YoungAlaskans.org

Alaska History

• Alaska History and Cultural Studies - Alaska’s History & Cultural Studies provides students, teachers and others interested in the state access to a rich source of facts and viewpoints about Alaska and its history.
• Creating Alaska - Exploring the origins of the 49th state.
• Eight Stars of Gold - In 2008 and 2009 Alaska will celebrate the golden anniversary of the achievement of Alaska Statehood. Congress passed the Statehood Act in June 1958 and President Eisenhower signed the Statehood Proclamation in January 1959. To commemorate and celebrate this momentous anniversary, the University of Alaska is spearheading Eight Stars of Gold, a multi-faceted educational project targeting school children, community groups and the general public.

Economy

• At A Crossroad: The Permanent Fund, Alaskans and Alaska’s Future - The report, based on a nine-month study, contains suggestions on management and governance of the Fund. It reviews and critiques past efforts to achieve a statewide consensus for use of non-dividend Fund income. The report explores various suggested uses of non-dividend income including the community dividend and education.
• Permanent Fund Earnings–Phase II: A Cornerstone for Fiscal Certainty - Recommends uses of Permanent Fund earnings in the context of total state fiscal needs.
• Alaska’s Asset Portfolio: Managing for Maximum Return - Alaska’ assets were examined to identify the management principles which, if consistently applied, would improve their financial return and enhance Alaska’s economic stability.
• Understanding Alaska’s Remote Rural Economy - This paper is an overview of the remote economy, based on published data. It’s at best an approximation, because the data are so limited. Still, it’s a first step—and it highlights the many gaps in information.
• Subsistence Report - The Subsistence Committee grew out of the Urban Rural Unity Study.  The committee concluded that the issues are very complex and not subject to a simple solution and it did not formulate any single solution. Instead, it offered several suggestions.
• The Foraker Group Report on the Alaska Nonprofit Economy - A report on the economic importance of Alaska’s nonprofit sector conducted by the Institute of Social and Economic Research, University of Alaska Anchorage.

Education

• The University of Alaska: A key to Alaska’s future, a time for ALL to invest - Identifies, analyzes and makes statewide policy-level recommendations about the University of Alaska in the form of general principles–not specific campus or departmental management directives. Key UA role is improvement of quality of life for Alaskans by offering educational opportunities for self-fulfillment. Learning is primary purpose of UA, supported by research and engaged service. State needs to maintain funding while other income sources are developed. Each major campus needs “centers of excellence” with research and Ph.D. degrees. Board of Regents responsible for strategic planning.
• UA Policy Brief: The Case for Strengthening Education in Alaska - Alaska needs an educated, productive workforce to keep our economy healthy—and responsible, informed citizens to keep our democracy strong. Parents, communities, and governments have to look for new ways to help all children learn.
• Finding Teachers for Alaska: Demand, Supply, and Turnover - The data presented provide an overview of the current teaching force in Alaska, and trends in supply, demand and turnover. In-state institutions cannot meet the state’s current need for educators. Moreover, increasing teacher education capacity alone will not resolve this problem.
• The University of Alaska: How Is It Doing? - Is the University of Alaska (UA)—the state’s only public university—offering a good, affordable education for Alaskans? This paper looks at that question. It first presents the available data on various measures and then summarizes successes and continuing challenges for UA. It ends with a discussion of how UA and the state are addressing higher-education issues and what other steps they might consider.
• Making Alaska More Competitive By Preparing Citizens for College and Career - The Alaska Commission on Postsecondary Education (ACPE) has partnered with the National College Access Network (NCAN) to survey the postsecondary access and success climate in Alaska. The major findings of this research are that 1) a college-going culture does not exist, and 2) the link between Alaska’s workforce needs and postsecondary education is not widely known.

Energy

• Bringing Alaska’s North Slope Gas to Market: Framing the Issues - Richard Barnes and Lee Gorsuch co-chaired a study group formed to identify issues associated with Alaska’s interests in North Slope gas commercialization. The study group focused on significant public policy issues within the power of the State of Alaska to address. The Group avoided making specific “how to” recommendations.
• Effects of Rising Utility Costs on Alaska Households - ISER analysis of how rising energy prices have increased utility costs for Alaska households since 2000. By “utility costs” we mean costs for heat, electricity, and water and sewer systems. We divided Alaska communities into three regions, based on their size and location.
• Sustainable Utilities in Rural Alaska Effective Management, Maintenance and Operation of Electric,   Water, Sewer, Bulk Fuel, Solid Waste Final Report - Reliable and affordable utility services remain out of reach for thousands of Alaskans and between $1.5 and $2 billion of public investment is potentially at risk due to the inadequate operations, maintenance, and management of electric, water, sewer, bulk fuel, and solid waste utilities in many small rural Alaska communities. This report provides a foundation of facts and ideas that can be used to move toward sustainable utilities in these places.

