UAA Pride Center grand opening brings large community turnout Upcoming events for Black History Month in Anchorage
Suspected Chinese spy balloon shot down off South Carolina coast
By Kyle Ivacic news2@thenorthernlight.org
A Chinese surveillance balloon that had been making its way across the United States was shot down by the U.S. military on the afternoon of Saturday, Feb. 4. According to Reuters, an F-22 fighter jet based out of Langley Air Force base in Virginia brought it down six miles off South Carolina’s coast using a supersonic missile. U.S. military vessels are on the hunt for debris at the time of writing.
The balloon’s presence over the United States was confirmed by U.S. officials on Thursday, Feb. 2, five days after it entered U.S. airspace in Alaska. The balloon was tracked as it traveled east over Alaska, into Canada, and back into the United States where it crossed over several states before it was downed.
President Joe Biden said that he “ordered the Pentagon to shoot it down … as soon as possible” on Wednesday. However, military officials warned that the balloon might pose a threat to people and property if it went into freefall over land, so the decision was made to wait for the balloon to be over water before taking military action.
The balloon and its destruction have brought
U.S. – China relations to a new low. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has postponed a trip to China that Reuters described as “an overdue opportunity to stabilize an increasingly fractious relationship between the two countries.”
A friendly relationship with China now seems to be further away as diplomacy on both sides grows increasingly sour.
Suspect in custody after string of auto thefts on campus
A campus master plan regarding security cameras is in its preliminary steps for consideration.
By Lucas Wright news5@thenorthernlight.org
There have been four occurrences of vehicular theft on campus in recent weeks. The first in the string of thefts occurred in the Spruce parking lot across from the Gorsuch Commons lot on Dec. 10 while the subsequent three thefts took place in the North parking lot by Gordon W Harleib Hall on Dec. 13, Dec. 30 and Jan. 9.
Chief Jeff Earle of the University Police Department related that many of these occurrences and a string of burglaries including one at Gordon W Hartlieb Hall preceding the Dec. 13 auto theft are
believed to be in connection with one suspect who is now in custody.
As Anchorage and UAA move to more inperson activities, crimes of opportunity could occur on a more frequent basis.
Alaska auto theft rates and crime rates in Alaska have generally been declining following sharp increases in 2016 and 2017. According to Clery Act data from the UAA Dean of Students website, the UAA main campus had five motor vehicle thefts or attempted thefts in both 2019 and 2020, and none in 2021.
The Anchorage Police Department separately reported a 51% increase in
vehicle theft incidents in the surrounding areas of the university and Russian Jack Park in the first quarter of 2021 compared to the previous year, according to the crime analysis page on their website. This increase is the highest percentage increase in all the APD beat areas in Anchorage, which has seen only a marginal increase in these types of theft on a citywide average from 2021 according to the website.
“Cameras are helpful in a prevention and investigative method; they are not fool-proof, but they are one layer of helping us to prevent crime or investigate any of the activity that’s happened,” said
Student leaders and historical truth honored at UAA’s annual MLK ceremony
By Jasmine Grant news@thenorthernlight.org
UAA kicked off Black History Month with a commemoration Feb. 2 in honor of MLK’s legacy and the students who preserve his values.
The Martin Luther King Jr. Student Appreciation event featured Fredricka Newton, a former rank and file member of the Black Panther PartyOakland Chapter, as its keynote speaker. Newton is also the widow of the late Dr. Huey P. Newton, the co-founder of the Black Panther Party in Oakland, California.
For 40 minutes, Fredicka gave an immersive speech on the true history behind the Black Panther Party.
“I cannot overstate enough the magnitude of what the Black Panther Party was trying to do, and how much the government didn’t want them to
do it,” said Newton. She said the party was originally established to protect black citizens from police brutality.
Soon after its establishment, the Black Panther Party started a free breakfast for children program to combat food injustice and its consequences on the educational success of schoolchildren.
“You should know that this is a common theme with the party, if there was a problem in the community, they developed a program to solve it,” Newton said.
Though threatened by the Black Panther’s program, the government would later establish an identical and official school breakfast program in 1975.
Another method of mediating educational disparities was starting their own school. Children from the school would come into the grocery store where Fredricka was em-
ployed to sell The Black Panther’s newspapers
Newton said, “They were out in the community with the party newspaper in one hand and a can in the other that said ‘contribution to the Free Breakfast for Children’s Program.’” The newspapers were printed every week and distributed nationally for 13 years.
“I joined the Black Panther Party out of my love for these children.”
The Black Panther Party liberation schools first started in 1969 and aimed to educate AfricanAmerican youth on their true history. A similar outcome was experienced by the audience as Newton spoke.
“I felt like I learned more about black history than I ever learned in school,” said nominated freshman Amayahlidwina Alenepi.
Over sixty students were nominated by faculty for their positive impact
on the UAA community. Eight students were selected as scholarship recipients by the Diversity Action Council
“The UAA Student Diversity Award honors students who have demonstrated a deep and ongoing commitment to social justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion on any of our UA campuses,” a councilmember said.
One of the honorees, Kareena Bathija, said it was “eye-opening” to hear from someone with first hand experience. “A lot of these things that she mentioned were things that were skipped over when we learned about black history in class.”
Newton said, “As a member of the Black Panther Party, I will tell you it took great love to do what we did.”
In 1957, Dr. King said “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’ “
PHOTO
BY JUSTIN COX
Keynote speaker Fredrika Newton, President and Co-founder of the Dr. Huey P. Newton Foundation, giving a speech at the MLK Student Appreciation Celebration.
PHOTO BY AIR FORCE STAFF SGT. MARCUS M. BULLOCK
Jet- F-22 Raptor demonstration at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia. Courtesy of the U.S. Department of Defense.
Gov. Dunleavy appoints new UA regents, student who sued administration runs for student regent
Legislators anticipate learning more about appointees in upcoming legislative confirmations while elected student regent nominees await Dunleavy’s appointment decision.
By Lucas Wright news5@thenorthernlight.org
On Jan. 23, Gov. Dunleavy announced the appointment of one returning and four new regents to the University of Alaska’s Board of Regents. The appointment of a student regent will take place after the student associations for each campus have submitted their lists of student-elected nominees to the governor’s office. Dunleavy will appoint a student regent from the elected nominees on those lists.
If a joint session in the legislature votes by a majority to confirm the appointees, they will take office Feb. 6. And the term of the pending student appointment will begin June 1 if confirmed by the legislature.
The student nominees from the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus are Katherine LeBlanc, Coalition of Student Leaders Chair and Riley von Borstel, former student body president at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
UAA’s nominee is Albiona Selimi, Chair of the USUAA Activities Committee.
According to a Jan. 5, 2022, Alaska News Source article by Sean Maguire, von Borstel was one of four students who sued Dunleavy’s administration on the grounds that it was unconstitutional to drain the state’s Higher Education Investment Fund. The fund provides scholarships for students in the UA system receiving the Alaska Performance Scholarship and provides fund-
ing for WWAMI. The Alaska State Supreme Court affirmed Dunleavy’s decision in May of last year, but House Bill 322 passed that same month effectively protecting the fund from legislative sweeps.
The five regents appointed directly by Dunleavy include Bethany Marcum, CEO of the Alaska Policy Forum, Paula Harrison, Director of Human Resources at Enstar Natural Gas, Dennis Michel, founder and president of American Mechanical, Inc., Joey Crum, CEO of Northern Industrial Training, and returning Regent Scott Jepsen, VP of External Affairs at ConocoPhillips Alaska.
The recent appointment of Marcum follows her work as a legislative staffer for Gov. Mike Dunleavy when he was a state senator, and her 2020 appointment by him to the Alaska Redistricting Board.
During her term on the board, allegations of gerrymandering levied at her and other board members led to the Alaska Superior Court’s Feb. 2022 decision to overturn their decision to create two east Anchorage senate seats linked to Eagle River, according to a Feb. 16, 2022 article in the Anchorage Daily News by James Brooks.
Through her work at the Alaska Policy Forum, Marcum has also advocated for public funding of private education institutions through education savings accounts. Opponents of the practice say it violates the Blaine Amendment to Alaska’s Constitution which has specific language prohibiting parochial schools or religious sects from
receiving public funding, but Marcum’s fiscal policy stances generally lean toward reduced government spending and increased private investment.
In her Sep. 2022 article in Must Read Alaska, for example, she opposed plans to build an Equity Center advocated for by the Alaska Black Caucus among other projects that were vetoed by Dunleavy.
As a senior contributor and political writer for Must Read Alaska, Marcum expressed opposition in a June 2022 article to a new defined benefits pension tier for state employees, which is receiving renewed attention amid a shortage of state workers.
Proponents of the plan argue that it would help the state retain public employees.
UAA’s student nominee, Selimi, said, “I think advocating for putting money into education would be my top priority.” Selimi is a political science major in her sophomore year.
“They are always talking about budget cuts, and I do think that a lot of the time education does really take a hit,” continued Selimi when she spoke of initiatives she would want to introduce to the board or its committees if appointed and confirmed.
