“It was hard fought,” UNH coach Brian McCloskey said. “When Maine got down, there was no quit in them.”

Eight different Wildcats scored on the weekend, as UNH snapped a three-game winless streak and improved to 15-4-5 overall, and 9-3-2 in Hockey East play. UMaine fell to 6-15-5 (3-10-3-1 Hockey East) and have dropped five straight.

“We had to get these two points to get back in the hunt for playoffs,” said UNH freshman right wing Kristina Lavoie after Saturday’s game. “It takes a lot of confidence to come back from two losses. It feels really good.”

UNH sophomore goaltender Lindsey Minton faced just 20 shots Saturday in earning her seventh win of the season. Minton had not started a game since the first period in UNH’s Jan. 8 meeting at Fenway Park with Northeastern University. Despite the limited offensive output of the Black Bears, four of the first six shots Minton faced came on breakaways.

“She had a lot of phenomenal saves and really kept us in the game,” said UNH freshman left wing Kristine Horn.

“It could have been 4-3 after one [period], but the goaltending was excellent,” McCloskey said. “Maine wasn’t generating a lot in the first two periods, but in the third they did.”

The Black Bears didn’t reach double digits in shots until the third period. Their 13 shots in the final frame nearly doubled their combined total for the first two periods.

“It’s always kind of hard when you don’t get much in the beginning, but you really have to keep your head in the game,” Minton said. “The third period was a lot more fun for me.”

UNH’s penalty kill, which is ranked third in the nation, allowed just one UMaine power play goal in 12 chances between the two games. The lone power play goal by UMaine junior left wing Jennie Gallo spoiled the shutout in the final minute Saturday. UNH went 4-for-12 on the power play for the weekend.

“That was the difference for us,” McCloskey said. “I felt very comfortable when we were shorthanded. I knew we were going to threaten when we were a man up, it was just a question of whether we would convert.”

Lavoie was the first to solve UMaine freshman goaltender Brittany Ott, 5:29 into the opening period Saturday, as she skated uncontested through the left face off circle and wrapped a backhand around to Ott’s glove side.

“I had an option, if I wanted to pass or to shoot,” Lavoie said. “I had [center Sarah] Cuthbert in the slot, so I decided to go in backhand and put it in the low corner.”

The Wildcats went up 2-0 on their second power play, 3.8 seconds before the first period horn. Horn one-timed a backhand shot in the slot set up by junior defenseman Courtney Sheary at the right point.

“Sheary put a great shot on net, and I was lucky and got a stick on it,” Horn said.

The Black Bears managed just two shots against Minton in the first period. Both came in the first five minutes on breakaways by UMaine senior right wing Amy Stech.

“Had Maine converted there, it would have really given them a lift,” McCloskey said.

UNH senior center Kelly Paton added an insurance goal midway through the third period, when fancy stick work set up a backhand shot from the top of the crease that slid just across the goal line at the left post.

Gallo tipped Lexie Hoffmeyer’s shot from the mid-point just below the crossbar with 45 seconds remaining in the game, as the Black Bears elected to pull Ott for a 6-on-4 advantage.

“I didn’t see it at all,” Minton said. “Nothing you can do about those.”

Ott finished with 36 saves Saturday after a 35-save effort Friday night, but fell to 4-9-3 with the pair of losses.

“She’s a great goalie, and I give a lot of credit to her, too,” Horn said.

In Friday’s game, Stech struck with the game’s first goal just 10 seconds after the opening faceoff, but UNH rallied with three power play goals and pulled away for the 5-2 win.

UNH right wing Kelly Cahill’s power play goal 9:28 into the first period answered Stech’s goal, and forwards Micaela Long, Brittany Scudder and Julie Allen all scored in the second before UMaine freshman Brittany Dougherty’s third goal of the season came 1:19 before the second intermission.

Scudder added a pair of assists to go along with her goal.

Stech and Dougherty each notched a goal and an assist for the Black Bears, who were shut out on six power plays. UNH went 3-for-7 with the extra skater.

The Wildcats out shot UMaine 40-21, and junior goalie Kayley Herman made 19 saves to improve to 8-2-3.

Not many people expected UMBC (2-20 overall, 1-8 America East), whose lone win on the season had come more than a month before on Dec. 20, to put up much of a fight against the first place Black Bears, but UMaine coach Ted Woodward did not seem surprised.

