APRIL 21 - APRIL 27, 2020
UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA ANCHORAGE
FEATURES PAGE 4 Essential workers help maintain vital services across Alaska during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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A&E PAGE 5 Music can bond socially distanced communities through sharing playlists.
Nolan Nicholas proves his leadership with Senior CLASS award PHOTOS COURTESY OF UAA ATHLETICS
Nolan Nicholas is a justice major and was a captain of the Seawolf hockey team for the past three seasons.
By Ronan Klancher sports2@thenorthernlight.org
Senior captain of the UAA hockey team, Nolan Nicholas, was described by head coach Matt Curley as “the best captain I’ve ever coached.” Nicholas proved Curley right by winning the Senior Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School, or CLASS, award for the NCAA Men’s Ice Hockey 20192020 season. “Obviously it’s a huge honor to receive this award. You don’t really understand the magnitude of it until you read up on it,” Nicholas said. “You see the guys that are included in the top 20 candidates who are great hockey players and great people, and to be singled out among a group like that is tough to put words to.” Curley said it’s not
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just leading with words as a vocal leader that won Nicholas the award. “Nolan [Nicholas] made my job a lot easier as a coach with a guy like him who can run the locker room like he did,” Curley said. “[Nicholas] leads by example. He’s pushing everyone around him to be better by his actions.” Nicholas isn’t just a leader on the ice, he also excels in the classroom. He earned a 3.84 accumulative GPA as of the end of the fall 2019 semester, made the Western Collegiate Hockey Association’s All-Academic team and captured scholar-athlete honors his sophomore, junior and senior year. Curley recounted a story about Nicholas that he felt encapsulates his dedication to the team and the sport as a whole during the second semester. Nicholas needed to take
Nicholas was honored with the Senior CLASS award for the 2019-2020 NCAA hockey season in April 2020.
a class on Tuesdays to finish up his justice degree, but the class conflicted with the team’s practice schedule. Instead of getting a few extra minutes of sleep before heading to class, he got up early, headed to the rink and went on for 30 minutes before practice even started, then showered up to hustle to class. After his two hour class, Nicholas hurried back to the rink where the practice was wrapping up. While in his already cold and sweaty equipment from earlier in the morning, the captain showed the rest of the team his dedication and joined the practice, which impressed Curley. “Even though he had to take off early to fill an obligation academically, he was getting back on the ice… his spot in the lineup was in no way jeopardized, but that just shows
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the type of person and leader he is,” Curley said. Nicholas was an ironman for the Seawolves throughout his tenure in Anchorage, leading the squad with 131 games played throughout his UAA career, missing only seven games in four years, along with playing in all 36 games of the 2019-20 season. With a season-high of two points in his freshman and senior campaigns, his game wasn’t about the offensive side of the puck. The style that Nicholas played wasn’t flashy as a stay-at-home defenseman. “My job was to block shots, play with physicality, kill penalties and get paired against the top lines of the opposition,” Nicholas said. From Thunder Bay, Ontario, Nicholas grew up playing hockey for his father, Darrin Nicholas, when he was in Bantam
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and Midget league hockey. Nicholas came to Anchorage while playing with the Sioux Falls Stampede of the United States Hockey League. “I was already talking to UAA and the coaching staff a lot. One game we played against the Chicago Steel, my defensive partner and I killed a 5-on-3 penalty in overtime in a game we ended up winning. I had breakfast with a coach of UAA and he laid out an offer for me right there,” Nicholas said. The thought of moving to Alaska seemed strange at first, he said. “I never would have thought I would live in Alaska ever, but it turned out to be a great experience for me,” Nicholas said. His favorite part about playing at UAA was the challenges of the program and adversity. “A lot of college teams
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have to go through some stuff, but not a lot of them don’t know if they’re going to be playing hockey next year,” Nicholas said. “We never looked at the polls or what people were saying about us, we just tried to make the most out of this year.” The friends he made on the team is what he will miss the most about being a Seawolf, Nicholas said. “The best part of the game is hanging out with the boys,” he said. Nicholas plans to join a team in the ECHL, the “AA” professional hockey team, and make a name for himself there, or use his justice degree right out of college and join the Thunder Bay Police Services in his hometown. Whether it will be on the front lines of the street, or the blue line on the ice, Nicholas has proven himself to be a leader anywhere.
