Students walk around campus wearing jackets and jeans trying to keep warm with the crisp spring weather Monday in Nacogdoches. Flowers are in bloom and the sun is shining, but on the Stephen F. Austin campus, students are bundled up. Gabrielle Rambo/SFASYOU.com
This group of photos focuses on three freshman men, Nick Abshire, Parker Owens, and Jonah Morris who are good friends. Thursday was game tight at senior Hannah Cole’s house located close to campus. The three wanted to enjoy a night with a few close friends and wanted to rejuvenate from the previous week of classes. Hannah Cole had snacks and soda and plenty of games for the group of friends to enjoy. The main game represented in the photographs was Catch Phrase, a game where a person has a certain amount of time to describe a word or phrase to their team for points.
Freshman Parker Owens, left, Nick Abshire, right, and senior Hannah Cole, wait as Jonah Morris, center, looks for a word to describe during a game of Catch Phrase Thursday January 31 in Nacogdoches. The freshman men smiled as the words became more difficult to describe. (SFASYOU.com/Gabrielle Rambo)
During game night freshman Nick Abshire describes the phrase “blind as a bat” for his team Thursday January 31 in Nacogdoches. Abshire was stopped by the buzzer earning the other team a point for the game of Catch Phrase. (SFASYOU.com/Gabrielle Rambo)
Freshman Jonah Morris, left, and Nick Abshire, right, get ready to challenge junior Ashlee Whelihan, far right, and senior Hannah Cole, middle, to a game of Things Thursday January 31 at Cole’s house in Nacogdoches. Thursday night is designated game night for the group of friends to get together and relax from the week before. (SFASYOU.com/Gabrielle Rambo)
Freshman Jonah Morris tries to describe a word for his team during a game of Catch Phrase Thursday January 31 in Nacogdoches. Morris and two of his freshman buddies joined a group of junior and senior girls for game night. (SFASYOU.com/Gabrielle Rambo)
The timer beeps as freshman Parker Owens tries to give his team the best decription of a phrase Thursday January 31 in Nacogdoches. Owens and his two friends played several games, including Catch Phrase, with a group of juniors and seniors for designated game night. (SFASYOU.com/Gabrielle Rambo)
From dorm life to choosing the right major, freshmen life at SFA is an unique experience. Learning to share a small space with a roommate can be just as challenging as passing classes. However, events and activities are in place to make the transition from home to college smoother. These photographs showcase freshmen adapting to life at SFA. Some represent selecting the right major and others illustrate what it’s like living on your own.
Caroline Pruitt, SFA freshman, sketches a still life portrait in her Art 100 class Wednesday, January 30. Pruitt is an art major who enjoys painting or drawing landscapes and abstract art. (SFASYOU.com/ Photo by Kasi Dickerson)
Caroline Pruitt concentrates on her optical illusion art project in her Art 110 class Wednesday, January 30. Pruitt is in her second semester of studying art at SFA and says optical illusion art is tedious and can play tricks on your eyes. (SFASYOU.com/Photo by Kasi Dickerson)
After a busy class day, SFA freshman Rachel Powers settles into her dorm room in Hall 16 Friday, January 25. Powers is in her second semester as an elementary education EC-6 major. (SFASYOU.com/ Photo by Kasi Dickerson)
Blake Wallace, SFA freshman, sits outside the Lucille Norton Health and Physical Education Complex Thursday, January 31. Wallace is seeking a degree in kinesiology due to his history of sports. (SFASYOU.com/Photo by Kasi Dickerson)
Newspapers, advertising companies, and magazine companies all use specific computer programs that deal with layout and design.
Stephen F. Austin has a 400 level mass media course that covers the basic needs for layout and design. This course is now known as graphic design for media.
The course is described as publication layout and design and is three semester hours credit. The class was held once a week on Wednesday this semester from 4-6:30 p.m.
Michael Tubbs teaches this course as well as a digital media and ad design course for the School of Art.
“I teach digital media and ad design at the School of Art and we teach the same material as one of the MCM courses, so once a semester we get together and have a combined class with Dr. Bond. After a year of doing this I was offered the position for Graphic Design for Media and accepted it gratefully,” professor Tubbs said.
Programs Used:
Students become familiar with Adobe programs over the course of the semester. These programs include Adobe Indesign and Adobe Illustrator.
Adobe Illustrator is often used for manipulating graphics. In Professor Tubbs’ class students will use this software to create logos.
Illustrator uses Vector images which are graphics based on mathematical equations that are used to define lines and shapes.
The majority of the course however, is spent working with Adobe Indesign. This program allows students to create several different types of print media.
