by Thomas O’Harra When this season started, back in November, I was so excited to race. There’s something in the air in the early season, everyone pumped up and excited. I got so nervous before the races back then, I could barely eat breakfast on race morning. And sure, I still got really nervous before my sprint race in Kazakhstan, and my sprint race in Switzerland, and some of the races at Junior Nationals, but the further into the season that I got, the more comfortable I felt before each event, and about racing in general. That isn’t to say, however, that I was less excited about racing. I love…

by Ashana Armstrong I had observed the Double-crested Cormorant in Washington years ago, but had no clue what all those black birds were that just stood, perched on the piers in Puget Sound. Now I know what these creatures are and the history that they have with humans. These really are fascinating birds that need to be watched more often. Before I get into my observations, I would like to thank Professor Scott Swann, Matt Drennan and Rich McDonald for helping me along the way this term in regards to birding. The main two sites I ended up watching the Double-crested Cormorant was on the shoreline in Bar Harbor and…

by Crystal Dalison After my island cruiser of a car finally succumbed to its lifetime of abuse, I had to hitchhike to work every day. Because I lived out in the jungle, down a sparsely populated dirt road, my morning commute usually involved a lot of walking. Crazy as it may sound, I didn’t mind it too much. Don’t let anyone tell you that hitchhiking on the island is easy, because it isn’t, but it can be a lot of fun – especially if you happen upon a consistent ride like I did. Even though she was always alone when she picked me up, I always sat in the back…

by Garrett Okonek Psychology has been similar to medicine for a long time. Both have traditionally looked for illnesses in patients, then have used specific treatments formulated for those ailments. In medicine, the focus is on sicknesses of the body, which are tangible and are usually caused by a specific thing, such as a virus or an injury. However, psychologists deal with sicknesses of the mind. Mental illness is sometimes caused by specific things, like chemical imbalances of the brain or head injuries, but more often results from a variety of causes, like a traumatic childhood or a recent death in the family. Diagnoses can still be made, but someone…

by Will Day It seemed like just another crossing between Bahamian Cays. Sure, the rip current was moving faster than they’d encountered before, but they’d compensated by giving the racing water a wide berth. Five novice kayakers began to cross, eager to test their newfound abilities on what would be their first crossing without instructor guidance. Fifty yards offshore, their plan disintegrated. The bow of a cruise ship–reminiscent in size of an apartment building–punched through the gap between islands and charged, like a bull out of hell, toward the five students in their feeble plastic boats… [divider] Alaska Pacific University is unique in the world of undergraduate education, offering a…

by Kayleigh Gilbert Are nonfat yogurt and sugar free candy as good for our bodies as many ads make it sound? What do we actually know about the chemically processed ingredients and their reactions with our bodies? Can these ingredients be connected to many mental and physical problems like ADD, unexplained blood clots, birth defects, and quite possibly even Alzheimer’s? Refined sugars like the ones you would find in a bagel or a pumpkin bar have been linked to hypoglycemia which causes hyperactivity during low blood sugar. Wade and Wolraich (1995) did a study to find a connection and found, “This hypothesis became prominent after it was found in a…

by Breeyana Marshall I was in a mad dash to pick up my twelve year old son from a late night session at Diamond Skate Land. As I drove up I saw a little girl, no older than eight or nine. She was standing there, legs spread behind, pushed outward, thrusting her hips hard and fast in a very provocative fashion. It appeared that she was humping the air. I was appalled and disgusted. This later turned to sadness for a generation of innocence that has been lost with the values of my parent’s generation. What I witnessed made me realize how sexualized America’s children have become. The definition of…

by Thomas O’Harra Hello all, Thomas again… So, last weekend (Sunday the 7th) I raced the relay at Junior World Championships. I was the scramble leg, which means I raced first. It was a 5km classic race, and it started fast. I held onto the leaders as long as I could, and then died really hard, at about 3.5km. I lost several places and dropped back to 11th, but I am happy with being able to ski with the leaders for as long as I did. It was a lot of fun, and I am really excited to come back next year and try and hold onto the leaders for…

by Nick Jenkins It all began at a Halloween party in 2012. I (Nick) was dressed as a vintage mountaineer and Sean was an incredibly convincing Chewbacca. We were talking about classes we planned to take the following semester and I told Sean about a directed study I was developing where I filmed and edited a feature-length ski movie. Sean, who had always been my primary backcountry skiing partner, jumped at the idea immediately and we sealed our newly formed partnership with a disgusting jello shot. For the next few months we scrambled to get all the necessary paperwork pushed through the university and filed with the state. Since we…