Campus Sports

NMSU inducts three into Athletics Hall of Fame

Klein

Conley

Sepkowitz

Two athletes from the 1960s and a former president of the Aggie Sports Association were to be inducted into NMSU's Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame on Feb. 10.

As a track star from 1967-70, Gerald Conley set five NMSU track records in every event from the 100-yard dash through the 880-yard run and the 440-yard intermediate hurdles.

Allan Sepkowitz, a lineman on the Aggies' Sun Bowl teams of 1959 and 1960, played four positions on the offensive line in addition to starting on defense under Warren Woodson, the winningest football coach in Aggie history.

The late Howard Klein, president of the Aggie Sports Association (now the Aggie Scholarship Association) for 25 years, played a key role in lobbying the state legislature for funds for the building of Aggie Memorial Stadium.

The Athletics Hall of Fame is maintained thanks to the support of Citizens Bank of Las Cruces. The Hall of Fame is housed in the Pan American Center and honors outstanding student-athletes, coaches, benefactors and teams from NMSU's athletics past.

NMSU will receive $6.2 million

NMSU will receive $6.2 million from an education bond issue passed by voters in November, including $5 million toward a new health and social services building.

College of Health and Social Services leaders will seek additional funding for the new building that will bring together the nursing, health sciences and social work programs, said Dean Jeffery Brandon. The tentative plans call for incorporating Memorial Tower into the design of the new building.

The bond issue also will provide $500,000 toward an equestrian center for NMSU's prize-winning horse program in the College of Agriculture and Home Economics; $500,000 toward finishing part of the third floor of Engineering Complex III for the WERC program, which focuses on research and education about waste management; and $200,000 for a new roof for the NMSU branch community college at Carlsbad.

In addition, NMSU's public television affiliate, KRWG-TV, will receive part of $7.2 million toward the cost of digital transmission equipment for New Mexico's three public TV stations.

Photo by Melissa Alderete

The Donald C. Roush Award for Teaching Excellence was awarded to 11 NMSU faculty members at a spring convocation in January. Winners, left to right, are: Abe L. Armendariz, Kenny A. Stevens, '90, Stephen D. Arnold, Stephen J. Warburton, John P. Loveland and Vicente Lombrana, '92; and left to right seated, Russell F. Hardy, H. Curtis Monger, '90, Oscar A. Perez Jr., '86, Michael T. Leach and Nancy V. Baker. The annual Roush Awards are named for the former NMSU executive vice president in recognition of his 35 years of teaching improvement in New Mexico. Roush died on Oct. 21, 2000.

New Mexico State University President Jay Gogue has imposed several sanctions against the men's basketball program in response to possible infractions of National Collegiate Athletic Association regulations that occurred in 1996.

In December, NMSU received an NCAA letter of official inquiry regarding possible violations related to recruitment of two student athletes, fraudulent completion of correspondence course work and extra benefits in the men's basketball program in 1996.

The letter of official inquiry follows NMSU's issuance last February of a 142-page self report to the NCAA, detailing possible infractions discovered by the university during a lawsuit involving former men's basketball coach Neil McCarthy and NMSU.

"The NCAA letter of official inquiry adopts several of the university's own findings from its investigation," Gogue said. "Although these violations occurred several years ago, we take them no less seriously. We will continue to cooperate in every way with the NCAA. In addition, I am self-imposing multiple sanctions in our men's basketball program immediately."

The self-imposed sanctions include two years of probation for the men's basketball program, no post-season play in 2001 and reduction in scholarships. In 2001-2002, scholarships will be reduced by one, from 13 to 12; in 2002-2003, reduced by two, from 13 to 11; and in 2003-2004, reduced by one, from 13 to 12.

In addition, limits will be imposed on the following recruitment activities: no junior college prospects will be signed for admission in 2002-2003; reduction in official visits from 12 to eight for two years, starting in 2001-2002; reduction of in-person contacts from five to four for two years, starting in 2001-2002; and a 25 percent reduction in the number of evaluations from the maximum number allowed for two years, starting in 2001-2002.

NMSU was required to make an official response by Feb. 23 to the NCAA. University officials will appear before the NCAA Committee on Infractions, possibly in late spring.

"Even though none of our current team members or coaching staff were involved in this matter, we must show how seriously we regard any allegations, especially academic fraud," said Basketball Head Coach Lou Henson, who replaced McCarthy in October 1997. "Our players understand the value I place on academics and that I will not tolerate violations."

NMSU alumni are encouraged to sign up for NMSU Hotline, a daily e-mail news service.

Hotline, which currently has 1,500 subscribers, is free and available to anyone with an e-mail address. It includes briefs on news and events related to NMSU.

Sign up for Hotline on the Web at http://www.nmsu.edu/news.html, then click "Sign up to receive NMSU news by e-mail." Hotline is published weekdays throughout the year.

Lloyd G. Cooper, 1935-2000

Cooper

Lloyd G. Cooper, '57, '60, professor emeritus of educational management and development at NMSU, died Nov. 29 at the age of 65.

Cooper was born April 22, 1935, in Carrizozo, N.M.

