JackCentral - Your online northern Arizona (and Flagstaff) news source

Just picture it: A sea of football fans packs the Ole Miss stadium, eagerly awaiting the start of the game. The players hit the field, and the crowd erupts in a wave of excitement. Who is leading this roaring surge of fans? Who is it that sits at the forefront of these Ole Miss lovers, leading the Mississippi Rebels to victory? It’s none other than the leader of the Rebel Alliance himself, Admiral Ackbar. Louisiana State University can’t repel awesomeness of this magnitude!

Yes, despite his relative obscurity prior to…

The devastation of the past two natural disasters is quite worrisome. The earthquake in Chile during the last week of February and the quake that demolished Haiti in January were world-changing events. Not only are the 2012 prophesiers riled up, but humanitarian groups are in a wild flurry to aid in relief efforts.

Initially, Chilean President Michelle Bachelet insisted Chile needed no international aid. Eventually, the American Red Cross and other humanitarian services were asked to try to improve the situation.

In our society, tragedies like those in Chile and…

Alpine Ridge fails tenants

Einstein defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. In the current case, I’d like to draw attention to the fact that, for the second year in a row, significant damage to the carports in the parking lot of Alpine Ridge apartments led to tens of thousands of dollars of damage to the vehicles underneath and also the forced evacuation of two apartment buildings and nearly fifty tenants for two days.

One would think that after the collapse…

The Lesson: It’s a cold, harsh world out there.

The Story: Back in the day, NAU never called snow storms. There were no online classes, no emails (to announce a cancellation), no convenient snow removal machines. Risks were higher, but less people lived off campus and even out of town, commuting on closed highways. As far as we know, no student has ever died as a direct result of the snow, but there are always the dangerous factors with driving or walking in zero visibility. Last year, The Lumberjack lost…

We are on thin ice now.

Politics in this country are no longer an issue of facts and rationality, but instead deal with emotions and manipulation. This is not the way democracies or republics are meant to be. Indeed, Jeffersonian democracy — our kind — relies on an educated electorate to operate properly. Unfortunately, our politics are woefully lacking in this area.

On Feb. 18, Joseph Andrew Stack slammed his plane into an IRS building in Austin, Texas. This was after he burned down his house and wrote a…

Athletes aren’t the only people crossing lines at the 2010 Winter Olympics. The spectacular sports event has received its due coverage — and then some — from the media. The Vancouver Olympics have been particularly tragic, poignant and high-energy, leading me to question if the media has gone too far in their reports.

NBC recently aired a conversation between coach Bud Keene and halfpipe athlete Shaun White, in which the two men exchanged vulgar language before White’s gold medal win. NBC portrayed Keen and White’s discussion as inappropriate and unprofessional…

As many of us know, Arizona is closing many of its state parks because of a lack of funding. The FUSD school system is undertaking extreme changes due to a lack in funding. My question? Where is all of Arizona’s money?

Republicans and democrats have different answers for this question, but the reality of a lack of funding in Arizona has led to tragic results. Teachers are being fired. Schools are closing. People will no longer be able to find pleasure in the great outdoors in many of Arizona’s state…

On the night of Feb. 19, booths sporting posters and displays of animals were set up around the stage at the Orpheum Theater. Wildlife lovers from all over Flagstaff were in attendance for a screening of the 8th annual Wild & Scenic Environmental Film Festival (WSEFF), an event dedicated to the conservation and preservation of Mother Nature.

The WSEFF is organized by the South Yuba River Citizen’s League, an environmental organization devoted to the protection of the Yuba River watershed. The Grand Canyon Wolf Recovery Project (GCWRP) is the…

It’s a travesty. In an economic recession, the Arizona state government has yet again decided to cope with fiscal hardship by giving the axe to yet another vital piece of Arizona. First, both public schools and universities saw severe cuts to their budgets, and now this.

It gives me a headache to think Arizona is okay with ceasing financial support of 13 state parks — many of which will see indefinite closure.

It is hard to believe a state with so much natural and human history is willing to let go…

Imagine if we had a law put in place by Congress that would encourage the murdering of a specific social group, and worse, would aid this affront to humanity with government-provided soldiers. What would you do? Now, imagine if Americans went to another country and instigated such a law. This is precisely what is happening in Uganda at this moment.

This past year, the Ugandan parliament announced it was drafting a bill to be voted on this March that would make homosexuality a crime punishable by death. As a corollary,…

As the ever-growing divide between political parties increases, it falls onto the brave and muscular shoulders of President Barack Obama to hoist up the bridges that will join us as a country. In his newest move, he’s going to be hosting a televised healthcare reform summit Feb. 25. The goal of the summit is to have major players from both parties show up, discuss healthcare reform and possibly find a middle ground.

Obama has even asked both parties to have a bill drafted and ready in time for the summit.…

Flagstaff, like the rest of the country, is facing a major budget deficit going into next year. In times of economic turmoil, small towns are hit the hardest. Cities like Flagstaff take the brunt of the cuts, and without significant savings and tax revenue, hard choices must be made for the greater good.

On Feb. 2, Flagstaff’s K-12 principals recommended to the Flagstaff Unified School District (FUSD) that four local schools be closed to save more than $3 million next year. Two elementary schools, one middle school and one high…

It’s about time there was some justice in this country. President Obama is looking to repeal the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy currently implemented by the military. Finally, those it affects may feel the freedom they deserve.

It baffles me how this horrendous piece of legislation even came into existence. The policy presumably attempted to ease the comfort level of the military’s straight members by thwarting unwanted advances from the same sex — a weak argument at best.

Those who defend the policy with concerns that homosexuals will engage in…

Little did you know, somewhere out there in the world, someone is conducting bizarre and perverse experiments with your blood! Stolen from you at birth, it is now in the hands of researchers and scientists looking to create an evil cyborg that will be able to track you using your own DNA. Don’t even bother running, because this thing can find you no matter where you hide.

Sound a little far-fetched? Well, that’s because it is. But the part about your blood being taken at birth for research is true.…

When first contemplating a response to the incredibly misinformed editorial in The Lumberjack about Greek Life, it seemed compulsory to state the facts about the positive impact Greek students have on the community around them. Things that came to mind included the more than $30,000 we raised for charity, and the more than 10,000 community service hours we completed last year alone. We also thought of the fact that all but two U.S. Presidents since 1825 were Greek, 85 percent of Fortune 500 key executives are Greek, and that the…