“While I understand that members of Occupy Maine may be disappointed with today’s decision, conversations concerning income disparity willcontinue here in Portland and throughout the nation,” said Portland Mayor Michael Brennan in a statement Wednesday. “Now that these issues have been brought to the forefront, it’s time for the discussion to move indoors.”

The group has been encamped in Lincoln Park since the beginning of October, when it moved there at the city’s request following several nights in Monument Square. The camp quickly grew, taking up much of the park, although the number of permanent occupiers dropped sharply as winter set in.

Portland Director of Communications Nicole Clegg said Thursday that members of Occupy Maine who are encamped in Lincoln Park will have at least two days to pack their belongings and comply with the city ordinance restricting use of the park to the hours from 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Clegg said the protesters have until Monday morning to clear out, and that she had word from the occupiers that they would assist in the vacation and cleaning of the park.

“We recognize that they have said all along that they want to be good stewards of the park and we want to give them the opportunity to do so,” she said.

Occupy Maine has long claimed that their presence 24-hour presence in Lincoln Park is an integral part of their message, and that it should be protected under the First Amendment. John Branson, the lawyer for Occupy Maine, did not return several calls as of press time.

While Superior Court Justice Thomas Warren ruled that the group’s physical presence in Lincoln Park is protected speech under the First Amendment, he sided with the city on the matter of 24-hour encampment. According to Warren, while a physical presence in the park does count as protected speech, it may not interfere with the rights of others in the park, and is therefore subject to reasonable time and place restrictions, like city ordinances egulating the park.

“[Occupy Maine] have offered no authority for the proposition that, in order to communicate their message, they are entitle to commandeer a public forum for an extended period in a 24-hour encampment that necessarily excludes other citizens from their customary use of the park,” Warren wrote in the 24-page decision.

Part of the nationwide Occupy Wall Street movement, the Occupy Maine camp was one of several demonstrations in Maine, and the only one still physically occupying public space. Occupations in Bangor and Augusta pulled up stakes in the fall.

The 6’5″ LaPlace, LA native and senior forward on University of Southern Maine’s men’s basketball team got word of an early Christmas present he’d be receiving when he found out he and his teammates would be traveling to New Orleans for a holiday tournament called the Big Easy Challenge, where both his and his fiance’s families were able to watch him play live for the first time as a Husky.

“I was pretty excited to eat some Cajun food and feel some sunshine, but even more thrilled to see my family,” Jackson said. “We visited, ate, had fun; it felt great.”

In fact, it was a feel-good trip for the entire team. The Huskies ventured to the Upper Ninth Ward area of New Orleans during their downtime and put on a clinic for youth players, many whose homes and neighborhoods still showed the effects of Hurricane Katrina nearly seven years later.

It was an eye-opening experience that USM Head Coach Karl Henrickson said he felt was just as important as the basketball games his team traveled to the Big Easy to play.

“Culturally, it was a great experience,” Henrickson said. “All the players from Maine on our team had never been there, and I had never been there either, so it was really good for us to see another culture, especially one in which a player of ours is from.”

The Upper Ninth Ward — which along with the Lower Ninth Ward, make up the largest of the city’s 17 wards, and is known for its Habitat for Humanity Musicians’ Village — was among one of the many areas of the city hit hard by Katrina.

Although the residents of this area are still effected by Katrina in one way or another, something special happened during the Huskies’ visit there. While the team was teaching youth players to dribble, shoot and pass on one of the Upper Ninth Ward’s outdoor courts, more and more kids started coming out of their houses to play with the team — a telling illustration of the community togetherness they share.

“There was still so much devastation everywhere, and here are these 10-year-old kids having the time of their lives playing with college basketball players. It was a striking experience,” Henrickson said.

Jackson was living with his family in LaPlace — 29 miles northwest of New Orleans on Lake Pontchartrain — when Hurricane Katrina hit in late August 2005. Fortunately, no one in his family was affected physically by the Hurricane, but he did lose power and water for two weeks, and his fiance’s family had to flee to Texas because of the damage to the area they’re from.

