With Election Day quickly approaching, voters may find themselves confused by the concept of Ranked Choice Voting (RVC) and the purpose it serves. RVC is used in Maine and Alaska. It allows voters to rank candidates by preference instead of choosing just one to ensure the winner receives majority support. This guide will explain how RCV works, its history in Maine and what it means for your voting experience this November.

Many seasoned and even first-time voters are familiar with how to fill out and cast a ballot. Simply pick your chosen candidate, and then whichever one accumulates more than 50% of the vote wins. That being said, it is also common to have more than two options for a candidate given the broad spectrum of political parties that exist nowadays. This can result in the vote getting split in an inconsistent manner where it is possible that none of the candidates make it over the 50% threshold. 

To subvert this issue, some states adopted the practice of RCV. The purpose of RCV is to provide the option to rank your choices from favorite to least favorite. The candidate with the least amount of votes is eliminated from the race and their votes are given to the candidate ranked second on any given ballot. Depending on how tight the percentages are and how many candidates were on the ballot, the process is repeated until one candidate surpasses 50% and is thus marked the winner. 

Currently, Maine and Alaska are the only states to adopt this voting style for federal elections. While some see it as a realistic means of adapting a flawed voting system to a growing population, not all voters share this sentiment. RCV has been banned in 10 states as of 2022 with opposition claiming it will over-complicate the system and discount votes of the losing candidate. While slow to gain traction, five more states will vote on adopting RCV in the upcoming 2024 elections. 

RCV in Maine goes further back than some may realize. When it was first proposed to the Maine Legislature as a bill in 2001, it was quickly dismissed. That was until 2003 when the Joint Standing Committee on Legal and Veterans’ Affairs of the 122nd Maine Legislature requested the Department of the Secretary of State look into the idea of runoff voting. 

Between 2005 and 2013, more bills in favor of RCV were proposed without success until 2014, when a citizens’ initiative petition was sent out to Maine voters. The petition gained enough signatures and it was signed into law on Jan. 7, 2017, but was not put into use until 2018. 

In November of the same year, the Legislature passed “An Act to Implement Ranked-choice Voting in 2021,” which would suspend the use of RCV until Dec. 1, 2021 unless voters ratify the amendment to the Constitution of Maine. 

Pro-RCV voters sought the People’s Veto process to make runoff voting available before 2021 and it gained enough signatures to be put into action on election day of June 12, 2018. On Aug. 26, 2019, “An Act To Implement Ranked Choice Voting for Presidential Primary and General Elections in Maine” was approved by the Maine Legislature. Several unsuccessful veto attempts were made to repeal the decision until Oct. 1, 2020, with RCV ultimately being approved for the ballot in the 2024 Presidential Election.  

This might seem very overwhelming to voters, leaving many questioning what to do if they do not wish to participate in this style of voting. The most common question voters have is how to vote for one candidate without ranking their choices. This can be done very easily by ranking your chosen candidate as your first, second, third and fourth choice. Your vote will be counted towards your chosen candidate unless they are eliminated from the race. 

With this voting style being so new and experimental, participating in RCV is a unique opportunity for voters to take part in what could become a nationwide change to the voting system. 

It can be difficult to stay up to date with politics when dealing with a busy academic schedule, leaving some unsure of what candidate they prefer overall. RCV is meant to make this decision easier so one might express their preferences more fully.

Students can vote at the Collins Art Center on Nov. 5 from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. when polls close.

The Office of Diversity and Inclusion (ODI) held a talk on men’s mental health on Wednesday at the University of Maine. The event was held in the Multicultural Student Center and was an open discussion on men’s relationship with mental health and how participants can better understand and help their friends and male loved ones. 

Jon Guzman and Casper Cowan, ODI student leaders, Director Anila Karunakar and Coordinator Taylor Matthew Ashley ran the event. The purpose of this event was to have an open discussion about what men’s mental health means to the individual and how both men and women can help to impact it positively. 

A topic discussed at length was the mental health struggles of men in the LGBTQ+ community. Men who identify as other than cisgender or heterosexual are reported to have significantly higher rates of depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts than other male-identifying persons. This is due in part to the intersectional stigma surrounding the ideology of traditional masculinity compounded with homophobia. This can be exacerbated when religion and culture are also important aspects of the person’s life. 

“As a society we have a secular idea of what a man should be,” Guzman remarked at the opening of the talk, “And that all ties into the societal and cultural norms of what it means to be a man [and] having to be strong, having to not cry, having to hold in those emotions and not being able to express them. I think that is very representative of why a lot of men have mental illness because we are supposed to be strong. We are supposed to be the man of the house per-se. We feel obligated to do what we can’t do. We need to feel like we have a space where we will not be judged but heard and seen.”

