Turnbull receives national award for contributions to second-language education

UPEI's dean of education, Dr. Miles Turnbull, was recognized recently by the Canadian Association of Second Language Teachers' (CASLT) Robert-Roy Award for his outstanding contribution as an educator and researcher in the field of French as a second language.

As stated in CASLT's news release, 'Dr. Turnbull received this award in recognition of his strong commitment to the cause of French as a second language throughout his career, not only as professor and dean of the faculty of education, researcher, author, and editor of the Canadian Journal of Applied Linguistics, and Associate Editor of the Canadian Modern Language Review (CMLR), but also as a practitioner, facilitator, and strong supporter of second-language education through numerous collaborative activities within as well as outside of the academic world (associations, schools, school districts, education departments, federal departments, etc.). The breadth and importance of his commitment represent a significant advancement for the promotion, teaching, and learning of second languages in Canada.'
Turnbull was honoured to receive the Robert-Roy Award, an award established in memory of the late Robert Roy, founding president of CASLT, which recognizes outstanding contributions by educators and researchers to the second-language education field.
'It is truly humbling to receive this honour when there are so many other deserving people,' said Turnbull. 'I am extremely grateful to family, friends, colleagues and, above all, my students who have supported and inspired me in all the work I have done.'

UPEI hosts 2012 AUS men’s soccer championships

The University of Prince Edward Island will host this year's Subway Atlantic University Sport (AUS) Men's Soccer Championship November 2-4.
The AUS championship weekend begins for participants on Thursday evening at the Rodd Royalty Inn with a reception at 6:15 pm, followed by an awards dinner for athletes, coaches, and staff at 6:30 pm. The event recognizes and honours outstanding athletes and coaches from the 2012-13 regular season.
The tournament schedule kicks off with two quarterfinal matches on Friday: the Dalhousie Tigers take on the Université de Moncton Aigles Bleus at 3:00 pm and the host UPEI Panthers will compete against the Cape Breton University Capers at 6:00 pm. The top-seeded teams, UNB Varsity Reds and the SMU Huskies, have a free pass to Saturday's semifinals.
Saturday's action begins at 2:00 pm with UNB taking on the lowest seeded team remaining, while SMU will take to the pitch later that evening at 5:00 pm against the highest seeded team remaining.
The AUS championship game will take place on Sunday, November 4 at 2:00 pm. The top two teams will advance to the Canadian Interuniversity Sport championships, at the Université de Laval, November 8-11, in Quebec City.
AUS tickets can be purchased in advance by contacting UPEI Athletics & Recreation at (902) 566-0432, or purchased at the gate on game days. Tournament passes are available for $15, day passes for adults $7/$2 students. Games are free for UPEI students upon presentation of UPEI student ID card and free for children under six years old.
Watch live 2012 Subway AUS Men's Soccer Championship action on AUStv.ca.
For Information:
Lynn Boudreau
UPEI Athletics & Recreation
Communications & Events
(902) 566-0991

UPEI announces alumnus Ray MacCormack as AUS honorary chair

Ray MacCormack is no stranger to soccer. The Nova Scotia native has extensive experience as a player, coach, and advocate and UPEI is happy to announce he will be attending the 2012 Subway Atlantic University Sport (AUS) Men's Soccer Championship as the honorary chair.

MacCormack's soccer career began in the mid 1960s, where he played two years with Xavier Junior College-now known as Cape Breton University-before moving on to finish his studies at St. Francis Xavier University where he played on their varsity squad for two years.

Upon graduation, MacCormack headed to Prince Edward Island where he played in a recreational soccer league before taking on a high school soccer coaching opportunity in Sierra Leone, West Africa, for two years.

MacCormack received his Bachelor of Education from UPEI and went on to teach for 30 years at Queen Charlotte, East Wiltshire, and Stonepark intermediate schools, where he also coached boys' soccer. In 1981, MacCormack saw a need and established a junior girls' soccer program at East Wiltshire, the first of its kind across the province.

'Sport is fantastic, it builds so much character in young people,' said MacCormack.

During his time as a coach, MacCormack won approximately 10 championship titles. He's also been involved for many years in organizing university, local, and national soccer tournaments. MacCormack was the 2005 AUS honorary chair and is thrilled to be a part of this year's championship weekend.

