JUNE 12 - JUNE 25, 2018
NEWS
UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA ANCHORAGE
SPORTS
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Cathy Sandeen selected as chancellor of UAA
THENORTHERNLIGHT.ORG
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Caroline Kurgat wins national title at Outdoor National Championships
Print Club members showcase the versitality of printmaking
Myford to take over after McDiffett retires
PHOTO COURTESY OF UAA ATHLETICS
Prior to his work at IMG College, Greg Myford dedicated his time to enhancing attendance, facility improvements and revenue generation at Penn State.
By Lauren Cuddihy sports@thenorthernlight.org
PHOTO BY JAY GUZMAN
A collection of screen-printed tees designed by Levi Werner, Aileen Page and Bryce Fredrick for the “Print Club” exhibition. The exhibit features various methods of printmaking such as stenciling, lithography and relief.
By Robin O’Donoghue arts2@thenorthernlight.org
The Hugh McPeck Gallery on the second floor of the Student Union opened its doors to “Print Club,” an exhibition showcasing the work of former and current UAA printmakers on May 29. The exhibition, which will be on display until June 13, explores the many forms and applications of printmaking such as screen printing, intaglio, relief, letterpress, stencil and lithography. Additionally, the exhibition features printed T-shirts designed by UAA students that are available for purchase. Artist Bryce Fredrick, who recently graduated with a BFA, showcased her lithography work in the exhibition. “Stone lithography is crazy difficult to do,” Fredrick said. “You use giant limestones that have to be grained down to a nice, smooth and porous surface, and then you use grease pencil to draw on it.” Fredrick, while enjoying the final result, found the lithography process to be very labor intensive. “I printed them off the same stone, and so I had to print one then grind it down smooth again before I did the other one… All together, the two prints took about four full days,” Fredrick said. During her time at UAA, thenorthernlight.org
Fredrick took classes such as Advanced and Intermediate Printmaking with Mariano Gonzales. Fredrick plans to spend her summer helping the printmaking collective, Tent City, relocate to a new space. “I’m pretty excited about what comes after… helping [Tent City] relocate their studio downtown from Studio Works up to Sunshine Plaza on 4th avenue,” Fredrick said. Areana Cuddy, senior BFA student, has work on display that combines different techniques she learned from metalsmithing and printmaking classes. Most recently, Cuddy, who is majoring in painting with a focus in printmaking, has been focusing on techniques with aluminum prints. “Printmaking with [Michael Conti] which was a great foundation. I had taken metalsmithing before and knew I really liked working with metals,” Cuddy said. “When I did an independent study with [Mariano Gonzalez]... He really let me have the freedom to mix metalsmithing with printmaking… and I really enjoyed taking it further.” Cuddy is a vocal proponent for the continuation of the printmaking program at UAA. “Printmaking is really versatile. It’s a great medium and I’m really glad UAA has decided to continue the program… Incorporating printmaking with other mediums is a good way get the
word out there because a lot of people just don’t know about printmaking,” Cuddy said. Aileen Page, a junior who will soon be applying to the BFA program, used her pieces in the exhibition to shine light on Raynaud’s Syndrome, an autoimmune disease she has that cause areas of a person’s body to feel cold or go numb in response to stress and fast temperature changes. In her artist’s statement, she wrote, “I began creating art about Raynaud’s in an attempt to come to terms with having this syndrome myself.” One of Page’s pieces is the exhibition features a basket of small hand warmers with printed designs. “My mom made me hand warmers for a Christmas present one time… I decided I wanted to make my own with words people have said to me and little sayings about what it’s like to live with Raynaud’s, because it’s pretty frustrating,” Page said. “One thing I’ve learned from having this syndrome [is] that a bunch of other people have it as well, and also a lot of people just have cold hands, so that motivated me to make ones for people to take,” Page added. The Hugh McPeck Gallery is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Fridays until June 13.
