February 5, 2019

FEBRUARY 5 - FEBRUARY 11, 2019

FEATURES

UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA ANCHORAGE

OPINION

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Conversations about consent take place at Little Black Dress

THENORTHERNLIGHT.ORG

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Alternatives to cemeteries help enrich life

Ceramics take over the Hugh McPeck

By Malia Barto

arts@thenorthernlight.org

The Clay Body Ceramic Invitational exhibit in the Student Union’s gallery is full of unique, ceramic artwork created by the Clay Body Club and a few new ceramic students.‌ The majority of the art was created last semester and the gallery features around 14 students. This is the club’s fourth exhibit overall. The artists are chosen by Steven Godfrey and Alanna Derochi, two professors in the ceramics department, to showcase their work in the gallery.‌ “[Clay Body Club is] really nice. I’ve been in a lot of clubs over the years, but this is one of the ones that give me a lot of experience, as far as what it means to be in a group and putting on sales,” Erin Cockreham, Clay Body Club president and senior UAA ceramics student, said.

Cockreham also has her art, a wheel thrown plate, on display in the exhibit.‌

PHOTO BY CHRISTIAN CIELO

“Little Spikey Bun Bun” by Maxine Fekete.

There are two types of methods for creating ceramics featured in the exhibit: wheel throwing and hand-building.‌ Wheel throwing consists of creating pieces that are more functional; think plates, vases,

mugs and cups, items that are more easily made for mass production. Hand-building is more of an artistic concept, making creative works through using tools, plaster and molding the clay for visual purposes.‌

Brian Adams, UAA ceramics student, primarily works in hand-building, particularly solid building. He works a lot with the idea of human relations with technology and is currently experimenting with space explora-

tion. His project displayed in the gallery is an astronaut’s pair of spacesuit gloves, entitled “Pressure.”‌ “To make something out of nothing is very exciting,” Adams said. “Just the tactile nature of clay and being able to touch things and feel the form of it in your hands while you’re building it is useful.”‌ Another senior ceramics student, who also has art in the exhibit, is Jessica Saiki. Saiki is exhibiting her hand-built sun.

She calls working in ceramics a “magical process.”‌ “I also love the feeling of accomplishment when you see a finished piece. I’m not a mother, but I feel like my sculptures are my babies,” Saiki said.

The Clay Body Club has approximately 20 members, hosts workshops and other events through the year like their end of semester pottery sale.‌ The Clay Body Ceramic Invitational exhibit has been on display since Jan. 22 and will stay on display until Feb. 20 at the Hugh McPeck Gallery.‌

Gymnasts compete against California rivals

By Lauren Cuddihy sports@thenorthernlight.org

The UAA gymnasts finished off January in California competing in two different meets.

On Jan. 25, the Seawolves traveled to San Jose, CA to take part in a quad meet with San Jose State, Air Force and Seattle Pacific. Two days later, the gymnasts moved on to Davis, CA to compete UC Davis and Sacramento. ‌ Despite high team scores, the Seawolves still placed third and second, respectively. However, many individuals had impressive showings. ‌ Senior Kaylin Mancari even explained that she believes they just keep improving. ‌ “It’s nice to have more depth on the team for each event and also to have several backups for the team. Everyone’s been very consistent this year and we are very competitive with the rest of the schools in our conference,” Mancari said. ‌ In the quad meet, the Seawolves finished with an overall score of 191.425. At the time, this was the third highest score for the season. Air Force won the meet with 193.775, followed by San Jose State in second with a score of 191.700, just .275 ahead of UAA. Seattle Pacific came up last at 189.325. ‌ thenorthernlight.org

PHOTO COURTESY OF SKIP HICKEY

Sophia Hyderally strikes a pose in the quad meet in California on Jan. 25.

The Seawolves saw most of their success in floor. At 9.850, both junior Sophia Hyderally and Mancari finished in a 3-way tie for third. Following them was sophomore Isabelle Fox in a 4-way tie for seventh with a score of 9.800. ‌ Fox was also the top-scorer from the Seawolves in vault.

