University of Maine at Presque Isle Art professor Renee Felini recently took part in a slideshow event that has taken the world by storm. Felini served as one of 10 presenters at the city of Waterville’s first PechaKucha Night held last fall at the Hathaway Creative Center. More than 200 people turned out for the event.

PechaKucha, Japanese for chit-chat, was created in 2003 by Tokyo architects Mark Dytham and Astrid Klein. Presenters are allotted 20 slides and 20 seconds per slide, meaning that once 6 minutes and 40 seconds are up, so is their talk. People have embraced this “short slideshow” concept and PechaKucha nights have been held in cities around the world, from Beijing and Paris to San Francisco and Boston.

Officials at the University of Maine at Presque Isle (UMPI) have announced that the hometown premiere of John Cariani’s Almost, Maine, is scheduled for March 18 and 19, at the university’s Wieden Auditorium. The performances reunite the production’s director, Barbara Frick Ladner and Cariani, in director and actor roles, respectively.

Cariani is no stranger to Presque Isle stages with numerous roles in Presque Isle High School (PIHS)productions; Calamity Jane under the direction of Dan Ladner was Cariani’s first high school musical. Other PIHS performances included roles in Grease, Cabaret, The Wizard of Oz, and Juvie. He also performed with university students and community members in Pioneer Playhouse productions of Oklahoma, My Fair Lady, Fiddler on the Roof, and South Pacific at the university’s Wieden Auditorium.

The Student Activities Office (SAO) at the University of Maine at Presque Isle is encouraging people to “Think Pink” for breast cancer awareness during a special event on Wednesday, Feb. 9.

During the home basketball games between the UMPI Owls and the University of Maine at Machias Clippers at 5:30 p.m. in Wieden Gymnasium, the SAO will host “Think Pink: Breast Cancer Awareness Night” in honor of Cancer Awareness Month in February.

The Northern Maine Museum of Science is looking for your head.

Winter in northern Maine is cold – very cold – but northern Mainers laugh at the weather: in the middle of the coldest month of the year, they shave their heads and have them painted as planets.

This February 19th is the fifth annual Planet Head Day. People from throughout Aroostook County and nearby New Brunswick, Canada, come to the University of Maine at Presque Isle to have heads shaved, or they don elastic caps, so their heads can be painted as planets, dwarf planets, moons and asteroids. And it’s all to support science education and raise money for C-A-N-C-E-R.

The University of Maine at Presque Isle is pleased to announce a diverse and full schedule of spring semester events. From the Distinguished Lecturer Series to concerts and other special events, campus and community members can participate in activities designed to entertain, engage, and educate.

The university’s newly-established 7-OH-9 Coffee House will begin its semester activity with their Sweet Sounds Open Mic and Karaoke Night on Feb. 17 at 7:09 pm in the Campus Center. During the semester, the Coffee House will also host New York-based musician, Rachel P. on Mar. 1, and another Open Mic Night, appropriately named No Mo’ Sno’, on Apr. 19.

More than 500 volunteers are mobilizing for the E.ON IBU World Cup Biathlon #7 event, which will take place at the Nordic Heritage Center in Presque Isle from Feb. 4-6, and the University of Maine at Presque Isle is doing its part to pitch in.

The international event requires organizers and volunteers with expertise in a wide variety of areas, including medical coverage, transportation, and information processing, and scores of faculty, staff and students from UMPI will be stepping up in early February to help out with these efforts.

“We are so pleased to be participating in a multitude of ways with the World Cup Biathlon event that is coming to Presque Isle and to be helping to ensure that the local community and northern Maine region are providing a friendly and welcoming experience to the hundreds of athletes, coaches and spectators who will be visiting,” UMPI President Don Zillman said. “This is a wonderful opportunity to share our region with Biathlon enthusiasts from around the world and we are confident that they will be impressed with what they find.”

Area volunteers with the AARP Tax-Aide Program will be available on Saturdays at the University of Maine at Presque Isle during the next two months to help members of the community prepare their tax returns.

This free service will be provided by volunteers every Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. from Feb. 5 to April 16 in Room 118 of UMPI’s Campus Center. The work these volunteers are doing is connected to the VITA [Volunteer Income Tax Assistance] and TCE [Tax Counseling for the Elderly] programs.

One week before the Super Bowl and all the festivities surrounding it, the University of Maine at Presque Isle will host an annual party of its own for high school and college students – College Goal Sunday.

Staff members will be on hand at two locations on Sunday, Jan. 30, beginning at 2 p.m. – in Folsom 105 on the UMPI campus and also at the Houlton Higher Education Center – to assist students in completing and filing their FAFSA [Free Application for Federal Student Aid] forms. This free event is open to the entire community. High school seniors and parents are especially encouraged to attend, along with currently enrolled college students needing assistance.

The University of Maine at Presque Isle (UMPI) is pleased to announce that its 2010-2011 University Distinguished Lecturer Series will continue with a presentation by Dr. David Tolin, founder and director of the Anxiety Disorders Center at the Institute of Living in Hartford, Connecticut.

Tolin will deliver his talk, Buried in Treasures: The Nature and Treatment of Compulsive Hoarding, on Tuesday, Feb. 8, at 7 p.m. in the university’s campus center. His presentation will include information about compulsive hoarding, the root causes of this common and potentially disabling problem, along with current treatments being used to help people manage the symptoms more effectively. It is estimated that up to 2 million people in the United States may be affected by compulsive hoarding.

With winter in full gear and warmer weather in the future, the University of Maine at Presque Isle’s Outdoor Adventure Program International (OAPI) is offering a series of adventures for campus and community members to enjoy.

Activities will kick off on Jan. 30 with a dog sledding adventure. Participants will talk to the mushers, help harness the dogs, go for a ride, and enjoy a warm, delicious lunch. The public is invited to attend and may register for this adventure beginning Jan. 24. The registration deadline for this event is Jan. 28 at noon and the cost to attend is $40.