The Optimist (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 68, No. 4, Ed. 1, Friday, September 26, 1980 Page: 3 of 27
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December grad wants ceremony
To the Editor:
I am bothered by the fact that ACU does not
offer a graduation ceremony for December
graduates. The following is a portion of a
letter requesting information on the issue
which I have sent to President Stevens Dean
Brown and Dean Beauchamp :
" . . Members of the class of 1980 would like
to graduate in 1980 and not feel misplaced into
another graduating class. Also graduates
may not be present in Abilene at the time of
the August or May commencement exercises.
I think it would be unfair to expect them to
travel to Abilene from their new locations if
they want to participate in a ceremony.
"There are considerations to be made for
the graduates' families and friends. True
December is not the best month for travelling
but surely a son or daughter's college
graduation would be of such importance that
arrangements would be made.
"It is obvious that much time money and
effort are required to prepare a com-
mencement exercise. These efforts are
greatly appreciated by the graduates who
your
Jon Scupin made a special effort to make
certain we had the correct spelling of his last
name but we still misidentified him .as Jon
Stupin in our last issue. Scupin a sophomore
from Brownfield was pictured on page A-10
preparing props for the Homecoming musical.'
We also misspelled freshman Byron Lip-
scomb's first name in a front page headline
0MoDjg mf
Barriers against sin falling
r
By BOB NUTT
Optimist Staff
A few weeks ago my wife and I ventured to
watch the film "American Gigolo." It's a
story about a handsome suave Hollywood
gigolo named Julian who makes his living by
"escorting" older ladies until he is framed for
murder. We usually don't
get into that kind of film
but it was free and we had
heard the clothes and cars
were worth seeing.
Well the clothes and
cars were beautiful but
the film was a little more
and a little less than we
had expected more raunchy and less in-
teresting. As we turned it off we concluded
that the plot as a whole was pretty boring and
in our opinion the film was somewhat a loser.
But there were some interesting insights in
this flashy film which we thought made it
worth watching.
A lot of sad people were in that movie.
Of course they didn't see themselves as sad.
As far as they were concerned they had it
made: plenty of money plenty of "friends"
and the ability to stay out of plenty of trouble
with the law.
With this as the characters' descriptions
you might expect the movie to be a long soap
opera. You know the kind where the actors
are so stupid you want to gag at their constant
problems and tragedies.
But "Gigolo" was too real to be. a soap
opera.
The gigolo and his wealthy clientele were
from what nice people used to consider "the
other side of the track." That was our way of
saying that sin was not in our neighborhood.
And if it was we didn't want to know about it.
Well the barrier between our side of the
track and their side has fallen down. I'm not
sure if there is more sin on our side of the
track now or if we are just seeing what has
always been here.
But Julian was what a majority of our peers
want to be; he was good looking wealthy and
fast moving. No matter what he had to do to be
that way it is still what a lot of "good kids"
our age seek.
It takes additional effort for each of us to
discern sin before we are able to overcome it
in ourselves or in others. The fact that the sin
barriers have been brought down really
makes our challenge tougher. Yet it also
makes us more aware more sensitive and
more real.
Although Christians have never really been
separated from the world I think now more
than ever we are called to discern between
good and bad in every aspect of our lives:
material things theology goals politics and
personalities.
What looks good may not always be good
and what looks bad may not always be bad.
The difference is in the discerning and that's
where the effort on our part comes in.
remember that momentous occasion all of
their lives. December graduates would like to
have that opportunity as well.
''It seems to me also that a great school like
Abilene Christian should certainly be capable
of providing for all graduates their special
moment of commencement "
Thank you for printing this letter as I think'
it is important for the student body to be
aware of the proposal.
Michelle Trull
Senior Hempstead
Letters to the editor of not more than 350
words will be given preference. All letters to
the editor should be typed or written legibly.
The writer must include his name address
and phone number for verification. Student
writers are asked to also include their
classification and hometown. Letters must be
submitted by 5 p.m. on Monday of the week of
publication. Occasionally letters will be held
because of space limitations. The .Optimist
reserves the right to edit or reject con-
tributions and to limit frequent writers.
last week. Byron who suffered serious brain
injuries in a bicycle accident last .week is still
in Hendrick Medical Center in'intensive care.J
For some reason these mistakes seem to
come in groups. Last week we also misspelled
the last name of Don Allred assistant director
of admissions as Don Ellred. We're all red
about that mistake.
MKUANC vive!
By DOUG MENDENHALL
Optimist Editor
Most of the ACU social clubs have
already sent out their bids for the
semester. The only club that's lagging
behind is mine. If we don't hurry up we'll
be stuck for another semester without
. any new blood.
j Come to think of it
H we haven't had any
BtCl. new blood since we
Vi . V wrote up our charter.
tmt'f Some of you may
v"' not have heard of my
.&V club. That's OK most
' of my club members
haven't heard of you either.I happen to
be one of the charter members of
MKUANC (muh kwan' see). That's the
Magic Kingdom Upstairs All Night Club.
MKUANC got its start early last
spring. The Bean was crowded that day
so several of my compatriots and I were
forced to eat on the west side with the
clubbers. We felt a bit misplaced among
the Siggies and Kinsmen so someone
(probably Dave Wallace last year's
Optimist sports' editor) suggested we
start a new club. 'As simply as that a
legend was begun.
Our name came naturally. We all were
Optimist staffers and spent a lot of
nights upstairs in the newspaper office.
Believe me by about 4 a.m. anything
you look at resembles a Magic Kingdom.
By the end of the semester MKUANC
had five members a charter and five of
the biggest egos in Abilene. Wallace left
at the end of the year but we still have
four big egos in myself ad manager Kent
Barnett sports editor Dave Ramsey and
assistant sports editor Mark Evje and
the MKUANC manifesto still hangs in a
prominent position on the hallway
bulletin board on the third floor of the
Morris Center.
MKUANC 's tenets are simple: radio
and TV broadcasters are iguanas sleep
is counterproductive you've got to
believe in yourself and bylines come first.
For the most part we behave a lot like
the "normal" social clubs on campus. We
have our socials catered by the Papa
Bear Restaurant at about two in the
morning. We usually don't date girls who
aren't in clubs of similar standing (ac-
tually we don't date much at all but
that's life).
Lest you think I'm making all of this
up check in the 1980 Pricfely Pear.
MKUANC's there right along with Sub T-
16andGATA. Unfortunately MKUANC may not be
around a few years from now. We've run
up against a problem I'm sure most
social clubs face. In our quest to be the
most elite club on campus we've decided
not to accept bids from anyone not
already in MKUANC.
So if you haven't already been accepted
into a social club we're sorry but
MKUANC doesn't want you.
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The Optimist (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 68, No. 4, Ed. 1, Friday, September 26, 1980, newspaper, September 26, 1980; Abilene, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth92002/m1/3/?q=%22%22~1: accessed July 15, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Abilene Christian University Library.