I’ll savor this time even more, because with each new semester comes a host of new annoyances to deal with on campus. My friends claim I’m too negative, and while that may be true, the world needs people like me to keep all the happy people in check. There’s nothing more off-putting to an ill-mannered person than seeing someone thoroughly enjoy their day. In a strange twist of irony, staying miserable and making other people that way is actually what makes us happy. So, in the spirit of continuing that tradition, I’ll share a few of the new pet peeves I’ve garnered this semester.

A new trend that’s developed over the last year involves pedestrians on campus. I live off campus, and my mode of transportation is an internal combustion vehicle. It’s a wonder of the modern world that is often taken for granted. It also weighs roughly a ton-and-a-half.

One segment of the population that apparently doesn’t give automobiles enough credit is college students. I realize that you’re late for class or have to get there early to sit next to that cute boy or girl. I also realize that the laws of physics apply even on university grounds, so when you step onto the pavement in front of my vehicle without looking, I may not have time to stop. One doesn’t have to be driving over the speed limit for this to be a problem. The nasty road conditions we sometimes have in Maine, coupled with sub-par plowing efforts, exacerbate the issue. This isn’t fantasy land, and I don’t drive a magic chariot that stops on a dime when I command it to. This also isn’t the movies, and I’m not going to stop inches from hitting you – I’m going to plow directly into your unobservant ass. I’ll be courteous and stop for you if you give me adequate time. It’s a variation of give-and-take – you give me time to stop, and I don’t take your life.

The pedestrian problem isn’t limited to foolish crosswalk behavior. A crosswalk, in essence, behaves like a roadway – stick to the right side. Pretend you’re driving a car – go ahead, make the “vroom” noises and pretend to honk the horn. Collisions with fellow pedestrians can be avoided by sticking to the right, but if you follow this rule and still sense a collision, do the following: stop, assess the situation, then act. There’s no need for two people on an otherwise empty sidewalk to run into each other.

This is my fourth year at the University of Maine. Like everyone, I’ve had interesting classes and classes that I bring a pillow to, if I attend at all. My spotty attendance is made worse when I have a class that I’d like to attend but avoid because of a fellow student. I’m talking about those narcissists who find every obvious opportunity to inject personal tidbits into class discussions. Here’s some news: it’s not clever – we all see what you’re trying to do.

No one cares if you went to Berkley. No one cares if you published your two-bit poetry. No one cares if you grew up in some exotic locale. Actually, there’s one person that cares, and that’s you. Unless you’re not familiar with the concept of internal dialogue, keep your life story to yourself. Clearly, you’re not like the rest of us. You’re alternative, and damn it, mom and dad can’t tell you what to do any more. I pay to hear the professor speak, not you. Do us all a favor and go back to taking a nap or staring out the window. If I want to get to know you, I’ll take out a mortgage to buy a Starbucks latte and sit next to you on those nasty couches in the Memorial Union. Then you can tell me all about the time you met Kevin Smith.

On a more sentimental note, The Maine Campus is losing two of it’s cornerstones as Tracy Collins and Marshall Dury leave us for the real world. It was only last semester that I started working for The Maine Campus, but both Tracy and Marshall went out of their way to make this introvert feel welcome.

Marshall has hijacked what would be my usual editorial space to deliver some parting words of wisdom, and you would be wise to heed his advice. If you happen to catch Tracy on campus before the end of next week, buy her a hot chocolate and listen to what she has to say, as she is wise beyond her years. Marshall – have fun setting up a bachelor pad in your parent’s’ basement. And Tracy – we’ll see you on the first production night next semester.

Aaron Barnes is a senior English major who is a raging whirlwind of emotions at this time.

Instead, I would like to leave something behind for UMaine: To the school that taught me that how cold a winter really could be; to the school that taught me something – actually anything – about hockey; to the school who ushered in my first beer. I salute you.

Work ethic: I leave my work ethic to my friends. If anything, college taught me how to manage my time. Too often, however, I watched as friends stayed up until 4 a.m. doing Latin homework. I saw friends cram for advertising tests. For these reasons, I think it’s important that someone else get my motivation. I won’t need it anymore – as I will be spending the rest of my days in Mass. playing video games and having the occasional beer.

