November 21, 2017

NOVEMBER 21 - DECEMBER 4, 2017

FEATURES

UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA ANCHORAGE

A&E

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Latino Student Union gives voice to Hispanic community

THENORTHERNLIGHT.ORG

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Candlelight vigil raises money for homeless youth

education Court redemption New abroad committee Former Anchorage basketball star turns his life around

PHOTO BY YOUNG KIM

Muff Butler spends the majority of the year cleaning the restaurant, Club Paris at night so that he can spend his days coaching young basketball players.

By Yoshina Okamoto

multimedia@thenorthernlight.org

When he was a high school freshman basketball player at West in 2013, Brandon Huffman’s coach told him he wasn’t Division I material. Now, he’s playing basketball for the University of North Carolina, the 2017 National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I champion team. That wouldn’t have happened, Huffman said, if it wasn’t for an Anchorage night janitor and recreational basketball coach named Claude “Muff” Butler.

“Muff [Butler] really helped me learn the game,” Huffman said.

Butler, who works 363 nights a year cleaning Club Paris, is also a private coach for hire, helping high school athletes tone up their game. Once a promising young athlete himself, Butler got involved in the drug trade as a young adult and spent many years in and out of jail.

Nine years ago, as he left prison, he said he was determined to change his life. Basketball seemed like a natural way to do that, he said. thenorthernlight.org

“I love this game, and now it’s even more rewarding because I can teach kids,” Butler said.

Butler gets to the Alaska Club South before anybody else.

The court usually fills up around 2 p.m., he says, so he gets there around 9 a.m. to make sure he can reserve his favorite hoop in the back. Each day, Butler sees around eight kids for an hour each. In the summer, he works a longer day and sees ten or more.

He starts off his lessons by charging $35 an hour, but sometimes, if a kid can show they’re passionate enough, his rate can be negotiated.

“I thought I’d be sick of it by now, but I love it. I love the game,” Butler said.

Butler’s love affair with basketball began on the streets of New York. Born in 1958, Butler spent his childhood doing two things: Getting into trouble and playing pick-up basketball with college kids from Fordham University on his neighborhood court, he said.

At 16, however, Butler’s daily basketball habit was causing him to fail half of his classes.

And, he said, the drug scene of inner city New York was on the

rise. Butler experimented with drugs. His mother, fed up with his behavior, sent him to live in Anchorage with his cousin. After spending his formative years in an overcrowded place, Butler liked the change.

“I loved being in a place where I didn’t have to constantly look over my shoulder,” Butler said.

He got a job at the Captain Cook Hotel, and planned on starting his adult life in Anchorage, believing that high school carried no future for him. He befriended some local high school kids and played basketball with them at the recreation center and the public park.

One day, Butler was on a smoke break from his shift at the Captain Cook when a blazing yellow sports car pulled up.

East High School basketball coach Chuck White got out. After a few minutes, White convinced him not only to go back to school but also to play basketball for East.

Butler led the Thunderbirds to the state championship, where he scored 41 points against the Monroe Catholic Rams. He became a household name in Alaska basketball, and soon, people from out of state had heard of him as well.

After high school, Butler received a scholarship at North Idaho College, a public two-year institution where he was able to transition from high school to college ball. Soon, he caught the eye of University of New Orleans, a NCAA Division I school, and eventually accepted a scholarship to play ball with them, he said.

In 1986, Butler returned to Anchorage, settling in Fairview.

He worked as a janitor at City Hall, married his high school sweetheart, and had two kids, he said. In the spare time that he had, he would make his way to the Fairview Recreation Center and shoot around with the locals. It was there that he met and helped train Trajan Langdon and Mario Chalmers, who both ended up in the NBA. Butler struggled to make ends meet. Because of this, he eventually started selling cocaine.

Butler sold dope seven days a week; driving around town for even the smallest sale he could find. He got accustomed to the rush, the money and the respect he was given, he said.

“Drug dealing is as addictive as drugs,” Butler said.

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established

GRAPHIC BY JIAN BAUTISTA

By Marie Ries

news2@thenorthernlight.org

At the Nov. 3 Faculty Senate meeting, the creation of a committee for education abroad was resolved. The committee is designed to open more doors for UAA students who are interested in spending time at a university abroad.

Even though UAA is already partnering with a few international institutions, the committee aims to broaden the range of exchanges offered.

To help set direction, ensure faculty involvement in the development of education abroad programming and provide input on processes, the committee for education abroad was established. Several faculty members have already shown interest in the idea.

Paul Dunscomb, chair of the history department, is anticipating being on the committee. As an undergraduate student, he spent a semester in London and attended a university in Japan as a graduate student.

“We are at a global crossroads here in Anchorage, so whether we want to or not, we’re part of the wider world. So having greater opportunities to get our students out into that is definitely a good thing,” Dunscomb said.

The Office of International and Intercultural Affairs is in charge of the university’s study abroad programs. For a university with about 14,000 students enrolled, the office is quite @tnl_updates

small; at the moment, there is only one employee working it.

“It does very important work, but when we’re talking about the level of coordination… it does actually need to be on a higher level,” Dunscomb said.

“There is a lot of administration required for getting joint programs set between universities.”

The committee for education abroad was initiated by Dorn Van Dommelen, a geography professor at UAA. He also served as Chair of International Studies for a number of years.

He advised numerous students planning to spend time abroad and led two faculty trips to China and Japan.

With the committee, Van Dommelen aims to achieve two main points: organizing faculty involvement with education abroad and setting up systems that will allow UAA faculty members to take students abroad more easily.

“There are lots of faculty members that work to get their students studying abroad or do all sorts of cool opportunities.

But as a faculty, we haven’t been very systematic about this,” Van Dommelen said. “The goal here is to really get faculty systematically thinking about what should students be doing when they go to study abroad and what could we as faculty do to develop programs.”

The programs he is mainly focusing on do not necessarily involve a stay over one or

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NEWS

THENORTHERNLIGHT

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2017

RED ZONE: ‘Weinstein effect’ sparks national reckoning against sexual assault and harassment was in his 30s. Officials from both Democratic and Republican organizations have called for Moore to drop out of the race, yet he insists that the allegations are an attempt to undermine him.

Weinstein effect may bring cultural shift

By Mariah DeJesus-Remaklus mremaklus@thenorthernlight.org

In early October, Hollywood executive producer Harvey Weinstein was accused of sexual assault by a number of women.

Since then, over 20 men — politicians, actors and other public figures — have also been accused of various forms of sexual misconduct, therein creating what some are calling the “Weinstein effect.”

It’s not just women that have spoken out; several men have come forward with stories of sexual harassment and inappropriate behavior by Kevin Spacey, now former House of Cards actor.

Public responses: disputes against allegations and affirmations For weeks, it has been a daily occurrence for new cases to emerge, and the responses from the accused men have varied.

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, film director and writer James Toback, said he had never met the women who accused him of sexual harassment. If he did, it “was for five minutes and have no recollection.”

E! News senior correspondent Ken Baker had allegedly sent vulgar text messages, made disturbing comments and displayed unwanted behavior to former E! employees. He made a statement saying, “I am very disturbed by these anonymous allegations, which make my heart ache. I take them very seriously. I care deeply for people’s feelings and sincerely live in a way that treats people with dignity and respect.”

Melanie Kohler, a former marketing executive, posted on Facebook saying that Brett Ratner, film producer and director, had raped her about 12 years ago.

Ratner disputed these allegations and took action to sue Kohler for defamation.

Louis C.K., comedian, issued a statement in response to women’s accusations of his sexual misconduct over the years, particularly in private. Not only did he admit that the stories were true, but he also acknowledged that the “power I had over these women is that they admired me. And I wielded that power irresponsibly.”

Roy Moore is the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Alabama and has been accused of sexual misconduct with women who were 18 or younger while he

Allegations of sexual assault and harassment by high-profile men are not new.

Bill Cosby, comedian and actor, was accused of philandering and sexual assault by dozens of women. The incidents dated as far back as 50 years ago and his case, which charged him with three counts of assault against Andrea Constand, ended in a mistrial earlier this June.

Ian Hartman, assistant professor of history, says that while these kinds of allegations have occurred in the past, society quickly forgot about it when it was over.

“There have been these moments where a famous person is facing allegations of sexual assault or rape or something else — go back to Bill Clinton for that matter,” Hartman said. “The question becomes: What is our memory going to be? Is this going to be a brief little chapter in which people move on and forget about things and we go back to the way it was?”

However, he sees this Weinstein effect as a unique kind of reckoning due to the magnitude and nature of these cases.

“The way that these allegations and as many as there are, I think that this time might be different,” Hartman said.

Annie Derthick is a former UAA student who studied clinical community psychology. She sees the Weinstein effect as “something big” that feels culturally important.

There has been a tacit approval of predatory behavior in politics and the entertainment industry, Derthick said, but hopefully, that will change.

“The culture around talking about sexual assault is shifting. We’re experiencing that cultural earthquake right now,” Derthick said. “I hope that when this is all settled, there is a new normal culture where we openly talk about sexual assault.”

Even if there is going to be a notable change following the ripple effect of allegations, Keeley Olson, executive director of Standing Together Against Rape, believes there will still be more work to be done.

“While we might be seeing a bit of a shift, there’s still a long, long way to go.

As you can see, every day, there are more allegations that are coming forward,” Olson said.

There’s strength in numbers in the face of criticism There is a lot of speculation surrounding the frequency of these allegations and the numbers at which they are coming in.

Olson pointed out that survivors see their own experience in others’ and this could motivate them to speak up and share their story.

“It makes people feel safer to come

forward when they’re not the first one or only one,” Olson said. “As they’re seeing other people’s experience with coming forward and being believed, then they, too, feel empowered.”

Still, not everyone has been supportive of those who have made accusations.

Donna Karan, fashion designer, responded to the reports made against Weinstein while on the red carpet at the CineFashion Film Awards in October.

“It’s not Harvey Weinstein. You look at everything all over the world today, you know, and how women are dressing and what they’re asking by just presenting themselves the way they do,” Karan said. “What are they asking for? Trouble.”

Karan later released a statement and apology saying that she believes “sexual harassment is NOT acceptable,” but Derthick sees the fashion designer’s initial comments as part of the criticism that women and men face when coming forward.

“To tell your story on a global stage — there’s a lot of vulnerability attached to that and it opens you up to criticism,” Derthick said.

The growing list of high-profile men being accused of sexual assault and harassment has left behind a series of ramifications that have rendered some jobless.

Weinstein was fired from the Weinstein Company and dismissed from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Roy Price, head of Amazon Studios, and Michael Oreskes, head of news at NPR and a former New York Times editor, resigned from their positions.

Spacey was suspended from “House of Cards” as well as removed from other projects.

Andrew Kreisberg, executive producer of CW’s “Arrow,” “Supergirl” and “The Flash” was suspended by Warner Bros. TV Group.

