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In This Issue
February 15, 2011
Staff EDITOR IN CHIEF Andrew Sheeler editor@uafsunstar.com (907) 474-5078 LAYOUT EDITOR Heather Bryant layout@uafsunstar.com (907) 474-6039
The Sun Star Volume XXX Number 18 February 15, 2011 The Sun Star’s mission is to provide a voice for the UAF campus and be a written record where news, people’s opinions, and events (whether extraordinary or ordinary) are expressed honestly and fairly. EDITORIAL OFFICES 101G Wood Center P.O. Box 756640 Fairbanks, AK 99775 Tel: (907) 474-6039 Ads Dept: (907) 474-7540 Calendar: (907) 474-6043 Fax: (907) 474-5508 www.uafsunstar.com
COPY EDITOR Rebecca Coleman MULTIMEDIA EDITOR Jeremy Smith web@uafsunstar.com AD MANAGER Alex Kinn fyads@uaf.edu (907) 474-7540 DISTRIBUTION MANAGER Daniel Thoman distribution@uafsunstar.com ASSISTANT DISTRIBUTION MANAGER Ben Deering REPORTERS Alyssa Dunehew Kelsey Gobroski Elika Roohi Amber Sandlin Jeremia Schrock COLUMNISTS JR Ancheta Jamie Hazlett Jeremia Schrock PHOTOGRAPHERS JR Ancheta Dillon Ball ADVISOR Lynne Snifka
A photograph showcases basic brewing supplies taken at Gold Hill Liquor Store. Home brewing supplies are available in Fairbanks sold at Gavora’s or Gold Hill. JR Ancheta/ Sun Star.
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The Sun Star
This Week Politics A&E CampusLife West Ridge Sports Perspectives Editorial Nerds fighting and people singing highlight the blotter, plus major news of the week.
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ListServe debacle is a tempest in a teapot and this week’s ASUAF recap.
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Cooking for love and all the movie news you need to read
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Brewing beer for fun and credit, life and death as seen through Hatch’s camera lens and the “ultimate” club.
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UAF anthropologist talks about rotten delicacies and the week in science (hint: bomb-sniffing plants are involved).
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Shooting for a spot in the NCAA qualifiers.
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The end of the internet (sort of ) and sorting through vacation photos.
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While we were sleeping, Egypt was changing.
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Online
The painful consequences of a Super Bowl wager. www.uafsunstar.com
This Week
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Compiled by Amber Sandlin Sun Star Reporter All persons referred to in the blotter are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Karaoke night gone wrong A group of individuals partying in Harwood Hall Saturday night, Feb. 5, were singing very loudly at 2 a.m. Neighbors wanting to sleep called UAF Police in an effort to stop the drunken American Idol. All were given a disorderly conduct warning and lowered their voices.
Storage hibernation disturbed
Minor driving under the influence
Between Nov. 29, 2010 and Jan. 29, 2011, someone burglarized a storage unit in Silverfox mine, located 25 miles outside Fairbanks. A snowplow driver noticed the unit had damage to it and appeared to be missing items. The owners reported “thousands of dollars in radio equipment” stolen. The owners later discovered their radio equipment was not missing and determined damage and items missing added up to $500.
On Thursday, Feb. 3, an officer saw a car turning in to the oncoming lane of Tanana Drive. The officer pulled over the 19-yearold female driver. She failed a sobriety test and blew a 0.095 on the Breathalyzer, 0.015 over the legal limit. She was arrested, taken to Fairbanks Correctional Center and charged with a DUI, operating a vehicle after consuming alcohol and with consuming alcohol as a minor.
Curb hopping
Was he playing Mortal Kombat?
On Wednesday, Feb. 2, a 29-year-old woman driver was seen jumping the curb at College and University. An officer pulled her over and noticed she had slurred speech and smelled of alcohol. She failed a sobriety test and refused to submit to a Breathalyzer test. She was arrested and taken to Fairbanks Correctional Center. She was charged with DUI and refusal to submit to a blood alcohol test.
Two roommates in Nerland Hall were in their room on Monday night, Feb. 7, when one roommate wanted to go to a study session and the other wanted to stay and play Xbox. The roommates got into a physical fight as one attempted to drag the other out of the room. UAF Police separated the roommates, with one sleeping in another person’s room for the night.
