An advisory committee coordinated by the PEI Centre on Health and Aging at UPEI released details today about an Island-wide project called, 'Abuse of Older Adults Awareness - A PEI Network Response.'

The $100,000 project, funded by Human Resources and Skill Development Canada's ‘New Horizons for Seniors' program, aims to raise awareness about elder abuse, and promote a network where Island seniors can seek help, and professional service providers can connect.

Project coordinator and long time seniors' advocate, Olive Bryanton, said, 'We are hopeful this two-year program will achieve several goals, but one of our priority objectives is to create an atmosphere where professionals who practice in the area of elder abuse prevention and intervention can easily collaborate and interact with each other.' She added, 'This will lead to less duplication of effort as well as a greater opportunity to advance ideas into practical application.'

Bryanton works with an advisory committee made up of researchers, faculty, and experts who work with older adults and is comprised of representatives from the PEI Department of Community Services, Seniors and Labour, RCMP, PEI Seniors Safety Program, and the UPEI Centre for Life-Long Learning, Department of Family and Nutritional Sciences, and School of Nursing.

Dr. Wendy Verhoek-Oftedahl, a committee member and Family Violence Prevention and Community Development Coordinator with the Province of PEI said, 'It is important to have a coordinated approach when dealing with elder abuse. The Province recognizes that we have an aging population and abuse is an increasing reality. This funding will allow us to partner, be proactive, and deliver services vital to older adults.'

Other initiatives of the project include hosting two provincial planning forums to bring professionals and seniors together to plan the next steps and a training program to educate seniors to be spokespersons so they can provide abuse of older adult information to their peers and others in their communities. An asset map and analysis is currently being researched and will be used to identify services available and possible existing gaps.

For more information, visit www.upei.ca/~csha.

The Centre for Life-Long Learning at the University of Prince Edward Island is launching two new programs for the small- and medium-sized business community this September - Human Resource Essentials and Supervisory Essentials. The programs include courses such as Strategic Human Resource Planning, Recruitment and Selection, Employee Relations, Performance Management, Team Building and Communication Techniques, among others.

'Because the success of today's organizations resides in the abilities of its employees and the innovative capacity and ingenuity which they produce, how companies manage their greatest resource, their people, has become paramount,' says Jeanette MacAulay, director of the Centre for Life-Long Learning.

The programs have been developed specifically for the small- and medium-sized business community through consultations with industry sector councils, associations, and various Island businesses.

'The Information Technology Sector Council is pleased to partner in these programs with the Centre for Life-Long Learning. Businesses in our sector have expressed a need for training in these areas and we are looking forward to the sector reaping the rewards of a more highly skilled and managed workforce,' says Peter Lawlor, president of the IT Sector Council.

The human resource and supervisory programs will be delivered in Summerside, while the human resource program will have an additional offering in Charlottetown. Both are made possible through the support of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency and Innovation PEI.

For more information, please visit www.upei.ca/lifelonglearning or call (902)566-0336.

As a result of the recruiting efforts of current players, the UPEI women's field hockey team has at least ten new faces for the upcoming season. Eight PEI high school graduates and two first-year university students from off-Island are making UPEI their field hockey home this fall.

Head coach, Sheila Bell said, 'For the past four years, UPEI field hockey players have made an excellent effort to recruit PEI high school players. They have taught the National School Program, coached at a number of junior and senior high schools, and umpired a large number of PEISAA games-activities which have all influenced our recruits.' Due to this involvement and ‘playing it forward', UPEI has collected a group that includes PEISAA League All Stars, Tournament All Stars, MVPs and provincial champions.

The eight first-year players from PEI are Hillary Waugh from Three Oaks Senior High School; Michelle Clow from Bluefield High School; Jenna MacLellen, Victoria Leard, and Marcellaine Collings from Montague Regional High School; and Vanessa French, Eliza MacLaughlan, and Stephanie MacKinnon from Charlottetown Rural High School.

MacLauchlan, from the PEISAA championship-winning Charlottetown Rural squad, was a PEISAA League All Star and the PEISAA Provincial Tournament MVP for 2010. She said, 'I am extremely excited about attending UPEI and playing for the Field Hockey Panthers! I played with a number of UPEI players at the nationals in Victoria and that was a great experience.'

Also joining the Panthers will be first-year players, Nicole Babineau from Riverview, New Brunswick and Kristy Wu from, Calgary, Alberta. Wu played with the Alberta senior women's team that competed at the nationals earlier this summer.

