March 30th, 2021

THENORTHERNLIGHT.ORG TUESDAY, MARCH 30TH, 2021

MARCH 30 - APRIL 5, 2021

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UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA ANCHORAGE

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Art from UAA Students is Featured Online in the 2021 Juried Student Art Show

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Hitbox Review: The Big Three Battle Royales in 2021 - Competition Breeds Excellence

COVID-19 Updates: How Alaska has the Best Rollout Plan in the United States

By Daisy Carter news2@thenorthernlight.org

After a year of quarantining, the light at the end of the tunnel is finally coming. With the first doses of the Pfizer vaccine coming in mid December, more and more people are getting vaccinated. It’s been about two weeks since the vaccine was eligible to people 16 years of age or under. ‌ In a mere three months the average of cases in Alaska has gone down from 686 cases a week in December, to 136 a week in March. This reflects the rate in which Alaska citizens have been getting the vaccines. The more fully vaccinated people there were in the state, the lower the cases went. ‌ As of March 26th, 30.8% of Alaskans have been given a one dose of a vaccine, while 21.3% have two doses. Most of the people who’ve been vaccinated have gotten the Pfizer vaccine over the Moderna vaccine. It wasn’t until recently that Alaskans have been getting the new Johnson and Johnson vaccine. ‌ The differences between the three could be a little confusing. The Pfizer vaccine is 95% effective, takes two shots over 21 days to be fully effective and is

IMAGE COURTESY OF ALASKA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICES

recommended for people 18 years and older.‌ The Moderna vaccine is 94.5% effective, takes two shots over 28 days and is recommended for people 16 years and older. ‌ Finally the Johnson and Johnson vaccine only takes one shot, is only 66.3% effective and is recommended for people 18 or older. You can find more informa-

The Alaska COVID-19 case count has been going down since the vaccine rollout.

tion about the differences about the vaccines on the official CDC website. ‌ As a reference for how effective these vaccines are, the average flu shot is only 40%-60% effective. ‌ The Alaska Public Department of Health and Social Services created a Coronavirus Response Hub. On the website you can see up-to-date information

about Covid-19 information in Alaska.

They have updates on vaccinations and resources to help you find vaccination locations near you. You can look at more specific information on the website at The Alaska Public Department of Health and Social Services Coronavirus Response Hub.

PHOTO COURTESY OF ALASKA NEWS SOURCES

The Alaska Department of Health and Social Services has a dashboard for all things COVID-19

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Art from UAA Students is Featured Online in the 2021 Juried Student Art Show

By Jake Dye arts@thenorthernlight.org

While pandemic regulations continue to prohibit in-person art shows, the Hugh McPeck Gallery has exhibited art online in several virtual exhibitions during the pandemic. The 2021 Juried Student Art Show, available to view right now either in a virtual gallery or in a webpage gallery, is the latest annual exhibition to be held online.‌ The Juried Student Art Show is an annual event highlighting art from around UAA. Any student can submit their work, even those who are not in the arts programs. Thirty-two UAA students have their art featured in the show. Submitted pieces are judged by a guest juror, and winners receive cash prizes from a pool of $2000.‌ This year’s guest juror is artist and curator Melissa Shaginoff. Shaginoff is a UAA alumnus, and her work has been featured throughout Alaska, as well as around the globe. Currently, Shaginoff works as a curator for Alaska Pacific University. ‌

PHOTO COURTESY HUGH MCPECK GALLERY

The annual Juried Student Art Show is hosted by the Hugh McPeck Gallery, and highlights art by students of all majors at UAA.

Because the Juried Student Art Show does not have a theme, the pieces featured run a wide variety of formats.

Featured in the show are paintings, sculptures, photographs, ceramics and stained glass. ‌ As with previous virtual exhibitions, the Juried Student Art Show is hosted in

Artsteps, an online platform that allows the Hugh McPeck Gallery to design a three-dimensional space in which viewers can move around using their mouse and keyboard. Clicking on each piece in the exhibit brings up a description of the piece, including the artist’s name. New to this exhibition is the webpage gallery,

which allows visitors to simply view all of the pieces in a list format.‌ The Juried Student Art Show, as well as all other virtual exhibitions, can be viewed on the Hugh McPeck Gallery’s Artsteps profile. Information on future exhibitions can be found on the Hugh McPeck Gallery’s Facebook page.

