In recent years, it’s been Lohan’s numerous run-ins with the law that have made her the brunt of late-night talk show comedy, and the laughter doesn’t stop there — LiLo, with her frequent visits to the pen, also manages to make our criminal justice system look like a joke in itself.

Recently, after violating conditions of her probation by failing a random drug test, Lohan was sentenced to jail time yet again. Less than 24 hours of her sentence underway, she was released from prison, having met the $300,000 bail, another get-out-of-jail-almost- free-card in a deck full of lucky hands for the actress.

It seems that most of the time, when Lohan is reprimanded for her disorderly behavior, the consequences aren’t nearly as dramatic as they would be for someone who lacks celebrity status. By placing terms of bail at $300,000, the judge knew Lohan would have no problem coming up with the sum and would quickly be released from jail just in time to prepare for another night on the town. By being so lenient in the case of Lohan, the judge is only surrounding the judicial branch of our government with questionable motives and a lack of efficiency in its attempts to crack down on disgraceful behavior that traverses all areas of class.

Celebrities are not above the law and it’s about time this is reflected in our current court system. Although it is nearly impossible to set bail at a price a celebrity like Lohan is unable to meet, there needs to be a new standard to keep social elites behind bars just like their more common, under-fortuned counterparts.

Were someone of less social status caught in similar situations as Lohan, they could guarantee themselves a significant jail sentence and frequent drug tests, as law enforcement would be chomping at the bit to put them back behind bars. On the basis of equal rights, everyone should be given the same treatment, whether it be in good times or bad. By making exceptions to the law for people who are exceedingly affluent, the system bestows upon itself a less than favorable light.

Growing up in such a society where celebrities could hypothetically get away with murder is by no means an environment in which children should be raised. Each time you turn on the news, you are bombarded with stories like Lohan’s, where crime comes off as rendering little consequence. It is important for every individual to be held accountable for their actions, but it is highly unlikely the average citizen is going to take such responsibility when they see others getting away with crime so casually.

Yet again, this is an occasion where our criminal justice system could step up and make a difference. By holding celebrities accountable for their offenses, it would be sending forth a message to citizens that it is wrong to commit such crimes and by doing so, there are prices to pay no matter how often your mug appears on the big screen.

As Americans, we sometimes wonder why substance abuse and other issues became the problems they are today and how to subsequently amend these problems. Were people to see there are steep consequences to be paid for disobeying the law, I think a decline in drug possession would ensue. Judges and other court officials need to start implementing drastic measures on offenders, especially those of popular standing, so the message of staunch but equal reprimand for all illegal actions by anyone who performs them will be widespread.

We should no longer have to put up with the shenanigans of Lohan and her party girl friends, particularly when she’s got a debt to pay to a justice system too star-struck to uphold American ideals of justice.

A week in the virtual academic life of the average UMaine student commonly consists of four portals — MaineStreet, Blackboard, FirstClass and WebCT.  Each system was comprised and adopted because of their differing and necessary capabilities. For example, where one program could provide a service of instant communication with all those affiliated with the university, it could not schedule classes or offer learning modules with automatic grading aptitudes.

Hence, the introduction of the four fantastic learning technologies, each with its own unique superpowers to rescue college students and professors campus-wide from the frustration of the hard-copied, handwritten curriculum that plagued the better part of academia before 1998.

But where at one point in time each system was imperative to scholastics at UMaine, today one program in particular proves useful in fighting against the future, rather than for it.

The vitality of WebCT, which places $45,600 on the university’s tab every year, has come into question recently when it was uncovered that the new Blackboard 9.0 system offers the same exact proficiencies. In an interview with The Maine Campus, (“UMaine to ditch WebCT for Blackboard, citing cost savings,” A1)Executive Director of Information Technologies John Gregory, confirmed that not only do Blackboard and WebCT function “very much the same,” but that WebCT, since 2006, is in fact under the ownership of Blackboard.

Even though WebCT has been slated to make its exit before this time next year, it’s hard to ignore the blatant disregard of fiscal responsibility allowed through the co-existence of two costly programs for years. Educators, who could have transferred their class modules over to Blackboard manually at a much earlier dates with a bit of overtime, chose instead to take the lazy route and waited for Blackboard 9.0 to do the transfer for them.

