Campus News and Updates: April 25

April 25, 2012

Howdy from your President!

* I appreciate the amazing work and dedication of our faculty and staff, who have maintained their commitment to excellence and our long-term aspirations despite recent budgetary challenges. Make no mistake, Texas A&M is an incredibly strong university. Our mission and long-range goals remain unchanged. As I mentioned in a memo to faculty and staff late Monday, our top priority as an administration is to recognize and reward our people. We are working diligently to identify resources to meritoriously provide some increase in compensation for faculty and staff. We hope to share these plans with you in the near future.

* The Houston Chronicle recently ran a story that describes how our new Diagnostic Imaging and Cancer Treatment Center, home to one of the country's two animal TomoTherapy units, is working to treat tumors once considered untreatable in dogs. I thought I would share this story with you: http://tx.ag/aqpu8m.

* The 77th annual Ring Dance is Saturday, with a much-anticipated return to the MSC. Information on tickets, T-shirts and photo packages can be found at ringdance.tamu.edu, through the Ring Dance Facebook page or via Twitter at @AggieRingDance.

* It's a busy time of year for the Corps of Cadets, with the Battle of Flowers Parade in San Antonio on Friday (http://www.battleofflowers.org/battle-of-flowers-parade.aspx, to include the Fightin' Texas Aggie Band, Parsons Mounted Cavalry, Fish Drill Team and Ross Volunteers); the 36th annual March to the Brazos, an 18-mile trek to the Brazos River and back in support of the March of Dimes, on Saturday; and final review on May 5, at 9:30 a.m. at Kyle Field.

* I hope all of our undergraduates will participate in the Student Experience in the Research University survey, a major, joint undertaking with a consortium of research universities. Check your neo.tamu.edu mailbox for more information. The class with the highest response rate will receive $2,000, and the second-highest will receive $1,000.

* Kudos to the 30 marketing students who are part of 12m Advertising for winning first place for their advertisement for Nissan at the district competition of the National Student Advertising Competition: http://tx.ag/xhrz4e.

* Interested in learning about floral design at one of the nation's top programs? The Benz School of Floral Design is offering several classes this summer: http://tx.ag/u4bis1.

* April 27 is the last day to turn in old batteries, CDs/DVDs, ink cartridges, cables, cell phones and Mp3 players for recycling through Information Technology and the Environmental Issues Committee: http://tx.ag/w5q973.

* And, finally, another milestone: CARPOOL gave its 200,000th ride last weekend. For more about this student-run service that provides rides home every Thursday, Friday and Saturday, go to http://carpool.tamu.edu/.

Until next week, Gig 'em Aggies. In the meantime, you can always reach me at president@tamu.edu or follow me on Twitter(@aggieprez).

Dr. R. Bowen Loftin '71
President