On Thursday, Nov. 3, student representatives from the University of Maine UVote and Democracy Dinners joined in the Memorial Union to provide information on both voter registration and how to hold an open and honest political discussion.

The event was hosted by first-year student Madeline Howorth, a student liaison for Democracy Dinners and research fellow for the nonprofit Global Partnership for Civic Engagement, and third-year Tia Blejeru, the UVote ambassador for UMaine. The event provided a space for students to learn more about facilitating open and honest conversations with family and friends and ask questions about the voting process.

According to Howorth, this tabling event is meant to inform possible participants about what a Democracy Dinner entails.

“For hosting a Democracy Dinner, you’re basically inviting your friends, family and connections to talk about politics in a non-confrontational manner. [Democracy Dinners] is apolitical and nonpartisan, so we’re more about facilitating communication and conflict resolution rather than pushing agendas of any particular kind. The only agenda we have is pro-democracy,” Howorth said.

With the current political division among voters, Howorth highlights that now is the time for movements like this to start conversations about the democratic process and making your voice heard.

“I think we’re the first Democracy Dinner effort in Maine right now,” Howorth said.

They added that the program usually targets key swing districts. Maine, with four electoral votes, is usually seen as a swing state.

As we near the midterm election season many UMaine students are getting ready to vote for the first time. The event attracted dozens of students from different majors and political affiliations and Howorth and Blejeru were able to answer several questions and gather supporters for Democracy Dinner efforts.

“I feel really passionate about voting and getting young people out to vote,” Blejeru said.

The group’s focus is on college students who may be voting for the first time while bringing awareness and attention to the election this Tuesday.

“I hope to see people out at the polls on Tuesday,” said Blejeru. “Make your voice heard, especially for others who may not be able to do that. It’s really important to stand up for not only what you believe in, but making sure everyone is represented in our government.”

Questions about holding a Democracy Dinner can be directed to Madeline Howorth at madeline.howorth@maine.edu, while civic engagement questions can be asked to Howorth or Blejeru at teodora.blejeru@maine.edu.

We use the internet every day for almost everything we do — classwork, communication, shopping, entertainment and more — but how much can we trust the artificial intelligence (AI) that powers our favorite programs? That was the focus of a recent University of Maine webinar that explored secure AI, its trustworthiness and how it can benefit us.

The Secure AI webinar, held on Friday, Oct. 6, was moderated by Julia Upton, associate professor of mathematics at Husson University, IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) Maine Section Chair and IEEE Maine Communications and Computer Societies Joint Chapter Chair.

This was the second webinar in the fall series on artificial intelligence which focused on the trustworthiness of AI and how we can build more reliable news and social media patterns.

The webinar featured speaker Dr. Yuhong Liu, an associate professor in the Department of Computer Engineering at Santa Clara University in California. She completed her bachelor’s and master’s at Beijing University and received her Ph.D. from the University of Rhode Island in 2012. Her interests include trustworthy computing and cybersecurity.

Liu presented her slideshow entitled “Human Factors in Trust-Based Attacks / Defenses in Online Social Networks.” Her presentation focused on the forms and effects of misinformation, and how AI can be used to help build trust on the internet.

A huge part of mending negative relationships with AI is to understand the incredibly diverse audience of internet users — something Liu refers to as the “human effect.” People on the internet are coming from a wide variety of perspectives, and artificial intelligence can be weaponized to track IP addresses and internet activity in order to promote misinformation and fake news. Online reputation systems, like reviews, can help build trust online but are still easily manipulated through fake ratings or buying likes and comments.

To combat this, Liu focuses on human solutions for an AI problem. Increasing or adding registration fees for commonly used websites can deter hackers and attackers who prey on free domains. Paying close attention to IP addresses also helps analyze user data and statistics and use a time sequence to identify when malicious activity occurs. Liu also uses a proposed quantile repression model, a complicated mathematical formula to calculate influential factors on online user choices.

“My study particularly focuses on the propagation patterns and differentiating [between] real news and fake news,” Liu explained.

Fake news and misinformation are a huge concern, especially in social media platforms where many turn to get their news from. Misinformation tends to have multiple hubs of user engagement, which allows it to grow and fester. Real news sites don’t have the audience that fake news sites have, causing an imbalance in information out on the internet.

One of Liu’s research projects at Santa Clara University is AMICA – Alleviating Misinformation for Chinese Americans.

“The goal of this project is to build a repository about the Chinese language-based disinformation and misinformation,” Liu explained. “On top of that, we aim to develop a group of automatic tools, or semi-automatic tools, to detect misinformation in the early stage.”

AMICA is one of the many ways that AI can help counter misinformation and untrustworthy aspects of the internet. Dr. Liu’s work focuses on how to keep internet information reliable and dependable —  something that is vital in an increasingly virtual world.

The event was co-sponsored by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and the Maine Communications/Computer Societies Chapter. To find future events, go to https://ai.umaine.edu/webinars/.

David The University of Maine hosted a webinar, “Building Community — University Partnerships for Health Equity in Downeast Maine,” on Friday, Sept. 16, 2022. The seminar discussed how faculty, students and community members can come together to promote healthcare equity in rural communities.

The Downeast Health Research Collaborate (DHRC) is based at the UMaine at Machias (UMM) campus in Washington County, and their location that lacks equitable access to healthcare was the main subject of the webinar.

Roughly 20 postgraduates, undergraduates and faculty members make up the DHRC, hailing from Orono’s flagship campus, UMaine at Augusta (UMA), UMM, the University of Southern Maine (USM) and the UMaine Cooperative Extension. They are supported by over 20 partner organizations and agencies and boast a handful of pertinent research demonstration projects backed by grant-funded research.

The volunteer faculty leadership consists of many members. Tora Johnson is one of the webinar’s key speakers and the co-chair of UMM’s environmental and biological sciences division. She is joined by Katherine Weatherford Darling, a sociologist at UMA; Lois-Ann Kuntz, a psychology professor at UMM; Dr. Tara Casimir, an assistant professor of nursing at USM; Bridie McGreavy, an associate professor of communication and journalism at UMaine; Dr. Debra Kantor, an associate Extension professor; and Dr. Linda Silka, a senior fellow at the Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Sustainability Solutions.

Johnson, Darling and Casimir along with Gray Jones, a Ph.D. student at UMaine, presented details about research projects they worked closely with. Johnson discussed a recently-finished project titled “Injury, Substance Use & Health among Fisheries Harvesters in Downeast Maine,” which concerns the need for equitable healthcare access among Downeast fishing communities, especially pertaining to overdose rates. The project utilized a mixed-methods study detailing the cycle of injury to pain to substance use and eventual overdose.

Five ongoing demonstration projects were presented to the public at the webinar: three taking place in Washington County, one in Hancock County, one in Casco Bay and a statewide demonstration project. These projects focus on a wide variety of healthcare ranging from mental health support for youth with psychosis disorders to hands-on experiences that help nursing students earn accreditation while encouraging them to stay in rural communities.

The DHRC’s vital research projects are supported by a wide variety of financial supporters and partners.