus phones and licenses for the Unity 3D Pro game engine, as well as the Android Pro game engine.

Burton said he didn’t know if or how the iSchool’s new in-volvement with the Android, a competitor of the iPhone,

Optimistthe

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

acuoptimist.com

1 section, 6 pages

weatherinside

page 6

websitesportsWomen’s soccer, men’s cross country and football each brought home LSC Championship titles this weekend.

page 4

opinionStudents can vote on the 24-hour FilmFest submissions. The Editorial Board weighs in on its favorite.

photo gallery Find more photos of ACU football game against WT Saturday. The Wildcats beat the Buffs to bring home the LSC Championship. 79° 57°

The university will honor the men and women who have served in the United States Armed Forces as a part of its annual Veterans Day Chapel in Moody Col-iseum on Thursday.

The Grand Chorus, a group of about 100 ACU students, will sing patri-otic songs as a part of the tribute.

Dr. Gary McCaleb, vice president of the university and chairman of the com-mittee who organizes Vet-erans Day Chapel, said the program is a chance for students to honor the men and women who serve the nation.

“It’s a good opportu-nity for students and fac-ulty to be a part of honor-ing those who serve our country,” McCaleb said. “In addition to that, they will hear the Grand Cho-rus singing which they do not have many opportuni-ties to do.”

Students should check with their small group chapels to see if they are meeting that day. Im-mersed and Drenched will not meet.

ThursdayChapel to honor veterans

CHAPEL

Keyi ZhouContributing Reporter

Wed. Fri.Thurs.

77° 55° 59° 41°

I Pink I Can, page 3

TECHNOLOGY

Christianna LewisSenior Reporter

ISchool competes for gaming grant

DANIEL GOMEZ // Chief Photographer

Ben Warton, junior forward from Dallas, hangs on the rim in Moody Coliseum after the Midnight Madness Slam Dunk Contest Friday Nov. 5. The contest was organized to kick off the ACU men’s and women’s basketball season.

Vol. 99, No. 23

DANIEL GOMEZ // Chief Photographer

Brandon Burton, junior IT major from Ava, Mo., works on a computer in the iSchool design program Friday.

Abilene Christian University

Schubert rings in a new Season of Caring Linda BaileyEditor In Chief

SERVICE

Students interested in spending a semester studying in places like Washington, D.C., Austra-lia, Costa Rica and nine other locations around the world are invited to attend the BestSemester Event interest meeting Thursday.

Student testimonials, free pizza and prizes are

available to those who attend the event from 7 to 8 p.m. in Room 115 of the Mabee Business Build-ing. The meeting will showcase the 12 different culture-shaping and culture-crossing locations available. Through the Christian programs at BestSemester, students can study and intern for a semester in Nashville, Los Angeles, Washing-ton, D.C., Costa Rica, India, Middle East, Austra-lia, China, Egypt, Oxford and Uganda.

Christina Johnson, senior English and pro-fessional writing major from Dallas, is the ACU Alumni Ambassador for BestSemester. Johnson studied in Los Angeles and attended the L.A. Film Studies Center last spring through the program.

“You really become a part of the culture and get the full extent of the experience,” Johnson said.

see LEARN page 5

Christina BurchContributing Reporter

see PHONE page 5

BestSemester Event launches students abroadSTUDENTS

see CARE page 5

Jump Start

What a great opportunity for our students and our faculty and staff to be a part of things that matter and make a difference in the lives of others.

DR. PHIL SCHUBERT // president of the university‘‘ ’’

contact Zhou [email protected]

announcements

Wednesday 12Friday

The American Business Women’s Association is having a fundraiser for education Nov. 12-14.It needs volunteers to serve at the concession stand and prepare food from 5 to 9 p.m. Nov. 12, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Nov. 13, and 12 to 5 p.m. Nov. 14. For more information, contact Sydney Moore at (325) 692-2633 or (325) 428-1024 or e-mail her at [email protected]

Meals on Wheels needs volunteers to deliver noon meals to seniors and adults with disabilities. Routes are available 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. Monday - Friday. Volunteers must be at least 18, with a valid driver’s license, auto insurance and a desire to serve. Training is provided. Students may be exempted from one Chapel per week if delivery time conflicts with Chapel. Contact Elizabeth Rodgers at [email protected].

The Christian Service Center needs volunteers interested in business or design to put together an informational brochure. The work could be done any weekday afternoon before the end of November. Con-

tact Jim Clark at 673-7531 or [email protected] for more information.

The Dyess Youth Center needs help with a Ping Pong Exhibition from 4 to 6 p.m. every Friday. Volunteers will preside over tournaments and help with an exhibition for the students. Transporta-tion will not be provided, nor can volunteers have any sexual assault charges or charges pending. For more information, contact Sheri Frisby at (325) 696-4797 or e-mail [email protected].

