Nov 26, 2018 | Sports |
By Abby Shields Contributing Writer
On October 28, the women’s cross country team set out on the course, striving to get to their goal of being conference champions at Troy Howard Middle School in Belfast, Maine.
“I felt very confident in our students to go out and run to their potential. I feel very fortunate to coach outstanding student-athletes,” said Joseph DiSalvo, coach of the cross country team. “They all prepared very well for this race, and I had confidence in them that they would go and execute well,” said Joseph Disalvo, coach of the cross country team.
The course was destroyed for the meet, because six races took place there the day before. It had also been raining and snowing leading into race day, making the course very muddy and slippery. The entire course was covered in water and mud, making it a tougher challenge, but they were all very prepared. “The weather conditions were cold and rainy,” said Gwen Baker, a senior at UMF. “The women’s team however had always performed well in poor conditions and this day was no exception.”
Everyone on the team had a different way of preparing for the race that day. “ To prepare for races I go over the course in my head and look at the teams we are going against,” said Julia Labbe, in an email interview. “I look up their past times to see who I should be around, and who I should look out for. I imagine where I can (or want) to make my moves in the race, and it helps me form a positive, motivated mindset.”
Their total score ended up being a 41, beating Husson by 5 points. After hearing the news from assistant coach Ryan Smith, many emotions arose for the runners who gave it their all. “I felt many different emotions. The top five runners score for their team. Team packing is crucial in attaining a low score,” said Baker. “We finished 3rd, 4th, 8th, 12th and 14th place. It was an amazing, surreal moment.”
“This win was really exciting because UMF was seated second, only one point behind Husson so we knew we had to give it our all,” said Labbe. Everyone at that meet gave it their all, pushing each other to a great finish.
“I am very proud of each and every student on this team,” said DiSalvo. “It takes a full team effort to win a conference championship, and they certainly worked hard for this accomplishment.”
Every runner stepped up and ran strong for the UMF cross country team, representing Farmington very well. Ending the season with first place in all conference was a huge accomplishment for the women’s team.
“We had a strong consistent women’s team. We dominated in many of the meets that had our conference teams in them,” said Baker. “With bigger meets we still did well and I’m excited to see what the women’s team can do next year! We’re going to be even better with gaining back strong runners we didn’t have this year.”
Oct 25, 2018 | Feature |
By Abby Shields Contributing Writer
91.5 WUMF is a radio station/club on campus, that plays various genres, with a hope to bring out of the ordinary music to campus. “The station’s philosophy is to bring new, unheard music to UMF and the greater Farmington community,” said station manager Nathaniel Red.
“The radio station is on at all times. When DJs have their show, the floor is theirs to play what they want, but otherwise we have a rotation of music, that’s submitted by the music directors, and that music plays over the air continuously, when a show isn’t happening,” said Red.
There is a wide range of music played from alternative, hip- hop/RPM, local, loud rock, and world music. These different “stations” were picked as it helps them cover a large range of music, allowing a different assortment of to be heard.
The station plays a variety of different music with each music director in charge of a different genre. The music directors help students find music to play during their radio shows. “We play a little bit of everything on the radio, it’s just based off what is submitted to our station to be heard,” said Red.
There are 11 positions on the executive board, a few being the station manager, production manager, alternative music director, hip-hop/RPM music director, world music director, local music director, and loud rock music director. All these directors have similar jobs, however none are the exact same. Each varies depending on their genre, etc.
Kai Smith, World music director, said, “I keep up with all of the songs we’re sent that are from other parts of the world and/or music genres that don’t fit in the other categories. It’s a mix between all sorts of genres from all over the world, as well as jazz, blues, and country.”
Red said, “Generally the executive board is filled with members of the club who really love music, and love to be a part of college radio, similar to the rest of the club members too!” When it is time to fill positions for the next year, each member votes for one person, for each position and whoever wins the vote has that role for the following year.
Not only does WUMF play music, they also do interviews. Their latest include John Five, a American guitarist, Butcher Babies, a heavy metal band from Los Angeles, and OK Go, a American rock band originally from Chicago, Illinois.
“We’re always looking for more people to come and join the club! We’d love for students to come and have their own radio show. Also, we accept local bands music, so if anyone has some tracks out there, send them our way, and maybe we can get them some air time,” said Red.
Students who are interested in joining the club should contact the productions manager Sylvia at wumfproductionmanager@gmail.com. “They’ll help any student who wants to become a DJ,” said Red.
Students can stop by the office anytime to speak with an executive board member. The office is located by the door behind the station in the student center. Students can also contact them at an address listed on the contact list located on the station door.
To request a song on-air, just call (207) 778-7353.
Oct 11, 2018 | News |
By Abby Shields Contributing Writer
The Financial Literacy program is being re-established with a 5-year long plan advised by program coordinator Sarah Hinman designed to help better educate students about finances in college and prepare them for life after UMF.
“Our mission is to increase the financial literacy of UMF students by providing them with student led informational programming regarding personal finance, student loan borrowing, default prevention, and financial aid,” said Hinman.
Hinman was hired in April as a program coordinator and hand selected eight peer educators: Abby Waceken, Austin French, Bailey Parenteau, Caleb Grover, Isaac michaud, Jake Leonard, McKayla Marois and Sarah Veilleux. When August arrived, Hinman and the peer educators came to campus for a week long training.
The program started the first day of school, with the goal being for Hinman and her team to reach across the UMaine system. The educators at UMF, known as the #finlitsquad, run the program, giving Hinman the opportunity to travel across Maine, educating other schools about financial literacy
Sarah Veileux, a junior at UMF, is happy to be apart of the team. “I came into this program really just out of being at the right place at the right time when I met the coordinator, Sarah Hinman, at Mantor Cafe through a mutual friend,” said Veileux. “We really just connected as people, she thought I would be a great fit for the program and liked my energy for taking boring topics and making them fun and interesting, and now I’m a Financial Literacy Peer Educator.”
All the members of the team bring something different to the table. “Every educator is expected to perform the basic duties of the program, but they also all bring their own unique personality and skill sets” said Hinman. Whether it be being really good at understanding how to save, knowing how to make the most out of outdoor rec salary, or having experience with investing and budgeting, everyone has a skill they bring to the program.
Makayla Marois, a junior at UMF, is happy to help students in whatever way she can. “My main focus is on saving money. I chose this because of my own personal savings journey that I believe to be successful,” said Marois. “However, I am trained to help students conquer all of their financial demons, just as every peer educator in the program is.”
“Our program does a wide array of programming: once a month we host a pizza power in The Landing where we will have pizza and discuss a financial literacy topic for an hour,” said Hinman.
They also will host special days around FAFSA, reaching out to the local middle/high schools and community colleges and plan to work with the CAs putting on programming throughout the dorms. “We would love to work with clubs, sports teams, and faculty to present to a wide variety of student groups,” said Hinman.
As for the years to follow if anyone would like to join there will be a hiring process that consists of an application as well as a interview.
Their next campus event will be a Pizza Power Hour hosted on Wednesday Oct. 17 from 11:45 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. The topic will be on “the 5 steps to making a budget in college.”
If students have questions the best way to contact this program is by emailing the coordinator, Sarah Hinman at (sarah.hinman@maine.edu) or stopping by the office in room 201 Franklin Hall.
