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January 14, 2003
Opening of New UAS Building Raises $68,830 for Scholarship Funds

The UAS Winter Scholarship Soiree was a success, according to Lynne Johnson of the UAS Development Office. “We raised $15,830 from ticket sales, the silent auction, raffle and from money donated in the casino,” said Johnson. First National Bank Alaska sponsored the event with a $10,000 donation and an additional $43,000 was raised in the weeks and months leading up to the event. The grand total raised for UAS scholarship funds was $68,830.

Tish Griffin Satre, one of the event’s organizers, called the Soiree an unforgettable event. “It took 89 volunteers to turn the new classroom building into a ballroom, casino and comedy club. Volunteers decorated before the event and cleaned up the next morning; they were blackjack dealers and worked the coat-check room. We couldn’t have done it without them,” said Satre. “I give a lot of credit to Jim Keikkala, the project manager of the new Egan Library Classroom wing, on Friday I couldn’t imagine it would have looked so beautiful,” said Satre.

The Thunder Mountain Big Band provided the first round of dance music and The Swingers rock band took over to close out the night. The Psychedelic Psax jazz quartet performed in the new coffee bar, which has a beautiful view of Auke Lake. The new 150-seat lecture hall was opened with two shows of stand-up comedy performed by Kevin Myers.

“ It was a great way to open up the classroom wing. We had so much fun that we’ve already started planning next year’s event,” said Chancellor John Pugh. “It’s just a great way to get the community involved in what we’re doing out here. Anyone who missed the event should really make a special trip to campus see the new building.”

The new Egan Library Classroom wing extends from the Egan Library. The two-story structure adds 15 new classrooms and the 2,000 square-foot lecture hall. “Enrollment has been growing in the last few years and this gives us the space we’ve so desperately needed,” said Vice Provost Dr. Vicki Orazem. “It is a state-of-the-art facility with resort-like views of the lake, mountains and glacier.”

Each classroom has two-way video conferencing capability, video projection and access to a wireless network. The wireless network extends 200 ft. from each building on campus and can be used to access such things as printers and the Internet. “We’ve installed the latest proven instructional technology,” said Mike Ciri, director of information services. “We have all wireless mobile laptop classrooms. The video projectors are all equipped to accept the most popular consumer formats. If it’s been proven to help in the classroom, we’ve installed it.”

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