“Everyone is good in Division I basketball,” he said. “Everyone belongs. And two years ago the tables were turned, and we went down and beat UMBC on their home court. We know that these things can happen all the time.”

The Retrievers’ win came at the last second, after a lay-in by seven-foot center Robbie Jackson gave his team a 56-55 lead with 1.4 seconds remaining.

UMaine, which falls to 14-7 overall and 6-2 in conference play, did not take the lead they eventually surrendered until senior guard Junior Bernal intercepted a pass and took it the length of the floor for a lay-up to put his team up 55-54. He was fouled on the play, but failed to convert on the free throw — the first of three critical misses that doomed the seemingly resurgent Black Bears.

With 38 seconds remaining, junior forward Sean McNally came up with a big block on the defensive end that forced UMBC to foul sophomore guard Andrew Rogers. Rogers came into the game to spell Bernal and shore up UMaine’s free-throw shooting. The move backfired as Rogers missed both. Rogers (.500 free throw percentage) has a lower percentage from the foul line than Bernal (.519).

Rogers’ failure to convert may have cost the Black Bears a win, or at least a shot at overtime, but Woodward defended the substitution.

“He was a great foul shooter in high school, and he’s a guy that we bring in in those situations, and I trust he’s going to make them. But those things happen, and it’s not all about one play in a game.”

If that play did not lose the game for the Black Bears, the next one certainly did.

After the second missed free throw was corralled by the Retrievers, they went to work with 29 seconds remaining and the shot clock off. UMaine’s defense keyed on the UMBC’s leading scorers Chauncey Gilliam and Chris De La Rosa. When McNally went to cut off their penetration, he left his man, Jackson, with a lane to the basket, and he converted.

“I know my big guy’s not a shooter so I went to stop the ball, because I figured it would be either Gilliam or De La Rosa going to the rim. So I tried to cut them off, and I got caught not looking, didn’t find my man, and he happened to be open on the baseline,” McNally said.

He admitted in hindsight perhaps he should have fouled the big man, forcing him to make consecutive free throws to take the lead, but it was such a “bang bang play” he didn’t even think to at the time.

UMaine did get the ball back with 1.4 seconds on the clock looking for a miracle, but Troy Barnies’ (13 points, game-high nine rebounds) floor length pass intended for McNally ended up in the arms of a UMBC player.

When all was said and done in America East play, UMaine had ceded the top spot in the conference to the Stony Brook Seawolves, who knocked off preseason conference favorite Boston University later in the day. UMaine also secured a win against BU earlier in the week, and they may have been suffering an excitement hangover heading into their Saturday match up.

“We can’t get ahead of ourselves,” Barnies said. “We had a win streak going and we didn’t want to come into this game and be cocky and we kind of did that at first and we fell short because of it.”

McNally agreed the Black Bears did not bring a winning mentality into the game.

“It took us a while to realize, ‘Wow they’re here to play,’ and then we tried to turn our energy up in the last six or seven minutes of the game, we just couldn’t do it. That has to be there right from the start,” he said. “They played with a lot more heart and intensity than we did for 40 minutes today and that’s why they came away with a victory.”

UMaine never established a rhythm, at least on the offensive end, shooting just under 33 percent from the field. Sophomore guard Gerald McLemore led all scorers, but he shot an uncharacteristically poor 4-for-15 from three-point range. McNally was held to 5 points on 1-of-4 shooting from the field, and Murphy Burnatowski, who had a career-high 14 against BU, recorded just one field goal for three points.

“I just thought we were out of sync on the offensive end and we couldn’t ever get into a crisp flow,” Woodward said. “Look at all the guys on our team and nobody shot the ball well today. It was a team effort across the board.”

Woodward acknowledged that the loss was a bit of a let down for his squad, but kept perspective regarding the week’s games.

“I said our last game was a great win for us, but it’s one game and this one is a disappointing one for us, but it’s also one game and we know that to get where we want to go, it’s going to take incredible consistency from start to finish.”

He added, “I don’t think we look at ourselves as a first place basketball team, we just look at ourselves as a team that’s trying to continue to get better and unfortunately today we didn’t take another step.”