'We all have talents and gifts, but the key to the talent or gift is to pass it on. One of our greatest gifts is time, and we need to pass that on to others-it will create lasting friendships and memories,' he said.

The championship weekend kicks off with soccer action on Friday at 3:00 pm. Tickets can be purchased at the gate or in advance by contacting (902) 566-0432.

For Information:
Lynn Boudreau
UPEI Athletics & Recreation
Communications & Events
(902) 566-0991

UPEI Wind Symphony to perform in Summerside

The UPEI Wind Symphony will collaborate with the Three Oaks High School (TOSH) Music Department in a recital on Sunday, November 4 at 2:00 pm at TOSH in Summerside.

The Wind Symphony will perform an eclectic set of pieces designed to engage the audience and showcase the unique sounds of the wind band. Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovitch's 'Festive Overture' will open their performance. Written in 1954, this work is a favourite of the orchestral repertoire as it is noted for its opening fanfare and rapid, lyrical melodies.

'Traveler,' by the American composer David Maslanka, is the centrepiece of the program. An emotional and virtuosic work, listeners will be immediately captured by its cascading runs, colourful orchestration, and spiritual melodies.

Saxophonist Kevin MacLean is soloist in the performance of Claude T. Smith's 'Fantasia.' This work exploits the technical and lyrical capabilities of the saxophone. MacLean is UPEI's sessional saxophone instructor and is known for his body of work as a soloist and chamber musician. He has been featured with the Prince Edward Island Symphony Orchestra.

The Wind Symphony will conclude the evening with Charles Ives' 'Variations On America.' Ives was just seventeen when he wrote this work for the organ. It has been popularized as a result of transcriptions for orchestra and wind band. This piece presents five variations each with its unique character.

The UPEI Wind Symphony consists of 25 music majors, other UPEI students, and community musicians. Its mandate is to provide opportunities for its participants to apply their performance skills and develop musically through the study and performance of original and transcribed wind band literature. In addition, it is a forum through which professional attributes of ensemble performance are developed. It is within its mission to give its audiences meaningful and personal experiences with quality wind music, in the widest possible range of musical style and expression. The Wind Symphony has one, two-hour rehearsal each week.

Each year the Wind Symphony tours selected areas of the region to provide its membership with additional performance experiences and share its musicking with a wider audience. As part of this process we have partnered with most of PEI's school band programmes.
During the past fourteen years the Wind Symphony has produced an annual compact disc featuring selected repertoire from each year's performances. Cathedrals, released in May 2010, received the 2011 Music PEI Award for Best Classical Recording. In February 2011 the Wind Symphony released its 'O Canada' CD, a project exclusively for PEI public schools. Its most recent CDs-'Freebirds,' (2011) and 'Lord of the Rings' (2012) have been highly acclaimed.
The TOSH Bands under the direction of Krista Carruthers will open the recital.
For Information:
Dr. Karem Simon
Professor, Department of Music
University of Prince Edward Island
(902) 566-0702

Call for nominations—Honorary Degree Candidates

The University of Prince Edward Island invites the nomination of candidates for honorary degrees to be conferred at Convocations in 2013.

Honorary degrees are conferred honoris causa, 'for the sake of honour,' and are intended to recognize outstanding provincial, national, and international contributions in any field(s) of endeavour. Contributions should reflect extraordinary intellectual or artistic achievements or significant service to society at a standard of excellence that merits the University's highest honour.

Nominations can be made online or mailed; all forms are available at upei.ca/nominatehdr.

Deadline for 2013 consideration is November 23, 2012.

For information, contact Angela Deighan, UPEI Senate Office at (902) 566-0540 or adeighan@upei.ca.

