This morning we retweeted an item from Alaska Dispatch about some sobering statistics regarding broadband connectivity in the Last Frontier. Akamai Technologies, creator of digital operating environments for the Web, has released its global “State of the Internet” report for the first quarter of 2010. In the post “’State of the Internet,’ bad news for AK,” the Dispatch writes:
“The United States slipped a little in terms of average connection speed, coming in 16th and averaging overall 4.7 Mbps (megabits per second). The country with the fastest average connection speed in the survey was South Korea, which registered an astonishing 33 Mbps average.
“Alaska, sadly, was worst among U.S. states, with 2.7 Mbps average speeds, along with the highest percentage of residents whose access comes through ultra-slow connections, defined as less than 256 Kbps (kilobits per second).”
The number of deaths among Anchorage’s homeless population is unacceptable. No fewer than 23 homeless people have been found dead in our parks, forested areas, private lawns, and various other urban locations in just over a year. The vast majority of these incidents involved alcohol.
Anchorage residents, public officials, and social service professionals are debating whether and where to introduce a Housing First facility in Anchorage. Our view is that this is a debate worth having. We as a community need to find a workable solution. It is both the right and fiscally prudent thing to do.
Homelessness in Anchorage is not new. The Foundation partners with a number of shelters, soup kitchens, and related services that respond to the need, including for those individuals who suffer from alcoholism. But options are scarce for people who suffer from a combination of chronic homelessness and substance abuse.
The approximately 400 chronically homeless, substance abusing individuals are less than 15 percent of Anchorage’s homeless – which includes couples and parents with children — who lack a fixed, regular, adequate nighttime residence. Not only do they find themselves in dangerous, unhealthy and violent situations, but they disproportionately burden our emergency resources.
The potential clients of a Housing First facility are the 200 or so “frequent flyers” at the city’s Community Service Patrol & Sleep-Off Center who make up 81 percent of the 20,000 annual CSP intakes. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Cassandra Stalzer, Communications Manager
While you might not be familiar with the word pipa, you have no doubt heard music produced by this 2,000-year-old, stringed, Chinese instrument. It is, to me, the sound of China.
Pipa virtuoso Wu Man has been travelling around Alaska sharing her love of the instrument not only for how it embodies the history and culture of China, her country of origin, but how it can be used in contemporary music forms. Wu Man is recognized as an outstanding exponent of the traditional pipa repertoire as well as a leading interpreter of contemporary pipa music by today’s most prominent composers, and collaborator with nationally reknowned artists such as Yo Yo Ma and the Kronos Quartet.
Wu Man is currently wrapping up her Alaska AIR (Artist in Residency) program after having performed a collaborative work with Alaska musicians titled “The Oort Coud” in Juneau, Sitka and Anchorage. (See previous posts about the Alaska AIR program here and here.) Read the rest of this entry »
In February 2010, the Rasmuson Foundation commissioned Helicon Collaborative to conduct a scan of arts and cultural institutions in Alaska regarding the impact of the current economic recession on the sector. This scan involved an online survey of 81 arts and cultural organizations from across the state as well as phone interviews with 21 cultural organization leaders. Alaska State Council on the Arts was asked to facilitate the contract with Helicon and direct the survey activities.
The following highlights the main findings of the survey:
A majority of organizations are seeing these economic challenges as a long-term shift in the resource base for the cultural sector and are preparing to operate leaner, more opportunistic organizations in the future.
Organizations are reducing activities and related staff positions that are not critical to the essence of their mission. Many organizations consider themselves to be under-resourced for the scale of their operations. Many organizations are open to more radical restructuring, but are uncertain of sustainable models.
The Alaska Funders Group is a loose knit group of community, corporate and private funders who meet quarterly to build network, share opportunities, and exchange ideas and practices. Philanthropy Northwest provides basic support services.
Last Thursday, about 40 people convened at The Alaska Community Foundation to hear two corporate funders – Kaladi Brothers Coffee and The Pebble Partnership – discuss the role of community giving and supporting practices within their respective organizations.
It’s a whole lot easier to get excited about oral hygiene when you get to brandish an oversized toothbrush like a sword—ready to take on the evils of plaque buildup and banish cavities for life with a flourish. At least that’s what I thought when I saw photos of a young tooth-brush wielding cowboy at the MouthPower exhibit, which made its first stop in Juneau earlier this spring.
Summertime is upon us, and at Rasmuson Foundation and we’re excited to join with many of our partners in celebration of all things related to Mountain View neighborhood in Anchorage. Here’s a peek at what’s happening in the neighborhood.
Credit Union 1 opens its Mountain View branch Our hearty congratulations go out to Credit Union 1, which opened its Mountain View branch on June 7, 2010. Credit Union 1 has become the first financial institution to enter the Mountain View community in more than 20 years. Modern banking services are now within reach of the 80 percent of Mountain View families who do not own a vehicle. The branch includes a police substation, community internet access, a conference room for civic groups, financial education classes, and a protected bus stop for easy access. Credit Union 1 designed each feature to inspire positive change and social progress in our friends’ and neighbors’ lives. Thank you! Read the rest of this entry »
We’ve been following mobile technology trends and experimenting with social media for several years. Last year, we began to notice that an increasing number of visitors to our web site were using mobile devices or smartphones of all types as their point of access. Knowing that regular web sites are designed for desktop-sized monitors, we knew that those visiting us via smartphones were not likely to have a good experience on our site.
We are happy to announce the release of our mobile browser. Just go to www.rasmuson.org from your ‘Droid, iPhone, Blackberry or mobile device of choice and we’ll serve up a site that is specifically designed for you (and fits in your smartphone’s screen!). The mobile browser is in “Beta” form which means we are most interested in your feedback as the primary way through which to improve both it and your experience. So please visit, test it, and share your candid feedback. But most importantly, enjoy it!
Aside from our visitors telling us they increasingly prefer mobile internet, what other events have informed our thinking? Here is a brief outline:
When Ed Rasmuson took to the stage on Saturday, May 22 to celebrate the completion of the latest expansion of the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center, it was a culminating moment in the decades-long vision of the Rasmuson family to build a great museum for all Alaskans.
Seated in the front row during the opening ceremony, in the atrium named in her honor, was Mary Louise Rasmuson. Stalwart champions of the arts, Mary Louise and Elmer Rasmuson were involved with the Anchorage Museum since its inception.
Posted by Jordan Marshall, Initiatives & Special Projects
On the morning of May 27, 2010, in a standing-room only ceremony held in the Rasmuson Foundation boardroom, Governor Sean Parnell signed a bill into law. The bill ensures the Pick. Click. Give. (PCG) Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD) Charitable Contributions Program will forever be an annual feature of the online PFD application. PCG provides Alaskans a chance to donate all or a portion of their PFD to eligible Alaska nonprofit organizations, community foundations, and university campuses when they file online. With the stroke of his pen, Governor Parnell made permanent a dream to increase the number of people who give to Alaska nonprofits, as well as the total amount of charitable dollars that are donated, by aligning the PFD application process with the opportunity to donate to worthy causes. Read the rest of this entry »
MySpace...
Facebook
Flickr: Rasmuson...
Twitter
Delicious