To the editor:
Glorious weather and a bustling campus marked the start of the 2008-2009 academic year at the University of Maine at Presque Isle. When all enrollments are counted, we anticipate that nearly 1,500 students will be joining our 170 faculty and staff at the largest higher education institution in the County. We returned to a campus enhanced by the $2 million in improvements to Folsom Hall and its classrooms. The improvements include new floors, ceilings, and windows. Energy efficiency (saving expensive fuel oil) comes from the new heat pump systems. Bathrooms are compliant with current disabilities requirements. And, with support from our friends at Aramark, commuter students now have a handsome student lounge. It all looks wonderful.
Last Fall, as Presidents Cost and Crowley and Zillman campaigned all around the County for the state bond election, we promised that electoral success would result in vastly improved educational facilities built on time and on budget by County workers. We feel very good that we have met those goals. We will celebrate in mid-October with a formal ribbon cutting. Details to follow.
Even more important than new buildings are the 11 new members of faculty and staff who have joined us this Fall. Most replace some fine members of our community who have retired or taken other positions. However, I am very pleased that we have improved our overall workforce with some terrific new professors, staff members, and coaches. Many of them will become well known in the community very shortly.
We also look forward to some very special events at the University of Maine at Presque Isle. Many of these are open to the public and we encourage your participation. They also bring remarkable talent to Presque Isle. In order:
• Last Friday we opened Andy at UMPI at the Reed Art Gallery. This exhibition displays 22 photographs by the world famous Andy Warhol. We were honored to be among three Maine art galleries (Colby College and the University of Maine were the others) to receive a permanent gift of 153 Warhol photos from the Warhol Foundation. Already our exhibition has captured the attention of the Portland and Boston papers. Come by any Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. to the Reed Art Gallery in the Campus Center to enjoy this treat.
• Last Wednesday, we welcomed nationally known author Cathie Pelletier back to UMPI. Cathie will help launch our film studies concentration with her course in Screenwriting. In addition to her course, we expect that Cathie will be as visible in the community as she was during last Spring’s visit.
• On October 22, we celebrate Science Day. We will combine the rededication of Folsom Hall (home of much of our Science and Math teaching) with a guest lecture by Dr. Orrin Pilkey, a coastal erosion expert and Professor Geology Emeritus at Duke University. Pilkey will discuss coastal erosion and sea level change in his talk “Beach Erosion: Human Influence on Coastal Environments.”
• During the first week of October, we will welcome Mr. Darrell Dorgan as our first Journalist in Residence in Professor Jacqui Lowman’s new journalism program. Darrell’s resume of a remarkable career includes work as journalist, broadcaster, local historian, and entrepreneur. His brother, US Senator Byron Dorgan, also hasn’t done too badly in his career.
• And, once the election is completed, we look forward to a remarkable week from November 10-15. All of campus will take a retrospective look at that remarkable year 1968. Vietnam and the Tet Offensive. The Kennedy and King assassinations. Riots in Chicago, Paris, and Prague with “the whole world watching.” Space exploration. The start of cultural developments that still impact us today. We will feature lectures, discussions, cultural performances, art, and a few surprises. We are honored to welcome our special guest Mr. Richard Dudman. Mr. Dudman reached legendary stature as one of the journalists who reported the Vietnam War up close and personal, so up close and personal that he spent some time in Viet Cong captivity. A special part of the program will be a celebration of our veterans on Veteran’s Day. We welcome all vets but we particularly look forward to discussions between veterans of 1968 and veterans of the Afghan and Iraq conflicts.
And, that is just first semester. Please plan to join us on campus at the University of Maine at Presque Isle.
University of Maine at Presque Isle
