Feb 16, 2018 | Feature |
By Emilee Eustis Contributing Writer
The dining hall at UMF has given one student months of frustration after Sodexo has been unable to accomodate the student’s diet. Adlin Chaparin is a first-year student at UMF “on a strict vegan diet” due to a severe lactose intolerance. Because of Chaparin’s strict diet, options in the dining hall are very limited.
“Since I am a first-year student here at UMF and living in residence halls, I am required to have the all access meal plan, which is something I cannot be paying for while also paying for my weekly groceries,” Chaparin said. This poses a big problem because Chaparin has to pay for a meal plan she isn’t using as well as pay for groceries that she needs due to her inability to eat in the dining hall.
Chaparin has tried many times to go to the dining hall and make the best of her situation. “One day I went into lunch between my classes, and the options for me were very limited. I asked for a veggie burger, which I waited twenty minutes to receive, and when I finally got it, it was burnt completely and inedible.” She said many weeks she would go to the dining hall, and end up eating nothing.
Chaparin also said the issues with the dining hall are affecting her health, and could be affecting the health of many other students who are faced with the same problems. “I lost a lot of weight which wasn’t healthy, and I overall didn’t feel good. On days when I was able to find something in the dining hall to eat, I would always feel very sick afterwards, and I’ve heard the same remarks from other UMF students.”
Chaparin is also a collegiate athlete and burns “approximately 2,500 calories a day” but was only taking in about 1,250 calories, making it difficult to perform well in sports or in the classroom.
To make changes in the dining hall, Chaparin said that involvement from students on the campus could be beneficial, since complaints from a few students do not seem to wield results. Chaparin had “heard a lot of students complaining” about the food in the dining hall and knows a few other vegans/vegetarians on campus who are fighting a similar battle.
Moving forward, Chaparin wishes to see the dining hall have a wider variety of choices, and for members of the UMF community to understand that students are paying a lot money for a service, that does not always accommodate to the needs of everyone. Sodexo has not made a comment at this time.
Feb 16, 2018 | Feature |
By Darby Murnane Contributing Writer
Dean Danielle Conway of University of Maine School of Law will be coming to UMF to deliver the lecture “Why Law Matters More Than Ever,” which will discuss themes such as equal rights and non-violent social activism in remembrance of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy.
One of UMF’s political science instructors, Professor James Melcher, expressed his excitement for Conway’s upcoming visit. “[Conway]’s amazing… her experiences are amazingly diverse,” Melcher said. “I think she’s doing great work at the University of Maine School of Law so I’m excited that she’s coming back here.”
Conway became the dean of the University of Maine School of Law back in 2015. Conway was a professor of law with expertise in the areas of entrepreneurship, intellectual property law and public procurement law.
Conway served 27 years of Active Duty military service in the U.S. Army, the Army Reserves and the National Guard. In November 2016, Conway retired from the military with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
As a faculty member of UMF’s political science program and the pre-law advisor, Professor Melcher has a deep respect for Conway’s work. Melcher weighs in on the main idea of her lecture: the increasing importance of law in America’s current rocky political climate.
Melcher pointed out that King called for civil disobedience when laws needed to be questioned, and when citizens needed to examine who those laws best served. “ I think [Conway] will argue that there are times when it’s appropriate to question law, and appropriate to call for a change in law,” Melcher said.
Melcher believes that the troubled times Americans are currently living in is, to some extent, cyclical, and the discontent among citizens may also be attributed to “incivility rising than flat out disrespect for law.”
Since America is a nation founded on ideals of religious freedom and ethnic diversity as opposed to ideals of blood, soil and war, there is the question of whether or not American laws have held true to these morals considering the controversies over immigration, a border wall with Mexico, and the recent race riots.
Melcher states, “We’re more than just the sum of having been born here.” According to Melcher, American society has moved ahead of where the Founders were in such areas as the treatment of minorities and women. In terms of civic engagement and expectations of civility, Melcher asserted that, “I do think we’re falling down on that. We’re starting to see more and more people looking at their political opponents as an enemy, as people who are evil, as opposed to just, ‘I disagree with you.’”
Melcher is also steadfast in his beliefs that, “There’s too much anger, too much hatred, too much willingness to believe the worst out of people, and I think the biggest piece of it is a lack of empathy.”
