News

One month after the original surprise surrounding the split-ticket results of elections for ASUPS President and Vice President, Eric Hopfenbeck and Santiago Rodriguez were sworn into their positions on Tuesday, April 16.  Originally campaigning with separate running mates, (Krista Haapanen and Scott Miller, respectively), Hopfenbeck and Rodriguez will serve as ASUPS President and Vice President for the 2013-2014 academic year. In the past month, Hopfenbeck and Rodriguez have been working together to plan for the year ahead.  An immediate hurdle in their duties was merging the ideas of both campaign...

The Bias-Hate Education Response Team (BHERT)—a subcommittee of the Faculty Diversity Committee that was formed to respond to incidents of bias and hate on campus—has received suggestions from multiple students that the committee publish a report of their findings in The Trail. Former ASUPS Senate member Sadie Boyers recently told The Trail that she felt BHERT’s findings should be made more public so that BHERT can truly promote awareness and discussions on bias and hate. Other members of the ASUPS Senate and student leaders in the Division of Student Affairs...

    A Seattle-based research firm has concluded that Pierce County had the highest amount of pollution out of the 12 Washington counties surveyed. This score, on the “Sound Behavior Index” scale, resulted in the country being the lowest in terms of environmental friendliness and highest in impact to the surrounding ecology. It has already been established that the Puget Sound population contributed to severe damage of the ocean and the surrounding area. This study, which pinpoints the impact from region to region, showed San Juan county as having the...

Psychologist, professor, author and host of the PBS series Discovering Psychology Philip Zimbardo was selected as the commencement speaker for the 2013 graduation ceremony. President Ron Thomas will also confer upon Zimbardo an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree. Zimbardo is a professor emeritus at Stanford University, and conducted the well known Stanford Prison Study in 1971. He taught previously at Yale, New York University and Columbia University. He continues to work with doctoral students at Palo Alto University. “Dr. Zimbardo has had a profound influence on our understanding of...

Club Rendezvous in Wheelock Student Center was recently renovated to make the space more usable, multipurpose and inviting. “The project included the demolition of the carpeted and glass walls, patch and repair of damaged walls, new stage carpet, added lighting and painting throughout,” Chris Brookins, the Project Manager of the Rendezvous renovation, said. There have also been more surface-level improvements in Rendezvous, which serve a cosmetic as well as a functional end. Sarah Comstock, the Assistant Director of Student Activities for Wheelock Student Center, stated simply: “We got rid of...

As the University of Puget Sound’s 125th Anniversary festivities kick off, the City of Tacoma has joined in the fun.  At the Tacoma City Council meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 19, Mayor Marilyn Strickland officially proclaimed March 17 “University of Puget Sound Day” in Tacoma, the same day on which the University was founded in 1888, one year before Washington became the 42nd state. “They knew a great city needed a great university.  Railroadmen and timbermen, nurses and pastors and politicians all contributed to that effort … This city over the...

  Puget Sound is now home to the UPS Magic Club, an organization of students dedicated to the Magic: The Gathering fantasy card game. Players and those wanting to learn are welcome to join and sit in to watch, participate and experience the MTG community with their peers. The UPS Magic Club meets every Tuesday and Thursday from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. in Thompson 310. The card game has been played since 1993, stemming from northwestern Washington and spreading around the world. Tournaments are hosted from coast to coast...