Bumstock 2003 shouldn’t be remembered as the year Fat Joe didn’t show up, it should be remembered as the year local music triumphed over MTV. Local bands 6gig and Paranoid Social played sizzling sets on Friday and Saturday nights, respectively.

Warming up the freezing crowd for Hed P.E. on Friday night was 6gig. Hitting the stage at about 10 p.m., the Portland-based band rocked the crowd from a solid hour. 6gig energized the crowd and brought everyone to their feet. Walter Craven and company played crowd favorites “Free,” “5,” and closed their set with “Hit the Ground.” 6gig brought some electricity to the field and proved that Mainers can still rock. Mosh pits were rampant and people were having a good time. Technically, Hed P.E. headlined Friday night, but 6gig stole the show and could have been the real headliner.

Saturday, a night with clouds looming overhead and rain in the forecast, officially started to rock when Paranoid Social Club hit the stage. The band fought through the rain and showed UMaine students a good time. Lead singer Dave Gutter got the crowd motivated by playing hits from the band’s debut album, “Axis II,” including “Bully,” “Theme Song” and “Riccochet.” The band closed their set with what might have been the most energetic song of the entire festival, “Wasted.” The audience got into the party anthem, as mosh pits and crowd surfers were as common as mullets at a hockey game.

The bottom line: Local music stole the show at Bumstock 2003. It is a shame Fat Joe didn’t show, and it would have enhanced the experience for most. Don’t let his absence take away from a terrific night of local music and a time that most college students in this state can keep in their memories for years to come.

Things were not always so grim in Kashmir. It is, or should I say was, India’s vacationland. Like Maine, the livelihood of most Kashmiris was tied to tourism.

The beautiful state of Kashmir, nestled in the Himalayas, was a popular summer destination. It was a place to escape the broiling heat of the Indian summer. The Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, the person who built the Taj Mahal, called it paradise on earth.

More recently, it has been described by former President Bill Clinton as the most dangerous place on the earth. Since Kashmir’s formation in 1947, it has been the bone of contention between India and Pakistan. They have gone to war twice, possibly three times depending on how you count.

Kashmir is the only state with a Muslim majority in a predominantly Hindu India. Armed Muslim insurgency that began about 13 years ago has claimed thousands of innocent lives. According to the Indian government and other independent sources, many of the separatists are actively aided by Pakistan.

The beginning of spring and melting snow brings mud to Maine. Spring brings death and destruction to Kashmir. Tensions will steadily escalate as summer arrives.

Militants funded by Pakistan will easily cross over the “line of control,” which is supposed to separate the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistani administered Kashmir.

What makes this conflict so dangerous is that these hostile neighbors are not talking to each other and both have nuclear weapons. They keep upping the ante by successive testing of medium range missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads.

Last summer, India deployed armed forces numbering more than a million along the Indo-Pak border. There was no war last year, but tensions are still high.

Successive Indian governments have tried dialogue with Pakistan without success. Pakistan has not let up support for this low intensity war, which mainly targets civilians. Government officials were hopeful that after Sept. 11 the United States would use its leverage over Pakistan and make it fall in line – especially since Pakistan was a mentor to the Taliban and still harbors many of the Al-Qaeda remnants.

When nothing else works war seems to be the only option. Indian hawks feel they have a better case for launching a war against Pakistan than the United States did for the war in Iraq. The hawks said Pakistan is ruled by a military dictator but has nuclear weapons. It has provided safe harbor, training and aid to militants who have been waging a violent separatist movement with fundamentalist overtones for the last 13 years on the Indian soil.

This summer could bring a new face-off between the increasingly bellicose neighbors, and the war on Iraq may not be the bloodiest manifestation yet of the doctrine of preemption.

Vrishali Javeri is a graduate student in business

One in three women and one in five men will be sexually victimized in their lifetime, according to Downeast Sexual Assault Services located in Ellsworth.