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Tim McDiffett, the current interim athletic director, will be retiring at the end of June, according to an announcement made by UAA Chancellor Sam Gingerich. Greg Myford has been hired as the next athletic director, and he will start July 31. “Tim [McDiffett] is the consummate team player. Over the past four decades, his unwavering leadership has been critical to the stability and growth of the athletic department,” Gingerich said. “On three separate occasions, he has stepped into the role of interim athletic director, graciously bridging the gap for UAA’s student-athletes until a new director could be found. His commitment, first and foremost, has always been to our studentathletes.” McDiffett joined the Seawolves over 30 years ago as the sports information director after completing four years writing for The Anchorage Times as the sports editor. “I will miss the interaction with our outstanding studentathletes, who have consistently represented UAA with great distinction. I have taken great pride in watching them grow, develop and achieve their academic and athletic goals,” McDiffett said. McDiffett was promoted to assistant athletic director in 1985, and promoted again to associate athletic director from 1991-2013. During his time at UAA, McDiffett contributed to many key attributes of the athletic department including corporate sponsorships, advertising, marketing, promotion, merchandising
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and licensing. His experience at The Anchorage Times and as the sports information director eventually led to his promotion to assistant athletic director in 1985 and again to associate athletic director from 1991-2013. Through his contributions, McDiffett has helped the department, teams and athletes accumulate an average of 2,500 volunteer hours per year, an average of a 3.2 GPA, an additional 71 All-Americans, 10 national top-10 finishes, 23 GNAC team titles and 305 academic all-conference honorees, all since 2014. Despite his upcoming retirement from the department, McDiffett says that it isn’t the end of his involvement. “I care deeply for this institution and will continue to support it in whatever way I can,” McDiffett said. Myford comes from Pennsylvania and ample experience to UAA. Most recently, Myford worked at IMG College, the largest collegiate sports marketing company in the nation. Myford has provided expertise in multimedia rights agreements and corporate sponsorships for the past five years. Gingerich said due to the movement of collegiate athletics becoming more market-focused, Myford brings the expertise and competitive drive that will propel the Seawolf Athletic Department even further. Prior to his work at IMG College, Myford dedicated his time to enhancing attendance, facility improvements and revenue generation at Penn State. He played a role on the External Relations team for over 10 years. “I’m also very excited to work with the department’s professional staff and coaches as we guide and support UAA Student-Athletes in their pursuit of excellence – academically, athletically and personally,” Myford said. Being raised by two educators, Myford understands the importance of his interactions with the student-athletes. “I am extremely grateful and humbled by the opportunity to serve the University of Alaska Anchorage and their Department of Athletics. It’s a special time to join the UAA community,” Myford said. Myford will take over responsibility as head athletic director a month after McDiffett’s departure in late June. youtube.com/tnlnews
NEWS
THENORTHERNLIGHT
TUESDAY, JUNE 12, 2018
New UAA chancellor appointed
University of Alaska will not fund emergency scholarship
GRAPHIC BY JIAN BAUTISTA
By Mariah DeJesus-Remaklus mremaklus@thenorthernlight.org
PHOTO COURTESY OF CATHY SANDEEN
Cathy Sandeen has been serving as the chancellor of the University of Wisconsin Colleges and the University of Wisconsin-Extension. She will begin at UAA on September 15.
By Cheyenne Mathews cmathews@thenorthernlight.org
UA President Jim Johnsen announced in a press release on May 30 that Cathy Sandeen would be the next chancellor of UAA. Sandeen is currently serving as the chancellor of the University of Wisconsin Colleges and the University of Wisconsin-Extension. She will begin at UAA on September 15. “In joining our leadership team, our new chancellor will bring a great perspective on engaging faculty and staff on strategies to increase enrollment and student success,” Johnsen said in the release. “Of equal importance will be the relationships that Dr. Sandeen will establish with UAA’s alumni community and the Anchorage community.” Sharon Chamard, chair of the chancellor search committee, said the committee was looking for someone with experience fundraising for a university, experience focusing on student success and someone who values diversity. In a student forum on May 8, Sandeen said working with external constituencies has been a big part of her career. “I’ve been involved in fundraising for 20 years in my various jobs even though all my jobs that have been at public universities, with the reduction of state support for so many of them, private giving becomes more and more important,” Sandeen said. “The first million dollar gift that I brought in on my own was way back early in my career when I was an assistant dean at University of California San Francisco.” Sandeen is a first-generation college student and one of only two siblings in her family to seek higher education. Sandeen has a bachelor of arts degree from
Humboldt State University in speech pathology, a master of arts from San Francisco State University in broadcast communication, a PhD in communication from the University of Utah and an MBA from the University of California Los Angeles in management. “I can safely say that my life would be completely different if it weren’t for my education,” Sandeen said at the student forum. “I really have devoted my career to making sure that other people have similar opportunities.” Sandeen said her current position at the University of Wisconsin Colleges and the University of Wisconsin-Extension is similar to the University of Alaska System. “I’m currently a chancellor at the University of Wisconsin,” Sandeen said. “I oversee the University of Wisconsin Colleges and the University of WisconsinExtension. University of Wisconsin colleges are 13 small campuses, similar to the community campuses here at UAA, spread throughout the state of Wisconsin.” In her first 100 days as chancellor, Sandeen said she wants to listen to different UAA constituent groups before making any changes. There were 22 members on the search committee that represented student, staff and faculty groups. Sam Gingerich, interim chancellor of UAA, has been in the position since former Chancellor Tom Case retired in June 2017. In the fall semester, a search committee was assembled to find a new chancellor, and in the spring the committee had their consulting firm, Storbeck/Pimentel & Associates hold several listening sessions for the UAA community. Sandeen was one of four finalists to present at open forums at UAA.
