March 3, 2014

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THENORTHERNLIGHT MARCH 3, 2014

FEATURES

THENORTHERNLIGHT.ORG

UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA ANCHORAGE

SPORTS

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Aloha from Hawai’i: Places to see in O’ahu

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Feb. 28 gymnastics match against Lindenwood

Bret Bohn now a ward of the state

photo courtesy of the Bohn family

UAA alumnus Brett Bohn in Providence Alaska Medical Center.

photo by grace kramer

Dimond High School junior Hattie Little-Burgener takes the microphone in support of public schools.

Alaskans rally in support of public school funding

By Evan Erickson

eerickson@thenorthernlight.org

Nearly 500 people amassed on the snow-covered front lawns of the Z.J. Loussac Library last Saturday, while inside the assembly chambers the Anchorage Legislative Caucus heard testimony on the topic of the day-public schools. Signs reading “Kids! Not cuts” and “I love public schools” dotted the rally, while other signs specified the multiple issues that have brought public education to the forefront of the current legislative session. Much of the debate is over Base Student Allocation, which is the per-student funding amount that each district receives. BSA is the prime mechanism of funding for K-12 public schools. Gov. Sean Parnell’s omnibus education bill calls for a $201 per-student increase to the BSA over three years, but opponents are saying this is far from the level of funding needed to protect schools from continuing cuts to teaching staff. Democrats have proposed an immediate $404 increase to the BSA. Deena Mitchell, with Great Alaska Schools, helped organize the rally. Mitchell said that without substantially higher increases and a means of “inflation-proofing” the BSA, the Anchorage School District is set to lose hundreds more jobs. “Since 2011 BSA has been flat and we’ve lost 600 positions. Flat BSAs don’t allow schools to do planning. They’re in crisis mode for four months of the year,” Mitchell said. Inside the assembly chambers, Barbara Clark, a teacher at West High School, shared with the caucus the struggles she faces in offering her student teachers positive news about the future of their chosen profession. “This isn’t a job,” Clark said. “This is a life. This is a calling.”

Bartlett High School freshman Brendan Gerdts stated frankly what his expectations of the Alaska Legislature are. “You are our hand in slaying injustice. You are our shield against ignorance. Notice how I did not say you are leaders. You are not our leaders. You are followers of what we say,” Gerdts said. Gerdts, along with fellow Anchorage School District students Bridget Galvin and Nora Herzog, flew to Juneau last week to represent the group Students With a Voice, speak face-to-face with legislators and address the Senate Education Committee. Galvin, a junior at Stellar Secondary School, also enlisted the help of the UAA Glee Club, with which she has performed in the past, to entertain at Saturday’s rally. A smaller 10-member Glee unit opened the rally with the national anthem and followed with a mashup of “Eye of the Tiger” and “The Final Countdown.” The other serious issue debated Saturday is a proposed amendment to the state constitution allowing state funding to be channeled into private and religious schools. Supporters of increased BSA see the idea of amending the constitution to create a private school voucher program as another imminent threat to public schools in Alaska, diverting more of the funding already in short supply. “It opens the door to them passing a law to create private charter schools,” said Andy Holleman, Anchorage Education Association president. Vocal supporters of state funding for private schools, such as Anchorage Baptist Temple and conservative public policy organization Alaska Family Action, believe the amendment to the constitution will give people more choices when it comes to education. The last time Alaskans voted to amend the state constitution was in 1998, when the state banned same-sex marriage.

By Suhaila Brunelle

news@thenorthernlight.org After 12 days in court, Lorraine Phillips-Bohn and her husband say their son, Bret Bohn, is now under guardianship of the state against his will. Bohn’s family claims hospital officials and ruling Superior Court Judge Erin B. Marston have ignored their son’s original power of attorney, which gave Bret Bohn’s parents the right to make medical decisions on behalf of their son. Bohn’s general power of attorney and health care power of attorney were drafted in 2007, before Bohn’s current illness. According to court documents, during the course of Bohn’s medical treatment at Providence Alaska Medical Center, his parents informed the medical staff of these documents and began acting accordingly. After several nights of insomnia, Bohn’s parents brought him to the Providence emergency room to seek treatment on Oct. 16, 2013. During this first emergency room visit, Bohn was given two prescriptions, one for anxiety, the other for sleep, then was released to go home.

Phillips-Bohn says after taking these medications, her son experienced a seizure and was brought back to the emergency room. While in the emergency room for the second time, Bohn experienced two more seizures and was admitted into the intensive care unit, where he stayed for several days. Bohn’s parents were told their son would be released to go home with them on Oct. 22. However, officials at Providence moved him to the fifth floor medical unit instead of the promised discharge. Phillips-Bohn says her son remained on the fifth floor of the hospital for weeks, and doctors treated him with as many as 22 different medications at one time without a proper diagnosis. Erik Guzman, Bohn’s longtime friend, spent as much time at the hospital as he could supporting Bohn and would often spend nights at Bohn’s bedside. Guzman said he saw a lot of changes in Bohn by the time he entered the hospital to the last time he was permitted to visit Bohn on Dec. 24. Guzman said on some days Bohn was coherent and talkative, but began to

SEE bohn

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Lindenwood beats UAA in gymnastics meet

Beards of glory

photo by adam eberhardt

Sophomore Simone Penker performs on the bars during the meet last Sunday.

By Travis Dowling

sports@thenorthernlight.org

March 1

photo by kelly ireland

Aaron Vickery, contestant for the “Baby Beard” category, with his niece and nephew. The kids call him “Uncle Beard.”

facebook.com/northernlightuaa

twitter.com/tnl_updates

SEE BEARDS

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In the final event at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex last Sunday, the University of Alaska Anchorage Seawolves competed against the Lindenwood University Lions in a gymnastics meet. Freshman Julia York posted a score of 9.675 on the vault. The Seawolves lost the vault event to the Lions by a score of 48.450 to 47.850. Sophomore Stefany Bryan scored a Seawolf high in the bars event with a score of 9.725. Sophomore Simone Penker scored a 9.675 on the beam, and freshman Kallie Randolph posted a score of 9.750 on the floor. The Seawolves lost the gymnastics competition to the Lions by a score of 192.700 to 189.650. The next gymnastics competition is March 7 against Sacramento State in Sacramento, Calif.

thenorthernlight.org

youtube.com/tnlnews


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