In addition, she said that her experience with USUAA helped to prepare her for membership on the board because she has experience representing students’ expressed concerns. When asked about those initiatives, she said, “We’ve helped advocate for opening the Pride Center and for gender-neutral bathrooms, and we have accomplished the first goal, but the second one is still something that is constantly on our minds.” Selimi was unchallenged in the Jan. 31 UAA student regent election.
“The Board of Regents has the responsibility for approving the creation of new academic programs or for the elimination of state academic programs,”
said Zac Clark, UAA Associate Director of Student Affairs. “All of the policies and regulations the university operates by, those are all set by the Board of Regents,” continued Clark who emphasized their influence in the UA system’s direction and priorities in addition to determining official policy.
Student regents are equal voting members of the Board of Regents and represent all 27,000 students in the UA system, but they serve two-year terms as opposed to the eight-year terms their non-student counterparts serve due to academic attendance requirements.
The student associations, such as USUAA and ASUAF, have a March 31 deadline to submit up to two nominees for consideration. The governor then selects and submits a candidate from the list to the legislature for confirmation.
Requests for comments from all of the recent appointees were not immediately returned.
Alaska fentanyl problem warrants help from federal and local agencies
As overdose rates in Alaska worsen, law enforcement agencies tighten their grip on drug trafficking in the state.
By Jasmine Grant news@thenorthernlight.org
Out of all 50 states, Alaska had the highest increase in percentage of deaths by overdose, according to a 2022 report by the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services.
The rates of death by overdose in the state increased by 74% in 2021 compared to the previous year, the report stated.
This spike in overdoses has been attributed to the heightened trafficking of fentanyl, with 6 out of 10 overdoses in Alaska attributed to fentanyl consumption.
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that produces an intense high, usually only prescribed for severe pain. According to the CDC, fentanyl can be 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine.
Inflow of illicit fentanyl has increased across the United States, and the DEA reports that just two milligrams of fentanyl
can be potentially lethal. Fentanyl could be mixed in with counterfeit medicine or drugs unbeknownst to the consumer, making them more addictive and deadly.
“Of the 140 fentanyl overdose deaths that occurred in Alaska in 2021, 61% also involved methamphetamine while 28% also involved heroin,” DHSS wrote in a press release. This past November, Alaska State Trooper’s Statewide Drug Enforcement Unit obtained more than 4,100 counterfeit oxycodone pills dosed with fentanyl.
A recent public safety alert by the DEA warns citizens of the statistical danger of consuming pills. According to a DEA laboratory analysis, for every ten false prescription pills laced with fentanyl, at least six will contain a lethal dosage.
In 2018 federal and local law enforcement agencies across Alaska joined forces to tackle the state’s drug crisis under the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas, known as HIDTA, to
dismantle organized crime and drug trafficking in the state.
Alaska is a highly targeted landscape for drug trafficking as its remoteness rewards a higher retail prices on drugs transported here.
Illegal fentanyl production likely takes place both in and outside of U.S. borders, making it difficult to track.
Counterfeit pills imitating prescription medicine are theorized by the DEA to be massproduced by both the Sinaloa Cartel and Jalisco Cartel at various “pill mills’’ throughout the United States and Mexico, with materials from China. One of these operations, located in Mexico City and linked to Sinaloa, was shut down by the DEA in 2018.
Various federal and local agencies have been uncovering Sinaloa operations and operatives in a joint investigation since 2016. In September 2021, U.S. Attorneys indicted a member of the Sinaloa Cartel — naming him a “drug kingpin” — for
leading a drug trafficking route between Mexico and Alaska, according to a press release by the Department of Justice.
The cartel recruited Alaskan couriers through social media to travel to Mexico to transport drugs back into the state, the DOJ wrote. Couriers typically carried about 250 grams of narcotics on each trip.
But the trafficking continues on without its leader and HIDTA continues its fight against Alaska’s opioid crisis. In April 2022, two different seizures by HIDTA task forces in Anchorage and Craig produced around 4,700 counterfeit fentanyl pills.
Organizations throughout Alaska are also helping to mediate the effects of this overdose crisis.
On Jan. 31, 2022, a standing order was issued by the state allowing local organizations to distribute overdose rescue kits. These rescue kits include naloxone medication called Narcan. Naloxone provides temporary relief from the effects of an overdose so medical treatment can be administered.
Narcan rescue kits as well as fentanyl test strips are available to the public for free at any partner organization location.
PHOTO BY MATTHEW SCHMITZ
UA Board of Regents met in person for first time since the COVID-19 pandemic at UAA June 2022.
According to the DEA, one pill can kill.
Student opinions on UAA’s academic advising
The Northern Light is doing a series looking into advising at UAA. This story surveys the experiences of some students with the advising department.
By Kyle Ivacic news2@thenorthernlight.org
Issues abound in the world of Alaska’s education system, including budget cuts and declining student populations. Alaskan students have a lot to contend with when taking classes at any grade level, and college students are no exception.
A college’s advising department is a key to students meeting their degree goals, such as graduating in four years. Advisors help to shape schedules, grant credit exemptions and council students on big educational decisions, among other things.
In an effort to understand student’s experience with advis-
ing at UAA, I took a survey of 20 UAA students asking three questions:
1. Do you have or have you had issues with an advisor or the advising department?
Eight students answered yes, while 12 answered no.
2. Do you have a neutral, positive, or negative view of the advising department?
Twelve students answered neutral, six positive, and two negative.
3. Has advising had little to no impact, some impact, or much impact on your degree plan?
Nine students answered little to no, seven said some, and the remaining four replied with much.
While this survey was not exhaustive or scientific, it serves as an initial gauge of the student population’s feelings toward UAA advising.
Those eight students who had an issue with the advising department all mentioned having a hard time getting in contact with their advisor and described difficulty in scheduling advising appointments.
Emily Hurtado, a student, stated that she “had to go above and beyond to get a hold of them.” While the process of initially getting in contact was not
Different UAA colleges do student advising differently, but that’s going to change
The Northern Light is doing a series looking into advising at UAA. This story follows the experiences of deans of different colleges.
By Taylor Heckart new3@thenorthernlight.org
Some students may not know that different colleges within UAA have historically done advising differently.
For example, students within the College of Engineering meet with a professional advisor early on in their college career before moving on to a faculty advisor specific to their degree. Meanwhile, students within the Community and Technical College primarily only use professional advisors. Some colleges and degree programs have mandatory advising at certain points in a student’s career, while some do not.
This semester, however, some aspects of advising have been restructured between colleges. Advisors will no longer report directly to deans, and first year advisors will be incorporated into different colleges.
“For me, advising is about relationships,” said Jenny McNulty, the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, “and I want our students to have a relationship with an advisor that lasts through their career.”
McNulty highlighted a lack of consistency in advising across campus and students being transferred between multiple advisors as a weak point in the previous advising system. She said that this new system will help address those inconsistencies, but students may not immediately notice the change.
Raymond Weber, the dean of the UAA Community and Technical College, said that the new advising structure will hopefully even out the load that advisors take on at different colleges.
Weber said that turnover rates with advisors previously could be an issue and that it took time to train new advisors to fill those slots. Weber said he hopes that this can be addressed in the new system as well.
“Some more robust training process, I think, is a way to help mitigate that. If there is a turnover, someone can jump in more quickly.”
For colleges with a small number of professional advisors, such as the College of Engineering, the change is a chance to take some pressure off.
“Right now we kind of have to scramble around [...] because we only have two people,” said Kendrick Mock, the dean of the College of Engineering. Mock said he sees this new system as an opportunity to provide more resiliency to advising.
Each dean highlighted that there was a high amount of value in advising and that a lot of the strength comes in their ability to connect to and care about students.
Weber also noted that this new system isn’t set in stone, and will likely change as people figure out what does and doesn’t work.
“The transition is far from over.”
The Northern Light will be doing follow up stories about UAA’s new advising system.
simple, Hurtado had no issues with an advisor specifically and found that her appointment was useful.
Another student, Allyson Brakow, said her advising experience was “helpful” and “positive”.
Several students mentioned a system called Navigate, and no one I asked about it had a positive opinion of it.
Navigate is a website as well as a smartphone app that contains university information and can display things such as upcoming advising appointments and your schedule.
I experimented with the app, and it seemed somewhat outdated. It wasn’t the simplest to navigate either. I was able to find the advising appointment scheduling menu with no issues though.
The web-based version of Navigate is significantly simpler to use. From the home page you can easily schedule an advising appointment by clicking on a large, blue button labeled “Schedule an Appointment.” While the website works fine, students have to get through several menus on UAA’s advising web page to access it, which may create confusion.
Each advisor has different processes for contacting and consulting with students. My advisor has never asked me to use Navigate, which was the reason for my not knowing of its existence. Other students, however, have been asked to use this system – which feels redundant considering students and staff
should be available for contact through Gmail.
The Navigate information page on UAA’s website displays statistical evidence apparently in support of the Navigate platform although it’s not clear if these statistics are directly related to Navigate. They are described as the results of “appointment campaigns.” The page attributes these appointment campaigns with a 57% increase in student outreaches from Fall 2019 to Fall 2020, a 14.6% increase in persistence to Spring 2021 of students who held an appointment through a campaign, and a 4.6% increase in students who were identified through a campaign in persistence to Spring 2021.
