The Student Center is just one of things that SFA students payed for by introducing a fee similar to that of the proposed Athletic Fee.
Tag Archives: Student Center
Let The Games Begin!
Freshman Traditions Council member, Sarah Bizzell, was one of many Traditions Council members who put in extra time on Sunday to help create homecoming decorations.
Homecoming week starts this Monday for Stephen F. Austin State University.
The student run organization, Traditions Council, has run homecoming since their formation in 2006. They are responsible for planning and executing a majority of the Homecoming events.
Homecoming court is decided on a point system. Candidates will get points for participating in events in addition to the points they get for popular vote. The top three candidates for Senior King and Queen will then have an interview with a board of faculty and staff members. The interview counts for 25% of the total points, making it the first time that the king and queen will not be solely decided by students.
The Involvement Center is also offering a “board game” style schedule that, once completed, will enter students into a raffle to win 250 dollars or a Kindle Fire. They can pick up the schedule in the Involvement Center. Students take the schedules to the Homecoming Headquarters set up at every event where their “board game” will get the corresponding sticker for that event.
This year’s theme is “Let the Games Begin.” Decorations will go up Sunday night. There will be characters from different games placed throughout the campus.
“Each day will have its own game theme and the decorations will be dispersed across campus,” said Nicole Lejeune, Vice President of Traditions Council.
The themes for each day (in no particular order) are Pokemon, Scrabble, Monopoly, Dominos, Candyland, and Madden.
Monday
Monday morning the Homecoming week starts off with Opening Ceremonies at 10 am at Surfin’ Steve. The court candidates will be announced and the fountain water in Surfin’ Steve will be dyed purple. Online voting on Axes, SFA’s new social network, will be open until 5 p.m. To vote online students can go through MySFA. Here is how students can reach online voting.
- Login to MySFA
- Click on the “my services” tab
- Scroll down and click on the “AXES: The Web Portal for Student Involvement at SFA” link located in the middle of the page.
- Create an account (new users only)
- Find the link that states “2012 Homecoming Court Election ends 10/15/2012 5:00 PM Vote Now!”
- Click “Vote Now!”
- Vote for your desired candidates
- Students can only vote once, so students who vote online will not be allowed to vote in person.
The organizations competing for the Spirit Organization Award will be announced during the Homecoming Kickoff. Organization boards (ply wood that is decorated by competing organizations) will be presented. The Spirit Organization Award will be decided by a point system just like Homecoming Court. Organizations will gain points by participating in and winning events. Then Kickoff will shift gears. Participating organizations will run game themed tables in the plaza. Students who participate will earn raffle tickets to enter drawings for movies and electronics, like iPod speakers and a printer.
Tuesday
There will be a blood drive starting at 9 a.m. and going until 5 p.m. Organizations and court candidates can give blood or have others give blood in their name to earn points. Physical voting for Homecoming candidates on the plaza will start at 10 a.m. A validated student ID must be presented in order to vote.
The day ends with the Amazing Traditions Race, a campus scavenger hunt. The winning team earns the prize of 100 dollars.
Wednesday
Voting for Homecoming Court on the plaza continues until 2 p.m. when voting is stopped for counting. The campus recreational center invites all students to come by and tie dye a shirt at 4.
Homecoming Court candidates and organizations can gain points by participating and winning in the ODK (Omicron Delta Kappa, Leadership Honor Society) Trivia Bowl at 5. Groups of 4 to 5 students compete against each other in a battle to see who knows the most trivia.
Thursday
The organizations will be competing with each other once again at 2 p.m. on the plaza for the Big Event Food Drive Build. All through the week organizations will be turning in cans for the food drive into the Involvement Center. They will use those cans to build an object pertaining to the theme selected by the judges.
At 5 o’clock the Homecoming Court will be revealed at the Cheer Competition/Court Reveal in the Grand Ballroom. There will be ten students in the court, a duke and a duchess from each class plus a king and queen from the senior class. After the court is reveled organizations will compete by performing their cheer in order to obtain more points in the race for the Spirit Organization Award.
Friday
The day starts off with two golf tournaments hosted by the Alumni Association. The tournament for traditional golf will be held at 10:30 in the morning while the tournament of disc (Frisbee) golf will be held at 2 in the afternoon.
At 8:30 p.m. the torch light parade will begin. Glow sticks will be handed out to students. The king and queen and the court will lead the parade with a torch in hand. They will march from Surfin’ Steve down Raguet Street to Starr. From Starr they will head towards the intramural fields to the spot where the bonfire will be held.
After the bonfire is lit there will be a Bonfire Pep-Rally. During the pep rally Lumberjack’s head football coach J.C. Harper will come and talk to all the students and the winner of the Spirit Organization Award will be announced.
At 9:30 after the pep rally local Texas Country star, Aaron Watson, will hold a concert on the intramural fields, hosted by Student Activities Association.
Saturday
The final day of the Homecoming week starts at 8 in the morning with a 5k run at the parking lot behind Schlief Tennis Complex on the corner of Wilson and Starr.
