April 4, 2017

APRIL 4 - APRIL 11, 2017

FEATURES

THENORTHERNLIGHT.ORG

UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA ANCHORAGE

FEATURES

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UAA junior creates app to streamline academic tutoring

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German prof. always has two thoughts on her mind: animals and language

Closed door in ECB Localize It: Part time teacher, full time musician starts student petition Jonathan Bower discusses being a musician and professor in Anchorage

UAA student started campaign to reopen ECB emergency door to pedestrian traffic

PHOTO BY YOUNG KIM

Jonathan Bower moved to Anchorage 15 years ago to work on writing a memoir. Since then, he has returned to school and began teaching as a professor in the English department.

Jonathan Bower moved to Anchorage nearly 15 years ago to pursue writing a novel and today finds himself teaching creative writing at UAA and working on his latest record as a musician. How did he end up here?

“My original thoughts for moving to Alaska centered around me wanting to write a memoir about my time growing up in Philly.

I thought that in order to write about that place, I needed to get far away from it, get a different perspective. That’s what brought my family and I up here, but I’ve stayed here for a few other reasons,” Bower said.

After landing in Anchorage, Bower decided to go back to school, except not as a student. He began working at UAA in the English as a second language pro-

By Madison McEnaney

SEE BOWER

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PHOTO BY YOUNG KIM

Closed due to pedestrian safety and traffic concerns, students must use the skybridge to cross over what would be a short distance outside.

By Cheyenne Mathews cmathews@thenorthernlight.org

In the atrium before the Engineering and Computation Building is a door that was once used as a main entrance into the ECB, and is now an emergency door.

UAA engineering student, Roman Romanovski, has started a campaign to open that door to pedestrian traffic again.

On March 23, Romanovski sent emails on his Facebook and Twitter page @UAAopenthedoor to every email he could find listed on Blackboard.

“I’ve been here long enough to know that [it] used to be a perfectly good entryway and walkway before the remodel of the ECB,” Romanovski said. “I enjoyed just walking across the street, I mean it’s a perfectly good door. It’s quite an incon-

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venience to go up and over and back down when you have a perfectly good crosswalk. It’s identified with signage, there’s paint on the road, it’s right there in front of the door. It’s always been there until the remodel. I think it’s the knowledge of, ‘hey, you used to be able to go right across the street, no big deal.’ Now you have to go way out of your way.”

The door is now labeled as an emergency exit only, meaning that Romanovski, and other student pedestrians, cannot enter or exit through the door without triggering an alarm.

Kimberly Riggs is the facilities manager for the College of Engineering, and she said the door is no longer operable but other pathways were considered.

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NEWS The Edge Update: Murkowski breaks with party line, wealth in the White House and the sudden crisis in Venezuela

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House Republicans withdraw GOP health care bill, “Obamacare” remains President Trump pulls decision to replace the ACA minutes before pass-or-fail vote

By Alexis Abbott

news2@thenorthernlight.org

By Max Jungreis KRUA

The Edge Update can be heard every weekday on KRUA 88.1 FM The Edge, UAA's college radio station.

Local On Thursday, Sen. Lisa Murkowksi broke with the GOP party line and voted against the defunding of planned Planned Parenthood. The move directly led to a rare stalemate in the senate, requiring a vote from Vice President Mike Pence to break the tie. Pence voted in favor of the motion. Murkowski said she voted against the bill because she could not support any measure that would remove health care options for women. This is not the first time Murkowski has split from her party over women’s health. Frequently, the senator has voted against her party on the issue. Repealing government funding rules “allows states to make that determination that they are going to further limit access to care for women, and I think that that’s taking us backwards,” Murkowski said. “So I voted against it.”

The Congressional Review Act resolution would repeal a rule known as “Title X” that barred states from withholding funding from clinics that provide abortions, such as Planned Parenthood. Taxpayer money cannot be used to fund abortion, but federal funds can be provided to organizations that provide abortions along with other services.

National The White House has released financial disclosure forms from dozens of senior staff members. This includes the assets of figures such as Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner and Stephen K. Bannon. Bannon made at least $1.3 million

last year, while the married Kushner and Trump may be worth as much as $741 million. Gary Kohn, former Goldman Sachs executive and current director of the National Economic Council, has assets valued at $252 million to $611 million. Kellyanne Conway, advisor to the president, is modestly wealthy compared to some of her colleagues, making $800,000 last year in consulting fees from groups such as the National Rifle Association and the Tea Party Patriots.

Press Secretary Sean Spicer said of the released information “...I think it speaks volumes to the desire for a lot of these people to fulfill the president’s vision and move the agenda forward that they are willing to list all of their assets, undergo this public scrutiny, but also set aside a lot.” Spicer has stakes in the Coca-Cola Company, McDonald’s and real estate but reported no investments in chewing gum companies.

Global Last Wednesday, the Venezuelan supreme court ruled to strip congress of its legislative powers. By Saturday, the court had reversed the ruling. The dispute is political in nature. The court is allied with Nicolas Maduro, the left-wing president, while the legislature is broadly opposed. The ruling, which would have allowed the supreme court the ability to write laws, inspired daily demonstrations by anti-government protesters. Support quickly eroded, with figures normally loyal to the president declaring the move unconstitutional. International pressure mounted as well, with countries such as Mexico, Colombia and Brazil calling for a return to order. Eventually, even the president withdrew support for the ruling himself and the court reversed its decision.

Just before the scheduled vote to repeal and replace former President Barack Obama’s health care bill, House Republican leaders pulled what they thought would succeed the Affordable Care Act. The withdrawal of the American Health Care Act was proceeded by House Speaker Paul Ryan, by the request of President Donald Trump.

Trump’s decision to abandon the house’s new insurance system may have been triggered when it became nearly impossible for the vote to be passed.

Mick Mulvaney, the director of Office Management told the press the day before the vote that if it did not pass, Trump would move on and leave “Obamacare” in place.

