The Free Press Vol. 40, Issue No. 15, 03-02-2009
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
University of Southern Maine USM Digital Commons Free Press, The, 1971- Student Newspapers 3-2-2009 The Free Press Vol. 40, Issue No. 15, 03-02-2009 Matt Dodge University of Southern Maine Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.usm.maine.edu/free_press Recommended Citation Dodge, Matt, "The Free Press Vol. 40, Issue No. 15, 03-02-2009" (2009). Free Press, The, 1971-. 57. https://digitalcommons.usm.maine.edu/free_press/57 This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Newspapers at USM Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Free Press, The, 1971- by an authorized administrator of USM Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. the free pressVolume 40, Issue No. 15 March 2, 2009 U S M UM system takes hit in proposed state budget Citing weakened tax base, bill calls for more layos, decreased nancial aid Daniel MacLeod sure what the governor is mean- News Editor ing by this language,” he said. The current draft of the ap- According to Governor John propriations bill projects an $18 Baldacci’s proposed budget for million shortfall for the Umaine 2010-2011, the University of system in 2010, and a $28 million Maine System may not be able shortfall in 2011. to maintain all seven campuses According to the bill, approxi- due to projected budget shortfalls mately 150-300 positions in the over the next two years. UMaine system may need to be “Ultimately, the ability to cut to offset these deficits. maintain seven separate viable “Both faculty and staff at all universities offering higher edu- seven universities would be af- cation could be at risk,” the bill fected and students would most states. certainly realize the impact of But according to state senator reduced course offerings and stu- Justin Alfond, current state law dent services,” the bill states. prohibits there being less than 7 Last Tuesday’s public hear- college campuses. ing at the Augusta State House “The idea that one of the provided an open forum for the UMaine colleges would be shut- public to weigh in on Baldacci’s ting down could not happen under proposed 2010-2011 biennal state Maine state law,” he said. budget. The hearings were conducted D ML / N E Alfond could not say why the by joint senate committees of UMS Chancellor Richard Pattenaude testifies in Augusta before Maine lawmakers concerning the governor’s draft implied some campuses could be at risk. Appropriations and Financial Governor’s proposed appropriations bill for 2010-2011. The biennial budget calls for more sacrifices Affairs and Education and from the UMaine System. “This is being put forth by the governor and his staff... I’m not See B on page 4 Strategic plan released New dra envisions very dierent USM by 2014 Ma Dodge identifying which programs and USM’s residential student popu- Executive Editor activities are “essential to USM’s lation.” mission.” However, USM’s The draft cites Gorham’s ath- The second draft of USM’s stra- Mission Statement is currently letic facilities and large number tegic planning plan, “Preparing being revised as part of the stra- of undergrads as “instrumental USM for the Future 2009-2014” tegic planning process. in recruiting high school seniors was released on Feb 12. The plan is set up as a list of interested in team and intramural The plan is a culmination of goals identified by the work- sports.” input from USM faculty, staff, ing groups, and their suggested Under the plan, Gorham would and students, which lays out a courses of action. become the home of the College vision of massive reorganization These suggested goals include of Arts and Sciences, and Core of the university’s mission, and a “re-energized advancement curriculum, as well as applied organization. effort” to be organized under science, engineering, and tech- The four working groups, made the incoming Vice President for nology. up members of the USM commu- Advancement, which the univer- The Portland campus, home of nity, were asked to consider the sity has narrowed down to three the Muskie School, Law School, arenas of engaged education, in- candidates. and School of Business, would terdisciplinarity, access, and the The plan also aims to improve become the center of profession- “three campus, one university” retention and graduation rates by al and graduate education. With nature of USM. This is part of an developing a “student success Gorham focusing it’s resources effort to restructure the university initiative” to be lead by newly on undergraduate needs, Portland as a “far leaner, more focused in- appointed Provost Kate Langdon could be structured around upper- stitution” according to the