Sick of the library? Here are a few places in the greater Bangor area that are great for sipping, snacking and cranking out some work.

1.) The Grind House (downtown Bangor)
• Offerings: 5/5 stars
The food menu includes a variety of sandwiches, subs, wraps, salads and a few unique kinds of hot dogs. Any burger, or even their meatball sub, can also be made with the Impossible Burger “meat” instead of beef. Their drink menu includes the classics – coffee, espresso drinks and tea – as well as some delectable specialty dessert drinks, such as their hazelnut and banana latte. They also have a cooler consisting of seltzers, Maine sodas, iced teas and kombuchas. They also offer an impressive selection of craft beers and ciders.
• Interior and seating: 5/5 stars
The interior is very open, with sleek wood floors and a few large tables to sit at, perfect for a group or multiple individual customers. There’s additional seating at the windows, which cover both walls of the restaurant, and at a counter facing the exposed kitchen for customers who want to watch their food being made. Overall, the space is welcoming and ideal for conversation, studying or simply a peaceful meal.
• Noise and Music:3.7/5 stars
Despite the open kitchen, the noise level is kept relatively low and doesn’t come as a distraction when studying or doing homework. The music choice, however, is less consistent, wavering between family-friendly oldies and today’s top hits. Usually the volume level is perfect, as it can be drowned out with headphones or enjoyed without them.
• Overall Rating: 4.8/5 stars

2.) Verve (downtown Bangor)
• Offerings: 3.5/5 stars
The food at Verve is Mexican cuisine, which might make or break the choice to study here, but their menu has more to offer than just spice. Bagel Central bagels are sold here, as well as healthy and organic smoothies and some dessert items (cookies, etc.). Carrabassett Coffee Company brews are also available, which is an area for improvement, as anyone who has spent a year drinking dining hall coffee is likely sick of these flavors by now.
• Interior and Seating: 5/5 stars
This is where Verve’s Bangor location excels. The restaurant is at least twice the size of the Orono location, and the interior design is impeccable. It features brick walls, a raised floor for a section of the restaurant, comfortable seating that adheres to the unique color scheme and unique decorations such as posters that feature Mainers doing unique activities, such as sailing from Bangor, Maine to Bangor, Ireland (many featured are UMaine graduates). There is a book exchange on the raised level and plenty of window seating.
• Noise and Music:4.8/5 stars
The downside of being a very popular establishment is that in the evening, Verve can have a line to the door and it can get a bit noisy for studying during this rush hour. Otherwise, the noise level is low. The music, however, matches the cool vibe of the restaurant itself; an alternative station is nearly always playing, not necessarily always the same one, but the employees have reported that one day’s selection was from The 1975 radio on Spotify. The volume is also always kept at a reasonable level.
• Overall Rating: 4.7/5 stars

3.) West Market Square Artisan Coffeehouse (downtown Bangor)
•Offerings: 4/5 stars
Unlike the others on this list, West Market Square is primarily a coffee place, with a few food options available to munch on. Their coffee menu is extensive and what’s expected of a coffeehouse (espresso, teas, drip coffees, flavors, etc.), and the quality is very high – but so is the price, so maybe save this one for payday. The food varies by day and is typically a small selection of wraps, yogurt parfaits, salads, pastries, muffins, cakes and cookies. All are locally sourced and delicious, but the supply is finite.
• Interior and Seating: 3/5 stars
The space is undeniably perfect for studying – comfy chairs, not jarringly bright inside, lacking the hustle-and-bustle of Starbucks, and the smell of coffees and teas is always wafting in the air. The pitfall here too, though, is that there is very little available seating, and the shop is quite small, so if you get a table you’ve lucked out – otherwise you might have to head down the street to Verve.
• Noise and Music:4.9/5 stars
Adding to the perfect study atmosphere, the noise level is quite low in here and the music is soft, gentle classical music that is quiet enough that you have the option of enjoying it or listening to your own. The playlist is ideal for studying without the distraction of lyrics, and the shop is typically very quiet and calm.
• Overall Rating: 4.2 stars

