To the Editor:
I’m writing in regards to the problem of tearing down bulletin boards. I certainly don’t condone what these people have done, but I think that I understand where they are coming from.
As a person who considers herself pro-life (NOT an anti-choice terrorist as one person would have described someone like me), there is no place for me on the USM campus where I can speak out without being ostracized.
To the Editor:
I am disturbed by the increase in the cost of parking for next year. I am a senior now and am graduating in May 2003. I feel that I should not have to pay the extra $60 to park in Portland. I would think that the juniors now would not want to pay $192 to park when they are seniors.
To the Editor:
Rumor. What does that word mean? In its simplest terms, it means to gossip unverified or unfounded information about an individual. Can anyone think of a more spiteful word than this one?
Nobody likes to be the subject of any gossip, especially when that gossip is untrue.
To the Editor:
Vacation is supposed to be a time to relax and recharge for the coming weeks. However, this is hard for students living in non 9-month dorms to do.
Non 9-month dorm residents are not allowed back into dorms until 12:30 p.m. the Sunday before classes resume.
To the Editor:
It’s the day before winter break here at Portland Hall, and I am preparing for a nutritional change. The caf? will be closed to USM students for the break, so I head down to the food store to seek out Ramen Noodles and order four large pizzas for the week.
To the Editor:
I will not disagree that the parking here at USM needs some form of attention. However, the article in your paper implies that the only way to fix it is to build a parking garage, which leads to raising the price for parking. This is unnecessary and very expensive, especially for most college students.
Somebody ripped a sink out of the wall causing $11,000 in damages (see page 1). Two men broke into a woman’s dorm room at 4 a.m. (see page 1). A library employee was assaulted in front of the Glickman Library (see page 2). A police officer was attacked in a Gorham dorm (see page 3).
EDITOR’S NOTE: The following is Staff Writer Stephen Allan’s personal response to the murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.
By Stephen Allan
Staff Writer
Journalism is a hated profession. Nearly every reporter has received some criticism in his or her career, whether it was a dirty look or a blatant insult.
To the Editor:
I read the article regarding the benefits being extended to same-sex and unmarried heterosexual couples. The article would have us believe that we all have equal access to the same benefits, but we do not.
The fact of the matter is that married heterosexuals get their partners and families covered with pre-tax dollars.
To the Editor:
I just visited someone who lives in Phillipi Hall, the new dorm in Gorham. I’m not going to comment on the workmanship, but by all appearances the building outranks all other dorms at USM in comfort and hospitality. That is, if you overlook the copious amounts of cigarette butts that are accumulating around the front door.
To the Editor:
I am a diehard fan of the women’s basketball team and am appalled at the lack of support given by the students of this University. The team achieved a home game in the Division III tournament Wednesday night and seats were empty.
This University has many accomplished sports teams and the (lack of) support for them is an embarrassment to the school.
No smoking anywhere on campus?
Two University officials presented a plan that may mean the end of smoking anywhere at USM.
Joe Austin, director of Residential Life and Pamela Clay-Storm, a professional nurse at USM Health Services on the Portland campus discussed plans to eliminate tobacco smoking from all residence halls, as well as the academic, office and all other buildings that are part of the University of Southern Maine campuses.
There were ten of us there holding hands.
It was a moment of intense introspection. I had been let down so many times before. There had been countless heartbreaks. Fumbles on the 1-yard line. Interceptions. Wild pitches. Untimely errors. Bill Buckner. And that damn Bambino.
To the Editor:
Strongly opposed to the price hike for parking at USM in the upcoming years, I’ve been reading the editorial section of The Free Press for the past couple of weeks to see how my fellow schoolmates feel. I see that there are mixed feelings, and various offers for solutions.
To the Editor:
I was more than a little shocked last week to read in The Free Press that, “If you walk around campus.thinking that you are going to get raped, then you probably will. But if you walk around with a positive attitude and don’t think you are going to get raped, you probably won’t.
To the Editor:
In reply to the article of Campus SECURITY Examined and the student comments within, I would like to know how an institution that is for higher education selects students who are so ignorant in their choice of words.
In regards to the comment that positive and negative attitudes help determine or are even a factor if a person is to going to be raped I think is ludicrous.
During my 10 years at USM, I’ve heard more complaints about the shortage of parking than any other issue. Last fall we took a large step toward a solution when voters approved $8 million in bond money to support the construction of an education center/parking garage.
Every student I’ve talked to about the University’s plan to increase parking fees next year is upset.
Except the student senators.
Most students say the plan to triple parking fees next year and double them the year after is simply too much. They say the fees should be applied only to those students who want to park in the garage, just as is being done with faculty and staff.
EDITOR’S NOTE: We asked Staff Writer Aimee Risteen to write about the first major snowstorm from the perspective of somebody who lives in the dorms. This is her story.
I got a call on Thursday telling me we are supposed to have this huge snowstorm and that most likely classes will be canceled.
To the Editor:
I appreciated that last week’s paper finally took the time to recognize that USM lacks a community atmosphere, but then a few pages later I noticed the article about commuter appreciation day.
As a second year resident student I feel that everyday at USM is commuter appreciation day! In a school with almost 90 percent commuter students the population is more catered to than overlooked.
To the Editor:
Finally! The conservatives will have a booming voice on the USM campus that few will be able to ignore! I was extremely pleased to read in the Jan. 28 edition of The Free Press that former Chief Justice Dan Wathen will be speaking at this year’s commencement.
To the Editor:
The precious time and resources our 30th Student Senate dedicates towards drafting witty letters regarding pencil sharpeners is an embarrassment to the University community.
I have also noticed a lack of pencil sharpeners around campus, but what about the more pressing issues facing students at USM?
Who is addressing the many problems with the busing between campuses, including tardy arrivals, overcrowding and lack of the backup overflow van the University provided last semester? Has the slow snow removal on the Gorham campus gone unnoticed?
It seems to me our Student Senate is overlooking the more pertinent issues while they search futilely for the missing pencil sharpeners at USM.
The first time it was a shock.
A couple years ago I was walking through the parking lot in front of Portland’s Woodbury Campus Center and I saw somebody studying in their car. I didn’t understand why someone would do that.
Then I started to see it more often.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the third installment of a three-part series in which members of the USM community discuss their concerns regarding the part-time faculty situation featured in a Dec. 3 article by Steve Allan.
This week’s column is by Provost Joseph Wood, who oversees all academic departments.