The Pine Log

              CMYK
TODAY
H 65 L 35
FRIDAY
H 68 L 38
H 73 L 55
Volume 91
Issue 16
Next Publication:
Monday, November 7, 2011
Visit us online at
www.thepinelog.com
Celebrity
weddings
sometimes
don’t
make it a
year
Page 4
SFA Volleyball
plays this
Saturday
Inside
Mattress Firm
recruits at SFA
Page 3
The Crime Log
Page 3
Volleyball tailgate
at 11 a.m. on
Saturday outside
of Shelton Gym
Page 8
The Pine Log’s Sudoku
Look for this
addictive number
game on page 3
every Monday
and Thursday
Opinions
Page 4
Columns
Jordan Boyd
comments on the
Rangers in game
6 of the World
Series
Tinesha Mix
discusses how
desperate times
call for desperate
measures
Entertainment
Page 5
Texting
language and
grammer must
go
Page 6
Thursday, November 3, 2011 PINE LOG
The
The Independent Voice of Stephen F. Austin State University
By Tinesha Mix
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Did anyone notice how they changed out the
shower heads in the community bathrooms at
the beginning of last year? Did you notice that
throughout the year they changed out the types
of toilets we had and a lot of halls got new wash-ers
and dryers? If you didn’t, now is the time to
pay attention.
Last year SFA began a program to conserve
more water and reduce use by 15 percent. They
changed meters on toilets to flush with less water
and changed high-flow shower heads to low flow
shower heads to prevent wastefulness of water as
much as possible.
Why should it concern students? Why conserve
water? Well, if you haven’t heard around campus
or from your distressed parents or the desperate
cries of the farming community, “Texas climatol-ogists
have recently stated that the ongoing dry
spell is the worst one-year drought since Texas
rainfall data started being recorded in 1895.”
(pewclimate.org)
The purpose of the water conservation plan is
to conserve available water supply and minimize
effects of a possible water supply shortage.
“The current drought is expected to last well
into 2012, and protecting water resources is criti-cal
at this time.” (www.nacogdoches.org)
So what can you do to help? It’s simple. Start
in the bathroom. Turn off our water on the sink
when brushing your teeth; fill the sink with a
small amount of water and turn off the faucet for
shaving. Shorten your showers as much as pos-sible,
perhaps down to 5 to 7 minutes.
If you live in an apartment, opt to fill a sink
with water to wash dishes instead of running
your dishwasher for long periods of time. If you
must use a dishwasher, run it only when it’s full.
When doing laundry, especially on campus,
only wash full loads of laundry. Use the lowest
water setting possible on the washer and use cold
water as often as possible.
If Lake Nacogdoches dries up, we have no-where
to get water. Imagine what life would be
like without the ability to use water to cook or
shower with.
We have to protect our water supplies now
while will still have them.
tmix@thepinelog.com
SFA ahead of the curve on conserving water
By Kayla Haas
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Counseling services is providing free sui-cide
prevention training, QRP, for students at
3 p.m. Thursday in Room 333, Rusk Building.
The training should end around 4:30 p.m.
QPR stands for the three steps to help pre-vent
suicide—question, persuade and refer.
Counseling services encourage students to call
ahead to sign up, but anyone is welcome to join
the group.
“QPR is designed for anyone” said counselor
Ron Smith. During the workshop, students will
learn about the idea behind QPR and informa-tion
about suicide. Students will also learn
the warning signs and what they can do to
intervene.
“When someone intervenes, it makes all
the difference,” said Smith, “With treatment,
maybe they see other options.”
Suicide is the second leading cause of death
in colleges, but is also the most preventable.
Also, for every suicide completed, there are 25
attempts. These attempts have consequences
for friends and family, as well as the person.
QPR training is to prevent others from at-tempting
to take their own life.
Smith said, “Suicide is a taboo subject.
People are afraid they don’t know what to do.
Also maybe that they’ll give them the idea.”
QPR training will help students to know what
to do in that situation. Asking the question
makes all the difference in the world.”
People who are suicidal often feel depressed
and hopeless, and they often feel that suicide
is the only solution. Depression can be brought
on often in students by relationship breakups,
family problems and academic stress.
Depression is an illness, though, and treat-ment
is available.
“Substance use also puts people at higher
risk. Not able to control impulses leads to a
greater risk of suicide,” Smith said.
Smith encourages students to attend the
training to help not only their classmates and
friends but also family members and the el-derly.
The risk of suicide goes up with age.
Counseling services has trained over 2,000
students and faculty in general workshops but
also in classrooms like SFA 101.
Smith says there hasn’t been an on-campus
suicide in three years.
khaas@thepinelog.com
Suicide prevention classes will be held today
Counseling service to help students realize problem, help a person who is suicidal
By Kayla Haas
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Subplots: Friends of Creative Writers held a fundraiser for Alex’s
Lemonade Stand, an organization that researches childhood cancer.
During the reading of Dr. Christine McDermott’s new book of poetry,
“Woods & Water, Wolves & Women,” Subplots sold lemon chapbook for
$1.
The chapbook consists of 14 poems by students at SFA and a poem by
McDermott as well. All poems are said to have a theme regarding lemons—
a tribute to Alex’s Lemonade Stand.
