The Chapel Programming Team's decision to put off SA candidate speeches until after Chapel is a poor substitute that harms the student body more than it helps. We are in the midst of a nationwide epidemic of apathy and low voter turnout-and on this campus, it's a plague. The worst thing to do would be to remove the last visible vestige of ... [Read More…]
We all fight in the Lord’s army
If you have managed to pull yourself away from your classes, intramurals and Sing Song practice lately, you may have noticed that the United States is about to enter into a war with Iraq. And so the question begins floating around churches: "Should Christians fight?" and "Is it OK with God if we kill in the name of our country?" Time is spent ... [Read More…]
Chapel leaders take wrong turn
The Chapel Programming Team's five-year Chapel plan is "not that concrete," leaders say. Thank goodness for that. Because if Chapel is pushed in the direction Brad Carter and others want it to go, the university's sense of community could fade away. A number of statements in the five-year plan make it clear that the team does not see Chapel as a ... [Read More…]
Illinois governor takes refreshing leap of grace
With 48 hours left in his term, Illinois Governor George Ryan made a monumental and vital announcement. On Jan. 10, the outgoing governor of Illinois pardoned four wrongly-accused men; the next day and then commuted the the state's 167 death row inmates' sentences. Ryan, a Republican and former death penalty supporter, made the right decision ... [Read More…]
SA finally controls spending
Lost in the bigger news of Wednesday's Students' Association meeting was the fact that the Appropriations Committee and Congress worked together to neither waste nor hoard the students' money. The balance between a generally free-spending Congress and a generally frugal executive treasurer appears to have been reached after that treasurer, ... [Read More…]
Beauchamp’s legacy remains
The ACU community lost not only a friend, but also a valuable wealth of history when Garvin Beauchamp, 82, passed away Monday morning. Beauchamp was head coach of Abilene's undefeated football team in 1950, dean of students from 1956-83 and vice president for student life from 1983-91. With each year, more of the men and women who helped ACU ... [Read More…]
Thanksgiving a time to serve
Amid fears of Saddam, Osama and snipers, ACU students are safe. As the national economy flails, ACU students are financially secure. While Indian children who suffer great injustice pray to see another day, ACU students know what they want to do with their lives. This holiday season ACU students can count themselves among the most physically, ... [Read More…]
Let libraries filter own porn
The U.S. Supreme Court announced that it will hear oral arguments early next year in a dispute over the constitutionality of filtering pornography from public libraries. Passed by Congress and signed by President Clinton in 2000, the Children's Internet Protection Act requires libraries that receive federal Internet subsidies to use ... [Read More…]
Reading the Optimist 101
When in the course of ACU events Optimist readers need a little journalism lesson, we provide. It has become clear to us that a large number of students are unclear about the differences between columns, articles and editorials. Everything on the Views page is someone's opinion. The cartoon is Daniel Barcroft's opinion. One or two editorials, ... [Read More…]
Be safe when getting inked
Many students on campus have had tattoos done. The disclosure of minor health code violations at the Skin Wizard tattoo parlor did not likely have negative affects on students, but they raise concern about whether students take the necessary safety precautions before getting inked. Regardless of any given Christian's view of tattoos, many ... [Read More…]