March292011

MARCH 29, 2011

FEATURES

05

In Her Shoes:

UAA raises awareness of rape

UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA ANCHORAGE

OPINION

08

Second Amendment:

Gun reduction doesn’t reduce violence

WWW.THENORTHERNLIGHT.ORG

A&E

13

Phantom of the Opera:

Broadway versus Hollywood critique

Two top ski Avalanches bury unprepared thrill seekers coaches set to resign

By Megan Edge The Northern Light

After seven years as head ski coach, Trond Flagstad is ending his coaching career with the University of Alaska Anchorage. He isn’t the only memorable ski coach at UAA resigning however.

Assistant ski coach Mandy Kaempf will also be leaving after five seasons with the team.

Kaempf, who graduates with a masters degree in the spring, is leaving to pursue her career. Kaempf will not only be leaving behind her coaching legacy, but her own Seawolf athletic career.

Kaempf is questionably the most decorated athlete in UAA history, with two NCAA titles and five All-American honors in skiing, and a conference title and All-American honors in track and field as well.

“I figured this was going to be a good time to switch career fields.” Kaempf said.

Flagstad, of Hamar Norway, is leaving for a different reason.

“I am going to be a stay at home dad for at least a year,” Flagstad said happily.

“I want to spend more time with my family. It’s a job that is a 24/7 job all year round. We aren’t racing in the summer but we still have to work behind the scenes because we are recruiting in the summer and you never have a weekend off and we travel a lot so its gotten to the point that I definitely want to spend more time with my wife and family. I have two little sons.”

Flagstad is also planning to put on his tool belt and finish building his house,

PATRICK MCCORMICK/TNL

Clear spring skies and ideal snow conditions draws people into the mountains, such as this trio in Chugach State Park. Before you go you should be aware of avalanche hazards and how to avoid them.

By Patrick McCormick The Northern Light

It was a gorgeous 40-degree April day, with clear skies and not a breath of wind. Sweat dripped down my face slowly evaporating leaving behind white salt on my cheeks. It was a perfect day in the Chugach.

We were cruising up a giant peak, skis strapped to our backs, smiles plastered on our faces. My partner was in the lead, punching holes in the snow as we ascended

the ridgeline.

“OH S---” is all he said.

I looked up and watched a giant half-mile crack rip across the face of the mountain. The snow, so solid before, was now turned into a deadly torrent ripping down the mountain. I began to swim and slammed my poles into the mountain staying upright soon enough to watch my friend, on his back sliding away in the dragon.

Long spring days, fat storms and clear

skies make the mountains in the spring almost magnetic, but before you answer their call and go, step back and think, so that you don’t become a statistic.

Here are a few statistics: Since 1951 there have been 129 avalanche fatalities in Alaska, the most per capita in the United States. 42 percent of U.S. avalanche fatalities from fall of 1999 to spring of 2010 were snowmobilers, 38 percent were skiers or snowboarders. Since

SEE AVALANCHE PAGE 17

Pot culture in Alaska reaches new high

By Sean Talbot The Northern Light

PATRICK MCCORMICK/TNL

Flagstad and Kaempft have been a unstopable coaching duo for the last five seasons, when Kaempft joined the coaching staff.

as well as planning to make time to see family that lives on the east coast and in Norway.

Flagstad leaves behind the legacy of creating 30 All-American athletes as head coach and 57 since he joined the program as the assistant coach in 2001.

In 2009 the coaching duo led the team to a fourth place NCAA finish.

“That was very special, one of the best moments,” Kaempf said.

Flagstad described that finish, along with Kaempf’s 2005 NCAA titles, as extremely memorable.

The depature of these two coaches

SEE COACH PAGE 17

Pot culture in Alaska is taking on a whole new dimension. Now that the synthetic alternative, Spice, has proven to be far more harmful than the plant itself (See “Senate Bill 17 would ban synthetic marijuana,” in The Northern Light, March 1st), marijuana has returned to the forefront of smoker’s minds.

Marijuana has long been a symbol of peace, love and togetherness. From Bob Marley, to modern entertainers like Seth Rogen and Lady Gaga openly admitting to toking up, it is not as if American society sweeps marijuana under the proverbial rug.

“I don’t know anyone who thinks pot is evil,” said Ajolla, an international business major who declined to give her full name. “I haven’t heard anyone saying ‘we need to get this stuff out of our community,’ Tipper Gore-style. It’s not like pot is an abortion issue.”

It’s more of a social issue, says Miles Scott, a music performance student in his first year.

SEE POT PAGE 7

DANIEL JACKSON/TNL

Much like coffee, marijuana has its own special place in Alaska culture. "In the Lower 48, laws are harsher than they are here. What works there may not work here,” stated University Police officer John Chu.

02

TNL

NEWS| March 29, 2011

CAS Dean Liszka leaves frontier for Empire State From top down, University of Alaska Anchorage prepares its own to be more competitve in job market

By Kate Lindsley The Northern Light

Basking in his last Alaskan spring, Dean Jim Liszka, Ph.D. will join Plattsburgh State University of New York as Provost next fall. Leaving his position of Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) of UAA after five years, Liszka reflected on his 31 years at UAA. Spanning positions from assistant professor of philosophy to interim vice Provost to dean, Liszka has seen the university through some of its greatest trials and tribulations.

Now as dean, Liszka’s office emotes a sense of grandeur.

Located on the top floor of SSB, the corner suite overlooks the library with a mountain view. The walls lined with shelves of books, it even displays an artistic obelisk containing a shredded textbook by one of Liszka’s former students.

A sincere man with a sly sense of humor, Liszka leaves a large footprint with thousands of UAA students taught.

The Northern Light: In the past 31 years how has UAA changed?

Dr. Jim Liszka: The big changes are that in the early 80’s, there was a community college and then the 4-year college here. Then in the late 80’s those two units merged. That created the kind of culture we have today at the university. We’re a rather unique institution in the sense that we’re a baccalaureate institution but we also offer technical degrees and other degrees you might see in a community college as well. We’re trying to serve both missions.

I would say the other is in terms of the infrastructure. We were a relatively small campus in the 80’s and now we’ve grown the infrastructure considerably.

The library was an extremely important building to have built.

That made a huge difference and made a big impact on the campus.

I would say the second building that had the big impact was the new science building. That will really change the face of research here at UAA. A third thing that was extremely important was the development of the joint PhD program in psychology. That

demonstrated that UAA was capable of delivering doctoral degrees.

TNL: What is your most memorable experience at the university?

JL: Rather than claim to any one thing, I would just say what has been remarkable about my experience at UAA is all the growth and change that I’ve seen in the 31 years. UAA has grown so much so fast that in some ways I can’t believe how fast it’s been growing. It’s really matured as an institution. It’s been very gratifying to see that.

I would say the other thing I really enjoyed here are the students. I think they’re really great students. I’ve been trying to calculate how many students I’ve taught, and it’s thousands of students here, it’s always just so much fun to run into students and see how successful they’ve become.

TNL: Why are you leaving UAA? JL: I was nominated to a national program that’s sponsored by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU). It’s a program that’s intended to cultivate leadership in the academy. I joined a number of people from across the country that had an interest in becoming a provost.

There’s also a program for administrators who are interested in becoming presidents. Through that process, I learned a great deal about what it takes to become a provost and I was nominated for several positions but SUNY at Plattsburg in particular attracted me, primarily because of its liberal arts emphasis there.

So I applied and it was a good fit and I was offered the position and it was very, very difficult to make the decision, but my wife and I decided to take the positions we were offered.

think that the fact that we have the natural and social sciences, the humanities and fine arts makes for an interesting synthesis of interests.

TNL: Do you think UAA graduates are career ready individuals?

JL: I do, I think that you can look at some of our top programs.

For instance, our nursing program. They’re ready to go over to providence or other health institutions. Business students are ready. Our biology students, chemistry students, psychology students I think in general are prepared. We’re especially good at preparing students for the job.

Anchorage is a commerce center, there’s lots of federal agencies in town that provide job opportunities for our students.

For example, the masters students in our anthropology program go to work for the National Parks Service, and other agencies.

Biologists are in great demand by fish and wildlife agencies; chemistry students are highly employable.

TNL: What do you think the CAS has to offer that other universities or colleges around the country don’t? TNL: What should UAA What makes CAS unique? graduates be proud of?

JL: I would say that we’re a strongly liberal arts college. I

DANIEL JACKSON/TNL

Dean Jim Lizska, Ph.D., ends a 31-year career at UAA.

JL: I would say that unlike most public universities and

certainly unlike most research universities, students here really have an opportunity for a strong connection and relationship with their faculty. So rather than having graduate students teach the introductory courses, they have the professors doing that.

The class size is also relatively small, relative to other large public institutions. And I think that the quality of instruction here is really outstanding. So you really are getting a good education here and it’s pretty economical in terms of the tuition costs.

I know that students are complaining about the recent raises in tuition, but still comparable nationally, we’re a pretty good deal here.

So you get first hand connection with the faculty, really excellent instruction, all at a fairly economical cost.

TNL: What is one thing you wish students at UAA knew?

JL: How really good the education is here at UAA. I’ve worked and studied in a lot of places, and UAA has a really high quality education.

