February162010

THENORTHERNLIGHT FEB. 16, 2010

NEWS

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UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA ANCHORAGE

Homeless aid:

FEATURES

Program offers services

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WWW.THENORTHERNLIGHT.ORG

National exchange: Go where you want for less

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Soapbox:

New rules for corporations

Rondy Grand Prix cancelled

Cline has hopes for Statehouse

Other favorite events still on tap for annual winter festival

By Joshua Tucker The Northern Light

UAA’s goals of developing new programs and paying for the ones it already has heavily depend on the State Legislature for funding.

Jason Cline (R), a UAA graduate student in business administration and management, is challenging State Representative Sharon Cissna (D) for her district 22 seat.

The district, often referred to as the U/Med district, includes UAA, APU, Providence Hospital, Alaska Psychiatric Institute and several other medical and educational intuitions.

Cissna has held the seat for 12 years and while she has sponsored few bills compared to other legislators, the health caucus she chairs has held more than 50 forums on critical health issues, bringing people together from across the state.

“I am in many different big networks and I try to get people together to talk about issues and come up with solutions,” Cissna said. Her biggest accomplishment in the legislature was, “just hanging in there.”

Students leading the fight to lobby the legislature on behalf of UAA have met with Cissna repeatedly.

“Cissna has been one of the most, if not the most, responsive legislator to the University,” Nick Moe, USUAA’s Government Relations Director, said.

Cline, 23, already has two bachelor’s degrees from UAA: one in business administration and one in marketing. As well as working on his master’s degree, he is working on a third bachelor’s degree in economics. “(Cissna) has done some great things but we are still seeing the same problems.” Cline said. “In terms of bills she’s filled, I think I would be a little busier.”

Cline is a fiscal conservative who cites Milton Freidman, a free market economist, and Andrew Halcro, 2006 Republican gubernatorial candidate, as his

OPINION

By Josh Edge

The Northern Light

CASIE hABETLER

The Seawolves and Central Washington Wildcats anticipate a rebound shot, Feb. 13, during a game at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex. After beating out regionally top ranked Western Washington on Feb. 11 UAA fell short, 62-57, against the Wildcats. Central Washington is currently ranked tenth in the region.

The 75th-annual Fur Rondy will be without a couple of their more popular events this year.

The Grand Prix race has been cancelled this year due to a lack of funding. Also, the Texas Hold’em tournament has been put on hold because of possible legal concerns.

“We cancelled [the Grand Prix] due to municipal funding,” Ernie Hall said, the Fur Rondy board president. “We get a significant amount of money from the municipality every year.”

However, this “significant amount of money” has been decreased this year.

“Due to municipality cutbacks, we certainly understand why,” Hall said. “Hopefully the municipal budget funding crisis passes.”

The Grand Prix is the most expensive event that the Rondy holds, costing roughly $75,000 each year, according to Hall.

Most of the money goes into setting up and breaking down the course. Officials have to be sure that the course is safe for racers and spectators. After the race, the course has to be broken down in a timely fashion.

This does not mean that the event is dead in the water. Hall and others believe that it is just on hiatus. Currently, the Alaska Sports Car Club is working to find sponsorships to resurrect the race.

“I firmly believe that organizations putting on events like (the Grand Prix) should not turn to the city coffers for sole funding,” Alaska Sports Car Club President Timothy Clark said.

“I do not think it is the duty of the city to pay for (the event) 100 percent.”

New sources of revenue are being sought See rondY PAGe 07

Accounting students travel the state Students from the school of business help rural Alaska on taxes and accounting

By Jerzy Shedlock The Northern Light

Young accounting students at UAA are traveling the state to provide a service unavailable and unaffordable in most rural villages. The students, through an accounting internship elective, prepare tax returns for rural communities in need.

The Alaska Business Development Center’s Volunteer Tax and Loan Program is possible due to a number of local establishments working together. The accounting department at the College of Business works in cooperation with the IRS, the Department of Commerce and the ABDC. Their combined efforts make it possible for students to receive practical experience while traveling the state.

See eLection PAGe 10

“A lot of the things we are taught here at school are more theoretical and you get the knowledge, but you don’t really get to apply it,” Curtis Warren said, accounting major.

“When I’m out in a village preparing taxes I actually have to recall and think critically about what was taught in class to complete the returns correctly.”

Warren has taken two trips to rural villages: See AccountinG PAGe 02

Exhibit brings ‘force’ to Anchorage By heather hamilton The Northern Light

It captivated generation after generation and created an entire sub-culture. Now, it’s in Anchorage for the next two and a half months: “Star Wars.”

The Anchorage Museum’s largest exhibit to date, “Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination,” opened Feb. 10. The exhibit occupies three floors of the museum. It combines 80-plus props and costumes from the six “Star Wars” movies, as well as several samples of modern technology that were inspired, at least in part, by the fictional technology shown in the movies. There

are also interactive stations, a small movie theater and a built-to-scale Millennium Falcon cockpit in which museum patrons can experience a simulation of light speed narrated by Anthony Daniels, who portrayed C-3PO in the Star Wars movies.

LucasFilm Ltd. and the Boston Museum of Science first released this exhibit to the public in October 2005.

Since then, it has traveled across the country and the world.

Karen Mouton, a member of the museum’s education department and the personnel manager for “Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination,” said the goal is to marry the pop icon that is “Star Wars” with

CASIE hABETLER

Princess Leia, R2-D2 and C-3PO at the Anchorage Museum exhibit “Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination.”

See StAr WArS PAGe 14

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TNL

NEWS| Feb. 16, 2010

ACCOUNTING: Rural villages get help from UAA

continued from cover

one to Toksook Bay and one to Napaskiak and Oscarville.

The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program, sponsored by the IRS, had been helping rural communities for years before the new joint venture was developed.

R.F. Fernandez, associate professor of accounting, outlined the growth of the program.

When commercial fishing took a sharp dive nearly 15 years ago, there was an increase in non-compliance in several of the coastal villages.

“Economic downturn coupled with a lack of expertise in income tax preparation made for a lot of delinquency,” Fernandez said. “People were not filing their taxes.”

Now in its fourteenth year, UAA senior accountants are not the only students involved in the unique program. Ithaca College in New York and the University

of Idaho send student volunteers to rural villages around our state.

The program is most appealing to community service oriented students who believe in giving something back.

“Positive experience,” Warren said. “I love getting out and helping the people.”

The program currently assists eight areas of the state: Aleutian Islands, Bristol Bay, Interior, Kodiak Island, Pribilofs, Southeast, Western and Yukon Delta. According to the ABDC 2006 annual report, the program began its pilot project in 1996 serving 185 people in seven communities and completed 186 tax returns. In 2006, its eleventh season, the program had gained wide recognition among rural entities. Volunteers traveled to 69 rural communities and assisted over 6,500 taxpayers, including spouses and dependants who had to file tax forms.

They prepared and filed 3,016 tax returns

free of charge to individuals. This service generated nearly $3.7 million in tax returns.

“Many people are due refunds,” Fernandez said. “Those refunds are an economic stimulus to the villages and the IRS is happy tax returns are being filed, so it’s a win-win situation.”

‘I love getting out and helping the people.’

–Curtis Warren, Student involvement in the program has ebbed in recent years. Two years ago, 20 students signed up for the program. The following year nine students signed up

and the current program only includes five UAA accountants.

Numerous reasons have been speculated for the decline. One such reason is when the program started the internship with ABDC counted as an upper-division-accounting elective. The program was revised four years ago when the College of Business decided the course did not share the value and content added with other upper division accounting electives. Now, the class is simply an accounting elective.

“After this semester the College of Business will evaluate the program to understand the cause of the decline,” Fernandez said. “Participation in the program may have sunk in the last two years, but I still believe it’s an excellent experience for students.”

SAY WHAT? Love stinks! Minn. farmer creates manure valentine ALBERT LEA, Minn. -- Nothing says “I love you” like a half-mile wide heart made out of manure.

A southern Minnesota man created the Valentine’s Day gift for his wife of 37 years in their farm field about twelve miles southwest of Albert Lea. Bruce Andersland told the Alberta Lea Tribune that he started the project with his tractor and manure spreader Feb. 10 and finished Feb. 11.

His wife, Beth, said it’s the biggest and most original Valentine she has ever received. She said some people might think it’s gross, but she said it’s cute and “Why not do something fun with what you got?”

She said the heart would be darker except for the recent heavy snowfall that mixed with the manure.

Police: Iowa mom accused of pimping daughter

Teen found in igloo with bong, knife NEW CASTLE, Del. -- Police responding to a report of a suspicious man carrying a gun, instead, found two legs sticking out of a homemade igloo. New Castle County police said the legs belong to Delaware teen who was arrested Feb. 10 after he was found to be carrying a survival knife, a hammer, 7.5 grams of marijuana and two marijuana pipes.

County police spokesman Senior Cpl. Trinidad Navarro said the teen was released to his parents. Police said he was charged with carrying a concealed deadly weapon, carrying a concealed deadly instrument, possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of marijuana

Inspire

Capture

Baraboo man accused of using stun gun on ‘sinner’

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa -- A Cedar Rapids woman was accused of arranging her daughter’s effort at prostitution. Mary J. Doolin was arrested Feb. 10 in connection with a Sept. 29 incident in Coralville. Police said Doolin sent her daughter to meet an undercover officer who had contacted her during a prostitution investigation. According to police, Doolin’s daughter, 37-year-old Debra Voshell, was later charged with pandering.

Police said Doolin admitted to running a prostitution ring for a number of years and has prior convictions for pimping and prostitution.

