{"id":7921,"date":"2024-04-16T12:13:41","date_gmt":"2024-04-16T16:13:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/?p=7921"},"modified":"2024-04-27T17:24:57","modified_gmt":"2024-04-27T21:24:57","slug":"it-looks-like-a-jungle-gym-students-unveil-their-feelings-about-presque-isles-new-biggest-star","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/2024\/04\/16\/it-looks-like-a-jungle-gym-students-unveil-their-feelings-about-presque-isles-new-biggest-star\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cIt Looks Like a Jungle Gym\u201d Students Unveil Their Feelings About Presque Isle\u2019s New Biggest Star"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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By Marah Russell<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The University Times Staff<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Presque Isle\u2013The University of Maine at Presque Isle (UMPI) kicked off their \u201cSolar-Bration\u201d with the unveiling of a 23-foot-tall, three-dimensional sun model. The unveiling occurred on Monday, April 8 at 10 a.m. in front of Preble Hall. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Preparations to include the additional section into the Maine Solar System Model began last summer. The $75,000 project succeeded after a 4-month fundraising effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

News of the unveiling garnered local, state, and some national media attention. This attracted significant negative attention on social media, much of it focused on the model\u2019s appearance. There were complaints about the sun\u2019s appearance, cost, and location on campus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the praise it received from UMPI\u2019s marketing and communication department, many students have also expressed their disappointment with the unveiling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAlthough I don\u2019t think it will draw anyone away, it\u2019s nothing special,\u201d Said Ethan Whitty, student ambassador and campus tour guide. \u201cWhen I’m giving tours to prospective students, I want to tell them \u2018this is the sun, this completes our solar system,\u2019 but what’s disappointing is it doesn’t look like the sun.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The purpose of the installation was to boost the visibility of the greatest celestial body in the solar system from U.S. Route 1. Its initial location\u2013the south entrance of Folsom Hall\u2013was thought to be too challenging for guests to locate. Students still criticize the shift to Preble Hall, even though it fixed this long-standing issue. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt looks like a jungle gym that kids can climb on. It\u2019s just a hazard waiting to happen,\u201d said Jackman Daigle, resident assistant and physical education major at the University of Maine at Presque Isle. \u201cWhat a waste of fundraised money. If I put my money into that, frankly, I would be disappointed in what that turned out to be.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brecken Sargent, another physical education major at UMPI, voiced her opinion on the model by saying, \u201cI feel like it was just a waste of money because nobody knows what it actually is. You drive by it and you don\u2019t get the idea that it\u2019s a sun, you get the idea that it\u2019s an art piece.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although students are dissatisfied with the present installation, Kevin McCartney, retired professor of geology, Maine Solar System Model coordinator, and fundraising lead, intends to improve it by adding a walkway and other features after the ground thaws. Additionally, he plans to raise money in the future to install one or two Maine-stone benches. While McCartney said there were very little students could\u2019ve done to contribute to the sun model, he added that perhaps the Class of 2024 could assist in future fundraising efforts. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Marah Russell The University Times Staff Presque Isle\u2013The University of Maine at Presque Isle (UMPI) kicked off their \u201cSolar-Bration\u201d with the unveiling of a 23-foot-tall, three-dimensional sun model. The unveiling occurred on Monday, April 8 at 10 a.m. in front of Preble Hall.  Preparations to include the additional section into the Maine Solar System […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":86,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7376,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7921","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-uncategorized","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7921","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/86"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7921"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7921\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7928,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7921\/revisions\/7928"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7921"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7921"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7921"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}