Women’s Basketball Looks Forward to Upcoming Season

Women’s Basketball Looks Forward to Upcoming Season

By Kaitlyn York Contributing Writer

 

Paige Carter (40) goes up for a jump ball to start off the game. (Photo by Jeff Lamb Photography)The Women’s Basketball team at UMF, buzzing with excitement and aspiration, has been working hard to prepare this year’s team for the upcoming season.

   Head Coach Jamie Beaudoin shares his enthusiasm about a new year and new challenges. Beaudoin has always enjoyed the aspect of teaching the game of basketball to his players, with the ultimate goal of seeing their growth throughout the season.

   Beaudoin recognizes that every year is different, though, and this year there are some major changes to the North Atlantic Conference (NAC).

   “Our conference will be a little bit different,” said Beaudoin. “We lost four schools from a year ago, but we gained two others so our schedule will be much different, both conference and non-conference, because we’ve had to find some additional games.” He believes that the changes will make the team face unexpected, but exciting experiences.

   “I think this season will be a lot better than last year. Last year we won 7 games,” said Sara Lamb, a junior on the team. “Overall I’m excited and I am hopeful to have a good season.”

  Paige Carter, a senior at UMF and fourth year member of the team, believes that the new additions to the conference will be interesting, but she is excited to see what the future holds. “I am most looking forward to playing against and traveling to several different schools that we have never faced before, in my four years here,” said Carter.

   This year, Carter also has the unique experience of balancing student teaching and playing basketball. It can be a struggle at times because of late night practices and early school days.

  “Both are major time commitments but being a student-athlete at UMF has been a very rewarding experience that I wouldn’t ever change,” said Carter. “I have a lot of support from my coach, team, mentor and my students.”

  Carter began playing for the Women’s Basketball team her freshman year at UMF, and though she is excited for her future career as a teacher,  she will miss playing for the Lady Beavers.

   “It sounds very cliche but these past four years have really flown by. I am so excited to see what the future holds for me, but will be sad to be leaving UMF and the family I have made here,” said Carter, “Being a part of the women’s basketball team has allowed me to be a part of something greater than myself.”

  The Women’s Basketball team is also focuses on helping outside organizations through fundraisers during season. They will be participating in games for breast cancer awareness, as well as participating in We Back Pat, which is in memory of Pat Summitt, the University of Tennessee women’s basketball team head coach, who suffered from Alzheimer’s disease. The Lady Beavers also participate in Go Red for Women, which raises awareness about heart disease in women.

  As well as fundraising for outside organizations, they will be selling their Finals Survival Kits and Beaver Socks. The money from these fundraisers will go towards for the teams t-shirts, for 3-point give ways, practice gear, equipment and the software to break down game film.

  The teams first home game of the season will be Nov. 13th at 5:30 p.m., followed by the Men’s Basketball team at 7:30 p.m. against the University of Maine at Machias in Dearborn Gymnasium.

Creating Community Art: A Graffiti Wall on Campus

By Elina Shapiro Staff Reporter

   As leaves begin to fall and birch trees become bare, UMF’s campus may start to look a little dreary, so Justin Cochran has an idea for how to brighten and unite the campus – a community graffiti wall.

   Cochran, a first year transfer student and Secondary Science Education major, is hoping to work with administration to start up a graffiti wall somewhere on campus by spring 2019 where students, faculty, and staff could participate.

   “It’s a constantly evolving message,” said Cochran. “Someone will have to paint over someone else’s work. It will eventually happen and I want people to feel encouraged and feel okay doing that, you know, because we want this to constantly evolve.”

   Shawn Russell, an admissions counselor who introduces prospective students to the UMF campus, thinks that having a wall where everyone could participate would strengthen the UMF community.

   “I think it’s really cool that it would be a collaboration between the staff and students,” said Russell. “It would be a really good way to show our students’ and staffs’ creativity that we have ‘cause sometimes it’s really hard to show that in a meaningful way.”

