Monday: International Day for Tolerance

In 1995, the United Nations created the International Day for Tolerance with the goal of spreading awareness of injustice around the world, hoping to promote an opposite, empathetic response to those who may be different from ourselves. To celebrate this holiday, begin by talking with friends and mentors and learn about other cultures, highlighting those who may share a different perspective or way of life even in your own area, if not around the world. Get acquainted with forms of intolerance needing remediation within the United States and seek out organizations campaigning for change. 

Tuesday: National Take a Hike Day

As the chilly season approaches, this may be one of the last weeks with temperatures consistently above 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Take advantage of it now and go for a hike! To celebrate, there are many trails within the Orono and Old Town area such as the University of Maine DeMeritt Forest recreational trails, along with trails just a little south in the Bangor City Forest. Take advantage of this day by having some socially-distanced fun outside.

Wednesday: National Vichyssoise Day

Vichyssoise, otherwise known as a chilled potato and leek soup, is celebrated on this day as a tasty meal before the weather cools down entirely. Its French inventor, Louis Diat, credits both his mother and grandmother for the soup in a 1950s New Yorker Magazine, explaining how he used to cool the dish off during the summertime with milk. To try this recipe for yourself, NYT Cooking, Martha Stewart and Simply Recipes offer great options to get you started. 

Thursday: National Play Monopoly Day

An American classic board game, Nov. 19 is National Play Monopoly Day and a perfect excuse to spend a notoriously long afternoon with friends or family. For those who have not played, Monopoly is a board game with the goal of buying property to make as much money as possible while bankrupting all of your opponents and avoiding fees, or worse, jail. There are multiple editions of this game such as Harry Potter, National Parks and Bob Ross Monopoly-themed boards, so pick your favorite and sit down for some friendly competition.

Friday: National Child’s Day

Created in 2001 by Lee Rechter, this holiday aims to recognize each child’s potential and take note of how best we can foster children’s growth and learning around us. During this time, learning and social development have been difficult especially for younger children entering a primarily online environment. For those who have children in their lives, take a moment to celebrate this holiday, noticing your child’s interests and setting aside a chunk of time to dedicate to them. 

All holidays were found on NationalDayCalendar.com and NationalToday.com. Be sure to keep up to date with our regularly featured holidays featured both on our Instagram @themainecampus and website.

On Oct. 22 from 6 to 7:30 p.m., the Maine Humanities Council hosted “Poetry Express with Samaa Abdurraqib” in partnership with the Maine State Library and Family Violence Project Maine to spread awareness of domestic violence and implications of cultural trauma within a welcoming community. This event was live streamed on Facebook on the Family Violence Project Maine, Maine Humanities Council and Maine State Library pages as well as held over Zoom. 

The event was structured in two parts, in the first, each featured poem was displayed with each host reading along, and in the second, readers performed directly to the audience, revealing original poetry among poems by others. In both parts, each poem was repeated after a brief interlude, filled with reader dialogue and silent reflection. The event concluded with a Q & A session to address both writing and relevant themes. 

Beginning “Poetry Express,” Abdurraqib shared “In Response to a Body Poem,” as a poem written at the end of this past summer in response to “A Body as a Home,” a poem by a fellow writer. Abdurraqib’s poem carried her audience through cultivating skills, building oneself up and anew for someone else, followed by a strong extended metaphor of a body as a house.

The next poem Abdurraqib read, “Medicine,” brought up feelings of resilience, community and gratitude for those in the Black community. Strength in repetition, the latter half of “Medicine” declared beliefs in culture, man and hope for the future, ending with “sometimes chanting is a reminder, sometimes people are medicine.” 

Following Abdurraqib’s two poems, the stream then moved to the reader section which began with Pearle Williams reading “Recovery” by Red Hawk. Carolyn Brady, 2019 Miss Maine, then read “How to Draw a Map” by Patrick Hicks, captivated by the notion of the author’s “revelation with respect to who creates our story, and who has the power to author the path that was set before we arrived.”  

