By Molly Dischner
Sun Star Editor-in-Chief

Fees are a two-sided issue. As a way to itemize each term’s bill, they’re sort of handy. A quick glance at UAOnline makes it easy to find out how much of a semester’s bill goes toward transportation, and how much is for student life and the health center and departmental fees.

Reading through my account for this semester, I am paying nine fees. Four more charges are fees by another name (Mandatory Health Ctr/Semester, UA Network Charge-2, and so on). Some, such as a lab charge, I am choosing to pay because I’m taking an elective class. Others, including the Student Life fee, are absolutely mandatory. To a certain extent, I think that our Fun Star story about the Board of Regents eliminating tuition and replacing it with a tuition fee is not as far-fetched as the rest of the Fun Star was.

I don’t object to paying for many of those services. I understand that labs are more expensive than lectures and I’m glad that seven percent of my student government fee funds the student newspaper. But instituting new fees is not an appropriate way to lift a department out of a budget deficit or circumvent inadequate legislative funding.

By Molly Dischner
Sun Star Editor-in-Chief

Ask a dozen people what sustainability means and you’ll get more than a dozen answers. The United Nations says it is “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” Many definitions emphasize the environment, but that’s just one piece of it.

Every definition is (or should be) rooted in the same concept: balance.

The Bible describes balance in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8.

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance.

Sustainability is not just about balancing our actions in time, but of balancing them in the context of all action. A decade before the term was popular, “The Lion King” described it pretty well.

By Molly Dischner
Sun Star Editor-in-Chief

Follow the money. It’s good advice in the news business. People care about how their money is spent. Students need to know where their tuition and fees are going – and how the state is supporting education. Journalism is a public service so we do our best to cover those issues.

In the midst of budget season, following the money can get stale for reporters and readers alike. An afternoon spent playing Frisbee golf or enjoying “free” barbeque is a lot more fun than reading the latest Support UA e-mail or looking at the Board of Regents’ agenda. But those are important.

10. Every passing day makes it more difficult to sit inside when I could be paddling on the Chena. Right about now, I’m grateful that we’re on the semester system and halfway done with classes, rather than starting a round of new ones. Kudos to whomever thought that one through.

9. Babies are everywhere! The cutest ones are furry, have four legs and are featured on the cover and page 5 of this issue. Gush away.

8. ASUAF and the Alaska Legislature are tweaking their 2010-2011 budgets and the Board of Regents is drafting its guidelines for 2012 budget requests. There are a lot of budget-related stories to cover, and it will be interesting to see how things play out over the next few months. One month from now, we should know whether or not the Life Sciences Building is a go and just how much a graduate student affairs director is paid. But right now? My money is on just one certainty: there will be more twists before anything is straightened out.

By Molly Dischner
Sun Star Editor-in-Chief

Thanks to Fox News, the phrase “fair and balanced” is trite. But on a basic level, the concept has merit. News should show more than just one side. Stories should contain depth.

In an attempt to be fair and balanced, UAF is hosting a lecture by an academic from outside who is pro-Israel. According to an e-mail from one of the organizers, Jonathan Adelman’s presentation is supposed to balance out Alison Weir’s one-sided lecture last semester.

Weir, an advocate against a Jewish state in Israel, presented one side of the debate. Much of her information was skewed (or just false), although she claimed to have arrived at her conclusions with an outsider’s perspective on the situation. Objectivity is debatable. Even if it exists, it’s hard to believe she possesses it.

By Amy Hundertmark
Special to the Sun Star

As all political science majors know, in order to graduate we must write a senior thesis or participate in the Legislative Internship. Opportunities like the UA Legislative Internship are few and far between so I decided that I should use this chance to learn firsthand how Alaska’s government works.

I knew that I wanted to work in Rep. David Guttenberg’s office. I had always heard good things about him as a politician and a person. University funding is a huge concern for me and since Rep.Guttenberg, D-Fairbanks, represents District 8 (which includes the university) I knew that he would be working to ensure the university’s future. After an initial phone interview with the representative, I spoke with his aides, Meredith Cameron and Chris Birdsall (both UAF alumni), and accepted the offer to work in their office.