4.) Fork & Spoon (downtown Bangor)
• Offerings: 5/5 stars
The selection here is one of the healthiest in the Bangor area, including many vegetarian and vegan options. Their sandwiches and salads are unique stand-outs, all of them available in vegetarian/vegan versions. For lighter fare, their pastry selection is impressive, with options like blueberry cream cheese croissants and savory & sweet scones, and their drink menu is equally vast, offering smoothies (with add ins available), juices, wines, beers and a coffee and espresso bar that includes nitro coffee on tap.
• Interior and Seating: 3.5/5 stars
The interior is very plain and simple, allowing the food and drink the most attention rather than the design. There’s plenty of seating and the space is large, open and bright, almost resembling a cafeteria. It is sometimes a little chilly – so bring layers.
• Noise and Music: 3.5/5 stars
The music playing is certainly conducive to a study environment; soft acoustic songs play quietly through the speakers at a level that can easily be either acknowledged or ignored. However, due to the popularity of smoothies and juices here, the noise level of the kitchen can be distracting.
• Overall Rating: 3.8 stars

5.) The Store Ampersand (Orono)
• Offerings: 4.5/5 stars
Ampersand is a unique place, as it’s half store, half café, so there’s plenty being sold. Their latte selection is vast and unique, with flavors like lavender and vegan green-tea chai lattes, and their cookies are thick and delicious, with the authentic and simple ingredients listed for each. Elsewhere in the store, hundreds of snacks are available for purchase, from yogurt to organic beef jerky to kombuchas to various international treats. There is also fresh bread for sale daily. It’s hard to go hungry in there.
• Interior and Seating: 3/5 stars
This is a pitfall of Ampersand – there are only a few tables available at the front of the store, so if you go at a busy time, you might be out of luck. However, there is also a cat that hangs out in the store most days, and a comfortable living-room chair or two to lounge on, so the atmosphere is very homey.
• Noise and Music: 4/5 stars
Another pitfall of Ampersand being part-store, part-café is that the noise level is somewhere between the two, as many people come in just to shop. However, the store is rarely too packed, and the noise level is kept to a low buzz. There typically is not music on.
• Overall Rating: 4/5 stars

On Monday, Sept. 24, The University of Maine’s Women’s Resource Center (WRC) along with the Student Alliance for Sexual Health held their second Sex In College event from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The event aimed to give students a platform to ask questions about sex and relationships, as well as become familiar with the WRC’s services.

Hosted by Julia Haberstick, a fourth-year women’s gender and sexuality studies student, the WRC’s event welcomed students, offered snow cones, coloring pages and information on sexual health.

“This event was aimed at first-years,” Haberstick said. “We’re adamant on getting our name out there, letting students know what resources we have to offer. We wanted to host a welcoming event to all the first-years (and others) who may have questions regarding sexual or reproductive health.”

While the WRC aims to create a space where students can feel free to openly discuss sexual interests and issues, they are painfully aware of the stigma surrounding the topic of sex. To combat this, the event offered students a way to ask their questions anonymously.

“It can be awkward or intimidating asking questions regarding sexuality because there is a sense that because our culture is so sexualized, we should all have it figured out by now, but that’s simply not the case. Anonymity eliminates that fear of being judged or ridiculed,” Haberstick said.

Haberstick believes that high school sexual education doesn’t fully prepare students for college life. According to Planned Parenthood, many states only require abstinence education, and only 13 states require sex education to be medically accurate. Haberstick hopes the WRC’s efforts to educate will help minimize this stigma surrounding sex on campus.

“Our culture is saturated in sex, yet we don’t teach consent or pleasure and typically use scare tactics to prevent teens and students from being sexually active,” Haberstick said. “We know this doesn’t work, states with abstinence-only education have higher rates of STIs, unwanted or teenage pregnancy and abortion. We want students to know that everyone has questions, sex is normal and we’re here if you need us!”

To prepare for the event, and keep the WRC’s resources up-to-date, members are constantly gathering materials and checking statistics.

“I gathered information from sources like Planned Parenthood, Mabel Wadsworth and others to compile a broad array of topics I thought people might have questions or concerns about,” Haberstick said. “Information on contraceptives, healthy relationships, consent, abortion, gender and sexuality.”

