Two UPEI music students-Morgan Wagner and Emily Emberton- were nationally recognized after placing second and third, respectively, in the Canadian Music Educators' Association's Kenneth Bray Undergraduate Essay Competition. This year's annual competition attracted 30 submissions from across Canada. Students select their own topic, but it must be relevant to current or evolving music education practices or issues. The competition was judged in a blind review process by a panel of 10 nationally recognized scholars in the field of music education.

Wagner, of Stanchel, PEI, is entering her fourth year of the bachelor of music program, majoring in vocal performance. She is a frequent performer in the UPEI Recital Series and has been involved in many local productions. Emberton, of Canmore, Alberta, is entering her fourth year in the bachelor of music education program, with an emphasis in instrumental music education and flute performance.

Wagner's essay 'Creating Creativity' and Emily's paper 'The Power of Music: Opening Our Minds to Imagine a Better Life,' were completed under the guidance of UPEI Music Education Professor Dr. June Countryman. These essays may be published by the CMEA in its journal, The Canadian Music Educator.

UPEI congratulates both Morgan and Emily!

The Federation of Canadian Music Festivals will host the 2013 National Competition August 8-10, at Sir Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario. It is exciting for Prince Edward Island to be sending three solo competitors to this prestigious national festival. All three are students of the Department of Music at UPEI. Echo Lau, piano, a student of Dr. Frances Gray, graduated this spring with her Bachelor of Music. Branden Kelly is entering his fourth year as a percussion major and studies with David Shephard. Lucas MacPhail, a student of Kevin MacLean, is entering his third year as a saxophone performer. They will be competing with other talented musicians chosen from provincial competitions in each province.

All three of these wonderful young musicians can be heard in recital on Sunday, July 28, 7:30 pm, at the Dr. Steel Recital Hall, UPEI campus. Echo will be accompanied both here and in Waterloo, by Frances Gray. Branden and Lucas will be accompanied by Frances McBurnie.

Admission will be by donation to assist Echo, Branden, and Lucas with expenses as they travel to Waterloo for this competition.

For more information, please contact Dr. Frances Gray at (902) 566-0680 or fgray@upei.ca

UPEI Athletics and Recreation would like to determine the level of interest from students and community members in forming a power-lifting club to be based out of UPEI's Chi-Wan Young Sports Centre. Those interested are invited to an information meeting in the Sports Centre boardroom on Wednesday, July 31 at 7:00 pm. More information is available by emailing panthercentral@upei.ca or by calling (902) 566-0368.

The UPEI Alumni Association presented its annual Distinguished Alumni and Inspiring Young Alumni Awards on Friday, July 26 as part of this year's summer reunion weekend.

The Honourable J. Armand DesRoches, SDU'63 and J. Paul S. Young, BSc'02, BScR'07, MBA'12 are this year's recipients. DesRoches will be presented with this year's Distinguished Alumni Award, which commemorates a graduate for their outstanding contributions to knowledge, the arts, the community, and the university or humanity. Young will be presented with the Inspiring Young Alumni Award, which honours a graduate, under the age of 40, who has shown outstanding determination in achieving success at a young age.

Upon graduation from St. Dunstan's University, DesRoches went on to receive his LLB degree from Dalhousie University. He was admitted to the bars of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, and practiced law in Summerside before joining the Canadian Armed Forces. During his 22-year career as a Canadian Forces legal officer, DesRoches was at various times: the legal advisor to the Commander of 1 Combat Group in Calgary, stationed in Germany where he provided legal advice to a number of units in Europe, and chief legal advisor to the Commander of Maritime Command in Halifax. DesRoches also held the position of military trial judge for 10 years, three of which he was the chief military judge for the Canadian Forces.

In 1991, DesRoches retired from the Canadian Forces as deputy judge advocate general with the rank of navy captain and was appointed to the trial division of the Supreme Court of the province. During his time there, he rendered numerous decisions that had a lasting impact on PEI, including moving electoral boundaries to provide fairer distribution of voters among electoral districts and establishing a French school in the Summerside area.

