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Volume 97

Issue 6

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The Independent Voice of Stephen F. Austin State University

Pine Log thepinelog.com

Wednesday, March 4, 2015

By Jordan MossSports Editor

ast weekend the Nacogdoches Film Festival brought one of the biggest names in literature and television behind the Pine Curtain.

George R.R. Martin, the man behind the hugely popular “A Song of Ice and Fire” novels that inspired the hit HBO TV series “Game of Thrones,” visited Nacogdoches at the invitation of local literary talent Joe Lansdale.

Lansdale has written novels and short stories as well as writing for DC comics and the ‘90s television show

“Batman: The Animated Series”. Lansdale wrote the script for “Bubba Ho-Tep” and

recently saw his novel “Cold In July” adapted to the big screen.

Lansdale and Martin became friends in the ‘70s when they were both struggling writers at AggieCon in College Station.

“We all met in a lump,” Lansdale said, “because at AggieCon you had all these people. And after we got through doing something, we had these couches we’d all sit around and try to solve our world problems and book problems and movie problems. So we met through conversation.”

L

“I had rejections, too. You’re going to get many, many rejections in your career, and it’s better to be rejected on something you worked on for two weeks [short stories] than a novel you worked on for four years.”

George R. R. Martin and Joe Lansdale, alongside other local writers, came together during last weekend’s Nac Film Festival. The annual event allows fans, students and aspiring writers to meet well-known writers, directors and producers during Q-and-A sessions.

Upper photo by Jennifer Rogers; lower photos by Harei Waja/The Pine Log

Film, Page 3

- George R. R. Martin

Talented writers share experience, advice

Hard work, connections lead senior athletes to future soccer careers in Iceland

Strugg.esFrom

to

Success

I

By Evie SweetenStaff Writer

Starting on Thursday and lasting until Sunday, musicians and fans will flock to Nacogdoches for the Big Nac Music Festival. The festival will include country, rock n’ roll, singer-songwriters and more in performances spread out over four venues.

Along with putting on shows, the event is expected

to drive business downtown as concert goers wander to and from venues between performances, organizers said.

“It creates a huge amount of activity for the city. Local businesses get excited. We looked for places that would fit well—close to big cities, a university and venues in walking distance. I was drawn to the Fredonia Hotel. The city was really exciting. I envisioned a few thousand people milling around,”

said Jon Niess, partner of Texas Music and Big Nac producer.

The lineup features well known acts like Jack Ingram and Reckless Kelly, but also has up-and-coming performers as well. The venues for performances are Banita Creek Hall, Mast Hall, The Liberty Bell and The Mill Room.

By Sara JonesContributing Writer

Destiny, Dairy Queen and soccer. What do they all have in common? They are all elements that have played a role in the history of SFA athletics. SFA soccer is proud to announce that three seniors from the women’s soccer team—defender Megan Dunnigan, goalkeeper Morgan Glick and forward Chelsea Raymond—have signed contracts to play professional soccer in Iceland. The women will begin competing overseas after graduation in May. This is the first time in the history of the SFA soccer program that individuals have signed professional contracts. Dunnigan and Glick have signed to play for the IA Akranes FC, and Raymond has signed with KR Reykjavik FC. Raymond will be competing in the city of Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland, within a 30-mile radius of Dunnigan and Glick.

The BeginningDunnigan and Glick have played on the

same club team and collegiate team since they were young, and destiny has placed the two together again professionally. Raymond, on the other hand, found her place in soccer at a Dairy Queen while on a road trip with her mother.

“I was carsick one day driving through Oklahoma, and we pulled over at Dairy Queen to grab food. A flyer was in the window for a club soccer team, and that is how it started,” Raymond said.

Dunnigan fell in love with soccer at a young age while playing for a club team after

watching her younger sister Brooke play. Brooke ended up joining her older sister at SFA and is a sophomore on the soccer team.

“Club soccer takes over your life, so you have to know in advance that you want to continue,” Megan Dunnigan said.

Glick also has a soccer-playing sibling in her older brother.

“I started playing at 3 years old, and I always looked forward to playing. I was never planning on playing in college, much less professionally,” Glick said.

Division I NCAA Soccer

These three women grew up in competitive environments and dreamed of playing collegiate soccer in high school. Fate may have played a hand as they all chose SFA to kick-start their collegiate careers. The SFA coaching staff, small town atmosphere and team unity were the biggest factors in each player’s decision.

“The program had a reputation of great coaching, and the team was so inviting, like a family,” Dunnigan said.

“I had verbally committed to Lubbock Christian, and then I checked out the town and the positive vibes I felt from the team impacted my decision to choose SFA,” Raymond said. Those positive vibes have helped the SFA women’s soccer team capture four straight conference titles, giving each of these women championship rings from four consecutive conference tournaments.

“I love our team unity and the fact that there is no class division, whether you’re a freshman or a senior, you are treated the same,” Glick said.