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THENORTHERNLIGHT.ORG TUESDAY, APRIL 21, 2020
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UA Update: BOR Academic & Student Affairs Committee releases program recommendations By Gabby Vance arts1@thenorthernlight.org
The last recommendations for the expedited program review before the Board of Regents, or BOR, makes their final decisions in June have been released by the BOR Academic & Student Affairs Committee. Based on the recommendations from the deans, provosts, chancellor and the UA System Academic Council, the committee voted to recommend, suspend or reduce academic programs and set aside some programs for further discussion in May. The BOR will announce the final decisions the week of June 5. “The decisions, if adopted by the full board in June, would reduce our academic program costs by $4 million. To meet our overall budget reduction of $45 million in the 2021 and 2022 fiscal years, there likely will be reductions in additional academic areas, as well as proposed administrative reductions,” UA President Jim Johnsen said in an April 15 email.
The committee’s recommendations for discontinuations are as follows: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Legal Nurse Consultant Paralegal (UC) Civic Engagement (UC) Aviation Administration (AAS) Hospitality Administration (BA) Welding and Nondestructive Testing (AAS) Logistics and Supply Chain Operations (AAS) Logistics and Supply Chain Operations (UC) Management Information Systems (BBA) Creative Writing & Literary Arts (MFA) English (MA) Early Childhood Special Education (MED) Environment and Society (BS) Revisit at May meeting Sociology (BA) Sociology (BS) Theatre (BA)
The committee’s recommendations for reduction are as fol-
lows: • •
Languages (BA) Journalism and Public Communication (BA)
These programs were listed as requiring BOR notification only: • • • • •
Geomatics (AAS) Limited Radiography (OEC) Office Foundations (OEC) Office Support (OEC) Logistics and Supply Chain Operations (OEC)
For more information and updates on the expedited program review process, visit the Expedited Program Review Status article or the AY20 Expedited Academic Program Review article, which are both on the UAA website. Summaries of the BOR committee and the UA councils meetings can be found on the UA website.
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FEATURES
THENORTHERNLIGHT.ORG TUESDAY, APRIL 21, 2020
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Essential workers keep Alaska going By Christina Swayney features2@thenorthernlight.org
More than 32,000 Alaskans filed for unemployment this March, as the COVID-19 pandemic changed the way of life for many. Citizens no longer gather for events of more than 10 people, physically eat at restaurants or go to school in person due to the “hunker down” mandate. The businesses and employees that are considered essential keep this new normal going for the state. The State of Alaska issued a state-wide mandate to close nonessential businesses on March 11, with a tentative revaluation date of April 11. The mandate was extended until June 5, as of April 15. Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitz reminded Alaskans of the realities of the current pandemic during an Anchorage Assembly meeting on April 14. “We do not anticipate being in a hunker-down mode for very much longer, but as we confront the reality of what it takes
to manage the city’s response to a pandemic, it is going to take an ongoing effort. The pandemic will not disappear when the hunker down order disappears,” Berkowitz said. Grocery stores, postal workers, banks and medical facilities are among the essential businesses that are still open and running. These employees keep Alaskans fed, deliver their packages, keep finances running so that bills can be paid and help save lives. Joseph Insinnia is a teller at Northrim Bank and works daily to help Alaskans manage their money during this uncertain time. “They won’t close our bank and we have to keep working. It’s strange, of course, to work during a pandemic, but we have to adjust since we are essential workers,” Insinnna said. To ensure the health and safety of their employees, essential businesses have implemented protective face mask requirements and other measures to slow the spread of the virus. Even with the extra
precautions in place, however, Insinnia never forgets about the risks present when he is at work. “We only let people into the bank if they have an appointment and it limits the risks. [COVID-19] is always in the back of my mind, though,” Insinnia said. Adults over the age of 65 are among some of the hardest hit by COVID-19, according to The Centers For Disease Control, or CDC. Deaths of senior residents in nursing homes and long-term facilities due to the virus have surpassed 3,800 in the U.S., according to an analysis of case data conducted by The New York Times. These establishments have workers that risk their health on a daily basis to take care of their patients. Jazlyn Hardee is a certified nursing assistant at an assisted living home in Anchorage, as well as a nursing major at UAA. Being aware of the importance of her job is what keeps her going to work, she said. “At times it can be difficult, but they still need
PHOTO COURTESY OF JAZLYN HARDEE
Jazlyn Hardee, a UAA nursing major, is considered an essential worker as a certified nursing assistant at an assisted living home in Anchorage.
