Though far from her original home of Argentina, Claudia Wakefield, Assistant Professor of Spanish is giving students at UAS the skills to learn another language and appreciate different cultures. “When I was in Argentina I was considered Asian, when I was in Japan I was half European, and here I’m Hispanic,” Wakefield said who was born to a Japanese father and an Italian mother in Buenos Aires, Argentina. While growing up her father owned a dry cleaning business and her mother was a stay at home mom, taking care of her and her two older brothers. Wakefield stated that growing up in Argentina is a lot different from the U.S. with one of the main differences being the Italian influence and closeness of the families. “In Argentina you are so close not just to your immediate family, but all the relatives. With such a big Italian influence, about 80% of the people are Italian descendants, the family gets together every Sunday, the food is Italian, many traditions and even the accents are Italian,” Wakefield said. At the age of 19, Wakefield lived in Tokyo, Japan for a short time before returning to Argentina. While back in Argentina, Wakefield attended the Universidad de Buenos Aires were she earned her Juris Doctor, specializing in civil law. In Argentina, where public education is free, Wakefield explains that everybody has the same opportunities to receive an education as long as they do the work. Wakefield went to law school with Antonio de la Rúa, son of Argentinean president Fernando de la Rúa at that time. “Nobody else is going to get a better education because they have deeper pockets. He (Antonio de la Rúa) would just arrive with his chauffeur and his bodyguards outside the classroom and I would take the train for 25 cents and we were receiving the same education,” Wakefield explained. Tired of working 6 to 7 days a week and 12 hours days as a new graduate out of law school Wakefield decided to leave Argentina and come to Juneau in 2000 following her desire to take a year off to see a bit of the world. Wakefield had a friend who lived in Juneau who persuaded her to come but she was also drawn in by the fact that it was so different from Argentina. “I found it so exotic and different than 13 million people in a city,” Wakefield said. Though she loves the simplicity and safety of Juneau after living in a city as large as Buenos Aires, Wakefield is not a fan of Juneau weather. “It drives me crazy, the rain. Hate the rain, hate the cold, hate the ice,” Wakefield said. Wakefield attended classes at UAS, starting out as a student worker before becoming an Admissions Coordinator on campus. It was in one of her political science classes that Wakefield met her fellow classmate and eventual husband Jeremy Wakefield. The couple was married not once, not twice, but three times! They married once in Brazil and twice in Juneau in order to accommodate family members. In 2003, Wakefield and her husband lived in Ecuador for a period of time while conducting research on the Tsachila tribe that lives in the Ecuadorian jungle. The research was primarily due to their personal interest in the tribe, as well as an independent study in anthropology. Wakefield has since earned the full-time position as a Spanish professor at UAS, after teaching as an adjunct professor. Her husband currently works as an apartment building manager as well as a bartender at the Red Dog Saloon in downtown Juneau. Together they have 22 month-old son, Tiago. Wakefield enjoys teaching at UAS, and in particular enjoys her students. “I love when they (students) tell me, ‘You know what, I went to Valentine’s this weekend and I ordered my breakfast in Spanish and they understood me,’ or ‘Oh, I finally get the commercial from Taco Bell.’ Things like that. When they use what they learn in class in the outside world and they make it work,” Wakefield said. With millions of Spanish speakers in the U.S., Wakefield feels that it is important for students to learn other languages. “I think it’s really becoming essential to be bilingual, not only for work opportunities, but also to understand other cultures,” Wakefield said. Though she has accomplished a lot in her life, Wakefield and her family had to overcome some cultural difficulties along the way. In Argentina, they were considered part of the minority due to her father being Asian and in Japan their mixed race was frowned upon by the community. Wakefield feels that her father and husband have been the most influential people in her personal life and have helped her to pursue her goals. “My father is such a strong, intelligent person and went through so much in his life, war, migration, and economic crisis in Argentina, and he’s still strong. My husband because he’s a crazy dreamer, and I love that about him,” Wakefield said. Wakefield also was greatly impacted by Clive Thomas, a political science professor at UAS. Wakefield took many of his classes and felt that he always pushed her to be better. Wakefield plans to teach at UAS for one more year and then continue her education in the fall of 2009, when she plans to pursue a PhD in Second Language Acquisition at the University of Hawaii.
