11/22

10:23 p.m. Stoop kid smoking on the stoop

Dakota Tarbox, 19, was given a summons for possession of a usable amount of marijuana. An R.A. reported two people smoking marijuana on the front steps of Androscoggin Hall. When officers arrived, they found Tarbox and an 18-year-old male smoking on the steps. The students were also drinking beer. Officers found more beer and marijuana after searching Tarbox’s bag. The other student was referred to Judicial Affairs for the incident.

10:58 p.m. Burn cruise bust

Summonses were handed to Jama Ahmed, 20, and Abdi Abdilatif, 20, for illegal transportation of drugs by a minor and illegal possession of a usable amount of marijuana respectively. Ahmed was driving a gray Saab past Cumberland Hall with four other passengers and pulled over to let some of them out. Three officers, who were on foot patrol in front of Cumberland, smelled a strong odor of marijuana coming from Ahmed’s car when he drove by. When Ahmed stopped, the officers approached the car to investigate. Only one of the five people in the car was a UMaine student. Abdilatif was found to be in possession of marijuana and was given a summons; Ahmed was also summonsed for transportation. Because neither of them are students at UMaine, they were also given trespassing notices that expire May 14.

11/23

12:09 a.m. Hancock hooligan

Adam Hastings, 19, was given a summons for possession of alcohol by a minor. An R.A. in Hancock Hall reported an intoxicated male on the second floor. Officers responded along with UVAC, who were already in the building to assist with another drunk student in an unrelated incident. Hastings was found to be in possession of a 30-pack of Pabst Blue Ribbon. A search of his room also uncovered several stolen road signs.

10:51 p.m. Frat night gone wrong

Jessica Derosche, 18, was given a summons for possession of alcohol by a minor. An officer on foot patrol near the Kappa Sigma fraternity saw Derosche and her female friend leaving the house. Derosche was struggling to make it down the steps and was being helped along by her friend. The officer approached the two and found Derosche to be visibly intoxicated. Derosche was given the summons after admitting to being drunk. Her 18-year-old friend was not drinking, but was referred to Judicial Affairs for being in possession of vodka. Kappa Sigma was also referred to Judicial Affairs for furnishing alcohol and a place to consume alcohol for minors.

Jon Ouellette

Sports Editor

The quality of the water we drink, bathe in and wash our clothes with is something many Americans take for granted. With excess levels of cancer-causing chemicals found in their water, some citizens from Orono and Veazie think it’s past time we start paying more attention to it, and past time the public is made aware of the problem.

About 15 citizens from the two communities attended the Water District meeting last Tuesday to discuss trihalomethanes, or THMs, a carcinogen that has been running rampant in the municipality’s water at least since the EPA mandated testing of water quality in 2004.

In addition to the fact that residents are ingesting and absorbing carcinogens on a regular basis, one of the biggest concerns for folks around this community is the apparently shoddy testing methods being used by the district.

“What I find unusual about this, as a former science teacher, is that the pipe you tested the water from is 16 inches in diameter,” said Suzanne Malis-Andersen, a Veazie resident. “The water that comes from my house does not come from a 16-inch diameter pipe.

“My health is at issue. All of the residents’ health is an issue here,” she added. “I want to know what’s coming out of my faucet. Come into our houses; test our water. Then we’ll get accurate numbers here.”

The water in Orono and Veazie has been in compliance with EPA guidelines through the first three quarters of 2013, but some residents believe those numbers may not represent the real picture.

According to Orono-Veazie Water District records, the water that is tested comes from a hydrant that is flushed prior to testing, something a few citizens have labeled “a Band-Aid approach” that doesn’t actually cover anything and may just be a cover up to “pass the test,” so to speak.

“To suggest to us that having a testing site in a high-flow, large diameter pipe area is covering the waterfront, if you will, and the variability of THM, is unacceptable,” Veazie resident Joan Perkins said. “To flush the day before a test and then send in the water? That’s disingenuous. For 88 days of that quarter, I was drinking that dirty water that was in the pipe. But on Day 89 you’re flushing, and on Day 90 you’re testing, and you’re telling the state that everything’s good. That, to me, is a lie. It’s a dangerous public health lie. The residents of Veazie are unwilling to accept this into the future.”

