Vol. 138, No. 12 - 01.31.22

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mainecampus.com

Monday, January 31, 2022

Vol. 138, No. 12

News

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UMaine Graduate School of Business Holds Alumni Awards Ceremony

Opinion

A5

The testing dilemma: Students faced with uncomfortable choices amidst COVID-19 peak

Culture

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Sports

A10

Versant Power Astronomy Center After a shaky start, UMaine womquestions the possibility of extrateren’s team looks to continue winning restrial life with ‘EXO: Are We Alone?’ streak

Students feel unsure in light of new COVID-19 guidelines from UMaine

Photo from MEC Archives.

Kathryn Luck Contributor With a new semester and the ever-present threat of the COVID-19 pandemic, the University of Maine has laid out steps for the spring semester to provide students with a healthy environment to continue learning.

“There isn’t going to be a later, and we need to be a university now,” Emily Haddad said, the dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at UMaine, referencing the university’s decision to stay open and in-person despite the rising numbers of Omicron cases plaguing the nation. In an effort to be open and communicative with students, President Joan Ferrini-Mundy has begun sending out a series of weekly emails titled “UMaine Now,” to provide updates about the ever-changing pandemic, including resources to help students stay healthy.

The symptoms of

Omicron, a variant of COVID-19 can appear anywhere from two to 14 days following exposure. The symptoms are most commonly described as similar to a cold or flu, typically including a runny nose, headache, sore throat and sometimes nausea. A fever is also commonly associated with the Omicron variant, but depending on one’s reaction to the virus, a fever might not be present. The university urges students and faculty who are feeling ill to quickly get tested in order to reduce the potential spread of infection.

Starting last semester, UMaine required all students be fully vaccinated if attending classes in-person, unless they had the proper exemptions. These exempted students were not expected to, but welcome to, participate in voluntary, weekly asymptomatic testing. Starting on Feb. 1, all students who have not received their COVID-19 boost-

er shot are required to participate in this weekly testing. In an effort to make vaccinations more accessible to students, the university has been sponsoring vaccine clinics run by Northern Light Pharmacy, and hopes to continue offering these clinics throughout the semester. Another important part of tracking the spread of the illness across the campus has been wastewater testing, which will continue in the upcoming semester.

Asymptomatic testing is available in Estabrooke Hall by appointment every weekday. The mask mandate is still in effect on campus, requiring all students, regardless of vaccination status, to wear masks in every building, unless actively eating.

The university also highly recommends that students abide by the social distancing guidelines provided by the CDC whenever possible.

So what happens if you test positive for COVID-19 or one of its variants? In line with current guidelines detailed by the CDC, the university requires students and faculty who have tested positive to self-quarantine off campus for five days, even if they are asymptomatic. After those five days, if your symptoms have disappeared fully, then you can return to campus, but for the next 10 days, you must have your mask on at all times. Everyone who tests positive is required to fill out a self-report form, which can be found at https://umaine.edu/ retur n/covid-19-selfreporting-form/. This provides the university with the best chance of tracing outbreaks before they occur.

Despite these efforts, some students still feel UMaine has a long way to go to ensure students are learning in the best environment possible.

“For residential students like me, it isn’t

easy to find accommodations off campus, so I wish they had more spaces on campus where they can quarantine people,” one anonymous fourthyear student said, who is currently living on campus. “I feel like the majority of my professors are enforcing [the guidelines] pretty well… but I think not allowing professors to have Zoom lectures is irresponsible,” another anonymous fourthyear student said, who is worried about students who test positive missing five days of their classes. In a fast paced-learning environment like UMaine, missing a week of classes can be detrimental to some students’ educations.

Other students are worried about the enforcement of mask mandates and other important guidelines.

“I wear my mask indoors, but I’ve never experienced anyone enforcing that,”one anonymous third-year student said, ques-

tioning whether or not people who have tested positive are really being required to wear their masks for the full 10 day period. “We get emails, but I don’t really know if people read them. I also remember when we were having required testing, I missed a test and they never questioned it or tracked me down,” the student continued. Students are worried about how issues like this are being enforced, if they are at all. “I feel my safety is in my own hands,” the student said.

For more information regarding UMaine’s updated COVID-19 guidelines and requirements please visit: https:// umaine.edu/return/recent-updates/. And for more information surrounding the Omicron variant, as well as other variants of COVID-19 please visit: https:// www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/variants/omicron-variant. html.

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News

A2• News

The Maine Campus

Monday, January 31, 2022

UMaine Graduate School of Business Holds Alumni Awards Ceremony

Photo from MEC Archives.

Anika Chamberlain Contributor The University of Maine Graduate School of Business held the first MaineMBA Alumni Awards on Thursday, Jan. 20. Four notable alumni from the UMaine Graduate School of Business were celebrated for their accomplishments. The event was pre-recorded and broadcast virtually due to COVID-19.

Chris Treister won the U40 Award, Ryan Curry won the Distinguished Accountant Award, Josh Rosen won the Dean’s Alumni Award and Michael Kühn won the Distinguished Alumni Award.

Many alumni from UMaine, the University of Southern Maine and the Maine MBA program were nominated.

A steering committee composed of professors from UMaine and the University of

Southern Maine was responsible for selecting the award recipients from the pool of nominees.

The U40 award, or “Under 40” award, was presented to Treister by Brian Threkeld, the membership and marketing director at Maine Outdoor Brands.

Treister graduated from the MBA program in 2013 with a concentration in management. A former UMaine football player, Treister signed contracts to play professional football in Italy and Germany after graduation. He now lives and works in the Stuttgart region of Germany as a project manager at THOST Projektmanagement GmbH. He also runs a successful football coaching website, d1theory.com.

Trish Brigham, the executive director for the Maine Society of Certified Public Ac-

countants (MECPA), presented the Distinguished Accountant Award to Curry.

Curry graduated from the MBA program in 2012 with a concentration in accounting.

He currently works at IDEXX in Gorham, Maine as a financial report manager. He served his country for eight years in the U.S. National Guard and was deployed to Afghanistan during his service. He currently works on the MECPA board and the IDEXX community steering committee.

Brigham commended Curry for both his service in the military and his service to the accounting community.

The Dean’s Alumni Award was awarded to Rosen by Jeanine Diddle-Uzzi, the provost and executive vice president of academic and student affairs for the University of

Southern Maine.

Rosen was the first student to graduate from the joint MBA and JD program in 2021, and he has secured a job with top Boston law firm Foley & Hoack. Rosen plans to relocate to Boston after passing the bar exam this spring. At Foley & Hoack, he will specialize in energy and climate law and its intersection in business.

In his acceptance speech, Rosen stated he is “eternally grateful to the University of Maine.”

The most prestigious award of the night, the Distinguished Alumni Award, was awarded to Kühn

by Dianne Watters, a senior product marketing manager at Tyler Technologies and chair of the University of Maine Business School Advisory Board.

After graduating in 2014 with a concen-

tration in management, Kühn helped build the first orthopedic spine robotics organization. The technology he helped build is a surgical guidance software, which is designed to eliminate mistakes during spine and brain surgeries.

The software was later sold to Medtronics, where Kühn served as a manager. After leaving Medtronics, Kühn went to work for Johnson & Johnson, where he continues to build the foundation of digital healthcare.

During his acceptance speech, Kühn recalled being recruited from New Jersey to play football at UMaine and thanked a list of colleagues, coaches and professors who helped him during his time as an undergraduate and graduate student. He signed off with a piece of advice: “Believe in yourself, be

coachable, push yourself through all your limits and do it with a sense of urgency.”

Portland Mayor Kate Snyder spoke alongside the dean of UMaine’s Graduate School of Business, Dr. Norm O’Reilly, for the event’s keynote address. O’Reilly and Snyder discussed the struggling small business economy in Portland, and spoke to the detrimental effects of COVID-19 on small businesses. Snyder did note that tourism in the summer of 2021 was “pretty good” and that some of the changes due to COVID-19 may be in Portland to stay, such as outdoor dining venues.

UMaine plans to hold this awards ceremony annually in the future.

