June282011

THENORTHERNLIGHT

June 28, 2011

University of Alaska Anchorage

www.thenorthernlight.org

Pesticide necessity questioned Some groups think possible pesticide harm is not worth aesthetic upgrade

By Matthew Caprioli The Northern Light

The weekend of June 18 was a happy time for people who hate dandelions.

“Quite a large portion of campus has already been sprayed. And you can tell it’s working by all the dying dandelions,” UAA Turf Supervisor Robb Willie said.

However, some did question whether spraying chemicals around campus was necessary.

“Their only reason really is aesthetic.

Dandelions are not like cottonwood, where roots can grow under buildings and disrupt water supplies,” Geran Tarr, a local botanist and social activist, said.

“Dandelions are unattractive on lawns,” Willie said, when asked why the treatment

is necessary.

American Pest Management has been applying pesticides and herbicides at UAA for 32 year. But until 2006, they were not required to post a “notice of pesticide application” near buildings whose lawns had been sprayed.

Tarr was responsible for drafting House Bill 19, which explains all the fliers around campus. Colloquially known as the “Pesticide Right-to-Know” bill, it became law after Senator Kevin Meyer, then a member of the House, proposed it in 2006. This was six years after Tarr began advocating the bill.

This summer, two technicians sprayed around nearly all of UAA’s 40 buildings to

kill dandelions. APM’s license depends on it compliance with municipal, state, and federal laws; it trains all employees to follow the various regulations set at each level. To avoid human exposure, they only applied two generic herbicides during the weekend and at night, APM said.

The notification reads that neither of the chemicals have a strong toxicity.

Roundup Powermax was used on parking lots and walkways, and 2,4-D was used on lawns. Both can be bought at Lowes, APM says. The company used the lowest toxicity level, ‘caution,’ on their fliers.

See Pesticides Page 2

An American Pest Control notice hangs on a door on the East side of the Auto/ Diesel Building.

Daycare chef cooks up praise

Academically Adrift Is college teaching us anything?

See Page 3

By Megan Edge

Orange Rhymes With

The Northern Light

Warning: Newest Orange column hazardous to health

See Page 5

Rethink by Brett Frazer

Artist Leslie Kimiko Ward after school, folding cranes with children on the playground.

Photo courtesy of Leslie Ward

Hope soars high in St. Michael

America: Separation versus Unification

1,000 cranes become the product of a tragedy in rural Alaska

By Heather Hamilton The Northern Light

See Page 8

Retro Movie Review Blast from the tunnelled past: “Super Mario Bros.” movie review

See Page B2

Get your gear See Page B8 UAA gear rental ready for your summer adventures!

Index:

Matt Caprioli/TNL

When tragedy falls, more than the victims and their families suffer. The officials trying to maintain order suffer, the volunteers trying to save lives suffer, neighbors suffer and even the bystanders suffer sorrow, and need a release for their grief.

Robert Prince, a 23 yearold man visiting his mother in St. Michael, Alaska died in a snowmachining accident on June 11 while attempting to skip the machine across a lake back to the village. A good portion of the village turned out to try and save him after his machine stalled and he sank beneath the surface.

“Everybody started trying to dredge the pond,” said Leslie Ward, a UAA Dance professor, “Then all of a sudden, the whole crowd just erupted in screams, and people were falling on top of each other, and waving their arms

News.....A2

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in front of their faces. You could tell that they’d found him, and that it was not good.”

Ward was in St. Michael for two weeks as part of an artist residence through the Artists in Schools program, during which she taught dance and drumming to the children at Anthony A. Andrews School. One week in, she bore witness to the village’s efforts to save Prince, along with many others, including children at the school.

“Someone screamed to get the kids away from there, because there were kids gathered all around, including the students that I had by me, so I gathered up the kids that were by me, and called for some others and took them to the playground,” said Ward.

Deeply affected by the event and unsure how to cope, Ward began folding paper cranes that night to keep herself busy in an effort to keep her mind off of it.

Opinion.....A8

The folding of paper cranes has a special meaning to Ward; she grew up with the tradition of folding 1000 cranes and gifting them to others. In Japanese lore, if an individual folds 1000 paper cranes, they are granted a wish; it is common practice to fold 1000 cranes and gift them to others in an expression of your wish for them, whether it be to gain health, have a happy marriage or celebrate a birthday.

Megan Stuppy, a special education teacher at Anthony A. Andrews School, expressed concern to Ward of a possible suicide in the wake of the tragedy.

According to Stuppy, the village of roughly 400 had already lost three citizens to suicide that year, and two village elders had died as well.

“I started worrying about the people who didn’t have someone to remind them of their value to the

Lonnie Dunlap spends her weekday mornings and afternoons tucked away in the kitchen of the Tanaina Daycare center, in UAA’s student union. She wakes up early to be to work at six thirty, and finds her self busy without a break until two o’clock, feeding roughly 60 kids and their caregivers.

This hard working chef will soon celebrate her 24 year anniversary with Tanaina on September 24.

“I love it.,” Dunlap said. “And I love to cook.”

She hasn’t always been a chef for the daycare. Originally she was a teacher but in 1993 she moved into the kitchen when a job opened up.

Coworkers say Dunlap is one of the university’s most underappreciated employees but one of the hardest workers.

“Sometimes we have to fill in for her, and we just get exhausted and our feet hurt. We have no idea how she does it,” Daycare employee Maranda Williamson said with a smile. “We tell her to take breaks but she won’t, and sometimes she will come back at four with a jug of milk.”

Due to state regulations, the food must be a well rounded meal, but Dunlap puts a little bit more into it.

“Her food is so wholesome, and everyone just loves it. Even the teachers,” Williamson said.

Both the kids and teachers agree that she has one meal that stands out specifically above all the others; her sweet and sour meatloaf with a side of sticky rice

See St. Michael Page 6

A&E.....B2

Sports......B8

See cook page 4

Comics.....B11

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TNL

News| June 28, 2011

continued from cover

“We use caution, warning, danger, and danger-poison from least to most harmful, and that all is dependent on the toxicity of the chemical,” Shannon Krapsl, a representative for APM, said.

Spraying was to begin on June 13, but technicians waited for rain to subside.

“If there’s a wind speed of 7 M.P.H or even a drizzle, we cannot spray that day,” Kraspl said.

Tarr was unconvinced.

“We’ve caught (APM) on more than one occasion spraying even in the wind. Who is at UAA to see these people? They’re spraying over the summer, over the weekend, and at nighttime,” Tarr said.

State law requires notice of pesticide application fliers to be posted on exit and entry doorways, and APM says, as a courteousy, they place small white flags on treated lawns.

Flags were visible 48 hours after the lawns were treated. Many students still did not know that the lawn was treated with pesticides.

Of the six students asked if the notifications were sufficient, only one, Jeffry Leddy, knew what the white flags meant.

The flags are placed in the middle of the treated lawn, with the company’s logo in blue font.

The warning read, “Professional/ yard & trimming/ treatment /Stay off until dry”.

Kraspl said that the notifications were adequate, and two biology professors confirmed that it complied with state law.

Tarr said that the laws are not current with scientific research, which suggests exposure to “safe” chemicals over a long period of time can be as or more harmful than brief exposure to more potent chemicals. She said

that the frequent exposure to such chemicals correlates with many diseases with an increasing prevalence like autism.

Tarr said that APM functions more on a risk-assessment model than a precautionary model.

“They’re judging dangers against benefits. If 1 of 200 people get sick, then it may be worth it.

But what we’re learning, and we’re learning all sorts of things each day about how these chemicals affect our human health, is that even the smallest chemical exposure can pose a problem. I would rather wait and know that a product won’t cause someone harm, then use it, and be that one person who develops cancer,” Tarr said.

APM said that if people keep off the lawns, the chance of harm is unlikely.

“You would have to touch it, and at most it would give you a skin rash. Of course that depends on the person,” Kraspl said.

Some groups asked that the pesticides not be sprayed in their area.

“I did have to call facilities and ask that nothing be sprayed on the playground. Nearly all the parents concur that we’re ok with dandelions not being killed,” Tatiana Nochevnaya, Executive Director of Tanaina Child Development Center, said.

Tanaina Daycare does not plan to take children to lawns treated with pesticides until after June 30, the official deadline for ACM to complete all spraying.

The company completed spraying before their deadline, and removed all fliers around campus on June 22, 48 hours after their final spraying.

Photos by Matt Caprioli/TNL

PESTICIDES: Daycare opts for dandelions over chemicals

Top: Notices can be found on doors throughout the campus to inform students about the pesticides. American Pest Control has been working with UAA off and on for the paste 32 years. Above left: Flags can be found throughout campus, with this flag being outside the Professional Studies Building. The flags warn students and faculty that the lawns have chemicals on them. Above Right: One of the battered notices hangs from a wall outside the Allied Health Services Building. The chemicals used have a lower toxicity rating.

Say What?

No free ride home for penguin lost in New Zealand

PEKA PEKA BEACH, New Zealand (AP) -- There will be no free ride back to Antarctica for a young penguin who defied the odds by swimming all the way to New Zealand.

The trip could spread infections, authorities say, and there’s no way to transport the animal this time of year.

Wildlife officials said Wednesday they will let “nature take its course” after the Emperor penguin ended up on picturesque Peka Peka Beach on New Zealand’s North Island - 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometers) from Antarctic waters - in the country’s first sighting of the bird in the wild in 44 years.

The penguin could have caught a disease by swimming through warmer climes, and wildlife officials would not want to be responsible for introducing illnesses into the insulated Antarctic penguin colony, said Peter Simpson, a program manager for New Zealand’s Department of Conservation.

Wildlife officials say the penguin has been eating wet sand, likely mistaking it for snow, and Simpson said its plight has sparked entreaties from around the world asking New Zealand to help the penguin get home since it was spotted by a resident on Monday.

“We are going to let nature take

statewide briefs its course,” he said. “It roamed here naturally. What is wrong with that?”

Swiss police serve as impromptu wedding witnesses GENEVA (AP) -- A couple in Switzerland have police to thank for their impromptu marriage.

The 32-year-old Swiss man and his 33-year-old Spanish bride turned up for their wedding ceremony in Zurich on Tuesday without the required two witnesses.

Zurich’s city police department says the wedding was meant to be a surprise and the pair hadn’t told friends or family about it.

Informed that they wouldn’t be able to get married without witnesses, the couple approached two uniformed police who were on foot patrol nearby.

The police department says its officers did their duty and the couple were married shortly afterward.

Fake scholarship prank draws laughs, scolding BANGOR, Pa. (AP) -- It turns out a Pennsylvania high school graduate’s scholarship was just a load of bull.

Bangor Area High School grad Ethan Rosenberry says he invented

an award when the guidance office passed around forms to seniors to report any awards they had received.

His made-up award was named for Jack Hitte (middle initial: S).

Rosenberry tells The ExpressTimes of Easton that he wanted acknowledgment that he’d won jack, er, squat.

Rosenberry says the school’s administration wasn’t too pleased when the award’s name was read aloud by the principal. But he still got his diploma after a stern talking-to.

The district says it’s looking into the prank but declined further comment.

Mass. grads’ diplomas with errors get replaced

PLYMOUTH, Mass. (AP) -Graduates of a Massachusetts high school who received diplomas this month containing spelling errors are getting corrected versions - plus an apology.

The diplomas handed out to 263 Plymouth North graduates on June 4 had the word “for” spelled “fro” while the word “and” was spelled “ans.”

Schools officials signed all of them without noticing.

Principal Kathleen McSweeney tells The Enterprise of Brockton that Jostens, the Minnesota company that printed the diplomas, sent new ones to the school that arrived Monday.

School officials will sign them and mail them this week.

House votes to ease rules for offshore drilling The House has approved a bill removing a barrier to companies seeking to drill for oil in some areas offshore.

The measure was approved June 22 by 253-166 vote. It would give the Environmental Protection Agency six months to decide on air pollution permits for offshore rigs or platforms exploring for oil. It also limits challenges to the EPA’s appeals board and restricts which emissions can be evaluated.

Shell Oil Co. scrapped plans to drill in the Beaufort Sea off Alaska in February after the appeals board said it would review its permit.

The delay has been criticized

by Republicans for blocking oil production and is the primary reason for the bill.

The White House opposes the measure, saying it deprives citizens of a way to challenge permits and would also increase air pollution.

Neil Diamond Tribute Band, Super Diamond, coming to Anchorage Anchorage Downtown Partnership, Ltd. Will Neil Diamond Tribute Band, SUPER DIAMOND! The San Francisco based band will perform in downtown Anchorage on Friday, July 15 at Live After Five for a free concert in Town Square, 5:00PM - 8:00PM. Super Diamond has performed across the country to full crowds at the Hollywood Bowl, Fenway Park, House of Blues and the Dave Letterman Show.

For more information about Live After Five please visit www. anchoragedowntown.org or call (907) 279-5650. For more information about Super Diamond visit http:// superdiamond.com/

Corrections

“2.5M construction project upgrades Providence Drive” said that real time signs for bus stops will be installed in this construction phase. That will not happen until phase three, which now has no funding. The project has been planned for 15 years, not eight years.

Funding was primarily granted from the FTA, but phase two of the project is funded with the American Recovery Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

03 36% of college students leave learning nothing June 28, 2011 | News

Research shows students study 50% less than in 1950, still knowledge gap between races widens

By Matt Caprioli and Ashley Snyder The Northern Light

time management,” Senior Jessie Ford, a metalsmithing major, said.

