The Lumberjack, November 30, 2006.

              Nov. 30-Dec. 6, 2006
T h e L u m b e r ja c k An Independent Student Publication at Northern Arizona University
Tailgaters
banned for
violation
of rules
Student tailgating
group the
Lumberdrunks
kicked off campus
ALEX SCHUBERT
T he L umberjack
Football tailgating raises
the spirit of fans in order
to create an energetic at
mosphere by the start of a
game. However, because
one group had a habit of
keeping the party going
after the game had started,
several student groups
were given the boot from
tailgating at NAU
On Oct. 21, after the
insanity of the annual Te
quila Sunrise and Home
coming day, the decision
was made by AS NAU, the
dean of students and the
Athletic Department to ban
the Lumberdrunks, a tail
gate party group created to
provide an alternative for
students who did not want
to participate in Greek Life.
Two fraternities were also
banned. The decision to
ban the group was made af
ter university officials said
they repeatedly broke tail­gating
policy.
“(The Lumberdrunks)
and other organizations
repeatedly stayed in the
parking lot after the start of
the game," said Alex Ries,
junior public relations, ad
vertising and psychology
major, and vice president
at the Office of Student Af
fairs. “The decision wasn't
made by a single person; +
ASNAU, the Office of Stu­dent
Life and the athletics
department all came to the
decision.”
According to the NAU
tailgating policy, tailgating
participants must leave the
parking lot and enter the
Skydome at the start of the
game.
See TAILGATE page 2
More criminals outrunning police in pursuits
Dana Felthauser/The Lumberjack
OFFICER JOHN CRYSLER takes Elisha Kerley to his patrol car. Kerley was accused of shoplifting and threatening to kill Safeway employee Toby Mor
gan (left) while he attempted to stop Kerley's accomplice, who fled the scene. After officers discovered a felony warrant for probation violation and a
bag of marijuana Kerley shoved into a crack in the patrol car, officers said he will most likely be going back to jail
+ CURTIS CA RTIER
T he L umberjack
By the time Emi Marie
Hockersmith' was arrested in a
forest near her smoking car on
Route 66 she had caused a four-car
pileup, injured three peo
pie and run, drunk and bloody,
away from the scene and away
from police.
“It’s no big deal," Hocker
smith was quoted as saying in
the police report. “It’s just a
little car accident.”
However dim witted Hock
ersmith’s attempt to flee from
police has proven, more peo­ple
are running, driving and
hiding from Flagstaff Police. In
October, the number of police
vehicle pursuits had already
surpassed those of Last year,
and the trend seems to be con
tinuing.
Hockersmith had a blood al
cohol content of .408, over five
times the legal limit. She was
also on the run from a felony
warrant for another aggravated
DUI. When Hockersmith was
finally hand cuffed and driven
away from Flagstaff Medical
Center, where the three vic­tims
had also been taken, and
was on her way to Coconino
County fail, she had racked up
two aggravated DUI charges,
injury hit and-run and six
counts of endangerment.
Flagstaff Police Department
has a policy to pursue a vehicle
only when the suspect is con­sidered
a continuing danger
to the community. A supervi­sor
must OK a vehicle pursuit
and is held responsible if the
decision causes damage or in­juries.
Flagstaff Police’s policy
is stricter than those of other
agencies around the state and
was strengthened in 1998 after
several families filed lawsuits
against the city for reckless
driving during vehicle chases.
Of the r8 pursuits logged by
Flagstaff Police, 11 have ended
in arrest while the otherseven
escaped.
See CHASE, paqe 5
President Haeger talks cash
Tuition, frustration and goals discussed in exclusive interview
CAITL1IM HOYACK
T he Lumberjack
After giving several speech­es,
fielding many questions,
defending his position on in­creasing
tuition, and partici
pating in a tri-university tu­ition
hearing, President John
D. Haeger sat down and spoke
with The Lumberjack about
how decisions are made, the
pressure he has been put un­der,
and how he has the uni­versity
and students’ best in­terests
in mind.
