12 December 2012 Edition - Fiddlehead Focus

Page 8
Fiddlehead Focus, December 12, 2012
Snow proves worthy
topic for contest
FORT KENT –The University
of Maine at Fort Kent’s Presidential
Lecture Series committee
has announced the three individuals
who are the winners for the
UMFK-sponsored biannual writing
contest conducted this fall.
The committee selected Katie
Levesque from Fort Kent as the
contest winner. Edwin Gray
James, formerly from Raleigh,
North Carolina, now living in St.
David, and Jessica Fongemie, a
UMFK alumna from Soldier
Pond, are second and third place
winners, respectively.
Levesque, James and Fongemie
were chosen from among the
many students, faculty, staff,
alumni and community members
who submitted entries of prose
or poetry, within a 600 wordlimit.
Currently enrolled in the
English program at UMFK,
Levesque’s entry is titled A Sled
Ride Memory. James, a retired
Teamster, is now working as an
educational technician in Madawaska
and submitted a poem,
Winter’s Approach. Fongemie
(´96) titled her short story entry
A Box of Lettuce.
The panel of jurists for the
annual writing contest included
Dorothy Hopkins, retired UMFK
writing specialist, Dr. Doris Metz,
associate professor of curriculum
and instruction and Lise Pelletier,
director of UMFK’s Acadian Archives.
The university removed all
information about the authors
before sending the entries to the
judges. After reading all of the
entries and giving each careful
consideration, the judges selected
the winners.
The winning essays will become
part of the 2012-2013 Presidential
Lecture Series Potato Chips Chapbook.
The book will be released at
the UMFK Scholars’ Symposium,
to be held on Friday, May 3,
2013.
Another writing contest will
also soon be announced.
The Presidential Lecture Series
at UMFK provides a platform for
intellectual discourse among campus
community participants, as
part of UMFK’s Strategic Plan for
Excellence. The Series, which
fosters an environment of academic
inquiry and excellence,
continues to bring to campus a
variety of renowned scholars,
speakers, authors and poets.
UMFK men
lose again,
drop to 0-9
FORT KENT - Claude Louis
and Patrick Manifold each scored
26 points to lead University of
Maine at Presque Isle over University
of Maine at Fort Kent 71-
63 from Fort Kent, Maine on
Dec. 5.
UMFK drops to 0-9 and will
next play Southern Virginia University
at 6 p.m. Friday at the
VUL Dragons Invitational in
Lynchburg, Virginia. UMPI improved
to 6-4 with the big road
win.
Louis and Manifold combined
to shoot 20 of 42 from the floor
while UMFK struggled as a team
shooting just 30 percent on the
night including a 4-20 effort from
three-point-land.
Yoshives Belizaire (Miramar,
Florida) recorded a doubledouble
with 14 points and 13
rebounds to lead UMFK. Jorge
Matesanz (Sevilla, Spain) added
12 points and five assists and
Andre Poux (Miami, Florida) had
12 points and nine boards in the
loss.
UMFK nurses rock on exams
FORT KENT - The University
of Maine at Fort Kent Nursing
Division graduates topped
Maine’s baccalaureate nursing
programs in the national nursing
exam for first-time test takers educated
in Maine’s programs, according
to statistics that the Maine
State Board of Nursing released
last week.
The UMFK nursing program
posted a near-perfect 38 of 39
(97.44 percent) first-time pass rate
for its graduates on the national
NCLEX-RN exam during the Oct.
1, 2011 through Sept. 30, 2012
timeframe, to finish at the top of
Maine’s baccalaureate programs.
The statewide first-time pass
rate for baccalaureate-prepared
nurses was 89.96 percent. UMFK
graduates also scored higher than
the national first-time pass rate of
NCLEX-RN 90.22 percent.
UMFK graduates have consistently
achieved the highest
NCLEX-RN scores within the
state of Maine, including five perfect
scores, since 2000.
“Our students are a great source
of pride to all of us at UMFK.
Each student worked incredibly
hard to prepare for the NCLEX-
RN examination. The outstanding
scores achieved by the Class of
2012 are indicative of the overall
quality in our nursing program,”
said Dr. Erin Soucy, Nursing Division
director.
“UMFK nursing students enjoy
their educational experience at
UMFK because of the supportive,
yet academically challenging,
environment in which each of
them receives the attention they
need to reach their career goals. I
am extremely proud of our students
and also of our faculty,” Dr.
Soucy added.
The UMFK Division of Nursing
has a rich tradition in its 31-year
history. Since its inception in
1981, UMFK has served the
needs of the St. John Valley, and
beyond, by graduating caring,
competent registered nurses.
NCLEX-RN is a national, standardized,
exam for registered nurses
developed and controlled by
the National Council of State
Boards of Nursing. The exam is
application-oriented, related to the
job functions most commonly
required of entry-level RNs. The
exam tests a student’s current
medical knowledge, nursing competencies
and determines their
eligibility to earn a RN license.