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Tribal Youth Council

INDIAN ISLAND – Participants of the Penobscot Nation Boys and Girls Club’s Teen Action Project agreed unanimously to establish the first Tribal Youth Council for the Penobscot Nation in more than 15 years.

The Teen Action Project began in June as a collaboration between the Penobscot Nation Boys and Girls Club, Penobscot Nation Police Department and Penobscot Nation Tribal Court.

The project is funded through a grant awarded to the club by the National Center for Victims of Crime. The National Center is the nation’s leading resource and advocacy organization for crime victims and those who serve them.

Participants in the Teen Action Project took part in technical assistance training in June, sponsored by the National Center. At the training, six Penobscot youth participated in a series of activities during which they identified issues affecting the community’s youth. The group will continue to meet throughout the year to identify local resources and viable solutions to the issues identified.

The group decided to establish their identity as the Penobscot Nation Tribal Youth Council to better serve the youth in the community.

“As a council we can have one unified voice and a forum where all youth can be heard and respected equally,” said Jake Paul, 17, Tribal Youth Council member.

The youth council will address the concerns of the community’s youth, organize events to improve intertribal youth relations and do community service projects. The first community event will take place Tuesday, Aug. 5, as the youth council celebrates National Night Out, America’s night out against crime.

Current members of the Penobscot Nation Youth Council are Jake Paul, Leya Bryant, Nathan Paul, Julian Loring, Morgan Talty and James Marsh.

School supplies

BANGOR – Penquis will distribute free school supplies throughout Penobscot and Piscataquis counties from Monday, Aug. 4, to Friday, Aug. 15.

For information, call Penquis at 877-226-3136 to register. Be prepared to provide the child’s name, age, grade, school, your name and contact information.

School supplies will be distributed on a first-call basis until the supply is depleted.

Colleges

Gettysburg College

ORONO – Matthew Whorton of Orono completed the requirements for a bachelor’s degree from Gettysburg College in Gettysburg, Pa., on May 18. Whorton majored in health science.

Hofstra University

EDDINGTON – Hannah Taylor of Eddington was named to the dean’s list for the spring semester at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y. She is studying broadcast journalism.

James Madison University

ORRINGTON – Josie Donaher was named to the president’s list for the spring semester at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va., for maintaining a 4.0 grade point average. She is majoring in sociology.

A 2005 graduate of John Bapst Memorial High School in Bangor, Donaher is the daughter of Richard and Judy Donaher of Roque Bluffs, formerly of Orrington.

Paul Smith’s College

ORONO – Emilia Bradson of Orono was named to the dean’s list for the spring semester at Paul Smith’s College in Paul Smith, N.Y. The honor requires a grade point average of 3.3 or higher. In addition, Bradson was designated an Adirondack Scholar for achieving a cumulative average of at least 3.8.

Fulbright Scholar grant

ORONO – University of Maine assistant physics professor John R. Thompson has been awarded a Fulbright Scholar grant to teach and conduct research on the learning and teaching of physics, also known as physics education research, at Dublin Institute of Technology in Ireland for 2008-2009.

Thompson will compare physics education research methods in Ireland with those in the United States and investigate how teaching strategies based on physics education research results might affect student learning of science at the undergraduate and graduate levels.

Thompson, who has a cooperating appointment in the UM College of Education and Human Development and is a member of the Center for Science and Mathematics Education Research, has focused on the learning of specific concepts in science and on development of guided inquiry curricular materials for physics courses.

Thompson’s host research group in Dublin has implemented a teaching method called “problem-based learning” – asking students to solve a real math or scientific question – on the premise that it is more effective than merely memorizing facts and formulas.

“I want to look at whether they learn differently in Ireland as a result,” said Thompson, whose research also involves studying how upper-level students learn subjects such as thermodynamics.

Thompson will continue ongoing Orono-based research projects and forge new collaborations with faculty and researchers in Dublin. One such collaboration will involve courses for teaching science more effectively.

Both UM and Dublin Institute of Technology offer similar courses. Thompson will teach and exchange course materials while in Dublin.

“I expect some of the things I learn there I can bring back to my courses here and it will alter my teaching, and I can share it with other faculty,” Thompson said.

The Fulbright Scholar grant provides partial living expenses for Thompson, his two children and wife Kate Dickerson, a research associate at the Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center at UM.

The visit, he said, “is a cultural exchange as well as an intellectual exchange.”

Academy of Engineering

ORONO – Adriaan van Heiningen, a University of Maine professor who holds the J. Larcom Ober Chair in chemical engineering, was inducted as a Fellow in the Canadian Academy of Engineering.

Van Heiningen, whose pioneering research has been the catalyst for the proposed Old Town ethanol bio-refinery project, joins 35 others who were honored by their peers in Montreal on June 17 for their distinguished achievements and career-long service to the engineering profession.

“His groundbreaking fundamental research has led to profound changes in the pulp manufacturing industry and its environmental impact,” an academy statement said of van Heiningen, the founding director of the Dr. Jack McKenzie Limerick Pulp and Paper Centre at the University of New Brunswick, Canada. “He is recognized internationally as the leading proponent of the Integrated Forest Biorefinery for producing biofuels and biomaterials.”

The academy, established in 1987, is a member of the 25-country Council of Academies of Engineering and Technological Sciences.

UM Class of 2010 Council

ORONO – The University of Maine’s Class of 2010 Council has been changing the way UM students view their university experience, bringing together alumni and undergraduates in a unified vision, and planning to change the landscape of the state’s flagship university.

