By Roman Dial Dear COVID, You are simply so random that I don’t know where to start. Maybe at the beginning in December ‘19 when I got deathly ill after the American Geophysical Union conference in San Francisco with its 25,000 attendees mixing and breathing all that recycled air where it seemed that one in ten conference-goers came from China? That sickness put me and Peggy in bed for a week. Or when you spoiled my book release hopes and dreams? How about when you threatened to crash my field-work plans? Or forced me to teach online? Which I hoped I’d never have to do over my 30-year career. Since…
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Dear Covid
By Annette Rearden Dear COVID- 2020 gave me something much scarier than you. Funny thing this is, I manage to beat you both. Signed,Vaccinated AND in remission
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Dear Covid
By Deb Codding Dear Covid, The news calls you a PANDEMIC – I call you a PAN-DAMN-IC. I had just started to recover from a heart attack on Christmas Eve, December 2019 when you reared your ugly head. Well nanny-nanny-boo-boo — try as you might you DID NOT catch me and I DID NOT catch you! Of course, that didn’t stop you from wreaking havoc in my life. My 40-year-old daughter got sick just about the time the doctors went to virtual appointments. You know the kind you caused where the doctors don’t want to see you in person and you just talk into the computer describe your symptoms. She…
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Dear Covid
By Joe Sarcone Dear Covid, You’re on us like a bad rash. Go scratch yourself. Sincerely, joe
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An Ode to John Doe
By Maya Mossanen To whom it may concern, My name is Jake Mosley, and I think I am a great fit for your school because….because….well.Maybe I’ll start by telling you a little about myself. I’m from Jefferson Ohio, birthplace of the great State senator Benjamin Franklin wade. Not to be confused with Benjamin Franklin the founding father… I don’t think anyone that important has come out of Jefferson Ohio and I don’tthink that’s changing anytime soon. You can’t add that, you are supposed to convince them that you are the next great thing to come out of Jefferson Ohio, but counselor Addams also said I can’t lie in a college…
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Dear Covid
By Rosanne Pagano Dear Covid – As if. As if there’s anything dear about a plague. Unless you mean “dear” as in purchased at great price, “dear” as in the un-totalable toll in hours of lives lost, days of playground laughter stolen, weeks of paychecks delayed then smithereened by seething politics. Dear indeed. Once when I was new to journalism, eager to succeed but too green to strategize ambition, a convicted murderer serving a couple of life sentences in a federal prison happened to call the newsroom where I worked. I didn’t know then but it seems that this particular killer called the paper regularly, always on a Saturday afternoon:…
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Rivera Interview
Felix Rivera, Class of 2011, came to APU from his home state of Texas with plans to major in marine biology. Writing classes, working on the campus newspaper and being elected to student government led him to a degree in Liberal Studies. In 2017 Rivera was elected to the Anchorage Assembly, where he’s completing a second term. In an interview Nov. 4 with Media Writing students, Rivera, 31, urged APU students to take advantage of opportunities that a small campus offers. “Become active in your communities,” he said, drawing on his own experience with nonprofit groups including Identity INC, Alaskans Together for Equality, and Spectrum, organizer of the annual Pride…
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Contamination
By Kat O’Brian You wouldn’t expect the end of the world to come with blue skies. There should be chaos, not a chill in the air. But right now as it all comes crashing, crashing down. There are no clouds, just sunshine. And you wouldn’t think that your routine would be the same at the end of the world. A 9 to 5 doldrum. The same commute, but quicker now. Radio silence, followed by the same news of dead bodies and closed cities. Yet, it’s the end of the world and NPR keeps playing, Back and to that office building. Turning key after key, because doors are still locked during…
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Colorado
By Zoe May Mark and Jen have been driving on I-70 for the past four hours. The roads have not seen rain in almost a month, so they were able to cover a lot of ground with the posted 80 mile per hour speed limit. The summer is supposed to mean green grass and relief from the dry winter, but this summer meant brown and brittle grass as a stark reminder of the man-made drought. Life goes on, or doesn’t in the case of the grass. Their 2010 Toyota Forerunner is the only car on this stretch of road for the last 20 miles. A strange sight for the usually…
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How An Ancient Military Staple Became Alaska’s Favorite Cracker
By Abigail Slater Pilot bread, for many Alaskans, is invisible. By this I mean that it is no more noticeable in our pantries than are the sugar, the canned beans, or the dry milk. This invisibility only exists within the state; outside, many won’t know what pilot bread even is. They might view it as a culinary novelty, even (typically an unpleasant one). But pilot bread goes back – way back. Much further than most Alaskans might realize. To understand the modern day pilot bread, we must first look at its forefather: hard tack. Hard tack (sometimes spelled hardtack) has a long history that goes back all the way to…
