Archive for October, 2003
I didn’t realize there were so many different variations of life in Maine. That is until I was taught that moose overpopulate humans in some towns. I learned this and much more in Greenville and Moosehead Lake recently.
Driving north on Interstate 95 toward the University of Maine that first time four years ago I realized I was quickly traveling through very different parts of the state I’ve always called home.
Who are you and what are you doing here? That’s the kind of inquisition you’d face if you responded in the negative over someone asking your awareness of tuition increases. They’re inescapable. This year alone the University of Maine System increased its tuition by seven percent to cover a reduction in state funding that internal juggling couldn’t cover.
Depression is the fourth leading cause of disability in the workforce. In less then two decades, it is estimated to reach the number two slot. Fifteen percent of the population is diagnosed with depression sometime during their lives. Ten times more people suffer from major depression than in 1945.
It is no secret that UMaine’s annual Bumstock festival is in desperate need of an image overhaul. If old legends are to be believed, this concert was once the premiere event of the year – a sprawling, drunken, two-day party celebrated by the entire campus and embraced by unique and diverse musical acts.
Keenan Ivory, Daman and Marlon Wayans’ “Scary Movie” trilogy has come out with its third edition – “Scary Movie 3.” This time around, however, the Wayans brothers are out of the picture, literally. Taking over the direction of this film is David Zucker, the director of such farcical masterpieces as the “Naked Gun” trilogy and “Airplane.
Want to paint a pumpkin? See “Pirates of the Caribbean?” Play carnival games? Then Late Night at the Memorial Union was the place to be last Friday. There were carnival games for $1 apiece or less, and tons of free things to do such as making a mold out of your hand with wax, mini-golf and pie throwing.
Elliott Smith once sang: “Couldn’t figure out what made you so unhappy / shook your head to say no, no, no / and stopped for a spell and stayed that way.” If Smith’s music was intrinsically a lyrical exploration of his own deep-seated depression, it never sounded like anything less than a perfect picture of our own sadness.
How do you convince 10,000 students that some things do change? This is just one of the many questions facing organizers of the annual music festival, Bumstock. The committee is working to overcome last year’s situation, where the headlining act, Fat Joe, cancelled the night of his scheduled performance.
After suffering two losses in their first two games last weekend against sixth-ranked Wisconsin, the Black Bears (1-2-1) rebounded this weekend taking three out of four points from the Colgate Raiders (4-1-1) with a 2-1 win Saturday and a 2-2 tie on Saturday.
Last week the University of Maine men’s soccer team began a two-game road trip with the whole season in the balance. The road trip included key trips to America East foes Boston University and Binghamton where anything less than a tie would destroy postseason dreams for the Black Bears.
Bangor Daily News