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Monday, February 28, 2011

TODAYH 72 L 40

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Volume 90Issue 9

Next Publication:Thursday, March 3, 2011

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The Independent Voice of Stephen F. Austin State University

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PINE LOG The

The Independent Voice of Stephen F. Austin State University

Ladyjacks take first,

Lumberjacks third at SLC

championship

Setting priorities

straight in U.S. media PINE LOG

By Liliana MonsivaisCONTRIBUTING WRITER

Alpha Chi Omega is holding its annual “Hugs and Pampers” charity event from Monday through Saturday, March 5.

The event is designed to raise awareness to support children of domestic violence as well as fundraise for the local women’s shelter.

The event begins Monday at the Baker Pattillo Student Center and goes through Thursday March 3. There will be informa-tional tables as well as the opportunity for students and staff to donate baby products. The tables will be located inside the Student Center near the Barnes and Noble from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Alpha Chi Omega will also be collecting at Walmart and Brookshire Brother’s on University Drive on March 5 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. All items donated (diapers, baby food, baby wipes, etc.) will be given to the local East Texas Women’s Shelter.

The Women’s Shelter provides free tem-porary housing for victims of domestic vio-lence throughout the entire year and your donations will greatly contribute to their continued success. On an annual basis AXO donates money and important supplies to help the shelter in any way they can so they can continue to provide excellent care.

Lauren Terrizzi, the VP of fraternity rela-tions for AXO, asked that everyone get in-volved and contribute in any way they can.

lmonsivais@thepinelog.com

Alpha Chi Omega to host ‘Hugs and Pampers’to raise awareness of domestic violence issues

THOMAS MOTYKA/THE PINE LOG

Romeo Robinson (right) and Royce Parham (left) compete against each other at the SAA-run NBA 2K11 tournament at the Axe Handle Cafe in the BPSC Friday evening. The winner on the event would collect $200 as a prize.

THOMAS MOTYKA/THE PINE LOG

By Allison PercivalSTAFF WRITER

SFA has earned nine awards in the market-ing and communication category at the an-nual Council for Advancement and Support of Education’s recent District IV conference in New Orleans.

“This is the first time in 12 years that SFA has received so many awards in the market-ing and communication category,” said Bob Wright, executive director of marketing and public affairs.

SFA’s Sawdust magazine, produced quar-terly by the Office of Public Affairs and Alumni Association, earned a Gold Award (first place) in the most-improved periodi-cals category, and a Special Merit award in the general university periodical category.

Rhonda Crim-Tumelson, director of alum-ni publications, received a Silver Award (sec-ond place) in the magazine-design category for “Gossip Girl,” a three-page spread that appeared in the fall 2010 Sawdust issue. While Kayli Steger, marketing communica-tion assistant in the Office of Public Affairs,

earned a Special Merit Award for her feature on the SFA Bass Team which appeared in the fall 2010 issue of Sawdust as well.

The staff members who regularly work on the publication include: Marketing Executive Director Bob Wright, Alumni Association Executive Director Jeff Davis, editor Amy Roquemore, artistic director Rhonda Crim-Tumelson, photographer Hardy Meredith, Public Affairs Associate Director Shirley Luna, graphic designer Elma Gildenhuys, public affairs writers Sarah Cutler, Kayli Steger and Robin Johnson, athletics writer Brian Ross, and fine arts writer Sylvia Bierschenk.

The fifth award SFA received was a Gold Award for Gildenhuys, publication special-ist in the Office of Public Affairs, original illustration titled “Jacks on Belay,” created for campus recreation. While the sixth award was another Gold Award for the “SFA Weekly” student e-newsletter produced jointly by internal communications specialist Robin Johnson and Lacey Claver, assistant coordi-nator of the Student Activities Association.

Meredith earned two Bronze Awards (third place), for photographs of the Lumberjacks

football team’s 2010 championship season. In the black and white category, his image “Touchdown Celebration,” was well-received along with “Looking for Yardage” in the color candid photography category.

And lastly, the entire Office of Public Affairs received a Silver Award in the institu-tional identity category for “The Lumberjack Experience” marketing campaign. This cam-paign strategy included various media out-lets including billboards, a dedicated Web site directed by Webmaster Jason Johnstone, magazine ads, and a professionally produced commercial that was aired on several cable networks and in various movie theatres.

CASE is a professional organization dedi-cated to serving educational institutions and the advancement professionals who work in communications, fundraising, marketing, alumni relations and other related areas. In 1974, CASE was founded as a result of the merging of the American Alumni Council and the American College Public Relations Association. Today, over 3,400 colleges, uni-versities, independent primary elementary and secondary schools, and nonprofit or-

ganizations, in 68 different countries, are members of this organization.

While the awards ceremony was a top priority, the hot topic of the conference was Social Media says Wright.

“Most schools, including SFA, are using social media in their mix of marketing, pub-lic affairs and advancement tools. But, it was interesting to hear all the different ways this new form of marketing is being utilized,” Wright said.

Wright believes that we will be increasing our use of new media in the future. He says we need to know more about it and make plans on how we will implement it into all of our marketing initiatives.

As for right now, Wright is very proud of all of SFA’s accomplishments for the past year and is excited to see what will come out of this year.

“We were very pleased to know that others who are in the profession of marketing uni-versities felt SFA’s work stood out to receive awards for being judged this year’s best,” Wright said.

apercival@thepinelog.com

SFA earns nine marketing and communication awards

championship PINE LOG PINE LOG PINE LOG PINE LOG PINE LOG PINE LOG PINE LOG

SAA NBA 2K11 Tournament

Commentary By Sean-Karl NegronCONTRIBUTING WRITER

On Wednesday your Lumberjacks will take on the Sam Houston State University Bearkats.

