MARCH 28 - APRIL 4, 2017
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UAA freshman, Daniel Schliesing, releases social networking app
Alaska Native students are dropping out at high rates By Sarah Tangog
stangog@thenorthernlight.org
Moving into different environment can really change a student’s mentality, and for many Alaska Native students, this appears to be the case. The drop-out rate for Alaska Native students in UAA is an average of about 50 percent, and has been so for the past six years. Maria Williams, director of Alaska Native Studies, believes the main challenge is an issue of resources. “Typical of most UAA students, the adjustment to college is challenging. How to use UA Online, Blackboard, how to register for classes, how to work with an advisor, how to take the ACCUPLACER, etc. These are often barriers,” Williams said. “Students often are not aware of Veteran Support Services, or Native Student Services. The UAA Student Club is the Native Student Council — which is very active — but often, new incoming Alaska Native students are not aware of this club as well.” Vincent Gregory, English major, agreed. “The place that I would have
to go to acquire the resources to get collegiate preparation would be… Anayak, 50 miles away from my village,” Gregory said. Gregory grew up in Kalskag and started college at UAA in the spring semester of 2009. Though he agrees that there definitely isn’t enough outreach to the small villages, Gregory developed an additional theory of why the drop-out rate is so high. “Culture shock is what I associate it with,” Gregory said. “It’s a jungle of concrete and steel versus a village that’s serene…” He believes that in addition to a lack of outreach, Alaska Native students from villages go through too much of a change of environment in order for them to focus on school. Additionally, when asking for help, many aren’t given the help they need. “In my example, when I was talking to my teacher, because, you know, I would ask them to be clear. They’d say ‘I’m not going to give you the answer.’ I’m not asking for the answer! I’m asking you to guide me so I can get it on my own,” Gregory said. “If you don’t show me the path, how do you expect me to walk it, you know?”
Though there definitely isn’t enough outreach available for many students, there are programs like the Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program that gives students plenty of collegiate preparation. When told about the drop-out rate in Alaska Native students, Herb Schroeder from ANSEP replied that the drop-out rate does not exist in Alaska Native ANSEP students. “ANSEP students, when they arrive at the university, are academically and socially prepared to be college students,” Schroeder said. He believes that basing grades off learned skills and knowledge would greatly improve the drop-out rate, and that education before college is as vital as college education. College preparation is mandatory. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case with many Alaska Native students. Though there are certainly programs and resources, the main disconnect appears to exist between either recruiting students or showing them what to do in order to know what to do in college. As soon as that disconnect is bridged, the dropout rate is sure to decrease.
PHOTO BY YOUNG KIM
As a freshman in the mechanical engineering program, Daniel Schliesing released Breadcrumbs last month, an app that allows users to leave messages for other users based on their location.
By Cheyenne Mathews cmathews@thenorthernlight.org
Freshman mechanical engineering major, Daniel Schliesing, released a social networking app called BreadCrumbs Social last month. The app is described by Schliesing as digital posters, where users can leave virtual messages in specific locations. BreadCrumb’s users can write and message anywhere they are standing, and any user who walks within 100 feet of the location will be able to see that message, just like posters. Schliesing has been using the UAA campus and its students as a testing ground for his app, and his user base is predominantly UAA students at the moment. Schliesing has been developing the app for a year, and since its release in February, the app has been updated to allow users to post photos. “Since most people are using
it for memes, and that type of thing, I’m thinking about making that kind of the main purpose,” Schliesing said. “There’s other things you could do with it, [like] Geocaching. I could go into Yik Yak space and compete with them since they are not doing really well right now.” Schliesing says BreadCrumbs is still very new, but that he is happy with its development so far. He currently has around 50 users, 20 of whom are actively posting. Schliesing chose the name BreadCrumbs because of the similarities he saw between his idea and the tale of Hansel and Gretel. “I never really thought of another name,” Schliesing said. “It just kind of fit because you leave breadcrumbs for other people to find. I really like the Hansel and Gretel theme.” BreadCrumbs is free on the App Store for iPhone, iPad or iPod touch users with iOS 10.2 or later.
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PHOTO BY YOUNG KIM
Vincent Gregory, hoping to graduate this semester, stands in front of Native Student Services which he attributes to a large part of college career success. Native Student Services can be found in Rasmuson Hall.
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