It’s not fully clear what the word “persistence” means in this context or what the difference is between a student who “held an appointment” and “were identified through a campaign.”
Overall, it feels that there is a general sense of indifference among students when it comes to the advising department, and the major issue, from the few I spoke with, seemed to be communication.
In speaking with students, inconsistency appears to be at work as well – at least in respect to the quality of advising.
The Northern Light will be continuing its reporting on advising at UAA and will seek to have some of these issues and questions addressed by university administration.
SCREENSHOT BY KYLE IVACIC
The Navigate website’s home page.
The legal definition of consent has been updated in Alaska
By Taylor Heckart new3@thenorthernlight.org
This year the new legal definition of consent in cases of sexual assault went into effect in Alaska.
Last year, Reps. Geran Tarr, a Democrat from Anchorage, introduced House Bill 5. According to Tarr’s website, it was a two year effort to craft a bill to change the 40-year-old definition of consent.
The bill became a part of Republican Reps. Sara Rasmussen’s House Bill 325, which was officially signed into law on Oct. 5th, 2022. House Bill 325 received bipartisan support.
Previously, the definition of “without consent” in cases of sexual assault was defined as “with or without resisting, [someone] is coerced by the use of force against a person or property,” or that someone “is incapacitated as a result of an act of the defendant.”
Tarr, Rasmussen, and other Alaskans highlighted the shortcomings of the previous law in an opinion piece submitted to the Anchorage Daily News. They noted that under the previous definition of “without consent,” it was only considered sexual assault if force or the threat of force was involved.
According to the article, “This failed to recognize wellknown, documented responses to trauma, such as freezing or
dissociation, and implied that unless someone was beaten bloody and left with visible injuries, they were not assaulted.”
As of Jan. 1, 2023, the definition of consent has changed to say that “‘without consent’ means that, under the totality of the circumstances surrounding the offense, there was not a freely given, reversible agreement specific to the conduct at issue.”
Under the law, freely given is now defined as, an “agreement to cooperate in the act was positively expressed by word or action.”
“Reversible” is an important part of this new definition.
“Someone can say yes 100 times, and then if they say no one time, no means no,” said Haley Lugers, UAA’s Peer Health Educator health education assistant, “Someone can take back their consent at any time.”
This new definition is more in-line with what Peer Health Educators teach students on campus. At UAA, Peer Health Educators are students who help provide health education to oth-
er students. They use the FRIES acronym: consent is freely given, reversible, informed, enthusiastic and specific.
Summer Sweet, the health promotion specialist with the Peer Health Educators, says that it’s important for people to understand consent both in and out of sexual contexts. Sweet said that college can sometimes be the first time students are taught about consent.
“Society [is] starting to look at correct forms of consent and destigmatize things like that.”
This Valentines Day, UAA will bring cannabis to the kitchen
In the middle of spring semester, UAA’s culinary department will offer a 1-credit upper-division course on cooking with cannabis.
By Jasmine Grant news@thenorthernlight.org
Cannabasics is a hands-on culinary course running from Feb. 14 through March 2, open to all community members.
posts on the UAA culinary department’s instagram page, and a promotion in the Green and Gold News on Jan. 11.
This spring, Cannabasics has a capacity of 25 with the possibility of a duplicate class for a total of 50 if capacity is exceeded. The course is open to all students and community members over the age of 21.
She said that things like stalking and unhealthy relationships are often portrayed in different kinds of media, and some people can still base their understanding of consent on myths and incorrect information.
Lugers said that one of the strengths of Peer Health Educators is their ability to communicate on a peer-to-peer level when educating students. “Research has shown by far it’s the most effective way to reach these college populations.”
According to the Alaska Victimization Survey, a survey conducted by the UAA Justice Center, 6 out of 10 respondents reported experiencing intimate partner violence in their lifetime. In 2020, 75.6% of respondents reported experiencing any sexual violence in their lifetime. The rates of sexual assault are even higher for Alaska Native and American Indian women.
Many resources exist for Alaskans experiencing sexual violence. Those needing immediate help should call 911.
Alaska’s CARELINE number is 877-266-4357.
The Standing Together Against Rape (STAR) hotline is 907- 276-7273.
Abused Women’s Aid In Crisis Inc. (AWAIC) provides housing for people experiencing domestic violence.
ing community outreach on marijuana.
“One of the things I like to do is go into some of the retirement homes and speak on cannabis because especially with those later generations, they harbor a lot of stigma.”
The course covers proper cannabis terminology, techniques for decarboxylation and infusion, and utilization of the plant’s anatomy.
CA A490 will be taught by local marijuana retailer, Bailey Stuart, co-owner of recreational dispensary Green Jar.
Originally, a three-week course consisting of six classes was offered in September to gauge interest. Stuart said a lack of advertisement was likely responsible for a cohort of only 18 students, most of whom were culinary students.
This semester’s class was more publicly advertised with fliers posted around campus,
Currently, marijuana is illegal on the federal level and classified as a Schedule 1 drug. Being that the university is federally funded, even academic research of cannabis must align with federal policies.
UAA’s marijuana policy prohibits products with a THC content of .3% or more and the production of marijuana on campus.
For this reason, cannabasics will only use hemp or CBD oil in labs.
“We utilize hemp because hemp is federally legal, and it can be infused in the exact same manner as a flower that contains tetrahydrocannabinol or THC,” said Stuart.
The curriculum was developed collaboratively by Stuart and other community industry members, such as UAA alumni and assistant professor, Riza Brown. Stuart said Brown started the collaboration process, which spanned about seven months.
Stuart opened the first recreational dispensary in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough in 2017. Since then, she has been a trailblazer for the local industry by attending all Mat-Su council meetings, helping to develop collegiate curriculum, and do -
Despite the stigma that can exist among older generations, Alaska is one of the most weedfriendly states in the country. It was one of the first few states to legalize marijuana and generally consumes a heavy amount of the plant.
A report by Politico found Alaska to have the highest rate of dispensaries per capita of any state in the country. In state rankings of overall marijuana use, CBS News reported Alaska came in first with a percentage of 16.29% of residents who smoke weed.
Still, Stuart saw a need for education on the plant and was excited to create a curriculum that would propel that. She hopes to “generate a new workforce that’s formally educated so that our industry can actually thrive,” she said.
Many students showed interest in the cannabis industry, Stuart said. “A few of my students came into my shop. I teach strongly that you need to be able to smell cannabis. It speaks to the body through terpenes.”
Stuart is in the finishing stages of opening a second dispensary in Anchorage and looks forward to teaching students again.
“It was probably the most rewarding thing I’ve done in my life.”
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE ALASKA LEGISLATURE.
The Alaska State Capitol. .
PHOTO COURTESY USER: CUHKS, WIKIMEDIA COMMONS, CC-BY-SA-4.0. Cannabis leaf in Ketama, Morocco.
UAA Pride Center grand opening brings large community turnout
The state’s first college pride center is now officially open at UAA.
By Taylor Heckart new3@thenorthernlight.org
The first day of the spring semester also marked the grand opening of UAA’s Pride Center, the first ever college pride center in the state.
Every available seat in the Student Union cafeteria was packed with students, staff, and community members. Top level administrators, such as Sean Parnell, were also present to celebrate the opening.
Those who planned the event hoped that over forty people would attend. The actual number was closer to 130, said Jessi Saiki, the engagement and belonging coordinator at Multicultural Student Services.
Denali Zantop, the rainbow initiatives manager in charge of LGBTQ programming, said that this was the biggest turnout she’d ever seen for a Multicultural Student Services event.
“By the time I got here there wasn’t any food, and I got there on time!”
Multicultural Student Services Direc-
tor Sara Caldwell-Kan took the podium to begin the evening, and almost every sentence was punctuated by applause from the audience.
“Today is an incredible day for our community,” said Saiki in a seperate speech, “and while we celebrate this moment in history, we will continue to advocate for collective liberation for people of all marginalized identities.”
Other speakers emphasized the many people and long efforts that helped create UAA’s new community space.
Former Acting Mayor Austin QuinnDavidson was also a guest speaker. Quinn-Davidson was the first woman and first openly gay person to serve as mayor of Anchorage and currently serves on the Anchorage assembly.
“Today we’re one step closer to having that community, that consistent place that uplifts and supports us and tells us we belong. We are good and whole just as we are,” said Quinn-Davidson in a speech.
The grand opening also had two drag performances by the Emprex Dela Rosa. Coming full circle, Emprex Dela Rosa is
New air traffic control tower coming to Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport
The new tower will become the state’s tallest inhabited structure and provide much-needed upgrades to air traffic control operations.
By Kyle Ivacic news2@thenorthernlight.org
Anchorage’s bustling international airport is set to receive a major upgrade in the form of a new air traffic control tower that will stand several hundred feet tall. Construction on the tower and an adjacent terminal radar approach control base building, known as TRACON, is expected to begin in 2025 and complete by 2029.
