Christmas came early for Larry and Lisa Walsh, of Second North River, New Brunswick, when their dog, Lupina, recovered the use of her legs after suffering a severe neck injury seven weeks ago.

Lupina, a two-and-a-half-year-old FS Brussels Griffon, fell down the stairs at her home on October 28 and, over the next couple of days, progressively lost her ability to walk. When Larry and Lisa brought their tiny dog to the Atlantic Veterinary College on October 30, she was almost completely paralyzed. She could still feel and move her toes, but she was in a lot of pain and could not walk or even stand.

A CT scan revealed that the first two vertebral segments in her neck were dislocated, causing very severe compression of her spinal cord and, in fact, almost transecting it. Small dogs like Lupina can be affected by a condition called “atlantoaxial subluxation,” which predisposes them to dislocation of these bones in the neck. Severely affected dogs can become permanently paralyzed. Surgery is the only treatment that is reliably effective, but it also carries significant risk.

On October 31, Dr. James Dundas, a board-certified small animal surgeon at AVC, performed a difficult surgical procedure on Lupina. He used two loops of a heavy suture line to “lasso” the two vertebrae together and bring them back into position, easing the pressure on the dog’s spinal cord and allowing it to heal. The operation was difficult because the surgery site was very near the spinal cord. Too much manipulation of the spinal cord could make the transection complete, or could even be fatal.

Lupina spent almost two weeks in the veterinary teaching hospital after surgery, slowly regaining motor skills, but she still could not walk or stand. After going home, she spent four weeks in a splinted bandage, followed by two weeks in a soft bandage. She came back to AVC once a week for four weeks for reassessments and dressing changes. Over time, she gradually regained the use of her legs.

During her recheck on December 19, Lupina showed her caregivers for the first time since her accident that she can walk.

“Today her bandage was removed, and she is walking beautifully!” said Dr. Shelly Shamir, a small animal surgery intern who assisted Dr. Dundas with the operation. “She still has some neurological deficits, but is improving every day. She is a very lucky girl to have survived and improved after such significant trauma to her neck.”

Larry and Lisa are thrilled to have their beloved Lupina back on her feet.

“Pet owners will understand why we go the extra mile to do whatever it takes to save the life of our dog,” said Larry. “Lupina is a much loved member of our family. Lisa and I are so thankful for everyone at AVC for their love and care for animals, and to have the hospital so close to us. Otherwise, we would not have our Lupina today.”

“Lupina’s name means She Wolf,” he added, “and she is one heck of a fighter.”
 

Teams from the UPEI Faculty of Business had a tremendous showing at the eleventh annual Montreal Exchange’s Options Trading Simulation. The ten-week competition pitted more than 1,500 teams from 38 universities against each other in a simulated exchange. Teams from UPEI took third and twelfth places.

Teams are given a starting balance of a notional $100,000 and have 10 weeks to trade in financial securities to make money and complete mandatory strategies.

UPEI's top team was “Billy Capital,” made up of Sam Aulie and Marcus Power. The team placed third overall, securing UPEI’s best ever result in terms of rank and ending portfolio value. They finished the competition with $254,807.75, benefitting early from a well-timed “put option”—a financial instrument which makes money when the underlying share price drops.

“We made a lot of our money right before Andrew Left (an activist short seller) went on the news and talked about Shopify being a sham,” said Aulie. “After that, the share price dropped 20 per cent and we made our bulk of the money there.”

For their efforts, the team won $2,500 of real money.

UPEI’s second best showing came from “Corporate Panthers,” Kearah Davis, Rudolph Al Aswad, Caroline Carey, and Yohannes Yosefe. The team’s ending balance was $151,038. With 288 trades over the 10-week competition, it speaks to the intense level of engagement and decision-making capabilities of our students. 

Congratulations!

The University of Prince Edward Island prides itself on people, excellence, and impact and is committed to assisting students reach their full potential in both the classroom and community. With roots stemming from two founding institutions—Prince of Wales College and Saint Dunstan’s University—UPEI has a reputation for academic excellence, research innovation, and creating positive impacts locally, nationally, and internationally. UPEI is the only degree granting institution in the province and is proud to be a key contributor to the growth and prosperity of Prince Edward Island. 

For the first time, the Atlantic Veterinary College has hired a wellness facilitator. Sapphire MacPhee has a bachelor’s degree in social work from Dalhousie University and has worked in the areas of preventing problem gambling and family violence. She is very interested in health and wellness and is currently working on a certificate in this field.

