October 25, 2016 by The Northern Light

OCTOBER 25 - NOVEMBER 1, 2016

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Local snowboarder shreds his way to success

From the Sun Star: Sexual assault sparks controversy campus-wide

Haunted tales of the Wendy Williamson

PHOTO BY YOUNG KIM

Shane Mitchell explains some of the mysterious occurrences surrounding the portrait of Wendy Williamson.

By Victoria Petersen

vgpetersen@thenorthernlight.org

Mysterious doors that lead to a wall, showers and sinks running on their own, pianos playing by themselves, an elevator shaft that leads nowhere and lights that will never reach the stage are just a handful of the spooky scenarios that have occurred in the Wendy Williamson Auditorium. With construction beginning in 1973, the auditorium sat dormant for 18 months before money became available to finish the building. When the builders finally completed the building, there were multiple mistakes. Creating doors that lead to walls, an elevator shaft that leads to a second floor that never was, a catwalk visible to no one and a spotlight room angled in a way that makes it impossible to spotlight the stage are just a few of the unusual engineering aspects of the auditorium. Many cultures attribute energy to spaces. The Confucius Institute has even been said to have visited the auditorium; telling the manager that the energy of the space was evil and the feng shui was all wrong. “The lightroom is by far the most sinister, but all the place is funky,” Shane Mitchell, a UAA alum, the auditorium’s manager and director at TBA theater, said. Mitchell, who has worked in the auditorium for twenty years began his relationship with the theater as a student in UAA’s theater program in the 80s. “When I started here in 1982, the place had a reputation for being haunted. It hadn’t even been open for a decade yet,” Shane Mitchell said. The auditorium bears the name of John Wendell Williamson, professor of music at UAA since 1971. Williamson, nicknamed Wendy, passed away in 1988. The auditorium was named in his honor.

“Weird things happened way before he passed on,” Shane Mitchell said. Shane Mitchell has his own share of less-than-ordinary occurrences. Once while acting in a performance of “The Monkey’s Paw,” Mitchell opened up the coffin he was going to use during the show, backstage. The cast and crew surrounded him as he lifted the coffin to see what was left inside by other cast members. As Mitchell opened the coffin door, all the props for the show flew off a table and against the wall, just about ten feet away from them. “It became a habit to open up the coffin backstage before I went on. The whole cast gathered around me to crack up. With all the cast around me, all the props flew off the prop table, against the wall. Like someone flew them off with their arms,” Shane Mitchell said. In that same show, about 350 school age kids were in attendance on a field trip. A question and answer session soon followed the conclusion of the show. “This one kid raises his hand and says, ‘at the end of the play, how did you make the lady in the white dress float above your heads?’ The director said ‘what?’, then the teacher said, ‘he just wanted to know how the special effect worked.’ The director said ‘next question.’ There was no special effect,” Shane Mitchell said. Many years ago, a self-proclaimed psychic and FBI profiler toured the building and sent a thorough document explaining the energy and presence inhabiting the auditorium. “She mailed a document that listed things that made

SEE HAUNTED

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RED ZONE: Signs of an abusive relationship

By Cheyenne Mathews

cmathews@thenorthernlight.org

As October ends, domestic violence awareness month also comes to a close. This month is all about targeting domestic violence, and there are several obvious warning signs that signal an abusive relationship.

facebook.com/northernlightuaa

According to Abused Women’s Aid in Crisis, AWAIC, there are several key questions to ask that address warning signs. Questions like, does your partner make threats of any kind, prevent you from working, or control what you do? Bridget Dooley is the Title IX Coordinator at UAA and she works with AWAIC when dealing with abusive relationship situations. “Control is a big part of domestic violence,” Dooley said. “Do you have access to your money, or does someone else have control of your money? Does your partner have to be with you all the time? Are you allowed to leave without your partner? Those are warning signs of domestic violence.” Dooley has seen domestic violence cases come in many forms, and last year alone there were 89 different Title IX reports about sex discrimination, which includes sexual harassment, sexual mis-

SEE ABUSE

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THENORTHERNLIGHT TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2016

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Fees at UAA estimated at $1,176

GRAPHIC BY JIAN BAUTISTA

By Cheyenne Mathews

cmathews@thenorthernlight.org

Cost of attendance, or an estimate of a student’s budget, for a full-time (24+ credits) student living on campus at UAA is calculated at $25,098 by the University’s Office of Student Financial Assistance. $1,176 of that estimate is dedicated to student fees. UAA students pay a variety of different fees for athletics and recreation, the green fee, transportation, student media, student government and ePortfolio, among other things. A student fee task force by USUAA broke down the cost of student fees and the way they have increased over the past few years. Sam Erickson is President of USUAA and also a member of the student fees task force. “The student fee task force was assembled last spring…to look at a functional rearrangement of the way fees are assessed within UAA, ideally to create a

more consistent and equitable structure,” Erickson said. “So right now, there’s kind of a hodgepodge of when fees begin to be assessed, like at which credit level and who they’re applied to.” Erickson said the task force looked at the way student fees targeted or missed certain students. “You have people who can take like six credits worth of yoga classes and they’re paying, you know, the recs fee or athletics fee but they’re not paying the student government fee or other types of fees because they’re assessed at different levels and that makes it difficult for the university to collect money functionally,” Erickson said. “So the idea was creating mostly a common floor, probably at like three or four credits.” The student task force tracked how fees have been raised over the years as well as who those fees applied to. “I think the most surprising finding was ultimately how significantly fee burdens can be changed just by taking cours-

es either at different campuses or taking courses online, and a lot of people have been able to use distance courses to get out of paying specific fees or vice versa, people who take exclusively distance courses have been hammered with like distance delivery fees,” Erickson said. Students pays $3 to the Green Fee board. In the past, that fee has been used to install hydration stations across campus. The UAA Green Fee about page states that this fee has been in action since 2013 to fund sustainability on campus. This fee has only been active for three years, but the fee has not increased in that time period. “Since 2013, UAA’s Green Fee has funded students’ sustainable initiatives,” the UAA Green Fee page states. “Ranging from a recycling competition to a bike share, projects supported by the Green Fee Fund enrich the university community, advance sustainability, and develop students’ skills.” The student transportation fee costs students $13 but is what provides public transportation from the People Mover, bicycle racks, campus shuttle services and trail and sidewalk maintenance. The UAA webpage states that this service is free but only after the payment of the transportation fee. “Current students with three or more credits who have paid the transportation fee and UAA employees may ride any People Mover or Valley Mover bus for free with a valid WOLFcard,” the page states. The USUAA task force found that this fee was increased for students enrolled in three or more credits from $10 in the fall of 2012 to $13 in the fall of 2013. Students also pay $8 a semester to use ePortfolio. This ePortfolio fee was instituted in fall of 2015 according data from the USUAA task force. The UAA fee page states that this fee covers costs associated with software licensing, user training and student support programs. Students pay $11 for student media and $12 for student government as well as fees for infrastructure and technology. Potentially one of the largest of these

fees is the facilities fee. According to the USUAA task force,the facilities fee charges students $4 per credit hour for students enrolled in one to 15 credits, even if those credit hours are from online courses. As stated on UAA’s webpage this fee goes towards university equipment and facilities. “The facility fee supports the capital reinvestment for university facilities and academic equipment,” the UAA fee page states. “Capital reinvestment funds construction that modernizes university classrooms, laboratories, residence halls and other buildings so that students have access to learning and living facilities that enhance the academic experience.” A fee that can surpass the cost of the facilities fee is the network fee which is calculated by taking four percent of a student’s cost of tuition. “The network charge covers rapidly rising costs, especially in the maintenance and enhancement of the university-wide infrastructure,” the UAA fee page states. “The network charge will be applied on a course-by-course basis to tuition, nonresident surcharges if applicable, and fees in lieu of tuition for credit and noncredit courses. Courses with applicable fees in lieu of tuition less than the lower division credit hour tuition rate will be exempt from the charge. The minimum network charge per course will be $3.” The estimated cost of fees for students is listed at $1,176, but this cost can rise with course choice. Some examples of course fees are lab fee, materials fee, and the learner services fee. Students are charged course fees when the class has cost associated that are not covered by tuition. Overall USUAA found students tend to pay $500 to $800 on fees. “If we are looking for a regular student taking 12 credits their fee burden should be between $500 and $800,” Erickson said of last year’s findings. One good example of varying fees by credit hour is the student life fee. According to the USUAA taskforce, this fee in 2015 was $22.50 per credit for students enrolled in six or more credits with a maximum charge of $270.

