OCTOBER 16 - OCTOBER 22, 2018
FEATURES
UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA ANCHORAGE
SPORTS
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‘Bloodello’ brings Halloween spirit to Chilkoot Charlie’s
THENORTHERNLIGHT.ORG
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UAA hockey prevails against Colorado College
UAA Jazz Ensemble to spread love of jazz with benefit concert By Caleigh Jensen arts2@thenorthernlight.org
The first Jazz Benefit Concert of the year will be in swing on Oct. 24. A variety of talents from UAA students, faculty, alumni and community members are coming together to make the concert happen. Proceeds from the concert will contribute to UAA’s Spring Jazz Festival in March of next year. The annual festival brings together the Jazz Ensemble and local high school and middle school jazz bands, as well as guest artists and workshops open to students and the community. This spring will be the 32nd anniversary of the event. After 40 years of leading the Spring Jazz Festival and jazz program at UAA, Karen StridChadwick, a former professor of music, retired last spring and passed the reins of all things jazz to John Sterling, an adjunct faculty member. Sterling says
his experience teaching the ensemble so far has been great, and he is looking forward to the upcoming benefit concert and the other events to come. “I am really excited about the Jazz Benefit Concert as it gives the UAA students, faculty and staff, as well as the broader Anchorage community an opportunity to see the exciting jazz music being played by the UAA music department,” Sterling said in an email. “This concert is a preview of what is to come during Jazz Week itself.” Sterling began playing guitar at a young age and was introduced to jazz through a TV documentary. Since then, he has continued to experience the many benefits of jazz music and now passes that knowledge on to students. “Music grounds my thought process and helps me think about how the world around me works and can be categorized,” he said. “The tonality of the sound and how to recreate that jazz
vocabulary on my instrument keeps me working and engaged and always looking for that new sound.” The group of musicians that makes up the Jazz Ensemble at UAA varies each year. This year, it includes percussion, synthesizer, voice, trumpet, bass, guitar and piano. The performers plan to present a wide range of songs at the concert from modern classics to funk to music from the swing era. Cameron Cartland, UAA alumni and percussionist, is one of the performers at the Jazz Benefit Concert. Cartland has been playing the drums since the age of 5 and is drawn to jazz music because of the freedom it allows. “Jazz is about improvisation; it’s like a language. On one hand, it is a style of music and there’s typical things that happen in that genre… but at its fundamental level, it’s really about communication, and that
PHOTO COURTESY OF ASIA BAUZON
The Jazz Benefit Concert features performances by UAA faculty, students and alumni.
is the thing I love the most about emphasis in voice, is also it,” Cartland said. “Even if you performing at the concert. don’t speak the same language, you speak the language of jazz.” SEE CONCERT Briana Glasionov, a music PAGE 6 education major with an
ANSEP selected as finalist for Harvard Innovations Award
PHOTO COURTESY OF ANSEP
Herb Schroeder founded the Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program in 1995.
By Marie Ries
news@thenorthernlight.org
The Ash Center at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University announced the Alaska Native Science and Engineering Program as a finalist for their 2018 Innovations in American Government Award. ANSEP will now compete for a grant of $50,000 along with six other programs. The Innovations Award recognizes public-sector programs that address social thenorthernlight.org
problems and provide services to the public in a creative and effective way. This year, the focus is on initiatives reducing inequality of opportunities. ANSEP is the only education program that was selected for the final round. The objective of ANSEP’s work is to “effect systematic change in the hiring patterns of Alaska Natives in science and engineering,” according to their mission statement. Herb Schroeder, professor of engineering and now vice provost for ANSEP, is the founder of the program. facebook.com/tnlupdates
“It’s a huge honor to be recognized as one of the top seven innovative programs in the nation,” Schroeder said. “It demonstrates what an awesome place the University of Alaska Anchorage is. There’s education and innovation going on here that are not anywhere else in the country.” He started the nationally unique program in 1995 for university students. Now, ANSEP has evolved into a longitudinal program assisting Alaska Native students on their career paths from fifth grade through to the doctorate level. The most rewarding aspect about his work is watching his students “grow and break down the barriers that prevented them from being successful in the past.” The program is working with about 2,500 students from over 100 Alaskan communities. These numbers include students from all educational levels as well as ANSEP alumni. “Most of our staff are former ANSEP students, which is really cool,” Schroeder said. ANSEP also employs about 60 UAA student workers. @tnl_updates
@tnl_updates
Melody Otaegui, junior criminal justice major, has been working for ANSEP since her freshman year. Otaegui is mentoring middle school students from different Alaskan communities. She enjoys learning alongside the students. “They teach you so much,” Otaegui said. “You got to be patient with the students, but you also get to have fun with the students.” Working for ANSEP even made Otaegui consider changing her major to education. She hopes that the selection of ANSEP as a finalist for the Innovations Award will bring more attention to science and engineering programs for young students. “Who knows, maybe you are going to see more of [programs like] ANSEP in other states,” Otaegui said. For the final round of selection, representatives from the seven programs presented their innovations at the Kennedy School campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts. ANSEP’s presentation was focused on how ANSEP can improve academic outcomes and reduce youtube.com/tnlnews
cost of education. The Innovations National Selection Committee will announce the winner later in the year. Other finalists include the Army Career Skills Program and a transformative mentoring program of young adults on probation. “Our goal was to profile programs and approaches that had a demonstrated impact in improving opportunity and wealth creation for groups that had historically been left behind,” Stephen Goldsmith, director of the Innovation Award program, said in a press release. Ash Center Director and professor of international affairs Tony Saich highlighted the importance this task. “Inequality is one of the defining issues of our time,” Saich said in a press release. “For much of its history, America has been an engine of mobility as successive generations have risen up the economic and social ladder and that promise is in peril.” Further information on this year’s selection process will be released later this month on ash. harvard.edu. soundcloud.com/tnlnews
NEWS
THENORTHERNLIGHT.ORG TUESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2018
USUAA passes constitutional amendment to restructure Student Government Fee
PHOTO BY CHRISTIAN CIELO
By Joey Carreon
news2@thenorthernlight.org
USUAA voted in favor of amending Article Two, Section Two of their constitution on Oct. 5. This amendment, #19-01, would add a third clause while revising the second. Passing unanimously (with the exception of two absent members of the council), this amendment would implement a flat fee of $10 for students to pay as the Student Government Fee, as outlined by the new, second clause. The new, third clause states that the aforementioned fee
will not be changed, except by process of constitutional amendment. Prior to the amendment, no set fee was mentioned in the constitution. Formerly, students taking three or more on-campus credits would pay $1 per credit but no more than $12. Now, all students taking three or more on-campus credits will be subject to a flat $10 fee. USUAA rationalized this change by saying that it would boost the efficiency in which USUAA serves the student body. USUAA would no longer have to spend time each year calculating how much of their budget is accounted for by
Student Government Fee. It also drastically reduces the margin for error when forecasting their budget, as they no longer have to deal with the variable of the number of credit hours a student may be taking. “We do our budget [based] on enrollment and credit hours. This would just allow us to do it on enrollment,” USUAA Vice President Clare Baldwin said during the assembly meeting. “[The flat fee] just makes it easier for us.” A flat Student Government Fee is able to combat yearby-year budget decreases by allowing for USUAA to increase their budget while also optimizing their time. Baldwin said this was the first proposed change in the Student Government Fee in “over a decade.” “I think it’s going to be beneficial to the student government and our ability to actually serve students and do things that better their experience here at UAA,” Alex Jorgensen, USUAA senator, said. Students can look forward to voting on this amendment on Nov. 13-14.