Eighty-five percent of these victims will know their attacker. These may just be statistics people hear consistently and then learn to block them out. To me, however, these numbers are a frightening reality that makes me realize my fear of walking alone on campus after dark is a serious reality and not just a girl’s paranoia getting the best of her.

This is the reality we Americans face today – especially those on college campuses. According to Maine’s Attorney General, G. Steven Rowe, 83 percent of female sexual assault victims are under the age of 25.

Rape and sexual assaults are not figments of peoples’ imaginations. Maine has an honorable reputation of being a safer place to live. Crimes happen, sure, but not as often as in Boston or New York City. However, the misperception that goes along with people assuming Maine is not only safe, but that nothing bad ever happens here is crossing into a danger zone.

This zone is very real. In 2000, rapes increased about 20 percent, according to the Maine Department of Public Safety.

Of 893 sexual assaults in 2000 reported to Maine rape crisis hotlines, only 318 rapes were reported to police, according to Rowe.

This may just sound like a bunch of numbers, but for the victims the statistics are their life.

“Sexual assault has serious impact on all victims as it is a violent act over which they had no control and were often in fear for their lives,” according to the National Victim Center.

We want to believe we live in a safe environment. We want to trust that the person walking behind us is walking to his residence hall and is not out to see what they can get. We don’t want to be honest with ourselves and admit that anything is dangerous, last of all someone we know being the attacker.

UMaine is not completely secure with about 80 percent of a college campus’s population drinking. Seventy-five percent of sexual assault cases involve alcohol or drug abuse. We are all at risk of sexual assault. With anything that includes everyone in its danger path, an entire community must deal with the issue.

I commend those working toward preventing sexual assaults in Maine. I especially commend those men on the UMaine campus involved with these efforts. Breaking the stereotypes is the first step toward helping this serious cause – a cause all UMaine students should join in helping.

“The shame in this is not the victims. It is the perpetrators shame,” Rowe said. ” And it is our shame as well if we are not doing all we can to protect women from this violence.”

Angela Fiandaca is a junior journalism major.

The Latin American Student Organization and I believe the photograph that The Maine Campus chose to display Fiesta Latina Night did not accurately represent our group.

Although the photograph used was indeed a great shot, we feel it would have been more appropriate to print one of the many other pictures the photographer took – like one of our members giving dance lessons to the group.

We know that this picture was picked to catch the readers’ attention, and it certainly caught ours. Unfortunately, we feel that the picture did not portray us in the best light, nor did it represent what the dance was all about.

The event centered around Latin dancing and we feel that a photo of people dancing the merengue, salsa, or bachata would have been more appropriate. A picture like the one chosen was not all that different than one that could have been taken any other night at Ushuaia. Our dance was far different from the average night at a local dance club, and we thought that the photograph chosen would have highlighted the differences, rather than lumping it into the same category.

Another reason we were not entirely pleased with the photo was because this type of publicity might send the wrong message to future attendees of our events. Our dances and events are often attended by local high school students and their teachers, and this photo, along with the title, insinuates that the event would be inappropriate for high school-aged kids.

People who have attended our events know that they are open to the general public and the university community. We appreciate that The Maine Campus attended our event, but in the future we’d prefer photos that highlight and celebrate the diversity in the groups on campus, rather than insinuating that a Latin fiesta is no different than another Saturday night at Ushuaia.

Kate Closson

President of the Latin American Student Organization

There are two companies in Texas that have been putting horses in processed meat for years. The horses were packaged and sent to foreign countries. They only recently discovered there’s a ruling by a former Attorney General – that hasn’t been enforced – that disallows the sale of horse meat for human consumption. There is a bill in the Texas House of Representatives that will reverse the ruling if it passed.

Horse meat is leaner than beef, but has about the same nutritional value. France and Italy, countries associated with culinary masterpieces, both consider horse a delicacy. Can you imagine how cool it would be to go to a restaurant and order a mustang with mustard?