Dorm room: I leave my room to no one. This year has brought with it the worst set of neighbors I have ever been graced with the pleasure of living next to. As a seasoned veteran of dorm living – all four years in the same dorm – I understand what poor decisions are when participating in communal living. I don’t know if it was their thumping bass at 2 a.m. after a production night at The Maine Campus; I’m not sure if it was them getting drunk five nights out of every week – bringing with it more thumping music; I’m not sure if it was that they couldn’t learn just how to shut a door without letting it slam. No, I’ve got it – it was their attitude. They just didn’t give a f*ck. For that reason, I wish a similar fate upon no one. May they seal my room shut until they move out.

Food choices: I would like to impart this piece of wisdom on the entire campus – do not order from Brother’s Pizza. They take too long. Lissus is the new guy in town, and let me tell you, they rock. The steak ‘n’ cheese is just as good, and you don’t have to wait seven hours for your food to arrive. Also, commons food is predictable: going in and coming out. Be careful with the cream-based foods.

Beer: I leave my solid taste in beer to my friends. It seems like the company I keep either hates beer, or just hates the type of beer I drink. Wine coolers are not alcohol. I do not enjoy, however, eating my beer with a spoon. Instead, I leave a six-pack of room-temperature Budweiser in my room for the next poor souls who will live there. It may take the edge off living next to my old neighbors.

Poor jokes: They’re not dirty. They’re not inappropriate. They are none of these things. Instead, my jokes are stupid. My jokes at the office of The Maine Campus silences in a time of stress. When the editors were wondering what exactly is wrong with me, the laughter kept us sane at the same time. Laugh at yourself. It’s the only way to get out of UMaine alive. If you take it all too seriously, you undoubtedly will crash and burn.

Taco Bell: College students will rip on it until they try the sweet lovin’ that is “South of the Border.” Learn to love the beast, and ye’ shall tame it. I impart my love of Taco Bell to Student Government. I recommend the No. 5. For just under $4.25, you get two taco supremes and a nacho supreme. You cannot beat that.

There you have it, folks. The parting words of pseudo-wisdom from a college student about to embark on the tradition that is “finding yourself” outside of the confines of UMaine or any other educational institution.

Marshall Dury is a senior English major who thinks that the end of era begins anew with every passing day.

It’s been said that the pen is mightier than the sword. This belief has echoed throughout the ages, and rings true through the very halls of this institution today.

You see we, as students, have a way to convey both our pleasure, and our discontent for our professors through course evaluations – the red, Scantron sheet that gets passed around with a fistful of No. 2 pencils.

Most students just fill out arbitrary boxes, if they fill out an evaluation at all. What these people fail to realize is that the potential for classroom reform rests right beneath their hand. If you are content with an instructor, convey that opinion to them. Or if you are dissatisfied with a professor or teaching assistant, unleash your wrath on them through the appropriate channels, instead of meekly complaining to friends.

Academic reform and improvement are like any other revolutionary measures; silence and lack of action do nothing but perpetuate current practices – like them or not.

A few ideas for our new president

Dear Kate O’Brien,

So, you won the student body presidential race. Congratulations. You are now leading an organization with a great history of service to the student body. How will you make your mark?

The Maine Campus encourages you to live up to your campaign promises. No one will consider your authority valid if you do not do what you said you were going to do.

Go out and be with students. Go to hockey games. Go to shows at the Maine Center for the Arts. Go to lunch at noon in Memorial Union and sit down with students you don’t know; get to see things from their perspective. You are now the liaison for a group more than 8,000 strong. Be confident in your ability to be president, but also have the compassion to lead. After all, the student body had enough faith to elect you. Now it’s your time to show you’re worthy of that faith and trust.

First off is the pathetic excuse called “Halo 2.” Or should I say, “Halo Party?” This is not a game with the casual gamer in mind – this game has been designed specifically for the Halo fan boys. Let’s face it, the storyline is non-existent and the gameplay itself is terrible, but the multiplayer – it is to die for. Fans of the original, who did nothing more than play system link all the time, can rejoice in the fact that this game is really a multiplayer party game with a short-lived single player mode. Two out of five stars.

