This Tuesday, the UMaine Women’s, Gender & Sexuality program (WGS) will host a launch event for their new video campaign, called “This is what a WGS student looks like.” The campaign hopes to spread the word about what WGS is all about by sharing stories of current and former students in the program, as well as addressing what one can do with a degree in WGS studies.

At the launch, there will be an open discussion with the filmmaker and other WGS faculty and students about the program after a screening of the campaign videos, as well as poetry readings by WGS students. The event will be held in the Bangor Room of the Memorial Union from 12:15 to 1:30 p.m.

In addition to calling attention to the program itself, the video campaign hopes to spotlight the relevance of gender awareness in contemporary society.

“The critical lens of gender is becoming more important,” Nicolle Littrell, the WGS Professor who produced the videos, said. “It’s something that’s applicable across disciplines, and across careers. We’re really trying to underscore the relevance of it.”

The video campaign is being described as one step in the WGS program’s overall innovation, which will include social media strategies and rebooting their website. Currently, the program has a Facebook account, Twitter handle and a YouTube channel, all of which are being utilized with more frequency as part of the program’s greater outreach effort.

Littrell said the primary goal of the campaign is to show what a WGS education can offer. She also intends to address some of the common misconceptions about WGS and feminist theory in general.

“Often when people think of feminism, they think of, for example, angry women that hate men,” she said. “And by extension, some people think that way about WGS studies as a discipline, as if it’s just a bunch of women hating on men. That’s really not true,” she said. “We’re obviously looking at gender equality and sexism, but we also consider dynamics of race, class, sex orientation, religion, and beyond. We [really focus on] social categories and the way they intersect.”

Littrell also wants to challenge the idea that one has to be a woman to be a women studies major.

“You don’t have to be a woman to be in women’s studies,” she said. “We have plenty of male students, as well as transgender students… and the idea that you have to work in an overtly ‘woman’s’ career once you graduate with a degree in women’s studies is just a myth.” She said graduates can use what they learn to focus their work on particular issues, whatever they end up doing with their careers.

“WGS affects more than just what you’re going to use it for during your education,” Elizabeth Rovito, a student with a WGS minor, said. “[What you learn is also] going to apply drastically to everything else in your life.”

“WGS has changed the landscape of my education and how I think about my interests and what I want to do. I love learning. WGS has made the space of learning so much bigger,” Sarah Cook, a WGS alumni, said.

At present, the campaign seeks to spread the word around the UMaine community. In the long term, the goal is to spread awareness further, through the state of Maine and the New England region, to throughout the country and beyond.

In the future, depending on the response to the campaign as well as funding from the department, Littrell hopes to produce more videos for the program that go even further, looking at what happens in a WGS classroom, for example.

For more information about the event, contact Elizabeth Franck or Nicolle Littrell on FirstClass.

The WGS program has existed in its current incarnation since Fall of 2014, when it’s name changed from Women’s Studies to Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. The program offers a major and a minor, as well as a graduate concentration. Major topics addressed in the program include gender and equality; gender oppression, sexism, gender and identity; feminist theory; power and privilege; violence against women and women in work, in the military and in religion, with additional topics being added every semester. This semester there are 18 people with majors in WGS and 25 people with minors in WGS.

In addition to the program’s core classes, WGS offers a variety of specialty classes based on faculty interest and expertise, such as LGBT studies, women in pop culture and masculinity studies.

The WGS program also works closely with the Women’s resource center on campus, which shares a building with the department in Fernald Hall.

At UMaine, the first women’s studies course was offered in spring of 1972, and the Women’s Studies program officially began in the 1990s.

The University of Maine has approved the establishment of the Kenneth W. Saunders & Henry W. Saunders Professorship in Engineering Leadership and Management.

The professorship was funded by a gift from Henry Saunders of $250,000 to the University of Maine Foundation, in memory of Mr. Saunders’ son, Kenneth, who passed away in January 2014. The purpose of the monetary gift is to provide the school of Engineering with the means to provide engineering students with a strong background in leadership and management skills

The professorship will go to an existing or adjunct faculty member in the college, who will be tasked with teaching leadership and management skills to Engineering students as well as promoting leadership education both within and outside of the classroom.