UAF students protest alleged sexual assault By Josh Hartman The Sun Star, UAF

UAF students protested on the front stairs of the Wood Center in solidarity with the victim of an alleged sexual assault on Oct. 20. The accuser shared her story via Facebook on Wednesday, Oct. 19, which described how the alleged assailant was removed from Bartlett Hall only to be placed back there by administration, without alerting her, two weeks later. The accuser withdrew from school following this event, according to her post. Ally Vahalik, a freshman linguistics student, organized the protest. “[She’s] not going to her classes because her rapist is still in school here,” Vahalik said. “So I’m not going to my classes today, because she can’t go to her classes without having to see the person who has completely violated her.” Vahalik, along with five other students, convened on the steps with hand made signs around 2 p.m. Vahalik’s sign read: “Why does alcohol excuse his actions, but condemn hers?” “There’s all these signs around campus explaining what consent is and all this stuff but so far it’s just talk because the faculty isn’t doing anything to punish her rapist,” Vahalik said. “It’s really sad that her education has to come to a halt right now because no one is willing to do anything to protect her rights.” “I don’t want people to feel uncomfortable but I’m not going to stay silent just so that people can be com-

PHOTO BY ERIN GRANGER

Students Ally Vahalik, Courtney Hood, Isao Yoshino, Haruka Kawabata and Mana Hasegawa held handmade signs during their protest of an alleged sexual assault that occurred on campus.

fortable,” Birdie Wattum, a fellow protester, said. “I’m not going to keep this quiet. She tried to go to a lot of higher-ups, she tried to go to the chancellor and nothing has really been done.” Snow began to fall as the protesters sat on the front steps of Wood Center. Another student held a sign reading: “Why is he innocent until proven guilty, but she’s lying until proven honest?” “We’re a smaller school but that doesn’t make this

injustice any smaller or any less prevalent especially to the people involved,” Wattum said. “We just want this to be dealt with. We want the university to admit that they made a mistake and to own up to it.” “The fact that our school isn’t doing anything about it really infuriates me,” Vahalik said. At the time of this publication, the accuser’s facebook post has 804 shares.

NEWS

THENORTHERNLIGHT TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2016

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Where Spenard ends and Midtown begins: A look at Anchorage’s neighborhoods By Victoria Petersen

vgpetersen@thenorthernlight.org

Encompassing nearly 2,000 square miles, the municipality of Anchorage is nearly about the size of the state of Delaware. From Portage to Eklutna, the Municipality of Anchorage encompasses many diverse towns and neighborhoods. According to the Federation of Community Councils, there are 29 distinct neighborhoods in the Anchorage Bowl. Beginning with four original neighborhoods, Government Hill, Fairview, South Addition and historic Downtown, the city of Anchorage spread across the outwash plain it inhabits. It can be difficult to determine where one neighborhood begins and another ends. According to the Municipality’s “My Neighborhood” application, one can input an Anchorage address and a map will appear, pin-pointing the neighborhood where the address belongs. What neighborhood you are in is typically determined by the schools in the neighborhood or district. In a Buzzfeed article published earlier this month, Buzzfeed named Anchorage’s Spenard neighborhood the most hipster neighborhood in Alaska. In the article, they cited Anchorage’s coffee shop, Black Cup, as being a popular hipster hangout in the neighborhood of Spenard. Black Cup, on the corner of Benson Boulevard and Northern Lights Boulevard, is actually in midtown. According to the municipality’s My Neighborhood application, Black Cup is in the North Star neighborhood. My Neighborhood, does not recognize Spenard as

a neighborhood, but the municipality’s zoning map does. Most locals wouldn’t recognize Black Cup as being in the Spenard neighborhood, but rather in Midtown. “I wouldn’t really consider Black Cup to be on Spenard,” Orianna Greenberg, a barista at Black Cup, said. Neighborhood borders may be easier for locals to decipher than the municipality or out-of-state publications. When discussing her neighborhood of Fairview, justice student Jasmine Alleva knows the borders and distinct culture of her neighborhood. “The lines are kind of iffy and I don’t think someone who isn’t from Fairview would know where the lines are. It borders one of the richest neighborhoods, South Addition, and an upper middle-class neighborhood, Rogers Park, as well as an extremely poor and impoverished neighborhood, Mountain View, while itself being poorer,” Alleva said. “I do believe the culture of Fairview is distinctly different from the rest of Anchorage. It encompasses a load of social services, more than anywhere else in the city. It also boasts the most service calls. The people of Fairview are proud to say they are from there and work continuously to make it a better place, even if that message is silent to our assemblymen and women.” Research taken by Chad Farrell, assistant professor at UAA, looked at census data in the United States and found that Anchorage’s Mt. View neighborhood is the most diverse neighborhood in the entire country. In fact, Farrell’s research found that Anchorage was home to the top three most diverse census tracts in the country. In her popular blog Mt. View Post, Kirsten Swann

documents the life and times of the unique and diverse neighborhood. “I believe the neighborhood has its own distinct culture, but I think you have to live there for an extended period of time to understand it. It is complex, evolving and influenced in countless ways by the myriad people continually moving in and out. Personally, I feel like I’ve only just begun to scratch the surface,” Swann said. Mountain View, unlike other neighborhoods in Anchorage, has distinct borders and landmarks. “Physically, we have distinct borders — the JBER fence to the north, the Glenn Highway to the south, Boniface Parkway to the east and Post Road to the west,” Swann said. Anchorage, a relatively new city, is developing local neighborhood colloquialism. Neighborhoods that were once in-between, or unnamed, now have their own distinct name. ‘Spenardigan’, a neighborhood between Spenard and Turnagain is starting to be affectionately known by locals as ‘Spenardagain.’ Even other neighborhoods, like Russian Jack, developed new local nicknames. “Russian Jack was once called ‘South Mountain View,’ and many people still know it as that. Which, in a way, affects the neighborhood culture: Things that happen south of the highway are still attributed to Mountain View, and I think that has subtle, cumulative impact on how our neighborhood views itself, and is viewed by residents of other neighborhoods,” Swann said. Whether the municipality recognizes the neighborhood we call home or not, Anchorage is proud of its many diverse neighborhoods.

Easy Park offering Anchorage more than just parking By Richard Han

rhan@thenorthernlight.org

With the presence of vacant parking spots on Easy Park’s Fifth Avenue Parking Garage, the board of directors at Easy Park came up with a plan to better utilize the area. Their idea stems from an international movement called Parking Day where people think of ways of utilizing parking lots and spaces in different ways. This past June, Easy Park implemented their plan of a basketball court on their fifth avenue parking garage called The Rooftop. The plan included a half-court basketball court, two concrete ping-pong tables, a concrete chess table and benches for people to sit on. Parking director at Easy Park, Brian Borguno, is excited about the new addi-

tions. “We just wanted people to feel that there are other purposes instead of just parking your car. Parking’s got a stigma with it and parking in a garage has a stigma with it. People perceive garages to be not the most inviting place. It’s just a parking garage. Now it’s a parking garage where you can park and play basketball,” Borguno said. The court and other facilities are monitored 24 hours a day, seven days a week by cameras. A code of conduct is posted along with park hours to ensure all users of the park are being safe. Aside from bar-goers trying to catch some late night hoops, no major incidents occurred this past summer. The Rooftop has been received very well by the community. On any given day, you can see various types of people

on the court having fun. Kids can be seen playing basketball and workers in the area can be seen getting some exercise in between their breaks. Yoga groups even hold meetings there. “It’s nice to get a break from work and have a place to relax and shoot some hoops,” Jordan Tennant, a downtown Anchorage employee, said. Along with their rooftop program, Easy Park also implemented their Downtown Employee Parking Program. In the past, workers in downtown Anchorage had to pay monthly parking in full, which can be very costly. The program offers 70 percent off in garage and lot monthly rates to qualifying employees. In order to qualify, the employee must be a parttime employee or make less than $35,000 a year. Most recently, Easy Park started their

Amenities Program. The program offers ride escorts, tire inflations and jumpstarts to all guests free of charge who park at Easy Park garages or surface lots. Trained parking staff are on duty seven days a week from 5 a.m. to midnight. Requesting these services can easily be done by calling their dispatch number at 907-276-7275. The rooftop idea has brought forth a lot of new ideas of how Easy Park can better utilize some of their lots and garages. Possible ideas Easy Park has for the future include ice rinks and outdoor movie theaters. Easy Park has been working with engineers, the Anchorage Museum and members of the community to come up with ways these ideas can become a reality.