Then at 10 o’clock the Homecoming parade will be held on Main Street downtown. Campus and local organizations along with the Homecoming Court will be on floats supporting their organizations and local businesses.
The final event of homecoming will be the football game at 3 in the afternoon as the SFA Lumberjacks face the Nicholls State University Colonels. The Lumberjacks come into the game as the favorite. Lumberjacks are 2-4 (1-1 in conference) while the Colonels are 1-5 (0-2 in conference). Both teams are coming off a game from the same opponent. Lumberjacks played Sam Houston Bearkats on October 6th and lost by eight points. This past weekend the Colonels faced off against the Bearkats and lost 41-0. During half time the homecoming court will be introduced a final time to all those present at the game.
For a full schedule of all the events and information or forms to register for the parade visit the Involvement Center or Homecoming web page at http://www.sfasu.edu/studentaffairs/94.asp.
Students Bundle Up for Crisp Fall Morning
Students stand out side of the Student Center Monday wearing jeans, jackets, and boots on one of the first cold mornings of fall semester. It was sunny and 55 degrees in the Nacogdoches area.
Change Comes to the Student Center
Nicole Lejeune reaches for a sub from the RFoC Express
The student center cafeteria made some changes over the summer break; returning students were surprised to see that the cafeteria had knocked out a wall, rearranged some of the food stations, and added an express feature.
The Wall
Over the summer the dinning services decided to get rid of the glass wall on the south side of the student center that separated a carpeted room from the rest of the cafeteria.
“The setup in that room was not conducive to students using it.” said Marvin Grand, Senior Service Director, so they remodeled.
In previous years there were long tables in the south side room with not much room to sit or allow people to pass through. This year they moved those long tables to different parts of the cafeteria and put the ”4-top” or square tables in the room instead. The smaller tables and more accessible room have allowed for students to be more comfortable when choosing to sit there.
“We actually are seeing that room being utilized more and more everyday,” said Grand.
The Food
Over the summer the food moved as well. The substation traded places with the make-your-own pasta station. The substation is now next to the pizza while the make your own pasta is located in the middle island next to the salad bar. New to the substation is the ability to toast your sub. Pre-made pasta has disappeared from the student center cafeteria and pre-made subs have taken its place.
The buffalo sauce, the spicy mustard, and other sauces had disappeared from the student center cafeteria, but reappeared a couple weeks into the school year. Other than those changes the student center cateferia food remains the same. There is still an extensive salad bar, the same cereal options, pizza, grilled cheese, veggie burgers, desserts, and the usual rotation of food.
The Real Food on Campus (RFoC) Express
Perhaps the most exciting new feature is the RFoC Express option that debuted this fall. Students can grab an entree, two sides, and a drink without having to wait in cafeteria lines. The entrees are usually six inch subs, wraps, or salads, while the sides consist of side salads or fruits/vegetables, and the drink is your choice of the standard cafeteria fountain drinks.
The only catch is that you can’t have a white to-go box and an RFoC Express option, but this has not become an issue for most people. Nicole Lejeune, senior Pre-Vet Student, said that she was really excited about it, and admitted shortly thereafter that she was probably more excited than she should be. She’s not the only one happy about the express option. According to Grand, students’ feedback is positive. Nevertheless the RFoC Express gives students more opportunity to eatwhile staying on the move.
RFoC Express was inspired by the students’ feedback of the cafeteria. Two times a year dinning services does a dining style survey. They found that a concern for students was the long lines at the Student Center Cafeteria. So they created the RFoC express.
“You no longer have to wait in line with a to-go box to get food,” said Grand.
In the past students on the go had to rely on the restaurants in the student center, like Chick-fil-a, Panda Express, and the C store, for fast food. While these options maybe quick and appealing to most students, they lack in nutrition and deplete a student’s bank account or dining dollars quickly. The RFoC Express gives students their food with the same speed fast food restaurants give them, but with healthier, albeit less, options.
Unlimited Drinks
In addition to the changes made to the student center cafeteria Dining Services has introduced an unlimited drinks program. Students can buy unlimited fountain drinks for a hefty price. $130 is what it cost a student to have any fountain drink they want from any of the SFA dining retail locations anytime those places are open.
This means that students can walk up to any retail store, like Chick-fil-A or Zoca, show them their unlimited drink pass, and they will give the student a cup to fill up with any fountain drink available. However, students cannot go into the cafeteria to redeem their unlimited drinks offer, nor can they redeem it on bottled beverages from the C-Store.
The idea was that students would be able to treat the student center like a cruise or disneyland. At these places you just buy a cup and you can have as much to drink as you want. The advantage for SFA students is they don’t even have to carry a cup.
“It’s not a bad idea, but it’s a little expensive,” said Jesus Tobias, senior and biology major.
Most students agree. According to Grand, only about ten people have signed up for it the last time he looked. That number includes students, faculty, and staff. So while Senior Jesus Tobias and most of the school are unimpressed, a few people are.