DesRoches retired from the Bench in 2004, and in 2005, joined Stewart McKelvey as counsel. In 2007, he was named a member of the Pensions Appeal Board, the third level of appeal under the Canada Pension Plan. DesRoches has been married to Judie for 45 years, has four daughters, and nine grandchildren.

Paul Young couldn't get enough of UPEI. In 2002, he obtained his bachelor of science degree, majoring in chemistry and physics. Then, with aspirations to enter a career in healthcare, Young entered the radiography program offered by UPEI and the QEH and graduated in 2004. He completed a second undergraduate degree from UPEI in applied sciences, and most recently, in 2012, Young graduated with his master of business administration from UPEI.

In 2005, Young received his advanced diploma in MRI and spectroscopy from Winnipeg's Red River College and The National Institute for Biodiagnostics. He then moved to Ottawa to begin his healthcare career.

Through relentless hard work, dedication, and determination, Young quickly became known and respected within his field. After having worked with several hospitals and private clinics, he landed a highly sought after job as clinical lead instructor at The Ottawa Hospital, the second-largest teaching hospital in Canada. He was the youngest technologist ever hired for the position. By 2007, Young had expanded his experience to encompass four provinces and 10 hospitals and private clinics, and had become one of the most sought-after technologists in his field.

In 2008, Young and his family moved back to PEI where he became the youngest manager at the Diagnostic Imaging Services department for the Prince County Hospital. He was recently appointed to a new role with Health PEI, and is now the manager of the primary care network for West Prince. Young lives in Summerside with his wife Erika and daughter Brielle.

'The UPEI Alumni Association is proud to award Armand and Paul with this year's Distinguished Alumni and Inspiring Young Alumni Awards,' said Alumni Association President Bruce Davison. 'It's individuals like them that make us proud to call ourselves UPEI alumni. On behalf of the Association, we send our congratulations to Armand and Paul.'

For a full summer reunion weekend schedule, visit http://remember.upei.ca/events/summer-reunion-weekend-2013

Despite torrential rain, UPEI Athletics and Recreation hosted the Panther Golf Classic on Friday, July 26 at Green Gables Golf Course. The annual event which brought together 108 golfers raised $14,000 to support student-athletes at UPEI.

For information:

Ron Annear

UPEI Athletics & Recreation

(902) 566-0991

annear@upei.ca

Winning scramble event female team

Winning scramble event male team

UPEI Athletics and Recreation is proud of all Panthers participating at the 2013 Canada Summer Games in Sherbrooke, Quebec, over the next two weeks.

'Congratulations to all entering and returning student-athletes who are not only wearing the Island green but the Panther green at the Canada Games,' commented UPEI Director of Athletics and Recreation Bill Schurman. 'We wish each and every one of you the very best of luck. It is a wonderful opportunity and experience for all to enjoy.'

The following UPEI Panthers are on Team PEI:

A pioneer in the field of biomedical optoacoustics will give a public lecture at the University of Prince Edward Island about how doctors are using light to better detect breast cancer. The lecture by Dr. Alexander Oraevsky begins at 7 pm on Wednesday, August 7 in room 242 of UPEI's Don and Marion McDougall Hall.

Dr. Oraevsky is the chief technology officer at TomoWave Labs and is an adjunct professor of biomedical engineering at the University of Houston. His lecture-titled 'New imaging technology uses light to make cancer ‘sing' to the doctor'-discusses emerging technology that replaces harmful radiation with light and sound.

The drawbacks of the current breast cancer detection technique, mammography, are many: it uses uncomfortable compression; it misses 20 per cent of cancerous tumours in elderly women; it cannot visualize tumours in the breasts of young women; it cannot tell the difference between a cancerous and non-cancerous tumour, exposing some patients to unnecessary surgery; finally, mammography exposes patients to harmful ionizing radiation.

Dr. Oraevsky will discuss new imaging technology that uses red light instead of ionizing radiation. The light is converted into sound within the tumour. This causes the tumour to produce a sound, which can be detected by a doctor using a special array of detectors to determine the tumour location and its medical condition. This technology takes advantage of the fact that aggressive cancers develop their own system of microscopic blood vessels to support rapid growth. The red light can be absorbed in cancerous tumours, producing signals that can be reliably detected by doctors.