How does CAS fit in with the rest of the university?

JL: CAS supports the general education requirements for all students. So any students seeking a degree has to take the general education requirements. So that’s one mission CAS has.

The other mission is that it provides necessary courses for the other colleges. We offer chemistry and biology for nurses, physics for engineers, and so fourth. So many of the students who are getting degrees in other colleges still have to take some of our basic courses to complete their degree.

Thirdly, we have 36 degree programs that we offer in the natural sciences, social sciences, humanities and fine arts. Of course depending on the major, you’re going to be doing different kinds of things. Anthropologists would become anthropologists, biologists would become biologists, chemists become chemists, and so fourth.

I would say that one thing that the liberal arts really offers is key skills that are needed no matter what profession or career you have. The ability to communicate, the ability to think critically, the ability to problem solve, all of those are key skills no matter what you do. Any liberal arts degree can offer those skills in addition to whatever content you learn from those majors.

You’ll find our majors doing just about everything.

USUAA observes budgets of student organizations

By Alden Lee

The Northern Light

Budgets were the main focus of the USUAA Meeting on Friday, from the financial situations of the Concert Board and student media, to a proposed housing fee increase for on-campus students.

USUAA devoted over half an hour of the meeting to going over the budgets of various organizations on campus. These included the budgets of KRUA 88.1 FM, The Northern Light, and the Concert Board, focusing on such aspects such as contractual obligations, commodities, and

total projected expenses.

At the conclusion of the meeting, it was made clear that USUAA has no actual authority over the budgets of these organizations. The presentations were merely a gesture, as USUAA has only advisory power over the budgets of these programs.

But another discussion that surfaced briefly during the meeting was that on-campus living costs were going to be increased by $250 per semester. Not much information was known about this apparent increase.

“We had a motion, apparently there’s

been an increase of $250 per room per semester for living,” one senator stated.

“We’re going to generate a letter asking for clarification on why there’s been an increase.”

“From what I’ve heard about the increase of living prices on campus, they were attributing it to the rising cost of electricity, and the facilities and the stuff that provided for living on campus,” another senator supplied.

The actual reasons for why electricity and facility costs could be rising were not discussed, and USUAA moved on quickly to another topic.

At the end of the meeting, plans for USUAA to rename the dormitories on campus came up. A naming committee was voted upon, with candidates confined specifically to USUAA members. The intention was given to replace the old titles of North, West, and East Halls with names of UAA alumni and important Alaskan figures.

March 29, 2011 | NEWS

03

Seawolves, Irish team debate ‘God hates fags’ protests

By Matthew Caprioli The Northern Light

This week, you may have walked past several crimson fliers of a man in a poncho and cowboy hat. With black leather gloves, he sports signs like “Fags die/ God laughs” and “God hates fags.” His name is Fred Phelps, and he is the cause of much debate.

The Arts 150 building was beyond its maximum capacity of 200 people on March 24, when the Irish National Champion Debate Team faced off with the Seawolf Debate team on whether or not the Westboro Baptist Church’s (WBC) message is worthy of the protections afforded by free speech.

The Seawolf Debate Team drew the negative side. That is, they were to support the rights of a man who pickets at the funerals of veterans and homosexuals. And to the surprise of the full house--including the Irish team--they succeeded.

In their opening speech, both teams agreed that Westboro Baptist church (WBC) is repulsive.

“As an American, as a generally well-rounded, rational, sane individual, I also find that the Westboro Baptist is demonstrably a horrible group of people, and their message is flawed and disgusting,” Amy Parrent, a member of the Seawolf team, said.

The Seawolves argued, however, that the Supreme Court’s 8 to 1 ruling was correct: the protesters adhere to the law, notify the police before their protests, and restrain themselves to public property. Therefore, their freedom of speech should be protected.

The Irish team said that the distance between protestors and mourners is irrelevant— speech can be harmful whenever it is perceived. And whenever possible, speech that attacks people should not have a forum.

The Seawolves spoke of the need to allow “crazies” speak, in order to galvanize rational people into action. Parrent said that this is the price to pay for a free marketplace of ideas.

Instead of the government determining what ideas may circulate in society, this model enables individuals to decide.

Society at large, according to the Seawolves, does make the more admirable choice.

Seawolf Brett Frazer asked the Irish to offer one name of a person converted to WBC thought. The Irish lacked that data at the moment, but said that people on the fringes that share WBC thought to some degree would be encouraged in their view by WBC rhetoric.

The final Seawolf speaker, Akis Gialopsos, hammered home the point that the model in which the government decides which views are acceptable is far worse than the current model, where society largely determines the accepted views.

He cited Shahbaz Bhatti, the former Pakistan’s Minister of Minorities Affairs, who was assassinated after suggesting that Pakistan revise its blasphemy laws; extremists often interpret the law as anyone who insults Islam should die.

Irish Team member Mark Tnuller said that quality of speech should be considered when

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determining what speech should be protected by the constitution. WBC rhetoric should not be tolerated because it is used to undermine equality and tolerance.

“Not everything you say has a valid place in our society,” Aine Harting, a member of the Irish debate team, reiterated.

Harting also suggested that a free market place of ideas only works when everyone in the marketplace is rational and well informed. This, Harting said, could only happen in a vaccum. People can be easily swayed; Harting cited current and historical examples of influential speakers misleading societies with terrible consequence.

In keeping with their position, the final speaker of the Irish team, Lorcan Price, said that WBC is unworthy of constitutional protection. For the amount of disturbance that WBC causes, they add nothing to discussion.

No group supports them; their slogans have yet to, and most likely never will, catch on.

‘As an American, as a generally well-rounded, rational, sane individual, I also find that the Westboro Baptist is demonstrably a horrible group of people, and their message is flawed and disgusting.’

–Amy Parrent Seawolf Debate Team Member

If the debate had followed British parliamentary style exactly, the audience would exit on the right or left, depending on which team they believe gave the most persuasive argument. But as the exits were packed with people, the speaker asked for a simple “yea” to determine who won.

The Seawolves recieved a louder affirmation.

“I know we didn’t sway them, but we were just kind of happy to have acquitted ourselves reasonably well,” Harting said.

As part of a national tour, the Irish Team left Colorado on Wednesday and arrived in Anchorage on midnight the day of the debate. They have since dined with Mayor Sullivan at the Irish pub McGuinley’s, went flight seeing, and snowmobling. They leave on Saturday to continue their tour in Los Angeles.

04

NEWS| March 29, 2011

Campus alcohol policy won’t go dry

By Grace Hawkins

Special to The Northern Light

If you have any connection with UAA, you probably received an e-mail on March 15 reminding you of the risks of substance abuse.

“The attached notifcation serves as a reminder of the health risks associated with substance abuse; of the availabilty of counseling services through the University and treatment referrals for alcohol and/or drug problems; of university disciplinary sanctions, as well as federal, state, and local legal penalties that may result from the illegal sale, possession, consumption, or distribution of alcohol and/or drugs,” the e-mail read.

The attachment provides relevant information for staff, students, and faculty in Anchorage, Kenai, Homer, Kodiak, and the Matanuska-Sustina Area. This includes numbers for support or information services, basic information on common drugs,

after partying at a night club.

“I’ve drank with Ralph plenty of times and I know he can hold his liquor,” O’Donnell’s friend later told sources.

The University of Oklahoma changed their policy in 2004 to a dry policy due to a death of a student induced by alcohol poisoning.

And while the Universities of Rhode Island, Missouri Southern, Central Connecticut, and Weber State have declared themselves dry campuses, they continue to uphold the rights given to students of legal age.

At UAA, the number of policy violations has decreased from the school year 2009-2010 to 20102011. Was it a change in students’ behavior? Or is it thanks to a change in reporting methods?

When asked which system would prove more effective, Michael Votava, Assistant Director of Student Conduct, said that students might be best served under the current UAA policy.

The policy at UAA states that

‘We currently host alcohol and/or drug awareness programs most months of the year, and we try hard to cater to student populations.’

–Alexa Prunella, UAA Alcohol and Drug Awareness Educator and a list of consequences.

For instance, just over three tablespoons of cocaine can, in the first offense, land the offender 5 to 40 years in jail. In Alaska, if offender distrbuted to someone under 19, the penalty includes a 75,000 fine. For more common drugs like alcohol, Alaska fines 200 to 600 dollars for people under 21 who willingly carry or consume alcohol. The fine jumps to 1,000 for the second offense, along with 48 hours of community service.

Some universities do have dry campuses, but most of the state universities across the country mimic the laws of each state accordingly. Whether or not state colleges are simply more lax than top private universities, or more aware and respectful of their students’ rights is up for debate.

“Universities choose these policies for various reasons, including the ordinances in the city in which the university resides.

For issues regarding regulated, but legal behaviors, such as alcohol consumption, I do not feel a policy adopted nationwide would do the student populations justice,” Alex Prunella, UAA’s alcohol and Drug Awareness Educator, said.

According to recent studies, in the years 2009-2011, universities across the country have had an estimate of 80-90 deaths due to accidents brought on by alcohol.

