News

The Washington State Senate voted 28-21 in favor of extending marriage equality to the state’s gay and lesbian citizens Feb. 1. The vote was not divided entirely along party lines, with four Republican state senators crossing the aisle to vote in favor of same-sex marriage rights and three Democrats voting “nay” on the bill. The vote followed nearly 90 minutes of debate during which members of each camp voiced their opinions on the bill, culminating with Senator Margarita Prentice (D) saying, “I don’t know about the rest of you, but...

Inspired by his experience learning Chinese in high school, current sophomore Phillip Brenfleck came to Puget Sound with his sights set on yet another linguistic challenge: learning Arabic. To his disappointment, however, the University did not offer an Arabic language course. Brenfleck began working with Michel Rocchi, the Director of Language and Culture Programs, in the fall of 2010 to try to bring Arabic to Puget Sound. One year and some 300 signatures later, Brenfleck and nearly 50 other students are learning the language on-campus, free of charge. Yasmine Khattab,...

Concerns about food allergens in the S.U.B. have prompted a handful of students to begin organizing a group that will work with Dining and Conference Services to negotiate gluten-free options.  CaroLea Casas, a freshman, is leading the effort to change the way our food service operates. The issue is complicated for Dining and Conference Services (DCS) because people tend to have combinations of dietary restrictions rather than single allergies.  Casas, who is gluten-intolerant, is also lactose-intolerant and cannot eat animal products.  When she decided to attend Puget Sound, she was...

In the timeless words of 90s rap duo Salt N’ Pepa, let’s talk about sex, baby. At least that is what ASUPS’ newest club, currently known as the Puget Sound Sex and Sexuality Publication, wants us to do. The club hopes to publish an erotic art magazine once a semester starting this spring, along with a supplemental blog. “With the tangible, physical magazine we’re looking for a balance between visual art and literature,” Co-president Anya Callahan said. “We want to give a realistic portrayal of what sex is. It’s not...

ASUPS would like Club Rendezvous to live up its name and is turning to the student body for help. The Rendezvous is the lounge space attached to The Cellar in the basement of the Student Union Building. ASUPS Vice President Garner Lanier initiated the discussion over the future of Rendezvous at a Nov. 20 meeting with student leaders and managers of The Cellar and Diversions Café. “I think a lot of people would agree that Rendezvous is currently an under-utilized space that needs some major changes,” Lanier said. “Rendezvous is...

Starting June 1, 2012, the control of the sale of hard liquor will be transferred from the state of Washington to private businesses thanks to Initiative 1183, which passed in the Nov. 8 state election. Proponents of the initiative say that it will remove the state’s monopoly on liquor sales, allowing for competition in the liquor market, while increasing state and local government revenues by $200 million each. Brian Smith, Director of Communications of the Washington State Liquor Control Board, which approves licenses and enforces liquor laws for the state,...

On Wednesday, Nov. 9, RSA partnered with the offices of Spirituality, Service, & Justice (SSSJ) and Multicultural Student Services (MCSS) to host a forum for discussion regarding the most recent Trail article about the Underground Christian Fellowship (UCF). RSA Student Leader Hannah Smith felt inspired to create the event, entitled A Conversation about the Intersection of Faith and Sexuality at Puget Sound after reading the article in Oct. 30’s edition of The Trail. Students from both the LGTBQ and religious communities on campus, as well as faculty and staff, came...

The University of Puget Sound was presented with the Outstanding Project award by the Greater Metro Parks Foundation on Nov. 2 in recognition for its work with Project Zina Linnik, an ongoing effort to make Wright and McCarver parks safe for children. The project is named after Zina Linnik, a 12-year-old McCarver student who was murdered four years ago. According to Tacoma’s “Daily Index,” the project originally intended to create a playground in her honor, but it grew into an ambitious goal to fundraise enough money to make the two...

As the 2012 Spring Registration period came to a close on Nov. 11, the newest students at Puget Sound confirmed their schedules.  Unfortunately for them, the most popular classes at the university had already closed on Nov. 4. Using detailed records of the last five semesters from the Office of the Registrar, The Trail has found the most sought-after classes offered at Puget Sound. Based on a list of classes with all spots filled at the end of the first day of the week-long registration period, the Science, Technology and...

Puget Sound occupies a precarious position between copyright owners and students who use peer-to-peer file sharing for illegal downloading. The administration’s goal is to protect students from the consequences of copyright infringement while avoiding liability. Most students are aware of P2P file sharing. LimeWire, Kazaa, Ares Galaxy, Gnutella and BitTorrent are familiar names. The students who do not participate in illegal file sharing have friends who do. In January 2011, the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation reported that 17.53 percent of U.S. Internet bandwidth is dedicated to illegal downloading. The...

The Pacific Rim/Asia Study Travel Program, known to most as PacRim, is a special study abroad program exclusive to Puget Sound. Quite possibly the only one of its kind, this program takes students across different parts of Asia once every three years. This year, a group of 25 students, along with some faculty members, are traveling through places such as South Korea, Mongolia, China, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia and India. Though the program itself involves a year of traveling, it is actually a two-year commitment. Elizabeth Benard, the professor who leads...

Faculty, staff and other members of the campus community are searching for solutions in the wake of the collapse of the Northwest Independent Colleges (NIC) tuition exchange program. The exchange constitutes a significant portion of the employee benefits package, and its cancellation presents a serious obstacle for hundreds of students and their parents. Dependents of faculty and staff at the five participating schools (Puget Sound, Whitman, Willamette, Reed and Lewis & Clark) were able to get a tuition-free education at any of these colleges.  President Thomas announced in June that...