Schools

Dictionary delivery

The Bangor Elks Lodge 244 recently delivered 1,000 dictionaries to third-graders in local schools. The delivery was part of a national Elks project to bring literacy into the classroom.

Louis Grant served as project coordinator. Greg Hall, Brian Hanscom, Jill Hanscom, Sue Bernier, Bob Gross, Peter Durant, Shawn Stacey, Joan Glans and Bill Davis delivered the dictionaries to the schools.

For those who stutter

A “Fluency Fun Day” for kids and teens who stutter, and their parents, will be held 1-4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 5, in the Memorial Union FAA Room at the University of Maine.

Children will take part in games and age-appropriate activities that build good communication skills. They will learn that if you stutter, you are not alone.

Parents will participate in a round-table discussion led by speech and language pathologists with expertise in stuttering.

The day is sponsored by the stuttering clinic at the Conley Speech, Language and Hearing Center at UMaine.

RSVP to Marybeth Allen, 581-2403, or e-mail Marybeth.allen@umit.maine.edu.

Boy Scouts open house

HAMPDEN – Boy Scout Troop 1776 of Hampden will hold an open house at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 25, at the VFW Post, Canoe Club Road. The event is open to families with boys who are at least 11 years old.

No previous experience in scouting is required to join a Boy Scout troop. Current troop members and adult leaders will be available to answer questions about troop activities, including outdoor adventure, camping trips, community service and rank advancement in Boy Scouts.

To obtain information, call Curt Slininger, scoutmaster, at 862-4619, or Jon Henry, assistant scoutmaster, at 862-2059.

Colleges

Babson College

WELLESLEY, Mass. – Seth Hayward of Holden and Cheryl Morris of Winterport have been named to the dean’s list for the spring semester at Babson College.

Nursing scholarships

Sister Mary Norberta, president and CEO of St. Joseph Healthcare, recently presented 10 employees with $1,000 Anna M. Kosak Nursing Scholarships in honor of her aunt.

In order to be eligible for the scholarship, recipients must be accepted in a Maine accredited nursing program, be an employee of St. Joseph Hospital and meet academic requirements.

The recipients were Sheryl Bouchard, Diabetes and Nutrition Center; Laurie Brodeur, surgical orthopedics; Maureen Carmichael, Cardio-Pulmonary Care Unit; Justin Cloukey, emergency department; Alicia Estes, dietary; Celine Ferland, medical unit; Michelle Harding, medical unit; Tiffany Patenaude, surgical orthopedics; Andrea Shirley, ambulatory surgical unit; and Tammy Smith, pharmacy.

Anna “Auntie” Kosak was a native of Boston who moved to Bangor in the early 1980s to be closer to her niece and godchild, Sister Mary Norberta.

Kosak, who died in February 2002, was never able to fulfill her earliest ambition of becoming a nurse, so she was very proud of her niece for becoming a registered nurse, a certified nurse practitioner and CEO of a hospital. The scholarship was established in her memory with the help of contributions.

“It is wonderful to have Auntie’s memory live on,” Sister Norberta said, “providing and assisting nursing students, with scholarship funds enabling them to attend the school of their choice and here, nursing.”

University College Bangor

BANGOR – The Office of the Campus Dean at the University College of Bangor, a campus of the University of Maine at Augusta, announced its spring 2005 dean’s list:

Bangor – Michelle Bear, Carl Briggs, Nicole Brown, Alicia Carroll, Krista Clark, Kristofer Colford Sr., Amanda Conners, Rachel Crossman, Julie Deyone, Lynn Dostie, Scott Ellis, Kristen Farrar, Shelly Hanscom, Tracy Hansen, April Hicks, Melissa Howes, Sherri Hynds, Phillip Mason, Christopher Morse, Bridgette Murray, Bethany Nightingale, Aimee Post, Katie Randall, Derek Reed, Melissa Robinson, Rosalie Shepherd, Kricket Soucy, Heather Spencer, Jamie St. Amand, Philip Stupakewicz, Carrie Timberlake, Lisa Troppman and Sarah Wardwell.

Bradford – Julie Smith.

Bradley – Lisa McCarthy.

Brewer – Meghan Casement, Kelley Hill, Cassandra Houston, Carrie Kemp, Lance Lavoie Jr., Stephen Marko, Melissa Masterson, Jeffrey Newell, Lindsey Rand, Dana Spencer and Pat Violette-Hayden.Bucksport – Candace Marriner, Diana Muniz, Benjamin Urquhart and Vernon Wilbur.

Carmel – Tracey Hotham and Ryan Wilson.

Corinth – Maxine Bruton and Jeremy Freeman.

Dixmont – Saralynn Hardy and Scott Reglin.

Eddington – Travis Lenfest.

Frankfort – Becky Jo Ellis.

Glenburn – Suziette Coffey, Christopher Cookson and Terry Gardner.

Greenbush – Danielle Carey, Melinda-Jo Marquis and Richard Polk.

