The Lumberjack--March 1, 2018

THE GREAT OUTDOORS A SPECIAL ISSUE

T H E L U M BE R JACK

MARCH 1, 2018 – MARCH 7, 2018

Online at JackCentral.org

From the Editor

G

rowing up, I loved hiking with my family, wading in rivers and collecting dirt under my nails.

To this day, I still live for the fresh, Colorado mountain air and the soft sound of babbling brooks. Stars always look brighter, and the world seems bigger and more important when I’m in the middle of the woods away from skyscrapers or the bustle of city life.

As a Coloradoan, this was something that was easy for me to learn at a young age. It was easy to understand that the outdoors can provide a certain clarity that cities lack; a clarity seen by Mother Nature’s crisp stars and leaves rustling in the wind. It was easy to understand the importance of unplugging and going outside.

But most people who grow up in big cities have no idea what I’m talking about.

Many have not experienced the relaxing, humbling feeling of swaying in a hammock in the middle of the woods, breathing in the thundering winds on the top of a mountain or the buzz of a jet ski in the middle of Lake Powell.

For those of you who still have no idea what I’m talking about, go outside this weekend. Check out the lava tubes or go to Horseshoe Bend, just for the fun of it.

Immerse yourself in the outdoors, and leave your phone behind.

MEGAN TROUTMAN Being outdoors is so important — especially in a world full of nuclear buttons, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF racism, sexism and neighbors arguing over inner morals disguised as politics. Going on a walk in the woods for fresh air is almost crucial.

The outdoors are my happy place. It’s my reset button when life gets to be too much. My Colorado roots will always lead me to forest trails blanketed with pine needles and brush.

In this special issue of The Lumberjack, we will talk about all things outdoors. Features discusses global warming as a whole and how Flagstaff — and most places around the world — has had the most unusual weather patterns this season, impacting businesses in the area.

While all our content is captivating, I sincerely hope there is a bigger takeaway for you readers.

I hope you read the issue front to back outside in a hammock. Bring a reusable to-go cup of hot chocolate (or iced tea, depending on the whole global warming situation). Read the issue under the sun with the breeze in your hair. Have your friend take an epic Instagram picture of you as the newspaper-reading intellect, being one with nature.

The takeaway shouldn’t just be that we as humans are ruining the environment by releasing increasing levels of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and slowly killing our species and Mother Nature as a whole. No no, the takeaway should be to put down your darn phone and enjoy the outdoors.

Because let’s face it, nature might not be as welcoming tomorrow as it is today.

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

THE LUMBERJACK VOL. 106 ISSUE 7

Editor-in-Chief Megan Troutman

Managing Editor Lance Hartzler

Copy Chief Emma Helfrich

Web Chief Ariel Cianfarano

Faculty Advisor Mary Tolan

Faculty Advisor, Visuals Jennifer Swanson

Sales Manager Marsha Simon

Print Chief Matthew Strissel

Media Innovation Center Editorial Board News Editor Conor Sweetman

Op-Ed Editor Elizabeth Wendler

Sports Editor Bailey Helton

Director of Illustration Colton Starley

Asst. News Editor Mikayla Shoup

Asst. Op-Ed Editor Peggy Packer

Asst. Sports Editor Quinn Snyder

Director of Photography Shannon Cowan

Senior Reporters Adrian Skabelund Chandler Coiner

Culture Editor Katie Sawyer

Features Editor Darrion Edwards

Asst. Director of Photography Maxim Mascolo

Asst. Features Editor MaryAnn Witt

2 THE LUMBERJACK | JACKCENTRAL.ORG

- senior Khalil Tchenawou, bronze medalist in the men’s 60-meter dash, 2018 Sophomore Khalil Dorsey, middle lane, is cheered on as he races the 60-meter hurdles Feb. 24.

Raymond Olivarez | The Lumberjack

Thank you for reading.

Director of Circulation Asst. Culture Editor Luis Gardetto Ashley Besing

“When everyone doubts you, you get the chance to prove them wrong.”

Senior Photographer Michael Patacsil

On the cover Flagstaff is home to many outdoor opportunities including mountain hiking and biking trails. In this special issue of The Lumberjack, articles highlight life outdoors and environmental impacts for Flagstaff locals. Illustration by Katie Dobrydney

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 Feb. 19 At 4 p.m., three students at Hilltop Townhomes reported that their roommate had made threatening statements and had drug paraphernalia.

NAUPD responded, and one student was cited and released for possessing the reported paraphernalia.

At 8:35 p.m., a staff member reported a nonstudent was refusing to leave the area of the Wettaw building. NAUPD responded, and the non-student was cited and released for trespassing.

Feb. 20 At 1:04 a.m., FPD reported that a non-student went to FMC with a gunshot wound to the hand that had occurred at Mountain View Hall. The injury was reportedly from an accidental discharge. The pistol was seized as evidence, and the incident is under investigation. One student was cited and released for possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia.

At 8:51 a.m., NAUPD received a report of a fire alarm in the Applied Research and Development building. FFD and NAUPD responded but found that the alarm had been set off when a staff member slipped and fell on it.

At 10:21 a.m., the FBI requested assistance in locating a student off campus.

Assistance was provided, but the student was not found. It is not known why the FBI was searching for an NAU student.

Compiled by Adrian Skabelund

ensuing flood.

and staff were advised that they could have the vehicle towed if At 2:08 a.m., a parent needed. requested a welfare check on a student at Hilltop Townhomes.

At 11:29 a.m., FPD NAUPD responded and found transferred a cat that was the student in good health, and found on campus to NAUPD. charged a non-student with NAUPD then transported the criminal damage in relation to cat to the animal shelter. domestic violence.

At 12:13 p.m., a At 10:33 p.m., a student Mountain Line Bus reported reported the theft of clothing that a vehicle was stuck along items from their room at The Knoles Drive. An NAUPD Suites. One NAUPD officer officer assisted two drivers responded, but the student out of the snow and notified seemed to have found the facility services that the roads missing items in the interim. needed snow treatment.

Feb. 22 At 10:01 a.m., one NAUPD officer stopped a driver in parking lot 47 and issued a citation for speeding, displaying suspended license plates and no insurance.

At 2:20 p.m., an employee from the Babbitt Academic Annex reported the theft of a dryer from the basement. NAUPD officers responded and took a report.

The investigation is ongoing.

At 10:43 p.m., a staff member at Sechrist Hall reported a student trespassing.

NAUPD responded and booked one student into Coconino County Detention Facility for first-degree trespassing.

Feb. 24 At 3 p.m., NAUPD reported smelling marijuana in the Mountain View Parking Garage but could not sniff out the source.

At 5:38 p.m., a student told an NAUPD officer that another student had marijuana in Raymond Hall. NAUPD responded, and one student was cited and released for possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia.

At 8 p.m., an RA at McConnell Hall reported a person yelling in the hallway.

NAUPD responded, and two students were deferred for disorderly conduct.

Feb. 25 At 12:45 a.m., staff at Allen Hall reported one resident harassing another resident. NAUPD responded, and one student was booked into CCDF for a minor in consumption of alcohol.

Feb. 23 At 1:41 a.m., NAUPD reported assisting the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office, FPD, FFD and Guardian Medical Transport with the dispersal of a crowd off campus at the Feb. 21 intersection of Aspen Avenue At 9:15 a.m., a professor At 1:15 a.m., an alarm and Leroux Street. called to report two nonin Mountain View Hall went students trying to steal a off. When FFD and NAUPD At 9:36 a.m., a staff bike. Two NAUPD officers arrived at the scene, they found member called to report a responded, and one nonthat the alarm had been caused vehicle parked in a handicap student was booked into by a broken pipe. Multiple spot at the Drury Inn without CCDF for attempted theft and rooms were damaged from the a placard. A citation was issued, criminal conspiracy.

MARCH 1, 2018 – MARCH 7, 2018 | THE LUMBERJACK 3

NEWS

The water treatment center and holding tank at Arizona Snowbowl, which feeds the machines that make the artificial snow on the mountain, Feb. 25. Hunter Weiler | The Lumberjack

Hopi Tribe wins appeal on reclaimed water lawsuit Alex Rapp

A

lawsuit filed by the Native Nations of Flagstaff over a decade ago, regarding the use of reclaimed water at Arizona Snowbowl, has been brought back into the spotlight. A new lawsuit filed by the Hopi Tribe in 2010 against the City of Flagstaff alleges that the selling of reclaimed water to Snowbowl violates the religious uses of the mountain for the Hopi Tribe, the Navajo Nation, Havasupai Tribe, White Mountain Apache Nation and Yavapai-Apache Nation.

The first lawsuit was filed by the Navajo Nation in 2005, and the more recent lawsuit filed by the Hopi Tribe was dismissed by the Coconino County Supreme Court. But the Arizona Court of Appeals granted the appeal on the public nuisance claim.

The Arizona Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the Hopi Tribe on their appeal about whether or not the use of reclaimed water is a public nuisance. To be a public nuisance, “it must allege both an interference with a right common to the public and a special injury different in kind from that of the public,” according to the court documents.

The tribe will be able to make their case to a judge and jury. According to the Arizona Court

of Appeals, the initial decision of the Coconino County Superior Court to dismiss the tribe’s complaint has been reversed because the Court of Appeals found reason for their claim of public nuisance, and the case will now be remanded for further action.