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The University of Alaska will not be funding a proposed emergency scholarship fund for students despite an announcement introducing the scholarship by a UA regent. UA student regent Joey Sweet sent out an email on May 17 informing students about the emergency scholarship fund, writing that the university would offer the program in fall of 2019. He asked for student feedback regarding the ways in which the university could help students succeed. The email did not include details emphasizing that the fund was specifically a request made by UAF. “I highlighted it and sent it to everybody before the budget was finalized and part of me knew that, by doing so, I would run the risk of this exact scenario playing out of highlighting it for everybody and then, by some means or another, it would not come to fruition,” Sweet said. “But I had enough faith that our legislature was going to increase [our budget] by a sufficient amount that, in terms of the priorities, this would still land on the list, but it just didn’t work out that way.” The proposal was a request made by UAF as part of the FY19 UA 2025 goals and measures. Creating an emergency scholarship fund for students was a line item within the first goal for increasing degree attainment with the aim to help students’ completion. Mary Kreta, associate vice chancellor for enrollment management at UAF, said that the campus already has a program that assists students who have found themselves in difficult financial situations. It is intended to be quick, particularly when there are upcoming deadlines, and it is “responsive to the needs of students.” “UAF has long had an emergency scholarship program that we have given out at the beginning of the fall and spring semesters to help students who, due to unforeseen circumstances that they could not have predicted or planned, were short on paying their tuition and fees,” Kreta said. UAF has a central budget from which the Office of Admissions can pull money for students, but that pool has gotten smaller over the years. “There is usually money left at the beginning of the semester that was unclaimed… We use that money in order to provide the emergency scholarships,” Kreta said. “In the last few years, the budget for the scholarships has gotten smaller and so in [academic years 20162017] the program was actually stopped because we didn’t have enough.” Kreta added that UA provided $150,000 to UAF for scholarships and a portion went to emergency scholarships. Keith Champagne is UAF’s vice chan-
cellor for Student Affairs and he said that there are a number of deserving students from various backgrounds who might not have the money to put towards their education. “It provides us an opportunity to retain students and graduate them successfully from the University of Alaska Fairbanks so they become excellent alumni out there and they remain connected to the university,” Champagne said. “I don’t believe, philosophically, that a student, who is doing well academically, who’s an asset to the university, should leave the university because of the lack of financial resources,” he added. The UA Board of Regents requested $341 million in unrestricted general funds for fiscal year 2019 from the state but was given $327 million, which is $10 million more than what Gov. Bill Walker had proposed. The proposed operating budget plan for FY 2019 was based on the assumption that the university would receive the requested $341 million. Now that the budget has been approved, the BOR had to make adjustments and shift funding priorities. “In order to fund initiatives thought to be of greater impact for our students and our programs, UAF’s proposal was not funded,” UA President Jim Johnsen wrote in an email. Sweet had run his drafts by correspondents at the statewide office but said that he hadn’t asked if the email should be sent out, despite the possibility that the emergency scholarship pool would not be funded. “It is completely and entirely my fault,” Sweet said. Each campus still has its own process of aiding students who need quick financial assistance, but UAF’s intentions were to ensure the longevity and success of the program. “What we were looking to do was solidify a specific dollar amount because right now it’s a little bit influx, depending on our budget,” Kreta said. “So we were wanting to ensure its longevity by having this dollar amount tied to it, specifically to support the program.” Although the funding for the emergency scholarship pool will not be considered for FY 2019, there is a possibility it may come up for consideration again when the board discusses the budget plan for FY 2020. “We don’t have money in the budget for it right now because it would for [fall 2019], so that’s the next budget cycle. That’s the budget cycle we’re starting to plan for,” Paul Layer, UA vice president of Academic and Student Affairs, said. “If this is something that the board really wants us to pursue… that’s something that we will work into our budget request and make it more formal rather than having it be informal,” Layer said. Sonya Stein, director of UAA’s Office of Financial Aid, said she would support a statewide implementation of emergency scholarship funds set aside for the campuses to use. “Who knows what’s going to happen in the future? Without it being specifically earmarked and just under the Financial Aid Office discretion to use a portion of it as emergency scholarships, what could potentially happen in two, three, five or ten years?” “I do think there’s incredible value in having money specifically earmarked for that fund,” Stein said. Students who are interested in or have questions about emergency scholarships can contact their Dean of Students, Chancellor or Office of Financial Aid.
