kellen kjera / NL Edward Peace of the auto diesel department lectures on “How to Pick a Maintenance Facility and How to Buy a Used Car” in the Campus Bookstore. The lecture series continues through Nov. 21.   kellen kjera / NL

Auto diesel series offers advice for all

By Brian Bublitz
Northern Light

You don’t need to be a mechanic or have a degree in automotive technology to make use of the series of lectures the auto diesel technology department is presenting at the Campus Bookstore. These lectures are for everybody, even if you don’t know the difference between a carburetor and a condenser.

Rachel Epstein, special events coordinator at the bookstore, is organizing the series. Epstein came up with the idea for a single lecture on fuel-cell technology in July, while selling books in Alyeska.

“I was thinking about what we (the bookstore) could do for August,” Epstein said. “While I was in Alyeska, I learned about fuel-cell technology and other possible alternate energy sources for cars. I thought the Auto-Diesel department would be interested.”

The department accepted the idea. The lecture kicked off Aug. 6, and was met with a great turnout of students and community members.

“We had around 30 people attend the lecture in August,” Epstein said. “It was this event that gave us the idea for a series.”

Epstein explained that the bookstore wanted to continue with the lectures because these issues are very timely and appeal to a large audience.

“Some of the topics we chose have to do with the economy, others the environment and others with the cars themselves. This kind of information is good for taking care of your investment,” Epstein said.

The Auto Diesel department was again contacted, and asked if they were interested in doing a follow-up series to the August lecture. Once again they accepted.

Auto-diesel professor Edward Peace has been one of the main lecture speakers. Peace was very excited about the idea for a series.

“We would like to get our industry’s viewpoint out,” Peace said. “This was a great opportunity for us.”

The next step was to figure out what topics would be presented during the eight weeks of lectures. Peace said that the department met and discussed many possible topics, but decided on ones they thought would best serve the audience.

“The industry is so murky that it’s hard to know what you’re getting,” Peace said. “Discussion of these topics will help.”

The final decision was a list of eight topics for each of the eight lectures. Some of the topics deal with the most complex and universal issues in today’s industry such as “The Future of the Automotive Industry,” and “The Role of Women in Today’s Automotive Industry.” Others deal with smaller, more personal issues like “How to Pick a Maintenance Facility and How to Buy a Used Car,” and “Personal Car Maintenance and Winterization Issues.”

The second of the eight lectures was held Oct. 10, and discussed picking a maintenance facility and buying used cars. Peace presented, along with instructor Brian Williams. Both are two of the main speakers for the series. Much of the lecture was spent discussing basic advice that everyone can understand. One such piece of advice was what to look for the first time you enter any auto shop.

“If you don’t know what to look for in their equipment or their facilities, just ask yourself one simple question,” Williams said. “Would you feel comfortable eating there?”

Peace also laid down some good advice pertaining to picking a mechanic.

“The name of the game is customer service,” Peace said. “There’s personalities involved here, not just cars.”

The lecture series is being held every Friday through Nov. 21 from noon to 1 p.m. For more information visit www.uaa.alaska.edu/bookstore.