Kristin Plummer then read “Healing” by Karin Spitfire, an extended metaphor of knitting as healing, dropping a stitch somewhere along the way, then picking it back up as the healing process begins. Michelle LeClair followed by reading “Broken Bow” by Thomas Carper noting the poem’s hopeful tone and natural persistence as an example to humankind. 

Reader Cliftine then presented “Terminal Moraine” by Leonore Hildebrandt, a University of Maine lecturer of English and author of books and many poems, noting the poem’s transition from being “on-edge” to healing with a lapse of this tension in the final line. 

The first reader portion concluded with Melanie Beaulieu reading “Reservation Strife” by Red Hawk. Written from the perspective of a woman building a life on her American Indian reservation in the face of hardship. Beaulieu spoke to the poem’s devastating truth regarding domestic violence both in her work and personal experiences growing up on an Indian reservation. 

To end part one and begin part two, Abdurraqib read “Little Things” by Samara Cole Doyon. 

Reading in the same order as part one, Williams began with “A Platform for Healing,” a poem about battling cancer, Williams discussing her grandmother’s personal battle with cancer, finding comfort in her chosen poem. Brady then read an original work, “I Apologize,” taking the opportunity to recognize a “naysayer’s voice,” and the danger of ignorance within domestic violence. 

Plummer continued with “She Says” by Corinne Spitfire, picked with an admiration of the natural imagery and the renewal that can be found in order. LeClair then read “A Box Full of Darkness” by Carol Willette Bachofner, examining perspective in terms of someone leaving another versus those who have been left, necessitating choosing oneself when found in darkness. 

Reader Cliftine continued by showcasing “Open Season” by Katherine Hagopian Berry, a haunting, hopeful poem picked for both her daughters and those who have them. Beaulieu finished with “On Leaving Home” by Gibson Fay-LeBlanc, chosen for the exciting combination of words, bouncing from slant rhyme to careful pause until its conclusion. 

To end part two and begin the Q & A portion of the Poetry Express, Abdurraqib read three original short poems, the first “Refuge Poem: Second in a Series,” and the second two as “imagining [Abdurraqib] as a younger person,” “This Balloon” and “Tight Spaces.”

The concluding Q & A section featured both general questions for all featured readers and specific questions for individuals, covering topics such as work selection and the dichotomy of performing other’s poetry versus being the listener. 

The next scheduled event hosted by the Maine Humanities Council will take place virtually on Oct. 29 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. in partnership with the Norway Memorial Public Library as “Confronting Our Biases: A Reading and Discussion About Race.” To find more information on this event and similar happenings in the future, please visit mainehumanitites.org or the Maine Humanities Council Facebook page, @mainehumanities.

5/5 Stars

Published in 2018, “Wade in the Water” is a book of poems by 2017 U.S. Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith, which works to address racism, injustice and historical impacts of slavery in the modern-day U.S. Sectioned into four parts which cover perspectives from the 1800s through the present, “Wade in the Water” draws from multiple foundational source texts to contextualize and bring forward voices of those unheard. 

Smith is an acclaimed American author and poet from Massachusetts later living in California. After earning her Bachelor of Arts from Harvard University and Master of Fine Arts from Columbia University, Smith went on to produce four works of poetry and memoir including “The Body’s Question” (2003), “Duende” (2007), “Life on Mars” (2011), “Ordinary Light” (2015) and most recently, “Wade in the Water” (2018). Among other awards, Smith was recognized as the 2011 winner of the Pulitzer Prize for poetry for “Life on Mars” and just before her publication of “Wade in the Water,” named the 2017 U.S. Poet Laureate.