Trump blamed the failure of the health bill on a lack of support from the Democratic party, and that the house was just 10 to 15 votes short of a new healthcare system. Ryan blamed the withdrawal on “growing pains” in the new administration.

Ryan referred to the proposed bill as a “fundamentally flawed” replacement. “‘Obamacare’ is the law of the land. It will remain the law of the land until it is replaced. We will be living with ‘Obamacare’ for the foreseeable future,” Ryan said in a press conference following the withdrawal.

Ryan was not shy to share his disappointment following the failed attempt to replace the Affordable Care Act, and he said that the Republicans would not try to take over the current health care system anytime soon.

Just 216 votes of the 237 Republicans in the House of Representatives were needed to pass the proposed health law, but the amount of support fell shy of the president’s expectations.

Replacing “Obamacare” with a “new and improved” healthcare law was

Trump’s large focus during his presidential campaign. After an unlucky attempt, he says he is “open” to working bipartisan on a new replacement for the ACA. The Affordable Care Act has been in place for seven years since former President Barack Obama signed it in 2010.

The goal of “Obamacare” is to give more Americans access to affordable, quality, health insurance and to reduce the growth in US healthcare spending.

According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the Republican bill would have resulted in an additional 24 million uninsured Americans in a decade. Republican tax credits would be based on age, not income like “Obamacare.” The bill would cut Medicaid, which provides benefits for low-income citizens, along several other insurance providers.

Anchorage Assembly Chair Elvi Gray-Jackson was gracious to hear the news that President Trump pulled the GOP health care bill. “[‘Obamacare’] is helping a whole lot of people, not only in our community but across the nation. Withdrawing was the right thing for the Republicans to do,” Gray-Jackson said.

Gray-Jackson admitted that the Affordable Care Act helps not only her and her family but many of those in her community.

“Around 23,000 Alaskans would have been affected and would not have health insurance if ‘Obamacare’ would have went away. The fact that it is still here means that the folks in our community are going to continue to have healthcare without any interruptions,” Gray-Jackson said.

The healthcare setback could require Republicans and Democrats to work together in creating a solution and an improved legislature. With conservatives lawmakers in the majority, they will have to work with the president on creating a better and more sustainable health care act.

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THENORTHERNLIGHT TUESDAY, APRIL 4, 2017

Proposition 3: Parks and trails Anchorage Parks and Trails are on the ballot for the April 4 election

By Brenda Craig

features@thenorthernlight.org On the upcoming local election taking place on April 4, Anchorage Parks and Trails are on the ballot for Anchorage Parks and Recreation service area capital improvement bonds.

Proposition 3 is the parks bond that will fund park and trail improvement projects across Anchorage by investing $1.84 per $100,000 home value and leveraging bond funds with private donations and grants.

“Our parks and trails make Anchorage a great place to live, work and play,” Laura Vachula, communications manager at Anchorage Park Foundation, said. “Investing in parks and trails is an investment in our economy because they attract a talented workforce and tourism to our city. The bond will fund safety and improvement projects that the community asked for.”

With many parks and trails comes a great amount of maintenance.

“This year, there are things on the parks bond all over town that should make a difference in neighborhoods and also make a difference to our whole gorgeous system of parks and trails,” Beth Nordlund, executive director at Anchorage Park Foundation, said. “There are 226 parks and 250 miles of trails in Anchorage, so we have a lot to take care of, and this is the way that we do it.”

There are many repairs, renovations and new construction the parks bond will cover throughout Anchorage. Some of these include safety improvements with repairing and resurfacing Campbell Creek trail, adding LED lighting and emergency locators along Chester Creek Trail near Valley of the Moon Park, safer routes to Sand Lake Elementary and building phase two of Muldoon Town Square, which will include a playground, ice skating loop and community garden.

Besides these safety improvements and community building, increasing accessibility at playgrounds is one feature that the Anchorage Park Foundation is working towards for the future of all parks.

“Inclusive playgrounds are so that play grounds can be accessible to kids that are in wheel chairs or have other mobility issues. We use the term inclusive play

GRAPHIC BY JIAN BAUTISITA

to mean that there will be play features everyone can be involved in playing at a playground,” Nordlund said.

“We have 10 inclusive playgrounds to date and three more under construction this summer, but our theory is that every time we go in and take out a playground that’s old, unsafe and no longer a fun feature for a neighborhood, we need to replace it with a playground that suits the neighborhoods needs best and these days we’re really focusing on inclusive playgrounds.”

Not only will this bond help build inclusive playgrounds outdoors, but the Anchorage Parks Foundation is looking to build the first indoor inclusive playground.

“There is one [inclusive playground] that has never been done before, at the Fairview Recreation Center, there is an under utilized indoor space there that they want to build an indoor playground for, and that one will be inclusive as well,” Nordlund said. “It will be accessible to kids in wheelchairs or that have mobility issues, but will also have a lot of ground level play and should be really fun. We’re looking forward to that.”

There are many parks and trails that surround homes around Anchorage and it is encouraged to invest back into the city.

“Voters of Anchorage should not pass up this bargain,” Vachula said. “For an investment of just $1.84 per $100,000 of home value, they will receive safer trails, inclusive parks and inspire stewardship that makes our park system and city great.”

Besides Proposition 3, there are other bonds that help parks like Proposition 4, which is the Roads Bond that will help make important trail connections by including multi-use lanes in road upgrades. There is also Proposition 7 that will expand the Anchorage Parks and Recreation Service Area to include municipal areas north of McHugh Creek.

Voting locally can help residents have a voice for their idea of how they believe Anchorage should be.

“I do feel it’s very important to vote local, all big positive change in this country has started at the local level, I believe it’s where our vote has the biggest impact,” David Donaldson, Anchorage resident, said. “I will be voting for prop 3 because I simply believe that the benefit will out weigh the cost.”

