SFA University
September 15, 2015 - Stephen F. Austin State University’s hospitality administration program is heating things up with a new outdoor kitchen equipped with two grills, two refrigerators, burners, an outdoor sink and a pizza oven.
All of the outdoor kitchen equipment is transportable and has self-contained preparation and cooking stations. The outdoor kitchen is located behind the Culinary Café on SFA’s campus.
Dr. Chay Runnels, hospitality administration program coordinator and graduate program coordinator, boasts the many opportunities this new equipment will offer students.
“We are really trying to push our students’ comfort level and let them think bigger,” Runnels said. “We are always sitting around dreaming, hoping we can expand our program and reach, and I think this equipment helps us do that.”
The new equipment will enable Chef Todd Barrios, clinical instructor, to teach students new cooking techniques. For example, the iron plate burner set will be used to teach pan searing, blackening and sautéing techniques. The state-of-the-art grills have infrared burners for the rotisserie, which is a technique students may be unfamiliar with. Students also will learn to cook with a convection oven by using the new pizza oven.
“Our main focus is to give SFA students opportunities to learn something different as well as offer additional opportunities for hosting events for our student organizations,” Barrios said.
Runnels said tickets for the Culinary Café sold out in 53 minutes this semester; moreover, the program is looking for additional ways to showcase the students’ abilities to a wider audience with the outdoor kitchen.
“We want to use the space as much as we can, and we have a lot of students who aspire to become event planners and want to be able to utilize their skills,” Runnels said. “The outdoor kitchen is another way for students to learn about equipment they can use in real life.”
For more information, contact Runnels at runnelsc@sfasu.edu.
Cutline: Chef Todd Barrios, Stephen F. Austin State University’s hospitality administration clinical instructor, is looking forward to the opportunities the program’s new outdoor kitchen will provide SFA students who are preparing for careers in the hospitality industry. The outdoor kitchen is equipped with two grills, two refrigerators, burners, an outdoor sink and a pizza oven. The outdoor kitchen is located behind the Culinary Café on SFA’s campus.
September 10, 2015 - NACOGDOCHES, Texas – Stephen F. Austin State University’s Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture in partnership with Nacogdoches Parks and Recreation will host NacogdoTREES, a free, community-wide competition celebrating the natural beauty of the city and campus, through Sunday, Nov. 1.
“The goal of the NacogdoTREES competition is to highlight the importance of urban and community trees, raise awareness of their ecological benefits, introduce the community to the field of forestry and encourage citizens to spend time outdoors,” said Sarah Fuller, outreach coordinator for SFA’s Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture.
Individual competition categories include: largest tree circumference, largest crown, tallest tree, best shade tree and best tree overall. Competition rules and regulations require participants to obtain accurate measurements such as tree height and crown spread. Faculty members within the college developed videos, which are available on the competition’s Web page, that guide participants through the process of gathering basic forestry measurements.
“Keep in mind that it’s not just all about numbers and measurements,” said Dr. Shelby Laird, assistant professor of forestry at SFA. “The best overall tree may be the tree with the best story, the most fans or just simply the most beautiful. We really hope that NacogdoTREES will encourage people to get out to some of our amazing city parks and recreation areas on campus.”
The competition also will serve as a learning opportunity for beginning forestry students at SFA. Students enrolled in Laird’s careers and competencies in forestry course will execute technical measurements needed to determine the winners of those categories.
Laird said she also hopes the competition will provide insight into what specifically endears individuals to certain trees, as well as provide baseline data for future research.
Trees eligible for submission must be located on the SFA campus or on properties managed by Nacogdoches Parks and Recreation. For competition guidelines and entry form, a list of prizes, as well as area maps and resources, visit forestry.sfasu.edu/nacogdotrees/.
September 9, 2015 - NACOGDOCHES, Texas – Along with the opening of the Stephen F. Austin State University School of Art Faculty Exhibition on Thursday, Sept. 10, in Cole Art Center will be the opening of a show in memory of two former SFA faculty artists.
“In Memory of Two Former SFA Art Professors: John Daniel & Gary Frields” opens at 6 p.m. in the Reception Gallery in The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House. Also opening that night is a show by Shaun Roberts, assistant professor of painting at SFA.
The Daniel show includes digital drawings, prints and mixed media, while the Frields exhibition features digital drawings, traditional drawings and mixed media sculpture. Daniel taught art at SFA for 38 years, and Frields taught for 26.
“The Central theme to Gary’s work was that he had no central theme,” Tamara Robertson, Frield’s widow, said in describing her husband’s work. “He often said he wanted his works to look like a hundred different artists created them, or maybe a mad man, or Bigfoot, or an alien experiencing Earth for the first time.”
