The Northern Light January 21, 2014 Issue

THENORTHERNLIGHT JANUARY 21, 2014

NEWS

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UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA ANCHORAGE

A&E

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Prioritiziation continues to dominate discussion

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Joaquin Phoenix stuns in “Her” performance

Seawolf alumnus fresh on culinary scene

By Nita Mauigoa

features@thenorthernlight.org Various news outlets across Anchorage have painted their headlines with rave reviews about the Downtown Grill, a restaurant hot on the scene.

“Oh my gosh, those are good — yummy!” Maria Downey, an anchor for KTUU said in a quote about DT Grill’s beignets.

Riza Brown, Anchorage Daily News correspondent, dubbed the restaurant as “Southern flair, excellent fare.”

Yet, not one of the features has mentioned that the owner, Logan Stanley is a proud UAA alumnus.

Through his successes, Stanley, who opened the restaurant less than a year ago, still remembers to pay homage to his Seawolf roots while staying humble.

“I’m not going to lie, I wasn’t a standout student in the culinary arts program,” Stanley said, “but I never gave up on it, and I’m here right now.”

Stanley graduated in 2010 with an associate degree in culinary arts and dived right into business.

He was careful not to exclude anyone as a particular mentor in the UAA culinary arts program, and said that every professor and chef had a hand in sculpting him into the chef he is today.

Stanley adds what he calls “tender love (sic) and care” delicately

SEE ALUMNUS

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PHOTO COURTESY OF DOWNTOWN GRILL

The Downtown Grill pays homage to its UAA roots by offering a 10 percent discount to all Seawolves.

‘Claybody’ lets ceramic art, artists breathe

Plans underway to update U-Med district

By Suhaila Brunelle

news@thenorthernlight.org

PHOTO BY TIM BROWN

The Student Union Gallery will host 'Claybody Ceramics Invitational' Jan. 26. The exhibit features student work from 2013.

By Jacob Holley-Kline arts2@thenorthernlight.org

It starts with a block of clay. Pieces are lopped off, rolled between hands and fashioned into objects and bodies. The edges are delicately pressed and raised. These projects are ideas and viewpoints molded into being by the talented students of the ceramics department.

After months of toil, selected student artists will present their work at the Claybody Ceramics Invitational in the Student Union Gallery this month.

“We’ve got students who ... work on their projects until four in the morning,” said Alanna DeRocchi, term instructor of art in the ceramics department. “It’s not even last-minute. They’re just obsessed with it.”

DeRocchi and Steven Godfrey, head of the ceramics department, chose what pieces to feature in the show.

“It was really hard to choose a select few pieces,” DeRocchi said. “All of our students are making pretty incredible work.”

The Claybody student ceramics club puts on the exhibition. Club officer Bailey Arend, who has helped organize the event since fall 2012, said, “If you have a 3-foot tall sculpture, you don’t want to put that next to a bunch of small cups. We arrange it so that you have time to think about each (sculpture).”

To let the work breathe, the Claybody Club tries to keep the show small.

“We generally try to go for less work. Having a little space to move around in (the Student Union Gallery) lets you think about the stuff more,” Arend said.

Claybody has been working to expand the definition of pottery, especially in the public eye.

“A lot of people, when they think of pottery, they think of the same stuff you see at the store,” Arend said, “but the students here are so different than what you’d see anywhere else.”

The Claybody Ceramics Invitational opening reception is from 5-7 p.m. Jan. 23 in the Student Union Gallery. A midday reception will take place from 1:30-3 p.m. on Jan. 27. The show will run until Feb. 12. It is open to UAA students and the community at large. Admission is free.

Prioritization plods forward

By Evan Erickson

eerickson@thenorthernlight.org

First, take the over 300 programs and 200 or so functions that constitute UAA and have staff and faculty describe their importance. Next, assemble two respective task forces culled from staff and faculty for the purpose of evaluating the responses. Finally, place each of these programs and functions into one of five prescriptive categories, ranging from “priority for higher enhancement” to “further review, consider for reduction or phase out.”

This is a simplified version of the massive review known as prioritization, and its consequences are directly tied to the decline in state funding that is said to have made it necessary.

While some believe prioritization is an effective means of UAA making the best use of its resources. Others say it is an attack on academic tenure and

an erosion of university morale.

Little has seemed to go as planned for the 18-member Academic Task Force (AcTF), whose job is to rank all of the programs at UAA. The AcTF, after months-long debate, has abandoned the quintile ranking system in favor of a system that does not force an equal distribution of programs.

From the beginning, the AcTF had planned to rank programs as a group by achieving an 80 percent consensus among members, but as of Dec. 6 they have decided this presents a conflict of interest.

“Discussing and voting on programs an AcTF member is not directly contributing to may nonetheless impact the probability of his or her program being placed there,” reads the AcTF’s December 2013 Faculty Senate Progress Report.

Now, all voting will be done electronically and anonymously.

Once an 80 percent consensus has been reached there will be

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no further discussion of the program in question.

Task force members will identify potential conflicts of interest, or COI, to the group as a whole. If they seem legitimate the AcTF will review these potential COI after final program categorizations have been made, and “these analyses will be part of the AcTF’s final report.”

The actual templates for each of the programs that provide the basis for the AcTF’s review have come to a temporary standstill.

Centralized data provided by an 18-member Facilitation Team was shown to be flawed shortly after its release on Dec. 5. The Facilitation Team has since been dissolved. Faculty and staff can no longer access the flawed data site needed to complete their templates, and the AcTF has suspended deadlines for template submission.

