UPEI President and Vice-Chancellor Alaa Abd-El-Aziz recently returned from an eight-day UPEI/PEI mission to Egypt and Turkey as part of his student-faculty mobility and international recruitment strategy.

The President met with senior higher education government officials and with several universities in both countries. UPEI's focus is on enhancing current, and developing new, partnerships in the Middle East as well as China, Japan, and parts of Africa such as Nigeria and Ethiopia.

While in Egypt, Abd-El-Aziz was accompanied by Premier of Prince Edward Island Robert Ghiz and Canadian Ambassador to Egypt David Drake, who was a great support in facilitating many meetings. After meeting with the Minister of Higher Education and Deputy Minister of Higher Education at the Cairo University campus, Abd-El-Aziz said, 'Premier Ghiz and his grasp of the Island's post-secondary education system was very well-received at the universities we visited. I was proud to participate in our joint mission, educating our colleagues on how PEI offers a safe, stable environment in which to pursue post-secondary education. UPEI has a strong tradition of educating and welcoming people from around the world dating back to its St. Dunstan's University and Prince of Wales College roots and we were successful in reinforcing an already positive reputation.'

A highlight of the Egypt portion of the trip was the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with October 6 University, located just outside Cairo, to establish a teaching and learning centre on the October 6th campus and to explore 2 plus 2 programs (where students complete two years of study at one university and finish the final two at the other). Premier Ghiz signed as a witness to the agreement.

The President and Premier also met with students from many different fields as well as medical students. Students were very interested in the Canadian democratic system and the potential for further studies in Canada. Representatives from the October 6 University student union and ENCTUS (formerly known as SIFE or Students in Free Enterprise) were also in attendance.

Meetings also took place with longstanding partner Misr International University to discuss establishing a collaborative Centre for Professional Development, and with the British University in Egypt (BUE) President Ahmed Amin Hamza to discuss a possible agreement to begin student mobility projects between BUE and UPEI.

Premier Ghiz and President Abd-El-Aziz then travelled to Istanbul to meet with Canadian Ambassador to Turkey John Holmes, and business leaders of the Turkish business council to discuss opportunities for cooperative work in both PEI and Turkey. Ambassador Holmes was instrumental in the organization of a number of events including a meeting with the Deputy Governor of Istanbul City to discuss mutual collaboration in industry and post-secondary education.

While in Turkey, the president, chair of the Board of Trustees, vice-presidents, deans, and students of Bahcesehir University hosted the UPEI delegation for meetings, resulting in the signing of an MOU between UPEI and Bahcesehir University. Preliminary discussions entertained the possible establishment of an Institute for English Academic Preparation (EAP) on the UPEI campus; international practicum experience opportunities for UPEI Education and Nursing students; engineering and climate change research collaborations; and student exchange and mobility programs.

'UPEI continues to offer quality education by recognizing that international experiences for our students are equally as important as classroom learning. By experiencing other cultures either on campus or by travelling and studying abroad, our students will discover that our world is becoming 'smaller' and despite differences, there are many common challenges we face,' added Abd-El-Aziz. 'With a global perspective and the province of PEI serving as a laboratory-like environment, UPEI students will have even greater opportunity to develop and share creative solutions that have global applications.'

'This is why my goal is to continue building strategic relationships with universities around the world. The success of this mission to Egypt and Turkey was due in large part to having our Premier with us to present our province and our University as an excellent educational destination.'

As part of the Debut Atlantic tour, pianist Todd Yaniw will perform at UPEI's Dr. Steel Recital Hall on Tuesday, February 12, at 7:30 pm. Todd is a two-time national winner of the Canadian Music Competition, silver medalist at the Eastman International Piano Competition and was a recipient of the 2010 Sylva Gelber Music Foundation Award. He received his Associate of the Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto (ARCT) diploma at the age of twelve.

Since his debut with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra when he was thirteen, Todd has frequently performed at festivals and venues including the Banff Centre for Music, Edmonton's Winspear Centre for Music, and the Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival. Todd has performed with the symphony orchestras of Edmonton, Toronto, Kitchener-Waterloo, Windsor, and Guelph. He is preparing for his fourth concerto performance with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra: Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue with conductor Joana Carneiro.