PHOTOS BY JAY GUZMAN

The Rooftop, found on the rooftop of the 5th Avenue Parking Garage, currently provides recreation like basketball, ping pong and chess.

A 3-D rendering of The Rooftop, found on the top floor of the 5th Avenue Parking Garage.

04 | NEWS

THENORTHERNLIGHT TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2016

ABUSE: Learning the three D’s Continued from cover

conduct and domestic violence. “It could be humiliation, it could be threats, threatening to kill you or someone you love or your pet. Those are all ways of controlling your behavior, and domestic violence to a large degree is all about control. There are many ways in which an individual can be controlled in a domestic violence relationship. Often there are people involved if you have children.” A monopoly of control by one partner is the biggest sign of an abusive relationship, according to Dooley, and if the abused partner decides to leave the relationship they are at the greatest risk during that time. “For instance, a student may be in a domestic violence relationship. They may live in the community and be in a domestic violence relationship and they may be now ready to leave,” Dooley said. “One of the dynamics of domestic violence is control, and once somebody decides to leave, that is a big step. That is also the time when they are at greatest risk of harm; when they leave the relationship.” Dooley’s job is to present people who

come to her for help with support and the resources they need, whether that be counseling or help with school. In the past, Dooley has worked with students who were struggling with an abusive relationship, and she worked with them to provide the services they needed. “The student was halfway through the semester when they decided to leave their relationship, and they had a relationship with AWAIC,” Dooley said. “AWAIC knew we had services here that we could provide supports for them...I worked with the student to determine what they needed in order to continue in school or not, and in one case the individual decided they just could not focus on school. They tried, and they could not just focus on school. So we were able to withdraw them with no penalty from that semester, so it didn’t impact their academic progress.” Dooley is not the only one at UAA capable of supporting and even potentially intervening in an abusive relationship. Kate Fitzgerald, Health Promotions Specialist at UAA Student Health and Counseling Center, and Betty Bang, family nurse practitioner, both work on bystander intervention at UAA. “‘Bringing in the Bystander’ is what

it’s called,” Fitzgerald said. “Betty [Bang] got a grant from the state, the money is from the CDC, and then the state distributes it. It’s for rape prevention education. We’ve been doing it for over a year now. Last year was our first year of doing presentations.” In just a year and a half, Bang and Fitzgerald have conducted 433 presentations with 183 participants to teach them how to recognize and intervene in violent situations. “We all have the power to intervene,” Bang said. “It could be as simple as calling 911. I think the biggest thing is recognizing there is a problem. Research has shown that people are more likely to respond by helping if someone asks them for help or if they’ve seen someone else do a positive bystander intervention. And that’s why we do this class.” In their class, Bang, Fitzgerald and peer health educators teach students the three D’s of how to intervene in an abusive situation. “We teach people the three D’s: direct action, delegation, and distraction,” Fitzgerald said. “Direct action is, you hear something happening, you directly go in, as long as you feel safe and comfortable doing so. Directly intervening, talking

to the people like, ‘Hey what’s going on here? Is there any way I can help?’ Delegation is like calling the police...Then distraction is kind of like a funny one, but it still works. It’s just like whatever you can think of to diffuse the situation. So if you hear something happening next door, like a domestic dispute, ringing the doorbell and running away, or something like that.” October may be coming to a close, but the societal problem with domestic abuse still has a long way to go before its own sunset. “Alaska itself has the highest rates of sexual assault and domestic violence in the country,” Fitzgerald said. “Like, 1 in 2 women will experience sexual assault or domestic violence or both in their lifetime in Alaska. Pretty crazy statistics. It’s not just a UAA problem, it’s a world problem, and Alaska, in general, is pretty bad.” Domestic violence may be prevalent, but there are multiple ways to combat it. Watching for signs of an abusive relationship, being an active bystander and practicing the three D’s are ways to target and stop abusive relationships.

FEATURES

THENORTHERNLIGHT TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2016

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Witches brew Halloween party cocktail By Victoria Petersen

vgpetersen@thenorthernlight.org

Costumes, candy and scary stories: Halloween is the perfect excuse to host a party. Set your party apart with this festive and tasty cocktail. Bright green in color, this drink is a sparkling, citrus concoction that your guests will love.

Ingredients

Directions

• 1 package lime gelatin

1. In a large punch bowl, pour

• 2 cups boiling water

each

• 3 cups chilled pineapple

together one by one.

juice

the

ingredients

2. Once all the ingredients are

• 1 two-liter bottle of lemonlime soda

mixed thoroughly, add some ice and serve at your spooky

• 2 cups chilled vodka

Halloween party!

Flight prices drop in annual PFD sale By Alexis Abbott

news2@thenorthernlight.org

Many local travelers wait for PFD season to snag cheap airline tickets in desire to escape the last frontier. This year was no different. Alaska Airlines is known for great deals on flights year round, but the annual PFD sales are a game changer for many hopeful passengers. Since Permanent Fund dividends are deposited into Alaskan bank accounts when the temperature begins dropping, many locals crave sunshine. The brisk weather makes a big impact on ticket sales. “The most bought tickets this year were to destinations in Mexico, everybody wants to get to the warmth,” Tom Kemp, an Alaska Airlines representative said. It is no surprise that residents are eager to avoid Alaskan winters. This includes UAA students. Although most college students are on a tight budget, some can’t refuse spending a little of their PFD — especially if it temporarily gets them out of Alaska. “Even though it was a last minute trip, the ticket prices were cheaper than before PFD season came around. So I just did it,” Tabitha Morgan, a physical education student said who recently traveled to Salt Lake City thanks to her PFD. Morgan flew with Alaska Airlines over competing airlines because of the benefits Alaska Airlines offers. “I like flying with Alaska [Airlines] because I am a

member of the air-mileage program — and that’s on top of the affordable ticket sales. That’s why I always fly Alaska,” Morgan said. PFD season is a great time of year for Alaska Airlines. With significantly cheaper flight prices than competing airlines, residents are urged to fly with Alaska. Sales like these make Alaska Airlines a go-to for Alaskan travelers, especially for those that receive PFD’s. This creates an issue for other airlines, like Alaska’s biggest competitor, Delta Airlines. “We can price match on external booking sources like Expedia, but unfortunately we cannot price match Alaska’s flights during their sale,” Kayan Yan, a Delta Airlines representative said. This means PFD season is very much in Alaska Airlines’ favor. Alaska residents aren’t the only ones benefiting from the Permanent Fund dividends. These sale prices are recorded from Alaska Air. Flight tickets are currently cheaper than competing airlines including Delta Airlines, United Air and Virgin America. Alaskans are also encouraged to sign up for Alaska’s Club 49 Program, a free Mileage plan that offers additional benefits for Alaska residents. Members are provided two free checked bags per traveler on flights to and from Alaska, weekly fare sales and discounts on flights to over 800 destinations around the globe. The PFD sale is valid for almost any flight Alaska Airlines flies to, including the lower 48, Hawaii and Mexico. The low fares are available for booking Oct. 15

GRAPHIC BY LEVI BROWN

to May 24, 2017. This is a wise time of year to plan for travels. PFD sales on flights with Alaska Airlines are coming to a close this season, but low prices on airline tickets continue long after the PFD sale.

