University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI) student Adam Arsenault is one of 20 outstanding Canadian university students who will travel to Botswana in May to participate in a six-week workshop on HIV/AIDS in the Southern African country.

Originally launched in 1948 by World University Service of Canada (WUSC), the International Seminar is delivered through Uniterra, a joint program of WUSC and the Canadian Centre for International Studies and Cooperation. Each year, the 20 Seminar participants are selected from a field of about 100 applicants from across Canada. Students are evaluated on the basis of academic excellence, community leadership, and demonstrated commitment to international understanding.

Arsenault, 26, is originally from Halifax, Nova Scotia, and has also lived in Saskatchewan, Ontario, and Australia. He already holds a degree in business administration, and is one course away from completing another undergraduate degree in political studies at UPEI. His interest in international development issues was heightened while working at the Canadian High Commission in Canberra, Australia as assistant public affairs officer.

While in Botswana, Arsenault will be paired with a local university student and will volunteer with a local organization focusing on HIV/AIDS prevention and care. He is thrilled about the opportunity to gain first-hand experience that could launch his career in international development. He says he is concerned that, because more than one third of Botswana's population is infected with HIV/AIDS, in time there won't be enough physicians or antiviral drugs available to treat sufferers.

"With roughly 33,000 people dying each year from HIV/AIDS, the country's long-term economic capacity could be in jeopardy," says Arsenault.

Arsenault is also actively involved in WUSC's student refugee program at UPEI and is one of two UPEI nominees for the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Master's Scholarship.

Active on over 50 university and college campuses across Canada, WUSC is a leading development agency whose mission is to foster human development and global understanding through education and training. The Uniterra program mobilizes people and organizations in Canada and the developing world to reduce poverty through the achievement of the United Nation's Millennium Development Goals. Visit www.uniterra.ca for more information.

UPEI's four-member team from the Department of Engineering has won this year's Canadian Engineering Competition, beating out eight other teams from across the country. Daniel Palmer, Hannah Sutherland, Caleb Curtis, and Gabriel Landry took first place in the junior team design category of this national competition held in Montreal March 9 to 12.

The teams had to construct a machine that would move sand a distance of eight feet, and accurately deposit that sand into a bucket, in two timed trials of three minutes each. The design had to include hydraulics and the machine had to fit into a photocopy paper box. It had to be completely stand-alone, with no physical handling from any team member.

The students were also required to present a 15-minute explanation and demonstration of their design, an aspect of the competition that was worth 40 per cent of their mark. It was this demonstration that won UPEI's team additional honours. Palmer, Sutherland, Curtis, and Landry were also presented with the Environmental Awareness award by the Canadian Council of Professional Engineers for considering environmental concerns in their design.

For more information, contact:

Heather Hughes, Faculty of Science, (902) 566-6022 or hhughes@upei.ca

The Prince Edward Island Population Secretariat, along with Dr. Godfrey Baldacchino, Canada Research Chair in Island Studies at UPEI, released today a report on Recent Immigrants to Prince Edward Island (PEI). Dr. Baldacchino (himself an immigrant from Malta) compiled information from 320 individuals who settled on Prince Edward Island between 1998 to 2003 and who have, so far, stayed on the island.

The survey was the first qualitative study of its kind on the island: it was conducted last fall in an attempt to collect voices and stories around why people come to and settle on PEI and decide to stay. All the information compiled from this report will be taken into consideration for the soon-to-be released Population Strategy document. All information will assist in the recruitment of settlers to Prince Edward Island as well as the retention of these settlers.

"I encourage all Islanders to take an active approach in welcoming settlers to Prince Edward Island," said Minister of Development and Technology Mike Currie. "I believe Islanders play a significant role in attracting families and newcomers to our communities across the Province. Immigration to PEI is an investment into our future economy in Prince Edward Island and as Islanders it is important for each one of us to embrace all the positives that can be experienced when new people move into our neighborhoods, work environments and communities."