Although there have been recent movements with the lawsuit, the original lawsuit was filed in 2005 when the Navajo Nation, as the chief plaintiff in the lawsuit, filed against the United States Forest Services.

The federal government approved a proposal in 2005 for the construction of Snowbowl on a portion of The San Francisco Peaks. The Peaks are considered sacred by both the Hopi Tribe and the Navajo Nation. They argue that the use of reclaimed water violates their religious sanctity of the mountain.

Part of the proposal for Snowbowl was pumping 1.5 million gallons of reclaimed water per day to the mountain in order to make artificial snow for the ski resort.

In 2012, Snowbowl started using reclaimed water.

The making of artificial snow came because the lack of snowfall and occasional warmer winters on the mountain for the past several years. In order to keep Snowbowl’s business alive, the company said man-made snow was

4 THE LUMBERJACK | JACKCENTRAL.ORG

necessary.

In attempt to put a stop to this, 13 Native American tribes and nations filed a lawsuit against the United States Forest Service on multiple claims in 2005.

The Native Americans’ claim stated that the 0.0001 percent of human waste found in the artificial snow was a danger to the sacred land and that it violated the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993, the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 and the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966.

The case eventually was brought to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals but ended there in 2009. The final ruling was that United States Forest Service did not violate any rules of religious freedom.

But one year later, a new lawsuit was filed against the City of Flagstaff by the Hopi Tribe.

This time, the tribe sued the City of Flagstaff for selling reclaimed water to Snowbowl.

The Hopi Tribe claims that, apart from the damage the water could do to the mountain and the people on the mountain, it is violating the tribe’s religion and the sacred role the mountain plays in that religion.

The Hopi Tribe, along with other native groups such as the Navajo Nation, Havasupai Tribe and Yavapai-Apache Nation, uses the land

as a holy site where rituals are held. The groups use water in their mountain ceremonies, and the reclaimed water — used by Snowbowl — interferes with their ceremonial sites.

“It’s conflicting between recreation and religion. If you know it’s affecting someone’s religion, is it appropriate?” said applied indigenous studies professor Gavin Healey.

Healey has an extensive knowledge in American-Indian studies.

Because of the claim that the water does more than just affect the general public, the Hopi Tribe has a case different from the one made by the Navajo Nation more than a decade ago.

Although the lawsuit has been in the works since 2010, the Hopi Tribe offered to settle the case with the city if a filter to help with the reclaimed water was built.

Although this idea was sparked during the process of the lawsuit, the negotiations were dropped and the lawsuit remains.

If the Hopi Tribe wins the lawsuit against the City of Flagstaff, there could be serious implications for Snowbowl.

Snowbowl did not respond for a request to comment.

NEWS

Flagstaff recreation project faces uncertain future Owen Sexton

T

he fate of the Flagstaff Open Space, Parks and Recreation (FOSPR) program is in limbo after Flagstaff City Council voted to push discussion to a later date, one that would be too late to have it added to the ballot.

The current FOSPR program proposal includes plans for 13 park and trail projects in the Flagstaff area, including the expansion of Buffalo Park, a new bike and pedestrian bridge on Cedar Avenue, further expanding the Flagstaff Urban Trail System in the McMillan Mesa area and a new annex building at Thorpe Park that will include a wildlife viewing area and a community garden.

The campaign, led by Charles Hammersley, the city’s parks and recreation management program coordinator, submitted their petition to get the proposal on the local 2018 ballot at the Feb. 6 city council meeting. While it did receive enough votes from council at their Feb. 20 meeting to be put on the Future Agenda Item Request (FAIR) list, they failed to receive the number of votes required for the program to be prioritized on the FAIR list.

Two votes was the minimum needed to be put on the FAIR list, and councilmembers Eva Putzova and Jim McCarthy voted for the proposal, Hammersley said in an email. Hammersley and the FOSPR campaign were hoping for four votes from the council, which would have made it a priority, guaranteeing that Flagstaff City Council would discuss and vote on it before the deadline for propositions to be added to the November 2018 election.

It is now unclear whether council will review it and vote on it again in time to get FOSPR on the ballot.

FOSPR seeks to fund these projects, like new tennis and basketball courts, by raising the sales tax in Flagstaff by one-eighth of a cent and by state and federal grants that will match revenue generated by the sales tax, according to their website.

“We received two votes from Eva Putzova and Jim McCarthy, so we are on the FAIR list but have no idea when we may come before the city council again,” said Hammersley.

Hammersley said other councilmembers brought up issues regarding the campaign’s lack of interaction with city staff, as the campaign members created the 13 projects included in the proposal, as a problem. They also raised concerns with the lack of maintenance expenses in the proposal.

Hammersley argued that despite not having worked with the city yet, he and the rest of the FOSPR organizers were prepared to start working with city staff as soon as the proposal was on the 2018 ballot. The reason they had not made an active attempt to work with the city is because they were previously directed not to.

Hammersley said former City Manager Josh Copley explained to FOSPR organizers last year that city staff could not have reviewed the proposal until it had been approved by city council for the ballot. While city council takes the position that the proposal is incomplete and not ready to be put on the ballot, Hammersley said it was Copley’s direction, not a lack of research or diligence while creating the proposal, that led to the shortcomings city council pointed out.

“We were told by Josh Copley ... almost a year ago, that city staff could not work with us until the city council accepted the FOSPR petition to put the issue on the November ballot,”

Many families came to Thorpe Park Feb. 25 for outdoor snow activities after two days of snowfall. Yuanchen Bao | The Lumberjack

Hammersly said. “Then city staff would be able to begin their review. We have always anticipated working with the City Parks and Recreation and Planning staff on reviewing and fine-tuning the FOSPR projects.”

Emily Melhorn, Friends of Flagstaff’s Future vice president, spoke to city council at their Feb. 6 meeting when the FOSPR campaign officially submitted their petition to get FOSPR on the November ballot. Even though the organizers had not yet spoken with city staff concerning their proposals, she explained why the proponents of it wanted FOSPR on the ballot.

“The 13 projects proposed for FOSPR are the result of five public meetings and 91 additional meetings with community members about the park and recreational needs of this community. As our population grows, we need to continue to provide recreational opportunities for the growth of population,” said Melhorn at the Feb. 6 city council meeting.

Flagstaff City Clerk Elizabeth Burke said FOSPR has now been put in the city council’s working calendar. However, it will not be up for discussion again until August, which will be too late to get it on the November ballot.

There is some action that those who support FOSPR can take. According to the Arizona Daily Sun, Burke said the

campaigners can still start an initiative petition so long as it is completed before July.

“The FOSPR group still has the opportunity to circulate an initiative petition and file it before the first part of July. Otherwise, the FOSPR petition will be discussed in August 2018 and at that time the council could decide to take no further action, or they could take further action at that time,” said Burke according to the Arizona Daily Sun. An initiative petition is not all the FOSPR organizers are doing. Hammersley said he, along with the FOSPR Steering Committee, are looking to meet with city council to explore other options although no official meetings have been scheduled yet.

“The FOSPR Steering Committee is seeking meetings with the Mayor and/or councilmembers to explore our options and opportunities to move FOSPR forward,” Hammersley said.

The proposed expansions have been spurred by Flagstaff’s own growth and predicted growth. The FOSPR website claims that by 2030, Flagstaff’s population will have reached 103,000 people. This doesn’t come close to the local government’s projection. In 2016, the Flagstaff Regional Plan predicted that by 2030, Flagstaff will have over 116,000 residents between the metropolitan and unincorporated communities.

MARCH 1, 2018 – MARCH 7, 2018 | THE LUMBERJACK 5

NEWS

Lawsuit alleges NAU owes employee 70K in back pay Adrian Skabelund

A

n NAU employee filed a lawsuit against the university for lost compensation that could total as much as $70,000.

Wendy Tappan, the program coordinator for the W.A. Franke College of Business, filed for her unreceived compensation in Coconino Superior Court. According to court documents, Tappan has been working at the university since September 2013 and has not received proper compensation for some of her work in that time.

Shortly after she was hired, Tappan took over teaching the Marketing 408: Field Work Experience class. “[Tappan took the class as] kind of as a favor for a parting dean,” said Joshua Carden, Tappan’s attorney. “Really and truly, she just wants to be paid for teaching the class.”

According the court documents, Tappan was never paid for teaching the class despite assurances that she would indeed revive compensation for the work and that teaching the class was outside her regular duties.

In addition to not being compensated for the work, Tappan, who has continued teaching the class, may now be the only one qualified enough to teach it, according to court documents.

She has received her salary as program coordinator but not for teaching the classes.

Tappan has consistently asked for compensation for the work and was told as recently as the 2017 fall semester that she would be paid. But after five years of waiting, Tappan filed suit for the money Jan. 19.

The compensation for teaching this class was $5,000 per class, and according to court documents, the class is taught three

times per year. The documents also say she has taught the class every year since fall 2013. This means NAU could owe her as much as $70,000 in unpaid salary.

Carden said Tappan never received any reason why she was not being paid and that, beyond the legal costs, all Tappan is explicitly asking for is the money she earned by teaching the classes.

