The Northern Light

Former provost's legacy still lives on today

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 04:00:00 GMT

The first provost of UAA, Dr. Lewis Haines, will be remembered for being more than just a leader of UAA.
The Professional Studies Building, Wells Fargo Sports Complex and the Student Union are some of his legacy. So are the original six NCAA sponsored sports - men's and women's basketball, hockey, swimming, skiing and cross country running.

Some not protected in city, on campus

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 04:00:00 GMT

Questions about discrimination against gays and lesbians and how much protection they should have are sparking up all over the city - even at UAA.
As the Anchorage Assembly is hearing testimony about Ordinance 64, citywide legislation that would protect against discrimination based on sexual orientation, it has caused a stir of controversy.

UA President Hamilton retiring

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 04:00:00 GMT

After being at the helm of the University of Alaska for over 11 years, President Mark Hamilton has announced his intent to retire.
Hamilton cited no specific departure date, hoping to allow the Board of Regents more time to begin the selection process. Hamilton made the announcement at the close of the two-day Board of Regents meeting in Fairbanks June 5.

English dept. moves to Admin.

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 04:00:00 GMT

At the beginning of May the English department began a physical migration across campus, marking the culmination of a plan roughly two years in the making.
The English department moved from their space on the second floor of the Professional Studies Building, a space they had occupied for about 10 years, to a completely renovated space on the first floor of the Administration building.

New res. life director excited, with no fear of Alaskan vampires

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 04:00:00 GMT

When Lacy Karpilo first went public to friends and family that she and her husband, Ron, were moving to Alaska, there was initially some jocular concern about vampires and demons. Evidently the recent horror film, "40 Days of Night" inspired their teasing - it didn't sway Karpilo.

Despite gray skies, sunshine comes out for those in need

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 04:00:00 GMT

The morning sky above the 2009 Pride Parade offered what looked to be a cloudy day promising more rain to a community desperately in need of sunshine.
But as the procession began marching June 20, appropriately against the normal flow of traffic on 6th Avenue, for a brief moment Anchorage's city streets were awash in vibrant colors; reinforced by applauding smiles and cheers from the sidelines.

First remodeling of Anchorage Museum successful

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 04:00:00 GMT

Recently the Anchorage Museum opened its shiny new doors to reveal the exquisite "Gold" exhibit, a touring show that is displayed all over the country. It was possible for the museum to bring this show up only because of its recent expansion project it has undergone.

Forest Fair

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 04:00:00 GMT

Last year the Girdwood Forest Fair, perhaps one of Alaska's largest music venues, was canceled due to large crowds of uncontrollable fans who participated in illegal parking, drug usage, underage drinking, and fighting according to an article from the Juneau Empire in May of 2008.

Next film revolution focuses on a familiar trend

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 04:00:00 GMT

In case you didn't notice, we're in the midst of a revolution-a digital revolution. Because of the troubles with the economy, Hollywood is frantically pushing technological innovation in an effort to get viewers back into movie theaters. And this is the year that push can truly be seen as a plethora of films are released in 3D.

Going 'green' at Mayor's Marathon

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 04:00:00 GMT

For the eighth time in its 36-year history, UAA hosted and organized the Mayors Marathon and are made an effort to reduce the amount of waste created by the aid stations along the course of Anchorage's largest running event.
Part of these duties includes staffing aid stations with volunteers from local businesses and non-profits.

Moose Run Hill course offers 18 holes to golfers of any caliber

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 04:00:00 GMT

With wide open fairways and relatively few hazards the Hill course at Moose Run Golf Course is arguably the most player-friendly course in the Anchorage area.
The Hill course was originally built as a nine-hole layout in 1952 by combat engineers with the intention of balancing the wide-open fairways with small greens to give players a challenging round of golf.

Title IX self-assessment requires locker room renovations

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 04:00:00 GMT

The first potion of an internal investigation, performed in response to a Title IX grievance that was filed in August of 2008, has been completed.
This portion of the investigation looked into the current locker-room situations for the different UAA athletic programs.

