[Vision2020] The Friday Letter (from UI President White)

[Tom Hansen]

Copied and pasted below is the UI Friday Letter for January 7, 2005.

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The Friday Letter
A Newsletter for University of Idaho Alumni and Friends January 7, 2005

Dear Friends,

I hope your holidays were restful and fun. Karen and Logan and I had a
terrific time visiting with family here in Moscow.  

Just prior to winter break, the President's Cabinet spent significant time
reviewing and analyzing the input received from faculty, staff, students,
alumni and other friends regarding the University Vision and Resources Task
Force report. With more than 600 separate responses, it was no small task,
but I feel like we have identified the major themes. 
Thanks to all of you who shared their thoughts, concerns and ideas. Your
input provided rich fodder for consideration. I soon will be able to share
our analysis and outline what's next in this institution-defining process.

There already is increased activity on the Moscow campus as students return
for spring semester, which is always exciting. Classes begin Wednesday.

Tim White
President

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

~ The UI's Auditorium Chamber Music Series announces the seventh annual
Palouse Chamber Music Workshop, featuring the St. Lawrence String Quartet,
to take place at the Hampton School of Music Saturday, Feb. 5. The St. 
Lawrence String Quartet is in residence at Stanford University and the
Spoleto-USA festival, and widely acknowledged as one of the finest quartets
of its generation. While in Moscow, the quartet will also perform at the
Auditorium Series on Thursday, Feb. 3. String players in grades seven
through college will work in string quartets with the visiting artists and
with local coaches. 

~ Yuri Mereszczak, a civil engineering graduate student from Grangeville,
has been named Transportation Student of the Year by the university's
National Institute of Advanced Transportation Technology. He has extensively
studied the nation's "roundabouts," one-way circular intersections with
highly designed and controlled safeguards. Mereszczak earned his bachelor's
degree in civil engineering from UI in 2003 and now is pursuing a master's
degree. 

~ Fleets of unmanned autonomous marine vehicles, now in the prototype stage,
will one day perform tactics too dangerous or tedious for humans. The
autonomous vehicles will be able to respond to changes in positions and the
rigors of extreme environments. Research and testing on such multiple
autonomous vehicles are underway by University of Idaho engineering faculty,
supported by $4 million in grants over three years from the Office of Naval
Research. Principals are Dean Edwards, Michael Anderson and Richard Wall
from College of Engineering, who do the testing at the Naval Surface Warfare
Center in Bayview. At UI, other autonomous vehicles also have been developed
to navigate through forests or on Mars' surface.