Obviously, the lethargic choices of a few have cost the university, and therein its hardworking students, far more than it should have.

Although the damage has already been done, there is a lesson to be learned about excess — everyone is subject to its allure, but only the foolish continue along its path.

If this university wishes to conserve its image as an intellectual institution, it should not follow blindly behind the fool, which revels in the mistakes of the past.

I have heard the previous comments incessantly, and I am reminded with similar frequency of the deep-rooted discrimination very much alive in this country, especially after the U.S. Senate voted against repealing don’t ask, don’t tell, which prohibits openly gay individuals from joining the military.

On Sept. 21, U.S. senators were given the chance to put an end to a chapter of discrimination plaguing this country, and subsequently threw this chance to the wind after 56 voted in favor of repealing DADT, while 43 voted against. 60 votes were needed to grant gays the same treatment as any other American.

Among their reasoning for this upholding of Plessy v. Ferguson principles, those in Washington cite political motives for voting against the repeal of DADT. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, stated, “I think it’s the right thing to do, but I cannot vote to proceed to this bill under a situation that is going to shut down the debate,” as Collins wanted more control over amendments.

Samuel Freeman Miller, an associate judge in the United States Supreme Court during the late 1890s, considered himself an abolitionist, yet voted to uphold private discrimination, specifically in the civil rights cases.  Miller asserted that banning discrimination in public transportation or public accommodation was unconstitutional, as the 14th Amendment need only be applied to individual states. I imagine Collins and Miller would have a most agreeable conversation over coffee if he were alive today.

Others in today’s society candidly subscribe to the belief that openly gay individuals in the military threaten unit cohesion.  Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, one of the most vocal opponents of the DADT repeal, insists gays should wait until the Pentagon releases a report regarding the impact of allowing gays to openly serve in the military. But the report, based on a survey sent out to 400,000 American troops, has raised many concerns among the supporters of the repeal.

Firstly, the survey uses terms like “homosexual”, already establishing a negative connotation. When asking someone who is gay how they identify oneself, chances are likely that the response will be, “I’m gay,” or “I’m a lesbian,” most certainly not: “I am a homosexual.” The term homosexual is most commonly used by close-minded characters like Fred Phelps, head pastor of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas, who, if God hadn’t found him first, would have probably been the next subject of corporate media, citing UFOs over his trailer-park.

Anita Bryant, who redundantly declared that gays are the disease of this nation because “homosexuals cannot biologically reproduce children; therefore, they must recruit our children,” also utilized the term with an enthusiasm that wasn’t all too friendly.

The survey also asks questions of an entirely demeaning nature, such as how a “homosexual” affects a unit’s morale and ability to fight in combat or complete a mission, and even how showering with a suspected “homosexual” effects a soldier’s ability to do his or her duty.

With such deliberate disregard of respectful labeling and uniformed, sensationalist questioning, I cannot be alone on deeming this survey as blatantly skewed. If you ask a racist how comfortable they would feel working with an individual of a different race while labeling them with a derogatory term yourself, the racist is going to say at the very least that they’re uncomfortable.

Subsequently, if the racist is asked, anonymously, how desegregation of public schools affects town morale, the responses you read will be based on deep-rooted prejudices, not facts.

Similarly, if a homophobe or an individual who disagrees with the gay “lifestyle” is asked how likely they would be to recommend the military to others if homosexuals were openly serving, the chances are quite strong the responses will be negative.

The tragedy here is that American policy grants irrational people the clout to decide a minority’s rights.  Our country’s values of freedom, equality and the pursuit of happiness, are meant for all Americans and should not be selectively doled out to whomever the majority deems appropriate.

How can we so easily distort this? A message that should permeate in the thoughts of all citizens — America is not always about you, and it does not consist solely of your beliefs and wants.

After the disappointing news of the Senate’s rejection of repealing the DADT policy, America dons the image of a two-faced fool yet again. In this country of ours, we will continue to boast to others about the freedoms we possess, while some have not yet reaped the benefits of all these freedoms.