According to the surveys, 36 percent of college graduates do not increase their critical thinking skills in the four years of college and 45 percent of college students do not increase their critical thinking skills in the first two years of college.

In addition to his own surveys,

Beer is fun, but for an increasing number of four-year college graduates, it is one of many things hampering their ability to compete in a knowledge-based economy, one that increasingly places Alaskans in direct competition with Chinese graduates and their thinner beer bellies.

A study by sociologists Richard Arum and Jospia Roksa suggests that as colleges treat students more as consumers that need to be satisfied, rather than demand that they learn critical thinking skills, the point of college is shifting from academics to other areas.

The researchers discussed their findings through an American Council on Education webinar.

UAA and UAF both participated, 15 UAA professors attended at the consortium library.

The study followed 2,300 students through their first two years of college. These students came from 24 ‘diverse’ four-year institutions. Several surveys were held in fall 2005, and evaluated students again in spring 2007, spring 2009, and their transition into the labor market.

Arum and Roksa used the The researchers distributed Collegiate Learning Assessment their own survey, which (CLA) on all students. The above considered family background, numbers were derived after high school traits, ACT/SAT scaling the scoring system to a scores, high school GPA, college range of 1–to-100. When students transcripts, etc. did not improve, that means that They found that, on average, the they did not move up by one amount of time spent in academic percentage point in their first two pursuits is less in college than in or four years. Arum said that other high school. assessments confirmed these “When (students) come to results. colleges and universities, they’ll “And why would they move up often report in interviews when given the amount of time they’re you ask them, ‘We thought college reporting reading, writing, and was going to be harder than high studying,” Arum asked. school. It’s not. It’s easier,” Arum Explanations for this varied said. from professor’s TNL asked 11 workload, students around structural the SSB whether inefficiencies, they thought and student’s high school priorities when was easier entering high than college. school.

All of them “For most thought college (faculty), was harder, teaching but because content takes of increased precedence over social and fiscal teaching the pressures, not critical thinking, because of complex academics. reasoning and Their reasons writing skills supported Arum addressed in this -Richard Arum research. This and Roksa’s research. is a structural “When you issue, not a are in high deficit in our school, so many parts of your life faculty. Faculty are evaluated are taken care of for you and your by their departments on content focus can really be on high school. coverage, as opposed to whether Versus when you are in college, the students in their courses are that’s not the case. You have to learning how to learn,” Libby focus on all these others things Roderick, the associate director of in your life as well as juggling the Center for Advancing Faculty school. I think that the biggest Excellence, said. lesson I’ve learned from college is Speakers at the forum and

“When (students) come to colleges and universities, they’ll often report in interviews when you ask them, ‘We thought college was going to be harder than high school. It’s not. It’s easier.”

faculty that stayed afterward agreed that students are entering college expecting that the university should conform to their needs.

“Faculty increasingly have become just delivery of a service, rather than professionals who are challenging students in a relationship. So that whole structure of three quarters

clearly getting exposed to these types of courses, there were large numbers of students going through college and university that had found ways to navigate without taking those courses. They had found programs, professors, or courses that didn’t require them,” Richard Arum said.

Long-term learning varied with several factors. Students majoring

Graphics courtesy of richard Arum and jospia roksa

of the faculty being contingent (upon student evaluations), and being asked to be demanding of a student body that is saying I didn’t pay 30,000 dollars to get a C, is putting us in a really bad situation when it comes to demanding more learning.

And in both those cases it is the consumerism of the entire system that is shaping (these) findings,” Gary Rhoades, general secretary of the American Association of University Professors, said.

Variation in learning: work load, major, and race Researchers were disturbed to find that 50 percent of students said that they have taken 0 courses where they’d been ask to write more than 20 pages over the semester. 32 percent said that they have taken 0 courses where they’d been ask to read more than 40 pages a week.

“While some students were

in education, social work, and business showed the lowest gains over time.

Traditional arts and science field—social sciences, humanities, natural sciences, and math—showed substantial gains over time.

“Variation is within institutions.

That’s really important to know because it suggests how we improve the outcomes of higher education.

It’s not necessarily to look to the

school next to us, but to look inside. To examine what students on our own campus are showing improvements by investing time, are taking rigorous course work, and are actually improving,” Roska said.

Over four years, the CLA performance gap between students coming from educated families and uneducated families stays about same. But between white and black students, the performance gap on the CLA actually increases.

“During their first two years of college, white students gained 41 points while African-America students gained only 7 points,” their book reads.

Another problem discussed is the fact that students are studying less than they historically have done. From 1920 to 1960, college students spent on average 25 hours of studying for class. Today, the average is 13 hours a week. About 8 hours of that is spent studying in groups, which is considered inefficient for long term learning.

Three of the students we spoke with said they never study.

The duo suggested that the best solutions are locally developed, and warned against a federal accountability system.

“What is most problematic and dangerous is that there could be a NCLB for higher education where we just assume that if we set standards and expectations, that student achievement will follow,” Roska said.

‘According to the surveys, 36 percent of college graduates do not increase their critical thinking skills in the four years of college and 45 percent of college students do not increase their critical thinking skills in the first two years of college. ‘

FEATURES

04

COOK: New book compiles homemade recipes continued from cover

and a vegetable.

“It’s incredible,” Williamson exclaimed.

Even though it’s a favorite, the dish is only served every five or six weeks.

Other meals include chicken corn chowder, beef bean and cheese casserole, corn bread and the not-so-popular split pea soup.

“They don’t really like split pea soup, so we probably won’t have it again until October,” Dunlap said.

Every meal she makes is homemade, and in honor of the work she has done, the non-profit daycare is putting together a recipie book to raise money.

“We hope to have a beautiful dedication in the beginning of the book,” Williamson added.

The books are estimated to come out in October, and Williamson hopes the parents and staff find it useful.

“What I am doing is taking all of her favorite recipes and breaking them down to family style so instead of a recipe that feeds 60 make it so it feeds four or five,” Williamson said.

“She needs a big bonus or something.”

Graphic by Shana Roberson

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June 28, 2011 | Features

05

a humor column by Alden Lee

The best ways to get your kicks, bruises for summer

By Alden Lee

The Northern Light

Adobe InDesign experience preferred but not necessary.

The majestic goat whips its head free from the surface of the lake with sinuous strength, long wet strands of chin hair slapping against its jaw. Moments ago it was drowning, but with a single surge it bursts free from its watery prison with all the grace of a…well, of a desperate goat.

Duncan clings to its slick back for dear life, gasping for breath and wishing he had reconsidered clambering on the goat’s back and urging it into the lake. This one isn’t as good of a swimmer as he had hoped.

The recreational activity of goat surfing has yet to reach the popularity of a mainstream sport, but it has attracted a small group of hardcore enthusiasts looking for the next extreme way to liven up their summer. It’s a tricky thing to master, but once you find a goat with the right buoyancy and aerodynamics, riding along its back across the choppy waters of any freshwater lake can be one of the most exhilarating things in the world.

Okay, let’s get serious here.

Goat surfing doesn’t exist. But with the bright promise of summer fully upon us, and the relentless desire to get out and do something creeping up our calves, it’s time to begin searching for the next big summer activity to fulfill our outdoor cravings.

No one’s saying this activity has to be smart—goat surfing definitely isn’t, and neither is straddling a trashcan being pulled by a four-wheeler down a gravel road, which has been attempted.

Brain cells aren’t necessary. It just has to be physically active, stimulating enough to justify abandoning the TV, and involving a certain amount of inherent danger. And besides, with all these shows featuring eager idiots repeatedly wiping themselves out through ridiculous stunts, aren’t you inspired to go out and try it for yourself?

To help you get started with your summer hijinks, I have searched high and low to bring you one of the best adrenaline pumping activities around, right behind goat surfing. This one, however, has been tried and true by real thrill seekers, so you’re certain to get your kicks for the summer. High on crazy and low on smarts, it’s known as:

Tree Launching Picture the scene: you and a friend are out in the middle of a lovely forest, surrounded on all sides by towering pine trees.

Now, you could just climb these trees and have a little monkey fun, but that’s no way to get a real adrenaline junkie fix. Don’t be lame. Instead, if you’re the heaviest of the pair, clamber your way to the very top of one of these and begin throwing your weight back and forth, enough to overbalance the tree and let you straddle this baby all the way to the ground. It’s important not to let go during the ride, and if you’re a male, careful where you situate your tender parts.

Now comes the fun part! As you come creaking to the forest floor, your friend grabs hold of the tree and—blatantly ignoring every inch of common sense in his body—gives the command for you to jump off. There’s a brief second where gravity tries to sort out whether you guys are intentionally being this stupid,

and then it’s sayonara señor, as your friend is launched up, up and away, dizzyingly ascending to join the treetops for a little while like Tarzan on crack. It’s important for your friend not to let go either, as flying off and impaling oneself on another tree tends to ruin the fun.

Now, you could grab your friend’s ankles as the tree bends back down again and help him get off, but you’d much rather laugh at his misfortune, pronounce him SOL, and make him climb down himself. That way, there’s even more potential for him to fall off.

And then, of course, it’s time to do it again!

Sounds hazardous? Well duh, how else are you going to have fun?

“Those trees can shoot you up there pretty high—it’s great,” said Jerry Sommers, from Salmon, ID, who has attempted the stunt several times. “Things can get interesting if the branches break off while you’re on your way up, though.”

Oh boy, huh? Well you just wait until the winter edition, when I tell you all about ice-lake wind tarping. Out-of-control fun transcends the seasons!

So what are you waiting for?

Put this paper down, rush outside, and go break a few bones in the true spirit of summer fun! If you don’t have a little voice in the back of your head saying, “Should we really be doing this?” then you’re not doing things right. It’s Jack Ass time, baby. Let the internal bleeding begin!

Note: In case you hadn’t picked up on the sarcasm, neither The Northern Light nor Orange Rhymes With endorse you attempting any of these stunts.

We prefer our readers to be of sound state in body and mind, as opposed to having missing limbs and fractured craniums. Thank you.

06 FEATURES|

TNL

June 28, 2011

Top left:: Intermediate students Zona and Eleanor displaying their handiwork. Top Right: Teacher Julie Meyer and St Michael students trace handprints onto a giant crane, to be given out as a raffle prize following a community performance . Right: A child sits folding cranes after school at the playground. Bottom: Leslie Kimiko Ward displaying the finished 1000 cranes.

ST. MICHAEL: Cranes Continued from cover world. I conveyed this to Leslie who almost immediately knew she needed to do something,” said Stuppy.

Stuppy’s worry stemmed from the fact that, in the village, almost everyone is related to one another in one form or another.

Her own boyfriend is the uncle of the deceased, who took the death of his nephew especially hard.

It was then that Ward decided to turn her small method of coping into something larger for the entire village of St. Michael.

She taught her students how to fold cranes, and created a Facebook page dedicated to the project, where anyone could post a picture of themselves holding a paper crane in support. In her blog, Ward writes that the project isn’t about creating something “epic,” but that it is about busying oneself while grieving until you realize that, through this thing, you “begin living again.”

“My hope for the ‘1000 Cranes

for Alaska’ project is that it offers up one such tiny opportunity, and before you know it, you’re plugged in to an instant and growing network of support and creative inspiration,” said Ward.

Since its start on Sunday, June 12, the Facebook page (called “1000 Cranes for Alaska”) has amassed 363 “likes,” and has had its Wall peppered with pictures of handmade paper cranes from around the state and country. It continues to grow daily.

Locally, in St. Michael, Ward and her students performed dance and drumming in front of a large collection -Leslie Ward. of community members on Thursday, June 16, as had been planned before the events that led to the grassroots “suicide prevention” movement. At the end, Ward explained the project she and her students had taken on, and presented the 1000 cranes (which had been completed on Wednesday, June 15) to the audience. Children held strings of cranes proudly in their hands as

“They faced the audience, and everybody just cried harder.

I think it was something that was very healing for the community just to see the image of the kids and their efforts.”

June 28, 2011 | features

Photos courtesy of Leslie Ward

s heal in rural Alaska they walked from the back of the when the performance was over; some are still keeping it alive. room, and the audience cried.

“They came into the gym where According to Ward, Chloe Akers, a we were holding the show and you UAA student who recently started could see it on their faces that her own business, The Snowy they were so proud of what they’d Owl, where she crafts products done,” Ward for children, will said. “They be hosting the faced the “1000 Cranes for Alaska” project audience, and at her booth everybody upcoming just cried -Megan Stuppy for Saturday markets harder.

I (July 2, 9, 16 and think it was 23). something Stuppy is also dedicated to that was very healing for the community just to see the image keeping the movement going.

“At the beginning of the school of the kids and their efforts.”

The mother of the deceased year, we’ll have an assembly to was at her son’s funeral in Kotlik share with the entire school what at the time of the presentation, we did this summer. We’ll discuss and was unaware of the gesture the story of the 1000 cranes, and her son’s death had inspired. The we will make a plan as a school cranes will be on display in the to continue folding cranes when school however, so that students members of the community need and teachers returning in the fall them. It won’t stop here, I won’t will have a reminder that they can let that happen.” make a difference.

But the movement didn’t stop

“It won’t stop here; I won’t let that happen.”