Now it would be easy to write a simple preview of this game. It could include some relevant stats, a list of the scheduled events at the game, and a brief rundown of the previous meeting between the two in which the Jacks won 63-49.

But let’s be serious. This is not just a game. Just like Sam is not just another team on the schedule, our campus is not just a campus, and purple is not just a color.

First and foremost, the basketball team could very easily be playing for postseason basketball. They have fought through injuries and tough teams to keep themselves within distance of reclaiming a share of the regular season title, if not outright win it. Any team that wins their regular season conference title gets a spot in the NIT if they fail to win the confer-ence tournament or get an at-large bid to the NCAA

Purple OutWhy one student believes that a student section at basketball games has now become a necessity

SPIRIT continued on page 2

By Sydney JonesCONTRIBUTING WRITER

A new degree and three certificates will be available from the College of Liberal and Applied Arts in the Fall Semester of 2011.

The Bachelor of Arts Degree in Sustainable Communities is the first of its kind in Texas, focusing on the social sciences and humanities approach to sustainability.

The topic of sustainability focuses on how the human race will maintain their cur-rent way of life following the decline of natural re-sources. The SFA degree will not focus on the science of

solar panels and other engi-neered approaches, but will instead focus on commu-nity development.

“Science will come up with the solutions, but we want to apply those in a liv-able way,” Dr. Brian Murphy, dean of liberal and applied arts and specialist on the transatlantic policy on sus-tainability, said.

The Center for a Livable World, a research center launched last June on cam-pus, is dedicated to bring about scholars from all over the world to collaborate on the Earth’s sustainabil-ity. “We are getting busi-ness and education to talk,” Murphy said.

Three certificates will be available to any un-dergraduate major in-cluding: Public Policy and Sustainable Communities, Public Planning and Sustainable Development and Community Leadership in Sustainability.

On Feb. 18, a focus group will be held in Austin to get feedback from profession-als regarding a professional certificate in sustainable operations.

In April a team from SFA will give a presentation at the Texas Economic and Development Council on how communities can prog-ress towards sustainability.

pinelog@thepinelog.

Sustainability focus of new degree, certificates

CMYK

Page Two Monday, February 28, 2011Pine LogThe

‘SFA Chicken’ makes appearance, takes photos at Showcase Saturday

Thomas moTyka/The Pine Log

Rachel Willson, huntsville freshman, dressed up in a chicken suit saturday morning and walked around campus with friends to see how people would react. she carried an axe handle with her name on it and posed for pictures with passersby, including students, showcase saturday visitors and campus tour guides.

tournament. That’s a big deal.It’s also the home finale and senior night. This will be

the last time seniors Denzel Barnes, Jordan Glynn, Mark Gomillia, and Eddie Williams will be suiting up to take the court at Johnson Coliseum. Eddie has been representing SFA proudly for four years finally culminating in this night. He and the other seniors deserve the appreciation of the people of SFA. They deserve the backing of a home court. That’s a big deal.

Lastly, this is Sam Houston and their ugly orange jerseys coming into our house and trying to upstage the majestic purple we wear proudly. Is this a problem? Yeah, it’s a prob-lem. We, as the student body, can’t allow that to happen. This is our campus, our house. That’s a big deal.

The attendance at the basketball games has been pretty poor this season. I’m calling on you, the students, to change that. Eddie Williams believes that having a strong fan base makes him play better, stating that he “wants to put on a good game for the fans.” Coach Kaspar echoed that senti-ment, making an interesting parallel between sports and a Broadway play. He said that if “two-thirds of the seats are empty during a play the actors may not necessarily be as concentrated and at the top of their ability. I believe that’s the same for sports. Having fans there cheering for you makes you want to play your game and concentrate on play-ing your best ball.” He saw a noticeable difference between

how the team played at home with a good crowd as opposed to at home with a mediocre crowd. Many coaches and col-lege basketball analysts state that, in college basketball, a visiting team must be ten points better than the home team because of the home court advantage provided by the stu-dent body.

Anybody familiar with college basketball understands how much a crowd can affect a game. Duke’s Cameron Indoor Stadium, Kansas’ Phog Allen Fieldhouse, and Texas A&M’s Reed Arena are some of the most feared places in the country to visit. While these three teams may have good athletes and great coaches, it’s the student body that makes these places tough to play. The fans provide an intangible element to a home game that has nothing to do with how good the team may be. It all comes down to the fans showing up at a game and cheering for their team.

Walking around campus I see purple pretty frequently. I don’t discredit that. It’s awesome. But this column is about action, not wearing an article of clothing. We all know about Purple Out and Spirit Fridays. But in order for us to show strong united support for our school, we need to do some-thing.

First: Show up! Attendance is the only requirement for this call to action. Show up and support your Lumberjacks. Bring a group of friends and support the team that represents the school you attend.

Second: There have been actions taken to provide Johnson Coliseum with a student section. This is an unofficial, stu-dent-run section for the students to sit together and provide support for their team. At this time, the section numbers that will be designated as a student section have not been de-cided. Again, this all comes down to attendance. The people responsible for creating a student section can only designate an area; the students still have to participate. There will be a list of organized cheers given out at the game. They will be basic and improvisation is encouraged. Making the game fun will make the game exciting for players.

Third: Be loud. Provide that spark for the Lumberjacks to play at the top of their game. Living up to the Cameron Crazies (Duke’s student section) is a tough task but there’s nothing saying we can’t try. Get excited and give the Lumberjacks something to play for.