Conway’s talk will take place on February 28th and will be held in the Lincoln Auditorium in Roberts Learning Center during common time.
Feb 16, 2018 | Feature |
By Sarah Lamb Contributing Writer
UMF Dance Team. (Photo courtesy of Sara Lamb)
The UMF Dance Team recently went to the TD Garden to perform right before the Boston Celtics took the floor for their game against the Atlanta Hawks. The Dance Team, led by Co-Captains Charity LaFrance and Vanessa Schaeffer, has been performing at the Garden the past three years. LaFrance and Schaeffer collaborated on the choreography for this year’s dance routine. They danced to “Love on Me” by Galantis & Hook, and were on stage for three and a half minutes.
“Last year [the performance] was pretty nerve-wracking,” said LaFrance. “I was pretty fine about [this year’s performance] until we were standing on the floor about to go on the court and seeing people 360° all around you. There is no other experience like it.”
The team has practiced the routine for the past 6-8 weeks. Schaeffer said it was “thrilling knowing you’ve created all this choreography,” and that it’s “exciting and full of relief to be able to watch the film of the performance afterward.” During every performance, they film themselves so they can critique and find more points of emphasis to work on during the next practice.
LaFrance added that “as a co-captain, it’s a pretty emotional experience watching your creation come alive, just knowing that you created this move and the counts. It’s a different experience than just dancing it. I think it’s pretty awesome that you get to let that happen in front of all these people and it’s really nice to share that experience with the other girls on the team.”
Both LaFrance and Schaeffer said that dance was a huge part of their life growing up. When asked what dance meant to them, LaFrance said, “Dancing gave me that thrill” through life, and it is her “happy place.” Schaeffer said, “Dance is a very strong passion, it keeps me very grounded, knowing I can express who I am through movement. It’s something that keeps you more alive.”
The opportunity to perform at the TD Garden arose three years ago from a student had a connection to the Celtics event staff who happened to want a pre-game performance. The UMF Dance Team was asked if they were interested in performing, and they have been going ever since.
If you are interested in performing on the same floor as the Celtics or perform here at UMF during halftime at the Men’s and Women’s home basketball games, you can contact umfdanceteam123@gmail.com for more information about the UMF Dance Team.
Feb 16, 2018 | Feature |
By Nathan McIvor Contributing Writer
Professor Frank Underkuffler (Photo Courtesy of Frank UnderKuffler)
Faculty member Frank Underkuffler’s Public Classroom lecture, “Social Change and The Crisis of American Law,” opened to a full house at UMF’s Emery Community Arts Center on January 30th. A livestream of the event aired in Ricker Addition to accommodate the overflow of guests.
President Kate Foster introduced Underkuffler, a practicing lawyer by trade, to the assembled audience. Underkuffler discussed the United States’ current stark political division in historical and legal contexts, citing English common law, which was adopted by U.S. colonies, as the source of strife in the U.S. legal system.
Recorded by influential English judge William Blackstone in 1765, common law arises from culture, rather than official legislation, and reflects the how actions between people actually occur. English common law grants men who own property the full rights of citizenship; meanwhile, married women and “idiots” received special protections such as being unable to be held accountable to contracts. Married women and slaves were classified as “property.”
As a cultural creation, Underkuffler explained how the common law is incompatible with social change, as common law “exists for stability;” the social categories it established were not meant to be transgressed. Those seeking change, then, will always be held in suspicion.
Underkuffler cites the 2015 Supreme Court ruling on gay marriage, with Justice C.J. Roberts criticizing the court’s decision to rule in favor of the issue as “disinheriting” and as against “constitutional law,” as an example of how the status quo would react to shifts in social norms.
Underkuffler noted that “we inherited this system; we didn’t ask for it… you didn’t make it, I didn’t make it.” The divide between the status quo and those seeking to change it are vestiges of expired cultural standards. The divide between liberals and conservatives today derives from these embedded cultural traits; nothing in how U.S. society views changes to law and culture is conducive to an easy relationship between the two groups. He then advised the two groups respect and listen to each other regardless of preconceptions.
After taking questions from the audience, Underkuffler walked to the Ricker Audition to take questions from the audience watching via livestream. Underkuffler’s talk was a part of UMF’s Public Classroom, a series of lectures aimed at engaging the broader community with the university’s intellectual resources and provides faculty members an opportunity to share their work.