someone to take care of [these patients], to help them. Workers may be able to stay home, but for my residents, that is their home,” Hardee said. Jori Reynolds-Dovell is the overnight master control operator for KTBY. She worries about how
her household could be affected by her continuing to leave for work. “Sometimes I wonder if it’s worth it. Knowing I could be the reason someone in my house catches COVID-19 scares me,” Dovell said. Hardee tries to remain
optimistic despite the threat of infection present at her work. “I enjoy working with all of my residents, as it gives me a sense of joy seeing that I made a difference in their lives,” she said.
Yoga poses a solution for stress and anxiety By Christina Swayney features2@thenorthernlight.org
Yoga has been practiced for over 5,000 years and originated in Northern India by Vedic priests. Today, it is popular all over the world and a way for people to get exercise and calm their minds during these stressful times. Harvard Health says that yoga has numerous benefits, both mentally and physically. “By reducing perceived stress and anxiety, yoga appears to modulate stress response systems. This, in turn, decreases physiological arousal — for example, reducing the heart rate, lowering blood pressure and easing respiration. There is also evidence that yoga practices help increase heart rate variability, an indicator of the body’s ability to respond to stress more flexibly,” according to a Harvard Health article published in 2018. Dr. Christiane Brems has a Ph.D. in clinical psychology and is the director of YogaX, a practicing research center at the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford’s School of Medicine that combines scientific research, such as neuroscience, with yoga. Brems spent 23 years at UAA, where she held a variety of leadership positions, including co-founding the Center for Behavioral Health Research and Services. She recommends yoga and other simple
practices to help deal with stress. “Ample evidence has accumulated to show that yoga is an effective way to increase the capacity to cope with challenges, stress, illness, traumatic events and burnout. Yoga increases your ability to cope by providing you with strategies that calm your nervous system, relax your body, soften and deepen your breath and ease your mind,” Brems said. YogaX offers free online classes via Zoom, with a variety of one-two hour classes to choose from. Basic equipment is recommended, such as a mat
and yoga blocks. If this equipment is not readily available, it can easily be substituted with a towel or a large book. Berg also recommends other yoga resources on YogaX for specific issues. Some examples are the Exalted Warrior Foundation: yoga nidra and iRest videos to practice at home, which is yoga for veterans, or Yoga to the People, a donation-based yoga service to make yoga available to all people regardless of socioeconomic status. Margo Sorum is a certified yoga therapist and teaches yoga classes at UAA. She understands
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that this is a difficult time, but suggests that it can also be a time for people to better themselves, not just with yoga, but in other ways as well. “This time of COVID-19 could be paralyzing. You may be feeling anxious, worried and depressed. You may be freaking out or numbing out. These emotions are normal and are all natural human responses. However, when this time of COVID-19 is over, do you want to look back and remember that you numbed out and watched a bunch of Netflix, or do you want to look back and have accomplished some-
thing?” Sorum said. Sorum also said that yoga can be easy to do at home with minimal equipment. “Everything can ultimately be yoga; the way you sit, the way you stand, the way you breathe, the way you move in your body throughout your day, the way your emotions, thoughts and words express themselves through you — this is all yoga. I can’t think of a better way of spending time than to invest in yourself — how you move, how you think, how you eat, how you prioritize your time,” Sorum said. She also provided a few examples of yoga moves to practice at home. Foot conditioning can help to find balance when standing rather than slouching. The “Riding on the Elephant’s Back” pose will condition the lateral leg line to wake up the deep muscles necessary for good posture. Down Dog Yoga is an app that offers classes through smartphones. They are currently offering free classes until May 1 in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Downloads are available through the App Store and Google Play. For more information about YogaX, visit its website at yogaxteam.com or Instagram page at @yogaxteam. For more at-home yoga poses and information about yoga, subscribe to Margo Sorum’s YouTube channel.
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THENORTHERNLIGHT.ORG TUESDAY, APRIL 21, 2020
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‘Hunker down’ entertainment: UAA professor recommendations part two
PHOTO BY ERIC NOPANEN ON UNSPLASH
Sharing playlists with friends and family can be a way for people to connect while social distancing.