Other causes of death included alcohol and/or drug poisoning, assault, police altercations, car chases, hit and run, misuse of fire arms, skull fractures, fraternity hazing, etc.

In 2009, 18-year old Raphael O’Donnell from UC Irvine, died while walking across a freeway

a student of legal age may possess alcohol with an alcohol permit.

But if a dry campus policy were enforced, then this right for legalage students would be retracted.

When asked about the email update from UA, some students were critical.

“It seems sort of silly in a college setting. Why would anyone need a permit for alcohol in a learning environment? I think it’d just make it easier for the underage students to get their drink on,” sophomore Daryn Repasky said.

Prunella assures students that the Student Services team is working around the clock to improve alcohol education on campus.

“We currently host alcohol and/ or drug awareness programs most months of the year, and we try hard to cater to student populations.”

As an awareness educator, Prunella meets one on one with UAA students in order to help influence them toward low risk decisions.

“My goal is to help students make healthy choices that are going to set them up for immediate and long tern success,” Prunella said.

Since spring break, there are visible signs on campus of UAA’s efforts to improve substance abuse education. (hint: the ad section of this newspaper).

But there is only so much the faculty can take responsibility for. In the end, it is the student’s choice.

TNL

FEATURES

05

Men to wobble in heels through spine for sexual assault victims To raise awareness of the sexual assault epidemic in Alaska, men will walk in high heels from Rasmuson Hall to the Social Sciences Building

By Kate Lindsley The Northern Light

On average, 17 Alaskan women are sexually assaulted every day.

This grim statistic, compiled in a survey by the UAA Justice Center, reflects a statewide dilemma.

With a sexual assault rate at 2.6 times the national average, Alaska is caught in an epidemic.

Facing the highest rate of sexual assault in the nation, all residents of Alaska are affected, according to Keeley Olson, director of Standing Together Against Rape (STAR). “(Sexual assault) affects our families, it affects our partners, it affects people who don’t know anything about the assault that we don’t disclose to: our employers, our teachers, our coworkers and anyone that we come into contact with. Whether we disclose to them or not about the violence that has occurred, the violence affects everyone,” Olson said.

In response, STAR is hosting its fourth ‘Walk a Mile in Her Shoes’ event on April 8th. To show support to women in their lives, men can walk the along the UAA spine in high heels. Stilettos, pumps, wedges, open toed or sling-backs all send the same message: wobbling against sexual assault.

Senior justice major and ROTC commander Chris Carter said that

he understands why women are frightened to go to clubs.

“There are definitely professionals out there, and the women are out there distracted by drinking and having a good time. (Women) need to be aware that there are predatory guys out there,” Carter said.

Some women, such as Siting Feng and Fanglin Qi, both junior accounting majors, don’t feel insecure when planning a night out with the girls.

“Not really. I don’t think about it,” Feng said when asked if she is ever aware of the risk of sexual assault.

“We usually go out with a group of girls and don’t think anything will happen,” Qi said.

STAR director Olson had a different opinion altogether, reasoning that men don’t understand the fear that women have when going out on the town. “(Men) just can’t really know what it’s like for a woman to be facing gender violence, to be facing catcalls and ridicule just walking down the street, to feel like it’s not safe to go out at night. Most men have a hard time wrapping their head around that,” Olson said.

Regardless of viewpoints, the fact stands that sexual assault is frequent in Alaska. Anchorage recently decreased from fourth to ninth highest rate of sexual assault

in the nation. Fairbanks stands firm with the highest rate of sexual assault in the country.

The Walk a Mile in Her Shoes event has spread worldwide.

Organized by Moses Okoth, Nairobi, Kenya held their first walk against sexual assault.

In an email to Olsen, Okoth described the animosity that the 120 male participants were met with.

“It was a moment that we have had like no other… being arrested… while walking.

Thrown into police cells (with our belongings) confiscated, slept in police cells and despite that the battle continues,” Okoth wrote.

Men who choose to walk in America are protected by the first amendment.

Anchorage’s event is slated to draw the Alaska Aces, men of the military and every Y chromosome in between. In the past, US Attorneys and District Attorneys have walked in heels to understand a woman’s perspective.

For the men that choose to walk in support of women, Olson recommends looking for large shoe sizes on the Internet or in ShuzyQ, a local store that carries large sizes. In addition, support teams can walk alongside men to offer assistance, whether in the form of emotional encouragement

GRAPHIC BY COREY BEAUDRIE

or ankle braces.

After the humor of men in heels subsides, the painful truth about sexual assault remains. The University Police Department (UPD) has quick tips on preventing acquaintance rape on their website. In addition, UPD

offers Rape Aggression Defense (RAD) training. Regardless of these defense measures, Olsen made it clear that the only person that can truly prevent rape is the rapist.

GURU KATE

Get your brain to peak performance: Nix the coffee

By Kate Lindsley The Northern Light

What’s a good alternative to coffee to wake you up?

Dear coffee connoisseur, Caffeine and its magical powers have been known of since the first coffee berry was harvested, dried, roasted and ground into the slurry of a morning latte. But regardless of the pious worship the drink

enjoys, it is not the only option to start the day.

For one, coffee can be highly acidic, habit forming and, with the wrong mix-ins, can be half a day’s worth of recommended caloric intake. Consider a morning trip to Starbucks.

You wait in line for 15 minutes, drool at the small cooler of pastries; order a triple choco-latte chai tea with soymilk foam (and sprinkles) and fluffy-crumblecoffeecake.

But little did you know that you just walked out with 1,500 calories, and food products that will actually cause you to fall asleep, rather than to be alert. The high simple carb content in the pastries gives you a prompt sugar rush followed by the familiar crash.

Even if you only walk out with a straight Americano, you’re still not doing your body nutritional justice. Not only is there no sustainable energy in that coffee, but there are also no vitamins or minerals to help your everyday bodily functions.

There are plenty of foods that you can eat before leaving the house that will keep you awake, maintain your brain and keep you satiated without adding unnecessary calories.

Try a mix of ham, lean sausage, smoked salmon, tomatoes and eggs in the morning. If an omelette isn’t your thing, go for a series of fruits, or even a smoothie.

The high fiber will keep you full, and the vitamins will contribute to overall well being.

In addition, eating a large breakfast will keep you from making bad snack decisions at school or work.

Remember to eat at least GRAPHIC BY COREY BEAUDRIE

every four hours to keep from gorging yourself on something unhealthy just because it’s easy and fast.

All the best, Guru Kate

What role does diet play in being a good student?

Dear savory scholar, The food that you eat is the fuel that your brain has to work with, and therefore your diet will affect how well it functions, especially under studying and exam stress.

Here’s a morning-of-the-final diet guide: Breakfast: Eggs any way – avoid adding too much salt or cheese Orange juice Fruit cup/vegetable platter Whole grain toast – whole grains keep you fuller longer so you’re not thinking about food when you’re supposed to be thinking about what Iran was called 3,000 years ago or how to derive a complex equation.

Lunch: Small cut of meat/fish Salad with protein component (nuts or beans) Water/juice/milk

Dinner: If you have exam following the meal, make it similar to lunch If after your exam (but expecting one the next day), eat what you crave, except: Simple carbohydrates Caffeinated anything (including chocolate) Processed sugars NEVER have these: Coffee (caffeinated decaffeinated) Cigarettes Energy drinks

OR

If you’re too stressed thinking about your exams to keep to this diet, just remember to eat fruits, vegetables, lean meats and whole grain bread. Keep your stomach full and your noggin working!

Remember to hydrate as well.

Carry around a water bottle, sip fruit juice (preferably 100% juice, without added sugar) and tote around a to-go mug of caffeine free tea.

One last thing, never ever have energy drinks or coffee (caffeinated or decaffeinated).

Even decaf still has significant amounts of caffeine, which acts on a stimulant on your already stimulated brain. Give it a break already!

Forever and ever, Guru Kate

06 Susan Orlean, blogger for The New Yorker, to visit UAA

TNL

FEATURES| March 29, 2011

SO: It didn’t change how I thought about myself.

I think it made me think about my work as having two levels -- the obvious one, and the more subtle one that Charlie Kaufman captured, the way my presence in the work is there, even when it’s not obvious.

SO: I’m not sure how I began using this system -- I might have read about John McPhee using a similar method and decided to give it a try. It worked well enough for The Orchid Thief, so I decided to

Susan Orlean will be at UAA on April 1st. From 1:30 p.m. to 2:55 p.m. She will critique the work of local students and journalists.

Student Recital of Music Majors and Minors 3:00-5:00 p.m.

Fine Arts 150 12 Angry Jurors 8:00-9:30 p.m.

UAA Harper Studio Theatre

Great Alaska Sportsman Show 10:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m.

Sullivan Arena Volunteer at your local charity of choice

April 4

SO: Too hard! I couldn’t narrow it down to one line. “Call me Ishmael” might come close, but I love too many lines to pick one as my favorite.

April 3

TNL: How did you begin to organize books through flash cards? (I read that Rin Tin Tin had 764 cards).

Literature to Life: The Secret Life of Bees 7:30-8:30 p.m.

Fine Arts 150

April 2

TNL: Assuming poetry is widely defined, what is your favorite line of poetry?

Passport Series: Thailand 5:30-6:30 p.m.

