APC members Vera Starbard, Jessica Golden, and Joan Harris have received project grants from the Rasmuson Foundation. Read more in the article that appeared in the Anchorage Daily News.

A summary of our April 2, 2009 speaker, Stan Jones
by Barbara Brown

Twenty years ago, on March 24, 1989, 11 million gallons of crude oil were dumped in Prince William Sound when the Exxon Valdez tanker went aground.

At the time, Stan Jones was a reporter with the Anchorage Daily News, covering the spill. Now, Jones works his “day job” as the Director of External Affairs for the Prince William Sound Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council (RCAC), the nonprofit body designed to serve as watchdog for the safety of crude oil transportation in the Sound.

For the 20th Anniversary of the spill, Jones teamed with oral historian Sharon Bushell to write The Spill: Personal Stories from the Exxon Valdez Disaster. He delivered a PowerPoint presentation and remarks at the April 2 luncheon.

Jones began by discussing prevention strategies put in place post-Spill. The Oil Pollution Act of 1990 requires the phase-out of single-hulled tankers by 2015. If the Exxon Valdez had had a double-hull, the spill would have been reduced by 60 percent, which illustrates that this is not a fool-proof method: 4 million gallons would still have polluted the Sound. Combine double hulls with the two-tug escort system now in place (the Exxon Valdez was unescorted by the time it reached Bligh Reef) and prevention is much improved. However, the Oil Pollution Act allows the phase-out of escorts as double-hulled tankers are brought into operation. The RCAC is fighting this phase-out.

The Exxon Valdez left the tanker lanes in 1989 to avoid icebergs. A later risk assessment identified icebergs in tanker lanes as “among the most significant risks to crude oil tankers,” so RCAC funded research and computer software development for ice-detection radar (to distinguish ice from water).

Improvements have been made to response, training, and contingency planning for any future spills. In 1989, fishermen were using five-gallon buckets to pick up oil; now, oil-skimming systems can pick up 12 million gallons in 72 hours. In 1989, there were five miles of containment boom; now there are 71 miles.

But asked whether there have been advances in clean-up technology, Jones replied, “Not really.” That’s why the emphasis has to be on prevention. Nowadays beaches may be left oiled because clean-up can do greater damage.

The fallout from the Spill remains with us today. Whether it’s oil on the beaches, economic impacts on fishermen, or lasting effects on wildlife, the disaster lingers. Witness this photo, taken on Smith Island Beach June 26, 2008, and tell us the Sound has “healed.”

In identifying the personal stories Jones and Bushell planned to include in their book, they decided to interview only people “with oil on their boots,” the people up close to the disaster.

Several highlights from Stan Jones’ PowerPoint (including quotes from the book) follow:

“The window of opportunity was in the first forty-eight hours, and for the first forty-eight hours we at Alyeska were trying to figure out what the hell to do.” — Gary Bader, Alyeska

“We had to do something, even if it was just looking busy.” — Adm. Clyde Robbins, USCG

“There was a seal that had been screaming for hours, trying to get on her boat, trying to get out of the oil. The sound of a seal’s scream is exactly like that of a baby, and it kept hitting the side of the hull, trying to get on board.” — Tom Copeland, Cordova fisherman

“I would like to offer an apology, a very heartfelt apology, to the people of Alaska.” — Joe Hazelwood, captain of the Exxon Valdez

All About “About Face” - Anchorage filmmaker Mary Katzke returns for an encore presentation at
the Alaska Professional Communicators luncheon Thursday, June 4, to tell the story behind her documentary feature film, “About Face.” About five years ago, Mary showed our group a five-minute clip of the film, which was then not much more than a glint in the camera’s eye. Now, she’s fresh from Toronto’s HotDocs Canadian International Documental Festival, where “About Face” was recently nominated for a top international award.

“About Face” is the story of Gwendellin Bradshaw, who was horribly disfigured when she was a baby after being tossed into a campfire by her distraught mother, suffering from post-partum psychosis. Unable to forgive her mother, Gwen’s father raised her on his own, and she never saw her mother again. The film picks up Gwen’s incredible story as she begins a five-year journey to find the answers she needs to forgive, heal, and move forward.