NEWS
THENORTHERNLIGHT
TUESDAY, JUNE 12, 2018
Construction on campus affects traffic
UAA Justice Center releases 2017 Campus Climate Survey results
By Robin O’Donoghue arts2@thenorthernlight.org
There are currently fifteen construction and renovation projects in progress on the UAA campus. With projects ranging from art installation, to building maintenance, and even road work; UAA Facilities Planning and Construction have their work cut out for them. On June 7th, UAA’s main Twitter account @uaanchorage Tweeted the following: “Summer construction alert: Now through mid-August #UAA will be undergoing some construction which will impact some parking and trails. The Central Parking Garage and North Library Lot will be closed.” In addition to the on campus projects overseen by UAA Facilities, the Anchorage Municipality is also overseeing several projects near campus, such as the bus stop renovation (resulting in the closure of the intersection of Providence Drive and Wellness Street) and the redoing the sidewalk along Tudor road, affecting the flow of campus traffic. On May 23rd, UAA Parking Services (@uaaparking) tweeted: “Beginning May 29 the intersection of Alumni Drive & Providence Drive will experience a partial closure. Providence will not be accessible from Alumni. East Campus access will be from the intersection at UAA Drive and Alumni Drive. The closure will last for approximately 3 weeks.” Students have expressed dissatisfaction at the commotion and inconvenience that the construction has caused. Taylor Cook, a Junior studying Health Sciences is living on campus over the summer while she takes summer classes and works. “I will be happy when the construction is over,” Cook said, “right now it’s kind of like going through a maze to get home and driving through the Providence parking lot is a little hazardous.” Hallie Hoffman, an undeclared sophomore is also living on campus this summer and expressed similar sentiments. “The construction has been really loud” said Hoffman, “the sooner it gets done the better because it’s right outside my window” Chris McConnell, Interim Projects Director and Facilities Director expressed confidence
GRAPHIC BY MARIAH DEJESUS-REMAKLUS
By Mariah DeJesus-Remaklus mremaklus@thenorthernlight.org
GRAPHICS BY JIAN BAUTISTA
that the current projects are on track to completion before the start of the fall semester, and explained the different ways in which parking would be affected by the current UAA projects. McConnell explained that the “the central parking garage… a lot of people are concernd but we’re making good progress, were doing some drainline work in there, we’re had some drain line issues with heat trays that were freezing up and causing ice problems so it’s a pretty big issues for us to address safety wise” said McConnell. In addition to the drain lines, McConnell explained that new improvements being made to the Central Parking Garage will improve the garage by making it brighter, for better sight and visibility, and more energy efficient and cost effective. “We’re adding a refresh.. We’re painting the garage… we’re going to do some color striping and stuff to make it easier to navigate and know where you’re at. It will be a nice upgrade when we’re all done. “We’re also doing an LED lighting Upgrade, its energy efficient, saves us operating costs… with the paint and the new LEDs the garage should be brighter and more welcoming” In addition to the Central Garage, the East Garage by the ConocoPhillips Integrated Science is also undergoing an LED upgrade. Besides the parking garages, sections of both the North East and Main Library parking lots are partitioned off for the storage of construction materials, affecting the flow of parking and traffic on campus slightly. “Library core is impacted, with the objective of finishing that up and having it back by fall semester, the central parking garage has a little bit of a laydown area so that is taking part of that