Al Franken, U.S. senator from Minnesota, has willingly called for an ethics investigation after a photo surfaced of Franken groping a woman while she was asleep.

A reckoning Hartman says that there is a “real deep strain of sexism and patriarchy” in many cultures and this phenomenon, which he and others throughout the nation have called a reckoning, might challenge that.

“I think we’re maybe reaching a point here that there’s becoming less and less tolerance for that type of behavior, and that’s a good thing,” Hartman said.

Derthick wants to know what may become of these allegations in the future.

“It’ll be interesting to revisit this in six months or a year or five years and identify this as a moment in time that something changed,” Derthick said.

For Olson, this will hopefully also be a lesson to those who are watching. “[I hope] that people who are misusing that power and causing harm — that they are running scared now and that those who are coming up to power, they recognize the mistakes that those before them have made,” Olson said.

The New York Times, along with other news organizations, have published and are regularly updating an extensive list and timeline of men accused of sexual misconduct.

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The Edge Update: ASD union talks, tax code rewrite and Grenfell Tower investigation

By Grant Kniefel KRUA

The Edge Update can be heard every weekday on KRUA 88.1 FM The Edge, UAA's college radio station.

Local After about two years of negotiations, the Anchorage School District and the local teachers union have reached a tentative one-year contract agreement, the groups announced Nov. 15. The Anchorage School Board and the teachers themselves still must ratify the agreement before it takes effect. If approved, the agreement would give the 3,300 members of the Anchorage Education Association teachers union two more personal days this year, bringing the total to five. It would also increase the district’s monthly contribution to members’ health insurance premiums by $65, bringing that total to $1,645 per person per month. The union members wanted both of those increases, as well as a 3 percent salary increase that was not included in the tentative agreement.

National The House passed a sweeping rewrite of the tax code on Nov. 16 by 227-205, taking a significant leap forward as Republicans seek to enact $1.5 trillion in tax cuts for businesses and individuals and deliver the first major legislative achievement of President Donald Trump. The Joint Committee on Taxation projected that Americans earning $30,000 or less would see their taxes increase beginning in 2021, if the Senate bill becomes law.

The committee also projected that Americans earning $75,000 or less would face large tax increases in 2027, after the individual tax cuts expire.

The updated analysis stems from the Senate’s last-minute inclusion of a provision that would repeal the Affordable Care Act’s requirement that most people buy health insurance. The repeal would lead many lower-income Americans to choose not to buy insurance, and thus not claim tax subsidies that currently help them defray the costs of health coverage.

Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, the ranking Democrat on the Finance Committee, called the development “astounding” and warned that middle-class taxpayers would get “clobbered” under the latest Republican plan.

Global After a five-month investigation, the British police concluded on Nov. 16 that 71 people died in the Grenfell Tower disaster, somewhat fewer than they had originally estimated. Victoria King and her daughter Alexandra Atala were the last victims to be formally identified by the coroner, the police said in a statement.

A stillborn baby, whose mother escaped the building, was counted among the victims. At the time of the fire, the London Metropolitan Police said that at least 80 people had died in the blaze, which tore through the 24-story tower on June 14.

Officers now believe all the victims have been recovered and identified.

NEWS

THENORTHERNLIGHT

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2017

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Board of Regents approves tuition increase

By Cheyenne Mathews cmathews@thenorthernlight.org

It’s that time of the year again: snow, Thanksgiving break and — if you are a UA student — tuition increases. Over the last two years, the Board of Regents has approved tuition increases for the following year in November.

This November is no different; the Board approved a 5 percent increase each year for two years, starting in the fall of 2018.

From the fall of 2005 to the fall of 2019, tuition rates for lower-division courses (100-200) have increased 104.5 percent.

The most recent tuition increase will raise the price of lower division credits from $202 to $212 next year, followed by another increase to $223 in the fall of 2019. Kodiak College and Prince William Sound College tuition will be increased incrementally to be in line with the cost of tuition at the main UA campuses.

The Board of Regents also approved a 25 percent tuition discount for students pursuing occupational endorsements and certificates. The discount will apply to logistics, pharmacy technology, nondestructive testing technology, wildland fire science, rural utilities business management, welding and fisheries technology.

The rise in tuition over the last four years follows a decline in the UA general fund allocation. In the fall of 2013, UA had a general fund allocation of over $376.7 million. This fall the fund allocation was roughly $317 million.

UA President, Jim Johnsen, held open forums on the tuition increase proposal at UAF, UAA and UAS. According to documents provided by the Board of Regents, 80 students attended one of the three forums and 164 students provided feedback.

Joey Sweet is a student at UAA pursuing a master’s of public administration with a concentration in criminal justice.

Sweet is also a voting member of the Board of Regents. In his role as Student Regent, Sweet voted in favor of the tuition increases.

“I certainly wish this wasn’t the situation we find ourselves in, but it is and we have to be realistic about that,” Sweet said.

As a graduate student, Sweet is paying $466 per credit for graduate courses. By fall of 2019, Sweet will be paying $513 for those same classes.

“As a student, I’m not hap-

GRAPHIC BY LEVI BROWN

py about it, like anybody else,” Sweet said. “I’ll still be attending university by the time the tuition increases start to roll around in fall 2019.”

Student governance groups around the UA system counter proposed a 2.5 percent tuition increase instead of the now official 5 percent. USUAA, the Union of Students at UAA, unanimously approved resolution #18-04 which said, “The Union of Students of the University of Alaska Anchorage reluctantly endorses an Academic Years 2019 & 2020 tuition increase not to exceed 2.5 percent of the previous academic year’s rate.”

The Coalition of Student Leaders, a system-wide governance organization of students, concurred with the USUAA resolution said, “In order to stimulate new solutions for revenue while maintaining the UA System during the process, the proposed tuition increase be maintained for AY 2021-2024, at which time the tuition will revert to the current AY 2017 rate with adjustments for inflation.”

Sweet said he considered both resolutions in his decision.

“This is what living under budget cuts looks like when you’re a university,” Sweet said.

“We only have a handful of revenue streams at your disposal.”

Revenue Drought: low enrollment and decreasing state support

There are two main revenue streams UAA depends on. The first is state allocations to the University of Alaska and the second is tuition dollars. Over the last four years, state support to the general fund has decreased by 15.8 percent. At the UAA tuition increase forum on Oct. 17, Johnsen explained budget cuts.

“If you actually do the cumulative math there and add up the number of dollars less than we receive, less than what we would’ve received had we stayed at $378 [million] that totals a $145 million dollars,” Johnsen said. “That’s a whole lot of money that we have been cut over a relatively short period of time.”

The second revenue source, tuition dollars, is largely dependent on student enrollment.

The 2017 Factbook states UAA headcount has gone from nearly 20,000 students in the fall of 2012 to under 18,000 in the fall of 2016.

The total number of students attending UAA isn’t the only thing that’s decreased from fall 2012 to fall 2016: student credit hours have also dropped. The Factbook shows almost 300,000 credit hours for the 2012-2013 school year. Last school year, students enrolled in 264,140 credits.

Johnsen’s tuition increase proposal states that there is little evidence that tuition increases

PHOTO BY YOUNG KIM

UAA students pickett around campus protesting University of Alaska’s proposed 15 percent tuition increase.

affect enrollment.

“In the mid-2000’s UA aggressively raised tuition 10 percent for four consecutive years which coincided with some of the largest enrollments at UA. Conversely, years in which UA has chosen to seek tuition increases that approximate inflation enrollment has not increased appreciably.”

Tuition has been raised every year going back to at least 2006.

The last time student credit hours had increased was in the school year of 2011-12.

Tuition is distributed to the college or programs the student is taking credits from 80 percent of the time, with 20 percent of tuition going to campus-wide costs.

Past tuition increases and student reactions The largest modern tuition increase was in 2007, with a 10 percent increase to all levels of credits.

In 2010, UAA students protested a proposed 15 percent tuition increase. In April of 2010, over 30 USUAA-led protesters marched through the university holding signs that said, “Too poor to pay more.”

In the end, the Board of Regents approved a 5 percent increase for lower level tuition ($154 per credit) and a 10 percent increase for upper division courses ($187), graduate ($372) and non-resident surcharges ($388).

ABROAD: Paving the way to cultural experiences Continued from cover more semesters. These socalled short-term study abroad programs are becoming increasingly popular.

“There’s a whole lot of evidence right now that what are called short-term study abroad [programs], and are really effective ways to get students studying abroad who otherwise

wouldn’t,” Van Dommelen said.

Short-term study abroad programs are about two or three weeks and usually faculty-led.

They prove to be impactful and very efficient if they are wellplanned.

Education abroad is valuable on many levels.

“One is the intercultural experience, getting to see the world through somewhat differ-

ent eyes than your own, it helps you to see your own culture in important ways. Also, on a really pragmatic level… we live in a global world where everyone is doing business with everyone,” Van Dommelen said. “Not having an international experience can really handicap someone who is afraid to go abroad, who is afraid to see the world in a way that might be different then

what they are used to see.”

Rose Kruger, languages major, spent a year in Aachen, Germany after graduating high school.

“Studying abroad after high school was one of the best things I’ve done for myself... It was while I was studying in Germany that I figured out what I wanted to do with my life,” Kruger said.

Spending time at a university in a foreign country as a university student could be enriching for students.

“It is vital for students to experience other cultures outside of there own,” Kruger said.

The committee is aiming to pave the way for that. It is still in the early stages, but further steps will be determined in the following weeks.

04 | NEWS

THENORTHERNLIGHT

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2017

An array of benefits for Green Fee’s newest project

PHOTO BY SAM DAVENPORT

The nine solar panels installed on the Administrative/Humanities building cost roughly $1,000 each to install and program. The project was sponsored by the Green Fee Board, which supports projects proposed by students that demonstrate environmental solutions.

By Malia Barto

arts2@thenorthernlight.org

A proposal by members of UAA’s Green Fee Board requested for solar panels to be installed to help UAA’s electricity costs go down. After approval, nine new solar panels were installed on the roof of the Administrative/Humanities Building in early November.

Alex McLearen, natural sciences major and former chair of Green Fee Board, was excited about the idea of putting solar panels up at UAA. “When I was in kindergarten, I did my very first science project

on solar panels, so I was, like, ‘I should do this!’” McLearen said.

The Green Fee Board advocates sustainability efforts on campus that are environmentally wise, economically sound and socially responsible, through student and board-proposed initiatives.

McLearen and the current Green Fee chair, Heather Jesse, got together and started writing their proposal on adding solar panels to the university at the start of the 2017 spring semester. With an increase in electrical costs, McLearen and Jesse’s proposal seemed beneficial in many ways.

“It was a confluence of stars

aligning, if you will,” Ryan Buchholdt, Facilities, Planning and Construction sustainability and business manager, said. “Our electrical utility, Municipal Light and Power, had increased rates pretty substantially; the proliferation of solar panels around Anchorage started to catch a lot more notice from agencies like UAA, we started to see what some of the numbers behind those were; the costs for the panels started to drop dramatically. It really started to hit a point where it, politically and technically, became a lot more viable than in the past.”

