The Sun StarVolume XXX Number 15

January 25, 2011

Staff

EDITOR IN CHIEFAndrew Sheeler

editor@uafsunstar.com(907) 474-5078

LAYOUT EDITORHeather Bryant

layout@uafsunstar.com

COPY EDITORRebecca Coleman

MULTIMEDIA EDITORJeremy Smith

web@uafsunstar.com

DISTRIBUTION MANAGERJeremia Schrock

ASSISTANT DISTRIBUTION MANAGER

Daniel Thoman

AD MANAGERAlex Kinn

fyads@uaf.edu(907) 474-7540

ADVISORLynne Snifka

REPORTERSJeremia SchrockAmber Sandlin

Ben DeeringDaniel Thoman

Elika RoohiKelsey Gobroski

COLUMNISTSJR Ancheta

Jeremy Smith

PHOTOGRAPHERSJR AnchetaDillon Ball

Shannon BaarlaerJeremia SchrockHeather Bryant

This Week’s Highlights2 In This IssueJanuary 25, 2011 The Sun Star

The Sun Star’s mission is to provide a voice for the UAF

campus and be a written record where news, peo-ple’s opinions, and events (whether extraordinary

or ordinary) are expressed honestly and fairly.

Brett Barkman score during the first half of the game. The Nanooks and Western Oregon Wolves scored side by side until the game ended. Satur-day, Jan. 22, 2011. JR Ancheta/Sun Star.

EditorialCampusLife

SportsNews

This Week

EDITORIAL OFFICES101G Wood Center

P.O. Box 756640Fairbanks, AK 99775Tel: (907) 474-6039

Ads Dept: (907) 474-7540Calendar: (907) 474-6043

Fax: (907) 474-5508

www.uafsunstar.com

JR talks clubs and student organizations. Random Errors talks Angry Birds.

3

10

6

5

11

An epitaph for a former Snedden speaker, Con-gress resurrects healthcare debate, there’s a new (old) face at Google, the FBI busts over 100 mob-sters, and this week’s crop of crime in the blotter.

UAF’s response to students with psychiatric prob-lems and the university takes out the trash (with

brand new janitors).

A bad week for Nanook women’s basketball, while Nanook men set a record.

This could be the beginning of a beautiful semester.

Advertise with the Sun Star!

Call our ads deptartment or go online to find

out how you can advertise with us. We offer

both print and online advertising opportunities.

Ads: 474-7540www.uafsunstar.com

Politics 4A preview of the upcoming state legislative ses-

sion, 8 questions for ASUAF President Nicole Carvajal, and the Nookraker debuts with a recap of

Gov. Parnell’s inaugural reception.

3This Week www.uafsunstar.com January 25, 2011

Compiled by Daniel ThomanSun Star Reporter

January 11

On Taku Drive, a vehicle was driven into

the ditch. When the driver asked UAF em-

ployees for assistance, the driver was sus-

pected to be intoxicated and UAF police

were called. Officers tested and failed the

subject on all three field tests. The subject

had refused to submit to a breathalyzer test.

The driver was taken to the Fairbanks Cor-

rectional Center and booked on charges of

DUI and refusal to submit.

January 10

A University grounds vehicle hit a privately

owned parked vehicle in the Irving Parking

lot. No one was hurt, and the owner of the

other vehicle was contacted.

January 11

On College Road, a routine traffic stop re-

vealed the driver to be driving under a

suspended license. The driver was taken to

Fairbanks Correctional Center for multiple

charges, including driving with license sus-

pended or revoked. When booked at the

Correctional Center, the driver admitted to

being in possession of marijuana.

News BriefsCompiled by Amber SandlinSun Star Reporter

-New York Times

More than 125 mobsters arrestedIn a major one-day raid by the FBI, fed-

eral charges were brought against over 125

people in more than seven mob families

on Thursday, Jan 20. Charges range from

murder, including a double homicide over

a spilled drink in a Queens bar, to rack-

eteering, extortion, loan-sharking, money

laundering and gambling. Members of the

infamous five families of New York (Geno-

vese, Gambino, Colombo, Luchese and

Bonanno) were charged. Also charged was

Luigi Manocchio, 83, the former boss of

New England’s Patriarca crime family, who

was said to have once dressed as a woman

to avoid police capture decades ago.

Google CEO to changeA decade ago, Larry Page, co-founder

of Google, was replaced by Eric Schmidt,

a technology veteran, when investors in-

sisted on a “more mature leader” to oversee

the company. On Thursday, Jan. 20, an an-

nouncement was made by Google that the

young co-founder would again rise to the

CEO position, taking back his original seat

in Google.-USA Today

House votes to repeal health care law

On Thursday, Jan. 20, the House of

Representatives began drafting a measure

that would replace the Affordable Care

Act. According to CNN, the repeal vote

was mainly symbolic due to Democratic

control of the Senate, and it has virtually

no chance of clearing a presidential veto.

Majority leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada,

has said he will prevent the chamber from

voting on it.-CNN

This program, administered by the Center for Global Change and Arctic System Research in partnership with the Cooperative Institute for Alaska Research and the University of Alaska Anchorage provides support for UAF and UAA undergraduate and graduate student research on global change presented in an interdisciplinary context, with an arctic or subarctic focus.

Undergraduate and graduate proposals will be evaluated separately.