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Annual Security and Fire Safety Report released By Marie Ries
news@thenorthernlight.org
The Dean of Students Office published UAA’s Annual Security and Fire Safety Report on Sept. 27. The 76-page report includes information on the security policies of all UAA campuses, as well as data about on-campus crimes in the past three years. Michael Votava, assistant dean of students and director of student conduct, compiled the data in cooperation with Student Conduct Administrator Megan Wilbur and Coordinator Steve Hawkins. Votava thinks that the data for this year are similar to previous years. “I would say that our other crime statistics remained consistent with prior reports,” Votava said. The number of reported cases of domestic violence went down compared to prior years; the campus police recorded nine cases in 2015 and seven in 2016. For the past year, one case was reported. Stalking occurred in five cases on the Anchorage campus. This number is comparable to prior reports, Votava explained. “We’ve been averaging five to seven cases of stalking on campus each year for the last several years,” Votava said. The police did not record any cases of rape in 2017. The number of reported aggravated assaults and cases of dating violence, however, increased. In 2017, three cases of aggravated assault were reported on the Anchorage campus. In the two years prior to that, one case of assault was reported. Twelve cases of motor vehicle theft occurred in 2017, which is the same number reported in 2016. This indicates a significant increase from 2015 data when only one case occurred. Students should be “aware that they need to be safe,” Votava emphasized. “Even though UAA is a very safe place, I would just want students to understand that there is crime that occurs on campus on occasion, and students should not let their guard down,” Votava said. “They should take reasonable precautions.” This includes not leaving belongings unattended on campus and being aware of the surroundings while walking at night. “You never know when there might be someone in the
GRAPHIC BY JIAN BAUTISTA
community that’s fallen on hard times and that takes towards committing a crime,” Votava said. He thinks that the campus safety benefits from the resources available to students, pointing to the SHCC health fair, the DVSA Coalition for Change and the new UAA Safe App. “I really feel that there is an emphasis on safety [on campus],” Votava said. “UAA does a great job of promoting safety to students.” September is safety awareness month. The Dean of Students Office hosted a series of events at that time to raise safety awareness among new students, Votava said. For freshman Mikayla Mader, the awareness of those resources helps her feel safe on campus. “When my parents found out that they had a virtual walkhome on the UAA Safe App, that made the and myself feel safer,” Mader said. “I know help is near if I ever need it.” The safety report also informs about university police law enforcement authority, fire safety, crime prevention and crime reporting policies. “Being informed is a good way to help yourself and others remain safe,” Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Bruce Schultz said in an email to the students. The statistics in the report are a combination of data from the Office of Equity and Compliance, the campus police and the Office of the Dean of Students. The full report can be accessed online under uaa. alaska.edu/students/safety.
FEATURES
THENORTHERNLIGHT.ORG TUESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2018
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Feast your eyes (and taste buds) on this: Culinary Club resurrects stronger than ever
PHOTOS COURTESY OF RIZA BROWN
By Robin O’Donoghue features@thenorthernlight.org
The table is loaded down with bacon-wrapped cheese stuffed dates, potato frittatas, pastries, charcuterie boards and sausagestuffed mushrooms. The spread looks fit for a special occasion or a celebration, but for members of UAA’s new Culinary Club… this is just another regular meeting. “We always have food at our meetings,” said Jaydon Mitchell, president of the Culinary Club. “Honestly, that’s the main reason to come,” he joked. The UAA Culinary Club is a new club that formed at the beginning of this semester. Actually, more recent culinary students have resurrected the group after it had been inactive for a number of years. “We actually have had a culinary club before, but it was so long ago that nobody remembers,” said Riza Brown, instructor of hospitality for the Culinary Arts Program. Brown also serves as the
club’s advisor and teaches classes on purchasing, hospitality concept and design, catering management and beverage management. “We’re all very close knit because it’s such a small group here in the Culinary Arts Program,” Brown said. “It’s important to have this club and kind of draw all the different classes together… to get everybody on the same page where they can help out their fellow students to fit in and have fun.” According to Brown, it was Finn Massey, a student in the program, that first inquired about the then inactive club. Massey had heard that there used to be a Culinary Club on campus and brought it up to instructors in the culinary program. Brown volunteered to act as the advisor for the student club and from then on, it wasn’t long before she found a group of equally enthusiastic students. “The students are really excited to make their own variations of food as opposed to giv-
PHOTO BY JAY GUZMAN GRAPHIC BY JIAN BAUTISTA
A charcuterie board at Culinary Club’s meeting.
en assignments and recipes on what to make,” Brown said. “Of course, you need a fundamental foundation in order to build your education, but you go into culinary arts with an idea of what your want for your future.” The club is open to all students with a passion for cooking and encourages even students with all levels of experience to get involved. “If you’re not having fun, you’re not doing it right,” Brown also said. “I resonate with the students because they’re all passionate about something and we share that passion. We are able to connect and share our different perspectives… It’s easy to get stressed out [in the program] so Culinary Club is an outlet for them.” Although the club is still getting on its feet, the group has
large ambitions and wants to focus on is philanthropic work, such as getting involved in the UAA community and working on various charitable causes. The club has already started connecting with different groups on campus who work on addressing problems relating to homeless and hungry students. The group’s first public event at a club will be catering DragO-Lantern, an event put on by Drag+. Members of Culinary Club are volunteering their time and resources to provide a spread of snacks for the event for free. For members of the club, the future hold limitless possibilities that the group is eager to explore. “I’m passionate about food,” said Tasha Quiett. Quiett, who is serving as the club’s secre-
tary, is currently pursuing her bachelor’s degree in restaurant and hospitality management at UAA. “This club has a chance to make a difference in our college and the community, and I’m excited and proud to be a part of it,” Quiett said. As for Brown, serving as the club’s advisor is personally rewarding. “I really believe in these students. Somebody saw something in me a long time ago, I see something in them, so I want to perpetuate that cycle,” Brown said. The UAA Culinary Club meets every other Thursday at 5 p.m. in the Cuddy Hall ADR room. You can follow the Culinary Club on their instagram account @uaa_culinary_hospitatlity.
