The Free Press

By: Haley Hersey, Staff Writer On April 13, Ronald Saindon, Director of Public Safety and Chief of Police sent out an email regarding a “campus safety alert.” The email notified the community of an alleged attack on a woman of color close to the Portland campus that occurred “on or about April 1st.” The email also stated that the female student wished...

By: Haley Hersey, Staff Writer Saturday May 8, 2021 at 9 a.m. is the 141st Commencement ceremony for the University of Southern Maine. Finals week quickly approaching signifies the end of the semester and the end of a uniquely trying school year. Graduates have managed to complete another academic year through a pandemic.    Dean of Students, Rodney Mondor, explained that commencement this...

As we creep up to the last moments of this 2020-2021 school year, we push as we finish up the last of our assignments, click “join zoom” for the final times and begin to cross off the projects, tests, and finals we have listed on our planners.  The burnout feeling has been lingering for just a tad too long. We...

The month of April and specifically April 22, is used to celebrate the earth, however, we can all choose to celebrate Earth day each day. Climate change has affected the Earth in a multitude of ways, such as rising sea levels and an increase in carbon emissions. USM’s Environmental Science and Sustainability departments have been doing their part to...

Morgan Day and Teri Honeycutt are senior interns at the Osher Map Library and Smith Center for Cartographic Education, located on the Portland campus within the Glickman Library. The purpose of the map library is to preserve and share history, heritage, and information with students and the general public through its archives. They facilitate public engagement by hosting two...

Byline: Isiah Leach Men in Black International, a spinoff of the original MIB series, was released in 2019. Following a similar plot from the original film, by protecting the world from alien threats, the MIB faces a greater threat, which is a mole inside their own organization. A decent movie, this is one of the worst out of the other...

Today, April 22, is Earth Day. The day on which our Instagram feed is filled with images of the best sunsets, hikes, and waterfalls that we keep in our camera rolls. The day where we choose to eat vegan and bike to work. The day we all try our very best to be kinder to the earth. We might...

We at Counseling Services wanted to bring some awareness to common themes we have noticed during the COVID-19 pandemic and some ideas of how to manage them. So go ahead and keep reading - you might be surprised how much you relate and you may learn some good strategies to manage these feelings. Loneliness People have never felt more alone at...

Libby Bischof is the university’s Executive Director for the Osher Map Library and Smith Center for Cartographic Education, located in the Glickman Library on the Portland campus,  a comprehensive archive that allows free public access to five centuries of cartographic materials.  “It’s amazing that USM has this place,” she said. “I mean, we have half a million maps that date...

Even though Women's History Month is over, we can still support them and empower as all women-run businesses have increased in numbers in the past few years. Below is a list of women-led businesses in Maine that can be supported. Supporting local businesses is very important because it helps bring back money for the economy of Maine, and supporting...

By: Isiah Leach, Staff Writer The film The Magnificent Seven, which was released in 2016, is one of your classic western cowboy movies. The plot involves the antagonist taking control of a town, which leads the town to hire a group of people to save them from him. While overall it is good and has a lot of great things...

Life after high school doesn’t always mean college comes next. Some students choose to go the traditional route and jump immediately into a university, some choose to take a gap year, and some may even choose to take a few classes a semester while working full or part-time jobs. Emily Brazee didn’t think she would go to college at...

By Haley Hersey, Staff Writer As warmer weather approaches, the COVID-19 pandemic is still here, which is evident as positive test results surge throughout Maine and the University of Maine System. Efforts to continue learning in settings as close to normal are underway, as the spread of vaccines continues. However, decreases in weekly tests campus-wide are proving to be worrisome.  According...

The USM Counseling team is concerned about the care we provide for all our students, our USM community and the larger community. We are a group of 15 and we are mostly white clinicians, and mostly female with three men on our team, one man is African American, and the other two men are white, one of which oversees the...

By: Laura St.Pierre, Staff Writer Policymaking, community-building initiatives, and evaluations of youth-serving programs have embraced quantitative research data, however, they lack qualitative substance. The lived experiences of youth within these systems are incredibly valuable information that can help accelerate these programs' success.  The University of Southern Maine's Cutler Institute recently published a 34-page report titled, "Transitioning From Youth to Adulthood: Mapping...

COVID-19. This word conjures up a lot: disruption, fear, anxiety, limitations, 6 feet apart, masks, no gatherings, social distancing, no hugs or hanging out with friends, and for many death and loss. The fight is not over.  Vaccination is one way to arrest this virus and return to some normalcy.    To reach safe levels of protection experts report we need...

Learning about yourself and growing as a person is one of the most important parts of the college experience. With a student’s transition into independence, there are trials and tribulations involved, but the end product is a person who better understands themselves, how they think, how they learn, and how they interact with the world outside of college. For...

Three very important factors to making a Division III Athletics program successful are the players, coaches, and administrators. Without these pillars, the University of Southern Maine wouldn’t have the successful program it does.  In honor of Women’s History Month, The Free Press wanted to highlight and honor three individuals who work, coach, and play in each of these important areas....

Happy Women’s History Month. As we enter the month to honor the bold, powerful women of the 21st century, it is important to feature stories and platforms that showcase women of color, the queer community, and anyone who identifies as a woman. In 2021, the feminist movements that have been front and center include but are not limited to,...

Bernadette Esposito grew up in the suburbs of Chicago in Wheaton and Downers Grove and attended The Evergreen State College, a small liberal arts college in Olympia, WA. She received her MFA from the University of Iowa and has taught in California and Wyoming. She’s been in Maine for seven years; After five years of teaching at Maine College...

Laura St.Pierre, Staff Writer The University of Southern Maine has received $100,000 from Hannaford Supermarkets to boost USM scholarships supporting diversity and equity in educational opportunities. The donation will cover the entirety of USM's Access to Education Scholarship Fund (AESF) for two years. AESF encourages a dynamic and diverse student population at USM and was established in 2017. It provides scholarship...

By Haley Hersey, Staff Writer The COVID-19 pandemic has unprecedented mental, emotional, and financial adverse effects on lives. The implications of the effects of the pandemic are being talked about more frequently, but often college students are being left out of the discussion.  With stimulus packages being presented to Congress that support families and dependents, college-aged kids are regularly being forgotten....

Tucked between the Sullivan Gym and the empty shell of the Woodbury Campus Center sits a building that goes relatively unnoticed. If you don’t know what you’re looking for, it blends right into the gym, and you would never think it’s the home for a whole media studies major, as it sits within that little yellow building. 21 Durham...

Throughout the COVID-19 crisis, how and where we spend our time has been a national conversation and collective experience. Our work, academic, and leisure environments have all been impacted by the pandemic. Members of the diverse USM community have adapted to these changes, finding new ways of living that enable them to make the most of their situations. Before COVID-19,...