PRESQUE ISLE, Maine – On April 16, tragedy struck the campus of Virginia Tech with the killing of 32 students and faculty by one of their own. Though the shootings took place hundreds of miles away, students at the University of Maine at Presque Isle felt compelled to respond in the best way they knew how.
What the students in Professor Andy Giles’ Painting II class did was assume an extra end-of-the-year project with the theme of the Virginia Tech murders.
“The idea was for the works to be displayed and hopefully have an impact,” Giles said. “It meant a lot of extra work for them at the end of the semester.”
Throughout history, Giles noted, some of the greatest works of art have depicted terrible events, like Picasso’s “Guernica” which is the artist’s statement about the horror of a small town bombed during the Spanish Civil War.
More recently, Giles said, art has been used across this country to comment on current events surrounding President George Bush, war and soldiers as depicted on another piece of student art near the campus’ art studio.
The artwork is currently on display in the Campus Center.
UMPI offers course in stream ecology
PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — This summer, the University of Maine at Presque Isle is looking for students who are interested in getting their feet wet with a new course on stream ecology. The three-credit course begins Monday, June 18, and meets weekdays from 8 a.m. to noon over a three-week period.
This course is designed for entry-level students interested in stream ecology. It will be offered as a combination of classroom work and hands-on experience in Kennedy Brook, which drains Mantle Lake, in downtown Presque Isle. Students will collect information about a small tributary of Kennedy Brook on the University of Maine at Presque Isle campus as the first step in a project to engineer optimal summer brook trout habitat.
Megan Gahl, a PhD candidate from the University of Maine, is leading the course. Putnam described her as an exciting, charismatic teacher with great knowledge of current problems and techniques in stream and wetland ecology. She comes to UMPI as part of the Graduate Teaching Initiative that provides opportunities for graduate students to teach college courses and bring their knowledge and enthusiasm to University of Maine System students statewide.
Interested individuals can register by calling the Office of Student Records & Advising at 768-9519.