This column started as a project to call for a student sec-tion to be made for the basketball games. While there are some logistics to get around, the idea is not implausible. Designating the student section is not the problem; it’s whether or not the student section will actually be filled up. That’s on you student body. It seems only fitting to say that the ball is in your court now.

snegron@thepinelog.com

SPIRIT continued from page 1

By Audrey SpencerManaging Editor

The Cole Art Center at the Old Opera House downtown screened “Digital Nation: Life on the Virtual Frontier” Friday night at 7 p.m. after being forced to reschedule due to weather on Feb. 4.

Popcorn and soft drinks were provided. The documentary, originally aired last year on PBS’s Frontline, examined the effects of increased technology use – and dependence – in our modern lives, including how well people really work when multitasking, the phenomenon of computer gaming and virtu-al realities, the effect of technology on social skills and the use of technology in teaching.

The film included studies with Stanford students who claimed themselves to be great multitaskers. Findings by Stanford professor Clifford Nass showed, however, that “multi-taskers are terrible at every aspect of multi-tasking. They get distracted constantly. Their memory is very disorganized.”

The films also explored the problems faced in South Korea, where there are records of patrons dying in PC lounges while playing 50 or more hours of online games without tak-ing breaks for rest or food, and some parents feel the need to send their kids to internet rehabilitation camps.

The research wasn’t all discouraging, though. Some schools with histories of very

low academic performances saw substan-tial increases in test scores when they in-troduced more technology into classrooms. Using websites and computer programs to teach was a way of meeting the students were they lived, according to Jason Levy, a Bronx middle school principal who enacted a plan to use laptops and Google to turn his school around.

Technology is also transforming the way people work outside of school. IBM alone had over 10,000 of its employees interacting in virtual worlds, such as Second Life, at the time “Digital Nation” was filmed.

Even the face of war is being affected by increase in technology. Pilots can now fly drones and drop bombs over enemy territory from thousands of miles away. This certainly decreases the threat of casualties, but the movie does note the drawback of the fact that unmanned drones cannot pick through rubble and verify that a target has been eliminated, or was even the correct target to being with.

“Digital Nation” covers many other topics about the effect of technology on people’s lives. The entire 78 minute film, as well as viewer videos and input, can be viewed at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/digitalnation/.

aspencer@thepinelog.com

‘Digital nation’ explores how technology helps, hurts

CouRTesTy PhoTo

By Moises HernandezContributing WritEr

The Catholic Student Ministry at SFA will introduce Monica Ashour Thursday eve-ning to talk about sexuality and dating in the Christian faith.

Ashour will be talking about dating and the Theology of the Body. The event will be held in Regents Suite A of the BPSC between 6 and 8 p.m.

The “Our Sunday Visitor” lists Ashour as one of the top 10 speakers in the na-tion in 2010. Ashour is a cofounder of the Theology of the Body Evangelization.

Ashour teases about her presentation this week by hinting at several hot topics and questions that will be discussed. “Sexual de-sire is given by God, and so it must be holy.

But why do churches often relegate it to the area of sin? What is God’s plan for marriage? To Flirt or Not to Flirt, that is the Female Question. To Pursue or Not to Pursue, that is the Male Question? How does one date in a way that is respectful to the other? What are the stages of dating?”

After asking a few rhetorical questions about the program, Ashour stated that to understand what The Theology of the Body means, one would have to experience the event in person.

Ashour is the first of many future speak-ers who are coming to SFASU. The event is being hosted by The Catholic Student Ministy at SFA. Contact the organization, located across from Wisely Hall on East College St, with any questions or concerns.

mhernandez@thepinelog.com

Catholic students hosting speaker on sexuality and faith

By LaDyrian ColeContributing WritEr

It is that time of year when models come out to strut their stuff, stylists prepare to show their latest designs and actors prepare dialogue, to collaborate to give students an amazing show.

Leaders of the Project Red Fashion Show, an FnM (Fashion in Motion) production aimed toward educating students on HIV awareness, selected the final nine male and 20 female models for this semester’s show in the final walk-off held this past Thursday.

“The final walk-off is a crucial process before the show where we decide who has what it takes and can take constructive crit-icism well,” said co-founder and president of FnM Ashley Small, Houston junior.

The Project Red Fashion Show is one of the few productions held annually by FnM, an organization hosted by the Office of

Multicultural Affairs that is geared toward allowing students to express their talents in the fashion realm.

“FnM isn’t just for fashion majors, be-cause I’m not a fashion major, and this is my second show,” said SFA sophomore Quinisha Cipriani.

“It’s all about a love for fashion and con-fidence to show it,” she said.

The Project Red committee has a long list of things to do in preparation for the show, which is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Friday, April 8, in the BPSC Grand Ballroom.

This year’s show is expected to be bigger and better than the past shows, with guar-anteed elements of surprise throughout the production.

“With only three or four veteran models returning this spring, the show has many new faces, along with big ideas and OMG moments,” Small said.

Fashion in motion already gearing up for Project Red

CMYK

Monday, February 28, 2011 Pine LogThe Page Three

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The rules of Sudoku are simple. Enter digits from 1 to 9 into the blank spaces. Every row must contain one of each digit, as must every column and every 3x3 square. Each Sudoku has a unique solution that can be reached logically without guessing.

Look in the next issue for the answers.

Sudoku puzzle sponsored by Student Activities Association

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On 02/23/2011 an officer was dispatched to Austin Building Business Office in reference to returned checks for insufficient funds. The officer arrived and found that a person had writ-ten two checks on an account with insufficient funds to the Business Office. There is one suspect.

By Daniella ChatmanContributing Writer

The SFA Recreation Center is planning a series of events for its upcoming celebration on March 1 and 3 marking the reopening of the aquatics area.

This big splash event aims to get the students and staff involved in the season opening of the pool. The pool has been closed since Thanksgiving because of the low turnout of participation due to the weather. This event is designed to increase pool participation as well as to celebrate the coming of warmer weather.