“It’s good for right now when it is hot, but when it cools down people are going to want something hot. I wouldn’t use it anymore.” Carmen Stanley, junior and Radio/TV major.
She is right; there are no hot drinks included in this program. However, since we live in Texas, cold weather won’t come until January.
Did You Know
Another service the cafeteria offers is the ability to look up what each cafeteria is serving. This option has been available for around five years, but is not well known. Here is how you get there.
go to this link http://www.campusdish.com/en-us/CSSW/StephenFAustin
or go to
- sfasu.edu
- search “dining services”
- Click on the first link
- On the left side click “Dining Services-Aramark”
On the left side of the screen you will see Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner. Clicking on these will allow students to answer the old and profound questions of, “What’s for dinner?”
Since the dining style surveys started, they have only gotten better according to Grand.
“We are a solutions provider. We manage services… but we also try to come up with solutions,” said Grand.
Surveys matter. The dining services department is always trying to improve student experience, so if you get a survey be honest with your critique and you might just get what you want.
fluegeldd@titan.sfasu.edu
Alpha Kappa Alpha Probate
Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority as they unmask a line of 17 new members on the stairs of the Rusk building at SFA
mjrjr1991@gmail.com
Undergraduate Research Conference
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- The Undergraduate Research Conference was on April 10th. It was held in the Student Center in the Grand and Twilight ballrooms.
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- The conference lasted from 4-8 PM Tuesday. Speeches and Presentations we’re given in the Twilight ballroom.
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- Some students were required by teachers to attend the conference and take notes on different posters.
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- There were posters covering many different subjects at the conference.
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- There was a running presentation of different student’s events as well as pictures.
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- Allison Ellis won best freshman submission for her presentation on the Red Scare.
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- The SFA Graphic Shop in the student center printed all of the posters for the conference.
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- The conference had a steady flow of visitors through the course of the event.
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- Students stood by their posters ready ready to give presentations when asked.
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- A group of observers listen to a presentation.
The undergraduate research Conference was held Tuesday April 10th from four to eight PM. The competition consisted of students from many different departments ranging from Math to Art.
The competition began with an introduction from Dr. Eric Jones in the Twilight Ballroom located on the second floor of the Baker Patillo Student Center. Following the introduction Provost Richard Berry gave award to the University Scholars and finalist.
Award winning scholars presented their findings to their peers and other onlookers. Following the presentation the conference moved to the Grand Ballroom for the viewing of Finalist posters and refreshments.
Finalist stood by their posters while students from other classes came and took notes. Finalist gave brief presentations of their presentations to everyone who walked by and inquired. Allison Ellis created one of the more interesting posters. She won best Freshman Submission for her poster on the Red Scare and it’s effect on the mentality of citizens during wartime.
Jessica Dunn was an Art student at the competition. Who was kind enough to give me an interview on what the Undergraduate Research Conference was all about. She said, “The undergraduate research conference showcases bright and aspiring students who have performed research in their field” and that “Students get a chance to bring awareness to their major and future careers.” There was a very broad range of topics being presented. Every department was represented by at least one scholar.
Jessica Dunn got involved with the conference by applying online. The application involves a brief description of your poster and a letter of recommendation. Jessica’s submission was a joint effort between her and the English department. The two departments team up every year and do a “Pen and Pigment” project upon which students trade art pieces and poems created by the other and then create a piece inspired by the others. Jessica created a typographic design called “unexpected” based on the poem she received. A student also wrote a poem about Jessica’s piece of art. Her poster describes the process and the events that followed as well as how she grew from the project. Jessica said “my goal in executing this design was to illustrate the emotion and the story of the poem using only type.” and “I also made a strong attempt to utilize the elements and strategies of design”. “Pen and Pigment” is just one of the many joint department projects the Art department participates in.
Jessica said, “I thought the Top Scholar presentations were very interesting. I always like to see what other majors do.” She then jokingly admitted, “The food provided was a close second”. Swedish meatballs and eggrolls were served along with drinks and other refreshments.While this was first Jessica’s first time competing in the conference she did say she may “do it again”.
Jessica explained that the process was pretty labor intensive with most of the work going into creating her original art piece. She did say though “it took a couple hours to give a proper explanation of my process and stay within the word limit. Jessica did say while she did get a lot of compliments on her piece she “felt a little out of place being an art student.” Regardless she said, “it was a good experience and the meatballs were amazing!”. The SFA Graphic Shop in the student center did all of the printing for the competition making sure they we’re all the correct size and free of any scaling or perspective issues.
There were many other presentations there and even another Art student in attendance. The event seemed full of knowledgeable and aspiring students who represented SFA well.
Energy Management Screen
SFA now has an "Energy Management Screen" in the student center. The screen is located just outside the Graphic Shop and allows students to see campus wide energy consumption. The screen is meant to provide public access to energy information to help make SFA become more environmentally friendly.
Post Office Gets New Sign
SFA will get an official sign for the post office in upcoming months. Before the Student Center was remodeled the "underground" was a billiard room for students. The underground was equipped with pool tables and other student entertainment.