News

The Campus Climate Survey is not about global warming, the natural environment or sustainability. It is rather about us, the diversity that we bring to Puget Sound and how diversity is perceived by the campus community. Is diversity honored, talked about, awkward or marginalized in our community? The survey, administered once every four years, aims to make Puget Sound an inclusive environment by asking its members direct questions about social diversity issues that are sometimes difficult to discuss meaningfully. The results of the 2012 survey are expected in May. So...

The Puget Sound class of 2012 wants to be the best ever and when it comes to donating to the annual Senior Class Gift Campaign (SCGC), they have a good chance of success. The SCGC’s leadership is looking to best the mark set by the class of 2009, which had 59% participation. Participation in the SCGC, which is run through the Office of Annual Giving with student support, entails making a five year pledge to donate to the University annually for a total of $75. According to Assistant Director of...

Due to recent ASUPS support, the Puget Sound Sailing Team is now able to enjoy the use of several new boats out on the waters of Gig Harbor. This is the group’s fifth year as a club, but only their first of practicing for competition in regional conferences in Washington, Oregon, and British Columbia. Students are now able to sail in Gig Harbor because of a recent partnership with the Gig Harbor Yacht Club, which has allowed all of the roughly 25 Puget Sound students in the club to use...

Rick Santorum probably could have had a better visit to Tacoma. Not only was the former senator from Pennsylvania and presidential hopeful’s rally marred by chants and “booing” from Tacoma’s Occupy protestors, but the candidate was “glitter bombed” by a Puget Sound student on his way from the rally. “He had glitter cascading down the front of his sweater vest, all down his back, through his hair, and his giant forehead shone in the flashes of photographs like Ke$ha had just vomited on it,” wrote Paul Constant of Seattle’s weekly...

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...