Community is an important factor when it comes to determining the decision for the parks bond. Some believe that the safer the parks and trails, the lower the crime rate will become. Having active Anchorage residents is also something community members would like to see around Anchorage.

“Our bike trails and parks are some of the things that really help form a community. With all of the crime around Anchorage, I also think it’s a safety issue to make sure that we as a community keep these trails and parks safe for all users, but especially kids and families,” Donaldson said. “If the kids and families stop using the public areas and they become less traveled, that won’t help keep the crime down. The more people that are out and about using our trails, the safer it will be for all users, not to mention the overall health benefit to the community of our citizens being active.”

Voting takes place on April 4, and there are other propositions that support parks. If there are issues or projects that you believe should be taken into consideration, take a look at the ballot and other propositions that may back certain causes.

Instagram to alter censorship guidelines Censorship update will blur out ‘sensitive’ content on all accounts

GRAPHIC BY JIAN BAUTISITA

By Alexis Abbott

news2@thenorthernlight.org

Instagram is approaching updated censorship guidelines

for all accounts. The update will blur out content that could be considered objectionable, letting the user choose if they would like to view the content.

In the past, Instagram has been accused of deleting “sensitive” content, which many users deemed unreasonable. The censorship update will allow users to decide what kind of content they wish to see.

The update is an approach to foster a safer, kinder community for the 500 million active users of the social outlet. Instagram will soon be censoring content such as animal testing, famine, humanitarian crises and nudity.

The blurring of certain content may affect a variety of users including brands, bloggers, photojournalists and photographers. Much of what popularly followed users share could be censored if found offensive by others.

“Soon you may notice a screen over sensitive photos and videos when you scroll through your feed or visit a profile.

While these posts don’t violate our guidelines, someone in the community has reported them and our review team has confirmed they are sensitive. This

change means you are less likely to have surprising or unwanted experiences in the app,” Kevin Systrom, co-founder and CEO of Instagram, wrote in a company blog post.

Instagram will also be adding a new security feature, enabling a two-factor authentication that will require a code every time a user logs in.

Anchorage-based photographer Jovell Rennie does not doubt that the new guidelines will cause backlash, but thinks that many users won’t necessarily be affected. Rennie is best known for a variety of local camera work, sharing Alaska and boudoir photography.

“I can’t imagine many photographers liking the fact that their images are blurred. I think it comes down to your motivations for using the platform. If you use it primarily for commercial exposure, reaching out to prospective clients, etc., then you might be pretty peeved about the blurring. If you use it for artistic expression, you

might not feel as bothered,” Rennie said.

Shayne Nuesca, UAA student and photojournalist, feels that Instagram’s guidelines will result in feeds that are too curated.

“I don’t like the idea that I could be censored if I do decide to make a photograph about a more sensitive issue. When I see a photo that’s blurred, I automatically think that the photo might be distasteful. But most of the time, it isn’t and it actually adds a story to a larger narrative.

I would hate to see organizations and photojournalists be labeled as ‘distasteful’ because their photos are censored. It’s really not fair,” Nuesca said.

To Nuesca, expressing yourself “safely” is more suppressive than expressive.

Whether Instagram’s new approach is successful or hurts a fraction of their users, letting consumers have the authority to choose what kind of content they wish to see could be a reasonable solution.

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ECB: UAA engineering student started campaign to reopen the ECB emergency door Continued from cover

“The whole building was under renovation for a year... During the construction, there was talk of putting in an underpass, like a tunnel, underneath UAA Drive,” Riggs said. “We did the design, we completed the design, but there’s not funding for them currently to do construction on that part. However, the decision was made to close [the door] off because we have the skybridge, and to avoid having pedestrian traffic on the roadway.”

Riggs said the petitions asking for student support and signatures were new, but the pedestrian traffic through that door causes problematic traffic blocks.

“I personally don’t use that crosswalk ever, even when those doors are open, because I feel like it’s much safer and much better for traffic to use the skybridge, and I don’t mind taking the stairs,” Riggs said. “In my opinion, I don’t see a need for this door. I’ve seen traffic blocked all the way to Northern Lights and all the way back to the hospital because there’s no light when people cross the road every five seconds, [cars] have to stop constantly for pedestrian traffic.”

Director of Environmental Health and Safety Risk Management Support and Emergency Management, Doug Markussen, said student safety was best maintained when the ECB door was not used as an outlet for pedestrian traffic.

PHOTO BY YOUNG KIM

Taped to the door of the Engineering and Computation Building is a petition to re-open the walkway.

As of publishing, only a handful of individuals have signed.

“That pedestrian crosswalk that goes across UAA Drive, there is not really an officially sanctioned crosswalk by the Municipality of Anchorage, so we’re trying to discourage people from doing it way before any of that took place,” Markussen said. “We much prefer them to use the skywalk... There have been efforts in the past to persuade people to not use that exit.”

Markussen said that the door was needed as an exit and entrance before the ECB underwent construction because of

the bus stop right outside of the door.

“The only problem we had was that it was the direct access to the bus stop right out front,” Markussen said. “When they re-did the Engineering building... part of that project was to relocate the bus stop towards the parking garage, which kind of took away the need for the door to be the main entrance to the building anymore. In other words, most people are probably going to be coming in that building through the parking garage or from the bus stop around that end of the

building.”

Markussen said there is no longer a need for the bus stop exit and that the road path was too dangerous.

“We’ve had incidents of people getting hit there, I know a bicycle got hit there once, a pedestrian got hit there once,” Markussen said. “There was one gentleman who called me up specifically because he was very irritated, trying to take is wife to the hospital, and it was right between class breaks and the students would not let him through.”

When the ECB was under construction, there was a conversation about building a tunnel underneath UAA Drive to offset the pedestrian traffic, but Markussen said there was no funding for the project. Julian McCarthy, natural sciences major, said he remembers when the door was an option for pedestrian traffic, and that he misses the option.

