July262011

THENORTHERNLIGHT

july 26, 2011

University of Alaska Anchorage

www.thenorthernlight.org

College Hockey Clusterpuck

UAA Engineers go global Engineers Without Borders gives African orphanage hope

See Page 4

Despite recent shakeup, WCHA shows signs of life as legitimate conference A busy past couple weeks for the WCHA has seen five powerhouses bolt for a new conference while new teams will be coming into the fold for 2013-14

By Taylor Hall The Northern Light

Lefty on the Left Is Mayor Sullivan out to get the homeless?

See Page 6

Graffiti: Art vs Vandalism Authorities and artists battle over graffiti

See Page B1

Overtime Did the US choke against Japan? Or did Japan simply pull off a miracle?

Index:

See Page B8

The landscape has shifted greatly in college hockey, and the UAA Seawolves are right in the center of the chaos.

The Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA), a league in which the ‘Wolves have played in since 1993, is now back to six teams after the formal introduction of former WCHA member Northern Michigan. The Wildcats, who currently play in the Central Collegiate Hockey Conference, will rejoin the league they left back in 1997 come the 2013-14 season.

The addition of NMU gives hope to the league after it was dealt a huge curveball just a few weeks ago.

The announcement that five WCHA teams would leave the conference and shook the very foundations of what many consider to be the most successful league, both financially and in terms of championships, in all of college hockey.

Joining a new “superconference” would be North Dakota, Minnesota-Duluth,

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Nebraska-Omaha, Denver, and Colorado College. These teams, along with Miami-Ohio from the CCHA, will all be a part of the new National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC). The early implications are that perhaps even more teams from either the WCHA or CCHA may be offered a spot in this new league, as it further expands.

The formation of the NCHC was perhaps a response to an earlier announcement of the new Big-10 Hockey conference, something that was foreseen and is nothing new to the Seawolves or college hockey world.

“I don’t think (the NCHC) happens if the Big-10 doesn’t come about,” said Dr. Steve Cobb, UAA’s Athletic Director. “They’re related, but the Big-10 is not the root of the problem. I think a couple of schools were hurt that the Big-10 didn’t offer them affiliate membership because over the years they insinuated they might to a few other programs (in the WCHA).”

This new Big-10 league will begin play in 2013-14 season would take WCHA members

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Wisconsin and Minnesota, CCHA members Michigan, Michigan State, and Ohio State from their respective conferences and put them with a newly formed Penn State hockey program to form a six-team conference.

This left the WCHA with only UAA, Minnesota State, Bemidji State, St. Cloud State, and Michigan Tech to carry on the conference banner.

So with seven teams overall leaving the WCHA, UAA and its remaining conference foes quickly had to set on-ice differences and hatred towards one another, in order to keep the league afloat.

A meeting in St. Paul, Minnesota beginning on July 15, brought up just about everything the remaining WCHA members would have to address immediately, including officials, non-conference scheduling and league reorganization. “(The meetings) were a little frustrating, a little productive, a little maddening, and a lot of emotion,” Dr. Cobb said. “Overall, it was a good meeting and we’re moving in a proper direction.”

However, the biggest issue

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going forward would being getting the league back to six teams to protect its ability to operate and gain an automatic bid to the NCAA Postseason for its conference winner.

“I think the WCHA will remain strong and search for members that will maintain that strength,” said UAA Head Coach Dave Shyiak.

The answer came in the form of UNM, which just happened to be Shyiak’s alma mater and where he began his collegiate coaching career.

Now that the five remaining teams had answered the seventeam contraction with a bit of expansion of their own in UNM, the league may have a few more tricks up its sleeve in the coming weeks.

Several schools have been thrown around in terms of who the WCHA will look to offer membership, to get the league to eight teams, however, there are two that are awfully intriguing to UAA in particular.

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TNL

News| July 26, 2011

New Student Orientation makes summer changes

By Matt Caprioli News Editor

The bulk of New Student Orientation programs have traditionally been held over the summer, but Teresa Lyons, the current director, is thinking that structural changes may greatly improve the program.

“I would love to see us move from such a heavy summer program, and have orientations that are linked to the priority registration. That would be ideal.”

There are 14 Howl Days (on which orientations are given) throughout summer, and only one per semester during the academic year.

Lyons and her staff of ten student workers and one full-time employee hope to have some

program in place for the spring 2012 priority registration, which begins this November.

Lyons said that another planned future improvement to the program is more faculty involvement. Over her five years at New Student Orientation, Lyons believes the largest impediment for a strong faculty presence was the fact that faculty are not on contract.

Many staff members participate, including the Housing Director, the Dean of Students, and Director of Resident Life.

In previous years, deans for each college have spoken at the Howl Day for their specific college. The deans normally speak during the advising component.

Lyons hopes to bring this back soon.

Students that choose to attend a howl day check in at 8am on the morning of. They begin the day with breakfast, a t-shirt, and a UAA chat. These “Wolf Pacs” are taught by orientation leaders, and are a new feature to the program.

Here is a sample: “UAA is mighty cool/ Green and gold is what we do/ Seawolves howl and prowl the hall/ We paint out pride upon the walls/ U-A-A….SEAWOLVES.” Students then complete a pre-orientation survey.

The survey helps staff collect basic information and to use that information to address students’ needs, such as veteran status or financial need.

This summer, students and parents now take a post-survey

after completing the program.

During the afternoon, staffers review the survey results then determine what questions should be asked in the second survey.

Lyons said that this helps cover issues that the first questionnaire may have missed.

A new session called “safe side” was also added to the Howl Day programs. The session aims to warn students about government laws and how they apply on campus. Presenters include Star (Standing Together Against Rape) and AWAIC (Abused Women’s Aid in Crisis.)

“A lot of students think that domestic violence is between a wife and a husband or a girlfriend and a boyfriend, they don’t see it as a law that applies to a roommate

situation if you’re living in the residential community. If you push your roommate because you didn’t like something they did, then you open yourself up to be accused of domestic abuse. A lot of students don’t know that,” Lyons said.

On the July 18 Howl Day for undeclared and CAS majors, students flew in from Florida, Texas, and rural Alaska.

For some students, orientation is the one thing that keeps them at UAA. “One student brought a friend who was thinking about leaving the state, but this experience at orientation as shifted her mind about staying in the state. We’re very excited when that happens,” Lyons said.

Photos by Jim Foster/TNL

Students and parents were given the chance to meet with different counselors and student organizations during a Howl Day at the Student Union on July 18. Howl Days orient new students, and give them the opportunity to ask questions and receive information about different colleges and organizations around campus.

Salvation Army opens midtown community center With Anchorage lacking places for kids to go after school, the Salvation Army has begun a project to build them around the city. The 18,000 square foot facilitiy is open for kids and teens of all ages.

By Ashley Snyder Features Editor

Community centers are places where people can meet for social, educational or recreational activities. Since Anchorage is lacking very many of them, the Salvation Army has begun to build several around town. The plan is to give kids and teens a safe and fun place to go and relax after school, while parents are at work or gone.

Andrea Thompson knows the feeling, “I don’t like knowing that my ten year old son is at home alone for two hours before I get home from work. Anchorage needs more places for our kids to go, and have adult supervision and keep them out of trouble,” she said.

This realization has spread further than concerned parents, and has sparked interest among charity organizations to start building community centers around Anchorage. The Salvation Army is one of the first to actually take action.

Their first project was to place a community center in Midtown Anchorage.

“This is right where we belong, and we aim to help people and to support them in their journey in life,” said Commissioner James Knaggs, the Western Territorial Commander for the Salvation Army.

After a year of construction,

The new Salvation Army Community Center opened in May and will provide a place for children and teenagers to hang out while parents are working. The center is located at 1701 C Street.

the Salvation Army Anchorage Corps Community Center, located at 1701 C Street, opened its doors in early May of this year. While the Salvation Army wanted the facility’s main purpose to be a place to expand their ministry, and will host church services frequently within its walls. They also made it into a recreational area open to everyone.

“The Anchorage Corps Community Center represents The Salvation Army’s continued investment in Alaska’s most precious resource, its people,” said Major Doug Tollerud, divisional commander.

The new facility is over 18,000

square feet and includes classrooms, a gymnasium, computer lab, exercise room, game room and a small library. The facility will be available for rental for parties, providing a large area for recreational programs and large community events, along with a variety of meeting rooms. Open gym is scheduled from 1:00-5:00 pm weekdays.

“Once school starts it will be a great place for kids and teens to hang out,” said Jeanine Photo by daniel jackson/TNL Taylor, mother of three.

The community center will host a variety of day

camps in the summer that include recreation programs, sports, crafts, singing, short Bible lessons, and trips to fun locations such as H2Oasis. There are two sessions to end out the summer, the first being July 25-29 and the second session being August 1-5. Depending on the success from this year, next year they will increase the number of day camps, trips, and activities to increase the profile of, and interest in the facility.

Thompson is confident about the success of the center, “I think that the community will take a lot of interest and allow the center to continue to grow for everyone to enjoy, and allow the doors to open for more centers to be opened in the future.”

July 26, 2011 | News

statewide briefs

Stilt-walker artwork installed at Anchorage school Driving a student to Anchorage’s Dimond High School will be more colorful this year.

The school’s final Percent for Art sculpture, “Big Game,” was installed Sunday in the circle created by the student drop-off lane in front of the school.

The artwork is made up of three bigger-than-life stilt-walkers in 17th century commedia dell’arte costumes. All three figures wear colorful facemasks. The costumes represent three Arctic animals: a king eider duck, a lynx and a caribou.

Each figure in the school sculpture is about 8 feet tall. On stilts, they rise more than 20 feet off the lawn. The figures sparkle and reflect light with their glass mosaic tile skin. Artist Shelia Wyne said that as drivers move around the circle driveway, the sculptures have the potential to look as if they’re twinkling.

“The piece will wink, so to speak, when the sun is out,” Wyne said Sunday.

Commedia dell’arte is the name for humorous Italian street theater characterized by masks and stock characters, such as Harlequin, a servant in a colorful, motley costume.

The Alaska Legislature in 1975 passed the Percent for Art in Public Places law, which requires spending 1 percent of the capital

construction costs of public buildings for the acquisition and permanent installation of artwork.

Alaskans will now have through August 1st, 2011 to share their stories of struggle with tobacco for a chance to be featured in their own Dear Me TV commercial. The State of Alaska Tobacco Prevention and Control Program (TPC) is extending their successful Dear Me, Hear Me contest in order to give more Alaskans the opportunity to participate. This contest is part of the Dear Me tobacco cessation-focused media campaign, and is designed to encourage Alaskans to quit tobacco by sharing their stories for the chance to win Flip Video™ cameras, $500, and their own Dear Me TV commercial.

Each participant will receive a “quit kit” in the mail consisting of a tote bag, journal and pen, magnet, mints and a ‘commitment’ bracelet.

