The Pine Log

              CMYK
By Sara Zavorka
Staff Writer
Just recently, the Young Conservatives of Texas at SFA
(YCT-SFA) organization received the Chapter of the Year
Award. This statewide award is applicable to the chapter
that has shown the most progress through its activities
and achievements of the past year. They have not re-ceived
this award since 2004, and it has lifted the spirits
of the chapter members drastically.
Young Conservatives of Texas is a po-litically-
based organization first es-tablished
statewide in 1980. It
began as the national organiza-tion
of Young Americans for
Freedom (YAF), but then
broke off into state-sized
partitions as to more di-rectly
address problems
through a more focused
approach.
This organization has
“held countless events,
and really turned their
chapter around in the
course of a year,” Hunter
Wright, chapter chairman,
said. Wright has been in-volved
with the organization
since the spring of 2011.
Ten members, most of whom are
now officers, attended a conven-tion
in March, which got the mem-bers
excited to improve the organiza-tion.
The chapter resolved to win the award
after the convention, and now their hope has become a
reality.
Of the seven currently active chapters around the
state, including the University of Texas and Texas Tech
University, YCT-SFA had to fight to earn this award. Wright
said that even though other chapters have more members,
the SFA chapter has “more dedicated members.”
“Now [we’re] getting recognized by the state instead of
as ‘just another chapter,’” Wright said. “We took a chapter
that hasn’t really been there for years,” and increased it
tenfold within an incredibly short amount of time.
This past year, they hosted their H2O Recruitment,
which involved handing out water bottles with labels
that listed information about the rising National Debt,
in order to try to recruit some younger members. Last
semester, they campaigned for Travis Clardy, (who was
elected as the new Texas state representative) and they
put on the “Obama Wheel of Misfortune.” The “Obama
Wheel of Misfortune” was hosted in order to demonstrate
just how “the current administration has failed... and
we, as students can make an impact,” Wright said. The
sections of the wheel included issues with a stance held
upon during elections, including the economy, immigra-tion,
and healthcare. Questions were then asked upon
the wheel spinning turns.
“When looking at the policy agenda of the Obama
Administration, it’s evident that his domestic policy,
as well as foreign, have been ‘epic fails,’” Karina
Erickson, legislative director said. She went
on to say that with this event, there was
“hope the student body [would] come
to the same realization as YCT.”
This chapter hosts
many socials in order to
cel-ebration
for President
Ronald Reagan’s birth-day.
This group is very
activist-based, and
is constantly on the
move. 33rd Annual YCT State
promoting campus activism.
As a recent post by one of its officers on the Young
Conservatives of Texas SFA Facebook page reads, “We
are grateful to have received Chapter of the Year, but it is
only a stepping stone to getting back to the greatness that
once was. Thanks to all the members that are working to
make us a great chapter. It is not the time to slow down,
but instead the time to act, to grow and become an even
better group.”
organiza-
maintain a fun and in-formative
atmosphere,
including their cel-move.
They had several
members even attend
the 33
Convention at the U.S.
Capitol in February.
YCT-SFA strives to fur-ther
inform the student body of
upcoming elections, current poli-cies,
and voting impacts. They continue
to stand firm by their conservative values and
TODAY
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Volume 94
Issue 7
Next Publication:
Thursday February 21, 2013
Monday, February 18, 2013
PINE LOG The
The Independent Voice of Stephen F. Austin State University
43
WEDNESDAY
H
Page 6
Jacks shoot
lowest field goal
percentage of
season, stumble at
Southeastern
By Courtney Schmidt
Contributing Writer
Students participating in the Alternative Spring Break
program are selling tickets for spaghetti plates to raise
money for their trip. The deadline for ordering tickets for
spaghetti dinner plates is 5 p.m. Wednesday.
The meals, which are prepared by the students of the
Alternative Spring Break program, are $7 per plate and
include spaghetti, a breadstick and a cookie. For an ad-ditional
dollar, a drink can be added (Coke, Diet Coke or
water). The plates will be delivered on campus to offices,
front desks of the residence hall and even to work places
on campus, Friday, Feb. 22. If a student lives off campus
and would still like a plate, they can pick it up at the Village
Clubhouse between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.