Animal rights activist Skip Trimble, armed with a sense of duty and a surplus of free time, is trying to have the horse meat plants shut down. Skip claims the horses are being killed in a cruel manner, since the slaughterhouses use cattle killing methods. The difference in the shape of the animals’ bodies makes the slaughter technique less effective.

The executive director of the Independent Cattlemen’s Association of Texas parried, saying that without the option of selling old horses for meat, some ranchers will not be able to afford to euthanize animals that have outlived their usefulness. They will allow these horses to just rot. Either way, it seems like bad news for the ponies.

What really bothers me is the inconsistency with disallowing horse meat. Nobody blinks an eye when cows and pigs are taken to the slaughterhouse, but when it’s ol’ Silvers turn at the chopping block people decide to make a stand.

I’ll be the first to admit a draft horse kicking up a spray of delta water is a majestic sight. But so is an old cow crushing an aggressive coyote into a muddy field with its broad head to protect its calf. Or what about two hulking boars circling each other over a fat sow? Who decided that some animals deserve a blanket and a water bowl with their name on the side, while others get the business end of a sledgehammer between the eyes?

If you’re going to eat meat, then you have to be consistent about it and consider all animals fair game. The only type of meat I refuse to eat is veal, because of the way they force the animal to live, not its species. Last year, one of my roommates showed me an article about a restaurant that serves lion. I wasn’t grossed out. I was turned on. Can’t you see yourself dethroning the king of the jungle?

We are omnivores. It’s our nature and our duty to scoop up all of those little beasts and remind them that humans are here to regulate. If taking a bite out of a thoroughbred nourishes me and tastes good, then I’m going to do it.

Michael Hartwell is an aspiring equinivore.

If Fat Joe had performed Saturday night, Bumstock would probably have been well-received since the rest of the weekend went relatively smoothly. Unfortunately, all students are going to remember is the fact that the headlining act didn’t show up. All the hard work Student Entertainment put into planning the event went down the drain because of one act. So what did we learn? If you book a big-name hip-hop artist, it’s pretty much 50-50 as to whether the act will show or not.

But we can’t come down too hard on the organizers. A small group of people worked extremely hard to put this together – free of charge – for students. How can the student body complain about a free two-day music festival? Student Entertainment deserves a fair amount of gratitude for its efforts, but, at the same time, there is always room for improvement.

While many students were probably looking forward to seeing Fat Joe, Student Entertainment should have considered, and remember to consider in the future, its track record for booking rap and hip-hop performers. Without making a broad generalization, these artists don’t appear to be the most reliable, a lesson that should have been learned after the Method Man – Redman fiasco two years ago.

Student Entertainment has a chance at redemption. If the organization uses the $25,000 that was allocated for Fat Joe and puts it into next year’s Bumstock fund, people might forget about this year.

Bumstock has been a UMaine tradition for many years and it needs hard-working people every year to keep it going. But it also needs student support.

First-year pitcher Greg Norton was the story in game one Sunday, tossing the first shutout of his career in an 8-0 Black Bear win. Norton struck out eight, walked two and scattered four hits to improve to 5-1 on the season.

Greg Creek drove in three runs on a two-run single and a sacrifice fly, and Alain Picard went 3-4 with a pair of runs batted in. UMaine (26-11, 9-3) erupted for seven runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, but Norton needed only the lone third-inning run.

The Black Bears’ penchant for big innings carried over into game two Sunday, scoring five runs in the third inning and seven runs in the fourth, en route to a 13-9 win.

Six UMaine players had at least two hits and Ryan Quintal drove in a career-high six runs, including a grand slam in the fourth.

Creek improved to 5-0 with the win, despite surrendering five earned runs in five innings. Binghamton (7-27, 1-11) scored three runs in the top of the seventh inning, but the Bearcats’ comeback bid came up short.

Home runs were the story at Mahaney Diamond Saturday, but the University of Maine baseball team was unable to post the doubleheader sweep of Binghamton University despite going yard five times.