UAA Bookstore

April 1

Susan Orlean: I took a geology course to fulfill a science requirement. It was awful, and I was awful.

I still can’t identify a single rock.

Thursday Wednesday Tuesday

TNL: Did “Adaptation” change how you thought about yourself or your work?

Friday

SO: Tookie, a queen among hens.

Saturday

The Northern Light: What was the worst college class you’ve ever taken?

TNL: Looking through Twitter, I saw that your “sweetest, oldest dearest chicken Tookie” died. How would you commemorate her/him in a sentence?

Contempt of Court: Mark Curriden 6:30-7:30 p.m.

Consortium Library Room 307

Sunday

Susan Orlean belongs to a handful of non-fictional characters that are important enough to have been played by Meryl Streep. Because of this, Ms. Orlean has a (very) indirect connection to Margaret Thatcher, Anna Wintour, and Abigail Adams.

In 2002, her best selling novel The Orchid Thief was the subject of the film Adaptation, an amusing exploration of the boundary between life and art.

Directed by Spike Jonze and written by Charlie Kaufman, the film was an enormous boost for the Orlean Empire, which now includes a blog for The New Yorker, a Twitter account with 119,233 followers, eight books and appearances in Rolling Stone, Vogue, Outside and Esquire.

stick with it for Rin Tin Tin. I had a lot more cards for RTT, so it got a bit unwieldy, but it still did (more or less) work.

Monday

The Northern Light

March 29 March 30 March 31

By Matthew Caprioli

Seawolves’ weekly enrichment calendar 3.29-4.4.2011

07 POT: How Alaskans view marijuana regulation March 29, 2011 | FEATURES

CONTINUED FROM COVER

“People who smoke tend to find each other,” Scott said.

“It’s not the emphasis of the friendship, but it brings people together in a positive way.”

Attitudes toward pot in Alaska are more relaxed than other states, and our laws reflect it. It’s perfectly legal to smoke in your house, as long as you don’t take it outside.

Even then, possession of less than an ounce of marijuana is treated like a traffic ticket.

Most students interviewed were unguarded about whether or not they smoked pot.

“You always have to be careful, though,” said Miles Scott, a freshman music performance student.

Scott grew up in Alaska, and isn’t hung up with pot as a major issue. He’s

had friends who have been caught with marijuana in public.

“Cops might hassle you, but there’s not a lot that they do but scare you and confiscate whatever you have on you,” Scott said.

University police officer John Chu said he knows there is drug use on campus. He most frequently sees alcohol use.

Lexi Prunella, the University’s Alcohol, Drug, and Wellness Educator, reported 43 drug violations on campus in 2010’s school year. Forty of them were for marijuana, mostly for possession of small amounts of pot and/or paraphernalia.

The dividing line came down to those who are from Alaska, and those who are transplants from states in which the penalties are harsher.

At an official level, attempts to de-regulate marijuana have gained ground

in the past few years. In Alaska in 2004, a ballot measure aimed at removing penalties for the growing, use, or sale of marijuana failed by only six percent of the vote.

Last November, a bill to regulate and tax marijuana in California earned 49% of the vote.

“If [marijuana] gets regulated in California, there’s good potential that it will get the same treatment in Alaska,” said Officer Chu. “It already has its foot in the door.”

Not everyone is so convinced that it should be regulated, however. Welding student John Kempen worries about the message it carries to kids. That’s where the problems start, Kempen says.

“Look at alcohol. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but it’s a big problem here. If you legalize something, you’re telling 6- and

7-year-olds that it’s okay,” Kempen said.

But he’s not totally against marijuana as an institution in culture.

“If you want to, smoke up a storm,” Kempen said.

“But if you do it, be ready to pay the piper.”

No discussion on weed ends without consideration of its long, elaborate history.

Traces of marijuana were found in pipes from William Shakespeare’s garden. If pot worked for the Bard, whose work has been studied, celebrated and cherished for centuries, then the tradition has not died.

“It crosses so many boundaries,” Scott said. “It doesn’t matter what culture you are or what color you are.”

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OPINION

08

EDITORIAL

Americans right to defend not a casual privilege Arizona is considering legislation that would further loosen gun laws in favor of the Second Amendment. Among the provisions is one that is already in place at UAA: the right for students to have a gun on campus as long as it remains locked in their vehicle.

While Arizona contemplates catching up to the great state of Alaska, the real question is are they going far enough? Having guns in locked vehicles helps, but it does not go far enough in increasing student’s safety.

Anyone opposed to the open interpretation of the Second Amendment has heard the following arguments before.

You’ve heard that areas without guns are not safer because of a lack of guns. In fact, you’ve probably heard about the research that shows that they are even more dangerous than their counterpartsareas in the country that have more open guns laws.

You’ve heard that law-abiding, license-carrying gun owners are not the ones committing crimes with a firearm. Those willing to break the law to murder someone are the same people willing to break the law to get a gun.

And you’ve heard how dangerous college campuses and schools can be in light of events at Virginia Tech, among other examples.

And you’ve heard, I’m sure, the argument that it is your constitutional right to bear arms.

The bottom line, however, is that through laws and policies that limit the Second Amendment, we have completely stripped the right of Americans to defend themselves.

The ability to defend yourself is one of the most fundamental human rights we have. Thomas Hobbes and John Locke, two very

important philosophers to our American tradition, both asserted that in the most original state of man, before civilization as we know it, the most important and inalienable right humans have is the right to defend themselves.

Sweeping gun legislation has not produced a society with less violence. On the contrary, it has produced a society where mass murder takes place in schools around the country where citizens are unable to defend themselves.

It has also produced a society whose idea of violence comes almost entirely from television and video games.

For the most part, the extent of contact kids have with fighting and firearms comes from a make believe world that fails to impart the seriousness of using these methods for defense on them.

Handling a gun tends to create a fear and healthy respect of it.

Handling a game controller does not.

The same argument can be said for physically and verbally defending yourself. We teach our kids that violence is never the answer. And, of course, we’d all like that to be true. But it’s not. The actual world we live in calls for moments in which a person might be called to defend themselves through physical means.

Sometimes, violence is the answer.

Instead of learning when it’s right to defend yourself, we’ve told kids that no matter what happens, you’re going to be suspended if you engage in physical violence or if you say words not pre-approved by a school board.

What has that mentality gained us?

Our kids are committing suicide because they’re being bullied-rather than standing up for

GRAPHIC BY COREY BEAUDRIE

themselves. We’ve taken away tools they have to build their own self-esteem. Fifty years ago a bully would have likely been dealt with in the schoolyard. And sure, the person being bullied may have lost the fight. But standing up for yourself, even when you lose, is something a person can be proud of.

There is something to be said for the person who will not be bullied. And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

Beyond bullying, it is a your constitutional right to carry a firearm to protect yourself as you walk alone at night to your vehicle.

There is no sense in taking that right away- regardless of where someone is walking.

It’s your constitutional right to be able to brandish a firearm when your life is threatened. Regardless of where you happen to be when that moment emerges.

And it is your common-sense right to be able to stand and defend

yourself as necessary-without “retreating,” as many states mandate you must do if you have a firearm and you’re not trapped in a corner.

Government has gotten the wrong impression over the years.

The Second Amendment was and is not optional. It does not read, “The right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed...unless (see your local listings for more information).”

In 2010, the Supreme Court ruled that the Second Amendment was an incorporated right, meaning states are obligated to uphold the right just as they are obligated to uphold the First Amendment. As states work to apply this ruling to their legislature, they hopefully will learn that gun free ≠ safe.

The absence of handling of guns creates a fear and distance from the responsibility and danger of guns, so that when people pick up a gun they are less aware of the consequences in doing so.

The best way to make guns safer is more education. Just as citizens have the right to bear arms, they also have the responsibility to educate themselves on the most safe way to do so, similar to the ideal way that people vote in a political election. Furthermore, talking to children about guns and teaching them the heavy burden of responsibility they require is much more effective than avoiding them altogether. The more we talk about it, the more safe we become.

The same goes for all other ways we have to defend ourselves as humans. It is important to learn how to peacefully resolve conflicts. It is important to learn when it is best to walk away. It is important to know when to ask for help. We should be teaching all of these ideas while simultaneously teaching how to defend yourself in case the time comes when that is your only option.

‘Phantom’ artist’s grafitti costing students money

By Lisa Wagner

students pay every semester.

“The money for labor and materials (to remove the

If you’re on campus a lot, you may have noticed UAA’s new “phantom graffiti artist,” who has taken to decorating the university with markers and spray paint.

Permanent marker stick figures have been found in men’s bathrooms in the PSB and BMB building, as well as short slogans such as ‘for a moment, the lie becomes the truth.’ The focus for the graffiti has been on restrooms and outside areas.

While college is surely the number one place to find new ways of self-expression, trashing UAA’s campus with graffiti is not something that’s appreciated by other students.

There are two main reasons for this; the first being that a lot of people, myself included, take time out of their day to make the University look like an educated environment.

Graffiti makes it look like the inner city of New York, that holds the odor of unwashed street vagrants hanging out on the sidewalk.

