Debbie Carter
907-474-5406
2/28/12

Three Fairbanks energy experts will offer a workshop on sustainable homes Saturday at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

The UAF Cooperative Extension Service will host “A 21st Century Sustainable Home: What Does it Take?” in Boyd Hall, Room 201 of the Reichardt Building. The workshop will run from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with a lunch break.

Rich Seifert, Extension community sustainability coordinator, will talk about superinsulated homes, solar technologies and solar hot water systems. Greg Egan of Remote Power Inc., will address photovoltaic systems for solar electricity; and Karl Kassel, the general manager of Arctic Sun LLC, will talk about the construction and performance of net-zero energy homes.

The cost is $15 for “A Solar Design Manual for Alaska.” Register at 474-7201 or online at http://bit.ly/SustainableHome.

ADDITIONAL CONTACTS: Rich Seifert, Extension community sustainability coordinator, 474-7201 or via e-mail at [email protected]

ON THE WEB: www.uaf.edu/ces

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Nancy Tarnai
907-474-5042
2/28/12

It’s been ages since Joe Dinkins left his family’s South Carolina farm, but he’s always carried with him what he learned about growing food at the old home place.

A barber by trade, Dinkins takes on a second “job” in the summer growing vegetables right outside his shop, Just Haircuts, on South Cushman Street. Before and after work he can be found outside working in his garden.

Photo by Penny Rosier
Collards and other greens grow in Joe Dinkins' capable hands.

Back home in Rembert, S.C., Dinkins helped tend cotton, peanuts, corn, watermelons, cantaloupe, peas, beans, cabbage, hogs, cows, chickens and geese from the tender age of 5. He traveled around working in construction and restaurants and landed in Alaska in 1968 and in Fairbanks in 1986.

The shop is filled with lush green plants year round and in the summer every available surface outdoors is covered in collards, cabbage, squash, peas, beans, potatoes, tomatoes and even okra, which is difficult to grow in Fairbanks.

“I eat some, give some away and sell some,” Dinkins said. “I’ve got plenty of it.” But this time of year his thoughts are not on farming. It will be April before he starts planning his crops. Each year he saves seeds from plants to use for the next season, along with purchasing new seeds.

Asked for secrets to success Dinkins said gardening is nothing more than common sense. “When it needs water, water it; when you see weeds, pull them,” he said. “If it took an education to have a garden I wouldn’t have one.”

People who ask for tips and advice are often shocked at his response. “I tell them if they want advice to give me $10,000 and I’ll send them to school. That stops ‘em right there.”

For Dinkins, growing food is not challenging at all. “It’s a fun thing for me,” he said. “I do it without thinking about it. Whatever grows grows and what doesn’t doesn’t; that’s OK.

Photo by Nancy Tarnai
Joe Dinkins works in a "green" environment in his barber shop, growing plants all around the inside and in the summer vegetable gardens on the outside.

“I don’t depend on it for a living so I accept what does grow.”

He’s never even considered entering his veggies in the fair and another thing he doesn’t do is grow the food because it’s healthier for him. “Everybody says it’s good for me but I just grow it to see it grow,” he said. “When I was coming up I didn’t realize how healthy it was to grow your own food.” What he doesn’t eat or give away he freezes. “Canning is a lot of work,” he added.

One of Dinkins’ objectives is to beautify his property; another is to use the veggies as a conversation piece, although the conversations already flow unabashedly at his shop daily. “I like to give the tourists something to talk about,” he said, “like giant cabbages.”

And even though people are wont to praise Dinkins for his green thumb, he waves away any praise. “I don’t want to make a big deal of it,” he said. “I just plant stuff, water it and let it go.

“But you’ve got to weed. Unfortunately, if you’re going to have a nice garden you’re going to have to weed.”

Asked if he plans to continue his efforts, Dinkins smiled. “The garden will be here this year; just drive by and you’ll see it.”

This column is provided as a service by the UAF School of Natural Resources and Agricultural Sciences and the Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station.