He may not have lost much to Katrina, but Jackson — who is leading the team in scoring and rebounding with 13.6 PPG and 9.1 rebounds per game, and poured in a game-high 25 points and grabbed 15 rebounds in an 85-84 win over Western Conn. State Saturday — is still proud of where he came from and relished the opportunity to show his teammates his hometown culture.

The Alario Center, located 35 miles southeast of LaPlace, is where USM played its two games and where Jackson played many of his AAU games with the Louisiana (LA) Thrillers. It also serves as a practice facility for the NBA’s New Orleans Hornets.

He was able to show them around New Orleans and bring them to a seafood restaurant that featured boiled shrimp with local Cajun flavors.

“Cajun food is some of the best food in the country, and I was happy to show my teammates what it was all about,” Jackson said.

The team was presented with a special treat when Jackson’s fiance’s family prepared an entire meal of jambalaya, red beans and rice, and other traditional Cajun dishes. They were able to eat it on the balcony overlooking the pool and tennis courts of their hotel, which sat beside the iconic Mississippi River.

The culture, combined with Jackson’s homecoming and the team’s opportunity to help a devastated community in some way, even if it was small, were all things that went into deciding the Huskies’ holiday tournament destination.

“I feel these trips are a very important part of the education of a student-athlete, and it was a great opportunity for Jeremy to play in front of his family and be able to share his home with the rest of the team,” Henrickson said.

Since arriving at USM in the winter of 2009 from William Carey University (an NAIA school in Hattiesburg, Miss.), Jackson has provided the Huskies with more than just points and rebounds. He’s done what Henrickson described as “set the standard.”

“He’s someone who plays extremely hard and is extremely coachable,” Henrickson said. “There’s obviously a period of transition when any student comes to Maine from Mississippi, but with the character and respect he has for others, he was accepted very quickly here. He really cares about the people around him and that devotion is inspirational.”

Although USM lost both of its games to Clarke University (Mass.) and Birmingham Southern, Jackson — who plans to be playing professional basketball next year, whether it be overseas or in the states — played well in front of his hometown crowd, and the Huskies’ took something more than just wins a losses from their trip.

“The purpose of our trip was to do something different, and we definitely did it,” Henrickson said. “On the ride back from the clinic, the team was very quiet, looking out the windows at the houses and neighborhoods of the Ninth Ward still damaged from Katrina — a very special moment.”

They were all at Jackson’s home.

Portland has been without a health services center since 2010. But now USM health and counseling services and the School of Nursing are teaming up to fill the void and provide services for students in Portland while also providing a learning opportunity to nursing students.

Kristine A. Bertini, the director of health and counseling, said she has heard increasing student demand for the center to reopen. Clinical Director of the USM School of Nursing Lisa Belanger has drafted and submitted a proposal for the project to Chief Student Affairs Officer Craig Hutchinson.

The health office in Portland closed down in 2010 in part because of a $300,000 decrease in the budget but mostly over concerns about the safety of the space. According to Hutchinson, the money could have been saved by reducing staff hours, but the real problem was caused by the outdated and rundown modular unit the center occupied.

Hutchinson said the next steps for the project are to draft a business plan and submit it to the university chief operating officer for approval. Hutchinson said the center would ideally open by the fall of 2012.

Bertini said the decision was then made to consolidate the service at the Gorham office which was better designed and equipped.

Bertini said that she has been hearing complaints from many students about difficulties in traveling to Gorham to utilize health services, and this student input has had an impact in getting the project started. “We have heard that loud and clear,” she said.

Student leaders are now on-board with the project as well. A petition spearheaded by Student Senate Vice-Chair T.J. Williams received about 450 signatures in just three days, underscoring the demand for health services in Portland.

Student Senator John Burgess said he was worried over what he called a lack of outreach concerning students’ health, especially in the wake of the three reported suicides last semester. “This school has a major retention problem and part of the reason for that is that the students do not feel that they are being invested in or that the school cares that much about them,” said Burgess, a senior political science major and chairman of the Student Affairs Committee on the Student Senate.

Burgess said with a student body that has many non-traditional or commuter students, many find it difficult to get to the Gorham health office with jobs or children to consider.

