A female student was assaulted and robbed by a man near the intersection of School and Church Streets in Gorham at around 2 a.m. while returning to the Gorham campus, according to a campus safety alert Monday afternoon.
Author: USM
Faculty butt heads with administration over their role in restructuring
In an emergency Faculty Senate meeting marked by significant tension between faculty and administrators, professors voiced concerns about their involvement in USM’s restructuring plan and the plan’s timetable.
USM President Selma Botman repeatedly told faculty they would only serve as advisers and would not help write the restructuring plan.
Haitian earthquake strikes home
Haiti has had the world’s attention since the 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck on Jan. 12.
Millions have turned to the television to watch the devastation caused by the quake and its subsequent aftershocks. Donations for relief have poured in from all over the world to aid the poorest country in the Western hemisphere.
Employee dies at work
Police say a USM employee was found dead in her cubicle in Luther Bonney Hall at around midnight on Monday, Jan. 4 by a custodian on their evening rounds.
Ann Brushwein, 59 of Portland, was a software support specialist for Computing Services. She had worked at USM since 1999.
Fewer students buying textbooks
Due to increasing options for acquiring textbooks, fewer students have used the USM Bookstore to buy their books.
According to Nicki Piaget, Director of the USM Bookstore, sales peaked three years ago and have been slightly decreasing ever since. Much of this is attributed to the new market for textbooks online.
FISOSE created to give forum for faculty
A group of professors concerned the administration isn’t taking student and professors’ concerns seriously formed a group at the end of last semester to act as a forum to discuss new ideas to restructure the university.
Faculty in Support of Student’s Education was created as an ad-hoc committee of professors from the Faculty Senate and Associated Faculties of the Universities of Maine, and born from the premise that decisions concerning university restructuring should be transparent and inclusive to students and faculty.
Internet rights and you: What’s at stake?
Government and trade officials are currently working on agreements that may affect your future Internet use. Some of the outcome may be good, some of it bad. Here’s a peek into some of these issues.
How to Help
In the wake of the earthquake in Haiti, massive amounts of donations have been funneling in to charity organizations.
Text message-based donation have emerged as a fast, easy way of making a donation – during last week’s NFL playoffs alone, text donations came pouring in at a rate of $500,000 per hour, according to The Red Cross.
Letter from the Editor
Watching Conan O’Brien go down in flames was the high point of the month for me. Like many of his fans, I never watched the Tonight Show-I don’t own a TV-but he has always been my favorite late night host. So when Conan declared war on NBC for demoting him by switching his show’s time, I watched online and laughed with my fellow fair-weather fans as he introduced “insanely expensive” new characters like the “Bugatti Veyron Mouse,” while playing the original master recording of “Satisfaction” by the Rolling Stones.
The F word: A Feminist’s Perspective
Over the arrival of the New Year, I spent time wondering as usual about what could possibly inspire young people to collectively form a movement, or, to ignore one. There are signs everywhere that societal progression is constantly and consistently happening (although never without a debate), right? As much as it seems a change gon’ come, something still feels like it’s tugging at that notion, insisting that perhaps the change isn’t going to be as universally progressive as just technologically and sexually evolved.
Building community starts with a new student center
Now, I am not given to having a conversation with myself very often, but the other day I walked over to the Woodbury Campus Center and did just that. I said to myself, and out loud, “USM’s student center sucks.” Really, it is abominable and depressing.
I have been in there thousands of times over the last few years and, frankly, I cannot remember wanting to stay in the building, even to eat.
Real change is needed to stabilize the economy
Perhaps one of the most disturbing pieces of economic information released in last week’s news was that Goldman Sachs reported record profits of $4.9 billion for the fourth quarter of 2009 for a total of $13.4 billion for the year.
Meanwhile, 15.3 million Americans remain unemployed.
Portland: Five Days a Week
With a vibrant local music scene, untold numbers of bars, and art galleries every 15 feet, Portland is the cultural nexus of Maine. With bars, clubs, and cafe’s all vying for your attendance with a variety of events, offering “nights” for everyone from the bar-stool academic (see RiRa’s trivia night) to the the sweaty retro buff (80’s nights galore!), it can be difficult to sort through the melange.
USM art students show their stuff in new SPACE Gallery show
Congress Streets non-profit arts and music venue SPACE Gallery kicked off their unjurried show of local artwork last Friday, providing a few USM art students and employees with their first opportunity to show in a gallery outside of campus.
The show, titled “Free For All 2” is the second unjurried show that SPACE has hosted.
Restaurant Review: Silly’s
As a college student in Portland, it can be hard to find a restaurant that fits your budget. With books to buy and student loans to pay off, who has the money? If you’re looking for affordability, good service and great food, Silly’s Restaurant, at 40 Washington Ave.
Movie Review: Sherlock Holmes
“Sherlock Holmes” is a film of both wit and action, with a plot line that is gripping right up to the credits, and one-liners you’ll be quoting for days. Holmes, played by Robert Downing Jr. “Iron Man, The Soloist”, reopens a case, as the sorcerer Lord Blackwood, played by Mark Strong “Body of Lies”, appears to have come back to life to destroy England after Dr.
Offensive’ hypnotist shocks students
An adult-themed hypnotist performed some shockingly lewd mind games on a group of student volunteers in the Brooks Student Center last Thursday. The show, which was attended by a rather large audience, was last week’s installment of the Gorham Events Board’s weekly event series, Thirsty Thursday.
Husky Hero: Zach Joy
FP: First of all, what made you choose USM over other schools? Was it mostly the academics, or more towards the hockey side? You’re from New Hampshire, were you getting a lot of offers there and in other parts of New England?
ZJ: I chose USM because it was the best blend of academics and hockey competition around.
The Extra Point
When the temperature drops and the ice freezes over on Maine’s thousands of ponds, one can make the assumption that the only thing to do is lace up the skates and throw the puck down for a good game of pond hockey.
Pond hockey isn’t just any old game; it’s a tradition that stretches far beyond points and goal records, or penalty minutes for that matter.
UMass Boston rallies to fend off women’s hockey
The USM women’s hockey team looked to continue their sharp play coming off a 5-2 victory over St. Michael’s, but the UMass Boston Beacons were too much for the Huskies as they dropped an ECAC Conference match-up 5-4 in Gorham on Friday.
The Huskies controlled the tempo of the game until the Beacon’s got on the scoreboard with five minutes to go in the opening period on a goal from junior Rachel Sousa.
USM men’s basketball drops heartbreaker to Plymouth State
In a key LEC Conference match-up last Tuesday at Hill Gymnasium, Plymouth State University proved to be too much in the end for USM as the Panthers came back from nine down midway through the second half to edge the Huskies 73-69.
Plymouth improves to 4-2 in the LEC and 11-5 overall with the win, and USM drops to 0-6 in the conference and 2-14 overall.
USM employee found dead at work
Police have not established Ann Brushwein’s cause of death and are awaiting results from the Medical Examiner’s office in Augusta. They are not classifying her death as suspicious.
Report questions university finances
According to the independent analysis conducted by accountant Howard Bunsis, both USM and the University of Maine System have positive revenue streams, healthy cash reserves and low levels of debt.
Students to protest proposed cut of German studies
Supporters of USM’s German studies program are planning to protest on Wednesday the University’s intention to cut the major due to a lack of enrolled students.