The Optimist (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 99, No. 9, Ed. 1 Friday, September 17, 2010 Page: 3 of 8

                                
September 17, 2010
CAMPUS NEWS
Page 3
STUDENT LIFE
Freshman Action Council selects new members
We would like to see FAC
be more useful to
the student body.
AARON ANDREW // senior information
systems major from Amarillo.
Jozie Sands
Online Editor
Forty-three students have
been selected for the Fresh-
man Action Council, after
more than 90 students ap-
plied for the positions.
Aaron Andrew, senior
information systems ma-
jor from Amarillo, said that
choosing the 43 students
to serve on the council
was hard because all ap-
plicants were highly quali-
fied. This is Andrew’s third
year to sit as a co-chair for
the FAC.
“Out of more than
90 applicants we didn’t
have a single one that
we thought would let us
down,” said Andrew.
Hailey Clinton, junior
advertising and public re-
lations major from Keller,
is another of the five up-
perclassmen who serve as
co-chairs for the FAC.
FAC is like a student
council, said Clinton. The
43 students in the council'
organize activities, but all
freshmen are encouraged
to participate. It is not a so-
cial club, but it gives fresh-
men many of the options
that social clubs offer up-
perclassmen.
"It’s the one thing that’s for
freshmen and not for anyone
else,” said Clinton. "It’s great
to have a community your
freshman year, someone to
be involved with in all aspects,
like community service, fel-
lowship and everything.”
Beginning this year, the
FAC is required to conduct
one smaller event and one
community service event
each month, along with
larger events like weekly
devotionals, freshman so-
cial in the fall and fresh-
man formal in the spring.
“If we don't provide
some kind of goal, some-
thing attainable, the re-
sponsibility tends to not
get taken because there
are so many people,” An-
drew said. “We hope to see
people stay involved, and
we would like to see FAC
be more useful to the stu-
dent body.”
FAC leads a devotional
for freshmen every Thurs-
day night. A time has not yet
been set, but it will be adver-
tised when it is decided.
In addition to the Thurs-
day night devotionals, FAC
conducts a service project and
a social event each month.
Past community service
projectshaveincludedfund-
raising for Abilene charities,
helping with services in
communities around ACU
and preparing medications
to send to medical missions
in Zambia.
The monthly social
events have not been set
for the year, but some of
the ideas include a slip-
and-slide, ice-cream so-
cial, skate night, movie
night and paint war.
contact Sands at
jgs07a@acu.edu
LOCAL
Fair-Weather Fun
•V .. • ... ..
DANIEL GOMEZ // Chief Photographer
The-midway at the West Texas Fair and Rodeo features rides, games and funnel cakes. The fair runs through Sept. 18.
crm
JgggaT . jJmL ;r
f ' j., •
ry%
'm> j\\
SUMMIT
Summit to feature interfaith dialogue
Linda Bailey
Editor in Chief
Dr. Jeff Childers, associate
professor of Bible, missions
and ministry, will share the
stage with a Muslim during
the Summit lecture, “Just
Three Questions.”
Dr. Ibrahim Sumer, pro-
fessor of religion at the Uni-
versity of Houston, will join
Childers at 10 a.m. Monday
in the Chapel on the Hill for
a discussion of the Chris-
tian and Islamic faiths.
During the conversa-
tion, Childers will pose
three questions to Sumer
about what Christians
would want to know
about Islam, and Sumer
will do the same with
questions Muslims have
about Christians.
“It’s not a debate. We
won’t be attacking each other
or trying to prove each other
wrong,” Childers said. “What
we hope to do is model start-
ing points for conversations
that Christians and Muslims
were to have together.”
Brady Bryce, director of
ministry events, said the idea
for the conversation came af-
ter he met Sumer while trav-
eling through liirkey with
Childers and other ACU fac-
ulty in December.
Childers said Sumer is a
member of the Institute of
Interfaith Dialogue. The or-
ganization includes people
from many backgrounds,
but Childers said it’s primar-
ily a Muslim institute for the
purpose of furthering educa-
tion and creating dialogue
and understanding. He said
it sponsors events that allow
intercultural and inter-reli-
gious exchange and conver-
sation to occur, which is the
reason Sumer went to TUrkey
with the ACU group.
During and after the
trip, Bryce said faculty en-
gaged in deep discussions
about Islam arid Christian-
ity, and he decided to bring
those conversations to a
pubic venue.
“A student has a chance
to sit down and listen to
someone who is not a
Muslim who has become a
Christian, but who is speak-
ing from their faith,” Bryce
said. “That’s more challeng-
ing. They will ask harder
questions and probe us to
think about our own faith
and our own view of God in
ways we haven’t before.”
Childers said his ques-
tions would focus on what
Islam actually says about Je-
sus, present hard questions
about Islam and violence
and terrorism, and explore
what it’s like for Muslims liv-
ing in America.