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Donna Patrick, ANP Q: I have heard that Vicks VapoRub can be helpful in curing toenail fungus. This sounds bizarre! Is there any truth to this? A: Many people with nail fungus say that applying Vicks VapoRub seems to help. There may actually be something to it. Vicks VapoRub contains a mixture of menthol, eucalyptus oil, camphor, and thymol. These ingredients are active against several fungal organisms that cause onychomycosis (nail fungus). One observational study suggests that applying Vicks VapoRub to the infected toenail daily until it grows out appears to clear the infection in some people. This, however, isn’t enough proof to say that it works. But given the high cost and risk of side effects with systemic (oral medication) therapy, it may be worth a try in some cases. Q: Are there any other treatments for onychomycosis? A: Tea tree oil, applied topically, is another natural treatment that’s sometimes tried; however, there is insufficient evidence to recommend its use for nail fungus. Penlac, a prescriptive med, is a topical nail polish, however, it is reported to have less than a 9% cure rate. Topical treatments must be used every day for at least 6 months. They work by inhibiting new fungal growth and it takes at least this long for the new nail to grow in. Oral prescriptive medication therapy is generally more effective than topicals. However, they generally are very expensive, not always covered by health insurance plans, and must have blood work checked before and during treatment in many cases. These formulations kill the fungus so are used for only 6 to 12 weeks but you won’t see results until the nail grows completely back, usually 6 months or so. Recurrence is common with ALL treatments, but there are ways to minimize chances of reinfection: •Wash your feet regularly and dry them thoroughly before putting on socks or shoes. • Wear flip flops in shared showers, spas, and around pools. • If your feet perspire sprinkle an antifungal powder on your feet after showering. •Women should avoid artificial nails and nail polish. These prevent moisture which collects beneath the nails from evaporating. Fungi thrive in moist environments. •Don’t clip your nails too close...this makes it easier for fungus to get in. Sponsored by UAF Center for Health and Counseling For additional information, contact the Center for Health and Counseling at 474-7043 or visit our Web site at www.uaf.edu/chc Division of Student Services
February 15, 2011
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News Briefs Compiled by Amber Sandlin Sun Star Reporter
Super Bowl seat suits A lawsuit was filed in the U.S. district court in Dallas on Tuesday, February 8 by two men who say Super Bowl fans were denied seats or assigned temporary seating that obstructed their views. Steve Simms and Mike Dolabi are the plaintiffs filing this suit towards the Dallas Cowboys Football Club. Steve Simms contends that the Club owner, Jerry Jones, and the National Football League owe him thousands of dollars that he spent to travel from Pennsylvania and for the seat he was denied because fire officials deemed the seats unsafe. -Kansas City Star
A scholarship by any other name Last year Alaska lawmakers accepted a program created by Gov. Sean Parnell to give high school graduates scholarships for higher education. The scholarship was originally named the “Governor’s Performance Scholarships.” The name was changed to the “Alaska Merit Scholarship Program” but now must be changed again due to a threatened lawsuit from the National Merit Scholarship program. The National Merit Scholarship program says they have rights to the “merit scholarship” name. “They had some trademark issues which we apparently were infringing on,” said Eddy Jeans, education policy coordinator for the Department of Education and Early Development. The Parnell administration is now proposing the name be changed to the “Alaska Performance Scholarship Program” in a effort to stay out of court. -Juneau Empire
Former UA President resigns from Alaska Airlines board Mark Hamilton, former president of the University of Alaska, resigned from Alaska Air Group’s board of directors on Wednesday, Feb. 9, after serving 10 years. Bill Ayer, Alaska Air Group Chairman and Chief Executive Officer said, “Mark brought valuable perspective to our board as a resident of our namesake state, and his insights helped Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air navigate one of the most challenging decades this industry has ever faced.” Although Hamilton has resigned from the Alaska Air Group’s board, he will continue to serve on Alaska Airlines’ Community Advisory Board. -Seattle P-I
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February 15, 2011
Politics
ASUAF Weekly Update
Nookraker
Life’s a ListServe and then you die
Jeremia Schrock Sun Star Reporter
Jeremia Schrock Sun Star Reporter On Feb. 2, John White, an employee of Doyon Security Services, emailed Jennifer Ward, the VA coordinator for financial aid. White had a question regarding his taxes; a perfectly innocuous thing considering springtime is also tax time. The only difference was instead of emailing just Ward he sent his out email over the entire ASUAF ListServe. What exactly is the ListServe? The ListServe is the primary means of communication between ASUAF and the student body. You send an email out over the ListServe and everyone on it gets the message. Everyone. Within hours half-a-dozen members of the ListServe responded to White’s email, arguing that the message now inhabiting their inboxes had no place being sent out over the server. A common complaint about the email was that ASUAF was abusing its own server. One woman wrote that receiving such emails made her think poorly about ASUAF, and added that she was sure others felt the same. Ultimately, members of both the senate and the executive branch of ASUAF responded to the emails in an attempt to curb the exchange. While I’m sure others do take issue with ASUAF for one reason or another, the email that started the subsequent chain reaction of explosive bile and disgust was not sent out by a member of ASUAF. A government contractor with a legitimate question accidentally mass emailed his tax question to the members of the ListServe. As it stands, such an exchange is not the fault of ASUAF. “It was just an error and that happens,” said Sabra Phillips, ASUAF’s Executive Officer. Phillips has been moderating the ListServe for the better part of the past decade and feels that the negative sentiment behind the recent email exchange is misplaced. ASUAF Vice President Mari Freitag agrees. “The whole situation has been blown out of proportion,” said Freitag, adding that mass emails like the recent one occur once or twice a year. For Freitag, these exchanges are not necessarily abuses and are not “as big a deal as people are making
The Sun Star
it out to be.” What’s important for Freitag is that the ListServe remain an open forum. ASUAF President Nicole Carvajal shares the same feelings, calling the ListServe “an email signboard.” Oddly enough, the ListServe has no official guidelines and anyone can be added to it, not just ASUAF members. The only protocol that does exist, and which Phillips uses to moderate the server, is the University of Alaska’s Acceptable Use of Online Resources which states that an individual is prohibited from using “list serves or mailing lists...in a manner inconsistent with or disruptive of University business.” Since the ListServe was created by ASUAF, Phillips said, it has the ability to create a list of rules to govern its use. Freitag, however, was unaware that the senate could govern the ListServe. Carvajal, too, informed me that while ASUAF can recommend someone be removed, the decision ultimately lay in the hands of the server’s staff moderator (Phillips). While there is nothing in the ASUAF bylaws about governing the ListServe, it is, according to Phillips, within the body’s jurisdiction to do so. While Freitag doesn’t believe that the senate will pass laws regulating the ListServe anytime soon, she remains apprehensive about the senate’s role in potentially governing the server. The first step, she says, is to “educate the senate about its use.” This exchange, between disgruntled ListServe members and ASUAF employees, is an old fight over what exactly the ListServe should be used for. Ryan Duffy, the ASUAF senate chair, said it best: “The ASUAF list serve is a public list serve and everyone is welcome on it. It is not only for Senators or Executives...someone made [an] obvious mistake, people complain about messages being sent over the ASUAF list serve by sending messages over [the] ASUAF list serve.” Jeremia gives his opinion on university, state and national issues in the Nookraker: a weekly political column which tackles issues relevant to Nanooks both at home and abroad.