Doolin was being held Feb. 11 in the Johnson County Jail in lieu of $10,000 bond.

MADISON, Wis. -- A Baraboo man was accused of repeatedly shocking a male dance instructor with a stun gun, claiming the instructor was a “sinner” who “defiles married women.” A Dane County prosecutor said the suspect, 59, hastily arranged a dance lesson at the instructor’s Madison home and showed up with a stun gun and sledgehammer Feb. 5.

The criminal complaint said the man told a detective that his church does not condone touching while dancing and that he was going to scare the instructor “and tell him to leave the women alone.”

The Wisconsin State Journal said the instructor told police that the suspect phoned for private dance lessons, and when he opened the door to his home, he began to shock him repeatedly in the neck with the stun gun.

Border agents find pot in framed Jesus pictures

Cops: Man smashes 29 TVs with bat at Wal-Mart

EL PASO, Texas -- The U.S. Border Patrol said agents found a stash of marijuana coming across the border in El Paso in an unusual spot: tucked behind a framed portrait of Jesus. A Border Patrol statement issued Feb. 10 said the bust was made just before 3 p.m. Feb. 9 at the Bridge of the Americas in El Paso. A 22-year-old Mexican woman arrived at the port of entry from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, in a sport-utility vehicle. According to the statement, she told agents that she had nothing to declare but some framed art.

Cesar, the drug-sniffing dog, found otherwise. He was drawn to three framed pictures of Jesus Christ in the SUV. Agents found 30 bundles totaling about 31 pounds behind the backing of the three pictures.

The Border Patrol said it turned the woman to El Paso police for prosecution.

Reflect

LILBURN, Ga. -- Police in Georgia said a 23-year-old man grabbed a baseball bat inside of a Wal-Mart and smashed 29 flat-screen televisions.

Police in Lilburn near Atlanta have charged Westley Strellis with 29 counts of criminal damage to property in the second degree. Witnesses told police he grabbed a metal baseball bat from the sporting goods section Feb. 10, walked to the electronics department and destroyed the TVs on display.

He was arrested not long after that.

Police said the televisions are valued at over $22,000. Police said they do not know whether Strellis has an attorney.

Compiled by Kam Walters

Have an inspiring story about your path towards graduation?

Think you know what UAA graduates need to hear about the future?

Want to make the Commencement Ceremony fun and interesting for the audience?

2010 Apply to become the

STUDENT COMMENCEMENT SPEAKER

Candidates for this highest honor must submit a completed application by 5pm on Monday, February 22. Application materials, selection information, and suggestions for creating your personal address can be found online at www.uaa.alaska.edu/sll/studentleadership/commencement-speaker.cfm.

Please direct any questions regarding the Student Commencement Speaker to the Assistant Director for Student Leadership at 786-1371 or hinkley@uaa.alaska.edu.

UAA is an EEO/AA employer and educational institution.

Feb. 16, 2010 | NEWS

TNL

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Project Homeless Connect assists thousands Project Homeless Connect offers one stop services to the homeless community with assistance to different services

By Kam Walters The Northern Light

Shelter, healthcare, childcare and food: the homeless in Alaska have limited access to these simple conveniences. Several groups in Anchorage are working to make these amenities available.

There are over 3,000 homeless in Anchorage at any given time.

40 percent of these are families with children. The average age of a homeless person is under 10 years.

“People think that the face of homelessness (is) the individuals holding a sign. Yes, that is a part of it, but it is a very small part,” Trevor Storrs said, executive director of Alaska Aids Assistance.

When families are troubled with homelessness, finding the services that any average person with a home can take for granted becomes nearly impossible. This is why Project Homeless Connect came to Anchorage.

As part of Anchorage’s 10-year plan to address homelessness, Project Homeless Connect is a “one day, one stop event with services provided to the homeless,” according to Kathi Trawver, UAA professor of social work.

“It is very grass roots,” Trawyer said. “We rely on civic engagement, the community and volunteers.”

The project, which occurred Jan. 27, served over 750 people.

Haircuts, childcare, legal services, housing opportunities, food stamps and substance abuse counseling were all offered for the homeless

in the same day at the Egan Center.

“These are people who are literally down on their luck,” Trawver said. “There are many young families with children.”

Mayor Dan Sullivan supports the cause and the potential it carries.

“An event like (Project Homeless Connect) is a perfect solution,” Sullivan said. “(It offers) the basics to help get people back on their feet.”

In January, over 600 reading glasses were given away; a hot meal was served as if at a restaurant and haircuts were given for free.

“There are many faces to homelessness, and you see them all,” Trawver said.

She and students studying social work volunteered at the event. Because of the accreditation process, Trawver could not attend the last event, but her students went anyway. Some even organized the knitting of over 300 scarves to give to the homeless.

“You really feel like you have done something after volunteering there,” Trawver said.

Aside from volunteering, Trawver and her students collected data on what was really needed by the homeless, what was used and if everyone’s needs were met at the event. A follow up survey showed that most of the people applying for housing at the event ended up not finding a place to live.

“There was a disconnect after the event,” Trawver said.

In San Francisco, where Project Homeless Connect originates, short-term case management is offered to the homeless. This is intended to ensure that after the event the homeless are still getting help.

“Our goal for the future in Anchorage is to connect better

‘An event like (Project Homeless Connect) is a perfect solution.’

-Mayor Dan Sullivan after the event has ended,” Trawver said.

Attendance at the Egan Center for the project was the highest it has ever been. The state was required to undergo a homeless census, using the event as a means of counting. More homeless than ever are on Anchorage’s streets.

“In the winter we get many more in attendance than in the summer,” Trawver said.

Over 1,200 individuals have been served in the four events in Anchorage. Less than 15 percent of those people have come back through for a second time.

“That means people are being attached to services and not coming back because they already have that service,” Storrs said.

DANIEL JACKSoN/TNL

Kim B. Clark, 51, has been homeless for the past three years and is often seen standing on the corner of Benson Blvd. and A St. His weathered sign, a common icon among the Anchorage homeless, is a plea for aid on Friday, Feb. 12.

Recycling is fashionable and wearable in Juneau

By Libby Sterling City Weekly

In an aim to go above and beyond the call of duty of most recyclers, several Juneau artists have taken various materials and creatively transformed them into pieces of art.

The 10th annual Wearable Art runway show, “Cirque de Pluie,” will spotlight the work of these community members, many of whom strive to create their pieces out of things that would otherwise end up in the landfill.

Their creative efforts raise funds to benefit the Juneau Arts and Humanities Council.

When artist Laura Miko received an e-mail offering a large stack of old X-ray test film, her creative juices began to flow.

“Someone Facebooked me and said, ‘I thought you could use it for some crafty project,’” Miko said. “I didn’t know what I was signing up for, but I took it and then realized that it would be a really cool thing for Wearable Art.” Miko has since transformed the two-dimensional film into a wearable masterpiece titled “Sweet Transparencies.” Her friend, Courtney Wendel, will be modeling the piece on the runway this weekend.

“If someone were to give me a bunch of X-ray film and say, ‘This is what you’re going to wear,’ I’d be like, really?” Wendel said. “But it’s Laura.”

The friendship that these women have developed over the past few years adds to the Wearable Art experience, Miko said.

Another friend, Amy George, will be modeling Miko’s second piece, “Wall Flower,” which is made entirely of paint chip samples that Miko has collected for years. The piece is made of over 8,000 paint chip samples, demonstrating Miko’s love for color. The chips have been cut into petals and glued together to create a full-length skirt covered in flowers.

The trio participated in last year’s show for the first time, and they enjoyed it so much that they decided to come back for more.

“We’re all friends and that makes it special,” Miko said.

“This one time of year we know that we’re going to see a lot of each other.”

Each member of the team contributes to the pieces and presentation in her own way, Miko with her creative strengths and Wendel and George with their stage presence.

“I couldn’t do what they do on stage,” Miko said. “So I asked both of them because I thought it would be good for them to get out of their shells. Courtney is this little, rough, Alaskan girl who hikes and wears pants all the time so it’s good for her to show off her runner’s legs.”

“The crowd is really awesome for scared people,” Wendel said.

“You could fall and they would still scream for you.”

Miko has retained some creative control over her pieces, but she has also heavily involved Wendel and George in the process.

“The nice thing about Laura having us be a really big part of it is that we’re really comfortable,” Wendel said.

“It’s the whole kaboodle,” Miko said. “The shoes, outfit, hair and makeup-we all talk about everything because we all want everything to be perfect.”

Miko said she enjoys working on two pieces at once because she can move between them and avoid burnout. The creative outlet also helps her to stay productive during winter months.

“Especially in Juneau, you get antsy pants this time of year,” Miko said. “It’s perfectly timed because you have all winter to be cooped up inside and work.

Wearable art is a good way to do something with my hands and get into the community.”

Following the Juneau event, Miko’s pieces will be shipped to Anchorage to be shown at the Alaska Fiber Festival in March.

For some artists, the wearable art process is an individual journey of creativity until they hit the runway modeling their own pieces. Amy Dressel has participated in all but one of Juneau’s shows and usually models her work.

“It’s kind of like you’re being somebody else on stage,” Dressel said.

Dressel’s pieces usually consist of recycled items. Over the years she has formed fashion from sticky notes, discarded CDs and bottle tops.

This year, her materials came from a found box of Lisa Murkowski campaign materials including stickers, balloons and posters. In light of this year’s theme, “Cirque de Pluie,” Dressel created a raingear ensemble out of the campaign odds and ends.