Posters of charred bodies, diseased patients and birth defects marked the opening of the first UAS Nuclear Awareness Conference. The conference spanned Friday, April 18 through Sunday. Throughout the days, conference attendees could visit booths dispersed around Egan or view documentaries shown in Egan classrooms. Each evening included one or more keynote speakers, with a total of five, who discussed the damages caused by nuclear weapons development and use. Friday’s speakers focused on U.S. nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands, an archipelago located in the South Pacific. Dr. Holly Barker, professor at the University of Washington in Seattle and ambassador to the Marshall Islands, elaborated on the extent of U.S. testing and its unwillingness to pay reparations for the damages caused. Every day for twelve years, the U.S. tested nuclear bombs on the Enewetak and Bikini Atolls. Although both islands were evacuated before testing, radiation from the sites traveled throughout the entirety of the Marshall Islands. “[The Marshall Islands] are still dealing with the effects of the nuclear era,” Dr. Barker said. Many food sources still contain unsafe amounts of radiation. Lijon Eknilang, a Marshallese protester who also spoke at the Nuclear Awareness Conference, suffered seven miscarriages and has helped deliver multiple still born babies resulting from fallout damage. All Marshall Islands have reported birth defects and miscarriages. In addition to direct nuclear tests, U.S. scientists conducted experiments on the Marshallese people. Some experiments, Dr. Barker explained, involved injecting radiation directly into the bloodstream. All effects were observed and noted without offering treatment. Despite the testing, the U.S. had offered “deplorable” assistance to the Marshallese people. Mayor James Matayoshi of the Rongelap Atoll in the Marshall Islands and Lijon Eknilang spoke before Dr. Barker’s presentation. Both stressed the importance of U.S. repayment. “I did not come here for you to cry for me” said Eknilang. She came trying to allow the audience to share her point of view as a distressed Marshallese. “What it comes down to,” remarked Dr. Barker, “is trying to get the U.S. to take responsibility for the problems it has caused the Marshall Islands.” The U.S. continues to regularly test ballistic, non-nuclear missiles on the Marshall Islands. Shigeko Sasamori, a survivor of Hiroshima, also spoke at the conference. Sasamiri was thirteen years old when the atomic bomb exploded over Hiroshima, Japan. The front third of her body was burned in the blast. She recovered from her scars after receiving surgery in a U.S. hospital. Despite her experiences, Sasamiri maintains a positive attitude. “I cannot forget that America bombed,” she said, “but I cannot just sit down and crybaby.” Today Sasamire regularly tours the world and appears at similar events. Her lasting plea echoed the Marshallese’s. “I have to ask people to stop making atomic bombs and stop making war.” Sunday’s speaker, Victoria Samson, from the Center for Defense Information in Washington D.C., commented on the challenges of a nuclear defense system. Samson delivered a very detailed message, weighing the costs and limited benefits of ballistic missile defense systems. She clearly distinguished her opinion as unaffiliated with views held by the Center for Defense Information. The poster exhibit in the UAS Egan Library contained photographs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki after the nuclear destruction and continued into the modern era with images of birth defects and diseases caused by the nuclear fallout. The Hiroshima Peace Museum donated the display for use in the Nuclear Awareness Conference. Those who missed the Nuclear Awareness Conference can watch or listen to the keynote speakers under the Video Production section of the UAS Media Services website.
There are a wide variety of student opinions regarding desired changes to food services on campus; however many may not realize that NANA may already have some of those changes in the works. Many students at UAS have suggestions for changes when it comes to dining on campus, regarding such concerns as the variety of food choices, options for vegetarians, vegans as well as those concerned with food allergies, nutritional value, food prices and the limiting regulations against distribution of food items by individuals or groups apart from Food Services. Chelsey Byington, 21, from Deary, Idaho, a freshman seeking an Associate of Arts degree, feels that there should be a larger variety of food choices offered on campus. “There’s not a big variety, they don’t change the menu up for the grill a lot,” Byington said. “Change it up a little bit...Give it a little bit of flavor. Maybe do every other week a culture week, where they serve a different culture’s food that way people can get into it.” Byington is not the only student who feels that food services should offer a greater variety of food choices. Anne Dalmadge, 20, from Boulder, Colo., a sophomore majoring in Elementary Education, feels that the choices available to students are very limited in comparison to previous years. John Ames, the General Manager for Food Services at UAS, explains that many new changes and improvements are being considered for the fall and an expansion in the variety of food options is one of them. “I’ve begun meetings, and will be continuing it next fall, to get students involved with the direction of food services,” Ames said. “As an example we met with the Native American group...to get an idea of some of the things that they would like to see in the menu mix for the cafeteria. I would like to continue that next fall in terms of ethnicities.” Ames also stated that next fall, food services is going to try to get students, staff and faculty involved by incorporating recipes that they would like to see into the menu. “If you had ‘Aunt Dorothy’s’ favorite recipe for some sort of dish, then that is something that we would try to incorporate into the menu and produce,” Ames said. The limited food options for vegetarians, vegans and food allergy considerations are also a concern for many students. “They don’t have enough vegetarian and vegan choices to be honest,” Byington said. “I think it would be a good idea to get more vegetarian style options besides just the salad bar.” Ames explained that food services has initiated a marketing program that provides a constant rotation of nonpermanent menu items which would allow for an added entrée item on the hotline or grill. This program would also include a ‘Grab and Go’ which would provide prepackaged food items such as salads and sandwiches. “It will enable us to address some of the issues that I’ve heard since I’ve been here such as vegetarian versus vegan and in some regards some of the perhaps, more common food allergies,” Ames said. Many students, including Anthony Gaussoin, 27, from Juneau, Alaska, a junior majoring in Mathematics, feel that many food choices don’t offer enough nutritional value. “It’s hard to usually get real healthy stuff to eat,” Gaussoin said. “I like to get a lot of protein, I like to get a lot of vegetables, and I don’t necessarily want that much fat.” Due to several questions from students inquiring about the nutritional content of food products, a computer, which will be set to a homepage for nutritional questions, will be set up in the Fireweed room. The homepage will include a location for students, faculty, and staff to ask a qualified, licensed dietician anything relating to dietetics or nutritional value. By providing an email address, individuals will receive a response to their question within 48 hours. As far as prices are concerned, students in general feel that they too high. “I understand that food prices are higher here in Juneau than in other places, but I still feel that it’s too high,” Dalmadge explained. “I can go to the store and get the same price for two meals as one meal here.” Pat Vallejo, a Food Service’s cook for 12 years at UAS, explains that since the switch to NANA Management, the food prices have actually dropped. Vallejo explained that the prices have dropped for entrees on the hot line, but not on the grill. Vallejo contributes this to the higher cost of buying prepared items in comparison to buying ingredients for meals prepared from scratch. “On the grill side, you buy a specific item, which is already prepared and ready to go, which evidently costs more,” Vallejo said. Though there have been some complaints concerning Food Services, most students agree that the service at the Mourant Cafe is excellent, and the food products from both Spike’s coffee stand and the Bear’s Pantry are satisfactory. Several students and student organizations have, however, found the University’s contract with Food Services concerning the prohibited distribution of food items from other sources other than Food Services to be limiting. All campus events that involve food must be catered through Food Services. Carol Comolli, the TRiO Director at UAS, explained that this regulation is constricting to TRiO activities. However, she explained that everything regarding this regulation has been resolved between Food Services and TRiO. Comolli said that in previous years, TRiO events were held in The Lake Room and the Glacier View Room, which is now under control of Food Services. One TRiO event is an intercultural potluck where members prepare and bring their cultural dishes with the hope that it will create an atmosphere in which members could talk to each other regarding their various cultural lifestyles. Comolli feels that to have an event, such as the intercultural potluck, catered defeats the purpose of the event. “I don’t know how you can cater an intercultural potluck. It makes no sense for TRiO,” Comolli said. Comolli explained that TRiO has since talked it over with Food Services and UAS and discovered that food can be served within their department. Since TRiO shares space with the Learning Center, they are able to use that space for events. Comolli believes that these events will possibly have to be eliminated when TRiO moves to the offices in the Mourant building which will not allow departmental space for such events. “I can see there point of view if they are going to run a business. They can’t be competing with people bringing free food,” Comolli said. “It’s a little constraining...but we can adapt.” Ames, though he was not part of the negotiation of the contract, explained that from his perspective, he believes that the main reason behind the contract is for the University to ensure food safety. “If you have one provider for the service it’s easier for both the contractor and for the university as the entity to be able to ensure good, proper, safe sanitation,” Ames said. “If you have different sources of food coming in and out on an ongoing basis, there are too many opportunities for error.” The Bear’s Pantry and Spike’s coffee stand are completely run by students employed by Food Services. Food Services offer students the opportunity and ability to work and attend classes at the same time. Jim Cutillo, 29, a junior studying Outdoor Skills and Leadership, from Boonton, N. J., works in the Mourant Cafe and finds it beneficial as a student to work for Food Services. “The hours are good. As a student they are very flexible with my schedule,” Cutillo explained. “When I work a shift of more than 5 hours I get a shift meal, and they offer competitive wages.” In all, NANA is trying to establish communication with the students, faculty and staff on campus in order to provide the best products and service possible. “I really hope to get, between the meetings and the comment board, enough interaction so that everyone’s as happy as you can possibly be with food,” Ames said. “There’s definitely a need to establish that communication here and that’s what we are trying to do.” For students wanting to provide Food Services with suggestions a comment board will be put up in the Mourant.
