The nationally eighth ranked Lady Huskies were unable to advance to the second round of the NCAA Division III Women’s Basketball National Championship last Friday in Gorham, losing 80-58 to the Smith College Pioneers (23-4). The loss concludes the season for the women’s team with an impressive 27-2 record. Just 10 minutes into the game,…
Author: USM
New weed bill has Portland roots
Maine State Representative Diane Russell has authored a new bill to regulate and tax the sale of marijuana for recreational users 21 and over. Russell, representing Portland’s Munjoy Hill and Old Port neighborhoods, introduced a similar proposal in 2009 but failed to gather enough support to pass the changes to Maine’s existing marijuana policy. Russell…
Chancellor and USM president discuss the future of education at philosophy symposium
University of Maine System Chancellor James Page and University of Southern Maine President Theodora Kalikow explored radical new outlooks regarding higher education during the “Future of Higher Education: Philosophical Perspectives” philosophy symposium last Tuesday in Portland. The event, five months in the making, offered a unique platform for both leaders to discuss with the public,…
Things of the Week – Good politics, bad politics, and angry students
Disappointing state political decision of the week Like a kid holding their breath until they get what they want, Governor Paul LePage threatened on Friday to veto all proposed bills that come across his desk until his hospital debt plan is passed by lawmakers. LePage’s plan is to renegotiate the state of Maine’s contracts on…
A skösh of this and that: USM students’ band wins state-wide competition and prepares for debut album release
“These guys are badass,” said Tom Trasher, manager of the Fusion Lounge in Lewiston where the high-energy fusion band Skösh performed on Friday. “Really. You’re going to love them.” These guys are known in and around this town for their funky, upbeat covers. Listeners in the area come from all over to find them and…
Arts & Culture Recommends: 4th Annual International Women’s Day Fashion Show
What’s a better way to celebrate International Women’s Day than a multicultural fashion show? Women Around the World, a non-profit organization that aims to improve the lives of women locally and globally, will be hosting their 4th annual International Women’s Day Fashion Show at the Maine Irish Heritage Center on Friday. International Women’s Day is…
National Album Review: Hummingbird by Local Natives
lt may be too early to call it, but I’m willing to bet that Hummingbird by Local Natives will be considered one of the best albums of the year. Local Natives’ 2010 debut, Gorilla Manor, was a hit. The melodic and energetic lyrics combined with the choir-style hooks left listeners in love with this Fleet…
Theater students compete in regional festival
A select group of USM theater students made the trip to Hyannis, Mass. last Tuesday to take part in the nationally recognized 2013 Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival. Some students competed and were successful, some just attended the workshops that were held, but all seemed to learn something new. “Our theater department, like all…
Local Album Review: Ripely Pine by Lady Lamb the Beekeeper
Even though she performs under the name Lady Lamb the Beekeeper, Aly Spaltro proves with her debut album Ripely Pine the she is no lamb to be led around. Spaltro taught herself to write music and sing, and until now has been releasing music recorded out of her home in Brunswick, Maine, and selling her work…
Jonah Lehrer’s scandal sparks debate on how journalists should deal with plagiarizers
“Purposeful plagiarism is one of the cardinal sins of journalism from which reporters can never recover their credibility,” wrote Al Hunt, then the Wall Street Journal D.C. bureau chief, in a 1991 editorial. “There is no statute of limitations on that judgement.” The issue of how to deal with plagiarizers seems to be a perennial…
Sign up now to participate in this year’s media training exercise!
Register for the event here Don’t panic – this is just an exercise. When you see a crowd of students and police responding to an emergency event on campus on April 12, don’t run off to call for help. This is just The Free Press’s helping the youth of Maine become name-taking, info-grubbing news hounds….
University of Maine schools plug in to Project Login
Over 100 people were present last Thursday at the official kickoff of Project Login, the product of a year-long partnership between educators and local businesses with the goal of increasing interest and job placement in the fields of computer science and information technology here in Maine. The event, held at the University of Southern Maine’s…
Maine campuses go international
Starting in the fall of 2013, the public universities in Maine may start seeing an upswing in international students. The schools that will most likely be the most impacted are the University of Southern Maine and The University of Maine Orono, which will both be installing International Student Study Centers as a part of the…
Letter to the Editor: Response to Free Press work to rule coverage
When I first started reading the opinion piece about how students should support faculty efforts in obtaining contracts with cost-of-living raises I was a little confused about who was even addressing me. The printed version of the article contains no byline (unlike the online version) and is listed under Our Opinion in the Perspectives section,…
Gorham essential to the success of USM, vice versa
More than 130 years ago, USM was established with the opening of the Academy Building on a hill in a small village nine miles from Portland. Despite obvious connections, relations between USM and the town of Gorham seem to be at a standstill, unable to properly communicate. Whether it be unfair restrictions on Greek life,…
Things of the Week – Boy Scouts, LePage, and some dangerous drugs
National controversy of the week Trustworthy, loyal, helpful – but not gay. The Boy Scouts of America have postponed a vote to lift the ban on including gay members. Prospective gay Scouts who would like to join will now have to wait until May, when the next vote will be held. The ban has been…
USM Battles Nemo
Record snows hit the USM campuses over the weekend as winter storm Nemo dropped over two and a half feet of snow in Portland and Gorham. Chris Legro with the National Weather Service in Gray reported that, although it was not a record snowfall for many areas of Maine, the Portland International Jetport received a…
USM couple ties the knot after fourteen years
Ray Dumont and Rodney Mondor were used to playing different people on stage, but last Tuesday, they walked off the stage at the Portland Players Theater in South Portland with new roles in each other’s lives — legally recognized spouses. The two tied the knot under the lights at the theater in front of over…
Food drive being held by theatre workshop
The students of USM’s theatre workshop, a required course in the theater major, are holding their annual food drive. From now until Feb. 28 donations are being accepted in the blue bin in the lobby of Russell Hall on the Gorham campus. All donations are given to the Preble Street Resource Center’s food pantry and…
Rising cost of college makes it unattainable for many
As someone who is currently experiencing the financial pitfalls of college debt, I can easily understand the anxiety that many students face as a result of that debt. One of the biggest points of contention during the presidential race this year involved financial aid for college students and the increasing amount of debt that college…
One student recalls religious persecution in Tehran
Shuan hesitated as he started to talk about the night in Tehran when he was stabbed. He had gone looking for a man who owed him money. He found him. “He treated me like…” he trailed off. Then the man took out a knife and stabbed him in the forearm. Shuan was still living in…
USM mourns the deaths of two professors
University of Southern Maine community members are mourning the deaths of two professors last week. Thomas Knight, a professor of biological sciences on the Portland campus, and Bernice Conklin-Powers, a professor of social and behavioral sciences at Lewiston Auburn College will be remembered by faculty and students for their passion for teaching and their constant…
Our Opinion: USM students should support recent faculty vote to work-to-rule
I went to the University of Southern Maine’s Glickman Library today on a mission. I started on the first floor, found two girls hunkered down in the corner with stacks of books sitting on the table in front of them, and asked them if they had heard of the recent faculty decision to work-to-rule. “No…
USM faculty senate endorses union work-to-rule
At the University of Southern Maine faculty senate meeting last Friday, all members raised their hands in a unanimous decision to endorse a motion to work-to-rule from the full-time union, the Affiliated Faculties of the Universities of Maine. The motion passed directly after a nearly 40 minute executive session that took place behind closed doors,…