The proposal was granted in May 2017 and, as of publica-

tion, the solar panels will hopefully be switched on in about two weeks. The panels can save from three to four percent of the building’s power in the winter, and from six to seven percent in the summer.

“It saves facilities’ money, the university’s money, but also helps save the students’ money because the [electricity] increase will be factored into tuition,” Jesse said.

The board bid out for the project and teamed up with UAA-alumni owned company Arctic Solar. After the approvals from UAA, obtaining permits and other pre-installation work, an array of nine panels were installed earlier this month.

The original proposal was to have the panels on Rasmuson Hall due to Rasmuson’s prominence on campus.

“We had the electricians from Arctic Solar do their mechanical walk-through, and they found that the Administration Building would be easier and cheaper installations, and due to the positioning of the sun, it would actually get a lot more visibility than the Rasmuson,” Jesse said.

“They actually underestimated the amount of visibility it would get. The Admin Building is kind of long and the sun reflects off of the snow, amplifying the solar power and hits straight onto the solar panels.”

The panels were funded by the $3 Green Fee which every UAA student taking three or more credits pays as part of tuition every semester. The project

cost just under $10,000, approximately one-third of the money Green Fee Board collects per semester.

The panel system includes a “dashboard” capability, where the array of panels will “speak to a web interface” and productivity and data tracking of each panel. Buchholdt hopes that the Facilities office will be able to post onto their website for the public to see in the near future.

McLearen, Jesse and Buchholdt all said that they hope that this project is a way to get their foot in the door of bringing more solar panels to campus.

“An indirect benefit of this project is that I think it shows the university administration that students are interested in investing in sustainable resources and renewable energy,” McLearen said. “I hope the university sees the solar panel project as just the beginning and maybe one day this campus is covered in way too many solar panels and we generate all our own energy.”

The Green Fee Board has recently finished other projects such as new LED lighting in one of the dorm halls, and has plans to bring hydroponic foods to the Daily Den. “If you have a great idea and you’re not necessarily somebody who wants to spearhead the idea, Green Fee Board is a great place to bring that. But if you are somebody who wants to start a project and see it through to its completion, go to Green Fee Board,” McLearen said.

USUAA passes resolution to increase student employee wages

By Mariah DeJesus-Remaklus mremaklus@thenorthernlight.org

On Nov. 17, USUAA voted on a resolution that would propose a $1.30 increase in student employee wages throughout the University of Alaska system.

With a vote of 12-1, the resolution was passed.

Currently, the student employee wages are as follows: $8.50 per hour for Student Assistant A $9.50 per hour for Student Assistant B $10.50 per hour for Student Assistant C The increase would bring Student Assistant A, the lowest wage level, to the state minimum wage of $9.80, which was effective January of this year.

USUAA senator Teresa Wrobel wrote the resolution in hopes of eliminating the difference in wages, and she says that it will help students look for jobs on campus.

“There are so many other opportunities presented in Anchorage to have a job that it doesn’t make sense to be a student employee because you could easily go out and get a job that’s paying more,” Wrobel said.

Within the resolution, it’s stated that research has shown that, “student employment at a maximum of twenty hours can have a positive impact on GPA, community engagement and retention.”

Wrobel wants to encourage students to take the opportunity to become more involved with their university.

“It’s such a great opportunity… In the departments, you get office experience and they work around your hours and it’s just nice to be on campus to work,” Wrobel said. “There’s a lot of benefits of working on campus.”

Benjamin Dahl-Rouzan works as a student recruitment ambassador with UAA Student Affairs. This is his first job on campus and he’s come to appreciate the experience that he’s gained.

In his position, Dahl-Rouzan frequently participates in tours and events for prospective students.

“It kind of gives you the opportunity to make a lot of cool connections. Recently, we did the UA Scholars event so we got to talk to President [Jim] Johnsen and [Bruce] Schultz,” DahlRouzan said. “It gives you cool experience in the community, too… You get to meet some people and see different perspectives.”

Dahl-Rouzan says that his

wage is manageable while going to school, but with the amount of work he does, an increase would be valued.

“Being in college, any bit of money helps wherever you get it from, but it could be increased more with the amount of work that we have to do on top of school,” Dahl-Rouzan said.

Theresa Lyons is the executive director for Student Outreach and Transition, and she says that students who work on campus learn workplace skills and can have an advantage over others that do not gain work experience.

“They’re working in an environment where they get exposed to professionalism… They get exposed to people that lead the organization,” Lyons said. “I think it does open the door for opportunities for them.”

Although the federal minimum wage is much lower at $7.25, the university is not competing with the jobs offered outside of the system that pay much higher than even the state minimum.

Caleb Berry, USUAA senator, says that student employee wages have to be competitive.

“To incentivize students to work student jobs, what’s offered by the university has to be at least relatively competitive to what’s offered in the private market,” Berry said. “Let’s be

GRAPHIC BY MARIAH DEJESUS-REMAKLUS

real: this university doesn’t offer close to what you can get in the private market.”

Lyons does have a concern about USUAA proposing a wage increase and its timing with the University’s financial difficulties.

“The institution is not only cutting back, but they’re laying off lots of people,” Lyons said.

“It may not be an issue, then I think about, ‘It could be an issue’ with so many layoffs and people doing several positions because there are so many vacancies.”

Wrobel recognizes the system’s budget crisis and says that the conversation around student wages had to happen.

“I mean, with all the financial issues going on, the last thing we’re really thinking about is student worker pay, but I’ve had several faculty say that they think now is a good time,” she said. “We have to do it — that’s part of our job, to bring forth student issues even if now there are budgetary issues.”

The resolution will be sent to members of the administration, such as UAA Interim Chancellor Sam Gingerich and Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Bruce Schultz.

USUAA also hopes to connect with other student governments and eventually bring the proposal to the UA Board of Regents.

FEATURES

THENORTHERNLIGHT

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2017

| 05

UA contains second highest percentage of in-state students in the U.S.

By Caleigh Jensen

cjensen@thenorthernlight.org

According to data from the Department of Education, the number of out of state freshmen that attend public universities has doubled since 1986. However, the University of Alaska Anchorage has not felt these effects. Ninety-one percent of students that attend UAA are residents of Alaska.

This percentage is nearly identical to Alaska’s overall 92 percent of residents attending its universities. The only state topping that percentage is Texas at 93 percent, according to 2014 College Board statistics. Compared to other colleges, the number of Alaskan residents attending UAA is higher than that of most universities in other states.

A big incentive for Alaskan students to stay in state to further their education is the Alaska Performance Scholarship. By taking a more rigorous course load in high school, scoring well on placement tests and maintaining good grades, students can earn one of three levels of scholarship to receive a postsecondary education in Alaska.

“Even before the program

was put in place, I had already seen a shift,” Philip Jordan, term professor in the psychology department and UAA alumnus, said. “[When teaching at Service High School,] I taught only AP students, who are of high caliber, and they were not only choosing to come here but proud they were.”

Jordan and many UAA students support the APS and view it as highly beneficial to students and the university alike.

“I think the talk of taking away the scholar program would be an incredible mistake, and injurious to the university system.

It brings the top students here, and they see a benefit in attending UAA,” Jordan said. “It was one of the best things instituted.”

Although the APS is a big motivator for Alaskan students to remain in-state, other aspects play major roles as well. Additional incentives for residents attending UAA are the comfort of being close to home, the environment and the personal interactions with professors.

“Alaska is a very isolated place, and if you grow up here, you grow up in small, isolated towns. It’s more comforting to stick around,” Nancy Long, a teaching assistant in the Eng-

lish department who grew up in Alaska, said. “It’s less of a leap.”

A large number of students attend UAA to stay near the Alaskan wilderness that they grew up around.

“I love the scenery and how you can go for a five-minute walk in the woods, finding yourself in a brand new area,” Morgan Berns, social work major, said.

Berns has lived in Alaska for almost 12 years and plans to graduate from UAA, possibly continuing for her master's degree.

Jusso Pöntinen, fourth-year legal studies exchange student from Finland and part of the 9 percent of non-resident students attending UAA, also thoroughly enjoys the nature and weather in Anchorage.

“I had plenty of choices of where to go [on the exchange], but UAA seemed the most interesting in my opinion,” Pöntinen said. “I like it here because I get a lot of exposure to nature… and the weather is similar to Finland. I love the mountains here, we don’t have any like them in Finland.”

Like many other students and staff of UAA, Long speaks highly of Alaska’s natural beauty.

“Alaska is a really interesting place, I think it’s really special. I love how easy it is to get to what is considered backcountry. You can drive for 30 minutes and feel like you’re not even in the city,” Long said. “That’s a really cool thing about Anchorage. You have all the conveniences of a city, but you don’t have to drive very long to be in the middle of nowhere.”

Once enrolled in UAA and exposed to the atmosphere, students remain at the university for the relationships that are formed with professors.

“Students can receive as good as an educational experience at UAA as elsewhere, and they’re beginning to realize that,” Jordan said. “Not only is it economical [to stay in-state], but the quality of education is comparable. Top students from high schools are coming here that could’ve gone anywhere, including Ivy League schools, for the personal interactions with professors.”

Kanami Iwama, freshman special education major, enjoys many of the same aspects of Alaska and the university as residents do. As an exchange student from the Hokkaido University of Education in Japan, a

partner college with UAA, one of her favorite experiences during her exchange so far has been the interactions with her teachers and other students.

“The class size [between Hokkaido and UAA] is different. There are about 300 people in one class there, but here each class has about 20 people, I was so surprised,” Iwama said.

The student-faculty ratio at UAA is 12-to-1, as of 2017 statistics, which often helps foster interpersonal relationships between students and professors.

“I was nervous for my classes because I couldn’t speak English well, but students and teachers have helped me a lot,” Iwama said. “I also go to the writing center a lot. It is so helpful.”

UAA partners with institutions in Japan, as well as in Scotland, Australia, England and Germany for their exchange programs.

From the views and nature that are just minutes from campus, to professors that take personal interests in students, to the quality of education, UAA offers an educational experience for Alaskan students and nonresidents alike that is comparable to universities in the Lower 48.

06 | FEATURES

THENORTHERNLIGHT

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2017

Latino Student Union shares love of culture with others

By Malia Barto

arts2@thenorthernlight.org

The Latino Student Union, a club that has withered throughout the years of being an organization at UAA, is trying to maintain a steady presence once again on campus.

“It’s an organization that gives voice to our Hispanic community. Our main goal is to get together and make a change, but also for other students of other cultures to join and learn more about the Hispanic culture,” Ana Azpilcueta, LSU president, said.

Recent events that LSU has held, like their Día de los Muertos dance party held for the end of the Mexican holiday, Day of the Dead, had many attendees from the student body. The dance party hosted around 60 attendees, which was actually smaller than their first event of the semester in September, which had around 80 attendees.