“Our students, faculty, and staff work hard, and we appreciate and thank them for their dedication,” said Dean Greg Keefe. “As outlined in our strategic plan, we want to support them with services and programs that improve their health and well-being and help them to grow. The creation of the position of wellness facilitator is one way to accomplish this goal. Welcome, Sapphire!”

Sapphire will work closely with Dr. Tammy Muirhead, director of wellness programming at AVC, and Dr. Leigh Lamont, associate dean of academic and student affairs, to promote positive mental health programming to students, faculty, and staff. She will help them develop coping skills, resiliency, and a healthy work-life balance.

She will look at the student experience and campus life culture to ensure AVC students have the healthiest educational experience possible and are aware of services available to them through UPEI, including Student Affairs, the Chaplaincy Centre, and the Health Centre.

“Sometimes you can lose your sense of ‘self’ when you are so immersed in something you love, whether you are a student, a teacher, or a staff member,” she said. “I want to teach them how to identify as a well-rounded individual, not only as an AVC student, faculty, or staff member.”

As well as being available for private, confidential meetings, Sapphire, along with Dr. Muirhead, will work with AVC’s student peer helpers and develop new outreach programming for students. She can be reached at sjmacphee@upei.ca or (902) 566-6788.

Both UPEI hockey teams are returning from the holiday break with new energy and feeling optimistic about the second half of the season. The UPEI men’s squad kicks off the weekend Friday evening at 7:00 pm with a game at home against St. Francis Xavier University. The game will be broadcast on Bell Aliant TV 1.

“It is important for us to get off to a good start in the second half,” said coach Forbes MacPherson. “We are in a battle for a play-off position, and there are only 12 games remaining in the regular season. We will need to be playing the right way to secure a play-off spot and to be a threat in the play-offs.”

The women get their shot at St. FX the next day at 3:00 pm.

“They have a very strong program with great balance upfront and a mobile defence core,” said coach Bruce Donaldson. “We need to stay out of the penalty box, take away their time and space, and control the boards if we want to have success. They typically take lots of shots so we need to keep them to the outside so we can defend well. Offensively, we need to take advantage of the opportunities presented to us. They don’t make many mistakes, so it’s important to capitalize on them when they happen.”

The men host the Dalhousie Tigers Saturday at 7:00 pm.

UPEI Athletics and Recreation is still offering a second-half package for UPEI Men’s Hockey so you won’t miss a second of the action. For $90, you receive:

• tickets to the seven remaining home games
• a playoff holding seat
• unlimited 2-for-1 at Domino’s Pizza
• a 10% off card for Source for Sports
• two buddy passes
• ticket redemption night, Saturday, February 10 vs St. Francis Xavier University at the Eastlink Centre during Hockey Day on PEI.

For more information, visit Panther Central or email lread@upei.ca. 

The University of Prince Edward Island community, and especially the UPEI Robertson Library, was saddened to learn of the recent death of UPEI Founder and retired librarian Franklin L. (“Frank”) Pigot.

“Students, faculty, and researchers near and far continue to benefit from Frank’s work with our archival and special collections,” said Donald Moses, University Librarian. “He built those collections from the ground up, and made them into something that PEI and its University can continue to cherish and build upon for generations to come.”

A proud native of Mount Stewart and alumnus of Prince of Wales College, Frank was appointed as the first Prince Edward Island Collection Librarian at the UPEI Kelley Library in the early 1970s. Beginning with just a handful of PEI books, he spent the next 25 years developing a peerless collection of Island-related publications. By the time Frank retired in 1997, the PEI Collection numbered some 12,000 titles, complemented by extensive vertical and clippings files, and was described by historian Dr. G. Edward (“Ed”) Macdonald as, “the finest assemblage of Islandia anywhere”. Alongside the PEI Collection, Frank also developed the University Archives into an important collection of documentation relating to UPEI and its two forebears, Saint Dunstan’s University and Prince of Wales College. Frank further complemented this remarkable collections development work with methodical indexing of relevant content, especially in Island periodicals, effectively building a massive card-file database, encompassing more than 100,000 entries.

Frank received the PEI Museum and Heritage Foundation’s Meritorious Achievement Award in 1998, in recognition of his many thousands of hours of care and skill in developing the PEI Collection and University Archives. In receiving the award, Frank, with his trademark quiet modesty, paid tribute to the support of Library colleagues and of numerous donors—most notably the Saint Dunstan’s University Alumni Association—in fostering the PEI Collection and University Archives’ remarkable growth.