Three UPEI students-Megan Hood, Brett Huestis, and Ben MacDonald-were chosen to take part in this year's Japan-Canada Academic Consortium (JACAC) student forum, February 16-24, hosted by York University in Toronto.

The forum provides undergraduate student representatives from member institutions in Japan and Canada with the opportunity to meet and exchange opinions about a common topic of interest to students today. Students are able to interact with peers from a different culture, gain insight into academic interests, and encourage ideas between Canada and Japan. The host institution alternates from Canada to Japan each year.

The theme of this year's forum is 'Current economic dynamics and challenges between Japan and Canada and the implications for the youth of today.' Sub-themes will include international human capital development, the current global economic climate, and economic partnership agreements.

Huestis, a second-year business student and prospective UPEI exchange student, hopes JACAC will help define his economic and social role as a Canadian, and provide him with a better understanding of his own academic and career goals. 'The opportunity to network with like-minded students will provide valuable insight into current economic and social challenges facing Canada and Japan,' said Huestis. 'It will also provide an understanding of human capital development and the global economic climate of today's international world.'

Hood is a fifth-year business student, while MacDonald is a fourth-year arts student studying French and Spanish.

Sherilyn Acorn-Leclair, UPEI's International Partnerships Coordinator, has been working closely with the students to prepare them for JACAC. 'These three students are really focusing on acquiring the Japanese language and learning from their peers from both Canada and Japan,' she said. 'Each one of them has an undeniable passion for Japan-whether it be as a result of them having lived there or planning an exchange or leisure trip to the country-and we couldn't be happier that they were chosen to attend this year's JACAC student forum.'

Close to 30 student representatives will take part in this year's forum. Canadian participants will travel from UPEI, Université Laval, Queen's University, Université de Montreal, the University of British Columbia, the University of Alberta, the University of Waterloo, and York University. Japanese participants will travel from Hokkaido University, Hosei University, J.F. Oberlin University, Josai International University, Kwansei Gakuin University, Kyoto University of Education, Meiji University, Nagoya University, Ritsumeikan University, Sophia University, and Tsuda College.

For more information on the JACAC 2013 student forum, visit http://www.jacac.com/what-we-do/annual-forum/.

Despite the weather, the 2013 Subway AUS Swimming Championship wrapped up on Sunday, February 10 at the CARI Complex. UPEI swimmers were among the top, breaking both UPEI and personal best records.

The UPEI Healthy Campus Committee in conjunction with the Fair Treatment Office invites all students, staff, and faculty, and the broader community to wear pink on Wednesday, February 27, to raise bullying awareness and help make our campus a respectful and safe place to learn and work.

'Pink Shirt Day' was started by two Nova Scotia high school students after a bullying incident occurred in their school when a male student was bullied for wearing a pink shirt on the first day of school. The initiative has since spread to other schools, clubs, workplaces, and has even gone international.

In Canada, anti-bullying is promoted by wearing pink on the last Wednesday of February to symbolize a no tolerance policy on bullying. Last year, 6.4 million people took part in 'Pink Shirt Day.' Learn more about Pink Shirt Day by visiting http://www.pinkshirtday.ca/.

For more information on UPEI's Pink Shirt Day, please contact Peggy Leahey at (902) 566-6498 or mleahey@upei.ca.

First-year engineering students are teaming up with third- and fourth-year history students for the first time on a collaborative project to develop solutions for small mixed farms on PEI. Last month, the students were treated to a lesson in farming where they met with farmers and individuals from the Island farming community to chat about the reality of local farming problems.

UPEI's 'Engineering Design 2: Analysis' course is the first chance engineering students get to work on real social problems. Students work in teams of four to come up with an understanding of a broad problem, then imagine a solution, do detailed design work, and finish off by producing a prototype of something to test and demonstrate.

The engineering students are then matched up with history students who act as consultants to guide the engineering students with lessons on the history of PEI through the lens of farming. The history students provide needful context and potential lessons from the Island's past.