With a final score of 9.725, Fox placed fourth. The next closest UAA finisher was Kennedy Green in a tie for thirteenth (9.600). ‌ However, Green excelled in bars. She was the top UAA finisher, placing seventh with a facebook.com/tnlupdates

score of 9.500. Just behind her were Hyderally and Mackenzie Miller in a 3-way tie for eighth (9.475). ‌ As the last individual category, beam proved to be the weak spot for the Seawolves. Hyderally was the top finisher in a tie for ninth with a score of 9.675. ‌ Fox was the only Seawolf to compete in the all-around. With a total of five competitors, Fox placed third. She had a score of 38.600. ‌ The Seawolves continued forward for a season best meet on Jan. 27 against UC Davis and Sacramento State. ‌ @tnl_updates

@tnl_updates

UAA finished with a score of 193.125, the highest they have scored all season. Despite the season-record, the Seawolves still finished in second place, just .225 behind first place UC Davis. Sacramento State trailed behind in third at 191.625. ‌ Hyderally made significant contributions during the meet.

She placed in the top-three for all three events she competed in.

In beam, with a score of 9.900, Hyderally took first place. She continued on to finish second in floor, with a score of 9.800 and then third in bars with 9.675. ‌ Just after the meet ended, youtube.com/tnlnews

Hyderally was named Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Gymnast of the Week. ‌ Fox also did well. With a score of 38.800, she finished first out of five athletes in the allaround. She was seventh in vault (9.700), ninth in bars (9.600), sixth in beam (9.775) and seventh in floor (9.725). She was the top scorer from the Seawolves in vault. ‌ The Seawolves also saw a lot of success in bars. Following Hyderally in third, sophomore Hope Nelson and Miller were in a 3-way tie for fourth (9.650) with Mancari just behind them at 9.625 in a tie for seventh place.‌ Mancari also excelled in beam and floor, being the second highest scorer after Hyderally in both. She finished in a tie for third with 9.825 in beam and in a tie for fifth in floor with a score of 9.750.‌ “We did really well these past two meets, both individually and with the team as a whole,” Mancari said. “At the first one, I tied my career high on floor.

Then the next meet I set two new personal records on beam and bars. We also got the sixth highest team all around score in program history.”‌ The Seawolves will be back in action on Feb. 9. They will be hosting UC Davis at the Alaska Airlines Center. ‌‌ soundcloud.com/tnlnews

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THENORTHERNLIGHT.ORG TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2019

Community, consent and conversation

By Malia Barto

arts@thenorthernlight.org

The Little Black Dress Doesn’t Mean Yes event is on track to have another suc-

cessful year of starting conversations about sexual assault, consent and respect.‌ The name of the event was created around the idea that an outfit doesn’t imply consent. Conversations at the event will include discussion about sexual consent, sexual assault and domestic violence in the community and specifically college campuses. A panel made up of community and UAA members will give insight, advice, share personal experiences and answer some questions afterward. The panel is a diverse group of individuals with different identities and viewpoints.‌ “Hearing the different perspectives of the panelists is very important and that’s why we’re strategic for who we choose for this event because each person has a different background and identity and it’s important to address sexual assault and consent using that lens,” Quacyyc Cuaresma, USUAA’s chief activities officer, said. ‌ Cuaresma and USUAA have been working on preparing this event for nearly a month. This year’s event includes the panel, a social mixer, free dinner — pizza, mocktails, salad and cookies — and a few rounds of Sexy Jeopardy, hosted by peer health educators from UAA’s Student Health and Counseling Center.‌ “We just want to foster a welcoming conversation about this issue in a very interactive way,” Cuaresma said. “It’s not only very informative and people will learn from it, they’ll have fun doing it and I think that’s important especially since it is an uncomfortable thing topic to talk

about.”‌ This is the fourth year that Little Black Dress has been an annual event at UAA. The event, though hosted by USUAA, is co-sponsored by different organizations and student clubs, including sororities Sigma Sigma Sigma and Alpha Sigma Alpha, Interfraternity Council, Student Activities and Commuter Programs and the Student Health and Counseling Center. Tabling at the event includes other student clubs and community businesses and organizations like Standing Together Against Rape and Drag+.‌ “Events like Little Black Dress provide exceptional opportunities for our members to empower themselves and others,” Brooke Badura, Sigma Sigma Sigma’s vice president of operations, said “It is really heartwarming to see the men — not only fraternity members — that show up and actively support the event … It makes me feel like we are making progress in opening up the conversation about sexual assault.”‌ Cuaresma, who is a member of Alpha Sigma Alpha, mentioned that she likes the Greek Life presence at the event due to the stigma around sexual assault in Greek Life on college campuses around the U.S.‌ Women are encouraged to wear a black dress and men are encouraged to dress semi-formal for the night.‌ Little Black Dress Doesn’t Mean Yes is held in the Student Union cafeteria on Tuesday, Feb. 12 from 6:30-8 p.m. Attendance is free and open to the public.‌