Second on the list is “Call of Duty: Finest Hour.” This game adds more to the fine universe of “Call of Duty,” adding a new perspective on the war, particularly the campaign in North Africa as the British. One of the most interesting additions to the game is the sniper campaign, in which you play one of the few female snipers that the Russian Army deployed during the war. The gameplay is excellent. There are a few annoying missions that you will end up repeating over and over, but the control layout is logical and self explanatory. The only way to describe the game is one word: intense. One minute you might be protecting an armored convoy, the next minute you might be clearing out an underground tunnel. A welcome addition to the game is the health pack. Instead of running over health power-ups, players collect medkits, and by pressing the up button on the D-Pad they can heal themselves or they have the option of healing a wounded comrade. This can be essential for some of the later missions that get extremely difficult when you lose several soldiers to stupid errors. Overall though, “Finest Hour” is one of the best World War II shooters to come out this year. Four out of five stars.

Finally on our very short list of games that make the cut is “Tony Hawk: Underground 2.” It is the same as the original, except that instead of fighting your way to the top of the underground skating world, you start out as the character you’ve created in the first game. Also you get to go on a world wide destruction tour with Tony Hawk, Bam Margera and the gang. While the idea is good, the execution is less than brilliant. It does have a few humorous scenes on the worldwide destruction tour, as well as an updated soundtrack. However, it’s nothing we haven’t seen before in the the first game. Good game, decent idea, unfortunately though, if you’ve played the original, you’ve already played this game. Three out of five.

While there are many other fine games out there that we would have loved to include in our list, unfortunately space just does not allow it. Other games you might enjoy this holiday season are: “Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II,” “GoldenEye: Rogue Agent,” “The Sims 2,” “Prince of Persia: The Warrior Within” and “Ghost Recon 2.” Have a safe holiday season and happy gaming.

It wasn’t always like this. In fact, just a year ago I was the cat who would rather cop a squat next to the DJ booth and sip my gin and tonic than actually dance. The exceptions to this rule were if: a) I was too effed up to care or b) a fine lady wanted to dance. And even then the dancing would be limited to some sort of half-assed shuffle.

Now, I’m well aware of the current trend of guys being too cool to dance. Fat Joe says it’s only chill to “lean back.” This is probably due to the fact that if Fat Joe were to dance the rubbing together of his hefty thighs just might cause him to ignite in flames.

I never felt I was too cool to dance. I just knew I wasn’t very good at it. To put things into perspective, my dancing style is akin to a cross between The Merengue and simply having angry bees shoved down my pants. I would go to clubs and see people burn up the dance floor with their steps and feel as though I had no business taking up their dance space. To make it worse, I have friends who are incredible dancers – the type of people who actually practice at home in front of a mirror.

My turning point was at a rave of all places. I had drunk my fair share of alcohol that evening, so I was feeling a bit loosey-goosey. So, I commenced to move a bit more on the dance floor than usual. Then I looked up at the stage area. Next to the DJ booth a girl was actually pointing at me and laughing. I don’t mean just a little giggle. I mean an all-out guffaw. If it had been a pretty girl it might have ruined my night. No, she was a total “but-her face,” so instead it simply egged me on.

I went into another room at the party, a larger room where DJ Micro was spinning some sick trance. I then danced with the fury of a vengeful ninja. An incredibly stunning woman approached me and proceeded to dance with me with the same fervor. We danced. And danced. And danced. I would have kept dancing if I wasn’t at risk of dropping dead from exhaustion. I tapped the mystery girl on the shoulder and informed her that I needed to take a break and grab a water. “I dig your steps,” she smiled. I could tell by her ecstasy-induced smile that she was indeed being honest. So, immediately I guzzled that water like no one’s business and got my ass back on that dance floor. I danced with that girl until they turned on the lights and told us all to mosey on out the door. I never saw that girl again.

Nowadays, it might take a few dollar drafts, but I still make a point to move my feet. Sometimes I get funny looks and sometimes people just look at me and smile because they can see I’m having a great time. Because I truly am.

No matter how horribly you think you shake your groove thing, just remember that somewhere out there, there is someone who digs your moves. So what are you waiting for? Shut the f*ck up and dance!