After graduating from NMSU in 1957, he taught biology and math at Las Cruces High School, where he coached track, wrestling, boxing and football. While teaching, he earned a master's in counseling from NMSU. In 1961, he received his doctorate in educational administration from the University of Oregon.

Cooper was a professor at NMSU from 1967-97, receiving an Outstanding Faculty Award when he retired.

During his tenure, he served as chair of the NMSU Faculty Senate and chair of the Department of Educational Management twice. He also supervised 55 doctoral students, the highest number in NMSU history.

An NMSU scholarship fund in memory of Cooper has been established. Donations can be sent to the NMSU Foundation, Lloyd Cooper Scholarship Fund, P.O. Box 3590, Las Cruces, N.M., 88003.

Dan L. Costley, 1934-2000

Costley

NMSU Management Professor and former Department Head Dan Costley, 65, died on Nov. 6.

Costley was born in Oklahoma City, Okla., on Dec. 16, 1934.

He came to NMSU in 1972 and headed the management department until 1983. Since then, he had been a professor of management at NMSU, specializing in leadership and organizational behavior.

He earned both his bachelor's in government and master's in psychology from the University of Oklahoma and received his doctorate in communication and organizational behavior from Michigan State University. Costley taught at several universities including Wichita State before making Las Cruces his home.

He remained active in his profession after he stepped down as department head, teaching at Kirtland Air Force Base through videotapes and interactive television, working on numerous committees and holding management workshops.

Costley also co-authored Understanding Behaviors for Effective Leadership with Jon Howell, an NMSU management professor. Costley died five months after the book's publication by Prentice Hall.

He is survived by his wife Lavita, his two sons, Craig and Gary, his daughter Jennifer and other family members.

NMSU's arid lands building named for Skeens

Artist Ken Leap's computer generated image of a section of the planned sculpture series

A large crowd gathered in December to officially rename New Mexico State University's new $22 million Center for Sustainable Development of Arid Lands as Skeen Hall in honor of U.S. Rep. Joe Skeen and his wife Mary Skeen.

Skeen was important in securing federal funding for the building, which is home to teaching, research and extension service activities related to agriculture and natural resources in arid lands, said John C. Owens, former NMSU executive vice president

The decision to name the building after the Skeens received an unanimous vote by the five-member Board of Regents at their November meeting.

"The Skeen family has made a great contribution not only to southern New Mexico, but also to the university," Regent Larry Sheffield of Las Cruces said.

Joe Skeen launched his 21st year in Congress in January when he was sworn into office for his 11th term making him New Mexico's longest serving member of the House of Representatives.

Mary Skeen runs the family ranching enterprise, the Buckhorn Ranch in Lincoln County, and is active in the New Mexico Wool Growers Association. She is New Mexico's longest-serving delegate to the Council for Agricultural Research, Extension and Teaching, to which she was named in 1987.

As part of the New Mexico Art in Public Places Act, Skeen Hall's courtyard will be the site of a set of steel and glass sculptures by artist Ken Leap of Portales.

Titled "Ondas del Seno (Sine Waves)," the sculpture series will consist of six pieces, each about 18 feet tall. Stainless steel frames will hold sculptural glass panels.

Mary and Joe Skeen

Program chronicles historic architecture

The evolving architectural history of Las Cruces and Santa Fe is featured in two recently released books by participants of NMSU's Public History Program.

The Las Cruces book, Historic Architectural Styles Las Cruces, N.M.: Celebrating 150 Years, began as a seminar project in the fall of 1998 for NMSU's Public History Program.

"It started out as a pamphlet that kept getting bigger," said Sandra L. Marshall, '00, who co-authored the book with John R. Versluis, '00. "The idea was that if people wanted to restore their homes they could see past (architectural) styles."

Postcard of Main Street, Las Cruces, ca. 1949

"This book will help people see Las Cruces as it used to be," said Jon Hunner, director of the Public History Program. "Books like this help communities rediscover their roots."

The evolution of Santa Fe's architectural styles over the past 150 years is documented in Santa Fe: An Historical Walking Tour. The book chronicles how in the early part of the 20th century, city officials adopted the Spanish Pueblo Revival style to preserve the city as a tourist destination.

Co-authors of the Santa Fe book include Hunner, graduate students Darren Court, Pedro Dominguez and Lucinda Silva and former graduate student Shirley Lail.

"The book allows you to look at Santa Fe and see how it has re-created itself," Court said. "The book really shows how it (Santa Fe) has maintained the architectural characteristics of the Southwest."

"These types of programs are good for the students, good for the community and good for the university because it involves the university with the communities we live in," Hunner said.

Copies of Historic Architectural Styles Las Cruces, N.M.: Celebrating 150 Years and Santa Fe: An Historical Walking Tour can be purchased for $10 and $18.99, respectively. Both books are available through NMSU's Public History Program, History Department, MSC 3H, P.O. Box 30001, Las Cruces, NM 88003. For more information contact Jon Hunner at (505) 646-2490 or by e-mail at jhunner@nmsu.edu.

Sales of the books help support the Public History Program and NMSU's Southwest and Border Cultures Institute. The Public History Program deals with the preservation of history, such as folklore and oral history, from a local perspective.

Ivan Chavez