…then this should be it. What am I talking about? “Change ’08!: Students Taking Action for USM’s Future.” On Friday February 29, the USM Leadership Development Board (LDB) in cooperation with the Greek Women’s Council, Inter-fraternity Council, Residential Life, Student Government Association, Student Athlete Advisory Council and many others will be converging on Bailey Hall in Gorham to put on and participate in a day-long summit called “Change ’08!”.
Portland Hall closing in August
Portland Hall has long acted as an urban refuge for USM students. Students there have sat behind desks for years watching Portland city-life cruise by their window, but after a long run, the Congress St. residence will be closing. A letter sent to Portland Hall residents on February 7 informed them that Portland Hall would permanently close its doors after the 2008 summer term.
Featured Faculty
How long have you lived in Maine? Since ’91, so 17 years. I moved here for this job; before that I worked in engineering consulting in the Boston area, and before that I grew up in Minnesota. So you’re used to the cold, I guess. Yep, this is tropical by comparison.
It’s time to forget your ABC’s
The Faculty Senate approved a new core curriculum in early January that will dramatically change the USM educational experience for future students. The new curriculum will come into full effect in the 2009, and will only affect that year’s incoming class and all future classes.
HUSKY HERO
Year: Senior Major: Health sciences Sport: Basketball FP: How many sports did you play in high school? Jo: I played soccer for three years then ran cross country my senior year. And I did track for four years in the spring time, along with basketball for four years.
CORRECTIONS
Last week in the story about Adam Gopnik’s visit (“National writer highlights local artist in Portland visit,” Feb. 11), we said that Bernard A. Osher was the philanthropist who funded both the lecture series and USM’s Osher Map Library. While Bernard is indeed the philanthropist who gave to the Portland Museum of Art, it is actually his brother, Harold Osher, who, along with his wife Peggy, has given generously to USM.
EYE courses are first signs of a new curriculum
Take a stroll through Portland’s historic Deering Oaks Park, or let your mind travel back in time to excavate each piece of the Mayan culture. Discover that mathematics, unfortunately for those of us who are less inclined to ratios and derivatives, are part of our everyday lives.
Chelsea Clinton to visit USM today
We have just learned that Chelsea Clinton will be speaking today, Saturday Feb. 9, at the USM Woodbury Campus Center at 1:30 p.m.
She is scheduled until 3 p.m., the event is free and open to the public. She will also make an appearance at Bowdoin College today.
Taking the long way home
After a dazzling high school career at Deering High School, Jamaal Caterina has been wandering the country with basketball as his only compass.
His college career has been spent in search of a place to play his own brand of ball, and it hasn’t been easy.
National writer highlights local artist in Portland visit
Our chairs were so close together that my elbows were touching the people on either side of me. Gathered for a lecture, 976 people seemed a little absurd, even for the spunky city of Portland.
Because of the number of people in attendance, the Portland Museum of Art could not host their own event, and turned to the Holiday Inn by The Bay for the biggest ballroom in town.
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
A new president will soon be chosen, a new core curriculum has recently been approved, a new marketing plan was just unveiled, and we all await new information about the budget crisis and what’s being done about it.
USM is facing a unique opportunity to redefine itself, and to reinvent-or re-identify-its culture.
New marketing plan for USM unveiled
A new marketing plan for USM was released on Friday after a year of development led by a hired firm called the Educational Marketing Group.
The plan, which includes a new tagline-essentially a motto-as well as graphic displays incorporated with a series of phrases meant to describe the essence of our university, was developed to better recruit and retain students.
Women’s ‘tough stretch’ continues despite heart, effort
Women’s ice hockey is going through a tough stretch, admitted head coach John Lauziere after their game against Holy Cross last Friday. Their overall record stands at 4-13-1, but their last seven matches have gone 0-6-1, which made Friday’s game even more disheartening.
Panel questions abstinence-only sex education
Sex was on everyone’s minds last week, especially in the Glickman Library. Moderated by USM’s Diana Long, professor of history and women’s and gender studies, a forum titled “Silencing Sex Ed” presented a panel of experts to discuss teaching abstinence to students in America and abroad.
The hip-ness of Green is not good enough
It is estimated that 222 million tons of waste will be generated by Americans this year.
Since 1950, Americans have used more resources than any generation who has lived before them.
Each American uses 20 tons of basic raw materials each year.
The average North American consumes ten times as much as the average person living in China and thirty times as much as the average person living in India.
Four Maine students find the sky’s the limit
Four Maine students are preparing to be launched into near-zero gravity this summer. More than just a thrill ride or a photo opportunity, the flight is part of a research collaboration with NASA that could have very real applications for the future of space exploration.
Colby rallies in the third to pull away from the Huskies
Taking to the ice last Friday night in hopes of a victory to put themselves back into a winning streak, the Huskies faced off against the Colby College Mules. A local rival as well as a perennial playoff opponent, the Mules (10-6-0) came to Gorham to avenge their 3-4 loss to the Huskies earlier this season.
DON’T STAY HOME
Monday, February 4
Marie-France Lefebvre, former prompter at the Metropolitan Opera will lead several master classes today. Sessions of piano coaching from 10 a.m.-12 p.m.; French and Italian diction sessions will be held from
3 – 5 p.m.; and voice coaching with the Opera Workshop will be held from 7 to 9pm.
Who are the Board of Trustees?
From stories as diverse as the article last week about PIRG seeking wind power, to recent coverage of USM’s budget crisis, to the upcoming appointment of a new USM President, the “Board of Trustees” have been mentioned an awful lot. But who are they? As the current USM representative to the board, I felt I would be in a good place to explain who this board is.
Snap Decisions
When Lou Gainey broke his leg the first week of the semester, he wasn’t the only one worried. The students in the biology professor’s General Physiology course were concerned about whether it would be cancelled.
“It meets three times a week. I thought ‘how on earth are they going to cover it?'” said junior Katherine Letourneau.
MIKE ON SPORTS
With New England on top of the sports world, sometimes I have to find something negative to opine about, lest I become complacent and ungrateful for all of the greatness.
Very seldom does Theo Epstein bite the proverbial big one, but since the Twins’ pitcher Johan Santana is now headed to the Mets, it seems as though he finally has.
As celebrity gossip mounts, so do its web pages
Yesterday on PerezHilton.com, there were three postings keeping up with the mental health of Miss Britney Spears and her trips to the psychiatric ward of the LA hospital at which she is becoming a regular.
D-listed.com is a celebrity gossip site that prizes itself for updating every fifteen minutes.
Introducing…
What’s your major?
Right now my major is English but I’m in the process of trying to change it to psychology. I don’t like the English major because it’s way more analytical than I wanted.
Are you following this year’s presidential election at all?
I am a little bit.
USM presidential candidates
The final two candidates for USM’s presidency visited our three campuses last week, ending the two-week process of introducing the four candidates to our university and allowing us to meet and question them in return.
During the first week, we met Robert Smith from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and Selma Botman from the City University of New York system.