THENORTHERNLIGHT FEATURES
THENORTHERNLIGHT.ORG
UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA ANCHORAGE
January 28, 2013
FEATURES
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The perks of being an adult
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On a quest to find the best toaster pastry
Orange Seawolves, Wildcats rhymes with
each pick up a win
Dancing decker strikes random UAA students
By Ashley Snyder
editor@thenorthernlight.org
Photo by Corey Hester
Seawolves celebrate a victory Jan. 25 after the match against the Northern Michigan University Wildcats at the Sullivan Arena.
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Celebrations steeped in culture By Valerie Hudson
features2@thenorthernlight.org
The Chinese culture opens a door to a world of legends and gives individuals an opportunity for another chance at change. The Chinese New Year celebration that kicks off Jan. 31 offers participants that opportunity while reflecting on past accomplishments. The New Year is one of the longest celebrations in the Chinese culture. According to Jiajia Ru, Confucius Instite faculty member, the months in a Chinese year are based on a lunar calendar, which dictates that each month begins on the darkest day. She also said New Year’s festivities in China traditionally begin on the first day of the month and continue until the 15th day, when the moon is the brightest. A version of the legend of the Chinese New Year can be found at http://chinesenewyearfestival.org. A long time ago in the mountains of China lived a terrible demon creature by the name of Nian. On the first day of every year, Nian would wake, go to the villages and terrorize them. He would eat all the grain and livestock. Even children were known to disappear when the creature was around. The villagers lived in fear and would board up their houses at night to protect their families. One year, right before Nian was to make his appearance, an old man visited the village. He asked the villagers, “Why do you fear this creature such? You are many and he is but one. Surely he could not swallow all of you.” But the villagers were still skeptical and locked up their houses. That night, Nian did not come. The old man had ridden him until dawn and Nian went back to his cave hungry. This went on for several nights until the old man revealed, “I cannot protect you forever.” The old man ended up being a god and had to return to his duties elsewhere. The villagers were terrified that Nian would return once the old man left. The old man then informed them, “The beast is easily scared. He does not like the color red. He fears loud noises and strange creatures. So tonight, spread red across the village. Hang red signs on every door. Make loud noises with drums, music and fireworks, and give your children face masks and lanterns to protect them.” The villagers did as the old man instructed and Nian never returned again. There are several events on campus that all can participate in to celebrate the Chinese New Year. The Confucius Institute jumpstarted New Year’s celebrations Friday by inviting Professor Wei Li — Confucius Institute director in Edmonton,
Illustration by John Quick
According to the Chinese calendar, 2014 celebrates the year of the horse.
Alberta, Canada — to demonstrate how to make crafted puppets and figurines that resemble porcelain. Chinese New Year begins Jan. 31. This year is the year of the horse. “There are a lot of meaning in our culture. It’s really a time for the family to get together,” Chinese faculty member Feng Chen said. There are other events on campus celebrating the Chinese New Year. Information can be found on the Confucius Institute website. Events on campus to check out include:
An alert was issued by University Police on Jan. 24 when a report came in that a suspicious male allegedly struck a female student at the Consortium Library bus stop at 8:27 a.m. He was described as “a white male in his mid-twenties wearing a knit hat, a flannel jacket, dark khakis or green pants, and was carrying a backpack.” At 2:24 p.m. another report came in that the same man had struck another UAA student. This time UPD had security camera footage of the man walking out of the library and sent a capture of his image out, allowing students to better identify him. Finally a few hours later UPD announced they had taken the alleged suspect into custody. The suspect was later identified as 34-year-old Taurus Lapin. Lapin is not registered in the http://alaska.edu database, which indicates he is most likely not a student. On Jan. 25 at 1:30 p.m., Lapin was brought in for an official hearing. In addition to the two charges of assault, another assault charge was added when another individual — this time a male — claimed Lapin knocked him off his bike and caused him injury. At the hearing Lapin told the judge that he didn’t hurt anyone but was merely dancing. “I wasn’t doing nothing but dancing (Friday). I was just listening to music all day and walking around,” Lapin said. A court record check reveals that this is Lapin’s only criminal charge in Alaska. While there is no indication of how severely any of the victims were injured and no motive has yet been established, a trend in the United States dubbed the “knockout” game has been growing. The idea of this “game” is for a person to choose a random victim — all ages, genders, and ethnicities have been targeted — go up to them and try to knock them out with one blow. While normally it is a game done in groups with scores tallied up to declare winners, there have been single individuals doing it for nothing more than their own pleasures. “(The knockout game) is horrible because anyone can be a target. They walk up to you and you don’t know what’s happening until it hits you,” said junior Amanda Evans. “These people were randomly targeted and on our own campus.” Whether this was a random occurrence, a dance gone terribly wrong or the start of the knockout game in Alaska, it can be assured that this individual won’t be dancing or decking for quite a while.
Claybody creations
Sa Chen Piano Concert Wednesday, Jan. 29 from 7:30-9:30 p.m. Fine Arts Building, Recital Hall
The UAA Department of Music and Confucius Institute will present pianist Sa Chen in concert. Sa Chen’s accomplishments include being called “one of the brightest performers of her generation” by Classic FM, and delighting audiences worldwide for almost two decades. Tickets are available now at http://uaatix.com or by calling 907-7864849.
Early Confucianism Dialogue with Yup’ik and Inupiaq Cultures Thursday, Jan. 30 from 5-7 p.m. UAA Campus Bookstore
At this event, Kristin Helweg Hanson, Phyllis Fast and UAA presenters Josephine Hishon and Brittany Burns examine and contrast Chinese and Alaska Native classical and traditional world views.
Photo by Kayla McGraw
This untitled piece by Miju Kim is made of ceramic, paint and wire. It will be on display in the Student Union Gallery “Claybody” show until Feb. 12.
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Conduct ye yourselves as adult students By Evan Erickson
eerickson@thenorthernlight.org Plagiarism has been the scourge of academia for centuries. But should every culprit be punished? When does plagiarism become an opportunity for teachers to teach? A simple Google search would reveal that the paragraph above was lifted directly from an article in the Rhode Island College News. At UAA, plagiarism this blatant can earn stiff penalties, and according to a recently released report published by the Dean of Students Office, “Students of Concern and Their Behavior,” facebook.com/northernlightuaa
it has. The biannual report, which presents a detailed analysis of different types of student misconduct in FY2013 (July 2012-June 2013), lists 39 separate incidents of plagiarism. UAA found students to be responsible in over 80 percent of the 73 cases of plagiarism and other forms of academic dishonesty in FY2013. At UAA plagiarism can carry a penalty of a one-year suspension for firsttime offenses. A separate report published April 2012 by UAA’s Ad Hoc Committee on Academic Integrity found that 48 percent of students and 15 percent of faculty surveyed
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felt that “paraphrasing or copying a few sentences from (a) written source without citing,” was “trivial cheating” or “not cheating.” 41 percent of students and 14 percent of faculty surveyed felt the same about “fabricating or falsifying a bibliography.” In addition to academic integrity, “Students of Concern and Their Behavior” also covers things like harassment, endangerment, assault and drugs — highlighting violations for which there were a significant number of reports. Title IX, a federal law prohibiting sex discrimination
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