The newest CD of chamber music by UMaine artists Noreen Silver, cello, and Phillip Silver, piano, performing with violinist Solomia Soroka, was reviewed on MusicWeb International. It features the works of little-known Jewish composer Bernhard Sekles who was directing the Hoch Conservatory in Frankfurt until the Nazi regime came to power. Reviewer Steve Arloff notes that Sekles wrote a small number of compositions, including the two sonatas on the disc that demonstrate the composer was “clearly a master of the genre.” Arloff calls the CD a “discovery,” both for the obscure Sekles works and the “flawless” performance by the Silvers and Soroka.
Archive for the ‘Campus Announcements’ Category
Newest Silver Duo CD Earns Rave Review
Thursday, April 11th, 2013UMaine Names Corkum Interim Head Coach of Men’s Ice Hockey
Wednesday, April 10th, 2013Robert Corkum today was named interim head coach of University of Maine men’s ice hockey by UMaine Director of Athletics Steve Abbott.
Corkum replaces Tim Whitehead, who was released from his contract April 9. A formal national search for a permanent men’s ice hockey coach will begin immediately with the formation of a search committee.
Corkum, a UMaine alumnus, has been an associate head coach with the university’s men’s ice hockey program since 2008.
“Bob Corkum was a great Black Bear and NHL player,” says Abbott. “He did a terrific job as an associate head coach and I am confident that he can give us stability during this time of transition.”
Corkum, played for Maine from 1985–89 and went on to a 12-year National Hockey League career. While a Black Bear, he helped build the foundation of the UMaine program, serving as captain in 1988–89. He was part of the university’s first three NCAA Tournament teams and played in NCAA Frozen Fours in both 1988 and 1989. In 1988, Corkum was named UMaine’s Most Inspirational Player.
Corkum was drafted by the Buffalo Sabres and went on to play 720 games in the National Hockey League for seven teams. He finished his professional career with 97 goals and 103 assists for 200 career points. During the 2000–01 season, Corkum played in the Stanley Cup finals for the New Jersey Devils, scoring a short-handed goal against Colorado and NHL Hall of Fame goalie Patrick Roy.
Since his playing career, Corkum has built an impressive coaching resume in a short amount of time. He has spent part of the past two summers coaching with USA Hockey. In 2012, Corkum served as assistant coach of the 2012 U.S. Under-18 Select Team. The team played five games in the Czech Republic and Slovakia during August. During summer 2011, Corkum was head coach of the 2011 U.S. Under-17 Select Team. The team posted a 4-0-0 mark en route to the Five Nations Title with wins over the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Germany and Slovakia.
Corkum came to Maine from the New Hampshire Junior Monarchs of the Eastern Junior Hockey League, where he was associate head coach from 2006–08. He was responsible for recruiting players along with working with individuals and small groups in skill development. The Junior Monarchs were successful under his guidance, as the team finished as Tier III Junior A National Champion in both 2007 and 2008. The Monarchs were Co-EJHL Season Champions in 2008, and finished as EJHL Season Champions and Playoff Champions in 2007.
“I have fond memories of my time here as a players and a coach,” says Corkum. “My mission as coach is to give our student-athletes the same experience I had during my four years here at the University of Maine.”
Corkum, and his wife, Jessica, have four children: Carley, Kelen, Cain and Koby. They are also proud grandparents. Carley, and her husband, Jason Lovejoy, have a son, Parker Andrew, and reside in Westboro, Mass.
Electrical Engineering Students Win Best Paper Award
Wednesday, April 10th, 2013UMaine electrical engineering majors Lonnie Labonte and Asa Sproul won the first place best paper award at IEEE Region 1 Student Conference at MIT April 6. More than 200 students from eight states in the Northeast attended the conference. The students’ winning paper on green skateboard design is part of their capstone design project. This is the second time a UMaine student won the paper contest. In 2010, electrical engineering major Fred Schwaner placed second for a paper based on his work in the Wireless Sensing Lab.
UMaine will buy out last year of Head Coach Tim Whitehead’s contract
Tuesday, April 9th, 2013University of Maine President Paul Ferguson has announced that the University will buy out the last year of Coach Tim Whitehead’s contract, ending his appointment as head coach after 11 seasons. This announcement follows several weeks of intense discussions with constituents of the University of Maine Men’s Ice Hockey Program that included current and former players, coaches, fans, donors, faculty, university administrators and Coach Whitehead. This action is effective April 9, 2013.
“Tim’s positive character and demonstrated commitment to developing our hockey players as student-athletes have been outstanding,” said President Ferguson. “We as a university are grateful for that commitment to student success.”
In supporting this decision, Director of Athletics Steve Abbott added, “This is about the future of our marquee program. Since 2008, UMaine has experienced declining Hockey East success, season ticket sales and overall ticket revenues, and waning student engagement in men’s ice hockey. The President and I are committed to ensuring that our Men’s Hockey Program is financially sustainable, continues to focus on developing the student-athlete and is known nationally for excellence.”
In a statement, Coach Whitehead said: “It has been an honor to serve as the Head Coach of the Menís Hockey Team at the University of Maine for the past 12 years. My family and I feel blessed to have been part of the Maine Hockey family, and we will always cherish the relationships we have built, both at the University and in the Bangor Community.