Mesa Spring Healthcare Center needs volunteers from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. any day of the week to help with fun activities for the residents, including playing instruments, calling bingo and sitting and talking with them. All help is appreciat-ed. Contact Laura Reynolds at (325)692-8080 or [email protected].

The Center for Contem-porary Arts needs a gallery assistant to help with exhibit setup and preparation, as well as an administrative assistant. The work can be done any time 9 a.m. - 5

p.m., Tuesday - Friday. Call (325) 677-8389 or e-mail [email protected] for more information.

Ortiz Elementary School Library would like volun-teers Monday-Friday to help check in and shelve books, and help with some special projects. Contact Nancy Hartline at 325-671-4945.

The Dyess Youth Center needs volunteers from 4 to 6 p.m. every Monday - Friday to assist students with homework in the areas of math, science, English and history. Transportation will not be provided, nor can volunteers have any sexual assault charges or charges pending. For more informa-tion, contact Sheri Frisby at 696-4797 or e-mail [email protected].

Aimee’s Art Studio is seek-ing volunteers from 9-10 a.m. or 1:30-2:30 p.m. Tues-day to assist with home-school fine arts classes. No formal art skills or training is required. The studio is a five minute walk from ACU’s campus. For more informa-tion, contact Aimee Williams at (325)672-9633.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

calendar & events

10 Thursday11 13Saturday

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volunteer opportunities

2Campus Day

Dallas White Rock Mara-thon Students wishing to run the Dallas White Rock Marathon or Half-Marathon can sign up with ACU to receive a $20 rebate, a free ACU running shirt and a free pre-race party. Register to run the race at www.runtherock.com and to par-ticipatewith ACU visit www.acu.edu/whiterock

ACU Choirs The ACU choral department is look-ing for students to join the University Chorale for the spring semester. Men are especially encouraged to join. Interested students may register for the Univer-sity Chorale (MPEV 202-01) with their advisers. The course meets from 1-1:50 p.m. MWF. Contact Dr. Sean Pullen at [email protected] or (325) 674-2108 for more information.

Mother Teresa is Dead, the Department of Theatre’s Cornerstone production, will show at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 16-20 in Fulks Theatre. For

ticketing information call (325) 647-2787 or visit www.acu.edu/theatre.

Amahl and the Night Visitors The ACU Opera will perform Gian-Carlo Menotti’s opera at 5:30 p.m. Nov. 14 at University Church of Christ. Admission is free, and any donations will benefit the CSC Feed the Hungry Drive. They will also perform at 8 p.m. Nov. 18 and Nov. 20 in the Williams Performing Arts Center. Tickets to these two shows will be $10 for adults and $5 for children and students.

Ethnos: The Culture Show begins at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 12 - 13. Tickets are $3 for students and $5 for general admission. Tickets will be sold in the Campus Center from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Nov. 8-12 and will also be available at the door.

ACUltimate, the univer-sity’s ultimate frisbee club, meets at 6 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays. Interested

students can contact Kyle Thaxton at [email protected].

The Boston Brass Concert The Boston Brass will play in concert at 8 p.m. Nov. 12 in the Recital Hall of the Williams Performing Arts Center.

Turkey Throwdown The women of Delta Theta are sponsoring a double-elimination flag-football tournament Nov. 18-21. The entry fee is $60 per team. Each team member will receive a T-shirt. All proceeds will be donated to Meals on Wheels to help feed hungry families dur-ing the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. Teams can sign up from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Campus Center or e-mail Jessica El-lison at [email protected].

Iran and Nuclear Weap-ons Class The Depart-ment of Political Science is offering a special top-ics course this spring to explore Iran’s domestic politics, religion, econ-omy, culture and geog-raphy. The class (POLS 488.01) will be offered from 3-4:20 p.m. Mon-days and Wednesdays.

11 a.m. Chapel in Moody Coliseum

3 p.m. Registration for freshmen begins

11 a.m. Veterans Day Chapel in Moody Coliseum

11 a.m. - 5 p.m. Blood Drive from in the parking lot between the Hardin Administration Building and the Brown Library.

11 a.m. Praise Day in Moody Coliseum

7:30 p.m. Ethnos: The Culture show in Cullen Auditorium

8 p.m. Boston Brass will perform in the WPAC Recital Hall

12 p.m. Home football game against South Western Oklahoma State

7:30 p.m. Ethnos: The Culture show in Cullen Auditorium

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Chapel

Credited Chapels to date

Checkup20 Credited

Chapels remaining

Boston Brass to perform at ACU

Jazz and classical music fans, prepare yourselves.

For the first time, the world-renowned quin-tet, Boston Brass, will be performing on campus Friday, Nov. 12 in the Wil-liams Performing Arts Center’s as a part of their North American tour.

The concert will be held at no charge to the community as a part of the music department’s initiative of encouraging students, whether music majors or not, to appreci-ate the various degrees of music.

Dr. Paul Piersall, chair of the music department and professor of voice, said the group was se-lected to perform in the department’s guest artist series for the year.