This past season, Dunnigan, a native of Austin, was named a first team All-Southland Conference selection and scored three goals plus one assist for a total of 7 points. Glick, a native of Boerne, was named a first team All-SLC pick after posting a 14-3-1 record with 12 shutouts (eight solo, four combined) as goalkeeper. Raymond is a four-time All-SLC selection and one of the most prolific

players to come through SFA. She finished her Ladyjack career as the program’s all-time record holder in points (115), goals (49) and shots (309).

“Everyone had the same goal on our team, and we were all willing to put in the hard work. Our coaches always kept us accountable,”

Four-day festival to feature 40 bands

Music, Page 3

From left: Chelsea Raymond, forward, has signed a contract with KR Reykjavik, Iceland; Morgan Glick, goalkeeper, and Megan Dunnigan, defender, have signed contracts with the IA Akranes FC, Iceland.

Photo by Hannah Russell/The Pine Log

Soccer, Page 3

Ladyjacks score professional contracts, make history

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2page newsWednesday, March 4, 2015

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Pine Log

The SFA Alumni Association has added another scholarship to its list.

The Auren and Alma Smith Memorial Scholarship was endowed by their daughter Janyce Smith Brannon, who graduated from SFA in 1957 and again in 1959.

For students to be eligible to receive the Auren and Alma Smith Memorial Scholarship, they must be undergraduates with an established major. Recipients will be required to

maintain a 3.0 grade-point average while receiving funds from the scholarship.

Interested students can apply for the scholarship by filling out the SFA general scholarship application. Application submissions are accepted from Sept. 1 through Feb. 1 for the upcoming academic year. The Auren and Alma Smith scholarship will not be available to students until the 2016-17 academic school year.

By Morgan McGrath News Editor

It’s the time of year for SFA students to give back to the Nacogdoches community at the annual BIG Event. Community members, not including students or staff members, are able to apply for a job to be completed on April 11 by students who register individually or with a group or organization by March 25.

This citywide community service

project allows students to express their gratitude by participating in a project that will benefit the community.

The “jobs” residents request students to complete last about four hours and could include window washing, yard work, interior or exterior painting and more, according to The BIG Event website.

This is a community service opportunity for all students and especially organizations that are looking to increase their hours for the semester.

By Kasi DickersonDesign Editor

Stephen F. Austin State University’s Traditions Council is hosting the “Amazing Traditions Race” on Tuesday, March 10. The race starts at 7 p.m. at the Rec Center.

The race, consisting of an “Amazing Race”-like course, will test students on their knowledge of SFA history and traditions.

“This event is designed to further students’ knowledge of SFA history and traditions while putting a fun spin on the ‘Amazing Race’ kind of feel,” Megan Sellers, Traditions Council president said. “Anyone who participates will walk away with something they didn’t know before. One will even walk away with a new TV.”

Teams of five will race on foot to 10 different campus locations to complete games at each station. The winning team will be awarded

$250, and all participants will be entered into a drawing for a flat-screen TV. Students can sign up for the race at the Involvement Center in the Baker Pattillo Student Center.

“Be prepared to run around, have fun and show off your best SFA knowledge,” Sellers said. “It’s anyone’s game when it comes down to it. I’ve seen teams in events like this start in last place and end up the first to the finish line.”

This is the second year the council has hosted this event, and Sellers hopes this year’s race is a mixture of fun and education.

“The best outcome we could hope for is to further the student body’s education and knowledge of traditions here on campus. The tradition can’t live on if not everyone understands or knows about it. That’s really our goal as an organization, to make sure we leave the legacy intact.”

Traditions Council to host second annual ‘Amazing Traditions Race’ to test students’ knowlege of university

Courtesy PhotoTeams of five will race to 10 locations on campus to complete games testing students’ knowledge of the University’s traditions. The winning team will be awarded $250.

Courtesy PhotoSeventeen piano, flute and strings majors from Hong Kong are participating in a 10-day residency through March 7 at the SFA School of Music. The students are studying with SFA music faculty members, sitting in on classes and performing alongside SFA students in choir, orchestra and band.

The BIG Event registration deadline set for March 25

New alumni scholarship endowed

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Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Lanny’s iPhone RePaiR seRvice

Call for an appointment

(936) 564-0119

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From Page 1

“You’ll hear stuff you’ve never heard before. It’s a discovery experience,” Niess said.

While most of the discovery experience will happen during the festival, The Pine Log had a chance to talk to four of the bands so students could get a better idea of who would be performing.

Crooks is a country band from Austin that has grown since first starting in 2007. They have played all over Texas, Colorado, Utah, Idaho and more.

“We like festivals in small towns. It brings people entertainment they might not see otherwise,” said Josh Mazour, Crooks’ lead singer.

With music described by Mazour as a “modern take on outlaw country,” Crooks continuously mixes

it up with trumpets and accordions on occasion. “We’ll get your attention. We have a unique sound

and a lively stage presence. It’s totally taking country in a different direction,” Mazour said.

