I didn’t pay him much attention. But after about an hour, my jaw dropped. I suddenly recognized this guy, and felt guilty for not having done so sooner. He was my friend Ryan, and he had shaved.

This is a big deal. You see, when I first met Ryan, he was 18 years old and had one of the biggest, greatest beards I’d ever seen.

The kid was pretty hardcore to begin with. When we met, he regularly sported thrashed jeans, bullet belts and T-shirts with band names like “Toxic Holocaust” or “Cephalic Carnage.” The fact that he sported a thick, black Castro-esque beard only added to the metal mystique.

The kid became legendary for his beard. Even though he was one of the nicest guys you’d ever want to meet and played guitar better than most of us could ever dream to, most people remembered Ryan for his epic beard.

After my non-recognition guilt subsided, I told Ryan that I would write about him in this column sooner or later. I wanted to know what it was like to go from monstrous beard to smooth skin so quickly.

Ryan said his shave happened by accident after letting his girlfriend try to tame his beard.

“I got a really bad trim from my girlfriend, so I decided to just go full-on and shave it off,” Ryan said. “Then I found out she had trimmed it badly on purpose so I would shave.”

What he found under all those whiskers surprised him. After shaving, Ryan found that his face had changed a lot since he last saw it unadorned. His chin was a different shape, for example, and he hardly recognized himself. And he wasn’t the only one.

“People don’t even recognize me anymore,” Ryan said. “The people I’ve met who are more acquaintances than they are friends sort of feel like this person they knew has disappeared.”

Not that blending in to a crowd bothers him a bit. Ryan said that being so easily recognizable was not his style, and that the beard was becoming such a big part of his persona it was almost too much to handle. He said people felt like they had a right to his appearance.

“Any kind of trim was met with resistance,” Ryan said. “It was almost like ownership of the beard was not mine. It became a sort of social thing.”

While he’s happy with the decision to shave, Ryan said he only remembers his beard fondly.

“Having a beard is pretty sweet,” Ryan said. “It’s a way of expressing masculinity without being overbearing.”

Christopher Girouard, 20, of Sebago, pleaded guilty April 9 to two counts of Class D assault and settled out-of-court to a 90-day jail sentence, $850 in restitution and a $1,000 fine. He was booked in Penobscot County Jail, where he will serve out his sentence, later the same day.

The student was charged in connection with a fight that broke out at the Phi Gamma Delta (FIJI) house on January 23 between Girouard — a member of Delta Tau Delta — and a FIJI brother. Police say Girouard stabbed the victim three times in the back. The victim was taken to Eastern Maine Medical Center, where he received 22 stitches and was released later the same day.

Girouard had been free on unsecured bond since his first appearance in court in January.

“Every discussion that we have in the state of Maine about lack of funding relates to the fact that we’ve lost 32,000 jobs,” Otten said.

He believes the Maine Legislature responded slowly to the nationwide financial crisis, leaving state budgets haphazardly cut — which, in turn, affected the University of Maine System.

“The cuts that we should have made 12 or 24 months ago, we’re being forced to make now. Instead of having them made rather judiciously, logically over a period of time with the ability to sort of respond to them, we’re now faced with the fact there literally is no money,” Otten said.

He said UMaine’s Advanced Engineering Wood Composites Center is “the gold standard” for the system’s involvement in Maine’s economy.

Otten said Maine could be a nationwide leader in industries like biomedical, energy and wood technology with help from the system, but budget issues must be addressed before expanding.

“My route to attacking this is a longer route than just being able to say, ‘We’ve got to find some other place so we can borrow some money’ or ‘We need to find somebody that we’ve got to tax in order to fix this in the short term,’ because borrowing money and borrowing our way out of the recession that we’re in isn’t going to work,” Otten said.

The candidate said Maine’s economy relies on a cohesive populous from Kittery to Madawaska, and believes many people from highly populated Southern Maine may not understand the benefits of rural University of Maine System campuses, such as those in Presque Isle, Fort Kent and Machias.

“Until you go to those schools, until you meet with those students and you see what value for education they’re getting for the dollars spent, it’s hard to understand how much value is being achieved in some of these rural colleges we’ve got,” Otten said. “They’re important parts of their society — they’re the fabric of those towns.”

Otten said job revenues will directly impact the future of the system, especially under his administration.

