The Lumberjack -- Nov. 9, 2017

T H E L U M BE R JACK

NOV. 9, 2017 – NOV. 15, 2017

BORN TO RUN PAGE 16-17

Online at JackCentral.org

From the Editor

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’m sometimes overwhelmed by how much there is out there, worried that I may never experience it all. There is always food untasted, music unheard, art unseen and friends that will never be met because we can’t possibly explore every corner of the world during our lifetimes.

But access to the internet and social media have made the world closer and people more interconnected every day. We are able to explore more and learn about things we never could have dreamed of. However, with this newfound freedom comes the responsibility to take a critical eye when looking at the internet’s content. The responsibility to also report the truth falls on the consumer in what they are reading and responding to.

Media has the power to positively highlight or negatively destroy those in the spotlight.

In this issue of The Lumberjack, an opinion-editorial piece discusses whether or not it is fair that Justin Timberlake should perform for the 2018 Super Bowl.

After the “Nipplegate” scandal, Janet Jackson’s career was left to dwindle after a wardrobe malfunction that Timberlake helped cause. However, he did not initially KAITLYN share the blame, and the media did not hold him accountable. That shows how SAMPSON much power the media truly holds over society.

ASST. CULTURE It seems unfair that one artist’s career was ruined when both Jackson and EDITOR Timberlake were involved in the scandal.

As a feminist, I believe that this correlation is linked to society’s detrimental views on women and the fact that women are often sexualized and their opinions suppressed.

This ties back to the audience’s responsibility and how we have the power to control media in what we choose to consume. Taking a stand against unfair and unjust reporting and being aware of what you are consuming can impact the media more than you think.

Together, we can make a difference.

Thank you for reading.

“We just got to take each team like they’re a new team and be spot on, especially if we want to make it to the national championship.”

- Lucas Lomax, junior forward, 2017 NAU sophomore forward Reise Keiffer attempts to deke the puck past a UTEP defender Nov. 4.

Keiffer scored the final goal of the night. Matthew Strissel | The Lumberjack

THE LUMBERJACK VOL. 105 ISSUE 12

Phone: (928) 523-4921 Fax: (928) 523-9313 Lumberjack@nau.edu P.O. Box 6000 Flagstaff, AZ 86011

Editor-in-Chief Megan Troutman

Managing Editor Kari Scott

Copy Chief Emma Helfrich

Faculty Advisor Mary Tolan

Faculty Advisor, Visuals Jennifer Swanson

Sales Manager Marsha Simon

Media Innovation Center Editorial Board News Editor Conor Sweetman Asst. News Editor Joey Postiglione

Opinion-Editorial Editor Elizabeth Wendler

Sports Editor Lance Hartzler

Director of Photography Michael Patacsil

Asst. Opinion-Editorial Editor Asst. Sports Editor Director of Illustration Peggy Packer Kade Gilliss Colton Starley

Features Editor Makenna Lepowsky Asst. Features Editor MaryAnn Witt

Culture Editor Katie Sawyer

Web Chief Ariel Cianfarano

Asst. Culture Editor Kaitlyn Sampson

Print Chief Matthew Strissel

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Director of Circulation Luis Gardetto

On the cover A woman runs along the Flagstaff Urban Trail located at Buffalo Park in Flagstaff Nov. 1.

Michaela Leikam | The Lumberjack

Corrections & Clarifications The Lumberjack is committed to factual correctness and accuracy. If you find an error in our publication, please email Megan Troutman at mlt273@nau.edu.

PoliceBeat

Compiled by Conor Sweetman

in Allen Hall reported an intoxicated student.

An NAUPD officer responded and deferred the student in question for a minor in consumption (MIC). While on this call, the officer spotted another intoxicated student in the hall. At 2:19 a.m., the officer cited and released another student for an MIC At 6:55 p.m., an RA in and possession of a fake ID. Sechrist Hall called to report marijuana in a residents room.

At 2:35 a.m., a passerby NAUPD responded to the reported an idling vehicle with call and searched the area. its windows down in the San The officers didn’t find any Francisco Parking Garage. An marijuana and there was no NAUPD officer responded and odor in the room. secured the vehicle. Everything was fine.

At 8:12 p.m., the same NAUPD officers were called Nov. 2 back to Sechrist Hall after an RA At 12:37 a.m., NAUPD reported the odor of marijuana received an email about a pet in the dorm. This time, in Reilly Hall. NAUPD took one student was criminally the information and passed it deferred for possession and use along to hall staff to handle the of marijuana and possession of case further. stolen property.

At 11:53 a.m., a staff At 11:50 p.m., Shuttle member in the University Services staff reported Union called to report a suspicious persons spray- student trying to fight with painting the ground outside them. An NAUPD officer of the Skydome. NAUPD responded but saw no criminal responded and made contact activity. The case is under with the subjects, and investigation. discovered that they were Skydome employees marking At 5:20 p.m., a student the lot. Everything was fine. called to report a suspicious subject possibly tampering Halloween with a vehicle in lot 16A. At 7:26 a.m., NAU staff NAUPD responded and made called to request a welfare check contact with the subject. They on a student after receiving discovered that the subject a suspicious email. An FPD was a student and it was their officer located the student at vehicle. their off-campus home in good health. Counseling services At 10:14 p.m., an RA were provided. in Roseberry Apartments called to report a student At 2:23 p.m., a non- with prescription marijuana. student called to report a traffic The subject had a valid collision outside of McConnell medical marijuana card, but Hall. NAUPD responded and was criminally deferred for took a report. No one was possession of marijuana on hurt, and a student was cited campus. The case was passed for speeding. on to dorm staff to handle.

in Gabaldon Hall called NAUPD to report smoke in an equipment room. The building was evacuated and NAUPD and FFD responded to search the building. The cause of the smoke was determined to be caused by a malfunctioning heater for a backup generator.

Fire Life Safety was notified.

Oct. 30 At 12:01 p.m., a student called NAUPD to report someone hit their vehicle in parking lot 41 sometime between then and Oct. 27.

An NAUPD officer responded and took a report, but all leads were exhausted and the case was closed.

Nov. 1 At 2:05 a.m., a resident

Nov. 3 At 7:40 p.m., an RA

At 9:12 p.m., an RA in Gabaldon Hall reported the odor of marijuana to NAUPD. NAUPD responded. One subject was criminally deferred for use of marijuana and possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia. Another student was criminally deferred for use and possession of marijuana.

At 9:21 p.m., an RA in Gabaldon Hall called to report the odor of marijuana in the building. NAUPD responded, but they smelled no odor.

Nov. 4 At 10:19 p.m., an RA in McConnell Hall called to report the odor of marijuana.

NAUPD responded and cited multiple students.

One student was criminally deferred for possession of marijuana, drug paraphernalia and under age possession of alcohol. Two other students were criminally deferred for underage possession of alcohol.

Nov. 5 At 2:11 a.m., an NAUPD officer initiated a traffic stop off campus. One passenger was cited for having a suspended driver’s license and not wearing a seatbelt. Another passenger was also cited for not wearing a seatbelt.

At 12:20 p.m., Coconino County Sheriff’s officers requested assistance from NAUPD to locate a student at McKay Village. NAUPD responded and helped the agency.

NEWS

Safety concerns arise after student shocked Adrian Skabelund

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student was “zapped” while plugging in her phone charger in the Babbitt Academic Annex building the afternoon of Oct. 26. Faculty who work in the Annex said the building has a myriad of issues, and many faculty have not felt safe working in the building for some time.

Senior theater major Helena Williams said she plugs her laptop and phone to charge every time she gets into Spanish 201, but this time, at approximately 3 p.m., “the outlet sparked, looking like a mini explosion,” said Williams.

Audrey Travelbee, a Spanish professor who was teaching the class, witnessed the incident from the front of the room.

“I am looking at the class, and I saw this really bright blue flash that was a pretty good size. I mean I thought someone lit a little firecracker,” said Travelbee.

She said, at first, she was confused at what had happened but suddenly felt nauseous and ran outside to vomit.

“I got shocked through my hand, I felt it in my chest for at least four-seconds,” Williams said.

At 3:40 p.m., she was transported by ambulance to Flagstaff Medical Center where she said she stayed for two hours before being released.

“My fingers and my hand actually went numb for a couple days,” Williams said, adding that the next day she felt concussed.

“I felt really not here, I had headaches, [and] I was really anxious all day.”

The incident blackened her phone charger, and Williams said it no longer works. The outside of the outlet was also blackened.

According to NAU spokesperson Kimberly Ott, Facility Services has done an initial evaluation and concluded that the charger failed. However, the investigation is not yet complete.

