Legislature(2009 - 2010)CAPITOL 120
03/16/2010 09:30 AM Senate WORLD TRADE, TECH, INNOVATIONS
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| Rural Alaska Honor Institute Student Documentary Film Debut | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE
JOINT MEETING
SENATE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON WORLD TRADE, TECNOLOGY AND
INNOVATION
HOUSE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, INTERNATIONAL
TRADE AND TOURISM
March 16, 2010
9:43 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
SENATE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON WORLD TRADE, TECHNOLOGY AND
INNOVATION
Senator Lesil McGuire, Chair
Senator Bill Wielechowski
HOUSE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND TOURISM
Representative Jay Ramras, Chair
Representative Nancy Dahlstrom
MEMBERS ABSENT
SENATE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON WORLD TRADE, TECHNOLOGY AND
INNOVATION
Senator Hollis French
Senator Lyman Hoffman
Senator Gary Stevens
HOUSE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND TOURISM
Representative Mike Chenault
Representative Kyle Johansen
Representative Reggie Joule
Representative Mark Neuman
Representative Harry Crawford
Representative Lindsey Holmes
Representative Chris Tuck
COMMITTEE CALENDAR
Rural Alaska Honor Institute Student Documentary Film Debut
PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION
No previous action to record.
WITNESS REGISTER
DENISE WARTES, Program Coordinator
Rural Alaska Honors Institute (RAHI)
Fairbanks, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Explained the RAHI program.
SAMANTHA FOSS, RAHI student
Pedro Bay, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented Rural Alaska Honors Institute
documentary film.
LAURA FOX, RAHI student
Takotna, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented Rural Alaska Honors Institute
documentary film.
COREY JOSEPH, RAHI student
Kwigillingok, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented Rural Alaska Honors Institute
documentary film.
JAYNA KELLY, RAHI student
Pilot Station, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented Rural Alaska Honors Institute
documentary film.
NELLIE IYAPANA, RAHI student
Little Diomede Island and North Pole, AK
POSITION STATEMENT: Presented Rural Alaska Honors Institute
documentary film.
ACTION NARRATIVE
9:43:55 AM
CO-CHAIR LESIL MCGUIRE called the joint meeting of the Senate
Special Committee on World Trade, Technology and Innovation and
the House Special Committee on Economic Development,
International Trade and Tourism to order at 9:43 a.m. Present at
the call to order were Senators Wielechowski and McGuire; and
Representatives Dahlstrom and Ramras.
^RURAL ALASKA HONOR INSTITUTE STUDENT DOCUMENTARY FILM DEBUT
CO-CHAIR MCGUIRE announced the business before the committee
would be to view films by students from the Rural Alaska Honor
Institute (RAHI). She welcomed the students and relayed that the
noon viewing would be televised on Gavel to Gavel.
9:45:20 AM
CO-CHAIR RAMRAS welcomed the students and provided a short
lesson on the legislative committee process. He also mentioned
the number of females in Alaska who are in positions of
influence and counseled the female students to be strong role
models. He related that one objective today is to interest
Alaska Airlines in offering these documentary films to travelers
for in-flight viewing. This would be a great way for Alaskans
and visitors to the state to see Alaska through your eyes, he
said. He expressed hope that this will become an annual event
and emphasized the importance of hearing the strong vibrant
voices of young Alaskans.
CO-CHAIR MCGUIRE encouraged the students to visit other
committee meetings during the day. She explained that the Alaska
State Legislature has a committee-driven process so a lot of the
decisions are made at this level. Topics that are currently
being debating range from oil and gas taxes to scholarships for
Alaska students. She asked the program advisor to talk about the
RAHI program and each student to tell what inspired their work.
9:50:44 AM
DENISE WARTES, Program Coordinator, Rural Alaska Honors
Institute (RAHI), reported that the RAHI program started in
1983. It was the result of a series of meetings between the
Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN) and University of Alaska
officials to address the alarming retention rate of Alaska
Native and rural students. This competitive 6-week summer
program is on the Fairbanks campus for juniors and seniors
interested in going to college. All expenses are paid and the
students receive college credit.
MS. WARTES relayed that RAHI student Jerica Aamodt who is from
Barrow was not present because she had a conflicting school
event. Her documentary focuses on climate change and the
receding pack ice.
10:01:21 AM
SAMANTHA FOSS, RAHI student, said she is a senior in high school
and was recently accepted to UAF. She decided to produce a
documentary on the effect the Pebble Mine potentially will have
on her village because she believes that young people should be
more attentive to issues that will affect them in the future.