strate- Forhan. level education. gic plan. Perhaps the most drastic sug- In addition to cutting down With the current economic gestion outlined in the strategic on time spent commuting be- downturn taking its toll on the plan is the proposal to create lo- tween campuses, this restructur- state’s tax base, the strategic plan cation-specific missions for each ing would allow USM’s future emphasizes a paring down of of USM’s three campuses. marketing efforts to differentiate In an effort to improve proxim- between campuses by their aca- USM’s mission to help the uni- B MK / P E versity get by in time of insuffi- ity and access to classes, and cut demic offerings, instead of their down on time spent commuting geography. Sophomore forward Kristi Violette (Readfield) puts up a shot last cient state appropriations. week against Rhode Island College. Violette played a pivotal role The strategic plan aims to between campuses, the plan en- visions Gorham as the “home to in the Huskies playoff run. Thanks to Violette’s 17 points and eight narrow the university’s focus by See S on page 7 rebounds per game, USM claimed their 19th conference title in 23 years. Library faceli . page 4 Disaster art . page 8 P . 6 S . 13 Feminist focus . page 6 INSIDE Hangin’ with Mr. Tardi . .page 13 A & E . 8 THISISSUE P . 15 2 e Free Press | March 2, 2009 N VOTE USM 2009 SGA Elections POSITIONS AVAILABLE REQUIREMENTS TO RUN ¥ Student Body President ¥ Undergrad student taking ¥ 18 Seats on the Student Senate 1 or more credits in 8 commuter seats Portland / Gorham in Fall09 5 resident seats ¥ Minimum GPA of 2.0 5 at-large seats Nomination forms available on-line! Due by 4:30pm on Friday 3/6 Voting will happen on-line from 3/16 thru 3/19 www.usm.maine.edu/studentlife/vote09 N e Free Press | March 2, 2009 3 Politics Primer: e Free Press guide to Obama’s rst address David O’Donnell the press as being super-stringent in to say the least. Thus the Republican Sta Writer its vetting practices. booing on Tuesday night, when The rest of the time, he’d been Obama congratulated his bloc on No, it was not a State of the Union pushing a massive stimulus bill passing a “recovery plan free of ear- Address, just a prime-time speech to through Congress, aimed at shoot- marks.” While the bill didn’t contain both chambers of Congress that hap- ing two birds with one stone: creat- “earmarks”, per say - bits of obscure pened to be broadcast on all major ing jobs by rebuilding the country’s spending tacked on to shore up votes television and radio networks. “crumbling infrastructure.” Or, as - that was only because such things President Obama stopped just short Republicans see it, just plain killing weren’t merely tacked on. They were of uttering the staple line - “the state the notion of smaller government and load-bearing elements of the struc- of the Union is strong”. But how lower taxes. ture. about the state of his administration, Obama’s plan (actually drafted by But to get outraged that a president whose first few weeks were signifi- the House, revised by the Senate, and used weasel words to hype his ac- cantly rougher around the edges than then haggled over by the lot of ‘em) complishments would be like cursing anybody anticipated? ended up allocating $787 billion of him for not appearing on TV wearing First, a string of Obama’s appoint- government money to be spent over hot pants. On Tuesday night, Obama ments fell apart, with several nomi- the long and short term, to create made one last case for his succesful, nees being exposed for sloppy tax construction jobs but also finance if controversial, stimulus package, practices (Tim Geitner, Tom Daschle, government programs, from food and then went on the give us a sneak Nancy Killefer), investigated for cor- stamps to health insurance to the peak at his new and even more ambi- ruption (Bill Richardson) or waking National Endowment for the Arts. tious plans for the national budget. up one morning and realizing they Some of the arguments for how Here are some highlights and low- were conservatives (Judd Gregg). All and why these initiatives would be a lights from the big night: this from a team that was hyped by boon to the economy were abstract, Change Transparency For better or worse, Obama has turned out to be a President Obama dropped a new website, recovery. little bolder than some predicted - this is not the second gov, which is supposed to allow citizens to track how our coming of Clinton. It may be the second-coming of FDR. tax dollars are being spent. So far, it does not even re- After years of lazy spending increases against rhetoric motely fit the bill - just a bunch of opaque press releases of smaller Government, this is very motivated spending and pie charts.