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Hello and welcome to the TΔ chapter of ΣTΔ! We are located at the University of North Texas and are excited to bring to you the new Fall 2009/Spring 2010 schedule of events! Focusing on community as well as scholarship, the new officers of Sigma Tau Delta have created many opportunities to get involved in your honor society and help others while having fun through fellowship. Make sure you take the time to familiarize yourself with our information page as well as our new events calendar. These and other handy links can be found in the sidebar.

This term we welcome Dr. April Kendra as the faculty sponsor. Current officers are:

• President- Miriam Rowntree
  
• Vice President- Niko Ford
  
• Secretary- Kevin Yanowski
  
• Public Relations- Kelly Evans
  

Want to get involved? Contact any of our officers for information on events and activities that may require the assistance of active members to serve on committees. Opportunities will be posted here in this journal as well as event reminders and other relevant notifications. Check back often and keep in touch. It's your honor society; make the most of your membership and involve yourself in one or all of our special programs just for you!

Please join us for our monthly chapter meeting this Wednesday, Oct. 14, at 4 p.m. in the English conference room (Aud 103). Our guest speaker, Dr. Sandi Spencer, will lead a workshop on applying for scholarships and awards from Sigma Tau Delta and other organizations. Sigma Tau Delta awards scholarships of $4,000 to members (grad students as well as undergrads) and the application deadline is Oct. 30, so this will be a valuable and timely workshop. We encourage you to visit www.english.org for more information about specific scholarships and to join us this Wednesday to take advantage of Dr. Spencer's expertise.

A big thanks to everyone who made our Communitas Tea event a success. We had a lot of fun and are full of great expectations for the rest of this year!

Banned Books Week is fast approaching as is the Sigma Tau Delta Read-Out scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 29, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Gazebo outside the Union on the Library Mall. We would love to have a large turn out to show our university's support of BBW and would be thrilled to see our active members sign up to read from their favorite banned book. You can sign up at either the English Department office (Aud 112) or by e-mailing sigmatd@unt.edu.

Don't feel much like reading? Then enjoy a peaceful time on the Library Mall listening to the passages being read aloud. You might find there's a book out there just waiting to grasp your attention and find that next great read sitting among the numbers of banned books this week aims to recognize. Hope to see you there!

Have idea, will travel! GuiedGecko is looking for travel, lifestyle and entertainment guides for any city, region, or country to publish! There is no page limit, you are welcome to submit new and existing works, you get to keep all copyrights and participation is free!

First prize is a trip to the Frankfurt Book Fair with first through third place winners getting the title of their books showcased at the fair!

The deadline is September 24th so hurry and submit your guide today! Visit http://www.guidegecko.com/writing-contest for contest info and submission guidelines!

Communitas Tea
This is our official kickoff event for 2009-2010. We’ve planned some exciting events for the year ahead, and we want to hear your ideas as well! Join us for tea (and coffee), light refreshments, and plenty of food for thought.

Thursday, September 17
4 p.m.
Lang 410 (4th floor faculty lounge)

English Dept. Alumni Appreciation Day
Reception for Dr. Nancy Jones Castilla

Dr. Holdeman invites students to meet Dr. Castilla, a UNT alumna and continuing supporter of the English department. Dr. Castilla is both a professor and a published author, so creative writers and future teachers are especially encouraged to attend.

Nancy Jones Castilla received a Ph.D. in English from UNT in 1972, her dissertation (“Be in Dallas Black English”) receiving local and national publicity. She taught in the Dallas County Community College District for many years and also taught linguistics in the graduate program at SMU and at Texas A&M/Commerce. Honors include Minnie Stevens Piper Professor at Mountain View College and at North Lake College, and President’s Scholar at NLC. At NLC, Dr. Castilla sponsored the award-winning literary magazine, taught composition, British Literature, World Literature, and a workshop in Writing the Short Story. She has published poetry in CCTE Studies, Texas College English, Swallowing the Poison, Separate Doors, Images from the Southwest, Visions and Voices, A Literature of Sports, New Texas, and a short story in Texas Short Stories 2. She edited a book of poetry, Voices from Within, published by UNT Press.

Friday, September 25
2 p.m.
English conference room (Auditorium building between the woman's restroom and copy room)

Banned Books Week Read-Out
"Observed since 1982, this annual ALA event reminds Americans not to take this precious democratic freedom for granted. BBW celebrates the freedom to choose or the freedom to express one’s opinion even if that opinion might be considered unorthodox or unpopular and stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of those unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints to all who wish to read them. After all, intellectual freedom can exist only where the freedom to express oneself and the freedom to choose what opinions and viewpoints to consume are both met." - The American Library Association

More details of our UNT celebration of this week (September 26−October 3) will be posted as they become known, but plan to enjoy readings by members and officers from favorite banned books!

Tuesday, September 29
10 a.m. – 2 p.m.
Library Mall

Liberal Arts & Sciences/Non-Profit Career Fair
UNT Career Center: http://careercenter.unt.edu

Wednesday, September 30
1 – 5 p.m.
Silver Eagle Suite

Scholarships, Awards, Grants, and Internships
Sigma Tau Delta offers many kinds of financial support to members; some scholarships and awards are specifically for those intending to teach, attend graduate school, or study abroad. Most applications are due on Oct. 30. For more information, see the national website.

Better World Books Drive
Our chapter is participating in a book-drive program sponsored by Better World Books to support worldwide literacy. This year we’ll partner Books For Africa, a non-profit program that collects, sorts, ships and distributes books to children in Africa. The goal: to end the book famine in Africa. Since 1988, Books For Africa has shipped more than 20 million books. These books are now on once-empty library shelves, in the classrooms of rural schools, and in the hands of children who have never held a book before.

Look for our collection box on the first floor of the Auditorium Building under the STD bulletin board (visible from the English Department's office). We hope to place another in Willis Library soon.

For more information, visit the Better World Books and Books for Africa homepages.

North Texas Review
The North Texas Review is taking applications for the following positions:

Editor-in Chief
Poetry Editor
Fiction Editor
Art Editor
Non-Fiction Editor
Layout Designer
Web Designer
Readers in All Genres

Please contact Dr. Jean Roelke for more information or an application form.
Applications will also be available in the main office.