Despite a less than enthusiastic reception from students this fall, the USM branch of the student organization Divest UMaine plans to continue with its efforts this year to pressure USM’s community and administration to support a system move to divest its fossil fuels. Divest UMaine, is a group of students, staff, faculty and alumni whose…
Author: USM
Faculty contract settlement may be in sight
There are 34 articles in the University of Maine faculty’s last, expired contract, but in the two and a half years since that contract expired, the hold-up in negotiating the next contract has been narrowed down to one main issue: salary. The USM representative on the Associated Faculties of the University of Maine bargaining committee,…
USM cripples all STEM programs by phasing out physics degree
My name is Derick Arel; I’ve been a full time student of the University of Southern Maine for four years. I’m a non-traditional student in my 30’s, I love learning, and I deeply value my experiences at USM and the education I’ve received. I’m a physics major. I’m writing in response to what I’ve recently…
USM President Theo Kalikow’s solutions aren’t creative enough
When President Kalikow retires next year, the Board of Trustees should appoint me as the new President of the University of Southern Maine. I’m qualified, and I’d be really good at it. I have lots of experience working with the various political and bureaucratic cliques here at USM. I served on the Student Senate Executive…
Our Opinion: Cutting physics is not the answer for USM
Last Thursday’s announcement that the physics department will be cut due to low enrollment maybe shouldn’t have come as such a surprise, especially after President Kalikow’s statement to the Free Press last week about how the faculty should be scared. Last week’s article touched on the issue of drastic cuts to faculty research, travel…
Shelley: New “Teach” documentary is pure propaganda for the corporate-driven war on education
Last Friday night I watched Davis Guggenheim’s new “documentary,” Teach, which was broadcast in on CBS. Guggenheim, you may recall, is the filmmaker who brought us Waiting For Superman, the shameless propaganda-fest that signaled the full-on nuclear stage of the corporate-driven war on public education (also known as the education “reform” movement). The merciless and…
In brief
Gas leak makes for delays The area of Bedford Street connecting to the USM parking garage on the Portland campus sprung a leak on Tuesday, Sept. 3, just in time for the first day of school. “The first day of school is usually crazy, anyway,” said Lissa Luckey, a senior English major who left for…
USM fall enrollment drops four to six percent
USM’s admissions office projects that enrollment for the fall 2013 semester will drop four to six percent from last fall, a decrease of between 375 and 563 students. This decrease comes in the aftermath of an announcement by the U.S. Census Bureau that 2012 saw a huge drop in national college admissions, with half a…
New student space opens at USM after Gorham stores consolidate
The early bird gets the worm. Or, in this case, a few new breakfast options and some space to rest. This year, in an attempt to consolidate and better meet student needs for food, convenience and space, the Brooks Convenience Store, once located in upper Brooks, has been combined with the Husky Hideaway, in lower…
Tensions over cuts linger into new semester at USM
After the university cut over $5 million last year, the administration and many faculty members still do not see eye to eye on the direction the university is headed. Last spring, Chief Financial Officer Dick Campbell projected that the university would be forced to make over $12 million in cuts over the next four years….
Syria strike or education – where to spend U.S. dollars?
For two years now, horrific images from a brutal civil war in Syria, have dominated mainstream news in the U.S. Our military is ready to strike at a moment’s notice, while President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry have made it clear that the “red line” has been crossed. It’s becoming increasingly clear…
Our Opinion: Student Life a bright spot at USM
Even though in recent months USM has lost manpower and some serious cash, welcome events showed that the fun will go on. Everyone at USM could take a lesson from Student Life. They may have had to work a little harder to make Welcome Week a success, but they set an example in hard times…
USM students take a bite of Portland
This past Thursday students were offered to get a taste of Portland, and they ended up coming back for seconds. The Taste of Portland event was the first of its kind at USM. The event featured tables and food trucks from various businesses around Portland to showcase some of the city’s popular eats and students…
Local Top 5: Places your conversations are being overheard
By Courtney Aldrich The fall semester has begun. The campus is suddenly cluttered again, and there’s no chance of getting a seat to yourself on the bus. Best friends are moving back in together, and chemistry partners have suddenly reconnected. Between the multitude of questions freshmen ask and the girlish screams from the quad down…
Photos of the week
USM student campaigns for Congress
Isaac Misiuk, a second-year political science major at USM and now a contender for Congress, sees young Republicans like himself as the future of the party. The 24 year-old Misiuk was the first Republican candidate to enter the upcoming race against incumbent Chellie Pingree for the congressional 1st district seat. He hopes that his relative…
President Obama’s education proposal could leave USM wanting more
A plan proposed by President Obama last week could affect how much federal financial aid the university receives by 2015 and how much students receive by 2018. The president’s proposed “college affordability plan” will create a rating system for public institutions before the 2015 academic year that will assess colleges on tuition, percentage of low-income…
USM’s President Kalikow will stay on for another year
This summer USM President Theo Kalikow announced that she will stay in her post a second year and that she plans to strengthen and solidify the administration of the college before passing the job on to a successor. Kalikow, who postponed her retirement to succeed Selma Botman as president, was not new to being the…
Welcome from USM President Theo Kalikow
Dear Students: Welcome to USM! Whether you are new or returning, we are glad you’re here! I want to commend you for your really good judgment in choosing to attain a university degree. Why is a university degree still important? Let’s face it. In this digital age, you can find out just about anything you…
Welcome from Student Body President Kelsea Dunham
Dear Huskies, First of all, welcome! I hope you all had fun and productive summers. I know I found an awesome balance between classes, working hard as student body president and finding time to spend in the sun. Now that we’re headed back to the grind, I have a few thoughts I’d like to share…
From empty space to “food forest” – new project alters face of USM Portland commons
If you’re walking between the Luther Bonney and Payson Smith Halls at Portland’s USM campus this fall, you may notice that something is different about the once-empty, long stretch of grass. This summer, USM teamed up with local permaculture designer and USM graduate David Homa to construct an edible landscape – the project fittingly called…
Divestment a cause worthy of student effort and attention
In response to the dire threat of climate change, students at the USM and other Maine system campuses have joined over 300 colleges and universities around the country in calling on our Boards of Trustees to divest our endowments from fossil fuels. Unity College and College of the Atlantic have already embraced divestment, two of…
Overcoming budget woes at USM
We’ve all heard about the budget problems that USM is going through. It’s affected almost every area of campus life. Many classes have been cut or turned into online classes. Staff and faculty have been laid off. The USM administration isn’t even willing to acknowledge the passage of the student referendum seeking a vote on…
New education reforms challenge academic traditions
In an attempt to address steeply rising tuition and housing costs, President Obama announced last week his plans to reformulate financial aid appropriations by executive order, effectively circumventing a dysfunctional and unproductive congress. The president deserves applause for making good on his 2012 State of the Union commitment to make higher education a priority, and…