Research may involve:

Amount: Graduate: up to $10,000 for 1 year; $20,000 for 2 years; Undergraduate: up to $10,000 for 1 year

Application Deadline (EARLIER than past years):

**Friday, February 11, 2011**

Guidelines have been tightened consid-erably and students are advised to read them very carefully before preparing and submitting a proposal.

More information, including the an-nouncement of opportunity with com-plete guidelines, is available at http://www.cgc.uaf.edu. Copies of the an-nouncement can be picked up from the Center for Global Change, Rm 306 Akasofu (IARC), or the Graduate School, Rm 202 Eielson.

Social Sciences / EngineeringEnvironmental Sciences

Global Change Student

Research Grant

Competition – 2011

Recent Snedden lecturer dies

All persons referred to in the blotter are pre-sumed innocent until proven guilty.

Parnell appoints University RegentsGov. Parnell has appointed two new

regents: Mike Powers, CEO of Fairbanks

Memorial Hospital, and Jyotsna “Jo”

Heckman, President of Denali State Bank.

Both Powers and Heckman are from the

Fairbanks area and will replace outgoing

Fairbanks-based regents Cynthia Henry

and Erik Drygas. “Ms. Heckman and Mr.

Powers possess exceptional levels of man-

agement skills and community involve-

ment,” Governor Parnell said.

-Press Release Office of Governor Parnell

Search KG KATE

University-friendly Clothing & accessories

Visit us on

Heather BryantAndrew SheelerSun Star Reporters

Ceaser Williams, 61, died on Tuesday

Dec. 21, 2010. He was a lifelong journalist

and teacher. Williams traveled extensively

around the world, frequently through Eu-

rope and Africa. Most recently, his journey

brought him to UAF in Sept. of last year.

The Pulitzer Prize winner gave a lecture on

journalism at the Morris Thompson Visi-

tor’s and Activity Center on Sept. 29.

His lecture “Iron Williams: Life and

Times of a Dinosaur Journalist” covered

his journey from a cub-reporter during the

civil rights movement to a veteran reporter

and copy-editor at publications such as the

Buffalo Evening News, The Philadelphia

Inquirer, Newsday, The Atlanta Journal/

Constitution and the Kansas City Star.

“My lecture was in the format of a

news story,” Williams said in the Oct. 5

issue of the Sun Star. “I wanted to reach

everyone, whether they’re student, jour-

nalist or teacher, from the perspective of a

journalist.”

Following his journalism career, Wil-

liams taught journalism classes at both the

high school and college levels. His obituary

in the Kansas City Star stated that Williams

said his goal in life was to “preserve the

beauty of the English language, one young

mind at a time.”

Williams was the 16th Snedden lec-

turer to visit UAF. He said during his visit

to UAF, he wanted to become the Snedden

Chair so that he could revisit UAF and

share more of his knowledge.

“He embraced the idea of coming up

to Alaska as being a great, huge adventure,”

said , Chair of the UAF Journalism Depart-

ment. “His death really jolted us all.”

A link to a vdeo of Williams’ lecture at the Morris Thompson Visitor’s Center

will be available on www.uafsunstar.com

An undated photo of Williams from the UAF Journalism Department’s Facebook page.

4 The Sun StarJanuary 25, 2011 Politics

Nookraker

Jeremia SchrockSun Star Reporter

Jeremia SchrockSun Star Reporter

For Governor Sean Parnell and Lt.

Governor Mead Treadwell, “Fairbanks” is

synonymous with “education.” Not only

did the Governor and Lt. Governor visit

UAF Friday afternoon to thumb through an

original copy of the Alaska state constitu-

tion, but also our own Chancellor Rogers

was the Master of Ceremonies at an inau-

gural reception thrown in their honor.

“I believe Alaska needs a powerhouse

university,” Treadwell said during the re-

ception. “There is nothing we do in this

state, that doesn’t happen better, without

knowledge,” he added.

As the Governor and Lt. Governor

spoke in turn, one noticed certain words

and themes that were struck upon over

and over again: God, Family, State, Service.

Only a bingo card could have made the

evenings discourse any more lively.

Friday’s reception at the Carlson

Center was just one in a series of recep-

tions across the state aimed at welcoming

the newly elected administration into of-

fice. The speeches (and there were four of

them) were short and sweet, yet they felt

unquestionably boilerplate.

“There’s so many things to be done,

I’m just ready to roll up my sleeves to help,”

Treadwell said after thanking Chancellor

Rogers and President Gamble for dis-

cussing with him ways to better UAF.

In 1978, Treadwell (or as I think of

him, “Mr. Education”) received his BA from

Yale followed by an MBA from the Harvard

Business School four years later. For the

past nine years he has worked as a

member, and later appointed the chair, of

the United States Arctic Research Com-

mission established by President George

W. Bush. Treadwell is also no stranger to

public office, having worked as Deputy

Commissioner of the Department of En-

vironmental Conservation under former

Governor Wally Hickel. Treadwell was also

a prize-winning political reporter for the

Anchorage Times during the late ’70s and

early ’80s.

The governor, it should be noted, is

an interesting man. This may come as a

surprise to some people, like Laura Fitz-

patrick writing for TIME, who feels that our

10th governor has a “a low-key demeanor

that verges on bland.” Don Young labeled

Parnell “Captain Zero” and the Anchorage

Daily News dubbed him the “oatmeal gov-

ernor.” While the “Parnell” that smiles and

shakes our hands may border on the unin-

spiring, to accuse him of rote blandness is

to do him a disservice.