lot over… and then the two roofing jobs will have a little bit of material laydown in the bookstore area” said McConnell According to McConnell, Neeser, the contractor for the project currently going on in the Library is pacing ahead of schedule. “As of right now we’re in good shape to be moving back in and be operational in there by the start of fall semester” McConnell said. Despite the various projects, construction teams are being mindful of pedestrian walkways and making sure not to infringe upon trails and paths. “We’re not going to impact any of our pathways” said McConnell “they’re all tasked with maintaining pedestrian pathways as well. Even with the muni, they’ve got the road blocked now but you can still take the pathway to mosquito lake because it’s important for the community to maintain that path to APU.” “A project will also take up a small portion of West lot for material laydown, but that will be a summer impact” - another project may potentially take up space in the lot behind the rasmussen hall, Even with all of the various activities McConnell is confident that the projects interfering with parking will be completed prior to the start of the Fall semester; “i’ve gave them pretty explicit instruction that they need to be out of there by the 17th of August … before the next semester really gets ramped up, they need to be out of the way of all paths and all hallways” said McConnell. For progress on the construction projects you can follow the Facilities News Blog at uaafacilities.blogspot.com for the latest updates.
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The UAA Justice Center conducted a survey emailed to 10,000 undergraduate degreeseeking students throughout the University of Alaska system that examined estimates for students who experienced sexual assault, dating violence, sexual misconduct and stalking/harassment. The survey also assessed students’ protective behaviors and their view of the campus climate. Results were released in May. According to the estimates, approximately nine percent (1,558 individuals) experienced sexual misconduct behavior and approximately 11.7 percent (2,025 individuals) experienced stalking or harassment. Mary Gower, chief Title IX officer for UA, said that the survey informs the university about policies, outreach and other efforts to address sexual assault and misconduct. “It’s informing our decisions on policies. It’s informing our decisions on outreach activities and training… How do we need to adjust the training that we’re doing? How do we need to adjust the outreach that we’re doing?” Gower said. The survey is also part of the university’s Voluntary Resolution Agreement with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights. The university entered the VRA in February 2017. Brad Myrstol is an associate professor and director of UAA’s Justice Center. He has researched and published previous studies regarding sexual violence within the UA system, and he said that the survey also helps provide a “marker.” “We have this survey now and to the extent that surveys are done in the future, it provides a framework by which the university can monitor its progress and success over time,” Myrstol said. Another important point, Myrstol added, is that the availability of the survey maintains transparency. “By publishing the report, the university is really engaged in an effort to open the conver-
sation by making everything transparent and accessible to the entire university community as well as external constituencies,” Myrstol said. The survey also assessed students’ responses in regards to university training and victim disclosures. UA undergraduates were more likely to to disclose their experience to a close friend and one of the respondents disclosed to university police. This isn’t surprising to Sara Childress, UAA’s Title IX Coordinator. She said that while the survey results about disclosures are not surprising, it is still helpful. “For something like that, being able to increase the trust in reporting to a responsible employee or reporting to the Title IX office, that would be my goal,” Childress said. “I would love to raise the number that actually makes reports because [students] trust the process and understand the process and know the process,” she added. Out of the 10,000 undergraduate students who were emailed the survey, there were only 710 respondents. The responses were then estimated to a larger population to provide a “projected ‘snapshot’” of undergraduates’ experiences between the fall 2016 and fall 2017 semesters, according to the report. The low number of responses is a concern for Childress. She hopes the university can increase students’ participation in the future. “For our next [survey], I would say that would be one of the challenges. How do you get more responses to be more reflective?” she said. Alaska has high rates of sexual assault and violence, but Myrstol advises people to be careful when making comparisons between the state’s rates and the university’s rates. He said that there are differences in methodology, measures and the overall population. For instance, the Alaska Victimization Survey is a representative sample of non-institutionalized, English-speaking adult women in Alaska, whereas the university’s campus climate survey was not limited to women. Myrstol said that the findings in the university’s report are “largely consistent” to what has been found in other university campuses. While this report serves as a benchmark, the university is planning to conduct another survey in the spring of 2019, Gower said. “I think that will be potentially even more valuable than this survey because that will allow us to measure the success that we’re making with new policies and procedures, the increased training, the non-discrimination statement and the increased amount of outreach that we’re doing to measure the success of those actions,” Gower said. The survey results can be found online on the UA Title IX Compliance page.
