[Vision2020] The UI Friday Letter from UI President White (December 9, 2005)

[Tom Hansen]

Copied and pasted below is today's (December 9, 2005) UI Friday Letter from
UI President White.

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University of Idaho
Office of the President
Moscow, Idaho 83844-3151
Phone: 208-885-6365
Fax: 208-885-6558

The Friday Letter
A Newsletter for University of Idaho Alumni and Friends Dec. 9, 2005

Dear Friends,

The first significant and sustained winter storm arrived recently in Moscow,
paradoxically leaving the campus beauty even more enhanced, while narrowing
the roads, shrinking the parking lots and adding a degree of peril to the
walkways and overhangs. I commend and thank our grounds crew, as they have
worked literally day and night to allow us all to continue with "business as
usual" as we approach the end of the semester. These men and women are a
backbone of the University.

Tomorrow, we honor nearly 900 graduates at our December Commencement
ceremony at 1 p.m. in the Kibbie-ASUI Activity Center. This is the
University's eighth winter commencement; it is a fairly new tradition. 
But it has quickly become a very meaningful event for graduates, their
families and friends, and the University community. 

Lewiston Morning Tribune publisher A. L. "Butch" Alford Jr. will present the
commencement address, "Views of an Idaho Publisher."  We also will confer on
Alford an honorary doctoral degree in humane letters. Alford works with many
community groups and economic development efforts. He has strong ties to the
University; he currently serves on the supervisory board for the Martin
Institute, the University of Idaho Foundation and the professional advisory
board for the School of Journalism and Mass Media.

Whether in May or December, it is wonderful to share in the accomplishments
and successes of our students. We wish all our graduates the very best in
the next chapters of their lives, and welcome them into a new lifelong
relationship with the University of Idaho as alumni.

Tim White
President

Here's the latest news from the University of Idaho:

* UI Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering David Atkinson and an
international team of scientists have successfully measured the zonal,
east-to-west, winds of Saturn's moon, Titan. That data may provide valuable
insights into the mysteries of earth's own atmosphere, and it offers a
fairly complete profile of the winds of Titan. Atkinson and his team found
that Titan's atmosphere rotates faster than the surface and moves in the
direction the surface is moving, resulting in prograde winds that blow in
the same direction the planet rotates. 

Titan features the only other nitrogen-dominated atmosphere, aside from
Earth, in the solar system. The second most abundant molecule in Titan's
atmosphere is methane. There is no oxygen. The team's Doppler Wind
Experiment was one of six scientific investigations comprising the payload
of the Huygens Probe, released from the European Space Agency's Cassini
spacecraft last December. Two studies from the mission were published in
Nature magazine Dec. 8.

*UI alumni Rob Sauer '98 and Mike Nelson '96, '03 were named Milken Family
Foundation National Educators. The two are among 100 teachers across the
nation to earn the honor Teacher Magazine calls, "The Oscars of Teaching."
Sauer is principal at Wendell Middle School in Wendell, and Nelson teaches
Spanish at Coeur d'Alene High School. Both receive a $25,000 cash award and
an all-expenses-paid trip to a conference in Washington, D.C., slated for
May 2006. Sauer holds a master's degree in education administration from UI.
Nelson holds a UI bachelor's degree in visual communications, a teaching
certification in journalism and Spanish, and a master's in curriculum
instruction. He will receive an educational specialist leadership degree
from UI tomorrow. 

*Myron E. Johnston Jr. '52, Economics, has never forgotten his beloved Idaho
or the institution that provided him with a good education. Myron is retired
from Philip Morris and lives in Richmond, Va. In 2005, Myron's generosity to
his alma mater came in three forms. He first donated $2,500 to the College
of Business and Economics building campaign; his name will appear on a sign
in the J. A. Albertson Building central stairway for this gift. Myron then
decided to help students, so he established The Myron E. and LaVerda B.
Johnston Scholarship Endowment. 

Lastly, he provided for the University of Idaho in his estate plans, and
became a member of the Heritage Society. His legacy of kindness and
generosity, and that of his late wife, LaVerda, will be remembered forever
in the College of Business and Economics.

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Take care, Moscow.

Tom Hansen


"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving
safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in
sideways, chocolate in one hand, a drink in the other, body thoroughly used
up, totally worn out and screaming 'WOO HOO. What a ride!'"