The SFA aquatics department has been maintaining the pool and hosting in-house meetings with SAA to promote this event.

The events that will take place include a “Cannon Ball Contest.” This event will be judged by three of the Recreation Center staff, Kenny Norris, Brian Mills and Ken Morton. They will be splashed by contestants while judging.

In “The Lazy River Poker Run,” the contestants will run laps, against the current, to gain playing cards to make up a poker hand. The best hand wins.

A luau full of free food and music, water volleyball, intramural games, and many more events are also scheduled.

“Something people do not know is that our pool is one of the few pools in the state of Texas that has a lazy river,” said graduate assistant Greg Nord from Bloomington, Minn. “The pool is most popular in the Spring Semester, because the weather feels better each day, and it encourages people to go out and get a tan for Spring Break.”

Recreation Center to celebrate pool opening this week

By Eneyda GuilloryContributing Writer

The University Health Clinic on campus sees quite a few students for “sex exams” throughout the year. Dr. J. Hampton Miller, director, said he sees students coming in to be checked for sexually transmitted dis-eases and birth control prescriptions around “16 times a day.”

The clinic has two physicians who can perform these medical exams, one male and one female. These doc-tors can provide services for both women and men. Unlike regular

check-ups, these exams take more time, so the appointments need to be made weeks in advance.

For the checking of STDs, sexually transmitted diseases, Miller said he doesn’t see “nearly as many guys as girls to get checked.” He said people exposed to any STD, like other ill-nesses, will not see any symptoms until usually around two weeks later.

The most frequent STDs found at the SFA campus are Chlamydia trachomatis and the HPV virus. Chlamydia is usually found in stu-dents by “partners telling partners”

because there are rarely symptoms in girls. Guys will have a couple of symptoms that are more noticeable. In HPV there are “100 members,” four of which cause external warts and 4 that cause internal.

Both of these STDs are curable, Miller said. The clinic can prescribe an antibiotic for Chlamydia; for HPV each lesion has to be treated indi-vidually.

Females can take a HPV vaccina-tion, which is a series of three shots. The clinic can prescribe the shots for a student, and they will administer

them, but Miller suggests, “going to a clinic in town because it’s cheaper.”

“If we distributed the shots it would take up our whole budget,” he said.

Third place on campus is a tie be-tween genital herpes and gonorrhea, according to Miller, Gonorrhea can also be cured with an antibiotic, but herpes cannot actually be cured. The patient will be required to take medi-cation. They have one of two choices, either a daily pill, which tends to be more expensive, or a medication that the patient will take at the beginning

of outbreaks in order to end it, which would cost them less.

When any student is checked and found to have a STD, the doctors on campus will advise the student to tell every partner, and all of their partners and so on, to come in and get the same medication. The doctors will not even need to perform a test, just simply give the same medicine to avoid any risks, Miller said.

Although they say “every partner,” the people coming in must be stu-dents at SFA, he said.

pinelog@thepinelog.com

SFA Health Center provides options for STD treatment for students

CMYK

Page Four Monday, February 28, 2011Pine LogThe

✓ Write a letter to Grinding the Ax. Follow the guidelines on at left. Bring the letter to Room 2.308 BPSC.

✓ Or use our Web site to submit a letter to Grinding the Ax. It’ll save you a trip to the student center.

✓ Post feedback to our stories online. Hit the “Feedback” button at the end of a story, and let us have it. We can take it.

FEEDBACKOpinions expressed in this section of The Pine

Log are those of the individual writer or cartoon-ist and do not necessarily reflect those of the University, its administrative officers or Board of Regents.

Letters to the Editor should include the student’s hometown, classification and phone number for verification purposes. We reserve the right to edit letters for space, spelling, grammar and potential-ly libelous material. Letters should not be longer than 300 words. Any letter that does not follow this criteria will not be published.

Opinions PolicySpring 2011 Editorial BoardEDITOR • Jonathan Garris

MANAGING EDITORAudrey SpencerCOMMENTARY EDITORGarrett CookSPORTS EDITORStephanie SlabaughFEATURES EDITORAndreya Stephenson

ENTERTAINMENT EDITORGarrett CookPHOTO EDITORThomas MotykaCOPY EDITORJessica GilliganADVERTISING MANAGERJerret Swierc

It finally has happened. I was searching on my Blackberry to see when my next test was, when I realized that I’m graduating in a little over two months.

After four years of college and a total of 17 years of school, I’m finally going to be finished with my educational career. And whether I want to or not, when May does finally come, I’ll have to transfer into the “grown-up world.”

So many emotions ran through me all at once from excitement, to fear, to hunger. I’m thrilled to have a degree, scared because I have no idea what will happen after May 14, and starving because I’m so broke I can’t af-

ford to buy any cereal.Like all seniors, my biggest fear is not find-

ing a job and having to move back in with mom and dad. And with our economy as wonderful as it is currently, this fear is slowly becoming a reality. My mom called me the other day to inform me that she could get me a job as a camp counselor for the summer if I couldn’t figure out something out by gradua-tion. And I don’t know about the rest of you, but I did not just spend thousands of dollars on a degree in communication to become a camp counselor.

And with the lack of jobs, I have to fight the thousands of recent graduates and end-less list of the experienced unemployed. Plus, to make things harder, it also comes down to who you know. I’m a 21-year-old from nowhere looking for a career, not a job, which will pay the bills and buy some grocer-ies. I don’t know anyone.

My cousin was able to work in a produc-tion agency in Austin after his graduation be-cause he was an intern there. After a couple

of years, he took a chance and moved to New York City with about $1,000 and no job. He met someone at a bar who worked for Ralph Lauren and is now one of the top marketing coordinators for the company. If I go to a bar and someone offers me a job, it’s going to involve booty shorts and a pole.

