On an evening before the spring vacation, students and faculty filled the seventh floor of the Glickman Library to hear the first annual Student Government Association’s “State of the University Address.”
Student Body President AJ Chalifour spoke about the university in both a critical and approving manner as he outlined the faults and triumphs of the cash-strapped school.
At these prices? April. 3 – 6:22 p.m. A vehicle was seen leaking gasoline in the parking garage. Portland Fire Dept and AAA notified.
Cut-rate room & board April. 3 – 10: 37 a.m. Littering: A mattress had been dumped on the third level of the parking garage.
Student government elections are here, with a three-way contest for the position of Student Body President. All are young, all have at least a semester of experience on the Student Senate, and all have ideas of the direction this university needs to head. Facing a new university President, a worsening financial situation, decreasing enrollment, the creation of a new core curriculum and the possible suspension of academic programs, next year’s student leader will have a lot to think about.
In 2004, 862 freshmen enrolled at USM. Now four years later, it can be estimated that only between 80 and 130 of those students will graduate this May.
By May ’09, it’s likely that only between 215 and 240 of the original 2004 cohort will have graduated.
What happened to the other 600 students? About half of them, roughly 290 students, left USM before they could enter their sophomore year.
They may be brand new, but they’re ready to go. Amnesty International, USM’s newest student organization, is already busy planning a week-long series of discussions, music and films for Human Rights Week.
Amnesty, which was officially recognized as a group by the Board of Student Organizations (BSO) at their meeting on March 7, seeks to inform and sensitize USM students, faculty, and the public to human rights issues.
1. Benjamin Taylor is a sophomore economics major.
Current Activities: USM Student Senate, Vice Chair
Greatest concern: A lack of student involvement. Without enough students involved, there’s a lack of quality events being planned. Also, student voice is diminished and not taken seriously.
1. Robert W. Ellis is a junior political science major.
Current Activities: Public relations chair of the Student Senate, Amnesty International, I am also a USM democrat that understands the importance of bi-partisan cooperation.
Greatest concern: My greatest concerns are the opportunities available to you before and after graduation.
1. Julie F. Brewer is a junior biology and math double major.
Current Activities: Hall council, student leader trainings, sailing club, chemistry club, biology club, STRIVE, New England Science Bowl, Change ’08
Greatest concern: I feel the greatest concern to the USM student body is its lack of good communication and awareness of campus proceedings and activities.
A car of one’s own Feb. 13- 4:48 p.m. Welfare check: Checking on occupant of vehicle. Subject was writing a term paper, all set.
The phantom car of G-16 Feb. 24 – 11:55 p.m. Suspicious Incident: Vehicle flashing headlights in what appeared to be SOS pattern.
Monday March 17
Student Government Elections- Vote USM! Decide who will represent you on the Student Senate and as Student Body President./ Vote online: www.usm.maine.edu/studentlife/vote08/ All week/ For more information, stop by the Involvement and Activities Center in Woodbury Campus Center.
Selma Botman will be recommended as the next president of USM at the Board of Trustees meeting on Monday. The announcement came last week from the office of system Chancellor Richard Pattenaude.
Though the BOT must approve the recommendation, it is unlikely that they will go against Pattenaude’s decision, which came after hearing a report from the Presidential Search Committee in February that detailed results from surveys filled out by students, staff and faculty across all three campuses.
A campus safety alert arrived in USM e-mail inboxes on Friday afternoon, alerting the community about a man who had been found acting suspiciously on the Portland campus.
He has a history of frequenting college campuses, and has been reported to police at Bowdoin College as well as in Portland’s Old Port.
Dressed in jeans, a white T-shirt and a dark sweater, carrying a briefcase, face obscured by a beard, Alex Peppe resembles a normal neo-hippie 20-something grad student about to teach a lab. He was once a lab instructor, but Peppe is not anywhere near normal.
If you happened to wander through Bailey Hall around lunchtime on Friday, Feb. 29, you had to weave through a crowd of students (one of them dressed as the Husky) lounging in the lobby with plates of Aramark pasta salad and sandwiches.
These students – including the Husky – were gathered for “Change ’08,” a day-long summit for student leaders to reflect on what’s wrong with their USM experiences, and what they might do to make them better-for everyone.
It’s August in the Ein Beit Ilma refugee camp in Israel’s West Bank. Argentina is playing Nigeria in the World Cup. “Listen man,” says an Israeli soldier to his lieutenant, an Argentina fan “here and there, this house and that house, they’re all the same, but here they have a TV, man.
Standing in front of the trophy case in the School of Business office, you might think we have a dynasty on our hands. Trophies fill the display case, each proclaiming the accomplishments of SIFE. It’s impressive, but it raises a question.
What is SIFE?
The Students in Free Enterprise, or SIFE, is one of the largest student non-profit organizations in the world, with over 1600 participating colleges in the U.
Tax season is upon us. With April 15 looming ahead, it’s easy to get overwhelmed with talk of W-2’s, 1040’s, and other number-letter combinations of seemingly endless paperwork.
Most students avoid the “pen-and-paper” route towards their federal income taxes, opting increasingly for tax-prep software, e-filing, and online preparation.
Under the pressure felt only in overtime at the center of a darkened gymnasium on a mat lit by a single brilliant spotlight, sophomore Mike Morin took down top-seeded Jake Tyler of Springfield College and felt the ref holding his hand high in the air.
In the win, Morin, a sophomore from Fryeburg, became the third USM man ever to advance to the national Division III wrestling tournament. He qualified at 165 pounds and led his team to eighth place in the New England Wrestling Association championships held in Gorham last week.
Morin joins the ranks of Adam Farrington, who qualified at 174 pounds in 1999 and 2001, and teammate Steve Valastro (junior, Montgomery, NY), who qualified last year at 133 pounds.
Earlier this month, Provost Mark Lapping released a list of 26 academic programs to be put on “probation,” facing evaluation in light of the current budget crisis.
With a deadline of April 1 to present a comprehensive plan of reform, departments and their members have been scrambling to meet the expectation, and are trying to make sense of this forewarned, though unprecedented move.
Taking a page from the USM playbook, the State of Maine is being forced to make cuts as it faces a budget crisis of it’s own. Since about 33 percent of USM’s budget comes from the state allocation, USM’s own predicament is potentially about to get worse.
In January, Gov.
Sri Dhyana, a physics major in her final year at USM, is a non-traditional student. And that is an understatement.
On this particular evening, Dhyana is relaxing at her home with a glass of white wine, Pink Floyd’s Echoes playing softly in the background.
At a multi-campus school like USM, transportation can become a major part of one’s life. The average student might spend as much time on a bus every week as they spend in a single class.
The shuttle between Portland and Gorham plays many roles for the students who ride it: rolling study lounge, mobile student center, and a gas-saving alternative to driving yourself.
