The Pine Log

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Monday, September 12, 2011
TODAY
H 102 L 64
The
TUESDAY
H 103 L 70
WEDNESDAY
H 100 L 68
Volume 91
Issue 1
Next Publication:
Thursday, September 15, 2011
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www.thepinelog.com
The Independent Voice of Stephen F. Austin State University
Page 4
.
Americans
remember
9/11 attack.
Page 8 PINE LOG By Zoe Roimer
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Respect, responsibility, caring,
unity and integrity. These are
the fi ve root principles that
make up what is known as The SFA Way.
Two major organizations, the Residence
Hall Association (RHA) and Student
Government Association (SGA), have
worked together to make this principle
known by everyone. While a survey
conducted last year revealed that
many students were familiar with what
The SFA Way was, this year the two
organizations and SFA Panhellenic are
working towards making the principles
more appreciated and established.
“I think it will become more a part of
everything that we do,” Dr. Adam Peck,
dean of student affairs, said. “And I truly
believe that there are a few lines in The
SFA Way that I fi nd myself repeating all
the time. One of them is that we may
come from many different places (but we
are all) united by the Lumberjack
spirit. Once you are here ,
you are a Lumberjack.
When one Lumberjack
succeeds, all succeed,
and when one fails, all
fail.” This is taught
at Jack Camp and
also discussed during
Freshman Convocation.
“We would like to
see especially in our
fi rst year students be more
successful than they have been in the
past. I want students to take personal
stake in the success of their fellow
student,” Peck said. “Believe me it is
much more impactful when you say to
your friend, ‘Maybe we shouldn’t go
out tonight, maybe we should study,’
than if I tell you I think you ought to not
go out but instead stay in and study.’”
Director of Student Activities,
Beverley Farmer was in
charge of having The
SFA Way included
during the Panhellenic
C o n v o c a t i o n ,
for sororities.
“I plan to remind
(the students)
throughout the fall that
the Panhellenic (group])
that’s over this recruitment
and also the fi ve sororities
will probably plan some other things to
do to make sure that it stays in peoples
foremost thoughts,” Farmer said.
The SFA Way will be reinforced
during Parents Weekend. SGA plans
to have a space outside of registration
where SFA pins and pledges can be made
available to parents and family members
to pledge together The SFA Way.
“We’re trying to expand the ethics
code even more than it has been on
campus,” senior Stephanie Gillbreath
said. “ I think it’s a really great thing.
I know a lot of universities have ethics
codes, and when I fi rst got here we
really didn’t have one. It’s amazing that
it developed and caught on so well.”
With this goal in mind, organizations
and faculty are working to
incorporate it into everything they do.
“Unity is always one that sticks out to
me,” Peck said. “I think that learning to
see things from others perspectives is one
of the big things in college experiences.
The value of unity is really about seeing
ourselves as one, which is Lumberjacks.”
zreimer@thepinelog.com
SFA Way not just words, it’s a way of life
SFA Jacks start
new football
season.
The Principle of Respect
Lumberjacks command respect and treat others with respect • They are considerate of others and tolerant of differences • They demonstrate respect for those around
them by avoiding the use of offensive or profane language • They do not threaten or harm anyone and deal peacefully and civilly with confl ict.
By Maggie Oberpriller
STAFF WRITER
As of Aug. 1, 2011, SFA no
longer accepts the use of
VISA credit cards for stu-dent
payments. This is be-cause
VISA does not allow
a convenience fee with
their credit cards. Because
of this, SFA would have to
use school funds to pay this
convenience fee, which they
have been doing in the past.
According to Dora
Fuselier, SFA controller,
“(up to) $600, 000 a year was
being used to pay for con-venience
fees off of credit
cards.” Now the school
does not have to pay this
fee and can use the funds
elsewhere.
Since SFA no longer al-lows
VISA credit cards,
students are responsible
for the convenience fee. It
is a 2.75 percent fee every
time a credit card is used
for a student account. There
have been several com-plaints
about this fee, and
not being able to use VISA
credit cards.
Fuselier mentioned get-ting
several emails from
students. Once she replied
and explained to the stu-dents
why, she said most
replied back in an under-standing
way.
