The University of Alaska is committed to teaching, research and public service. Among these, research is least understood. Some people think research means looking things up in the library, but research in a university means creation of new knowledge.
In any state, the state university plays a unique and sacred role in government. It is the place where future leaders of society receive their education, and where knowledge is archived, analyzed, discussed, taught and made available to the public through extension services. Visual and performing arts are perfected and presented, and new knowledge is created by vigorous research. There is a synergy among these three commitments and the whole is bigger than the parts. The university's role in improving music, drama, visual arts and overall quality of life in Alaska increases in proportion to the way all three of these components are strengthened and increased in scope.
Research in particular keeps faculty members at the cutting edge of their fields, and brings enthusiasm and creativity to teaching at both graduate and undergraduate levels. It also provides research projects and thesis topics for graduate students, and it allows the university to broaden its scope, activities that are otherwise impossible.
The University of Alaska is situated in the midst of a vast natural laboratory for research in the physical, biological and social sciences. The laboratory (Alaska) sprawls across what used to be four official time zones. It covers 57.5 degrees of longitude, which equals the span from Maine to Washington. North to south, it extends through 20 degrees of latitude, from 51 to 71 degrees. In other words, it extends from a latitude south of London, England, to within 19 degrees of the North Pole. And the coastline of Alaska, on two oceans and the Bering Sea, exceeds the combined coastlines of all the other states, including Hawaii. Most villages are reached only by air or water transportation, and English is a second language in many places.
Alaska's size, variety and sparse population incur responsibilities for the state government that no other state even dreams of. It is also a challenge, and a unique opportunity, to be engaged in research aimed at understanding this big, multifaceted country. Alaska's university has stepped up to this challenge.
The only thing that exceeds the size and complexity of Alaska is our ignorance about it. We treat this ignorance by research and teaching. The University of Alaska is now a world leader in research of the Arctic and sub-Arctic, and has become internationally famous for it. This is a source of pride for Alaska, as well as a source of funding.
However, the lack of general understanding of research leads to absurd suggestions such as, "The University of Alaska should stop doing research and use 'all that money' for teaching." But the research money, more than 80 percent from the federal government, is restricted to its intended purpose and not available for teaching. So to stop doing research would only mean a net loss of funds to Alaska and closing most graduate student opportunities at the university.
It is also important to realize that if the University of Alaska ended its research activity it would not stop Alaska research from being done. Instead, our share of it would simply be taken over by other universities in the U.S. and in foreign countries. We could significantly reduce or even stop the spending of federal research dollars in Alaska. If this happened, someone would eventually ask: "Why is all this research in Alaska and the Arctic being done by people from Outside? Why not base some of it here?" That might get us going again on the long, slow, difficult process of rebuilding what we now have.
Many of our graduate students have gone on to leadership roles in Alaska industry, government and consulting firms. Indeed, research is an important item in the economy of Alaska (which has been the case for several decades). Research at the university interacts with research in private, state and federal agencies, which have based their research components nearby. It makes sense for Alaska to develop this evolving "smoke free" industry.
The university is committed to teaching, research and public service, and research contributes to both of the other components.
Carl Benson is emeritus professor of geophysics at the Geophysical Institute at UAF. He lives in Fairbanks.
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