The money is Maine’s share of a $182 million of federal stimulus money destined to fund 18 similar Internet expansion projects in 17 states. The grant will pay for a 1,100-mile-long fiber-optic cable network in Maine that will give rural business the same kind of access to the Internet that their more urban counterparts enjoy. The $182 million is the first to be spent of more than $2 billion of Recovery Act funds that will pay for high speed Internet projects throughout the United States over the next 75 days.

Locke said the network will have the potential to connect as many as one fifth of all Maine households to the Internet.

“In the short term this investment will help create jobs, by constructing and installing 36,000 new [telephone] poles,” Locke said. “Like all good government investments, this is going to kick start the private sector into action with more investment, construction and jobs and Internet services provided by the private sector.”

Locke said an additional $65 million is expected to be spent by Maine businesses over the next three to five years on additional Internet infrastructure. He said 10 Internet service providers have expressed interest in buying capacity on the network.

“Thanks to this funding, hospitals like Eastern Maine Medical Center and other large hospitals throughout the state will be able to diagnose injuries of patients in rural communities hundreds of miles away,” Locke said. “In short, this funding is going to save lives, and it will also save money.”

Locke said Internet service will also be “vastly improved” throughout for the University of Maine System and community colleges and that the network will expand educational opportunities in Maine.

“Students at these campuses won’t just be able to communicate with other campuses, it means that they’ll actually be able to access specialized coursework from other great educational institutions around the world,” Locke said.

Rep. Michael Michaud spoke after Locke, and told audience members the grant and the network it will fund will bridge the divide between rural and urban businesses.

“This investment will help businesses throughout rural Maine compete effectively to create jobs,” Michaud said.

Rep. Chellie Pingree also spoke, saying the jobs the grant will help create will put people to work “right away.”

“These are immediate jobs,” Pingree said.

The University of Maine System, Internet service provider GWI, other Maine businesses and Maine’s congressional representatives were instrumental in applying for the grant. System Chancellor Richard Pattenaude said the grant award is an example of what Maine can achieve by working together.

Maine Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe were unable to attend the award announcement because of their congressional work.

According to the analysis of audited financial records conducted by accountant Howard Bunsis, both the system and USM have positive revenue streams, healthy cash reserves and low levels of debt.

The system office has said that cuts from the state legislature have forced them to reduce funding to its seven campuses. But according to the report, over the past five years the system office has amassed large reserves, known as unrestricted net assets, and in 2009 — the year that USM withstood $2.7 million in cuts from the system — its net assets grew by $11 million.

The analysis, paid for by the USM’s student senate with $1,000 of student activity fees, confirms the findings of another recent report conducted by New Jersey accountant Leroy Dubeck that was commissioned by AFUM, the system-wide faculty union.

The findings clash with statements from university officials, who have maintained both institutions require restructuring and cuts in order to maintain operations. “Any suggestion that the University of Maine System is broke or out of money is preposterous,” Bunsis wrote in his report.

The student senate commissioned the analysis by Bunsis to verify the findings of the Dubeck report. Both audits say the system is in good financial shape and can use their substantial reserves to offset cuts from the legislature.

The report also finds that in the past five years, USM’s total revenues exceeded total expenses every year except for 2006. USM had surpluses of $4 million in 2007 and 2008, and $14 million in 2009.

“I was really surprised to see that there was a discrepancy; that the audit suggested we don’t have a deficit,” said Maggie Guzman, USM’s student body president. “That doesn’t make sense to me. All of these things are being cut, we’re making all of these consolidations, and then there is documentation that no cuts are necessary.”

University officials say the budgetary process isn’t that simple.

While it appears USM has profits, Dick Campbell, USM’s chief financial officer, said these are tied up in other funds besides the E and G account — the main fund academic departments draw from. He did say it would be possible to move money around to avoid cuts to departments.

“Some of this seems to talk about the extent to which we have the ability to redirect some of these assets and I think that’s a subject for some conversation,” he said.

Campbell said the data and analysis in Bunsis’ report is accurate, but disagreed with the way Bunsis delivered it.

“He’s using some powerful words. I’m not going to debate some of the points and statements he’s making,” said Campbell. “I don’t find that helpful to having a reasonable discussion about what our financial situation is.”

According to its public financial statements, the system has $84 million in its reserve fund, more than double the $40.5 million it had in 2001. But Rebecca Wyke, vice chancellor of finance for the system, said that while it bettered its financial condition year after year, the reserve fund — or unrestricted net assets — is partially spoken for by each of the campuses, and some of it is set aside to back up federal grants.

“While we could draw down our reserves, I guess, to do whatever it is they would like us to do, what do we do next year?” Wyke said.