   Cochran said that there would have to be a lot of discussion about what would be allowed, and what wouldn’t; and they hope to have a balanced committee to make these decisions. Ideally, the committee would be made up of students, staff, administration and people in facilities so all angles of campus would be represented.

   Cochran is hoping that this wall will promote collaboration even when controversial topics come up. “I think the thing is that we have to make sure that when something decisive comes up that we turn it into a conversation,” said Cochran. “We don’t try to quell the conversation, we try to steer the conversation in a healthy direction.”

   Gustavo Aguilar, Associate Professor of Experimental Performance and Art Division Chair, thought a committee would be a good idea to decide what is allowed and what will be taken down.

   “There’s that fine line between hate and censorship, when someone crosses that line,” said Aguilar. “We always have to be aware of the fine spaces so we don’t become stuck into an ideology of what’s right or wrong but actually be able to have those debates, which is really what freedom is about, to be able to have those debates.”

  With that in mind, however, Cochran said that there would be some guidelines. “To start, you let it be a place. You let it be a graffiti space. You remind students that this is part of college property so any sort of college rules apply,” said Cochran. “There are certain things as our school dictates, we can’t put up, but that doesn’t limit everybody’s creativity; it just reins it in a little bit to make it a nicer thing for everybody.”

   Cochran hopes that this graffiti wall might lift some spirits as the ground turns white and temperatures drop. “Right now the campus looks beautiful and that’s great; we have fall; we have leaves changing; it’s so colorful right now,” said Cochran. “But looking at winter coming up, we’re not going to have any color, it’s going to be red brick buildings, white buildings, and snow, and that’s entirely boring and it’s just drudgery to have to walk past that every day.”

    Russell also agrees that the graffiti wall would be especially beneficial to the community in the winter. “I think it would be a really positive thing, especially in the winter time, when you know, students are huddled up in their dorm rooms,” said Russell, looking out the window at the pouring rain. “…They could go down there and…do whatever they want with the graffiti wall and make something fun out of it, it would be a good time for those kids who maybe aren’t involved in winter sports or aren’t involved in athletics.”

   This idea is still in its beginning stages, and in the coming weeks, Cochran will be talking to more professors, and people in administration about this possible plan. For now, they have a change.org petition to get support for this wall, which has over 30 supporters. The link for the petition is: https://www.change.org/p/university-of-maine-farmington-get-umf-administration-to-allow-a-graffiti-wall-on-campus

 

UMF Graduate Brings Fiction Writing Contest to UMF for Second Year

By Eryn Finnegan President

  The Islandport Magazine fiction writing contest is back for its second year. This contest is held in partnership with the UMF creative writing program and is open exclusively to UMF students of any major.

   Islandport Magazine is a quarterly publication from Islandport Press, located in Yarmouth. The winning piece will be featured in the spring 2019 issue, with 40,000 copies distributed to their readers, over 100 stores across the state, as well as subscribers of the Maine Sunday Telegram.

   The only requirement is that the pieces must be based in Maine. How writers choose to tackle this requirement is up to them. According to Shannon Butler, a 2013 graduate of the UMF creative writing program and creator of the fiction writing contest, Maine does not have to be explicitly mentioned; it can be represented through setting, character or mood.

   “Most of what we got [last year] was pretty straightforward fiction, the daily lives of New Englanders represented in different ways, which was a lot of fun,” Butler said. “This year, I really encourage subtlety. You don’t have to have a lobsterman character; you can feature much more of Maine than just what people know.”

   Creative writing major Aimee Degroat won the first contest with her piece, “Where He Ain’t.” Her piece, published in the spring 2018 issue, was well received by Butler, her coworkers and readers of the magazine. Butler cited the reception of the winning piece as a major reason the contest is being held again.

       Butler created the contest as a way to promote fresh Maine voices. “We wanted to break out of the Portland market since it’s saturated with writers and artists, but Maine has so much more talent around the state,” Butler said.