The EPA mandates that all tested water come from a faucet, not a high-diameter pipe.

Another concern is the lack of disclosure the public has received from the OVWD, who serves 6,000 water outlets in the area, with regards to the high levels of THMs in their water.

“They’ve really kept it under their hats,” Perkins said. “They’ve chosen to take the course that if they’re not required to notify, they don’t notify. I think they owe us all notification. We will only begin to see progress once people begin to be notified so that they can protect themselves with things like filters on their faucets and showers.”

According to information compiled from Water District reports from around Maine communities, the yearly average of THMs — which have been linked to liver, kidney, bladder, colon and rectal cancer as well as nervous system problems — in Orono and Veazie has exceeded the upper limit allowed by the EPA almost every year since 2004.

Chlorine, the main disinfectant in this municipality’s water, and other disinfectants combine with organic matter to create these THMs.

Although the goal is to not have any traces of carcinogens, the maximum amount of THMs allowed in the water is 80 parts per billion. According to the OVWD records, water in the municipality tested in at 89ppb in 2005, 96ppb in 2006, 80ppb in 2007, 96ppb in 2008, 89ppb in 2011 and 84ppb in 2012. The next highest THM average of any municipality was in Wiscasset, who tested in at 26.37ppb in 2012.

Water tested at the University of Maine’s Memorial Union in 2009 was found to have double the upper limit of THMs allowed by the EPA at 177ppb, but that information was not disclosed and not included in the OVWD’s report to the state because it was not an official OVWD testing site at the time.

As of Oct. 1 of this year, the Union was added as a second testing site in addition to the Veazie Community School, which has served as the primary testing site since 2004.

The district’s response to this multi-faceted issue has been one of progress.

“I want to make it clear that we are in compliance, and we have been and the state does understand where we do our testing,” OVWD Chairman Scott Hall said. “That doesn’t mean we can’t evaluate those things and look at them closer, but we are in compliance with the regulations that we are required to operate under.

“It has not been ignored,” he continued. “We’ve hired consultants; We continue to try and refine the treatment process. One of the reasons we have this issue is because of the chlorine. Well, one of the reasons we have chlorine is to deal with a completely different issue. This is a byproduct of trying to make sure we don’t have other immediate issues in our water. It’s a big balance. It’s a balance that’s not simple.”

Citizens at the meeting provided the OVWD board members with a list of ways to continue to move forward in eliminating this issue, such as methods of notifying residents of the problem, testing methods and possibilities for remediation such as the use of ozone and ultraviolet water treatments.

“There’s places like Bangor, whose [maximum THM] level is 20.8. They’re using ozone and ultraviolet to disinfect their water,” Malis-Andersen said. “Ozone was used in France in 1906 to disinfect water. This works. Our first waste water plant in 1984 in California used UV, ozone and peroxide. It works.”

“Something needs to be done. I don’t know what that is but something needs to be done soon,” said Kathy Brooks, a Veazie resident. “What are we to do? We can buy bottled water, but that’s not the huge issue here. It’s the showering, washing dishes — your pores open, your body absorbs it.”

OVWD Superintendent Dennis Cross says he’s asked the engineering firm who deals with the water testing, Wright-Pierce, to make an estimate of how much it would cost to switch from chlorine to ozone and ultraviolet treatments.

“Having a list and your thoughts in front of us today, from my perspective, will be something we continue to consider,” Hall said. “We have been working as hard as we can to make progress. I understand that for some folks, that’s not good enough. I understand that. We will continue to do as much as we can going forward to reduce [the problem] as much as possible.

“We have consultants on board to help us,” he continued. “That is the reason, I believe, that you see the reduction [in THM levels in 2013]. Now, can we do more? Can we continue to work on it? Absolutely. That’s what we’ve been doing and that’s what we’ll continue to do because we do care and we do take this seriously.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Maine has one of the highest cancer rates in the country. The disease accounted for one quarter of all Maine deaths in 2009.

Danielle Walczak

Staff Writer

The two-time Grammy Award-winning Turtle Island Quartet with special guest Tierney Sutton celebrated the solstice and “Festival of Lights” in their performance Saturday night at the Collins Center for the Arts.

