Sep 27, 2021 | Exclusive, Feature, Horoscopes |
By Autumn Koors Foltz, Staff Writer and Astrologer.
Consider Libra season a breath of fresh air. Ruled by Venus, Libra is an air sign positioned in cardinality. Cardinal signs come at the beginning of the season, and inspire a push into new experiences with strength. The goddess of romance and pleasure ruling the season, consider this a time to evaluate your relationships. Where is the balance to be found in them? Do you take as much as you give? As the moon moves into both Taurus and then Gemini in the following days, use this as the basis for the stock taken in relationships. Taurus urges stability. Gemini asks for intellect and sociality. Trust yourself, and let the stars move you. On September 27th, Mercury will go into retrograde until October 17th. Retrograde describes the illusion caused by Earth’s placement, where a planet appears to be moving reversely across the sky. Mercury is the planet of communication, so the retrograde is traditionally associated with problems in this area — love letters gone missing, cues gone misinterpreted, professional frustration. Use this as an opportunity to hone patience. Remember: the retrograde is only an illusion. Mercury is still moving as it began.
ARIES:
Familiar with Libra season in your own cardinality, allow yourself to take the season of your polar with charge. The first of the 12 zodiacs, think beyond your first impression: how do you let others see your flame?
TAURUS:
As the year begins to wane, don’t get lost in the mud, Taurus. Sprout yourself from the hardening Earth and establish yourself.
GEMINI:
Let go of the desire to know someone fully, or not at all, Gemini. Allow yourself, and others, to take control of their image. What may at first seem hidden can be with good reason.
CANCER:
In the season of another cardinal sign, expect your world to become packed to the point of clutter. Be aware of your desire to either shut things out or control them completely: Cancer, dear water sign, not everything must be underwater.
LEO:
Feel your innate, fiery charisma blossom under the watch of Venus — but don’t forget the rooting of your fixed sign. Be decisive. Be edgeful.
VIRGO:
Don’t feel your grip on the world loosen as your mutable, changeable season fades, Virgo. You have strewn yourself in your own Earth and will begin your fall-time blossom.
LIBRA:
Libra, be cutting. The wind must lash at times, and so should you. Do not let your desire for balance be mistaken as a desire for nothing at all. Even in your own season, do not feel hesitant to declare yourself and presence.
SCORPIO:
You don’t need to love everyone so deep you lose yourself in everyone. Shut your lips, stop your kissing. Turn into yourself, Scorpio.
SAGITTARIUS:
Sagittarius, nobody will follow you when you burn the path behind you. Don’t put the fire in your sign, but learn to capture its warmth: not its char.
CAPRICORN:
Something in the air is changing, Capricorn. Let it. Don’t feel compelled to work everything to same: newness can serve just as beautifully in direction.
AQUARIUS:
Aquarius, do you ever feel like you’re speaking to the trees? Don’t stop yourself: what those around you won’t understand will not be your own undoing.
PISCES:
If the season changes, Pisces, let it. Don’t become burdened with the truth that nothing stays: not even the moon.
Sep 27, 2021 | Bite Me Beaver, Feature, Satire |
Dear Bite, I’m a freshman, and currently my roommate is eating all my snacks. I have told them to ask first, but they are repeatedly ignoring my requests. Please, Bite, what should I do? -Woeful Foodie
Well foodie, If I was you I would consider other food options. Moldy cheese, for example or maybe baby food. Just go to the store and put everything that disgusts you in one big cart. I promise that if you don’t want to eat it, your roommate won’t either!
Dear Bite, I’m a freshman, and every Friday the room next to me gets super loud. I don’t want to be a bother, but I usually do want to be able to relax with my roommate during that time, even if it is not quiet hours. What should I do? -Relaxation Station
Well Station, for now I would recommend that you do nothing. Spend the next few Fridays listening to all the noise, simmering in rage. When you feel that your rage is somewhere between “your father driving” and “stubbing your toe” that’s when you will know it is time to act. Go out and buy some really dark red spray paint, the kind that looks uncomfortably like blood, and spray paint “Noisy people are the first to go” on their door in bold letters. Blood sacrifice and chanting are optional parts of the process, but should be fun nonetheless. Enjoy!
