The UA College Savings Plan has been named one of the best college savings plans in the U.S. by Morningstar Inc. This is the third year in a row the plan as been named one of the best in the country. For more information about the plan call 1-888-4-Alaska or visit www.uacollegesavings.com.

SFOS plans to compete for the Alaska Region Research Vessel from the National Science Foundation if proposed funding in the federal budget is approved. The ARRV would replace the Alpha Helix, which is 37-years old, owned by NSF and operated by SFOS though the Seward Marine Center.

The United Way of the Tanana Valley received $55,720 from UAF and statewide in this years United Way campaign. The winners for the incentive prizes are: Kerynn Fisher, UA Museum of the North, 2006 season tickets to the BP Top of the World Classic; Mary Farrell, DDC, 2006 seasons tickets to UAF hockey; Michelle Bartlett, Summer Sessions, annual membership pass to the UA Museum of the North; John Fellerath, UAF Center for Health and Counseling, 2006 UAF sports package for two; Jamie Marschner, ARSC, one-year subscription to the FDNM; Craig Dorman, statewide Office of Academic Affairs and Research, $50 gift certificate to Total Image Hair Salon; Mark Box, CLA, overnight stay and dinner for two at the Regency Fairbanks Hotel; and Alan Batten, UA Museum of the North, lunch with Chris Bennett.

Contractors are installing a new fire sprinkler and fire alarm system in the Irving I Building. The project is scheduled to be complete by Sept. 1. For more information visit www.iab.uaf.edu/news/construction/.

The North Campus Subcommittee of the Master Planning Committee is seeking input on the possibility of establishing winter walking trails on north campus. To voice your comments visit www.uaf.edu/mastplan/walkingtrails/.

The Alaska Chamber Chorale, directed by Marvilla Davis, CLA, has been selected to perform at the Northwest Regional Convention of the American Choral Directors Association March 15-18 in Portland, Ore. This is the third time in the last nine years that the chorale has been selected to perform at the ACD convention.

Is the Cornerstone meeting your needs? University Relations is conducting a survey about the Cornerstone faculty and staff newsletter. Please take a few minutes to fill out a survey online at www.uaf.edu/cornerstone/years/survey/cornerstonesurvey.html. Your help is greatly appreciated.

The Office of Electronic Miniaturization received a $450,000 contract from Tessera, Inc. to perform advanced stacking of IBM's Magnetoresistive Random Access Memory die using technologies licensed to OEM by Tessera.

The last day for student- or faculty-initiated course withdrawals is March 24.

Cassandra Johnson and Terin Walton-Rantz, sociology undergraduate students, will each present original research at the annual meeting of the Pacific Sociological Association.

The 13th annual Science Potpourri, the open house for CNSM, is being held April 8. If you would like to help out with this year's event, contact Marlys Schneider at 6287 or Jeff Drake at 7010.

Need information about possible campus closures due to weather or emergency situations? Call 474-7UAF (7823) or visit www.uaf.edu/news/ for updates and information.

Spring Break takes place March 13-17. Most campus office will be open during the week, except for March 17, which is a campus holiday.

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.

UAF Trails Day is March 4. Join Outdoor Adventures for free lessons and ski rentals at 10 a.m. and fun races at 3 p.m. at the ski hut.

The Academic Advising Center is hosting a series of Invest in Yourself workshops including Math Anxiety March 7 and Time Management March 9 in Gruening 409 at 1:05 p.m. For more information or to register visit www.uaf.edu/advising/.

Celebrate International Women's Day March 8 and visit the living museum in Wood Center multi-level lounge from noon-1 p.m. The museum is hosted by the UAF Women's Center as part of Women's History Month.

The UA Museum of the North presents Alaskan Masters, Old and New, a lecture by Kesler Woodward March 9 at 7 p.m. Woodward will talk about the museum's current exhibit, A New Sense of Wonder, and how contemporary artists are reinterpreting the North and moving beyond the image of Alaska presented by Sydney Laurence, Esutace Ziegler, Rusty Heurlin, Fred Machetanz and others. Admission is free. For more information call 7505.

Morris Palter presents a percussion recital March 9 at 8 p.m. in the Davis Concert Hall. Admission is $10 adults and $5 students, seniors and military.