Woodward’s team hopes to start moving forward again next week when they hit the road for a rematch with the University of Vermont, who handed the Black Bears their only other conference loss. Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Wednesday.

The body was found by a passerby around 5:40 a.m., according to Captain Josh Ewing of the Orono Police Department. The police are investigating the incident as a possible hit-and-run.

Bakley, 20, was a junior elementary education student. Originally from Camden, she lived off-campus on Middle Street, according to friends. While in high school, she competed on the swim team, according to Camden Hills Regional High School’s newspaper.

“This is an unspeakable tragedy, and our sincere sympathies go out to Jordyn’s family and friends,” Dana wrote in a statement. “The UMaine community is a close-knit one, and Jordyn’s death will have a significant and lasting impact on many of our students, faculty and staff.”

Police did not immediately identify the body Saturday, as Bakley did not have any indentification on her. Police are investigating the death as a homicide.

The state medical examiner’s office was scheduled to perform an autopsy Sunday. A representative said the office is not yet releasing information, pending further investigation.

Friends of Bakley said she was active in the Student Women’s Association and cared about peace and environmental consciousness. She enjoyed photography and recently had her work displayed at the Hunting House Gallery in Orono.

“All of my interactions with her were the result of her desire to do the right thing and help people,” said Melanie Rockefeller, one of Bakley’s friends.

Abe Furth, co-owner of Woodman’s Bar and Grill in downtown Orono, said he planned to donate a portion of Saturday night’s sales, totaling $320, to “whoever needs help,” whether it be Bakley’s family or friends.

“We have a lot of customers who are directly involved,” Furth said.

Furth said he hopes he can start a trend with local businesses to contribute when such events occur.

A Bangor Daily News deliveryman found the body Saturday morning and called 911, the paper reported.

“He came in and was really distraught,” Janice Nye, assistant store manager for Circle K on Main Street, told the BDN. “He didn’t want to finish his route.”

Those with information are asked to call the Detective Andrew Whitehouse of the Orono Police Department at 866-4451.

UMaine’s Counseling Center is offering help to UMaine community members. The Center can be reached at 581-1392.

Lisa Haberzettl and Mario Moretto contributed to this report.

UNH’s power play unit capitalized on 3-of-7 chances with the extra skater and maintained their lead of the nation in that category. Forwards Kelly Cahill, Micaela Long and Julie Allen contributed the power play goals, while Brittany Skudder and Kristina Lavoie scored at even strength.

UNH ( 14-4-5, 8-3-2-0 Hockey East) snapped a three-game winless streak in league games and extended their unbeaten streak in the all-time series against UMaine to 26 games, including wins in the last 13 meetings. UMaine fell to 6-14-5 (3-9-3-1 Hockey East).

Senior right wing Amy Stech scored on UMaine’s first offensive sequence, but Cahill answered midway through the period and UNH took a 15-5 advantage in shots into the first intermission. The Wildcats nearly doubled UMaine’s shot total in the game, finishing with a 40-21 margin.

UNH built a 4-1 second-period lead before UMaine freshman left wing Brittany Dougherty broke through for her third goal of the season with 1:19 remaining in the period.

Lavoie’s goal was the only scoring in the third period.

UMaine went 0-for-6 on the power play and generated just five shots against UNH’s penalty kill. UNH goalie Kayley Herman turned away 19-of-20 shots for the Wildcats and improved to 8-2-2.

Freshman Brittany Ott was the losing goalie for UMaine, despite making 35 saves. She fell to 4-8-3.

The teams will finish the weekend set and season series on Saturday at 7 p.m.

Leimgruber was selected to play for her native Switzerland at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. She left UMaine in December after playing in just six games to return to Switzerland and prepare. It will be her first Olympic Games.

“It’s a huge honor for me,” Leimgruber said Wednesday during a phone interview from her home in Basel, Switzerland. “Even to play for the Swiss National Team is a big thing here, and I’m very proud that I made the team. Years ago I would not even have dreamed about this.”

Leimgruber has participated in the past two Women’s World Championships with Team Switzerland. In 2008, the team lost in the bronze medal game in China, but secured a spot in the Olympic field with the fourth-place finish. Leimgruber’s selection for the Olympic team came after what she described as a rigorous tryout process that included extensive travel, camps and games.

“When [coach] let me know, I broke out in tears,” Leimgruber said. “I could not believe it at first. It’s an indescribable feeling.”