I’ve also heard several people say how they’ve spent the last four or five years earn-ing a degree for a career they don’t even find interesting anymore. Various students have no idea what they want to do after they walk across the stage. One of my best friends is scared of graduation because they have no idea what they want to do.

However, I can admit that I’ll miss the college lifestyle. I love being able to run late to class with wet hair while wearing some boots, shorts, and T-shirt being completely acceptable. And everyone loves staying up all hours of the night to force yourself to run to class the next morning and to receive the silent, understood nod from the rest of the students. And for all the guys, I know you’re going to miss standing in line until

midnight to buy the latest video game and play-ing Xbox until 5 a.m. while eating Cheetos and drinking Keystone.

But, if I have to live another semester on granola bars and cereal, I could very well go insane. I’m also tired of trying to make $10 last longer than six days. And whenever I finally have a little bit of money to spend, it’s when the rest of my friends are dirt broke and I still have to find free activities to at-tend. I’m ready to have the nicer things in life all right.

I’ve done the time and spent the money for the degree and I can honestly say I am ready for the career. While I’m still unsure of what the future holds and I have no guar-anteed job or living situation; Saturday, May 14, cannot come any sooner. So my question to the rest of the graduating class is this: are you ready for your life to begin or do you want to continue to live in the past?

Allison is a radio/TV and journalism major from Lake Jackson, TX.

staff writer

Allison Percival

apercival@thepinelog.com

Existential dread creeps in upon college graduation

Axes Down to graffiti artists. The night before Showcase Saturday, some-one wrote some nasty comments about SFA supporting abortion all over campus. Seriously, if you got a problem, tell somebody. Don’t make yourself and SFA look stu-pid.

Axes Up to Showcase Saturday. There was a good turnout this year, and our faculty and staff did a great job making prospective students feel right at home.

Axes Up to SFA Basketball games. It’s like a mixture of Hoosiers and The Jerry Springer Show. And you get a buy-one-get-one-free coupon for delicious Raising Cane’s chicken. Support hoops!

By Adrian DelgadoContributing Writer

It’s time to take your test. Your nerves are rattling and the answers to the test are swim-ming in some opaque muck in your head. You need some clarity. What will give it to you?

Does it fit in a grande coffee cup? Does it rest its head on a pillow? Or will cigarette smoke help clear the fog?

Many students find relaxation in smoking, in their home and on campus. Everyday, it is easy to spot the satiny ghosts of their smoke. I admire their characteristic dexterity with their fingers and distant expressions on their faces. Some are standing alone, others are walking with their smoker friends or non-smoker friends, down the road, up to class. They are smoking even after a smoking “ban” was implemented across campus in 2009.

“I didn’t know there was one” was the answer from many students and some staff when I asked them if they would like to talk about the ban. It had been nearly two years since smokers and non-smokers received e-mails from SFA in 2009, telling students about the revision that April to policy D-35.5: Smoking and Use of Tobacco Products. Has there been much change since then?

From my perspective, I still see smokers on the campus. Knowing my observations weren’t

enough though, I went to ask around, talking to some smokers I knew and people on campus who were strangers to me.

“It’s good,” one forestry student mentioned when I asked. The stocky East-Texas man, a picture of Texas size and woodsman gruff, yet with a sheen of unexpected politeness had a lit cigarette in his fist even as I spoke with him. “It’s good to keep people from smoking by the door so you don’t have to smell it.”

Another student had this house rule: “If you were com-ing to my house and I didn’t want you to smoke, you shouldn’t.” He was a smoker for 10 years, but never smoked in public. Rather, he chewed his tobacco, and felt that a ban on chewing tobacco would not be fair, since he could not see how it affects those around.

Policy D-35.5 in SFA’s policy manual states that “...smoking and the use of tobacco products will be prohibited in all buildings, facilities and vehicles owned or leased by Stephen F. Austin State University, except in areas so designated by the university. Smoking and the use of tobacco is further prohibited within 20 feet of any entrance to a building or facility...”. My pace is 5 feet, so that would be 4 paces, a step with my left and

right foot 4 times, away from the door. I did a short survey on Saturday of stu-

dents in the BPSC, the Steen Library and my own college, forestry. Overwhelmingly, 6 out of the 7 I talked to did not know about the rule at all. The one that did noticed a change and said that she supposed it was lower. No one could quote the rule to me, but the student that noticed the change had a good grasp of it. Most of the people I talked to thought the rule was fair as well.

So, where am I on this issue? I am not a smoker, nor do I know too many smokers per-sonally, save one who died on Christmas Eve from lung cancer, caused by smoking.

His unique laugh is much missed. But I can-not say that I despise smoking for its ability to kill. The end result, early death, is exactly the same for smoking as it is for overeating and alcohol abuse. Are the overweight in the same moral pigeonhole as smokers and alco-holics? After all, they all consume something that pleasures them and slowly draws their date with death closer. But then again, over-eating does not cause second hand smoke, i.e. standing next to someone that eats a Big Mac does not increase your chances of heart attacks, lest it be peer pressure that compels

you to buy one yourself. Hazy ethical points aside, I now get to the

main point. The announcement of the smok-ing ban, from my observation, and from the observations of others, did little to change the smoker’s choices regarding their health and the health of others. From my viewpoint, smokers derive comfort from their lights, which I cannot see as anything more than benign. It’s no worse than beer, no more he-donistic than chocolate cake, no more irre-sponsible than cramming for a test the night before (I’m guilty of all but the first).

However, I see the regulation itself as benign. Compliance has been embraced by all the smok-ers I have seen. Thus, policy D-35.5 has not be-come an Orwellian grip on the smoker’s throat, but rather a guideline of grace for smokers to abide by. It’s become something polite for the smoker to do, in the same vein as opening the car window when smoking in the car, the same gesture as closing your mouth when you chew your pizza, the same consideration as calling a cab when you’re hammered.