Still wearing the visages of morals and speaking proudly of ethics we will appear to glisten, yet once undressed, hypocrisy can be seen abounding.

Erin McCann is a fourth-year biology student.

I first arrived at this conclusion as I was soliciting local Orono businesses for donations to my sorority’s charitable gala. Armed with solicitation letters and unwavering confidence in the importance of my cause, I made my pilgrimage down Mill Street, stopping at every restaurant and shop I passed. My triumphant notions soon turned to guilt, however, as every owner and manager asked me a question I was not prepared to answer: “What has the university done for us?”

This question, at first listen, seemed like an easy one. As college students we consider our campus the center of this community and ourselves its principle residents. While it is true that Orono is a “college town” by nature, we are wrong in assuming we are responsible for the existence of its businesses. In fact, we often fail to support it in spirit and in deed.

Of course establishments like Pat’s Pizza, Bear Brew Pub and Margaritas flourish due in large part to the patronage of college students’ but what about businesses that don’t benefit from the advantage of a well-known name or a liquor license? What about Lissus Pizza or The Store Ampersand? How many students can say they have even glanced at the doorway of one of these businesses, much less walked through it? I would bet that of the few students who have, half only went in to ask for a donation to their own club or cause.

We can’t expect the small businesses of Orono to support us in our endeavors when we continue to overlook them in our daily lives. We grab coffee, order pizza and do our shopping at the same chain stores again and again, even making the trip to Bangor before we will take a chance on a local business. The college students on this campus have the influence and the discretionary income to make a difference in our local economy if we make just the smallest changes in our daily, weekly or monthly routine.

You may be wondering why you have never heard of many small businesses in the Orono or Old Town area. You may even have driven by and wondered aloud to your friend what that Ampersand place is. That can be explained by the banishment of outside advertising from the university campus. Businesses can’t distribute coupons or flyers to students the way they used to, at least not officially. The most successful businesses in the area have found a way to get around it – note the Verve sticker on the laptop, thermos or notebook of the person next to you.

I am not recommending that students stop shopping at Hannaford or eating at Pat’s Pizza, only that we all make a conscious effort to diversify our purchases. Quality goods and services can be found just five minutes from campus, in places you might not expect. Gather a group of friends and try something new together. Stop somewhere different for your morning (or afternoon or evening) caffeine boost. Forget the mall for a weekend and explore downtown Orono or Old Town. You will save some money on gas and do business with people who genuinely appreciate hard-earned cash – it might feel good to be more than the next person in line for once.

I plan on making some changes in my own life and spending habits so that next spring when solicitation time rolls around, I can hold my head high as I fundraise for the causes that matter to me, knowing I will get what I give in life. I hope you will do the same

Jennifer Vincent is a fourth-year communications student and the Features Editor for The Maine Campus.

On April 17, Joshua Gilmore, at the time a second-year economics student, left the Sigma Chi Heritage House on College Avenue around 6 a.m. and went missing in the woods along the Stillwater River for close to eight hours.  He reportedly had been searching for a nonexistent white cross similar to the one on the fraternity’s crest when he became confused and hypothermic, leading him to wander from the Heritage House to an area near Dewitt Field, the Old Town municipal airport and back.

When Gilmore did not return after 15 minutes, the brothers of Sigma Chi began searching for him, calling UMaine Public Safety for assistance around 8:10 a.m. A massive search party was quickly launched, which included the help of no less than 10 emergency agencies and a group of roughly 80 student volunteers.

Around 2:30 p.m. that day, a dress suit-clad Gilmore was found walking out of the woods near the Steam Plant parking lot and was taken to Eastern Maine Medical Center for treatment. Dean of Students Robert Dana told The Maine Campus that Gilmore was “cut up” but otherwise in good physical condition considering the ordeal he had gone through  (‘Missing UMaine student found,’ April 19, 2010).

Gilmore said after preliminary press reports began to emerge, every student on campus seemed to know or have heard about him and his trek. He said the common reactions he received from fellow students tended to be negative but he had no choice other than to accept his sudden and unexpected celebrity.