Nancy Tarnai
907-474-5042

When School of Natural Resources and Agricultural Sciences graduate student Samantha Straus leaves the Sub-Arctic for the Sub-Sahara she’ll miss Fairbanks’ snow, the Aurora Borealis and cross-country skiing. Straus, a Master’s International Program student who is combining graduate work with Peace Corps service, departs Feb. 29 for two years of Peace Corps service in the African country, Gambia.

“Fairbanks is the first place I ever felt at home in my adult life,” Straus said. “I will miss my Fairbanks family, but I won’t miss 40 below.”

Photo by Sarah Betcher
Samantha Straus on the Na Pali coast in Kauai.

Before traveling to Africa, Straus will be in Washington, D.C., for one day for staging in preparation for the Peace Corps, then she will go to Senegal for three months to train and eventually to Gambia for her assignment. “I am looking forward to the challenges I’ll be facing and the opportunities to work internationally and multi-culturally,” Straus said.

The natural resources student is looking forward to seeing environmental issues in a different part of the world and to see how people there tackle the issues. At this point, she isn’t sure where she will be placed. “I’m keeping an open mind,” she said. “If I’m in a city that will be OK but I would be excited to live as rural as possible.”

Her role will be environmental education, but she isn’t sure exactly how it will be manifested. “I hope to work with children, planting trees and doing science experiments,” she said. “It is the kids we will be putting our future in the hands of. They can go home and teach their parents. It really starts with young kids, instilling responsible stewardship.”

Preparing for the trip has been a lesson in itself. Straus is intent on packing only what she needs but also in not purchasing things she already owns once she gets to Africa. Her emphasis at UAF has been on waste management so she wants to carry that philosophy with her. She’ll definitely be packing tropical clothes, vitamins and protein powder. Her concessions to technology include her iPod and a laptop. “I am a graduate student after all,” she said. The laptop has a solar battery charger.

From what she’s read she’ll be eating a lot of rice once she gets to Gambia. That might be a bit worrisome but she also is nervous about political strife and whether a young American woman will be readily accepted.

“To be an effective Peace Corps volunteer you have to be willing to go with the flow and deal with whatever comes and do the best you can,” she said. “I see this as a great experience to start getting into the game of natural resources management. What better place to start? It’s a difficult place, a vibrant place with so much history and culture. It’s a great opportunity.”

While at UAF, Straus worked with the Office of Sustainability to obtain a grant for software that shuts off computers at night. The university is testing the program and tracking the energy savings, which appear to be significant. She also put together a series of sustainable movie nights, every Monday this semester at 8 p.m. at The Pub.

In two years, Straus will return to UAF to complete her graduate work. “This is going to be a life teaching experience. I think Alaska will be my home because Alaska has my heart,” Straus said.

Meanwhile she is contemplating the challenges she will face in the field. “The Peace Corps is about exchanging culture,” she said. “You just do what you can with what you have and try to build capacity.”

Photo by Paul McCarthy

www.alaskananooks.com
2/25/2012

The Alaska Nanooks honored their seven seniors in winning fashion, scoring three unanswered goals to beat the Alaska Anchorage Seawolves 3-1 and tie the Alaska Airlines Governor’s Cup Series 1-1. They put the icing on the cake by besting their guests 3-2 in the deciding shootout to lift the Governor’s Cup for the third straight year and the 11th time in its 19-year history.

Alaska got goals from sophomore Cody Kunyk, junior Andy Taranto and junior Adam Henderson scored regulation goals and sophomore Colton Beck, Taranto and junior Nik Yaremchuk scored in the shootout to give the Nanooks their three-peat as Governor’s Cup Champions.

UAA’s Daniel Naslund opened the scoring at 3:56 of the second period, with assistance from Jade Portwood and Corbin Karl.

Alaska answered to tie the game 1-1 at 12:33, when Kunyk beat Seawolf goalie Chris Kamal over his left shoulder from the right face-off circle. Taranto evaded UAA defenders in the slot and slipped the puck out to Gens, who sent a neat pass backdoor to Kunyk for his team-high 15th goal of the season.

