The Optimist (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 84, No. 40, Ed. 1, Wednesday, February 28, 1996 Page: 2 of 6
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Texas Digital Newspaper Program and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Abilene Christian University Library.
- Highlighting
- Highlighting On/Off
- Color:
- Adjust Image
- Rotate Left
- Rotate Right
- Brightness, Contrast, etc. (Experimental)
- Cropping Tool
- Download Sizes
- Preview all sizes/dimensions or...
- Download Thumbnail
- Download Small
- Download Medium
- Download Large
- High Resolution Files
- IIIF Image JSON
- IIIF Image URL
- Accessibility
- View Extracted Text
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
. I'h'jfirn - ' "i " i
fnnVHnmVlfitmmiiAt &Mlt4i10Wimto''''ui''i" ww
yl l(.k.TM.i lVJtH'WA''4''
' v - -j.!. h... . W l4
. 'A.
7"
f i.V't't hl.'.ftL
" ' ' Z:fri&b. 1996
BagaJL..
OPTiMIST
-t'- pfn
t
-
; :jTt jJ? f$
f .'. l'-k Ai
; r v
if-JL
Management Board
Mindy Compboll
Bobby FoISim
Jessica Groy
''
rfikr 4Pt49r iJBfcwr Jgk Jk
OPTIMIST
Editorial Board
Amy Daugherify Editor In Chief
' Tiffany (Condrup Managing News Editor
Eunice Urn Opinion Page Editor
Dr. Charlie Marler Faculty Adviser
Bilty Atredpridb photographer Jony Bedard. photographer: Chris
Battlettsporls staff; Kelly Enrlght staff writer:
Jennifer Fierrb sports editor: JessTca Groy. Mali writer
Jon Kryder copy editor: Jeremy Parish graphic designer
Melonio Thomas editorial assistant; Nolhon Will art director
Brandon Young graphic staff fehael Woods chief
photographer: Paul Yarbrough copy editor; Dr. Merlin Mann assis-
tant adviser; Cade While assistant adviser
loura Holly J"
MieW Hughen- jf -jj
Nom Pil Hwang'S Jv B
Noinoniel Jones &9 m
Carrie lonier
Soroh ledbetter
Julie Maldonado
John MeCowen
Mist) Meels
Diane Moylder .
KrisllO Donald
Clalrs Pruitt
Daniel Reynoso
John Robinson ' '
Timothy Smith
Kelly Truift
Heather Walters
Rebecca Wilson
r&t!.' lit
: 4l
The Optima) Is a publication of the students of the Deportment of Journalism and Mass Communication of Abilene
Christian University ACU Station. Box 7892 Abilene. Texas 79699-7892. '
The lournallsm laboratory newspaper Is published twice o week September through April (except for.unlversBy holi-
days In November December. January and March). Subscriptions ore $30 tor Ihlrd-closs moil and $75 for frsr-ctoss mull
Tor the academic year. . '
The unsigned editorials are the opinions of the students on the Opiimlil Editorial Board and do not necessarily reflect
the policies or views of the university. The signed columns cor loons and letters to the editor ore the opinions of their
creators and do not. necessarily reflect the viewpoints of the Cjjllmlil Editorial Board or the unfveriity qdmWslrotlon
-editorials .
Okla. defense benefits from venue change
Chalk one up for the defense
lawyers of Timothy J. McVeigh
and Terry L. Nichols.
Federal Judge Richard P. Matsch
yielded last week to the defenses
motion to move the Oklahoma City
bombing trial to Denver for fear of a
partial jury at home.
No douttt the defense has good rea-
son to feel uneasy about conducting
the trial in Oklahoma City
According to the Chicago Tribune in
assessing the mood of the Oklahoma
City populace Matsch said McVeigh
and Nichols "have been demonized."
"There is so great a prejudice against
these two defendants in the state of
Oklahoma that they cannot obtain a
rair and impartial trial at any place
fixed by law for holding court in that
state" Matsch said.
Many legal analysts wholeheartedly
agree. Scott Armstrong free-lance
writer and analyst of local and nation-
al coverage of the bombing asserted
that residents of Oklahoma City con-
sidered the bombing a personal attack
more than any other residents in the
nation and cited a more intense and
prejudicial publicity there The New
York Times reported.
Granted finding an impartial jury in
Oklahoma City would be like finding
a needle in a haystack; the trial should
be moved.
However Denver represents a poor
alternative for producing a fair trial.
Authorities have unofficially con-
nected McVeigh and Nichols with
militia hate groups which generate
loyal sympathizers among white sup-
remacists of which Colorado happens
to contain one of the largest and most
active populations in America.