Localize It: Ghost Complex By Madison McEnaney

arts2@thenorthernlight.org

While successful musicians are often widely known for one specific instrument they excel in or genre they play to, they likely dip their toes into other aspects of music as well. Alberto Alcala is one of those individuals. Most people in Anchorage know him as the vocalist for local hardcore band Old Hounds, but few know about his one man side project he started at the beginning of 2016, titled Ghost Complex. The name Ghost Complex refers to Alcala’s view on himself when he was younger, and the way he thinks others viewed him. “It is a reflection on me in high school.

I had friends, but I was shy and did a lot of standing on the sidelines. I was a ghost,” Alcala said. Since its origin, Ghost Complex has put out one EP on bandcamp, titled “They Don’t Know What You Don’t Show.” The EP features four tracks, with Alcala solely playing the guitar on the beginning and ending tracks, and the two middle tracks having added vocals. “This is something I’ve wanted to start for years, I’m really happy to have it up and going. I want to do a lot more with Ghost Complex in the next few months,” Alcala said. Listening to Ghost Complex feels like music that would be playing in the calm of a storm; it is soothing yet provokes emotion simultaneously. This is the appeal of the songs, they are there to make the listener feel something, yet at the same time, soothe the listener with the acoustic element the guitar brings.

“City and Colour had a big influence on the EP. A lot of instrumental progressive bands helped me create my own sound for Ghost Complex,” Alcala said. Ghost Complex’s latest EP was recorded with Demetrik Grissom, under his local studio called Bloom To Fade. Michelle Boone was there to witness the recording of the EP, and spoke very highly of Alcala’s talent. “Seeing Alberto in his element doing something he’s so obviously good at was such an awesome thing to witness. “They Don’t Know What You Don’t Show” tells a cool story and just feels good to listen to,” Boone said. Ghost Complex is much different compared to Alcala’s other work in Old Hounds, but it shows his massive range of capabilities as an artist. Ghost Complex plans to put out new music very soon that will stick with the same sound, but expand and grow as well.

06 | FEATURES

THENORTHERNLIGHT TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2016

Terrain park presents three new features for this snow season

PHOTO COURTESY OF JASON MACKEY

Brandon Johnson performs a tailgrab frontside 180 off the side of the rail lip at Hilltop Ski Area.

By Brenda Craig

features@thenorthernlight.org

The cool winter breeze is quickly taking over Alaska, which can only mean one thing — snow is on the way. For some, this means dreadfully shoveling the driveway. For others, it means shredding the fresh powder on your skis and snowboard. With the temperatures dropping and high precipitation, this season is looking exponentially well for all the extreme sports enthusiast out there. If the weather keeps up, Hilltop Ski Area is hoping to open up in time for Thanksgiving weekend. This season, Hilltop is excited to present three new additions to their terrain park. Having new additions to the park each year is an important factor for a variety of reasons. Shannon Evans, mountain operations and park crew at Hilltop, has been behind the scenes planning these new park features. “We are trying to add as many features as we can to keep the kids interested in riding,” Evans said. “Variety and creativity are things that we bring to the park, whether it’s combining several culvert pipes or mixing up the order or location of certain rails.” Hilltop is adding a park style picnic table with a top sheet made of polyethylene and metal edges, which will allow for smoother grinds with a snowboard or skis. The second addition will be a 20-foot mailbox; the shape is a cylindrical tube with flat sides made up of steel. The last addition is a flat box with a polyethylene top. Evans also mentions the four new park features added last year, which consist of two flat boxes, a mailbox and a round rail. Bethlehem Hansen, the park crew manager, expresses her excitement on the new additions to the terrain park. “We’ve been pushing for a picnic table since the dawn of time and I’m so tickled to hear our dreams have come true,” Hansen said. “Right now, we’ve got an 8-foot mailbox and it’s so versatile already, I can’t really imag-

ine what we can do with a 20-foot version.” For beginner or intermediate skiers or snowboarders, don’t let these new features scare you. There is a diverse range of items in the park for different abilities. “We have a large rail variety for all skill levels, we set features up to be ride-ons, street style [ollie on], or gapons so that riders can get every sense of hitting a feature. We also have lots of beginner and intermediate boxes, culverts and barrels,” Evans said. Before going to the terrain park, it is important to learn the basics of snowboarding and skiing before attempting something a bit more extreme. “We recommend that everyone be skilled enough to ride on the rest of the hill before they enter the park. It’s always a good idea to start small and work your way up, starting within your abilities and then progressing gradually to more difficult features,” Evans said. The three main ski runs that makes up Hilltop are Caribou (skiers left), Moose (center) and Ptarmigan (skiers right). There are a few cutover runs that connect them. The terrain park is located on the Moose run in the center of the ski area. Hilltop is the perfect place for beginners to learn and advanced ski and snowboarders to practice without leaving town. These new features will keep the park exciting for snowboarders like Caleb Kinnear, part of Hilltop’s park crew and Blue&Gold team. Kinnear encourages others to learn the sport. “If there a good park then there’s always going to be more kids who are wanting to get down there and learn how to snowboard and start doing tricks,” Kinnear said. It is easy to get bored of the same terrain park features every year. Hilltop is aware of this concern and caters to the best of their abilities to change up the park as often as they can. “The further we can stretch boundaries and get creative with the features, the more light we can shed on how wonderful this place is,” Hansen said. Many riders look forward to progressing in the ter-

rain park each year. Hilltop urges as many ski and snowboarders to come check out the park and most importantly have fun. “I just want people reading this to know that Hilltop is a great place to learn and progress their park skills. We want to see the park crowded with kids hiking the park, learning their tricks and having fun with friends,” Evans said. The snowfall predictions are making many hopeful for this season of riding. These three new features at Hilltop add to the excitement for this winter and increase the variety of obstacles for ski and snowboarders. This is the perfect place for park rats who don’t want to leave town, progress on a range of diverse obstacles, and most importantly, shred their hearts out.

PHOTO COURTESY OF BRANDON JOHNSON PHOTO COURTESY OF SHANNON EVANS

Caleb Kinnear does a gap to front board on the up-flat-down on a sunny day at Hilltop Ski Area.

Jason Mackey doing a backslide lipslide on a seven foot mailbox. Hilltop is adding more terrain obstacles for the upcoming season.

FEATURES

THENORTHERNLIGHT TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2016

| 07

HAUNTED: The Wendy Williamson Auditorium has a myriad of spooky stories to share Continued from cover

her seem pretty credible in our eyes. She said she sensed five beings, one of a little girl who died in an automobile accident on Lake Otis, the ghost of a teen boy, a young woman, and two men, one kindly

and one violent,” Shane Mitchell said. “The worst part is people always ask ‘did you see something or hear something,’ you get these horrible, horrible feelings that you’re just not safe. I can explain anything I see or hear, but something I feel? I’ve had things happen that I can’t explain,” Shane Mitchell said.

PHOTOS BY YOUNG KIM

Many people involved with productions at the Wendy Williamson Auditorium have claimed to see figures running behind the stage curtain ropes.

Some say that you can see a woman in a white dress during shows in the Wendy Williamson Auditorium.