The California-based string quartet joined forces with jazz vocalist Sutton to celebrate many holiday traditions and the Festival of Lights, representing different cultures including Jewish and Hindu practices through song.

“It’s purely about a party — a really fun party,” David Balakrishnan, the group’s creator, violinist and baritone violinist, said in an interview. “It’s a celebration that is there for a good reason. Jazz, having fun, we love to play together.”

The performance featured songs from John Coltrane’s “Love Supreme,” Vince Guaraldi’s “A Charlie Brown Christmas” and Joni Mitchell.

During the show Sutton, a 5-time Grammy Award nominee announced her most recent album, “After Blue,” a compilation of her own renditions of Mitchell’s songs with musical help from TIQ, was nominated for another Grammy Award for best jazz album.

Balakrishnan and Sutton agreed it was a natural transition for the two entities to work together on Solstice Celebration.

“It’s about finding the right chemistry and finding the chemistry that wouldn’t be predictable,” said Balakrishnan, who said Sutton is committed to being part of a “team of players.”

“It’s like she’s a fifth instrument; not many jazz singers can operate on that level,” Balakrishnan said.

The center of the performance focused on Mitchell pieces such as “Little Green.” A song Sutton contended to be “the most important Joni Mitchell song ever.”

“No one’s argued with me yet,” Sutton said of the song Mitchell wrote regarding giving up her child for adoption.

The performance featured creative renditions of a variety of classics like “Silent Night,” “The Beatles,” “Within You Without You” and Bob Dylan’s “All Along the Watchtower,” made famous by Jimi Hendrix.

Cello player Mark Summer introduced TIQ’s version of the Jewish classic “Oh Chanukah” as “Rio de Janeiro–style.”

Next came a song from the Bollywood tradition which in translation means, “You light the lamp of the person next to you until the whole world is lit and we can join together,” according to Balakrishnan.

The quartet also includes violinist Mateusz Smoczynski and Benjamin Von Gutzeit on viola.

The performance closed with Smoczynski’s piece “Bouncing with Bud” a celebration of Bud Powell the jazz pianist. The group then returned for an encore of “Charlie Brown’s Christmas.”

The TIQ was praised by Yo-Yo Ma as “a unified voice that truly breaks new-ground-authentic and passionate-a reflection of some of the most creative music-making today.”

“I think the TIQ strives to be something outside of the tradition of string quartets — and they accomplish this surely,” Sutton said.

“I also hope to use my voice in a way that is different from other singers — my approach is often more instrumental. So I think this has made this collaboration especially satisfying,” she said in an interview with The Maine Campus.

Balakrishnan hopes that college-age musicians can find a place where they can hone their skills without the interruptions of technology. “To find a place you can focus down hard in and get to the nitty-gritty, that’s what is all about, without the distractions,” he said. “Being able to learn elements of style of one area. Don’t forget that part. When you’re out of college, having a place you can live in, you can hear all these different things coming at you and make sense of them.”

Katherine Revello

 Opinion Editor

The Evangelii Gaudium is the Catholic Church’s equivalent of a political party platform. For the first time since ascending the papacy, Pope Francis had a chance to lay down his epistemology in terms that, though straightforward, have engendered controversy.

In his exhortation to the church’s faithful, Francis first underscores the urgency of moving the faith back towards the Christian morality outlaid in the Gospels, and then completely disregards his own message.

In extremely derogatory terms, Francis denounces trickle-down economics and its adherents, saying they express “a crude and naïve trust in the goodness of those wielding economic power and in the sacralized workings of the current economic system.”

He claims the disenfranchised are left marginalized and powerless by this system, that individuals allow themselves to live under the dominion of money and, perhaps most egregiously, states: “Not to share one’s wealth with the poor is to steal from them and to take away their livelihood.”

But deep-seated belief in the tenets of Catholicism, and more broadly, the moral teachings of Christ, and the capitalist mentality are not mutually exclusive, as Francis naively asserts.

Capitalism is a system of volitional transactions between individual actors. The parables that comprise Christ’s ministry, as outlined by the same Gospels, which Catholic faith is built upon, are an account of individuals choosing to act and interact depending upon whether Christ’s message resonated with them personally. There is no force in either system, only discretion.

