Reagan Hicks Published: March 29, 2006 Everyone knows those students: the ones who just seem a little off-center. They’re usually labeled “naturally neurotic” and others try to avoid any long stares. But as recent research has proved, most of these students are actually suffering from a variety of college induced disorders. Governor Freud of Area 51, said, “These disorders are...
Followers of Flying Spaghetti Monster host concert
Erika Wilhite Published: March 29, 2006 From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on March 11, the Surfers for the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster (SCFSM) will host a concert, raffle and free Subway lunch in the pavilion at PJC’s Pensacola campus. Jasmine Flannery, the president of Pensacola Beach’s SCFSM chapter, said that she organized the event following a similar...

Condoleezza Rice Wrong on All Counts
by Paul Smith Condoleezza Rice has recently taken a job as a political science professor at Stanford University (a position I imagine she was given ironically) and got into a bit of trouble after taking some questions from a couple of students yesterday as evidenced by a recent YouTube video. The short version of the story is that she committed...
Stop Reissuing the Same Books
by Nathan Cooper As a college student, I know I am often strapped for cash, specifically at the beginning of the semester when I have to buy new books for all my new classes. New books are expensive, plain and simple. Used books can save you but you cannot always get them. The issue isn’t that people are not selling...
Hope to Harvest: “Almighty Cheerleader?”
by Ansley Zecckine “Turn to the sidelines; that’s God cheering your run. Look past the finish line; that’s God applauding your steps.” –Max Lucado God, a cheerleader? Doesn’t that just sound a bit on the feminine side? Sure, he can do all things, but where’s the all-powerful, rock my socks off and strike me with a lightning bolt mentality in...

PJC lobbyist battles budget cuts to education
by Paul Smith The 19th century German statesman, Otto von Bismarck once said, “Laws are like sausages. It’s better not to see them being made.” It is Larry Bracken’s job not only to see laws being made, but also to influence the legislative process in the lawmaking sausage-factory of the Florida Capitol. That’s because Bracken is the official lobbyist for...
With Many Distractions, Road Dangers Abound
by Ben Johnson As we all know, there are potential dangers on the road when we drive that could, at any moment, seriously hurt or even kill someone (including yourself). Things like rain, construction, sleet, or snow (not that we have much snow around here), but things of that nature are some things to consider. A good safe driver should...
A Scratch on the Record
Troy Lambert Short Fiction When Tony woke up, it was still dark outside. April was gone, but her clothes, still scattered across his bedroom floor, told him that she hadn’t gone far. When he found her she was standing on the front porch, wrapped in a small flannel blanket, smoking a cigarette in the company of Claire, Tony’s 8-year-old grey...
I Know Why the Caged Bird Screams
Julia Traylor Note: This essay is one of the first place winners of the 2009 Walter F. Spara Writing Competition. In today’s literary world, birds have become symbolic ambassadors of Romantic connotation. From the immortal freedom of Keats’ nightingale to the esoteric purity of Shelley’s skylark, students have been conditioned to view birds as the lofty representatives of a natural...
Laughing at Them, Not With Them
Paul Smith ENC1102 Note: This essay is one of the first place winners of the 2009 Walter F. Spara Writing Competition. On November 16th, 1965, William F. Buckley’s influential conservative rag, National Review, reprinted the Kurt Vonnegut short story, “Harrison Bergeron,” as a prime example of where the ills of socialism could lead, and in 2007, John J. Miller, in...