Top: Artist Leslie Kimiko Ward running in front of the school with completed 1000 cranes. Right: Elementary students Bernelle and Ashton show off their new “Crane Dance” skills.

07

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TNL

features| June 28, 2011

Take your pick of charity events this summer

By Alden Lee

The Northern Light

may be between that and 1,100.

Money is raised through general admission to the event, which is $35, and exclusive seating, which can range from $55 for runway seats to $1,000 for tables. All the proceeds are used to purchase necessities such as milk, pillows, clothing and soap for desperate women and children at the Clare House shelter.

Livestrong Cancer Survivors Summit, Aug 13 Cancer survivors will convene along with the general public at 11:00a.m. at Kincaid Park, for the Annual Cancer Survivors Summit.

With booths from the Lance Armstrong Foundation, the American Cancer Society and A model struts the runway for the 2010 Clare to Clare Benefit the Alaska Fashion Show at the Dena’ina Center. The fashion show is used to benefit the Clare House, a 24-hour shelter for homeless women and Regional children.

Hospital, are plenty more still to come, and attendees can take classes on plenty more chances to give back nutrition and physical activity, financial issues, and managing to the community. long term effects of cancer treatments The event runs for Clare to Clare Fashion three hours, giving people the Show 2011, July 28 opportunity to visit as many Fashion hits the Dena’ina booths as they would like and Civic and Convention Center educate themselves on living after from 6:30-10:30, with Clare a cancer diagnosis.

House’s 3rd annual fashion show to benefit the 24-hour shelter for Trek the Trails with The homeless women and children. Arc 5K Run, Sep 3 Designed to resemble a New York event, the Clare to Clare Fashion

Beginning at 9:30a.m.

Show features at The Arc of Anchorage, the clothing and Trek the Trails 5K Run is a models solely donation event to support children out of the and adults with developmental Anchorage disabilities and mental illnesses. community The race takes place on paved on a 60-foot trails, starting and ending at The runway with Arc, with handicaps for age and spotlights. gender. The funds raised through “We take this event support the chapter’s all the fashion services toward assisting those from within our with disabilities. community— we like to keep it funky and eclectic,” said Clare Gauster, of the Clare House.

“The first year we started this For more information up, it was a pretty small event. It on the charity events going on definitely grew in size last year, this summer, visit events.adn. and we expect it to be even bigger com. this year—a lot of good should come from it.”

The 2010 show brought in about 700-800 people, and this year

From 5K’s to golf tournaments to fashion shows, these events are showing that giving charity is not only the right thing to do, it’s also a blast.

By Matt Caprioli The Northern Light

You may have heard suggestions that the Jewish State be relocated to Alaska. Notorious and noble characters have proposed it since 1938, and people still entertain the possiblity. “The Yiddish Policemen’s Union” is Michael Chabon’s 400 page exploration through the question, what if the Jewish State was set up in Alaska, specifically Sitka Alaska. What if Sitka was now a metropolis with 3.2 million people, with families in their second generation, and an underground crime world.

Chabon (pronounced Shaybon) became an international figure at 25, when his novel about college, “The Mysteries of Pittsburgh” became a bestseller.

Nearly a dozen years later, “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay” won the Pulitzer Prize.

Inspector Meyer Landsman is a classic film noir character: nonchalant, alcoholic, pessimistic, recently divorced—tough on the outside, soft on the inside.

The story begins with the murder of a man staying in the same shady hotel as Landsman.

The ‘yid,’ who checked in under the alias Emanuel Lasker was found shot in the back of the head in the middle of a chess game.

Chess is a metaphor on several levels, and Chabon uses it to comment on everything from the human condition to pastry preferences.

With his partner Berko Shemets, Landsman connects Lasker to Verbover Island, home some very orthodox Jews and an underground crime ring. Here they gain their first major clue: “We are taught by the Baal Shem Tov, of blessed memory, that a man with the potential to be Messiah is born into every generation. This is the Tzaddik Ha-Dor. Now, Mendel.”

Mendel Shpilman, they learn, was a wonder boy. His IQ was 170. He mastered eight languages by the age of nine. But somehow in adulthood, Mendel became a heroin addict, among other things.

The rest of the novel retraces his steps to not only solve a homicide case but also detail what social events can make someone so holy become so distraught.

Despite winning a Pulitzer, Chabon is not a literary snob. He

doesn’t shy away from second person, enjoys sci-fi and comics.

He shows no anger when his books become lackluster films.

“A book being an adventure story, in theory anyway, shouldn’t be incompatible with its having more serious thematic concerns,” Chabon said on NPR’s “All Things Considered.”

Chabon has a fantastic ability to pair random objects with characters that create a space that you simply will never encounter in daily life.

“Rabbi Heskel Shpilman is a deformed mountain, a giant ruined dessert, a cartoon house with the windows shut and the sink left running,” Chabon writes.

His descriptions are so abstract yet concrete; the result is a pleasant imbalance. He pairs colors with situations that imply the whole scene without (surprisingly) using any words: “He wipes a streak of brown mustard from his lips with a napkin.” Elsewhere, there is black milk.

Chabon does enjoy some exotic words that may prove frustrating to readers. He said that he made a concerted effort to use shorter sentences, but he didn’t apply the same treatment toward the plot, which after awhile, may seem like a string of compound phrases. But the short sentences really facilitate reading, and as Alaskans, we’re already cued into the many allusions that others could trip over: Yakutat, Tlingit and Anthony Dimond.

Chabon did spend time in Sitka, and it shows in his descriptions.

“A white van pulls in, a bright mask of snow on its windshield…

The snow is falling like pieces of broken daylight…the footprints in the snow have become shallow as an angel’s.”

It’s not just pretty descriptions.

There is plenty food for thought.

Many characters, particularly the shady ones, prefer paradoxes: “Every messiah fails the moment he tries to redeem himself.”

The entire mystery is solved in a single sentence near the end.

That litotes is effective, but doesn’t let you indulge in the surprise, like most detective novels. Union is a detective novel, but unlike the generic paperback, it stands out as something much, much more.

Daniel Jackson/TNL

Epilepsy patients. Cancer survivors. Homeless shelters. The list goes on.

Summertime in Anchorage is always busy, but this summer is packed to burst with charity events for all sorts of different causes and organizations. Beyond the act of simply giving money, people have the chance to get out and actively support numerous foundations benefiting those in need, becoming involved in a community, state, and nationwide act of goodwill.

From 5K races, to golf tournaments and fashion shows, these events are showing that giving charity is not only the right thing to do; it’s also a blast.

As the summer days are already rolling right along, several of these charity events have already taken place. One such event, the 8th Annual Northwest Run/ Walk for Epilepsy, proved to be a great fundraiser for the Epilepsy Foundation Northwest (EFNW) and partner agency the Stone Soup Group. The outpouring of people on June 18 helped raise $3,045 toward the two organizations’ seizure and epilepsy-fighting programs and services, as well as increased awareness toward the troubling condition.

The Epilepsy Run/Walk is also held in Spokane, Tacoma, Seattle, Tri-Cities, Portland, Hermiston and Juneau, making it one of the largest charity events in the northwest. Nearly 7,000 people in Alaska alone suffer from epileptic conditions, so this is an important cause for Alaskans. “[Our goal] is to provide support to agencies and the medical community who already provide good service to Alaskans with epilepsy,” said Brent Herrmann, EFNW President/CEO. Just a day before this event, Bean’s Café held its 16th Annual Golf Tournament to support the homeless and needy of Anchorage.

Thanks to the many sponsors and a sizable turnout, the tournament fees were enough to supply the disadvantaged with ample amounts of food and social services.

According to event coordinator Katherine Jernstrom, 92 people attended and over $39,000 was raised. In addition to the golf tournament, attendees were presented with door prizes, bottomless golf balls at the driving range and a catered lunch.

Bean’s Café has been operating as a nonprofit since 1979, feeding,

sheltering and assisting the homeless during the day. Their motto is to “feed the hungry and shelter the homeless without discrimination,” and all of the money raised from their golf tournament goes directly towards funding their operation.

While many of these charity events have already passed, there

@ your library: Michael Chabon

PS3553.H15: the Consortium has two hard copies of Michael Chabon’s The Yiddish Policemen’s Union.

Rethink

OPINION

09

Culture wars, partisan hackery hurt America

By Brett Frazer

The Northern Light

In 1992, George H. W. Bush proclaimed, “there is a religious war going on in our country for the soul of America.” Indeed, beginning in the early 90’s, “public morality” – the ethical code that would define America – became the leitmotif of American political discourse.

Abortion, LGBT rights, publically funded art, and religious schools became hot issues. Battle lines were drawn, allegiances were pledged, and the culture war had begun.

Conservatives declared their party to be the party of the founding fathers, a party that spoke to Bush’s “nation that we still call God’s country.” Liberals declared their party to be one of meeting new challenges and looking forward. They labeled themselves as progressive, moving into an American Enlightenment equipped with a fresh and superior understanding of poverty, sexuality, race relations, and public morality. The two parties became two competing value systems, warring voters in a race that would produce one winner and one loser. The parties decided that there was no compromise.

A “with us or against us”

mentality infected Washington.

America entered an unprecedented era of partisanship, as each of the two parties sought to label the other as not just imprudent, but morally wrong. Smear campaigns, character assassination, and candidate litmus tests became commonplace in American politics. As the culture wars spilled into the various branches of government, political appointments became centered around candidates opinion on hotly contested issues of public morality, and less about their abilities as leaders, judges, or diplomats. In selecting judges for our courts, a candidate’s personal opinion on abortion, for example, might be more valued than his or her ability to objectively adjudicate the law.

The rise of political pundits; Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Alan Colmes, Bill O’Reilly, and Ed Schulz have exacerbated the problem. All of these pundits, liberal and conservative alike, invent history, tell partial truths, gloss over complicated policies., and care more about lambasting their opponents than about truly examining prudent policies to help our country. Jon Stewart was onto something when he referred to this kind of “reporting” as “partisan hackery.”

I have asked staunch supporters of both parties how they feel about partisanship in Washington. When asked why they would support a clearly incompetent candidate who represented their party, they tell me: “because I know how they will vote.” Voting someone into office because they will vote “republican” or “democrat” drives our country further into partisanship.

In order to guarantee a “republican” vote, conservatives support far right-wing candidates. One might throw their vote away if they dared to vote for a more moderate republican, who might “flip” on an issue. Consequently, party voting tends to produce candidates who are least willing to compromise on their values. When both parties do this, it produces a stalemate.

Washington is becoming filled with obstinate fools who thrive off platitudes and vapid political rhetoric.

The culture war is problematic for effective governance, and now more than ever, we must declare a cease-fire. Today, the culture war has spread into the realms of economics, care for the poor and the elderly, education, health care, and foreign policy. Republican tacticians accused democrats of

‘The culture war is problematic for effective governance, and now more than ever, we must declare a cease-fire. ‘

implementing “death panels” in the new Health Care Legislation.

During the recent budget battles, conservatives claiming to be fiscal hawks spent tremendous amounts of political capital trying to cut funding for Planned Parenthood.

It wasn’t all about the budget.

Had their effort been placed elsewhere, perhaps they could have bargained for more than $38 billion in spending cuts.

The rhetoric employed in debating the current economic crisis reeks of the culture war.

When income taxes for the super wealthy were close to 90% in the 50’s and 60’s, nobody described Truman, Eisenhower, or Johnson as “socialist tyrants”. Anymore, talk of raising taxes for the rich (read: ending the Bush Tax Cuts) results in accusations of tyranny and socialism. It isn’t tyranny, and it isn’t socialism. It’s prudent, and it probably needs to happen.

Federal tax expenditures cost the government trillions.

Politicians on both sides of the aisle must realize that addressing our fiscal woes demands compromise. Revenues must be increased and spending must be curbed. Ending the Bush tax cuts and increasing the capital gains tax is a good place to start. Raising the retirement age, trimming entitlement spending, and addressing ballooning pension funds are also necessary.

These kinds of policies require bi-partisan support. No party will save the economy alone.

Despite the gloomy outlook,

there are signs of hope.

Bi-partisan groups are beginning to gain support. One such group, No Labels, has already amassed hundreds of thousands of supporters. The front page of their website states “we are Democrats, Republicans, and Independents who are united in the belief that we do not have to give up our labels, merely put them aside and do what’s best for America.” This kind of bipartisanship and civility is exactly what Washington needs right now.

As our economy flounders and our international prowess evaporates, Democrats and Republicans alike are further entrenching themselves in ideology. This is not the time for idealism or populism. As our political spectrum spreads apart, moderates and independents are essentially ostracized from the political community. Because moderate politicians aren’t winning primaries, moderate voters are forced to choose between two extremes – the lesser of two evils. Politics should not be about choosing sides in a war for soul of America. There are issues we can all agree on, and perhaps we should start focusing more on the similarities, and less on the differences.

seawolf snapshots

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Photos By Daniel Jackson/TNL

“Classes are shorter, you can meet different people. It is fun and there are less rules.”

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10

TNL

opinion| June 28, 2011

Editorial

Renewable energy deserves aggressive pursuit CIRI Native Corporation and Chugach Electric Association finalized a deal last week to begin construction of the Railbelt’s first commercial wind farm on Fire Island, off the coast of Anchorage.

This project comes at a time when a sustainable and diversified energy portfolio is urgently needed for Southcentral utilities.

