With two weeks to prepare for their next opponent following last week’s bye week, the Black Bears may have finally turned the corner.

Warren Smith had two touchdowns and the UMaine defense forced six turnovers as the Black Bears held on to a halftime lead and defeated conference rival UMass 19-9 Saturday afternoon at Alfond Stadium.

“They came today in a very physical, nasty mood and we persevered,” said UMaine coach Jack Cosgrove. “We were relentless to get the win and that’s good stuff for a young football team.”

UMaine (4-4, 3-2 CAA) has either led or been tied in every contest at halftime this year and had been outscored 120-41 in the second half until Saturday.

“To me, I felt like some of the younger guys have only experienced us being up in the first half, and then something happens in the second half and we end up losing the game,” said senior captain Mike Brusko. “It started to feel like that was almost our fate.”

“It was absolutely enormous for us, for guys to be a part of it, to experience it and to understand that we can be winning at halftime, go on and build on that lead and go win a football game.”

Holding a 10-7 halftime lead, the Black Bears tacked on a 32-yard field goal by Jordan Waxman in the third quarter to extend their lead to six points. The field goal came after the Black Bears had a touchdown pass by Mike Brusko taken away. Brusko faked a quarterback draw and found Landis Williams wide open in the end zone for the score. The referee, however, ruled Brusko down for a loss on the play as he said he faked a knee.

“My knee didn’t touch, and he didn’t say that my knee touched,” Brusko said. “His call was that he thought I was faking taking a knee and he said once you fake taking a knee, you’re automatically down.”

Cosgrove disputed the call and believed a penalty should’ve been called on the play if the referee said he was faking a knee.

“If you’re calling an act of deception you should’ve penalized us,” he said. “You see [University of Florida quarterback Tim] Tebow do that all the time.”

Brusko was also influential in the punting game, in addition to his quarterbacking and receiving duties. Used to punt against the wind that was blowing hard toward the north end zone all afternoon, he used his low kicks for a 35.5-yard average among his four punts.

In the fourth quarter, with the windy conditions at the back of the Black Bears, Smith directed a scoring drive that put the game out of reach, capping off a 6-play, 71-yard drive with its only rush. The sophomore scored on a quarterback draw from 5 yards out, leaping over defenders into the end zone.

On the two-point conversion attempt though, Smith threw an interception to Ke’Mon Bailey, who returned it to the opposing end zone for two UMass points, making it 19-9.

The UMaine defense held strong in the final few minutes, not allowing any points the rest of the way.

In the opening quarter, the Black Bears showed their first half prowess putting points on the board first. After UMass’ opening drive of the game came up empty on an Armando Cuko missed field goal, the Black Bears drove down the field and Waxman converted a 25-yard attempt for a 3-0 lead.

The Minutemen capitalized in the second quarter on an 11-play, 77-yard drive, capped off by Jon Hernandez’s 1-yard touchdown run to make it 7-3.

The opportunistic Black Bear defense recovered at the end of the first half, and sophomore linebacker Donte Dennis intercepted a pass at the UMass 46.

Smith, who gained 265 total yards, then directed the offense deep inside Minutemen territory, with the big play coming on a 25-yard pass to Jeremy Kelly on fourth down. Smith then found Ty Jones for a 7-yard touchdown on a leaping grab by the junior wideout to make it 10-7 at the half.

“We just try to respond off of their energy and when they turn the ball over we try to respond because the momentum’s in favor,” said Smith of the defense’s forced turnovers.

He was 19-for-35 through the air on the afternoon and passed for 226 yards. Landis Williams was his top target on the afternoon, catching six balls for 77 yards.

Dennis led the Black Bear defense with two interceptions and a fumble recovery. Vinson Givans had seven tackles and Jordan Stevens contributed a sack.

No. 19 UMass fell to 4-4 overall and 2-3 in the conference with the loss.

UMaine is on the road next Saturday as they travel to Harrisonburg, Va., for a conference matchup with James Madison University at 3 p.m.

