AISES CHAPTER HOSTS FIRST-EVER ALASKA CONFERENCE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 5, 1997

Fairbanks, Alaska - The American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) chapter at the University of Alaska Fairbanks will sponsor the 1997 AISES Regional Conference March 6-8 at UAF. This is the first-ever AISES regional conference in Alaska. Student college chapters from Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and parts of Canada will participate.

The conference's theme is "Building Strong Communities: Science, Technology and Native Values." Scientific and technical presentations on Arctic engineering, wildlife management, and other related topics will be featured. Guest speakers and work sessions are designed to provide motivational and inspirational tools for success.

Recently AISES chapters have been started in several high schools throughout Alaska. Certain conference sessions will be directed toward high school participants.

As part of the conference, UAF's AISES chapter, which recently won a national distinguished chapter award, will sponsor a campus-wide job fair with UAF Career Services Thursday, March 6. The career fair will be open to the public and will include participants from across the state, such as IBM, Alyeska Pipeline Service Co., the Alaska Department of Transportation, Doyon, Price Ahtna, VECO Engineering and several university departments.

While in Fairbanks conference participants will be able to attend the 1997 Festival of Native Arts, a three-day annual event held on the UAF campus that showcases Native crafts and performances.

Partial travel scholarships, made possible by donations from IBM and Alyeska, are available for qualified students from the Lower 48 to attend. Registration is open to the public. For more information or to register, contact Mark Blair, AISES student coordinator at (907) 474-1995.

CONTACT: Mark Blair, AISES student coordinator, (907) 474-1995, or Jillian Swope, University Relations, (907) 474-7778.

JCS/2-5-97/97-052