Combined News

The Bangor Daily News carried a Maine Sun Journal article that included observations from University of Maine Professor of Finance Richard Borgman about foreclosures and liens in the state’s housing market.

Several news organizations across the country, including the New England Cable News and the Seattle Times, carried reports about the University of Maine’s new composting facility, an automated composting unit that can convert more than 1 ton of organic waste per day from campus dining facilities to rich soil amendments that will be used in UMaine landscaping and on university crop fields. Other organizations included Channel 8 (WMTW), Channel 5 (WABI) and the San Antonio Express-News.

The University of Maine’s ninth annual International Dance Festival, showcasing an array of traditional music, dance and costumes of some of the 400 international students at UMaine, is set for Saturday, Feb. 16, at the Collins Center for the Arts. Two free performances of dances from around the world are scheduled at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Doors open one hour before showtime. For information or to request disability accommodations, call 207.581.3423.

Click here to view the “How to Make Homemade Baby Food” video on YouTube.

Climate Change Institute Involved in Successful Recovery of a New Deep Ice Core from Antarctica

A team of scientists from nine nations, which included two University of Maine graduate students, has made a breakthrough in Antarctica — successfully drilling more than 760 meters through the ice to bedrock on an island in the Ross Sea.

The international team, led by Nancy Bertler, Victoria University’s Antarctic Research Centre and GNS Science in New Zealand, completed the drilling on Roosevelt Island in late December when the drill bit brought sediment up from the base of the ice sheet.

The drill cores from the Roosevelt Island Climate Evolution project will provide the most detailed record of the climate history of the Ross Sea region for the last 30,000 years — the time during which the coastal margin of the Antarctic ice sheet retreated following the last great ice age, says Bertler, who is an adjunct faculty member in UMaine’s Climate Change Institute (CCI).

Graduate students Skylar Haines and Tom Beers of the Climate Change Institute and the School of Earth and Climate Sciences each spent several months working in Antarctica on the ice core drilling project as part of their master’s research. Now they will work under the direction of Climate Change Institute Director Paul Mayewski and Research Associate Professor Andrei Kurbatov to develop highly detailed reconstructions of past climate in CCI’s W.M. Keck Laser Ice Facility.

Core analysis could help determine the stability of the Ross Ice Shelf and West Antarctica.

“With the success of the deep ice drilling at Roosevelt Island, Antarctica, we have the ice core material necessary to make significant insights into the past, current and future behavior of the West Antarctic ice sheet — one of the greatest potential contributors to future global sea level rise and one of the major controls on Southern Hemisphere climate,” Mayewski says.

More information about the Roosevelt Island project is online.

Transportation research finds roundabouts are the way to go for drivers of any age

A few years ago, a baby boomer turned 63 every seven seconds in this country, leading the New England University Transportation Center to proclaim that in fewer than 20 years, the United States would be a “nation of Floridas.”

Designers of highways and byways are taking those aging driver demographics into account when planning for the future of transportation in the U.S. That includes research by University of Maine civil engineer Per Garder, who is helping transportation officials in their quest to successfully navigate the road ahead.

With a more than  $94,000 grant from the NEUTC, Garder conducted a two-year study of roundabout design and navigability by drivers, including the elderly.

A roundabout is a circular type of intersection around a central island. Drivers travel in one direction around the roundabout and exit onto intersecting roads. In recent years, roundabouts have gained popularity in the United States. Garder says there are currently more than 2,200 in the country and about 20 in Maine.

Garder is an expert on transportation — from roundabouts to rumble strips. His research frequently centers on improving safety for pedestrians, bicyclists and drivers.

T. Olaf Johnson, then a master’s degree student in civil engineering at the university, coauthored the study.

A hidden video camera observed 2,366 drivers using the roundabout where Maine, Vermont and Texas avenues converge near Bangor International Airport.

Drivers using the roundabout were classified into one of seven age groups: younger than 20, 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, and 70 and older. The researchers studied whether age, gender and cell phone use impacted the minimum time interval when an approaching driver could safely join the flow of traffic.

They concluded a roundabout is a viable solution for intersections, regardless of their proximity to schools and retirement housing.

According to the study, the average gap, or headway, needed for the average driver to enter the roundabout was 3.26 seconds.