In “Wade in the Water,” Smith uses erasure poetry, also known as blackout poetry, by selecting works ranging from the mid-1800s through the early 2000s which exemplifies the Black struggle, perseverance and courage, taking selected words and phrases, sometimes whole excerpts and creating poems from what remains. One of the most obvious and easily digestible poems introduces Part II, “Declaration.” This poem exclusively takes phrases from America’s Declaration of Independence, forming a mass of half-phrases working to remind the audience of the looming burden of slavery and its social aftermath. 

Additionally, Smith differentiates between the use of her voice and others by italicizing referenced words and phrases, citing them in the book’s ending “Notes” section, and by including valuable epigraphs at the head of some poems. Additionally, Smith takes care to stay authentic to the referenced written word by leaving misspellings and wavering grammar as is, creating a definition between one of the central themes: “us” and “them.” Most apparent in Part II, “I will tell you the truth about this, I will tell you about it” and poems thereafter, Smith uses these poems to plead a lost sense of identity stripped when slavery began. 

In other works, Smith relies on her captivating use of imagery, creating simple vignettes in Parts I and II, then illustrating increasingly complex scenes as she incorporates more voices throughout Parts III and IV. If using her own voice, Smith writes as though she is speaking, ebbing and flowing through the use of caesuras breaking most lines down the middle, and pausing for release of tension during such heavy historical lines. In some poems, most notably in “Hill Country,” Smith crunches down on her consonants when coupled with appropriate imagery, such as the contrast between man and nature, while in others, uses cooler phrases. 

Though there is so much to unpack, one does not have to be particularly well-versed to understand the historical significance of “Wade in the Water.” As the author, Smith serves as the vessel for which many voices of history are carried, giving time to unveil unrelenting truths such as upheaval, grief and communal perseverance, in turn, calling for love and change.

On Oct. 15 at 4 p.m. the University of Maine’s Homecoming kicked off with the 12th annual Maine Heritage Lecture as sponsored by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. This year’s lecture, “What do we want History to do to us?” was hosted by Dr. Liam Riordan, the Adelaide and Alan Bird professor of history chair and former director and now advisor to the McGillicuddy Humanities Center (MHC), among other speakers in an online Zoom webinar format. 

As with previous lectures, the 2020 MHC talk aimed to assess and evaluate history in the modern-day, assessing the values that lead UMaine forward as the college looks toward the future. Maine’s bicentennial event was addressed by Riordan and others as a way to critically reflect upon relationships between both Maine’s 100 year anniversary and now, as well as how these relationships will lead Maine forward in the future. 

Riordan began his talk with the explanation of the lecture’s title, “What do we want History to do to us?” as Zadie Smith’s article regarding artist Kara Walker’s ink drawing “What I want history to do to me,” reflects upon how we as a society now think about the “distant past,” posing the questions, “how do we [reflect]” and “why should we [reflect]?”

Drawing from his research of Maine’s statehood era, Riordan covered four topics of interest considering both the physical and cultural development of the state of Maine. Beginning with the termed “Maine-Missouri crisis,” Riordan highlighted the foundational deeply-rooted tie to slavery as Maine separated from Massachusetts in 1820. In addition, Riordan explained this separation created considerable partisan animosity and pushback with regard to differences in economic status, the discrepancy of Maine state boundaries and religious disagreement. 

Riordan’s closing topics included the discussion of Maine’s international border definition in 1842 and the separation of the St. John Valley from the people of Madawaska. This border resulted in both the interpersonal and cultural isolation both groups experienced in the coming years and as reflected today, and also how Maine statehood impacted Wabanaki sovereignty as autonomous peoples under the Maine state government both then and now. 

As a wrap-up to the lecture, guest speaker Rachel Snell, a food historian and graduated student of Riordan, spoke on how to critically reflect on past events, such as Maine’s statehood era and bicentennial event, to predict essential issues in the future the people of Maine will need to address, a question posed to Riordan that sparked a lengthy Q&A session held at the end of the event. 

