[Vision2020] The UI Friday Letter from UI President White

[Tom Hansen]

>From today's (February 25, 2005) UI Friday Letter.

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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 February 25, 2005

Dear Friends,

The school buses are lined up outside the Student Union Building, student
musicians of all ages are practicing in the hallway outside the
Administration Building, and jazz aficionados from around the globe are
gathering at the Kibbie Dome. The Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival is in full
swing on the Moscow campus; what a wonderful event. As a first-time festival
attendee, I am deeply impressed with the remarkable educational
opportunities it affords students from elementary school through college as
well as with the energy and enthusiasm it brings to late February on the
Palouse. The festival combined with the jazz program at the Lionel Hampton
School of Music and the International Jazz Archives are a true point of
pride for the entire institution.

Tim White
President

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

~ More than 20 professional jazz musicians hit the road Tuesday in a daylong
tour of local elementary schools. The Jazz in the Schools program, now in
its tenth year, is part of the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival at the
University of Idaho. The program allows jazz artists to interact with
students at elementary schools in northern Idaho and eastern Washington. The
goal is to create an interest in jazz, encourage active listening, inspire
students to explore musical arts and reinforce the importance of strong
music education in schools. Jazz artists performing for students this year
include vocalists Evelyn White and Roberta Gambarini, guitarists Enver
Izmailov, Corey Christiansen and John Stowell, pianists Jim Martinez, Leonid
Vintskevich and Tamir Hendelman and saxophonist Lembit Saarsalu. In
addition, a group of eight, young Russian jazz musicians visiting the jazz
festival through a grant from the Open World Leadership Center, will perform
for elementary school students in Lewiston and Clarkston, Wash. Nearly 8,000
students from 44 area elementary schools got a taste of jazz on a single
day. 

~ Zimri and Maizie Mills, both born and raised in Idaho, believe in giving
back to help others in their community and state. Zimri '50 and Maizie
(McClaran) '47 graduated from the University as did their daughter and
grandson. "We contribute to scholarships because our family received a good
education at the University of Idaho," says Zimri Mills, "and it is
important to see that kids who normally could not attend college have the
scholarship money to be able to do so." The Mills' access scholarship fund
provides a student from rural Idaho approximately $3,000 annually and is
renewable for four years. "It's not always the student with the highest GPA
who is a success in life," noted Mills. "There are many good workers and
successful people contributing the most to our society who may not have
received the top grades in high school and college. These scholarships can
make a big difference for those students who need some help."

~ The University's National Institute for Advanced Transportation Technology
recently received $705,274 from the Federal Highway Administration to
conduct research and develop educational materials for improved traffic
signal system operation. UI is the lead organization in the partnership
between NIATT, FHA, the Idaho Transportation Department, Purdue University
and the University of Tennessee. The project, to develop and test materials
for hands-on traffic signal training, is part of a larger multi-year
national effort recently unveiled by the FHA to improve traffic signal
timing and management.

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Take care,

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"What is objectionable, what is dangerous, about extremists is not that they
are extreme, but that they are intolerant. The evil is not what they say
about their cause, but what they say about their opponents."

-- Robert F. Kennedy