Steven Heighton, one of Canada's most talented, versatile, and eloquently riveting writers, will be the Winter's Tales featured author for November on November 24, at 7:30 pm in the UPEI Faculty Lounge, Main Building. A book signing and reception will follow.

As a novelist and short story writer, Heighton combines spell-binding narratives, intensely realized characters, vivid settings, rich language, and illuminating intelligence. Of his latest novel, Every Lost Country, set in Tibet, T.F. Rigelholf writes in The Globe and Mail, 'Heighton takes the bare bones of an event occurring on the borderlines of most of our geographical, political and moral experiences, and refashions it into a novel that offers readers more than [just] big ideas and beautiful language… Every page, minor character and plot twist matters. Every Lost Country not only rivets readers to their seats, it challenges them to rethink the David-and-Goliath inequalities of this new millennium.'

John Barber in The Globe and Mail says, 'What sets the novel far above the thriller norm is the diversity of the viewpoints it incorporates, blended invisibly into the heart-pounding narrative by means of constant small miracles of characterization.' The Toronto Star says this novel 'recalls a Hitchcock thriller, but with better scenery.'

A dazzling poet, Heighton will also read from his new poetry book, Patient Frame. Previous novels are Afterland, a New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice, and The Shadow Boxer, a Publisher's Weekly Book of the Year. His short fiction collections are Flight Paths of the Emperor and On Earth As It Is. He has published four other poetry collections and a book of essays, The Admen Move on Lhasa.

Widely anthologized and translated into ten languages, Heighton lives in Kingston, Ontario. An excellent athlete, during his last visit to PEI on a book promotion tour, in the middle of winter, Steve ran at impressive speed for several miles along Dalvay Shore. His presentation on November 24, and the official timing of a repeat run, is sponsored by the UPEI English Department, with support from The Canada Council for the Arts. www.steveheighton.com

UPEI faculty and staff members who volunteer with Academics for Higher Education & Development (AHED) made a recent trip to Namibia to revisit the University of Namibia (UNam). AHED, an organization that actively works to promote and improve higher education in developing countries has a project which teams up UPEI and UNam.

Four UPEI business students recently returned home after a well-deserved first place finish at the Wing Lung Bank International Institute for Business Development (IIBD) Case Competition in Hong Kong.

Jordan McNally, UPEI case team member said, 'Not many people are able to say they are international champions, and the fact that we can is incredibly exciting and overwhelming.' He added, 'Our whole team dedicated many hours of hard work preparing for this competition-and it has most definitely paid off. The opportunities this win will create for us are incomprehensible.'

The IIBD competition focuses on strategic challenges and managerial dilemmas faced by today's global business leaders. Students had to work under pressure and a tight deadline to solve a real world business problem and form action-oriented recommendations.

During the first round of competition, thirty-three teams submitted written case reports which focused on this year's theme, 'Value Creation Through Branding.' Five teams, including UPEI, were then chosen to compete in the final round hosted at Hong Kong Baptist University on November 11.

The finalists were presented with a real business case and had only six hours to prepare for their presentation to a panel of judges. After evaluating each of the teams on analysis comprehension, relevance, originality, persuasiveness, and overall presentation, UPEI was ranked first.

Among the judges were professors and successful entrepreneurs, including Mr. Raymond Tong, CEO of Pacific Coffee Limited, who was so impressed with the UPEI team that he offered each of them a job upon graduation.

UPEI President Alaa Abd-El-Aziz said, 'On behalf of the UPEI community, I extend our congratulations to the students who represented UPEI, the province, and our country, while participating in the 2011 IIBD Case Competition. We are so proud of their international accomplishment and wish them the very best as they continue their studies at UPEI.'

UPEI business case teams celebrated other successful results recently including at the Atlantic Schools of Business Conference, September 30-October 2 hosted by UPEI; UPEI had teams placing first and second. UPEI also entered two teams in the Dalhousie Business Ethics Case Competition on November 10-12, with second and fourth place finishes.

More information about IIBD Competition
UPEI team members: Jordan McNally, Jingshu Zhang, Kristina MacLean, Janell MacDonald
Faculty supervisor: Edward Gamble, Assistant Professor, UPEI School of Business
The five finalist teams included: Ateneo de Manila University, The Philippines; Baylor University, USA; Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong SAR; University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI), Canada; Windesheim University of Applied Sciences, the Netherlands. UPEI was one of two Canadian representatives; the other was Simon Fraser University, BC.

UPEI's ProfitLearn, in association with CBDC West Prince Ventures, Resources West and the Rural Action Centre (Alberton), are joining forces with the RCMP to host a half-day event: Internal Fraud Prevention Forum: Tips, Trends & Tactics.