   Butler also mentioned the lack of magazines focusing on fiction writing as inspiration for the writing contest, calling Maine a “hub for fiction writers, readers, artists and creative communities.” She suggested to her colleagues that the contest pull from UMF’s creative writing program after thinking back to her classmates.

   “When we started the magazine, we wanted to keep [Islandport Press’] core values of promoting Maine and New England talent,” Butler said. “We wanted to make sure we were featuring fresh voices, so I was like, why not feature the freshest voices? I said, ‘let’s go back to UMF,’ and my coworkers were really supportive.”

    Butler first discovered Islandport Press when she successfully sold them an ad for a poetry book while working as an intern for Caribou based magazine Echoes. Her apprenticeship at Echoes oriented her career aspirations toward the world of publishing, though she still manages to write everyday.

   “When I left [Echoes], I started angling myself more towards publishing than writing because I became more self aware,” Butler said. “I’m more of an active reader now, but I’m still engaged in the writing community. I write press releases and emails now. I edit pretty much daily.”

   Butler also stressed the importance of being a skilled writer and communicator, and that a writing degree can lead to many job opportunities.

   “The great thing about a writing degree is you can use it anywhere,” Butler said. “There’s publishing and editing, but pretty much every kind of industry has room for writers. Hospitals need writers, nonprofits need copywriters and people to write press releases. There’s so many options for writers that aren’t just writing.”

   The deadline for the Islandport Magazine fiction writing contest is December 31st. Students interested in participating should email any questions and/or submissions to magazine@islandportpress.com. For more information, visit their website at www.islandportpress.com/writingcontest.

Beth Wittenberg Displays Her exhibit “Consumed” at UMF Art Gallery

Beth Wittenberg Displays Her exhibit “Consumed” at UMF Art Gallery

By Elina Shapiro Staff Reporter

 

Beth Wittenberg utilized trash and cardboard boxes to create the pieces in “Consumed” (Photo by Elina Shapiro)

 “Consumed” is an exhibit currently on display until November 30th at the UMF Art Gallery, which includes a year’s worth of used cardboard boxes posted to the walls – each one covered with a unique drawing and strong language, sculptures made from trash materials found on the street, as well as a paintings covering two walls that Beth Wittenberg, the featured artist, made in less than 24 hours while setting up her exhibit.

   Students and community members slowly circled around the art gallery during Wittenberg’s opening night, stopping at each piece while enjoying small snacks, and pausing to talk with Wittenberg who made herself available to anyone who wanted to meet her and discuss her artwork.

   The attendees greatly enjoyed her unique style. “I feel like the majority of adults have squashed their childlike instinct to just paint whatever, and not really worry about it and obviously this has meaning, she’s not worried about being judged, because it is more of an abstract, childish form of art, but it is so like, impactful,” said Madee Curtin, a junior in High School. “I just want to go back and draw whatever and not worry about it being super good, I feel so happy right now, looking at this honestly, I haven’t seen art like this in a long time.”

Wittenberg combined trash with strong language to comment on consumerism. (Photo by Elina Shapiro)

   Wittenberg said that she doesn’t have a plan, she just sits down and sees what happens. “I don’t get strokes of inspiration,” she said. “…It’s a spiritual consent thing, I don’t believe I am actually in charge of any of it. I feel like it’s divinely inspired.”

   Wittenberg also said that things in her subconscious are visible in her pieces. “Whatever I am talking about in the day, it comes out in the art,” she said. “If I have an interaction with somebody, it’s all part of the whole dialogue.”

  “Consumed” is an intriguing exhibit, as Whittenberg says it has a double meaning to it. “The show is called “Consumed,” to me I call it my ‘consumerism project,” but the individual pieces all together are called ‘throw-away people,’ they include the sculptures, they’re all made from things that were thrown away and it’s ‘throw-away people’ because people are often not cared for, similar to the way we take care of our trash,” said Wittenberg.