“I just do it for fun,” Dressel said. “I like being able to take stuff that would normally be trash, alter it a little bit and make something that’s fun.”

Dressel, a former arts council member, enjoys being a part of the fundraiser and feeding off the creativity of other participants.

“Some people seriously spend an entire year working on it, so it’s cool to see their efforts,” Dressel said. “’Wow, you took blank and made it into that?’ People just get so creative.”

Kathryn Grant Griffin first created a wearable art piece in Ketchikan’s show several years ago, and after she moved to Juneau the trend continued.

“Every year I’ve done something I’ve never done before, whether it’s a new design, a new pattern or something else that I’ve never tried before,” Griffin said.

Each of her pieces has contained a woven element in the traditional Raven’s Tail weaving style. This year she wove a wool shawl that she will model on

the runway, also donning felted flowers for embellishment.

Raven’s Tail weaving requires a good deal of planning and graphing designs out ahead of time.

“I need a calculator, graph paper and a pencil with a big eraser,” Griffin said. “The very first weavers didn’t have that.

They must have been very mathematical thinkers in order to get their patterns to come out as perfectly as they did.”

Griffin spun her own yarn, called warp, out of bulk merino wool she purchased online. The spinning process took her much of the summer and she began weaving in September, working “an hour here, an hour there, or a whole day here and there.”

Griffin enjoys the challenge of each wearable art endeavor. She feeds off of other artists’ creativity while being in the staging area at the show, asking about their processes and observing their pieces up close.

“It’s so exciting to be backstage,” she said.

Griffin’s enthusiasm for weaving and wearable art has her already planning for next year’s piece.

“It will be Raven’s Tail, it will be something I’ve never done before and something I’ve wanted to do for a long time,” she said.

“The Wearable Art Show gives me something to shoot for so I can finish a project. And it’s fun.”

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Feb. 16, 2010 | NEWS

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Higher performance may be required for students to get merit scholarship

By Jeremy hsieh The Associated Press

Beyond simply helping kids get to college, Gov. Sean Parnell’s scholarship proposal is about culture change, according to state Education Commissioner Larry LeDoux.

By giving every Alaska student an opportunity to earn in-state college tuition or vocational training if they take tougher classes and finish with good grades, the program could transform the state’s underperforming education system and promote a new culture that values learning, he said.

As the program goes forward, LeDoux said, communities will demand “that their districts, their superintendents, their principals deliver a quality program. And I believe this program will restructure schools in this state.”

If the governor’s scholarship bill passes, the Alaska Commission on Postsecondary Education estimates 2,300 out of about 8,000 graduates in Alaska’s high school class of 2011 will use it.

As is, about one in three Alaska students who reaches ninth grade does not graduate, according to the Department of Education, and half of the University of Alaska system’s first-time freshmen must take remedial coursework, according to a system spokeswoman.

The proposed scholarship requires high school students take a minimum of four years of math, four years of language arts, four years of science and three years of social studies. LeDoux said studies show taking tougher classes in high school has a strong correlation to success in college — more so

than grade point averages or standardized test scores, which are also scholarship eligibility factors.

The plan calls for a $400 million to be set allocated from the state’s general fund.

From that, $20 million in annual investment earnings, a 5 percent return, will pay for the scholarships. The college awards will be tiered and pegged to the University of Alaska’s 2010-2011 tuition rates, about $4,800 a year. The governor wants an A average to earn full tuition, B average to earn three-quarters, and a C+ average to earn half tuition or up to $3,000 a year for two years at a technical school.

LeDoux said spending $20 million annually on this merit scholarship program issues a clear challenge and reward with the responsibility squarely on the student.

The $20 million directly targets children and their attitudes, he said, “And that’s the hardest thing to affect.”

“It’s the concept of inviting kids to take responsibility of their own education,” department spokesman Eric Fry said.

Some legislators have complained that the proposed scholarship program isn’t based on need.

But LeDoux said setting expectations high for one group of students but not another because of their family circumstances would dilute the program’s ability to change the learning culture.

“So I don’t care what their parents’ position to pay (is), I need to affect that attitude, because that’s what’s going to determine their success,” LeDoux said. “I’d hate to try to say to a child, ‘We’re not going try to change your attitude because your parents can probably do

this anyway.’ That’s not going to work.”

The administration hasn’t objected to the inclusion of a need-based element, but hasn’t warmed to it, either. It is deferring to

‘It’s the concept of inviting kids to take responsibility of their own education.’

–Eric Fry Department of Education spokesman

the legislative process for changes. House Education Chair Paul Seaton said the push appears to be for additional money for needy students that qualify on merit first, rather than a prerequisite that would exclude wellto-do students.

Senate President Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak, signed on as a co-sponsor last month to a needs-based scholarship bill by Sen. Johnny Ellis, D-Anchorage, held over from last year. That bill establishes the structure for an endowment for scholarships for needy students, an idea he expects will be merged with Parnell’s merit-based bill.

“I think in the end we’ll have a marriage of the two,” he said.

Thousands of acres of federal land could be up for grabs for Sealaska Land in the Tongass National Forest may go to corporation in delayed land compensation

By Mary Pemberton The Associated Press

The proposed payoff of a decades-old debt by the federal government to a private Alaska Native corporation has prompted growing criticism that it’s nothing more than a modern land grab.

Critics question why Sealaska Corp. and its more than 20,000 tribal member shareholders would be allowed to cherry-pick some of the loveliest and most valuable lands in the Tongass National Forest in the southeast part of the state.

Sealaska said the transfer of up to 85,000 acres of federal land is an unpaid debt and long overdue — and could create new economic opportunities in an area of Alaska where the timber industry is dying.

“I believe this will have a positive economic impact throughout the region,” Sealaska President and CEO Chris McNeil Jr. said The company would like to diversify its businesses, which now is mostly in timber, into cultural and environmental tourism and perhaps renewable energy projects such as tidal, geothermal, biofuels and wood pellets, he said.

Jim Gould, mayor of Thorne Bay, a town of about 400 people on Prince of Wales Island, countered that if Sealaska gets what it wants, the town’s dependable supply of timber and the jobs that go along with it will be gone.

“I think they will harvest when the market is high and it will be short-term boom and

bust with most of the timber going to exports,” Gould said.

All three members of Alaska’s congressional delegation sponsored a bill that would approve the transfer.

It would be the first time that one of 13 Native regional corporations formed nearly

‘I believe this will have a positive economic impact throughout the region.’

–Chris McNeil Jr. Sealaska president and CEO

40 years ago has been allowed to pick land outside the original boundaries of the 1971 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. Under the act that compensated Alaska Natives for the taking of their lands, the regional corporations were allowed to select from 44 million acres and were paid more than $962 million.

Sealaska was entitled to up to 375,000 acres but received 290,000 acres. Much of the land it was entitled to was tied up in long-

term timber contracts. Some of the parcels now available for choosing are mostly under water and include municipal watersheds and land used for subsistence hunting and fishing.

Those lands should stay in the public domain and shouldn’t be part of the deal, McNeil said.

In addition, the Native corporation is giving up its rights to hundreds of thousands of acres of old-growth forest in the Tongass, — at nearly 17 million acres, the nation’s largest national forest — to be able to make selections outside the 1971 settlement act boundaries.

The bulk of the acreage Sealaska wants in southeast Alaska is for timber harvesting.

Sealaska also wants 3,600 acres containing more than 200 sacred sites and 5,000 acres containing 46 sites for new business ventures such as ecotourism.

“We think this is a fair alternative,” McNeil said, adding that the corporation’s plans could help lower the high cost of living in southeast Alaska, while at the same time creating jobs.

“We think our land bill is an idea not just about the past but looking at the future of the region,” he said.

Sealaska is not getting more than its fair share, said Alaska Republican U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski.

“The bill doesn’t give Sealaska one single acre more than it was entitled to receive back in 1971,” Murkowski said, who expects congressional movement on the bill this month or next.

05

STATEWIDE BRIEFS Native leaders say Alaska needs Energy Department Heating oil and gas prices in rural Alaska remain more than 30 percent higher than they were five years ago, according to the state Division of Community and Regional Affairs.

With villages facing problems providing basic services, the Alaska Federation of Natives leaders told state lawmakers Feb. 11 the federation supports an energy bill.

The Anchorage Daily News reported that the bill would create a state Energy Department, remove restrictions on nuclear power, fund emerging energy projects and require energy efficiency standards in public construction projects.

UAS chooses new provost The University of Alaska Southeast has chosen Rick Caulfield as its new provost.

Caulfield has been director of the University of Alaska Fairbanks’s Tanana Valley Campus for the past six years. As provost, he will be the chief academic officer at the Juneau-based school. He plans to start work there in June.

UAF plans to conduct a national search for a new director for the Tanana Valley Campus.

General fund eyed for scholarship proposal Gov. Sean Parnell is proposing the $400 million for his scholarship program come from the state’s general fund, instead of reserves.

In unveiling his scholarship proposal last year, Parnell called for setting aside $400 million from reserves to generate earnings for tuition assistance. But, in a recent spending bill to the Legislature, his administration proposed the money come from the general fund.

A Parnell spokeswoman attributed the change Feb. 11 to higher-thanexpected revenue estimates. A senior economist with the Office of Management and Budget said the money would shift from the general fund to savings and conceptually have the same effect as the first proposal.

More than $1 million available for salmon research The Alaska Department of Fish and Game is looking for proposals for salmon research.

The agency said it has more than $1 million in funding for salmon research, monitoring and management projects in the Arctic, Yukon and Kuskokwim region.

