Volume 36 Issue 4

NIVERSITY TIMES

THE UNIVERSITY OF MAINE AT PRESQUE ISLE’S VOICE www.umpi.maine.edu/utimes

Volume 36, Issue 4

Fighting Owls strike

DAVID HAMILTON Editor

On Nov. 12, UMPI athletes crowded into a room in Wieden Hall. They came together to celebrate their victories in the NAIA Sunrise Conference. UMPI came away with three championships and three other awards. The conference includes eight schools that range from the University of Maine at Fort Kent to SUNY Canton in Canton, N.Y. The undefeated, 16-0 in conference play, UMPI women’s volleyball team defeated UMFK to bring home the title.

In addition to this, they received the sportsmanship award.

“This must have been tough, since

DAVID HAMILTON Editor

you were beating everyone,” President Don Zillman said.

The team also received individual awards: Coach Terry Cummings received coach of the year, junior Michelle Ferry was named all conference and junior Erica Davis also received all conference honors and was named player of the year. The team will not lose any of its members to graduation.

Women’s cross country won the title and ended the season finishing third in the national competition in Nashville, Te n n . T h e i r c o a c h , C h r i s S m i t h , received coach of the year and Hannah Smith earned player of the week honors.

Men’s golf also took home the conference title. During the final match at

What is this? Somewhere on campus you can see this.

Do you know the answer?

Find out on page 10

Natanis Golf Course in Vassalboro, Maine, freshman Brett Hooper shot par (72) and earned all conference rookie of the year.

The national competition for the men will be held at TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Ill., May 19-22.

This gathering gave the rest of the athletic department a chance to look back on a very Women’s cross country coach Chris Smith, captain eventful season.

Hannah Smith and Pres. Don Zillman with Sunrise Women’s soccer finished Conference Champions plaque. third in the Sunrise See Strike page 8 Conference with a record of 11 wins, six

The sun rises on the Democrats

On a cool, cloudy Nov. 4 morning came the first of the last pushes for the election. While many were warm in their homes just waking up or getting ready for the day ahead, silent individuals stalked the streets armed with clipboards and door hangers.

Presque Isle’s Victory Office pressed for every Democratic vote. It was D-Day. Day was barely breaking at 6 a.m. when I got to the Victory Office to receive my assignment.

Jeralyn News from the Top - p. 3

Friday, November, 21, 2008

Campus News - p. 5

Democrats, however. It grew the idea of a grassroots campaign that Howard Dean experimented with in 2004.

Cave, the Victory Office coordinator, had waited patiently for the big day: Election Day. “Every vote counts,” she said as she handed me a clipboard with lists of names and addresses on it.

Sports - p. 9

The idea was to get as many people as possible to be aware that they needed to vote that day, since the Democrats had had bad luck in the past two presidential elections.

This election was different for the

INSIDE

Government -p. 10

Enterainment - p. 12

Community -p. 13

It was a year for political activism. Unlike past elections, voters 25 and under used their voice.

This was the year of the youth vote.

Not since 1972, when the voting

age was lowered to 18, has the

youth vote been so high. Democrats moved in full force in this election.

Amid hugs and tears, they ushered

in the victory.

Mixed bag - p. 14

Food for Thought - p. 16

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Letter from the Editor UNIVERSITY TIMES

Friday, November, 21, 2008

College is a bastion of opportunities: opportunities for a productive future in the work force. By weighing our choices now we can assure that our possibilities are endless once we leave this Ivory Tower. One day we’ll have to apply our knowledge to get good jobs.

And that’s where a minor or major in mass communication comes in.

Our departments here at UMPI are top notch. We have leaders in their fields of study educating us. Will we ever enjoy the same luxury that they have to specialize and pursue research in fields of our choice? Will the majority of students be able to write a huge paper or book and get paid for it? I hate to dash people’s dreams, but the likelihood is not very good. Experience in mass communication, however, will give you that chance to have your thoughts be heard by a very large audience. Why do you think there are so many 24-hour news networks, the Discovery Channel, Animal Planet? Because people want to be educated about the world around them and not have to read a book to do it.

Mass communication doesn’t stop at information. Business is an integral part of this area of study. If businesspeople understand how information is spread, their work in advertising can be much more effective. Information is a business that will never go away and is always looking for people. With advertising comes designers. Norman Rockwell, the noted American artist, captured everyday moments in his advertisements in Life magazine. Not only did he capture the essence of life in America, but he also paid the bills and did not die destitute but with honor and reverence.

Now is the time to start gaining experience in this field. As we all go to look for next semester’s classes take a look at ENG 386, the University Times practicum, which fulfills the writing and technology intensive portions of your general education requirements. In this class you’ll gain an understanding of print and online media. This is a chance for students to create and improve upon UMPI’s voice.

It’s a chance to create a finished product that is tangible. Anyone can earn an A. But how many people can show that A at a job interview? It’s a chance that’s hard to pass up.

Till next time, David Hamilton Editor of the University Times

Happy Thanksgiving from the UTimes Staff

The University Times welcomes your submissions (letters to the editor, poetry, articles). We reserve the right to edit all submissions for grammar, clarity, language, length and libel. Submissions must be received no later than Noon on the Thursday before publication, and must include your name, address and telephone num ber. Upon submission, all material becomes the property of the University Times. Submissions may be sent on a CD or written in letter form and dropped in the UTimes mailbox (102 Normal Hall or faculty mailroom). Material also can be left in the mail slot on the office door or be e-mailed to utimes@maine.edu. The University Times does not impose length restrictions on letters to the editor, but advises “the shorter, the better.”

The University Times David Hamilton Editor Staff Writers David Hamilton Harrison Kilpatrick Leah McEachern Pamela Perkins

Contributors Jenny Crawford Claire Davidshofer Kalyn Devoe Sarah Graettinger Kimberly Grant Jeff Lovejoy Marjorie McNamara Erin Pelletier Jim Stepp Barat Qualey

Adviser Dr. J

The University Times, a nonprofit student publication, is printed at Northeast Publishing Company in Presque Isle, Maine.

Articles and photographic ideas for submission may be left at the University Times office Normal Hall, Rm. 102 at UMPI, 181 Main St., Presque Isle, ME 04769.

Advertising rates are available upon request. The newspaper takes no responsibility for unsolicited materials. All rights reserved.

News from the Top Chris’s Corner UNIVERSITY TIMES

Making time for things that matter This is a follow-up to my article from last month – some more reflections from the heart…. I GRABBED MY MAIL AS I WAS running out the door and read it as I briskly walked on the treadmill.

Luckily, we of the 21st century have

mastered the art of doing many things at once – in fact, I brag about how I can multitask. And so, while my body marched along, my mind noticed that two of the letters began in exactly the same way. “I’ve thought so many times about writing, but my ‘must do’ list has been so long….” Another writer echoed the first: “I’ve had lots of excuses not to write, not to do the things I love because everything else has been more important….”

Everywhere you turn – at work, at home, even on vacation – people are busy. We’re too busy for reflection. Too busy to pay attention to our feelings, too busy to get to the things we really enjoy.

Basically, too busy to live.

Like dessert, we postpone our pleasures until after we have accomplished everything we have to do. We think this makes us good citizens, and so we silence our own desires and quash the impulses that lead us away from our primary goals. We turn our lives into appointment books, heeding those

experts in time management who say “prioritize, prioritize, prioritize,” letting our rational mind imprison the spontaneous impulses that are the source of our aliveness.

Under pressure, we judge our discontent and blame ourselves for our lack of seriousness. No time to stand out in the yard and look up at the night sky, no time to crawl into the bathtub with a good book. A woman who longs to take singing lessons shuts off the music inside her. A friend who can never make time to work with the ball of clay stored in her closet locks away the gift of her own creativity. Only children can do what they want to do, we say to ourselves, picturing adulthood as the time to put away childish things. No more daydreaming, hanging out with friends, writing poetry, baking bread or being silly. No more wasting time.

We do not realize, as we rush through the motions, that we are shutting down the most precious part of ourselves. Often, we focus so intently on how much money we have in the bank that we fail to notice how impoverished our lives have become. The difference between robots and human beings is the part that makes life worth living.

For her birthday, a woman I know gave herself a list of 52 things she’d always wanted to do, but had never found the time. Every week she

Friday, November 21, 2008

does one thing from the list. I think this week she is making a Jell-O mold. It doesn’t surprise me – the things we really want to do are often totally idiosyncratic.