UMaine hit three solo shots in the first game, but Binghamton picked up its first conference win in the opener, a 6-3 victory. The Black Bears came back in the second game, however, plating 12 runs on 14 hits for a 12-4 victory behind third-year Mike Collar’s 10 strikeouts and sixth win of the season.

The Black Bears took an early lead in the first game with a leadoff home run by senior Joe Drapeau to start the second inning. Drapeau connected twice in the game and Picard hit his fourth home run of the season in the sixth, but all three home runs came without baserunners.

Binghamton, on the other hand, tapped UMaine pitcher Mike MacDonald for four earned runs in 5 innings. MacDonald fell to 4-4, giving up seven hits and striking out six.

The Black Bears were not pleased with their execution in the first game and Drapeau said the team took time to regroup between games.

“We just came into the first game flat,” Drapeau said. “We came into the locker room and talked in between games and said we just needed to focus and bear down.”

The locker room talk paid off, but not before the Black Bears caught a scare when Binghamton’s leadoff hitter, Tony Berube, hit Collar’s first pitch of the game out of the park. Collar regrouped, retiring the next three batters, and the Black Bear offense wasted no time putting runs on the board.

After two quick outs in the home half of the first inning, Picard drew a two-out walk and Drapeau was hit by a pitch. A Binghamton error at second base would score Picard, and sophomore Creek followed with an RBI single to score Drapeau, giving UMaine a 2-1 lead.

The rest of the game belonged to the Black Bears, particularly the fifth inning, in which UMaine batted around and scored six runs.

With one out, Binghamton pitcher Jacob Thiel drilled second baseman Brett Ouellette with a pitch after retiring the leadoff batter. Picard followed up with a single to shallow left to put two runners on base for the cleanup hitter, Drapeau, who sent the ball over the fence on the first pitch for his third homer of the day.

Creek then extended the inning and the Black Bear lead to 11-1 when he belted a two-run homer which scored Izaryk, who reached base with a single after Drapeau had cleared the bases.

The Black Bears would add one more run in the fifth on a groundout RBI by freshman Steve Gambale.

The Bearcats were able to make a rally in the top of the seventh inning, collecting back-to-back hits and scoring two runs after head coach Paul Kostacopoulos pulled Collar in favor of sophomore Ryan Foley. After Lindsay reached base on a UMaine error, Foley gave up back-to-back hits to Berube and Smucker, but caught a break when Binghamton’s Jay Balback grounded into a double play to end the game.

The Black Bears will host non-conference matchups with Colby College of Waterville and the College of the Holy Cross on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week. UMaine returns to America East action next weekend when it travels to the University of Albany for a four-game set.

A juvenile was arrested and issued two summonses following an incident in Old Town at 6:21 p.m. Sunday, April 20. An officer noticed the juvenile skateboarding in a park near the downtown area of Old Town. This was a violation of the Human Propelled Conveyance Ordinance, a violation that the juvenile had been warned of in the past. As a result, the officer issued the juvenile a summons. He was also issued a verbal criminal trespass warning and was told to stay out of the park for the next 24 hours. The juvenile responded by saying he might as well be summonsed now because he would be returning to the park. Five minutes later, he was found at the park once again. He was arrested and taken to the Old Town Police station. There he was released to his father and put on house arrest.

One man was arrested and another was summonsed following a situation on Main Street at 5:55 p.m. Saturday, April 19. An officer noticed a blue Jeep Wrangler being driven by a man he recognized as Michael Dow. He ran a background check and found that Dow’s license was under suspension due to failure to appear in court and failure to pay a fine. Dow was placed under arrest. The owner of the Jeep and passenger, identified as Scott Murray, 18, was then asked if he had been drinking. He admitted to consuming four beers earlier. As a result, he was issued a summons for illegal possession of alcohol by a minor by consumption.

