Health services provided by the University have had two causes for change this year. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act along with the Health and Human Services (HSS) regulations have mandated that the insurance plan previously provided by the school (Student Accident & Sickness) meet certain standards that are typical of a health insurance company. Associate Vice President for Business Services John Hickey says that if the University had tried to meet the standards, it would have cost $1500-$2000 a year per student for this academic year. The old...

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,...

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...

The Pacific Rim/Asia Study Travel Program, known to most as PacRim, is a special study abroad program exclusive to Puget Sound. Quite possibly the only one of its kind, this program takes students across different parts of Asia once every three years. This year, a group of 25 students, along with some faculty members, are traveling through places such as South Korea, Mongolia, China, Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia and India. Though the program itself involves a year of traveling, it is actually a two-year commitment. Elizabeth Benard, the professor who leads...

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 Collins Memorial Library faces a constant struggle to be as sustainable as possible. This consideration led to the many changes students have noticed within the library this semester, including but not limited to the removal of the release stations for the printers. “We used to get a lot of complaints about the release stations,” said Cindy Riche of Technology Services. “People didn’t want to wait in line.” However, problems arose with the new system that was implemented this semester. William Morse of Technology Services said that the problem was...

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...

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...

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...