Culinary kitchen and bakery get hot new upgrades By Malia Barto
arts@thenorthernlight.org
The kitchen in the division of Culinary Arts and Hospitality Administration received a generous gift: renovations to the kitchen and bakery. Most students know Cuddy Hall to have the Daily Grind, the commons area, the marketplace and Lucy’s Restaurant. But there is more than meets the eye that many students don’t get to see. Adjunct to Lucy’s is a professional kitchen with students busying around. They’re pushing carts and placing pans on the stove; there’s a classroom area prepared for class; a small area to make drinks and a sweetsmelling bakery with chocolate frosting in piping bags on the counter. These areas were under brief renovation through this past summer, thanks to a financial gift received years ago from
Holland America Group. The money gifted was originally going to be used for different renovations that have already been started, but the last few steps fell through. It was then decided to be used to benefit the students and program by upgrading the kitchen. The upgrades include a new frontline with refrigeration underneath, hot steam wells to keep sauces warm and a double hot window so students can keep the plates warm before serving. The bakery got rid of an “archaic” oven, freeing up space, and received a new, doublestacked convection oven, a remodeled cooler and freezer. It also had floors, doors and seals replaced and a new coat of paint. “We just gave it this muchneeded face-lift,” Naomi Everett, interim chair and associate professor, said. “It’s far more modern.” Everett said that the new ren-
ovations will allow culinary students to learn with the types of kitchens that would be used in today’s facilities. “If we can better the kitchen, then the education and how they’re learning — if it can replicate what they’re going to be seeing in the industry — is going to be a lot better,” Everett said. The division is doing well, she also said. They just finished a fundraiser and have started up the bakery cart again. The cart is open Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, 9 - 11 a.m., right in front of Lucy’s inside Cuddy Hall. The bakery cart offers fresh baked goods from cupcakes to croissants to macaroons for a few dollars. Sarah Cook, a junior in the culinary arts program, said she has been enjoying her years as a chef-in-training. “[My favorite part] has been learning — just learning every-
PHOTO BY YOUNG KIM
thing I didn’t know before,” she said. The culinary students do seven-week intervals of learning the kitchen and cooking side, then learning the baking side so they’re fully immersed and focusing on one area before switching to the other. Tasha Quiett, senior student, has been able to put her learned skills to work as the lab assistant.
“I’ve really loved getting into the world of baking. I started wanting to cook and ended up in baking,” Quiett said. “I’ve enjoyed using what I’ve learned to teach other students what I love.” Students get to create a menu and serve diners at Lucy’s, which is open Tuesday through Friday for lunch. They accept walk-ins, but reservations can also be made at OpenTable.com.
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FEATURES
Tau Delta offers Local Artist Spotlight: Sigma workshops to kickstart Brian Schuch professionalism By Malia Barto
arts@thenorthernlight.org
PHOTOS BY CHASE BURNETT
By Chase Burnett
features2@thenorthernlight.org
Originating from a background in wilderness survival, Brian Schuch’s knife making follows traditional practices to produce unique, authentic and practical works of art. In under two hours, Schuch
turned a seemingly unassuming piece of obsidian into a knife blade ready to be fitted with a handle. In the hands of a skilled craftsman, the primitive materials he uses transform rock and bone into functional tools for survival. His knife making began as a necessary survival skill and has since evolved into his career. He
attended several wilderness survival schools and learned traditional ways of living off the land. He realized the desire for hand crafted tools after putting one of his knives up for sale in his friend’s store in Juneau. “I traveled around the country learning everything I could about wilderness survival and living off the land,” he said. Traditional knives were made from obsidian and flint; however, Schuch has elevated the craft by utilizing agate, jade and even quartz. The handles are made from caribou antlers and the blades are sheathed in a birch bark or leather cover. He begins with the process of knapping, which is often called flintknapping due to the widespread use of flint in traditional practice. He first starts with a piece of bone or antler to strike the stone and remove large flakes. Moving to a copper tipped tool and antler tine, he utilizes the technique of pressure flaking to remove smaller pieces and precisely shape the rock. The pieces removed are called lithic flakes and refer to a portion of rock removed by percussion or pressure. This technique allows the craftsman to send energy through the stone by striking it and causes the rock to fracture in a controllable fashion. It’s a simple concept; however, in practice, an incorrect blow can cause the entire piece to break in half. Schuch said this can be one of the most frustrating aspects of the process. “Sometimes you get to the end of the project and make one wrong strike and the entire piece breaks apart,” he said. He can produce close to 350 knives per year. Much of his materials are sourced during hiking or hunting expeditions in Alaska. For more exotic materials that can’t be found in the state, he sources globally. Schuch is also an ancestral skills instructor and has shared his knowledge in a number of privately organized survival retreats. His practice continues to promote sustainability and advances a form of craftsmanship millions of years in the making.
Sigma Tau Delta, ΣΤΔ, is an international English honors society. At UAA’s chapter, Alpha Epilson Nu, the members are hosting workshops to help students learn professional skills. For the rest of the semester, Sigma Tau Delta will be hosting free educational workshops, called the Professionalization Series, that will inform students, English majors or not, on areas of professionalism with guest speakers. September’s workshop was on how to balance a school, home and work life, something practical and useful for every student. Members of the society have said that being in Sigma Tau Delta is a good way to introduce students to areas of professionalism and allows for “good opportunities” in networking and other specialized areas. “Especially if you want to pursue a career in academia, it’s a good place to get your feet wet, get used to it and get your foot in the door,” Nancy Long, Sigma Tau Delta’s president and English graduate student, said. The Professionalization Se-
ries has been taking place for a few years now. The society plans on having one once a month during the school year. They also host fundraising events, like their book sale, where those passing by can purchase used books from textbooks to novels. It’s typically $1 for one book or $2 for three. The proceeds go to benefit the Pacific Rim Conference, a weekend academic conference held early in the spring semester. Sigma Tau Delta’s next book sale is Oct. 16 and 17, from 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. in the Administration/Humanities building. If interested in donating books for the sale, students can drop them off in the English department. “I think Sigma Tau Delta has done a really good job at [building community] with your fellow majors,” Deb Castillo, English graduate student, said. The next Professionalization Series workshop is Wednesday, Oct. 17 at 5:30 - 6:30 p.m. in the Admin building, room 102. English majors or minors who are interested in joining Sigma Tau Delta can reach out at uaastd@gmail.com or on their Facebook page, UAA Sigma Tau Delta - Alpha Epilson Nu.
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THENORTHERNLIGHT.ORG TUESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2018
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National juried art competition ‘No Big Heads’ to open for 33rd year By Caleigh Jensen arts2@thenorthernlight.org
“No Big Heads,” the Hugh McPeck gallery’s annual national self-portrait juried exhibition, is returning for its 33rd year on Oct. 18. The exhibition welcomes applicants of all ages and from all over the U.S. to submit pieces that interpret their sense of self. “Everyone has a unique style and unique artwork that they create,” Brandon Moore, UAA alumni and marketing coordinator for Parking Services and General Support Services, said. “Some people take it very literally and do their face and some do something completely off the walls that is more metaphorical and represents who they are. I always respect people who can do both.” The exhibition gives artists a lot of freedom of interpretation. The few criteria included no works exceeding 12 inches by 12 inches or 40 pounds, no
entries that were completed over three years ago or shown in a previous UAA exhibition and a limit of two entries per person. Aileen Page, a bachelor of fine arts pre-major focusing on drawing, took advantage of this freedom and created a piece for the competition using a technique of pressing embroidery thread into wax known as yarn painting. This is her third year submitting work to “No Big Heads,” and she expressed her gratitude for the annual exhibition. “In a way, [art competitions] are validating that you’re on the right path. It’s an opportunity to get your work out there in a public space and possibly get recognized,” Page said. “It’s nice that they do this every year. It’s something consistent that I know I can apply for.” “No Big Heads” is the only art competition at UAA that allows applicants from outside of Alaska. It was brought to life by Bill Sabo, a former painting professor that
wanted to give students an opportunity to compete in a show with artists from outside the university. Since outside artists had to send in their submissions, Sabo proposed the pieces should remain relatively small, thus inspiring the name “No Big Heads.” Tyler Teese, member of the Hugh McPeck Gallery management team, says that typically about a quarter of the competition’s applicants are from Anchorage, while the rest are from all over the U.S., allowing an opportunity for UAA students to get exposure to new styles and trends. “There’s different artists from around the country that are utilizing different styles that you might not get here,” Teese said. “It adds another perspective, which I think is beneficial to everybody.” The grand prize of the exhibition, or Best of Show, grants the winner a $1,000 prize. A total of $1,000 in other cash awards is dispersed to other applicants at the dis-
cretion of the juror that is chosen by the gallery and the art advisory board. This year, Elisabeth Higgins O’Connor will serve as the guest juror for the exhibition. She earned a bachelor’s in fine arts from California State University, Long Beach and a master’s in fine arts at the University of California, Davis, and currently teaches at the latter. O’Connor also specializes in animal imagery, creating life-size sculptures out of a variety of mediums, including fabric, cardboard and wood. Having never traveled to Alaska, O’Connor saw judging “No Big Heads” as a great opportunity to explore a new state and expose herself to new art. “It was a huge honor just to be invited to come to the university. I’ve done artist lectures across the country, but I’ve never been to Alaska before,” she said. “Just to have an opportunity to see a new part of the country and see new students and faculty who work in the arts
PHOTO COURTESY OF SHELSEA DODD
“Do I Dare Eat a Peach,” by Shelsea Dodd, received Jurors Choice in 2017.