Guest speaker Tim Garrity, a historian from the Mount Desert Island Historical Society, wrapped up the lecture-based portion of the MHC event by touching on the similarities and differences of Maine’s attitudes between the state’s centennial and bicentennial events with regard to national patriotism, pride in local history, and the function of “American exceptionalism” trending across the span of 100 years. 

The event ended with a Q&A session moderated by Jessica Miller, professor of philosophy and the associate dean of faculty affairs and interdisciplinary programs, which primarily addressed the lecture’s main question, “What do we want history to do to us?” among other queries related to historical technicalities brought up. This ended on the notion of how society assesses both successes and wrongdoings in the history of previous ages and illustrating that while there are certain pleasures of dissecting the sociology of man from an outsider perspective, those in the future will surely “know our blind spots.”

Currently, the MHC is hosting a “Story of Climate Change Film Series,” which shows films that examine society’s relationship to our changing environment and the natural world. The next virtual film showing is of “Harlan County, USA” and is on Oct. 26 at 6:30 p.m., and “Mad Max: Fury Road” on Nov. 9 at the same time. Both are accessible by registration on their website under the Events & Programs page. For more information on the MHC including student and faculty research and upcoming events and programs, please visit umaine.edu/mhc.

Guest Author: Haylee Scovil

For kids and adults alike, Halloween in Bangor, Maine, is an extraordinary time of year with many fun events and spooky activities to get in the Halloween spirit; however, with the COVID-19 pandemic present in the state of Maine, precautions are being taken to minimize the risk of community spread in Bangor. As a result, Halloween is looking to be less spooky than usual this year. 

20 miles east of Bangor, just outside the small town of Bucksport, Fort Knox is one of the best maintained historic military forts in New England and rests on the side of the Penobscot River. Annually, the fort hosts “Fright at the Fort,” a haunted tour through the fort in the dark of night. Each year, hundreds of volunteers gather and commit to a theme (Stephen King was the theme in 2018) and decorate themselves and the fort according to the theme and lead small groups through the haunted fort. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, Fright at the Fort 2020 has been canceled. According to a post on their website, “As a result of its success, [they] know [they] cannot safely entertain even half the usual 2,000-3,000 guests per night under COVID-19 precautions.” 

Along with Fright at the Fort, other annual ghostly events have been canceled in the area as a precaution to COVID-19. Many locals choose to trek out of Bangor to Kenduskeag, where a house is famous for being the scariest haunted house in the area. Typically, the money that the event brings in goes toward the Kenduskeag Recreation so that children of Kenduskeag and some surrounding towns can have uniforms for recreational activities for free. The Kenduskeag Haunted House woefully announced back in August that the house would not be spooking folks this Halloween season. This is a disappointment for all folks in surrounding Penobscot county towns because the house has been a hit since 1983, and is a local Halloween favorite. 

Though popular events are getting canceled locally, there is one event in Bangor that will happen this season. “Trunk Or Treat” at the Morgan Hill Event Center in Hermon will take place from 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 24. There will be one-hour-long slots available for 100 people at a time, to allow maximum social distancing. Trunk or treating is a fun twist on traditional trick-or-treating, where instead of skipping from house to house, kids go trunk to trunk getting candy from decorated open trunks of cars. 

The head of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Nirav Shah, stated in a local news report that he thinks trick-or-treating can happen if the community works together to make socially-distant and responsible decisions regarding children running house to house for candy. 

This year, neighborhood folks who want to hand out candy are planning to do so in fun, creative and socially-distant ways. One family invented the candy slide as a socially distant way to hand out candy this season. The candy slide is a giant decorated PVC pipe that allows the homeowner to slide candy through the pipe and down into a child’s candy bag — what a genius and fun way to get candy! That method beats running up to a doorbell by a landslide. Another creative family invented candy sticking. Candy sticking is when the candy is attached to bamboo sticks on the front lawn and children can run on the lawn and pick their candy off a stick! Here in the Bangor area, these methods would allow for a sweet and exciting Halloween trick-or-treating after cancellations and disappointments caused by COVID-19 this year. 

