Combined News

Mainebiz reported Lewiston startup Karkos Group LLC is working on a prototype blender that’s quieter than the competition in the commercial and high-end home blender markets. Using a seed grant, the business had independent tests of its motor run by the University of Maine’s Advanced Manufacturing Center against other commercial blenders.

The Wiscasset Newspaper reported a University of Maine freshman from Dresden helped a co-worker Monday when he started choking. Helen Call reportedly performed the Heimlich maneuver on the man in a dining hall on campus.

The Bangor Daily News blog “Catching Health” by Diane Atwood recently previewed the upcoming “Theater of War” performance at the University of Maine on May 13. The performance will be put on by Outside the Wire, a Brooklyn-based social impact company that uses theater and other media to address important public health and social issues.

The Sun Journal of Lewiston recently reported Spencer Hathaway of Turner was named the 2013 valedictorian at the University of Maine. Hathaway will be honored at Commencement May 11 and will receive two bachelor’s degrees — one in economics and one in business administration in accounting.

The St. John Valley Times previewed the University of Maine Cooperative Extension’s upcoming 4-H Sheep and Fiber Festival May 11 in Presque Isle.

University of Maine Professor of History Howard Segal and UMaine Professor of English Deborah Rogers recently published the essay “Painful Admission” in Times Higher Education.

Foster’s Daily Democrat reported Renaissance, the University of Maine’s all-female singing group, will perform a free concert May 17 at Berwick United Methodist Church in Berwick.

The Bangor Daily News cited a University of Maine economic study in the article “Futuristic Quantum-class cruise ship to be largest ever to visit Portland when it arrives in 2015.” The study found the 31 ships that visited Portland in 2008 generated between $5.8 million and $8 million in the Greater Portland economy and supported between 70 and 110 jobs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted May 6, 2013

Merida Batiste, PhD student in Physics, and David Pearson, Master of Science student in Physics, presented at the 221st Meeting of the American Astronomical Society. The meeting is the largest annual meeting for astronomers and astrophysicists in North America and attracts scientists from all over the  globe. Presentations at the Meeting can take one of three forms: posters, regular oral presentations which are five minutes, and dissertation talks which in  15 minutes aim to explain a major conclusion from thesis work. Batiste presented her research on gravitationally bound superclusters of galaxies, the largest structures in the universe held together by gravity. She said of her present ation, “While about 10 million superclusters of galaxies have been identified in the Universe, bound superclusters are incredibly rare; prior to our work only one had been identified. I presented on my results for the Corona Borealis supercluster, which provide the most conclusive observational evidence to date that this structure is bound and in collapse.”

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A week of lectures, panel discussions and tours highlighting humanities research and exploring its intersects with community partners will be held May 13–16 on campus and in downtown Bangor, coordinated by the University of Maine Humanities Initiative.

The week culminates with a Maine Humanities Summit May 17 in Augusta.

The events involve 37 participants, including UMaine faculty and staff, leaders of regional arts and cultural organizations, and area teachers and policymakers. The interdisciplinary sessions showcase UMaine arts and humanities research and explore ways of making this scholarship more visible and pertinent to community partners.

All events are free and open to the public. Registration is required for the Maine Humanities Summit.

More information is online or by contacting UMaine Humanities Initiative Director Justin Wolff, 207.581.3259.

A summary of the events:

On campus, May 13

Faculty and Staff Development Seminar, 8:30 a.m.–2 p.m., with introductory remarks by Dean Jeff Hecker and President Paul Ferguson at 9 a.m.; “Politics, Performance and Palimpsests: The Cartography of Social Space,” with Robert Glover, Michael Grillo, Sarah Harlan-Haughey and James Warhola at 9:30 a.m., all in Hill Auditorium, Barrows Hall; lunch at the Innovative Media Research and Commercialization Center, followed at 2 p.m. by “Online Teaching” with Justin Hafford, Richard Powell and Owen Smith, moderated by Jeff St. John.