“They are one of the finest brass quintets in the country,” he said.

Performing for just over 25 years together, the five-man band is known for their matchless rendi-tions of classical pieces audiences will recognize, such as “Watermelon Man,” “God Rest Ye Merry

Gentleman” and “Motown Jingle Bells.” Together, the musicians provide a med-ley of horns, trumpets, tu-bas and euphoniums.

Piersall said all music fans, not just classical gu-rus, will easily take plea-sure in the quintet’s musi-cal styling.

“There is enough varia-tion that everyone will be able to enjoy the perfor-mance. The first part of the show will be more tradi-tional and classical,” Pier-sall said, adding that the second portion will feature songs that are more main-stream and upbeat.

For music majors, who are required to go to a cer-tain number of perfor-mances each year, the event serves as an outlet for learn-ing from the professionals.

“Seeing live musicians play, I think it helps to set a goal,” Shay Tuttle, fresh-man music major from Decatur, said. “It helps to see where we are and to see where we can be.”

For students who only listen to a few set genres of music, the concert is an op-portune time for students to develop a taste and ap-preciation for music they would not usually listen to.

“Classical music is an ac-quired taste, like fine wine. You really have to learn to like it,” Tuttle said.

The concert will begin at 8 p.m. in the Recital Hall. Seating is limited to 280 spots.

Marissa FergusonContributing Reporter

MUSIC

contact Ferguson [email protected]

about this pageThe Optimist maintains this calendar for the ACU community to keep track of local social, academic and service opportunities. Groups may send announcements directly to [email protected].

To ensure an item will appear on time, the announcement should be sent at least 10 days in advance. The Optimist may edit items for space and style.

Corrections and clarifications of published news articles will be printed on this page in a timely manner.

Classical music is an acquired taste, like fine wine. You really have to learn to like it.

SHAY TUTTLE// freshman music major from Decatur‘‘ ’’

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FocusNovember 10, 2010 Page 3

Statistics from the American Cancer Soci-ety claim that in a four-year period, there have been 115 cases of invasive breast cancer per 100,000 women in the state of Texas. It may not sound like much, but it

quickly adds up. For every million women, there have been 115,000 cases of the disease.

What are people doing to fight this? How can women make a difference in other women’s futures?

Jaimie Howard, junior animal science major from Argyle, and Joanna Shaffer, junior youth and family ministry major from Murphysboro, Ill. par-ticipated in the well known event created to fight breast cancer – the Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure. They walked 60 miles in three days in honor of their loved ones that suffered from the disease.

Schaffer’s aunt has been diagnosed with breast cancer twice in her life and was recently diagnosed with esophageal cancer. Because of this, Schaffer

and her mother decided to “support women and raise money for research.”

Although physically tiring, Schaffer said it was worth it.

“It was uplifting and empowering,” said Schaffer. “So many people were there, sharing the same goal.”

Howard’s reason for participating was also in honor of a family member. Her grandmother died from breast cancer when Howard was in kindergarten.

Because of their close relationship, Howard was around when her grandmother passed. Now, her family is more involved in raising awareness. She believes it’s a “family thing now,” because her chances of getting the disease have increased.

Schaffer and Howard both said the walk went very well and both would do it again.

“I just wanted to keep going and finish it,”

said Howard. “There was a lot of support and encouragement [from spectators] throughout the whole thing.”

Shaffer believes there are several reasons the 3-Day for the Cure is a great thing to do, one be-ing that the Walk fundraises to support breast cancer research.

“This year, they raised about seven million dol-lars,” said Shaffer.

Shaffer also believes the Walk gives hope to women and can serve as part of the healing pro-cess for those dealing with loss.

Howard said the Walk makes a huge impact because breast cancer affects people from every background.

“People I don’t even know will be affected by this dis-ease,” Howard said. “It was a humbling experience.”

contact Barnes atjmcnetwork.acu.edu

I PInk I Can

ACU students actively take part in the fight against breast cancer

People I don’t even know will be affected by this disease.

JAIMIE HOWARD // junior animal science major from Argyle‘‘ ’’

photo by JAIMIE HOWARD

Walkers receive an abundance of praise and encouragement from people lining the streets. photo by JAIMIE HOWARD

The 3-Day Walk for the Cure had about 2700 participants and raised over 7 million dollars.

story and illustration by Hannah Barnes

One short day to create, plan and execute a film? “No problem,” said par-ticipants of this year’s 24-hour FilmFest. Rules were posted Friday at midnight, giving ACU students until midnight of Saturday to turn in a completed film of any genre and any time length. Each film had to visibly include three con-trol elements from a list lo-cations, character names, props and dialogue.

Only three entries suc-cessfully made the dead-line. Pages, Rick & Cookie and Unit 24 are now available for viewing and voting at acufilmfest.tum-blr.com. Students and fac-ulty members are allowed one vote for their favorite film, and voting will close at 5 p.m. this Friday.

