Ted Delaca has left his post as vice provost for research in preparation for his planned retirement. Delaca will remain at UAF as interim director for the Office of Electronic Miniaturization until he retires in January. Paul McCarthy has been named interim vice provost for research, John Blake is the interim director of the Office of Sponsored Programs and Susan Grigg will serve as interim director of libraries and information technology.

UAF's Veterans Day ceremony takes place Nov. 11 at 9 a.m. in the Wood Center multi-level lounge.

The Marine Advisory Program conducted a survey last winter with Alaska commercial salmon fishermen about the salmon industry. Despite some industry hardships, more than 50 percent were optimistic about the industry's future and were looking for ways to stay competitive. For more information visit www.uaf.edu/map/.

The United Way of the Tanana Valley's annual giving campaign is in full swing. Jake Poole, vice chancellor for university advancement and community engagement (UACE), along with Jo Heckman, President and CEO of Denali State Bank and 1979 UAF graduate, are this year's campaign co-chairs. If you want to boost UAF's contribution efforts and help United Way meet its 2004 $1.25 million goal, contact Chris Bennett, TVC, at 2850.

Greg Newby, ARSC, is the editor for the Grid Forum Steering Group of the Global Grid Forum. For more information about the forum visit www.gridforum.org.

New ACS phone directories are available from Wood Center. Both large and small versions are available. Stop by the front desk to pick up your department's phone books. For more information call 1936 or 7034.

The Office of Electronic Miniaturization has moved to the Wells Fargo Complex at the corner of Geist Road and University Avenue to provide more analysis capability and lab and office space. OEM's new phone number is 2000 and fax number is 2020. For more information call 2000.

The development office is moving to207 Eielson Nov. 4–5. All staff phone numbers will remain the same. The university advancement and community engagement office will be located in 325–327 Signers' Hall. For more information call 6402.

Staff Council is accepting nominations for odd numbered units for the next two-year term, beginning in January 2005. Representatives must be permanent full- or part-time employees. For more information contact the governance office at 7056 or fystaff@uaf.edu, or visit www.uaf.edu/uafgov/staff/.

The Arctic Region Supercomputing Center recently retired three major supercomputing systems: Yukon, a Cray T3e; Chilkoot, a Cray SV1ex; and Icehawk, an IBM SP. The systems were replaced by over 6 teraflops of combined computing power in Cray X1 and IBM p690+/p655+ systems. The center is now an open research systems center, meaning that users will no longer be required to have a National Agency Check in order to gain access to the systems. For more information about access and accounts visit www.arsc.edu.

David Ogbe, CEM, was recognized for his service as a 2003-2004 distinguished lecturer by the Society of Petroleum Engineers.

Financial aid staff from UAF will participate in the College Goal Sunday program to help students and families, particularly low-income and first generation college students, deal with the paperwork involved in applying for college financial aid. The program is sponsored by the Coalition of Alaskans Supporting Higher Education with a grant from the Lumina Foundation. The first event will take place Feb. 13, 2005. For more information visit www.alaskaadvantage.state.ak.us.

Michele Hebert, CES, authored a section on gardening in the North for the national web-based educational program SmartGarden. For more information visit www.gardeninginstitute.com/snav/405/page.htm.

Tara Maginnis, theatre department, was featured in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner article "Maginnis Puts Her Mind to Costumes" in the Oct. 18 edition.

Iron Jawed Angels, a movie documenting the struggles of women fighting for the right to vote, will be shown Oct. 29 at 7 p.m. in Schaible Auditorium. Admission is free.

The UAF Women's Center is hosting a single parents support group, Thursdays from 4–5 p.m. in 112 Eielson. For more information call 6360.

The 14th annual Dead Writers Reading and Raffle takes place Oct. 30 at 8 p.m. in the Pub. Admission is $15, $12 for students. All proceeds benefit the Visiting Writers Series. For more information call 7193.

UAF art students will mark the occasion of Barbie's 45th birthday with an exhibit Nov. 1–12 in the art department gallery in the Fine Arts building. The opening reception is Nov. 1 at 5 p.m. and a birthday bash will be held Nov. 6 from 2–4 p.m. in the Great Hall. For more information contact 7726 or ffmcg@uaf.edu.

IAB and biology and wildlife Life Sciences Seminar series presents Carbon Exchange in Managed Forest Landscapes: Patterns Related to Forest Age by post-doctoral student Eugenie Euskirchen Nov. 5 at 3:30 p.m. in 214 Elvey. For more information call 7640.

