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October 31, 2000

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There's No Place Like Home
By Scott Gagnon

Hello everyone. This is Scott Gagnon writing to you from the hustle and bustle of Portland, Maine.
A lot of you reading this may not know who I am but I am a proud graduate of UMM. I graduated wit
the class of 1998 and have since moved on to graduate studies at the Muskie School of Public Service
here in Portland. Anyway I recently visited the old stomping grounds in Machias and it brought back
some wonderful memories.

I've read the editorials on this online paper and I have to agree that it seems like the spirit that used
to be alive and well when I was at UMM has gone away somewhat. I came to participate in the
Open Mic that was being held at the Student Center. It is a show that I used to host from 1994 til 1998.
I have to say I was a bit dismayed by the lack of attendance. When I hosted the show it was standing
room only. All of the chairs were full and people were sitting on the floor. I had to turn performers away
because the schedule was full. I couldn't allow performances of more than 15 minutes in order to give
everyone a fair shot. At the show I went to the first performer didn't go on until 8 pm and that was me.
It was rather sad.

Machias is such a wonderful community and the UMM community was wonderful when I was there. For
such a small campus it was one buzzing with energy. It was a place where I made irreplaceable friends.
It was a place where the arts were alive from the Binnacle, the now defunct literary magazine, to the
events at Portside, the Performing Arts Center, and even some events at the Grange. It was and is a
wonderful place for a young person to discover themselves both intellectually and emotionally and
spiritually. It's a place, as Gene Nichols just told me, 'that's hard to get out of your head.'

I think it is just a phase. And I think it has a lot to do with enrollment being down and hopefully that
will turn around. The University of Maine at Presque Isle has recently seen a turnaround in their
enrollment over the past couple of years. I think the same will eventually happen for Machias but it is
going to be affected by the economy. UMM is in one of the more economically depressed parts of
Maine. However, UMM does have a strong science department and other areas such as recreational
management that are just as strong. I think if the University really works on attracting more out of state
students everything will change. I came, in 1994, with one of the biggest influx of Environmental
Science/Marine Biology classes. UMM was kind of at a peak with that. Now, I think it is in a bit of a
valley and hopefully we'll see it climb another hill. And I think it will.

Anyway, I just wanted to write to you about these thoughts I've had since revisiting good ol'
Machias. Remember, you are in a very special place there. UMM offers a unique education where
students and professors can communicate often and where it's possible to even be friends with your
professors. That, I think is a valuable experience and one that is lost in the bigger universities. Relish
every day you have at UMM and in the town of Machias.
Because when you leave, you are just not going to be able to get that place out of your head.

Scott M. Gagnon

Scott M. Gagnon is a Graduate Student at the Muskie School of Public Service where he is completing
a Masters Degree in Public Policy and Political Management with a concentration in Policy Analysis. He
is a 1998 graduate of the University of Maine at Machias where he received a Bachelor's of Science in
Environmental Science with a minor in Economics. He was one of the last graduates to concentrate in
Environmental Policy before its unwise removal from the Environemtnal Studies program.

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