Two men were issued summonses following a traffic stop on Stillwater Avenue at 1:55 a.m. Saturday, April 19. A green Ford Explorer was seen speeding east on the road. An officer pulled the car over. The officer noticed some beer in the back of the vehicle. The driver, Shawn Evans, 18, was issued a summons for illegal transportation of liquor by a minor. The officer then detected the odor of intoxicating beverages and asked the three passengers who had been drinking. One of the passengers, Gregory Morrill, 20, admitted to drinking. He was issued a summons for possession of alcohol by a minor by consumption.

Two blood alcohol tests that night told a different tale. On the first test, his breath showed that his blood alcohol content (or BAC) was 0.15. On the second test, it was 0.16, or twice the legal limit.

Because of the choice he made that night, the student’s life is very different. He said that it is much worse.

“Would I drunk drive again?” he said. “Let me put it this way. If I was driving drunk and I saw cops behind me, I’d drive off the road and kill myself.”

After the student was convicted of operating under the influence of alcohol in October 2002, he was sentenced to 48 hours in jail, the mandatory minimum sentence for his conviction. He also was fined $400, not including towing fees for his vehicle.

Because he was speeding, had such a high BAC and a passenger under 21 in his car while he was driving drunk, he was convicted of aggravated OUI and was sentenced to spend a weekend in jail. He served his sentence last December. He described his stay at Penobscot County Jail as “purgatory.”

“I just sat there and stared at walls,” he said. “It’s eternal waiting.”

Jail time was only the beginning of his troubles. Because of his aggravated OUI conviction, the judge did not suspend the student’s license for the usual minimum of 90 days. His license was suspended for a year.

When asked about how he gets transportation, he replies only half-jokingly, “God gave me two thumbs and a pair of legs.”

While he has hitchhiked a few times, the student mostly has to be taken to his classes by his roommate and friends.

“I hate having to call people up and get them to give me a ride,” he said. “I miss classes all the time because I can’t get rides.”

The student said that he has no social life now, because he cannot drive anywhere. He spends most of his nights alone.

“Yeah, I sit here all the time,” he said quietly.

Those convicted of OUI can receive a conditional driver’s license that allows them to drive only to and from work. However, insurance rates also rise dramatically for those with OUIs. The student estimated his insurance would be three times as expensive as it was before his conviction.

“If I got a work permit, I couldn’t work enough hours to pay for insurance,” he said.

A second-year male student at Eastern Maine Technical College was pulled over by a police officer after driving erratically on a snowy morning in February 2003.

The student, 19, had been driving home after a night of drinking, which was a common occurrence. After failing a field sobriety test, the officer determined that the student was driving while under the influence of alcohol. His BAC was 0.14.

Like the UMaine student, the EMTC student was used to living an independent life. He drove his own car to work, school and friends’ houses. However, he won’t be living that life again for at least another six months.

The state of Maine has a “Zero Tolerance” law. That is, if someone under the age of 21 is found operating a vehicle with any trace of alcohol in his blood, his license will be revoked for a minimum of one year.

Since the student completed an alcohol awareness program as part of a plea bargain, his license was suspended for only six months. However, he will be paying the price of his conviction for another seven years, even after he gets his license back.

“It’s a provisional license, it’s conditional,” he explained. “I have to have zero tolerance, even when I turn 21, for seven years.”

Until the student turns 27, if he is pulled over and has any trace of alcohol in his blood, it will be treated by a judge the same as a second OUI. A second OUI conviction comes with a minimum 18-month license suspension, a seven-day jail sentence and a $500 fine.

The student also was given a $400 fine and sentenced to perform 48 hours of community service, instead of spending two days in jail.

Adding insult to injury, the Feb. 2 edition of the Bangor Daily News ran the student’s police beat entry with the large headline, “Underage driver denies drinking, flunks sobriety test.”

The article described how the officer asked the student how drunk he was, on a scale of one to 10. He was quoted as replying that he was a “10,” but then said, “Wait a minute, did you say 10 was sober?”

The student said the article embarrassed and angered him, and it made him seem more drunk than he actually was.