“Every morning I have to walk to the Allied Health Sciences Building for my morning class, and then right after that, I end up having to walk all the way to the ConocoPhillips Science Building, which is on the other side of campus,” McCarthy said. “I’ve always been kind of curious why that door’s blocked off because it’s a lot faster for me to walk straight through — which I was able to do one of my first few semesters here.”

Currently, there are a handful of signatures on the student petition, and 15 Facebook users are following @UAAopenthedoor.

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Caiming Li embarks on a mission to improve tutoring efficiency

UAA junior creates app that will allow student tutoring to soar

By Sarah Tangog

stangog@thenorthernlight.org

Tutoring at UAA is a difficult gig. Though the need is certainly there, the efficiency is often lacking, and for tutors like Caiming Li things don’t run as smoothly as expected.

“When we help a student, we are required to put in a number in a paper sheet,” Li said.

“Sometimes, I just don’t have time to record the data. I have a sequence of students who need help, sometimes there are 10 students there, but then sometimes only two are there, so it’s nonstop.”

Li is a UAA junior majoring in computer systems engineering, and he tutors students in a large variety of subjects, primarily in math and science. He is disappointed in the amount of students who don’t complete a degree.

“People tell me there’s more opportunity by being an immigrant,” Li said. “I really feel like there’s a lot of improvement UAA can do to make students’ lives better.”

His solution is to make the most of student tutors and to create an effective system that will allow tutors to become more available to UAA students.

“Somehow, I think tutors might have a bigger impact than professors,” Li said. “I can ask some of my friends, but my friends may or may not know.

But if I ask a tutor, he’ll definitely know, and he can give me an answer right away.”

When asked about why tutors have to input data in the first place, Li suspects that most of the numbers are for funding.

“I guess if you get paid, you can report to the dean or someone when they’re asking for funding, like ‘Hey, how useful is the Math Lab?’ ’We helped like 10,000 in this semester,’ or something. ‘We are really impacting students academically.’ Also, if we have the data, we can make better arrangements,” Li said.

Li came up with the idea of creating an app that will allow tutors and students to automatically clock in tutoring time.

“I added a time stamp feature, so every time you help a student, it will tell you what time it is. We can have more information about students, and we can arrange tutors at certain times, not by days anymore,” Li said.

Li has a running prototype of the app, and, so far, the results are more than satisfactory.. He wants to branch out the application so that it connects into certain “Islands,” which will be tutoring centers throughout UAA. “This is only for the Math Lab. The app has been running from last semester to today in the Math Lab, and it works really well. The application never crashed, and I successfully stored the data pretty well. We never lost anything. Next semester, we want to expand the application,” Li said. “My goal is for tutors to have more flexible hours.”

He believes that instead of having students look up answers on their own or through Google, a network of tutors who are readily available will be more effective in providing help and support for struggling students.

“A student is always better than a machine,” Li said. “I think if we want to stand out, we need a community of tutors.”

Because his app is so new, it still lacks a proper name, and Li hopes to attract enough attention to create a collaborative effort.

“We are trying to get funding to hire one designer and one programmer to work with me on this app over the summer,” Li said. “We’re hoping to have something really workable and nice in the beginning of fall, so every student can use it. I hope this app can be made just by UAA students because we do have a department for computer science and art.”

Li’s goal is to have his app entirely designed and run by UAA students for UAA students.

PHOTO BY YOUNG KIM

Caiming Li saw a need for a more efficient work flow in the tutoring department, and put his computer systems engineering knowledge to use by creating an app that streamlines the process.

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College Cookbook: Swedish Bonding over kladkaka for your soul culinary traditions An elegant and rich dessert that’s easy to make Global Kitchen provides clubs, departments and organizations a chance to showcase authentic foods with peers

By Victoria Petersen Contributor

A Swedish classic, this chocolate sticky cake is everything good about cake and brownies combined. I like to use dark chocolate cocoa powder, but regular cocoa powder will work just as well.

Sprinkle some confectioner’s sugar on top when it’s done to give the cake some presentation.

Ingredients • 1/2 cup of butter • 2 eggs • 1 1/4 cup of granulated sugar • 4 tablespoons of cocoa powder • 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease the bottom of a springform pan or a wide pie tin.

2. Melt the butter and set aside. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs until they are light and fluffy. Add the butter and mix together until combined.

3. In a separate bowl, mix together sugar, cocoa powder and salt.

Add dry mixture to egg and butter mixture. Add vanilla and stir GRAPHIC BY JIAN BAUTISTA

By Brenda Craig

features@thenorthernlight.org

Global Kitchen, hosted by Student Activities and Commuter Programs, will be taking place April 13 in the Student Union from 5 - 7 p.m. This is a chance for multiple clubs and organizations to come together and provide unique foods and culinary traditions for all UAA students, staff and faculty. This event was created to celebrate UAA’s diverse student body over the love of foods from all over the world.

“The event was first put on three years ago by former Student Union manager, Romal Safia, who wanted to start a cultural tradition here on campus,” Kris Morse, bachelor of science and applied leadership technologies major and commuter programs manager, said. “We are continuing the event because it has grown even more every year since it started.

Last year we had over 200 students show up for the event.”

The Japanese club participated in Global Kitchen last year and has signed up for this year’s event. Jane Lee, Japanese major, is excited to present the club’s dish, yakisoba noodles, with fellow students of UAA. “It seems like a great event to relax and have some fun. It gives a great opportunity for students to explore other cultures,” Lee said. “If you’ve ever wanted to try different cultures now is your chance.”

Another organization that will be sharing their historical food that has been

passed down each year is the Phi Alpha chapter of Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity.

“We will be providing a washtub mac and cheese whose recipe has been passed down for many years from Dennis ‘Buckwheat’ Perry, an alumni and recruitment legend from our organization Tau Kappa Epsilon,” Hayden Riebe, civil engineering major and member of TKE, said.

