Communication breakdown
To the Editor:
In the past two weeks I have heard students stating that we should be more active. That we should get involved. And most importantly, that we should vote.
I have also heard that there is a race for the Student Senate taking place. However I have not heard anything about the candidates who are running, the issues which they plan to address, or where the voting for these positions take place.
Today I received the latest email edition from The Free Press and discovered that the voting has already taken place. However, not to my surprise, only 500 students voted. Again, only 500 students voted. Over 10,000 students attend USM. That’s 5 percent voter participation!
I read The Free Press and it seems quite clear that the lack of communication to the student community is not merely a minor problem involving a small percentage of students. It is a widespread dilemma involving a majority of the students. This includes both commuters and on-campus residents. We all receive the numerous bills and fees for attending the University, many of which are controversial among the student body.
This gap between the student body and those who work for it is the underlying factor causing distress among the students. Talk of doubling and raising fees for University programs that only cater to a small percentage of the student population only works to broaden the gap.
Students don’t want to pay twice or even three times as much for a parking permit when finding a place to park is nearly impossible. Once a space is found a student may find him/herself 10 minutes late to class. Not to mention that when they get out of class they might find a pink slip on their windshield and a $40 fine.
We pay a technology fee and yet students are still charged when they use the university printers and copying machines. It seems trifling to be asking for more money when the plan is to provide the same services (regardless of inflation).
A solution to this problem could be online interaction between Senate members, candidates, and voters. An online bulletin board posting all the latest issues and referendums in a concise, yet detailed manner could dissuade confusion.
Chat forums could make it possible for concerned voters to communicate with their elected officials and the candidates running for political office. Profiles of the students in office and the students running for office could be made available via the USM Web site.
Student e-mail addresses could be used as a means of communicating updates of campus activities and student related issues. The Free Press could also open its doors to the student body and allow more student involvement with the production and writing of the paper.
The answer is not to tax the students for more money. One of the reasons students choose USM over other universities is the low cost of tuition compared to the competition. USM is appealing because it allows students with a limited and already stretched budget to receive a college education. You can only stretch someone’s budget so far.
What USM needs to do is encourage greater student involvement and ask for more volunteers. These steps could work to cut down unneeded expenses. Instead of paying for someone to update the Web site, utilize members of the student body who are willing to volunteer their time. You can’t fix a situation by simply throwing money at it.
Jared Valiquet
freshman
Broida
concerns
To the Editor:
We are writing in reference to the featured article on Professor John Broida in last week’s edition of The Free Press.
We are concerned with how the University is dealing with the complaints and the process of reviewing the allegations against Professor Broida’s teaching ethics and use of racist and homophobic classroom examples. The Free Press states that “McGrath formed the four-member committee to investigate Broida’s comments.”
Those included in this four-member committee are all faculty. We are angered that the University will leave out the voice of students in this process. A student brought this issue to the University and students take classes with Broida, not faculty.
In addition, because the University took so long to bring this issue to the public’s attention, it conveys the message that the University is “dragging its feet” and is not being responsive to student concerns and to issues of fighting racism and homophobia.
We urge the University of Southern Maine to take responsibility to ensure that we work together in creating an environment that celebrates multiculturalism and fights oppression.
Lauren G. Carr, Junior, Psychology Major
Taylor M. Probst, Senior, Social and Behavior Sciences Major
Losing faith? Think again
To the Editor:
I’d like to send a reply to the freshman complaining about the hike in parking fees, the lack of anything to do on campus, and the MTV Campus Invasion in last week’s letter, “Losing Faith.”
The parking hike is real, and it’s already in place. The only thing to do that will make your voice be heard now is to vote with your feet; here in Portland, we really do need something as drastic and complete in solution as a parking garage. Them things ain’t cheap, either…
I would ask you, as a student, if you think that there is nothing to do on campus, to please contact either the Gorham Events Board (I assume that you live on the Gorham campus) at 780-5155, or the Board of Student Organizations at 874-6597, and plan an event or start a student group to fill that void of activity. You can also call the Office of Student Involvement at 780-5155, which has information about Greek life on campus, as another alternative to those boring nights on campus.
Concerts appeal more to students than information sessions with doctors and policemen? What the hell does that say about the quality of student we have here?! Especially when we are talking about the flavor-of-the-week, corporate-media-created crap that MTV would so obligingly deliver to Gorham! Woo hoo- no thanks, I’d take cops and Ph.D.’s any day.
You think that USM would profit from additional snack and beverage sales? Ha. Aramark would profit, and the last thing that we need to do is encourage these providers of mediocre cafeteria food plans by giving them more to feed off of.
Paying for printouts at any of our computer labs is not ridiculous; we do generate a lot of waste paper (Try using some of the recycling stacks to take notes on, they substitute nicely for all those brand-new pads I used to buy at the outset of every semester) and paper costs money.
Then again, the University is also a public institution, and it doesn’t have all the money in the world – the USM budget (as per the Fact Book 2002) states that we spend almost 1 percent of our yearly budget on printing and photocopying. That’s more than $600,000. Big surprise that they’re going to raise fees.
Most ideas of this type are foregone conclusions – the administration is certainly already sold on the idea, and not interested in investigating the potential of limiting students’ printing to vital documents instead of just “taxing” us more.
Unfortunately, the only way to vote on these issues is to vote with your feet.
Joshua Dolby
Senior, philosophy major
Money
doesn’t grow on trees
To the Editor:
Is anyone made of money these days?
I’m definitely not and I can’t believe all of the fees that are being added on to our bills for next year. Next year I will have to help pay for a parking garage that I will never benefit from, and the University has decided to charge a per-page fee in the computer labs. The only time I even use any of the labs on campus is to print out assignments given to me by professors and posted on Blackboard.
I should have to pay a fee because my professors choose to have me print my notes out instead of them doing it for me?
I don’t believe it is fair to penalize students for doing their school work. If there are individuals that take advantage of the printing privilege then they should be the ones that are punished, not students like me that print 5 pages per week!
Isn’t there a way that the computer labs (or people in charge of them)could distinguish between printing directly related to school work and printing for other reasons?
Magnolia Gallant
USM student
Shhhhh!
To the Editor:
Is it still a common practice today for people to make an effort to be quiet in libraries? You must understand, it has been several years since I have been a full-time student so I haven’t really been following current trends in library etiquette. However, I was taught that a library is a place where people go to do research, study or complete complex tasks that involve concentration and focus. Hence, we always whispered in libraries.
At the USM library on the Portland campus however, the etiquette appears to be quite different. Now mind you, I am not talking about cell phones ringing, students swapping gossip or sports scores, etc.
Rather, I am referring to the staff.
Given the location of the circulation desk, off the lobby entrance, it pretty much makes sense that conversation is appropriate. After all, people are coming and going, asking for information, and of course staff and patrons are forced to compete with the reverberations off the cement walls and tile floor.
However, does the circulation standard apply to the rest of the library? Apparently it does. Staff do not even attempt to use “indoor voices.”
Today I learned that someone thought a girl she saw the other day had a cute T-shirt on. Someone else had gone to a play. Interesting stuff, but it didn’t really mesh with the civil rights material I was trying to read.
I recognize that employees have to talk to do their jobs and that occasional chit chat between co-workers is healthy and increases productivity. But could you keep your voices down? Perhaps USM Child Care could offer some assistance. A demonstration of indoor and outdoor voices to give you a better perspective, answer your questions.
Of course, if I am just out of touch with today’s library trends, then please someone correct me. If however, I am not out of touch, and it is still appropriate to whisper in a library, then please just shut your mouths or go to the playground.
Heather Jackson Dilios