I’ve always been frustrated by my ignorance of the night sky. I hated that Orion and the Big Dipper were my only celestial friends, but I had neither the time nor the background for a course in astronomy. Just last month, a friend and I were trying to figure out the particulars of an astrological event. It’s a long story, but…I’m ashamed to say, there was some confusion on our part. It just so happened I ran across an “Astronomy for Beginners” book. So now, for a few minutes each night, I glimpse into the mysteries of the universe. This one small concession to my curiosity has made these dark nights of late fall a source of wonder and delight.

Impossible for you, you say.

You’re too busy. Every second of your time is filled with essential activities, leaving not a moment to spare for nonproductive pursuits. Listen to this Zen tale about someone who really had no time for pleasure.

A monk, walking outside his village, found himself being chased by tigers. He ran for his life, but unfortunately his flight led him to the edge of a cliff. Noticing a vine climbing over the side, he quickly scrambled down it in an

attempt to reach the ground below.

When he looked down, however, he saw only more tigers hungrily awaiting his descent. Hanging there, he heard a small gnawing sound, and when he looked up, he saw mice chewing through the vine’s stem. Not surprisingly, he concluded that he was rapidly approaching the last moments of his life.

Just then, he noticed a wild strawberry sprouting from the side of the cliff just inches away. Gratefully, he popped it into his mouth, noting with genuine pleasure that it was the most delicious strawberry he had ever eaten.

Life is full of “tigers” who seem to be eating us up alive. Job tigers, responsibility tigers, school tigers, worry tigers – they come in all shapes and sizes.

Yet around us are also “strawberries,” small treats for the soul that offer moments of release from the “must do’s” that we set around ourselves like the bars of a cage.

What secret desires press against the constraints of your life?

What “like to do’s” wait patiently for you to finally pay attention? What are the sources of your excitement and enthusiasm, and what keeps you from giving yourself permission to lead a more balance life? Think about these questions, even if you have to do it while you’re doing something else!

Deadline for Graduation Application January 31, 2009

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From Don’s Desk

In the classic musical “Fiddler on the Roof,” the town beggar complains when the merchant gives him less than his usual weekly two kopecks. “But I had a bad week,” explains the merchant. “So you had a bad week, why should I suffer?” responds the beggar.

I suspect we share some of that feeling as we look at the financial stringencies that face us in this most eventful year. So much on campus is going well.

New Folsom Hall is dedicated. The wind project will soon move to construction and installation phase. Project Compass has been renewed for four years at $800,000.

We have just completed the marvelous retrospective of 1968. What should be messing with this?

The University of Maine System office has concisely captured the challenges that put us in fiscal difficulty. I borrow their message to all campuses.

The Community College System has issued a similar message to its campuses. The system office notes three crucial factors: —State tax revenues are down markedly.

We rely for about 40 percent of our income on the appropriations by the Legislature from those revenues. You have doubtless seen the articles on statewide revenue shortfalls and the cuts they will bring. The prospects of legislative increases in funding for the System seem doubtful. Cuts in funding next year are possible. We are a part of that.

—Student enrollments and the tuition revenues they bring are also down someIt was a delight to get back to campus from the trustees’ meeting yesterday and find the Bangor Daily News lead editorial beginning: “It was truly a revolutionary era, and the University of Maine at Presque Isle has done an outstanding service in conducting a six-day ‘1968 Retrospective’ for the benefit of the many who are too young to recall it.”

The remainder of the editorial offered a thoughtful look from the 1960s to today. Page 1 of the local section also reported well and at length on Richard Dudman’s presentation to campus.

From attending most sessions of the six days, I can say the actual event was even

Budget update

UNIVERSITY TIMES

Friday, November 21, 2008

what. That impacts the dollars we can spend for programs. Costs for food, fuel and health care compete with college tuition costs for our students.

—Investment income from system and university reserves is also down as is the value of the stocks that form the basis of much of those reserves. You may have noted that Harvard University has discovered its endowment is worth $500 million less than it was half a year ago.

We face the same sort of losses at a lower dollar amount.

Those reduced dollars provide reduced interest income for us in both our money from the State and from private donors.

We are facing TWO challenges in this situation. Most immediately, the governor is required to balance the state budget. Reduced income requires reduced spending for the remainder of THIS PRESENT FISCAL YEAR (ending June 30, 2009).

All seven system campuses have been given identical proportional reductions of our spending for the rest of the fiscal year. Our tentative amount for reductions is about $465,000. (The University of Maine’s share is $6.1 million.)

The second fiscal challenge addresses the upcoming fiscal year (July 2009-June 2010). We are in the planning stage for that right now. In addition, we are anticipating the fiscal years that follow 200910. Longterm economic projections are not bright and are hardly certain.

We could be in some of the toughest economic times since the Great

Depression of the 1930s.

What do we need to do? First things first. We need to complete the next seven months with a smaller budget than we anticipated.

This is especially challenging because we are a people rich business.

About 80 percent of our expenses are for salaries and wages for our fine employees. Most of those employees have legally binding contracts for at least the present academic year. We will honor those contracts.

That leaves the remaining 20 percent of expenditures subject to a considerable reduction to meet the governor’s targets.

CFO Charlie Bonin and I both agreed we had to begin by gathering up portions of all those “discretionary” expenses that could get us to $465,000. We have done that so that the System could reply to the governor. Other system campuses have done the same.

Within a few days we should get the governor’s final direction for cuts. At that point, we will sit down with our budget advisory committee (which includes representatives of all senates, assemblies and unions). We will go over the categories in which cuts are possible. We will seek the advice of all campus officers with control over budgets.

We will seek the advice of all committee representatives. We want to make the smartest decisions that do the least harm to fundamental parts of our educational programs.

We welcome your thoughts on costs

that can be avoided. Message me (Donald.zillman@umpi.edu) or Charlie (Charles.bonin@umpi.edu) or your committee representative with good ideas.

As soon as we can, we will announce those cuts to the campus. We will be reducing energy costs, travel, entertainment expenses, adjunct and overload costs, publications, etc. We will try to be sensitive to imperative needs, but please understand that we all have things we are persuaded we can’t do without.

We can grant only a limited number of those requests.

Once we have settled this fiscal year, our work will move to the more challenging work of restructuring for the years to come. The System Trustees, Chancellor, and Presidents have already offered bold suggestions for a System that does its work more efficiently and for fewer dollars. Old assumptions are being reassessed. This process will invite the best thinking from all of us— students, staff, faculty, administration.

We will be keeping you posted of these developments frequently.

I would certainly prefer that the world, the United States, the State of Maine and the University of Maine System were not in this fiscal situation. We are and we need to face it creatively and boldly.

We will not lose the great things we have accomplished.

We will be very nimble competitors in the world of education.

We welcome your help.

better than the wonderful reporting of what went on. Congratulations to all on campus who spoke or otherwise participated. My special thanks to Mike Amey and Tomasz Herzog for being the creators and organizers of this signature event.

Trustees’ Meeting was sobering, but energizing. The sobering news reported to the trustees and the public was what we shared on campus last Friday and in Monday’s message. The energizing aspect was the willingness of all parties to view this as a time for transformational thinking about how the University of Maine System of today needs to oper-

ate. Big issues are on the table. We will continue those discussions on campus.

Our most immediate task is to respond to the governor’s 2008-09 rescission target. Chancellor Pattenaude reports that he had a good meeting with the governor yesterday afternoon. He reports the Governor was very concerned about the immediate impacts on students. We await his final directive and hope that it may mitigate some of the burden we face. Once we have those directions, the UMPI Budget Advisory Committee will meet again and I will brief campus.

A specific inquiry. The rescission clearly demands that we reduce expen-

ditures for second semester. If anyone is interested in taking second semester leave, please let me know. I’m assuming for most of us that the answer is no. However, if you have been weighing an invitation for a short-term paid visit for research or teaching at another institution, or if this would be an attractive time to take a long-postponed vacation, we would try our best to make it work. Needless to say, those savings to our second semester budget could be most helpful.

Transformational thinking

-Pres. Don Zillman

-Pres. Don Zillman

Campus News

1968: An UMPI odyssey UNIVERSITY TIMES

PAMELA PERKINS Staff Writer

Throughout the previous week, UMPI’s students, faculty, staff and the community had a chance to look back on 1968. We reflected upon how that year was a remarkable time when politics, education, science and our culture changed greatly. We also realized that 1968 had an impact upon today: 2008.

Starting off the event was an art exhibit. In 1968, artists were able to express themselves more than they had before.

They especially pushed the boundary lines of sexuality and politics in their art, with the common phrase “Love not War” within their pieces.

The next event that I got a chance to go to was on Science and Exploration. I learnt that if it wasn’t for the arms race, chances are that most of the space exploration and knowledge we have today wouldn’t have come to be. I guess that was one good thing that came out of all the fear and anxiety people had about the Soviet Union invading the U.S.: the fear that it would turn us from a democratic society into an evil communist one. This was a time of intercontinental ballistic missiles, intended to blow up another country before it could destroy us.

