A bomb threat made last Friday evening prompted USM police to search the Portland campus. No buildings were evacuated, and the community wasn’t notified of the threat, which officials deemed a prank.
Baseball improves to 4-0, sweeps St. Joe’s-Long Island in home opening Doubleheader
The USM baseball team was back in action this weekend as they took on St. Joseph’s University-Long Island, beating them 8-3 in both games of a doubleheader in their home opener at the USM Baseball Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The Huskies were scheduled to travel to New York this weekend to play in the SUNY-Farmingdale Tournament after playing Old Westbury and Albertus Magnus in Long Island last weekend, but due to bad weather conditions the tournament was cancelled, and SJU-LI traveled to Gorham for what is considered to be one of the earliest home openers since the USM Baseball Stadium was built.
Restaurant Review: Local 188
Local 188 at 685 Congress Street, is one of those places that every Portlander should experience at least once. The vibrant, artsy atmosphere welcomes all diners – from business professionals in suit and tie, to the young scholars dressed in USM sweat pants and t-shirt – to pick a seat, sit down and enjoy.
Letter From The Editor
Student body president candidate Ashley Willems-Phaneuf
If elected, it won’t be difficult for Ashley Willems-Phaneuf to step into Student Body President Maggie Guzman’s shoes; during an interview with The Free Press, she was already wearing them.
Willems-Phaneuf, a student senator, said she feels like she’s “been in training” to become student body president all year.
Students pushing for community garden in Portland
An unofficial student group organized the Organic Garden Project so members of USM could have a chance to have a plot to grow vegetables, fruit, flowers and herbs.
Feds to lend directly to students
Students who take out federal loans to pay for school this year will no longer have to pick which bank they prefer: they’ll now borrow directly from the U.S. Department of Education.
USM announced last week the switch to the Federal Direct Loan Program. Students with financial aid who take out Federal Stafford and PLUS loans will borrow directly from the federal government, eliminating the need for third party service fees, and simplifying the loan process, according to university officials.
SGA Elections Open This Week
The USM Student Government is holding elections Monday through Wednesday this week for the upcoming 2010 school year.
Students will choose a new student body president as well as 18 student senators.
The Senate oversees various proposals and monetary requests, and also takes official stances on policies.
Men’s lacrosse drops season opener to UNE
The University of New England poured in 13 tallies as the Nor’easters defeated USM in the Huskies home opener 13-10 at Memorial Field on the grounds of Deering High School on Friday night.
In What panned out to be a back and forth contest, UNE took advantage of scoring opportunities and used a five-goal effort from stand-out freshman Tyler Thomas to hand USM their second straight loss.
The Extra Point
The Madness is Here
From the time the Division I men’s basketball season begins in late October to the end of the regular season in early March, it’s all part of brewing the madness. March Madness that is.
March is upon us again and with that comes the NCAA March Madness Men’s College Basketball Tournament, one of the most anticipated sporting events of the year.
Movie Review: Alice in Wonderland
Warning: Tim Burton’s latest film, “Alice in Wonderland” is not a remake of Lewis Caroll’s classic tale of childhood misadventure. Rather it is an adaption of the famous gibberish poem, “The Jaberwocky,” from “Through the Looking Glass.” The essence of the original “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” is completely wiped from the story.
The F Word: A Feminist Perspective
When I first learned about the concept of feminism, I was pretty doe-eyed about the idea of a “sisterhood.” It was inspirational to imagine women across the globe united in a collective consciousness, a struggle for equal rights, with all of us supporting each other like an extended family.
Our Opinion: A-pathetic Turnout
To employ the PR-speak that accompanies all action within a public institution, one could say that USM is currently “in a period of great transition.”
But such flowery descriptions are just an effort to mask the truth of the matter. We are broke, confused and anxious about the future of the university.
Student body president candidate Charles Silsby
Charles Silsby planned on helping Ashley Willems-Phaneuff with her campaign for student body president. Now he’s running against her.
Silsby, a junior political science major, said he had talked with his friends about running for SBB earlier but didn’t decide to run until last Wednesday when he found out Willems-Phaneuf was only one candidate.
Book Review: The Sea
The 2005 winner of the Man Booker prize – a yearly award given to the best novel published by an author native to any territory of the former British Empire -“The Sea” by John Banville is exactly the kind of novel that seems to win the award. Banville’s prose is elegant, erudite, subdued and focuses on the power and frailty of memory in the void left by death.
GEB holds USM’s Got Talent in Gorham
The Gorham Events Board last Wednesday held the second semi-annual USM’s Got Talent competition. The variety show and competition was organized by Dominque Hilton who also served as a judge along with two other students.
Contestants competed for prizes such as a basket of nick knacks for third place, sweat shirt and sweatpants for second place, and for first place, an IPod Shuffle.
Grad students gauge interest in starting student government
Each day, graduate student Heather Anne Wright follows the same routine: she drives an hour to school, works in the biology lab for 10 to 12 hours, then drives the hour back home to Richmond.
But amid the commuting and research, Wright says something is missing from her graduate school experience: a community.
Assistant Athletic Director receives award
From Staff Reports
USM Assistant Director for Athletics Meredith Bickford was recently presented with the Emerging Athletic Administrator Award at the NCAA National Convention. Bickford, a former USM Student-Athlete, serves as an assistant athletic director at USM for Student-Development and is the department’s senior woman administrator.
Plan proposes merging colleges to save
The committee in charge of redesigning the academic structure of USM released the first draft of their plan last Monday, calling for reducing the number of colleges from eight to five – eliminating three deans’ positions and eight department heads in the process.
Some faculty senators uneasy about proposal
Bob Heiser set the tone at last Friday’s faculty senate meeting with his introduction: “Bob Heiser, school of business and who knows what else.”
UMaine bans tobacco, will USM follow?
The effectiveness of the tobacco policy here at USM is being questioned after University of Maine Orono adopted a Tobacco-Free Campus Policy last week.
Students, employees take part in protest
Over 150 students, faculty and staff packed the Woodbury Campus Center Amphitheatre on Thursday for a teach-in, where two panels of speakers expounded on the crisis of funding public universities.
Oakhurst in, Hood out in Gorham
Residents in Gorham will now be filling their cups and cereal bowls with Oakhurst milk instead of Hood. USM’s food service provider, Aramark, decided to switch milk to Oakhurst Dairy in their effort to be more environmentally conscious. Retail locations on the Portland and Gorham campuses already sell Oakhurst Dairy products.
Coffee By Design wins “overwhelmingly”
Coffee By Design beat out Wicked Joe and the current – and much maligned – Pura Vida in two taste tests during the last week of January.