[Vision2020] The UI Friday Letter for December 1, 2006

[Tom Hansen]

Copied and pasted below is the UI Friday Letter for December 1, 2006 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. 1, 2006

Dear Friends,

The organization, culture and climate of the University of Idaho is one of
the four goals of our Strategic Action Plan; we will create and sustain an
energized community that is adaptable, dynamic and vital to enable the
University to advance strategically and function efficiently.

To that end, I am pleased to announce Mark A. Edwards will join the
University in January as director for diversity and community. This new
leadership position will initiate, adapt and oversee University and
community programs to support excellence and enrichment of the learning
environment through diversity. Mark comes from Colgate University, where he
currently serves as dean of institutional diversity and affirmative action
officer; he previously was the assistant dean of multicultural affairs and
an assistant professor in sociology and anthropology at Colgate. He also has
served on the faculty at St. Cloud State University and South Dakota State
University.

Increasing diversity at the University of Idaho is one of our top academic
and cultural goals, so filling this position has been a priority. We are
committed to preparing students for life in an increasingly global society,
and we are dedicated to providing opportunities to all who walk through our
doors to explore and exchange ideas from all perspectives. With his
extensive experience, Mark will help further facilitate the integration of
diversity into the very fabric of our University through our curriculum and
teaching, and the recruitment of a diverse workforce and student body. He
will establish and work with an advisory board consisting of internal and
external members to fully address the opportunities and barriers to a
welcoming and supportive University community. Mark also will serve on the
president's cabinet, and will work with me, the provost, deans and other
university leadership, faculty and staff to facilitate culture and climate
change at the university. He assumes the position Jan. 15.

Tim White
President

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

The University's December commencement is Saturday, Dec. 9 at 1 p.m. in the
Kibbie-ASUI Activity Center. More than 900 graduates will be honored. Don
Burnett, dean of the University's College of Law, will provide the
commencement address. Arts and humanities patron Carol Renfrew '35 and Boise
architect Charles Hummel will be awarded honorary doctor of humane letters
degrees.

A University research project is collecting detailed data about the movement
of air, carbon and water that are then analyzed by an interdisciplinary team
of faculty. Their goal: to gain a better understanding of the basic
processes of carbon and water movement to improve the computer models
critical to studying climate change. Idaho received funding for the project
in 2005 from the National Science Foundation's Experimental Program to
Stimulate Competitive Research program. The project gained notoriety at an
international conference earlier this year thanks to the data gathered by
the project's 130-foot tower in the Mica Creek watershed in northern Idaho.
That tower is one of only two in the world where detailed measurements of
air movement, carbon and water flux are being made in such complex
mountainous terrain. Along with two other smaller versions over sagebrush in
southeast Idaho, the tower will allow an interdisciplinary team of
scientists to address questions about how vegetation and disturbance, such
as fire or forest diseases, affect the movement of carbon and water into and
out of the atmosphere.

Janet Schaumburg '77 of Houston, Texas, recently made a $25,000 gift
commitment to the College of Science Advisory Board Faculty Fellowship
Endowment. The fellowship will be used by the college to reward and retain
outstanding faculty members, with an emphasis on rewarding faculty who
involve undergraduate students in research. "The University of Idaho
provided a sound learning environment and the fundamentals of how to succeed
in an increasingly competitive market with global reach," said Schaumburg.
"My experience there laid the groundwork to thrive in an ever changing
career and was the springboard for what proved to be an exciting future.
This special connection makes it important for me to give something back."
Schaumburg was the first woman to earn a mining engineering degree at the
University. She is the Global Expatriate Services Tax and Data Center
manager for ExxonMobil Corp. and a member of the College of Science Advisory
Board. To learn more about giving to the College of Science, contact Eric
Bennett at (208) 885-9106 or visit www.sci.uidaho.edu.

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Seeya round town, Moscow.

Take care, Vandals.

Tom Hansen
Vandalville, Idaho
UI '96


Came a tribe from the north brave and bold . . .

"Here We Have Idaho"
http://www.tomandrodna.com/HWHI.mp3

"I-D-A-H-O Idaho Idaho Go Go Go"
http://www.tomandrodna.com/Vandals.mp3