Second, it costs students money. Removing marker or spray paint, or whatever you use for your art is not easy to get off of bathroom stalls. It takes more paint and cleaning supplies, which believe it or not, come straight out of what

The graffiti artist is costing us money because (our maintenance employee) is re-painting over graffiti instead of his normal job of maintaining the premises for the University and its students. The fact that this money can be used in better places costs more money from the University’s general fund, which in turn, is taken from the students’ tuition and student fees.”

Special to The Northern Light

–Cathy Wagner Work Management

graffiti) comes out of the facilities maintenance budget,” said Chris Mizelle, Director of Facilities Maintenance and Operations, “and that could be spent in different areas for other repairs.”

“We have one guy who has to paint over new graffiti every single day,” said Cathy Wagner, Work Management.

“The graffiti artist is costing us money because this guy is re-painting over graffiti instead of his normal job of maintaining the premises for the University and its students.

The fact that this money can be used in better places costs more money from the University’s general fund, which in turn, is taken from the students tuition and student fees.”

I speak for students everywhere when I say that student fees and tuition do not need to rise further.

Facilities’ asks that students be on the lookout for the ‘Phantom Artist’. And if the Phantom Artist just so happens to read The Northern Light, let me give you some friendly advice: if the issue is just wanting to showcase your talents, talk to Student Activities. It’s not difficult to get involved in the Student Union Art Gallery or the Fine Arts building. Or at least perhaps consider practicing somewhere that doesn’t cost students more money than they’re already paying, like Point Woronzof, or maybe inside your own house. That way, UAA won’t have to clean up what you’re leaving behind.

March 29, 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

EXECUTIVE EDITOR 786-1434 editor@thenorthernlight.org Jerzy Shedlock MANAGING EDITOR 786-1313 content@thenorthernlight.org Shana Roberson COPY EDITOR copy@thenorthernlight.org Wiley Cason NEWS EDITOR 786-1576 news@thenorthernlight.org Matthew Caprioli FEATURES EDITOR 786-1567 features@thenorthernlight.org Kate Lindsley A&E EDITOR 786-6198 arts@thenorthernlight.org Heather Hamilton SPORTS EDITOR 786-1512 sports@thenorthernlight.org Taylor Hall PHOTO EDITOR 786-1565 photo@thenorthernlight.org Dan Jackson WEB EDITOR 786-1506 web@thenorthernlight.org Ashley Snyder LAYOUT EDITOR layout@thenorthernlight.org Brittany Bennett ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR news2@thenorthernlight.org Vacant ASSISTANT FEATURES EDITOR features2@thenorthernlight.org Vacant ASSISTANT A&E EDITOR arts2@thenorthernlight.org Vacant ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR sports2@thenorthernlight.org Megan Edge GRAPHIC DESIGNER graphics@thenorthernlight.org CJ Beaudrie ADVERTISING MANAGER 786-4690 ads@thenorthernlight.org Mariya Proskuryakova ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVE Celina Hodge CIRCULATION ASSISTANT Munkh-Erdene Tsend-Ochir PHOTOGRAPHERS Pattrick McCormick CONTRIBUTORS Alden Lee Audriana Pleas Bryan Dunagan Daniel McDonald Eli Johnson Sean Talbot MEDIA ADVISER Paola Banchero ADMINISTRATIVE ADVISER Annie Route

The Northern Light is a proud member of the ASSOCIATED COLLEGIATE PRESS. The Northern Light is a weekly UAA publication funded by student fees and advertising sales. The editors and writers of The Northern Light are solely responsible for its contents. Circulation is 5,000. The University of Alaska Anchorage provides equal education and employment opportunities for all, regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, Vietnam-era or disabled-veteran status, physical or mental disability, changes in marital status, pregnancy, or parenthood.

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

War supporters: Pls admit we Americans love 2 get our war on. We arm Gaddafi, we bomb Gaddafi. We arm the rebels&we’ll bomb them 2 some day Michael Moore, film director, via Twitter “President Obama moved forward without Congress approving. He didn’t have Congressional authorization, he has gone against the Constitution, and that’s got to be said.”

Obama administration draws fire... ...regarding military action in Libya

Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio “I have very serious concerns about what this intervention means for our country in the coming weeks,” Rockefeller said in a statement. “Our military, and our budget, are stretched thin fighting two wars already, and I want to avoid getting into another conflict with unknown costs and consequences.”

Where do YOU stand?

Visit thenorthernlight.org and click on Opinion Roundup to vote

09

“I cannot for the life of me see how an American president can launch a serious military action without a full and formal national address in which he explains to the American people why he is doing what he is doing, why it is right, and why it is very much in the national interest… He has to sit at that big desk and explain his thinking, put forward the facts as he sees them, and try to garner public support.”

Peggy Noonan, speechwriter for Ronald Reagan administration and current Wall Street Journal Columnist “Secretary Clinton had a view that action needed to be taken, that we needed to work with our allies, that we needed to take concrete steps to remove Gadaffi from power…and God bless her for doing it, that’s what we need strong members of the cabinet to sometimes convince a reluctant White House to do the right thing.”

Karl Rove, former senior advisor for George W. Bush administration and Fox News

Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va.

America can’t afford Libyan intervention

By Eli Johnson The Northern Light

The country of Libya, as the story has been unfolding, is the tale of a tyrant, and those who stand against him. It has become a story now of a group of nations who have risen to defend the rebels, and to stand against this tyrant. It has caused some friction on all sides of the American political landscape- left, right, and center.

The story began in a completely different country. It began in Egypt, and their peaceful revolution. After their success, nearby nations decided that they would try and duplicate this strategy. Tunisia is a success story. Yemen is looking to be another success story, but anything could happen. There are protests going on in Syria. But the nation that is getting the most attention right now is Libya.

Much like Egypt, it all began with the people being fed-up with their dictator, this one named Muammar Qaddafi. The people of Libya decided to rally together and begin a series of peaceful protests. The first Libyan protests were held on Feb. 15, and right off the bat, the protests were met with violence.

Following the events unfolding was tough at the beginning. The only video footage that was coming out of Libya was from “civilian reporters.” The video footage was obscure, and what was coming out of Qaddafi’s mouth was strange.

“All my people love me. They would die to protect me,” he said when speaking to various news organizations, laughing off the international pressure that he should step down.

After a while, Qaddafi decided that he had had enough of the protests, and things got ugly. First, he cut off communications and media access. When the military got involved, Qaddafi called in mercenaries and was reported to be using human shields.

By the end of February, Qaddafi had lost control of most of his country to the rebels. On March 6, he began a counter-offensive. As of March 22, Qaddafi is reported to have control of 13 of Libya’s 22 districts, seven are under

the control of the rebels, and two are being contested.

On March 19, the United Nations began their campaign to aid the rebels with military support. To date, it has only been air strikes.

Not a single ground troop has been committed to this action. The UN coalition has been conducting a campaign of bombing of strategic targets for almost a week.

President Obama has categorically ruled out the possibility of a ground invasion, which is a very good thing. However, the complete response to the United State’s involvement in Libya’s rebellion has been rather interesting, from the left, right, and center.

Former Rep. Newt Gingrich (R-Ga) first blamed Obama for not imposing a no-fly zone over Libya. He then went on to chastise the President for making a no-fly zone over most of Libya. To explain his flip-flopping he issued a strange tweet. “@7im given choice use allies not americans- after obama march 3 says qaddafi has to go make sure he goes- obama changed the choice.”

Now, it is hard to understand what people are talking about in 140 characters, but the end result is always the same with Republicans- it’s Obama’s fault.

Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Oh) wrote to Obama, telling him that he was against military action in Libya. He wrote a lengthy statement, which outlined his reasons. His chief argument is that Americans can call military actions whatever they like, but war is still war.

“The president made statements which attempt to minimize U.S. action, but U.S. planes may drop U.S. bombs and U.S. missiles may be involved in striking another sovereign nation. War from the air is still war,” he wrote in his statement. Kucinich even went so far as to talk about proposing impeachment of the President.

Kucinich does make a good point in the fact that this act was taken without Congress passing a motion to declare war. He is also correct in that dropping bombs from the air is no less an act of war than having troops on the ground.

The real problem is that this government already has involved its military far too much in the Middle East. Something that never seems to come up in Congress is cutting the defense spending of this country.

For the year 2012, the military has a projected budget of between $881 billion. The budget requested for this fiscal year stands at $895 billion. For the year of 2010, it was $855 billion. This is a lot of money, a metric ton of money.

The United States accounts for 60 percent of the entire world’s defensive budget. According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, we spend $9 billion a month continuing our efforts in Iraq. The cost of continuing the war in Afghanistan is going to be $10 billion a month.

During a time when everybody is talking about tightening the nation’s belt and spending less, it’s interesting that the most bloated budget in this country, and arguably the entire planet, is not even being brought up. Congress constantly votes to feed more money into it, while they debate cutting the funding for things that matter, like NPR. The sad fact is that this new military engagement is going to cost money. It is money that currently this government doesn’t have.

How many programs could be saved by cutting the defense budget? All over this country, there are talks about cutting from social programs that help people, but not a word about cutting military spending. Apparently, that is too much to ask.