As to the claim that rich individuals decisions to not share their wealth with the poor is a theft of their livelihood, this is bizarre and collectivistic. By Francis’ telling, individuals are powerless under the sentient machinations of a malevolent economy and those who are supposedly excluded from it are entitled to the wealth of others.

But this view has no basis in any of Christ’s teachings, which hold each person responsible for their own actions. There is no collective judgment. A collective is only formed by the coalescing of individuals around one point, which means individuals have the ability to change a majority.

And this leads into the idea that capitalism is autonomous and overbearing. It is not. In the free market, money is a value. Though it has a public value, individuals choosing to engage in a particular transaction also make discretionary judgments regarding what they consider to be of value. It is the only system that allows the consumer, by giving them free reign over what products they purchase, and thus endorse, to hold producers accountable.

Besides, money is earned through the application of talent and ingenuity. It is character strength applied. Catholics believe that they were created in the image of God and endowed with certain talents. Capitalistic transactions, wherein one plies his or her abilities in exchange for compensation, are individual merit personified. Francis’ interpretation, which rejects this idea, smacks of an omnipotent arrogance that is wholly un-Christian.

Poor also means something more than pecuniary. There are the poor and downtrodden in spirit that Christianity seeks to serve. Francis’ interpretation, however, by placing the corporeal needs of the poor above all else, delegitimizes the needs of other members of the faithful.

Capitalism, and more specifically, trickle-down economics, empowers individuals by giving them free reign to endorse the values that are most in line with their personal beliefs. Christ’s ministry focused on this same sort of volition. He did not force anyone to believe in him or follow him. He merely spoke of right and wrong and allowed others to choose whether they agreed. Nothing is a better catalyst of this than free market capitalism and trickle-down economic theory.

Romany Melek

For The Maine Campus

Just after the Egyptian revolution, the United States tried to read the scene in order to decide which side to support — the winning side. The White House thought that the Egyptian people were clinging to a government and president with a religious background, or more precisely, an Islamic background. To some extent, the White House was right.

It’s complicated. The way people think and act after revolutions is too difficult to predict. Were the Egyptians eager to have a sort of religious regime? Yes. But, at the same time, Egyptians have always loved and respected religion, but historically have avoided extremism.

The Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafis, along with the White House, did not realize this until it was too late.

The United States acted according to their intelligence and thought, politically and economically, they were supporting the winning side  the Islamic trend. A similar kind of alliance took place during the USSR invasion of Afghanistan, from December 1979 to February 1989.

The U.S., among other countries, supported the Mujahideen — Islamist fighters — with military training, as well as with weapons and billions of dollars.

So, I can say this is the first extensive open support the United States gave to the Islamists in the Middle East since Sept. 11, 2001.

In my first column I discussed the fear many institutions and governmental bodies felt when the Islamists came to office in Egypt. Now I am discussing the fear the people felt — something that, in my opinion, did entirely tip the balance of the whole political situation.

During the first days of the revolution, Mohamed Morsi was in jail. Once he was elected as Egypt’s president in June 2012, he issued a general pardon for some of his fellow prisoners who were in jail on murder and terrorism charges. Pardoning them was a big mistake.

On Oct. 6, 1981, the anniversary of Egypt’s crossing of the Suez canal, Egyptian president Anwar al-Sadat was assassinated by a group of Islamists. Lieutenant Khalid Islambouli emptied his rifle onto Sadat’s body with the help of Abbud al-Zumur, the founder of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, which the United Nations has labeled as an affiliate of al-Qaeda.

The assassination came after Omar Abdel-Rahman, an Islamist, issued a fatwa approving the assassination after he, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and United States President Jimmy Carter signed the Camp David Peace Accords. The Islamists saw believed Sadat deserved death because he signed a peace agreement with Jews, who are, in their opinion, non-believers.

The assassination is something that has remained in the minds and hearts of the Egyptian people for decades, much like the Kennedy assassination.

Shortly after Mohamed Morsi was elected as the first Islamic president in Egypt, he received Abbud Al-Zumur, one of the assassins of al-Sadat, in the presidential palace. This meant two things to the Egyptian people: One, the Muslim Brotherhood is not that different from other bloody Islamic trends. Two, Morsi supports terrorism. The second was a bigger problem.