Quarantine playlist part two: Jazz up boredom with music By Gabby Vance arts1@thenorthernlight.org
GRAPHIC BY MICHAELINE COLLINS
By John Novotny arts@thenorthernlight.org
Continuing from the list of entertainment recommendations from professors, here is what a few more are up to between Zoom meetings and grading.
come to find out that love prevails and it doesn’t necessarily mean they must have all of the finer things in life. The show has a quirky element of humor, glorious one-liners and an overall arch of happiness despite the particular circumstances.
of
Brian Cook Chair and assistant professor of the Department of Theatre & Dance
I’d recommend watching “Schitt’s Creek” — it’s been saving me during this time. “Schitt’s Creek” is about a wealthy family (think Kardashian-style) who lost everything and settled into a town called Schitt’s Creek (the town had been purchased by the father of the family as a joke for his son). In some ways, there are a lot of parallels to our current situation — the family feels “stuck” in this town and they are awaiting the day that they can leave it. However, over time, they
I recommend the Netflix-limited series “The Confession Killer” about convicted murderer Henry Lee Lucas. In addition to covering the phenomenon of his confessing to the first 100, then 150, then over 500 murders, the documentary explores the human impulses and desires that allowed what became one of the largest hoaxes in history to be propagated, mostly by members of law enforcement. Lucas became notorious in the early 1980s as the most prolific serial killer
Tara Lampert Adjunct instructor women’s studies
ever caught, and the Texas Rangers were very proud to have apprehended him. As the confessions continue, Lucas is given access to case files, maps and other evidence to help trigger his memory before he confessed to law enforcement officers from all over the country, who believed Lucas’ story and could then clear many murder cases by proving that Lucas was the killer. Eventually, newspaper reporters and other law enforcement officers began to suspect that Lucas was offering false confessions. He was receiving all sorts of special privileges for confessing, so he had ample cause to continue confessing and confessing and confessing. The battle to expose the truth and the legal fallout over the cases that were closed wraps up the documentary. The series offers a fascinating glimpse into a moment in history which has largely been forgotten.
Whether classical, rap, country or pop is your musical cup of tea, listening can be a great quarantine activity. Hanging out around the house, going for a drive or working out are all great situations enhanced with music. Sending playlists and songs to friends and family can also be a way to connect with those you can’t see in person while talking about music together. Next time you’re feeling bored or simply want to jazz up quarantine life, consider listening to these quarantine playlists. Spotify Top 10 Most Popular Songs 2020: • “Yummy” by Justin Bieber • “The Box” by Roddy Ricch • “Blinding Lights” by The Weeknd • “Physical” by Dua Lipa
• “everything i wanted” by Billie Eilish • “Say So” by Doja Cat • “Falling” by Trevor Daniel • “Rare” by Selena Gomez • “Stupid Love” by Lady Gaga • “What A Man Gotta Do” by Jonas Brothers UAA student suggestions: • “The Show Goes on” by Lupe Fiasco — “They’re singing about how the show must go on and I feel like everyone should have that mindset right now,” nursing major River Skareen said. • Journalism major Ashley Hansen’s suggestions: • “La Vie En Rose” by Louis Armstrong — “This is my favorite song of all time and jazz just slaps. It’s so soothing and Louis Armstrong is the man.” • “Almost There” from Princess and the Frog
— “It is a bop.” • Business major Roy Franklin’s suggestions: • “Fruit Punch” by Kaiydo — “I like this song because it has a good vibe and an uplifting mood to it.” • “Mooo!” by Doja Cat — “This one is funny and reminds me of times where you’re with friends and just having a good time.” KRUA’s music manager Zach Smith-Brookins’ suggestions: • JFDR (artist) — “She is really good. She’s another electro artist that I really enjoy.” • Trace Mountains (artist) — “For those who prefer indie, the band just released an album that is phenomenal; it’s called ‘Lost in Country.’” • NNAMDI (artist) — “For those who like hip-hop, I recommend NNAMDI. He is a hiphop artist who released his latest album ‘BRAT’ a couple weeks ago.”
