NEWS IN BRIEF: Assaulted officer recovers, comes back

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by Felisa Yang

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"I'm feeling a lot better than I did Sunday two weeks ago," Acker said. He suffered no internal injuries although there was deep trauma to his muscles.

"If I hadn't seen the movement out of the peripheral vision on my left side, I would've been hit a lot harder," he said.

Members of Jones College are happy to see Acker back in good condition.

"It was really good to see him back and freely moving again," said Spike Gildea, a residential associate at Jones South.

"It's different when a member of the [college] family gets hit like that."

Jones President Rick Lopez felt that Acker went "above and beyond the call of duty." Lopez said that Acker and Officer Ray Scholton have had a positive effect for the students at Jones and Brown College.

"We're really happy to have him back," Lopez said.

Holly Sterrett, a Jones junior, mirrored Lopez's sentiments.

"It's good to know that we have people here who really care and will do anything for us," Sterrett said. "It says a lot that this happened and he came back and kept going.

"It shows that he has a really positive attitude," she said.

Scholton, Acker's partner, said, "We're tickled pink that he's back.

"We're extremely proud that no more harm came to him than what did," he said.

Acker warned students to be careful when walking about campus, especially near the perimeters of the university. Scholton echoed the warnings.

"If it can happen to one of us, it can happen to anyone. Remain completely aware of your surroundings at all times ... and try to avoid the outer perimeters of the university as much as possible."

Acker was surprised and pleased by the outpouring of support from the Rice community.

"I was very surprised at the response," Acker said.

"I got fantastic mounds of support. [The support] had a lot to do with me getting back to work as fast as I did.

"A big thank you to everyone for the support and all the cards and phone calls."

This item appeared in the News section of the December 1, 1995 issue.

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