While Sarah Palin’s larger-than-life

personality provides cover to an other-

wise shallow and pedestrian individual,

Parnell acts as his own Puss-in-Boots. Not

the adorable Antonio Banderas-voiced

kitty from the Shrek films, but the fairy-

tale feline who used guile and cunning to

gain power and wealth for his poor and

lowly master. He did it all with a click of the

tongue, leaving no one the wiser.

Parnell’s life prior to the governor-

ship was one of a corporate man, lobbyist

and politician. Before becoming Palin’s Lt.

Governor in 2006, Parnell acted as both a

state representative and a state senator,

lawyer, government relations director for

Conoco Phillips and as a lobbyist for the

Washington D.C.-based firm Patton Boggs.

I met Parnell at the soiree and asked if

he had time for a question.

“What’s it about?” He asked guard-

edly. I told him it was about education to

which he responded with a clipped “sure.”

It was a simple question: What is UAF’s

role in Alaska? “UAF’s role in Alaska, to me,

is in becoming one of the economic en-

gines for Alaska. If UAF can produce gradu-

ates that can take the jobs of tomorrow then

UAF will have fulfilled its role.” He paused,

“that’s about as simple as I can put it.”

Governor Sean Parnell at the inaugera-tion ceremony Friday, Jan. 21, 2011. Jer-emia Schrock/UAF Sun Star.

8 questions for ASUAF President Nicole Carvajal Education and oatmeal

Using a letter grade, how would you rate this past semester’s senate?

C. We got things done, but not enough.

We didn’t always do it the right way.

Do you have any recommenda-tions for this year’s senate?

I would like to see the senate be a little

more proactive instead of reactive. I’d like to

see them reaching out to different people a

little more and being more willing to work

with them. It was a bit of a struggle to get

senators to work with some of the groups,

Concert Board in particular. I would like to

see that changed.

Do you have any semester goals of your own?

Part of what I want to do is get a good

infrastructure in place so that next year

ASUAF can continue to grow. I would like to

see us, first of all, get our own office taken

care of. Get computers that are needed for

everyone who is employed, get job descrip-

tions and jobs so that everything is filled so

that there is somebody for everything. Right

now, we’re in kind of a weird in-between

phase with the paid positions that we have

and making sure the RISE Board gets their

governance agreement signed.

What would you say was ASUAF’s biggest success this year?

Well, we found out how much money

we had in our carry-forward account, we

allocated enough money to start building

an outdoor education this summer, we al-

located $60,000 to Concert Board, so they’re

going to have a big Spring Fest concert. Just

the way we’ve been spending our money,

we have way too much in our savings ac-

count. And I think we’re starting to find the

balance between having a good cushion

there and still spending the students’ money

the way that we feel we should spend it and

the way the students want us to.

What would you say was ASUAF’s biggest failure?

We gave ourselves a really bad name

by being slightly uncooperative with the

Concert Board, in particular. We could have

done things a lot better and a lot differently

and I wish that we had, but in the end, ev-

erything worked out. We came to a solution

that everybody was comfortable with, but

that doesn’t excuse the way the Concert

Board was treated.

Is there anything you’d like to see changed about the ASUAF student government fee?

I’d like to see the governance groups

working together on figuring out a way

to possibly raise the fee. I think all of the

groups are coming to the consensus that

we just don’t have enough money to do the

things that we need to do. We’re not able to

provide the services that we need to provide

to the students anymore and I think we all

need to work together to raise the fee a rea-

sonable amount.

How much do you think it should be raised?

I haven’t looked at the numbers hard

enough yet, so I can’t answer that. But, I can

tell you that none of the groups have enough

money and we’re all fighting over a pot of

money that’s way too small.

Is there a legacy you’d like to leave UAF?

I’d like to see students more aware of

ASUAF and I’d like them to have the infra-

structure in place for them to continue to

grow. I think we’ve been stagnant for way

too long and I’d like to see this year, and my

term as president, as kind of a rebuilding

year and setting the groundwork for us to be

better.

For more questions for Carvajal, go online to www.uafsunstar.com. Got a question about politics at UAF? Email us at editor@uafsunstar.com.

University-friendly clothing & accessories

Visit us on

Search KG KATE

5 www.uafsunstar.com January 25, 2011News

Science BriefsCompiled by Jeremia SchrockSun Star Reporter

-Yahoo Science

Why teenagers binge drinkGenetics appear to influence whether

or not a teenager will resort to heavy

drinking in order to cope with negative

feelings, a recent study suggests. Re-

searchers analyzed DNA data collected

from teens in the Netherlands who had

consumed alcohol at least once in their

lives. The teens were asked about their

reasons for drinking and if they had expe-

rienced any alcohol-related problems. The

study found that binge drinking and al-

cohol abuse among the group was strongly

associated with drinking to cope and with

variations in the dopamine D2 receptor

gene that plays an important role in the

brain’s reward pathway, as well as in be-

havior, motivation and sexual gratification.

The death of a faminePhytophthora infestans, the pathogen

known for starving one million people

and driving a million more to exile during

Ireland’s Great Famine, is still alive and

evolving. The organism is infamous for

its resistance to pesticides and equally

notorious for its ability to adapt to plants

other then the potato. However, scientists

believe they have finally found its “Achilles

heel.” The bacteria contains to different

regions that evolve at different speeds: one

changes rapidly, while the other barely at

all. Scientists hope to use this genetic trick

to develop plants resistant to the bacteria.