Sumer said his questions
would be about the role of
“deeds” in salvation. Specifi-
cally, he will ask why, if faith
is the only basis for salva-
tion, so many divisions exist
in Christianity. He will also
bring tough questions about
why, despite fundamental
values of love and forgive-
ness, Christians played such
a large role in events like the
Crusades, colonization ef-
forts and world wars.
Both speakers said they
chose questions after asking
people of the same faith what
they would want to know
about the other religion.
Sumer said he hopes peo-
ple will learn how to make
connections across religions.
Similarly, Childers said he
hopes people will learn how
to treat others who may dis-
agree with their religion.
“I hope they’ll see it’s pos-
sible for two people to dis-
agree respectfully, and that
that’s a better starting point
than attacking one another
from a distance,” Childers
said. “I hope they’ll want to
go have a conversations like
this one with someone.”
Sumer will also lead “Je-
sus and Muhammad” with
Lynn Mitchell, who teaches
with Sumer at Houston.
contact Bailey at
Ijb07a@acu.edu
SUMMIT
Shuttle service available for Summit drivers
Alan Cherry
Page 2 Editor’
Despite an influx of visi-
tors during next week's
Summit, there will still be
plenty of parking for fac-
ulty, staff, students and
visitors - although the
spots may not be as close
as some students are ac-
customed to.
6uy my Super Item, get a FREE Taco!! liBF
OttJHasvTXk and Aigie. Pittman. ACU Glass '82
( Acs1!    - Qc/.T1
JLieuieiicim n.r,. jei
of the ACU Police De
ment said the police
making no special j
to block off parking
or regulate traffic flov
they do with other e^
like Sing Song.
“Traffic during Sui
is not really a pro!
because there are e1
all over campus in d
ent places,” Jenkins s
Jenkins said i
would be ample ]
ing, even if it.is not
veniently located. 1
are around 4,500 ]
ing spots on the
campus, and only a
2,700 vehicles with
istered permits.
“We have plenl
spaces because stu<
mm
will be moving in and out
during the day,” Jenkins
said. “We would like stu-
dents to plan ahead and
think about their plans
for the day so they can get
places on time.”
While the ACU Police
will still enforce parking
violations, they will ease
up on ticketing non-per-
mitted vehicles and ve-
hicles parked in the wrong
lots. However, Jenkins
stressed the ACU Police
will still be heavily enforc-
ing handicapped parking
violations and maintain-
ing clear fire-lanes.
Although traffic is not
normally a problem dur-
ing Summit, this year
presents a unique chal-
lenge because of the vari-
ous construction projects
around campus.
ACU Police are optimis-
tic, but Brady Bryce, director
of ministry events, is wisely
preparing for the worst and
encouraging students to
find alternatives to driving.
“It’s a good week for stu-
dents to walk,” said Bryce.
The Campus Events
team will offer a shuttle ser-
vice for visitors who choose
to help alleviate traffic con-
gestion by parking farther
away or off campus.
Shuttle locations can be
found on the ACU website
at www.acu.edu!academ-
ics/cb s!centers-services!
ministry events!summit.
contact Cherry at
arc07a@acu.edu
SUMMIT
Theatre
to host
one-act
play
Marissa Ferguson
Contributing Reporter
After four years in the mak-
ing, the play Thom Pain
(Based on Nothing) will re-
mount one last time in hon-
or of this year’s Summit.
Emily Rankin, senior
theatre major from Abilene
and the play’s director, be-
gan studying the play her
freshman year. After en-
listing Jerry Mendl, senior
musical theatre major from
Abilene, she decided to di-
rect the play with Mendl as
Thom Pain.
"The actor and myself
put it on last year in Janu-
ary, and it went really well,
so we were asked to per-
form at Summit,” Rankin
said. “It’s a bit different
for us by preparing our-
selves, but we’re happy to
have ACU graciously host-
ing us.”
Mendl said students
will enjoy the show be-
cause it’s not the average
production.
“One of the wonderful
things is that it’s interactive
with the audience. The au-
dience is the other charac-
ter,” Mendl said. “If it were
just me trying to entertain,
it would just be boring, so
there’s many things that
keep the show electric.
What keeps the show alive
is the audience.”
Written by the contem-
porary American play-
wright Will Eno, the play - a
finalist for the 2005 Pulitzer
Prize for Drama - is simply
Pain’s rambling monologue
about his hardships as he
struggles to come to terms
with his faith and identity.
Rankin said she hoped
the audience would find the
play particularly relevant.
“The show speaks a
lot to the problems that
college students tend to
deal with, like loneliness,
regret and hope,” Rankin
said. “It has this amaz-
ing and unique ability
to show pain as not only
a destructive force, but
also as a healing force and
something that can bring
people together.”
Portraying a character
that represents the low-
est of lows, Mendl said it’s
his character that inspires
him the most.
“Thom has been through
so much, and a lot of it has
been his own fault,” Mendl
said. “This show addresses
life and how we’re not go-
ing to sugarcoat it. It tells
that even in struggle, life is
so worth living.”
The play will run at 8:30
p.m. Monday in Fulks The-
atre, free of charge.
contact Ferguson at
optimist@jmcnetwork.edu