Over the semester students learn to create a three page print ad campaign, brochure, and 12 page magazine that includes print ads. The main goal for the class is not to learn the Adobe Indesign system, but to learn the small details in which to pay attention to while using it.
“It’s all about the fundamentals and that’s the hardest part. The class has a lot less to do with technicalities and everything to do with learning margins and bleed lines and how large a photograph has to be to cover a page without being pixelated. There is a misconception, students think they just need to learn the software or program, but it is more important to learn the little things,” said Tubbs.
Importance:
This particular class helps develop student‘s skills when it comes to layout and design. For students in the mass communication department this can be essential when looking for a job.
The Pine Log and the Daily Sentinel both use Adobe Indesign to layout their pages. Professor Tubbs gives students assignments that will look appropriate in a portfolio.
“I think this class is really interesting. We get to do stuff that can help with our careers and it gives us a more defined skill level when it comes to the programs we are using. The things we do in class can be put in our portfolios,” senior Shelbe Blacklock said.
One of the more important things professor Tubbs teaches is to do research. With every assignment done throughout the course of the semester he makes sure to tell his students to research other professional works such as brochures and print ads.
“I cannot stress enough how important it is for students to do research. It is crucial for students to see a variety of how things are designed and laid out,” Tubbs said.
The link below will take you directly to the graphic design for media syllabus:
Overall Student Learning Outcome
What students say:
“This class is a good learning experience, especially if you are interested in media,” Christie Sparrow, junior, said.
“I enjoy this class mostly because we have a great professor. Mr. Tubbs is always willing to help out and he makes things easy to learn,” senior Berto Ramirez said.
More information:
For more information go to the SFASU website and look up the mass communications department. For students who wish to enroll in this particular course, the course number is MCM 403.001.
SFA holds a lighting holiday extravaganza every year on campus. This year was the same as they lit up the whole college with Christmas lights. The gigantic tree that stands in front of the business building is a major attraction for students as its stands out above and beyond anything else.
“I love the lights and the creativity they bring,” says said SFA student Kayla Borens.
The lights, the lights, the lights, if you haven’t noticed SFA has put up Christmas lights all around the college campus. They glow all around campus from the Baker Patillo Student Center, The Business building, The Presidents house, Hall 16 and Steen hall. There are even lights on the huge trees around SFA. The lights are put up by the physical plant workers who plan putting the lights up the week before Thanksgiving. They do this to make sure every light is put up correctly so that there won’t be any problems later down the line when they are finally set in place.
The lights are censored for each building, for this reason each pair of lights are scheduled to turn on and off at a scheduled time everyday. The physical plant splits their workers in groups adding different Christmas lights to each building everyday.
“It’s harder to put up the lights than it is to take them down I am the happiest when its finally over,” said Electronic foreperson Cary Shinn.
The Christmas lights are scheduled to come on at approximately 6:15 p.m. and they usually cut off about 1 a.m. There are over 10,000 lights combined, spread out throughout the SFA campus. The lights are scheduled to turn on and turn off at a certain time because they don’t want any to burn out easily too soon, as well as save the school the money that would be lost if the lights were turned off manually.
“It’s all about being smart about the situation and being responsible, we have a lot of lights on different buildings and one thing we don’t want is for something to go wrong like a light burning out that could potentially cause something tragic,” said Shinn.
The tradition of putting the SFA lights all around campus started in the early 1800’s and became a consistent tradition every year for SFA after that. The Christmas lights range in colors from red, green, yellow, and blue.
“It’s amazing to me how they get the lights on each building and how each building is created with different lights,” said Joy Edwards SFA student.
The lights are put up on Nov. 17 and last all the way through December 31st once the lights are taken down they plan for next year and how they want to present the Christmas lights to students for the following year.
“It’s a process and it takes time to put up the lights but I’ve always said it’s better to take your time and get it done right than rush and have something go wrong and I am all about safety when is come to these lights,” said Shinn.
The physical plant also looks to add different buildings each year. This year they put lights on the children daycare building
“My favorite place about the lights is Steen Hall with the big star in between each building I felt that was very creative and I am amazed at how they got that high to put it up I can only imagine how scary that was,” said Borens.
To learn more about the Christmas lighting show you can visit them on the SFA campus across from Hall 16 or you can visit their website at
Payton Lockwood watches The Walking Dead season three mid-season finale in her dorm room Sunday night. Lockwood has followed the show from the beginning in 2010. By: Gabby Rambo
The Walking Dead is a television series that has been aired for three seasons and has captured the attention of students at SFA.