PHOTO COURTESY ARTSTEPS

Like the Hugh McPeck Gallery’s previous virtual exhibitions, the Juried Student Art Show is hosted in Artsteps, allowing viewers to use their mouse and keyboard to walk around a 3D space.

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Hitbox Review: The Big Three Battle Royales in 2021 - Competition Breeds Excellence

By Jake Dye arts@thenorthernlight.org

PHOTO COURTESY ACTIVISION

When “Fortnite: Battle Royale” launched Sep. 2017, it was an immediate success, unlike anything the game industry has ever seen. Fortnite changed the industry, leading the push towards crossplatform play and progression, popularizing the battle pass model of monetization, and inspiring countless copycats.

Of course, “Fortnite: Battle Royale” was itself a clone of “PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds,” taking the formula and making it colorful and free.‌ Many of the games that tried to follow in “Fortnite’”s footsteps, falling into relative obscurity or outright cancellation.

Some challengers rose above the pack, however, and today three battle royale games stand above, competing for players’ time and money. “Fortnite: Battle Royale,” “Apex Legends” and “Call of Duty: Warzone” are the big three battle royales on the market today. ‌ Each of these games is updated constantly, changing and evolving over time.

“Fortnite” doesn’t look or play the way it did in 2017. This review will cover each of the big three in Mar. 2021.‌ ‌Fortnite: Battle Royale “Fortnite” is the biggest name in games. It makes headlines almost weekly for its incredible crossovers and live events. This is a game where Batman, with Captain America’s shield in hand, can ride down onto the battlefield on top of a lightcycle from “TRON: Legacy.” Live events were one of the biggest draws of “Fortnite” in 2019 when players viewed concerts in-game, met director J.J. Abrams for a special look at “Star Wars” and watched together as the world was destroyed by a black hole, reborn

days later. Live events have become much fewer since the COVID pandemic began, though a new focus has been placed on the game’s story for the first time. ‌ Today, players are jumping into “Fortnite Chapter 2: Season 6,” they land on the island and scavenge for weapons and resources, battling to be the last standing, claiming that sweet victory royale. “Fortnite” is, in my eyes, the worst feeling to play of the big three. Weapons aren’t very accurate, by design, and a lot of value is placed on building walls and structures from wood and other material. It’s become a cliche at this point, but it really doesn’t feel great to take a shot at someone from a distance and then watch them turn into a massive wooden fortress. ‌ A lot of the appeal to “Fortnite” for me is the quest system. Daily, weekly, and seasonal quests provide plenty of distractions from the lackluster gunplay.

Other players become little more than a nuisance as I explore the island, go fishing and eat a staggering amount of corn.

Chapter 2’s sixth season, which began on Mar. 16, 2021, brings a new crafting system that allows for weapons to be modified. Chasing down components to build out weapons to suit my playstyle has so far been another fun diversion‌ ‌Apex Legends “Apex Legends” is a joy to play.

Gunplay is tight, movement is slick and nuanced and each of the game’s 16 characters has powerful abilities. Combat is the focus here, following on the legacy of developer Respawn Entertainment, a studio founded by veterans in the first-person shooter genre. “Apex Legends” was announced and released on Feb. 4, 2019.‌

PHOTO COURTESY ELECTRONIC ARTS

“Apex Legends” is set in the sci-fi world established in “Titanfall.”

“Call of Duty Warzone” brings players to the fictional European city of Verdansk.

Players drop on one of three maps as the titular legends, scavenging for weapons and resources, battling to be the last standing, claiming the title of Apex Champion.

Each of the 16 legends has a voice and a personality, which keeps matches lively even while playing alone or without using microphones. A revolutionary contextual pinging system, allows players to signal where they want to go, request ammo or resources, warn of danger and even thank others for their help, all fully voiced by the characters. This encourages collaboration, even between randomly matchmade players, in a way unique to “Apex Legends”‌ The eighth season of Apex Legends began on Feb. 2, 2021, bringing the latest legend Fuse, as well as bringing changes to the game’s first map, King’s Canyon. March brought the highly anticipated Nintendo Switch port, which was not great, featuring muddy visuals, low framerate and a lack of cross-progression, meaning existing players looking to play on the Switch would have to start from scratch. ‌ “Apex Legends” is my favorite battle royale. I love the world, which originated in Respawn’s debut outing “Titanfall,” and the characters, instilled with so much personality. The focus on incredible movement and gunplay is a big selling point too.‌ Call of Duty: Warzone‌ “Call of Duty: Warzone” feels exactly like it should. It’s “Call of Duty,” but battle royale. The feel of the games is impressively realized, killstreak rewards and other perks from the core games are