“Personally, I had to embrace the negativity,” Gilmore said. “Suddenly people knew who I was and newspapers were being slapped in front of me with people asking, ‘Did you read this? Did you read this?’”

To Gilmore, the incident remains an example of when extensive media coverage only worsens a situation. While medical and rescue personnel felt his condition warranted a trip to the hospital, Gilmore felt the move was unnecessary.

“It’s a ridiculous, unavoidable situation that was blown out of proportion and misrepresented. I knew that I would be fine,” he said.

A university ruling labeled Sigma Chi’s initiation procedures as hazing following an investigation headed by David Fiacco, director of UMaine’s Office of Community Standards, Rights and Responsibilities in Student Affairs. The Maine Campus reported that practices such as sequestering the pledges in the Old Town home of two fraternity members and making them perform chores other brothers were not asked to do factored into the decision (‘Fraternity Violated Hazing Policy,’ April 26, 2010).

“That distinction of pledges vs. non-pledges — it’s part of that slippery slope,” Dana said. “The possibility exists that you could then make the pledge do another behavior that isn’t so palatable or that could be problematic,” he added.

Sanctions against the fraternity resulting from the ruling included exclusion from the Heritage House until mid-September and a period of disciplinary probation until May 31, 2010.

Despite these punitive measures against the fraternity, stemming from an official investigation, Gilmore said he believes the university community and administration understands the incident was unintentional.

“The university realizes that it was an accident,” he said.

Even though the initiation ritual caused a great deal of negative publicity for the fraternity, Gilmore was accepted as a member of Sigma Chi just before school ended in the spring. When asked about the initiation process, he explained the spring ceremony had been especially impassioned due to the nature and consequences of the events.

“In the spring, it was a very emotional initiation,” Gilmore said. “We’re reviewing everything and seeing what we can improve on to make initiation safer so nothing like this happens again.”

A statement released by Zachary Hunt, president of Sigma Chi, said that while some of the initiation procedures have been altered as a result of the incident, the core mission of the fraternity remains untouched.

“Obviously, the principles which we stand for and teach remain unchanged,” the statement said. “However, some of the methods and exercises we employ have been adjusted, revised or replaced after this incident.”

Hunt wrote that the incident has given the fraternity insight into the issue of hazing on the university campus, what constitutes abuse as opposed to tradition.  He said the fraternity is helping other organizations across campus evaluate their ceremonies and procedures, helping to eliminate issues that could develop into a similar problematic situation.

“We are always learning and constantly improving our organization, and we will continue doing so,” the statement said. “The incident that took place last April was regrettable, but we are using it as an opportunity to teach members of Greek Life about the potential imperfections within their current chapter operations.”

Rob Stigile contributed to this report.

After the university received $7 million in state appropriation funds specifically intended to address safety problems and modernize the building, officials close to the plans put the stamp of approval on the overdue project, according to Steve Abbott, UMaine’s interim athletic director.

The overall vision, Abbott said, is to give the Field House back the atmosphere and school spirit it once enjoyed. Currently, the Field House serves as the indoor home of the men’s and women’s track and field teams, as well as a training facility for several other Black Bear sports programs. It is also where the men’s and women’s basketball teams practice.

Renovations will include a face-lift for all athletic grounds within the building, such as the basketball court, the track and the gym. Other plans include the addition of office space inside the complex and superficial touch-ups to existing spaces.

Abbott said the university plans to obtain the $7 million still needed to start the project through a sustained series of fundraising efforts throughout Maine.

“We’ll seek fundraising across the state, but it will also come from smaller donors — our network of alumni will be especially important,” he said. “We hope that by touching a chord with any alumni who can remember when the Field House was more emblematic of school spirit that we’ll be able to gather significant support.”

A plaque on the corner of the building dates the Field House to 1933. In its fledgling years, it was nothing more than a dirt field.

In recent years, the building has lost its place among the glory of UMaine athletics.  Once an uproarious hub for sports and events on campus, Abbott said today the building is in dire need of renovations. He said the current run-down condition of the facility may even be affecting the success of the basketball teams, both of which hold practice in the Memorial Gym and official games in the Alfond Arena.