Environmentally, Alaska is ground zero for climate change.

We are warming faster, and have more to lose, than any other state in the union. If we want our calls for action to be listened to nationally, we should be walking the talk on reducing carbon emissions.

But even for residents who scoff at such environmental concerns,

the economic opportunities should be more than ample warrant for action. Southcentral relies upon Cook Inlet’s natural gas, which has a rapidly approaching expiration-date. Joe Griffith, GM of the Matanuska Electric Association and former CEO of Chugach Electric, warned last year that “the only guaranteed power source [for Southcentral] after 2014 was hydro.”

Even though recently announced leases for oil may yield some extra gas in Cook Inlet, its declining production and globally rising prices mean that the consistent price of renewable energy make it smart riskmanagement, and an increasingly

cost-competitive choice.

Over the last several years, the environmental and economic sides of the case for alternative energy have been made so strongly and repeatedly that there are few public figures that haven’t given at least lip service to the idea.

Still, for people in this state that have influence over such things (which includes most everyone from Chugach members on up), they must choose between taking a passive and an aggressive approach to new energy projects.

Though the current progress on the Fire Island project would not have happened without presence of the latter among the Chugach board, CIRI and many other

groups; the former has been on display frequently as well.

Aside from ML&P’s recent low-ball bid to purchase Fire Island wind, the project has faced engineering challenges such as potential air-traffic interference, that have had many prematurely willing to admit defeat.

Perhaps this is merely a sad drop in spirit since the days of building the impossible Trans-Alaska Pipeline. It could also be that the popularity of ‘green technology’ among young environmentalists and liberal politicians has some conservative types instinctively suspicious.

But as more renewable projects move from concept to reality,

electrical workers and engineers are replacing activists as the face of green technology. Southcentral has many more possible projects to decide upon as well in the nearterm, from a Mt. Spurr geothermal plant to the other thirds of Fire Island. Hopefully, aggressive pursuit of renewable energy will replace the passive approach as the face of our utilities as well.

on the right side

Solving America’s problems: look to families, not politicians

By Daniel McDonald The Northern Light

Sunday, June 19, was the 101st anniversary of Father’s Day. Like many Americans, I gave my father a call as a sign of appreciation and to respect the tradition.

In contrast to Mother’s Day, Father’s Day tends to be low key.

The contributions of a mother to her children are clearly visible, while a father’s role is often in the background. This mother-father dynamic may have an influence on the level of praise one parent receives over the other, but the actual importance of fathers is only now beginning to be realized.

Historically, the vast majority of children were raised in a two parent household. In the 1950s, single-parenthood was viewed as nothing less than a scandal. By the 70s, 11 percent of children were being raised by single parents; in 2011, the number has more than doubled to around 26 percent.

Of all single parents, 84 percent are women. Which means that a nearly a quarter of all children in the United States are being raised without a father.

Many believe fatherless households are not a problem, but something to be celebrated. Single Mothers by Choice (SMC) is an organization that offers “support and information to single women who are considering motherhood.”

This view is supported by The New York Times columnist Pamela Paul who espouses the virtues of single motherhood. In the same vein Carol Sarler of the The Sunday Times argues that, “children don’t need fathers.” Unfortunately, the absence of fathers has real and serious detrimental effects on children.

According to the Progressive Policy Institute, seventy-two percent of juvenile murderers were raised in fatherless homes.

The Village Voice published similarly grim numbers: children raised without a father were found to be five times more likely to

commit suicide, 10 times more likely to use drugs, and 20 times more likely to end up in prison.

Perhaps the most telling statistic is that boys without a father were 14 times more likely to commit rape.

This is corroborated by a 2006 U.S. Children’s Bureau Office on Child Abuse and Neglect report: “One of the most important benefits of a positive relationship between mother and father… is the behavior it models for children.

Fathers who treat the mothers of their children with respect… are more likely to have boys who understand how they are to treat women and who are less likely to act in an aggressive fashion toward females.” The report also emphasizes the impact of a father’s behavior on his daughter. “Girls with involved, respectful fathers see how they should expect men to treat them and are less likely to become involved in violent or unhealthy relationships.”

What isn’t quite understood by many is the great importance the male gender plays in the upbringing of children. Dr. David Popenoe, a noted sociologist writes, “Fathers are far more than just ‘second adults’ in the home.

Involved fathers bring positive benefits to their children that no other person is as likely to bring.”

Even the cognitive development of children seems to be greatly influenced by fatherly involvement. According to Michael Lamb, professor of psychology and head of the Department of Social and Developmental Psychology at Cambridge University, “Children raised without fathers are more likely to show signs of psychological maladjustment, they are more likely to have difficulties at school... They are more likely to be represented in the statistics on delinquency and unconventional social behaviour, and they seem to have difficulty establishing and maintaining

intimate relationships, particularly heterosexual relationships once they move into adulthood.”

Faced with these realities, it is no wonder that in 2008, Barack Obama urged Black fathers to take care of their children. “They have abandoned their responsibilities, acting like boys instead of men.

And the foundations of our families are weaker because of it… I resolved many years ago that it was my obligation to break the cycle — that if I could be anything in life, I would be a good father to my girls,” Obama said.

Despite my disagreements with the majority of Obama’s policies, I greatly respect him for his dedication to his family.

He was right to send the much needed message to the Black community, because that is where fatherlessness is most prevalent. Around 65 percent of African American children are being raised by a single-mother. The aforementioned Progressive Policy Institute study also revealed a great crime inflicted on black children. After controlling for the factor of an absent father, there is virtually no difference between black and white crime rates.

The great tragedy in all this is that defenders of the nuclear family now have studies to prove their points where there used to be only religion and tradition to rely on.

In this age of increasing abdication of responsibility, a real effort is required of both men and women to turn these trends around. The fact remains that fathers matter; there should be nothing but contempt for men who abandon their wives or girlfriends and leave their children fatherless. Single mothers by choice belong in the same category. They

display an incredible level of narcissism and lack of concern for the well-being of children, which are practically relegated to the category of fashion accessory.

Most of us appreciate the contribution of our mothers in our lives; it is fathers who often go unnoticed. Those of us raised

4x7.375_SYK_Affordable2k.indd 2

by good, hardworking, and loving fathers, could likely do a lot more to show our gratitude. And for those men who weren’t so lucky, you can do what our President did and break the cycle, make a conscious choice to be a good father.

5/17/11 12:55 PM

June 28, 2011 | opinion

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toe2toe

11

Paying for college: Should financial aid be based on need merit?

Incentives work to fight Alaska’s brain drain

By Christopher Nicholson

The Northern Light

Alaska is a state built on financial incentives.

The permanent fund dividend helps residents cope with the high cost of living, the lack of an Anchorage sales tax encourages residents to purchase in-state goods, and Alaska’s partnership with universities in the northwestern states encourages doctors and other needed professionals to move to Alaska from the lower 48. These programs are all popular among the individuals affected and have served to improve the lives of Alaskans generally by ensuring much needed human capital to finance the state’s economy.

Building off the success of these programs, it makes sense to financially encourage Alaskan students to get their college degrees and certificates in Alaska. While need-based financial aid ensures students from all socio-economic statuses have the same capability to afford college, it ignores the simple truth that not all forms of financial aid are equal.

A purely need-based financial aid system that awards loans to all students leaves them with crushing financial debt upon graduation. In an ideal world (at least for students and their families) every student would receive a college education for free. But in Alaska today, means providing a mix of grants and loans to all students, regardless of their intended major or expected capability to repay loans after graduation.

Merit-based scholarships are a far more effective financial incentive specifically because they leave students without substantial debt upon graduation. For students from low-income backgrounds, successfully implemented merit scholarships give them the ability to afford an education without relying on parental support as wealthier students often do.

An example of this type of meritbased scholarship is the UA scholars program that offers “a 4-year, $11,000 scholarship to the top 10 percent of students in each qualified high school graduating class.” The program has been especially helpful to Alaska native students, who make up 20% of UA scholars but only 15% of the overall UA student population. It’s clear just from these numbers that merit scholarships benefit all Alaska residents, not just those from wealthy families.

Governor Sean Parnell’s Alaska Performance Scholarships are the newest example of merit-based scholarships aimed not only at increasing opportunities for students but also encouraging school improvement.

The scholarship program requires students to meet a certain GPA, take required courses, and achieve a required score on standardized tests. By requiring students to take these courses, Juneau is hoping to improve educational opportunities for students, as schools expand their offerings to allow students to compete for the scholarships.

The program is by no means perfect, and in the short term it will benefit students from wealthier schools more than rural schools. Yet just like UA scholars it is a step in the right direction and will benefit the entire state in the long run as more of Alaska’s children will be educated and employed in our great state.

Need overshadows merit in a expensive world

By Heather Hamilton The Northern Light

While merit based scholarships promote higher intelligence amongst students, needs-based scholarships offer lowerincome students a chance to shine that they wouldn’t otherwise have.

Scenario: A student who does not live at home needs a job to support him or herself. With food, rent and utilities to cover, the job will have to pay decent as well. Then because this student wants to advance in life and make more money, he or she enrolls in college. Now armed with a hefty education bill, the student must work harder to stay afloat.

The student clocks in more than 40 hours a week at work, goes to class, does their homework and in the end only has Cs to show for it at the end of the semester. The student does not qualify for any merit based scholarships because of his grades. He continues to work hard to pay all his bills and go to school, but never gets more than average grades.

If this student had been awarded a needs-based scholarship to cover a portion of his tuition, he would have been required to work less.

The hours no longer spent in the workplace could then be used for studying. More studying would increase the student’s chances of doing well in his classes.

There are other scenarios as well; a single mother or father

might want to go back to school to make themselves more marketable employees, thereby giving them a chance to get better jobs and have more to give their child, for example.

And lets not forget all the students who’ve dealt with unstable family’s and living situations. Sometimes, worrying about whether Mom or Dad might lose their jobs and land you on the streets is powerfully distracting.

Grades aren’t going to be the first thing on your mind.

But imagine what these students, with less than perfect grades, might be able to achieve with the weight of tuition taken off their shoulders?

With the worry gone, the mind is freer to absorb knowledge.

With less time spent at work and more time spent in the library preparing for that final exam, maybe that C student would earn a 4.0.

What brilliant minds are being suppressed, just because they can’t devote 100% of their time cultivating knowledge?

Now, not everyone who goes to college actually cares about their grades. Frustrating, but true. This is why merit based scholarships shouldn’t be eliminated entirely.

Needs-based scholarships should be limited to individuals for a semester or two, which would hopefully give them enough time to raise their GPAs to a level that would make them eligible for other scholarships. No one should get a “free ride,” but everyone deserves a chance to make something of him or herself.

‘The culture war is problematic for effective governance, and now more than ever, we must declare a cease-fire. ‘

opinion| 12 Lefty on the left

TNL

June 28, 2011

What’s the word @ www.thenorthernlight.org?

Who’s watching those who protect us?

RE: Brent Thompson serves up crow for his critics

By Rose “Thompson knew exactly what he was doing coming into the organization, leading the team into a “jaw dropping 12-1 route to the clubs second Kelly Cup.” He is a solid guy on and off the ice. Nice to see some recognition for Brent, he definitely delivered.”

Cases of abuse of power getting serious

By Eli Johnson Every so often you hear of an event that actually should disturb people a great deal more than it does. The sad fact here is that these events are becoming common, and there is a greater question that society as a whole needs to be asking, but isn’t.

Two cases will be presented here, and people can make their own judgments.

Who is watching those who we have protecting us?

On May 30, there was a shooting at Miami Beach. This isn’t exactly an uncommon. This shooting however, was different. Narces Benoit captured it on his cell phone.

The video Benoit captured showed at least nine police officers shooting at Raymond Herisse in his parked car, never firing back.

One witness reports that the cops fired until their guns were empty.

With nine cops shooting a standard police issued Glock-22 that has a 15 round magazine, that’s roughly 135 bullets they put into this man’s car, and also into four bystanders. But it didn’t end there.

The police noticed Benoit filming, along with a news photographer and several bystanders. They rushed over and took Benoit’s phone, then smashed it, along with the photographer’s camera and the phones of the other bystanders. They handcuffed Benoit and his girlfriend, and took them to the station.

They then interrogated him for the video. He had the SIM card hidden in his mouth, claiming that the video had been destroyed with his phone. Benoit was a brave man, for exposing some unbelievable police brutality.

The man being shot at, Herisse, had run over a cop earlier that day, but instead of taking him to jail, the cops killed him in cold blood.

“This isn’t a question of police trying to secure evidence. It’s a question of police trying to destroy evidence of what they had done,” said John DeLeon of the ACLU. Police brutality and abuse of power is very common in Miami.

Police Chief Carlos Noreiga claimed to have heard nothing about police brutality until Benoit gave the film to the media.

In Afghanistan, a military unit,

Bravo Company, had soldiers who decided to try killing Afghani civilians for fun. They deemed them “savages.”

Four Afghani civilians were brutally murdered and mutilated by members of Bravo Company.

Had it not been for them getting busted, there would have been more killings.

What brought, as Rolling Stone magazine named “The Kill Team”, down was the same thing that brought down the cops in Miami Beach – trying to shut people up.

One of the men in the unit, Pfc. Justin Stoner, had had enough. When Staff Sgt. Calvin Gibbs heard about that, he knew this couldn’t stand.