In selecting works for the show, Robertson said she primarily tried to find works as different from each other as possible. Frield’s described his own work as: “I begin most works with no attempt to make any particular thing. I proceed relentlessly relying on emotional intuitive reactions while exploring materials, responding as things happen that are not planned. Instinctive discoveries fuel insights while building trust in creating through this working method. This process is suitable to my desire for an unexpected artistic fusion by allowing acquired knowledge and skills to merge with my subconscious as I await whatever might be unveiled.”
“Forms related to Gary’s life would often appear in his work, as he explored the intuitive art-making process,” Robertson said.
Daniel gave the following artist statement in his 2007 catalogue: “I want my art to have the power and appeal of art made by the great primitive societies. I admire the rich vocabulary and the urgency of that art. The objects artists made were of primal importance in people’s everyday life. I want my work to be that intimate. Ideally, the art object would link the viewer to his ancient humanity and to his own personal vulnerability. The art object is a thing, self-contained, finite, but it can be evocative of past feeling and knowledge beyond our comprehension. At the same time, the art object connects the viewer to his own time and space. Sometimes that connecting works best through lightness or humor. Always, it works through what the artist’s hands make.”
These exhibitions and openings are sponsored in part by Friends of the Visual Arts, Nacogdoches Junior Forum and Hampton Inn. Admission is free. All three exhibitions run through Oct. 17. For additional information, call (936) 468-1131.
September 5, 2015 - NACOGDOCHES, Texas – Stephen F. Austin State University’s SFA Gardens will host the monthly Theresa and Les Reeves Lecture Series at 7 p.m.Thursday, September 10, in the Ina Brundrett Conservation Education Building at the Pineywoods Native Plant Center, 2900 Raguet St. in Nacogdoches.
SFA Gardens’ horticulturists Dawn Stover and Greg Grant will present “A Plant Preview of the Upcoming Fabulous Fall Festival Plant Sale.” Their combined program will provide important information and images of the various special, popular and unusual plants available at the sale.
The annual fall sale will be held 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, October 3, at the SFA Pineywoods Native Plant Center. The sale will feature a wide variety of hard-to-find, “Texas-tough” plants, including Texas natives, heirlooms, tropicals, perennials, shrubs, trees and exclusive SFA introductions. Most of the featured plants are produced by staff members and volunteers of the SFA Gardens.
This popular event benefits the SFA Mast Arboretum, Pineywoods Native Plant Center, Ruby M. Mize Azalea Garden and Gayla Mize Garden, along with educational programs that are hosted monthly at the gardens.
Parking for the annual fall sale will be available at SFA’s Janice A. Pattillo Early Childhood Research Center, and visitors are encouraged to arrive early and bring a wagon for their plants. For more information about the sale, call (936) 468-4404 or visit www.sfagardens.sfasu.edu.
The Theresa and Les Reeves Lecture Series is held the second Thursday of each month at SFA’s Pineywoods Native Plant Center. A rare plant raffle will be held after the program. The lecture is free and open to the public, but donations to the Theresa and Les Reeves lecture series fund are always appreciated.
Parking for the lecture series is available at the nearby Raguet Elementary School, 2428 Raguet St., with continual shuttle service to the Ina Brundrett Conservation Education Building.
For more information, call (936) 468-1832 or email grantdamon@sfasu.edu.
September 5, 2015 - NACOGDOCHES, Texas – Stephen F. Austin State University’s SFA Gardens will host the monthly Theresa and Les Reeves Lecture Series at 7 p.m. Thursday, September 10, in the Ina Brundrett Conservation Education Building at the Pineywoods Native Plant Center, 2900 Raguet St. in Nacogdoches.
SFA Gardens’ horticulturists Dawn Stover and Greg Grant will present “A Plant Preview of the Upcoming Fabulous Fall Festival Plant Sale.” Their combined program will provide important information and images of the various special, popular and unusual plants available at the sale.
The annual fall sale will be held 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, October 3, at the SFA Pineywoods Native Plant Center. The sale will feature a wide variety of hard-to-find, “Texas-tough” plants, including Texas natives, heirlooms, tropicals, perennials, shrubs, trees and exclusive SFA introductions. Most of the featured plants are produced by staff members and volunteers of the SFA Gardens.
This popular event benefits the SFA Mast Arboretum, Pineywoods Native Plant Center, Ruby M. Mize Azalea Garden and Gayla Mize Garden, along with educational programs that are hosted monthly at the gardens.
Parking for the annual fall sale will be available at SFA’s Janice A. Pattillo Early Childhood Research Center, and visitors are encouraged to arrive early and bring a wagon for their plants. For more information about the sale, call (936) 468-4404 or visit www.sfagardens.sfasu.edu.