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NEWS BRIEF

By Malia Barto

arts@thenorthernlight.org

Dunleavy’s Board of Regent appointee withdraws name On Jan. 21, Gov. Dunleavy appointed two new people to the UA Board of Regents to replace two regents with expiring terms. The two appointees were Tammy Randolph from North Pole and Darroll Hargraves from Wasilla.‌ Randolph faced backlash after her tweets and retweets on Twitter were shared publically. She apologized on Jan. 28 for the tweets that sparked controversy. She has since deactivated her Twitter account.‌ Two days later, on Jan. 30, Randolph wrote to the governor that she would be withdrawing her name from consideration. Her letter states:‌ “With this letter I formally withdraw my name from consideration for appointment to the University of Alaska Board of Regents. ‌ I have the utmost respect for the institution and its mission, and I no longer wish to distract from its pressing business.‌ I am grateful for the honor you bestowed on me by forwarding my name for this position of distinction. ‌ After much consideration and reflection today, I have decided that my priorities at this point in my life — my family and my businesses in Fairbanks — must take precedence.”‌ Randolph had no other comments for TNL, writing she believes she was “very clear” in her original letter.‌ The UA Board of Regents includes 11 members. Members’ terms last eight years, with the exception of the student regent, who is appointed for only two years. The new term will start Feb. 4.

Does Alaska have enough to offer UAA graduates?

By Chase Burnett

features2@thenorthernlight.org

The population of people age 20 to 29 has steadily declined over the past seven years and is not expected to grow in the next 20, according to the Alaska Bureau of Labor Statistics.‌ UAA students face the unique challenge of deciding whether or not to stay in The Last Frontier after graduation. ‌‌

Although future UAA graduates are split between leaving and remaining in the state, a recent report from the Department of Labor and Workforce Development is clear, Alaska’s population is declining. ‌ According to the report, as a whole, the state’s population declined for the second year in a row. This is attributed to a decrease in the birth rate, an increase in residents leaving the state and an aging population.‌

Dylan Blankenship was born in Wyoming and moved to Barrow with his parents in fourth grade. He then moved to Germany for a few years and came back to the U.S. for school. He studies aviation technology and will graduate spring 2019. ‌ “I had fun [in Alaska], but I want to go back to Germany.

Nothing beats Alaska, it’s a gorgeous place, but I like international travel and that’s harder to do living in the states,” Blankenship said.‌ Although Alaska has the highest unemployment rate in

the country at 6 percent, job opportunities after graduation are not always the largest concern.‌ Christian Marcale, a psychology major, moved to Alaska when he was five and will be graduating fall 2019. ‌ “I think I have a lot of job opportunities here. It’s just growing up in Anchorage especially, I feel like I’m just too complacent. I kind of want to move out of the state, just to branch out,” Marcale said.

Many students at UAA expressed a unique affinity and appreciation for the state regard-

less of their decision to stay or leave after completing school.‌ Marina Schull, an accounting major, is graduating fall 2019 and was born in Alaska. ‌ “I’m hoping to stay, I might move away for a couple years.

I do think I want to come back eventually and stay. I can’t really imagine living anywhere else,” Schull said.‌ The Department of Labor and Workforce Development report can be viewed here: labor.alaska.gov/news/2019/ news19-01_data.pdf‌

FEATURES

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SPORTS

THENORTHERNLIGHT.ORG TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2019

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Seawolves travel to University of New Mexico to compete in ski meet

By Lauren Cuddihy sports@thenorthernlight.org

Over the first weekend of February, the UAA ski team traveled to New Mexico to compete in the Drew Judycki Memorial Jade Enterprises Invitational. The meet took place at both the Red River Ski Area and the Enchanted Forest Cross Country Ski Area, where nine teams met to race. ‌ Nearing the final half of their season, with the recent completion of the meet in New Mexico, the Seawolves are currently ranked sixth overall in the Rocky Mountain Intercollegiate Ski Association. With a total of 1,313 points, they are over 500 points away from No. 1 Utah (1,851 points). ‌ Similarly, the Seawolves posted a No. 6 overall finish at the UNM meet; they finished with 92.5 points overall. Ahead of them was Denver at No. 5, New Mexico at No. 4, Montana State at No. 3, Utah at No. 2 and Colorado at No. 1.‌ In event specific categories, UAA alpine women were seventh, alpine men were fifth, Nordic women were fifth and Nordic men were fourth. ‌ The alpine teams competed in the men’s and women’s slalom. UAA had seven men and four women compete in these races. ‌ Freshman Liam Wallace from Calgary, Alberta placed the highest for the Seawolves to tie at 11th (1:27.55). Following him were several others in the top-20: junior Dominic Unterberger at 13th, senior Anthony Naciuk at 19th and freshman Sky Kelsey at 20th. ‌