Depending on what the court decides, however, Carden said the university could be forced to pay out far more.

Tappan did not wish to comment on the legal action but said that she loves working at NAU, especially with students.

Carden said that this case is very unusual but that similar cases are often settled out of court.

The Office of the President cannot comment on active litigation.

Flagstaff area monuments generate millions for local economy Owen Sexton

N

ational Parks and monuments are a staple of United States tourism, especially in the Southwest. In Flagstaff and the surrounding area, there is no shortage of them, including the Wupatki National Monument, Walnut Canyon National Monument, Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument and the world-famous Grand Canyon National Park. Together, these parks generate millions of dollars in economic benefits for surrounding communities.

In Coconino County alone, the tourism industry accounts for 34.6 percent of jobs, with tourism and travel taking up 17,332 out of 50,051 private-employment jobs in the county. This is more than double the national average of tourism and travel jobs, which account for 15.5 percent of private-employment opportunities nationally, according to Headwaters Economics, an independent and nonprofit research group focusing on community development and land management.

Research conducted by Headwaters in 2017 also shows that communities surrounding National Parks and monuments benefit economically because of their proximity. Headwaters looked at trends in population, employment, personal income and percapita income in communities before and after the creation of the monuments.

While their findings did not confirm a direct cause-andeffect relationship between a national monument being close to a community and the community’s economy, of the 17 monuments and adjacent communities examined, all had growth, though some grew slower than others.

According to the Economic Importance of National Monuments to Communities study, monuments do not hamper economic growth.

“Instead, trends in key economic indicators, such as population, employment, personal income and per-capita income, either continued or improved in each of the regions surrounding the national monuments,” the study said.

6 THE LUMBERJACK | JACKCENTRAL.ORG

The setting sun shines through a window at Wupatki National Monument Feb. 25. Michael Patacsil | The Lumberjack

The study did not examine any of the monuments near Flagstaff, but the impact they have on the local economy is noticeable. Being one of the seven natural wonders of the world, Grand Canyon National Park attracts tourists from around the globe.

While the 2017 report has not been released yet, in 2016, the National Parks Service (NPS) reported that 6 million people

visited Grand Canyon National Park, and they spent close to $648.2 million in local economies surrounding the park, including Williams and Flagstaff.

Several cities, including Flagstaff, competed for tourist dollars in 2016. While NPS did not break down which communities received what amounts of that 2016 revenue, with cities such as Las Vegas harboring helicopter tour companies to the Canyon, it is safe to assume that Flagstaff does not take a big percentage.

That is why the other Flagstaff-area monuments are so important to the local economy.

Other Flagstaff-area monuments are much smaller in size and tourism draw than the Grand Canyon but still bring in millions of dollars to Flagstaff’s economy. Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument managed to attract over 160,000 visitors who spent $3.5 million in Flagstaff’s economy in 2016.

Walnut Canyon National Monument saw less visitors than Sunset Crater but brought in more revenue. The NPS reported 152,400 visitors to Walnut Canyon who contributed $8.9 million to Flagstaff’s economy.

Wupatki National Monument saw the most visitors and brought the most revenue to Flagstaff’s economy of all three monuments in 2016.

Last year, 223,200 visitors came to Wupatki and spent $14.4 million according to the NPS. Details included in the reports, in addition to visitor numbers and revenue, are breakdowns in spending, jobs, labor revenue and value added to industries.

These monuments’ impact on Flagstaff’s economy is felt greatest among the hotel and restaurant sectors, both of which account for more than 50 percent of the collective revenue brought in by Wupatki, Sunset Crater and Walnut Canyon.

Flagstaff is a year-round vacation destination, and its natural beauty is usually the main appeal. While Route 66, Lowell Observatory and Arizona Snowbowl account for generating tourism revenue in the local economy as well, the Flagstaff-area national monuments are vital to the economy and are responsible for bringing millions of dollars to Flagstaff’s economy every year.

MARCH 1, 2018 – MARCH 7, 2018 | THE LUMBERJACK 7

COMIC SPOT

8 THE LUMBERJACK | JACKCENTRAL.ORG

MARCH 1, 2018 – MARCH 7, 2018 | THE LUMBERJACK 9

OPINION-EDITORIAL

Sex: As told by the stars

S

ex, if done right, can often be a spiritual experience.

In fact, according to zodiacsignastrology.org, “Sex and arousal have five major parts, the physical, the verbal, the visual, the emotional, and the spiritual.” The first four components sound relatively simple and straightforward. But spirituality? Spirituality can be encompassed by a wide range of things. Among these is astrology.

The position of the stars and planets at the moment you were born determines your zodiac sign, and in turn, puts you into a category based on your characteristics and behaviors. But zodiac signs aren’t just limited PEGGY PACKER to personality traits, they claim to determine one’s sexuality as well.

ASSISANT According to the Huffington Post, the OP-ED EDITOR sun sign is the main determinator of your sexual personality, but it really comes down to the entire birth chart, or a natal chart. These charts can also be compared to a partner’s chart to determine compatibility.

While all of this sounds amazing, can we be sure that it is true? The answer is no. There is not enough substantial evidence to say that zodiac signs have any role in the way you enjoy and engage in sex.

In reality, most of the information you’ll find online about your zodiac sign in relation to your sexual preferences may be useless. In preparation for writing this, I explored quite a few websites that claimed they knew everything from my perfect partner to my favorite sex position.

Most of them were wrong.

Now, who knows, I may just be a very different breed of Capricorn, but this exploration was enough to convince me that being born in the middle of January does not control the way I like to get freaky.

I’m not the only one who’s had this experience either.

You’re in the minority if you’ve never clicked a link claiming to know something about you based on your zodiac sign only to find that it wasn’t true.

This doesn’t stop people from reading about it, though.

Curiosity gets the best of all of us, but this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. If you believe in it, zodiac signs could be a fun way to discover more about yourself and your partner(s) sexually.

If you don’t believe, you’ll still probably find yourself clicking those tempting links.

Regardless of whether or not it’s true, zodiac signs are still fun to read about, and when they do turn out to be true, they can be used as a good tool to get to know yourself and others.

Read up and see what your partner supposedly likes. It may not be true, but if it is, it may just be the cheat sheet you need to get an A. And if it isn’t, at least you got an interesting read.

10 THE LUMBERJACK | JACKCENTRAL.ORG

Patrick Henry High School students hold candles Feb. 26 in memory of those killed in the recent Florida school shooting, during a candlelight vigil at the school in Roanoke, Virginia. Heather Rousseau | The Roanoke Times via AP

The mass impact of gun violence NICK PIJLER

D

ark times came to Parkland, Florida, recently. On Feb. 14, young gunman Nikolas Cruz walked into his former high school, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, and opened fire on students using an AR-15 rifle. Afterward, Cruz bought a beverage at a Subway and briefly sat down at McDonald’s. Police officers succeeded in tracking him down and arresting him.

Cruz had been expelled from the school, as well as other schools he attended, because he regularly carried weapons with him. This scared fellow students who, according to The New York Times, said that if someone were to open fire inside a school, it would be Cruz.

Well, honestly, who would say differently now? Well before all of this happened, the FBI was alarmed by a disturbing YouTube comment of Cruz, saying “Im going to be a professional school shooter.”

To this day, I am still surprised by how these signals failed to inspire concern. Of course, it is hard to indicate danger of this caliber from just one comment on YouTube. But one has to wonder: “Why did nobody offer to help this obviously disturbed young man?” It is unbelievably sad for all victims and relatives to have to cope with the deep pain Cruz caused.

Mass shootings are common in the United States. According to Gun Violence Archive, there have been 34 mass shootings this year alone. Keep in mind that we haven’t even reached March yet. To put it in a broader perspective, in 2017, there were 346 mass shootings. That is almost one mass shooting per day for the whole year. According to CNN, of the 650 million civilian-owned guns worldwide, U.S. citizens own 48 percent of them. Four out of 10 people say that they either possess a gun or live in a house with guns. Not very surprising when you take into account that

ownership of a gun is protected by law.

Being from the Netherlands, it was a huge culture shock for me to casually walk into a Walmart and be able to buy a small gun or rifle. Basically, guns were just up for grabs. Needless to say, guns still have requirements to be bought and are displayed behind glass, but the idea is still very disturbing and frightening to me.

The first thought that came to mind was that children were also walking around at Walmart. What kind of image do adults want to paint for them? That violence is always there to save someone if they feel threatened? I was speechless. The large numbers of shooting incidents in the U.S. instantly became selfexplanatory.

In the Netherlands, gun ownership is completely prohibited.

According to the Netherland police, ownership of a weapon — which also accounts for brass knuckles, butterfly knives and pepper spray — is considered a crime and punishable by law. The only exception would be if you are in a shooting sport, hunting or own a license. According to RTL Nieuws, a Dutch news source, there were a total of 160 murder cases in the Netherlands in 2017, which doesn’t just include gun shootings.

One of my friends was accidentally killed by a gunshot.

Together with two other guys, he was examining a gun they had attained. The gun was loaded, and when it unexpectedly went off, the bullet went into his head. He immediately died at the age of 18. It made a huge impact in our community and left a lot of friends and relatives in disbelief.

The Dutch regulation on guns is one that the U.S. can learn from. Firearms should neither be made accessible for civilians nor promoted in any way. People need to learn that violence in any form is bad.

