Criminal Justice students with the University of Maine at Presque Isle recently completed a study for the Presque Isle Police Department on theft from motor vehicles, partnering with municipal officials to better serve the community.

Dr. Charles Johnson, UMPI Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice, supervised nine Criminal Justice students on the research project, titled Theft from Motor Vehicles: A Study in Presque Isle, Maine. The 40-page document explores the issue of items stolen from motor vehicle in Presque Isle – typical targets include cell phones, prescription medication, and cash – in an effort to provide solutions to the problem.

The University of Maine at Presque Isle’s Gentile Hall fitness center recently installed just under $25,000 in new equipment, replacing three upright bicycles, two recumbent bicycles and two treadmills. In just over two years, the University has been able to complete more than $52,000 in equipment upgrades for the nearly six-year-old fitness center.

The University of Maine at Presque Isle was recently recognized by the Maine Tobacco-Free College Network with seven stars as part of its Gold Star Standards of Excellence Recognition Program.

The Maine Tobacco-Free College Network, which is leading Maine’s efforts to strengthen campus tobacco policies and reduce tobacco use on college campuses, held a celebration in Bangor last month to highlight the efforts of its 2011 award winners to create tobacco-free environments and promote tobacco-free lifestyles. Linda Mastro, Director of UMPI’s Health Center, accepted the award on behalf of the University.

A team of professors at the University of Maine at Presque Isle has received $95,000 in grant funding from the Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research [EPSCoR] to continue a wide range of research on the Aroostook River Watershed and its sustainable development.

Students in the University of Maine at Presque Isle’s Business Communication class recently had the unique opportunity to present the projects they’d created for the nonprofit Canines for Disabled Kids to the executive director of the national organization – in person.

Students in the Professional Communication and Journalism class with Dr. Jacqui Lowman have been working all semester on projects for nonprofits such as Healthy Aroostook, a project of the Aroostook County Action Program, and Canines for Disabled Kids, developing media that will help the organizations to spread their messages.

The staff of the University of Maine at Presque Isle’s online literary journal Upcountry has finished its last round of editing and the latest issue is now available for viewing in an interactive new format.

Dedicated to showcasing poems, short stories, personal essays and visual art from the campus community, Upcountry is a publication of the University’s English Program. It is published twice yearly.

The trustees of the Maine Higher Education Assistance Foundation (MeHEAF) are pleased to announce the awarding of a scholarship in the amount of $1,000 to Benjamin Rosser, a Business Administration major at the University of Maine at Presque Isle. He is a graduate of Caribou High School.