Twin brother of Shane, Wayne Mitchell, is a technician in the auditorium who has his own share of spooky tales. “There used to be a nighttime janitor here, after a while he stopped coming and asked what happened to him. I was told he got reassigned because he doesn’t want to be where the ghosts are. This was all based on his own experience,” Wayne Mitchell said. In an attempt to de-spook the building, different members of the auditorium’s staff have brought different items or symbols to ward off evil spirits and energy. “Different people who have different cultures bring different items of charm. There’s a Pennsylvania Dutch design hanging on the wall, Celtic knots carved into walls, a lady had a statue of the Virgin Mary filled with holy water that she set above the door. Although, right after the place was smudged, stuff started to happen for about 12 days. All it did was irritate them,” Shane Mitchell said. Not all who spend time in the auditorium experience events unexplained, but the rumors are abundant and enough to give anyone the creeps when they enter the depths of the Williamson auditorium. “I haven’t actually seen anything scary happen. But from hearing it is haunted so many times over the years, I definitely get creeped out if I’m there working an event by myself. But mostly because I’m a scaredy-cat,” Garren Volper, a UAA student activities employee and frequent participant in the annual Anchorage Folk Fest, said. On the center wall of the main lobby of the auditorium sits a large bolt. What once bolstered the large portrait of Wendy Williamson, is now a dark dot, sitting as a reminder of the mysterious happenings of the auditorium. When Shane Mitchell began his career at the auditorium, he found a painting of the Williamson himself, playing the piano. He pleaded with his manager at the time to hang it up, but was swiftly told no. When Mitchell became manager, him and his brother decided to hang the painting up to commemorate the late professor and building namesake. They proudly hung the painting up in the foyer of the lobby for all to see. The next morning

the painting was on the ground. This scenario repeated itself multiple times, until one day while Wayne Mitchell was hanging up the portrait the wire on the back snapped, fell to the ground, tearing the carpet, and breaking the floor beneath it — the painting and frame unharmed. The Mitchell brothers put the mysterious painting back into storage, eventually to bring out just one more time to hang in the green room. The next morning, the painting was not on the wall, but on the ground. The Mitchell’s put it back into storage where it sits today. “It’s not the most flattering portrait. Maybe Wendy hates it?” Shane Mitchell said. While these experiences are mysterious, the painting itself is unusual in its own right. The painting has no date and no artist signage. It is unknown who painted the painting and when. It bears resemblance to the late Wendy Williamson, but without a title, date, or artist signature, who’s to say? With numerous stories of his own, Shane Mitchell is the main guy for others to report their unusual happenings to. Audience members, pageant members, musicians, actors, employees and janitors to just name a few of the folks who go to Shane Mitchell with their ghost tales. “Just about everybody who spends any length of time in the Williamson ends up experiencing some stuff. I think everyone has their thing they can’t explain. There are people who embrace it and people who don’t want to embrace that,” Shane Mitchell said. The ghost of Wendy Williamson is said to have visited the auditorium himself. Playing jovial piano music in the lobby during classes or rehearsals. “You’d be up on stage and you can hear someone playing a piano in the lobby. I would come down these stairs and around the corner and nobody would be sitting there at the piano,” Shane Mitchell said. Although no one has died in the auditorium, many students or artists at UAA have passed away who have ties and traditions with the building. Whether haunted or not, the Wendy Williamson Auditorium puts on quite the show.

A&E

THENORTHERNLIGHT TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2016

| 08

UAA counts down to the arrival of Agatha Christie’s ‘And Then There Were None’ By Lee Piltz

lpiltz@thenorthernlight.org

Agatha Christie’s “And Then There Were None” is coming to the UAA Fine Arts Building. Originally a novel written by Christie in 1939, Christie said that it was one of the most difficult of her books to write. She adapted the work into a play in 1943 under the original title, “Ten Little Niggers.” This work, due to the racial slur in the title, was first retitled to “Ten Little Indians.” Once again, due to racial language, it was retitled once more to its final name, “And Then There Were None.” The locked-room style mystery is a popular Christie trope and this play holds no exception. Many involved in the production are familiar with the play or the novel, including Brian E.G. Cook, assistant professor of theater at UAA and the director of Christie’s “And Then There Were None.” “It’s a story I’ve always liked. I’ve always loved detective and murder mystery stories and as a kid, I remember reading Agatha Christie’s actual novel. As a director and as a scholar, one of the things I’m interested in is crime stories on stage... Because nowadays, we don’t really write those kinds of plays anymore,” Cook said. “I was in this play when I was in high school. I played Dr. Armstrong. It was a fun experience and I had a great time doing that show. But, I hadn’t ever directed it before. I did a murder mystery before in Fairbanks and ever since, I wanted to do another.” The main stage in the Fine Arts building is a thrust stage, which means part of the stage ‘thrusts’ out into the audience, giving it three sides. However, for this style of

PHOTO BY LEE PILTZ

Lisa-Marie Castro plays Vera in the play. Taren Haynes plays her counterpart, Captain Lombard.

play, a proscenium stage, or a box set stage, is needed. A proscenium stage is the most traditional form of stage used in theater. The design team had to carefully alter the Fine Arts building’s thrust stage so it looked like a box set stage. It is Cook’s hope that the changes will gently usher the audience into that unfamiliar world, rather than confuse theater goers. “It transports you into a world that, we as Alaskans, never really access. [The setting] is England, in a West Country island in the 1930s, so it is definitely stepping into another world with the dialects, the style of the piece, and you get that thriller component too,” Cook said. “For people coming to see the show, who have been to our stage before, they will see something very different than they have ever seen before. Because we basically eliminated one of the sides of our thrust.” Another challenge the team had was mastering dialects. The play itself uses a variety of English accents. Contrary to what most Americans would imitate as being a 1930s era British accent, speaking in the true dialects can actually be quite difficult. Ty Hewitt, an assistant professor of acting in the theater and dance department at UAA, is the dialect and voice coach, as well as the fight choreographer for the play. “This play poses a particular challenge. We are using several different accents. The biggest challenge in that is hearing something that is going to be different for the audience from what they’re used to hearing. Similar to how it takes the audience a little while to get used to hearing Classical Text, for example. With the various different accents it will take a little while for the audience to get used to that,” Hewitt said. Hewitt hopes that much in the same way an audience gets used to hearing Shakespeare, they can get used to hearing the different British dialects used in “And Then There Were None.” “We have a pretty good split of accents. It’s mostly upper-class characters, so we are dealing more with the standard British accent, which is called RP... That’s the one most of the characters are using. There are a couple of characters that speak in the lower-class Cockney dialect. And there’s one character, who’s only on stage briefly, who speaks in a West Country dialect... And then, there’s a really complicated one, there’s a character who has a natural Cockney accent, who is putting on an effective South African dialect until she is found out. And that’s confusing as hell.” This play not only gives students the opportunity to showcase their acting skills and give them some dialect training, it also gives Lisa-Marie Castro, theater major and senior at UAA, a thesis topic. Castro plays Vera Claythorne in the play and is writing her thesis on Christie’s progressive views on women murderers. “What I really really love about her work, is the fact that she’s willing to go down the dark route of the human psyche. She also allows women to also be murderers or potential murders or do really dark things. For the time,

that was really cool,” Castro said. “My thesis is mainly about how society views women killers. It’s completely different from male killers, especially serial killers. Once again, Christie was willing to even just talk about females killing children or another person, which I find fascinating. I mainly focus on how society views women killers, how they talk about women killers, and how men, especially back then, talked about female killers.” For those who have read the play or the book, the ending is not expected to be exactly the same. Cook explains that the team changed the ending just a bit to make things interesting, “We did tweak the ending a little bit... We are generally following the end, with one minor exception,” Cook said. For those wishing to view the play, you can purchase tickets at the Student Union box office, the box office in the Fine Arts Building or online. The show dates for the play are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., Oct. 28 and 29 and Nov. 4 and 5 with matinee dates at 5 p.m. on Oct. 30 and Nov. 6. In addition to the show, on Oct. 30, there is a talk-balk with the cast and crew and members of UAA’s English faculty about women and Agatha Christie.

A&E

THENORTHERNLIGHT TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2016

| 09

The jokes in ‘No Filter’ are wrung dry By Jacob Holley-Kline Contributor

TITLE “No Filter”

DIRECTOR Nicolas Lopez

RELEASE DATE January 7, 2016

COUNTRY Chile

GENRE Comedy

It’s easy to drive a joke into the ground. “No Filter,” for some reason, makes it a point to do so. Every gag, and there are many, are super hit-and-miss. Truthfully, some of the funniest moments in the movie happen early on. It has the patina of a studio comedy, always flirting with edginess but never getting there. As it goes on, the movie gets weaker, but the charismatic Paz Bascunan picks up the slack that her co-stars leave behind. Pia (Paz Bascunan, “Alma”) is a middle-aged, down-on-her-luck, marketing firm representative. Her husband ignores her, she isn’t respected at work by her boss or coworkers, and, when she’s not being ignored, she’s constantly inconvenienced by everyone around her. Constant chest pain and a regiment of pills sends her to the doctor where she finds out that all her pent-up rage is bound to kill her and the only cure is to let it all out. Pia’s not a hard character to wrap your head around. But “No Filter” spends a lot of time with the “down-on-her-luck” part. It’s the Rodney Dangerfield school of comedy. “I don’t get no respect” rings true through most of the movie, but it gets tiring just thirty minutes into the movie.

