University of New England

International Spotlight Series set for Spring
The Spotlight Series features areas throughout the world where people from the UNE community have lived, traveled, and studied. The next  is:

Tuesday, February 28, 2006, Noon
Ketchum Library, St. Francis Room, University Campus
Spotlight on Czech Republic & Hungary
Presented by Janice Beal
FMI: 207-602-2461
Lunch will be served.
A complete list of events in this series.

UNE Hosts Portland Chamber
Music Festival Concert
The Portland Chamber Music Festival’s spring concert features performances of works by Mozart, Kodály and Shostakovich on Friday, March 3, 2006, at 7:30 p.m. at Ludcke Auditorium at the University of New England’s Westbrook College Campus, 716 Stevens Ave., Portland.

Admission is free for UNE students, faculty and staff members with I.D., as well as anyone age 21 and under. General Admission for all other adults is $10 at the door. More information

"UNE Authors and Notes" - a series of talks and readings by University of New England faculty highlighting their writing and books - will be held this spring 2006 at the University Campus.

The second in the series will be Wednesday, March 1, 2006, noon, St. Francis Room, featuring Ali Ahmida, Ph.D., professor and chair, Department of Political Science. Ahmida will discuss his new book,  Forgotten Voices: Power and Agency in Colonial and Postcolonial Libya.  More information.

Poet Megan Grumbling to give reading at MWWC
As part of the University of New England’s Maine Women Writers Collection’s Spring 2006 Event Series, poet Megan Grumbling will give a reading on Thursday, March 2, 2006, at 7:30 p.m. at the MWWC Sarton Room, Josephine S. Abplanalp ’45 Library on the Westbrook College Campus, 716 Stevens Avenue in Portland.

A 2004 winner of the Robert Frost Award and 1999 winner of UNE’s Bluestocking Award, Grumbling’s latest work is Booker’s Point, a book-length portrait in verse about a quintessential Maine codger, selections of which appear in the January 2006 issue of the famed Poetry Magazine. She is currently working on a collection of poetry titled Animal Lust, three poems of which will be presented in the spring issues of Seneca Review and Passages North.
More information

MIT Scholar Melissa Nobles to discuss racial categorization and political apologies
Scholar and book author Melissa Nobles will discuss the political origins and consequences of racial categorization in demographic censuses on Tuesday, March 7, 2006 at noon in the St. Francis Room, Ketchum Library on the University Campus of the University of New England in Biddeford.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology associate professor will also explore the political uses of official apologies. More Information

Experience UNE Days
The Admissions Office would like to announce the dates for our Spring 2006 Experience UNE Days. These student programs will provide opportunities for prospective students and their families to meet UNE administrators, current students, faculty and staff in an interactive environment.

Dates: Saturday, March 25, 2006 and Sunday, April 9, 2006

Preliminary Schedule
7:30 a.m.- 8:30 a.m. Registration
8:30 a.m.- 9:15 a.m. Welcome
9:30 a.m.- 10:50 a.m. Session I
11:00 a.m.- 1:00 p.m. Lunch and Department Fair
1:10 p.m.- 2:20 p.m. Session II
2:25 p.m.- 3:35 p.m. Session III

Please direct any questions about the day or any questions from incoming students to either Pete Heeley or Janicanne Shane in the Admissions office.

Art Gallery Presents "The Holga Show"
The University of New England's Art Gallery presents "The Holga Show," six photographers' work with the Holga camera, on the University's Westbrook College Campus in Portland from Jan. 26 through March 5, 2006.

The second conversation with the artists will be held on Feb.  22 from 5:00 - 6:30 p.m. More information.

Art Gallery to host Student and Faculty Exhibition
The First Annual Student and Faculty Exhibition will be on view March 9- 26, 2006 at the Art Gallery on the Westbrook College Campus, Portland. An opening reception will be held on Thursday, March 9th from 5:00-7:00 p.m.

This exhibition marks a new era in the development of the Visual Arts at the University of New England. Works of art in a variety of media by students in the University’s art courses, as well as works by faculty, will be mounted in the gallery.  Art Gallery website.

People

Don Gnecco, adjunct professor, Education Program, and assistant superintendent of schools in Biddeford, has had his song, “One Light,” chosen as one of ten finalists in the 2006 Tipperary International Song of Peace Contest. Sherry Allen will perform the song live at the “Grand Final,” which will be held April 22nd at The Simon Ryan Theatre in Tipperary, Ireland. Another of Gnecco’s songs, “Touch the World,” was a finalist song in the 2002 Song of Peace Contest. For more information about the song, go to http://www.dongnecco.com/onelight.htm. The Song of Peace Contest is part of the Tipperary Peace Convention, which annually recognizes an international champion of peace with the International Peace Award.  To learn more about The Peace Convention, The Song of Peace Contest, and Tipperary:  http://www.dongnecco.com/tipperary.htm

Lisa Southwick, P.A., assistant professor, Physician Assistant Program, is appearing in the musical comedy: The Best Little Whore House in Texas, currently playing at the Lyric Music Theatre, 176 Sawyer Road, South Portland. The show will be running for the next two weeks with evening performances on Friday and Saturday nights and afternoon matinees on Sunday.

Richard J. LaRue, D.P.E., professor and chair of the Department of Exercise and Sport Performance, was recently elected to serve as president-elect of the American Association for Physical Activity and Recreation (AAPAR).

Newly created in 2005, AAPAR was formed from the merger of the American Association for Active Lifestyles and Fitness (AAALF) and the American Association for Leisure and Recreation (AALR). The Association is dedicated to enhancing quality of life by promoting creative and active lifestyles through meaningful recreation, physical activity, and fitness experiences across the lifespan with particular focus on community-based programs.

A past representative for AAALF to the AAHPERD Board of Governors (six years), LaRue was active in the merger of AAALF and AALR, and the subsequent creation of AAPAR. LaRue is slated to serve two years as president-elect and then two years as president of AAPAR, beginning April 2006.

LaRue was also selected to give three different professional presentations over the past few months.  In November 2005, LaRue presented:  "The Basics of Long Distance Hiking" and "The Appalachian Trail...30 Years Later" at the Maine Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance (MAHPERD) Annual Conference in Rockport, Maine.  And, in January 2006, LaRue presented: "Risk Management for the Athletic Trainer" at the Eastern Athletic Trainers’ Association (EATA) Annual Conference in Philadelphia, Penn.