By Ryan Farrell, Staff Writer A lifelong passion for the arts bears many facets. Autumn Damron uses a variety of mediums to craft what she dreams of. Though her pieces usually portray themes of nature and botany, Damron uses her art as a vehicle for representation. In a previous drawing class, Damron chose to center…
By: Cullen McIntyre, Sports Editor It was a successful home opener for the women’s soccer team, as they held the UMaine Farmington Beavers to a shutout in a 3-0 victory at Hannaford Field. The Huskies came into the match with two away wins to kick off the season, a 4-0 win over Thomas College and…
By: Zoe Bernardi, Community Editor How did USM student spend their summer break? Here are four students who shared what they did to fill their time. Over the summer, USM student Alexis Riordan worked at Yogibo in Kittery. Riordan, a sophomore from South Berwick, is studying history education and psychology. She spent her days allowing…
By: Max Lorber, Staff Writer Stories of the Jewish community in Maine fostered throughout the generations continues to be preserved at the Jewish Museum. The Maine Jewish Museum, located within the Etz Chaim synagogue, celebrates Jewish art, history and culture. “We do everything we can to make sure that people won’t forget that we are…
By: Gus Pignatello, Staff Writer USM has implemented two new parking policies. A new ticketing system requires Portland citizens to pay two dollars an hour to park in the garage, with a max of $20 a day. In previous years, the garage was free to the public. Richard Freund, Director of Auxiliary Services, said the…
By: Kate Rogers, News Editor Due to an increased focus on Living Learning Communities (LLC) over occupancy, several spaces in Anderson Hall were left open for a small period of time after the semester began. President Cummings stated that this year’s orientation week was the best organized and most successful he had ever seen in…
By: Alyson Peabody, Editor-in-Chief Last weekend I went to the Saco Drive-In theater to watch a double feature of It by Stephen King. The movie is a remake adaptation of King’s classic horror novel. Those that found Tim Curry’s depiction of Pennywise to be a little campy, shook in their boots at Bill Skarsgard’s disturbing…
By: USM Library Staff The University of Southern Maine Libraries have joined The Open Textbook Network (OTN), a national consortium of colleges and universities working together to promote and develop open educational resources (OER). The primary focus of these efforts is on faculty adoption of free, open textbooks. OTN saves students money and provide day-one…
By Lydia Libby, Web Editor The Maine Center for Disease Control (CDC) sent a letter on August 2 to Portland Expo volunteers and staff reporting multiple cases of chickenpox in people staying at the Portland Expo. According to the CDC website, the average incubation period for chickenpox, also known as varicella, is 14 to 16…
By Lydia Libby, Web Editor Brunswick company, bluShift Aerospace was recently awarded a Small Business Innovation Research grant from NASA. The company was founded by USM Alumnus Sascha Deri. Deri graduated in 1996 with a Bachelors in Electrical and Electronics Engineering. “This is an incredible opportunity to develop hi-tech here in my home state, diversify…
By Lydia Libby, Web Editor In a release Wednesday, President Cummings notified the USM community that the City of Portland has declined the university’s offer to provide housing for asylum seekers that are currently being housed at the Portland Expo. City officials concluded that while deeply appreciative of USM’s offer to host families, they wanted…
By Lydia Libby, Web Editor Every summer since I was 15, I have worked, balanced some form of classes and attempted to remain active and social. I know for many others this is the case. Even for those who are just beginning to balance all of these tasks at once, you realize how challenging it…
By Zoe Bernardi, Community Editor Part two of the travel reflection After my week in Portland, my class and I flew from Boston’s Logan Airport on Saturday to Iceland. We went right into our full day in Iceland. Our days were long, packing many things into one day, spending time in nature and two days…
A journey from Portland, ME to Reykjavik, Iceland By Zoe Bernardi, Community Editor Part one of the travel reflection From May 13 to May 31, I took Honors 195, which was a travel abroad class that went to Iceland for 6 days. Throughout the first week of the course, we went on daily…
Seven years after a car bomb exploded in Iraq, killing 30 people, wounding over 100 and destroying the entire perimeter of Al-Mutanabbi street the cultural epicenter of Baghdad, a powerful art exhibition has arrived at USM entitled Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here that displays the significance of what happened on that day through visually impressive pieces…
Katie Belgard hadn’t planned on being the president of the Board of Student Organizations when she first joined. She’s one of those students everyone seems to know. Spending a lot of time in the Woodbury Campus Center, she can often be found calling to and greeting passersby with a smile. A women and gender studies…
Bryn Gallagher does it all–well, practically. She’s involved in a number of on and off-campus activities and organizations. A junior sociology major and criminology minor at USM, Gallagher became the new president of the Sociology Club in the fall of 2013. “It has been a transitional semester,” Gallagher said. “It’s been hard to figure out…
The university events room in the Glickman library is often reserved for packed workshops and faculty meetings, but last Friday the room was relatively empty, except for a single ring of chairs filled by students, staff and community members and a nationally recognized, award-winning poet. The USM English department named former U.S. Poet Laureate Charles…
Musical theater majors at USM sacrificed their Halloween plans last week to celebrate the night by bringing a classic New England horror story to life at Corthell Music Hall. Only eight months ago, the rights to release CARRIE the Musical became available, and the USM School of Music didn’t waste any time bringing the story…
Addicted to social media? It’s okay, so is everybody else. Whether it be an occasional tweet or a Facebook birthday greeting, everyone, from your grandmother to your 10 year-old neighbor, is popping up online. In the Myspace days, it all seemed so new and exciting. Now, social media is just another part of our daily…
USM students have an opportunity now to share their musical tastes not only with their friends, but also with listeners throughout New England. WMPG, USM’s community radio station, started a program, Husky Tunes, this semester in which students have the opportunity to host their own radio show. Students get to create a playlist with a…
Don’t worry, we aren’t going to spoil the ending for you. Whether you were glued to your television screen for the series finale or are only reading the Free Press during a short break from your Netflix binge, chances are you’ve watched Breaking Bad recently. And that means you know that it’s over. Some of…
By: Courtney Aldrich Everyone here in Maine knows what’s coming –– walking across campus or commuting to class will soon become unthinkable in the flurry of snow that will be waging war on our little New England world. So for now, it’s time to celebrate the fall. Smoothies are slowly going out of style. And…
This past Thursday students were offered to get a taste of Portland, and they ended up coming back for seconds. The Taste of Portland event was the first of its kind at USM. The event featured tables and food trucks from various businesses around Portland to showcase some of the city’s popular eats and students…