The repetition is jarring, to be certain, but any fans of the James Franco and Seth Rogen school of improv won’t likely be off-put. When stuff hits the fan, Pia confronts all these people. And while she does get brutal, the movie’s tone is too positive to let her get truly mean. In that way, it lacks the edge that it really needs. But it’s not all bad. There are some hilarious moments, and it’s easy to admire the weird progressive world that director Nicolas Lopez has created. The true draw of the movie is Paz Bascunan’s performance as Pia. While the movie has the generic sheen of a studio comedy, Bascunan brings honesty to her character’s very real pain. In an especially poignant moment, Pia shares a hug with her ex. She nestles against him as if it’s the first time in years. More than anything, bordered by generic side character, she carries the movie on her own. With a few gut-busting moments, “No Filter” is just funny enough to not feel like a waste of time. It takes a bit to gather momentum, and when it does, it’s a fun ride. It wouldn’t be as fun, however, without the Paz Bascunan’s presence. It doesn’t have the bite of a great comedy, but it’s got the filtered fun of a worthwhile one.

Local showcase to feature upcoming artists and writers

PHOTOS COURTESY OF LEVI WARNER

By Madison McEnaney arts2@thenorthernlight.org

The Alaska Humanities Forum is a nonprofit organization in Anchorage that focuses on connecting Alaskans through stories and ideas, and this year they have decided to host their second annual art showcase, called UPSTART. This showcase is set to feature both visual and literary artists, but have honed in the focus on young Alaskans between the ages of 18 and 25. Anyone who falls into this category can apply to be a part of the showcase, and if their work is selected, it will be featured at the Alaska Humanities Forum in downtown Anchorage for the entire month of November. Christina Barber works for the Alaska Humanities Forum and is a curator for the showcase event. She has been working hard on finding homegrown talent that exists in Alaska and giving those artists a chance to let their work be put on display. “What I’m really looking to do is find those young artists that are new to the field, and haven’t really gotten a chance to show their work before. I want to provide a space that will allow them to get experience under their belt on how to professionally advance their work,” Barber said. Anchorage seems to lack in galleries for artists to

show off their work, which is how the Forum got this idea to host UPSTART. Unless one is an established artist with experience on how to run a showcase, it is very difficult to get a name out there. Alaska Humanities Forum saw the gap in shaping newcomers into successful and professional artists and created UPSTART to aid in bridging that gap. “We want these young artists to allow themselves to be experimental, and express themselves without being worried about who will see their art or who will like it,” Barber said. Levi Warner is a co-curator for UPSTART and has been working alongside Barber this year. They hope to have a larger turnout of artists who apply than in past years. Warner is an artist himself, and is currently an art major at UAA, with a focus in drawing. “I’ve been working hard to get any artist I know to apply to the showcase. It’s a great opportunity to share your work, and also meet other artists who are kind of in the same spot you are at,” Warner said. Warner also described how the plans for this year’s showcase are bigger and better than last years, and how as a local artist himself, it will be worth it to apply. “I’ll be featuring a couple of my pieces this year, but

I’m mainly focusing on the event itself. Last year it was a lot smaller, the name of the event was different, and not many people knew about it. I think this year, with the option for writers to submit their poetry or stories, we can reach a wider audience and get more people to come support each other,” Warner said. Sydney Daniels, a local artist and friend of Warner, found out about UPSTART through him and has already applied. She is a UAA art major as well, and plans to graduate this coming spring with her bachelor’s degree. “If my application for UPSTART is approved, I’ll be featuring three different paintings, two oil and one watercolor I think. I haven’t had my work put in a show for two years or so, so this will be a great experience for me to dive back into the art scene,” Daniels said. With the pairing of the Alaska Humanities Forum, and local artists in Anchorage, UPSTART will be the perfect way to introduce young and upcoming artists to the local art scene. Young adults who apply are at the perfect age to kickstart their careers as professional artists, and experience in being able to showcase their work is vital. Applications for UPSTART are being taken until the deadline on Friday, October 28, and can be found online on the Alaska Humanities Forum’s website.

SPORTS

THENORTHERNLIGHT TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2016

| 10

UAA women’s volleyball plays in closest game of entire season

PHOTOS COURTESY OF ADAM PHILLIPS

The Seawolves’ front line jumps up for a block against Simon Fraser on Thursday, Oct. 20.

By Madison McEnaney arts2@thenorthernlight.org

After a weekend away on the West Coast for several games, the Seawolves returned home to take on Great Northwest Athletic Conference No. 3 volleyball team Simon Fraser. With an undefeated status in the conference, UAA had quite the advantage over Simon Fraser who premiered with a 7-3 record. With this on the Seawolves side, they were able to pull their win streak out of the teens with win number 20 for the season. To start the game off right, the Seawolves started off in a slight deficit that immediately sprang them into to action to remain in the lead for the rest of the set. On the Seawolves’ side, freshman Vanessa Hayes pushed her way up the net with assistance from setter Morgan Hooe. Altogether, Hayes rallied up three kills in the beginning of the set that helped the Seawolves get their head start. To help recoup for the remainder of the set, Morgan Hooe pulled the team together by setting up for the main kills, sup-

plied by sophomore outside hitter Chrisalyn Johnson and senior middle blocker Leah Swiss. Already almost topping off the lead at 10 points, UAA rallied up at the set point. Knowing they easily had the win in the bag, Kyla Militante-Amper stepped up to the line for the fourth successful set in a row. Hooe made a final set to Swiss to win the set at 25-15. Compared to set one, the second set of the night was a walk in the park for the Seawolves. For a deceiving start, Simon Fraser pulled the score up several points before the Seawolves even got on their feet. Swiss started the Seawolves’ lead off with six successful serves, two of them being service aces. Once UAA got that confidence boost, the rest of the set just took off. Simon Fraser managed three more points until they were stuck at nine points for the entire remainder of the set. With even fewer errors than set one, the Seawolves offense was on point. With a lead of over 15 points, UAA was in the clear, but, nonetheless, they kept their A-game up. With a final two digs from sophomore libero Militante-Amper, the

Sophomore outside hitter Chrisalyn Johnson goes in for a kill.

Seawolves won the set on errors from Simon Fraser at 25-9. Getting ready for the third set of the night, Simon Fraser knew it was their last chance at redemption, while the Seawolves knew they could close out their 20th win here. With that knowledge in hand, SFU sparked an energy that led them to pull in a quick lead. The Seawolves initially struggled to catch up, but in a rapid comeback like the previous set, the women stayed determined and snagged the lead. With Hooe and Swiss continually on the ground for digs, Johnson stepped up to the net to help rack in the points. In a cycle of rallies, both teams toggled back and forth between point gains. In a final attempt to win, Simon Fraser stepped up their offense. With the pressure of the situation, the Seawolves began to slip up with errors, leading SFU to the win at 25-20. After the unfortunate turn around in the game, the Seawolves stepped up for a fourth set of the night. The Seawolves’ energy obviously ran low and resulted in less comparable performance, they were

quickly outweighed by Simon Fraser. The strong link on the team turned into the weak link. Even though they were still rallying up kills, Simon Fraser was gaining more. The Seawolves continued throughout the set, but this time with a higher percentage of errors. In another close set, UAA saw a repeat of the previous set. Simon Fraser came out on top with a win at 25-23. After two losses for the night, the Seawolves knew they had to change their frame of mind. Volunteer coach Siobhan Johansen knows this isn’t always the easiest. “Being consistent players is a challenge every player on any team faces,” Johansen said. Both teams were able to obtain two wins each for the night by the end of the fourth set. With one last chance for the Seawolves to gain their 20th win in a row, they only had to make it to 15 points before Simon Fraser. With one chance for Simon Fraser to beat the only undefeated conference team, and one chance to UAA to extend their win streak to 20 wins, both teams entered the fifth set with distinct determination. Only needing 15 points to win, it was a quick set. Hooe started off the Seawolves with several strong serves. Soon after, Simon Fraser began to break under the pressure, and this is where the set ended for them. Quickly advancing, the Seawolves pulled into a quick lead. Hooe, yet again, was up to serve. She stepped up to the line not once or twice, but seven times to serve for half of the set straight. Three serves were aces, the rest scored them the points they needed to advance their record to 20 straight wins. “We are the defending GNAC champions so every team is going to play their best against us! So we must always be prepared to battle against our opponents best game,” Hayes said. She knew that Simon Fraser did exactly that for this game. The Seawolves did it again, pushing the boundaries of their already surpassed school record much further. With a 3-2 win (25-15, 25-9, 20-25, 23-25 and 15-8) they finished off the night with a bang.