One NAU electrician, who didn’t want to give his name, said these incidents are not as rare as one might think, but are most often caused by a faulty or broken charger. He added that, due to the building’s age, the building’s electrical system may have been at fault.

Williams is skeptical that her phone charger was at fault, and she blames the building. It seems there may be some history of malfunctioning faulty wiring in the Babbitt Academic Annex.

Multiple faculty members who teach in the building said that this is not the first time something like this has happened.

According to NAU’s Capital Improvement Plan for 2019, the Babbitt Annex was last inspected in 2010. Inspections are generally conducted every four years but it can depend on whether or not there is funding.

Another witness of faulty wiring is Marilya Reese, who teaches German and her office is in the Babbitt building. Reese said she has been shocked twice in her office, the first time three years ago, when she was plugging in a lamp, and the second time was during spring 2017.

“It happened so fast, and it left a soot mark [on the wall],” said Reese. Now, Reese said she tells students not to plug anything into the walls if they want to stay safe.

Travelbee, the Spanish teacher who saw Williams get

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Alexandria Athena McConocha, administrative associate for Global Languages and Cultures, holds a charred iPhone charger that was plugged into the outlet that electrocuted a student at the Babbitt Academic Annex building Oct. 26.

Adrian Skabelund | The Lumberjack

shocked, said she also warns her students to not use the electrical outlets.

Spanish professor Karen Schairer has also experienced problems with electrical outlets in her office. At one point a few years ago, Schairer said, one of her outlets caught on fire.

“Oh, just a little bit of flame came out,” Schairer joked.

She said that the university checked her outlet afterward and said nothing was wrong. Facility services later painted over the scorched wall.

The Babbitt Annex was originally built in 1957 as a dormitory for students, according to the dedication plaque on the building. Beyond replacing the carpets and installing a new fire safety system, faculty and staff can remember no major improvements. Those who work in the building said, for at least the last 30 years, the Babbitt Annex has been on a list of buildings to be demolished and rebuilt. Recently, however, it has been taken off that list.

The university was not able to respond in time as to why it is taking so long for the Annex to be either renovated or replaced. In the last 30 years however, the university has completed a myriad of other construction projects including The Health and Learning Center, the Aquatic and Tennis Complex and the Science and

Health building which sits across the pedway from the Annex.

NAU is also building a new recital hall and a new honors college costing upward of a combined $63 million according to official NAU documents.

At a recent faculty forum for the College or Arts and Letters (CAL), NAU President Rita Cheng said the university plans to have the building replaced by 2021. However, according to Patricia Fredrick, the chair of Global Languages and Cultures, which is located in the Babbitt Annex, there is currently no solid plan for that.

The Babbitt Annex’s twin building, Peterson, which is just across the parking lot east of the Annex, is scheduled to be demolished and replaced in the next few years. But, as those working in the Annex pointed out, there are no students in Peterson. Fredrick also said CAL and the Global Languages and Cultures department have long been asking for either a new building or a renovation of the Babbitt Annex, but to no avail.

Lionel Jacobs, assistant director of maintenance at NAU, said in a phone interview that, “Everything is up to code.”

Still, Williams is not comforted.

“If it wasn’t going to happen to me, it was going to happen to someone else,” Williams said.

Fredrick said that the department is filing an incident report, which would allow facility services to go room by room, checking to make sure each outlet is safe.

It may still be up for debate if the Babbitt Annex’s electrical system is dangerous, but something that everyone can agree upon is that the building is hot. And while the heat is not necessarily as dangerous, faculty say it makes it extremely difficult to teach in.

According to a 2008 self study for the department of Global Languages and Cultures, “During peak use, air in the building often becomes stale, and in late spring, summer and early fall, temperatures and classrooms can reach 90 degrees Fahrenheit.”

These same assertions are repeated in the department’s 2016-2017 self study, which adds, “The Chair has made frequent requests for improvements to facilities management but these have gone unheeded.”

Spanish professor Juliana Suby said the heat makes it nearly impossible to teach during the first five and the last five weeks of the academic year, and described watching an entire classes deflate and seeing beads of sweat roll down students’ foreheads.

French professor Michael Rulon agreed with Suby and said that, at one point, when he was teaching a summer class, the building was so hot that he relocated his class to Firecreek Coffee Company.

Because it gets so hot, and because ventilation is so poor, almost everyone keeps the classroom doors open which makes the buildings and classrooms very loud. This, he said, is not at all conducive to teaching foreign languages.

Classrooms in the building are fairly small, and many faculty say these problems have been compounded as class sizes have swelled in recent years.

“The message we’re getting is that the social sciences and the humanities are not worth investment,” said Rulon. “It’s not great for morale [and] it does make us feel less valued.”

NEWS

Sexual misconduct by NAU faculty since 2010 Joey Postiglione

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ince 2010 there have been three formal complaints of sexual assault and 10 formal complaints of sexual harassment made against NAU faculty. NAU spokesperson Kimberly Ott shared this information with The Lumberjack in late 2016.

The Lumberjack has been investigating these 13 complaints of sexual misconduct since January 2017. Part of this investigation required requesting public records about how NAU deals with sexual misconduct complaints made against faculty.

Public records requests addressed to NAU go through Ott in

the Office of the President.

Requesting school records is not always a simple process. The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) provides privacy protection to students and faculty, and staff have privacy rights of their own.

“Prior to a response, those items must be gathered and carefully reviewed to see whether they can be shared in part or in whole,” wrote Ott in an email Nov. 7. “As you know, when student records are involved (and all UHB [University Hearing Board] records are student records) FERPA applies. Additionally, if any records also involve allegations against an employee, then

personal privacy rights may also be implicated.”

In the email sent Nov. 7, Ott said the records requested by The Lumberjack should be available as soon as next week.

Students who have complaints of sexual misconduct against faculty should go to the Office of Equity and Access or NAUPD. The Lumberjack is still investigating reports of sexual misconduct by faculty and is interested in reporting the stories of victims who want to share them.

Students who would like to contact The Lumberjack can email reporters Joey Postiglione (jpp93@nau.edu) or Adrian Skabelund (acs447@nau.edu).

Faculty sexual abuse of students leads to 2015 murder-suicide Grace Fenlason

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n Aug. 21, 2015, a 20-year-old NAU student contacted authorities to report that 35-year-old NAU art professor Jeriah Hildwine had sexually assaulted her May 4, 2015, at an event that was supposed to be the final exam for her class, and again on June 17 and June 18, 2015.

On May 4, classes were still in session at NAU, and finals week was in full swing. According to the formal report, the victim, Hildwine and other students from Hildwine’s NAU art class attended a party at another student’s home in the downtown area, described as the final exam for Hildwine’s class. After spending several hours downtown, the victim and three other students accepted an invitation from Hildwine to return to his home in the 200 block of South Dunnam Street, west of NAU. This is where the first alleged assault took place.

The group had dinner together and then the students, the victim and Hildwine, got into the hot tub together nude. What happened next was described as an orgy. The victim said she was not attracted to Hildwine, but was afraid of being rejected or mocked by other participants and that she was heavily intoxicated that night.

“When you enter that house, you know this type of thing,” said the victim in the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner Report.

“They live a voyeuristic lifestyle, and I don’t like being alone with [Hildwine].”

Between May 4 and June 17, 2015, the victim received multiple text messages from Hildwine inviting her over to dinner with him and his girlfriend Ashley Darby, 23, a former student of Hildwine. The victim described feeling obligated to accept Hildwine’s invitations because he was her teacher. On June 17, she went to his house after these persistent messages.

“She [The victim] had begun to feel guilty and like she was being rude to Hildwine for ignoring his invites, and that’s why she agreed to come back over that night,” wrote Tristan Meyer, the Flagstaff police detective on the case, in his official report.

A different former student of Hildwine, who chose to remain anonymous, said this practice was common. According to the student, it was rumored that Hildwine would ask young

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“she was lying on the ground crying and [they] should have known she didn’t want to be touched.”

-flagstaff police department records female art students to his house for exams and extra credit. This student said she was invited to his house several times, which made her uncomfortable.

Hildwine, Darby and the victim had dinner and again entered the hot tub together. The victim also said there was a house rule against wearing swimsuits in the hot tub because Hildwine claimed it was bad for the water quality, and because she had grown up in Europe, she did not link nudity to the beginning of sexual activities. After Darby left, Hildwine allegedly had nonconsensual sex with the victim. At some point during the evening, she was invited over the next night for another party and “was supposed to be the entertainment,” she told police.

The next night, June 18, seven people including Hildwine, Darby and the victim engaged in another orgy, with at least one other NAU student and a 17-year-old. The victim reported being forced into sexual acts with a person at the party other than Hildwine. She also reported seeing the 17-year-old participate sexually with several others at the orgy.