The Black Bears (2-5-0, 1-2-0 Hockey East) went 3-for-10 on the power play and added a shorthanded goal, while Vermont was 0-for-5 with the man advantage. Both UMaine’s wins have come at home.

UMaine freshman left wing Adam Shemansky scored a pair of the power play goals at the net front to lead the charge. With one of the most potent power play units in the Hockey East Conference, UMaine has scored a power play goal in each of their first seven games.

“We talked about playing a full 60 minutes tonight, and we did,” Shemansky said. “We’re very happy with the outcome.”

Shemansky leads UMaine with five goals, and his 7 points is 4 behind team leader Gustav Nyquist.

“It seems like all my goals are coming from the same area,” Shemansky said. “I just have to keep going to those dirty areas and good things are going to happen.”

Friday’s game was the first of two single-game weekends for UMaine. The Black Bears will host defending National Champions Boston University next weekend. Vermont lost their second straight Hockey East contest to fall to 2-3-0 (1-2-0 Hockey East). The Catamounts will return home to Gutterson Fieldhouse next weekend to host UMass-Lowell and Providence College after playing four of their first five games on the road.

“We played a very unemotional first period and it cost us,” Vermont coach Kevin Sneddon said. “We took a lot of dumb penalties tonight. Every time we had a good shift, it was followed by a poorly timed penalty.”

UMaine sophomore goalie Scott Darling, who carried a 4.19 goals-against average into Friday’s game, made 31 saves, including three on breakaways to earn the win (2-1-0). UMaine’s 4.67 goals allowed per game entering the game was nearly a goal more than their nearest competitor in the 10-team conference.

“He played great,” Sneddon said. “He made some brilliant saves. I think he was a big factor in the game whenever we had some sustained offensive pressure or line-rushes.”

Darling’s lone costly mistake of the game came 5:58 into the second period. Vermont sophomore right wing Matt Marshall beat Darling’s five-hole with a slapshot from the right faceoff circle. Marshall’s first goal of the season was assisted by senior center Brayden Irwin and sophomore defenseman Drew Mackenzie.

“Technically I dropped my butt, which lifted up the front of my pad and it just snuck under me,” Darling said. “That was my fault, but I can live with it. We got a 4-1 win.”

UMaine made a one goal game 3-1 18 seconds into the third period when junior defenseman Jeff Dimmen scored on a power play that had carried over from the second. Junior center Robby Dee found Dimmen in the left faceoff circle from the slot, and Dimmen’s wrister beat Vermont sophomore goaltender Rob Madore’s glove side.

Shemansky flicked in a bouncing puck in traffic at the right post with 7:48 remaining in the game to seal the win.

UMaine was rewarded for playing a motivated opening period and went into the first intermission with a 2-0 lead. The Black Bears had a third goal in the period waived off when Dimmen was called for charging after bowling Madore over on the play.

The Black Bears spoiled Vermont’s first power play with a shorthanded tally by senior right wing Kevin Swallow 5:27 into the game. Speedy UMaine freshman center Matt Mangene chased down an errant puck at the Catamounts’ blueline along the left boards and his backhander in front rebounded out to Swallow, streaking through the slot to bury the puck in an open net.

“Great play by Mangene,” Swallow credited. “He beat the defenseman wide, put it on net. I didn’t really have to do much.”

UMaine extended their lead to 2-0 midway through the period. After Vermont returned one player from the penalty box to turn a 5-on-3 to 5-on-4, UMaine sophomore right wing Spencer Abbott at the mid-point found Shemansky camped at the left post to tip the pass in.

Madore made 35 saves on 39 shots on goal, while falling to 2-3-0.

Sneddon anticipates some changes next weekend.

“There will be a lot of line changes, guys in the stands,” Sneddon said. “We had a lot of blank stares in the first period, and you can’t give a team in their own building that much energy.”

The arches were two carbon-composite tubes designed as bridge supports for the “bridge in a backpack” technology developed at UMaine’s Advanced Engineered Wood Composites Center. The arches are typically filled from the top with concrete to form supports for bridges — such as for the Neal Bridge in Pittsfield, where the technology was recently employed. Construction workers at the plaza instead filled the two arches from the bottom.