Along with Crooks, Reckless Kelly is a band out of Austin that has been going strong for years. They have traveled all around the country and have also toured in Europe, Canada and Mexico. While they have performed all around, they are still very familiar in the Texas music scene.

“Big Nac will be a good time with beers and buddies playing. I’m looking forward to seeing those guys and hanging out,” said Willy Braun, Reckless Kelly’s lead singer.

Reckless Kelly has recorded eight studio albums. Their last album, “Long Night Moon,” came out in

September of 2013. “We evolved by making the band a little different.

It happens naturally. We stay close to what we start-ed as. We don’t make the same record, we mix it up but stay true,” Braun said.

Braun says their music is country and rock with high energy shows. Somebody’s Darling is a band that also falls into that category.

The band is full of Texas natives that sing about everything from classic love songs to being broke. Their latest record, “Adult Roommates,” is full of songs written by the band.

“We’ve done family gigs at Texas fairs, this seems cool. We like to pride ourselves on being a live band. If you’re into music come check it out,” said Amber Farris, lead singer of Somebody’s Darling.

Another band that has played their fair share of gigs is Tyler and the Tribe. The four-piece band makes modern country music mixed with rock influences.

“It’ll be good for a college town on a tight budget. This festival is an awesome way to see entertainment. We love that town (Nacogdoches),” said Jordan Owens, drummer of Tyler and the Tribe.

Having performed in Nacogdoches before, the band is excited to come back again.

“We’re very honored to be a part of Big Nac. We’ll give everything we’ve got to the audience,” said Tyler Jones, lead singer of Tyler and the Tribe.

To get additional information, including the complete lineup, or to buy tickets, visit http://www.bignac.com/.

From Page 1

The two writers made appearances over the weekend at various events for the festival. The event was a huge success, according to Lansdale.

“I’m real happy with it. We’ve had tremendous response,” Lansdale said. “Like somebody said, it turned into a real film festival this year.”

While the credit for the events success goes to everyone involved, a large portion of the buzz surrounding the event has to be contributed to Martin’s presence.

Martin appeared at several events including the VIP party, a book signing at Hastings and two episode screenings of “Game of Thrones” that were followed by Q-and-A sessions.

The episodes screened, “Blackwater” and “The Lion and the Rose”, hold special meaning for Martin.

“I wrote those two,” Martin said. “I’ve written four, and those were the two I liked the best of the four I’ve written so I wanted to show my own episodes not episodes written by somebody else.”

Martin noted that the success of the TV series has impacted his public appearances such as the book signing at Hastings.

“It took it to the stratosphere,” Martin said. “The books were already number one New York Times best sellers even before the TV show, but despite that, the TV show draws an audience many, many millions more than any best seller. Suddenly, I had all these new readers, and it’s good but it also does create things like these daunting book signings.”

While Martin enjoys the book signings and he’s grateful for his success, he expressed regret that he no longer gets to be as personal as he would like to be with fans.

“You know, I’ve been doing book signings for many, many years, and in a broad sense, I do enjoy them. I do enjoy meeting the fans, but the truth is in recent years they’ve just gotten so big, they’re kind of daunting actually because there are so many people you can’t meet them the way I used to,” Martin said. “Back when I only had a couple hundred people show up, or even smaller if you go back to when we met, you were lucky to have 10 people show up

to those signings you could actually meet them and talk to them, but when you have a couple hundred or even thousands show up, it just kind of becomes something else. I regret that because I enjoy meeting my fans, but people are standing in line for hours and you’ve got to keep that line moving.”

Lansdale was quick to say that, despite the immense popularity of the “A Song of Ice and Fire” series, Martin has numerous other works worth checking out.

“He wrote other novels. He wrote short stories. Branch out while you’re waiting for that next one. Read some of those. That stuff is fantastic, too,” Lansdale said. “It’s not like George woke up one day and said, ‘Now I know what I’m doing.’ Go out and look at this other stuff. The guy wrote good stuff from the start.”

Martin has experience writing both prose and screenplays. The experience of working in both mediums is something he credits for improving his writing in both.

“They’re different [prose and screen writing], but, there’s no doubt you know I spent 10 years in Hollywood from the mid ‘80s to the mid ‘90s, and it did affect my writing,” Martin said. “It’s a craft thing. I learned tricks, some craft things, some techniques that adapted very well when I went back to write prose. It sharpened my dialog, I think. It improved my sense of structure.”

Lansdale seconded Martin’s thoughts, stressing

that every medium brings unique experiences.

“Every medium—if you’re a writer, you learn from it,” Lansdale said. “Comic books are one of the greatest influences in my entire life because they turned me on to reading different stuff. I still read comics. Comics are the thing that gave me that visual eye even more than film did. You’re a sponge, and you learn from every medium there is.”

Both writers have seen changes made to their works when they are adapted to the screen for either film or television. The duo considers it just part of the game.

