News

On April 22, a special re-election will be held for proposition no. 1, which failed to pass last November. Sponsored by the Metropolitan Park District of Tacoma, this proposition would use approximately $198,000,000 for street improvements and safety upgrades. “From what I’ve read, it seems to be a relatively reasonable solution to keep Tacoma safe and maintained,” freshman Katelyn Rosen said. The money would be generated by placing an additional two percent tax on the revenue of utility companies such as electric, telephone and natural gas companies. However, almost 75...

University of Puget Sound participated in the Ethics Bowl on April 4, a statewide debate tournament in which students from 10 colleges discussed topics that demonstrate their understanding of applied ethics. The competition, presented by the Independent Colleges of Washington at Seattle University, consisted of three preliminary rounds, a semi-final and a final. In each round, two opposing teams of five students debated on the ethical issues presented in two cases involving actual or hypothetical scenarios. Students were judged based on their abilities to apply critical ethical reasoning to the...

Actress and spoken word poet, Yazmin Monét Watkins stepped onto the stage at Puget Sound’s Take Back the Night, fearlessly declaring, “This is what a feminist looks like.” She is a queer woman of color (QWOC) who has had personal experiences with sexual violence. Watkins has no timidity approaching social justice issues through unorthodox methods. When Watkins was a student at Dickinson College, she was part of a group called the Silent Poets. “We would spit out poems to the faculty, saying to them, listen to us, these are our...

Recently there has been a change in Puget Sound’s $130 tuition insurance policy. Originally, students had the option whether or not they wanted to pay the tuition insurance. Now, because it is automatically included, they are required to deselect the insurance if they cannot pay it. Puget Sound offers tuition insurance through A.G.W. Dewar. According to the Puget Sound website, “This plan protects your educational investment by reimbursing 100% of paid tuition and fees if you are forced to withdraw due to serious personal illness or accident.” “Back in the...

The Faculty Club is contemplating moving their operations to the Media House after S.U.B renovations are complete. As the various media clubs that currently occupy the space will be moving into the S.U.B, the house will be vacant. The Faculty Club, now simply referred to as ‘The Club,’ strives to give faculty and professional staff a place to come together for social and intellectual engagement. “It has been called the Faculty Club but, ever since its inception…it has always had faculty and professional staff,” English professor and Club trustee Priti...

The on-campus beekeeping club, Hive Minders, will be replacing a queen honeybee in early April in an attempt to modify the genetic structure of their bee colonies. Among many other objectives, the club uses their three hives, located on the roof of Thompson Hall, to help spread awareness of the honeybee. “We’re basically a club like any other on campus, but we have a very special devotion to this incredible creature that many people know as the honeybee,” club president Kyle Kolisch said. “I would argue that the honeybee is...

Tuition for the academic year is set to increase once again. According to the university’s Budget Task Force (BTF) report, the administration has decided to increase the tuition by 3.75 percent for the 2014-2015 academic year. The tuition for this year was set at $41,640, and the increase will put it at $43,200. The figure may seem hefty upon first glance, but this is in fact the lowest increase in tuition that the university has seen in 42 years. There is the old saying that one cannot put a price...

Ukraine’s critical situation and Russia’s recent annexation of Crimea has no doubt been a focal point of discussion in International Relations and Politics & Government classes at Puget Sound. Since its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, Ukraine has struggled politically and economically as a country and culturally over its differences between its eastern and western halves. Protests began December in Kiev after Ukraine’s President Yanukovych dropped trade union plans with the European Union (EU) after pressure from Russia. After a three-month crackdown of violent protests, President Yanukovych was...