MS. FOSS said that she is half Deg Hit'an Athabascan and half
Yupik Eskimo. She lives in the small village of Pedro Bay on
Lake Iliamna. Her family has lived in Pedro Bay since the '30s
and has always respected the ability to hunt and fish and pick
berries. She fears that Pebble Mine will take that away.
MS. FOSS highlighted that Pebble Mine is partnered with Northern
Dynasty and Angelo American and has reportedly made a very large
gold and copper discovery in Southwest Alaska. Their goal is to
get the resource from the mine to Cook Inlet for shipping and
that will be done by building 86 miles of road that will run
through her village. This will affect Lake Iliamna's watershed,
the fresh water seals, and sockeye salmon, she said.
In closing Ms. Foss questioned what will happen to Pedro Bay
after Pebble Mine and whether the definition of rural Alaska
will have changed.
10:15:53 AM
LAURA FOX, RAHI student, said she is a high school senior living
in the small village of Takotna. She has applied to attend UAF
and she hopes to become a lawyer one day. She explained that her
documentary focuses on the affect that alcoholism has on
children in a family and how a child in that situation sometimes
has to assume the role of an adult because the parent is
incapable. She believes that this is wrong.
Ms. Fox said hers is a story about a young girl and her brothers
becoming warriors through love and devotion. She told about
being a child and a caregiver to her brothers and alcoholic
mother for five years after their father and grandmother passed
away. She and her siblings were eventually separated and later
reunited to live with an elderly couple. This couple provided
many opportunities and taught the siblings lifelong skills. In
particular they learned that they don't need to drink; the
experience they had was enough.
10:17:18 AM
COREY JOSEPH, RAHI student, said he is from Kwigillingok and he
is Yupik. He said his language is dying and that is a concern
because people who lose their language also lose their world
view and perspective. His culture has sayings and teachings that
he accepts and believes because he can speak Yupik. If the
language is lost, it won't be possible to pass on the thousands
of years of wisdom to the children. "How can we teach the wisdom
of our people in a foreign language?" he asked.
MR. JOSEPH and his grandmother spoke Yupik throughout his
documentary. He described how Kwigillingok began and how the
Yupik culture is disappearing as Western innovations become more
commonplace. "These things, like a river, cause the old ways to
erode," he said.
10:20:57 AM
JERICA AAMODT, RAHI student from Barrow, describes past and
present life of the Inupiat people who live above the Arctic
Circle, in the Land of the Midnight Sun. They are a unique
people living in a unique place, in a time of great and
irreversible change, she said.
MS. AAMODT said her people live near the Arctic Ocean; they are
people of whaling. But climate change is changing the definition
of the Arctic. The pack ice is receding and no longer protects
the shoreline from erosion. Also, it is no longer always within
striking distance for hunting. The ocean is changing and now
there are just memories of what used to be, she said.
10:28:29 AM
JAYNA KELLY, RAHI student, said she is from Pilot Station on the
Yukon River. She graduated from high school last year and hopes
to attend UAF this fall. She is Yupik and she was inspired to
document her family and her culture. She and her siblings are
often asked to teach the Yupik language to people living in the
Yukon area. Many have lost this ability, she said.
MS. KELLY titled her documentary, "Living an Alaskan Life." She
told about caring for her brothers and sister. Losing their mom
was hard, but they are moving on. Summers are fun; they swim,
camp, and fish with family and friends. Her brothers go net
fishing in the summer and ice jigging in the winter. When her
brother was lucky enough to get a black bear they brought it
home and ate it for dinner. Special occasions, birthdays, and
holidays are celebrated surrounded by family and friends. There
are many smiles. At the end of the day they tell their brothers
that they can have fun again tomorrow.
10:32:10 AM
NELLIE IYAPANA, RAHI student, said she is originally from Little
Diomede Island in the Bering Sea, but since age 9 she has lived
in North Pole. She is a first-year student at UAF and she was
inspired to document her life experiences. Ms. Iyapana explained
that because her biological mother was addicted to alcohol, she
was unable take care of herself and had to relinquish her
parental rights.
MS. IYAPANA talked about everything happening for a reason. If
she hadn't been placed in state custody, she wouldn't be where
she is today. She is the only person from Little Diomede who is
getting a college education and she knows she has a bright
future. Ms. Iyapana's documentary is very appropriately titled,
"Let Your Light Shine."
CO-CHAIR MCGUIRE thanked the students and the following people
for their tireless and expert help: Denise Wartes as the project
leader; Ann Ringstad from UAF; Tara Sweeney with the Arctic
Slope Regional Corporation; Hugh Short with Alaska Growth
Capital; her aide, Shalon Szyamanski; and Jane Pierson and
Margaret Dowling, aides to Representative Ramras.
10:36:51 AM
There being no further business to come before the committee,
Co-Chair McGuire adjourned the meeting at 10:36 a.m.
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