[Vision2020] The UI Friday Letter for September 12, 2008

Fri Sep 12 05:47:45 PDT 2008

Copied and pasted below is the UI Friday Letter for September 12, 2008.

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Dear Friends, 

This week we celebrate very welcome, very important news about the 
quality, diversity and quantity of our fall, 2008 student body. And we 
celebrate too the incredibly dedicated people, on and off our campuses, 
who have worked strategically to enhance our enrollment status. 

Overall, enrollment has increased 1.3 percent this fall. Most 
impressively, the University of Idaho is home today to 11.6 percent more 
brand new Vandals. That's 3,733 new students of all categories in our 
classrooms and our vibrant campus communities across the state who have 
signed on to build our "Legacy of Leading."

And the quality of the students who choose our University only continues 
to rise. Today we are home to 65 National Merit Program students - the 
second largest number at any public university in the Northwest. National 
Merit Finalists represent about 15,000 of the top high school students in 
the nation. Finalists are selected as National Merit Scholarship 
recipients only if high test scores are combined with an outstanding 
academic record throughout all high school years; leadership and community 
service; and indicators of high skill, achievement, readiness for rigorous 
college study. 

Other student quality indicators have risen as well. The number of new 
freshmen with a high school grade point average of 3.5 or higher is up 6.5 
percent, and those who meet a very impressive threshold on their ACT 
(American College Test) - a score of 30 or above - is up 3.1 percent.

We also continue to make progress on our commitment to creating a learning 
and living community that reflects our global society; our students of 
color have increased between five and 10 percent in three categories. 
International student numbers are up significantly, too; among graduate 
students alone, about 300 represent some 90 nations. These students enrich 
us all by weaving their cultural experiences, perspectives and world views 
into the fabric of our community.

A continuing point of pride for this University is our ability to ttract 
students who are the first in their family to attend college. mong our 
first-time freshmen, 36 percent are first-generation students his fall. 

Many students turn down other fine institutions in favor of the istinctive 
academic and student life environment, exceptional outcomes nd value to be 
found here - that quality-to-cost ratio that's hard for any institutions 
to maintain in tenuous economic times. I am very proud o ring in the new 
academic year with such upbeat, momentum-building nrollment news for our 
University community. The University of Idaho ontinues to lead in student 
quality, and we have begun a new era on the uantity dimension as well. I 
look forward to a great year. I sincerely cknowledge the smart, hard work 
of my colleagues and I thank you, our andal alumni and friends, for your 
enthusiastic support.

Steven Daley-Laursen '79, '84
President

Here's the latest news from the University of Idaho 

Vandal fans living in Bronco country can get the scoop on their team this 
season. University of Idaho student-produced features on the Vandal 
football team will air throughout the season on KTRV-TV. The FOX Broadcast 
affiliate serves the Treasure Valley, the Idaho's largest media market. 
The six-minute broadcasts are featured in the program, "Inside the 
Broncos, the WAC, and the West." 

KTRV-TV Web site: www.ktrv.com/

The Auditorium Chamber Music Series showcases some of the finest chamber 
ensembles in the world. The 22nd ACMS season at the University of Idaho 
will open Tuesday, Sept. 23, with a "Music from the Palouse" concert that 
highlights chamber musicians from the region. The concert begins at 7:30 
p.m. in the University Auditorium located in the Administration Building 
on the Moscow campus. This season also will feature Trio Con Brio 
Copenhagen Oct. 28; Fountain Ensemble Dec. 2; Biava String Quartet Jan. 
27, 2009; and the Fireworks Ensemble, March 3, 2009. 

Web site: http://www.class.uidaho.edu/concerts/

The newest recipient of the Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award will give a 
literary reading Wednesday, Sept. 24, in the College of Law courtroom. 
Joshua Ferris is the author of "Then We Came to the End," a finalist for 
the National Book Award. He also is the winner of the Barnes and Noble 
Discover New Writers Award. The University of Idaho's Master of Fine Arts 
Program has formed a partnership with the Hemingway Foundation/PEN New 
England, and each year's winner delivers a reading on the Moscow campus. 
Additionally, Ferris will present his work at the annual Ernest Hemingway 
Festival on Saturday, Sept. 27, at 6 p.m., in the Community Library, 415 
North Spruce Ave. in Ketchum. The free public event is sponsored by the 
University's Department of English, The Hemingway Review and the Sun 
Valley Chamber of Commerce.

The Hach Scientific Foundation of Fort Collins, Colo., has made an 
annually renewable $12,000 gift to the University of Idaho to provide 
scholarships for two chemistry majors who want to become high school 
chemistry teachers. The Hach Scientific Foundation's mission is to support 
science education, especially in the field of chemistry, through 
scholarships and outreach grants to existing and future chemistry 
teachers. The foundation provides similar scholarships at each of the land 
grant universities throughout the nation. This is the second year the 
University of Idaho has participated in the program.  For more information 
about giving to the College of Science, contact Eric Bennett at (208) 885-
9106 or ebennett at uidaho.edu.

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Seeya at Farmers' Market, 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

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