Office of the President
Monday Morning Memo | March 9, 2009
Dear NMSU Campus Community:
Good morning! Spring break is nearly upon us and this seems like the perfect opportunity to highlight some of the many positive and exciting activities our faculty and students have in mind for the break.
Fourteen students in the AGE 380 (Agricultural Economics Survey) class will take a spring break study tour of El Salvador. The class routinely focuses on economic and agricultural development problems in Latin America. Their trip corresponds with the country's national elections so they will have an excellent opportunity to learn about El Salvador's politics, democratic processes, and the influence of recent history on current day politics. The students will dig through a Mayan archaeological site, learn indigo dyeing, study the effects of the Cold War on the country and even take salsa-dancing lessons.
NMSU students also will take part in the Belize Field School-where students from anthropology, biology, wildlife science and entomology will study tropical insects, tropical ecology and primate behavior in the Central American country. Students will even blog about their encounters, life lessons and insights while posting pictures and descriptions of their experiences.
Cru, an NMSU student organization, is taking students to Galveston, Texas, to do hurricane relief work. Hurricane Ike hit last year and much of the town is still in desperate need of volunteers to help in the rebuilding process. About 15-20 students are going along with two Cru advisers. The group is also taking about 35-40 students and four advisers to Los Angeles to work in the inner city doing clean-up work, painting and yard work in needy neighborhoods as well as interacting with foster kids, working at a homeless shelter and delivering food to the poor.
There also is an Engineers Without Borders meeting today at 5:30 p.m. in EC III Room 242. The meeting will include planning a visit to Mexico during spring break.
Regardless of your plans, I want every Aggie to have fun during the break, but remember to keep safety in mind. Also, in addition to these great educational opportunities for spring break, we are offering a good number of mini-courses during the last weeks of the current semester.
Before the fun activities of the break, there is the opportunity this week to hear one of the most celebrated authors of our time-Salman Rushdie. The Honors College has invited Salman Rushdie for a lecture at the Pan American Center at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 10. For more information, please contact the Honors College at 646-2005.
Have a great week!
Waded Cruzado