-Popular Mechanics

Face to face with chimpanzeesIf a picture is worth a thousand

words, then so is a chimpanzee’s face, a

new study suggests. Researchers in Wales

believe that people have the ability to tell

whether a chimp is dominant and physi-

cally active by simply looking at a picture

of the ape’s “expressionless” face. “The

fact that chimpanzee facial signals can be

read by humans suggests that our ability to

read others’ faces accurately is not solely

acquired through culture, but is part of

an evolved system,” said scientist Robert

Ward. The ability to discern key person-

ality traits through faces evolved more

than 7 million years ago from our shared

ancestors.

-Discovery News

UAF’s evolving mental health responseAndrew SheelerSun Star Reporter

Before April of 2007, colleges and uni-

versities across the country were unpre-

pared for how to respond to a student like

Seung-Hui Cho, a senior at Virginia Tech.

After Cho went on a shooting rampage that

took over 30 lives, Virginia Tech and schools

across the country reconsidered how to

deal with students whose mental health

problems made them a threat to both them-

selves and their peers. When Pima Com-

munity College in Tuscon, Ariz. received

numerous reports from concerned students

and teachers about a student named Jared

Loughner, they responded by suspending

him indefinitely and barring him from

campus.

poses goes up, the level of privacy restric-

tion goes down. In the event that a student

needs to be involuntarily committed, the

UAF police are called to commit them.

McGee said that he has involuntarily com-

mitted students in the past, but that “every

effort is made to make this a voluntary com-

mitment.”

Dr. BJ Aldrich, Director of the Health

Center, echoed that sentiment.

“We try and get them to commit them-

selves for further evaluation,” Aldrich

said. However, getting psychiatric help in

Fairbanks can be a challenge for students,

especially students of limited means. Al-

drich said that while she and the medical

providers at the Health Center can and do

prescribe psychiatric medication, the

Foley, with Student Life, is often the one

on the front lines when students are having

problems. He said that it is rare for a student

to self-report a serious mental illness. There

are “maybe one or two a year,” Foley said. He

said that more often, he gets reports from

concerned friends, students or faculty.

Foley said that he and the other mem-

bers of the BIT are considering whether or

not to formalize the reporting process. Foley

is concerned that doing so could potentially

turn some people off from otherwise voicing

their concerns.

“What is going to make people more

comfortable reporting something that is

concerning,” Foley said. The BIT plans to

make a decision on formalization later this

year.

Students can speak with counselors at the Center for Health and Counseling, Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The Center can be reached at 474-7043. For 24-hour emergency psy-chiatric service, please call the Fairbanks Community Behavioral Health Clinic at 452-1575.

Loughner later

went on a shooting ram-

page that left six dead

and Congresswoman

Gabrielle Giffords seri-

ously wounded.

Following Lough-

ner’s shooting spree,

colleges across the

country are once more

evaluating how to dealwith students with mental health problems.

The North Carolina State Board of Com-

munity Colleges amended their policy to

allow state colleges to refuse admission to

prospective students who present “an ar-

ticulable, imminent and significant threat,”

according to the Charlotte Observer.

UAF does not have a formal response to

students who, like Loughner and Cho, could

pose a potential threat to their classmates

and teachers. Instead, they have formed

an informal Behavioral Intervention Team

(BIT) that deals with this issue on a case-

by-case basis. The team consists of Sean

McGee, UAF Chief of Police; Don Foley,

Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Life;

Sharon Hollensbe, Associate Director for

Counseling Services at the Health Center;

and Kevin Huddy, Director of Residence

Life.

Chief McGee said that the members of

BIT coordinate and share information where

they can regarding students of concern.

There are limits though. Confidentiality

laws, especially regarding medical privacy,

can prevent BIT members from discussing

students’ mental health status. Chief McGee

said that as the apparent threat a student

counselors on staff there cannot. So students

needing counseling as well as treatment are

forced to venture off campus. There are only

a handful of private practice psychiatrists in

Fairbanks, and their prices and insurance

policies vary. Low-income students can go

to the Fairbanks Community Behavioral

Health Center, but the waitlist to be seen

can sometimes be months unless the need

is urgent. Aldrich said that a further compli-

cation is the imperfect ability to diagnose a

student as a danger to themselves or others.

“When someone is acting out, you can’t al-

ways commit them,” Aldrich said.

Foley said that there is a “learning curve

for all of us” when it comes to figuring out

how to deal with student mental health. He

said that UAF is a big, diverse campus. “We

have this interesting mix of everything from

welding to astrophysics [students].”

When someone is acting out, you can’t always commit them

-Dr. BJ Aldrich“

”

Sports6 The Sun StarJanuary 25, 2011

Women’s basketball falls to the Vikings and the Clan

Rebecca ColemanSun Star Reporter

Western Washington dribbled past the

Alaska women’s basketball team for a 76-50

victory on Thursday, Jan. 20. The Nanooks

kept pace with Simon Fraser on Saturday,

Jan. 22, but weren’t able to grab a win, losing

71-82.

Throughout the first half of Thursday’s

game, the Nanooks tried to keep up with

Western Washington, but couldn’t edge

past them. The mascot attempted to pump

up the small crowd with dance moves and

high-fives, but it didn’t help the ladies on

the court.

