UPEI celebrates its third annual Diversity Week from January 17 to 21, and everyone is invited to take part in the events. All events are open to the public and are free of charge.

'Diversity Week is a commitment to recognizing and appreciating the variety of characteristics-both visible and invisible-that make individuals unique, in an atmosphere that promotes inclusion and celebrates individual and collective achievement,' says Ruth Freeman, equity outreach coordinator at UPEI.

The week kicks off with the ‘International Pavilion' on Monday, January 17, in the concourse of the W. A. Murphy Student Centre from 10 am-3 pm. Organized by UPEI's international students, the Pavilion will feature cultural exhibits, and at noon, a popular and tasty event makes its return, ‘Taste Dips from Around the World'. Monday evening, from 6 -10 pm, two movies will be shown at Room 104 at KC Irving Building: Hotel Rwanda and Live and Become.

Also in the concourse, on Tuesday, January 18 from 11 am-2 pm, UPEI student societies and groups will have a chance to show the many reasons why people might like to get involved. One such group, the Bod Squad-Family and Nutritional Sciences students who promote positive messages regarding body image-will exhibit images of ‘Body Pride'. That evening at 7 pm, a GLBTQ panel discussion, ‘Being gay at UPEI', will take place in McMillan Hall.

On Wednesday, January 19, a Muslim/Christian dialogue will take place at 12 noon in the Chaplaincy Centre, hosted by campus chaplain, Sister Sue Kidd. Panellists will follow the guidelines for language of interfaith conversation. Also on Wednesday, everyone is also welcome to show off their trivia skills at ‘Diversity Trivia @ The Wave', beginning at 7 pm.

On Thursday, January 20 at 3 pm, ‘Merry Meet', a social networking session to meet new people and discuss spiritualism, will be held at the Chaplaincy Centre. Beginning at 6 pm, a culturally diverse menu, served buffet-style, will be offered at the Wanda Wyatt Dining Hall for $9 per person. Members of our UPEI community will also demonstrate a variety of international dances at the dinner and will encourage attendees to take a spin out on the dance floor for ‘So you think you can dance, international?'

On Friday, January 21, UPEI students, faculty, and staff are invited to come to the third annual ‘Sound-off and Open Mic' at The Wave from 4-5 pm, and have their five-minute say on the subject, censorship.

To cap off the week, at 7 pm on Friday, the Men's Hockey Panthers take on St. FX at MacLauchlan Arena. At intermission, there will be a ‘Sledge Hockey Demo' and throughout the evening, representatives of ParaSport & Recreation PEI will be on hand to answer questions regarding the many ways people with physical disabilities can access sport opportunities.

Click here for the full schedule. For more information, please contact Ruth Freeman at (902) 628-4332 or rfreeman@upei.ca.

The University of Prince Edward Island builds on its strong record of publication with the launch of eight new books from the Faculty of Arts. The launch is Friday, January 28 from 4-6 pm in the Faculty Lounge of UPEI's Main Building.

The titles launched at this event include books, journals, and CDs with Arts Faculty members as authors, performers, or primary editors. They are:

• 'Island Enclaves' (McGQUP, 2010) by Godfrey Baldacchino,
• 'Homecare: One Woman's Journey' (VDM Verlag, 2009) by Lorraine Begley,
• Volume 20 of the Journal 'Psychomusicology: Music, Mind & Brain' (2010), edited by Annabel Cohen. The volume is a special double issue entitled 'A history of music psychology in autobiography.' It includes a DVD (with the technical assistance of Robert Drew of the Psychology Department),
• 'Soundscapes of Spain' (CD, 2010) by Frances Gray,
• 'Burning House' (Wolsak and Wynn Publishers, 2010) by Richard Lemm,
• 'The Landscapes of Confederation, Charlottetown 1864' (P.E.I.Heritage Foundation, 2010) by Ed MacDonald (with Catherine Hennessey and David Keenlyside),
• 'The Atheist's Primer' (Broadview, 2010) by Malcolm Murray,
• 'Dreams of Nationhood: American Jewish Communists and the Soviet Birobidzhan Project, 1924-1951' (Academic Studies Press, 2010) by Henry Srebrnik.