The Theresa and Les Reeves Lecture Series is held the second Thursday of each month at SFA’s Pineywoods Native Plant Center. A rare plant raffle will be held after the program. The lecture is free and open to the public, but donations to the Theresa and Les Reeves lecture series fund are always appreciated.
Parking for the lecture series is available at the nearby Raguet Elementary School, 2428 Raguet St., with continual shuttle service to the Ina Brundrett Conservation Education Building.
For more information, call (936) 468-1832 or email grantdamon@sfasu.edu.
September 4, 2015 - NACOGDOCHES, Texas – The Stephen F. Austin State University School of Art and Friends of the Visual Arts have announced that Julie McSwain, who graduated from Center High School this past May, is this year’s recipient of the East Texas Regional High School Art Scholarship.
The SFA Friends of the Visual Arts Board provides an annual scholarship to one deserving high school senior from East Texas who plans to enroll in the SFA School of Art to help them further their educational and professional goals in the field of art. McSwain is currently attending SFA.
“Julie is the type of student I can easily find many positive things to write about,” Center art teacher Ruby Woodward wrote in nominating her for the award last spring. “The quality of her work is the first thing that comes to mind, as she is not one to settle on the first (or easiest) idea. She really dives into her work and is not content until she produces something beautiful.”
In her artist’s statement describing her work, McSwain wrote: “Creating art is one thing that takes my mind off all of the chaos and stress and responsibilities in my life. It can take you to a different world and make hours fly by, yet it only feels like a few minutes have passed. I often times relate my art to music, another thing that helps me escape reality. While most of my life my art has consisted of pencil and paper, the past couple of years I have been fortunate to digitally create art using Illustrator and other programs, and I’ve recently really enjoyed using charcoal and prismacolors and some painting. However, no matter the materials I use, I enjoy creating art not only because it is something that helps pass the time, but it also makes me feel a million times better and impacts my life in so many ways.”
“There has never been a project I’ve assigned that Julie did not deliver something top of the line,” Woodard wrote. “This student is ready for college level work. I was very pleased to hear of her enrollment at SFA. She will be an asset to your art department.”
The SFA Friends of the Visual Arts is made up of community members who support the arts in East Texas and provide monetary assistance to students enrolling in the School of Art by conducting fundraisers, such as the annual 12 x 12 event each July.
September 3, 2015 - The Stephen F. Austin State University School of Art and the Friends of the Visual Arts will present a free, one-night screening of “Tomato Republic” at 7 p.m. Friday, September 11, in The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House in downtown Nacogdoches.
In this hour-long film, documentarians Jenna Jackson, Anthony Jackson and Whitney Graham Carter delve into the thoughts and feelings of rural East Texas residents during a heated mayoral race in Jacksonville, Texas, home of the annual Tomato Festival.
Texas Monthly writer Skip Hollandsworth described the film as “a marvel.”
“Unlike any other documentary I have ever seen, it takes its audience straight into the glorious, laugh-out-loud eccentricities of small-town Texas life,” he wrote.
The film website at tomatorepublic.vhx.tv/ has the following synopsis: “A flamboyant restaurateur, a good ol' boy and a political ingénue walk into a small-town political contest and compete head to head to head for the non-paid mayoral seat of the Tomato Republic. What happens next is anyone’s guess.”
“Tomato Republic” premiered last year at the Dallas Film Festival where it was given a special jury prize. It was also screened at the 2015 Nacogdoches Film Festival.
This screening is part of the School of Art’s monthly Friday Night Film Series and is sponsored in part by the Nacogdoches Film Festival, William Arscott, The Liberty Bell, Nacogdoches Junior Forum, Karon Gillespie, Mike Mollot, Main Street Nacogdoches, David Kulhavy, John and Kristen Heath, Brad Maule, Galleria Z, Jill Carrington, Jean Stephens and Jim and Mary Neal.
The Cole Art Center is located at 329 E. Main St. For more information, call (936) 468-1131.
August 26, 2015 - Stephen F. Austin State University’ Music Preparatory Division has announced the formation of the SFA Choristers to be directed by Carolyn Andrews.
Formerly the SFA Children’s Choir, the Choristers will be comprised of students in 5th through 8th grades. Rehearsals will be from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Tuesdays beginning September 8th in Room 170 (orchestra room) in the Tom and Peggy Wright Music Building.
Auditions for the SFA Choristers will be from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Thursday, August 27, in the Music Prep House, 3028 Raguet St. Auditions will also be held on two Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. August 29 and September 5 at the Music Prep House. Singers are encouraged to be prepared to sing a simple folk tune such as “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star”or a more elaborate solo of their choice, according to Pat Barnett, director of the Music Preparatory Division.
“We are so happy to have Carolyn Andrews as the choirmaster,” Barnett said.
