February 26, 2019 by The Northern Light

FEBRUARY 26 - MARCH 4, 2019

A&E

UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA ANCHORAGE

OPINION

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“Sitka” follows community’s daily lives, inner struggles and healing

THENORTHERNLIGHT.ORG

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Model UN should start competing abroad

Ancient Greek comedy opens this weekend By Malia Barto

arts@thenorthernlight.org

It’s 411 BCE. The Peloponnesian War is ongoing. A woman named Lysistrata takes it upon herself to help stop the war by persuading other women to withhold sex from their husbands until the Greek cities stop and make peace. With that, comedy is sure to ensue. ‌ The bawdy play, originally written by playwright Aristophanes and first performed in 411 BC, is about to be on show by UAA’s Department of Theatre and Dance.‌ “This production is very much a product of the students taking agency in the kind of work that they want to explore. It was suggested in our play selection committee by students and had the eager recommendation of the students behind its nomination,” Ty Hewitt, director, wrote in an email.‌ “Lysistrata,” the first play of

the department’s spring season, started rehearsals in January and is promised to be a “hilarious” performance. ‌ “I think my favorite part of working in this play has been seeing how funny and creative my fellow actors are,” Salem Collins, sophomore theater and pre-veterinary major, said. “They’ve really brought this play to life and some of them are so funny I have a hard time keeping a straight face on stage.”‌ Collins plays the parts of Calonice, wife A and Reconciliation. ‌ Many of the actors and the director warn audiences that the play is for mature audiences only. There are mature themes, sexual innuendos and crude language.‌ “It’s the kind of show that I’m like, ‘hmm, I don’t think my parents will like it’ but I think

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PAGE 2 PHOTO COURTESY OF UAA DEPARTMENT OF THEATRE AND DANCE

Gymnastics suffers loss against Utah State By Lauren Cuddihy sports@thenorthernlight.org

On Feb. 22, the Seawolves traveled to Logan, Utah to compete against their conference rivals Utah State. UAA previously competed in six meets for the season, this score being their third

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highest overall score. However, at 192.675, the Seawolves didn’t have a high enough score to win the meet. ‌ Utah State finished with an overall score of 194.925. This marked their fourth straight win and was their fifth lowest score out of the eleven meets they have competed

in. ‌ Despite being a successful total for the Seawolves, they were not competing at full capacity. Head coach Tanya Ho was satisfied with the results.‌ “We were short-handed

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PAGE 4 Sophia Hyderally was the top UAA scorer in beam against Utah State.

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THENORTHERNLIGHT.ORG TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2019

New, fictional Alaska TV show in the making By Malia Barto

arts@thenorthernlight.org

A small town in Southeast Alaska is home to approximately 8,700 people. That town is Sitka. It’s the same place that the romcom “The Proposal” takes place in. Except that Sitka wasn’t the real Sitka at all. A new, fictional TV show that takes place in the town is in the process, with the intention of starting in actual Sitka and staying there.‌ Helena Sardinha and Rafael Thomaseto, two Los Angelesbased, independent filmmakers, are producing a fictional, anthology drama TV series, simply called “Sitka.” The show will follow the lives of those who live in Sitka with their community, inner struggles and — the most prominent theme — healing.‌ “One of the main goals of the show is to get out of the traditional reality shows that have been done so many times in Alaska,” Thomaseto said.‌ Thomaseto and Sardinha are both originally from Brazil. They say they connect with Alaska by understanding the misconceptions others have about their country or state and hope to break those through the show.‌ “With a place like Brazil — when you go to other countries people ask things such as ‘oh, do you live with monkeys?’ And no … but this is just a misconception because so many people when they think about Brazil think about the Amazon and when you think about Alaska a lot of people just think people live in igloos or they just you know, fish, or struggle with the snow.”‌ Thomaseto, Sardinha and

PHOTO COURTESY OF HELENA SARDINHA

“Sitka”’s producers Helena Sardinha and Rafael Thomaseto.

their team plan to film the show entirely in Sitka and cast actors from Alaska, mixed in with other talents from LA.‌ The idea of a show was sparked by Patricia Buak, a woman whom Thomaseto’s father worked with in Brazil. Buak moved to Sitka and now coowns the Bayview Pub. While settling into her new life, she thought of how unrepresented Sitka was and how a form of en-

tertainment that brought Sitka’s beauty and reality was needed. She then contacted Thomaseto, who began to shape the idea of the show with Sardinha. The two visited the town twice: once in November 2018 and again in January 2019. ‌ “[Visiting Sitka] made me reflect on my lifestyle and made me think about what’s important in life,” Sardinha said. “When you go to a place where there are

only 8,000-9,000 people, life becomes a little more simple than in the big towns like LA.”‌ They hope to film the pilot this upcoming spring if the right actors are found and if they have the funds. After the pilot is filmed and it goes through post-production, it’s pitched and hopefully picked up by a television network or a streaming service like Netflix, Hulu or

