FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 27, 1999

Fairbanks, Alaska - Brawn may help athletes succeed on the basketball court, but it takes brains to get there. Making the trip will be easier for high school students who participate in the Rural Alaska Honors Institute (RAHI) at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Applications for the popular summer college preparation at UAF are due March 31. Accepted students can participate in a three-day RAHI Basketball Skills camp in addition to the regular UAF course offerings in writing, study skills, mathematics, chemistry, business administration or Alaska Native studies. Students can also enroll in Native dance, computer technology and swimming classes.

"We are trying to get the attention not only of serious academic talent but also academic talent on the school's rural basketball teams," said RAHI Program Director Jim Kowalsky. "It's an attempt to reach more potential students."

The camp comes at the end of the academic six weeks and is optional. The basketball camp will be taught by UAF Nanooks men's basketball coach Al Sokaitis. Sokaitis, who has worked with the New York Knickerbockers and has also been an assistant coach at the University of Washington, has coached summer basketball camps in Alaska for ten years. Sokaitis also developed the REACH (Reach for Excellence through Academics, Competition and Humanity) program for schools.

For 17 years the RAHI program has worked to increase village students' opportunities for success by offering an early campus residency program in which students take a full credit schedule of UAF courses. Students earn from eight to 10 UAF credits during the summer. They get a headstart on their college transcripts and complete some of the course requirements toward a college degree. Typically RAHI students are from all over Alaska and live in a residence hall with a staff of tutors and counselors.

"Students also become familiar with campus life and start to build a personal support network of professors and other students," Kowalsky said. "The program balances academic rigor with an emphasis upon helping our students make the often difficult transition from village life to life on an urban campus."

Students interested in RAHI '99 should presently be juniors or seniors who have at least a 3.0 GPA overall and plan to earn a college degree. UAF's RAHI program is aimed primarily at rural Alaska Native students, however, others may apply. Admission is competitive and students accepted into the program will receive a full scholarship that will cover all costs associated with attending the program including travel to Fairbanks.

Application packets have been mailed to all schools. Students should visit their career counselor or principal for an application, or call RAHI toll free in Alaska, 1-800-478-6886, or email to: fyrahi@uaf. edu. Also, see the program's web page at <http://www.uaf.edu/rahi>.

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JCS/1-27-99/99-043