WVII (Channel 7) reported the University of Maine sorority Kappa Delta Phi will host “Color Me Kappa,” a 5K color run to benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation. The run will be held April 5 at UMaine, and participants can register online.
WABI (Channel 5) reported the University of Maine Clean Snowmobile Team is preparing for the Society of Automotive Engineers Clean Snowmobile Challenge in April. The contest is an engineering design competition for university students that challenge them to re-engineer an existing snowmobile to reduce emissions and noise. The UMaine team is using compressed natural gas, which has less harmful emissions than gasoline, to power its snowmobile.
Research by C.K. Kwai, director of International Programs at the University of Maine, was referenced in a Chronicle of Higher Education article published in the The New York Times titled “Helping foreign students thrive on U.S. Campuses.” The article reported on Kwai’s study that examined what factors contributed to the retention of foreign undergraduates in two Midwestern university systems. Kwai found only three of several factors had a statistically significant and positive effect on student retention: grade-point average in the spring semester of freshman year, the number of attempted credit hours and on-campus employment. Kwai said because two of the factors were academic, it suggests good early academic advising could improve international student success.
The Bangor Daily News spoke with Karen Keim, associate director of the Maine Educational Opportunity Center and Maine Educational Talent Search at the University of Maine, for the article “Is Mike Michaud’s free sophomore year a good idea?” Keim, who coaches adults who enroll in college, said high school students usually come to college unprepared because they don’t challenge themselves enough in high school. She said students need to have a support network and know how to access it, as well as be involved on campus, in order to succeed. “A student who gets involved in their campus community is more likely to complete,” she said.
An exclusive live stream of the sold-out TED2014: The Next Chapter will be available for public viewing over a 12-hour period March 18 at the University of Maine.
The independently organized TED event at UMaine will run from 11:30 a.m. to 10:45 p.m. in the Coe Room of the Memorial Union and will provide an opportunity to watch the live event occurring in Vancouver featuring 14 TED2014 speakers, including Melinda and Bill Gates, and Sting.
TEDxUMaineLive is sponsored by the Maine Journal, a student-run, online publication on campus. For more information about the free public event or to request disability accommodations, contact Philip Kolmar, 284.3886.
TED — Technology, Entertainment and Design — is a nonprofit organization that offers leading innovators a platform for “ideas worth spreading.” This year, the organization with its renowned TED Talks is celebrating its 30th anniversary. The five-day Vancouver event focuses on the most significant developments of the last three decades and, according to the TED website, “applying that knowledge to understand what’s ahead.”
The speakers featured during UMaine’s live stream:
11:30 a.m.–1:15 p.m., technology designer Bran Ferren, architect Marc Kushner, documentary filmmaker Yoruba Richen and music producer and DJ Mark Ronson
2–3:45 p.m., plasma physicist Michel Laberge, urban planner Amanda Burden, cruciverbalist David Kwong and type designer Matthew Carter
9–10:45 p.m., climate scientist Gavin Schmidt, philanthropists Melinda and Bill Gates, peace activist Zak Ebrahim, and composer and activist Sting
The Bangor Daily News spoke with University of Maine students; Daniel Sturrup, executive director of Auxiliary Services; and Jimmy Jung, vice president for enrollment management about the university’s new on-campus housing policy. To accommodate a larger freshman class and to keep more sophomores on campus, UMaine announced it will give sophomores — as opposed to juniors and seniors — first pick at remaining dorm rooms after all freshmen are placed. Sturrup said off-campus living doesn’t offer the same accessibility to resources such as the library, tutoring and clubs that living on campus does. “The first two years of a residential college experience are critical to the academic success and social development of students. Having freshmen and sophomores live on campus improves retention,” Jung told the BDN. UMaine students Charlotte Roe and Shawn Berry also were interviewed for the report that was published by the Sun Journal, as well.
Sabrina Vivian, a third-year ecology and environmental science major at the University of Maine, was quoted in the Maine Public Broadcasting Network report titled “UMaine students press again for fossil fuel divestment.” Vivian was one of several students in the University of Maine System group Divest Maine that met with the UMaine Trustees Investment Committee to urge the system to stop investing endowment funds in the coal, oil and natural gas industries. Vivian told the committee “people have great power and can have immense impacts on the environment.” She urged the officials to consider creating a timeline for divesting funds from the top fossil fuel companies that are currently being supported. Vivian is a member of UMaine’s Green Team, a student organization that supports sustainable and environmentally friendly efforts on campus.
The Weekly published a feature article on University of Maine students and siblings Emily and Jared Duggan who are volunteers in UMaine’s Black Bear Mentor Program offered through the Bodwell Center for Service and Volunteerism. The Duggans are two of more than 80 UMaine students who are currently participating in the program. The Black Bear Mentors meet with local third- to eighth-grade students once a week and work with students on activities such as sports, arts and crafts, homework, board games, and community service projects.
Jon Ippolito, an associate professor of new media at the University of Maine, and Vice President for Student Life Robert Dana spoke with the Maine Public Broadcasting Network for a report about how the music industry is targeting university students in an effort to cut down on Internet piracy of copyrighted material. Ippolito said the effectiveness of the industry’s latest strategy of sending letters to college students and offering to settle for $20 per file remains to be seen. Dana said with the recent increase in letters, the university sees the situation as an opportunity to discuss ethics with students instead of punish them. Sean O’Mara, a lawyer hired by UMaine’s Student Government to provide free legal advice to undergraduate students, was also interviewed.
The University of Maine announced 261 student-athletes will be honored and recognized for their academic success at the Scholar-Athlete Recognition Ceremony at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 25, 2014 in Wells Conference Center.
At the ceremony, 195 student-athletes will be recognized as scholar-athletes for achieving a 3.0 or higher grade point average for the 2013 year and/or having a cumulative GPA of at least 3.0. Sixty-six first-year student-athletes will be honored as rising stars for earning a 3.0 GPA or higher in their first semester at UMaine.
Now in its 25th year, the awards have been presented annually since 1989 and 3,189 medallions have been awarded. This is the 10th year in a row that more than half of the university’s student-athletes have been honored. The event is sponsored by the University of Maine Foundation, University Credit Union, the M Club and the Alumni Association.
“Recognizing over half of our student-athletes as scholar-athletes is an impressive accomplishment,” says UMaine Director of Athletics Karlton Creech. “This group exemplifies what it means to be a student-athlete, excelling in both the classroom and in their sport. I congratulate them on this outstanding achievement.”
At the reception, UMaine will honor the student-athletes and also announce the annual recipients of the M Club Dean Smith Award, presented to the top male and female scholar-athlete. Team Maine will also be announced, honoring the sophomore, junior or senior from each team who has achieved the highest grade point average for the 2013 calendar year.
All scholar-athletes will receive a medallion, the color of which represents the number of years a recipient has earned the award. This year, 97 student-athletes will receive bronze medals signifying the first time they have received the award, 56 will receive silver medals signifying the second time they have won the award, and 36 will receive gold medals signifying the third time they have received the award. Four student-athletes will receive double gold medals for their fourth award.
A list of the student-athletes to be honored is available online.