“I think that people need to have a longer view than just the immediate year in front of them,” Wyke said. “To question how is it that we would sustain that over time. Either we need to increase our resources or we need to reduce our expenditures and the reality is we really need to do both.”

“In January, our retiree health costs are going up almost $6 million beyond what we had budgeted. So instead of asking the campuses to contribute to it, that reserve will go down in order to cover that cost,” Wyke said. “A lot of the reserves reside at UMaine but almost all of it is committed to building projects.”

But according to Bunsis, unrestricted net assets, by definition, are not set aside for any one purpose.

“The accounting rules are clear: Once something is designated by the external auditors as an unrestricted net asset, that means that the governing body has the flexibility to use those net assets as they see fit,” Bunsis said in a phone interview Wednesday evening. “Claiming that those net assets have been earmarked for this or that is really a claim without any meaning.”

“From a budgetary perspective, we can’t just draw down our reserves until they’re gone and then deal with it,” said Wyke. “That would not be prudent. We have some responsibility here to make sure that a very large state-wide operation continues to operate day-to-day and that does require that we have some contingency.”

Members of the executive board of the USM’s student senate said the audit casts doubt on the integrity of USM and system administrators. Senate chair Molly Dolby said senators wanted their own analysis, after details of the Dubeck report appeared in The Free Press, USM’s student newspaper. AFUM has not released the document publicly.

“I have faith in Selma [Botman]. She’s the head of the school; I respect her,” Dolby said of the USM president. “I’m just kind of looking for answers. Are the reports based on fallacies? Are they missing a key piece? Are they looking at too small of a picture? Those are the kinds of answers I want to hear from them. I invite them to explain that [the audits are] wrong and to give a clear explanation as to how and why.”

Botman was unavailable for comment Wednesday afternoon.

“I’m not jumping to any conclusions of any misuses of money or anything like that, but I would like to know where the money went,” said Guzman.

Wyke said the system is more concerned with future budgets than past results. Last January, it identified a $42.8 million structural budget deficit over the next three years across the university system. The deficit is based on anticipated cuts by the state legislature and the recent trend of flat or declining enrollment.

The board of trustees set in motion a plan Nov. 16 to deal with the deficit by freezing faculty wages, increasing online classes and creating three year degrees.

Bunsis said the system is good shape, and those concerned should remember how things turned out the last few years.

“Budgets are just plans, and administrators always say, ‘Oh my god, look at how bad the future is going to be.’ But they’re just plans. All that matters is the actual results that are audited by an external auditor,” Bunsis said.

Bunsis’ report is a preliminary look at university finances. He plans to perform additional analysis of cash flows, liquidity and debt levels and a formal ratio analysis used by Moody’s in municipal finance. He said he expects further investigation will corroborate his initial findings.

This article was originally published in The Free Press, the student newspaper at the University of Southern Maine. Reproduced with permission.

Wheeler, a Robbinsdale, Minn., native, has been a consistent contributor for the Bruins, who made him the fifth overall pick in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft. Wheeler’s draft class was headlined by 1-2 picks Alexander Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin. Wheeler made his presence known in the league with a four-goal outburst in the YoungStars game during last year’s NHL All-Star Weekend.

The lesser-known wing on Wheeler’s high school line — current University of Maine junior Robby Dee — was just as dangerous for the private school team based in the Minneapolis suburbs. Dee, from Plymouth, Minn., was a Mr. Hockey Minnesota finalist in 2005 after a second consecutive 87-point season, along with NHL players Brian Lee (Ottawa), T.J. Oshie (St. Louis) and Matt Niskanen (Dallas). Dee was a third round pick (86th overall) by the Edmonton Oilers in the 2005 Draft and is the highest drafted UMaine player.

“I’m confident that Robby will play pro hockey, because of his determination and his talent,” UMaine coach Tim Whitehead said. “He’s a gifted athlete, and he’s got a great work ethic.”

Dee recalled growing up as a rival of Wheeler, and then teaming up for two memorable seasons. Dee said he and Wheeler were nearly neighbors before Wheeler’s family relocated.

“It was pretty fun to play with him,” Dee said. “We were hard to stop. We’d go into every game and do really well.”

The state championship game was played at the Xcel Energy Center, home of the Minnesota Wild franchise. Dee emphasized the magnitude of high school hockey in Minnesota.

“Every year playing high school hockey, that’s your goal, to make it to the state tournament, because it’s such a big deal,” Dee said.

Dee said he still keeps in touch with Wheeler and catches Bruins games on T.V. whenever he can. He is not surprised by Wheeler’s success as a pro.

“He’s been doing really well,” Dee said. “I’m sure they really like him down there. It’s great to see that he’s being successful.”

