Everything Nac

Stephen F. Austin State University alumni, front left, Jason Anderson, vice chair for the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in Dallas; Bill Lowry, senior producer for Texas Instruments and Powerhouse Films in Dallas; and Kevin Manuel, remote tech manager for CBS Sports in Houston, shared their broadcast television experiences with SFA students Wednesday during the Department of Mass Communication’s Media Day.

Throughout the day, four panels of media professionals discussed topics on journalism, radio, broadcast, public relations and marketing. Panelists answered a variety of questions, including how and why they chose their careers, how their work has changed through the years, and what it is like to work in the media industry.

By Emily Brown, marketing communications specialist at Stephen F. Austin State University.

Stephen F. Austin State University will be well represented at the 2018 Texas Music Educators Association annual clinic/convention Feb. 14 through 17 in San Antonio.

The SFA Wind Ensemble, directed by Fred J. Allen, director of bands at SFA, and the Orchestra of the Pines, directed by Dr. Gene H. Moon, director of orchestras, will perform before the nation’s premier music educators’ convention that historically draws more then 26,000 attendees.

“The SFA Wind Ensemble was selected to perform at the convention following a competitive round of adjudicated recordings last April,” Allen said in a previous interview. “We are proud to represent SFA before this large gathering of music educators.”

The Wind Ensemble has been invited to perform before TMEA audiences on numerous occasions, but this is the Orchestra of the Pines’ first invitation, according to Moon.

“The unique part about SFA’s involvement in the TMEA performances is that, historically, the invited university orchestra involved a consortium of the largest schools: UT Austin, University of Houston, Texas Tech, Baylor and Rice,” Moon explained. “Smaller-sized schools’ orchestras, in comparison, have never had a stage at TMEA. This invitation for SFA, including the fact that this is the first time, ever, that the SFA Orchestra of the Pines has been invited to TMEA, is a big hallmark event for us.”

Moon said that, historically, TMEA has invited one university orchestra to perform a concert on Thursday or Friday evening of TMEA. Then, the same university orchestra would become the orchestra for the All-State choirs that same weekend. The double duty became too much for the same university orchestra, so this year, for the first time, TMEA invited two university orchestras: one to perform the regular concert and another to be the All-State choirs’ orchestra. Orchestra of the Pines will perform with the choirs, Moon explained.

“TMEA asked me this past May, and I graciously accepted on behalf of our university,” he said. “It is a great honor and a wonderful opportunity for our students.”

With the All-State Mixed Choir, the orchestra is performing the “Gloria” by Frances Poulenc, the fourth movement from George Frideric Handel’s “Te Deum” and several other works. With the All-State Small School Choir, the orchestra is performing Joseph Haydn’s “Missa brevis Sancti Joannis de Deo.” And with the All-State Women’s Chorus, the orchestra will perform “Arise, My Soul, Arise” by Dan Forrest and Ola Gjeilo’s “Ae Generosa.”

The All-State choir performances are at noon, 2 and 3:45 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 17, in the Lila Cockrell Theater.

“Peter Sarkisian: Video Works” will open with a reception and gallery talk by the artist from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 15, in The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House, Stephen F. Austin State University’s downtown art gallery.

The exhibition, which features video projections on sculpture, will show through April 21 in Reavley Gallery. Sarkisian is an American new-media artist whose work combines video projection and sculpture to create a hybrid form of multi-media installation, according to John Handley, director of galleries for the SFA School of Art.

“I first saw Peter’s work at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art many years ago,” Handley said. “I saw his work again at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art in Oregon a few years back and contacted the artist after that.”

Sarkisian’s work is “grounded in the idea that video, in its ubiquitous and most popular form, is an experientially void medium, and that by depriving ourselves of experience in favor of information-based images, we have become unable to grasp the meaning of consequence or to coexist with mutual understanding,” according to information on the artist’s website: http://www.petersarkisian.com/

His installations attempt to “steer the world’s most influential medium back on a collision course with the viewer in order to reintroduce an element of experience to the viewing process.”