More information on Dear Me, Hear Me can be found at alaskaquitline.com, Facebook. com/alaskaquitline or by emailing dearme@nwstrat.com.

No one bothers to run in small NC town’s election

Lawsuit: Chase Bank declared Fla. woman dead

TAR HEEL, N.C. (AP) -- The races for mayor and three commission seats are wide open in the small North Carolina town of Tar Heel - because no one bothered to run.

No one has registered as a candidate for the fall elections in the Bladen County town. The story was first reported by WECT-TV. The ballots will be printed with blank spaces for voters to write in their choices.

Current Mayor Ricky Martin says he’s not surprised no one wants the jobs. Even in a town of 117, it’s hard work with little compensation. And Martin says state budget cuts mean the next elected officials might have to raise taxes.

Cynthia Shaw, the director of the county’s board of elections, says it’s the first time she has seen an entire

SANFORD, Fla. (AP) -- A central Florida woman says she’s having numerous financial troubles because of a bank error that caused Chase Bank USA to declare her dead last November.

Wrenella Pierre has filed a lawsuit and Chase officials said Monday they’re investigating how the mistake happened.

When Pierre and her husband built their home in 2007, they got two mortgages through Chase.

According to the lawsuit, the bank notified credit-reporting agencies last year that Pierre had died. They sent a letter of condolence to the family, saying someone from the bank would be in touch about the mortgage.

Pierre says she notified bank officials that she was alive and also went to a local branch to correct the mistake.

A month later, the lawsuit alleges, credit agencies still reported her dead.

Man tests law by claiming to be a `pastafarian’ VIENNA (AP) -- Niko Alm wanted to test an Austrian law saying that head coverings would only be allowed in official documents for religious reasons.

So the tongue-in-cheek atheist applied for a new driver’s license in his country with a photo of himself wearing a pasta strainer as headgear.

Alm said he was a “pastafarian” and that the headpiece was required by his religion.

The application process took three years, but Alm said Thursday that he’s now got his new license.

Police officials in the mostly Catholic country did not sound amused.

They said religion was never an issue in Alm’s case, and that he succeeded because he fulfilled the only criterion required: leaving his face fully visible in the photo.

Customers reconsidering: Red Envelope, RedBox or Blockbuster?

Statewide Dear Me, Hear Me contest extended through August.

Say What?

town without a candidate.

03

Idaho daughter and mother get DUIs an hour apart IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (AP) -- Idaho authorities say a mother and daughter were arrested for drunken driving within an hour of each other - the mother when she went to pick up her daughter’s dog.

The Post Register reports a sheriff’s officer stopped 28-year-old Alisha Gardner at 10:56 p.m. Saturday in Idaho Falls after spotting her car swerving and crossing the centerline.

Sgt. Jeff Edwards says her bloodalcohol level was twice the legal limit, so Gardner was taken to jail.

Just under an hour later, 51-yearold Diana Gardner arrived to pick up her daughter’s dog, which was in the car. An officer smelled alcohol on her and a test revealed that her bloodalcohol level was also twice the legal limit, so she was arrested.

The report did not say what happened to the dog.

Graphic by CJ Beaudrie/TNL

By Ashley Snyder Features Editor

The little red envelope that frequently hangs from people’s mailboxes has been in neighborhoods since 1999. It is the signature envelope through which the movie rental giant, Netflix, sends and receives their millions of DVDs daily. The company has long boasted of their $9.99-a-month pricetag, which allows users to watch an unlimited number of movies online, and to rent one DVD at a time to be delivered by mail.

“I don’t know what I would do without Netflix. I guess it kind of keeps me sane during the school year and it’s cheaper than going to the movies every week,” said Tanya Elison. Elison is a college student, and dedicated customer of Netflix.

But as with all good things, the days of $9.99 subscribtion are coming to an end. Citing hardships in a declining ecomony, Netflix is changing plans and raising prices.

Subscribers will now have to pay two separate charges, $7.99 for instant streaming, and $7.99 to receive discs in the mail, adding up to nearly $16 per month.

“I love Netflix, but I loved it more when it was $5 cheaper,” said UAA alumnus Chris Rush.

This is forcing many fans to resort to other means of obtaining cheap entertainment.

Netflix’s biggest competitors?

Blockbuster and RedBox. Blockbuster has a slightly higher subscription rate, but offers a key service that Netflix has never hadgame rentals. Blockbuster offers one disc at a time, unlimited games, television, and movies for $11.99 per month. Its biggest downfall is that Blockbuster currently does not offer an online streaming package, and customers must pay separately for each movie streamed online.

Despite the increasing popularity of its Netflixmodeled subscription services, Blockbuster is still plagued by an unpopular store-front.

UAA Alumnus Jeremy DeLong said, “I thought it was stupid they were raising their prices again, but I went to Blockbuster and it cost me $16 for two movies and two candies. Three new releases from Blockbuster cost as much as a subscription to Netflix. Netflix is a much better deal.”

RedBox is the most cheaply

priced service of the three, at only $1 per night for newly released movies and $2 per night for games, yet it is also the most inconvenient for many. First, the buyer must locate RedBox kiosks, which are few and far between in Anchorage. They then must hope that the kiosk they’ve chosen has the game or movie they want.

Returns cannot be done via mail, but require another trip to the kiosk.

“RedBox is annoying and way too limited to be a good substitute for Netflix,” said Jamie Larson.

The ease of receiving movies directly in the mail and instantly watching them online will likely allow Netflix to retain its dominance, despite the price increase.

“I don’t know what I would do without Netflix. It is a small price to pay to just go and pay a little extra to keep all of the movies I love,” said Tarra Elison.

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According to a recent story by the New York Times, Netflix users streaming video online account for up to thirty percent of online traffic in North America. With the division of services and increase in prices, that number will rise significantly in the next year, as faithful Netflix subscribers will continue to subscribe, but downgrade to online streaming only.

UAA Alumnus, Jennifer Allen said, “[We will] downgrade, we only really use the streaming feature anyway.”

For right now however, Netflix is safe from losing too many fans and still maintaining enough profit to keep the business going strong. Like coffee fans are stuck to Starbucks regardless of rising prices, movie fans are stuck on Netflix as well, because they see no substitutes that match up to Netflix’s movie viewing service.

5/17/11 12:55 PM

FEATURES

04

Engineers cross borders to help African orphanage

Like Doctors without Borders, Engineers Without Borders surveys impoverished communities, builds to improve the living conditions for residents. Since 2007, UAA EWB has focused on Tiko, Cameroon.

By Ashley Snyder Features Editor

Many know that there are places around the world that are disadvantaged and in need of help. Few of us truly know how much help those places need, until we go there and find out for ourselves just how desperate the situation is. This is the mission of the Engineers without Borders program at UAA. Similar to Doctors without Borders, who go and bring medicine and supplies to places in need, the EWB survey a needy area and decide on what they can build to improve the living conditions for the people in that area. The UAA division of the organization is made up of over eighteen students and two mentors from BP, working together to bring hope to communities in distress.

Their current project: Rhema Grace Orphanage.

The RGO is located near Tiko, Cameroon in the eastern part of Africa. Although Cameroon is a major tourist spot, the local community is in poverty, the orphanage even more so.

The process of planning the improvements for an area is relatively straightforward. In early 2007, a team of two students and a professional advisor went to a prospective area and observed the day to day lives of the people to see what areas needed to be improved, and discussed with the orphanage leaders about what facilities are in the most need of repair and improvement. During this process, the students and mentors established a positive relationship with the locals, allowing them to become comfortable and able to help out.

The EWB-UAA has been working with the orphanage for over two years, helping to improve the living conditions for more than fifty children.

The current

President of EWB-UAA is student Kris Homerding. “EWB is equivalent to a 4-credit class, yet we don’t receive any school credit. Members are attending school full-time and working 20+ hours a week during the semester.

What keeps members actively involved is the passion this club has inspired.”

The students who travel to Africa have to take some extreme precautions being in such a remote area that is known for theft, disease and illness.

“During Phase II, the club was assisted by a group of guards for the duration of the trip,” said Homerding. “Numerous vaccinations are needed just to arrive in country, as well as taking malaria medication while in-country.”

Communication and demand for supplies are also big concerns.

“Designing a project from the other side of the world is a challenge. If we needed to check on the availability of certain materials, we would shoot a message to the orphanage and hope they responded promptly, or even at all, with the correct information needed,” Homerding said.

While the concerns may be hefty, as long as the right precautions are taken, the students remain safe.

Chuck Stillwell, one of the professional mentors from BP, has been helping with the program for nearly two years, working with the students, keeping track of their progress and helping them develop their project to the fullest extent.

According to Stillwell, there are many challenges in undertaking such a large operation. “[One challenge is]

understanding the best way for us to help folks from other cultures to help themselves. EWB is not an “aid” organization that simply gives hand-outs to needy people.

We try to determine how best to meet others’ needs, then try to determine how the people in need can be part of the solution. finally, the solution needs to be sustainable, and last for a long time given all the other challenges facing the people in need,” he said.

EWB-UAA has already replaced the old open-flame cooking facilities, creating a new wood burning cook stove which will help reduce smoke and alleviate respiratory problems.

They used bricks made from locally sourced materials in order to keep costs low and help the local vendors.

The next part of the plan, Phase II, is to return to Cameroon in early August to install a rain catchment system to allow for cleaner drinking and bathing water, as well as create diversion ditches to prevent flooding and erosion problems. There will also be an assessment regarding what can be done for Phase III. “The assessment during Phase II consists of a full electrical assessment of the orphanage as well the possibility of installing BioSand Filters onto the rain catchment systems for another source of potable water. The information gathered will be assessed by EWB-UAA and determined whether or not it can be carried out for Phase III implementation.”

All of these projects are sponsored by fundraisers and donations from organizations such as BP, Rotary Club of Anchorage, USUAA, and EDC Inc.

Top: EWB-UAA students with Rhema Grace children in front of the orphanage where they have been working for over two years to improve the facilities and lives of the orphans. Middle: Student Brittany Barkshire shows some of the orphans from the Rhema Grace Orphanage how to properly clean themselves with clean water from the newly installed facilities. Bottom: EWB-UAA president, Kris Homerding, works to create the foundation for the new stove of the Rhema Grace Orphanage.

EWB-UAA says that they are always looking for new volunteers to help, and interested students do not necessarily have to be engineering majors to be members. Students with different skills are extremely necessary to help their cause.

“These projects

are geared towards providing communities with access to their most basic needs for survival. In return, members gain valuable project experience working closely with professional engineers in the community that they can take into their future careers,” said Homerding. “In my opinion, students also gain a sense of passion; something that can only be acquired through experience.”

All Photos Courtesy of EWB-UAA

Left: Several of the children from the Rhema Grace Orphanage show off their clean hands, thanks to EWB-UAA helping them to get cleaner water and better facilities for washing. Middle: One of the children from the Rhema Grace Orphanage hauls some water to the workers helping in the construction at the new Rhema Grace Orphanage. Right: In an attempt to save money, the Cameroon Natives and EWB-UAA create bricks from scratch to help build the foundation and the stove at the Rhema Grace Orphanage in Cameroon.