We’ve viewed the films, and after a grimace, a chuckle and a misty eye or two, we would like to place our collective vote for Pages. Here are the reasons why:

1. Although it is short and simple (or perhaps because it is short and simple), Pages keeps its viewers engaged and intrigued.

2. Tight and consistent camera shots frame the entire-

ty of the film but do not fail to inform viewers about the set-ting locations. The variations in videography are also not only well contrived, they are executed in order to support the film’s overall meaning.

3. We would also like to applaud the film director’s decision to keep dialogue to a minimum; not only does this element remain consis-tent with Pages’ overarching simplicity, but it reduces the probability for any sound or acting blunders. Additionally, the background music is nei-ther overpowering nor unno-ticeable, but fits the necessity in each scene’s rhythm.

All of the above technical aspects work to support a tru-ly creative film built around enjoying the simple things in life. There is a natural flow

to Pages that we would be hard pressed to find in many other student created films, let alone those created in the span of one short day.

We would like to com-mend all of those who con-tributed to the FilmFest. Many people obviously put a lot of hard work into the creation and production of the featured videos, and we would like to thank you for the opportunity to view and enjoy your dedication.

OpinionPage 4 November 10, 2010

Unsigned editorials are the opinions of the Optimist and may not necessarily reflect the views of the university or its administration.

Signed columns, cartoons and letters are the opinions of their creators and may not necessarily reflect the viewpoints of the Optimist or the university.

The Optimist encourages reader response through letters to the editor but reserves the right to limit frequent contributors or to refuse to print

letters containing personal attacks, obscenity, defamation, erroneous information or invasion of privacy.

Please limit letters to 350 words or fewer. A name and phone number must be included for verification purposes. Phone numbers will not be published.

Address letters to: ACU Box 27892 Abilene, TX 79699

E-mail letters to: [email protected]

editorial and letter policy

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editorial & management board

Linda BaileyEditor in Chief

Jeff CraigManaging Editor

Jozie SandsOnline Editor

Matthew WoodrowOpinions Page Editor

Brandon TrippSports Media Director

Kelsi WilliamsonArts Editor

Juliana KocsisCopy Editor

Hannah BarnesFeatures Editor

Carter DeJarnattCopy Editor

Alan CherryPage 2 Editor

Morgan DavisCartoonist

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Cara Lee CranfordAdvertising

Optimistthe

Endorsement: ‘Pages’ stands outEDITORIAL

I liked candlelight devo because it was cool to see all of the lights and listen to the speaker.TYLER PINKERTFreshman business management major from Red Oak

I liked the service project. I got to know a lot of people and my group and I had a blast.

Dems, Cowboys lack leadership

COLUMN

Homeskool ValidictorianBy Jeff Craig

I can’t help but notice the startling resemblances between the Democratic Party and the 2010 Dallas Cowboys.

B o t h e n t e r e d their reign of power with as-tronomi-cal expec-t a t i o n s , yet have failed to live up to the hype. The Cowboys lost 45-7 on Sunday. The Democrats lost 239-188 on election night.

Both are under the guidance of embattled leaders who have lost the faith of their base supporters and are bom-barded with rumors of their impending demise every day. Sunday night in Green Bay, the Cow-boys seemed to quit on head coach Wade Phil-lips. During the election campaigns, Democrats seemed to quit on Presi-dent Obama. The Cow-boys thought they were going to win the Super Bowl. The Democrats thought they were going to usher in a new wave of “change.”

A remedy to what ails the Dallas Cowboys and the Democratic Party is not readily available. Both need a major shift in the way they do busi-ness – a radical shakeup in their makeup.

For the Dallas Cow-boys, the 2010 season is a lost cause, stick a fork in them if you haven’t already. The Democratic Party, on the other hand, still has a chance to save its season before it ends in 2012.

The Democratic Party needs to take a page from the Republican Party’s book and do three things to save their season.

First, they need to rally around their leader. For the GOP, that leader, at least figuratively, is Sarah Palin. She became the face of the “New GOP” and served as a rallying point for the party. Con-versely, Democrats in tight races tried as hard as they could to distance themselves from Obama.

Second, they need a platform. The Tea Party movement marked the first time the GOP had a real platform since Reaganomics, and they rode that wave to big gains on election night. What is the Democratic platform? They need to unite together around a single ideology to combat the split that is forming in the party.

Third, they need to lis-ten to the American peo-ple. The Republicans have done a far better job of lis-tening to their voting base and the voices of Ameri-ca’s independent voters. The Democrats need to listen to their voting base and be willing to accept that the current agenda is not what the American voting populace wants.

If the Democrats want to keep the Senate and the White House in 2012, they have some work to do. Cowboys coach Wade Phillips is now unem-ployed. And if the Dem-ocrats don’t get busy, Obama and the Demo-crats will have more in common with Wade and the Cowboys in 2012 than they do now.

contact the Optimist [email protected]

Craig

contact Craig [email protected]

letter to the editor

This year, ACU blessed the fresh-man class with a revamped U100 course: CORE, The Question of Truth. As a freshman, I am es-pecially grateful for the change. It means a lot to me to see the great efforts ACU made to create a course so beneficial to my aca-demic career as well as my life.