Outdoor Adventures organizes several trips during the winter months. Upcoming events include a White Mountain snowshoe hike Nov. 6 and the winter cabin overnight trip Nov. 13. OA is also hosting a Warren Miller film Nov. 12–13 in Schaible Auditorium. For more information call 6027 or visit www.uaf.edu/outdoor/.

Career Services is hosting the Fall Career and Internship Fair Nov. 10 in Wood Center. Employers from all fields will be on campus to recruit spring and summer interns and hire for professional positions. For more information call 7596 or visit www.uaf.edu/career/.

The UA Museum of the North is hosting "A Northern Adventure: The Art of Fred Machetanz," a lecture by Kes Woodward Nov. 10 at 7 p.m. in the Wood Center Carol Brown Ballroom. The event is free and open to the public. For more information call 7505 or visit www.uaf.edu/museum/.

Theatre UAF presents Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew Nov. 12–13 and 19–20 at 8:15 p.m. and Nov. 21 at 2 p.m. in the Salisbury Theatre. Tickets are $12, $10 for seniors, military and UAF employees, and $6 for students. There is a $1 discount for advance purchase. For more information visit www.uaf.edu/theatre/.

Sylvia Brunner, museum, received a $99,908 grant from the NOAA/NMFS Prescott Stranding Grants Program to salvage beach-dead marine mammals from the Alaska Peninsula and archive them at the museum for future research.

Siemens Building Technologies gave another $10,000 towards its $50,000 pledge for the Siemens Scholarship for junior and senior mechanical or electrical engineering students at UAF.

Pamela Deters, IAB and CLA, received $225,600 from the National Institutes of Mental Health to conduct the Trauma and Treatment Paths for Alaska Native Children, Families and Communities project. The program will develop research on culturally appropriate interventions for Alaska Native children and communities to prevent trauma, abuse and related aftereffects.

Pam Groves, IAB, received a $230,764 grant from the National Science Foundation for her project investigating relationships between genetic and environmental change during the late Pleistocene for caribou and an extinct Pleistocene horse.

Dave McGuire, USGS and IAB, received a $174,999 grant from the National Science Foundation for his proposal, "Soil Climate and its Control on Wetland Carbon Balance in Interior Boreal Alaska–Experimental Manipulation of Thermal and Moisture Regimes."

The Nanook hockey team faced UAA Oct. 22–23 in Anchorage for the first round of the Governor's Cup. UAF lost the first game 5-2, but came back to win the second 6-0, tieing the series. The cup concludes in Fairbanks March 4–5. The Nanooks' next home games are Oct. 29–30 against British Columbia and Nov. 5–6 against the University of Nebraska-Omaha, all at 7 p.m. in the Carlson Center.

Nov. 1, 2004: Applications for the 2005 Angus Gavin Memorial Bird Research Grant are due. Grants up to $15,000 will be awarded. For more information visit www.alaska.edu/uafound/.

Nov. 5, 2004: The Graduate School is accepting proposals for the Arthur J. Schaible Memorial Cultural Enrichment Fund. For more information call 7464.

Nov. 5, 2004: Exceptional Student Employee Award nominations are due. For more information call Patti Picha at 7596.

I recently had a chance to read Measuring Up 2004: The National Report Card on Higher Education, published by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education. The report, the third in a series produced by an organization generally held in high regard by American educators, is quite critical of higher education in the United States and Alaska in particular.

Alaska's report card consists of the following grades: Preparation, B-; Participation, C; Affordability, F; Completion, F; Benefits, B; and Learning, Incomplete.

Although I have many questions about the grading criteria and the reliability of the data, as an educator and citizen of Alaska I do find the report to be thought-provoking and, in some cases, sobering. For example, it troubles me that less than 80 percent of young Alaskans receive a high school diploma (although another 11 percent receive GEDs), barely a quarter of our 18 to 24 year-olds are enrolled in college and our 6 year graduation rate for first time freshman baccalaureate students is at the bottom of all 50 states.

At this point I am not sure what to do about my concerns and questions, but it seems like those of us in higher education in Alaska should pay attention to what this report (and its two predecessors) has to say and commit ourselves to improvement of both our performance and the next report card.

Join with me in reading and thinking about this report located at www.highereducation.org. Talk about it with your colleagues, and let me know how you think we should respond--both as members of the UAF community and as Alaskan citizens.