According to Patricia Cummings, Associate Vice President of Development in the College of Engineering, distributions from the endowment will help engineering students go beyond technical competence to prepare for leadership roles in their fields.

“[Henry Saunders] is helping engineers look ahead, becoming prepared not just for their technical careers, but for management and leadership skills which will be useful in their futures,” Cummings said.

As described on the University of Maine Foundation’s website, the main focus of the professorship will be to educate students about leadership and management skills. Distributions from the fund may be used for other related purposes as well, including student support, research, public service, travel expenses and other activities related to teaching leadership to students and the public.

Most engineering students, Cummings said, start in a technical field, but many often find themselves applying in career positions where they have to become leaders.

“Eventually, many of our students have to manage other people,” she said. “Henry is looking for ways to make it so when our students leave, they aren’t just technically confident, but confident in their relationships as well.”

Kenneth Saunders was a scientist at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces before he passed after a very brief bout of pneumonia. He received numerous awards for his work and academics throughout his life, including two New Mexico State University Research Achievement Awards for his work with rocket telemetry at White Sands Missile Range.

After Kenneth’s passing, Henry and his wife Marjorie Saunders established the professorship with the purpose of advancing the Engineering program in ways that will make a difference to society. Both were avid believers in the importance of quality leadership in all aspects of society, particularly engineering.

“Henry was inspired to channel his loss into a lasting legacy that will be endowed in the University of Maine Foundation,” Cummings wrote. Henry and Marjorie Saunders are both UMaine class of 1950 alumni.

A selection committee to choose the Saunders Professor will be formed by the Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs & Provost, Dr. Jeffrey Heckler, who will also administer the fund with the Dean of the College of Engineering. The ideal recipient of the professorship will be someone with a passion for leadership and a desire to prepare students for management roles.

Consistent with University policy, the Saunders Professor will be appointed for a five-year term, with the possibility for further terms. The award money will be managed by the University of Maine Foundation.

In the 1970s, a nimble young Frenchman decided to sneak to the top of the World Trade Center, string a wire across the two towers and walk from one skyscraper to the other.

“Man on Wire” is the story of that man and his dream of conquering the ultimate tightrope challenge.

Philippe Petit started balancing on wire as a teenager growing up in Paris. In one of his first illegal stunts, he traversed a wire across the Notre Dame church. Eventually, he came upon the twin towers in a newspaper, and they so inspired him that he began to dream of crossing them. He couldn’t explain why; he just wanted the challenge.

At 1,368 feet tall, the twin towers of the World Trade Center were certainly nothing less than daunting. Yet to Petit, they were a tightrope walker’s fantasy. And so he began training, with help from his friends, many of whom probably thought he was at least a little bit crazy.

If there’s one word that describes this film, it’s unbelievable. The feats are absolutely incredible to behold; that an actual human being carried them out is beyond extraordinary. Besides the awe of seeing a man do the unthinkable, the film also has a lot of heart. The bonds of the people who worked together to make Petit’s dream come true are interesting.

“Man on Wire” has two main plots. There’s the back story leading up to the tightrope walk, shown with archival footage that shows Petit and others training rigorously for the big event, and then there’s the plot to make it to the top of the towers, told in reenactments. Throughout the whole production, interviews with Petit and his crew offer perspective and move the story forward.

The movie is tense; like a true heist film, watching Petit and his team carry out their plot to get to the top of the towers is thrilling. What makes the whole thing stranger than a heist, though, is that there isn’t any measurable reward to what they’re doing. Petit and his friends make it all that way, sneaking past security guards, sometimes sitting and waiting for hours on end, just so Petit can set up a wire and walk two buildings. Two very large, very high buildings.

In the summer of 1974, Petit’s walk was completed, totally unauthorized, while the finishing touches of the buildings were being constructed. He became a celebrity overnight, and rightfully so. Most people know the story. Learning how the movie ends, though, is only a tiny part of the movie, and does nothing to diminish its effect. The tension and build-up, all leading up to the finale, all give the story legendary status.

For all of its focus on the World Trade Center, “Man on Wire” doesn’t make any mention of the September 11 attacks that demolished the towers. In a way, however, it’s absolutely as worthy a tribute to the structures as any.