I can only imagine the level of training the professors must have gone through before be-ing permitted to teach “The Question of Truth.” Surely there were extensive exercises to help teachers disregard any opinions they once held true, and their success provides a sense of mys-tery to the course: “Will I share my opinions with you? Do I even have any worldviews of my own?

Who can tell?” I truly admire the effects of a good, wholesome so-cial persuasion.

The assignments the course requires are extremely enlighten-ing. Many of us, myself included, came to college and realized their worldviews are less than their own, but rather views influenced by others. What better way to dis-cover and form our own world-views than by writing an essay based on someone else’s, like the spotlight speaker’s? Why bother with personal interactions with the “other” when you can have hypothetical, virtual encounters? Speaking of the others, who are they? No one actually knows. Are they plants? Are they aliens in another country? Are they that

group of kids that walk around campus without shoes?

I think it’s safe to say that CORE has greatly benefited me this year. I have been able to make friends in my class through heated arguments as we attempt to push our opinions on each other, and I get to pay enormous amounts of money to hear speak-ers give their views on the gender of God and tell us we are inher-ently racist; and nothing thrills me more than to think about the next three semesters in which I can continue the experience. With this in mind, I can only hope my schedule next semes-ter includes CORE: The Question of Falsehood? Because I’m still a little unsure about that one…

Jennifer Acuff, freshman biology major from College Station

Core class creates discussions not answers

By Morgan DavisThe Funny Funnies

the issueThere were three entries in FilmFest’s first annual 24-hour short film competition.

our takeAfter watching the three films, Pages stood out because of its use of filmography, style and sound.

Pages Production Team // Screenshot from film

November 10, 2010 Page 5FROM THE FRONT/FROM SPORTS

the meet.Along with the 20 con-

secutive conference cham-pionships, Sang’s win also marked the 20th straight year that an ACU athlete won the men’s individual championship.

The men finished with 54 points, while runner-up Eastern New Mexico fin-ished with 68 points, fol-lowed by East Central’s 90 points.

The women’s cross country team also made their presence known, fin-ishing fifth in the confer-ence meet.

Anais Belledant won the individual title, cover-ing the course in 16:07.74, while Chloe Susset fin-ished third with a time of

16:29.76. Alyse Goldsmith ran the course in 16:35.64, good for fifth.

“I felt really happy about this weekend. Our team performed very well. The race served as great preparation for regionals next month,” Belledant said.

The cross country team kicked off one of the best weekends in ACU sports history with conference championship wins in cross country, women’s soccer and football.

Woods mentioned that consistency wins cham-pionships. With 20 con-secutive wins, the Wildcats have certainly found con-sistency.

it through the holiday sea-son. Donations to the truck will be distributed during Mission Thanksgiving and Christmas on the Streets – two activities started by Love and Care Minis-tries that donate blankets, jackets and other house-hold goods to families during Thanksgiving and toys and presents to chil-dren at Christmas.

Scott Stewart, the Ser-vice Action Leadership Team’s publicity officer, said students, faculty and staff should get creative about how they partici-pate in donations. Stewart, senior physics major from San Antonio, suggests partnering with a friend to buy a gift or finding six or seven people to chip in to

buy more expensive items.Gifts don’t have to be ex-

pensive, though. Schubert said the kids will be thrilled with a few toys from the dollar store.

Even if students, faculty and staff can’t afford to give monetarily, volunteers will be in high demand.

Stewart said SALT and the Students’ Association were working together to coordi-nate all volunteer activities.

Volunteers will be needed to man the donation truck, to wrap gifts, to help distrib-ute Thanksgiving Baskets for Taylor Elementary School families, and for a variety of other service opportunities throughout the month, said Connor Best, junior politi-cal science major from Sac-ramento, Calif, and Chief Development Officer and Parliamentarian for SA.

“We really need people to volunteer, or just give, so we can really affect the commu-nity and show that we really care about the community as a whole,” Best said.

A Prayer Tent will be available Nov. 29 through Dec. 3 in the big conference room of the Quiet Place of the Mabee Business Build-ing, and volunteers on the truck are encouraged to pray when they aren’t re-ceiving donations.

“If you can do nothing else, pray for the people who will be touched by this project, including any poor people in Abilene,” Stewart said.

Stewart said he hopes Season of Caring will raise awareness of what it means to serve people and the idea that service should be a lifestyle.

Community service is an important part of life at ACU, Best said. Because of the amount of poor areas close to ACU’s campus, he said it was important for the ACU community to give back what it has been blessed with – and it doesn’t have to be complicated.

“We’re giving the people a tangible, simple way to give back to others in the community,” Best said.

