News

The newest entry in the Bangor Daily News blog Education: Future Imperfect, by UMaine Professor of History Howard Segal is online.

University of Maine faculty will take part in a series of events surrounding the Penobscot Theatre Co. production of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play “Wit.”

Jesse Moriarity, coordinator of the Foster Center for Student Innovation, will host “Stories of Survival” at 7 p.m. Saturday, March 16 at the Bangor Opera House. Offered in partnership with Bangor Area Story Slam, audience members are invited to tell their stories of survival at the free event. Call 207.942.3333 to register. Women in the Curriculum and Women’s Studies Program Spring 2013 Lunch Series will also hold a panel discussion based on the play and focused on cancer and women’s health from 12–1:20 p.m. March 19 in the Bangor Room of the Memorial Union. The play’s cast and director will also visit Mimi Killinger’s Cultural Odyssey class in the Honors College on March 27.

“Wit” was the first play written by Margaret Edson and was inspired by her experience working in a hospital oncology unit. Tickets can be purchased online or through the box office at 207.942.3333.

A film director and an author will visit UMaine this month to discuss transgender issues.

The University of Maine’s Rainbow Resource Center and the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Allies Council will host Jennifer Finney Boylan, author of “She’s Not There: A Life in Two Genders” and Mark Schoen, producer of the new documentary “Trans.”

Boylan, who is also a Colby College professor, will speak from 3–4 p.m. Thursday, March 21 in the Bangor Room of the Memorial Union. She will discuss life as a transgender woman as well as her new book, “Stuck in the Middle with You.”

Schoen will attend a screening of his film “Trans” at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, March 28 in 100 D.P. Corbett Business Building. He will also host a question-and-answer session after the screening from 8–9 p.m. The movie looks into the personal journey into the transgender world through the characters and their life stories.

Both events are free and open to the public.

The Portland Press Herald reported that Michael Dubyak, chairman, president and CEO of South Portland-based WEX Inc., and chairman of the business-led nonprofit Educate Maine, promoted Project>Login at the Portland Community Chamber’s monthly Eggs & Issues event Wednesday. Project>Login, led by Educate Maine and the University of Maine System, is a new initiative designed to attract more students to information technology programs at Maine colleges and universities. “I’d love to see our best and brightest stay in Maine,” Dubyak said.

Amy Witt, a home horticulturist with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension, was cited in a Portland Press Herald story about the Portland Flower Show. The theme of the flower show is “Timeless Gardens” and organizers invited children and teenagers to write essays about how to make gardens timeless. Witt said nine students received cash prizes for their essays. The Cumberland County Master Gardener Plant Auction, which benefits the University of Maine Cooperative Extension and the Maine Harvest for Hunger Gardens in Cumberland County, will take place Sunday, March 10 during the flower show.

The Bangor Daily News reported the estate of a University of Maine alumnus who was killed along with two UMaine students in a Nov. 16 plane crash at the Knox County Regional Airport has notified the county that it may sue for $2 million. The notice was filed on behalf of the estate of William B.J. Hannigan III, a member of the Maine Air National Guard and the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity. In December, a notice of intent to sue was also sent on behalf of the estate of UMaine student Marcelo Rugini who was also killed in the crash.

The Bangor Daily News spoke with George Markowsky, associate director of the UMaine School of Computing and Information Science, about the three-day 2013 regional Northeast Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition that begins Friday, March 8. Ten teams will compete in UMaine’s Neville Hall by defending against computer hacking attempts made by national cybersecurity professionals. Markowsky, who organized the event, told the BDN, “We have some great hackers involved.”

CompositesWorld spoke with UMaine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center Director Habib Dagher about the center’s efforts to develop a scale model of a floating wind turbine for testing off the coast of Maine. At the Offshore Wind Power USA 2013 conference in Boston on Feb. 26–27, Dagher said the test turbine is progressing well and deployment is expected later this year.