RISE update Heather Currey updated the senate on the progress of several RISE board projects including a bike loan program and the installation of water bottle filling stations in the Wood Center and MBS. ASUAF needs computers The Internal Affairs Committee stated that they planned to purchase eight additional computers for the ASUAF office. Weingarth removed Senator Stefan Weingarth was removed from the senate due to absenteeism. Polar Express card legislation SB 176-006 has been sent to the University Relations Committee. This senate bill would allot $500 to replace 50 damaged Polar Express cards. Alternative Spring Break legislation This senate bill (SB 176-007) would provide an additional $1,750 for the Alternative Spring Break trip this semester.
Workshop legislation This legislation (SB 176-008) would allot $450 to Steven Kibler for his on-going system workshop project. It passed by a vote of 8-0-1. Juneau legislation SB 176-009 will allocate $1,400 from the Senate Projects fund to enable Senator Josh Cooper and student Monica Kunat to attend ASUAF’s yearly lobbying trip to Juneau. It passed by a vote of vote of 6-0-3. Executive session concerns Senator Jennifer Chambers moved to put the senate into an executive session. Tom Hewitt stated that according to the state of Alaska’s Open Meetings Act the senate could not move into an executive session without advanced notice and without stating their reasons why. The session concerned SB 176009 and was ultimately held. Sun Star Publication Board The Publication Board will meet on Thursday (Feb. 17) at 2 p.m. in the Sun Star office (101 G in the Wood Center).
Campus Life
www.uafsunstar.com
February 15, 2011
The best and the worst
A&E Briefs
Hatch lecture covers conflict, humanity
Compiled by Elika Roohi Sun Star Reporter
Ben Deering Sun Star Reporter
Many forms of media have covered the idea and concept of war and the soldiers who fight them. Often left out are details about the families of these soldiers. On Feb. 8, Cheryl Hatch, the current Snedden Chair of the journalism department, gave a lecture called “The Costs of Conflict: A Personal Journey.” It was an introspective look at the costs and effects of war and conflict on those in the middle of a war zone. Not only are women and children caught in the middle of conflict, but also journalists. Some of whom have lived there for years. Hatch’s credentials are extensive. Over the course of her decades-long career, she visited Egypt, Somalia, Liberia, Mozambique, Yemen, Iraq during the first Gulf War, and Eritrea. Most of those countries were visited during times of war. She has never been embedded, or attached, to an army unit. As an unembedded photographer, Hatch had greater freedom to move around and tell the stories she wanted to tell. That came at a cost of great expense and personal danger though. Hatch is the fifth Snedden chair. Brian O’Donoghue, chair of the journalism department, said that Hatch, the first female Snedden Chair, was a welcome change of pace.
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The lecture itself, a combination of speech and photography, exhibited some of the most chilling and brutal photos of war, and the consequences for the civilian side. Interspersed throughout the slideshow were pictures that Hatch felt conveyed the humanity that can be found in even the darkest places. Hatch said she pursued her career in war photography mostly because she grew up in the presence of war. “My father was going to war, returning from war, and not speaking of the war,” she said. “[I was] trying to earn my dad’s respect, as he’s a soldier. [It Cheryl Hatch, the 2010-2011 Snedden chair, answers questions during a Q&A section of her presentation. The Cost of Conflict: A Personal was] something he can relate to.” Journey had an audience of about 60 people Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2011. Hatch said she had a “desire to test Heather Bryant/Sun Star. myself, challenge myself. [But I] didn’t really know what I was With Hatch’s help, Leah was able to go to getting into.” college to become an elementary school After coming back to the United States, teacher. Hatch established a non-profit foundation, Hatch said that after spending a decade called the Isis Initiative, to send women to covering war and atrocity, helping others college. Hatch talked about the first recip- through her initiative was the best way for ient, a young woman, Leah, whom Hatch her to make a difference. had met while in the Philippines.