FEATURES College Cookbook: Creamy parmesan garlic mushroom chicken By Mizelle Mayo
features2@thenorthernlight.org
THENORTHERNLIGHT
TUESDAY, JUNE 12, 2018
Sustainable Seawolf: Eating sustainably price differences between the two products are very small, sometimes nonexistent, and it can make a big impact on the environment.
Over the course of the month, I have graduated from cooking meals that consist of ramen, eggs and hot pockets to an adult meal made to serve more than one person. I recently learned how to cook creamy parmesan garlic mushroom chicken. Since summer is in the palm of your hands, this will take only 30 minutes of your time.
Ingredients • 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast, thinly sliced or chopped into cubed pieces
• ½ cup of chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• ½ cup of grated parmesan cheese
• Salt and pepper to season the chicken • 8 ounces sliced mushrooms • ¼ cup of butter • 2 garlic cloves minced • 1 tablespoon of flour
• 1 cup heavy of half-andhalf
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder • ¼ teaspoon of pepper • ½ teaspoon salt • 1 cup spinach
Directions 1. In a skillet pan, add olive oil and let it heat on medium-high for 3-5 minutes before adding the sliced chicken breasts. Once heated, toss in the chicken breasts and let it cook until it is no longer pink in the middle. Set aside and add the mushroom into the pan. Let the mushroom cook until tender, then set aside. 2. Add butter, then toss in the garlic and cook until tender. Whisk in the flour until it thickens. While whisking, add the chicken broth, the half-and-half cream, parmesan cheese, garlic powder, pepper and salt. Add the spinach until the sauce thickens and the spinach wilts. 3. Once the sauce is thick, add the chicken and mushrooms into a big bowl and mix. The meal serves well with rice or quinoa.
PHOTO BY MIZELLE MAYO
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Reduce food waste
By Abby Slater
features@thenorthernlight.org
Eating sustainably has become a big topic of conversation in recent years. The New York Times cooking section has included recipes designed for more sustainable food practices, such as their Meatless Monday recipes. With so many bignames pushing for this movement in the restaurant industry, we can also look at where we can make a difference from our own kitchens. How can college students contribute to the movement on a shoestring budget? Here are four tips that take little time, effort and money to accomplish. Check where it came from One of the conversations occurring around sustainability relates to food transportation. It takes a lot of non-renewable energy to get avocados from Mexico to Anchorage, and creates plenty of pollution in the process. Checking the labels and seeing where the food is from can help you purchase foods that have travelled from a shorter distance. Often,
The daily life of a student can be hectic, with schedules constantly in flux. This makes meal planning difficult, and can lead to plenty of wasted food items ending up in landfills. If you find yourself frequently throwing food out, try to see where your greatest weakness is. Do you always buy a bundle of bananas and throw half of them out? Buy smaller bundles more often. Freeze foods that are about to hit their expiration date if you don’t feel that you will consume them in time. You can always defrost them if you change your mind. Avoid processed meats A lot of processed foods contain cheap cuts of meat in them. It can be easy to consume this mindlessly, but livestock farming around the world is taking a toll on the environment. Cutting down on our consumption of these foods will be good for our health and cut down on the amount of livestock farm emissions. Switch to vegetarian options for frozen meals and utilize tofu and seitan products. Forage with the seasons Getting out and foraging seasonal foods creates very little transportation waste, and allows people to eat fresh local fruits and veggies for free. Summer in Alaska brings plenty of berries, mushrooms, and greens that can be picked close to home. Check out the Alaska Forage Manual for more information. Following these ideas can help people make a difference in the sustainable food movement without breaking the bank.