“You don’t have to be Hispanic or speak Spanish; if you just want to learn about the culture, you’re more than welcome to come to the meetings. That’s the entire goal of [LSU],” Isabel Azpilcueta Balsimelli, LSU treasurer, said.

Balsimelli, a biological sciences freshman and member of

PHOTO BY JAY GUZMAN

Munkh-Urguu Enkhbold, Jennifer Spencer, Kelsey Hernandez, Ana Azpilcueta, Christian Cielo, Samuel Cascajares, Natalie Irvine and Roberto Macfie-Garcia gather for a Latino Student Union meeting on Nov. 17 in the Student Union. The group discussed topics of Latino and international representation and related events on campus.

Anchorage’s Mariachi Agave Azul, joined partly because her sister is president of the club, but also because she was new to UAA and was looking for an opportunity to be involved on campus.

“I’m very passionate about spreading the love for my culture ever since I moved here.

That was kind of why I joined the mariachi band in the first place, to still kind of have that connection with my country, but

also share it with other people,” Balsimelli said.

The meetings are a time to gather to talk about upcoming events LSU hopes to plan or be a part of, as well as chatting about different topics and getting to

socialize with each other at the end of the meeting.

“Making friends and having a space where Spanish speakers and any ethnic minorities are welcome and can socialize and work together to better our community is priceless. I also really enjoy learning about other people’s cultures in a casual way and being able to share my own with everyone,” Samuel Prieto Cascajares, nursing student and member of LSU, said.

Though Azpilcueta plans on graduating spring 2018, she has hope that this club will continue to be successful for years to come. The club currently has around 20 members.

“We have a lot of freshmen and sophomores who are very excited to do events. And [we have a] couple of seniors, and that’s good too, because they have experience planning events and they’re good leaders. I think we’re lucky with the kind of people that have decided to join.

We still need a little more organization and figuring out what our tasks are and what we need to do, but I think so far we’ve been doing great,” Azpilcueta said.

LSU’s meetings are held on the second floor of the Student Union, Fridays at 6 p.m.

FEATURES

THENORTHERNLIGHT

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2017

| 07

Researches present at the Department of Biological Sciences seminar series

PHOTO BY JOSEPH DIAZ

Heather Johnson presents during the Department of Biological Sciences seminar series at the ConocoPhillips Integrated Science Building.

By Joseph Diaz

jdiaz@thenorthernlight.org

With the end of the fall semester brings an end to the Department of Biological Sciences Seminar Series, which has been

going on since Sept. 29.

The series has been a window into the research that is being conducted by researchers on topics relating to both Alaska and other places around the world. Past presentations have been on a variety of topics, from

how stress in the nervous system and endocrine glands impacts larval development, to how acidic saline lakes in Australia can serve as a Mars analog.

Brandon Briggs, assistant biology professor at UAA, has been to every presentation this

semester.

“It’s really good to get a broad sense not only of what’s happening at UAA but also within Alaska itself,” Briggs said.

The seminar series has been going on for several years, however, one of Briggs’ concerns is lack of attendance at the presentations. He believes this may be due to the department only advertising through the biology department website and on Facebook and Twitter.

“I am not convinced that it has been the most effective way,” Briggs said.

One of the best parts of these presentations, according to Briggs, is that students and attendees are able to interact with the researchers who present.

“It is good for students to see how the things they were taught in school can be applied in the real world,” Briggs said.

Paul Schuette, past presenter and program zoologist at the Alaska Center for Conservation Science, presented on Nov. 10 about his research on rare species in Kenya and Zambia.

Schuette has met with several faculty members from the

biological sciences department.

They had discussed potential topics of collaboration, and opportunities for student involvement in the future.

Schuette’s believes that the Biological Sciences Seminar Series is beneficial to the UAA community.

“The Seminar Series provides an opportunity to formally discuss your work, learn from your colleagues and if you’re lucky, get inspired or inspire new and fresh ideas,” Schuette said. “It’s always nice when you can get undergraduate and graduate students to attend.

For those interested in a career centered around research, it’s a great opportunity to hear scientists discuss their work.”

Dec. 1 will be the final seminar for the fall semester, presented by Max Kullberg, an assistant professor of pharmaceutical sciences on the topic of cancer research.

For more information on the upcoming and spring presentations, visit the biology department’s Facebook.

Free Chinese workshops, holiday celebrations

By Joseph Diaz

jdiaz@thenorthernlight.org

The UAA Confucius Institute is a Chinese language organization dedicated to helping members of the community further their understanding of Chinese culture and language.

The Confucius Institute hosts several events throughout the year and offers free help with learning the language.

This semester, they hosted a total of nine lectures. Four of the lectures were given by experts, while the other five were given by the staff and teachers from the Confucius Institute.

On Nov. 29, the last lecture of the semester will be presented

by Chinese professor and director of the Confucius Institute, Annie Zeng, on the topic of Chinese tea culture.

“This one is going to be interesting because not only will I talk about the different types of tea and their benefits, but we will also provide several types of tea for people to try,” Zeng said.

The Confucius Institute offers more than lectures, workshops and holiday events. They also offer a free Chinese conversation table event and Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi test training.

The HSK, or Chinese Proficiency Test, measures a non-native speakers proficiency in the Chinese language. Anyone who wants to study at a Chinese university, or who wants to prove their proficiency in Chinese can

PHOTO BY CASEY PETERSEN

The Confucius Institute at UAA offers a variety of Chinese language and culture events.

take one.

“Learning a language is more than just taking a class to satisfy the general education requirements. It is also a way to broaden a student’s view of the world. It is like a window. We offer them the means of building a basic understanding of the language and the culture of China.

They can choose to aim higher, and if they do we are here to help them,” Zeng said.

The Confucius Institute also hosts workshops on a monthly basis for the community to join. A Chinese painting workshop will be hosted on Nov. 25 in Room 303 of Rasmuson Hall from 1 - 2 p.m.

The institute hosts holiday events, with two planned out for the spring semester: the Spring Festival and the Chinese Lantern Festival. The Spring Festival is on Jan. 1 and the Lantern Festival is on Jan. 15.

Although a date has not been decided for these two events, Zeng says that they may be host-

ed sometime in early February.

More information for all of the Confucius Institute’s events and services can be found on the UAA website, or by visiting their office located in Rasmuson Hall, Room 115.

08 | FEATURES

THENORTHERNLIGHT

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2017

College Cookbook: Thanksgiving Holler for challah feast on campus USUAA welcomes students and the Anchorage community to attend

By Victoria Petersen

My favorite thing to bake during the holidays is challah bread, a Jewish bread that is typically served during the sabbath and on Jewish holidays like Hanukkah.

With its braids and eggy, gluten deliciousness, challah makes a beautiful and thoughtful gift around the holidays. This bread is best served warm and fresh. However, if you let yours get a little stale, use it for French toast or bread pudding.

This recipe is adapted from The Kitchn. Originally calling for sugar and only two eggs, I choose to use honey and three eggs. I think it gives the bread a better, thicker consistency.

copy@thenorthernlight.org

Ingredients • 1 package, 2.5 teaspoons of active dry yeast • 1 cup of lukewarm water • 4 cups of flour • 1/4 cup of sugar or honey • 2 teaspoons of salt • 3 eggs • 1 egg yolk, keep the white for the egg wash • 1/4 cup vegetable oil

Directions 1. In a small bowl, add the cup of lukewarm water and sprinkle in the yeast. Add a pinch of sugar. Stir the water to dissolve the yeast and wait until the mixture becomes frothy.

PHOTO BY TNL STAFF

The International Thanksgiving dinner is one of two main Thanksgiving feast events offered at UAA.

By Joseph Diaz

jdiaz@thenorthernlight.org

For some students, Thanksgiving is a four day weekend at the dorms.

Being away from home can be hard, especially as a college student. Having a place to enjoy a comforting Thanksgiving dinner can make the experience more enjoyable.

Exchange students were invited to attend a traditional Thanksgiving dinner on Nov. 19. This provided a good number of people the comfort and experience of a Thanksgiving meal, but there are many more people who do not have a place to enjoy a Thanksgiving dinner. So what are they to do?

USUAA is hosting a Thanksgiving feast at the Creekside Eatery in the Gorsuch Commons from 11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 23.

“I feel like a good bonus for this event is that it is free and it is open to the public, some of whom can’t afford a full Thanksgiving dinner,” Matthew Derminer, cashier at the Creekside Eatery, said.

Sarah Gray, USUAA delegate for the College of Health, said that it is good to see “other organizations coming together to volunteer to provide for the greater Anchorage community.”

According to Gray, some of the food available will be turkey, rolls, ham, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, pie and other traditional Thanksgiving food.

The Thanksgiving feast is being held

by USUAA as part of a community outreach program in order to extend to the greater community by providing a free Thanksgiving meal.

Parking will be free and the feast is being offered to both members of the UAA community and members of the Anchorage community.

2. In a separate, larger bowl, combine the dry ingredients: flour, salt and sugar, if you choose to use it.

3. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Add the eggs, egg yolk, oil and honey, if you are using it, to the well. Mix together to form a shaggy dough.

4. Add the yeast to the dough and mix everything together.

5. Once a dough has started to form, pour the mixture out of the bowl and knead on a floured surface until it is soft and smooth.

6. Leave the dough in an oiled bowl, covered, for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

7. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

8. Once the dough has risen, cut the dough into six equal parts. Roll each part into a long rope. Once you have three ropes, braid the pieces together, like hair or yarn, to create your first loaf.

9. Line the loaves on an oiled baking sheet and brush the loaves with the egg white wash. You can sprinkle sesame seeds or poppy seeds on the loaves if you choose to.

10. Bake the bread for 30 to 35 minutes or until golden brown.

& AE

THENORTHERNLIGHT

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2017

| 09

Covenant House: A light in the dark

The shelter held a candlelight vigil and fundraiser to support homeless youth

PHOTO BY YOUNG KIM

Anchorage community gather in Town Square for a candlelight vigil and fundraiser to support Anchorage Covenant House and raise awareness about teen homelessness in Alaska.

By Ammon Swenson arts@thenorthernlight.org

On the evening of Nov. 16, a large crowd stood bundled in winter clothes at Town Square Park. Their gloved hands held white candles in transparent plastic holders, illuminating their visible breath in a soft glowing haze that hung over their faces. It was cold — about 25 degrees — and only seemed to get colder.

The event was a candlelight vigil for homeless youth, organized by Covenant House Alaska. Speakers took turns at a podium showing their support

of the shelter’s mission to assist homeless youth and the need for the community to rally around the issue.

First Lady of Alaska Donna Walker, Lieutenant Governor Byron Mallott and Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitz were some of the speakers who addressed the crowd.

“We have to remember that we can solve problems,” Berkowitz said. “We can eliminate homelessness. We can make sure that the most vulnerable amongst us are protected, but we can only do that by working together, by being bigger than we have been, by being bolder than we have been, by being the people we’re supposed to be.”