Cooking while looking for love If you are a chef looking for love, you might want to look for another chef. Women like men who can cook, but chefs tend to put in 12- to 16-hour work days, six days per week. The hours are hard, said Kerilyn Russo in an interview with the Washington Post. She is an interior designer. Her husband, Peter Russo, is a chef. This is sometimes hard on their marriage, but Kerilyn Russo said they make it work. She is the creator of marriedtoachef.com, a website that works as a support system and network for those who are missing their spouse while they are in the kitchen. -The Washington Post
Movie characters to remember 2010 was the end of a great decade of movies. Here are a couple of the most enduring characters spied over the last 10 years. 2002 saw the beginning of the Jason Bourne trilogy. In 2003, there was Captain Jack Sparrow. In 2004, there was Jesus in “The Passion of the Christ.” Then there was Heath Ledger’s Joker in “The Dark Knight” in 2008. Most recently, in 2010, Mark Zuckerberg, the creator of Facebook, your favorite way to procrastinate, came to the big screen, played by Jesse Eisenberg in “The Social Network.” -The Chicago Tribune
New movie “The Roommate” falls short
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Many students have dealt with having a roommate. Hopefully their experience didn’t turn out the way the new movie “The Roommate” did. Sara, played by Minka Kelly, shows up to college ready to study fashion design. Rebecca, played by Leighton Meester, is her roommate, who seems friendly at first. As the movie progresses, Rebecca begins to show her true colors as a crazy person. “The Roommate” is somewhat of a wannabe thriller, according to Entertainment Weekly. But those of you who’ve had problems with roommates in the past might want to check it out just to remind yourself it really wasn’t all that bad. -Entertainment Weekly
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Campus Life
February 15, 2011
The Sun Star
Beer on a canvas
Homebrew transforms libations into art Kelsey Gobroski Sun Star Reporter Trev Mostella peers into the brew pot at its contents. He’s stuffed a scrubbing brush alongside snack bags of dried green flowers and powdery malted grain. It’s half an hour before his students get their first shot at brewing beer. “Trev thinks beer making is more an art than a science … so he sort of crafts the class that way,” said Steph Walden, a photojournalism senior. Mostella started “Introduction to Zymurgy: Understanding Brewing and Fermentation” in 2004. Students from a variety of majors filter into the Hutchison Institute of Technology every semester to learn about beer brewing. At least a third of the class comes from outside UAF. According to Mostella, students often attend to fill a credit or relax while brewing for a few hours. “It’s like, my chill class,” Walden said. Mostella designed the course to be lowkey. There’s no homework. Budding homebrewers try their hand at patience, experimentation and appreciation. Mostella tells students “don’t drink for the effect, drink for the quality.” The introductory class is only six weeks long, but the intermediate course follows on its heels. Mostella focuses on beer brewing, but zymurgy includes anything with yeast, he said. The class concocted a simple brew their second week; “like starting a baking class with a boxed brownie mix,” said Blake Eggemeyer, a computer science senior. Mostella pulls out a brew pot. Step one: boil water. “Somebody want to fill it?” he asks. “Get it on the stove and turn it on.” A few homebrew enthusiasts dot the UAF campus, such as Scott Stihler, who works for the Alaska Volcano Observatory at the Geophysical Institute. He also hosts the informative Alaska Beer and Brewing page
on his website, www.mosquitobytes.com. Hal Tippens founded the now-defunct Raven’s Ridge brewery when he was a graduate student in the ’90s. Tippens also worked at the Geophysical Institute. Originally, he gave his inadequate batches away to free up bottles Stihler said. Stihler was one of those unlucky recipients, which contributed to a brief distaste for homebrew. When wedding guests got a taste of Tippens’ better brews, the positive response solidified his aspirations to start a brewery. Nowadays, Brewing since high school, Trev Mostella peers into the brew pot before class Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2011. Mostella is the instructor for “Introduction to Zymurgy: Stihler can list off about 10 Understanding Brewing and Fermentation” he started in 2004. JR Ancheta/ people at the university who Sun Star homebrew. On-campus students are not allowed draw up to 25 people, with a regular core of to brew. Because homebrewing requires 10 to 12 people, Mostella said. large unmarked containers, these “open Every July, Zymurgists Borealis hosts an source containers” are lumped in with kegs annual homebrew competition. The $500 on UAF’s prohibited list. Jamie Napolski, a first prize draws entries from out-of-state. Residence Life employee of 15 years, said Because of the high cost of shipping, the people haven’t complained about the rules brews from outside Alaska are likely to be suffocating their homebrewing passions. high quality, Stihler said. In contrast, some Off-campus students have more reign over local hobbyists might enter their brews to a brewing hobby, as long as they don’t sell receive critiques on their technique, he said. their creations. “This is DME. Dry malt extract,” MoThis brings us to step two: sanitation. stella said, pulling out a bag of powder. “What’s with the grody jar?” asked Julie Step three: add starch. Wegner, culinary arts administrative assisGrains are called malt when they sprout tant, when she saw the carboy, a glass con- before drying, according to the Brew Your tainer used in fermentation. Own magazine’s website. The class also To show how well their caustic works, added hops, flowers that provide a distincMostella explained. Homebrew blended tive aroma and bitter flavor. A half hour with Fairbanks culture long before zymurgy later, they added more hops. came to UAF. Stihler started brewing in 1991. Mostella has been into brewing since That same year, Roger Penrod founded the high school, when he learned he could buy local club, Zymurgists Borealis. The club brewing supplies well before he could buy doesn’t have a rigid structure. Gatherings beer, he said. From 2001 to 2004, Mostella
owned a homebrew supply shop off of Peger. Mostella shut down his storefront when he began teaching. Today, Gavora’s and Gold Hill Liquor sell homebrew supplies. At home, Mostella brews the types of libations that would be expensive in shops, since it’s about the same cost to him. He used to brew Belgian beers, which use beet sugar to feed the yeast. Nowadays, he’s shifted to mead and cyser. Mead is water and honey mixed with yeast. This “honey wine” takes five years for its flavor profile to fully mature, compared to American beers that take two to four weeks, Mostella said. Mostella also brews cyser, or mead with apple juice. Cyser is the most popular subject for students, but they need to bring their own supplies if they want to brew it in class, he said. After cooling down the liquid (now called wort) the class pours it into a carboy. Step four: Add yeast. Put an airlock on it, add more hops, then wait a week. Transfer and wait another week. Fisheries senior Kristie Hilton is retaking the course after seven years. She took the class when it began, before Mostella introduced the intermediate section. Hilton hasn’t brewed in those seven years, but felt the class “gives you a better appreciation for the beers you select.” Finally, step five: bottle the pale ale and enjoy. Mostella wants the students to learn to experiment after finishing his zymurgy class, he said. “I hope they develop a good taste for beer and never buy another PBR or Budweiser ever again.”