| 05 FEATURES Goosefest replaced Couple plans 20,000 mile bike with smaller events ride from Alaska to Argentina this summer THENORTHERNLIGHT
TUESDAY, JUNE 12, 2018
By Malia Barto
arts@thenorthernlight.org
After three years of Goosefest, the July event will not be returning this summer. Goosefest, a small music festival at Cuddy Quad, was starting to become a tradition, but earlier in the spring semester, UAA Student Activities decided to not bring back the event. “Our office is primarily funded by student fees,” Kojin Tranberg, commuter students programs coordinator, said. “While we’ve enjoyed hosting the event, with the overall student attendance being a fraction of participants, we’ve opted to do smaller scale programs just for the campus community.” The smaller scale events will be dispersed throughout the month of July. Some upcoming events ― with details in the works ― instead of Goosefest will include a Bike to Bacon
event, where students can bike around Anchorage with a baconthemed barbeque on July 11. There will also be a day trip to Seward, July 18, and a flag football event on the quad, July 24. In addition to summer events, Juneteenth will be taking place Tuesday, June 19. Juneteenth, an event celebration of the full enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation, will host a barbeque, yard games and more. It is free for UAA students, $5 for staff and faculty and $8 for the general public. Until July 31, Monday and Tuesday barbeques will take place at the University Hub Terrace, right outside the campus bookstore at 11:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. “Our team opted to work to make the summer barbecues more robust. One of our event planners is working to bring in performers each Tuesday, and we are all brainstorming ways to have more things to do while you eat,” Corey Miller, student activities coordinator, said. The barbeques are free for current students with valid spring or summer students ID, $5 for staff, faculty and the general public. There will be no barbeques on Monday or Tuesday, June 18 and 19, due to Juneteenth celebration.
PHOTO COURTESY OF CHRIS HAGG
Chris Haag rides through red rock desert in preparation for his 20,000-mile bike ride with his partner, Sophie George. The couple plans on biking from Alaska to Argentina.
By Abby Slater
features@thenorthernlight.org
With the rise of popularity of travel blogs, many dream of quitting their nine-to-five jobs to travel the world. Bloggers like Nomadic Matt, The Young Adventuress and Adventurous Kate all walked away from their corporate careers in order to pursue full-time travel, and now sustain themselves entirely off of travel writing. Still, for most people, that dream remains a dream. For Chris Haag and Sophie George, a couple who have called several places around
the world home, the dream is quickly manifesting into reality. Both had moved up the ladders in their respective careers, with Haag working for an energy conservation company and George teaching in her field of neuroscience. In early 2018, they decided to do something about it. With both of them being avid bike riders, they opted to do a tour all the way from Homer, Alaska to Argentina. “Chris [Haag] gave up his job in 2011 and has been tapping his foot for the last seven years, waiting for me to take the plunge on an adventure like this,” George said. “We made the decision to go early in 2018, and have been feverishly planning since.” Haag was ready for the trip early on, keeping it at the back of his mind for years. “We made the decision last fall that we did not want to live in Southern Utah anymore. Like I always do in times of transition, I suggested that we take some time off to travel,” Hagg said. Still, there were certain logistics to work out. The couple had several pets, which needed to find a home for the two years that they would be away. On top of this, Haag and George owned property in Detroit that they rented out on AirBnB, which would still need to be managed during their absence. But there was even more be-
yond these logistics. Emotional labor had to be put into the planning. “It is mostly a matter of choosing your gear and getting into the right frame of mind,” Haag said. “We want to have the freedom to make things up as we go along.” In lieu of extensive planning, Haag and George have both pondered on what the next two years may bring. George, especially, is maintaining a positive outlook on the trip. “I’m really excited that every day will bring something new, and for all the fantastic sights we’ll see and the people we’ll meet,” George said. While Alaska to Argentina has been an iconic bike route for hardcore cyclers over the years, Haag and George have thought deeply about their starting and end points. “Most people that are into this type of travel dream of a ride like this,” Haag said. George has never been to Alaska, but has dreamt of what it might be like during the ride. “Being able to pedal through that landscape during neverending summer days sounds nothing short of magical,” George said. From beginning to end, Haag and George will travel over 20,000 miles and pass through 15 countries over their two-year ride. They cycle out of Homer on July 2.
