Aggie Almanac; 107; National Champ and Alumni Support

B others do abuse and put them in your head and feet It brings me down a little bit We're gonna go next Let's tear it apart more That's a pretty stupid idea I said, why not Coming up on this homecoming edition of Aggie Almanac, this Aggie is like a bullet on a bike. There is a lot of learning involved. And an NMSU alumnus decides it's time to give back. I think New Mexico State is earned it.

Hi, I'm Hilary Floren and thanks for watching this special homecoming edition of Aggie Almanac, where NMSU is front and center. Homecoming weekend is about students and alumni. We take a look at both in today's show. First, we introduce you to an NMSU student who is involved in a sport we don't often hear much about at New Mexico State, but she's not just involved. She's at the top of her game. When Merrill sap isn't doing work on her PhD, you'll know doubt find her getting ready for another bike ride. But Merrill isn't heading out to enjoy the view or to stay in shape. She's out to win. I started off like I said in

2002 racing locally and I was really bad. I mean I was terrible. But through hard work and determination, she got better, much better. Just gradually I started to get better and I thought well you know I'm actually okay at this and so then when I started training with some intensity, I just kind of made leaps and bounds and so I started I guess I started doing my first national races in 2003 and I was collegiate stuff and then in 2004 is when I won the collegiate national championship. That's right the championships. What started out as a fascination with cycling just six years ago. My dad has always been a fan of cycling and I remember watching Greg LaMont in the Tour de France when I was a child. Ended up with sap as one of 40 finalists in the 2004 collegiate road national championships division two road race in Wisconsin. Her friends kept tabs on her with their video camera as she completed each lap cheering

her on and there to capture her first place win for herself and the NMSU cycling team. The victory led to interviews. When you were kind of coming to that straightaway and it kind of became clear that it was going to be just a two-up sprint. What did you think? Did you think you had a chance? And national recognition. I guess it did a lot for me in terms of confidence and it got me a lot of attention maybe more than what I really deserved from it. Back at home she also serves as an inspiration to the up-and-coming NMSU cycling team. Merrill's great Merrill I mean it's a I think she was a leader

for everyone on the squad this past year that she still is. She's a person you can ask questions to. I mean like there's a lot of strategy involved it. I mean we had people show up to meetings that thought it was it was just like a triathlon or a running race. The fastest guy that can go the farthest and amount of time is going to win. And so Merrill really helps with explaining that type of stuff to people and and also I think it's just being there from living in Las Cruces and having the race resume that she does. I mean it's a real motivating thing for younger riders to see success. And helps them learn that winning in this sport is often about teamwork. There is a lot of learning involved and there's a lot of strategy involved and it's hard to explain to somebody who doesn't race or who doesn't ride in a group. But there's a lot of team tactics involved and like in mountain biking and triathlon the fastest

person wins the strongest person wins. But in road racing the strongest person doesn't always win. There's a lot of tactics and like blocking people like those kind of tactics. Road racing is all about aerodynamics. So like for example they say if you're riding behind somebody else you're doing 30% less work than the person in front of you. So that's partly where the teamwork comes in. Like say you have four women on a team. You might have and it'll depend on the race too. Let's say you're doing a flat short flat race. So you're gonna work for your sprinter that day. So if I'm a sprinter on the team my team will protect me. Cut the wind for me. You know it's right in front of me so I'm protected from the wind. If there are attacks that where someone tries to get away from the group they'll chase that down and I'm stay protected so when it comes down to the sprint I'm the freshest. If your team is not a strong team by strong I don't mean I mean the strongest output at one time I mean endurance

all aspects of the sport. Your team you're gonna have members that are gonna fall behind fall off the back on a climb. Once you're off the back of the pack most of the time you will never see the pack again you're in the back of the race you will place near the back. So you have to have strong members that you can hide behind if you're the person that they're trying to get to the line first. It's also a sport that requires top notch equipment a bike with excellent tires. The wheels are probably the most important part of the bike I think because it's what rolls and so the differences in the weight are really important in the wheels and the tires that you have and the aerodynamics of the wheels. There's so much technology and design that goes into the wheels and they're in a lot of ways I think like I said what's most important so it's good to have a good set of racing wheels. And what's called the fork. This is what absorbs a lot of the shock so when you're riding a big part of what fatigues is

