University of Alaska

Three Puerto Rican students came to study at the University of Alaska Southeast this fall in search of an adventure.

But their semester abroad turned into a stressful ordeal after Hurricane Maria left them cut off from their families.

What do you do when disaster strikes at home, but you’re more than 4,000 miles away?

That’s the question three visiting students to UAS faced this fall.

Their school, University of Puerto Rico Humacao, was severely damaged when Hurricane Maria hit the island in September.

Every year, students from other parts of the United States travel to Juneau as part of the National Student Exchange program. That includes students from U.S. territory Puerto Rico.

“I’m studying marine biology and I wanted a total different environment. I like humpback whales and we can see them in Puerto Rico, but not as much as we can see them here,” said Gabriela Hernandez-Ramirez, who arrived in Juneau on Aug. 24 along with Eva Collazo-Montanez and Nikyshaliz Velasquez.

Less than a month later, Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico.

When it hit, Hurricane Irma had just skirted the island weeks before. Collazo-Montanez said they felt relieved when Irma was less destructive than predicted. Then they woke up Sept. 20 to radio silence.

“All of the media was out because there was no power so we couldn’t like see what was happening until like two days after that we were hearing stuff and trying to communicate but there was no communication,” Collazo-Montanez said.

It took almost two weeks for them to reach their families.

Thankfully, no one was seriously hurt.

Their homes were mostly safe, although Velasquez said her family’s garage was destroyed. But now their loved ones are dealing with the aftermath.

“My family doesn’t have electricity yet, and water, anything,” Velasquez said.

Power was knocked out for the entire island.

FEMA says about 60 percent still has no electricity. The biggest problems now are access to clean water, food and health care.

“We’re just so concerned that people are dying because they’re not getting medical attention, because they can’t get to the nearest hospital, or the nearest hospital is closed because they don’t have any electricity,” Collazo-Montanez said.

Classes at the Humacao campus were suspended for a month. Students returned Oct. 30, but with millions of dollars in damages and limited electricity, most classes are being held in large tents.

“I’ve heard from a lot of friends that the heat, it’s a lot,” Collazo-Montanez said. “They’re suffering from heat strokes, they cannot concentrate. Professors are trying to give their classes normally like they did it back when there was no hurricane, but they cannot do it.”

Feeling homesick and helpless from so far away, the students wanted to find a way to help. They held a bake sale.

“We had brownies, cupcakes, everything. We made some and people of the community also brought pastries to us,” Hernandez-Ramirez said. “We were like three hours in the cafeteria, and many people went and they helped us.”

They also collected supplies like medical masks, batteries and flashlights.

UAS Assistant Professor of Marine Fisheries Michael Navarro helped them figure out how to fly five free bags of supplies on Alaska Airlines to Florida.

Collazo-Montanez accompanied them and met her mother at the airport, who brought it all back to the island.

In total, they gathered about 600 pounds of supplies and $700 in donations.

Now, the visiting students are faced with what to do once the semester ends.

Do they return to Humacao, where facilities are limited and the semester has been pushed back to January? Do they transfer to Florida International University, which is taking in Puerto Rico students whose schools are damaged? Or, is there another option?

UAS Academic Exchange and Study Abroad Coordinator Marsha Squires has worked with the three of them since they first decided to come study in Alaska.

Known as “Mama Marsha” to many in the exchange program, she makes it her job to help students feel at home on campus.

When Maria struck, she took that role even more seriously.

“It wasn’t just me, there was a lot of faculty and other staff that were very supportive of the students, knowing that they were stressed, and still are really,” she said. “This isn’t something that just happens overnight and then it’s over with.”

Squires is working to help them stay.

UAS will provide financial assistance to allow Hernandez-Ramirez to continue studying there in the spring. Collazo-Montanez also is considering staying.

What is it about Juneau that three young women from a tropical Caribbean island like so much, exactly?

“Whale watching,” Hernandez-Ramirez said.

“Yeah, I love the mountains and the snow,” Collazo-Montanez replied.

“The glacier” is a favorite for Velasquez.

The three of them took a backpacking class earlier in the semester.

For two of them, it was the first time they’d ever seen snow. But are they looking forward to when the snow really begins?