According to the police report, investigators asked if the victim had said “no” at any time during that night. The victim replied that she had not said anything while the sexual activity was taking place, but “she was lying on the ground crying and [they] should have known she didn’t want to be touched.” She

also told investigators she had consumed large amounts of alcohol that night.

The young victim went to the Northern Arizona Center Against Sexual Assault two days later on June 20 but did not file a police report at the time. On Aug. 21, she reported the allegations to the Flagstaff Police Department. The same day, the case was transferred to the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office, and NAU was informed.

Six days later, on Aug. 27, NAU President Rita Cheng sent Hildwine a memo informing him he was to be put on paid leave and subsequently suspended. He submitted his letter of resignation three days later on Aug. 30. This set off a chain of events leading to the deaths of both Hildwine and Darby in September.

On Sept. 23, the bodies of Darby and Hildwine were found in a wooded area near the Abineau-Bearjaw trailhead parking lot. According to the Coconino County Sheriff’s report, Darby was shot four times, and her death was ruled a homicide, while Hildwine was shot once, and his death was ruled a suicide. The report showed they had written suicide notes.

This is not the only known case of accused sexual misconduct of NAU faculty or administrators. Several students, faculty and employees also accused Owen F. Cargol, former NAU president, of being too physical and “touchy” with students in 2001. Many of them said interactions with him made them uncomfortable, and Betsy Buford, president of NAU’s Associated Students for Women’s Issues at the time, said “there was definitely buzz around campus about the way he treated students.”

Cargol was pressured to resign following a sexual harassment complaint filed by an employee, and after the discovery of sexually harassing emails written by Cargol.

According to Kimberly Ott, assistant to the president for executive communication and media relations, there have been 10 formal complaints of sexual harassment and three formal complaints of sexual assault made against faculty members from 2010 through 2016.

For the safety of NAU students, faculty and staff, The Lumberjack is investigating complaints of sexual misconduct by faculty.

NEWS

The power of public records Adrian Skabelund

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reedom of Information Laws require a public agency, whether it be part of the local, state or federal government, to disclose documents, records and communications to the public upon request. If an agency does not disclose the information in a prompt response time, it is at risk of a lawsuit.

Jim Small, the executive director and editor for the Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting (AZCIR), said that these laws are essential for a functioning democracy. AZCIR specializes in investigative reporting, which often calls for detailed FOIA requests. “[Freedom of Information Laws] are critical anti-corruption tools, and they are vital to the legitimacy of democratically elected governments,” said Small in an email. “Without access to government records, there is no way for citizens to reasonably determine whether their leaders deserve re-election or whether they should be removed from office because of fraud or mismanagement.”

First passed federally in 1966, the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) strengthened laws already on the books that require agencies to inform the public of their procedures and rules, and ask for public comments before taking actions.

FOIA has forced the government to reveal everything from the fact that the FBI was keeping tabs on civil rights leaders in the 1960s to deals between the United States Navy and Hollywood when producing the 2012 movie Battleship.

Individuals can also make FOIA requests on behalf of themselves to receive information the government might have about them.

As a state institution, which is partially funded by taxpayers, NAU is subject to state public records laws. Arizona public records laws have been on the books for more than 100 years and mandate that members of the public can view state public records, with some exceptions.

Dan Barr, a Phoenix-based lawyer who has worked on public records cases before, said when a request is denied, whether it be after an agency flatly refused the request or ran out the clock, it is up to the individual requesting the documents or a third party to challenge the denial.

“No law is self-executing,” said Barr in a phone interview.

The challenge of the denial then goes before a judge to determine if the agency was correct in denying the request.

Requesting information from schools and universities can be slightly more complicated as the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) limits the information that a school is able to release. However, information that does not identify individual students can be released.

NOV. 9, 2017 – NOV. 15, 2017 | THE LUMBERJACK 7

COMIC SPOT

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OPINION-EDITORIAL

Natural curiosity or abuse?

I tried countless times. One memorable time was the last night her hands ever tainted me. I went up to my This story is about child sexual abuse and may be mother, as I always did, with my abuser tied to my side.

“Mom, I have to tell you something.” disturbing to some readers. The writer has chosen to go under As the words were starting to form, I felt a tug on my an alias for her protection. shoulder, signaling me to stop. So, that’s what I did. I said, here comes a point in most children’s lives when they “Nothing, Mom. I just love you.” Then, my abuser took me start to wonder about sex. Where babies come from to another room and said, “Remember, Jane, it’s a secret.”

The next morning, I refused again, and this is when seems to be the most popular question. Some may she said, “Jane, I promise, just one last time, and it’ll never even wonder what the opposite sex’s genitals look like. happen again.” And it didn’t.

This is all natural curiosity. When that The next morning, I told my mom, who told my dad, curiosity is handled in a proper manner, who then called a therapist. We contacted that is what remains: natural curiosity. her parents who spoke with her, but she I never had that traditional only admitted to kissing me. I spoke Q and A experience with my to our church who deemed it “natural parents. That life lesson was curiosity” while my therapist said stripped from me. otherwise. I talked to the police who When I was wrote it off because her family had 5, my cousin and connections in law enforcement.

I played a game There’s a line between natural with our pillows, curiosity and sexual abuse. pretending they were It wasn’t “natural curiosity” when our boyfriends. She then she stuck her hand down my pants or turned to me and said, “Do you when she made the girls at my school want to do it for real?” watch us dry hump each other in the This “game” was my life for the bathroom stalls. I believe her exact next two-and-a-half years. words were, “She loves being on top.”

With me being 5 years old and It wasn’t natural curiosity that she being 7, the young ages may drove her for two-and-a-half years. seem unusual. When one thinks of Natural curiosity isn’t what made me child abuse, they tend to think of a cry the time I lost my virginity and fully matured mind taking advantage almost every single time for years of a gullible, innocent child. The after. Natural curiosity didn’t make concept of child-on-child abuse isn’t so me question my sexuality. far-fetched when put into perspective.

The torment I felt then — as For example, if there are child soldiers a child to now — was and is not due who can believe killing is right, then what’s so to natural curiosity. For anyone to deem unfathomable about a child abusing another it as anything but child abuse needs to child? According to the organization Defend look up the definition of what child Innocence, “One uncomfortable fact about child abuse is. sexual abuse is that about 1/3 of all perpetrators The organization Darkness to are children under the age of 18, which means that Light defines child sexual abuse as, child-on-child sexual abuse is a difficult reality that must “Any sexual act between an adult and a be addressed.”

Illustration By Beneva Fatt minor, or between two minors, when Unlike most 5 year olds, I knew what sexual one exerts power over the other.” pleasure was by that age. By 6, I knew what a tongue The world needs to have these uncomfortable in my mouth felt like. By 6 1/2 I knew what dry humping was. By the age of 7, I knew what a hand down my skirt felt conversations to prevent whatever led my abuser to abuse. like. By the age of 7 1/2, I knew what hands on my body Most children who abuse are abused themselves, which means she probably needed saving as much as I did. felt like all too well.

People need to properly educate their curious children Why didn’t I say no?

I did say no only to receive some sort of punishment. about sex so that curiosity doesn’t turn into inappropriate She and I were lying in my bed, and she started to slide her behavior. Curiosity and abuse are two different sides of the hand to my lower half. I turned to her and refused. She then spectrum.

I know where my story fits. ignored my presence until I agreed to play her game.

Why didn’t I tell my mom?

JANe BOOTH

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Opinionated news is jeopardizing journalism CAITLIN BURKE

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n the United States, it comes as no surprise to hear about the media being put in the hot seat. Most recently, President Donald Trump’s ongoing feud with CNN continues to flourish. Many outlets have been receiving backlash for reporting the death of Tom Petty prematurely, which perhaps was done to ensure they were the first one to cover the breakingnews story.

It seems the main goal of news outlets has collectively shifted over time, changing from focusing on factual and unbiased reporting to whichever article can get the most amount of clicks or retweets.

As a journalism student and frequent media consumer, I’ve recognized a growing trend of biased news articles across multiple outlets. These articles contradict the definition of what news is supposed to be. I became more aware of this by researching for one of my classes a current event from three different news outlets to compare the differences between them. I found more similarities between the articles than significant differences.

All three of the articles, from CNN, MSNBC and Fox News, contained a bias either in the angle of the story or worse — in the direct words of the journalists.

The articles were all about the same issue — the on-going controversy of Trump’s remarks to Myeisha Johnson about her husband, Sgt. La David Johnson, who was killed by enemy fire in Niger Oct. 4. This update focused on the claims of Frederica Wilson, who stated she was present when Trump called Johnson’s widow to say, “He knew what he signed up for, but I guess it still hurt.”