Wallace was satisfied with his result but still continues to strive for improvement. ‌ “I just want to progress my skills and enjoy it as much as possible,” Wallace said. ‌ As for the women’s alpine team, Georgia Burgess was the top finisher to place at No. 12. She finished with a time of 1:34.88. Li Djurestaal was the only other female to make it into the top-20 at No. 19 with a time of 1:36.47. ‌ The women’s Nordic team saw more success. They competed in the 7.5-km classic. Only three Seawolves competed in the women’s Nordic race and all three of them made it into the top-20. ‌ Leading UAA, junior Michaela Keller-Miller, finished at No. 12 with a time of 31:35. Just 11 seconds behind her was teammate sophomore Jenna Difolco at No. 13 with a time of 31:46. ‌ Trailing in at No. 18 was junior Anna Darnell, finishing in 32:40. ‌ The UAA men’s Nordic team only had four competitors, however, only one of them made it into the top-20. ‌ Freshman Sigurd Roenning posted the top finish of the meet for the Seawolves by finishing as a runner-up. With a time of 25:17, Roenning was just seven seconds behind the No. 1 finisher and nearly 30 seconds ahead of the No. 3 finisher. ‌ Trailing in was Austin Huneck (27:37) at No. 23, Toomas Kollo (28:03) at No. 26 and JC Schoonmaker (28:54) at No. 29. ‌ The skiers will be back in action on Sun. Feb. 17 to host the Seawolf Invitational. ‌‌‌‌

PHOTO COURTESY OF SKIP HICKEY

Freshman Sigurd Roenning posted the top finish at the New Mexico meet.

OPINION

THENORTHERNLIGHT.ORG TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2019

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Bulldoze the cemeteries

By Ben Edwards

opinion2@thenorthernlight.org

Imagine that you are an alien visiting Earth. You are to identify facts about human civilization and submit a report to your homeworld. You visit many of the world’s cities in various countries, and you find something that all of them have in common: junkyards for corpses. Humans have been building these things for millennia.

Imagine trying to explain the logic of that.‌ It feels weird to think of cemeteries in that way, but that is literally what they are. Humans like to deposit bodies in a creepy necropolis and develop unjustified superstitions about them.

Now they are becoming a problem. Cemeteries in England are so short on space that the government is considering re-using graves more often. Hurricane Katrina flooded cemeteries and set hundreds of caskets afloat around Louisiana. Poor people in Manila have been margin-

alized into makeshift slums among crypts. In Israel, the religious taboo against cremation and burial relocation bears obscenely expensive projects like the multi-story cemetery building outside Tel Aviv.‌ The problem is evident in Alaska as well. The Anchorage Memorial Cemetery hogs 22 acres of valuable land in the downtown area. Land that could otherwise go to build new apartment housing, expand our business sector or even open a delightful park. All of these alternatives help enrich life. That is what we all ought to strive for.

So why are we sacrificing that to pamper the dead?‌ The answer is mostly superstition, and that won’t cut it in the modern world. The dead do not care what the living do. In fact, buying dinner for someone in life will mean a whole lot more to them than buying a $6,000 casket for them to rot in after death. So we have nothing to lose from demolishing public cemeteries and quite a lot to gain. ‌

For example, part of the Anchorage cemetery used to be public housing. The Willow Park Apartments, as they were called, were razed in 1991 and the cemetery was expanded.