“It burst out the side of the cylinder because of the pressure, and that initiated a collapse of the first arch,” said Dana Humphrey, dean of the College of Engineering. “And then that first arch shifted a little bit, and that caused the second arch to also, basically, crack and the concrete spilled out the bottom.”

The site was littered with pieces from the two broken arches Friday afternoon, as well as scaffolding that had originally held the tubes erect. One of the scaffolds had been knocked down by the arches’ fall.

“The technique being used to fill the arches didn’t work the way that we wanted it to work,” Humphrey said.

Humphrey said there is nothing wrong with the arches or the technology, just the technique the contractor used to fill them. He said the arches, though typically used on bridges, are designed for the position they had been placed in the plaza. Humphrey didn’t know the cost of the arches or the project.

“We were hired to put them up, and obviously something failed,” said Blaine Door, one of the contractors working on the project.

Construction of the arches will be abandoned until next year. In the meantime, construction on the rest of the plaza will continue. Workers will repair sidewalks and put the Wingate Hall bell in a display case in the plaza as part of an art piece the arches were originally going to be a part of. Money for the project is coming in part from the construction of the engineering and science building, the Advanced Engineering Center and the AEWC, as well as part of the landscaping budget for the Advanced Manufacturing Center.

“I’m sure we’ll have a different technique for how to fill them [next year],” Humphrey said.

State lawmakers have asked the university system to close the budget gap, and Pattenaude told the legislative Education Committee Tuesday the $15 million cuts would be the equivalent of 100 full-time positions.

“It’s a way to say if we had to take it all in people, that’s what it might amount to,” Pattenaude said Wednesday following a public forum on restructuring.

Pattenaude said they “certainly don’t want to” cut 100 positions. He said it was a different way of measuring $15 million. When asked what was the likelihood of positions being cut at university campuses, Pattenaude said, “It depends upon many things … how effectively we can find some economies of scale, how much we can reduce administrative costs, energy costs, whether enrollments increase. Our last step is always to eliminate jobs.”

Pattenaude said positions that are cut may include faculty positions.

“There’s a lot of variables right now and there’s a lot of uncertainty. Some will have to be faculty, just because faculty are such a large part of our workforce,” Pattenaude said.

Pattenaude said cutting the equivalent of 100 faculty positions would affect 300 to 400 classes. He said any cuts in positions would be campus decisions, not choices made at the system level.

University of Maine President Robert Kennedy said after Wednesday’s meeting that cutting positions at UMaine would depend on a number of factors.

“We assume that’s within the realm of possibility,” Kennedy said. “The chancellor said cuts on the campus would be a campus prerogative, but that will depend upon the budget we’ve been given by the system — so it’s not entirely independent of the system.”

Kennedy said it’s possible UMaine would consider cutting faculty positions because the magnitude of the desired budget cuts is so large. He said the university is uncertain what those positions could be. The president said the Academic Program Prioritization Workgroup — a collection of professors and administrators charged with looking at the university’s programs — will provide advice for potentially cutting any positions.

“They’re looking at our priorities across the campus, so we will take cues from them … and that would determine, perhaps, what positions could be considered for cuts,” Kennedy said.

Kennedy said the university system would distribute cuts among the campuses using the same formula used to divide up the budget — meaning UMaine would be forced to share a large burden of the cuts because its budget is the biggest.

Maine Attorney General Janet Mills rejected a request Monday from the TABOR Now campaign to investigate legislative staffers for illegally helping anti-TABOR campaigns, citing a lack of criminal wrong-doing. TABOR Now recently filed a complaint against the city of South Portland, which also concerned TABOR II.

TABOR Now asked Mills to investigate legislative staffers in the offices of House Speaker Hannah Pingree, D-North Haven, and Senate President Elizabeth Mitchell, D-Vassalboro. David Crocker, chairman of TABOR Now, accused staffers of illegally helping to organize anti-TABOR fundraising.