On Friday, UMPI had the chance and honor to listen to the journalist Richard

Friday, November 21, 2008

Richard and Martha Dudman at the 1968 Retrospective Friday night

Dudman, who covered many key events from the sixties, including the Vietnam War. While doing that, he was taken prisoner in Cambodia. This man had a great sense of humor and talked insightfully about his memories of 1968. One of the most important things that he said was, “I believe 1968 was a time of great change especially what people could do.

It was such a time of great change, that anything could be possible. Someone said that in 1968, Bobby Kennedy said that it could be possible in the next 40 years to have a black president. And 40 years later, there is.”

On closing the event, Ray Rice, professor at UMPI, gave a talk on how “Night of the Living Dead,” wasn’t just a movie with Zombies coming and terrifying a town. It was a movie of how the people had a paranoid fantasy about a dominant culture (usually whites) in control of other races, social injustices, Freudian tones of sexuality (“They’re coming to get you”) and the politics of violence. All these had undertones of what people in 1968 were actually facing.

The movie showed these things in a humorous but horrific battle of humans versus zombies. So it just goes to show

Pink power

5 you, what your mother thinks is numbing trash could have a lot of theories in it that can be apply to an era in history.

It can also make you think about your own morals and values and those of your country.

Ted Van Alst, a professor at UConn, talked about how 1968 showed what humanity could get done. In closing his talk, he encouraged the students in the audience to always be questioning what their teachers are teaching them and to always be engaged with the assignments that they got. Students should never take for granted that what their teachers say is true, because it’s not the gospel. Students should study the piece, learn what the importance of the piece is and question what their professors want them to learn from it. If you as a student don’t agree with the piece, at least be able to back up your reason you feel that way.

This was a good way to end the 1968 Retrospective. Even though it was a chance for people to look back upon 1968, it was also a chance for people to learn from it, take what they learnt and then apply it to 2008.

To all the participants and workers who made this event possible, I thank you for the chance to learn about 1968 in way that made everyone come together to celebrate it in a fun and interesting way.

More in-depth covereage of the 1968 Retrospective will appear in our Dec. 12 issue

LEAH MCEACHERN Staff Writer

On the night of Nov. 8, Kappa Delta Phi NAS held a dinner and silent auction in the campus center multipurpose room. The room was decorated in a theme of pink, with the color appearing all over the room in the form of tablecloths, balloons and, of course, ribbons. The event was to raise money for breast cancer research and to pay for a much-needed mammograms.

Throughout the evening, soft music played in the background while the guests mingled, enjoying their meals and viewing the items up for bid.

There was tasty dinner, consisting of spaghetti, salad, fresh-baked rolls and

brownies. There were a number of items donated by local businesses to be auctioned, including a hunter’s kit, a gift certificate for a free haircut and color and many small gift baskets.

The most prominent piece was a large painting of a woman holding a pink ribbon, which was made specifically for the event. Halfway through the night, there was a video showing the creation of the painting along with some interesting facts about breast cancer: You can find this video, titled “*A*Pink Ribbon*D*” on YouTube.

It’s worth watching!

Although a fair number of people were present, the UMPI student turnout was disappointing. Excluding the sisters of Kappa Delta Phi NAS, there were no more than 10 students.

The Sisters of Kappa Delta Phi NAS and friendwho sponsered the dinner and silent auction

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Fighting Alzheimer’s to battle dementia UNIVERSITY TIMES

Friday, November 21, 2008

Hospital for years.

The distinguished lecturer, Portney, is a medical doctor who teaches at Harvard Medical School. He is a geriatric neuropsychiatrist and works with the psychological effects of disease that appear in elderly patients, primarily dementia.

Dementia is a group of symptoms or a syndrome. Dementia can occur because of a multi-infarct or stroke in the brain. A rare cause of dementia is something called spongiform encephalopathy, which is known by everyone in a different form, Mad Cow Disease.

The major cause of dementia, however, is Alzheimer’s, a degenerative disease.

First memory goes. Loss of memory is characteristic in all people with old age and is sometimes an overlooked symptom because of this. Confusion and mood problems become apparent as the disease progresses. The physiological effects of Alzheimer’s are also marked. The cereDr. Robert Portney bral cortex or thinking parts of the brain deteriorate, the hippocampus, which is HARRISON KILPATRICK used to store and recall memories, Staff Writer shrinks and the ventricles or large fluid Dr. Robert Portney gave the 26th filled spaces in the brain become vastly annual Storer W. Boone Memorial larger. Loss of motor coordination, lanLecture, on Nov 7. Boone was a former guage abilities and ability to recognize practitioner at the Aroostook Medical objects are also common symptoms of Center and Presque Isle General the disease. Decline in executive func-

tioning or ability to plan, order and sequence behaviors are the primary reasons that independent living among those with Alzheimer’s is impossible.

According to Dr. Portney, $148 million is spent each year to take care of those with dementia due to Alzheimer’s. With the use of pharmaceutical intervention, however, placement in assisted living institutions was delayed by 21.4 months.

Alzheimer’s is thought to be caused by the slow decline of a neurotransmitter acetylcholine in the brain (the little molecules that allow neurons to communicate). The drugs that Dr. Portney discussed in his lecture are those designed to combat the effects of the decline of acetylcholine production. Drugs such as Aricept and Cognex block the destruction of acetylcholine in the nervous system, keeping concentrations higher and therefore slowing the prognosis of dementia due to Alzheimer’s. You might think that the drugs would be popular and widely used. This is not the case. “The problem with dementia drugs is that there is no biological marker.” Dr. Portney used treatment of cancer as an example.

People spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on cancer drugs, delaying inevitable death on some occasions. Yet drugs such as Aricept and Cognex are not

MARJORIE MCNAMARA Contributor Andrew “Andy” Parker is one of the students who took a chance and went on a National Student Exchange during the 2007-2008 school year.

Andy first came to see me the year before he applied for the exchange and asked me some questions about it. He came back the following fall, picked up an application and started the process. While Andy appeared to be quiet and somewhat shy, he had decided he wanted to go, did some research and completed his application.

In completing his application, Andy stated that the main reason he wanted to go on exchange was to become a more independent person. He wanted an opportunity to attend school, live on campus and become his own person. He also indicated that he had never been out of the state of Maine. He felt that breaking out of his comfort zone would help him to become more outgoing. He liked the idea of attending a larger campus with more diversity of people. He chose

“I was encouraged to try new things such as rock climbing and whitewater rafting. There were attractions, such as water parks and amusement parks, pro sports teams, movie theaters, concerts held by bands I had actually heard of before and just everything Presque Isle didn’t have to offer. I furthered my education at one of the highest praised physical education departments in the nation, while being able to pay UMPI’s tuition. The classes that I took in the PE department were great in helping me move toward getting my degree. I learned some things that I didn’t learn at UMPI and in turn was able to give them some things that I learned at UMPI that helped them.

“Going on exchange helped me to grow as a person, as well. I became more confident in myself, was able to break out of my shy side and became a more independent person. I found future employment in South Carolina where they are desperate for people in my profession. In Maine, it’s almost impossible to find a full-time job in

being used as widely as cancer treatments because there are no daily labs that indicate, “Hey, this is working.”

Alzheimer’s is not treatable. The same applies to other types of dementia.

Some research indicates that there are preventative measures that can be taken, however, Estrogen given to postmenopausal women 20 years before onset might work, though evidence is still inconclusive. Anti-inflammatory drugs seem to have a great effect on the prevalence of Alzheimer’s. A longitudinal study with a sample of about 7,000 people indicates that there is an 80 percent decrease in incidence of Alzheimer’s with use of anti-inflammatory drugs. These anti-inflammatory drugs work by pulling off little proteins (Beta Amyloid Precursor) that kill neurons in the brain and cause Alzheimer’s.

There are numerous other treatments that Dr. Portney cited, and all seem to have a dramatic effect on reducing the occurrence of Alzheimer’s in elderly patients. With the use of genetic screening, in the future it might be possible to determine if someone has a propensity for Alzheimer’s and provide preventive treatment accordingly.

NSE:Benefits that last a lifetime Winthrop University in South Carolina because its location, size and programs fit his needs. He hopes to become a sports coach and hopes this exchange will open up those possibilities for him.