“Man on Wire” is an inspiring film; heartfelt, exciting and downright scary sometimes, but rewarding if only to further realize what the human mind is capable of.

Last weekend, three UMaine students travelled to Bard College in New York for a “Real Food Challenge” (RFC) retreat, where they received training to spread “Real Food”— food that is sustainable, fair-traded and/or local — to UMaine.

The students, Ashley Thibeault, Audrey Cross and Dmitri Onishchuk, are part of a campus branch of RFC called “Real Food Challenge UMaine”.

The three students carpooled to Bard with RFC members from University of Maine Farmington. At the retreat, the students received training and shared ideas with other schools from the Northeast to bring the RFC campaign to their own schools. The retreat lasted the weekend, and was attended by about 50 students from 15 colleges in the northeast.

“I learned a lot and I’m excited to learn more, and apply my knowledge to making real change,” Onishchuk, a sophomore in Engineering who has become involved in the group this semester, said.

The organization Real Food Challenge (RFC) represents a national campaign to push colleges to purchase more fairly-traded, humanely raised, ecologically sound, and/or community-based sources, which they call “real food”. The goal is to have as many colleges as possible sign a document saying they will commit to the goal of investing 20 percent of their dining funds toward food that meets that criteria.

After attending the retreat, the UMaine group is eager to continue to work towards implementing more “real food” at UMaine. Currently, they are working on organizing, speaking with students and administrators, and increasing student awareness and involvement. The group’s biggest goal is to convince President Susan Hunter to sign the commitment this year, which would coincide with the University’s 150th anniversary as a Land Grant institution.

“It would make the University look great if on the 100th anniversary of the land grant, we signed this commitment embracing our roots and also looking forward to our future,” Cross said.

The group has spoken to many faculty and administrators about their cause, allegedly receiving support from people in UMaine dining services, the Climate Change Institute, auxiliary services, and the UMaine cooperative extension.

“UMaine is the flagship university, so by signing the commitment, they would set a precedent for all of the other UMaine schools, as well as the whole state of Maine,” Thibeault said.

Nationwide, the university-level food budget is about $5 billion. According to the RFC’s website, the group hopes to shift $1 billion of existing university food budgets toward real food by the year 2020. It’s a commitment that several colleges nationwide have already signed, including many in New England.

Cross and Thibeault, both seniors in the Ecology and Environmental Sciences program, say the commitment is not one-size-fits-all, but in fact varies to some degree for each campus, as far as what will be done before and after signing the commitment.

“It’s a fairly reasonable commitment,” Thibeault says. “By signing, a university is basically pledging to continue to work [in this area], and be more transparent. It’s not full of consequences [for the university], like ‘you need to spend this much more on all these things,’ it’s just saying you agree to try to make progress,” she says.

Real Food Challenge UMaine has been active since last spring. They currently have about 15 students in the group, which meets once a week in the basement of Ballantine Hall. They are not an officially recognized student group, but are in the process of becoming labelled as a student group by Student Government.

The UMaine Honors College supported the trip by covering costs for registration, transportation, food and sleeping bags.

The Real Food Challenge UMaine group holds meetings Mondays at 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. in the office of the Sustainable Food Systems Research Collaborative, located in the basement of Ballentine Hall. Anyone interested in RFC UMaine should email Ashley Thibeault or Audrey Cross on Firstclass.

The College of Engineering and the Forest Bioproducts Research Institute (FBRI) is offering programs for rural middle and high school girls to become immersed in engineering and forestry.

The programs offer rural Maine girls the opportunity to learn about cutting edge forest bioproducts research and sustainable energy technology as it relates to Maine’s forestry industry. Students and faculty from forest resources and chemical engineering as well as FBRI staff are involved in program activities.

The two programs, one for high school and one for middle school girls, are part of a larger effort by the College of Engineering and Girls Engineer Maine (GEM) to spread awareness of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields to young women in Maine. Two programs are collected under the umbrella of the Sustainable Energy Leaders of the Future (SELF) group. The first group project, called “Awareness Days for Middle School Girls” was initiated last year when Sheila Pendse, Project Development Associate in the College of Engineering, successfully acquired a $24,000 two-year grant from the Engineering Information Foundation.