With the final tuition deci­sion
looming in the near fu­ture,
Haeger said he is under
incredible pressure and hopes
the Arizona Board of Regents
will grant the 7 percent tuition
increase he has proposed to
them.
“At this point in the game
everything is out of my hands,"
Haeger said. “It is up to ABOR
to decide whether to approve
the tuition plan or not. If they
don’t, we better hope the state
legislature will make up the
missing funds, but it is un­likely
they will. They may not
even give us the money we are
hoping for from them.”
The money Haeger is hop
ing for will go towards the
budget proposal for fiscal year
2007-08, which includes allo­cating
more money toward fac­ulty
salaries, building mainte
nance, the general running of
the university and many other
things. Both state appropri
ations and tuition dollars
make up this budget and
any shortages could result
in cutting classes and thin­ning
the faculty.
“We go through a very
long process and use an ex
tensive formula to figure
out tuition needs, but it is
based on the Higher Edu
cation Price Index," Haeger
said. “The HE PI is at 5 per
cent, which means you are
just getting by, so we found
the barest minimum per
centage inc rease to meet the
needs of the university."
SEE HAEGER, page 4
American mercenary looks
for new life after Lebanon
MATTHEW DELONG
T he L um b ir ja c k
On a scorching fuly af
temoon somewhere in the
southern Lebanon desert, not
far from the Israeli border, a
burst of gunfire erupts from
a machine gun atop an Ar
mored Personnel Carrier. An
instant later, a young Arab
boy lay dead on the ground,
his torso nearly severed from
his legs by the high caliber
bullets. His crime: throwing
rocks at the Israeli soldiers
riding in the APC.
is gruesome
others like it, were common
place during this past sum
mer’s conflict between Israel
and the Islami c milit ant group
Hezbollah, said Christopher
Liebe, a jo-year-old Flagstaff
resident. West Point graduate
and former Army officer who
worked as a private security
contractor during the month­long
war. Liebe said working
as a hired gun in the private
sector provided him with the
military lifestyle he loved
but afforded him the ability
to choose his assignments.
However, that freedom also
came with risks, like the lack
of life insurance or medical
care provided by the military
to regular troops.
“As a private contractor,
you don’t really answer to
anyone," Liebe said. “You can
bid for jobs, or you can just get
the jobs outright. But you’re
on your own. It’s up to you to
do the planning from A to Z
on your end of it So if some­thing
happens and you get
hurt, you’re on your own *
SEE MERCENARY,
page 3
Creationists continue to
HEIDI LARSON, JUNIOR astronomy and physics major, argues her viewpoints with
Russ Miller of the Creation, Evolution, and Science Ministries. Miller strongly disagrees
with the theory of evolution.
CHRIS COPLAN
T he L umberjack
PART TWO OF TWO
Creation Ministries, led
by minister Russ Miller, held
the presentation "Creation.
Evolution and Sciences Min
istries: 50 Facts Vs. Evolution"
Thursday, Nov. 16. The packed
Cline Assembly Hall listened
as Miller argued the evidence
of Creationism, the theory
based on text from the Bible
that God created the universe,
as opposed to evolution, the
theory that things within the
universe changed over time.
NAU student and youth minis
ter Brandon Towle set the tone
for the evening's presentation.
“Jesus said you are either
with me or against me," Towle
said. "Tonight we want you
to leave your emotion behind
and to think objectively and
rationally."
Miller said he began his life
after college as an entrepre­neur
but for several years has
devoted much of his time to
the creation-evolution debate.
Miller said this all came about
after a religious epiphany.
“After God removed the
scales from my eyes I saw' that
modern science does not sup
port Darwinism." Miller said.
“I also realized evolutionary
teachings are undermining
the world’s faith in the Lord |e
sus Christ. I now put my trust
in the young earth creation
of Scripture, and have picked
up my cross to do something
about the false knowledge we
are being taught.”
See CREATIONISM.
page 3
challenge evolution’s science