Jan Zwicky is not only one of Canada's finest poets, she is also a distinguished philosopher, an influential writer on the intersection of ecology and poetry, and an accomplished violinist. Dr. Zwicky will read from her new poetic work on Tuesday, October 2, at 7:30 pm in the UPEI Faculty Lounge, Main Building.

Zwicky emerged as an intellectual and lyrical force on the national poetry scene after publishing three poetry collections in the 1980s, including Wittgenstein Elegies, where she first merged her philosophical and poetic concerns. Then, Songs for Relinquishing the Earth, a book she initially handmade in her kitchen as a gift for friends, won the Governor General's Award for Poetry in 1999. It has been praised for its eloquent attention to the material/natural world and its emphasis on music and philosophy as lyrical forms.

Zwicky's subsequent writing, such as Wisdom & Metaphor (2003), has explored unique, polyphonic forms, merging poetry, philosophy, ecological and musical meditations, and even algebraic equations. In 2004, she published Plato as Artist, a non-specialist celebration of Plato's talents as a writer.

The poems in her new book, Forge, a finalist for the 2012 Griffin Poetry Prize, are immersed in music, and through music, in the natural world and human relationships. Forge also explores themes of spiritual catastrophe, transformation, and erotic love.

Zwicky has taught philosophy and creative writing at several universities, including Princeton and the Universities of New Brunswick, Western Ontario, and Victoria, and served on the faculty of The Banff Centre's Writing Studio. She lives on Quadra Island, B.C. Her reading is sponsored by the UPEI English Department, with generous support from the Canada Council for the Arts.

At the first Research on Tap of the season, Dr. Bruce Craig will lead a discussion on the historical factors which indicate Barack Obama will rewin the White House. Dr. Craig is a specialist in American presidential history, espionage, and Cold War history.

Research on Tap returns Tuesday, October 2 at 7 pm in the Pourhouse (above Charlottetown's Old Triangle Irish Alehouse).

'American University history professor Allan Lictman has written a controversial book called Predicting the Next President,' said Craig. 'He cites thirteen historical keys that determine the outcome of a presidential election. According to the keys, the race is over. Obama wins. Simple as that.'

Research on Tap is a discussion series led by UPEI researchers. For more information, contact Dave Atkinson at 620-5117 or datkinson@upei.ca

The UPEI Cross Country/Track & Field Club will host their major fundraiser-the Panther Pace 5km Fun Run on Tuesday, October 2 at 6:00 pm at the UPEI Alumni Canada Games Place. Registration will begin at 5:00 pm inside the turf facility clubhouse.

The newly developed, student-administered club brings together students who enjoy running-both long and shorter distances-and who support and motivate each other in personal running goals. The student-athletes involved in the club are able to compete in all Atlantic University Sport (AUS) invitational events and also run in other local and regional events.

Although the club is a student initiative, there is an advisory group with representation from the Government of Prince Edward Island, Athletics PEI, PEISAA, PEI Roadrunners Community, UPEI Athletics & Recreation, and UPEI student-athlete runners. The advisory group was put in place to provide the students with any support needed along the way.

'UPEI Athletics & Recreation is pleased to support the development of a running club,' said Ron Annear, director of Athletics and Recreation at UPEI. 'The opportunity has been made possible through strong interest from the community to partner with the club and to work closely with the student-athletes to form a training group. It's a natural sport to promote, especially with the quality of our athletics facilities and our athletes here at UPEI.'

Melanie McKenna is a student-athlete and the club's president, 'I'm very excited to be a part of the creation of this new running club at UPEI,' she said. 'With the tremendous facilities and quality of athletes we have, I think it will take off. Having so much support from the community and partners thus far, I have no doubt that we will grow as a sport and become a strong AUS contender.'

Club members are beginning to train together, and encourage all UPEI students interested in running to join them. The club is also great for varsity athletes who wish to receive some extra training throughout their regular and/or off-seasons. For more information on the Panther Pace or to join the UPEI Cross Country/Track & Field Club, please contact Melanie McKenna at mjmckenna@upei.ca or Janice Robertson, UPEI Program and Athletic Facilities coordinator at (902) 566-0305 or robertson@upei.ca.

The following was distributed jointly to media by the University of Prince Edward Island and the UPEI Faculty Association.