The articles all reported to the consumer as being news, but a more appropriate title for two of these outlets would have been opinion-editorial.

MSNBC author Steve Benen wrote that Donald Trump doesn’t “understand basic human decency.” The Fox News article gave the opinion that Frederica Wilson’s personal life is relevant in reporting that she claimed President Trump made insensitive remarks to Myeshia Johnson over the phone.

These are all opinions that do not belong in a news article intended to present facts. The correct labeling of these articles would ensure that consumers know what they clicked on and don’t mistake news for opinion.

Despite my criticism, these three articles are well-written in their construction. Even so, these articles should have been presented as opinioneditorial articles of news. Proper labeling of articles solves the problem of journalists getting a bad wrap due to “fake news” while still allowing the articles to get published.

The role the media plays in U.S. democracy is a crucial one. Citizens depend on the media to get their source of newsworthy information. They trust that these sources will accurately report facts without pushing an agenda. The media has a duty to these citizens and a duty to democracy to present news fairly, accurately and objectively.

Currently, they are failing their duty.

If I am going into the field of journalism, I would hope that the title “journalist” is not degraded by the authors of these unethical news reports.

It must be stressed in this profession that it is OK to have an opinion as a journalist, but it is not OK to convey personal opinion when writing news.

OPINION-EDITORIAL

But he’s such a nice guy MEGAN MUELLER

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Well, I mean, are you sure? He’s such a sweet guy. I just can’t picture him doing that.”

Am I sure? Am I sure? This seems like an incredibly odd question to ask someone who is coming forward about their experience with assault. I can confirm it is a question that is not only asked, but is asked often.

It is often accompanied by, “It probably wasn’t as big of a deal as you thought it was,” or, “Maybe you imagined it.” Sometimes, something along the lines of, “Why would you tell me that? I don’t want to think about them like that,” in a tone of resentment and irritation.

Again, these are odd things to say to a person trying to disclose something very personal and very difficult to talk about.

Apparently, however, they are not odd enough to go unspoken.

Why do people think that someone is incapable of assault simply because they seem nice?

Everyday, survivors of assault — sexual, physical, emotional and otherwise — are asked to reimagine and re-live their suffering. They are asked to have their trauma poked and prodded at, analyzed and ultimately dubbed “not that serious.”

Often times, a friendship with the attacker clouds the judgement of listening ears. It is hard for someone to imagine

a friend who has always been kind to them as being awful to through dramatic ordeals like assault allegations. Though it is someone else. difficult, it is necessary.

This is a damaging mindset that must be altered.

Loving a family member or a friend cannot be helped, even The fact is, people are layered. I don’t believe for one moment when their misconduct is exposed. It is essential, however, that that any person is entirely righteous or entirely evil. Just because the guilty party is held accountable, especially by the people who someone has always been lovely to me does not mean they love them. Familial loyalty can only go so far. cannot have torn someone else apart — though many Dedication to a person cannot people seem to feel otherwise. turn into an ignorant defense of their This phenomenon was exemplified in the media innocence at the cost of justice. Being when Bill Cosby was put on trial for allegations loyal to a loved one does not mean of sexual assault and his fourth daughter always taking their side. Loyalty can Evin Cosby came forward in his defense. be the simple act of continuing to love “I know that my father loves me, them while still recognizing they committed loves my sisters and my mother,” said Evin heinous offenses and demanding they be held in a Facebook statement. “He loves and respects accountable for these crimes. women. He is not abusive, violent or a rapist.”

For many survivors of assault, their experiences are I don’t doubt that Bill Cosby does love his wife and his difficult to talk about not only because the incident was daughters. Unfortunately, I also don’t doubt the integrity traumatizing, but because assault can be complicated to of the 50 women who came forward to accuse Cosby of prove. So many survivors are afraid they will be brushed off drugging and assaulting them. as liars, so they don’t try to speak out.

It is difficult for someone to look at a person they It is essential to construct a social climate in which love and recognize that perhaps this person wasn’t the assault is prosecuted and survivors are free to tell their eternally kind individual they initially seemed to be. stories without fear or belittlement.

It is difficult to refuse to stand by someone they love Illustration By Kaleb Kirsop Regardless of conflicting relationships.

Timberlake and the return of ‘Nipplegate’ MARIA ANGULO

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s the epitome of a former boy band member, Justin Timberlake has had a long career in showbiz. His track record ranges from music to acting, and now he has been chosen to headline in what may be the gig of his life.

The halftime show at the Super Bowl has become one of the biggest stages in the world for a musician. Yes, the world, because even though many countries do not follow United States football, countries from all around the globe tune in for the halftime show.

Timberlake has been a guest performer at the Super Bowl twice before. His first Super Bowl performance was in 2001 with Aerosmith, and then again in 2004 with Janet Jackson.

I enjoy Timberlake’s solo music, and as a kid, I was an NSYNC fan. That being said, his second halftime show appearance is the reason I do not think he deserves to be the headliner at the 2018 Super Bowl.

During the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show, when Jackson and Timberlake were singing the hit song “Rock Your Body,” he tore off part of her top, showing her

nipple on television. This incident is sometimes referred to as “Nipplegate.”

One has to wonder what the big deal was. It was just a wardrobe malfunction and a staged one at that. Well, it was a big deal at the time.

Yet, it was Jackson who faced the many consequences.

After this incident, Jackson — not Timberlake — was blacklisted by Viacom, and the Federal Communication Commission issued CBS a $550,000 fine.

You know who wasn’t blacklisted? Justin Timberlake. Shocker, I know.

Timberlake went on to win his first Grammy days later, but he never stood up for Jackson.

Timberlake was as responsible as Jackson, seeing as he was the one who exposed her nipple. His initial apology did not reflect that. In 2007, Timberlake finally came out to address the backlash Jackson faced.

According to The Huffington Post, Timberlake said in an interview with Illustration By Alia Kruger MTV, “I probably got 10 percent of the

blame, and that says something about society.” Timberlake went on to say, “I think that America’s harsher on women. And I think that America is, you know, unfairly harsh on ethnic people.”

I am not saying that Timberlake deserves to be shunned, but there are a few things I don’t understand.

One, why was Timberlake never punished for the part he played in the wardrobe malfunction? Two, why doesn’t Timberlake want to speak out on this issue now that it’s resurfaced? And three, why did everyone make such a big deal about Jackson showing her nipple? Many artists show skin on stage. The Red Hot Chili Peppers performed at the 2014 Super Bowl shirtless and received no backlash. I guess it’s OK when it’s dudes.

There are so many other artists who could be incredible to watch for the halftime show instead of Timberlake, like Jennifer Lopez, Rihanna, Britney Spears or Beyoncé. It’s hard to go wrong with Beyoncé.

Performing at the Super Bowl is an accomplishment many U.S. artists strive for, but people should not be rewarded for cowardly behavior. Timberlake is a great performer, and he put on a good show, but that doesn’t mean he deserves it.

This goes to show that if you are a white guy in the U.S., you never have to worry about anything.

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FEATURES

Airbnb: The pros and cons of a vacation trend Mikayla Shoup

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hen embarking on a vacation, travelers may fashion their trip around achieving an authentic experience by eating, acting and living like a local. While staying at hotels may be the practical approach to traveling, it may not provide the local experience travelers crave. One lodging option known as Airbnb, however, can provide travelers an experience they yearn for: an opportunity to live a local’s reality by lodging in someone’s home.

While many people who either host or stay at an Airbnb have positive opinions of the company, many in the hotel and local housing market industry often have a different opinion.

Airbnb is a home-sharing company that allows people to rent either bedrooms, entire houses or, in eccentric situations, castles.

Airbnb was founded in San Francisco in 2008 and has hosted more than 200 million people in more than 65,000 cities in 191 countries. Finding an Airbnb can be simple with Airbnb’s website or mobile app, whether the destination search is local or on the other side of the globe. Airbnb can be cheaper than traditional lodging options like hotels, especially when traveling in a group.

Sophomore theater major Taelor Smith generally prefers hotels but uses Airbnb because it is less expensive and provides personal space.

“I am not a huge fan of the city noise, and I’m not a huge fan of hearing people yelling and things like that. So, when you get an Airbnb, typically, it’s in a nice quiet neighborhood. So, that’s not something you ever have to worry about,” said Smith.

When renting from individuals as opposed to a hotel company, there are safety concerns and the risk of scams. Airbnb has policies in place intended to protect guests and hosts.