Another topic covered was the relationships between a man and his male friends.  The dynamic between these two has the potential to either positively impact their mental health or serve to perpetuate a lack of support among men when it comes to their shared experiences and struggles. These relationships are especially impactful when applied to men’s relationships with their “father figures.” 

“A really big topic when we talk about masculinity and how that is representative in our society as a whole are these father-son dynamics,” Cowan remarked, “Within western culture we don’t have these deep emotional bonds with our fathers that we necessarily have with our mothers or with other figures in our lives. There is a huge emotional disconnect between fathers and sons, which I think really leads to this idea that boys don’t cry and emotions are weak or something to be ashamed of. This leads to isolation, alienation and low self-worth, which plays a huge part into the statistics surrounding men’s mental health.”

Men’s mental health is a topic that often gets neglected worldwide. While the statistics surrounding this topic are murky due to a lack of reporting, thanks to the stigma surrounding men seeking help, there are a few things currently known. 

The five most common mental illnesses men tend to suffer from include depression, bipolar disorder, psychosis, schizophrenia and eating disorders. The suicide rate for men in America has been steadily rising since 2000 when suicide was the seventh leading cause of death in adult men. More than four times the amount of men die by suicide in comparison to women, and men tend to use more deadly forms of suicide, such as death by a firearm or hanging, whereas women tend to use pills or cutting. 

While mental health affects everyone to a certain extent, there are specific male demographics that are more prone to mental health struggles. This includes gay and bisexual men, veterans and those struggling with substance abuse issues. 

If you or someone you know on campus is in crisis, you are encouraged to call the UMaine Counseling Center at  (+1)-207-581-1392 or the 988 Suicide Crisis hotline.

Mainers rallied on Oct. 23 to oppose a plan to mine for zinc in the Katahdin region. A hearing was held at 6:30 p.m. by the Land Use Planning Commission (LUPC) to discuss mining at Pickett Mountain. 

A rally was held at the Cross Insurance Center at 5:15 p.m. for those who oppose the proposition and feel that it will be devastating to the area and who believe that Wolfden Resources, the company chosen to conduct the proposed mining, is not the right one to do so. 

If built, the mine would be erected near Baxter State Park and the Katahdin Woods & Waters National Monument. Besides local pushback, another obstacle for the Canada-based Wolfden Resources Corporation Inc. is waiting for their permit application to the LUPC to rezone the area for industrial uses before any construction can be approved.

The hearing date for the rally was the second date chosen, as 50 Maine legislators sent a letter urging the LUPC to make the hearings more accessible to civilians so that everyone might get a chance to make their voices heard. 

Those who oppose the mine do so because they believe the mining will be detrimental to the area’s natural beauty and environmental health, will restrict local hunting rights and will desecrate historical land of the Wabanaki tribes. 

So far, the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, the Penobscot Nation and the Natural Resources Council of Maine, represented by Earthjustice and Brann and Isaacson, are some of the most noteworthy organizations opposing the mine.

If approved, this will be the first mine the Wolfden Resources has ever managed, which has only exacerbated the skepticism of local people in the Katahdin region. If their permit application to rezone the area for industrial uses is approved following this week’s hearing, which included expert witness testimony and arguments made from both sides, the LUPC staff will then recommend commissioners who will make a final decision. 

There are several reasons why companies are looking to expand zinc mining in the Katahdin area. Zinc is one of the most desirable metals in today’s economy due to its wide variety of uses. It is primarily used in electronics, automotive and the steel industry to galvanize steel, which insulates it from weather and corrosion. 

Zinc mining can cause adverse effects on the health of the environment, especially if a spill occurs. According to the National Library of Medicine, mineral processing activities have the capacity to release large amounts of zinc into the environment, with the potential to negatively impact water resources, soils, vegetation, wildlife and human health. 

While zinc poisoning is rare and usually involves oral ingestion in high concentrations, poisoning symptoms may include nausea, vomiting, epigastric pain, lethargy, and fatigue. A full-grown adult would need to ingest more than 50 mg of zinc before poisoning would occur. 

Metal mining has a long history in the state of Maine, dating back to the first bog iron mine in the mid-1800s. This led to a mining boom that died out almost as soon as it started due to a price drop in 1883. As a result, mining in the state stagnated until WWII, when the US government went on a nationwide search for magnesium, bringing them to Aroostook County. 