In the end, though the ban did little to put out the smokers, it has made life better for both them and those who dwell in more transparent airs.

Adrian is a forestry major from San Antonio, Texas.

To smoke or not to smoke: a question of etiquette?

“Thus, policy D-35.5 has not become an Orwellian grip on the smoker’s throat, but rather a guideline of grace for smokers to abide by.”

Commentarythe pine log

CMYK

Monday, February 28, 2011 Pine LogThe Page Five

By Andreya StephensonFeatures editor

Dr. Nathan Nabb, professor of saxo-phone, will give a faculty recital at SFA in Cole Concert Hall at 7:30 p.m. Monday.

Certainly, all of SFA’s faculty recit-als are worth seeing, with all of the faculty being talented musicians with a long list of achievements, but this particular faculty recital is of interest because it is Nabb’s first faculty recital at SFA.

Nabb is new to the music scene at SFA. He came from Morehead State University in Kentucky, where he spent five years. He became professor of saxophone at SFA in August of 2010.

Nabb may be new to SFA, but he is certainly not a musical novice. Nabb grew up in southern Illinois in O’Fallon. He started band in fifth grade, initially wanting to play percussion, but ended up playing saxophone because that was the in-strument his parents already had.

His dad had played saxophone in high school. However, this was not a loss for Nabb because his dad’s saxo-phone was top of the line for a begin-ner saxophone player, a Selmer Mark VI. “It was a concession in the sense that I was going to play saxophone in-stead of drums, but I benefited from it because I started off on this amazing instrument,” Nabb said.

That is not the only luck he had. “I was really fortunate. I had really amazing band directors from the beginning to the end,” Nabb said.

One director he named specifi-cally as the most inspirational in his music aspirations was his middle school band director, Ed Fulton.

“He was just the kind of guy that was so enthusiastic about what he was doing that you couldn’t help but dig in with him,” Nabb remi-nisced.

Nabb remembers Fulton never pushed anybody to pursue a career in music. He simply encouraged his students to excel in whatever they chose to do.

Nabb was not quite sure what

it was that he was going to excel at just yet. He hadn’t given it too much thought until his senior year of high school when his mom asked what he was going to do.

Nabb knew the answer was music, though he had never thought about it. “I always loved it, but I never really thought of making it a career because it was just something that I spent so much time doing. It was just an ob-vious choice. I just had never really thought about it,” said Nabb.

Nabb’s passion for music is ob-vious—obvious in the way he de-scribes it, the way he spends his time.

Nabb explains his love of music this way, “It becomes addicting. You get into it. You experience those special moments in performance, whether it’s a band concert or a contest or whatever. You want to keep doing more of it.”

This addiction led Nabb to the University of Illinois for his un-dergraduate degree in saxophone performance.

He didn’t stop there. Nabb con-tinued his education in Chicago at Northwestern University, where he received both hismaster’s degree and doctorate in saxophone per-formance. In college, he discovered that he wanted to teach music.

Today, Nabb teaches saxophone at SFA. He said his transition to SFA has been enjoyable, yet a learning process.

He is still trying to assimilate to Texas culture, but says everyone has been welcoming and supportive.

Nabb is still working on his Texas geography so that he can better relate to his students. “It’s impor-tant for me to be able to associate people with places, because they associate themselves with those places,” he said.

Nabb’s connection with his students is important to him as well as students’ connections with each other. He set up the saxophone studio in a way that facilitates this interaction.

Nabb believes college is a great place to learn both from professors

and fellow students. He referenced the academy when discussing this: the concept of sharing ideas through interaction that results in all involved learning more than they would in private study.

Nabb seeks to inspire his students to be great musicians by modeling the character of a dedicated musi-cian. “I try and lead by example. I try and perform regularly. I try and demonstrate my love for music by making music a lot,” Nabb said.

In addition to his work here, he occasionally plays with the St. Louis Symphony when they require a saxophonist, and recently the Houston Symphony.

To be inspired by this, students have to desire to be great. Nabb points out that this is true for any-thing.

Passion and drive come from within. Once students recognize that ambition in themselves, it is then important to balance work and fun. “You have to work hard at whatever it is that you do if you’re going to be good, but at the same time, you can’t beat the fun out of it,” Nabb said.

He encourages all students to find what they love to do, and make that their career. One thing he tells his students is, “If you love what you do, then you never really feel like you are going to work.”

For his recital, Nabb is playing four pieces. His aim is to really demonstrate the capabilities of the saxophone through the pieces he is playing. Dr. Petti, SFA associate professor and director of accompa-nying, and Dr. Harris, SFA associate professor of percussion, will be ac-companying him; Petti on piano, and Harris on marimba. Nabb is grateful both are able to share their talents with him for his recital.

The first piece is a set of tango pieces that show the evolution of tango. He is playing this piece on the soprano saxophone accompa-nied Petti on the piano. Nabb de-scribes this piece as simple in con-struction but encompassing many

beautiful, heart-felt phrases.

The sec-ond piece, “Sequenza 7b”, shows the abili-ties of the saxo-phone the most. Nabb is playing this on soprano saxophone as well. “Sequenza 7b” is interest-ing because it has unique as-pects like play-

ing three notes at once.“Song Book” is the third piece,

for saxophone and marimba. Nabb will be playing alto saxophone on this one. Harris will accompany on marimba. Nabb says there is no other way to describe this piece other than “It’s just beautiful music.”

The final song is “Klonos” by Piet Swerts. Petti will also accompa-ny Nabb’s alto saxophone on this piece. “Klonos” is a heavily synco-pated piece, the most aggressive of the concert.

