Apr 5, 2019 | Feature |
By Madison Lecowitch Contributing Writer
Every year UMF hosts Relay for Life, an event supporting individuals who have had cancer impact their lives. This year the event is scheduled for April 12th, with a goal to raise $100,000. Alyssa Higbie, captain of the Campus Residence Council (C.R.C.) team for Relay for Life and senior at UMF, has seen first hand how cancer can devastate families and change lives forever. Through participating in Relay for Life, Higbie has used her experience to help benefit other people battling with cancer.
(L to R): Taylor Rossics, Alyssa Higbie, and Michaela Carney participated in Relay for Life in 2018. This will be Higbie’s third year participating. (Photo courtesy of Alyssa Higbie)
Higbie first saw cancer impact her family when her dad was diagnosed. He is now a survivor of ten years. “My family was lucky that my dad’s cancer was only mouth cancer and the tumor was taken out, and he is able to be a survivor,” said Higbie. “Not everyone is that lucky, not everyone has as easy of a journey, and that’s why it is important that we do give back – that we do raise money for this.”
Relay for Life is an event that is run by the American Cancer Society. The event raises money to help families and individuals who are battling cancer. “Relay for Life benefits people who are survivors, people who are dealing with cancer, the families of people who have cancer,” said Higbie. “It could be from financial help, to helping get rides to and from the cancer center, to helping figure out who the best doctors are.”
Every donation to the organization helps. Last year, UMF and the Farmington community donated $21,000 to Relay for Life. “Every dollar we raise goes to research and it goes to early prevention and screenings,” Higbie said. “It goes to helping people who already have a diagnosis, so it gives help, it gives hope, and it gives care to people who need it the most.”
Higbie understands how important it is to support other families who are dealing with cancer. “It could have been a lot different for my family if my dad’s cancer was more severe – and so to give back, to help families who might need a little more help then we needed – is really important to me.”
To Higbie, there is a deeper meaning behind what Relay for Life stands for. “Relay for Life to me means hope. It means a chance of being able to help others, and it means to me a community coming together for a cause,” she said. “It means that people who need help in a dark time can get it, and if I can be a small part of that – that’s wonderful.”
This will be Higbie’s third year participating in Relay for Life. Higbie has found that community support is what makes the event so spectacular. “Last year I raised $500 personally, and it was really all about talking to friends, family members and people from my church. A lot of the donations were $10-$15 a piece, so it’s not like it’s just one big donation from one person.”
There will also be fundraising taking place throughout the night at the event. “We have live performances like the UMF Dance Team, Clefnotes and Deep Treble [who performed last year]. Different clubs have different tables around, as well as the community,” Higbie said. “We did snow cones last year, someone else had nail painting, and someone else had raffle baskets. It’s a real community event where everyone comes together to raise money.”
Relay for Life will be held in the FRC on April 12th. The event is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. and usually ends early in the morning. Higbie encourages anyone who wants to participate to join the C.R.C. team and to email her at alyssa.higbie@maine.edu if there are any questions. To join the Relay for Life as a runner/walker a minimum $10 donation is required. “Everyone should join! Join a team, go as an individual, go for it,” Higbie said. “If you want to just go and support, you can also do that too.”
Mar 15, 2019 | Feature |
By Allison Jarvis Contributing Writer
The Otaku Club was founded five years ago to explore Japanese culture and for students to watch anime together. Rowan Burns, the current president of the Otaku club, and fourth year Early Childhood Education and Psychology major, describes some of the events that are arranged for the club’s members.
“We go to two conventions every year,” said Burns. “We host a lot of events. We do a tea party now, ‘Host Club’ style. We’re planning that right now.”
Every semester, the club arranges to take twelve members, including E-board, to a different convention. They travel to Another Anime Convention (AAC) in the fall and Anime Boston in the spring. At conventions, you will see people dressed in cosplay of their favorite anime, as well as games and panels where guest speakers like creators or voice actors are invited to speak and answer questions.
“I enjoy walking around and meeting new people and seeing the cosplays,” said Burns. “A lot of people, if you’re in cosplay, will ask for your picture. A lot of professional photographers will go to these events to do sessions.” Members of the club are encouraged to go dressed in cosplays if they choose to, and the officers always make sure everyone has time to get into their cosplays before going into the convention.
Besides going on trips to conventions, Otaku club now has a new event where they host a tea party in the landing themed around the popular anime “Ouran High School Host Club.” The officers of the club dress in uniforms and the landing is decorated with table cloths and tea lights. Tea and coffee and snacks are served and the “Host Club” anime is screened on the projector. “We tested it last year and it was a big hit,” said Burns. “People just came in and they watched anime and had snacks and talked and hung out and it was so much fun.” The tea party is now being hosted once a year every spring semester, to try and line up with the Japanese cherry blossom season.