“We anticipate delivery of

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SEE PLAN

The Municipality of Anchorage, or MOA, recently held round-table discussions for community members interested in the long-term planning and changes being made to the University-Medical District. The state-funded project includes district plan updates, implementation recommendations, transportation and parking utilization, a co-generation feasibility study and public outreach.

Parking, or the lack of parking, has been a continual issue for UAA students. Karen Wong, long-range planning manager with the MOA, said they are looking for solutions to the parking problem within the district.

Currently, parking in the U-Med district is taken care of by each individual institution.

There is research underway to improve parking for all institutions in the district by combining the parking instead of it being an institutional function.

Jim Richardson of Rogers Park is concerned that further development and the expansion of Elmore Road would disrupt the unique resource Alaska has in the two universities that make their home in the district.

“I would like to prevent transportation improvements and infrastructure needs from intruding onto UAA-APU col-

SEE ROAD

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Silver anniversary of Anchorage Folk Festival

PHOTO BY DAN DUQUE

Grammy-nominated group Della Mae treats the Student Union lunch crowd to a concert Jan. 16.

By Kelly Ireland

arts@thenorthernlight.org The 25th anniversary of the Anchorage Folk Festival has kicked off, and it’s as crowd-pleasing as ever with an array of folk artist performances and a variety of dance and music workshops held on campus and around town.

SEE FOLK

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lege boundaries, which would affect their respective college environments,” Richardson said.

He does not support the Elmore Road extension that would cut through the UAA campus and is concerned that some of the proposals will affect the academic environment for both universities.

Richardson said changes made to UAA and APU would affect everyone in the state, and he does not feel that state lawmakers support education.

University Lake, a popular place for university students to get some fresh air, may be affected by development of the district.

Mary Lu Harle of College Gate is concerned that development would cause harm to the vegetation around University Lake. Hurle would also like to see the lake renamed as a multiuse facility instead of an offleash dog park.

Al Milspaugh, also of College Gate, is concerned mostly with the protection of the greenbelt. Milspaugh says he does not feel the greenbelt would be protected with the Elmore Road expansion, and damage would be done to the University Lake area.

Wong stated the MOA would like to see more university students involved with the planning process. She said they hosted a

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02 NEWS

THENORTHERNLIGHT Tuesday, January 21, 2014

PLAN: Picking and choosing what is needed academically C ontinued

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accurate and usable data in the first half of the spring semester,” the report states.

Some departments are further along than others in the completion of templates for each of their individual programs. Mathematics had most of its templates filled out months ago, while the Dental Hygiene Program hasn’t begun.

“We’re not going to begin until we know we have good data and what the process is going to be,” said Sandra Pence, associate professor of dental hygiene.

The other side of prioritization consisting of func-

tions ranked by the Support Task Force, for which little has been known, released templates of their own Dec.16.

The approximately 200 functions being reviewed range from Athletics to Theater Productions to Books of the Year and includes all services or activities at UAA. Last Friday, the STF introduced the Prioritization Plus software, which allows staff to complete their respective templates online. Data for the templates is coming from the administrative software Banner. The deadline for template submission is St. Patrick’s Day. The STF has opted to use an unmodified quintile

ranking system that will create an equal distribution of 20 percent of the functions in each of the five categories.

In an open briefing last Wednesday, STF co-chair Sandi Culver acknowledged the staff and faculty trepidation that has characterized prioritization as a whole.

“We’re not looking to reduce staffing. It’s not a witchhunt. It’s not anything subversive like that,” Culver said.

Though the AcTF and STF are at different points in the process, both are still holding to a deadline of June 30 for completion of final reports. The reports will eventually be made public.

GRAPHIC BY ROZ KIRKELIE

ROAD: students involved in decision making Continued from cover

meeting not too long ago in the Student Union, and only about 20 students attended.

Of the 20 students who attended the meeting, the MOA realized they needed to create a village near UAA. The village would include a grocery store, restaurants and possibly a pub or two.

Wong said it’s important for students to become involved and interested in what happens in the U-Med district because it’s their campus, and eventually some of the students may want to work and live in the district. Wong asks of students, why not help shape it?

Members of the University Community Council were also present at the meeting and stated they would like to see more university students attend the meetings as well.

The council meets on the first Wednesday of every month at the University Baptist Church.

The next open house will discuss the northern access and will be held at 5:30 p.m.

Feb. 18 at East Anchorage High School.

For more information about the University Community Council, contact Vice President Al Milspaugh at 907-333-6996 or prideplace@aol.com. Carol Wong may be reached at 907-343-7920 or wongcc@muni.org.

MAP FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AND PUBLIC FACILITIES

School Shooting in Roswell, N.M.

Top oil and gas producers work with state of Alaska for liquid natural gas pipeline

By Suhaila Brunelle

news@thenorthernlight.org History was made last week when the state of Alaska, along with Alaska’s top oil and gas developers, signed a commercial agreement to move forward with the development of Alaska’s natural gas.

This historical move will have all of the major developers working together on a singular project for the first time.

Between 2011 and now, the Parnell Administration and Alaska’s top oil and gas producers have held a series of talks on how to cooperate in a joint effort to pursue a liquid natural gas project, or LNG. ConocoPhillips spokeswoman Amy Burnett said the Legislative Budget and Audit Committee hired PFC Energy, an international consulting firm, last August and gave an extensive briefing to Alaska legislators during a week-long conference. PFC concluded that state involvement with the LNG project was important for Alaska.