Even after retirement, Frank continued to serve the Robertson Library as a volunteer, and his ongoing dedication to the University community was honoured with his recognition as a UPEI Founder in 2004. The Founders Day citation highlighted, rightly, that Frank had been, “breaking new ground,” in building up both the PEI Collection and University Archives, essentially from nothing, into matchless cultural and research resources.

In addition to his accomplishments as a librarian, Frank was also a distinguished scholar. He authored two books, John Stewart of Mount Stewart (1973) and A History of Mount Stewart, Prince Edward Island (1975): the latter book has just been reissued, in an expanded and illustrated edition, and tribute was paid to Frank’s pathbreaking work at the well-attended launch for the new edition in December. In recognition of Frank’s remarkable knowledge and research skills in the field of Island history, he was also invited to contribute several entries to the prestigious Dictionary of Canadian Biography.

The Robertson Library is now preparing a special tribute to Frank’s legacy: further details will be announced as they are finalized.

UPEI extends its condolences to Frank’s family, friends, and former colleagues. Flags will be flown at half-mast in his memory. Read the obituary

-Prepared by Simon Lloyd, University Archivist & Special Collections Librarian

This winter’s UPEI writer-in-residence will be Steven Heighton, award-winning novelist, poet, short-story writer, and essayist. He will give a public reading on Tuesday, February 6 at 7:30 pm and will lead two writing workshops on Saturday, February 10. Both events will be in the Faculty Lounge of UPEI’s SDU Main Building.

Raised in Toronto and northern Ontario, Heighton travelled and worked in western Canada, Australia, and Asia, studied at Queen’s University, and settled in Kingston, Ontario, where he writes full time. His distinctions include several gold medals for fiction and poetry from the National Magazine Awards and the 2016 Governor General’s Award for Poetry for The Waking Comes Late. He has been writer-in-residence at several universities and has led writing workshops in diverse settings including The Banff Centre, the Sage Hill Writing Experience in Saskatchewan, and the Summer Literary Seminars in St. Petersburg, Russia.

His morning workshop (9:30 am to 12:00 pm) will feature “re-enactive” techniques, which allow writers “to create sentences or passages of great vividness and sensual intensity. To work re-enactively is to embody, in the full sensory meaning of that word, whatever you're writing about, rather than just describing it,” explained Heighton.

In the afternoon workshop (1:30 pm to 4:00 pm), writers will practice “homophonic translation.” This exercise involves “translating” from a language participants don’t know, just on the basis of sound. “The results,” said Heighton, “are always funny and often spectacularly good—and sometimes also moving. The process is a wonderful way to make writers approach their work with greater acoustical/musical sensitivity rather than simply, flatly saying something about how they feel.”

The workshop are $40 each, or $70 for the whole day. Seniors and students pay $35 for one or $60 for the day. To register, see the UPEI Winter’s Tales Authors’ Reading Series Facebook site.

Steven Heighton’s visit and the UPEI Writer-in-Residency program are sponsored by UPEI’s Dean of Arts, the Vice-President Academic/Research, and the UPEI English Department, with generous support from The Canada Council for the Arts.

The University of Prince Edward Island prides itself on people, excellence, and impact and is committed to assisting students reach their full potential in both the classroom and community. With roots stemming from two founding institutions—Prince of Wales College and Saint Dunstan’s University—UPEI has a reputation for academic excellence, research innovation, and creating positive impacts locally, nationally, and internationally. UPEI is the only degree granting institution in the province and is proud to be a key contributor to the growth and prosperity of Prince Edward Island. 

Every week, UPEI Athletics and Recreation recognizes two student-athletes for their hard work and dedication to their respective sports. Congratulations to Caroline Del Santo and Cody Payne, the UPEI Panther Subway Athletes of the Week for January 1–7!

Carolina Del Santo is a second-year centre on the UPEI Women’s Basketball team and a Bachelor of Science student from Barcelona, Spain. Del Santo had an incredible game over the weekend against St. Francis Xavier University, scoring 20 points, grabbing ten rebounds, and blocking five shots in just 21 minutes of play. “This was Carolina’s best game in a Panther uniform,” said coach Greg Gould. “She was very good on both ends of the court.”