is very exciting.” Of the 106 submissions for this year’s competition, 64 pieces were chosen for the second round of judging. O’Connor was impressed by the variety of interpretations of a selfportrait and the level of energy put into the pieces. She encourages artists of all ages to take advantage of competitions such as this. “For a voice outside of your professors or friend group to commend you on your work is a huge pat on
the back,” O’Connor said. “Just to get your foot in the door is a really great feeling. You have nothing to lose.” An opening reception for “No Big Heads” will take place from 5 - 7 p.m. on Oct. 18 in the Hugh McPeck Gallery. The exhibition will run until Nov. 9 and can be viewed during the gallery’s hours of 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday.
All Things Debauchery: “Bloodello” returns to Koot’s By Robin O’Donoghue features@thenorthernlight.org
At the end of the month, the worlds of haunt and burlesque will collide once again for the return of “Bloodello,” a burlesque show and haunted house tour at Chilkoot Charlie’s. For just $10, those 21 years old and up can enjoy performances by Anchorage-based burlesque troupe, VivaVoom Brr-Lesque, and then brave the frights 907HauntAK has prepared in the haunted tour that brings to life odd and unsettling takes from Anchorage’s red light district. “Bloodello” will take place on Oct. 26, 27 and on Halloween night. This 21+ show starts at 7:30 p.m. with subsequent shows happening at 8:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. “It’s going to be some good, scary, adult fun,” said Lola Pistola, founder of VivaVoom Burlesque. “Most Halloween [events] are for children… This show is perfect for those adults that also really enjoy Halloween.” “Bloodello” first took place last October and is a fundraiser for Alaska’s only international burlesque festival: Freezing Tassel Burlesque Festival. It’s put on by VivaVoom and takes place annually in March. “There are a lot of costs associated with organizing the festival,” said Pistola. “This event helps us offset those costs.” Chilkoot Charlie’s, otherwise known by locals as just “Koot’s,” has been operating in the heart of Spenard since the 1970s. “Bloodello” mixes the burlesque expertise of Pistola’s troupe with the expertise of Scare Bosses and owners of 907HauntAK, Tim Flynn and Lydia Johnson. According to Flynn, Koot’s, which is a sprawling old building with three stages, three dance floors and 10 bars,
PHOTO COURTESY OF LOLA PISTOLA
Cast members of “Bloodello” 2017.
is the “perfect space” to transform for a haunted tour. Flynn works at UAA as the Student Union Operations Coordinator by day, and actually has an extensive background in horror and haunted house production. In 2001, Flynn entered the macabre world of haunt by getting involved with the Haunted Catacombs at Oregon State University. From there, Flynn went on to sharpen his spooky skills as a professional “scare actor” at the Haunted Plantation in Waipahu, Hawaii, a professional haunted house establishment that has been open for 13 years. When Flynn first met Johnson, she told him about a fantastic haunted house she had enjoyed attending at the Alaska Pacific University in 2012. Unbeknownst to Johnson, Flynn had organized and produced that same haunted house. Shortly after the two bonded over their mutual love of all things Halloween, they got married and embarked on creating their
own haunting business, 907HauntAK. At this year’s “Bloodello,” the haunted tour focuses on the odd history of Spenard’s red light district, taking patrons back in time through the gold panning days of the 1890s, the neo oil boom of the 1970s-1980s and all the way up until the modern times. “It’s basically a snapshot of what Spenard has been through the years,” Flynn said. Flynn explains that they gathered inspiration for this year’s haunt by thinking of the Spenard Windmill, which sits right at the edge of the Koot’s parking lot, as a “vortex of paranormal activity.” “The Windmill is kind of like a magnet that attracts all things paranormal,” Flynn said. “Anchorage has always been weird, especially Spenard… and we’re excited to showcase that. There’s going to be all sorts of debauchery.” According to Flynn, in addition to instilling fear into patrons, “Bloodello”
also seeks to challenge the gender stereotypes that befall what could be referred to as a “house of ill repute.” “In [Bloodello], it’s women who are in charge,” he said. Jamie Logan, a psychology major at UAA, is looking forward to “Bloodello.” “I’ve always loved Halloween and horror… but I also love dance and burlesque and that performance side of it,” said Logan. After participating in the first “Bloodello,” Logan was drawn back to the event and will be reprising her role as a tour guide, responsible for leading guests through the haunted tour. While the haunted tour is scary, it is accompanied by a motif of humor that offsets a bit of the terror, Logan said. “I’ve never really seen or heard of anything of this nature going on in Anchorage,” she said. “If you’re looking for something to do for Halloween, it’s a great option.” Logan shared that at last year’s “Bloodello,” part of the haunt had two scare actors chasing guests with real chainsaws. “The blades are removed but I think that part scared people the most,” Logan said. For Flynn, safety for both actors and patrons is a priority. “Safety is number one for our staff and also for our patrons and our actors. Koot’s has great security so we’re making sure everyone has a good time,” he said. Flynn encourages those aged 21 and over who may be interested in getting involved as a scare actor to contact him. To learn more about the event, visit VivaVoomburlesque.com and you can find the VivaVoom Burlesque troupe on their Facebook page, VivaVoom Brr-Lesque, or on Instagram @vivavoombrrlesque.
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A&E
CONCERT: ‘Jazz is about improvisation; it’s like a language’ Continued from cover
PHOTO COURTESY OF ASIA BAUZON
The UAA Jazz Ensemble will be hosting a benefit concert on Oct. 24, and proceeds will go towards the Spring Jazz Festival in March 2019.