In the second half, the Vikings’ lead

quickly increased from 20 to 30. Western

Washington gave Alaska numerous free-

throw opportunities, but the Nanooks

weren’t able to make much of a dent into

the Vikings’ lead, and Western Washington

walked away with a 76-50 win.

Alaska was ready for action as they

headed into their game against Simon

Fraser on Saturday. When the game began,

the Clan picked up an early lead. The Na-

nooks fought back and kept the Clan’s lead

to within 10 points throughout the half.

The Nanooks played a tight, clean

second half. They increased their double-

teaming and made it hard for Simon Fraser

to increase their lead. However, Alaska was

never able to close Simon Fraser’s lead due

to the Clan’s 3-pointer accuracy. In the last

few minutes of the game, Alaska kicked their

defense into overdrive, gaining momentum

with great shots and steals. Despite all their

hard work, the Nanooks fell short of the win,

losing to Simon Fraser 71-82.

Even though they lost, the Nanooks

played well. Senior Nicole Bozek scored

28 points and shot 100 percent on her free

throws, making all 11 of them.

“We had 15 offensive rebounds, we

were good with our free throws, and we had

a strong second half,” Burgess said, high-

lighting the successes of the game.

Next week, the Nanooks will take on

Montana State Billings and Seattle Pacific

on Jan. 27 and 29, respectively.

Freshman Emily Johnson from Juneau, AK, and junior Whitney Anderson listens to head coach during a timeout. Saturday, Jan. 22, 2011. JR Ancheta/Sun Star.

Above left: #14 Kyle Smith defends the ball from #24 Jamaal Veal at a neck-and-neck game Saturday night.Above right: #11 Jessica Harrison and #33 Nicole Bozek attempt to steal the ball from Simon Frasier’s Rebecca Langmead (#14) on Saturday’s game where Alaska Nanooks lost 82-71.Right: Jarrett Miller attempts to shoot during the game. Nanooks lost from Western Oregon University 89 - 85. Photos by JR Ancheta/Sun Star

www.uafsunstar.com January 25, 2011Sports 7

West breaks school record in overtime victoryRebecca ColemanSun Star Reporter

UAF men’s basketball pulled off a

96-93 overtime victory over Saint Martin’s

on Thursday, Jan. 20. This nail-biter of a

game included the breaking of a 43-year-

old school record by senior Parrish West.

On Saturday, Jan. 22, the Nanooks battled

against Western Oregon and were barely

overtaken in an 89-85 loss.

Thursday night, the Nanooks were

solid on their free throws and smooth with

their steals, but sloppy with their passing,

keeping the game tight with SMU. Midway

through the first half, West dove after the

ball and landed in the SMU sideline chairs.

He hobbled over to the Alaska bench and,

after a quick time-out, was back in the game

and scoring baskets.

Alaska pulled up a lead for most of

the second half, but SMU wasn’t willing to

quit. With 7:30 left in the game, SMU took

the lead. They gained momentum and with

less than three minutes left in the game,

they had an eight-point lead. The Nanooks

played solidly and with 41.3 seconds on

the clock, West was fouled while sinking a

3-pointer. He made his free throw, bringing

the score to a tie. 15 seconds later, he got the

lead for the Nanooks with another free

throw, but SMU wasn’t giving up and made

a free throw of their own, sending the game

into overtime.

“Coming back from being down by

eight was an awesome point for the team,”

said senior Aaron Kohring.

SMU claimed the first points of over-

time, but back and forth action from both

teams kept the score tight. With 0.6 seconds

left in overtime, West made a 3-pointer,

giving the Nanooks a 96-93 victory.

“I had to get the ball out of my hands,”

West said. “I just had to shoot and luckily it

went in.”

West scored 43 points, breaking the

previous school record of 42 points in a

game, which was held by Milo Griffin from

the 1967-68 season.

“It felt good, but the win felt better,”

West said of his new record.

“It’s enjoyable to have this young man

in the midst and say that I coached him,”

said Coach Clemon Johnson of West.

West might be the leading Nanooks

scorer, but it took the whole team to come

up with the win.

“It was a full team effort,” Johnson said.

He pointed out that until this semester,

the team has been without a “pure” point

guard. “Since Nico (Matthews) arrived [last

weekend for the game against Western

Washington], the team started developing

into a unit.”

From tip-off until the last seconds on

the clock, Saturday’s game against Western

Washington was tight. The lead changed

back and forth with nearly every possession.

The largest lead throughout the game was a

six-point spread, which only lasted about 30

seconds before the score was tied up again.

For the rest of the game, there was solid

pressure from both teams. It was anyone’s

game. Through fouls and free throws, steals

and baskets, Alaska fought until time ran

out, but when the buzzer went off, Western

Washington had earned an 89-85 win.

“We knew it’d be a tough game, and

we battled them,” Johnson said. “Our re-

bounding was good, theirs was just better.

The opportunities were there, we just didn’t

win the ball game.”

“It was a team effort, and at the end of

the day, we played a good game,” West said.”

Next week, Alaska will take on Central

Washington and Northwest Nazarene on

Jan. 27 and 29, respectively.

Freshman Emily Johnson from Juneau, AK, and junior Whitney Anderson listens to head coach during a timeout. Saturday, Jan. 22, 2011. JR Ancheta/Sun Star.

