President Hamilton was hospitalized March 27 after complications due to a blow to his chest from a snowmachine accident the previous week. He was admitted for testing and observation and released April 2. The State of the University Address scheduled for April 9 has been cancelled.

Carla Kirts, dean of student services, has announced her decision to retire Aug. 1, 2002. In addition to serving as dean, Kirts has also served as a faculty member in agricultural education and natural resources management and as vice chancellor for university relations during her 21 years at UAF.

The University of Alaska recently joined the Campus Consortium for Environmental Excellence (c2e2). The consortium is comprised of colleges and universities interested in developing innovative ways of managing and regulating the environmental impacts of laboratories.

National Student Employment Week is April 7 - 13. Take time out this week to acknowledge the hard work of student employees at UAF. For ideas about celebrating student employees visit http://www.uaf.edu/career/Events/NSEW/.

The UAF Master Planning Committee's north campus subcommittee needs help to compile a list of users and uses of all campus woodlands north and west of campus to include current, past and proposed future needs. For more information or to provide assistance contact ffpsh@uaf.edu.

Paul Matheus, IAB, co-authored the article "Dynamics of Pleistocene Population Extinctions in Beringian Brown Bears" that was published in the March 21 issue of the journal "Science."

Student Activities is looking for faculty and staff volunteers to donate an hour to serve at the annual faculty/staff lunch being held April 26 from 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m. to acknowledge students who participate in Campus Clean Up. For more information or to volunteer contact 6029 or fyevent@uaf.edu.

The UAF Jazz Ensemble competed March 1-2 at the Notre Dame Invitational Jazz festival, one of the oldest organized collegiate jazz festivals in the country. Trumpeter Jason Edwards won three outstanding musicianship awards at the festival.

UAF's Trumpet Quartet placed third at the National Trumpet Competition in Washington, D.C. March 14 - 17, behind Juilliard and the University of Louisville. Invitations to compete are given after a review of audiotape auditions.

Alaska Native middle school students, teachers and elders from Kiana and Galena recently visited UAF's Geophysical Institute to participate in a program designed to improve math and science skills in rural Alaska. More than 40 participants interacted with researchers, conducted hands-on experiments and visited a variety of research facilities during their five-day visit.

The Wood Center graphics office will be closed for the summer from May 1 - Sept. 12. Banner and poster orders must be submitted by April 24. For more information contact Mani Owens at 6023 or fnmo@uaf.edu.

The Computing and Communications help desk is available to assist the UAF community with computing questions from 7:30 a.m. - 7:30 p.m. Monday - Friday and 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. on weekends. For more information call 6564 or visit http://www.uaf.edu/dcc/help.

UAF's computer science program recently received a donation of 10 RS/6000 desktop computers from IBM.

The Development Office recently launched a new website. Check it out at http://www.uaf.edu/giving/.

Employee notice, protection for whistleblowers: Any employee may in good faith report to testify before a public agency concerning: a violation of federal, state or local law; a danger to public health or safety; gross mismanagement; a substantial waste of funds or clear abuse of authority; or a matter under investigation by the state.
Employee protections and obligations regarding reports of these matters of public concern are fully stated in Alaska statutes 39.90.100 through 39.90.150, which are available for review at UAF University Relations, 201 Eielson Building.

The UA Museum special exhibit "Keeper of the Seal" presents watercolors, sketches and political cartoons by Henry Wood Elliot depicting the plight of the Pribilof Island fur seals at the turn of the century. The exhibit runs through May 31. A Museum Lecture about this exhibit is being held April 18 at 7 p.m. Admission is free. For more information call 7505. The Saturday Family Program "The Buzz on Alaska's Bugs" is being held April 20 from 10 a.m. - noon for children ages 7 - 12.

The ninth annual Science Potpourri is being held April 6 from noon - 5 p.m. in the Natural Sciences Facility. For more information contact Marlys Schneider at 6287 or fnmes@uaf.edu.

The UAF Small Business Development Center presents "Alaska Wage and Hour Laws" April 9 from 6 - 9 p.m. with a $25 fee. For more information or to register call
456-7232.

UAF's Arctic Energy Technology Development Laboratory, the School of Mineral Engineering and the U.S. Department of Energy National Energy Technology Laboratory will host an energy workshop, "The Future of Fossil Energy in Alaska," April 11 -12. Participants will discuss oil, natural gas and coal and identify research needs for Alaska resource development. For more information contact Godwin Chukwu at 7734.

Theatre UAF presents its season finale, "Dangerous Liaisons," April 19, 20, 26, 27 at 8:15 p.m. and April 28 at 2 p.m. in the Salisbury Theatre. Tickets are $10 for adults, $8 for UAF affiliates, seniors and military and $5 for students. This play contains mature content. For more information visit http://www.uaf.edu/theatre/.

The Office Management class at TVC is hosting an open house in honor of Administrative Assistant's Day April 27 in room 201 of the Downtown Center. For more information contact Jean Heusinkveld at 1115 or jean.heusi@uaf.edu.

The UAF Summer Finance Camp teaches middle and high school students how to use the Internet to assist in stock decisions. Participants will track mock portfolios using online resources. The high school camp runs from June 3 - 7 and the middle school camp runs from June 10 - 14. There is also an adult course offered Saturdays, June 8 - 22. For more information contact Joe Hines at 6518 or ffjph1@uaf.edu or visit http://www.som.uaf.edu/fep/.

UAF is hosting the 2002 Athabascan Language Conference June 16 - 18. Support for the conference is provided by the National Science Foundation. For more information visit http://www.uaf.edu/anlc/alc/.

The Kenai Peninsula College is hosting the Kachemak Bay Writer's Conference June 23 - 27. Registration is $175 before May 15 and $225 after. For more information visit http://chinook.kpc.alaska.edu/~conference/.

Jennifer Shea and JoJoe Nujoy, Residence Life, received awards from the Pacific Affiliate to the National Association of College and University Residence Halls. Shea received November's Regional Advisor Award. She is in her first year of advising UAF's Residence Hall Association. Nujoy received the Regional Social Program Award for November for organizing a Thanksgiving ski trip to Alyeska Resort.

I can't believe how quickly this academic year has flown by! At UAF, spring is synonymous with student recognition programs -- the most notable, of course, is commencement. Another well-known program is the annual awards breakfast during which a student from each academic program is selected and recognized by the faculty of that program for exemplifying exceptional academic performance. In addition, several major UAF-wide awards are presented at the breakfast including the outstanding graduating senior man, woman and non-traditional student.

Each year proposals to add other awards to the breakfast program are received. Because academic achievement is the focus of the awards breakfast, the number of awards is large, and time is limited, most of those proposals have been declined. Admittedly, that's bad news. Now there is good news, however. We are developing another ceremony to honor students -- one that will focus on achievements students attain outside the classroom. We expect this event will become an annual celebration because those who know about it so far are very excited about the opportunity to provide additional recognition for outstanding students.

Join the Chancellor and I as we honor student achievements on Thursday, April 25 at 4:30 in Wood Center. This inaugural program will feature students who will be graduating with leadership honors, exceptional student employees, graduating athletes, graduating student ambassadors, graduating resident assistants, outstanding ASUAF leaders, the emerging leaders scholarship recipient, outstanding TVC students and the student commencement speaker. Come to the program not only to celebrate with the recipients of the various awards, but also to learn about the types of recognition programs available at UAF. Then, next year, you will be able to recommend or nominate students you know who should be considered for particular awards.