UMaine partners with Malaysian University Maddy Gernhard News Editor The University of Maine and HELP University Malaysia have signed a five-year-long research partnership to encourage cooperation between the institutions. UMaine signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with HELP University on Dec. 3 which outlines the nature of the partnership.

The memorandum was signed by UMaine Provost and Executive Vice President of Academic Affairs John Volin and HELP Vice Chancellor Datuk Paul Chan at a virtual ceremony. Amongst the goals outlined in the agreement are joint research initiatives be-

tween the institutions, as well as collaborative programs and faculty exchanges. The partnership will also provide educational transfer pathways for both graduate and undergraduate students.

HELP University was founded in 1986

by Paul Chanat in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The institution is one of the leading research institutions in the country, and has programs in business, IT, law, management and economics, among other programs. The institution also has partnerships with over 100 other U.S. and Canadian universities, which have provided over 4,500 students with educational opportunities through

the American Degree Transfer Program.

Both institutions are looking forward to the opportunities that this partnership will bring.

“This MOU lays a foundation to be creative and innovative in exploring new academic and research collaborations,” Volin said.

“Partnerships such as these send a strong positive signal that we are advancing and growing our international relationships, and they highlight the importance in the broader educational enterprise.”

Chan echoed these sentiments, explaining the potential for climate change research brought about by this partnership.

“In Asia, there’s a

great concern about climate change [and] sustainability issues, and UMaine is conducting this type of research,” Chan said. ”Hence, besides the dual MBA program that we’re discussing and the other credit transfer programs in business, psychology, education and so on, we would like to include research, staff development and training.

I want to emphasize mobility because we want young Americans and our young Asians, who are both the future leaders of the world, to get to know each other.”

Along with climate science and sustainability, HELP has also created the Center of Regenerative Sustain-

ability, which features a partnership with Thought for Food, an innovation engine for food and agriculture, to explore food sustainability programs.

The institutions are currently exploring a number of transfer pathways for graduate and undergraduate students in their MBA programs.

Pathways include a dual MBA program, as well as a 2+2 pathway. Collaborations for other programs include a 3+1 psychology program for undergraduate students and a graduate program in global policy.

Dr. Norm O’Reilly, the dean of UMaine’s Graduate School of Business, spoke to the nature of the program

as a great opportunity for the diversification of the university’s MBA program.

“The fact that students would receive two MBA degrees, one from each institution, is not to be underestimated in the current global environment.

This partnership has the potential to diversify the student experience, internationalize our classes, share knowledge and graduate leaders with a global perspective,” O’Reilly said.

The collaboration between these institutions promises growth in the fields of business and climate research.

Monday, January 31, 2022

News • A3

The Maine Campus

Two UMaine Alumni Track and Field Athletes set to compete in the 2022 Beijing Olympics

Photo by Olivia Schanck.

Grace Blanchard Contributor Two former University of Maine men’s track and field athletes will be competing in the upcoming 2022 Beijing Olympics.

Frank Del Duca and James Reed, who both graduated from UMaine in 2014, will once again be teammates, as both were among the 12 athletes selected to represent Team USA on the Olympic Bobsled team.

According to the Bangor Daily News, Reed was selected as an alternate for the 2018 South Korea Games, but he did not have the opportunity to compete.This will be Del Duca’s first ever Olympics experience.

These two athletes joined UMaine’s men’s track and field team together during

their freshman year.

Del Duca began his career at Telstar High School in Bethel, Maine, where he competed as a sprinter and long jumper. In his first year at UMaine, Del Duca was a walkon athlete, and by his fourth year, Del Duca was a team captain and an American East long jump champion.

Del Duca still holds his rank among the top 10 Black Bears in the long jump event.

While Del Duca was winning long jump events Reed was breaking records in the 60-meter hurdles.

Raised in Garmisch, Germany, Reed attended the Munich International School. His father attended UMaine, so Reed continued the family legacy. During the 2010-2011 season, Reed placed first in the 60-meter hurdles pre-

liminaries at the 2011 America East Indoor Championship.

“To see two former UMaine track and field members reach the pinnacle of their sport, even if it isn’t the sport they participated in while they were at [U] Maine, gives us immense amounts of pride in that we hope we were somewhat instrumental in helping them to reach the heights they have,” said Mark Lech, head coach of the track and field team.

Coach Lech believes that a lot of what they learned and practiced in their track and field events carried over into their success with the bobsled.

“The fast powerful explosive actions they did are very much like the start of the bobsled,” Lech said.

Lech also attribut-

ed their academic endeavors while at UMaine to their successful careers as athletes.

Del Duca graduated from UMaine with a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology and Physical Education.

Reed graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology and Exercise Science.

After graduating from UMaine in 2014, Del Duca trained as a push athlete on the U.S national team in 2015, but later became a bobsled driver after not qualifying for the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics.

Neither Del Duca or Reed were able to compete in 2018, but they’re both going into this upcoming Olympic season ready to ride.

In recent weeks, Del Duca earned top 15 finishes in four World Cup races in Germany

and Switzerland, earning him his nomination for the Olympic team.

Reed also earned his share of World Cup medals, collecting four between 2015 and 2017.

Del Duca is set to drive the sleds in the two and four-man races, while Reed was selected as a push athlete. According to Team USA, in a fourman race, a driver is responsible for steering the bobsled down the track after two crewmen push the sled down the track at the beginning of the race.

A brakeman is responsible for stopping the sled after crossing the finish line.

This is not the first time a UMaine alumnus has been to the Olympics. Viktoriya Rybalko (‘03) competed in the 2008 Beijing and 2012 London Olympics, and

like Del Duca, was a long jumper in track and field. Lech believes that any of his athletes can make it to an elite stage such as the Olympics like Rybalko, Del Duca and Reed.

“If you have the athletic ability, then find the desire to risk all to do it and do it now because you’ll only have a limited amount of time to be at your physical peak,” Lech said.

The bobsled competition at the 2022 Beijing Olympics is scheduled to begin with the two-man heats on Feb. 14. Del Duca and Reed’s racing begins on Feb. 19, when the first four-man heats are set to take place.

A4• News

Weekly Updates

Monday, January 31, 2022

The Maine Campus

This Week in Student Government

Weekly recap of decisions made by the UMaine Student Government General Student Senate Grace Blanchard Contributor On Tuesday, Jan. 25, the University of Maine General Student Senate held their first meeting for the start of the spring semester, but major flooding forced GSS to relocate.

GSS normally holds their senate meetings in the Bangor Room in the Memorial Union, but flooding in the Bangor Room has forced the GSS to relocate to Neville Hall until the damage can be repaired. According to Lauri Sidelko, the advisor to Student Government, the flooding occurred last week and was due in part to major drops in temperature.

“When it froze last week we lost heat in the Dean’s Office, which is above the Bangor Room, so all of our offices in the Student Life Office flooded and so did everything in the two levels below it,” Sidelko said.

According to Sidelko, the Bangor Room is currently unusable, but UMaine is already working on

renovations and are attempting to include technology that would make the room “Zoom-friendly.”

chapter for this university of a national organization known as the Wildlife Society,” President of the Wildlife Society Sean Mullin said. “We are a professional and academic organization dedicated to networking our student body who are either interested in or enrolled in wildlife related courses.”

UMSG Vice President, Elizabeth Davis, discussed several initiatives during her executive report that she hopes to continue working on this semester.

“I spoke with the Director of Diversity and Inclusion about [the] Senate and what we can do to be a more inclusive environment,” Davis said. “We should … be making sure that we are involved in all areas of campus and having a presence there.”

Davis also discussed the proposal to add the UMaine Land Acknowledgement to the agenda of weekly senate meetings. During a period of discussion, Senator Ricker raised concerns that he did not seem to understand the point of adding the Land Acknowledgment. The Land Acknowledgement is meant to recognize that the university is located on Marsh Island in the homeland of the Penobscot Nation.

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“I think it’s a great initiative and I definitely think we should do… it and it should be followed up with substance and communication with [the Native American Studies Department]. I also want to note that the Faculty Senate does open their meetings with this and I think it is a great thing that we should follow in their footsteps moving forward,” Jacob Chaplin said, the chair of the Fair Election Practices Committee.