“We need to address the situation with Stoner. Snitches get stitches,” he reportedly said to a gathering of those who had been involved.

With that in mind, Gibbs and six other men descended on Stoner’s room and beat him brutally.

They later came back and told him that if he didn’t keep his mouth shut, there would be severe consequences. They subsequently threw down two severed fingers on the floor, emphasizing that would be his fate, or worse.

Everything came apart after that.

Photographs from their exploits reached a German newspaper, which in turn alerted the entire world to what ‘the Kill Team’ had done. The world needed to know that this was going. It doesn’t matter that it made America look bad, because what was being done cannot be explained away.

The only reason that the video of the shooting of Herisse survived was because Benoit had the SIM card in his mouth when the cops handcuffed him and interrogated him. That man has more guts than most any of us could ever claim to have.

The only reason the “Kill Team” was busted was because an army doctor was treating Stoner for the beating and could tell something was up. She appealed to his decency and got him to talk to army investigators.

A rather compelling YouTuber by the name of Terroja Kincaid had an idea for people who are supposed to be looking after us in his video Death Penalty for Abusive Cops?

“I think we should pass a law that if you wanna become a cop, you sign your life away. You sign an agreement that stipulates that if you abuse your power in these ways, to this extreme degree, you forfeit your life.”

RE: Sustainability club plants garden

By Amy Andrews “I think it is vital that we learn how to grow food locally & communally. Too many people have never tried to grow much of anything. This is a good initiative. I hope it does well and students get behind it.”

RE: UAA grad rides bicycle home from California

By Cole “Thank you to all of the sponsors across the US & Australia who have supported my work and the Artist In Residence program at the Children’s Hospital & Research Center Oakland.”

They later came back and told him that if he didn’t keep his mouth shut, there would be severe consequences.

adventure

cho ose your

©Simon Evans

The Northern Light

Summer on the Mountain NEW! Lift-assisted Downhill Biking Fridays to Sundays | 11 am - 6 pm Tram, Chair 6 & Chair 4 Tickets & Rentals at the Daylodge

Hiking trails Now Open

Hike up and ride the Tram down for free!

Tram hours: 9:30 am - 9:30 pm

2011-12 College Season Passes on Sale Now! Buy online

907-754-1111

alyeskaresort.com

The Wailers July 23 & 24

Daylodge Lawn | 7 pm | All Ages $15 Advance $20 Day of Buy tickets online or 754-2275

June 28, 2011

MOVIE Reviews A&E

Another hero takes the screen: Green Lantern

A&E

Retro movie review of Super Mario Bros.

B2 B2

the northern light’s sports & entertainment section

thenorthernlight.org

Off the radar Alaskan hiking New

assistant hockey coach suits up

Music Review A&E

B5

All Time Low doesn’t make it very high on our list

Megan Edge

The Northern Light

food review A&E

B4

Anchorage’s Best Tofu The beautiful expanse of Bear Mountain requires moderate skill level to tackle, though the trail lasts roughly 5.5 miles and takes about 3 to 5 hours to complete.

Summer sports sports

B8

Get geared up at UAA

sports

B9

Tiger hasn’t given up the golf crown yet

Sean Talbot/TNL

Just North out of Anchorage hiking spots become a quick get away for seclusion and adventure

By Sean Talbot The Northern Light

Overtime

It’s high summer, the bugs are out, and you should be too.

Luckily, there are many more places to enjoy the outdoors than the bustling avenues around Flattop and Glen Alps. Outlined here are a couple of hikes- of

varying difficulty- that are not far from Anchorage, and offer some semblance of solitude.

Bear Mountain and Mt. Eklutna For a relatively short hike with a sweeping view from the Mat-

Su to Anchorage, head up Bear Mountain from the Peter’s Creek trailhead. Bear Mountain is the ridge that overlooks Mirror Lake, parallel to the highway. On a clear day, Denali and Foraker are in full view, and the rock outcropping at the top of the trail is a great place to See Hike Page B10

Mobile app review: Shazam ID’s music Lets you identify music; anything from Greek folk songs to ‘Amar Nao E Pecado’

By Matt Caprioli News Editor

Shazam is a powerful app.

On Friday nights, when your neighbors are blasting intriguing music, you can Shazam it through the walls, and learn that they’re stomping to “Party Rock Anthem”

by LMFAO. For the uninitiated, Shazam is an app for smart phones, like the Android, iPhone, and Blackberry.

Shazamers, as the company calls its users, find music by touching a button about an inch in diameter that listens, sends, matches, and tags whatever music is playing in the background.

Founded in 2002, the London based company was the first to ever develop a music-tagging app.

It has been popular in Europe for several years, and in America for the last couple. The website claims a nation of 125 million users in 200 countries. But at UAA, for every Shazam-conscious smart phone user, there are an equal number of people who have never heard of it. So for those without a smartphone, or without any Shazam-related knowledge- let the review begin.

Shazam is free for the first five tags. After that, Shazam kindly asks that you pay 3.99 for a year of unlimited tags, or 5.99 for a lifetime of unlimited tags. Paying for upgrades in the free app will

B Section

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give you ‘encore status,’ which, other than the unlimited tags you knew you were paying for already, is a euphemism for nothing.

If after the free trial you like the app, it’s best to just download Shazam Encore or Shazam Red for 5.99. (The two apps have the same functions, but Shazam Red donates 20 percent of profits to HIV charities serving Africa).

You’ll gain two new features; LyricPlay, which syncs lyrics and music, as well as (if you live in Europe) Spotify, which streams virtually any song you search for.

LyricPlay sadly does not fill the void, looking more like a really good PowerPoint presentation than a reason to buy a 5.99 app.

Rivals have developed similar apps, like MusicID and SoundHound, but none are as widely known as Shazam, probably because Apple continues to feature Shazam on its apps homepage.

Some reviewers prefer less popular music-tagging apps, because of their quick tagging speeds. But Shazam’s real strength is the amount of information about the song or artist that it conveys after tagging.

Shazam in Action: For instance, after Shazam heard the song “Rich Kid Blues”, I was able to tag it on Facebook and Twitter, and was given the option

to buy it through the ‘Songs for

Japan Benefit’, to find the lyrics, tour info, YouTube videos, recommendations, Ringtones and more.

When tested in town, Shazam wasn’t able capture the Hawaiian music at Hula Hands, but it did capture the ambience of Apollo Restaurant in Seward. Mono Ego S’Agapao by Giannis Ploutarxos was playing.

Unfortunately, Ploutarxos has no face on Shazam; most tags come with album art.

Clicking on their picture allows you to read the artist’s biography, or listen to a 20 second clip of the song. A Google search showed that Giannis Ploutarxos is a very popular Greek Laiko singer (another search showed that Laiko can be translated as “urban folk music”).

A somewhat haunting feature of Shazam, like many apps, is that it remembers the time and place of your last tag. At the Sea Bean, a café two stores down

from Apollo Restaurant, the 3G network was too weak to match the music, but not too weak to note my location. And Shazam does a fine job of locating people; it’s not like Google Maps where locations markers stay on the streets.

This arrow can follow you into buildings. In this case, Shazam followed me to the restroom.

This map can be useful though, especially in Alaska; sometimes the respective network is too weak to send the music to satellites. But Shazam can record the music now, then send it with a stronger connection later.

Connecting with friends is a great way to discover even more music. A friend of mine in Italy tagged Piccoli Dettagli by Giusy Ferreri two weeks ago. Ferreri, as her Shazam biography read, was one a runner up in the first “Italy’s Got Talent” and is often compared to Adele.

The contract warns that you use Shazam at your own risk. The company absolves itself of six things, including that “the results that may be obtained from the use of Shazam will be accurate or reliable.” This seems though more protection from a lawsuit. 98 percent of the tags I do are correct, whether in a movie theater, club, bookstore, or through walls.

See SHAZAM Page B3

A man who knows all the in and outs of college athletics with be taking over as the new assistant UAA hockey coach.

T.J. Jindra spent his college years playing at Notre Dame as a right winger (2003-07). In 2006, as a junior Jindra was named captain of his hockey team, and stayed as captain through his senior year. He later moved on the coach at Shattuck St. Mary’s where he coach for two years, then went back to Notre Dame to work in the Academic Services for Student Athletes office and volunteer coach.

This was a follow up to a successful high school hockey career in Minnesota, after which he played two years in the USHL for the Omaha Lancers.

Now Jindra, 29, will take over as the assistant coach at UAA. “He is from the mid-west and has ties to the USHL (United States Hockey League), and there are a lot of positives in that, that will help enhance our program and I think he kind of fits the mold and criteria of what we are looking for as a coach,” Head Coach Dave Shyiak said.

He feels he will be able to relate to the student-athletes and hardships in which they endure, making him a perfect fit for the team, as well as he has been a leader on every team he has played for, being captain for his high school, junior and college teams, according to Jindra.

The program at Notre Dame (ND) was one similar to the program at UAA. Before Jindra’s time at ND, their hockey program had very limited access and had never advanced to the NCAA tournament.

“When I graduated I was part of two NCAA tournament appearances. I was very fortunate my senior year to be part of a team that was not even ranked in the preseason top-20, yet we finished the last seven weeks of college hockey s the number one team in the country,” Jindra said.

The leprechaun, went on to win the schools first Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) regular season regular season championship, and advanced to the NCAA tournament for the second time.

“I think this experience of what

See Coach Page B

B2 ENTERTAINMENT & MOVIe review

by Shana Roberson The Northern Light

It had to happen. Not every super hero movie released this summer could be great. And “Green Lantern” has fallen on the box office sword. Starring Ryan Reynolds (The Proposal) as the Green Lantern, Blake Lively (Gossip Girl) as Carol Ferris and Peter Sarsgaard (Boys Don’t Cry) as Hector Hammond, “Green Lantern” is set in modern time and on Earth, but also travels to infinity and beyond (a line from the film).

Ryan Reynolds takes another stab at super heros after his turn as Deadpool in “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” and this time suits up as the main man in charge of fighting evil: Hal Jordan.

As an awesome test pilot with a tragic backstory, Jordan both charms and disappoints everyone around him, including potential love Carol Ferris.

Meanwhile, defenders of the universe, the Green Lantern Corps, are busy with a new enemy

‘Green Lantern’ dims in comparison to its super hero big screen competition Parallax, and recruiting Jordan in the process. One of Jordan’s friends on Earth, Dr. Hector Hammond, becomes infected by Parallax and is yet another battle Jordan must fight.

The best part about the movie was the combination of great computer generated graphics with 3D effects. For example, an interesting dynamic Green Lantern brings to the realm of superheroes is that his fighting style is made up of whatever he can imagine.

That is to say, if he can imagine it, or will it, he can use it for offense or defense.

Part of the joy in watching this movie is wondering what the Lanterns will use next against their enemies. A scene in which Jordan is training to be a lantern

‘In one scene, Jordan is trying to guess what the oath he has to say to become a lantern is and delivers this gem: “I hereby swear allegiance to a lantern, given to me by a dying purple alien.” Nail on the head.’

Retro

By Heather Hamilton T

Mario Mario and Luigi Mario not only traverse through multiple kingdoms, worlds and galaxies on various Nintendo games to save an ever elusive (and repeatedly kidnapped) princess, but they also made their big screen debut in an epic adventure to save a kidnapped princess.

“Super Mario Bros.” (1993) stars Bob Hoskins (“Will”) as Mario and John Leguizamo (“The Lincoln Lawyer”) as his younger brother Luigi, two Italian-American plumbers living in Brooklyn. After a chance encounter and then a date with an NYU student named Daisy, Luigi and Mario get stuck in another dimension while trying to save her from King Koopa’s

is a real highlight, though it ends all too soon. Jordan takes his American-blow-stuff-up heritage seriously and uses everything from race cars to machine guns to chainsaws to get the job done.

That said, the dialogue in the movie was written in such a way it would have been impossible for the actors to not sound cheesy in nearly every scene, with one exception being a scene when Ferris coaches Jordan on overcoming his fear. Lines like “When I’m flying, it feels like anything is possible,” or “Wow, you’re a superhero! Wait, don’t superheroes get the girl?” would put any actor to the cheesy test, as it does in this movie.

The dialogue did provide for some genuinely funny moments in the movie, such as one scene where Jordan is trying to guess what the oath he has to say to become a lantern is and delivers this gem: “I hereby swear allegiance to a lantern, given to me by a dying purple alien.” Nail on the head.

Given the time limits available to a single movie, “Green Lantern” stayed considerably close to the source comics it came from, with a few minor exceptions.

There is a quick scene after the credits, but stay for it at your own peril.

Although it hints at a sequel and is an effort to be true to the comics, it is out of place and puts a big red stupid stamp on the entire movie.

Go see the movie if you like 3D or if you’ve never seen a 3D movie before. Otherwise, see it on DVD or cable.

discovers that she’s a princess).

Mario doesn’t even have a girlfriend named Peach; the love of his life is a fellow New Yorker named Daniella (who also gets kidnapped - just for good measure). Everything important to Mario-lore is completely ignored except for the brothers’ iconic costumes and bob-oms, and even they don’t come into the film until near the end.

To be fair, as a film, “Super mario Bros.” is decent.

It’s charming, unique, funny and the special effects are quality for the early 90s.

As a film the carries the esteemed name of Mario in its title, it’s less than pleasing.

