MU calls its goal $1 billion, and it has nearly all of that.
For All We Call Mizzou, MU’s $1 billion fundraiser campaign, reached the 95 percent mark, Chancellor Brady Deaton announced Monday, with $160 million coming in the fiscal year 2008. The goal at MU is to raise $1 billion by the spring of 2009. The campaign began in 2000.
“This unprecedented level of support from alumni and friends means a great deal to MU during these challenging financial times,” Deaton said in a news release. “Through the success of the For All We Call Mizzou campaign, we are better able to provide the quality of education, research and service Missourians expect from their flagship university.”
What do you want to be when you grow up? I know few adults who can answer that question, much less high school students.
But Linn State Technical College may be able to help. In June, they hosted a week-long event called Computer Professions on Demand, for students possibly interested in a career in computer technology. Throughout the week, students were trained in problem solving, critical thinking, cyber safety and application development, along with learning computer skills and getting networking experience.
The program recruited students from 14 different high schools throughout Missouri. Hopefully they now have more insight into their future. I still don’t.
The program was successful due to various donations given by businesses throughout mid-Missouri, including : Advanced Technology Center, CDW-G, Pranav Parekh, Central Technology Services, Ciber, Cisco Systems, Inc., Columbia College, DST, Embarq, IBM, Jefferson City Area Chamber of Commerce, Jefferson City Information Technology Coalition, Linn State Technical College, Menu Maker, Microsoft, Mid-Missouri Tech Prep Consortium, Pepsi, Prairie Farms, Rose International, Slackershack Software, State of Missouri, Three Rivers Electric Cooperative, Tier Technologies and Westminster College.
University of Missouri System President Gary Forsee announced today that Leo Morton will serve as
UMKC Interim Chancellor Leo Morton
interim chancellor of UMKC, effective Aug. 1. Morton replaces former chancellor Guy Bailey, who left to become Texas Tech’s president. Morton currently serves as the chairman of the UMKC Board of Trustees
“Leo will continue to advance the vision and mission of UMKC, building upon the solid foundation that has already been laid,” Forsee said in a news release. “He will not be content to merely monitor activities, but will be a valuable asset to the future of the campus. He is the right person at the right time to serve in this role.”
Forsee expects to have the search process for the permanent chancellor established in the next few weeks. Morton will not be a candidate for the permanent position.
There’s rumors spreading throughout the Internet that Facebook.com, the popular social networking site, it looking to charge users $4 per month. The truth of this rumor is unknown, but a Facebook group is already protesting these unsubstantiated rumors.
In an interview with 60 Minutes in January, Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg did say his company wasn’t making enough money. Although that could be a reason to charge a fee, these rumors have not yet been confirmed.
The Associated Students of the University of Missouri, a student lobbying group, has fought for years to pass legislation that would give the student representative to the UM System Board of Curators a vote on the board. And students in the group don’t want to give up fighting after Gov. Matt Blunt vetoed the bill last week.
ASUM met Saturday to discuss its strategy to lobby legislators to override the veto. That would take a two-thirds vote in both the Missouri House and Senate. This session, the Senate passed the bill 31-2 and the House passed it 100-47, which is seven votes short of a two-thirds majority after absent representatives are factored in.
The veto session begins Sept. 10, and so far the curator bill is the only one to be vetoed by Blunt. ASUM legislative director Ally Walker said via teleconference at the meeting that she wasn’t worried about getting a two-thirds vote in the Senate, but that Majority Leader Charlie Shields could potentially sit on the bill and keep it from being brought to the floor. Walker said she also wanted to speak with legislators that are outspoken against Blunt to keep them from shaking things up and rather have them look ahead at the task at hand.
“We need to move forward in a positive, pro-student way,” Walker said.
ASUM board chairman Craig Stevenson said he hopes to unite the Missouri Federation of College Republicans and the Young Democrats of Missouri to support the bill.
“I want to form a coalition to show this is not a partisan issue,” Stevenson said. “It’s a student issue.”
ASUM also plans to hold a student lobbying day at the Capitol, have letter-writing campaigns and create an official statement and response to Blunt’s veto, all in an effort to get the General Assembly to override the veto. Stevenson also created a Facebook group to promote awareness.
Record enrollment: check. Extended campus living: check. Summer Welcome: check.
With Summer Welcome concluding Friday, MU administrators could be turning their attention toward the next big issue: condoms. As a part of the Sexual Health and Safety Products Initiative, a pilot program will begin in the fall by installing condom dispensers in five residence halls and Bingham Commons.
Student Health Center Director Susan Even said it will be a pilot program and evaluated by student survey to determine whether to continue and/or expand the program. Even said now that the focus on Summer Welcome is gone, the condom dispensers could soon be installed.
“We just finished the whole push for Summer Welcome,” she said. “I expect that now that that’s completed we could see them sometime soon. The goal is to have things ready by the start of school.”
The Associated Students of the University of Missouri, a student lobbying group, is meeting Saturday afternoon in Kansas City to discuss its strategy to override Gov. Matt Blunt’s veto of a bill on Wednesday. The bill would have given the student representative to the UM System Board of Curators a vote on the board, if Missouri lost a congressional district in the 2010 census.
There were lots of responses to Blunt’s vetoing of the bill. The curators voted in May to oppose the legislation, but student groups and the student curator himself were in favor of it. ASUM board chairman Craig Stevenson said UM System President Gary Forsee will be at the meeting. I’ll be following the lobbying efforts of ASUM as the students try to get the legislature to override the veto, and check to see whether the curators will be lobbying anymore against this bill.