After multiple senators expressed their opinions

on this proposal, the senate decided to table the discussion of this proposal so the members of the executive committee could take the time to properly lay out the terms and language of the Land Acknowledgement.

Multiple club representatives were also present during the senate meeting, seeking funding or preliminary recognition. A speaker from the Wildlife Society spoke on behalf of the club as they were requesting preliminary recognition.

“We are the student

According to Mullin, they hope this club can provide students interested in this field with job opportunities and help them find volunteer work that would be beneficial to them and the community. After a brief period of questioning, the Senate approved their request for preliminary recognition.

A representative from the UMaine Climbing Club was also present to seek preliminary recognition for his club.

“Climbing Club as an organization does a lot of things, but mainly we are there as a resource to build the climbing community around the school,” Patrick Downing, the president of the Climbing Club, said. “One

of our large goals is to build more knowledge about outdoor climbing and start to give back to the local climbing areas in the community through the numbers that we have and volunteer work.”

According to Downing, the club has around 40 members and utilizes the Maine Bound facilities on campus to teach members about climbing safety and help students gain the knowledge and skills necessary to transition from indoor to outdoor climbing. After the senate took a moment for questioning, they approved the request for preliminary recognition. The Climbing Club meets on Tuesdays from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Maine Bound for anyone interested in exploring this new club.

After discussing funding allocations to the Women’s Club Softball team and UMaine Cheer, the senate moved into nominations for many chair positions for the start of the semester, which they will be voting on in an upcoming meeting.

What’s happening this week at UMaine & Beyond

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

On this day in 1961, the film “The Misfits” premiered in the U.S. This film is widely remembered as both Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe’s final film appearance.

On this day in 2003, the U.S. space shuttle Columbia was destroyed upon re-entering Earth’s atmosphere. All seven crew members were lost.

On this day in 1943, German troops surrendered to the Soviets at the Battle of Stalingrad.

Thursday On this day in 1870, the U.S. ratified the Fifteenth Amendment. This amendment declared that any man regardless of race should be granted the right to vote.

Friday On this day in 2004, Mark Zuckerberg launched Facebook from his dorm room. The website then went on to become the largest social media network in the world.

Opinion Monday, January 31, 2022

Opinion • A5

The Maine Campus

The testing dilemma: Students faced with uncomfortable choices amidst COVID-19 peak

Emma Vannorsdall Opinion Editor On Jan. 18, 2022, students returned to in-person classes at the University of Maine.

As the novel Omicron variant spread across campus, COVID-19 cases soared. With 486 positive UMS tests in the last 14 days, concerns are growing surrounding the resources available to students and whether the measures taken by the school are in their best interest.

In October of 2021, The Maine Campus published a piece titled “COVID’s still here. Why isn’t our strategy?” addressing students’ concerns over the weakening response from the university and uncertainty about the future. It seems these measures have become further compromised, and a system that incentivises negligence has taken over.

There are a staggering ten times more active COVID-19 cases known in the UMS system now than when the Maine Campus reported in October. Yet many of the fundamental resources once in place have been revoked. Weekly testing for boosted students will not be required beginning Feb. 1, and even if students do test positive on their own there’s little incentive to self-report.

Professors are not expected to provide virtual alternatives for the five plus days stu-

Sydney Jackson Contributor For many people, joining groups, communities or organizations in-person is their primary form of social interaction. It can be an escape from a hectic day or a rough week.

However, with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, our primary forms of socializing were stripped from us and left many feeling the impacts of isolation and lack of connection, both emotionally and mentally.

For obvious reasons, in-person contact has been limited due to COVID-19 transmission concerns, but the online alternatives may not be enough to sustain our need for peer in-

dents are out recovering, a policy which pressures students to attend classes even when sick. Aside from academic stress, financial and logistical issues additionally corner students who cannot afford to travel home for quarantine.

“Residential students who test positive for COVID-19 and/ or are close contacts of known positives should plan to isolate/ quarantine off campus at home or elsewhere,” the University of Maine states on their website. Thus, on top of academic responsibilities, students are also faced with the task of arranging an external quarantine location.

Five nights at a nearby hotel plus travel expenses could easily set a student back hundreds of dollars, and traveling home simply isn’t a possibility for many students who come from other states or countries.

There are extremely limited, on-campus quarantine rooms, but contacting the school may prove difficult as the COVID-19 response line is only available during weekday hours.

With the described academic, financial and logistical headaches encompassing a positive test result, students are realizing the easiest thing to do is to not get tested. This seems almost convenient for the university as the narrative has been shifting to place full responsibility

Graphic by David Jakacky. on the student.

“Individuals who test positive are asked to open the lines of communication with those you know are your close contacts — your roommate or classmate, your coworker, etc. Also notify the faculty member of your in-person class or your workplace supervisor,” the university reports on their website. With an ambiguous contact tracing system, students are left with the full responsibility of notifying friends, classmates, professors and peers.

The anxiety surrounding reporting further

encourages students to simply not test and, worse, not report if they do test positive.

So what do students do? They ignore their symptoms and go to class—jeopardizing themselves and the overwhelmed the healthcare system in Maine. Omicron spreads significantly faster than the delta and original SARSCoV-2 variants, and yet we’re becoming more reckless than ever, bordering on carelessness.

Maine has proven once before that they’re capable of incredible testing ef-

ficiency, accessible remote learning and on-campus quarantine housing, yet they’re actively choosing not to reinstate these resources to a capacity that would incentivize responsible testing and reporting.

The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a huge toll on us all, but we simply cannot afford to adopt negligence in hopes that the problem will simply disappear. UMaine should require all professors to provide remote learning options for students to encourage staying home in order to minimize the virus’

Lessening the social distance: We can’t do it alone

teraction. Because of this, we are seeing a reduction or full disappearance of organizations and clubs as well as the socializing that comes along with it. In addition to this, there has been a large increase in mental health concerns, leading experts to connect the dots between mental and emotional well being and socializing.

“Face-to-face contact releases a whole cascade of neurotransmitters and, like a vaccine, they protect you now, in the present, and well into the future, so simply […] shaking hands, giving somebody a high-five is enough to release oxytocin, which increases your level of trust, and it lowers your cortisol levels, so it lowers your

stress,” Psychologist Susan Pinker said, according to Medical News Today.

Data representing the average percentage of the U.S. population engaged in socializing and communication per day from 2009 to 2020 displays a large decrease in socializing over the past decade. Approximately 24.9% of men were engaged in socializing and communication everyday in 2020, only slightly less than female engagement at 29%. Compare these numbers to those of 2019, 31.6% and 38.5% respectively, and a downward trend becomes severely apparent.

The evidence for the decrease in human social engagement is fur-

ther supported by data displaying the average amount of hours per day spent on socializing and communicating by the U.S. population from 2009 to 2020.

Women spent an average of 0.56 hours per day communicating and socializing in 2020 while men spent 0.52, compared to 0.73 and 0.59 hours a day respectively in 2019.

Again, we are seeing a frighteningly large decrease in human interaction, leading many experts to wonder how this phenomenon will affect human behavior now and in the future.

During this pandemic, 56% of young adults, ages 18-24, report having symptoms of anxiety and/or depressive disorder ac-

cording to KFF. Human interaction and socializing is an absolute necessity to function properly.

In order to stay safe without completely cutting out socializing, a larger range of solutions need to be explored. Outdoor activities are a possibility as an alternative to indoor events. This will allow for more social distancing as well as having a less constricted space for germs to spread. More regular testing in the forms of at home tests could also provide a solution for attending larger events the day of, so that rather than waiting to get results from three days ago, you know right then and there if you are currently positive. Al-

spread. As well, all students living on campus should have equal access to free quarantine housing. These steps would help encourage students to get tested and prioritize their health. This will benefit everyone long term as providing resources to help students who get sick in turn promotes accountability and responsibility.

though these solutions are in place throughout many organizations, universities and clubs across the world, there is more to be done.