For many students, fear isn’t the only thing inhibiting sexual wellness and security. Fiscal stability often comes into play, as menstrual products and contraceptives aren’t always inexpensive or easily accessible.

“These resources are basic to every student’s well-being. If folks are financially strained and can’t afford menstrual products or pregnancy tests, we’re here to provide them for free! Regardless of financial security, all students have the right to a safe and welcoming campus environment,” Haberstick said. “Worrying about your reproductive or sexual health can be exhausting and can really take away from a students ability to learn and engage in their academics.”

Students who are interested in asking anonymous questions haven’t missed their chance. The forum will stay open indefinitely and can be accessed here, or by scanning the QR code posted in the WRC. The answers will be published in their monthly newsletter, which you can sign up for through this link: https://goo.gl/forms/HLksxZnzAwJd0E0x1

Students can also stop by to read the newsletter in person at the WRC.

Located in Room 227 of the Memorial Union, across from the Rainbow Resource Center, the WRC is open every weekday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Stop by to talk with Haberstick or any of the center’s members about the project and learn what the WRC has to offer.

For Cameron Goff and Alex Girsch, hip-hop is much more than just a pastime. Their newest album “Righteous,” released on Aug. 12, has given them a new perspective on what it means to be artists and performers in Maine.  

They wrote, recorded and mixed the album over the course of a summer, but their passion for music began long before they started the project. Goff, a third-year marketing student, joined his first band in middle school. Since then he has experimented with genre and style but has always been grounded in his love of hip-hop. Goff and Girsch began making music together in high school.

“It kind of started out as a joke. I’ve known Alex since I was five years old. We grew up two minutes away from each other. We work together, and eventually, [starting a band] came up in conversation,” Goff said.

“We decided that if we had a hip-hop group it would be called Gualla Boys, and then made it happen. When we first started making hip-hop, there was no one you could point to as the Portland hip-hop artist. There is nobody holding it down for Portland,” Goff said.

Goff and Girsch may hope to someday “hold it down” for Portland, but that isn’t what drives their music.

“At the end of the day our main priority is to just have fun with the music,” Goff said. “That’s how it started, and we got better as time went on once we figured out our formula. When we made our first album, Alex didn’t listen to hip hop that much, so the beats are really weird. The whole first album was produced on Garageband on an iPad. It sounds crazy.”

The Gualla Boys are happy with their progression as a duo. The connections Goff and Girsch have made by being a part of Portland’s music scene became fundamental elements in the production of their new album. Reilly Musgrave, a third-year student at Goucher College who produces music under the name ASUMI, and Portland-based rapper Trevor Tucker, known as THT, contributed to many songs on the album.

“[ASUMI] beats bring a sound to the table, since he mostly makes EDM. It’s fun to watch him and Alex work together because they both have extensive knowledge of different programs and genres, and they always end up making a banger,” Goff said.

Collaboration has been critical in not only the creation of their music but also in the creation of their community. Having recently been just high schoolers sharing music with their friends, having a substantial discography and their music available through many streaming platforms feels surreal for the Gualla Boys.

“Responses have been mostly positive, but that could just be because no one wants to come up to you and say that your music sucks. Our whole thing is for the homies, by the homies. We just wanna make music that we would wanna listen to,” Girsch said.

One of Goff and Girsch’s proudest moments happened during an apartment show in Portland this summer. They were originally supposed to be the second performance of the evening, but the host asked them to close the show since so many of the audience members were there for Gualla Boys. A mosh pit broke out during one of their songs, and the crowd’s energy made the floor look as though it was going to give out. Despite it leading to the show getting shut down, that is the level of energy Gualla Boys hope to bring out in their audience during every performance.

“I think for Gualla boys, a lot of our songs are centered around the live show,” Goff said. “We bring a lot of energy when we perform and we bring a lot of hype. We want people to go crazy. It’s really exciting when you see the people you are performing for using just as much energy as you are. You can’t really do that with a lot of genres, you can play loud, but hip-hop is universal, especially for college students,” Goff said.

The Gualla boys don’t currently have any shows on the calendar, but they are looking for opportunities to perform. You can follow them on Facebook and Instagram, as well as stream their music on Spotify, Apple Music and Soundcloud.

