May 30, 2017

MAY 30 - JUNE 13, 2017

FEATURES

THENORTHERNLIGHT.ORG

UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA ANCHORAGE

FEATURES

PAGE 5

College Cookbook: Foraged ferns add a fancy touch to any dinner

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Keep up on UAA events through 10 campus Instagram accounts

Athletics recruitment continues as 2017 seasons approach

Now that the 2017-18 seasons are just around the corner for many sports, women’s basketball, gymnastics and cross-country have announced new recruits for their teams

PHOTO COUTESY OF WILL NACOUZI

Victoria Langi defends against an opponent during a game. Langi played two years of collegiate basketball at Skyline College, and is joining the Seawolves along with her younger sister, Sala.

PHOTO COURTESY OF HARTNELL COLLEGE ATHLETICS

Jorge Sanchez, incoming junior cross-country runner, placed fifth in the Coast Conference Championships during his freshman year at Hartnell College.

By Lauren Cuddihy

sports2@thenorthernlight.org

After the commencement of spring semester 2017, 24 student athletes walked across the stage with their degrees, ultimately leaving behind their teams and college athletics for good.

Since the women's basketball team lost three of their standout players, they are slowly building their roster back up.

With the help of three new recruits, the total accumulation is five so far.

The first of the three new recruits is an Anchorage local, Tennae Voliva.

From East High School, Voliva boasted the accomplishments of making SecondTeam All-State twice in her high school career, as well as making First Team AllCook Inlet Conference honoree in her final season.

Head coach Ryan McCarthy was excited about the addition of Voliva.

"We've been able to recruit some of the best student-athletes in the state of Alaska," McCarthy said.

In addition, the 6-foot forward made the varsity basketball team every single year of high school, becoming a career 1,000-point scorer.

To add to the most recent recruits is Victoria Langi, a standout guard originally from Pacifica, California. However, Langi is transferring in as a junior, after playing two years of college basketball at Skyline College and being an All-North

Coast Conference performer.

Langi produced impressive stats during her previous season, averaging 15.9 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.9 assists from her team, a large improvement from her freshman year of 6.9 points per game.

Her performances proved to be good enough to rank her in the top 20 of the North Coast stats in the majority of categories.

McCarthy is thrilled to have Victoria join the team, considering he already signed Victoria's younger sister, Sala Langi, who is coming in as a freshman in the positions of guard and forward. In addition, McCarthy expects Langi to be a huge assest to scoring points.

"She was one of the top shooters in the state of California's JC system," McCarthy said.

The addition to the Langi sisters and

PHOTO COURTESY OF WHITNEY RINEY

As an all-arounder at the Virginia L10 State Championships, Hope Nelson secured third, with a 9.725 on bars and 9.525 on beam.

Voliva makes the total of new Seawolves on women's basketball five players.

Despite his recently announced retirement, head gymnastics coach Paul Stoklos was fortunate to sign an all-around standout gymnast from Newport News, Virginia.

This all-arounder, Hope Nelson, has been a level 10 competitor for four years.

Nelson has many impressive accomplishments, including qualifying for World Class Gymnastics three separate times.

In addition, at the Virginia L10 State Championships, Nelson won bars with

SEE RECRUITS

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Bike share program now open to summer students

By Cheyenne Mathews cmathews@thenorthernlight.org

The Information Desk in the Student Union commenced the Green Fee sponsored annual bike share program on May 22.

The bike share is open to any student from spring or summer 2017 who has paid the $3 Green Fee. Bikes are free for students to rent all summer in one month intervals. Student Boards Coordinator and Media Advisor, Zac Clark, helps administer the program, and he said the bikes help students enjoy campus in the summer.

“I would like to think that one of the sort of hidden benefits of the program, and I wasn’t around during it’s inception, but

the campus is so beautiful in the summer,” Clark said. “Any way for the students to go out and experience it, not from their car or not from a busy street, is a way for student to feel more connected to campus.”

The bikes are single gear, cruiser bikes, and in past years Clark said around 25 bikes were rented throughout the summer.

To rent the bike, students have to bring a helmet to the information desk, and in exchange students will receive a key to unlock the yellow bikes.

“Any student who wants to rent a bike needs to bring their Wolfcard or have their I.D. number, they physically need to have their own helmet. They check to make sure you are paying the fee,” Clark said.

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Clark said that the bike share also helps sustainability efforts on campus by replacing cars with bikes. Another benefit of the bike share is to help students exercise.