We can only grow as one humanity by accepting and respecting each other.

OPINION-EDITORIAL

Nature is calling: Answer it VANESSA SAVEL

T

he kids are sitting inside, eyes glued to their family’s television screen. Their parents shout, “Go play outside!”

The kids grab their shoes and sprint out the door, ready to make a river in the sandbox — or a second trip to the emergency room after climbing a cool-looking tree.

Being a child calls for spending time outside. As life goes on, children are destined to spend more time in a classroom or working in a building. Overall, as kids get older, they spend more and more time inside four walls.

But humans should not accept a life spent indoors. Spending time in nature is incredibly important. Humans are a part of nature. Being exposed to it is what keeps the world spinning.

Nature is defined as the natural world. That is, nothing built by human beings. The trees, mountains, dirt, grass fields, sandy beaches, ocean and the view of the sky and the clouds is nature.

It is the living, growing and breathing world around us, including animals.

Studies have proven that being in nature has a positive effect on our overall happiness and well-being. A study called 30 Days Wild was conducted in the United Kingdom by the University of Derby and The Wildlife Trusts to prove this point.

This campaign asked 18,500 people “to engage with nature every day for a month.”

Those who were more active outdoors showed an increase in

connectivity to the Earth, which was a direct cause for subjects’ Although this might seem a bit extreme, the idea of human improvement in their overall mental and physical health. Not disconnect from the planet leading to its destruction is certainly only that, but it led them to care about the environment more. valid. Planet Earth cannot be cared for without humans and not Some people may say that there is no need to spend time without our bond between nature. outside if everything necessary to get by in life can be found So, get outside. Take a 15-minute walk or run through a indoors. I mean come on, how is walking on a trail going to get nearby park. Hike up a mountain or trail. Flagstaff has plenty of me a paycheck? I don’t have time for that. paths and activities to explore. Eat breakfast on the front porch if According to NPR, “Since the late you have one and watch some birds fly by.

1980s, the percentage of Americans Observe the trees or watch the sunset. Find taking part in such activities has a personal way to make your connection declined at slightly more than 1 percent with nature. a year.”

Setting aside time to be in nature This is concerning. Is this does not have to mean camping in the number going to keep declining? Are woods for a week. Not everyone lives humans going to be stuck in built somewhere with easy access to extreme spaces behind computer screens, types of outdoor activities. If nature is not squinting under human-made, easily accessible, buy some plants for the fluorescent lights? house. Plants can add an aspect of nature Think of the movie WALL-E. In to the inside of a home if going out isn’t the movie, humankind abandoned an option. the Earth, which was damaged by The natural world is here for humans human carelessness. This led them to explore. We must find a personal way to to live in a spaceship, where they connect with it. We must learn to care for rarely used their own legs to walk it the way it does for us. After all, it is the and avoided responsibility for the only way for the human race and the planet their home world. to coexist in happiness.

Illustration By Camryn Bowers

Do we really have to go outside?

MARIA ANGULO

W

hen I realized I was going to attend NAU, I knew it was going to be interesting for a number of reasons. The first is that I am from a place where outdoor activities are limited because of how hot it is.

When I first moved up here, everyone told me it would be so much fun because I could do so many outdoor activities such as hiking, kayaking and other activities that I had never even heard of. But, to be honest, deep down I was dreading it. I was worried about what I would do in a place that embodies the complete opposite of things I enjoy.

I have never lived in such an outdoorsy place, and I am not an athletic person at all. Just by running up the stairs, I experience an embarrassing shortness of breath. I am so inadequate at any activity that includes any type of exercise.

When people think of Flagstaff, they imagine it is a beautiful, picturesque town. How can they not, with all the mountains, pine trees, snow and all these wonderful landscapes around us? As such, they imagine everyone who lives here is extremely athletic and devoted to nature. But what do you do when you are not an outdoorsy person whatsoever?

For my first semester, I tried to be.

Then what else is there to do? Even though Flagstaff is wellI went on hikes and spent a lot of time surrounded by nature. known for its outdoor activities, there are other things you can And I hated it. do for fun.

I went to Sedona, Antelope Canyon, Horseshoe Bend and You could go see a movie or visit the mall even though it is another one people called “Chocolate Falls.” I did my best to a really small, sad mall. You can also go to a cafe, a concert, get outside my comfort zone — no pun intended. laser tag at Cabin Fever or a bar downtown.

But every time I did, I found myself suffering I know that some of these alternatives do through it. not sound that great. Sometimes they do I did it because all my not seem so appealing to me either. friends are very into nature. I felt But at least they’re possibilities. that I also needed to participate At the end of the day, the point in those activities and try to do is to do things you like. I am not something new for me to fit in at saying that we should never do what a new place. But there were times we do not like. I believe we have to try where I just felt I was ruining my what we do not find comfortable, but friends’ experiences as well. not all the time.

So, I asked myself, “Do I need Do not feel pressured to do things. If to do things I don’t really feel are fun?” you want to try something new, maybe you’ll end That is when I came to a realization: up having fun. If not, do not feel bad.

I do not have to do it. I really liked that I You do you. If you like going outside, that is great. If could take in all the nature of Flagstaff when I first you don’t, that’s great, too. Just have fun.

Illustration By Dominic Davies got here, but it was just a lot of nature all the time.

MARCH 1, 2018 – MARCH 7, 2018 | THE LUMBERJACK 11

FEATURES

Left: Hikers enjoy Oak Creek Canyon in Sedona Feb. 25. Right: The same picture at Oak Creek Canyon Feb. 25 has been altered using post-processing techniques to raise the saturation of the colors.

Taylor Hamilton| The Lumberjack

Exposing techniques of nature photography Hayley O’Connor

T

ourists travel far and wide to see landmarks they have only seen in pictures. This has allowed the reality of some favorite locations to become misconstrued.

But as many tourists have experienced, some locations are not as they appear to be in pictures.

The increase in social media has contributed to this. Travel Instagram accounts tend to overedit their pictures as a way to make a place look more appealing or better than it actually is.

In northern Arizona, there is a bevy of beautiful, natural landscapes that draw in tourists year round. Some of these spots include Grand Canyon National Park, Horseshoe Bend, Antelope Canyon and Sedona. All of these locations have natural red rocks, which are often oversaturated in pictures.

“Personally, I don’t think it’s an issue. I believe that a part of landscape and nature photography is creating your interpretation of that moment or place,” said professional photographer Everett Hindmann. “It’s not about being deceptive of what’s real. It’s the photographer having creative freedom over what they are seeing.”

Hindmann said he agrees that social media platforms such as Instagram contribute to the manipulation of the photos. However, he said he believes that people should be encouraged to visit the locations and not be uninfluenced from modern photo editing.

Junior strategic communication major Lauren Bradley, however, disagrees. Bradley spent the past summer and fall semesters in Europe for her study abroad program. She was disappointed with some of the tourist attractions

12 THE LUMBERJACK | JACKCENTRAL.ORG

she visited. She had high hopes from seeing pictures, but was disappointed when she visited each place in person.

“I had the power to see places around the world that have been so romanticized by movies, television and social media,” said Bradley. “But once arriving in some places, I felt myself saying, ‘This is not as great as I expected.’ It’s a sad moment because I had hyped up my journey and these cities.”

Bradley chose to study in London, England, where she had visited before. After settling into her new home, she realized London was much different than she had hoped.

“The London eye only looks good on a clear day, and Big Ben is pretty small and was under construction,” Bradley said. “These pictures and reviews I had heard about London made it sound like a city that had endless possibilities,

when in reality it’s kind of a tourist trap of a city that takes a lot of money.”

Bradley was surprised at how gray the buildings were compared to the pictures she had seen that made the city seem green and colorful.

After experiencing culture shock in England, she traveled through Italy during the summer.

“I was so excited to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and it was the biggest let-down ever,” Bradley said. “The town of Pisa was not very nice, and the tower is nothing special. The park area where the tower is, is filled with tons of tourists who are just trying to get their pictures that make it seem like they’re leaning against the tower.”

The staged photos that Bradley had seen on social media romanticized her expectations of her experience. But as she witnessed the overpopulated landmark, she was let down again.

FEATURES

Left: The south rim of the Grand Canyon is a popular tourist spot even in the winter Feb. 22. Right: The same scene at the Grand Canyon Feb. 22 was photographed using high-dynamic-range (HDR), which can create a surreal appearance. Aaron Fortin | The Lumberjack

This feeling of being underwhelmed by famous tourist locations can be explained by the phrase “Paris Syndrome.”

The Atlantic describes this as, “A collection of physical and psychological symptoms experienced by first-time visitors realizing that Paris isn’t, in fact, what they thought it would be.”

Some people realize that sometimes, in order to fulfill their travel expectations, they will need to spend a lot more money than anticipated. Also, they do not take into account cleanliness of the city they are visiting and the amount of other tourists hoping to see the same things.

News.com.au claims Paris Syndrome to be a real thing as well. It mostly affected Japanese tourists for an unknown reason. The tourists thought they would have a romantic vacation, but they did not take into account the large amount of homeless people throughout the city.

According to frechtoday.com, the streets of some cities are not as clean as expected, and tourists often complain of the bad odor. They also do not take into consideration pickpockets.