Drivers younger than 20 needed the longest gap — 4.85 seconds, while drivers 70 and older, on average, needed 3.95 seconds.

“I was surprised that 20-year-olds were not more aggressive,” Garder says, but adds that their longer wait times might be because of their inexperience navigating roundabouts.

Drivers in their 30s waited for a gap of 2.90 seconds before entering the roundabout. Drivers in their 40s waited for a 3.17-second gap, and drivers in their 50s waited for a gap of 3.19 seconds, on average.

Overall, on average, males waited for a 3.19-second gap and females for 3.33.

Because of the limited number of drivers observed in the youngest and oldest age groups, as well as in the cell phone user group, researchers couldn’t validate that large numbers of those drivers would substantially increase waiting times — and therefore lead to a lower level of service.

Garder recommends that a larger study, or a continuation of this study, be done.

When it comes to talking about elderly drivers, Garder says elderly is a relative term.

Today, he says many experienced drivers in their 60s and 70s have good eyesight and decision-making skills. In general, Garder says driving skills deteriorate around the age of 80. According to statistics, he says driver safety peaks in the 50s, followed closely by drivers in their 40s and 60s. Garder says people behind the wheel in their 80s, teenage years and early 20s are statistically the least safe.

Roundabouts in general, says Garder, are the way to go. There are fewer crashes in roundabouts than at intersections with signals, as well as fewer traffic delays and less fuel consumed.

The roundabout used in the study opened in August 2007 at a former designated high-crash location at the intersection of Texas and Maine avenues in Bangor.

In the three years prior to the opening of the roundabout, nine crashes were reported at the intersection; four resulted in injuries and hospitalization was required in three instances. Damages associated with the collisions totaled $300,000, says Garder.

In 2008–2009, three crashes were reported on the roundabout, none of which resulted in injuries. Damages associated with the accidents totaled $8,800, he says.

With regard to traffic flow, drivers may be able to sail straight through roundabouts, just as they may an intersection with a signal light. With routine traffic on a roundabout, though, drivers generally proceed through more quickly than if they have to stop for a red light, he says.

The researchers computed that a driver who travels straight through 10 similar roundabouts daily versus 10 signalized intersections would annually save 14 gallons of gas. If every licensed driver in the country did the same, Garder says 2.7 billion gallons of gas would be saved annually.

Emerging technologies, including automobiles that parallel park themselves and slow in school zones when children are present, show great promise, Garder says. So too do autos in which the driver’s seat shakes if the vehicle crosses the center line.

Garder says these and other technological advances could do for automobile safety what technology has done for large-scale commercial air travel. He credits computerized cockpits with being the main reason there has not been a fatal crash of a large American commercial jet since November 2001.

University of Maine Associate Professor of Political Science Mark Brewer was interviewed for a Channel 5 (WABI) story on federal gun-control policy changes proposed by President Obama, which Brewer says most likely will face tough challenges in Congress. Brewer also discussed the subject as a call-in guest on the Todd Veinotte Show on the St. John, N.B. radio station News 88.9.

Defense policy adviser and author Michael Pillsbury, an authority on China, will discuss “A China Policy for the United States” at 4 p.m., Feb. 4 in 107 D.P. Corbett Business Building. The free public talk is presented by the University of Maine School of Policy and International Affairs. Pillsbury, author of China Debates the Future Security Environment, served during the Reagan administration as Assistant Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Planning and was responsible for implementing the Reagan Doctrine, a program of covert aid to anti-communist guerrillas and resistance movements in the former Soviet Union. Also an analyst with the RAND Corporation in the 1970s, Pillsbury has served on the staff of four U.S. Senate committees and drafted the Senate Labor Committee version of the legislation that enacted the U.S. Institute of Peace in 1984. He also assisted in drafting the legislation to create the National Endowment for Democracy and the annual requirement for a U.S. Department of Defense report on Chinese military power. For information, or to request disability accommodations, call 207.581.3153.