July 26, 2011 | feATURES

@ your library

05

Concise survey of suicide spans time, cultures Anthropologist Robert Edgerton compares several cultures’ attitudes and behavior toward suicide News Editor

Like many academic titles before, Dr. Robert Edgerton’s latest work, “A Comparative Survey of Suicide: Scandinavia, Asia, Africa, United States,” aims for objectivity. Some academics like to inflate the meaning of their findings with colorful or incredibly dense prose, but Edgerton’s straight-forward style encourages the facts to impact the reader. The closest he approaches to color is a ‘shocking’ before relating how a five year-old in Papua New Guinea attempted suicide.

On the surface, the work has nothing to recommend it.

There are no praises from other authors on the back cover.

The publisher obviously did not spend much money on its production. It is essentially two slabs of blue cardboard with computer paper glued in-between. The front cover is endearingly irrelevant: a rectangular box that holds a satellite image of a hurricane.

From the outside, the only

attractive thing about the book is its slender size. Fifty pages of content, sixteen pages for the bibliography, and six pages for dedications, acknowledgements, and copyright details. Edgerton probably could have written much more on the subject, but fortunately here he highlights the most pertinent facts for a quick and easy, but productive, read.

He first covers what one expects from a survey of suicide.

Until 1700, it was largely known as “self-murder” in Europe. Some of the countries with the lowest suicide rates include Italy, Spain, Scotland, and the Netherlands.

The highest include Austria, Japan, and Finland.

For reasons Edgerton doesn’t try to determine, the Netherlands has a remarkably low suicide rate.

He then explores more minute similarities. The method of killing oneself varies across countries, races, classes, religions, and gender. LA and Vienna have an equally high rate of suicide, but

thirty nine percent use guns in LA, compared to only four percent in Vienna.

Suicide in ancient Rome was praised only for warriors or higher classes, and it had to be done properly. Hanging was considered a peasant’s means to suicide, and was disgraceful. But stabbing one’s self in a Phoenician robe after hearing that your entire legion died was, to some extent, admirable.

Edgerton presents facts that have inferences for our modern attitude toward suicide. Suicide often occurs within families.

Not only did Ernest Hemingway commit suicide, so did his father, brother, sister, and granddaughter.

Edgerton avoids generalizations, but some are so obvious it is difficult to not notice.

The introduction of religion, in the case of Hinduism and Christianity, changed that culture’s attitude toward suicide. With Christianity, it became a sin against God. Until Norway was Christianized around 1,000 CE, suicide was viewed as an act of a weak person. Until the 1800’s, some places like Finland, considered suicide a capital offense.

In India, suicide was acceptable until it was vehemently opposed in the Upanishad verses around 2000

‘LA and Vienna have an equally high rate of suicide, but thirty nine percent use guns in LA, compared to only four percent in Vienna.’

By Matt Caprioli and Wiley Cason News, Copy Editor

Four-time Colbert Report guest Anthony Romero, the first Hispanic executive director of the ACLU, spoke last week to a mostly friendly audience at the Wendy Williamson Auditorium.

Romero’s presentation touched on a few current cases being pursued by the American Civil Liberties Union, such as opposition to Arizona Senate Bill 1070, which is designed to crack down on illegal immigration, but as the ACLU believes, “actively encourages racial profiling.”

The bulk of the director’s time however, was spent making the broader case that the struggle toward equal treatment for racial minorities is far from over.

Raised in New York City himself, Romero cited the figure that among 500,000 pat-down searches conducted last year

by NYPD, 90 percent of them were performed on minorities.

As an impact of over policed ghettos, Romero told the audience how poor inner-city youth lose much more than their suburban counterparts when conviwcted of a minor crime or drug offence.

He asked the audience to imagine the severe and long-term consequences of an offence to

someone that is dependent on public housing and scholarships to go to college, and loses both when convicted. Anthony Romero is When the National Executive asked what Director of the ACLU. it was like to be on Stephen Colbert’s show, Romero bluntly replied, “It’s terrifying. The man is crazy smart, it is the scariest interview that I do.” “Backstage he tells me, ‘I’m going to kick your teeth in.’”

Prior to speaking, the director was introduced by former Anchorage Police Chief and mayoral candidate Walt Monegan, currently of the Alaska Native Justice Center. During the talk, Romero made a couple well-received Palin jokes, and afterwards took several questions from the audience; including two requests for ACLU partnership on court cases.

photo by Richard Corman

Romero: Court Cases, Civics and Colbert

The lecture was hosted by the UAA Justice Center and the Alaska ACLU, and is available in podcast, or can be downloaded in full at: http:// uaajusticecenter.blogspot. com/.

BCE. Though, even in the post-Upanishad era, it was acceptable if part of a religious ritual. For example, Sannyasins, those who achieved complete insight, were welcome to commit suicide.

As expected of a survey, “A comparative survey of suicide” lays the groundwork for future study. The book is still worth the hour or two it takes to read. It not only raises awareness, but is also quite stimulating, presenting the facts but leaving the “why” for the reader to answer.

photo by daniel jackson/tnl

By Matt Caprioli

The book “Suicide” by Jacques Choron sits on the shelf at the Consortium Library. The Consortium Library has over 1000 articles of varying media types that discuss the controversy, morality and ethics of suicides.

@ your library is a series of book reviews from materials available at the UAA/ APU Consortium library.

Suggestions are welcome at content@thenorthernlight.org.

Don’t hike all over town…

Find what you need right here on campus: • Seawolf Postal Express UPS, US Postal Service, & FedEx services • Copy & Print Center Copies, binding, poster-printing, & more

We even ship fish!

Lower-level of the Campus Bookstore. www.uaa.alaska.edu/gss 907.786.6860

Free customer parking outside our green-awning entrance.

OPINION

06

Lefty on the left

Anchorage’s homeless blown off by public

Homelessness in Alaska ignored by public and ridiculed by Mayor Sullivan

By Eli Johnson Contributor

When Mayor Dan Sullivan isn’t attacking them, he seems to be disregarding the homeless community As everybody already knows, every homeless person has a freshly pressed suit in their cart. At least, that is what the mayor of Anchorage, Dan Sullivan, seems to believe.

However, homelessness in Alaska is not that simple.

An article from the satirical newspaper The Onion, entitled “Nation’s Homeless Less Important Than Ever,” said it best.

“Decreasing in importance by as much as 65 percent since 1992, the homeless are expected to remain at or below their current level of unimportance well into the 21st century.”

The fact is that the homeless community at large is ignored by the bulk of the American public. There are the occasional champions, like the Alaska Coalition on Housing and Homelessness, and they should be recognized, but the bulk of people are content to just ignore them.

Here’s a nifty fact – according to some very conservative estimates, there are well over three thousand people currently homeless in

Alaska. Three thousand people who go each night wondering if they are going to get a meal, or even be killed by the elements.

It is a crime that this many people in this country are homeless.

Very conservative statistics across America puts the number of homeless at over five million.

What’s more, the homeless are very ill-treated in the system.

One particular issue in this regard that is very confusing is the police breaking up homeless “camps” that spring up around Anchorage.

So, is the position now, “you can be homeless, but be homeless somewhere else?” This is just very strange.

Granted, sometimes these camps are on people’s properties, and they can be dangerous places, but really, what message is that sending? Not to mention that when the homeless are driven out, they often lose the few possessions that they have.

One veteran, Dan Engle, who was homeless, lost his tent, sleeping bag, and even his military

ribbons when the police cleared out a camp.

It says to some that people recognize there is a homeless problem, but don’t want it to be an eyesore on public land. How pathetic is that?

Dan Sullivan seems to be of the same mind.

He had been confronted by a homeless man named John Martin protesting the policy the current administration has about homeless camps.

Apparently him being in front of City Hall protesting was also an eyesore.

When Martin spoke to him directly, what was Sullivan’s response?

“Get a job.”

Martin was exercising his right to protest, and not only is he disregarded and insulted by Sullivan, but he then goes on to try and legislate this protestor away.

He worked to create legislation that would make it illegal for somebody to be sitting or reclining on a downtown sidewalk.

‘Martin was exercising his right to protest, and not only is he disregarded and insulted by Sullivan, but he then goes on to try and legislate this protestor away. ‘

Legislating taste is probably one of the most tasteless things that a politician can do, because it says that not only do they not care about doing what is best for everybody, they don’t mind using their position for personal grudges. “…I don’t ask that my opinion be made into the law,” said Bill Maher in his stand-up special I’m Swiss. It is a brilliant quote that summarizes a huge problem that exists.

With Sullivan, his lack of empathy is almost staggering.

When a homeless man was crushed by a trash compactor in a mall dumpster, his response came across as heartless.

“It’s not something that has an instant cure, unfortunately.

There’s always going to be people that choose a certain lifestyle that results in tragic deaths like this,” said Sullivan.

Yes, the homeless are choosing to be homeless according to Sullivan. The soldier who comes home with PTSD, he chose it.

The person who lost their home because of the shady practice of banks foreclosing homes that aren’t behind on their mortgage payments, they chose it. The person who lost their job because of a terrible illness and lost their home, they chose that.

photo courtesy of muni.org

Anchorage Mayor Dan Sullivan is under fire for new legislation that targets loitering.

Another misconception common about the homeless is that they are all bums who just leech from the system. There are homeless who hold down jobs, who are actually working very hard to survive. And with Sullivan becoming more draconian with his efforts to deal with the problem, perhaps this says something about his level of compassion and those in government in Anchorage.

The fact is that Sullivan is at least right about one thing – there is no direct answer to this problem.

The problem that exists right now is that our culture seems to just ignore it because it is unpleasant.

So while Sullivan can live in his utopia where the homeless have a freshly pressed suit and go to their job, we all can live in the real world, where they are freezing to death and starving on our streets.

rethink

Parnell supports ideology that could harm Alaska

By Brett Frazer Contributor

On July 19, The House passed the “Cut, Cap, and Balance Act” (CCBA).

The bill proposes to make “substantial cuts in spending… [create] enforceable spending limits,” and amend the Constitution so that the government must have a “Balanced Budget.” Granted, there’s no way that CCBA would pass through the Senate, and the President has stated that he would veto the bill it arrived on his desk. But the ideological and intransigent Republicans that support CCBA are the same Republicans who are stalling the debt ceiling negotiations.

Understanding the kind of world these ideologues envision is worth investigating.

CCBA would ostensibly reduce the deficit and lower the national debt by slashing $3.7 trillion in federal spending over the next ten years. Where would these cuts come from, exactly? Well, as usual, the House Republicans who sponsored the bill didn’t say. “Cutting spending” sounds nice when you aren’t forced to

explain which programs will be cut. According to the CCBA website, there will be no cuts to Social Security, Medicare, or the Military Budget. This means that the two largest entitlement programs and the largest discretionary expenditure will remain untouched.

