JUNE 07 - JUNE 21, 2016
A&E
THENORTHERNLIGHT.ORG
UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA ANCHORAGE
FEATURES
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Hiking to Portage Lake on the Kenai Peninsula
Chance the Rapper’s third album released to the world
A Girdwood getaway
Nine programs suspended, 209 layoffs and no tuition hike for UAA
PHOTOS BY YOUNG KIM
A view of Winner Creek from the handtram of Winner Creek Trail.
GRAPHIC BY VICTORIA PETERSEN
By Victoria Petersen
vgpetersen@thenorthernlight.org
The Alyeska tram can take you up to two great restaurants.
By Victoria Petersen
vgpetersen@thenorthernlight.org
Located in the Municipality of Anchorage, Girdwood is about 30 miles south of Alaska’s largest city. Following the scenic Seward Highway south from Anchorage, Girdwood is home to 1,975 people, as of 2014 census. However, the population doubles in the winter season due to seasonal work and winter recreational opportunities. According to the Alaska OCS Socioeconomic Studies Program the population in the winter months 1,700 and in the summer months is 700. The small town is home to Alaska’s largest ski area, with over a thousand miles of ski-able terrain, located at Alyeska Resort. Many locals will work for the resort in the wintertime. A ski instructor for Alyeska Resort in the wintertime, Jean Larson-Irin, has
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lived in Girdwood for 17 years and works in the roundhouse museum atop Mt. Alyeska in the summertime. “My favorite part of living in Girdwood is the ski hill, I’m a ski instructor in the winter,” Larson-Irin said. In its infancy, Girdwood was known as the Glacier City, due to the seven glaciers that can be seen in the area. In the nineteenth century, Glacier City was established as a supply camp, set up to distribute supplies to gold mines in the near by area. In 1896, the camp was named in honor of Colonel James Girdwood, a linen merchant who had the four first gold claims in Crow Creek. The original town site of Girdwood was near the shores of Turnagain Arm, but was moved almost three miles back into the valley after the 1964 earthquake displaced the
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The University of Alaska received its new budget this week from Alaska lawmakers. Although the university did receive more money than expected, the budget, $335 million from the state, is approximately $15 million less than last year’s budget. The $909.8 million budget approved by the Board of Regents is expected to cut jobs and programs throughout the state. The reductions to the University of Alaska include three programs being cut, 10 being suspended, and 579 positions being eliminated across the state. The University of Alaska received about $35 million more than anticipated. This extra money is being used to avoid tuition increases. The University of Alaska Anchorage will see a reduction in 209 positions and nine programs offered through UAA are being suspended. These nine programs include environmental regulations and permitting graduate certificate, Kodiak College AAS computer systems technology, Kodiak College AAS computer information and office systems, Kodiak College construction technology and industrial safety Support Undergraduate Certificate, master of civil engineering, master of science in arctic engineering,
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graduate certificate in coastal, ocean, and port engineering, graduate certificate in earthquake engineering, and bachelor in music in performance. Student body president, Sam Erickson, is ready to take on the challenges that comes with the foreseen cuts, seeing it as an opportunity for student voices to be heard. “The specter of budget reductions is certainly a daunting one, but I feel that it also presents a great opportunity for student leadership, and a chance for our voices to be heard and considered regarding serious issues. I’m aware of the challenges, but optimistic for both the future of UAA and its student body,” Erickson said. Erickson is concerned with deficits in deferred maintenance on university buildings and loss of faculty due to program suspensions. “Buildings to teach in and teachers to do so are absolutely necessary to a functioning university, and we will work tirelessly to ensure that these areas receive the attention and funding they require,” Erickson said. The University of Alaska will not be seeing the projected tuition hikes this year. There will still be a five percent tuition increase in the fall that was approved by the Board of Regents last November.
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