FEBRUARY 3, 2015
A&E
THENORTHERNLIGHT.ORG
UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA ANCHORAGE
SPORTS
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The rise of athlete headphone contracts
‘The Raid’ boasts incredible fight scenes
UA system faces state budget cuts
IN BRIEF: TKE fraternity recruitment suspended, sexual harassment claims
By George Hyde
By Kierra Hammons
gchyde@thenorthernlight.org
On Jan. 22, Gov. Bill Walker unveiled new operating and capital budgets to the public and submitted them to the legislature. Overall, state spending has been cut by around 5 percent, and many departments have received somewhat large cuts, including a total cut to the Alaska Aerospace Corporation. Walker even went so far to say that if oil prices didn’t rebound, the state would need to begin discussion on new tax policies. By contrast, the University of Alaska system has received a relatively low cut, down 2.4 percent from this current fiscal year. However, several factors can modify that statistic. “This number does not include some increased costs that UA will be expected to cover (such as pay raises, new building operating costs, and utilities increases), which will make the effective budget reduction much higher than 2.4 percent,” said Chris Christensen, the associate vice president of state relations from the University of Alaska. Chris Turletes, UAA’s associate vice chancellor for Facilities and Campus Services, had many things to say about the governor’s Fiscal Year 2016 budget. “From the facilities perspective, it’s a triple whammy,” Turletes said. “No capital budget means no new construction and very limited renewal funding — which means renewal projects that fix the infrastructure and building systems, like heating, lighting, elevators, and roofs, will have to wait another year or more before we get to them.” Turletes also pointed out that the budget didn’t include many funds required to fund operation of many of UAA’s new buildings, like the Alaska Airlines Center or the upcoming Engineering and Industry Building. In addition, with rising utility costs, students can expect reduced Seawolf Shuttle service, cooler and warmer indoor temperatures in the winter and summer respectively, fewer student employees and more temporary repairs. All of these considerations are on the table while the UA system formulates a financial plan for the next fiscal year. “The campus community can help by conserving the use of UAA’s energy, cleaning up after themselves and reporting emergency conditions to Facilities,” he said. Turletes also encourages the community to contact the governor’s office to request support for the UA system’s operating budget.
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PHOTO COURTESY OF DAN DUQUE
Student club premieres short film at Bear Tooth Director of photography Kitty Mahoney, director Nichole Kruger (top), makeup artist Liz Savage (bottom) and cowriter Jacob Holley-Kline review footage on the set of “The Phone” Jan. 24. The short film screened at Bear Tooth five days later.
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The University of Alaska Anchorage chapter of the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity has been ordered to suspend its on-campus recruitment in light of sexual harassment allegations against its members. Last week, female students reported being verbally harassed by TKE members who were tabling in the Student Union Jan. 26. The Title IX office at UAA is investigating the incident. Title IX Coordinator Marva Watson says the university will address the alleged behaviors in an educational session with TKE to prevent future incidents. Watson said Title IX investigators will “engage in a training with the overall (TKE) membership ... to help sensitize out constituents as to what might constitute a sexual harassment. Because we can’t presume everyone has the same knowledge base, so our goal is always to be preventive in nature,” Watson said. Title IX investigator Jerry Trew said the session will take place in two weeks.
Search for UAA provost coming to a close By Kelly Ireland
editor@thenorthernlight.org The search committee for UAA’s new provost and vice chancellor of academic affairs is coming to a close. Former provost Elisha R. “Bear” Baker, IV retired last December. Even before his official retirement date the search for a new provost began. On Sept. 16, 2014, Chancellor Tom Case announced his selection for the search committee. The committee has since then narrowed down their selection to four candidates. The dean of the College of Business and Public Policy, Rashmi Prasad, chaired the search committee for provost. He was joined by other prominent faculty and staff from the university who represented the different colleges and departments. Stacey Lucason, USUAA student body president, also had a place in the committee to represent UAA students. The committee also worked alongside a consultant, Tom Fitch, from the organization Academic Search Inc., to bring in candidates and advertise the position. The same search firm will be used in the UA president search. The first candidate for provost, Murray Nabors, who is currently the dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Missouri Western State University, visited UAA Jan. 29 and 30. The next candidates, who have yet to be announced, will be visiting in the following weeks. The second candidate will visit Feb. 5 and 6. The third candidate will be at UAA Feb. 12 and 13. The last candidate will visit Feb. 16 and 17. Prasad said each candidate is from out of state and there are both male and female candidates.
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“All of them have a lot of administrative experience, so there’s nobody who isn’t a seasoned administrator,” Prasad said. “Almost everyone has been a dean for multiple years. We value experience as a dean or provost a great deal. So most of them have held positions like that or have at least been at the vice president level of their university ... and have strong track records of innovation and success.” Prasad said the search committee is looking for a provost who is a strong, capable, resilient leader with experience in management as well as an extensive knowledge of higher education. The committee would also like a provost who appreciates and embodies UAA values. Prasad also said the committee wants a future provost to “develop and refine a vision for UAA. UAA at this point of transition needs to clarify the vision of what kind of university does it want to be in the long term. So that while we’re dealing with a difficult environment, while we’re dealing with cuts and challenges, we deal with them with a horizon or a north star as it were, a guiding star.” Within the committee Faculty Senate President Diane Hirshberg pushed qualities and attributes that faculty wanted to see in a new provost. The Faculty Senate executive board brainstormed those qualities during the initial stages of the search. “We were very concerned that we have someone who is a strong proponent of shared governance, a collaborative but also strong leader, and someone committed to UAA… We, of course, want those basic things that a provost should have. ... We also want a provost who will embrace our very inclusive model of decision making,” Hirshberg said. Hirshberg also said it’s important for the
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new provost to look at what UAA does well and work to develop those things more, “When you take a step back and look at the changes that have happened over the past ten years here, it’s really exciting, and we want someone who can take on the challenges of a difficult financial climate and contentious governance issues and identify the opportunities for strengthening what we do,” Hirshberg said. “That’s really important — faculty want to be optimistic, and we need leadership who can guide us in that direction.” Despite the numerous stakeholders in the decision, the final selection is ultimately up to Case. After the candidates visit, the search committee will provide Case with the pros and cons of each applicant and the input from the community. He will then be responsible for choosing the provost. No official date for the announcement has been set, but will likely come toward the end of this month.
CANDIDATE VISIT DATES JAN. 29 & 30: CANDIDATE 1 — MURRAY NABORS FEB. 5 & 6: CANDIDATE
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FEB. 13 & 14: CANDIDATE FEB. 16 & 17: CANDIDATE
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