Stantec, an architectural and engineering design firm, has been selected by the FAA to oversee the design process for both the tower and TRACON. According to Stantec, the airport has outgrown its current tower which was built in 1977 –well before Ted Stevens reached its modern passenger volume of just under 6 million per year and claimed the title of second busiest cargo airport in the United States.
The project was greenlighted on the
basis that the current tower suffers from line of sight issues due to the airport’s expansion over the years.
Donnell Evans, an FAA spokesperson, wrote in an email that, “the FAA follows a repeatable process for evaluating and selecting air traffic control facilities in need of replacement. The Anchorage project is a result of this process and is just one of many the FAA has underway.”
In order to more safely and efficiently facilitate ever-growing passenger and cargo loads, the new tower will feature up-to-date earthquake safety measures, twelve viewing angles, technological upgrades and more space for employees.
According to the FAA, airline passengers will not be affected by construction, as the current tower will operate normally until the completion of the new tower.
Once complete, the tower will be the tallest inhabited building in the state at an estimated 300-feet – surpassing the 296foot Conoco-Phillips Building in Downtown Anchorage.
a UAA alumni and worked at UAA with Saiki when they were students.
The Family, UAA’s LGBTQIA+ club, performed the official ribbon cutting for the Pride Center. The Family provided input on the space early on and continued to provide support throughout the process.
Mark Zimmerman, the secretary of The Family, says that he thinks a dedicated space for advocacy where groups on campus can gather is important at UAA.
“While a physical space isn’t like the be-all end-all of everything, it is a really important component to [advocacy],
especially on the college campus,” said Zimmerman.
The first thing students who enter the new Pride Center will notice is how cozy it is. There’s a large “WELCOME TO THE UAA PRIDE CENTER” painted on the canter’s massive windows. Identity flags cover the back wall, and there are lamps, squishmallows, and snacks around brightly colored furniture. Art of all kinds can be found in just about every corner of the space.
For everyone involved, one thing is clear: there is excitement for the space and for the future. Even after it’s opened, there are already more plans for growth in the future.
The Pride Center will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays, and can be found in The Hub on the lower level of the Student Union.
Regal Tikahtnu theater to close
The announcement comes as Cineworld – Regal’s parent company – faces a post-bankruptcy future.
By Kyle Ivacic news2@thenorthernlight.org
Theatergoers may soon be saying goodbye to one of Anchorage’s largest movie theaters, the Regal Tikahtnu. The multiplex, which houses 16 screens and has one of the only two IMAX screens in the state, has been placed on a list of theaters to close by UK-based Cineworld. According to the company’s bankruptcy filings, axing 39 Regal theaters across the United States will release them from “unnecessary” and “burdensome” leases.
The 2017 Cineworld buyout of Regal happened at a time that was more economically promising for theaters. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic derailed the company’s ambitions along with those of competitors, such as AMC.
Beginning Feb. 15, Cineworld plans to reject the leases for the 39 affected theaters in an effort to cut costs by an estimated $22 million annually. Ultimately, the theater chain is required to restructure as a result of Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. Part of the restructuring’s intention being to identify theater leases that are of low value to the company.
UAA students have expressed disappointment with the planned closure.
The theater stands as one of only a small handful of entertainment venues in the city open to people who are under 21.
Kaitlyn Barcelona, a junior, said: “The theater is my go-to for hanging out with friends or my boyfriend. It’s the only theater with a 4D screen, so it feels like one of the closest things we have to an amusement park. I’m upset by the announcement, but at least there are other theaters in Anchorage.”
There seems to be more to the story, however. Further investigation led to contact with a Regal Tikahtnu employee who wished to remain unnamed. The employee said, “I can assure you that the theater is not closing, but that’s as much as we can say.”
Requests for comment from Regal, Cineworld, and Browman Development – the developer responsible for leases in Tikahtnu Commons – were all left unanswered.
Based on the silence of parties involved, the employee’s statement, and the theater’s scheduled showtimes extending well-beyond Feb. 15 – the future of the theater remains to be seen.
More information and final decisions will likely be revealed as the February deadline approaches.
PHOTO BY JUSTIN COX
Guests fill the auditorium at the Pride Center opening.
PHOTO COURTESY OF STANTEC
Initial rendering of the new 300-foot tower.
PHOTO BY KYLE IVACIC Regal Tikahtnu.
FEATURES
Stories from strangers: Why I left UAA
By Carlee Christensen arts1@thenorthernlight.org
This article was transcribed and edited from an audio interview. Portions have been omitted for style and readability.
I don’t really regret not continuing my education at UAA. Sometimes I’ll think that it would have been nice to stay there for school. I would’ve had my track scholarship still if I stayed. But my second year at UAA wasn’t going too well because of COVID, and all my classes went online.
And I wasn’t enjoying it, like at all. It was not for me, and it was causing me to be depressed — I don’t know… I enjoyed it. They have good classes, good professors, but I just needed to get out of Alaska and try something new.
When I left UAA, I decided that I wanted to get out of Alaska because I’ve been here my entire life. So, I decided to go to Utah because my best friend was going to move there. So, I went with her, and we lived together. I decided I was going to save up
money for college and just work while I was in Utah. Then after probably a year, I would go to school in Utah at Utah Valley University.
In Utah, I had two jobs. I worked as a receptionist at a pet hospital and another job.
Ever since I was five, I wanted to be a veterinarian. My dad used to read to me and my sister every night when we were younger and there was this one book that I just absolutely adored. It was an animal book, and it had a bunch of different animals from around the world. It would tell you like the name of the animal, their special qualities, and I just loved hearing everything and anything about animals.
Then after going to college for a year or two and then not being in college for about two years, I’ve been really thinking about the school I would have to go through to become a veterinarian. It would be about six to eight years of school, and it’s just a lot. So, I came up with a second option of being a wildlife biologist because I even-
tually want to live in Alaska, and wildlife biologists actually make the most money in Alaska. I thought it was a cool job and I would only need a masters. I don’t know. That’s kind of what I’m thinking right now. Either a veterinarian or a wildlife biologist.
After a while, I realized that Utah was not the place for me. Utah is fun, there were a lot of activities, lots of places to go and really good food, but I didn’t have a lot of friends and I’m not a very social person, and there were just a lot of people.
So, I decided to leave Utah and come back home to Alaska and recoup a little bit because my money saving didn’t go very well. My rent was very expensive in Utah, and I ended up having to pay for a lot of things. It was not going well.
So, I came back to Alaska, hoping to actually save money this time and to be home with my family. I also just wanted to be in Alaska because I love Alaska, I really do. But now my hopes are to go to Brigham Young University-Idaho with
After the competition, the UAA Robotics Team holds in 10th place, and has hopes pinned on world championships. Hayley Maw, a former student shares her story of leaving UAA and what came after.
my sister when she gets back from her mission.
There’s been times when I don’t want to go back to school because it’s expensive and so much of your time, and there’s so many jobs out there that you really don’t need to go to school for. Sometimes I’ll think, “I’ll just not go to school, and I won’t have to stress myself out by paying for school and doing all the classes.” But in the end, I know that school is something I need to do.
UAA Robotics hosts remote competition, brings Hong Kong and South Dakota students together to test skills
By Kellie Davis features2@thenorthernlight.org
The UAA Robotics Team hosted and played in a virtual match on Jan. 22 in the Engineering and Industry Building against MINES Robotics from the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology and CMAss Robotics from CMA Secondary School in Hong Kong. UAA scored 209 points which put them in 10th place across the world, which, if they hold on to it, will qualify them for the World Championship in Dallas.
There were 21 people who worked on the UAA robots, wrote Mya Schroder, president of the UAA Robotics Club. She spoke to TNL at the tournament and in an email.
Richard Craig of the Robotics Education & Competition Foun-
dation came to the tournament from Texas. He told TNL that while the competitors worked with VEX — a company that makes robots and creates curriculum — the Robotics Education & Competition Foundation assists with the competition. Craig said that the competition is focused on workplace needs, particularly the VEXU competition. From the time the next year’s manual and new game are released in April at the world championships, competitors are building their robots according to VEX standards and documenting progress in an engineering notebook, which is submitted at the competitions to be judged.
The competition hosted at UAA on Sunday was a remote competition designed so teams can compete with each other in real time while watching each other on a screen. They score official points that help them
work toward getting into the world championships. VEX’s website says that there are over 300 VEX U teams that compete, with 80 going to the world championships.
This year’s game is called “Spin Up.” The robots, which resemble Erector Sets, are 15” x 15” x 15” on a field that is 12’ x 12’ and set up on official interlocking squares. There is a tiered basket in two opposite corners that consist of a smaller version of a disk golf basket. The robots are made with official parts licensed by VEX, which at the VEX U level can also be made with 3D printers. In a remote meet, two robots from the same team work together to score the most points in a one minute round. Each team has three tries with the highest score counting for the match. The aim of the game is to score points by tossing lightweight yellow discs into the goals, moving rollers, and setting off string projectiles at the end to cover as many tiles as possible.
