the pine log 2/14/2013
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The February 14, 2013 edition of The Pine LogTRANSCRIPT
CMYK
By Peter OrszagBloomberg News
As the U.S. population ages, and with the effects of the financial crisis promising to linger for some time, economic growth will be lower than we would like. This is why the federal government needs to do more to help Americans earn college degrees.
For much of the 20th century, the United States benefited from rapidly rising educa-tional levels, as the economists Claudia Goldin and Lawrence F. Katz of Harvard University showed in their 2008 book, "The Race Between Education and Technology." Over the past 30 years, however, educational attainment has risen much more slowly. From 1960 to 1985, the share of adult Americans with at least a col-lege degree more than doubled, to 19 percent from less than 8 percent. From 1985 to 2010, though, the share rose by only about half, to 30 percent. This slowdown has exacerbated inequality and crimped growth.
If the increase had continued at the same rate as before 1985, about half the adult popu-lation today would have at least a college degree. More graduates would mean lower in-equality, because the wage premium for a col-lege degree would be reduced by the addition-al supply. And it would mean higher national income, because better-educated workers are, on average, more productive.
So it is important to ask what we can do to raise college graduation rates. It may be useful, in turn, to break that question down into the
three stages of attaining a degree: high- school graduation, college enrollment and college completion. For now, I would like to focus on the first two stages.
The first challenge, it seems, is already being met to some degree. In a surprisingly encour-aging, though little discussed, development, the high-school graduation rate has been in-creasing. After stagnating from 1970 to 2000, it has risen by about six percentage points over the past decade, reaching about 85 per-cent. The increases have been particularly substantial among blacks and Hispanics. In a new paper examining this trend, Harvard University economist Richard Murnane says many recent school reforms (such as provid-ing support and guidance to ninth-graders) look like promising explanations, though he says the evidence is too thin to allow definitive conclusions, or to suggest exactly what we can do to sustain or expand on the recent success.
The second stage involves college enroll-ment. Among many considerations that in-fluence a person's decision to attend college, financial aid is a significant one. Aid to under-graduates totals about $200 billion a year in the U.S., and about two-thirds of students are eligible for some form of assistance. A variety of evidence suggests that every $1,000 of ad-ditional grant aid per student increases college enrollment by about three to four percentage points, according to a review of the literature by Susan Dynarski, a professor of public pol-icy at the University of Michigan, and David Deming, an assistant professor of education at
Harvard.The reverse is also true; people who lack ac-
cess to financial aid are less likely to invest in college. Michael Lovenheim and Emily Owens of Cornell University found this effect in their study of a 2001 amendment to the Higher Education Act that prevented people convicted of drug offenses from receiving federal fi-nancial aid for two years. College attendance among those affected by the rule plummeted.
It is not just the amount of aid that mat-ters but also the complexity of the process. Students apply for federal aid through the Fafsa (free application for federal student aid), which is cumbersome to the point of being in-timidating to many potential applicants, who are often unaware of the aid for which they are potentially eligible. The 2011 Fafsa poses 116 questions, almost as many as a full 1040 tax return (and many more than the simplified 1040EZ form).
The cost of this complexity was demon-strated in the results of an experiment by Eric Bettinger, an associate professor of education at Stanford University, and several colleagues. Working with H&R Block Inc. tax preparers, the researchers randomly assigned potential applicants to two different groups. One re-ceived assistance in filling out the Fafsa, as well as an estimate of their aid eligibility and information about college options; the other received information about aid eligibility but no help in filling out the forms.
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Volume 94Issue 6
Next Publication:Monday February 18, 2013
Thursday, February 14, 2013
PINE LOG The
The Independent Voice of Stephen F. Austin State University
FRIDAY 36
SATURDAY H
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An inside look at the conference’s
top big man
SATURDAY
By Katelynn WigginsStaff Writer
If SFA fails to sign an agreement with the Department of Defense (DoD), some military vet-erans could lose tuition as-sistance.
The agreement is the “DoD Voluntary Education Partnership Memorandum of Understanding between the DoD office under the Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness and Stephen F. Austin State University.”
“SFA is currently in the process of completing the application and executing the agreement,” Damon Derrick, SFA general coun-cil, said. SFA has been re-viewing the Memorandum of Understanding since 2011 and must sign the agree-ment by March 1, or the institution will be unable to participate in the DoD Tuition Assistance program.
The tuition assistance program allows payment of 100 percent of educa-tion costs for service mem-bers up to $250 per credit hour and $4,500 per year. Application and gradua-tion fees are not covered by the program. Each military branch has different specifi-cations and rules for tuition payment or reimbursement.
“Many colleges and uni-versities throughout the country had concerns over (the memorandum’s) provi-sions,” Derrick said.
Carolyn Hardy, assis-tant director of admis-sions, said the agreement is completely separate from the Montgomery GI Bill VA Benefits. Hardy is one of the two School Certifying Officials for these benefits.
For more information about the agreement and for a list of universities that have already signed it, visit www.dodmou.com.
Volunteer registration is now open for SFA’s largest ser-vice project, the fifth annual The BIG Event, which takes place Saturday, March 23.
The BIG Event, sponsored by the Office of Student Affairs Programs – Leadership and Service, promotes unity be-
tween campus and community as students come together for one day to express their gratitude through service for the support from the Nacogdoches community. Students work in teams to complete projects across Nacogdoches County as a way to say “thank you!” to the community for their support of SFA students.
Students are encouraged to pre-register online through Axes, or can register in person at the BPSC Involvement Center. Students can find direct links to the registration pages by visiting www.sfasu.edu/thebigevent.
“The BIG Event is a great way for students to interact with the community,” Jamie Bouldin, assistant director for leadership and service, said. “It is a unique way for stu-dents to participate in community service here at SFA, and we expect this year’s event to be our biggest yet.”
Bouldin highly recommends pre-registration for stu-dents looking to get involved.
“If students pre-register, they will definitely be given a project to do that day,” she said. “We will do our very best to accommodate students who walk up and want to par-ticipate, but we cannot absolutely guarantee that walk-ins will be given service projects to work on.”
Students can sign up as individuals or in groups. Group size is limited to five people, but larger organizations can sign up multiple groups, which will be partnered together for bigger projects. Projects will vary from needing as few as five people to as many as 50 volunteers.