Above left: #14 Kyle Smith defends the ball from #24 Jamaal Veal at a neck-and-neck game Saturday night.Above right: #11 Jessica Harrison and #33 Nicole Bozek attempt to steal the ball from Simon Frasier’s Rebecca Langmead (#14) on Saturday’s game where Alaska Nanooks lost 82-71.Right: Jarrett Miller attempts to shoot during the game. Nanooks lost from Western Oregon University 89 - 85. Photos by JR Ancheta/Sun Star

Advertisements8 The Sun StarJanuary 25, 2011

www.uafsunstar.com January 25, 2011News 9

2011 legislative preview Changing of the guard

Ben DeeringSun Star Reporter

The custodial services on campus are

sold on contract; each contract runs for

three years with two one-year options.

The company previously responsible for

the contract was ABM Services. UAF is

switching to a contract with GCA Services

Group, a company that has “numerous

Fortune 100 companies as… clients,” ac-

cording to their site.

ABM’s contract expired June 30, so

the custodial contract went up for public

bid in July, with proposals closed in Au-

gust. According to Martin Klein, the busi-

ness manager for Auxiliary and Contract

Services, “the contract is awarded with

two parts: proposal is 50 percent, price is

50 percent.” Each company submitted a

proposal that “told us how they planned

on cleaning,” Klein said. GCA scored the

highest in the proposal category, as well as

having the lowest price.

Responses to the switch have been

mostly positive. “We have to give them a

little more time,” said Wendy Frandsen,

Fiscal Manager at the Rasmuson Library.

“It’s a switch, and there are going to be

some glitches. But no serious problems at

all. And I will say that it’s nice to call and

there’s someone around during the day.”

There are also some changes in the

contract structure. Previously, there have

been building inspectors, but the frame-

work was spotty at best. In the new con-

tract, the building inspectors will double

over all the buildings, and build a “com-

prehensive report,” Klein said. “Every

quarter, we’ll sit down with them and go

over missed points… you did well with the

bathrooms, but the water fountains are

getting missed…”

The new contract will not cover all of

UAF’s buildings. The CTC and the main

campus will be cleaned by GCA, but an

additional seven off-campus buildings will

be cleaned under a separate, local con-

tract.

UAF gets new janitors

$UAF STUDENTS

UAF is an AA/EO employer and educational institution. 01/2011 America’s Arctic University

Apply for scholarships now!Scholarships are available for 2011 – 2012.

UAF students are awarded more than $700,000 through more than 350 privately funded scholarships each year.

One of them might be just for you.• Toseewhatscholarshipsareavailablevisit www.uaf.edu/finaid/types/scholarships.html

• Toapply,logontohttp://uaonline.alaska.edu andchoose“FinancialAid,”thenchoose “Scholarships.”

Apply by Feb. 15, 2011

Andrew SheelerSun Star Reporter

The 2011 session of Alaska’s 27th Legis-

lature began in Juneau on Tuesday, Jan. 18,

and UA President Patrick Gamble and Gov.

Sean Parnell have released their Redbook

and Bluebook respectively. The Redbook

and Bluebook represent the budget priori-

ties of their authors, and the two have much

in common. The university has requested

$350.8 million in general funds for the cur-

rent year, with the governor recommending

a smaller $347.1 million.

For President Gamble’s priorities, “De-

ferred maintenance is the really big one,”

said Kate Ripley, the UA Statewide spokes-

woman. Gov. Parnell has allotted $37.5

million in funds to repair aging buildings

throughout the university system. The gov-

ernor has also recommended $2 million for

regular, annual maintenance, a fraction of

the $25 million requested by the university.

That isn’t the only place where the Parnell

and Gamble disagree.

Gamble requested, and Parnell re-

jected, $2.3 million in funding for high-

priority programs, including heath and bio-

medical, teacher education and programs

to support student success. Finally, Parnell

rejected the university’s request for $12 mil-

lion in funding for state-sponsored research.

For all the areas where Parnell and

Gamble’s priorities differ, the university

hopes to lobby the Legislature for support.

Ripley said that the university was

pleased with Parnell’s decision to approve

operating funds that would pay for a 50-

cent increase in wages for student workers.

Parnell also recommended that the state

spend $8.2 million to fund the newly created

Alaska Performance Scholarship, a merit-

based scholarship that Parnell was a major

advocate for. Finally, Parnell proposed an

additional $1 million for needs-based finan-

cial aid.

One person who thinks Parnell isn’t

doing enough in pushing for needs-based

aid is Rep. David Guttenberg, whose district

includes UAF. Guttenberg said that students

in Alaska are facing increasing costs of going

to school.

“The state has a vested interest in cov-

ering the cost of that,” Guttenberg said.

Although Gamble is taking a low-key

approach to the budget this year following

last year’s bruising legislative battle for the

life sciences building, Rep. Scott Kawasaki

of Fairbanks has different ideas. Kawa-

saki wrote HB 38, a bill that would create a

school of medicine at UAF and a school of

law at UAA. Ripley said that the university

currently has no comment on the bill, but

that the University Board of Regents has the

ability to start a new school at any time.

Campus Life10 The Sun StarJanuary 25, 2011

Where’s the Clubhouse?JR AnchetaSun Star Reporter

In a clubhouse excitement can be

contagious, as a group of people shares a

common interest or goal.

“It’s an opportunity to make the most

of your university experience,” said Ginny

Austin, Student Organizations Coordi-

nator. “It’s a good way to connect to other

people and find a practical outlet for the

skills you’re learning in the classrooms.”