Amazon Video, who then can purchase the show to help fund the rest of the season. The episodes will run approximately 30 minutes in length and have eight episodes per season.‌ Sardinha and Thomaseto are open to partnering with more Alaskans and businesses for “Sitka.” If interested, visit their website at drivenequation.com/ sitkatvshow.‌‌‌‌‌

LYSISTRATA: Controversial in the right way Continued from cover college students will love it. I think there’s a really good balance of using old text that has something that can be picked up as ‘ooh, that could be controversial today’ but being aware of that and approaching it the right way. [“Lysistrata”] is also the most absurd comedy I’ve got to work on. It’s very fun,” James Kendall said. ‌ Kendall is a senior theater major and playing one of the Men’s Chorus mem-

bers.‌ Petra Murray is a member of the Women’s Chorus is senior and some of her favorite parts of working on “Lysistrata” include getting to learn new acting techniques like working with masks, which makes actors rely on body language and not facial expression, and having the liberation to tweak her character. ‌ “The Women’s Chorus is made up of three members who move and speak together as a cohesive unit. When working on our parts early on in the rehearsal pro-

cess, [Hewitt] gave us the freedom to play with our lines a bit and figure out what lines we wanted to share, if we wanted to repeat certain lines and what kind of personalities we could create for our characters,” Murray said.‌ Hewitt echoed Murray, saying that many of the “best ideas” came from the students.‌ “The best moments in the show are a direct result of the actors making bold choices and experimenting with ways to distort and exaggerate — and push the

boundaries — within the action of the play,” Hewitt wrote. ‌ The cast and crew have been working hard and rehearsing for opening night on March 1.‌ The show runs approximately an hour and a half without intermission. The show has a total of six performances, March 1-3 and 8-10. Friday and Saturday shows are at 8 p.m. and Sunday’s shows are at 5 p.m. at the Mainstage Theatre in the Fine Arts Building. Tickets can be bought at ArtsUAA.com.‌

SPORTS

THENORTHERNLIGHT.ORG TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2019

GYMNASTICS: Seawolves only win in beam Continued from cover on floor tonight, so I’m pleased that we were able to finish so strong in the final two rotations, Sophia [Hyderally] and Isabelle [Fox] continued to give us great consistency at the top of our lineup, and Hope [Nelson] came through with her best meet of the season,” Ho said. ‌ Out of all four categories, vault, bars, beam and floor, the Seawolves only

outscored Utah in beam. With a final beam score of 48.775, they were just ahead of Utah by 0.375 points. ‌ Despite the higher team score, a Utah gymnast took the No. 1 individual position. Sophia Hyderally was the top UAA scorer in beam at No. 2 with a final average of 9.850. Kaylin Mancari was just behind her at No. 3 with an average of 9.825. ‌

The success that the Seawolves saw in beam did not carry through to the other categories. They fell the farthest behind in vault, with a deficit of 0.970 points. Utah averaged a team total of 48.775, while the Seawolves trailed at 47.800. ‌ Utah gymnasts dominated the top four places. Ali Marvel was the topscorer for UAA, placing No. 4 in a 3-way tie with

two other Utah gymnasts. Marvel finished with an average score of 9.725. ‌ The remaining UAA gymnasts placed backto-back in eighth through twelfth. ‌ The second largest difference they saw between their score and Utah’s was in bars, with a deficit of 0.925 points, Utah finished at 48.750 and UAA at 47.825. ‌ The Seawolves’ top-

scorer in bars was Hope Nelson, who tied for fourth place. She finished with an average of 9.725. Behind her, Hyderally tied for fifth at 9.625 with Isabelle Fox in sixth at 9.600.‌ UAA fell behind in the final team score for floor. While Utah finished with a total of 49.000, the Seawolves trailed at 48.275. ‌ Hyderally, Fox and Mancari placed back-toback in fourth through

sixth, respectively. Hyderally finished with 9.800, Fox with 9.725 and Mancari with 9.700. The No. 1 finisher from Utah, Madison Ward, finished with a score of 9.925.‌ The Seawolves have two remaining regularseason meets before conference championships. They will next compete against Oregon State and Bowling Green on March 1. ‌