'This project and the linkage between Professor MacDonald's history class with my engineering design class lets the students see a real-life application of understanding our past in order to invent the future for PEI industries,' said Dr. Andrew Trivett, associate professor and chair of UPEI's Department of Engineering.

'I'm particularly concerned that our history students experience their research being applied to real-life simulations,' said Dr. Ed MacDonald, associate professor of history. 'It helps them understand how their skills can be used outside of the classroom and in the future. Working with the engineering students is excellent exposure to the process that Andy describes.'

Students were interested to find out what real farming issues looked like and were eager to chat with individuals from the farming community to ensure they better understood the industry. The students learned that resource scarcity, population growth, and climate change were among some of the core problems. Project topics include-buildings, machinery, and energy sources-each of which have an unfolding history on PEI.

Farming industry guests included Gary Hughes, Hughes Hill Family Farms; Diane and Marty Taylor, Island Taylored Meats; Phil Ferraro, Institute for Bioregional Studies Ltd.; Sally Bernard, Barnyard Organics; and Kevin MacNeill, MacNeill Farms and Tourist Home.

Canadian journalist and author Gwynne Dyer will speak at UPEI on Monday, February 25 as part of his cross-Canada university and college tour. The event will take place in the Duffy Science Centre room 135 at 7:00 pm.

Sponsored by the UPEI Faculty of Arts, Dyer's lecture entitled 'The Triumph of Non-Violence' is about the revolutions of the Arab spring and what they mean for the region and the world, but it also sets them in a broader context. Non-violent revolution is both more common and more successful in the modern world than the old and bloody version, but few people really understand it. This is an attempt to explain how and why it works.

Gwynne Dyer has worked as a freelance journalist, columnist, broadcaster, and lecturer on international affairs for more than 20 years, but he was originally trained as an historian. Born in Newfoundland, he received degrees from Canadian, American, and British universities, finishing with a PhD in Military and Middle Eastern History from the University of London. He served in three navies and held academic appointments at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and Oxford University before launching his twice-weekly column on international affairs, which is published by over 175 papers in some 45 countries.

In the spring of 2012, Gwynne Dyer was made an officer of the Order of Canada. The event is free and all are welcome to attend.

It's a big weekend at home for the UPEI Panthers basketball and hockey teams. Basketball starts off the weekend on Friday, February 15, with games against St. FX at 6:00 pm (W) and 8:00 pm (M). The men's hockey team will take to the ice at 7:30 pm as they host St. FX in game two of their quarterfinal match at 7:30 pm.

From 6-7 pm, all UPEI Panther supporters can mingle in the Molson Saloon, located in the third section of the Chi-Wan Young Sports Centre gymnasium, where a cash bar will be set-up and the first 100 men's hockey ticket holders to show their tickets will receive a free cowboy hat in support of the men's hockey 'cowboys.'

UPEI will take on St. FX again on Saturday night for their last home games with the women's basketball game at 4:00 pm and the men's basketball game at 6:00 pm. The women's hockey team will host SMU at 7:00 pm.

On Sunday, February 17, the women's hockey team will play their last home game against St. FX at 6:00 pm in the MacLauchlan Arena.

Best of luck to all UPEI Panthers-for more information visit gopanthersgo.ca.

On Thursday, February 14, UPEI joined activists around the world for ONE BILLION RISING, the largest day of action in the history of V-Day, the global activist movement to end violence against women and girls. Over 200 people took part in the campus event.

ONE BILLION RISING began as a call to action based on the staggering statistic that 1 in 3 women around the world will be beaten or raped during their lifetime. With the world population at 7 billion, this adds up to more than 1 billion women and girls. Today marked V-Day's 15th anniversary where activists, writers, thinkers, celebrities, and women and men around the world joined together to express their concern, demand change, dance, and rise in defiance of the injustices women suffer, demanding an end at last to violence against women.

The local initiative was spearheaded by UPEI staff member Leo Cheverie and UPEI faculty member Jennifer Taylor, and supported by the UPEI Student Union; UPEI staff, faculty, and student volunteers; and Zumba instructor Anna Lacroix who led and encouraged dancing.

For more information, visit onebillionrising.org

The following was distributed by the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island: