High enrollment seen statewide

FAIRBANKS — University of Alaska enrollment numbers are up across the state. The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported that there’s been a 5.2 percent enrollment increase in the UA system since the same time last year.

The University of Alaska Fairbanks is up 8.7 percent and the Tanana Campus of UAF is up 5.7 percent.

“The economy does help us,” said Saichi Oba, assistant vice president of Student and Enrollment Services at UA told the News-Miner. “When it goes down, people go back to school.” Oba said that the administration got a hint of the enrollment increases in February when requests for financial aid increased 22 percent.

UA offers veterans residency status

ANCHORAGE — Eligible veterans and their spouses and children can now receive in-state tuition at any of the University of Alaska’s 16 campuses.

The UA Board of Regents approved the move  in June and it was timed to coincide with the new post-911 GI Bill. The new GI Bill, which went into effect Aug.1, offers veterans benefits based on the highest in-state rate in all 50 states, as well as a housing stipend and textbook allowance.

Students taking advantage of the new policy must live in Alaska while they take their classes.

“We’ve offered the in-state tuition benefit to active military personnel for years,” said UA President Mark Hamilton. “Our veterans deserve this benefit every bit as much, as well as our thanks for their sacrifices and service.”

Approximately 700 veterans enroll at UA in any given semester, without the new policy they would have to come up with the difference between in-state and out-of-state tuition, or almost $4,000 a semester, themselves.

“The University of Alaska’s policy change, coupled with the new post-911 GI Bill, makes it very affordable and attractive for veterans and their families to attend UA,” said Saichi Oba, associate vice president of Student and Enrollment Services at the UA System.

Oba anticipates an increase of veterans under the new policy.

Arts and Entertainment Briefs

Evening at Egan

Ketchikan artist Ray Troll kicks off the Evening at Egan Lecture series and features his latest works on Sept. 18 with a talk he calls “Further Adventures in Scientific Surrealism” at 7 p.m. in the Egan Library.

Troll will also be on the Juneau campus the week of Sept. 14 to install his anticipated commissioned mural “Deep Forest”.  The oil on canvas mural is 7 ft. x 11 ft. The work portrays all five species of Pacific salmon in spawning colors, swimming through a Southeast Alaskan forest. 

“It’s about the connection, the symbiotic relationship between the forest and the fish, light and dark, moving from life to death, and the whole chibang,” Troll said.

After his talk Troll invites attendees to view “Deep Forest” with special 3D glasses supplied by his Ketchikan gallery.

“It really pops in 3D, there are lots of cool things hidden through the painting,” Troll said.