“Exercise of course is always good, and on these fixed gear bikes every time you go up a hill you are going to get your exercise for it just because you can’t shift out,” Clark said.

Devan Hawkins, social work major, lives on campus and was one of the first students to sign the paperwork to rent her bike.

Hawkins said having a bike helps her get around campus, especially since she doesn’t have a car of her own.

“It’s nice to have available to students because walking can get kind of tiring and the quick-

@tnl_updates

PHOTO BY YOUNG KIM

Available to anyone who is currently paying the $3 Green Fee and provides their own helmet, the bike share program presents an opportunity for students to be more mobile on UAA's campus.

ness of everything,” Hawkins said. “It just makes more sense for me to have a bike that I can keep at my dorm and just ride to classes and stuff.”

Joshua O’Leary, accounting major, does not plan to participate in the bike share, but he appreciates this type of program on campus.

“I have my own bicycle that I

thenorthernlight.org

ride in the summer, but that’s a good idea for people who don’t,” O’Leary said. He also believes the bike share will be good at keeping “traffic down around UAA, it keeps people outside.”

The Student Union Information Desk is open Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. and is closed on the weekends.

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NEWS

THENORTHERNLIGHT TUESDAY, MAY 30, 2017

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Decreasing enrollment prompts new initiatives to combat falling student numbers

By Cheyenne Mathews cmathews@thenorthernlight.org

GRAPHIC BY CHEYENNE MATHEWS

Student enrollment at UAA has decreased 13 percent since its peak in 2011, according to Interim Associate Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Services, Lora Volden. Student tuition accounts for 33 percent of unrestricted revenue to the University and 25 percent of the overall budget according to Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Bruce Schultz.

“A dip in enrollment is impactful,” Schultz said. “From my perspective, the mission of this institution is to educate the citizens of Alaska, and when we see a decline in enrollment that means that we are missing on the opportunity to fully fulfill our mission… From a fiscal perspective it does absolutely impact the cost of education.”

The University of Alaska Fiscal Year 2018 Budget Request states, under a section on increasing University revenues, that the University is implementing ‘aggressive enrollment, retention and graduation strategies,’ as well as using a 10 year framework that raises UA tuition and fees an average of 4 percent annually.

As Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, Schultz is overseeing efforts to increase enrollment and retention, and he said multiple new initiatives are being launched to increase enrollment from different markets.

“We have two new initiatives that are launching next year.

One is the Student Success Collaborative. This is a national student success program,” Schultz said.

Along with the Collaborative, Schultz said another new initiative is working to bolster academic advising.

“The number one factor for whether a student persists at an institution is the relationship the student has with their academic adviser. So we’ve been putting a

significant amount of resources into our academic advising.”

At Enrollment Services, Volden said one of her goals is to streamline and simplify the admissions process.

“The biggest focus for our office in the next 18 months is really focusing on recruitment and admissions,” Volden said.

“We have a lot of things we need to be doing with recruitment and a lot of things we need to be doing with admissions.”

For the fall of fiscal year 2012, after the add-drop period had closed, 16,205 students were enrolled in classes. For the fall of fiscal year of 2017, after the add-drop, 14,308 students were enrolled in classes. Schultz says falling enrollment is caused by high school graduation rates, how the economy is doing, the Alaskan population and the median Alaska family income.

“As the recession happened nationally, enrollment boomed, because as people lost jobs they went back to school, so it will be interesting to see what happens now in Alaska with the recession here if people will actually then enroll in Alaska or what that will mean,” Volden said.

Student Affairs’ budget overall has decreased from fiscal year 2016 to 2017, but funds have been reallocated specifically to increase enrollment efforts.

“We were fortunate that this past year we received additional reallocation funds specifically for enrollment management,” Schultz said. “University Advancement, who takes care of our new student recruitment marketing, received some additional funding, but then we also received some additional funds to do the enrollment and admission recruitment analytics. We received funding from the President of the University system to hire a community outreach coordinator. That was a new initiative this year.”

Marnie Kaler is interim director at New Student Recruitment, and she said new technology and a focus on advertising

to metropolitan areas in the Lower 48 are ways Recruitment is trying to increase enrollment.

“There is a lot of pressure from the University right now to make sure we have a sustainable student body, and we are starting to shape that, but typically recruitment is a two year process,” Kaler said. “We have partnered with Ruffalo Noel Levitz, and it’s a well-known, wellestablished leader in enrollment management. They are doing a couple of things for us; they are looking at our publications to make sure that we are hitting the marks on national standards.”