To: Department Chairs, Graduate Coordinators, and Administrative Assistants
From: Dean Sandweiss and Associate Dean Delcourt
Date: January 15, 2013
RE: Open Nominations for 2013-14 Financial Awards

The Graduate School is currently accepting nominations for competitively-awarded fellowships, assistantships and scholarships for the 2013-14 academic year (see HERE for 2013-2014 Award Nomination Guidelines ). The nomination deadline for the fellowship and assistantship awards is February 8, 2013, and thenomination for scholarships is March 1, 2013. All nominations must be submitted by the graduate program coordinator via the Graduate Schoolwebsite. Graduate Coordinators will need to create an account, and apply for a "faculty" role in order to access the e-nomination forms. If there are any questions, please send an email to crystal.burgess@maine.edu and Crystal will assist you.

Information about the Financial Awards is also available on the Graduate School website within the Faculty Hub. Faculty members will need to create an account (http://www.umaine.edu/graduate/user/register) to view this information, if they have not done so already.

The Graduate Student Government is hosting a workshop on Friday, January 25th from 1-3 p.m. in 57 Stodder Hall titled: "Job Search Tools and Etiquette: Preparing for Non-Academic Careers". 

Career Advisors from the UMaine Career Center will cover the tools and skills necessary to compete in today's job market and will answer questions such as:

What is the difference betweeen a CV and a resume?

What resources do I use to find a non-academic job?

How and when do I negotiate benefits and salary?

How can I be assertive without being pushy?

What are the essentials of a 30-second elevator pitch?

The Career Center Staff will also review student's resumes and CVs.

To register please either call 581-3472 or email CETA@umit.maine.edu by January 20. 

The Bangor Daily News carried a report on the absence this year of the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast, normally organized by the Greater Bangor Area NAACP and held at the University of Maine. A spokesperson for the organization said planners became occupied with other activities, including November elections, and were unable to find a speaker and make arrangements in time.

The political ramifications and consequences of a world mired in debt is the subject of a free public discussion at 2:10 p.m., Monday, Jan. 28 at the University of Maine by John Mahon, the John M. Murphy Chair of International Business Policy and Strategy and professor of management in the Maine Business School at UMaine. Mahon will discuss “Debt and Deficits Worldwide: What Next?” in 107 D.P. Corbett Business Building. Mahon’s talk, presented by the Bangor Foreign Policy Forum, will cover how serious the debt is and options and consequences of action or inaction. For information, or to request disability accommodations, call 207.581.1835.

Click here to view the “Closing the Loop” video on YouTube.

Click here to view the “Sea Lamprey Research” video on YouTube.

Channels 2 (WLBZ) and 7 (WVII) interviewed University of Maine economist Todd Gabe about his new study showing that spending associated with Bangor Waterfront Concerts have infused more than $30 million into the local economy in the last three years, in addition to other benefits.

The University of Maine Bodwell Center for Service and Volunteerism, Multicultural Student Affairs, V.E.T.S. and the Department of Athletics will host a Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service from noon–3:30 p.m., Monday, Jan. 21 at the Old Town/Orono YMCA. Students in grades 3–6 from all communities are invited to attend the free event. Children will participate in a variety of activities about diversity, and the life and ideas of Martin Luther King Jr. UMaine students, AmeriCorps Service members and community members will lead children through activities, which include craft projects, deaf-culture awareness, group discussions and team-building activities. All children involved will receive a free T-shirt.

University of Maine Museum of Art (UMMA) Director and Curator George Kinghorn has been named a juror for the 43rd annual Raymond James Gasparilla Festival of the Arts, March 2–3 at the Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park in Tampa, Fla. Artists participating in the prestigious festival will compete for $74,500 in cash awards, including the $15,000 Raymond James Best of Show Award.

The University of Maine seismometer charted the 2.5-magnitude earthquake off Boothbay Harbor on Jan. 14. Alice Kelley, a faculty member in the UMaine School of Earth and Climate Sciences, has prepared a seismometer graphic displaying the occurrence, and is available at 207.581.2056 to discuss the event. The seismometer, obtained in 2009 and connected to the World-Wide Standardized Seismic Network, records seismic events around the world from the university campus.

Channel 5 (WABI) aired an interview with University of Maine Maynard F. Jordan Planetarium Director Alan Davenport for a report on the planetarium’s February shows, which include one focusing on black holes in space.

The Bangor Daily News carried an article and posted on its website an interview with University of Maine economist Todd Gabe, who recently completed an economic impact study showing the Bangor Waterfront Concerts generated more than $30 million in Bangor-area spending over the last three years. The Lewiston-based Sun Journal also ran the story.