The Optimist (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 88, No. 33, Ed. 1, Friday, January 28, 2000 Page: 1 of 6
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Abilene Christian University Department of Journalism and Mass Communication
January 28 2000 Volume 88 Issue No. 33
Friday
Student nearing
FBI internship page 3
Spring numbers up
Sprinc semester enrollment U nn 47 ctiirfontc nwr
last spring according to 12th-day figures.
The spring 2000 student body at ACU represents the
largest spring enrollment in the history of the uni-
versity. Spring enrollment has increased for the eighth consec-
utive year said Dr. Royce Money university president.
"This school year has been a milestone for us with
record enrollments set in both the fall and the
spring" Money said. "More and more people are
interested in what we offer high quality academic
courses taught by Christian professors who care
about the students' lives."
Total spring enrollment for 2000 is 4351 students
up from 4309 in the spring of 1999. The previous
spring record was set in 1985 with 4344 students
enrolled
The university compares enrollment numbers from
fall to fall and from spring to spring.
Courtesy of Marketing Services
SA considering
fee increase
Enlarging
Enrollment
Yearly spring enrollment
2000 4351
1999 4309
1998- 4271
1997 . t ...4112
1996' -. . A09'6'
1995 '..j.'w'ai. '.. 3990
'1994;V-.'.Vv':V.;. 3882
199f . t... ':. y.H :. 3791
Locker mom
Amanda Rclter
Rita Vieth who has been managing the women's locker room for seven years folds clothes between classes Thursday.
Vieth's locker room service constant
Jared Schroeder
Editor
The Students' Association decid-
ed to look into an increase in the
fees it receives from students dur-
ing its meeting Wednesday.
The SA receives $15 of the $35
Student Activity Fee each semes-
ter. The amount of money the group
gets has not increased since the
1991-92 school year.
Our student fee "is pretty far
behind" said Brantley Starr SA
treasurer "Most universities' are
proportionately higher."
Darren Keyes senior business
administration and international
studies major from Fort Worth
made the fee increase presentation
on behalf of the Student Rights
Committee.
He showed the SA the options of a
flat-rate increase or a yearly percent-
age increase related to the tuition.
With the percentage increase the
amount of money the SA receives
would increase with tuition.
Tuition is $342 per semester
hour and goes up about five per-
cent a year. The SA receives about
4.4 percent of tuition. The group
got 6.75 percent of tuition when it
received the 1991-92 raise but as
tuition has increased the SA pay-
ment has remained at $15
Keyes said increasing the fee in a
percentage relation with tuition
would make it easier to project the
budge provide for future students
Please see Fees page 2
Money addresses
Awareness week
Hillary Evitt
Student Reporter
A woman sits quietly in the locker room
enjoying the lull between classes. The peace
is suddenly disturbed by an exercise science
instructor who rushes to the window.
"Rita I had a girl land funny on her ankle
and I need some ice" the instructor explains.
"I'll get a bag" Rita says already halfway
into the next room.
She returns in a matter of seconds with the
ice pack hands it to the instructor and goes
on about her business.
Rita Vieth has worked behind the counter of
the women's locker room for the last seven
years. In that time she has helped female stu-
dents deal with injuries and a wide variety of
other situations.
Vieth's job puts her behind the scenes a
place where she can connect with a large
number of people.
"I just like meeting people from all walks of
life" she said. She added that she enjoys getting
to know international students and watching
them merge into the ACU community.
Vieth's job requires her to perform many
tasks some of them unusual.
"Lots of people approach me with things I
would never have suspected" she said.
Keeping the locker room secure has become
part of her job.
One student stole several items from the
locker room last year. Vieth was notified
when the things were stolen and eventually
found the culprit.
"I don't like to be the security guard but I
have to" she said.
Vieth also acts as a counselor. She once
encountered a crying student between
classes. Curious she asked the student
what was wrong. The student replied sim
ply that she was homesick. Vieth did her
best to comfort the student with a hug and
some encouragement.
Vieth has made support a large part of her
work.
Alison Wenzel senior advertising major
from Lake Jackson has been Vieth's assistant
for four years.
"She's the nicest person 1 know" Wenzel
said. "She will help anybody anytime."
Vieth also gets involved with many students
and is patient Wenzel said.
Her involvement with the students even
takes on a maternal nature at times.
"AH these girls are kind of my kids" she said.
Working with children was Vieth's passion
while her daughter a junior at ACU and her
son a high school freshman were growing up.
Her work in the locker room sometimes
allows her to work with children looking
Please see Vieth page 2
Jared Schroeder
Editor
University President Royce
Money discussed the administra-
tion's role in the Cultural Aware-
ness Week being planned for April
3-7 Wednesday.
His comments came after the
Cultural Awareness Committee
canceled its invitation for Jesse
Jackson to speak at ACU Tuesday.
Jason Mida Cultural Awareness
Committee chair said financial
strains lack of support for bringing
the speaker and "opposition from
different branches within the ACU
community" were what caused him
to retract the invitation.
Money said there were mixed
reactions toward bringing Jack-
son but he made it clear that the
administration did not stop the
committee from bringing the
speaker.
"1 signed the letter inviting him"
he said. "If that is what students
wanted that is what I complied
with."
Money said it is important that
speakers work toward the univer-
sity's goals.
"Any time we invite quest speakers
from off campus we need to make
sure that what we do accomplishes
our purposes and does not produce
the opposite effect" he said.
The committee has invited other
prominent speakers and is await-
ing their replies.
