History of the Pine Log

By Audrey Spencer

The Pine Log has both advocates and critics. However, as an entity that has been named best college newspaper in the state in its division by the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association multiple times, it is worthy of respect.

The mission statement of the Department of Student Publications, of which The Pine Log is a part, has three goals:

“To provide students with a professionally managed laboratory in which they can gain practical experience in all areas of publishing; to produce publications what will inform students, faculty and staff of events and activities occurring on the SFA campus; and to give members of the campus community a public forum where they can express their ideas and opinions on a variety of issues affecting the University as a whole,” (Department of Student Publications’ Mission Statement).

The Pine Log began printing when SFA opened and has always been student-run. No archives from before 1964 are available, but variations are immediately obvious. The pages of Pine Logs of the ‘60s and ‘70s were 11 by 16 inches, and length was usually somewhere between 12 and 16 pages. It was only published on Fridays, but also had bi-weekly editions in the summer semesters. Today, pages of The Pine Log are 22.5 by 12 inches in size, editions normally range from 6 to 10 pages, and it is published twice a week during fall and spring semesters only. To date, 88 volumes of The Pine Log have been printed.

Scanning pages of Pine Logs from September, 1970, reveals differences in look and style, but issues on campus today echo those of yesteryear. In the ‘60s and ‘70s, advertisements were mostly fashion-centered. Paragraphs in some articles are crooked – relics of days when pages were laid out by hand, not computer. However, there were similar campus issues. Even in September 1970, the chemistry building had been renovated and SFA faced problems with limited parking space, booming enrollment and overcrowded dorms.

The Pine Log’s evolution parallels that of major newspapers, rolling with trends of the industry and facing similar problems.

“In 1984 or 1985 we started using computers, but just to set type,” Pat Spence, faculty adviser for The Pine Log, said. “We had trouble convincing the University that we needed Macs. University standard was PCs. We had to convince them we needed more specialized, graphically oriented computers.”

One of The Pine Log’s biggest obstacles is mistrust of a student-run media outlet.

“People distrust student reporters. They’re afraid they won’t be professional or that they’ll bend words… No one likes to talk about bad news,” Spence said.

Like major newspapers, The Pine Log is self-sustained. “It has to make its own way financially by selling enough advertising to support itself,” Spence said. Some Texas college newspapers are funded, sometimes handsomely, by their institutions.

The Pine Log, however, does have advantages: The lack of pressure on The Pine Log from constraints such as prior review, which gives an institution the right to read and approve articles before they’re published, is thanks , in part, to the support of the University president, Dr. Baker Patillo.

“Dr. Patillo understands the role of a student press, which makes for an extremely healthy student paper,” Spence said. “He may not always like what it has to say, but he defends the right to say it, which is pretty remarkable.”

Association with The Pine Log helps some students launch into bigger careers in the newspaper industry. For example, Victor Fain, the editor from 1935 to 1936, was a Nacogdoches county native, who, after graduation became editor and publisher of the Nacogdoches paper, The Daily Sentinel (www.cets.sfasu.edu/story/founders/1930s/Oct11/Fain-PineLogEditor.html). Other Pine Loggers work at the Nacogdoches Daily Sentinel, (name others?)

Pine Log staff members often have similar characteristics. “I continue to be amazed at their dedication to doing a professional job,” Spence, who is starting her 25^th year with The Pine Log, said. “This is hard work and they really want to do it and do it well.”

The Pine Log’s current editor-in-chief, Jonathan Garris, has a similar perception.

“The people who come to work here haven’t changed much. When it comes to getting stories, you have to be sociable,” he said. “Most people here are as far from shy as you can be.”

Although most changes to The Pine Log have been mechanical, it is still a top source of information about the goings-on at SFA. The entertainment value doesn’t hurt either, with the Sudoku puzzles, Axes Up and Axes Down, and The Crime Log most cited favorite features by casual and avid student readers.

“Twice a week we give the University information they need to know, tell them what people are talking about, and what’s coming up,” Spence said.