At 6-foot-2-inches and 195 pounds, Dee is the Black Bears’ second tallest forward, and a similar player to Wheeler in that both thrive on finesse with the puck and strong skating ability. Dee feels that combination allowed Wheeler to make a successful transition to the professional level.

“Most would probably say a guy like that would be a power forward, but I think he’s more like a power forward/finesse player that gets the puck to the net and can score,” Dee said. “He’s got good hands.”

Dee drew a blank when asked to recall an embarrassing story about Wheeler, but said the two became good friends during high school.

“He’s a great kid,” Dee said. “He’s down to Earth, great personality.”

Dee has enjoyed a breakout first half of the season for UMaine, matching his 11-point season-high point total in just 14 games. He has 16 points on eight goals and eight assists in 18 games played, including five goals in his last five games played.

“It’s nice to get the ice time to be able to do a little bit more of getting the opportunity to score goals, and playing on the power play,” Dee said. “I’m just trying to work hard every day and help our team win.”

Before injuring his shoulder in a Dec. 4 game against Providence College, Dee had dressed for 41 consecutive games, the longest streak of the Black Bears’ junior class. He returned for UMaine’s annual trip to the Florida College Classic during the holiday break.

“Rob’s a great athlete. He’s in very good physical condition,” Whitehead said. “He’s going to bounce back quicker than your normal player would from a serious injury.”

After playing wing at all levels before coming to UMaine, Whitehead elected to try Dee at center this fall after the Black Bears lost veteran Chris Hahn to graduation. Whitehead felt the position would put the puck on Dee’s stick more often and allow him to develop into a more complete player. Dee’s defensive ability was questioned out of high school and junior hockey.

“For a big man, he’s very mobile,” Whitehead said. “He’s got a great release on his shot. He’s got a legitimate wrist shot and snap shot, which every elite offensive player needs. He’s got very good hockey sense and vision with the puck, and his skill is very high. Now that he’s become stronger and more confident defensively, he’s become a very complete player.”

“I like it,” Dee said. “It kind of gets you in the game right away. You have defensive responsibilities.”

Dee is a catalyst for UMaine’s power play unit, which leads the nation while scoring on 28.8 percent of their opportunities. With four power play goals, he is a formidable presence at the net-front with the ability to clean up rebounded shots and earn deflection goals.

“I think we just move it around a lot,” Dee said. “That’s what makes us successful. We get the puck to the net, try to keep things simple.”

Dee has stepped into a leadership role for the Black Bears, who are bouncing back from a pair of disappointing 13-win seasons and a 1-5-0 start. As a “silent” leader, Dee lets his hockey skills do most of the talking.

“He’s certainly well respected off the ice, in the community,” Whitehead said. “I’ve been really pleased to see Robby stepping up and leading by example.”

“It’s good to have that pressure to lead the team and be a good example,” Dee said.

UMaine has had a successful history of competing and recruiting in Minnesota. Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Mike Lundin starred for the Black Bears from 2003-07 after coming from Burnsville, Minn. UMaine’s most haunting memory of the state is their 4-3 overtime loss to the Golden Gophers in the 2002 National Championship Game at the Xcel Energy Center. Whitehead feels the Black Bears were fortunate to attract Dee ahead of the Gophers.

“Because the hockey is so strong in that state, there’s no way that the University of Minnesota can take them all,” Whitehead said. “In this case we were fortunate to get one of the very best in Robby Dee, and he’s really emerging for us as an elite player.”

The comments in the review reflected the issues raised during the closed-door session of General Student Senate Tuesday, which resulted in the decision not to rehire Mehdizadegan for another term as VPSE, despite an overall rating of 3.99 out of 5.

In the review, members of the GSS graded Mehdizadegan on his work, competence, attitude and professionalism.

While senators approved of Mehdizadegan’s job performance in terms of organizing and promoting shows — Senators wrote comments such as “knows what he’s doing,” and “great as VPSE ” — the review includes several notes indicating the problems senators had with his personal conduct.

One senator wrote that Mehdizadegan “takes issues very personally,” and “is not rational.” Another remarked that Mehdizadegan is “rude if someone isn’t on his side.”Another wrote that he was “just plain mean.” Under the category “Recommended ares for exploration,” one senator wrote, “Hell.”

Below is the breakdown of the role-call vote of whether to rehire Mehdizadegan, which was also disclosed to The Maine Campus on Thursday.

