Thursday’s thumbs

Vandals go from cannonballs to crochet-covered trees

Our thumbs and other fingers are still recovering from doing the Hog Call so much last Saturday, starting at the tailgate and continuing time after time in the stadium, including once with ex-Hog and NBA player Bobby Portis. It was a fun day, up until we watched what happened inside the stadium. By the time it was done, some of the more vocal Razorback fans(?) were turning their thumbs down on everything from concessions to coaching.

Let’s be thankful for a week off so the University of Arkansas staff can get busy fixing what needs to be fixed. We wish them well, in part selfishly because it’s hard to hear all the gnashing of teeth over a college football program. That should have been all the more apparent Sunday as many Americans to our south witnessed their homes being damaged or destroyed by a hurricane.

So, no Razorbacks football this weekend. There’s always Arkansas State vs. the University of ArkansasPine Bluff on ESPN 3, right?

Plenty of quirky things go on in Eureka Springs, enough to keep a person in stitches, but the latest yarn to come out of that Carroll County town has us hooked. It seems thieves hate the idea of trees wrapped in crocheted designs. Artist Gina Gallina of the same city has tapped into a smile-inducing form of artistic expression, namely crocheting colorful wraps to go around the trunks of trees. A little more than a year ago, she wrapped trees in the city’s Basin Park as part of a festival, then moved the wraps to a longerterm location in the North Main Music Park. Proving yet again there’s always someone ready to be a party pooper, Gallina and city officials discovered in late August someone had ripped down her contributions to civic art. In the grand scheme of hurricanes and international tensions, maybe a little crocheted tree art isn’t that big a deal, but the vandals who took it upon themselves to be destructive violated Eureka Springs and its residents, who ultimately should decide what kind of art is appropriate for the city’s public spaces. It’s not a decision for an individual to make. The good news: Gallina is already making plans to replace the colorful pieces. Anyone who doubted she would is barking up the wrong tree.

We were glad to hear the cannonball removed by vandals from the Confederate statue in the Bentonville square turned up. Recent debate over the desirability of such statues notwithstanding, no individual should ever feel they have a right to take unilateral action affecting the monument’s placement. And what, exactly, does stealing a cannonball accomplish, anyway? Nobody needs a paperweight that big.

Government is boring. Civic involvement is no fun. Being informed takes too much work. Those are the kinds of things we hear semi-regularly as excuses by people who don’t want to be involved. In Springdale, though, 18 high school students are taking a different approach. The City Council this week appointed them to the Springdale Youth Council, a creation designed to educate and mentor youth and give them a chance to be involved in the community. It’s a worthwhile effort worthy of commendation. Somewhere among today’s high schoolers are tomorrow’s mayors, aldermen, justices of the peace and state legislators. Springdale deserves credit for creating a path for young people to become involved in local government and learn more about it.

Local movie theaters are working hard to earn their portion of the disposable entertainment dollar in Northwest Arkansas. The most recent news came from the Malco Razorback Theater in Fayetteville, which will convert an existing theater with equipment designed to project IMAX movies. IMAX movies are high-resolution displays that can be up to 40 percent larger than standard motion pictures, and they can be an exhilarating experience for the movie aficionado. The closest IMAX theaters now are in Tulsa and Branson. People have so many options these days for their entertainment spending. With IMAX and other amenities — from comfy recliners to bars serving adult beverages to mobile ticketing that eliminates or shortens line waiting — area theaters are making it fun to go to the movies again.

Kudos to the folks behind Northwest Arkansas Community College’s employeefocused Leadership NWACC program. It seeks to help select faculty and staff become educated about issues affecting the college and offers a mentorship program. And now, people who have gone through it — 39 employees so far — are working to coordinate projects in service to the great community. From team building to helping others, NWACC’s effort is a strong step for the future.

Sometimes it seems public employees can’t resist misusing public property. That’s too broad a statement, of course, because there are a lot of honest public employees who act with character. But wherever there are loose policies, someone attempts to enrich themselves at the public’s expense. The latest? An audit of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences showed abuse of state-issued fuel cards. So now a comprehensive policy is being drafted, a wise move but one that unfortunately causes headaches for those who have acted ethically all along. That’s the way these things work, but it sure would be nice if folks just did the right thing because it’s, well, the right thing.