While they can’t say exactly what the future holds, the Gualla Boys plan on remaining loyal to their fans. “For the homies, by the homies.”

In one corner of the internet, labeled as a “Study Group,” the UMaine Memes for Drunken Teens Facebook group discusses campus culture in an alternative way, through student-generated memes.

This week, the group’s two admins sat down for the first time to talk about their experiences while running the page, the trend of collegiate meme groups and the power of memes in modern culture.  

Takquan Parks, now a third-year student double majoring in molecular and cellular biology and biochemistry, decided to start the page during his second year at the University of Maine. After being introduced to the trend of meme pages by a friend at Yale University Parks felt it was something he could contribute to campus culture.

“To see the way these people were interacting with each other over the internet just seemed so bizarre,” Parks said. “I started the page sort of as a joke. I wanted it to be a joke on itself. I think it’s interesting to present the ironies and the weird in’s and out’s of campus while also presenting information that is super relevant. It sort of brings us together as a community.”

Since its creation eight months ago, on Jan. 24, 2018, the page has reached almost 2,000 members. After receiving an unexpected number of submissions in only a few days, Parks realized monitoring the page’s content would be easier with another admin, so he reached out to Lyric Deagle a meme connoisseur and fourth-year student studying civil engineering, who readily accepted the role.   

“I was in middle school when I started visiting meme sites. Eventually, I realized that my friends and I liked the same stuff. It was something that we could connect with online, could connect with in person, but could also make jokes about in real life. It’s a big part of growing up with the internet,” Deagle said.

In an article for the Washington Post, Elizabeth Bruenig wrote that “For millennials, memes form the backdrop of life.” While this may seem true when looking at the page, Parks has a slightly different perspective.

“Memes subjectively are prominent not because of the generation that we exist in or the ideologies associated with this generation, but rather because of the communication system that is available at the time,” Parks said. “For example, in a newspaper, there is often a cartoon section where, while the plot and joke are relatively simple, this is how the generation before millennials understood the world in a cohesive manner. Memes transcend this by allowing one to break the cultural barriers because human mannerisms are far more colloquial.”

Many of the posts submitted to the page focus on topics such as common mistakes made by first-year students, the turmoil of exams and the rivalry between UMaine and the University of New Hampshire. On occasion certain memes will dig a little deeper, hosting conversations on university policy that may not be engaged in by such a large and diverse group anywhere on campus.

“It’s nice because we don’t get any bad political discussion,” Deagle said. “On campus, people have a lot of different views, but I feel like there is a time and place for everything. Like, if you want to joke about how the roundabout sucks, it could be considered political but it isn’t really partisan. People on the page will rant about some university decisions that are kind of complicated and pretty important. It’s not just making fun of stuff.”

Other than the occasional “salty comment,” the only backlash Parks and Deagle have received from the page came in an email from UMaine’s Division of Marketing and Administration in March of this year. At that time, the group’s cover photo featured the UMaine symbol and a picture of Vice President of Student Life, Dr. Robert Q. Dana. When they received an email from Margaret Nagle, the senior director of public relations and operations, requesting them to remove these images due to unauthorized use, they complied.  

“Originally I was a little freaked out, but ultimately I think it totally makes sense why we can’t use it to directly advertise our group because we technically aren’t affiliated with the University,” Deagle said.

Now, to eliminate any further misassociation, this disclaimer is overtly displayed in the group’s description: “Not affiliated with the University of Maine cause the marketing department hates us.”

As Parks and Deagle get closer to graduation, they have a growing concern for who will run the page when they leave UMaine. Parks feels the only way they will find suitable candidates will be through a “Michael Scott style competition.”

Running from Sept. 14 through Dec. 29, Shelley Reed’s “Second Nature” is one of three exhibitions currently on display in the University of Maine Museum of Art (UMMA). In her 15 featured works, Reed uses monochrome oil paints to give her audience insight into art history, as well as human nature.

Reed’s pieces primarily depict animals in pastoral settings. Walking through the exhibit, there is an eerie feeling of animation that exudes from her two dimensional narratives. The paintings illustrate human-like emotions of fear, tranquility and vulnerability, reminding the audience that we are all, in fact, animals.