All Texas universities
have the same policy about
the VISA credit card. Many
students have to pay a con-venience
fee and learn that
it is just another fee added
on to pay for school.
“It does get annoying
having to pay for all the
other fees at school and on
top of that a fee for using a
credit card, but it does make
sense,” Justin Ruiz, criminal
justice junior, said.
This fee makes things
easier when students pay
a small portion of the fee
rather than the University
picking up the whole tab at
the end of the year.
It is also now required that
all credit card payments,
not just VISA, be made on-line
using a student’s eBill
account. Payments cannot
be made over the phone or
in the business office.
SFA still accepts the VISA
debit cards without a charge
and other methods of pay-ments.
These methods of pay-ments
can be found on the
business’s office page on the
SFA website.
If anyone has any ques-tions
about these changes
to the student accounts and
payments, they can contact
the business office at (936)-
468-6960. The business of-fice
is open from 8 a.m. to
5 p.m., Monday through
Friday.
moberpriller@
thepinelog.com
By LyDyrian Cole
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
With all the changes happening around
SFA as the semester begins, one significant
decision has generated huge buzz from stu-dents,
alumni and community members
alike. In the attempt to create a more cohe-sive
college football game-day atmosphere,
SFA athletic administrators and a commit-tee,
including student representatives and
alumni, made a mid-summer decision to
take a more “back to the basics” approach
to Lumberjack Alley.
“The sole purpose of tailgate is to support
the Lumberjack Football team, and with the
parking lot configuration around the stadi-um,
the old Lumberjack Alley was far from
promoting that,” Assistant Athletic Director
John Branch said. “We received overwhelm-ing
feedback about the old Lumberjack
Alley being disconnected from the game.
The conclusion was we basically had two
competing events.”
Major changes —including the relocation
of tailgating activities to the Ag Pond area,
moderations to the tailgating policies and
the elimination of the title “Lumberjack
Alley” from the event—went into effect the
first football game of the season. The give-aways
from local businesses and campus
organizations that people had come to enjoy
ended with a clause against solicitation in
the new tailgating plan. The general, the
initial response from fans wasn’t appearing
to be a positive one as people, mainly stu-dents,
begin vocalizing their frustrations to
the abrupt change.
“When I initially heard of what was going
to happen to Lumberjack Alley, I was upset
about the decision and its inconveniences
to say the least,” SFA graduate student and
Delta Tau Delta member Mark Moon said. “I
wasn’t accustomed to anything else besides
tailgating in the commuter lot. That’s where
it all started, so knowing that it would be
changed seemed unreal.”
While not all the feedback about the deci-sion
was negative, some students and alum-ni
voiced their support of the plan through
different outlets, including postings on a
Facebook page titled “Making SFA Gameday
Experiences Great!!!” The page was created
by SFA’s Student Government Association
President Sydni Mitchell in an attempt to
gain opinions from the student body about
the change before it was put into effect.
Among the postings on the page were the
following: “This past year, tailgating was
shameful. It used to be packed and jammed
with people. There were probably only two
decent tailgates this past season.”; “What
about somehow keeping tailgating closer to
the stadium? That way everyone tailgating
will have easier, closer access.”; “I think it is
important that free stuff is given out inside
the stadium. Free stuff isn’t effective if it
doesn’t actually bring students INSIDE the
venue.”
While the final response from fans about
the new change was uncertain, administra-tors
hoped that fans would eventually un-derstand
the reasoning behind the decision
and support the new plan. And from the
looks of attendance and participation at the
TAILGATE CONTINUED ON PAGE 6
New tailgate hopes to bring more students to game
CHRISTIE BESCH/THE PINE LOG
SFA students enjoy a game of Ladder golf as they wait for the first game against McMurray. The
new tailgate before every home game, attacks students, alumni, and the local community to the
SFA home football game.
Visa —the card accepted
everywhere, except at SFA
Remembering 9/11 after 10 years
PHOTO BY CODY DEROUEN
SFA students and staff came together to show their support for the fallen and heros of
the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Students helped write letters to the troops overseas and placed
more than 3,000 flags in remembrance of the fallen from 10 years ago.
A memorial service is scheduled for noon today in the BPSC Plaza. All students are
encouraged to aggend.