"This constitution is dedicated to the principles that all persons have a natural right to life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, and the enjoyment of the rewards of their own industry; that all persons are equal and entitled to equal rights, opportunities, and protection under the law, and that all persons have corresponding obligations to the people and to the state."

These words open the first article of the Constitution of the State of Alaska, a document written 50 years ago that to this day still governs the state and the people residing in it.

Have you ever wondered why the building housing the registrar's and business office on campus is called Signer's Hall, or why the Student Union Building is known as Constitution Hall? You guessed it.

Back in the day, UAF was home to the Alaska Constitutional Convention, a group of 55 men and women who were elected by the territorial legislature to write a new framework for a state they hoped would be soon in coming. UAF only had two majors in those days, mining and agriculture, and considerably less comfortable accommodations (ye complainers of dining services, take notice). After 75 days of typically disastrous Fairbanks weather that helped keep the delegates inside working, and the lazy lobbyists drinking in Juneau, they had drafted what many scholars claim is the most effective state constitution in the United States.

At the time of the struggle for statehood, Alaska's 600,000 square miles had been an isolated, forgotten and largely unpopulated U.S. territory for 100 years. The federal government owned 99 percent of its land, and the president, congress, and federal bureaucrats made all major decisions affecting its future. Outside interests like J.P Morgan and the Guggenheim family controlled a majority of Alaska's natural resource development, and without effective state or local regulation or taxes, they were content in harvesting their resources like salmon and gold without giving anything back to those who lived in the territory. It was, in effect, imperialism, which wasn't helped by corrupt local politicians, well paid lobbyists, an unknowing American populace and a highly divided US congress that wasn't keen on letting any new players into the game.

The story of how Alaska went from being an isolated, helpless holding of imperial interests, to becoming one of the greatest states of the union is told in the KUAC/UAF production "The 49th Star: Creating Alaska." As a former student employee at KUAC, I had the honor to be a part of the project, and although I did grouse at times about having to go through hours upon hours of interviews with people I considered old and boring, and having to listen to Dr. Terrence Cole's nerdy history jokes, it truly became an enlightening experience. It was my job to transcribe interviews with the five surviving delegates to the convention and some other old timers that were involved in the fight, as well as some of today's Alaskan politicians and some other assorted expert historian types.

At first, I just typed without listening, with frequent breaks for leftover food from KUAC's pledge drive, but I found myself intertwined in a truly remarkable story. I started to connect to the characters, now in their late 80s and 90s, who had crafted a remarkable document and had fought so hard in what they believed would bring the people of Alaska a measure of self government. The personalities began to stand out in my mind, almost larger than life; Dr. Ernest Gruening (pronounced "Greening"), a brilliant and impassioned Territorial Governor of Alaska who would become U.S. Senator after statehood and whom our monolithic liberal arts complex is named after; Tom Stewart, who became secretary to the constitutional convention after World War II and later became a state judge; Bill Egan, a mild mannered grocer from Valdez who hitchhiked to Fairbanks for the convention and in whom the delegates found an able leader; and last but not least my favorite, Dr. George Rogers, an economist by trade with a white handlebar mustache, wild eyes behind thick glasses and a look on his face like he'll tell you the truth come hell or high water. I met all these people, except Ernest Gruening, who has passed on. I digested their words, took in their ideas, and now you can too. If you're interested in learning about the battle for statehood, how our constitution was crafted, and some of the people that made it happen, tune in to KUAC on Thursday, Feb. 19 at 9 p.m. You won't be disappointed. And if you have any interest in reading the transcriptions written by yours truly, check the Rasmusson Library. All the interviews are on file, and you can gauge for yourself the ideas of the men and women who led Alaska to statehood.