All over the world, many cultures bond over their authentic foods. This event will allow students to showcase their food with their peers.

“I think the Global Kitchen is a genius way of showing just how diverse our campus is. We are truly ripe with culture and what better way to show that off than sharing our native cuisine with one another,” Riebe said.

Not only will this event have free food, but a chance for students to consider joining a club or organization.

“Students love free food, so they should love this event. It is also a great way to find a new club or organization to become a part of a growing campus tradition,” Morse said.

There is anticipation for a huge turnout for this year’s Global Kitchen, and it’s encouraged for more students to attend and experience the different cultures of UAA. There is still a chance for more clubs, departments and organizations to participate in this year’s Global Kitchen event.

Groups can sign up at https://tinyurl. com/Globalkitchen2017 or contact Student Activities and Commuter Programs for more information.

until combined.

4. Pour batter into springform pan or pie tin and bake for 14-20 minutes.

PHOTO BY VICTORIA PETERSEN

10 | FEATURES

THENORTHERNLIGHT TUESDAY, APRIL 4, 2017

Prof-iles: UAA professor shares her love of language and cats

By Cheyenne Mathews cmathews@thenorthernlight.org

Chair of the Department of Languages, professor Natasa Masanovic-Courtney didn’t speak her first word until she was four years old. In the time before she said her first words, Masanovic-Courtney was helping her brothers bring cardboard boxes with old sweaters, food and water to stray cats in her home country of Turkey. Growing up, Masanovic-Courtney had two things on her mind, animals and language. It took her a while, but by the time she decided to utter her first words, she had the ability to speak both her mother tongues of Greek and Turkish.

“I think because I was learning two languages at the time, maybe my brain could not coordinate both, and I was a very late talker,” Masanovic-Courtney said. “It was the end of my fourth year in life when I started talking, and I told my mom an entire fairy tale in Greek. Then after I did that, I had complete sentences in Turkish.”

Masanovic-Courtney teaches German on campus, and she says it is the first foreign language she learned by attending a private Austrian school for eight years. Despite her late start, Masanovic-Courtney now speaks English and German, and studied ancient Greek with a priest in Istanbul, on top of her two mother tongues.

“At about nine years old, I knew exactly that I wanted to learn a third language and a fourth and a fifth,” MasanovicCourtney said.

The neighborhood Masanovic-Courtney lived in was filled with languages. All around her she could hear Italian, French, Hebrew, German, Armenian, Serbian, Turkish and Kurdish. She knew at a young age that comparing languages was important to her, and her parents realized that MasanovicCourtney had a passion to nourish. They sent her to an Austrian immersion school where, in four months, Masanovic-Courtney had learned the basics of German. In the summer, her German and Greek-speaking cousin of the same age would visit her family in Turkey, and German became a secret code language that only the two understood.

Language is MasanovicCourtney’s passion and career, but her hobby has always been helping cats. Helping stray cats is one of earliest memories, and today Masanovic-Courtney has a large collection of cat figurines at home. The reason she came to Anchorage in the first place had to do with a cat she was rescuing. After finishing her Ph.D. at Purdue University, MasanovicCourtney became a visiting assistant professor of German at DePauw University.

While she was there, she stumbled upon a starving stray Siamese cat. Masanovic-Courtney, who had grown up volun-

PHOTO BY YOUNG KIM

Natasa Masanovic-Courtney, chair of the languages department, knew from the age of nine that she wanted to learn multiple languages. She now speaks her two mother languages Turkish and Greek, as well as English, German and Ancient Greek.

teering at the animal shelter, adopted the cat and took him to a veterinarian to address the cat’s breathing problems. She was told the cat needed a colder climate to breathe, and so after deciding she wanted to work elsewhere, Masanovic-Courtney applied for a job in Anchorage and moved here for her cat.

“I was trying to decide for places that would be cooler for him,” Masanovic-Courtney said. “I thought Alaska would be good for my cat. When I said yes to this job, it was only as term professor for one year.”

Her cat, Agamemnon, like many of Masanovic-Courtney’s cats, was named after a Greek king in Homer’s The Iliad. Moving for her cat’s health ended

up working out for MasanovicCourtney because after her first year she was directly hired as an assistant professor. Since coming to UAA, Masanovic-Courtney has helped 20 students apply and receive prestigious scholarships to Germany.

“What drives me is my belief in my students,” MasanovicCourtney said. “I don’t think I have met any individual, in my career, who didn’t have the potential to do it. But what needs to be there is this willingness and readiness to do it.”

Outside of her passion, what attracts Masanovic-Courtney to her profession is her love of teaching. As a little girl, she would use a blackboard she had received as a Christmas present

to teach her two brothers when they let her.

“I had this passion for sharing knowledge with people, but, in particular, comparing languages was important to me,” Masanovic-Courtney said.

Masanovic-Courtney has won numerous awards celebrating her profession, like the 2012 UAA Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Diversity, the 2014 YWCA Women of Achievement Award and the 2011 AATG Duden Award for Excellence in German Instruction, but at the end of the day, MasanovicCourtney says her career has always been about showing others the beauty of language and helping those who are passionate to study it.

FEATURES

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THENORTHERNLIGHT TUESDAY, APRIL 4, 2017

The cause for fathers’ rights is growing

By Sarah Tangog

stangog@thenorthernlight.org

There is an injustice in the court systems regarding fathers’ rights. Many fathers are losing not just custody but the right to see their children. It’s a common tale, and though awareness is starting to spread throughout the country, not enough is being done to combat it.

The Alaska Fathers’ Rights Movement was founded for this very purpose.

“We’re trying to expand our awareness, expand our outreach and basically give other fathers some hope out there. We’re trying to promote legislative change,” David Vesper, international studies major and leader of the Alaska chapter, said.

The main issue concerning fathers’

rights is layered within many obstacles.

Because there’s no jury within many of these cases, the ruling ends up being a power struggle. Many cases rule in the mother’s favor.

