Chancellor Jones announced the Chancellor's Annual Giving Scholarship Initiative at the 11th Annual Scholarship Breakfast held April 8. As an effort to help reduce student debt, the initiative will increase the amount of all UAF privately funded, endowed scholarships to $1,000 per year, beginning with the fall 2008 semester.

President Hamilton is calling on a campus-led advisory committee to help streamline and improve services at UA's system office. The office's operations were recently reviewed by external consultants who made suggestions for improved communication and collaboration between the system and campuses. The committee will review the consultant's findings and provide recommendations on how to improve operations. The recommendations are expected to be finalized by mid-June.

Aldona Jonaitis, director of the UA Museum of the North, announced she will retire in November after 15 years of service. Jonaitis also serves as a professor of anthropology with CLA. A national search for her replacement is underway.

Daniel Odess, UA Museum of the North, was part of a Russian-American team that discovered evidence of prehistoric cultures hunting whales more than 3,000 years ago, 1,000 years earlier than was previously known. Odess presented the findings at the Society for American Archaeology's annual meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia in March.

Jing Zhang, CEM, has been selected as a faculty fellow for the 2008 Air Force Summer Faculty Fellowship Program.

Abel Bult-Ito, IAB, has been named associate director to the Alaska Statewide High School Science Symposium.

Lawrence Duffy, interim dean of the Graduate School, was elected president of the American Society for Circumpolar Health.

Facilities Services will be collecting all unwanted surplus items April 14 – 16. Please mark the items as 'surplus' and leave them in the hallway on the scheduled pick-up day. Pick-up days are April 14 West Ridge, April 15 Bunnell and Gruening, and April 16 for the remaining campus locations.

OIT employs two spam filters to block nearly 2 million spam e-mails a day from reaching UAF and statewide e-mail addresses. To learn more about these efforts visit www.alaska.edu/oit/email/proofpoint.xml.

Mike Ruckhaus and Chilkoot Ward, both Facilities Services, presented a case study on UAF's utility planning at the IDEA Campus Energy Conference in February.

Bill Krause, Environmental Health, Safety and Risk Management, invites UAF faculty, staff and students to participate in the Fairbanks Storm Water Advisory Committee meetings held the second Thursday of each month. The next meeting is May 8. For more information contact Bill Krause at 5487, Thadd Williamson at 2762 or visit www.co.fairbanks.ak.us/pworks/stormwatermanagementprogram/.

The first UAF Annual Giving Leadership Reception, hosted by Dr. Michael and Ginger Carroll, was held Feb. 29. Local donors at the leadership level were able to see their gifts in action through a presentation by IAB and RAP Ph.D. student Martin Robards.

UAF safety and crime statistics are available online at www.uaf.edu/police/crime_stats.html.

The 14th annual Beat Beethoven 5K race, sponsored by the Fairbanks Symphony Orchestra, takes place April 12 at 10 a.m. starting at the Patty Center. For more information call 5733 or visit www.fairbankssymphony.org.

The 15th annual Science Potpourri, the open house hosted by CNSM, will be held April 12 from noon – 5 p.m. in the Reichardt Building. It will feature hands-on activities and presentations for all ages. For more information call Marlys at 6287.

Barney McClure, CLA, and others are performing in a concert fundraiser for the Alaska Family Health and Birth Center April 12 at 7:30 p.m. at College Coffee House. Admission is $10 adults, $5 for ages 15 – 5 and ages under 5 are free.

National Student Employee Week is April 14 – 18. Take time to let your department student employees know they are appreciated. For more information visit www.uaf.edu/career/.

ARSC provides free training for new and current users of high-performance computing resources, including MATLAB Special Topics April 15 and Midnight Performance Analysis Tools April 25. For more information call 8600 or visit www.arsc.edu/support/training.html.

The Academic Advising Center is hosting the Test Taking and Learning Styles workshop April 17 at 1:05 p.m. in Gruening 409. For more information or to register visit www.uaf.edu/advising/student/.

Environmental Health, Safety and Risk Management offers several free safety training classes throughout the semester including Supervisors Safety, Materials Handling and Lifting Safety, Ladder Safety, Fall Protection, and Bloodborne Pathogens. For more information call 5413 or visit www.uaf.edu/safety/.

The Humanities Research Colloquium presents "Waiting for Swazo...Waiting for God..." by Norman Swazo, CLA, April 17 from 1 – 2 p.m. in 405 Gruening.

The IPY Visiting Author Series presents Bjørn Lomborg, author of Cool It and The Skeptical Environmentalist, April 17 at 7:30 p.m. in Davis Concert Hall. Admission is free. For more information visit www.ipy.alaska.edu.

Nanook SpringFest takes place April 17 – 19. It kicks off with a barbecue April 17 noon at Wood Center. Numerous activities are planned including the mud volleyball tournament at noon – 5 p.m. April 18. For more information call 6026 or visit www.uaf.edu/activity/.

The Alaska Nanooks car wash and garage sale takes place April 18 from 8 a.m. – 4 p.m. at the Patty Center parking lot and lobby. Donations and sales will support the Student Athlete Advisory Committee.