On campus, May 14

Faculty and Staff Development Seminar, 8:30 a.m.–2 p.m., featuring “Humanities Approaches to Nonviolence,” with Doug Allen, Hugh Curran and Tina Passman at 9 a.m.; “Teaching Beyond Disciplinary Boundaries” featuring Katherine O’Flaherty, Stefano Tijerina and Jennie Woodard at 11 a.m.; and “Wasahpskekmenehan (Marsh Island): A Wabanaki Sense of Place” with Gretchen Faulkner, John Bear Mitchell and Micah Pawling, moderated by Darren Ranco, Hill Auditorium, Barrows Hall.

Downtown Bangor, May 15

“The Garden Artists: A Retrospective Look at Collective Women’s Art in Changing Times,” by Mimi Killinger, with a University of Maine Museum of Art tour led by director George Kinghorn, 10 a.m., May 15, UMaine Museum of Art, 40 Harlow St., Bangor.

Walking Tour of Downtown Bangor, led by Tom McCord and Ben Sprague, 11:15 a.m., May 15, starting at the Hannibal Hamlin statue on Kenduskeag Canal, downtown Bangor.

“Connecting Classrooms and Cultural Organizations: A Dialogue,” a panel moderated by Marcia Douglas and featuring Marcie Bramucci, Kal Elmore, Mimi Killinger, George Kinghorn and Bari Newport, 1:30 p.m., May 15, Penobscot Theatre, 131 Main St., Bangor.

“Humanities and the Book,” featuring presentations by Barbara McDade — “The Bangor Book Festival”; Elizabeth Neiman — “The Minerva Press and Romantic-era Redefinitions of Literature”; and Rachel Snell — “Nineteenth-century Cookbooks and Public Domesticity,” 3:15 p.m., May 15, Bangor Public Library, 145 Harlow St., Bangor.

Collaborate and Celebrate: The University of Maine Humanities Initiative, featuring live music by Larry LeBlanc & Mike Conant, and Raw Chicken, a fine art exhibit curated by participants in the UMaine Museum of Art’s Young Curators program, and other activities to usher in Penobscot Theatre’s production of “Around the World in Eighty Days,” 5 p.m., May 15, Maine Discovery Museum, 74 Main St., Bangor, sponsored by the University of Maine Humanities Initiative, Maine Discovery Museum and the Downtown Bangor Arts Collaborative.

On campus, May 16

Faculty and Staff Development Seminar, 8:30 a.m.–noon., featuring “The Downeast Fisheries Trail,” with Kathleen Ellis. Catherine Schmitt and Natalie Springuel at 9 a.m.; “Interdisciplinary Community Engagement,” with Melissa Ladenheim, Linda Silka and Claire Sullivan, 10:45 a.m., Hill Auditorium, Barrows Hall.

Augusta, May 17

Maine Humanities Summit, featuring panel discussions on humanities-related topics, including museums, libraries and public policy, with remarks by Hayden Anderson, director of the Maine Humanities Council, and Julie Richard, director of the Maine Arts Commission, and a lunchtime address by award-winning journalist Colin Woodard, speaking on “Liberal Arts in the Real World: An Author-Historian-Journalist’s Argument for the Importance of the Humanities,” 8:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m., May 17, Governor Hill Mansion, Augusta. Registration required: email amy.cross@umit.maine.edu.

Baritone Ludlow Hallman, a longtime music director and conductor in the University of Maine School of Performing Arts, will receive the 2013 Vincent A. Hartgen Award from UMaine’s Patrons of the Arts.

The award will be presented in a ceremony May 10 at Buchanan Alumni House on campus.

During his more than 40 years in the UMaine community, Hallman has served as conductor of the University Orchestra and the Oratorio Society, director of the Opera Workshop and chair of the Music Department. He has been music director and conductor of dozens of opera and musical comedy productions — from Mozart to Puccini and Sullivan to Sondheim — throughout the country and around the world.

Hallman also has performed as a recitalist and soloist, with operatic roles with the Santa Fe Opera Company, Mozart Opera Salzburg, the Salzburg Festival and Surry Opera Company.