Paris is notorious for pickpockets, especially in locations tourists are drawn to. Some of these spots include the Mona Lisa at the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame de Paris.

Sophomore communication studies major Emme Holtrop is from Arizona. She has traveled to the Grand Canyon multiple times where she said she initially enjoyed the natural wonder.

But after multiple stops at the marvel, she has become less interested in it.

“Now I have been there so many times it just seems like a big hole in the ground,” said Holtrop. “It is a beautiful natural wonder of the world, but I can totally see how people alter their pictures to make the colors of it seem much brighter.”

As an Arizona native, Holtrop understands how people can be let down by some of the state’s biggest tourist attractions, such as the red rocks in Sedona, and Horseshoe Bend.

“I think people have high hopes from the pictures they see on Instagram, but in reality, you pretty much just drive up to it, and it is a giant hole in the ground,” Holtrop said. “There are usually a ton of tourists there as well, which

can make it hard to get the picture everyone hopes to get.”

Several Instagram accounts feature pictures of cities and landmarks without showing the reality of their locations. They often do not include the hundreds of tourist that make the places overcrowded.

The Instagram account @living_europe shows a variety of cities, but often, these pictures do not have people in them, and the colors have been enhanced. These pictures are also taken with high-quality cameras. These types of pictures can highlight aspects that would not be visible to the naked eye.

Another Instagram account is run by professional photographer Jacob Riglin, who travels to locations around the world.

Riglin is hired by the Instagram account @beautifuldestinations. He uses various photography techniques to enhance the pictures he takes. He also offers photo presets to his followers for a profit. These presets can be used on pictures to enhance their color and change the ambiance of the scenes, which may have previously looked dull.

“My opinion on that is there is a thing of over-editing that can happen,” said senior marketing major Franchesca Kent. “But I feel like with location photos, it all depends on the weather and time of day it was all taken, and sometimes they just use Photoshop to emphasize certain aspects of the photos and not necessarily make it look different than it was when tourists go.”

Photographers and visitors of national parks and tourist attractions have different opinions behind high-dynamic-range photo editing. Some see it as a way for photographers to be creative, while others think it is a way to trick tourists into thinking a place looks a certain way when in reality it looks vastly different.

While some travelers still marvel at the scenes that popular tourist spots such as the Grand Canyon can offer, others learn that their expectations of these locations have been distorted due to over-edited photos. While experiencing some of the wonders of the world, it is best to understand that photos on the internet may not be what they advertise.

MARCH 1, 2018 – MARCH 7, 2018 | THE LUMBERJACK 13

FEATURES

A winter warmer land Jerod Didway

W

hether people love to laugh and play in the snow or stay inside away from it, it is important to understand how good snowfall can be for Flagstaff. From hospitality and restaurants, to retail and recreation, many of Flagstaff’s businesses rely on an influx of winter visitors during the snow season to keep their businesses running until spring. In what has become one of the driest winter seasons on record, some local businesses are feeling its effect.

A winter-advisory warning flashed ironically across a flatscreen television on the wall of The Courtyard By Marriott’s hotel lobby.

In what was one of the first snow storms of 2018, a warning went out to expect up to 2 to 3 inches of snowfall for the afternoon of Monday Feb. 19.

“I can tell you right away that hotel occupancy as a whole in Flagstaff is down 7 percent across all the hotels, which I think is a pretty decent percentage to be down,” said Sarah White, the Courtyard by Marriott sales director.

“We started offering a Snowbowl package last year in December, and this year we had to wait till the first weeks of January to start selling since there wasn’t any snow. At least now with these small storms coming in, people will be coming up for the weekends.”

Those storms provided precipitation for Flagstaff well into February but have so far been the first snow to accumulate in 2018.

“I’ve never seen it where it’s this dry. Like December and January where we were in the 60s you know? It’s unusual,” said Ulibarri’s Barber Shop owner, Herman Ulibarri, as his clippers buzzed. “A lot of these businesses, like motels and restaurants, they hurt you know, when the skiers don’t come up. They depend on skiers and people who come here to see the snow. I’ve been here 47 years, and it’s really growing.”

Ulibarri is used to talking about the weather outside his shop windows where he has worked for the past 25 years.

Like Ulibarri, many people around Flagstaff have noticed the unusually dry winter that has plagued the city in the pines since October.

“We usually get a lot of skiers coming up from Phoenix, Camp Verde and other Arizona areas, but this year, with the lack of snow, we’ve seen a huge decrease,” said Downtown Diner’s weekend manager Cristina Garza. “Most winter seasons we see a lot of people stopping in for breakfast before heading out to play in the snow, but this year seems much slower.”

Garza has worked at Downtown Diner for almost four years and has relied on a steady but small group of regulars to keep the coffee pouring.

“We have been trying with Instagram and doing the whole social media thing, but with the lack of snow, it’s been really hard.” Garza said.

Flagstaff’s winter season normally begins between October and November and lasts through most of March. This winter, Flagstaff has experienced a late start as far as snow is concerned.

“It’s the fourth or ninth driest season on record, depending if you start in October or November respectfully,” said National Weather Service (NWS) monitor Brian Klimowski.

Klimowski said they have been recording weather data for the Flagstaff region since 1899.

Last year’s El Niño winter ranked 17th wettest on record, with December 2016 bringing over 4 inches of snowfall. This year, only .01 of an inch was recorded. Compare those figures with an average snowfall of 1.87 inches for December, and it is evident this year’s winter weather is not matching up.

“We’ve had a persistent and strong ridge of high pressure over the West Coast that has kept much of the area warm and dry for much of the fall and early winter,” Klimowski said. “Through early January, it was among one of the driest periods on record.”

Mother Nature is not the only one missing the precipitation. Many of the stores in Flagstaff rely on strong winter conditions to stay afloat.

“It’s been killing us,” said Aspen Sports owner Dave Barnett. “It’s affected business pretty seriously. Christmas time was really affected. We need the snow to bring people up from Phoenix and Tucson. That didn’t happen this year.”

Barnett has called Flagstaff Aspen Sports home for more than 30 years. He has specialized in providing Flagstaff visitors outdoor sporting equipment, snowboard and ski gear, maps and trail guides, and winter and summer apparel.

Without a strong snowfall, Barnett faces the same challenges many sporting goods stores downtown do. One of downtown’s newer stores, RōV Ride Shop, recently relocated and has had a tough time trying to compete with the profits of previous years.

“We were just looking over the numbers, and there are crazy differences the last couple years, 2015, 2016 and what we are doing now.

It’s pretty drastic,” said RōV Ride Shop owner Bobby Ballard.

Ballard chose the location for its convenient access to Humphreys Street and Snowbowl

14 THE LUMBERJACK | JACKCENTRAL.ORG

Rich Phillips, owner of RōV Ride Shop, showcases a snowboard available at his shop Feb. 25.

Hunter Weiler | The Lumberjack

traffic. The new location is not as big as their previous one, but Ballard makes a point to provide the latest snowboard and skate gear.

“We had more inventory in the old shop, but even with that, our numbers are way down from the last couple years here,” Ballard said.

Unlike Ballard, some of the other sporting good stores have relied on recycling old equipment and second-hand merchandise to cater to customers.

Flagstaff Sports Exchange has been operating since 2009, and they too have noticed the impact of lack of snow.

“We have a lot of tourists and people from the valley who are coming up to play in the snow specifically, and they seek me out and get their gear here first before they pay full retail somewhere else,” said Flagstaff Sports Exchange owner Katy Peterson. “[The Snow] just hasn’t attracted them this year.”

Not everyone is feeling the pain from the lack of precipitation equally.

“We have been able to reserve plenty of yearround groups, and they are coming whether or not there is snow,” White said, about Courtyard

by Marriot. “But in terms of leisure, it’s been a lot harder because usually Flagstaff is the place to be when it snows up here, and everyone wants to come up. I think this year has been different than most because of our renovations.”

The hotel has been under planned

renovations since early January, during what is usually the prime snowfall season.

“When we got the date for the renovation officially locked in, we were worried about taking so many rooms out of order because we were supposed to be bursting at the seams with occupancy,” White said. “But it’s actually been quite the benefit that we haven’t seen that because of the low snow, so it’s actually not hurting us as much as it would [have].”

Businesses have relied on their reputation in Flagstaff’s historic downtown in order to bring in customers. Some bars and restaurants have thrived even with the lower number of visitors from other cities, while two others have closed this winter.

“It’s been a dramatic increase in percent, between 9 and 10 percent in December and January,” said Mark Greenwalt, Hotel Monte Vista general manager and chief financial officer.

“In December, we made up for it with the bars, and in January we made up for it with the new restaurant. So we are just fine and doing OK, but I think it’s obvious when we don’t have snow what it does to our numbers.”

Not everyone in Flagstaff is a fan of the snow, but many agree the lack of snow is dealing a low blow to Flagstaff business owners. When asked what they would like to see happen in the coming weeks, business owners said the same: Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

MARCH 1, 2018 – MARCH 7, 2018 | THE LUMBERJACK 15

CULTURE

Recognizing diversity beyond race and gender Katie Sawyer

T

hroughout the years, there have been a lot of questions regarding the definition of diversity. For some, the definition only refers to race, gender and ethnicity. For people with differences outside of these three factors, however, this definition is lacking.