The accusations stem from an Aug. 12 meeting in Pingree’s office where several businesses were invited by Rick McCarthy of Maine Tomorrow, a for-profit consulting firm specializing in public policy research, governmental affairs, community development and association management. McCarthy contacted Pingree’s and Mitchell’s offices to request they host the meeting and attend to offer insight into the TABOR and excise tax legislation present on the ballot. Approximately 16 members of the construction, engineering and transportation community were invited to the meeting, as well as the state Transportation Committee. In an e-mail sent to William Brown, a staff worker in Pingree’s office, McCarthy said his ultimate goal was to raise funds from the businesses invited. In the invitation to the businesses, McCarthy wrote asking them to “join us to learn more and discuss how you can help defeat these short-sighted measures.”

“We had reason, it seemed, to indicate that there was illegal activity taking place in direct opposition to the citizens’ initiative [TABOR II],” Crocker said.

Days earlier, TABOR Now had filed an ethics complaint against South Portland because of a packet the city mailed to its voters. TABOR Now may seek a similar complaint as a follow-up to the accusation of Pingree and Mitchell’s office staff workers.

TABOR Now obtained information about the meeting through a Freedom Of Access Act request, which Crocker said proved staffers working in Pingree’s and Mitchell’s offices used legislative computers to “solicit reportable contributions” from businesses for anti-TABOR efforts.

“It’s their [Pingree’s and Mitchell’s] staff, and the meeting set up with the Transportation Committee was hosted by the two of them,” Crocker said, who said the meeting’s purpose was “ultimately to raise money.”

Kate Simmons, assistant to the attorney general, said there was “no criminal wrongdoing whatsoever.”

“Some of those business interests did contribute to that campaign,” Simmons said, “but not because they were asked to by legislative leadership.”

Simmons said it is important to note that staffers are not responsible for the e-mails they receive.

Tim Feeley, communications director for Pingree, said the meeting was a discussion of public policy, not an event for raising funds to be used against TABOR.

“They [Maine Tomorrow] were asking the speaker and the president to give their characterization of the TABOR legislation and how it would impact the legislative process,” Feeley said.

Feeley said staffers in both offices did not use legislative computers to solicit contributions to an anti-TABOR campaign.

“This was a request to attend a meeting. This is basically in the job description for legislators. This is what they do; and to allege that it’s criminal activity is just desperation,” Feeley said. “They’re alleging the kind of conspiracy that’s reserved for Bigfoot and alien sightings.”

Feeley acknowledged McCarthy is a lobbyist.

David Loughran, communications director for Mitchell, said the president was not asked to help solicit funding from business leaders for an anti-TABOR campaign and called the allegations “frivolous.”

“The TABOR campaign is down into the polls the eve of the Election Day, and they’re trying to throw a Hail Mary pass,” Loughran said.

Loughran said the event was a meeting between legislative leaders and Maine business leaders “to talk about economic policies affecting the state of Maine.”

Crocker said the meeting was closed to members of the press, but Feeley disagreed. He said the meeting was in a small, enclosed room, but reporters were not barred from it. He said a suggestion to move the meeting to a more spacious room was never acted upon.

Crocker said TABOR Now isn’t done pursuing the matter.

“I think we’re considering an ethics complaint at this point,” Crocker said.

Phone calls to McCarthy were not returned by press time.

In a similar move, TABOR Now recently filed a complaint with the state Ethics Commission against the city of South Portland, claiming it needs to register as a ballot question committee.

South Portland recently sent its taxpayers a packet announcing the city council’s recent decision to oppose both Question 4 and Question 2 — concerning the automobile excise tax — and asking voters to learn more at the city’s Web site. TABOR Now, in its e-mailed complaint from Chairman David Crocker to commission Executive Director Jonathan Wayne, said it is unlikely South Portland’s mailing cost less than $5,000. After exceeding $5,000 in election spending, any group in Maine must register as a ballot question committee and report to the Ethics Commission.

“The question that David Crocker [sent] is whether the city of South Portland should’ve registered with us as a ballot question committee and reported that expenditure,” said Paul Lavin, assistant director of the commission.