The first call for proposals opened Feb. 12 when the agency will offer approximately $600,000 for salmon stock assessment and management projects.

The agency is looking for proposals that could provide better escapement estimates and information on why king and chum salmon stocks have declined.

A second call for proposals is planned for late March.

Alaska racers prepare for Susitna 100 Elite cross-country skiers, runners and cyclists in Alaska are gearing up for the Susitna 100, a winter endurance race in rugged wilderness terrain.

Racers will compete on an out-andback route that begins outside of Wasilla.

The 75 competitors can ski, bike or run through remote forests and across frozen waterways 50 miles northwest to Alexander Lake, stop to eat, change clothes and then turn around for the 50mile trek back to the finish line.

Athletes from eleven states plus Italy, Canada, Germany and France are entered.

Much of the course follows the frozen Susitna and Yentna rivers; however, most of the course is not accessible by road and drifting snow can bury geographic landmarks.

Compiled by Kam Walters

SPORTS

06

Injuries and sickness have made for a rough start to Seawolves’ ski season

By Josh Edge The Northern Light

The UAA ski team has gotten off to a fairly rough start this year, but the outlook is still bright in qualifying a number of athletes for the NCAA Championships.

“We have definitely been struggling and had a pretty rough start to the season,” Head Coach Trond Flagstad said. “We are not where we think we should be.”

Injuries and sickness has plagued the Seawolf roster up to this point – two skiers from the women’s alpine team, former All-American Kristina Repcinova and team captain Lacy Saugstad, have suffered season-ending knee injuries.

Also, numerous skiers have encountered low iron levels; endurance athletes typically have a higher-than-normal iron level.

These low iron levels forced Flagstad to

leave some skiers behind during the New Mexico Invite on Feb. 5 and 6, in which UAA placed seventh. But, this problem is being remedied by having the iron deficient skiers take iron supplements. It is expected that these supplements will take approximately three weeks to take affect.

The Seawolves have two meets left before the NCAA Championships in March and UAA needs to take full advantage of that in order to qualify a full team for the national meet.

The Nordic team is coming around, but the alpine team needs to step up in the last couple of meets to maintain any hope of qualifying a full team, though, at this point they can probably qualify four skiers, according to Flagstad.

“We have two meets, four races, left,” Flagstad said. “We are pretty confident that we will qualify a full Nordic team. If we do

not qualify a full team, it will definitely be disappointing.”

Qualifying a full team would give the Seawolves a good shot at finishing in the top five at the NCAA Championships.

Despite the crippling affect of these problems, and the team apparently having a little trouble getting their skis back under them, hopes remain high for the remainder of the season.

“We definitely believe in what we are doing and we are charging ahead,” Flagstad said. “We are all going to work in the next two meets to ski better than we have in the last few.”

UAA will take part in the Nevada Invite at Sugar Bowl in Truckee, Calif. on Feb. 19-21, and then in the Colorado Invite in Steamboat Springs, Colo. on Feb. 26 and 27.

Gymnasts come home to take on Brown

By Josh Edge The Northern Light

The first half of the season has garnished some rather disappointing results for the Seawolf gymnastics team, with their earlyseason woes attributed to a difficulty in staying on the equipment.

“The most important thing is staying on the equipment,” Head Coach Paul Stoklos said. “At the beginning of the season, we had a tremendous number of falls.”

Despite the team’s record, their scores have been slowly, but steadily improving from their 183.475 points against Oregon State, Illinois and Air Force on Jan. 8. In the Metroplex Challenge, in Dallas, Texas, the ‘Wolves scored a season-high 188.900 points.

“We knew we were going to start slow,” Stoklos said. “I think we are a little bit further behind than I would have preferred, but I am pleased with the progress we made

and the direction we are going.”

The success and betterment of the Seawolves through the season has been helped along by the personal successes of juniors Kristy Boswell and Leah Wilson as well as senior Courtney Williams and sophomore Kelsey Fullerton.

Usual standout Lauren Agostino has been held out of most events due to injury, but Stoklos anticipates her return soon.

Agostino has only been able to compete on the beam so far this year, posting a season average of 9.192 and a season high of 9.250 – she has only been able to compete three times this season.

“We are putting Lauren Agostino into the vault and floor, which she had been out on,” Stoklos said.

Junior Maria Puricelli has also been held out of events because of injury this season. She has been held to just two meets so far this season, where she competed on the vault and bars, compiling a 9.488 and

9.475 average, respectively.

Whether the athletes have had significant enough of an injuries to sit out or not, there are a number of small, nagging injuries that have taken their toll. In response, the coaches have been resting people in hopes of having them at 100 percent for the second half of the season.

Starting values have also been holding the Seawolf squad back to some extent.

Routines on the bars, beam, and floor begin with a 9.5-point starting value, with bonus points being added onto it depending on the difficulty of the routine.

So, the ‘Wolves need to get the starting values of their routines as close to the 10 point mark as possible,” according to Stoklos.

The Seawolves come home on Feb. 19 and 21 to take on Brown in the Wells Fargo Sports Complex at 7 p.m. and 2 p.m., respectively.

OVERTIME

Doping is dirtying the Olympic dream

By Josh Edge The Northern Light

Drug testing always seems to be at the forefront of the sporting world nowadays.

The concentration on this by the media only intensifies during Olympic season.

Recent articles have stated that over 30 athletes have been banned from the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games – so far.

Luckily, no athletes from Team USA have been tagged for doping, but it still seems like a distinct possibility through the preOlympic testing.

Over 70 athletes were kicked out of the Beijing games during the pre-Olympic testing.

The problem that I have with this is not in drug testing – it is unfortunately a necessary evil in modern-day athletics. My disappointment is in the athletes, whether they are American or not. These athletes are supposed to be the best that each nation has to offer; and, even though they may be the best, or at least among the best, they do not seem to stop and think about the potential

dishonor that they are bestowing on their country and themselves.

Olympic competition does put a massive amount of pressure on certain countries to compete and medal, and in turn on the athletes that the countries choose to compete.

Maybe it is this pressure that makes the athletes believe that the apparent necessity to medal in the Games outweighs the risks of doping.

Honestly, the risks that one takes with their body and personal well being when they decide to dope is bad enough, but the risks that they are taking in the name of their country may be even greater.

I can’t speak for everyone else, but it would seem as though getting caught doping while representing your country is somewhere along the lines of the ultimate slap in the face for that country. A doping athlete’s reflection on their country is absolutely horrifying. It gives the country a bad reputation, and that defeats the purpose of the Olympics.

Even though the pressure to win is huge, the games are essentially about goodwill.

Despite all of the controversy and wars that

are going on in the world, countries put their differences aside and compete. The very notion of doping during these games is blasphemous and, obviously, should never be done.

The same thing goes with the professional circuit of these sports, but since the athletes are not usually representing a country in their professional status, it is up to them if they want to mess up their entire career and leave question marks in everyone’s minds about whether they are actually among the best – or if it was just a dope-induced skill.

Just ask Mark McGwire or Barry Bonds.

Each would have probably been great in their own right. But, every achievement they earned or record they set is in question.

McGwire’s name will probably never grace the Hall of Fame despite the renowned home-run race with Sammy Sosa in 1998.

The Olympics are a great chance for the world’s best athletes to show their stuff. Why should this event be so prone to cheating?

A great credit needs to go to the antidoping officials for keeping the games as clean as possible.

SPORTS BRIEFS Seawolves shut down #17 Vikings, 68-53 Brandon Walker scored a game-high 23 points as UAA ended with an 18-0 run Feb. 11 to score a 68-53 upset over nationally 17th-ranked Western Washington at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex.

UAA entered with a regional rank of No. 8.

The Seawolves (14-7, 5-5 GNAC) knocked off the defending league champions and the current top-rated squad in the NCAA Div. II West Region as they also got 13 points from junior forward Nick Pacitti and a career-high 10 points from sophomore forward Aaron Stevens.

UAA’s defense stepped up big in the second half, holding the Vikings to 21 percent marksmanship, including 0 of 8 on three-point shots.

Stevens, a 6-8 junior-college transfer who played locally at South Anchorage High School, had the best game of his young career, making 5 of 6 shots and grabbing four rebounds. His steal and breakaway dunk with 12:33 remaining made it 47-40 and sparked the Seawolves’ late surge.

Walker gave UAA its first lead of the night on a spinning layup in the lane with 3:17 remaining, drawing the foul and converting the old-fashioned three-point play to make it 55-53.

The win earned the Seawolves a season split with the Vikings after falling 68-62 in Bellingham last month.

UAA edge out GNAC leading WWU in thriller Nicci Miller scored 21 points, including the game-winning jumper with 3.3 seconds left, as UAA knocked off league-leading Western Washington, 71-69, in a battle of nationally ranked teams Feb. 11.

UAA came in ranked No. 17 nationally and No. 4 in the NCAA Div. II West Region, while WWU entered at No. 20 and No. 2, respectively.

The Seawolves (18-3, 8-2 GNAC) also got 13 points and four rebounds from sophomore center Hanna Johansson as they handed WWU its first GNAC loss in 11 outings.

After beating UAA 78-58 in Bellingham last month, the Vikings appeared to be the better team again in the early going; however, UAA would never say die as they set the stage for last game heroics.

Miller picked up the loose ball with 10 seconds left and drove through a phalanx of Viking defenders, kissing a 6-foot jumper off the glass and sending up a roar for the 491 fans at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex.

Miller shot 7 of 11 from the field and 7 of 7 at the free-throw line to earn her highest career point total in a GNAC game.

It was her fourth 20-plus outing of the season.