That unfortunate process should be reversed, which would make Anchorage unique as a city that shrinks its graveyards rather than expands them. For the portions of the cemetery that are not privately owned, the municipality can begin exhuming graves and preparing the land for resale. The ideal purchaser would be low-income housing developers since the average cost of rent in Anchorage is a cringe-worthy $1,173 per month. Our fellow Alaskans who struggle with homelessness or cost-of-living challenges have better rights to that land than corpses do. ‌ If the housing plan doesn’t work out, even a vacant lot will be more useful to us than an urban cemetery. Some cities sell lots for as little as $1 as a way to attract more business investment. Anchorage won’t need to low-ball the price that much,

GRAPHIC BY JIAN BAUTISTA

but it should make sure that the post-cemetery land gets sold off to investors who can demonstrate a credible plan to improve it. More small businesses would be welcomed in our local economy. This would also broaden the municipality’s tax base. Cemeteries cost money to manage, clean and secure. As it so happens, none of its deceased tenants pay taxes. So there is a purely financial argument to be made for bulldozing these bottomless money pits.‌ Even without possible alternatives in housing or business, there is still a good rea-

son to get rid of our stockpile of corpses. The cemetery could become a park instead. A place where the community comes together to walk our dogs, play our music and host our events.

A place where kids can enjoy a playground. Friends and family gather. Old couples can reconnect and new lovers can get to know each other. This is allegorical, but it speaks to the philosophical heart of my opinion.

We should be creating spaces where life flourishes and people feel joy. Cemeteries are just morbid and full of grief. Let’s get rid of them.‌

Ocasio-Cortez is right about a 70 percent marginal tax rate

By Robert Hockema opinion@thenorthernlight.org

In a recent 60 Minutes interview, freshmen congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez floated an idea that has produced much confusion and outrage.

As part of a way to finance something called a “Green New Deal,” Ocasio-Cortez proposed a top marginal income tax rate as high as 70 percent. ‌ Unsurprisingly, conservative critics lashed out and took to social media to chastise Ocasio-Cortez. Congressmen like Rep. Steve Scalise suggested the plan would “take away 70 percent of your income and give it to leftist fantasy programs.” Soon after, Grover Norquist, head of the Americans for Tax Reform, likened the policy to “slavery.” Fox and Friends and other outlets spent days patronizing Ocasio-Cortez and lambasting her proposal.‌ If it were true that Ocasio-Cortez were trying to tax 70 percent of your hardearned money, I’d be jumping in with Scalise and Norquist. The problem is that critics seem to be either purposely misrepresenting or misunderstanding the plan. Where is the misunderstanding?

To begin, critics of the idea are missing a few key things. ‌ For starters, they’re getting the details of the plan itself wrong. The key word to

understand in this proposal is “marginal,” which contrasts with many taxes that work as a flat rate against your earned income. This explains why Ocasio-Cortez’s proposal sparked so much backlash because people are assuming she’s suggesting the government tax 70 percent of everyone’s income. ‌ But she’s not. Marginal tax rates apply a tax towards different brackets of your income. Tax brackets are the different levels of income a person can make.

There a total of six brackets that are taxed at 10, 15, 25, 28, 33 and 35 percent of income ranging from $0 to over $300,000.

When you pay taxes on these rates, you’re paying them on each level of income that is attributed to the tax bracket. ‌

Let’s put that in clearer terms. If you make $250,000, you would be paying 10 percent on the first $8,350 of your money; 15 percent on the next $8,350 to $33,950 on your income, so on, so forth. ‌

Vox notes that it’s easiest to think of marginal tax rates as filling different pockets, each pocket being an income bracket. Every pocket you fill, you’re paying a rate on that individual pocket.

Once you reach a higher bracket, you fill it up and pay the rate on a new pocket. By the time you’re done, you add up the full amount of taxes paid on each pocket and get the total amount of taxes paid on your entire income. It is not, as it is commonly understood, counting all your money and paying one single rate. ‌ That means two important things. The first is that since nobody pays one rate on their earnings through marginal tax rates, the proposal is far more equitable than the current tax code is. It’s much fairer to assign progressive rates on different income levels, given that the same tax rate for does not impact everyone evenly. Taking 15 percent of a millionaire’s income would have a marginal effect compared to taking 15 percent of a working college students’. ‌ But the more important takeaway is that if you don’t make $10 million, you don’t fall in the 70 percent bracket at all and thus won’t be taxed the new rate. ‌ To repeat: if you don’t make enough to fall within the highest bracket OcasioCortez wants to add, nothing changes for you. ‌ Also worth noting is that it’s historically odd that there are only six brackets