The Leadership Program is hosting SpringFest Service April 18 from 9:30 a.m. – 3 p.m. Several community service activities are planned including baking, train maintenance, sewing and others. For more information contact 1170 or leadership@uaf.edu.

A Promotion and Tenure workshop will be held April 18 at 1 p.m. in 109 Butrovich. The workshop is open to all United Academics and ACCFT faculty. For more information contact Jane Weber at ffjw@uaf.edu or Sine Anahita at sine.anahita@uaf.edu.

The English Department presents a poetry reading by Terrance Hayes April 18 at 7 p.m. at the UA Museum of the North. For more information call 7193.

Theatre UAF presents Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead April 18 – 19 and April 25 – 26 at 8:15 p.m. and April 27 at 2 p.m. in the Salisbury Theatre. Admission is $15, $12 UAF staff and faculty, military and seniors, and $7 for UAF students. For more information call 7751.

The Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival is holding a fundraiser at Barnes & Noble April 19 from 9 a.m. – 11 p.m. Pick up a voucher at the festival's table just inside the front door to have your purchases count toward the festival's donation at checkout.

KUAC is hosting its Annual Volunteer Recognition Event April 21 at 5:30 p.m. in the Great Hall. The 2008 Spirit of KUAC Award will be given to a volunteer for exceptional service. For more information visit www.kuac.org.

Americans with Disabilities training takes place April 22 – 25 at the TVC Campus Center, 604 Barnette St. Several courses will be offered including Architectural Access, Basics for Managers, Refresher for Decision Makers and Windmills Perceptiveness. There will also be a questions and answer session at the job fair being held at the Carlson Center April 22. The training is free. For more information or to register contact Kathy Rado at 465-2814

Cyberinfrastructure Day takes place April 22 from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. in Wood Center. The event will draw attention to the wide span of activities at UAF that rely on cyberinfrastructure.

The UAF Sustainable Campus Task Force is hosting the 4th Annual Sustainable Living Conference during Earth Week, April 21 – 27. The conference includes several activities each day. For more information call 6037, e-mail fbsctf@uaf.edu or visit www.vortexforces.com/sctf/.

Goat vs Dog, a cocktail rock band with performers Jonathan Rosenberg, Joseph Thompson and Tim Wilson, all CLA, and Joe Little, SOM, present a concert April 24 from 8 – 11 p.m. in the Pub. Anyone 21 and older may attend and admission is free.

The Annual Authors' Reception takes place April 23 at 4 p.m. on level 6 Rasmuson Library. The reception is hosted by Chancellor Jones and the library to honor faculty and staff authors who published a book between March 1, 2007 and March 1, 2008. The event is free and open to the public. For more information call 7224.

The Leadership Program is hosting a Friday of Service in Fairbanks April 25 at 5 p.m. to make care packages for soldiers in Iraq. For more information call 1170 or e-mail volunteer@uaf.edu.

The Fairbanks Symphony Orchestra, directed by Eduard Zilberkant, CLA, presents the annual Pops Concert April 26 at 8 p.m. in the Davis Concert Hall. Tickets are $30 adults, $25 for seniors and military and $10 for students or children. For more information visit www.fairbankssymphony.org.

The Northern Leadership Center is sponsoring the Shelton Leadership Institute for high school students May 27 – June 1. Participants can earn two UAF academic credits. For more information contact Susan Herman at 1939, Sheri Layral at 5942 or visit www.uaf.edu/nlc/.

Dana Thomas, assistant provost for General Studies, received the TRiO Champion Award at the National TRiO Day Celebration March 6 for outstanding service and contributions in promoting educational opportunities for disadvantaged students.

Sarah McCarr, SOM student, was named TRiO Achiever of 2007 for long-time involvement in TRiO programs, demonstrated academic excellence and perseverance in overcoming barriers and accomplishing her educational goals.

The At-sea Processors Association member companies gave gifts totaling more than $1,064,000 to support the Ted Stevens Distinguished Professorship of Marine Policy, the Ted Stevens Historical Preservation of Oceans Papers and the Pollock Conservation Cooperative Research Center.

The Alaska Cruise Association gave a gift to the SFOS in support of the finals of the National Ocean Sciences Bowl in Seward, the first time the NOSB national finals are to be held in Alaska.

Two Alaska Sea Grant publications won awards from the Association for Communication Excellence Critique and Awards Program. The 2008 Alaska Coastal Calendar won gold and the Field Guide to Sharks, Skates and Ratfish of Alaska won silver. These publications also won awards from the National Association of Government Communicators. For more information visit www.alaskaseagrant.org.

Praveen Singh and Aditya Deshpande, CEM graduate students, competed in the Society of Petroleum Engineers' Western Regional meeting student paper contest held in March. Singh took second place and Deshpande took third place in the contest.

April 11, 2008: Faculty and staff authors who published a book between March 1, 2007 and March 1, 2008 are invited to submit them for the 2008 Authors' Reception, hosted by Chancellor Jones and the Rasmuson Library, to be held April 23. For more information and submission guidelines call 7224.

Longevity Awards:  Employee service recognition program