Wild Winter in Anchorage

If 'wild' and 'cold' go together, this is the winter of both. However, everytime I compare our winters with those back East, I think this is still the place to live. There was a period of time when the temperative did not rise above zero, but now it's a balmy fifteen degrees or so, and there are indoor and outdoor choices to fill your days. The ice sculptures in Town Square are quite beautiful and a stroll thru this park is a delight.

The University offers so much that you could be flitting back and forth between the Planetarium show at the Conoco-Phillips Science Building, Folk Festival in The Wendy Williamson Auditorium, Jazz Benefits at the Arts Building, and Sports events on both the campus and the Sullivan Arena.

Skiing dominates the outdoor sports, with downhill skiing at Alyeska Resort, which is 40 miles south of town, and cross country skiing at Kincaid Park being the dominent venus for these.

Plans are gearing up for the Fur Rendezvous celebration, which promises to the big lead-in weeks to the Iditarod Raes. So it won't be long until the long dark days are over and we will have survived another year of an Alaskan winter. It's still a good time to visit Anchorage before the big crowds of summer start arriving.

University of Alaska Anchorage

This is the newest building at the University of Alaska Anchorage, compliments of ConocoPhillips, and formally named the Integrated Science Building (CPISB). Recently opened this fall, it is eco-friendly, with State-of-the-Art construction, dedicated to similar instruction, research, and interdisciplinary science.

The public was invited to the opening program, and were overwhelmed by this 120,000-square-foot facility. In addition to the three modules, or wings, adjacent to the glass atrium is a 64-seat digital planetarium, with a 33 foot dome that projects a seamless image over the entire dome surface, with a sound system to match.

ConocoPhillips Alaska, Inc. pledged $15 million to support science and engineering programs at UAA, and it was named in honor of the generous oil company. Over the years, the University has become a real showpiece. My blog a few months ago talks about the Foucault Pendulum at the beautiful new library, which is the closest building to this science building, and the arts building houses three theatres that have a vibrant arts season. I don't know what's coming next, but each new building is exciting to visit for the public, and inspirational to the student.