“There is an inverse relationship between control and money. We’re talking here about adapting a couple short stories by Howard [Waldrop],

and we have a lot of control over that because the amount of money is small, but if I want to sell my works to Steven Spielberg or Paramount or

20th Century Fox and they’re going to give me $10 million well then you can kiss control goodbye,” Martin said. “But what you get instead of control is $10 million so do you want the control or do you want the money?”

Martin did acknowledge that writers will always be biased toward their version of the material.

“The writer of the original material is as prejudice as you can possibly be, so you’re always going to prefer your version,” Martin said.

Lansdale is of the opinion that while changes maybe necessary, many works of literature can be adapted very closely to the source material.

“I think you can adapt things [literary works] closer to the way they are than people will admit,”

Lansdale said. “You always lose something, like in George’s work you have all kinds of stuff going on in the series, and that’s a good serious with tons of things happening and it ain’t all there.”

Before heading off to attend events, the duo offered their advice for SFA students looking to break into the worlds of literature, film and television.

“Show up, read all the time, if you’re going be a screen person watch lots of movies too but read,” Lansdale said. “I show up every morning and write, very rarely do I take off. Just show up.”

“It’s two different things to be a prose writer and a screenwriter,” Martin said. “If you seriously want to work in television and film, the first thing you have to do is get your ass to Los Angles, California. Get your ass to Los Angles, and get a job in the industry and write your screenplays and make your contacts. If you want to be a prose writer, you don’t have to do that. I advise people to start with short stories. I meet a lot of young writers today that because of my series and other successful ones that are saying ‘Yes, I’m writing my seven-book mega series.’ You don’t start rock climbing tackling Mount Everest; start with the hill in your back yard.”

Martin left his book singing with these words of encouragement for young writers who receive rejections.

“I had rejections, too. You’re going to get many, many rejections in your career, and it’s better to be rejected on something you worked on for two weeks [short stories] than a novel you worked on for four years.”

Fans of Lansdale’s work will not have to wait long to see his next projects be released.

“I have a novel called ‘Paradise Sky’ that comes out this June, and we’re shooting the ‘Hap and Leonard’ television show, which is based on a series of books of mine this summer,” Lansdale said. “It will probably be shot just across over in Louisiana because of tax incentives, and it looks like East Texas. It will come out next year.”

As for those fans eagerly anticipating Martin’s next book, “The Winds of Winter”, Martin replied with a simple short response and a laugh.

“I’m working on it,” Martin said.

From Page 1

said Dunnigan. The women credited their

professional opportunities to SFA soccer head coach Wally Crittenden. Crittenden has connections overseas, and he helped each of these women secure spots on professional Icelandic teams.

“To go from never having any players become pros to having three in one week is tremendous,” Crittenden said.

“I actually did not want to play overseas at first, but Wally gave me a call and offered the opportunity. I’m glad I didn’t turn it down,” Glick said.

Dunnigan has had numerous friends continue their professional dreams overseas, and she is extremely thankful for her own opportunity. Raymond and Dunnigan were in the National Women’s Soccer League Draft before the opportunity arose in Iceland.

“I used to joke about playing pro soccer. Now it’s actually happening,” Raymond said.

Iceland and Looking Ahead “After our senior season ended,

we were all wondering what would happen next,” Dunnigan said.

Whether or not the women

expected to play professionally, their dreams are now a reality and a part of SFA’s athletic history. Iceland has a population of 323,002, and the main language spoken is Icelandic. The country is known for its high participation in FIFA soccer, its tourism and its geographic beauty. The landscape boasts volcanoes, lakes and glaciers. Contrary to popular belief, the country is not covered in ice, as the glaciers only constitute 11 percent of the land mass.

“This will be my first time out of the country,” Raymond said.

Raymond is hoping to use her outgoing personality to bring strength and confidence to her team in Iceland. The three women gushed with excitement about their upcoming opportunity to play soccer overseas, but they had equal excitement over the opportunity to explore the continent of Europe.

“I’ve already been looking at tourist spots on Pinterest,” Glick said.

“I want to explore as much as we can during our free time, and I’m thankful that my friends will be there to speak English with me,” Dunnigan said.

Each hopes that her experiences and winning record at SFA translate into success in Iceland. These young women have made history

competing for SFA ,and that is only the beginning. Keep up with these

former SFA soccer stars throughout their professional careers by

following their professional soccer teams online.

Music: Big Nac music festival to bring new sounds to oldest town

Soccer: Players hope SFA experience translates overseas

Film: Big-name guests share humble beginnings at film festival

Photo By Hannah Russell/ The Pine Log

Megan Dunnigan, Morgan Glick and Chelsea Raymond signed on to play professional soccer in Iceland.

Photo By Harei Waja / The Pine Log“Game of Thrones” writer George R.R. Martin participates in a panel for the Nacogdoches film festival at the Baker Pattillo Student Center.

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Wednesday, March 4, 2015entertainment

March 5th, 6th & 8thMarch 5th, 6th & 8th

No Good DeedRated PG-13 w 7 p.m.

Dumb and Dumber toRated PG-13 w 9:30 p.m.