This nation is getting involved in another war, one that we weren’t asked to come into anyway. It sounds heartless, to just say that this country shouldn’t help people who need it, but this country can’t afford it.

What’s more, it sets a very dangerous precedent- the precedent that if your country is in trouble- America the savior will ride in and save you. Ironically enough, this is a reputation that our country simply cannot afford right now. There just isn’t the money available.

Unless the plan is to cut the budget to all those pesky programs that help the poor, that is.

10

TNL

OPINION| March 29, 2011

Japan responds to Make USUAA election a vote for disaster with dignity competence over popularity

By Daniel McDonald The Northern Light

The devastation in Japan is mind boggling. As most are aware, the country experienced a record-breaking 9.0 earthquake off its North Eastern coastline, triggering a major tsunami measuring nearly 80 feet high and traveling up to 10 miles inland.

Currently, the official death toll is 10,102, though some estimates put the number closer to 18,000. From the combined impact of the earthquake and tsunami, 125,000 buildings have either been damaged or destroyed, and major infrastructure such as roads and railways severely crippled.

On top of all this, nuclear power plants in the Fukushima prefecture have gone into full scale meltdown, creating fears of food contamination. Two provinces near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant have placed restrictions on spinach, milk, and other foods produced in that region.

Millions of Japanese remain homeless, and millions more are managing without electricity, running water, and little food.

Even in areas not as directly affected, people are struggling to deal with the crisis.

A friend of my mother, Keiko Tamura, a 43-year old Tokyo resident and mother of two young children described the difficulties of the current situation.

“After the earthquake, the railway was suspended and my 9-year old daughter had to ride her bike four five hours in order to get home. We are also low on basic supplies such as food and toilet paper,” she said.

Additionally, the elderly who make up a large portion of Japan’s demographics are taking the crisis quite seriously.

I spoke with my grandfather Toshiro Suzuki, an 86-year old painter living in Yokohama.

“Many elderly people are afraid and have been stocking up on large quantities of rice from the grocery stores. Now we have a shortage of rice,” Suzuki said.

In spite of the shortage, Suzuki is optimistic about the future. The Japanese lived through and thrived in the aftermath of WWII and will certainly recover from this disaster, continuing to progress.

Despite the magnitude of the tragedy, the people of Japan have conducted themselves in an admirable way. Unlike the aftermath of hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, Japan has experienced no looting, rioting, or panic to speak of. They have acted in a genuinely selfless way, going to great lengths to help each other out.

This may be because Japan has no culture of entitlement or government dependency.

Sure, it has extensive social programs to help the needy, but able-bodied members of society

are expected to contribute (welfare recipients are not even allowed to own television sets!). They also seem grasp the limits of what the government can and cannot do. They aren’t complaining, but instead trying to make do with what they have and are contributing to the improvement of the situation.

In short, the Japanese culture is ingrained with what President Kennedy was trying to communicate in his famous inaugural address when he stated, “Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country.”

They aren’t acting like dependent children recently abandoned by their parents (as was seen during Katrina) but mature adults who are a part of the solution.

News agencies have noted the astounding way in which the Japanese are reacting.

CNN’s Kyung Lah reports that “unlike other disasters where the world has observed looting, rioting and public outbursts of sorrow and rage, it has seen a country quietly mourning, its people standing patiently for hours in orderly lines for a few bottles of water.” There is no rowdy behavior whatsoever.

Everyone is waiting their turn in a courteous way.

The Japanese response to its triple disaster goes beyond acting in a strong and mature way however, it has also been completely charitable and considerate.

I don’t know whether it is simply religious understanding, or some other cultural quality, but whatever it is, the Japanese culture is unique in how it dictates people’s etiquette toward each other.

A family in Fukushima was ecstatic to discover that their dog survived the tsunami but decided to leave it in what remained of their house. Their decision was not based on any lack of love for their dog, but out of respect for others in the shelter.

It is depressing to say that this scene would be unlikely in American society where the culture promotes self-obsession in what many describe as “Generation Me.” When young people look up to vain spoiled heiresses such as Paris Hilton or self-glorifying morons like Kanye West for their role models; it is a sad state of affairs.

But these realities should not let us get away from the issue at hand of how superbly the Japanese have responded to the disaster. Their behavior is a model for the rest of the world and we as a society should hope that during future calamities, whether they be terrorist attacks or natural disasters, that we step up to the plate as individuals and conduct ourselves in a similarly respectable manner.

Please visit the online version of this article for ways to donate aid to Japan.

An empty USUAA office on Friday afternoon, March 25.

By Audriana Pleas The Northern Light

At the end of the day, the University of Alaska, Anchorage is not a stomping ground for secret society paper pushers. However, we are a campus that has the ability to create and nurture intimate relationships with our cohorts and administrators. Unlike other universities, UAA’s student body also has the chance to directly manipulate what type of student representatives they want and hold them accountable for their actions.

Students should pay close attention to the USUAA elections occurring in the coming week of April 5 and 6. This is a chance to determine what type of contribution you want to make to an important decision making body on campus. Last year the Brookes campaign won by a narrow margin, and students definitely did not rock the vote in numbers, even with the introduction of web voting.

That needs to change.

Students should focus on electing the most qualified candidate for the USUAA president and vice president duo on the ballot, as opposed to throwing away a vote to someone shoving doughnuts in their face a few feet away from the voting stations.

USUAA stands for the Union of Students of the University of Alaska Anchorage and they are responsible for events such as homecoming, and advocacy for students. But since money talks, (yes I did quote the title of a Chris Tucker film), I think it is important that students are aware that the student government fee you pay each semester is going into a fund that is close to $300,000.

Candidates need to stop thinking about their resume` and think about whether or not they have the cognitive aptitude to attend to legitimate issues that students find relevant, such as tuition and promotion of the overall welfare of the student

body. In addition, candidates should take a note from this year’s administration, and avoid taking credit for accomplishments that they were not remotely responsible for, such as priority registration, which was already in the works and spearheaded by other authority figures long before the current administration got into office.

Key student figureheads such as last year’s USUAA President Michaela Hernandez and Government Relations Director Nick Moe are leaders that acknowledged that we are untraditional students. And this is a point that has been neglected to by candidates this year.

Around this time last year USUAA senators were buzzing around in the office making phone calls to various Board of Regent members, state representatives and senators concerning the tuition hike. Moreover, they were getting students involved directly by standing outside of the office and advertising the issues.

Senators hosted ice cream socials to provide a public forum to tell students about senator projects, and even hosted a legislative luncheon.

Another key issue that was addressed last year under the Hernandez administration was that the mental health fee was waived from the student health center fee. You no longer have to pay to receive counseling.

It should also be noted that student leaders such as Amie Stanley and Moe were the primary organizers of the beginning of the year protest to the tuition hike.

For this year at least, actions that once promoted change have hit a roadblock and curbside philosophers have become a norm.

That type of student stimulation evaded the Brookes’ administration this school year. This year, student government reps were in the office more than they were out of it.

Another thing for candidates to learn from this year’s

PATRICK MCCORMICK/TNL

administration: it’s not cool when someone uses your student fees to fly down to Juneau and not do a public testimony. Moreover, for another executive to fly down the next semester to only meet with one legislator is far from being productive. Also, kudos to USUAA on getting funding for the residential hall association but that is not adversely affecting the whole campus.

The only student outreach I’ve seen this year was the open forum Senator Rachel Colvards did in the USUAA offices.

I am not saying it takes food to get me interested in a topic all the time but please believe if there is not some type of incentive of why I should be intrigued by a particular situation or issue I am not going to contribute my brain power. And my friends I do believe that is the main point of student engagement.

Honestly, there is a lack of student engagement due this being a commuter based campus. But that does not mean that we should not have standards and expectations for our student representatives.

And if you are going to mud sling on previous campaigns and other student leaders, then you better do your job and do it damn well.

I invite the candidates on the 2011 spring election ballot to exclusively take on the challenge and work with the student body to promote the future expectations for this campus. It is a generic statement, but we have a chance to manipulate a template for future students to either reap positive or negative results. It is vital that we as student body act accordingly.

I also challenge the students of UAA to vote responsibly. Forget about the relationships that you have forged socially. Force yourself to think analytically and think critically about the platforms of the candidates you put into these power positions.

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COMICS| March 29, 2011

TNL

ARTS&ENTERTAINMENT

13

GRAPHIC BY COREY BEAUDRIE/TNL

Musicals often change when they become movies. How did ‘Phantom’ change, and which is better?

By Heather Hamilton The Northern Light

Costumes and Make-up

From a woman gaining fame and adoration by murdering her lover, to the genius of a man living beneath an opera house, Broadway productions have told stories to countless audiences over the years. For nearly as long, the movie industry has been adapting these well-loved productions and packaging them for everyone to enjoy.

Something happens when Hollywood decides to step in and stylize these productions for the masses, however.

Some think that the magic disappears during the transfer, while others prefer movie adaptations because they aren’t as fond of pure stage productions; either way, it’s no secret that the movie industry and the theatre industry have two very different ways of presenting a story.

Andrew Llyod Webber’s “Phantom of the Opera,” which celebrated its 25th anniversary this year and is now Broadway’s longest running production, sports a host of differences between the movie and Broadway forms, for example.

