News

Facilities and Residence Life staff are currently in the planning phase of constructing a new residence hall on campus. In early October, the University awarded the architectural contract to Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, the same firm that designed Weyerhaeuser Hall. The proposed building will house 100 to 125 students and will be geared towards accommodating upperclassmen. The projected site for the residence hall sits in the South quad parking lot area, between Regester and the new health sciences center. Many aspects of the project are still provisional while Facilities waits for...

The University of Puget Sound is ranked eighth in top Peace Corps volunteer-producing schools among small universities. Many students have expressed interest in the program, and a representative visited the campus last month to give out more information. To shed further light on this demanding and rewarding post-graduate option, The Trail talked with two current volunteers. Shane Hanlon and Joshua Lamstein, both 23, are currently situated in Panama to teach English in schools. While teaching English is only one possible job available  in Peace Corps, both Hanlon and Lamstein agreed...

The Board of Trustees convened for meetings on Oct. 28 and 29 to analyze the University’s progress as it reaches the halfway point of the Board’s 10-year plan.  The Business Meeting of the Board of Trustees on Friday covered a range of topics, including the past year’s record-breaking contributions to the annual fund as well as the approval of $1.5 million towards design and construction plans for a new residence hall.  While the year-to-year funds of the University grow, the most pressing issue of the meeting was the kickoff of...

For the Apple enthusiasts on campus still mourning the death of Steve Jobs, it turns out you had a closer connection to the tech scion than you may have known. Mainstream news outlets from the Wall Street Journal to the New York Times have run stories in past weeks about Jobs’ relationship to his estranged biological father, Abulfattah “John” Jandali, a Syrian political scientist-turned-casino manager with whom he never reconciled. Articles focused on the tumultuous circumstances of the adoption and how Jandali sought to reconnect with Jobs after Jandali learned...

The Underground Christian Fellowship (UCF) is taking steps to be reinstated as an official campus organization after being placed on suspension last spring by the University’s Integrity Code Board (ICB). Before the suspension, the group was known as the University of Puget Sound Christian Fellowship (UPSCF) and functioned as a chapter of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA, a national campus ministry organization. Associate Dean of Students Donn Marshall issued formal sanctions against UPSCF after the Integrity Code Board revealed that the club had violated University policies. He stressed that no constitution may...

On Saturday, Oct. 1, a crowd of about 200 gathered in Westlake Plaza for Occupy Seattle, one of the latest in a series of protests forming in solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street movement.  Occupy Wall Street, which began in the summer of 2011, is a demonstration inspired in part by the Arab Spring and fueled by dissatisfaction with the economy.  Currently active in every state and in several other countries, these demonstrations are leaderless and loosely organized.  Participants range in age from teens to seniors, and they are all...

The university plans to build a new campus aquatic center within the next three to five years. The new pool will be located on the west side of the Fieldhouse, replacing the parking lot between it and the baseball field. Building a new aquatic center would allow the school to tear down Wallace Pool, which is far below the National Collegiate Athletic Association‘s (NCAA) national standards. Wallace Pool was constructed over 50 years ago, which is the root of the problem. “To bring the pool to today’s standards, it would...

Coal is a hot topic on campus once again thanks to Jacob Gellman, ’13, and Students for a Sustainable Campus (SSC). After interning with the Sierra Club this summer, Gellman is spearheading a campus effort to prevent coal exports from passing through the Pacific Northwest. The campaign had over 300 signatures on a petition as of Oct. 6 and ASUPS is considering passing a resolution in support of the students’ efforts. Student environmental advocacy groups throughout the Pacific Northwestare working together on the issue. “Our goal would be to all...

By almost any standard, Four Horsemen Investments (4HI) is not your average investment group. Technically a charity with the IRS denomination of 501(c)(3), 4HI is the only peer-to-peer student-managed microfinance fund in the world today. The group was founded in 2009 by Puget Sound finance professor Lynda Livingston and then-student Tom Glassman as a way to incorporate charitable goals with business and microfinance experience for students. Today 4HI’s six members are all seniors at Puget Sound, but the group is completely independent and is unaffiliated with the University. “4HI represents...

University Facilities Services has drafting underway for multiple projects that will significantly expand and renovate the Student Union Building in the coming years. Current underclassmen will enjoy a servery with greater efficiency and a kitchen with more space for S.U.B. workers to cook food and wash dishes. The servery has struggled to meet the demands of the student population during peak hours in recent years, and the proposed changes seek to minimize lines especially during lunch and dinner. The projects are part of a larger effort to update the S.U.B.,...

Puget Sound was recently accepted as one of 250 schools across the nation to participate in President Obama’s “The President’s Interfaith and Community Service Campus Challenege.” The challenge began in June of 2010 when, at the recommendation of the President’s Advisory Council for Neighborhood and Faith-Based Initiatives, the White House invited a group of leaders (including our own University Chaplain, David Wright) from the Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC) and the Association of College and University Religious Affairs (ACURA) to explore how the White House can partner with institutions of higher...

The dearth of bike racks on campus has led to bikes being illegally locked on handicap handrails, making the rails largely inaccessible. A new method of enforcement was implemented on Sept. 26 to keep the handrails clear. Any bikes found locked to handrails will be impounded and students will have to prove ownership in order to reclaim their bicycles at security by describing their bike and its location. As of Sept. 28, no bicycles had been impounded. Todd Badham, Director of Security, said handrail congestion has only recently become a...