“In the ‘70s, Sports Illustrated released an issue that ranked UMaine basketball as having the fifth best home-court advantage in the country,” he said. “Now, they don’t even practice where they play their home games.”

Aside from restoring a historic on-campus landmark to its former glory, renovations to the facility will also help alleviate some scheduling issues that have arisen between the basketball and hockey teams.  Currently, the men’s and women’s teams of both basketball and ice hockey share the Alfond Arena for games, and the ice hockey teams need practice time in the arena. This situation has proved especially problematic as both sports’ seasons take place during the winter months.

“They’re splitting time between games and practice with the Alfond Arena and sharing that space with the hockey team,” Abbott said. “For scheduling, it’s a logistics problem. We want to remove the burden from the equation and give our basketball teams back that home-court advantage.”

In addition to benefits for the basketball team, Abbott said there were a number of factors involved in the decision to proceed with renovations. He said many of the athletic personnel working for the various teams are in cramped trailers behind the Field House. After the renovations, these offices would be moved into the Memorial Gym complex.

Abbott also noted the number of university and community events held at the facility. The renovations would leave participants with a better impression of the university and its athletic programs.

“There will be a lot done when the project actually gets going. It’s really going to benefit the UMaine community, but the goal is to elevate the Field House to where some of our newer buildings are at,” Abbott said.

The bridge, currently under construction on Herrick Road in Belfast, is the third of its kind to be constructed in Maine. There are contracts with the MDOT to construct three others in the state.

Officials have praised the technology as being cheaper, easier to install, longer lasting and better for the environment than traditional bridges.  According to the AEWC’s website, aewc.umaine.edu, the technology possesses the capability of tripling the lifespan of a traditional bridge, which would normally last 40 to 70 years.

“It’s cost-competitive, there’s no doubt and it should last much longer than a typical steel or concrete bridge and essentially eliminate bridge maintenance,” Nate Benoit, project manager for the MDOT, said. “Right now, we’re in the process of further developing the technology, with experience, we expect to come up with more innovative ways to use the tubes and to decrease construction time.”

Benoit also said the project is starting to take shape nicely as construction continues and thus far there have been no major setbacks.

“Bridge in a backpack” technology is considered cutting-edge.  It was invented by scientists at AEWC and introduced by the center’s director, Habib Dagher, in February 2009.  It uses carbon fiber tubes that are inflated, shaped into arches and infused with resin before being moved into place.  The tubes then are filled with concrete, producing arches that are harder than steel, yet resistant to corrosion. Finally, the arches are overlaid with a fiber-reinforced decking and buried under several feet of dirt and sand.

When an arch is deflated, it fits into a sack roughly the size of a hockey equipment bag, which is how the technology got its name.

UMaine students who were on campus last year should be familiar with the bridge-in-a-backpack technology: The failed arches that were part of Cloke Plaza’s original design were the carbon fiber tubes. AEWC funded part of the Cloke Plaza project, but its instructions for filling the tubes with concrete were not followed. The contractor filled the tubes from the bottom rather than from the top.

“The technique being used to fill the arches didn’t work the way that we wanted it to work,” Dana Humphrey, dean of the College of Engineering, told The Maine Campus (‘UMaine bridge technology collapses,’ Oct. 30, 2009).

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

This technology has also been used in other areas of the state. The first bridge-in-a-backpack was erected in Pittsfield, Maine in 2008. The Neal Bridge is 35 feet long and spans the Tarn River.

Advanced Infrastructure Technologies in Orono is aiding in the implementation of the bridges across the state. According to a Bangor Daily News article published in February 2009, AIT was founded by original investors from the Neal Bridge project in order to further develop the bridge in a backpack technology. It is now in charge of licensing and marketing the structures for AEWC.

The bridge being built in Belfast will cost nearly $1.1 million, with the construction accounting for most of it at $837,167.  The materials will cost $245,000.  The bridge is expected to be complete by June 2011.

Many students have experienced the flurry of nerves as they rush to complete online coursework, mired in books and papers spread in a swath across the table, or the moment of doubt when, fingers poised over the keyboard, they forget whether a class uses WebCT or Blackboard.

Next year, this will not happen.