Located in the Baker Pattillo Student Center

SAA Movie Line: 936-468-6853

$2 Students • $3 Faculty/Staff$4 Community • $2 Refreshment Combos

By Evie SweetenStaff Writer

The SFA A Cappella Choir will put on a preview concert of pieces to be performed during its upcoming overseas concert series at 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 6, in the Cole Concert Hall.

The performance is called “Trailers and Previews: A Collage of Tour Music” and will showcase songs that will be performed as the choir tours Italy.

“It is a wide variety of music based on music that will be sung for our Italian tour, both for concert and for the festival mass-es in St. Mark’s (Venice) and St. Peter’s (Vatican) Basilicas,” said Dr. Tim King, di-rector of choral activities.

The songs that will be performed include “Chariots,” “O Sacrum Convivium,” “O Lux Beata Trinitas” and “I Can Tell the World.”

“We sing for festival mass services in the great cathedrals, but we also sing four con-

certs, including the International Choral Festival in Marostica (Venice), Italy. We try to tour sites that our music students read about in their music studies,” King said.

In preparation for the trip to Italy, the choir has filled its schedule with practices both inside the choir room and at high schools in the East Texas region to rehearse as much as possible.

“Last week we journeyed to Lufkin, Livingston and Beaumont for recruiting and performed these selections and others. Beyond rehearsals four days per week, we have all spent time individually in the prac-tice room checking our parts,” said Andrew Trites, graduate assistant and graduate stu-dent in the choral conducting program.

Tickets to the preview concert are $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and $3 for students and youth. To buy tickets or receive addi-tional information, call the SFA Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407 or visit www.finearts.sfasu.edu.

By Dezirae BurnettStaff Writer

The Gender Studies Club and the Office of Multicultural Affairs hosted their fourth annual production of “The Vagina Monologues” Tuesday, March 3, in the Twilight Ballroom. The play, written by Eve Ensler in the ‘90s, is based on real-life conversations she had with women from around the country at various stages of life about their gender, their sexual ex-periences and how they felt about their bodies in gender-specific terms and as a whole.

“The monologues are meant to be a way to advocate for the halt of violence against women and advocate women em-

powerment,” said Alicia De La Rosa, secre-tary for the Office of Multicultural Affairs and Gender Studies Club adviser. “The Monologues are not only about bring-ing awareness to the issue of violence against women, but it’s all about celebrat-ing women.”

By presenting “The Vagina Monologues,” these organizations hope to bring aware-ness to issues such as women’s rights and empowerment and gender and violence against women in a way that is “humorous and poignant,” according to De La Rosa. From planning to reading for the produc-tion, 12 women on campus are involved in the project.

All proceeds from the event will be do-nated to the local women’s shelter.

A Cappella chorus scheduled to tour Europe this summerPreview concert to showcase music for Nac residents

Director Tim King stands with the SFA A Cappella choir after a performance at SFA’s third annual MLK Day of Service event in the Baker Pattillo Student Center.

Photo by Harei Waja/The Pine Log

The Stephen F. Austin State University School of Art and the Friends of the Visual Arts will present a free, one-night screening of “The Art of the Steal” at 7 p.m. Friday, March 6, in The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House in downtown Nacogdoches.

“The Art of the Steal” is a documentary directed by Don Argott about the legal struggle for the control of the Barnes Foundation, a private collection of art estimated to be worth more than $25 bil-lion. According to the film’s official website, Barnes’ col-lection had been displayed just outside Philadelphia since 1922, and his will spec-ified the paintings never be moved from the educa-tional institution he had established. Only 50 years after Dr. Albert C. Barnes’ death, a group of moneyed interests went to court for

the control of his priceless collection of art, intending to move the pieces to a new museum in the city. The doc-umentary follows the long, dramatic conflict surround-ing the control of the collec-tion.

The screening is part of the School of Art’s monthly Friday Night Film Series and is sponsored in part by the Nacogdoches Junior Forum, The Liberty Bell, Main Street Nacogdoches, Bill Arscott, Jill Carrington, Karon Gillespie, John Heath, David Kulhavy and Brad Maule.

For more information, call (936) 468-1131.

Drama performed to promote awareness of women’s rights Twelve women present ‘The Vagina Monologues’ to raise donations for community women’s shelter

Screening set for FridayFriday Night Film Series features documentary directed by Don Argott

Co

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“Game of Thrones” linguist David Peterson, cre-ator of the Dothraki language featured in HBO’s “Game of Thrones,” presented “Conlangs: The art of language invention” Tuesday on campus.

Peterson began creating languages in 2000 and has created languages for TV shows and movies including “Game of Thrones,” “Defiance,” “Star-Crossed” and “Thor 2,” as well as creating mul-tiple languages for personal use.

He also authored the book “Living Language: Dothraki.” In 2007, he helped establish the Language Creation Society, of which he is still a member.