Dash Togi, a recent graduate of Covenant House’s transitional living program, told the crowd how she ended up at the shelter.

Coming out as homosexual was a “big disappointment and disgrace” to her family, Togi said. She was physically abused and wore long sleeves and pants to cover the evidence of the beatings she received. She would cry herself to sleep at night and felt like she didn’t belong. Her English professor at UAA told her she needed to get out of that situation, so she did.

“The real challenge of growth — mentally, emotionally and spiritually — is when life hits you hard and knocks you down so low that you feel as if there

is no hope,” Togi said. “This is where so many kids and youth who wind up at the door of Covenant House are, with no sense of hope.”

Now 20, Togi has her own apartment and is grateful the support and acceptance she received at the shelter.

The vigil wasn’t entirely heartfelt speeches, though. A youth choir performed songs like “Imagine” and “Lean on Me,” Broadway actress and Covenant House International Board Member Capathia Jenkins led a moment of silence followed by a rendition of “Amazing Grace” and the crowd sung along as Togi performed a portion of Miley Cyrus’ “The Climb.”

That night, representatives of Covenant House and local companies slept outside in the shelter’s courtyard to raise money for the organization. The fundraiser took in over $320,000, but the Sleep Out isn’t just a way to get donations. It’s also meant to give participants a taste of what homeless youth deal with on a daily basis.

“You learn from experience, so it’s really helped,” Covenant House Executive Director Alison Kear said.

Kear has participated in all five previous Sleep Outs, the first of which was held inside.

When the next one was outdoors, Kear got a cold dose of reality. While the night was uncomfortable, Kear was in a safe area. She knew there were kids

in worse situations not far from the downtown shelter.

“I woke up at like 3 in the morning and I cried for like an hour,” Kear said. “And I was surrounded by CEOs and good friends that I knew, and I realized there’s a young person that’s waking up in this situation and they don’t have that.”

Kear said the solutions to addressing homelessness are housing stability, education and employment opportunities, looking after social and emotional wellbeing — especially substance abuse and mental health issues — and giving homeless youth permanence in their lives.

“It’s important for the homeless as a whole, but especially the youth to know that there is a community that backs them,” Kear said.

Adam Legg works with marginalized people as executive director of Love Alaska. He said standing in the cold that evening was a minor gesture of support compared to the experience of homeless youth in Anchorage.

“You know, my wife and I put on our warmest clothes to come out here tonight, right? And after this is over, we’ll go back to our warm house, but these youth don’t have that option, except Covenant House,” Legg said.

Covenant House is located at 755 A St. Their number is 907272-1255.

More information can be found at ak.covenanthouse.org.

Art and commerce are the rich man’s game in ‘Beltracchi: The Art of Forgery’

By Jacob Holley-Kline Contributor

It’s hard not to admire Wolfgang Beltracchi, the documentary’s titular Robin Hood figure.

He’s an unabashed art forger consummate enough to cheat the art world out of millions. Experts the world ‘round have verified his forgeries as genuine, and he’s still doing it. Director Arne Birkenstock is chummy with his subject because of this, treating him as a rebel angel no matter the pushback to his work.

In its most striking moments, “Beltracchi: The Art of Forgery” drops its sympathetic eye and watches the artist work.

Besides actually painting, he sprinkles dirt between the canvas and frame, scrapes some of the wood away, and peels back layers of paint to make his work look old. He truly is a sensitive artist with a killer eye for detail,

but he does little, if any, original work. So what is he adding to the narrative?

The documentary forces viewers to ask the same question of the art world itself. These works, commodified and exalted as they are, have abstract value.

So who determines their value?

Answer: droves of rich people.

People rich enough to send assistants to spend millions of dollars for them at international art auctions. Everyone from the auctioneers to the owners of the art and people in their stead benefit from the system and are actively invested in it continuing.

So, of course, seeing them lose at their own game is satisfying, but in winning it, Beltracchi becomes just like them. Just as disconnected, just as trusting of the system. The documentary doesn’t make this clear, though it begs the question: it’s one thing to imitate an artist’s style, but it’s another to sell those imi-

tations for profit. It’s a theft of a different, more personal kind.

Taking away from the academic narrative or robbing some wealthy benefactor of millions is besides the point. Beltracchi is making his fortune stealing the work of other artists.

Ultimately, that the documentary inspires these questions is a testament to its power.

Birkenstock is sensitive a storyteller as Beltracchi is an artist, always looking for the next honest moment. He’s just enamored with his subject, and while he presents every side of the argument, Wolfgang Beltracchi ends up being the most sympathetic of all. While it’s a beautiful portrait of the artist against the art world, it’s not a particularly nuanced one. And if you’re not in sympathy with it, it’s a frustrating grind, but if you are, it’s a rich, if hokey, character study.

But it refuses to be anything in between.

“Beltracchi: The Art of Forgery”

TITLE

DIRECTOR Arne Birkenstock

RELEASE DATE March 6, 2014

COUNTRY Germany

GENRE Documentary

10 | A&E

THENORTHERNLIGHT

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2017

Get off the couch! ‘Foundations’ at the Post-Thanksgiving concerts and dance parties, DIY Night, Quidditch and more

Hugh McPeck Gallery

Around town “Alpi,” a film by Armin Linke What: The result of seven years of research on modern views of the Alps and their landscape, “Alpi” shows the complexity of social, economic and political relationships.

When: Runs until Friday, Nov. 24. Plays daily at 6 p.m. or by appointment.

Where: Bivy (419 G St.) Cost: $5 Reggae dance party with H3

TNL Staff

At UAA Thanksgiving gathering What: Thanksgiving is open to all North Hall and MAC residents and their guests.

When: Friday, Nov. 24 from 6 - 9 p.m.

Where: North Hall Cost: Free DIY Night: Bath Bombs and “Bad Moms” What: Watch a showing of “Bad Moms.”

Get there early to make your own lip scrub. The movie is rated R. Attendees must be 17 or older or accompanied by a parent or legal guardian.

When: Tuesday, Nov. 28 from 7 - 9 p.m.

Where: Student Union Cafeteria Cost: Free for students taking six or more credits.

Quidditch What: No magical abilities required for this game of Quidditch. Brooms will be provided.

When: Tuesday, Nov. 28 from 11:30 a.m.

- 12:45 p.m.

Where: Wells Fargo Sports Center Cost: Free

What: Hawaii reggae band H3 will be providing the tunes to dance along to while you recover from Thanksgiving.

When: Friday, Nov. 24 at 9:30 p.m.

Where: Williwaw (609 F St.) Cost: Free Local Roots: Decepticide, Pendant, Chelsea’s Biscuit and Beyond the ShAK What: Get some rock ’n’ roll in this Thanksgiving with some local talent.

Ages 21 and up.

When: Friday, Nov. 24 at 9 p.m.

Where: Koot’s (2435 Spenard Road) Cost: $5 All ages show with Hazia, Dutchess, She and Aural Imago What: Everyone is welcome to this show featuring some local Anchorage bands.

When: Saturday, Nov. 25 from 7 - 11 p.m.

Where: Church of Love (3502 Spenard Road) Cost: $10 '80s dance party with I Like Robots What: Get dressed up in your favorite '80s gear and dance along to live music

by I Like Robots. Ages 21 and up.

When: Saturday, Nov. 25 at 9:30 p.m.

Where: Williwaw (609 F St.) Cost: Free Matt Hopper and the Roman Candles What: The first winter 2017 performance in Alaska, from singer/songwriter Matt Hopper backed by the Roman Candles.

The John Budnik Band will open the show. Ages 21 and up.

When: Saturday, Nov. 25 at 8 p.m.

Where: Koot’s (2435 Spenard Road) Cost: $10

PHOTO BY AMMON SWENSON

"Foundations" at the Hugh McPeck Gallery features work by students from 100 and 200-level art classes.

By Ammon Swenson arts@thenorthernlight.org

Beginner art students at UAA don’t always have the opportunity to show their work in a public setting, but once a year the Hugh McPeck Gallery hosts an exhibition of artwork pulled from the department’s 100 and 200-level classes.

The work in “Foundations” includes watercolors, digital art, sculptures, ceramics, photography and drawings.

While the individual artwork is unique, the show is tied together by the thread of students taking their first steps into serious art.

“It’s kind of a big deal for freshmen and sophomores, because this is probably the first time that they’ve been in an exhibition,” Assistant Professor and “Foundations” Coordinator Garry Mealor said.

Professors who teach beginner art courses chose three of their students’ pieces to put on display, but Mealor said it’s not the full extent of the quality work coming out of those classes.

“It’s not easy picking three. I mean, I could have easily picked half the class,” Mealor said.

Among other subjects, Mealor teaches beginning drawing and watercolor.

He’s always surprised about the quality of work that comes out of the beginner art students. The progression he sees in students’ abilities from the time they start to where they end up is “unbelievable” sometimes, but it’s not without hard work.

“All of [this] represents a lot of time and effort and experimentation,” Mealor said of the pieces on display. “None of this stuff is easy.”

If someone wasn’t informed about where the work came from, Mealor thinks they’d have a hard time figuring out the pieces were done by beginners.

At the beginning of every year, Mealor said he wonders if they’ll end up with anything good enough to be featured in “Foundations,” but he’s never been let down.

Tyler Teese, a gallery manager for the Hugh McPeck, said as a student gallery, it’s part of their mission to feature work that might not otherwise have a chance to be seen.

“I think it’s really important for these first and second year students to get this opportunity to present their work at shows, because normally the rest of the art department doesn’t have this opportunity until they get to their senior year,” he said. “It kind of gives them a little bit of experience presenting their work in an exhibition.”

On the afternoon of Nov. 17, Jackie Bowling was in the gallery posing for a picture next to her photo that’s on display.

It’s not her first time having her work shown publicly, but it still warranted a memento.

“It’s pretty exciting,” Bowling said.

Mealor believes most of the artists featured in “Foundations” will continue on to do good things. He remembers the first time his own work was on display and thinks that’s a moment an artist never forgets. He said if they can do it one time, they can do it again.

“It’s kind of the front door,” Mealor said.

“Foundations” will be on display at the Hugh McPeck Gallery in the Student Union until Dec. 8 with a Second Friday reception that evening from 5 - 7 p.m.

SPORTS

THENORTHERNLIGHT

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2017

| 11

For 40 years running, Dr. Piccard has seen it all

By Logan Harrison

lharrison@thenorthernlight.org

If the Great Alaska Shootout ever turned up as a category on Jeopardy, the person that you would want to throw out the answers would be none other than Lee Piccard.

The long-time UAA administrator who retired in 1994, has never missed a game. Every men’s game, every women’s game, every non-UAA game, Piccard has been there, enjoying the atmosphere that he helped create when he took a job with the university back in 1976.