“Yes” vote:

• Sen. Jennifer Dana
• Sen. Derek Jones
• Sen. Charles Hastings
• Sen. Nelson Carson
• Sen. Peter Christopher
• Sen. Joseph Nabozny
• Sen. James Lyons
• Sen. Nicholas Dehaas
• Sen. Alexander Heathco
• Sen. Ian Miller
• Sen. Dayna Margarita
• Sen. Nicholas Smalley
• Sen. Anna Assenmacher
• Sen. Mary Emmi
• Sen. Spencer Rust
• Sen. Matthew Labonte
• Sen. Stephen Monaghan
• Sen. Rebecca Dyer

“No” vote:

• Sen. Alex Ortiz
• Sen. Nathaniel Wildes
• Sen. Zachary Jackman
• Sen. Richard Luc
• Sen. Ryan Gavin
• Sen. Elias Elder
• Sen. Matthew Johnson
• Sen. William Hughes
• Sen. Warren Varney
• Sen. Pardis Delijani
• Sen. Alex Price

Abstained:

• Sen. Benjamin Goodman
• Sen. Cynthia Hunter
• Sen. Nyssa Gatcombe
• Sen. Timothy Smith
• Sen. Nicholas Fournier
• Sen. Sarah Howard

Eleven senators who voted against Mehdizadegan and six who abstained prevented senate from having the two-thirds majority necessary for appointing executives. Eighteen senators voted to keep Mehdizadegan in his seat. Concerns of Mehdizadegan’s professionalism were raised, which caused more debate over whether the quality was necessary to hold the post.

Because Sen. Nate Wildes called for an executive session, reporters were not allowed inside to record deliberations. Several senators and members of the executive council spoke with The Maine Campus on Wednesday.

“Quite simply, he was not professional in anything he did,” Wildes said. Despite Mehdizadegan’s success in the position, Wildes cited examples of the lack of “a basic level of professionalism.”

“Myself as well as many others — senators, executives and constituents — have had enormous difficulty and a number of complaints regarding working with Abtin.,” Wildes said. “Abtin did a very good job selling tickets. I’m not arguing against the fact that he did a successful job selling shows, because he did. … In my mind, that’s only part of the job of VPSE.”

The problems he cited included unapproachability, rudeness, unavailability during office hours and misuse of student activity funds.

“He had printed cards that said ‘James Lyons’ virginity card’ or something like that,” Sen. Ryan Gavin said. “He had those printed with Student Government money.”

Mehdizadegan claims the cards were printed while he was “in and out of the office” by one of his brothers in Senior Skulls Society.

“One of my Skulls brothers … went in there and goofed around and made some ‘James Lyons virginity cards.’ Inappropriate? Yeah. Funny? Yeah, absolutely. James thought it was funny, he had no issue with it and knew the Skulls brother who made it,” Mehdizadegan said. “I think people saw that it came out of my office and assumed that it was my fault. It was all a big joke in good fun, and was blown way out of proportion”

“As far as I know, he printed them,” Gavin said. “Maybe he didn’t place the order, maybe he didn’t print them, but it came from the VPSE office and he’s the VPSE. … He had oversight on it. Who cares who hit the ‘print’ button?”

“Some people didn’t like his sense of humor, the way he dealt with other people,” said incoming vice president of Student Government Nyssa Gatcombe. “He’s a big jokester and likes to pull pranks. They didn’t feel it was appropriate.”

Sen. Joseph Nabozny, assistant VPSE, voted to reappoint Mehdizadegan. He said that while a reprimand for a lack of professionalism may have been called for, ousting Mehdizadegan was not.

“I don’t think he was perilously unprofessional. I don’t think he realized that so many senators felt that he had been unprofessional lately. That’s kind of what frustrated me, is that they didn’t let him know until he was yanked out of office,” Nabozny said.

Sen. Mary Emmi also voted to keep Mehdizadegan on.

“I voted to have him stay because I think he’s done a good job at his job,” Emmi said. “Some people brought up other issues about his professionalism and I felt like he did a good job as VPSE so we should keep him on for that.”

During the course of debate, Emmi asked whether any formal complaints had been lodged against Mehdizadegan. Sen. Pardis Delijani indicated that she had brought one.

According to reports from Delijani and Mehdizadegan, the cause of the complaint occurred shortly after Delijani had joined six other senators in walking out of a special meeting of GSS to discuss a complaint filed by Mehdizadegan. Delijani entered Mehdizadegan’s office, a confrontation ensued and Delijani left.

“He said ‘Shame on you. Get out of my office,’” Delijani said. Mehdizadegan says he never told the senator to leave his office, and that he and Delijani had made amends.

“He did apologize to me about it,” Delijani said. “However I still felt that no executive should be saying something like that to a senator, or a friend or anything like that. I find it very inappropriate.”

According to James Lyons, who resigned from his senate seat Tuesday, Mehdizadegan “has always been a somewhat controversial figure on this campus.”