UMaine coach Dan Lichterman knew of Leimgruber’s Olympic aspirations when she arrived in Orono in August and said he maintained constant communication with Team Switzerland’s coaching staff. NCAA eligibility requirements forced Leimgruber to miss the first 17 games of UMaine’s season. Leimgruber contributed a goal and an assist in her six games with the Black Bears, both coming in her final weekend with the team against Union College.

“It’s a great accomplishment for her and for our program,” Lichterman said. “It’s exciting as a coach to be able to see kids that you hope you’ve had a little impact on in their success of making it to that next level.”

UMaine senior left wing and captain Amy Stech said she was penciled in on a line with Leimgruber before the eligibility restrictions were realized and was impressed with the attitude and skill of the 20-year-old freshman.

“She brought a lot to this team,” Stech said. “I know that she’s going to do awesome out there, and the team is very fortunate to have her out there.”

Leimgruber is unsure if she will join the Black Bears after the Olympics for the end of the season. She returned to Switzerland to reduce the time commitment of playing both collegiate and international hockey, and will travel to Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada on Feb. 1 to participate in pre-Olympic preparation before heading to Athlete’s Village in Vancouver on Feb. 9.

“It was a lot, and I had to do stuff here back in Switzerland, so we decided that I’m just going to stay in Switzerland until the Olympics and see how things are going,” Leimgruber said. “After the Olympics we have to see if I can go back, or if I stay in Switzerland.”

Leimgruber said Lichterman and the Swiss coaching staff made scheduling and travel arrangements easier for her and their cooperation was helpful.

“It was very nice for me to not get involved in any kind of problems, because they solved everything for me,” Leimgruber said. “They had really good conversations, which made it easy for me to focus on hockey.”

Leimgruber feels she can rely on her World Championship experience to calm the nerves of playing on the Olympic ice. Her club team in Switzerland, DHC Langenthal, also finished second and first the past two years, respectively, at the Swiss National Championships.

“I do believe that it takes out some of the nervousness,” Leimgruber said. “Just getting used to the atmosphere is pretty important.  You know what you have to deal with and who your opponents are.”

Lichterman credited former UMaine assistant coach Sara Simard for attracting Leimgruber to Orono as a late commitment last May. Simard assisted the Swiss National Team with player development and worked with Leimgruber when she was younger.

“It was kind of late in the whole deal when Darcia even decided that she wanted to try to come to the states,” Lichterman said. “Before Darcia stepped on campus, I hadn’t even seen her play.”

“I heard a lot about the American college and how life is there, and I was really excited to try that out,” Leimgruber said. “I finally got in touch with the University of Maine, and I was really happy that they gave me a chance to be a Black Bear.”

Stech and Lichterman marveled at Leimgruber’s offensive ability, which she developed in the more offense-keyed European style of play.

“She’s very offensively gifted,” Lichterman said. “She’s a kid who finds that open ice either to make a pass or to put herself in a spot to get the puck.”

“She’s an excellent shooter,” Stech said.

Lichterman said the NCAA’s eligibility restrictions made it difficult for Leimgruber to gain familiarity with her UMaine teammates and earn a consistent lineup spot.

“Once she was finally able to play, we were playing pretty well, so there wasn’t really a spot to kind of plug her into,” Lichterman said. “She kind of missed that first four-week window of being able to find her game, and find who she clicks with.”

Northeastern University goaltender Florence Schelling and defenseman Julia Marty are also members of the Swiss National team. Lichterman said international competition sometimes places a burden on college teams but emphasized the significance of the opportunity to play at that level.

“Really at the end of the day for kids, that’s where they can go,” Lichterman said. “There’s no [women’s] NHL, so it’s really those national programs that they’re striving for.”

Leimgruber expressed appreciation for the support of her UMaine teammates and coaches.

“Even though I’m in Switzerland right now, my heart is still there,” Leimgruber said. “I was so proud to be a Black Bear, and they helped me a lot. I really learned a lot from that team. I’m really, really thankful for that.”

Dean of Student Affairs Robert Dana and Vice President of Financial Affairs Janet Waldron recommended Faculty Senate implement the policy. The initiative would ban all tobacco products on campus.