This year, ASNAU’s Diversity Week is centralizing around a theme of how the many different individuals and groups make up the term diversity. From March 5 to March 9, ASNAU is celebrating diversity with unique days for different minority groups to celebrate their culture and heritage.

In previous years, the week centralized around a cohesive diversity theme, but this year, the week is split into individualized days where each group can have a platform. This is the first year that the organization has included a disability day, which is scheduled for March 7.

Kat Lust, senior comparative cultural studies major, is the second ASNAU diversity director in the history of ASNAU. Lust’s goal was to create a space for groups to come together and discuss issues on a larger scale and with an audience.

“The whole week is really just about giving people a platform to represent themselves, because I figured that would be better than me trying to represent everyone,” said Lust. “It’s more inclusive and diverse if you let people show everyone who they are instead of me talking about them.”

Specifically, this year stands out from others because of the inclusion of a day dedicated to people with disabilities. Lust realized the importance of including this day after speaking with their friends with disabilities. “[Disability is] something that people don’t immediately think of when they think of diversity. It’s usually a conversation dominated by race and sexuality, which is perfectly fine, but I think that ... disability is something that sometimes gets glossed over,” Lust said.

Despite this, some would still debate on whether or not disability should be included in Diversity Week. For individuals such as Chris Lanterman, the definition of diversity is clearly intersectional.

Lanterman is a principal lecturer in the department of educational specialties and cochair for the Commission on Disability Access and Design. He has been a part of NAU faculty for 16 years and has seen many changes to how people define diversity and intersectional issues.

Lauren Copeland-Glenn and Chris Lanterman, at the NAU International Pavillion Feb. 22, are the co-chairs for the Commission on Disability Access and Design. Madeleine Dill| The Lumberjack

“Disability is a concept that crosses across all dimensions of diversity. It is something that affects people across all backgrounds, all ages [and] all ranges of experience,” said Lanterman, who is visually impaired. “It is what we believe makes for an important thread in the fabric of diversity. Not just at NAU, but throughout society.”

Lauren Copeland-Glenn is the program manager for both the Equity and Access Office and the center for university access and inclusion.

She is the fellow co-chair for the commission on disability access and design with Lanterman.

Copeland-Glenn has worked toward the kinds of recognition provided in Diversity Week for some time and expressed her excitement to see it come to fruition.

“It’s something that we’ve worked for a long time to be recognized as part of diversity, so to have a whole day that we can talk about disability in the framework of diversity is really an important piece for campus,” said CopelandGlenn.

For Lanterman, the representation that Diversity Week offers is a solid step forward for people with disabilities to feel included in the conversation.

“People with disabilities are people.

They’re just like everybody else. I am a faculty [member] just like people who can see are

16 THE LUMBERJACK | JACKCENTRAL.ORG

faculty,” Lanterman said. “Somebody who uses a wheelchair to get around, still gets around. It’s a natural part of the human experience.”

Though the inclusion of disability day in Diversity Week has helped create a platform for students with disabilities, Lanterman and Copeland-Glenn have been working for larger goals over the past few years to create a more overall accessible campus.

Lanterman’s work with the commission on disability access and design began before the commission was formed in 2008. The commission, a committee at the time, worked mainly to create a more physically accessible environment for students and faculty with disabilities. They were also integral to the creation of the disability studies minor currently offered at the university.

“The way that the university has recognized diversity over the last couple of decades has gradually been evolving, and part of that evolution is a result of the advocacy that has occurred across campus and within the Flagstaff community,” Lanterman said. “The commission on disability access and design has played an integral part to that advocacy.”

The commission’s work led to a memorandum of understanding with Facility Services in 2008, which enabled the commission to have direct participation in the universal

design of campus construction.

“Part of what the commission really works toward is a universally designed campus,” Copeland-Glenn said. “The idea is that people access their information, or the services, or the programs that they need seamlessly. So it’s not that people are all of a sudden not needing assistance or help, but the idea is that that’s reduced.”

Now, 10 years later, Copeland-Glenn is happy to say they have been able to enact many changes to make campus more accessible for all students with the help of the Americans with Disabilities Act passed in 1990.

“When I first started it was always a battle to just make sure we were following the Americans with Disabilities Act and now of course we follow that — that’s a given — but now we really are [working] to make sure we’re not just meeting that but going above and beyond,” Copeland-Glenn said.

The next goal for the commission is to create a revised Diversity Strategic Plan and roll it out with the revised University Strategic Plan scheduled for later this year. The Diversity Strategic Plan will have revised definitions of diversity, inclusion and access as well as five main goals they hope to achieve with the university.

“NAU is at the forefront, but it doesn’t mean that we have it all figured out,” CopelandGlenn said. “We need to continue to educate people on campus about what disabilities are, what that means and how to interact with people with disabilities.”

This education starts with events like Diversity Week.

On March 7, tabling is scheduled during the day to help Spread the Word to End the Word. This movement centers around the misuse of the R-word toward people with intelectual disabilities. That night at 6 p.m., a panel is scheduled to take place called Disability is diversity: Inclusion and representation in education. This panel includes guest speakers Chris Lanterman, 504 Compliance Officer Jamie Axelrod and university faculty members Jody Bartz and Matthew Wangeman.

Though this many feel like a small step, those in the disability community understand the time and effort it has taken to see disability viewed as part of diversity.

“If you can change attitudes, then you can change behaviors,” Copeland-Glenn said.

“And then you can change campus, and you can change the world.”

CULTURE

Nestled at the base of Mount Elden, Buffalo Park is a haven for outdoor sports enthusiasts, like hikers, stargazers and dog walkers Feb. 24. Danny Saldivar | The Lumberjack

Starry skies and sprawling scenery Kaylin DunnetT

W

hen looking for the best spot in town for exploring the great outdoors, many students and Flagstaff locals suggest Buffalo Park: the sprawling, lush, green landscape that is roughly a 10-minute drive from NAU campus.

Buffalo Park is atop McMillan Mesa and is most known for the popular two-mile Nate Avery urban trail that loops around the park, according to the City of Flagstaff’s official website. The website also mentioned that Buffalo Park was previously a private wildlife park prior to its opening to the public.

The park was established in 1963 and that the land had been acquired years earlier by a trade involving the United States Forest Service, according to an article in the Arizona Daily Sun. While notable for being a popular hiking trail, Flagstaff locals and students alike claim the park has much more to offer in terms of possible activities.

Flagstaff local Erin Leefers and her friends attended the Flagstaff Star Party, an event that took place Sept. 21 through Sept. 23 in 2017 and was hosted by the Flagstaff Dark Skies Coalition.

“It was really pretty … it was definitely a cold night, but

it was a lot of fun,” said Leefers. “There were a whole bunch of telescopes set up, and it was cool because each person [manning the telescope] was showing a different thing. I went with a few girls from my church, and we were all like, ‘Man, you can see everything out here.’”

Sophomore environmental sustainability major Alison Faller found the park to be a quiet refuge from the bussiness of Flagstaff after also attending the Flagstaff Star Party in September 2017.

“They brought out 17 different telescopes, and so many families got to appreciate the night sky together,” said Faller. “I remember the last time I was out there to stargaze we could find Venus, which was super cool because you usually don’t realize it’s another planet and not just a star.”

Kaelyn Andres, senior comparative cultural studies major, also enjoys Buffalo Park for its beautiful night sky where she believes she has seen most of the major constellations.

“It’s a great location [for stargazing] because it is the perfect distance from downtown to see the stars without having to go too far out of my way,” said Andres.

In adddition to stargazing, sophomore environmental sciences major Leo O’Neill said the park is an excellent place for mountain biking. O’Neill has partaken in backpacking and

snowshoeing at the park as well but was most excited about his biking experiences.

“I’ve mountain biked now for five years or so on a team, so I really enjoy riding around Flagstaff … Buffalo Park is kind of like the ‘gateway’ to a lot of the mountain bike trails out there,” said O’Neill. “A lot of the trails on Mount Elden, which is north [of the park], start in that area. So a lot of times people will go through there and start their trip from Buffalo Park.”

O’Neill also had many enjoyable experiences on the main trail. He and his friends would start their trek at noon and not come home until dark because of the amount of fun they were having.

“I remember my friend and I were going out there … and he did a wheelie for half the park,” O’Neill said. “It was pretty rad ...

I have some good memories of the park.”

For locals who want a taste of the wild side without venturing too far from home and tourists who seek activities enjoyable during both the day and night, Buffalo Park poses the opportunity to appreciate the natural beauty of Flagstaff.

The next Star Party at Buffalo Park is scheduled to take place Oct. 4 through Oct. 6. Further information regarding activities during the event can be found on the Flagstaff Star Party website.

MARCH 1, 2018 – MARCH 7, 2018 | THE LUMBERJACK 17

CULTURE

Zero-waste does not have to waste your time Gabriella Johnson

P

assing through the NAU University Union dining area this semester, you may notice students lining up to insert their used, bright-green containers into a large station that was not there before.

The machine is part of the O2GO program, which stands for OZZI on the go, and started on campus Jan. 16. The O2GO program aims to reduce the amount of waste that students, faculty members and staff produce from eating on campus with the use of the OZZI machine.