Seawolves receive WCHA Scholar-Athlete honors A program-high five Seawolves were among 77 student-athletes to receive the fifth annual Western Collegiate Hockey Association Scholar-Athlete award as announced by the league Feb. 11. Senior defenseman Nils Backstrom and senior goaltender Jon Olthuis were amid 40 athletes that were repeat honorees from the 2008-09 season.

In addition to Backstrom and Olthuis, seniors Josh Lunden and Jared Tuton and sophomore Dusan Sidor represented UAA by receiving their first Scholar-Athlete award.

Olthuis, from Neerlandia, Alberta, received the honor for the third time of his career after earning UAA’s first ever recognition in 2007-08.

To receive the WCHA Scholar-Athlete Award, conference-member studentathletes must have completed at least one year of residency at their present institution prior to the current academic year and must also have a grade-point average of at least 3.50 on a 4.0 scale for the previous two semesters or three quarters, or may qualify if his or her overall GPA is at least 3.50 for all terms at his or her present institution.

The Seawolf WCHA Scholar-Athletes will be recognized and publicly honored on-ice with a commemorative plaque at the UAA vs. Minnesota Duluth game on Friday, March 5.

–Compiled by Taylor hall

TNL

Feb. 16, 2010 | SPORTS

07

RONDY: Two new events make way into schedule continued from cover

after by the Alaska Sports Car Club in order for the event to continue, which will help to decrease city costs.

Theoretically, the event could be completely selfsufficient and actually turn over a gross profit. The potential profit would then go to local charities, according to Clark.

The Texas Hold’em tournament had to be put on hold because of legal concerns. Poker comes with the notion of gambling, which is illegal in Alaska. But, Hall believes that the event will probably be back within the next year or two.

There will probably not be a decision made this year with enough time to organize the tournament before the Rondy begins.

Even though some events have been held off this year, there are still a couple of new events that are being introduced.

“One new event that we have is ‘Dancing in Pursuit of Dreams,’” Hall said. “It is a multicultural event where Native and other ethnic groups in our community will be doing song, dance and storytelling.”

“Dancing in Pursuit of Dreams” will be held in the Egan Center at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 26, 27 and 28.

The other newcomer is the “Sprints at Sundown” dogsled race, which takes place on March 6 at 5 p.m. after the start of the Iditarod.

Along with the new events are some of the more traditional events like the Rondy World Championship Sled Dog Races, which begins on Friday, Feb. 26 at noon. The race has a purse of $80,000 this year and has 30 mushers have already signed up to participate.

The Fur Rondy begins on Feb. 26 and runs through March 7.

Editor’s note: There are many other events taking place during the Fur Rondy. See www.furrondy.net for a full schedule of Fur Rondy events.

LEIGhANN SEAMAN/TNL

The Grand Prix, sponsored by Morrison Auto Group in 2009, was held March 6th and 8th. The event brought out race car enthusiasts of all walks. It is undetermined if the Grand Prix will appear Fur Rondy events.

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FEATURES

09

National Student Exchange opens up the map For the price of attending UAA, students can study in any of over 200 U.S. and Canada universities

By Katie Forstner The Northern Light

The economic mudslide of 2008 shot a lot of college dreams in the foot. Students who had fantasies of traveling to exotic locales to pursue their education had their dreams thwarted when the stock market ate their trust funds.

However, all is not lost. The National Student Exchange makes it possible for students on a budget to attend those ideal universities.

“I always wanted to go to the University of Oregon,” Brian Cox, UAA student, said. “But when the economy took a dump I ended up going to UAA to save money. NSE allows me to go to Oregon for a year on UAA tuition. It’s awesome.”

The National Student Exchange is a program between over 200 campuses in the United States, Canada, Guam, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Students attending one of the member universities can choose to participate in an exchange to the campus of their choice.

For example, a student from UAA could do a semester at Western State College of Colorado, University of New Mexico or even University of Guam.

“Anywhere between 35 and 60 students apply each year,” Cecile Mitchell said, the director of admissions at UAA. “They’re allowed to choose up to five schools. A student who only chooses one school has less of a chance of going there.”

The application process to enter the National Student Exchange is, like most application processes, tedious. A $200 non-refundable fee is required at the time of application and students should be aware that an application does not guarantee an exchange.

Applicants are reviewed by the home campus and

selected based on the minimum requirements as set by the National Student Exchange.

The guidelines set by the National Student Exchange mandate that the student in question must be full-time, have a minimum cumulative GPA of Number of NSE 2.5, be in good academic standing and schools per state have no outstanding financial issues. (or province or This program is a great chance territory) for young people to experience different cultural societies and engage themselves in another learning 1 environment. After all, travel is 2 one of the greatest educational tools available.

3 “I think travel is one of the best things out there,” UAA student Ben 4 Woodland said. “I’m trying really 5 hard to stay out of debt, but I’d love to go to the University of Arizona. The 6 National Student Exchange makes it possible for me to go there for a year 7 and not break the bank.”

9 The priority application deadline for the National Student Exchange is 12 February 1 of each year. However, Mitchell has extended her deadline LINDSAy JohNSoN/TNL until the end of February to give students who are really interested the benefit of the doubt..

Finally, there is a relief for college students who can’t executed collegiate programs in the country and should be afford to pursue a degree at their dream institution. The taken advantage of.

National Student Exchange is one of the most efficient, well

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10 FEATURES|

Feb. 16, 2010

ELECTION: Cissna and Cline discuss funding for U-Med continued from cover

idols.

“The way I see the direction that Alaska is heading we are on an unsustainable economic path,” Cline said. “Current leadership, I feel, is not providing the correct direction or policies that could make sure we have a long-term sustainable economic future for Alaskans, and, as a young Alaskan myself, I am in an very actionable position to apply some long-term policies.”

Both Cissna and Cline have unique connections to Alaska’s environment. Cline first worked on the deck of a seine fishing boat in Price William Sound when he was thirteen. His family had three boats involved in the Exxon Valdez cleanup. Cline is on Chancellor Fran Ulmer’s Sustainability Action Board and has also talked to mining company officials about the proposed pebble mine project.

“He has talked to Pebble. He is really interested in getting the full information. I think it’s really impressive that he is willing to go out and get both sides,” UAA Sustainability Director, Paula Williams said, who serves on the Sustainability Action Board with Cline.

Cline recalls the 20 years fishermen in his family waited for settlment checks from ExxonMobil after the Exxon Valdez oil spill..

“I’d need a pretty strong convincing tale that Pebble Mine would not directly effect fisheries before I could sign onto it,” Cline said.

Cissna has been fighting for Alaska’s enviroment for over 40 years. She was a leader in the fight to create Chugach State Park when she was a student at UAA, where she got her bachelor’s in sociology and her master’s in public administration.

“I came (to Alaska) on a two-week vacation in 1967 and I made my decision right before the I was supposed to be catching the flight back to Seattle that I couldn’t leave, that I belonged here,” Cissna said. “I fight the battle I always have and in elected office I have been able to take on a role that helps me do that better.”

Funding UAA’s nursing program is one of district 22’s clear needs. The program is the only one in the state and at least 200 students are currently waiting 12-18 months to begin the program due to a lack of instructors and the funds to hire them.

“There could be 400 (students waiting), there could be 800, depending on how you calculate the statistics,” Marie Samson said, coordinator of student affairs for UAA’s nursing program.

Cissna said she does not think additional funding can be appropriated for the nursing program this legislative session. Instead she is focusing on keeping deferred maintenance funds for UAA in this year’s budget. “(For) the university, anything it’s already got in (the budget), we are going to make sure it stays in.” Cissna said. “But I have been looking at my communities and making sure that communities out in the dark ages, because that’s where some of them are, get the support they need.”

Cline agrees that the nursing program needs more funding.

“The university is obviously the hugest block of this district. It’s one of the most important things,” Cline said. If elected, he has pledged to introduce an earmark for nursing program funding in his first legislative session.

Video from Cline’s interview and complete interview transcripts of both candidates are availble online at www.thenorthernlight.org

LoGAN TUTTLE/ TNL

UAA graduate student Jason Cline discusses his campaign forAlaska State House District 22. It is often reffered to as the U-Med district.

TNL

Feb. 16, 2010 | FEATURES

TNL

11

Better Business Bureau holds event

By Kim Copadis

Special to the Northern Light

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Celebrate the Chinese New Year with the UAA

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A premier troupe from Bejing Normal University entertains with a wide array of music and dances in traditional and contemporary styles. Join us!

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Wendy Williamson Auditorium Call 907.786.1760 or visit www.uaa.alaska.edu/ci for more information

The Better Business Bureau, (BBB), an national organization that provides financial counseling services, is hosting “Motivation for the Market Place” on Feb.16.

The BBB is bringing up Robert Spector, journalist and best-selling author of “The Nordstrom Way: The Inside Story of America’s #1 Customer Service Company” to speak at the forum.

“We’re flying him up here just for this event and hoping to pump-up the market place here,” Tara Sims said, the Alaska public relations manager for the BBB. “A lot of his talk is going to be about customer service. No matter what field you’re going into, you’re going to have to deal with customer service and know how to use it to benefit your business,” Spector’s insights are based on objective, exclusive, observation.

“His books are business based,” Sims said. “He was the only one allowed inside Nordstrom to learn about the inner-workings of Nordstrom and to how they’ve become known nationally for successful customer service.”

However, the event is not just for suited-up business owners and their employees – it is also targeted at students. The BBB feels that this event is just as important for students as it is for everyone else, which is why they made sure the

event is affordable for students.