Insulating the three largest federal programs, which comprise over half of all federal spending, yet axing $3.7 trillion means that massive cuts will need to be made elsewhere. Other entitlement programs, most notably Medicaid and Unemployment, will likely be targeted. Additionally, CCBA speaks broadly about “cutting discretionary spending,” but fails to specify which programs will suffer. Given the unprecedented level of proposed spending cuts, it seems plausible that almost all other federal programs will experience significant cuts.

This means massive cuts to the Departments of Health and Human Services, Transportation, Education, Veterans Affairs, and Housing and Urban

Development. When defense (which accounts for about half of all discretionary spending) is taken out of the picture, these five federal departments account for about 40% of discretionary expenditures.

Because States have a relatively high degree of control over how discretionary funds are spent within their borders, a lot of discretionary expenditures on the federal level come in the form of subsidies to States. This is why I am surprised that Sean Parnell is one of five governors to sign the “Cut, Cap, and Balance Pledge” – a pledge to support to the principles articulated in CCBA. Alaska benefits from federal subsidies more than any other state. For every dollar Alaskans spend in federal taxes, our state receives $1.84 in the form of subsidies. Many of these subsidies fund transportation, health care, and education infrastructure.

Moreover, because of the unique challenges posed by living in Alaska, our state has a lot of control over how these subsidies

‘For every dollar Alaskans spend in federal taxes, our state receives $1.84 in the form of subsidies.‘

are allocated. If Parnell truly believes in CCBA, then he better be prepared to make serious adjustments to Alaska’s revenue gathering.

Currently, most State revenue comes from oil taxes and federal subsidies. Earlier this year, Parnell proposed almost $2 billion in oil tax cuts. Now he supports federal spending cuts that could greatly reduce the amount of federal support Alaska receives.

Given his willingness to cut the two largest sources of revenue for Alaska. I wonder how he plans funding programs that currently rely on federal dollars, such as highway funding, the Southeast Alaska Disaster Fund, or Alaska primary health care services.

He could implement new taxes, but I doubt he will. Even though Alaskans pay no state income tax, it is not politically tenable for a Republican like Parnell to implement new taxes. He could tap into Alaska’s massive budget surplus, but I doubt he will.

Earlier this month, he vetoed $400 million from the State’s capital budget, despite the fact that rising oil prices have resulted in state tax revenues being $3.4 billion above projects for the most recent fiscal year. At this point, some readers might call foul. Why should I be complaining about diminishing

revenue when the State made billions more than anticipated?

There are two reasons. First, oil tax revenue is capricious. The current structure of oil taxes, declining production on the North Slope, and the volatility of the oil market cannot sustain revenue at its current levels. As Alaskans, we should not depend on oil tax revenues to fill a potential gap left by reduced federal subsidies.

Second, Alaska must save tremendous amounts of money to pay for its enormous public debt. When unfunded pension obligations are considered, Alaska has a higher debt-to-GDP ratio than any other State in the Union. Public debt in Alaska is approximately 70% of GDP. So while Alaska has about $45 billion squirreled away in the Permanent Fund and Budget Reserve, it also has about $30 billion in debt.

The pension obligations must be paid. Bondholders must be paid.

If the State government invests its current surplus prudently, Alaska shouldn’t have a problem with this. However, continuing Alaska’ current saving habit is contingent on State revenues remaining high.

If Parnell wants to cut both oil taxes and federal subsidies, state revenues will fall. This means a greater burden will be placed on Alaskan taxpayers.

July 26, 2011 | opinion The Northern Light 3211 Providence Drive Student Union 113 Anchorage, AK 99508 Phone: 907-786-1513 Fax: 907-786-1331 info@thenorthernlight.org

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Toe2Toe

07

Should the minimum wage stay or go?

We ought to raise the minimum wage

By Brett Frazer Staff Reporter

The federal minimum wage can barely provide a subsistence wage in the status quo.

Working 50 hours a week at minimum wage leaves an individual approximately $1,100 after taxes. After rent, utilities, food purchases, transportation, health costs, and unexpected expenses are considered, there is no money left.

In fact, in most cases there won’t be enough money for an individual to even cover all their expenses. If anything, any policy regarding the minimum wage should focus on raising the minimum wage, rather than abolishing it.

Abolishing the minimum wage means that jobs will move from adults, who live on their own and require a higher living wage, to teenagers and individuals who are subsidized by their families. If Carrs Quality Center were not forced to pay its employees a minimum wage, people subsidized by their families would be more willing to negotiate a lower wage. What this means is that the people who can least afford to lose their jobs will not be able to find work. Unskilled workers who aren’t subsidized by their families, despite their work ethic, will not be able to find employment.

Of course, if the author of the other article in this column were willing to offer massive

government subsidies to offset this negative effect, perhaps the story would be different. I am willing to bet that he’d be unwilling to expand government to provide the necessary social services to combat the flood of family-supported workers.

If the minimum wage were raised, individuals would be able to make a real living wage, and would be incentivized to find work. In the status quo, and individual can work full time at minimum wage and make only marginally more than he would if were collecting unemployment. Working 40 hours a week for a negligible increase in income does not create incentive to find work. This phenomenon is not driven by laziness, as some often say. Rather, this is simple rule of economics. The law of diminishing returns states that rational actors will cease to substantially increase their effort if the returns are so greatly diminished.

There are two ways to combat this problem of perverse incentives. First, we could abolish unemployment. This would mean that people who cannot find work would be left to fend for themselves.

Or, we would raise the minimum wage. Both policies would have the same net effect. If an individual could earn substantially more working than they could collecting unemployment, then there is a new incentive to find work. Moreover, for those individuals who still can’t find work, there is still a social insurance program to protect them.

Minimum wages hurt unskilled workers

By Daniel McDonald Contributor

The vast majority of advocates for a minimum wage have good intentions; unfortunately, minimum wage laws have a major unintended consequence that happens to be highly relevant to our current economic downturn. Minimum wage laws cause unemployment, hurting those they aim to protect.

A minimum wage is essentially a price-floor, which is a minimum price set by government at which a commodity can be sold. A result of a price-floor is to have the price of a commodity above the market-equilibrium. If the market determines that the price of soap is $1 and the government sets a price-floor of $2, then the consumer will be less inclined to purchase a bar of soap. And so there will be a left over supply of soap in the marketplace because the set price is above what some are willing to pay.

The same rule applies to labor.

A wage acts in the same way as the price of a commodity. The employer is the consumer and the employee the producer. If the minimum wage is determined by law to be $8.50, and an employer determines that the skill of an individual can only justify $5, then there are only two options.

The first is to simply not hire the

worker. If the employer cannot hire him for the $5 that he is worth, then the prudent policy is to find a worker who does justify such a wage. The second is to hire the man, which essentially equates to charity. Most businesses are not operating as charities but instead trying to make a profit, so as generous as this option may be, it cannot be expected to be the choice for most.

Therefore, minimum wage laws make the extremely lowskilled worker, who is most often very poor, unable to be hired. He can either become dependent on government welfare, or attempt to increase his market value by learning new skills, but the existence of the minimum wage makes it practically illegal to hire him in the eyes of a profitseeking employer. Much like the price-floor on soap, a minimum wage creates unemployment by its mandate of an artificial price of labor, leaving many behind who fall under what the market determines the value of their labor to be.

With an unemployment rate of 9.2%, and youth unemployment at 26%, minimum wage laws are becoming increasingly cumbersome to economic productivity.

At the end of the day, the choice comes down to this: is it better to allow people to work for a low wage or to bar them from working altogether, forcing them to become recipients of welfare?

EDITORIAL

Hockey team deserves a home in new arena As a top earner and Division I team, skaters deserve a spot in coming facility No doubt by now most people are aware that UAA is about to get a new $109 million sports arena that will house their rising athletic programs. It is long overdue and will accompany the outdated Wells Fargo Sports Complex as a beacon for the prospering Seawolf Athletic Department.

What some people don’t know is that the plans for this new state-of –the-art arena have no plans for installation of a hockey rink.

To some, this is a bit alarming, due to the fact that other than Seawolf gymnastics (which will gain a new practice facility in the arena), hockey is the only Division I program we have.

How is it that one of the largest sources of revenue for the whole UAA athletic department is getting left out in the cold on this one?

It also begs another question: is the hockey program no longer the crown jewel of the department?

Bear in mind, the hockey team doesn’t get the audience it should receive.

They have quite a bit going for them that often gets overlooked.

They still play in the top conference in all of college hockey and are unquestionably a program on the rise in the past few years. Their trip

Students, and the community as a whole, needs to show that this is truly a hockey town, and get on the bandwagon. Shame on us for constantly not making the effort to attend these games, that even offer free admission for students.

to the WCHA Final Five this year won’t be their last for sometime.

The caliber of players recruited to adorn the green and gold continues to grow, and the grassroots movement is transitioning into high numbers in the wins column.

Students, and the community as a whole, needs to show that this is truly a hockey town, and get on the bandwagon. Shame on us for constantly not making the effort to attend these games, that even offer free admission for students.

For a program to truly thrive, it needs the support of its community and university. Whether they agree or not, the university has dropped the ball on this one and is selling the hockey program short with the exclusion of a new pond for the hockey team to play on.

The new 6,000-seat arena also may show that the school is putting their main focus on the basketball programs as the face of the athletic department.

There can be no argument that the hoopsters at this school have enjoyed quite a bit of success in the

recent past. They are constantly contending for titles on both the men and women’s sides, and are rightfully going to be rewarded when the doors open to their new home in a few years. They will also get to play the Great Alaska Shootout at their new digs instead of the Sullivan Arena.

However, one only has to ask around and they will hear about the glory days that the Seawolf hockey team enjoyed back in the 90’s.

The Sully was rocking and UAA hockey was the toughest ticket to come by.

The chance is here again to help take that next step to restoring the hockey team to the upper echelon.

Let’s rethink these plans and get them a place to play within the new Seawolf Arena.

08 on the right side

TNL

opinion| July 26, 2011

Human History, Not Gay History

By Daniel McDonald Contributor

Gov. Jerry Brown recently signed Senate Bill No.48 into law, making California the first state in the Union to require public schools to update their curriculum “to include a study of the role and contributions of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans.”

Proponents of the bill gave three underlying reasons for their support: to combat bullying, to end discrimination toward the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LBGT) community in textbooks, and to give LBGT children an understanding of their history.

The only problem is none of the provided reasons stand up against even the mildest test of scrutiny.

The reality of childhood bullying has existed for time immemorial, and any child different from the norm will likely have to deal with bullying in some form or another. Whether a child is a racial or ethnic minority, overweight, short, acne prone, socially awkward, or gay, odds are he or she will experience bullying in a public school setting. Does anyone really believe that paying

homage to the gay community in history textbooks will make an ounce of difference on the playground? Insecure bullies aren’t exactly concerned about the latest outreach project from the local diversity department.