Atlantic University Sport unveils new strategic direction and conference developments

The Atlantic University Sport conference held a joint presentation with the University of Prince Edward Island this morning to share its new vision for propelling both its student-athletes and the conference forward over the next three years:

'Inspiring Leaders. Canada's ultimate student-athlete experience'
Through a recent strategic planning process the AUS conference has renewed its commitment and refocused its efforts on goals that are integral to providing the ultimate student-athlete experience. These include delivering high-quality programs and events, raising the profile of its student-athletes and university sport through new digital media initiatives and building partnerships. Through improved efforts to share the complete stories of its accomplished student-athletes, the association's new focus will emphasize that its athletes are students first and foremost.
'We feel that in order to lead the country as a conference, it's no longer sufficient for us to simply facilitate athletics,' said AUS executive director Phil Currie. 'We need to take steps to help our athletes transition from freshmen, to seniors, to community leaders.' Currie summed up the ultimate goal of the new plan as the creation of an environment in which the conference's student-athletes can simultaneously learn, compete and grow.
'UPEI is a proud member of the AUS conference,' said athletic director Ron Annear. 'We were an active participant in the development of the AUS strategic plan and are very supportive of the notion of inspiring leadership to help promote this conference as ‘the ultimate student-athlete experience'. We have a truly amazing conference that is exemplified through our student-athlete leaders of today and tomorrow.'
Also on hand for the presentation was University of Prince Edward Island VP, Administration and Finance, Jackie Podger. 'UPEI looks forward to a continued strong relationship with AUS and we embark, with our sister institutions, on these strategic directions,' she said. 'We fully support the renewed focus of the AUS to provide high-quality student-athlete experiences and sport programs.'
The new strategic plan has been endorsed by such current community leaders as former premier of New Brunswick, Frank McKenna who was a multi-sport AUS athlete himself at St. Francis Xavier University from 1967-70. 'I saw [university sport] make a difference in my life, but I also saw it make a profound difference in the lives of my children,' said McKenna, now the deputy chair of TD bank. 'All three of them went to universities in Atlantic Canada, all three of them played a full spectrum of sports and I think it hugely affected their character development and made better citizens and better human beings out of them.'
One component of the strategic plan involves leading the country with tighter regulations around head injuries. '27% of eligible AUS athletes attained Academic All-Canadian status last year,' said Currie. 'Our student-athletes are students first and foremost. And for that reason, we place matters of health and safety above all else.' An AUS head injury committee comprised of four medical professionals with extensive expertise in the area of sport-related concussions, three AUS athletic directors and the conference executive director was assembled last year to give due diligence to this important issue. Because of findings and recommendations made by Dr. Sonja McVeigh MD (Halifax), Dr. Stephanie Melanson (Moncton), Dr. Jim MacLeod (Wolfville), athletic therapist Colin King and the rest of the committee, all instances of hits to the head resulting in injury will now be reviewed by the executive director.
Also unveiled today was the BecAUSe We Care campaign. This initiative has been launched conference wide as a means of recognizing the community involvement and volunteer efforts of AUS student-athletes which last year reached a total of 112 causes in the region. A combined 15,800 hours of community service were logged by the conference's many student-athlete volunteers and a total of $86,000 was raised for a vast array of charitable causes.
Other components of the plan involve efforts to enhance fan experience. Newly off the ground is the live streaming website AUStv.ca which will host broadcasts of every conference championship. The redesign of atlanticuniversitysport.com will see the addition of new web and mobile tools for both athletes and fans including the now available AUS Front Row app for iPhone and Android devices which provides up-to-date game stats and live news feeds.
For further information, please visit www.atlanticuniversitysport.com or contact:
Phil Currie
Executive Director
Atlantic University Sport
P: 902-425-4235
C: 902-471-7609
Ron Annear
Athletic Director
University of Prince Edward Island
P: 902-566-0715

Former UPEI athlete giving back in a big way

For UPEI alumnus Colby O'Donnell, involvement in sports is not just an opportunity to better his skills and get into shape, but rather a chance to share his knowledge with others. O'Donnell is doing just that. On December 28, he will embark on a two-week volunteer journey to Uganda, where he will teach and play soccer with youth through the Soccer Without Borders (SWB) program.

The former UPEI men's soccer centre-back will work with youth from Nsambya and Katwe neighbourhoods of Kampala where he will coach and play soccer with the children to help improve their skills. Currently, SWB has U10, U12, U14, U17 boys' teams and a men's team as well as an U14 girls' team and a women's team. Throughout the regular season, teams practice two or three times a week and meet for off-field activities twice a week.