Cowboy Junkies

8 p.m.

Friday, Sept. 10

State Theatre, Portland

$22.50 – $30.00

Boston Trio

3 p.m.

Sun.day, Sept. 12

MCA

ZOX

7:30 p.m.

Thursady, Sept. 16

Memorial Union

Free

Killswitch Engage

5 p.m.

Saturday, Sept. 18

Ushuaia

$15

Young Buck & Lloyd Banks

7:30 p.m.

Thursday, Sept. 23

Cumberland County Civic Center

$40 – $50

ART

“The Faculty Collects”

5 p.m.

Friday, Sept. 10

Carnagie Hall

Free

“Dozier Bell”

Through Saturday, Sept. 18

Norumbega Hall, Bangor

“Westward Visions”

Through Saturday, Sept. 18

Norumbega Hall, Bangor

“Berenice Abbott: Cities Portraits”

Through Saturday, Sept. 18

Norumbega Hall, Bangor

Entertainment:

$1 Climbing Night

3 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Through Wednesday, Sept. 29

Maine Bound Center

$1

Back to School Bingo

8 p.m.

Monday, Sept. 13

North Dining Room, Memorial Union

Free

MOVIES

Excel Saga

6:30 p.m.

Friday, Sept. 17

DPC 100

Free

Hellsing

9:00 p.m.

Friday, Sept. 17

DPC 100

Free

Theater

“Dracula”

Wednesday, Sept. 22

Penobscot Theatre

Bars

College Night

9 p.m.

Thursdays

Bear Brew Pub

$1 Bear Brew beers

College Night

10 p.m.

Thursdays

Ushuaia

50 cent drinks

College Night

Thursdays

The Chocolate Grille

Two-for-one pub menu entrees

If you would like your event posted in The Maine Campus Style calendar, send time, day, date, place and fee information to Matt Kearney on FirstClass.

“This is it for me, knowing every time I do something will be the last,” Corbitt said. “I’ve spent four years trying to figure out how to balance all of it: school, ball, and social life. Now, when I think I have finally figured it out, my time is almost up.”

That’s why the 5’6 guard from Albany, N.Y. is making sure she gives everything she has to make this year the most memorable one ever.

“I hate regrets, I don’t want to look back and say what if,” said Corbitt. “Whatever I do I want to give it all that I have, and only then when I know I have given my best will I be able to walk away.”

Those closest to Corbitt know the type of person she is, her hard working attitude and determination is inspiring to all that cross her path. Friend and teammate Monica Peterson puts it best.

“At times you can’t tell if she is joking or not, her sarcasm gets me every time,” said Peterson. “If there was anyone I ever needed to count on it would be Kim Corbitt.”

In the four years Corbitt has been at the University of Maine, she has led the Lady Black Bears in back-to-back record winning seasons (25-6 in 2003, 26-5 in 2004). Corbitt was Named Defensive Player of the Year in the America East Conference in 2003. Other accolades include conference leader in steals, assist, and foul shooting. Corbitt is proud of all she has accomplished as a basketball player; however, off the court she is most proud of her academic achievements. This past season, out of the 10 teams in the America East Conference, Corbitt was named the Scholar Athlete of the year with a GPA of 3.5.

“It’s always been about academics with me,” Corbitt said. “My title is student athlete, and student comes first before athlete.”

From the moment she stepped on campus, head coach Sharon Versyp knew Corbitt was going to be a great leader.

“She carried herself with such poise and exuded such confidence; she was different from most players I had coached,” Versyp said.

Now with the season well on its way, Corbitt wants nothing more but to continue enjoying her time here at the University.

The current top 15 rankings are determined by two sources-the United States College Hockey Online-College Sports Television Poll and the USA Today-USA Hockey Magazine Poll. Currently the Black Bears are ranked 11th and 9th, respectively, in both polls. However, the Black Bears find themselves looking up at some familiar foes in the NCAA standings. Minnesota, Wisconsin, Colorado College, Michigan and Boston College are currently in the top five spots in both polls. Vermont, Ohio State, North Dakota, New Hampshire and defending national champion Denver also find themselves ahead of UMaine in the USCHO poll, while UMaine still sits ahead of Vermont in the USA Hockey poll. Denver doesn’t even find itself on the later poll.