www.uafsunstar.com
West Ridge Report
February 15, 2011
Anthropologist talks ‘Rotten Renaissance’ Kelsey Gobroski Sun Star Reporter When Sveta Yamin-Pasternak visits Russia’s rural northeastern tip, she needs to convince her hosts that she studies all of their delicacies. They better not hold back on feeding her the rotten stuff. Intestines marinated in seal oil and fermented walrus flesh have seeped back in to rural Russian cuisine after decades of the predominant culture’s distaste for traditional food. On Feb. 11, Yamin-Pasternak led a seminar called, “The Rotten Renaissance: Aged foods and the importance of their [re] acquired taste in post-Soviet Chukotka” In the ‘60s, the Soviet Union tethered the Far East to modern Russian life. Although this integration provided modern amenities, such as sugars and carbohydrates, stigmas against traditional food preservation threatened cultural survival. Today the Siberian Yupik and Chukchi peoples seek to bridge this generational gap. While the United States underwent an expansion of capitalist ideals, rural Russians learned Soviet and Slavic ideals, YaminPasternak said. This is called “russification.” “[Russians] simply didn’t regard the
native food as food,” Yamin-Pasternak said. In the Russian mindset, rotten food wasn’t safe for consumption. Traditional meats became more suitable for animals. In Chukotka, hunters butchering a walrus immediately eat some organs, such as the brain. They roll up the flesh, burying it in the ground for a later date. Because fuel for smoking meat was scarce, fermentation became the process of choice for preservation. Microorganisms ferment the meat. The resulting alcohol cleanses the meat, giving the villagers food in winter. Although the Russian word for this type of rotting is different than accidental food rot, the pungent aroma of these foods earned the cuisine the moniker “those with fragrance,” YaminPasternak said. Russification in Chukotka intensified as Russia protected its maritime border with Alaska during the Cold War. Border guards restricted subsistence. Reindeer herders began working for state farms. Posters instructed communities: “a newborn belongs in a daycare, not in the tundra.” Children were sent off to boarding schools. Children today think of Soviet times as a mythical era, Yamin-Pasternak said. In the
’60s, the government subsidized rural areas. The state provided banquets for weddings, flew in reindeer food, and used a helicopter to search for a child who left a boarding school. The standardized apartment buildings stretching across the Soviet Union provided Russians with the cultural identity that McDonalds brings from Florida to Fairbanks, she said. Yamin-Pasternak, originally from Belarus, has been visiting Chukotka’s Chukchi Peninsula on Russia’s northeastern tip since 2001. She graduated from UAF with a doctorate in cultural anthropology and did postdoctoral research at Johns Hopkins University. The Chukchi and Siberian Yupik peoples seek to close the generational gap because the art of rotting meat is not a skill that can be taught in a recipe, Yamin-Pasternak said. When asked how the indigenous peoples know their food is “done,” she said that takes a lifetime of practice and cultural cues. “The rot is in the eye of the beholder,” Yamin-Pasternak said.
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Science Briefs Compiled by Kelsey Gobroski Sun Star Reporter
Repairing babies before birth The infant spinal disease Spina bifida gives rise to fewer complications if babies get an operation before they’re born. Otherwise, an improperly sealed spine exposes the spinal cord. This can lead to paralysis and learning difficulties. Normally, this sort of surgery is risky for babies and mothers. Fetal surgery doesn’t usually happen unless the baby would die otherwise. Operating before the fetus has fully developed doesn’t eliminate all the complications of Spina bifida, but the medical trials have guided doctors closer to that goal. The surgery still carries a lot of risk, but some post-birth surgeries have already been rescheduled. -New York Times
Amazonian droughts spit out CO2 If the Amazon’s droughts continue, as they have twice in a decade, they may revert the rain forest from a sink to a source of carbon dioxide. These droughts should only happen once a century. Last year’s drought had three epicenters that lowered rainfall over 1.16 million square miles. The dying trees will not be able to absorb carbon dioxide for photosynthesis, and would end up releasing the gas during their death throes. This would lead to a total of 8 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions over the coming years, a study showed. The U.S. uses 5.4 billion metric tons in a year. - Huffington Post
Plants: the new bomb-sniffers Within the next four years, innocuous plants in airports may visibly change color in the presence of pollution, biological weapons, or bombs. Scientists engineered plants to respond to the “threat” of some chemical compounds by turning white. Under laboratory conditions, these plants bleach themselves in the presence of TNT. The proteins they use aren’t specific to any particular species. If the vegetative bomb detectors do appear in public events any time soon, it’s likely that they still won’t be able to detect bombs made out of the same ingredients as fertilizer. - Wired