All participants should wear clothes they can get dirty, and for safety reasons, closed-toe shoes.
The BIG Event began at Texas A&M University 31 years ago as a way to say “thank you” to its surrounding commu-nity. Since then, colleges and universities across the nation have said “thank you” to their communities for the support and gratitude given to students each day. More than 75 universities conduct a The BIG Event each year.
For more information on The BIG Event, visit www.sfasu.edu/thebigevent or contact Jamie Bouldin at 936.468.1088 or [email protected].
Student registration for The BIG Event now open
The SFA School of Theatre will present the stu-dent-directed production of “WASP” by comedian Steve Martin at 7:30 p.m. Friday and at 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday in the Downstage Theatre in the Griffith Fine Arts Building.
The one-act play will be directed by Mesquite senior John Lisi.
“‘WASP’ is an absurd comedy that presents Steve Martin’s view of the traditional culture of White Anglo-Saxon Protestants,” Lisi said.
The student cast features Nacogdoches junior Bailey Wier, Amarillo sophomore Mary Collie, San Antonio junior Jordan Boyd, Spring Branch ju-nior Allison Day, Rota, Spain, sophomore Michael Spencer and Longview junior Valarie McLeckie.
The production team includes Austin Holt, Weatherford junior, as stage manager; Antonio Dibernardo, Mesquite sophomore, as scenic design-er; Megan Thomas, Houston senior, as costume de-signer; Kaitlyn Turney, Jacksonville senior, as light-ing designer; Amanda Warren, Nacogdoches sopho-more, as sound designer; and Virginia Arteaga, Houston senior, as properties manager.
A senior acting major, Lisi’s previous directing credits include “Sure Thing” by David Ives. He has appeared on stage in “Art,” “She Stoops to Conquer” and “Old Saybrook.”
“WASP” is recommended for mature audiences. Tickets are $3. For tickets or more information, call the Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407.
SFA theatre presents Steve Martin’s ‘WASP’
Military veterans face losing tuition assistance
More college grads equals faster economic growth
College, page 2
SFA Public AffairsSFA’s Thomas J. Rusk Building
More college grads equals
CMYK
By Hannah Cole and Jessica LayfieldEditor and Copy Editor
Last week a Facebook page administered by SFA students went viral in less than 24 hours. The “SFA Confessions” page went from no likes to more than 4,000 and more than 5,000 people talking about it since it went live on Thursday.
To find out more about the people behind the page, the page admins were anonymous interviewed via the Facebook page.
“After a few people liked it the page caught on. Other people were posting statuses, tweets and just talking about the page so much that other people liked it and talked about it,” the admins said when asked how they got the word out about the page. One person started the page but quickly re-alized he needed more admins to keep up with the demand for posts. To keep his identity anonymous, he recruited two close friends to serve as admins.
“Besides the (three of us,) only about four or five people know who we are. We’ve only told close friends and family,” one admin said.
The purpose of the page is to allow SFA students to anonymously “confess” secrets. Posts range from funny and embarrassing to serious and deep secrets.
Anyone interested in posting a confession simply follows a link to a Google Doc where they can submit their confes-sion. No personal information is required to submit the confession.
“(The posts) are completely anonymous; there’s no way for us to find out,” an admin said. “Unless people message us their secrets, which they have been doing, we can’t tell who submits what.”
Although there are no rules regarding content of submis-sions, the admins do use discretion when deciding what to put on the page. The page description says that no “exceed-ingly inappropriate posts” will be put on the page.
“We want to be careful to avoid libel, so we don’t post things that specifically call people out,” one of the admins said. Sometimes we may edit confessions to take away names and specific locations. What we deem ‘exceedingly inappropriate’ are confessions that are explicit in sexual nature and confessions that can start hurtful/career end-ing rumors. We try to keep it PG-13.”
People who have been called out by name in posts have contacted the admins with concerns about their identities, and the admins said they have taken those posts down.
A concern for sites such as these is cyber-bullying, or bul-lying that takes place on electronic platforms.
“We don’t consider the page or the confessions we post to be cyber bullying. We deleted the statues calling out certain groups or organizations or people,” an admin said. “As for the comments other people post, we think those could be considered cyber-bullying. We don’t condone people talk-ing down to one another, however it’s impossible for us to go through each comment section and censor them. But we have blocked specific people who have been exceedingly rude to others.”
Dr. Adam Peck, dean of student affairs, said that while the page does qualify as free speech, not all speech is pro-tected, and although the posts are anonymous, students can still figure out who is behind each post.
“I think that Facebook or any electronic medium can provide a place for cyber-bullying or libel to take place, but there is nothing inherent about these that cause it to be that way,” Peck said.
While the admins expressed concern about facing pun-ishment from the University, or having the page negatively impact their college careers, they said they hadn’t been
contacted directly.“We got scared that we would face serious consequences,
and (didn’t) want to face any punishment from the school. We’d be willing to work with the school if they have a prob-lem with the page,” according to the admins.
To avoid conflict with the University, the admins changed the profile photo of the page from the SFA logo to a photo of Stephen F. Austin, the man.
“The administrators of the page were right to remove the logo of the University. University marks such as the seal and logo are protected under state law. The use of the acronym ‘SFA’ or ‘SFASU’ are also protected under law,” Peck said. “However, I hope that it would be clear to those who use Facebook that the University neither owns nor operates Facebook or this page in particular.”
Since the creation of this page, other simi-lar Facebook pages have popped up, such as “SFA Love Confessions,” “50 Shades of SFA” and “SFA Greek Life Confessions.”
At the end of the in-terview, the admins ex-pressed their intentions for creating the page.
“We created the page for fun and in the spirit of SFA. We hope everyone else can have fun with it too, and won’t be offended by some of the things posted. We’re not trying to give SFA a bad name but give students a
place to anonymously confess things to. We love our school, and think this page is a good way to build community in the campus. We’ve posted things about people overcom-ing suicide, eating disorders and other trials, and we want people to know they have this support system. We’ve posted the Suicide Prevention Hotline and the National Sexual Assault Hotline numbers in our description for people seek-ing help.”
Page Two Thursday, February 14, 2013 PINE LOGTHE
On 02-11-2013 an officer was dis-patched to Steen Hall in reference to a Drug Complaint. Upon arrival the Officer discovered two subjects in pos-session of marihuana inside a residence. There are two suspects.