The Alaska Department of Natural Resources hired a second consulting firm, Black and Veatch, last November and concluded that state participation “can provide key benefits to the state, including creating alignments of interest and potentially increasing state cash flow.”

Tony Palmer, TransCanada vice president of major projects and development, says the market for Alaska’s Natural Gas in Asia has brought all parties together, including the state of Alaska, for the first time to develop this resource.

Palmer says that the Parnell Administration will propose a bill to the legislature early next week for approval, which will likely lead to public hearings and debate. If approved by the Legislature, the project will move forward into the pre-FEED stage, in which the major players will conduct engineering, design and cost estimation for development.

The legislation will establish guidelines for the state’s participation in the liquid natural gas program, which includes terms for state participation and gas share, provides for confidential process, and is subject to subsequent legislative ratification to develop terms for project enabling contracts, Palmer says the plan tentatively calls for the production of a natural gas pipeline originating in Prudhoe Bay and ending in Nikiski, where there will be a processing plant. Once the natural gas is processed into liquid form it will be shipped and sold to countries in Asia.

The HOA says the project will be beneficial to Alaska by allowing for competitive prices of in-state gas supplies, the sale of liquid natural gas to global markets, increased opportunities for Alaska contractors, additional revenues for the state, infrastructure for development of onshore and offshore state and federal lands, and job creation in the exploration, development and transportation of natural gas fields.

“This is a significant development for Alaska’s future, and if approved by the legislature, this project will create thousands of jobs for Alaskans,” Palmer said.

WEEKLY BUZZ Acetaminophen warning issued

A 12-year-old gunman wielding a sawed-off shotgun with three shells opened fire at his Roswell, N.M., middle school. Police investigators say the pre-teen had a motive for the shooting and is facing three counts of aggravated battery. Two students were injured in the attack, and a teacher walked up to the student and persuaded the student to put the gun down.

The shooter is being held in an undisclosed location in Albuquerque.

The Food and Drug Administration issued a warning last week regarding acetaminophen, the pain reliever most commonly associated with Tylenol. It is also one of the ingredients in many prescribed drugs such as Percocet and Vicodin. Taking too much acetaminophen can lead to liver failure or death.

Gunman opens fire in grocery store killing two

A gunman opened fire at Martin’s Super Market in Elkhardt, Ind., last week, killing two women and brandishing his weapon toward police. Shawn Walter Bair, 22, was shot and killed by police. There are conflicting reports as to whether or not Bair knew the victims.

The U.S. National Labor Relations Board has issued a complaint against Wal-Mart, saying it violated the rights of employees to legally protest. According to the National Labor Relations Board, 19 employees were terminated or disciplined for participating in legal protests. More than 60 Wal-Mart supervisors and one corporate officer were named in the complaint.

Chemical spill in W.Va taints water

Special ops soldier killed in Georgia airfield

Freedom Industries — who produces chemicals for mining, steel and cement industries — was forced to shut down last week after a chemical spill contaminated the water supply of some 300,000 residents. The chemical methlcyclohexane menthol leaked from a storage tank into the soil and eventually impacted a water plant. Officials are now saying it is safe to drink the water but are recommending that pregnant women continue drinking bottled water.

Wal-Mart found in violation of employee’s rights

A special operations soldier was killed last Wednesday at a Georgia airfield when his MH60 Blackhawk helicopter made a hard landing during a training exercise. Two other soldiers were injured and transported to a local hospital for treatment. The soldier was part to the 101st Airborne Division, known as the Night Stalkers regiment. The Night Stalkers are known for flying missions at night.

Briefs compiled by Suhaila Brunelle

FEATURES

THENORTHERNLIGHT Tuesday, January 21, 2014

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ALUMNUS: Ode to UAA’s culinary arts program C o n t i n ue d

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to each item on the menu, adding his own flair — a mix of southern spice mixed in with a sweet and savory touch. He smokes his own beef brisket and pork loin, favorites among customers.

He makes his own house bread, a moist cheddar jalapeño bread drenched in syrupy caramel-colored honey butter sauce.

“Logan makes many items on the menus by hand. He has a knack that visitors love,” said Lindsay Janda, DT Grill floor manager.

Stanley has the advantage of being a third generation chef — his grandmother owned a diner and his father was an owner of a “burger joint.” The background helped shape his vision.

Customers at the DT Grill said they were surprised to find a hidden gem, because it is sandwiched between a car dealership and a local gym in Fairview and could easily be missed.

Stanley said the restaurant will be celebrating its one-year anniversary this coming March, an endeavor he called a “roller coaster ride that mostly goes up.”

“This is inspiration for all the young UAA students out there who are trying to follow what they want to be — never give up,” Stanley said.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF DOWNTOWN GRILL

Logan Stanley, owner and chef of Downtown Grill, says he creates his signature dishes with integrity and quality to make guests feel like they are eating something special.

What exactly is a ‘game’?

General complaints from a weary junior

By Klax Zlubzecon

Translated by George Hyde

As you could probably tell from the headline, a strange question has been wracking George’s brain for a few years.

Several games such as “Journey,” “Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons,” and this issue’s review, “Continue?9876543210,” (man, is he sick of typing that game’s title) have tested the limits of what it really means to be a video game.

“Continue?9876” — you know what? I’m just going to call it “Joe” from now on — “Joe” feels more like a game than the other examples I just listed, but its strange nature, lack of menus and odd ways of explaining itself definitely put it apart from other games on the market. And then we have abstract games like “Journey” or “Gone Home” which have become their own new genre, which George has just started calling the “Journey” genre for convenience’s sake. I, too, think that’s a pretty fitting name.