She got into jazz music as a kid and started to pursue solo singing once in college. “I’ve just always loved jazz music. I love how expressive it is; you have a lot of freedom to explore,” Glasionov said. “You can come up with a different idea every practice and the band is really great at listening to each other and feeding off the energy in the room.” Glasionov has been a
member of the Jazz Ensemble for three years now and hopes the audience at the concert will be able to share her love for the genre. “I hope that they’re tapping their feet and having a good time. That’s what I think jazz is really all about: just getting people interested in listening,” she said. “It’s such an old art form that today. A lot of people don’t appreciate it as much. The benefit concerts are really to
inspire people and show them that it’s fun to listen to and be involved in.” The Jazz Benefit Concert will take place on Oct. 24 from 7:30 - 9:30 p.m. in the recital hall of the Fine Arts Building, or room 150. Tickets are $19.99 for adults, $14.99 for seniors and military personnel and $9.99 for students, and can be purchased online at www.artsuaa.com. All proceeds will go towards the 2019 Spring Jazz Festival.
A&E
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SPORTS
THENORTHERNLIGHT.ORG TUESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2018
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UAA makes comeback against Colorado College
PHOTO COURTESY OF SKIP HICKEY
Brody Claeys defends goal in game against Colorado College on Oct. 7.
By Lauren Cuddihy sports@thenorthernlight.org
Oct. 6 marked the beginning of the 2018-19 UAA hockey season in the team’s debut game against Colorado College. Despite being the season opener, the Seawolves already had some competition in their expedition game against Simon Fraser. Both the expedition and the season opener were hosted in Alaska, an advantage that Head
Coach Matt Curley was happy about. “We were really excited to have the opportunity to start the season off in our own barn, but now we know we need to get acclimated to traveling on the road,” Curley said. In an unexpected downturn of events, after their impressive win against Simon Fraser, the Seawolves suffered an 8-point deficit against Colorado College and finished with a 2-10 loss. However, they were able to redeem themselves the following
day. The deficit appeared almost immediately in game one. The first period was marked by an initial 4 points accumulated by CC, exceeding UAA’s one point. Sophomore forward Jordan Xavier scored the first goal of the game, one of UAA’s two goals, just seven minutes into the first period. Out of the eight shots made by Seawolves, Xavier’s was the only successful one in that period. Then CC continued to score back-to-back at 8:46 and 9:35, then two more times before the end of the period. This gave them a 0.400 scoring average for the first period, masking UAA’s 0.125 average. Again, the entire second period was dominated by CC despite UAA attempting more shots. Matching their first period average, CC scored four of their 10 attempts. The Seawolves, on the other hand, attempted 12 shots but zero of them rendered successful. Entering the third period, the Seawolves were down 7 points at 1-8.
In a temporary success for the Seawolves, they decreased their deficit just slightly by scoring the first goal of the third period. Senior forward Nicolas Erb-Ekholm, assisted by Eric Sinclair and Malcom Hayes, made the second and final goal for the Seawolves. CC continued to finish off the third period with an additional two points, pushing the final score to 2-10. In the goal, the Seawolves split the game between Kristian Stead and Brody Claeys. Stead took the first half, making a total of 10 saves in periods one and two, while Claeys finished off by making 11 saves in periods two and three. Despite similar save percentages, Stead gave up 7 points while Claeys gave up just 3. “As a coach, it became a little bit more clear of where the [starting] order is, and the nice part about that is that a lot of it was on the guys,” Curley said. The following day, the two teams met back on the ice. This time, the Seawolves prevailed over CC.
From four different Seawolves in each period, UAA outscored CC to win their first game of the season a 4-3. Senior forward Cam Amantea scored first in period one. Sophomore forward Joe Sofo followed by scoring early in period two. Senior forward Nils Rygaard and junior defenseman Tomi Hiekkavirta finished off strongly by each scoring in the third period. Overall, the Seawolves solidified a 0.174 scoring average, which was significantly over CC’s 0.093 average for the game. Claeys was in the net for the entire 60 minutes of the game, making a total of 29 saves. This gave Claeys a 0.906 save average. In comparison, CC’s goaltender only managed a 0.826 save average. “I wanted to see effort and hard work. This is really something we have been stressing,” Curley said. They will be on the road on Oct. 26 and 27 to play against Ferris State in Big Rapids, Michigan.
UAA athlete named GNAC Runner of the Week high outlook for her this season. “Well, the women’s team sports@thenorthernlight.org is coming back, they’re all returners and we have some In the brief span of the UAA pretty decent talent there,” cross country season, the team Friess said. “Emmah Chelimo and many individuals have prov- is at the top of the talent on [our en themselves after having only team right now].” run in two meets. The Kenya local kept up her The first meet of the season impressive stats by running was an in-state duel against well enough at the New Balance UAF at the New Balance XC Classic to not just place in the Classic on Sept. 8. Due to her top runners, but also win the performance at the meet, junior whole race. Emmah Chelimo was awarded For the entire 6-kilometer Great Northwest Athletic race, Chelimo finished at No. 1 Conference Runner of the Week. with a time of 21 minutes and 27 The award did not come as a seconds. Nancy Jeptoo, Danielle surprise to most, since Chelimo McCormick, Ruth Cvancara and performed exceptionally well the Grace Gannon rounded off the previous year. She was named next four top spots, respectively. GNAC Newcomer of the Year “The team did pretty good by placing 8th at the conference and coach [Friess] was pretty championships and continuing impressed with how good on to compete at nationals. the start of the season was,” Head Coach Michael Friess Chelimo said. was certainly optimistic about Chelimo did not slow down. Chelimo, saying that he had a By Lauren Cuddihy
The team went on to compete in the UNLV Invitational on Sept. 22. Again, Chelimo came out on top with her another first place finish. “I liked the race a lot [at UNLV]. The course was pretty tough, but overall I think the performance was pretty good for me, being the start of the season,” Chelimo said. Chelimo finished the 5-kilometer race in 18 minutes and 54 seconds, which is just four seconds ahead of Jeptoo, who finished second. Reflecting on both her races, as well as her teammates’, Chelimo knew there couldn’t have been a better way to run the first two races. Following the UNLV Invitational, the Seawolves had a month off the train, which Chelimo realized is a good thing after a positive start. “All we need to do is keep
PHOTO COURTESY OF SKIP HICKEY
Emmah Chelimo has placed first in several meets, including the New Balance XC Classic, which awarded her the title of GNAC Newcomer of the Year.
running hard, but overall this was a really good start to the season, which is good motivation,” Chelimo said. The next meet for the runners is the Western Washington Invitational on Oct. 20. “We only have one meet over the weekend before we go
to conference and everyone is working hard [for those meets],” Chelimo said. Following the WWU Invit, in Bellingham, Washington, the Seawolves will have two weeks to re-group before heading to Monmouth, Oregon for the GNAC Championships.