With expansion looming, UAF is the obvious candidate for WCHA conference

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 04:00:00 GMT

For anyone who opens to the Anchorage Daily News' sports section on a regular basis you should know that the Western Collegiate Hockey Association is, in near certainty, going to expand its field from 10 to 12 teams within the next couple of years.
The most anticipated program that is expected to get into the conference, as well as the only one that has officially applied for admission into the WCHA is Bemidji State.

Celebrate 50 years of Alaska at Anchorage's fourth of July celebration

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 04:00:00 GMT

Head downtown to the Delany Park Strip on July 4 for a day filled with events, picnics and parades. The event is free to attend and starts off at 8 a.m. with a pancake breakfast. Afterwards at 11 a.m. there will be a parade downtown. Until 6 p.m. there will be various events and activities hosted on the park strip for all to participate in, including a reading of the Declaration of Independence.

Bear Paw Festival adopts Renaissance theme

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 04:00:00 GMT

Eagle River will be hosting the four day long Bear Paw festival this year from July 8 to July 12. This year the theme is "Excali-Bear and the Knights of the Paw." The festival starts up at noon on July 8 with a luncheon at Bear Mountain Grill. This day features the smallest amount of scheduled events with the following day, Thursday July 9, being the opening of the Golden Wheel Carnival in the Eagle River Commons.

Talkeetna Historical Society raises money with moose dropping festival

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 04:00:00 GMT

The weekend of July 11 will hold a festival that celebrates one thing only Alaskans can: moose poop. More accurately, the Moose Droppings Festival is a means for the Talkeetna Historical Society to raise funds. The festival begins Saturday morning with a 5-kilometer race and is followed by a parade.

'Tantric' comes to Alaska for summer fun

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 04:00:00 GMT

The rock band known as Tantric will be performing in Alaska in the Dena'ina Center on July 24. A time of the show has not been released yet, but tickets are on sale. Tantric is a post-grunge rock band with three albums out, their debut titled 'Tantric" being a platinum hit.

The right brew to beat the heat

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 04:00:00 GMT

When all the facts are in, no season truly stands alone in the arena of enjoyable beer drinking. That being said, summer certainly provides a plethora of unique beer drinking possibilities. If you love the outdoors and you love to drink beer, what better time to combine your pleasures? First, choose a beer.

Non-discrimination policy should be updated

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 04:00:00 GMT

There has been a surge in debating the necessity of extending more rights to LGBT citizens. President Obama recently announced that he would be working towards extending benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees. And locally in Anchorage, debate has increased over Assembly Ordinance 64 that would ban discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Dairy brings Matanuska milk to rest of the state

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 04:00:00 GMT

With the advent of the defunct Matanuska Maid dairy in 2007 a lifeline was cast to Alaska's Matanuska Valley dairy farmers, Matanuska Creamery.
Opening mid-2007, CEO Kyle Beus seized an opportunity to invest in a competition free industry while simultaneously saving the farms of the four Valley dairies.

E-cigarettes are not a simple cure all

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 04:00:00 GMT

Between chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, several types of cancer, emphysema, chronic bronchitis, stroke and even cataracts, diseases contracted from cigarette smoking are the single most preventable cause of death in the United States and are some of the top players in the worldwide death rate.

Search committee likely for new UA president

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 04:00:00 GMT

The chairwoman of the University of Alaska Board of Regents says a plan will be drafted this summer to find a replacement for outgoing UA President Mark Hamilton.
Cynthia Henry says it's too early to say whether the 11-member board will look for another "nontraditional" candidate such as Hamilton, a former Army major general who took the UA job in 1998.

State reopens trail closed for bear concerns

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 04:00:00 GMT

The state has reopened a stretch of a popular trail closed earlier this month because of concerns of grizzly bear activity.
Chugach State Park officials say the portion of the Indian to Girdwood bike trail, which parallels the Seward Highway south of Anchorage, is open again because there have been no observed or reported aggressive brown bear behavior.

Murkowski picked for Senate Republican leadership

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 04:00:00 GMT

Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski has been picked by fellow Republican senators as vice chairman of the Senate Republican Conference.
It's the fifth-highest GOP leadership position in the Senate.
Murkowski says in a release that she will be the only West Coast senator on the leadership team.