For more information on all Season of Caring activi-ties, students can visit the Facebook page, www.face-book.com/seasonofcaring or visit the Season of Caring information booth located in the Campus Center Mon-day through Friday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

“It’s the best thing that ever happened to me.”

BestSemester offers stu-dents the opportunity to earn 16 credit hours in spe-cialized classes for the field of their choice. Students can also enhance their off-campus study experience through community ser-vice and an internship.

Johnson received an internship at Walt Disney

Studios, where she logged countless hours reading and writing script coverage and reviews.

“BestSemester allows you to figure out if this is the job you want,” Johnson said. “This is the time to take those chances and test the waters before moving for a career.”

BestSemester gave John-son the opportunity to take film classes she would have not otherwise been able to

take at ACU. Johnson said her professors at the L.A. Film Studies Center were the top-notch of their field and really wanted to see their students succeed.

“It’s a personal jour-ney,” Johnson said. “You go out by yourself and have to trust God and this program. You are com-pletely changed.”

Farron Salley, junior Ad/PR major from Fort Worth, also journeyed with Best-

Semester last spring. She studied in Washington, D.C. and landed an intern-ship at the Daily Caller, an online news publication.

“I loved it,” Salley said. “I was so submerged in the culture of the field I was studying.”

As an intern, she cov-ered tea party protests and healthcare rallies. Salley said she enjoyed the pro-gram’s integration with the community. She worked

with inner-city children and volunteered at a local food bank.

“If you put yourself out there and keep yourself open to new experiences, then there’s no other place to go but up,” Salley said. “The possibilities are un-limited.”

Salley said she plans to re-turn to Washington, D.C. for an internship next summer.

For more informa-tion about Thursday’s

BestSemester Event, stu-dents can join the Face-book Event: BestSemes-ter Event, or visit www.bestsemester.com for information about the BestSemester program. For information regard-ing ACU sponsored Study Abroad programs visit www.acu.edu/academics/studyabroad.

may affect ACU’s alliance with Apple. The iPhone will continue to be the core of the mobile computing cur-riculum, Burton said, but the Unity software will al-low students to program for the X-Box, Wii and PCs as well as Apple products.

“We’re training pro-grammers,” Burton said. “Our students need to be able to go out there and de-velop for all platforms.”

Burton is putting to-gether two 20-minute vid-eo example lectures for the proposed course, Game Development, which will be offered next semester. Brittany Kight, senior infor-mation technology major from Corpus Christi, is al-ready enrolled for the class. She said the Unity software will be less restrictive than what she used in previous

programming classes.“We’re going to be able

to reach a different group of people,” Kight said. “That will make the stu-dents more marketable.

She and the rest of Bur-ton’s current programming class are offering sugges-tions for the video lectures and creating a pilot game with the Unity software to get acquainted with the program’s new language.

“The class as a whole has been brainstorming ideas to make sure he’ll get the grant,” Kight said.

Burton said he hopes to publish the game for the Android, iPhone and PC versions by the end of the semester, when he will also submit his course proposal to Unity for evaluation. Unity will announce the three winners Feb. 1, 2011.

The Game Develop-ment course will be of-

fered annually, regardless of whether ACU wins the full grant, Burton said. It will become a required course for the new major ACU is developing, Digital Entertainment.

Burton said he was ex-cited ACU was recognized as one of the top 20 mo-bile-computing educators in the world. But while he believed ACU has a good chance of winning the full grant, Burton said he was more enthusiastic about the new ways students will be able to use the Unity technology to express themselves.

“Personally, I just can’t wait to see what our students develop,” Burton said.

Students can learn more about the grant at unity3D.com.

Gale: Wildcats hold off BuffsRichardson came up huge again on a drive for the Wild-cats that began with just under four minutes left in the game. ACU drove it 36 yards, tak-ing almost three minutes off the clock before Richardson bounced outside on a cutback play and scampered 23 yards into the end zone to put the Wildcats up for the first time in the game 41-34.

Richardson’s success showed everyone something that had been lacking in many of the Wildcats games this sea-son, a running game. Coach Collums did a great job of stay-ing committed to the running game throughout the course of the game.

For his efforts, Richardson was named the LSC South Of-fensive Player of the Week for the first time this season.

ACU will need the entire backfield healthy and per-

forming at their peak to make a deep run in the playoffs against more physical teams.

James Williams was piv-otal in both the game, and as a statement to the rest of the country.

If there has been one knock on ACU this season it has been the passing yards allowed. With just one returning starter coming into the season, the Wildcats were working in a new group of defensive backs.

But Saturday night, the Wildcats managed to hold West Texas to 446 yards on 60 attempts, just 7.4 yards per at-tempt, nearly a half-yard be-low the Buffs season average.

The secondary has proven that they can hang with the best passing offenses in the country, and just in time for the NCAA playoffs.