So many local Penobscot county towns host annual events such as haunted houses, haunted tours, festivals and trick-or-treating that bring important business and excitement to the towns year after year. Though many local events are being canceled, the fun and excitement that Halloween brings are not disappearing. Locals are preparing for a Halloween that will be unlike any other, and though that may include waiting another year for the much anticipated haunted house, residents of Bangor and surrounding towns are working to make trick-or-treating happen as best as possible while being conscientious of COVID-19.

On Oct. 1, the University of Maine’s All Maine Women hosted the annual Take Back the Night event to both spread awareness and create a safe space for those who have experienced domestic and sexual violence. Held behind Fogler Library with COVID-19 restrictions in mind, attendance was capped at 50 with respective social distancing guidelines. This event lasted for two hours between 5 and 7 p.m. and featured both a performance from UMaine’s Renaissance all-women acapella group and multiple speakers sharing their stories within a non-mandatory reporting space. 

This year, fourth-year secondary education and honors student Miranda Snyder took a key role in organizing the event as the All Maine Women president, with the goal of representing a much more culturally diverse population of sexual and domestic violence survivors than in previous years and taking care to include notable speakers and various collectives on campus before the survivor “speak-out” closing portion. 

“We read an explicit land acknowledgment statement, that the UMaine campus was on stolen Wabanaki territory,” Snyder said. “We were able to have a few new speakers, such as Dawn Neptune Adams, share how sexual violence impacts their communities.”

As both a first time speaker at this event and a notable activist within the realm of indigenous and racial awareness, Adams drew relationships between sexual and domestic violence advocacy and speaking out against the discussed stolen Wabanaki territory introduced at the beginning of the event. 

“It was wonderful to get [Adams’] perspective and their political activism, and hearing about us being on stolen land, relating directly to the violence survivors’ feelings of autonomy and agency over their own bodies,” Snyder said. “It was very insightful, empowering and enlightening.”

For first-year students, Miranda noted that although this year’s turnout was smaller than in years previous, it only brought the crowd closer together, creating a tight-knit, safe, shared space which built a strong community between both the featured speakers and active listeners who were involved. 

“We had a few [first-years] who came after receiving advertisements from UMaine’s Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies program and said they realized there was an activist community that validated how they felt and what they’ve experienced on campus,” Snyder said. “Also, first-time guest speakers expressed a lot of gratitude for us even holding the event given the modifications we had because it really set the [precedent] that no matter the circumstances, this event, and the experiences of the people honored in it, are still worth the attention.”

Especially during the time of a pandemic, those who are both currently experiencing sexual and domestic violence and those who are moving through their healing process can feel isolated and unseen. Events like Take Back the Night help to spread awareness of people living in these unsafe situations, maybe with abusive partners. To hear others share their story and build a community helps, at least a little, to demonstrate that they are not alone. 

“One of the core goals of the event is just to raise awareness. [This] stat is flawed since not everyone reports, [but] at least 1 in 5 women experience sexual assault during their lifetime, which does not account for nonbinary or [transgender] folks, or differentiate between people of color or socioeconomic positions,” Snyder said. “The power of sharing one’s story for advocacy [helps tremendously during one’s healing process]. If you are comfortable with sharing your story, sometimes sharing it with others is one of the most empowering things you can do for yourself and others.” 

For more information on this event and the upcoming Facebook livestream March Against Domestic Violence at noon on Oct. 7, visit the UMaine March Against Domestic Violence’s Facebook Page @umainemarchagainstdomesticviolence. 

For on-campus resources regarding sexual and domestic violence, UMaine’s Cutler Health Counseling Center has a variety of resources, and can be found at umaine.edu/counseling or by phone at (207)581-1392. Other resources may include UMaine’s on-campus Title IX services at umaine.edu/titleix, or off campus, Partners for Peace at partnersforpeaceme.org and Rape Response Services at rrsonline.org.