your shoulders and your arms which you wouldn't think of when you're riding a bike because you're not really using your arms but you absorb a lot of shock and the upper part of your body and so it's important to have a good fork. But where riders get particularly picky is over the seat. You have to break them in for sure and everyone has their own shape and what they prefer in a shape and once they stop making the saddle you like your in trouble because then you have to find something new and it's really hard to get used to a new saddle but it takes dedication. You'll be uncomfortable at first and then it just takes some time and you'll get used to it. Pettles I guess would be the other thing that people are pretty picky about the type of pedals that they use. Your shoes clip right into one more. Your shoes with a cleat on the bottom that snaps in here so you can pull up and push down on your pedals. So ideally you'll have a perfect revolution in your pedaling that'll be you'll be putting the exact same amount of pressure on the pedals at every part of your stroke. You can easily spend more than $8,000 for a good set of wheels. It's an

expensive sport and also a dangerous one. When I crashed I hit a guard rail with my right leg which threw me over it and that snapped my femur right in. Ryan Blicken was on the NMSU team 10 years ago and started racing professionally in 2001. He had a perfect safety record until this year. I was doing the tour of the Hila bike race in Silver City in New Mexico and about a kilometer from the finish line of one of the stages. It's a five-day stage race of the third stage. I hit a piece of wood in the road and next thing I do my hands were off the handlebar and I was creating off into a guard rail where you know I landed on the side of the road and wasn't able to move my leg and found out later that I had a broken hip so. Blicken brushes off his mishap and says he's healing quickly. As for Merrill she's moved on to bigger and better things. She's now got a sponsored spot on the landest trek VW team out of Phoenix. After I won the collegiate title they offered me a spot on their team and so now I'm a sponsored rider and you know I don't have to pay for anything anymore.

And she's encouraging the NMSU team to improve. We are competing mostly against Arizona State and the University of Arizona. The Northern Arizona University also has a mountain bike team but they don't do much road racing. So since we're new in that conference we haven't competed against them yet but mountain bike racing isn't a fall and road racing isn't a spring. So right now we're in the mountain bike season and so hopefully our guys will be able to compete against the Northern Arizona University team and see what they're all about. I love competing I love improving cycling is a sport where there's always people better than you so there's always room to improve and there's always somebody to look up to. And for now it's Merrill's national victory that keeps the NMSU team pumped. Merrill says it's not likely cycling will become an official NMSU sport anytime soon but there's a number of young cyclists on

the team who are ready to race at what's called the A level and face top teams from universities in Colorado and California. We'll be right back. I want to give back to this university not because I guess I think I owe it but but because I think New Mexico State has earned it. Welcome back. There are plenty of NMSU alumni on campus this weekend taking part in homecoming events and reliving their days on campus. Former students are important to the university especially those who decide to give something back. This is a story about receiving. This was the place that that gave me the foundation of education that made it so important later on that once you start you're learning off in the right way at the Good University it sticks with you. And giving back. I want to give back to this university not because I

guess I think I owe it but because I think New Mexico State has earned it. I think they've earned my respect and recognition. I think they've earned this money. They've earned this ability to do what what we're going to be doing and they've earned it because they gave me the kind of foundation that I that I needed to succeed. Michael Johnson who grew up in Roswell graduated from NMSU in 1972 with a bachelor's degree in geology. He went on to earn a masters at MIT and Rice University and to work for conical Phillips in a job that took him to 57 countries. He's retired now and came back to NMSU with his wife and children to say thanks not with words but with money. There are milestones in the history of an institution when something that happens that alters its normal evolution, changes its direction, elevates its status. The specifics of that event can vary that they're invariably driven by a person. We're here this

evening to celebrate such an event driven by the generosity of one of this department's early graduates Mike Johnson. With a single gift he will endow a chair in geology, a chair that will allow us to bring in a gifted dedicated individual. This is a transformational gift that ensures increased professionalism, status and longevity for the department. It's also a momentous event for the college in being the first in doubt chair. Mike's gift changes the landscape by charting a new course for the department and the college and particularly by showing us what is possible. The $1 million gift will help the college of arts and sciences establish its first in doubt chair in the department of geology. It will be used to recruit a key faculty member possibly an isotope geochemist to strengthen the master's program. This gift will allow us to reach

out even more to aim even higher and to transform lives forever. As I think about what I would like to do for the university the idea of the chair is sort of a perfect way of doing this. I think it creates a foundation where we can attract the kind of talent we need here to attract the kind of students that we need here because it's it all builds on itself. The more you have the more you have in the way of good faculty the more you're going to have in the way of good students and it is a self-perpetuating prophecy. To mark the event the Johnson's received two gifts from the university. One a sphere made of petrified wood that is part of the University's Zool Collection. This wood comes from the collection of Herb Zool who is famous for his vast storehouse of petrified wood. Now Judy I hope there's room on your desk at work for this so that when times are hectic you can look at it and remember how appreciative we are here