Intramural sports fall update By Emily Medina
sports2@thenorthernlight.org
The fall season of intramural sports is still in full swing for soccer and volleyball teams. Basketball intramural ended Monday, Oct. 15 and will start their new season during the spring semester. After a 10-game season for intramural basketball, AK Ballers came out on top with only losing one game. In second place is Alley-Hoopers, who only lost two. The other teams put up a good fight as well: lil pumpfakes
lost four, TORQUE!!!! Lost five, RACK’EM UP! lost eight and DFG lost 10. The fall season for intramural soccer started on Sept. 12 and will continue until Nov. 28. Groovy Gang has the best performance so far with three wins and zero losses. UGSO and Scrambled Legs have played two games with zero losses while Gym Class Heroes has won the only game they’ve played. Six teams will hit the field again on Wednesday, Oct. 17 with three games in total. The first game will be starting at 7 p.m. with the following two
starting at 8 p.m. and 9 p.m.. Intramural volleyball has a total of 13 teams this year. The team to keep an eye out for is ADQ, which has had five wins so far with zero losses. The team Cardio is a close second in standings with four wins and one loss. Practice Safe Sets, Prestige Worldwide and That’s What She Set have all won three games and lost one. The next chance to watch intramural volleyball in action will be Tuesday, Oct. 16. There will be three games all starting at 9 p.m. in the Wells Fargo Sports Complex.
PHOTO BY EMILY SANTANA MEDINA
Team members of Williwaw United: Juan Cielo, Cesar Moreno, Addison Downing.
Although intramural basketball has ended their fall season, it is not too early to start putting a team together for the spring season. Registration
for next semester’s intramural sports will begin Jan. 14, 2019 and will be open until Jan. 28.
OPINION Don Young’s time is up Representation requires civility and respectability, two qualities Don Young is sorely lacking By Robert Hockema opinion@thenorthernlight.org
As the midterm elections approach us, it’s often helpful to take a step back and ask a simple question: what do you look for in a representative? For most people, the answer is based on substantive issues: the policies, solutions and ideas that make our communities and country a better place to be. With a huge gap in the budget remaining, a persistent crime problem and opioid abuse, we should be looking for representatives that want to get the job done. However, there’s a quality we often forsake when evaluating candidates for office. In a climate that is increasingly hostile to disagreement and nuance, it’s important that candidates that can bring together their communities for the common good. That means that equally as important as a candidate’s quality of platform is their respect for civility. If the mark of a good candidate is their ability to respect differences in politics and unify their communities, I couldn’t think of a better election to turn our attention towards than the race for Alaska’s sole seat in the House of Representatives. Don Young has occupied our seat in the House since 1973, making him the longest-serving House member in the chamber. He has survived almost every election challenge since then with no less than 55 percent of the vote. Young is responsible for the passage of a plethora of legislation throughout his tenure, earning him the title of most effective legislator multiple times. Unfortunately, Don Young is far more well-known for saying and doing awful things all the time. Young’s unvarnished gaffes go back decades. During a congressional hearing in 1994, Young got into a confrontation with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Mollie Beattie. Young waved an 18-inch oosik — a penis bone from a walrus — and pounded it into his hands to emphasize a point he was making. Young’s outlandish behavior has been well-known to his colleagues and constituents alike for decades, but his most famous statements have come in just the last decade. In 2005, after funds for Young’s famous “Bridge to Nowhere” were redirected elsewhere, he told critics of his project to “kiss my ear.” In 2011, he got into a yelling match with Rice University professor Douglas Brinkley during a congressional hearing over the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge where he referred to his testimony as “garbage.”
In a radio interview in 2013, he referred to Hispanic immigrants who picked tomatoes on his father’s farm as “wetbacks.” A year later, Young traumatized students mourning the death of a student who had just committed suicide. Speaking at a high school assembly, he blamed the suicide on the student’s “lack of support” from his family and friends and continued to make offensive remarks about victims of suicide. He even made jokes about bulls having sex to illustrate a point about same-sex marriage. The same year, Young’s spokesman had to walk back comments Young made towards his Democratic opponent, Forrest Dunbar. According to Dunbar, Don Young “snarled” at him before a debate and said “‘Don’t you ever touch me. Don’t ever touch me. The last guy who touched me ended up on the ground dead.” Those who defend Young often say that his words are harmless and that he’s a good legislator anyways. The problem with this is two-fold. It ignores Young’s unconcern for getting along with those who oppose him and the fact that he only legislates for his constituents. There are tens of thousands of Alaskans who vote for the other guy every year, and his indignant behavior suggests he isn’t willing to hear them out any time soon. Luckily, there’s a candidate running against Don Young who offers a stark and refreshing contrast to his tired incumbency. Alyse Galvin, a lifelong Alaskan and strong advocate for public education, is the embodiment of the civility and discourse Alaskans — and the country, for that matter — are in dire need of. Anyone who talks to Galvin can attest to her unique ability to construct meaningful dialogue with those around her. Not only does she stick to the issues, but she also engages voters in good faith. For however long you converse with her, she has one priority and one priority only: you. To be sure, Alyse Galvin’s dedication to unity is equally matched to her meaningful policy solutions. Her plan to address the opioid crisis, improve energy efficiency in rural Alaska and improve education standards across the country are a stark contrast to Young’s platform, which currently features an empty “Issues” section on his campaign website. Problem solving requires diverse input and a willingness to hear the other side. Don Young has consistently proven he’s unwilling to offer anything but his brutish, contemptuous version of politics. It’s time to give him the boot.
THENORTHERNLIGHT.ORG TUESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2018
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Mass produce ivory By Ben Edwards
opinion2@thenorthernlight.org
Poaching Earth’s endangered animals is still a lucrative line of work. Spurred by high demand in China and the United States, poachers kill at least 20,000 elephants a year for their ivory tusks. Poachers are clever and resourceful. They have complex global supply chains that separate tusks individually, and their smugglers move them through random ports before their final destination. They can also be incredibly violent. Park rangers are routinely killed by poachers in Sub-Saharan Africa. This industry flourishes despite international attempts to stifle it, and the results are devastating. Tanzania’ elephant population dropped 60 percent in the last five years. The northern white rhinoceros was declared functionally extinct in March 2018, a result brought about by the hefty price that their horns can fetch alongside ivory. Poaching is sustainable because the industry deliberately built itself to exist under the nose of law enforcement. They understand the system and how to exploit its weaknesses. Poaching is profitable because international bans do not stop market demand. In fact, the price of ivory is artificially high because there is little competition and it’s easy for the strongest cartels to monopolize the business. Given that poaching continues to thrive at the expense of vulnerable species, new approaches must be undertaken immediately. The best approach sounds counterintuitive at first. We need to mass produce ivory to flood targeted markets, and we can do that without harming any animals. To understand this, we need to look at the how and the why. How ivory can be mass produced is through synthetic manufacturing. Synthetic ivory has already been successfully developed in laboratories. A research team at the University of Oxford used hydroxyapatite, the mineral that partially constitutes human bone, to create a block of imitation ivory. Liquid silkworm silk can be introduced to substitute the collagen in natural ivory. This makes the synthetic ivory easy to carve, which suits the needs of most consumers.