Monday: National Good Neighbor Day

Created by Jimmy Carter in 1978, National Good Neighbor Day was created with the purpose of broadening social horizons and building a strong community. Some ways to celebrate may include writing a heartfelt note to leave on their doorstep, dropping off a small gift like a game or drinks or even by simply giving your neighbors a call. Channel your inner Mr. Rogers today and to both make new friends and find comfort in the old. 

Tuesday: National Coffee Day

National Coffee Day was created in late 2014 by the National Coffee Association and gives us all a perfect excuse to indulge in our favorite cup of joe. On this day, many restaurants are having sweet deals in the spirit of this holiday, including Dunkin’ and Starbucks, so be sure to check your area for what may be going on. Perhaps the best way to celebrate is by trying a new coffee, or by checking out small coffee shops and investing in local businesses. 

Wednesday: National Hot Mulled Cider Day

For those who went apple picking over the weekend, you can look forward to Sept. 30 as National Hot Mulled Cider Day. Originally based on an old Pagan tradition of wassailing for good health, mulled cider included many other ingredients besides apples and fall spices (try curdled cream and eggs!). For now, there are plenty of recipes to try, including Food Network’s Hot Mulled Cider recipe, needing only a few fall spices and fresh apple cider, with a total prep and cook time of approximately 20 minutes. 

Thursday: National Homemade Cookies Day

Keeping with the cooking theme, Oct. 1 is National Homemade Cookies Day, and gives us the opportunity to both gather with close friends or family and experiment with new and favorite recipes, maybe ending in a major food coma. For those more apt to celebrate in other ways than just cooking, you can put on your favorite baking show or purchase homemade cookies from a local business around the corner. 

Friday: National Walk and Bike to School Day

Almost just the opposite of what Thursday brings, Oct. 2 is National Walk and Bike to School Day. First celebrated in 2012 alongside the League of American Bicyclists’ Bike Month, this holiday emphasizes health and wellness during the first week of October. As UMaine students, we can take advantage of the University Bike Paths which extend through Orono and Old Town by commuting to class either by foot or by bike. For those with online classes, taking a walk either on the University paths or safely down the street in your neighborhood can help clear your mind. 

To keep up-to-date with our regularly featured holidays, follow us @themainecampus on Instagram and view our Friday stories for a pinch of fun, or backtrack to ones you may have missed under our “Holidays” story highlight. For more information on national holidays and take part in everyday celebrations, please visit nationaltoday.com to stay up-to-date on ways to celebrate.

From Aug. 4 to Dec. 23, the Zillman Art Museum (ZAM), previously the University of Maine Museum of Art, is showing their summer and fall exhibitions featuring artists JoAnne Carson, Marcie Jan Bronstein and selections from the museum’s permanent collection, Maine Inspired: Art Luminaries at the Bicentennial. Encompassing a wide array of mediums including sculpture, watercolor, etchings and photographs, ZAM appeals to every audience during this show. 

Bronstein’s “Being Here” allows the viewer to escape through her sensitive usage of negative space in her collection of watercolor paintings and tranquil spaces. The use of organic architecture and natural tones which are seen behind layered veils ground the viewer as an invitation to observe and explore the narrative behind her abstract sense of place. 

“Some pieces are abstract in the sense, but they open up a lot of possibilities to the viewer, as some look almost architectural, others look like stairs, rope ladders and polished sea stones,” George Kinghorn, ZAM’s Director and Curator, said. “In many, there are portals where you simultaneously look at, and beyond the piece to go through portals seen in her compositions which are absences of watercolor.”

As a local artist from Belfast, the body of Bronstein’s works were created specifically for the current exhibition, and are being seen publicly for the first time. 

Carson’s “Wood Nymphs” showcases large, whimsical sculptures which take viewers by surprise. With incredible attention to detail, Brooklyn-based Carson carefully freezes fairy-tale scenes both in vivid color and neutral, striking tones, making her work fun and accessible for those of all ages. 