In the Atlantic Hockey League, Sacred Heart is atop the league for now. Sacred Heart posted a 6-1-1 record in league play. They are closely followed by Canisius at 6-2-1 and Mercyhurst at 4-0-1. The overall records aren’t spectacular, in fact, Holy Cross is the only team in the Atlantic Hockey League with a record over .500 at 6-5-3.

The Central College Hockey Association is a highly respected league that is currently being lead by unexpected Ohio State University 9-2-1 and 11-4-1 overall. They are closely followed by the most respected hockey program in the history of college hockey, Michigan, who has a 9-1-0 in the conference and 11-4-1 overall. There is a big drop off between Michigan and the third-seded Northern Michigan and fourth-ranked Bowling Green both 8-4-2 overall. The surprise of the year comes from usual powerhouse Michigan State who is bolstering an awful 7-8-1 record overall and are a dismal 4-6 in the conference.

The ECACHL has greatly improved over the past few years and finds itself a powerhouse at present. Vermont, at 4-0-2, is currently on a large unbeaten streak are currently tied for third in the league with Colgate, 5-1, and Brown, 4-3-2. Harvard, 5-3-1, stands in second at present with the surprise of the ECACHL Union taking first place for now at 6-2.

Hockey East on the other hand has an odd year. Boston University 8-1 has found ways to dominate its opponents in conference but overall are only 9-6 that placing them 1-5 outside the conference. Boston College after a tough weekend loss to BU and a tie with Providence find themselves scratching their heads. New Hampshire is on a roll since getting stomped by UMaine 3-0 earlier in the year. Despite what others think Hockey East is not the strongest conference this season.

The WCHA is and has been the best the past few years. Wisconsin currently leads the charge in the league with a 9-3-0 record in the conference and 12-4-0 overall.

Players to watch at present are sophomore Ryan Potulny with 16 goals in 15 games for Minnesota, Ben Walter from UMass-Lowell with 15 goals in 13 games, Brent Walton from Western Michigan who has 11 goals and 15 assists for 26 points in 16 games to lead the nation in scoring, and finally David McKee of Cornell has a 7-2-2 record with a 1.46 GAA and .935 save percentage. Jimmy Howard leads one category for minutes played nationally and is currently tied for 16th in GAA with a 2.14 GAA. He is the only Black Bear nationally ranked at USCHO.com.

Dillon rushed for 1,000-plus yards each of his six years in the league before enduring an injury plagued 2003 that was marred by conflicts with first-year Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis. Cincinnati dealt the three-time Pro Bowler for a second round pick on April 19, ironically a Revolutionary War holiday in Massachusetts known as Patriots’ Day.

Dillon’s time as a Patriot has definitely been cause for celebration. He’s averaging over 100 yards per game and is well on his way to breaking New England’s franchise rushing record. The league’s all-time leading rusher who hasn’t appeared in a play-off game has been a model citizen in the locker room and is downright giddy to be playing for a team that’s 11-1 after spending nearly a decade with the cellar-dwelling “Bungles.”

To be fair, the Dillon deal has worked out for both teams. Cincinnati used their pick on safety Madieu Williams-a candidate for defensive rookie of the year. Dillon’s replacement at running back, former Auburn Tiger Rudi Johnson has 1105 yards on the ground, though his 4.1 yards per carry average pales in comparison to Dillon’s 4.8.

The Bengals are 6-6 and coming off first year quarterback Carson Palmer’s coming out party. In a stunning upset at Baltimore, the former Heisman Trophy winner dominated the vaunted Raven defense to the tune of 382 yards and three touchdowns, overcoming a 17 point deficit along the way. Suddenly with slim play-off hopes, Cincinnati is playing with confidence and like there’s no tomorrow – two elements that make them a very dangerous team.

Bengal Chad Johnson, who leads the AFC in receiving yards, is one of the league’s more vocal deep threats. The Pats don’t expect starting corners Ty Poole and Ty Law back for another couple of weeks, so Johnson vs. the team’s reserve defensive backs should be an interesting match-up.

