[Vision2020] The UI Friday Letter from UI President White (May 20, 2005)

[Tom Hansen]

Copied and pasted below is today's (May 20, 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 May 20, 2005

Dear Friends,

There usually is a quiet time on campus following the end of an academic
year semester. That's not the case this week at the University of Idaho. 
Not only did summer school start this past Monday, but the International
Goldschmidt Conference, the premiere annual international conference for
geochemists and mineralogists, is being held on the UI campus beginning
today. As many as 1,600 visiting scientists will reside for the week in UI
residence halls, and another 500-600 will stay in local hotels. The
conference's economic impact is projected at $2 million to the area. We are
excited and honored to host this international event and showcase our
university and the surrounding geological wonders.

Many of our wonderful students take advantage of innovative learning
opportunities during the summer.  I want to recognize and congratulate two
undergraduate students in the physics department who earned summer
internship opportunities with NASA. Jessica Poindexter will spend the summer
at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., and Kathryn
Tomaszewski will go to the Goddard Center in Greenbelt, Md.

Tim White
President

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

* The first round of decisions for program changes have been identified to
bring university degree offerings in line with resources. A recommendation
has been sent to the State Board of Education to close four degree programs;
the master's degree in educational technology, the master's in geophysics,
the bachelor's in office administration degree in the Division of Adult,
Counselor and Technology Education and the recreational therapy minor in the
Division of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. No faculty or
staff will lose jobs as a result of the program closures and a "teach out"
will be provided for the small number of students in the affected programs.
A second round of program changes will be finalized by Sept. 19 to allow
further faculty discussion. 

* Several UI track and field athletes set the pace at the Big West Track and
Field Championships. Manuela Kurrat claimed the heptathlon title with a Big
West Conference Championship meet record of 5,614, breaking the 14-year old
record. Sophomore Russ Winger won both the shot put and discus titles and
was named the 2005 Big West Field Athlete of the Year. Jereme Richardson
successfully defended his 2004 decathlon title, Pat Ray defended his title
in the 200-meter dash with a first-place finish in 21.25 and Mary Kamau was
the other big winner for the Vandals as she won the 1,500-meter run.

* Raymond Hanson has left his mark on the Palouse in many ways. It started
as a 19-year-old-inventor, when he devised a mercury switch that led to the
first self load-leveling combine. His engineering career includes projects
to replace the electric turbines deep inside Grand Coulee Dam and to develop
missile delivery systems for the U.S. nuclear defense program. When World
War II broke out, Ray left his engineering studies at the UI to serve his
country.  He never returned to finish his formal education, but he always
considered the University of Idaho his alma mater. He received an honorary
degree in 1985, was inducted into the UI Alumni Hall of Fame and received
the UI College of Engineering Award of Distinction. Now, Ray's wife, Lois,
has provided a new tribute to Ray. The Hanson's $100,000 gift has created
the Raymond and Lois Hanson Classroom in the new Teaching and Learning
Center. 
Nearly every student that attends the University of Idaho in the future will
likely have some classes in the TLC and know of the significant
contributions of Raymond A. Hanson.

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Take care, Moscow.

Tom Hansen

"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