GRAPHIC BY JIAN BAUTISTA
This technology is ready to transition into mass production. However, there are legality and visibility challenges to surmount. The legal problem comes from the fact that the ivory trade is already criminalized in a lot of countries. It is not clear if synthetic ivory falls outside of the legal definition of ivory. Therefore, governments need to make a concerted effort to apply exception to synthetic ivory. The visibility challenge implies that a well-publicized distribution of synthetic ivory will encourage black market smugglers to seek and destroy competing ivory. It is in their interest to maintain the high price of natural ivory. It is in our interest to flood the market with synthetic ivory covertly, so consumers and smugglers will be none the wiser. The next question that we need to answer is why this should be done. Two observations can be made: the price of ivory is artificially high, and the black market appears to be highly concentrated by a few millionaire kingpins. Mass producing synthetic ivory would introduce competition by severely undercutting the price of natural ivory. This is an expansion of a strategy already proposed by Pembient, a Seattle-based company that builds rhinoceros horns from 3D printers. Their fake horns are indistinguishable from real horns, and can be sold at one-eighth the cost in most markets. It is important that synthetic ivory be marketed as genuine. Of course, this amounts to defrauding the customer. I don’t care. Unlike fraud in the medical profession, for example, fake ivory bears no real effect on consumers’ livelihoods. Many consumers purchase ivory for use in traditional eastern medicine, where tusk powder is be-
lieved to remove your toxins and give skin a luminous glow. The Chinese government even approved a grant for a pure ivory pill in 2006, which was absurdly claimed to help cure tuberculosis. Synthetic ivory will have the same placebo effect on people’s health as natural ivory. Many other consumers in China and the United States purchase ivory for the aesthetic appeal that artisans carve. All of these consumers indirectly have blood on their hands. The sin of defrauding them is acceptable compared to our vulnerable species and the park rangers who die to protect them. It is imperative that we maintain maximum pressure against poachers in order for this to work. The cost and risk for poachers to do business must be kept high, so that synthetic ivory can capture a dominant market share. Anti-poaching teams should intensify their operations during this transition period. Disrupt supply chains, burn captured ivory stockpiles and arrest or shoot poachers on sight. The black market has always rebounded after these intense anti-poaching measures before. This time will be different. They will discover that their consumers are no longer desperate to reconnect with them because synthetic ivory has been consistently and covertly supplying their demand at a much cheaper price. A combination of maximum pressure and cheap synthetic ivory may deal the killing blow to the illegal ivory trade. It is at least worth a shot because the status quo is witnessing the continuous slaughter of Earth’s remaining elephant populations. Humans have the technology to destroy the evils of poaching. Elephants do not. It is time that we use our technology to be good stewards of biodiversity.
10
OPINION
Decriminalize prostitution in Alaska By Ben Edwards
opinion2@thenorthernlight.org
In 2010, a self-employed sex worker arranged to meet with a client in an Anchorage hotel. She was neither coerced nor trafficked into the meeting. For her, it was a voluntary source of income like any other job. When she met this client, she massaged and engaged in sexual contact with him for nearly half an hour. Then the door blew open and vice detectives burst into the room and handcuffed her. The client was actually an Alaska State Trooper. This woman was paraded outside in front of a camera crew for National Geographic’s TV series “Alaska State Troopers.” She was hardly given time to dress or clean up. She was humiliated and shocked that Alaska’s law enforcement would lure people into committing a crime. This story actually happened. The sex worker told her story to the Huffington Post in 2017. Her story is one of many abuses suffered by sex workers in Alaska. It is currently legal in this state for police to invite, pay and engage in sexual intercourse with sex workers. The Anchorage Police Department fiercely defends
this practice, regarding it as “investigative work.” Dozens of stories compiled by the advocacy group Community United for Safety and Protection indicate that these investigative stings are rampant with abuse. One story in Alaska tells of a law enforcement officer engaging in sex to completion with a sex worker but declining to arrest her afterwards because she didn’t physically take the money. She left the hotel empty-handed. She told the Huffington Post that she felt like she had been raped, since the officer used his badge to obtain free sexual intercourse, antithetical to what she consented to as a sex worker. These victims have no recourse for justice in Alaska. For one thing, it is unlikely that law enforcement will protect a sex worker from being sexually exploited by law enforcement. To them, it’s just part of the job. Additionally, sex workers are reluctant to report crimes to the police because their business is criminalized. Alaska’s sex trafficking laws are so broad that it includes all forms of sex work. This means that even selfemployed sex workers can be arrested for trafficking themselves. This is covered under Section 11.66.120 sex trafficking
in the second degree. It is not enough to simply forbid police and prosecutors from doing this. The problem is with the law. For as long as sex work is criminalized, sex workers will continue to be abused and marginalized into dangerous work environments. Prostitution must be decriminalized and regulated in the State of Alaska. The first argument is on the basis of personal liberty. A sex worker absolutely has the right to do whatever they wish with their own body. Voluntary prostitution should not be confused with sex trafficking. Alaska’s laws should not relax on the punishment of criminals who coerce other people into sex slavery. Rather, voluntary prostitution grants people the right to engage in sex work on their own accord. The second argument is on the basis of safety. Prostitution is legal in most of the other developed countries. They have realized that prostitution is going to exist regardless, so it is better to allow sex workers to organize brothels than to force them to work in the streets and hotel rooms. These brothels are regulated and secure. The workers are subject to regular STD testing and are entitled to workers’
rights and equal protection under the law. The clients are subject to background checks and are required to use condoms and respect consent even after payment. Rooms are equipped with panic buttons, so that security can be summoned as soon as the sex worker feels unsafe. None of these benefits exist for as long as we criminalize prostitution. The results speak for themselves. When Rhode Island temporarily decriminalized indoor prostitution in 2003, researchers at the National Bureau of Economic Research found a 31 percent decrease in reported rape offenses and a 39 percent decrease in female gonorrhea. Australian researchers conducted a study of their country’s legal brothel system and found that sex workers in the state of Victoria actually had lower rates of STIs than the general population, partly due to the frequent testing. Decriminalizing prostitution requires the destruction of the stigma surrounding it. Many people still wrongly assume that voluntary sex workers are all uneducated, self-loathing women on the fringes of society. They throw around disparaging labels like streetwalker, whore and hooker. They ask what her
parents must think. This is dehumanizing and sexist. In reality, sex workers who operate in countries that support and protect them report mental health and well-being consistent with the general population. Male sex workers also participate widely in the industry. Clients are also more diverse than the “lonely john” stigma assumes. Legal sex work opens the door for the individual trying to understand his or her sexuality, the middle-aged couple looking to spice things up or the overworked professional who desires intimacy but lacks time for dating. Sex work can be a safe, healthy and respectable occupation. Nothing realistic is sacrificed and so much is achieved if we decriminalize it. In Alaska, you can have consensual sex with anyone you want to and it is not a criminal issue. But if money is involved, then it becomes a crime. That’s absurd. Not only is it a violation of personal liberty, but it also directly contributes to the rampant abuse of sex workers in this state. Contact your legislators in Juneau and get this fixed.