David Edgecombe, a UAA Theatre professor, wasn’t a fan of the 2004 movie adaptation.

“I think the movie is an embarrassment; it’s just not very good.”

Hugh Panaro, the actor currently portraying the iconic Phantom at the Majestic Theatre on Broadway, feels differently.

“I think they’re such different mediums it’s really almost - I’m taking a cop-out - it’s hard to compare,” Panaro said, “I actually enjoy the movie.”

So, what’s so different between the stage and the movies?

Many drooling girls admit that Gerard Butler made a handsome Phantom in the movie adaptation, but according to Panaro, a handsome Phantom is mostly a Hollywood ploy to earn more money.

“The biggest difference I found with the film and this [stage], on Broadway they go much farther with making the Phantom look like he does in the book,” Panaro said, “Emmy Rossum, who played Christine in the movie,

Musical Presentation The “Phantom of the Opera” stage production and movie adaptation feature not only different actors from one another, but also a slightly different take on how the songs are performed. While the songs are essentially the same, the stage production capitalizes on the opera portion of the story’s setting and theme and uses it as a medium through which to present the story. The melodies are heavily operatic, but reduced slightly to better tell the story. In the movie adaptation of “Phantom,” (directed

by Joel Schumacher), musical numbers appear to have operatic qualities tacked on as an afterthought, and are really only noticeable in numbers featured on the opera stage itself, which divides the musical aspect of the experience in two, as opposed to unifying it as a whole.

However, it also makes the music more accessible to an even wider range of audience.

‘I think they’re such different mediums it’s really almost - I’m taking a cop-out - it’s hard to compare. I actually enjoy the movie.’

–Hugh Panaro, ‘Phantom’ on Broadway

actually was coaching with one of our conductors here, and she came back and watched me get into make-up one night, and we asked her ‘Is the make-up going to be the same in the movie?’ And she said, ‘No, because,’ - and I quote - ‘because Hollywood... they want him to look hot.’

And that spoke volumes to me about Hollywood versus Broadway.”

The Phantom seen on stage, in addition to being a better representation to the hideous creature created for Gaston Leroux’s novel, (originally published in 1910 in France as Le Fantôme de l’Opéra), also featured more drastic mask and costume changes than Butler’s Phantom did in the movie adaptation.

Sequence and Events It doesn’t seem to matter whether the change is from novel to movie, movie to stage, or stage to movie- there is always at least one change in the sequence of events, if not more. Minor events and scenes are often left out of movie adaptations due to time constraints, which is more understandable. In the case of “Phantom,” the sequential and overall scene changes yield mixed results.

Two changes that seem to benefit the overall story involve a graveyard scene, where Christine Daae goes to a graveyard to visit her father’s grave. In the stage production, her presence there is abrupt, with no lead up, and only those familiar with the story understand where she is and what is happening at first. Later on in

the same scene, the Phantom attacks Christine and Raoul, (Christine’s other love interest), by throwing “fireballs” at them using a stage trick that looks like magic. In the movie adaptation, there is a short sequence of events that explain Christine’s presence, as well as Raoul’s and the Phantom’s, in the graveyard, and it is very obvious where they are from the get-go. The battle scene is shown through a duel with swords, which is aesthetically more appealing, doesn’t disrupt the illusion of the story as the “magic” fire does and is more understandable to a wider range of viewers.

Another iconic event in the story that is altered between mediums is the chandelier crash. In the movie adaptation, it represents the story’s climax - the highest point of tension before the movie begins to unwind - and is 10 to 15 minutes before the movie’s end. In the stage production, it represents the end of the first act.

Wait, what?

That is a significant change in plot. The climax of the stage production rests on the musical number “The Point of No Return,” (sung between Christine and the disguised Phantom) and the discovery of the Ópera’s leading tenor, Ubaldo Piangi’s, dead body on stage behind a set piece door.

Both scenarios involve Christine and the Phantom’s duet on stage, and Piangi is found dead in both versions as well; the only difference is the chandelier crash. Is this change to the benefit of viewers? Or is it completely unnecessary? That is a debate on its own.

Some people, including Edgecombe, feel that the transfer from movie to stage is often much smoother than vise versa.

“Sometimes in reverse, they get better, “ Edgecombe said, “If they start as movies and then go to the stage, they keep their integrity - if the movie is initially good.”

Edgecombe does concede one point to movies versus stage productions overall, however.

“The movies can always beat us, on stage, with special effects,” he said.

But Panaro feels the stage has something the movies never will.

“I don’t think anything can rival the experience that you feel with a live production and an audience, because it’s a transfer of energy, and it informs the production, whereas a movie is really kind of controlled by the editor, ultimately,” he said, “The editor gets to decide what the audience sees, whereas here, live, the actors are living, breathing organisms, so you see it all firsthand.”

To hear the full version of TNL’s brief interview with Hugh Panaro, check out the TNL website at www. thenorthernlight.org.

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TNL

A&E| March 29, 2011

GAME REVIEW

‘Homefront’ a decent alternative to ‘Call of Duty’

By Bryan Dunagan The Northern Light

THQ’s heavily advertised shooter, “Homefront,” has finally arrived. The premise is simple: North and South Korea have joined to become the Unified Republic of Korea. Kim Jung-Il has died, and his son, Kim Jung-Un has taken over and has invaded Japan and spread Communism to all of the Asian Nations. Korea has also decided to invade America, much like in the 80’s film “Red Dawn.”

The player takes control of Jacobs, a pilot, and plays through a disturbing and destroyed version of Montrose, Colorado.

The beginning cinematic is jarring, in that it has the player being sent in a bus down Main Street to a worker’s camp.

Along the ride, the player is introduced to Korea’s occupation of America. As people are being killed in the streets while their children helplessly watch, it becomes readily apparent how disturbing this game has the potential to become.

The game lives up to the cinematic, with a very dark and twisted view of America’s near future- with decimated suburbs and schools in the background, while children are executed and/or denied food. “Homefront” is a very storystructured shooter, but the story varies in terms of how captivating it is. It’s not as intense as one would like, or expect from the premise, but it is what it is. Both the game and story are very short, but rank up there with the most recent “Call of Duty” game.

The combat is pretty much standard fare, but it expects the player to learn the controls without much of a tutorial - which is frustrating at first – but is fairly quickly overcome. “Homefront” also has an “aim down the sight” mechanic that all such games have nowadays, but it is triggered with toggling instead of by holding down

the aim button, and doesn’t immediately revert to normal after the button is released.

This saves the player some standard grief, but causes more in other ways.

The multiplayer is relatively conventional as well, imitating “CoD”, and doing a pretty good job of it. Its combat is fast, and very frenetic. An interesting aspect of multiplayer is that the game seems to award skill instead of experience, as the players that set up quick shots are rewarded more than those that just spray and pray.

For a game that lauds itself as a story shooter, it is slightly above par. It has a resonating theme, but it could have used more character development, and deeper plot lines. It could use a sequel to fix some of the story issues, but as it stands, it’s a decent alternative for the “Call of Duty” players.

GAME: “Homefront” MAKER: Kaos Studio RELEASE DATE: March 15, 2011

★ ★★★

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SPORTS

16

Alaska skiing thrives in the heat of spring time

By Megan Edge The Northern Light

As the temperature in Anchorage rises, Alaskans cache to stretch their legs on the ski trails around Alaska.

From nordic skiers to alpine, the skiers can’t wait to break threw the spring crust.

“When it comes to Alyeska, I think about spring skiing every time I go skiing during the winter,” said Junior Alex Troutman. “When you don’t have powder, like this year (Alyeska has only had 392 inches this season), I don’t feel any reason to ski Alyeska. Its icy obviously the mountain doesn’t get any sunlight in the winter its cold as hell, so when spring comes around and the sun starts coming up over the ridge I am ready to be there.”

Despite the fact the mountain is small and the trails are few, it is easily comparable to larger resorts in the Lower 48.

Troutman, who recently visited Lake Tahoe, and has skied around Colorado as well, says “It seems like it is always spring skiing there, its always nice, its always bluebird its always sunny its always warm.”

The cold powderless winter doesn’t get to this Alaskan, who grew up on Alyeska, claims the Girdwood resort is the most challenging place he has ever skied.

“If you can ski Alyeska you can ski anywhere, and I swear by that,” Troutman said.

During the long winter months and powder-less days, Troutman and a friend blew off the expensive tickets and long drive to construct a drop off of his buddiess roof, build a quarter pipe and rail.

PATRICK MCCORMICK/TNL However, alpine skiing is not the only part of skiing that thrives in the spring. Professor Shannon Gramse, Swiss exchange student Christian Goetz shreds some spring powder in the Eagle River Valley. Long days, sun and fresh snow make spring some of the best skiing of the year. who is a skate and classic nordic skier, says that spring skiing is more than a hobby but a a passion as well. “Crust said.

Every year these snow junkies come back for more and skiing is easily my favorite facet of spring skiing. Passionate Nordic skiing is popular throughout the state of Alaska. wrap up the ski season.