The second program for High School Girls, known as the SELF Summer Institute, is a three-day residential program at the University of Maine, where girls, mostly sophomores, become engaged in a variety of activities related to renewable energy and the responsible use of Maine’s forest ecosystems. That program also started last year with $95,000 funding from the United States Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture  for three years.

Past activities of the Summer Institute have included field trips and tours to various facilities in and around the University, lectures on topics in forest operations and biofuels technology and hands-on activities involving wood composites and renewable energy. Dialogues with and mentoring by students and faculty at UMaine are also included, in addition to leisure activities such as rock climbing, movies and social events.

The focus is on girls from rural areas with an emphasis on Aroostook and Oxford counties; however, high school girls from other areas are also encouraged to apply. The 2015 SELF Summer Institute will be held from June 28 to July 1.

For middle school girls, there is the SELF day program, where schools and organizations can bring a group of up to 20 girls to UMaine, where they spend the day at the FBRI engaged in similar activities related to STEM and forestry. Groups can choose a day to come.

Alexandra Wirth, a junior mechanical engineering student and member of the UMaine Society of Women Engineers (SWE), a national and campus-wide group that supports women in engineering, feels it’s important to get the word out to young people, especially girls, about STEM fields.

“It really helps to get girls interested early and encourage the idea that, yes, you can go into engineering, you can enjoy these things and do awesome things in the sciences,” Wirth, who updates SWE’s website regularly, said.

Sheila Pendse, who heads the two SELF programs, says the goal of the program is to educate girls, a largely under-represented group in engineering, about the prospects here in Maine’s forest products industry, and to encourage future college students “to think about new and sustainable ways of using Maine’s forest ecosystems.” Traditionally, Pendse said, women represent a minority in engineering fields. However, in Maine as well as in other places, engineers are some of the most in-demand workers in the state, especially as alternative sources of energy become a larger focus of activities.

“If girls are not getting exposed to [these kinds of things], they are losing out on these opportunities,” Pendse said.

“Engineering is where the most jobs are in Maine, and it’s where we need to improve most. Maine needs more engineer students, and women need to be a bigger part of that.”

At the University of Maine, about 20 percent of all engineering majors are female. With that number having increased in the last few years, there is hope that this is changing.

“Things are changing [for girls], and we want them to think about it,” Pendse says.

However, she adds, there are still challenges. Through initiatives like GEM and the SELF Institute are involving more Maine girls than ever, she says the percentage of girls in engineering at UMaine is still low.

“We are working on involving all these girls, but when we look at the admission numbers [for engineering], they are still low,” she says. Though female enrollment rates in engineering have increased from 15 percent to 20 percent, she says the college is “still not there” as far as reaching their ultimate goal goes. In certain engineering major programs, she says, there are very few girls enrolled.

Maine’s forestry industry has been a staple of its economy for generations of Mainers. However, there have been economic difficulties, particularly with the closing of many of Maine’s paper mills.

What Pendse wants girls and youth in general to know about is that there are opportunities in Maine’s forest products  industry for those interested in environmentally and economically sustainable energy and technology beyond the paper mills.

“[There is the opportunity to] do all these exciting new things, so we are just giving them something to think about, to show that there is a future in Maine,” she says.

High school girls with interest in science and technology are encouraged to apply online at umaine.edu/gem/participating-schools/sustainable-energy-leaders-of-the-future-self-application. Groups interested should contact Shelia Pendse, the head of the program, at shelia.pendse@maine.edu.

“Virunga” is the Oscar-nominated documentary about wildlife conservation efforts at Virunga National Park, home to about one-third of the world’s last-remaining mountain gorillas. Located in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Africa, the park is home to a range of species, including the critically endangered mountain gorilla, hippopotamuses and rare birds, as well as a diversity of habitats, from forests and savannas to swamps, mountains and active volcanoes.

Focusing on the park rangers and care takers who work hard to keep the park and the gorillas safe from poaching, corporate interference and war, the film is a riveting piece of cinema that crosses themes of conservation, human conflict and corporate greed, all connected by a simple, heartwarming tale of gorilla conservation.

Released in April of last year, the film focuses on four men who work within the park, and one French investigative journalist covering political events in the Congo. Through each of these individuals, we get a look at the heart and soul of the park from wide angles.