On 2-11-2013 an Officer was dis-patched to the lobby of UPD in reference to a Theft. Upon arrival the Officer made contact with the complainant, who ad-vised between 1-13-2013 and 2-9-2013 her secure bicycle was stolen from the bike rack near Lumberjack Landing. There are no suspects.
On 02/10/13 an Officer contacted a subject on the top of Lumberjack Lodge parking garage, in reference to litter-ing. During the contact, the subject was found to be in possession of marijuana. There is one suspect.
On 02/10/2013 an Officer was dis-patched to Lot 8 in reference to a Hit and Run. Upon arrival the officer made contact with a witness who advised that a vehicle had struck another vehicle in lot 8 and then left without providing in-formation. There is one suspect.
On 02/10/2013 an officer was dis-patched to Parking Lot 27 in reference to a Hit and Run. Upon arrival the Officer made contact with the complainant, who advised between 2-1-2013 and 2-8-2013 her vehicle was damaged in lot 26. There are no suspects.
On 02/08/2013 an Officer was dis-patched to the Wilson Dr. Parking Garage in reference to a Hit and Run. Upon arrival the officer made contact with a witness who advised that a he observed a vehicle strike another vehicle in the parking garage and then leave the scene. There is one suspect.
On 02-07-2013 officers were dis-patched to Hall 20 regarding a noise complaint. Upon arrival the Officers made contact with five subjects inside a residence and discovered the subjects to be in possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia. There are five suspects.
On 02-07-2013 an Officer was dis-patched to the Hall 20 in reference to a Hit and Run. Upon arrival the Officer made contact with the complainant,
who advised between 2-6-2013 and 2-7-2013 her vehicle was damaged in lot 46 and the other driver left the scene with-out providing information. There are no suspects.
On 02-06-13 an Officer conducted a welfare concern on a subject sitting in-side a vehicle in the Lumberjack Village Parking Garage. The officer made con-tact with the subject and discovered the subject to be in possession of mar-ihuana. The subject was arrested for Possession of Marihuana and transport-ed to the Nacogdoches County Jail with-out incident. There is one suspect.
On 02-06-2013 an officer was dis-patched to Barnes and Noble bookstore in reference to a Theft. The manager stated a subject came inside the store and stole pens from the store. The Officer located the subject and found the subject in possession of both pens and was issued a citation for Theft and given a Criminal Trespass warning from the Barnes and Noble bookstore. There is one suspect.
On 02-07-2013 an Officer stopped a vehicle on East College St. for a traf-fic violation. The Officer discovered the driver to be a minor in possession of alcohol and driving without a driver's license. The subject was issued a cita-tion for Minor in Possession of Alcohol, No Driver's License and Disregarding a Traffic Control Device. There is one suspect.
On 2-5-2013 an Officer was dispatched to the Student Recreation Center in refer-ence to a Theft. Upon arrival the Officer made contact with the complainant, who advised on 2-5-2013 his unattend-ed cell phone was stolen from the bas-ketball court at the Student Recreation Center. There are no suspects.
On 2-5-2013 an Officer was dis-patched to the lobby of UPD in refer-ence to a Theft. Upon arrival the Officer made contact with two complainants, who advised between 1-31-2012 and 2-5-2013 there secure bicycles were stolen from the Tennis Pavilion. There are no suspects.
The Crime Log
Those in the first group "were substan-tially more likely to submit the aid ap-plication, enroll in college the following fall, and receive more financial aid," the researchers found.
Over the past few years, the Fafsa pro-cess has been simplified a bit. There are slightly fewer questions, for example, and some applicants can now transfer their
tax information to the Fafsa electronically, which saves time and improves accuracy.
This may encourage the growing num-bers of high-school graduates to take the next step and enroll in college. But more should be done to simplify the process of getting financial aid. U.S. economic growth depends on it.
Collegefrom page 1
The rules of Sudoku are simple. Enter digits from 1 to 9 into the blank spaces. Every row must contain one of each digit, as must every column and every 3x3 square. Each Sudoku has a unique solution that can be reached logically without guessing.
Look in the next issue for the answers.
Sudoku puzzle sponsored by Student Activities Association
Level of Difficulty:
Easy
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Puzzle by websudoku.com
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Admins discuss ‘SFA Confessions’
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Banita Creek Ponderosa Pines528 Tangleberry Drive327 West College St.
By Chris RichardsThe Washington Post
Well, that was kinda’ fun.And that was definitely fun. — the Gotham pop-rock
troupe — up on stage Sunday night at the 55th Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, snatching some of the evening’s most coveted prizes, including awards for best new artist and song of the year.
But for the first time in too long, the Grammys telecast was a good time in and of itself — a refreshingly coherent celebration of our increasingly incoherent popscape. There were A-game performances, trophy-hoarders who deserved to win them and very few reasons to wince, grouse or wish you were watching “Downton Abbey.”
Along with fun., the evening’s other big winners were Mumford & Sons, the British group whose blustery folk-rock collection “Babel” took home album of the year, and Australian pop singer Gotye, who won record of the year for his inescapable break-up anthem,”Somebody That I Used to Know.” His win came with a bonus shout-out from the little man holding the envelope. “I love this song,” Prince told a rapt audience before announcing the winner, making for some of the most dramatic nano-seconds in Grammy history.
There were plenty of reasons to keep the volume on your TV cranked. Jack White turned in a ripping performance, Sting and Bruno Mars duetted with surprising vim, R&B singer Miguel introduced himself with velvety assurance, Taylor Swift opened the gig with some sparkle, and a resur-gent Justin Timberlake delivered two brand-new, decidedly old-school soul tunes from his forthcoming album.
J.T. wasn’t up for any awards, but he probably knows that at the Grammys, hardware isn’t always paramount. There are still millions of hearts and minds to win from behind the microphone. The Grammys telecast reinforced that idea, with more than 30 performers but only 11 trophy presentations.
You still had to win on one front or the other, which made R&B visionary Frank Ocean the evening’s biggest disappointment. His excellent and deserving debut album “Channel Orange” lost best album honors to Mumford & Sons, while his wobbly performance of “Forest Gump” failed to eclipse the quiet intensity he summons so easily in the studio. (He didn’t go home empty-handed. “Channel Orange” won best contemporary urban album, and he
shared a Grammy with Jay-Z, Kanye West and The-Dream for best rap/sung collaboration.)