When the club isn’t going to conventions or hosting tea parties, they spend time together and watch anime. Once a month they have a “voting day” when members will shout out their favorite animes, and then the club will collectively vote on the lineup of showings for the month. “It’s very much club member participation based in that sense,” said Burns. “We don’t just have officers picking stuff, we’re really asking people what they want to watch.”
Attendees are always exposed to something new and different. The shows range from light-hearted to heartbreaking. “We’ve had [shows] where people cried in club ‘cause they’re so sad!” said Burns. Content warnings are always given before a screening, should there be any heavy themes that might be hard to handle, so that the Otaku club can be a safe and inclusive place.
While attending Otaku club meetings is a fun way to pass the time and of being exposed to and learning more about Japanese culture, the club is also a place to spend time with like-minded friends. “I like being in the room with so many people with shared interests, but in a more relaxed way,” said Benjamin Hayes, sophomore Special Education major and club member. “I’ve definitely gotten a lot closer with other members… who I otherwise probably wouldn’t have connected with.”
“Anime’s such a weird niche interest, where you either like it or you hate it,” said Burns. “And there are so many people who just adamantly hate it. And it’s hard to find those spaces where people aren’t thinking you’re weird for enjoying it.”
The Otaku club meets in Thomas Auditorium every Friday from 4-6PM. If a student should have any questions, they can contact Rowan Burns at nikole.burns@maine.edu
Mar 15, 2019 | Feature |
By Madison Lecowitch Contributing Writer
The UMF Aspiring Educators Club inspires students to be lifelong educators who are passionate about teaching the next generation of leaders.
Bradley Howes, a junior at UMF, has participated in Aspiring Educators Club since his sophomore year. He decided to join when a former member came into one of his special education classes to promote the club.
Howes became the club’s treasurer once he realized the benefits that came with being involved in the club. “I enrolled for the treasurer after I came up with some fundraising ideas that met the clubs financial obligation,” said Howes. “It was once that I became the treasurer that I realized all the stuff that I could do that wasn’t written in the rules.”
The “stuff” that Howes was referring to includes setting up events, fundraising opportunities and promoting the club through class discussions around campus. Anyone who joins the club is encouraged to set up their own educational events. “If the students have an idea they want to do, they can come to any of us, and we will make it happen,” said Howes.
Jamie Dillon, president, joined the club to create opportunities for herself, to learn how to make connections with other educators and to provide connections for other people.
Dillon wants to see students in education majors thriving at UMF and in their careers. “[I hope to see] future educators more excited and less discouraged to go into the teaching field, so that they can make personal connections with one another and have strength in numbers and be more confident when they go out and get real jobs as teachers.”
The club was created five years ago with the goal to benefit students from all education majors. Howes encourages everyone who wishes to gain experience as an educator to join.“Pragmatically it makes you look good, because when you put that on a resume it shows you’re trying to be a lifelong learner and continuingly improving educator,” Howes said. “That’s a big thing that a lot of schools are looking for that a lot of people overlook.”
One of the greatest benefits that come with joining the club is the connection with the Maine Education Association. “[MEA] oversees all of the educators within the state of Maine, which includes preservice educators. We collaborate with their student collaborator, Dan Allen, to make sure we’re meeting their obligations,” said Howes. “He provides us with opportunities, we provide them with data and interest and what one of the best teaching schools in Maine is talking about. It is a mutually beneficial relationship where they want to get new blood and new information and we want their experience and their tips for us.”
Memberships to join the MEA are $28 for students. The club usually leaves money in the budget for free memberships that are need-based. A membership with the MEA allows you to attend two conferences, one in the fall that is held in Rockland and one in the spring that is held at UMF. In addition, you also receive access to the MEA magazine where there are helpful tips and information for future educators.
Howes encourages students to join the club as early as possible. “It is probably most beneficial for people to start early in the club around your freshman age. I started around my sophomore age, which means I got into my position as a junior and realistically that only gives me a year and a half to participate in it,” said Howes. “And then I have to student teach and that becomes my full attention.”
The Aspiring Educators Club meets every Tuesday at 7:30 pm in the Ed. Center, Rm.107. Howes encourages anyone who wishes to participate to come to the meetings. If there are any questions, students can contact Howes, or the rest of the Executive-Board at any time. The E-board includes Jamie Dillon, Danielle Bowler, Bradley Howes and Michaela Wright. “Anyone on the E-Board is open for questions,” Howes said. “Jamie Dillon is the president and you can email her at [jamie.dillon@maine.edu].” Howes’s email is bradley.howes@maine.edu.
