Published Aug 29, 2023 by Josh Reed

On the college scene, the UAA volleyball team got its 2023 regular season going as well when the Seawolves traveled up to Fairbanks to take part in the Alaska/Hawaii Challenge hosted by UAF and lost their first three matches before picking up their first official win of the season Saturday evening when they beat Hawaii Hilo in five sets 3-2 (25-22, 27-25, 23-25,17-25, 15-10).

The defending GNAC regular season champions were led by senior outside hitter Nicole Blue, who received conference offensive player of the week honors after she averaged 3.5 kills on .255 hitting and 0.56 aces per set and produced three double-doubles in the team’s four matches including a career-high 18 kills Friday and a career-high 23 digs on Saturday.

“I think we have a lot of raw talent that just needs to be refined,” Blue said. “(UAA head coach Stacie Meisner and UAA assistant coach Morgan Hooe) created a very healthy environment, and I think that’ll help build up some of that new talent and we’ll be pleasantly surprised.”

The UAA cross-country men’s and women’s teams were also in action up at Kincaid for the Seawolf Throwdown against instate rival UAF. While Nanooks claimed the top three spots in the women’s division, the Seawolves did the same in the men’s led by junior Coleman Nash who earned GNAC Runner of the Week honors after he clocked in a first-place time 15:06.

Published Aug 28, 2023 by Jack Barnwell

Berry lovers and garden enthusiasts navigated the Georgeson Botanical Gardens at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Saturday in search of knowledge of currants, a fruit some consider under-appreciated and underrepresented compared to its cousins.

At a final station that included a taste test, Rebecca Buchanan was ranking the difference between black, red and domesticated pink currants.

“The black one’s tart,” Buchanan said before indicating a preference for the red currants.

Amber Agnew, a volunteer at the taste station, noted that most had a preference for the red currants. She added that the pink currants tend to be more domesticated than red and black currants.

“They’ve been cultivated to provide some of the better qualities of currants,” she told Buchahan and other tasters, all while encouraging folks to register their preferences.

The event, the Far North Currant Festival, kicked off an inaugural event for the botanical garden, which brought together several organizations and vendors to promote general health and information about the berry.

Published Aug 28, 2023 by Clarise Larson

Classes are back in session at the University of Alaska Southeast campus in Juneau as dozens of students could be seen walking across to and from different buildings on campus throughout the first day of the 2023 fall semester on Monday.

“The first day of the fall semester has always been exciting to me,” said Aparna Palmer, the new UAS Chancellor on Monday afternoon. “There’s like a special feeling in the air as we get to the first day of the fall semester and it’s really exciting for me.”

According to Palmer, this semester UAS welcomed 1,765 students across all three campuses in total, a 4% increase in enrollment compared to last fall semester.

Along with general enrollment on the upswing, Palmer said UAS saw a 87% increase in students enrolled in the Indigenous programs offered at the different three campuses.

“We’re excited — we really are,” she said. “Our goal is to build on our enrollment, to have more people come and really see the access that we are able to give, and I’m feeling really good. I think it’s a very positive sign.”

Palmer said during the new student orientation over the past few days she met students from both across the state and the country.

“We have some people from North Carolina, South Carolina, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Texas, Colorado, Idaho, in addition to students from all over Alaska,” she said. “So it was really fun to see that.”