The Black Keys were victorious on both fronts, romping on the Staples Center stage with Dr. John and winning three gramophone statuettes, including best rock album. (Keys frontman Dan Auerbach took another one home for pro-ducer of the year, non-classical). Meantime, fun. split the difference, taking home two awards after serving up a half-throttle rendition of their latest single, “Carry On,” beneath an artificial rainstorm.
Even soggier: host LL Cool J’s opening monologue. “A Grammy isn’t just a shiny trophy to hold on to,” the rapper-turned-actor declared at the start of the show. “A Grammy is a dream come true.”
Seventy dreams came true in a jiffy at Sunday’s pre-telecast ceremony at the neighboring Nokia Theatre. The evening’s first big surprise: Bonnie Raitt’s “Slipstream” trumped new and wildly popular albums from Mumford & Sons, the Lumineers and the Avett Brothers for best Americana album. “I was not expecting this!” Raitt gushed from the podium. Nobody was.
Lead Mumford Marcus Mumford seemed to be enjoy-ing himself more alongside Mavis Staples, Zac Brown and others in a lovely tribute to the late Levon Helm. It followed the traditional “In Memoriam” segment, which included an image of Washington’s own “Godfather of Go-Go,” Chuck Brown, who died last May.
D.C. rapper Wale’s first Grammy nod didn’t end with a win — his “Lotus Flower Bomb” lost best rap song to Jay-Z and Kanye West — but a few locals made it to the win-ner’s circle. “Woody at 100: The Woody Guthrie Centennial Collection,” a boxed set released on the Smithsonian Folkways label, won best boxed or special limited edition package. And TobyMac, the Fairfax, Va., native who got his start in the Christian rap group DC Talk, won for best con-temporary Christian music album for his sixth solo studio effort, “Eye On It.” He wasn’t in Los Angeles to accept his award, though.
His absence helped keep the show moving.After trimming 31 categories last year, the Grammys
added three this year: best classical compendium, best Latin jazz album and best urban contemporary album, bringing the total up to 81.
That made for plenty of artists to root for, along with some very big hits, including the three top-selling and seem-ingly omnipresent singles of 2012: “Somebody That I Used
to Know,” (win-ner of record of the year); fun.’s “We Are Young” (winner of song of the year); and Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe” (snubbed!).
And that r e f l e c t s how music is sell-ing these days. In 2012, over-all music t r a n s a c -tions reached a record high at 1.65 bil-lion, but fans are b u y i n g music in smaller, c h e a p e r portions. The sale of digital tracks continued to climb, but album sales — the most lucrative way for the record biz to make money — slumped last year, dipping 4 percent, to 316 million.
2012’s best-selling album? Adele’s “21,” which, in addi-tion to winning album of the year at last year’s Grammys, is the first album to be a back-to-back annual bestseller since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking music sales in 1991.
Adele’s coronation during last year’s Grammy telecast helped boost TV ratings from 26.7 million to nearly 40 mil-lion, but most of that spike was attributed to the death of Whitney Houston, who passed away the night before.
So when Adele won the first award of Sunday night’s Grammy telecast — best pop solo performance for a live version of “Set Fire to the Rain” — it all felt a bit deja vu-ish. She hustled to the podium, quickly said her thank-yous, wished the audience “a wonderful night,” then disappeared to let the future unfold.
The WashingtonPost
Grammy Awards, a night when pop’s best blend beautifullyThursday, February 14, 2013
ENTERTAINMENTPage Three
By Ann HornadayThe Washington Post
Armed and ludicrous, John McClane is back in “A Good Day to Die Hard,” the fifth installment of the beloved franchise star-ring Bruce Willis. As the New York cop who never met a problem he couldn’t shoot or drive out of, Willis brings his characteris-tic deadpan cool to a role he originated in the 1980s, a long-past era that the movie addresses head-on when a villain reminds McClane that “it’s not 1986 . . . and Reagan is dead.”
That self-referential aside may inspire viewers to question what, if anything, the “Die Hard” franchise means 25 years after its inception, when jingoism and gunplay aren’t the automatic crowd-pleasers they once were. As the ultimate ugly American, McClane is now cutting his destructive swath through Moscow, where there’s seemingly always a gun or a bomb at the ready, and where he casually hijacks an SUV while cursing its driver for getting in his way.
“I’m on vacation” is one of McClane’s tag
lines in “A Good Day to Die Hard” — ex-cept, well, he isn’t. He’s come to Mother Russia in order to find out what’s hap-pened to his son, Jack (Jai Courtney), a chip off the sul-len, aggressive block who’s managed to land in a Moscow prison. Supposedly a study in father-son psychodrama, “A Good Day to Die Hard” delves into John and Jack’s rela-tionship just enough to provide support for the action it’s a delivery system for — much like the lay-ers of scaffolding the two fall through in one of the film’s repeti-tive, frantically filmed set pieces.
Brought to the screen by John Moore,
“A Good Day to Die Hard” is staged and choreographed as if by a bored tod-dler, its jittery car chases, hyperkinetic explosions and ham-handed gunfights piling up with wan-ton randomness until they culminate in a you-got-your-peanut-butter-in-my-choco-late stunt involving a whirling helicopter, a dangling truck and a gruesomely absurd bit of business with a propeller.
None of it makes any sense, even within the no-rules world of Skip Woods’ rushed, incoherent script
(which makes 2007’s “Live Free or Die Hard” look like a Golden Age masterpiece by com-parison). From the outset, when McClane
arrives in Moscow and takes a cab ride that literally goes nowhere — literally — “A Good Day to Die Hard” makes it clear that its prime purpose isn’t crisp storytelling or even modest character development, but simply generating its approved quota of testosterone-drenched wammies in under two hours.
This mission the film acquits efficiently, with a bracingly brief running time and a lack of self-seriousness that makes “A Good Day to Die Hard” slightly more enjoy-able than recent offerings from Willis’ con-temporaries Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger. If McClane’s sarcastic one-liners and New Jersey jokes never quite stick their landings, Willis himself still goes through the film’s cartoonish motions with his signature grim aplomb, delivering his profane catchphrase almost as an after-thought. Both assaultive and tiresome, “A Good Day to Die Hard” barely registers on the action movie Richter scale. It goes bang, it goes boom, and then it blessedly goes away.
