"Welcome aboard Sarah!" cried out an obvious supporter as Gov. Sarah Palin took the stage just before her inauguration last week.

The Carlson Center was full of those anxious to see Alaska's eleventh governor, the first female, take office and to hear her plans for the state on Dec. 4. The upper decks were full of students from local schools, and her office even provided buses up from the Mat-Su Valley, where she was formerly the mayor of Wasilla.

Fairbanks was chosen as the site of the inauguration because the state constitution, which was on display at the inauguration reception, was signed in Constitution Hall on campus in 1956. Four surviving members of the constitutional committee were present.

Throughout the ceremony a chant of "Sarah, Sarah" rang through the rafters and encompassed everyone in the building with a feeling that Alaskans support their new governor.

Palin and Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell took their oaths of office atop the very surface that the Nanooks call their home ice. The hockey boards were still up, the glass was removed, but the braces between still remained, and plywood and carpet were on top of the ice in order to provide a floor.

She is down to business when it comes to government and making changes. She plans to defend Alaska "like a Nanook defending her cub."

Former Alaska Gov. Walter Hickel spoke at the event and had nothing but praise for her.

"She understands the obligation of leadership," he said.

Ethics are a big issue to Palin, who is known well for exposing Republican Party chairman Randy Reudrich when he was doing party business on state time while the two of them were on the Alaska State Oil and Gas Conservation Commission in 2003.

"I'll insist on ethics in your government," she said.

She also has a hard view on accountability.

"Alaskans, hold me accountable, and right back atcha," she said.

Alaskans also need to be held accountable for some things, she said.

"Government isn't the answer for all the problems in society," she said during her press conference.

During Palin's address, she said she and Parnell would be devoting their first two days in office to gas line negotiations. They met with twelve companies over Dec. 5 and 6.

During a press conference, she indicated that the gas line contract negotiated under former Gov. Frank Murkowski would be presented through one of the entities they were meeting with.

Throughout her term, she also hopes to address domestic violence, violence, and suicide in Alaska. She also honored the just-returned Stryker Brigade, who received a standing ovation.

On education, she says that she "won't accept our 40 percent high school dropout rate or our lowest college readiness rates. That's not acceptable."

Earlier that morning, Palin and Parnell had met with UA President Mark Hamilton, to whom college readiness is a pressing issue. University plans are still in the early stages, but Palin's Web site states that her five top issues with the university are research, workforce development, healthcare, affordability and deferred maintenance.

The big issue to impact students will be affordability. Palin hopes to implement need-based financial aid for students. Her site says that Murkowski tried to put $20 million into the budget for financial aid, but that the state legislature rejected it.

Palin will now have the next four years to see if she can solve the state's problems.

"Now, officially, I get to go to work," Palin said.