September 10, 2019
You can’t say no to that face! 350.org/AC Dimatatac Do you care about the climate? Because Pikachu does! Well, the climate activists in giant inflatable Pikachu costumes do. They double-teamed the Japanese embassy in the Philippines’ capital on Tuesday, ahead of the annual G20 meeting Japan is preparing to host on Friday. It all coincides with the recent release of a sobering report into the continued support of the coal industry by G20 governments, despite the urgent need to cut carbon emissions.The figures, published this month in a report by the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), show at least $64 billion per year in government support goes into the coal industry, which is a sizable increase over recent years. Asian governments dominate subsidies given to the production and consumption of fossil fuels, with China, India and Japan giving the most, though Japan isn’t quite at the same level as the former two. It provided a yearly average of $5.2 billion in 2016 and 2017, while China contributed $19 billion and India $17.9 billion. The US, meanwhile, gave $2 billion.”To avoid dangerous climate change and make good on their commitments to end fossil fuel subsidies, the G20 must commit to rapidly ending their support for coal,” the ODI report reads.”They must also increase transparency by committing to conduct peer reviews of coal and other fossil fuel subsidies by 2020 and establish a regular process of tracking progress in ending subsidies and sharing the lessons learnt.”The numbers are disturbing to say the least after the representatives of major economies pledged to phase out fossil fuel subsidies a decade ago in efforts to combat global warming.The Pikachus in Manila are a local network of volunteers, known as 350.org Pilipinas, who’re supporting a grassroots climate movement in the country, according to Philstar. Donning costumes is one way to funnel the world’s attention into the climate crisis. Comment Share your voice Tags
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How to solve the rural broadband problem? Fix the maps The problem with most entry-level laptops: They come with mechanical hard drives. That makes for a mighty slow Windows experience. This Lenovo model features a 128GB solid-state drive, so it should be pretty quick to boot and load software, even with its basic processor. Plus, it has a DVD-burner! That’s not something you see in many modern laptops, especially at this price. $6 at Tidal 5:13 Turo: Save $30 on any car rental $155 at Google Express Comments Sarah Tew/CNET $999 I thought this might be a mistake, but, no, the weirdly named HP Laptop 15t Value is indeed quite the value at this price. Specs include an Intel Core i7 processor, 12GB of RAM, a 256GB solid-state drive and a 15.6-inch display. However, I strongly recommend paying an extra $50 to upgrade that display to FHD (1,920×1,080), because you’re not likely to be happy with the native 1,366×768 resolution. HP Laptop 15t Value: $520 (save $780) Mentioned Above Apple iPhone XS (64GB, space gray) Best Buy Spotify and most other streaming services rely on compressed audio, which robs the listener of full fidelity. Enter Tidal, the only “major” service that delivers lossless audio — meaning at least on par with CD quality, if not better. Want to see (er, hear) the difference for yourself? Grab this excellent extended trial while you can. It’s just $6 for three months, and it’s good for up to six listeners. 7 Best laptops for college students: We’ve got an affordable laptop for every student. Best live TV streaming services: Ditch your cable company but keep the live channels and DVR. Sarah Tew/CNET Turo is kind of like Uber meets Airbnb: You borrow someone’s car, but you do all the driving. I’ve used it many times and found it a great alternative to traditional car-rental services — in part because you get to choose exactly the vehicle you want (not just, say, “midsize”) and in part because you can often do pickup and dropoff right outside baggage claim.Between now and Sept. 1, the first 300 people to check out can get $30 off any Turo rental with promo code LDW30. Chris Monroe/CNET $60 at Best Buy Internet What’s cooler: A snapshot of a firework exploding in front of you, or full 360-degree video of all the fireworks and all the reactions to seeing them? Oooh, ahhh, indeed. At $250, the compact Rylo dual-lens camera is selling for its lowest price yet. And for an extra $50, you can get the bundle that includes