New Student Recruitment is hosting its first ever summer preview day for juniors outside of Alaska in June. The fall preview day had record attendance with 900 students at the event, and Kaler said new technology is helping recruitment track potential students. On top of these initiatives, Kaler said Recruitment is purchasing names of students who took the SAT and ACT. With all of these initiatives together, Schultz said the University is projecting higher enrollment for the future.

“We have projected the enrollment for UAA out to 2020, and it includes enrollment growth based on some strategies we are employing to increase the retention rate, the persistence rate, recruitment and we believe there are some untapped markets in Alaska,” Schultz said.

“One of those markets is looking at the 115,000 Alaskan citizens that have some college and no degree. That is an audience were we can invite them into the institution.”

The retention rate for first year fall students who re-enroll their second fall was 66.15 percent for fiscal year 2016, according to Student Affairs Key Performance Indicators. This is a small drop from fiscal year 2015, which had a retention rate of 68.64 percent for full-time, first year students.

USUAA elections bring new wave of senators to student body

Five new senators inducted in May to serve for 2018 fiscal year

By Sarah Tangog

stangog@thenorthernlight.org

Spring semester of 2017 brought new faces to stand as senators within the UAA community. As a senator, these students play an integral role within the USUAA government.

“I am the summer speaker, so I run the meetings during the summer assembly. And then I’m just a senator, so I represent the student body at large when we make decisions,” Alex Jorgensen, political science major, said.

Jorgensen joins two other political science majors, Morgan Hartley and Caleb Berry, in trying to make a difference in the student experience at UAA. Jorgensen, Hartley and Berry all have different roles aside the common goal of representing the student body.

“Each senator is required to serve on two committees. The two committees I serve on are the Legislative Affairs Committee and the Activities Committee,” Berry said. “We plan homecoming, we participate in the

campus kick-off.”

Most senators also plan to do a senator project.

“This is sort of an unofficial way to categorize a particular senator's pet project which can range from the revamping of parking services to a new campus activity,” Hartley said.

Each senator also has a different goal in regard to bettering the campus. As a peer health educator in the Student Health Counseling Center, Jorgensen believes that bystander awareness programs should be more widespread throughout the community.

“One of my main goals is to use my senator position to make the campus safer as it relates to sexual assault and violence,” Jorgensen said.

Berry hopes to use his position as a senator and Greek life member to pursue his project.

“I want to do my best to make sure we expand Greek Life on campus,” Berry said. “I’ve got several ideas to improve life on campus, increase the revenue of fraternities and sororities… I have a lot of great ideas that will help.”

Hartley hopes to represent all students at UAA in his actions.

“My goal... [is to] adequately represent all students of UAA in every legislative action I take, and do my best to ensure that administrative decisions are made using the same criteria,” Hartley said.

On top of their duties, the senators stress the importance of hearing from the voices of fellow students.

“We love hearing from people, and we typically don’t. They don’t know we’re a thing. Or, that we’re just people that sit in a semi-cool office behind some glass.

We want to connect,” Jorgensen said.

USUAA members reside in an upstairs office at the Student Union, allowing anyone to walk in and talk to their senators.

“The student government room is a public place and that any time the door is open everyone is welcome to come in and say ‘hi’ or voice a concern,” Hartley said.

Each senator is different and has different goals, but in the end, they are one voice that represents thousands of voices.

NEWS

THENORTHERNLIGHT TUESDAY, MAY 30, 2017

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04 | NEWS

THENORTHERNLIGHT TUESDAY, MAY 30, 2017

FEATURES College Cookbook: Foraged and fried fiddlehead ferns

Get outside and find your next dinner's sidekick

THENORTHERNLIGHT TUESDAY, MAY 30, 2017

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Even after graduation, UAA graduates are still finding ways to stay busy

By Mariah DeJesus-Remaklus mremaklus@thenorthernlight.org

By Victoria Petersen Contributor

Spring is here and that means fiddleheads are ripe. There's a very short window of time where the fiddleheads are ready to pick. They are short, furled up and have a thin, brown casing on them.

Pick from the bottom and gather up a few, and you have yourself a fancy foraged side dish, best served alongside pasta or even on top of pizza.