The Bangor Daily News reported on the March 4 episode of Comedy Central’s “Colbert Report” that featured a segment about a November incident in Somesville in which a bucket of scallop innards to be used for research was mistakenly placed in the wrong car. Skylar Bayer, a marine biology graduate student at the University of Maine’s Darling Marine Center, and Gail Garthwait, a faculty member in the College of Education and Human Development, were featured on the show and in the article.

The Portland Press Herald spoke to Rick Wahle, research associate professor in the University of Maine’s School of Marine Sciences, about Maine’s early lobster season. Wahle explained that in 2012, the season for soft-shell lobsters started four to five weeks early when there weren’t enough buyers, which brought the price down. Wahler warned lobstermen that if prices stay in decline they will have only two options: to stop fishing or fish harder.

The Bangor Daily News featured a story on University of Maine associate philosophy professor Kirsten Jacobson’s time spent sailing around the world. Jacobson, who became fascinated with an adventure on the high seas after seeing the movie “Master and Commander” 10 years ago, is spending half of her sabbatical year living and working on the tall ship Picton Castle. Jacobson and her 40 shipmates have visited places such as Mangareva in French Polynesia, the Galapagos Islands and Panama, but have spent most of their time navigating the Pacific Ocean with no land in sight.

Corey Conner of the University of Maine set a new school record Saturday in the 5,000-meter race during the Columbia Final Qualifying Meet in New York City, the Bangor Daily News reports. The senior from West Townsend, Mass., covered the 5k in 15:55.60, breaking her previous time by more than 10 seconds. Conner now ranks 13th in the NCAA Division I rankings, which could put her in position to compete in the NCAA Championships March 9–10 in Nampa, Idaho.

The Portland Press Herald and the Bangor Daily News reported on the Univeristy of Maine women’s basketball team’s decision not to play in the America East tournament in the wake of the team’s bus crash Feb. 26 on I-95 in Massachusetts. Athletic Director Steve Abbott and Coach Richard Barron talked with players Monday before deciding to end the season. Robert Dana, UMaine’s vice president for student affairs and dean of students told the media it has been a difficult time for the women and the university’s focus will continue to be the health and well-being of the players.

On March 4, Comedy Central’s Colbert Report reported on the November incident in Somesville in which a container of scallop innards collected for marine research was misplaced and found. A scallop diver delivering the bivalve parts to Skylar Bayer, a marine biology graduate student at the Darling Marine Center, mistakenly put the container in a university vehicle driven by Gail Garthwait, a faculty member in the College of Education and Human Development.

Michael Eckardt, Vice President for Research, has announced the recipients of the 2013 Regular Faculty Research Funds Awards, 2013 Scholarly Materials and Equipment Award, and the 2013 Summer Faculty Research Awards. Recipients are selected based on recommendations by the Faculty Research Funds Committee. The Faculty Research Funds Program is part of a broader investment strategy designed to assist faculty and encourage research and other creative achievements.

2013 Regular Faculty Research Funds Award and Scholarly Materials and Equipment Award recipients:

Benildo de los Reyes (SBE) “Genetic Network Rewiring During Oryza Evolution”

Shawn Ell (PSY) “The Enhancing and Impairing Effects of Stress on Cognition: An RO1 Pilot Data Proposal”

Andre Khalil (MAT) “On the Improvement of Early Breast Cancer Detection”

Adrienne White (FSN) “A Clinical Intervention to Address Childhood Obesity Using Self-Determination Theory in a Rural Maine Setting”

2013 Summer Faculty Research Funds Award recipients:

Laura Artesani (SPA) “Integrating Music with Maine Studies and LD 291 in Maine’s Public and Private Schools”

Charlsye Diaz (OEH) “Using Conflict to Spur Creativity: Comparing a Meta-Analysis of Quantitative and Qualitative Research to Popular Belief and Practice”

Dylan Dryer (OEH) “Using Corpus-Analysis to Validate ‘Construct-Representation’ As the Fitting Aim of the TA-Practicum Graduate Course”

Brian Dzwonkowski (SMS) “Developing a Regional Climate Change Index for Maine’s Coastal Ocean”

Nathan Godfried (HTY) “Fellow Travelers of the Air: Labor-Left Radio Commentators and American Politics, 1935–1960”

Paul Grosswiler (CMJ) “The Role of Communication Practices in the Global Crisis of Electronic Technology Waste”

Jason Harkins (MBS) “Exploring the Role of Salespeople in New Ventures: Who Hires Them and Do They Make a Difference?”

