FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 21, 2000

Fairbanks, Alaska — In 1957, as scientists around the globe were poised at the dawn of a new era in computer technology, Alaskan pioneer Bud Helmericks was building the foundation to his family's future on an isolated slice of northern Alaska. Helmericks and his wife, Martha, were two of a select few to homestead in the 600 miles of wilderness between Barrow, at the top of the state, and Barter Island, near the Canadian border.

In the four decades since, three generations of the Helmericks family have lived and worked on the homesite near the Colville River in the far reaches of the Last Frontier. Now with just a click of a mouse, the family is connected via nearly a half-dozen computers to a world beyond the frozen tundra.

Three of those computers belong to 18-year-old Aaron, the youngest of Bud Helmericks' four grandsons, whose techno-wizardry has earned him a $20,000 scholarship for his college education.

Helmericks was recently awarded a Wal-Mart Competitive Edge Scholarship, which he will use to pursue a computer science degree beginning this fall at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. The national award is given annually to academically outstanding freshmen pursuing technology related fields of study.

Less than two months remain before he starts college classes, but Helmericks already knows the value of technology in education. He earned his high school diploma at home through the Interior Distance Education of Alaska program with his mom and cyber-instructors as his main teachers.

"I did spend one year of high school in Fairbanks just to see what town was like, but I found that I got a lot more done with home school," Helmericks said.

Despite their remote location, the family has entertained guests from all over the world, including hunters, photographers, biologists, ornithologists, oil company representatives, tourists and Arctic researchers.

But the Internet has been key to opening the world for her son's professional and personal pursuits, according to Helmericks' mother, Teena– especially with constant transitions the family has seen over the years while living in the Arctic.

"Our livelihood has evolved and the boys have all had a lot of changes to contend with," Helmericks' mother said. "But all the boys have done well in their education, and I'm sure Aaron will make us proud in his university training."

Helmericks follows a family tradition when he starts classes at UAF this fall. His older brother, Derek, graduated from UAF in 1998 with a degree in mining engineering. Helmericks' second oldest brother, Jay, received his degree in electrical engineering that same year and will finish his master's degree at UAF just a few days before Aaron plans to move into his campus residence hall.

Once moved in, Helmericks plans to take full advantage of the free Ethernet connection offered in the residence halls. At home on the Colville River Delta, Helmericks has to rely on a radio phone to zap signals at an oil field tower 18 miles away to log on to the Internet. The tower, located far above the Arctic Circle, was one of Helmericks' nearest neighbors and the closest connection to friends and family all over the world.

But on campus this fall, he will be able to directly plug in to the backbone of the UAF computing system, which is hot-wired with one of the fastest Internet connections for universities in the Pacific Northwest.

UAF was one of more than 140 colleges and universities nationwide selected to participate in the program, based on technology-related programs offered at the university.

The program was created in 1992 by Wal-Mart Stores Inc. founder Sam Walton to support training in technology-intensive industries affecting America's success in the global marketplace. This year marks the seventh time a UAF student has been selected for the award.

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JCS/6-21-00/00-088