Here is how Andy sums up his experience over the last year in S.C.: “My NSE experience to Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C., was a once in a lifetime experience and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. During my time of exchange I grew so much as a person. I met tons of new people, made lasting lifelong friendships and for the first time in my life experienced cultural diversity in the surrounding population. Some of the people that I met were my current girlfriend; current president-elect Baraka Obama, who came to the school to campaign; some of my best friends, including an all American cross country and track cthlete; and some of the craziest Christians the world has ever seen. I got to experience about 80 degree weather year round! And I never put on long pants all day!

Andrew “Andy” Parker

physical education.”

“The most important thing that I got from my exchange was being able to experience the so-called Bible Belt of the United States. As a Christian, I wanted to experience church down South because I had always heard

See NSE page 8

Oh, the places you can go....

UNIVERSITY TIMES

CLAIRE DAVIDSHOFER Contributor

Study in France for credits? Really?

Yes! Through the University of Maine System and a partnership with nine academic institutions in France, it’s possible to study in France for a semester or up to a year. The credits you earn there are transferable to your UM-Presque Isle degree!

This agreement is an exchange program that offers UMPI students the chance to study in France and French students the chance to study at UMPI. Professors also have an arrangement that allows them to go teach in France and for French professors to teach here, as well as do collaborative work.

departure. Once in France, the student has no tuition to pay, but is responsible for room, board, books, travel, personal expenses, etc.

Total expenses are usually no more than at home, because room and board are cheaper in France if you stay in a dorm. You can use your financial aid to help cover expenses as you do at home. So you may be able to study in France for the same cost as studying at UMPI!

What is the cost?

The student pays full-time tuition and mandatory fees to UMPI before

France in your junior year, but you need to plan ahead.

1. As early as possible, meet with your adviser to make sure he/she is on board and to plan your program of studies.

2. Sign up for French courses in order to meet the two year requirement.

3. Start putting money away for travel.

Once you are in France, take advantage of the fact you are there to visit places.

4. Make sure you apply for a passport as early as possible.

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Brest:

Université de Bretagne Occidentale : Brest is a naval base with a population of 180,000. UBO has about 16,500 students with about 1,200 It offers international students. degrees in the full range of disciplines.

The urban campus offers a wide range of cultural opportunities.

Ecole supérieure d’arts (ESAB): Offers undergraduate programs in art and design. With 22 instructors and 240 students, areas of study include woodworking, metalworking, photography, lithography, video, computergenerated images, multimedia, digital printing and a textile workshop.

Le Mans L’Université du Maine (Le Mans): The university has about 9,000 students and is located in a beautiful and historic city, about an hour from Paris.

It offers a variety of disciplines.

University of Maine at Farmington offers an excellent semester-long program in Le Mans open to University of Maine System students.

How do you apply?

You will need to apply at UMPI

by Feb. 15 and go through a selection process. Once selected, your name will be submitted to the system-level selection and placement committee by March 15 for the following school year.

Acceptance and institutional placement is based on the availability of exchange slots and appropriate courses at the host institution, the program of study and study goals of the exchange student, recommendations by the sending and receiving campus and the system-level committee, and approval by the sending and receiving campus.

Exchange students are accepted and placed by early April for the following academic year in order to facilitate housing and visa processing.

Who can go?

Any student in good standing at UMPI can apply to study in France.

You will need a 2.5 GPA at the time of selection. Full-time and part-time students are eligible to participate, and courses in most majors are available.

All students must enroll for a minimum of 12 credits per semester abroad, however.

Friday, November 21, 2008

A chapel in Brest, France

How much knowledge of French is recommended for study in France?

We recommend at least two years’ study of French before applying.

Some study at art schools and in certificate programs in business are offered in English, so you may not need to know as much French to attend classes, but you still need to be able to function in daily life.

Start thinking now!

We recommend that you go study in

Partner institutions in France Angers: Université d’Angers:

A multidisciplinary university of

16,000 students. It offers a variety of

unique professional programs in addition

to bachelor, master and doctoral degrees

in the traditional disciplines. The city of Angers, which has 157,000 inhabitants,

is a historical city with a medieval castle

and an old historic center.

Ecole supérieure des Beaux-Arts du Mans (ESBAM): The school has 20 instructors, four guest specialists and 130 students.

Degrees are offered in art and in space design. Workshops include drawing, painting, sculpture, engraving, typography, molding, wood and metalworking, ceramics, conventional and digital photography, video, sound and computer-generated images.

Nantes Université de Nantes: With 40,000 students, it offers bachelors, masters and doctoral programs in the full range of disciplines.

The campus is set in natural surroundings not far from the city center.

The city is one of the oldest in France with a population of about 1 million.

For more information contact Marjorie McNamara in South Hall, Room 111 or call 768-9615. Or contact Claire Davidshofer in Normal Hall 302 or call 768-9493.

8

Honors to take applications UNIVERSITY TIMES

Friday, November 21, 2008

The Honors Program is going through some changes. For the past few years, what primarily distinguished the program were honors level courses available to students each semester and a student-run publication. This year, the publication effort is a separate entity.

And we’re redesigning the program that contained those courses to give the honors program a real identity on campus and provide students with some options when it comes to levels of participation and recognition. With the revised school

structure, the honors program now has a home in the Center of University Programs, Kim Anne Perkins, chair.

While all students are able to take any honors course if they meet the prerequisites, students who are in the honors program will enter it by application (currently being designed) and must maintain a 3.0 GPA to be recognized at graduation.

There will be several levels of recognition, depending on how many honors courses a student

chooses to take.

Those who complete an independent senior project will earn high recognition.

This spring, there will be six honors courses. BIO 300 Human Nutrition, HTY 116 World Civilization Honors (with a special concentration on the relationship between religion and states), HTY 401 Oral History, HTY 491 Special Topic on Ancient History: Understanding Heterodoxy, Orthodoxy, and Heresy in the Early

continued from page 1 losses and two ties. The women lost their last game to UMFK in the semifinals 3-2 in overtime. Senior Erin Pelletier received offensive player of the week and Katie Moody was named all conference and earned the defensive player of the year award.

Men’s soccer had a huge season, finishing 12-6-1 and scoring a school record of 10 shutouts. The previous

record was seven.

The men also recorded the most wins by the team since 1996. Junior Trevor Hews received defensive player of the week honors.

And men’s cross country placed sixth a t n a t i o n a l s i n N a s h v i l l e , Te n n .

Sophomore Kurt Whisler and senior Emerson Wright both received runner of the week honors throughout the season.

Although newcomers to the Sunrise Conference, the UMPI teams made an impression, capturing nearly half of the awards in the division.

The overall message of the event was of praise and looking to the future.

President Don Zillman said to those present that although some of our athletes are going on to graduation, it was not necessarily the end of the line.

Strike

Church, Honors 300 Seminar: Exploring Genocides and Holocausts, and Criminal Justice/Sociology 358 Domestic Violence.

By next semester, the honors program will begin taking applications to be in the program and will start to have special honors program functions.

It’s an exciting time!

Dr. John F. DeFelice Director, Honors Program

Zillman encouraged the athletes to continue on in their fitness and to help recruit by telling others of their experiences in UMPI athletics. Athletic Director Bill Casavant and Dean of Students Christine Corsello echoed Zillman, adding that the student athletes are great ambassadors who displayed a lot of professionalism during conference play both on and off the field.

If you have a message and want to reach hundreds consider an ad in the U Times

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the UMPI Community

NSE

continued from page 6 southern people are crazy when it comes to church. And, man, were they right! Southerners are crazy for Jesus! And I fit right in there. It was like home to me! I loved it so much, I brought it back with me and am trying to install it into northern Maine.

Overall, my experience was the greatest thing that ever happened to me and I wouldn’t give up a day I experienced. I am so open to trying everything now

because of the exchange.

“For all those who are thinking about trying out the exchange and for those who aren’t, I say that everyone should do the NSE program! The benefits of the program will last you a lifetime and will totally transform your life for the better. For those people who have never lived anywhere outside of Maine, I strongly encourage you to try the NSE program and go somewhere completely

by e-mail

normal 102

opposite of Maine. This program will open up your mind to everything. It will help you take classes for your major that aren’t offered at UMPI. You will get to experience what makes this country so great with the cultural diversity. You will get to experience better weather than Maine weather—well, depending on where you choose to go. You will be able to look for employment in other places than Maine. You will get to meet

many new people, who aren’t just like us Mainers. The NSE program isn’t just about going to another school to study the same subjects. It’s about getting you to live life a little bit more: to open your mind to more than just northern Maine.

The NSE program will help you to form your morals, beliefs and how you are going to live the rest of your life if you let it.”

Sports

High hopes for next year UNIVERSITY TIMES

Friday, November 21, 2008

9

ERIN PELLETIER Contributor Fisher College The men’s and women’s soccer teams boarded the bus once again on Oct. 31.