SPORTS

THENORTHERNLIGHT TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2016

| 11

School record of 20 straight wins snapped against Western Washington By Jordan Rodenberger jrodenberger@thenorthernlight.org

In a matchup between the GNAC’s finest, Western Washington University was able to outlast the Seawolves in five sets to hand UAA its first loss in nearly two months. The pinball match between the 19th nationally ranked Vikings and the seventh-ranked Seawolves drew in a crowd of 1,762 fans, the most in NCAA Division II Volleyball anywhere in the country this season. WWU’s ball control and execution helped them extract a 25-22, 21-25, 26-24, 18-25, 20-18 victory for their fourth straight win at the Alaska Airlines Center. “You have to give Western Washington a hand. They were smart, and didn’t make as many errors as we did,” head coach Chris Green said. The Seawolves (21-2, GNAC 11-1) delivered several personal feats in Saturday night’s heavyweight matchup. Morgan Hooe had a career-high 59 assists, putting her over 800 on the season. Freshman Diana Fa’amausili tallied her fifth straight game with over 10 kills, posting a personal best of 17, while Chrisalyn Johnson had herself a career night as well with 22 kills. Libero Kyla MilitanteAmper was all over the floor, breaking a school record with 43 digs, a record set by Seawolf Hall of Famer Jen Szczerbinski in 1990. These were two of the hottest teams in the nation heading into Saturday, as Western Washington (14-6, 10-2) was carrying an eight game win streak while the Seawolves were coasting on 20 straight of their own, but the two powerhouses had different Thursday nights. UAA was coming off their first five-set match of the entire year, and survived a scare to Simon Fraser. WWU on the other hand easily dismantled UAF in three straight sets. “I don’t [think] anyone was physically tired. It was just making the play or not making the play,” Green said after the loss. Neither team could pull away from each other at any time during the pile up of 224 total points in the match. With a total of 45 tied scores and 21 lead changes, any breathing room was nearly impossible to come by.

Sophomore Leah Swiss spikes it over the net in the first set against Western Washington.

A captivating first set featured Johnson making all the plays possible to keep the first game from slipping from the Seawolves. A pancake and three straight kills for Johnson gave UAA a 14-12 lead. However, by the end of the set, the Seawolves racked up four serving errors and nine attacking errors. The Vikings took advantage and become just the sixth team this year to take the first set against the Green and Gold. The second set featured more of the same, as each school tried to out-craft and out-power each other. Fa’amausili led the way for the ‘Wolves, notching six kills, including a vicious cut shot to close out the second set 25-21, while Hooe contributed 15 assists, a kill, and established the demeanor of the team. “We just have to be patient, when we lose our patience and start pressing, that’s when we don’t play good volleyball,” Hooe said. Once again in a dead heat, the third set had the two teams alternating points seven times. A flare by Erin Braun knotted it up at 17, before WWU grabbed the momentum and found themselves up 23-19. Backed into a corner, UAA responded with four straight points, but it wasn’t enough as Joellee Buckner lofted a back set that Abby Phelps polished off with a cross court shot and the Vikings took the set 26-24. In a must-win set for UAA, the Seawolves rattled off nine straight points, and they took a 17-9 lead against the Vikings. They displayed their resilience closed out the set 25-18. Down 2 sets to 1 is unfamiliar territory for the Seawolves, but they did not let the pressure collapse on them. “Everybody did a good job of staying cool. Sometimes it’s hard because you get so hyped up that you want to put everything on their side of the court,” Hooe said. In a winner-take-all fifth set, the first team to 15 points while leading by at least two points, is the victor, so every point is even more crucial. UAA dug themselves into a hole early, trailing 4-1 in the final set. A 7-2 run by the Seawolves put them ahead until Phelps came roaring back with two consecutive kills. The two teams would take turns earning points and fighting off each other’s charges. When WWU had a 19-18, Phelps gracefully placed the ball over the net, four

Seawolf hands converged, but the ball hit hardwood, and UAA’s school record of 20 straight wins was snapped. “We learned how to fight, especially when we are down. With our backs against the wall there was so many times when we could have just stopped, but we held each other accountable for each play and just kept pushing” Hooe said. Phelps anchored the Vikings throughout the night, posting a total of 14 kills, 16 digs, and four blocks. 6’1” Michaela Hall had 10 kills and seven total blocks, and outside hitter Arielle Turner had 12 kills of her own. Helping the Seawolves stick around in all the sets was Leah Swiss, who had her ninth double-double of the season, recording 13 kills and 12 digs. UAA suffered their first GNAC loss of

the season after fending off a comeback in a nail-biter against conference rival Simon Fraser. The games within the conference are getting tougher, and teams are now seeing each other for the second time this year. “We are going to have to play well the rest of the way through. It doesn’t matter the night or the record of the team, from top to bottom the GNAC is as good as it’s ever been,” said Green. Although they look at every opponent the same, the Seawolves will get a lighter game next, but on shorter rest. On Oct. 25, just three days following the five-set loss, UAA will host in-state rival Alaska Fairbanks, who sit in the cellar of the GNAC with a 1-11 record within the conference.

PHOTOS BY JAY GUZMAN

Libero Kyla Militante-Amper lays out to save the ball in Saturday night’s loss to Western Washington.

Sophmore Chrisalyn Johnson tips the ball around WWU’s double block. UAA suffered its first loss in nearly two months.

The Seawolves regroup in Saturday’s matchup against No. 19 WWU.

12 | SPORTS

THENORTHERNLIGHT TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2016

Cross-country dominates conference meet

PHOTOS COURTESY OF MARIAH BURROUGHS

UAA’s men’s cross-country team poses with the state flag after coming away with its seventh straight title at the GNAC Cross-Country Championships on Oct. 22.

By Lauren Cuddihy

sports2@thenorthernlight.org

After months of hard training and long runs, the Seawolves were put to what could be the final test of the season. With an early 9 a.m. race scheduled, UAA traveled to Bellingham, WA on Saturday, Oct. 22 to step up the line and race their hardest. With this being one of the last meets of the season, the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Cross-Country Championships, the Seawolves did not disappoint. Not only did one team win, but both the men’s and women’s team won overall. This being the seventh straight win for the men’s team with a GNAC title. They accumulated a total of 31 points while the

second place team, Simon Fraser, was a stretch behind at 60 points. With such a history of wins, the teams knew that they were fully capable, but they just had to stay focused. “We were prepared to keep the tradition going. Having consecutive team champions and consecutive individual champions put in a lot of pressure, but we handled it well and assertively throughout the race and thankfully kept the streaks for another year,” overall second place finisher Michel Ramirez said going into the race. Not only did the team earn overall titles, but UAA runners captured both the top individual finish in each race. The men’s team placed with Edwin Kangogo (24:54) as the top male finisher, Michel Ramirez (24:56) just behind

The women’s cross-country team poses after their win at the GNAC Cross-Country Championships in Bellingham, WA.

him for a second place finish and Henry Cheseto (25:19) at fourth. They also had 4 more men in the top 20 finishers, totaling that out with seven Seawolves in the top 20. The women’s team also secured an overall win and a Seawolf in the top individual finish. With a seventh straight title win, junior Mariah Burroughs knew their hard work didn’t go unnoticed. “We got out really well and packed up. We pushed super hard and stayed positive. Weather was great, coach was happy,” Burroughs said. All-American’s Caroline Kugart (21:17) and Joyce Chelimo (21:50) both captured spots in the top five at first and fifth, respectively. After that Tamara Perez (22:23) pulled in at 10th, and then a trio of Zennah Jepchumba (22:35), Kait-

lyn Maker (22:36) and Burroughs (22:39) crossed the line together at 14th, 15th and 16th, respectively. With such a close turnout and a majority of the UAA women placing in the top 20, the credit the women give is to the bond they have formed through running. “What really helped us was the team efforts that we have been putting in during our runs,” Chelimo said after the race. Overall, the UAA cross-country team represented the school and state exceptionally well. Ramirez realizes that the team is improving with every meet, so with another chance to represent UAA they will travel to Billings, MT on Nov. 5 to run in the NCAA West Regional Championships.