Having won five AUS championships in the last six years, UPEI hopes this combination of new and former players will lead to further success regionally, and on to the OUA Championships. They will get their first chance to play as a team when they attend the McGill Field Hockey Tournament, August 27 to 29. 'If you want to compete at a higher level, the team must play OUA teams whenever possible, and this tourney provides that opportunity,' stated team manager Barb Carmichael.

Even with a solid start on the 2010 roster, the field hockey team welcomes all players to attend tryouts in September. Contact Carmichael at bcarmichael@eastlink.ca for more information.

UPEI has added two familiar names to its roster for the upcoming season, says UPEI men's hockey coach Forbes (Forbie) MacPherson.

'Randy Cameron and Matt Boyle, who are well known in hockey circles on the Island, have committed to the UPEI men's hockey program. When our coaching staff began to compile a list of possible recruits for the upcoming season, Matt and Randy were immediately placed at the top of our list. These two players were a priority for us and we are very excited that they have decided to commit to UPEI,' MacPherson said.

Cameron, son of Dave and Miriam Cameron of Clyde River finished last season with the Moncton Wildcats on a high. The 5'11', 190 lb centreman had a career-best 68 points (24-44) and added another 21 points (13-8) in the playoffs helping lead Moncton to the league title over the Saint John Sea Dogs. During his four years with the Wildcats, the 2007 fifth-round draft choice of Detroit (148th overall) scored 197 points (72-125).

'I was talking with a bunch of schools and UPEI came after me really hard,' Cameron said. 'It is nice to be wanted and they wanted me the most of all the schools that talked to me. I got a good feeling from Forbie that the team is heading in the right direction and looks to challenge for a championship.'

'I won a championship with Moncton and it would be great to win another championship at UPEI,' Cameron added. Randy Cameron

'Randy is a top-six forward that will make an immediate impact on our program. He was one of the most sought-after recruits in our conference. Of all of his strengths and qualities as a player, the one intangible that attracted us to Randy, is that he is a winner. Winning is contagious, and we expect Randy to bring that to our program,' MacPherson said.

Matt Boyle, the son of Geoff and Diane Boyle of West Royalty, played last year with the Lewiston Maineiacs of the QMJHL. He also played six play-off games for the Texas Brahmas of the CHL. The 6', 205 lb defenceman spent the three previous years with the Moncton Wildcats, playing with Cameron and UPEI goaltender Jhase Sniderman.Matt Boyle

'I starting talking with Forbie in the winter about coming to play at UPEI and I thought it would be a good move because I wanted to play in front of family on a regular basis,' Boyle said.

'The hockey program at UPEI has made a big jump recently and has become a contender in the AUS, and it looks like it will be a strong contender this year. That made my choice to play at home easier,' Boyle said.

'Matt epitomizes exactly what our coaching staff is looking for in any potential UPEI player. Matt is dedicated, hard working, and intense. He is a complete defenceman, who will be very tough to play against,' MacPherson said. 'Matt has some offensive upside, but will be relied on to be a shut-down guy and compete against other teams' top lines.'

Boyle, who hopes to become an accountant, played against Panther Mike McIssac in minor hockey and in the QMJHL, where he also played against forward Chad Locke and defenceman Dylan Quaile.

For more information:

Forbes MacPherson, Head Coach
UPEI Men's Hockey
University of Prince Edward Island
T (902) 388-0169

UPEI's first-ever graduating class of 1970 will be celebrated at this year's Reunion Weekend, July 29 to August 1. The charter class will be joined by alumni from St. Dunstan's University (SDU), Prince of Wales College (PWC), and the Atlantic Veterinary College for a fun-filled weekend.

'Reunion Weekend is a great opportunity for alumni from UPEI and its founding institutions, SDU and PWC, to reconnect with each other, take a trip down memory lane and see the wonderful changes that have taken place on campus,' says Betty Johnston, president of the UPEI Alumni Association.

In addition to the UPEI class of '70, several SDU and PWC classes will renew friendships and trade memories at special class events during the weekend. The AVC class of 2000 will also mark its ten-year anniversary.

The always-popular UPEI Alumni Classic golf tournament takes place on Friday, July 30, at the Green Gables Golf Course in Cavendish. Tee-off time for the 140 participating golfers is at 8:30 am. Transportation on a first-come, first-served basis for registered golfers is available on the Trius Tours' Panther bus; it will leave from the W.A. Murphy Student Centre at 7:15 am.

The Island Archives will host an Alumni Open House on Friday from 10 - 11 am at the Robertson Library.

