Happy Chinese New Year from the University of Idaho! On this special occasion, our university has a lot to celebrate. In recent years, U of I has forged a deep and multifaceted relationship with the world’s most populous country and second-leading economy.
Last December, I represented U of I at the Confucius Institute World Conference in Xi’an, China, and shared the story of our university’s highly successful institute. Under the leadership of Director Hexian Xue, the institute has a significant statewide instructional and cultural presence. For instance, language classes are available to students through our College of Letters, Arts and Social Sciences. Our growing group of 11 Chinese instructors is fanned out across Idaho, offering language classes at Boise High School, Post Falls High School, Lake City High School in Coeur d’Alene, and all levels in Moscow schools. What a great chance for many young people to jump-start their understanding of a language spoken by more than a billion people and a culture that dates back millennia.
This institute also offers a number of programs for community members in Coeur d’Alene, Boise and Moscow interested in Chinese language and culture. That reach is important for Idahoans who want to better understand and maybe even do business with a country that has a major presence in our state. China is, after all, Idaho’s fourth-leading international trading partner; the Idaho Department of Commerce notes that our state shipped more than $20 million worth of Idaho goods to China in 2016. It’s fitting for Idaho’s major research university, where economic development is a key focus, to be a leader in this important international connection.
One aspect of our Confucius Institute particularly intrigued conference participants: table tennis. You may recall that “ping-pong diplomacy” helped thaw relations between China and the United States in the 1970s. At U of I, our new table tennis program has caught on among students and community members. Teacher Caden Xue, a top-ranked player from China, is the instructor for multiple classes. He’s joined the Vandal Table Tennis Club to build a strong culture around the sport at U of I. In fact, Xue and Patrick Hrdlicka, chemistry associate professor, recently won the doubles table tennis championship at the Stiga Portland Open!
Sports help bring people together and see each other as human beings, not outsiders. With that understanding, they can build rewarding and beneficial relationships.
I encourage those interested in engaging with China to check out what our Confucius Institute has to offer. U of I students have earned Confucius Institute scholarships to study at the South China University of Technology (interestingly, their former president, Huanbin Liu, is a University of Idaho graduate). In 2015, 20 secondary students participated in a two-week China summer camp sponsored by the institutes; in 2017 another 20 students visited Beijing, Zhengzhou and Guangzhou. Last summer six jazz faculty with our Lionel Hampton School of Music went to China through the institute's China studies program. They met with students and gave well-received performances. Another 11 educational administrators and teachers from across Idaho visited China in spring 2016 under the Confucius China Studies Program.
Tonight, we’ll reflect on that success and honor the new year doing something that all countries and cultures love: celebrating with food. For those like me who tend to take full advantage of such occasions – maybe some exercise in the days ahead with a little table tennis? | | Go Vandals!
Chuck Staben
President | | | Christine M. Moffitt Endowment Creates Meaningful Connections An inspirational student mentor and champion of diversity programs and initiatives, University of Idaho fisheries research Professor Emerita Christine Moffitt continues her legacy of forging meaningful connections between students, communities and natural resources through the Christine M. Moffitt Scholarship Endowment in the College of Natural Resources (CNR). This $100,000 scholarship is designed to recognize and provide support to students from Native American and Hispanic communities who display leadership qualities and academic promise. A creative collaboration between CNR and the Office of Equity and Diversity enables this scholarship to be used at a grass-roots student-recruitment level to reach populations most in need. “Natural resources are everyone’s legacy and life support," Christine said. "We need to engage the voices and energy from all communities to address the future challenges of our planet.” We thank Christine for her continued vision and support of the university. For more information about this endowment or other opportunities to support CNR, contact Jennifer Farnum at 208-885-5145 or jfarnum@uidaho.edu. | | Researchers Study Critical Unburned Area Left by Growing Wildfires While increased fire activity has threatened Pacific Northwest forests, University of Idaho researchers have found a silver lining: the proportion of unburned areas critical for post-fire recovery has remained unchanged. Arjan Meddens and Crystal Kolden, faculty in the College of Natural Resources, led a team that analyzed nearly 2,300 fires in the Inland Northwest over a 30-year period, from 1984-2014. They examined trends in the formation of unburned islands of vegetation during wildfires in a new study published in the journal Ecosphere earlier this week. | | Exercise Science Alumnus Sam Michener Competes with Team USA in Olympics Heavy. That is how Sam Michener ‘12, described the moment he found out he would be competing in the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games. “We had our meeting with the selection committee and all the bobsled athletes were in the room,” he said. “A lot of people don’t make the team; it was a quiet room. It was pretty intense, I don’t think I breathed very much during that meeting.” The Gresham, Oregon, native is the brakeman for one of three sleds that qualified for the U.S. Olympic Bobsled Team. | | | | |
