The Pine Log

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Volume 93
Issue 10
Next Publication:
Monday, October 15, 2012
Thursday, October 11, 2012
PINE LOG The
The Independent Voice of Stephen F. Austin State University
Page 6
64
SATURDAY
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Volleyball looks to end
season-long losing
streak at home Thursday.
SFA Homecoming 2012 will begin with the Opening Ceremonies at 10 a.m. Monday when
members of the Traditions Council dye the water in the Stephen F. Austin fountain
purple for the first time ever.
Among many new changes and updates, Homecoming will offer more activities at the be-ginning
of the week for students to participate in, including the Opening Ceremonies, which
compliment the theme, “Let the Games Begin.”
The Opening Ceremonies will begin with the fountain water being dyed and will proceed
with the introduction of the Homecoming Court candidates and their chance to present their
campaigns to the students.
Voting for the Homecoming Court opens online at 10 a.m. Monday morning, as well as out-side
the BPSC Plaza on Tuesday and Wednesday, with the Court Reveal on Thursday.
The activities continue Monday night on the BPSC Plaza with the Homecoming Kick-Off
Celebration at 5 p.m.
By Katelynn Wiggins
Staff Writer
Social media plays an important role in
the lives of Americans today. It provides an
avenue for people to communicate, catch up
with old friends, learn about discounts from
companies and brand themselves to employ-ers.
According to Edison Research, 56 percent
of Americans have a social networking pro-file.
58 million Americans check their social
media profiles multiple times a day. With over
half of the population using social networks,
it is obvious that social media is an important
part of everyday life.
Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are the
most popular social networks, accord-ing
to socialhabit.com, and 54 percent of
Americans use these three networks. Google+
and FourSquare are geared more toward the
younger population, but even then, less than
10 percent of the 12 to 24 age group uses them.
Many people are hesitant to use FourSquare
because it focuses on “Checking-In.” This dis-plays
the user’s location to other FourSquare
users. Users gain points for each place they
check-in. Their friends are alerted when they
check-in somewhere, and anyone else who
is checked-in at that location can see you
are there too. According to socialhabit.com,
only 3 percent of Americans use “Check-In”
related social networks such as FourSquare.
Some see this as a major invasion of privacy,
which is the main reason it does not have the
following Facebook does.
According to Edison Research, the aver-age
Facebook user checks their profile four
times a day. Those in the 12 to 24 age group
check their profiles an average of nine times
per day. That means high school and college
students check their Facebook every two and
a half hours. The only other thing humans do
that often is go to the bathroom.
Americans use Facebook as a commu-nication
tool. Facebook chat has enabled
Americans to use the network as an instant
messaging tool, similar to AOL instant mes-senger.
Facebook also allows users to post on
each other’s profiles, comment on those posts
and comment on photos.
Facebook users use the network as a way to
Social Media, page 2
The average standardized test scores
of SFA freshmen are on the rise, sur-passing
the state average on the SAT and
exceeding both the state and national
averages on the ACT.
The average SAT score of freshmen
entering SFA in fall 2012 is 1,005, 32
points higher than the state average
score of 973. The average score for SFA
freshmen in 2011 was 974.The class’ av-erage
ACT score is 21.4, up from 20.7 in
2011 and edging out the 2012 state and
national averages of 20.8 and 21.1, re-spectively.
First-year students entering SFA this
fall were required to meet higher aca-demic
standards than any previously
admitted students. The new admission
standards were approved by the SFA
Board of Regents in January 2010 based
on recommendations from a university
committee appointed to study the issue.
"The increase in admission standards
will improve our retention and gradua-tion
rates," said Dr. Richard Berry, pro-vost
and vice president for academic
affairs. "Those rates are often used in
measuring an institution's success, and
it's important to us that the students we
Jennifer Rogers/Pine Log Photo
SAT, page 2
Homecoming, page 2
Courtesy Photo
Courtesy Photo
Homecoming 2012
activities begin today
Social media influences
many Americans lives
SFA’s SAT scores
surpass state average
By Mackenzie Herring
Contributing Writer