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The Oddest Proposal: A True College Town

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Students of Abilene, Despite our three universities, the phrase "college town" does not immediately conjure up thoughts of the Key City, most likely due to our downtown-closes-at-9 attitude. Areas like Austin, Dallas or Lubbock are the true youth-friendly locales. We need this to change. So I petition we do something. We must become a literal ... [Read More…]

Double Contractions: A linguistics revolution

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Steve Jobs created the iPhone. Einstein had his theory of relativity. Coke invented happiness in a bottle. Journalists don't usually offer new ground breaking innovation. Until now. Well, ground breaking and innovation may be too strong of a choice for words. But I do bring something new from my line of work. Double contractions. As soon as I ... [Read More…]

‘Occupying’ won’t get you anywhere

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More than 3,000 people have "occupied" Wall Street for the past month. Really, they are milling about Zuccotti park in Manhattan, and the rest of the world has followed suit. These "protests" have broken out in many major cities and small towns around the world. London, Rome and Los Angeles saw large protests last week, and an Occupy Abilene event ... [Read More…]

Past Views: Hoots of the Owl

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Editor's Note: Hoots of the Owl was a humorous gossip column first run in 1928. Throughout the years many Optimist staffers wrote as the voice of the Owl, Hal Hoots. The column survived for five years, though it was frowned upon by the administration for most of its existence. Eventually, the column devolved into personal attacks. In 1932, ... [Read More…]

Past Views: Did you know? ACC marriages survive

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Editor's Note: Originally published Nov. 22, 1951 by Clark Potts, Optimist Reporter, Columnist 1951-1952, Editor 1952-1953. Did you know that approximately 3,600 marriages have been performed as a result of the contacts made here at ACC in its 46 years of life? Think about that! A marriage takes two persons so this would make a total of 7,200 ... [Read More…]

Notions of drinking old-fashioned

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In the 105 years after the founding of our university, Abilene Christian grew from a college to a university. The first graduating class had fewer than 100 students, and today we boast more than 1,000. Along with the university's academic expansions, the religious backgrounds and moral boundaries of the students expanded also. Students today wear ... [Read More…]

The confessions of a communion server

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"This do in remembrance of me." The words of Christ, spoken as he instituted the Lord's Supper. And remember we do, as we faithfully munch on a cracker and sip a very small cup of grape juice. But how do you get that Eucharistic goodness so conveniently every week? There's a lot of mysterious behind-the-scenes work to be sure, but the most visible ... [Read More…]

Past Views: Smoking obscures Christians’ mission

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Editor's Note: This column was originally published Nov. 22, 1951 by Clark Potts, Optimist Reporter, Columnist 1951-1952 How many of us on the "Hill" have considered just how much even our smallest actions reflect on the name of our school and the Church? A School can do a great deal of good and never receive any publicity, but let one bad thing ... [Read More…]

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