Now, understand that I had no games where I came from, because Slug entertainment was no game. Well, actually, that’s not true, we have entertaining telepathic messages from other slugs, as well as pitting animals from the species we have enslaved in battles to the death (see my sports article for more info on that one), but unlike your video games, we never directly interact with anything when it comes to Slug entertainment.

George’s mind knows a lot about gaming, though, since he is a massive shameless nerd who has no life, so thankfully I’ll still have some info to go on.

To answer the question, “What is a game?” I think looking up a dictionary definition would be adequate. Hm, let’s see ... Google search ... Aha! “Game. (N.) Words you use to get the opposite sex into bed.”

Oh wow. That sounds nothing like the games that George talks about. Judging from his experiences, I doubt he’s even that great at games.

Wait a minute. George is telling me that’s Urban Dictionary, and that I need to use a real dictionary. You guys are really confusing sometimes. Alright, normal dictionary ...

Okay, a few definitions.

“An amusement or pastime.”

That seems pretty straightforward. George has been playing these for a while, and he’s found a lot of them amusing. But

By Evan Dodd there are still games like “Spec Ops: The Line” and “Joe” that are still not built to be fun or amusing.

“The material or equipment used in playing certain games.”

So, consoles, discs, downloads — yeah, those are games, alright. Next.

“A competitive activity involving skill, chance, or endurance on the part of two or more persons who play according to a set of rules, usually for their own amusement or for that of spectators.”

Sports. Yeah. I’ve written about that in the past, and yes, we have sports video games. You see fighting game tournaments and League of Legends tournaments everywhere these days.

“A single occasion of such an activity, or a definite portion of one.”

Oh, as in “last game of the season.” That makes sense, but unless it’s the last of a trilogy or something, it doesn’t really have anything to do with video games.

“The number of points required to win a game.”

Well that’s kind of irrelevant nowadays. I mean, what video game requires points anymore?

This isn’t the ‘80s.

So, uh ... it kind of ends there.

Video game is a whole other definition, but the dictionary assumes that all video games fall under that general “games” definition, which, as we’ve seen in “Spec Ops” and “Joe,” is kind of a silly assumption.

So has the term “video game” grown out of date? I think it may have. When you look at a dark, story-driven game like “Joe” and pit it against the definition of games, they don’t really match up. So what do we call them instead?

“Interactive experiences?”

Nah, that’s too long. We need to think of something better.

Well, in the meantime, I guess I’ll just call them “Flurgleburgle.” While it sounds silly, it’s still not as silly or undignified as the word “game” is.

So Flurgleburgle on, Flurgleburgle fans. And remember: RESISTANCE IS FUTILE. EMBRACE THE SEAWOLF SLUG.

Contributor

I’ve already made several huge mistakes this semester — not little mistakes such as forgetting to submit an assignment or showing up slightly late, but big scheduling miscalculations that make my very presence in class a mistake.

From the moment I entered the upper-division biology course I’d somehow been talked into taking, I remembered something very important. You can’t fake your way through science with big words and a Wikipedialevel of comprehension.

Thus far I’ve recognized only about 30 percent of the words in the first lecture (which is a generous estimation to begin with), and I have to fall back upon my foggy memory of Bill Nye episodes I saw in middle school. To put this in perspective, the last (and only) time I learned about genetics was when I made a model of DNA out of a bag of Twizzlers in high school. Needless to say, this class is going to require a bit of extra work.

Had that been my only difficult class, I might have felt better about my potential grades

this semester. However, in the interest of sleeping as much as possible, I’ve made it a point to avoid any classes that start before 11:30 a.m. While this is fantastic for my sleep schedule, it has the unfortunate side effect of packing my three hardest courses in a four-hour block without breaks. And given the Olympic-style sprint it takes to get across campus for each class, I think it’s safe to say that I won’t be stopping for snacks in between classes. Though, on the plus side, I suppose I won’t have to find additional time to exercise this semester.

Rounding out my day are two back-to-back math courses straight from some sort of imaginary number-filled nightmare.

Though I’ll concede that I actually find the concepts behind econometrics fascinating, I still can’t shake the feeling that if a degree requires its own specific brand of math, then it can’t be a good sign.

Any positive feelings I had about math must have been used up on econometrics, because as I try to describe my calculus course, all I can picture is being buried alive by a sea of complicated problem sets. The fact that 90 percent of that class appears to have just graduated high school, yet has a far better understanding of the subject than I ever will, is disheartening at best.

To say that morale was low after the first day back would be selling it short. When the first day of classes culminates in a group of weary friends weighing the pros and cons of dropping out at the local Olive Gar-

den, you know you have a problem on your hands. As much as I love making important decisions without any semblance of forethought, no one should be making life-changing choices over faux-Italian noodles and endless breadsticks.

So don’t get me wrong, this is not some sort of cataclysmic event that’s going to tank my entire degree. This is more akin to watching a three-legged Greyhound trip on its way out of the gate: unfortunate but not unexpected. After three years here, I’m all too familiar with the new semester stress shuffle.

I’ll inevitably hit my stride right before midterms, at which point I’ll exist in a perpetual state of stress that lasts until the snow melts.

Honestly I give it a week before I’ve become accustomed to the difficulty of this semester and have found some new reason to complain. Be it the fact that the bookstore wanted to charge me almost $900 for my books, the coming “ice-pocalypse” or the fact that my Kia now makes a sound like a TARDIS when I put it in reverse, there’s clearly plenty left to complain about.