In 2012, the director of “Virunga” set out to film the efforts of the rangers in Virunga National Park. Arriving during a time of instability in the country, it wasn’t long before he and his crew were caught in the middle of a violent uprising. These and other events happening at the time persuaded the director to change the scope of the film to include the different layers of issues that face the park, including both past and present threats to the park and its mission.

In addition to poaching and armed rebellion, one of the more modern threats to the park comes from SOCO International, a British oil company that was attempting to explore for oil dangerously close to the national park. Though it is illegal to drill for oil in the park, the area around the park is often unstable due to warfare and poverty, leading park officials to worry that it would be easy for a foreign business interest like SOHO to take advantage of its natural resources, which could exacerbate conditions in the area for locals, and the wildlife that call the 3,000-square-mile park home.

“Virunga” is an expose on the fragility of nature that highlights both the best and worst of humankind. With its multi-faceted approach, covering conservationism, undercover journalism, corporate corruption, war and humanitarian generosity, “Virunga” is anything but a simple documentary, yet the plot is strikingly cohesive and easy to follow. This is because the film never loses sight of its vision, which is to give exposure to the park rangers, collaborators and journalists who maintain their integrity in a world of corruption, and the endangered animals they fight for.

With its harrowing drama, heartfelt mission, and gorgeous cinematography, “Virunga” is one of the must-see documentaries of the last year. It’s gripping, action-packed and visceral, full of harrowing human and animal drama alike. Add to that, breathtaking shots of the Congo’s wildlife and varied landscapes and you have a winning picture, as well a true contender in the Oscar race for best documentary feature.

Fourteen billion years ago, all of the energy in the universe was contained in a single point. Then the big bang happened, sending all of the energy in the universe scattering off in all directions.

Today, the force generated by the big bang is still causing the universe to expand outward.  Eventually, stars were created, and when those stars died millions of years later — or billions, depending on the size of the star, as smaller stars live longer — they exploded, releasing all of the elements in the universe and creating everything as we know it, from planets, to new stars, and eventually life.

And now here we are, just beginning to understand our place in the vast scheme of things, using language to share ideas and change the world around us.

If this kind of thought fills you with excitement, you might enjoy the cosmic documentary “Journey of the Universe” now streaming on Netflix. Hosted and co-written by teacher and scientist Brian Swimme, author of the companion book of the same name, “Journey of the Universe” takes the viewer on a brief but intellectually stimulating tour of the “journey” the universe took to get where it is today. The film includes a revealing discussion of the nature of how life arose, and what it means to be alive in a universe where life is so exceedingly rare. Through explanations of cosmic phenomena and historical accounts of famous people, Swimme eloquently shares the story of how everything we know came to be.

Exploring the entire history of the universe and life in 50 minutes is no easy task, but Swimme handles it with grace and a surprising amount of nuance given the film’s short length. A scientist and teacher at Yale, he uses clever analogies and an amiable voice to show how humans have gone from being shaped by life to taking control of it. All of the concepts explored in this film are incredible, not just on a scientific level, but a philosophical and humanistic one as well. One of the most enjoyable aspects about the film is the taming of the wild science concepts with a humanistic touch. The fact that life has gotten to the point where it is self-aware and can speak and share ideas is one of the most, if not the most, beautiful outcomes of the big bang and evolution, a prospect outlined wonderfully by the film.

And yet, this evolution is not without its darker sides — another thing “Journey of the Universe” explores. For better or worse, humans now have such a command over nature that they are profoundly altering the composition of the planet that birthed them. As mentioned in the film, humans, originating from nature, have come to see themselves as separate. This makes some small sense because surviving and thriving as a species required conquering nature. However, we now know more than we ever did then; we now have begun to grasp just how closely related we are to everything around us. It’s true that survival may require controlling nature, but if we are to continue living as we are, it’s important that we understand just how delicate the balance of life is.

As I mentioned, the movie’s short, and as a result may leave less of an impression than it would have were it longer. Since “Journey” is a companion to the book of the same name, also written by Swimme, one can imagine that the book has a broader exploration of the concepts brought forth in the film. Nonetheless, the film is a thought-provoking, entertaining philosophical and humanistic ride through space and time. From the big bang and solar explosions, to the development of the first primitive life forms, and onward to the emergence of consciousness and language, this universe of ours has been on quite the journey. How fortunate we are to be here, to serve as active witnesses to the universe.

