Busy is the name of the game

It seems there is hardly a free minute lately. There are meetings stacked on top of meetings. I’ve had to cancel a quick run to Portland this week for meetings, as there were priorities in Klamath Falls. This week is punctuated with a FOAC meeting regarding the budget for next year, an open forum about the Center for Health Professions, a faculty-administrator meeting, a reception at an Oregon Tech Foundation board member’s home, and the annual retirement dinner.

I did carve out time last week to answer Danice Watters’ questions about the blog. She is working on a story for The Edge. It should be published soon. I believe this blog is being well received and is a good opportunity to facilitate timely communication with students.

Last week I mentioned conversations with a delegation from Honghe University of Yunnan Province, China. Things went well and we signed a memorandum of understanding to promote the exchange of students and faculties between both campuses. The photo seen above is of the delegation.

Saturday found the Mars Reach group launching a helium-filled balloon into the atmosphere. They hoped it would reach at least 70,000 feet before exploding, but it actually reached an altitude of 89,000 feet. Its payload held scientific experiments and tracking instruments. Mrs. Kerr’s fifth-grade class from Ferguson School participated in tracking the project’s return to earth. The photo shows Drew Loika (left) discussing the technical nuances with the elementary school children. Jimmy Marquit is pictured on the right in the green and white baseball cap. His mother is Tracey Lehman, OIT’s director of financial aid. Faculty members on hand for the launch were Tim Brower, Jamie Zipay and Claude Kansaku. Learn more about Mars Reach at marsreach.org.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, I’m over my word count this week. Talk to you soon.