In addition, the professor of music has served as resident director of New England Universities in Salzburg, an immersion program for students of German.

Hallman studied at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Southern Illinois University and the Mozarteum in Salzburg.

UMaine flutist and chamber musician Elizabeth Downing, who nominated Hallman for the award, calls him an “institution” at the university and an “incredibly versatile musician” who conducts oratorio, opera and orchestral works, and has appeared on both sides of the Atlantic as a conductor and singer.

“Ludlow continues to give his full devotion to the conducting and teaching of music. There is no one more passionate and dedicated to the world of classical music, and he continues to share his wealth of knowledge and vision to music students, the musical community and the public,” Downing says. “As just one of many of his students, he truly changed my life and my career and brought the world of music to my heart.”

Hallman has taught hundreds of voice students and has introduced many to vocal recovery. One of his early students, Dr. Linda Carroll, a speech-language pathologist and voice trainer, became a leader in the field of vocal rehabilitation. Hallman also has served as a mentor teacher for the National Association of Teachers of Singing and as a presenter for the Voice Foundation in Philadelphia.

Since 1999, the Hartgen Award has been given annually to recognize outstanding contributions to arts advancement at the university. The award is named in honor of the late Vincent Hartgen, founder of the UMaine Department of Art and Museum of Art, and a champion of traveling art exhibitions for Maine schools.

Contact: Margaret Nagle, 207.581.3745

WABI (Channel 5) covered the 20th anniversary celebration of the University of Maine’s Reading Recovery program and the continuing support of the Galen Cole Family Foundation.

WABI (Channel 5) and Seacoast Online carried reports on the Maine Wind Blade Challenge and the Windstorm Challenge hosted Friday by UMaine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center. More than 500 middle and high school students from around the state competed in the engineering challenges.

The University of Maine’s Graduate School of Social Work held a forum Saturday night to shed light on social issues such as economic justice and health care, WABI (Channel 5) reported. The forum was held to encourage community involvement.

The Portland Press Herald interviewed Hollywood film producer and this year’s University of Maine commencement speaker Lawrence Bender. Bender says his time as a UMaine student prepared him for his successful career.

A University of Maine study commissioned by Maine Equal Justice Partners was cited in the Press Herald article “Maine Speaker calls bill pathway out of poverty.” The study found a provision enacted last June by Gov. Paul LePage that limits Temporary Assistance for Needy Families to 60 months has caused 1,500 families to lose assistance. The study showed 39 percent of those who lost benefits reported a work-limiting disability and more than 40 percent had less than a high school education.

Jeffrey Thaler, a visiting professor of energy policy, law and ethics at the University of Maine, spoke to the Bangor Daily News about the proposed sale of Maine’s largest power plant and New England’s changing energy market.

The Bangor Daily News and WABI (Channel 5) reported on the Weight Watchers of Maine Black Bears of Tomorrow program. More than 200 fifth-graders visited UMaine on Friday to learn about healthy lifestyles and campus living from coaches and athletes.

First Coast News based in Jacksonville, Fla., carried a video clip of therapy dogs at Fogler Library during finals week.

The 27th Annual Graduate Student and Faculty Recognition (Hooding) Ceremony will be held on Friday, May 10th, 2013 from 4 to 6 pm at the Alfond Arena.  A reception in the Field House will immediately follow.  For more information please see the appropriate link below, or contact the Graduate School at umhooding@maine.edu or 207.581.3291. 

  Student Information and Registration   Faculty Information   UPDATE: GradImages® will be photographing all graduates at the upcoming Recognition (Hooding) Ceremony. Visit their website, www.gradimages.com, and click on Pre-Event Email Registration. Enter your email and up to 6 emails of loved ones who would like to share in your accomplishment by viewing and ordering your photos. You will receive a coupon for $5 off an order of $25 of more just by registering your information before the event!   Also, flowers will be available for purchase at the Alfond.     We hope to see you there!