After two good runs, Hong Kong had a disqualification when their strings went over the barriers on the field. Schroder said that one problem the Seawolves were grappling with in an all-nighter the night before the tournament was the string shooting strategy: “The general idea was to shoot string with a catapult and have a pin release. Several members made some large prototypes and then scaled them down to fit on the robot.”
Schroder wrote that “the
strategy for this game was focusing on what could score us the most points with the most accuracy. For this game, covering a tile during expansion was 3 points and turning a roller was 10 points. Scoring disks was 5 points, but that required more accuracy and tuning then we had time to prepare for this competition, so we focused on the
expansion and roller (especially for the autonomous portion).” Schroder said that the next competition will be in Clemson, South Carolina on Feb. 4. They can only send five people down, so those going down will be Micah Sheldon, Osias Salem, Jaren Ramirez, and Schroder. When TNL wrote and asked what they learned from the Alaska competition, Schroder said they will give the drivers a lot more time to practice and fine tune the machines for better feedback and consistency.
PHOTO BY CARLEE CHRISTENSEN Hayley Maw is from Kenai, Alaska and attended UAA on a track scholarship from 2019 to 2021.
PHOTO BY JUSTIN COX
Osias Salem and Micah Sheldon work on their robot during UAA’s VEX U remote robot competition.
PHOTO BY JUSTIN COX
Granny, a 15” x 15” x 15” bot representing UAA’s robotics team. picks up discs at the VEX Robotics Competition at UAA.
UAA Dental Days
By Kyle Ivacic news2@thenorthernlight.org
UAA students can look forward to affordable dental care this semester. In an effort to provide more training for those in the university’s dental hygiene program, students actively enrolled in classes will have the opportunity to make a $45 appointment with the UAA Dental Clinic. Appointments will include a dental health screening, x-rays, and a cleaning by hygienists-in-training. Appointments are available every Monday from Feb. 6 to April 24.
Interested students should be aware of the 3 ½ hour time commitment associated with the initial evaluation. This time will be used as an intensive, hands-on training session for hygienists to go over the slew of evaluatory practices and techniques that are
required for success in the field of dental hygiene.
Students requiring further treatment will be scheduled for subsequent appointments. Those receiving further treatment may have to pay an extra $15 dependent upon the scope of necessary procedures.
An appointment is required, and they can be scheduled for 8:30 a.m. or 12:45 p.m. At this time, there is no limit to the number of students who can sign up.
Dental Administrative Assistant Emma Butera said passes can be made for students whose classes conflict with the available appointment times.
Butera said, “this program is intended to help students receive reasonably priced dental care while also providing important training time for hygienists-tobe.”
Contingent upon this program’s success, the dental assisting program will provide similar services scheduled to begin later in the semester.
To contact the UAA Dental Clinic call 907-786-6960 or email uaa_dentalclinic@alaska. edu. Students are encouraged to save time by filling out the
before their scheduled
time.
UAA Engineering Club Showcase highlights club projects
Engineering is all around us and leaves a nice impression when accompanied by pizza and good company.
By Kellie Davis features2@thenorthernlight.org
The College of Engineering Student Club Showcase was held in the Engineering and Industry Building on Jan. 27, where attendees learned about College of Engineering clubs.
The project management department was running a trivia event, and the UAA Robotics Team showed off their VEX robots. Civil engineering had boat making and racing, and the Society of Women Engineers had an ice cream making event.
The showcase was no cost to those going, as the only thing you had to bring was your curiosity. While non-math and science people might be wary of engineering events, the department made this event family and all-majors friendly.
Pulling up into the parking lot of the Engineering and Industry Building on Friday evening, one could look up to the second
floor and see action with people mingling and eating on the second floor solarium. A Wolfcard was needed to enter. The building can be its own destination, with architecture lending itself to the accomplishments of the engineering department. Competition pieces, such as mud cars and bridges, and pictures of past events are displayed where guests could admire them.
I followed my nose to the second floor of people mixing. I was greeted by the sweet smell of Moose’s Tooth pizza where Dr. Kenrick Mock, the dean of the College of Engineering, invited me to have a slice and see what was going on. He explained that the event was put on by some of the clubs to show what they did.
I asked if they did any recruiting through the showcase and he smiled. “Go have fun,” he said, “enjoy yourself.”
Spoiler alert: I left wanting to change my major to engineering.
I did not expect the level of
noise. I married a computer sciences person who, with his engineer buddies, earned a reputation for being quiet and studious on campus.
The Club Showcase was for having fun, and the engineers take having fun seriously. I walked down the hall and heard a lot of talking and laughing. There was a sound like a lot of rattles being shaken. I entered, and one of the hosts welcomed me. “Do you want to make some ice cream?”
I stood back and watched as science happened before my eyes and they explained to a group who had just come in about endothermic reactions. Salt was added to the ice which made it rapidly melt to become water, and the ice cream mixture began to freeze.
Gregory Benson, president of the Project Management Club, was at the front of the next room I went to,showing slides and playing “Guess the Project.” We were treated to images of Balto,
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Edmund Hilary, to name a few.
“It’s not just steel and concrete, there is planning that goes into these projects that involve skills outside engineering,” Benson said.
For every project that he presented, Benson had a short Q&A. Benson said that in project management, it wasn’t just engineers and people with math backgrounds. Someone had to take all the ideas and figure out how to get permission to implement projects, know what was going on and create timelines, and communicate with everyone. Project planning was everywhere, and Benson was taking his guests on a visual tour around the world to prove it.
The Robotics Team was showing off their robots and letting visitors try their hand at driving the robot.
When I first came across the Robotics Team at the VEX U remote competition, I found them serious and focused. At the showcase they were having fun, , demonstrating what the robots could do and explaining how the
VEX U competition worked.
James Allan -- a UAA alumni and my husband — tried his hand at the controls of the robot they had on display and said, “It takes a lot of skill and strategy to program these things, and finesse to make them move around their playing field.”
The wettest event was in the Fluid Mechanics Lab. Adults got to be kids. There were tables that are typically used as class tables set up for guests to make origami boats, run up some steps, put them in the water and run to the other end. Usually the boats went faster than their makers. Perfectly mature adults were laughing and appeared to enjoy making the boats and racing them.
The takeaway from the Engineering Clubs Showcase is that engineering is fun. The event was an interactive treat for the senses – tied together with Moose’s Tooth pizza and laughter. The engineering department has events going on all semester and I urge TNL readers to check out their calendar.
Cabin Fever Debates return after two year gap
By Taylor Heckart new3@thenorthernlight.org
Two thousand dollars in prizes are on the table for UAA students; the only requirements are a desire to debate and no experience on UAA’s Seawolf Debate team.
The debates are meant for beginners, with support provided from coaches and debaters of Seawolf Debate. 16 teams of two will compete during February using the parliamentary debate style.
According to the director of Seawolf Debate, Steve Johnson, the Cabin Fever Debates are an important part of Seawolf Debate’s outreach to the broader UAA community.
“It’s to seek out the talent that we know is out there in the student body but might not have made the decision to join the team or might not know about
the debate team,” said Johnson. He also said that some of the best debaters on the team in the past have come from the Cabin Fever Debates.
Currently, however, there are no Cabin Fever debaters on the team. The reason? The debates have been on pause for the last two years. Johnson said that the last Cabin Fever Debates were held right before the COVID shutdown.
This is one of many outreach programs from Seawolf Debate. Johnson said they’re also involved in middle school debate, high school debate, and help host public debates for the community.
An informational meeting with debate details will be held on Tuesday, Feb.7. More information about the Cabin Fever Debates can be found at tinyurl.com/CFDebates.
forms found on the clinic’s website
appointment
PHOTO COURTESY OF UAA DENTAL CLINIC
Students provide dental care at the on-campus clinic.
COURTESY OF SEAWOLF DEBATE.
Cabin Fever Debates Logo.
Book Review: ‘Wild Rivers, Wild Rose’
Mat-Su College writing instructor tells of history and offers a glimpse into life in Territorial Alaska in award-winning historical fiction novel.
By Kellie Davis features2@thenorthernlight.org
Birdsall, Sarah, University of Alaska Press, 2020
275 pages, 160223406X
$20.95, 160223406X
A recipient of the Willa Award for historical fiction, the latest book by double UAA graduate and Mat-Su College writing instructor takes readers to the Talkeetna Mountains. The book’s braided narrative weaves together the voices of Anna Harker, who lay dying on the tundra near her husband’s gold mine in 1941, her lover Wade Daniels, who joins the search to find her, and Billie Sutherland, a fellow Alaskan who comes to Susitna Station.
The narrative also combines three different time periods and covers significant historical events with Anna speaking of her life in the first person, recalling people and places just as Europe is bracing for World War II, Wade Daniels’ life is described by an omniscient narrator, dancing between his
life and interactions with fellow villagers in Susitna Station. Eventually his travel leads him to Europe where he becomes a soldier. Billie’s story is told in the third person. She is in her late 20s in 1963, arrives to escape her own demons and confronts the strangely quiet and guarded village.
The novel takes us into a village in the Alaskan wilderness, all the way to 1996. We are “there” when the villagers learn of the crime, and “there” when they learn that the US has entered World War II.