According to the New York Times Joe
Guaftaferro a Chicago jury consultant
said "Colorado from a jury perspec-
tive could be risky. There's a lot of
white supremacists in those hills."
A recent report issued by U.S.
Newswire listed Colorado among 13
states most recognized for their bands of
right-wing militants including the anti-
Semitic Liberty Lobby a multi-state
organization based in Boulder Colo.
Although such militants represent a
small percentage of the populace the
switch to Denver was a smart move by
the defense.
After going to the trouble and much
greater expense to arrange a fair trial the
presiding judge should have considered
a venue that more apdy serves the inter-
ests of both defense and prosecution.
Incidentally Matsch's hometown is
Denver the place he probably most
prefers to reside during the long pro-
ceedings to come.
According to die Chicago Tribune
Matsch was quoted defending his
change of venue with these words: "The
interests of the victims in being able to
attend this trial in Oklahoma are out-
weighed by the court's obligation to
assure that the trial be conducted with
fundamental fairness and with due re-
gard for all constitutional requirements."
In the name of "fundamental fair-
ness" it seems the defense got a more-than-fair
deal.
.letters policy
The Optimist encourages reader qucnt writers and edit letters when
response through letters to the editor length or grammatical errors become
but we reserve the right to refuse to a problem.
print letters that contain personal
attack obscenity defamation erro-
neous information or invasion of privacy.
The Optimist refuses to print any
letters that do not include a signature
tOP.lctters that bear requests for the '
kwrucr sianonynrny.t -ja
fWefrescrvdfthcwgl
Letters submitted to the Optimist
should be limited to 350 words or
less. Address letters to:
u Optimist Editor"
.. ACU Box 7893.
Abilene
.$&.ZEml.
svrs .-
tiw-
BioriclBttotmmiijfc
!
S -U.f
4
$:: 'I; ;i
. ..'... ' i
: : i 7 m
r i.
I1 I JiYi6&9 - '
jtv '' ' ( A
. v " ylii J .
1 "- Still vv V
1 it I " I i 1 1 1 1 v
. - Iff r
1 I m w
II I'l
o W If
m. i. wm m
cum If
NMT
-t l
"J 3
Charles Trevakh
Dean of Shorts
Thoughtless mistakes leave only regrets
Such a careless flick of the little point-
ing arrow and in a flash every last
bit and byte of binary morsel was erased
- zapped eradicated like a glob of
whitcout had blanketed itself generously
on the oblivious diskette.
This hopelessly neglectful act of inat-
tentive recklessness would not have hap-
pened if only I had been prudent
enough to read the warning dialogue
box that helpfully but fruitlessly flashed
in all vermilion glory on the familiar
computer monitor.
But in my thoughdess haste and stub-
born impatience I worked my way - in
dim-witted flourish - to expunge into
Cybcrheaven all 23463 kilobytes of
immensely pertinent documents from
the unknowing Zip disk vfc'v. tivv
No wonder they call it .a 'Zip disk.
Information can be stored in lightning
speed - and completely nullified in a
strobe of lightning stupidity.
Eunk Ltm
"All it takes is that one
complacent decision for
us to trash everything
we've saved and only be
left to live with bitter
memories. "
yellow journalism.
No "Undo" command could reverse
such negligence.
So much for technology.
If only issues that really mattered
could be erased washed out and annihi-
lated as easily.
CcVc all found ourselves in jsimjlar .
experiences storing and compulsiycly
saving files and ' .records of eclectic
annals only to have them completely
vaporized one day at a brash forgoing of
any moral consequence.
How many of us have ignored die nag-
ging dialogue boxes of peer reminders
ran in a flurry of obstinate haste and
zipped ourselves into trash dumps filled
with the broken pieces of our lives?
No matter how many times we brain
wash ourselves into thinking "It won't
happen to me" or "Just this once and
then I'll stop" we're only hacking the
network of famous last words.
What good is that posh sports car
when it sits totaled in the junkyard with
its driver dead and reeking of alcohol?
What good is a full scholarship
through college when that one fateful
night of physical self-indulgence ends
up with a vulnerable crying baby nine
months later?
All it takes is that one complacent
decision for us to trash everything we've
saved and only be left to live with bitter
memories and shaken lives.
Too bad life doesn't offer backup disks.'
Christ-centered criers call for change
Praise God for a university offering
itself as a venue for change.
For those of you who couldn't make
the theme lectures during Lectureship
last week take the opportunity to listen
to the cassettes for therein lies a heart-
wrenching message no one should do
without.
They called this year's Lectureship
"The Church: Who Needs It?" But it
seems something like "The Church:
Unity or Bust" would work as well.