“Next year at this time, there will be no WebCT,” said John Gregory, executive director of Information Technologies at the University of Maine.

The University of Maine pays $45,600 annually to use WebCT, an online coursework software system the university has utilized since 1998. The University of Maine system pays a yearly contract to use Blackboard, a similar software system, and distributes it among the system’s seven universities.

Although UMaine has not been responsible for the cost of both software systems, students have expressed frustration over the similarity between the systems and over the perception that neither offers a feature that sets it ahead of the other.

“I think they’re both really easy to use, but I think it makes sense to have one program instead of variations that confuse others,” said Hannah Hudson, a third-year international affairs student with a Spanish concentration. “For me, I understand them. I can work the program, but each is a different set-up. For first-years coming in, they haven’t used them, so they’d have to learn different programs to take classes.”

Hudson said that she has taken approximately 10 classes “with a Blackboard or WebCT component where they’re posting discussion, notes, or videos. Some had both the FirstClass conference and the additional programs.”

Rachel Keating, a third-year animal science student with a pre-veterinary concentration, said she has taken about the same number of classes with an online component as Hudson.

“I think the first time I used Blackboard was sophomore year, and I thought it was just another version of WebCT,” Keating said. “It was inconvenient. My problem is remembering all the usernames and passwords for Blackboard and WebCT.”

With the elimination of WebCT, students will no longer be confused.

“I’m eagerly anticipating it,” Gregory said, explaining the savings from eliminating WebCT. He said UMaine has paid for the WebCT contract for this school year, which will expire in August 2011. After that, students will no longer use WebCT for online coursework.

Gregory said IT has decided to move away from WebCT due to advances made in the Blackboard software.

“They’ve redesigned the product so this new version, Blackboard 9.0, is a new program,” Gregory said.

IT has monitored the evolution of the Blackboard software since 2006, when, now parent company, Blackboard Inc. bought WebCT, Inc. for $178 million, according to a 2006 press release from Blackboard Inc. Since the merger, Blackboard has been developing its software, and Gregory believes the software has reached a point where the university can now rely solely on this program.

In the five fiscal years since the merger, UMaine has spent $228,000 on WebCT. Rather than switch from WebCT to Blackboard immediately after the merger, IT waited until Blackboard had developed a way for professors who currently use WebCT to transfer their online classes to the Blackboard software.

“It was only last year that Blackboard released Blackboard 9.0, which provided migration tools for courses developed in WebCT,” Gregory wrote in an e-mail. “Prior to that, there was no method for migrating existing WebCT courses to Blackboard.”

“I’ll be delighted when we get out of the $45,600 WebCT license next year,” he said.

FirstClass is another software system that UMaine students and staff use for online communication. Many UMaine professors use its conferencing aspect both to post and receive assignments, to distribute lecture notes and to maintain communication with their students.

According to Gregory, more than 450 UMaine courses have FirstClass conferences; however, Gregory does not believe that FirstClass could support online classes to the degree that Blackboard can.

“FirstClass isn’t exactly a learning management system,” Gregory said. “Some people are just using it to communicate, some are sharing notes and some are posting syllabi.”

Blackboard offers discussion boards for classmates to use when discussing a course, and students and faculty can send messages to each other through its internal messaging service.

UMaine pays $75,400 each year to provide FirstClass to students, faculty and staff. Gregory said the university currently has no plans to explore the possibilities of using Blackboard’s internal messaging system in lieu of FirstClass.

“That’s a question for a bigger group in the academic community to decide,” Gregory said. “It’s not unreasonable. It’s a question we ought to ask ourselves on a regular basis.”

While the university is not currently planning to eliminate the use of an e-mail system separate from Blackboard, it is possible that a different e-mail system could be used. Each UMaine student currently has two e-mail addresses, a FirstClass e-mail and one hosted by Google. In the future, Gregory said, UMaine e-mail might be limited to the Google addresses.

“It may be that Google mail will become more robust to provide some of this collaboration beyond just e-mail, and that might present the opportunity to end UMaine’s need for FirstClass,” Gregory said.

Gregory emphasized, however, that a move away from FirstClass is solely speculative at this point and is not expected to happen soon.