“If the filmmaker’s traditional goal is to distract viewers through the suspension of self-awareness, then Sarkisian’s goal is to create a sense of heightened self-awareness by engaging the viewer in constructed environments that blur the line between what is real and what is mediated,” the site says.

The underlying premise of his work remains committed to using video as an instrument against commercialized media, namely television, in order to transform the act of watching video from an experience-killing endeavor to an experience-creating one. He accomplishes this by joining sculptural elements with projected video imagery to create audio/visual illusions that trap the viewer between conflicting interpretations, thereby forcing a state of self-awareness that is otherwise absent while watching television.

Named a Master Video Artist in 2007 by the National Endowment for the Arts, Sarkisian has exhibited widely throughout the world in major museums and public venues, including the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Musée Picasso, France, the Hammer Museum of Art, the Albright-Knox Art Gallery and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Sarkisian’s work has been featured in many international exhibitions and festivals, including the Istanbul Biennial in Turkey, the Vidarte Festival in Mexico City, the Whitney Biennial in New York, and the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland.

Admission to all art exhibitions and receptions is free. The reception is sponsored in part by the SFA Friends of the Visual Arts, Nacogdoches Junior Forum and The Flower Shop.

The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House is located at 329 E. Main St. For more information, call (936) 468-1131.

Students enrolled in a patent application course offered by Stephen F. Austin State University’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry had the opportunity to learn about intellectual property recently from Terril Lewis, partner in Tomball-based law firm Lewis, Reese & Nesmith.

The course gives students a background in intellectual property, providing them with a competitive edge in the job market.

“It’s a subject matter that all technical folks come across at one point or another, and it’s a little intimidating when you don’t know anything about it,” Lewis said.

The course was proposed as part of an initiative by retired patent attorney Tom Pruitt of Nacogdoches and developed by Dr. Michele Harris, professor and assistant chair of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.

“Mr. Pruitt believes graduates from SFA with exposure to intellectual property issues, especially as they relate to STEM, will be attractive hires for industry positions,” Harris said.

The first intellectual property course, taught in fall 2017, covered general information. The current course focuses on patent application and exposes students to the patent-filing process.

“Currently, we believe SFA is the only university in Texas that is offering courses that focus on intellectual property for STEM-related majors at the undergraduate level,” Harris said.

According to a report by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, over 27 million jobs in the U.S. in 2014 were directly related to intellectual property industries, Harris said.

“SFA students with some knowledge about intellectual property will be very competitive in today’s job market,” Harris said.

While SFA engineering-physics student Kyle Collins never considered working in intellectual property before, he is now “excited about the opportunities” that are in the field after listening to Lewis’ presentation.

Intellectual property and the patent-filing process are important subjects for STEM students to learn about because it’s easy for professionals to take their work for granted, Lewis said.

“I really do think that it’s interesting here at SFA that they actually have a course on it… It’s good to get an introduction to the concepts,” Lewis said.

By Joanna Armstrong, senior marketing communications specialist at Stephen F. Austin State University

Students filled the Baker Pattillo Student Center Grand Ballroom Thursday, networking with potential employers during Stephen F. Austin State University’s first STEM Career and Internship Expo.

Representatives from Tyson, the Peace Corps, Lockheed Martin and more than a dozen other employers were in attendance at the event, hosted by SFA’s Center for Career and Professional Development.

“For students who are exploring major or career options, these events are a great way to interact face-to-face with companies to learn more about industries and career paths that are available to them,” said Jamie Bouldin, director of the career center. “For students who are seeking internships and jobs, it’s a convenient way to meet many companies at once who are all interested in hiring Lumberjacks for their positions.”

While the career center holds multiple career expos per year, this is the first specifically targeting STEM students.

“We are very excited about providing STEM students with the opportunity to interact with companies on campus and very appreciative of the support and involvement of the College of Sciences and Mathematics,” Bouldin said.

For more information about SFA’s Center for Career and Professional Development and the services it offers, visit sfasu.edu/ccpd/.

By Joanna Armstrong, senior marketing communications specialist at Stephen F. Austin State University