Hired as the Director of Student Services when UAA was Anchorage Community College, Piccard played key roles throughout the university. Piccard was inducted into the Seawolf Hall of Fame in 2001 for his work helping expand an athletic department that only housed three sports at the time of his arrival.

On top of successfully adding women’s basketball, which the university had originally told him there was no money for, Piccard also hired the late Bob Rachal to coach the men’s team.

Rachal is recognized as the individual who started the Shootout, although he had taken another job prior to the opening of the tournament.

The women’s team didn’t start playing as part of the Shootout until 1998. Their own tournament, the Northern Lights Invitational, was held as a separate event. For Piccard, the 1990 tournament was a display and showed what sort of powerhouse program the UAA women’s team would eventually be recognized as.

“The final game, a young lady by the name of Greta Fadness took a shot from just beyond the foul line, and got fouled. [With the] scores tied, she went to the foul line; missed one made one, we won the ballgame,” Piccard said.

Rachal, according to Piccard, was attending the Final Four of the 1977 NCAA men’s basketball tournament when he came up with the idea. Rachal looked to exploit the NCAA exemption rule that allows teams to play three extra games on top of the allotted 28, as long as they take place in Hawaii, Puerto Rico or Alaska. Rachal was successful in getting contracts signed for the inaugural Shootout, but that was as far as he got.

“That was his last hurrah,” Piccard said. “He wasn’t here for the first game of the Shootout…

The next person coming in found the contracts in his desk, signed.

We didn’t know that we were going to put on a tournament until we found the contracts… They

found them in the fall, I think it would have been the fall of ’77.”

The next few months were hectic, as Piccard and the university began to put the pieces together in order to host the tournament.

“We didn’t have a gym, we were playing our games in the high schools around town. The air base and Buckner were the [ones] that offered the only opportunities, basically,” Piccard said. “The military really did a good job for us.”

The Buckner Fieldhouse on Fort Richardson became the first home of the Shootout. Thanks to the base and the countless number of volunteers, the tournament was an instant success.

Having seen every game the Shootout has had to offer, Piccard can recall some of the most memorable games like they were yesterday. One of the games he dubs the most memorable took place in 1980 in the Buckner Fieldhouse. The UAA men’s team were taking on the University of Missouri in a game that came down to the last second. “[Missouri] threw the ball in to this 7-foot-2[-inch] monster and he jammed it through and we lost by one point,” Piccard said.

Before Harry Larrabee became the head coach of the men’s team in 1981, he served as the assistant coach under Gary

Bliss. Piccard remembers him by the moniker Dick Vitale bestowed on him during some of the tournament’s ESPN-aired games.

“Dancing Harry. He was up, jumping around all the time, he was hoarse half the time. I didn’t know what the hell he was doing.

I didn’t know if he knew what he was doing,” Piccard said.

One “Dancing Harry” story Piccard recalls, was back when Larrabee was still an assistant for coach Bliss.

“He was walking into the [Buckner Fieldhouse] and he was carrying all the trophies that they give out for [all-tournament teams] and most valuable players and stuff,” Piccard said. “And he fell and dropped them. They were all broke and scrambled.”

Piccard took on the task, along with another university employee, of putting the awards back together.

The fondness Piccard looks back on the Shootout with is unquestionable. Now 83, he thinks UAA should pay him back for his outstanding attendance record.

“I think the university should give me a golden pillow, or something, to sit on,” Piccard said.

The final GCI Great Alaska Shootout opens on Tuesday, Nov. 21 with the women’s tournament

PHOTO BY LOGAN HARRISON

Lee Piccard, former UAA administrator, has never missed a Great Alaska Shootout game in the 40 years of existence.

and it will conclude the Saturday after Thanksgiving with the final men’s championship game of the tournament’s 40-year run.

No matter who plays in the first game, or who takes home that final trophy, Piccard will be there, adding to his already impressive collection of Shootout knowledge.

12 | SPORTS

THENORTHERNLIGHT

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2017

Exercising made fun Nearly a year since the

collapse: The Dome update The Dome board of directors have scrutinized plans and adapted to changes that have led to the very slowly repair progression

PHOTO BY YOUNG KIM

Brenda Gabbert leads a Zumba class in the Wells Fargo Sports Complex. This class has been available since August and is offered on Mondays and Wednesdays from 5:15 - 6:15 p.m.

By Caleigh Jensen

cjensen@thenorthernlight.org

For most, Zumba — an aerobic fitness program where Latin American inspired dances are performed to music — is simply an entertaining form of exercise.

For Brenda Gabbert, a sophomore nursing major and certified instructor, Zumba is a passion.

Since she was young, Gabbert has been a dancer. Seven years ago, she tried Zumba for the first time at her local gym, which sparked her enthusiasm for aerobic fitness. Even with her busy schedule, it remains a constant in her life.

“I loved it, so when I turned 18, I figured it was fitting for me to become an instructor and host my own class,” Gabbert said.

“I’m here to pursue a degree just like everyone else, but I don’t ever see myself not having time for Zumba.”

Gabbert hosts classes twice a week at UAA, her first experience in teaching. The classes are free, and encourages participates despite skill level. Located in the Wells Fargo Sports Complex gym, it is available to students and staff members alike.

Not only is Zumba enjoyable, it's also an extremely good workout. The constant movement often builds up a sweat.

“I enjoy dancing, and it was dancing while also getting a workout,” Jillian Kindred, nursing major who attends the class, said.

Aside from physical, it has other benefits as well.

“Zumba is a stress-reliever for myself and many of my students, and a fun way to get exercise and make friends,” Gabbert said.

Students in Gabbert’s class

form a bond, resulting in many regulars. Kindred and a few of her friends attended multiple classes.

Much like dancing, Zumba acts as a form of personal expression.

“It's a blast every time, and one of the things that are nice about it is each class is unique.

You’ll never do the same one twice," Gabbert said.

Zumba is a very personalized workout, giving instructors the freedom of creating their own choreography and selecting songs. Gabbert uses this liberty to mix her own choreography with what she gets from the Zumba Instructor Network, a program that provides music and accompanying moves.

“A lot of my inspiration for dancing and teaching methods comes from previous dance experience and watching other instructors,” Gabbert said. “And I chose songs that are popular or songs that I like.”

The engagement keeps students thoroughly entertained, and many keep coming back for more.

“I had no previous experience with Zumba and enjoyed the class,” Betty Bang, member of the health promotion team for the Student Health and Counseling Center, said. “It was a lot of fun, with a great instructor and friendly participants."

Although it does include dancing, Zumba does not require students to be experts in the field. Classes are designed to be easy to follow regardless of one's background in dance.

Gabbert’s classes are free for students and staff alike, and take place every Monday and Wednesday from 5:15 - 6:15 p.m. at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex Gym.

PHOTO BY YOUNG KIM

After not being in use due to a collapse nine months ago, The Dome now stands thanks to the support of the Anchorage community.

By Lauren Cuddihy

sports2@thenorthernlight.org

Lauren Cuddihy is a member of UAA's track and field team.

Nearly nine months after the collapse, The Dome is finally standing and inflated just in time for the first couple snowfalls of the year.

In late September and early October, workers and volunteers worked tirelessly to remove snow and debris from the fabric, then drag the heavy material around in order to connect them at the seams.

Once The Dome was standing, CEO Curtis Penney had officially announced that the building would be open to the public by early November. This was pushed back from the original speculation that was announced last spring, stating The Dome would open in late summer. However, similar to the adjustments in the previous opening dates, early November was pushed back as well.

Once early November rolled around, The Dome was still closed off, despite being fully inflated. Penney had even been optimistic after the original inflation.

"Most of the turf actually looks in really good condition, particularly in the north end, there will be areas that need repairs, but overall things look good inside The Dome," Penney said.

However, after the construction crew began to work inside the inflated dome, the board of directors realized their original announcement may have been too optimistic.

Although the turf may have initially looked good, they soon realized a replacement was necessary. It was covered in debris and was extremely lumpy from water saturation. A new turf, costing over a million dollars, will be shipped in from Georgia, causing the majority of the delay in opening.

The hanging ceiling lights will also need replacement, the

collapse caused the majority of the lights to collapse and fall onto the turf. New LED lighting is currently being installed, which will brighten up the facility that was previously dim.

In addition, the ceilings were stained and dirty. The whole interior also reportedly had a musky smell.

Members of UAA's athletic teams were able to see the damage first-hand last month when helping to remove supplies from inside. The Seawolf track and field team also had a cage inside The Dome, shared with Alaska Running Academy, that had supplies such as jumping mats, javelins, medicine balls, hurdles and blocks. Once the building was inflated, the team worked to relocate all the supplies to a Connex storage container outside The Dome.

Yvonne Jeschke, UAA track and field member, was one of the people to first step inside The Dome.

"There were still a lot of parts on the ceiling that was ripped apart and dirty; the track actually looked fine but it was the majority of the turf that looked really bad," Jeschke said.

Penney announced that a new laser system will be utilized to monitor and measure the snow and weight load on the ceiling to prevent any future problems like this. As a safety precaution, an alarm will also be installed in case any future issues arise.

All the repairs and replacements will cost over $6 million.

This funding is supplied in part

by Anchorage developer Jonathan Rubini, the chairman, and CEO of JL Properties. Without his initial contribution, The Dome would not be inflated. In addition to his loans and donations, other investments and donations graciously came in from many sources to fund the popular sports complex.

This cost still puts into question the refunds owed to previous members, many of which still try to contact The Dome personnel, but to no avail. The board of directors and Alice

Federenko, CEO of Anchorage Sportsplex Inc. — the nonprofit that runs the facility — have confirmed that users will be reimbursed, but that still doesn't settle the minds of many.

"In one way, shape or form, everyone who had a membership or had anything [invested] in The Dome will be made whole," Federenko said.

Previous users, such as Axel Croy, member of a men's league and coed soccer team, are still not comfortable with the promises made by the officials, especially since it has been nearly a year and no actions have been made.

"I asked for a refund, did not receive one as cash. They claimed to offer credit towards another season, but also have not seen that [either]. Their lack of communication with the community is also very worrying," Croy said.

Previous community members are anticipating that once the building is open to the public again, all other matters will be resolved.

Former flag football player for The Dome, Alexander Nanez, is hoping that programs that the management previously instilled will return.

"I'm not sure if these programs that The Dome managed will return this winter but I am really looking forward to being able to have an indoor athletic facility to stay active in over the winters again," Nanez said.

For community members and competitive sports teams. this spring should be much different than last spring in terms of training, with the assumption that the January opening date will not change again.

"We're just as excited as anyone else to get in there, many of us that are part of the team at The Dome are users," Penney said.

To stay updated with all that is happening to The Dome, visit their website at thedome.us or their Facebook page The Anchorage Dome.

SPORTS

THENORTHERNLIGHT

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2017

| 13

‘I’m having the time of my life:’ Volunteer coaches at UAA

PHOTO COURTESY OF GOSEAWOLVES

Track and field volunteer assistant coach Eric Walsh gives instructions during sessions in the weight room.

