Yesterday, hundreds of students rallied in front of Fogler Library to show their opposition to cuts to a wide range of academic programs at the University of Maine System's flagship campus. They also took the protest to Alumni Hall where they sang the Stein Song outside the office of University President Robert Kennedy.

The cuts are now being criticized even by some of the members of the group that proposed them.

Francois Amar, a chemistry professor who served on the working group, said although a lot of time was spent on the report, the group has not had much time to critically engage the result.

"We need to look large and broader to solve the problems we’re facing," he said. "The process was very much top down."

The BDN article on the protest has a poll asking readers if the protests will "influence UM administrators as they consider academic cuts." Currently, "No" is at 82%.

I discussed why this may be the case yesterday in my column at Down East.