to tax. Under the current tax code, someone who makes half a million a year is paying the same exact marginal rate as someone who makes 10 times as much. ‌ Additionally, not only did we have more brackets, but the top bracket under Eisenhower paid a 91 percent rate, which fell to 70 under Kennedy. Ocasio-Cortez is suggesting we bring it back. ‌ To recap, the details of the policy are reasonable, and there’s historical precedent for it. What does the research say? ‌ Recently, economists have proposed policies similar to Ocasio-Cortez’s (she likely borrowed the idea from academics, given her background is in economics). MIT’s Peter Diamond and Berkeley’s Emmanuel Saez’s 2012 paper argues for a 73 percent top rate, providing analysis that suggests those making millions of dollars won’t be deterred from investing and innovating. A 2006 paper in the Journal of Political Economy suggests the same and provides historical analysis disproving fears that it would slow down the economy. ‌ Higher marginal tax rates, be it Ocasio-Cortez’s rate of 70 or not, are fairer for everyone. Raising them is not punishment for the rich, but an even distribution of economic obligations we all hold.

Designing the system to reflect fair outcomes is the least we could do. ‌

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OPINION

Sorry, there is no Self-exile for Nicolás Maduro ‘coup’ in Venezuela

By Ben Edwards

opinion2@thenorthernlight.org

Venezuela is volatile. The oil-rich country has experienced instability for years under the inept leadership of President Nicolás Maduro, but everything escalated on Jan. 23 when the opposition leader Juan Guaidó swore himself in as the new president of Venezuela. The international community didn’t hesitate to pick sides. The next day, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urged Latin American governments to recognize Guaidó.

Russia issued a warning to the U.S. and affirmed Maduro’s government as the legitimate one. The war hawks in Washington D.C. are already salivating at the prospect of invading Venezuela and ousting Maduro directly. But if the militarists can’t have an Iraq, they will begrudgingly accept a Syria. Appeals have been made to start funneling U.S. weapons into the hands of mutinous Venezuelan soldiers.

President Trump would surely welcome a distraction from the pressure he’s facing at home, so wading into the Venezuelan crisis seems ever more appetizing.‌ The thing is, nobody wants a war in Venezuela unless they are someone who would profit from it. Guaidó himself is cautioning against that kind of intervention. The U.S. already has a nasty reputation of overthrowing Latin American presidents during the Cold War, and even trying to remove an unlikable thug like Maduro is bound to reopen old wounds. ‌ All of this exposes a flaw in how the U.S. deals with dictators. We act like they can just be overthrown directly or by our proxies, and that would solve the whole problem. This unimaginative strategy often forces dictators to entrench themselves. Furthermore, our violation of their country’s sovereignty allows the dictator to improve legitimacy by claiming national self-defense. That is exactly how Maduro is responding right now. If anything, the self-defense argument is helping him shore up support with his military.‌ A new method for removing dictators needs to propagate through U.S. foreign policy. We need to start giving them a secure path towards self-exile. We also need to tolerate a situation where they may live comfortably for the rest of their days, and never have to answer for their sins. This is a tough pill to swallow for the idealists in U.S. government. After all, this country concluded WWII with the Nuremberg Trials, where Nazis were forced to answer for their wicked deeds.‌ However, realism matters more than

idealism, and the situations surrounding embattled dictators is no exception to that rule. We should recognize that these despots almost always act in their own self-interest. If we invade directly, they will try to go into hiding as Saddam Hussein did for nine months. If we arm up rebel proxies, the dictator will entrench as Bashar al-Assad did. But if we present a viable and secure pathway to exile, then maybe dictators can be forced out without mass bloodshed. The former tyrant of Tunisia, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, escaped from his country in 2011 into the open arms of King Abdullah in Saudi Arabia. To this day, Ben Ali is living comfortably in Saudi Arabia, and Tunisia is progressing as a fragile but comparatively successful democracy. ‌ Self-exile is a real possibility for Maduro if the international community plays its cards right. Nicaragua and Cuba are two destinations that are likely to host him. The U.S. should make no attempt to intercept or pursue him if he does choose exile, because the outcome of having him retire comfortably is preferable to having him drag Venezuela into further misery or civil war. In order to make self-exile an attractive option for Maduro, U.S. leaders need to immediately cease the threatening rhetoric about intervening in Venezuela. The only meaningful ally that Maduro still has is his military, and they are more likely to stick with him if the threat of foreign invasion is looming.‌ When the U.S. pulls back, it makes it clear that the toppling of a dictator has to be earned. Guaidó and his opposition legislature, the National Assembly, will have to persuade the army to turn on Maduro. Defections in the Venezuelan National Guard indicate that faith in Maduro is waning even within his own government. The U.S. can only aid this process by making self-exile an attractive option. That means encouraging Nicaragua to host him, staving off any interest by the International Criminal Court and, most importantly, respecting Venezuela’s sovereignty. ‌ When things get tough, dictators try to deflect blame. Maduro likes to use U.S. meddling as a scapegoat to divert attention away from his failed government.

