President's Office

Monday Morning Memo | January 12, 2009

Dear NMSU Campus Community:

Good morning everyone and welcome back from our winter break! I hope this memo finds you refreshed and ready for the challenges and opportunities of our spring semester. Getting back to the good work we do is a wonderful way to start the new year and I wish all the best for 2009.

One of the traditions we share with most universities is that of convocation at the start of each semester at NMSU. A tradition, yes, but what is "convocation"? Most dictionaries describe convocation as a "gathering," "assembling," or "calling together," which is true to the word's Latin origins (from the Latin "con" meaning "together" and "vocare" meaning "to call"). But I like to think that the meaning of convocation has come to signify much more at universities such as ours.

So let's take a moment to ask ourselves two basic questions: What is convocation, and why do we have it?

Convocation is a chance to welcome people to campus, whether they are returning from prior semesters or, especially, if they are new to our campus, joining our group for the first time. Convocation is an opportunity to gather ourselves - and our thoughts - as we prepare to begin a new semester of academic, research and service activities. It brings us together as a group and represents an official time and place to recall our purpose, define specific goals and celebrate accomplishments from past semesters.

Those elements will certainly be true at this spring's convocation, set for 9 a.m., Tuesday, January 13, in the Music Center Recital Hall. We have many accomplishments to celebrate, some exciting announcements to share, and a campus-wide project to discuss. These elements are important to all faculty, staff and - perhaps most important - our students, so I invite you all to attend.

Those who cannot attend because of prior commitments, distance from campus or other concerns are welcome to attend electronically. Instructions for establishing a connection to the Convocation Webcast are available on our home page (www.nmsu.edu).

It is the start of another exhilarating time in our lives - a semester of learning at NMSU. Please join us as we begin that journey at the Spring 2009 Convocation ceremony.

Welcome back, Aggies!
Waded Cruzado

Earlier this month, the Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility in Palestine, Texas, (operated by NMSU's Physical Science Lab) was monitoring the status of three high-altitude balloon payloads launched by the CSBF from McMurdo Station, Antarctica. Our employees left in October and some will stay in Antarctica until the job is done. Several employees missed Thanksgiving and Christmas, and have done so for several years. Here's a photo showing some "Amazing Aggies" on Christmas day -- all are NMSU employees except five Raytheon employees. The project is being conducted by NASA and the National Science Foundation. One balloon, launched Dec. 28, is a newly designed super-pressure balloon prototype that signals a new era of high-altitude scientific research. This type of balloon ultimately will carry large scientific experiments to the brink of space for 100 days or more, at a fraction of the cost of launching a satellite. The balloon launched Dec. 28 is seven million cubic feet in size, the largest single-cell, super-pressure, fully sealed balloon ever flown. After launch, the balloon reached a float altitude of more than 111,000 feet and continues to maintain it in its 15th day of flight. Congratulations to our fellow Aggies for the role they are playing in this impressive accomplishment!

New Mexico State's Jonathan Gibson grabs the ball during the Aggies' game Jan. 8 with Nevada. It was the beginning of a three-home-game start to the new year at the Pan American Center. The third game will be Thursday, Jan. 15, against Idaho, then the Aggies will be back on the road. Go Aggies! (Photo courtesy of Tim McQueen.)