“Everyone I’ve talked to is driven by a desire to see a better University of Southern Maine and a better place for the community as we move forward,” Page said before opening up the forum for questions and statements from members of the community.

Page, who has served as chancellor just since the end of March, is in Portland for a two-day series of meetings with members of the USM community in the wake of a fractious debate over Botman’s leadership in which 51 percent of all faculty eventually voted no confidence in the president. Page heard and responded to faculty and student concerns at a public forum at the Hannaford Lecture Hall Thursday.

Page said in his opening remarks that he has received feedback about the issue, which has received considerable attention from Maine media outlets.

Most of those who spoke were faculty members who broached concerns ranging from criticism of and support for Botman to problems within departments and more general statements about the future of the university.

Women and gender studies professor Wendy Chapkis took the opportunity to praise the faculty at the university and make suggestions for ensuring adequate funding at USM and other schools in the University of Maine System.

“People don’t realize what a little gem this is in southern Maine, and I’m heartbroken about what’s been going on,” Chapkis said. “There is something that could be done at the top: take a hard look at the system and system office, make cuts there and reinvest in schools across the system.”

English professor Nancy Gish took the mic to criticize the administration for a perceived lack of interest in listening to faculty — a common refrain in recent weeks during discussions of the no-confidence vote.

“I have been here working for change for 32 years now, and I no longer feel as if faculty initiative is listened to,” she said.

Few students attended the forum, although several got up to speak or ask the chancellor questions. Junior Mea Tavares, who was the last community member to speak, said USM needs to carefully consider how it markets itself to potential students.

“If I’m a client being marketed to, for me it’s not about sitting in a classroom but about the quality of the faculty,” Tavares said. “If I’m buying an experience, it better be a really good one. And that’s going to come from the people that make this campus rich, diverse and safe.”

Throughout the forum Page stressed the importance of communication amongst faculty members and the administration and of involving the larger community in the process of moving forward from the divisive of the vote.

“We need to make sure dialogue is open and sustained, because people have different ideas,” he told members of the press following the event. “We also have to bring in constituencies from outside this campus, because no university exists in a vacuum.”

Page is meeting with a number of members of the USM community this afternoon and tomorrow, including union leaders and the Chief Financial Officer Dick Campbell.

The vote needed a two-thirds majority to pass and be considered the will of the faculty. But with a voter turnout of about 75 percent, over 68 percent of faculty who voted cast ballots of no confidence in Botman.

The Faculty Senate Executive Committee will submit the results to the University of Maine System Chancellor James Page and the board of trustees.

The no-confidence referendum was triggered by a group of senior faculty who circulated a petition in early April calling for the vote, receiving 53 signatures, more than the 10 percent of all faculty required for a petition to mandate a referendum.

Botman released a statement around after the vote was tallied saying it didn’t receive the two-thirds majority needed to pass.

“Our challenges remain and we must, as a community, address them and we will do so,” she said in the statement.

Faculty began casting their ballots Tuesday at locations in Portland, Gorham and Lewiston, and voting closed today at 4 p.m. Ronald Schmidt, a political science professor and the media contact for the Faculty Senate, released the results to The Free Press this evening after the committee tasked with counting ballots released the results to the Executive Committee.

“I think this says there is intense disagreement over the future direction of the university,” Schmidt said. “Everybody needs time to think about what these numbers mean, and then we need to start talking.”

Former-Student Body President Chris Camire, who has been a vocal supporter of Botman, said he was disappointed to hear how many members of faculty voted no confidence.

“Obviously something is broken at USM, but the faculty would rather take a destructive path than a constructive one,” Camire told The Free Press on Wednesday night. “I think there would have been a better way to let the president know how some faculty feel.”

Faculty Senate Chair Jeannine Uzzi said she believes the results of the vote are less important than the fact the referendum was held in the first place.

“The petition itself was an historic event,” Uzzi said. “The percentage of senior faculty who signed it was a serious statement of concern, and the [University of Maine System] chancellor got that message.”

There has been disagreement over how to read the end results, because the Faculty Senate bylaws state a referendum must receive support from two-thirds of all faculty in order to represent the will of the faculty, while Robert’s Rules of Order, which the Senate follows, calls for two-thirds of only those who vote.

