The Daily Alaska empire Newspaper, March 31, 1940, Page 18

— PROGRESS AND DEVELOPMENT EDITIO UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA IS FARTHEST NORTH OF AMERI(AN INSTIIUIIONS V. FLETCHER nt Prefessor of English, University of Alaska By JAME! Ass’s was this broadening of the scope of In than 17 years since it start- ed with only six regi students, | Regents, in 1935, to advise a change a small building meagerly equipped, | in the name of the institution to and a faculty of seven, the Univer- | “University of Alaska.” The University is unique among sity of Alaska has become a center of practi and cultural interest | institutions of higher learning in in the e several ways. For one thing, it is Bac! 1922 and 1923, when only | isclated from other universities and colleges, the nearest possible col- the central block of the present Ad- ministration Building had been | legiate rival being two thousand built, people from Fairbanks used |miles away. This geographical iso- to come out in the spring to pick | lation produces the unheard-of, a crocuses or Hill: and some University with no intercollegiate of them still remember that they |sports, a University that has yet to used to point up at the little two- |Play its first game with another story building, with a 50 by 80-foot | Universit This does not mean, gre plan and wonder if from however, that there are no sports \ch a small beginning there would |on the University campus. The stu- ever result an influential institu- |dents have their own ski lodge in the hills back of the campus. They have their own hockey rink on the campus. They have their well- all parts of the world drive out to | equipped gymnasium where they the University to enjoy the spectacle | Play intramural basketball, tennis, handball and badminton, and where tion of higher learning. | Today visitors from all parts of the Territory and travelers irom of America’s farthest-north Univer- sity. And, more significant still kans from Ketchikan to Point banks. Hunting Replaces Football Earrow think of the University when they have practical problems on which they wish advice or when they have children of college age who | along the Tanana Valley, bear, caribou, moose, ptarmigan and | become trained in teaching, grouse are plentiful at times, farming, home econc- arts. Students At the first registration, in the fall of 1922, only 15 students en- rolled in the regular credit courses, d only 47 enrolled in the short courses. Now there are 261 students en: ed in the regular credit cours- es and well over 500 in the exten- and short courses. Altogether wish te engineering mics, or the rifle, and soon had a moose. Its location is unique in another way. ENROLLMENT OF 145 students have completed their : courses since May, 1923, when a sin- gle student, John shantey, was | (OLLEGE SHOWS graduated, More significant still, | | A of these graduates ase gainfully | HARDY GROWTH | employed, with the exception of a l few who are doing graduate work. " | The faculty of seven that greeted | | ‘(IO\L\lf(L: F“",:i:‘ L,’fll(’;:):‘l‘ the six students in the fall of 1922 § (‘)"__ NI | I wn until it now numbers 28 2 i The standards of instruction main- | | G| tained by, this: facnlty have gased|] - Year Students Degrees, ment | 1 nition from the Northwest As- || 1922-1923 15 1 62 1 sociation of Secondary and Higher|{ 1923-1924 ... 52 1 84 ocols, so that credits may be|| 1924-1925 .. 59 1 133 t rred from the University of | 1026-1926 .. 71 1 164 Alaska to colleges in the States. 6-1927 ... 73 7 157 One advantage enjoyed by both fac- | 1927-1828 .. 83 6 175 ulty and students is that the ratio|{ 1928-1929 89 4 170 of faculty to students is favorable || 1929-193 86 6 161 | o good insruction as a result of || 1830-1931..131 9 205 small s and a helpful spirit 1931-1932 .. 144 15 215 ¢ of frie ress between instructor i 1932-1933 . 121 9 169 and student 1933-1934 .. 152 20 201 Curriculum Broadens s 2o | with this growth in size S e o) a steady expansion in the (i = UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA cope of instruction. At first the|j 1235-1936..193 18 o8y stitution, then called the Alaska || 1936-1937 ..200 17 LU jcultural College and School of || 1937-1938..220 20 800 Mines, devoted its efforts almost i 138-1039 291 W e exclusively to practical studies re- | 1939-1940 d to the problems of the Terri- Total includes short course And even today the empha- students and extension stu- dents. * Two degrees student **Complete figures not avail- able. s remains on mining, civil engin- eering and agriculture. But there has been an increasing demand for instruction in such fields as busi- ness