CELEBRATING 70 YEARS
OF STUDENT JOURNALISM
PUBLISHED BY STUDENTS
FOR STUDENT INFORMATION
VOLUME LXX, NO. 8
COLLEGE, ALASKA
OCTOBER 18, 2016
From the archives: Polar Star and Sun Star through the years
pages 7-9
Senate debate:
Coghill and Hopkins discuss Alaska's future Erin Granger Staff Writer
In preparation for Alaska’s upcoming elections, Senator John Coghill (R) and former Fairbanks North star Borough Mayor Luke Hopkins (D) joined members of the UAF and Fairbanks community Thursday night to debate some of the biggest issues currently facing the state, including the fiscal crisis and continued budget cuts facing Alaska’s high education system. A series of 8 questions was prepared in the weeks leading up to the debate for moderator Mike Mertes to ask the Alaska Senate District B candidates. The questions addressed university spending and program cuts, oil prices, state budget reform, substance abuse, law enforcement and natural resources. In response to the first question posed by Mertes regarding the role of the University of Alaska and steps each candidate would take to ensure its future, the two candidates reached the same conclusion that the university was a vital part of the state’s identity as a whole. However, Hopkins and Coghill reached that conclusion through very different paths, a theme that would continue throughout the night. “UAF, and the UA across the state, provides an incredible opportunity as a resource for our youth to come to higher education,” Hopkins said. “My position is that we must not only maintain funding at the university but we must provide additional funding so that we can move forward with our students. That’s what our state needs to be doing. That’s what our legislature needs to be doing. That’s what I supported when I was mayor.” While Hopkins placed significant focus on the students of the UA, Coghill seemed to view the question from a more global perspective. “If you think about the northern hemisphere, if you look at the geography of Alaska, we’re the keeper of the Arctic, keeper of the Pacific, we’re watching what’s going on in Russia, we’re watching what’s going on in Canada.” Coghill said. “We’ve got great responsibility and the university is core to that responsibility. Funding is going to be a problem as we’re seeing. When 80 percent of the income of a state just dissipates you have some hard questions to answer.” Another significant difference between the 2 candidates was their stance on Alaska’s recent marijuana legalization. Coghill stated he would like to continue the licensing process with no repeals, looking to the industry for the potential to build small business and boost the economy through a marijuana tax similar to the current alcohol tax. Coghill on the other hand said while he respected the people’s vote to legalize the plant he would support a repeal if possible. With the conflict between state and federal law, the industry could cause problems, Coghill said. At the end of the debate, the discussion was opened to members of the audience if the wish. Continued “Senate Debate” pg. 2
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Ryker Leer # 23 played as left wing during Friday night’s match 10-14-2016. As a rookie, Leer played in 31 matches making him the most played freshman on the team last year. This match against Canisius College he takes credit for two shots. John Aldabe / Sun Star
Nanooks skate and shoot See page 6 for more photos
In 1988, Barrow locals bend down to pet a whale previously trapped under sea ice. This photo was featured in LIFE magazine among many other publications and was part of the series that won Mason the Oskar Barnack Award in 1989. Photo by Charles Mason.
Whale rescue:
Mason revisits Barnack awards Erin Granger Staff Writer
Twenty-seven years ago, photo journalism professor Charles Mason won the Oskar Barnack Award for photography, recognizing the relationship between man and environment. This year marked the 36th anniversary of that award and the first time Mason had revisited the awards ceremony since 1989. Mason looks back on the story that won him the award as a kind of right place, right time situation. In October of 1988, 3 California Grey Whales were stuck under the ice just off the coast of Barrow. “This happens occasionally,” Mason said. “The wind shifts overnight
and blows all this ice that’s in pieces, together. And any whales that are underneath usually just die because they can’t get air. Well this time, the pieces came together and formed a hole in one spot so these whales were sharing this one breathing hole.” No one had paid significant attention to the situation until video footage of the whales bobbing up and down in the only available hole in the ice was shot by one of the locals and reached the desk of CNN in New York by way of an Anchorage contact, Mason said. “The video was shot just out of curiosity,” Mason said. “No one had planned a giant mission to save the whales at this point.”
CNN sent a team to Barrow to cover the event and after putting the footage on the nightly news several times, other news teams began arriving. “I had come back from grad school in late August and I was the photo editor over at the News Miner at the time,” Mason said. “The News Miner sort of pooh poohed it thinking well this happens all the time, it’s a local story, who cares. I thought no matter what it’s a story, it’s in our back yard, the whole world is there. We should be there.” Fresh out of graduate school, Mason said he didn’t have $600 to spend on a plane ticketk, but his determination got the best of him. Continued “Whale rescue” pg. 3 Like us on Facebook!