   Allex Reed, a junior Creative Writing major, was inspired by Wittenberg’s theme. “I really like this art style. I really like the sort of  abstract, political structure, the commentary on the United States on consumption culture, on capitalism…” said Reed. “It’s all commentary. It’s really interesting, this sort of thing. I would love to get to the point where I can make commentary like this in my own writing.”

   Wittenberg’s wife, Seri Potter, was also at the exhibit and was blown-away herself. “The depth of her knowledge is amazing,” she said. “I don’t think we’ve scratched more than the surface of her talent, I think there’s so much more there.” The Art Gallery is open Tuesday through

Travel the World In a Week During International Education Week

Travel the World In a Week During International Education Week

By Andrea Swiedom Contributing Writer

   The Global Education Offic

Speed Language is an activity that allows participants to quickly learn phrases and words from other languages. (Photo courtesy of Lynne Eustis)

e at UMF will be hosting a series of events for International Education Week from Nov. 13th to 17th to raise awareness about different cultures, many of which are represented by students and faculty. Activities will incorporate regional foods and beverages, languages and crafts.   

   While the goal for the week is to educate students about different customs and parts of the world, it will also provide a space for exchange students. “They’re not just here to take classes,” said Lynne Eustis, assistant director of Global Education. “They should be able to share information about their culture.”

   Asako Miyazaki, a visiting Japanese professor who will be involved in the language and food- themed day, said, “I want students to be more…more active so they can understand how their culture is different from each other, but also how we can share the culture itself.”  Miyazaki went silent a moment to formulate this thought. “And I think, we don’t have to compare, we can just share and enjoy the time.”

   To kick-off the week, there will be a presentation Tuesday evening at 6 p.m. in the Fusion Space, run by UMF alumna, Elizabeth Ferry. The presentation will cover her time in Tanzania working in the peace corps.  

   On Wednesday, during common time, there will be a Francophone event to educate participants about French language, food and culture.

   Thursday will offer two opportunities open to the Farmington community. One event is the International Bazaar which will take place in The Landing from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. This is where items acquired through international travel will be sold to benefit the Global Education travel fund. Eustis hopes to see attendees at the Bazaar funnel into the other event, which will feature international foods and quick language lessons from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the Dining Hall.

Sodexo staff working hard to cook traditional recipes submitted by exchange students form around the world. (Photo courtesy of Lynn Eustis)

   Students who are native speakers of Swahili, French, Japanese, Chinese, Albanian and Spanish will conduct speed language segments. “It’s kinda like speed dating, but its speed language!” said Eustis with a beaming smile.  Participants will spend four minutes with a native speaker learning basic phrases before rotating.  

   While speed language is taking place, there will also be an opportunity to try a spread of traditional foods from Argentina, Tanzania and Japan. Students from these countries have submitted recipe proposals to Sodexo and their staff will select one dish from each country to prepare alongside the typical dinner menu, at no additional cost.

   Flor Villarreal, Spanish language teaching assistant from Argentina, submitted empanadas which are savory pastries filled with meat or vegetables and panqueques con dulce de leche which are similar to crepes that are rolled up with a rich caramel sauce.  

   Just talking about the food from Argentina made Villarreal’s face light up. “We eat dulce de leche with everything, I mean we can have it for breakfast, as dessert, we can just eat it with a spoon!”

   Miyazaki submitted recipe proposals as well, which included a s

Flags from all countries are hung in the dining hall to celebrate International Education Week. (Photo courtesy of Lynn Eustis)

avory pancake called Okonomiyaki, proving to be a language lesson in and of itself.  “Actually Okonomiyaki means, what do you want? Or, what do you like?” explained Miyazaki. The dish allows the cook to add in any vegetable, meat or seasoning into the batter before grilling the pancake.

   Finally, on Friday, an International Tea and Coffee Hour will take place from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. in the Fusion space.  

   Eustis is still planning more events for the International Education Week and will be posting more information about scheduled events and their locations on MyCampus and on bulletin boards throughout campus.