“While early painters used animals as decoration, artists from the 1700s and 1800s began depicting them in a more naturalistic way,” Reed said. “Not only were animals shown as trophies from the hunt or status symbols in menageries of the elite, they became stand-ins for people, often in narratives that showed them to be vain, silly or potentially treacherous. I use animals as metaphors for human nature—we have potential for such beauty, yet are capable of terrible villainy.”

Many of her pieces are inspired by the works of other artists, such as French Rococo painters Jean-Baptiste Oudry and Alexandre-François Desportes. Rococo art, also known as the late Baroque period, was an 18th-century style that focused on portraying lightness, elegance and curving natural forms.

“While I explore the meaning and symbolism these images had at the time they were painted, I’m mostly interested in how they can be reinterpreted and reintroduced today,” Reed said. “My work is a mash-up of these images—art history shaken and pieced back together to speak about how our animal natures have or haven’t changed, and what that might signify for our future.”

The biggest difference between Reed’s work and the work that inspires her appears in her choice of color pallet. While Rococo painters celebrated color, Reed limits herself to a grayscale. This creates a big contrast between how an audience interprets her work, and how the audience is used to viewing Rococo style.  

“Color, which feeds our senses so thoroughly, is seductive and can end up being the main thing we appreciate about lots of art,” Reed said. “For me, a more monochromatic approach implies an echo of the past and almost sneakily calms things down, allowing me to enhance the psychological aspect—the gaze, the violence, the interpersonal dances. It allows one to look more closely and then maybe be surprised by the story being told.”

In her article, “Visualizations of Contemporary Paranoia,” art critic Candice Bancheri best described Reed’s ability to capture modern emotion through a historical lense.

“Camouflaged in a historicized aesthetic, Reed’s theatrical scenes harness a particular paranoia and chaos specific to the contemporary experience,” Bancheri continued, “With such insight, clarity, and a hint of incredulity imbedded in their theatricality and scale, Shelley Reed’s paintings pulse with vivacity, emotion, and best of all paranoia.”

Reed’s themes of mistrust and fear of what may be lurking in the shadows come through clearly in her piece “Ram (after Oudry, Bellini, Desportes, Mignon).” The piece depicts a ram tucked into what appears to be a mountain side. There is minimal vegetation, and the ram sits mouth agape partly hidden in the shadows. His eyes reflect fear and confusion, making the viewer question what might be coming around the corner.    

“My parents’ lives were terribly impacted by the Holocaust. I believe my work reflects my feelings about humanity—that it is lush with beauty and possibility, yet there is always the possibility that something dangerous is about to happen,” Reed said.

This may be what makes Reed’s pieces so haunting. There is intimacy and vulnerability in the eyes of the animals she paints, almost as if they are waiting, unsure of what may come next.

“I hope a viewer will feel that, for a short while, they entered an environment inhabited by beings singing, tussling, snarling, or gazing right at them, and that this experience poses lingering questions about the narrative we create for ourselves and those around us,” Reed said.

To view “Second Nature,” as well as Darren Emenau’s “Olio” and “So Real” selections from the museum’s collection, visit the UMMA in downtown Bangor. UMMA is open Tuesday through Saturday between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. with free admission.

I have never thought of myself as medically minded. Not only is my liberal arts degree possibly the furthest thing from a bachelor’s in medicine, but I held an eight year streak between doctor appointments for a period of my life. I have never binge watched “Grey’s Anatomy,” and I don’t think I ever touched a plastic stethoscope as a child. My apparent aversion to all things medicinal left me shocked when I found myself listening to episode after episode of the podcast “Sawbones” this summer.

Their tagline, “A marital tour of misguided medicine,” prepares you for exactly what they deliver: a consumable history of the dumb methods people tried before modern medicine.  Co-hosted by podcast mogul Justin McElroy and his wife Dr. Sydnee McElroy, “Sawbones” aims to educate listeners on the history of medicine through comedic commentary and witty banter. Each episode broaches a different topic and explores the erroneous fixes doctors have attempted throughout history.