On Monday, Oct. 20 and Tuesday, Oct. 21, UMaine hosted a special early voting service for the students at UMaine. From 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on both days, a shuttle service was made available to drive students from the Memorial Union Circle to the Orono Town Office to cast their votes in the race for governor and in a seven-question referendum election.

UVote is a program put on by University of Maine Student Life. The goal of the group is to encourage students to get involved in the election and legislation process. In addition to last week’s early vote service, they hold student registration drives, and provide resources and information for students to get involved. On election day, Nov. 4, they will provide resident students the opportunity to vote on campus.

In addition to voting for Maine’s next governor, students voted on seven questions affecting the state of Maine. Questions mostly regarded the borrowing of bonds for different programs, research, and services in the state of Maine. One of the bonds, in the amount of $8,000, would create an animal and plant disease and insect control laboratory for the purposes of studying the effects of mosquitos, ticks and bed bugs on people.

Another question, the only one that wasn’t bond-related, was about the issue of bear baiting, and asked voters to enact legislation that would prohibit the use of bait, dogs or traps to hunt bears. According to Maine.gov, baiting and similar practices are allowed only in special circumstances, including for “certain scientific and research purposes, or for state or federal employees when necessary to hunt or capture a specific offending bear that threatens livestock, domestic animals, threatened or endangered wildlife, or public safety.”

Kyle Bailey and Greg Lirot are two students who used the shuttle service to vote. Lirot is a third year Business Management student originally from Connecticut, and Bailey is a third-year Mechanical Engineer from southern Maine.

Lirot was surprised about the controversy around the bear baiting issue.

“I don’t see what the controversy is,” he said. “Everyone I’ve talked to in environmental management and everything I’ve read makes me think it’s not a big deal — bear populations are increasing,” he continued.

Bailey expressed interest in the bond questions, especially question two, which many believe will benefit Maine agriculture.

“Whatever helps with the agriculture side of things, I want to boost that. There are lots of farms here, in northern Maine especially,” the third-year said.

Ryan Lopes, a business management sophomore student, believes voting is one’s civic duty.

“I just wanted to make sure my opinion is recorded,” he said.

Joseph Marquis is another student who sees voting as important for UMaine.

“I vote to be informed, and to get my voice heard,” he said. “The process can seem invisible, but the issues directly affect our lives.”

Marquis did not vote with the early vote service, but he plans to vote at the general election on Nov. 4.

Sam Perez, a fourth-year Environmental Studies and Ecology student, helped spread the word about the early vote for students. For the two days the service was offered, she held signs and talked to students about the importance of voting.

“This is a super important election year. Maine’s future is in our hands and the vote is going to be really close. Every vote counts,” she said.

Her goal with UVote, added Perez, has been to inform students that they can vote early in case they are busy on election day.

Despite the service’s ambitions, things didn’t go as expected. According to the Orono Town Office, roughly 1,500 registered student cards were on file at the Town Office, but voter attendance at the event was not high.

Donna Emerson, town clerk at the office, said the office was prepared for about 400 students to show up on each of the two days. However, less than a quarter of that number actually came on both days combined.

Expecting large numbers, Emerson had hired people to assist students who hadn’t yet registered to vote, but found after the first day that they weren’t needed. Voting booths were also set up in a large room on the second floor of the building, but after less than thirty students showed up, the staff decided to move the event to the main office downstairs.

“Perhaps these particular issues aren’t grabbing the attention of students,” Emerson said when asked why she thought so few showed up.

She also pointed out, though, that many choose to fill out an absentee ballot, which can be sent in the mail and filled out from home. Absentee ballots can be requested by phone or online, although not by email due to issues with privacy.

“We check our phones and computers daily for these requests,” she added.

Voting for the general public takes place on Nov. 4.

“Blackfish” was one of the biggest — if not the biggest — documentaries of last year. Its story about a killer whale named Tilikum made a huge impact upon release, and has caused countless people, including many celebrities, to reconsider the viability of keeping killer whales in captivity for our entertainment. The film also earned director Gabriela Cowperthwaite an Oscar nomination.

