New location for senior center

The Lakes Region Senior Center has announced it has a new location confirmed for an interim home until construction to the Little Falls School has been completed in the spring of 2014.

New doors open on at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 3, at Sunset Ridge Golf Links, 771 Cumberland St. (River Road), Westbrook. There will be plenty of room for parking and the space is large enough to accommodate all activities.

It will be open from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Pickleball will be available on the outdoor court, coffee, tea, socializing and the puzzle table will be active every day.

Members are working to organize their activities, including” Monday, cribbage and independent activities; Tuesday, needlework and crafts, poker at 10 a.m. and card games of choice; Wednesday, 10 a.m. weight support group, and 10:45 a.m. chair yoga exercise program.

Bingo and monthly luncheons will be scheduled soon. This is a drop-in center, so visitors are welcome to see the new location.

For more information, contact Blanche Alexander, president, at 892-5604 or email [email protected].

Ledoux Boston research assistant

Annie Ledoux of Gorham will become a research assistant next month in the Behavioral Science Division of the National Center for PTSD, researching the adjustment of veterans returning from deployment and the development of posttraumatic stress.

Graduating summa cum laude with highest honors from the University of Maine in May, Ledoux majored in psychology and communication. She is a 2009 graduate of Cheverus High School in Portland.

She is the daughter of Arty and Wilma Ledoux of Gorham.

The facility is located at the Boston VA Medical Center.

“As a research assistant, I will be involved in a variety of projects, one of which examines the long-term adjustment of returning Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom veterans and the development of post-traumatic stress,” she said in an email.

As a university senior, she worked on an honors thesis examining the role of conflict resolution in college student couples, and how that communication relates to depression and adjustment.

“Completing my thesis allowed me the opportunity to experience conducting research first hand, and I am excited about continuing to research in the future,” Ledoux said.

Her ultimate goal is to earn a doctorate in clinical psychology to work with military service members, veterans, and their families.

“I come from a military family myself, and recognize that there is a great need for understanding the unique psychological challenges that service members may face. I am very grateful for and excited about this upcoming opportunity,” she said.

At the university, Ledoux was selected by faculty of the Communication and Journalism Department as the outstanding graduating senior with a major in communication, and was awarded the Woffard Gardner Award for achievement in communication.

The Psychology Department faculty awarded Ledoux the John W. Nichols Scholarship Award for her commitment to working with children in the university’s Black Bears Mentors program and as a psychiatric technician on the adolescent inpatient unit at the Acadia Psychiatric Hospital in Bangor.

U.S. taxpayer debt

The Bureau of Public Debt reported on Aug. 22 that the U.S. public debt was $16,738,460,765,994.01

USM receives $100G pledge

Encouraging Maine students to study science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, Nestle? Waters North America, the nation’s leading bottled water company, has pledged $100,000 to support the University of Southern Maine (Pioneers Program.

The university’s Pioneers Program is the first college-level STEM honors community in Maine for high-achieving students. Now entering its third year, the Pioneers Program consists of more than 30 students engaged in advanced curriculum and highly innovative programming designed to deepen students’ knowledge in STEM and prepare them for careers after graduation.

“We recognize the importance of people entering the workforce well-trained in technology and science. This is relevant to our business, where we have 800 employees in Maine working on specialized equipment, sustainably managing spring sources, and testing quality controls on our products. We support STEM education at the University of Southern Maine for the professional growth of the graduates of this program and for the vital future of Maine’s economy,” Chairman Kim Jeffery of Nestle? Waters North America, said in a statement.

The Nestle? Waters North America donation will be used to cover the student scholarships and costs associated with experiential learning opportunities.

“We are very thankful to Nestle? Waters for their continued investment in STEM at USM,” said Andrew Anderson, dean of the university’s College of Science, Technology and Health. “Encouraging promising students with an opportunity to pursue their educational and career goals in the STEM disciplines will produce benefits that will come back to the state of Maine. Pioneers students will become Maine’s future job creators, driving innovation-based industries in the state.”

Annie Ledoux