Seawolves host NCAA West Regional Championships By Lauren Cuddihy sports@thenorthernlight.org

UAA hosted the 2019 NCAA West Regional Championships for skiing Feb. 20-24. Alpine races were completed at Alyeska Ski Area on Feb. 22 and Feb. 24, while the Nordic races were completed at Government Peak and Kincaid Park on Feb. 20 and Feb. 22. ‌ Heading into the meet, the Seawolves were ranked sixth overall. They were also ranked sixth in men’s alpine, seventh in women’s alpine, fourth in men’s Nordic and fourth in women’s Nordic. ‌ The first to race were the

Nordic freestylers. The men competed in a 10-kilometer race while the women competed in a 5-kilometer race, both at Government Peak. ‌ Overall, the UAA men placed third with 73 points. The University of New Mexico took No. 2 (85 points) while Colorado took No. 1 with 90 points. ‌ Sigurd Roenning was the topscorer from the Seawolves with a third-place finish in 27:19. He was just under 30 seconds away from the first place finisher. Toomas Kollo trailed in behind Roenning to secure an eighthplace finish (27:46). Following them was JC Schoonmaker (28:35) at 18th, the last Seawolf to make it in the top 20. ‌

The women, with 64 points, placed fourth overall in the 5-kilometer. The Seawolves had five women place in the top 20. ‌ Casey Wright led the team overall with a seventh-place finish in 15:50. In a back-to-back finish, Michaela Keller-Miller (16:02), Anna Darnell (16:04) and Natalie Hynes (16:07) finished 12th, 13th, 14th, respectively. The final top 20 finisher was Jenna DiFolco (16:18) at 19th. ‌ To finish off the Nordic races, the teams competed in the 15-kilometer and 20-kilometer classic races at Kincaid Park on Feb. 22. The UAA men had just two skiers make it into the top 20 while the women had three.‌

Kollo placed at tenth with a time of 54:14. Roenning finished after him at 15th (55:21). Their scores helped place the team at sixth overall in the classic races.‌ The women’s team finished at fourth overall in the classic races. ‌ Wright (47:16), Keller-Miller (47:29) and Darnell (49:10) were the top three UAA finishers at ninth, 13th and 17th, respectively. ‌ While the Nordic team was finishing the classic races at Kincaid, the alpine team was just getting started with the giant slalom at Alyeska Ski Resort. ‌ In a successful start to the alpine races, the UAA women’s

team tied for first overall in the giant slalom. The men’s team came in fourth. ‌ With just 17 competitors racing, the Seawolves had three women finish in the top-10. Georgia Burgess completed her two runs in a total of 2:37.44, good for seventh place. Right behind her, Li Djurestaal finished at eight with a time of 2:37.97. At tenth place, Kristina Natalenko finished in 2:39.54. ‌ The men’s team was lead by Liam Wallace and Sky Kelsey who tied at seventh with a time of 2:27.24. Dominic Unterberger was the only other Seawolf in the top 20, finishing at 18th in a time of 2:28.67. ‌

OPINION

THENORTHERNLIGHT.ORG TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2019

UAA Model UN should Chief’s Corner: February Edition compete abroad By Ben Edwards

opinion2@thenorthernlight.org

Ben Edwards is a member of the UAA Model UN Secretariat. UAA has been proud to host the Model United Nations of Alaska since 1993. MUN congregates students from other universities and high schools all over the state for an annual three-day conference. The participants act as delegates for countries, attempting to leverage their country’s interests in a series of resolutions intended to solve some international problem. The simulation is educational, competitive and rewarding. It is also organic since the preparation and management of the conference is conducted by the UAA students who comprise the Secretariat. ‌ MUN has expanded quite a bit over the years, but there is one barrier that it hasn’t burst through yet; UAA does not regularly send delegates to compete in national or international MUN conferences. The UAA Seawolf Debate program competes abroad, and the results speak for themselves. This university earns prestige when Seawolves place in the top tier of national debate championships. Debate alumni go on to accept impressive positions at Cornell University and the program is able to offer $10,000 worth of scholarships to Alaskans. All of these things improve the university’s standing, maximizes the potential of its graduates and give back to the community.‌ If MUN is given the opportunity to compete abroad, then UAA can double the benefits it receives from Seawolf Debate. Indeed, having two arms that triumph in different areas of academic competition shows that UAA is an institution to be reckoned with. To support this, we first need to recognize how MUN competition works and what that means for UAA. Then we can look at how such a program can be established.‌