Whether they are discussing influenza or aromatherapy, the McElroys begin every episode with a long-winded bit to introduce their topic with comedic interjections from Justin during Sydnee’s lessons. Their light hearted approach keeps even the more somber episodes enjoyable.

What makes this show more powerful than your average educational podcast are the moments when the hosts’ personal experiences come to light. While they approach every topic with respect and have no intention of offending anyone, they are not afraid to discuss contemporary social controversies, such as vaccinating children.

Over the past five years, listeners have had the pleasure of getting to know the McElroys on a more intimate level. In 2014, the addition of a third host, their child, Charlie, inspired an hour long episode sharing their birth story and the emotions felt during the turbulent experience.

After many weeks of baby themed topics, they spun the arrival of their daughter and the complications they encountered into an opportunity to deliver first hand education on what it’s like to end up in the neonatal intensive-care unit.  Four years later, they were able to share a new perspective with the birth of their second child.

The McElroys have also opened up about topics such as mental health. In June of this year, after noticing a spike in high profile suicides they decided to share their own stories in an episode entitled “Our Mental Health Stories.”

“One concern is that the stigmatization of mental illness prevents people from seeking care,” Sydnee said during the episode’s introduction. “The hope is that if we are all a little more open and share our stories, that we will realize eventually a lot of us have struggled with mental illness before. Then maybe it won’t be something you feel you need to hide.”

Their ability to make listeners laugh while being raw about their experiences and educating me on absurd medical history is what has kept my attention for almost 250 episodes. You can find their podcast on your favorite streaming platform or on their website (www.maximumfun.org/shows/sawbones). As Justin always says, “Don’t drill a hole in your head!”

Since its genesis, art has been created for more than aesthetic enjoyment. It often acts as a platform for an artist to process historical events and societal beliefs, as well as educate it’s audience. This is the motivation behind “Blue Traumas,” one of the two exhibitions currently featured at the Lord Hall Gallery. In her work, elin o’Hara slavick uses cyanotypes to provoke viewers into contemplating the power of nuclear warfare.

“My work represents my interest in humanity, my socialist and pacifist ideology, my role as an art professor, my political activism and dedication to image making and critical representation,” slavick said.

Now the professor of visual art, theory and practice at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, slavick was first exposed to the topic which would inspire her work as a child in Portland, Maine. Every year, on Aug. 6 her self-proclaimed activist family would gather in Portland’s Monument Square to commemorate the bombing of Hiroshima. In high school, her viewing of the 1959 film “Hiroshima Mon Amour” and a book from her mother would jump start her exploration of Hiroshima through art.

“My mother brought back from Japan an unforgettable book, ‘Hiroshima Collection’ by Hiromi Tsuchida, a collection of black and white photographs of bombed artifacts from the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum archive. The same archive I would work with years later,” slavick said.

In 2008, slavick spent three months in Hiroshima making rubbings of bombed surfaces. While she was there, the recurring themes of indigo blues and shadows in the photographs and films at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum helped her find the proper medium for her work.

“It was like a light bulb went off in my head. I must make cyanotypes,” slavick said. “The act of re-exposing (to the sun) already exposed (to radiation) objects, as an American citizen over 50 years after the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, feels critical, significant and the correct approach to the difficult subject.”

Laurie Hicks, the gallery’s curator and a professor of art education and museum studies, approved of the approaches used by the featured artists to instigate a conversation. While both artists engage political topics, they have very different ways of discussing them. Slavick’s pieces are two dimensional and comprised of blue hues, but Andy Mauery’s “devolve” is a collection of many three dimensional pieces that are primarily brown and orange. This juxtaposition allows an even greater variance in the audience’s interpretation of the works.  

“I like that students will be able to see that activism in these pieces. Art is a social construct, and activism is an important part of that. It is in your face. These artists don’t hide it, in fact it is at the front of their work,” said Hicks.

“History informs all my work and as poet and visual artist, I am always struggling to make complicated things—events, war, loss, suffering and pleasure, survival and beauty—visual in new and poetic ways,” slavick said. “Beauty is subversive—seducing the viewer into the work and then surprising them with the profound content (A-bombed artifacts from Hiroshima). I am not convinced that one must balance these things—history, violence, pain with poetry, beauty and pleasure. Sometimes the imbalance is more powerful.”

