May 5, 2017 | News |
By Lakota Monzo, Contributing Writer
Recently, Lincoln Auditorium was packed with people eager to see what the UMF Spring Fling Committee had in store during the annual talent show.
The doorway to the auditorium was decorated with long strings of white squares that tangled people up as they tried to enter. Green balloons, held up by strings to the chairs floated around, each was painted with a black alien face. The bottom of the stage had multicolored flashing lights hanging off it. Everyone was talking very loudly to their neighbor in excitement anticipating what they were about to see.
The talent show is a way for all the students to show their talents to an accepting group of friends. The show is hosted by the Campus Residence Council.
Kayla Tremblay, head of Spring Fling said, “it is definitely a group effort setting up for the talent show.”
This is her third year on the Spring Fling Committee. “This year I am so excited as a junior to be the head of such a big part of the UMF culture,” said Tremblay.
The positive atmosphere made it so all the performers were comfortable. The night showcased many different acts; singers, comedians, a rifle spinner, and a psychic reading. Each act was special in its own way, and ended with a loud applause from the cheering audience.
“It was so much fun to watch all the different kinds of acts,” said Emileigh Parsons, an audience member.
Many of the performers found it hard to find time to practice their routines. Collin Regan, a singer in the show, had the opposite problem.
“The song had a couple parts where it started to hit the top of my range, so I had to be careful not to over sing, or practice too much,” said Regan.
After two hours, when all the performers had finished, the judges took a couple minutes to tally up the scores and anticipation hung over the audience. The top three performances went to Mitchell Walston, Lucas Dwornik-Longacre, and Collin Regan. They were all singing acts that contained a lot of heart.
Mitchell Walston, first-place winner, was happy with how the show turned out. He was awed at how many great performers the show featured and their ability to amaze the audience.
“It feels really great to win!” said Walston. “But honestly, there were many other performers who also deserved to be recognized for their fantastic performances.”
Mar 23, 2017 | News |
By Lakota Monzo, Contributing Writer
UMF students help to find a match for USM soccer player Ally Little. (Photo Courtesy of Twitter)
The UMF Women’s soccer team hosted a successful Bone Marrow Registry drive in the Olsen Student Center last week to support USM soccer player Ally Little.
Little is a student at University of Southern Maine (USM) who has been diagnosed with Severe Aplastic Anemia and needs a bone marrow transplant. “We hope to find a match to our fellow soccer player, Ally,” said soccer team member Lydia Roy.
The UMF women’s soccer team plays USM during their non-conference season. “When we heard about Ally’s situation we wanted to help in any way that we could,” said soccer team member Sophie Manning. After hearing that USM’s drive went well, the team wanted to see if they could do the same at UMF.
“There’s a lot of prep work for this event,” said Roy. To get ready for the event the team promoted the drive during lunch hours, and also handed out flyers around campus.
“All of this preparation is time consuming,” said Roy, “and there is a lot of uncertainty involved.” She hopes that the end results will make everything worth it though.
One of the biggest hurdles the team faced was informing everyone how the drive actually works. “Many people hear the words bone marrow drive and they immediately think about huge needles being stuck in them,” said Manning, “this, however, is the old way, and is only really used for about 20% of the procedures nowadays.”
The process takes about ten to fifteen minutes, in which paperwork is filled out then the inside of the cheek is swabbed. After that the person becomes apart of the registry and has the chance to save a life if they match with someone.
“The team is hoping to get anywhere from 100 to 200 people to join the registry,” said Manning. Tallies following the drive confirm that the team met their goal with a total of 139 participants.
The soccer team was at the event all day helping out in any way they could and answering questions that had come up.
The biggest point the UMF women’s soccer team is trying to get across is for people to join the national registry. This will help people who need a bone marrow transplant to find their matches.
Anyone who missed the drive but is interested in joining the Bone Marrow Registry to potentially become a donor can visit bethematch.org for more information.
Mar 9, 2017 | News |
By Lakota Monzo, Contributing Writer
Student lounge in the new Beaver Lodge.
UMF’s new Beaver Lodge opened its doors last month following an extensive renovation of the old snack bar. Apart from some early problems with the ordering system which have since been resolved, staff and students appear to be settling into the new space, which now features comfortable, updated seating and a smoothie bar, among other upgrades.
The idea for the project which would later become the Beaver Lodge was proposed when UMF made the switch from Aramark to Sodexo for dining services.
“It was a small area that hadn’t been updated in awhile,” said Adam Vigue, General Manager of Sodexo at UMF. “Making the Beaver Lodge what it is now was a long road coming, It turned out better than what I thought,” said Vigue. He explained that the new space now has two times the equipment it previously had, a juice bar, and it features storage for all the staff to take advantage of.
“I think the school needed this update, it’s a way of showcasing the school,” said Vigue.
Audrey Gidman, a Sodexo worker at the new juice bar, is enjoying her first year working for Sodexo. “It was tricky at first with the new system, but I got into the swing of it now,” she said.
With the Beaver Lodge being accessible to the community and to students, Gidman explained that it opens them up to the public.
The first couple days the Beaver Lodge opened it’s doors, it was packed with curious students, and members of the community to see all the changes that had been made. So far, it seems that the new eatery has been well received.
“I like to spend my time here now,” said sophomore Emileigh Parsons, “it’s a comfortable environment that I can get my work done in.”
Gidman also spoke highly of the completed project. “I think Sodexo is very smart and organized,” said Gidman, “and put a lot of care into listening to students and their needs.”
With the newness of everything it is hard to see if anything needs to be changed just yet. “It’s like getting a new pair of shoes, you have to break them in before you decide if you need to change something,” said Gidman.
There were some problems with the ordering system in the first couple of days, but now the problems are worked out. “It was a learning curve for everyone,” said Parsons.
Parsons attended UMF last year with the original snack bar and said, “I’m so happy with all the changes that have been made.”
The walls are now covered with an assortment of new decorations that make it a relaxing place to get work done, which is a big change from the painted cement walls that the snack bar had last year.
“It looks super classy, and upbeat,” said Parsons.
The new Beaver Lodge is good place to go when you need a change in scenery, there is no other place like this on campus. It is located on the ground floor of the Student Center and open all day during the week.