administration, arts and let- ters, anthropols and education, granted one instruction that led the Board of | and in 1837 it was found possible | to introduce a course in music. It | THE DAILY ALASKA EMPIRE, SUNDAY, MARCH 31, 1940. HIGHER EDUCATION S e e e Uiy the rich placer-gold fields of Inter- | eight months jor Alaska. Many students secure employment in M and eam enough in the summer season to pay their expenses for the following school year. And, especially for en- gineering students, such work for four months in the year makes text- book study during the following much more signifi- cant. nique Function The location of the University, which makes it an interesting place to study, also creates unique prcb- |lems. Here it is vain to apply, with- they play against teams from Fair- | to citizens as well as to student: out realistic adaptation, the same subject matter and the same teach- ing methods that would be consid- main function of the institution is to provide the Territory of Alaska with an organized center of thought where practical advice can be given problems pecul Much of the sub- concerning the to the Territory. Above all, they have their own |ject matfer of higher education, of game preserve in the unfenced hills | course, is universally applicable, but where | not all. In this regard the Home Econo- and | mics Department and the Extension where wolves are occasionally seen. |Service have attempted to teach the In the fall of 1935 a student at work | women of the in the chemistry laboratory spotted |to prepare the wild meat and fish, a moose in the flats below the cam- | how to buy imported staples most pus, went to the dormitory for his|eccnomically, and how to do weav- !ing and knitting Territory how best Experiments in raising crops and livestock suited It is situated in the heéart of |to conditions in Alaska have been | conducted at the Agricultural Ex- periment Station at Fairbanks and at the Sub-station at Matanuska A second Sub-station has been es- tablished at Petersburg for fur farm experimentation. The Mining Extension courses, given in many towns all over the Territory, have attracted more than 500 students yearly. Alaska Lore The Department of Anthropology == and the Museum have cooperated to preserve the artifacts of the natives, and to observe their rapidly disap- pearing and changing cultures. The Department of Education has tried to adapt teaching methods and cur- ricula planning to the needs of schools in the Territory. The tech- nical curricula, of course, are planned with a view to their prac- tical application to mining and civil engineering problems in Alaska. Such, in brief outline, is the is- tory and the present position of the University of Alaska What the future of the institution will be is contingent upon the growth of the Territory as a whole. It may be that before 1950 the campus will have grown to accommodate more than 500 students, and that present plans for concrete communicating tun- nels and classroom buildings will have been realized. Considering the spleridid progress that has been made in the past 17 years such spec- ulations do not seem entirely vis- | icnary. — eea Perfect ivory is found in the teeth of tiger sharks. College S port in Alaska RS By The University of Alaska Polar Bears are shown in action against a Fairbanks hockey team. Fairbanks News-Miper cut. U niversity Goes On Air Twice Weekly Over KFAR A regular schedule of Umversltylm the Experiment Station-Exten- of Alaska radio broadcasts OVer o, gervice radio program are soil KFAR, Fairbanks, was maugurated‘"osmn meat cutting and curing, last October 4. Including the broad- |jivestock feeding, the dairy indus- of February 6, the University try, home making, turkey carving, has given a total of 40 radio pro-|petter home lighting, 4-H club work, grams. | turkey raising in Alaska, home ac- Under the direction of a member | | counts, potato production in the of the faculty a semi-weekly broad- | Tanana Valley and milk goats. casting schedule has been effected.| Topics for the 18 broadcasts spon- Every Wednesday noon the Experi-|sored by the academic and the ad- ment Station-Extension Service goes | ministrative divisions of the Uni- on the air for a 15-minute period, {werslty include education at the and every Saturday noon the BCSd'jUniversity of Alaska, the purpose emic and the administrative divis- of the school “of mines, practical jons broadcast for a like period of applications of geology, the begin- time. A 30-minute evening Pro- nings of mineral education, the care gram is pxesenled by the Associated of house plants, a new way to mix Students once a month. la cake, yuletide suggestions, some eering, a prospective teacher looks at education, originof the Stone Age men in Alaska. During the remainder of the aca- demic year 28 programs will be broadcast. Do You Know .. That the University o?