Twelve students participated in the Festival, entering a total of 18 videos in five different categories. The categories were: commercial, motion graphic, narrative, documentary and music video. Students from SAU, John Brown University, and area high schools participated, but in the end, Southern Arkansas University Students rose to the top.

Heard’s experimental music video titled “Let Go” won the grand prize of $300. Second place, $200, and the McNeill Family Prize for Best Documentary Film worth $100 went to Jameson Sheppard of John Brown University for his film, “Rush,” a documentary following the progress of two teens in dirt track racing. Third place and $100 went to Matt Taylor of SAU for his motion graphic “Celestial Prison.” Matt also received the People’s Choice Award for his narrative film, “Unscripted,” an improvisational horror film set in downtown Magnolia. “Yellow Rock,” a documentary by Gina Caylor of Fayetteville High School, won Honorable Mention.

Judges for the festival were David Murphy, SAU Theatre and Mass Communications department chair, Daehwan Cho, assistant professor of digital media, and Aaron Street, director of the SAU Communications Center.

Plans are already in the works for the festival to take place again next year sometime in April. For more information, contact Daehwan Cho at 870-235-4260.

The center, located at 200 West Calhoun, will continue providing services offered at the former center located in the Fountain Plaza Shopping Center on Main Street. These services include providing counseling to people who suffer from domestic abuse as well as coordinating a safe place for them to live while they transition into their new lives. The center will also serve as a place for the community to drop off donations such as clothing and nonperishable food items.

Students who could have spent the morning sleeping in arrived early to strip carpet and tile from the floors and dispose of unwanted items in the center. Some students also sanded the walls in preparation for new coats of paint to give the center a new feel.

Jay Hale, a sophomore from Orlando, Florida organized the event because he said he recognized the importance of the center in the community. Hale, who lived in different parts of the country, said no matter where he has lived he has maintained an active role in the community.

“I just wanted to give something back,” said Hale who is the grandson of Flossie Biddle Thomas who serves as the center’s chief executive officer and the great nephew of Bernice Parhm, who serves as the crisis coordinator

Ruby Burgess, dean of the college of education as well as president of the Columbia County Crisis Center, said she commended the volunteer effort made by the students.

“As people engaged in higher education we live in a community, and part of our responsibility is to serve the community,” Burgess said.

Darwin Moore, a senior from Smackover, Ark., and president of Phi Beta Sigma said projects such as this go hand in hand with what fraternities such as his were based on when they were founded.

“Anytime someone in the community needs help we need to come to running,” Moore said. “We are based on community service so as a brotherhood we should do this.”

SAU groups who were represented Saturday include Alpha Sigma Alpha, Delta Sigma Theta, Honors Hall, Phi Beta Sigma, Phi Lambda Chi, Phi Mu, Resident Hall Association and Sigma Sigma Sigma. Margie Sharp, who serves on the crisis center board, also helped out with the cleanup effort.

The Rider Rink is a roller skating rink owned by the University, but open to the public as well. It will be open on Fridays from 5-10 p.m., Saturdays from 1-8 p.m., and Sundays from 1-6 p.m. The cost of admission is free to all SAU students and $4 for the public.

Besides a place to skate, the Rider Rink also houses a video arcade, pool tables and a snack bar. The snack bar offers concessions such as sodas, nachos and hot dogs.

Renovations were concluded during the University’s spring break and included a new floor and a fresh coat of paint.

Special events are in the works for the Rider Rink, including a possible Black Light Skate Night. Phil Covington, dean of students at SAU is requesting that members of the SAU community offer suggestions to better the Rider Rink. Any ideas or comments can be submitted to the Student Life office at 235-4041.

Select members of the organization traveled to Louisville, Ky., March 5-8 to host the Sigma Tau Delta International Convention, which was chaired by Schroeder herself. Sarah Tutt, Anwar Fairley, Matt Bates, Kayla Henderson, Micah Hicks, Girwan Khadka and Ashlie Mixon were the students involved in assisting Schroeder and making sure the event went smoothly.

In addition to orchestrating fundraising sessions and helping with convention registration, these students also submitted their own work to the event’s writing competitions. Sarah Tutt’s essay on “necessary contradictions” (the convention theme) was a category finalist and Micah Hicks won first place and $500 in the fiction/drama category. Hicks also received the $4000 Sigma Tau Delta scholarship and serves as one of two student advisors to the national board.

In addition to participating in workshops and presenting their work, students were also able to hear from noted poet Naomi Shihab Nye and dramatist Suzan-Lori Parks.