Daniel Belknap — chairman of faculty senate’s environmental committee, which issued a report of concerns regarding the initiative — spoke to senate about the problems the committee found with the proposed initiative.

“I’m very concerned about a prohibition, which would disproportionately impact a special class of users and, in particular, long-term staff members who are addicted. There are people who have been addicted for decades and would be severely impacted by [the initiative],” Belknap said.

The committee also identified the “additional burden” enforcement of the initiative would place on the university, and the negative impact the prohibition may have on recruitment and retention of students and staff. The committee also recognized that smoking is still legal in the United States, and outside public buildings in Maine.

Belknap stressed the importance of tobacco awareness and the discouragement of teen smoking, but explained that it would be unwise to adopt rules that could not be consistently enforced. He also noted that the problem of secondhand smoke on campus has already been addressed with the “20-foot rule,” and that the problem now is one of enforcement.

Sen. William Halteman argued that the current initiative passed, the university would be admitting students who smoke, and then prohibiting them from smoking once on campus.

“That seems to me to be unconscionable,” Halteman said.

In other business, the UMaine board of visitors attended the beginning of the meeting. James Goff, vice chairman of the BOV explained the board’s function, which is to position the university as an “essential, relevant and valuable resource,” according to the board’s Web site.

Sen. Kathryn Slott asked for clarification of the BOV’s position between the board of trustees and the university,

“Do you advocate for the campus to the board of trustees, or [do you] represent and enforce what the board of trustees wants on the campus?,” Slott asked. “Or is it a balancing act between the two?” she asked.

“We do report to the trustees,” Goff said. “We generally have the opportunity to meet with them once a year — that tends to be rather superficial, frankly — but our real role is to support this institution and establishment.”

Goff said every department at the university is “full of interesting stories,” and that the university should do more to get those stories to the students, the university and Maine.

Senators also questioned the educational quality and the relatively unregulated approval process for online courses. During the Fall 2009 semester, 277 online courses were offered at the university.

“I think the technology is changing very, very fast, at the current time,” Sen. Harlan Onsrud said. “I think ten years from now, that if we’re offering a course … we’ll be able to broadcast … I don’t think we have much of a choice and need to embrace it,” he said.

Sen. Craig Mason cautioned against a universal endorsement of online education.

UMaine President Robert Kennedy addressed concerns about online courses, saying the “mission and the quality of our courses are a distinctive hallmark of UMaine,” but that online education could be a source or revenue to help curtail budget shortfalls.

Ontario born freshman Murphy Burnatowski recorded a career-high 14 points to lead all scorers, and fellow Ontario native Mike Allison converted a lay-up off an inbound pass as time expired to give UMaine a 56-54 win at Alfond Arena.

Allison was only on the floor for seven minutes, and the game-winning field goal was just his second on the evening, but his heroics were not as unlikely as the stat sheet might indicate. Coach Ted Woodward said the team had been practicing a play to utilize Allison’s six-foot-nine frame and enormous wingspan for such a situation.

“We got our first option and we made the play,” Woodward said. “This time of year you’re always working on stuff and we were fortunate enough to work on that in the past couple of days, and you never know when you’re going to need to use those things.”

Despite its effectiveness, however, the play was not executed quite as flawlessly as it was drawn up.

“There was supposed to be some arc on that pass,” said a smiling Junior Bernal, the lone senior on the team who made the inbounds pass to Allison. “I had a big guy in front of me so I just threw it up there and Mike did a great job by catching that ball. Mike definitely saved me.”

“There was a lot of arc on that pass,” Allison said with a laugh. “So I was waiting there for a second and as soon as it came I tried a little quick tip and I missed, but I got the ball back, bobbled it a bit, and then put it in.”

The heroics, however unorthodox or unexpected, could not have come at a better time for UMaine (14-6 overall, 6-1 America East), which is off to their best start in conference play in school history.

After Bernal (eight points, 10 rebounds, four assists) fed junior guard Terrence Mitchell (10 points) for a fastbreak lay-up to put the Black Bears up 53-43 with five minutes remaining in the game, the Terriers clawed back.

In the final five minutes before Allison’s game-winner, BU erased that deficit by buckling down defensively to limit UMaine to 0-for-5 shooting from the field, while UMaine missed 3-of-4 free throws over that span.