‘\lrwb.h granted degrees to I77 studerfts an that 129 of the number are nNow bona - fide res&dents of the Terri- tory. L B0k S 4 That the University library ha.s 17,888 bound volumes and approx- imately 15,000 bulletins and pam- phlets? LR TR That during the first semester of 1939-40 the total enrollment of stu: dents in all classes taught F 0 Some of the subjects discussed ‘lmmwal approaches to civil engin- 1,.%6&7 " started she after the close of) At the Ex Slrldes Made the 1938-1939 academic year. crected a The major building activity was |cottage, the cc the enlargement of the Eielson Me- |viding sp " z morial Building. The original one- | the upper A' UnlverSI' story structure of 54 by 84 feet was for the dair lengthened 30 feet and heightened|a trench silo 7 to three stories. The first floor|wide; and an will house the Physics Department barn, 36 feet The sity ed ing staff. 'n pas! Year and possibly the Link trainer, the| To relicve second floor the administrative and |the Univ the Extension-Service offices, and ern lunch counter w the third the University Museum. the first floor of Unit rapid growth of the Univer- Campus Apartment store, formerly of Alaska during 1939 was evi-| Other campus constructions jn-|building, wa denced by the completion of build- |clude the two-storied duplex apart- |changes effected changes in the curricula, a ment house for Dniversity employ- | fice and the all-time high in enrollment ees. The 30 by 36 feet building has| housed in d"tl the number of degrees grant- a full-size basement that houses same build and the enlargement of teach- | the laundry. The first floor of the is now used by the| Many changes Construction of several campus |z ',1 the Territorial De- |the curricula and experiment farm buildings was ew The University of Alaska lies in cpen country at College, Univorsily Silua_lvd at Heart of Alaska . Faculty Has graph was taken several years ago. of Mines ce for tory resic an g feet long by 14 feet Curricul annow Alaska, five miles from Fairbanks. perimeht mbination crete bas: the by cated in the Revisions it year ago the School ced that to Unit V. Other were the barber s > nine credits in Social Science ar Scholars of 26 (olleges Staff of 28 Holds 65 De- grees-Eight Docfors, 21 Are Masters Faculty members of the Univer- sity of Alaska hold 65 degrees (pro- fessional degrees and certificates included) and represent 26 univer- sities and colleges located in 17 States, one Territory, and one for- eign country Of the total number of degrees held by the academicians 33 are baccalaureate, either in science or in the arts; 21 are masters; eight are doctorates; two are profession- al; and one a diploma. States in which are located the institutions of higher learning at- tended by the teaching staff are California, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Towa, Kansas, Mas- sachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania. viE8. Bite South Dakota, Utah, Washington This air view photo- :mnd Wi A e ‘Alaska is the Territorial University represented and England the only foreign country give definite instruction to its up- per divisional students in econo-| mics, finance, and administration,| Such well-known institutions as since such phases of business play | Bucknell, Harvard, M. I. T., Yale, an important part in the career of |Penn State, and the Universities of a mining engineer. California, Chicago, Illinois, Wash- Plans for coordinating the gen- |ington and Wisconsin are among eral requirements for the Bachelor | those claimed as alma maters by the of Science degree. were completed | University's instructors and profes- in December. The several depart- | SOrs. ments offering work leading to the degree new require a minimum of two years of English composition | and literature and the equivalent unit was established, thereby per- mitting male, students to complete four years of military science and tactics and to become eligible for a of at least one year of collegiate 4 work in a foreign language. Also, ;",’“",““"k’“ e there is a minimum requirement of | - 3w b it | recognition given the University wa+ the establishment of a training school for pilots by the Civil Aero- nautics Authority. twelve credits in the physical sci- ences In addition to the many revis- ions in curricula, several new cours- cs were added. A senior mrdmry e Coal deposits in Alaska are esti- mated at about 19000000 000 tons. 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