For now at least, the hellish first week back is finally almost over, and I’m so close to having time to relax that it’s hard not to retain a bit of pre-semester optimism. With a four-day weekend and a conveniently placed birthday looming in the distance, somehow I feel as if the college stress may be about to take a backseat. Rough starts aside, I have no doubt that it’s going to be another memorable semester.

It’s good to be back.

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THENORTHERNLIGHT Tuesday, January 21, 2014

GAME REVIEW

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FOREIGN FILM FANATIC

‘I’m Not Scared’ lives up to its name ‘Continue?’ A thoughtful, if not confusing adventure

By Jacob Holley-Kline arts2@thenorthernlight.org

By George Hyde

gchyde@thenorthernlight.org What does it truly mean to die in a video game? Most players are accustomed to seeing a “Game Over” screen, a killcam showing the perpetrator of their deaths, a prompt to insert more coins, or at the very least, an instant respawn. “Continue?9876543210,” (which will hereby be shortened to “Continue?”) tries to go in-depth with what happens to a video game character once they kick the metaphorical bucket. While it’s certainly quite contemplative, it may take a few playthroughs to truly grasp. And even then, it will still be a tad confusing.

The game automatically starts (no opening menus, or menus at all, for that matter) with a game character, chosen randomly from a pool of six, facing his death at an old-school arcade “Continue?” countdown. They plead with this in-game universe that they don’t want to die, and at the end of the countdown, they are sent to a strange purgatory known as the Random Access Memory, where they must wander through time-limited levels filled with characters who talk about the philosophical aspects of death and dying.

Every few levels, you’ll be sent to a village where a garbage collector of sorts reaps the souls of those who can’t find shelter. In order to find shelter, you will need to gather prayers from the characters in the levels. However, there’s a trade-off: Those same characters offering prayers also offer the path to exit the level. Therefore, it becomes a battle of instant gratification vs. future preparedness. It’s a constant uphill battle that often feels unfair.

Perhaps that’s the point of it. Death is inevitable and no one can escape it, no matter how much we loath it. No matter how many prayers you gather, no matter how many in-level problems you solve, your end result is always the same — death.

It’s a fascinating concept, but that concept is brought down by unintuitive design. As mentioned before there are absolutely no menus. That means no way of exiting the game apart from alt-tabbing out. In addition, if you thought my explanation of the game above was confusing, that’s nothing to say of how the game explains itself. It will take a few play throughs to get any bearing on the situation. For the first few runs through the game, the rules will not be clear at all.

And yet, if players can persevere, they’ll find an incredibly philosophical and mind-bending experience unlike anything on the market. The learning curve is steep and intimidating, but the title will still provoke many emotions and reactions regardless.

Game: “Continue?9876543210” Developer: Jason Oda Platform: PC, Mac, Linux Genre: Action-Adventure

Sometimes it’s fun to watch a movie fall apart, but those movies usually start out with no promise of getting better. “I’m Not Scared” is the opposite.

The first act is foreboding and feels like Hitchcock at his best, but the final two thirds feel like a “Downhill” slide.

Set in the impoverished Italian countryside, “I’m Not Scared” is a coming-of-age tale about a young boy named Michele (Giuseppe Cristiano, “As God Commands”) who finds the malnourished Filippe (Mattia Di Pierro) chained down in a hole.

When Michele’s father, Pino (Dino Abbrescia, “The Worst Christmas of My Life”), returns home after a long absence, Michele’s family begins to fall apart.

The first act showed so much promise that it was hard to see it going south. “I’m Not Scared” opens with beautiful, expansive tracking shots of the golden countryside. Almost immediately, this beauty is shrouded by Michele’s shocking discovery of the kidnapped and skeleton-thin Filippe.

Every day, Michele visits Filippe and their mostly innocent interactions become the heart of the film.

It’s well-acted, decently written and beautifully shot.

But somewhere along the line it’s like the writers and editors got lazy. The movie starts to progress more like a student film. Scenes are cut off too quickly, not playing out to their full effect.

Transitions are poorly placed and Michele makes increasingly stupid decisions, even for a kid.

Somewhere around the 45-minute mark, the film becomes overrun with forced symbolism and cursory scenes. The developments are contrived and predictable. Numerous plot lines remain undeveloped.

What happened to Michele’s writing hobby?

Michele’s friends, especially the sociopathic Skull? A lot of story lines are hinted at and never fully developed. The movie loses focus. “Style over substance” is the phrase that kept coming to mind. The sweeping aerial shots remain in full force and, by the time the credits roll, become the film’s only redeeming quality.

For a movie short on scares and long on disappointment, “I’m Not Scared” is aptly named. It can be fun to watch a bad movie fall apart, but it’s sad to see a promising one do the same. Grandiose shots of the rolling hills of Italy keep the film afloat at first, but after the waters ebb only a lonely desert floor remains.

Title: “I’m Not Scared” Director: Gabriele Salvatores Release date: March 14, 2003 Genre: Crime Drama Country: Italy Column: The Foreign Film Fanatic

MOVIE REVIEW

‘Her’: A provocative technological love story

By George Hyde

gchyde@thenorthernlight.org Can a human fall in love with a computer?

One that progressively learns with each word spoken with it, and can calculate or search for anything in a nanosecond? Is technology jumping forward fast enough to the point that people can create machines and software that can feel sorrow and joy? What are the ethical implications of that? “Her,” a romantic comedy from the director of “Being John Malkovich” and “Where the Wild Things Are,” brings up these questions and attempts to formulate some kind of answer.