Rather than actually addressing real solutions to childhood bullying, this bill merely reflects the need of legislators to congratulate themselves for their own “good” intentions and to appease a segment of their constituency.

Apart from bullying, a more central reason to pass this bill was to end institutional discrimination in textbooks toward homosexuals.

Gerald Unks, an editor of The Gay Teen writes, “Within the typical secondary school curriculum, homosexuals do not exist. They are ‘nonpersons’ in the finest Stalinist sense. They have fought no battles, held no offices, explored nowhere, written no literature, built nothing, invented nothing and solved no equations.”

This happens to be a patently false accusation. No modern economics textbook leaves out John Maynard Keynes. Likewise, when the great composers are mentioned, Tchaikovsky is always among them. Both men are known to have been practicing homosexuals in the past, yet neither is blacklisted.

And so the complaint is not that

homosexuals are blotted out from history but instead that the sexual identities of great men and women in history are not mentioned. This is an entirely different sort of perceived problem.

What Unks and others want to see is “bi-sexual economist Keynes theorized…” which is as utterly ridiculous as “heterosexual economist Milton Friedman

‘And so the complaint is not that homosexuals are blotted out from history but instead that the sexual identities of great men and women in history are not mentioned.’ wrote…” or “heterosexual President Obama announced today…”

Neither the economic theories of Keynes nor the music of Tchaikovsky has anything to do with their sexual identities; their homosexuality is irrelevant to their impact on history,

economics, or music. Teaching a child that Keynes had gay relationships in his youth does not help that child in understanding his macroeconomic theories.

To be clear, it is important that LBGT children know their history; it is important for all children to know their history for that matter.

How a gay child’s history differs from a straight child’s history is where my contention lies.

Morgan Freeman summed up the issue quite well in a “60 Minutes” interview with Mike Wallace a few years back. He opposes the idea of a black history month because “black history is American history,” and to relegate it to a month is simply “ridiculous.” He argued that the way to move past racism was to stop talking about it: “I am going to stop calling you a white man and I’m going to ask you to stop calling me a black man.”

That is exactly the way to approach this issue. This entire method of dividing historical curriculum into racial or sexual identity columns is ridiculous. The new law dictates the study of “men and women, Native Americans, African Americans, Mexican Americans, Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, European Americans, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans, persons with disabilities, and members of other ethnic and cultural groups.” The purpose of which is not to cover important historical events or figures that have made an impact, or to ensure

that the next generation learns the past lest they are “condemned to repeat it,” as George Santayana warned, but to use history as a tool to address self-esteem issues.

This contemptible method of education has even been used on our own campus. The UAA commons annually displays the achievements of various racial minorities on its walls in commemoration of black history month. If anything, minorities ought to be offended by the racial categorizing of accomplishments by their ancestors and demand that it end.

Thomas Sowell once stated that, “many great thinkers of the past-- whether in medicine or philosophy, science or economics-- labored not simply to advance whatever particular group they happened to have come from but to advance the human race.”

The great strides made toward combating racial discrimination by black leaders such as Martin Luther King do not belong under “black accomplishments,” but under human accomplishments.

Gay history is human history and should not be judged by how it will affect the self-esteem of a minority, but by its importance and impact on the history of the human race. And considering the dismal state of American education, perhaps learning the basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic should take precedence over social engineering.

seawolf snapshots

What do you think about the new WCHA realignment? d it’s sa ms k n i h t a I ess te that l e in the will b etition. comp

Greg Walz, 21 I care about the team, not the association, but this will help UAA in a lot of ways.

Realignment is good.

Culinary Arts

Wildson Middleton, 19 Journalism

ink ld th u o w I they that ld want wou e teams e. mor articipat to p k the ces I thinhorage A Anc ld play . shounst UAA agai

3 Sydney West, 2 Sociology

It looks like we’re going to miss all those exciting games with Minnesota & Wisconsin.

I think competition is a good thing, not the change.

Photos By jim foster/TNL

Bonnin Flick , 25 Sociology

James Proch, 2 6 Business

the northern light’s sports & entertainment section

B

thenorthernlight.org

Photos by daniel jackson/TNL

July 26, 2011

Section

otio M

MOVIE Reviews A&E

B5 A&E

B6

‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2’ ‘Nosferatu’: First Dracula movie

Art Around Town A&E

B2

Graffiti: Vandalism or works of art?

food review A&E

B4

Battle of the breakfast platters

Summer sports sports

B7

Hockey conference realignment

Overtime sports

B8

Did the US Women’s National team choke?

Graffiti: Art Vs. Vandalism Authorites battle local vandals on public, private property

By Megan Edge Assistant Sports Editor

Keith Haring started painting on subway stations, using nothing but chalk on blank advertising panels, matted in black. He thought of the subways as his personal laboratory; New York commuters were fascinated by his work and would watch him design as they waited for their trains.

Later he favored bright yellows, reds and purples, in designs that represented unity and vitality.

Haring’s first official art show was held in 1981 at the Westbeth Painters Space, one that would turn out to be the first of many.

He helped with numerous public projects: painting for public health centers, creating sets and backdrops for theaters in NYC and creating Billboards in the heart of Time Square.

In the last year of Harings life, he established the Keith Haring Foundation to help benefit AIDS and child related charities. He died on August 16, 1990 at the age of 31, his artistic career cut short by AIDS. Those charities, businesses

and the city of New York are still receiving the benefits for someone once considered a vandal.

More recently, TIME magazine has hired graffiti artists such as Cope2 to produce several ads for their company. According to local artist and Anchorage Museum Chief curator Julie Decker, Pop-culture as a whole is largely influenced by Graffiti artists.

Cope2 has also designed clothing. His most recent project, licensed by the NBA, involves creating a basketball backboard.

He will be collaborating with several other graffiti artists, including David Cooper and Veng. The goal is to re-imagine some of the most iconic images in basketball. These local street artists are all gathering for a show that is taking place at the One Gate Center, in Newark NJ. “Gwen Stefani has been very successful with a line of bags graffiti inspired,” Decker added.

Though some think that the nation seems to be thriving off what they see as bold creators, the municipality of Anchorage

is fighting graffiti.

“Legally, graffiti is vandalism.

There is a price attached to it for cities, A crude sharpie drawing of a man hanging from the electrical business covering, located in the E Street in the J.C. Penny Parking Garage owners, stairs. and others,” territory, they are claiming Decker said.

“Sometimes a high price; it’s responsibility for crimes, they are issuing threats, things like that, defacement and a nuisance.

MENO, a well-known local where as taggers are doing it for artist has been using the streets the art aspect of it,” Lofthouse of Anchorage as his personal said. “Gang graffiti is very quick, canvas for roughly a year and a its usually not extremely artistic half. Despite his talent, he has because they don’t want to stand caused both property owners and around and paint a mural, where local law enforcement significant as with taggers, well I have seen a headaches, according to both lot of tagger art that has obviously Decker and Anchorage Police taken hours if not multiple nights officer Scott Lofthouse. to put up, and they really do look Officer Lofthouses’s primary talented.” focus has been gangs, but his Lofthouse stated that vandalism personal project has been working is split roughly evenly between on catching some of the local non- gangs and artists, but both tend violent taggers, and the difference to be in their late teens to early between the two is significant. twenties.

“Gang members are usually “I think the reason MENO tagging because they are claiming is so prominent is because of

See Graffiti

Diving deep in Alaska

By Megan Edge Assistant Sports Editor

Zack Loivton remembers his first time diving in Alaskan waters. He swung his legs onto the platform on the back of the dive boat stood up, took a deep breath put his regulator into his mouth, pressed his had to his mask and dropped into Prince William Sound.

“That was 14 years ago and I can still feel my heart thumping in my chest. I was a pretty accomplished diver but I had never ever done anything like it.”

Loivton a Vietnam war vet said with a smile.

Loivton, who recently celebrated his 81 birthday in the beginning of June is no longer able to dive due to medical problems but said “Once a diver, always a diver.”

“There ain’t a thing that

An old concrete structure lies plastered with graffiti at an abandoned lot near Flattop Mountain on July 20th.

Graffiti ranging from street tags to stencil art cover the structure, as the lot is easily accessible by the public.

replaces the feeling of a new dive.

It is a feeling like no other.”

He reminisced on the sea life he saw in the Alaskan waters that day. From small schools of fish to Hump back whales, to stellar sea otters.

“My buddy scared me, he grabbed me quickly by the shoulder, almost giving me a damn hard attack then I turned and almost dropped my regulator out of my mouth.” Loivton said.

Just about eight feet away was a whale swimming by after a school of fish, according to Loivton.

“It was graceful for its size and strangely beautiful.”

This was the first of Loivtons “Alaska dive series,” and the last state his fins would touch water in before suffering from a heart attack in late 2005.

“Yea, the doctor told me I couldn’t dive anymore. He’s

probably right it wasn’t safe, but the only thing more painful was the day Tarrah (Loivton’s wife) passed.” Loivton said with a hand over his heart.

Loivton dove three times at Prince William Sound and twice at Smitty’s Cove out of Whittier.

The cove is a popular dive spot for experienced divers as well as new divers looking to get their open water citification.

The entrance for Smitty’s cove is a boat ramp located on the far side of the small Alaskan town.

To enter divers brace one another backwards as they walk carefully down the cement ramp.

In the summer the water is murky while the plankton is in bloom making the average length of visibility five to 10 feet on average.

During the winter months the crystal clear water is a sight that

Loivtons describes as “incredible” being the home to thousands of fish, whales, octopus and jellyfish.

“Before I dove in Alaska, I dove in Hawaii. We saw two octopuses while I was there. They were small I’d sat about 10 pounds each.” Loivton said. “When I dove in the cove (Smitty’s Cove) I saw one octopus, bright orange that had to be over a hundred pounds.

It just sort of hovered in front of

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me then swam away.”

Loivton has dove in Italy, Mexico, Maine, Florida, California, and Hawaii and completed over 500 dives in his lifetime.

“Out of all my wreck dives, night dives and cave dives, Alaska has been has been some of the roughest and toughest waters I have been in. If you can dive Alaska you can dive anywhere.”

B2

TNL

A&E| July 26, 2011

GRAFFITI: competing art values Contuited from Motion cover

“I had one gentleman who called me.

He had the south wall of his business tagged and it cost him almost $4,000 to repair and that’s just one business that got tagged.”

According to Baltimore police, their city has larger problems than graffiti and they find it adds color to a place that is mentally dark, as Baltimore is considered to have some of the roughest neighborhoods in the country.

“In August of last year, I went to Chicago to the National Gang Crime Research Center, and they actually had a lady present, and I haven’t been able to find her name.

She was from either Chicago or Philadelphia or Detroit, someplace like that back east and they actually have a program where they have taken all the utility boxes and they have allowed these young folks to go out and paint them,” Lofthouse said.

Of course the program has rules, no profanity and no gang signs.