But this time, the evening plans had nothing to do with soccer—instead, they involved basketball. They were headed to Boston to watch the Celtics! All donned a green, gray or white shirt with the famous shamrock and logo. When the team was a few hours away from the TD Banknorth Garden, activity broke out on the bus. Team members painted faces and bodies in an array of designs.

Celtic spirit was eminent and the athletes were excited to be attending a professional basketball game. The night ended with a win for the Celtics and a ton of memories for the UMPI teams.

It was back to business the following day, when the teams matched up against Fisher College. The men played first, and the sun shone brightly on the newly renovated turf field, making for great soccer conditions. Although the UMPI men had beaten their opponent earlier in the season, the teams were well

matched, and the score remained at zero for all of regulation time. Double overtimes ensued and finally ended in favor of the Owls with eight minutes remaining. A trip inside the box allowed Josh Peaslee to score the winning, and only, goal of the game off a penalty kick.

After being energized from watching the men’s game, the lady Owls went into their game with lots of vigor.

They quickly knocked in a few goals, credited to Desiree Smith, Erin Pelletier and Chelsea Boudreau. By halftime, the visitors added three more goals to their score, with two from Jessica Kinney and one more by Pelletier. The second half started off slowly for the Owls, and the Falcons added one to the board. Soon after, UMPI answered back with four more goals, ending the game 10-1. The final goals were scored by Carmen Allen, Boudreau, and two more by Pelletier.

Sunrise Conference Playoffs The games against Fisher College were the culmination of regular season play for the Owls, but the peak of the season came the weekend of Nov. 8.

Both teams traveled to Portland, Maine

to compete in the Sunrise Conference championship games. The men’s team entered as the second seed and the women, third. The teams attended a Sunrise banquet Saturday morning where they were recognized for their contribution to the conference and awarded for their efforts.

The lady Owls played at 4 p.m. on Saturday afternoon against rival UMFK. The stands were packed with Presque Isle fans, which made playing in the game enjoyable, despite the fog and rain. The Bengals scored early in the game and held their lead 0-1 for the whole first half. Quickly into the second half, a collision between the UMFK goalie and an UMPI player resulted in a loose ball, which Desiree Smith knocked into the net. The Owls kept up the intensity and scored again off a free kick, by Carmen Allen, making the score 2-1. Fort Kent’s Brianne McGary answered back and put one in for the Bengals, evening out the score. The game remained tied through both 10 minute overtimes and penalty kicks followed. With the crowd on the edge of their seats and the teams anxious, Fort

Kent shot the penalty kick that gave them the win. The Owls had lost in a hard-fought game, and despite the loss, ended the season on a great note.

Night had fallen and the rain had picked up by the time the men’s match started. They faced the third seeded Kangaroos of SUNY Canton and expected a challenging game. By halftime, the men’s efforts went unrewarded, with Canton having two goals on the board and the Owls, none. The second half saw heavier rain and two more goals for the Roos. The UMPI men ended their season with a 0-4 loss to SUNY Canton, but not for lack of effort.

Both the men and women’s seasons were impressive this year, with winning records, a spot in post-season play, and the setting of new school records.

Sophomore Ben Costello said, “We have a talented bunch of guys that worked hard this season. We ended with the most wins since 1996 and beat the existing record of seven shutouts by accomplishing 10. We definitely have high hopes for next year.”

KIMBERLY GRANT Contributor If you were startled by any noises in the dorms at 3 a.m. on Nov. 6, it was just the sleep-deprived UMPI Owl cross country teams trying to not get left behind in Presque Isle! It was a brandnew experience for many students on the team, and an unforgettable one at that. The flights to and from, along with the stops in between, landed safely for the teams on their journey to and from Nashville, Tenn.!

Not only was it a temperature shock for the athletes, but somewhat of a culture shock, as well, with the “Ya’ll came from Mah-aine’s?” and the “Did yas git enough ta eat’s?!” The first day of arrival included sophomore Hannah Smith carefully reading the map for the

sake of us all finding some rest at the hotel and finishing the night off with a satisfying meal.

On day two, we found our way to the course and checked it out for the first time. It was an OK course to run on, but it wouldn’t matter either way, because there was no turning back.

This race meant that in order to move on to nationals, which would be held in Kenosha, Wis., both men’s and women’s teams needed to place number one as a team or in the top five as individuals. This was definitely possible.

When day three rolled around, it was time to get our butts in gear! Race day had arrived. We were thrown out of our REM and headed to breakfast at 5:30 a.m. when Coach Smith came knocking on our doors! OK, so we lay in bed a

little longer than that. But the point was for us to get up and be wide awake for the women’s race at 9 a.m., and the men’s race at 10 a.m.

After a warm welcome from the home team coach and teammates, the guns were fired. Both men’s and women’s teams did a fantastic job, but unfortunately neither teams nor individuals qualified for nationals. Some were very close, however. Hannah Smith, who’s racing time was 22:56, tripped and fell, slightly injuring her knee and unable to capture what very well could’ve been her spot in the qualification for Kenosha. She followed closely to team photographer and senior Michelle Phillips, who finished with an outstanding time of 22:41.

Shelly Hanson, another one of the

women’s top runners, came in sixth place with a time of 22:10.

Emerson Wright, a senior on the men’s team, also showed himself successful, managing to run the race in just under 30 minutes! Impressive races also came from Brad Burlock and Chris Rines as they flew across the finish line with only a second of a difference between them.

All team members did their best and would like to extend a huge thanks to all of the people who made this trip even possible. Thanks go to the preparations, dedication and effort of the athletes, coaches, athletic trainers, athletic director and all others involved. Because of you, our year has been a success!

No trip to nationals, but UMPI X country still winners

Government

10

University Senate

UNIVERSITY TIMES

The University Senate met on Friday, Nov. 14, 2008.

Members spent the first hour listening to President Zillman’s report on the budget cuts and asking him questions. This report was roughly identical to the e-mail sent out to the campus Nov. 17. (Full text in Zillman’s column in this issue.)

Besides that ,there were several other reports of interest: —Diversity Committee.

Bonnie DeVaney made the report. Tomasz Herzog was absent due to his work with the 1968 Retrospective conference. The draft of the UMPI Diversity Plan is almost completed. DeVaney also announced that Sean Cunningham from WAGM has joined the diversity committee as a community member. The

senate confirmed the nomination.

—The Planning and Budget Advisory Committee announced the nomination of Todd Russell and Deborah Hodgkins (as faculty alternate). The senate confirmed the nomination.

—The Information Services Committee report presented the first reading of a revision of its charge. There will be discussion during the December senate meeting. This is an old business issue, continuing revisions started in the fall of 2007.

—Current Charge: “The Information Services Committee shall review, in cooperation with the Director of Information Services, all matters and policies affecting the Library and information technology resources and make recommendations to the University

Friday, November, 21, 2008

Senate.” The present “Student Technology Fee Committee” becomes a subcommittee of the “Information Services Committee.” The composition of the student technology fee committee would remain the same: two (2) faculty, two (2) students, the director of instructional technology & support services, an ex-officio representative from information services and the director of information services (ex-officio).

—Revised Charge: “The Information Services Committee shall review, in cooperation with the Director of Information Services and the VPAA, all matters and policies affecting the long-range direction of Library and information technology resources and make recommendations to the University Senate.”

—The Ad Hoc Smoking Committee has completed its work and its report has been accepted as revised by the senate. Once a clean copy containing the minor revisions is delivered to the president of the senate, it will be sent on to the administration as a senate recommendation and the committee will be dissolved.

—Complete reports of other committees will be included in the minutes from this meeting.

Dr. John F. DeFelice President, University Senate

UTimes’ election in The County coverage

Dear Readers, This past elcetion is a landmark in U.S. history. Not only did the voters elect the first black president in our history, but it was a critcal election year in other ways, too. Our reporters accomplished amazing feats while covering this election, from interviewing Tom Allen, to joining campaigns to get an insider’s perspective. Despite considerable effort, however, we were unable to cover the Reublican side of the election. We asked members of the College Republicans to share their views on the election, but they declined. For election night coverage, the Republican gatherings were outside our coverage area.

--Dave

SARAH GRAETTINGER Contributor Where were you when this historic election happened? I was out on the town and went to a local café to go to an election party. What I found there were people mingling and talking about politics.

Many people in the café were local people who helped out with Election Day. It was a Democratic party, and many people were watching the polls come in to the very end. People said they had voted for Obama because he will bring change to this country.

“His number one priority is energy.

Coffee in The County

We need to find more domestic production instead of imported,” Richard, a community member, said.

At the café people talked a lot about the economy. Their consensus of opinion: We need to balance our budget.