Kavanaugh’s confirmation spells trouble for democracy By Robert Hockema opinion@thenorthernlight.org
In many ways, the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court was indicative of the decayed state of American politics. The vote was cast on almost perfectly partisan lines; the vetting and confirmation process was short and incomplete; and the discourse surrounding Kavanaugh’s record was conducted with bitter contempt. Kavanaugh’s confirmation was also a defining moment for the country. The minute Kavanaugh lay his hand on the Bible as former Justice Anthony Kennedy swore him in, two things became remarkably clear. The first is that sexual assault is not a disqualifying factor for men who seek positions of power in the United States. Republicans in the Senate, like Susan Collins, called for the immediate resignation of Al Franken as allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced, yet neglected to err on the side of caution and deny the confirmation of a man with multiple allegations of assault against him. No matter the lip
service politicians pay to survivors of sexual assault, the message is more transparent now than ever: from the presidency to the gatekeeper of our constitution, sexual assault only matters when it’s not your party in trouble. The second and perhaps more important point of political clarity brought to light is that the process we use to evaluate and confirm nominees to the Supreme Court has been grossly politicized. Consider the hastiness with which Kavanaugh’s vetting was conducted. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell certainly didn’t try to hide his intention to rush the confirmation before the midterms, so as to avoid a blue wave washing away the few seats separating his party from minority status in the Senate. In order to cross the finish line before Nov. 6, Senate Republicans played dirty. Senate Republicans worked in tandem with the White House to withhold over 100,000 documents regarding Kavanaugh’s profile, leaving Senators unable to review the full extent of his record
before making an informed decision. Then, hours before hearings were to begin, over 42,000 documents were dumped on Senators’ desks for review. This is no way to conduct a thorough, judicious review of a nominee for the highest court in the land. All parties understandably want to secure a judicial legacy while in office, but legacy should never supersede the integrity of the democratic process. Alas, McConnell knew it would take more than poisoning the confirmation hearings to secure 50 votes. The final blow to the process was an unapologetic campaign to discredit Kavanaugh’s accusers using smear tactics and bad-faith engagement. We all knew Christine Blasey Ford would never get a fair shake when she shared her story. Survivors of sexual assault are already systematically demoralized and disbelieved when they come out. This time was different. It’s not often that a major political party gaslights a sexual assault survivor in order to lift their accuser to a position of power. Collins, a key Repub-
lican swing vote from Maine, towed the line by saying that she believed Ford was assaulted by somebody — just not Kavanaugh. McConnell inaccurately called Ford’s accusation “uncorroborated,” ignoring the four sworn affidavits to the Senate Judiciary Committee confirming her story. Despite Ford’s certainty that Kavanaugh was culpable and corroboration by multiple sources, Kavanaugh’s defenders resorted to persistently questioning her sanity. Senators continued to repeat Kavanaugh’s repeated misrepresentation of Leland Keyser’s letter to the Judiciary Committee, claiming that it “refutes” Ford’s allegation. This was, of course, despite the fact that Keyser’s lawyer issued a statement clarifying she “does not refute Dr. Ford’s account”. Even President Trump himself continues to parade his indifference towards factual accuracy by mocking Ford at rallies. But never mind that Trump’s account of her testimony is flagrantly straw-manned. More important is its representation of the strategy Senate Republicans and pundits desperate to solidify
a conservative majority on the Supreme Court have employed: procedural stonewalling and purposeful dishonesty. A country that decides whether or not survivors of sexual assault deserve to be treated like human beings based on their political affiliation is surely a nation headed for trouble. The basis of our democracy is that we listen and engage with the intent to understand and disagree. Democracy is also predicated on transparency in process, which requires both a commitment to truth and indifference towards ideological outcomes. The confirmation of Kavanaugh is a worrying sign that we’re losing sight of both of these commitments. We cannot sustain this model of government. Rushing crucial presidential appointments to score midterm points leads to more mistrust of government. Dehumanizing those we disagree with abrades the spirit of discourse and human decency. Without the pillars of which democracy rests on, we’re left only with is self interested governance and acidic populism.
OPINION
11
Letter to the Editor: The new and improved home of Disability Support Services
From Kim Bustillos UAA Disability Support Services is moving! But not far. In fact, DSS is staying in the same building: the Rasmuson Hall. The exciting news is that they will be moving into an entirely remodeled space that is twice the size of their old location. A new space with updated features will allow DSS to better serve UAA’s growing student body. The Disability Support Services has
been hard at work this last week packing up and moving to their new location on the other side of the Rasmuson Hall. The new space is about 2,800 square feet in size. This has tripled the testing capacities for DSS. The previous space wasn’t entirely wheelchair accessible, said Anne Lazenby, interim director for DSS. The new location will now be entirely wheelchair accessible and will better serve the needs of UAA’s growing student body. Approximately 65 percent of disabilities are invisible, Lazenby also said. Great care was taken to ensure that DSS facilitates a broad range of disabilities. Features such as adjustable desks, dimming lights and wide halls to accommodate turn radius for wheelchairs are a few of the highlights of this project. This project was high-priority driven. An analysis was done, and the old space for DSS was inadequate to meet a student body of UAA’s size, said Chris McConnell, acting director of Facilities & Campus Services. DSS had been housed in the same space since the mid-1990s. Creative mea-
PHOTO COURTESY OF KIM BUSTILLOS
sures were taken to make the most of the old space. Closets were turned into offices and there was careful planning to accommodate student disabilities with the limited space. A growing student body propelled the need for a larger and up-
graded space. DSS plans on having a grand opening for the new space in January once they are completely moved in and things have settled down.
CO R R E C T I O N S Last issue, The Northern Light captioned a photo of Thomas Chung and an individual for the article, “UAA painting professor provokes thought at museum.” We misidentified the individual as Brook Vencill. That individual was actually Anchorage Museum’s Chief Curator, Francesca Du Brock.
STAFF CONTACTS
A S S O C I AT E D CO L L E G I AT E P R ES S
3211 Providence Drive Student Union 113 Anchorage, AK 99508
Sports Reporter Emily Medina sports2@thenorthernlight.org
Executive Editor Levi Signe Brown (907) 786-1313 editor@thenorthernlight.org
Opinion Writer Robert Hockema opinion@thenorthernlight.org
Managing Editor Cheyenne Mathews cmathews@thenorthernlight.org Copy Editor Mariah DeJesus-Remaklus mremaklus@thenorthernlight.org News Editor Marie Ries news@thenorthernlight.org News Reporter Joey Carreon news2@thenorthernlight.org
Opinion Writer Ben Edwards opinion2@thenorthernlight.org Staff Photographer Christian Cielo ccielo@thenorthernlight.org Multimedia Editor Mizelle Mayo multimedia@thenorthernlight.org Graphic Designer Jian Bautista jbautista@thenorthernlight.org
Features Editor Chase Burnett features@thenorthernlight.org
Advertising Manager Meida Cen admanager@thenorthernlight.org (907) 786-6195
Features Reporter Robin O’Donoghue features2@thenorthernlight.org
PR & Events Coordinator John Sallee events@thenorthernlight.org
Arts & Entertainment Editor Malia Barto arts@thenorthernlight.org
Media Adviser Paola Banchero
Arts & Entertainment Reporter Caleigh Jensen arts2@thenorthernlight.org Sports Editor Lauren Cuddihy sports@thenorthernlight.org
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Opinion pieces can be submitted to editor@thenorthernlight.org. The maximum length for a contributor’s opinion piece is 450 words. Contributors are restricted to one published opinion piece per month. Opinion pieces written by staff of The Northern Light are limited to 800 words. An opinion piece that is published in The Northern Light should be written by someone who has authoritative knowledge on the subject they are discussing.
Administrative Assistant Allie Hartman
Letters and opinion pieces are subject to editing for grammar, accuracy, length and clarity. All letters and opinion pieces must include names, major and/or group affiliation and contact information for verification purposes. The Northern Light will not publish anonymous letters or pseudonyms. 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. The deadline for submissions is the Friday before publication at noon, no exceptions. The Northern Light newsroom is located on the first floor of the Student Union Room 118.