Press Releases

Campus and community members will learn all about journeying to the stars when the University hosts a NASA astronaut and space shuttle commander in March as part of its Distinguished Lecturer Series.

Pamela Melroy (Colonel, USAF, retired) has served as a NASA astronaut since 1995 and has participated in three space flights, logging more than 900 hours (more than 38 days) in space and helping to conduct important assembly work for the International Space Station. She will speak on “Human Spaceflight-Shuttle, International Space Station and Beyond” at 7 p.m. on Monday, March 9 in the Campus Center. All are encouraged to attend. During her visit to Maine, Melroy will speak with students at the Maine School of Science and Mathematics and at a school in Mars Hill. On the LCS/MSSM campus, she will speak at 11 a.m. on March 9 in Boothby Auditorium.

Melroy completed a 13-day flight in 2000 aboard the space shuttle Discovery, a 10-day flight in 2002 aboard Atlantis, and a 15-day flight, on which she served as shuttle commander, in 2007, again on the space shuttle Discovery. On her 2000 and 2002 flights, she served as the shuttle pilot. She will speak about her missions, her work as commander of a shuttle, and spacewalking, robotics and living in space.

The Maine Hysterical Society takes the stage at the University of Maine at Presque Isle’s Wieden Auditorium at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 10 for a night of side-splitting laughter and entertainment.

The troupe is made up of three of Maine’s most popular entertaining variety artists, actors, musicians and Downeast humorists – Randy Judkins, Barney Martin, and Steve Underwood. The trio will present a comedy variety show of original songs and parodies, hilarious Maine characters, ‘wicked-good’ juggling, and hysterical sketches.

The Northern Maine Museum of Science and Aroostook C.A.N.C.E.R. are asking local community members to put their heads to good use and take part in the third annual Planet Head Day, to be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 14 in Folsom Hall.

This is the day where community members of northern Maine and adjacent Canada have the opportunity to shave their heads and have them painted to look like planets. The less adventurous can don swim caps, provided by the museum, and have them painted instead. Participants will have many photographs of planets and moons to choose from when selecting how they want their scalp to look. This year, barber Patrick Coughlin of Parsons Street Barbershop and an assemblage of planet head painters will be available for the occasion.

The University of Maine at Presque Isle’s Reed Fine Art Gallery will showcase the work of the University’s newest Fine Art professor with an exhibit that focuses on the “personal community” she has created since moving to northern Maine.

Renee Felini’s installation Creating Community will be on display from Feb. 2 through March 6 in the Reed Gallery. A closing reception for the exhibit will be held on Friday, March 6, from 5-7 p.m.

Creating Community is a gathering of objects and creations by Felini representing her family’s sense of “personal community” since their arrival in northern Maine.

The University of Maine at Presque Isle will host its annual spring semester blood drive on Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2009. This blood drive is sponsored by the UMPI Residence Life Office, the Brothers of Kappa Delta Phi and the Sisters of Kappa Delta Phi NAS.

The blood drive is scheduled from noon until 6 p.m. in the Campus Center’s Multi Purpose Room. Door prizes will be given away during the event. If donors wish to reserve a time, they should call 768-9585 between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Walk-ins are welcome, or you can sign up at the new online appointment scheduler at www.givelife.org.

Criminal Justice students at the University of Maine at Presque Isle will take on members of the area’s police departments during the 4th Annual Law Enforcement vs. CJ Students Basketball Game.

The competition begins on Friday, Jan. 30 at 7 p.m. in Wieden Gymnasium. For three years running, University students have gone undefeated. This year’s fundraising event for the University’s CJ Club will pit several criminal justice students against local police officers to determine whether this will be the year the police make their comeback, or whether CJ students can pull off another win.

The University of Maine at Presque Isle’s 2008-2009 Distinguished Lecturer Series kicks off the spring semester and the New Year with a presentation by an internationally renowned researcher on Native American language and culture and Indigenous education.

Dr. Marie Battiste, the Academic Director of the Aboriginal Education Research Centre at the University of Saskatchewan, will speak on “Animating Indigenous Knowledge in Education: From Resilience to Renaissance” on Thursday, Jan. 29 at 7 p.m. in the Campus Center. The public is invited to attend this free event. Battiste also will speak to several University classes and community groups, including the local Native American community, during her visit.

For more than 30 years, Battiste has researched Aboriginal culture and experience and how they are related to lifelong learning. Her studies have ranged from protection of Aboriginal knowledge, heritage and culture to Native American learning paradigms to university retention and access of Aboriginal graduate students.

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

Staff members will be on hand Sunday, Jan. 25 beginning at 2 p.m. in Folsom 105 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’s Faculty Noon Seminar Series returns for the Spring 2009 semester with presentations on the carbon economy, online teaching and teaching methods.

Seminars will be held on the last Wednesday of each month, from 12-1 p.m. in the Normal Hall Faculty Lounge. Presentations will be 20-30 minutes in length, followed by a discussion. The series kicks off with a presentation on Jan. 28 by President Don Zillman entitled “Beyond the Carbon Economy.”

On Feb. 25, several faculty members will offer a group presentation on “Everything You Wanted to Know about On-line Teaching but Were Afraid to Ask.” This session will be led by Drs. Mike Amey, Ray Rice, Alice Sheppard, and Jing Qi, and instructor Wendy Ross.

The University of Maine at Presque Isle is inviting the campus and community to gather at Wieden Auditorium at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 20 to celebrate an important tradition in American government – the Presidential Inauguration ceremony.

The University will show the ceremony on its large projection screen in Wieden Auditorium, giving students, faculty, staff, and community members an opportunity to gather together and observe this significant occasion.

“Once every four years we have the opportunity to come together as a political and social community to celebrate both change and continuity in our national leadership. We welcome the opportunity at the University of Maine at Presque Isle to invite people of all political persuasions to come and join us in watching President-elect Barack Obama’s inauguration,” President Don Zillman said. “It’s an opportunity for us to reflect on change in our society and the energies of the political processes, and to consider the very substantial challenges that all of us face, but particularly our major elected leaders, in confronting the challenges that are ahead.”