Six days of winter activities to help cure "cabin fever" among students at the University of Alaska Southeast begin Monday. UAS Activities Director Tish Griffin describes Winterfest as a "fabulous week of activities at the university. Some are fun to watch and some are great for participation."

The kick-off event is the Fire and Ice Bonfire Monday at 7 p.m. in the Hendrickson Building parking lot. "WeÍll be serving ice cream," Griffin says. "So bring out the family."

One of the final Winterfest events is the Polar Bear Plunge starting at noon on Saturday (Feb. 26) at the Auke Bay dock. Last year more than 30 students and a few staff jumped into the 38-degree water. "We had as many spectators last year as we had people going in the water," according to Griffin.

Other public events include outdoor "winter bowling" at noon on Tuesday and winter volleyball at noon on Wednesday. Both take place in the Mourant Courtyard. There will be a demonstration of several Eskimo Olympics events with two past performers Thursday (Feb. 24) at noon in the Mourant BuildingÍs Lake Room. Also on Thursday there will be an orientation to the new student climbing wall between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. in the Student Activity Center near the corner of Back Loop Road and Glacier Highway. An Avalanche Awareness video and slideshow will be presented Friday at 11:30 a.m. by Bill Glude in the Mourant BuildingÍs Lake Room.