By: Cullen McIntyre, Editor-in-Chief The COVID-19 pandemic has raged across the United States since the first case was confirmed on January 20, 2020. Fast forward to over six months later and the nation has reached 4,802,491 confirmed cases and 157,631 deaths according to cdc.gov. One of the biggest issues in the United States involving the coronavirus…
By: Eddie L. Beard, Psychology Student As one of the leaders against the merger between the University of Maine at Portland and Gorham State Teachers College, I saw in dismay that you think the merger happened in 1978. The actual merger occurred at the beginning of the 1971-1972 school year. And it was not between…
On Tuesday, September 24, 2019 at around 5pm, three female athletic department staff members entered the men’s locker room at the Costello Sports Complex on the USM Gorham campus (first floor, public use men’s locker room, room 120). There were several men inside the men’s locker room at the time, changing and also showering naked….
By Nikki Farmer, USM Student I’m writing to express my frustration at USM’s inaction on real Maine issues. For example, Maine’s high rates of domestic violence and intimate partner homicide continue to rise, yet every time we turn around USM is cutting and/or shrinking the women and gender studies program. What? Don’t you realize that…
By Jeffrey Ahlquist, USM ’19 The name change of the University of Southern Maine to the University of Maine Portland will only be implemented if the studies being conducted suggest that the enrollment of out-of-state students will have greater benefit than the cost of undergoing a name change. If the research shows that the return on…
This letter was contributed by Andrew J. Doyle. The University of Maine system has experienced a declining enrollment during a time when pursuing higher education has never been more important for Mainers. Combine that with the state’s declining graduation rate, and we find ourselves with a serious problem that has fell by the wayside at…
My name is Martin Conte. I have resided in the great state of Maine for 20 of my 21 years. I grew up “Downeast,” up the coast in Blue Hill. I went out of state for the first half of my University education, before moving back to the state, and enrolling at the University of…
This letter was contributed by Marpheen Chann. I applaud my fellow student government colleagues and the student senate for their support of students and faculty. But I write to voice my dissent in regards to the vote of no-confidence in the administration. In my opinion, the vote of no-confidence is premature given that the protest…
This letter was contributed by Dustin Ward. Dear Free Press, I want to first write and say what a wonderful job you and your organization are doing in covering the news and latest events of the situation at USM. After seeing the many comments, and the constant disgrace that so many students at USM are voicing I feel…
Dear Provost Stevenson and Board, Now I’m no economics or mathematics major, but it seems to me that by dramatically reducing the size of the faculty (and subsequently the amount of courses offered) the outcome is obviously going to be fewer students enrolled. An individual was speaking to me and others the other day about…
This is a letter was written by USM alumni Wade Linebaugh. Dear Provost Stevenson, If the news has it right, you’re either currently meeting–or about to meet–with as many as 10 (or more?) faculty members in order to terminate them. If this is indeed true, this action is unconscionable. The path I see USM going…
The student group, Divest UMaine, will make a presentation to the University System’s Investment Committee on February 27, supporting divestiture of fossil fuel investments. As president of the University of Maine Farmington and now at USM, I have not made a habit of attending Investment Committee meetings. However, last year I was there when they…
While it is certainly nice that the city of Portland has shown its symbolic support for the legalization of marijuana, I believe your editorial of support for the measure does a disservice to your readers. Firstly, as our friends at The Maine Campus corrected themselves over a similar report over a decade ago (“Legal Affairs”…
My name is Derick Arel; I’ve been a full time student of the University of Southern Maine for four years. I’m a non-traditional student in my 30’s, I love learning, and I deeply value my experiences at USM and the education I’ve received. I’m a physics major. I’m writing in response to what I’ve recently…
When President Kalikow retires next year, the Board of Trustees should appoint me as the new President of the University of Southern Maine. I’m qualified, and I’d be really good at it. I have lots of experience working with the various political and bureaucratic cliques here at USM. I served on the Student Senate Executive…
Dear Students: Welcome to USM! Whether you are new or returning, we are glad you’re here! I want to commend you for your really good judgment in choosing to attain a university degree. Why is a university degree still important? Let’s face it. In this digital age, you can find out just about anything you…
Dear Huskies, First of all, welcome! I hope you all had fun and productive summers. I know I found an awesome balance between classes, working hard as student body president and finding time to spend in the sun. Now that we’re headed back to the grind, I have a few thoughts I’d like to share…
In response to the dire threat of climate change, students at the USM and other Maine system campuses have joined over 300 colleges and universities around the country in calling on our Boards of Trustees to divest our endowments from fossil fuels. Unity College and College of the Atlantic have already embraced divestment, two of…
We’ve all heard about the budget problems that USM is going through. It’s affected almost every area of campus life. Many classes have been cut or turned into online classes. Staff and faculty have been laid off. The USM administration isn’t even willing to acknowledge the passage of the student referendum seeking a vote on…
Hatin’ on NPR Dear Paul Koenig, I read your piece entitled “A Low Tolerance for Highbrow Snobs” in this week’s Free Press. While I agree with your assertion that culture shouldn’t be stratified so aggressively, I am appalled by your violent expression of such a temperate idea. As far as I understand, in suggesting that…