“Nationally, we need to have a better balanced budget. Now it’s going to be 11 trillion dollars. Now we owe money to everyone, and the people are the ones paying for it,” Richard said.

Overall, people thought Obama will change the presidency the most. That’s why people voted for him. Many said that they know people are struggling and they’re going to be the ones who are

going to pay for it.

“Many people are desperate for change. We are going to get rid of the policies that we’ve been living under for a long time,” Dave Putnam, UMPI teacher, said.

People said that we need to find ways that our government helps the people again. We need the change to happen soon.

At the café, people were really happy that many Democrats were winning the Senate and the House votes. Because we’ll have a Democratic president, they should be able to pass much legislation.

“We see that Americans were drawn

into the political spirit and race does not matter,” Dave Putnam said.

Another major problem is the health care system that we have now. People were saying that they want to have a national health care system such as the ones in France and Germany.

“Forty million people can’t get the health care that they need and can’t afford it,” Richard said.

At the end we realize that this was an historic election and we will remember it. We all want change and will get it in our new president.

“We will hope for the best and need change,” Richard said.

Give up on the picture?

It’s a mannequin dressed like a hippy in the Pullen Art Gallery Check out the show on the fourth floor of Pullen Hall

Democrats lost the battle, won the war UNIVERSITY TIMES

JENNY CRAWFORD Contributor A large crowd gathered at the Cafe Sorpreso in downtown Presque Isle on Nov. 4 and anxiously awaited the results of both the presidential election and the senate election.

A crowd of about 40 people gathered after the polls closed at 8 p.m. All sorts of people continued to pile into the

BARAT QUALEY Contributor The feelings displayed on Nov. 4, 2008, included tension, excitement and anticipation. These are the emotions that normally accompany voters while they wait for the results of an election. On Tuesday evening, I was given the privilege of being in several different environments to poll community members on their feelings about the possible results.

I started with the University of Maine at Presque Isle’s College Democrats.

They’d decided to gather in the newly constructed student lounge, located in Folsom Hall. Though the crowd was a bit small, their excitement was not.

Anxious to find out the results, they constantly flipped the television back and forth between the local and national results. Every time a state turned blue, matching the room’s décor, the cheering was so loud it could be heard on the third floor and gained the College Democrats some odd looks from passers-by.

Early on in the evening, the Democrats were greeted by their faculty adviser, John DeFelice. He took the time to allow me to interview him about

Friday, November 21, 2008

small cafe well into the night. A friend or family member greeted everyone who walked in. All around the room were the sounds of friendly chatter and nervous laughter.

The group of mostly middle-aged adults kept their eyes glued to the huge television set in the corner and clapped when Katie Couric announced that President Elect Barack Obama won any state. The cheers were especially loud

when she announced that Maine had voted Democratic. These people were definitely supporting the Democratic Party!

After getting used to the atmosphere, I asked a few of the partygoers how they felt about the election. Although they were upset that Tom Allen lost his seat in Congress and his chance to represent Maine in the Senate, they were quite excited that Obama was the leader in the

election race.

“It’s definitely time for the Democratic Party to retake the White House,” Robert Hartt, a resident of Presque Isle, said.

Although Tom Allen didn’t win the Senate race against Susan Collins, this is still a time of celebration for local Democrats.

the evening.

“I think that Barack Obama is going to win this election,” DeFelice said. “If I’m wrong, I’m wrong. But I think he stands an excellent chance.”

When asked what he was looking forward to if Obama was elected, DeFelice said, “I’m looking forward to a more open and honest form of government.

With the Bush government, things have just been so concealed. I’m looking forward to a sense of transparency.”

When asked why he supported the candidate, DeFelice said, “You know, the best thing about the campaign is that Obama dealt with terrific competition and slander. However, he managed to deal with all of that without ever raising his voice. It was quite possibly the worst slander we’ve ever had in a campaign, and he never went off of his message.

And for that, he deserves it.”

After my interview with DeFelice, I decided to hit the town of Presque Isle and gain some of the community’s perspective. No sooner did I leave campus, however, than I ran into Mike Amey, an English professor on the UMPI campus.

With his wife working on the Obama campaign, I asked for his unique input on the election.

“I think that Obama is the most positive candidate that we have,” Amey said. “I’m a teacher, so education is a huge part of politics for me. I’m also diabetic, so health care is an important issue as well. I’ve also lived abroad, so I want to see the United States well thought of in other countries again.”

When asked about any foreseeable problems, Amey said, “I think it’s going to be hard for Obama to fulfill all of the promises he made to America. Also, I’m worried about whether or not America is ready for an African-American president. Race is a huge issue in this election. And even if Obama is elected, America hasn’t changed. We’ve taken a step in the right direction, but it hasn’t changed. Something that’s worried me is that America is unpredictable with the way it votes. We don’t vote for the most qualified: we tend to vote for who we like the most.”

After bidding goodbye to Amey, WalMart was the next stop. Because I wanted to get an actual poll of the community, stopping people in an average shopping venue seemed like a great idea.

Rudy Martin, a citizen of Presque Isle, said the following.

“I think that Obama is going to win

tonight and it’s going to have a positive effect on the country. He’s going to help the middle class with taxes. I mean, tax me, but take it easy on me.”

An associate from Wal-Mart, who asked to remain nameless, also felt that Obama was going to win the night’s election.

“I think that he [with the bailout] already had a plan. He looks ahead, and he has great potential. He’s young, energetic and as far as not having enough experience…well, he has Joe Biden.

There’s experience there.”

Eric Leighton, a student at the University of Maine at Presque Isle said: “I think Obama is going to win, because that’s what my roommate heard. I would probably choose Obama, because he would be the first black president, and I like him better. He seems cooler and isn’t as corny as McCain.”

Though many seemed worried about the actual length of time it would take to determine the new presidency, it was actually a short night. By 11:30, Barack Obama had won with 364 of the 538 electoral votes. The change we’ve been hearing about for so long is finally here.

warmth of love filled the Lundeen home throughout the night.

“My grandmother is a remarkable woman,” Jackie Lundeen’s granddaughter, Courtney Lundeen, said.

“She wants the best for people here in The County. It’s her home and a home to our family and friends,” Courtney said.

As the results came in on the television, everyone could see from the very get-go that this was going to be a very

tight race. It was 50-50 throughout the entire race and even still at the end.

When the final results were rolling in late in the night, however, it was clear that though this was a close race, there was still a definite winner. Roger Sherman won over Lundeen by a total of 96 votes.

The night didn’t end with sorrow or disappointment, though. It ended with optimism and the desire to run again.

Since this is the last term Sherman is

able to serve, Lundeen stands a good chance of running again in two years.

“With the faith and support from my community and family, I can’t be upset about a defeat. I’m excited to try again,” Lundeen said with a smile.

With the sorrow of a loss put behind them, in the end this family still has the love of friends and family and their hopeful home.

Following the victory trail

Hope rises amid election defeat

KAYLN DEVOE Contributor Cheerful and hopeful faces filled the home of candidate Jackie Lundeen, as everyone mingled. Yet the purpose of the night had not left their minds.

Lundeen, running for her first term as District 34 Maine State Senator, awaited the results of the election in her home in Westfield, Maine. Anticipation filled the eyes of friends and loved ones who came to celebrate with Lundeen. The

11

12 PAMELA PERKINS Staff Writer

Entertainment

Being fit can be fun!

UNIVERSITY TIMES

The wonderful, joyous sounds of children’s laughter could be heard coming from Gentile Hall on Saturday, Nov. 8, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., as about 40 children, from first grade to fifth grade, took part in the annual Fit and Fun day. The P.E. Majors Club put on the event. There were four different stations that taught the children different skills, such as using their fine motor over gross motor skills or how to work together as a team.

Fit and Fun day was an opportunity for UMPI students who want to become physical fitness teachers to work on their skills in real life situations. The event also gave them the chance to work with a variety of different kids, plan lessons that would be appropriate for certain age groups, make their own lesson plans as if they were the children’s

teachers and do activities that they thought were fun.

For the children it was a chance for

PAMELA PERKINS Staff Writer We all have those types of chores that we hate to do. You know the ones that I’m talking about: raking leaves, shoveling snow, doing laundry, washing dishes, running mind-numbing errands, taking out the trash, wrapping up all those Christmas gifts or cleaning out the kitty litter box. Or even the chores that strike fear into us such as, “What is that smell in my refrigerator that I haven’t cleaned since the start of the semester?” Or “What made this sticky spot on my car?

I guess I should clean it out, but I don’t want to touch that spot!” Or my personal favorite hateful chore, “You’re telling me that I have to clean the bathroom after my brother just being in there? Are you crazy?”