With such great diversity in the pieces being played, everyone is sure to find something they like.

Attending concerts or recitals at SFA is a great way for students to broaden their horizons without travelling far or shelling out a ton of money. “You’re going to hear music

that you don’t hear on the radio,” said Nabb. This pushes students into a new world of music, allowing them to discover different styles they may like.

With student ticket prices at just $2, students should take advantage of this opportunity.

Nabb is in the process of creating a club for saxophonists, the SFA Sax Alliance. This club is open to any-one affiliated with the saxophone or school of music. Once they are an established club, t-shirts will be made and their first trip is to a North American Saxophone Alliance, or N.A.S.A., conference at Sam Houston State University in April. This conference will include lectures and performances. Nabb and the SFA saxophone quartet will be performing at the conference.

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SFA’s professor of saxophone gives first faculty recital

INFO LINE 462-8000 WWW.BANITACREEKHALL.COM

SFALife

CourteSy photoDr. Nabb joined SFA’s music faculty as professor of saxophone the fall of 2010. his first faculty recital will be held Monday, February 28, 2011, at 7:30 p.m. in Cole Concert hall. he will be accompanied by two other SFA faculty members,

By Lyndsey Laytonthe Washington Post

Wal-Mart is banning a controversial flame retardant found in hundreds of consumer goods, from couches to cameras to child car seats, telling its suppliers to come up with safer alternatives.

In perhaps the boldest example yet of “re-tail regulation,” Wal-Mart is stepping ahead of federal regulators and using its muscle as the world’s largest retailer to move away from a class of chemicals researchers say endangers human health and the environ-ment.

“This really shows the market being able to move more decisively than the government,” said Andy Igrejas, national campaign director of Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families, a coalition of environmental and public health groups push-ing for tougher federal chemical laws.

Increasingly, retailers are barring specific chemicals from products in their stores in response to concerns from consumers and advocacy groups. In 2006, for example, Whole Foods became the first national retailer to ban bisphenol a, or BPA, from baby bottles and children’s cups. Health advocates had raised questions about the safety of BPA, a wide-ly used component in plastic that has been linked to reproductive problems, cancer and other health disorders in laboratory animals.

Two years later, Toys R Us, Wal-Mart and other chains followed suit, despite the fact that federal regulators permit the use of BPA and the chemical industry attests to its safety.

In 2007, the parent company of Sears and KMart announced plans to phase out poly-vinyl chloride, or vinyl, from products and packaging out of concern that a chemical it contains could disrupt the endocrine system in humans and cause other health effects.

Wal-Mart now has turned its sights on polybrominated diphenyl ethers, or PBDEs, a class of compounds used since 1976 as flame retardants in electronics, furniture, sporting goods, pet supplies, curtains, and toys, among other things. In a recent notice to suppliers, the company said it would begin testing June 1 to make sure products do not contain PBDEs.

Studies have linked the chemicals to prob-lems with the liver, thyroid and reproductive systems and brain development in labora-tory animals.

A spokesman for Wal-Mart said the company quietly made the decision to ban PBDEs from some products “several years ago” but just re-cently reminded suppliers that it would begin verification testing in June. Spokesman Lorenzo Lopez said Wal-Mart was motivated to act after a handful of states began banning PBDEs.

Last year, the EPA cited PBDEs as “chemicals of concern” and said it intended to try to limit any new use of them. But that proposal that has been stuck in bureaucratic review.

The nation’s chemical laws, created 35 years ago, make it extremely difficult for the fed-eral government to ban or restrict their use. Regulators must prove a chemical poses a clear health risk, but the EPA has sufficient health and safety data for only about 200 of the 84,000 chemicals in commerce in the U.S.

The hurdles are so high that the agency has been unable to ban asbestos, widely acknowl-edged as a likely carcinogen and barred in more than 30 countries.

“Wal-Mart has taken an important step toward protecting children and families from exposure to toxic chemicals,” said Steve Owens, assistant administrator of EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention. “EPA has long had con-cerns about PBDEs.”

Researchers say PBDEs easily leach out of household products, ending up in dust, air, food and eventually in human bodies. Levels of the chemicals in the environment have dramatically increased over the past 20 years, as have levels in human blood and breast milk samples, accord-ing to federal researchers.

Federal studies have shown that nearly all Americans carry the chemicals in their bodies, and young children show higher levels. A 2010 study found that children born with higher con-centrations of PBDEs scored lower on tests of mental and physical development between the ages of one and six.

About a dozen states have banned two of the three types of PBDEs used in consumer goods, known as “octa” and “penta.” Another four states have also banned the third form, known as “deca,” which is also the most prevalent.

Wal-Mart bans flame-retardant chemicals

CMYK

Page Six Monday, February 28, 2011PINE LOGTHE

Students with 60 credit hours have earned the right to represent the honor and traditions of

Stephen F. Austin State University.

Have you earned the right to wear the ring?

A Balfour representative will be on campus:

Tuesday, March 22 & Wednesday, March 23 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

in the Tracie Pearman Alumni Center to show you The SFA Ring, to answer all of your ques-tions, and to assist you with placing your order on the dates above. Ordering during this special event allows

you to participate in the Big Dip Ring Ceremony.

In what has become a very familiar site at the Southland Conference Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field Championships, the SFA Ladyjacks won the 2011 Southland Conference Indoor Track and Field title. The Ladyjacks scored 115.5 points to outdis-tance the competition by nearly 20 points Saturday afternoon in Norman, Okla. It marks the third consecutive indoor title, and the fifth-straight track and field title for the women. The Lumberjacks scored 105.5 points and finished third overall, less than six points out of second.

The SFA men and women combined to re-cord three individual conference titles, and had 12 more athletes earn All-SLC honors. SFA also set two school records on the final day of the meet.