FOOTBALL

Continued from page 7

contact Tripp [email protected]

contact Cantrell [email protected]

MSU: ’Cats win LSC

The win captured the confer-ence title for the Wildcats and earned ACU an automatic NCAA tournament bid. Car-penter, Julie Coppedge, Ash-ley Holton and Lexi Stirling each earned all-tournament honors for their play in the tournament.

The Wildcats will travel to St. Edwards in Austin to play ASU on Friday, with the

winner taking on top seed St. Edwards on Sunday.

“We are thrilled to be in the tournament. We are happy that we are staying close, avoiding long trav-el,” Wilson said. “We were a little confused by the polls, but we are going to Austin and things will take care of itself.”

SOCCER

Continued from page 7

DANIEL GOMEZ // Chief Photographer

Players douse Head Coach Chris Thomsen in water after the Wildcats’ 41-34 victory over West Texas A&M University.

Race: Sang wins individual title

CROSS COUNTRY

Continued from page 7

Continued from page 1

contact Lewis [email protected]

Phone: University to offer game development courseTECHNOLOGY

contact Shake [email protected]

Care: Students have chance to giveSERVICE

Continued from page 7

contact Bailey [email protected]

Learn: Students travel abroad through BestSemesterSTUDENTS

Courtesy of JEREMY ENLOW

The Wildcat soccer team celebrates its LSC title Sunday.

contact Burch [email protected]

Continued from page 1

SportsStandings

Briefs

n Running back Daryl Richardson and corner-back James Williams were both named Lone Star Conference Players of the Week for their efforts Satur-day against WTAMU. Richardson had three touchdowns and Wil-liams had three inter-ceptions in the win.

n ACU women’s vol-leyball won its last regular season game on Saturday against Eastern New Mexico. The Zias pushed the ’Cats to the fifth set before ACU closed out the victory. ACU will begin conference tour-nament play against Texas Woman’s at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday.

PlayerProfile

n Katherine Garner, a redshirt sopho-more midfielder from Arlington, scored the clinching goal in the 68th minute of the LSC Conference Championship Sun-day against Midwest-ern State to solidify the ‘Cats’ 2-0 victory and first ever confer-ence championship in program history. The goal was Garner’s fourth on the year to go along with one assist. An Arlington native, Garner was an all-district athlete at Lamar High School.

ex-factor

n Johnny Knox had three receptions for 49 yards in the Bears’ 22-19 victory over the Buf-falo Bills Sunday. Knox now has 27 receptions for 527 yards and one touchdown on the year. Safety Danieal Manning recorded six tackles in the game as well.

n Cincinnati Bengals running back Bernard Scott did not have a carry against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday Night Football.

November 10, 2010Page 6

FOOTBALLTeam Div. Ovrl.ACUTAMU-KWTAMUE. CentralMSUENMUTarleton StAngelo St.UIW

6-05-14.-25-13-33-32-41-50-6

10-09-17-35-57-34-63-74-52-8

VOLLEYBALL

Team Div. Ovrl.WTAMUACUAngelo St.MSUTarleton St.TAMU-K

14-013-112-29-58-64-10

24-825-417-1115-1322-910-16

WOMEN’S SOCCERTeam Div. Ovrl.ACUMSUCen. Okla.WTAMUNE St.ENMU E. Central

9-2-010-16-4-14-6-13-5-32-9-01-9-1

16-316-311-8-18-7-37-6-55-13-05-11-2

Triple Crown

For the first time in program history, the Wildcats are champions. ACU defeated Midwestern State in the conference cham-pionship on Sunday to earn its first Lone Star Conference Championship.

“It was exciting. It was nice to be able to play at that level at this time of year,” Coach Casey Wilson said. “It is good for the girls to know that they are capable of playing at that level, especially going into this next weekend.”

The Wildcats earned their first NCAA Regional Tournament bid and will enter the tournament as the fourth seed in the South Central Region. The Wildcats will take on a familiar foe in Angelo State, who earned the fifth seed.

ACU knocked out Angelo State on Fri-day night in the conference tournament with a 2 –0 victory. ACU would control the game, as they would hold ASU, to only two shots on goal. Krysta Grimm would open up the scoring for the Wildcats with a goal in the 35th minute. ACU would take a 1–0 lead into halftime. The Wildcats con-tinued to play well in the second half, as Anastasia Nelson would score on a corner kick inside the box.

The Wildcats would win 2 –0 over the Rambelles, a win that was their first post-season win in the program’s history. How-ever, it would not be their last, as ACU would knock off top seed Midwestern State 2–0.

The Wildcats started the game playing well in first half but went into the locker room at halftime tied 0–0. ACU would come out in the second half and score two goals to give the Wildcats the 2–0 victory. Andrea Carpenter played a role on both goals by opening the game with a goal and then assisting on the second scored by Katherine Garner.

Ryan Cantrell Sports Multimedia Editor

JEREMY ENLOW // ACU Photographer

Sophomore Lexi Stirling celebrates with her teammates during the championship match.

