[Vision2020] UI Friday Letter for Friday (December 14, 2007)

[Tom Hansen]

Copied and pasted below is the UI Friday Letter for December 14, 2007.

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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 December 14, 2007

Dear Friends,

Students are finishing up their finals, and our snow-covered campus is
becoming seasonally quiet and calm. But the buzz about the vitality and
momentum of the University of Idaho can be heard statewide and beyond. 

Last Saturday's Commencement activities in Moscow were gratifying and joyous
indeed; we conferred a total of 736 bachelor's, master's, specialist,
doctorate and juris doctor degrees that day, and our Reserve Officer
Training Corps program commissioned 10 new officers into the armed forces.
Elsewhere in Idaho, and following fast on the heels of the extensive
coverage that our Lionel Hampton International Jazz Festival received as a
National Medal of Arts recipient, the University was literally front-page
news again. The Idaho Statesman ran two consecutive, comprehensive, fair and
accurate articles about our revitalized institution. It's always affirming
when we receive outside recognition of the University's strong position and
positive direction. These stories, as well as a supportive editorial by the
Statesman and an essay by me reflecting that the University's best days are
ahead, are available at:

http://www.idahostatesman.com/education/story/233342.html

http://www.idahostatesman.com/education/story/234000.html

http://www.idahostatesman.com/opinion/story/237003.html

http://www.idahostatesman.com/opinion/story/237002.html.

The State Board of Education last week approved next steps on two projects
related to the renovation of the ASUI-Kibbie Activity Center. The first
project addresses approximately $17 million in critical life safety and code
compliance issues. We will now move forward with the formal design and
planning phase, and next fall return to the board for authorization to issue
bonds and begin construction. The board also approved our request to seek
private funding for the formal design and planning of interior modernization
aspects of the Dome. Our goal is to ensure that the Dome best serves the
needs and interests of students, faculty and alumni, and continues as a
versatile facility that symbolizes the excitement and leadership associated
with the University of Idaho. We will announce the details of the
ASUI-Kibbie Activity Center Renovation Project in early 2008.

This is the last Friday Letter of 2007. I've felt tremendous pride in
sharing with you the remarkable accomplishments of our institution this past
year. There's much more to come in the new year. Karen and Logan join me in
sending you the very best wishes of the season. Go Vandals!

Tim White	
President

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

Rei Matsumoto has been awarded the Meredith-Cronkite Fellowship from the
Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State
University. Matsumoto, senior journalism major from Issaquah, Wash., will
spend a week in January working in the local CBS affiliate, KPHO-TV,
newsroom with reporters, producers, editors, videographers and instructors
from the Cronkite School. Matsumoto is one of 12 students nationwide who
were selected from a very competitive process. Four of the students selected
attend the Cronkite School; only eight are selected from different schools
around the country.

A Partnership Grant from the National Film Preservation Foundation has
enabled the University of Idaho Library to preserve three films of northern
Idaho's mining district made between 1926 and 1930 by mining engineer Harry
Marsh. The films, part of a collection of 12 held by the university, are the
earliest known films of the Silver Valley and hold distinct historical
value. The films have attracted interest from historical societies and
museums. Marsh, a 1909 alumnus of the University of Idaho, was an engineer
for the Tamarack and Custer Mine. DVD copes of the films are available for
the general public to view in the Special Collections and Archives at the
Library. Digital versions also are available on the Special Collections and
Archives Web site at: 

http://www.lib.uidaho.edu/special-collections/dm/dm2007/mining_films.htm

"We hope the discovery and preservation of these films encourages others
with old films of Silver Valley mining to pull them out," said Michael
Tarabulski, library archivist. "It's the heritage of the area; the silver
and lead and other metals have traveled around the world, so it has impact
beyond Idaho and is worth sharing."

James A. Steele, Sr. '56 graduated from the University of Idaho with a
degree in business and went on to a successful career with Merrill Lynch.
Steele's formative experiences at the University compelled him to be an
active alumnus and generous donor. He has fond memories of professors like
the legendary Dr. Erwin Graue, and also his fraternity, Sigma Alpha Epsilon.
In addition to giving major gifts to the J. A. Albertson Building - the
James A. and Janet Steele Advising Suite was named to honor him and his wife
- Steele was instrumental in organizing the Graue Scholars campaign in the
early 1990s. He is playing a key role again in expanding the Graue Scholars
Program by donating $30,000 to the effort. He hopes others will see the
importance of maintaining the legacy of Professor Graue by continuing to
award scholarships to the business leaders of the future. He also was one of
the organizers and the lead donor to the current remodeling of the SAE
house. In addition, he has established a scholarship that goes to each
year's SAE fraternity president. To learn more about giving to the College
of Business and Economics, contact Diane Lugar at (208) 885-7148 or e-mail
dlugar at uidaho.edu.

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Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

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