Mida and Money will meet Feb.
7 to finalize the week's agenda.
The tentative schedule includes a
women's forum and a religious
diversity forum.
"I would like final approval
which I do routinely with speak-
ers that come" Money said.
Money said the key to the
forums is how they are conducted
and what their focuses are.
"The women's forum sounds like
a good idea" he said. "They want
to talk about equal treatment and
pay. I would like to know more
though."
He said the religious diversity
forum "has to be judiciously done.
We have to be careful about what
kind of format we have."
Money said he appreciates
Mida's efforts.
"It is shaping up to be a good
event" he said. "I want to make
sure we can create as much wide-
spread student involvement in the
planning and execution of the
multicultural week."
E-mail glitch repaired
Missions Department offering new degree
Gideon Chong
Student Reporter
The Missions Department will
offer a new degree next fall for stu-
dents who want to do mission
work but also want another area of
expertise.
The degree called Integrative
Missions is also suitable for mis-
sions students who want to take
classes in other departments and
have them integrated into their
degree. The University Academic
Council approved the degree
about a month ago.
Dr. Gailyn Van Rheenen profes-
sor of missions and Dr. Ken
Cukrowski assistant dean of the
College of Biblical Studies devel-
oped the program in response to
student feedback.
"This degree attempts'to balance
the need for students to become
internationalized with the need to
be thoroughly Christian in their life
and ministry. Thus globalization
and Christianization are the two
major prongs of this degree"
according to a Missions Department
description of the degree plan.
The new major is interdiscipli-
nary and provides more flexibility
than the original bachelor's degree
in missions.
Whereas missions majors divide
their time between Bible and mis-
sions courses Integrative Missions
majors will have a lighter Bible
load but will be required to choose
nine hours of an interdisciplinary
supplement.
A student may obtain a minor or
even a second major depending on
their field of study when com-
bined with nine more hours of
electives and general education
requirements.
Barrett Koczkur
Copy Editor
Academic Computing addressed
a Y2K glitch in ACU's e-mail sys-
tem while many students and fac-
ulty members were in Chapel
Thursday.
WebMail had some users won-
dering where their e-mail mes-
sages went. Messages received
since Jan. 1 seemed to disappear
after users read them..
But the messages hadn't disap-
peared permanently they just
moved.
The missing messages appeared
below all the 1999 messages the
next time users logged back on.
If more than 20 messages were
already in the inbox 2000 mes-
sages didn't show up on the first
screen.
James Langford director of Aca
demic Computing said this was
strictly a sorting problem and
WebMail users never needed to
worry about losing their messages
because of it.
The problem developed because
of the way WebMail read the date
of each message. The program
understood the 00 in the year col-
umn to signify an earlier date than
1999.
Messages received in 2000
moved to the bottom because
WebMail places all messages in
order according to their dates.
On Wednesday Langford said he
recognized the problem was a
nuisance and that he wanted it
fixed as soon as possible.
He said Academic Computing
personnel already had the
upgrade needed to fix the system;
they were just waiting for the right
time to install it.
Music students join large unusual Sing Song act
Lori Halstead
Student Reporter
Diverse groups will be making beautiful
music together in an unusual Sing Song act.
Just before intermission a group of stu-
dents from the Music Department will
Join 200 other singers and actors to per-
form vlen You Believe from the movie The
Prince of Egypt.
Two of the hostesses and an enlarged jazz
band will begin the song then a child soloist
a childrens chorus and the group will chime
in Freshman ushers and social club mem-
bers placed throughout Moody Coliseum
will also join the act. By the time the act is
over as many as 330 people will perform.
But the act didn't begin with 330 people.
Phyllis Wilson Sing Song director
planned a simple duet and childrens pro-
gram. But in the group a different idea
was brewing.
Andrew Babcock senior music major
from Kalkaska Mich. and Big Purple
president helped to involve the Music
Department in the act.
"I thought it was a shame that here we
have the biggest event that pulls the most
people to our campus and it's a musical
event and yet the music department as a
whole is not directly related to it" Bab-
cock said.
Around 100 students involved in the
Music Department either as music majors
or members of a choir band or the Big
Purple form the group.
The Big Purple competed in the mixed
competition in Sing Song in the early '90s
and won several years in a row. However
because it is a musical organization current
Sing Song rules prohibit it from competing.
Babcock said the group originally
planned to perform a traditional but non
competitive Sing Song act. However
when the groups idea met Wilsons plan a
new concept was born.
"We complemented each other" Bab-
cock said. Wilson fashioned a new act
incorporating the group hostesses chil-
drens choir and a few new ingredients.
Multimedia will add to the sights and
sounds of the act: a video using both film
clips and three-dimensional animation
will be used during the song. Media
Chase the company that made this year's
Freshman Follies video is working on this
part of the act.
Brent Campbell the graduate student in
digital media who is producing the video
said he hopes to create "something fun
some cool visual effects cool cuts and dif-
ferent things going on." Campbell says he
hopes to help the audience feel as if they
are part of a journey.
The song When you Believe accompanies
the Israelites on the exodus from Egypt In
the movie The Prince oj Egypt. To empha-
size journeys throughout time the actors
in the production will wear costumes from
one of four periods: biblical times the
pioneer era the 1960s and today.
I
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The Optimist (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 88, No. 33, Ed. 1, Friday, January 28, 2000, newspaper, January 28, 2000; Abilene, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101636/m1/1/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Abilene Christian University Library.