“Businesses or even the city could donate a wall or two, a dumpster or a utility box, and see how it works,” Lofthouse said.

Lofthouse sees this method as something for Anchorage to consider exploring in the future.

Photos by daniel jackson/TNL

what he tags and where he tags,” According to Lofthouse, more Lofthouse said. “The Hillcrest painters could be caught, but it Bridge for example. People drive is a responsibility that lies with down Minnesota and see that the community. If Anchorage every day, and that’s of the goal residents witness tagging, they for taggers, to have their art seen need to speak up. Unfortunately by the public, so it’s almost like he says, the only people reporting a contest where they want to see it are the people who fall victim to who can the put up the most public taggers. or the most number of tags.”

“I had one gentleman who The city has also seen tags called me. He had the south wall of from GMG (Get Money Gang), his business tagged and it cost him the Pinoy Tagging Association, almost $4,000 to repair and that’s GEEZ, and The Bayshore Boys, just one business that got tagged,” who tagged the Cambell Creek Lofthouse said. “We had a business bike trail. downtown who had seven or eight GEEZ has become bolder in panel vans that all got tagged, and recent months, and has recently it was several thousand dollars for tagged both sides of the railroad each vehicle to be repaired.” crossing Artistic on Dimond taggers are Boulevard. not the only “You ones at fault. know the old Several Mongolian beef walls, streets, restaurant by buses, Red Robin, off bridges and of King Street?” electrical Lofthouse boxes have asked, “They the words have a shed and “white have painted power” over it, but you or “black can still see four power” -Scott Lofthouse, APD sprayed in foot letters of G-E-E-Z on the sloppy runny back of one of their little sheds.” letters. These are the products of GEEZ is still on the loose and local gangs. thriving in his hobby.

Gang graffiti can now be The story of the Pinoy Tagging spotted all over the city.

Association (PTA) is a different Gang members typically matter. start tagging close to home, then The girls of PTA attended eventually become bolder and Begich Middle School and begin vandalizing farther from began tagging mostly around home. Almost every neighborhood and on the school. The unusually in the city has gang members, young taggers made a mistake: according to Lofthouse. they broadcasted their tagging Local law prohibits any form of association on the social graffiti on private or city property. networking site of Myspace.

Larger cities have designated “They had actually put on their areas where taggers are allowed page we are the Pinoy Tagging to paint, and cities like Baltimore Association, PTA, and we want just flat out ignore it. to be the biggest tagging group in town, so everyone go out and tag,” Lofthouse chuckled.

Catching local taggers is rare though. In the case of MENO, the chances of catching him were “one in a million,” Lofthouse said.

Graffiti Busters (GB), a national organization established in Anchorage in June of 1994, is usually quick to take down the labels of local taggers, but Lofthouse finds that that quality makes his job harder, due to the fact it becomes hard to track.

GB has had mixed success in their goal of “keeping the community clean.” The program originally started as a volunteer program run by five primary municipal employees and two alternate. This changed in the summer of 1995 when tagging was at its peak. The municipality hired two temporary employees.

A full time employee was hired early in 1998, when the program could no longer keep up with the high amount of calls 343-GONE receives. On average, GB receives six to eight hundred calls a year, and spends two to three hours removing each mural or tag.

Top: An electrical box on the corner of Dubin Ave. and Muldoon Rd. has been adorned with graffiti art for years.

Middle: The name ‘MENO’ is spelled out on a postal address sticker on the lower half of an electrical box on the side of the UPS Store on 7th Ave. and G Street. ‘MENO’ was revealed to be 20 year old Maximino Gonzales, after Anchorage Police arrested him with charges of possession of graffiti implements and graffiti on public property on May 24, 2011. Bottom: Fresh graffiti of a girl in a raincoat looking at a cat is apart of the wall of graffiti located at an abandoned structure near Flattop Mountain. Stencil graffiti utilizes paper, cardboard or other similar media to produce images and text that is easily replicated.

July 26, 2011 | a&e

Graduated but not gone: Art Alumni display art on campus

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The Student Union Art Gallery hosts diverse UAA Alumni art exhibition

By Heather Hamilton The Northern Light

Paint, metal, clay and cast; works of art utilizing all these mediums and more are currently on display in the Student Union Art Gallery. The UAA Alumni Art Exhibition, which opened on Wednesday, July 20, showcases the best works, both 2D and 3D, of UAA graduates completed within the past year.

A few of the artists featured in the show mingled at the opening reception the evening of July 20, between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. Among them were Katie Bird and Jennifer Gray, who graduated last spring.

Bird, an arts alumnus with an emphasis in sculpture, has two pieces in the show, “Unrequited

Lust” and “Antarctica and the Cosmos.” Both pieces were created with sculpted metal techniques she learned within her classes.

Having graduated with an emphasis on drawing, Gray’s two contributions to the show are 2D ink and watercolor pieces. “The Drum Sounds” and “Eject” are the first two pieces in a series of ink and watercolor works she created, inspired by music.

The UAA Alumni Art Exhibition will be on display until Thursday, July 28. The Student Union Art Gallery is open from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Photos by Taylor Hall/TNL

Top:The Alumni Art Exhibition, located in the Student Union Art Gallery, is open from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday until July 28. Right: “Untitled” by Gideon Gerlt, is a 3D piece made with steel and cast stone. Left: Katie Bird describes her piece, Antaractca and the Cosmos, with an observer. Bottom: Jennifer Gray discusses “8,537” with its artist, Liz Shine, and another admirer.

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Photos by Heather Hamilton/TNL

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B4

TNL

a&e| July 26, 2011

food review

Anchorage Food Quest Part 5: Best breakfast platter Breakfast is the most important meal of the day; how do local platters stack up?

By Heather Hamilton A&E Editor

The Northern Light’s “Anchorage Food Quest” has moved on to breakfast foods in this installment of the six-part series. Five local joints had their breakfast platters put to the test; each dish sampled included scrambled eggs, bacon and a side dish, other egg options and meat options are available for each dish. All were rather large, and good for sharing with at least one other person.

1. Judy’s Cafe - French Toast Platter ($8.25):

While the top two locations were essentially equal in meal quality, Judy’s Cafe snatches the win with their fantastic service.

The scrambled eggs in their French toast platter were light and fluffy, and actually had flavor; it was the only egg that wasn’t completely bland. The French toast was thick, had a slight crunch to the crust and was cooked all the way through; it wasn’t soggy in the slightest.

The bacon was also fairly good; it wasn’t as salty as the other locations and (unusually) had more of a bacon flavor than grease flavor. Unfortunately, it was just a smidgeon over-cooked for our personal tastes, but if you like crunchy bacon, you’ll love it. And the service? The restaurant was completely full, yet never once was TNL in need of anything.

The waitresses there were good at what they did, friendly and full of personality; tip them well. Judy’s Café is located on Old Seward near Klatt Road.

2. Peggy’s Restaurant Country Breakfast ($8.50):

This platter may not have gotten first place, but TNL will definitely be back for more of Peggy’s bacon. The slices were large, chewy, fully cooked- and heavenly. The eggs were also enjoyable, just shy of perfectly cooked. Unfortunately, they were

a little on the watery side, and bland (like most eggs without salt and pepper). The biscuits in their biscuits and gravy side weren’t risen all the way, and so sat heavier and were tougher than desirable. The gravy, however, was the best that TNL sampled. It had a thick consistency, but was surprisingly smooth; it also had an abundance of sausage chunks mixed in as opposed to slivers of it. The gravy’s flavor was bland at first, but a small dash of salt and pepper turned it terrific. The service wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t extraordinary either. Peggy’s is located on 5th Avenue near the Concrete Street.

3. Gwennie’s Breakfast Special ($8.25):

Two huge pancakes were the bulk of the meal here. They were beautifully cooked, fluffy and completely done. No doughy batter left in the centers, no blackened outsides, just perfectly done. That being said, while the pancakes were gorgeous specimens of cooked batter, they took up most of the meal. There were two small slices of bacon, which were slightly under cooked for TNL’s taste, but definitely weren’t raw. There was also a moderately sized serving of eggs, which were overdone and somewhat heavy. None of the food was bad by any stretch, but

it just wasn’t perfect. Gwennie’s is a great place to have breakfast, and ordering an entire carafe of coffee for only $2.25 is one of many reasons to go. Gwennie’s is located on Spenard, near Forest Road.

4. Kriner’s Diner - All American ($12.99):

While this platter was the most expensive one sampled, it also had the most food, enough to feed three or four people depending on their appetites. The bacon was a bit overdone for TNL preferences, and a bit too greasy, but not terribly so.

The two samplers were divided on the large portion of hash browns; one could only taste grease while the other enjoyed the potato flavor, but both agreed that they were well cooked (crispy and brown on the outside, and soft and buttery on the inside).

The eggs included were topped with melted cheese, and while it was tasty, TNL couldn’t tell if it was the grease from the cheese that made the eggs taste

and appear a little undercooked, or if the eggs themselves actually were. The biscuits in their biscuits and gravy were to die for - the best TNL sampled. Massive, fluffy, and perfectly cooked, they were definitely the highlight of the meal. The gravy, which was served in a bowl to the side, was less than desirable. In fact, completely ignore the bland gravy (it was filled with ground pepper, so why TNL couldn’t taste it is a mystery) and put some butter and jam on the biscuit; you’ll enjoy it so much more. Kriner’s is located on C St near Fireweed Lane.

5. Jackie’s Place Country Breakfast ($9.50): As is the trend, the bacon here was also a bit too well-done, as well as a bit bland and generic, but

not bad. The eggs were also bland, but were properly cooked through and fluffy. The biscuits and gravy were far, far too peppery. The gravy had lumps of flour in it and the biscuits were doughy in the center. The service was good, and the food arrived quickly, but the cooks at Jackie’s Place appear to sacrifice quality for speed. If they slowed down and took their time a bit more instead of cranking out their orders, the food quality could benefit immensely. Jackie’s Place is located on Spenard, in the blue strip malls across from Beartooth Theatre Pub & Grill.

July 26, 2011 | A&E

Summer of Heroes MOVIe review

B5

Harry Potter’s journey comes to an epic end The wizarding world sees 17 years of plotting come to an end in the eighth installmenmt

By Heather Hamilton The Northern Light

It’s the end of an era. Most traditional college students have grown up alongside Harry Potter and his classmates; learning right from wrong, going through puberty, discovering the opposite sex, navigating through awkward teenage years and some of our bravest have even discovered what it’s like to go to war alongside them. The books created a worldwide phenomenon, and the movies expanded the audience even further, drawing multiple generations into a fantastic world set right along with ours. Now, with the release of the final movie, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2,” 13 years after the first book was released (and 10 years after the first movie), the story has come to an end.

For those who haven’t seen “Deathly Hallows Part 1,” or who have been living under a rock for the past 13 years, don’t bother seeing “Part 2” until you do.

Nothing will make sense.