Nordic skiers look forward to these few weeks all year and “I like to ski lots of different places. Sometimes I chase “It’s magical to explore places like the Glen Alps or speak of crust skiing with almost religious fervor.” the best snow conditions; other times, I just ski around the Spencer Glacier on ultralight skate gear. The terrain is Crust skiing is what happens to the snow at night after UAA area, including the multi-use trails, the APU trails, exciting and skiing on crust feels like flying. You can go the days sunlight has started to melt the snow. The snow and Russian Jack, which is actually a great place to ski,” anywhere.” Gramse said. will begin to harden and produce a crusty top layer.

Gramse said.

“To hit it right, you have to start out very early morning The UAA professor recently completed his 114th ski and get back before the days thaw cycle begins.” Gramse adventure of the year.

OVERTIME

Big Ten Hockey conference will have negative ripple effect

By Taylor Hall The Northern Light

Throughout this college hockey season, there have been whispers of a new conference coming into existence and reshaping the landscape of the current college hockey world.

As the season progressed, those whispers grew more and more tumultuous until the official announcement transformed those whispers into ear-splitting realizations.

On Mar. 21, the Big Ten Conference released plans for the formation of a six-team hockey conference that would commence play in the 2012-13 season. Of the six teams, five of them would abandon their current conferences to join the startup league.

Wisconsin and Minnesota would bolt from the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA), the league in which UAA is affiliated with in hockey, to fly under the Big Ten banner. The move of these two storied programs would mean the WCHA goes from 12 to 10 teams.

Feeling the effect even more would be the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA), the conference in which the rival UAF Nanooks compete. Michigan, Michigan State, and Ohio State would all vacate their current spot in the CCHA and leave just eight remaining teams in the CCHA. Rounding out the six teams would be the newly formed Penn State team, who

announced they would begin a varsity college hockey program in 2012.

So what does this shakedown mean for college hockey?

Simply put, it depends on who you ask.

For the future Big Ten schools, it’s the gravy train. They will still get an automatic qualifier for the NCAA Tournament with the winner of their conference postseason.

They also will likely get huge deals from the Big Ten Network to broadcast the games. That will bring in millions more in revenue to teams that already are well off.

To make it even sweeter, these five teams will still get to play their rivals from their former conference.

Basically, they can keep stoking the fires of traditional rivalries and now get rewarded with having tougher non-conference opponents from the CCHA and WCHA. It is easy understand their logic in moving to the new Big Ten conference and adding a bit more loose change into their pockets while doing so.

For the WCHA, this displacement (one in which they expected) is another period of movement, something they are familiar with.

“Today’s announcement from the Big Ten conference has been anticipated for some time now,” said WCHA Commissioner Bruce M. McLeod in an official statement released the same day the Big Ten announced its plans, “and this will obviously have an impact on the WCHA. But change creates opportunity, too. The timeline of this Association spans seven

decades and has included expansion and contraction on numerous occasions, but the success of this organization has remained constant. The commitment to excellence by our member institutions will not waver and working together we will push forward to assure our future remains bright.”

To some, such as UAA Head Coach Dave Shyiak, the move doesn’t make much sense for programs like Wisconsin and Minnesota to leave the WCHA behind.

“I’m not a fan of (the formation of) the Big Ten,” Shyiak said. “I think it’s going to hurt college hockey more than help it.”

Shyiak himself has been a member of the WCHA and CCHA. He was a player for the Northern Michigan Wildcats (a member of the WCHA until 1997) through the years of 1987-91, and captained the Wildcats to their only National Championship in 1991.

He had been an assistant and associate head coach for the Wildcats 10 years (in the CCHA) before taking over the Seawolves in 2005.

“I love our league and I think it is the strongest league in college hockey,” Shyiak said. “I understand the intentions of the Big Ten league, but, I think if you look at our league it is the ‘big twelve’.

“Why dismantle it when you got something going as good as it is?”

For the WCHA, you lose two of your biggest programs in the Wisconsin and Minnesota. Lets be honest, fans are more likely to come out and watch their school’s team go up against a Minnesota or Wisconsin more than say a Michigan

Tech or Minnesota State. Programs in the WCHA are likely to take a hit in ticket sales due to that fact.

However, the best hockey conference in the land will survive and weather the storm of the Big Ten. For the CCHA, that effect will be even more drastic and possibly fatal. Bottom feeder teams like Lake Superior, Ferris State and UAF all depend on their hockey teams as the biggest revenue-getters. With losses of big name programs, these hockeyfirst schools are likely to struggle to remain above the surface in the near future.

Not impossible to stay afloat, but it will be a mountain to climb.

So how will the ripple effect be felt here in the 49th state? UAA doesn’t have too much to fear apart from losing storied programs from their league.

UAF has far more at risk due to the move and may have to see themselves flee the CCHA if it starts going under.

Could we see the UAF Nanooks look to join the WCHA sometime in the future?

Hey, it seems like a decent fit. Though the WCHA has already said it will look to keep the 10 teams it has right now, pressure from other schools will likely started to amount in the next few years.

My thoughts, after all is said and done, are that we will see UAF joining the WCHA down the line (give or take five years) and we will see the Governor’s Cup rivalry get that much more nasty when the Cup will not only decide state bragging rights, but conference points for home-ice advantage.

March 29, 2011 | SPORTS

TNL

17

COACH: Flagstad, Kaempf are gone CONTINUED FROM COVER

has some questioning the future of UAA skiing.

“I think there is a saying that

Flagstad added with a smile on his face.

Kaempf and Flagstad are both resigning on a good note with the

‘We didn’t tell the athletes we were leaving, we didn’t want it to affect their season and I think they were a little shocked.’

–Trond Flagstad Head Ski Coach

change is always good, I am confident we will find someone that will be good coaches. And then its kind of up to them to carry on the tradition but also find there own style and philosophy. They will do well, its always hard the first year the tradition year cause people are uncertain about who is going to be coaching and whats going to happen so we will be here until june to help with the transition and help to get everything to go smooth.”

Flagstad said.

The coaches will be helping the team with June, and due to the small community Flagstad figures he will know the new coaches, which have yet to be determined.

“The first year might be hit or miss for results and stuff but then after that it should settle,” Flagstad said.

Both coaches know they will miss the coaching and working with each other but not the paperwork,

athletic department as well as the athletes.

“We didn’t tell the athletes we were leaving, we didn’t want it to affect their season and I think they were a little shocked.” Flagstad said.

“They understood our personal reasons though, they were just disappointed.” Kaempt was quick to add.

For the juniors who are about to be seniors the coaches figure this transition will be easier than it will be for the freshman who are soon to be sophomores.

Many say that this sort of legacy is one that cannot be easily forgotten, or replaced.

“We will always be Seawolf fans, and who knows we could come back one day.” Flagstad said.

AVALANCHE: safety season

slopes

hit the

CONTINUED FROM COVER

for less

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the fall of 2007, there have been 8 avalanche fatalities in Alaska; six snowmobilers and two skiers, including most recently Jim Helling, who was found underneath sixteen feet of compacted snow March 20 of this year.

Avalanche accidents are totally avoidable and there are some common sense ways to avert them.

“An untrained traveler in the backcountry should stay on lower angle slopes and out from under steeper slopes until they learn to recognize hazardous avalanche conditions,” Kevin Wright of the Chugach National Forest Information Center said.

To the hard-core skier or rider this means avoiding the most fun terrain and the best snow, however proper education on the topic is easy to come by.

Online awareness classes are found on websites such as www. avalanche.org and local classes from basic awareness to professional levels are offered throughout the state.

“All of the popular backcountry areas around Anchorage [have] significant avalanche potential,” Wright warns.

Just because there isn’t much snow does not mean that you are out of the woods in terms of avalanche danger.

“It is worth mentioning that Southcentral Alaska has an abnormally shallow and weak snowpack this time of year,” Wright said.

Shallow snowpacks lead to the formation of what are known as “facet crystals,” in layman’s terms, the sugar snow that you can’t make a snowball out of. As you might imagine, snow that you can’t pack a solid snowball with also isn’t a secure foundation for a snowpack or a person, and on a slope leads to avalanches.

Unfortunately, many college students speak of avalanches as the “risk you take” in the backcountry. Sure, there are inherent risks in everything we do, but educate yourself and minimize those risks. Friends, family and the people sent to uncover your body will appreciate it.

My friend was sliding down a 3000-foot mountain face, and as I was frozen watching him, my avalanche training took over- “ARREST! ARREST! ARREST!” I yelled as he slid by, knowing that sometimes people are paralyzed and forget to do that. I watched and watched, ready to note where I saw him last. I felt my beacon on my chest and was reassured by its weight and that we had checked each other’s in the parking lot. Rescue scenarios raced through my head as he finally caught himself right before he went out of sight. I sighed and watched the powder cloud build, allowing myself to be awed at its magnitude.

The dust settled and we were able to walk away, get a few sweet turns on a safer slope and go home to eat the best pizza and drink the best beers either of us can remember. We were lucky.

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TNL

COMICS| March 29, 2011

BROKECOMICS | Alec Fritz

TUNDRA l Chad Carpenter

CRYPTOQUOTE PUZZLE l M. Proskuryakova

SODUKU

CROSSWORD

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March 29, 2011 | COMICS

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