SPORTS
THENORTHERNLIGHT
TUESDAY, JUNE 12, 2018
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Five women represent UAA at track and field nationals By Lauren Cuddihy sports@thenorthernlight.org
Five standout runners from UAA traveled to Charlotte, North Carolina at the end of May to compete in the Division II Outdoor National Championships in May. Caroline Kurgat, a frequent record setter and meet winner, was the only Seawolf to qualify for three separate individual events, but only competed in the 5K and 10K. Kurgat entered the meet with the top times in both her events; her 10K time of 32:33.24 was also the second fastest time in Division II history. For the first half of her 10K, she stayed back and ran with the rest of the runners. Eventually, she broke away and with another runner following, the two eventually pulled ahead by a substantial distance. Kurgat continued to play it safe and stay in the pair until, with only a few laps left, she took off and created a second substantial gap between her and the runner-up. Kurgat won the national title with a time of 34:13.80; the runner up finished 36 seconds later. Head coach Michael Friess was pleased with Kurgat’s performance. “[The 10K] race featured a very talented group of runners. Caroline [Kurgat] ran a very
smart race and made her moves at the right time. I am very proud of her and the work she has put in to make this a reality,” Friess said. Kurgat had one day of rest after the 10K, then she was back up and running her 5K. Again, Kurgat had the fastest 5K seed time coming into the meet at 15:41.21. Towards the start of the race, Kurgat played it safe and raced similarly to her 10K. She stayed with the pack for the first third of the race. Eventually, she pulled away and created a substantial gap when she ran her two fastest laps of the meet. She continued running faster and pulling away until she had over a 10 second lead in a field of the fastest Division II women in the nation. Kurgat won the race with a time of 16:22.62, which was 11 seconds faster than the runner up. This was her second national title of the meet and her third national title ever, after winning the 2017 cross country nationals. Kurgat said that without her teammates, coaches and professors, she would not be able to do what she has done. “My friends have been challenging me to make [this] happen. I was very happy when it actually happened, because I proved to those who believed in me that they had seen something positive which was slowly coming to a reality,” Kurgat said. In between Kurgat’s national
PHOTO COURTESY OF NICK DANIELSON
Caroline Kurgat wins her first West Regional Championship title at the NCAA Division II West Region Cross-Country Championships on Nov. 4, 2017. At the Division II Outdoor National Championships, Kurgat was the only Seawolf to qualify for three separate individual events, but only competed in the 5K and 10K.
wins, four other women came to compete in one individual event each. Sophomore Vanessa Aniteye was the only Seawolf to qualify for the 400m and the only sprinter from UAA to make it to the national meet. Aniteye finished off the meet with the 15th fastest time in the nation, at 55.11 seconds. In the 800m, two UAA runners qualified for a position in the meet. The 2018 indoor 800m champion Danielle McCormick and junior transfer Yemi Knight competed in the preliminary race for the 800m together. In the same heat, both runners were crowded in the pack for the majority of the race. Once some space developed, McCormick ended up near the
front of the pack, while Knight trailed behind her in the middle. While McCormick secured a place in the final race, Knight placed third in the preliminary race and failed to advance. She did, however, manage to finish the race in a new personal best time. Knight ran a time of 2:08.36. In the final race, McCormick went out and immediately found herself stuck near the back of the competitors. After one lap, she slowly moved herself forward but remained only in the middle. McCormick placed fourth with a personal best of 2:06.34. Senior Tamara Perez was the fifth and final runner from the Seawolves to qualify for the meet. She competed in the 1,500m to finish at 20th with a
time of 4:34.67. Four of the women, not including Kurgat, also competed in the 4x400m relay. Aniteye, Knight, McCormick and Perez ran a time of 3:43.47 to finish 10th overall. Aniteye explained that, although they had some of the best runners for the relay, they were all already fatigued from running their individual events, which made it much more of a challenge. Overall, the women helped UAA to an overall team standing of eighth place with 25 points total. Track and field will not begin again until January 2019, but the distance runners will begin competing again next fall for the cross country season.
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TUESDAY, JUNE 12, 2018
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