Student success centers provide free resources for recent graduates as they venture out into the job market. USM maintains three student success centers – one on each campus – that connect students with advisers that help plan their future for everything from jobs and internships to an academic timeline and choosing a major. USM student…
Author: USM
What to know before you get a tattoo
3,000 years ago, tattoos were used to show people’s status or what their lifestyle was like. Today, tattoos are everywhere. With shows like Miami and L.A Ink, the practice is in high demand. But what things do you need to know before you go under the needle? For starters you need to know generally what…
USM dominates in college film festival
On the last day of April, a Maine college film festival called Film Chowdah was held at The Maine Studios in Portland. As its inaugural event, it aimed to provide a greater outlet for student-made films from the USM, Southern Maine Community College, and Maine College of Art. Of the eight awards presented, six of…
System hires firm for advice on enrollment, tuition
The University of Maine System last December hired Noel-Levitz, a higher education consulting firm, to identify ways to boost enrollment and to see if there is room to change tuition rates for Maine’s seven universities. The firm began the analysis in January. They are expected to release the results in May. UMS signed a contract…
Student Senate approves next year’s budget
The student senate approved next year’s budget for the student government association and elected new chairs of two committees at last Friday’s meeting. The SGA budget for next year has increased almost $7,000 from this year’s, with a jump from $320,279 to $327,238. The Portland Events Board has seen an increase of roughly $5,000 in…
Softball earns sweep of Plymouth
After dropping both games in a Little East Conference doubleheader in a hard fought battle against Eastern Connecticut State last weekend, the USM softball team got two games back in the LEC as they swept Plymouth State University 8-2 and 12-7 at Towers Field in Gorham on Thursday afternoon. The sweep was highlighted by the…
Point-counterpoint: Does Facebook violate your privacy?
Point: New Facebook privacy pratices are deceptive and controlling By Dylan Martin Staff Writer While people always bellow and moan over the new interface changes at Facebook.com, that should be the least of their worries. Over the past few years, Facebook has been slowly making efforts to make all user information public so that advertisers…
Newly crowned Miss Maine U.S. tries to ‘take life as it comes’
Aleksandra Derikonja, a junior economics major is fluent in Serbian, modeled at Couture Fashion Week in New York City and was just crowned Miss Maine United States. And no, you can’t have her number. “I’ve always been taught to be modest. That’s the reason I hate talking about myself,” said Derikonja, 20. Derikonja was born…
Movie Review: ‘The Losers’
Rated: PG-13 Grade: B “The Losers” follows a team of five CIA black ops after they have been framed for the deaths of 25 Bolivian children, who were blown up in a helicopter that was supposed to be carrying The Losers. Considered dead by their family members in the United States, The Losers stay in…
Men’s lacrosse edges UMass Boston
The USM men’s lacrosse team heated up early and held on to the victory as they defeated the UMass Boston Beacons 15-13 for their first Little East Conference win of the season at Paula D. Hodgdon Field on Tuesday afternoon. Nine different players scored for the Huskies, including junior Tim Bryant (Peterborough, N.H.) and freshman…
Diversity at USM?
As I continue to struggle with the terms diversity and multiculturalism being imposed on us, I question the way USM is using ‘diversity’ as a marketing tool to attract prospective students. We as students have a duty to look far beyond the surface and to question authority. For example, why is it that we don’t…
Gun rights rally draws crowd at Back Cove Park
An earlier version of this article incorrectly quoted organizer Shane Belanger as saying “people who openly carry weapons are less dangerous than those who conceal weapons.” Belanger did not say that. The online version has been edited to reflect this correction. David Nelson drove his 1951 Willys M38 Jeep into Portland for the first time…
Underattended events signal disconnect between organizers, students
The lack of student involvement at USM is no secret, and it’s a fairly easy problem to pin down when looked at from a student’s perspective. With a large commuter population, getting anyone to trek back to campus after class is a tall order, and not terribly realistic given Portland’s superior brand of nightlife. But…
Editor’s Pick: Best sports movies of all time
Throughout the last 50 years Hollywood’s directors have been displaying the thrill of the competitive nature of sports on the big screen. Not only do sports movies influence youngsters athletically and take seasoned vets down Memory Lane, but they propel a sense of pride and glory with every back-shivering inspirational ending of success. I have…
Student Senate gets new blood
The student senate saw a changing of the guard last Friday, as the 38th senate adjourned for the last time, and a crop of newly elected senators held their first meeting and voted for new leadership. Senators voted Alie Parker as chairwoman. The senior international studies major, who served as senate treasurer in the 38th…
Restaurant Review: King of the Roll
On the corner of State and Congress Streets, across from Longfellow Square, you can find a small Japanese restaurant boasting the name King of the Roll. Given the name, you may think that this is one of Portland’s hidden treasures. Don’t be fooled, the trashy red neon lighting isn’t hiding anything spectacular. In this case,…
Party at fraternity prompts probe
The executive director of Phi Kappa Sigma’s international headquarters is investigating whether the fraternity violated their “substance-free” policy after Gorham Police summonsed nine people for alcohol-relation violations at a party on April 16. Police summonsed eight people for underage drinking. They also issued one to Phi Kappa Sigma chapter president Brian Longfellow for furnishing a…
New program aims to simplify recycling
To improve their recycling rate and decrease associated costs, USM’s recycling program will change over to “single stream” recycling, eliminating almost all sorting of recyclables. Students will also be seeing new recyclable containers around campus. These containers will be better labeled and all plastic containers will be put together. All recyclable paper, paperboard, plastics 1-7…
Movie Review: ‘Kick Ass’
Rated: R Grade: A “Kickass” follows Dave Lizewski, an everyday, unnoticed teenage boy who is puzzled by the idea that no one has ever tried to become a superhero. Oblivious to his mortality, Dave, played by Aaron Johnson (Nowhere Boy), orders a scuba suit and batons and sets out on a mission to clean up…
Men’s Tennis battles, but falls to Rhode Island College 5-4
The Rhode Island College men’s tennis team earned the come-from-behind win against USM as they defeated the Huskies 5-4 at the Gorham High School courts Tuesday afternoon. After three doubles matches, USM took a 2-1 lead over the Anchormen getting wins from first doubles teammates, senior Josh Warren (Hermon) and junior Mike Sarrazin (Lewiston) as…
Men’s and women’s outdoor track & field sweep LEC and New England Alliance Championships
The USM men’s and women’s outdoor track and field teams continued their longtime dominance in the Little East Conference and New England Alliance Championships as they both swept the crowns at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth on Saturday. The women’s team won their 11th straight LEC Championship and 10th straight NE Alliance crown, and the men’s…
Do we matter?
A few weeks ago, I was at a Portland bar talking about The Free Press with an intoxicated employee of another local publication. He told me his paper doesn’t view The Free Press as a competitor. “We’re not worried you’re going to get an ad account we aren’t,” he said. “We’re not worried you’re going…
Four local record labels to check out
Mckeenstreet Music Originally started in 2004 by Maine native Graeme K, Mckeenstreet Music moved from NYC to Portland to Seattle until finally settling back in Portland earlier this year. The label currently has five signed acts, all but one being from Maine. One of the acts is former USM student Chad Chamberlain, who is better…
Dishing the dirty on burlesque
Two years ago on an awkward blind date, I heard my first explanation of “burlesque.” My date and I were looking at a poster for a burlesque show, and I had to ask her exactly what it was. She said it involved girls and lace and stripping, and with only that to go on, my…