1. Clean the brown casing off the plant. You can do this with your hands under the faucet just fine.

2. Boil the ferns in water and salt for about fifteen minutes.

3. Place the ferns in a frying pan of hot oil, garlic and salt and pepper to taste.

4. Fry ferns up for roughly five minutes and they are ready to be served.

The fiddleheads are no longer good to eat after they have begun to unfurl. Reference online or text resources for foraging to make sure the fiddleheads you're finding are good to be picked.

PHOTO BY VICTORIA PETERSEN

One of the most common questions anyone will hear before graduating is: “What are you going to do now?”

For some graduates, there isn’t an answer, but finding work in their field doesn’t have to be the only goal in their future.

Dustin Mendoza, a UAA graduate with a double major in electrical engineering and computer systems engineering, considers himself one of the lucky students that found a job before graduating.

After having applied to multiple places since November of last year, Mendoza is happy to say that he will begin working for technology giant Intel this summer as a technical support engineer.

“Out of all of them, this one was the one that was most in line with what I wanted to do because one of my long-term goals is to start my own company doing robotic solutions,” Mendoza said.

Many students are anxious about their plans for after college graduation, and not all of them know exactly what they want to do. The pressure to find a decent job or even pursue more education can be overwhelming, but it hasn’t stopped Mendoza from chasing after his ambitions.

Part of his plans for the future includes eventually going back to school for a master’s degree or doctorate in robotics and mechatronics, a scientific field that combines electrical and mechanical engineering as well as programming. Until then, he has been enjoying the newfound freedom that comes with graduation and a new, steady job.

Along with taking a trip to California, Mendoza has been able to invest more time into anime, robotics and video games. He says that while others may enjoy outdoor activities as a hobby, he prefers programming his own video games.

While a new job and no longer having class can be exciting, there are other aspects of being graduated that are not as appealing to Mendoza.

“I feel like any person who’s literally starting their life… I’m not prepared, I have no idea what’s going on,” Mendoza said. “Nobody taught me any of these things.

I’m learning about the 401k plan and, you know, like life insurance, health insurance… It’s like, you know, you get prepared for your job, but you’re not prepared for life itself.”

Jennifer Merly shares similar concerns after having graduated this spring. Although she does not yet have a job lined up, her time has still been taken up with what she refers to as “getting life together.”

“It’s just been kind of a catch-up on bills and house stuff and social life,” Merly said.

Now that she has earned her bachelor’s degree in justice with a minor in communications, Merly finds it hard to believe that her college years are over. She says that after nearly 19 years of school — from kindergarten to college — her feelings range from excitement to anxiety.

“I don’t know, it’s mixed feelings… I can just do whatever I want pretty much. But it’s also terrifying that you’ve got to figure out what you want to do,” Merly said.

Her position with her church as a temporary youth pastor’s assistant ends in less than a month, but Merly has plans to focus on enjoying her summer. They include taking a road trip through the states to visit family and possibly volunteering at camps.

As far as education, Merly hopes to eventually earn a master’s degree in justice or even attend law school.

Her main goal revolves around helping youth, and she sees the McLaughlin Youth Center as a potential career choice.

“I like working with kids and teenagers. I’ve always volunteered in some aspect. So I would love to work with children or youth in the justice field… whether it’s in the court systems, whether it’s in the correctional facilities,” Merly said.

Although many graduates may feel overwhelmed and that they need to start their lives sooner than later, she is accepting the stress as a good thing. Merly is the first person in her immediate family to graduate — let alone attend — college and now she says that she is being expected to pursue more education or find a good job.

“The pressure is definitely there and I think it’ll always be there, especially from family… But I think some pressure is good ‘cause I think it kind of keeps you grounded, kind of keeps you focused,” Merly said.

PHOTO BY YOUNG KIM

After having graduated in May, Sierra Afoa plans to take advantage of her newfound freedom to explore Alaska and spend more time outdoors.

Similar to Merly, Sierra Afoa has taken interest in helping out the youth and working at McLaughlin. With a bachelor’s degree in social work and a minor in justice, she says that the community gave so much to her and she would want to return the favor. Afoa has spent her time working with the Special Olympics and doing an internship with the youth center. She also played on the UAA women’s basketball team during all four years of college.

Before trying to find a full-time job and consider continuing school, Afoa wants to take advantage of the free time she has now during the summer. Years of playing basketball while going to school have taken away being able to hang out with friends and family. Now she has the opportunity and appreciates it.

“I haven’t gotten a chance to do that in quite some time. Basketball and school have always come first, especially the last four years,” Afoa said. “Even during my summers I was training for basketball or had to work part-time jobs to pay for school.”