Rev. Gerald Tingley, Class of '60, will celebrate the 26th annual SDU Alumni Mass on Friday at 7:30 p.m., in the Dr. Steel Recital Hall, followed by a reception in McMillan Hall at the W.A. Murphy Student Centre. He will be assisted by concelebrant Father Charlie Cheverie, Class of '53, UPEI chaplain.

On Saturday, at a meet and greet at Schurman Market Square in McDougall Hall at 8 pm, the Class of '70 will get a sneak peek of the new alumni website, remember.upei.ca, that showcases their class. The eventual goal is to chronicle other milestone years via the web, with content ranging from pop culture facts from the era to current class member activities.

A highlight of the weekend, the PWC Annual Reunion Luncheon, will take place on Sunday, August 1, from 1 - 4 pm, in the W.A. Murphy Student Centre's McMillan Hall.

For more information, contact Sarah MacInnis, Alumni Outreach Coordinator, at (902) 566-0687 or alumni@upei.ca

For the complete Reunion Weekend schedule, click here.

The Confederation Centre Public Library is hosting a public reading featuring Erika Ritter, Christy Ann Conlin, Beth Powning, and Bonnie Stewart on Thursday, August 5, at 7 pm in the Confederation Centre Art Gallery.

"We are pleased to have the opportunity to partner with Seawords, the Art Gallery and our Friends of the Confederation Centre Public Library to present these four women writers and look forward to an entertaining evening," said Trina O'Brien Leggott, Chief Librarian at the Confederation Centre Public Library.

The four literary figures are presenters and moderators at the SeaWords Creative Writing Institute, a one-week workshop, August 2 -6 , staged and sponsored by the University of Prince Edward Island and the L.M. Montgomery Institute.

The annual event aims to educate creative writers about the technical and business aspects of their craft while immersing them in invaluable time one on one with knowledgeable and successful authors of our time. Jackie Kaiser, one of the top literary agents in Canada, is also presenting at the workshop.

Refreshments will be provided at the public reading by the Friends of the Confederation Centre Public Library and the women will read from their current works, which will also be available for purchase.

For more information on either the reading or registering for the workshop, email seawords@upei.ca.

About the ‘readers':

Erika Ritter is a novelist, playwright, essayist, and radio broadcaster from Toronto. She is also a public speaker and stage performer, with plays and prose widely produced throughout the world. Her latest novel, The Dog by the Cradle, The Serpent Beneath: Some Paradoxes of Human-Animal Relationships, was a finalist for the Writers Trust Non-Fiction prize (2009) and a nominee for British Columbia's National Award for Canadian Non-Fiction (2009). Some of her other works include The Great Big Book of Guys, The Hidden Life of Humans, and Automatic Pilot.

Christy Ann Conlin is a best-selling novelist, and a widely published essayist, travel writer, and short-story writer from Nova Scotia. Her debut novel, Heave, was a national bestseller and one of The Globe and Mail's top books of 2002. Her second novel, Listening for the Island, is forthcoming and her fiction has appeared in numerous journals and anthologies. The story-telling Conlin also writes children's books and is currently collaborating on a collection of ghost and shipwreck stories for children with her brother, Dan Conlin, a historian at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic.

Beth Powning grew up in a small New England town, but has been living in New Brunswick since 1972. She lives in an old farmhouse and, with her husband, runs a pottery business. She is the author of two novels, The Hatbox Letters and The Sea Captain's Wife, several photography books, and two works of non-fiction, Shadow Child and Edge Seasons. Her work has been published in numerous anthologies and magazines. In 2006, The Hatbox Letters earned her a nomination for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award and was shortlisted for the Booksellers' Choice Award (Atlantic Book Awards).

Bonnie Stewart is an award-winning blogger from Prince Edward Island, happy to have returned home after a 15-year round-the-world hiatus. An educator, writer, and editor, Bonnie is also a doctoral student in the UPEI Faculty of Education. Her work explores what it means in the 21st century to know, identity, branding, loss, and not looking away. Her blog, cribchronicles.com, won the Best Personal Blog category and came second in the Best Overall Blog category in the 2009 Canadian Blog Awards. Bonnie was recently honoured as BlogHer's Voice of the Week.

The UPEI Sports Hall of Fame recognizes individuals who have made significant contributions to the athletic programs at the University of Prince Edward Island, St. Dunstan's University or Prince of Wales College. Individual athletes, teams, and builders will be inducted Thursday, September 23 to honour their contributions to the University's athletic success and community leadership.