A Portland health office would ideally use facilities and staff already in existence, making it as cost effective as possible, Bertini said. A definite space for a location has yet to be determined.

Furthermore, the project hopes to utilize the clinical resources of the USM School of Nursing and providing service-learning opportunities to nursing students there.

Bertini said Maine Medical Center will be providing resources and support as well, and residents studying there may have the chance to receive training at the new site. Maine Medical and Mercy Hospital have already donated several pieces of furniture and Belanger said that more in-kind contributions are expected.

Krista Meinersmann, the director of the school of nursing, said that nurse practitioners would also be able to more easily maintain their certification status by seeing more patients.

]]> http://usmfreepress.org/2012/01/planning-for-new-portland-campus-health-center-in-the-works/feed/ 0 http://usmfreepress.org/2012/01/university-of-maine-system-trustees-freeze-in-state-tuition-for-first-time-in-25-years/ http://usmfreepress.org/2012/01/university-of-maine-system-trustees-freeze-in-state-tuition-for-first-time-in-25-years/#comments Mon, 30 Jan 2012 02:50:38 +0000 Chris Chase http://usmfreepress.org/?p=3916205 For the first time in 25 years, in-state tuition for undergraduate students at the University of Maine and throughout the University of Maine System will not see a year-over-year increase.

The decision, reached at a system board of trustees meeting on Jan. 23, came after a unanimous vote on a motion proposed by trustee Karl Turner. For now, tuition rates for out-of-state students have not been determined.

The decision comes after decades of tuition increases, with being 2008 and 2009 especially steep with nearly 10 percent hikes in tuition rates. Students who started in 2009 have seen their tuition increase more than $1,000 since then — a tough pill to swallow in a shaky economic climate.

“I think one of the very important things we can do is tightly control tuition and fees as much as possible,” Turner said.

According to a list of the board of trustees’ goals, controlling tuition and freezing it at its current rate is priority No. 1.

“I hope everyone agrees we have to do everything possible to make university education more affordable,” said USM Director of Public Affairs Bob Caswell. “This is a critically important step in helping to make sure undergraduate students enroll in USM and stay through graduation.”

But Caswell said the tuition freeze won’t be without its challenges. Without an increase university budgets will have to adjust to functioning without the extra income. “We along with every institution are currently evaluating the dollar impact of the freeze on our operating budgets,” he said. “We don’t have a total idea of the amount of impact, but suffice to say budgets are very tight.”

Gov. Paul LePage also welcomed the news.

“This is a real positive for the students in the University of Maine System and an example for others to follow,” LePage said in an statement to The Maine Campus. “Making education more affordable for students must be a priority and I applaud the forward thinking of the Board of Trustees on their decision.”

With this decision comes the question of how the freeze will be accomplished with tight budgets.

Keeping the budget in check will mean redistributing and reconsidering resources, according to University of Maine System spokeswoman Peggy Markson.

To do so, Markson said the strategic investment fund, a pool of revolving funds to support the development and implementation of major programs and innovation at member campuses, could be decreased. She said another possibility being considered is reorganizing the system office.

“It’s not going to be easy,”  Markson said. “Everybody is working towards this.”

Turner said he proposed the tuition freeze with the hope of enabling as many Maine residents as possible to earn a college degree.

“It’s a challenge for higher education, whether it’s public or private,” he said. “You have to have it as affordable as you possibly can.”

For Turner, keeping tuition at a steady rate means not only keeping it affordable but keeping departments efficient as well.

“You force the system to think, ‘Is this cost really necessary?’” Turner said.

As the cost of higher education continues to rise throughout the country, Turner felt keeping tuition at a steady rate was important in maintaining faith in higher education.

“I think a lot of people are questioning the value of a college degree,” he said. “I think that’s a very shortsighted question. There is a direct correlation between a degree and quality of living.”

“When you analyze the drop-out rate at Maine and other institutions, the biggest single reason for dropping out is cost,” Turner said. “If you got into the school, then you’ve already proven you’re good enough to get the grades and do the work. The work isn’t the problem, it’s the cost.”

Freezing the rate of tuition wasn’t the only decision made at the meeting.