Andrews is a graduate of Baylor University where she received her Bachelor of Music Education degree and studied piano at the Brevard Summer Institute and sang in the Institute Chorus. She also conducted various choirs wherever she resided. Most recently, Andrews is the music teacher and choir director at Regents Academy in Nacogdoches.
During the fall semester, the Choristers will meet for 14 weeks and will end the semester with a choral concert. Tuition for the ensemble is $60 for the semester.
For more information, contact Barnett at pbarnett@sfasu.edu or (936) 468-1291.
August 20, 2015 - The Stephen F. Austin State University Alumni Association will provide buses to transport SFA alumni and fans from the Tracie D. Pearman Alumni Center in Nacogdoches to three away football games this fall.
The first SFA alumni fan bus will travel to Amon G. Carter Stadium at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth at 8:30 a.m. Saturday, September 12th. Tickets will be $50 per person and include round-trip transportation.
The bus will arrive at the SFA Tailgate on Bellaire Drive in time for lunch and tailgate festivities at the SFA Alumni Association tent before the game begins at 2:30 p.m. After the game, the bus will depart from the stadium and stop for dinner en route to Nacogdoches.
Lumberjack fans will have their second opportunity to ride the fan bus for the Battle of the Piney Woods game against rival Sam Houston State University. The fan bus will depart at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, October 3rd, for NRG Stadium in Houston. Tickets are $45 each and include round-trip transportation. The game begins at 3 p.m., and the bus again will stop for dinner.
Lastly, the SFA alumni fan bus will head to Harry Turpin Stadium in Natchitoches, Louisiana, at 11:30 a.m. Saturday, November 21th, for the game against Northwestern State University at 3 p.m. Tickets are $45 each and include round-trip transportation. The bus will again make a dinner stop.
Space is limited and reservations will be secured on a first-come first-served basis. Snacks, water and soft drinks will be available for all bus riders.
Bus tickets do not include tickets to the games. Tickets to the Battle of the Piney Woods and the game against TCU can be purchased by calling the SFA ticket office at (936) 468-5225. TCU game tickets must be purchased by August 27th. Tickets to the game against Northwestern State University can only be purchased by calling (318) 357-4268 or online at www.nsudemons.com.
For more information, contact the SFA Alumni Association at (936) 468-3407.
August 18, 2015 - The Stephen F. Austin State University Department of Public Safety (DPS) recently launched the Lumberjack Guardian mobile phone app to enhance campus safety through real-time interactive features creating a virtual safety network of friends, family and the DPS.
Lumberjack Guardian fits into today's mobile lifestyle with its virtual technology.
"We at the Department of Public Safety are pleased to offer this app technology feature to our university community to better enhance campus safety and personal protection by providing immediate connections to trusted resources," Marc Cossich, DPS chief of police, said.
Lumberjack Guardian is available for iPhone and Android devices and is free to download. Students, faculty and staff members can download the app by selecting the Rave Guardian app in the appropriate app store.
The app is designed with four safety features: safety profile, panic button, tip texting, and personal guardians and safety timer.
Upon opening the app, users must create their personal profile by entering their SFA-issued email address and phone number. Safety profiles are user-created and contain information such as residence details and medical information. Individuals' profile data is privately and securely stored within Rave Mobile Safety's databases. The information is shared with pre-designated personal contacts and/or safety officials only when users initiate an alert or a set safety timer expires.
The panic button alerts DPS to the user’s exact location using GPS services and delivers the user’s personal information from the safety profile to DPS.
Tip texting enables anonymous two-way communication and crime-tip reporting through text and images.
The personal guardians and safety timer offers two functions. Users can assign anyone they trust the role of "Guardian" through the app, including friends, family and DPS. During a timer session, guardians can ensure the user reaches his or her destination in the allotted time frame. For example, if a student was going on a date, he or she could set a timer for an hour. If the timer goes off or is not deactivated by the user at the end of the hour the app notifies the user's guardian. Then, the guardian can try to contact the user or the DPS.
Furthermore, the guardian will automatically receive the user's Lumberjack Guardian profile to proactively identify and check in on the individual.
"The Department of Public Safety has researched this technology and found that the benefits offered to our university community are immeasurable and give our stakeholders a tangible indicator of the university's commitment to personal safety," Cossich said.
Lumberjack Guardian supplements the JackAlert system already in place at SFA. JackAlert notifies the SFA community of major emergencies and class cancelations, while Lumberjack Guardian serves as a personal safety system.
Cossich encourages the SFA community to sign up for both systems.
Anyone who needs assistance with the Lumberjack Guardian app or registering for JackAlerts can contact the Department of Public Safety technology division at updtech@sfasu.edu or (936) 468-2252.
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