The Optimist (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 95, No. 25, Ed. 1, Wednesday, November 29, 2006 Page: 4 of 8
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Pi4
Study abroad
offered cheaper
By EMILY SMITH
Student Reporter
Studying abroad is
an expensive endeavor;
however the Coopera-
tive Center for Study
Abroad provides a com-
plete package as a less
expensive alternative
for students who decide
to study abroad.
CCSA is a consortium
of colleges dedicated to
short courses and semester-long
classes for
students interested in
studying abroad. In this
program students have
the opportunity to min-
gle with other students
and professors from 2G
other universities.
Mindy Morgan Junior
marketing and finance
major from Prosper
went with her roommate
to London for about
three weeks last Christ-
mas break.
"There were about 40
other kids and they were
from different colleges
like Kentucky and Cin-
cinnati and they were
all from state schools so
that was an interesting
experience" she said.
Morgan and her room-
mate enjoyed side trips
to places such as Strat-
ford upon Avon and Do-
ver she said.
Her trip cost a bit
more than S3 000 with
her scholarship.
The price for study-
ing abroad through
CCSA varies with each
location but the pro
gram Includes airfare
lodging transportation
insurance and a few
meals not including
the cost of tuition.
CCSA has programs
in ten different loca-
tions: Australia Belize
Canada England Hong
Kong India Ireland Ja-
maica and Scotland.
"We try to keep
classes for the country
they're in" said Ed Tim-
merman professor of
marketing and business
and the university's rep-
resentative for CCSA.
For example more
literature classes are
available in London he
said and students sign
up for classes on their
home campuses and pay
tuition there he said.
"One of the advan-
tages to that is that
you don't have to worry
about transfer credit"
Timmerman said. His
job as representative is
to work with students
and department chairs
to determine credit val-
ue for classes abroad.
ACU has been a part
of the program since
1999 sending the first
class of students out in
2000. Twenty-six col-
leges across the coun-
try participate and a
variety of classes arc
offered for credit from
Contemporary British
Literature to Problem
Solving at Its Best.
Brochures about CCSA
and a list of available
classes are available
in the Mabee business
building in the foyer.
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Forensics
Br CHRIS HANSEN
"STUDENT RtTORTER
As the forensics team
gears up for its fourth
tournament of the year
returning debaters Kevin
Gillespie Brandon Smith
and Seth Copcland will
lead a young team to the
tournament at Cameron
University in Lawton
Okla. Dec. 1 and 2.
The team started the
season successfully at
the University of Houston
in October where three
students qualified for the
national tournament. Mi-
chael Johnson Kevin Gil-
lespie and Jason Sanchez
all qualified to compete
in the National Forensic
Association's national
Surveys rate faculty
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By PATRICK YCNACI0
Stldent Reporter
Results from this ear's
Quality of Life survey
which depicts how faculty
and staff perceive the qual-
ity of their work environ-
ment will soon be report-
1 ed to the administration.
I The Quality of Life
Team is a group of faculty
and staff appointed by Dr.
Royce Money president
1 of the university to gath-
er and report information
to Money about issues
i that affect the morale of
i the staff and faculty.
This year's team will
monitor survey results
from previous years and
will consider any new
ideas about the quality
of life at ACU presented
in this year's survey.
Dana Hood associate
professor of education
Global warming issues
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ByTODDPERSALL
Stldent Reporter
Beth McFJwain Junior ed-
ucation major from Farmer-
sville represented ACU and
Texas at a global warming
conference in Washington
D.C. on Nov. 16. The con-
ference was sponsored by
the Evangelical Youth Cli-
mate Initiative an organiza-
tion designed to encourage
youth to become involved in
environmental issues.
Jim Ball director of the
Environmental Evangelical
Network contacted ACU's
Outdoor Club to see if any
students would like to be
involved in the global warm
team prepares for tournament
tournament this spring.
Sally Gary director of fo-
rensics and assistant pro-
fessor of communication
said the second tourna-
ment of the year at Crclgh-
ton University in Omaha
Neb. was difficult.
"That was a baptism-by-fire
tournament" she said.
"It was really good
competition" said fresh-
man political science ma-
jor Boe Surbeck. "You're
going up against people
who are well-practiced
and very polished."
Gary said the tourna-
ment was chosen to dem-
onstrate to the team that
they arc going to have to
learn from their mistakes
and work hard.
"When you completely
get the round handed to
you you learn a lot more
from that than the ones
you win" Surbeck said.
"It helps you to learn
is the chair of the Quality
of Life Team.
"The purpose of the
survey has changed a lit-
tle since its first admin-
istration" Hood said in
an e-mail. "The goal now
is to keep a pulse of how
staff and faculty are feel-
ing and to identify the
consistent messages and
concerns about the qual-
ity of life at ACU."