the waterproof housing.This deal runs through Sept. 3; it usually costs $500. Lenovo Smart Clock: $59.99 (save $20) Sarah Tew/CNET CNET may get a commission from retail offers. See It Share your voice See at Amazon Use promo code 19LABOR10 to get an unusually good deal on JBL’s interesting hybrid product — not quite headphones, and not quite a traditional speaker, but something you wear like neckphones to listen to music on the go. $90 at Daily Steals via Google Express Tags Angela Lang/CNET Recently updated to include digital-photo-frame capabilities, the Lenovo Smart Clock brings Google Assistant goodness to your nightstand. It’s a little smaller than the Amazon Echo Show 5, but also a full $30 less (and tied with Prime Day pricing) during this Best Buy Labor Day sale. FCC,I’m shocked — shocked! — to learn that stores are turning Labor Day into an excuse to sell stuff. Wait — no, I’m not. As much as I respect the original intent of the holiday (which became official back in 1894), to most of us, it’s just a bonus day off — one that’s blissfully tacked onto a weekend. So, yeah, stores; go ahead, run your sales. I’m listening. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Labor Day doesn’t bring out bargains to compete with the likes of Black Friday (which will be here before you know it), but there are definitely some sales worth your time.For example:We’ve rounded up the best Labor Day mattress deals.We’ve also gathered the best Labor Day laptop deals at Best Buy.The 2019 Vizio P Series Quantum is back under $999.Be sure to check out Amazon’s roughly three dozen Labor Day deals on TVs and audio. Google Express is having a big sale as well, one that includes deals on game consoles, AirPods, iPhones, laptops and more.Below I’ve rounded up a handful of individual items I consider to be the cream of the crop, followed by a handy reference guide to other Labor Day sales. Keep in mind, of course, that products may sell out at any time, even if the sale itself is still running. Note that CNET may get a share of revenue from the sale of the products featured on this page. Apple iPhone XS Lenovo 130-15AST 15.6-inch laptop: $210 (save $90) Tidal 3-month family subscription: $5.99 (save $54) Sprint Tags Turo Read Lenovo Smart Clock review Rylo Share your voice Free Echo Dot with an Insignia or Toshiba TV (save $50) Read Google Home Hub review An Echo Dot makes a fine match for any Fire edition TV, because you can use the latter to say things like, “Alexa, turn on the TV.” Right now, the 24-inch Insignia Fire TV Edition starts at just $100, while the 32-inch Toshiba Fire TV Editions is on sale for $130. Just add any Fire TV Edition to your cart, then add a third-gen Echo Dot, and presto: The latter is free. DJI’s answer to GoPro’s action cameras is rugged little model that’s shockproof, dustproof and waterproof down to 11 meters. It normally runs $350, but this deal drops it to $261 when you apply promo code 19LABOR10 at checkout. Rylo 5.8K 360 Video Camera: $250 (save $250) JBL Soundgear wearable speaker: $90 (save $160) Now playing: Watch this: Review • iPhone XS review, updated: A few luxury upgrades over the XR See it Read DJI Osmo Action preview Apple AirPods with Wireless Charging Case: $155 (save $45) $520 at HP Boost Mobile $59 at eBay The FCC on Monday pledged to expand rural broadband to more than 200,000 unserved homes and business over the next decade. Helen H. Richardson/MediaNews Gr/Getty Images The Federal Communications Commission on Monday said it authorized more than $524 million to expand broadband in 23 states. The funding will add internet service to 205,000 rural homes and businesses over the next 10 years, the FCC said. Providers will start to get funding this month.This is the FCC’s third wave of funding for rural broadband as part of last year’s Connect America Fund Phase II auction, which granted $1.488 billion to support over 700,000 homes and businesses. The agency also authorized funding in May and June to support connectivity in around 100,000 homes and businesses.The FCC will authorize more funding in the coming months as it approves more applications from the auction’s winning bidders. “High-speed internet provides access to opportunity in the 21st century, and the FCC’s top priority is closing the digital divide so that all Americans can fully participate in our connected society,” FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said in a statement. “Today’s authorization of funding is the largest yet from