Providing activities and opportunities for people to interact gives a sense of normalcy that many people are craving during these times. Socializing and face-to-face interaction is essential for humans to not only function but to thrive. With the proper precautions taken in regards to COVID-19, utilizing any tools possible to bring humans together again should be a priority. This pandemic has made us realize more than ever that we need one another.

A6• Opinion

Nick Tiner Contributor

The Maine Campus

Monday, January 31, 2022

The Honors College: Addressing problematic readings and eurocentrism

In the 2019 fall semester, the incoming class of the University of Maine Honors College was asked to read a David Gross article in Minerva to get acquainted with the journey ahead of them. Gross wrote of the dangers of Honors becoming “self-congratulatory, in praise of OUR civilization, Western Civilization, as the real one.” This was an important message for students to read, but it appears it is one the Honors College itself should have taken to heart. Because, while in theory the Honors Endeavor is to educate students on what it means to be a person, in practice it teaches students what it means to be a white person.

The Honors College core curriculum suffers from a severe case of Eurocentrism.

The vast majority of the texts assigned to students are written by white, Western authors for white, Western audiences. The most contemporary Asian text of the Civilizations Sequence, “The Qur’an,” is from the 6th century CE (the most contemporary South-East Asian text, “Analects,” is from 479 BCE). Meanwhile, the sequence features Western texts from ancient times all the way through to the latter half of the 20th century. Honors students never read a core text from South American or African authors, and

only one Native American text. None of the listed Honors’ faculty, current or retired, are Black. The curriculum is a reflection of those who create it, and as it stands, it is a group of mostly white faculty who chose a group of mostly white texts.

This is inherently anti-intellectual and will remain that way unless more diverse voices are heard in the process.

Much like the vast majority of Honors’ preceptors, most of the weekly lecturers who speak on the texts are also white. Thus, not only is the curriculum Honors teaches predominantly Eurocentric, so too is the lens through which it is taught. Lectures on multicultural texts given by white faculty will never do justice to the original text. Multicultural lecturers bring an invaluable understanding of the nuances in context and perspective, especially when these lecturers still face the same systems of oppression discussed in the texts. No amount of study will make a white lecturer be able to truly understand what it means to be a victim of racism, much less convey that to students.

At the precept level, dialogues are fraught with students who do not read texts and, consequently, often only engage with discussion through their own personal experience instead of the ideas of the text. This is behavior preceptors

fail to shut down and simply does not work for majority-white precepts when discussing texts on oppression. Allowing these students who do not have experience with the contents of the text to discuss that text through the lens of their own self-actualization is perpetuating racism. The Honors College allows for discussions about brilliant, anti-racist texts to turn into shallow conversations by students who performatively post social justice infographics “to be a better person” but cannot be bothered to meaningfully engage with Black literature.

There is a problem at the student level, but the purpose of the Honors College is to educate those with this mindset, not encourage them. Until preceptors are trained to correct this, the Honors College will continue to let down the few Black authors the sequence features.

Perhaps nowhere are the flaws in the Honors College’s philosophy more evident than in their featuring “Rising Out of Hatred,” a book about the journey of a former white nationalist who changes his views after attending a liberal arts college and meeting people with different backgrounds. The text was assigned for the 2020 fall semester in the wake of BLM protests that year. Rather than boosting the voices of people of color during this important

time, the Honors College opted to platform a former white supremacist. By choosing a white narrative targeted at a white audience, the Honors College failed to create opportunities for their majority white student base to confront their privilege.

Reading texts on racism must be uncomfortable for white readers to create impactful dialogue and growth. By selecting a text that specifically assuaged white Americans’ fears about the tensions of racism in this country, the Honors College failed their BIPOC students.

Beyond the self-congratulatory tone toward a liberal arts education, “Rising Out of Hatred” also promotes the dangerous stereotype that it is the job of women and people of color to rehabilitate problematic white men. Though, it is not necessarily surprising the Honors College saw merit in that trope, as students of color in their precepts have been forced into the uncomfortable position of acting as representatives for all people of color. One brown student shared that the curriculum and faculty are a major reason they have stopped engaging with almost any of the texts. The Honors College is actively excluding talented, non-white students when it opts for this limited picture of civilization.

The current Honors College approach to discussions of rac-

ism, both in curriculum and precept, is often tokenistic. This not only degrades the importance of the BIPOC texts shared, but it also degrades the experience of BIPOC students. Students of color should only share their experiences and opinions if they wish and shouldn’t have their opinion solicited solely to educate their white peers. In other words, as another student noted, “ethical platforming of marginalized voices requires consent.”

Ignoring the consent and needs of BIPOC students is just another area needing major reform. Preceptors must be trained to properly conduct these conversations that don’t exclude BIPOC students from academic spaces.

“Rising Out of Hatred” is a microcosm of a greater issue with the Honors College. This book wasn’t featured simply because it is a supposedly interesting story. The problem is that the lesson humanizes dangerous racists and lets white people and universities off the hook for accountability and action. Worst yet, it treats the struggle of people of color as an opportunity for character development for white people. When the Civilizations Sequence is presented through the white lens, featured BIPOC texts will always be presented in terms of how their struggles affect the Western narrative.

The Honors College

needs a wholesale overhaul of its curriculum and structure.

Seeking out diversity within the faculty and using tele-education resources to bring in more BIPOC lecturers – especially for more than just BIPOC texts – would be a good start. However, simply featuring a few more books by BIPOC or non-Western authors will not be enough. Until the entire Civilizations Sequence stops feeling like a Western Civilizations Sequence with episodic features of non-Western voices, the curriculum will always be inequitable.

This overhaul is not a new idea. Preceptors have noted the tension that arises within the Honors College when it comes to deciding the curriculum, fueling speculation that curriculum choice is one of the main causes for the faculty turnover in the department.

The Honors College is correct about the importance of a liberal arts education. One of the biggest roles higher education plays in the world is cultivating the next generation of leaders and thinkers. Where the Honors College fails is the implementation of this education. Until this systematic change is achieved, Honors students will only become well-rounded in spite of the Honors Endeavor, not because of it.

Universal Design: Demands for accessibility benefit all Alex Cross Contributor The first day of the 2022 spring semester at the University of Maine opened in chaos. Students found themselves forced to traverse thick layers of ice without salt or sand on their way to class, and took to social media to express their indignation with the lack of preparedness on campus for winter conditions. While some students were primarily concerned about being seen slipping on the slick walkways, others brought up worries about accessibility for students who have limited vision or mobility and may have been unable to navigate the ice traps on sidewalks.

One student anonymously expressed their criticism on the social media app YikYak, describing a conversation they had with their roommate about “how impossible [commuting] would be for anyone with mobility aids” that day. The situation that unfolded was more than an inconvenience for many, and

serves as an example of the benefits of universal design on college campuses.

Student Accessibility Services (SAS) at one time provided an “access van” to make getting around campus more accessible for students with certain documented disabilities. On days like the opening of the semester, where such students would have difficulty navigating winter conditions, that service would have been available.

However, even prior to the cancellation of the service due to the COVID-19 pandemic, students had to previously arrange for the access van to be included in their list of accommodations––something that cannot be done in the time between one’s discovery that walkways are unable to be navigated that morning and the start of their first class.

If disabled students were to be considered first when preparing for weather events and designing features of the campus, such as proactively treating

walkways before class times, all students would see improvements in their experience. This differs from the current reality, where students are often left to arrange their own accommodations by going outside of what is offered by UMaine, despite the university being required by law to provide equal access to postsecondary education for students with disabilities.

As opposed to formal accommodations for students through SAS, universal design is the process of making environments, by nature of their design, accessible to people with a wide range of ability. Some features of universal design are already prevalent in many places, and the benefits of such design are enjoyed by disabled and abled individuals alike. Examples include curb cuts and push-button door openers; while they are necessary for individuals with limited mobility, they are also useful for individuals carrying large loads, push-

Graphic by David Jakacky. ing strollers or pulling wheeled suitcases.

Ramps, implemented for use by individuals with wheelchairs, are also enjoyed by the general public as a less intensive alternative to stairs. In this way, universal design is meant to increase accessibility in as many ways as possible for as many people as possible, without the need to arrange formal accommodations as frequently, if at all.