Subplots president, Tyler Heath, said, “The actual product is somewhat
of a non-conventional publication. What I mean is, it’s not going to be
bound; rather it will be a series of pages arranged in a random order and
then tied together with a cover. What this will allow is for readers to ar-range
the pieces in any order they see fit; it’s interactive reading, it’s play.”
The cover of the chapbook is a simple print done by artist Tanna Leigh
Burchinal, an SFA student in the art department. Donations for Alex’s
Lemonade Stand are also encouraged. Donations will be used to support
Dr. Jessie Sams who is running a 5K for Alex’s Lemonade Stand.
McDermott’s poetry book will also be available for purchase at the read-ing.
The poems are adult retellings of fairy tales like “Snow White,” “Beauty
and the Beast” and “Cinderella.”
McDermott is an associate professor in the SFA English department
where she teaches courses in creative writing, fairy tales and literature.
Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation was started by Alex’s parents in
2005 after the passing of their daughter. Their mission is “to raise money
for awareness of childhood cancer causes, especially research into new
treatments and cures, and to encourage and empower others, especially
children, to get involved and make a difference for children with cancer.”
Since Alexandra “Alex” Scott set up her first lemonade stand in 2000, the
foundation has raised more than $45 million.
khaas@thepinelog.com
Lauren Smith broke her own
course record and became the first
Ladyjack since 2005 to claim the
Southland Conference individual
crown on Monday morning at the
2011 Southland Conference Cross
Country Championships at Piney
Woods Country Club.
Smith’s win headlined a sixth-place
finish overall for the SFA
women with Randi Plentl also
joining Smith with a high finish,
taking third place overall. As for
the men, Nathan Collier paced the
Lumberjacks, who finished fourth
overall, just 9 points behind third-place
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
“Lauren has just been so good
all year, and she ran a very good
race today,” SFA head cross country
coach Cody Clarksaid. “We knew
she had a very good chance to win it
all this year, and I couldn’t be hap-pier
to see her do that.”
Smith had no problems in erasing
the memory of a second-place finish
a year ago, pacing out her first mile
before breaking away from the pack
and crossing the finish line just as
the rest of the competitors were fi-nally
making the turn onto the final
straightaway. The junior finished in
a time of 20:57.3 for the 5,000-meter
race, bettering her own course re-cord
by nearly 40 seconds that she
set at the SLC Pre-Conference Meet
earlier this season.
“I felt good at the one-mile mark,
so I thought I’d take a chance and
break away,” Smith said following
the win. “This really feels good be-cause
it just seems like I was finish-ing
second and third every time, so
to get a first-place win at conference
feels really good.”
Her win is the sixth all-time in-dividual
league title by a Ladyjack,
and the first since Ashley Monteau
took the second of back-to-back
league titles in 2005.
Meanwhi le,
Plentl closed
strong to secure
a third-place
finish of her
own, finish-ing
in 21:47.5
to edge Texas
State’s Steffanie
Armstrong just
before the tape.
Laurie Byrd
was the next
Ladyjack to fin-ish,
posting a
22:25.4 time for
21st place, fol-lowed
by Becca
Blubaugh in
63rd place with
a time of 24:10.1.
D e ’ A n d r e a
Rouwtt posted
a 24:50.3 in the
74th spot to
round out the
SFA scoring,
and Amanda
Walters fin-ished
in 25:23.7.
In all, the
Ladyjacks to-taled
156 points,
33 points be-hind
fifth-place
UT-Arlington.
For the men, it marked the
third consecutive season that
SFA finished fourth, and the 15th
consecutive season in which the
Lumberjacks have finished in no
lower than fourth place at the con-ference
meet.
SFA put its top four runners with-in
the top 20, all finishing with-in
30 seconds of one another, led
by Collier’s 14th-place finish in a
time of 25:43.5 for the 8,000-meter
course.
“The guys did a great job of run-ning
in a pack today,” Clark said.
“We had a couple of guys just get
out too fast and it cost us in the end;
but still, to have four guys within 30
seconds of each other, that’s what
we want to see.”
Adam Saloom was next in 17th
place in a time of 25:50.3, nearly 30
seconds faster than his time at the
SLC Pre-Conference Meet in which
he was SFA’s top finisher. Hunter
Russell and Moses Luevanowere
next in line, crossing in 19th and
20th place, respectively, with times
of 26:09.4 and 26:12.4.
Harmon McClanahan was 32nd
overall among the 83 competitors in
a time of 26:26.3 to round out SFA’s
scorers.
Also, Ryan Tilotta ran a 26:40.7 to
finish 35th, while Jonus Rodriguez
crossed in 26:58.3 for a 38th-place
finish of his own.
Both the Lumberjacks and
Ladyjacks will get some time off
before moving on to the NCAA
Regional Championships on Nov.
12 in Waco, Texas.
pinelog@sfasu.edu
JONATHAN TYLER/THE PINE LOG
Lauren Smith receives her All-Conference plaque from SLC commissioner Tom Burnett. She is the first
Ladyjack to win an individual crown since 2005
Smith, Cross Country runners score conference honors
INE Creative writing group raises money for Alex’s Lemonade Stand
SATURDAY