Dr. Money established
the first task force in
2004 conducting a survey
that yielded a 61 percent
response rate from the
faculty and staff. Results
from Quality of Life sur-
veys in past years have ini-
tiated several programs
according to an e-mail
sent to faculty and staff
members informing them
about this year's survey.
These programs include
a task force to study fac-
ulty workloads and the
allocation of S4.5 million
during the next three
years towards faculty
and staff salaries.
ing issue by rallying support
from students across cam-
pus. McFJwain president of
the Outdoor Club said she
was eager to get involved but
said she didn't know much
about global warming.
"I heard about it but I
didn't think it was that big
of a deal" McFJwain said. "I
had to do some research on
the subject."
After researching the is-
sue on global warming
McFJwain gathered 160 sig-
natures of students saying
they would do their share to
fight global warming.
Because of the large num-
ber of signatures received
McFJwain said Jim Ball con-
tacted her again but this time
to represent ACU and Texas
at the conference. McFJwain
said she was particularly
motivated to go on the trip
what works and what
doesn't."
The third tournament
was at Louisiana State
University in Shreveport
La. where the freshmen
team of Jason Sanchez
and Boe Surbeck placed
first. Four speakers also
received awards includ-
ing Gillespie who earned
honors as the second
best overall speaker.
Gary said many of the
members are national
champion material if they
continue to work hard
and get a little lucky.
"We've got freshmen
who are coming in who
can be national champi-
ons" Gary said.
The freshmen may be
the future of the team
but don't overlook vet-
eran debaters Smith and
Gillespie. Smith came
in second at a national
tournament last year
staff quality of life
"The first team was
able to identify some ini-
tiatives that were quickly
implemented such as the
Christmas closure of cam-
pus" Hood said. "Changes
like this had a strong im-
pact on employee morale."
Hood said 47 percent of
faculty and staff respond-
ed to the survey this year
and 87 percent of those
who responded respond-
ed positively about quality
of life at the university.
"I was pleased and sur-
prised at the response
rate this year" Hood said.
"This is a very high rate
of return on any survey
particularly for the third
administration."
After reviewing the re-
sults of this year's sur-
vey Hood said the areas
of common concern re-
late to workloads. Hood
said the task force com-
missioned to explore this
issue is in the beginning
stages of its work. She
said workloads is a com-
plex issue and requires
provoke future action
because the Environmental
Evangelical Network would
pay for everything.
During die conference
students selected from dif-
ferent universities around
the country discussed how
to get Christian students and
universities more involved
in the fight against global
warming. McFJwain said
that out of students from
about 20 States she and two
others were selected to brief
the press on the conference.
McFJwain said she would
like to see ACU become an
environmental leader for
other Christian universi-
ties. McFJwain proposed the
idea of using wind power in-
stead of the traditional coal
to supply ACU with power.
She said that no other uni-
versities receive their power
by wind.
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Wedeeidty Newber 1 2006
and Gillespie was a nov-
ice national champion as
a freshman.
Freshman political sci-
ence major Chelsea Hack-
ney said the small close-
knit team is what she '
enjoys most.
"We have people like
Gillespie Smith and
Copeland) who actually
take the time to pay at-
tention to freshmen"
Hackney said.
Both Smith and Gillespie
have a chance to win the
national championship
this year Gary said.
"It all depends on how
the draw falls who the
competitors are and I
really believe God has a
hand in how things play
out" Gary said. "Who wins
is icing on the cake."
some time to address.
"Issues like workload
do not have simple solu-
tions" Hood said. "The
Quality of Life Team will
continue to be a voice
to encourage the groups
more directly responsible
for exploring these tough
questions."
Jim Holmans execu-
tive assistant to Money
said the Quality of Life
Team works closely with
Money. Holmans recog-
nized the team as an im-
portant entity in observ-
ing the work standards
among the ACU faculty
and staff.
"It makes a major dif-
ference in the way the
school operates and the
way the employees feel
about the school" Hol-
mans said. "It is a very
critical piece of our uni-
versity culture. And so
when the Quality of Life
Task Force speaks Dr.
Money listens."
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McFJwain said that she
has already set up meeting
times with Dr. Royce Money
president of the university
and others to discuss the en-
vironmental future of ACU.
"If we were t educated
more on the issue we could
have more impact" McFJ-
wain said. "We need to take
care of the blessings God
has given us."
Dr. Jim Cooke professor
of environmental science
said he supports the idea of
ACU becoming a prominent
voice in issues concerning
the environment.
"What Beth and other stu-
dents are concerned with is
real" Cooke said. "Global
climate change is real and
there are things that we can
do as individuals to help."
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The Optimist (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 95, No. 25, Ed. 1, Wednesday, November 29, 2006, newspaper, November 29, 2006; Abilene, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101914/m1/4/: accessed April 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Abilene Christian University Library.