“As you come in, you navigate around the piece called ‘Chlorophylia.’ It’s a large-scale piece where [Carson’s] very inventively used different types of materials from plaster and fabric to Sculpey-type clay. She combines a lot of different types of materials, which is characteristic of her work,” Kinghorn explains. “There’s a bit of trickery when you look at her pieces because you might see a large cross-section of a tree, but it’s actually all created by the artist, sculpted using different materials including resin, then hand-painted. It is a bit of a visual surprise.”

Aside from her sculptures, Carson’s exhibition features preparatory drawings, reflecting her work in two dimensions prior to her three-dimensional compositions, allowing the audience to visualize the artistic process behind the final form. 

The ZAM’s permanent collection, “Maine Inspired: Art Luminaries at the Bicentennial,” features an array of both significant Maine-based and Maine-inspired artists who have brought international acclaim to the state’s historic artistic significance. The works include Andrew Wyeth’s watercolors, two of Winslow Homer’s exquisite etchings and John Marin, featured both in watercolor and prints. Several pieces from current Maine-based artist Alex Katz are also featured. 

Additionally, included in the permanent collection exhibit, ZAM features a small-scale pop art show in honor of Linda Zillman, both an art historian who has written on Andy Warhol and a vital part of the Zillman Art Museum and the University of Maine, who enabled the construction of five new galleries to nearly double the size of the ZAM through a transformative donation. The show also features artists Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol. 

Aside from the construction of the additional five galleries to host both featured artists and permanent collection exhibitions, ZAM looks forward to opening a new immersive video installation by Gene Fleece in their Zillman Gallery in three weeks and continuing with their regularly scheduled seasonal shows in January. 

In the meantime, visitors are welcome to visit in-person at no cost of admission, a perfect outing for students and families during this unusual time. 

“Right now, it’s a great opportunity to see a lot of very different approaches to subject matter and media because we’ve got everything from sculpture to watercolor, to prints and original paintings,” Kinghorn said. “For students, it’s a great opportunity to see a lot of different types of media and subject matter represented at the museum. Knowing that social activities are more challenging, it makes for a great outing to come down and enjoy the resources the museum has and walk around downtown.”

For more information regarding the ZAM and its galleries, artists, and events, visit https://zam.umaine.edu/, or view their Facebook at @ZAMatUMaine and Instagram at @zillmanartmuseum.

4/5 Stars

A 2017 release by the multiple award-winning author, Mary Oliver, “Felicity” offers a collection of short poems about love separated across three sections: “The Journey,” “Love” and “Felicity.” From Cleaveland, Ohio, Oliver spent her younger years developing her passion for writing and nature, later becoming strongly influenced by the works of Edna St. Vincent Millay. As one of her later works before her recent passing in 2019, “Felicity,” allows the reader into Oliver’s thoughts on love, both highlighting her understanding of relationships within the natural realm, and how deeply emotional forming relationships are.

“Felicity” begins with Oliver’s setting of pace, telling the reader to slow down, and take enough time to absorb as much as they need. From there, Oliver continues in free verse, often relying on her formation of rhythm by subtle consonance with an occasional end rhyme when tension allows. Although Oliver doesn’t follow an extended metaphor style throughout the collection, she follows many poems through with her personification of feelings, such as love, or even simple metaphorical lines surrounded by soft, natural imagery. At the ending of some poems, Oliver poses questions such as, “What is your heart doing now?” and “What is the reason for it?” which serves to break the fourth dimension and ask the audience to become aware of their own tension, or critically think about their own philosophies. 

In the three areas aligned with the breaks of the collection, Oliver incorporates brief epigraphs translated from the Persian philosopher, Rumi, regarding transitions, love and acceptance. These epigraphs prime the reader to simultaneously enter the world of Oliver’s philosophy while keeping their virtues in mind, unearthing themes such as religion and God, the place of man within nature’s space and nature as a language, and universal understanding and fate. The theme of springtime and new beginnings carries throughout the collection, creating a sweet, hopeful aura through each theme, exploring Rumi’s advice and building upon Oliver’s own understanding, culminating in the final section, “Felicity.” 

