News

Thinking about walking down to 7-11 for a slice of pizza or a corndog later this evening? Director of Security Todd Badham wants you to think again before making your 2:30 a.m. snack pilgrimage off campus. This time of year has had some of the highest crime rates in the past, and Security Services would like to help change that trend. “This time of year can potentially be the biggest crime period because there are a bunch of new people that don’t know Tacoma or haven’t lived by themselves before....

At the close of last semester, the ASUPS Budget Committee convened in an emergency meeting to reconsider allocating $14,000 to the Sailing Club for new racing boats.  The decision stirred controversy due to the sheer dollar amount of the investment, which is expected to benefit the 40-member club at a competitive level for the next eight years. The request passed both times it was presented to the Senate but was met with some opposition by both senators and students who joined the meeting to express their dissent. ASUPS Club Sports...

The Beta Theta Pi campus chapter was suspended during the summer due to charges of under-age drinking, marijuana use and hazing. The fraternity was put on probation years before the suspension, starting with a hazing violation a few years ago and continuing with under-age drinking cases and accusations of drug use. “It wasn’t any one thing, honestly. Ultimately what it came down to was lack of internal culpability,” Moe Stephens, Assistant Director of Student Activities for Greek Life and Leadership, said. “The actions of some members of Beta Theta Phi...

Thanks to a previously overlooked legal technicality, Wal-Mart may be coming to town after all. A California-based developer has submitted plans to build a 150,000 square-foot Wal-Mart supercenter on Union Ave. next door to Target, where the Tacoma Elks Lodge is currently located. Although the Tacoma City Council passed a 6-month moratorium on all big-box retailers on Aug. 30, it did not take effect until it was printed and publicized in accordance with Washington state law.  The developer submitted plans for the Wal-Mart on Aug. 31, the day before the...

After evaluating Puget Sound’s sustainability efforts in the past year, the Sustainability Advisory Committee (SAC) will be using the assessment to create short- and long-term priorities for university sustainability endeavors and goals, according to John Hickey, co-chair of the SAC. The SAC hopes to have the new Center for Health Sciences building be LEED certified. According to www.usgbc.org, LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified means that a building has been internationally recognized as a “green” building. Puget Sound currently has two LEED gold certified buildings: the Facilities Services...

It’s finally here: the last Trail issue of the semester. Next week is reading period, the following week we are tested on what we learned during reading period and the week after that—who knows? Some of us will graduate. Some of us will watch our friends graduate. Some of us will watch The Graduate on Instant Netflix and ignore phone calls from our parents asking if we’ve found a job yet. In the beginning of the year, I wrote a short article—what I proudly called “The State of The Trail...

The historic pagoda at Point Defiance, a well-known landmark to park goers, was significantly damaged in a fire on Friday, April 15. It was the second of what turned out to be several suspicious fires at Point Defiance this month. Each of the fires, which all occurred after dark, have been judged arson. There were no witnesses to the fires and no suspects have yet been apprehended. Extra security has since been added to Point Defiance. Despite the short span of time in which each instance of arson was committed,...

Muted controversy turned to uproar earlier this month following the distribution of the most recent edition of The Rattler, a satirical spin-off of the ASUPS’ Tattler newsletter. Criticism of the formerly-anonymous publication focuses on a series of jokes in a section entitled “10 worst pick-up lines” that reference sexual assault. The list included “does this smell like chloroform to you?” And “what, you don’t like roofies? Oh, this is awkward.” The newsletter, which has been published off-and-on for more than a year, was distributed throughout Marshall Hall. It has no...