“We have the ability to go forward, correct the mistakes of the past, but create the jobs of the future so that the state can have the revenues so that we can properly educate the kids that we have in the state of Maine who want to go to college, and have a university system that is attractive enough so that kids from out of state will want to come to Maine to get educated,” Otten said.

The candidate lives in Greenwood, a town of about 800 in Oxford County. Otten was the chief executive officer of the American Skiing Company — which owned Maine ski resorts Sugarloaf USA in Carrabassett Valley and Sunday River in Newry — until he resigned amid a budget crisis in 2001.

The company, which dissolved in 2007, also owned resorts in New Hampshire, Vermont and Utah.

Otten bought Sunday River in 1980 and said he created anywhere from 1,200 to 1,400 jobs – 400 of which, he said, were full-time. He says his experience creating Maine-based jobs resonates with Maine voters on the campaign trail.

“Jobs are the No. 1 issue, taxes are the No. 2 issue and welfare reform is the No. 3 issue,” Otten said. “That hasn’t changed one iota wherever I’ve gone.”

The candidate, who is the president of Maine Energy Systems, a Bethel-based company encouraging renewable energy for homes and business, advocated a liquefied natural gas plant “somewhere on the coast of Maine.”

This would be a move to cheaper electricity, which he said would benefit citizens and the traditional potato industry of Northern Maine.

“It’s available in North America and we don’t have to buy it from a foreign country, so the dollars stay in the United States,” Otten said.

According to opensecrets.org, Otten has given $5,000 to Maine Democratic candidates for Congress since 2008, including Reps. Chellie Pingree and Mike Michaud – while giving $12,900 over the same period of time to Republican politicians, including Sen. Susan Collins and Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown.  He said the contributions to Democrats have been no more than business decisions.

“Whenever I give money to a Democrat, it was for the specific purpose of being able to foist my conservative business agenda on them,” Otten said. “If I had the opportunity to influence a Democrat, I wanted to influence them to my way of thinking.”

Otten was a minority owner of Major League Baseball’s Boston Red Sox from 2002 to 2007, and counts among his greatest successes the two World Series championships the team won during his tenure. He also says his plan saved the team’s iconic stadium, Fenway Park, from possible replacement.

“I hired [current Red Sox President and Chief Executive Officer] Larry Lucchino on the basis of saving Fenway Park and I sold the rest of the [ownership] group on the idea and Major League Baseball that Fenway Park was a venerable institution that was perhaps the most noteworthy monument in sports,” Otten said.

The candidate said revenue driven by improvements to the stadium allowed the Red Sox to put championship teams on the field. He said another championship team is in store for this season.

“I have Red Sox blood running through my veins,” Otten said. “We’re going to win it all.”

“It’s something that we do in the native community,” said Minquansis Sapiel, an administrative assistant at the Office of Multicultural Programs. “We have a lot of socials because that’s what brings us together.”

Sapiel helped organize the social with NPA to celebrate native culture. Attendees will celebrate native traditions with music, singing and dancing. This year’s event is co-sponsored by the Student Heritage Alliance Council.  The event is open to all and although there is no attendance fee, proceeds from donations and purchases will go to NPA.

This year’s vendors, such as Chayak Crafts from the Bangor Mall, plan to sell Native American merchandise and art. Some of the vendors are NPA members. Food will also be sold by NPA.

“Part of our group’s goal is to spread the word about native culture.  We’re really hoping that people come,” said Brianna Finnegan, UMaine SHAC representative.

NPA was started this year by a group of individuals who wanted to bring back a native student organization, Sapiel said. The group’s focus is on community activism, community involvement and celebrating native heritage, said Justin Umel, a graduate intern who works at the Office of Multicultural Programs.

In an unexpected twist, an all-women’s drum group has been hired to perform for the occasion.

“In the native tradition it’s usually just men.  So to have an all-women’s drum group is a big deal because there aren’t a lot of them out there,” Sapiel said.

NPA hopes to make the native culture more prominent on campus.

UMaine has hosted native socials in the past, according to Sapiel.

“They used to have them a long time ago, in the ’90s,” she said.  “There hasn’t been a social on campus in 10 years or longer.”

This will be the first student-run social at the university since the 1990s, according to Umel. He hopes this event will be the first of many and said NPA plans to host future gatherings.

The Class of 2010 Council is making sure seniors can celebrate in style.