“The Maine hockey fans are the best in the country, and they have a lot to look forward to for next season and beyond,” Whitehead said. “I love our returning core of players and our incoming recruits. I’m confident this team will build on our strong second half this season, and that they will compete among the top programs in the nation next year.”
Whitehead had one year remaining on a four-year extension of his employment contract negotiated in 2010. In choosing not to pursue an additional extension from discussions with Coach Whitehead, the University will provide up to $195,000 related to one year’s salary, plus one month’s salary in lieu of notice. President Ferguson will use only privately raised funds from the President’s Discretionary Account to meet that obligation and no funds will be reallocated from the current university budget committed to academic programs, faculty, student or operational needs. Abbott has indicated that the Athletics Department is committed to reimbursing the President’s investment through anticipated revenues generated by renewing fan interest and increased ticket sales.
A formal national search for a new men’s ice hockey coach will begin immediately with the formation of a search committee.
Wu Receives Top Pan-American Award
Tuesday, April 9th, 2013Vivian Chi-Hua Wu, associate professor of microbiology and food safety at the University of Maine, has won a 2012 Bimbo Pan-American Nutrition, Food Science and Technology Award.
The award recognizes the best research projects in the fields of nutrition, food science and technology throughout the Americas.
Wu will receive $5,000 for her technology project, “A piezoelectric immunosensor for specific capture and enrichment of viable pathogens by quartz crystal microbalance sensor, followed by detection with antibody-functionalized gold nanoparticles.”
A scientific jury of researchers and experts chose Wu’s project the best of 107 entries.
Distinguished Diversity Lecture April 12
Tuesday, April 9th, 2013The 2013 Stanley Sue Distinguished Diversity Lecture will be presented Friday, April 12 by psychologist Doug Kimmel, speaking on, “Smoke, Mirrors, and Fairy Dust: Using Psychology for Social Justice.”
The lecture begins at 1:30 p.m., in 105 Corbett Business Building. The Stanley Sue Lecture Series, an annual event sponsored by UMaine’s Diversity Committee of the Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, focuses on speakers who work with diverse populations.
Kimmel will be speaking about his work with LGBT and aging populations, and social justice. Kimmel has worked extensively with several divisions of the American Psychological Association and authored books, chapters and journal articles.
After serving on the faculty at City College in New York City from 1970-98, Kimmel moved to coastal Maine.
For more information or to request disability accommodations, contact Ethan Rothstein on FirstClass.
Career Center, Foster Center to Hold Summer Job Presentation
Monday, April 8th, 2013The Career Center and the Foster Center for Student Innovation will offer a presentation on using Career Link to find summer jobs and internships from 12:30-1:30 p.m., Thursday, April 11 at the Foster Center.
The presentation will also touch on networking, how to create a resume and how to improve telephone skills.
Pizza will be served.
For more information, to RSVP, or to request disability accommodations, call the Foster Center, 581.1454.
UMaine’s One Million Bones Event Set for April 13
Friday, April 5th, 2013As part of a national project to raise awareness of genocide in Africa, the University of Maine Office of Multicultural Student Affairs is taking part in One Million Bones, a large-scale social arts practice. Participants in Maine will make bones out of clay or recycled materials that will be used in a campus event at 2 p.m. Saturday, April 13 in King Plaza.
In the UMaine observance, Maine participants hope to place 1,000 of the handmade bones in the plaza in a reflective effort to remember victims and survivors of genocide. Each bone created through this initiative generates a $1 donation through the Bezos Family Foundation to CARE for its work in Somalia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Before the April 13 event, members of the UMaine community can create a clay bone or donate $5 to have one made for them at the following times and locations: 3 p.m. April 6, Coe Room, Memorial Union; 7 p.m. April 7, Office of Multicultural Student Affairs, Memorial Union; 6 p.m. April 9, Somerset Hall; and 7 p.m. April 11, Totman Room, Memorial Union.
Students from the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs hope to take the bones to the national One Million Bones event June 8–10 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. More information is online.
Juried Student Art Exhibition April 5–May 5
Friday, April 5th, 2013The University of Maine Department of Art will hold an opening reception and award ceremony for the annual Juried Student Exhibition from 5:30–7 p.m. Friday, April 5 at the Lord Hall Gallery on campus.
The exhibition is free and open to the public from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday until May 5.
For more information or to request disability accommodations, call the Department of Art at 207.581.3245.
Sappi Fine Paper Donates $100,000 for Scholarships
Thursday, April 4th, 2013Sappi Fine Paper North America will donate $100,000 over the course of four years to the University of Maine Pulp & Paper Foundation to establish an endowed scholarship fund for engineers. The Sappi Scholarship Fund is a leadership gift to the University of Maine Pulp & Paper Foundation’s $2 million fundraising campaign, which begins this year. Sappi Fine Paper North America has supported the University of Maine Pulp & Paper Foundation since its inception in 1950. The company is a member in the foundation, supports the foundation’s Consider Engineering Program, provides internship and co-op positions for undergraduate engineering students, and ultimately hires qualified University of Maine graduates. Many former recipients of University of Maine Pulp & Paper Foundation scholarships are found at all levels of leadership throughout Sappi’s two Maine-based mills in Skowhegan and Westbrook, and across the company in North America.
