[Vision2020] The UI Friday Letter from UI President White (November 18, 2005)

[Tom Hansen]

Copied and pasted below is today's (November 18, 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 Nov. 18, 2005

Dear Friends,

It's Vandal Pride Days in Boise and I hope to see many of our 10,000 alumni
in the Treasure Valley at this evening's pep rally at the Boise Centre on
the Grove. It's starts at 5:30 p.m. and admission is free. 
You also can stop by the University's home in Boise, the Idaho Water Center,
for an open house this morning to meet faculty, staff and students. We take
great pride in the wonderful facility and the contributions its tenants are
making to the community and state. 

Also at the Idaho Water Center today and tomorrow morning is a Vandal
Marketplace with merchandise from the UI Bookstore. Kick-off for the
Idaho-Boise State football game is noon, Pacific Time and 1 p.m. Mountain. 
We'll have our post-game party downtown at The Big Easy.

Today also marks the beginning of Thanksgiving recess for our students, many
of whom will return home to spend Thanksgiving with their families. 
Karen and I extend a very sincere thank you of our own. We are most thankful
to be a part of the University of Idaho community with such talented
faculty, staff and students as well as engaged and devoted alumni, friends
and donors. Karen, Logan and I wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Tim White
President

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

Louisiana's task in sustaining coastal wetlands dwarfs any previous
environmental coastal recovery efforts that have been undertaken before,
said UI engineering professor Peter Goodwin of Boise. He served on a
committee of experts who began reviewing Louisiana coastal wetland issues in
2002. The team's report, "Drawing Louisiana's New Map: 
Addressing Land Loss in Coastal Louisiana," was issued last week by the
National Research Council. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita struck as the team
completed its work, underscoring the need for a comprehensive coastal
management plan. "We can do the science; we can do the engineering even on
such a bold scale," he said. "But the most difficult aspect is the merging
of the best-available science with public policy. 

As soon as you factor in the people and what these efforts will mean to
them, their livelihood and culture, it becomes very complicated. There will
always be perceived winners and losers in any plan, and the issue becomes
how you get community buy-in." 

UI's English honorary, Sigma Tau Delta, hosted a speed-reading contest and
raised $1,000 for First Book, a non-profit organization that provides book
to children and families. About 200 people, ranging in age from 10 to 70,
participated in the event. Supporters pledged from pennies to dimes for each
word read aloud. Works recited ranged from Dr. Seuss' "Cat in the Hat" to
James Joyce's "Ulysses." April Stephenson, a UI senior from Idaho Falls, was
the winner of the event with a read-speed of 199 words in 30 seconds in a
breathless recitation from "Ramona the Brave." 

Ryne Stoker and his father Roger Stoker '59 '85 have established a
scholarship endowment for students studying geotechnics or geotechnical
engineering in the College of Engineering and the College of Science. 
Ryne earned a bachelor's degree in geological engineering from UI, and
currently serves as president and principal engineer of GeoTek, Inc., a
geotechnical and environmental consulting service based in Las Vegas with
offices in Boise, San Diego, Phoenix, and Riverside, Calif. Ryne and his
wife, Anna, make their home in Las Vegas. Roger earned a bachelor's degree
in geology and a master's degree in nuclear engineering at UI. He is retired
from Edison International and lives in Meridian with his wife, Janice. To
kick off the scholarship, the Stokers contributed $11,000, of which $6,000
has been directed to the Roger C. and Ryne C. Stoker Scholarship Endowment
as principal and $5,000 has been awarded in scholarships for the current
year.

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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