the auction, nearly the double the amount authorized in the first two rounds nationwide, and serving over twice as many rural homes and businesses.”Among the 23 states receiving support from the FCC’s most recent funding are California, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Virginia and Texas.In 2016, 24 million Americans (7.7 percent of the population) didn’t have broadband internet speeds, according to an FCC report last year. Pai has also proposed the FCC roll out a Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, which would offer around $20.4 billion over 10 years to expand rural broadband. The agency is slated to vote on whether to set up the fund on Aug. 1. Google Nest Hub: $59 (save $70) Other Labor Day sales you should check out Best Buy: In addition to some pretty solid MacBook deals that have been running for about a week already, Best Buy is offering up to 40% off major appliances like washers, dryers and stoves. There are also gift cards available with the purchase of select appliances. See it at Best BuyDell: Through Aug. 28, Dell is offering an extra 12% off various laptops, desktops and electronics. And check back starting Aug. 29 for a big batch of Labor Day doorbusters. See it at DellGlassesUSA: Aug. 29 – Sept. 3 only, you can save 65% on all frames with promo code labor65. See it at GlassesUSALenovo: The tech company is offering a large assortment of deals and doorbusters through Labor Day, with the promise of up to 56% off certain items — including, at this writing, the IdeaPad 730S laptop for $700 (save $300).See it at LenovoLensabl: Want to keep the frames you already love and paid for? Lensabl lets you mail them in for new lenses, based on your prescription. From now through Sept. 2 only, you can save 20% on the blue light-blocking lens option with promo code BLOCKBLUE. See it at LensablSears: Between now and Sept. 7, you can save up to 40% on appliances (plus an additional 10% if you shop online), up to 60% on mattresses, up to 50% on Craftsman products and more. The store is also offering some fairly hefty cashback bonuses. See it at SearsNote: This post was published previously and is continuously updated with new information.CNET’s Cheapskate scours the web for great deals on tech products and much more. For the latest deals and updates, follow the Cheapskate on Facebook and Twitter. Questions about the Cheapskate blog? Find the answers on our FAQ page, and find more great buys on the CNET Deals page. See It Read the AirPods review Though not technically a Labor Day sale, it’s happening during Labor Day sale season — and it’s too good not to share. Nationwide Distributors, via Google Express, has just about the best AirPods deal we’ve seen (when you apply promo code ZBEDWZ at checkout). This is for the second-gen AirPods with the wireless charging case. Can’t imagine these will last long at this price, so if you’re interested, act fast. $999 TVs Speakers Mobile Accessories Cameras Laptops Automobiles Smart Speakers & Displays 3 Formerly known as the Google Home Hub, Google’s Nest Hub packs a wealth of Google Assistant goodness into a 7-inch screen. At $59, this is within a buck of the best price we’ve seen. It lists for $129 and sells elsewhere in the $89-to-$99 range.This is one item of many available as part of eBay’s Labor Day Sale (which, at this writing, doesn’t specifically mention Labor Day, but that’s how it was pitched to us). DJI Osmo Action camera: $261 (save $89) $210 at Best Buy See It See at Turo $999 $999 Comments The Cheapskate $299 at Amazon Preview • iPhone XS is the new $1,000 iPhone X $261 at Daily Steals via Google Express Sarah Tew/CNET Read the Rylo camera preview Amazon
U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel stopped by Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson on Wednesday at the outset of a 12-day tour abroad. Hagel talked with army and air force personnel about the changes ahead as the U.S. transitions out of 13 years of war.Hagel brought tidings from the military’s commander in chief, President Obama, and the message that times are changing.“What is the role of America in today’s world?” Hagel asked. “With the kind of challenges we face — it’s complicated, more complicated than we’ve ever seen.“We’ve got budget challenges. But this is not unusual in our history. When you come out of wars, you do transition, and you do restructure, and reposition, and reposture.”U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel visited Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson May 28 at the start of a 12-day tour overseas.As the U.S. removes itself from Afghanistan other parts of the world are emerging as priorities — including the Arctic, Hagel said.