'Based on early clinical results, optoacoustic imaging is positioned to be a significant enhancement of breast ultrasound and potentially a future alternative to (x-ray) mammography and MRI scans,' said Dr. Bill Whelan, an optoacoustics researcher in the departments of physics and biomedical sciences at UPEI.

Dr. Oraevsky is the recipient of multiple research awards advancing biomedical applications of the optoacoustic-imaging sensing and monitoring. He is the primary inventor of 17 patents, has published five book chapters, and more than 200 scientific papers dealing with novel laser technologies applicable in biology and medicine.

For more information about Dr. Oraevsky's visit to UPEI, or to organize a time to meet with him, please contact Dr. Bill Whelan, Department of Physics at 566-0419, wwhelan@upei.ca.

Beginning in September 2013, UPEI's departments of physics and biology will offer a new minor in biomedical physics.

Biomedical physics is an interdisciplinary field of study in the life sciences that involves the application of physics methodology to the prevention, detection, diagnosis, and treatment of human disease. In the areas of physiology and health, physics and physical methods are applied to understand the production, operation, and safe use of ionizing radiation, microwave, radiofrequency, radioactive, magnetic, optical, and acoustic sources and their interactions with living tissues.

The objective of this minor program is to better prepare students who are interested in a career in the healthcare spectrum from biomedical research to clinical services. Due to the rapidly growing and changing aspects of biomedical technologies, there are extraordinary demands on professionals in the healthcare sector.

'I believe students who can think critically at the intersection of biology and physics will have a competitive advantage when moving to the next stage of their healthcare career path,' said Dr. Bill Whelan, professor in UPEI's Department of Physics.

The biomedical physics minor exposes students to medical imaging and therapy technologies, integrated with the underlying anatomy and physiology of the body. The knowledge and skills obtained can be applied to graduate studies, medical school, or post-baccalaureate degrees in one of the many healthcare professions.

For more information on the new minor, visit http://www.upei.ca/programsandcourses/biology or contact Dr. Sheldon Opps at (902) 566-0421, sopps@upei.ca or Dr. Marva Sweeney-Nixon at (902) 566-0633, msweeney@upei.ca.

UPEI welcomes all new students and their families to campus for the second annual Welcome Day on Saturday, August 31, 9:00 am-3:00 pm in Don and Marion McDougall Hall's Schurman Market Square. Welcome Day is a chance for new students to tour campus, pick up their UPEI student ID card, shop at the Bookstore, pay for tuition and other services, meet staff, faculty, Student Union executives, and new friends, and kick-off O-Week-all before classes start up in September!

This year's Welcome Day will also include parent sessions for parents of residence and non-residence students and a barbeque for all from 12:00-2:00 pm. Representatives from Accounting, the Registrar's Office, Residence Services, Robertson Library, Student Affairs, Webster Academic Services, and more will be available to provide academic and administrative support throughout the day.

The UPEI synchro club hosted their second annual 'Bingo for Synchro' event on Wednesday, August 7 at the Holy Redeemer Church Hall. The event ran smoothly and was a great success as the club raised just over $2,000. In addition to bingo, the fundraiser also included prize draws, baked goods, local fries for purchase, and a cash bar.

' ‘Bingo for Synchro' is one of our club's biggest fundraisers, and allows us to cut down on some of the costs associated with our sport,' said club member Katie Carter. 'We are the only university synchronized swimming club in Atlantic Canada, so travel costs can be high. This year, we raised a little over $2,000 with this event which was a big help to our club. We would like to thank all the businesses that helped out by donating prizes; we wouldn't have been able to have this fundraiser without them. We are also looking forward to our upcoming season defending our title as synchro's top university in Canada.'

'Congratulations to the UPEI synchro club for their initiative,' said UPEI Athletics and Recreation Director Bill Schurman. '‘Bingo for Synchro' is a wonderful event to raise funds and awareness for the club.'