It is some undescribed amount of years into the future, and Theodore (Joaquin Phoenix, “The Master”) is an introverted man just out of a harsh divorce. He installs new software on his computer (smartphone? Portable device? It’s a tabletlike foldy thing that they never call anything) that claims to be the world’s first artificially intelligent operating system. Calling itself “Samantha” (Scarlett Johansson, “Don Jon”), it adapts to Theodore’s behaviors and personality, eventually bonding with him and even mutually falling in love.

The situation immediately calls to mind the recent controversies that surround homosexuality and what people define as love and family in the United States. At first, Theodore tries to hide his feelings for Samantha from others for fear of being ridiculed. And indeed, their bond is both accepted by others and lashed out against, being called unnatural.

At one point, his ex calls him out on it. “Why can’t you learn real emotions?” she angrily asks him. The parallels are hard not to notice.

And yet, at the same time, those who would ridicule Theodore have a point: Samantha isn’t real. She was carefully programmed and created to adapt to the user to which she was assigned.

She’s a product being sold and installed on several devices and connected to other operating systems in the cloud. Although she gives off the illusion of being real, an illusion she falls for herself, she really isn’t. She didn’t grow up in a family or learn values from her peers — or, indeed, meet any peers. Every aspect of her personality is based

on her interactions with Theodore.

The love they share is beautiful but also hard to accept. The film acknowledges this and provokes the audience with the situations it presents. Their relationship is meant to be an uncanny, artificial copy of what audiences have experienced: the love is genuine, the beauty is genuine and the emotions they share are genuine. And yet, it also feels strange and uncanny. It’s transfixing and charming, but oddly creepy at the same time.

Audiences will likely leave with a lot of mixed thoughts regarding the film. It’s worth seeing for the questions it presents, both about love and about technology.

Film: “Her” Release Date: Jan. 10, 2014 Director: Spike Jonze Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Scarlett Johansson, Amy Adams

A&E BRIEFS ‘West Side Story’ at Atwood stage this month The Broadway production of “West Side Story” is coming to the Atwood Concert Hall from January 14-24. “West Side Story” is a musical about two gangs, the Jets and Sharks, fighting for power and of forbidden love between Jets member Tony and Maria, sister of Sharks’ leader. Tickets can be purchased at 907-263-2787 or at http:// anchorageconcerts.org.

UAA concert to raise funds for Jazz Week

From 7:30-9:30 p.m Jan. 22 Evgeny Chernonog, Bob Andrews, John Nyman and George Pierce will come together to play a jazz benefit concert for Jazz Week later this spring. The concert will be held in the UAA Fine Arts Building Room 150.

Former NPR program host to lecture at Wendy Williamson

Michelle Norris — respected American journalist, creator of “The Race Card Project” and former host of NPR’s “All Things Considered” — is coming to the Wendy Williamson Jan. 23. The show is free and begins at 7:30 p.m.

Dakaboom comedy to illuminate Student Union Den Dakaboom, a comedy group of Ben McClain of NBC’s “The Sing Off” and Paul Peglar, the pianist for Fox’s “Glee,” are coming to the Student Union Den. They will appear Feb. 7 at 7:30 p.m. This event is free for students, $10 for general public and $15 at the door.

Briefs compiled by Kelly Ireland

06 A&E FOLK: Fun and fesitivities C

THENORTHERNLIGHT Tuesday, January 21, 2014

o n t i n ue d f r om c o v er

The Anchorage Folk Festival began 25 years ago due to the success of the Alaska Folk Fest in Juneau. It is volunteer-run and works to support folk arts within the Anchorage area and promote local musicians. The organization has held the two-week Anchorage Folk Festival annually since its inception. The festival features local musicians and guest artists every year.

This year the Anchorage Folk Festival has brought up two guest artist groups who are at the top of the folk genre. Della Mae — 2013 Grammy nominee, Best Bluegrass Album Winner and IBMA 2013 Emerging Artist of the Year — is the biggest folk/bluegrass group appearing. Mr. Sun — folk group consisting of Darol Anger, Karl Doty, Grant Gordy and Joe Walsh, along with guest artist Tony Trischka — are the second guest artists to the Anchorage Folk Festival. Both Della Mae and Mr. Sun will be playing at multiple shows and will be holding workshops with the public.

In addition to the guest artists featured at the Anchorage Folk Festival, local musicians are given the opportunity to play. One such group, the AllGood Family Band — consisting of family members Michael Allwright, his wife Lily Goodman-Allwright and their sons Ry and Ezzy Allwright — has been playing for the Anchorage Folk Festival for years. Ry, who is nine years old, started playing with his parents at the age of five and even wrote one of the band’s songs. Ezzy, five years old, began when he was four.

“It’s a great experience. It’s a lot of fun to play music together and play as a family. It’s a wonderful experience with the kids,” Michael Allwright said.

There are a multitude of workshops and dances in addition to the performances. These include contra dancing, fingerstyle guitar pickin’, hot club jazz guitar basics, juggling, zen of music theory, swing dancing, drum circles, waltzing, improvisation, singing and much, much more.

UAA English major Arlo Davis, with banjo slung around his back and no plan of what he was going to do, came to the Anchorage Folk Festival on Sunday to check it out. Davis ended up at a workshop, which he called a “jam session.”

“I just got there because I followed the sound,” Davis said. “I didn’t know what was going on. It was fun watching strangers play together, have fun together, smile, share and learn from each other.”

For more information about workshops, dances and performances, and a full listing of events visit http://anchoragefolkfestival.org or email folks@anchoragefolkfestival.org.