Saturday kicked off Senior Week with “Chow Down and Drink Up,” an event behind Fogler Library offering free food and $1 beers.

Co-sponsored by the Senior Skulls, the event was open to all seniors, but only those 21 and older were allowed in a gated drinking area where ID’s were checked by Public Safety.

The first 100 participants received free burritos from Verve. Black Bear Catering provided the beer and other food as well.

Senior Week is a tradition for students at UMaine, but this is the first year a class council has hosted the events. Traditionally, a senior council is formed at the beginning of the year.

Kathryn Wetherbee and Cory Davis, social co-chairs of the class council for the last three years, have been in the preliminary planning phase for senior week since last fall. Along with the other members of the council, they wanted to keep the celebration alive.

“There are certain traditions we wanted to keep intact,” Davis said. Wetherbee added that they tried “to add our own spin and get people behind it.”

Overall, they just want seniors to take pleasure in their last days at UMaine.

“It’s really a kind of a way to celebrate however many years you’ve been here,” Davis said.

“Chow Down and Drink Up” was only the kicker for a weeklong series of events the council will sponsor over the week.

Although events are planned for each day of the week, highlights include “Wine and Cheese Night” on Monday and a “Tavern Trot” on Thursday.

“Wine and Cheese Night” is a traditional senior week event and is co-sponsored by All Maine Women. Last year, Wetherbee and Davis helped with the class of 2009’s event. They expect about 100 people to attend the event at Buchanan Alumni House.

The “Tavern Trot” is expected to be a larger event.

The trot will begin at The Bear’s Den in the Memorial Union, where seniors can congregate to begin a night out on the town with their classmates. They will then travel to downtown Orono bars, stopping at The Roost, Margaritas, Woodman’s Bar and Grill and possibly the Bear Brew, depending on the bar’s opening date.

“We want to make it a special night out on the town in Orono,” Davis said. “We encourage students to go out en mass and have fun.”

“It’s never too late to meet people,” Wetherbee added.

Students participating in the trot will receive a passport. At each location, they will get a stamp and be entered for a prize after the event.

To keep from overwhelming each business in the chain of events, times at each place overlap.

“We have clear lines of communication with each establishment to have a safe, enjoyable time,” Davis said.

Each stop will also host a specific event to celebrate senior week. Events include a wing-eating contest, a “Stein Song” competition and a costume contest.

The week will wrap up with “Pride Day,” where seniors are encouraged to wear class of 2010 apparel and show their enthusiasm for graduation. Wetherbee and Davis will sit out on the mall with a cooler full of popsicles, rewarding seniors who show their pride with a sweet treat.

Although the Class of 2010 Council is excited to host events for their own class, they hope to work with classes that follow and help them take control of Senior Week in the coming years.

“We want everyone to have a better experience every year,” Davis said.

Schedule:

Monday, April 26

Wine and Cheese Night

7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Buchanan Alumni House

Tuesday, April 27

Karaoke and Trivia

7 p.m. to 11 p.m.

The Bear’s Den

Wednesday, April 28

Maine Day

Thursday, April 29

Tavern Trot

7 p.m. to 1 a.m.

Downtown Orono

Friday, April 30

Senior Pride Day

“You have to lotion up or the paint will stick,” said event co-organizer Alissa Brown.

“We are going to celebrate Earth Day by showing off what Mother Nature gave us,” said co-organizer Mellissa Kierman before undressing.

The organizers said this year’s event was among the most successful they’ve seen in their time on campus.

“We got a lot of response this year,” Brown said. “We wanted as many people as we could get.”

“Yeah, we started ahead of time. It’s always been kind of like a secret thing,” Kierman said. “It’s pretty exhilarating. You’re like, ‘I’m naked. I’m butt naked and green and this is fantastic.’”

Riders ducked away from prying eyes onto the unpaved Allagash Road before the event to undress and apply the provided green paint—perhaps their only moment of bashfulness all day.

“The worst part is taking off your clothes,” Kierman said. “Then, it’s all good. It’s so much fun.”

The group of green jaybirds went for a joyride from Allagash Road to the Alfond Arena. They then did a loop around the mall, circled freshman residence halls and headed back to the center of campus for a grand finale.

The procession was female-dominated but had approximately five or six men, according to Kierman. One particularly unashamed male led the procession pedaling with open legs.

