The Mudflats

Ironically, I found myself earlier today wishing for a time machine.  My wish was completely unrelated to Alaska politics, but as is so often the case, my wish seems to have arrived in a form I did not expect.  This is why they say “Be careful what you wish for.”

I don’t know quite where I’ve landed in this time machine.  It could be the Middle Ages, or perhaps the McCarthy Era.  Then again, it may be Orwell’s 1984.  I may not know where I am,  but I do know who was at the helm of the time machine during the  wild ride that got me, and the rest of the state of Alaska, here.  Our pilot?  Representative Anna Fairclough, Republican from Eagle River.

Listening to “Gavel to Gavel” can be an eye-opening experience.  Usually, it’s long periods of boredom, punctuated by unexpected events that will instantly and dangerously raise the blood pressure.  From what I understand, it’s kind of like being in a war zone, only it won’t kill you.  Probably.

Imagine, if you will, sitting in this committee meeting, in which an elected representative is addressing Mark Hamilton, the chancellor of the University of Alaska, with some concerns she has.  And bear in mind that this exchange is happening in the United States of America.  And it’s happening today. You may need to remind yourself of this from time to time.

So, what’s the problem?  Rep. Fairclough seems to disagree with the political views of some staff at the University of Alaska.

“If I ask university staff, the people who are educating our future leaders, if they support the Chukchi Sea development, the Red Dog Mine or the Pebble Mine or any type of industry along those lines, a stereotypical response is they are in opposition,” she said.

Could this be, perhaps, because they are educated?   Go on……

“I found it amazing there was a large disconnect in where the dollars for the state of Alaska come from on a regular basis as far as production of oil on the North Slope goes, and how it is turned into revenue for the state of Alaska and in turn is invested in the university system,” she said.

So…what you’re saying is….(handing Rep. Fairclough a length of rope)

“How should I advocate more funding for an entire group that doesn’t want to see development going forward,” she said.

I’ll let that sink in with you for a minute.  You may need to reread that. (…a minute later…)  Yes, Fairclough is stating as a state Legislator on the powerful Finance Committee, that she can’t advocate for additional funding for the state university system if she perceives they are against particular mining and resource development projects.  In other words, if we’re going to fund you, you’d better get more conservative in your political views.

And let’s say for a moment that she is right about their position.  Let’s say that the staff at the University have studied…..oh…..the Pebble Mine project.  And let’s say that, as scientists, who have devoted their lives and academic energy to become experts in this field, that they have come to the conclusion that this project will irreparably damage the ecosystem of Bristol Bay, the largest salmon fishery of its kind in the world.  And let’s say they understand that while the mine project may benefit a few people, right now, that a sustainable fishery is infinitely more valuable to the state in the long term, and will benefit many more Alaskans than the unsustainable mine project.

What Rep. Fairclough is saying is that her opinion, that development must always be good, is the correct opinion.  She bases this opinion not on science, but on politics.  If she were basing it on science, she would have had to have asked scientists, and most of them come from….uh-oh, the University.  And if the scientists don’t fall in lock step with her political opinion, she, as someone on the Finance committee, will withhold funding for the entire institution of higher learning.  She will punish the University, where our next generation of leaders go to exercise freedom of thought, and freedom of expression as they learn the skill of critical thinking and formulate their world view.

Apparently we can save them all the trouble.  Rep. Fairclough already has a worldview for them.  Maybe she can print it out on index cards, and we can just staple it to the faculty employment application, and insert it into the new student packets.

Alex Simon, a professor of sociology at the University of Alaska-Southeast in Juneau, said the legislators’ comments were troubling.

“I guess they don’t understand the nature of universities,” he said.

Universities generally strive to present all viewpoints, and ask unpopular questions that can’t be asked elsewhere.

“It sounds like maybe we need to do a better job of educating the public on the role of the academy in society,” he said.

Wondering to myself exactly how it is that we have an elected member of the legislature that could possibly hold the idea, that it’s alright to withhold money from a state university until its political views become more conservative, I checked out Ms. Fairclough’s bio.  I wanted to know what University I needed to be writing, and encouraging those I know not to send their children.  What institution of higher learning; what seat of academia could have committed such an epic fail by letting one of its own out into the world with such a basic misunderstanding of the role of academia in society?  All I saw was:

“Anna is a graduate of the Anchorage Public School District and has been a resident of Alaska for 46 years.”

So, the answer is, I don’t know.  All I can say is that if Ms. Fairclough is not a college graduate, I won’t hold it against her.  Some of my favorite elected representatives have no college degree.  But she has done a very nice job of telling us exactly what she thinks her role is, as a legislator and a member of the Finance Committee.  And THAT, I can hold against her.  Alaskans, particularly those in Ms. Fairclough’s district, should be both alarmed, and outraged.

Rep. Kelly [(R) from Fairbanks] said that some in the Legislature were opposed to the university.

“There’s somewhat of an anti-university bias somehow in the walls here. I’ll call it what it is; I’ve been here long enough to figure it out,” he said.

If it’s “in the walls” then we need a good fumigator.  And if its in the legislators, we need to know exactly who they are and work with all our might to get them out.  Fast.

And now, I’d like to go home to 2009.  Who’s driving?