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February 15, 2011
Sports
The Sun Star
Alaska sharp-shooters qualify for nationals Rebecca Coleman Sun Star Reporter The Nanooks took on Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology for the NCAA Qualifier rifle match on Saturday, Feb. 12. Throughout their eight-hour meet, the Nanooks shot down any hopes the Fightin’ Engineers had at qualifying for nationals. Alaska outshot Rose-Hulman 4642-4437. Seniors Ida Peterson and Cody Rutter were among the top shooters for the Nanooks, claiming scores in air rifle of 581 and 586, respectively. In smallbore, their scores were 583 and 588, respectively. For those who have no idea what these numbers mean, here is a brief explanation about scoring. Each shooter has 60 shots
per event (air rifle or smallbore) and shoots 20 shots in each of three positions (standing, kneeling, and prone). Each shot is worth up to 10 points, so the highest score a shooter can get in each event is 600. The team score is made up of the top four shooters’ scores. Early in his air rifle event, sophomore Scott Franz noticed a problem with his sights, so he had to switch to another gun. The time used to evaluate the problem used up valuable shooting time because this was not a gun malfunction but a preventable problem, he was not allotted extra time to finish his 60 shots. He ended up 10 shots short, resulting in his score being much Nanooks placed fifth in the country after the meet, guaranteeing Alaska a trip to nalower than it would have been otherwise. tionals. The Nanooks will be among sharpCoach Dan Jordan estimates that the shooting teams such as West Virginia, Texas Christian, Kentucky, and Murray State. “Now we’re doing better than we have the whole year,” Jordan said. “Things are coming together.” Because Alaska’s rifle team has won the National Championships 10 times since 1994, “there are lots of outside expectations” with coaching the dynasty, Jordan said. However, he doesn’t see it as pressure, as
he’s already “extremely competitive.” Rutter has been to Nationals for the past three years. He said it’s the most “nerve wracking” of any competition. To his younger teammates, he advises that they “go and have fun with it. Don’t put it on a pedestal. Learn as much as you can and take away as much from it as you can.” “It’s important that you respect one another and trust one another so that you aren’t worried about your teammates while you’re on the line,” Peterson said. “This sport is so mental.”
Campus Life
www.uafsunstar.com
February 15, 2011
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Clubbing with JR
Tim Vinegar attempts to block UAF student, Dylan McFarlane at Fairbanks Ultimate Association at the Patty Center on Monday, Feb 7. 2011. JR Ancheta/Sun Star
UAF Frisbee
The Ultimate Club JR Ancheta Sun Star Reporter
Above: Cody Rutter takes a brief glance at his previous shot placement in the smallbore NCAA qualifier Saturday morning. Cody scored 586/600 in the air rifle and 588/600 in the small bore qualification. Feb. 12, 2011. Dillon Ball/Sun Star. Left: Anna Hjelmevoll of the UAF Rifle Team adjusts her air rifle during Saturday morning’s NCAA qualifier. Feb. 12, 2011. Dillon Ball/Sun Star.
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One of them might be just for you. • To see what scholarships are available visit www.uaf.edu/finaid/types/scholarships.html • To apply, log on to http://uaonline.alaska.edu
and choose “Financial Aid,” then choose “Scholarships.”
Apply by Feb. 15, 2011 UAF is an AA/EO employer and educational institution. 01/2011
America’s Arctic University
More than 35 people gathered to play Ultimate Frisbee on Monday, Feb. 7 at the Patty Center. The court was divided in half for two separate games. Because it is difficult to play outdoors in winter, the Fairbanks Ultimate Association (FUA) plays indoors at the Patty Center. Ultimate is a sport similar to soccer and football. The objective of the game is to pass the disc to a teammate at the opponent’s end zone. Winning is nice, but the players are more into the camaraderie. “The spirit of the game is like the governing rule of Ultimate,” said Rose Hewitt, organizer of FUA. ”It’s based on playing your hardest, but never to hurt anybody else. We self-officiate even at the high level of the sport.“ The club also provides a chance for many to be active. “It gets me good exercise, it keeps me busy,” Clyde Hewitt said. He has played for more than four years and cannot wait to play outdoors in the spring. FAU was founded in 1978 as the Alaska Campus Disc Club. Glen Anderson, a UAF faculty member who teaches Ultimate at the University, helped launch the organization by first educating the public and local schools about the game. The first game was played on Anderson’s lawn.
Anderson said there was an electric fence around the yard to keep animals off the yard. “You knew when you were outof-bounds when you were electrocuted, so it was difficult to keep your eye on the disc, which is a number one rule.” After that, the club moved from lawn to lawn. It wasn’t until 15 years ago that the organization gained university attention and got their own field to play on. The Fairbanks Ultimate Association meets Mondays from 7-9 p.m. at the Patty Center. All are welcome to play the game.