The board of trustees is also aiming to double the amount of the system’s information technology graduates within four years. In addition, all degrees will have a credit on hour cap and efforts will be made to help students transfer general education credits earned at community colleges to the system’s four-year universities.

There will also be extensive efforts made to outreach to businesses within the state. The goal is to increase the number of graduating students with jobs in the field of their choice.

“We want to be more efficient but we also want to be more relevant,” Markson said.

But in 2009, we had our moment in the sun. Maine had a choice between two landmark results: would we be the first state to ratify gay marriage by popular vote? Or would we be the first to say “thanks, but no thanks” to our legislature’s attempt at establishing equality between gay and straight relationships in the eyes of the law?

Unfortunately, Maine opted for the latter, by a 53 percent majority.

There was a long, ugly, well-funded campaign to paint a picture in Mainers’ minds of the hellscape the state would become after legalizing gay marriage. Little children, claimed a series of melodramatic TV commercials, would be made aware of gay marriage in schools. The horror.

There is no denying that this debate comes at a crucial intersection of freedoms in a diverse society. On one hand, the people are being heard, in state after state where it has come up for a vote, and they are rejecting the idea that gay couples have an equal place in society as straight couples. The idea genuinely offends some people, and it’s their right to be offended.

So why are gay rights activists and civil liberties groups, among others, gearing up to push the issue once again in 2012? The previous result was simply a contemptible one, majority vote or not. Rather than reflecting the increasing acceptance of gay people and gay couples, the anti-gay marriage lobby achieves its ends by clouding the issue as it passes through the public square.

The emphasis always lands on a perceived threat to the innocence of children. The idea is always to equate the visibility and/or recognition of gay and lesbian couples with their private sex lives, it’s a nasty double standard   that becomes very hard for the pro-gay marriage forces to address without benefiting their opposition.

At the same time, some conservatives in Maine say they’re willing to bend on creating a separate class of “civil unions” for gay couples, with some of the same benefits and protections as marriage. This is being rejected, and rightly so. Gay couples in Maine deserve to be recognized and respected every bit as much as straight couples, and a separate, lesser designation falls well short of that goal.

Surely there will be people and communities that will never give them this respect. But they’re fighting for respect under the law, not in every household or church. Right now our government makes certain legal considerations towards couples and families; gay couples and their families are real, deserving of the same considerations, and we hope that the next massive and bitter act of denial on the part of conservative groups will be seen for what it is this time out.

The Free Press supports the efforts of EqualityMaine and associated groups in taking on this rough battle once more. We also encourage our readers to participate in what is likely to be another very heated and influential debate.

The above column is endorsed by the editorial board of The Free Press. It does not necessarily represent the views of all writers and contributors.

This was the third mediation session, but the first in which both parties met in the same building. The dispute hinges on the issue of contractual pay raises. AFUM requested a 4 percent raise, which UMS met with a counteroffer of 0.5 percent, according to John Broida, the lead USM AFUM negotiator. UMS representatives declined to comment on details of the contract negotiations. According Broida, a system-wide one percent raise — double the offer from the system administration — would cost $750,000. “The untenability of raises doesn’t make sense,” he said.

Tenured faculty are eligible for a 3.5 percent raise every four years, plus an additional 3.5 percent for exceptional performance. The last contract between AFUM and UMS did not grant faculty raises.

Peggy Markson, UMS public relations manager, cited poor current and anticipated enrollment as inhibitions to faculty pay raises. “Enrollment is down and the outlook isn’t good, either,” she said.

Broida also expressed his frustration with the negotiation process. “When I got into this I thought there would be give and take,” he said. “This has been an education, though not one I like.”

Last year, the University increased its asset base by $80 million, $38 million of which is not restricted to a specific use. “Over the past ten years [UMS] never lost money,” said Ed Collom, the USM AFUM chapter president. “They’ve actually saved money. Financially speaking, they’re strong. They claim that it’s necessary as a hedge against incidental losses, like another financial crisis.”