So far, her family has taken a trip to the East Coast to visit her twin brother, who has also graduated. Unlike him, someone who would like to travel, Afoa says that she would much rather stay in Alaska because she loves it here. If there are any trips that she will be taking this year, they will be to places like Seward or Homer.

Afoa also sees herself possibly coaching basketball and volunteering, but has no desire to pursue the sport in terms of playing. Athletics run in the family since her parents and older siblings played sports, but she says that they have been patient when it comes to her decision against continuing.

“My family is super accepting and like, my brother only played a year and then he was done with athletics,” Afoa said. “My parents 100 percent supported him in that.”

It is important to find people that can be a support system, she says. Even if it isn’t family, there are others that will be there for you in whatever you choose to do.

“Kind of like, following what you want to do and then finding people that support that… I’d definitely say ‘do you,’” Afoa said.

Despite the hassles of being newly graduated, Mendoza and Merly also have some insight and advice for those who will soon be in their shoes.

“Figure out what you want,” Mendoza said. “It doesn’t even have to be like, your life passions… Step two: make a plan, and step three: do something every single day towards that.”

For Merly, she wants to remind others that it’s possible to be free of stress.

“Whatever is going to come is going to come. I’m not stressed out as I was during graduation season,” Merly said. “And if you get a job and love it, great. If not, you keep trying and, you know, you just live life.”

06 | FEATURES

THENORTHERNLIGHT TUESDAY, MAY 30, 2017

Top 10 UAA Instagram accounts for students

GRAPHIC BY JIAN BAUTISTA

By Cheyenne Mathews cmathews@thenorthernlight.org

UAA is home to many students, events and degree programs. To showcase all of

these activities are numerous departmentrun Instagram accounts. From the Alaska Airlines Center to the UAA Bookstore, there are dozens of university-related Instagram accounts that share upcoming events and student life.

1. uaaphotos – This is the official Instagram account of UAA and is run by Social Media Specialist, Kendra Doshier. Doshier describes the account as the “central hub of what’s going on” at UAA. Students who follow this account can expect re-grams from other useful Instagrams about upcoming events as well as fun pictures of UAA’s mascot, Spirit.

2. uaa_student_activities – This account is run by Student Activities, and it details how student fees are being used to help students.

This account posts before Student Activities sponsored events including the Monday and Tuesday summer barbecues.

3. uaaconcertboard – This student run account shows how the student fee based organization, Concert Board, uses fees to bring up different comedic and musical acts. Recent posts on this account inform students about events like The Onion’s Scott Dikkers coming to UAA. 4. hughmcpeckgallery – The Hugh McPeck Gallery is based in the Student Union, and displays student artwork throughout the year.

This account, run by Student Life and Leadership, showcases different gallery openings as well as individual art pieces.

5. uaa_life – Another Instagram run by Student Life and Leadership, UAA Life, posts about USUAA meetings, the bike share program and other student organizations. Annie Route, director of Student Life and Leadership, said she tries to post event reminders while also trying to brighten student’s days.

6. uaa_scgl – Run by Mercy Rains, student assistant at Student Clubs and Greek Life, uaa_scgl tries to promote student clubs with this account while also giving students an insight to behind the scenes of UAA’s clubs and Greek organizations. Rains also said that some of the goals of the Instagram account are to show what student involvement is like and to show a positive “splash of fun” about clubs. A recent post from uaa_scgl showed cool swag students could grab at the office of SCGL. 7. uaastudentunion – The Student Union is the physical hub of activity at UAA, and this account, run by Student Life and Leadership, posts about the students and events that take place at the Student Union. When not posting about events, the account features inspirational messages like a recent post that said, “Rise up and attack the day with enthusiasm.”

8. uaa_seawolves – This account is the official Instagram of UAA athletics. The account regularly posts about awards and championships athletes are competing in, as well as the dates and time of upcoming sporting events.

9. kruafm – KRUA 88.1 FM The Edge is the student-run radio station at UAA. The student staff at KRUA often post about concerts KRUA is hosting as well as staff picks on new music releases.

10. tnl_updates – This would not be a legitimate list without the inclusion of the student-run paper, The Northern Light. Posts on this account feature stories written by student staff, while also showcasing different events on campus through a news perspective.

A&E

THENORTHERNLIGHT TUESDAY, MAY 30, 2017

| 07

You haven't seen an apocalypse like 'Yakuza Apocalypse'

By Jacob Holley-Kline Contributor

Just because something is singular doesn't mean it's good.