“The Arctic is opening. It will continue to open. That is going to make possible many new opportunities for many countries and many people. It’s going to present also new challenges. And new dangers,” Hagel said.After Hagel’s speech, those in attendance were invited to tell the defense secretary what was on their minds.A staff sergeant asked Hagel about care for veterans transitioning to civilian life.“In recent events we lost a veteran paratrooper from the 501st (Infantry Regiment) family. He suffered from PTSD and he tried to seek help at the VA hospital. My question is what the DOD and the Dept. Vet. Affairs is going to do to mitigate cases like his and others — and what is going to happen to be able to ensure that service members that transition out of the military to make sure that if they’re suffering from PTSD that they’ll be taken care of after serving their country.”“Preparing that active duty member for the next phase of his or her life is a big responsibility we have. We focus on that. It’s not perfect. We can do better. We will do better,” Hagel replied.Airman first class Samantha Place said Hagel’s speech helped reassure her that the military is hardly redundant even as the country transitions out of war.“When Secretary of Defense talked about reduction of force I kind of perked up a bit because I want to make this a career. It’s kind of frightening. But it’s comforting to know that the White House is here. They do care about us. And they are here for us. Just like we’re here for them.”Hagel is headed onward to Singapore, Afghanistan and several destinations in Europe.
A report released today by the World Wildlife Fund in Canada finds the capacity for oil spill response in the Beaufort Sea is woefully inadequate, even as Canadian regulators consider relaxing safety standards for offshore exploration.Download AudioWWF ran 22 separate models looking at how different spill scenarios would impact wildlife and habitat in the Beaufort Sea, drawing on industry development proposals and environmental data. Though conducted in Canada, the research affects Alaska, as well.“I think the report is very applicable because, again, it shows that oil spills don’t stop at a boundary,” Margaret Williams, the managing director of WWF’s Arctic program in the U.S, said.She says the report demonstrates that subsistence users in Alaska’s coastal areas would be hurt if contaminants leaked into the Beaufort’s important marine mammal habitat.“Almost all of the scenarios show oil moving in a Westerly direction from the Canadian Beaufort Sea into the Alaskan Beaufort Sea,” Williams said. “We share so many species, we share a common concern with the food they provide for the people living on the Beaufort Sea shore.The report comes as Canada’s National Energy Board is about to conclude a public commenting period on August first over a proposal to ease its standards for oil spill contingencies in offshore operations. Imperial Oil Resources and Chevron of Canada are applying to drill exploratory wells in the Beaufort. Canadian regulations require companies to have a backup plan for drilling an emergency relief well within one season to mitigate underwater blowouts. Chevron and Imperial are asking they be allowed to move forward in their Beaufort drilling with a contingency plan that can achieve the same outcomes, but using a different method than a relief well.Very little in today’s WWF report is groundbreaking. The conclusions are general cautions that are well-known to anyone familiar with the Arctic: ice and light conditions will complicate cleanup efforts, important marine habitat will be hurt by a spill, and the oil is likely to travel West and North with ocean currents.But the credibility of those conclusions is bolstered by the comprehensiveness of the modeling methods researchers used. And that, Williams says, should inform how development projects are weighed.“It’s really important that the process—the decision-making process—is transparent, and is based on the best available science. And is based on knowledge that people living on the shores of the Beaufort Sea have,” Williams said.A spokesperson with the Alaska Oil and Gas Association was unavailable for comment in time for broadcast on what the report means for industry in Alaska.