Mary will discuss the making of the movie and tell what it was like to participate in an international film festival, as well as show a clip and answer audience questions.

Luncheon Information
11:30 a.m., Thursday, June 4
Golden Lion Hotel, 1000 East 36th Avenue, Anchorage

Lunch: members $16; guests of members $18; others $20

Reservations:
1. RSVP and payment through PayPal.

2. Email: thetus at gci dot net by noon Tuesday, June 2.

3. Call 274-4723 and leave a message, including a phone number where you can be reached. When calling or sending an email, please include how many people are coming and their names.

More about Mary Katzke
Mary Katzke founded Affinityfilms, Inc. in 1982 as an Alaska-based nonprofit committed to addressing social issues and instigating change. Along with a dedicated volunteer staff and crew, Mary seeks
out the abused, the disenfranchised, and the suffering — and weaves stories of redemption and hope meant to inspire audiences from all walks of life.

Mary’s undergrad education in Radio Television and Film at the University of Texas at Austin, along with her MFA in Writing and Directing Film and Television from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, were the launching pads for her life mission to tell meaningful and compelling stories through film. She has so far produced over thirty documentaries and feature films.

Originally from the farmlands of Minnesota, Mary migrated to Alaska in the early ’80s and found herself at home among the local people and settings. She has made it her calling to tell the stories of those who
have suffered in the face of such odds as illiteracy, mental illness, cancer and abuse and hopes that in telling these tales, Affinityfilms will affect a greater change.

Affinityfilms won its first grant to film About Face from the Alaska State Council on the Arts back in 2004 and Mary is honored to have been given the opportunity to tell the heartbreaking and poignant saga
of Gwendellin Bradshaw. The film was completed in January 2009 and Mary looks forward to sharing her film and Gwen’s story, with audiences worldwide so that public stigma surrounding mental illness can be alleviated. “It is an illness, not a character flaw and should be treated as such.”

On Thursday, May 4, winners in the 2009 Communication Contest were announced. All first-place award entries will go on to compete at the national level in the National Federation of Press Women contest.

Winners included: Amy Murphy, Diana Haecker, Kathleen Tarr, Yereth Rosen, Arlene Lidbergh-Jasper, Kristin Tolbert, Dee Gould, Pamela Eldridge, Jessica Cochran, Steve Heimel, Johanna Eurich, Shannyn Moore, Therese Harvey, Dr. Thad Woodard, April K. Young, Sheila Balistreri, Dianne O’Connell, Laurie Wiese, Laura Kotelman, Tammy Ashley, Jordan Craddick, Tina M. Adair, Elise Patkotak, Noe Texeira, Natalie J. Harrison, Vera Starbard, Jessica Dorrington, Marie Stewman, Katie Bausler, Kalei Brooks, Sherrie Simmonds, Linda Kay Thompson, Stan Jones, Dianne Barske, Katherine M. Hocker, Mary F. Wilson, Steven C. Levi, Mariah Oxford, and Judith Fuerst Griffin.

Complete list of award winners.

In 1981, our organization decided to help Alaskans pursue their education in the communications field. This year we are awarding two $1,000 scholarships in memory of Betzi Woodman, Kay Kennedy, Phyllis Carlson, Jimmy Bedford, Chris McClain, Jo Ann Wold, Natalie Gottstein, Elizabeth Plank, Mae Martin, Pat Oakes, Suzan Nightingale, Ruth Kilcher Marriott, John Killoran, Loretta Schooley, Nancy Cain Schmitt and others. Their spirits live on in our scholarship winners.

Winners of the 2009 scholarships:

Teeka Ballas, a senior at the University of Alaska Anchorage with a double major: journalism with a focus on print, and international studies with a focus on Russia. She was a first place winner with a radio entry in our 2007 Communications Contest.

Brenna O’Tierney, a sophomore at Northwestern University majoring in journalism with a minor in political science.