Schools

Transition planning for youths with disabilities

BANGOR – The Maine Transition Network, Region 3 Penquis, will hold a forum on post-secondary education and training opportunities available to students with special needs 3-5 p.m. and 6-8 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 10, in the conference room at Alpha One, 1048 Union St.

Presenters for the session will be Kate Kevit, admissions director at University College; Dr. Elizabeth Worden, disability services coordinator at Eastern Maine Community College; Tina St. Louis, director of Pierre’s Beauty School; Renae Muscatell, Penobscot Job Corps Academy; and Steven Mondor, Northeast Technical (Trucking) School.

The forum will address the concerns that youth with special needs have about going to college or other training programs. How will college be different? What are the expectations of the institutions? What are your rights and responsibilities?

To register for the forum, call Cindy Tuck, coordinator of the program, at 992-2270, or e-mail schooltolife@midmaine.com. The forums are free of charge, but space and materials are limited.

Nature classes for Home-schooled children

HOLDEN – Fields Pond Audubon Center will offer classes for home-schooled children.

. Jan. 8, 2-3:30 p.m., “Be a Nature Detective.” Pupils look at natural objects such as feathers, fur, cones, skulls or chew marks for clues about animal, insect or bird activity.

. Jan. 22, 2-3:30 p.m., “Animal Tracks.” Investigate some track stories and make a plaster cast of an animal track.

Each class will include an outdoor activity, so children should be dressed appropriately.

The cost is $10 per class. Preregistration and payment will secure your child’s space in a class. Call the center at 989-2591 for rates for multiple children or additional information.

‘Arts ‘n’ Kids’ program

BANGOR – Starting Tuesday, Jan. 9, boys and girls in grades four and five are invited to act up, sing and dance up a storm at the Maine Discovery Museum.

“Arts ‘n’ Kids” is for boys and girls interested in the performing arts and who want to have fun and meet others who share their enthusiasm. The program teaches skills and techniques of professional musical theater including acting, singing and dancing. Children also learn the importance of communicating and working collaboratively in a group.

Each session of “Arts ‘n’ Kids” will meet 3:30-4:45 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays for six weeks. A healthy snack will be provided before each class.

The final class will be an informal performance for parents and friends, Session I begins Jan. 9 and Session II begins Feb. 27. A.J. Mooney and Andrea Stark will teach both sessions.

Mooney received a master’s degree in acting from the Actors Studio in New York and has an extensive background in theater, including off-Broadway performances. His recent performances with Penobscot Theatre Company include last season’s “Picasso at the Lapin Agile,” and the fall 2006 production of “Falsettos.”

Andrea Stark, Maine Discovery Museum’s executive director, holds a master’s degree in dance theater from NYU School of the Arts. She performed with dance and theater companies in New York City before becoming artistic director of the Ram Island Dance Company in Portland.

“Arts ‘n’ Kids” is a free program co-sponsored by Community Health and Counseling, Wal-Mart, Target, Bangor Daily News, the Children’s Cabinet of Eastern Maine and the Maine Community Foundation, in collaboration with Maine Discovery Museum.

Children must commit to regular attendance. For more information and registration, call the museum at 262-7200.

Bangor Sports Boosters

BANGOR – The Bangor Sports Boosters will meet at 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 8, in the ROTC room at Bangor High School. All are welcome. For information, contact Darlene Kenney at 947-6523.

Colleges

Albany College of Pharmacy

ALBANY, N.Y. – Cassandra White of Hermon has been placed on the dean’s list as a first-year student at Albany College of Pharmacy.

Her major is doctor of pharmacy. She played on the college soccer team, which won the Northern Independence Conference Championship, and currently plays on the women’s basketball team.

University of Maine

ORONO – University of Maine philosophy professor Michael Howard recently won first prize in an essay contest conducted by Basic Income Studies, a new international academic journal that focuses on basic income issues and universal welfare policies.

Howard received the award in November at the 11th Congress of the Basic Income Earth Network in Cape Town, South Africa. The award is designed to inspire promising research on basic income and related policies.

The Basic Income Studies essay prize is awarded for an essay that exemplifies the high standard of quality and original basic income research. Winners are chosen from essays presented on alternating years at the congress and U.S. Basic Income Guarantee Network Congress.

In his article, “A NAFTA Dividend: A Proposal for a Guaranteed Minimum Income for North America,” Howard applied Thomas Pogge’s argument for a global resource dividend on a regional basis in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

“The paper is both novel and important, and it is well-developed both in terms of its comparison with the related proposal for a basic income for the European Union and in its examination of the specifics of the North American Free Trade Area,” said Basic Income Studies editors Karl Widerquist and Jurgen De Wispelaere.

Howard’s essay will be published in an upcoming issue of the journal.

Howard also has an article in the first edition of the new Basic Income Studies, which can be accessed at www.bepress.com/bis/.

The Prize Essay and three essays worthy of honorable mention were selected by a panel of judges from Basic Income Studies and the Basic Income Earth Network representing the fields of economics, politics, philosophy and development studies.

Honorable mention was awarded for “Good for Women? Advantages and Risks of Basic Income from a Gender Perspective” by Julieta Elgarta, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Argentina and Universite Catholique de Louvain, Belgium; “Why Switzerland? Basic Income and the Development Potential of Swiss Republicanism” by Eric Patry, Institute for Economic and Business Ethics, University of St. Gallen, Switzerland; and “Australia’s Disabling Income Support System” by Jennifer Mays, Centre for Social change Research, Queensland University of Technology, Australia.

Western GovernorsUniversity

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Daniel Wing of Brewer has graduated from Western Governors University with a bachelor’s degree in business management.

A ceremony honoring the latest graduates will be held Feb. 10 in Salt Lake City.

Albany College of Pharmacy

ALBANY, N.Y. – Cassandra White of Hermon has been placed on the dean’s list as a first-year student at Albany College of Pharmacy.

Her major is doctor of pharmacy. She played on the college soccer team, which won the Northern Independence Conference Championship, and currently plays on the women’s basketball team.