Following Wade Daniels takes us out into the battlefields of World War II as he fights and reflects on Anna. Billie’s narrative shows trauma caused by her ghosts in Seattle, and to the newsrooms of Anchorage during the earthquake. Through snippets of music, poetry, and letters, Birdsall imbues her work with life – even in what feels like a harsh, faraway place, people are playing music and dancing and drawing strength from the arts.
Birdsall’s superpower as a storyteller is in pre-
senting believable characters and tight writing.
Readers learn of how Anna and her mother
Maddie got to Susitna Station as the Spanish flu pandemic was happening. Racism was rampant as it happened to Anna’s stepfather, a German who left Germany, and the discrimination he faced even in the far away village, and to the Alaskan Native children, especially George and Nellie, who were Anna’s friends growing up. Birdsall presents complex situations of people like Montana, a man who once owned the mine, and was near it when the murders occurred.
Wade’s intimacy and love for Anna makes the search complicated as he hedges questions about his concern, and why he has a more personal connection with places where Anna might be found.
Central to the book without his own narrative is village commissioner Ben Fairfield who, as his name suggests, is fair and admits that he is in over his head with the murders. With the world on the brink of a war in 1941, there wasn’t enough manpower to investigate all
Hitbox review: ‘Civilization VI’
A unique turn based strategy game that involves different leaders of various nations.
By Zach Christensen layout@thenorthernlight.org
Awards: The Game Awards Best Sim/Strategy game Platforms: Nintendo Switch, Playstation 4, Xbox One, Android, Microsoft Windows, iOS, Linux, and MAC operating systems
Developers: Firaxis Games, Aspyr
Release Date: Oct. 26, 2016
Last Update: Dec. 2022
“Civilization VI” is the latest edition of Sid Meier’s Civilization series. It is a turn based strategy game. The object of the game is to develop your empire and leave a legacy. This can be done in the game through one of six different methods: domination, science, culture, religion, diplomacy and score.
A domination victory requires you to conquer all original capitals of each nation. The science route requires researching and
developing science related buildings and reaching science related milestones. A culture victory requires you to build great wonders, buildings, and government policies to attract tourists from other civilizations. Religious victories require you to establish a religion and it must be the dominant religion in each civilization. Diplomatic victories are achieved through world congress, events, wars, and wonders.
If none of the other victories are achieved by any civilization when time runs out in the game, then it will come down to whichever nation has acquired the highest score.
Thegame starts out by having you select which leader and civilization you want to control. Each leader and nation has its advantages and disadvantages, which push you to one style of play or another.
I was able to take control of Spain in my play through. Game setup is
completely customizable, allowing you to select a number of settings, including difficulty, game speed and restricting the different avenues to win, just to name a few.
This is not my first Civilization game, however. I played “Civilization: Revolution,” a mobile version of the game available on the App Store and Google Play. “Civilization VI” gives quite a bit more freedom to create unique gameplay.
When the game starts you are placed on an unexplored map that has been randomly generated or created by you. Other civilizations, city-states, and barbarians are randomly placed throughout the map as well.
Much of the game requires you to explore the map, which will be in conjunction with researching technologies, forming governments, making allies, enemies, and establishing religion. It is not necessary to explore the
entire map to win, but it is helpful to know where everything is. That way you know what is coming and what is at your disposal, depending on how you decide to win.
This is a game for those that are wanting to challenge themselves. The many routes to victory — in combination with the customizable gameplay — creates situations for you to overcome. Diplomatic relations, economic instability, war, hunger or natural disasters will befall you in your path to glory.
This game is like playing the board games “Risk,” “Catan” and “Diplomacy,” all at the same time. To make things more difficult, you can play online or play as a group with friends locally through the pass and play option.
The main critique I would have for this game is that it is not straightforward in instructing you in your first game. It is not easy to really know what you are doing until you have played a few games all the way through since there is a lot to understand. There is not a perfect tutorial. I found that it was a little difficult to know where things were. I have
the crimes in the Territory of Alaska.
Pilot Atlee Virtanen, the Flying Finn, is a messenger between two worlds: the one in which Anna lived and the one into which Billie steps years later. He is a Hermes figure, flying investigators to the crime scene, flying the murder victims out, announcing the US entry into the second world war, directing Billie into the story, piquing her interest and commenting about inconsistencies and explaining them enough to her to cause her to inquire deeper.
With characters that feel real, life is not so easy that it can end happily ever after for everyone, but loose ends are tied up.
I enjoyed this book. As a former student of Sarah Birdsall, I couldn’t help but notice how well she practices what she preaches. Each of her narratives as entries in her novel can stand alone as independent pieces. In class she spoke of the literary device called Chekhov’s gun, where “if there is a gun on the table in the first scene, it had better go off by the third.” If I were a writing teacher, I would assign “Wild Rivers, Wild Rose” excerpts to be read as examples for style. If I were flying out of state, I would buy it to read on a layover. If I was a tourist who wanted to learn about life in the 49th State during territorial days, I would be happy having read this.
played a previous edition before where it was easier to quickly understand the game mechanics.
Overall this is a great game and requires the mind to be engaged. Sometimes there is not too much going on, but what you do early on does affect what happens much later. So it is important to have a strategy from the start. I would recommend it to those wanting to start playing strategy games since this will not get old, and you can have fulfillment in seeing the progression of your empire from the stone age to the modern era.
PHOTO BY WILLIAM BARSTOW
“Wild Rivers, Wild Rose” author Sarah Birdsall.
SCREENSHOT BY ZACH CHRISTENSEN
Bilbao is one of the cities that was a part of the Spanish empire during my play through.
Seawolves nock it true
UAA shakes things up with Archery
By Timothy A. Wittenberg arts2@thenorthernlight.org
Archery: Something humanity relied on long ago and seems to be all have been done before; What new things can you really do with a bow and arrow? Not many come to mind. That is until Intramural and Club Sports saw a strange phenomena take place over at UAF’s campus.
They were playing dodgeball like you normally would, but with a twist: The students were using bows and the ‘dodgeball’ was a felt tipped arrow! With new inspiration and valor in hand, they decided to bring this idea to UAA! Backed by Student Life and Leadership, the date was set: Jan 26, 2022 at 6 p.m., at the Seawolf Sports Complex.
The poster they had made garnered a lot of attention from students. When asked why they had come to the event, a general consensus was “Saw the poster, looked fun, looked different.”
When it was time, there were a lot of people, some experienced, some
beginners, and a couple had brought their own bows — a sweet gesture, although rejected for safety issues.
All who participated had to sign a waiver before playing, which some found disconcerting. This isn’t to say there weren’t any safety precautions — Intramural and Club Sports supplied face protection, and the bows had very low draw weight, how much you need to pull to fully draw the string. With the signing away, and a short recap of the rules, the names were announced for the first round! When the players were set to the two sides — bows ready in hand and arrows knocked — they waited eagerly. Suddenly, as if a bang rang out, the announcer released the players into battle!
Chris Panilo, I call him “the Dark Soul” if you will, threw flair and fire into the ring! Not one arrow had hit Panilo this round, their feet too fast and their timing impeccable. Panilo dodged through the field, picking up arrows and shooting others head on! Suffice to say, the crowd went wild.
Tag Event.
Indeed, throughout the night style reigned supreme over functionality. We had someone I’ll call “The Arrow Catcher,” also known as Ian, who lived up to his name by being the first to catch an arrow. Or another I’ll refer to as “The Hunger.” Her aim would always hit true. She was aided by someone I’ll call “the Wind,” fittingly named Ashly Archer, who had a remarkable ability to dodge volleys of arrows, as if you were shooting at the wind. Even rivalries were forged in this, as Archer was faced against another I nicknamed “the Void,” who was like a shadow that always catches up. The game was just a mixing pot of ideas brewing and mutating into new and exciting ways to do something so old, yet so new.
A general consensus however was that they would do this again, but some improvements would be nice.
The first thing would be to get better bows. Many said that it was hard to aim the bows, and getting the arrows on the string was very clumsy. More of a diverse battlefield would be nice, and
probably more arrows. There was also the case of the arrows tips falling off, but staff would run in
and collect those arrows. The contrast of this kind of activity to many others is that you are not bound by an endless rulebook that doesn’t make sense against players who are better than
you no matter what you do; you choose how good you play. While the goal of the game is to eliminate the enemy team, you’re only playing to have fun. What’s not to like?
Upcoming events for Black History Month in Anchorage
By Jasmine Grant news@thenorthernlight.org
The beginning of Black History Month in Anchorage marks new opportunities for engagement. A number of diverse events in the Anchorage area will lift black voices and provide a space for black community this February.
On Thursday, Feb. 2nd, UAA’s MLK Student Appreciation Celebration will commence in the Wendy Williamson Auditorium from 7 to 8 p.m. The event will recognize various student leaders elected by UAA staff and faculty for their contributions to the university. Fredrika Newton, former member of the Black Panther Party’s
chapter in Oakland, will speak at the event as well.
Other campus events include a Blues Night on the 15th as well as a Karaoke Game night on the 28th in the student union den. A screening of the film Judas and the Black Messiah will play on the 16th in the Fine Arts building and an open talk called being black will take place in the Multicultural Student Services office on the 21st.