SeaWorld has yet to recover for the impact of the negative press: in the first quarter of this year, the company reported a 13 percent drop in attendance, as well as lower stock prices — although of course, they claim it has nothing to do with “Blackfish.”

The film takes a radical, emotional approach to the issue of captive whales. The main character of the story is the killer whale Tilikum, a SeaWorld performer captured in the wild and separated from its mother at a young age. Tilikum, who currently resides in SeaWorld Orlando, is responsible for the deaths of three different people, two of whom were trainers.

Killer whales, it seems, are remarkably complex creatures. They have highly nuanced brains and in nature, they form tight-knit social groups that are distinct from each other in ways that still astound scientists.

But take these massive, intricate creatures, put them in captivity and things don’t go over well, as the story goes in “Blackfish.” SeaWorld has tried its best to treat the whales well: it has rigorous training programs for the people who handle the whales, and do everything they can to make sure the whales are in good shape, including, as they recently admitted, giving them psychoactive drugs to treat anxiety and depression. Maybe they just weren’t meant to live their lives all cooped up.

So now that we’ve established what the film is about, how does the movie do what it does?

Well, let’s start by saying that “Blackfish” is a horrible movie. Meaning, watching it won’t make you feel particularly great.

But it’s a well-made movie with a strong message that comes across well. It’s entertaining and informative. It’s also a strongly emotional and occasionally uncomfortable experience. Not only do they get you to feel bad for the whales, who, in addition to living in tight spaces, are often separated from their families at a young age. They also discuss the human deaths in painful detail.

Most of the film consists of archival footage of whales at SeaWorld. The only original footage comes from interviews with former SeaWorld trainers who have distanced themselves from their former employer and are now speaking out against SeaWorld’s handling of killer whales in captivity.

“Blackfish” is an emotional film. And it hits hard. However, viewers can’t help but be a bit leery of the one-sided movie approach.

In other words, you know how you feel when you watch “Blackfish,” but I’m not quite sure what to think.

From the perspective that killer whales should be free, it’s a strong argument, and hard to disagree with. Killer whales are complex animals with complex psyches and it’s difficult to imagine that they belong in such a small space. The emotional and occasionally violent actions of the whales illustrate that.

SeaWorld’s voice, despite having such a huge role in the movie, is completely unrepresented.In fairness, according to the film’s credits, the company declined to be interviewed for the film.

It’s unclear how much the filmmakers actually pressed the company for an interview, but with SeaWorld not offering their take on the issue, It feels like a huge portions of the puzzle is missing.

It would have been especially nice to have heard from current trainers, to learn what they think of the whole thing.

Additionally, it feels like the film doesn’t quite do the trainer that was killed, justice. It’s a depressing movie, and uses her death to convey its message, which works to a degree. One can’t help but ask how the trainer would feel about her death being used against SeaWorld. We can’t know, obviously, but it’s an important question. Would she agree with the film’s message and call it justice, or would she disagree and side with SeaWorld?

Regardless of all of this, the film does succeed extraordinarily at an emotional level. “Blackfish” is a tragic film — both from the whales’ perspective and the humans’. The pain of the whales, and the horror of the innocent people killed, are enough for most people to rally against SeaWorld. Especially considering that, in the wild, there have been no known cases where killer whales have killed any people, and in “Blackfish,” we bear witness to three.

In the end, “Blackfish” is less a film and more a device for change. It’s emotional, and it hits hard. It would be hard to watch it again not because it’s a bad movie, but because it’s a painful one. It may be missing some pieces of the story, but if you have a heart, you’ll be moved by its conclusion.

On Saturday night, up-and-coming funnyman Marcus Banks performed at the University of Maine, in the Class of 1944’s Minsky Recital Hall. The free event was sponsored by non-profit organization Strong Mind-Strong Body (SMSB), and featured Banks as the main act, with an opening performance by magician Vladimir Zinczenko.

After an introduction by the president of SMSB, the entertainment began with Zinczenko. who stole the audience members imaginations with his elaborate tricks and tongue-in-cheek humor.

The magician told whimsical stories to accompany his tricks, which ranged from eye-popping card maneuvers to accurately predicting a phone number a student had randomly chosen from a large phone book. His performance was highly interactive and had the audience engaged from start to finish.

