This column is excerpted from Excellence in Action: A Periodic Newsletter from President William B. Conroy, which can be found on the NMSU World Wide Web site at http://www.nmsu.edu/Administration/newsletter/

Web game teaches biotechnology

College students and advanced high school students can have fun while learning microbiology skills, thanks to a team of biologists and computer scientists at NMSUÕs National Biotechnology Information Facility. The NBIF group developed an interactive World Wide Web-based computer game that lets students play the role of a laboratory technician who must correctly identify the germ causing an outbreak of illness. ÒOutbreak!Ó is available free of charge at http://www.nbif.org/ outbreak/

Making their mark

NMSU chemistry professor Joseph Wang is the 1999 winner of the American Chemical SocietyÕs Chemical Instrumentation Award for his work in developing hand-held sensors for detecting lead in blood, measuring glucose levels in diabetics, analyzing DNA and monitoring water pollution.

Mark Medoff, professor emeritus of theater arts, was named one of seven outstanding leaders by the College of Fellows of the American Theatre (ATF). He was inducted into the ATF in a ceremony at the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.

NMSU student Melissa Martinez of Espanola, who graduated in May with a degree in communication studies, has been selected for two prestigious fellowships. A Woodrow Wilson Foreign Affairs Fellowship, one of only 10 awarded nationally, will cover her expenses at the graduate school of her choice. But first, she will spend the coming year doing research in Mexico under a $30,000 National Security Exchange Program graduate fellowship.

Also receiving a National Security Exchange Program fellowship to study abroad is James MacKenzie of Albuquerque, a sophomore majoring in biology and history. He will study in China for a year.

Physics fellowship

Chris Beltran, a math and physics major who graduated in May, won a National Physical Science Consortium fellowship for a six-year doctoral track program worth an estimated $185,000. Beltran will pursue graduate studies in theoretical particle physics at Indiana University and spend his summers working at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Carpinteros of the New Deal

Terry Reynolds, left, NMSU Museum curator, and Edward Staski, the museum's new director, show off some of NMSU's colonial Spanish revival furniture on display in the museum's lobby. In 1936 a country community vocational program was established in Las Cruces and housed at NMSU. The program taught young men cabinetry skills. The men earned $18 a month and used 20 percent of their wages to pay the school's rent and purchase sets of woodworking tools. By June 1, 1938, the program had sold $1,200 worth of furniture. NMSU

Photo by Michael Kiernan

purchased a large amount of the furniture and used it in dormitories, offices and classrooms until the late 1970s. The NMSU Museum, located in Kent Hall, is open from noon to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Call (505) 646-3739 for more information.

Letters to the Editor

We encourage letters related to issues discussed in Aggie Panorama and issues that relate to university news or policies. Letters may be edited for length and clarity. Mail, fax (505-646-2099) or e-mail (rpopp@nmsu.edu) letters to the editor. We also seek NMSU historical photos and recent photos from Aggie gatherings.

Editor's note: In July NMSU launched its new home page at http://www.nmsu.edu/ along with revised versions of a number of second-level Web pages. Improvements include front page news, a new easier to navigate menu system, designs better suited to a variety of monitor sizes and Aggieland, an extensive new Web site for high school students interested in NMSU. Graphic design is by Ronnie Garver, '97, and writing, site structure and HTML are by Lisa Golden, '97. Even before the improved design, readers of the Las Cruces Bulletin voted NMSU's Web site number one in the newspaper's "Best of Mesilla Valley" contest. The makeover has prompted a number of responses from students, faculty, staff and alumni, who say the new pages are "more lively, attractive, hip," "refreshing" and "easier to navigate."

Great Look

Dear Aggie Panorama:

Just a quick note to let you know that the new "look" is GREAT! As an alumna and one who has this page as my "home" page, the new look is super. Keep up the good work.

As a past NMSU employee (13 years on campus) it is also a pleasure to see such positive changes. I am now teaching high school and actively recruit students to attend NMSU, stay here in Las Cruces and "reap the richness."

Carrie Hernandez, '96
Las Cruces High School teacher
Vocational Agriculture/Horticulture

Editor's note: Thank you to D.M. Martinez Jr., ex-'40, of Roy, N.M., who is pictured among the students in the Aircraft Lab "Looking Back" photo in the June Aggie Panorama. Martinez and two other readers - Sheldon A. Bennett, '41, of Santa Fe and Jim Connelley of Las Cruces - attempted to identify members of the group. Martinez sent this letter:

Team Effort

Dear Aggie Panorama:

I am enclosing the photo which came out in the last Panorama.

The class is made up of students enrolled in the Smith Hughes course of aircraft mechanics, welding and other related subjects. The photo was taken on the south side of the engineering building.

The aircraft, incidentally, was made by the group. Sorry I canÕt tell you anything about the dog.

D.M. Martinez Jr. Roy, N.M.

Readers' combined efforts identify the Aircraft Lab group as follows: Front of aircraft, from left, beginning with the men crouching: Elrod (name incomplete), Steve Loomis, D.M. Martinez Jr., unidentified man, Manuel Montez and possibly Fay Bell. Standing behind aircraft, from left: Ralph McKinley (or possibly Bill Franey), Gilbert Shank, John Cadwallader, Bob Chamberlin, Asa

Fitch, Mark Sloane, Professor Clark, instructor Tommy Williams, Clayshulte (name incomplete) and possibly Fay Bell.