While high concentrations were found to be present in the soil due to insufficient means, the ore was never extracted. This brought attention to the state’s resources and put Maine back on the metal mining map. 

Maine has historically had metal-rich soil abundant in iron, silver, copper, lead and zinc. This is partly due to the coastal volcanic belt stretching from Blue Hill to Lubec. According to the Maine Geological Survey, the Ledge Ridge deposit in Parmachenee, a town near the Canadian border on the western edge of Maine, was found in 1973 to possess massive amounts of sulfide and several million tons of zinc, lead, and copper. 

Although metal mining might not be so common anymore, this week’s hearing and the continued debate surrounding it have proven its continued relevance.

Last week, the University of Maine graduate union received its certification from the Maine Labor Relations Board.

The Maine Graduate Workers Union-UAW was certified on Friday after an independent arbitrator decided that it had major support from graduate workers. The certification was announced by the Maine AFL-CIO. This all began back in August when bargaining began between the union and the University of Maine system after the university agreed it would recognize the union.

“Today, after years of discussion and months of organizing, we are thrilled to announce that we have won our union. The University of Maine administration did the right thing by agreeing to recognize our union through a majority sign-on process, and the majority has spoken. Based on the strong support that exists across campus and among faculty, legislators and community leaders, we are excited about the very real prospect of beginning negotiations for a strong first contract,” said Remi Geohegan, a second-year Ph.D. student and teaching assistant in the Graduate School of Biomedical Science and Engineering at the University of Maine to the Bangor Daily News this week regarding the decision.

Graduate workers first expressed the need for union recognition back in March when they voiced concerns about wages and health benefits as well as needing to be listened to more by the university. They made it clear to the university that they felt that they were not being compensated as fairly as their counterparts at other institutions.

“Our work powers the educational and research mission of the university and was instrumental in UMaine receiving the status of an R1-rated research university. In short, UMaine works because we do,” said Em Sowles, a fourth-year Ph.D. candidate and research assistant in the physics department to the Bangor Daily News this past week. “But for too long, we have struggled with low and inconsistent pay, substandard health benefits, and the need for a voice at work. Today, we are proud to have formally secured a seat at the table so we can begin to improve our working lives through legally enforceable contracts.”

Roughly 1,000 graduate, teaching and research assistants will be represented by the union. They comprise most of the research and teaching staff across the University of Maine’s statewide campuses. Their demand for recognized unionization comes as part of a new and recent wave of grad students demanding better treatment from their institutions. UMaine now follows in the footsteps of several other schools that have taken the plunge, such as Columbia University, Harvard University, the University of Alaska, the University of Connecticut and Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

The University of Maine currently offers 152 graduate programs where students might have the opportunity to earn a graduate certification, master’s degree, C.A.S., Ed.S. or doctorate degree. Back in November of 2022, the University of Maine celebrated a new record for enrollment in doctoral programs, with 554 out of 2,457 graduate students in total. During the prior academic year, 84 doctoral degrees and 695 master’s and specialist degrees were conferred. This marked a three-year winning streak for the University in terms of increasing graduate enrollment. This could be accredited to expanded marketing and recruitment efforts nationally and globally.

While most graduate certification programs are only offered online, most other grad programs are offered on campus or in combination. For graduate students interested in research opportunities at the University of Maine, access to interdisciplinary collaborations with partnering organizations and 16 major research centers and institutes with over 100 individual laboratories is offered.

“The Board of Trustees respects the many contributions graduate students make every day to advance the teaching , research and public service mission of UMS. We face many challenges given the demographic and budget realities we face and look forward to constructive engagement between UMS and the graduate student union. We congratulate graduate students for their hard work to make their union a reality,” said Board of Trustees Chair Trish Riley.

As of this year, the University of Maine will be celebrating the centennial anniversary of its graduate school. As the Land, Sea and Space Grant institution for the state, UMaine at Orono has much to offer its students and the state of Maine. Those interested in sharing how their time at grad school at UMaine positively impacted their lives can do so at the “Share Your Story” section of the homepage of the Graduate School Centennial website. You can also explore the history behind this milestone and related events and learn the impact it has had on the education of the state’s citizens.

An independent hotel named Hotel Ursa will open at the University of Maine this spring. 

As the newest addition to the university, this upcoming hotel was refurbished from what were originally Coburn and Holmes Halls, the two oldest buildings on the UMaine campus. Another building has also been erected to accompany them. Named after the North Star and the Ursa Major and Ursa Minor constellations, the hotel has been designed to feature a warm and inviting atmosphere that aims to reflect the Black Bear spirit. 