The University of Maine should pursue implementing accessible designs throughout the campus to

enhance the experiences of everyone. By planning with consideration for those with the most needs, the majority with fewer needs are inherently considered. For example, the University of Syracuse is constructing heated sidewalks to enhance winter accessibility. “The expanded services are the result of Facilities Services’ commitment to improve access to campus during winter conditions, and conversations between Pete Sala, vice president and chief campus facilities officer,

and William Myhill, interim Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) coordinator,” reports the News Staff for the University of Syracuse. A move which is designed to benefit students with accessibility needs ultimately benefits the safety of all students.

The University of Maine should strive to adopt universal design as it both reduces stigmas and barriers around accessible accommodations and equalizes a given environment to a shared level of usability.

Culture Monday, January 31, 2022

Culture •A7

The Maine Campus

Versant Power Astronomy Center questions the possibility of extraterrestrial life with ‘EXO: Are We Alone?’

Photo by Brinley Martell.

Mary Kate Jones Contributor The question of whether or not life exists in this universe other than on planet Earth has been around for hundreds of years.

The idea of aliens, or extraterrestrial life on other planets, allows scientists to ask: why would we, on planet Earth, be the only living organisms in the universe? Surely, there must be more out there? Maybe we just need to find the right planet.

The Versant Power Astronomy Center held a presentation on Friday night called “EXO: Are We Alone?” that addressed these topics and questions.

Sitting in the planetarium and looking up at the seemingly infinite stars makes you think about just how big our universe is. Knowing you’re looking up at only one portion of the night sky gives you a sense of just how small we really are.

The Versant Power Astronomy Center has only just recently been allowed to have their planetarium filled to maximum capacity—roughly 50 people—because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

These kinds of presentations happen weekly.

However, this talk on exoplanets is particularly interesting.

Shawn Laastch, the director of the Versant Power Astronomy Center, is particularly excited by new possibilities.

“One of the main reasons astronomers are interested is [because] if we start to discover planets, it means that the possibilities of life out there increase dramatically,” Laatsch said.

Life on planet Earth is incredibly important, “from every amoeba to zebra,” as Laatsch put it. We currently don’t even have any evidence that would prove there is life on other planets. These exoplanets, which are planets that revolve around a star outside our solar system, are a glimmer of hope into understanding our universe, our purpose and our ecosystem.

As of Jan. 2, 2022, there are 4,905 confirmed exoplanets outside of our solar system. However, as of right now in our universe, there is only one with confirmed life: planet Earth.

“We’ve looked for life in our own solar

system, and we’ve not found anything yet,” Laatsch said. “We’ve found building blocks in some cases but not actual life, and we are still looking. Some folks think we might still find it on some of the moons of Jupiter, fossilized stuff on Mars, but we haven’t discovered it yet.”

The first exoplanet was officially discovered in 1997 in the constellation Pegasus.

Named 51 Pegasi b, it is estimated to be both larger and older than our Sun. It started the exploration of many other exoplanets with the hope of finding out that there are other forms of life in our universe.

“EXO: Are We Alone?” explores the ideas, theories and histories behind these exoplanets. It speaks on the impact an exoplanet would have on our society.

Scientifically speaking, a living organism must respire, reproduce, move and grow.

Generally, scientists look at planets to determine if there is even a chance of life by observing liquid water content. We know that every living organism on earth consumes water. Thus, it makes

sense that other living things on other planets need to consume water.

So far, the exoplanets that have been discovered have either been too close to their suns where the water is a gas instead of a liquid, or the water is completely frozen.

Scientists have made these assumptions based on the temperature of the suns the exoplanets revolve around, and the distance they orbit from the sun. If they are too close and the sun is incredibly hot, their water is a gas, and so scientists can make the hypothesis that life on that exoplanet is theoretically less likely.

However, we don’t even know if life exists the same way on other planets as it does on planet Earth. We could be an exception, or our ecosystem works specifically the way it does because we are Earth. Other potential planets could function completely differently from our ecosystem.

The truth is, we really don’t know. It can take years for pyrometric and radiometric data from space telescopes to come back to Earth to be studied.

Despite the long

wait time, there is a sense of excitement brewing in the astronomy community. The James Webb Space Telescope, which was launched on Christmas Day in 2021, is approaching its final position. This telescope will provide us with more detailed infrared images than any previous telescope. It will also provide images of 19 galaxies and hopefully give us a more detailed understanding and look at the stellar cycle. More importantly, even more excitingly for Laatsch, this telescope will provide some information regarding life and water on these exoplanets.

At the end of the presentation, Laatsch gave the audience a bit of hope and a bit more food for thought about the impact of discovering other life. Laatsch asked the audience to think about the many different possibilities.

What if we don’t find more life out there?

What would that mean for our history? Are we actually just incredibly lucky to be alive, because we had the goldilocks conditions for life to begin? What if we were, quite simply, a mistake? A fluke?

Laatsch hopes that

this new data and the understanding of life will impact our world in a positive way. He hopes that our luck that we exist will allow humans to have a change of heart about how they interact with Earth. He hopes we will be kinder to one another because of our sheer luck, and that it will help emphasize just how important every single living thing is.

It is most certainly food for thought.

The “EXO: Are We Alone?” presentation is no longer showing at the Versant Power Astronomy Center, but there are new shows in the planetarium in February and March, which include “Stargazers of Africa” in February and “Unveiling the Invisible Universe” in March. They show every Friday for the entire month.

Additionally, on every Sunday, the astronomy center holds a music show, and the month of February highlights the music of Fleetwood Mac. For more information, visit www.astro.umaine. edu.

A8• Culture

The Maine Campus

Monday, January 31, 2022

#YouMaine: Nursing student embraces stepping outside of her comfort zone in college Emme Aylesworth Contributor For first-year student Aaliyah Cruz, her rigorous schedule is actually an advantage. The University of Maine has provided her with opportunities for community and creative expression, as well as the chance to explore the hidden attractions Orono and Old Town have to offer.

Only an hour away from her hometown of Waterville, Maine, Cruz is in the nursing program here at UMaine. This nursing program is known as one of the most exclusive programs in the state of Maine, yet UMaine nursing graduates make up the highest percentage of certified nurses in the state.

Cruz passionately expresses her goal of becoming a traveling nurse.

“I’ve always known I wanted to go into the medical field,” Cruz said. “I just really wanted to be able to help others.”

Currently, Cruz’s favorite class is a microbiology class where she will be examining and handling samples of bacteria and pathogens. Another one of

her classes teaches her how to correctly administer doses of medicine to patients.

Together, these two classes are preparing her for a career in nursing by strengthening her skills in both assessing patients accurately while maintaining a compassionate bedside manner.

In addition to Cruz’s rigorous nursing courses, she tackles an even heavier course load as an Honors College student. A busy schedule like hers makes the time she has available even more valuable.

To unwind from stressful days, Cruz enjoys drawing, as well as spending time with her friends driving around Orono and Old Town.

“I feel that being at the University of Maine has allowed me to grow out of my shell more and more each day,” Cruz said.

With only one semester completed so far at UMaine, Cruz is already highly involved on campus. So far, she has joined the Alpha Kappa chapter of the Tri-Delta sorority, where she and her fellow sorority sisters connect and collaborate. UMaine’s Tri Delta chapter embraces

Photo provided by Aaliyah Cruz. values such as being oneself and encourages being passionate about helping others, which Cruz values highly. To top it all off, she meets every Thursday to discuss world politics with the rest of the UMaine Model United Nations team.

“I’m looking forward

to trying new things and meeting new people,” Cruz said.

Her first year at the university has been busy since day one, and her workload will only increase as she goes further in her studies. Cruz is confident that her hard work will pay off and assist

her in her career later on.

As the world has learned, a great deal can happen in three years, and nothing is truly certain. Despite this uncertainty, Cruz has learned the value in maintaining a positive attitude in times of stress by recognizing

that this discomfort is only temporary. Cruz believes this lesson will serve her well in her future career as a traveling nurse.

