3ds Max Z-Axis not working!

[arbaard]

First of all: Yes, I've already searched for the topic, No, i haven't found anything, though i certainly hope this has been posted before
On to business,
I'm part of my schools animation team, but I've encountered a problem which severely limits my productivity: the Z-axis won't work when moving an object, scaling it, etc. Naturally, this has made life difficult.

Has anyone encountered/fixed this problem? Help would be appreciated.

Below is a screenshot, as you can see, the Z-axis is not highlighted when you click on the box. Help pls!