“Family law is a civil issue. The standard of evidence is not the same as criminal. You’re innocent until proven guilty in a criminal court, so it’s up to prosecution to find that person guilty. When it comes to civil court, one person has to be more believable than the other,” Vesper said.

The court system itself is still ingrained with traditional beliefs and values. “[The system] is based on the 19601970 family structure if you will and that has drastically changed throughout the years… But the system hasn’t,” Gary Lytle, professional piloting major and

page editor for the Alaska Fathers’ Rights Movement Facebook page, said.

The issue is not just a legal issue.

There are many social and cultural issues ingrained within the laws of family court. Many cases involve a parent being accused of domestic violence, even though there’s no proof to back it up. “’I’m scared. Look how big he is compared to me,’ and that’s enough for a protective order. Once that protective order is initiated, that’s the silver bullet,” Lytle said.

The ‘silver bullet’ Lytle refers to is when a parent in court is accused either by the opposing parent or the child of violent or abusive actions. At this point, the court will suspend all rights of the accused, even if the accusation itself holds no water. Furthermore, the parent usually accused is the father, not the

mother.

Despite these obstacles, the Alaska Fathers’ Rights Movement stands tall in their belief in equal opportunity for parenting.

“Some people out there believe in mother’s preference, you know, like ‘mothers know best.’ There’s also research that shows that fathers are just as capable,” Vesper said. “To us, we feel that fathers and mothers are equally capable of raising children.”

The Alaska Fathers’ Rights Movement will be hosting a town hall event on April 13 at the 49th State Brewing Company.

The event runs from 6 - 8 p.m. and will spread awareness throughout the community about the cause. The founder of the movement, Thomas Fidler, will be a keynote speaker.

FEATURES

THENORTHERNLIGHT TUESDAY, APRIL 4, 2017

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A&E

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‘Evolution’ rewards patience

By Jacob Holley-Kline Contributor

At times, it can feel like “Evolution” isn’t moving at all. The camera lingers on each gooey detail for a little too long, the characters are slow to react and the story takes its time coming together. At only 81 minutes, you’d think the movie moves at a steady clip. It doesn’t. Having started as an editor, director Lucile Hadzihalilovic engineers every shot to be as gut-churning and ponderous as possible. With the steely eye of her cinematographer Manuel Dacosse. “Evolution” can sometimes feel unbearably sick.

But that’s the point of body horror, the visceral thrill of transformation and death. Hadzihalilovic taps into this spirit but puts a twist on it. “Evolution” isn’t so much about death as it is life. It opens in the womb of the world, the ocean. There, the barely pubescent Nicholas (Max Brebant) finds the corpse of a young boy, a starfish crawling on his body. He runs to tell Mother (Julie-Marie Parmentier), only to hear her say that no corpse exists.

Nicholas’ suspicions about his home, an island inhabited only by young boys and older women, begin to mount. When he’s taken to an underground complex for a mysterious medical procedure, those suspicions are confirmed.

If that premise raises questions for you, you’d best make peace with them.

“Evolution” answers few, if any of them.

What answers it does provide only raise more questions. Dacosse’s sickly color palette and eye for darkness amplifies those reveals. What’s laudable is how unsettling every moment is whether or not it’s violent or disgusting. Though violent and disgusting moments are here in spades. Truthfully, when those moments hit, it’s hard to tell what’s going on. The shadows are heavy, and the context is barely explained.

This also works in the movie’s favor.

Nicholas is just hitting puberty when “Evolution” starts, and he knows just as much as viewers do. Here are the basics: only women and children live on the island, they eat one type of food (a green, vaguely aquatic sludge), and the Mothers gather on the beach at night for some reason. From beginning to end, you know just as much about these things as Nicholas does, not much.

Sometimes, it feels self-consciously obscure, deliberately side stepping answers to no narrative end. This becomes especially clear in the movie’s last stretch. So much happens and so little of it is explained that it feels alienating, even if the lingering final shot beautifully grounds what came before it. In the end, this is a small complaint. From top-tobottom, “Evolution” is a stomach-churning opus. The only catch is that you have to be brave enough to look.

TITLE “Evolution”

DIRECTOR Lucile Hadzihalilovic

RELEASE DATE March 16, 2016

COUNTRY France

GENRE Horror

A&E

THENORTHERNLIGHT TUESDAY, APRIL 4, 2017

BOWER: Creative writing teacher discusses journey with music Continued from cover gram, to make money for his family that being a writer couldn’t at the time. Bower has stayed a professor at UAA since, but now he has moved to teaching in the creative writing department.

“It has been great to teach at the university, especially in subjects that I still enjoy learning about as well. I learn as much from the students that walk in learn from me,” Bower said.

In more recent years, Bower has picked up on something he left behind in Philadelphia: his music career. Since he moved to Alaska to originally pursue writing a novel, Bower felt that he needed to put making music on the back burner. He was in several different bands before he made his move to Alaska, where he played guitar, wrote lyrics and sang.

“I’ve always had this need to write, more specifically in poetry. All the words in your head kind of gnaw at you if you don’t get them out in some way.

Writing music is the best outlet for that, so it was really good for me to be apart of something with other musicians. Even when I

was up here not making music, I would still write it,” Bower said.

After taking upwards of ten years off of music, Bower decided to find his way back to one of his passions several years ago. With inspirations like John Prine and Leonard Cohen, Bower’s music sounds like a mix of folk and contemporary styles, using an acoustic guitar and his voice as the primary instruments. His most recent release in Anchorage is called “Hope, Alaska,” which was released in 2014.

“Because I teach writing classes, and kind of just have a book in my face at all times, I find that literature, things outside of just other songs and musicians, serve as large influences on my music. Even photography and some of our local photographers here now really inspire me just as much as music itself does,” Bower said.

Bower is currently in the beginning process of working on a new record, with all of his lyrics written and awaiting recording time. For Bower, music may have not been the purpose of his journey to Alaska, but it has become one of his reasons for staying.