Before people can host or rent, their profile has to be verified by Airbnb to ensure that people are who they say they are. Reviews on hosts and guests are also available on the Airbnb website to help people avoid booking scam Airbnb listings. For anyone curious about Airbnb, reviews ranging from one to five stars can be found on the Airbnb website.

Amanda Bradshow from the United States is one traveler that rated her Airbnb experience a four out of five stars on the Airbnb website. The only complaint she reported was regarding the company’s policies.

“I often use [Airbnb] when traveling to Europe. The only flaw is the cancellation policy — sometimes the host may cancel your [reservation] just a few days before the trip, and it will get hard to find a new [Airbnb] within a short period of time, and for a reasonable price,” wrote Bradshow in a review on the Airbnb website.

While Airbnb can seem like a walk in the park when approaching travel and lodging, some travelers have reviewed negative Airbnb experiences.

“I would like to know what is the policy on owner’s responsibility because the owner canceled on me two days before the check-in date. We exchanged emails to confirm my visit Monday, and I received a cancellation email on Wednesday, my vacation was starting on Friday ... Even though I received $100

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Illustration By Katie Dobrydney

credit from Airbnb, I am not sure if I will use them again. I don’t want to worry if my reservation will be canceled anytime by the owner,” wrote U.S. traveler Eunice Woo on the Airbnb website.

Airbnb has implemented a number of policies meant to prevent problems from occurring, however, they do not entirely ensure problems will not occur. Travelers are encouraged to be mindful when exploring Airbnb host profiles and his or her ratings.

Airbnb host Juana Ayers, however, has never experienced a safety issue in the two-and-a-half years she has been hosting, and she has lodged over 200 guests.

Ayers and her husband built a studio apartment attached to their Flagstaff home with the intent to rent it as an Airbnb, and they are careful about reading guest reviews before booking people, and she writes honest reviews about guests she has lodged to help other hosts in their decisions to lodge guests.

While Airbnb can come with scams, it can, however, offer the potential to build relationships with people from around the world. Ayers particularly enjoys introducing visitors to her favorite local places, which she sees as perks people may not experience when staying at a hotel.

Since the rise of Airbnb, the hotel industry has notably

FEATURES experienced the effects. The American Hotel and Lodging Association (AHLA) has made attempts to fight back against homesharing programs like Airbnb, saying that they do not play by the same rules that hotels have to. The AHLA is lobbying to change the rules for Airbnb hosts in hopes of increasing the consequences for hosts that are in violation of local laws.

The AHLA has also posed the claim that Airbnb is arguably running hotels out of residential areas as people who own Airbnbs go without paying hotel taxes and do not follow the safety and security regulations required of hotels. This claim, however, has been combated in recent incidents.

“We are trying to showcase and bust the myth that Airbnb supports mom and pop and helps them make extra money,” said Troy Flanagan, of the American Hotel and Lodging Association in a 2017 New York Times article. “Homesharing is not what this is about.”

To hosts like the Ayers, however, homesharing has been about supplementing their income to support their family. Their goal has been to help put their kids through college — debt free — and the money from their Airbnb business has helped make that possible.

“It’s just been a great way to continue to afford being in our community for us as an individual family,” Ayers said.

Airbnb has resisted the AHLA’s attempts to create more regulations, and the company was quick in defending itself from the AHLA’s attack on its business and operatives.

“The hotel cartel is intent on short-sheeting the middle class so they can keep price-gouging consumers,” said Airbnb spokesperson Nick Papas in the same 2017 New York Times article. “With more than 250 government partnerships over the last year, we have shown our seriousness of purpose when it comes to putting in place fair rules.”

Although, it may seem the hotel industry is not the only one taking a hit, the housing market has also been impacted by the increase of Airbnbs. Some hosts purchase property for the purpose of using it as an Airbnb, which takes away housing for people looking to rent and buy homes in areas occupied by Airbnbs.

For many community members and students in Flagstaff, the housing market can be an unbending and rivalrous industry — a “homewar” that deters buyers or renters from participating.

Ayers has lived in Flagstaff for 27 years and recounts people standing in lines outside of real estate and apartment offices for housing when she first moved to town.

“We’ve had this issue of housing shortages for a very long time here in Flagstaff,” Ayers said.

One factor to take into account when considering the challenge around housing is the increasing student population at NAU. According to an article by Keely Damara from the Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting, the enrollment rate on the NAU Mountain Campus has increased by 42 percent in the last 10 years, which caused the price of rent to go up and reduced housing availability. With the housing market in Flagstaff being so competitive, homes being bought to rent to tourists leaves some locals frustrated.

While Airbnb has sparked controversy throughout the hotel and housing industries, it is, however, an industry that continues to be used and valued by travelers around the world.

“It’s culturally more interesting,” Ayers said. “It’s a unique experience.”

Children holding banners march between the delegates during the opening of the COP 23 Fiji UN Climate Change Conference in Bonn, Germany, Nov. 6. Martin Meissner | Associated Press

Global concern for climate change Brittany Viar

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limate change and the environment are a controversial topic in social and political discussion globally. Many organizations have been established, such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Annually, the UNFCCC holds the Conference of the Parties (COP), and for the first time since President Donald Trump announced the United States’ withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement, the UNFCCC will hold the 23rd annual COP of world leaders in Germany to explore the avenues of action regarding climate change.

Karina Gonzalez is one environmental advocate that will lead the talk and speak out against Trump for his decision to remove the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement. Gonzalez has an extensive environmental background and graduated from UA with a bachelors in Environmental Studies. After, she attended NAU to pursue a masters in Forestry. Gonzalez now lives in Washington D.C. and works for Friends of the Earth US — a non-governmental environmental organization — at the nexus of indigenous rights and forestry.

Gonzalez has a strong environmental agenda, which roots back to her childhood. Her family is indigenous to the forests of Mexico and have a deep connection to the natural world.

“As an indigenous person, I was raised with an idea of stewardship and a deep sense of connection to the land. Though my family is from Mexico, I was born and raised in LA,” wrote Gonzalez in an email. “I grew up in part of LA where most of

the children in my school had asthma. I thought this was the norm until I left. I realized the poor community I came from was where the water and the air were most polluted because that’s where the factories, power plants, and highways were. Seeing and experiencing environmental injustice in this way was the catalyst for my work in the climate movement.”

Gonzalez explained details of what her position entails, along with some of the pleasure she has found in her work.

“I work for Friends of the Earth at the nexus of indigenous land rights and forestry. In addition to my full-time position, I am also leading a delegation (SustainUS) of young people to this year’s Climate Negotiations,” Gonzalez said in an email.

Through her work with SustainUS, Gonzalez has attended the 52nd and 53nd session of the UN Commission on Social Development and the 21st COP conference. Now, she is one of the COP23 delegation leaders.

According to the SustainUS website, “SustainUS is a youth-led organization advancing justice and sustainability by empowering young people to engage in advocacy at the domestic and international levels. We are building toward a sustainable world free from systemic injustice.”

Gonzalez explained that fossil fuel CEOs have created government corruption and are leading toward climate calamity.

She believes entire island nations will be underwater in the next few decades.

According to a UN report released at the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris in early December, some Pacific island nations that could be submerged underwater in a matter

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FEATURES of decades include Fiji, Tuvalu and the Marshall Islands.

NAU alumna Michaela Mujica-Steiner is one of Gonzalez’s colleagues. Mujica-Steiner explained that SustainUS has a specific process that applicants must go through in order to become a part of the delegation leaders.

“The bottom line is that we’re looking to work with youth from around the world and support youth from the global south to really have their stories centered and be able to have our actions hold our government accountable for the climate crimes that they’ve committed,” said Mujica-Steiner.

The organization also focuses its initiatives toward working with young people and recognize them as the future leaders that will help shape and determine what may happen next in the world.

“We [the SustainUS team] are going to COP23 as a delegation of 15 but also as part of a movement of thousands of young people uniting at home to make sure local politicians follow through on upholding the Paris agreement,” Gonzalez said in an email. “We’re working in coordination with youth movements across the U.S. to unseat big oil-backed candidates and replace them with leaders who will actually stand up for us.

It’s clear we can’t count on this administration to protect us, so young people are stepping up to lead towards a brighter future.”

Mujica-Steiner shared a similar sense of gratification that has come from working with SustainUS. Many of the organization’s initiatives go hand-in-hand with Steiner’s own initiatives, like working with the younger generation.

“I think it’s really amazing to be able to work with other young people who are really fighting for our generation to be able to inherit a better world that’s not plagued by climate chaos and racism and extreme inequality,” Mujica-Steiner said.

Mujica-Steiner is from Boulder, Colorado. This is one site in particular where Mujica-Steiner has been combating oil fracking, a drilling technique to recover gas and oil from rock sediment.