“Yakuza Apocalypse” is a perfect example of this truism.

Truly, there's nothing like it out right now, in form or content, and thank God there isn't. It's an often exhausting exercise in cartoonish absurdity. At the same time, bless Takashi Miike, the prolific director of “Audition” and “Zebraman,” for letting loose like he does with “Apocalypse.” Sure, it's overlong and lax in structure, but it's more good than bad.

This is thanks to Miike's considerable chops. Averaging about three movies a year since 1991, he's cultivated a style that can turn the stupidest script to something enjoyable. The script in question starts out strong, but gets weaker as it goes. It opens to Kamiura (Lily Franky), a yakuza vampire mob boss, slaughtering a rival gang. This spectacle brings two vampire

hunters, Killer Priest (Ryushin Tei) and Kyoken (Yayan Ruhian), to town, who make quick work of the seemingly immortal killer. Before he dies, he sires his right-hand man Kageyama (Hayato Ichihara), who goes so mad with power that he turns the whole village into vampires.

Thought it's the crux of the movie, vampires are a smaller portion of it. A diverse of mythical Japense creatures and a man in a frog suit fill up the rest.

Their function in the story, however, is tenuous. There are a lot of characters to consider here, and each just shows up with no real importance. The most aggregious case of this is Aratetsu (Kiyohiko Shibukawa), a bumbling yakuza thug. It's clear from his introduction that he's generally perplexed and ineffectual. By the end, however, he ends up taking out someone far above his pedigree. It's inexplicable and feels like the biggest cop-out of the movie.

Strangely, it's when “Yakuza Apocalypse” is not trying to be an action movie that it suc-

ceeds. It's a disparate blend of comedy, absurdism, horror, and cartoon that never really gels.

Yet, it devotes the most time to its weakest aspect: fight scenes.

They're not bad. They're good.

But in comparison to the ridiculousness of the rest of the movie, they feel standard, even boring.

The highlight of the movie is seeing how insane it gets.

That's both good and bad. It's good because it's an unpredictable experience. It's bad because you can only have that experience once. “Yakuza Apocalypse” is a one-and-done movie that, speaking from experience, only gets worse on rewatches, because its biggest flaws are even more glaring. The weakest characters survive without explanation and the editing plays loose with any kind of resolution. To be fair, some things in the movie can't be resolved.

But some things can, and they rarely are. Before you consider watching, ask yourself this: am I willing to wade through crap just to be surprised? For me, it's only worth it once.

TITLE “Yakuza Apocalypse”

DIRECTOR Takashi Miike

RELEASE DATE Oct. 9, 2015

COUNTRY Japan

GENRE Action

Summer brings the opportunity to rock out Anchorage’s concerts bring familiar faces from the music industry

By Sarah Tangog

stangog@thenorthernlight.org

Summer brings a slew of activities for Alaskans to enjoy.

This summer, six big-ticket performances are coming to Anchorage.

June 10: The Shins, Moose’s Tooth From Portland, Oregon, this indie band was founded in 1996 and has been going strong ever since. They have released six albums starting in 2001. Their latest album, “Heartworms,” was released earlier this year.

“The fee is $55 per ticket, the show is a 21-and-over show,” Burt Ward from Moose’s Tooth said. Ward mentioned that, though the doors open at 6 p.m., the actual performances do not

start until 6:45.

“I don’t know if there’s an opener or not,” Ward said.

“There typically is for bigger shows.”

If an opening band is to perform, The Shins won’t play until 8 p.m. An I.D. must be presented upon entrance, and tickets can only be paid via cash.

ing on June 24. The show starts at 8 p.m., and general admission tickets start at $45.

July 15: Bush, Alaska Airlines Center Bush is bringing their tour promoting the new album "Black and White Rainbows" to Alaska for the first time. The London-based band is one of the most successful rock bands of the 1990s, selling more than 10 million records in the United States.

Tickets are available now, and start at $39 before fees. The mid-July concert starts at 8 p.m.

when he started his career. His most recent album is “Kill The Lights," released in August of 2015.

Bryan’s performance at the George M. Sullivan Sports Arena will begin at 7:30 p.m. on August 1 and August 2. Tickets are selling anywhere from $28 to $693.

August 4-6: Jewel, Salmonfest The Kenai Peninsula festival, advertised as "Three days of fish, love and music" is welcoming a variety of local bands, as well as bands from the Lower 48, including headliner and Homer local, Jewel.

