Colleges
Husson University
BANGOR — Husson University welcomed more than 3,200 students to the Bangor campus last weekend, including those attending the New England School of Communications. This is an increase of nearly 100 students over last year.
The university’s total enrollment, including NESCom and satellite campuses, will exceed 3,600 students.
“Growth in our enrollment speaks to a need in our community to offer a quality education at a reasonable price,” said President Robert Clark. “And, although our numbers are growing, we continue to offer the close-knit collegiate atmosphere and one-on-one attention that so many college-bound students are seeking.”
To physically accommodate the growth in student population, construction is under way for a new Living and Learning Center, which will include five experiential learning classrooms as well as four floors of suite-style living space for 244 students. Housing both learning and living space in one facility is not only efficient in terms of building costs, but also provides a unique, holistic learning environment for the student population. Renovations to the main dining facility also are planned.
New faculty have been hired to offer a wider array of courses and maintain an intimate classroom environment.
“We have worked diligently to attract high-quality faculty from across the country who, in addition to their strong academic credentials, have rich professional backgrounds that will bring real world experiences to the classroom,” said Provost Lynne Coy-Ogan.
“We look forward to the students returning to campus because they bring so much energy and vitality to our community,” said Clark. “We fully anticipate another successful year full of opportunity and growth potential for each and every student we serve.”
For more information, contact Amanda Kitchen at 992-4925.
Ship’s master
CASTINE — Maine Maritime Academy has selected Capt. Leslie B. Eadie III of Brewer as the permanent master of the training ship State of Maine. Eadie most recently served as interim master during the college’s annual training cruise to domestic and foreign ports of call. He assumed command of the vessel earlier this week.
Eadie will oversee all operations of the vessel, represent the college to the U.S. Maritime Administration for ongoing ship maintenance, and command the vessel while in port and during training cruises. He will serve as an active faculty member in the college’s William F. Thompson School of Marine Transportation.
“I had the opportunity to sail under Captain Eadie’s command during this year’s training cruise,” said Dr. William J. Brennan, president of MMA. “I am convinced by his extensive experience, steady hand and personal demeanor that his style of leadership is exceptionally appropriate for this critical post. He has a quiet confidence that is coupled with an appreciation for the importance of collaboration in the learning environment. These qualities will enable him to strengthen the bridge between training and operations.”
A seasoned professional mariner with more than 28 years at sea, Eadie has sailed with Sun Oil Co., ARCO Marine Inc. and Sabine Transportation Co. While with Sabine, he was captain of the largest tanker to enter Anchorage, Alaska, and Massawa Inner Harbor, Eritrea. He joined the MMA faculty nearly six years ago, teaching courses in terrestrial navigation, marine communications, advanced tanker operations and casualty analysis. As a faculty member, he sailed aboard the training ship State of Maine in deck training and senior deck officer positions.
Eadie holds a U.S. Guard license as an unlimited master, and is a1st Class Pilot for the waters of Alaska’s Prince William Sound. He earned a bachelor’s degree in nautical science from MMA and a master’s degree in business administration in 2004 from the University of Phoenix. Eadie and his wife of 35 years, Kathy, have three grown children and one grandson.
Maine Maritime Academy
CASTINE — Capt. Robert J. Peacock II of Eastport recently was appointed chairman of the Maine Maritime Academy board of trustees. Peacock was elected to the post by a unanimous vote of the board on Aug. 12. He was appointed to the 16-member board in 2004 by Gov. John Baldacci.
A 1971 graduate of MMA and valedictorian of his class, Peacock is the college’s first alumnus to hold the office of chairman of the board. A native of Washington County, he holds a U.S. Coast Guard unlimited masters license for vessels of any gross tons with First Class Pilotage for the Great Lakes, Alaska, Texas, Maine, the Delaware River and Puerto Rico.
Peacock sailed as a cadet in Vietnam, as a deck officer with Cleveland Cliffs Iron Co. and Sun Transport, and as a master with Interocean Management and Bay Tankers. At 25, he became the youngest captain on record in the peacetime U.S. Merchant Marine. His commands have included the 395,000-ton UST Atlantic, the largest U.S.-built vessel ever to fly the American flag. He also served for 30 years in the U.S. Naval Reserve and attained the rank of captain.
He is harbor pilot and docking master for Eastport, and had been for Penobscot Bay & River and Bar Harbor. Peacock is the operations manager for Trufresh LLC, the owner of a seafood plant in Maine that imports frozen seafood and acts as a consultant to plants processing seafood throughout the world. He has been involved extensively in a sea urchin and scallop research hatchery. He is active on boards and civic organizations and is chairman of the Eastport City Council. His father, Robert S. Peacock, graduated from Maine Maritime Academy in 1945, and his daughter, Ansley Peacock, graduated from the college in 2007.
MMA alumnus Robert Somerville of Houston was elected vice chairman of the board. The college’s trustees are now led by the first alumni team in the history of the academy. Somerville, a 1965 graduate of MMA, is chairman of ABS and the ABS Group of Companies, a leading international ship classification society.