“A Good Day to Die Hard,” 98 minutes, is rated R for violence and language.
John McClane makes a return in ‘A Good Day to Die Hard’
to Know,” (win-ner of record of the year); fun.’s “We Are Young” (winner of song of the year); and Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe” (snubbed!).
And that r e f l e c t s how music is sell-ing these days. In 2012, over-all music t r a n s a c -tions reached a record high at 1.65 bil-lion, but fans are b u y i n g
CMYK
Pine LogThe
Thursday, February 14, 2013 Page FourOpinions
“I love the campus itself! It really is beautiful.” —Holli Harrison
“I love how our football and basketball teams beat so many other school’s teams.” —Edward Nichols
“I love how SFA’s colors make Mardi Gras more fun.” —Katy Hawthorne
“I just love being a lumberjack.” —Edith Marley
“I love how SFA represents the rich culture of Texas.” — Michael Retley
Want your fellow Lumberjacks to know what you love about SFA? Send an e-mail to [email protected] and tell us what you value about your University.
What I love about SFA...
Axes up to “The Perks of Being Wallf lower” finally coming out on DVD!
Axes up to Girl Scout Cookies! Let the feast begin!
EDITOR HAnnAH COLE
MAnAGInG EDITORJESSICA GILLIGAn
OPInIOn EDITORTInESHA MIX
SPORTS EDITORJORDAn BOYD
ADVERTISInG MAnAGER LInDSEY BOTHUM
PHOTO EDITORJEnnIFER ROGERS
EnTERTAInMEnT EDITORRobert Key
COPY EDITORJESSICA LAYFIELD
FEATURES EDITORKASI DICKERSOn
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As the month of February reaches the halfway mark, the time for the season of pink and red once again falls upon us.
I am talking about Valentine’s Day, of course, a day where people all across the world express their plethora of love. It is also a day that might grant people an extra boost of courage, allow-ing them to express their feelings of affection towards that one special someone always on their mind or in their heart.
But is Valentine’s Day really as necessary as many people think it is?
Valentine’s Day seems to cause more of a hassle than any-thing. In a way, it strongly resembles Christmas: rather than focusing on what the true meaning of the occasion is and simply celebrating it, we relentlessly struggle to find the ultimate en-dowment for those we find near and dear to us.
With the way society has become, it is not enough to show someone how much you care for them by simply saying “I love you” or “You’re special to me.” For some reason, we have come to this conclusion to obligatorily show these expressions by spend-
ing mountains of money on a variety of gifts. As a guy, these typical gifts from us to the lovely ladies include the typical “stuffy fluffy
wuffy” bear, an assortment of roses, Forrest-Gump-like boxes of chocolates and, of course, jewelry costing as much as limbs (maybe an involuntary human sacrifice if it is expensive enough). Oh, and do not forget the classic fancy meal at a nice restaurant.
For women’s gifts to men, I would not have the slightest clue. The most logical Valentine’s Day gift I could think for women to give to men would be… well, you know.
Is it a kind gesture to give a gift in the first place even if the item is not at the peak of cost? Of course it is. In some cases, it is the best way for people to express their affections be-cause they may not be as adept at using colorful words or even writing a letter, but it seems
like society has shoved this idea down our throats that materialism is the one and only way to express feelings of love. Other than Christmas, Valentine’s Day seems to promote this materialistic idealism more than any other holiday, and it truly is unfortunate.
Valentine’s Day also reminds me of new Years. People use new Years as a catalyst for new resolutions, whether to start something new
or to pick up old, yet forgotten good habits. But why does the dawn of a new year have to be the only time for people to take action for the better?
Any other day is the exact same. For example, if you have yearned to shed a couple of pounds from that Pillsbury Dough Boy belly, what stopped you from going to the gym last Tuesday, a month ago or even today? More than likely, nothing. It is probable you have always had some time to spare throughout the week where you can donate to the cause of working out.
It is the same concept with Valentine’s Day. Some couples seem to hold this belief that Valentine’s Day is the one time out of the other 364 days of the year to express how they feel about their significant other when that simply is not true. If you are in a relationship where it is an unwritten rule to use Valentine’s Day as a singular time to convey your feelings to-wards someone else, you may need to get out of there while you still can.
My point is that Valentine’s Day should not be the only resort to promote how people feel toward one another.
Ironically, Valentine’s Day can have an opposite effect to love. It is completely natural for people to want to feel wanted, and Valentine’s Day only serves as a constant hovering rain cloud above the heads of those feeling lonely.
Were it not for Valentine’s Day evolving into such a materialistic oc casion, perhaps it would make for a greater, more meaningful day. Until that time comes, I am going to see Valentine’s Day simply as another day of the week.
Robert Key is a journalism major and the entertainment editor for The Pine Log.
Valentine’s: is it just another day of the week?
EntErtainmEnt Editor
Robert Key
The other day I was a few minutes behind sched-ule leaving my house for school. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I walk to class from the commuter lot. I briskly walked to class, working up my heart rate and anxiety as I tried to get to class on time.
When I got into the business
building I had an internal battle going on in my mind. Do I take the elevator to catch my breath again or do I continue to trek my way to class via the four flights of stairs?
I took the stairs. Something inside me told me,”Don’t be lazy you can catch your breath once you get to class.” Fine. When it’s cold outside walking to class is even worse. Every landing of stairs is a little warmer, and all I’m trying to do at that point is cool off.
The majority of my classes are on the fourth floor of the Business Building. I often walk up to the second or third floor of the student center for work, too. I don’t know how I became so anti-elevator, but I refuse to use them on a regular basis. In fact, I have only taken the elevator in the Business Building twice. Both times I was talking with a professor who wanted to take the elevator.
Part of the reason I take the stairs is because I like being active and am lazy in too many other areas of my life. The other reason is that once I get to the fourth floor I feel accomplished. What’s funny is that sometimes I don’t realize I’m already on the fourth floor and I try to go up one more.
I generally think people should take the stairs over the elevator if they can—espe-cially if they only have to go to the second or third floor. Some people actually have to take the elevator for one reason or another. It’s not fair for the rest of us to clog up the elevators out of laziness.
I’ve heard people talk about what a prob-lem this is in the Ferguson Building in be-tween classes. I had a few classes in there and remember seeing the ridiculous lines for the elevators were and hardly ever see-ing people in the stairwells past the second floor.