Game of languages

Photos by Jalonni Weaver/

The Pine Log

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Wednesday, March 4, 2015

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF BELEN CASILLAS

NEWS EDITORMORGAN MCGRATH

OPINIONS EDITORJOSEPH STEPNIEWSKI

SPORTS EDITORJORDAN MOSS

ADVERTISING MANAGER BETSY FOREMAN

SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGERCHRISTIAN MILANA DAVIS

PHOTO EDITORHAREI WAJA

ENTERTAINMENT EDITORMARINA DONLEVY

COPY EDITORTAYLOR RAGLIN

WEB MASTERCHRISTIN EDWARDS

DESIGN EDITOR KASI DICKERSON

Spring 2015 Editorial BoardOpinions

Policy

✓ Write a letter to Grinding the Ax. Follow the guidelines on the left. Sign your name, and your letter will likely appear on this very page.

✓ Or use our website to submit a letter to Grinding the Ax. It’ll save you a trip to the Baker Pattillo Student Center.

✓ Post feedback to our stories online. Hit the “Comments” button at the end of a story, and let us have it. We can take it.

We’re lookingfor your

FEEDBACKOpinions expressed in this section of The Pine Log are those of the individual writer or cartoonist and do not necessarily reflect those of the University, its administrative officers or Board of Regents.

Letters should be typed and should include the student’s hometown, classification, campus identification number and phone number for verification purposes. We reserve the right to edit letters for space, spelling, grammar and potentially libelous material. Letters should not be longer than 300 words. Any letter that does not follow this criteria will not be published.

MANAGING EDITOR DAVID FLETCHER

Net neutrality often ignites a passion in college students who love their video stream-

ing and bald eagle-style freedom. This is probably due to the image of net neutrality as something which will make the Internet more “free,” “open” and faster. Faster Internet is important if you want to stream video or play video games over your Internet connection. But the amount of data required for such activities is much greater than what’s required to load text-heavy sites like Buzzfeed. That’s why Comcast, Time Warner and other Internet Service Providers want certain websites to pay more for use of broadband cables and other services. Netflix is rather taxing on an ISP’s “pipes,” so to speak, so ISPs believe they should pay more for the extra data their website uses. This is not net neutrality.

Net neutrality is the principle that all data should be treated equally. And while not all Internet data is actually equal in terms of its size, it is important that no ISPs be given license to purposely slow down traffic to one website and allow another to load as fast as pos-sible. Imagine if Verizon allowed Fox News’ website to load faster than MSNBC’s or vice versa be-cause one of those news outlets was pro-Verizon. Doesn’t exactly sound fair.

There’s possible evidence Verizon slowed down Netflix in-tentionally in order to force Netflix to pay for faster service. An ar-ticle by Ben Popper posted on The Verge’s website on July 27, 2014, speculates about just that. Verizon argued Netflix could easily fix its slowness, while Level 3—a compa-ny which helped carry Netflix traf-fic over Verizon’s network—argued it would be easier and cheaper for Verizon to fix their network. Level 3

even claimed to have of-fered to pay for certain network fixes itself, but thought Verizon opted out because it want-ed to charge more for video streaming being carried out through its network. Ultimately, Netflix agreed to a deal with Verizon to im-prove Netflix streaming speeds. Netflix made a similar deal with Comcast, according to a Wall Street Journal article by Shalini Ramachandran pub-lished on Feb. 23, 2014.

So the Federal C o m m u n i c a t i o n Commission’s deci-sion on Feb. 26, 2015, to treat the Internet as a utility must have seemed to many like a win over evil corpo-rations like Comcast and Verizon. An ar-ticle by Margeurite Reardon published on CNET’s website the same day as the FCC’s decision says the new rules regarding the Internet prohibit ISPs from blocking Internet traffic or charging companies like Hulu and Netflix to access Internet “fast lanes” when Internet networks get con-gested.

Yet another CNET article by Reardon published the day after the FCC decision says the ruling will change almost nothing, be-cause the Internet has always been relatively open. This includes the fact designating the Internet as a public utility does nothing to make

your Internet faster. If Reardon is to be believed, what we’re left with is a highly publicized FCC decision that has garnered much debate, yet seems completely lacking of any impact on consumers or the way ISPs generally operate.

If that’s the case, more is need-ed. ISPs like Verizon and Comcast need to be investigated when it’s believed they are intention-

ally slowing down the service of certain websites. If they might already be doing this to Netflix, what is to stop them from doing it to any other website? Perhaps a website with videos criticizing Verizon could “mysteriously” load incredibly slowly for Verizon cus-tomers. Furthermore, it does not seem as though the FCC is doing much to encourage competition.

Time Warner, AT&T or Suddenlink in Nacogdoches are more or less Internet monopolies in certain areas. Classifying the Internet as a public utility does not seem to ad-dress this.

While the FCC’s decision may be a step in the right direction, much more needs to be done to ensure a truly open Internet. The FCC’s de-cision last Thursday is not enough.

Be i n g b o r n a n d

raised in al-ways-su n ny San Diego has prevent-ed me from growing up with a lot of things that we have here in Texas, like snow days and ice days. When I got my first ice day in sev-enth or eighth grade, I remember thinking to myself, “Really? For a little ice on the ground, they cancel school?”