TikTok chef delivers delicious ravioli recipe with a twist in new cookbook

Photo via thekitchn.com.

Mary Kate Jones Contributor One of my favorite types of pizza is fig and prosciutto. Topped with little dollops of whole milk ricotta cheese and fig jam, it is perfectly sweet and salty.

For Christmas, I was given a cookbook by Joshua Weissman, a chef with over 6 million followers on TikTok, “Joshua Weissman: An Unapologetic Cookbook.” I’ve always loved his recipes, but I had never taken the time to follow one. As I flipped through his book, I came across a

recipe for handmade pasta. Thrilled, I was inspired to use that recipe to turn my favorite, the fig and prosciutto pizza, into ravioli.

To start, the recipe instructed me to form a well in three cups of flour. I cracked five large eggs into the well, which I then carefully whisked, combining the eggs while avoiding incorporating the flour.

Once that was finished, I slowly whisked in the flour. I grew concerned as it wasn’t fully incorporated, so I then worked the dough for 5-7 minutes. At

first, the result was a scary-looking dough, inconsistent in both color and texture, that was incredibly difficult to knead.

Weissman recommends flattening the dough by pressing it with the heel of your hand. Once it’s slightly flattened, you should bring the top of the flattened piece towards the other end of the dough, as if you were folding a piece of paper. Then, press the dough to combine and continue to knead. As I followed his instructions, the dough slowly became less frightening and more uniform

as all of the flour was finally incorporated.

I placed the kneaded dough in the fridge for an hour to chill, which felt like forever – though an hour is nothing compared to overnight, as Wiessman also recommends as an alternative. Once the hour was up, I rolled the dough out onto my clean countertop and worked on getting the dough as flat as possible.

After rolling out the sheets, I added little dollops of fig and ricotta cheese. I sliced the prosciutto, rolled the slices into balls and placed them on top of

the jam and ricotta on half the sheet of pasta.

I folded the other half of the sheet on top, cut the ravioli and dropped them into a pot of boiling water for 5 to 6 minutes.

At first glance, the raviolis were incredibly thick. It almost ruined the ravioli, so a thin dough is best as to not overwhelm the flavors.

I plan on rolling the dough even thinner the next time I make them.

However, when I bit into the pocket with all the ricotta, fig jam and prosciutto, I was in heaven. The saltiness of the prosciutto perfectly complemented

the sweetness from the jam. The ricotta almost married the flavors, so that they didn’t overwhelm each other like they would on their own.

You can find more recipes and helpful cooking information by Joshua Weissman via his website and on his notorious TikTok page, @flakeysalt.

Monday, January 31, 2022

Culture• A9

The Maine Campus

‘Fight Club’ still holds its relevance when viewing society 22 years later

Photo via cnn.com.

Emme Aylesworth Contributor 4.5/5 Stars The 1999 film adaptation of Chuck Palahniuk’s critically acclaimed novel “Fight Club” remains a timeless representation of the pressures that society places on struggling individuals.

Director David Fincher manages to keep the 2 hour and 19 minute feature entertaining and gripping by keeping the audience on the edge of their seat,

leaving them feeling just as disassociated as the film’s main character. Edward Norton’s disoriented, insomniac narrator acts as a foil to Brad Pitt’s psychotic anarchist character Tyler Durden as the two tackle what masculinity means to them in a society fixated on the epitome of the ideal man.

What makes “Fight Club” a compelling and entertaining film is its use of cinematic techniques. There is something about Norton’s lack of emotion

while he narrates that illustrates the themes of isolation and aimlessness that piece together the scenes of the movie. These themes, alongside Fincher’s expert foreshadowing, end with an unsatisfying ending that will leave viewers thinking about the plot for days.

At moments, we see Norton addressing the audience directly, but as the movie progresses, he completely forgets the audience exists as he becomes more fixated on his

world than ours.

It is understandable how “Fight Club” was the most talked about movie of its time. In addition to its rewatchability, it is a film that remains relevant in today’s society, with its plot addressing the treatment of mental illness as well as addiction and poverty.

With a title like “Fight Club,” this movie does not hold back on violence. Other than the beginning, one of the characters is always sporting a shiner with a bandage on

their nose or covered in blood from events prior to the scenes. The acting really adds to the illusion of violence, with actors like Norton making the audience really think they’re throwing punches or in genuine pain.

This film is rated R and I would not recommend watching with anyone of an immature audience, or likewise, your parents. However, it is a perfect film to watch on your own, especially when you feel particularly angry at society. Additional-

ly, if you would like to watch recently passed musician Meat Loaf take a few jabs at Norton, or you’re just there for Pitt’s stellar performance, “Fight Club” is well worth your time.

If for any reason you find yourself watching this movie, you’ll be left viewing the world around you differently than you had before.

National Holidays: Jan. 31 through Feb. 4

Photo via parade.com.

Meaghan Bellavance

Contributor

Backward Day and Eat Brussel Sprouts Day.

Monday: National Hot Chocolate Day

Tuesday: Get Up Day

What better way to warm up after a blizzard than to make a cup of steaming, chocolatey hot cocoa!

Jan. 31 is National Hot Chocolate Day. Grab your favorite mug and get started in the kitchen with your friends and family to see how creative you can be!

Add in different types of marshmallows and other fun toppings or try out different flavors of hot cocoa like mint or white chocolate. It’ll warm up your soul and get you in the spirit on a cold, snowy Monday. Jan. 31 is also Inspire Your Heart with Art Day, National

Feb. 1 is National Get Up Day. This holiday is all about inspiring you to get up after you fail when trying to accomplish something.

Whether you struggle with a new hobby or even a school assignment, get yourself up and try again! According to nationaltoday. com, National Get Up Day was created by U.S. Figure Skating in 2016 as a motivational campaign to encourage determination and getting up proudly after we fall. Whatever it is you are struggling with today, tomorrow or in the future, keep your head high. It’s all

National

about how you change your mindset and remind yourself that you can do it. Feb. 1 is also National Dark Chocolate Day, Chinese New Year and Spunky Old Broads Day. We d n e s d a y : Groundhog Day Groundhog Day falls on Feb. 2 every year. Groundhog Day is when the notorious Punxsutawney Phil, an actual groundhog, determines whether or not we will experience six more weeks of winter. If he sees his shadow on this day, then superstitions say six more weeks of cold weather will be in store for us. If he doesn’t, then warmer weather and an earlier spring is expected. Accord-

ing to nationaltoday. com, Groundhog Day has been around since German settlers arrived in Pennsylvania in the 1700s, bringing this superstition with them. Feb. 2 is also National Tater Tot Day, National Ukulele Day and National Hedgehog Day. Thursday: Feed the Birds Day Feb. 3 is Feed the Birds Day, making it the perfect time to utilize all the beautiful outdoor spaces on campus. With a big botanical garden, along with numerous trails in the woods, the University of Maine is the perfect location to celebrate Feed the Birds Day. Gather your friends with some bird seed

mix or even a handful of sunflower seeds and hit the trails, sprinkling it along the sides of the paths as you go.

According to nationaltoday.com, now is the perfect time of year to assist birds in finding food when their stores are starting to run dry.

Feb. 3 is also National Golden Retriever Day, National Missing Persons Day and National Carrot Cake Day. Friday: World Cancer Day Feb. 4 is World Cancer Day. To honor those who have or are battling this disease, show your support by raising awareness on social media to get people talking about the impacts of cancer.

According to national-

today.com, there are multiple campaigns on social media you can take part in, such as #WeCanICan, Support Through Sport and Thunderclap. Spread awareness around the campus community or donate to the many organizations and associations that are fighting to find a cure.

For more information, visit www.cancer.org.

Feb. 4 is also National Thank a Mail Carrier Day, National Wear Red Day and National Homemade Soup Day. All holidays were found on nationaltoday.com. Be sure to keep up to date with our regularly featured holidays featured both on our Instagram @ themainecampus and website.

Sports A10• Sports

The Maine Campus

Monday, January 31, 2022

After a shaky start, UMaine women’s team looks to continue winning streak

Graphic by David Jakacky.