A lot of times the stairs turn out to be the faster of the two options too. not only that, but you can avoid awkward elevator con-versations by taking the stairs—a go at your own pace activity.
So I don’t know why I developed such haste for elevators but there are definitely solid reasons why the stairs win. Taking the stairs is a selfless act that is better for you. Why wouldn’t you take the stairs if you were capable? Burn a few extra calories on your way to class and let those who need the elevators have them.
Jessica Gilligan is a general business major and the managing editor for The Pine Log.
Taking the stairs, a healthier way of getting in shape
Axes down to every single person complaining about Valentine’s Day. If you don’t have any-thing nice to say, don’t say it.
managing Editor
Jessica Gilligan
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According to Mason Cooley, “Romance is tempestuous, love is calm.” Yet, how does one find either of these ever-elusive phenomena? Could it be in a smoke-filled, dimly-lit bar conveniently located near Taco Bell? Or, in a pair of red-hot stilettos with the pouty lips to match? No, better yet, chocolate. Everyone loves chocolate, right?
Maybe love is in the language we speak. Spanish, for some people, is thought of as an intensely passionate language. Perhaps that is why there are three couples—Jeana and Juan Ureña, Gabriela and José Recinos and Pedro and Annette Escamilla—all working within feet of each other in the Spanish department of SFA.
Kim Wells, a Spanish instructor at SFA, believes so. Wells was raised in Mexico and Guatemala and came to the U.S. at the age of 19. When she first started dating, she felt that American males were more work oriented and seemed less interested in her as a person.
“When people first introduce themselves in the U.S. they ask questions like ‘What do you do for a living?’ or ‘Where do you work?’ and this would typically be seen as rude in Latin America,” she said.
She pointed out that there tends to be more of a focus on accomplishments rather than emotions.
Wells also agrees that, generally, the Spanish culture is more romantic.
“It seems the people have more time for love, and there is beauty in that,” Wells said.
She believes that it is the expressiveness and open-mindedness of the language that lends to more expressive and open relationships.
“I admit that I do act differently between speaking Spanish and English,” Wells said. “English is just a harsher sounding language.”
However, Dr. Juan Carlos Ureña, assistant Spanish professor, believes that the Spanish language itself isn’t a factor in relationships.
“I don’t feel Spanish is more romantic than a ny ot her language,” Ureña said. “It could be the exotic aspect which makes people say that.”
U r e ñ a , originally from Costa Rica, is married to a person of a completely different culture. Initially he and his wife, Dr. Jeana Paul-Ureña, had to communicate primarily with their feelings through various gestures since Juan spoke little English and Jeana spoke little Spanish.
“They are a great couple, they get along, and share interests both intellectually and conversationally,” Dr. José Neftalí Recinos, friend and colleague of the Ureñas, said.
Ureña attributes the success of his relationship not to his culture but to his ability to express and convey his feelings.
“I don’t think it has anything to do with language. It has to do with the couple,” Ureña said. “If you and that person have the capacity to love, then things are better.”
Ureña argued that the signs for love in the Spanish community are very similar to those in the U.S., meaning that across cultures people feel the love similarly.
However, he believes Latin Americans
By Megan HaynesContributing Writer
Imagine lying on the beach: the seagulls call in the background, the ocean breeze gently tickles your nose as the sun wraps its warm hands around your body. You have a lover sitting beside you; they lean over
and breathlessly whisper “Te quiero” into your ear. Now imagine they said “I love you.” Which one sounds more romantic?
“I admit that I do act differently between speaking Spanish and English,” Wells said. “English is just a harsher sounding
However, Dr. Juan Carlos Ureña, assistant Spanish professor, believes that the Spanish language itself isn’t a factor in relationships.
“I don’t feel Spanish is more romantic than a ny ot her language,” Ureña said. “It could be the exotic aspect which makes people say that.”
U r e ñ a , originally from Costa Rica, is married to a person of a completely different culture. Initially he and his wife, Dr. Jeana Paul-Ureña, had to communicate primarily with their feelings through various gestures since Juan spoke little English and Jeana spoke
“They are a great couple, they get along, and share interests both intellectually and conversationally,” Dr. José Neftalí Recinos, friend and colleague of the Ureñas, said.
Ureña attributes the success of his relationship not to his culture but to his ability to express and convey his feelings.
“I don’t think it has anything to do with
magine lying on the beach: the seagulls call in the background, the ocean breeze gently tickles your nose as the sun wraps its warm hands around your body. You have a lover sitting beside you; they lean over
and breathlessly whisper “Te quiero” into your ear. Now imagine they said “I love you.” Which one sounds more romantic?
Page Five
“I admit that I do act differently between speaking Spanish and English,” Wells said. “English is just a harsher sounding
However, Dr. Juan Carlos Ureña, assistant Spanish professor, believes that the Spanish language itself isn’t a factor in relationships.
“I don’t feel Spanish is more romantic than
Costa Rica, is married to a person of a completely different culture. Initially he and his wife, Dr. Jeana Paul-Ureña, had to communicate primarily with their feelings through various gestures since Juan spoke little English and Jeana spoke
“They are a great couple, they get along, and share interests both intellectually and conversationally,” Dr. José Neftalí Recinos, friend and colleague of the Ureñas, said.
Ureña attributes the success of his relationship not to his culture but to his ability to express and convey his feelings.
magine lying on the beach: the seagulls call in the background, the ocean breeze gently tickles your nose as the sun wraps its warm hands around your body. You have a lover sitting beside you; they lean over
and breathlessly whisper “Te quiero” into your ear. Now imagine they said “I love you.” Which one sounds more romantic?
LanguageIs Spanish or English a more romantic language?
and Spaniards are “more open to talk about things related to their body” and are more direct in regards to expressing emotions.
Students can learn from other countries and incorporate their cultural differences to develop “an attitude toward fellow individuals that is good and passionate,” as Wells puts it. This could not only be useful
in relationships, but in life in general.One thing both Wells and Ureña agree
on regarding love—in order to fully enjoy a relationship, people need to become open-minded and accepting of different cultures and experiences.
Photo illustration by Kasi Dickerson
By Christine RosenWriter from Slate
Everything about the online world en-courages sharing — share your recent pur-chase on Amazon, share your dining expe-rience on Yelp, share your thoughts about Beyoncé on Twitter. But what about the things you would rather not share with ev-eryone in your social network, such as the cheesy pet name you call your boyfriend or the startlingly high number of romantic comedies your wife forced you to watch on Netflix last month?
