We receive far more guest commentaries (also known as “Compasses”) than we can publish in the newspaper. Some of the extras appear here. Send your commentary, 675 words or less, to compass@adn.com. You’ll receive further information by auto-reply email.

COMPASS WEB EXTRA

Climate bills should provide funds for Alaska to deal with impacts of warming

With climate change, we have three choices: prevention, adaptation, and suffering. The more prevention, the less adaptation we'll need and the less suffering we'll experience.

COMPASS WEB EXTRA

Shell is overselling claims about arctic spill cleanup

Shell's rosy picture of interim findings from industry-funded studies on cleaning up oil spills (ADN, 11/17/09) requires rose-colored glasses to see.

Times are tough, but your generosity can make a big difference this fall

Winter is coming and we all have friends, coworkers, neighbors, and even family who will need our help. I know that Alaskans always rise to the occasion. We lift one another up no matter what is going on with the economy or the weather.

JUDITH KLEINFELD

Are you getting enough sleep?

You can't deal with loss of sleep during the week by sleeping more on the weekend any more than you can lose weight by dieting only during the weekend.

GUEST COLUMN: WEB EXTRA

Are killer whales the culprit that's causing sea lion trouble in western Alaska?

Alaska's fisheries are once again under the gun as the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) looks at the effects of fishing on the endangered Steller sea lion (SSL).

GUEST COLUMN: WEB EXTRA

New Americans in Anchorage want to learn English but literacy aid is drying up

These women's stories are typical of the students I have had the privilege of knowing as a volunteer English instructor at the Alaska Literacy Program over the last several years.

GUEST COLUMN: WEB EXTRA

Alaska's Chugach National Forest is a "Children's Forest" - here's why

There is growing concern that in an urbanized world our youth are increasingly disconnected from their natural inheritance,

DELISA RENIDEO

Health care reform needs to start with what we eat and how we live

Imagine a community where house fires were extremely common and everyone knew someone who had burned to death in their home. Imagine, also, that it was common practice for people there to smoke in bed. Would we recommend that everyone buy more smoke detectors? Would we debate how to pay for the increasing costs of the ever-growing fire department? Would it be too radical to educate the people about the dangers of smoking in bed?

SCOTT J. DePAEPE

FedEx has unfair labor law advantages over UPS

FedEx has recently undertaken a lobbying and media campaign to prevent Congress from enacting legislation to bring its drivers under the same laws that govern all other delivery drivers in America.

DON IAN GRAY

Don't wait for Congress; state should offer its own catastrophic health plan to Alaskans

I believe the State of Alaska should self-insure all its citizens for Catastrophic Health Care insurance coverage. Coverage should be for all medical expenses above an agreed on figure, the "catastrophic level": $20,000; $30,000; $50,000 -- whatever the Legislature can agree on.

JOSEPH HENRI

Fed Ex is getting jobbed by UPS political maneuver in Congress

A bill pending in Congress threatens one of Anchorage's key economic drivers: FedEx Express.

DWIGHT KRAMER

Just say 'no' to this coal strip mine in Alaska salmon streams

As currently proposed, this would be the first project in Alaska allowed to mine directly through an active salmon spawning region. As a result, the Chuitna coal strip mine represents a monumental precedent in Alaska. Reclaiming salmon streams in the complex environment found in the Chuitna area would be virtually impossible.

DARWIN A. BIWER, JR

Seward Highway safety: Crackdown on slow drivers would help

Backed up traffic leads to more passing by speeding vehicles, which is the major cause of problems and many of the accidents. . . . Here then, is the solution to decreasing accidents.

JOHN GALLUP

Seward highway safety: Divided highway, more enforcement are worth the price

All agencies agreed that the dividing of the highway would reduce the opposite-direction collisions, and that increased enforcement would slow people down. Each solution had a caveat - the great cost involved. Moving bedrock and changing human behavior are both difficult, complex, and expensive jobs.

JOAN CLO VER

Beware tricky phone calls on health care reform

In the past weeks I've gotten two calls designed, I believe, to trick me into telling Sen. Mark Begich, a Democrat, that I oppose a public health insurance option. I don't mind the calls. I object to manipulation.

DEBE MAHONEY

Hundreds helped "Paint the Town" in Anchorage this summer

An amazing thing happened this summer - 26 homes in the Anchorage bowl were painted by complete strangers. More than 460 volunteers took time away from their families and their jobs to paint the home of someone they never met before.

GEORGE PLETNIKOFF

State sold out Western Alaska on salmon bycatch issue

Governor Palin's motion said the pollock industry should be allowed to catch up to 68,000 chinook which was later lowered to 60,000 fish per year. This amount is almost double the eleven year average cited above!

TOM YEAGER

In a melting world, Alaska glaciers are a big asset

Alaska is well positioned to take center stage in the international scientific community's study of how our planet's glaciers are changing.

ALLISON K. LEE

Federal freeze on home care is wrong way to protect Alaskans

By freezing new services to individuals requiring Home and Community Based Services in Alaska, this moratorium is effectively forcing Alaskans into nursing homes and assisted living facilities. This action is in direct defiance of the Olmstead decision, which made clear that individuals have legal right to receive care in the most integrated setting appropriate to the needs of qualified individuals with disabilities.

