Northwestern State University

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urrent
auce
The
Student Newspaper of NSU since 1914 Volume 97: Issue 3 Wednesday, September 14, 2011 Natchitoches, Louisiana www.nsucurrentsauce.com
Index
Life 2
3
Sports 4
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Opinions
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Alexis ReliIord
hat would you do if
you were literally stuck
between a rock and a hard place?
Would you stay there and die, or
would you make the diffcult choice
to cut off one of your limbs to set
yourself free?
These questions and many others
are what experienced canyon climb-
er Aron Ralston asked himselI when
an 800-pound boulder broke loose,
crushed his right hand and Iorearm,
and pinned him against a canyon
wall in April 2003.
Ralston spoke to NSU students
Tuesday evening in A.A. Frederick`s
Auditorium. He vividly described
the shocking details about his liIe-al-
tering experience, and he apologized
Ior not being James Franco.
Ralston was descending a remote
Utah canyon alone when he became
stuck Ior over fve days with no wa-
ter or no way oI escaping. Faced
with liIe or death, he made the deci-
sion to amputate his arm below the
elbow using a multi-tool containing
a dull two-inch kniIe.
'It`s an honor and a blessing not
only to be alive but to also be able to
share my story, Ralston said.
Ralston wrote 'Between a Rock
and a Hard Place, an international
bestselling autobiography that docu-
ments his experiences in a Utah can-
yon.
His accident and book were also
the basis Ior the 2010 movie '127
Hours starring James Franco. Fran-
co`s perIormances, as well as the
movie, were nominated Ior numer-
ous awards.
Hiking was nothing new to
Ralston because to him they were
like 'Spring Break without the wet
t-shirt contest. Mesmerized by the
beauty oI his natural surroundings ,
he parked his Jeep and rode his bike
about eight miles into the canyon.
Ralston then parked the bike and
continued on Ioot Ior about another
eight miles.
Along the way he met two women,
Megan and Kristi, who he showed
around the canyon`s paths beIore
he separated Irom them. Ralston
declined the invitation to join the
two women to go see historic picto-
graphs along the canyon walls. They
would be the last people he saw Ior
the next fve days.
When Ralston tried to go down
into the canyon path he accidently
dislodged the canyon and it Iell on
his arm and trapped him between
the canyon`s wall. He came to the
realization that he would die in the
canyon since he had not told anyone
about his plans to go hiking. There-
Iore no one would know where to
look Ior him.
Ralston`s original thought was
'Dude you`re going to have to cut
oII your arm, a thought he quickly
shook away. His wrist was instantly
crushed to the size oI his pinky fn-
ger.
For the next couple oI days he
tried to escape the hold oI the boul-
der by chipping away at it and push-
ing the boulder oII oI his arms. He
had no Iood and had slowly become
dehydrated because his water supply
was short. Out oI desperation to sur-
vive, Ralston resorted to drinking his
own urine. Ralston taped fnal good-
byes to his Iamily and Iriends using
the camera in his backpack.
On the fIth day, he carved his
initials into the sandstone as well as
the day oI his (predicted) death be-
cause he was convinced he wouldn`t
survive until the next morning.
Ralston knew someway, somehow
he would survive this accident aIter
he had a premonition where he saw
a little blue-eyed boy run up to him
smiling. When Ralston picked the
boy up, he saw his arm was Iree.
'One hundred and twenty seven
hours later, I fgured it out! Ralston
said. He revisited the idea oI cutting
oII his arm and began the process at
around 10:36 a.m.
AIter realizing he couldn`t cut
through the bone, he used the boul-
der as leverage to break a bone in his
arm. At that moment most people
would be screaming and crying but
according to Ralston he was yelling,
'AHHH YES!
He quickly remembered that there
are two bones in your arm so he pro-
ceeded to break the second bone and
fnished oII the amputation by cut-
ting the nerves and muscles and set
himselI Iree.