Schmidt said the Executive Committee doesn’t wish to involve itself in interpreting the results.

“We see our task as making sure the vote is transparent and legitimate,” he said. “We’re not setting ourselves up as the interpreters of the dispute in the governance documents. The board of trustees can decide for themselves.”

The committee charged with counting the votes had members appointed by the major stake holders in the issue. President Botman appointed Martha Freeman, chief human resources officer, the senate executive committee appointed professor of economics Michael Hillard, and the faculty petitioners who triggered the no-confidence vote appointed professor of physics Jerry LaSala. Professor of law Chris Knott will join the committee as an overseer.

Vote Results:

For no confidence: 194 votes
Against no confidence: 88 votes
Total: 284 with two invalid ballots
Voter turnout: 284 out of 377 total USM faculty

Faculty began casting their ballots yesterday at locations in Portland, Gorham and Lewiston. Ronald Schmidt, a professor of political science and the media contact for the Faculty Senate Executive Committee, said the counting committee expects to announce the data by 8 p.m. Schmidt told The Free Press this afternoon that he doesn’t know the number of ballots cast but anecdotal evidence suggested a large percentage of faculty had participated.

“When I went to vote the box was full,” he said. “There’s a lot of intense feelings about this, so I’m not surprised.”

The committee charged with counting the votes has members appointed by the major stake holders in the issue. President Botman appointed Martha Freeman, chief human resources officer, the senate executive committee appointed professor of economics Michael Hillard, and the faculty petitioners who triggered the no-confidence vote appointed professor of physics Jerry LaSala. Professor of law Chris Knott will join the committee as an overseer.

Once the ballots are counted, the Faculty Senate Executive Committee will submit the data to University of Maine System Chancellor James Page and the board of trustees who will interpret the results. There has been disagreement over how to read the end results, because the Faculty Senate bylaws state a referendum must receive support from two-thirds of all faculty in order to represent the will of the faculty, while Robert’s Rules of Order, which the Senate follows, calls for two-thirds of only those who vote.

Schmidt said the Executive Committee doesn’t wish to involve itself in interpreting the results.

“We see our task as making sure the vote is transparent and legitimate,” he said. “We’re not setting ourselves up as the interpreters of the dispute in the governance documents. The board of trustees can decide for themselves.”

Stay tuned for updates as the results are released.

There is something harmonious about USM’s open gym that cannot go unnoticed. Out on the courts, players from various culture and background join forces to share one thing in common: the love of basketball.

Here, all of society’s stereotypes are dissolved and life off the court becomes irrelevant. It doesn’t matter if you’re a professor, student, lawyer or doctor, what does matter is whether you can make the jump shot, but even that cannot be easily done. The aggression and drive is  evidenced by wet tees, glossy hair, and dampened towels. On some cases, extra towels are called for to wipe excess sweat that drip all over the courts.

Skills aren’t the only necessity desired on the court. Respect is a requirement and negative attitudes and demeanor are not tolerated. USM’s basketball scene is a place where cultures from around the globe clash, and therefore becomes an opportunity for learning. Just ask Michael Hillard, an economics professor and basketball regular, who is now familiar with some Somali dialect, thanks to fellow players from the Somalian community.

“They’re just a completely different group of people I otherwise wouldn’t have known if it wasn’t for basketball.”

While most players are in some way affiliated with USM, open gym has now attracted students from other Maine schools. Alex Scott, a current SMCC student, has been playing basketball at USM for almost two years.

“All my friends come here to play open gym, when we want to play this is where we come play ball.”

Games are always on a roll, especially on Tuesday and Thursday nights. On these nights, veteran players like Hillard, who has been playing basketball at USM for over 6 years, play alongside other veterens for a game that is not to be underestimated. With diverse groups comes diverse talent, and the veteren players are no exception.

“They’re all former basketball stars, and that’s a funny group because they have their own personality. Theyre business-like, you know, which has a lot of advantages.” Said Hillard.

Experience is what distinguishes the veterens, giving them an edge younger players cannot grasp. Many of these players have been loyal members of the USM gym for almost a decade. Their familiarity and knowledge of other veterans allow them to play unselfishly and make frequent passes as a team. But the veterans are not the only players to look out for.

