The Northern Light

Homebuilder breaks into cold-weather research

Jack Hebert is using his 30 years of construction experience in Interior Alaska to lead the Cold Climate Housing Research Center. Hebert said builders in Alaska face a variety of challenges, including everything from inefficient heating to structural integrity against seismic activity and potential permafrost melting. The research center is being built on a former agricultural field near the UAF campus and is being constructed with triple-pane windows, insulation and sheeting made from experimental materials. The center will test various construction materials for their effectiveness against cold weather and award "Alaska Tested Tough" labels to materials that pass.

House approves GHB as controlled substance

House Bill 379 passed 33-0 in the Alaska House of Representatives, classifying gamma-hydroxybutryic acid, more commonly referred to as GHB, as a Schedule 1A controlled substance, which is the same classification given to opium, morphine and codeine. Schedule 1A drugs present the highest danger to the public, health officials say, but until 2003, GHB had been considered a Schedule 4A drug. The death of Chugiak High School student Meghan Maroney in 2003 prompted Anchorage representative Kevin Meyer to sponsor the bill. The bill will now proceed to the Alaska Senate for consideration.

Montana billionaire sponsors anti-meth campaign

The Montana Meth Project has aired 60,000 minutes of radio and television commercials since September in a campaign to prevent teenagers from becoming addicted to methamphetamine. Software billionaire Thomas Siebel started the campaign after noticing the growing meth problem in the state. Siebel said meth is a popular drug in rural states, and the campaign's format could be replicated on the national level to prevent meth addictions nationwide. The radio and television advertisements have used graphic visual images and real-life testimonies to deter new addictions, with a video of a teenage girl plucking out her eyebrows and a radio testimony of a young man talking about the several months of memory loss he suffered.

Mat-Su's business manager returns to work

Debbie Dickey, the business manager at UAA's Mat-Su campus, was back at work Feb. 28 after more than two weeks on paid administrative leave resulting from an ongoing audit of the college's payroll records. Administrators said this kind of leave is a standard procedure during investigations, and does not imply fault on the part of the affected parties.

The faculty's union at the campus had requested the audit over payroll errors at the campus, and a subsequent investigation found as many as eight other problems at the college, union officials said.

Dickey said she was notified Feb. 27 that she could return to work and that she was told the investigation found no evidence of wrongdoing on her part. Neither the union nor the university would comment on the other issues the audit has raised at the campus.

Veterans take first in Hatfield Debates

UAA juniors Chris Kolerok and Tom Lassen of the Seawolf Speech and Debate team placed first in the Mark O. Hatfield Debates at Willamette University in Oregon on Feb. 25-26. Kolerok and Lassen argued against limiting the federal government's involvement with primary and secondary education, which earned them their third first-place finish during the 2005-06 season. The next scheduled tournament for the Seawolf Speech and Debate team is March 31 for the U.S. Universities Championships in Los Angeles. Lassen won the championships in 2005 with former teammate Michael Rose.

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