2008 Woodie Awards
With three new residence halls and additional housing options, more students are opting for on-campus residency this year. Housing applications for the 2008 fall semester have increased by more than 165 applicants since the 2007 fall semester, Eugene Dial, vice president of student affairs and enrollment services, said.
The renovations for the Cotillion Ballroom began during the summer semester and the Beauregard Hall renovations will begin sometime in the fall, Michael Davis, assistant vice president for administration, said. Beauregard will be undergoing renovations for 18 months to two years and should be complete by the fall 2010 semester, Davis said.
Students can feel safer on campus this semester with the University's new emergency alert system, which includes three new sirens. The safety measure cost the University more than $58,000 to purchase the sirens from EMCO Technologies of Baton Rouge. "It's to use in the case of emergency for tornadoes approaching the campus, fires or should there be any type of shooting incident," Mike Davis, the assistant vice president for administration, said.
Long Hall is slated for demolition by the end of the fall 2008 semester - but not before law enforcement officers take advantage of its stairwells, hallways and rooms for special weapons and tactics team training. Craig Jaccuzzo, director of university police, said that once he learned of Long Hall's upcoming demolition, he decided to invite area police agencies to make use of the building for training - and the invitation was accepted.
Jessica Harvey, a Thibodaux native and Nicholls graduate, is the first person to be named assistant director of alumni affairs. Harvey plans to bring her innovation and enthusiasm to the University community. Her duties include updating and modifying the University's alumni Web site, writing articles for "The Colonel," the organization's semi-annual magazine, and fulfilling any additional tasks necessary to keep the Office of Alumni Affairs running efficiently.
The Division of Student Affairs and Enrollment Services honored outstanding faculty service to students with the annual Apple Awards program at Faculty Institute, on Aug. 12. The awards recognize the role of Nicholls faculty members with students outside the classroom in areas such as recruiting and mentoring, advising student organizations, supporting student activities and helping to shape the careers of students.
ALEXANDRIA, Va. - A New Orleans furniture salesman who spied for the People's Republic of China and helped the Beijing government obtain secret U.S. military information was sentenced Friday to nearly 16 years in prison. The sentence for Tai Kuo, 58, was in line with what prosecutors had requested and more than twice as long as the term sought by defense lawyers.
WARSAW, Poland - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her Polish counterpart signed a deal Wednesday to build a U.S. missile defense base in Poland, an agreement that prompted an infuriated Russia to warn of a possible attack against the former Soviet satellite.
ATLANTA - Turns out Bigfoot was just a rubber suit. Two researchers on a quest to prove the existence of Bigfoot say that the carcass encased in a block of ice - handed over to them for an undisclosed sum by two men who claimed to have found it - was slowly thawed out, and discovered to be a rubber gorilla outfit.
BEIJING - On a hot, hazy morning, the U.S. softball team sweated like never before. This seemingly unbeatable team that produced one rout after another as if off an assembly line was pushed to the edge Wednesday - a 4-1 victory over Japan that went to extra innings.
College presidents from about 100 of the nation's best-known universities, including Duke, Dartmouth and Ohio State, are calling on lawmakers to consider lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18, saying current laws actually encourage dangerous binge drinking on campus.
Republican presidential candidate John McCain visited an oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday to call for increased offshore drilling that he claims would lower the cost of food and heating homes. McCain traveled 130 miles by helicopter to tour the massive facility, which produces 10,000 barrels of oil each day.
WASHINGTON - Turns out Democratic primary loser Hillary Rodham Clinton will get time to shine at the party's national convention after all - and quite a bit of it. Democrats officially will choose Barack Obama to run against Republican John McCain this fall.
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - Barack Obama's newly minted running mate will join the Democratic hopeful onstage Saturday at a rally in this capital city where Obama launched his White House bid, a campaign official said. A senior Obama adviser told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Tuesday that Obama and his veep choice will appear in front of the former state Capitol where Abraham Lincoln once served.
To returning and new students alike, I welcome you to the 2008-2009 academic year at Nicholls State University. Fall 2008 finds the Nicholls family celebrating the University's 60th anniversary of service to Louisiana and beyond. All of us have reason to be proud of what Nicholls State University has become in such a short period of time.
This year students will be given the opportunity to enjoy three full weeks of activities during Weeks of Welcome, Aug. 13-29, to welcome new and returning students to the University. WOW is a collaboration among Student Union, Student Life, Student Programming Association, Student Educators and LeaderS, NAACP, Chi Alpha, Baptist Collegiate Ministry and other campus departments and organizations to provide students with information about everything the University has to offer.