Considering the ample historical evidence that the U.S. does indeed meddle with disastrous consequences, his scapegoat isn’t totally arbitrary. If the U.S. can exercise self-restraint, then the spotlight stays on Maduro. He won’t stay in that spotlight long if he has a discontent people and mutinous army on one side, and a safe villa in another country on the other.

Venezuela is more complicated than bad hot-takes on Twitter suggest

By Robert Hockema opinion@thenorthernlight.org

Once again, President Trump’s administration has made a controversial foreign policy decision. On Jan. 23, Trump recognized Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó as the legitimate President of Venezuela after Guaidó swore himself in at an opposition rally. ‌ As you can imagine, the internet lost its collective mind. A viral tweet from American rapper Boots Riley echoes the sentiments of the virulent anti-imperialist critique that came from all corners of the political spectrum: “So, the U.S. is enabling an actual coup in Venezuela. If you’ve been worried about Russian bots influencing elections here, I’d hope you express outrage about this.”‌ Elected members of Congress jumped in, including Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, who called the move illegal.‌ Many others are angry, perhaps motivated by suspicion that the U.S. is meddling in the affairs of yet another Latin American country. We’ve certainly had our fair share of coups, death squads and interventions, mostly to the detriment of everyone. ‌ Alas, while critics of Trump’s routinely absurd foreign policy are usually in the right, the situation in Venezuela is much more complicated than it appears.

In reality, recognizing Juan Guaidó may be an important symbolic step towards discrediting a dangerous, authoritarian regime and restoring democracy back to a country from which it was stolen from.‌ To get a better understanding, it’s important to start with the primary criticism of Trump’s decision, which is that recognizing Guaidó is akin to attempting to overthrow the “democratically” elected leader, President Nicolás Maduro. In fact, Guaidó is president of the National Assembly, the democratically-elected legislature of the country. In 2015, the country’s opposition coalition dominated the National Assembly in a landslide, a direct rebuke to President Maduro. The majority was elected on the sole promise to unseat Maduro, particularly as a severe economic crisis unfolded. ‌ Instead of accepting the legitimacy of the National Assembly, Maduro usurped its power through a series of undemocratic moves. ‌ Shortly after, Maduro stacked the Supreme Court with 13 government loyalists that vetoed any anti-government bill that came Maduro’s way. Eventually, Maduro completely nullified the legitimacy of the Assembly and held “elections” for a new Constituent Assembly, the governing body of Venezuela. Unsurprisingly, the elections for the body —

which is dominated by pro-Maduro loyalists — were strongly contested by the international community. When Maduro wasn’t busy sidelining the Assembly, he was barring popular candidates like Henrique Capriles from running for office or jailing them for organizing rallies against the government. ‌ Truth is, there haven’t been many free and fair elections in Venezuela for a long time now. The election that put Maduro in office in 2013 itself was contested by the opposition, particularly because they lost by less than a percentage point. It’s hard to believe the outcome was fair, especially since the National Electoral Council is essentially an arm of the state.‌ But even if 2013 was a free and fair election, Maduro’s recent elections most certainly haven’t been. Since the rise of the opposition, Maduro has engaged in dubious electoral practices to get votes.

The regime has tacitly threatened to revoke people’s government food cards if they don’t vote for the ruling Socialist party. The company that owns most Venezuelan voting machines, Smartmatic, says the vote that elected the Constituent Assembly was manipulated by upwards of 1 million votes. Other recent irregularities have been recorded at the regional level as well, suggesting that Venezuelan democracy is corrupt at every level. ‌ As a result of Maduro’s blatantly undemocratic rule, the country is in economic paralysis. Some still support the regime, but the vast majority are subject to starvation, sky-high inflation and unemployment. Others have fled to neighboring Colombia as refugees. ‌ Here’s where Trump’s move to recognize Guaidó comes in. The U.S. and Guaidó know he isn’t the actual president. They do know, however, that joining sides gives the opposition in Venezuela more credibility. Specifically, it signals to the military — which protects the regime from falling to avoid being prosecuted for a myriad of crimes they’re complicit in, including drug trafficking — that they can trust the opposition should they come to power. There have already been defectors, many of whom are growing tired of watching their friends and families suffer. With the U.S. on the opposition’s side, others waiting to abandon a government in slow-motion collapse can finally jump ship without fearing Guaidó will sick the International Criminal Court on them. ‌ It’s easy to stoke fears about a U.S. coup in Venezuela, but recognizing the opposition is an embrace of democratic principles, not a violation of them.