Each title will be available to purchase at the launch. Refreshments and a reception will follow. For more information, contact Lisa Chilton at lchilton@upei.ca, or 566-0692.

The UPEI Student Union (UPEI SU) launched a new website recently for societies and campus events.

The website allows student union-ratified societies to have a common place to post content and communicate with members. Developed in partnership with Integrated Communications, the project was a collaborative effort between representatives from various societies, and UPEI SU Vice-President Communications, Kate VanGerven.

'It was truly a group effort, and we can't thank Dave Cormier and his team at Integrated Communications enough for guiding us through this project,' says VanGerven. 'Not only will the website be an excellent resource for student societies, but we've also learned skills in how to manage a web project.'

Cormier, Manager, Web Communications and Innovations added, 'After receiving a number of requests from individual societies to help build sites, we approached the Student Union to discuss the idea of creating a portal for their sanctioned groups. But while we provided the technological support, we let the student representatives really manage the direction of the site. It's been a great collaboration."

Click here to visit the site .

On Thursday, January 20, 2011, the UPEI Wind Symphony was presented with Music PEI's award for 'Best Classical Recording of the Year' for its CD, Cathedrals.

The CD, recorded throughout the 2009 - 2010 academic year, includes the title track, 'Cathedrals' by Katheryn Salfelder, 'Pictures at an Exhibition' by Modest Moussorgsky, 'Bugs' by Roger Cichy, and 'Scootin' on Hardrock' by David Holsinger, among other works.

Cathedrals is the Wind Symphony's twelfth CD, the result of the annual recording project, initiated in 1998 as a means of archiving most of each year's performance repertoire. The Wind Symphony is under the direction of UPEI music professor Karem J. Simon.

The UPEI Music Department Recital Series is proud to present the ‘2011 Music Performance Competition Finals Concert' on Friday, January 28 at 7:30 pm in the Dr. Steel Recital Hall.

The concert will feature seven finalists who were chosen by a panel of seven Music Department faculty members during the preliminary round of the competition. This year's competition category was open.Justin Fitzsimmons, Bachelor of Music major.

The seven finalists are Dominque Blais, soprano, a fourth-year Bachelor of Education major; Sarah Doran, saxophone, a fourth-year Bachelor of Music Education major; Justin Fitzsimmons, horn, a second-year Bachelor of Music major; Laura MacLeod, trumpet, a third-year Bachelor of Music major; Echo Lau, piano, a second-year Bachelor of Music major; Natalie Sullivan, soprano, a third-year Bachelor of Music major; and Cora Wong, flute, a first-year Bachelor of Music major.

Dr. Frances Gray, a music faculty member, commented, 'We were all very impressed with the high calibre of performance and the initiative that these students showed in tackling repertoire often challenging both interpretively and technically. We are very proud of their achievements and look forward to an interesting and rewarding ‘Finals' evening.'

Sarah Doran, Bachelor of Music Education major.The judges for the final competition have been selected from the musical community of Charlottetown: Shirley Anne Cameron, voice; Rowan Fitzgerald, saxophone; Mark Ramsay, piano; Madeline Kapp, violin; and Peter Bevan-Baker, trumpet. Works by Mozart, Chaminade, Ibert, Chopin, Strauss, Handel, Arutunian, and Tesori will be featured.

Admission is $10.00 ($5.00 for students and seniors). Tickets are available at the door.

The Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) has awarded more than $650,000 to four UPEI researchers to better equip their laboratories.

'This is exciting news for UPEI, and specifically, our Faculty of Science,' says Dr. Katherine Schultz, UPEI's Vice-President of Research & Development. 'I want to congratulate Dr. Karen Samis, Dr. Rabin Bissessur, Dr. Michael van den Heuvel, and Dr. Russ Kerr for their awards, and for displaying the excellence in research that UPEI is increasingly known for nationally and internationally.'

Dr. Karen Samis is an Assistant Professor of Biology. Her funding will allow her to develop a molecular ecology research lab to study the ability of wild plants to adapt to a rapidly changing environment.

'Most of my work centres around coastal plants - plants that grow in a habitat that is highly influenced by us and the weather,' said Dr. Samis. 'Our research will assess their past, current and future potential to live in this harsh environment.'