When BU forward Jeff Pelage scored off an offensive putback to tie the game with four seconds remaining, it looked like the game was headed to overtime with all the momentum in the Terriers’ favor. UMaine, however, pushed the ball up the floor and called a timeout with 2.9 seconds to draw up an inbounds play.

This game was a big one for the Black Bears, whose impressive resume was only missing a win against a conference power, but Woodward and his team remain humble.

“I don’t look at games as benchmark games,” he said. “We look at a game and go out there and try to win it. People asked me before this game, ‘Is this a statement game?’ I don’t know how many times we have to make a statement, we aren’t trying to make a statement, and we are just trying to win the game that’s ahead of us and learn from the game that’s behind us.”

Woodward added that his team has done a great job “having tunnel vision” and approaching each game with the same mentality.

“They’re just doing a good job of focusing on the game ahead of them and trying to take care of business in that one. And I give these guys credit because that’s really the mark of a mature group.”

And while this team is buffeted by young players like leading scorer Gerald McLemore and the two Canadian freshmen who Woodward says have made “tremendous” contributions, they are led by Bernal, their lone senior.

“I can’t say enough about Junior and the success he’s having right now,” Woodward said. “He’s a wonderful representative of our program. He’s a great story and we would love to see the ultimate prize at the end. He’s done a great job leading these guys.”

An uncharacteristically emotional Bernal, who was named the America East Player of the Game for his all-around efforts, made several big rebounds and hustle plays that won’t show in the stat sheet.

“I was really into the game,” he said. “I felt like everybody was into it. Everyone was working so hard, I knew that any situation was going to be a tough one so I knew we had to stay strong. That’s why I was so emotional out there.”

“I was really hyped about this game,” he added. “But I take every game seriously.”

Woodward was also pleased by the crowd of 1,500-plus that attended the game.

“We had a great crowd tonight. It’s wonderful having all those students come out and our guys fed off it,” Woodward said. “There was a lot of energy in the building and that’s extremely exciting.”

UMaine dropped a 56-55 decision Saturday afternoon to UMBC to fall into a first-place tie with Stony Brook University.

Two recent independent analyses of the system’s finances, one commissioned by the Associated Faculties of the Universities of Maine and the other by the University of Southern Maine student senate, asserted the system has large cash reserves it is unwilling to tap into.

“Any suggestion that the University of Maine System is broke or out of money is preposterous,” wrote Howard Bunsis, professor of accounting at Eastern Michigan University, in his analysis for USM’s student senate.

Without directly responding to either analysis, Pattenaude sought to tamp down concerns the system is not using its reserve funds while the economy is in a downturn.

“You cannot make long-term commitments using one-time money,” Pattenaude wrote. “This is tantamount to buying a car because you have enough savings to pay the first few months’ payments, but not enough income after that to cover the ongoing costs.”

Pattenaude also stated that much of the system’s funds are restricted, meaning they are reserved for a specific use such as scholarships.

According to the system’s most recent annual financial report, it has nearly $132 million worth of restricted funds and $83.6 million in unrestricted funds. Restricted funds are down $14.7 million from 2008-2009, but unrestricted funds are up $6.4 million. Pattenaude said the system is currently aided by federal stimulus funds, which can not be counted on in the future.

“The next direct challenge, following the current year budget cut of $6 million, will be the permanent loss of $5.9 million in stimulus funds after FY [fiscal year] 2011,” Pattenaude wrote. “Stimulus funds are helping us handle the current budget cut, preserve jobs, pay the bills, and hold tuition increases down.”

“We cannot accept the idea that state revenues will return quickly to former levels and that enrollments can be increased with ease,” Pattenaude wrote in the e-mail. “Nor can we simply ignore the costs of retiree health care or deferred maintenance for several years.”

The system is projecting flat enrollment for the next several years, according to system spokesperson Peggy Markson. The system’s enrollment has decreased 4.3 percent over the last five years.

Bunsis, a certified public accountant accountant, said Wednesday that universities generally use overly pessimistic projections and that enrollment at institutions of higher education generally increase when the economy is in trouble.

“I think the [University of] Maine System has more financial flexibility than they are claiming,” Bunsis said. Bunsis based his findings on expendable assets, which include unrestricted and some restricted assets, he said.

