Members of the University of Maine MBS (Maine Business School) Corps were interviewed for a Channel 2 (WLBZ) news report on volunteer assistance the group provided Aunt Nellie’s Attic, a thrift store in Holden that benefits the Hammond Street Senior Center in Bangor. Students shared knowledge about marketing, product placement, customer relations and other aspects of running a business as a way to help local communities and also apply lessons from the classroom to the real world. Channel 7 (WVII) also carried a story on the project on its Jan. 27 evening newscast.
Harold Daniel, associate professor of marketing in the Maine Business School, joined retired Bowdoin Professor David Vail and Maine Public Broadcasting Network’s Irwin Gratz for a news feature about the marketing potential of a “tourism quality label” that might be ascribed to certain hotels, restaurants and businesses that cater to tourists as a way to boost business.
The Bangor Daily News carried a Maine Sun Journal article that included observations from University of Maine Professor of Finance Richard Borgman about foreclosures and liens in the state’s housing market.
The political ramifications and consequences of a world mired in debt is the subject of a free public discussion at 2:10 p.m., Monday, Jan. 28 at the University of Maine by John Mahon, the John M. Murphy Chair of International Business Policy and Strategy and professor of management in the Maine Business School at UMaine. Mahon will discuss “Debt and Deficits Worldwide: What Next?” in 107 D.P. Corbett Business Building. Mahon’s talk, presented by the Bangor Foreign Policy Forum, will cover how serious the debt is and options and consequences of action or inaction. For information, or to request disability accommodations, call 207.581.1835.
As many as 1,000 University of Maine students and more than 103 businesses, firms and organizations are preparing for the 2013 Career Fair from 10 a.m.–3 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 30 at the New Balance Student Recreation Center. Coordinated this year by the UMaine Career Center and the School of Forest Resources, the annual event connects employers with students, who often find seasonal, part-time or permanent jobs, in addition to internships, through career fair introductions.
The number of registered companies is up from 87 participating businesses last year, according to Career Center Director Patty Counihan. The fair is attracting more Maine businesses looking to expand as the economy improves, and also businesses in need of science, technology, engineering and mathematics skills, she says. This year’s fair also incorporates the career fair previously held separately by the UMaine School of Forestry.
The Career Center website has details, including a list of registered businesses and tips for students. For more information, or to request disability accommodations, call the Career Center, 207.581.1359.
The Bangor Daily News has posted an announcement about a presentation on United States and Pakistan relations at 5 p.m., Monday, Jan. 7 at the University of Maine Buchanan Alumni House featuring Husain Haqqani, a Pakistani scholar and public figure who served as Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States from 2008–11.
The future of United States and Pakistan relations is the subject of a free public presentation at 5 p.m., Monday, Jan. 7 at the University of Maine Buchanan Alumni House.
Sponsored by the UMaine School of Policy and International Affairs and the Bangor Foreign Policy Forum, the talk by Husain Haqqani, a Pakistani scholar and public figure who served as Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States from 2008–11, is titled “The Future of U.S.-Pakistan Relations.”
Haqqani is widely credited with managing a difficult partnership during a critical phase in the global war on terrorism. Haqqani started his public life as an Islamist student leader and has emerged as a strong voice for democracy and civilian control of the military in Pakistan and an exponent of liberal values in the Muslim world. His career in government includes serving as an adviser to three Pakistani prime ministers, including Benazir Bhutto. Haqqani is the author of the book Pakistan Between Mosque And Military and hundreds of articles published in major international newspapers, magazines and scholarly journals. He currently is senior fellow and director for South and Central Asia at the Hudson Institute in Washington, D.C. and co-edits the journal Current Trends in Islamist Ideology, published by institute’s Center for Islam, Democracy and Future of the Muslim World. Haqqani also is director of the Center of International Relations and professor of international relations at Boston University.
For more information or to request a disability accommodation, email peter.fandel@umit.maine.edu, or call 207.581.1835.
With potentially significant tax law changes on the horizon for the new year, University of Maine associate professor Steven Colburn, who teaches accounting and oversees a community taxpayer assistance program with students, offers end-of-the-year advice for taxpayers.