Rebecca Holberton (SBE) “Learning to Use New Tracking Technology to Determine Spatial and Temporal Movements and Habitat Use”

Kimberly Huisman (SOC) “Using Public Sociology to Engage Maine Communities: Examining the Challenges and Successes of the Maine Mother-Daughter Project”

Jessica Miller (PHI) “Enhancing Cooperation Between Intensivists and Organ Procurement Coordinators by Creating Moral Space for Principled Ethical Disagreement”

Susan Pinette (FAS) “Transnational Belonging or “Le Quebec d’en bas”: Franco-America in the Quebecois diaspora”

Mary Shea (NUR) “The Experience of Near Elderly Uninsured Women in Downeast Maine”

Nominations are being accepted for the annual Steve Gould Award. The award was created in 1981 in memory of Steve Gould to honor his honesty and compassion for others. The President of the University of Maine gives the award to people or organizations that have demonstrated superior qualities of unselfishness and compassion in the course of service to the university and its ideals. Students, staff, faculty members and organizations serving the University of Maine community are eligible. The award will be presented by President Paul Ferguson at the Employee Recognition Reception on May 21. Deadline for nominations is April 1. For information or to submit nominations, contact Christi Renzi at the president’s office, 207.581.1512.

Joseph Musumeci, a Master of Education in Higher Education student, is the March 2013 Graduate Student of the Month.

Graduate School: Where are you from originally?

Musumeci: Toms River, New Jersey

Graduate School: What undergraduate institution(s) did you previously attend?

Musumeci: I attended Rowan University and majored in Communication Studies.

Graduate School: Why did you choose to attend UMaine?

Musumeci: This is a tricky question, as I do not necessarily have a specific reason. During my search of graduate schools, I had more of a gut feeling that this was the place I should come. I followed that feeling and certainly believe it was the right choice, as my experience here has been wonderful. I mean, hey, “You’re in a great place”, right?

Graduate School: What degree program are you pursuing?

Musumeci: Master of Education in Higher Education

Graduate School: What are your plans after graduation?

Musumeci: Well, the plan is to find a job in student affairs at a college or university. My current interests are in student activities or counseling, so the hope is to pursue employment in one of those areas.

Graduate School: What do you consider your most important accomplishment here so far?

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A story by the Portland Press Herald on the demands facing Maine high school principals cited a University of Maine study that came out last fall. The Press Herald spoke to George Marnik, an author of the Maine Principal Study and a lecturer in UMaine’s educational leadership program. Marnik said the study found almost 40 percent of Maine principals reported they felt overworked. The study also found that in 2011 the average Maine principal was responsible for 69 more students, had 53 more staff members and worked 12 more hours a week than in 2005.

The Bangor Daily News, Portland Press Herald and Channel 2 (WLBZ) spoke with members of the University of Maine women’s basketball team and coach Richard Barron four days after a bush crash Feb. 26 on Interstate 95 in Georgetown, Mass., which left several members and the coach with minor injuries and the driver in a Boston hospital. Despite the crash, the team opted to play the final game of their regular season against the University of New Hampshire on Saturday, determined not to let their season end with a bus crash. The team lost 86–63.

A Bangor Daily News article on the University of Maine offshore wind team’s international race to develop a system to measure winds high above oceans using a buoy-based light detection and ranging system, or LiDAR, included comments from UMaine’s Advanced Structures and Composites Center Director Habib Dagher. UMaine’s School of Marine Science’s Physical Oceanography Group hopes to deploy the LiDAR in the Gulf of Maine by late May or early June. The group has been measuring wind, wave and atmospheric conditions in the Gulf of Maine for more than a decade and the data they have collected has been used by many mariners and gives UMaine a lead in the global race to implement these systems.