Taranto notched his second point of the game with his 11th goal of the year at 18:34. Quinn sent a clearing pass to the neutral zone, where Gens won a foot race to collect it and sent it cross ice to a streaking Tranto near the top of the right circle. The assistant captain fired a wrist shot in the right corner, just over Kamal’s shoulder and under the crossbar to make it 2-1.

Heading into the third period the momentum carried as the home team got their third straight goal off Henderson’s stick, his fifth of the year and second in as many games, at 5:06 of the final frame. Junior Chad Gehon and senior captain Ron Meyers picked up helpers on the play that made it 3-1 for the Nanooks.

In the deciding shootout, UAA’s Curtis Leinweber got the first attempt and he made good on it, beating Greenham high on his gloveside. Beck followed and answered back for the Nanooks, shoveling a back-hander past Kamal’s glove.

The second round saw Kwas and Henderson miss on their chances, while Matt Bailey and Taranto matched efforts in the third. Seawolf forward Sam Mellor was denied by Greenham in the fourth round, before Yaremchuk tickled the twine with the shootout winner and sent the Nanooks and their sellout crowd of 4,595 fans into a celebration frenzy.

It was Alaska’s first sellout crowd under head coach Dallas Ferguson and the first for the program since Oct. 21, 2006 (also against UAA).

While he wasn’t tested very often, Greenham was solid between the pipes for the Nanooks and turned aside 14 of UAA’s 15 shots in his final appearnce between the pipes at the Carlson Center.

His counterpart, Kamal, made 28 stops at the other end. Both teams were scoreless with the man advantage as Alaska was 0-for-7 and UAA was 0-for-2.

Alaska’s Class of 2012, which includes defensemen Scott Enders, Cody Butcher and Gens, forwards Justin Filzen, Carlo Finucci and Meyers, and Greenham, won Governor’s Cup titles in three of their four seasons for the Blue and Gold.

With the regular season behind them, the Nanooks look ahead to next weekend and the Central Collegiate Hockey Association playoffs. Alaska finished 10th in the league standings and has drawn seventh-ranked Lake Superior State in the first round. The Blue and Gold will travel to Sault Saint Marie, Mich. next week and take on the Lakers in a best-of-three series.

ADDITIONAL CONTACTS: Jamie Foland, 907-474-6807, [email protected], website: www.alaskananooks.com

Photo by Paul McCarthy
Nicole Bozek plays in a game against Western Oregon.

TOWSON, Md.– University of Alaska Fairbanks redshirt senior Nicole Bozek has been named to the 2012 Capital One Academic All-America Third Team for NCAA Division II women’s basketball, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America.

“It’s pretty outstanding academically to not only be recognized in your conference, but also nationally for your academic excellence,” head coach Cody Burgess said. “You get this award for excellence on the court and off the court, so we’re really proud of her achievement.”

Bozek, a graduate student who will receive her MBA this spring, graduated a year ago with an undergraduate degree in accounting with a 3.8 cumulative GPA and is only the sixth Nanook and second women’s basketball in Alaska Nanooks history to garner Academic All-America accolades.

On court, she is the GNAC’s third-leading scorer with 16.3 points per game, while ranking third in free throw percentage (.842, 171-203), sixth in blocks (0.8 bpg) and seventh in rebounding (7.7 rpg). Her percentage from the charity stripe ranked 39th in the country, while her scoring average is 68th nationally.

Back on Feb. 2, Bozek was named to the Academic All-District Team for the West Region.

Bozek is joined on the Third Team by Alaska Anchorage’s Hanna Johansson, as the duo became just the fourth and fifth GNAC women’s basketball players all-time to be named to this prestigious list.

On the men’s side, Western Washington’s Rory Blanche was named to the First Team, while Seattle Pacific’s David Downs was a Second Team member, making them the first two GNAC men’s players in league history to make that respective list.

“Nicole shows leadership on and off the court and we’re proud of that,” Burgess said. “We hope that this will influence some of her younger teammates to achieve such a high honor nationally.”