Over the past ten years, the estimated cost of attending USM has increased at a rate of 4.35 percent year-over-year, while average compensation for professors has increased 3.19 percent year-over-year. The year-over-year increase in the consumer price index, sometimes used to measure the cost of the cost of living, was 2.5 percent during the same period. In other words, the growth in tuition cost outpaced increases in teacher compensation, which in turn outpaced inflation.

“Employees are doing more for less, and students are paying more for less,” Collom said. “It seems [the system administration’s] position is this: to give faculty a raise we must also raise tuition.”

Tracy Bigney, UMS Chief Human Resources and Organization Development Officer, disagreed with Collom. “Three-quarters of our budget is spent on salaries and compensation, so it’s not that simple,” she said. According to a 2011 University of Maine System report, tenured professors, whom AFUM represents, constitute 66.2 percent of all faculty, above the national average of 54.2 percent. Adjunct faculty only receive benefits if they work full-time, and therefore reduce the costs for the system.

In a November interview with The Free Press, Rebecca Wyke, vice chancellor for finance and administration for the University of Maine System, said salary increases were unlikely “unless we dramatically increase tuition, which nobody on the Board of Trustees wants to do.

“Without increasing tuition, I don’t see a source of income on the revenue side that would justify increased expenses,” said Wyke.

Saving money by relying on part-time faculty is not without its critics. The USM Student Senate unanimously passed a resolution supporting AFUM’s position in December, in which they condemned what they called “the current trend of tenure-track professors being replaced by part-time faculty as a cost-saving measure.”

Student Body President Chris Camire said he fears not properly rewarding professors will diminish teaching quality at USM. “Faculty who aren’t getting paid what they deserve are going to find better jobs,” he said. “It’s not right for exemplary faculty to fall on their own sword.”

The stage was all set for another pleasant record of inoffensive fuzz-pop, and then Cloud Nothings promptly burnt down the stage and introduced all new set pieces, being led by legendary bespectacled DIY producer Steve Albini perhaps best known for his work on Nirvana’s In Utero and The Pixies Surfer Rosa.

And while the band might discredit the direct influence Albini had upon the recording of Attack On Memory, his fingerprints are all over the new sound. From the bass-heavy sludge of the almost nine-minute “Wasted Days” t0 the tape-crackling raw howl of Baldi’s vocals throughout the album, Attack On Memory is an in-your-face reminder of what exactly it once meant to be a self-possessed, independent band long before the introduction of the catch-all tag “indie” was introduced.

The immediacy of the time-and-place philosophy that seeps throughout Attack On Memory is thrown down on the lead-single “No Future/No Past.” A queasy and deeply pessimistic scroll of resentful passion, the track is hopelessly defeated, and the uncomfortably closely mic’d vocals drive Baldi’s negativity deep into the mind of the listener. “Give up/ Come to know/ We’re through/ No future/ No Past” — it’s a deeply sadistic reminder of a deep, seemingly never-ending depression that people spend their whole lives avoiding.

While “No Future/No Past” is deep-rooted in existential hopelessness in the form of a slow churn, elsewhere on Attack On Memory hopelessness takes the form of sheer aggression and absolute necessity. Extended introductions that break away from a steady chainsaw groove, into an absolute fury of distortion and resentment that end almost as soon as they start, make up the bulk of the blistering 30-minutes of Attack On Memory. It’s a taxingly energetic album in its eight tracks that takes cues from throughout the Albini inspired-cannon; from the Hüsker Dü Zen Arcade wall-of-fuzz in “Separation” to the angst-ridden In Utero howl of “Wasted Days,” it’s clear that independent music history played an immensely large role in Attack On Memory.

While Attack On Memory was an immense sonic overhaul for Cloud Nothings, it still contains enough conviction and passion that was present in earlier work to feel more than just a raw side-step for the band. Whether this is a permanent mode remains to be seen, but for now Attack On Memory is a powerful reminder of what it means to be independent and self-possessed. It’s just a shame that we needed to be reminded.

Drawing wild applause and cheers, Republican presidential nominee hopeful Ron Paul stumped at the University of Southern Maine Saturday, in the run up to Maine’s upcoming Republican Caucus.

