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the free press
University of Southern Maine Student Newspaper
Vol. 46, Issue No. 15 Feb. 2, 2015
usmfreepress.org
Whiteout shuts down USM Presidential search committee announces three final candidates Emma James News Editor
Patrick Higgins / Free Press Staff A student braves the storm and whiteout conditions on Tuesday and walks across the athletic field in Gorham.
For full story, see page 3
Library fines lock student accounts
Francis Flisiuk / Managing Editor
Francis Flisiuk Managing Editor
Students collectively owe the Glickman library in Portland an estimated amount of $4,375 in overdue book charges, with 29 students blocked by student accounts because they owe more than $100. According to the director of libraries David Nutty, once a book is two weeks overdue, it’s assumed lost and a “billed book policy” is started. The student is then charged $45 for the book, plus a $10 processing and billing fee. If the book is returned all the fees would be waived, if not the bill gets transferred to the student accounts office.
time are as varied as the individuals themselves and that forgetfulness and neglect probably play a role. “Some people frankly just come in and say they’ve lost the book, pay the fees and move on with their lives,” said Nutty. Another source of expenditure for the library is the occasional theft of property. According to Nutty, there’s been an individual stealing books from the library on two separate occasions: once in January and then again back in July. Nutty said that based on the images captured by security camera footage, the two thefts were committed by the same person. Earlier in January, the individual set off the alarm and ran from campus with about eight books. By the time the police got there, the individual was already gone. There is no way to exit the library without passing through the security gate, which reads the magnetic strip embedded within books, in a similar fashion to the gates in retail stores. “That was the only blatant theft we’ve had in recent times,” said Nutty. “It’s not really a big problem for us. We’ve had more cases of petty thefts like purses or bags missing than anything else.”
“Our goal is to get the book back, not to make money,” said Nutty. “After two weeks, it becomes an issue with student accounts.” For 29 students, because of their overage charges, they remain blocked by the registrar, meaning they can’t sign up for classes, get transcripts or even graduate until they settle their debt. “They either need to pay off the bill, return the book, or speak to us, before they can do business with the university again,” said Nutty. “Under some extenuating circumstances, we’ve let students off the hook in the past.” Nutty said that the reasons be- francis@usmfreepress.org @FrancisFlisiuk hind students not returning books on
Three finalists have been selected by the University of Southern Maine Presidential Search Committee and were announced last week. The candidates will be on all campuses at separate times throughout February. The search committee included members of the board of trustees, students, staff, faculty, the community, board of visitors and a designee of the Chancellor. According to an email sent out by Chris Quint, executive director of public affairs, the committee began its national search last October. With 80 applicant responses, this presidential search is one of the largest in the last decade for any position within the university system. Dr. Harvey Kesselman, who will be visiting USM on February 2 and 3, is currently the Provost and Executive Vice President at the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey. The second candidate, Dr. Jose Sartarelli, is the Chief Global Officer and Milan Puskar Dean of the College of Business and Economics at West Virginia University. He will be visiting USM on February 5 and 6. The final second candidate, who will be visiting USM on February 9 and 10, is Dr. Glenn Cummings, who currently serves as the president of the University of Maine at Augusta. Kesselman was nominated to the position and in his letter of intent, explained that the mission statement set forth by the search committee was one to be enthused about. “[I] believe my leadership abilities, skills, proven expertise in higher education, professional qualifications and personal characteristics are consistent with those you seek in your next president,” said Kesselman. He went on to explain that in his current role, he is responsible for managing a $75 million academic
Photos courtesy of USM public affairs
See PRESIDENT on page 3
Top to bottom: Harvey Kesselman. Glenn Cummings, Jose Sartarelli