Haji wants to become a success. He wants to drive a BMW that he bought from his doctor’s salary. He wants the American Dream. Haji was just one of the 7000 people at the “Many as One Rally” at Bates College in Lewiston. The rally was in defiance of the nearby Neo-Nazi rally calling for the expulsion of all Somalian’s from Lewiston led by the World Church of the Creator.

USM has until June 30 to remove $450,000 from its budget for the 2002-2003 fiscal year. This budget cut is the final of three cuts last year, totaling $2.8 million. Before the end of his term, Governor Angus King signed a budget curtailment order cutting the University of Maine System’s budget by $1.85 million.

Sarah Wolpow travels from New Gloucester every Tuesday. She carpools with a neighbor, who drops her off at the Portland campus. She gives him $2 for gas money every week. After her night class, she catches a ride home with a classmate who only wanted $10 for gas for the semester.

When students return from winter break some will be busy getting textbooks, setting goals and organizing for their spring semester; others will be circling in their cars around the Portland campus in a total panic because they paid no attention to the construction schedule. The obvious is that the Bedford Street lot will lose 350 spaces, leaving only 175 spaces available for parking. Parking will be tough. People might be a little bitter. The quiz below is designed to give you valuable information to possibly help navigate the parking situation.

Weekly news briefs.

The USM Surplus Store is an avenue for everyone from students to the general public to purchase old department property at a fraction of the original cost. Reminiscent of an indoor lawn sale, the Surplus Store is home to everything from used office furniture to fully-operational telecommunications equipment.

Weekly report of crime on campus, as per USM PD’s crime logs.

For every university there is a library. Regardless of their majors, almost all college students are expected to do at least some form of research during their college careers, and a library is the best place to do this.

Where does free speech end? This volatile question is being asked across the U.S. in every possible context. The American Civil Liberties Union’s Website notes the First Amendment exists “precisely to protect the most offensive and controversial speech from government suppression.”

Former U.S. Senator George Mitchell spoke last week at the conference , “Is Peaceful Co-Existence Possible?” sponsored by the World Affairs Council and USM. Mitchell, former senate majority leader. also served as special advisor to President Clinton in the Northern Ireland Peace Accords.

Dec. 1 marked World AIDS Day, a day on which people around the world mourn those claimed by the disease and educate people about it as well. With such startling statistics, education about HIV and AIDS is still needed.