Environment and Wildlife

• The Economic Importance of Healthy Alaska Ecosystems - Estimates of how many jobs and other    measures of economic value to Alaska can be traced to the state’s healthy ecosystems.
• Oceans, Watersheds, and People - How Alaskans use their oceans and watersheds, perception versus reality in assessing the state of human-ocean interactions, and can we hope to manage all this?

Health and Social Services

• Kids Count Alaska - Developed by ISER, Kids Count Alaska is part of a nationwide program to collect and publicize information about children’s health, safety, and economic status. The book gives Alaskans a broad picture of how the state’s children are doing and provides parents, policymakers, and others interested in the welfare of children with information they need to improve life for children and families.
• Alaska Primary Health Care – Opportunities & Challenges - This report is the result of a 9-monthlong study of the primary health care system of Alaska. It details current issues surrounding the cost, access and quality of primary health care in Alaska and makes many suggestions for improvement. It was chaired by Board members Marvin Swink and Dr. Tom Nighswander. The report is meant to be a fluid document, constantly being updated with new information.
• Health Care Questions: Measuring the Uninsured and Implications of Cost-Shifting - At a hearing of the Joint Committee on Health Care on March 29, 2007, senators asked specific questions about two important health-care issues: how do we measure who is uninsured, and what are the implications of cost-shifting in health care? In this note, Mark Foster, a consultant to ISER who has broad experience in studying health-care issues, responds to those questions.
• ISER’s research summary on health-care spending - This Research Summary details fiscal 1991 health care spending in Alaska. It also looks at why health care costs have escalated and how spending in Alaska compares with the national average. We define health care spending to include all spending for personal care, program administration, and public health programs. The information presented here was developed by Alexandra Hill and Scott Goldsmith of ISER and the state’s Health Resources and Access Task Force.

Leadership

• Alaska’s Jobs for Alaska’s People - At the request of Governor Murkowski, through Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development Greg O’Claray, Commonwealth North produced a workforce development study, co-chaired by Dr. Alice Galvin and Jeff Staser.
• Shall there be a constitutional convention? - Objectively analyzes reasons for and against convening a Constitutional Convention. Presents facts about the ballot issue. Presents results of statewide surveys of government officials and organizations as to any constitutional changes they would recommend. This issue was on the November 5, 2002, ballot as currently required every ten years by the Alaska Constitution.

Natural Resources

• An Overview of Alaska’s Natural Assets - Alaska’s natural assets kept Native people alive for centuries, drew fortune-hunters here in the 1800s, and sustain the modern economy. But what are all these “natural assets,” how abundant are they, and what is their value? The Alaska Conservation Alliance contracted with ISER to sketch the big picture of Alaska’s natural assets—ranging from spectacular scenery to huge petroleum and coal deposits to habitat for a big share of the world’s migrating waterfowl.
• Putting Alaska’s Assets to Work for Alaskans - This study followed up on a 1998 study on how well Alaska was managing its land and resource wealth. It addressed four questions:
  • “Can Alaska’s return on assets be enhanced?”
  • “To what extent can more effective management of Alaska’s assets contribute to a sustainable revenue stream and fiscal plan?”
  • “Can managing Alaska’s business assets as a coordinated portfolio further enhance returns?”
  • “How is this to be accomplished?”
• Dividing Alaska, 1867-2000: Changing Land Ownership and Management - A summary of changing land ownership and laws and regulations governing land use.
• Methods and Approaches for Sustainable Development in Alaska - Over the past ten years, sustainable development has been popularized by programs such as the President’s Council on Sustainable Development, the United Nation’s Agenda 21, and other sustainable development programs and initiatives in many countries, U.S. states and regions, and hundreds of American communities. We reviewed a selection of these programs to learn what methods and approaches have proven useful. In this report we summarize what we learned from our review and offer suggestions about how sustainable development could emerge in Alaska.