Dalton Bartlett Sports Editor The University of Maine women’s ice hockey team did not start this season off well, losing their first three games, twice to Quinnipiac and once to Saint Anselm. The Black Bears offense was only able to score five goals in total. In two of the losses, they lost both games by close scores of 3-2, but were completely outplayed in the other.

After this rough start, the Black Bears finally grabbed a win against Long Island University, beating them twice in back-toback games thanks to

strong offensive performances. In UMaine’s first win of the season, second-year goalie Jorden Mattison picked up her first win in her collegiate career.

She won her second a day later with the defense helping her by only allowing 15 shots.

Even though it looked like the Black Bears might have turned a corner, the team proceeded to go 1-5 in their next six games. They were shut out in three of those games and only scored six goals. However, after this losing stretch, the Black Bears came back and won five games, including a shootout against UCo-

nn. Their defense was fantastic, giving up just seven goals.

Like the rest of the season, after this winning stretch, a losing patch followed. UMaine lost five games in a row. Their biggest issue during this time was giving up goals, where they gave up 20 goals in five games.

Right now, the Black Bears are on a fivegame winning streak.

The defense sharpened, only giving up two goals in the past five games, while the offense has been able to consistently score three or four goals a game. If the Black Bears want to win more games though,

the team needs to stay consistent and not fall back into another losing streak.

Currently leading the team in points is star third-year forward Ida Kuoppala. She leads the team with 17 points, scoring six goals and 11 assists.

Fourth-year forward Ali Beltz is second on the team with 14 points, five goals and nine assists. Fourthyear forward Ally Johnson leads the team in goals with seven and has six assists. Firstyear defender Courtney Colarullo leads the defense in points with 10, scoring three goals and seven assists.

Fifth-year goalie Lo-

ryn Porter has gotten the lionshare of starts and currently has a 10-10 record on the season. She has made 620 saves and has a .927 save percentage.

Mattison is 2-3 in her starts, with 101 saves and a .894 save percentage.

Excitingly, two of UMaine’s current players will be representing their home countries at the 2022 Beijing Olympics.

Third-year defender Amalie Anderson will be representing Denmark. Anderson is on the first-ever Denmark Olympic women’s team to qualify for hockey.

While second-year forward Rahel Enzler will

be representing Switzerland. Three former Black Bears will be going as well. Michelle Weis will be joining Anderson on the Denmark team. Tereza Vanisova and Vendula Pribylova, are the other two and they will be representing the Czech Republic in the country’s first ever appearance in the Olympics for women’s hockey.

UMaine’s next game will see them play Providence College on Jan. 30. After this, they will face the University of Vermont Catamounts, on Feb. 8 and 9, both at home.

UMaine men’s hockey has a pulse, beating Boston College 4-1 Patrick Silvia Sports Editor On Friday night, the University of Maine men’s hockey team picked up their fourth win of the year over Boston College (BC).

While BC has been going through a recent slump of their own, UMaine has started to pick up their game. The Black Bears had only scored one win in their first 17 games, not including shootouts. In their last six games, UMaine has picked up three regulation wins, a feat that seemed unthinkable if you watched them play last semester.

BC had yet to pick up a win in their first six contests of 2022 coming into the game, and was without their leading scorer fourth-year forward Jack McBain. McBain was out with an injury on Friday, but will be playing for the Canadi-

an hockey team at the 2022 winter Olympics in Beijing. Two other BC Eagles who did play on Friday will also be in Beijing. Thirdyear defenseman Drew Helleson and fourthyear forward Marc McLaughlin will also be representing the United States.

BC always seems to have an embarrassment of riches, and the term ‘embarrassment’ seems fitting considering they had seven NHL drafted players in their lineup and looked like the inferior team for most of Friday’s contest.

UMaine started the scoring just over six minutes into the game when UMaine fourth-year defenseman Jakub Sirota put one in the net. Sirota received a pass from fourth-year forward Grant Hebert, made a nifty backhand to forehand move and shot over the right shoulder

of BC fifth-year goalie Eric Dop. Goaltending has been a struggle for BC all year. BC goalies combine on the year for an .890 save percentage through 25 games. This is a far cry for a team that usually produces elite goalies, with past stud goalies such as Thatcher Demko, Corey Schneider, Joseph Woll and most recently Spencer Knight.

UMaine seemed to exploit this weakness in the first period.

Fourth-year forward Adam Dawe received the puck from fifthyear forward Keenan Suthers off a faceoff win and beat Dop topshelf with under five minutes in the period.

This goal put UMaine up 2-0 heading into the first intermission after scoring on two of 11 shots.

The second period saw UMaine second-year goalie Victor

Ostman stand on his head. Ostman stopped 14 of 15 BC shots in the period, and if it was not for Ostman’s multiple denials on grade A chances by the Eagles, this game could have ended up as a loss instead of a win. Ostman ended up receiving the first star of the game for his efforts, stopping 32 of BC’s 33 shots in the game.

The lone goal surrendered in the second period came off of a shot from the point by BC first-year defender Cade Alami that squeaked through Ostman and into the crease, where McLaughlin pounced on the loose puck and put it in the net to cut the deficit to one for the Eagles.

Going into the third period, UMaine was posed with a task not frequently afforded to them: to close out a hockey game in the final period with a lead.

Despite not having much experience at it this season, they did a great job limiting BC of high quality chances and shutting down their attacks.

UMaine secured the win with a goal late in the third period. With a BC defender losing their stick, UMaine took this momentary advantage by hemming in BC in their own zone. BC cracked under the pressure when good puck movement

by UMaine led to Hebert putting the puck in the net off of a rebound by first-year defenseman David Breazeale.

This gave Maine a 3-1 lead with under six minutes left in the contest. In the dying moments of the game, BC pulled their goalie to get an extra attacker. This strategy did not work and Hebert scored his second goal of the period on the BC empty net to make the final score 4-1.

“It felt different tonight, you know, mentally,” UMaine head coach Ben Barr said after the win. “Earlier in the year, we found a way to lose that game.

I give the guys credit.

The guys played composed today. We haven’t played composed most of the year, and that’s a mental step-that’s a culture step we need to take.”

“Hopefully we can go to BU and win a game on the road,” Barr said, alluding to the fact that UMaine has yet to win an away game thus far this season. UMaine will have two opportunities to change that with a road series next weekend that sees them play Friday and Saturday night at Boston University.

Monday, January 31, 2022

Sports• A11

The Maine Campus

UMaine men’s basketball midseason report

Graphic by David Jakacky.

Michael Corrado Contributor With the men’s basketball season winding down, let’s pause to look back over the year the boys in white and blue have had on the court. While the team was hampered by the absence of star fourthyear forward Stephane Ingo due to him having surgery on a wrist injury sustained earlier this season, Ingo was able to return to the starting lineup this past week in the team’s thrilling win over the University of New Hampshire.

A close battle from start to finish, Ingo’s 24 minutes on the court were crucial in the team’s success, with his leadership and presence making

an immediate impact in his very first showing. Though Ingo only scored one point, he added seven rebounds and three blocks to his statline, a testament to the Ontario native’s raw and untethered athleticism. The 6-foot 9-inch forward’s return comes at a perfect time, with a critical slate of games ahead for the Black Bears as they look to rewrite this season’s story.

While the Black Bears are currently sitting last in the America East conference, sporting a 4-14 record overall and a 1-6 mark in conference play, they are tied with Hartford on wins with Hartford having played two fewer games. One of the most glaring

reasons for the Black Bears’ subpar record this year can be attributed to the team’s struggles away from Bangor and Portland.

They have yet to win a road game up to this point, with a 0-10 record away from home.

Outside of the production seen from Ingo, second-year Serbian point guard Vukasin Masic has paced the offense this season to the tune of nine points, three assists and four rebounds per game to go in tandem with a team-high 36% conversion rate from beyond the arc. Fellow guard, first-year Sam Ihekwoaba has been a brilliant surprise for the team this season, putting in valuable minutes off the bench

and tearing it up in a three-game stint earlier this year. He has put up marks of 13, 22 and 18 points in consecutive games en route to winning his first of four America East Rookie of the Week awards, which he has won in each of the previous three weeks of game action. In addition, Ihekwoaba leads the team in field goal percentage, showing off an impressive 53% clip from the field on his own statsheet.