Mar 15, 2019 | Feature |
By Audrey Carroll Contributing Writer
AILee Cookson’s 2018-2019 school photo for Carmel Elementary. (Photo courtesy of AILee Cookson)
In the summer of 2017, AlLee Cookson was on track to graduate a semester early from UMF. All that stood between Cookson and her diploma was one general education course and the student teaching requirement of the Education Program, which she would obtain credit for during the upcoming fall semester – allowing her to graduate in December of 2017, instead of May. However, in August, before she had acquired any student teaching experience or her diploma, Cookson accepted a job at Glenburn Elementary as a fourth grade teacher.
At the start of the school year in September 2017, Cookson stood in front of a classroom full of fourth graders with no field experience to guide her through this sudden and unfamiliar journey. “It was terrifying,” said Cookson, “I had no student teaching. I had my practicums, but those were only two days a week. There was only so much I could get from that.”
Cookson feared that inexperience would lessen her success in the the classroom, despite the hard work that led her to this wonderful opportunity. Regarding the first day of teaching in her own classroom, Cookson said, “I remember being really nervous, and unsure of what was going to happen, or how I was going to connect with [the students]. There was just a lot of uncertainty.”
Cookson’s apprehension lasted the entirety of the first day, and was not self-alleviated. In fact, Cookson credits much of the confidence that she now holds to her coworkers at Glenburn Elementary. Another UMF Alumni, Alexandra Crocker, comforted Cookson on her first day at Glenburn. “When I first walked in, [Crocker] was like ‘We went to Farmington, we’ve got this,’ and that really helped,” said Cookson, “I just needed to prove to myself that I could do it, and embrace that this was my moment.”
Cookson’s uncertainty of her worth in the classroom persisted due to parents. UMF is well known for preparing aspiring teachers to work with students everyday, but it can’t provide thorough direction regarding their parents. “There was a parent who found out that I wasn’t certified because I hadn’t finished the program yet,” said Cookson. “She told me that she didn’t think I was qualified to teach her child, and that I shouldn’t be teaching there.”
However, at the end of the year, the same parent thanked Cookson for how well she had taught the children in her classroom. “She was so proud of how her child’s report card looked,” said Cookson.
Though Glenburn Elementary provided Cookson with remarkable and irreplaceable teaching experiences, Cookson moved to Carmel Elementary the following school year where she taught second grade.
Soon after settling in at Carmel Elementary, Cookson became the Glenburn Middle School cheerleading coach. Through this position, Cookson noticed both profound similarities and many differences between coaching and teaching. “I noticed that with coaching there was a lot less structure,” said Cookson, “I didn’t feel as much pressure to meet ‘the standard’ – although there is a standard of what you expect – but it was really just me setting the standard for the girls.”
Because of her experience with a wide range of grade levels, Cookson feels confident that she could handle any teaching position thrown her way: “To go from teaching fourth grade, and teaching second grade, and coaching middle school it feels like I have a whole realm of possibilities for my career of coaching and teaching.”
UMF provided Cookson with the opportunities that allowed her to pursue her dreams very early on, before she had even graduated, and for that she will always be grateful
Mar 15, 2019 | Feature |
Alexis Wyman-LaBelle
Maybury’s cat, Steekle, showing off his muscles (Photo courtesy of Karol Maybury)
Contributing Writer
Pet Instagram accounts are a growing trend on social media, and two UMF professors, Karol Maybury and Misty Krueger, have accounts for their pets and have received a “paws”-itive response from their audience.
“A few years ago I adopted an eight-year old cat named Fluffy from the Kennebec Valley Humane Society,” said Misty Krueger, an English Professor. “[I] decided to create the page “What Would Fluffy Do?” to honor her greatness.” Krueger said that the name was inspired by “What Would Jesus Do?” which is a popular meme, along with another inspiration; grumpy cat.
Krueger thinks the outcome from the Instagram page has been overwhelmingly positivity not only for her but her cat as well. “I think they enjoy her cat-itude.” Krueger added that it was a creative outlet for her to post things in Fluffy’s perspective to share with the 60 followers her cat has.
“[It’s] a reminder that pets are fun and have funny personalities,” Krueger said, “and pets make people happy whether they are right in front of you ready for petting, or in pictures looking cute.”
Karol Maybury, a Psychology professor operates and maintains an Instagram account for her cat, Steekle, and his brother, Cinders. “[It started with a Facebook page] in 2015, as an ongoing joke with my kids,” Maybury said. “After seeing posts on Instagram about people and their pets, and I thought Steekle needed one too. It’s turned into a hobby.”