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SPORTS

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Senior athletes Hooe, Svejcar, Sheely complete their final collegiate seasons After four years of collegiate athletics, UAA seniors reflect on their careers in their respective sports

PHOTO BY SAM WASSON / UAA ATHLETICS

PHOTO BY ADAM PHILLIPS

Miranda Sheely skiing slalom at the NCAA West Regionals. Although out of eligibility years, Sheely plans to stay in Alaska to finish her degree.

Morgan Hooe waits for the whistle at a UAA home game. Hooe, leader in assists in the 2016 season, hopes to continue to play professional volleyball in Europe.

By Lauren Cuddihy

apeutic recreation, and, of course, continue skiing for fun.

sports2@thenorthernlight.org

Men’s Basketball – Spencer Svejcar

As the 2016-17 school year nears the end, it also marks the end of many athletes’ last ever college season with a sport that they have dedicated countless hours to. It is a bittersweet end for many, after four years at a collegiate level of competition, it’s a large change to not compete in that way anymore. Many of these UAA athletes are now graduating with a degree to start their future in, but some still have to stay and finish their degrees with no more eligibility left.

To get a glimpse into the lives of these soon-to-graduate college athletes, alpine skier Miranda Sheely, men’s basketball guard Spencer Svejcar and volleyball’s setter Morgan Hooe shared their experiences.

Women’s Skiing - Miranda Sheely Originally from Frisco, Colorado, Sheely has always been in a skiing location, which is shown by the fact that she’s been skiing a large majority of her life.

She originally learned to ski when she was only two years old and began competing in the sport at the young age of five.

Skiing has always been one of the most important aspects of Sheely’s life and coming to UAA to compete and earn her degree only added to the significance.

Now that she finished her last year of eligibility, Sheely described how devastating it is knowing it’s all over.

“The worst [thing about running out of eligibility] would be leaving my team.

I grew so close to each and every one of them. They are my family, and I will really miss suffering through fall training with them. All the cold and rainy days but also enjoying the sunny days and traveling together,” Sheely said.

Although it’s all over and she’s moving into a new chapter in her life, Sheely will always look back fondly on all the people she was able to meet from all over the world that skiing at UAA introduced

PHOTO BY NNU ATHLETICS

Spencer Svejcar at an away game at Northwest Nazarene University. Svejcar finished the 201617 season with a .458 3-point average and a 15.1 points per game average.

to her.

However, if there was something Sheely wished she could tell herself four years ago it would be to cherish every day.

“I wish I would have known how fast it would fly by, and to try my hardest every day and always take that extra run because all four years flew by,” Sheely said.

As for now, Sheely is one of many athletes that run out of eligibility but still have to finish their degree. She plans to stay in Alaska for the foreseeable future to finish her degree and find a job in ther-

Spencer Svejcar, another Colorado local, came to UAA to play as a guard on the men’s basketball team. In addition, Svejcar has been pursing his degree in physical education. Being a full-time student is already a large responsibility, but adding a sport on top it was something Svejcar wasn’t initially prepared for.

“I wish I would have known how hard you have to work every single day and had a better understanding of how important it is to manage your time properly so you can get athletics and schoolwork done every day when I came into it years ago. I had to get to a whole new level of work ethic once I realized what it actually takes to play college sports,” Svejcar said.

However, the hard work and time commitment never turned Svejcar away from basketball. This is the sport he had grown up with, playing since he was five and beginning to compete for YMCA ball in kindergarten.

For Svejcar, all the hard work and dedication was worth it in the end.

“The best thing was being able to travel around the country to places I had never been and experience things I had never experienced. Also, being able to try and work as hard as possible for four years to perfect a certain craft and put myself into the position I am today was really rewarding,” Svejcar said.

But even behind the glamorous travel and the lifelong friends, there was intense hours of long training. Svejcar and his teammates were only in competition from November until March of every year, which meant the rest of the time was spent in the gym and the weight room putting in work. Svejcar recalled that the worst part of college athletics was all the off-season and pre-season training.

Unlike Sheely, Svejcar doesn’t want to give up his sport just yet. Although he has more credits to take to finish his degree, Svejcar plans to continue training

and then pursue a professional basketball career in Europe.

When basketball is all over and done competitively in his life, Svejcar wants to finish his degree and get a job in the Lower 48.

Volleyball - Morgan Hooe Similar to Svejcar, Hooe just finished up her eligibility and instead of leaving competitive volleyball behind indefinitely, she wants to head to Europe to pursue professional volleyball.

However, those plans for Europe are on a temporary wait list in Hooe’s life while she focuses on her last stretch of school. She has until spring of 2018 to graduate with her degree in physical education.

While she continues taking classes to finish up, Hooe will continue training and staying in shape to be prepared for a professional level of volleyball. Although the collegiate level is a step down from that, Hooe got an introduction to a high level of competition and other perks along the way.

“The best part about competing [at UAA] would definitely be how fast and competitive the level of play is and the opportunity it gives you to make new friends and travel all around the United States and the world,” Hooe said.

However, as many other student-athletes would agree, Hooe recalled that she missed out on many hours of sleep and a lack of a social life to be able to focus on her athletics and academics. Hooe and her team generally had two practices a day as well as five required sessions in the weight room a week, which she maintained for four years straight. Regardless, Hooe learned many valuable things from being a student-athlete.

“I wish I would have known before I got here that that you will constantly improve over your four years and that you won’t be the best overnight. You have to work on yourself and your game each and every day if you want to be the best,” Hooe said.

SPORTS

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THENORTHERNLIGHT TUESDAY, APRIL 4, 2017

Radical Recreation: Morgan Ross soars to maximum potential

By Brenda Craig

features@thenorthernlight.org

Even before Morgan Ross, environmental studies and Spanish major, could remember, gymnastics has been her life. It started with her mother, who was a gymnastics coach, which allowed Ross to start at a young age. However, it was her decision to continue on with the sport. After starting gymnastics at UAA as a walk-on, two years later Ross’s hard work paid off after gaining a scholarship at UAA for gymnastics.