Other universities already have international MUN conferences. Harvard University hosted their 65th conference from Feb. 14 to Feb. 17, with over 3,000 delegates from 80 countries. UAA is not ready to host a conference of that scale, but it should start by sending a delegation to compete in those conferences. A delegation would be a team of UAA students who represent a single country at the conference. ‌ For instance, let’s assume that UAA will represent Sweden when it competes at Harvard. The UAA team will distribute its members into the various committees that comprise of the conference, each with unique topics like refugees or industrial development. The goal would be to get Sweden’s resolutions passed through committees and moved onwards to General Assembly, where they face their final debate and vote. In each of these exercises, the UAA students in the Swedish delegation are verbally arguing their resolutions. They are weaving coalitions and out-maneuvering rivals. When Sweden’s resolutions succeed in the conference, it reflects the hard work of the UAA students who represented the county That, in turn, shines positively on UAA as an academic institution. There are also tangible awards that UAA could win at these conferences such as Best Delegation.‌ MUN conferences are often held in other countries as well, and UAA should not neglect those. Working with or competing against delegations from different cultures and languages is an experience that students couldn’t get with just MUN Alaska. Regardless of how much research an Alaskan student puts into roleplaying a different country, they are still subconsciously thinking through the cultural context of an American or a Westerner. In the real world, however, a nation’s diplomacy is a mirror of its unique cultural idiosyncra-

sies. The way humans interact, negotiate and solve problems with each other is through their culture. When UAA delegations learn to work amidst different mindsets and navigate linguistic barriers, they obtain skills that are useful even if they do not intend to work in diplomacy. If the future economy is destined to be more globalized than ever, then having UAA students who are proficient in diverse workplaces would be a splendid outcome. ‌ For UAA MUN to compete abroad, some hurdles would need to be surmounted. The current fiscal situation facing UAA is, to put it mildly, unfavorable for expanding anything. But the Department of Political Science can exercise some creativity in making this happen. Conferences like the one at Harvard offer financial aid to cover fees, transportation, food and accommodation. Local fundraising efforts should be improved as well. The UAA MUN Secretariat should volunteer at the local Rotary Club or the Alaska World Affairs Council, in order to court donations from their internationally-minded members. Corporate donations from BP Alaska and others should be poached as well. The UAA MUN donation link should be shared and popularized, and UAA should see if the program can be included in the Pick. Click. Give. website that connects Alaskan’s PFDs to various causes.‌ The Department of Political Science should dedicate whatever it can to expanding MUN Alaska in this way. Organizational efforts can be just as meaningful as funding since managing an internationally competitive MUN team poses a hefty logistical challenge in its own right. But our Secretariat already has a tradition of self-organization. We plan the Alaska conferences every year. Doing the same for competing abroad is something we can do if only we are given the chance.‌

versity needs permission to send text and phone messages to you in non-emergency situations, such as campus closures. You can always call UPD Dispatch for the latest information, but keep in mind, we may be answering an emergency call. Upcoming UPD events

Welcome to the February Chief’s Corner. First, I would like to thank you all for the positive feedback on last month’s column. A lot has taken place during the first month of the spring semester. Winter showed up in force, resulting in a campus closure. Afterward, we received many questions asking how campus closure decisions are made. The university’s Incident Management Team has representatives from Facilities and Campus Services, Dean of Students, University Advancement and Administrative Services, which includes the University Police Department. On days the forecast is questionable, IMT gets up bright and early to discuss and assess road conditions, weather forecasts, campus conditions and accident reports/ warnings issued by the Anchorage Police Department and Alaska State Troopers. We consider the safety of our students, faculty and staff when making a campus closure recommendation to the chancellor, who ultimately makes the final closure decision. Once a campus closure decision is made, the team distributes a message via multiple platforms, including your university email and UAA’s Facebook and Twitter. UPD also places the announcement on the UAA SAFE app. In order to receive UA Alerts via text message, please opt-in at uaalert.alaska.edu. The uni-

UPD Chat with Dispatch is scheduled for Feb. 28, 7-9 p.m. Download the UAA SAFE app from the App Store or Google Play. Use the chat function to ask your questions of our emergency communications officers. UPD is offering Rape Aggression Defense training March 19-21 in the Gorsuch Commons. Register at UAA_RAD@alaska.edu. If you have questions, contact Officer Smock at cwsmock@alaska.edu or 786-1120. This class is free to UAA students. Safety tips In today’s society, online safety is paramount. If you get an email request referencing a job you did not apply for, asking you to cash a check, asking you to purchase gift cards for them or asking for personal information, block it, delete it and report it. Be careful with online dating. Never give your address to someone you just met online. Only meet in a public place. Let a friend know your plans regarding where and what time, and make sure to let your friend know you are safe when the date is over. If something doesn’t seem right, then it probably isn’t. Trust your instincts. Send any questions or comments to uaa_updchief@alaska. edu. We will see you around campus. Interim Chief Beckner UAA University Police Department