The fundraiser is a part of a weekly project that is re-quired
out of the students who are going on the trip to Hot
Springs, Ark., this Spring Break. Every year the program
takes 16 students, who are selected in November, to a dif-ferent
city for the purpose of giving back to the community.
“There’s also an educational component,” Jamie Bouldin,
assistant director for leadership and service, said. “We take
them to the city, and they learn about the city and culture.”
This year will be the first year that the program will be
working with a national park. While on the trip, the stu-dents
will be working with The Boys and Girls Club Monday
through Thursday afternoons, Hot Springs National Park
two mornings out of the week and the Humane Society
Animal Shelter two other mornings of the week. Friday
will be reserved for shopping and a relaxation day for the
students.
“I think it’s a good opportunity to spend Spring Break
giving to others,” Bouldin said. “It’s a good way to get ser-vice
hours in.”
Since 2010, the program has been to New Orleans,
Memphis, Tenn., Long Beach, Calif., and Biloxi, Miss.
Students interested in participating in next year’s
Alternative Spring Break can find the application on the SFA
website or pick up a printed application in the Involvement
Center and get a printed copy of the application for the
program. Bouldin, a graduate assistant and two under-graduate
student team leaders interview everyone that ap-plies.
The interview usually takes only 10 minutes.
“An interesting element in the process is that we don’t re-veal
where we’re going until November,” Bouldin said.
Lindsey Wagner, a sophomore nursing major, was a
participant last year in Mississippi and is this year’s team
leader.
“I got to meet a lot of good people on campus that I nor-mally
wouldn’t have,” Wagner said. “My favorite part was
working at the food shelter, feeding the homeless and get-ting
to know them.”
To order your plate, or for more information, contact call
(936) 468-1088 or email jfbouldin@sfasu.edu.
pinelog@sfasu.edu
ASB is selling
spaghetti lunch
to raise money
Courtesy Photo
SFA students performed a variety of tasks during previous ASB programs.
By Emily Jensen
Staff Writer
Omicron Delta Kappa, a leadership honor society, is now
accepting donations of dresses, jewelry, purses and shoes
for its annual Dresses For Dreams. The event is scheduled to
take place in the Student Center April 5 and 6.
ODK re-sells the dresses and items donated to students
and the community at a cheaper rate. All dresses will sell for
$40 or less, and merchandise includes a range of casual dress
to formal wear.
Students who want to donate their items can bring them
to Kerr, Steen, Landing, Lodge, Todd, Hall 10, Griffith, the
Involvement Center or the ODK office, Room 3.302 in the
Baker Pattillo Student Center until April 1.
“It’s a good way to provide a low-cost dress option for
the community for students who want to go to Prom or
Homecoming, but who can’t afford the really expensive for-mals,”
Jamie Bouldin, the ODK adviser and assistant director
for leadership and service, said.
Money raised from the event will be donated to the local
Azleway Children’s Services, an organization that helps chil-dren
find homes and more.
Azleway provides adoption services, children’s services,
a substance abuse program, a transitional living program,
the Boy’s Ranch Residential Treatment Center and a charter
school.
ODK hosts Dresses For Dreams every Spring Semester, and
every year the organization chooses a different local charity
to donate the profits to.
The dresses will be separated by sizes on racks, and mem-bers
of ODK will price them and steam the dresses before
resale. As of now, the time is not set in stone, but the sale
will be open for a few hours April 5 and on April 6, Showcase
Saturday.
The dresses that don’t sell this year with either be re-sold
next year or held in storage until they can be donated to other
groups.
“Anyone is welcome to the dress sale,” Bouldin said.
“Students are welcome to attend and buy dresses. We’d love
to see people there.”
Julienne Hankins, ODK secretary, said some of the other
events they do on campus include the ODK Leadership
Conference, Dining in the Dark, Open Mic-less Night, Angel
Tree, Homecoming’s Trivia Bowl. The next event for this
semester is a knockout challenge during halftime at the SFA
Basketball game on March 2.
ODK takes applications at the beginning of each semester
before starting the interview process. Students applying
to be in the organization must be either a junior, senior or
graduate student with a GPA of 3.0 or higher.
ejensen@thepinelog.com
YCT-SFA receives
Chapter of the Year
statewide award
ODK accepting dresses
for Dresses For Dreams