SEN. HOLLIS FRENCH

Here's one way Alaska can crack down on our epidemic of sexual abuse

From 1,184 reported rapes, the state is convicting 217 individuals of a sex crime. What happens to the other 967 cases?

BOB WALDROP

Bristol Bay fishing limits are costly, frustrating - and possibly avoidable

When limits or suspensions are imposed, they create severe economic waste and represent a significant challenge to fishery managers and processors.

CLICK BISHOP

Alaska's Economy is Holding Its Own

Alaska's unemployment rate is 8.4 percent in May, up from 7.9 percent in April. I wouldn't normally brag about an unemployment increase, but things don't look so bad when you consider our neighbors to the south. Washington state is sitting at 9.4 percent unemployment. California is at 11 percent. And Oregon's unemployment is stuck at a record high of 12.5 percent.

SEN. GENE THERRIAULT

ExxonMobil and TC Alaska - What Does it Really Mean?

I view the announcement as a positive step forward for the gas pipeline, even though some of Governor Palin's critics do not.

DENBY S. LLOYD

Yukon River closure is painful, but necessary

Recently I had the privilege to visit several villages on the lower Yukon River. I went with John Moller of Governor Palin's staff and knowledgeable employees from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, to discuss this summer's Chinook salmon management and recent action by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council to curb bycatch of Chinook by the pollock trawl fleets in the Bering Sea.

BOB POE

Yukon River residents bear brunt of fishery cutbacks

Residents throughout western Alaska hoped the Council would make meaningful reductions in salmon bycatch so that a commercial Chinook fishery would be possible.

PATTI HIGGINS

Obama's on the right track with health care initiative

I've seen people I work with become stricken with cancer and then forced to raise $250,000 because they had minimal health care.

Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell

DC Court Ruling Puts Alaska Jobs & Industry at Risk

Recently, a DC federal appeals court air-dropped a ruling on Alaska that effectively swept away our nation's current five-year offshore energy program, a full two years into its implementation. The court's decision threw into question at least 487 leases in Alaska's Chukchi Sea and 1,854 leases already issued in the Gulf of Mexico. This ruling jeopardizes thousands of Alaska jobs and billions in potential state and federal revenue.

JOHN HAVELOCK

Palin is mishandling this critical state office

The Governor delay's in appointing an Attorney General and her choice for a Department of Law spokesperson pose serious problems for the administration of justice and require prompt action.

JUDITH KLEINFELD

Double bed might save you from divorce

"You have a double bed. That's so cute!" said the woman who used to help me clean my house. "You don't see double beds much any more. Sleeping in a double bed, I bet you have to make up when you have a big fights."

REP. NANCY DAHLSTROM

Alaska shows its respect to those who died protecting the country

Presenting these awards was a very happy yet somber moment for me. These fallen brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, wives, and husbands are loved so very much, we can all be very proud of their accomplishments and sacrifice they made for us. Everyone of these service members died defending the country, and the people, they loved.

DAVID MOORE

Palin right to reject energy stimulus funds

What this amounts to is solely a new regulatory requirement to verify compliance. It does little beyond what we are already doing to save fuel, but does a lot to grow government.

PHIL LANSING

How about price supports for salmon?

So let's apply a lesson from the Great Depression and institute a price floor safety net for salmon now, before we get into trouble.

BY DARRELL KEIFER

Cap-and-trade would end free ride for fossil fuels

Cap-and-trade will not be painless. There are costs in the short run, but it will save so much in the long run.

SEN. KEVIN MEYER

Legislature has put big money into renewable energy

The State Legislature has led the way in the arena of renewable energy, and more importantly, unlike other states, has put money behind its words.

CAROL SALANDRA

Single mom says women need the help that unions offer

Senator Murkowski, please do something for the women who do so much for everybody. Please support the Employee Free Choice Act.

KRISTIN SHOLTON

If you love your local park, help us fix it up

Besides volunteer work projects, we'll have everything from barbecues to bookmobiles to invite neighbors to make their parks vibrant, safe and healthy community centers.

DEREK HSIEH

City police union does its part; politicians should do theirs

With this sizeable concession, the APDEA membership expects the municipality to get its house in order and come up with a long-term financial plan. We are happy to be part of the solution, but we can't be the whole solution.

JOHN ALLEN ADCOX

We're open-minded about benefits Pebble Mine could bring

We remain neutral about the project while intrigued by the opportunity - if done right - that it could present.

KEN OSTERKAMP

Doogan should disavow ageist remark about Wayne Anthony Ross

Doogan wrote, "Add to that the fact that he's reached an age where most men are retiring rather than taking a new job, and you had a recipe for disaster." You don't have to be a professional writer to appreciate the irony in his statement.

LYNN FULLER

Knik River shooting range needs more scrutiny

Sorry, but these are guns and bullets that make a lot of noise, pollute, disturb wildlife, and have enormous safety and aesthetic concerns for the other users of the public use area. I want more information.