“I hate the cold but I’m really waiting for it,” Hernandez-Ramirez said.

It’s now possible to learn basic Inupiaq online, thanks to a graduate student at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Chelsey Qaġġun Zibell is a master’s candidate and adjunct faculty at UAF’s School of Education.

As part of a graduate fellowship this summer, she created a free website that teaches users the beginning grammar and vocabulary of the Native Alaskan language.

Zibell, originally from Noorvik, said she has a strong interest in learning languages herself. She’s studied Inupiaq, German and others.

But that wasn’t the only thing motivating her to pursue the project.

“I also am very aware of the fact that the number of fluent speakers of the Inupiaq language is dwindling, and if we aren’t constantly pushing these revitalization efforts, then this language and other Alaska Native languages could be gone very soon.”

The Alaska Native Language Center at UAF estimates that only about 2,100 people still speak Inupiaq, which is fewer than 15 percent of the total Inupiat population.

Zibell’s project started as an attempt to make the standard textbook on Inupiaq more accessible.

“It is a very, very thorough textbook. It’s got a lot of really good information. But some of that information is very heavy in linguistic terminology and the linguistic aspects of the language,” she said. “And that can actually be kind of a stumbling point for some learners who don’t necessarily want to know or need to know the linguistic background.”

The UAF website keeps things simple, offering a series of brief lessons without too much jargon.

For visual learners, Zibell said there are also interactive games and exercises.

“For instance, there’s a picture of a parka, and it’s got these hotspots on it. They’re purple, and they’ve got these white plus signs, and if you click on them, another image will pop up, and it’ll say a little bit about them in the Inupiaq language.”

Besides the way the information is presented, Zibell said users also have flexibility with the order they learn it.

They can choose to go through each lesson sequentially or jump to later lessons if they feel more confident or just want to refresh their memory.

Zibell is only in the beginning stages of building the curriculum and hopes to resume work on expanding the website in the spring.

She says the process is boosting her own fluency in the language.

“I’m still at the stage where I think in English, and if someone speaks to me in Inupiaq, in my head I translate what they said to me into English, and then I think about what I want to say back to them in English, and then I try to translate in my own head. And it’s a slow process. I’m still working on thinking in Inupiaq when I’m having a conversation in Inupiaq.”

For others working through similar challenges, she says it’s important just to keep at it.

“Even if you feel like you haven’t learned enough, like if you’re still a beginning learner or an intermediate learner, or if you just have gaps in the knowledge of your language, just have the confidence to pass that on and also to just make it an everyday part of your life.”

Zibell’s website should now make it easier to build that confidence. You can find it at inupiatlanguage.community.uaf.edu.

Most University of Alaska students will see a 10 percent tuition increase during the next two academic years.

The university Board of Regents approved the hike with a 9-1 vote at Thursday’s meeting in Anchorage.

A 5 percent increase will take effect for most campuses in both the 2019 and 2020 academic years.

At the University of Alaska Southeast, the cost per credit will increase by about $10 each year. Currently, lower-division courses cost $202 per credit hour.

Student board member Joey Sweet called the decision a “bitter pill.”

“I’m not necessarily thrilled about that,” Sweet said. “But I think in terms of the long term this is a responsible course of action for us to be taking, and I support it.”

Tuition at Kodiak College and Prince William Sound College will increase by about twice as much as other campuses in order to even out tuition rates across the university system.

Regents also approved the university’s operating and capital budget for the 2019 fiscal year, including a request for $50 million from the state for deferred maintenance projects.

The likelihood of receiving any of that money from the Alaska State Legislature this year rides largely on its ability to address the state’s deficit.

Associate Vice President of Government Relations Miles Baker said the upcoming legislative session poses “major cause for uncertainty.”

He said legislators will face a $2.6 billion deficit, and revenue alternatives are few.

The current special session is unlikely to pass Gov. Bill Walker’s proposed tax of 1.5 percent on wages and self-employment income.

“We’re not going to come out of the special session with a long-term revenue solution even in the unlikely event this wage bill passes,” Baker said.

Several regents raised concerns about enrollment at the meeting. The system has seen a 15 percent decline since 2014.

