Friday, February 30, 2009

Freddie the FAFSA Fish, mascot for the February FAFSA Frenzy program was captured upriver by UA President, Mark R. Hamilton. The FAFSA program is defined below:

• FEBRUARY - University of Alaska officially recognizes February as Financial Aid Awareness Month.
  
  
• FAFSA - Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) Students are encouraged to complete their FAFSA by the end of February.
  
  
• FRENZY - The Frenzy is a series of events and trainings around the campus and the community during February.

Hamilton is holding Freddie in an undisclosed location. A ransom note has been recieved by the the UA Student Regent, William Andrews. Andrews immediately presented the note to local student governance groups for their response.

The note reads " Fill out your FAFSA by Feb 28th or the fish gets it". It is assumed the note is from Hamilton, however it is widely suspected that his granddaughter might have helped him in the note's creation.

Negotiations between Hamilton and Andrews ended at 10:00am Monday morning. Andrews agreed that the students could win back Freddie's freedom in exchange for 2000 completed FAFSA's by Saturday, February 28.

It seems Hamilton's motivation for such a odd action is, in part, an effort to get students to realize the potential benefits to completing the FAFSA combined with a "tough love" approach to really capture their attention. Hamilton says,"Students consider the FAFSA a form that can be put off until a later date. I'm trying to communicate its importance. Will this message get through? We'll find out February 28th."

Hamilton, the avid fisherman, has always thought Freddie is a particularly fine salmon specimen and often visualized him as a delightful main course, grilled and covered with a light ginger glaze.

Freddie is a popular student mascot for the February FAFSA Frenzy.