In its favor,

“Super Mario Bros.” boasts the acting talents of Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo. Leguizamo especially was a treat to watch on screen; his awkward boyish attitude could even be called sweet, and he was immersed in his role enough that Luigi’s infatuation with Daisy is very believable.

Similarly, Hoskins played the role of practical and protective older brother to a ‘T.’ While this version of Mario doesn’t reflect the wellloved character well, Hoskins made the role his own, adding attitude and wit to Mario that fans might enjoy. He also visibly grows as a character, starting the movie off a little stingy and very ‘by the book,’ and ending it as a more trusting individual who believes in his younger brother and is ready to dive head first into whatever trouble shows up next.

See the movie at least once, but bear in mind that it isn’t the “Mario” of pop culture, and it

‘The best part about the movie was the combination of great computer generated graphics with 3D effects.’

DIRECTED BY: : Kenneth Branagh STARRING: Chris Hensworth Natalie Portman RUN TIME: 115 min GENRE: Action, Fantasy

★ ★★★

Movie review

(Dennis Hopper “Alpha and Omega”) henchmen. It seems that Daisy is the missing princess of “Dinohattan,” that world, and King Koopa needs her to realize his plans of merging the human world with their own, and it’s up to Mario and Luigi to save the princess and maintain the boundaries between their worlds.

Despite sounding like a plausible scenario for the brothers to find themselves in, the inconsistencies between the games and the movie are enough to bother those with reverence for the franchise.

The story isn’t about Mario and Peach; it is about Luigi and Daisy. The main villain isn’t Bowser, it’s King Koopa.

Daisy hasn’t grown up a princess, she’s grown up as

an abandoned orphan with a love of studying dinosaurs (who later

DIRECTED BY: : Kenneth Branagh STARRING: Chris Hensworth Natalie Portman RUN TIME: 115 min GENRE: Action, Fantasy

★ ★★★

June 28, 2011 | a&e

TNL

i

5.31-6.13.2011

B3

4th of July Celebration

FOCUS

FESTIVALS AND CELEBRATIONS

Monday, July 4 marks the 235 birthday of the US; celebrate in Downtown Anchorage from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. with a parade, carnival, pancake feed and fireworks. This celebration is all-ages friendly. For more information about times, go to www. anchoragejuly4thcelebration.com.

Girdwood Forest Fair The 36th annual Girdwood Forest Fair will be going on from Friday, July 1 through Sunday, July 3 at the community park area at mile 2.2 on the Alyeska Hwy. Forest Fair will offer hand-crafted items for sale, exotic foods and musical entertainers. This free festival runs from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday; there is also a parade on Saturday starting at 10 a.m. For more information, go to www.girdwoodforestfair.com.

“Operation Bear Paw” is the theme for Bear Paw Festival 2011. Bear Paw runs from Wednesday, July 6 through Sunday, July 10 in Eagle River. There will be a parade, salmon cook-off, pageant, carnival games and more. For more information about the events, go to www.bearpawfestival. org.

SHOW

Bear Paw Festival

Hedwig and the Angry Inch Out North Theatre presents “Hedwig and the Angry Inch,” a musical about a german-born punk rocker who’s botched genderreassignment surgery leaves her with an “angry inch.” Leo Grinberg stars in this one actor show. The show runs from Friday, July 8 through Saturday, July 30. Tickets are $25 for general public, $20 for students and military with a valid id. For more information, go to www.outnorth.org.

Drumming Circle Sunday, July 10 at GrassRoots Fair Trade Store there will be a drumming circle.

Instructor Jesse Wright leads the circle, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., which anyone can participate in. Bring your own drum or borrow one from the store for this free, allages friendly event.

For more information, go to www. grassrootsfairtrade. com.

Compiled by Heather Hamilton e-mail arts@thenorthernlight.org to submit an event!

SHAZAM: Not fastest, but most thorough ID app Continued from Motion cover “Rich Kids Blues” by Lykke Li, for a few week now. And with the sharing possibilities of Shazam, the bands popularity is undoubtedly increasing.

When I tested the app locally, Shazam wasn’t able capture the Hawaiian music at Hula Hands, but it did capture the ambience of Apollo Restaurant in Seward. Mono Ego S’Agapao by Giannis Ploutarxos was playing.

Unfortunately, Ploutarxos has no face on Shazam; most tags come with album art.

Clicking on their picture allows you to read the artist’s biography, or listen to a 20 second clip of the song. A Google search showed that Giannis Ploutarxos is a very popular Greek Laiko singer (another search showed that Laiko can be translated as “urban folk music”).

A somewhat

haunting feature of Shazam, like many apps, is that it remembers the time and place of your last tag.

At the Sea Bean, a café two stores down from Apollo Restaurant, the 3G network was too weak to match the music, but not too weak to note my location. And Shazam does a fine job of locating people; it’s not like Google Maps where locations markers stay on the streets. This arrow can

follow you into buildings. In this case, Shazam followed me to the restroom.

This map can be useful though, especially in Alaska. Sometimes the respective network is too weak to send the music to satellites. But Shazam can record the music now, then send it with a stronger connection later.

Connecting with friends is a great way to discover even more

music. A friend of mine in Italy tagged Piccoli Dettagli by Giusy Ferreri two weeks ago. Ferreri, as her Shazam biography read, was one a runner up in the first “Italy’s Got Talent” and is often compared to Adele.

The contract warns that you use Shazam at your own risk. The company absolves itself of six things, including that “the results that may be obtained from the

use of Shazam will be accurate or reliable.” This seems though more protection from a lawsuit. 98 percent of the tags I do are correct, whether in a movie theater, club, bookstore, or through walls.

B4

TNL

a&e| June 28, 2011

food review

Game review

Food Quest Part 3: Best tofu

New ‘Duke Nukem’ game a terrible release

By Bryan Dunagan The Northern Light

By Heather Hamilton and Daniel Jackson The Northern Light

Tofu doesn’t have the best rep in the meat lover’s community, and even in the vegetarian community it has a hit-or-miss sort of stigma attached to it. Still, tofu is one of the most widely used meat substitutes in vegetarian or vegan dishes.

TNL, wanting to review a vegetarian meal, decided to focus on tofu dishes in the Anchorage Food Quest: Part 3. What TNL looked for in the tofu dishes was the flavor of the tofu itself, how the tofu factored into the overall meal, and the overall taste of the dish. Each dish sampled was either vegan, or can be ordered vegan friendly.

the meal. The tofu is the best part of the entire scramble; the onions, eggs and green pepper bits are tasteless by comparison.

However, because the tofu is so perfect (and because the scramble comes with a generous helping of hash browns), TNL still ranks the scramble 2nd, despite the average quality of the rest of the meal.

the two tofu options (blackened and marinated), the marinated offered light flavor that meshed beautifully with the vegetables of the burger. The tofu’s texture was also favorable, having just enough firmness to hold together. The burger also came with a choice of tots or french fries.

Snow City Cafe - Tofu Scramble: By far, the most amazing tofu sampled was found at Snow City Cafe. The scramble can be served either with or without eggs, but doesn’t need the eggs to make

Middle Way Cafe - Tofu Stacker:

It’s kind of humorous to wander around the digital strip club, just to hear what the patrons say, but after that, the charm is lost.

Bear Tooth - Turnagain photos by daniel jackson/TNL

Spenard Roadhouse Black Bean Burger: There are no regular menu items at Spenard Roadhouse that utilize tofu. Any burger they serve however, can have a tofu substitute requested. The black bean burger (with tofu instead of black beans) possessed a fantastic blend of flavors. Of

While this dish was a treat to sample, the tofu seemed to be added as an afterthought. It sits atop a beautiful display of broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and rice, but has no flavor or marinade of its own to add to the dish. The teriyaki sauce glazed over the dish is a bit too sweet as well, but otherwise was definitely tasty.

After 14 years in development hell, “Duke Nukem Forever” is actually in the hands of paying customers. But it is any good?

The answer is yes and no; it’s fun, but not good. It’s got the seeds of greatness, but it feels like a half game, and you don’t feel like you get anywhere.

The game starts off with Duke once again getting called into battle against an alien menace. As far as gameplay goes, the best part of “Duke Nukem” is that the world is super interactive.

The camera focuses back off of the screen and shifts to Duke’s perspective, while two Christian singers, the Holsom Twins, are giving him fallacio. Thus the game begins to wander around Duke’s apartment in a Vegas casino. Here you can pick poop and sling it (yes you read that right), admire yourself in the mirror, flush toilets, etc.

that you can slap. Also, there are enemies called Pregnators that are basically penises on a crab body.

Later on, players find themselves in a strip club called “Duke’s Titty City.” This whole level has the player do a fetch quest for popcorn, a vibrator and a condom. It’s kind of humorous to wander around the digital strip club, just to hear what the patrons say, but after that, the charm is lost.

The shooter mechanics aren’t good either.

Developers seemed to focus on the extra padding, and not on the actual game itself; like they had an idea, but didn’t tweak it.

“Duke Nukem” is no “Call of Duty,” but the shooter mechanics have to work much better in a game than they do in this release.

“Duke Nukem Forever” is fun, and playable, but not good. The gags are funny if you can connect with your 13 year old self, and have a laugh at some very sexist

Tofu Burrito: This vegan burrito sports a fun mix of veggies, black bean salsa, rice, toasted pepitas and Colorado sauce in addition to the tofu. While this fun Mexican-esque dish was good, the tofu was a little bland, and not as filling as either the scramble or bean burger. So while it’s good for a small lunch while catching a matinee, it isn’t the best bang for your buck if you want a meal. What really turned TNL off however, was the nutty aftertaste caused by the pepitas. Some may like the flavor, but the out-of-place feeling of the taste is what landed the TTB firmly in 3rd.

Organic Oasis - Stir-fry Organic Teriyaki Tofu:

Like the Organic Oasis stirfry, the tofu in the stacker tasted and looked tacked on at the last minute. The blackened tofu rests on a massive stack of shredded beats, carrots, zucchinis, home fries, leeks and comes bathed in ranchero sauce. While the loose vegetable patty has a pleasant taste, the ranchero sauce is too spicy for the dish; it hides the other, more appealing flavors completely. The tofu is also very bland, offering nothing but filler, and even then, only slightly. Try it if you like a little kick with your shredded veggies, but avoid it otherwise.

Check out the next issue for our review of local Asian food!

Then the aliens invade and start taking Duke’s women. That’s when stuff is supposed to get good, but it sort of flops. You get shrunk and have to drive an RC car around, (which is actually fun if you crash into an enemy). You end up going to an alien hive, which is a nod to the Alien movies and perversion.

This is because when you play the hive levels, there’s topless women screaming for death, and breasts growing on walls…

GAME: “Duke Nukem Forever” MAKER: 3D Realms RELEASE DATE: June 14, 2011

★★ and gross jokes. The bottom line is that if you enjoy America, apple pie, being 13, and sex, you’ll get something out of the game.

Otherwise, it’ll just be offensive without a point.

June 28, 2011 | A&E

TNL

B5

Good rap music: All Time Low’s newest album Summer standouts an all time low From YC to Beyonce, summer 2011 is full of quality songs

The band’s newest album conforms, but lacks any substance

By Thomas McIntyre

By Bryan Dunagan

The Northern Light

Soulja Boy – “Zan With That Lean”

As far as good rap music goes, I’m putting this song on the list partially because it’s a fantastic tune, and partially because I’d love for somebody to fill me in on what it means to be in a “zan with that lean.” Judging by the usage of the phrase throughout the song, Soulja doesn’t really understand it either.

Confusing title aside, “Zan With That Lean” serves as yet another example of why auto-tune continues to lead a wonderful life.

Sorry, Jay.

YC feat. Everybody in Rap – “Rack on Racks (Remix)”

saw the court take C-Murder’s recordings into consideration, so it’s not out of the question to think Boosie’s art could do him in. And if that’s the case, “187” is capable of doing serious damage.

On “187,” Boosie spits that all the people who have tried to play him “are dead now.” He also boasts about his kill numbers: “Five gone in six months.” Sheesh.

Not saying I want an O.J. type verdict, but it’d be cool if we didn’t lose one of the best living rappers at age 28.

Young Thug – “Eat U Alive”

Being short is to basketball what unpleasant voices are to rap.

Some were built to ball, like some were built to spit. Young Thug was built for the latter. On a scale from one to 10, Young Thug’s voice is about an eight. And he takes advantage of those pipes on “Eat U Alive.”

151 Feva Gang – “Kush Groove”

The “Racks on Racks (Remix)” lasts over twelve minutes and has verses from Wiz Khalifa, Yo Gotti, Wale, Nelly and many more artists – nine more, to be exact.

Like any song with Ace Hood, there are some low moments on “Racks” but, after making it through unbearable B.o.B and Big Sean, the listener is rewarded with Nelly. You read that right.

Lil Boosie & B.G. – “187”

The Northern Light

This is All Time Low’s first mainstream album, and they sold out. Two years ago, they were really good; quirky, funny and insightful with their story telling.

Now, it just seems like subpar background music. They took what made them great, and then destroyed the magic.

None of the songs really seem to fit, and they seem to exist in random order. It’s as if when they recorded the album, they took the depth out of the guitar, bass and vocals. The trademark humor is gone. Fans will listen for songs like “Toxic Valentine,” a story about a woman that is toxic to all she meets, and “Damned if I Do Ya (Damned if I Don’t’),” about the choices of a one night stand, but they aren’t here. In their stead is “I Feel Like Dancin”, which doesn’t really fit the vibe of the song. He likes the woman he’s with, but she’s cheating on him, and he feels like dancing? What?