The accountant rejected the assertion that the system is in trouble. “I really think that’s unfair,” Bunsis said. “I really think that borders on irresponsibility.”

The system spends too much money on administrative costs and should cut in those departments before furloughing or cutting faculty, Bunsis said.

“The University of Maine System is not putting enough dollars into education,” Bunsis said.

In 2009, 258 thefts were reported on campus — an increase from 2008 when 208 thefts were reported. Theft at Fogler Library and Hilltop Commons was down, with 10 reported thefts at the library in 2009 and 12 in 2008. Hilltop lost $4,300 worth of dishware in fall 2009, as opposed to $6,300 the previous fall.

Officials from Dining Services, Student Affairs, the Rec Center and Public Safety all said that theft at UMaine is a “crime of opportunity.”

Police Chief Noel March said the declining state of the economy also played a role in increasing incidents of theft in 2009.

“We’re finding that in all jurisdictions, theft is on the increase in Maine,” March said. “Our campus community will reflect the community at large in that respect.”

March identified the Rec Center as the No. 1 hotspot for theft at UMaine. Thirty-one thefts were reported at the Rec Center in 2009 — more than double the number reported in 2008. He said the most valuable items stolen on campus were bicycles and wallets. Officials at the Rec Center said iPods were also stolen.

Officials at the Rec Center said that while there are security cameras in the facility, police records indicate 98 percent of thefts occur in the locker rooms, where cameras would be illegal.

David Mahan, director of operations for the Rec Center, said all the thefts were the result of Rec Center users leaving possessions in unlocked lockers or on benches.

The increase in theft reports in the Marketplace and the rest of the Union comes despite the installation of security cameras in January 2009. Public Safety received reports of 16 total thefts last year — seven thefts in the Marketplace and nine throughout the rest of the Union. In 2008, there were 14 total thefts.

Technical issues prevented Black Bear Dining staff from using security cameras until fall semester of 2009. The cameras are not watched around the clock, but are used to verify the identities of shoplifters.

Associate Dean of Student Affairs Kenda Scheele said that cameras are not necessarily for prevention of theft, but that they were used to aid in the identification of thieves.

“The cameras are more safety than security,” Scheele said. “They were mostly to make sure the building was secure in making sure people aren’t getting in who shouldn’t. They weren’t necessarily put there to keep people from taking things.”

Scheele said that while the cameras’ purpose may not be theft prevention, they did serve as a deterrent and to help identify thieves after thefts had occurred.

Kathy Kittridge, director of dining operations, said Tuesday that one of her employees pointed out a Marketplace patron acting suspiciously. She reviewed the tape and claims to have identified someone stealing a drink. She is working with Public Safety to identify the alleged thief.

“We were experiencing a lot of theft,” Kittridge said. “Quite frequently, when we catch people in the marketplace shoplifting, they’re eating before they purchased [the food] or putting things in their backpacks,” Kittridge said. “We put in the cameras kind of as a deterrent.”

Kittridge said an advertising campaign accompanied the cameras to promote awareness of the consequences of shoplifting. She stressed the seriousness of shoplifting, which can culminate in a criminal record.

“Sometimes there seems to be a sense of entitlement — ‘Well, I pay a lot for this.’ People think they can take things,” Kittridge said.

Scheele said the Campus Safety Committee is considering installing more cameras in the Union near the information desk, the commuter lounge and the hallway leading toward the Wade Center for Student Leadership. She said the cameras are likely to be installed within the next two years. The cameras might help identify thieves, but they exist for other reasons as well, Scheele said.

“We’ve had damage done to the bathroom on the first floor,” Scheele said. “That men’s bathroom has been vandalized twice in the past year.”

Steps are being taken in the Rec Center to prevent theft. Director of Campus Recreation Jeffrey Hunt said the Rec Center will continue to use posters inside and outside locker rooms to educate members and nonmembers alike on how to protect themselves and not be victims of theft. Mahan and Hunt also said there were plans in the works to put automatic locks on the lockers to prevent Rec Center users from being vulnerable. But Hunt and Mahan said that Rec Center users should exercise more caution with what they bring to the center, as well as making sure it’s secure.

“Just recently I took 15 iPods to Campus Safety,” Mahan said. He said these were recovered from the locker room after Rec Center users left them behind.

Scheele said this kind of common sense is key in preventing theft on campus.

