Prince William Sound Tidings

December 8, 2017

Calendar

December 21 Grades available on UAOnline December 23– January 2 PWSC closed for winter break January 15 Alaska Civil Rights Day. No class. PWSC closed January 16 Spring classes begin February 14 Valentine’s Day March 11 Daylight Savings March 12-17 Spring break. No classes March 17 PWSC closed March 22-25 Vegas in Valdez Archery Tournament May 9 PWSC Commencement

Spring classes begin January 16. Registration is open now

at UAOnline.Alaska.edu. Have you registered for your

classes yet? Don’t delay. There are lots of options, but they are filling up fast. Get into the classes you want.

If you are age 67 or over, ask about our senior citizen tuition

waiver. You’ve earned it.

Your Community Needs You

The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program educates volunteers about disaster preparedness for the hazards that may impact their area and trains them in basic disaster response skills, such as fire safety, light search and rescue, team organization, and disaster medical operations. CERT offers a consistent, nationwide approach to volunteer training and organization that professional responders can rely on during disaster situations, which allows them to focus on more complex tasks. Through CERT, the capabilities to prepare for, respond to and recover from disasters is built and enhanced. Recently, Kerra Apolo completed the 3-part series and live action drill at PWSC. This experience taught her how to respond during a major disaster event, how to prioritize her actions, and some useful basic medical skills for treating injuries. Since she is now certified, she has received a bag of emergency supplies which will help her be prepared for campus or community events and to help people in distress. PWSC is offering another series of CERT classes coming up this spring in Jan, Feb, and March. You, too, can become certified and be able to respond effectively during a minor or major disaster. Further questions? Talk to Kerra or George Keeney, and register at https://pwsc.asapconnected.com. (See page 2 for the schedule of upcoming CERT classes.)

PTK Induction

PWSC Outdoor Leadership student, Jeremy Gallman, was inducted this week into Alpha Psi Gamma, the college chapter for the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society for Two-Year Colleges. Molly Albright, the chapter president, lead the induction ceremony. Phi Theta Kappa is not just a scholarly organization; it also focuses on leadership development and service to the community. The chapter was fundamental in organizing the first Relay For Life in Valdez and also helps with the annual Empty Bowl fundraiser for the Valdez Food Bank. According to chapter advisor, Gail Renardson, the chapter is now working with the PWSC Student Government Association and the local Red Cross to solicit donations for the Red Cross to target those communities impacted by the hurricanes this fall. Eligible students may still apply for membership. For more information, contact Gail Renardson at grenardson@alaska.edu.

ESL Classes

ESL (English as a Second Language) Classes now available! Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9-11 a.m. and 5-7 p.m. All levels welcome! FREE. Contact Teresa Barton at 907-834-1671, tabarton@alaska.edu.

Safety With Snow and Ice

As snow and ice become a daily occurrence this time of year, here are some tips to help keep you safe and healthy. Bend your knees while shoveling to avoid back injuries. Do not

try to shovel all at once. Lift a little at a time, especially with wet, heavy snow. It may take longer, but your body will thank you later.

Don’t drink and shovel. Drinking alcohol can severely dehydrate you, making exercise dangerous. It can also speed up heat loss and make it hard to tell how cold you are.

If you have diabetes, high blood pressure, or heart disease, be extra cautious out in the cold weather. Cold can shrink blood vessels, making your heart pump harder to get blood to your hands and feet.

Take it slow and have a healthy holiday season!

Located at: 303 Lowe Street, Valdez, Alaska 99686 1976 Aurora Drive, Glennallen 99588 705 2nd Street, Cordova 99574 and online

www.pwsc.alaska.edu 907-834-1600

UA is an AA/EO employer and educational institution and prohibits illegal discrimination against any individual: www.alaska.edu/titleIXcompliance/nondiscrimination.

“No snowflake in an avalanche ever feels responsible.”

-Stanislaw Jerzy Lec-

Every Artifact Tells a Story

Every artifact in a museum tells a story. Every painting once was the focus of an artist being inspired to put paint on a brush. Every mineral was formed somewhere within the Earth. Every spear point was crafted by a man or woman, probably working in a special spot set aside for the task. Where did they find the raw material? Or was it a traded commodity? These are the stories museums try to answer because these stories create links from the past to the present. From the person who sat and crafted that spear point to the child who wanders through a museum, fingers on the glass, gazing at its wonders. Often the items in a museum are silent. Parts of the story get lost along the way, and the artifact becomes quiet, with only a short description in a catalog, noting the type of stone and perhaps the name of the person who found it. This past month, Sam Coffman, Research Archaeologist at the UA Museum of the North, visited the Maxine & Jesse Whitney Museum at Prince William Sound College and brought with him a technology to help give some of our artifacts a voice. Part of his research includes the non-destructive portable X-ray Flourescence (pXRF) geochemical sourcing of different materials, specifically rhyolite and obsidian. Over the course of two days, Sam painstakingly aimed the hair dryer-sized ray gun and scanned 53 spear points, in situ in their displays, which were either obsidian or rhyolite. Each scan took several minutes and resulted in a computer readout of all the elements and their percentages in or on that point. He then compared these elemental signatures “to known and existing data for obsidian sources located in the Russian Far East, Alaska, and parts of the Yukon and British Columbia Providences of Canada.” Elsewhere the technology has been used to identify the pigments used on Old Masters paintings and to analyze the elements found in ancient bones to help determine where people or animals were born, based on the ground water elements of possible locations. According to the results of Sam’s testing and research: “The majority of the obsidian artifacts housed at the Maxine and Jesse Whitney Museum in Valdez, Alaska are likely from obsidian sources located in the Contiguous United States and not from Alaska (or circumpolar north) obsidian sources. Despite this, three artifacts were manufactured on Alaska obsidian. The Group N designation for AOD-22202 is tentative, and based on distribution of known samples, only occurs in Northwestern Alaska indicating the artifact was likely collected from that region at some point . . .” One positive match was made to the Glass Buttes obsidian source located in southeastern Oregon for a single point (pictured). Did Maxine bring these with her when she moved to Alaska? Did she obtain them from the previous museum owner? How did she collect these, and what was her motivation? We may never know, or the stories may remain silent until new technology is developed. If you are interested in viewing these and many more artifacts at the Whitney Museum, the museum is open daily from Memorial Day through Labor Day, and weekday appointments may be made during the off season (with the exception of University holiday closures) by calling 907-834-1690.