The event was coordinated on the USM side by Student Body President Chris Camire. Camire said he got in touch Monday morning with with Maine State Representative Aaron Libby, who was looking for a liaison at the university to help coordinate the rally.

“This is incredibly exciting,” Camire said. “It’s extremely educational to be able to see someone who has sat in the United States Congress. Not a lot of people get this opportunity.”

Speaking for about 40 minutes, the 76 year-old congressman from Texas covered the major topics of his platform, advocating a return to the gold standard, a strictly literal view of the constitution, and an end to foreign intervention, the PATRIOT ACT and government regulation of the free market.

Paul reserved some of his strongest criticisms for the current financial system in the United States.

“One of the worst parts of the monetary system is it allows government to grow,” he said. “If government grows, your liberties go down. There is no doubt about that.”

He also drew loud applause for his stated opposition to the drug war. “The war on drugs is a war on American citizens,” he said. “I think we should reassess that whole thing.”

Hastings Formal Lounge was filled to capacity for the speech, with some gathering in an overflow room in Bailey Hall to watch the speech on CCTV.

Many of those in attendance were enthusiastic Paul supporters, like Alexandra Mediate, 20 of South Portland. Mediate, who studied two years at the University of Southern Maine, said she was planning on voting for him in the upcoming Maine Republican Caucus. “I love Ron Paul, he’s my favorite candidate,” she said. “He gives me faith in politics, a little.”

Junior political science major Dylan LaJoie said that while he doesn’t always agree with Paul’s beliefs, he respects the candidate for consistency. “For as long as he’s been running for office now, his opinions have been staying the same for the most part,” he said.

Paul’s speech appeared to be more focused on ideas than on the presidential campaign and was notably absent of mentions of his fellow presidential hopefuls or even the campaign. “I’m more excited about changing the direction of this country,” he said to reporters following the speech.

Paul’s campaign has met mixed results in the first three Republican primaries and caucuses. He came in third in Iowa with 21.43 percent of the vote and second New Hampshire with 22.9 percent, but most recently took a hit in South Carolina, where he finished in fourth place with just 13 percent of the vote. Now Paul has essentially skipped the race in Florida — according to Politico he has not spent a single dollar advertising there, nor organized any events.

Polling last in Florida, where the other presidential hopefuls are gearing up for that state’s primary Tuesday, Paul is the first candidate to visit Maine in 2012. Paul was on the ballot here in the 2008 Republican caucus along with former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and the eventual nominee John McCain, receiving 18 percent of the vote.

The congressman has become known for his strong libertarian streak, which at times puts him at odds with his opponents and much of the Republican support base. But it’s exactly these unorthodox political positions, like his support for marijuana decriminalization and opposition to most foreign military intervention, which  make him popular with younger voters. A December Gallup poll showed Paul’s strongest base of support is among voters in the 18-34 age range. And his staunch support for civil liberties has appeal across the political spectrum, drawing in some otherwise left-leaning voters.

Paul also holds many positions more often associated with current American conservatism. He opposes abortion and supports overturning Roe v. Wade — from a conviction that states ought to have the ability to decide abortion legislation. Paul has also spoken against federal student loans, arguing that education is an individual, not governmental responsibility.

With his message of small-government conservatism, anti-war foreign policy and civil liberties advocacy, Paul commands an energetic and devoted following who rock Ron Paul merchandise and maintain active fan pages dedicated to his support. But commentators from organizations including the Washington Post and ABC have noted that Paul may have a “support ceiling,” above which his approval numbers have yet to rise.

23 full and part-time faculty and staff members of the USM art department are showing their latest projects at this year’s exhibition, which is on display until Feb. 17. “This is the forum, the way in which studio faculty show the results of their creative research and production,” said Director of Exhibitions and Programs at USM’s Art Gallery Carolyn Eyler. “It’s a nice way, in a sense, to catalog who teaches here.”

Among the artists exhibiting their work is James Flahaven, a studio art professor and practicing artist who has been with USM for 11 years. Culling work from his larger, ongoing series of non-objective acrylic paintings to put on display at the gallery. “The work is completely non-objective: there’s no reference to anything,” Flahaven said. “If I start to see in the course of making the painting, like an eye or tree, I change it. I don’t want those references there.”

