Everything Nac

The New York Times Magazine recently published “The Still Life,” a poem by Stephen F. Austin State University’s Dr. Mark Sanders, professor of English and associate dean of the College of Liberal and Applied Arts.

Guest poetry editor of the magazine and the Young People’s Poet Laureate of the U.S., Naomi Shihab Nye, who recently visited the SFA campus to conduct writing and teaching workshops, selected Sanders’s poem for publication in the Dec. 12, 2019 issue.

In the magazine, Nye explained that Sanders’s use and interpretation of memory deeply resonated with her.

“Memory permeates awareness again and again, illuminating the absent, suggesting not that we keep it alive but that it may keep us alive,” Nye said. “Sometimes the plums or ceramic pitchers in a painting feel more vivid than the ones on our tables right in front of us. It may take, as the poet William Stafford used to say, a certain tilt of the head to perceive it. Here in this poem, no one is gone.”

Sanders was thrilled about his inclusion in the magazine, as he is a fan of the publication and Nye.

“The New York Times Magazine is highly regarded, has a huge circulation, and I’m proud to have been included,” Sanders said. “I am very fond of Naomi Nye’s writing, and it pleases me the poem worked well for her.”

His poem was included in his most recent book, “In a Good Time,” published in September 2019 by WSC Press. The poem also won the Stephen Meats Poetry Prize from the Midwest Quarterly.

Sanders wrote the poem shortly after his mother passed away in 2014.

“The poem is not about her, specifically, but about all those we loved and who are no longer with us,” Sanders said. “The loss is excruciating, but they’re still with us, keeping watch, staying.”

Sanders received other awards for his work in 2019, including both the Western Heritage Award and the Poetry Nebraska Book Award from the Nebraska Center for the Book, for his publication, “Landscapes, with Horses,” illustrated by Charles D. Jones. Additionally, two of his poems were published by Bosque Magazine, “Remembering Nixon” and “Coneflowers,” with the latter receiving a nomination for the Pushcart Prize. He also received a Distinguished Alumni Award from his alma mater, the University of Nebraska at Kearney, for his lifelong work in writing and scholarship.

Sanders’s poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction and literary criticism have been published in the United States, Canada, Great Britain and Australia. He has received multiple awards and recognitions for his literary work.

Currently, he is working on a collection of nonfiction, a grouping of roughly 10 creative essays titled “Homecoming Parade.”

For more information, contact Sanders at sandersme1@sfasu.edu or (936) 468-2087.

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

Stephen F. Austin State University’s SFA Gardens will host the monthly Theresa and Les Reeves Lecture Series at 7 p.m. Feb. 13 in the Brundrett Conservation Education Building at the Pineywoods Native Plant Center, located at 2900 Raguet St.

Dr. George Ray McEachern, part-time horticulture professor and former Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service pecan specialist from College Station, will present “Pecans: Past, Present and Future.”

McEachern earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree in horticulture from Louisiana State University in 1967 and 1969, respectively. He then went on to receive a doctoral degree in horticulture from Texas A&M University in 1973 before serving as an extension pecan specialist at the university from 1969 to 2001.

As a young man, McEachern was mentored by some of the most renowned individuals in the pecan industry, including Fred Brison, O.S. Gray and L.D. Romberg. Additionally, he studied and worked with J. Benton Storey and Bluefford Hancock.

During his 31-year career with the extension service, McEachern worked directly with growers to learn how to grow pecans under a wide variety of conditions. Today, he manages the 54-acre Texas A&M University pecan orchard on the Brazos River Farm near campus. The orchard is used for production research, teaching and extension education.

Since 2001, McEachern has held a 50% appointment as a professor of horticulture retired-active. He also is a pecan production consultant in the U.S. and Mexico.

The Theresa and Les Reeves Lecture Series is held the second Thursday of each month and includes a rare plant raffle after the program. The lecture is free and open to the public, but donations to the Theresa and Les Reeves Lecture Series fund are always appreciated.

Parking is available at the PNPC and Raguet Elementary School, located at 2428 Raguet St.

For more information, call (936) 468-4129, or email sfagardens@sfasu.edu.

Student success was the top priority in Stephen F. Austin State University’s Board of Regents January meeting. The board approved a number of initiatives aimed at reducing student debt and increasing the opportunity for timely degree completion.

Undergraduate students will now have the option to participate in a fixed-rate tuition and fee plan, allowing them to take up to 21 credit hours at the cost of 12 hours with no additional charge. Tuition and fee rates are variable for students who enroll in one to 11 semester credit hours, but transition to a flat rate at 12 semester credit hours.

The plan is a part of an emphasis the university is placing on its “15 to finish” program.

“By incentivizing students to take additional semester credit hours, the fixed-rate plan will help lower student debt levels, decrease the time to graduation and provide greater academic flexibility,” said Dr. Danny Gallant, vice president for business and finance. “It will create more cost transparency for students and families and simplify the billing process.”

Additionally, students entering SFA in the fall have access to a guaranteed price plan that freezes tuition and mandatory fee costs for a period of four years.

“Timely degree completion reduces the cost of a four-year degree and allows students to begin their careers and capitalize on their lifetime earning potential,” said Dr. Scott Gordon, SFA president. “We are looking at every possible option to make college more accessible and affordable for our students, including a variety of course delivery modes that will allow us to most effectively meet students where they are.”

Regents also approved the consolidation of various fees into a flat tuition charge of $100 per semester for undergraduate students and $75 per semester for graduate students, in an effort designed to simplify the billing process and provide greater academic course delivery flexibility.

“This will replace all course and lab fees for undergraduate and graduate students and will provide the same average level of income,” Gallant said. “It will allow students and their families to better calculate what their expenses will be.”

Scarleth Lopez, a senior psychology major from Dayton and president of SFA’s Student Government Association, believes SFA students will appreciate the initiatives approved by regents.

“I believe this will be really beneficial, especially for first-generation students,” Lopez said. “It will reduce the uncertainty that they may feel about college and incentivize them to take course loads that allow them to reach their goals in a timely manner.”

Regents also approved a price reduction for SFA’s program for registered nurses seeking a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. Cost for the 31-semester credit hour online program will be $8,300 for participants who complete the program within four years.