James Gailey, city manager of South Portland, said the mailing cost $564. He said Crocker’s complaint is unfounded.

“It didn’t seem like a whole lot was going on. … There was a lot of disconnect. There was a lot of belief by residents that the way the questions were worded were very attractive to the voter. As a response to all that we included into the tax bill mailing. … Quite simply just a one-page sheet that announced both the questions,” Gailey said. “We added two bullets under each which were completely straight up facts, and then on the bottom we said please learn more about these initiatives, and then we gave the city’s Web page.”

Gailey said the cost was six cents per sheet. He said the city will respond to the complaint this week and that state attorneys are drafting a response. He said he has not seen the response and does not know the exact day the city will release it.

“Is it appropriate for a municipality to send that type of advisory out with property tax bills?” Crocker asked, who called the move “not very subtle.”

Crocker questioned Gailey’s cost estimate of the mailing and whether it includes staff time to draft the advisory.

“[The packet] makes a little statement there about what the city thinks will be lost if the excise tax referendum will be passed … and then it sort of says, ‘Oh, by the way, here’s your property tax bill.’ Again, not very subtle,” Crocker said.

Gailey said the city’s Web site indicated the mailed packet includes the two ballot questions and both the proponent and opponent messages.

UMaine planned the clinics for Nov. 9 and 10 as a precaution, but because of new information from state health officials, the university has rescheduled to deliver the vaccine sooner. Students signed up for the clinics will have to reschedule online at umaine.edu/h1n1.

UMaine requested 6,000 doses and had expected to get them by Nov. 9, but the university administration learned Wednesday the campus will only receive 1,100 doses because of production and shipping issues. The university expects the vaccines to arrive in Bangor at Eastern Maine Medical Center before Nov. 5. The Nov. 16 and 17 clinics for university employees have also been rescheduled. University Relations Director Joe Carr said the employee clinics have not yet been given a new date.

“For now, the first priority is to deal with students,” Carr said. “Nov. 9 was a safe date … now we have more specific information about when they [vaccine doses] will be available.”

Carr said the 1,100 doses will be the first wave of the vaccine made available to UMaine. The university will receive more in the future, according to Carr.

UMaine will also host an open forum Tuesday, Nov. 3 from 2 to 3 p.m. in the Bangor Room of the Memorial Union to answer community questions about swine flu and the vaccine. Officials from Cutler, Student Affairs and the Health and Safety department will be on-hand to answer questions.

UMaine confirmed its first case of swine flu Friday, according to Carr.

The student lives on campus and is in self-isolation while being treated by health care professionals. University officials declined to release identifying factors about the student, including residence hall, gender and age. The student was tested at the Cutler Health Center.

“We do have a case confirmed on campus. A student was managing the illness and is in close contact with health care providers,” said Vice President of Student Affairs Robert Dana.

Carr said the student did not have a roommate and was having meals brought to him.

Carr said the university confirmed the case Friday around 6 p.m. The number of unconfirmed cases is at 27. Carr said the number has been rising by about two a week, but expects that number to increase.

“We want students to understand that this is something that is real. It can happen to them. Getting sick with this flu is very serious, and we want all students to take appropriate hygienic measures,” Dana said.

The vaccination clinics will be available to students in all age groups. Students must sign up online in advance at umaine.edu/h1n1 and are asked to set aside an hour for administering the vaccine when they sign up, but receiving it will take much less time, according to Richard Young, director of Cutler Health Center. Young said the sign-up program has limits set for each time frame according to the volume per vaccinator and that administering the vaccine will not actually take an hour.

Five of the seven questions on this year’s ballot are people’s vetoes or citizen initiatives, which each require at least 55,087 signatures to be approved as a ballot question. Municipal offices throughout the state employee staff to verify each signature on petitions is from a registered voter. Because petitions are often submitted shortly before they are due, clerical staffers at municipal offices often don’t get much time to count signatures before they are required to return them to the circulators. Question 7 would increase that time to 10 days. Municipal office staffers currently get five days.

“We’ve got so many citizen initiatives [and] petitions circling right now with very close deadlines, that when they turn all the signatures in … we get swamped,” said Linda C. Cohen, the municipal clerk of Portland.