PHOTO BY DAN DUQUE

The five members of Grammy-nominated folk group Della Mae perform for Anchorage crowds Jan. 17 at the Wendy Williamson Auditorium.

‘Wrecking Ball’: Breaking walls?

By Jacob Holley-Kline arts2@thenorthernlight.org

Intimacy is a hard thing to achieve, especially for anyone raised in a home wracked by abuse, drug addiction or alcoholism. I grew up in an alcoholic household and I, like anyone who’s ever wanted to connect with other people, have a hard time connecting in any meaningful way.

Countless love songs and romantic movies show that love and intimacy come easily. Any time love or intimacy proves to be difficult, the public gets songs like “Wrecking Ball” by Miley Cyrus.

It’s been five months since it came out, but the message is as pervasive as ever. With the release of Spike Jonze’s film “Her,” the subject of intimacy, love and relationships in a technologically advancing world has again been raised. The main point of a song is generally found in the chorus and “Wrecking Ball” is no exception — specifically the line, “All I wanted was to break your walls.”

To break someone’s walls is to breach his or her defenses and discover the person’s innermost thoughts, desires, feelings and pain.

If you’re having a hard time ordering a Whopper at Burger King, you say, “All I wanted was a Whopper.”

You don’t say, “All I wanted was to break your walls.”

The pop songstress follows this up with, “All you ever did was break me ... You wreck me.” This is a universal sentiment. Innumerable people have felt the intangible pain of heartbreak at some point and empathy is impossible in the infant stages of separation, but that doesn’t change the facts.

On the other end of those “walls” is a damaged soul.

Coming in like a “wrecking ball” won’t mend any deepseated trauma. Lots of people have that deep-seated trauma and breaking them down does nothing to help it.

It’s fine to express these thoughts in art, but the message it sends is clear and dangerous: “Intimacy is easy, and anyone who can’t achieve it is a lost cause.” Planting expectations like this in listeners is damaging. Romantic relationships are roller coaster rides at first, and the real, selfless love comes after the infatuation. It takes work, patience and understanding, not 2,000 pounds of force.

In an increasingly disconnected world, genuine connection outside of a computer, phone or TV screen gets harder every day. Songs like “Wrecking Ball” may not exacerbate the problem immediately, but the seeds have been planted and will take root in the minds of hundreds

of thousands, if not millions, of people around the world.

Intimacy doesn’t start with anger. While that may be apart of it, it starts with a willingness to understand and be patient. This principle is a two-way street. When you hear something like “Wrecking Ball,” know that, just like your own life, it’s only one side of a far more complex story.

SPORTS

07 Wash. Wildcats claim 95-88 victory over Seawolves THENORTHERNLIGHT Tuesday, January 21, 2014

PHOTOS BY COREY HESTER

UAA senior guard Colton Lauwers defends against Central Washington University during the Jan. 18 game in the Wells Fargo Sports Complex.

Junior guard Teancum Stafford evades blocks from Central Washington University to attempt a basket during the Jan. 18 game.

UAA junior guard Boomer Blossom tips the ball away from Central Washington senior center Kevin Davis during the Jan. 18 match.

SPORTS BRIEFS

Bailey, Kwas lead UAA past UAH, 4-1 HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Matt Bailey and Jordan Kwas each scored a pair of goals and Chris Kamal stopped 18 shots to lead Alaska Anchorage to a 4-1 Western Collegiate Hockey Association win over Alabama Huntsville at the Von Braun Center Saturday night.

The victory gave the Seawolves (13-9-2, 8-7-3 WCHA) a three-point weekend as they leap-frogged Bemidji State into fourth place in the WCHA. UAH slipped to a 1-24-1 overall and 1-14-1 in league play.

UAA, unbeaten in its last five WCHA contests, will return home next weekend to host Northern Michigan in a WCHA series at the Sullivan Arena. Opening faceoff on both Jan. 24 and 25 is set for 7 p.m.

Hot-shooting Wildcats down Seawolves, 95-88 ANCHORAGE — Hot-shooting Central Washington defeated Alaska Anchorage 95-88 in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference men’s basketball game Saturday night at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex. UAA slips to 10-8 overall and 3-4 in GNAC play while CWU improves to 8-7 and 4-3.

The Seawolves were led by Travis Thompson with 22 points and Brian McGill with 20. Teancum Stafford and Colton Lauwers added 12 points apiece. Stafford had a team-high 11 rebounds.

UAA, which trailed by as many as 11 in the first half, pulled to within one, 45-44, at halftime. And the Seawolves led briefly, 47-45, on a Thompson old-fashioned three-point play just 22 seconds into the second half.

Chelimo returns, sets GNAC record in 3k SEATTLE, Wash. – Three-time NCAA Champion Micah Chelimo returned to the track and field circuit in style, setting a Great Northwest Athletic Conference record and the fastest Div. II time in the 3,000 meters this season at the University of Washington Preview Saturday on the Dempsey Indoor Track.

Chelimo, from Kapkoi, Kenya, broke his own league record in the 3K with a time of eight minutes, 10.99 seconds, good for sixth and NCAA provisional qualification. Chelimo, who redshirted the 2013 outdoor season, bested his previous record of 8:11.73 from March 8, 2013.

Chelimo finished fourth in the event last winter at the NCAA Indoor Champions, while winning the 5,000 meters.

Chargers forge 1-1 tie with Seawolves

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — The Alaska Anchorage Seawolves continue to struggle on the road, tying Alabama Huntsville, 1-1 in a Western Collegiate Hockey Association game Friday evening at the Von Braun Center.