By Molly Dischner
Sun Star Editor-in-Chief

Journalism is about telling true stories. That’s what we try to do at the Sun Star. We tell stories about what is happening in the UAF world, whether they develop at a Board of Regents meeting or an event in the Wood Center.

As editor, I strive to make sure those stories are accurate and engaging. We try to write about things that are interesting and relevant, and we try to do a good job on those stories. I read every story before it goes to print, often more than once. So does the copy editor, and occasionally another set of eyes. But usually the hour is late, the action is frantic and sometimes, we miss things. We are human.

Recently, we ran a story with a narrative opening that misidentified someone. I like narratives in a story because they are compelling, but they require more trust in the accuracy of the content, so I’m sometimes wary of them. I’m careful about using them, and I expect our reporters to be careful when they write them. The one we published a few weeks ago didn’t reflect that caution, and we got it wrong.

I could have double-checked with the reporter that he had talked to the source he named, but I didn’t. The copy editor also could have asked the reporter, but he didn’t. Unfortunately, the reporter didn’t double-check either, so he included in his story unconfirmed information based on an e-mail he misremembered. It was a mistake, and an unfortunate one.

The business of telling true stories requires trust; between reporters, editors, sources and our readers. I know that when we make a mistake, that trust is compromised. In a student newspaper (any newspaper, for that matter), errors are inevitable. We do our best to minimize them but they are going to occur. When they do, we try to correct our mistakes.

But we can’t fix errors if we don’t know what they are.

If we didn’t catch an incorrect title or fact while editing a story, it’s unlikely that we’ll notice after the paper is printed. We have to trust that our readers will tell us about them.

We learn nothing (and fix nothing) if you simply complain to the people in your office. And we don’t learn much if you complain to the journalism department without bringing up your problems with someone on my staff or myself.

E-mail us, call us, comment online or write us a letter. Stop by the office if you like, but be specific. If you tell me the paper is often inaccurate, there isn’t much I can do. But if you tell me about a specific error you find, we’ll correct it if we need to and be much less likely to let it happen again.

By Michael Farrell
Special to the Sun Star

Reports from Juneau: This is the second in a series of opinion pieces by students who are participating in the legislative process. Michael Farrell is an ASUAF senator who recently returned from the Student Legislative Conference lobbying trip to Juneau.

Only five of us made it on the second attempt to reach Juneau, but we were still excited to see the state’s capitol. Two weeks prior, thirteen UAF students had left Fairbanks for Juneau. We ended up traveling over 5,000 miles and three days because of fog socked in over the Juneau airport (the city itself had no fog). We ended up staying in Sitka, so close and yet so far away. Returning to Anchorage, overflying Juneau and landing in Seattle before returning to Anchorage had not kept the determined few among us from getting our message through.

By Brenda Hannah
Special to the Sun Star

As a business major, I frequently scour the bulletin boards at the School of Management seeking any opportunity that may lie in wait there. I am wise enough to know that opportunity usually only knocks once and often speaks in a small voice. Therefore, I have learned to read the fine print.

One day last fall I noticed a flyer that read “Legislative Internship”. Naturally, I stopped to learn more about this prospect. The flyer described a spring internship in Juneau working for legislators. The selected candidate would earn 12 college credits, travel expenses, and a stipend to cover living expenses during the session.

by Molly Dischner
Sun Star Editor-in-Chief

The day before the mushers arrived in Galena on their way to Nome last week, the small town was silent. Ours was the only plane on the tarmac when we arrived. The lunchroom was quiet (save for when a student jumped and hit his head on the ceiling; even then, I think our table of UAF students was probably the loudest). The road between the boarding school and the city school was mostly empty. There was no stampede when the bell rang to signal that it was time to switch classes one last time that afternoon.

And then I entered a fifth-grade classroom. I’ve taught basic lessons about resource use and conservation in a couple of different classrooms this year but the Galena kids win the award for the most rousing rendition of Red Light, Green Light. (They were also the most enthusiastic students during our discussions, and the most knowledgeable.) The game was supposed to be a way to gauge their knowledge. But their enthusiasm convinced me that, more than they needed to know what a production factor is, maybe they just needed to get their winter wiggles out.