Alaska’s 2022 midterm elections are Tuesday, Nov. 8. Alaska’s statewide elections are the topic of contentious debate, as U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola, and Gov. Mike Dunleavy are up for re-election. Peltola is completing the term of U.S. Rep. Don Young, who died unexpectedly in March, prompting a special election. Peltola, a…
Category: 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…
UAS Renames Academic Break Period
Thanksgiving Break has been changed to Fall Break at UAS, thanks to efforts by student, faculty and staff governance groups. “With everything we’re learning in the world today, we need to be sensitive to what the people on this land experienced,” UAS Chancellor Karen Carey said in an Oct. 26 interview with the Whalesong. For…
An Update: Loan Forgiveness
President Joe Biden’s plan to forgive student loans is an important development for many UAS students, and it’s “a step forward” for those not directly affected. There’s also hope for more debt forgiveness programs in the future. The UAS Financial Aid Office pointed students toward studentaid.gov as they wait to receive more information on loan…
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…
What About It?: Loan Forgiveness
President Joe Biden’s three-part “Student Loan Forgiveness Plan,” announced in August, could provide thousands of dollars in federal loan debt relief for low and middle-income students across the U.S. The White House on Sept. 20 estimated that 60, 500 Alaskan students would qualify, including 37,300 Alaska Pell Grant borrowers. The cost of a college education…
UA Newsroom: September 2021
It’s sometimes difficult to keep up on the news. Emails get buried in your inbox and it can be a struggle to stay informed. The following is adapted from press releases and announcements by the UAS and the UA system. Evening at Egan Lecture Series began September 10 The annual fall lecture series Evening at…
What happened to the Alaska College of Education?
By Margaret Everson, Staff Writer In the June 2021 Board of Regents meeting, Interim President Pat Pitney announced that education programs within the University of Alaska system would focus on collaboration between Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Juneau. This decision reversed previous efforts to consolidate UA education programs to the Alaska College of Education, which was to…
Alaska Native Success Initiative
By Kenedy Williams, Staff Writer The Alaska Native Success Initiative committee recommends a multi-faceted approach to diversify and increase Alaska Native student, staff, and faculty recruitment, identify the key barriers to recruitment, establish coordination with tribal organizations, and eliminate institutional racism. The Initiative was put forth by the Board of Regents. The goal is to…
The future of Alaska voting
By Lucas Stewart, Staff Writer What does ranked choice voting mean for the state? Alaskans who vote in the 2022 election will rank candidates in order of prefer- ence as the state moves to a new voting system. Alaska is the second state in the U.S. to adopt Ranked Choice Voting for state- wide elections,…