To be eligible for Academic All-America consideration, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.30 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director.

Since the program’s inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America honors on more than 14,000 student-athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA, covering all NCAA championship sports. For more information about the Academic All-America Teams program, please visit www.cosida.com.

Previous Alaska Nanooks Academic All-Americans:
2010: Dion Knelsen, At-Large Men’s (Hockey)
2009: Trevor Hyatt, At-Large Men’s (Hockey)
2008: Marius Korthauer, At-Large Men’s (Skiing)
2008: Vahur Teppan, At-Large Men’s (Skiing)
1989: Jenny (Lin) Benson, Women’s Basketball

Debbie Carter
907-474-5406
2/27/12

The top four candidates for Cooperative Extension’s Tanana District agriculture and horticulture agent will make community presentations this week and next.

The finalists and their presentation dates are: Steven Seefeldt, March 1; Toby Day, March 6; Heidi Rader, March 7; and Mike Emers, March 8. The presentations will begin at 10 a.m. at the Tanana District office at 724 27th Ave., at the rear of the Fairbanks Community Food Bank building.

The candidates will highlight their experience with community education and their vision for agriculture and horticulture Extension in the Tanana District and at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. A question-and-answer session will follow each 45-minute presentation.

Seefeldt is a research agronomist for the Agricultural Research Service in Fairbanks. Day is the Extension horticulture associate specialist and the master gardener coordinator for Montana State University Extension. Rader is the tribes Extension educator for UAF Cooperative Extension and the Tanana Chiefs Conference, and Emers is the owner of Rosie Creek Farm, a 40-acre organic farm near Fairbanks.

The public may participate at videoconference sites at the UAF campus and in Delta Junction. The first three presentations will be on videoconference at 307 O’Neill Building on UAF’s West Ridge and the final presentation will be at 245 O’Neill. The Delta Junction videoconference site is at the Delta Career Advancement Center.

Parties may also participate by audioconference by calling 800-893-8850 and entering the PIN 5711553. Audio participants are asked to call in by 9:55 a.m.

ADDITIONAL CONTACTS: Milan Shipka, Extension livestock specialist and search committee chairman, at 907-474-7429 or via email at [email protected].

ON THE WEB: www.uaf.edu/ces

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Nancy Tarnai
907-474-5042

A new agreement between the University of Alaska Fairbanks and Northern Marianas College will allow NMC students to complete a bachelor’s degree in natural resources management in Fairbanks and for UAF students to study in Saipan.

The cooperation began when representatives from each school connected at Agricultural Development in the American Pacific and Pacific Land Grant Alliance meetings. “This is a major step to bridging the effort we started several years ago,” said Raaj Kurapati, associate vice chancellor at UAF.

Photo by Nancy Tarnai
UAF Chancellor Brian Rogers signs an agreement with Northern Marianas College President Sharon Hart. The agreement provides for NMC students to complete natural resources studies at UAF and for UAF students to study at NMC in Saipan.

Sharon Hart, president of NMC, was in Fairbanks in January to meet with UAF leaders. “This is extremely unique considering we are a community college that will now offer a four-year program,” Hart said.

The agreement, signed by Chancellor Rogers and President Hart, calls for cooperation in education and research, exchanging faculty, publications, research, scholars and students, performing joint research and providing technical and administrative assistance.

“This is an opportunity for our students looking for internationalization,” UAF Chancellor Brian Rogers said. “It will expose them to other cultures and provide a richer experience. They will be better prepared for life if they have studied abroad.”

Like UAF, NMC is a land-grant institution. NMC currently offers an associate’s degree in natural resources management. “As the climate continues to change sea levels are rising and there is concern about the water supply. There is an escalating desire to build capacity in natural resources management,” said SNRAS Dean and AFES Director Carol Lewis.

While the new program will begin with the natural resources degree, there is hope more programs will be added in the future.