The television series is based on the comic book “The Walking Dead”. The main plot of the series is about a sheriff who wakes up from a coma and finds that the world has been dominated by “flesh- eating walkers.”
The sheriff then goes in search of his family and finds several survivors along the way. The series is a drama that appeals to college students because it is something new.
On May 25, 2012, a man in Miami, Florida was caught eating another man’s face. This action drove some people to believe that this act of cannibalism was the beginning of zombie attacks.
The link below will lead to an article on the Miami attack:
http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/05/29/naked-man-chews-other-guys-face-shot-dead-by-cops/
“I feel like with the speculation of the world supposedly ending in 2013, students are more interested in shows like The Walking Dead. I personally like the show because it is more realistic and catches my attention with every episode. I like thinking about what I would do if the zombie apocalypse ever really happened,” said Payton Lockwood, sophomore.
About the show:
The Walking Dead television series was created by Executive Producer Frank Darabont. The comic book series it is based on was written by Robert Kirkman and Tony Moore.
The show first aired in 2010 and made its announcement that it would be continuing with a third season in 2012. The show received many award nominations including a Writers Guild of America, Golden Globe, and Best Television Series Drama.
The show also received 10.9 million views on its season three premiere and became the most- watched basic telecast in history. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Walking_Dead_(TV_series) )
The series is about survivors of the zombie apocalypse and how they get through fighting for survival against zombies and other survivors. In the show, walkers (the shows name for zombies) are not the only thing survivors have to worry about.
Survival:
Society has been dependent on survival for centuries. Not because of zombie threats, but because of threats on their country and their people.
WWII was a major event in history that had people fighting for survival against other human beings that threatened to kill them because of their differences. People thrive for survival and this television series appeals to people.
“I think people enjoy watching this show because they are interested in survival. People like knowing how others survive in crazy situations. It allows their imaginations to wonder and think about what they would do if they were put in those same situations,” Lockwood said.
Inside the show:
Where did the idea for The walking Dead come from?
“It came from my love of zombie movies and my hatred for how they end. I think that all the best zombie movies just abruptly end when the time runs out, so people either all die or they ride off into the sunset never to be seen again. I thought it would be a really cool story to tell if we followed a group of characters for an indefinite period of time watching them learn to survive in this world and continue to live and coexist,” stated Robert Kirkman for Forbes.
“I think The Walking Dead has become this huge pop culture event. It’s a successful TV show. It’s a successful video game series and the comic book has been popular for a good long time, but the audience is building,” Kirkman said during the same interview.
The link above goes to a website that has a full interview with Robert Kirkman.
Overall:
Students are attracted to the un-natural. They seem to want to be involved in things that are not likely to happen in everyday life.
In November the Freshman Leadership Academy put on an event known as the Survival of the Fittest Zombie Run. It was a 5k run intersected with mud and obstacle courses.
Students from the theater department also gave those who wanted to be zombies the opportunity to have a zombie makeover to make it more realistic. Even though there was a fee, several students registered.
The link below will lead to the Pine Log website where a preview article for this event is shown:
http://www.thepinelog.com/sga-to-bring-zombies-to-campus-1.2936622#.ULwlUINfCSo
What students think:
“The Walking Dead keeps me on my toes. The show is very suspenseful and I love that there is a lot of gore. The characters are also really diverse which makes the show more intriguing. It shows that the human race can always adapt and overcome,” said Nicolas Abshire, freshman.
“It’s interesting to see how people will change and what their reactions are when the world they live in completely changes from a routine life style and not worrying about having to survive because everything they want is in a store for them with easy access; to a world of death and destruction where anything and everything you do could potentially kill you and having to learn how to survive in some ways of the wild, kinda like back in the day,” said sophomore Derek Calvert.
“I’ve liked The Walking Dead ever since the comics, so when I heard there was going to be a show I was skeptical. But the show has something the comic never will, fear. It’s the drama of the characters becoming real and the situation becomes real, all while the ending is unknown. Also, it’s not about the zombies. Either you start thinking; are they making the right choices; are they going to actually survive? And that’s the difference, in movies there will be a happy ending to this struggle, but in the show, I mean, who really knows? In the comic the main character calls the group ‘the walking dead’ and not the ‘un-dead’, and that’s what the story is all about, them living.” Said Maxwell Smith, senior.
The walking dead had it’s mid-season finale Sunday December 2. The second half of third season will premiere February 2013.
Visit http://www.amctv.com/shows/the-walking-dead for video clips and photos on The Walking Dead
gab.rambo@gmail.com
