Your March 13 edition reported that the University of Maine at Machias has seen an increase in enrollment for the second time in six months. Being a non-traditional student myself, and also residing in Washington County, I was pleased to learn of UMM’s successes in attracting new students.

However, I am reminded of a few other changes that were enacted by the university within the last year or so. It was a terrible loss to the community when Stagefront Arts Downeast, the university-sponsored cultural events series held in the Performing Arts Center, was defunded. Over the years of its existence, I attended many Stagefront events with my children, and we always enjoyed the opportunity to hear music and see ballet, theater, magic shows, etc. True, Machias is an hour’s drive from my hometown, but that was much more convenient than making the 21/2-hour drive to Bangor or Orono for some cultural event.

Another former project of the University of Maine at Machias which greatly benefited the community, especially its children, was the operation of the Greenland Point Center in Princeton.

This, too, was recently abandoned by UMM, although fortunately, the Maine Conservation School out of Bryant Pond agreed to take on that project.

So what does one conclude from these recent changes? Could it be that UMM is now more interested in attracting students from away (which is certainly not a bad thing) at the expense of providing vital services to its own local, loyal and supportive community?

Barbara Smith

Eastport