When the party reached the mall on both occasions, more than a hundred students — some sitting in front of the library, some stopping on the sidewalk — let out thunderous cheers. Reactions to the nude trek were very positive.

“I’m just really proud of them. It takes a lot of courage and it’s a great celebration,” said Katie Flynn, an elementary education student.

An innocent family of five — a mother, father and three small children — sat down at a picnic table on the mall to eat lunch just as the crowd picked up.

The kids gave puzzled looks at the bikers when they went by just a few feet from the table. The family was not there for the occasion but said they enjoyed it nonetheless.

“We did just pick the kids up from preschool,” said mother, Tamara Levitsky, a research assistant in the UMaine European Fire Ant Lab. “It doesn’t bother me, though.”

Serena Minutolo, a second-year biology student who rode with the group, said the event was a great way to celebrate her 20th birthday.

“It’s a good way to start off the day and it’s just going to keep getting better and better,” she said.

She added that police could only escort the group on campus — so they decided to not go onto College Avenue or Park Street.

Deborah Mitchell, crime prevention specialist for UMaine Public Safety, said the Earth Day ride “is a tradition of the campus.” Kierman estimated that the event has been going on for about 30 years.

“We’re here to make sure things go smoothly,” Mitchell said, adding that in other years there were complaints. This year, she received none.

A female participant who asked not to be identified said the crowds were unnerving at times.

“I could see people take pictures. That was the only scary part, but other than that it was great,” she said.

By the conclusion of the ride, the group’s Earth-friendly message seemed to have hit home with at least some of the spectators. Junior Thomas Hill described the event as a “fantastic tradition” he hopes will continue “year after year.”

“I used to hate Earth Day,” said third-year English student Eric Lovejoy, adding, “I don’t anymore.”

Shaina Dennis, a third year mass communication student, began working at her father’s food distribution company when she was in eighth grade. She has worked seven days a week there and at a Bar Harbor restaurant for the past three summers and said working long hours often prohibited her from enjoying leisure time during her breaks.

“I only had two days off the entire summer — one being my birthday,” Dennis said.

Dennis had her first interview the last week of February and was offered an internship in the beauty-fitness department at Marlo Marketing & Communications, which has offices in Boston and New York City.

The internship is unpaid, so she is looking for an evening job in a bar or restaurant.

Dennis will join the ranks of college students who spend their summer as an intern, working for free or a small stipend with hopes of obtaining relevant experience and networking with potential employers.

“I started to look for an internship because I thought one would be a great way to not only help build up my résumé, gain experience, but it’s a great way to network and meet industry people,” Dennis said.

According to Cathy Marquez, assistant director of the University of Maine’s Career Center, internships are crucial to finding a future job. She said companies will often “test drive” potential employees with internships.

Not all students spend their summers working for income or industry or experience. To meet the demands of a Division I athletic program, most athletes must spend their summer training.

Jeff Dimmen, a defenseman on the UMaine men’s ice hockey team, will train at home in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Dimmen spends five days a week lifting weights, conditioning and performing agility exercises at a National Sports and Conditioning Association gym. Three afternoons per week he travels to the Air Force Academy to skate. He will also work at hockey camps and clinics in Colorado.

“All my friends back home are hockey players, so we all work out and skate together,” Dimmen said.

He said that all members of his team have to spend their summers working out, much like a job. Coaches usually provide players with a training regimen, but some will follow their own plan, like the one the National Sports and Conditioning Association created for Dimmen.

Students who do not work may be in the minority, but for that lucky few, life is good. For graduate student Christopher Gendron, the reason for not working is simple — he can afford not to.

After earning his undergraduate degree in 2005, Gendron worked for three different companies full time. During this time, he was able to save enough money so he would have “the luxury of not being the poor grad student.” He saved enough so he could live comfortably during graduate school while he was studying food science and human nutrition.

During his undergraduate years of college, Gendron worked as a secretary and as a summer camp counselor. This year he will be traveling to Arizona where his parents and brother live while working on parts of his thesis for school.

“This is going to be the first time in five years that I really don’t have to do anything. I am looking forward to that,” Gendron said.

Owen Smith, chair of the university’s New Media Department, is already vice chair of the Maine State Arts Commission, making this his second gubernatorial appointment. His appointment to the film commission is an unpaid three-year term, with a maximum of six years if the next governor reappoints him.