The ACU Wildcats fought back from 14 points down in the third quarter to overtake conference rival West Texas A&M and clinch at least a share of the Lone Star Conference Championship.

“I’m just so proud of our guys, they fought like crazy,” ACU head coach Chris Thomsen said. “That’s the way it should be for the cham-pionship, just a knock-down, drag-out fight.”

James Williams stepped up for the Wildcats, inter-cepting three of Taylor Harris’ passes on the night.

“It feels great to be a champion. I have never won a ring before,” Williams said. “I was just glad I was able to make some impact plays to help my team win.”

Mitchell Gale had another solid night, com-pleting 22 of 36 passes for 296 yards and one touchdown. Gale also ran one in himself early in the second half.

The Wildcats managed just six points in the first half, despite having the ball inside the Buf-faloes 20-yard line four times.

Taylor Harris had four touchdowns along with the three interceptions and one fumble, as the turnover-riddled Buffs couldn’t hold off an ACU comeback.

“It means everything to see them to contin-ue to fight back and show their heart and soul,” Thomsen said.

After trading scores early in the third, the Wildcats were looking to even the score, but Caleb Randolph intercepted Gale and returned it 76 yards for a West Texas touchdown, putting the home team up by 14.

With 2:34 left in the third quarter Aston Whi-teside got to Taylor Harris and forced the WT quarterback to fumble the ball inside his own five-yard line.

Daryl Richardson capitalized for ACU a few plays later. Richardson finished the game with 98 yards rushing and three scores, two of those coming in the fourth quarter.

“It feels good, I have been struggling in the sea-son, I really needed this big game,” Richardson said.

Brandon Tripp Sports Director

DANIEL GOMEZ // Chief Photographer

Wide receiver Raymond Radway celebrates the Wild-cats come-from-behind victory against West Texas.

Several sports teams come to mind when the word success comes up: the University of Connecticut women’s basketball team, the New York Yankees, the pre- Tony Romo Dallas Cowboys, and the ACU Men’s cross country team.

For the twentieth year in a row, the ACU men’s cross country team was crowned the champion of the Lone Star Conference on Saturday after winning the LSC Conference Championship at Sherrod Park on the cam-pus of Abilene Christian University.

Head coach Chris Woods was thorough-ly pleased with his team’s performance and hopes to use this meet as a momen-tum for the regional tournament on Nov. 20 in Warrensburg, Mo.

“I felt like our guys ran and competed well in all phases of the race Saturday. Anytime you win a conference champion-ship, the team as a whole deserves all the credit, not one individual or anything like that. Everyone did what we asked of them, and I consider this a total team victory,” Woods said.

Senior All-American Amos Sang won the individual title for the second year in a row, running the eight-kilometer course in 23:49.50, beating second-place finisher Mohamed Noor of Eastern New Mexico, who finished in 24:28.86.

In reference to Sang’s continued domi-nance, Woods says that his determination and drive to succeed is unparalleled.

“He is in another tax bracket as com-pared to the other runners who compete against him. He’s in a 7-figure tax bracket, while those he competes against are in a 5-figure tax bracket,” Woods said.

ACU senior Cleophas Tanui was third in 24:30.91, while Romain Rybicki finished in sixth place with a time of 24:54.48, giving ACU three out of the top six finishers for

Bryson Shake Assistant Sports Editor

STACY ACTON // Staff Photographer

The cross country team relishes their 20th con-secutive Lone Star Conference championship.

Cross country wins its 20th straight LSC Championship

Football beats West Texas 41-34 to claim the LSC Championship

Soccer wins its first-ever LSC Championship with a 2-0 win

letter to the fans

Students,You have been awesome at

each of our home games this sea-son. You have given us a great home-field advantage during the 2010 season, and for that the entire ACU football team thanks you.

Your enthusiasm, passion, and volume played a key role in going undefeated at home thus far this season. Your energy and passion have made Shotwell Stadium one

of the toughest places for oppo-nents to play in NCAA Division II football.

I invite you to come out again this Saturday and have fun with YOUR football team for our last regular-season home game. We’ll kick things off against Southwest-ern Oklahoma State at noon. We need your help to finish off a Lone Star Conference championship season and would love to see a huge student crowd there to help

us celebrate.We also want you to get your-

selves ready to come out to Shot-well in late November and into December as we make a run at a national championship. We need your help to get past what prom-ises to be some tough opponents in the playoffs.

We’ll see you at Shotwell Sta-dium.

Chris Thomsen, head coach of the ACU Wildcats

Football coach thanks fans for support

see MSU page 5 see GALE page 5 see RACE page 5

Schedule

@ Washburn 34-26@ NE State 43-13East Central 47-7 Tarleton State 65-3@ TAMU-Kingsville 31-24Midwestern State 31-28@ Incarnate Word 54-17@ E. New Mexico 53-14Angelo State 33-20@ West Texas A&M 41-34SW Okla. State Nov. 13