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THENORTHERNLIGHT.ORG TUESDAY, APRIL 21, 2020
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Hitbox First Impressions: Waste Not, Want Not — Disco Elysium
GRAPHIC BY MICHAELINE COLLINS
By John Novotny arts@thenorthernlight.org
Disco Elysium contains a world and story with more depth than the Mariana Trench. It also has more replayability. Developer: ZA/UM Release date: Oct. 15, 2019 Platforms: PC Price: $39.99 Disco Elysium is an isometric role-playing game, or RPG, about solving a murder. Players take on the role of a detective with amnesia after a night of particularly heavy drinking. The detective has no idea who or where he is and has lost almost all of his possessions. What few clothes of his that he can find are scattered around his motel room and is all the player begins the game with. In conversations with non-player characters, or NPCs, the player’s amnesia can lead to all sorts of fun interactions, such as bluntly asking what year it is and where he is. The NPCs act like real people and are always surprised at such questions. Because the player character has amnesia and
gradually finds out more about himself throughout the game, it presents a perfect opportunity for the player to act however they want. Similar to other RPGs, dialogue choices are one of the main modes of expression available to the player. In Disco Elysium, it’s the only mode of expression. Weapons and combat are a mainstay of RPGs but are nowhere to be found in the game, at least in the nine hours I’ve played so far. So, fleshing out the player character and choosing which dialogue options to pick is essentially the entire gameplay loop. There are clothes — which alter the player’s stats — but are few and far between. Don’t expect to be finding hundreds of dollars to spend at shops. Without combat as a key component of gameplay, items are pretty rare, but that also makes each one more meaningful. With the importance of dialogue, it’s a good thing that talking to people in Disco Elysium has been the most enjoyable conversations I’ve ever had with NPCs. It also makes me feel incredibly dumb and insecure about my knowledge of political ideologies. More on that later.
Disco Elysium’s range of dialogue options is astounding. If the player wants to declare themselves an “ace detective” and introduce themselves that way to everyone, they can. Conversations can range from silly to heartfelt. One of the most memorable interactions I had was with a bookstore owner and mother who had her young daughter stand outside and advertise the store. Depending on how the player interprets that situation with their own personal beliefs, they can have a meaningful impact on that family. On one hand, the hard work the daughter is doing could be seen as a good thing that builds character. On the other, the mother could be seen as exploiting her daughter for free labor and ruining her future by pulling her out of school to work. Or perhaps the player doesn’t think it’s the business of a police detective to get involved in family matters. I held the belief that compromising a child’s future by making them work instead of going to school was a terrible thing to do. So, I talked to the store owner and persuaded her that it wasn’t fair to the child. After coming to that realization, she had her daughter come back inside the store. When I came back a few minutes later, I could see the daughter doing homework in the back of the store. Although, when I talked to her again, she complained about the difficulty of her homework. It’s difficult to articulate, but after that interaction, I came to a sudden realization that I could actually make a meaningful difference in these peoples’ lives. Instead of begging for money every time
SCREENSHOTS BY JOHN NOVOTNY
Patting or kicking the mailbox in Disco Elysium will reveal exactly what kind of person the player is.
Disco Elysium’s skills sometimes talk to you during conversations like companions in other role-playing games would.
I was given the option, I started taking it more seriously and viewed that as a bribe. As a policeman, I was in a position of authority and it would be immoral to abuse it. That was the moment I shifted my mindset from simply playing another RPG to being fully immersed in the world. It’s a striking testament to how much freedom the developers have given the player. I mentioned earlier that Disco Elysium often made me feel dumb. That’s because of how much the game references political ideologies, such as communism, fascism and right-wing libertarianism. Just to preface this part,
it’s obvious that fascism is awful and the game doesn’t actually allow the player to take on that ideology. There are bigoted dialogue options and characters. However, I’m not sure how the game reacts to those choices. In fact, Disco Elysium seems to be making fun of all those ideologies that I listed, it’s just that most of the jokes are going over my head. I’m guessing that it’s referencing works such as “The Communist Manifesto” by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, but I’m too ignorant to know. It doesn’t seem like this type of knowledge is crucial to enjoying Disco Elysium, but it would
probably help. I think you could play through Disco Elysium without any prior ideologic knowledge and it would still reveal more about your beliefs. Will I be playing more of Disco Elysium? Absolutely. It takes forever to just have one conversation or look around a single building, but that’s the magic of Disco Elysium. Exploring a single city over 30 hours is going to allow for infinitely more story depth than a giant open-world ever could. This is the most excited I’ve ever been to meet new characters and just talk with them.
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