Jenasa Staples, Staff Writer A new distracted driving law is going into effect Sept. 19 with the hope to protect Maine drivers. The new law will be for “hands free” driving. If police officers see hands anywhere besides the wheel, they will have the right to pull drivers over. Using GPS on a phone is…
By: USM Library Staff The University of Southern Maine Libraries have joined The Open Textbook Network (OTN), a national consortium of colleges and universities working together to promote and develop open educational resources (OER). The primary focus of these efforts is on faculty adoption of free, open textbooks. OTN saves students money and provide day-one…
The first six weeks of each academic year is critical to the success of every student regardless of their chosen field or involvement in extracurricular pursuits. Surround yourself with good people that will support your hopes and dreams, genuinely care about you and keep you balanced and on track. Make good choices, good decisions and…
The start of the semester provides all USM students, new and returning, an opportunity to ask an important question: “Are my academic habits working for me?” That is, are your efforts leading to the levels of learning and academic performance that you want, or perhaps need for your major or professional goals? Many students continue…
Recovery at USM Collegiate Recovery Program Coordinator/ Clinical Counselor September is National Recovery Month, and here at the University of Southern Maine, recovery is celebrated, encouraged and supported! The Recovery Oriented Campus Center (ROCC) is a safe campus space for all students identifying as being in recovery from substance use and other mental health conditions….
Welcome new and returning USM students, staff and faculty! We hope you had a restful and rejuvenating summer and are ready to launch into another season of learning. With that in mind, we wanted to make you all aware of what Health & Counseling Services, an integrated program that promotes wellness for both mind and…
By: Averi Varney, Student Body President Hi all, First off, welcome back! I hope everyone had a great summer and is looking forward to starting the year off. I know I am! I wanted to take a minute to tell you all about some of the exciting projects I’m working on as Student Body President…
Dear Huskies, Welcome to the University of Southern Maine! Whether you are a new or continuing student you are an important part of our campus community. As Dean of Students, it is my honor to serve all students in our community and focus my energy on creating a healthy, safe and inclusive campus where you…
By: Glenn Cummings, USM President To our new and returning students, welcome to the fastest growing, most exciting university in Maine. Those of you who are returning to campus already know of our growth and our plans, but for those of you who are new, allow me to bring you up to date: ● We…
By Lydia Libby, Web Editor In a release Wednesday, President Cummings notified the USM community that the City of Portland has declined the university’s offer to provide housing for asylum seekers that are currently being housed at the Portland Expo. City officials concluded that while deeply appreciative of USM’s offer to host families, they wanted…
By Lisa Belanger, Director of Health Services With the arrival of spring, Ken and Ethan are eagerly anticipating the end of the semester and are talking about getting outside to enjoy the beautiful Maine summer. Ethan is thinking about putting in a week or two of hiking along the Appalachian Trail in Maine and New…
By Shereen Toolabi, USM EcoRep As the semester comes to an end and I finish up my undergraduate career, I realized that throughout my four years at USM I have come to live more sustainably. As an environmental science major and Eco-Rep with the Office of Sustainability, sustainability has become ingrained in my daily life…
GRACE SLEEMAN Malachi The bees let me pet them if I was patient. If I sat by the lavender gardens long enough, they would crawl over my skin — fat golden tufts of summer warmth, humming songs only I could hear and I hummed back. KATIE L. PRIOR North Atlantic Bird Sanctuary I know the…
Three USM students are running for Student Body President in this week’s elections, running from April 8 through 11. Shaman Kirkland Junior, political science major My main priority is to educate and inspire students to join me in creating positive change for USM. This will be accomplished through seven major projects and my continued communication…
By Samar Post Jamali, Family Nurse Practitioner To quote the forever amazing Salt-N-Pepa: “Let’s Talk About Sex, Baby.” As a nurse practitioner at USM’s Student Health, I am psyched to talk about the sex you’re having and how to make sure it’s safe. Aaaaaaand, if you or your partner don’t want to be pregnant in…
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…
From March 1 to March 10 USM theatre students put on the production of Unlock’d, a modern-ish musical romance. The production was also a collaboration between the theatre department and the School of Music.
By Janis Mallon, Ph.D. University Health & Counseling Services Depression and anxiety rates are trending up among teens and young adults. More college students are reporting a lifetime prevalence of risk of harm to self. At the November 2018 annual meeting of the New England College Health Association, Christo, Mariani and Drexler-Hines addressed seven key…
By: Hawraa Rikan, Food Studies Intern The food industry produces massive amounts of surplus each year, yet food insecurity remains an issue throughout our nation, especially on college campuses. Food insecurity is defined as a lack of access to sustainable, nutritious food. When we think of hunger, we think of third-world countries, in which oftentimes…
By Oona Molyneaux, USM Eco-Rep Are you interested in living more sustainably? Do you like food? If your answer is yes, this article is going to be your jam. There are many ways in which one can adopt a sustainable lifestyle, one of which is seasonal eating. Seasonal eating refers to a conscious decision to…
By: Lynn Howard, MSN, ANP-C, FNP-C USM Health & Counseling Services When these symptoms are present it is near impossible to function. What is the cause of it? And when will it get better? are questions patients want answers to. The cause? The symptoms are due to stomach and intestines (gastro) inflammation (itis). Other symptoms…
March 3, 2019
By Conan Deady, USM Health & Counselling Intern Are you a perfectionist? If so, is that a good thing or a bad thing? Psychologists have long sought to distinguish perfectionism, which is regarded as a source of distress, from the healthy pursuit of excellence, which is a positive attribute. A perfectionist generally sets excessively…
By Cameron Ramich, USM ‘20 Queer representation in all sorts of media is something that LGBTQIA+ activists have been fighting for, for years. Gordon Allport, an influential psychologist, once studied and found that people who are apart of majority groups that are interpersonally connected to someone in a minority group through any sort of media…