SFA freshmen attend the 2009 Back Lot Bash behind William R. Johnson Coliseum. This year's event will be held Thursday, Sept. 2.

The Nacogdoches County Chamber of Commerce and Stephen F. Austin State University will welcome the SFA Class of 2014 at the annual Back Lot Bash Thursday, Sept. 2, behind the William R. Johnson Coliseum.

In one of the last phases of construction on the new main entrance to Stephen F. Austin State University, new traffic signals will be turned on Tuesday, resulting in partial lane closures and some traffic congestion.

Drivers and pedestrians should use extra caution on Tuesday in the area around the new entrance, located at the intersection of North Street and Griffith Boulevard, SFA officials said.

NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Stephen F. Austin State University is ranked in the first tier among the best regional public and private universities in the western United States, according to the 2011 edition of "Best Colleges" by U.S. News & World Report.

The rankings, which include more than 1,400 schools nationwide, are available today at www.usnews.com/colleges and will be published in the September issue of U.S. News & World Report, hitting newsstands Aug. 31.

Nathan Nabb, SFA's new associate professor of saxophone, will make his Nacogdoches debut during the final concert of SFA's 2010 Chamber Music in the Pines Festival at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 15, in Cole Concert Hall on the SFA campus.

NACOGDOCHES, TEXAS - The Stephen F. Austin State University School of Music's 2010 Chamber Music in the Pines Festival will conclude at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 15, in Cole Concert Hall.

Ivo Ivanov, violinist with the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, will be one of the featured musicians during the third concert of the SFA Chamber Music in the Pines Festival at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 13, in Cole Concert Hall.

NACOGDOCHES, TEXAS - "Something Borrowed," the third of the four concerts included in the 2010 Chamber Music in the Pines Festival, will be presented at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 13, in Cole Concert Hall.

Neal Cox's "Untitled Grid," a 6.25 inch by 4.25 inch pen and ink on paper, is one of the pieces to be included in "Neal Cox: Grids and Panoramas," which the SFA College of Fine Arts and School of Art will open at 6 p.m. Friday, Aug. 20, at The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House, 329 E. Main St. in downtown Nacogdoches.

NACOGDOCHES, TEXAS - The Stephen F.

NACOGDOCHES, TEXAS - New students interested in enrolling in private or group music lessons through the Music Preparatory Division of Stephen F. Austin State University and those who want to audition for the SFA Children's Chorus or Piney Woods Youth Orchestra can do so on Saturday, Aug. 21, at the Music Prep House, 3028 Raguet St. in Nacogdoches.

The SFA Gardens will host its monthly Les Reeves Garden Lecture Series at 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 19, in Room 110 of the Agriculture Building located on Wilson Drive on the Stephen F. Austin State University campus.

Dr. Jerry Parsons, retired Texas A&M Agrilife Extension Horticulturist, will present one of his classic entertaining and often irreverent programs titled "Seed Collection of Texas Heirloom Varieties and Unique Plants."

State Rep. Dan Branch, chair of the House Committee on Higher Education, will address new graduates during Stephen F. Austin State University's summer commencement ceremony Saturday, Aug. 14.

Since 2002, Branch has represented District 108, which includes parts of Dallas, Highland Park and University Park. He serves on the Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence Committee and is a member of the Legislative Budget Board.