There is an app for that. In the past year, several "couples apps" — with names like
Duet, Avocado and Couple — have come to market, promising to "bring the romance back to one-on-one messaging" by creating a social network of two. One leader in the market, Between, launched in South Korea last year and has already been downloaded 1 million times. Anyone who has endured watching couples shamelessly canoodle on Facebook or Twitter should be relieved. These apps promise to do for digital inti-macy what the automobile did for analog couples in the 20th century — create oppor-tunities for on-the-go private interactions in an otherwise transparent world. Like the road to true love, the apps that offer to track it do not always run smoothly.
Couples apps are part of a movement away from promiscuous sharing on-line to sharing more ex-clusively. Like Glassboard, a social network for small groups that positions it-self as an alternative to Facebook, couples apps emphasize privacy, intima-cy and the need to human-ize our digital interactions by scaling them down. In the two-person domain of
the couples app, no one will stumble across pictures of ex-boyfriends or ex-girlfriends. Sappy messages, flirty texts, and risqué pictures remain safe from the prying eyes of employers or judgmental relatives.
But reimagining the online world as an intimate space can be a tough sell, as Facebook discovered last year when it made intimate sharing compulsive by generating "couples pages" for its users. The pages, whose privacy settings can be tweaked but which cannot be deleted, display every-thing posted or tagged on Facebook by you and the person you have designated as your significant other. Not all users were happy to see their romantic partnerships curated by Facebook's algorithms. ("I want to vomit," one blogger wrote.)
Couples apps have taken several differ-ent approaches for marketing their services. Avocado emphasizes convenience by com-bining many of the ways we already commu-nicate with our partners — text, email, chat, video — into a single app with additional features such as a "send your mood" button and templates for shared lists and photos.
Other apps emphasize the creation and storing of romantic memories and experi-ences. Couple (an app company formed from the recent merger of U.K.-based pri-
vate sharing app Cupple and U.S.-based app Pair) offers the opportunity for mutual real-time doodling on smartphone screens as well as a cloying feature called "thumb-kiss," in which each person places his or her fingerprint on the smartphone screen so that, once aligned, both screens glow red while the phone vibrates suggestively.
All of these couples apps market them-selves as technologies for enhancing au-thentic romantic experience. An advertise-ment for the app Duet shows unbelievably adorable pairs of people dancing, eating meals outside by candlelight, picnicking, playing chess and tandem bicycle-riding. In the final image, a man and woman perched on an orange scooter and wearing their wedding clothes, zoom off to their ostensi-bly happy ending. It is worth noting that not a single image of a smartphone (or any tech-nology more advanced than a light bulb or that scooter) is ever shown, suggesting that these happy couples have used Duet merely to plan the remarkable experiences they then put aside technology to enjoy. I couldn't help thinking that in real life, the lovebirds would have been tweeting pic-tures of their dinners or that sunset.
Even though it's Valentine's Day, before you succumb to the pressure to download a couples app, remember the warning of a character in D.H. Lawrence's Sons and Lovers: As he told his eager, would-be par-amour, "You love me so much, you want to put me in your pocket. And I should die there smothered."
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SPORTSThursday, February 14, 2013
By John ClevelandStaff Writer
The Lumberjacks are having one of the best regular sea-sons in school history. At 20-2, SFA holds the top spot in the Southland Conference with just seven games left to play.
Earlier in the season the Jacks traveled to Norman, Okla., and defeated the Big 12’s Oklahoma Sooners on their home court. There was talk of SFA earning an outright bid to the national tournament held in March to decide the NCAA champion. Last week, that same Sooner team beat the fifth-ranked Kansas Jayhawks. Does that mean the Jacks can beat anyone?
First, they have to win the Southland Conference tourna-ment, which starts March 12th. Winning this tournament earns an automatic bid to the national tournament.
Senior forward Taylor Smith, No. 32, is averaging 16 points, 9 rebounds and 3 blocks per game this season. He said he feels confident about where the season is headed.
“We’re not scared of anybody,” Smith said.Smith has only played two years here at SFA. He graduated
from Clemens High School in Schertz, Texas, where he was an All-State honoree. He went to McLennan Community College and was twice named North Texas Junior College Athletic Conference (NTJCAC) Defensive Player of the Year and first team all-conference. He transferred to SFA after his sophomore year and decided to start breaking records.
Smith’s six blocked shots at McNeese State this January solidified him as the all-time block leader in SFA history. He currently has 68 blocks on the season, and his 3.1 per-game average is eighth in the nation. His shooting percentage of 70.4 leads the nation. He’s been named SLC player of the week three times.
Taylor is listed at 6’6”. He said the last time his verti-cal jump was measured he was still in high school, and at the time it was 37 feet. Oklahoma City Thunder’s Russell Westbrook’s vertical jump is around 36”.
Smith doesn’t just rely on his hops though. His bench press max is 305 pounds, which is heavier than the aver-age adult panda bear. Good luck ripping the ball from his hands.
That vertical and strength is all topped off with a ptero-dactyl-like wingspan of 7 feet. His combination of height, hops and strength allow him to swat any shot and dunk at will.
Smith attacks the rim with a level of aggression reminis-cent of his favorite player offensively, Los Angeles Clipper Blake Griffin. Smith scores the majority of his 16.0 points per game in the paint. Whether it’s a back-door slash, post-up move or put-back, he finds a way to execute a high percentage shot. In the 22 games this season, he is hitting 70.4 percent of his shots. His two-handed jams look like
attempts to rip the basket clean off the backboard. Where does this fire inside come from?
“I look at the rim and see somebody talking trash about my momma,” Smith said. “I’m definitely a momma’s boy. I don’t put up with trash talk about her.”
He’s established himself as an efficient scorer, but he’s also a historic defender. The all-time leader in blocks in SFA history models his defensive game after Oklahoma City Thunder’s Serge Ibaka. Smith’s ability to alter shots in the lane plays a huge role in SFA’s top-ranked defense. Opponents have averaged less than 50 points a game against the Jacks this year.
“It all starts with the pressure from the point guard,” Smith said. “My role is really more about support defense. But when I do need to contest a shot, it’s all about timing, footwork and using my arms and not my body.”
