Published Mar 6, 2024 by Clarise Larson

The University of Alaska Southeast’s student news publication says the Juneau campus and its Title IX office aren’t doing enough to protect students from sexual assault.

It’s led to student outcry and prompted campus officials to bring their concerns to the university’s Board of Regents. 

Title IX is a federal law that prohibits sex discrimination — including sexual violence — in educational programs and activities in the U.S. All public and private schools, school districts, colleges and universities must comply with its regulations.

In mid-February, students from the publication, The Whalesong, wrote in an editorial that the Juneau campus wasn’t protecting students under that law.

AJ Schultz, the publication’s student editor, said the editorial was a response to a long-running problem.

“There are so many instances of Title IX systems failing individuals and groups at this university,” he said. “I, in my role, was just bringing that forward and trying to fairly assess all the systems at play that kind of created that environment.”

The editorial included stories from multiple students who say the university mishandled their reports of sexual assault, and in turn, made them feel unsafe to share reports in the future. And since the editorial came out, students have been sharing their stories on social media and pressuring the university for change at a series of listening sessions held on campus.  

Published Mar 6, 2024 by Alena Naiden

Snowmachiners and any Kotzebue residents pondering ice travel should soon have more information to make the call about ice safety.

Last month, the Alaska Arctic Observatory and Knowledge Hub and the Native Village of Kotzebue deployed an under-ice oceanographic instrument to monitor ice thickness and snow depth at a site offshore of town. In the upcoming weeks, they plan to report regular measurements of ocean conditions, ice thickness and snow depth.

An ongoing initiative directly benefits Kotzebue residents, especially during the break-up season, said Alex Whiting, the environmental program director for the Native Village of Kotzebue, who is a part of the project.

“As we get closer to break up, it starts to get sketchy and people are more generally interested in things like ice thickness,” Whiting said. “It’s all sunny, long days. everyone wants to go out and play.”

For some Kotzebue residents who regularly go ice fishing or crabbing the information might be something they already know, said University of Fairbanks Post-Doctoral Researcher and AAOKH fellow Alex Ravelo. But for some snowmachiners and people who don’t go out on the ice as often, it can be important. Plus, having data about the changes in the ice this year and in previous years can help locals understand trends better said Ravelo who helped with this year’s deployment.

Published Mar 5, 2024

For thirty years Alaska had a small coal export industry, but with demolition slated for the state’s only coal loading facility, those days are likely gone forever.  

At its peak in 2011, Alaska exported 1.1 million tons — or 18 ships’ worth — of coal annually. The coal traveled down the Alaska Railroad from the Usibelli Coal Mine in Healy to the Seward Coal Terminal. There, it was loaded on boats headed for South Korea, Japan and Chile. 

But within five years, coal exports had dropped 95%. In 2016, the railroad and the mine shut it down.

With the coal loading infrastructure gone, it’s unlikely the mine or the railroad ever reinvests in coal exports, said University of Alaska Fairbanks energy historian Philip Wight.

“It’s hard for me to see any situation where this is not the end of Alaskan coal exports,” Wight said.

Coal was never a huge part of Alaska’s energy exports. But Wight said its decline is one example of changes driven by the global energy transition. 

Published Mar 5, 2024 by Adrian Peterson

On March 4, students at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) took to Signers Hall to protest increases to tuition in front of the school’s administrators.

As inflation impacts everyone and all organizations, discussions of raising tuition have begun once again at UAF. Some students voiced disapproval of such increases citing the struggles they face with finances with the current tuition rates.

While the tuition increase is not an official proposal yet, discussions are starting now. Officially, an increase of 5% or any other figure simply doesn’t exist. But, students say that any increase is too much.