Colburn says several things can be done before Dec. 31 to minimize the tax bite for 2012. His suggestions include:
1. Accelerate long-term capital gains into 2012. “If you were thinking of selling stock in 2013, consider selling it in 2012, instead,” he says. “Currently, the top tax rate for long-term capital gains — that is for gains on capital assets held more than one year — is 15 percent. That rate will likely increase for 2013.”
2. Pay for medical expenses in 2012. For 2012, taxpayers must reduce unreimbursed medical expenses by 7.5 percent of their adjusted gross income (AGI) before deducting them. “For 2013, that percentage will increase to 10 percent, unless you are 65 or older,” he says. “AGI is your income minus certain deductions. So, if your AGI for 2012 is $50,000, your unreimbursed medical expenses would have to exceed $3,750 ($50,000 x .075) before you may deduct them. For 2013 with a $50,000 AGI, medical expenses will have to exceed $5,000 ($50,000 x .10) before being deductible.”
3. For 2012, the standard deduction for a single person is $5,950 and $11,900 for a married couple filing jointly. If the total of all of itemized deductions — medical, property taxes, state income taxes, charitable contributions, etc. — is less than the standard deduction, the standard deduction would be the better choice.
4. Pre-pay charitable contributions and property taxes so you can itemize. Some taxpayers don’t have quite enough itemized deductions in any one year to make it worthwhile for them to itemize, so they take the standard deduction each year. “However, by bunching certain payments in one year, you may qualify to itemize one year and take the standard deduction for the next year,” Colburn says. “For example, if you have the cash, instead of waiting until February 2013 to pay your property taxes, you could pre-pay them in December 2012. You could also pay some or all of the charitable contributions that you normally would pay in 2013 in December 2012, instead. That could increase your total itemized deductions for 2012 above the standard deductions amounts mentioned earlier.”
5. The maximum contribution to Coverdell Education Savings Accounts drops from $2,000 per child in 2012 to $500 in 2013. Anyone planning to contribute to these plans should try to max out their contributions for 2012.
6. Mortgage debt forgiven in 2013 will be treated as taxable income. Under the Mortgage Debt Relief Act of 2007, taxpayers who have had mortgage debt reduced or forgiven by a lender were able to exclude that forgiven debt from their gross income. The provision is set to expire Dec. 31, 2012. So, a homeowner who is currently negotiating with a lender to get a mortgage debt reduced or forgiven needs to complete that process by Dec. 31, or pay a tax on any such debt forgiven in 2013.
7. Be alert for last-minute tax changes. Congress and the president are still negotiating changes to the tax law. It’s possible that last-minute changes could affect tax bills for 2012 and for 2013.
Contact Steve Colburn, 207.581.1982; George Manlove, 207.581.3756 or george.manlove@umit.maine.edu
The Bangor Daily News, Channel 2 (WLBZ), Channel 5 (WABI) and Channel 7 (WVII) were among the news organizations covering the Nov. 27 memorial service and candlelight vigil for two UMaine students and a recent graduate killed in a plane crash Nov. 16 at the Knox County Regional Airport. More than 500 people turned out to celebrate the lives of the men, all members of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity. The Lewiston Sun Journal published the Bangor Daily News article. Other news media reporting on the memorial included the Boston Herald. The San Francisco Chronicle published an Associated Press article about plans for the memorial.
Contact: George Manlove, 207. 581.3756
Ivan Manev, dean of the University of Maine College of Business, Public Policy and Health, recently made a presentation on entrepreneurship in transitional economies at a conference in Moscow. He also visited the Komi Republic Academy of Public Service and Administration in Syktyvkar, the capital of the Komi Republic. The academy is a partner institution with the University of Maine, whose students have visited several times as part of a UMaine business class. In Syktyvkar, Manev, a professor of management, delivered a talk on Maine’s experience in encouraging entrepreneurship, which was attended by 150 students and faculty.
Contact: George Manlove, 207.581.3756