The movie begins immediately where “Part 1” leaves off, with Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes, “Page Eight”) claiming the Elder Wand from Dumbledore’s tomb, and Harry (Daniel Radcliffe, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows:

Photos courtesy of Warners Bros.

Part 1”), Ron (Rupert Grint, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1”) and Hermoine (Emma Watson, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1”) on a beach with a cottage, where they have just buried Dobby the house elf.

It turns out that the cottage is inhabited by Ron’s recently married older brother Bill and his wife, Fleur (formerly Fleur Delacour, the same girl Harry competed against in “Goblet of Fire.”) After gaining some information from Olivander and the goblin they rescued from the Malfoy manor in “Part 1,” the dynamic trio use polyjuice potion to sneak into Bellatrix Lestrange’s (Helena Bonham Carter, “Toast”) vault at Gringotts - the wizard bank in Diagon Alley - where they believe another of Voldemort’s horcruxes to be hidden.

Eventually they will make their way back to Hogwarts, where Professor Severus Snape (Alan Rickman, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1”) is now the headmaster, and where the final battle of good and evil in the wizarding world will be fought.

There is nothing to say about the acting. After roughly 10 years together, the cast is so in sync with one another and their characters

that fans would be hard pressed to remember that they are, in fact, actors, and not really the witches and wizards they’re portraying.

Anything less would be a disgrace to the time they’ve spent on set together.

Fans of the book series will, of course, find things to gripe about. Much was taken out of the book’s plot (such as most of Dumbledore’s back story, which is essential in the book), but the elements left in the movie are relatively faithful to the original plot. The action sequences and settings are never dull and of the highest quality; viewers will hardly notice that they’ve been sitting in a chair for a little over two hours.

Heroes

of

Hogwarts then and now

There are deaths. There are tears. There are laughs. There are surprises. Perhaps most important of all, there is hope. Even though the books have all been written, and even though the movies have all been made, the end still leaves hope that the story goes on beyond the parameters of paper and film.

It ends as it should, but perhaps there is still more story to be told.

See the movie. Laugh, cry and cheer for the witches and wizards

you’ve grown up with; it’s more than worth the ticket price.

Director: David Yates Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Pupert Grint, Emma Watson Run time: 130m Genre: Adventure/Drama/ Fantasy

★★★★ ★

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TNL

A&E| July 26, 2011

i

PERFORMANCE AND DANCE

7.28-8.8.2011

FOCUS

So You Think You Can Dance Alaska

CONCERTS

Anchorage is celebrating National Dance Day with the annual So You Think You Can Dance Alaska Competition on Saturday, July 30 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. in Town Square. This event includes free dancing, dance lessons and the competition. Those who wish to compete should show up early. For more information, go to www. anchoragedowntown.org.

Papa Roach Papa Roach is coming to Anchorage for one show only in the Chilkoot Charlie’s parking lot on Saturday, July 30 at 5 p.m. Tickets to this all-ages friendly show are $35, and are available on www.brownpapertickets.com. For more information, go to www.koots.com Paul Cataldo Paul Cataldo is in concert at Tap Root Cafe on Friday, Aug 5 at 8 p.m. This singer/songwriter has been playing the guitar since, 14, and tours the country regularly. Anchorage is the last stop on his most recent tour. For more information on this free 21 and over show, go to www.taprootalaska. com.

Performance Art

The Whipsaws Local rock band The Whipsaws will be performing in Town Square on Friday, July 29 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. as part of the “Live at Five” concert series.

This free show is suitable for all ages.

Terry Adkins, the Anchorage Museum’s July artist in residence, will be performing an art piece based on his time and experiences in Alaska on Friday, July 29 at 7 p.m. on the museum’s front lawn.

He will use a combination of art mediums in this free performance.

Compiled by Heather Hamilton e-mail arts@thenorthernlight.org to submit an event!

Retro review

“Nosferatu” a delightful first in Dracula movies

They may not have had the rights, but that didn’t stop the writers and director from making a Dracula movie

By Heather Hamilton The Northern Light

“Nosferatu” is a must-see for any die-hard Dracula fan. This German silent film is the first Dracula movie ever made (1922), despite being an off-brand of the original novel.

That’s right, off-brand. The rights to Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula weren’t purchased, so names had to be changed to keep it legal. Main characters Count Dracula is renamed Count Orlok, and is played by Max Schreck (“Die letzten Vier von Santa Cruz”), Jonathan Harker is renamed Hutter (played by Gustav v.

Wangenheim, “Danton”) and Mina Harker is renamed Ellen Hutter (played by Greta Schroeder, “Circus Girl”).

Hutter is a real estate agent sent to Transylvania to sell Count Orlok property in his hometown of Wisbourg, Germany. The property in question is directly

across from Hutter’s home, in fact. Once in Transylvania, strange things begin to happen to Hutter, which only increase once he reaches Orlok’s castle.

After determining that Orlok is a vampire, Hutter enters into a race against time to beat Orlok back to Wisbourg and defeat him, before he kills the entire town, and Hutter’s wife, Ellen.

The story remains fairly faithful to the meat of the original novel, which is to be commended given both the length of the film and the primitive technology of the time. Motion pictures were still new in the early 20’s; sound (background music) had only recently been added in. The use of stop motion photography in some of the sequences created a jerky effect to items that are levitating on film, which adds a bit of creepiness to it that we don’t often get in more modern movies.

The over dramatized body

movements and actions are a testament to the film’s age; actors could only use their body to convey emotion, and it resembles what one sees in theater performances.

This makes the acting appear cheesy, but for its time, it was necessary. Schroeder’s portrayal of Ellen is the best example of this; she throws her body in giant gestures that seem ridiculous at first, but do their job. Eventually, the audience gets used to it.

Writer Henrik Galeen and Director F.W. Murnau do a brilliant job packaging this well loved horror story for film for the first time. Don’t expect explosions, high grade acting or amazing vocal skills, but do expect a welltold story with decent acting and a good “creepy” vibe.

Runtime: 94 min Director: F.W. Murnau Actors: Max Schreck, Gustav v.

Wangenheim, Greta Schroeder

★★★★

SPORTS

B7

REALIGNMENT: New power conferences arise “No question, UAF would be our first choice as it makes sense for us,” Dr. Cobb said.

“Also, I would like the Air Force Academy to join. We’ve had such a great relationship with them over the years and it’s a first class operation.”

Other names that have come up include other CCHA members, such as Western Michigan, Ferris State, and Lake Superior State.

The WCHA is very set on getting their numbers to eight and representatives from each school have agreed to have a conference call every week until they reach that goal.

Another thing that remains to be answered is how the league will operate behind closed doors for the next two seasons. Seeing as how the new conferences don’t go into effect until 2013, the elephant in the room will be ever present when representatives from all the current 12 teams are together in the same room.

“Obviously, there’s going to be tension,” Dr. Cobb said. “There are some people who’ve had awfully long relationships damaged. You try not to take things personally but we’re all human. Hopefully what’s done is done and we can set aside emotions and do business.”

“I do think that games are going to get a bit more edgy though.”

At the other end of the spectrum, it is unclear exactly how

Graphic by CJ Beaudrie/TNL

Continued from Cover

each of the departing schools will go about their business in their remaining time. Ken Ralph, the Director of Athletics at Colorado College, thinks that when the puck is dropped, fans will continue to see the top-notch hockey they’re accustomed to.

“I think you will see the play on the ice and don’t think anyone will notice much of a difference,” said Ralph. “The WCHA will still be the best conference in college hockey for the next two years.”

Interestingly enough, Ralph may be one of the only people who can see both sides of this realignment. Though he is the Director of Athletics for CC, he also is a UAA alumnus and even is a member of the Seawolf Athletic Hall of Fame, after winning five NCAA Division II All-American awards in swimming as a Seawolf.

“I have a very strong passion for my alma mater, I am a Seawolf,” Ralph said. “The thought of not being with UAA (in the WCHA)

Come 2013-14 season, perrenial power conferences like the WCHA and CCHA will be joined by start-up Big-10 and NCHC leagues and will have to compete for spotlight

tugged at me personally.

Ralph also believes that despite the departure of the traditional powers in the WCHA, life will go on for those remaining behind.

“The WCHA is proven to be a remarkably resilient conference and organization,” Ralph said. “I think the WCHA is going to find a way to reinvent itself and the teams in the league are actually going to get better.”

One thing that can be

guaranteed by both sides: games are going to be injected with a bit more nastiness to them.

“I think there will be new incentives and locker room talks will get even more interesting,” Ralph said.

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B8

TNL

sports| July 26, 2011

sports briefs

course review

Men’s Basketball schedule released

Hanshew Middle School

University of Alaska Anchorage men’s basketball head coach Rusty Osborne announced his team’s 20112012 schedule on Wednesday.

The Seawolves will play 18 homes games this season, starting with an exhibition contest against the Seawolf Alumni on Nov. 19 at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex.

UAA will kick off the regular season in the 34th annual Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout when it faces Div. I Murray State on Nov. 23. The Seawolves, who finished fourth in last year’s Shootout, will play either Dartmouth or San Francisco on Nov. 25, followed by Central Michigan, New Mexico State, UC Irvine and Southern Mississippi on Nov. 26.

The rest of the non-conference schedule moves back to the WFSC, including the AT&T Jamboree, Dec. 2-3, when UAA hosts Minot State, Portland Bible and Alaska Fairbanks.

Alaska Fairbanks comes south again on Dec. 10 for an early Great Northwest Athletic Conference opener, before defending GNAC champ Central Washington travels to Anchorage on Dec. 29 to resume the league slate.

UAA faces a tough January with six of eight games on the road, but returns home for four of the next six.

The regular season wraps up Feb. 23 at UAF. The second annual GNAC Men’s Basketball Tournament will change formats this season, moving the entire slate to Lacey, Wash., on the campus of Saint Martin’s University, Feb. 29-Mar. 3. The top six teams will qualify, with seeds 3-6 meeting in the quarterfinals and the top two seeds receiving byes into the semifinals.

UAA, which returns two starters from last year’s 24-10 squad, will try to return to the NCAA Division II West Regionals, set for Mar. 9-12.

The Northern Light

Seawolf golf tournament

The 27th annual Seawolf Golf Tournament, presented by Kendall Lexus of Alaska, is set for Thursday, August 4, at the Eagleglen Golf Course on Elmendorf Air Force Base.

Entries are accepted on a first-come, first-served basis for the 36-team event and a full field is expected.

The format is a four-player, bestball scramble over 18 holes, with check-in at 7 a.m. and a shotgun start 8 a.m. Tournament entry-fee donations are $800 per team.

Entry fees include greens fees, two carts per team, tournament gifts, on-course refreshments, and a lunch/awards banquet following the tournament. There will be special prizes for longest drive, closest to the pin and holes-in-one.

Tee, green and cart sponsorships for the Seawolf Golf Tournament are also available.