Or maybe you have always wanted someone to cook a nice meal for you, help you out with your homework, go on a hike with you, give you great fashion tips, teach you how to dance like a rock star, write your sweetheart a loving poem, teach you how to knit a lovely

scarf, or just give you a good foot rub?

If you answer yes to any of these and didn’t go to the second annual Senior Service Auction, on Nov. 13, in Kelly Commons, then you missed your chance to buy a serviceperson.

The event was a way to raise money for the senior class of 2009 and for all the volunteers to do what they like to do: help people out. The volunteers who offered their services were a mix of students of the senior class and UMPI’s own faculty and staff. The volunteers where as follows: Students – Erin Pelletier, Robert Allan, Ben Costello, Tony Hibbard, Corey Fournier Britt Humphrey and Danni Humphrey. Faculty/Staff - Aaron Tomlinson, Bill Casavant, Linda Zillman, Greg Doak, Chris Corsello, Amanda Morin, Chris Standefer, Tracy Guerrette, Keith Madore and Barb Blackstone.

The event helped to raise more than $200 dollars for the seniors, with Bill Casavent having the highest bid (per individual) with $30.

Friday, November 21, 2008

Children and students enjoying Fit ‘n’ Fun’day around a parachute in Gentile Hall

them to meet new people, have fun, be active and be excited about fitness.

They also learned another skill that will

UMPI’s slave market

be important for them in their future: sharing and working together on a team.

Certain stations had different skills that the children could learn, such as colors, numbers, left from right, working on visual-spatial problems, passing and catching a ball, how to be good team members, communication skills and how to be good winners or losers without showing poor sportsmanship. The children also had the chance to use their imagination while playing a “catch the mouse game” where they had to use their communications skills to tell their partners were the mouse was hiding.

Overall, it was a good day and Korrin, a helper, had this to say about the event: “I’m really glad and excited to see many of the children that I have worked with before coming here and having fun with the event. It’s good to see them being excited about fitness and see them using the skills that I taught them in my teacher training.”

Senior Robert Allen looking nervous on the chopping block

Community

Irish gathering at NMCC kicks off READ program UNIVERSITY TIMES

NMCC INFORMATION OFFICE Press Release St. Patrick’s Day came four months early at Northern Maine Community College. The campus community hosted a Nov. 17 Irish gathering to kick off a new campaign to promote reading for enjoyment and to extend well-wishes to a student who will spend the coming semester studying in Ireland.

NMCC student Lucas Ireland, this year’s recipient of the George Mitchell Peace Scholarship, won the award based on his academic success and commitment to community service. He will travel to Ireland to study at the Cork Institute of Technology in January.

“We are all very proud of you. This is a great opportunity,” NMCC President Timothy Crowley said in his opening remarks. “When you stood with Senator Mitchell to pose for a photograph when he visited campus earlier this month, you had an opportunity to stand with greatness. I encourage you to stay in touch with the senator and write to him about your experience.”

Family and friends of Ireland and members of the campus community joined Crowley in the college library to wish Lucas well as he prepares to depart

for Ireland in two months.

In his comments, NMCC Dean of Students William Egeler recalled a memorable moment from earlier this year when Ireland was being considered for the Mitchell Peace Scholarship. “I remember meeting your grandmother and how she told me, while pointing her finger at me, that ‘Lucas is the best candidate, and he will be the best to represent Maine proudly.’

You will gain a great international per-

Friday, November 21, 2008

spective and come back and share your experience. We know you will do well because you have to report back to your grandmother,” Egeler added as he acknowledged Ireland’s grandmother, who was in attendance.

The American Library Association established the READ campaign, a literacy program to encourage reading for enjoyment. For more than 25 years, the ALA has sponsored the campaign that displays posters of notable Americans

Congradulatory reception for Lucas Ireland, third from right, with his family and NMCC President Timothy Crowley

Keep your eyes on our community section for news from Presque Isle High School, NMCC, and others in the community

Feel free to direct comments, suggestions and stories to Utimes@maine.edu

13

and celebrities who are photographed with their favorite book to lend support to the simple but powerful message: READ! The series is the most widely recognized promotion for literacy and libraries. It is now possible for libraries to create their own posters using software developed for this purpose.

Ireland and college administrators revealed three such posters featuring Senator Mitchell and Ireland, as well as NMCC graduate Kent Corey, the recipient of the George Mitchell Peace Scholarship in 2003.

In addition to the ceremony and poster unveiling, NMCC’s library also began an exhibit featuring a new collection of books about Ireland and its people and culture.

The George Mitchell Peace Scholarship fund was created in 1998 to honor former U.S. Senator and Maine native George Mitchell for his work and dedication in helping to facilitate a peace accord between Northern and Southern Ireland and his lifelong commitment to public service. The selection process is very competitive and many students from community colleges in Maine apply.

Give the gift of life

All day Dec. 5 Give blood for the Red Cross in the Presque Isle High School upper gymnasium 16 Griffin St.

Call 764-0121 for Information

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Mixed bag

We are the ones we’ve been waiting for

JEFF LOVEJOY Contributor Monday evening, Nov. 10, I was privileged to be part of a musical retrospective of 1968. Many artists gave inspiring performances. The memories, as I scanned a bulletin board outside the performance venue, brought a mixture of sadness and pride.

The sadness was mainly in the remembering of the slain Kennedy brothers and the visionary Martin Luther King, Jr. The decade had opened with so much promise, and the next year, as I witnessed the moon landing with tens of thousands of others in Central Park, I saw the easy part of that promise fulfilled. “Easy” because it seems that technological advancement is much easier than its sociological counterpart, though there were victories

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in that arena as well.

And sadness because so much of the zeitgeist that had been born in that time died from a combination of boredom, impatience, greed, disappointment, disillusion and the conviction that American society would change overnight.

Sadness, even as I played, in knowing that members of The Band (“The Weight”) had died, as well as Otis Redding (“Dock of the Bay”). Scott McKenzie (“San Francisco”) will be 70 in less than two months. Jim Morrison, alternately the genius and emotional 2year-old leader of the Doors (“Soul Kitchen”), flamed out long ago. I saw him perform one magical night at Madison Square Garden.

I am proud of being part of the ‘60s, if belatedly, due to, as Morrison himself

Student of the Month Nomination Form

Do you know students who * go out of their way to help other students? * contribute to school pride? * contribute to student life? * serve as a positive role models for other students? * are open to all students and embrace diversity? * do community service?

Friday, November 21, 2008

put it, being “back there in seminary school . . . .” That decade, it seems to me, has taken the rap for most everything that’s gone wrong in America since. I would like to suggest here that many births are hard and painful, but that important streams of thought and feeling were birthed. Just because the visions have not yet come to fruition does not make them failures—or wrong.

Speaking of vision, I am overjoyed that Senator Obama will be our new President. I feel that he does have a vision for what America could be. I am happy to hear him talk about being “our bothers’ and sisters’ keepers” and seem to really mean it.

But something more important has happened and it will need to continue if that vision is to win out over more selfish and cynical visions. “We are the

ones we have been waiting for,” was repeated often during the campaign. It comes from a poem by June Jordan, was turned into a song by Sweet Honey in the Rock and then into a book by Alice Walker.

Once upon a time I did believe that if someone like John Kennedy were elected, everything would be all right.

I know the absolute naiveté of that belief now and realize that if citizens do not play their parts well, the play will certainly fail.

We need to realize that, indeed, “We are the ones we have been waiting for.”

If we do not constantly engage, all the Kings, Kennedys or Obamas will be for naught.

Name of Nominated Student_______________________________________________ Degree Program of Nominated Student (if known)_____________________________ Nomination Month/Year (i.e. October, 2008)__________________________________

Nominated by (name, student/staff or faculty Each month of the school year one student will be chosen to repre- member)_________________________ sent UMPI as its "Student of the Month". Nominations will be Can we reach you if we have questions? ___Yes ___No accepted from anyone at the University. Completed forms should be submitted to the Dean of Students. The Dean of Students, along with members of If yes - what is the best way (i.e. phone number, e-mail, etc.) ____________________ the UMPI Pride Committee will review nomination forms and select a monthly Please tell us why you think the above named student should be Student recipient. The selected student will receive the award at the next of the Month Pride Event and will be announced in the University Times and other ___________________________________________________________________ campus media. ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ Nomination forms are due by the 15th of each month. ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ Return completed forms to the Dean of Students, South Hall.