The process starts with students buying an OZZI container for $5 at any of the participating dining locations like Star Ginger, Turnip the Greens, Cobrizo’s or Denny’s.

The container is a single-compartment, fluorescent green box with “O2GO” written on the top of it and a latch on one side to close it.

The container can travel with students wherever they want to eat and holds their choice of meal.

When students are done eating, all they need to do is drop it off at the OZZI machine, and the machine spits out a token in return.

The O2GO program is in response to the growing zero-waste movement.

Zero-waste is a movement of individuals whose goal is to reduce the amount of waste they create as much as possible by switching plastic bags for reusable bags, buying groceries in the bulk section with glass jars, making a lot of their own food and so on.

Genevieve Conley, junior environmental studies and Spanish major and co-chair of the Green Fund Committee, said campus dining is a main contributor to waste at NAU, and the O2GO program is attempting to help curb that issue.

“Campus dining uses a lot of non-reusable containers, and a lot of students aren’t recycling the parts that can be recycled or they are just throwing everything away,” said Conley. “It’s definitely making a huge impact on the amount of waste we are creating on campus by just reducing how much we put into the landfill and also recycling.”

Dining services workers collect the containers from the machine and clean them using an industrial dishwasher. Then, the next time students wish to use an OZZI container, all they need to do is turn in their token for a new, clean container.

Conley said the OZZI containers are made from a very durable, BPA-free, recyclable plastic, which can be recycled once they wear down or

Freshman environmental sciences major Yazhmin Dozal uses the OZZI machine inside the food court to recycle her O2GO container at the University Union Feb. 22. Jason Butler White | The Lumberjack

break. The containers can be used about 400 times each.

Utility worker for campus dining Russel Montoya said, along with cleaning spills, taking out the trash and recycling, the new sustainability program has not affected his job that much. His duties now include emptying the machine of the OZZI containers and restocking them at participating locations.

“There is normally two of us on utilities, and we share the burden of having to get them emptied prior to 2 p.m.,” said Montoya. “We make sure that each of the stores have plenty of them.”

Montoya said he believes the program is effective because it reduces plastic usage and waste, but he mentioned a few incidents where participants kept the containers too long.

“Some people do take them home, leave them closed up and they ruin the container because that flavor gets into the plastic,” Montoya said.

Freshman environmental sciences major Yazhmin Dozal said she thinks it is important for NAU to be concerned about environmental issues and that the O2GO program is a good

18 THE LUMBERJACK | JACKCENTRAL.ORG

way to make NAU’s dining services more sustainable.

“I really like the concept of it. I think it’s good for NAU to be concerned about plastic usage. Especially since a lot of students have meal plans,” said Dozal.

Freshman computer science major Rebecca Leggett said she would like to see reusable cups added to the program and more OZZI machines on NAU’s south campus.

“Then you could go anywhere and use the containers,” said Leggett.

Conley thinks the O2GO program can help students feel that they are doing something good while also benefiting from the convenience of the reusable containers.

“I think it’s a really easy way for students to get involved in sustainability. They are already going to these dining locations. They are already eating on campus,” Conley said.

The difference between this program and individuals bringing their own containers to engage in the zero-waste movement is a concern of safety. Unlike people toting around their own dining supplies, the OZZI containers are cleaned by dining services to meet health-code

standards.

“Because of health codes, we’re not allowed to bring our own containers to a dining location with all the food and have the server put food in our container with their spoon or fork or whatever they are using, because it could contaminate it,” Conley said.

Conley is aware of the zero-waste movement, which is usually an individual phenomenon, and believes that this program is the result of widespread concern about the amount of waste humans produce. She said Green Fund deliberately made this program a part of the zero-waste movement.

There are benefits to waste reduction being a collective effort rather than individual attempts, including contamination concerns and the ease of getting a container where you are eating.

As of Jan. 23, 435 containers had been used according to Green Fund’s website. After a month has passed, Conley said approximately 600 have been purchased for use.

Although O2GO is a pilot program, as soon as next semester there may be reusable cups in Starbucks on campus and more OZZI machines on south campus, Conley said.

MARCH 1, 2018 – MARCH 7, 2018 | THE LUMBERJACK 19

SPORTS

Snowboards stand outside the Hart Prairie Lodge at Arizona Snowbowl Feb. 22. Summer Hale | The Lumberjack

snowbowl: past, present and Conflict Cara Heise

N

estled on Mount Humphrey’s, Arizona Snowbowl’s base camp rests at 9,000 feet. The bare aspen trees welcome visitors from all over, and around the final bend, Snowbowl is finally visible. The Hart Prairie Lodge stands proud as it waits for old and new friends. From the top, panoramic views amaze those who come to see. The views span 80 miles in all directions.

Snowbowl opened in 1938, making this year its 80th birthday. It is one of oldest ski resorts in the country.

“It used to be a gravel road up to the ski area until 1990,” said Snowbowl General Manager J.R. Murray. “For the majority of the time, it was a one-lane gravel road, and it was hard for people to get up here. So, access was a challenge.”

There also was not a phone. Changes needed to be made.

Murray has worked at Snowbowl for 32 years and has had a significant role in the changes. The changes included: snowmaking, three new lifts and a new 300-seat restaurant,

doubling the dining capacity at the base area.

Over the years, the chair lifts have seen improvements, and those changes have allowed more people to enjoy what Snowbowl has to offer year-round. In the summer, visitors can do the scenic chairlift, and in the winter, visitors use it to get to the top before riding down the slopes.

“In 2015, we built the Humphrey’s chair lift, and in 2016, we built the Grand Canyon lift, the first high-speed lift,” Murray said. “That got rid of the lift lines, we were known for long lift lines because, if the skiing was good, everyone would come. It was overwhelming, and people would stand in long lift lines because the chair lifts were old.”

There were some small remodels to the Hart Prairie Lodge and the Agassiz Lodge, but no increase in dining room capacity and no real significant change in the size of the facilities.

Winter sports were hit or miss, and then in the summertime, the scenic chair lift ride was offered, but that was about it.

These projects span across five ski and snowboard areas: Arizona Snowbowl, Purgatory Resort, Sipapu Ski & Summer Resort, Pajarito Mountain Ski Area, Hesperus Ski Area and

20 THE LUMBERJACK | JACKCENTRAL.ORG

Colorado’s largest snowcat skiing operation, Purgatory Snowcat Adventures. The projects total $35 million.

It has not always been functional yearround though. It was not until 2012, when the practice of making snow began, that skiers and snowboarders could come on any given day during the season to ride the slopes.

“It was really, really basic and we could not execute any programs because we never had confidence or predictability when we would be open,” Murray said. “So, people would call and say, ‘We want to bring groups up’ and we would say, ‘We hope we’re open.’ So, it was very unpredictable and inconsistent.”

Snowbowl has been a starting place for many people. There are over 500 positions available at Snowbowl.

“It’s a quality of life for the employees,” Murray said. “They come to work here, they get to be outside, it’s recreation. It’s a fun place to be for the employees.”

Two famous NAU alumni got their start there. Mike Jankowski and Phil McNichol were both employees. After moving on, Jankowski became the U.S. Olympic Freeskiing head

coach, and McNichol was named the U.S. Olympic Snowboarding head coach and the U.S. Olympic Alpine Ski Team men’s head coach.

In 2014, Jankowski told Flagstaff Business News, “You really have that great family environment on the mountain that Snowbowl has. It’s more key than you might really know to the development of those future Olympians.”

Snowbowl is an inviting place because it has something for everyone. It has a wide-open area for beginners to learn to ski equipped with two chair lifts and two surface conveyors. There are also black diamond runs for more advanced winter athletes.

“I was only in Flagstaff for four years, and it changed my life,” McNichol told Flagstaff Business News in 2014. “I happened to be skiing with the Ski School instructor, and he asked me if I wanted to teach skiing. It was a dream come true. So began the journey of finding myself through the community and the people of Snowbowl.”

Snowbowl specializes in alpine recreation.

Alpine skiing includes: slalom skiing, giant slalom and super-g. In slalom skiing, the skier

SPORTS

must ski through poles or gates, and in the giant slalom event, the gates or poles are spaced further apart. The super-g is a speed event and is similar to downhill skiing. The super-g course also has gates a skier must pass through.

The ski area provides skiing and snowboarding, but Snowbowl has a significant impact in the community as well. NAU Athletics hosts their NAU Wine and Dine event there, and the Kahtoola Uphill is another event hosted there. Flagstaff Unified School District has every fifth-grade class spend a day on the mountain, and NAU has a learn-to-ski program that has roughly 500 students enrolled. Snowbowl is home to the Flagstaff Ski Club and the Flagstaff Alpine Ski Racing Team.

The community benefits from the ski area, but the benefit is mutual.

“We spend a lot of money in town, we bring a lot of people into town who stay in hotels and restaurants and buy gas and things like that,” Murray said. “It gives you a more quality of life. A lot of people live in Flagstaff because there is a ski area here. A lot of people go to NAU because there is a ski area a half hour away.”

With the help of the new lifts, capacity has increased by 80 percent because people are no longer having to wait in long lines thus enjoying themselves more. Snowbowl is similar to what it started as, but it is also a different ski area.

