The Pine Log

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Volume 93
Issue 2
Next Publication:
Thursday September 17, 2012
Thursday, September 13, 2012
PINE LOG The
The Independent Voice of Stephen F. Austin State University
By Gabrielle Rambo
Staff Writer
More than 200 young women were welcomed into
their chosen sorority on Bid Day, Sunday, Sept.
9, in the BPSC Grand Ballroom.
In all, there were more than 500 girls involved in Bid Day.
The majority of the girls already belonged to a sorority, but
they were there to support
and congratulate their new
sisters.
Recruitment began with
Convocation on Wednesday,
Sept. 5. Convocation was the
first time the potential mem-bers
met each sorority and
its members. It was there
that the potentials received
their “moms,” or mentors,
who guided them through-out
the entire process.
“Moms” are actives who
are restricted from reveal-ing
their sorority. They had
to guide the potential nes
members without giving a
biased opinion of other so-rorities
as well as their own.
This rule allows for each
sorority to have a fair chance
for PNMs to choose them.
This also makes it less
stressful on the potentials
when trying to decide on a
sorority. They focus less on
the reputations and more on
Greek life as a whole.
“It was difficult to keep
things to myself. I had to
sensor every thought to
ensure I did not reveal my
chapter or lead the girls in
any direction that was not
completely a choice of their
own,” said Courtney Wynot,
senior.
Bid Day began with weekend of recruitment. Friday,
Saturday, and Sunday were filled with a list of activities for
the potential members to participate in.
The weekend began with open houses on Friday, where
the potential members were taken to Sorority Row and
invited into each of the sorority houses. They were greeted
and informed of each of the sorority’s designated philan-thropy.
Saturday, the potential members were to choose four
of the five homes to visit. They went to each home and
watched actives engage in entertaining skits as well as
watch slide shows that represented each sorority’s particu-lar
sisterhood.
Sunday, the potential members prepared for the actual
Bid Day event. That morning, each girl who received a bid
went to “pref”, short for preference, where they went to the
chapters from which they received bids and listened to
actives share their stories and explain what their chapter
means to them.
“I was very nervous and excited to find out who chose me
out of the sororities I chose. I knew my top choice, and it was
hard to sit still waiting to see if that was the (bid) I received.
When I found out it was, it was like Christmas,” said Payton
Lockwood, sophomore.
Sunday evening was the moment all remaining poten-tials
and their future sisters looked forward to most. The
potentials were seated on
their bid cards and had to
wait until they were told to
open them.
The bid card shows the
potential’s final bid, their
chosen sorority. After their
bids were revealed, the
potentials ran out of their
groups and threw up their
signs revealing to every-one
their new sisterhood.
After each potential re-vealed
her sign, the sorori-ties
took their sisters back
to their house on Sorority
Row for a proper celebra-tion.
Actives began prepar-ing
for recruitment in
spring 2012. They held
workshops throughout the
Spring Semester as well as
during the summer.
The women also held a
week-long workshop the
week before classes to go
over necessary topics and
work on crafts to later be
given to their new mem-bers.
Bid Day takes a lot of
planning and preparation
from all of the sororities
to keep the entire process
running smoothly year
after year. This year was no
different; they welcomed
young women into their homes and for many of the women,
welcomed them into their sisterhood.
grambo@thepinelog.com
By Katelynn Wiggins
Staff Writer
Millard’s Crossing
Historical Village is full of
volunteer opportunities
for SFA students looking
to give back to the com-munity
.
“We need volunteers
because our bare-bones
budget does not allow
us to hire enough staff
to do all that needs to be
done at the Village,” Susie
Lower, executive direc-tor
of Millard’s Crossing,
said. “Without volunteers,
we could not stay open or
carry out the many pro-grams
and events we have
in place.”
Getting involved in
the community through
volunteer work is a great
way for college students to
connect to historical East
Texas.
Millard’s Crossing can
provide valuable experi-ence
in multiple fields of
study including hospital-ity,
education, market-ing,
journalism, public
relations, advertising and
many more.
“We need people to help
with events, tours and de-velopment,”
Lower said.
“We need help with greet-ing
customers, the coun-try
store, taking tickets,
decorating for events, re-enactments,
photography,
special event technology,
maintenance and land-scaping,
research and cu-ration
activities.”
Volunteer hours are
also a good resume build-er.
Most employers and
higher education institu-tions
give an advantage to
those with volunteer in-volvement.
According to startmed-icine.
com, “volunteer-ing
and participating in
service opportunities are
some ways to demonstrate
your commitment to help
others.”
In addition to the ben-efit
of resume building,
“those who spend more
than 10 hours volunteer-ing
at the Village will get
a recommendation upon
request,” Lower said.