Bio-Major, Carl Richmond (19), passes to a team mate at a game of Ultimate. Richmond has been playing for four years since high school. JR Ancheta/Sun Star
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Perspectives
February 15, 2011
The Sun Star
Weekend Wanderlust Memorabilia Mishmash Part I: Photos Jamie Hazlett Sun Star Columnist Virtually everyone has a stack of muddled vacation mementos lying around in their house: the photos you just never had time to sort through, the programs and maps that you kept perfectly pressed in your suitcase right up until the moment you got home, the weird little tchotchkes that were just so darling in the store window but look ridiculous on your bookshelf. Every time you see them, you vow to go through it all soon, and yet never happens. With each trip you take, the pile looms higher, and now Hawaii is mixed in with Niagara Falls, and who has the energy to sort that mess out? As with any monumental organizing task, the hardest part is getting started. The tower of papers seems unassailable, right? Then start small. Spend a couple hours just sorting your pictures, be they printed or digital, into the right stacks – Grand Canyon over here, Mexico over there, etc. Sound too main-stream for you? Break your shots up based on whether or not the focal point is a living thing, divide them based on the most dominant color, or categorize them off of what time of day it was. Some people will have a pile of pictures from various weddings they’ve attended, while someone else will have a shoebox full of shots they snapped from the summits of all the 13,000-footers they’ve climbed (pro tip: shoeboxes are a great tool when you’re doing preliminary photo organizing). The point is to stop putting it off. Believe it or not, you can watch ‘Glee’ and sort photos at the same time. Next comes the pruning stage. Even professionals often take many so-so or just plain bad shots, so don’t feel bad if you delete or toss a lot of pictures. Before posting your album to Facebook or buying a 50page album, turn an editorial eye on all those grand vistas and goofy grins and get rid of the ones that don’t speak to you in some way. This is also your opportunity to remove any embarrassing shots. Let’s say you took 50 pictures of the same fountain. Unless you’re trying to create a 360° view of the fountain, or you captured someone
being murdered, you don’t need most of those shots. Some of your pictures will be blurry, have sun flares or be photobombed. Unless these factors somehow add to the shot, which occasionally happens, pictures with these qualities should be the first to go. Use gut instinct from here. A picture you took in the early evening might lend a really neat perspective to the fountain compared to an identical one you took at noon. Keep the few that really grab your attention or evoke the best memories. Get rid of the rest or save them somewhere separate from your “keeper” shots. Once you know how many good pictures you’ve got, you can divide the remaining work up more knowledgably than you could when all you knew was that your vacations tried to swallow you every time you opened the closet.
It’s up to you how far you go in organizing your vacation(s). Some people are content to save them on their computer with no labels, others insist that each “keeper” be meticulously captioned, and some prefer digital photo frames. Those with a bent towards arts and crafts might like to print their pics and organize them into albums or scrapbooks. Whatever you do, make sure that when your friends ask to see your Caribbean cruise, you don’t bore them to tears with grainy or repetitive photos. Even if your best shots make it no further than a Sharpie-labeled shoebox, at least when you pull it down from the shelf you can be confident that you won’t be labeled the worst vacation photographer ever (even if you really are).
Jeremy Smith Sun Star Columnist
IPv6 and the end of the Internet Question: I keep hearing that the Internet has run out of addresses and that in 2012 the Internet may not work. True? Answer: Many websites are throwing around the idea that the Internet has run out of addresses. That’s not exactly true. Basically, all of the IPv4 addresses have been allocated and we now have to migrate to IPv6 and make sure that all the bugs are ironed out before the government-mandated switchover date. Clear enough? No? Then let’s backtrack a bit. Every machine on the Internet has a unique Internet Protocol (IP) address. IPv4 (version 4) is the current numerical nomenclature used to identify all of those great websites you grew up with: uaf.edu, hotornot.com, gpfault.org, etc. IPv4 is how all the computers talk using their secret number language, whereas you and I use the easier to remember Uniform Resource Locator (URL), aka the word approach. For instance, the secret identity of uafsunstar. com (URL) is 66.147.244.206 (IPv4). The biggest problem with IPv4 is the limited number of addresses it yields, somewhere in the 4 billion range. Being the avid web consumers that we are, and the increase in broadband connections that require a unique IP address, all of these addresses have been allocated. Not necessarily in use, but allocated to various universities, businesses and organizations. Keep in mind this doesn’t mean that all of the URLs are gone… I can still reserve nakedwheelbarrow.net just fine. It’s the IPv4 addresses that they link to that have dried up. This is where IPv6 comes in.
New kid on the block IPv6 will give us – potentially – more than 300 trillion addresses in the future. It’s also supposed to simplify the assignment of addresses and provide even more security while we view our LOLCats online. The most apparent difference between the two forms of IP addresses is the code used to identify computers. An average IPv6 address could look like this: 2001:0db8:85a3:8a2e:0370:7334. By the time we are supposed to migrate to the new standard, which is set in maleable government stone for 2012, all of the major operating systems and web browsers will work with both IPv4 and IPv6. In fact, Windows XP and Mac OS 10.2 are already IPv6 compliant. More than likely, you won’t experience much of anything other than mild inconvenience as web hosts upgrade and move web sites around. The problem is the old routers and switches that make up the Internet. These devices can’t handle the IPv4 to IPv6 square dance. This concern has been kicking around since the ’90s and companies have been upgrading and modifying equipment for the past decade, albeit slowly. A bunch of big tech companies (Google, Facebook, Cisco, and more) plan to take the new standard for a 24-hour spin on World IPv6 Day in June of this year. This should provide an idea of what, if any, real problems the migration may cause.
Jeremy talks and takes on technology at gpfault.org.