Smith said he will likely recommend to the film office and its director, Lea Girardin, that Maine help the film industry grow within the state instead of simply advertising itself as a convenient location for outside projects.

Girardin said current projects are generally smaller, low-budget independent films but that the office needs to attract more large-scale projects, such as reality TV shows or national commercials.

“One of the things that I think the state of Maine needs to do is more consistently and more strongly market itself as a location for film production,” Smith said.

Currently, the film office offers a 10 percent reimbursement for non-resident wages and a 12 percent reimbursement of resident wages for people working on a film project in the state, and Maine law offers additional tax credits for film projects shot in the state. To qualify for either incentive, film projects must spend at least $75,000 in production costs.

While the film office has attracted more than $215 million of direct and indirect spending by film projects within the state since 1996, Smith said Maine needs more incentives to entice film producers to film here.

Cameron Bonsey, an independent blogger who has been involved in the Maine film industry since the 1990s, said Smith has “done a terrific job with the University of Maine.”

Bonsey, who attended UMaine from 1978 to 1982, said the state and the film office need people like Smith. He agreed Maine needs bigger incentives to bring film producers to the state and cited “Bag of Bones,” a movie based on a Stephen King novel, as one recent example.

The producers of “Bag of Bones” came to Maine in 2009 to talk to Gov. John Baldacci about a 25 percent financial incentive to shoot their film in Maine, a policy employed by several states. Despite approval from the Maine Legislature, the proposal died in appropriations because of lack of money.

Producer Mark Sennet and director Mick Garris eventually decided to film the movie in Alaska, according to Bonsey.

“[Film producers] are not going to hang around and wait for an answer. They’re going to move on to the next place,” Bonsey said.

Georgia is a leader in incentives, with a 20 percent tax credit for filmmakers and an extra 10 percent if they include an animated Georgia state logo in their project. According to Bonsey, Maine is not doing enough to reach out to filmmakers.

“We need to explore more kinds of those economic incentives,” Smith said, “by looking at other places and finding out what works,” Smith said.

The director of the Maine Film Festival, Shannon Haines, said the film office is very helpful. She said the film office keeps filmmakers connected with the 13-year-old festival and sponsors some of its various competitions and events.

“They’ve really been a driving force behind tax credits for filmmaking in Maine,” said Haines.

Smith said he hopes the commission can help the film office generate incentives that are reasonable for the state and which work to bring film production to Maine. He said economic incentives are the focus, followed by locations and support systems such as tools and equipment.

Smith said Massachusetts is Maine’s biggest competitor for film production companies’ attention, but he believes New England as a whole should work together to attract film producers. He said that Plymouth Rock Studios, Massachusetts’ newest filmmaking facility scheduled to open this year, is an incentive Maine could not hope to match but could still be beneficial.

“If we can dovetail or piggyback on that facility in Massachusetts, and provide location possibilities and other kinds of access and use of certain kinds of additional technologies, that facility in Massachusetts can help us,” Smith said.

“Maine definitely has a lot of area locations that do attract films,” Smith said. “But they want to be somewhere where they can easily access woods, environments to shoot in or mountain scenes or those kinds of things.”

Smith already has ideas for how to improve the film office and has high hopes for his tenure.

“Without looking backwards, I think that we can do things better in the future,” Smith said.

Officers received report of a stolen bike at 2:37 p.m. April 22. The white and purple bike, unknown make and model, had been left at the north end of Androscoggin Hall earlier that day. When the owner returned, it was missing. The estimated value of the bike is $400. There are currently no suspects.

Help my Haro

A student reported his or her bike stolen outside Knox Hall at 6 p.m. April 21. The bike had been locked in the bike rack between 1:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. When the student returned, the bike was missing but the lock was left behind, intact. The bike is a white, 21-speed Haro, valued at $500. There are currently no suspects.

4/20 gone wrong

Officers performing a routine check at Cumberland Hall on April 20 were approached by someone at 11:47 p.m. claiming two male subjects smelled strongly of marijuana. The officers followed the two subjects and stopped them after they got into a vehicle. The two appeared to have some sort of substance that was affecting their behavior, and the smell of marijuana was evident. Officers searched the vehicle and uncovered a marijuana pipe and grinder, which were confiscated.

The two subjects cooperated and admitted to smoking marijuana. Cameron LaBonte, 18, was issued a summons for possession of drug paraphernalia. The other subject was referred to judicial affairs.