NorthernArizonaNews.com INSIDE
Opinion: Professor Retirement, p 7 Life: Valentines debate, p 12 Sports: Men’s basketball, p 14
SINCE 1914 Issue 4, VOL 98
A&E: Flag film shooting, p 19
Feb. 10 – Feb. 16, 2011
uidditch sweeps over NAU Q BY TALIA GREEN
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A Quidditch player races for the hoops on her broom stick. (Photo by Daniel Daw)
he world of Harry Potter has found its way to Flagstaff. Starting this semester, NAU is welcoming Quidditch to the list of club sports offered on campus. Harry Potter fans across the country have been so inspired by the wands, wizards and wonders that fill J.K. Rowling’s novels that they have found a way to bring life at Hogwarts to their universities. “There are lots of Quidditch teams in the country, and there are even teams registered at ASU and UA, so I was glad when Bridget [the NAU Quidditch captain] started the team here because now I can play,” said Hannah Heivilin, a sophomore elementary education major and
NAU Quidditch team member. Beyond the most pressing question is how exactly the game of Quidditch is played outside of the magical world of Harry Potter. “It’s a lot of fun!” said Bridget Petersen, a freshman forestry major and Quidditch captain. “You’re mounted on brooms that you can’t let go of. You score points by throwing particular balls through a series of hoops. And ultimately, the game is ended if the snitch is caught, which in this case, is an individual dressed in gold that is chased throughout the game [and sometimes even throughout campus].” NAU Harry Potter fans have expressed interest in the sport, and even the university’s sports organizers have good
things to say about the new team. “The Quidditch team is one of our sports clubs, and this is actually the first semester that they’ve been an organized club here,” said Erik Jaeke, coordinator of intramural and club sports and summer activities for NAU. The Quidditch team showed promise even in its early stages; Jaeke said the success of the team’s organization and interest levels was apparent from early in the semester. “We had a club sport expo a few weeks ago, and the Quidditch team had one of the best displays, and lots of students showed interest, which is good for a first year club,” Jaeke said. The popularity of the sport extends see QUIDDITCH page 12
Coconino County Jail helps Andrew Jackson Jihad’s secret preshow inmates learn new skills BY KEVIN BERTRAM & MARIA DICOSOLA
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hairs and tables, projector and screen. The teacher stands at the front of the classroom, pointing to the PowerPoint displayed above her. The students are busy, taking notes they will need one day to get a job in the outside world. This is not an NAU classroom. This is the Coconino County Sheriff ’s Office Jail, and the students here are inmates who have decided to change their lives for the better through education. The jail collaborated with Coconino Community College (CCC) to form an educational program — titled the Inmate Life-Skills and Workplace Readiness Program — for inmates to learn life skills to be more successful
in a working environment. The jail holds prisoners for misdemeanors or until sentencing; after an average of six days, they are taken to a larger prison. John Cardani, executive director of Community and Corporate Learning at CCC, said placing an education program in a jail is somewhat unprecedented, given the short stay most prisoners have in the building. “Typically, most of these inmates are going to be released back out into the community,” Cardani said. “Jails are designed to temporarily detain people that we try. A lot of these inmates are here on misdemeanor offenses, so ultimately they’re going to be released back out into our community.” Cardani said giving the incarcerated a chance to learn new skills might help them find the necessary stability in see JAIL page 5
Before the promoted show at Mia’s, Andrew Jackson Jihad played a secret set Feb. 5 at the Cottage House. Go to NorthernArizonaNews.com for a slideshow of more photos. (Photo by Alyssa Burkett)
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