GCI network coverage, western Alaska. Photo shared via KYUK.org.A San Francisco-based law firm is now working with two Bethel attorneys who filed a class-action lawsuit against GCI for their marketing practices in the YK Delta.Download Audio“We’re hoping that we can have some resolution or go to try within the next year,” says Bethel Attorney Dave Henderson. He, and fellow attorney Jim Valcarce, filed the lawsuit.“GCI sold wireless services for voice and data plans, and promised that they’d be reasonable and reliable, and the services were not reasonably functional and reliable,” Henderson said.In late April last year, four Bethel residents filed a class action lawsuit against General Communication, Inc., more commonly known as GCI.The lawsuit claims that the data plan that GCI enrolled thousands of customers in rarely worked. Clients commonly experience slow data and drops calls, an issue where phone calls may unexpectedly end, or drop.Henderson says the case is taking a lot of work and energy.“We’re fighting against a company that has almost unlimited resources. And there’s hundreds and hundreds of thousands of pages of discovery and documents we need to go through about the service that was provided,” Henderson said.Henderson and fellow attorney Jim Valcarce, have teamed up with San Francisco-based law firm Gerard Gibbs to work on the case.“Dave Henderson and Jim Valcarce reached out to us because we specialize in class action lawsuits,” says Dan Gerard, the managing partner at the firm. “Given the facts here, we thought it made sense to work with Dave and Jim to represent the users of GCI services during the time period the case covers.”The case focuses on GCI services from 2010-2014. The complaint seeks a list of items, including monetary recovery, fraud, misrepresentation and breach of contract,” according to a 2014 press release.GCI’s VP of Corporate Services David Morris couldn’t say much about the ongoing case right now.“In respect to the class action lawsuit, all I can say is that the lawyers are still playing bat mitten the legal issues and it just goes back and forth,” Morris said.The case is currently in the middle of hearing and depositions. It has not been decided if the lawsuit will go to trial.
High school students in Kodiak are doing college-level science. Maybe even PhD-level science.World Bridge is a NASA-sponsored group that assigns Alaskan students to scientific research projects. At a recent competition in Italy, the group showed that their earthquake research could have a global impact, but that’s only one project they’re working on. They’ve also entered the world of nano-agriculture.Download AudioAnna sprays a patch of grass as the Kodiak football team practices in the background. (Photo by Kayla Desroches, KMXT – Kodiak)High school junior Anna McDonald sprays an organic fertilizer over a sad-looking patch of dirt on a baseball field. The solution isn’t a chemical, just a combination of microorganisms, sea kelp, and mineral electrolytes. Anna says microbes do all the work.“… like an earthworm, just eats the toxic soil and digests it and it comes out and it’s perfectly balanced, perfectly natural, just how the earth is made to function,” she said.Anna and two other students look like exterminators – or Ghostbusters – carrying the fertilizer in plastic backpacks, which Anna says they bought off Amazon. The team has already treated eight other fields and, so far, Anna says the fertilizer seems to be working.“There was area that was completely bare and we treated it with this enzyme and we came back in four weeks to measure our data and get our results and see what had happened, and it had grown back completely,” she said. “It was full and green, and it looked better than the surrounding area.”Anna and a handful of other students partnered with the fertilizer’s company to spray a local golf course. Why this product? Well, Anna says, the company reached out to them.Anna. (Photo by Kayla Desroches, KMXT – Kodiak)But also, “We were very interested in what we could do with it and we wanted to see what it would do for ourselves instead of just reading about it in a paper,” Anna said.Anna says she’s especially interested in chemistry and the way it can be applied in real-world situations, which is why she loves nano-agriculture.While spraying the field, a young student recognizes her.