UPEI's second CFI award goes to Dr. Rabin Bissessur, Professor of Chemistry; Dr. Michael van den Heuvel, Associate Professor of Biology and Canada Research Chair in Watershed Ecological Integrity; and Dr. Russ Kerr, Professor of Chemistry and Canada Research Chair in Marine Natural Products. The team will use this infrastructure award -- along with matching funds from ACOA and the province of PEI -- to purchase a high-resolution mass spectrometer called an Orbitrap.

"The Orbitrap mass spectrometre is a state-of-the-art instrument designed to analyze and study the structure of a wide range of chemicals," said Dr. Kerr. 'We are very excited about using the Orbitrap for applications in natural product research, environmental analysis and analysis of polymeric materials. This will be the first high resolution mass spectrometer in PEI and thus, will be of use to many other researchers within UPEI and beyond."

The CFI announced a total of $61,291,274 in new funds to support 246 projects at 48 institutions across Canada. A total of $47,147,134 was awarded under the Leaders Opportunity Fund, which provides infrastructure support to Canadian institutions so they can attract and retain the very best of today's and tomorrow's leading researchers at a time of intense international competition for knowledge workers.

'The investments being announced today at UPEI will further enhance our country's reputation as a destination of choice for outstanding researchers,' said Dr. Gilles G. Patry, president and CEO of the CFI. 'They will make our universities even more competitive when it comes to attracting the best and brightest researchers from around the world.'

For a complete list of the projects awarded, please visit www.innovation.ca.

The Canada Foundation for Innovation is an independent corporation created by the government of Canada to fund research infrastructure. The CFI's mandate is to strengthen the capacity of Canadian universities, colleges, research hospitals, and non-profit research institutions to carry out world-class research and technology development that benefits Canadians. Since its creation in 1997, the CFI has committed $5.3 billion in support of more than 6,800 projects at 131 research institutions in 65 municipalities across Canada.

From Monday, February 7 to Friday, February 11, the University of Prince Edward Island will celebrate International Development Week (IDW), a national event held annually to increase Canadians' awareness of their country's role in international development and to educate them about life in developing countries.

For its tenth year, UPEI's IDW Planning Committee has chosen the theme of ‘Human Security: the Role of Global Citizenry to Achieve Collective Security, Peace, and Development'.

'We selected this theme because we'd like to communicate the message that individuals can play an essential role in the culture of peace,' says Dr. Christian Lacroix, Chair of the IDW Planning Committee. "By bringing attention to this issue, we hope to contribute to the progression of peace. In the words of Mahatma Gandhi, ‘We must become the change we want to see.''

The Honourable Roméo Dallaire will speak to this year's theme at an on-campus public presentation and book signing on Friday, February 11 at 10:30 am in McDougall Hall, Room 242. He will also be the guest speaker for the annual International Development Week Luncheon taking place at the Rodd Royalty Inn at noon on the same day.

Senator Dallaire has had a distinguished career in the Canadian military, and since his retirement, has worked to bring an understanding of post-traumatic stress disorder to the general public. His current areas of interest lie in conflict resolution and the use of children as soldiers.

In his presentation, Dallaire will explore three provocative questions: 'In this new era of global communications and awareness, can the youth of leading developed nations influence policy and public opinion? Should having a pair of dirtied boots on the soil in an impoverished developing nation not be a rite of passage for Canadians into the adult world? Your peers are out there screaming in the dark for your support, why aren't you answering their call?'

Other events during the week include a photo exhibit, ‘Kandahar Through Afghan Eyes, 2010', with a guest speaker from Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan. There will be a student symposium around the theme of conflict minerals, an ethical booth display, as well as a talk from the Director of the Canadian Bureau for International Education and a student presentation examining the intersection between education and international development.

As a 'warm up' to International Development Week, there will be a free showing of ‘Shake Hands with the Devil', starring Roy Dupuis as Roméo Dallaire on Thursday, February 3 at 4:30 pm in AVC Lecture Theatre A.

For a complete schedule of events, and to purchase tickets for the IDW Luncheon, click here or contact Suna Houghton at (902) 894-2842, shoughton@upei.ca.

