Jericho Shackelford

It is not setting that is important but the mind placed within it.

I have always been an east coast boy. Grew up in Rochester, thinking New York was the greatest state of them all. Never rode a horse, and I still like to think of them as the animals blown about traversing the Navajo nation and others like it way away out west.

“If you did the right thing, you could make it in America,” said President Barack Obama during his jobs address to congress Sept. 8.
Truthfully, that ideal was diminishing nearly half a century ago and withered away completely when Reaganomics led the nation out of stagflation and into recession.

Seven years ago Barack Obama was beginning his prophetic rise out of the hope side of Chicago. Now it would seem his Easter never came.
Four years ago Obama was running one of the most successful campaigns since Nixon beat out whomever that poor sap was in ‘68. He reinvented the political scene in cyberspace and has yet to be matched in fundraising.
If only those months of success could have germinated into years.
As brothers in recession and depression, Barack Obama has been compared unfavorably to Franklin Delano Roosevelt almost constantly in discussions about the economy.

S&P 500 says the budget is a no-go for prosperity, the birthers are banging on Obama’s door, rebels find themselves without a guidance system and NATO finds itself flying in circles above the middle east.

A grand slam can be a great thing but if you’re on the pitcher’s team it is purgatory to see those batters run.

Kacie Dean and Zachary Grosser were chosen as Alfred University’s 2011 recipients of the Marlin Miller ’54 Outstanding Senior Award, one of AU’s highest scholastic honors.

Dean, an environmental science major who, during her years at AU, spent time working on the President’s Council for Green Efforts, the AU Recycling Committee and served as president to Green Alfred has accomplished more on behalf of green causes at AU than will fit into a column.

Rumors were raining in throughout Alfred University about a cancellation to Hot Dog Day’s 40th celebration by noon Saturday, April 16 due to inclement weather, yet the event pressed on despite closed booths and freezing rain.

Varied opinions on the event fragment any chance of consensus on Hot Dog Day 2011 as options on the weekend were weighed: sunshine versus rain, barbeque or Ade, drunk or just plain drenched.

Relay for Life, the American Cancer Society’s annual benefit for cancer research, took place at Alfred University Friday, March 25 to the sum of $3,245.

“All things considered, it’s great. For people to donate any money at all in this financial climate is amazing,” said Relay for Life Senate Representative Eric Hudack.

Another class of students is about to graduate from Alfred University, but not without leaving a lasting impression.

Septaquintaquinquecentennial: the coined word for an anniversary of 175 years, and the term being used by AU to celebrate such an occasion during the year of 2011.

The above signs can be seen throughout the Alfred village and mostly on Main St., but what many residents fail to recognize is the effort that goes into getting them into the public's eye.

Difficulty in dealing with the Alfred village sign ordinance and the bureaucratic deliberations involved with it were the most common observations made by business owners in the Main St. area.

My biggest April foolery, this year, was a joke on myself. Well, maybe on both you and me. In an effort to be vainly satirical I stumbled upon some truth in writing “It aint funny" in Friday's April fools issue.

Growing up, ya know - back in the day, Patriots drank ale and spilled tea. They were merchants, farmers, propagandists and plotters. They were far removed from you and me, but so are Libya's rebels.