Several participants in the report indicated that the quality of life in PEI, availability or prospects of employment and affordable housing as the advantages of moving to the province. Other feedback indicated that participants didn't always feel a sense of belonging in Prince Edward Island if they didn't have family or roots here.

"Not all this information may be what we want to hear, but all the feedback that we have received is workable to improve on," said Dr. Baldacchino. "We now have an excellent database to propel an informed understanding of why immigrants choose to come and stay to settle on PEI, and what their main challenges have been in so doing. If we are aware of the things we can work on, and work together, we can be better equipped to deal with these obstacles in the future."

The full survey report (85 pages) or its executive summary (4 pages) can be freely downloaded from: www.islandstudies.ca. For more information about the report, please contact Dr Baldacchino at (902) 566-0909.

Aboriginal students attending UPEI have access to a new award this year. The J. Elmer Hynes Aboriginal Student Achievement Award has been established by Elise Hynes in memory of her late husband to honour his deep commitment to the advancement of Aboriginal people. It will recognize students who distinguish themselves through leadership and academic accomplishment. A maximum of two awards of $1000 each will be presented each year.

Elmer Hynes was a native of Prince Edward Island whose varied career and interests included direct work with, and on behalf of, Aboriginal people. He passionately believed in education as a means of facilitating full participation in Canadian society. He died suddenly on May 23, 2005, at his home in Ottawa.

The J. Elmer Hynes Aboriginal Student Achievement Award will be presented to Aboriginal students attending UPEI in full-time undergraduate studies, or full- or part-time graduate studies, who are actively involved with Aboriginal students on campus and, where possible, in the community. To be considered, students must have an academic record that reflects a commitment to their studies. Award-winners will be encouraged to make presentations to school classes, school groups, and educators.

Nominations can be submitted by a student peer, a member of UPEI faculty or staff, or others who are knowledgeable about the student's qualifications. Each nomination must include supporting information outlining why the student deserves the award.

Nomination forms are available from the UPEI Registrar's Office or Band Council offices. Recipients will be selected by the UPEI Admission, Scholarship and Degree Committee upon recommendation from a special award committee. Nominations are being received at the UPEI Registrar's Office, Kelley Memorial Building, UPEI, until April 18, 2006.

For a returning student, the J. Elmer Hynes Aboriginal Student Achievement Award will be presented at the annual UPEI Deans' Honours and Awards ceremony in October. For a graduating student, the award will be presented at the Graduate Awards Luncheon in May.

The University of Prince Edward Island and the UPEI Faculty Association have reached an agreement that will see students return to classes on Thursday, April 6 following a two-week faculty strike.

"We welcome this new five-year agreement as a platform for UPEI's continued success," said UPEI President Wade MacLauchlan. "The crucial factor in this success, and in this agreement, is a talented faculty dedicated to providing a first-class educational experience at UPEI."

The President thanked students for their patience and leadership throughout the strike, and expressed appreciation to all members of the UPEI community for showing a true sense of commitment to the University over the last two weeks.

The UPEI Board of Governors approved the agreement this afternoon. Details of revised class and exam schedules have been posted on the UPEI website at www.upei.ca. The new schedule was worked out following consultations with students and Deans. The proposal for additional days of classes must be approved by the UPEI Senate. The Senate will meet on Thursday evening.

The 2nd Annual Lieutenant Governor's Award in Animal Care and Veterinary Medicine was presented during a gala dinner April 7 by Her Honour, The Honourable Myra A. Freeman, Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia. This year's award, which is sponsored by the Atlantic Veterinary College at UPEI, was presented to Dr. Bob Curtis before a gathering of approximately 200 veterinarians, veterinary industry representatives, former colleagues, and students during a ceremony honouring his considerable achievements.

"Dr. Curtis is well known and respected throughout the Canadian veterinary profession as a leader in large animal medicine, and as a man who has dedicated his life to the education of hundreds of veterinary students at both the Ontario Veterinary College and the Atlantic Veterinary College," says Dr. Tim Ogilvie, Dean of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Atlantic Veterinary College, UPEI. "He is a respected teacher, mentor and veterinarian with a career spanning more than 50 years and two veterinary colleges. Bob Curtis is truly one of our great Canadian veterinary legends."