Cody Payne is a second-year forward on the UPEI Men’s Hockey team and a Bachelor of Business Administration student from Davie, Florida. The Panthers beat St. FX 3–2 in an exciting game over the weekend, ending in a shootout, but fell the following night 5–2 to Dalhousie. Payne scored three goals over the two games, including the shootout winner. “Cody had a very strong game in our last game of the first semester,” said coach Forbes McPherson. “We were hoping he would continue that trend heading into the second half. Cody was up to the challenge and provided our team with goals at key times.”

UPEI students get into all Panther home games for free. Let’s fill the stands and make this the best season ever!

The University of Prince Edward Island has received a $1 million gift from the estate of Ruth MacDonald to establish the Roderick Stirling MacDonald Scholarship Fund.

“I am grateful to be able to represent our family today in the awarding of this gift,” said Ken Clark, who is Roderick and Ruth’s nephew. “Education was very important to my aunt and uncle and knowing this will support future students in this way is a great way to honour their legacy.”

“The University is extremely grateful for this generous gift from the estate of Mrs. Ruth MacDonald to honour her late husband,” said UPEI President and Vice-Chancellor Alaa Abd-El-Aziz. “This scholarship fund will support UPEI students in attaining a quality post-secondary education. Mrs. MacDonald’s considerate act of naming UPEI as a beneficiary of her estate will have a tremendous impact on our students for years to come.”

The University of Prince Edward Island prides itself on people, excellence, and impact and is committed to assisting students reach their full potential in both the classroom and community. With roots stemming from two founding institutions—Prince of Wales College and Saint Dunstan’s University—UPEI has a reputation for academic excellence, research innovation, and creating positive impacts locally, nationally, and internationally. UPEI is the only degree granting institution in the province and is proud to be a key contributor to the growth and prosperity of Prince Edward Island.

Students, faculty, and staff gathered on January 10 to celebrate the newly refreshed office of The Cadre, a UPEI-student-run online news publication. Third-year Arts student Lorelei Kenny, former editor-in-chief, led the initiative to revitalize the space by applying to the Annual Fund Projects Program, which has supported renovation projects in the past like the W.A. Murphy Student Centre Credit Union Day Lounge and the Dawson Lounge in SDU Main Building.

Kenny took a few moments to reflect on the months of planning, hard work, and collaboration required to rejuvenate the space, and acknowledged a long list of people who played a role in realizing the project.

“There are so many people to thank for the success of this project,” said Kenny. “But most importantly I would like to acknowledge the generous alumni and friends of the University who contribute to the annual fund so that ideas like this can become a reality.”

Before the office was refreshed, the space was furnished with odds and ends accumulated over decades by students working for The Cadre. Kenny credits her predecessor, Elizabeth Iwunwa, for the initial cleanup and sorting through the clutter. With the help of many hands, the office was transformed into an inviting and professional space where the editorial staff can write, collaborate, and conduct interviews.

UPEI President Alaa Abd-El-Aziz attended the open house and was a part of the committee that reviewed the initial application for funding. “The Cadre is an important part of the campus community. Over the years, their articles have captured stories on our campus, shed light on important issues, and pushed our community to reflect and be better. I am so pleased to see the transformation to this space and I know it will benefit our students for years to come.”

The University of Prince Edward Island and UPEI Alumni Association continued their time-honoured tradition of hosting a New Year's Day Levee on January 1. UPEI’s version of the social event—held at the School of Sustainable Design Engineering—proved yet again to be a popular stop for levee-goers.

A group of international students and alumni provided a helpful hand as they welcomed members of the community, wrote out presentation cards, and helped to collect and hang up coats while several UPEI music students, attired in Victorian dress, sang seasonal carols.

UPEI President and Vice-Chancellor Alaa Abd-El-Aziz and Valerie Abd-El-Aziz, UPEI Board of Governors Chair Pat Sinnott and Darlene Sinnott, and UPEI Alumni Association President Curtis Toombs received close to 500 guests including the Honourable Antoinette Perry, Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island, and Chief Brian Francis of the Abegweit First Nation. UPEI honorary degree recipients and former premiers of Prince Edward Island, the Honourable Catherine Callbeck and Pat Binns, were also in attendance.

View the 2018 Levee Photo Gallery

About the levee tradition
The word levee (from the French noun lever, to raise) originated with King Louis XIV of France whose custom was to receive his subjects just after arising, a practice that then spread throughout Europe. In the 18th century, the levee in Great Britain and Ireland became a formal reception given by the sovereign just before noon or in the early afternoon. It was in Canada that the levee became associated with New Year's Day when fur traders began the tradition of paying their respects to their government representative on January 1. The first recorded levee in Canada was held in 1646.