SHORT TAKES
March 7, 1996 | |
| BIA Provides Funds for ANCSA Oral History Project | The University of Alaska Fairbanks and the Bureau of Indian Affairs are creating an oral history inventory of materials relating to Alaska Native cemetery sites. UAF's Alaska and Polar Regions Department in the Rasmuson Library will catalog information relating to section 14 (h) (1) of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA), the portion of the 26-year-old act dealing with historical places and cemetery sites.
The project will produce an inventory and comprehensive reference list of the 1,888 tapes known to date that relate to this section of ANCSA, as well as catalog related transcripts and field notes. The Oral History Program, within the Alaska Polar Regions Department, currently contains over 300 ANCSA oral history tapes on cemetery sites and historical places. Nearly 1,600 additional tapes are maintained by the BIA ANCSA office. The project's goals are to make the tapes more accessible and to prepare the collection for permanent curation at repositories within the state. The polar regions department will assist BIA officials in working with 11 Alaska Native regional corporations submitting claims of access and use of oral history and site records. BIA provided $27,000 to fund the work. The Tanana Chiefs Conference is assisting in administering the money. Contact: Bill Schneider, Oral History Curator, Alaska and Polar Regions Department, (907) 474-7261. |
| Agreement Binds Bethel, Kuskokwim Campus in Book Deal | Administrators at the Kuskokwim Campus of the University of Alaska Fairbanks and the city of Bethel agree that there is nothing better than a good book - unless it's access to one. With this goal in mind, university personnel and city officials have agreed to a joint venture that makes books more accessible for the public through the Kuskokwim Consortium Library.
Under the agreement, the university will provide library staff, maintain catalogs, shelve collections and provide access to interlibrary loan services. In turn, the city of Bethel will provide garbage and snow removal, and assist with funding the library's annual budget. A joint college/city library board will advise on operations of the consortium library fund. Contact: David Williams, UAF Kuskokwim Campus, (907) 543-4501. |
| UAF Students Vie for $30,000 Graduate Fellowship |
Two UAF students have been selected as national finalists for the Harry S. Truman Graduate Fellowship Award. Erik Girvan, a political science major, and Dante Foster, a biological sciences major, will travel to Seattle March 10 to compete with other college juniors attending universities in the Pacific Northwest for the $30,000 award.
The Truman scholarship was established to assist undergraduate students committed to careers in public service. Candidates are nominated by individual colleges for demonstrated leadership skills, high academic standards and community service. As a part of the application process, students develop a two-page public policy analysis. Girvan and Foster said they spent over 100 hours each in research and preparations of their applications and policy analyses. Candidates are then selected as university finalists and their applications are forwarded to the national review committee. This year is the first time all UAF nominees have been accepted by the committee as national finalists. Contact: Karen Erickson, UAF Political Science Dept., (907) 474-6503. |
| Political Science Professor Authors Book on State Constitution | UAF political science professor Gerald McBeath has authored a new book, "The Alaska State Constitution," that documents historical development and offers analytical commentary on the constitution for academic, professional and general readers.
McBeath's book is Volume 27 in a series of reference guides for state constitutions of the United States. The book also includes a forward by Gov. Tony Knowles and an appendix on proposals to amend the Alaska constitution. Contact: Gerald McBeath, UAF Political Science, (907) 474-6505. |
| TRAAK Group Tracks Trek from Fairbanks to Anchorage | The University of Alaska Fairbanks is teaming up with the Alaska Department of Natural Resources to make tracks - snowmachine tracks, snowshoe tracks, and sled dog tracks, to name a few.
The two groups are mapping out a shared use trail from Fairbanks to Nenana as the first leg of a winter recreation trail system that will eventually connect the Golden Heart City to the City of Lights. Heading up the project is coordinator Scott Heidorn, a University of Alaska Fairbanks trail expert who is meeting with various user groups this spring to establish land-use options for the trail system. The Anchorage-Fairbanks trail stems from the Trails and Recreational Access for Alaska (TRAAK) program initiated by Gov. Knowles a year ago. According to Heidorn, the biggest hurdle has been getting sufficient funding. He said that by drumming up enough support within user groups, the project will earn top priority on the state transportation improvement plan. If funding is allocated by the Alaska Department of Transportation under this plan, the Fairbanks-Nenana trail could be completed in as little as three years. Contact: Scott Heidorn, UAF School of Agriculture and Land Resources Management, (907) 474-5558. |
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