Editorial
www.uafsunstar.com
Letters to the Editor Have something to say? Say it here. The Sun Star welcomes reader commentary. Let He Who Hath No Logical Fallacies...
logical axis of Howard’s story of the “Ahotelist”. Eventually, it shattered completely! The entire story failed to convey its message, destroyed by undermining its own suspension of disbelief. The absurdities, double standards, logical fallacies, and embarrassment continued from that point foward... but that was just two thirds of the way through the first main story. How can anyone take such a person seriously, after that kind of display? This presentation has not only embarrassed Bill Howard himself, but the entire university as well. Justin Heinz For the full 3300 word critique: http://pillarsofinfluence.blogspot.com
When someone calls you dishonest you can usually expect to hear a good reason as to what could possibly warrant such an accusation. Sometimes there are good reasons, sometimes there are bad reasons. What people don’t normally expect to hear, however, is for the accuser to turn around and admit their own hypocrisy, nor to actually go so far as to demonstrate that the accusation itself is a logical fallacy-a strawman. This is what happened, however, when Bill Howard gave his lecture “The Dishonesty of Atheism” at the Reichardt building Monday, Nov. 15. Instead of a smart and well-structured arguments intended to provoke some academic discussion, the audience found A special thank you I would like to say a big THANK YOU to nothing but the embarrassing intellectual whoever found my cell phone at U Park. I suicide of Bill Howard. During the course of the sermon, it was really appreciate getting my phone back. Thank you. difficult to ignore the compounding fracMarge Wilson tures that continued to creep down the
Letters to the editor should be no more than 250 words in length. Please include the author’s full name and contact information (phone number, e-mail or address). E-mail your letters (preferred) to fystar@uaf.edu, fax them to 474-5508, or mail them to to PO Box 756640, Fairbanks, AK, 99775. All letters are subject to editing for brevity and grammar.
Coffee Break
xkcd
Sudoku
February 15, 2011
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A lesson from Egypt On Feb. 4, while most people in Fairbanks were sleeping, history was being made on the other side of the world. Protesters filled the streets of Cairo and, without guns or bombs, were able to enact the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak, the 30-year tyrant of Egypt. We cannot say what will happen next, but the global is also the local, and there are men and women here at UAF with a personal stake in the fate of Egypt. One of these people is Sabry Sabour, assistant professor of mining engineering at UAF. Sabour received his bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate at Assiut University in Asyut, Egypt. After getting his doctorate, Sabour left Egypt and came to UAF after first going to Canada. Sabour left Egypt in part because of the corruption and political pressure of the Mubarak regime. Under Mubarak, Sabour said, there was “no political life.” The morning of Mubarak’s resignation, Sabour’s wife called from Canada to tell him the news. “Like most Egyptians, I’m very happy,” Sabour said. “I couldn’t believe that this would happen.” Sabour said that he was saddened to hear reports of violence against protesters, but when he learned that Mubarak had stepped down, it was like a nightmare ending. As a citizen of Egypt, Sabour experienced Mubarak’s reign. Cheryl Hatch, the Snedden Chair of the journalism department, experienced it from a different perspective. In the late ’80s and early ’90s, Hatch lived in Cairo while working as a photojournalist. During her time there, she would often have shooting assignments that took her in to Mubarak’s presidential palace. In an interview on Feb. 4, Hatch remembers a memorable story from one of those visits. She had been in the state visitors’ room with several other photographers during a state visit. Mubarak’s men would typically rush photographers out after taking only a few shots, but Hatch’s camera had either jammed or run out of film. As the guards tried to prod her out of the room, she said “one minute, please,” in Arabic. Mubarak asked, also in Arabic, whether she spoke the language and she responded that she did. Impressed, Mubarak ordered his men to stand down and let her take her pictures. Like Sabour, Hatch was pleased with the events of Feb. 4. “I was so impressed they really took the path of peaceful protest,” Hatch said. Hatch characterized Egyptians as family-oriented and long-suffering under Mubarak’s reign. You can only be re-elected by a landslide so many times, Hatch said, before somebody has to say the emperor has no clothes. The road that has taken Sabour and Hatch from Egypt to UAF has been a winding one, and their feelings vary on whether they will be returning. Sabour wants to wait and see how things develop. “We’ll see in a few months.” Hatch, whose love of Egyptian history, culture and mythology inspired her to name her non-profit foundation The Isis Initiative, said her feelings were mixed. “I was ok not being there [for the uprising], at the same time I feel the pull of history,” Hatch said, “I’m sure I’ll go back.” It’s very easy to become wrapped up in all the bad news in the headlines today. There’s plenty to be upset and disturbed by, to be sure. It becomes easy to feel as if you have no voice, no ability to make a difference. Let this serve as a reminder that is not the case. The people of Egypt took to the streets, they cast down Hosni Mubarak and they did so without using guns. Dissident and journalist alike braved Mubarak’s secret police to get the message out that Egypt was changing. It doesn’t take guns. It doesn’t take violent rhetoric. It takes people to make change, and that is something that no government can ever suppress.
Andrew Sheeler Editor-in-Chief UAF Sun Star
UA’S BOARD OF REGENTS HAS A DECISION TO MAKE Over 384 colleges and universities have passed non-discrimination policies that include protecting people based on their sexual orientation and gender identity. UA’s non-discrimination policy should apply to everyone. Gay and transgender employees already work throughout the university system, and gay and transgender students already attend. It’s time the policy includes UA’s gay and transgender students, staff and faculty. An environment free of discrimination is important in a place of learning where ideas are debated and exchanged. This important issue will go before the Board of Regents this week. Have your voice heard at UA’s public testimony and support the policy change.
FEBRUARY 17 AT 10 A.M. FEBRUARY 18 AT 9 A.M. UAA Lee Gorsuch Commons 3700 Sharon Gagnon Lane Anchorage, AK 99508
Everyone is welcome – just show up!
THE FAMILY University of Alaska Anchorage