Morsi, then, selected an Islamist from an Islamic group that killed 55 tourists in Luxor in 1997 to be the governor of the same area where the attack occurred. That was a much bigger blunder.

Luxor is one of the most famous touristic destinations in the world; it has more than third of the world’s antiquities. The media, tourism laborers, public opinion and the residents of Luxor led massive protests until Morsi named another governor.

If leaders don’t have good relations with media, every single mistake they make is magnified and often exaggerated. Mohamed Morsi couldn’t build bridges with the media and kept making mistakes that were sometimes disastrous. So the result eventually was just one year in office — one tough year in office.

Seth Dorman

For The Maine Campus

So far, all of Peter Jackson’s Tolkien-based films have opened just before Christmas. This upcoming Friday is no exception — “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” is opening. I doubt the studio has ever had many philosophical reasons for debuting the movies at this time — financial considerations have probably held highest priority — but nevertheless it is the most appropriate time of year for them; Tolkien had a close relationship to Christmas, both in cultural and philosophical ways.

It is not his most popular work, but every Christmas from 1920-1942, Tolkien wrote letters to his children from “Father Christmas,” placed them in envelopes complete with self-designed stamps from the North Pole, and left them in the mailbox. After his death, these letters were collected into a short work, “Letters From Father Christmas,” which has become a classic work of children’s Christmas literature.

However, it is “The Hobbit” and the “Lord of the Rings” that have the closest relationship with Christmas — not an explicit or cultural one, but a philosophical one. This connection is grounded in Tolkien’s view of fairy-stories. He was convinced that the best fairy-stories have an ending that is neither tragic nor comic, but one that appears to be impossibly hopeless that is suddenly intruded on by joy.

To describe this, Tolkien coined the term “eucatastrophe,” a sudden and unlooked-for turn from bad to worse. “The good catastrophe, the sudden joyous ‘turn’ … is a sudden and miraculous grace: never to be counted on to recur. It does not deny the existence of dyscatastrophe, of sorrow and failure: the possibility of these is necessary to the joy of deliverance; it denies (in the face of much evidence, if you will) universal final defeat and in so far is evangelium, giving a fleeting glimpse of Joy, Joy beyond the walls of the world, poignant as grief.”

It is this eucatastrophe that Tolkien saw as the ultimate source of beauty in his work — and this eucatastrophe which permeated his view of Christmas. He considered his sub-created fairy-story a reflection of the fairy-story of God: “The Gospels contain a fairy-story, or a story of a larger kind which embraces all the essence of fairy-stories. They contain many marvels — peculiarly artistic, beautiful, and moving: mythical in their perfect, self-contained significance; and among the marvels is the greatest and most complete conceivable eucatastrophe.

But this story has entered History and the primary world … The Birth of Christ is the eucatastrophe of Man’s history. The Resurrection is the eucatastrophe of the story of the Incarnation. The story begins and ends in joy. It has pre-eminently the ‘inner consistency of reality.’ There is no tale ever told that men would rather find was true, and none which so many skeptical men have accepted as true on its own merits. For the Art of it has the supremely convincing tone of Primary Art, that is, of Creation. To reject it leads either to sadness or wrath.”

He saw Christmas as the eucatastrophe of history, because in the Incarnation, God becomes man, entering the world to bring real life, reversing the Fall in the Garden of Eden, suffering, dying, and rising again to life. As the Gospel of John recounts: “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” It is not too good to be true; it is too good not to be.

To close with the words of Tolkien, “It is not difficult to imagine the peculiar excitement and joy that one would feel, if any specially beautiful fairy-story were found to be ‘primarily’ true, its narrative to be history, without thereby necessarily losing the mythical or allegorical significance that it has possessed…The Christian joy, the Gloria, is of the same kind; but it is pre-eminently…high and joyous. But this story is supreme; and it is true. Art has been verified. God is the Lord, of angels, and of men—and of elves. Legend and History have met and fused.”