O'Donnell shouldn't have any issues coaching, as he's been involved with coaching numerous soccer teams in PEI from U5-U19. 'I have always had an undeniable passion to work with youth my entire life,' he said. 'And so far, I've been lucky enough to be able to contribute here in Canada, but can't wait to take it one step further and help out internationally.'

This volunteer expedition comes as no surprise to O'Donnell's friends and family who applauded him at this year's UPEI Panthers Athletic Awards ceremony when he received the Passion for Life Award, given in memory of Rene Ayangma, a former UPEI soccer player. O'Donnell received the award for his true passion for life and commitment to raising funds for the first annual Battle of the Jocks fundraiser which was held last year and raised close to $5,000. He also received the men's soccer J.T. Mickey Place Award, presented to student athletes who have made a contribution to student leadership in sports and on campus.

O'Donnell is currently raising funds for his volunteer mission and began with a Facebook campaign last month where he requested monetary donations from friends and family. In return, he provided humorous and heartfelt 'shout-out' messages to each and every supporter. In the first four days alone, O'Donnell raised $2,000, and is well on his way to reaching his total of $2,850. O'Donnell is also collecting used soccer cleats to take with him to Uganda; cleats can be dropped off at PEI's Soccer Stop.

'I'm actually shocked by the support I've been receiving. It's absolutely nuts how many friends and family have come forth to donate,' he said. 'I'm so overwhelmed, but this is truly a testament to the support of Islanders and our great community.'

For more information on how you can donate to O'Donnell's cause, contact him directly at colby_o@hotmail.com.

UPEI Kitchen Party for Peace

The UPEI Peace Project presents an 'Island Kitchen Party for Peace' on Thursday, November 8 from 6:30-8:30 pm in UPEI's Chaplaincy Centre. Performances by local musicians Chris Rayner, Richard Wood, Laura Mohan, and guest fiddler Father Charlie will entertain the crowd. Admission is $5 with all proceeds going to establish a Peace Pole on campus, a dedicated ceremony will take place next semester.

There will be baked goods and pizza for sale, as well as raffle prizes available as you enjoy the talent of our local musicians in a welcoming and fun social setting. Students from Sociology 101A will also be on-site taking orders for Peace t-shirts they have designed to help promote the UPEI Peace Project.

For more information about the UPEI Peace Project or the Kitchen Party for Peace, please contact Blythe Relf-Phypers at upeipeaceproject@gmail.com

Follow the group on Twitter @UPEIPeace, and join the Facebook group and event: https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/423296521070332/ https://www.facebook.com/#!/events/204133886387968

UPEI professor co-edited newly published book

UPEI history professor Sarah Glassford co-edited the recently published 'A Sisterhood Of Suffering And Service' with her colleague Amy J. Shaw, associate professor of history at the University of Lethbridge.

The book delves into the lives of women and girls of Canada and Newfoundland during the First World War. Glassford and Shaw drew together the work of 12 contributors creating specific sections including volunteer and paid work, family and grief, and poetry and novels.

When asked why she decided to research this particular topic, Glassford explained that the woman's role in the First World War was less visible than it was during the Second World War, something that is of interest to both editors. Oftentimes women are left out of First World War histories and commemorations when, in fact, they played a large role noted Glassford, and they wanted to write women and girls back into the story.

'Women and girls were certainly an integral part of wartime society-contemporaries constantly praised their service and sacrifice-but over the century since then, their experiences have been largely forgotten,' said Glassford. 'I like to think we've done something to reverse that trend.'

Glassford and Shaw questioned whether women were transformed as a result of the First World War. Based on their own and their contributors' research, they've found both change and continuity in a big picture sense; on a personal level, however, it is clear that the war could be very transformative for women.

'We spent five years thinking about these women and girls and trying to make sense of what it was like for them to live through the war while having little means of influencing its outcome,' added Glassford. 'As a result, I feel a kind of personal connection to the women of that era-that I owe it to them, not just to make sure their side of the story isn't forgotten, but to do justice to their experiences.'

Glassford hopes the book will be useful to others interested in the topic and those wishing to do more research on the women of the First World War. The book can be purchased on amazon.ca, or through UBC Press.

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