Entry Forms may be downloaded at GoSeawolves.com, or in person at the UAA Athletic Department (Rm. 220, Wells Fargo Sports Complex) and all Anchorage-area courses and golf shops.

All proceeds from the event will benefit UAA student-athletes. More information is available by calling UAA Athletics at 786-1250.

-Compiled by Megan Edge

Contrary to the bad reputation that the Hanshew Middle School disc golf course has, I find it to be a personal favorite.

The course is only a half course, with nine holes that work their way from the track, to the woods across the parking lot, and eventually all the way around the building.

The course is a great for learning and for practice. Frolfers can practice straight shots, distance shots, putting and tricky woods shots.

The only complaint I have, is that there is really no hole that you can put everything into without overshooting. This is rarely a personal problem of mine, but for a few of my fellow frolfers it has been.

The starting spots are not clearly shown, and unlike many other local courses Hanshew does not have a map of the course.

Luckily though, most days the course has other frolfers that you can follow.

On nice days, be careful at the start of the course. Right by the first hole, families play baseball, and by the second hole some folks play basketball, and by the fourth hole you are next to the track.

Photo by Daniel Jackson/TNL

By Megan Edge

To deter the amount of injury to innocent bystanders, be careful, aim, and even consider pausing in your game.

Hanshew always seems to be a touch windy, so think your throw through.

Hanshew is one of the more relaxing courses in town. Yes, you may run into a few frolf muggles but it is usually quiet, and is a quick game.

A frisbee golf baskets sits just outside the main building of Hanshew Middle School. Hanshew Middle School’s ‘frolf’ course has nine holes, and is located at 10121 Lake Otis Pkwy.

overtime

Did US choke or did Japan simply pull off a miracle?

The US Women’s National Team lost a heartbreaker to Japan in the World Cup Final and now have to fight off the label of choke artists instead of celebrating their third ever Cup victory

By Taylor Hall The Northern Light

Uh oh, I just heard it again.

The big ‘C’ word is out there again.

Choke.

A word that can trigger even the bystanders in sports to cringe with the thought of athletes falling victim to this hurtful label.

Choke.

A word that has come synonymous with the likes of LeBron James, the Buffalo Bills, and Ryan Leaf. Teams or individuals that get labeled

chokes, whether it’s warranted or not, never seem to be able to shake off the shun unless they finally win a championship.

So are we ready to throw the US Women’s National team under this bus as well after their devastating, gut-wrenching, and unthinkable loss to the inferior team from Japan?

Well, let the record show that the US were heavy favorites, outplayed the Japanese for nearly the entire match, and had far more firepower on their side.

They also coughed up two separate late one-goal leads to Japan, one in regulation and one late into the second half of overtime.

We can’t forget the penalty kick shootout, which saw an anythingbut-confident US side miss their first three kicks from the spot to seal their fate.

On the other side of the fence, the US-Japan was one of the best soccer games played in some time. It couldn’t have come at a bigger time on a bigger stage and will be looked back on as a breakthrough moment both for soccer in this country and for women’s sports. In fact, the game was highest-rated soccer telecast ever on ESPN, by men or women.

The US couldn’t seem to catch

any breaks to save their skins.

From an Abby Wambach rocket off the crossbar late in the first half to Hope Solo barely being unable to keep a crucial penalty kick from the back of her net in the shootout.

It was a game that everyone could agree that US outplayed, out-possessed, and enjoyed by far more scoring chances. Japan showed extreme resiliency throughout the match and, as the world now knows, just needs one opportunity to bury their scarce chances.

Well, we come back to the ultimate question: Did the US choke in the Final or did Japan show a fortitude and stinginess that was unmatched by any other side in the Women’s World Cup? When the dust settles and we decide to keep all things fair, this is going to lean more towards a choke from the US. However, this realization comes from one simple reason: The US were such favorites coming into this match and one of the three major contenders from the start of the competition.

When the US captivated all of our imaginations with their late heroics against powerhouse Brazil in the quarterfinals and won the game in penalty kicks and saw

the host Germany knocked out of contention by, guess who, Japan, the US immediately were given the “it’s theirs to lose” status.

Think of it this way. If the Japan had given up two one-goal leads to the US lead in the Final and lost on penalty kicks, would we say they choked?

My guess is that we would say they just were never meant to beat the mighty US and that they had a good run.

However, for the US, there is nowhere to hide from this one.

That being said, this should not tarnish the fantastic tournament the US had. These ladies have rekindled a wavering flame in women’s soccer and have provided a new generation of player role models and a heightened interest in “the beautiful game”. Names like Wambach, Solo, Megan Rapinoe, and Alex Morgan have stepped out of the shadows of past legends like Mia Hamm, Julie Foudy, and Michelle Akers, and into a deserved spotlight of their own.

Unfortunately for them, it just had to be the final that Japan pulled a US and came away with a thrilling win in a game they perhaps didn’t deserve.

B10 sports|

TNL

July 26, 2011

Kimy a Jaf roud i

By Taylor Hall Managing Editor

Love of the sport can be a powerful effect on an individual.

Sometimes, it can even get a person to trade in their swimsuit and sunny Southern California Weather for a large North Face winter coat and the Alaskan cold.

Case in point: UAA’s new junior defensive specialist/setter transfer Kimya Jafroudi.

This 5’7” Hunington Beach, California native may have seemed a bit crazed at first when she broke the news to her family about her decision to commit to UAA. However, she put it into terms they could understand, and trust in her mental health.

“I just told them that this would be an experience of a lifetime to go (to UAA),” Jafroudi said when speaking of why she choose UAA. The Seawolves will be nothing but glad that she did choose the green and gold. She brings a pedigree of winning and individual stats that jump right off the page.

Her two past seasons at Orange Coast College saw her win a state title and

tournament MVP in 2009, earn First Team Conference honors in 2010.

She also etched her name in school record books with the single-season record of 1,027 assists and even a astonishing 64 helpers in a single playoff game.

What makes her so effective on the court? Simply put, a love of the game.

“I love the game so much and have such a passion for the sport,” Jafroudi said. “I just like to work hard and be the best that I can be for myself and even more for my team. Every time I go out, I try and give it my all for the team.”

The fact that she can play two positions won’t hurt her cause either as she can play both sides of the ball as either setter or defensive specialist.

This, coupled with the fact that she has high expectations, should make her a very useful tool for UAA Head Coach Chris Green and the Seawolves.

Jafroudi already can give her hopes for herself and the team this season.

“The obvious answer is to win. I’m hoping that I can come in and contribute as much as I can wherever needed,” Jafroudi said.

An interview with TNL Most memorable moment in your athletic career so far?

Winning the state championship with OCC. Most embarrassing?

Probably running into a pole while running for a ball.

The pole was ok.

I’m a volleyball player, but I’m even better at…?

Playing the piano.

Favorite athlete? Why? Kobe Bryant. I like him because even though every one hates on him, he’s still one of the hardest workers and best players I’ve ever seen play the game.

Favorite sport to play other than Volleyball?

Basketball.

And to watch?

Soccer.

What are you listening to on your iPod currently?

Nicki Minaj and Lil’ Wayne Celebrity crush?

Paul Walker Guilty pleasure in life?

Nutella Favorite Meal?

Persian food.

Favorite TV Show?

Grey’s Anatomy If you could trade places with someone for a day, who and why?

My brother, because he’s going into seventh grade and I’d like to fill his shoes and beat up all the kids who pick on him so they’d leave him alone.

B12

TNL

sports| July 26, 2011

BROKE COMIC by alec fritz

HOROSCOPE

YOUR STARS THIS WEEK

By Stella Wilder

The coming week is likely to require of many individuals a renewal of commitments both large and small, which run the gamut from personal promises to business contracts. This week, it may surprise some that what doesn't happen may prove more significant, in the long run, that what does -- though ultimately it will be an individual's reactions to each that really makes the difference and goes a long way toward shaping the future. Everyone will have his or her mind on tomorrow to some degree; there is no ignoring the road signs at this time.

beginning of the week, and later actions will take shape as a result. (Aug. 8-Aug. 22) -- The answers you dig up at this time may surprise you -- and some will not fit the questions at all.

Written communications must be studied and saved, and not even the smallest detail must be forgotten. All negotiations will take on increased importance, but it is those between loved ones that will be truly pivotal. A positive outcome can be farreaching; a negative one, fortunately, need not be so significant.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 7) -- Travel is in the picture, but you may not be taking a conventional means to get to a routine destination.

Surprises abound. (Oct. 8-Oct. 22) -- You may not want to share certain things even with a loved one, but honesty is the best policy.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 7) -- Something rather mysterious is likely to be sorted out at the

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 7) -- You won't have to explain yourself too often, but when it is required, you'll want to make sure that you're honest and concise. (Nov. 8-Nov. 21) -- You may have to hear a few things that you don't want to hear, but recovery can be swift.

CRYPTOQUOTE

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 7) -- It may be more difficult to do what is asked of you than usual -- and you'll be asking yourself some hard questions as a result. (Sept. 8-Sept. 22) -- You're nowhere near the limit of your patience; you'll be able to rise above the fray.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 7) -- You may have to take a little time in order to get used to certain new circumstances that come as a complete surprise.

(Dec. 8-Dec. 21) -- Now is certainly the time to make your feelings -- and your needs -- known to those who can do something for you.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 6) -- You may not understand the seriousness of your position, but to a certain extent, ignorance can be quite valuable to you. (Jan. 7-Jan. 19) -- The quality of your work is not in question, but there are those who may doubt your motives.

Cryptoquote solution for July 12 issue “You can live to be a hundred if you give up all the things that make you want to live to be a hundred.� Woody Allen

SODUKU

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 3) -- What you do is in large part in retaliation for a wrong done you some time ago, but perhaps it's best to move on at last. (Feb. 4-Feb. 18) -- The criticism that someone in the know offers needn't affect your decision-making process.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 5) -- The beginning and the ending of two separate phases may seem very much alike, and only close study can help you tell one from the other. (March 6-March 20) -- This week your personal strength, emotionally and physically, will serve you quite well.

ARIES (March 21-April 4) -- You must prepare yourself for a disappointment, though when all is said and done, it is likely to be less significant than expected. (April 5-April 19) -- You may be taking things far too personally, especially where work is concerned.

TAURUS (April 20-May 5) -- What you've seen before is likely to be back before your eyes, but your reaction is likely to be quite different. (May 6-May 20) -- You may not be able to make sense of the unusual trends that are taking shape throughout the week. Use caution.

Soduku solution for July 12

GEMINI (May 21-June 6) -- What begins as a game is likely to be something much more serious by the end of the week, and you'll have to work hard to avoid pitfalls. (June 7-June 20) -- Someone you know is trying to figure you out at this time, but you can maintain some mystery.

CANCER (June 21-July 7) -- The best you can do is your best -- and anyone who isn't satisfied with that had better adjust his or her expectations. (July 8-July 22) -- You may think that you've completed a project, but there are some personal loose ends to tie up.