Maybury pointed out a correlation between Instagram and envy, and referred to Instagram as a “highlight reel” of people’s lives, and the pet accounts act as a “relief” from expectations of what a “perfect life” looks like. “I try to think of funny or witty things to post to interrupt the ‘look at this fabulous life’ that we see all too often,” Maybury said. “Research even says that the more time you spend on Instagram, the more unhappy you’ll be.”
“We do a cat of the month,” Maybury said jokingly. “It’s kind of funny because there’s only two of them. I’ll post little flyers around the house saying why they were chosen.”
The cat of the month is rewarded for little things like great posture, ability to meow and yawn at the same time, and bravery during medical testing (vet visits).
Between the two of Maybury’s cats there is a slight sibling rivalry. Steekle posted a picture of his brother, Cinders, when he was awarded cat of the month with a sarcastic caption, ‘Even if the Great Bacon Incident hadn’t disqualified me, Cinders still deserves his moment in the sun.’
Both Krueger and Maybury see the positive impact that these humorous posts have on their following. Steekler, Maybury’s cat, has 125 followers that like the witty posts told in his perspective. A popular photo of Steekler’s is a photo where he is showing off his biceps while sitting in a chair, and another one where his ‘human sister,’ Grace McIntosh, is grooming his stomach with the caption ‘If you’re seeking a valentine in 2019 (I personally love my life as a bachelor) I have one word of advice: grooming! Don’t forget the oft-overlooked tummy region. I’ve found it’s the first place a lady looks to see if a gentleman takes care of himself.’
Maybury proposed implementing a cat-friendly dorm, in which the pets would be guaranteed to have their shots up-to-date and to be certified therapeutic animals. Maybury says it could be limited to one dorm in which the students don’t have allergies to the animals. The goal would be to help provide a little extra love to those students away from home.
People interested in following these pets on social media can find them at @_steekle_ on Instagram and @whatwouldfluffydo on Facebook.
Mar 15, 2019 | Feature |
By Milo Fitzgerald Contributing Writer
Every Monday from 6pm to 8pm, Ale Zarco takes to the small, dark DJ booth across from the Dining Hall armed with an array of nearly unknown music genres and history lessons for cultural context, she challenges listeners to step out of their comfort zone through her radio show What!?
“What!? is supposed to be a place where you hear things that challenge your ears a little bit,” Zarco said. They make an effort to share music that won’t be played on any other radio station. However, like most people, Zarco has their standards. “I do a lot,” Zarco said, “But I don’t do classic, and I don’t do white country music.”
Zarco instead shares black country artists, who are “more representative of the beginning of country music in America.”
“Pioneers of music and music styles, people who stood out for how they changed the genre,” Zarco said are the type of artists they enjoy featuring on What!? British-Iraqi hip hop, psychedelic cumbia, African blues, Egyptian pop, and Latin American jazz are just a few of the various genres featured on the show.
Along with discovering new artists, Zarco takes inspiration from music she has collected over time. “I have four years of playlists on Spotify that I draw upon,” they said. The playlist titles are as diverse as the music itself, from “Moondayz” and “ThissHeavy” to “friends with stress”, “wqit actually what is this?” and “soothing nuclear ear candy”.
“I like it when people start dancing to some music that they would have never heard on any other radio station,” Zarco said.
For most people, music is catalyst for expression and has the power to elicit strong emotional responses. Through consideration, representation, and unification, “music is a way for people to express themselves,” Zarco said. “I think music can be a tool for building compassion and building understanding between people.”
Zarco shares her public Spotify playlists on Facebook on the evening she will be playing them. Recently, they posted a playlist called “Dubby Queen” with the caption “Gonna be playing music that brings a healing sound to ill societies. Peaceful beats against a marching army. Beautiful melodies to soothe the pain of hardship.”
Music is also a universal language with the capacity to transcend place. “Borders don’t stop music, and music is a traveling thing and can be moved across different cultures, for good reasons and for bad reasons, I guess,” Zarco said. “I definitely like finding people that I think respect the genres that they use, and try to add something new and authentic to it.”
Her current favorite genre of music is Colombian psychedelic cumbia, which came of age in the 1960’s. Cumbia is an Afro-Colombian genre that became popular in coastal cities in Colombia, Peru, and Mexico. The fusion of psychedelic rock and cumbia began as a result of globalization and opposition to the Vietnam War, which made the cumbia genre more accessible to younger generations.
In this sense, it is clear that music never really goes out of style, but is constantly evolving and reviving over time and space. Music is never static, and What!? is here to remind us of that.