By Karolin Anders

sports@thenorthernlight.org

Eric Walsh of Fairbanks was recruited to run track in high school due to his natural speed.

He was excited to continue his athletic career at UAA between 2005-2009. After he ran out of his own athletic eligibility, he returned to UAA as volunteer assistant coach.

Walsh’s personal experience as an athlete and the positive impact coaches had on him during his career drew him back to the sport.

“I had a really good sprints coach my senior year of high school, Bret Freesal, and I had a really good sprints coach, Jim Arronow, in college,” Walsh said. “I only had each of those coaches for a year and the year that I had them, had an impact on my racing. I realized that helping other people out with acceleration work, biomechanics and so on makes a really big difference in their performances.”

Knowing the importance of having a dedicated sprints coach and also being passionate about

track and field prompted Walsh to join UAA’s coaching staff.

While working as a supervisor at the Wells Fargo Recreational Center in the afternoon, Walsh put in up to 35 hours per week volunteer coaching for the track team in the morning. He would also use his vacation time as much as he could to travel to meets with the team.

“Initially, I helped out with the strength and conditioning and oversaw athletes in the weight room,” Walsh said. “Later, I worked with athletes on sprint mechanics, acceleration work and training programming with [associate head coach] Ryan McWilliams.”

Walsh mainly focused on the short sprints, ranging from the 60-meter dash up to the 400-meter dash. Races in the short sprints are over quickly, which makes eight months of work count for a race that only lasts a couple of seconds.

“I would try to ingrain certain motor patterns and attitudes into athletes over time and through specific exercises,” Walsh said. “Eventually, there is a point when you see an ath-

lete suddenly put it together and you see a light ball turn on. They realize that the training is working.”

In his years of volunteering for the Seawolves, between 2010-2016, Walsh contributed to five indoor Great Northwest Athletic Conference championship team titles and three GNAC outdoor team titles divided between the men’s and women’s team. He also helped athletes to numerous individual conference titles, conference and school records, personal bests and AllAmerican awards.

“I didn’t walk into volunteer coaching with any long-term ambitions or plan,” Walsh said.

“Functionally, I consider it the same as teaching, where if you can help people in that way and you can teach them how to become better in a certain way, it is really rewarding. It wasn’t something I had ever planned on doing, it was purely by accident.”

Patrick Flanigin, the 6-foot9 basketball volunteer assistant coach, also has deep roots in the sport that he still enjoys coaching today. An all-Western Ath-

letic Conference player at the University of Wyoming in 1977, Flanigin played professional basketball overseas before returning to the U.S. to play for the Anchorage Northern Knights as well as Billings Volcanoes.

Flanigin is currently in his fourth year of coaching at UAA and enjoys every minute of it.

“I’m having the time of my life,” Flanigin said. “It’s just been a dream come true.”

Flanigin knows basketball head coach Ryan McCarthy since his birth as Flanigin played league basketball on a team with McCarthy’s father. Now, McCarthy is happy to be working with Flanigin towards the same goal — the women’s basketball team’s success.

“Coach Pat [Flanigin] has had a tremendous impact on our program. He has played at the highest level in basketball and has a lot of coaching experience as well,” McCarthy said. “His outlook on life and basketball helps our ladies get a valuable perspective and we are so thankful to have a man of his caliber involved in our program. He’s been like a father to me.”

Another dedicated individual on UAA’s coaching staff is skiing volunteer assistant Adam Verrier. Verrier of New Hampshire skied for the University of Wyoming’s Nordic team. After his senior year in 1992, he moved to Alaska to continue his skiing on the professional level.

His efforts were rewarded when he qualified for the Olympic Team in 1994. Despite the fact that he was not able to compete in the Olympic games 50-kilometer race or the relay due to a cold, Verrier did not lose his passion for the sport.

“In around the late 1990’s, Trond Flagstad, the Nordic coach at the time, asked if I would be willing to participate in UAA’s hard workouts. Trond thought it would be helpful if I would ski with the team during

their hard workouts,” Verrier said. “I’ll always love the sport and this gave me an opportunity to go out skiing with a fast group of kids.”

Since 2009, Verrier has been the official skiing volunteer assistant coach and enjoys supporting the team in every way.

Verrier is also supporting the athletes in the area of sports psychology, his major in college, and helps the alpine ski team by taking over physical labor on the mountain. That way the alpine coaches have more time to focus on their athletes’ technical finesse.

“With the alpine team, I spend a lot of my time standing on the hill running the video camera, setting up and pulling down race courses, manually keeping the snow surface on the hill in good conditions and haul gear around,” Verrier said.

Working in a job in finance as a real estate appraiser for 20 years, Verrier finds the studentathletes’ enthusiasm and excitement refreshing.

“To be able to work out in a group of this caliber is a real privilege which I don’t take for granted. UAA’s athletes are all high-achievers. It takes a lot of motivation and energy to be an NCAA student-athlete, and these kids’ drive and youthful enthusiasm energize me,” Verrier said.

UAA’s numerous volunteer assistant coaches support the Seawolves without pay. They spend their time and energy to support the coaching staff and the student-athletes. Most of them are rarely mentioned in reference to the teams that they support on a daily basis, but they do so out of a passion for the sport and their good intentions.

Other longtime volunteer coaches are Siobhan Johansen, third year, and Gaynor Johansen, seventh year, as well as Vigil Hooe, second year for the volleyball team.

BUTLER: ‘Drug dealing is as addictive as drugs’ Continued from cover Eventually, Butler was arrested. For years, he cycled in and out of jail, sometimes staying for months, and other times staying for years. At one point in 1997, Butler was sent to a notoriously tough federal prison in Seagoville, Texas, but still failed to turn his life around when he got out.

In September 1999, Michelle Butler, then his wife of 19 years, went to get groceries at Carrs on Gambell. It was a walk she completed regularly. This time, however, she never made it home.

Michelle Butler was stabbed to death, two blocks from her house.

At the time, Muff Butler was incarcerated at the Federal Detention Center, SeaTac, a detention center that doesn’t let its inmates outdoors. The first and only time he was allowed outside during the entire year was to see his wife laid to rest. His daughter, 12 at the time, arranged the funeral.

“Drug dealers are selfish.

You think about the money you’re making, but not your family and the people you love,” Butler said.

Michelle’s murder remains unsolved. To this day, her face is still on the screen of Butler’s phone.

After the murder, Butler depended heavily on two things to help get him by: Islam and basketball, he said. At his detention center, he would complete his five daily prayers from the confines of his cell and shoot ball at their indoor court.

When Butler got out in 2008, he was 50. The youngest of his children was in high school and the oldest was starting a family. He refused to go back into the drug trade, he said, but recalls the first two years going straight being the hardest of his life. When he was a dealer, Butler lived lavishly. Now, he lived paycheck to paycheck supporting himself and his elderly mother.

“I didn’t understand working

two weeks and being broke the next day,” Butler said.

Soon, Butler got accustomed to his new life. His friends convinced him to join a 50+ basketball league. He started his job at Club Paris. He donated over fifty pairs of his gently-used Nike Jordans, a status symbol when he was a drug dealer, to the Salvation Army.

“Easy come, easy go. Things you work hard for, you keep.

Things you get illegal, they don’t last,” Butler said.

In 2011, Butler returned to the Fairview Recreation Center to help his youngest son, Jalil, play ball. Butler and Jalil, who was in high school, went every day; playing the game and running drills. Soon, people started to notice these sessions and wanted in.

Butler accepted these new students, giving them the same training that he gave his son for $30 an hour. Soon enough, he had to change locations from the Fairview Recreation Center to the Alaska Club South for

the additional space and nicer amenities. That’s where he met Brandon Huffman.

Huffman and his family left Anchorage in 2015 for the Lower 48 and its promises of a more competitive league and better exposure. Despite the distance, Huffman and Butler still remain close, talking on the phone once a week.

Butler says he fosters these kinds of relationships with all of his students. If they need a ride, he’ll pick them up. If they can’t make their payments, Butler will help them find a solution. He does his best, he says, to teach them lessons both on and off the court that they can use for the rest of their lives.

One of his newest students is Brooklynn Haywood, a 9-year old girl with big hoop dreams, whose father is an Anchorage Police Department officer and former pickup playmate of Butler’s from back in the day.

“He used to hang out with a crowd that wasn’t so desirable. I never had any personal dealings

with him, but I knew what he was doing... I think he’s definitely changed.” Anchorage Police Officer Mark Haywood said.

Butler has now helped over 30 kids in the past five years. He has sent a handful of students to college on basketball scholarships, including Jalil, who graduated from the University of Oregon last year. All three of his children have earned college degrees.

Butler isn’t a different man than the one he was in jail, but instead an improved one; a changed one. He’s still the same boy from New York with the same mischievous nature, unmatched work ethic and obsessive love for basketball. He still loves his family. He still loves working with kids. He still works seven days a week, only now, he’s using that time to give back to his community.

The only thing different now, he says, is he’s doing the right thing.

14 | SPORTS

THENORTHERNLIGHT

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2017

National champion Kurgat Four decades later: The leads ‘S(h)eawolves’ to end of the Shootout The GCI Great Alaska Shootout will play in its 40th and final fifth place finish year over Thanksgiving 2017 before officially ceasing

PHOTO COURTESY OF GOSEAWOLVES

Caroline Kurgat became UAA’s first cross country national champion on Nov. 19, 2017. The senior ended her career as a three time All-American.

By Karolin Anders

sports@thenorthernlight.org

Karolin Anders is a former member of the UAA track and field team.

On Nov. 18, Caroline Kurgat made history by winning the 2017 NCAA Division II Cross-Country Championships in Evansville, Indiana. Kurgat, who placed third a year ago, became the first female national champion in cross country, indoor or outdoor track and field. She also helped the women’s team to a top five team finish. The senior from Eldoret, Kenya finished the 6-kilometer course in 20 minutes, 32.3 seconds, about 20 seconds ahead of second place finisher Sarah Berger of Walsh University, and secured the triple of winning the Great Northwest Athletic Conference championship, the West Regional championship and the National championship title all in one season.

“It’s an awesome feeling and I’m really proud that I achieved [my goal of winning the national title],” Kurgat said in a press statement. “I really appreciate what my coaches have taught me, like working harder to achieve things that I could not even think of.”

Kurgat’s teammates know about the uniqueness of having a national champion on their squad and appreciate Kurgat’s dedication to the sport, but also to her team.

“Caroline [Kurgat] is exceptional.

Having such a champion is eventually what every team dreams of having,” senior Tamara Pérez said. “I am beyond proud of her performance today, and especially proud of who she is and who she has become since the day she came across to world to run in Alaska.”

The women’s team, which was ranked fourth going into the meet, collected a

fifth place team result and an additional All-American honor for Junior Zennah Jepchumba. Jepchumba placed 32nd, out of the 247 competitors, finishing the race in 21 minutes, 38.6. Also scoring for the ‘S(h)eawolves’ were Emma Chelimo (44th, 21:48.4), Danielle McCormick (45th, 21:49.9) and Mariah Burroughs (81st, 22:18.9).