This imbalance can be found in the pieces currently lining the walls of Lord Hall Gallery. In a piece titled “Children of Hiroshima” a feminine figure is displayed, arms outstretched, reaching for child-like figures on either side. Upon closer inspection, other impressions, such as Japanese text become visible. This piece leaves the viewer to question the layers of loss reflected in the piece.

“I hope my work helps people think about nuclear war and nuclear power in a new way, perhaps critically, sparking empathy and a desire to work towards justice and peace,” slavick said.

Both “Blue Traumas” and “desolve” will be on display at the Lord Hall Gallery through Friday, Sept. 21, culminating in an artist reception and gallery talk from 5–7 p.m. The exhibition is free and open to the public. Lord Hall Gallery is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, and the building is wheelchair accessible.

Last Saturday afternoon, April 28, the Caribbean Club invited the student body to their fourth annual Carnival celebration. This year, they brought the festivities out on to the Mall, filling the air with the smell of Caribbean food and the sound of island music.

Guests were given colorful leis as they flocked to the front of the Library to partake in dancing, soccer, community and free food. Caribbean club’s ten members decorated the Mall with flags and banners, served copious amounts of food and encouraged lots of dancing as part of the celebration.

“My favorite part of carnival was probably the community aspect,” Skylar Rungren, a first-year engineering student, said. “I’m friends with some of the people who put the event on and to see them happy was really nice. The games were really fun and it was clear they put a lot of work into this event.”

With tables covered in dishes catered by Jamaican Vybz, Carnival allowed students to try cuisine from many different Caribbean countries. Enjoying plates full of jerk chicken and oxtail, students sat on benches and picnic tables listening to music. The Carnival gave students a great reason to take a break and have fun before their final week of classes.

“UMaine doesn’t have a lot of diversity, so it’s important to provide a space for people to come together and celebrate culture,” Naedia Clarke, fourth-year student and Caribbean Club President, said. “It’s amazing how much even a little club like us can spread knowledge and visibility across campus.”

Carnival originated as a catholic celebration in Italy during the 18th century. It quickly spread around the world, and is now primarily observed the Caribbean islands and many parts of South America, Europe and North America. Similar to Mardi Gras, Carnival is a celebration which involves feasting and celebration the day before the fasting of Lent.

“Traditionally, Carnival is held in February, when it’s much warmer in the Caribbean than it is here,” Clarke said. “In past years we held it inside of the Memorial Union. This year we wanted to celebrate outside in the sun and have an all out good time.”

As the semester comes to a close, many students and campus organizations are thinking about what next year will bring. Next year’s Caribbean club President Gabriela Jusino, a second-year art history student, has big hopes for their club’s community and campus education.

“Next year we hope to make things even bigger and better,” Jusino said. “We want to break the stereotype of the Caribbean being nothing more than a vacation spot. The Caribbean islands are all so different, they aren’t all one homogeneous culture. We are excited to share that on campus.”

While the afternoon started off cloudy, Caribbean club brought the sun out on Saturday, making campus feel like summer had arrived a little early.

“In Caribbean culture, good music and good food are staples of a good life. I think they are good staples in anyone’s life, and we loving bringing that to campus,” Clarke said.

If you are interested in joining Caribbean Club, attend one of their weekly meetings in the Coe room of the Memorial Union on Thursdays at 6 p.m. Caribbean Club encourages both Caribbean students, and students interested in learning about Caribbean culture to attend future meetings.

Were many nights of your childhood spent under a blanket reading the newest Goosebumps novel with a flashlight? Did you religiously carry a small paperback novel around in your backpack for weeks in elementary school? Do you enjoy hilarious storytelling?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you will thoroughly enjoy the “Teen Creeps” podcast. Each week, hosts Kelly Nugent and Lindsay Katai discuss young adult pulp fiction novels and share their experience reading them with a new, grown-up perspective.

While they are a little bit older than the intended audience, Nugent and Katai share a funny and imaginative discourse surrounding the books’ meanings and mistakes. Their commentary makes you view the books in new and surprising ways.

