NMSU to leave Big West,
join Sun Belt Conference

NMSU has received final approval from the Big West Conference Board of Directors to leave the conference for every sport except football beginning with the 2000-01 season. Last November the university accepted an invitation to join the Sun Belt Conference.

NMSU was slated to leave the Big West in 2001, but President William Conroy asked for early withdrawal from the conference. NMSU will be classified as a Big West associate member for the upcoming football season.

Six teams will play football during the 2000 Big West season: NMSU, Arkansas State, Boise State, Idaho, North Texas and Utah State.

"New Mexico State is very excited about joining the Sun Belt Conference as a full member in all sports," said NMSU Athletics Director Brian Faison. "Our affiliation with the Sun Belt will afford our total athletics program the competitiveness, visibility and stability we want for our sports programs."

NMSU's affiliation with the Sun Belt Conference officially begins June 1.

Competing in all sports in the Sun Belt Conference will be NMSU, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, the University of New Orleans, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Arkansas State, the University of Denver, Florida International University, the University of South Alabama, Western Kentucky and the University of North Texas.

Schools competing in the Sun Belt in football beginning in 2001 will be NMSU, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, the University of Louisiana at Monroe, Arkansas State, Middle Tennessee, Idaho and North Texas.

Aggies sweep rivals

This season, for the first time since 1969-70 when the Aggies went to the Final Four, the NMSU men's basketball team beat the University of New Mexico and the University of Texas at El Paso two times each, at home and on the road. Aggie players, coaches and fans savored the sweet sweep.

Web has more on sports

The NMSU athletics department has launched a new comprehensive web site. For the latest Aggie and Roadrunner sports news, go to www.NMStateSports.com.

Johnson suits up again for NMSU

Johnson

It's not often a football star returns to his alma mater as a department head. In January, NMSU tapped the legendary Charles L. "Charley" Johnson, '61, to lead the chemical engineering department. Johnson set many records as quarterback for NMSU in the 1958-60 seasons, led the Aggies to two straight Sun Bowl victories and was inducted into NMSU's Hall of Fame. He played professional football for St. Louis, Houston and Denver, while earning his master's and doctoral degrees. He started his own Johnson Compression Services in 1981.

Former players,
coach inducted into hall of fame

A first-team baseball All-American, a legendary track and field coach, and a championship basketball team were inducted into the NMSU Intercollegiate Athletic Hall of Fame at a Jan. 29 Aggie basketball game against the University of California at Irvine.

The Class of 2000 includes former baseball standout Joe Williams, '90, longtime track coach Art Morgan, '70, and the 1951-52 Aggie basketball squad, led by head coach George McCarty, '50, '51.

In three seasons as an Aggie, Williams rose from a twice-cut walk-on to one of three finalists for the Bob Smith Award, college baseball's highest honor. As a senior in 1990, he batted .401, finished third nationally with 25 home runs and was named a first-team All-America by The Sporting News as a designated hitter.

Morgan served at New Mexico State as head coach of the men's track and field and cross country teams for 33 years. His athletes broke all but one school record in both cross country and track.

The 1951-52 basketball squad was the first in school history to make an NCAA Tournament appearance. The team won a then-school record-tying 22 games. The team won the Sun Bowl Tournament and at one point ran off 12 straight victories.

Team starters were Jim Tackett, Mike Svilar, Bob Priddy, Charles Clement and Jim Blevins. Other team members were Raymond Apodaca, Alfred Budenholzer, David "Bo" Coats, Leo Cook, Jim Crouch, Bill Dunn, Bob Hunt, Albert Hutchison, Ellis Scott and Richard Vaughn. All members of the 1951-52 team showed up for the induction ceremony, and Albert HutchisonÕs widow, Nova, accepted his honor.

The 1951-52 Aggie squad continues to support NMSU. The team annually gathers in Las Cruces to reminisce and take in Aggie basketball games in the Pan American Center.

College copes in aftermath of fire

A Dec. 12 fire on the Sunday before finals week closed down O'Donnell Hall, NMSU's College of Education building, but didn't stop the college from holding finals in other locations.

Spring education classes scheduled for O'Donnell also were relocated to other parts of campus, according to Interim Education Dean Michael Morehead. Education's departmental offices were moved to Goddard Hall, Cole Village apartments and Educational Services Building. Office phone numbers remain the same, including the Dean's Office number, (505) 646-2498

To ensure that students could find the new locations for their final exams and spring classes, faculty and staff were stationed outside O'Donnell Hall and schedules were posted on the NMSU Web site at http://education.nmsu.edu/.

The fire caused extensive damage to the second floor and covered the first and third floors and mechanical systems with soot. It was caused by an overheated motor on an oscillating fan, Vice President for Facilities Ben Woods said.

Woods estimated the damage to the College of Education building at between $4 and $4.5 million. The second floor will remain closed for reconstruction through the spring semester, but Woods said the first and third floors are scheduled to be reopened by April.

School designation adds distinction

Ready to snip the ribbon on the School of Social Work sign are, from left, Virginia Higbie, College of Health and Social Services dean, Yosikazu DeRoos, interim head of social work, and Alvin Sallee, social work professor.

Phot by Michael Kiernan

NMSU has a new school - the School of Social Work - formerly known as the Department of Social Work.

Originally part of the sociology department, the social work program became the Department of Social Work in 1980. The latest name change was approved in December 1998 by the NMSU Board of Regents.

The School of Social Work, in the College of Health and Social Services, offers bachelor and master of social work degree programs, enrolling about 200 students each year.

The new name heightens the school's visibility within the field of social work and social welfare and among academic social work programs, said Yosikazu DeRoos, the school's interim head. The name change is expected to enhance faculty and student recruitment, he said.

The school is only the second at NMSU, along with the Klipsch School of Electrical and Computer Engineering in the College of Engineering.

In other College of Health and Social Services news, Dean Virginia Higbie has announced that she will retire from the position effective July 3.

NMSU has formed a committee to conduct a national search to seek her successor. A new dean of the college is expected to be appointed by this summer.

When Higbie came to NMSU, the college - then known as the College of Human and Community Services - was solely an undergraduate college. The College of Health and Social Services now offers graduate degrees in each of its three programs - social work, nursing and public health.