“I was outraged by the fact that there’s been so many other worse crimes out there, and I got a headline,” he said.

His life has been very different since his conviction. Even though he was able to keep his job at a local electronics store, his employers have told him that he will not have a job if he can’t get to work.

“I get transportation through my parents and co-workers,” he said. “I’m mooching my way through life.”

He plans on applying for a work license, but expects to move out of his apartment and back in with his parents since his insurance will be so high. That will be difficult, since the student explained that his family and friends look at him differently now.

“I got made fun of in a room full of people at Pat’s Pizza,” he said.

He described how an acquaintance of his yelled, “Look who got an OUI!” Other diners began to stare at him while his friends made fun of him.

When asked if he would drive drunk again, the student responded solemnly, “No. No, I won’t.”

The number of college students drinking and driving has UMaine Public Safety officer Lt. Alan Stormann concerned.

“If you’ve got one it’s a problem,” Stormann said.

So far this semester, there have been nine OUI convictions on campus, Stormann said. In addition, there have been three zero-tolerance convictions, or people under the age of 21 driving with any alcohol in their blood.

Last semester, there were eight OUI and six-zero tolerance convictions. In the spring semester of 2002, there were 22 OUI and five zero-tolerance convictions on campus.

Stormann said that there is no reason for someone to drive drunk. He said that if students have been drinking, they can hitch a ride on the Late Night Local, a van which is commonly known to students as the “Drunk Bus.”

He also said that there are numerous alcohol awareness programs available to students, which show students the consequences of driving drunk.

The UMaine and EMTC students now know these consequences.

“It’s a tough thing to get over,” Stormann said. “There’s nothing positive coming out of an OUI arrest, except for the possibility it will never happen again.”

Editor’s note: The two students interviewed for this story spoke with The Maine Campus on condition of anonymity. Their names were withheld.

“I think the service projects is the most important aspect of Maine Day because that is what it’s all about, because it’s good to see people serve in their community,” said Lauri Sidelko, Maine Day planning committee chair and assistant director of the campus activities Board.

Maine Day was founded in 1935 by university president Arthur Hauck so students, faculty and administrators could have a day where they gave back to the UMaine community by doing service projects to beautify the campus. Maine Day allows students to give back to the campus, but also gives them a break from classes. All UMaine classes are canceled on Maine Day, except for labs and classes that meet once a week.

Groups planning events on Maine Day range from Greek organizations to residence halls.

“We decided that we wanted to do a bigblow out at the end of the year, seeing that York Village is closing next year. We wanted to do a serviceable activity and it was late enough in the year where we could start planning for it,” said Nathan Burns, York Village Hall Governing Board president.

The York Village HGB plans to coordinate sweeping walkways, picking up trash and providing a free car wash as part of Maine Day, according to Burns, a fourth-year political science major.

“The first two ideas [sweeping and removing trash] were needed to make our area look nice, and the car wash can be a fun group event and help people get their car clean,” Burns said.

Other organizations, such as Student Government, plan to participate in various activities Maine Day.

“I think Maine Day is a win-win situation for everybody. The students get a day off from classes right before finals and everyone gets a chance to participate in service for the university,” said Matthew Rodrigue, Student Government President. “I have only been here for two Maine Days, but last year I did the Alpha Omicron ‘Pi in the face.’ I scraped whipped cream out of my ear for a week. It was quite memorable for me personally. I think if everyone goes out and participates, [they] can have a memorable experience for many, many reasons. I think as you move along during your academic career, your affinity for the university grows. I hope that first-year students in particular will see how much education can extend beyond the classroom.”

Events taking place on Maine Day include the annual parade, oozeball and a campus barbecue. President Peter Hoff plans to travel around in a pink Ford Mustang to the various service projects. Sidelko said this year’s parade will begin a half-hour later the in past Maine Days.

“We have decided that this year’s parade will start at 7:30 instead of seven so students can get an extra couple of minutes sleep and service projects are coming in slowly, but surely,” Sidelko said.