Antonio Addessi

For The Maine Campus

It seems as if just yesterday it was 60 degrees outside and everyone was excited for a new year and a new semester getting underway. In just one short week, the semester will be over. Finals will come and go, giving us a well deserved winter break. I don’t know about you, but I cannot wait another second. During this stressful time, however, we forget that the holidays are already upon us. Although some of us may not be religious, celebrate Christmas or Hanukkah, or even care about the holidays, there is always a positive side to this time of year.

There are plenty of things we do in our daily lives that are trivial and pointless in the long run, but that doesn’t mean we can’t overcome the consumerism-driven side of the holidays. Black Friday is a perfect example of something that is not necessary in society. The number of people who have been injured or, worse, killed trying to get the best deals on meaningless stuff cannot go unnoticed.

Dying for one’s country is one thing, but dying for a Tickle Me Elmo or a half-priced big screen TV is just ridiculous. Why can’t we see through big business and realize that it is just a gimmick? Taking our hard earned money is all that the retail business is there for and it’s time that it stopped.

Big business has been seen a lot in the news lately. Walmart and McDonald’s, the two biggest companies in America, treat their employees like dirt and, on days like Thanksgiving when they should be home with their families, force them to work. We have lost touch with what the holidays truly are for: being with family and friends and showing how much we care for each other.

I know that most people aren’t religious anymore. For those who are, that’s great! Some people need something to live for, especially when their lives are nowhere near perfect or happy. The holiday season, though, does not need to be a religious war or take on a consumerist ideology. For the sake of humanity, we can take back the holiday season if we open our eyes to the fact that we have each other and, in the context of this, having a new PlayStation means nothing.

The materialist mentality is a thing of the past. This month I want to challenge you, my Black Bear brothers and sisters. We deserve happiness and love. We can give that with a hug, a kiss, or even a pumpkin pie. I don’t need anything material-wise for Christmas. I just want my friends and family around me. Isn’t that what we should focus on regardless of whether we believe in Santa or practice any religion?

We are going to be passing into yet another year — 2014. And in this year, we will start yet another semester here at UMaine. How do you want to remember 2013? Do you want to remember playing Grand Theft Auto V for 36 straight hours or the memorable time that you had sharing your holiday with friends and family? I think that we can make a difference in each other’s lives this holiday if we get closer, make new friends and tell the old ones that we love and care for them. I believe in you UMaine; let’s have a wonderful, stress-free break filled with love!

Christopher Burns

For The Maine Campus

The University of Maine Volunteer Ambulance Corps received the 2013 Region 4 Emergency Medical Service’s (EMS) Service of the Year award last month, recognizing its long standing commitment and service to the University of Maine community and the surrounding communities of Orono and Old Town. It is the first time UVAC received the award.

The announcement was made in November at the annual EMS Seminar organized by Atlantic Partners EMS. Atlantic Partners EMS “is committed to serv[ing] [in] a leadership role for the comprehensive EMS and public safety system,” according to the APEMS website. APEMS serves EMS regions throughout central and downeast Maine.

UVAC is one of 79 EMS service providers in Region 4, which consists of Hancock, Penobscot, Piscataquis and Washington counties. The state of Maine is broken into a total of six EMS regions. Each year, one service is selected from each of the six regions as being representative and exemplifying the commitment to upholding the standard of excellence in care and community commitment APEMS is committed to.

In a news release from UMaine last month, UVAC Chief of Services Joseph Kellner credited the recognition and award to the “professionalism, compassion and skills” of the student volunteers

UVAC Student Chief Dakota Turnbull also expressed gratitude for “the support of the regional EMS organization.”

On Friday, Dec. 6, UVAC received a new ambulance to update its fleet. UVAC budgeted its money carefully for nearly a year to save for the new vehicle. It is a diesel-powered Mercedes Benz 2013 Sprinter Cargo Van 2500. It is outfitted with custom UMaine Black Bear graphics that will “represent the university well,” Turnbull said. The new 2013 Sprinter is more fuel efficient and will help reduced emissions. The other ambulance, a diesel-powered Ford E-Series will eventually be outfitted with new graphics.

Primarily students make up the ranks of UVAC volunteers, but among them are also alumni, faculty and staff. Student volunteers come from a variety of colleges and majors, including Nursing and History. Many come to UVAC without any experience as an emergency medical technician (EMT) and are trained in the “various levels of the ABCs of a patient: Airway, Breathing and Circulation” and other “Basic Life Support procedures,” according the UVAC webpage.

