You may not have heard, but there is a musical theatre major at USM, and it is producing spectacular work. The community was privy to this work over the weekend as fourteen student vocalists took to the Corthell Concert Hall stage. They transformed it into the mind of Gordon Schwinn–and a restaurant, a sidewalk, an apartment, a sailboat, and a hospital room: all without techincal scenery other than the actors themselves, a few props, and pianos.
Author: USM
Letter from the editor
Maybe they think it’s appropriate, maybe they don’t see us as a captive audience, or maybe George Bush is the funniest man alove, but USM professors espousing their political views in the classroom is a practice that divides our community along it’s political fault lines, and often shifts focus away from the subject at hand.
WeVote brings some life to the parties
Thursday’s “Life of the Party” political forum was formulated as a break from the candidate-driven, partisan forums broadcast over the last year, where answers and platforms are so routine and regimented, a voter could slip into election-induced déj? vu.
As soon as the slam-poetry styling of the Freedom Choir began to echo their rendition of “The Times They Are A-Changin'” from the back of the Woodbury Campus Center’s amphitheater, it was clear this was not going to be another starchy, dry discussion panel.
What to do when in limbo
It’s that time of year again. Fall has all but passed us by, the leaves are dying and the weather is getting colder every minute. On the other hand, it’s not quite winter yet either. The ground is still bare so there won’t be any hitting of the slopes any time soon.
Caleigh and the chicken
Just last week I heard on the radio that during Whole Foods Fall Madness Sale whole chickens were going for .99/lb. accompanied by .39/lb. butternut squash (sale ends November 4th, but the store is open until 10 p.m.). I heard value either way, as you can get a lot of mileage out of a chicken.
Break down the (laboratory) walls
An estimated 20 percent of Americans live with a disability of some kind, yet the disabled make up just five percent of the workforce in science and engineering. It’s a gap the National Science Foundation would like to narrow.
And they’ve enlisted the help of USM.
Jake Cowan on: Being the President
August 30th, 2004 was the day I turned 18. Everyone and their mothers asked me if I was going to vote in the upcoming election. I told them, “No. One vote can’t change anything.” I was kidding when I said this and had every intention in the world to vote, but whether I voted or not didn’t really matter.
Muskie contracts face reviews
USM’s Muskie School of Public Service is one of the primary recipients of “no bid” contracts awarded by state agencies, agreements that are coming under extensive review in the coming months.
The contracts are cooperative agreement with agencies, such as the Department of Health and Human Services.
Portland native to head LAX team
The University named Lauren Reid, a Portland native and Deering High School graduate, the new women’s lacrosse coach last week.
Reid becomes the fifth coach in the program’s history and replaces Sue Frost who was at the helm for three years. Frost has accepted the women’s lacrosse job at University of New England.
Sexualized schizo-pop:
Not even the previos album, Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? could have prepared us for the newly released trashy-pop funk-fest better known as Skeletal Lamping. Beyond Of Montreal’s usual tendency to evolve their genre, album-to-album, leadman Kevin Barnes pushes the envelope with hypersexuality, hyperactivity, and a very short attention span.
Broken Social Scene pounces Bowdoin College
The Canadian collective Broken Social Scene put on a fantastic and unique show this week in our backyard. While some bands might get lost in the number of members, (more than 10!) Broken Social Scene does it right with eclectic compositions and an amazing stage presence.
A moment with O.A.R.’s Richard On
This week I had the pleasure of talking with the guitarist of the popular college rock band O.A.R. (Of A Revolution). The band recently released their sixth studio album, “All Sides,” in July and it debuted at #13 on the Billboard charts. If that’s not an eye opener, then consider them playing sold-out shows at Madison Square Garden and opening for the Dave Matthews Band as solid evidence of their recent dominance.
Choke: dark humor at its heartiest
Without a doubt our culture is fascinated by addictions. Choke focuses on a few unpleasant addictions but connects the viewer to the movie in an addictive way. The film illustrates that everyone has at least one habitual flaw.
It has been adapted from Chuck Palahniuk’s, (“Fight Club”) book of the same name and remains surprisingly by-the-book the whole way through.
Volleyball take two
As the ball scorches over the net, the triumphant and enthusiastic voice of head coach, Ashley Marble, echoes through out the gym, “Get it! Get it! Get it!” she yells to her players.
But when the ball goes out of bounds, Marble exhales a deep sigh. “Let’s do it again,” she says.
Calling all college girls
For better or for worse, the cheap-chic chain Forever 21 has moved to South Portland, opening up shop in one of the largest spaces of the Maine Mall, nestled en route between Portland and Gorham campuses.
Rumored to be a chain of child-labor-supporting, bible-thumping, sellers of clothes-that-tear-after-two-wears, Forever 21 is looking to their target market (hello ladies ages 18-24), to boost their sales.
Bottling the rumors
Students have been toting the ubiquitous Nalgene water bottle around for years. Often plastered with more stickers than a VW Bus, these distinctive, convenient, and purportedly “unbreakable” containers have recently come under suspicion from public health watchdog groups and consumers as a possible source of Bisphenol-A (BPA) contamination.
Senate debate at Abromson
Senator Susan Collins and Congressman Tom Allen squared off in their tenth senatorial debate on Thursday, at USM’s Hannaford Lecture Hall.
The debate, moderated by MPBN’s Jennifer Rooks, featured questions from the hosts, as well as those culled from e-mail submissions and video questions from Maine residents.
Sports career panel draws large crowd
Jon Jennings is poised to become the president of Portland’s very own minor league basketball franchise. He’s worked as an assistant coach with the Boston Celtics and under legendary college basketball coach Bobby Knight at Indiana University.
Cheryl Hebert manages Olympic athletes.
Do-It-Yourself
For the Art Student Union, a student group dedicated to helping people gain knowledge of the visual arts, it was important that their art show, ‘D-I-Y,’ selected student works, be more critical and cutting-edge than in years past.
I walked though the piles of submissions from USM students in Kidder Lounge the evening after they’d been due.
Letter from the editor
As winter slowly creeps into Maine and things start to look at little drearier, I sometimes wish I had accepted that full ride badminton scholarship to Pyongyang University In North Korea.
That is, the scholarship I might have been offered if I had just taken those backyard games a little more seriously in my childhood – my grandfather claims I had a heck of a backhand.
Get Out!
“I use a multi-million dollar space based satellite system to hunt down tupperware containers hidden in the woods. What’s your hobby?”
Though I can’t take credit for this anonymous quote, it’s the perfect description to a growing movement of adventure seekers who do just that.
The Station revamped?
In the last few weeks, renovations of the most secret kind have been brewing underground at The Station on St. John Street. The management and booking of the club has fallen into the hands of Jason Legassie, manager of Legacy Maine, a record label and booking agency.
Tina Smith takes on City Hall
“I’m not a politician, I’m a community organizer,” says City Council candidate Tina Smith, as fellow candidates and voters shuffle past her on a rainy Wednesday evening, after wrapping up a lively election forum at the North Star cafe in downtown Portland.
Hangin’ with Mr. Tardiff
The election is unavoidable. Everywhere you look there they are, Barack and John, spewing partisan rhetoric.
I use sports to get away from all of that; when Joe the Plumber and Joe the Vice President are too much, I tune into a game or listen to some sports banter.