A resident of Charlottetown, PEI, Curtis' career in animal care and veterinary medicine began in his youth on his family's farm near Orangeville, Ontario. He went on to study at the Ontario Veterinary College from which he graduated with First Class Honours in 1961, receiving the Andrew Smith Gold Medal for First in Class.

Curtis would go on to become a professor and researcher at both the Ontario Veterinary College and the Atlantic Veterinary College. As founding Chair of the Department of Health Management at the Atlantic Veterinary College, Curtis played a critical role in recruiting many of the department's faculty and designing Health Management's clinical services.

Regarded as a pioneer in his profession, Curtis introduced many of the concepts of herd health in North America. Curtis is also known throughout Canada as a much loved educator, receiving seven awards for teaching excellence. He has also been awarded life memberships to the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association and the PEI Veterinary Medical Association in recognition of his distinguished career and outstanding contributions to veterinary medicine.

"Bob Curtis is a man that has shaped the lives of countless students and veterinarians in our country," says Dr. Ernie Prowse, Chair, Atlantic Provinces Veterinary Conference, Truro, NS. "His passion for nurturing a love of education and animal care is remarkable and has contributed significantly to the development of competent veterinarians and a stronger veterinary medicine profession."

Funded by the four Atlantic provinces, the Atlantic Veterinary College at UPEI is committed to excellence and innovation in education, research and service. Over the past 20 years, the College has graduated approximately 1,000 doctors of veterinary medicine, has become known around the world for its research capabilities, and is the Atlantic region's only full service veterinary

referral hospital.

Between January 2007 and May 2008, nine students from the Faculty of Arts at UPEI will have the opportunity to study for a semester each at universities in Italy, Greece and Malta. Simultaneously, UPEI will receive a complementary number of students from the Mediterranean universities. Funding for this opportunity has been awarded through the EU/Canada Cooperation Programme in Higher Education and Training. Successful candidates will receive money to cover their transportation and some of their living expenses while overseas. The object of the project is to create a new and innovative joint curriculum between the partner institutions in Canada (UPEI, York University, and Trent) and the Mediterranean region that focuses on the study of nationalism, transnationalism, and migration.

Applications for the Winter 2007 session will be received until 15 May 2006. For further information about the programme and/or application procedures, please contact Professor Lisa Chilton, History Department, UPEI (lchilton@upei.ca).

This summer, seven of UPEI's thirty physics majors are heading to British Columbia to take job placements in two high-profile research labs. Three will be employed by the TRIUMF particle accelerator facility, one of only three such facilities at this level in the world. Four students will work at the National Research Council - Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics (NRC-HIA). The Institute manages world-class observing opportunities for Canadian researchers.

Derek Lawther, Chair of the Department of Physics, speaks highly of his students' success in such specialized and competitive workplaces. "UPEI physics students have gained considerable national recognition for their knowledge and overall preparedness for the hi-tech work environment. These are very prestigious placements, and I am very happy for our students' continued success."

The NRC's Herzberg Institute of Astrophysics has two locations in BC and#151; Victoria and Penticton, and it is a key player in international partnerships for large observatories in Hawaii and Chile. This summer, NRC-HIA is hiring nine students, and four of them are from UPEI.

Brian Bylhouwer and Jason MacWilliams will be returning to NRC-HIA to work on projects they started last year. Jason will be at the Penticton location, developing simulations to model the hydrogen gas in our galaxy. Brian will be studying and classifying the shapes of galaxies at the Victoria site. He will be joined by Todd MacKenzie and Michelle MacPhee, second-year physics students on their first co-op work terms.

Maggie Chartrand, Human Resources Systems Coordinator at NRC - HIA, states, "UPEI has certainly made an impression on NRC-HIA and we will continue to promote UPEI as an outstanding university that is able to provide us with top notch students to fill vacancies."