Still, they have a bottom of the barrel run defense that’s seldom stopped anybody this season – something that doesn’t bode well against the rush-happy Patriots. Add to the mix Dillon, who has a bone to pick with the Cincinnati front office and coaching staff and the Bengals should be in for a long day stopping the run.

There’s nothing like good old fashion payback in the form of a smash mouth running game. Dillon once held the NFL’s all-time single-game rushing record, 278 yards against the Broncos in 2000. If he’s healthy and as motivated to play against his old mates as he appears to be, Dillon just might make a run at reclaiming it.

NASCAR Nextel Cup Champion: Kurt Busch

2) Jimmy Johnson

3) Jeff Gordon

4) Mark Martin

5) Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

6) Tony Stewart

7) Ryan Newman
Matt Kenseth

9) Elliott Sadler

10) Jeremy Mayfield

There were many hot issues in the Nextel Cup this year. First off, the NASCAR senior circuit was changed to the Nextel Cup. Since most people are making a big deal about cigarette sponsorships these days, the Winston Cigarette Company had to give up their sponsorship of the nations most popular racing sport. The Nextel cell phone company then got the honor of sponsoring the senior circuit and having their name branded everywhere NASCAR was seen. I’m not really sure how popular of a move this sponsorship, change was since most people still don’t have a clue and are referring to it still as the Winston Cup.

Another change this past season was the reconstruciton of the points system. In previous years, drivers were awarded points based on their finishing position. That usually led to a ho-hum season ender, when you could predict who would win the series by whoever placed the most. This season, first-year President Brian France decided to spice things up a bit and created The Chase for the Cup. What that means is that near the end of the season, the points system is narrowed down to the top ten drivers. If a driver was in the top ten in the points total, they were able to compete for the Nextel Cup. If they didn’t finish in the top 10, well, there’s always next year. Fans weren’t exactly thrilled with the system change, but when the championship couldn’t be decided till the last race of the season, with five drivers in the running for the cup, the change did make the season a little more interesting.

The point total wasn’t the only change that France made this season. He also lifted the liquor ban. In the past, hard liquor was not allowed to be advertised by NASCAR, which promoted the “if you drink, don’t drive” idea. But now, hard liquor companies will be able to sponsor race cars. Crown Royal is already in the running by being on Kurt Busch’s car next season. So NASCAR couldn’t be sponsored by a cigarette company, but yet it is able to promote hard liquor while people are driving around a race track at high rates of speed? That sounds a little sketchy to me.

This NASCAR season was the year of the revolt. NASCAR representatives tried to put big plastic bottles of the major drink sponsors, one of them being Coca-Cola, on various cars in victory lane. Powerade, who is part of the Coca-Cola Company, tried to put their big blue bottle on some of the cars that were sponsored by Gatorade, Powerade’s biggest rival. When the Gatorade drivers tried to hide the Powerade bottle or even push it off the car while on TV, NASCAR officials warned them with the threat of a fine. When Jimmy Johnson tried to hide the bottle, he was fined by NASCAR. Jeff Gordon actually avoided driving up to victory lane, just so they wouldn’t put the Powerade bottle on his car. What a move Jeff – it’s still too bad most fans hate you.

Lastly, you can’t talk about a NASCAR season without talking about the most popular driver, my man Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Earnhardt, who started off the year on a strong note, by winning the Daytona 500, the most popular race in NASCAR, and the race that claimed his father’s life three years ago. Yet, after that, Jr.’s season seemed to go downhill.

Overall, this year’s Nextel Cup was interesting and exciting. We said hello to some very tough rookies, including Kasey Kahne, who finished second in five races. It was also the time to say goodbye to veteran racers Ricky Rudd, Dale Jarrett, Sterling Marlin, and Kyle Petty, who all announced that 2004 would be their last season. We also said goodbye to Maine’s own Ricky Craven, who lost his sponsorship in the Nextel Cup, but will continue racing in NASCAR’s Truck Series next year.

Hopefully, the 2005 season will be as successful as this year And on a final note: Please, if you are still thinking that racing is for a few drunken rednecks please, give NASCAR a try.