UAF has over 115 recognized student

organizations. These clubs have different

goals, missions, and activities, but all have

one thing in common: engaging their

members to practice and improve their

skills or focus on their interests. Subjects

vary from academic fields to physical ac-

tivities organizations.

It is easy for students to start a new

student organization that is recognized by

the university, Austin said. A pre-recog-

nition process must first be completed by

the students. This entails gathering 10

signatures from supporters, having organi-

zational meetings, creating a constitution,

and electing officers.

The Student Organization Spring Fair,

which will be held Feb. 9-10 from 11 a.m. to

2 p.m. in the Wood Center, is a perfect way

to meet these clubs in one location. In the

past, 30-50 clubs have participated, Austin

said. People can “find out what’s going on

on campus, so they can get involved, make

connections, and get information.”

The Capoeira Club and the Inu-Yupiak

dancers are ideal examples of student or-

ganizations, not because of their culture-

based programs, but because of their open-

ness to share their interest, knowledge,

and excitement. Out of all the benefits of

joining clubs, being part of a community

is an integral part of experiencing college

with fellowship. Find a club that suits you.

Forms and more information can be

found at the student organization website:

http://www.uaf.edu/studentorgs

Jeremy SmithSun Star Columnist

2011: year of the tablet, Angry Birds

2011. The year after we made contact

and the year before the world ends. It is also

going to be known as the year of the tablet,

as in, almost everyone reading this will ei-

ther own or will have used one and realized

a deeper need to possess ‘my precious.’ Or

so the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show

(CES) would have you believe. Also, 3D --

and Angry Birds -- everywhere!

After Apple cornered more than 85

percent of the tablet market in 2010 with

their April release of the iPad, other manu-

facturers decided that it is time to give the

people what they want the most: options…

and make lots of that sweet, sweet tablet

money. In late 2010, Barnes & Noble un-

veiled their NOOKcolor, which is a seven-

inch e-reader that has a touch-screen and

runs Google’s Android operating system.

At this year’s CES, it walked off with awards

from multiple publications as the best new

tech that is currently available. Granted,

Barnes and Noble doesn’t position their

NOOKcolor as a rival to the iPad, but in-

trepid hackers have removed various re-

strictions and created an inexpensive,

touch-sensitive tablet that can access every-

thing an Android-based cell phone can do.

And play Angry Birds.

At this year’s CES, more than 20 manu-

facturers were showing off their version of

the ‘iPad killer’ to a not-so-impressed press.

However, Motorola revealed two products

that work to fill that niche between full com-

puter and simple e-reader and seemed to

light a fire under those tech journalists’ cold

hearts.

The device making much of the industry

take notice is Motorola’s Xoom Tablet. Com-

plete with a dual-core processor, memory

card slots, two cameras, Wi-Fi and 3G/4G

support all running on version 3.0 of the

Android operating system, the Xoom checks

off all of the boxes that the iPad seems to be

missing.

Motorola’s TRIX 4G phone approached

the niche by cramming all of the features

present in the latest smartphones, along

with the ability to play and record HD-level

video, into the candy-bar form factor… but

with a slick twist. The phone can be plugged

into a dock and become a full-featured net-

book, complete with keyboard and monitor.

On the low-tech side, Rovio announced

and released not only a PC version of their ri-

diculously popular bird versus egg-stealing

pig app Angry Birds, but also a board game

version. As in, one you play at home with

a slingshot, some birds, some blocks and

some pigs. I am excited.

Of course CES also had the necessary

explosion of gigantic televisions and in a

nod to last year, continued to herald the

belief that we all want 3D, without glasses,

in every facet of our lives. Toshiba was the

closest to offering glasses-free 3D in the

living room through two TV prototypes, but

actual prices and availability are several

years away. Nintendo showed off their new

3DS, which provides portable 3D gaming,

sans-glasses as well. This has been priced at

$250 and is dated for a mid-2011 release.

I picked up a NOOKcolor myself over

the holidays and I will definitely give you

an update on how that works as an e-reader

and low-cost Android tablet… and just how

awesome I am at Angry Birds.

Jeremy talks and takes on technology at gpfault.org.

Clubbing with JR

True or False • A flu vaccine can’t give you the flu.Answer: True.The flu vaccine cannot cause flu illness. The viruses in the vaccine are either killed (flu shot) or weakened (nasal spray vaccine), which means they cannot cause infection• Getting a flu vaccine in January or later is not too late.Answer: True.CDC recommends that people get vaccinated in January and beyond. Influenza activity usually peaks in February most years, but disease can occur as late as May.• Flu viruses change constantly which requires a new flu vaccine to be produced each year.Answer: True.The viruses in the vaccine change each year based on worldwide monitoring of influ-enza viruses.• The flu is not a serious illness.Answer: False.Flu is a serious contagious disease. Each year in the United States, on average, more than 200,000 people are hospitalized from flu complications and 36,000 people die from flu• You can spread the flu to others before you have symptoms.Answer: True.Most healthy adults may be able to infect others beginning 1 day before symptoms de-velop and up to 5 days after becoming sick. That means that you may be able to pass on the flu to someone else before you know you are sick, as well as while you are sick.

Q: Has the flu hit Alaska yet?A: Yes. We are just beginning to see it here at the clinic. Q: Is it too late to get a flu shot?A: No! We are still recommending people get the flu shot. We have them available to UAF students, at no cost, at the health center. You do not have to make an appointment. Just stop by Mondays or Wednesdays from 9:00 AM to 12:00 or 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM.