rare loot, and players can even earn their custom loadouts from either “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare” or “Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War.” Players parachute into the vast fictional city of Verdansk and scavenge for weapons and resources, battling to be the last standing, claiming a Warzone Victory. True to the twitchreflex fueled multiplayer of the mainline “Call of Duty” franchise, time-to-kill is very low in “Warzone” compared to other battle royales, which can be frustrating, being eliminated very suddenly, often in my case without even discerning where the bullets were coming from. ‌ Unique to “Warzone” is the gulag.

Every player, on their first death, is imprisoned in the gulag where they are entered in a one-on-one deathmatch with another player. The winner is returned to play, the loser is eliminated. ‌ Currently, “Warzone” is in its second season since transitioning to support 2020’s “Black Ops: Cold War,” the ninth overall. The season began Feb. 25, 2021.

March was rumored to bring the longteased nuclear missile launch live event to the game, which would bring a new map, but while new teases have been showing up in-game for weeks, the missile, first seen in June 2020, has yet to fire. ‌ Of the big three, “Warzone” does the least for me. The characters don’t have much personality, there’s not much story to speak of, and I prefer the colorful personality of “Fortnite” and the sci-fi world and characters of “Apex” to the military shooter “Call of Duty.” Fans of the franchise should find plenty to love, however, as “Warzone” masterfully adapts the gameplay of the franchise to the battle royale format.‌

PHOTO COURTESY EPIC GAMES

The large battles of “Fortnite” take place on an island caught forever in a time loop.

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“Online ads provide an alternative way of advertising and the ability to reach virtual readers. The Northern Light provides an opportunity to reach students, faculty and members of the community. With roughly 4 digital issues per month, over 5,000 Facebook followers and over 3,300 Twitter followers you can connect your business to a variety of media users.”

ONLINE PACKAGES There are three parts to an online ad package where ad images are featured: The Northern Light website (both the digital paper and the website itself), The Northern Light Facebook page, and The Northern Light Twitter page. Facebook and Twitter shoutouts will consist of three posts a week on each platform.This ensures that advertisers reach an optimal amount of viewers every week. Media ad content is especially useful during this time and a more affordable price compared to print advertisements.

ONLINE PACKAGE BREAKDOWN (OFF CAMPUS): Online ads (digital paper & website): $150 per week/ $550 per month Facebook shoutout: $75 per week/ $275 per month Instagram shoutout: $75 per week/ $275 per month Total:

$300 per week/ $1100 per month

For more information, please reach out to admanager@thenorthernlight.org.

REPORTS

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UPD report Total calls for service: 518 •

March 16: Crisis intervention off campus.

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March 18: Operate a vehicle, aircraft, watercraft under the influence of an alcoholic beverage, inhalant, or controlled substance at Tudor and Wright intersection.

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March 18: Motor vehicle accident at Career Center drive..

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March 19: Medical assistance - Injured person outside of Arts Building.

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March 21: Theft in the fourth degree ($0 < $250) at Spruce Parking Lot.

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March 21: Reckless driving, failure to stop a direction of a peace officer, accident, duty to give information/ render assistance, and violation of condition of release at UAA Drive and Provicence Dr.

All information is provided by the University of Alaska Anchorage Police Department.

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News Reporter Daisy Carter news2@thenorthernlight.org‌

Executive Editor Gabby Vance (806) 437-8805 editor@thenorthernlight.org‌

Arts & Entertainment Reporter Jake Dye arts@thenorthernlight.org‌

Layout Editor / Graphic Designer Michaeline Collins media@thenorthernlight.org‌ News Reporter Lillith Regan news3@thenorthernlight.org‌

Ad Manager Connor Farrar admanager@thenorthernlight.org‌ Media Adviser Paola Banchero‌ Administrative Adviser Zac Clark‌

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