The track that has some good to it is “That Girl;” it has got kind of the same lyrical theme, but the writing shines through in this track. But only in this track. They

lost some of their quirk, their charm, their amazing sense of humor and their alternative magic.

So, if you are looking for good background party music or road trip music, this will fit the bill.

Fans should probably download “That Girl” and whatever else tickles their fancy, but the album is no good on its own.

Album: Dirty Work Artist: All Time Low Record Label: Interscope Release Date: June 7, 2011

★★

Don’t hike all over town…

Find what you need right here on campus:

Against all my instincts, I’m going to supply a short summary of this song: A bunch of dudes rap about pot over Stardust’s “Music Sounds Better With You.” I beg you to still go out and give it a try.

Beyonce – “Start Over”

• Seawolf Postal Express USP, US Postal Service, & FedEx services • Copy & Print Center Copies, binding, poster-printing, & more

We even ship fish!

Lower-level of the Campus Bookstore. www.uaa.alaska.edu/gss 907.786.6860

Lil Boosie’s people tried their hardest to keep this song from coming out in fear that it would have a negative effect on his murder trial. While unfair, we

This isn’t exactly rap like I’ve mentioned before, but Beyonce brought it way too hard for me to not acknowledge “Start Over.” It’s empowering, and has immaculate production. It’s Beyonce.

Free customer parking outside our green-awning entrance.

SPORTS

B6

Get outside: Rent some gear and have some fun during the Fourth of July

Commuter Student Services gives no one an excuse to sit inside when outdoor gear rental is so cheap By: Ashley Snyder The Northern Light

Many people have a good excuse to stay indoors during chilly winters in Alaska. But, in the summer where temperatures rarely exceed eighty degrees, there are hardly any ways to justify being inactive and indoors.

Money can be a big factor in whether or not someone will be sitting on their butt or getting outside and doing the activities they love. Outdoor equipment is expensive to buy and not cheap to rent. A rental at a sports store in town such as REI can cost over $100 to rent a bike for the weekend, and that’s the price before the deposit requirement.

College students like Marc Peterson don’t have the cash to shell out for rentals. “It’s ridiculous what some stores want and then they refuse to give us student discounts and stuff making it harder to rent stuff because of price.”

It is for this very reason that the Commuter Student Services offers their own gear rental service for a fraction of the prices in town. UAA’s gear shop, located on the top floor in the Student Union, is run by students at the Ashley Snyder/TNL Information Desk and has a The gear room, located on the top floor in the Student Union next to the Info Desk, has a wide variety of items from bikes to kayaks, backpacks to tents, all available for students to rent out during the Fourth of July holiday. variety of equipment to choose from. The gear ranges from tents to mountain bikes to canoes and students. even backpacks.

“The deals and specials are “We just got a whole bunch of available for students, faculty new gear, like new life vests, a and staff with a valid ID,” said new bike, new helmets, and new Athina Maroudas who works at backpacks. Also some new tents the Information Desk.

II school. topped former teammate Hallidie Wilt which are pretty cool,” said Sarena According to Hackenmiller, Grand Valley State (Mich.) won its by 64 seconds, completing the 13.1eighth straight D-II Director’s Cup title mile course in 1:25:56. Bohman hails Hackenmiller, rentals have with 1,057.5 points. from Palmer, while Wilt comes from student manager been pretty The Seawolves finished second Unalaska. among Great Northwest Athletic Other winners Saturday’s included of the Commuter popular this Conference members behind only 7th- Ed Aramayo of Baltimore, Md. (30:09) Student summer. One of place Western Washington. Among and Monica Ross of Anchorage The University of Alaska Services. the hot vacation Anchorage West Region schools, UAA trailed only (34:09) in the 5.6-miler, and Chase finished tied for 26th – UC San Diego (6th), WWU and Grand Liland (12:43) and Brooke Liland, both The prices spots for renters easily surpassing the program’s bestCanyon (8th), and tied with Chico of Anchorage, in the 1.7-mile youth ever finish – in the Learfield Sports become even is Seward, with State (26th). cup.

Directors’ Cup standings for NCAA The Mayor’s Marathon and more right when the number Division II, after the recent conclusion Half-Marathon is organized by the of 2010-11 collegiate sports calendar. they offer their one rental item University of Alaska Anchorage The Seawolves totaled 404 Department of Athletics and the frequent special being canoes. points in final standings, which also Municipality of Anchorage. Nearly deals.

The “It’s cool established a mark for the program’s 4,400 runners participated in this most ever.

UAA’s ranking came on current deal is that people year’s event, representing 49 states the strength of NCAA finishes in eight and the District of Columbia. for the Fourth are renting so sports – women’s cross country’s Local runners David Kiplagat and Colleen Miller-Bolling captured (6th place, 75 points), skiing (7th of July special -Sarena Hackenmiller many items and the marathon titles in Saturday’s 69 pts), men’s cross country to get people it’s nice to see place, 38th annual Mayor’s Marathon (8th place, 66 pts), men’s outdoor & Half Marathon, presented by geared up for the gear going track & field (19th place, 54.5 pts), ConocoPhillips. men’s basketball (2nd round, 50 pts), the upcoming out and getting Kiplagat, a former All-America women’s basketball (2nd round, 50 holiday. The special will allow some action over the summer,” pts), volleyball (1st round, 25 pts), and runner at the University of Alaska Anchorage and current graduate women’s outdoor track & field (55th students to rent out any gear said Hackenmiller. assistant coach with the Seawolves, place, 17.5 pts). from June 30 to July 6, for the If any students, staff, or faculty crossed the finish line at West High UAA’s best previous placing School in 2 hours, 30 minutes, 52 weekend rate. This is nearly half have a vacation planned in the was 45th in 2008-09, while its most seconds, beating runner-up Brian points came last year with 345.5.

The off their prices that are already near future, they can reserve the Director’s Cup has been awarded at Cooke (2:46:50) by nearly 16 minutes.

Meanwhile, Miller-Bolling posted more affordable than most of gear up to two weeks in advance. the Division II level since 1995-96. a winning women’s marathon time of The Learfield Sports Directors’ those around town. Instead of They are giving no one an excuse 3:17:00 to earn her second victory of Cup is a joint effort between the $58, renting a mountain bike for to sit inside this summer. So why National Association of Collegiate the summer. She also posted a victory in the 10-K Salmon Run on May 7. the week is only $39. not take a look at what they have Directors of Athletics (NACDA) and As the top Alaskans, Kiplagat and USA Today. Points are awarded based “Most of the items are and get outside.

Miller-Bolling each earned a pair of on each institution’s NCAA finish in round-trip tickets on Alaska Airlines. like brand new for the price up to 14 sports – seven women’s and In the half marathon, New Carlisle, seven men’s.

There are currently 281 of something like five years Ohio, native Nick Petro edged schools that compete at the NCAA old,” said Amanda Jameson, Anchorage’s Jacob Kirk by one Div. II level, meaning UAA’s finish second at the finish line to capture ranks among the top 10 percent. a second year Biology Major. the men’s title in 1:14:52, while a pair

sports briefs

“It’s cool that people are renting so many items and it’s nice to see the gear going out and getting some action over the summer,”

Contrary to most deals, the gear rentals aren’t limited to just

UAA has 26th place finish at the Directors Cup

Kiplagat takes home Mayors Marathon title

UAA sponsors only 11 sports – two of which, men’s and women’s skiing, have a combined national meet – among the lowest totals of any Div.

of UAA runners placed 1-2 in the women’s race. Emma Bohman, who recently completed her cross country/ track career with the Seawolves,

June 28, 2011 | sports

TNL

Course Review: Peter’s Creek

By Megan Edge

are not marked by the usual yellow rim on top. Even for an experienced frolfer, this makes spotting the basket a challenge.

Despite the fact that this course is in the woods, the undergrowth isn’t too thick; making discs easy to spot, even if the baskets are not.

Peters Creek is no Westchester, prepare to spend a solid hour and a half when playing this course.

For those of you who never been to Peters Creek it is easy to

The Northern Light

The Peters Creek Frisbee golf course, located 45 minutes outside of Anchorage, is a delightful escape from the city.

The wonderful smell of nature’s perfumes fills the forest trails as groups of frolfers trek down the dirt paths between holes, on a course that is moderately difficult.

A majority of the baskets are hidden by trees, and unfortunately

spot. The Glenn Highway will take you past Eagle River just a few miles where you will spot the Peters Creek exit. After taking the exit, take your first right and follow it down until the road ends.

There you will find the small parking lot that quickly fills on a sunny summer day.

Take your time while frolfing this free course; take in the singing birds, as well as the rushing river that offers an unusual water

B7

hazard to several holes.

The course is a little bit muddy, and throw-off areas have no platforms- so be careful when you throw, so as not to slip in the mud.

Wear a good pair of shoes for traction, and bring a bottle of bug spray for mosquitoes.

The course is one that anyone should feel welcome to attempt, it may be harder for beginners but is good practice for high-level frolfing.

Overtime

Don’t give away Tiger’s throne quite yet McIlroy’s US Open romp may be just what Woods needs to get back in the game

By Taylor Hall The Northern Light

So I am hearing the golf world has a new face in which is going to take us into a new era of dominance.

Albeit it’s a baby-faced, freckle filled, still-doesn’t-need-to-shave face on the 22 year old Northern Islander phenomenon Rory McIlroy.

Well I’ll give a polite golf clap for the kid.

He did just leave the US Open field in ruins after his recordsetting 16 under at Congressional Country Club and finished eight strokes over the next closest opponent. He sent tremors through the rest of the field, media, and entire golf world with his first ever major title.

However, I am not here to acknowledge the performance but warn all that this kid is not the

new bully on the block in golf.

Not even close.

Does anyone remember a guy they called Tiger? You know, the 14-time major winner, the most recognized and powerful athlete around the world?

Woods reigned with a cold and ruthless arrogance. The kind that said, “I’m here, you are all lucky to be in my presence, now hand over that trophy and I’ll be on my way”.

Recently, his armor was pierced though. Undoubtedly, everyone has seen his star fade away with adultery, injuries, and inability to pick the pieces back up of his life.

Tiger now seems to have the idea right. He needs an extended hiatus away from the game to rest his Achilles and knee. The strain upon both has caused him to not be able to practice the way he is used to which has translated to

disappointment on the course and more talk about how he is done.

However, Tiger’s throne atop the golf world now has a legitimate contender in McIlroy.

I’m here to say this is just what Tiger will need to find his resurgence.

Somebody to push him to get healthy. Somebody to get him back out on the driving range and putting green to get his stroke back. Somebody to push him late in tournaments.

The similarities and differences between the two are very intriguing as well.

McIlroy is similar to a young Tiger. Both burst onto the scene with a resounding major victory to let their name be known. Both had the sweet swing that the rest of the golf world salivated over.

Both were too young to really understand just how good they

really were.

However, Woods was one who towered over the rest of the field and instilled fear over his opponents when he entered tournaments.

McIlroy can still be mistaken by many golfers as a kid looking for their autographs at first glance and is just to frail still.

I will admit that it is nice to see a golfer who is humble and has the game to go along with it. However, Tiger didn’t get to 14 major wins with a smile. He used his robot-like emotions and unwavering dedication to win tournament after tournament and leave us shaking our heads in amazement.

McIlroy may need Tiger just as bad as Tiger needs McIlroy in this case.

The youngster needs another to challenge him on and off the

course to harden his skin and make him better in the clutch.

And can you imagine the golf revolution that could take place if these two were to battle it out weekend after weekend? Not one superstar to rule them all but two equals to keep us on the edge of our couches and keep us in suspense.

Long story short: Tiger, get healthy and come reclaim your throne. Rory, keep winning and fuel Tiger’s fire and go try and take that throne. It has always been, and always will be, your destiny.

B8

TNL

sports| June 28, 2011

HIKING: Guide to finding solitude near Anchorage

By Sean Talbot The Northern Light

It’s high summer, the bugs are out, and you should be too.

Luckily, there are many more places to enjoy the outdoors than the bustling avenues around Flattop and Glen Alps. Outlined here are a couple of hikes- of varying difficulty- that are not far from Anchorage, and offer some semblance of solitude.

Bear Mountain and Mt. Eklutna For a relatively short hike with a sweeping view from the MatSu to Anchorage, head up Bear Mountain from the Peter’s Creek trailhead. Bear Mountain is the ridge that overlooks Mirror Lake, parallel to the highway. On a clear day, Denali and Foraker are in full view, and the rock outcropping at the top of the trail is a great place to show off your extensive geographic knowledge to visitors from flat and boring places like Kansas and Florida.

To get to the trailhead, take the Glenn Highway to the Peter’s Creek exit and turn right onto Ski Road. Follow it until the ‘T’ at Whaley Ave. Turn right.

