The University of Maine at Presque Isle will host a special ceremony at 11 a.m. on Thursday, May 14 in the Campus Center to officially commission its 600 kW wind turbine – the very first midsize wind turbine to be installed on a University campus in the State of Maine. The public is invited to attend this special event.

The University’s Wind Turbine Commissioning Ceremony will be held just two days before the University hosts its 100th Commencement Exercises and just two years after University officials announced their intentions to move forward on installing a wind turbine on campus.

The commissioning event will include remarks by local and state officials and a short presentation to explain how the University’s wind turbine will transform wind into electricity and how that electricity will get from the turbine to the campus buildings it will power. The event will then move outside to the wind turbine site where a formal commissioning ceremony will be held.

“This has been such an exciting time for us at the University of Maine at Presque Isle as we have watched the turbine assembly and counted down the days until our wind turbine starts spinning,” President Don Zillman said. “We are extremely proud to be stepping forward as a statewide leader in the utilization of wind as a renewable energy resource with this project and look forward to attaining our major goals of reducing our carbon footprint, lowering our energy bill, and serving our educational and community roles as a public university. We welcome everyone to come and be a part of this historic turbine commissioning event.”

The University of Maine at Presque Isle will hold a regional GIS championship – one component of a statewide GIS program sponsored in part by the National Science Foundation – on Saturday, May 9, from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the Campus Center.

The Northern Maine GIS Championship, a poster competition for middle and high school students in northern Maine, involves students developing and submitting posters on a project they have done using computer mapping software and hardware. The event also will include GIS and GPS activities open to anyone interested in learning more about geospatial technology.

President Don Zillman has announced that Congressman Michael H. Michaud will deliver the commencement address during the University of Maine at Presque Isle’s 100th Commencement Ceremony, to be held on Saturday, May 16. During this historic event, Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters Degrees will be presented to U.S. Representative Michaud and Bruce Brown, a leading proponent of art education and contemporary art in the State of Maine.

“As the University of Maine at Presque Isle marks its 100th commencement, and remembers the thousands of students who have earned their degrees here since the University opened its doors in 1903 – and the lasting impact many of them have had in their professions and in Maine – we are recognizing Congressman Michaud and Bruce Brown as examples of the importance of serving the people of Maine and the differences individuals can make at the local, state and national level by standing up for what they believe in,” President Zillman said. “There isn’t a better message we could offer to this historic graduating class and we look forward to the lasting impacts we know they will make in their own professions and for Maine.”

Staffers at the University of Maine at Presque Isle’s student newspaper, the University Times, will host a special open house in their Journalism Lab located on the first floor of Normal Hall on Thursday, April 30, from 4 to 6 p.m. to celebrate both their brand new Web site and their first year in their new Journalism Lab. The campus community and public are invited to attend this free event. There will be refreshments and a surprise or two.

A world renowned mimedancer is coming to northern Maine to offer a one-night performance at the University of Maine at Presque Isle in May.

Karen Montanaro will present Tanzspiel on Saturday, May 2 at 7:30 p.m. in Wieden Auditorium. Tanzspiel (German for “dance play”) is a one-woman tour de force celebrating the expressive potential of the human body: one moment an old gunslinger reminisces about his youth, the next an entire baseball game plays out in front of you. Montanaro blends the arts of mime and dance to create theater with rare physical and emotional power.

An educator and art collector who will receive an honorary degree during the University’s 100th commencement this May will present a selection of minimalist prints and drawings from his renowned collection this spring at the Reed Fine Art Gallery.

Bruce Brown, a Portland native and curator emeritus of the Center for Maine Contemporary Arts in Rockport, presents Next to Nothing is Everything between April 27 and May 23. A reception in the gallery will be held on Friday, May 15 from 4 to 6 p.m. Brown will present an informal talk and answer questions about the works from his collection. This event is free and open to the public.

The co-founder of a national organization committed to ending violence against women will visit the University in April to give a presentation on domestic violence and community strategies for addressing it.

Ted Bunch, an educator, activist, lecturer, and co-founder of A Call to Men: The National Association of Men and Women Committed to Ending Violence Against Women, will deliver a presentation entitled How Can You Stop Domestic Violence in Aroostook County? on Tuesday, April 28 at 7 p.m. in the Campus Center. The community is invited to attend this free presentation.