“This may have been the most satisfying victory I’ve had the honor of being a part of,” said SFA head coach Phil Olson. “We have had to overcome a tremendous amount of difficulty since the beginning of January. You really have to give credit to our kids for com-ing out everyday and giving us everything they have. Both our men’s and our women’s teams really put it on the line today. Myself, and my staff, couldn’t be more proud of what they have accomplished.”

Freshman Chelsea Stephen gave the Ladyjacks a boost to start the second day of action. The Hightower, Texas native was the only Ladyjack to finish in the top eight of the 60-meter hurdles, but she made the most of her opportunity clocking a time of 8.55 to win the conference title.

Senior Andrew Plentl gave the Lumberjacks a strong start to the day’s action. He entered the final event of the heptathlon, 1,000-meter run, fourth overall, but clocked a strong performance to finish third and earn All-SLC honors.

Shortly after Plentl’s all-conference per-formance in the heptathlon, junior Jon Arthur earned All-SLC honors in the shot put. Arthur set a new school record in the event with a toss of 59-5.00 to finish second overall.

East Texas native Mary Dickerson contin-ued to prove to the league that she is one of the best 400-meter runners in the Southland Conference. The Groveton, Texas, native clocked a time of 55.95 to win the event. She was one of three Ladyjacks to advance to the finals. Freshman Paige McCutcheon fin-ished sixth overall just edging out teammate Amahra Edwards.

The Jacks were just as strong in the

men’s 400-meters placing three in the fi-nals. Freshman Cass Brown clocked a time of 48.94 to finish fourth overall. Senior Donavon Sammons was fifth clocking a time of 49.43, while teammate Hampton Hawkins was sixth (49.47).

Junior Nick McCloud had a busy day for the Lumberjacks Saturday. He added to the Lumberjacks individual title haul when he clocked a time of 7.82 to win the 60-meter hurdles. McCloud returned to the track to post a sixth-place finish in the men’s 60-meter dash (6.85), just edging out freshman Eldridge Mumphrey.

McCloud was back on the track in the men’s 200, and again led a trio of Lumberjacks in the finals. McCloud posted a time of 22:01 to finish fourth just missing all-conference honors, while freshman Cass Brown was seventh (22.59) and Ty Thomas was eighth (22.61) overall.

Freshman Jamal Peden just missed anoth-er all-conference honor in the triple jump. The Wylie, Texas product recorded a jump of 50-5.25 to finish fourth in the event, scor-ing five points for the SFA men. Classmate Nathan Collier clocked a personal-best time of 4:16.41 to finish fifth overall in the men’s 1,500 meters.

Junior Danielle Burchett tacked on an all-conference performance in the women’s 800 meters. She finished third overall with a time of 2:12.00. It marks the second time this season that Burchett has set a school record in the event.

Junior Macy Wade recorded the strongest meet of her career in the pole vault. One of two Ladyjacks to score in the event, Wade cleared a personal-best height of 12-3.50 to finish second overall to earn all-league hon-ors. Classmate Sarah Sloan finished seventh in the event with a mark of 10-10.00.

Leading by less than seven points heading into the women’s 3,000 meters, freshman Lauren Smith and senior Megan Jenkins lock up the victory heading into the 1,600-meter relay. Smith earned All-SLC honors by finishing third in the event (10:05.15), while Jenkins was fifth (10:04.55). Xavier Rodriguez clocked a time of 8:32.46 to finish fifth overall in the men’s 3,000-meters.

The Ladyjacks closed out the meet with a fourth-place finish in the women’s 4X400-meter relay with a time of 3:54.29, while the Jacks clocked a time of 3:18.16 just missing a conference title with a second-place finish.

pinelog@thepinelog.com

sports

Marion reaches 1,000-point mark in win

Ladyjacks win third consecutive SLC Indoor title

Lumberjack Basketball SFA vs SHSU: Purple Out the Kats

Wednesday @ 7 p.m.

Houston junior Tammara Marion had 23 points in Saturday’s win over TAMU, going over the 1,000 point mark for her career at SFA. She is only the second SFA player to do so in as many games.

By Mandy BowlingASSISTANT SPORT EDITOR

After a proud recognition of the senior Ladyjacks, the women took the floor to challenge and dominate with a 89-78 win over Texas A&M Corpus Christi Saturday.

Houston junior Tammara Marion hauled in 23 points, going over the 1,000 point mark for her career at SFA. Marion is the second player in as many games to reach the 1,000-point plateau.

DeSoto junior Courtney Conwright sealed a season-high of 20.After the Islanders received the tip-off, Conwright was the first to put SFA on the board.

Showing heavy aggression and quality teamwork, the Ladyjacks were quick to get the ball back and to their end of the court after the Islanders scored. Seeming to have a new playing style, the Ladyjacks had quick hands and fast feet, getting down the court and passing the ball constantly to make the Islanders think. The playing style seemed to work, and with that and getting all the rebounds the Ladyjacks did, the first half was sure to be theirs.

Even with some turnovers happening back to back, Conwright received a strong hit, but successfully made a three-pointer, and brought SFA down by one. That didn’t last long, Victoria senior Chelsea made a shot for SFA to take the lead for the first time in the game, and it was all up hill from there. After an aggressive first half, the Ladyjacks headed to the locker room at halftime up by four.

The aggression was kept high when SFA consistently made three pointers, showing the Islanders that the Ladyjacks are going to win. The Ladyjacks sealed the game with a strong finish winning 89-78.

With two games remaining in the regular season, the Ladyjacks will travel to Huntsville to take on SLC West leading Sam Houston State on Wednesday before closing out regular season at home, on senior night, next Saturday against Northwestern State.

THIOMAS MOTYKA/THEPINELOG