After the audience members had their minds and funny bones stimulated, it was time for Banks to come to the stage. The New York-native comedian began his show by asking the audience about their partying habits, offering his own humorous take on subjects like alcohol, marijuana and dating. He jumped from subject to subject, frequently engaging the audience directly in his jokes. The audience interaction continued throughout his set, with Banks picking on couples, asking audience members to tweet him, and heckling a few unlucky people.

Banks often ridiculed members of the audience even as he ridiculed himself, all with a nod and a wink. However, during one bit where he described being homeless, one member of the audience suggested that he should have applied for Section 8 — a type of low-income housing, and things got a bit hairy. “You shouldn’t judge a book by its cover,” he told the patron, frustrated.

Afterward, things lightened up a bit. He made several references to the long trip to Maine, asked about the school’s athletics, and put a young couple on the spot, all in the pursuit of laughs. Judging by the crowd reaction, it seemed to work.

Toward the end of the show, Marcus gave a shout out to SMSB for putting on the event, and thanked the school itself and everyone there for making him feel welcome.

Marcus is a 23-year-old comedian from New York city. He is a relative newcomer to the comedy scene, having performed for the last three years. This is his first time in Maine.

On his website, he lists comic legends Eddie Murphy and the late Redd Foxx and Richard Pryor as  his big influences.

But Banks does more than comedy. He is also an actor, with an upcoming role in an indie film, and he regularly hosts radio shows and events.

It wasn’t an easy start to his career. After college, he says, things were difficult. “I hit rock bottom, and I was a homeless college dropout with nothing to look forward to,” Marcus said in an interview with web magazine/blog #iWRITE. Banks said it was his old college roommate who convinced him to try out comedy. With his friend’s encouragement, Banks tried his hand at a few open mic nights, and eventually got to performing more and more. Now signed to label Muscle Management Group, he is in demand at venues and college campuses across the country. His DVD, titled “Refund Check,” is to be released in October of this year, and will be available for free on his website.

Zinczenko, also known as the Russian Mentalist, is a mysterious performer. Now 52, he has been a magician since he was 8 years old, and to this day he holds a grip on audience attention with his seemingly psychic abilities. He says his goal is to make every show an experience, both mystical and spiritual. “In my shows there is always a huge element of surprise at the end,” he said. Interested audiences will have to find out what the surprise is for themselves. Zinczenko also volunteers every year at SMSB’s free youth summer camps, where he delights in entertaining and teaching the children. “There is always an important real-life message in my work for these kids, and to see their response to what I do is just incredible,” said the magician, who leads a piece on spirituality at the camps and also works on leadership development at the University of Maine.

SMSB is a part of the national organization Strong Mind-Strong Body, Inc., which operates in Maine; Washington, D.C.; and Ghana, West Africa. The organization was started by UMaine graduate student and former Black Bear football player Roosevelt Boone as a way to give under-privileged youth access to health and fitness programs in their community. Boone co-founded the group with his mother, Alice Boone.

As an undergraduate, Boone was struck with the idea for SMSB while working as a councilor at one of the University’s youth summer camps, where he realized that many kids don’t get to experience summer camp. Boone has also traveled to Ghana, a country in Africa, twice to educate children about the benefits of physical education and education in general.

Boone and the rest of SMSB spent three months trying to book Marcus Banks after seeing his performances on YouTube. Boone knew Banks’ former manager, and reached out to him to see if they could get Banks to perform at the university.

“He’s an up-and-coming guy, around the same age as the students here at UMaine, including many of our international students,” Boone said. “We believe in supporting young people’s creativity. Plus, it’s not often that a magician and a comedian come to campus.” Boone is also friends with the Zinczenko, and knew him through his involvement with SMSB.

Currently, the UMaine branch of SMSB, led by President Khari Al-Mateen, will be offering summer camp in July for underprivileged youth in the greater Orono and Old Town area.

Campers aged 10-17 who come from low-income households are able to attend the camps for free. The camps offered focus on sports, wellness, nutrition, health and hygiene, and are funded by grants and private donations. Interested families should visit their website at www.strongmind-strongbodyinc.org for information and applications. The Maine summer program will operate during July 7 -18.