Dr. Evil, from the Austin Powers trilogy, wanted $1 billion. So do 28 universities and colleges in the country.
The Chronicle of Higher Education updated Friday its watch on the billion-dollar campaigns at 28 universities. MU is one of of the universities looking to reach at least $1 billion, with its For All We Call Mizzou campaign. The goal at MU is to raise $1 billion by the spring of 2009. The campaign began in 2000. As of June 30, MU raised $953 million, or about 95 percent of its goal. The Chronicle reported that as of May 31, MU raised $941 million, including $8 million in May. Too see a breakdown of the money MU has raised and to which schools and colleges the money has gone, click here.
Here’s the rest of the universities trying to raise $1 billion or more, as reported by The Chronicle: Brown University, $1.204-billion as of May 31 (increase of $25.5-million in the last month); the goal is $1.4-billion by 2010. Columbia University, $2.753-billion as of May 31 (increase of $25-million in the last month); the goal is $4-billion by 2011. Cornell University, $2.136-billion as of May 31 (increase of $17-million in the last month); the goal is $4-billion by 2011. Dartmouth College, $1.08-billion as of May 31 (increase of $9-million in the last month); the goal is $1.3-billion by 2009. Indiana University at Bloomington, $803.1-million as of May 31 (increase of $16.3-million in the last month); the goal is $1-billion by 2010. The Johns Hopkins University, $3.193-billion as of May 31 (increase of $40.3-million in the last month); the goal is $3.2-billion by 2008. New York University, $2.703-billion as of May 31 (increase of $48.4-million in the last month); the goal is $2.5-billion by 2008. North Carolina State University, $1.307-billion as of May 31 (increase of $53.2-million in the last month); the goal is $1-billion by 2008. Princeton University, $758.1-million as of May 31 (increase of $102.5-million in the last month); the goal is $1.75-billion by 2012. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, $1.362-billion as of May 31 (increase of $21.5-million in the last month); the goal is $1.4-billion by 2009. Stanford University, $3.563-billion as of May 31 (increase of $61-million in the last month); the goal is $4.3-billion by 2011. Syracuse University, $560-million as of May 31 (increase of $10-million in the last month); the goal is $1-billion by 2012. Tufts University, $892.6-million as of May 31 (increase of $11.3-million in the last month); the goal is $1.2-billion by 2011. The University of Chicago, $2.214-billion as of May 31 (increase of $24.3-million in the last month); the goal is $2-billion by 2008.
The University of Florida, $654-million as of May 31 (increase of $7.7-million in the last month); the goal is $1.5-billion by 2012. The University of Illinois, $1.372-billion as of May 31 (increase of $17-million in the last month); the goal is $2.25-billion by 2011. The University of Maryland at College Park, $519.1-million as of May 31 (increase of $9.5-million in the last month); the goal is $1-billion by 2011. The University of Michigan, $2.94-billion as of May 31 (increase of $10-million in the last month); the goal is $2.5-billion by 2008. The University of Notre Dame, $1.292-billion as of May 31 (increase of $37.4-million in the last month); the goal is $1.5-billion by 2011. The University of Pennsylvania, $1.98-billion as of May 31 (increase of $70-million in the last month); the goal is $3.5-billion by 2012. The University of Pittsburgh, $1.244-billion as of May 31 (increase of $5-million in the last month); the goal is $2-billion by 2014. The University of Tennessee, $723.5-million as of May 31 (increase of $19.5-million in the last month); the goal is $1-billion by 2011. The University of Virginia, $1.689-billion as of May 31 (increase of $15.3-million in the last month); the goal is $3-billion by 2011. The University of Washington, $2.63-billion as of May 31 (increase of $22.7-million in the last month); the goal is $2.5-billion by 2008. Vanderbilt University, $1.513-billion as of May 31 (increase of $11.1-million in the last month); the goal is $1.75-billion by 2010. Virginia Tech, $633.8-million as of May 31 (increase of $5-million in the last month); the goal is $1-billion by 2010. Yale University, $2.152-billion as of May 31 (increase of $33-million in the last month); the goal is $3-billion by 2011.
There’s a lot of time to be wasted and laughs to be had when viewing YouTube videos — there’s sneezing pandas, deep-voiced keyboard playing man-children and nine-year-olds dominating their Guitar Hero.
But MU students used YouTube to create videos for their class and to promote healthy living. The students were graded on the videos as a part of their graduate-level epidemiology class and covered topics including obesity, diabetes and abusive relationships. Students were graded on content, credibility of their message, creativity, peer review and even the number of views on each video.
Julie Kapp, assistant professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine in the MU School of Medicine, said it’s important to keep up with the changing trends of students and technology.
“I think it’s important to continually update our teaching styles,” Kapp said. “It’s amazing how quickly YouTube videos can reach a global audience. I wanted to use this powerful technology for something educational and to bring credible information to YouTube.”
For some entertainment and information on health behavior, check out some of the students’ work:
Diversity is a favorite buzzword of the press, politicians and pundits, and diversity at MU has been widely discussed by administration and students.
Aaron Thompson, a sociology professor at Eastern Kentucky University, will speak at MU on Monday about creating a more inclusive campus. The discussion is at 1 p.m. on Monday in MU’s Jesse Wrench Auditorium in Memorial Union.
Thompson has widely been considered an authority on the topic of diversity, and has been a diversity trainer for the Columbia Police Department since 1996.