TRIUMF, on the University of British Columbia campus in Vancouver, is the national research laboratory for sub-atomic physics. Scientists study the particles that make up all matter in the universe. Practical applications of this work include cancer treatment, illegal substance detection, and production of radioactive isotopes for medical testing and therapies. Ten per cent of their summer students will come from UPEI this year.

Evan O'Connor, Andrand#233; Gaudin, and Allan Stewart will be working with various research groups at TRIUMF in experimental and computer programming projects. Evan has won a TRIUMF Summer Research Award, earning a $2000 scholarship for the fall in addition to his summer job. There are only five such scholarships offered throughout Canada, with Evan representing the Atlantic region competition.

"I am honoured to have the chance to represent UPEI at TRIUMF. I would not have had this opportunity without the physics co-op program," says Evan.

Six of the students will be undertaking these work placements as part the UPEI Physics Cooperative Education degree program. This program, which combines a series of work terms with regular classroom instruction, has increased interest in physics at UPEI.

Dr. Sheldon Opps, Director of the Physics Co-op Program, comments, "the Physics Co-op program has been in existence for three years and I am very proud of what we have been able to accomplish during this relatively short time frame. We have built a strong reputation amongst co-op programs across the country."

A team of students from the UPEI School of Business has carried off fifth place in EXCALIBUR, the Canadian University Tournament in Human Resources (HR). Students from 24 universities competed over two days recently to determine the top teams in Canada. Maritime universities submitted six teams but UPEI was the only team to place in the finals.

Conducted by the Human Resource Association of Quebec, EXCALIBUR evaluates the students' knowledge of HR concepts, as well as their ability to present before a panel of executives and professors. In timed exercises, the team solved problems in case studies of firms with HR issues.

Team members were Daniel Perry, Stratford; Kelly Curley, Regina; and Mark O'Halloran, Charlottetown. Sally Ripley, Charlottetown, was spare and will be a member of next year's team.

"They were competing against students from the larger universities in Canada, such as Ryerson, Laval, and Calgary which offer extensive studies in Human Resource Management," said Professor Don MacCormac who coached the team. "To place fifth among such competition reflects positively on our students and the education they receive at UPEI. This experience will further develop their confidence, and prepare them for a rewarding career."

"I am thrilled to congratulate, once more, a student team from the School of Business on achieving this highly-regarded prize in such a competitive national tournament," said Roberta MacDonald, Dean of the School of Business. "These students showcase themselves, the School, and UPEI on the national stage."

Teams from the School of Business are four-time EXCALIBUR winners. The carried off first place in 2000 and 2002, second place in 2005, and fifth place in 2006.

"The university is to be commended for continuing to develop Human Resource specialists," stated Wayne McMillan, President of HRA and a corporate sponsor of the UPEI team.

Internationally acclaimed novelist Catherine Bush will give a public reading from her fiction on Wednesday, April 19, at 7:30 p.m. in the Faculty Lounge, Main Building, UPEI. A book-signing and reception will follow. Her reading is co-sponsored by the UPEI English Department and the PEI Writers' Guild. Bush's second novel, The Rules of Engagement (2000), was a New York Times Notable Book, and a Best Book of the Year as chosen by the L.A. Times and the Globe and Mail. In 2004 she published her third novel, Claire's Head.

Of Rules of Engagement, the New York Times states, "...she traverses war zones and#150; psychological, sexual, real and#150; with a clear-eyed, cerebral sophistication. The Washington Post says, "Catherine Bush has written that rare book, an intriguing novel of ideas peopled with characters who live on in memory long after their issues have been resolved."

Born in Toronto, Bush has lived in Montreal, New York, and Massachusetts. She has taught creative writing at several universities in Canada and the United States, and is 2005-2006 Writer-in-Residence at the University of New Brunswick. Her non-fiction articles have appeared in numerous publications.

Catherine Bush will also give a fiction workshop, sponsored by the PEI Writers' Guild, on April 20, 5:30-9:30 p.m. in the UPEI Faculty Lounge. Limited space available. For reservations please e-mail or phone either Ruth at r.mischler@pei.sympatico.ca 964-3403, or Laurie at laurie.mcburney@sympatico.ca , 367-9528.