Team Ninja protect AR University against pirates
Ok, Ok, maybe it's not BASE related...
The Ninja Stars, Embry-Riddle's first ninja student organization is rapidly growing in popularity.
Moving in the shadows behind Lower Hangar, Eric Robertson says joining the Ninja Stars has been the best decision of his life.
"Ninjas are pretty much the sweetest thing ever. They're so sweet, I want to do like fifty back flips."
Clad in black ninja outfits and wielding bo-staffs, the club has gained only three members in the past year. According to Robertson, the club has strict entrance requirements. For the most part, hopeful members must have extreme physical skills and possess impressive nun-chuck skills.
"If you can't swing nun-chucks, you shouldn't waste our time," said Robertson. "Our members are experts at that sort of thing."
Club advisor Phil Tavistock said he is proud of the club's accomplishments. "In the past year we have won three competitions in the southwestern region for ninja skills. I am extremely proud of the group's skill."
According to Robertson, the club's dojo is located in central Prescott along Willow Creek Road.
Leader Ron Pohnski has been a member of the club for all five years of college. "When it comes to ninjas, three things are clear. Ninjas are mammals. Ninjas fight all the time. The purpose of ninjas is to flip out and kill people."
The forming of a ninja club was not without problems, according to Prescott campus Director of Student Activities, Robert Smithson. "The morning after the Ninja Stars submitted their paperwork and by-laws, I came to my office to find that it had been ransacked by pirates. In the place of their paperwork I found a black spot printed on a page of the Bible. It was then I knew that we weren't dealing with simple scalawags or swashbucklers, these folks were serious."
"Yeah, those pirates were wusses. They couldn't just challenge us to a fight or something, they had to threaten us," said Robertson.
Initially, University officials pointed the blame at a group of students in Hall 3 with a large pirate flag in their window. The Jolly Roger symbol tipped off authorities as Residential Assistant Christian Lane described the initial search.
"They yelled through the window that they were there to bust up the pirate ring and four of the six residents came out with their hands up. No one knew where the other two were but when I walked past I saw authorities trying to pry the lid off of a huge wooden chest. Someone said they heard a parrot squawking."
Authorities closed the case when the two roommates were not found for over a year.
Robertson says the club has been practicing nightly on the Lower Athletic fields.
"You have to be ready for anything and anyone."