Dear Bite, Recently I’ve started really crushing on this girl, but I don’t really know how to talk to her. We’re only in one class together, and we don’t really have any mutual friends. What do I do? -Big Simp Energy
Well Simp, you’re going about this the wrong way. Small things like getting to know the other person matter little for an enlightened being as yourself. What you need is to make an investment. Put some work in. Get a full mariachi band to follow her around campus serenading her. Get to know her friends so they can sneak her your romantic poetry. Hire a blimp to ask her on your first date. And of course, if all of this does not work, print out your bank paperwork so you can spend your nights crying over all the money you’ve lost instead of your recent rejection. You can’t be sad for two reasons at once right?
Sep 27, 2021 | Feature |
By Ashley Ward, Assistant Editor and Secretary
FARMINGTON — Students are facing feelings of discomfort this semester as The University of Maine at Farmington campus makes an effort to return to how things were before COVID-19. Throughout the last 18 months, with the introduction and removal of COVID-19 barriers, students have been required to consistently relearn the changing social norms of the UMF campus.
Sophomore Katelyn Ryan said that the biggest change between the previous school year was the use of the campus dining hall. “I knew that seating was coming back but I didn’t realize the tables and chairs would be that close,” Ryan said. “I expected to have the option of grab-and-go more readily available too, it feels like a shock to be sitting down with people and using real plates and utensils.”
Second year students are now tasked with the challenge of relearning the social norms around campus. For upperclassmen, they likely have some amount of pre-pandemic college experience under their belt to pull from, but it can be especially daunting to be in to be a sophomore on campus and having no idea how to do anything, yet feeling pressured to have a sense of stability and social grace.
“It’s definitely something that I’ll have to get used to…I think I expected the adjustment to be more gradual rather than going from a 6-foot distance to a 6-inch distance…it’ll just take some time for me to adjust as someone who’s more introverted,” Ryan said.
Senior Brooke Miller said that one of the few obstacles left separating this school year from a pre-pandemic year is the mask policy. “The mask policy is interesting because it’s almost like a fusion between what I remember campus being like before and what I remember last year as,” Miller said. “It’s still a pandemic, but also feels like it’s not…Sometimes it generates a happy feeling in me, but sometimes it makes me feel frustrated because I want this to be over and for all of us to have done our accountability with COVID-19.
UMF, like all campuses across the country, was forced to adapt to COVID-19 in the spring semester of 2020 without much forewarning. Students, new and returning, waited for updates from administrators regarding what their school year might look like upon the return to campus for Fall 2020. This year, however, students have hope amidst their dismay surrounding the potential return of social freedoms, and such is reflected in the removal of social distancing obstacles campus-wide.
Nov 12, 2020 | Feature |
by Emily Cheney, Contributing Writer
Martin Woods Farm proudly offers a variety of different activities ranging from trail rides, ducks freely wandering, and a bunny motel. The atmosphere is never less than welcoming and energetic.
This year the farm’s vegetable harvests from the summer and fall will last throughout the year, “I make pickled beets, bread and butter pickles, and piccalilli,” said Sarah Martin, one of the farm’s owners. “We also press apples for cider and harvest sap for maple syrup—those are for sure season-dependent.”
Martin and her husband, Bud Martin, are both professors at UMF. Martin stated that running the farm was a dream of her husband’s, which she adopted as well. “I am energetic and healthy, so the lifestyle fits me,” said Sarah.
Martin Woods Farm has been creating connections with UMF students. Lillian Hunt, a community health major, has spent countless hours working and volunteering for the farm as a beekeeper and helping wherever help is needed. Her connection with the owners makes her feel like she is a part of the family. “It’s a very welcoming and happy place. I always feel welcomed and enjoyed when I’m there,” said Hunt.
The work opportunities that Hunt has experienced at the farm have helped her to figure out her potential future career. “Martin Woods has been a huge part of my life this year,” Hunt said. “I have discovered what I want to do with my life, and I have a safe and happy place I know I can go to when life is stressful or not.”