Environmentalists say it endangers the environment.

She wanted to join the delegation in order to fight for the future because of her work against fracking. Working with people from all over the world has shown her ways in which communities can come together and solve environmental issues. Steiner and other colleagues will continue to pass their findings on at COP23.

“We are going to COP23 to condemn [Rex W. U.S. Secretary of State] Tillerson and Trump for their greed and corruption, which comes at the cost of human life. We stand with Puerto Rico, Houston, Florida, California and others who are already suffering from the impacts of climate change,” Gonzalez said in an email. “This is a historical moment for the American people to decide if we’ll let Tillerson and Trump define our climate legacy or if we’ll take action to protect our future and the lives of billions.”

According to an article by the Public Religion Research Institute, “Less than one-quarter (24 percent) of Americans believe that they will be personally harmed a great deal by climate change, while 30 percent say climate change will affect them a moderate amount. More than four-in-10 Americans say climate change will have only a little (23 percent) or no impact (22 percent) on them personally.”

“As a scientist, I have found that climate change can be difficult to communicate to the public. It is often seen as distant and highly technical. Climate justice focuses our attention on people rather than CO2 and ice caps,” Gonzalez said in an email.

“I think this makes the threat of climate change more tangible.

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A passer-by looks at protest banners outside the COP 23 Fiji UN Climate Change Conference in Bonn, Germany, Nov. 6.

Martin Meissner | Associated Press

Climate justice makes climate change a moral argument rather than one about greenhouse gases and numbers.”

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, susceptibility toward climate change differs depending on the region. According to the website, “A clear example is sealevel rise, which mostly affects coastal zones. People living in the coastal zone generally will be negatively affected by sea-level rise, but the numbers of people differ by region.”

Gonzalez explained that working with the COP in general can be difficult because technological solutions are pushed as the answer to fix climate change. One example is geoengineering, which is the attempt to counteract climate change by the intentional and large-scale intervention in the Earth’s natural systems.

“Technology is not the solution to climate change. This type of thinking isolates the direct causes of climate change and does not address the broader systemic problems that allow climate change to exist in the first place. Climate change cannot be addressed by linear strategies for reducing CO2 emissions” Gonzalez said in an email. “I am not saying that we shouldn’t work to reduce direct emissions, nor that technology won’t be a necessary part of the shift. I am saying that technological approaches on their own cannot solve the problem.”

When attempting to create solutions to climate change, Gonzalez brings attention to what she believes to be the be the root of the problem. If people begin to acknowledge this problem, then steps can be made in the right direction to protect and preserve the Earth.

“The problem lies in our relationship with each other and the Earth. Climate change is simply a symptom of this relationship,”

Gonzalez said in an email. “Climate justice compels us to understand the challenges faced by those people and communities that are the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.

Often, the people on the front lines of climate change have contributed least to the causes of the climate crisis. This is an injustice which can only be fixed by swift and ambitious climate action.”

It should not be mistaken that there have not been efforts made to reduce the effects of climate change. Gonzalez recognizes this notion but does not let it dwindle at her efforts — there is still much to be done about the global issue.

In hopes of promoting a shift in scientific and environmental paradigms, Gonzalez continues to project her findings firmly. As she finds herself in social and political arenas globally, like the COP23, she will defend her stance on matters involving the environment.

“The way we’ve dealt with climate change in these international negotiating spaces emphasizes the global over the local, the distant over the immediate [and] the measurable over the qualitative,” Gonzalez said in an email. “This oversight is part of the same mentality that is at the root of the climate crisis, to begin with. I hope to bring a different way of thinking into the space. One that sees broader systemic change as the solution to climate change, rather than technology,” Nov. 6 through Nov. 17 in Bonn, Germany, Gonzalez and her colleagues will speak out at the COP23 conference about environmental conservation to compel delegates and other attendees to accept the facts and vulnerable impacts of climate change.

CULTURE

In it for the long run Kayla Rutledge

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he air is crisp, the trees have shed their leaves and winter is on the horizon. It would be easier to stay home and sink deeper into a warm bed, but for those who participate in Run NAU, there is a passion, a need and a longing to run, no matter the weather.

“I just never want running to feel like my job, you know?

I always want it to be fun,” said Nathan MacKnight, physical therapy graduate student and founder of Run NAU. MacKnight’s transition from high school to college came with many big changes in his life, one of which being the transformation of his outlook on running.

In high school, MacKnight was logging record-setting times as a distinguished cross-country athlete. In 2010, he logged a three-mile race in only 17 minutes and nine seconds, a personal record. Today, he said he views running not as a competition but as a hobby people can utilize to establish relationships with others.

“The dynamic I think Run NAU has helped to create is just an inclusive atmosphere where you don’t have to be super athletic to attend,” MacKnight said. “You can be someone who is just getting into running, or you can be someone who already runs marathons, but you can still meet up and talk and kind of connect with your passion for this hobby.”

MacKnight has met numerous fellow athletes and friends through Run NAU. Jolan Philippe, a Ph.D. student in the informatics and computing program, decided to move from France to Flagstaff for two reasons: to work with a supervisor who lives in the area and to take advantage of the 7,000 foot elevation.

Had you asked Philippe three-and-a-half years ago if he thought he would become a runner, he would have said no. It was not until a strike of motivation on an arbitrary day in April that Philippe accomplished his first run. Though his first attempt was just shy of five minutes, Philippe quickly realized that this was something he could achieve.

“With perseverance, I continued, and step by step it became a passion,” said Philippe.

After years of experience with the sport, Philippe sees Run NAU as an encouraging place to grow as a new or experienced runner, yet he warns new runners to be conscious of their limits.

“Be patient, really listen your body, especially when you do something [you] are not used to … Usually when we start, we don’t know how to run correctly,” said Philippe.

Junior exercise science major Gillian Stowell learned this lesson the hard way. She started running to condition herself for soccer before her freshman year, but after years of playing contact sports and running, it has taken a toll on her body.

Today, you can find Stowell running shorter distances with the club. She finds comfort that fellow runners are always willing to make an effort to help her feel comfortable and not strain her muscles — a sense of assurance she has felt through Run NAU from the start.

“I was new and kinda scared, [but members of the club] are here to run, have fun and not hurt or push you to make you

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uncomfortable. They are there to help you, and if you can’t stay with the front group, someone will run with you, always,” said Stowell.

While MacKnight still plays an important role in Run NAU’s success, he has recently passed the torch to senior biomedical science major Jared Borrego. Borrego’s role as president of Run NAU consists of preserving the low-maintenance efforts required by members, such as no organization fees or no mandatory attendance, as well as ensuring the club is embracive of all skill levels.

Borrego encourages new runners to give the club a try and see if group running is the best fit for them. Growing up in northern New Mexico, Borrego had the luxury of training in high elevations. He understands, however, that the higher elevation takes some getting used to for newcomers.

“Take it easy. The first mile always kind of lies to you. So you may feel terrible and not really want to continue, but once you push past that first mile, you’ll get that feeling of, ‘Oh wow, this isn’t so bad,’” said Borrego.

Borrego also suggests investing in a well-fitting pair of running shoes, which help to prevent injury.

Though under new management, the club still holds the same values it was founded upon. New runners, or people interested in learning the sport, are encouraged by the club to try something new and let experienced runners show them the ropes.

The club is accepting new and diverse members, and they run together four times a week.

Top: Run NAU founder Nathan MacKnight is currently pursuing a graduate degree in physical therapy Nov. 1. Bottom: Run NAU members stand outside the HLC after returning from a four-mile run Nov. 1. Ryan Vanderpool | The Lumberjack

Two people walk down the winding Urban Trail in Buffalo Park, which offers views of the San Francisco Peaks Nov. 1. Michaela Leikam | The Lumberjack

Footprints on the Flagstaff Urban Trail Rylee Halla

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n elaborate trail system traces the greater part of Flagstaff, from the bustling streets of downtown to quiet canyons and forests within the San Francisco Peaks. These trails hold the footprints of the Flagstaff community. Residents walk to work, bike to class or simply hike the trails.

The Flagstaff Urban Trail System (FUTS) meanders around Flagstaff with biking and hiking paths that provide an alternative to driving. After over 20 years of operation, today this system connects residential areas to schools, downtown and parks around the city.

Kathy Flaccus, an avid biker and Flagstaff local, explained at a public forum that she uses the trail system almost daily.

“There’s really no need for a car,” said Flaccus, a retired high school science teacher. “There are trails everywhere to take you where you need to go.”