If you’re not familiar with the winding streets of mountainside neighborhoods that make one question how these people get along on winter roads, this next part is very important: stay on this road. The name changes to Chugach Park Drive. Follow

have a few options: once you reach the top, turn right and head for Mount Eklutna (it’s the big one, two peaks Sean Talbot/TNL Mount Eklutna is an alpine tundra region that can be back). accessed by trail near Peter’s Creek. The hike starts the near Peter’s Creek, goes through Mount Eklutna and Bear Mountain, and Tag returns near the starting point. top, check out what this until another ‘T’. Turn left on Kullberg, drive for about five of the lake you can see, eat some seconds, and then take a right on food, and head back down to the Sullins Drive. Turn right again saddle from which you climbed. on Malcolm Drive, and straight Or, if you’ve all day and a sense ahead is the trailhead. It’s easier of adventure, continue along the to find than a four-leaf clover in ridgeline and circle the Four Mile Creek valley.

November.

There’s a trail to the left that The Bear Mountain trail is unmarked. However, you’ll see a descends back into the Peter’s trail on the left about a hundred Creek valley, and it’s a little yards down the Peter’s Creek trail. easier going than the steeper Bear Mountain trail. Unless Go up, and enjoy.

Now and then, it’s a good idea you become terribly lost, you’ll to stop and look behind you to come out about two miles down see from where you’ve come. It the same trail you started from. may not seem like much, but it’s Turn right, and you’ll be back in a good mental note and this small civilization before you know it. exercise in memory has helped many an intrepid hiker from Blacktail Ptarmigan Rocks getting hopelessly lost, even in the and Roundtop Mountain most innocent wilderness.

If you want to stay on the joyous, Blacktail Ptarmigan Rocks is spongy tundra for a while (or are the apogee of Ptarmigan Valley, sick of there-and-back trips), you which is by winter a popular snow

machine spot, and by summer an easy day hike that runs through a small but divine pine trail on the way up to the tundra.

Begin from the Ptarmigan Valley trailhead, which is on the Old Glenn Highway in Chugiak.

It’s one of the few easily-accessible trailheads that does not require a parking fee. Follow the driveway up to the gate, and continue on.

The first miles of the trail are the most dynamic. The trail traverses foothills before the climb into the valley, and one is never far from either someone’s back porch, or posted signs reminding trail users of it. Right at the point the real hike begins. At the top of a hill, there is a sign that points right for snowmachiners, and left for the summer hiking trail. Take the left path to find the evergreen grove.

This is a pretty popular hangout spot for bears. Watch for their scat, which is markedly different and messier than the often-seen round moose pellets, and often contains berries and seeds. If you come across a bear, don’t panic.

They can smell fear just as well as the Clif bar in your pocket, so stay calm. If it doesn’t see you yet, back off slowly. Do not run, or turn your back to it.

Bears can’t see very well, so making yourself look bigger usually helps. If you’re with a group, stand together. Raise your pack (or jackets) over your head and talk to her. Most of the time, bears will write us off and walk away. If the bear stands up on her

hind legs – which is not a sign of aggression, but of interest - stand your ground. You don’t need the bear spray yet, but you may want to know where it is.

The trail gradually gains ground through a track of alders and eventually breaks treeline.

In front of you and to the left is Blacktail Ptarmigan Rocks, a peak that looks more menacing from the south than from the valley. If you want to get a good look at it, take a hard left at treeline – that’s Roundtop Mountain, but it’s easier and more rewarding to climb if you climb Blacktail first.

Once the trail breaks past the trees, it dissipates, and options expound. Walk around, climb, and keep an eye out for wildlife.

One may return the way they came, or make a point-to-point hike out of it, and have a car at the Mount Baldy trailhead in Eagle River. From the peak of Blacktail Rocks, descend left and you’ll walk right into the popular Eagle River trail.

Take these directions with a grain of salt – explore what you want, and in proper Alaskan fashion, be prepared for anything – weather, wildlife, and crazy gold miners to name a few – and always tell someone where you’re going.

There’s no dignity in being an obstinate Ralston or McCandless, and needlessly getting yourself in trouble. Unless you want a movie made about you; in which case, do what you like.

June 28, 2011 | sports

TNL

Tales from the road make lifelong memories

B9

Nikkie Viotta and Coach Dave Shyiak reminis on fond memories from the road with their UAA teams

By Megan Edge The Northern Light

Here at UAA our athletes are no stranger to travel. Most Seawolf teams hit the road every other weekend once their season is in session.

This mean players and coaches alike must make the best of time spent together. After thousands of miles, week after week one can only imagine the stories these hard working members of our UAA family have accumulated.

Nikkie Viotto is approaching her third year with the UAA women’s volleyball team and has accumulated memories that one day she will look back on and laugh on.

“Recalling all of the stories and funny things that have happened on the road over the past few years I realized how much fun it is and how much I can’t wait to start the season.” Viotto said.

Every day on the trip is the same, the players wake up at the same time, eat at the same time, so the players find themselves forced to make each trip new and exciting. Once the teams hits

the lower 48 they walk out of the planes and load up into mini vans where they will travel from town to town.

“From singing in the car and cramming as many people as we can into out mini vans to three hour drives from town to town where we make our coaches play our Spice Girl and Backstreet Boy jams as loud as possible so we can dance and sing at the top of our lungs, really make time pass quicker.” Viotto said.

Many times the women of the

UAA volleyball team have turned the back of there mini vans into their own personal kitchens. “We will go to the grocery store and buy a huge variety of food.” From vegetable to hummus to lunchable pizzas.”

“Sometimes I feel like some of the best memories we make are in the vans because we spend so much time in them.”

Her next story takes place in an airport terminal, another place UAA teams are forced to become accustomed too.

It was three am in the Seattle airport and the team had a couple hours to spare, so they decided to use a empty gate as a place to rest and all began to fall asleep.

“Apparently when we were sleeping they made an announcement over the intercom saying ‘Will the team occupying terminal (xxx) please wake up and move so people can sit down for their flight.’ Clearly we didn’t hear them because when we woke up we were surrounded by a lot of angry passengers.” Viotto said.

Another fond memory Viotta had at the airport was a game created from sever boredom and

really played at such a high strong creativity.

The team found a neck pillow altitude. So we try to explain to and used it to play a game similar them when your at a high elevation to the television show “Who’s line not only do your hands and feet is it anyway” They used as a prop swell but we try to sell to them trying to make a horse shoe, a that their heads swell as well.” toilet seat, a telephone, binoculars, Shyiak laughed. “So we tell them a nose ring and much more. they have to give it some time for The memories are simple their heads to decompress but at though. Sometimes the girls dose the same time we get our trainers off in a food court, sit in gum and to tighten their helmets up so they even get stuck in closets or smelly get the feeling that their heads are really swelling.” mens What comes next locker gives the rest of the rooms to team and coaches prepare a good laugh. The for game Dave Shyiak coaches tell their new time, but players to skate around the girls as fast as they can to laugh it off and make the best of it. help decompress there heads. By Coaches travel just as much if the end of practice there heads not more than their athletes so they are so sore from the helmets, the too have to find ways to entertain coaches take pity and loosen them themselves. Head hockey coach up.

Dave Shyiak can think of one “A lot of them buy in to it.” memory that stands out above the Shyiak said with a grin. “You just rest, and that is a prank he plays have to be there.” on all of the freshman.

“When we go to Colorado schools we like to play a little prank of the freshman, because most of the freshman have never

‘You just have to be there.’

infection.

Are you nervous about starting college?

Bran

don

By Megan Edge The Northern Light

Just weeks ago Brandon Brewster was walking on stage wearing black and gold receiving his high school diploma, a product of South High.

Now, he finds himself training for a running career with the Seawolf cross country and track and field teams.

Brewster finished his high school career in 14th at the Alaska State Cross Country Championship, and seventh at Region IV Championships An Interview with TNL

How long have you been

I am a little bit nervous but I will still be living at home so it should help with the transition.

I’m a little nervous about leaving high school as well and going to school with people are older than me and taking harder classes.

Brew

ster

running?

I have been running for as long as I can remember. In elementary school I would do the after school program, but I was never anywhere near the front of the pack. It wasn’t until middle school that I began to take it seriously. Once I entered high school I really began to improve, but as a freshman I didn’t even make varsity. I finally made varsity as a sophomore but I was still in the middle of the team and would be lucky to finish in the top 50 in any race. Things started to go really well for me when I became an upperclassman. As a junior I won my first team MVP award and my first ever top ten finish. Senior year was by far my best year. I earned my second team award and finished in the top three in every race but two and that was due to a sinus

What are you looking forward to the most this year?

I am mostly looking forward to be able to train with a great team and being able to improve.

Do you have any longterm goals?

I hope to achieve masters

in business. I also hope to eventually be one of the best runners in Div. II.

What kind of music do you like?

I like pop and R&B mostly, something that’s fast and has a good beat.

What are some of your other accomplishments?

In high school I was also a varsity skier and last winter I represented Alaska at the Junior National Championships in Minneapolis.

Is there anything else interesting about you?

I am not a very bug guy; I’m only five foot three.

photos courtesy of Brandon Brewster

B10 COACH: Notre Dame grad brings fight to UAA sports| June 28, 2011

Continued from Motion Cover

Megan Edge

The Northern Light

A man who knows all the in and outs of college athletics with be taking over as the new assistant UAA hockey coach.

T.J. Jindra spent his college years playing at Notre Dame as a right winger (2003-07). In 2006, as a junior Jindra was named captain of his hockey team, and stayed as captain through his senior year. He later moved on the coach at Shattuck St. Mary’s where he coach for two years, then went back to Notre Dame to work in the Academic Services for Student Athletes office and volunteer coach.

This was a follow up to a successful high school hockey career in Minnesota, after which he played two years in the USHL for the Omaha Lancers.

Now Jindra, 29, will take over as the assistant coach at UAA. “He is from the mid-west and has ties to the USHL (United States Hockey League), and there are a lot of positives in that, that will help enhance our program and I think he kind of fits the mold and criteria of what we are looking for as a coach,” Head Coach Dave Shyiak said.

He feels he will be able to relate to the student-athletes and hardships in which they endure, making him a perfect fit for the team, as well as he has been a leader on every team he has

TNL

June 28, 2011 | comics

TNL

YOUR STARS THIS WEEK

By Stella Wilder The coming week is likely to unfold in a way that is at once expected and surprising -- as events transpire that in themselves are in line with various desires and expectations, but that differ in specific details from what might have been proposed or sought after in a more general sense. This will require some adjustment from most individuals, though no dramatic changes or shifts in intention or direction should be required. A certain degree of flexibility will certainly be helpful at this time, on both a short-term basis and over the long haul -- and most will be able to adjust with little or no trouble as the need arises.

For many, a study of recent trends will be of great benefit, both on the personal front and in the professional arena -- and some may find that the personal and professional are conjoined in new ways that can increase potential on both fronts. It’s a good week for positioning and making oneself available for good things to come.

CANCER (June 21-July 7) -- It’s a good week for staking a claim to

something new, though rewards may take an unfamiliar form -- at least to begin with. (July 8-July 22) -- You’ll require a certain amount of help from those who have valuable information that you need to make a tough decision.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 7) -- A goodbye of sorts is to be expected, though the parting may not be permanent. You’ll be able to reunite later, surely.

(Aug. 8-Aug. 22) -- You’ll want to state your case in the most efficient and specific way. Avoid generalities.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 7) -- It’ll be important for you to stay in touch with those who are working with you, but separately and according to their own schedules. (Sept.

8-Sept. 22) -- Care should be taken in and around the home; Virgo natives may be unusually accident-prone.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 7) -- The trivial takes on new importance, and you mustn’t overlook small details that can have a big impact later on. (Oct. 8-Oct. 22) -- You’re trying too hard to impress others; focus on doing

B11

Cryptoquote from June 14 issue: “I’d rather be a failure at something I love than a success at something I hate.” -George Burns

your work in a more honest manner.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 7) -- You’ll have to know the rules in a more specific way than usual; general knowledge isn’t likely to be enough at this time. (Nov. 8-Nov. 21) -- The work you’ve been doing recently will begin to pay off, but gains will be minimal at first.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 7) -- You’ll reach the halfway point regarding a personal project. It’s a good time to look back and assess your work. (Dec. 8-Dec. 21) -- What another is trying to do makes more sense to you -and you have more in common than you thought.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 6) -- You mustn’t think that someone else will do it all for you; you’ll have to complete certain preliminary steps. (Jan. 7-Jan. 19) -- Your plans are more complex than originally anticipated, and you’ll have to work them out carefully.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 3) -Focus on those things that affect you most directly; peripheral issues are important, but they

can wait for the time being. (Feb. 4-Feb. 18) -- What you have to offer is certainly valuable, but some may not understand its full impact.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 5) -- To comprehend what another is up to will require far more research than usual -- and you’ll have to shorten your learning curve. (March 6-March 20) -- Something you’ve been doing for quite some time has a greater value to others than it did before.

ARIES (March 21-April 4) -Others will be looking to you for a way out of a tricky situation that was not originally of your making. (April 5-April 19) -- Care must be taken when you are working closely with others; you must look at things from their perspective.

TAURUS (April 20-May 5) -You’ll certainly want another’s expert opinion today before you submit the work that you’ve been struggling to complete.

(May 6-May 20) -- The week has a few surprises in store, but you’re equipped to deal with them without much trouble at all.

GEMINI (May 21-June 6) -- You’re feeling rather selfless, and others will surely benefit from your efforts. You can score a personal victory. (June 7-June 20) -- Take care that you don’t leave something essential until the last minute; your hopes may be dashed if you do.

Copyright 2011, Distributed by Universal Uclick for UFS

Last week’s solution: