Alaskan Duffy

WE’RE OVER THE HALFWAY POINT HERE PEOPLE!!! BOBBI HAS NOW BEEN PREGNANT FOR MORE THAN HALF OF THE GESTATION PERIOD OF A HUMAN!

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When I was a kid I entered the PTA Reflections contest nearly every year.

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As promised, here’s the recipe for Bobbi’s Pumpkin Cheesecake.

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Bobbi made deviled eggs for Thanksgiving.  One of the eggs was a double yolk.

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Bobbi’s thesis defense was yesterday. She did a great job (and that’s not just me being the biased husband).

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Originally published in the Fairbansk Daily News-Miner November 21, 2007

Robinson: Who knew high school wrestling could be such a contentious issue…

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Originally published in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner November 20, 2007

Robinson: Two enrollment stories for the price of one! What a deal.

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Oriinally published in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner November 20, 2007

We have a fairly vocal talk radio crowd here in Fairbanks and apparently they have latched onto this story (even reading portions of it on air) as proof that the school district is wasting money.

I guess I’m flattered that my story caught people’s attention. I’m just not sure I want to be associated with that camp of people.

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Originally published in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner 11/17/07

 Robinson: This was a hard story to do the reporting for.  You can’t tell me that race isn’t a sensitive subject and here I was talking to people who, frankly, were only in Fairbanks because of the color of their skin.  I was basically asking them questions like: “So why do you think it’s important to have people like you in this predominantly white community?”

Don’t get me wrong.  I think the program is commendable.  I don’t believe in racial quotas, but I do think that it’s important to have diversity in education.  And that’s not just race.  Gender diversity is important as well.  I didn’t have a male teacher until fifth-grade and only then because mom and dad pulled me out of Spanish immersion.  If they hadn’t done that I wouldn’t have had a male teacher (besides PE) until ninth-grade when I had Mr. Barker for geometry and Mr. Smith for drama. 

So dad, I’m curious…your school district is markedly more diverse in terms of student body than Fairbanks.  What does your teacher pool look like?  Is it whitewashed?

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Originally published in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner 11/16/07 

 Robinson: I was told that in terms of Native Alaskans, I’m the only “that gets it” at the News-Miner. 

When I started calling around to do the reporting for this story (what I considered a fairly straight-forward one about a student group getting a national award) I was told by the group’s faculty adviser that she was hesitant to talk to the media, but she had read some other articles I had written about Native Alaskans and rural Alaska (she mentioned the fact that I had just taken a trip to Galena…see mom, the trip that keeps on giving…) and that she was happy to work with me on the story because I “get it.”

I’m not sure what to make of that. 

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