News

UMaine warms up for cold carnival

By Julia Hall

Posted on Feb. 07, 2002, at 12:00 a.m.

Campus Photo Anne Schmidt

Jessica Andresen works on a snow and ice structure outside the Jenness parking lot Wednesday for her 3D design class. The class broke up into groups and was given the task of constructing the tallest and strongest structure using only ice and snow.

With the arrival of cold and snow, winter has hit Maine full blast, but that is no reason to hide indoors until spring. The University of Maine’s Winter Carnival 2002 begins Sunday, Feb. 10, and whether you prefer going on a snowshoe hike or kicking back in Memorial Union with a cup of java and listening to some music, there are plenty of events for everyone.

“Breaking the Ice” is the theme for this year’s carnival. It is meant to encourage students to go out and enjoy the winter weather and UMaine’s community, Lauri Sidelko, acting director of campus activities and events said.

“The greatest part of Winter Carnival is the cooperation that is taking place from all of the groups involved to make this week as full of events as possible,” Sidelko said. “A lot of groups are working on the events to help our community on campus grow.”

The festivities begin on Sunday at noon with a barbeque and snow sculpture party on the mall. Throughout the week there will be intramural sports and games, concerts, guest speakers and other events. The carnival will culminate with Mardi Gras casino night Saturday, Feb. 16, at 9 p.m. in Wells Conference Center.

Winter Carnival falls in February, and therefore encompasses many different celebrations. As part of Black History Month, there will be a debate about hip-hop culture on Thursday, Feb. 14, at 12:30 p.m. in Wells Commons and poet Nikki Giovanni is doing a poetry reading in 101 Neville Friday, Feb. 15, at 7 p.m.

There will also be a Valentine’s Day dance on Thursday at Wells, at 9 p.m. The dance will feature music from Boston’s Jam’n 94.5. In response, the Anti-Valentine’s dance, sponsered by WildeStein, will take place on Friday.

February is also Franco-American Month and York Commons will hold a special Mardi Gras dinner Tuesday, Feb. 12, to celebrate Fat Tuesday, the beginning of the Lenten season.

“The Vagina Monologues,” a show that has become an annual event at UMaine, will open Valentine’s Day and run through Saturday. Showtimes are 7:30 to 9 p.m. in Minsky Recital Hall.

The winter Olympics may be in Salt Lake City this year, but UMaine will have its own version Saturday, Feb. 16. Events will be held at Sigma Nu, Beta Theta Pi and the Steam Plant parking lot.

There will also be a blood drive for the American Red Cross Monday, Feb. 18 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Wells.

For those of you who can’t wait until Sunday for the festivities to begin, the recreational sports program is holding a pre-carnival Black Bear Cross Country Ski Race Saturday, Feb. 9. Call 581-1080 for information.

Last year’s winter carnival attracted 1,500 students. This year, Campus Activities Board members hope to double that, Sidelko said.

For information on Winter Carnival, contact Lauri Sidelko at 581-1734 or through FirstClass.

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 7th, 2002, 12:00 am. You can follow any responses to this article through the RSS feed.