OPINION

Anti-vax parents deserve to be punished

By Robert Hockema opinion@thenorthernlight.org

As of right now, more than 270 people across the U.S. have been affected by a massive measles outbreak. States like Washington are bearing the brunt, as the outbreak is expected to cost the state over $1 million. Other outbreaks in New Jersey, California, New York and Oregon are worrying state officials about both cost and health, as measles has proven to be a deadly disease for those who have the misfortune of contracting it. ‌ Most shocking is the fact that measles was eradicated in the U.S. nearly 20 years ago. The recent outbreak can be explained by parents failing to vaccinate their kids. The anti-vax movement has persuaded parents to take advantage of religious and philosophical exemptions

available in many states, allowing them to send their kids to public schools unvaccinated. ‌ In terms of evidence, the case for vaccination couldn’t be more clear. Vaccines don’t give people autism, they don’t flood your body with unsafe toxins and they don’t give children extra diseases. Instead, they dramatically reduce the spread of contagious diseases. Studies demonstrate that the more of those that are vaccinated, the fewer people get the disease being vaccinated against. The reason measles went from 4 million cases in the ‘60s to eradication in 2000 was because of the measles vaccine, which has a 97 percent rate of efficacy in adults.‌ Apparently, some parents aren’t persuaded. As a result, they’re putting their children and the public at extreme risk. Health officials have tried education campaigns in schools and cities, but it has produced little to no effect. Anti-vaxxers hold objections that are not amenable by public policy, especially those rooted in religious belief or conspiracy against the government or pharmaceutical industry. ‌ The solution cannot be rooted in education anymore. Instead, it’s time to hold parents responsible for their recklessness and impose punitive measures against them for refusing to vaccinate their children. ‌ This has precedent in places like Australia and Italy, who have passed laws fining parents who let their kids into school without receiving essential vaccinations. ‌ That’s a start, but it doesn’t go nearly far enough. Parents who refuse to vaccinate their kids at all ought to be fined, even if they already planned on homeschooling their kids. Should they refuse to pay fines, or avoid vaccinating kids after paying them, the fines will increase. ‌ Some may see this as incredibly harsh, and possibly unconstitutional. Parents have a right to believe whatever they want, don’t they? They certainly have the right to raise their children as they see fit… right?‌ Not exactly. Think about the way we already treat those who pose harm to children and others. At the most

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basic level, parents are not allowed to abuse or neglect their children. You can neither beat nor neglect your child’s most fundamental needs, including food or water. In fact, parents deemed unfit to take care of kids are often subject to laws permitting the removal of custody.‌ So why doesn’t that happen when a parent refuses to vaccinate their children? It’s clear that the vaccines work, and that abstaining from them poses a deadly risk to kids and those around them. Even if parents are painfully oblivious to their misinformed views, that doesn’t make them immune from state intervention in the same way that negligence doesn’t permit parents to put their children in harm’s way. ‌ There’s also a question of to what degree a parent can make decisions for their children if it causes them harm. You can feed them fast food and allow them to play tackle football, but can you make decisions that have a high likelihood of killing them? Given that children cannot even consent to the decision to be vaccinated, the answer is probably no. ‌ The state also has total authority to punish people for posing a risk to the public. The simplest examples of paternalism protect the state from extreme financial risk and allow for the public to enjoy a safe environment. In Alaska, you remove your winter tires before the spring so they don’t destroy the roads we all drive on. You can’t burn chemicals or materials that release harmful fumes that poison the air we breathe. ‌ Vaccination could not be a more clear example of the state’s justification for limiting freedom. Washington, Minnesota and other states with outbreaks will spend millions directing state resources to contain the outbreak. If others contract the disease, they will impose greater health care costs on the public. Health officials who spend time reining in diseases that should have been dead 20 years ago now spend less time developing solutions to prevent future health risks to the public. ‌ ‌

PR & Events Coordinator James Oh events@thenorthernlight.org Media Adviser Paola Banchero‌ Administrative Adviser Zac Clark‌ Administrative Assistant Allie Hartman

Sports Editor Lauren Cuddihy sports@thenorthernlight.org‌ Opinion Writer Robert Hockema opinion@thenorthernlight.org‌ Opinion Writer Ben Edwards opinion2@thenorthernlight.org

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