Through strategic diplomacy and pressure from others, the U.S. and Venezuela’s Latin American neighbors could take down Maduro without firing a single shot. ‌

OPINION

07

Acceptance: An open letter and response to the Chancellor’s apology Chancellor Sandeen,‌

ary education program are forced to choose between two frustratingly unacceptable options. First, we can do It has been over two weeks since the news broke nothing and trust every administrator that has been paabout UAA’s School of Education initial licensure pro- raded before us that tells us CAEP accreditation will not gram accreditation revocation. There have been meet- matter as long as we possess a license and a degree. Ofings, announcements, reports, letters, articles and nu- ten dismissing the challenge that in a resume to resume merous interviews. Recently, we even received an open comparison our cohort would be at a clear disadvantage. letter from you, apologizing for the university’s failure To say nothing that this option does nothing to honor, as to protect our “academic welfare.”‌ you put it, the “hard work, time, money and faith [we’ve] It’s worth noting that our second week of uncertain- invested in UAA.” Simply put, accepting this option ty was much different than our first. During our first means accepting less than what we had paid for.‌ week, many of us were simply trying to regain our bearOur second option comes at the grace of UAF, a ings — learning more about accreditation than ever be- transfer that if we want to graduate on time, means we fore. Some of us were going so far as to joke that our must complete unanticipated courses in technology and newfound personal use of the term “ombudsman” was research. Again, on top of our student teaching, seminear-exponential. But in our second week things were nar and comprehensive exams. Accepting this option igdifferent — two things to be specific. First, there was a nores the preparation of our one and two-year tracks that persistent narrative that, with the State of Alaska’s De- set us up to succeed by allowing us to focus on our classpartment of Education and Early Development promise rooms in our final term. This option most certainly preof licensure for spring and summer 2019 graduates, we vents us from having any significant employment this were out of the woods. Second, that a “seamless trans- term and asks us to place now-shattered faith in UAA fer” with UAS or UAF would be an illusion.‌ that it will cover our new tuition differences and textSo in the wake of your published apology, even if it book purchases.‌ is the polite thing to do, I hope you can understand our Oh, and we should state that this second option does hesitance to accept it.‌ nothing for members of our cohort who planned to gradMany of us keep coming back to this term, accep- uate with a music education or physical education entance. Often parents or supervisors denounce an action dorsement as UAF does not have a similar program.‌ — or in this case inaction — as unacceptable. Yet many This also means placing student veterans in financial times the word doesn’t translate to action. We say some- peril as distance classes make recipients ineligible for thing is unacceptable, but it also “is what it is,” and due housing stipends.‌ to circumstances and realities we eventually deal with This crisis is costing us more than accreditation the consequences and begrudgingly accept the outcome. stamps. It is costing us thousands of dollars.‌ This is where we, the pending graduates, find ourselves.‌ If we can appreciate your apology rather than accept The second week of our accreditation crisis began it, then perhaps we might have to meet there. We can to make one thing uncomfortably clear: we will not be appreciate that you were not chancellor at the time this made whole. ‌ process began and your stated commitment to your reStudents in the master of arts in teaching for second- sponsibility, mission and job. We can also now admit

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that we cannot complete our original program and have an accredited license and graduate on time. Any seamless transfer would require UAS or UAF to seek a new accreditation for our UAA-derived courseload… which would take much longer than four months.‌ So here we are. Disappointed. Angry. Wronged.‌ Maybe an apology is a nice gesture, but it is not the needed gesture. You once admitted a commitment to making us whole. So let’s start there. We can’t all graduate on time with the exact credentials we were promised and paid for, but you can try harder to alleviate these hardships. Whether it takes 200 new desktop files or pages in a notebook, each of these Seawolves have a less-than-amazing story being written and you have the power to waive extra fees and tuition, extend deadlines, add time for comprehensive exams, supply textbooks and work with the Veterans Affairs Administration to ensure the outcome for each and every one of us — even if not expected or optimal — is at least acceptable.

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