In 2007, former president Bill Pomerleau resigned from office after Mehdizadegan circulated a petition and gathered the five percent necessary for a recall. The petition cited failure to keep office hours and a “poor and condescending attitude towards senators.” Senators Tuesday made similar complaints about Mehdizadegan.

“I think I did a really good job building relationships,” Mehdizadegan said. “I can assume some of [the decision to remove me] was personal, and the rest of it from what I’ve been able to gather was a bit of misinformation — that I’d be unwilling to meet with certain groups or run certain bands. … People said I wouldn’t bring The Roots which I was trying to do.”

“It was something I honestly didn’t expect. I think I did my job really well, and I think the senate and the new administration has a few challenges ahead of them.”

Mehdizadegan doesn’t plan to run for a senate seat again, but does plan to assist the next VPSE by giving “a little guidance from the sidelines.” He defended his perceived lack of professionalism in terms of keeping a relaxed attitude around the office.

“I look at it as a kind of fun, hanging-out office. And I think that as long as you keep a balance, that’s the way it should be as long as we’re getting work done,” Mehdizadegan said. “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.”

One of the things the former VPSE said was a concern to some senators was the nickname his office earned: “the man cave.”

“We turned the lights off, listened to music. More after hours, and we’d get more work done, listen to music. It’d be nice. We wouldn’t not let anyone in,” Mehdizadegan said.

“We’d still work there and it would be a fun little area. It was kind of like a Bull Moose vibe to it. I think people said ‘It’s not professional, it’s not professional,’ but I just say, you know, we’re not the U.S. Senate. We are Student Government. We’re on a college campus. We just take ourselves too seriously.

“As long as we’re getting the job done — and I don’t think anyone disagreed last night that I do a damn good job and I did — And as long as that’s getting done, I think that’s fair,” Mehdizadegan said.

The new Student Government president, Brian Harris, said that an application process will be used to choose the next VPSE.

PATFA began negotiations in May, and progress was steady on a few minor clarifications to the contract, but even after it expired June 31 a new agreement has yet to emerge between the administration and the part-time faculty. The contract was not extended, as the full-time faculty’s was until Dec. 31, but instead will remain in place until both parties agree on a new one.

Terry Crouch, a UMaine English lecturer and the Orono PATFA representative, said the negotiations have been “really stonewalling.” He said the administration wants to reduce the retirement benefits for part-time faculty members who qualify and provide no cost-of-living increase to the pay of all part-timers.

Richard Burke, professor at the University of Maine at Farmington and the president of PATFA, said the system administration should take more advantage of part-time faculty members, who cost less than full-time professors and often shoulder a large portion of universities’ academics.

“They actually get paid less on a per-course basis, but full-time faculty do have other obligations like committee work and research and things like that,” Burke said. “So even after you adjust for that, even after you take out that portion of their pay that you might find to that kind of work, and you’re just comparing pay in the classroom per credit between a full-timer and a part-timer — a lot of part-timers are getting paid around 50 percent of what the full-time person’s getting paid.”

Tracy Bigney, the chief human resources and organizational development officer at the system office, said comparisons between full-time and part-time faculty are difficult because of the difference in their responsibilities.

“It’s just a very different situation for a full-time faculty member,” Bigney said.

Part-time faculty are hired as a one of three categories of lecturers: lecturers I, II or III. Currently, a part-time lecturer II at the University of Maine System makes at least $1,029 per credit hour. A part-time lecturer II hired to teach three classes a semester would make a minimum of $18,522 per year. That same teacher — if eligible for health insurance — would also pay, on average, 40 percent of his or her premium, which depends on what kind of plan they have. Crouch estimated a typical part-time faculty member would make about $15,000 each year without benefits.

The minimum salary of a full-time assistant professor is currently $43,602 per year and $49,716 for associate professors, both of whom pay about 12 percent of their health insurance premium.

“We are in a very difficult financial time. It’s not a time when we can talk about improving pay,” Bigney said. “Part-time faculty play a really valuable role, many of them teach one course or perhaps two courses … but that’s not uniformly the case.”

Crouch said he teaches three classes each semester and his salary is about half of a full-time faculty member’s. He said a professor teaching seven classes each year would have a comparable academic workload to him and still cost the universities more, despite the extra non-academic workload he wouldn’t share. He thinks the administration should capitalize on the lesser pay of part-time teachers to keep academic staffs at universities full and save money.

Bigney disagreed and said money isn’t the sole issue. The universities have to consider such issues as which classes students need and class size.

“It’s not just an economic issue whether we should hire more or less part-timers,” Bigney said.

The university system currently employs 780 part-time faculty this semester. Almost twice as many are employed on a sporadic basis each year.

“We’re arguing for increased pay for our members, but lurking beneath that is this fact that there’s a gross inequity in how people are compensated for similar work,” Burke said. “After all these years, the system doesn’t want to recognize that there are equity issues.”