A collective group of USM Law students also dominate the courts and even have their own custom  jerseys to set them apart. This group plays in a fast-paced manner and are constantly hurdling themselves in pursuit for the big leather ball.

And that’s the beauty of pick-up basketball at USM. The diversity brings people of all shapes and sizes with different skill sets. It doesn’t matter how experienced or talented you are as long as you have a winning attitude and the drive to win. Whether you decide to challenge other players or not, open gym is a unified basketball utopia unlike the NBA.

Diversity can also have it’s repercussions. With such intensity on the court, tension and misunderstandings are inevitable due to conflicting beliefs and opinions. On the court, students, alumni and faculty are merely equals, but when conflicts arise, it is usually faculty or the veteren players that step in to facilitate.

“When people get at each other, the older guys or faculty take over and tell everybody off, they make sure things never go out of control.” Said Scott.

Despite the differences, USM’s open gym becomes country club-esque during it’s slow hours. Friends come to shoot around and hang out by an open hoop for fun.

Whatever the reason for coming, if you like basketball, the Sullivan gym in Portland is the spot. It is a chance for serious players to expand their skill set and work on their weak points. It’s a place where students can take a step out of their busy lives to focus on a single challenge — winning.  Or if you wish you could play basketball, it is never too late to start here.

The referendum was triggered by a petition signed by 53 senior faculty and given to Botman and the Faculty Senate April 4. Any petition receiving signatures from more than 10 percent of the faculty mandates a faculty-wide referendum according to senate bylaws.

The vote will be conducted with paper ballots, which have been mailed to all eligible faculty members. In order to protect against voter fraud and ensure anonymity, voters will enclose their ballots in an unmarked envelope and put that in an envelope sealed with their signature, which vote-counters will dispose of before opening the envelope with the ballot. Voters will be required to show a photo identification in order for their ballot to be counted.

It is remains unclear how the results of the vote will be called. There is confusion over language in the Faculty Senate bylaws about how many votes a position must receive in order to be considered representative of the will of the faculty. The bylaws state two-thirds of faculty must vote yes, but there is debate over whether that should be read as two-thirds of the total faculty or as two-thirds of those who cast ballots. While the bylaws simply state two-thirds of faculty, Robert’s Rules of Order, which the senate follows, states referenda pass if two-thirds of those who vote support them.

In a letter to faculty, Senate chair Jeannine Uzzi said the Faculty Senate Executive Committee, which is organizing the referendum, will not make any assertion about the meaning of the vote’s results unless the most conservative reading of the bylaws — two thirds of all faculty supporting the referendum — is reached.

“I’m charged with organizing the vote, not interpreting it,” Uzzi told The Free Press Friday. “We’re trying not to come down one way or another.”

No matter the results of the referendum, it is largely symbolic. The results will be given to the president, the University of Maine System Chancellor and the Board of Trustees.

“There is no procedural requirement for them to act upon it,” UMS Public Relations Manager Peggy Markson told The Free Press in an email Friday. “They do, however, take the vote expressed by the USM faculty very seriously, as the vote is an expression of the faculty’s sentiment.”

At this very moment, there’s a spectacular experiment going on in our backyard. It’s an experiment that pitches government stimulus against government austerity.

Great Britain, our sister country across the pond, went through the same rigmarole that we did here in the United States less than five years ago. Our circumstances were and are very similar, but the outcomes have been drastically different.

In the United States, as we all know, government spending has not been cut since the economic debacle unfolded. Indeed, the right has been so deafening about it that it would surprise me if there is a soul in this country who doesn’t know.

However, as I’ve mentioned previously in my columns, one of the most common reasons for prolonged recessions is a lack of demand for goods and services. If everyone is uptight about spending their money, which they tend to be in a recession, who else but the government can effectively boost aggregate incomes to increase demand and get the economy on track again?

In fact, cutting government spending is completely counter intuitive in our current economic woes. In a recession money ceases to sufficiently circulate.

How do you get money circulating again? Spending!

I know, I know. We have huge deficits right now and spending is out of control. It is however, largely due to recessionary factors, such as a fall in tax revenues that the deficit is so large. And no, cutting taxes for the rich does not increase revenue — just ask your nine year old, they’ll explain.