The public is encouraged to take part and voice their opinions in the expansion of the FUTS system. Open forums take place periodically, allowing for locals to learn about future plans for the trails, as well as provide input on where they would like to see added biking and hiking trails.

The FUTS stretches from Shultz Pass Road to the Flagstaff Pulliam Airport and the west Continued on page 18

CULTURE Continued from page 17

side of Walnut Canyon to Observatory Mesa.

More than 50 trails are paved with the plan to expand to 130 in the near future.

“It’s incredible to be able to ride and not be with cars,” Flaccus said. Flaccus once rode the entirety of the Route 66 trail to work everyday, but now she uses the Urban Trail. “It never gets old.”

Flaccus describes the scenic trail she rides to Observatory Mesa: Vast open grasslands fade into the thick pines, as the scenery shifts with every turn.

In many ways, the FUTS is a reflection of the culture of Flagstaff and its people. Rooted in the foundations of sustainable and responsible living, the FUTS promotes the community culture of Flagstaff and advocates for ecofriendly travel. Moreover, variations in scenery along the trails display the vast landscapes throughout Flagstaff.

Emily Mehorn, graduate student studying sustainable communities and geography planning, organized a public forum at the Joe C. Montoya Community & Senior Center Nov. 1 to talk about the benefits and expansion of the FUTS. “We’re here to promote a livable and sustainable Flagstaff,” said Mehorn at the forum.

During the meeting, avid bikers and hikers within the community learned more about the trail system as well as participated in plans for its future. Maps lined the walls of the meeting room complete with visuals of the current trail systems and paved paths throughout the city. Attendees were given color-coded stickers to indicate where they wished to see trails implemented.

Feedback varied between residents, with some suggesting additions to biking trails and others bringing attention to the need for sidewalk expansions in downtown Flagstaff.

“We are here to vouch for the betterment of our community,” Mehorn said. “It’s exciting to get everyone together like this.”

Brian Poturalski with the United States Forest Service also spoke at the meeting. As a project leader for the trail planning system, Poturalski attended the forum to promote proposals for the Mt. Elden trail plan with added trailheads, loops and access for the West Elden climbing area.

“We have great plans for the FUTS,” said Poturalski.

The FUTS forum resulted in new ideas for extended biking trails, access climbing areas and additional walking paths to the surrounding National Forest. With growing support from the community, the FUTS is anticipating growth for years to come.

A celebration of life and death Joe Wielinski

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rom outside the Hilton DoubleTree in Flagstaff, a faint glimmer can be seen emanating through the windows.

The light faded as one approached the front entrance and once the doors opened, it was replaced by the sound of roaring chatter. The end of the hallway was the epicenter of laughter and merriment like that of a wedding party or a birthday.

A death party was surely the furthest from anyone’s mind.

Participants were gathered for Further Shore’s Twelfth Annual Fundraising Gala, appropriately titled “Rest in Peace - Rise and Shine.” The event offered a unique opportunity to commemorate the loss of loved ones in a different way.

Further Shore was founded by Aleia O’Reilly. Before the festivities began, O’Reilly gave a quick introductory speech to explain how this gathering came to be: When a close friend of O’Reilly and her husband, Wayne Marinelli, was diagnosed with a brain tumor, the couple took care of him during his final days.

“We are here to reflect and celebrate on 14 years of Further Shore’s work, which really began in 2003 when our friend Wayne was diagnosed with a brain tumor,” said O’Reilly. “During that catastrophic journey, a community of amazing healers and friends came together.”

While caring for Marinelli, it became apparent to O’Reilly that the topic of death was taboo in American culture.

O’Reilly decided to build on the idea of the “death cafe,” which was first organized by Bernard Crettaz in 2004. At these get-togethers, people are able to speak freely about the topic of death without fear of judgement. Death cafes also garner a cozy atmosphere by serving cake and tea to help the participants feel at ease.

Further Shore was created as a non-profit with this purpose in mind.

“The mission statement is to provide resources about living well to the community,” said Further Shore volunteer Elizabeth Fitzekam. “We educate the community about what you can do throughout the different stages of life. Usually it is when some has a diagnosis, a major life change or a family member passes away. We help support them through those transitional times.”

The first event to take place at the fundraiser was a slideshow that was prepared by

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Photographs of loved ones who have died line tables at the Rest in Peace - Rise and Shine event held at the Hilton DoubleTree Nov. 5. Shannon Cowan| The Lumberjack

volunteers. Throughout the presentation were photographs of people who have benefited from the services that Further Shore offers. These individuals ranged from being in their teens to approaching triple-digits in age.

Volunteers fill an important void that many individuals with a terminal illness experience. The people in the slideshow benefit from Further Shore’s therapeutic form of care, rather than discussing the medical aspects of terminal illness.

“I would describe Further Shore as a form of pre-hospice care and education,” said Sam Breen, volunteer for Further Shore. “We sit with clients and just spend time with them because they often need basic things like companionship or help around the house.”

After the presentation ended, it was time for the attendees of the gala to honor the loved ones that they had lost.

Located in a far corner of the spacious meeting room, was a cluttered table full of dozens of framed photographs of friends and relatives who had passed away. Table by table,

people emerged and made their way toward the podium. They picked out a rose from several bouquets that they placed on the memorial table to honor their deceased loved one.

On the way, O’Reilly was there to greet them with a comforting hug.

To close out this period of mourning, participants ate gluten-free ceremonial cake and made their way back to their seats. After receiving cake, a select few walked back up to the podium for one final recitation. One by one, a line of people each read a segment of a quote from the book The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. The completion of the excerpt was met with thunderous applause.

A toast was made, and the party started.

Many participants converged to the center of the ballroom and began twirling and prancing across the dance floor to the music from the band, The Spokes.

The celebration of the life and loss of loved ones is a uniquely personal experience. Though death and mourning is inevitable, Further Shores offers alternative ways to deal with loss.

SPORTS

Time to sell

T

he NBA season is in full swing, and the Phoenix Suns are not shining too brightly.

Just three games into the season, the team announced the firing of former head coach Earl Watson Oct. 22. Along with the firing, Suns general manager Ryan McDonough announced guard Eric Bledsoe would not be with the team going forward as he was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks Nov. 7. The team’s record stood 0-3 at the time, and the Suns appeared to have no direction, as they are on their fifth head coach since 2013.

This is nothing new for the Suns, since Robert Sarver bought the team in 2004 from former long-time owner Jerry Colangelo.

Since the 2004-2005 season, the Suns have had a 564-486 overall record. The Suns LANCE went 799-563 overall under Colangelo from HARTZLER 1987-2004. The Suns have had a below .500 SPORTS EDITOR winning percentage in six out of the past seven seasons. In 2015-2016 the Suns had the second-worst season in franchise history with a record of 23-59.

The lowest came in the Suns’ first season of existence in 1969, which had the team go 16-66.

Since Sarver became the owner of the Suns, the franchise has had turmoil it has not seen in decades.

The Suns have been called “the NBA’s most hopeless franchise,” by Sports Illustrated, and recently during a live broadcast, Amin Elhassan, former Suns front-office member and current ESPN analyst, called the franchise’s struggles and lack of direction Sarver’s fault.

Elhassan also said Sarver has injected a level of dysfunction into the franchise.

Fans have taken notice, and one fan even started a GoFundMe campaign to raise money to purchase a billboard to display the message, #SarverOut, which had the intent to influence Sarver to sell the team.

Sarver has nearly single-handedly created the NBA’s best Dumpster fire. The Suns best player, Devin Booker, reportedly didn’t even want Watson fired, and they just traded their second best player, Bledsoe. An odd part of this situation was that Sarver was not available to speak with media following Watson’s firing.

Sarver was in a bank meeting, azcentral.com reported. Since then, Sarver has been quiet about the dysfunction, and recently, he denied a report by The Washington Post saying he was looking to sell the team.

The Suns are the most dysfunctional team in the league, and if the franchise wants to rise back to its prominence of the Charles Barkley or Steve Nash teams, then Sarver cannot be a part of it.

If Sarver wants to make a winner of the Suns, he has to sell the team to someone more competent t­ han him.

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Kaleigh Paplow flashes a peace sign during NAU women’s basketball practice at Rolle Activity Center Nov. 7. The team’s first game is Nov. 10 at home against UC Santa Barbara. Max Mascolo | The Lumberjack

New coach, new excitement Lance Hartzler

I

t has been a tough 10 years for the NAU women’s basketball program. The team has not had a winning season since 2006-2007 and needs a shot of energy to be injected into the program. New head coach Loree Payne looks like the person for the job.

NAU has had a 89-206 overall record over the last decade.

Even with the struggles of the past, Payne said she believes in creating a winning culture at NAU and is adamant that she, along with her coaching staff, can do it.

