The Optimist (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 97, No. 46, Ed. 1 Wednesday, April 1, 2009 Page: 3 of 14
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FocusWednesday
April 1, 2009
Page 3 «
“When you laugh, it’s an involuntary explosion of the lungs. The lungs need to replenish
themselves with oxygen. So you laugh, you breathe, the blood runs and everything is circulating.
If you don’t laugh, you’ll die.” - Mei Brooks
the 13th.
To Be or Not
To be or not to be that is the
question. Please submit your
answers to the Optimist editor.
The person with the correct
answer will receive a free Ren-
ACCance.
P u ‘ u
accor
school
are Of
able,
should
the h;
and k
The
upon
from
’in
Antarctic Group Meets
In Local Locker Plant
The Antarctic Mission Study
Group, consisting of six students
and a pack of lap dogs, met
Thursday evening at the local
locker plant to discuss climate
and other conditions to be found
in the Antarctic Circle. The group
is currently study Penguinali, the
language of Antarctic,
Hie Reason for the Teasln
The satirical Pessimist re-emerges this year,
reminding Optimist readers to smile on occasion
and not to take themselves too seriously.
By Kelline Linton
Chief Copy Editor
The Onion, “America’s fin-
est news source,” is a fake
news organization that reports
on local, national and interna-
tional news. It features satirical
articles with headlines such as
“East Timor’s first female dic-
tator hailed as step forward
for women,” “Nation’s blacks
creeped out by all the people
smiling at them” and “Experts
agree giant, razor-clawed bioen-
gineered crabs pose no threat.”
This outlandish newspaper’s
print circulation? 690,000.
Satire is not dead in Amer-
ica. It thrives in the media
through print, television and
film. Satire lives when shows
like The Colbert Report inter-
view unknowing politicians,
forcing them to answer absurd
and offensive questions in
front of thousands of viewers.
Satire lives when movies such
as O Brother Where Art Thou?,
Wag the Dog and Airplane use
humor to poke fun at society’s
institutional problems. And
satire lives when the Optimist
provides camaraderie to the
student body with an April
Fool’s device — the Pessimist.
The Pessimist, although long
missing from the ACU news-
stands, is back this year. This
April Fool’s special edition
of the Optimist features fake
news stories that contain sat-
ire, buffoonery and silliness,
all meant in fun. Its humor
impacts students because we
have a significant appreciation
for the merriment of life.
“It is a time in your life
when the funny factor is re-
ally important to you,” said
Dr. Charlie Marler, profes-
sor emeritus and senior fac-
ulty of journalism and mass
communication. “How many
students do you know are
sad sacks?”
Satire is commonly found
in a journalism setting. But
successful satire is both fun-
ny and therapeutic; it needs
an April Fool’s moment, when
the joke is revealed and every-
one is invited to laugh togeth-
er. The Pessimist has used this
satire for decades.
The first edition of the Pes-
simist printed March 31,1932.
The Optimist began this new
satirical tradition a few weeks
after a faculty publications
committee urged the cancella-
tion of a popular column, titled
Hoots of the Owl. The unsigned
column, which began running
in 1928, featured an owl that
said he roamed the campus,
spying on people. The com-
mittee said the column “had
become too juvenile and un-
dignified for a college newspa-
per,” according to the Sep. 26,
2008, edition of the Optimist.
Instead, the new fake news-
paper ran stories about the
Abilene police arresting the
Dean of Women for an illegal
storage of liquor and the Presi-
dent of the University buying a
new tobacco shop that offers
discounts to students.
Early editions of the Pessi-
mist had columns printed side-
ways and upside-down and of-
ten ridiculed faculty members
and administrative policies.
The Optimist staff produced
the last edition of the Pessimist
in 1981-82 after the potential
for libel became an issue in the
early 1980s, according to the
Sep. 26, 2008, edition of the
Optimist. Doug Mendenhall, in-
structor and journalist in resi-
dence, was the editor in chief of
the Optimistin 1981-82.
“There is a fine line between
good satire and garbage,” Men-
denhall said.
While on the Optimist staff,
Mendenhall regularly wrote a
humorous column, also titled
the Pessimist. And as a sopho-
more on staff, he created the
entire 1979-80 edition of the
Pessimist by himself. During
spring break, he found the pho-
tographs, wrote the content
and designed the issue. This
Pessimist featured the Students’
Association Congress President
Ron Holifield dressed in drag. A
source dose to Mendenhall had
supplied him the photograph.
Marler, who was the edi-
tor in chief of the Optimist
from 1954-55, remembers
when the Pessimist was sold
for 10 cents a copy.
He said the tradition of
the Pessimist was always an
April Fool’s joke, and the
Chapel version of the Pessi-
mist was an annual Faculty
Impersonation Day.
“Nationally, the humor at
that time was different from the
humor at this time,” he said.
And although 27 years has
passed since the last Pessimist
and the humor has changed,
the satirical tradition upheld by
the spedal newspaper remains
the same — telling an April
Fool’s joke the whole campus
can enjoy.
E-mail Linton at: klr04b@acu.edu
ring
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Ren-
ihen Cari i-uiher Spam got
Blood-Letting Leeches
Purchased by College
Six new leeches for the purpose
of bloodletting have just been
purchased by the ACC infirmary,
according to Dr. R. W. Varner,
school physician. These leeches
are of the highest quality obtain-
able, added Dr. Varner, and
should be a great aid in combat-
the black plague, consumption
and lovesickness.
The leeches are only to be used
upon the receipt of a prescription
from a qualified physician.
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the
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Bill McClure, ACC emch, h in
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c®ani>lk'attfiTO that resulted to
convuliton*, and, finally, the stu-
por.
At last report he was coming
ateng ufcely, and should be hack
to normal by the totter part of
the week.
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The Optimist (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 97, No. 46, Ed. 1 Wednesday, April 1, 2009, newspaper, April 1, 2009; Abilene, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth903939/m1/3/: accessed May 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Abilene Christian University Library.