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Optimist delivers something new

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By Jonathan Smith, Editor in Chief A quick look through any old issue of the Optimist will quickly tell you you're no longer dealing with the same paper as last year. You can see it in our nameplate. You can see it in the fonts. You can see it in the staff box and on down the list of nerdy journalism terms. Why do I think it should matter? Why ... [Read More…]

Letter from the Editor: Editor in chief looks back

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By Paul A. Anthony, Editor in Chief "The newspapers! Sir, they are the most villainous-licentious-abominable-infernal-Not that I ever read them-No-I make it a rule never to look into a newspaper." -The Critic (1779), by Richard Brinsley Sheridan A young, scared freshman who had never taken a journalism class in his life sat on the floor in an ... [Read More…]

Column As I Saw ‘Em: If I had a dollar for every…

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By Steve Holt, Opinion Editor My dad taught me a game that his mom taught him when he was a kid. It's called "If I had a dollar." It goes something like this: If I had a dollar ... * ... for every time I asked head track and field coach Jon Murray, "How did you feel about our athletes' performances this weekend?" * ... every time someone left ... [Read More…]

Top five college moments

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By Kyle Peveto, Opinion Editor Column Schmolumn I haven't given much thought to graduation. I haven't boxed up any stuff or cleaned my amazingly filthy home. I guess I suffer from denial about actually leaving. Maybe I fear jinxing it. Like the second I mention it I'll find out I failed some class and I'll be back here. After spending five ... [Read More…]

A sportswriter voices his regrets

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By Joel Weckerly, Sports Editor Weck's World "Today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth..." Perhaps the immortalized words uttered by Lou Gehrig in his 1939 farewell speech aren't appropriate for my use. Yet somehow, the Iron Horse's sound-byte doesn't cease to inspire me 65 years later in this, my farewell ... [Read More…]

Letter from the Editor: SA, paper have healthy conflict

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By Paul A. Anthony, Editor in Chief The editorial reads like something we've written lately. "The SA Constitution is not just a piece of paper," the Optimist opined 15 years ago. "The SA's latest blatant disregard of its Constitution," etc. etc. etc. In the 1988 executive officer elections, the president staffed the election booth with Senate ... [Read More…]

Don’t live for work

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By Kyle Peveto, Opinion Editor Column Schmolumn In three weeks, I will embark on my post-graduate journey. It does not scare me, but I do realize I'll never enjoy the same freedom I did in college. No more summer vacations, spring breaks or month-long Christmas vacations. Instead of spending 13 hours a week in class, I'm gonna spend at least 40 ... [Read More…]

Creating a Buzz: Getting his side

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By Joel Weckerly, Sports Editor Weck's World Last week I relayed one side of the stir that H.G. "Buzz" Bissinger's 1991 book, Friday Night Lights, created. I talked to now-ACU head coach Gary Gaines and his wife, Sharon, who are still feeling the sting from Bissinger's portrayal of Gaines' 1988 Odessa Permian coaching staff as racist. The only ... [Read More…]

Learn to love cell phones

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By Kyle Peveto, Opinion Editor Column Schmolumn I first began to hate cell phones when I was 18 and I read On the Road by Jack Kerouac. Kerouac roars across the country hitchhiking, busing and borrowing cars with friends and family only guessing where he laid his head. I never planned to follow Kerouac's exploration of America, but I hoped to ... [Read More…]

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