Following a scoreless first period, the Seawolves (11-9-3, 7-7-3 WCHA) struck first for the seventh-straight game, before allowing the Chargers (1-23-1, 1-13-1 WCHA) to hang around and score in the third period, while falling to 2-7-2 on the road. UAA remains in fifth place in the league standings, one point out of fourth and hosting the WCHA First Round.

UAA comeback nets 92-83 win over NNU

ANCHORAGE — Teancum Stafford’s three-pointer from the deep left corner with 1:03 left proved to be the dagger as Alaska Anchorage roared back from a 16-point first-half deficit to defeat Northwest Nazarene, 92-83, in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference game at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex Thursday night.

Though UAA had an inauspicious shooting night (37 percent), the Seawolves outrebounded the taller Crusaders, 43-41, and UAA committed just four turnovers on the night.

Briefs compiled by Ashley Snyder from GoSeawolves.com and the Associated Press

Seawolf basketball coach Rusty Osborne motivates players during the match against Central Washington.

COMICS

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The University of Alaska Anchorage provides equal education and employment opportunities for all, regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, Vietnam-era or disabled-veteran status, physical or mental disability, changes in marital status, pregnancy, or parenthood.

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

LETTERS AND CORRECTIONS POLICY Letters to the editor and opinion pieces can be submitted to editor@thenorthernlight.org. The maximum length is 300 words.

Letters and opinion pieces are subject to editing for grammar, accuracy, length and clarity.

Requests for corrections can be sent to editor@thenorthernlight.org. Print publication is subject to accuracy and available space. All corrections are posted online with the original story at www. thenorthernlight.org.

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THE NORTHERN LIGHT CONTACTS 3211 Providence Drive Student Union 113 Anchorage, AK 99508 Phone: 907-786-1513 Fax: 907-786-1331 info@thenorthernlight.org EXECUTIVE EDITOR 786-1434 editor@thenorthernlight.org Ashley Snyder MANAGING EDITOR content@thenorthernlight.org Vacant COPY EDITOR copy1@thenorthernlight.org Kierra Hammons NEWS EDITOR 786-1576 news@thenorthernlight.org Suhaila Brunelle FEATURES EDITOR 786-1576 features@thenorthernlight.org Nita Mauigoa A&E EDITOR 786-1512 arts@thenorthernlight.org Kelly Ireland SPORTS EDITOR 786-1512 sports@thenorthernlight.org Vacant

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STAFF REPORTERS eerickson@thenorthernlight.org Evan Erickson gchyde@thenorthernlight.org George Hyde

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CONTRIBUTORS Corey Hester Evan Dodd Dan Duque MEDIA ADVISER Paola Banchero ADMINISTRATIVE ADVISER Annie Route

THENORTHERNLIGHT Tuesday, January 21, 2014

08

OPINION Class canceled

THENORTHERNLIGHT Tuesday, January 21, 2014

tionally Acclaimed Pian a n r ist Inte

Sa Chen Featuring Schumann’s Humoreske and Carnaval, Op. 9

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY TIM BROWN

By Ashley Snyder

editor@thenorthernlight.org

You planned ahead, registered early, and have the perfect schedule for the next semester. You get through finals, relax during the break and have less than a week before the new semester begins. Then it comes without warning, that email that every student dreads: class canceled.

Most teachers with classes that are failing minimum enrollment send emails out to their currently enrolled students, urging them to persuade fellow students to join in or risk cancellation. But this generally comes during finals week or shortly after classes end, when students are relaxing and not wanting to check their student emails, so they do not find out until it is too late. And thus we come full circle to that dooming email.

Flabbergasted students rush to UAOnline to see how bad the damage is. For some it isn’t too bad; a simple elective that just needs a quick replacing. For others, it is a moment of pure turmoil as they realize that there just isn’t any way they can graduate without that class.

Either way, the chances of filling that spot with a required class is slim because at a week before school starts, nearly all of the classes are full to the brim.

According to the catalog “UAA reserves the right to cancel or combine classes; to change the time, dates or place of meeting; or to make other necessary

revisions in class offerings. The university may discontinue a class at any time if enrollment falls below expected levels. Students will receive notification of cancellation via UAA email.”

There is no indication of how far in advance they are required to notify you, nor what exactly the minimum enrollment requirements are. These both seem like important things that students should know.

Seven students seems like ample to continue a class. Apparently UAA does not feel this is so and have cancelled it for those seven paying individuals.

That is $4,284 for all resident students and $13,356 for all nonresident students. With a mix of the two, it seems like it should be a large enough investment to warrant a class to continue.

But beyond enrollment numbers, a class should not be canceled if it will hinder any student from graduating on time. This goes especially for those classes only offered once a year. Some majors have small enrollment and not likely to be all that robust in juniors and seniors. So those upper level courses that they are required to complete will undoubtedly have low enrollment for some majors. How is it fair to cancel a class and deprive those students of what they want to learn or what they need to learn in order to finally graduate?

There has been a lot of talk about UAA prioritizing lately; well maybe they need to prioritize the needs of the students, especially in cases like this.

JAN 29

th

7:30pm UAA Recital Hall, ARTS 150 “One of the brightest performers of her generation” - Classic FM

$19.00 | $16.00 | $8.00 General Admission

Students, Senior, Military

UAA Students at Arts Box Office

Tickets Are Available at: UAAtix.com | 786-4TIX | Centertix.net

UAA is an EEO/AA employer and educational institution.

Photo Credit: Wei Hong

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