Hampden – Melissa Carlstad, Shanon Corcoran, Monique Gordon and Timothy Paradis.

Hermon – Kathryn Bishop, Stephanie Buxton, Paul Denty and Jeffrey Dunifer and Randy Lackovic, Ronia Laita, Florence McCartney, Susan Meade, Paula Page and Hope Scott-Poulin.

Holden – Renee Doll, Jeannette Seger and Michael Spencer.

Hudson – Gillian Desmond.

Levant – Theresa Mayhew, Patricia Peterson, Missi Ransom-Veasy, Jami Theriault and Shayne White.

Milford – Jeni Cunningham.

Newburgh – Amy Curtis.

Old Town – Jeffrey Barclay, Philip Beckett, Faye Decontie, Sarah Decontie, Holly McNally, Erica Patterson and Rebecca Thibodeau.

Orland – Joel Clement.

Orono – Brandee Trask, Trudy Trask, Nicole Turcotte and Jesse White.

Orrington – Jamison Cocklin and Lynn White.

Stillwater – Holly Billings.

Veazie – Brandy Kennard.

Winterport – Darlene Canty, Patricia Caswell, Kimberly Herz, Shannon Reynolds and Jill Taylor-Harnish.

National writing conference

ORONO – Representatives from the University of Maine Writing Center attended an annual conference hosted by the International Writing Center Association and the National Conference on Peer Tutoring in Writing this week in Minneapolis.

The contingent hosted a workshop titled “Sex and the Writing Center: Exploring Gender Dynamics in Tutorials.” The group, comprising professor Harvey Kail and students Emily Morrissette, Michael King, Christie Nold and Ernest Scheyder, will present findings from an informal study conducted at the writing center this semester. The study analyzed ways in which both tutors and tutees perceive and react to gender differences while engaged in peer tutorials.

The workshop included a presentation on findings and small-group sessions to discuss effective methods to address the role gender plays in tutorial sessions.

“The UMaine peer writing tutors are putting together a first-rate interactive workshop on gender dynamics in writing tutorials, and we have been given a prime place on the conference program,” said Kail, professor of English, prior to the conference. “It will put the spotlight on the University of Maine as a leader in writing center theory and practice.”

Scheyder, who is from Berwick, was recently honored by the conference organizers with a scholarship to offset travel costs. It was one of five given nationwide.

“I am honored to have been chosen by the selection committee and look forward to representing the University of Maine in Minneapolis,” Scheyder said recently. “Writing is important, and it is encouraging to see UMaine’s large emphasis on the collaborative writing process receive recognition with this award.”

The writing center – a free service for all students – is operated by the English department and utilizes peer tutors. Students come to the center to craft and hone their writing skills. Tutors come from a myriad of majors and have successfully completed a course designed to train them in writing and collaborative learning.

The International Writing Center Association was founded in 1983 to foster communication among writing centers. It is the largest organization of its kind in the world.

Talk on Apollo 13 and Space Shuttle

ORONO – Aaron Cohen, a long-time NASA administrator who managed the early design and development of the space shuttle, will visit the University of Maine as the guest of his friend and former colleague, UMaine President Robert Kennedy. Cohen will present a public talk at 4 p.m. Friday, Oct. 21, in the Arthur St. John Hill Auditorium, located in UMaine’s Engineering and Science Research Center attached to Barrows Hall.

Cohen worked at NASA from 1962 to 1992. During the Apollo program, he served as manager of the Command and Service Module, among other significant roles that were critical to the success of all six lunar landings.

In 1972, he was named Space Shuttle Orbiter Project manager, a position that gave him key responsibilities in the earliest stages of the space shuttle program. By 1986, Cohen had become Johnson Space Center director, in charge of approximately 3,600 NASA employees and 14,000 contractor employees. After his 1992 retirement from NASA, Cohen returned to his alma mater, Texas A&M University, as Zachary Professor of Engineering. That’s where he met Kennedy, who was vice president for research at Texas A&M.

“Aaron is one of the key behind-the-scenes figures in the history of the U.S. space program,” Kennedy said. “He played an important role in helping move the space program through its various stages of development over three decades, as manned space travel became more routine and more scientifically significant. His perspectives on the current state of the space program are timely and are informed by historical perspective that can be matched by very few people.”

Cohen plans to discuss “Apollo 13 and the Space Shuttle,” in the context of recent news related to NASA. A new exploration initiative to the moon and Mars is planned, and NASA Administrator Michael Griffin recently characterized the shuttle and the international space station as “mistakes.”

“It is apparent that the U.S. space program is at a crossroads, and it will be interesting to see how events transpire over the coming months,” Kennedy said. “Aaron is certain to have interesting insights, and I look forward to hearing what he has to say.”

Cohen will travel to Maine from Massachusetts, where he is currently serving as a guest lecturer at MIT. While at UMaine, he also will visit with undergraduate and graduate students, along with faculty members, in the college of engineering. His talk is free and open to the public.