Burke said the most obvious roadblock of negotiations is money.

“They spend a lot of time with full-time faculty and they sort of let part-time faculty issues slide,” Burke said. “It’s not like the people involved with labor relations or the system head in general are particularly hostile, they just haven’t wanted to deal with these things.”

“It’s certainly a fact that they have tough money problems — to some degree, brought on by themselves — but that doesn’t change the fact that they’ve never wanted to address” the pay difference between part-time and full-time faculty, Burke said.

Burke explained the reason he felt the system brought its financial problems on itself is because of its size. He said the size and population of Maine make a seven-campus system financially impractical.

“I don’t blame people for avoiding dealing with it, but that’s where we are,” Burke said.

Neither Burke, Crouch nor Bigney know the exact date when negotiations will continue. The union is waiting to hear back from the administration on a proposal to amend benefit eligibility and costs, which Bigney said the system will be ready to return to “in the near future.”

In an e-mail, Crouch stated he felt the part-time faculty are “invisible.” Professor Judy Kuhns-Hastings, president of UMaine’s Faculty Senate, said she was unaware part-time faculty even had their own union.

“PATFA is not asking for outrageous concessions, just the most basic protections. That doesn’t seem like too much to ask from an enlightened university,” Crouch said.

Crouch said he has taught as a part-time faculty member for about 20 years and can’t afford to retire. He said PATFA is “in solidarity” with the administration and wants to work with it to find ways to make the system work more efficiently.

Bravo Company is scheduled to leave for Indiana after a holiday break, where its members will complete four to six weeks of training. Afterward, they will head to Afghanistan. Monday’s ceremony included Governor John Baldacci, Maj. Gen. John W. Libby and representatives from Maine’s two senators — Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins. UMaine President Robert Kennedy was unable to attend.

“We are pleased, and I might say proud, to host you here at the Collins Center for the Arts,” said Dean of Students Robert Dana. “We develop here leaders and create knowledge, and it is because of you that we can do that.”

“We will welcome you back here to this soil very soon,” Dana said.

The 172nd Infantry, which includes other New England-based companies, has not yet made its departure date public.

Baldacci and Libby also offered words of praise and told the soldiers and their families they collectively represent the best of Maine. Capt. Paul Bosse, the leader of Bravo Company, shed tears as he thanked everyone who supported him and the soldiers he commands. Bosse earned a history degree at UMaine and graduated from the university’s ROTC program.

“They are superbly equipped and superbly trained,” Libby said.

Libby said Maine’s National Guard is “blessed” by resources that Snowe and Collins helped make available to its members. He said it is his duty to provide for the soldiers of Bravo Company and even offered his home phone number to the audience, encouraging them to call him if they have concerns or suggestions to help their friends or family who serve.

Libby said Bravo Company’s mission is “easy” because of the quality of its soldiers.

“The job that’s difficult is the job that’s left behind,” Libby said.

Bosse, in reference to Tom Brokaw’s novel — “The Greatest Generation” — said, “I wonder what Mr. Brokaw will say about us” in the future.

“The greatest of this generation are the soldiers and marines,” Bosse said.

Baldacci told Bravo Company its members “reflect the values with which” they were raised and that “we will eagerly await your return.”

“We will continue to support you, your efforts,” Baldacci said.

“Bravo Company … when you find yourself on the battlefield with bayonets fixed, remember this: Our history as Mainers tells us without hesitation we’ll give ’em cold steel,” Bosse said.

The Maine National Guard has deployed more than 2,300 soldiers to the Middle East since 2001. Nine have died.

All classes after 1 p.m. were cancelled Wednesday. Students shuffled through falling snow to sheltered hangouts or to brush off their cars and head home. Employees not designated as essential by their department’s Snow Day Staffing Plan were asked to leave campus. Services across campus posted their shortened hours. Perhaps most notably, almost all dining venues closed by 7 p.m., except for Hilltop Market, which closed at 9:30 p.m.

Few departments stayed open through their normal hours. Fogler Library, the Student Recreation and Fitness Center and Maine Bound remained open for business, although classes and other programs scheduled after 1 p.m. at the Rec Center were canceled.

A group of six to 10 administrators from Academic Affairs, Facilities Management, University Relations, the Hutchinson Center in Belfast and Fogler Library is in charge of recommending snow day decisions to UMaine President Robert Kennedy. According to Director of University Relations Joe Carr, who relays the recommendation to Kennedy, the president usually agrees with the group decision, although he has modified it in the past.

