Nov 12, 2020 | Feature |
by Noah Grindstaff, Contributing Writer
The Landing (Photo courtesy of Sam Shirley)
In the wake of the pandemic, the Landing has taken safety precautions to ensure that students will have access to safe and fun activities.
Making sure to have events centered around student enjoyment is important to the Landing staff, this year they continue to extend their services to the student population. Before the pandemic the Landing hosted “a lot of arts and crafts events, some movie screenings, assorted game nights with either one large game (like bingo) or various ones (like video game night)” said Brandon Reed, a sophomore, and manager of the Landing. They also used to host food diversity events to encourage multicultural interactions among students. This year, due to COVID-19 related health risks, food events cannot be hosted this semester.
Through all the new challenges this year, Justin Reid, a sophomore and performing arts major who works with Reed at The Landing, has found that “the primary differences [are] a major slash to room capacity and extra measures to sanitize and distance materials and people respectively.” He added that, “We keep a log of everyone that shows up at the event so that we can send it to Conferences and Events so that they can keep track of anyone who has attended.”
Students have been compliant with the new changes. “Everybody who visits follows the guidelines and safety measures,” said Reid. They have done well in their execution of social distancing measures.
Attendance for the Landing’s events might be lower this year, but those who do show up are excited to be there, “People usually visit in pairs and trios, so people are usually rather jovial in good company regardless of the event,” said Reid.
Upcoming events include: Friday the 13th on Nov. 13, a DIY Fairy Lantern event on Nov. 14, and Karaoke Night on Nov. 17.
To keep track of future events in The Landing, make sure to follow them on Instagram @umflanding and, if you’re on campus, go to the Olsen Student Center and check out their posters across from the Student Life office.
Nov 12, 2020 | Feature, Satire |
By Anonymous
As everyone knows (literally everyone) we have to wear these damned masks around campus nowadays.
They’re either floral, or black, or grey, or blue whatever the wearer chooses (seriously whatever). Frankly I myself have seen some major fashion faux pas around campus since the day we got here. I’ve seen abominations from striped masks with a polka dot shirt to a chartreuse mask with an amarillo sweater.
Don’t even get me started on the fact that I simply know for a fact that students aren’t washing their masks after they use them. We saw that you missed your mouth and spilled on to your mask and you have the AUDACITY to wear that same mask the next day with the same stain. Who are you fooling?
That’s not even the worst part (yes it can get worse), these masks are so uncomfortable it’s so hard to breathe in them. Karens around the world have come together to create a fake religion that allows them to not wear these abominations out anymore.
I propose that we follow these middle aged white women who have fits over expired coupons and band together and join them. You know what they say, “if you can’t beat ‘em join ‘em”. As an act of our rebellion I am planning a “mask release ceremony” where all participating UMF students buy balloons, tie their masks to them, and set them free into the heavens. As implied masks will NOT be worn and social distancing will NOT be in place, shoulder to shoulder we shall stand in solidarity.
This party will promptly be following Halloweekend where local students have already started showing their support by partying in their dorms with of course, no masks on.
I am particularly excited to see how many new cases we get on campus after this. “It’s a fun game I like to play with my roommates,” said Senior, Abe Keller at University of Maine at Orono. “We check to see how many cases we’ve gone up by each week and estimate when we’re going to get sent home,”.
Keller doesn’t care about the virus however, “It’s all a scam, the big pharma companies want you to believe it’s real; somehow Steve Jobs is tied into this I’m sure of it,”.
While some students may be reluctant to change the mask policy I do believe that once we all come together and show the virus we aren’t scared of it, all this madness will subside.
This article is purely for satirical purposes. The names in this article do not reflect the views of the individuals.
