The University of Maine at Presque Isle will dedicate its new GIS laboratory, the Geospatial Information Technology Center this November, and host a GPS workshop in the same day.

Both the GPS workshop and the lab dedication will take place on Wednesday, Nov. 18 in Room 201 of Folsom Hall. The GPS workshop will take place from 9-11:30 a.m. and the lab dedication will take place immediately following the workshop. November 18th is World GIS Day, which is sponsored by the National Geographic Society, the Association of American Geographers, the University Consortium for Geographic Information Science, the United States Geological Survey, the Library of Congress, Sun Microsystems, Hewlett-Packard, and ESRI.

The University of Maine at Presque Isle brings to campus a musical composer whose work has been performed with Brooke Shields and James Earl Jones when it hosts Samuel Hazo as its third Distinguished Lecturer of the 2009-2010 academic year.

Mr. Hazo will speak at 10 a.m. on Monday, Nov. 30 in the Campus Center about how music helps us all to become better students and citizens of the world during his talk “The New Face of Music Advocacy” – a message for music lovers, educators and community members alike. He will discuss the importance and the benefits of participating in music programs and in keeping music in schools and in our lives beyond school. All are invited to attend this free event.

The University of Maine at Presque Isle’s wind project will appear on the big screen for one night only when the Braden Theater hosts the official film premiere of Wind 101: The University of Maine at Presque Isle Builds a Wind Turbine on Thursday, Nov. 19 from 5-6:30 p.m.

The half-hour long, high definition film, directed by local videographer and filmmaker Frank Grant and narrated by long-time theater professor Joseph Zubrick, follows the step-by-step process it took for the University to complete this major renewable energy project – from the very first energy survey to the very last installation detail – and the bumps encountered along the way. This film also shows the work the University has done to turn this project into an educational opportunity for its students and the greater community.

The film premiere will include a social time with hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar prior to the screening, which is set to begin at around 5:30 p.m. Following the film showing, there will be a short question and answer session with the filmmakers and University officials highly involved in the project.

The University of Maine at Presque Isle hosted a special reception on Nov. 3 – including the surprise unveiling of a granite table and benches in front of Wieden Hall – to honor two long-time members of the UMPI community for their decades of service.

Jan and Evelyn Kok came to UMPI in 1952 when it was known as the Aroostook State Teachers College to serve, respectively, as a music professor and a librarian. Jan Kok came to the school with a Master’s degree from Harvard University, and Evelyn Kok was trained as an artist and medical illustrator. During their many years working and living in northern Maine, the two touched many lives.

A long-time local educator and coach who wrote a book chronicling Presque Isle High School’s basketball history from 1950 to the present paid a visit to the University of Maine at Presque Isle Bookstore for a book signing event on Nov. 4.

Jim Carter, a 1964 PIHS grad who played on the basketball team in 1963 and 1964, spent long hours researching and collecting information for his 92-page book, titled “Six Decades of Wildcat Basketball: A History of Boys & Girls Basketball at Presque Isle High School 1950-2009.” The book includes team rosters, statistics, coaching records, athlete honors, and old photographs.

Officials with the University of Maine at Presque Isle recognized the Maine Community Foundation and local donors who have given a combined total of more than $50,000 in support over the next two years to the University’s new NCAA Division I Nordic Ski program. The recognition ceremony took place during a special event held on Thursday, Oct. 29 in the Campus Center.

The event served as a celebration for the ski program in achieving its new NCAA status and as an introduction of the new ski team and its new coach – Alexei Sotskov – to members of the region’s skiing community. At the start of the event, University officials held a short recognition ceremony for major donors to the ski program.

Local kids will unknowingly be getting exercise while taking part in fun activities during the 10th semi-annual Fit and Fun Day, to be held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 31 in Gentile Hall and sponsored by the University of Maine at Presque Isle’s Physical Education Majors Club.

The University of Maine at Presque Isle presents a night of improvisational jazz by the Brooklyn, New York based quartet SPOKE at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 30 in Wieden Auditorium.

SPOKE – featuring Justin Wood (originally from Presque Isle) on saxophone, Andy Hunter on trombone, Danny Fischer on drums, and Dan Loomis on bass — has performed in some of NYC’s top jazz venues such as the Cornelia Street Café and Brooklyn’s Tea Lounge. Individually, Spoke’s members have performed around the world at clubs, concert halls, and festivals, including Radio City Music Hall, the Jazz Standard, the Montreal Jazz Festival, and the Playboy Jazz Festival.

The University of Maine at Presque Isle will hold its annual fall blood drive on Tuesday, October 20, from noon to 6 p.m. in the Campus Center’s Multi-Purpose Room.

The blood drive is sponsored by the University’s Residence Life Office, the Brothers of Kappa Delta Phi and the Sisters of Kappa Delta Phi NAS. Walk-ins are welcome and door prizes will be given away during the drive. If donors wish to reserve a time in advance, they should call 768-9585 between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.

Ms. Colleen J. Quint, Executive Director of the Senator George J. Mitchell Scholarship Research Institute, will speak on “The Mitchell Institute and Higher Education in Aroostook County” at the University of Maine at Presque Isle’s next Business Breakfast, to be held at 7:30 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 30 in the UMPI Campus Center.

The Mitchell Institute is a non-profit organization founded by Senator George Mitchell to provide scholarship assistance to Maine students, and to research means of removing obstacles to higher education. Each year the Mitchell Institute awards a $5,000 scholarship to a graduating senior from every public high school in Maine.