Sponsored by UAF Center for Health and CounselingFor additional information, contact the

Center for Health and Counseling at 474-7043 or visit our Web site at www.uaf.edu/chc

Division of Student Services

Say “Ah” Donna Patrick, ANP

Letters to the EditorHave something to say? Say it here. The Sun Star welcomes reader commentary.

Letters to the editor should be no more than 250 words in length. Please include the author’s full name and contact information (phone number, e-mail or ad-dress). E-mail your letters (preferred) to fystar@uaf.edu, fax them to 474-5508, or mail them to to PO Box 756640, Fairbanks, AK, 99775. All letters are subject to editing for brevity and grammar.

Spring preview11Editorial www.uafsunstar.com

Andrew SheelerEditor-in-ChiefUAF Sun Star

January 25, 2011

What? You thought we were finished? That the

Sun Star had closed up shop and gone away? You,

sir or madam, are sadly mistaken. We’re just getting

warmed up.

First, take a moment and head to a computer.

Go ahead, I’ll wait. Once you get there, open up

Firefox and go to www.uafsunstar.com. Notice our

brand new website? This semester we’re planning to

fill it up with content, including online-only articles,

web-exclusive photos, an audio archive of the weekly

ASUAF senate meetings, audio slideshows, video

podcasts, and more. That’s in addition to the weekly

updates of our print edition. For news on the go, our website looks fabulous on your

smart phone or tablet. While you’re at it, “Like” us on Facebook for breaking news and

story updates.

Now let’s talk about the paper. We have big plans for this semester. We’re going to do

five big theme issues tackling subjects near to all of our hearts: sex, the internet, humor,

money and graduation.

The Feb. 8 issue of the Sun Star will take on sex, love and college life and will feature

a special romantic advice column. Got a question for our very own Dr. Love? Email it to

editor@uafsunstar.com.

We are increasingly living in a digital world. Facebook and Google have become

verbs as well as nouns, and require no introduction as to what they are. What you say or

do online can affect you for the rest of your life. In the March 3 issue of the Sun Star, we

will focus on the digital realm, with stories that seek to answer some of the questions you

have.

We’ll take a break from dealing with the weighty issues of the world in the March

29 issue of the Sun Star, better known as the incredibly popular Fun Star. The laughs will

be plenty and none shall be spared from the equal parts scorching satire and slapstick

comedy that the Fun Star is known for.

Every student works toward the same goal: graduation. The final Sun Star of the

school year, coming out on May 3, will be packed full of content for graduating senior

and incoming freshman alike. We’ll send you into the summer in style with our blowout

graduation issue.

By now, hopefully you’ve gone through this issue of the Sun Star and noticed a

few things are different. We’ve expanded our coverage of national news, the arts, and

science. We’ve introduced the Nookraker, a political column by Jeremia Schrock. The

Nookraker will provide reporting and commentary on all levels of government, from the

university all the way to the state and federal level. We’ll be covering the ASUAF senate

better than ever before, with a concise recap of their weekly meetings.

Lest you think it’s out with the old, all your favorites will still be here, including our

weekly Sudoku and XKCD, our columns, and the police blotter.

Now that you know what we’ve got in store, mark the next 14 Tuesdays on your

calendar and get ready for one exciting ride.

UAF students required to have health insurance

U of A students were going through fee

payment at the exact moment Congressman

Don Young voted that the new health care

bill is unconstitutional because of the man-

datory purchase of insurance stipulation.

Yet, students were being forced to purchase

health insurance at the same instant!

Our governor and Senator Murkowski

are united firmly with Young, insisting that

mandatory health insurance is unconstitu-

tional, knowing full well that our state ada-

mantly maintains the opposite policy!

Unconstitutional is one of those terms

that means for everybody, not for just some.

It is right up there in the universally wrong

category like crimes against humanity.

Yet there are two universally wrong

things about our setup in Alaska. There

are so many Cadillac health plans, that,

according to Lisa Murkowski, Medicare pa-

tients can’t even go to the doctor for routine

check-ups. Doctors prefer the privileged

patients, who, secondly, don’t have to pay

taxes on these life essential services like ev-

eryone else is required to. (I guess this

shouldn’t be so surprising in a place where

all state employees are also exempt from

paying social security taxes).

U of A employees, like many others

here, have a mandatory Cadillac plan. One

would think that a true fiscal conservative

would start by eliminating unconstitutional

mandatory plans at home first.

Most Cadillac plan recipients would

prefer to just be paid the money for these

benefits in their salary if they were going to

taxed on it, (like last year’s health care bill

will require). If they could get a decent basic

hospitalization plan, many would fend for

themselves for the rest. Then the preferred

patient who doesn’t care how much any-

thing costs would vanish, resulting in the

Medicare patient problem vanishing. Low-

ered medical costs would naturally follow,

too.

Our elected republicans maintain

the absurd, “unconstitutional, but just for

some” axiom, because it really just benefits

the privileged ones that they are actually

representing.

Sincerely misrepresented,

Randell L Clark

Sudoku

xkcd

Coffee Break

UAF Bookstore | Constitution Hall

www.uaf.bkstr.com

*Savings figured based on cost of new book price. 1191JBTS11

NATIONWIDE SAVINGS OVER

$60 MILLION*

AND COUNTING