The festival is three days, and tickets are available on salmonfestalaska.org, starting at $69.

June 24: Tech N9ne, Dena'ina Civic and Convention Center

August 11-12: Zac Brown Band, Alaska Airlines Center

Aaron Dontez Yates decided to call himself Tech N9ne at the peak of his career. He founded the Strange Music record label in 1999 with Travis O’Guin, though he is more commonly recognized as a rapper. He has released 23 albums since 1999, his latest being “Dominion,” which was released in April.

Tech N9ne will be perform-

Three-time Grammy award winners Zac Brown Band kicked off their Welcome Home tour on May 28, and will be performing for two nights in Anchorage. With number one hits such as "Chicken Fried" and "Loving You Easy," the band has topped the charts in both country and rock genres.

The supporting act has yet to

August 1-2: Luke Bryan, Sullivan Arena This country singer has released six albums since 2007,

be announced, but tickets start at $69 before fees and are available now.

September 25: Miranda Lambert, Sullivan Arena Country singer Miranda Lambert has released seven albums since 2001. Her newest album, “The Weight of These Wings,” was released last year.

She’s been touring since.

“In Miranda Lambert’s case, she is specifically on the Highway Vagabond Tour,” Tanya Pont, director of marketing at the Sullivan Arena, said.

Lambert is holding one performance, starting at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets are selling anywhere from $49.50-$300. It is an allages concert, though persons under 21 must have an adult or guardian to sit in the wet section

SPORTS

THENORTHERNLIGHT TUESDAY, MAY 30, 2017

RECRUITS: New additions in UAA Athletics Continued from cover

PHOTOS BY UAA ATHLETICS

| 08

Championships, Nelson won bars with a score of 9.725, placed second on beam with 9.525 and secured a third place finish in the all-around.

Stoklos expects Nelson to make excellent improvements and have to potential to be an all-arounder on the team lineup for the future seasons.

Nelson is the first recruit for the team that has been announced, but more additions are expected.

In cross-country, an incoming junior transfer from Salinas, California is making his debut at UAA in the fall. Jorge Sanchez started his collegiate running career at Hartnell College, mak-

ing impressive achievements during his time there.

Sanchez is taking a leap of faith coming to Alaska; his recruitment trip in the spring was his first time ever even leaving California.

"Within that period of time I was able to connect with [head coach Michael Friess] and assistant coach TJ [Garlatz] and I realized why they have one of the top cross-country programs in the country at the Division II level — they are passionate about the sport and they genuinely want you to succeed, not only in running, but in school," Sanchez said.

During his freshman year, Sanchez placed fifth in the Coast

Conference Championships. At the regional championship he placed 12th overall, earning him all-region honors.

For his sophomore year, Sanchez improved significantly, taking second at Coast Conference Championships and going on to take the overall individual win at the NorCal Cross Country Championships with a 4-mile time of 21 minutes and 25 seconds, only missing his personal best by 19 seconds.

These four additions to the UAA Athletic community are far from the final ones. Throughout the remainder of the spring and summer, coaches will continue to recruit and announce new members to their teams.

NEWS

THENORTHERNLIGHT TUESDAY, MAY 30, 2017

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10 | SPORTS

THENORTHERNLIGHT TUESDAY, MAY 30, 2017

The debut of summer triathlons: The Gold Nugget To kick off the first of many summer activities in Anchorage, the traditional Gold Nugget Triathlon took place on May 21

By Lauren Cuddihy

sports2@thenorthernlight.org

Alaskan summers are the best time to be outside and take advantage of the short span of warm weather. Road races and triathlons are some of the sporting events that Anchorage residents get to enjoy over the next three months; The Gold Nugget Triathlon is the first of many.

The Gold Nugget is a unique triathlon that specifically targets young girls and women to get out and stay active. The goal of this race is more than just focusing on a one day event; The Gold Nugget Triathlon Board of Directors wants to promote year-round healthy lifestyles and relationships.

Kristyn Turney, who competed in The Gold Nugget as her first ever triathlon, appreciated that the triathlon is allfemale.

Traditionally, including the 2017 Gold Nugget, the triathlon features a 500 yard swim, followed by a 12 mile bike and finished off with a 4.1 mile run. This year the race was kept around Bartlett High School, with the swim in the school's pool, with the bike and run taking place in adjoining areas.

