USM is full of amazing student athletes, who have exceptional performances on and off the field, exhibiting sportsmanship and academic excellence. However, sometimes a student athlete comes around that takes exceptional to the next level. One such athlete is Jess Williamson, a senior from Goffstown N.H. Williamson is in her senior year at USM, a…
Author: USM Free Press
People of USM: Leroy Rowe
By: Kate Rogers, Staff Writer Professor Leroy Rowe has been teaching African American history at USM since 2012. Not only does he bring important course topics to the table, but he is an active faculty member at USM, contributing greatly to USM’s journey towards reaching its full potential. Originally from Jamaica, Rowe came to Brooklyn, New…
Glickman Library to host a series of game nights
By: Dionne Smith, Community Editor Glickman Library plans to lure in more students and offer some fun with board game nights on Mondays. The month-long pilot, beginning Oct. 23, will start with board game nights every Monday with raffles, food, and plenty of games to play. Osher Map Library will also be contributing with a…
The Unpopular Opinion: Why I Agree With the U.S. Legal Drinking Age
By: Julie Pike, Staff Writer I have to admit that one of the many reasons why I was excited to study abroad was to get to be in a country where the legal drinking age was 18. I have less than a year left until I turn 21, but I was looking forward to the thought…
Iranian films in Maine as a window into Iran
By: Ben Theriault, Contributor As part of this year’s Convocation, USM will be hosting Maine’s first Iranian film festival at the Wishcamper Center, starting Friday, Oct. 20. November 10, the event will instead be held at Maine College of the Arts. The festival will have a selection of two movies per date, starting at 5:30 p.m….
Student senators discuss improvement projects
By: Jess Ward, News Editor The Senate meeting this week, on Oct. 13, was held in Gorham, to discuss various Senate members’ projects on campus. The meeting was led by Muna Adan, President of the Senate, and covered topics ranging from internet speed on campus to parking accessibility. As of now, Aaron Pierce, the Student Affairs…
Linguistics department opens new office
By: Jess Ward, News Editor On Friday, Oct. 6, the linguistics department debuted their new office space, in the A-wing of the Science Building. Rooms 305 and 310 are open to all linguistics and language students, and 410 is a Deaf space for students to communicate only in American Sign Language (ASL). The space in 305…
People of USM: Catherine Barbarits
By: Dionne Smith, Community Editor The Women and Gender Studies program has many interesting people, one of them being Catherine Barbarits, the coordinator of the Women and Gender Studies program, who started working at USM last September. Her job as the coordinator is making sure that the program is always running smoothly, doing a variety of…
Gloria S. Duclos Convocation begins ceremoniously
By: Kate Rogers, Staff Writer Friday morning on the lawn in front of Payson Smith Hall, USM student Mariana Angelo led hundreds of audience members in a chant adopted and used by protestors across America, “It is our duty to fight for our freedom. It is our duty to win. We must love each other…
Abortion should be legal without any restriction
By: Emma Donnelly, Contributor Content warning: rape, abuse 1 in 3 women will have an abortion by the time they are 45. Most of these women are over 18, most already have one child, and the fact of the matter is: we don’t get to have an opinion about what someone does with their body. If…
Fitting in as an American in England
By: Julie Pike, Staff Writer One of the reasons I chose to study at the University of Winchester was the fact that I’d be going to a country that spoke the same language. What I didn’t realize until I got here, is that while I speak the same language as everyone in England, I don’t always…
Xiu Xiu epitomizes emotional expression in the new age of music
By: Jess Ward, Staff Writer On Thursday, Sept. 21, Portland’s Space Gallery was home to the experimental art rock group known as Xiu Xiu. Featuring two of its members that night, Shayna Dunkleman on percussion and synthesizer, and Jamie Stewart on vocals, guitar and cymbal, the group is known for its abstract and unique sound. Often…
Right wing rally draws counter protestors in Augusta
By: Jess Ward, Staff Writer Saturday, Sept. 30 in Augusta Maine, two opposing political forces met in the form of rallies: one called the “Rally to Denounce Political Violence” and the other “Counter Rally against the Alt-Right”. In name, these two don’t seem to be in conflict at all; both are titled to appear as though…
Coffee re-energizes Glickman
By: Dionne Smith, Community Editor Sodexo is fairly new to USM and has been integrating upgrades into multiple buildings throughout all three campuses. Last semester, there was a Starbucks booth set up on the first floor of the Glickman Library, which initially received a lot of criticism. Over the summer, upgrades were made to the…
This Week at Winchester: New Weekly Column
By: Julie Pike, Staff Writer Welcome to my first column! Every week I’ll be writing about my experience studying abroad at the University of Winchester in England, where I will be until December. You’ll read about my transition to British life, the new people I’ll meet as well as the many adventures I hope to…
Moss, paper, and paint: the craft of book arts
By: Kate Rogers, Staff Writer Thursday, Sept. 21 the Kate Cheney Chappell ‘83 Center for Book Arts held its first event at the Glickman Library. The lecture was by two Maine artists and USM alumni, Jill Osgood and Frank Turek. The event opened with a short introduction by Rebecca Goodale. Goodale is the program organizer for…
Every student needs a helping hand
By: Dionne Smith, Community Editor USM offers many ways to help students in need, such as through advising and tutoring. TRIO is one of the programs on campus that takes students in and offers them close guidance through their college career while supplying them with tools they can use to better themselves and have a…
Joining a sorority at USM
By: Jessica Pike, Contributor When the word sorority is heard, the image that pops into your head is usually stereotypical of the partying and drinking that has been portrayed on television so often. As an incoming first year student at USM, I had no idea what a sorority was until someone actually explained it to…
Creating a place for artists to grow
By: Kate Rogers, Contributor PORTLAND, Maine — Located at 538 Congress Street in Portland, The Space Gallery is just what the name suggests: a space. Space shows independent movies and documentaries, and is a venue for musicians, performances and artists of all sorts. Although local artists do frequent the Space, the goal there is actually…
People of USM: Glenn Cummings
By: Dionne Smith, Community Editor USM President Glenn Cummings comes from humble beginnings and over time has worked his way to the prestigious position he holds currently. During his presidency he plans to further improve the university, keeping his focus on his nine goals and other areas of interest at USM, such as providing students…
Getting the most out of Google
Over the summer USM switched it’s e-mail service over to Google. Many students noticed the switch and are using the power of Google to manage their USM mail. However, the change also added new features that many students may not be familiar with. Every student can now manage their calendars, contacts, and documents in addition to their USM mail.
USM students convene in D.C.
Last Friday morning, a group of eighteen USM students set out on a ten hour road trip toward Washington D.C. to attend the second annual Power Shift conference.
Upon arrival, they received ID lanyards labeled with ‘Leader’ status before joining almost 12,000 other leaders at the conference, which organizers say is the largest youth summit on climate change in history.
Students, bookstore grapple with prices
“Text books have always been expensive,” says USM student JJ Brewer outside the Portland branch of the USM Bookstore.Coping with the cost has been made easier recently by his professors who have chose more affordable texts, he said.
“I just bought this one for seventeen bucks, so I’m not complaining,” Brewer said.
A bite with Botman
USM President Selma Botman followed through on a promise that she made in a campus-wide email, and held her first informal lunch meeting with students last Tuesday in the Woodbury Campus Center.
At the lunch, Botman provided some insight to students in attendance regarding her plans for the future of USM.