Flahaven says he takes his cues from well-known twentieth century abstract expressionist painters, such as  Willem de Kooning and Richard Diebenkorn. “What all those artists were doing was working unconsciously. They were making, in a sense, things that came from the gut, images from the subconscious. Dealing with feelings and emotions and that turmoil. All that stuff that’s deep inside of us,” Flahaven said about his painting influences.

Egg-shape forms appear and disappear before they finally fuse together on Flahaven’s canvas amidst clouds of earth-tone colors. His process of applying paint with frantic strokes, scraping paint off with palette knifes and shifting forms and colors around the canvas, creates a constantly shifting world. The title of Flahaven’s work points to his well-known light-hearted humor: I’m Okay with Snap and Pop but Crackle is a Total Asshole.

New media artist Raphael DiLuzio joins the faculty this year from the University of Maine at Orono, currently teaching 2-D design and video art. DiLuzio’s two pieces in the exhibition, Lies and Whispers and Awake are both large-scale, time-based pieces. Lies and Whispers projects a three-by-three square grid of neon colored mouths inside the gallery’s digital art room. The mouths speak in different languages at the same time, so that the viewer feels confused when trying to make out the individual utterances. Awake shows the professor projected into two wine bottles, appearing as though he is trapped inside. DiLuzio is adorned in tight, white clothing and clasps his hands over his face after attempting to break from his bottle prison.

As the newest addition to the USM Art Department’s faculty, DiLuzio serves as a counterpoint to the more traditionally oriented art works at the exhibition. By utilizing projectors to display moving images with various sound pieces, the artist is able to create work that is continually moving and changing — perpetually in a state of creation. DiLuzio, having being trained as a painter for his artistic career, says he doesn’t want to be a prisoner to his medium. “To define oneself as only that, when the process of innovation and creativity is so wide and open seems to be like saying I will only eat peanut butter jelly for the rest of my life. And maybe broccoli.”

While the Faculty Exhibit is a chance for professors to show their newest works, it’s also a chance for the students to see their professor’s own work. Allowing students to engage with their professor’s personal artwork in an intimate location, where their professors are not only teachers in a classroom, but peers trying to make it in the art world. “It’s really important that the students see that we’re practicing what we preach. We are going through the same struggles the students are going through,” said Flahaven. “The students need to see that we’re out there and in this together trying to make art.”

DiLuzio agrees, “I’ve been in exhibitions from the Prague biennale to huge exhibitions in Italy — and sometimes the work I’ve been in is horrible at a major exhibition. From what I’ve seen, it’s really wonderful to see the range of expression in the type of work the faculty produces.”

Opening on Thursday night at 7:30 p.m., Eurydice is Sarah Ruhl’s 21st century re-visioning of the ancient Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. In the re-vision, the happy couple have just said “I do” when a mysterious letter lures Eurydice away from her wedding and into the clutches of Hades and the Underworld. She becomes torn between her intense love for her husband and the comforting memories of her dearly beloved dead father. In the end, Eurydice’s choice is more than a matter of life and death — it’s hell or earth.

The play is a unique production that contains a bit of roller skating, invisible trains and a whimsical love triangle. ”Eurydice is a love story,” says the play’s director, Meghan Brodie. “But it is also about childhood and nostalgia, longing for an idyllic past that perhaps never existed.”

Apart from being directed by USM faculty, the production team for Eurydice is made up entirely of theatre students. “We are producing this play as an actor’s lab-style project,” Brodie said. “This is the first-ever production in the actor’s lab series, which is meant to not only highlight the art of the actor but also to emphasize the actor’s processes.”

Eurydice is also a completely green production, meaning that nothing new has been purchased for the production and nothing used will be thrown out once Eurydice has its final curtain call.

The theatre department’s presentation of Eurydice will be performed at the Russell Hall auditorium on the USM Gorham campus beginning Feb. 2 at 7:30 p.m. You may also catch showings on Feb. 3 and 4 at 7:30 p.m. There is also a showing Feb. 4 at 2 p.m. The final showing will be Feb. 5 at 5 p.m.