The University of Prince Edward Island and the UPEI Faculty Association have ratified a four-year agreement, the two parties announced today. The agreement, tentatively reached earlier this month, was voted on by members of the Faculty Association's Bargaining Unit #1 on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday of this week, and then approved by the University's Board of Governors.

'By working together, we have achieved a fair and equitable agreement for our members that puts our salary base and benefits on a competitive footing with our colleagues at other Atlantic provinces' universities,' said UPEI Faculty Association President Betty Jeffery.

The four-year deal marks a commitment by both the Faculty Association and University administration to work cooperatively to reach a fair deal, and which led to the agreement being approved only three months after the previous contract expired on June 30, 2012.

The agreement largely preserves existing terms but allows for a 7.25 per cent net salary increase-spread over four years. Additionally, there will be a 3 per cent increase to the salary to offset a corresponding higher contribution by the academic staff to the UPEI Pension Plan, putting their average level of contribution to 9.04 per cent. Both the University and Faculty Association acknowledged that it was important to solve the pension shortfall situation and did so through a collateral process.

'On behalf of UPEI, I appreciate the efforts and hard work of both negotiating teams in putting the interests of our students at the forefront of their deliberations,' said UPEI President and Vice-Chancellor Alaa Abd-El-Aziz. 'As we face continued budget constraints, an underfunded pension, and challenging times ahead, I am extremely thankful that this agreement will allow UPEI to continue its tradition of providing quality higher education and thank all those who contributed to the process.'

On Monday, October 1 and Tuesday, October 2, the 33rd annual Deans' Honours and Awards Evening, sponsored annually by the deans of all faculties and schools will recognize student academic merit. Tonight, the University will honour students in the faculties of arts and education and the school of business.

Tomorrow night, the faculty of science and school of nursing students will be recognized for their achievements.

The ceremonies take place in the Chi-Wan Young Sports Centre at 7:00 pm.

On behalf of the University community, we offer congratulations to our students for their past achievements and best wishes for continued success!

The University of Prince Edward Island honoured three individuals last week who have contributed to the University in an exceptional way. Over 100 people attended the 13th annual Recognition of Founders ceremony to show their respect and appreciation and to honour UPEI's rich heritage and traditions.

The 2012 founders are Ms. Heather Love, Mr. Don MacCormac, and Dr. Lawrence (Larry) Heider, recipient of The Honourable Eugene F. Whelan Green Hat Award, which pays tribute to individuals who have had a significant and positive impact on the Atlantic Veterinary College.

'The Recognition of Founders ceremony is one of the most exciting events at our institution where we take time to honour tradition by recognizing the pioneers who have helped shape the University,' said UPEI President and Vice-Chancellor Alaa Abd-El-Aziz. 'Our founders are those who have contributed to UPEI, 'daring to dream' each in their own way, offering their wisdom and experience so that we can be prepared for the future.'

An academic procession opened the ceremony and was led by mace bearer Kate VanGerven, UPEI Student Union president. UPEI Board of Governors chair Tom Cullen acted as the master of ceremonies, while University chaplain Sister Sue Kidd provided the invocation, with Abd-El-Aziz delivering the welcoming remarks. Citations were read for Love, MacCormac, and Heider by VanGerven, Christie Love, a business co-op student, and Dr. Tim Ogilvie, respectively. A reception followed the award presentations in W.A. Murphy Student Centre's McMillan Hall.

About the Founders

A research project examining the ecology and behaviour of urban red foxes on Prince Edward Island is seeking the help of the public through a new website, launched today. The public can report sightings of red foxes at upei.ca/redfox, which will track the distribution, abundance, movement, and habitat of the animals.

'Tracking animal movements and distribution, especially for a large animal such as the red fox, is time-consuming and expensive research,' said Dr. Marina Silva-Opps, a terrestrial ecologist and Associate Professor of Biology at UPEI. 'It requires trapping, affixing a radio collar, and a lot of human resource time. We know from the experiences of other researchers in Europe that we can map fox sightings using the public's help, which is a great first step toward our goal.'

The website uses Google Maps technology to easily allow users to plot out the exact location of a fox sighting. Users can also contribute details about their sighting.