The Class of 2010 has been noteworthy since these students set out to revive the traditions and spirit of alumni classes during their first year with encouragement and guidance from the Class of 1944.

The goal of the Class of 2010 was to inspire in its members a pride and sense of involvement in their graduating class, following the example of alumni classes and attempting to incorporate traditions of the past with the students’ undergraduate experience. At the same time, they looked forward to a time when the class of 2010 can leave a lasting legacy.

The inception of the Class of 2010 council is unique because it is the first class council of its kind, established during the class’ first year at the university. As opposed to the previous model of developing a “senior council,” this new form affords students the opportunity to promote class unity, host social events and plan a major gift to the university by the time of their graduation.

The Class of 2010 council has set the precedent for other classes at the university, as respective councils for the classes of 2009 and 2011 have been established in the past year.

The major gift from the class of 2010 is the Traditions Trail, a half-million dollar project conceived, designed and executed by students in the Class of 2010. The brick pathway will run from the Memorial Union to the Buchanan Alumni House, covering 2,300 feet of campus and highlighting many revered traditions of the university.

Sections will be funded by donors including alumni, campus organizations and current classes in an effort to bring together in a physical and symbolic manner elements that contribute to the culture of the University of Maine. Ground has not yet been broken, but the anticipated completion date will coincide with the class’ graduation in May 2010.

The council’s goals are not purely symbolic or pertaining to campus construction. The members’ hope is that they can foster involvement and interaction of their classmates during their time at the university. As a representative board, the council is making an effort to give the class the best undergraduate experience possible.

The council has hosted social events such as an ice skating party at the Alfond Arena, participated in community service events such as Relay for Life, and encouraged involvement from all class members. The council aims to bring together all of the nearly 2,000 members of the class, leaving them with lasting memories of good times and pride in their university and each other.

Biomedical sciences

ORONO – University of Maine microbiologist Carol H. Kim has been named the director of the graduate school of biomedical sciences.

Kim, an associate professor in the department of biochemistry, microbiology and molecular biology, has expertise in molecular virology and host response to infectious disease. In her current research, she uses zebra fish as the model organism for studying the effects of bacterial and viral pathogens and environmental toxicants such as arsenic on a host’s ability to fight infection.

Kim joined the UM faculty in 1998 and has a cooperating appointment in the School of Marine Sciences. She already has played a leading role in the school’s management through her work with its admissions committee. As the school director, Kim reports to Dan Sandweiss, dean and associate provost for UM graduate studies.

“Already, Carol is putting into motion a series of plans to move GSBS to the next stage of success,” Sandweiss says. “I have every confidence that the program will take off under Carol’s leadership.”

The UM Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences represents a collaboration between the university and six other research and educational institutions: the Jackson Laboratory, Maine Medical Center Research Institute, Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory, University of Southern Maine, University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine and the Maine Institute for Human Genetics and Health.

Through the partnership, more than 100 faculty members from the research and educational institutions teach and mentor graduate students pursuing doctoral degrees in biomedical sciences with concentrations in molecular and cellular biology, neuroscience, biomedical engineering and toxicology, in addition to an interdisciplinary doctorate degree in functional genomics.

The school office is located in the newly remodeled Camden Hall on the University College of Bangor campus.

Feminist Perspective Award

ORONO – University of Maine assistant professor of sociology Amy Blackstone has received the Outstanding Research Proposal from a Feminist Perspective Award from the Feminism and Family Studies Section of the National Council on Family Relations.

The research proposal is a study and survey of child-free adults and their decisions not to become parents. The award includes a financial stipend to fund interviews she is conducting this summer and to offset costs of attending the National Council on Family Relations meeting in Little Rock in November.

Blackstone’s teaching and research interests include social movements and activism, sociology of gender, sociology of work and research methods. More recent research has included a study of the workplace sexual harassment experiences of males and females in adolescence and young adulthood.

The research project for which Blackstone won the Feminist Perspective Award will explore the processes whereby child-free adults decide to remain child-free and social responses to their choices.

Law school graduate

ORONO – Matthew Pare has graduated from law school, magna cum laude, at California Western School of Law in San Diego. He is the son of Richard and Nancy Pare of Orono.

As a student at the school, he was an editor of the California Western Law Review-International Law Journal, and the recipient of merit scholarships.

While in law school, Pare served as the judicial extern to the Hon. Steven R. Denton, a California trial court judge. Pare was active in moot court competitions, earning a first-place finish in the Lynch competition for appellate advocacy. He also was a finalist in the Gill trial competition.

Pare received the Distinguished Advocate Award for oral advocacy skills, the faculty award for contributions to the law school community and the American Jurisprudence Award for the highest grade in torts.

Throughout law school, Pare worked in private law firms as a law clerk and summer associate, focusing on civil litigation. He is active in the San Diego Bar Association and is a member of the American Inns of Court.

Pare plans to take the California bar examination in July before starting as an associate attorney at the firm Berman and Riedel LLP.

Academy of Wood Science

ORONO ? Robert Rice, a professor of wood science in the University of Maine?s School of Forest Resources, was elected a 2008 fellow of the International Academy of Wood Science.

A UM faculty member for 17 years, Rice has published more than 60 research papers on the physics of wood, many of them involving the human health and environmental issues related to wood processing plants. His work includes research in the fields of wood energy, heat and mass transfer in wood and wood-based composites.

The International Academy of Wood Science was founded in Paris in 1966 as a nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote worldwide the concerted development of wood science by recognizing the meritorious achievements and high scientific standards of its elected fellows.