Millard’s Crossing
has two major events
this semester: “Ghosts
of Millard’s Crossing”
and “Old-Fashioned
Christmas”. Ghosts of
Millard’s Crossing is held
on Oct. 31 from 6 to 8 p.m.
and admission is $3. This
event will feature appear-ances
by the Headless
Horseman, a haunted hay
ride, ghostly musicians
and ghosts of the village’s
past.
The opportunity to get
involved in the Halloween
event is massive. Actors,
food sales, ticket takers,
lighting and production
assistance and event co-ordinating
will all be nec-essary
to make the event a
success.
The second major event
this semester, the Old
Fashioned Christmas, will
be held on the first Friday
of December. Admission
is $8 for adults and $5 for
children. Once again vol-unteers
will play an im-portant
part in this event.
Actors, event coordina-tors,
lighting and produc-tion
assistance and store
keepers will be needed.
Many families buy last
minute Christmas gifts at
this event, so the country
store will definitely need
volunteers as well.
Decorations for the
Christmas event are quite
the production. Volunteer
support is an integral part
of preparing the village for
Christmas.
Millard’s Crossing also
serves as a venue for the
community. The space can
be rented for events such
as weddings, Greek events,
fundraising events and
multiple other purposes.
“It’s a great place for
students to bring their
parents when they come
to visit,” Lower said. “It
offers a change of pace
from the usual going out
to dinner and touring the
campus routine many stu-dents
use when their par-ents
come to town.”
For more information
about volunteering at
Millard’s Crossing, email
info@mi l lardscrossing.
org or call 936-564-6631.
kwiggins@thepinelog.
com
By Will Flynn
Contributing Writer
The roof is on fire, but it doesn’t need
any water because the fire isn’t real. It’s the
Burning House, and it’s back in business.
The Burning House is an art gallery that
was opened in 2006 by former SFA graduate
student Clint Alexander, but it hasn’t been
used in that capacity since then. Now, a
group of current SFA art students plan to
change that and have arranged for a revival
opening set for Sept. 15.
Daniel Baugh, junior, and Santiago
Escobedo, senior, have poured many hours
of effort and thought into this project. They,
and 10 other artists, have accumulated more
than 100 works, some of which artists have
mailied to them, to show at the Burning
House in Leggett, Texas.
Some may or may not have heard of the
Burning House, but it would be hard to mis-take
for any other house. The house is an old
shotgun shack around 600 square feet that
has been fitted with its very own set of flames
shooting forth from the windows along with
a beautiful paint job. The flames are made
out of a combination of chicken wire, canvas
and epoxy resin and is described by Baugh as
“exploding with creativity.”
“Can we bring all of these people out here
for the sake of art?” asked Baugh. “Can
we energize this place to its full potential?”
Baugh and Escobedo plan to do just that. The
show will consist of their and the other art-ists’
works with the theme of contemporary
abstract painting and illustration.
Besides Baugh’s role as an artist, he also
holds the position of producer, curator and
gallery preparator, with Escobedo’s help.
Baugh said he wants to inspire the popu-lace
of Nacogdoches and SFA to become in-volved
in artistic ideas and their betterment.
“Something huge is in that house that’s burn-ing
to get out,” he added.
People of all backgrounds are wanted to
join in on the Burning House experience.
After the opening reception, Baugh wishes
to continue having the Burning House open
to people and to continue to host art shows
there.
“I just want people to love art as much as
I do, and the Burning House is a way to do
that,” Escobedo said. “Even the house is an
artistic expression that people can enjoy.”
Along with Baugh and Escobedo, other artists
include Clint Alexander, Ray Tijerina, Cody
Bowen, Holly Haynes, Scott Horst, Maxwell
Morris, Brent Megens, Daniel Aranda, Levi
Smith and Heather Wobbe.
Baugh plans to give a small speech at the
reception to express his hopes for the shows;
afterwards there will be free refreshments.
The Burning House is located on the east side
of highway 59, 40 miles south of Lufkin be-tween
Seven Oaks and Leggett, Texas.
For more information about the Burning
House, contact Daniel Baugh at (512) 584-
6455 or search Burning House fine art show
on the Internet. The show will begin at 7 p.m.
and run until around midnight. Baugh urges
people to make the journey to the Burning
House and carpooling is recommended.
pinelog@thepinelog.com
Bid Day ends as sororities reveal
Fall 2012 pledge classes Sunday
Millard’s Crossing seeks
more student volunteers
Burning
House
art gallery
revived
by students
Page 7
Senior Willie Jefferson
brings talent and hope to
the SFA football team.
Joshlyn Wallace/Pine Log Photo
Several sororities crowd together at Bid Day to welcome their new members into their sisterhood.
Daniel Baugh poses by one of his art works.