Trustee John F. “Dugan” Shipway of Bath joins the board’s executive team as treasurer. Shipway, a retired U.S. Navy rear admiral, is a former president of General Dynamics Bath Iron Works. J. Annette Dixon, executive assistant to the president of MMA, continues to serve as secretary to the board.
“Considering the professional stature and the depth of experience of the members of the college’s board of trustees, I find their selection of this alumni leadership team to be a testament to the outstanding quality of our graduates,” said Dr. William J. Brennan, president of Maine Maritime Academy.
W. Tom Sawyer Jr. of Dedham recently returned to service on the board of trustees. Appointed to the position by Gov. Paul LePage earlier this year, Sawyer holds the title of MMA trustee emeritus in recognition of his previous extensive service on the board. Sawyer has enjoyed a successful career directing his family-owned waste management and recycling business. Active in public service, Sawyer has served terms on the Bangor City Council, as mayor of Bangor and as a state senator.
DePaul University
HAMPDEN — Rebecca Smith of Hampden has been named to the dean’s list for the spring semester at DePaul University in Chicago.
Serving more than 25,000 students, DePaul University is the nation’s largest Catholic university and offers programs, many nationally ranked, in the liberal arts and sciences, education, commerce, law, computer technology, music and theater.
Watershed stewards
ORONO — The University of Maine Cooperative Extension will offer fall class sessions for its Watershed Stewards Program 6-8:30 p.m. Thursdays, Sept. 8-Oct. 20, in Blue Hill.
The first session in the program, a lake and pond water-quality protection program, is scheduled at the Blue Hill town office, with all others at the Blue Hill Consolidated School. Registration is $25 and includes a lake-protection resource notebook, a $60 value. Registration deadline is Sept. 2. For more information or registration, contact Laura Wilson at 581-2971 or 800-870-7270, or email laura.wilson@maine.edu. Extension events are included on the Extension website calendar at http://extension.umaine.edu/.
Lakefront landowners, municipal officials and educators can benefit from the Watershed Stewards Program. Participants will learn how to identify the most common threats to Maine’s lakes and other waters, and will learn common solutions to those problems. The program will feature guest speakers from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, Maine Department of Agriculture, Hancock County Soil and Water Conservation District and others, including local resources that can be great contacts for lakefront landowners in the future, according to Wilson.
Specific topics include camp roads, invasive aquatic plants, lake water-quality measures, and shoreland zoning regulations. Participants are expected to volunteer 20 hours of service to their lake or pond within a year of completing the program. To date, more than 400 individuals have become watershed stewards throughout Maine, and are making a difference in protecting Maine’s lakes.
Extension programs are open and accessible to all in accordance with program goals.
For more than 90 years, University of Maine Cooperative Extension has supported UMaine’s land-grant public education role by conducting community-driven, research-based programs in every Maine county.
Camden Conference
CAMDEN — Professor Paul Holman, a visiting professor of international relations for the University of Maine, will kick off the 2012 Camden Conference Community Events Series 6:30-8 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 13, at Rockland Public Library.
The topic will be “Gridlock and Stalemate: U.S. Foreign Policy for the Next Decade?”
What do global climate change and the “Arab Spring” have in common? At first glance, they seem quite different and unrelated. One reflects the impact of human behavior and natural phenomena on the entire planet Earth, while the other involves the struggle of a particular ethnic group to achieve freedom and dignity in their countries. Yet they are connected in some respects, and both pose serious challenges for U.S. foreign policy, organizers said.
Holman will first explore an aspect of global climate change that has received little attention from the media: the melting of the Arctic ice cap. It poses threats and opportunities for America that are quite remarkable. The polar bears and other life forms may be endangered, yet new sources of energy and raw materials could benefit the growing population of the world. Indeed, the fabled Northwest Passage — which brought some of the first European explorers to our shores — is rapidly becoming a reality thanks to the melting of the pack ice.
The United States, Canada and Russia disagree sharply about who has the right to do what in the changing Arctic waters, and some experts predict a new arms race to dominate the region.
As for the “Arab Spring,” it has involved some remarkable attempts to overthrow both pro-American and anti-American dictators. A few were mostly nonviolent, but others have degenerated into civil wars. No one foresaw this upheaval, and no one can be sure how it will end. What is the likely impact on America’s friends and allies, such as Israel, Morocco, Jordan, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia? What are the implications for al-Qaida and the Islamists? How will it affect the price of oil?
Holman will address these and other questions. They involve complex challenges for U.S. foreign policy, at a time when the economy is stagnant, deficits are troublesome, and the political system seems dysfunctional. Gridlock and stalemate are possible but far from inevitable, organizers said.
Holman is serving concurrently as an adjunct professor at the Naval War College. He co-edited several books, including the multivolume series “Fundamentals of Force Planning” and “Ethnic Nationalism and Regional Conflict.”
The mission of the Camden Conference is to foster informed discourse on world affairs through year-round community events, public and student engagement, and an annual weekend conference. For more information, call 236-1034 or visit http:// www.camdenconference.org.