Optimist
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the
End of a Season, page 7
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Vol. 99, No. 27
1 section, 8 pages
CAMPUS
University revises employee driving policy 2011. The only students affected by the changes are Managing Editor those who are employed A new employee driving by the university. Mike Murphy, director policy that will go in effect next year will require regular of risk management, said a training of university drivers. university-wide risk assessThe Office of Risk Man- ment was conducted in Deagement revised the driv- cember 2009, and a myriad ing policy for university of topics were discussed, employees, effective Jan. 1, including policies on driv-
Jeff Craig
ing. He said the driver policy, which was last revised in 2003, was updated to improve safety and meet insurer’s requirements. “We looked at the driving policies of TCU, UNT and other public and private universities out there and realized that our insurance carrier stipulates a lot of
things,” Murphy said. “Obviously they want to minimize claims, and so a lot of policy changes came from what they stipulate.” Murphy said the biggest change in the new driver policy involves training for what the university considers routine drivers, who the new pol-
icy describes as an “employee who is authorized to operate a vehicle on a routine or regular basis (daily, weekly or regularly scheduled) to conduct university business.” Murphy said those employees would now be required to undergo a Motor Vehicle Record (MVR) check.
Employees who routinely drive university vehicles or rental cars will also have to undergo online training. Murphy said he believes the new policies are actually less restrictive when it comes to driving university vehicles. He said the see INSURANCE page 4
STUDENT LIFE
Dorms share flu shot contest victory
Off the Leash Camp Barkeley gives Abilene dogs a place to run free
Laura Gasvoda Staff Writer
Nelson and McDonald residence halls have tied to win this year’s flu shot competition sponsored by the ACU Medical Clinic. The clinic challenged all freshman and sophomore dorms to compete and offered a prize for the dorm with the highest percentage of residents vaccinated for the flu. The winning dorm received $500 in prize money for the celebration of their choice. Dr. Ellen Little, director of the ACU Medical Clinic, considers the competition a success and plans to host it again next year. “It is a good way to get people motivated,” Little said. McDonald dorm won last year’s competition as well. Although McDonald is the smallest women’s residence hall on campus, it managed to have a high percentage of residents get the shot both years. This year the dorm reached a total of 38 percent of residents vaccinated to tie Nelson for the win. Lindsey Adams, freshman Youth and Family Ministry major from Mesquite and resident of Nelson Hall,
photos by MEAGAN HERNANDEZ // Staff Photographer
Above: Mobi enjoys the open spaces at the newly-opened Camp Barkeley. Right: A painted fire hydrant, donated by Abilene firefighters, adorns Abilene’s first and only dog park.
L
Story by Matthew Woodrow
ocal dogs ran free as Camp Barkeley celebrated its grand opening Saturday. Camp Barkeley consists of two fenced-in areas designed for dog owners to come and unleash their pets to have fun, exercise, and socialize with other dogs. Larger dogs have two acres to run around in, while canines less than 30 pounds have one acre. Bryan and Amanda McDermott have brought their short-hair German pointer, Sube, to the park five times in the last week because of the joy they witness in their pet as she has room to run freely.
“Our yards pretty big, but this is so much better,” Amanda said. “You can tell she’s excited. As soon as we pull up she starts whimpering. For her, its two acres of pure happiness.” The McDermott’s even went and bought a “Chuckit” ball launcher that allows them to play fetch across nearly the whole two acres. While Sube likes to play by herself, Mark Christy’s two dogs enjoy playing around with the other dogs there. “My dogs are supposed to run over twenty miles a day, so this is great. They love hanging out with the other dogs; they’re very social,” see WOOF page 4
see CLINIC page 4
PHYSICS
Department of Physics joins national education coalition Christianna Lewis Senior Reporter
One of Dr. Jess Dowdy’s goals upon entering ACU as a new associate professor of physics this fall was to see ACU’s Department of Physics become a hub for training physics teachers. “It’s already one of the best physics departments in the world,” Dowdy said. “Why can’t it become one
of the best places to train a physics teacher?” The first step in fulfilling this goal was for the Department of Physics to become a member of Physics Teacher Education Coalition, which accepted ACU’s application in early November, Dowdy said. According to its website, the PTEC is comprised of 175 learning institutions engaged in improving ed-
said. He said the PTEC community will help ACU recognize challenges in educating physics teachers and develop ways to overcome them. The PTEC also offers grants to institutions developing new training programs for science teachers. Dowdy applied for one of the grants in early November and expects to hear back from the PTEC
website
inside feature Find out where in the world Dr. Royce and Pam Money have been since becoming chancellor of the university. page 5
ucation for physics teachers. It provides a network for institutions to work together in creating better programs and methods for training science educators, Dowdy said. ACU offered physics majors a teaching track for the first time this year and has just begun informing students on the opportunities in the field of physics education, Dowdy
sports Read a recap of the last Wildcat football game of the season against the University of Central Missouri. page 8
any day, he said. This grant would aid ACU’s involvement in meeting the nationwide need for physics teachers, said Dr. Rusty Towell, department chair and professor of physics. Nationally, only one-third of high school teachers who teach physics have a degree in physics, Towell said. The need for physics teachers will only increase,
Dowdy said. The growth rate of high school teachers teaching physics from 2005-2009 was lower than the growth rate of students taking physics, according to the November newsletter for the American Institute of Physics. Schools in Texas will require even more physics teachers than in other see PTEC page 4
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