Everything Nac

High school students interested in pursuing a career in law are invited to attend Stephen F. Austin State University’s first-ever Pre-Law Experience set for June 8-14 in Nacogdoches.

The week-long program is open to high school juniors and seniors and is unique in the state of Texas, according to Dr. Brian Murphy, dean of SFA’s College of Liberal and Applied Arts.

“Many students entering college consider eventual employment in a law-related field but are unsure if it is the correct choice for them,” Murphy said. “Moreover, they too frequently make decisions that limit their ability to compete successfully for a position in law school upon graduation. Our Pre-Law Experience is intended to provide an overview of the key elements in planning a future as a lawyer.”

The Pre-Law Experience will include discussions about undergraduate preparation; instruction on the judicial system; Law School Admission Test tutorials; visits with law school admissions officials and professors, judges, and attorneys; a crime-scene investigation; trips to legal venues such as law offices, courts and jails; a mock trial competition; and an overview of legal careers.

“The experience should benefit, educate and stimulate high-achieving students with an interest in law – all at a reasonable cost,” Murphy said.

Cost to attend is $500 plus $250 for lodging in an SFA residence hall and on-campus meals. Visit sfasu.edu/pre-lawexperience to view a schedule of events and begin the application and registration processes or call (936) 468-2803 for more information.

The serpentine length of the Neches River, which winds its way over hundreds of miles from East Texas’ Van Zandt County to the Gulf Coast, has been documented for the first time in a new book published by the Stephen F. Austin State University Press.

“Let the River Run Wild! Saving the Neches” is the product of more than two years of collaborative work between photographer Adrian F. Van Dellen and SFA Professor Emeritus of English Dr. Francis E. Abernethy. The 152-page photographic odyssey of the river’s past, its environment and the efforts to preserve it is intended to inspire people to take a second glance at an often overlooked East Texas treasure.

Abernethy said he hopes the book will show people why the river is worth preserving, especially as organizations devoted to the river continue working to have it designated as a National Wild and Scenic River – a federal status that would protect it from development and preserve the surrounding habitat.

Though he grew up hunting and fishing along the Neches, Abernethy said helping put the book together meant seeing the river in a new way. By boat, he traveled the length of the river with Van Dellen, who previously wrote a book on paddling the Neches. Photos of the river are paired with GPS coordinates to allow others to easily find the landmarks pictured in the book.

The concept for a photo book about the river was born out of conflict. In 2007, the Texas Water Development Board proposed damming a section of the Neches to create a reservoir – an idea that garnered much criticism because it would flood some of the country’s rare hardwood forests, which border the river, and impact a number of historical areas.

Efforts by conservationists, private landowners and then-U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison succeeded in stopping the dam and creating the Neches River Wildlife Refuge in 2006. To further encourage the river’s preservation, SFA Press Director Kim Verhines said, copies are being donated to school libraries in communities along the length of the river.

The subject matter isn’t the only first accomplished with “Let the River Run Wild.” Verhines said the book is the first large, photo-centered project the SFA Press has produced.

“Everybody who’s looked at it has been amazed,” Verhines said.

Copies of the book are available from Barnes & Noble bookstore on campus, barnesandnoble.com, the Nacogdoches Convention and Visitors Bureau and Amazon.com.

For anyone who appreciates music and would like to help young students enrolled in the Music Preparatory program of the Stephen F. Austin State University School of Music fulfill their dreams of becoming accomplished musicians, a special opportunity awaits.

The Music Preparatory Division is launching a scholarship fundraiser, “Pathway to Music.” The Music Prep House, 3028 Raguet Street, is the site of the pathway where bricks will be sold for $100 on the pathway, $200 on the porch steps and $500 for corporate donors. The corporate donors will have two bricks engraved with words of support for the Music Preparatory Division’s scholarship fundraiser.

“The scholarship fundraiser’s purpose is to raise money to assist students in their study of music,” said Pat Barnett, Music Prep division director. “Partial scholarships are awarded each August to those who make application. The scholarship fund has been depleted, so it is imperative to raise more funds.”

Music Prep offers musical training on any level of proficiency. Overall musicianship is stressed in addition to the study of an instrument. Private music lessons are offered in piano, violin, viola, cello, double bass, harp, classical guitar, voice, percussion, French horn, clarinet, bassoon, saxophone and flute. Also, Music Prep offers an orchestra, Piney Woods Youth Orchestra, as well as the Piney Woods Chorale, an adult piano class, musicianship classes and Kindermusik. Music Prep teaches all ages, from infants to 80 and beyond. Music therapy is also offered.

“During my 15-year tenure as director of Music Prep, I have seen music students mature and gain confidence through performance opportunities,” Barnett said. “Recitals, area and state competitions and sharing the ‘gift of music’ at community events have enhanced the students’ music abilities. I believe it is imperative that we continue to provide musical training, to offer scholarship monies in order to pursue the training, and to support the faculty and students. To quote Plato, ‘I would teach the children physics and philosophy and music – and of these, music is the most important. For the key to learning lies in the patterns of the arts.’”

The Music Prep faculty is comprised of SFA School of Music faculty, SFA students and musicians from the community and the Houston area.

“Serving approximately 270 students, the Music Preparatory Division is dedicated to the highest standard of music education, performance and outreach to the East Texas community,” Barnett said. “The faculty reflects these high standards.”

Founded in 1980 by Dr. Robert Blocker, then-chairman of the SFA Department of Music, and Shirley Wolfson Watterston, the program has continued the high standards set by Blocker and Watterston, according to Barnett. The program is a divisional school of the SFA School of Music. The divisional school is a member of the National Guild for Community Arts Education.

Those who want to purchase a brick are encouraged to download a “Pathway to Music” order form available on the Music Prep website at www.music.sfasu.edu/prep. For more information, call (936) 468-1291 or email musicprep@sfasu.edu.

Stephen F. Austin State University School of Music voice faculty member Jamie Dahman will present his first recital at 7:30 p.m. Monday, March 31, in Cole Concert Hall on the SFA campus.

Accompanied by Ron Petti, SFA pianist, Dahman’s performance will feature “An die ferne Geliebte” by Ludwig van Beethoven, which is “considered to be the first song-cycle, a category important in the Art Song genre,” Dahman said, along with “Poeme d’avril” by Jules Massenet.

“Though Massenet is better known as an opera composer, his songs were very popular for a brief period in Parisian salons,” Dahman explained. “‘Poeme d’avril’ is one of the earliest and most important French song cycles.”

Dahman will also perform three songs by Bulgarian composer Georgi Zlatev-Cherkin.

Daham had the opportunity to study and collect Art Song repertoire when he was a Fulbright Fellow at the Academy of Music, Dance and Fine Art in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.

Tickets are $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and $3 for students and youth. For tickets or more information, call the SFA Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407 or visit www.finearts.sfasu.edu.