Most campuses saw even lower enrollment this fall, including University of Alaska Southeast.

Regents also approved an extension to University of Alaska President Jim Johnsen’s employment contract. They heard reports on Strategic Pathways cost-cutting measures and Title IX compliance for sexual discrimination, harassment and assault.

The regents will conclude their meeting Friday afternoon.

The University of Alaska Board of Regents meets today and Friday in Anchorage to vote on the university budget and proposed tuition increases.

The agenda includes approval of the university’s budget for the next fiscal year.

The total proposed budget is just under $920 million, including a requested $341 million appropriation from the state. That’s a $24 million increase from last year’s request.

State funding to the university has declined by about $60 million since 2014, forcing cutbacks in academic programming, faculty and staff across campuses.

Regents also will consider a request for $50 million from the state to address the university’s deferred maintenance backlog.

A 10 percent tuition increase over the next two years also is on the table.

Regents will decide whether to raise tuition at most campuses by 5 percent in both the 2019 and 2020 academic years.

Tuition at Kodiak College and Prince William Sound College would increase by nearly twice as much, in order to even out tuition rates across the University of Alaska system.

University of Alaska President Jim Johnsen also will present on phase three of Strategic Pathways, the university’s comprehensive cost-cutting plan.

Regents also will receive an update on how the university has improved its response to sexual harassment and assault allegations.

The full board meeting, aside from executive session, will be livestreamed online.

Students, professors and members of the Juneau community gathered Tuesday at the University of Alaska Southeast for a day-long discussion of societal imbalances.

The second annual Power & Privilege Symposium brought together thinkers, educators and undergraduate students to talk about topics ranging from climate change to Alaskan Native issues.

Some of the sessions and keynote speakers were live-streamed, including the morning address by Alaska Writer Laureate Ernestine Hayes.

Undergraduate student Haley Shervey volunteered at the symposium because she felt the subjects being addressed are important, especially in today’s climate.

“I think a lot of the events here kind of address violence and some of the issues going on in the communities,” Shervey said. “Alaska has a really high rate of domestic violence and other issues and a lot of these things have a lot of historical precedence that it’s really important to address, so I think it’s really good that this event is going on.”

Most classes were optional Tuesday so students would be free to attend sessions.

Some students even presented on topics relating to their own experience, like being Muslim amid growing Islamophobia in the national landscape.

First-year student Gloria Conteh also volunteered for half the day so she could attend breakout sessions.

She was particularly interested in discussions dealing with climate change and abortion.

“There are so many things going on right now that we wanted to talk about, so it was really great that they put on this event and the community members can also listen and give their input on things they think that we should talk about,” Conteh said.

Organizers said they hope the symposium encourages more discussion of privilege and its role in society for the broader Juneau community.

The deadline for bids and public comment on a proposed Haines-area timber sale has been extended.

The University of Alaska is offering up 400 acres of old growth Sitka spruce and western hemlock on the Chilkat Peninsula.

The extension follows the Haines Assembly’s request that the University of Alaska delay the sale until the two parties can meet.

The peninsula is southeast of the Haines townsite, and is home to many residential properties.

Many area residents have spoken out against a large scale timber sale in their neighborhood.

The university originally set the bid and comment deadline for Oct. 23. But regional resource manager Patrick Kelly said it was extended for a couple reasons.

“The first reason was we received requests from potential bidders to extend the RFP (request for proposals),” Kelly said. “Secondly, we received a request from the borough manager to extend the public comment period.”

Kelly declined to comment further about the potential bidders, but said there has been interest in the sale.

The deadline for bids and comments was pushed off about a month, to 5 p.m. Nov. 22.

Kelly said the university is also working to schedule a meeting with the Haines Borough and the Alaska Mental Health Trust. A date has not yet been set for that meeting.

The university put the land up for sale partly in response to a discussion taking place with the Haines Planning Commission.

The commission is considering restrictions on resource extraction in the Mud Bay Rural Residential Zone.

Potential restrictions would affect the university and Mental Health Trust, which own large parcels of land in that area.

Comments on the proposed sale can be sent to ua-land@alaska.edu.