To get down to business, the Alaska Black Chamber of Commerce will host their 8th annual Alaska Black Business Expo on Saturday, Feb. 4 from 1 to 6 p.m. at the Anchorage Museum. The expo supports networking between black business-
men and learning about black businesses in Alaska. Featured guest David Banner will lead a program on building generational wealth in the community.
According to a notice by the Municipality of Anchorage, there will also
be activities and competitions for adolescents, including a fashion show. General admission to the museum will be free on this day as well, provided by the chamber.
For historical immersion and art, experience a
live wax museum of black historical figures at the Loussac Library. Anchorage youth will lead a twohour presentation dedicated to these influential figures on Feb. 11. The event is hosted by the Anchorage chapter of Jack and Jill of America, a nonprofit organization dedicated to investing in the futures of African-American youth.
Hop on the trails at UAA
By Avery Williamson sports@thenorthernlight.org
The long Anchorage winter is ending in a few months, which means the trails surrounding UAA are thawing. Here’s a few trails you can explore around the campus.
Campbell Creek Trail
This 7.4-mile pointto-point trail is right on campus. Use the green bridge that takes you over Providence Drive and fol-
low the trail to a park. You can then cross the road and keep exploring or turn back to the campus.
Cheney Lake Trail
This trail is a short 1.2mile loop surrounding Cheney Lake. It’s further from campus – about 6 miles – but you can always drive over there. If you want to walk, run, bike or even ski to the lake, hop on the Chester Creek Trail.
Chester Creek Trail
This 6.3-mile trail takes you from the campus to the Cheney Lake Trail. You can easily access it by heading to Goose Lake and taking the bridge over Northern Lights Boulevard. Follow the trail until you hit Cheney Lake.
Goose Lake Trail
This is an easy 1.3-mile loop around Goose Lake. The trail begins behind the ConocoPhillips Science Building and takes you to and around the lake. It’s a great choice when you’re
on a tight schedule.
University Lake Loop
This trail takes you on a 1.7-mile loop around University Lake. Take the tunnel under Elmore Road — near the Gorsuch Commons — and follow the trail next to the lake. About a mile in, you’ll find the University Lake Dog Park, another great place to be active, play games with friends or hang out with your dog.
If you want to ski, hop on the trails soon before the snow melts away. The
To talk politics, the annual Bettye Davis African American Summit will be held on Feb. 18 at East Anchorage High School. Davis was the first AfricanAmerican woman elected to Alaska State House of Representatives. The annual summit opens up a space for civil engagement between the black community and policy makers on various issues people of color face.
Reap the rewards of community and solidarity this Black History Month by attending one of these public events
trails are also groomed, making them relatively easy to walk, run and bike on. In a few months, the trails will be ready for use without snow gear.
PHOTO BY JUSTIN COX
One UAA Student showing another how to nock an arow.
PHOTO COURTESY OF JACK AND JILL
Jack and Jill Anchorage chapter.
WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
A portion of the trail around Goose Lake.
SPORTS
Basketball blowouts you missed while on winter break
with 23 points, and Kate Robertson dominated with 15 rebounds.
While on winter break, both men’s and women’s Seawolf basketball teams secured over 70-point victories. The women’s team won 110-29 against Bethesda University in California on Dec. 19, and the men’s team won 10836 against Portland Bible College at home on Dec. 28.
In their blowout win, each player on the women’s team recorded points, steals, and rebounds. Hayley Berfield led the team
The women’s performance set a UAA record for largest victory margin in an away game. The previous road record – at Saint Martin’s in 2019 –was 60 points.
Their performance also ranks fourth overall for largest victory margin ever. The largest win –set in 1995 – was against Crown College, a 97-point win at home.
The UAA women held Bethesda to 8 points in the first quarter, 10 in the sec-
ond, 5 in the third and 6 in the fourth. Their strong defense held the opposing team to a 5.9 three-point percentage.
About a week later, men’s basketball secured an impressive win of their own at the Alaska Airlines Center. Each player got on the scoresheet for points and rebounds, and Jaron Williams led the team with 19 points in 19 minutes of play.
The men’s performance ties for the fourth largest victory margin for UAA. The largest – set in 1999 – was a 97-point away vic-
tory against Carver Bible College.
The UAA men shot 50% from the field and
Seawolves hockey unable to snatch a win against UAF
By Avery Williamson
Despite two valiant overtime efforts, the Seawolves were unable to secure a hockey victory over the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
UAA fell to their instate rivals 4-3 at home on Jan. 27. The Seawolves set the pace for the game from the opening faceoff. In just over two minutes, they had already taken three shot attempts.
Goalie Nolan Kent played aggressively on the other side of the ice, making four saves in less than seven minutes.
A little over eight minutes into the first period, Alex Gomez scored the first goal of the game, and his first goal of the season. Neither team was able to connect with the net for the rest of the first period and the Seawolves entered the second period with a 1-0 lead over UAF.
Less than four minutes into the second period, Kent had blocked all six of the Nanooks shot attempts. UAF’s Garrett Pyke then skated into the penalty box for crosschecking. This opened up a power play goal for the Seawolves by Matt Allen.
Despite several power plays for both teams during the remainder of the second period, neither UAA or UAF scored and the Seawolves entered the final period with a 2-0 lead.
Nine minutes into the third period, UAF’s Pyke missed wide on a goal, but Arvils Bergmanis secured the ricocheted puck and
fired it past Kent for the first Nanook goal of the night.
UAF’s Brady Risk tied the game 2-2 three minutes later with a goal off of a UAF faceoff win. Allen responded with a goal of his own with five minutes left in the game. The Seawolves led 3-2.
With only 48 seconds left in the game and a 3-2
lead, a Seawolf victory looked promising. But the Nanooks hadn’t given up yet.
UAF’s Jonny Sorenson fired a shot, but it was blocked by Carson Kosobud. However, Sorenson fought his way back to the puck and fired another shot… This time right into the goal. And with that, the Seawolves entered a
held the opposing team to 28.1%.
Visit GoSeawolves. com to check out upcom-
sudden-death overtime.
The Seawolves played impenetrable defense for the first two minutes of overtime, but eventually the Nanooks fought their way to the net. UAF’s Payton Matsui fired the puck past UAA to win the game 4-3.
The Seawolves flew to Fairbank the following day craving revenge. In just over two minutes, Matt Johnson connected with the net to give UAA a 1-0 lead.
Two minutes later, UAA’s Caleb Huffman was sent into the penalty box for holding. The Na-
ing basketball games. Who knows, you might even witness a recordbreaking performance.
nooks capitalized on this power play and tied the game 1-1. Neither team scored for the rest of the first period.
After a scoreless second period, the Seawolves were eager to take back the lead. Only 39 seconds into the final period, William Gilson scored for the Seawolves.
Six minutes later, Connor Marritt added a third goal to the Seawolves’ score. UAA led 3-1. With seven minutes left in the game, Jarred White received a five minute penalty for kneeing. This set UAF up for back-toback goals, which allowed them to tie the game 3-3. Neither team was able to score again before the final buzzer and the Seawolves entered another sudden death overtime with UAF.
Despite the Seawolves winning the faceoff, UAF’s Harrison Israels was quick to score and win the game for the Nanooks. For the second day in a row, the Seawolves fell to UAF 4-3 in overtime.
The overtime defeats concluded UAA’s games against Fairbanks this season. The Nanooks won the Governor’s Cup with a 6-0 advantage over the Seawolves.
The Seawolves head to Connecticut on Feb. 23 to take on the University of Connecticut at 3 p.m. Alaska Daylight Time. Visit GoSeawolves.com
Seawolves men’s basketball falls to Nighthawks
By Avery Williamson sports@thenorthernlight.org By Avery Williamson
After 15 lead changes, the Seawolves fell to the Northwest Nazarene Nighthawks 74-71 on Feb. 3 at the Alaska Airlines Center.
AJ Garrity put the Seawolves on the scoreboard with a three-pointer early in the game. UAA continued to drill their shots, but the Nighthawks responded
each time. Five minutes into the game, the lead had already changed four times.
The teams continued to trade leads for the remainder of the first half. With one minute until halftime, Jaedon Bradley put the Seawolves up 39-36 with a three-pointer.
The Nighthawks were quick to respond, though. Yaru Harvey drove the length of the court and banked a layup to get his
team within one.
After securing the ball with 18 seconds until the buzzer, the Nighthawks called a timeout and drew up a play. Gabriel Murphy’s ball-handling allowed him to drive the paint, make a layup, and the opposing team entered the locker room with a 4039 advantage over UAA. Garrity put the Seawolves back in the lead with a steal and layup. Lachlan Viney and Saw-
yer Storms then extended UAA’s lead with layups of their own.
The Nighthawks fought their way back to a tie game, though. With 15 minutes left, the scoreboard read 45-45.
The teams found themselves tied again at 52 and 55. But with ten minutes left, the Nighthawks started to pull away.
After three consecutive layups by the opposing team, the Seawolves found
themselves down 57-63.
