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Processes and Costs Imposed by Environmental Stress
Arlon R. Tussing
A useful distinction is made between internal and external costs of human activity in polar environments. Until I very recently, external costs have been reduced as negligible because of low population densities and a narrow spectrum of alternative uses for polar resources. Polar wilderness is now coming to be regarded as an asset to non-polar mankind, but the value of this asset has yet to be specified in a manner that allows it to be used in cost-benefit analysis. We do not know much about the direct, internal costs of economic activity in polar areas, except that they tend to be high. Much of the differential in costs between the Arctic and the temperate zones is not directly related to climate and other physical factors and may reflect these factors at al I only through the influence of low population densities and low levels of economic development. Equipment, materials, and techniques used in the North were typically designed for a different physical environment; high rates of labor turnover and low manpower efficiency in the North probably result largely from the absence of cultural. amenities that people in the United States, Canada or the U.S.S.R. normally expect. In the United States' Subarctic (Southcentral Alaska), cost structures are normalizing rapidly with the growth of population and economic activity. It is possible that settlement and economic development. in the polar regions would bring similar results, but the necessary population and economic densities are not now foreseeable.
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Alaska's Agriculture An Analysis of Developmental Problems
Wayne E. Burton
The U.S. Department of Agriculture through the Economic Research Service, the State of Alaska through the Department of Economic Development, and other federal and state agencies contributed data and financial support for studies of Alaska agriculture that provided a partial basis for this report. Ors. Leigh H. Hammond and Harold 0. Carter served as consultant to the Economic Research Service and provided technical consultation to the University of Alaska staff during the early stages of a preliminary study regarding data and procedures on farm types, demand projections, and economies of scale in processing agricultural products. Dr. Robert C. Haring was the principal investigator on an earlier ISEG R economic evaluation of potentials for agricultural development in Alaska. While the present report is in part based upon his earlier work and other sources, its authorship is strictly that of Dr. Wayne E. Burton with appropriate assistance provided by ISEGR editor, James D. Babb. Technical consultation was provided the author by a number of persons including: Mr. Blaine 0. Halliday, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service, on soil capabilities and production potential; Mr. Duane Skow, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Statistical Reporting Service, on agricultural statistics and geographic regions; Ors. Dana Myrick, Charles H. Rust, Walter G. Heid, Clarence W. Jensen, and William Lassey, Montana State University, on preparing his doctoral thesis "Alaska's Agricultural Production Potential: An Economic Analysis;" and Dr. Donald H. Dinkel, on horticulture and floriculture possibilities. Dr. Burton's work in preparing this report was in major part supported by the Institute of Agricultural Sciences, previously the Alaska Agricultural Experiment Station. The conclusions and recommendations are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the State of Alaska, or the University of Alaska.
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Some Instructional Strategies for the Cross-Cultural Classroom
Judith Kleinfield
Based on questionnaire data, 64% (114 respondents) return from all teachers in small village schools operated by the State of Alaska and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, This paper describes instructional strategies for new teachers entering the Alaskan cross-cultural community classroom. The paper also suggests how the instructional methods harmonize with village students' learning styles in regard to (1) personalism (experiment with ways to harmonize personal teaching style with students* learning styles) (2) competitiveness (devise teaching methods to cope with passive students), (3) joking (use this native method of correction in a two-sided manner), (4) project-reward work rhythm (assign concentrated work followed by material rewards and relaxation), (5) observational learning (use image-based instruction), (6) village-based anchoring ideas (relate instructional material to students' village experiences), and (7) parental involvement (inform parents as to the school's why's and how's). The appendix shows a copy of the questionnaire sent at the end of the 1969-70 school year. (MJB
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Alaska Native Population Trends and Vital Statistics, 1950-1985
George W. Rogers
The original version of this analysis of Alaska Native population was made in 1964 at the request of the then area director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Robert L. Bennett, for guides in discussing bureau goals in relation to the new Economic Opportunity Act. The purposes were to provide a basis for estimating the current (1964) Native population by areas to identify and measure the underlying dynamics of the population change, and to make projections by areas in the year 2000 that could be related to projections of anticipated new employment and relocation requirements. The resulting analysis was updated and appeared in revised form in December 1967 as a part of a broader analysis of economic and social guidelines for the Washington·Alaska Regional Medical Program. The present version was produced not in response to such specific requests, but because of the need for a new look at Alaska's Native population and its future.
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