A cafe and bar will also be opened to accompany the hotel. Aptly named the Majorminor, this facility will be open to guests, campus visitors and faculty members alike. It will be equipped to offer locally roasted coffee, baked goods, snacks, Maine craft beer and wine by the glass. Proof of ID is required for access to the bar. 

Those who are familiar with the UMaine campus may wonder where hotel guests will be permitted to park. A parking lot will be designated specifically for hotel parking next to Coburn Hall and between Fogler Library and Holmes Hall.

“In our pursuit of greatness and advancement, we draw inspiration from the guiding light of the North Star. Symbolizing moral and intrepid direction, it shines as the crown jewel of the Ursa Major and Ursa constellations, meaning ‘Great Bear and Lesser Bear,’” states the Hotel Ursa website on the origins of its branding. 

Each building incorporated into the hotel has its own theme to meet each guest’s individual tastes. Holmes Hall will serve as the historic centerpiece, and the new building will provide more contemporary guest rooms. Coburn Hall will offer unique rooms and suites. 

“Our unique location on the UMaine campus allows the convenience of seeing the best of the campus and beyond, such as attending a meeting at Wells Conference Center, catching a show at Collins Center for the Arts or simply wandering the university halls. Guests at Hotel Ursa can also enjoy access to the state-of-the-art New Balance Recreation Center or explore the DeMeritt Forest Trail System,” stated the Ursa website.

With nearly 41% of all degree-seeking undergraduates attending Maine being from out-of-state, which is a 150% increase since 2009, visiting loved ones can present a challenge. Thanks to the planned hotel, students’ families will be able to have an affordable place to stay right on campus so that they might be closer to their Black Bear loved ones. 

The hotel was a joint venture between real estate development company Radnor Property Group and investment management firm Harrison Street. The construction, which got underway back in Sept. of 2022, was executed by Wright-Ryan Construction and operated by Olympia Hotel Management in Portland. Archetype Architects handled the architectural design aspects. 

Coburn Hall, one of the refurbished buildings, has been in disuse for more than 10 years up until now. Built between 1887 and 1888 and named after Abner Coburn, the chairman of the Board of Trustees and Governor of Maine in the 1860s, it housed the Department of Agriculture and Natural History. It was also the original library as well as the natural history museum. Being 135 years old, it eventually fell into disrepair due to its age. However, since being refurbished, it has been awarded an award from Maine Preservation, a statewide nonprofit that promotes historic preservation in Maine.

Holmes Hall, the other refurbished building, was built with funds from the Hatch Act of 1887. Originally called “Experiment Station” by Frank Kidder, the architect who designed it, it was renamed Holmes Hall at its dedication. Its original use was to house the chemistry department. Since the department relocated to Aubert Hall in 1914, the building has had many uses but sat partially vacant until recently. 

Hotel Ursa will begin accepting guests upon its opening in the spring. Rooms can be booked on its website. 

ORONO, ME – An ostrich sculpture was stolen from outside the Pride Zoo in Orono back in August 2021. 

The sculpture represented LGBTQA+ pride for Orono and the greater Bangor area during the 2021 Bangor Pride Month celebration. Constructed by Orono High School teachers Cami Carter and Jon Hawley, the community adored the statue. 

“We just want the Ostrich back. No questions asked. No charges. Just put it back on any street corner, we’ll come get it and put it back where it should be,” Carter said in a statement to Q106.5, a local radio station, in August 2021.

The Orono Police Department is still looking into who may have committed the theft and who may know something about it. As of recently, it is believed that the theft may simply be a juvenile prank or an act of drunken idiocy rather than an act of malice towards the LGBTQA+ community. Still, nothing has become of the stolen bird, but police and the community remain optimistic.

The ostrich was one of several animals included in the zoo, along with a unicorn, zebra, lion, panda, hippo, tortoise, cat, buffalo, giraffe and beaver. All pride flag-themed, the animals, and story doors were scattered all around town as a scavenger hunt that the community might all be able to participate in that summer. 

The zoo, a product of the 2021 Orono Pride Festival, was quite new for the area regarding LGBTQA+ representation. The festival, which was just a year old as of the time the sculpture was stolen, has become a very important part of the community of queer teens and adults in the area since. At its core, the event aims at advocacy, education, and representation to foster safety in schools, workplaces, and recreational endeavors.

When this crime occurred in 2021, hate crimes against queer Mainers had skyrocketed compared to previous years. As of 2021, 24 crimes that could be directly linked to homophobia were reported by Maine police, according to statistics from the FBI. This is consistent with a nationwide spike in intolerance. 

