Well, it’s that time of the year again. The warm weeks filled with barbecues, beaches and fireworks are over, soon to be replaced with textbooks, professors and exams. Summer may be over, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t plenty of fun to be had outside of class. Portland, Maine hosts a variety of great locations…
Author: USM
USM gets a Grammy grade education
An ordinary day at the office for Adam Ayan at Gateway Mastering & DVD does not involve the usual Mainstreet login, BlackBoard navigation and class lecturing again and again grind that many professors here at the university experience. Instead, this USM School of Music adjunct lecturer finds himself working on two, three or even four…
No sleep ’til Broadway
While being a musical theater major may seem like it’s all fun and games to audience members, there is a lot of work put into a single show with performers always bringing their best to the table. And that commitment to the stage doesn’t stop, especially during breaks between semesters. “It isn’t easy. It…
Gorham Initiative work hurt by budget cuts
Faculty, staff and students have been working in one form or another since 1997 to improve the Gorham experience, but after $5 million in cuts this year, head of the Gorham Initiative and interim Dean for Graduate Studies Dahlia Lynn said that progress has been hindered. “Frankly, budget limitations brought some of that [progress] to…
Roya Hejabian prepares for commencement
Roya Hejabian will be celebrating the completion of her third degree, a master’s in social work, when she speaks at USM’s afternoon commencement session this year. Hejabian was the first of her family to escape Iran as a religious refugee. After gaining U.S. citizenship years later, Hejabian’s mother and father were allowed to leave Iran…
Student presents six month’s of work at Thinking Matters conference
At the edge of the gym floor at USM’s annual Thinking Matters conference, Matthew Dobson, a senior theater major, showed how he can make demons appear on stage. The Thinking Matters conference encourages students and faculty to display the work they’ve accomplished together over the year in research and scholarship. Hundreds of students, professors and…
Meat subsidies strip other food industries to the bone
Written by Fatoumata Issifi Hidjo Would you go into a fast food restaurant to order a hamburger if you knew it would cost you over $50? Would you order steak in a fancy restaurant if you knew it was going to cost you over $200? In truth that’s already what you are paying. When is…
Local Top 5: Beaches
1.) Kettle Cove There is nothing particularly exciting about Kettle Cove–no big waves, no stunning vistas, no shocking wildlife. There doesn’t need to be. Kettle Cove is peaceful and expansive, a plane of soft sand leading down to a calm, clear stretch of water for swimming. The cove is protected by an impressive wall of…
A farewell as I depart after three years at The Free Press
As an opinion writer for this newspaper, I’ve had the distinct privilege of making readers laugh, confused, upset and moved. Typically, I’m not as serious as I look in the picture above, but The Free Press has done so much for me over the past three years that I can’t help but feel somber talking…
Hand dryer efficiency and cost blows away paper towels
Written by Shaun Carland If you’ve spent time in an academic building’s bathroom over the course of the semester, you may have noticed that paper towel dispensers are disappearing and hand dryers are popping up, especially on the Portland campus. This is in due to an initiative by the Office of Sustainability to reduce external…
Portland Public Library bookmobile is on the road
The Portland Public Library’s new “mobile branch” visited USM on Wednesday for the first time, showing off their customized Mercedes-Benz mobile library and spreading the word on what they have in store for Portland. “A lot of people in the city have busy schedules, and one too many things on their plates,” said Portland Public…
Our opinion: Reflecting on success in a year filled with obstacles and stress
There is only one week until finals, the weather is better than it has been in months and it’s becoming more and more difficult to concentrate on schoolwork, but guess what, we made it. We know, we know – it’s cheesy, but it’s true. Looking at the front of the paper this week, you’ll see…
National Review: #willpower by will.i.am
Let’s just say that will.i.am’s fourth solo album #willpower will never be trending on Twitter, despite its not-so-subtle marketing scheme of the album’s title. You’d think after founding the Black Eyed Peas, releasing three previous solo albums, winning seven Grammy Awards and being given the position of creative director of innovation at Intel Corporation that…
National Review: Indicud by Kid Cudi
Kid Cudi tweeted last June that his next release, Indicud, would be his own version of Dr. Dre’s 2001. Sounds like it’d be quite the undertaking, right? Well it seems Cudi forgot when he started this project that, unlike Dre, he’s a really weird dude. Indicud opens up with a heavy instrumental track titled “The…
Secondhand smoke a first-hand risk for one student
By: Lucie Tardif I don’t think anyone was happier than I when USM established a tobacco-free campus earlier this year. After suffering a blood clot to the lungs and subsequent diagnosis of lupus antiphospholipid antibody syndrome 11 years ago, I was warned by physicians to steer clear of cigarette smoke. Even the close presence of…
USM community mourns Boston Marathon tragedy
Hundreds of USM community members across all three campuses held vigils Wednesday at noon for the victims and families affected by the Boston Marathon bombings, reflecting upon the tragedy and the startling reality of terrorism when it occurs so close to home. After two explosions at the Boston Marathon killed three people and injured over…
The role of the student body vice president is still unclear
Student Body President-elect Kelsea Dunham, a junior double-majoring in business and women and gender studies, is searching to fill the newly created student vice president seat, but the duties of the new position remain unclear to Student Government Association members. “I’m not sure what the vice president duties will be right now,” said Dunham, “because…
Student involvement sees a sharp increase
Chris O’Connor, the director of Portland Student Life, told The Free Press that student involvement this year is much greater than it has been in years past. Student Life is preparing to recognize students who have shown great leadership and involvement over the past year at the Student Involvement Recognition Gala on May 3, which…
Students still uneasy after Hammond talk
Coordinator of the Center for Sexualities and Gender Diversity Sarah Holmes organized a counter panel last week after minister Guy Hammond’s speech in Gorham left many LGBTQ students uneasy. The Christian student group Alpha Omega sponsored Hammond’s visit to campus last week in which he spoke to a largely Christian audience that stressed starting a…
Commencement moves this year from the Civic Center to Costello
USM is splitting its commencement into two ceremonies this year as a result of the ongoing renovations at the Cumberland County Civic Center. “We knew there was some chance the Civic Center would be available,” said Craig Hutchinson, chief student affairs officer at USM, but since the ongoing renovation schedule at the venue was tied…
Meeting Noah Hurowitz
Not all of the graduating student body will get to hear Noah Hurowitz’s commencement speech. This year graduation will be split into two ceremonies, which means that each session will only get to see one of this year’s two student commencement speakers. “Their loss,” said Hurowitz, chuckling. He said at one point that he was…
School of Music receives $1 million bequest to be used in music scholarships
In a press release posted by the Office of Public Affairs on April 12, USM announced that the School of Music would be the beneficiary of a $1 million bequest from the estate of Anne Randolph Henry. But many music students are still stuck worried about the future of the music program. In the wake…
Staff Picks: End of the semester stress relief
1.) Nate Mooney, News Assistant I like to change up my choices for stress-relief depending on my mood and the urgency of the situation. If time and motivation allows, a few mile run around Portland’s East End Trail always helps me forget about whatever work is hovering over my head and makes me love Portland…
A&C Recommends: Garbage to Garden
Take some time on Earth Day to talk to a Garbage to Garden representative set-up at a Portland cafe. They’ll be tabling throughout Portland to distribute information on how people can help clean up the earth through their program. Garbage to Garden is a fast growing local company that aims to change the way we…