New faces shine in men’s Green and Gold Exhibition By Jordan Rodenberger jrodenberger@thenorthernlight.org

It was difficult to tell that the intrasquad scrimmage between UAA’s Men’s Basketball team, was supposed to be, well, a scrimmage. With players diving on the floor, leaders organizing plays, and even the clutch gene making an appearance, the men’s team looked in midseason form. Ashton Pomrehn, a newcomer from Shasta College in California, dropped a game-high 17 points, but none more important than the game-winning threepointer with 1.3 seconds remaining to lift Green beyond Gold 68-66. Pomrehn shot 5 of 7 from beyond the arc and added eight rebounds to his stat line. Diante Mitchell, who missed much of last season with different injuries, tallied 11 points, six assists, four boards, and two steals for Green. Returners Spencer Svejcar and Drew Peterson chipped in 10 and 13 points respectively. Gold — who were actually wearing white jerseys — featured five players in double-figures, led by Sjur Berg’s 15 points. Berg noticeably expanded his game over the off-season, opening the game with a 17-foot jumper. “I wanted to add more dimensions to my game. Not being just a post player but be able shoot the midrange a little bit too,” Berg said. Augustus “Gus” Simmers, who did not see action last year put up an efficient 13 points, while Corey Hammell led all

players with 14 rebounds to go with his 10 points. Suki Wiggs did his part with 14 points and six dimes, while guard Damien Fulp notched 10 points and six assists as well. Both teams were aggressive early on and got to the free throw line when they wanted to. The team as a whole looks stronger and tougher than they had last season. They were utilizing the post and feeding the ball inside when the big man had position, something they often shied away from last year. On the defensive side, both squads were playing deny in the half court set. When one would penetrate the middle, the guards used quick hands to strip the ball and create fast break opportunities. Both teams had eight steals apiece, and Connor Devine, a transfer from Division I South Dakota State, led all players with four blocks. Gold was able to rack up 18 offensive rebounds, while Green was able to snag 11 themselves. It is great to see high offensive rebound numbers, but it is tough to determine in a scrimmage against yourself if it is a good thing, or if boxing out is something that needs to be addressed. “It is hard when you don’t have a lot of offensive sets in, and the team you’re playing knows the few sets that you do have, so it can get ugly,” Rusty Osborne said, who is in his 12th season as head coach. Headlining some of the one-on-one matchups were point guards Mitchell and Fulp. Both returning from last year, the two floor generals operated the offense

for their teams. Posting very similar numbers throughout the contest, look for these two to compete for minutes on the hardwood when the season comes along. “I liked the intensity out there. It has been a short week of practice, but everyone played together and as one,” senior guard Wiggs said. Osborne will have plenty of depth in the front court that will create mismatches and can allow the offense to orchestrate from the inside out when they want to. Returners Berg, Travis Parrish, and Hammell will have another year of this system under their belt, and the Seawolves will look to initiate Devine early in the season. The Seawolves had just five official

practices prior to the Green and Gold game, so meshing will take a little more time. With an off-season loaded with weight lifting, rust such as missed bunnies inside, a hard touch around the rim, and being loose while handling the ball was displayed. These types of things always get brushed off and polished as the season progresses. “We have to eliminate turnovers, part of it is first game jitters, and part of it is the defense knowing exactly what you’re going to do,” Osborne said. The UAA men’s team will be playing in their annual alumni game on Oct. 28. Be sure to check out next week’s issue of The Northern Light to see a full team and season preview.

PHOTO BY YOUNG KIM

Senior guard Sekou ‘Suki’ Wiggs faces off against senior guard/forward Drew Peterson.

SPORTS

THENORTHERNLIGHT TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2016

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‘98 Winter X Games gold medalist continues board sport legacy By Brenda Craig

features@thenorthernlight.org

Finding something to be completely passionate about can be a rare thing in life. Interests are easily turned into just another phase in life. Who knows if you’ll be doing the same things your 14 year-old self was doing. However, for Jason Borgstede, hobbies from his teenage years are no longer hobbies, but a way of life. Ever since Borgstede was introduced to board sports, he was hooked. It all started in southern California when Borgstede was first exposed to skateboarding. He went to the video store with his mother and was intrigued by the Powell skate video in the sports section. From that day on, he insisted that his mom buy him a skateboard, and his wish came true that Christmas. That’s when his love for skateboarding sparked. At the end of eighth grade, Borgstede moved to Alaska to attend Chugiak High School. Refusing to conform to the “normal” high school cliques, Borgstede did not hesitate to join the skaters. “Back then skateboarders were very shunned as this group of people that were counter-culture, and back then it was very much about fitting in, so if you didn’t fit in or appear to not care to fit in, the rest of the peer groups really shunned you,” Borgstede said. “So we took that and went, ‘well fuck these guys then, our own group will support each other and we don’t need anything else.’” Skateboarding is not the only board sport Borgstede fell in love with. After moving to Alaska, snowboarding was exposed and quickly became another hobby that would later turn into a profession. “Then I had something for all times of the year that was standing sideways and being stoked on boarding,” Borgstede said. First, like any up and coming snowboarder, being sponsored by a local board shop was important. After doing well in United States of America Snowboard and Freeski Association events, Borgstede was able to con-

PHOTOS COURTESY OF JASON BORGSTEDE

vince local board shop Borderline to sponsor him and continued to compete in local snowboard competitions. After high school, he worked at Borderline and was able to travel in the summer to Lake Tahoe and participate in bigger competitions. Borgstede made a big name for himself in a short amount of time that did not go unnoticed by sponsors. He was able to skip contacting a representative and was able to score a sponsor with Burton. Borgstede was participating in any competitions possible and continued to place well in many big snowboard contests. The biggest accomplishment was winning the Winter X Games in 1998. “It just started snowballing, I’m starting to film, I’m doing really well in big contest, I went out to the Winter X Games and won in ’98, and all of a sudden I’m like, holy shit this stuff is really happening,” Borgstede said. Getting sponsored, placing well in the X Games, and

putting out video parts is every snowboarders dream. Borgstede was able to determine at a young age what he wanted to be apart of the rest of his life. “I just realized, okay that’s what you are, you are a skater and snowboarder, you like to ride boards, and that’s what you’re going to do,” Borgstede said. Borgstede started with a 50-dollar plastic snowboard, to being hooked up with snowboards by his Burton sponsor. He continues to live his dream of partaking in skateboarding and snowboarding, his two true loves, besides his wife Kelly Borgstede. Borgstede was able to fulfill another lifelong dream last year by opening his own shop, Blue&Gold Boardshop. By doing so, he is able to remain spreading positivity that board sports bring to not only the youth, but also the community as a whole.

14 | SPORTS

THENORTHERNLIGHT TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2016

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CAMOUFLAGE: IN PLAIN SIGHT R Opens Friday, Oct. 28 Through the lenses of nature, art, fashion and pop culture, Camouflage: In Plain Sight expands beyond the familiar associations of camouflage to explore how we work to be seen and unseen. Conceal/Reveal Costume Party 8 p.m. to midnight Friday, Oct. 28 Tickets online Come to know the true North