at NMSU. The other an object that's no longer available to collectors a 220 million year old object of petrified wood from Utah. This particular wood is no longer available to collectors although it wasn't buried as dramatically as Judy's piece it's roughly time 40 times older at about 220 million years. Great universities just like these rocks here these fossils they have the strength and the foundation of the support of people like yourself that are that by your gift back help us to continue to make this an even greater university. Johnson has been a strong supporter of NMSU for more than a decade he's given the geology department other gifts and he shares the science advisory council for the College of Arts and Sciences and joining us to talk more about this million dollar donation is the dean of arts and sciences

Wadeh Crusado Salas also here Stephen Castillo the engineering college dean they also received a contribution for an endowed chair on their own thank you both for joining us. Thanks for the invitation. And what a good topic to talk about money coming into the university we love that don't wait. Absolutely. Yes sir. Well Dean Crusado Salas let's talk to you first about the College of Arts and Sciences because this is exciting for the College of Arts and Sciences the first ever. It is the first and doubt chair for the College of Arts and Sciences in history. Wow and how will it be used where will this money go? Well what we would like to do with it is just to attract and retain a wonderful faculty member that will join a department that has a wonderful trajectory in terms of research teaching and outreach so this would allow us to do things that we were not allowed to to do before because of some constraints in state funding with the Johnson's gift we will go out and hire a highly competitive faculty member that will enhance that department. And how big is the geology department to the College of Arts and

Sciences? Well it's a small department with five faculty members so this will allow us to again bring us the six faculty member to that department. And will the money stay specifically in the geology department or will it be used throughout the college? It is it is exclusively for the geological sciences department. Wow so I bet they're pretty thrilled what was their reaction when well they are absolutely thrilled as you have pointed out and also because these also signals that we are we are strengthening the relationship with a wonderful alum which is Michael Johnson. So yes we're happy about the money we're happy about what the donation will allow us to accomplish but also it's an opportunity for us to celebrate the good relationships that the department has built throughout the years with some outstanding alums. Right and the department head had mentioned that he would like to hire an isotope geochemist. What is this position? Well again at this moment it has not been defined actually and if that's the wheel of the department that's exactly what we will do at this

moment we're opening some consultation process to make sure that that's exactly what we're going to need in order to bring the department to its next level of excellence. So if you did do that with the department heads request would that be a permanent position or do you do things kind of a year at a time? It will be a permanent position. Wow okay and how does that work the Johnson's relationship with the university or any alum for that matter to get them to give money back? Well Hillary as you pointed out before Michael Johnson chairs the Dean's Advisory Council which we call the Dean's Council for Excellence in the Sciences. This is an advisory committee that I established three years ago when I came to NMSU because I think it's important for us to have a group of outstanding people that includes former faculty members, former department heads, former deans, people from the industry that then come and we have conversations about what's the future of the College of Arts and Sciences? Where are our departments of sciences headed to in the next five years, in the next ten years? And when we first met the group decided that Michael Johnson would

be an outstanding leader that will guide us through the process so that's how we got to meet Michael Johnson and after three years of a very fruitful relationship he stepped forward and he said I want to make a transformation in the College of Arts and Sciences and he indicated his desire to contribute the first in doubt chair in our history. Wow that is exciting and it's exciting for the kids who are coming up graduating from high school and looking at schools. If they're interested in geology how will this change the way that NMSU looks when it's stacked up against all of those other possibilities? Well again one of the components of the of the end-out chair is that it will also it can also be used to attract students so if the faculty members decides for example that part of that donation the he or she would like to use to support students that can also be done the end-out chair the agreement will have the flexibility that will allow that faculty member to decide how those she or he wants to spend that money including student support. And hopefully this will

open the door for more donations to come your way right? Absolutely and again what we always stress is that this is a gift forever so this is something that again we're also very grateful and the Johnson's wanted to stress this because they also have two kids that are currently in college. And now Dean Castillo we want to talk about the engineering college because you just got a $250,000 chair but from El Paso Electric right? That's correct we just received a gift from El Paso Electric in support of the Electric Utility Management program the chair is named after William Kerstein who is a stalwart in our electrical engineering department for many years and started that program it's the second such gift for that end-out chair the first one being from Arizona Public Service Company. What is power systems engineering? Well every time you get up in the morning and you flip the switch and the lights come on and you don't even think about it that is the power system so designing the grid how to power it where the electricity comes from making it reliable that's all power systems engineering very critical component of our of our society and our