“I think this is a good idea to go to because these small business seminars offer so much more real world knowledge than what you can get in a classroom,” Ken Burleson said, Business and Finance major. “These events are usually removed from an academic setting and provide an emphatically different perspective for students and/or small business owners. It’s a great networking opportunity for anyone conducting business in Alaska.”

The BBB is a non-profit service organization.

“We provide reliability reports to the public,” Sims said. “If there has been any government action against the business, how long the business has been operating, etc.”

The BBB’s mission is to be a leader in advanced market place trust. They assist students with business issues that cannot be resolved without professional help and often walk students through major financial milestones such as buying a car, purchasing a home and even the student loan process.

The event will be at the Z.J. Loussac Public Library in the Wilda Marston Theatre at 11 a.m. Tickets are $50 for general admission and $10 for students.

For more information about the Motivation for the Market Place event call (907) 562-0704 or go to www.bbb.org.

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ARTS&ENTERTAINMENT 14

STAR WARS: Saga-inspired technology featured alongside costumes and props in new exhibit

“Darth Vader”

“Star Destroyer” at the “Star Wars” exhibit at the Anchorage Museum, on display through April 25.

“Wampa”

“Stormtrooper” photos by Casie Habetler/TNL

continued from Cover

modern science and technology in hopes of interesting and educating a new audience.

“The imagination part of it is George Lucas’ vision,” Mouton said. “What the Boston Museum of Science did was take those ideas, and the sensation of ‘Star Wars,’ and use them to their advantage.”

The real-world technology on display is as impressive as the fantasy technology it’s based on. One noteworthy piece is the Boston Digital Arm, which greatly resembles Luke Skywalker’s prosthetic arm in “Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back.” The finger, wrist and elbow movement are controlled through simple commands, which come from signals sent from the brain. The device senses these signals through the skin and translates them with a microprocessor into electrical signals. These in turn power small motors that bend and rotate the joints in the prosthesis. Older prostheses could only interpret one signal at a time, whereas the Boston Arm can interpret several.

The exhibit isn’t all technology though. Most of the exhibit consists of costumes, props and models used in the movies.

Princess Leia’s ceremonial white dress, Darth Vader’s intimidating black ensemble and the Stormtrooper uniform

are just a few of the displayed costumes. Luke Skywalker’s light saber and his Landspeeder from “Episode IV: A New Hope” are also on display.

The Landspeeder is the widest piece in the exhibit and,

The real-world technology on display is as impressive as the fantasy technology it’s based on. according to museum registrar Ryan Kenny, the museum doors had to be removed for it to be brought inside. At 17 feet long and seven feet wide, it wouldn’t even fit through the loading dock doors.

“The costumes and props are really cool,” Kenny said, “but it’s interesting to see the sheer science that goes into this. Not only the science they talk about in the exhibit, but the science that goes into creating an exhibit like this.”

Both the real world technology and the artifacts from the movies are delicate and required time and care to install.

It took roughly one month to complete the exhibit, and it was finished only two days before the Member’s Preview on Feb. 9.

Kenny said Alaska is one of the most difficult places to set up the “Star Wars” exhibit. While the Millennium Falcon was shipped from Minnesota, other portions came from Melbourne, Australia and Tacoma, Washington.

Coordinating shipping and setting up the exhibit took a massive amount of labor hours and most of the museum was closed to the public while the exhibit took shape.

Shipping damages during transport didn’t ease things either, particularly for Doug Brown, who oversees installations for the exhibit. He said the Millennium Falcon cockpit replica got a little banged up on the way over from Minnesota.

“We had to go to specialty places, businesses up here, to get curved pieces [of wood] cut out,” Kenny said.

“Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination” runs through Sunday, April 25. Tickets are $22 for adults, $18 for seniors, students and military, and $8 for children 12 and under.

‘From Paris with Love’ a big blast of escapist fun

By Jena Benton The Northern Light

For viewers who like explosive action with a high body count, “From Paris with Love” is the perfect flick.

That’s not to say it’s brainless entertainment. The script has clever writing and the director makes nice artistic choices that make this movie a cut above the rest.

The plot itself is just another take on the buddy movie, but it’s not as much of a comedy as the previews might lead one to believe. Straight-laced James Reece (Jonathan Rhys Meyers, “The Tudors”) works at an American Embassy in Paris,

but he wants to be promoted to a spy. He’s partnered with the slightly psychotic renegade Charlie Wax (John Travolta, “Old Dogs”). Mayhem ensues as it must with such a pairing, but the plot takes many surprising twists and turns.

The talented Luc Besson, who has given us such action flicks as “The Transporter” and “La Femme Nikita,” developed the story idea. Adi Hasak, who also wrote the 1997 thriller “Shadow Conspiracy,” wrote the script. Between these two talents, “From Paris with Love” transforms a mundane plot into a movie that keeps viewers interested from the very first scene.

There is only one truly cheesy moment in the film, but only those familiar with Travolta’s work would be aware of it. Granted, any movie that places Travolta in France would have to make the allusion to a certain famous “French” conversation in one of his previous movies.

That isn’t to say the French setting is overdone. The director, Pierre Morel, excels at making the Parisian backdrop more than a series of cliché shots of the Eiffel Tower. Like his directing work in “Taken,” he makes sure to include Paris’ less-traveled streets and seedier sites in an effort to demystify the famous city. He also

includes a few artistic choices that elevate the film.

For example, one artistic shot where Reece is high was reminiscent of one of Hitchcock’s famous MacGuffins.

While this movie will never win an Oscar, “From Paris with Love” is an hour and a half of escapism at its finest.

“From Paris With Love” Directed by Pierre Morel STARRING: Jonathan Rhys Myers and John Travolta RUN TIME: 92 minutes GENRE: Action

★★★

Feb. 16, 2010 | A&E

TNL

iFOCUS 2.16 – 2.23.2010

15

WHERE YOU NEED TO BE THIS WEEK Compiled by heather hamilton

The Alaska Center for the Performing Arts presents “Late Night Catechism,” a play written

by Vicki Quade & Maripat Donovan starting on Thursday Feb. 18 at 7:30 p.m. and runs through Sunday, Feb. 21 Tickets range from $23-$38 and can be purchased online at www. centertix.net.

COMEDY

THEATER

Late Night Catechism

Upright Citizens Brigade Touring Company The UAA Concert Board presents

the Upright Citizens Brigade Tour Company, an improv group that has worked with DreamWorks Animation, MTV, New York Magazine, and Bacardi, to name a few. They have also appeared on Comedy Central. UCBTourCo. will perform at the Wendy Williamson Auditorium on Friday, Feb. 19 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 for the general public and $5 for students in advance. At the door, tickets rise $5. Tickets can be purchased online at www.uaatix.com.

MUSIC

Liz Malys

Paradizo Dance

DANCE

Local blues and jazz performer Liz Malys will perform at Organic Oasis as a part of the Spenard Jazz Fest Winter Concert Series on Saturday, Feb. 20 at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets are $15 for the general public and $10 for students at the door.

For more information on the artist, go to www. myspace.com/lizmalys.

America’s Got Talent semi-finalist Paradizo Dance will perform at the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts on Thursday, Feb. 18 and Friday, Feb. 19 at 7:30 p.m. Paradizo Dance fuses acrobatics, dance, theater and partnering in this fundraiser for Dollars for Dogs and Anchorage Crime Stoppers. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased at www.centertix.net.

Passion and Seduction

Anchorage Symphony Orchestra presents “Passion and Seduction,” on Saturday, Feb. 20 at 8 p.m. Music at this production includes selections from “Romeo and Juliet,” “Miraculous Mandarin” and “Cosi Fan Tutte.” Tickets range from $20-$42 and can be purchased at www.centertix.net.

e-mail: arts2@thenothernlight.org to submit an event!

‘Heligoland’ satisfies

By Bryan Dunagan The Northern Light

Massive Attack’s new album “ Heligoland” is the group’s best since “Mezzanine.” They fall back on their signature style, but this time they use more of an electronica base to their trip-hop grooves.

In most regards the album is standard fare, but simple touches like audio grain and smooth, almost spoken vocals make it memorable. In keeping with the more electronica feel, the track “Atlas Air” shows off the mix of drum beats and electronic whips for a harder sound.

The track “Splitting the Atom” uses two layers of vocals as the main instrument line, and these are accentuated by the ragged beat production.

In the 12 years since “Mezzinine,” Massive Attack has searched for a more soulful feel. This is most evident in “Flat of the Blade,” which is, more or less, about fear of death.

Some remixes of songs on the album are included at the end of the disc, but show no real cohesion except to show a different facet of the music.

“Massive Attack’s” new approach shows a slowed down and introspective taste.

ALBUM: “ heligoland” ARTIST: Massive Attack LABEL: Virgin RELEASE DATE: Feb. 8, 2010

★★★★

16 A&E|

TNL

Feb. 16, 2010

BREW REVIEW

‘Classic Dark’ lager bends the rules

By Trevor o’hara The Northern Light

Henry Weinhard’s “Classic Dark” is an example of a beer that dwells in the borderlands.

It comes from a renowned brewing company, and is impressively unafraid to bend classifications. Somehow this all seems familiar (Killian’s “Irish Red”).

“Classic Dark” carries a malty presence throughout, which starts in the aroma, reports on the tongue and finishes in the swallow. The beer also has a measured chocolate note that unfolds in much the same way.

“Classic Dark” is crisp but smooth with light to medium carbonation. As the beer’s lager status would suggest, there is a lightness to “Classic Dark,” but it remains mostly at the tip of the tongue while everywhere else there is a sense of fullness and a medium body feel.