But I didn’t real-ize then that people that get snow or ice on the ground maybe two or three times per year don’t know how to drive on ice. And when I was 16 and had to drive my-self to school every-day, I was thankful that school was either delayed or canceled so that I wouldn’t have to drive on the dangerous roads and risk getting into an accident with anoth-er driver who didn’t know how to drive on icy roads either.

Fast forward a few years to Feb. 25, 2015. I am a senior in college who lives off campus. Every high school, middle

school and e l e m e n -tary school within a 50-mile radius of Stephen F. Austin S t a t e Un iversit y delayed or c a n c e l e d school be-cause of

hazardous road con-ditions. However, SFA did not.

Wednesday morn-ing, I woke up to freezing rain on my window, which soon turned to snow, and extremely icy roads. It was about 29 de-grees outside, which is below freezing, in case the people who make the decision regarding whether or not to cancel or delay school didn’t know. On my way to class, I skidded on the ice as soon as I got out of my neigh-borhood. The bridge that I had to cross on Austin Street which, according to my roommate, was the scene of a car wreck Tuesday night because some-one skidded on the ice, was completely iced over. Though the city threw some gravel on it to give cars some sort of traction on the ice, it

hardly did much.I knew I had the

option to stay in my warm bed that day, but it was ab-solutely 100-percent necessary that I be on campus that day for my classes and the other priorities I had. Though I got to campus slowly and safely, I only had to drive about a mile and a half. However, for the people who live in cities like Luf kin and Center who have to com-mute more than 30 minutes to get to campus, driving on the icy roads is ex-tremely dangerous, and it was unfair of the school to make them drive all that way and risk their lives just to get to class. They also had the option to stay in bed, but I had a lot of friends with tests that day, which would have forced them to drive on ice.

And you may think that I’m writing this column because I wanted classes can-celed, but that is not the truth. I could care less if classes were canceled last week. I just wanted everyone to be safe, which is obviously something that the university did not care about.

The 87th annual Academy Awards took place on

Sunday, Feb. 22. The night was filled to the brim with extraordi-nary talent, elegant at-tire made by a plethora of great designers and brilliant speeches given by the night’s winning nominees. Some might say that this year’s accep-tance speeches were much more meaningful because they raised awareness for a handful of causes and triumphs. I, for one, feel the Academy chose wisely, as their winners rose one by one to deliver some of the most enchanting and liberating words of the evening.

First off, actor Eddie Redmayne won Best Actor for his part in “The Theory of Everything,” in which he played the famed genius Stephen Hawking in a story about his life, work and battle with ALS. Redmayne dedicated his award to the Hawking family and oth-ers in this world who are battling the same disease Hawking has. He then went on to say that he would treasure this Oscar, be its “custodian” and “wait on him hand and foot” to show just how precious this was to him and how meaningful it was for his cause. Redmayne’s selfless words and true focus toward the issue pro-moted by his film really captured my attention.

Actress Julianne Moore won Best Actress for her part in the film “Still Alice,” in which she played a family-oriented woman diagnosed with early stages of Alzheimer’s disease. Moore also made remarks regard-ing her film’s causes in support

for those fighting the same struggle. The Washington Post quot-ed Moore as she “talked about shining a light on Alzheimer’s disease”—“So many people with this disease feel iso-lated and marginal-ized,” she said, add-ing that “movies make people feel seen and not alone.” She also be-

lieves these people deserve more attention in order to find an ef-fective cure. Moore proved to me yet again that the Oscars’ spot-light was meant for more than personal gain.

Earlier in the evening, ac-tress Patricia Arquette won Best Supporting Actress for her motherly character in the mo-tion picture “Boyhood.” Not only did Arquette thank the Academy but she also gave an impassioned speech advocating for gender equality. She made it quite clear to her audience a woman’s pay-check is significantly lighter than a man’s and that she feels that it is high time for a change.

Later on, when actor J.K. Simmons had the privilege of winning Best Supporting Actor for his part in the movie “Whiplash,” he, too, had something more to say than just “thanks.” Simmons urged people to think about their parents—a rather simple request, but a truly heartfelt one. He asked all of us who are lucky enough to have our parents alive and well to pick up our phones and give them a call, saying a text, an email or any written comment will never be the same as making a per-sonal connection over the phone or face-to-face. He feels we owe it

to the people who raised us and love us the most to keep in touch with them. Simmons was far from being self-centered in his ways and portrayed to us an inspiring message—a very different kind of awareness.

Finally, writer Graham Moore won Best Adapted Screenplay for the film “The Imitation Game” about the life and successes of Alan Turing, a homosexual math-ematician who, during WWII, cracked the German codes for Enigma and helped win the war. Moore gave a speech, which raised powerful awareness for suicidal acts among youths. The Huffington Post quoted Moore, who said, “I tried to commit sui-cide at 16, and now I’m standing here ... I would like for this mo-ment to be for that kid out there who feels like she doesn’t fit in anywhere. You do. Stay weird. Stay different, and then when it’s your turn and you are stand-ing on this stage, please pass the same message along.” Moore spoke honestly from his heart, and every word rang incredibly true. It is not only about being aware of our differences, but also about learning to accept them. I felt this was the best way that anyone could have spent his time in the limelight.