The improvements made to the area are not stopping anytime soon. In 10 years, Murray hopes to have more year-round activities including mountain biking and a zip line. More and more people are coming to visit the attraction, and the base camp area needs to be bigger. Murray says a bigger rental shop, more lockers and more dining space are all in the plans to be improved over the next ten years.

Snowbowl is unique because it is in the high desert. When people think of Arizona, they think of Phoenix or Tucson, not the northern part of the state where it happens to snow. Flagstaff is at 7,000 feet, and the base of the ski area rests at 9,000 feet.

“I think it’s a real asset to the community of Flagstaff,” Murray said. “The community uses the ski area to recruit doctors for the hospital and teachers, faculty and students to the university.

Having Snowbowl here is a recruiting tool for a lot of communities in town, so it’s special in that area.”

Despite Snowbowl’s local impact, not all members of the community are receptive to the use of reclaimed water to produce artifical snow.

In 2005, the Navajo Nation filed a lawsuit against the United States Forest Service claiming that the miniscule amount of human waste found in the man-made snow would be of a damaging nature to what they considered to be sacred land. In 2013, the Hopi Tribe filed a lawsuit against the City of Flagstaff regarding Snowbowl’s use of reclaimed water (see page 4).

Working out or working in Chandler Staley

T

here are numerous benefits to exercising indoors and outdoors, but it is just as psychological as it is physical. Aside from the obvious ways that one can enhance their physical capabilities, being active provides many positives for psychological health as well.

“In several different ways, exercise can be a good form of stress relief. It has positive effects on the body physiologically speaking,” said Courtney Prather, NAU Health Sciences assistant clinical professor.

There are short-term and immediate effects that are felt from working out, such as the release of endorphins in the brain that trigger a positive feeling in the body as well as some long-term effects.

“It makes our entire nervous system in better shape to handle stress,” Prather said.

“People who are physically fit are able to return to a relaxed state more quickly if they encounter a stressful situation.”

As a result, the body is better equipped to handle pressure and stress. This is arguably one of the most beneficial results from working out, as exercise is proven to be a healthy form of releasing tension.

Brianna Shinn, sophomore creative media and film major, one of the many students that go to the gym at NAU’s Health and Learning center.

“I like to exercise because it makes me feel good and helps me relieve stress,” said Shinn. “When I go to the gym, I feel very empowered and motivated by seeing everyone else there working.”

Sophomore biology major Kenneth Jugan, another active gym-goer, agrees, “It’s a nice break from school work,” said Jugan.

With that said, where you exercise can determine the efficiency of your workout.

Going to a gym to exercise indoors is the traditional and most common place to do so, but may impact you differently if you were to do the same routine outdoors in nature. There are multiple factors that come into play. For one, many are anxious or nervous about going to the gym due to perceived societal pressures and expectations.

“I think it’s an unfortunate thing that people feel anxious about taking the first step towards what could be a positive thing,” Prather said.

Experiences vary depending on what

kind of gym environment that individual may be in, but more user-friendly gyms are popping up to combat this issue.

This concept does not apply to everyone as it is an opportunity to socialize for some.

“Seeing my friends there is always nice,” Jugan said.

Both Jugan and Shinn agree that it is more difficult to workout at the gym when it is busy as there is less equipment available.

When one exercises outside without the confines of walls or a ceiling, the benefits are enhanced.

“Research does show that being in nature, even having images of nature in an indoor environment, causes a calming response in the body both mentally and physically,” Prather said. “So we can translate that to exercise activity outdoors might have more of a beneficial impact because you are getting those signals from the environment to calm down and relax and be a bit more in the moment.”

Prather sees the motivation of exercising inside versus outside in her daily life.

“For me, when I’m exercising inside, and especially for a lot of people in Flagstaff who are outdoor athletes, training inside might be more of a means to an end rather than enjoying the experience for what it is,” Prather said. “Which is a little easier to do outside.”

Prather also claims that factors such as

vitamin D intake, which has been proven to reduce depression rates, can impact mood during exercise.

“It’s good to have time to yourself and not be around people every once in a while,” Jugan said. “Plus it’s very scenic.”

It would seem that the only downfall for being active in the great outdoors is the weather. Weather conditions also have a psychological impact that can influence one’s decision to be active. Even if the weather does not allow for a run, hike or bike ride outside, it can halt the motive to even go to the gym in the first place.

“The weather definitely impacts my workouts,” Shinn said. “Nothing [is] more de-motivating than waking up and having to drag yourself out of bed and into the cold and sometimes in the snow.”

Whether it’s running on a track or on a treadmill is completely up to a person’s comfort level. Prather, Jugan and Shinn all agree in doing a little bit of both is probably the best course of action as you can maximize your efficiency based on what works best for you. Combining the positive psychological effects from being around nature with the healthy impact from exercise can result in significant changes in mood.

At the same time, the ability to utilize gym equipment and the opportunity to socialize also provide positives.

Hikers explore the Bell Rock vortex located in Sedona, Arizona, Oct. 1, 2017.

Shannon Cowan | The Lumberjack

MARCH 1, 2018 – MARCH 7, 2018 | THE LUMBERJACK 21

SPORTS

The demise of junior college recruitment maddy willett

I

n 2018, Phoenix, Scottsdale, Glendale and Mesa community colleges are eliminating their district-sponsored football programs due to financial constraints, according to the Maricopa County Community College District (MCCCD) officials.

This news came just a few days before National Signing Day Feb. 4.

This announcement came as a surprise to many. Last year, a group had suggested to Maria Harper-Marinick, chancellor for Maricopa Community College, to possibly cut the Maricopa County Community College football programs. In October 2017, district officials came out to say that the programs would stay intact. Just four months later, and the football teams are set to no longer exist.

MCCCD officials said the decision was widely based on the ceased funding and national trends. The trends included looking at the 530 member colleges in the National Junior College Athletic Associations. Only 65 of those members sponsor football programs.

Football makes up 20 percent of the district’s total athletic budget, and it is responsible for 50 percent of insurance costs.

The ongoing costs to maintain football could surmount to $20 million in expenses, according to MCCCD officials.

Three junior colleges will continue to play football past the 2018 season, those being Arizona Western College, Pima Community College and Eastern Arizona College. These schools make up the majority of the Western Football League, alongside the schools whose programs were just cut.

NAU uses Arizona’s and other state’s junior college schools as an outlet for recruiting. In the last seven years, the Lumberjacks have recruited at least three players who were involved in the MCCCD football programs.

NAU associate head coach Andy Thompson knows the impact MCCCD schools have had on the Lumberjack football program.

“We had a ton of kids come through that, and any time you have so many kids’ opportunities impacted it’s sad,” said Thompson. “We really do care about all the high school kids getting seen and best opportunity for the state.”

Thompson has grown personally with coaching staffs in Maricopa through recruiting and building close ties. NAU offensive coordinator Aaron Pflugrad also has personal ties and sees the impact in his family with his father Robin Pflugrad.

Robin Pflugrad was the head coach of Phoenix College, but he recently was named wide receivers coach at NAU. “Our heart goes out to those guys because they are great schools, great programs and a lot of great players,” said Aaron Pflugrad. “I hope they can find a solution and keep junior college football rolling down there because of the impact it has had on us.”

The Lumberjacks recruited the most athletes from local junior colleges in 2016, listing six recruits on their roster, at the time.

NAU head coach Jerome Souers expressed his remorse for

22 THE LUMBERJACK | JACKCENTRAL.ORG

the athletes that the programs had the opportunity to impact.

“No one wants to see less football opportunities for young men in the state of Arizona,” said Souers. “It is an experience that is rare and necessary in development.”

The Lumberjacks also started players from all four schools in 2016. Blake Kemp (Mesa), Byron Evans (Glendale), Siupeli Anau (Scottsdale) and Keith Graham (Phoenix) were those players. All four of those players combined for 33 starts.

Kemp became the starting quarterback in 2016 after Case Cookus fell to injury mid-way through the season. Evans recently finished his senior year in 2017. He was a full-time starter and a key contributor to the defense. Graham started 11 games in his senior season.

Anau currently is on the Arizona Cardinals roster after signing an extension in January. He was another notable player for the Lumberjacks earning All-Big Sky Conference first team honors. He also recorded 13 tackles for a loss, three forced fumbles and 8.5 sacks his senior season.

With the lack of transition schools, the cost to play will rise due to inability to provide scholarships. Issues with grades and walk-ons will also be factors that will come into play for universities like NAU. “Well there is a lot of ways the junior colleges are going to play out,” Souers said. “We miss the opportunity to have a two-year development opportunity, and maybe we are able to enhance our walk-on program because there are less scholarship opportunities available that helps us. It will be interesting to see.”

Athletes that don’t make state universities academic requirements and filling rosters with in-state walk-on talent will be a challenge for these colleges that don’t have access to junior college recruits. Examples of these universities are in Colorado, Idaho and Montana. In the past these universities relied on junior college-transfer athletes to be that transition period between high school and higher-level competition.

Despite all the negativity surrounding MCCCD’s announcement, Souers has one promise to make.

“We are going to continue to recruit the state hard and try to get the kids out of the schools.”

Logos courtesy of Maricopa community colleges

MARCH 1, 2018 – MARCH 7, 2018 | THE LUMBERJACK 23