Opinions

By Daryl Auguste Our higher education system is at the tail end of an ominous bubble. The United States has a whopping 3,026 four-year degree-granting universities, with another 1,700 two-year universities. Within the next few decades, a sizeable portion of these institutions will have shuttered their doors for the last time.   Much of it relates to the steady accumulation of debt throughout higher education. Like the housing bubble of 2011, colleges have been provoked into a borrowing frenzy by federal subsidies and tax benefits. Americans have run up $1...

  On Tuesday December 6th, 2016 the University of Puget Sound Community received an email from a group of faculty members that was “in response to a flyer that was distributed anonymously on our campus” which the email acknowledged was being sent out in an “unusual way” as not all the faculty endorsed the letter. However, there were clearly enough people who felt that there was an exigency that required sending an email out to students despite not having a consensus. It is this exigency I would like to address....

November 21, 2016   To the University of Puget Sound community:   As members of faculty of the University of Puget Sound, we write this letter at a moment which we recognize as a difficult one here on this campus and in this country. The divisiveness of our current political discourse is at best a disappointment to those of us who seek meaningful engagement with one another across ideological borders, and at worst an intensified threat to many of us whose identities have long occupied spaces of disempowerment in our...

By Daryl Auguste Concerns over high-rise construction threaten a more equitable future for Tacoma. On October 10th, a number of residents from Tacoma’s North End met to discuss the latest potential development for the Proctor Neighborhood, a “Proctor Station Two”. Much like its predecessor, Proctor Station Two will serve as a mixed use project, providing both residential and retail space. Proctor Stations One & Two join similar complexes like The Henry & Thea’s Landing as part of a growing trend in high-rise developments in Tacoma. The principal criticism aimed at Proctor...

Dear Readers, Many of you on this campus know me—as an orientation leader, a classmate, a fellow activist, and a friend.  I have interviewed  some of you as a reporter for this newspaper, and  written stories about your achievements and your aspirations for Puget Sound. My hope is that I have  accurately portrayed what is happening on campus and in our community.   I am grateful for the many of you who helped me to  write informative and comprehensive stories.   As I embark on a new journey as editorial editor...

Dear Puget Sound students, staff, faculty and Tacoma community members; I, like many of you, came to this University with the hope of becoming a part of a community. When I transferred to Puget Sound years ago, I was greeted with something no tour, website, or application could have shown me. This community full of dreamers, believers, and achievers welcomed me with open arms. We are all here for the same reason, to learn, make mistakes, fall down, get up again, grow, and start anew. I am thrilled to serve...

Sent on February 12:  We recently learned of a situation involving our chapter at the University of Puget Sound where individual members of the chapter were alleged to have made discriminatory statements and/or promoted discriminatory behavior during isolated events that occurred in the chapter house.   It is important to know Sigma Chi respects diversity and understands it is a source of our strength, which is why we strive to foster an environment of inclusion in each of our chapters. The make-up of our chapter at the University of Puget...

CONTENT WARNING : DISCUSSIONS OF SUICIDE Week of Events on  Suicide Prevention For the first time at Puget Sound, students are organizing a series of events centered on suicide awareness and prevention. On Friday, March 25, from 6 to 7:30 p.m., a forum is being held where multiple  speakers will discuss their personal experience with suicidal thoughts and attempts. Each speaker will also present a group activity to further educate and engage attendees. “It was astounding to me how much people want to talk about this,” sophomore Nathaniel Baniqued said....