Author: USM

Due to increased costs across the board, USM students may once again see a tuition increase for the upcoming year. According to Sam Andrews, Chief Financial Officer for the University, the Board of Trustees will vote at their next meeting on a proposal from the USM administration that requests an increase in tuition prices for the 2004/2005 school year.

Craig Ardry and Chris Gelineau shared many fates. They both lived in Maine, were both at one point USM students and both served in the National Guard. Unfortunately, they both also rode in the lead Humvee that caught the brunt of an anti-American ambush in Iraq last Tuesday morning.

Evidence of the tight financial times facing the University of Maine System seems to manifest itself everywhere: in meager financial aid packages, in impossibly low class availability, even in budget cuts for university funded publications. Despite the recent university wide budget cuts, one publication continues to thrive even as its identity changes.

The 13 cars in the funeral procession for the environment were outnumbered by the 16 vehicle presidential motorcade for President Bush’s Earth Day address.

Is poverty a factor in the way parents speak to their children? How long does it take for farm-raised fish to adjust to predators? What kind of Research goes into producing a play? These were among of the projects that students presented at Thinking Matters, the third annual presentation of student research and scholarship.

Golfers will no longer have to smuggle beers onto the course, women will have easier access to the “morning after” pill, and some 17-year-olds will have the chance to vote in Maine primaries. These are all among the dozens of bills Maine legislators have been working on for the ’04 session.

Delta Surface Technologies (DST), LLC was the winning team in the 2004 Student Business Plan Competition. They were awarded $10,000 to start their own business and $15,000 in consulting services.

DST got their idea for making surfaces flat because Jonathan Wappel, one of the members of Delta Surfaces, is a hockey player and is part of his own management group that owns ice rinks.

The University could be affected by a new law which holds municipalities and manufacturers responsible for the collection and recycling of old computer monitors and televisions, and places a six dollar per unit fee on the retail sale of all televisions.

The concern is that computer vendors may be reluctant to do business in a state where it is required to pay for producing and recycling its products as well.