“Ron and I have gone to some middle school classes before to talk to kids about nano-ag and also about tsunami marine debris,” Anna said.She means Ron Fortunato, the creator of World Bridge, an Alaska STEM program that develops partners in business and industry and then creates real-world projects in school districts.Fortunato is based in New Jersey. But he worked on a project in Juneau’s school district and the positive experience, and interest in further collaborations from other people in the state, led him to Alaska once again for World Bridge.Fortunato says officials with the Kodiak Island School District jumped at the chance to get involved in World Bridge.And this summer, a group of Kodiak high schoolers travelled to Como, Italy to present earthquake data at the Europa Challenge. It’s a competition sponsored in part by NASA along with other international organizations and it usually only accepts university students or industry professionals. Fortunato says they made an exception for the group.“The researchers that were there, the universities, all the professional who were there,” Fortunato said. “They didn’t talk to them like they were high school students. There was a full measure of respect and welcome into the community – of that geospatial community, which is a big international group there. And it wasn’t that they were looking at them as students. They were looking at their work.”(Photo by Kayla Desroches, KMXT – Kodiak)The Kodiak team won that competition.With the help of NASA and other sponsors, World Bridge’s Kodiak students have a lot of resources at their fingertips.I drop by their lab in the Alaska Department of Fish and Game building, and there’s a 3D printer set up on one table and a drone on another. In other words, it’s every science buff’s fantasy.“And then this is the nano-ag bench,” Anne said, giving me a tour of the facility. “Since most of our work is done in the field, this is just kind of where we’re able to sit at our computers and write up reports or decipher all of our data. And it’s where we store our enzyme and our other supplies.”And if you’re wondering where World Bridge is headed from here, well, it’s all ongoing. And as another student, senior Levi Purdy explains, they’re a team like any other research group.“Both the professionals and the students and the teachers, we’re all learning above what we understand,” Purdy said. “We’re all experimenting and testing hypotheses, so there’s really no one of us can be on any level higher than the other, because we’re all collaborating and we’re trying to solve a problem.”As the program proves, the line between high school and college, student and teacher, can blur. Check the sources the next time you read a study online or a news article. You may be surprised by who collected that data.
For years, Debbie Corbett was regional archeologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. She retired in 2013 and began freelancing. She also started working on organizing a forum for scientists doing research in any field – as long as it was centered on the Aleutian Islands.Screenshot of the AIWG blog. (Courtesy of AIWG)Corbett said the idea hatched at a National Science Foundation-funded workshop on North Pacific archaeology a few years back.“And a bunch of us who have worked in the Aleutians attended, and realized that what we really needed was some kind of Aleutian group…to keep each other informed about the research we’re doing,” Corbett said. “It’s all pretty informal.”Corbett, Caroline Funk of SUNY University at Buffalo and University of Alaska anthropology professor Diane Hanson created the Aleutian Islands Working Group. They held their first in-person meeting in Anchorage in Jan. 2013, but it has since evolved to mostly a web-based forum.“Communication was probably our biggest goal,” Corbett said. “To have some kind of venue where people doing research in the Aleutians Islands can talk to each other.”As for current membership, there are cultural anthropologists, biologists, archaeologists, historians, people who do environmental reconstruction…the gamut of disciplines. Members also include residents in Atka, Unalaska and the Pribilofs who are interested in past and present research focused on their home.And the group is always looking to add new field of studies to it scope.“There’s a lot of fisheries research going on, so we’re trying to find some oceanographers who’d be willing to do our monthly blog,” Corbett said.The group’s WordPress site is updated around the 15th of each month. The most recent post talks about the M/V Tiglax, the workboat of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge.From June to August, the site will feature reports from the scientists spending the summer on the Tiglax.And Corbett said she’d love some more participants.“Like if someone from the museum out there wanted to write in about an exhibit, we would happily put that in our blog,” Corbett said. “If somebody were doing sociological research and wanted to include something – everybody’s welcome. It’s a shared obsession with the Aleutian Islands.”