Hunt has also been able to make connections with the animals, as well. “I have a duck named Patrick who is such a sweetie!” said Hunt. “I really enjoy riding Emma (one of the horses) and the whole herd. The cows are super sweet as well.”
As Martin Woods continues to evolve, Martin sees more growth for the farm in the future. “Word is spreading and everyone who visits loves it,” Martin said. “As for me and the farmer’s markets, I have done them for three years and this was my best year as I learned what sells and how to present and package foods to sell them.”
Martin Woods Farm is located in Starks, ME. “Given that we are in Maine, and rural Maine, most of the people I interact with to sell farm food products are older adults, but as for horse lessons and rides, ALL ages, one through 91 so far!” she said. As business thrives, the Martin family is excited to see how the farm will prosper and to pass down the farm for generations to come.
Nov 12, 2020 | Feature |
by Malcolm Langner, Contributing Writer
Mallett Hall, a residence hall on campus.
(Photo courtesy of Sam Shirley)
Despite the terrors that came with 2020, nothing comes close to some of the spooky UMF stories which resurface during Halloween. Rumors swirl around buildings on campus, most are about Mallett Hall, Merrill Hall and Purington Hall. This Halloween is bound to bring back hidden memories and spirits which reside in them.
UMF was founded in 1864 as the state’s first public institution of higher education. With such a long history comes many stories—some good, some bad. One of the most common stories comes from the Nordica Auditorium in Merrill Hall. Here, there have always been whispers about Madame Nordica—a famous opera singer from Farmington in the late 1800s—haunting the hall.
Bob Samson, a part-time UMF police officer, can advocate for these hauntings. “One night I was conducting a foot patrol at about three in the morning. I had a person who was interested in police work shadowing me on my rounds. We were on the first floor of Merrill Hall when we heard a loud scream or screech. It sounded like a crow cawing, but louder,” Samson said. “I assumed someone had snuck into the building so I had that person stand in the hallway so he could see both exits. I went to the top floor and worked my way to the basement checking every room, every closet, every nook.”
Samson continued by saying, “The person I left in the hallway said no one left via either exit. I checked both exits and both sets of doors were locked and secured.”
Not everyone may believe in the supernatural, yet there is no doubt that something spooky took place that night in Merrill Hall.
Merrill Hall isn’t the only sketchy hall on campus. Mallett Hall is notorious for unexplainable phenomena, spooking students every year. Rumor has it that a woman died in the elevator of Mallett. Others say she killed herself. These rumors have led to many interesting nights in Mallett.
Kaci Bates, a sophomore at UMF, has a story of her own. “According to my roommate, I was sleeping one night and I shot up very suddenly. Apparently, I started singing the Happy Birthday song in a low, eerie whisper,” Bates said. “When I got to the verse ‘Happy Birthday dear *blank*’ I gasped and fell back asleep.” Now, maybe the hauntings of Mallett don’t have anything to do with this, but don’t be surprised if your roommate gets possessed for a few seconds if you live in Mallett.
This last story comes from Stone. Unlike the other halls Stone does not have an historical past, but nonetheless there are some blood curdling stories.
Ileah Arcand, a sophomore at UMF, was a resident in the basement of Stone her freshman year when she and her roommate pulled an all-nighter. “At about 3 a.m., we heard a horrible scream coming from the kitchen/laundry room down the hall,” Arcand said, getting chills about the memory. “Of course, we went to check to see if everything was okay. As we investigated we came to realize that there was nobody around.”
Unfortunately for Arcand, this wasn’t her only disturbance. “Another time, I went to the vending machine in the laundry room (the same room as the scream). As I walked in I noticed a group of people in the kitchen from the corner of my eye. When I turned to see who it was there was nobody there. I ran straight back to my room,” said Arcand. She also mentioned that she would constantly hear doors being slammed in the middle of the night, while there were only four others living on the floor.
These are just a few stories spread throughout the history of UMF. Whether these are ghosts or simple coincidences, they remain intriguing. “I think a lot of people experience things that have no explanation, like that screeching I heard. I have no idea what it was, but I know I heard it,” Samson said.
With Halloween coming up, it wouldn’t be shocking to hear a few more ominous, chilling tales during the spooky season.