Many of the Oscar winners from last Sunday’s award ceremo-ny chose to use their spotlights for important social issues and things that inspired others for the better. It was a refreshing change to see people use their camera time for something much more meaningful than a sappy list of thank you notes. This could be one small step toward making the world a better place.

FCC’s net neutrality decision not enough

Morgan McGrath

News Editor

Ice in Nac unsafe for SFA Oscar winners inspire with speeches

Abbie C. McKelvey

Contributing Writer

Illustration by Julianne James/The Pine Log

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After edging out a 1-0 victory against South Dakota State on Friday, the SFA baseball team split a doubleheader with the Jackrabbits on Saturday (12-0 SDSU, 8-7 SFA) to earn its first series win of the young season.

On Friday, senior hurler Cameron Gann worked deep into the game to earn his second win of the 2015 campaign. The righty threw 7.1 innings, scattering seven hits and striking out five while keeping the Jackrabbits off the scoreboard.

After junior Chris Hassold faced one batter in the SDSU eighth, junior Austin Smith recorded the final five outs to earn his first save of the year.

At the plate, junior Anthony Soriano drove home the only SFA run of the day with a sacrifice fly in the Lumberjacks’ half of the fifth. SFA had just three hits in the game—sophomore Nick Ramos had two singles, while junior Tyler Boxwell’s single up the middle put junior Garrett McMullen on third base for Soriano’s RBI in the fifth.

On Saturday, the Jackrabbits dominated game one, taking it 12-0 and setting up Saturday afternoon’s rubber match.

In game two, SFA threw five separate pitchers to earn an 8-7 victory. Sophomore Jarred Greene picked up the win, throwing two innings and giving up just one run. After Smith pitched for the second day in a row, going one scoreless inning, senior closer Tyler Wiedenfeld closed the door on the Jackrabbits for his third save of the year.

Soriano led the way for SFA at the dish, going 3-4 and adding to his strong weekend with two more RBI. In addition, senior Dan O’Neill went 2-3 with 3 RBI, and juniors Kyle Thornell and Boxwell each had solo home runs.

SFA is preparing for its first Southland Conference series of the year, as the University of Central Arkansas Bears travel to Nacogdoches for a three-game set at Jaycees Field this weekend. Game one is slated for 6:30 p.m. on Friday, with game two scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday and game three for 1 p.m. on Sunday.

Jacks take down UIW

By David FletcherManaging Editor

The Lumberjacks completed the season sweep of the University of the Incarnate Word Monday night by a score of 83-62 at William R. Johnson Coliseum.

Things started slow for the Jacks as they only scored 15 points in the game’s first 10 minutes.

“In the first half, offensively, we were very stagnant,” Lumberjack head coach Brad Underwood said. “We have been really good at running the lanes and pushing the ball, and tonight we didn’t do that and we have got to get that fixed.”

During their offensive struggles the Jacks gave up a couple of easy buckets, as well.

“I thought we lost a couple of guys in transition tonight. They are very difficult in transition because they have five guys who can bring the ball up the court, and it’s very unconventional when you can do that,” Underwood said.

The Jacks pulled it together in the second half, building a commanding 18-point lead halfway into the period. The closest UIW would get was within 12 points before the Lumberjack depth got the better of them.

“We were up 10 at half, and last week’s Southland’s player of the week (Jacob Parker) wasn’t even a factor. We couldn’t have survived that last year. We got good

minutes from multiple players, and that’s what it takes. It is not just one guy; it’s a team,” Underwood said.

UIW got a big game from senior Denzel Livingston who scored 20 points on 6-14 shooting from the field and 8-10 from the free throw line.

“Livingston controls the ball so much, and he is one of the tops in the country at getting to the foul line and that makes it so difficult to contain him,” Underwood said.

Thomas Walkup flirted with a triple-double with a 23-point, 13-rebound and seven-assist performance.

Parker scored all 14 of his points in the second half to help secure the victory for the Jacks. The Jacks are now 25-4 overall and 15-1 in conference play.

Next up is a rematch with Northwestern State 7 p.m. Thursday, March 5, at home.

Walkup leads Lumberjacks with near triple-double game

Photo by Harei Waja/The Pine LogJunior Thomas Walkup drives past a UIW defender on his way to a team high 23 point performance Monday night in the coliseum.

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Pine Log

Wednesday, March 4, 2015sPorts

SFA wins

first series

of seasonBaseball team takes two out of three from SDSU

Photo by Derek Hall/The Pine LogJunior outfielder Anthony Soriano follows through his swing Saturday against SDSU. Soriano went 3-for-4 with two RBI.