The service, which is run and funded by Auxiliary Services, was founded in 1972. Prior to then, first responder and patient care was headed by members of the UMaine Police Department. Because two officers were removed from duty to manage emergency response, the move was made to put students at the helm.

Currently, UVAC consists of 65 members. UVAC is on call at all times, with some students attending classes and ready to respond to the emergency call at a moment’s notice.

The ambulance fleet is made up of two vehicles. Students fulfill the roles of driver and EMT attendant and are accompanied by a licensed EMT at all times. The licensed EMT provides oversight and assistance on all calls.

UVAC is licensed at the EMT level, meaning that most volunteers are licensed and equipped to handle basic life support procedures. The other two levels of licensure are Advanced EMT and Paramedic. If UVAC requires the presence of a paramedic, a request may be placed with either the Orono or Old Town Fire Department.

On average, UVAC will respond to between 400 and 500 calls a year. UVAC operates when school is in session and in a reduced capacity during breaks. Many of the calls the service responds to are related to athletic injuries. UVAC is present for all sport and athletic events, as well as concerts and other events hosted by the university that they are requested for. They are on hand to assist local firefighters when they respond to fire alarms and other incidents on campus.

In the past, UVAC has responded to incidents of cardiac arrest and to unresponsive diabetics.

According to Turnbull, U because UVAC provides aid to Orono and Old Town, it will respond to local emergencies in the event that the Fire Departments of both towns are tied up responding to a blaze.

Other services that UVAC provides to the university community are CPR courses and maintaining the 25 Automatic External Defibrillators installed across the university. UVAC oversaw the installation of the AED devices and performs monthly maintenance to ensure they function properly in the event of a cardiac arrest.

UVAC will continue to positively represent the university. It remains exceptional compared with services provided by other universities in the state. UVAC remains the only EMT ambulance corps among Maine universities. Other universities are only staffed with student first responders.

“[It’s] the same care you get anywhere else,” Turnbull said. “Just younger.”

Jocelyn Nerney

For The Maine Campus

On Thursday, Dec. 5, the Iota Nu Kappa fraternity (INK) held its 2nd annual UMaine’s Got Talent show in Minsky Recital Hall to raise money and awareness for its philanthropy, the Testicular Cancer Foundation.

All the proceeds from the show went directly to TCF. During the show, there were many ways people could donate.

A 50/50 raffle was held, where half of the money went to the philanthropy and the other half went to a lucky winner. After each act, brothers of INK came around with buckets where people could donate money to help their favorite act win and raise money for TCF.

Evan McDuff, a fifth-year student and brother of INK, said the show is “a really awesome way to help stop testicular cancer.”

The donations given after each performance was one of the ways the contestants were scored. Forty percent of the score was based on total donation amount; 40 percent was based on the number of likes the contestant got on a status about them on the UMaine’s Got Talent Facebook page. The last 20 percent of the score was based on the judges’ vote.

The judges of the show were Brandon McLaughlin, graduate assistant at the Office of Multicultural Student Life; Dr. Robert Dana, dean of students; Deborah Downs, an employee at Wells Central; and Sarah Joughin, a scholar advisor at the Office of International Programs.

The talent show featured 13 acts that featured talents such as singing, dancing and comedy.

The winners of this year’s UMaine’s Got Talent were 4 Pi’s and a Sig in 1st, Hope Milne in 2nd, and David Terwilliger in 3rd.

Minsky Hall was filled to the capacity, with people standing in the back and sitting on the ground.

People came to the show for various reasons; some to support their friends or to just see the talent.

Fifth-year student Zandra Lafond said, “I came to support INK, to see the talent, and support the philanthropy.”

The first act, the group Not Yet performed a medley of songs with three vocalists and a guitarist.

The group sang “Firework” and “Roar” by Katy Perry, and “Brave” by Sara Bareilles. The group did a nice job with their harmonies and their voices went together really well.

The second act was Marvin Cling, who did stand up comedy. Cling read his jokes off of a paper and joked about various subjects, from looking up things on Google to bathroom humor. Mariah Hughes, the third contestant, sang Alicia Keys’ “If I Ain’t Got You” with powerful, soulful, and strong vocals.