Severing his own arm was one oI
the greatest pains he ever Ielt, but he
was smiling.
'I stepped out my grave and into
my liIe again, Ralston said.
He climbed up Irom within the
canyon and hiked until he met a Iam-
ily who provided water and assis-
tance. Fortunately, Ralston`s mother
had sent a search and rescue team
Ior him aIter she had hacked into his
email account and narrowed down
his possible location.
Around the time Ralston began
amputating his arm, the rescuers had
Iound his abandoned truck. II he had
completed the amputation any soon-
er, Ralston would have bled to death
beIore being rescued.
'It was all thanks to her, Ralston
said, pointing to a picture oI his
mom on the screen.
Ralston currently lives in Colo-
rado with his wiIe Jessica and his
blue-eyed son, Leo. The accident
hasn`t stopped Ralston Irom explor-
ing more canyons and hiking, but
he`s always sure to leave a note now
about where he`s going.
He noted that everyone has some
sort oI 'boulder in their liIe and
that his boulder is the greatest thing
that`s ever happened to him. He
hopes everyone can fnd greatness in
his or her own boulders.
'It`s not about what you do that
creates meaning, it`s who you are.
M
W
Photo by Katie Beverly
Aron RaIston speaks of his experiences to NSU students in A. A. Fredericks Auditorium on Tuesday night.
Aron RaIston teIIs Northwestern his story
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onday aIternoon marked
the 'big debate between
presidential candidates
Derrick Houston, Sarah Spain, and
Richard Sharp. The debate took
place Monday at 5 p.m. on the sec-
ond foor oI the Student Union.
Those students that did attend
the debate were given the option to
write down a question in the hopes
that it would get asked to the candi-
dates during the debate.
The entire debate lasted around
50 minutes so many questions
were unanswered. The questioning
section brought up topics such as
campus security, student Iunds, di-
versity and the immediate changes
that would take place under the new
president`s term.
All candidates did their best to
Iully answer the questions in the
time allotted. While they did a good
job oI answering the questions oI
diversity and student Iunds, the an-
swers to the questions concerning
security were rather empty.
Current President Tara Luck
made an appearance and liked the
answers given about diversity and
how student Iunds were handled, but
she would have liked to have seen
more concrete plans in the candi-
dates` answers.
When asked what she wanted to
see in the next term, Luck responded
that she would like the eIIort she put
into building a new Student Union to
be continued.
Luck also hopes Ior an increased
presence oI SGA members around
campus and at events. The imple-
mentation oI SGA coIIee breaks and
social media websites has helped to
increase this issue, but the current
president would like to see this taken
even Iurther.
The candidates` desire to increase
SGA`s presence on campus was ad-
dressed in every candidate`s rep-
sonse Ior their immediate plans.
Also present at the debates was
Ireshman SGA member Mario Fort-
son. He was impressed with how
important the campus and its issues
was to the campus.
'It`s not like in high school where
it was just a popularity contest Fort-
son said.
While he, like most others, would
have liked to see more direct inter-
actions between candidates, he was
well on board with working with any
candidate a a SGA member.
Forston agrees with the push
to make sure students are more in-
Iormed.
Some anonymous audience mem-
bers had their own thoughts that
included more than just who they
should vote Ior. In addition to hop-
ing Ior a more insightIul debate, they
were also hoping Ior a bigger turn-
out.
The debate was not very highly
advertised, and while it hit an unoI-
fcial record amount oI attendees,
only 40 attendees were present out
oI a student body in the thousands.
Student spirit, motivation, and in-
volvement seems to be a prominent
idea in this election.
Candidate Ellie Spain`s cam-
paign motto is 'Putting the U back
in NSU.
Candidate Richard Sharp spoke
very well on diversity and how it
was important to him on a person-
al level. 'I am the most diversifed
candidate up here Sharp said in his
closing statement.
Candidate Derrick Houston ended
his closing statement with his motto
'Teamwork Makes the Dreamwork.
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