The 4th annual Job Shadow week, hosted by Career Services and the UAF Alumni Association, takes place March 12-17. For more information call 7596 or visit www.uaf.edu/career/.

The Place Where You Go To Listen, a gallery opening March 21 at the UA Museum of the North is a permanent sound and light environment created by John Luther Adams. This unique work presents the rhythms of daylight and darkness, the phases of the moon, the seismic vibrations of the earth and auroral activity in real time.

The SOM Business Leader of the Year Banquet is being held March 23. For more information contact Faith Henry at 7253 or fnfmh@uaf.edu. (Note date change).

UAF Internet2 Day takes place March 23 from 8:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. in the Davis Concert Hall. The event will showcase people and groups at UAF who are using Internet2 in their work, along with international experts Doug Van Houweling, Ann Doyle and Brian Shepherd as featured guests.

The UAF Staff Council is holding a public meeting March 24 at 8:45 a.m. in Wood Center conference room C/D. For more information contact Lynette Washington at 5326 or fystaff@uaf.edu.

The UA Museum of the North presents the Saturday family program Rocket Science March 25 from 9 a.m.-noon. Children age 7-12, accompanied by an adult, will learn about rocket flight and the work of rocket scientists, then build and launch their own rocket. The cost is $15 per child and reservations are required. For more information call 6948.

David McGuire, IAB and AKCFWRU, and Jeff McAllister, IAB, received a Department of Energy INCITE award of 600,000 hours on the Argonne National Laboratory Blue Gene supercomputer to investigate how ecological processes are potentially affected by global warming and disturbances.

Diane Wagner and Patricia Doak, IAB and CNSM, received a $360,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to investigate the production of extrafloral nectaries by aspen.

March 15, 2006: Nominations for the 2006 Staff Make Students Count Award are due. For more information visit www.alaska.edu/governance/staff/.

March 20, 2006: Applications for the People's Endowment funds are due. For more information call 6402.

April 1, 2006: Applications for graduation with leadership honors are due. For more information visit www.uaf.edu/leadership/rec/.

April 4, 2006: Abstracts for oral or poster presentations for the 24th Lowell Wakefield Fisheries Symposium: Resiliency of Gadid Stocks to Fishing and Climate Change are due. For more information visit www.uaf.edu/seagrant/conferences/.

April 14, 2006: Applications for the 2006 Alaska EPSCoR Undergraduate Student Research awards are due. For more information visit www.alaska.edu/epscor/.

UAF faculty, staff and students make up 32 of the "Bigs" at the local Big Brothers Big Sisters. At first glance that might not seem like a lot, but according to BBBS, that makes up nearly 13 percent of their local volunteer force.

"UAF has given BBBS the opportunity to educate all its departments and campus organizations about our mentoring programs," said BBBS Partnership Development Director Teresa Thompson. "We are encouraging even more students, faculty and staff to serve as Big Brothers and Big Sisters for the more than 120 children on the waiting list! We truly appreciate this significant community support."

BBBS is just one example of a local area nonprofit that benefits from being in a college town. Throughout Interior Alaska and our four rural campus locations and beyond, UAF faculty, staff, students and alumni donate their time, hearts and money to help make their communities great. They serve on boards of directors, deliver food to those in need, mentor in the schools, volunteer in churches, lead Boy Scout/Girl Scout troops, help build homes for Habitat for Humanity, judge artwork at the state fair and so on.

UAF is the largest employer in Fairbanks. Those of us who work and learn here have a responsibility to give back to the community that has embraced us since we first opened our doors in 1922. It is a responsibility we have met quite well. Making our community better is the top responsibility, but underneath it lies a secondary responsibility, and that is to be good ambassadors for the university. Even if our community participation lies outside our working hours, it is still an opportunity to proudly wear our UAF hat and tell our story to the world. In doing so, we reach out to prospective students, potential donors, business partners and many others who will help UAF go from great to greater.

We're proud of what we do at UAF, and we're just as proud of what we at UAF do for the state. In communities such as Fairbanks, Nome, Bethel, Dillingham and Kotzebue--where UAF's effect is felt on a daily basis--the streets aren't just paved with gold, they're paved with blue and gold.