The group takes multiple factors into consideration when making their decision, according to Carr — primarily the university’s ability to keep campus roadways clear. If, for instance, it starts snowing at 4 a.m., Facilities Management will most likely not be able to keep up with the snow accumulation, and classes will be cancelled for the full day. It is more likely classes will be cancelled for part of the day, as they were Wednesday.

“We average two or three incidents per year where classes are cancelled for a period of time,” Carr said on the frequency of snow-related cancellations.

Finals are a major consideration when making a decision on snow days. According to Carr, although it has snowed heavily during finals before, finals have never been cancelled for snow. This is because it is impossible to reschedule finals.

“We try to weigh in on all considerations,” Carr said.

According to Steven Weinberger, assistant vice president for Human Resources, university employees — both salaried and hourly — are paid for administrative leaves, such as snow days. Employees demonstrated their willingness and ability to work but were unable to because of circumstances beyond their control, and “in recognition of that, they receive their regular pay,” Weinberger said.

While UMaine does not keep official records of past snow days, students who subscribe to umaine.txt’s RSS feed will have access to past feed announcements about snow day cancellations. According to Paul Nickerson, a senior computer science student who has subscribed to the RSS feed since August 2007, there were five days last winter when classes were cancelled due to snow.

Students can check for snow day cancellations in a variety of ways — by calling 581-SNOW; checking umaine.edu; checking UMaine news’ Twitter or Facebook pages; checking umaine.txt’s RSS feed or signing up for text alerts; or listening to local TV or radio broadcasts. Carr recommends students use university-based sources, because they are updated more frequently and are often more accurate than information provided by local media.

The process seems simple enough, but the route students can take is varied, and more options become available every semester.

The newest of these options was introduced to the scene in late November when UMaine graduates Steve Milligan and Jasper Turcotte re-launched a Web site that had caused Milligan some controversy in 2002, when he was still a student at the university.

Umundercutters.com is a Web site which allows students at UMaine to buy and sell books from each other, as opposed to the Bookstore or other wholesale retailers.

Milligan started it as a class project in 2002 after he had a bad experience selling his books back to the Bookstore.

“The Bookstore had a fit about it,” Milligan said. They tried to shut it down, but because it was for a class the Web site remained active until 2004 when Milligan graduated.

“No one had done anything in the meantime. The need is still there,” Milligan said.

Recently, Milligan and Turcotte started their own company, Phenix New Media, and work out of Farmington. Undercutters has been their flagship project.

“We’re trying to make it a permanent fixture,” Milligan said. “We made a new and improved version of the Web site. It’s a lot more sophisticated. … We’re still considering the Web site in a prototype stage.”

Milligan dedicated the launch of the site to UMaine but hopes that if it succeeds, it will be available to other University of Maine campuses and eventually nationwide. Each site will be individualized according to the campus it correlates with.

“We’re trying to keep it very local,” Milligan said.

He said the benefits of using the site include cheaper prices, no shipping charges and being able to get textbooks instantly on campus.

These are all tactics the University Bookstore are aware of as well.

“Online is always a threat,” said Minya Lynch, textbook associate for the Bookstore. “We are very competitive with online sellers.”

But Bookstore associates have some tactics of their own. This year they are offering a plethora of new services. They will offer mobile buybacks at York Commons Dec. 15 and Hilltop Commons Dec. 16, both from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. They will also offer buyback trailers between Neville Hall and Donald P. Corbett Hall and between Little Hall and Boardman Hall throughout the week of finals.

“We’ll be right there when they [students] come out the door, so they don’t have to trudge over here [to the Bookstore],” Lynch said.

The Bookstore will also offer a 5 percent bonus on buybacks if students put the money on a MaineCard under Bookstore bucks. These funds can be used anywhere in the Bookstore.

“We’re always trying to do something new and innovative every year,” Lynch said.

Dean Graham, manager of The College Store in Orono, agreed that online sellers are hard to compete with.

“Bookstores cannot compete with an individual selling a book,” Graham said.

Graham had doubts about online sellers as well though; “It’s just not consistent,” he said. “When you’re selling books, you have to have a customer out there that wants it.”

The College Store is competing in the market by offering deals to students in the area as well. The store has mailed scratch tickets to area residents, offering a chance for additional discounts if they are winners. Graham will also offer a chance to spin a wheel in the store for a chance to win an iPhone and other, smaller prizes.

Even with discounts and advantages, Milligan finds the bookstore’s use of national wholesalers is not beneficial to students. Milligan said that with this system, bookstores are driven by the price the national market sets.

“With Undercutters, the book is worth whatever someone else is willing to pay for it,” he said. “We don’t have quota, we don’t have national demands. It’s driven by students.”

And the more students the better. The more students who use the site, the more books are available for purchase.