While Ingo leads the team in total rebounds, fifth-year big man Chris Efreteui has been tasked with controlling the paint. The Nigerian center has done just that, averaging 3.1 rebounds a game and nearly a block to

go along with it. His positioning has been near-perfect and Efreteui has shown nothing but growth since transferring to UMaine from the University of Louisiana Monroe.

Another guard, third-year Ja’Shonte Wright-McLeish, has stepped into a critical starting role at this stage of the year. The added minutes have allowed for the Montreal native to explode production-wise, putting up solid, full statlines as of late. In a similar fashion, firstyear Latvian forward Kristians Feierbergs has begun to find his stroke in recent weeks.

Capping off his run with a 22-point performance against UMass Lowell, Feierbergs has

capitalized on a great outside shot and good movement to dismantle opposing defenses this season.

Overall, the Black Bears’ season has been less than stellar; however, with the increase in minutes for some of the team’s top performers set to continue in that direction for the remainder of the year, it is reasonable to expect that coach Barron’s group will be able to turn it around and put forward a formidable final record.

The Black Bears will be taking on their next opponent when they head to Albany next Wednesday, Feb. 9.

New England Patriots end of season review Dalton Bartlett Contributor Another season for the New England Patriots ended with a rather disappointing result. While the Patriots made the playoffs, they lost in the first round, ending their season prematurely.

The Patriots decided to start rookie quarterback Mac Jones at the beginning of the year after taking him in the first round, casting veteran quarterback Cam Newton to the curb.

The season did not start well for the Patriots, as they went just 2-4 with their offense failing to score over 30 points in any game. Jones struggled at the beginning with turnovers, at one point having thrown the same number of interceptions as touchdowns.

After losing to the Dallas Cowboys, the Patriots flipped the script on their season, thanks to Jones cutting down on interceptions.

New England rattled off seven straight victories before their bye week. It should be stated that the level of competition the Patriots faced was not very difficult outside of the Tennessee Titans, who were without star running back Derrick Henry, and the Buffalo

Bills.

Once the bye week ended, the tires started falling off the wagon for the Patriots, who lost three out of their last four games.

Their lone victory came against the worst team in football, the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Even though the regular season ended on a sour note, New England did qualify for the playoffs, but would have to face the Bills again. The Patriots struggled significantly on defense against star quarterback Josh Allen. Allen went 21-25 on passing, with 308 yards and five touchdowns, falling just shy of a perfect quarterback rating.

Jones had a very successful rookie season, and while he was not the flashiest quarterback, he managed to do his job well, which was a primary reason why New England got back into the playoffs. Jones would finish the season completing 352 passes on 521 attempts for 22 touchdowns and 13 interceptions.

Damien Harris was the clear top running back this year, carrying the ball 202 times for 925 yards and an impressive 15 touchdowns to go along with 18 catches for 132 yards.

Rookie Rhamondre Stevenson

Graphic by David Jakacky. started in two games when Harris was injured and had a solid rookie year, with 133 carries for 606 yards and five touchdowns, along with 14 receptions and 123 yards receiving.

No Patriot receiver stood out this year with no one getting past 900 yards. Jakobi Meyers led the team in both receptions and yards with 83 catches and 866 yards for two touchdowns. Newcomer Kendrick Bourne was second with 55 receptions for 800 yards and five touchdowns.

Look for the Patriots to add someone new next offseason.

Hunter Henry had a solid first season with New England, finishing the year with 50 re-

ceptions for 603 yards and nine touchdowns.

Like in his previous seasons, he sadly could not stay healthy and only played in 10 games. Fellow newcomer tight end Jonnu Smith was a big disappointment for the Patriots, catching just 28 passes for 298 yards and one touchdown.

Matthew Judon had a tremendous year defensively, sacking opposing quarterbacks 12.5 times, more than twice the amount made by any other player on the team. His impressive statistics led him to get into his third straight pro bowl.

Kyle Van Noy was second on the team with five sacks in his first season back with the Patriots.

L i n e b a c k e r Ja’Whuan Bentley led the team in total tackles with 109, including five tackles for loss.

Safety Kyle Dugger was second on the team with 92 tackles.

Cornerback J.C. Jackson led the team with eight interceptions, the second-most in the entire league, which helped get him to his first-ever pro bowl.

Dugger and safety Devin McCourty were tied for second most interceptions with four each. Opposite of Jackson, the Patriots should look at adding another corner.

Kicker Nick Folk had a solid season, going 36 for 39, but he struggled with extra points, missing five on the year.

Looking ahead to this offseason, the Patriots have a lot of talented free agents this year, including Jackson, McCourty, Bentley, Folk and starting left tackle Trent Brown.

With the Patriots having less than $10 million in cap space, some tough decisions might have to be made.

Next season the Patriots will look to take a step forward and try to get past the first round of the playoffs. If Jones can keep developing and the defense keeps playing at their level, the Patriots might just surprise some teams next season.

A12• Sports

Monday, January 31, 2022

The Maine Campus

Zdeno Chara breaks slapshot record ... twice!

Graphic by David Jakacky.

Michael Corrado Contributor On Jan. 29, 2011, Boston Bruins defenseman and captain Zdeno Chara set an NHL record for the fastest recorded slapshot in league history at that year’s All-Star Game. Chara’s display of strength and skill resulted in the Slovakian rocketing home a 105.9 miles per hour blast to win the competition and earn two points for Team Staal, led by Carolina Hurricanes forward Eric Staal. Chara’s shot broke the record held

by Al Iafrate of 105 miles per hour, which soon became “Big Z’s” calling card, both in

the league and in the annual All-Star game skills competition.

Chara, simply unable to settle with his already record-breaking mark, was again named to the All-Star game and its subsequent skills competition a year later on Jan. 29, 2012. Going toe-to-toe with his finals opponent from the previous season, Shea Weber, Chara was able to put up a scorching mark of 108.8 mph, shattering the number he had posted only a year prior, and far and away solidifying Chara’s spot as the hardest shooter in the history of the league.

In standard games, Chara’s slapshot was

lethal, quick enough to get by every defenseman in the way and hard enough to blast by any goalie. Standing at 6 feet 9 inches and weighing 256 pounds, Chara is built like a skyscraper, unmoving in even some of the most severe conditions. At that level, Chara also qualifies to be listed as the tallest player in league history.

Considering Chara’s physicality, his innate ability to drive pucks at the net with absolute reckless abandonment comes as no surprise; Chara wields a stick that measures 67 inches, a figure that reads seven digits higher than the average adult-

sized stick used by an everyday NHL player. His extreme reach advantage makes him an elite defenseman and allows for an even more intense bend on Chara’s stick’s shaft, resulting in added torque and an even more powerful slap shot heading directly at an opponent’s.

After winning the event five times in a row from 2007 to 2012, Chara continued to captain the Bruins until he was signed by the Washington Capitals following the 201920 regular season on a one-year contract.

With Washington failing to offer the veteran a deal, the New York Islanders, the same

team that drafted the giant himself, offered Chara a one-year deal.

Today, he continues to play for the Islanders in what may be his final season as a professional.

Chara’s opponent Weber inevitably claimed the hardest shot crown in 2015, coming within 0.3 mph of Chara’s mark by hitting a 108.5 mph. Weber won the contest in both 2016 and 2017 as well, with slightly lower marks of 108.1 and 102.8 mph before conceding the title to Alexander Ovechkin the very next season.

Ovechkin’s shot registered 101.3 mph and was good enough to earn him the crown for

the season.

Ovechkin relinquished the belt the following year to his teammate, defenseman John Carlson, who managed to hit 102.8 mph on the gun. Weber was not done attempting to take the record away from Chara, with the veteran defenseman giving it one more shot in 2020. Weber was able to set himself apart from the remainder of the crowd and let everybody know that he’s still got it, hitting 106.5 mph on the gun, the highest mark since Weber’s own result in 2017.

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