Marmian Grimes
907-474-7902
2/22/12

What if your computer recognized you before you typed in your password? What if your computer knew what you looked at on its monitor? Computer scientists are working on technologies that can operate based on the information gathered from our eyes. Eye-tracking technologies have been around for 40 years, but are only now becoming affordable and powerful enough to come to a computer near you. New developments in eye-scanning could affect marketing, psychological studies, informational security and more.

On Feb. 28 at 7 p.m., Kenrick Mock and Bogdan Hoanca of the University of Alaska Anchorage will discuss their development of an improved eye-scanning system. Mock, associate professor of computer science, and Hoanca, professor of management information systems, will present “Protecting Our Eye-dentity: New Methods for Information Security” in the Westmark Gold Room. The lecture is the fifth installment in the 20th annual Science for Alaska Lecture Series.

Science for Alaska 2012 is sponsored by the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute and Alyeska Pipeline Service Company. The series runs on Tuesdays through Mar. 6, 2012 and is free to the public.

Hands-on activities for all ages begin at 6:30 p.m. inside the Gold Room. Families are welcome.

ADDITIONAL CONTACTS: Kenrick Mock, associate professor of computer science, UAA, at 907-786-1956 or [email protected]. Bogdan Hoanca, professor of management information systems, UAA, at 907-786-4140 or [email protected]. Amy Hartley, Geophysical Institute public relations manager, at 907-474-5823 or [email protected].

ON THE WEB: http://www.scienceforalaska.com

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Marmian Grimes
907-474-7902
2/22/12

The University of Alaska Fairbanks College of Engineering and Mines will host a full slate of free family-friendly events Saturday, Feb. 25 during its annual Engineering Open House. All events start at 11 a.m. and run until 3 p.m. in the Duckering Building on the UAF campus.

Engineering students, faculty members and organizations from the fields of civil, electrical, computer, geological, mechanical, mining and petroleum engineering will host a variety of displays, interactive demonstrations and presentations geared for all ages. Visitors can pan for gold, eat electric hot dogs, watch a simulated earthquake and float marbles. The UAF steel bridge team will display the 2011 bridge. Team members will speak about the bridge’s design and the public will have a chance to tour the machine shop and watch a plasma cutter demonstration. During the open house, there will be a demonstration from the electric snowmachine team and the microgravity team.

The open house takes place in conjunction with National Engineers Week, an annual event to increase public awareness and appreciation of engineers and their work. The event is sponsored locally by the Fairbanks chapter of the Alaska Society of Professional Engineers and Flint Hills Resources. All ages are welcome.

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Marmian Grimes
907-474-7902
2/22/12

The University of Alaska Fairbanks will host the 39th annual Festival of Native Arts March 1-3 in the Charles Davis Concert Hall, William R. Wood Center and Schaible Auditorium.

Festivities will take place Thursday and Friday from 6:30 – 10 p.m. and Saturday from 5 – 10 p.m. The Denaa Film Celebration will run Saturday from 1– 5 p.m. in Schaible Auditorium. Daytime dance, storytelling, language and craft workshops will be offered Thursday and Friday from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. in the Wood Center.

Twenty-two Native performance groups and more than two dozen artisans are expected to participate this year. Audience members are encouraged to arrive early to dance events, as seating is limited. All events are free and open to the public. Evening activities will be available to view streaming online at http://fna.community.uaf.edu.

Native students and Student Orientation Services at UAF established the Fairbanks Festival of Native Arts in 1973. Originally, the festival focused each night on a specific Alaska Native culture. Today, it has grown in its depth and focus, and now features Native dance groups from throughout the state and nation. Native artisans also specialize in arts and crafts from multiple indigenous cultures. Their work will be displayed at the craft bazaar in the Great Hall, which is outside the Davis Concert Hall.

Student and community volunteers, in cooperation with local, federal and state organizations, organize the Festival of Native Arts.

ADDITIONAL CONTACTS:  Call the Festival of Native Arts office at 907-474-6889 or email [email protected].

ON THE WEB: http://fna.community.uaf.edu

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