Maxine Rennie, Executive Director of the CBDC West Prince Ventures, said, 'ProfitLearn has built this program by collaborating with the business community and its professionals who have solid advice on how to diminish fraud.' She added, 'This forum is a great way for business owners to learn how to protect their businesses.'

The forum is aimed to aid the West Prince business community, and will assist owners and managers to minimize the risk of becoming victims of internal crime. It also hopes to increase understanding of appropriate internal protection practices. The program will be lead by two certified fraud examiners, Corporal Troy MacLean, 'L' Division Commercial Crime with the Charlottetown RCMP and Mary H. Best, CA at Arsenault, Best, Cameron, Ellis Chartered Accountants. Forum topics include: 'What are the Red Flags' and 'Controls to have in Place.'

The partners in the Optical Regional Advanced Network (ORAN) gathered today in Fredericton to unveil a new high-speed network and the latest iteration of the technology partnership, and to celebrate the fortieth anniversary of the NB/PEI Educational Computer Network (ECN).

The UPEI Wind Symphony, under the direction of Dr. Karem J. Simon, will be performing a full recital of contemporary wind band music on Thursday, December 1, at UPEI's Dr. Steel Recital Hall. The centrepiece of the program is Dutch composer Johan de Meij's Symphony No. 1, 'The Lord of the Rings.' It is based on the trilogy of the same name by J.R.R. Tolkien. This epic tale has fascinated millions of readers since its publication in 1955.

The symphony consists of five separate movements, each illustrating a personage or an important episode from the book. The movements include: (The Wizard), (The Elvenwood), (Sméagol). The symphony was written in the period between March 1984 and December 1987, and has garnered many awards.

Among other works on this program is Conzensus, a stately fanfare by Belgian composer Jan Van der Roost, which exploits the colour of the modern wind band. Gustav Holst's Suite in Eb will be performed in its entirety. It is among the most revered and often performed band masterpieces. Cora Wong, from New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, is soloist in the Chaminade Concertino. This virtuosic work exploits the lyrical and technical qualities of the flute. The UPEI Concert Choir will join with the Wind Symphony in a performance of Eric Whitacre's highly renowned piece, 'Sleep.'

Comprised mostly of UPEI music majors, the Wind Symphony has been critically acclaimed for its performance standard and innovative programming. During the past 13 years, the Wind Symphony has produced an annual CD featuring selected repertoire from each year's performances. Its 2010 CD, Cathedrals, was recipient of the Music PEI Award for best classical recording. Earlier this year, its Freebirds CD was released to much praise. The Wind Symphony tours selected areas of the region annually, to provide its membership with additional performance experiences and share its musicking with a wider audience. During its recent concert tour of Nova Scotia, performances of 'The Lord of the Rings' Symphony met with enthusiastic response from the audiences.

Performances of the UPEI Wind Symphony have generated much interest with capacity audiences filling UPEI's Recital Hall. Tickets for this performance [$10 adults & $5 students] may be acquired from the UPEI music department office. Advance purchase is recommended.

As distributed by ACOA PEI & Tourism and the Government of Prince Edward Island:

A Student Forum on the Modern University in the Age of Technology

UPEI invites members of the media to the following events important to the University, its students, staff, faculty and alumni (World Aids Day 2011-Getting to Zero events):

UPEI computer science student, Ben Docksteader, was one of the 72 finalists selected this week to join The Next 36, Canada's entrepreneurial leadership initiative. The second group of 36 promising undergraduates was selected from over 1,000 of the country's leading students who applied from 62 schools. This initiative, one that gives candidates the academic foundation, practical skills, role models, and networks needed to succeed as a top Canadian entrepreneur finished up its selection weekend on November 27.

The finalists headed to Toronto for the National Selection Weekend, where they participated in a series of workshops, interviews and speeches. The judges factored in previous experience, academic excellence, developmental skills, entrepreneurial endeavours, and references to name a few.

• A year-old educational program championed by Founding Patrons Galen Weston, Paul Desmarais Sr., Jimmy Pattison and a long list of Canadian business leaders.
• The program is spearheaded by a founding group of 50 high-profile business leaders, entrepreneurs, and academics.
• The goal is to increase Canadian prosperity by developing Canada's next generation of high-impact entrepreneurs.
• The young entrepreneurs selected are placed into teams of four and tasked with building a business in the mobile or tablet space.
• During an eight-month period, they are provided mentorship from some of the country's top business leaders; they are given up to $50,000 cash, and academic instruction is given from some of the world's top faculty.