economy. And that's what the kids will be learning how to do in this program the students will be studying? Well they're gonna they study two different things and that's what makes the program so unique it was started in 1967 by William Kerstein for whom the chair is named and they combine power systems engineering with studies in economics and management so that they can go into a management track in the electric utility industry. I understand that's pretty unusual too we're very lucky to have that at an MSU right the dual program. Well it was the vision of William Kerstein to meet the needs of the industry they don't want to wait and train new brand new power engineers they want somebody to hit the ground running for their utilities and this this particular program was designed to produce engineers at the master's degree level to meet their needs. And how will this chair work in the engineering college? Well just like Dean Crusado-Sala said it enhances our program it gives us that last little bit for excellence we can retain attract and retain world-class faculty in this particular case it'll be in power systems engineering it'll be the second

such chair in that particular program the first was sponsored by the public service company of New Mexico about five years ago and so we're we're really trying to compete on a stage in the nation for the very best faculty and having that last little extra bit of funding helps us to do that. And how important is it to the engineering college to have this ongoing relationship with the different companies like El Paso Electric like PNM? Well last week at our career fair we had 117 companies looking for graduates in engineering and science and feeding those graduates to them is critical for their survival. The backbone of the engineering part of El Paso Electric is formed of New Mexico State graduates in fact their senior vice president for engineering Frank Bates is a graduate of the electric utility management program and so it really is an investment on the part of the company to ensure that the success of the program results in more engineers for their success as well. Make sense perfect relationship do a lot of the grads stay in the southwest in this area for their jobs? Absolutely El Paso Electric presents a viable

employment opportunity for our students that want to stay here many of them are very close to their families. Most of our graduates in that particular program stay in the southwest and feed many of the utilities here and New Mexico and Arizona in California. And the funds also assist students that are studying in this particular field how exactly on a day-to-day basis? Well the funds from the chair can be used for salary support which will use those in that way but we can also use them to support students to support travel to buy computers. The electric utility management program itself is funded by donations from utilities at the tune of about a hundred and fifty thousand dollars a year so we have what are called the EMP fellows. There's about ten fellows in the program studying for their master's degrees and taking the coursework that I talked about already and so that's energy of top-notch faculty technical problems from the power companies support from the power companies and them and then the companies hiring the students result in very

successful utilities here in the southwest part of the United States. And with Dean Crusado Salas and the Arts and Sciences College we're talking more about a personal donation like an alum we're talking about companies here do you also have alums who have possibly given big amounts of money like this in the past or are there others in the pipeline that are maybe being I don't know a little relationship starting with them right now. Absolutely we have relationships with companies we're interested in getting more engineers more graduates out of our programs here in New Mexico state and then we have individuals who have done extremely well like the alum that Dean Crusado Salas talked about Ed Foreman and his brother Chubb Foreman donated a million dollars earlier this year for a chair in civil engineering and we'll be using that particular chair to enhance our capabilities in water research which is a very big part of the research here at New Mexico State University. So you can you have it both ways you have companies that feel like they've had a lot of success because of what we do here in New Mexico state and you have alums that have become very successful and want to see our programs continue and feel grateful for what

they've had and want to help others follow in their path. It's got to make both of you feel good it makes me feel good just being affiliated with the University that people feel so good about it that they are giving back and helping us to grow and improve what we offer. Absolutely. Well thank you both for coming in today we'd like to thank you good segments like this with good news and everybody's smiling. Thank you very much Hillary. Thank you both for coming in today and we close our program with yet another amazing Aggie each week. Of course we set aside some time to recognize one individual on campus involved in something well we think is amazing. Marlinda Cordero helps people get jobs and she's been doing that at an issue for 26 years as a placement technician. Marlinda received a first light federal credit union staff achievement award for her efforts in working with local state and national employers and finding great jobs for NMSU students and graduates. She also helped design automated student

employment software. The Ventana software given its memorial name by Marlinda is a magnificent online employment system that exemplifies NMSU service to students and the community. If you'd like to nominate an amazing Aggie or have any comment about the show call us at 646 2042 or send an email to Aggie Almanac at Yahoo.com and that's our show for this week. Thanks for watching. I'm Hillary Floren. Have a great weekend.