The hops in “Classic Dark” are mild, and they blend well with the tinge of chocolate. On top of all this there’s even a bit of smokiness.

All in all, “Classic Dark” is a malty, chocolaty lager akin to a light stout, and a sound choice for the dwindling winter season.

henry Weinhard’s Classic Dark Blitz-Weinhard Brewing, hood River, oR 4.81% ABV, IBU 19.9

★★★★

t n e m l l o Enr

pdates!

Watch here for future u

T N E M E G MANA MARCH

CORNER

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4th (5PM)-10th

egins ty registration b ri o ri p r te es m mmer se 1.

• Remember, Su en registration begins March ov p o February 22; e at www.fafsa.g lin n o le b la ai av 1 FAFSA is now • The 2010/201

t ation please visi rm fo in te le p m • For co a.edu/onestop www.uaa.alask

www.uaa.alaska.edu/onestop

FRENCH AND ENGLISH TEACHER(S) NEEDED The Canadian Defense Academy (CDA) invites applications from both individuals and companies to provide French and English Language Training to Canadian military personnel located at Elmendorf AFB, AK. The aim of the program is to enable Canadian Forces (CF) personnel to use their second official language skills to perform tasks in the course of their military duties.

The training will be part-time in a workspace furnished by the CF. The method of delivery will consist of individual and group classroom settings. Person(s) interested in submitting their candidature can find the statement of work and contractual requirements in the link below.

Prospective candidates must forward their resume to the undersigned:

http://www.cfls-elfc.forces.gc.ca/ For more information, please call: Sandra Brisard Program Manager Local Training/ Gestionnaire de programmes formation locale NCR Trg Coy/ Cie de Fmn RCN, ELFC Tel. : (819) 994-9787 Fax : (819) 994- 9724 Sandra.brisard@forces.gc.ca

Dogfish Head’s ‘Chicory’ a great stout, but misses chicory

SEAWOLF AWARDS SEAWOLF AWARDS

By Trevor o’hara

The Seawolf Community Service Award

The Northern Light

Dogfish Head’s “Chicory Stout” might be viewed as a forerunner of what has followed from the company. This ale has long been a standing facet of their repertoire. Brewed since 1995, it demonstrates an original twist on a traditional ale style.

The thick beer sticks to your mouth and fills you up quick. It starts with a tan chocolaty head (despite the label’s boasts of pouring into a “bone-white” head) and this tops off a perfect stout brown.

From the first sip, you know exactly where “Chicory” is going.

After finishing one bottle, I felt as if I had just downed an Irish Car Bomb.

“Chicory” has a very full body. It’s syrupy around the edges and at the end of the swallow. The bitterness has a tang to it, which I would liken to grapefruit minus anything and everything citrusy.

If “Chicory Stout” missed on anything for me, it was a lack of spice. There is a very large statement in the ale’s name that I do not feel is backed up.

Chicory Stout Dogfish head Craft Brewery Inc. Milton, DE 5.2% ABV, IBU 21

★★★

SPRING~2010 is bestowed upon a student who exhibits an exemplary commitment to volunteer service.

The Seawolf Student Leader Award

recognizes student leaders who, through their leadership, involvement, and commitment, made significant contributions to campus life.

APPLICATION DEADLINE: Monday, March 22, 2010 by 5 PM For complete information and criteria for eligibility visit www.uaa.alaska.edu/studentleadership or stop by the IN 0 0 Office of Student Clubs & Greek Life, 1,5 IT $ Student Union 210.

O RED 0!

T 786-1385 UP ON C 201 RN TI LL E A T U I R FA FO

UA A i s a n E E O / A A e m p l o ye r a n d e d u c at i o n a l i n s t i t u t i o n .

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 Suzanna Caldwell MANAGING EDIToR 786-1313 content@thenorthernlight.org Josh Edge CoPy EDIToR copy@thenorthernlight.org Brittany Bennett NEWS EDIToR 786-1576 news@thenorthernlight.org Kam Walters FEATURES EDIToR 786-1567 features@thenorthernlight.org Katie Forstner A&E EDIToR 786-6198 arts@thenorthernlight.org Mary Noden Lochner SPoRTS EDIToR 786-1512 sports@thenorthernlight.org Taylor Hall PhoTo EDIToR 786-1565 photo@thenorthernlight.org Leighann Seaman WEB EDIToR 786-1506 web@thenorthernlight.org John Norris LAyoUT EDIToR layout@thenorthernlight.org Vacant ASSISTANT NEWS EDIToR news2@thenorthernlight.org Jerzy Shedlock ASSISTANT FEATURES EDIToR features2@thenorthernlight.org Joshua Tucker ASSISTANT A&E EDIToR arts2@thenorthernlight.org Heather Hamilton PhoToGRAPhER Logan Tuttle GRAPhIC DESIGNER graphics@thenorthernlight.org Lindsay Johnson CoNTRIBUToRS Jena Benton Derek Chivers Kimberly Copadis Bryan Dunagan Carrigan Grigsby Casie Habetler Daniel Jackson Andrew Neuerburg Trevor OʼHara ADVERTISING MANAGER 786-4690 ads@thenorthernlight.org Mariya Proskuryakova

17

EDITORIAL

Terrifying job market looms for grads With graduation looming, students face the challenge of entering the real world, hoping to find success in their endeavors.

Recently, the real world has not been as rewarding as most may hope.

The reason that things are more difficult now than they were a few years ago is the job market, or lack thereof.

Most students find that once they are out of school, they have the daunting task of paying off inordinate amounts of loans, as well as sustaining their own living situation. One would assume that this would be achieved through securing a job.

According to an article by CBS News, only one of five graduates in 2009 had a job secured at the time of graduation as opposed to nearly half of graduates in 2007.

To put things into perspective,

only 460,000 out of approximately 2.3 million graduates in the class of 2009, had a job secured. That means 1.84 million graduates were facing a job market that is among the toughest that anyone has seen in recent memory.

In the face of extremely negative employment, many students seem to opting for more school. Some are aiming towards grad school while others are opting to return for another undergrad degree in hopes of gaining a foot up on other graduates.

“I’ve talked to professors and they all say the same thing,” recent graduate Jessica Piperis said in an interview with CBS’s Katie Couric. “You know, you just have to persevere. Keep going, keep applying. You’re much more marketable working.”

Piperis is one of the many recent college graduates that

have been forced to take a more remedial job that is typically associated with a college or high school student’s summer job.

While beggars can’t be choosers, it makes one question why they spend extravagant amounts of money to result in a job that doesn’t require much more than a high school diploma.

School can cost, on average, $7,020 to $26,273 per year for a four-year degree at public and private institutions, respectively, according to the CollegeBoard.

The key to getting a job is to keep applying. Unfortunately, people may have to venture outside their comfort zone and delve further into the realm of job possibilities.

Being willing to work hard to just get your foot in the door may be a hard sell, but at this point it seems to be the only way to get in

line for a decent job.

Regarding the state of the countries economy, one can assume that this trend will continue for 2010 graduates. It is simply a matter of time before students can begin to hope for a fruitful job market.

Right now, the market brings into question the very reasons that students go to college. The basis of obtaining a higher education is to obtain a high-paying job tailored to your academic studies. Today’s reality shows that these jobs are few and far between and any job is acceptable in a time like this.

Students just need to stay strong, find a job that will help them crawl out from underneath the immense load of student loans and keep pursuing their desired careers. Even though it may take awhile, it is bound to work out at some point. Hopefully.

SOAP BOX

Disclosure laws need to change after ruling

By Carrigan Grigsby

Special to The Northern Light

As we approach the one-month anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that made it legal for corporations and unions to have a greater say in elections, it is time to analyze how Alaska’s leaders are coping.

“Today Corporate America took the First Amendment from Americans,” State Rep. Les Gara, D-Anchorage, said immediately after the high courts ruling was released.

His colleague in the State Senate agreed.

“Well, it’s just a tremendous blow to democracy,” State Sen. Bill Wielechowski, D-Anchorage, said.

Many other politicians are concerned as well.

“I think that we’re worried about the corrupting influence,” Patty Higgins said, the Chair of the state Democratic Party.

Reading these comments brings to mind an age-old metaphor many politicians seem to live by, “sell the sizzle, not the steak.”

I’m not saying elected officials should not have the right to express their opinions, but how educated can these comments be when

just hours after the gavel has dropped everyone is running for their soap box?

The trouble with this tactic is it raises fears and lacks substance. Yes, it plays well on the evening news and might pick up a few votes for you. But, at the end of the day, we must manage the Supreme Court’s decision, politics aside.

It took our Supreme Court eight years to come to this decision and it took them 183 pages to explain it.

Yet somehow these leaders have the ability to sum it up in a few sentences, just hours after the ruling?

The truth is this is a complex issue with valid concerns and risks on both sides of the aisle.

Will our disclosure laws need to change?

Absolutely. How about regulating and defining appropriate relationships between corporations, unions and the candidates? Yes. It’s not like this is the first time we have had to deal with corporate campaign finance law. In fact it seems to be one of the top issues every election cycle. The simple question a candidate raises about their opponent pertains to who is donating the money.

Reading partisan reactions one might think corporations/unions have been on the sidelines for the last two centuries, sitting on their hands with duct tape over their mouths.

Corporations and unions have been influencing elections since their inceptions and have done so for decades through the evolution of campaign finance laws. Over the last few years tighter laws have led to more shadow groups, whose donors are anonymous and not disclosed.

