Roughly 300 protesters marched down Congress Street in Portland on Friday night in reaction to this week's repeal of the state's legalization of gay-marriage.
The Free Press rode along with USM Police Officer Russ Swann last Friday night to get a look at how alcohol laws are enforced on the Gorham campus. To protect the identities of students involved, all names have been omitted. It's a little after 11 pm the night before Halloween on the Gorham campus and I'm sitting in the front seat of an unmarked police car while a girl dressed like a cop stands shivering outside in the light rain, her mascara running.
A live televised debate on same-sex marriage drew 500 people to the Hannaford Lecture Hall last Wednesday evening. The topic was Question 1, the referendum question that would strike down existing legislation making same-sex marriage legal. The Maine Legislature passed and Governor John Baldacci signed into law LD 1020 last spring.
President Botman's assessment at last week's town hall forum that "higher education is in a battle for it's very survival" could well be remembered as the beginning of the end for the current incarnation of USM. "The fact is USM has far too many small departments that tax our institutional resources," Botman said.
When I walked into the Brooks Center in Gorham to get myself some much-needed coffee, I didn't expect to have a beard-sighting, but this guy was hard to miss. His bright-white, full beard caught my eye and my caffeine kick was no longer the priority. What I noticed about Richardson specifically was that his hairy attire was missing a moustache.
USM President Selma Botman signed an agreement last spring, committing the University to create a climate action plan and to choose the date by which the school would be carbon neutral. But it's been slow going. Facilities Management hired Bob Bertram as its new director shortly after the agreement was signed, and the process was shelved while he adjusted to the position.