The 2011 UPEI Career Fair will take place on campus Wednesday, February 2 from 10 am to 3 pm in the W.A. Murphy Student Centre. This year's edition has a new look as the former Education Job Fair and the Career Fair have merged into one event.

School board recruiters for the Bachelor of Education program will join employers and recruiters who are seeking to hire UPEI students and graduates for either summer or full-time employment. The Career Fair is free for students to attend.

'This is an excellent networking opportunity for students and graduates seeking employment opportunities to meet with recruiters and employers,' says Kylah Hennessey, a career counsellor with UPEI's department of student services.

The idea behind merging the two fairs was to create a greater scope of employment opportunities for Bachelor of Education students. Dr. Ron MacDonald, Assistant Professor and Coordinator of the BEd Program at UPEI, adds, 'Employers these days are looking for a transferable skill set in the employees they are hiring. It is no longer the case that a Bachelor of Education degree is only meant to prepare a graduate for the classroom.'

This year's fair includes school board recruiters from northern Alberta and Quebec in addition to PEI's own Eastern and Western School Boards. As well, employment recruiters for organizations such as Canadian Security Intelligence Services, Career Connections, and Invesco will attend, with employment opportunities for UPEI students both on and off the Island.

UPEI students are also encouraged to start connecting and applying for different summer positions that can help them get the necessary work experience to enhance their UPEI degree.

The UPEI Career Fair is just one of the services offered to students by UPEI's Career Services Centre to help them relate their skills, and interests to career options. Other services include individual career counselling, assessments, presentations, mock interviews and access to resources.

For detailed information about this event, including participating employers, please visit the UPEI Career Fair website or contact the Career Services Centre at (902) 566-0488.

Before the men's game versus UNB Varsity Reds on Saturday, January 29, former Panther Wilfred MacDonald was honoured for his standout, four-year UPEI hockey career.

Wilf MacDonald in his Panther playing days.The defenceman played for Panthers from 1975-80 under coaches Jack Kane and Jack Hynes and was Panther Rookie of the Year in the '75-76 season, UPEI Male Athlete of the Year during '76-77 season, and was also selected to the second-team all conference team in the Atlantic University Athletic Association.

Click here to read the full feature by Alf Blanchard that appeared in The Guardian.

During the first intermission, Panther Sport also recognized the Sporting Intentions 2010 Fall AUS and CIS award winners:

Tessa Roche
CIS 1st Team All-Canadian, AUS Most Valuable Player, AUS 1st Team All Star
Women's Soccer

Chanelle Roy
CIS 1st Team All-Canadian, AUS 1st Team All Star
Women's Soccer

Sara Stewart
CIS 2nd Team All-Canadian, AUS 1st Team All Star
Women's Soccer

Chelsie McInnis
AUS 2nd Team All Star
Women's Soccer

Andrea Archibald
AUS 2nd Team All Star
Women's Soccer

Josh Vessey
AUS 2nd Team All Star
Men's Soccer

Sumara Profit
AUS All Star
Women's Rugby

Kaitlin Richard
AUS All Star
Women's Rugby

UPEI was disappointed to learn that the Faculty Association requested the province appoint a conciliation officer yesterday when there has been considerable progress made by both sides at the bargaining table.

Regular meetings with the Association's negotiating committee have occurred since the Fall, as often as two to three times a week, and the University's bargaining team remains committed to, and optimistic about reaching a negotiated settlement.

VP Finance and Facilities, Gary Bradshaw, says, 'While we were disappointed at the premature application for conciliation, we also recognize that it's an approach often used in negotiations. By no means does the University feel that we have reached an impasse. In fact, it is quite the opposite in that we've continued to make good progress on a number of items that are important to both sides.'

The application for conciliation was filed by the Faculty Association to the Minister responsible for the Labour Act on Monday, but it can be applied for anytime during the bargaining process.

Bradshaw added, 'We are committed to, and will continue to work hard on behalf of the UPEI community of students, educators, and staff to reach an agreement with the faculty as we have done with all other bargaining units.'

The University will not make further comment at this time to maintain the integrity of the negotiation process.

The next negotiation meeting is February 7 with further meetings scheduled into mid-March.