Over and over the speakers stressed the
wretched disunity among today's Chris-
tians and our desperate need for a uni-
fied church.
Over and over they pleaded for Chris-
tians to forsake disputable matters for
the sake of our common cardinal be-
lief: that Jesus the Nazarcne died was
buried and by divine power was made
alive again and all who accept him as
the Son of God and submit to his way
may be saved from the inevitability of
sin and death.
Very few among us they argued dis-
pute this claim.
Nevertheless they said for years we
Jon Kryder
"We're talking about
a unity revival already
underway among our
most respected leaders. "
mental "block..
have taught our children to advocate
churches of exclusivity. And our children
have taught their children the same.
But today a revival is taking shape. It
is a revival that will be rendered by
those who in love and self-sacrifice will
put aside personal matters and unite on
the Christ message we know to be
absolute.
We're talking about a unity revival
already underway among our most
respected leaders like the men who
spoke on campus last week.
The seed has been planted and the
Spirit is at work.
Like leaven talk about church unity is
alive and quickly spreading. It will gain
strength before it can be subdued.
Does the Spirit of God still reside
among us? You bet for he is calling each
of us to join him and one another in-
fighting the real enemies of Christ - not
flesh and blood but spiritual beings of
darkness.
A new age is upon us; the lost of this
world have made their stand. They will
be fooled no longer; they will not toler-
ate a salviflc church that refuses to com-
mune as one.
They demand love and self-sacrifice:
first among us. Thank God the spiritu-
al power resides within us to succeed.
1926 Lectureship speaker CM.'
Stubblefleld defended church unity by;
citing the Restoration Movement
motto: We claim to be Christians only
but we do not claim to be the only;
Christians.
Unity within the church and without.
The power of that conception indeed
can bring Christ to all the world.
This year's lectureship made us think.
Let's be thankful for men of courage
who think the unthinkable and motion
for corporate change.
Television's home video comedy provides laughs annoying jokes
In my short history of column writ-
ing I have already shared some of
my deep personal struggles.
I wrote about the embarrassing
tragedies of my klutziness which have
not reappeared fortunately. And I
have written about some of the crazy
road trips I have taken.
Yet I still have one skeleton in my
closet that few people really know
about. Although many will laugh and
make fun of me I am not ashamed to
admit it.
One of my alf-time favorite televi-
sion shows is America's Funniest Home
Videos. Actually I am a true AFHV
fanatic.
Now I'm not your typical television
junkie. ' js'i'Ci-i
But come 6 p.m. on a Sunday night
chances are you will find me in front
of the tube laughing uncontrollably.
How can anyone not watch this
show? It's hysterical. You get to peek
into other people's lives and see them
make fools of themselves. What could
be more enjoyable?
Most of my friends think I like it so
much because it makes my little klutzy
mishaps seem a lot less severe. Perhaps
but oh well AFHV is still funny.
It has been almost two years since
my addiction began and I can't get
myself to stop.
One thing that doesn't help though
is. that this show is beginning to re-
mind me of Saved by the Bell. You can
find it on almost any channel at any
given hour of the day. But I am not
complaining.
They say the more you laugh through-
out life the longer you live.' Well if this
show stays on the air I'll probably live
forever. I can't get enough.
Maybe I have a warped sense of
humor but it cracks me up to watch
little girls fall over each other in the
middle of a ballet performance or see
a kid in little league hit a baseball and
run to third base first.
If you can watch these things with-
out laughing you probably aren't nor-
mal or maybe you have had too many
of your own accidents.
Actually I do know the real reason
not many people watch the show.
Bob Sagct the host of AFHV is
Kl!y Enrighf
"You get to peek into
other people's lives and
see them make fools of
themselves "
say cheese.
annoying. I'll be the first to admit that
it took me awhile to get used to his
cheesy sense of humor.
But you have to give him some
credit. He knows nobody likes him
yet he still gets up there each week and
acts like a geek. That's got to count for
somcdiing.
Now if he really drives you com-
pletely insane here is an easy solution.
Record the show and fast forward
through his long monologues. I can
because 1 own one of the ISestofAFH
tapes.
Most people who watch it with me
demand that we rush through his
parts. This way you still get around
15 minutes of comedic entertainment.
The pbint of all of this is not to bash
Bob. Sagct but to let you know that
America's Funniest Home Videos is air
enjoyable part of life that you could be
missing but on.
Get over the annoying jokes and
have some fun laughing at the stupid
things other people do.
Just remember at least it is not you.
1
t
.. 4- ri
.a.
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
The Optimist (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 84, No. 40, Ed. 1, Wednesday, February 28, 1996, newspaper, February 28, 1996; Abilene, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth99677/m1/2/?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.