This was the first year that SAKE Fx was held and both El Dorado High School and Junction City High School attended. The competition is an important effort to teach high school students business ethics, and it consisted of seminars about the global economy, current events and the opportunity to create an anti-piracy public service announcement. In the end, El Dorado High School received the Sweepstakes Award which consisted of a trophy and a $1000 scholarship to SAU to be given to the student(s) of their choice.

Also during the event, dean of the College of Business, Dr. Lisa Toms, gave a recruitment speech reminding the crowd of 11th and 12th graders of the value of receiving a college education.

The event was sponsored by the Murphy Foundation, SIFE-PBL and the SAU College of Business.

Safe Spring Break Week involves two week-long campaigns intending to raise awareness among students. The first of these campaigns is a safe spring break pledge drive. This pledge drive consists of students signing a contract promising to make smart decisions concerning alcohol during the vacation. Signing this pledge enables students to play a carnival-style duck game that gives them the chance to win one of 10 one GB jump drives being given away every day during the week. In addition to this opportunity, students will receive “pass me to someone sober” key chains as a free gift. The other campaign hosted during Safe Spring Break Week is a sexual health awareness bed. Using a residence hall bed and some spare sheets, ADAPT and GAMMA will demonstrate the risks of unprotected sex.

In addition to these week-long health campaigns, other efforts to educate students will transpire during the SAB, SGA and RHA sponsored Casino Night. Informational cards and cups will be distributed to make participants more informed about blood alcohol content (BAC) levels and what is legal in the state of Arkansas. Also during Casino Night, ADAPT and GAMMA will teach students to “watch their cup” by dropping jelly beans representing date-rape drugs into people’s cups when they are not looking.

In a final effort to encourage smart decisions during the vacation, GAMMA is sponsoring a safe spring break photo contest. Contestants are asked to submit photographs of themselves and friends enjoying an alcohol-free spring break. Submissions can be emailed to sw-activities@saumag.edu and the entries will be posted on Facebook.com for student voting. The top five winners of the contest will have their photos entered in a national competition. The winner of the safe spring break photo contest will receive $100.

Covington comes to SAU from Arkansas Tech University in Russellville, Ark., where he spent the past three and a half years as associate vice president for student services/dean of students. At Arkansas Tech, he was responsible for planning, design, implementation and the evaluation of a comprehensive student services program as well as a host of other duties.

At SAU, Covington’s job still carries administrative responsibilities, but he hopes to be spending more of his time working directly with students, something he said his past jobs have prepared him well for.

“More than anything I look forward to serving the students and getting to know them and the University community,” Covington said. “Ultimately, I will be looking for ways to ways to create more opportunities for students to be successful so that as alumni they will be more successful. When students graduate from SAU, we want people to be able to tell they are an SAU graduate because of the way they conduct themselves.”

Another positive aspect of taking the job at SAU is the opportunity for Covington to move closer to his roots. A native of Arkadelphia, Ark., Covington said it will be nice to get to know people from areas he grew up around. Covington has spent the bulk of his career working in Kansas and has experience at Emporia State University in Emporia, Kan., Fort Hays State University in Hays, Kan. and also working for Dickinson State University in Dickinson, North Dakota.

Covington began his position with SAU on Monday, January 29. Covington’s wife, Vanessa, and their three children, Lofton, 10, Parson, 7, and Martilee, 5, will be joining him soon, he said.

During lunch, students, faculty and staff meandered around the plaza of the Donald W. Reynolds Campus and Community Center, trying and sometimes retrying the different chili concoctions just to make sure which one was their favorite. Some took the time to scatter shredded cheese, Fritos or saline crackers on top, others dug right in and quickly declared a winner, but then they visited the next table and making a decision grew more confusing.

In the end, winners selected by an official judging team of Michael Everhart, Michael Priest and Steve Sutton, were the Students Activities Board who won $150, Sigma Sigma Sigma Sorority which won $100 and Alpha Gamma Rho which won $50. However, members of Alpha Gamma Rho were the big winners because they picked up an additional $150 for being selected as the People’s Choice, meaning they received the most overall votes. Phi Mu Fraternity won $100 for the best decorated table at the event.

Jennifer Bilbo, a graduate assistant who worked on preparing for the project with others in the office of Student Activities, said each year it is deemed a success.

“People seem to enjoy this every fall and mark their calendars for this event,” said Bilbo of Amity, Ark., who is pursing a master’s degree in library media. “We had quite a good turnout — several organizations ran out of chili today. It is also a good opportunity for organizations to recruit new members.”

Bilbo also mentioned her appreciation for Shalonda McCoy, a coworker in Student Activies, who agreed to judge the tables at the event.