To the Editor:
I am outraged over the proposal to increase the parking fee to almost three times what students are paying now. $100 to $200 dollars for a parking space that you’re not even guaranteed to get is extreme, and many students cannot afford it.
USM has many students who have children and families to take care of and simply cannot afford another couple hundred dollars for school.
To the Editor:
Thank you for your insightful article on the parking fee increase (the Student Senate is protecting whose interests . . . their own?) and your strong editorial condemning the increase. Subsidizing parking by assessing fees on all student credit hours penalizes those students who believe it is better to reduce pollution by getting to campus another way.
To The Editor,
How refreshing to know that crime still does pay! As I believed it would happen, the issue regarding the removal of The Free Press has been swept under the rug. One member of the Student Senate has told me the case of Senator Pergola and his involvement of the removals of our paper and the suppression of free speech has, in effect, been forgotten.
To the Editor:
All students are about to be assessed a fee based upon their ‘credit hours’ to build a parking garage for a mere 600 vehicles that appears to be pacifying the City of Portland and not as an accommodating remedy to the parking crisis at USM.
Advisers on advising
Representatives from the office of Advising and Academic Resources were invited to speak at last Friday’s Senate meeting.
Beth Higgins, director of Academic Advising and Enrollment Services, spoke at length about the role of her department and later addressed questions and concerns from senators.
Parking is a problem at USM.
That may be the understatement of the year.
The administration has been saying for years that it’s working on a solution. The school has not-so-patiently been waiting for the day when parking isn’t a 20-minute headache.
That day has come.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the second 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 Donald Anspach, president of the full-time faculty union.
To the Editor:
Whose faculty salary is $68,000 a year? I wish it were true!
Most faculty members’ base salaries are below their years in age. The fact is that UMS faculty salaries rank 47th in the nation.
Overall, the seven campus average faculty salary is $51,896 with the Orono faculty receiving the lion’s share with an average salary of $55,200.
To the Editor:
We the 30th Student Senate, recognizing the diversity between pencil and pen users, hereby encourage the existence of pencil sharpeners in the classrooms and facilities of the University of Southern Maine. We regard the pencil, and as we have all made mistakes before, the eraser as a valuable resource during our academic training at USM.
By Steve Peoples
Executive Editor
Officials address new parking fees
Two University officials were invited to discuss the new parking and transportation fee (see page 1).
Judy Ryan, executive assistant to the president and Bob Caswell, executive director of Media and Community Relations spoke about the fees and the proposed 1,200-space parking garage.
It’s a shame.
But when it’s about money, there are always losers.
We ran an article before the winter break examining the relationship between full and part-time professors.
With all the attention that got directed at some other things we were working on, the issue was sort of ignored.
Some people have noticed our Destinations section hasn’t included a lot of events. If you wanted to know what was going on at USM, our paper was not a good place to look.
If you’re in the newspaper business, that’s not a good thing.
So I’ve decided we’re going to do things a little different.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This will be the first in 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 Dennis Gilbert, president of the part-time faculty union.
There were 11 of us in the small room. We sat at opposite ends of two tables in semi-awkward silence. It didn’t look good.
I had been a little nervous all day. Not really knowing what to expect from the first official meeting between The Free Press and Greek leaders.
I find stereotypes intriguing. I am particularly interested in the popular negative stereotype of stereotypes. We were all taught in elementary school not to judge people by stereotypes. Yet we need stereotypes to organize our world. We need categories to help us understand who we are in relation to others, and to what groups we do and don’t belong.
I am sick of the story about The Free Press thefts. This has been three weeks now, and honestly I do not care anymore.
The papers were stolen, at first I thought it was a big deal, now it’s like laddi-freaking-da, the papers were stolen. People made bad decisions, let’s move on with our lives.
Letter to the Editor,
In response to your editorial, The games go on, I find it amusing that you portray yourself as the advocate of free speech on behalf of the USM student body. The reality is, when you allowed an article in your publication to be printed that misrepresented the large group of students in the Greek community, you were actually guilty of restriction of free speech by polling students who weren’t remotely associated with Greek life.
To the Editor:
Last week’s editorial by Mr. Peoples regarding the actions of Mr. Pergola and his minions addressed an age-old assumption, ‘if I wasn’t convicted, I must be innocent’.
We have all witnessed technicalities being implemented to avoid conviction in our legal system, which in no way render true guilt null.
To the Editor,
I was informed of the alleged theft of The Free Press through several of the students still attending school there. I agree, it was unfortunate. Perhaps it was a misunderstanding, perhaps not. The DA felt there was not enough evidence to pursue the case, but this does not prove their innocence, or their guilt.
To The Editor:
As you probably know, the University awards a number of scholarships which are presented each year at Recognition Day to commend outstanding achievement by our students. In order to be considered for scholarships, students must apply in advance (or be nominated by faculty members).
Take your pick
Tina Aldrich, coordinator of Portland Campus Recreation, spoke with the Student Senate regarding the various on-campus and outside recreational opportunities students can get involved in.
“Most activities are located on the Portland campus, but are available for all students who are part time and full time,” said Aldrich.
There are no winners. Everyone at USM lost when 2,500 copies of The Free…
Have you ever sat down and thought about how much your life has really…
To the Editor: I’m writing to address two issues that stem from the recent…