So here in the U.S. we’ve kept spending levels relatively constant. Have we slid back into a recession? No. Have we had increases in unemployment? No. Has the dollar collapsed? No. Have interest rates on government debt skyrocketed? No. And our credit rating was only downgraded because Boehner and his back up band‘s obstructionism … what a fiasco that was.

In Britain, however, they have drastically cut spending. And you may not have guessed, but yeah — they’re back in a recession. Prime Minister David Cameron has been trying to blame the recession on the larger crisis plaguing Europe, whose countries are Britain’s main trading partners.

But Europe is also a large trading partner of the US, and the European countries in recession are merely implementing similar belt-tightening strategies.

Britain, a recent guest to the double-dippers list, is trying to cut spending and decrease government deficits to increase confidence in their financial markets. How’s that working out for them? Not so well. For two consecutive quarters there economy has been shrinking, and the outlook isn’t particularly promising.

The country, whom Americans have regarded as a generally more liberal one than our own, has thrown the baby out with the bathwater and embraced a free-market approach. Its government is shrinking its role and effectively passing the controls to the private sector. Again, how’s that working out for them? Not so well.

 By no means is it perfect here in the U.S., but I wouldn’t suggest moving to Britain.

Justin Chapin is a member of the Students of Economic Interest, an economics club at USM.

The Free Press is the best thing I have ever done for myself.

In January 2010, I started as a Free Press photographer to build my portfolio. At that point in my college career, I had no idea what I was going to do with my studio art degree and concentration in photography. I figured the job would be the best way to learn more about digital.  I didn’t think that I would take shots of President Obama when he spoke at the Portland Expo later that semester.  When I stood with fellow photographers on that media platform focusing on the president through the scope of my lens, I was hooked.

I became more involved in production as the photo editor and then later as the design director. My experience with Adobe InDesign and Illustrator programs was minimal. When another editor expressed their doubt in my ability to fill the last production editor’s shoes, I quickly picked up both programs. Now I have played a major role in creating a clean, bold and readable redesign of The Free Press, which is a big deal for my resume and portfolio.

What started as a portfolio builder for my photography became the one experience that allowed me to realize a career path in graphic design.

Even though I’m finishing this farewell letter at 1:30 on Monday morning, and I will probably be here for another hour or two, I am extremely grateful for my time in this office.

Thank you to the incredible team I worked with for over two years and best of luck to the incoming staff. I hope that your experience at The Free Press will be as wonderful as mine.

Once you leave high school, you realize the insignificance of those day-to-day experiences — the fights, crushes and late homework assignments.

But now it’s different. I catch a glimpse of déjà vu as I look out at the University of Southern Maine from my office window at The Free Press for what could be the last time, but I’ll be taking these last four years with me this time.

Working at The Free Press is the first meaningful thing I’ve done in my life. Myself and the others at The Free Press served the USM community — or at least gave our best effort — with crucial news about the university, hopefully-illuminating student profiles and Halloween-themed drink recipes.

I would be fundamentally different without The Free Press.

The sophomore who walked into the office to write sports in September 2009 isn’t the same person who left the office this past Sunday night.

I remember my first visit to the place that later became my second home. Glancing down the hall towards the newsroom, I thought it looked a bit intimidating.

Joel Neill, the sports editor at the time, assigned a men’s soccer game to me. Instructions were simple: write what happens and interview the coach afterward. After strolling around the field, trying to get a feel for the scene, I sat down, whipping out my over-sized notebook that only resembled to a reporter’s notebook in that it had an on-top spiral binding. I documented every play. Opposing team makes a run down the right wing. Defender tackles ball away. Team pushes up field.

After the game — and after pages upon pages of overly-detailed, play-by-play coverage — I nervously eyed the coach across the field, dreading the nerve-wracking trek over for the necessary interview. I hung back, trying to look intelligent as I pretended to write in my over-sized notebook.

The crowd in the bleachers began thinning, forcing me to stand and shuffle my feet across the field. I oozed with trepidation.

Then at midfield, I veered to the right, put my head down and walked straight to my dorm room.

I later told Joel the coach was too busy to talk to me. (Sorry, Joel.)

Now I’m the one teaching new editors how to deal with shy, inexperienced writers while looking to my own future — a future I owe to The Free Press.

I said I wouldn’t be the same without The Free Press, but the opposite is truer. We made the newspaper our own.