Taylor rocks the Kobe 8s. They are Nike’s lightest basket-ball shoe in the modern era. They provide a quicker takeoff for the rocket engines Smith calls his legs. His size 16 shoes have to be custom ordered.
Smith may come across a heartless shot-swatting ma-chine, but he’s actually not so different from us mortals.
“I watch a lot of Law and Order SVU,” Smith said. “I’m a big fan of Mariska.”
Smith also confessed to having a crush on singing sensa-tion Rihanna.
“I’m definitely the team joker,” Smith chuckled. “It’s not good to be too serious all the time. I try to keep everybody laughing, loosen them up.”
Smith said he and his teammates like to Instagram each other doing embarrassing things, like passing out on the team bus, and hash tag the photos with “Got ‘Em.”
Around this past Christmas, Smith put together a danc-ing elf video of teammates Joe Bright, Jacob Parker and Hal Bateman.
“Everybody on this team is a character,” Smith said.Smith said one song has stood out as the jam that
gets him and the rest of the team amped up—“All Gold Everything” by Trinidad James.
“I like Trix cereal,” Smith said. “But I don’t normally act like a kid.”
Smith has really shined his senior year, but eventually the NCAA stops letting graduates play. Smith plans on try-ing to ball for money.
“Coach Kaspar does a really good job of preparing us for playing on the next level,” Smith said.
He said he’ll either join an open try-out for an NBA team or travel over the Atlantic to play in the European league.
SFA is undefeated at home this season. If you’ve been to a game, you’re no stranger to the passion of the student section. They take their heckling seriously. Smith said the team feeds off the energy.
“The Purple Haze are my people,” Smith said. “Sometimes I’m a little nervous when I step out onto the court during home games, but man when I hear that crowd cheering us on, I feel like it settles us down.
This has been a special year for Lumberjack Basketball. If fans keep showing up, Taylor Smith will keep giving them a show.
Taylor Smith: the myth, the man, the legend
With three preseason all-conference se-lections on the infield and an all-American at shortstop, it stands to reason that SFA will be leaning heavily on its infield both offensively and defensively in 2013.
Led by shortstop Hunter Dozier, the pro-jected starting infield consists of each of SFA’s three leaders in batting average a year ago and represents nearly 40 percent of its RBI total from 2012. Dozier, a first-team all-Southland choice last season and a pre-season all-American entering this season, led the Jacks in nearly every offensive cat-egory a year ago in hitting while putting up a .357 batting average to go with 10 homers, 37 RBI and a school-record 22 doubles.
Now with two years under his belt and a more dynamic and seasoned group of hit-ters around him, Dozier could be poised for an even bigger year hitting in the middle of the SFA lineup. He needs just two more doubles to take over the all-time record at SFA in less than three full seasons
“Hunter has had an outstanding first two seasons here, and we fully expect him to continue what he’s done,” head coach Johnny Cardenas. “But it will not be easy since he is going to command so much attention, which is going to provide an op-portunity to the guys around him to have big years too. Hopefully we are able to take advantage of that.”
Dozier will make up one half of argu-ably the premier double-play combo in the Southland, pairing up with senior second baseman and fellow all-Southland choice Freddy Villalobos. After transferring from Weatherford College after his sophomore season, Villalobos delivered a solid debut as a Jack, hitting .296 with three homers and 26 RBI, and a .408 slugging percentage while hitting primarily in the No. 2 slot of the lineup.
Along with Villalobos, SFA is also expect-ing a breakout season from redshirt junior first baseman Max Lamantia, who finished the year on fire with a strong showing at the Southland Conference Tournament that garnered him all-tournament honors. He split time last season with senior slugger Bobby Loveless, but still was one of two Jacks to finish the year with an average over .300, hitting .325 in 120 at-bats. He also finished with a .517 slugging percentage, second on the team.
“If Freddy and Max have good years, there is a good chance we are having a good year as a team,” Cardenas said. “Each of them finished pretty strong last year and played well at the Southland Tournament. Ideally they are able to build off that mo-
mentum they built last year and it carries over into this season.”
The infield will be rounded out by se-nior Zach Benson, a top-of-the-lineup table setter who will be moving to third base after spending last season in the outfield. A natural infielder who played third base at San Jacinto College before coming to SFA, Benson was off to a fast start last season be-fore suffering a broken hand that sidelined him for nearly a month. It took him a while to return to form after coming back to the lineup, but also closed out the year strong, reaching base in 11 of his final 12 games.
“Replacing Bryce (Cummings) defen-sively at third base would be tough for anyone, but it is comforting to know that we have someone who has experience there and who we know can do the job,” Cardenas said. “Zach is a good defender and is dan-gerous offensively, especially if he can get on base and run.”
The Jacks also return a pair of infielders who filled key roles last season in Michael Ruiz and Jordon Lenaburg. Each saw time in the field, but provided depth and ver-satility to the lineup. Ruiz brings not only a left-handed bat but a reliable glove that can fill any of three infield spots left of first base. Meanwhile, Lenaburg provided one of the biggest hits of the year for SFA when he stepped in and hit a game-winning pinch-hit single vs Southeastern Louisiana to keep the Jacks alive in the Southland Conference Tournament. He was one of the most reliable bats off the bench, hitting .357 in pinch-hit opportunities last season with four RBI.
SFA also brought in three newcomers, each of which could challenge for time on the diamond. Likely to get most of hits reps at third base, transfer Brett Thornell comes to Nacogodches after spending last season at McLennan CC where he hit .272 with 12 doubles and 18 RBI for the Highlanders. Originally signed to Texas A&M out of Magnolia High School, he brings a left-handed bat to the roster and a bevy of hon-ors, including all-state nods, from his time at MHS.
Freshmen middle infielder Connor Fikes and first baseman Taylor Raglin will also join the ranks, with each projected to have bright futures. Fikes was a two-time first team all-district choice at Rowlett High School who brings a slick glove to SFA, while Raglin who stands at 6-4 and 235 pounds, brings a slugging left-handed bat of his own after hitting four homers and driving in 40 runs at Frisco’s Centennial High School as a senior.
SFA Baseball preview— Lumberjack infield
Grant Korbel/The Pine Log
Taylor Smith has a vertical leap of about 37 feet not only allows him to block defenders’ shots but also to dunk at will. He has been the Southland Conference Player of the Week three times this season.