As campaign laws have become more strict, more and more legal challenges have been filed. The Supreme Court ruling last month was a result of one of those challenges. In the ruling, the court decided that corporations and unions should be allowed a direct voice.

The Supreme Court has ruled and the middleman has been eliminated.

Instead of funneling money through PACs and creating a façade of independent campaigns, the Supreme Court has decided that if your corporation or union has something to say, just say it.

It is our responsibility to make sure we manage the Supreme Court’s decision in a way that will protect Alaskans.

ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVE Vacant

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

CIRCULATIoN ASSISTANT Munkh-Erdene Tsend-Ochir

With people’s support and advocacy, growth is definitely possible at UAA

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.

As the Vice Chancellor for Administrative Services, one of my responsibilities is to oversee UAA’s physical infrastructure and its budget. Feb. 2’s editorial made two points about UAA’s facilities that I’d like to address: 1. UAA needs more space and should seek funding for more buildings. This is very true. For our student population, UAA is 30 percent under-sized. We need a larger engineering building, another health sciences building and a sports arena, to name just a

few. UAA’s administration—led by the Chancellor – advocates for funding to the Regents, the President and the community on a regular basis. With the support of students, staff, faculty and alumni, we will continue to make progress.

2. During the period of 20072008, what progress did we make?

The editorial suggests that we didn’t make progress. That is not accurate. In 2008, we advocated for funding—and received it– for a new Health Sciences Building

(which is now under construction) and for planning money for the sports arena (which we received and have used part of it for building designs). This was significant progress on two campus priorities and we should thank the many people who made this possible, particularly the legislature who responded to our requests.

Unfortunately, last year’s capital budget was very small and none of the university’s capital requests were funded (except partial funding for maintenance).

There are many needs in the UA system. This year the Regents have concentrated on one UA capital project: the UAF Life Sciences Building. We support this effort. In the future, we look forward to working with the Regents and the legislature to address the needs of UAA and its growing student population.

With your support and advocacy efforts, we can make this happen.

-Bill Spindle Vice Chancellor for Administrative Services, UAA

PRIDE

CHIDE

CORRECTIONS

Alaska Olympians…

Stupid people…

…for representing Alaska well.

…who apparently do not know how to park.

In our Jan. 26 issue we mistakenly identified the island of Hispaniola.

18 COMICS|

TNL

Feb. 16, 2010 BROKECOMICS | Alec Fritz

TUNDRA l Chad Carpenter

CRYPTOQUOTE PUZZLE l Lindsay Johnson

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Solution to last weekʼs puzzle: “Love conquers all.”

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CROSSWORD ACROSS 1. Skills 7. Ticked off 10. Cougar’s home 14. Diploma 15. “— — Ran the Zoo” 16. Mr. Rubik 17. Powerful 18. Day- — paint 19. Frozen-waffle brand 20. Very well-built 23. — -garde 26. Ms. Hagen of films 27. Helpful tips 28. Torme and Blanc 29. Watch secretly 30. Yang complement 31. Way back when 32. Sporty truck 33. Shrine visitor 37. Cosmic force 38. Zilch

39. Electric swimmer 40. — — moment’s notice 41. Huge conflagration 43. Famous cathedral town 44. Hamster or cat 45. Photog’s orig.

46. Times of yore 47. Play charades 48. Usual weather 51. Give the pink slip 52. Foamy 53. Mulish 56. Orchid-like blossom 57. Lemon cooler 58. Followed closely 62. “The Simpsons” tavern 63. Barbie’s friend 64. Faintly colored 65. Ceremonial fire

66. Contractor’s fig.

67. Foxiest DOWN 1. IRA investments 2. Part of AARP 3. Crop sci.

4. Scowls 5. Doctrine 6. Nintendo rival 7. Invincible 8. Wouldn’t hurt — — 9. Designer label 10. Ogling 11. Inert gas 12. Gold brick 13. Housetops 21. Elvis’ hometown 22. Quaker State burg 23. Fine violin 24. Meat avoider 25. Standoffish

29. Hornet attack 30. Bond statistic 32. Let out line 33. Kitchen gadget 34. Swift 35. Tabloid twosomes 36. Salt’s pal 42. Together (2 wds.)

46. Magnitude 47. Fletcher Christian’s deed 48. Finish pie crust 49. “Bad, Bad — Brown” 50. Less cordial 51. Candy-stripers 52. Slow mover 54. Torte or gateau 55. LL.D. holders 59. Size above med.

60. Wide shoes 61. Banned bug spray

electrical WORDSEARCH l Lindsay Johnson and Dane Ketner R O T C U D N O C I M E S M H

R U O H E R E P M A F R I O Z

C O M P L E X P L A N E S S E

D I F F E R E N T I A L Y F R

P O O L K C A B D E E F L E O

H T R O W R E T T U B R A T S

R E T T A C S A N N E T N A A

F R E Q U E N C Y D O M A I N

L O W P A S S F I L T E R E D

C I G O L N A E L O O B E E P

C A P A C I T A N C E X I E O

last week’s CROSSWORD solution

N Y Q U I S T R A T E N R I L

S T C E F F E M U T N A U Q E

W Y A L E D E S A H P U O T S

N O I S E P O W E R S F F N I

AMPERE HOUR ANTENNA SCATTER BOOLEAN LOGIC BUTTERWORTH CAPACITANCE COMPLEX PLANE DIFFERENTIAL FEEDBACK LOOP FOURIER ANALYSIS FREQUENCY DOMAIN IEEE LOW PASS FILTER MOSFET NOISE POWER NYQUIST RATE PHASE DELAY QUANTUM EFFECTS SEMICONDUCTOR ZEROS AND POLES

HOROSCOPE l Stella Wilder The coming week is likely to open up new horizons to many individuals, and he or she who is able to see to that new horizon -- or even past it -- should be able to chart a new course, or at the very least a substantially altered course, toward a new kind of satisfaction, success and prosperity. This is, indeed, one of those weeks in which the potential is so high that perhaps it will be remembered for a lifetime -at least by those who see such potential as something to be exploited as much as possible, and not something about which they should be suspicious or doubtful.

Those who begin the week feeling as though they can’t catch a break at this time may well have a change of heart soon, when things seem to turn around and the stars present more in the way of opportunity and options. A negative attitude can surely result in negative trends.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 3) -- You may not know exactly what you are facing, but you must be prepared for any eventuality -- and be willing to explore all options.

(Feb. 4-Feb. 18) -- You’ll be asking a great many questions, and the answers can serve you quite well indeed.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 5) -- A story you’ve heard a lot in the past is likely to be retold, but your reaction to this new incarnation may surprise you.

(March 6-March 20) -- There’s more to the week than financial deals.

Though money warrants concern, it’s not everything.

ARIES (March 21-April 4) -- You may be able to change the rules, but not all at once. Start small, and work up to the big things that loom ahead.

(April 5-April 19) -- What you learn from one of the experts may well be that you already know what you’re doing.

TAURUS (April 20-May 5) -- Stress rises early in the week because a financial arrangement doesn’t pan out as expected. A quick adjustment has things turning around.

(May 6-May 20) -- A collaborative effort can benefit you in more ways than planned. Try not to say no.

GEMINI (May 21-June 6) -- You’re going to have to face facts -- and then make decisions accordingly. The time has come for you to stop doing harm to yourself.

(June 7-June 20) -- You’ll have the chance to explore an exciting new opportunity, but a sacrifice is required.

CANCER (June 21-July 7) -- You may think that you have an answer for everything, but you may be faced with a situation that throws you for a loop.

(July 8-July 22) -- The moment someone official gets involved in your affairs, things become far too complicated.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 7) -- You can settle a dispute between two people who are close to you only by listening to both sides of the story. Let go of presuppositions.

(Aug. 8-Aug. 22) -- Even those things that appear typical are anything but typical. Be ready for surprises.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 7) -- You may be running in circles trying to come up with explanations that are not likely to satisfy you. It’s best to move on.

(Sept. 8-Sept. 22) -- You may feel as though you are out of your element as the week opens, but a remedy presents itself.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 7) -- What appears pleasant and attractive to you in certain situations may be quite the opposite at other times. It’s something to avoid.

(Oct. 8-Oct. 22) -- The only person you’re fooling at this time is yourself.

It’s time to face certain facts head-on.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 7) -- You may not be directly involved in a situation that, nevertheless, affects you in a way that compels you to become involved eventually.

(Nov. 8-Nov. 21) -- An unexpected turn of events may have you understanding yourself far better than ever before.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 7) -- It’s time to reaffirm your commitment to a person or project, or to move away in a different direction -- permanently.

(Dec. 8-Dec. 21) -- You have been thinking of yourself as different for quite some time, but you have more in common with others than you think.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 6) -- You are just as deserving as those around you at this time -- so why have you been denying yourself for so long? Give yourself what you need.

(Jan. 7-Jan. 19) -- You’ll find a new way to make your money work harder for you, and others will want to know how you did it.

this week’s SUDOKU solution

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Looking for a new job? Visit ALEXsys.alaska.gov.

Get your limited edition ‘Beat The Nooks’ t-shirt at the UAA Campus Bookstore for just $5 and wear it to the games

MBB Feb. 24 - 7 pm Wells Fargo Sports Complex

Free tickets to first 250 UAA students with valid ID at the door

HKY Feb. 26 - 7 pm Sullivan Arena

UAA students with valid ID get free tickets week of game at Campus Center info desk or at the door.

Seawolf Athletics

WBB Feb. 27 - 7 pm Wells Fargo Sports Complex

Free tickets to first 250 UAA students with valid ID at the door