While reading the works of pulp authors such as R.L. Stine, Christopher Pike, V.C. Andrews and Caroline B. Cooney, the women explore a wide range of topics from extraterrestrials, to the supernatural and murder. As they discuss the horror and mystery inside each book, they often reflect on their childhood experiences and personal lives.

Outside of the podcast, Nugent and Katai spend their time participating in a wide range of artistic endeavors. As podcast hosts, comedians, actors and writers, they are equipped to comprehensively explain the plot of each novel, and dive much deeper to analyze the content in humorous ways.

In some episodes, Nugent and Katai invite guests to discuss the novels with them. This adds a compelling third perspective on the dramatic happenings and allows theory development around the many plot holes in each novel.

In a recent episode, the Nugent and Katai discussed R.L. Stine’s “The Prom Queen,” which tells the story of five prom queen candidates whose dreams are jeopardized when someone begins to kill them off one by one. The hosts put all of their comedic energy into simultaneously mocking and admiring the convoluted narrative.

On occasion they will read and discuss a novel chosen by listeners, such as Stephen King’s “Carrie.” In addition to classic pulp novels, they also read books that made their skin crawl as children, like “Go ask Alice” and “Jay’s Journal” by Beatrice Sparks, or V.C Andrews’ “My sweet Audrina.”

What happens when you’ve listened to every episode? How will you fill your days while waiting for new episodes to be released? Don’t worry, they have a solution for you.

The popularity of the podcast led the hosts to try something new with a slightly different angle. While episodes of “Teen Creeps” still come out every Wednesday, they release installments of their new show “Public Domain Theater” every Thursday. They describe their new show as “Masterpiece Theater meets Mystery Science Theater 3000, a podcast of highbrow readings and lowbrow commentary.”

Next time you need a good laugh, listen to “Teen Creeps” on your favorite podcast platform. Nugent and Katai are ready to walk you through the pulp fiction classics with their smart, funny and frequently thrilling commentary.

Whether she is lacing up her running shoes, tabling for the Feminist Collective or problem solving while working in the UMaine IT Support Center, examples of Taylor Cray’s passion for people can be found across campus.

Cray is a second-year political science and women’s, gender, and sexuality studies student minoring in legal studies. Cray frequently finds herself taking on the world’s problems. She arrived at the University of Maine undeclared, only knowing she wanted to work towards bettering the lives of other people.

“I got this incredible itch,” Cray said. “I needed to be doing something. I was drawn to political science because I am fed up with the way things work. Every time I see injustice in the world I want to have a positive impact. If you are improving individual people’s lives you are improving the world.”

In high school, Cray was a three-season athlete and involved in a number of extracurricular activities. When she arrived at UMaine, she wasn’t really sure what she wanted to get involved in.

“When I joined FemC [Feminist Collective] I was very nervous because everyone in the group is so intensely fiery and passionate,” Cray said. “I kept going back and started becoming friends with the amazing group of women. I couldn’t love that group of people more if I tried.”

She attributes a lot of her happiness at UMaine to the connections she made by joining the Feminist Collective. She feels their work has taught her to use her voice in proactive and productive ways.

“Female friendship is one of the most amazing things of the planet,” Cray said. “I found it first on my sports teams in high school. The stronger the women around you are, the stronger you are. I remember calling my friend from home and telling her I had found my Maranacook Girls Nordic Ski Team at UMaine. My group of supportive women. They don’t always go by the same name, but they are everywhere. I don’t know where I would be without them.”

She now acts as the co-chair of the Feminist Collective and hopes to continue working toward making every student feels safer and happier on campus. Recently, Cray has been funneling this desire into a new endeavor, running for UMaine Student Government President.

“I feel I would be a good fit for president because I have leadership experience. I am willing and know how to work with people, but I also have a lot of fire to get things done and I am willing to work and listen to people,” Cray said. “It’s not about being the person in charge, its about being a person students can approach with their ideas and concerns. No one person knows everything and there isn’t one way to get things done. You need someone who is skilled at bringing ideas together.”

Cray hopes that in her remaining time at UMaine she will be able to make as big of a positive impact on campus as possible, whether she is elected president or not.