Category: Editorials

Editorials, Podcast

Whalesong Podcast Announcement

New things are coming for Whalesong. The UAS campus newspaper is moving in a new direction.  Beginning fall semester, Whalesong will have digital-only releases, with weekly stories online at our website, uaswhalesong.com. The main publication will be a news podcast, released weekly on the website and on platforms such as Spotify and Google Podcasts. Listen to weekly campus updates, interviews, and learn about noteworthy events.  … Continue reading Whalesong Podcast Announcement

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Editorials, Features, News, UA President

The State of the University

UA President Pat Pitney delivered her third State of the University address on Feb. 21 in Fairbanks. The in-person event took place during the Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce weekly business lunch. Pitney chose to highlight campus successes and how the university empowers Alaska.  Pitney began the address by acknowledging the indigenous communities of Alaska and the land the university resides on. She then thanked those … Continue reading The State of the University

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Editorials, Features

The votes are in and misinformation lost

Since 2016, America has seen repeat claims regarding the validity of our local and national elections. Narratives like “the election was stolen” became increasingly common in the wake of former President Donald Trump’s loss in 2020, and many candidates since then have used similar claims to justify their losses. Do these claims have any merit? Is there any evidence of widespread voter fraud and conspiracy? … Continue reading The votes are in and misinformation lost

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Editorials, Features, Local Coverage, News

Will Alaska hold a Constitutional Convention?

Every 10 years, Alaskans are asked to vote on whether they want to hold a constitutional convention. The time has come again this year on Nov. 8.   In the original constitutional convention in the winter of 1955-1956, delegates wrote that Alaska should decide every decade whether to hold another one. The question was first polled in 1970 and the measure passed. However, that vote … Continue reading Will Alaska hold a Constitutional Convention?

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Editorials, Features, Local Coverage, News

UNAC and UA: Still at Odds

“Faculty working conditions are student learning conditions” was the rallying cry outside the University of Alaska Board of Regents meetings in Juneau on Sept. 8-9.  Frustration has grown among members of United Academics (UNAC), the union that represents all University of Alaska faculty, as bargaining with UA for a new contract has entered its second year.   “We made concession after concession after concession,” said Abel … Continue reading UNAC and UA: Still at Odds

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Editorials, Features

This Editorial is not FDA approved

If you were waiting to get vaccinated because it wasn’t FDA approved, there’s nothing stopping you now. As of August 23, the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, now marketed as Comirnaty, is approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use as a COVID-19 vaccine.  The vaccine has been safe to use for those older than 16 since it’s emergency use authorization on December 11, 2020, according to … Continue reading This Editorial is not FDA approved

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Editorials, Features, National Coverage

What do you mean Facebook is down?

What does this recent outage show us about news access?By Mike Flunker, Editor-in-Chief Recent Whalesong editorials have emphasized a balanced media diet, critical thinking, and news engagement. It is time to look at access to news. We live in a time when media saturates our everyday lives, beamed straightto our phones, computers, radios, and televisions. We may take that for granted. What happens when part … Continue reading What do you mean Facebook is down?

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Editorials, Features, National Coverage

The Facebook Files

By Mike Flunker, Editor-in-Chief When Facebook and its services went down for a day in October the world was left reeling. The cause of the outage was later deemed to be an update that took Facebook servers offline, a problem that was initially unsolvable because the ability to fix it was also offline. Facebook’s company-wide practice to keep everything internal caused its worst outage yet.   … Continue reading The Facebook Files

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Editorials, Features

Are you still dodging COVID-19?

By Mike Flunker, Editor-in-Chief Omicron is officially my least favorite variant. We’re nearly two years into the pandemic. When this all began, I quite honestly thought I would never get it. Then again, that was when a lot of us thought this was going to be over by the summer of 2020.  I did end up falling ill with COVID-19. In January, the CDC reported … Continue reading Are you still dodging COVID-19?

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Editorials, Features, UA President

Picking a Permanent President

By Mike Flunker, Editor-in-Chief The University of Alaska Board of Regents unanimously voted to appoint Pat Pitney UA President on Feb. 25. The vote came at the end of a two-day meeting. Pitney is the first permanent female president of the UA system and has been interim president since former UA President Jim Johnsen resigned in June 2020.  “Pat Pitney is the epitome of cooperation, … Continue reading Picking a Permanent President

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