Question 7 is Cohen’s brainchild. She thought up the idea of increasing the time for verifying petition signatures and spoke to Rep. Meredith Burgess about drafting legislation to fit the idea. The bill itself, sponsored by Burgess, was referred to the State and Local Government Committee March 25.

The official question on the ballot reads: “Do you favor amending the Constitution of Maine to increase the amount of time that local officials have to certify the signatures on direct initiative petitions?”

The question, if approved, would also give legislators 10 extra days after legislative sessions begin to submit legislation crafted from people’s vetoes and citizen initiatives given to them by political campaigns or voters.

“It’s the citizen initiatives and people’s vetoes. Usually those are on such a shorter time frame, you’ve got about a three-month period for people to gather signatures. … It deals directly with that,” said Diane Johanson, a legislative aide for the house republican office.

Cohen said municipal office staffers often have to work overtime to verify signatures and meet the deadline. She said her office used to have 11 people on staff, but now has nine.

“Eight of those positions are part-time,” Cohen said.

Petition signatures are sometimes hard to read, Cohen said. Municipal office staffers often have to compare the address given with the name with ones on registration cards to make sure it’s from a registered voter.

“So it’s a lot of work,” Cohen said.

Municipal offices are required to check every signature or at least make an attempt, Cohen said.

“Sometimes petitioners will drop them off on the absolute last day that they have to turn them in, and we have five days,” Cohen said.

Cohen said staffers have to verify signatures in addition to their other duties, including filing birth and death certificates and marriage licenses.

“If a funeral director comes in and has to bury a body, we can’t just say, ‘No, we have to do petitions,’” Cohen said.

Dan Shagouri, a legislative aide for Sen. Deborah L. Simpson, D-Androscoggin, said saving money is one of the reasons for the legislation, because the bill will likely cut down on the overtime municipal office staffers have to work to verify signatures. Simpson is chairperson of the State and Local Government Committee and approved the bill before it went to the legislature.

The candidates are Student Sens. Brian A. Harris and Zachary Jackman, and Student Government Vice President Ross M. Wolland.

UMaine students will cast ballots via FirstClass on Nov. 12. The presidential term starts next semester.

While each candidate has priorities he would like to accomplish if elected, all three say they want to promote more transparency in student government. Each said that, currently, the student body doesn’t know enough about Student Government, and that needs to change.

Brian Harris

Harris, a junior from West Enfield, is majoring in psychology. He became involved in Student Government in his second year when he was elected to senate. He has chaired the Student Senate History Committee.

One of Harris’s main goals if elected president is to increase transparency in Student Government by heightening communication with the student body.

“This can be done in a number of ways: Starting from something as little as tabling, to better utilizing our director of External Affairs, to playing a larger role in freshman orientation, to actually physically being in classrooms and speaking to students about the pressing issues,” Harris said.

Harris said he’s concerned about campus dining. He said he receives a lot of complaints about dining prices and would like to find a way to decrease them. He would continue current efforts to detail the price increases to the UMaine administration by following up on the issue throughout the year. He would also look for alternatives, such as bringing a Taco Bell or other fast-food venue to campus. Harris said he hopes to find a way to make the Bear’s Den an area where students can spend more time, perhaps by replacing the sound system and exploring the possibility of getting a liquor license so something other than beer and wine can be served.

If elected, Harris said he would create a committee of students that will interact with the student body to better understand their needs. Harris said the negative comments about Student Government “only inspire [me] … to do more” for the student body.

“I’m a big advocate of leading by example,” Harris said. “That’s one reason why I’d be a good president. I want to raise awareness of student government.”

Zachary Jackman

Jackman, a political science student, is a junior from South Berwick. He began his involvement in Student Government in his second semester. He is currently a member of the Executive Budgetary Committee. Jackman characterizes himself as the “people’s representative” because he shares many of the views of the student body and “can come from both sides of the argument — the government and student.”