Pa. neighbor blares porn to chase off kids

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 04:00:00 GMT

PHOENIXVILLE, Pa. -- Police in suburban Philadelphia say a man fed up of children playing in his cul-de-sac blared a pornographic soundtrack to chase them off. Irate neighbors told police they could hear the sexually explicit audio a block and a half away.

Man takes steamroller on a late-night joyride

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 04:00:00 GMT

BOULDER, Colo. -- Boulder police are looking for a man they said stole a city steamroller for a late-night joyride. Some Boulder residents were awakened at about 2 a.m. Tuesday by the rumbling of a steamroller down a neighborhood street. Witnesses told police they saw a man driving the steamroller before crashing it into a car and fleeing.

Man allegedly drives drunk in golf cart on highway

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 04:00:00 GMT

RICHFIELD, Wis. -- A South Milwaukee man was accused of driving drunk after trying to use a golf cart to drive home nearly 40 miles away from the golf course where he had been drinking beer. The Washington County Sheriff's Department said in a release Monday that the 47-year-old man told deputies his relatives had left him behind at the Kettle Hills Golf Course in Richfield Saturday.

Turkey lands in manure truck's cab, causing crash

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 04:00:00 GMT

OSWEGATCHIE, N.Y. -- A wild turkey landed inside the cab of a manure-hauling tractor trailer, startling the driver and sending the truck rolling into a ditch off a northern New York road. State police said Scott Fisher, 38, was traveling in St. Lawrence County near the Canadian border when the turkey flew in through an open window.

Mom, after 13 beers, can't recover custody of kids

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 04:00:00 GMT

FORT SMITH, Ark. -- A mother who drank 13 beers before a psychological evaluation failed to recover custody of her three young children despite claiming she wasn't drunk because she "can drink like a fish." The woman wanted to get the children back from her husband's stepmother.

Woman pleads guilty in drunken breast-feeding case

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 04:00:00 GMT

GRAND FORKS, N.D. -- A North Dakota woman accused of breast-feeding her 6-week-old baby while drunk has pleaded guilty to child neglect. Stacey Anvarinia, 36, could face up to five years in prison when she's sentenced on the felony charge in August.
Judge Sonja Clapp says Anvarinia will not have to register as an offender against children.

Seawolves program-best 45th in NACDA Director's Cup

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 04:00:00 GMT

UAA has finished 45th - the school's highest ever - in the Learfield Sports Directors' Cup standings for NCAA Division II after the recent conclusion of 2008-09 collegiate sports calendar.
The Seawolves totaled 344.5 points in final standings, also their most ever.

Seawolf women add talented California JC transfer

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 04:00:00 GMT

The UAA women's basketball team added a multi-dimensional guard to its 2009-10 lineup Wednesday as head coach Tim Moser announced the signing of Jessica Dela Cruz to a National Letter of Intent.
A 5-8 guard, Dela Cruz averaged 13.1 points, 3.7 assists and 2.

Ski team inks two Norwegians

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 04:00:00 GMT

Alaska Anchorage's head ski coach Trond Flagstad announced today the signing of Christopher Kollenborg (Haslum, Norway) and Andreas Adde (Osteras, Norway) to join the Alpine squad for the 2009-10 season.
Kollenborg is coming off a good year of racing in Norway and is ranked 348 in the world.

Wunderle receives ESPN academic accolade

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 04:00:00 GMT

Alaska Anchorage senior Nordic skier Raphael Wunderle (Bubenbach, Germany) was named to the 2008-09 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America University Division Men's At-Large First-Team for the second consecutive season. Wunderle was among 14 others that received the honor.

Focus is on Iran, American health care reform needs to be at the forefront

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 04:00:00 GMT

While it seems that the national issue of the moment is the fallout over the Iranian elections, and what stance President Obama should take, I'd like to invite everyone to backpedal with me for a moment in order to talk about the health care reform that is currently being debated in the Senate.

Super-powered play makes new action game hit

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 04:00:00 GMT

"Prototype," the new game from Activision has everything that a young gamer could want in Manhattan. It's a game that caters to fans of open-world sandbox style games (Grand Theft Auto) and slasher heavy action games, (Devil May Cry) and crazy acrobatics. Notice how there is nothing subtitled here.