The Green and Gold had only limited time to adjust to the four-hour time difference between Alaska and Indiana.

The weather held up for the racers. At about 60 degrees Fahrenheit and only a slight sprinkle of rain, the women took on the flat two loop 6-kilometer course.

“This race was definitely more difficult than most of the other races this year, partially because the competition is really intense at nationals,” McCormick said.

“We were all positive before the race and stayed strong and ran our hardest.”

The women scored 180 points to finish fifth overall, only one point behind fourth place finisher Chico State University, which scored 181 points. Adams State won the team title with 126 points.

A fourth place finish would have earned the team members All-American status and it was not out of reach. Jepchumba and Abby Hoover of Oklahoma Baptist University were both timed at 21 minutes, 38.6 seconds with Hoover finishing ahead of Jepchumba. A point that could have made the difference, but also other UAA’s racers were only 0.6 seconds away from finishing a spot ahead to secure the necessary point for a fourth place team finish.

“One point away [from the podium] at the national meet is the most defeated feeling after a long season,” Pérez said.

“Lots of miles, effort and hard work we put in to achieve our best. The team wanted a better finishing, but fifth in the Nation isn’t a defeat at all. We take what we did as a big team reward, personals win and excitement for more.”

Senior Edwin Kangogo held his own in the field of 249 competitors by placing 19th for All-American honors. After the highly debated team selection, which disfavored the Seawolves’ participation in the NCAA Championship meet, Kangogo was the lone Seawolf to represent the men’s cross country team in Indiana.

It was the first time since 2007 that UAA did not qualify a men’s team to the NCAA National Championship. Kangogo’s finish was the strongest among other male GNAC competitors. He raced the 10-kilometer course in 31 minutes, 32.5 seconds and ends his cross country career as a three time All-American.

“This team is loyal to positivity and keeping adversity small,” Pérez said. “We were confident and ready to give our best one last time this season. The coaches told us to embrace the work we had put on all this and open our minds to what was possible. I am happy about the journey and every opportunity this team has given me in the last four years racing for this school and training with incredible teammates.”

The cross-country team will take a couple of weeks off before the end of the semester and then start their preparations for the indoor track and field season.

Their season will kick off at the Ed Jacoby Invitational & Multis in Nampa, Idaho and at the Washington Review in Seattle, Washington on Jan. 12-13, 2018.

PHOTO COURTESY OF SAM WASSON

By Lauren Cuddihy

sports2@thenorthernlight.org

The Great Alaska Shootout (previously called the Seawolf Classic) is a traditional collegiate basketball tournament that has been played since the late 1970's.

This qualifies it as one of the longest running NCAA affiliated basketball tournaments, with a total of 40 years after the 2017 tournament.

Head Coach Rusty Osborne, who has coached through 13 years of the shootout, is disappointed, but realized it's a necessary cut.

"It's a little bittersweet, but it's the time we live in,'' Osborne said. "This isn't about men's basketball, this is about the university and the state. If this is the sacrifice we need to make, if eliminating the Shootout can help the hockey program reach its goals or the ski program to reach its goals, I'm for it.''

Prior to the opening of the Alaska Airlines Center in 2014, games were played in the Sullivan Arena (1983-2013) and the Buckner Fieldhouse (1978-1982).

While the Sullivan was still the main site of the shootout, Josh Evans was still on the team and actively playing in the shootout every year (2000-2004).

"Playing in front of the big crowds at the Sullivan Arena was special, since we normally played at The Wells Fargo [Sports Complex] on campus which was a much smaller gym. Being the local underdog team against the D1 schools have the crowd a little extra reason to root for us," Evans said.

The shootout initially drew a lot of attention from collegiate basketball teams all over the nation due to National Collegiate Athletic Association rules allowing exempted games to take place out of the continental United States, which would not count towards the regular season game limit.

Division I and II teams have joined the Seawolves every year. Each year, there has been at least one DI team that has qualified for the NCAA DI National Tournament that has also played in the shootout. In 1985, there was a record high six teams that qualified for the tournament.

Almost all former players at UAA got to experience that competition, including Lonnie Ridgeway who played for the Seawolves on and off between 2007 through 2012.

"I think it was beneficial for UAA basketball to be able to have exposure to that many teams and play against them. The [GCI] Great Alaska Shootout was a huge recruiting tool and as a player, you have the opportunity to play against teams and players you’ve only seen on television," Ridgeway said. "It’s exciting for UAA players to play against Division I power-

house schools and players and do well."

The Shootout has brought mass attention to the games, with a high of 60,150 in attendance in 2007, only to start dwindling to the record low of 19,653 in 2016.

Peter Bullock, originally from East High School, played as a top-end forward for the Seawolves from 2000-2004.

"The high level competition [that came to the tournament] made you feel like even in Alaska we could measure our skills against some of the best competition the world has to offer at the amateur level," Bullock said.

Over 300 athletes who have competed in the shootout have even gone on to play for the NBA. "The Shootout was bigger than college basketball, it’s part of Alaska’s culture.

I grew up in Anchorage and have fond memories of being a kid and going to the games with friends and goofing around," Ridgeway said, "I remember eating overpriced food and trying to strike up conversations with Corey Maggette, Dwyane Wade, Antawn Jamison, Nate Robinson, Vince Carter, Trajan Langdon, Andrew Bogut, Rodney Stuckey, Caron Butler and some other big names as they were waiting to play."

As of recent years, the Shootout hosted more mid-range teams. This contributed to the end of ESPN coverage in substitution for CBS Sports Network coverage.

Just last year, the shootout lost nearly $500,000. All business ties that the event had in the Anchorage community will also cease to exist, including GCI, being the main sponsor of the event and Carrs/ Safeway being the previous primary sponsor.

"The Shootout has been an iconic event at UAA for 40 years, but unfortunately we cannot sustain our funding of this tournament in the current budget climate,'' UAA Interim Chancellor Sam Gingerich said. "We are grateful for the enthusiastic support we've received over the years from our community, fans, volunteers, civic and business leaders and donors.''

Despite the economic benefits that the end of the shootout brings, the social aspect of it will be a definite loss.

"The Shootout literally brought the city of Anchorage together and added to Anchorage’s overall economy. The Shootout will be missed," Ridgeway said.

As for the 40th and final shootout, the beginning of the tournament will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 21.

This year, the Seawolves will be hosting seven other teams including Cal Poly, College of Charleston, Central Michigan, Sam Houston State, University of Idaho, Santa Clara University and CSU Bakersfield.

For an updated schedule as games take place, visit www.goseawolves.com.

CONTACT

THENORTHERNLIGHT

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2017

| 15

Letter to the Editor: 'The concept of race' The concept of race — that physical features determine intelligence, ability, character — does not exist in science.

The mapping of human DNA shows that there is no gene for race — no gene for “Negro,” “ Asian,” “Caucasian,” etc. The DNA associated with skin color, facial features, body types is a small fraction of the human genome, and does not correlate to anything else. From Dostoevsky, humanity is infinitely diverse and resists

classification.

The concept or race is cultural — not biological, not scientific. It was created to justify the discrimination, persecution, and slaughter of those who look, act or think differently. The terms “mixed race,” “mixing of the races,” “inferior/ superior races” and “interracial marriage” are from a brutish, ignorant past, and have no meaning today. Marriage is about love and commitment - it has noth-

ing to do with skin color, gender, ethnicity, religion.

The science used to justify “race” is fraudulent, propped up by hatred and greed. It always has been. There are no human races, only human beings.

And all human beings need self-expression, purpose and recognition as much as they need food and water.

Thomas Harrison Morse, UAA Faculty

A S S O C I AT E D CO L L E G I AT E P R ES S

The Northern Light is a proud member of the Associated Collegiate Press. The Northern Light is a weekly UAA publication funded by student fees and advertising sales. The editors and writers of The Northern Light are solely responsible for its contents. Circulation is 2,500. The University of Alaska Anchorage provides equal education and employment opportunities for all, regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, Vietnam-era or disabled-veteran status, physical or mental disability, changes in marital status, pregnancy or parenthood.

The views expressed in the opinion section do not necessarily reflect the views of UAA or the Northern Light.­­­

L E T T E RS A N D CO R R E C T I O N S P O L I C Y Letters to the editor can be submitted to editor@thenorthernlight.org. The maximum length is 250 words.

Opinion pieces can be submitted to editor@thenorthernlight.org. The maximum word length is 450 words.

Letters and opinion pieces are subject to editing for grammar, accuracy, length and clarity.

Requests for corrections can be sent to editor@thenorthernlight.org. Print publication is subject to accuracy and available space. All corrections are posted online with the original story at www.thenorthernlight.org.

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The Northern Light newsroom is located on the first floor of the Student Union, directly next to Subway.

T H E N O RT H E R N L I G H T CO N TAC TS

3211 Providence Drive Student Union 113 Anchorage, AK 99508

Executive Editor

Assistant Arts & Entertainment Editor Malia Barto arts2@thenorthernlight.org

Sam Davenport 786-1313 editor@thenorthernlight.org

Assistant Sports Editors

Managing Editor

Lauren Cuddihy sports2@thenorthernlight.org

Kathryn DuFresne content@thenorthernlight.org

Copy Editor

Victoria Petersen copy@thenorthernlight.org

News Editor

Cheyenne Mathews cmathews@thenorthernlight.org

Assistant News Editors

Mariah DeJesus-Remaklus mremaklus@thenorthernlight.org Marie Ries news2@thenorthernlight.org

Assistant Features Editor

Brenda Craig features@thenorthernlight.org

Arts & Entertainment Editor Ammon Swenson arts@thenorthernlight.org

Karolin Anders sports@thenorthernlight.org

Logan Harrison lharrison@thenorthernlight.org

Staff Reporters

Caleigh Jensen cjensen@thenorthernlight.org

Layout Editor

Levi Brown layout@thenorthernlight.org

Web Editor

Caitlin Buxbaum web@thenorthernlight.org

Advertisement Manager

Randi Pelch 786-6195 admanager@thenorthernlight.org

Marketing Representative

Alexis Abbott marketing@thenorthernlight.org

Contributors

Joseph Diaz jdiaz@thenorthernlight.org

Grant Kniefel Jacob Holley-Kline Madison McEnaney

Staff Photographers

Media Adviser

Jay Guzman jguzman@thenorthernlight.org Young Kim ykim@thenorthernlight.org

Multimedia Editor

Yoshina Okamoto multimedia@thenorthernlight.org

Graphic Designer

Jian Bautista jbautista@thenorthernlight.org

Paola Banchero

Administrative Adviser Zac Clark

Administrative Assistant Allie Hartman

Hiring For

Features Editor Assistant A&E Editor Opinion Editor

Give us your opinion at: editor@thenorthernlight.org