“I think it really starts with establishing our culture,” said Payne. “There are so many resources here to be able to win in the Big Sky, and the talent we have moving forward is high-caliber.

For us, I think it’s about establishing that culture and instilling the confidence in our players that we can be successful.”

Payne was introduced as the new women’s head coach April 7 and first spoke to Flagstaff media in a press conference April 11. Payne talked about how she wants to instill a high-octane, up-tempo offense. She brings a winning past with her to NAU. During her seven years at the University of Puget Sound (UPS), Payne accumulated a 130-58 overall record and back-to-back Northwest Conference coach of the year honors. Payne said

she sees a roster that can thrive as a transition team due to the number of high-level athletes on the roster.

The Lumberjacks averaged 69.6 points per game last season, the sixth-ranked scoring offense in the Big Sky. While the team’s offense was solid, defensively, NAU was the ninth-worst out of 12 teams in the conference, giving up 71.1 points a game. NAU placed in the middle of the Big Sky rankings across nearly all other major statistical categories.

Despite an almost brand-new roster, only six players returned from last season. At the Big Sky Conference media day, Payne said she isn’t too worried about the roster turnover. Payne said, no matter what, she would be teaching a new system and that it can be a good thing to have a fresh roster.

Payne comes from an offensive background, having one of the best NCAA Division III offenses at UPS when they averaged 79 points per game in the 2017 season. Due to Payne’s background, junior guard Olivia Lucero is confident in the offensive expertise Payne brings to the program.

“Everyone is going to be able to contribute,” said Lucero.

“We have the mentality of pushing the ball on offense. It’s going to be really good for us.”

Two key returners should aid in the process of acclimating to a new coaching staff.

Olivia Lucero passes the ball down court to her teammate during NAU women’s basketball practice Nov. 7. Max Mascolo | The Lumberjack

Lucero and junior forward Kaleigh Paplow will bring back leadership as they are two of the team captains and lend experience to an almost brand-new roster. Lucero led the team in scoring at 14.8 per game, and Paplow averaged 8.6 points and 6.7 rebounds per game.

Between Lucero’s knack for getting to the free-throw line — 4.2 free throws per game — and Paplow’s ability to score inside, the two can fit into Payne’s fast-paced offensive system.

Payne said at media day that the team has started to grasp the new system and has gotten more comfortable with it as the season nears.

As much as Payne emphasizes offense, her assistant coach Kellee Barney preached the values of improving on the defensive end. Barney said playing defense is the start to being a great transition team. To be that team, the first thing that must be done is to control the glass to even have the chance for a transition opportunity.

Payne and Barney have a flair for excitement they hope will impact the program, something Lucero said hasn’t been around the last two years. Payne brings a charismatic style of coaching to a team hungry for success, while Barney is the type of defensive mind to succeed with an offensive-minded coach.

“We are really trying to get them to open up and communicate with each other, especially on the defensive end,” said Barney. “No matter where you are, from a defensive standpoint, you have to talk to stop teams. That’s the grassroots, where we are starting. Trying to bring a positive energy, excitement and passion. It’s a game. So let’s make it fun.”

Even with the positivity the new coaching staff brings, there is still the daunting task of the 10 years since the team’s last winning season. To change that, Payne and her staff know what they need to do. The change is about bringing in the correct players and encouraging the right mindset to win games.

“We’ve said from the beginning we are going to create a positive and empowering environment, which also means having discipline, structure, accountability and consistency,” Payne said. “Consistency from us and consistency from them, to really start laying that foundation and building that culture and that trust from player to player and coach to player.”

The first times NAU will hit the hardwood is during a two-game homestand against the University of California, Santa Barbara, Nov. 10 and Rice University Nov. 12.

SPORTS

Heaven shines on NAU volleyball Kade Gilliss

S

omething finally had to give. An experience the six-foot opposite hitter has not yet been acquainted with were thoughts of frustration and disappointment. The cheerful, outspoken and good-spirited freshman was silenced in her hellish state.

Heaven Harris remained quiet in her room when her high school friend and fellow teammate freshman defensive specialist Kimber Kemp came to comfort her. The wide, cheeky smile that was present throughout each of her matches was masked with aggravation. Conversations were short and tensions were high following their 3-0 loss to Eastern Washington University in early October. The match was more than just a loss. It was a testament to the season in its entirety.

The only thing consistent about the team seemed to be their inconsistency. Early on, plagued with injuries and a young core, NAU struggled to find any rhythm. Resiliency was apparent but often led to heartbreaking losses.

Even with what seemed to be a poor performance against the Eagles, the Jacks lost the three sets by a combined seven points.

After falling 22-15 in the second set, NAU rallied to close the gap to 23-21 but came up short. The final set featured another seven-point deficit that was again erased, tying the match at 2222 but ultimately amounted to another defeat. The team hobbled their way to a 6-10 record after falling to Eastern Washington and seemed lost over halfway into the season.

Harris seemed lost as well. Even after putting up one of her most efficient offensive games on the year, there was something that disturbed the 18 year old.

For the first time in her volleyball career, Harris experienced what it was like to lose.

“After that game, she snapped,” said Kemp. “[After] that game she was so upset that she didn’t want to talk to me, she didn’t want to talk to anyone, which was weird.”

Kemp has known Harris since middle school when they played club volleyball. Their friendship began as a rivalry with Harris having played for the Aspire Volleyball Club of Tempe, Arizona, while Kemp competed with East Valley Juniors Volleyball Club in Phoenix.

Kemp knew of her through numerous encounters on the court. Her presence in volleyball was always apparent, and her competitive drive along with a military-powered spike and height of 5-foot-10-inches made her a prominent player in middle school. It was just a bonus that the bottom half of Harris’ hair was dyed hot-pink.

The two reunited a couple years later in high school when Harris transferred in her junior year to Hamilton in Chandler, Arizona. After playing back row to Harris for a season, the two bonded over the sport and were soon best friends on the court.

“We always warmed up together,” Kemp said. “I don’t know why we just kind of migrated toward each other. Her transferring into Hamilton was kind of like, controversy, and she was the new girl, but we bonded so fast.”

22 THE LUMBERJACK | JACKCENTRAL.ORG

Freshman opposite hitter Heaven Harris has been a significant addition to the NAU women’s volleyball team in her short time wearing a Lumberjack uniform, Nov. 1. Michael Patacsil | The Lumberjack

The two letter winners led their team to a 35-8 record their senior season and advanced to the Arizona 6A State semifinals.

By the end of their senior year in high school, Harris was able to convince Kemp to join her at NAU, and now the only thing separating the two is a few doors between their rooms.

Comfort cookies were exchanged the night of the loss, and one of the few instances that Harris talked fixated itself in the back of Kemp’s mind.

“I’m not going to lose,” said Harris. “I’m not used to losing … I don’t lose.”

After each game, the team gathers for a meeting to discuss what needs to be assessed, win or loss. Harris struggled to hold back her tears of vexation. She told the team sternly, “I just want to win.”

And that’s exactly what they did.

The past nine matches, the Jacks have come away with six wins, including a season-high four-game win streak.

Against Idaho State University Nov. 4, NAU put up their best offensive performance of the year, with a .445 hitting percentage in the sweep. Harris finished the final set in glorious fashion with a booming spike that was soon followed by the uproar of teammates and fans.

“I just think that we’re going to keep growing,” Harris said.

“I think that what we have right now, you can only add onto it, and it’s going to keep getting better and better.”

Harris has continued to produce since her arrival at NAU, yielding a team-high 3.76 hitting percentage and is currently second on the team in total kills with 262.

Through her outspoken nature and stellar in-game performances, Harris has garnered the respect of both coaches and teammates in just her first season with the team.

“She’s developing as a leader,” said head coach Ken Murphy.

“It takes a little bit of time coming into a new program, but you can see it as the season goes on, her voice is getting louder in the locker room, she’s becoming more impactful in our team huddles.

She shows every night her best, and I think that’s all we can ask.”

Trailing only redshirt junior Kaylie Jorgenson with a teamhigh 361 kills. Jorgenson is aware of the year-to-year struggles that comes with being a competitive collegiate athlete.

“I think every year she’s going to go through new challenges,” said Jorgenson. “She’s going to have roadblocks and everyone does, it’s just going to be how she handles them. From what she’s showing right now she can only go up. She has such a winning attitude that that’s the only option for her really.”

With a maturing star in Harris, many believe that the sky is the limit for her, including her head coach.

“I honestly think she’s going to be one of the more impactful players on our program going forward,” Murphy said. “As successful as she has been so far, she has only scratched the surface on how she’s going to impact us as she gets older.”