If elected, Jackman said his main goal would be to lower some student costs, especially the Student Activity fee, which funds Student Government. Currently, students pay $45 per semester. He would like to cut that fee in half. Jackman said he would work toward this through his veto power. Student Senate can propose asking the administration to increase or decrease the fee, and as president he would have the power to veto a proposal, which Jackman said he will do if Student Senate approves any resolution aimed at increasing student charges. Jackman also would like to push for a tuition freeze. Jackman said he wants UMaine to keep the credit hour rate paid as a first year consistent throughout a student’s college career, regardless of tuition increases.

Interactions between Student Government and the student body is also a priority for Jackman. The high student apathy toward Student Government is something he would work to change as president.

“I feel as though, if the office of Student Government [president] is executed correctly, it has a lot of potential for students,” Jackman said.

Ross Wolland

Wolland is a junior from Presque Isle who is majoring in political science and philosophy with a minor in law study. His involvement with Student Government began as soon as he came to the university. He has since made his way up the chain and, for the past year, has been vice president of Student Government.

The Bear’s Den and Campus Dining would be among Wolland’s main priorities to address as president. Wolland said he sees the Bear’s Den as a great asset for students and would like to utilize it to its full potential, envisioning refreshments other than beer and wine and optimizing it for greater student appeal. He feels dining prices are too much for students and would like to find a way to make the prices more affordable. Wolland is currently working with the UMaine administration and current president Owen McCarthy to make prices more affordable for students, and he would continue his efforts if elected.

Wolland also said he would like to create a peer advisor program. Before meeting with their academic advisors, students would be able to meet someone from the peer advisor program to get extra advice before deciding what classes to take.

Wolland said he understands there is student apathy toward Student Government and would like to change it. He and Student Government President Owen McCarthy have created a Web site that will inform students of issues student government is handling. It should be operational soon.

Wolland said he would like to leave the university “in such a way that the lives of students are a little better on a day-to-day basis, regardless of whether or not the students know I helped make it that way or not.”

Vice President of Student Affairs Robert Dana said UMaine President Robert Kennedy will announce the verdict on the tobacco-free campus policy. If the policy is approved, there will be a year-long transition period before the tobacco ban is implemented.

“We’re not telling people ‘don’t smoke,’ but the university does not encourage it,” Dana said.

Dana said if the initiative became policy, the university would provide resources and support to students who are unwilling to comply with the ban. He said the university would not immediately punish students for not complying with such a ban.

Jake Poirier, a third-year student, supports the initiative.

“I’ve never smoked, and I don’t like the smell,” Poirier said. “Smokers should take the time to smoke somewhere else if they really need it.”

Dana said complaints are expected and the administration is prepared for them if the initiative is implemented.

“Some people think it’s too heavy, like it’s Big Brother,” Dana said.

Jessie Colby, a first-year communication science and disorders student, said people would smoke anyway.

“Smokers are adults, and they can make their own choices,” Colby said.

First-year international affairs student Aly Desimone asked, “What about the freshmen who have to live here? Do they have to drive off campus just for a cigarette?”

If the initiative is approved, Dana said the university hopes some people may stop smoking altogether.

“The university feels responsible for the health of its students and staff,” Dana said.

In a related vein, a study has recently found texting can help people kick their smoking addiction.

Txt2Quit is a text message-based smoking cessation service, based on a study conducted by the University of Auckland in New Zealand. The study found smokers who use the program for a year can double the chances of quitting.

UMaine may adopt a system similar to Txt2Quit as the campus considers becoming tobacco free. According to a 2007 report, 9 percent of UMaine employees smoke and 6.1 percent of students use cigarettes daily. Txt2Quit is comparable to the texting system the school uses to alert students about emergencies.

“You need something to do with your hands,” said Lauri Sidelko, director of Alcohol and Drug Education programs on campus. “You’re looking for nicotine, the perception that it calms you down.” She said adopting the system would depend on the cost of the program and support. “It could work. I could see us getting there, especially if we go tobacco free.”

Txt2Quit is successful because mobile phones are integrated into daily life and are always accessible. Robyn Whittaker, a researcher at the University of Auckland, said to Bio-Medicine — an online publication — “It makes a lot of sense. They [texting services] are more proactive, delivering directly to people wherever they are.”