“There’s not enough change in the type of foods that they serve. Last year, with the grill, they had specific days like ‘wrap days’ and ‘sub days.’ That was a lot better than having everything the same everyday,” Dalmadge said.
Someone wise and commonly quoted once said that ‘frequent midnight fire alarms bring you together.’ Okay, so maybe the actual quotation was a little different, but for the residents of UAS’s Banfield Hall, it is unquestionably true. Frequent midnight fire alarms do bring us together: against the idiot that set it off. But alas, I’m getting ahead of myself. Like all great stories, this one started with a book. It was the late during the night of the first Sunday of Spring semester, and I was still getting settled into my new home. I had discovered the miracle that is Interlibrary Loans, and I was deeply engrossed within the pages of a mystery novel. When the fire alarm went off, I did what I always do when surprised by incredibly loud, irritating noises: jumped several feet in the air and made a frightened squeaky sound. I’ll admit that at that point I had no idea what it was, but I knew my sensitive ear drums couldn’t take much more of it. I snapped shut the book and without donning shoes or a coat fled out into night. When we finally filed back into the building after standing out in -20F weather for about half an hour, I was borderline hypothermic, and I wasn’t the only one. I didn’t regain full feeling in my toes for a couple of days, and I noticed a lot of other Banfielders limping about in the days following our first alarm. Now, I didn’t hear this from any reputable source, but word on the street has it that the first fire alarm was actually pulled by some desperate loser hell-bent on subjecting us all to the torture of exposure to an Alaskan winter for his own evil purposes. In all truth, it could well have been an accident. But I spent enough time in high school to know that that’s not what makes a good rumor. In any case, the rumor had enough time to circulate that by midnight next Sunday, when we once again found ourselves ‘out in the cold,’ as it were, that there was a certain suspicious air hanging over the crowd. Any one of us could have been the one that pulled it. It was like a closed door mystery or any of a number of idiotic television shows about people stuck on islands. You never know who could be the murderer… ahem, fire-alarm puller. ‘But no,’ the verdict was handed down. This time it was a bag of popcorn accidentally cooked for 10 minutes. Or maybe that was the third fire alarm. After the first five, I stopped paying attention. Here in Banfield, we’ve been through a lot together. Through wind, rain, subzero temperatures and snow, we’ve toughed out midnight fire alarm after midnight fire alarm. We’ve learned to heave a sigh in perfect unison. We’ve become hard of hearing from repeated exposure to noise louder than 90 decibels. We’ve endured frostbite, chill-induced pneumonia, and bear maulings (well, okay, maybe not bear maulings). In fact, about the only thing it seems we haven’t learned is to clean our toasters regularly and to never microwave anything longer than 10 minutes. But this wisdom will surely come in time. In the meantime, I am certain that in my life I will never, ever forget the time we were forced … I mean lucky enough to spend together, huddled for warmth in the housing parking lot. “There is nothing,” said one bleary-eyed Banfielder with sagacity beyond his years as we filed back into Banfield one night, “like the smell of burnt toast in the morning.” I’m inclined to agree.
Every college student is familiar with deadlines and most of us have pulled all-nighters, dawning sleepy, red eyes just to put a paper or project into the hands of a professor and pass out from exhaustion during the class lecture. Finals can seem insurmountable and sometimes there just doesn’t seem to be a light at the end of the tunnel. Why exactly do students wait until the day before a big assignment is due to start pulling sources off dusty library shelves or to actually buckle down and exert their brains? The answer is simple: stress. Whether you’re guzzling AMP or Sobe for the Ginkgo Biloba, downing coffee for the caffeine or getting your fix off Ritalin, college students seem to work best under pressure. Why punish yourself by procrastinating until the last second only to be overwhelmed by the amount of work that needs to be completed in less than twelve hours? Part of it is the motivation factor. Of course we want to get the grade, but there are so many other things that tempt us away from books and blank word processing documents. That lucrative game of beer pong seems oh so attractive on a wet Wednesday night, and it’s just so good once it touches your lips. The internet is great tool used by students to waste time whether you have a Myspace, Facebook or a You Tube addiction. And of course, there’s another aspect of college: sex. If you were faced with a choice between sex and physics and you had to pick your poison which would you prefer? Let’s face it unless not turning in your assignment would harshly effect your grade, the answer is obvious. What it boils down to is whether or not you care. You’ll get it done if you want the grade and if not you might find yourself sitting in the same lecture hall, retaking whatever it is you failed. So here’s to you Mr. Up-all-night-working-on-an-assignment-that’s-worth-half-your-grade, Budweiser salutes you and so do your classmates, who are right there alongside of you.