'The more detail of the sighting, the more valuable the contribution,' said Dr. Silva-Opps. 'I'm extremely grateful for the participation in this project of The Wildlife Division of the PEI Department of Forest, Fish, and Wildlife; Dr. Sheldon Opps from the Animal Movement and Resource Selection group; and UPEI biology student William Robbins.'

Islanders are encouraged to report their fox sightings regularly to help the research team build a rich amount of data to draw upon.

The University of Prince Edward Island invites high school science students on PEI to a day of discovery for the 2012 Gairdner Student Lecture. The lecture is Wednesday, October 17 at 10:30 am in the W.A. Murphy Student Centre's McMillan Hall.

After the lecture, students are invited to take a guided tour of campus with a special focus on the Faculty of Science and the Atlantic Veterinary College. As part of the tour, UPEI would like to treat visiting science teachers and students to lunch in the Wanda Wyatt Dining Hall.

Tours and lunch will be finished by 1:30 pm to allow students to return to school.

About our lecturer: Dr. Lorne Babiuk is the 2012 Canada Gairdner Laureate, and vice-president of research at the University of Alberta. In his research career, he brings together two areas of health usually addressed separately: animals and humans. One third of all human deaths are caused by infectious disease; about 70 per cent of the new diseases of the last 30 years are transmitted from animals to humans. Dr. Babiuk identified a vaccine to control rotavirus in calves, which was then developed into a human vaccine.

Please RSVP by October 10 to Rebecca Drum at recruitment@upei.ca or (902) 628-4353. We look forward to seeing you!

Dr. Jan Pechenik, professor at Massachusetts's Tufts University and author of 'A Short Guide to Writing About Biology' was on campus last week to deliver two writing workshops to science faculty and graduate students.

On Thursday, October 4, Dr. Pechenik spoke with science professors about how to teach through writing, and shared tips on how to incorporate writing into courses without 'killing themselves in the process.' Issues covered included plagiarism, peer review, and teaching students to write well. The workshop was ideal for professors who want to incorporate more writing into their curriculum. The workshop was attended by faculty from Science, Education, AVC, and Holland College.

On Friday, October 5, Faculty of Science graduate students were treated to Dr. Pechenik's advice on how to write brilliant papers, lab reports, and theses. This session was considered an applied workshop in the Biology Seminar Series, and was co-sponsored by the Science Graduate Studies committee and the Department of Biology. Support was also received from Science Atlantic, through a fund for speaker tours for Atlantic universities, and support from the Office of the VP Academic. Science students were in attendance, as well as students from AVC, Business, and Education.

'The workshops were engaging and fun, with great practical examples for both students and faculty,' said Dr. Donna Giberson, Professor, Department of Biology. 'Both faculty and students were extremely impressed, and are already asking if we can do something like this again.'

Dr. Pechenik has a Bachelor of Arts in Zoology from Duke University, and a PhD in Biological Oceanography from the University of Rhode Island. He directed the ‘Writing Across the Curriculum' program at Tufts University for six years, and has given workshops all over the world to faculty and students on various aspects of writing. Dr. Pechenik is currently a professor of Invertebrate Zoology and Marine Biology in Tufts' Department of Biology.

Dr. Pechenik also delivered workshops and presentations to students and faculty at St. Francis Xavier and Cape Breton University.

The Mickey Place Memorial Basketball Tournament presented by Rodd Hotels & Resorts begins on Friday, October 12 with eight basketball teams from across Canada competing in the annual three-day event.

UPEI men's basketball team will tip-off against the University of Regina, Ryerson University, and Saint Mary's University, while the women's team will take on the University of Guelph Gryphons, the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees, and the Memorial University Seahawks of Newfoundland.

'We are very excited to kick off our 2012-13 season by hosting the Mickey Place Tournament. Regina, Ryerson, and Saint Mary's are all competitive CIS and AUS championship contenders, and we are looking forward to this early test,' said Kendrick. 'There is no doubt that this will be a wonderful weekend of basketball action!'

The tournament is named after John Thomas 'Mickey' Place, a long-time friend of Panther Sport, a former UPEI student union employee, and a UPEI honorary degree recipient. UPEI is also excited to announce that Rodd Hotels & Resorts is on board as presenting sponsor for the next three years.