Texting may not work as the sole way to quit smoking. According to Sidelko, it usually takes the majority of smokers seven or more times to quit for good.

“It depends on what works for the individual,” Sidelko said. “The more they try, the more successful they’ll be. But it usually takes a couple of different methods.”

Participants of Txt2Quit receive two or three text messages a day for 26 weeks before a designated quit date. Texts contain facts about smoking, tips on quitting and support while quitting and they allow users to respond to polls. Users can also send messages to the service when they crave a cigarette.

“A vast majority of people want a tobacco-free campus,” Dana said. “I think it’s going to be good.”

As the state Election Day nears, so does the Student Government election. Sen. Skye Landry, president of the Fair Election Procedures Commission, announced the Student Government presidential and vice presidential candidate debate will be held Nov. 5 at 7 p.m. in the North Pod of the Memorial Union, with Mario Moretto of The Maine Campus moderating. Student Government elections will be held Nov. 12 on FirstClass.

Turning to legislative measures, student senate voted against an amended Student Government employment policy, which will be replaced by a new resolution next week. The proposed resolution would have allowed members of Student Government who hold two paid positions to be compensated for both, if no conflict of interest exists and if one position does not hold authority over the other. Currently, senators are allowed to have two positions, but are only compensated for one.

Vice President of Financial Affairs Justin Labonte proposed a resolution to “take out the conflict of interest and pay people for two positions.”

Sen. Zachary Jackman criticized the resolution.

“I have some serious concerns of how it would allow people to double dip into UMSG funding. I think that this allows for a dangerous amount of treading upon idea of balance of power in student government,” Jackman said.

Sen. Derek Jones agreed.

“So there’s really no prevention that [this resolution] would keep crossover from happening … it would potentially increase their paychecks,” Jones said.

Labonte will rewrite the resolution for next week to likely require members of Student Government to hold only one position.

Senators voted to strike from the agenda a resolution that would revise the job description of the Vice President of Student Organizations. Amending the position would have required constitutional changes that student senate felt were unnecessary.

Rebecca Dyer, student representative to the board of trustees, and Sen. Nate Wildes reminded fellow senators to attend the forum with Pattenaude and the board of trustees that took place at the Collins Center for the Arts on Wednesday, Oct. 28.

“[The forum] is a big deal,” Wildes said. “It’s the last chance to voice your opinion … they’re cutting millions … of dollars. There’s going to be a big faculty turnout tomorrow. I know of a number of professors who cancelled their classes in order to go.”

Dyer urged senators to read the UMaine system’s task force findings and attend the forum with questions, concerns and opinions.

Wilde Stein’s Coming Out Week is happening from now until Oct. 31 and includes the Pride Flag raising ceremony, a showing of “Milk” and guest speaker Lt. Dan Choi — a veteran discharged from the United States Army. Choi will speak about the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy Thursday, Oct. 29 at 7 p.m. in the Bangor Room.

The Student Recreation and Fitness Center and Memorial Union will extend their hours Friday, Oct. 30 and 31 until midnight with Halloween-themed activities. Gustavo Burkett, assistant director of Campus Activities for Student Organizations and Greek Life, reminded senators that Halloween weekend is when some of the heaviest student alcohol consumption occurs.

“In order to not have any problems, we’re going to have as many things as possible on campus,” Burkett said of the planned campus activities.

GSS indefinitely postponed a resolution to amend the Student Government constitutional preamble, proposed by President Owen McCarthy. Student Government’s preamble was written in 1978, and the resolution was designed to make it more user-friendly and positive, according to McCarthy.

Sen. Joseph Nabozny was announced as the new assistant vice president of Student Entertainment.

During the meeting, $171 was allocated to Order of Omega, $200 to the Senior Skulls Society’s office budget, $650 to Nontraditional Students Association and $1,750 to Engineers Without Borders. Labonte reported the Student Government treasury has a $97,461.22 rollover, postaudit, from last year.