“The biggest thing in these theft cases is not to be a victim,” Scheele said. “These are crimes of opportunity, and not everyone on campus is part of our community.”

Dylan Riley contributed to this report.

Even more disconcerting is that the messages reach young boys and girls, according to authors Lyn Mikel Brown, Sharon Lamb and Mark B. Tappan, developmental psychologists who explore this trend among boys in their new book “Packaging Boyhood: Saving our Sons from Superheroes, Slackers, and Other Media Stereotypes.” The book is a follow-up to the 2006 “Packaging Girlhood,” authored by Brown and Lamb.

On Tuesday, Brown and Tappan came to the University of Maine to discuss the book and their experiences conducting the research necessary to write it. In the book, they explore how media and marketing target boys as they grow up and how media messages and stereotypes affect boys’ identities, choices and expectations about what it means to be a boy and a man.

“This really isn’t a book about boys per se,” Tappan said. “It’s a book about the cultural landscape in which boys find themselves. It takes a broad look at a boy’s life, their vulnerability and what they are exposed to.”

Brown and Tappan, who share a home and have a daughter together, are professors of education and human development at Colby College. They said the trio’s motivation for writing a book on boys was the amount of public interest generated during the “Packaging Girlhood.”

“Throughout our research and engagements with the public we kept hearing, ‘What about the boys?’ So we figured we might as well start a new project and include Mark,” said Brown.

“From our work we know that boys take more risks. We know that they suffer more injuries, because they take part in violent acts more often than girls. And alcohol and drug abuse is higher among boys, so we really wanted to know if boys are naturally drawn to this lifestyle or does the media help to invoke these types of inclinations,” Tappan said.

The group gathered their information by conducting an online survey of more than 600 boys in different age groups. They asked a host of questions about general interests and got hands-on experience by going to malls, playing popular video games and talking with teachers, store clerks and counselors.

Brown and Tappan said Tuesday they expected much of what they encountered during their research, such as the contrast of blue for boys and pink for girls, but some results were unexpected.

“We really paid attention to the different kinds of marketing techniques used to sell products. One that proved to be constantly pervasive instilled a sense of artificially increased anxiety,” Tappan said. “The idea is to make the boys feel like they aren’t measuring up, make them feel as though they aren’t good enough because they need the next over-the-top toy, costume or clothing line to achieve perfection and coolness.”

In the book, the authors argue that toys like Nerf or Hot Wheels use this tactic in product design and advertisements. An example of the exaggeration provided is the Nerf N-Strike EBF 25-Blaster — which looks very similar to a military issue M-60 — or the new Hot Wheels set with nine crash zones. Further examples included ultra-padded superhero costumes to give the effect of a bulked up body or over-the-top colognes like Axe, which promise to attract more girls than a preteen can handle.

“What concerns us about these over-the-top techniques are the mixed messages boys receive. They tell the boys that they’re in control; they make it happen, when in reality they aren’t. At the same time, toys like these also encourage kids to be out of control, to be absolutely wild. Not to mention the violence, aggression and revenge some of the other superheroes and action figures promote,” Tappan said.

Tappan remarked Tuesday on the over-the-top technique and its goal of instilling a sense of power and coolness; Brown stepped in to answer the question, “What if you can’t be the best?”

“What surprised us during the research even more than these techniques was this concept of a slacker,” Brown said. “The marketers have created a counter-weight within the culture to poke fun at the intensely masculine stereotype.”

These burgeoning characters — like Jack Black in “The School of Rock” or Will Ferrell in “Old School” — somehow still manage to become success stories even though they are lazy.

“This slacker stereotype proved to be everywhere, and it really astonished us. It’s definitely a save-face alternative to not matching up to those ideals of perfection,” Brown said. “The idea of a slacker has really been cultivated within the boys medium. It has become the I don’t care position; it’s an identity now.”

The authors agree that at some point boys will more than likely grow out of this impressionable stage, but the book itself is being marketed as a tool for parents and teachers to help children become more media literate in a world constantly filled with countless media messages.

“I think a lot of what is out there naturally freaks parents out, but the best thing they can do is remain calm. All it really takes is real conversations about real issues. Listen to what children are interested in, introduce the concept of a stereotype and differentiate between what is right, what is wrong and what is real,” Brown said.