Student of the Month program sponsored by Dean of Students and the ___________________________________________________________________ UMPI Pride Committee. If you have any questions, contact Bonnie ___________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ DeVaney, 768-9750 or Barbara.DeVaney@umpi.edu ___________________________________________________________________

Mars Phoenix Probe ends mission UNIVERSITY TIMES

JIM STEPP Contributor In mythology, the phoenix was a magical bird that was able to rise from its own ashes to come back to life. On Mars, the Phoenix Lander died on Nov. 2, but it will not be able to revive itself.

On the day Phoenix stopped working, the skies on Mars had turned dustier, winds were picking up, clouds were seen overhead, the temperature had dipped to -128 degrees F. (-89 degrees C.) and autumn had begun.

Phoenix landed on Mars on May 25, 2008. The landing site was the furthest north site of any of the probes sent to Mars. While on Mars, Phoenix dug in the ground, deposited soil in its onboard laboratories and baked the soil to see if water, and possibly signs of life, were present.

During the past 5.5 months, Phoenix took more than 25,000 pictures and relayed them to the Earth.

If you’re interested in seeing some of these images, please go to http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu/gallery.php Some of the most important findings of the Phoenix mission were the finding of salts that could have been nutrients for life; the finding of calcium carbonate (the building blocks for shells similar to the shells found with clams); the finding of proof that water existed for a fairly long period of time on the planet; the taking of pictures of snow falling on another planet; and the charting of weather on Mars.

NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander was supposed to last for three months in the cold arctic region of Mars, but managed to last more than five months. The cause of death was a loss in the probe’s ability to charge its batteries due to the decreasing angle of the sun in the sky.

To check out more information about

the Phoenix Lander, please go to http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu/index.php

Also of interest Something interesting will happen on Dec. 11, 2008. The moon will pass over several stars in the Pleiades Star Cluster.

The Pleiades are located in the constellation of Taurus the bull. To see this unusual event, look toward the moon between 2:30 a.m. and 5:15 a.m. During that time, the moon will pass over several of the stars in this star cluster. As a side note, the Pleiades Star Cluster is relatively young: all of the stars are less than 100 million years old. As a comparison, the sun is about 5 billion years old.

For more information about this event, please go to www.lunar-occultations.com/iota/iotandx.htm

The Night Sky 11/18 through 12/11 ISS visible in the evening sky Go to www.heavens-above.com for exact times and locations – You will need to register at this site and load your location to be able to get exact times.

To get a free sky chart, go to www.skymaps.com.

11/21 13:00 Saturn 5.5 degrees north of Moon

11/24 Darwin’s “Origin of the Species” published 1859 (http://darwinonline.org.uk/) 11/24 39th anniversary of Apollo 12 splashing down in the Pacific Ocean

Friday, November 21, 2008

south of Sun

11/27 Anders Celsius’ 307th birthday – 1701. Inventor of the Celsius Temperature Scale (http://www.astro.uu.se/history/Celsius_ eng.html) 11/27

11:55

New Moon

11/27 13:00 Sun 4.6 degrees north of Moon 11/27 15:00 Mercury 3.7 degrees north of Moon

11/27 18:00 Mars 4.1 degrees north of Moon

11/29 1963 The Launch Operations Center at Cape Canaveral is renamed the John F. Kennedy Space Center

11/29 01:00 Mercury 0.6 degrees south of Mars

11/29 11:55 Moon at apogee – Furthest from Earth (252,637 miles or 406,494 km)

11/30 10:18 Mercury at aphelion – Farthest from Sun (43,391,797 miles or 69,817,402 km)

11/30 04:24 Venus 2.0 degrees south of Jupiter 12/01 Moon, Venus and Jupiter smiley face

12/01 16:18 Jupiter 1.4 degrees north of Moon

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12/01 16:18 Venus 0.8 degrees south of Moon

12/03 22:00 Neptune 1.4 degrees south of Moon 12/05 16:26 First Quarter Moon

12/05 16:40 Mars 0.5 degrees south of Sun

12/06 First U.S. attempt to launch a satellite fails (1957)

12/06 04:00 Uranus 4.3 degrees south of Moon

12/07 Apollo 17 launched – last manned mission to the Moon (1972) 12/07

Earliest Sunrise

12/11 Apollo 17 Lunar Module Challenger lands in TaurusLittrow on the Moon (1972)

12/11 02:38-05:12 Moon eclipses the Pleiades Star Cluster (http://www.lunar-occultations.com/iota/iotandx.htm) 12/12 11:37

Full Moon

12/12 16:37 Moon at perigee – Closest to the Earth (221,606 miles or 356,564 km)

12/12 17:43 Geminids Meteor Shower Peak– Up to 100 meteor/hour – Moon will interfere with this meteor shower (http://meteorshowersonline.com/)

Food Drive in November 11/25

11:49

Mercury 0.6 degrees

Look for collection boxes in the buildings on campus Please donate

Nonperishable Items

Help Make the Holidays Happier and Paper Products

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Food for thought

Pizza Problem

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Friday, November 21, 2008

Previous problem:

MISSWORM+ZILLIONS=ZZZZZZZZZ

Each letter in the problem corresponds uniquely to a number between 0 and 9. To what number does each letter correspond to make the equation true? There were no correct solutions submitted last week, so we’ll give you a hint and leave the problem open: M=9.

New Problem:

Believe it or not, five twos equal five. So do five threes and five fours, under appropriate arithmetic operations. For example, 1+1+1+1+1=5 and 2+2+2-(2/2)=5. Insert parentheses and basic arithmetic operations (addition, multiplication, subtraction, division) into the following “equations” to produce true statements.

3 3 3 3 3 =5

7 7 7 7 7 =5

5 5 5 5 5 =5

9 9 9 9 9 =5

4 4 4 4 4 =5 6 6 6 6 6 =5

8 8 8 8 8 =5

Do as many as you can and send your solutions to umpicontest@maine.edu by Dec. 4, 2008, if you want a free pizza.

Watch for the solution and a new problem in the next issue of U Times.

The sky was a dark shroud of black and blue, illuminated only slightly by the distant stars.

The moon was only a thin band of silver against its nocturnal backdrop. Thin clouds blowing across the moon from over the mountains were slowly starting to cover it.

The sounds from the local wildlife began to rise up and grow louder, and soon various chirps and growls filled the air. Jill’s bicycle landed hard on the dirt trail as she came down from her jump, the rusted metal parts scraping against each other as she struggled to keep it from flipping out from underneath her. She pedaled as fast as she could, trying to focus more on the sounds of her own labored breathing rather than the thundering footsteps of her pursuers. A few dark silhouettes of small animals skittered out of her path, but she didn’t chance looking down to see what they were, afraid of losing even the slightest bit of speed.

As the deep growling from behind her

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grew louder, she couldn’t help but think back to earlier that evening. Jill had just finished doing her chores out in the barn, when something behind a pile of miscellaneous equipment caught her eye. After moving it aside with all of the strength that her 8-year-old arms could muster, she discovered an old rifle. Being the curious child that she was, she started fiddling with the bolts and catches along the barrel, all the while wondering where the weapon had come from, and why it was in their barn, of all places. That was when it happened. She accidentally fired a shot, which hit one of their prized dairy cows and killed it within no more than a few seconds.

Her parents came running from the house, and after getting over the initial shock of the bloody scene, her father started to scream at her. Her mother started to quietly tend to the mess, trying to stay out of the conflict like she always did so that his wrath wouldn’t be turned on her. Jill sim-

ply sat there and averted her gaze to the rotting wooden floor, doing her best to block out the brutality of his words as she blinked back tears.

When Jill had finally been sent to bed without any supper, she sat clutching her knees to her chest for a long time, all the while shaking like a leaf. A cool wind blew in from the window and tugged at her ragged clothing, almost as if beckoning her outside. Slowly but surely, she raised her head and looked out at the night sky. But instead of seeing the moon and stars, she saw a green light shooting about above the forest, making a loud buzzing sound before it finally slowed down and disappeared into the canopy.

Even though she feared getting caught and being punished worse than she already was, Jill had quietly crept out the window and slid down the tree that grew up alongside their house. She climbed onto her brother’s old bike, which he had outgrown

Comic by Bhava Albert long ago and was much too big for her, and had slid off into the shadows to investigate.

And now as the heavy footsteps were right on her tail and more could be heard coming toward her from either side in the brush, she now realized why her father was always so harsh with her. She was much too curious for her own good, and something bad always happened whenever she started to explore. He was only trying to teach her to be more cautious, although his methods left a little something to be desired. Something bad always happened, just like when her brother fell down the stairs, and just like when she shot the cow.

That was why the monsters were after her now, and she kept wishing with all her heart that they would just go away.

What happens next? It’s your turn to tell us. Send your conclusions to utimes@maine.edu. Our panel of judges will read them all. The winner will receive a $10 gift certificate to the UMPI Bookstore.