Tyson Gilbert helped his team fight their way back into the game with a jumper and a three-pointer, and Storms put the Seawolves in the lead with a layup.
The Nighthawks took the lead back with a threepointer only three seconds later, though. They continued to extend their lead with layups and free throws.
The opposing team then held the ball on of-
fense until the final buzzer. The Seawolves lost 7471.
UAA has a 3-8 record in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. This record will affect what seed they enter the GNAC tournament with. The tournament is scheduled for March 2-4 in Bellingham, Washington. You can visit GoSeawolves. com to check out their upcoming games.
PHOTO BY JUSTIN COX
Seawolves celebrate their second goal against UAF.
PHOTO BY SKIP HICKEY
UAA women’s basketball coach Ryan McCarthy huddles up with his players.
OPINION
Christians, let’s break
bread, not resolves
To attract new believers, we must avoid instilling faith through reactionary fear.
By Mark Zimmerman
Young adults are leaving churches at the highest rates on record. According to a Pew Research Survey from 2021, the share of U.S. adults that identified or affiliated with a particular faith or religion fell by 12 points from a decade prior. Compounding this, a Gallup poll revealed that the 70% share of U.S. adults that affiliated with a particular church, temple, or Mosque fell to a mere 47% in 2020. According to a survey by Christian research group Lifeway, Americans — particularly young ones — are finding churches and youth ministry to be judgemental, hypocritical and suffocating.
A view from the inside for those on the outside
For my part, I understand this trend only through the lens of my limited perspective as a white, cisgender, gay, American, Christian man. I note these labels not because they define my whole physical and spiritual
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self, but because they inevitably narrow my perspective and judgement of others’ suffering. This is a good caveat to make for oneself as a person of faith. A long time ago, Christ encouraged us to maintain humility, using generosity and forgiveness to lead by example instead of performative and self-serving militancy (Colossians 3:12).
People in churches all across the country are quiet-quitting and silently deconstructing their faith — a process of unpacking or rethinking a life of religious belief.
They feel ashamed and unwelcomed; their thoughts and feelings are constrained by well-meaning yet hypocritical puritanism. Unfortunately, to organizations such as Calvary Chapel, this is not a bug, but a feature. Many congregations today operate In the same manner as the Pharisees who held their elaborate feasts in Jesus’ time, turning away the outcast for the sake of comfort.
Working with, not without
By identifying with people’s struggles and taking them in for all they are, churches can embody the spirit that their congregants need. In a time of decline, we have an opportunity to reach out to a younger generation dissatisfied by destructive insularity within churches. Dismissal of legitimate concerns or struggles with identity as sinful abominations is shallow and unfit for communicating the infinite love of our creator.
This attitude of humility needs to be paired with a semblance of consistency. Shunning and ostracizing doubters in the name of God is not in line with Jesus’ cries for forgiveness.
Reject the abuse and toxicity that has turned my fellow young people away from churches. Irrevocably tying one’s psychological wellbeing and self-worth to an institution that denies others their seat at the table is not a sign of faithfulness, but of faith being so weak that any external challenge is seen as an existential threat. In his time, the Apostle Paul derided the hypocrisy of self-righteous faith. Perhaps we should listen to him.
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Fiscal Technician Micah Perino
What does it mean to be a ‘true
Alaskan?’
By Carlee Christensen arts1@thenorthernlight.org
Many people like to use the term “true Alaskan” to describe people who do things people think Alaskans do. I’ve heard it when I tell people that I grew up dog sledding. I’ve heard it when I send pictures of the hikes my husband and I do to his family. However, I think each of these have an aspect of what it means to be a true Alaskan.
Alaska is a different state. It is a state where we are fixated on a title like being a true Alaskan. I’ve never heard people from other states trying to define themselves by saying they are a “true Michigander” or a “true Vermontian.” People from Alaska are usually so proud of how long they have lived here. I often have conversations with strangers and one of the first things they will tell me is what year they moved to Alaska or — if they were born here — how many years they have stayed true to the state by residing here. Why do people care about this term? It’s a validation. It’s an achievement. It often means that you have endured. You have endured the winter and the isolation among other things. These experiences that you gain from
living in Alaska make it all worth it.
My husband just moved up to Alaska from Missouri and I asked him the simple question: What makes someone a true Alaskan? Some of his answers were generic like you go fishing or carry bear spray. Others were more thoughtful about how you need to embrace the culture, the outdoors, and the state. He has used the phrase “true Alaskan” when he realized the cold didn’t bother him. It was in the negatives, and he was wearing shorts and a t-shirt when he said, “It’s not that bad. I never thought I’d say that. I might be more Alaskan.”
I think there are many things you can do that people would consider to be true Alaskan:
-There is at least one pair of xtratufs in your wardrobe.
-You have watched the Iditarod Race start.
-Fishing is a summer tradition.
-Your state driver’s license is from Alaska.
-Driving on a road with no visible lanes.
-You have seen the northern lights. These are often the things that you would read in articles with titles like “Things Only
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Earle when asked about their effectiveness in deterring and investigating crimes on campus.
Earle continued in saying, the university is going through a relatively bigger safety and security process with the adoption of access control systems and other security measures, there is definitely a desire to implement a campus master plan regarding security cameras in the next year-and-a-half to two years added Earle, “that process is starting its initial steps in terms of having an initial campus security master plan for campus regarding security camera implementation and positions. We have over 700 security cameras on campus, some of which are inside buildings, some of them are outside watching parking lots, some of them are aging, and some of them were installed recently.”
Earle said that the Residence Life and Student Conduct departments have frequent meetings with UPD to talk about issues affecting campus and campus safety.
When asked about the university’s response to a string of vehicle thefts and break-ins near the residence halls in 2016, he said: “On a pretty consistent basis, we stop and take a look at the overall safety of the residential campus and what things we can do to improve that in any given moment. Whenever someone brings up [an] issue we take it very seriously and engage in having a positive dialogue to address it. We want people to feel safe when they’re on campus and in this area..”
Earle said some preventative measures people can take on their own include parking in parking lots that have a lot of people coming and going, and
utilizing steering lock devices .
Earle also said, “We don’t ever encourage people to directly confront anyone because you don’t know if they have weapons or what the motive behind them stealing the car might be, and so you can get hurt; we don’t want that. So we encourage you to call 911.”
Earle said that utilizing location tracking devices are effective measures to assist law enforcement in locating the vehicle quickly and that having the vehicle’s VIN number and license plate number written down can also help law enforcement to react more quickly to an auto theft incident.
Asked if unsecured vehicles are a public safety concern, Earle said that they are, but that most auto thefts on campus appear to involve vehicles that were broken into and then hotwired. In the wider municipality, total vehicle theft numbers tend to increase in the winter months, and many of the thefts occur while owners are away from their vehicles while they are warming up.
Earle also said that in addition to calling 911, the Rave Guardian app has recently been rolled out on campus. The app adds another layer of communication between UPD and anyone with the app in their service area, and it has features that include pushbutton 911 calls, a text feature that discreetly connects to UPD, location-based alerts, and a safety timer that will provide a location to UPD for individuals who may be alone and have an estimated time before they return to a more secure environment.
According to the Alaska Department of Public Safety’s 2021 Uniform Crime Report, auto theft accounted for 9.2% of all crime in Alaska in 2021, with 1,780 reported that year. According to the report , the age group between 25 and 29 had the highest numbers of arrests related to auto theft while per-
sons between the ages of 30 and 34 were arrested for the offense at a slightly lesser rate.
Alaska DPS data from 2021 showed a 14.5% decrease in overall crime and the lowest number of crimes reported since
1975, according to their website.
According to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program’s 2019 report, the national average of motor vehicle thefts decreased 3.8% from the year prior. Rural areas with popula-
tions under 25,000 saw the only increases in motor vehicle thefts that year with a 4.7% increase nationally according to the report.
Real Alaskans Will Understand.” But how much do these things truly contribute to your “true Alaskan” status, if at all?
I’ve lived here my whole life and I have not done everything or understand everything on the lists in those articles. I’ve never gone dip netting or lived in “the bush.” I’ve never flown a plane, but still get excited when I pass over Alaska in those small planes that go from Anchorage to Kenai.
I know there are many opinions out there of what it means to be a true Alaskan. I have heard several of them. Each of them is correct in a sense. Whatever you consider to be a “true Alaskan” is how you determine if you, yourself are a true Alaskan. If you think it means you have to survive a winter, congratulations, you are a true Alaskan if you have done that. If someone disagrees and says you have to live here long enough to receive your PFD, they are also a true Alaskan if they have. There’s no one definition of a true Alaskan. It is how you define it for yourself.
This is a fun idea to explore, but it is impossible to categorize Alaskans into a box. The only thing that we can say is that many of us love living here and wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.
At the end of the day, for me, being a true Alaska isn’t about the things that you have done or the things you own. It is about having an Alaska state of mind. It’s not necessarily about how long you have lived here; it is more about if you consider Alaska to be home.
PHOTO BY LUCAS WRIGHT
A security camera overlooks the north parking lot of UAA campus on Jan. 26.