“My mom is a gymnastics coach so I started before I can even remember, I have been a ‘gym rat’ my whole life. The running joke is that I started gymnastics before I was born because my mom was doing flips and coaching in the gym while she was pregnant with me,” Ross said. “Starting gymnastics wasn’t really a choice, but when I got older my parents always gave me the option to continue.

In middle and high school, the girls my age all started to quit, and I just had a goal to stay in and make it to college.”

This past season, Ross was an all-around competitor for gymnastics at UAA including vault, floor, beam and bars. This year she focused on expanding her difficulty on the floor, beam, bars and perfecting her vault.

“Even though I compete in all the events, my favorite event is floor. I grew up studying ballet and doing competitive dance along with gymnastics, so the performance aspect combined with powerful tumbling passes plays well to my strengths,” Ross said. “My favorite skill is called a full-in pike, it is a new addition to my floor routine this year. It is a full twisting double back flip, in which the full twist happens in the first flip and the second flip is in pike position.”

Although physical ability is a main aspect in gymnastics, mental preparation is key in reaching any goal.

“Gymnastics is a sport that requires just as much mental strength as it does physical strength, learning new skills can be really scary and sometimes even when your body is physically ready you still have to push through the fear aspect,” Ross said.

Starting at a young age, Ross had an advantage in achieving her goals in gymnastics.

Through the countless hours of dedication put into practicing,

the thought of quitting never crossed her mind.

“Gymnastics is not a sport where you can start in high school or even middle school and still be very successful, most gymnasts start around age three and start competing between ages five and seven. It takes so much time out of your life and for such a long period of time, so you really have to be dedicated,” Ross said. “Most competitive gymnasts practice between 25 and 30 hours a week, all year long. There isn’t really an ‘off season’ because gymnastics takes constant maintenance and progress.”

After spending her whole life committed to the sport of gymnastics, it quickly became not only a sport but who she is as a person.

“I love gymnastics, honestly gymnastics isn’t just a sport for me, it is an identity. I have committed so much of my life to doing it that I don’t know who I am without it,” Ross said. “Even after nearly 18 years of practice, I still come in to the gym every day and have something new to learn. The more you learn, the more exciting and fun it gets.

Nothing compares to the thrill of making improvements and showing them off in competition.”

Although gymnastics is an individual sport, having a team’s support is one of Ross’ favorite aspects about participating in college gymnastics.

“The best feeling is when you hit your routine in competition and the team comes running up to you and everyone gives you high fives and hugs and is super proud and vice versa,” Ross said. “I love being there to support my team, my teammates are my best friends, it’s pretty hard not to become friends with them when you spend upwards of 20 hours a week together.”

Ross recently ruptured her Achilles tendon and had surgery for her injury. She is working towards recovery by working out almost every day to prepare for the next year of gymnastics, which will be her last at UAA. “For next season I plan on coming back stronger than ever.

I want to compete all-around and up my difficulty on every event,” Ross said. “Right now I am just focusing on maintaining my strength while I recover, so I am going into the weight room to workout about six days a week, and going in to watch practice and cheer on the other girls as much as possible.”

Once college is over, Ross will be done with gymnastics. Even though the change from doing gymnastics all her life will be drastic, she is open to other physical activities to attain. Besides finding another hobby, Ross wants to work towards her Ph.D. and become a vegetation ecologist.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF MORGAN ROSS

Morgan Ross finishes her floor routine at a home meet at the Alaska Airlines Center. Ross’ favorite event is floor, incorporating her background with ballet and dance as a young child.

“I still want to stay active and fit after gymnastics, but I’m not sure what I will do yet since I will have to let go of something that has been constant throughout my entire life,” Ross said. “I want to go to grad school after I graduate next year, so I will try to get a graduate assistant spot on a gymnastics team somewhere in the Lower 48. Eventually, I want to become a vegetation ecologist, but not until after I get a Ph.D., so that’s a long way away. Right after I graduate I want to ease myself out of gymnastics and start the search for a new athletic passion, rock climbing is looking promising.”

Ross is grateful for her deci-

sion to stick with gymnastics and make it to college doing what she loves. The self-determination and friendships made through the sport was worth the difficulties and long hours of practice and dedication.

“Gymnastics is an amazing sport that teaches dedication, physical and mental strength, coordination and drive. I am so glad I stuck with it through all these years and I am extremely grateful to be able to pursue the sport I love at the Division I collegiate level,” Ross said. “My teammates are the hardest working, most supportive people that I know and I am lucky to have them in my life. For all the times

Ross performs a jump during her beam routine at the Alaska Airlines Center. During the 2017 season, Ross competed as an all-around gymnast, hoping to build strength in other events.

I’ve had to say ‘Sorry, I can’t. I have practice,’ I wouldn’t trade that for anything.”

Injury or not, Ross is fully dedicated to pursing a 4.0 GPA and competing at up her difficulty for every gymnastics event.

Her plans after this semester are to spend her last summer in Anchorage and use the time for hiking, backpacking, kayaking and camping before leaving state. Ross plans to keep pushing through her last year of college and ending the next season of gymnastics with a bang.

CONTACT

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ASSOCIATED COLLEGIATE PRESS The Northern Light is a proud member of the ASSOCIATED COLLEGIATE PRESS. The Northern Light is a weekly UAA publication funded by student fees and advertising sales. The editors and writers of The Northern Light are solely responsible for its contents. Circulation is 2,500. The University of Alaska Anchorage provides equal education and employment opportunities for all, regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, Vietnam-era or disabled-veteran status, physical or mental disability, changes in marital status, pregnancy or parenthood.

The views expressed in the opinion section do not necessarily reflect the views of UAA or the Northern Light.­­­

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