The ACLU of Alaska Wednesday filed suit against the state challenging restrictions on second trimester abortions. Planned Parenthood Votes of the Great Northwest and Hawaii and the Center for Reproductive Rights joined ACLU as plaintiffs.Listen NowJoshua Decker, ACLU Alaska executive director, said three ’70s-era restrictions are obstacles to women’s reproductive health, because they ban second trimester abortions in out-patient clinics and force some women to seek abortions out of state.“The reason we are doing this is because abortion is incredibly important,” Decker said. “One out of every three women will have an abortion in her lifetime. The number one reason in terms of women’s ability to fully and equally participate in lives of Americans in terms of economic prospects, in terms of jobs, in terms of education. It is the ability to decide by themselves and in consultation with their physicians, when and if to have a pregnancy be carried to term, when and if to have a child, when and if to become a parent.”(Editors note: Decker’s claim cannot be verified because it is based on a 2008 Guttmacher Institute study. The institute noted that the rate of abortion in the U.S. has dropped since the original study was published. New numbers will be available next year.) The restrictions require Alaska abortion providers to get a second opinion, to have blood and plasma supplies on hand at the clinic, and to have an operating room immediately available.Tara Rich, legal and policy director for ACLU Alaska, says the suit challenges the constitutionality of the restrictions under Alaska Constitution provisions for privacy, equal protection and due process.“So the Alaska Supreme Court is a much stronger test than the federal constitution,” Rich said. “Which is that an infringement on a women’s right to abortion cannot present an undue burden to that woman’s right. So we are challenging these regulations under the Alaska Constitution, not the federal constitution.”Jessica Cler, public relations manager for Planned Parenthood Votes Northwest and Hawaii, said Planned Parenthood sends about 30 women a year out of state to its clinics in Idaho and Washington state for second trimester abortions.State Department of Health and Social Services public information officer Rebecca Lynch said the department is not issuing a statement on the legal challenge at this time.ACLU Alaska joined with ACLU in Missouri and North Carolina in filing lawsuits against abortion restrictions in those states on Wednesday.
Vanessa Duhrsen of Anchorage (Photo by Wesley Early, Alaska Public Media – Anchorage)This week we’re hearing from Vanessa Duhrsen in Anchorage. Duhrsen is a senior at West High and recently received a Prudential Spirit of Community Award for her volunteer service throughout rural Alaska.Listen nowDUHRSEN: I’m a tribal member of the Chippewa Cree tribe of the Rocky Boy’s Reservation in Montana, so that’s a huge part of my identity. Something my mom always says to me is “You are your ancestor’s wildest dreams.” And so that is really a key part of who I am. And I’m so fortunate to be where I am today because I know that the people before me and my ancestors, they’ve overcome so many different challenges. And so, I really am just the product of their effort.I have been involved with a program called Skiku for a while now. So, Skiku sends teams of coaches to around 50 rural Alaska villages with the intent of forming sustainable ski communities. But the problem is that these coaches can only go for a week.And so with that, I developed a program called Skiku Schoolmates. I set up housing, and I formed a relationship with the local school. And so, really we’re just prepared… so one person can live there for a while and form the connections that they needed to to make that happen. It’s more than about just skiing. It’s about physical health and mental health, and just forming greater community ties. I think skiing can do a lot of that. It’s a very multi-various sport.I was raised off of my reservation and my mom talks a lot about the systematic oppression of indigenous people all around the world, so that is a huge part of my upbringing. And so, when I went to Hooper Bay, I did get to see that, and it kinda just put a real tangible experience to these things that my mom tells me all the time. Even though it’s not my culture, I felt a lot more connected to it afterwards. Because there was physical, tangible… it was like a real experience about this is what life is like for people who live on their Native land. This is what it’s like. It wasn’t just my mom’s words anymore. It was real.As an indigenous person myself, that’s when I really realized how connected all indigenous people are around the world. All these different indigenous communities face a lot of the same challenges. I mean, I know they’re unique, but success for any indigenous culture is success for everybody, I think.
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