Call or email Lynn Boudreau at (902)566-0991, lboudreau@upei.ca, to nominate or express interest in serving on selection committee, or click here.

NOMINATION DEADLINE: Wednesday, August 11, 2010 11:59 p.m.

UPEI Department of Athletics and the UPEI women's soccer team will hold a charity co-ed soccer tournament on Saturday, August 7 at the UPEI soccer field to raise funds for the Murphy family who recently lost everything they own after a fire ravaged their apartment.

Matthew Murphy, his common-in-law wife Karol, and the couple's 16 month-old son, William, require clothes and essentials to help them get back on their feet.

'Many of us with UPEI Athletics wanted to help the Murphy family after we heard about the devastating fire,' said Ron Annear, Director of Athletics at UPEI. 'The women's soccer team and coach Michael Redmond came up with this great idea of a soccer tourney, and we are pleased to support their demonstration of community leadership by donating the use of the UPEI soccer field.'

Registration for the August 7 tournament is open to teams of five to seven players and will include five versus five games for a minimum of three games. The cost to play is $20 per person and includes a barbeque and refreshments. All proceeds will go to support this young family.

Teams made up of UPEI hockey, soccer, and basketball varsity coaches and athletes have already registered.

To register a team or make donations please contact:

Michael Redmond
UPEI Department of Athletics
Phone: (902) 566-6054
Cell: (902) 628-7104
wsoccer@upei.ca

The 27th annual UPEI Faculty Development Summer Institute on Active Learning and Teaching, taking place August 2 to 6, has attracted 20 teaching faculty from as far as Colorado and as near as Charlottetown.

The only remaining institute of its kind in Canada, the program's goal is to improve teaching and learning by supporting teachers to learn and use active learning in their classrooms. Since 1984, hundreds of participants have had an opportunity to work with professors from Canadian, American, and overseas colleges and universities who believe that teaching is both an art and a science.

Offered through the UPEI Centre for Life-Long Learning, this year's institute is facilitated by four professors from UPEI who are all 3M National Teaching Fellows: Dr. Brent MacLaine, Dr. Shannon Murray, Dr. Brian Wagner and Dr. Philip Smith. Participants discover new ideas that will assist their students in learning more effectively, and make teaching more enjoyable.

Dr. Murray, a professor in English says, "This institute is a unique opportunity for a conversation about university and college teaching with a wide range of faculty who all have such wonderful experiences to share. For all of us, student learning comes first."

Jamie Bodenlos, Bernard Gee, and Elizabeth Ramey are three professors from Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, NY attending the institute. Bodenlos said, 'The program thus far has certainly met and exceeded my expectations. We learned of the institute at UPEI through our career development office, and we will certainly recommend it to our peers back home.'

The institute continues until August 6 and features daytime classroom sessions and evening social activities as part of the registration.

Undergraduate science students at UPEI have planned and now will host a research conference at UPEI on August 6. ‘USURC', or the UPEI Science Undergraduate Research Conference, is an annual student-led initiative that features students presenting their research projects before an audience of professors, family, and peers.

'It's not often possible for undergraduate students to present research in a formal university setting,' said Maximilian King, conference co-chair. 'This conference provides an opportunity for us to get a head start in developing our presentation skills before we enter our post-graduate study.'

A student committee was formed months ago to organize the logistics of the day-long event that will be staged in the lecture theatre at the K.C. Irving Chemistry Centre on the UPEI campus. The conference will be kicked off with opening remarks from Dr. Christian Lacroix, Dean of Science and includes presentations by 23 science students from various departments on topics as far-ranging as ‘Polymer in a Liquid Crystal Solvent' to ‘Modeling Prince Edward Island to Understand Climate Change'. A presentation by two high school students on the ‘Heat Capacity of a Squash Ball' is also part of the program.

Co-chair Keaghan Rilling said, 'This is the first time we have included high school students, but our hope is they will consider attending UPEI after being part of this awesome experience.'

Student presenters were offered a workshop last month by Dr. Michael Shaver to assist with their presentation styles. An accomplished researcher and communicator of his work, Dr. Shaver is an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at UPEI who researches the exchange of toxic reagents for non-toxic alternatives, performs 'green' reactions without solvents to eliminate the release of toxic chemicals, and replaces petroleum-based products with renewable feedstocks.

Rilling added, 'Having someone of Dr. Shaver's calibre to shed light on the elements of a proper research presentation was invaluable for our conference participants. And it is great to start to develop these skills so early in our research careers.'

The conference wraps up August 6 at 4 pm with closing remarks from co-chair King. Click here for conference schedule.