[Vision2020] The UI Friday Letter from UI President White (July 29, 2005)

[Tom Hansen]

Copied and pasted below is today's (July 29, 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 July 29, 2005

Dear Friends,

The University of Idaho has been re-designated as a National Center of
Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education. Only 66 U.S. 
universities have this distinction given by the National Security Agency and
the Department of Homeland Security. Being a continual leader in the field
of computer security is an extraordinary achievement putting us on par with
Carnegie Mellon, Stanford and the University of Washington.

This national designation is in large part based on the innovative ideas and
research taking place at the Center for Secure and Dependable Systems. 
UI computer science faculty who work at CSDS recently partnered with various
agencies and businesses to develop new software to avert malicious cyber
threats. The software will be used in military computer systems starting
next year, protecting the security of U.S. troops worldwide. 

In its decade of operation, approximately 100 information assurance
specialists have been trained at the University of Idaho through CSDS. 
These graduates now are employed securing industrial, business and
governmental systems. In fact, a few information assurance specialists have
been recruited into highly classified government positions to help the
nation secure its defensive systems, cyber assets and critical
infrastructures.

I am proud of the strides taking place within the Center for Secure and
Dependable Systems led by Director Jim Alves-Foss, Paul Oman and Scott
Harrison, along with the numerous alumni and current students working in the
field of cyber security.

Tim White
President

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

~ University of Idaho alumnus Mark A. Limbaugh is the new Department of
Interior's assistant secretary for Water and Science. President George W.
Bush nominated Limbaugh for the position in May. The U.S. Senate confirmed
the appointment last week. Limbaugh received a bachelor's degree in
accounting from the University of Idaho. He has served as deputy
commissioner at the Bureau of Reclamation since 2002. He also has worked as
executive director of the Payette River Water Users Association and as a
watermaster of Water District 65, both in Payette. He has served as
president and director of the Family Farm Alliance, and as a board member of
the U.S. Committee on Irrigation and Drainage. Limbaugh and his wife, Cindy,
have four children and four grandchildren. Limbaugh will replace Bennett
Raley, who resigned in December 2004. 

~ Claudia Hemphill, a doctoral student in environmental science, is
"cleaning up" the environmental philosophy of dirt. Hemphill, one of the
first in the nation to research cultural perception of soil, asserts it's
important to understand the environment scientifically and culturally. She
contends that Americans have ingrained negative connotations about dirt,
which minimize concerns about what people do to dirt and how they care for
it. Hemphill is taking a hands-on approach to her philosophy. As a graduate
student leader, she is part of campuswide sustainability initiatives such as
Soil Stewards, the organic farming club she helped start. "One of the ways
that people come to change their attitudes toward other people or to the
environment is through education," she said. "But just learning more about
something doesn't make you care about what happens to it, or change the way
you behave. So a large part of changing people's perceptions toward soil is
becoming involved with it."

~ Vandal Community Day is set for Saturday, Aug. 20 on the Kibbie-ASUI
Activity Center north field. "This is an opportunity for fans to meet with
Vandal athletes and coaches," said Hugh Cooke of the UI Alumni Office. 
The annual family event includes opportunities for photos and autographs
with Vandal team members. It is sponsored by the UI Alumni Association.

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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