When students sign up as members of the Web site, they get one free credit to advertise the first book they want to sell. After the initial post, they are charged $1 per book posted. Students may purchase books without additional fees from the site.

Users are also offered three credits for signing up a friend and a free advertisement for campus events on the Web site. Users can also post a wish list of books they will need for the next semester. If any of these books become available on the site, the user will be alerted.

“Right now, the biggest hurdle we face is getting the word out to students on campus,” Milligan said.

Currently, there are 145 fans of Undercutters on their Facebook page but only eight members on the Web site.

“We’re still feeling our way around as far as advertising,” Milligan said.

Milligan has high hopes though — his project worked once, he has faith it will again.

“We’re not trying to replace the campus bookstore; we’re trying to give students another option,” Milligan said.

Sen. James Lyons resigned during the Dec. 8 meeting, and senate chose 18-11 with six abstentions not to re-appoint Abtin Mehdizadegan as the vice president of student entertainment. Senate re-appointed Vice President of Student Organizations Samantha Shulman — 30-2 with two abstentions — and Vice President of Financial Affairs Justine Labonte — unanimously — to their positions for spring 2010. Student Government will seek applicants to fill the VPSE position.

Senate discussed and approved three resolutions to amend the student organization committee vice president and assistant vice president job descriptions, as well as the University of Maine Student Government constitution.

Shulman said the changes make the VPSO job description reflect her duties, which it previously did not. She said the SG constitution contains no mention of the Student Organization Committee, and she wanted that to change. After senate approved the resolution amending the VPSO job description, Sen. Ryan Gavin expressed concern about the constitutional amendment.

“I don’t think it should be passed tonight just because we passed the job description for the VPSO. This is changing the constitution, … changing the document that governs us. It’s a gray area,” Gavin said.

Shulman sponsored revisions to the job descriptions of both the VPSO and assistant VPSO. Thanks to the passage of the resolution, the VPSO is no longer required to know when student organizations hold elections — dozens of which are held every year. Shulman said past VPSOs never knew when such elections were being held. The resolution also changed the job description to include consistent updating of student organization paperwork and the supervision of the newly appointed assistant VPSO.

Sens. Gavin and Zachary Jackman disapproved of changing the VPSO job description to fit reality.

“What’s the point of having a job description?” Jackman asked. “The position does not get to pick and choose. If you’re going to go ahead and change your own job description … it is a dangerous practice.”

Shulman said a reworded job description will help the VPSO understand his or her duties better. All three resolutions were approved.

After debate regarding ethical and cultural considerations, senators voted to allocate $7,500 to Residents on Campus for transportation for their annual Quebec Trip.

Sen. Timothy Smith supported the allocation, but for simpler reasons than other senators.

“[We] touched upon the fact that a few people go solely to drink alcohol. Quebec is a cultural epicenter of North America,” Smith said. He defended the trip’s cultural importance but reminded senators that “this is a college campus, let’s be honest, illegally, it’s not that hard” to get alcohol, and that students will drink alcohol no matter what country they’re in.

He argued a minority of students attending the trip solely to consume alcohol should not deter senators from voting in favor of the allocation.

Jackman disagreed, saying that funding the Quebec trip would be an irresponsible use of the student activity fee.

“Why are we even debating it? We’re debating it for 7,500 pretty good reasons. … I’m not comfortable [funding the trip]. I’m here right now to vote against it to set the precedent for the future. Take this seriously; you’re spending other people’s money,” Jackman said of students participating in order to consume alcohol.

Sen. Mary Emmi, who will attend the Quebec trip this year, disapproved of the hesitation toward funding the trip and offered her own experience from past trips.

“Students drink on this trip. They can if they want to,” Emmi said. She emphasized the importance of the cultural and world views supported by the Quebec trip. “I went on the Quebec trip last year. It was the first and only time I have ever left the country. UMaine provided that opportunity for me.”

Emmi said she purchased a passport specifically for the upcoming Quebec trip.

After senate approved the Quebec trip funding, Sen. Alex Ortiz motioned to introduce a resolution to send Angel Loredo a message of consolation concerning his layoff as associate dean of students. Ortiz has collected approximately 207 signatures and will mail the resolution and petition to Loredo.

Sarah Howard was appointed and confirmed as the newest senator. Sen. Peter Christopher expressed his gratitude to other senators for his year of participation in GSS — it was his last meeting.

The Anthropomorphics Club received preliminary recognition, while the Maine Music Organization achieved final recogniton.

Other allocations include $2,400 to the Alpine Ski Club, $1,400 to Athletic Training Student Organiztion, $822 to the Cycling Club and $500 to women’s lacrosse.

Some senators said their farewells as they left their position because of the impending end of the semester. Executive Student Government inaugurations took place Dec. 9 in the Wade Center.