“There is an IT discussion group at the system level that I am [a member of],” said Gregory. “We do have discussions of what we’ll do. Clearly it’s not a UMaine decision. We’re one of seven campuses. We have a vote, but we don’t dictate.”

“I think we’re pretty wedded to Blackboard at this point,” Gregory said, stressing that a change in e-mail, either to use of Blackboard’s messaging system or to the sole use of Google e-mails, is not going to happen in conjunction with the elimination of WebCT. “[Blackboard] has become a better product, so I don’t see us moving away from that anytime soon.”

“I think it would be useful, obviously for the convenience. At the same time, I wish more teachers would use [Blackboard],” Keating said. “I actually like WebCT. I didn’t find it hard to use. I don’t use Blackboard that much, but if it’s easy to convert, it’s easy enough to learn.”

Several reports received by the University of Maine Police Department indicate that an individual wearing a dark sweatshirt either riding or pushing a bicycle has been following students late at night near the center of campus. The reports spurred university spokesman Joe Carr to release a UMaine safety alert Monday afternoon.

“University of Maine Police have received several reports of suspicious activity during the late evening hours near the center of campus,” Carr wrote. “These reports indicate that a person riding or walking a bicycle has been following pedestrians. The person is described as a middle-aged man wearing a dark colored sweatshirt.”

At this time, students have not described any physical contact with the subject and no threats of violence have been reported. Still, this individual’s actions have members of the campus community spooked.

Kaitlyn Hinton, a third-year music education student, said she was followed by the alleged stalker on Sept. 21. She had been walking near DPC sometime around 10 p.m. when she noticed a hooded figure with a bicycle who seemed to be watching her from the shadows.

Hinton said when she passed the individual, he looked directly at her before stashing his bike in the bushes nearby and following her around the corner of the building near Shibles Hall. She then ran into DPC and called UMaine police, hiding in the building until officers arrived to escort her to Patch Hall, where she lives.

When she eventually left DPC, Hinton noticed the suspect’s bike had been moved, indicating to her the individual had remained in the area after she had sought refuge inside of the building.

“I stayed in there until the cops came, and when I left the bike was at the other entrance,” Hinton said. “It’s sketchy because he’s hanging around the same place.”

Madelyn Kearns, a third-year mass communication student and opinion editor at The Maine Campus, reported a similar experience to UMaine police Sunday night. After leaving the Memorial Union late that night riding a Razor scooter, she noticed someone wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt and riding a bicycle follow her down Belgrade Road toward the Belgrade parking lot.

Hinton estimated the individual’s height to be 5 feet 8 inches, while Kearns said she assumed he is male “because he was bigger.”

Much like Hinton’s experience, Kearns said the individual waited for her to pass and then emerged from a shadowed area before following in “the exact same path.” Kearns noted that no interaction between her and the suspect took place, however something in the atmosphere just seemed amiss.

“You just know when you’re being followed,” she said. “You get that feeling that something was wrong.”

In both cases it seems as if the suspect only intended to follow the students, not interact with them in any way. While Hinton indicated the individual moved the bike after she had run into DPC, she said the suspect never made any contact with her, verbal or physical. Kearns, who did not seek refuge in a building and was left alone once she reached her car, said there was ample opportunity for contact but that none occurred.

“He’s on a bike and I’m on a scooter. The scooter can only go as fast as I can push it with one leg. He’s on a road bike, he could easily have caught up with me if he wanted to, but he just followed me,” Kearns said.

At the moment, it seems as though the suspect is only following female students around campus, however Kearns said this may only be happenstance.

“I was wearing a sweatshirt and a hat that night, and my hair is short,” she said. “I would have looked like a dude.”

Lack of contact or physical threats aside, Hinton expressed concern for her safety following the incident.

“It definitely feels weird walking around campus now,” she said.

If you or anyone you know has had contact with the suspect or witnessed suspicious activity around campus late at night, please contact the UMaine police department at 581-4040 or umaine.edu/police/campus-eyes; emergency calls should be directed to 911, as always. A police escort while walking on campus can be arranged by calling 581-WALK.