"They were able to section off the pool so you could see the elite/competitive athletes on one side and the newbies [and] more chill ladies like me on the other. The bike and the run were really pretty, the majority of the time the mountains were out of the clouds," Turney said.

Alexis Williams, a UAA student, also participated in the triathlon. It is the only

triathlon that she has ever competed in, but she has done it four different times.

Williams also enjoyed the course of the 2017 triathlon, although she said the pool could get crowded and the bike and running trails could get a bit confusing, the whole event was well worth it.

In addition, the triathlon had a variety of different entry types and result categories, including overall winners by age group, most improved, school teams, trigeneration, mother and daughter team, business team and open team.

The individual results ranked everyone by age group, with a total of 1,449 entries, the youngest competitor was just 10 years old and the oldest being over 80 years old.

In her age group of F25-29, and overall for the entire triathlon, Kinsey Laine of Fairbanks took the title with a time of 1 hour, 4 minutes and 23 seconds. This beats her previous win and record set in 2016 by just 19 seconds.

Lane swept the race with an swim pace of 1:24 min per mile, an average bike pace of 23.39 mph, and a mile pace of 6:18. She beat the second place winner by nearly five minutes.

Per age group, the following people took the individual titles: Alyssa Hargis (F10-14, 1:16.24) Ellie Mitchell (F15-19, 1:13.11) Emma Tarbath (F20-24, 1:12.06) Megan Cheif (F30-34, 1:10.47) Amber Stull (F35-39, 1:09.04) Sara Miller (F40-44, 1:12.32) Danelle Winn (F45-49, 1:11.47) Dianne Prince (F50-54, 1:21.09)

Natasha Bergt (F55-59, 1:15.23) Melinda Walker (F60-64, 1:20.33) Ellyn Brown (F65-69, 1:32.38) Rita Miller (F70-74, 1:54.09) Diane Mohwinkel (F75-79, 1:48.40) Millie Spezialy (F80+, 2:14.42) In the second results category for most improved, returning competitors had their previous finish time compared to their current finish time. With an impressive 35.28 percent change, Jenni Marcell, a Nome local, improved her time by almost an hour.

In 2016, Marcell finished with a time of 2 hours and 21 minutes, this year she finished with a time of 1 hour and 31 minutes.

For the third category, two teams were entered in for the school team results.

Romig Middle School (Hargis, Donley, Lapkass, Dorris, Smith) had five athletes, as well as Southside Triathletes (Meeds, Hellmann, Armbrust, Reynolds, McLeod). By 50 minutes, the combined time of 6:47.42 for Romig beat Southside's total time of 7:37.15.

The tri-generation category is unique to this race, including a mother, daughter and grandmother. For 2017, seven different entry teams qualified for this category, two teams even containing the same mother and grandmother, but two separate daughters.

The winning tri-generation cumulative time of 4 hours, 46 minutes is held

by Cassie Smith (mother, 1:25), Payton Smith (daughter, 1:28) and Susan Bradley (grandmother, 1:52).

Similar to the tri-generation teams is

the mother and daughter teams, that was much more popular, with 162 entries. The top time of 2 hours, 32 minutes was won by the duo of KC Kent (daughter, 1:12.15) and Lynn Kent (mother, 1:20.30).

The second to last category was the business teams. Only two teams entered into this category, one being ConocoPhillips (Sind, Simek, Whitworth, Bremont, Bottrell) and the other being Team SCF (Cutting, Chapman, Cummings, Tansey, Taylor).

ConocoPhillips took the win with a cumulative time of 7 hours, 36 minutes, with an average time of 1 hour, 31 minutes. While Team SCF had an average time of 1 hour, 47 minutes which put their cumulative time behind by nearly an hour and a half.

The final category was that of the open teams, which included 36 different entries. The winning team named themselves the "Girdwood Girls Gone Tri." With an average time of 1 hour, 26 minutes, the Girdwood girls took the overall title by just twelve minutes.

Overall, the whole event has a beneficial aim for women and young girls.

"I loved that it's an all woman's race.

There is such an awesome history behind the race. I think it's the atmosphere and camaraderie that has made it that way.

Every person I was around was super supportive and encouraging the whole way through the race," Turney said.

To view more information about the event or to view the results of the 2017 race, visit their website at www.goldnuggettriathlon.com or the Facebook page Gold Nugget Triathlon.

CONTACT

THENORTHERNLIGHT TUESDAY, MAY 30, 2017

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