I took the reins of a paper with a strong news section, thanks to Dan MacLeod, my predecessor, but I didn’t think it looked very appealing or cohesive. The design looked stale, and we often didn’t write stories student readers could easily understand.

After slowly working to improve the content of the paper through my tenure, we finally took on revamping the design this semester, including changing our flag (the “logo” on the top of the front page). Over the course of a couple years, many of our efforts fell flat. Grandiose ideas fell by the wayside. A few were very successful. But I’m proud of everything our team has done, no matter the result.

I don’t know if I want to be a career journalist. I may start out in journalism and — like so many other people today — drastically change my career after a few years. I’m not worried because I know The Free Press has prepared me. If anything can go wrong at a student newspaper, it will and it did.

I know I’ve come a long way since being too scared to talk to a coach and even longer from that night on my porch in high school.

This time, the four years mattered.

Thank you to everyone at The Free Press who helped me along.

Paul Koenig was news editor from January 2010 through the September 2010 and editor-in-chief from January 2011 semester through May 2012. He is graduating in May with a degree in business administration and a concentration in small business and entrepreneurship.

The USM Office of Multicultural Student Affairs is organizing the celebration, which will include food and by students and artists from countries around the world.

Following the ceremony will be another annual multicultural student event, the Global Block Party, which is usually held in December. Freshman Islam Karim, who’s helping organize the celebrations, said the block party will serve as an after party of sorts for the graduation ceremony.

Reza Jalali, the coordinator of multicultural student affairs, said that USM is partnering with SMCC and UNE in order to bring together multicultural students from schools around southern Maine. Jalali said he is expecting 15 to 20 students from UNE, and 50-60 students from both USM and SMCC to take part in the festivities.

“Our students need to be honored and recognized,” Jalali said. “I hate to see them go, but we’re so happy for them.”

Performances will include Hindi singing, drumming from Burundi and dancing from Rwanda and USM President Selma Botman and SMCC President Ron Cantor will speak at the graduation ceremony, along with several of the graduating students.

There will be a brief reception at 4:30 in Abromson Center in Portland and the ceremony begins at 5:30 in the Hannaford Lecture Hall.

This is the last time my byline here will say News Editor. I’m not graduating quite yet, but along with most of my colleagues here, I’m done as an editor at The Free Press. I’m heading to Peru in the fall to study Spanish, globalization and indigenous identity in the Andean mountain city of Cuzco, and I can’t quite justify the expense of making the 24-hour flight back and forth several times a week for meetings, interviews and production days.

The Free Press has consumed my life for the last two years. I’ve spent countless hours doing my best to turn this university’s various intrigues into engaging media for the students who pay for this newspaper with their student activity fee. I’ve gone home just hours before sunrise on Monday mornings only to dream about typos. I swear when I close my eyes after production days, I see lines on my eyelids after hours of aligning photos and text in the news section.

I’ve written over 100 stories in the last four semesters, resigned myself to one-day weekends and spent almost no time at home. The Free Press office at 92 Bedford St. has at times been a second apartment — I keep a toothbrush and floss in my desk — and during the school year I’ve spent more time with my fellow editors than with my partner. Sorry, Laura.

I’ve loved every minute. That’s not to say I’ve been happy every time production went past 2 a.m. on Monday mornings, but I can’t begin to name all the ways I’ve grown as a writer, editor and person during my time here.

I imagine I would have found some useful things to do with my time over the last two years had I not been caught in the orbit of 92 Bedford St., but for the life of me I can’t right now think of anything I would have rather been doing. This newspaper has made me a writer and a relentless asker of questions and hopefully given me a shot at a career in journalism. It’s time to move on, but I’ll be forever grateful for my time here.

Take advantage of your time in college. You’re paying far too much to sleep your way through these four-odd years and never again will you have so many resources at your fingertips nor so many chances to utterly fail and start again. If something (positive) takes over your life, let it. There’s no way I could have seen how a curiosity in The Free Press would lead to the dominant obligation in my life a few short months after putting my name on that list. But for all the reasons I’ve talked about above, there’s nothing I would trade for the last two years.

If you are in anyway passionate or even curious about writing, photography, graphic design or other skills without which The Free Press would not exist, there is no better place on campus for you than the second floor of 92 Bedford St.