An accessible read, Oliver’s “Felicity” is a critical collection of poetry. Foundational for those looking for more exposure or practice engaging with symbolistic thinking, her collection of poems leaves the audience wandering on the outskirts of reality, thinking about the bigger picture and forgetting the drone of everyday life — which is now seemingly more important than ever. Recommended at 4 out of 5 stars, readers should discover Oliver’s “Felicity” and escape to someplace serene, even for just a little while.

Alec Douglas is a fourth-year mechanical engineering student, who, when you can’t find him playing disc golf or four-square, works as a second floor Resident Assistant (RA) in Somerset Hall. Offering up a lens into how to stay involved, happy and healthy during an otherwise stressful beginning to a new semester during the COVID-19 pandemic, Douglas has stayed grounded and optimistic. 

On Tuesday, Aug. 18, Douglas began his third year as an RA, a little apprehensive before seeing the reality of the University of Maine’s campus life. 

“Coming back from a small town to a place where people are congregating, obviously, I was a little worried,” Douglas said. “The longer we’ve been here, the more I’ve relaxed. The big concern for those living on campus was the number of cases on campus, and surprisingly, they’ve been really low so far … I’ve been talking to my residents, and everyone wants to be here, so they’re going to follow the rules. It’s my senior year, too, so I want to see good things happen.”

Douglas’ move-in process was smooth and regular, though there were rules such as maintaining social distancing, mask wearing and allowing no more than two guests to help students move in. The next day, he began training for the upcoming first-year student move-in week by attending Zoom lectures, and working in safe, in-person small groups.

Now, with roughly two weeks under his belt, Douglas conveyed how social distancing has changed the way students interact, highlighting his residents’ commitment to empathy and respect. 

“For the most part, it’s the rule of, ‘if you have your door open, you have to have your face mask on.’ Obviously, because it’s so hard to make friends during this time, we had to talk to a lot of people about remembering to keep them on,” Douglas said. “Four people to a room is another new rule — if you’re in a standard double-room, you’re only supposed to have four people, and while they’re in there, everyone is supposed to have face masks on, even if it’s your room with two other guests.”

In addition, bathroom and common room policies have changed to allow for the best social distancing and safety possible in these spaces. Douglas has found that his residents show great empathy and respect toward each other regardless of any strain on emotional well-being. 

Aware of these missed critical connections students have during their first year of college, Douglas noted that there will be considerably more programming than in years past in order for residents to meet their neighbors, make friends and develop relationships which will holistically support their unusual beginning to their university education. 

“It’s so much harder for people to meet people now, but we’re trying to counter that through doing more programs. Some are outside — today we just had a campus trail walk that a few people came to that one of my other RA’s put on. We’ll have newlywed games, most likely in the common room, appropriately spaced out. I’m looking at doing a lot of Zoom programs — on an average week, we’re doing three to four programs, which is nice, because it’s helping people meet people,” Douglas said.

For those interested in becoming more involved in residential affairs, or possibly working as an RA in the semesters to come, Douglas offered advice on how to work with others and maintain one’s cool while taking the time and care being an RA requires. 

“I’ve been doing it for so long, I don’t think it really takes much — just someone who really wants to be an RA because the position is so diverse,” Douglas said. “Teamwork is a really big thing since you’re working with seven other people besides yourself. Communication is key, too. You want to make sure that you’re communicating with your residents, staff, supervisor — you need to be comfortable enough to [work through uncomfortable situations].” 

In the following weeks, Douglas will work toward meeting all his residents by holding Zoom meetings and hall events, while also looking forward to the announcement of his prospective capstone project, which is to work on 3D printing air filters for classrooms to create a safer environment to learn.