UAF in the news: Week of July 17, 2006

Submitted by Marmian Grimes
Phone: (907) 474-7902
07/18/06

Operation Orca
Anchorage Daily News
With heart pounding and sweat pouring into his heavy survival suit, marine biologist Russ Andrews dropped to his knees and took aim. His target: the fast-moving dorsal fin of a killer whale as it swam up an icy lead. He pulled the trigger of his modified air gun and held his breath. Success! Read more ...

To honor the fallen
Jackson Hole Star Tribune, Associated Press, Anchorage Daily News, Taipei Times and others
ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Japanese mountaineer Yoshitomi Okura climbs North America’s highest mountain each year and installs a new weather station to defend the honor of three friends -- blown off Mount McKinley during a winter climb. Read more ...

Seminar spotlights effects of global warming on arctic species
San Jose Mercury News
WASHINGTON - The arctic ecosystem is the "canary in the coal mine" of global warming, said Susan Kutz, an environmental science professor from the University of Calgary at a Capitol Hill briefing on Friday. Read more ...

Connecting with people in six steps
BBC News
How well are you connected?
Not necessarily to the rich and famous, but how well are we all connected to each other? Read more ...

Researchers ready to study Kodiak bear diet
Anchorage Daily News, Associated Press, Houston Chronicle
KODIAK, Alaska - Researchers plan to set out Saturday for a monthlong excursion to study the plants that affect the eating habits of brown bears on Kodiak Island. Read more ...

Weather stations for Seward Peninsula schools part of grant program
SITNews
"ÂGreg Finstad and his crew with the University of Alaska’s Reindeer Research Project had endured a rough day on Alaska’s Seward Peninsula, driving 65 bumpy miles to the village of Teller only to find the wind blowing so hard that they couldn’t launch a boat on Grantley Harbor to help out a reindeer herder. Read more ...

Getting the dirt on good gardening
Peninsula Clarion
Why is it that some people on the Kenai Peninsula can grow beautiful lawns and productive gardens and others can’t? Read more ...

Bristol Bay sockeye coming up smaller
Alaska Journal of Commerce
It’s either feast or famine for Bristol Bay’s commercial fishing fleet as sockeye salmon continue to pour into the nets of some fishermen, while others are being left empty handed. Read more ...

Future Tech: Lab tours - energy
PC Magazine
You’ve heard it time and again. From science teachers, politicians, and countless media pundits. In the not-too-distant future, the voices say, there will be nothing left of the Earth’s once-vast reserve of natural fuel. After years of conspicuous consumption, our power-hungry society will finally bleed the planet dry, and we’ll ha ve no choice but to find some other means of running our cars, cooking our foods, and heating our homes. Read more ...

Feeding a family costlier here than in Anchorage
Peninsula Clarion
It may be preferable to live here on the Kenai Peninsula than in the big city to the north, but it costs you. Read more ...

Why Johnny can’t read: Schools favor girls
FOX News
Studies have long shown that boys in the United States and around the world do not read or write as well as girls. There are several reasons, according to the common wisdom. Read more ...

UAF hosts research academy for high school, middle school students
KTVA
More than a hundred students have converged on the University of Alaska Fairbanks, but they’re younger than the usual customers. The 106 middle and high school students from ten states and 25 Alaska communities are taking part in a two-week-long Alaska Summer Research Academy. Read more ...