The all women a cappella group UMaine Renaissance performed after Hughes, and sang “Winter Song” by Sara Bareilles and Ingrid Michaelson. The a cappella group also sang The Drifters’ “Some Kind of Wonderful.” The group clapped along during their enthusiastic performance.

Ian Girvan, the fifth act of the night, sang and played guitar to Train’s “Meet Virginia.” The next act, Adriano Paratore, sang and played guitar to an original song called “Fade to Black.” He also performed the song “San Francisco.”

The last act before intermission was Hope Milne, who sang “Gravity” by Sara Bareilles and put her own spin on her rendition.

The first act after intermission was the group The Cards. It consisted of two men playing guitars, and one of them sang for the act. They performed Dispatch’s “Two Coins,” original song “There’s Something in the Water Here,” and Jake Bugg’s “Lightning Bolt.” The group performed with great guitar skills and strong vocals from the singer.

The next act was the a cappella group Mainely Voices, who performed Nicki Minaj’s “Starships” and David Guetta’s “Titanium” featuring Sia. The contrast between the serious and silly poses was entertaining to watch.

Catherine Nichols, the 10th act, did a dance to “The Chain” by Ingrid Michaelson, providing a break from vocal performances. After Nichols, the next act was the group 4 Pi’s and a Sig, who performed an a cappella version of Lorde’s “Royals.”

The second to last act of the night, Grace Avakian, who sang, “I Dreamed a Dream” from the musical “Les Miserables.” The song was dedicated to her Danish grandmother, who flew from Denmark to see her granddaughter sing.

The last act of the night, David Terwilliger, performed a guitar solo that was unique and amazing to watch.

Scott Downs, a third-year student and INK brother, said one reason the talent show is held is because “it puts INK’s name out in the community, especially since we are the only multicultural fraternity.”

Seth Dorman

For the Maine Campus

Riding the bus to campus is more than a cheap alternative to driving — it is also a healthy reminder of the ultimate reason to attend college.

It is not the kind of reminder that says, “Look at these impoverished people who have to suffer bus rides to bad jobs — I’d better stay in college so I don’t end up like them.” Rather, it is a reminder that the world outside of privileged academia is a real place, with a lot of real pain, and the goal of all this studying and thinking is to equip me to serve people.

As the bus stopped outside the Bangor parking garage, I looked out the grimy windows and saw a man in an electric wheelchair traversing the sidewalk. I recognized him — he often rode the bus. He went down a small slope and off the sidewalk to cross the parking garage exit. He hit a bump and tumbled from the chair to the pavement, where he lay, unable to move, in the middle of the exit.

That is why I am studying English. English (particularly, in my case, literature and creative writing) will train me to think of humans as humans, to understand brokenness and to see and create beauty. Is this grandiose idealism? A romanticized justification of reading books while people are falling out of wheelchairs? If it remains merely conceptual, then yes, it is; but when it takes to flesh, and is lived out in physical ways, it is not. Additionally, if this degree leads to a job, then that job can become a means for providing financially for me and others in need around me.

Some may argue that if the goal of thinking is service, one ought to move directly to helping people, and waste no more time reading books and writing papers. However, the thinking is the fuel of the service. Valuable service proceeds from right thinking. The mechanic can’t do excellent work on the car unless he understands cars.

Others may argue that thinking, like art, ought to be for its own sake: study for the joy of learning, search for the sake of discovery. There is no need to find a use for learning, beyond the pleasure of inquiry and understanding. The idea that thinking is pointless unless it has a use is simplistic pragmatism. There is great personal value and reward to intellectual pursuits — to biomedical engineering, to piano performance, to philosophy.

I agree that there is a great deal of personal pleasure to be derived from thinking. However, this enjoyment is truncated when it does not go beyond the personal and when it does nothing to advance the happiness of others. The study of English is not alone in this. Almost every area of academic inquiry, even that which seems most abstract, has an inherent capability to be applied in loving service to real people. The less difficult part is identifying it. The hardest part is applying it, when the inconvenience and pain of helping people comes in — but that is when the greatest reward comes, as well.