Saturday, September 28th, the MBS Hess Recreation Center transformed into a vibrant dance haven as the Student Activities Office (SAO) and Student Media hosted a Silent Disco Extravaganza. Attendees donned headphones, each tuned to their choice of music, turning the space into a captivating scene of synchronized movement and unrestrained joy.

The celebration of Indigenous People’s Day at UAF kicked off at 9:30 a.m. in the Wood Center Ballroom. Round tables were still being filled up as Teisha Simmons, Interim Dean of the College of Indigenous Studies, officially welcomed everyone. 

“I just want to really take a moment to acknowledge this day for what it is and how much gratitude I have for today. You know, it’s not by easy means that we’re here today. I am remembering my ancestors that have been here for 10,000 years and survived in one of the harshest places in the world,” Simmons said.

Clay, wood, potential glazes, and anagama, also known as “tunnel” kiln. These are the materials the UAF ceramics department used to fire the UAF wood kiln on Friday, April 19.

UAF Fencing Club meets on Wednesdays from 7-10 pm and Saturdays from 12-4 pm at the UPark campus (1000 University Ave).

The mission: to traverse all 229 miles of the summer-only road system in and around Nome in forty-eight hours to capture the bounty of a Seward Peninsula summer while it still blossomed around us. 

Crossing all the fingers we could manage for a weekend of pleasant weather, we set off for Council on Friday, August 10, with furry companion Lolo, the yellow lab, in tow.

On Saturday, April 13, Special Olympics Alaska, Tanana Valley hosted a competitive swimming event. This organization hosts athletic events for people with special needs in the Tanana Valley area. Eighteen athletes competed in swimming this year.

On August 8, Guido Grosse, a former professor at UAF and the current head of the Permafrost Research Section at the Alfred Wegener Institute in Potsdam, Germany, joined Strait Science via Zoom to discuss his work.

One doesn’t have to follow the sport of dog mushing to know what the Iditarod is. I’ve met people from the East Coast, Sweden, Germany, and the UK who watch the notorious race from behind their computer screens, and every year, thousands of fans congregate at the starting line. However, few could comprehend the amount of effort, money, and planning that comes before even getting to the weather-beaten, moose-infested, 1,000-mile trail. This year, I got a close glimpse of the Iditarod mania that happens before the race starts because my dad, Will Rhodes, is running it.

The UAF Volleyball Club Tournament went off without a hitch on Saturday, March 30th. We dreamed of it when we started getting back into volleyball in the fall.

If Google Maps says you’re fifty feet away from where you are, it might be because the northern lights are disrupting the signal.

On March 13th, 2024, a student media team consisting of Kevin Huo (General Manager of KSUA), Manny Melendez (Staff Reporter, The Sun Star), Mike Degen (Freelance Reporter, The Sun Star), and Autumn McPherson (Staff Photographer, The Sun Star) traveled together to volunteer and report on the Arctic Winter Games taking place. The Arctic Winter Games, in short, is a circumpolar competition containing athletes from across the world's northern regions. The Arctic Winter Games are no small feat, consisting of twenty sports, 2,000 athletes, and eight continents. The teams represented at this year's games included Alaska, Yukon, Northwest Territories, Alberta North, Nunavut, Nunavik-Quebec, Kalaallit Nunaat, and Sapmi.

Ten days before the 58th annual Ice Arch was set to be done, UAF engineering students still had no ice to build it with. They pulled together and made it happen just in time for the Engineering Open House.

This year’s Festival of Native Arts was held at UAF’s Troth Yeddha’ campus from February 22-24, with performances and vendors in the Fine Arts Complex and various workshops in the Wood Center.

This past fall, I had the privilege of interviewing the magnificent Seattle based DJ, DancingFaraZ, prior to his performance at Starvation Gulch. After an absolutely fired-up performance, he’s back on campus for this year’s SpringFest (and we’re back with another interview!)

Alaskan mushers are all part of a big family, and that community is based around a lifestyle. I never once was left with the impression or saw any evidence that any musher was in the sport purely for business. The first-place purse from winning the Iditarod barely covers the expenses of running a kennel for a year. These people live and breathe dog care, exercise, training, and hard work, including literally shoveling shit daily. They’re all hooked on that ghostly song of wailing desire the dogs let out when waiting to pull the sled. And, most importantly — where answering that call brings them.

If you’ve been wondering how and when to see the aurora, you’re in luck!

March is supposed to be the best time of the year for aurora viewing in Fairbanks. Solar activity is ramping up, and the skies are typically clearer here in March.

On Saturday, February 3rd, mushers and their teams braved the extreme weather to compete in the Yukon Quest, one of Alaska’s premier dog sledding competitions. The temperature in downtown Fairbanks was -43 degrees Fahrenheit when the race kicked off at eleven a.m.!

On a Friday in early February, I entered the Brooks Building and entered a large communal room where people gathered, did beadwork, and set out food and beverages. I found a comfy seat beside a young person playing a somber and beautiful song on the ukulele. We were all there for a screening of the classic ethnographic documentary Uksuum Cauyai: Drums of Winter, directed by Sarah Elder and Professor Emeritus Leonard Kamerling.

For many years, I’ve wanted to visit the Anchorage Museum. This desire was increased significantly several years ago when I heard an interview on Alaska News Nightly with the visiting ambassador from France in which he gave a rave review of the museum. If the French are experts in anything besides food, surely it’s museums and art, no? Well, over the winter break, I had a couple of days in Anchorage, so, on a gloomy and chilly Tuesday, I made my first visit.

On Saturday, February 10th, the UAF community celebrated the Chinese New Year and ushered in the Year of the Dragon.