That being said, this is not an issue unique to the state. Such crimes have been trending down in the past two years, and the Orono and Bangor areas are still considered a safe place for the queer community. 

Unbeknownst to most, Maine has a rich history regarding queer representation and culture during a time when such lifestyles conflicted against the grain of society and the law. Statistics from 2020 report that there were anywhere between 45,000 minimum and 61,000 maximum LGBT-identifying adults statewide. And as of this year, it has been shown that Maine, California, and D.C. are the three safest states and federal districts for queer Americans. 

Since 1984, Maine has profited from the MLGPA (Maine Lesbian, Gay, Political Alliance), the predecessor of Equality Maine. However, this came in response to the tragic 1984 murder of 23-year-old Charles Howard, who was thrown over the State Street Bridge into the Kenduskeag Stream in Bangor by three teenagers for his sexuality. 

Ever since the Bangor and Orono area has taken gay pride and the protection of gay citizens much more seriously than other areas at the time. The MLGPA News had its own newsletter which has become a hallmark of pride for the state’s history. Copies of this newsletter can still be found on the web for enthusiasts interested in learning more about queer pride during the late 90’s and 2000’s. 

Besides the Orono Pride Festival, there are several advocacy groups for the LGBTQA+ in Maine that are also in need of support. This includes OUT Maine, which operates out of Rockland, Glsen, Inc., which has locations in Ellsworth and Portland, Parents Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays Inc., which is located in Brunswick, Sexual Minorities Uganda USA Incorporated in Scarborough and flag Portland. 

If you believe you know something regarding the theft, you are asked to contact the Orono Police Department with any information you might have. 

OLD TOWN, Maine – The ND Paper mill, located along the Penobscot River in Old Town, was recently fined a sum of $101,400. It was put in place by the Department of Environmental Protection for a 2020 chemical spill which resulted in vast environmental damages. 

According to a report made by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), the spill that took place in September and October of 2020, and was found to consist of roughly 30,720 gallons of a sodium hydroxide mix, was ejected through a drain in the facility. It flowed down the riverbank into the Penobscot River. This was found to result in heightened pH levels in the river, leading to the discovery of several dead fish. 

Upon further investigation by the DEP, the spill was found to have taken place due to a faulty floor drain system, which went undetected by the facility. This system has, however, been repaired in recent years with much difficulty. 

As for the long-term results of the spill in the Penobscot River, the damages are expected to have an impact on the affected segment of the river due to the high levels of pH contaminating the groundwater, according to the DEP. 

The long term effects on the environment that the Penobscot River is sure to experience as a consequence of the spill include a devastating swelling and breakdown of mineral binders in the riverbed soil, as well as the potentially fatal poisoning of aquatic wildlife that rely on the river as a natural habitat. The exact time frame for how long the sodium hydroxide mix may affect the ecosystem all depends on the gravity of the spill.

This is not the first time an incident like this has occurred at the ND Paper facility. In more recent years, another spill of smaller scale took place in June 2022, in the same building. That spill, which also consisted of a sodium hydroxide mix, discharged roughly 1,076 gallons of the solution over the course of 30 days. 

Accidents, such as this one, are not uncommon given the age of the facility. What was originally used as a sawmill and went into operation in 1860, eventually transitioned to the manufacturing of pulp products in 1882. It was renamed the Penobscot Chemical Fiber Company, and was later sold to the James River Corporation in 1983, after merging with Diamond International just 16 years prior. 

With roughly 200 current full-time employees, ND Paper produces a whopping total of 251,000 tons of pulp product, 73,000 tons of which comes from recycled market pulp, and the remaining 178,000 tons from unbleached softwood pulp. The chemical mixture sodium hydroxide is one of the most common mixtures used in paper mills, due to its use in the production of pulp. 

More commonly known as lye or caustic soda, it is known to be an extremely corrosive substance due to its acidity. It is both colorless and odorless, leaving the substance almost undetectable to any unsuspecting individual. In many cases, it may be mistaken for water. Due to its low profile attributes, spills similar to those which occurred at the ND Paper plant can go undetected for extended periods. 

In spite of its risky nature, when it comes to the paper manufacturing industry in the United States and Canada, the economic benefit that sodium hydroxide has is estimated by the IHS Market to be worth $500 million per year. The economic demand for such a substance has been estimated in the multi-millions. 

While the chemical does have a relatively low pressure vapor, it is recommended that it be handled with care as it can hydrolyze protein. This refers to the processes where such a solution is introduced to water, giving it the capacity to chemically break down certain compounds. If consumed, inhaled or brought in contact with flesh, it may lead to severe burns, dermatitis, or even death in people and animals.