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Thank you, Mr. Wyler. To Mr. Humes, also an alumnus of the University of Cincinnati, congratulations and it is great to have you until 2016. As you know, our good news for the fall has really been all about our entering freshmen class, the best and brightest ever present company excluded. That having been said, there is still more good news. Our UC Foundation reported this fall that it surpassed its overall fund raising goal for FY 2006, raising more than $70.7 million. So, I want to thank our donors and our foundation volunteers, a number of whom are present for such success. Our goal, by the way, was $61 million so we more than surpassed it.
Business Week magazine did its first-ever listing of the world’s top design schools – or “D-Schools,” as they call them, our College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning made the list, of course, which includes schools from Asia, Europe and throughout the United States.
In another ranking, this one from the Princeton Review, our College of Business MBA program was rated among the best 282 Business Schools in the nation.
Our UC law grads have once again returned to No. 1 in the state of Ohio in their performance on the Ohio Bar exam. Similarly, our College of Pharmacy has reason to celebrate: Our 2006 pharmacy graduates passed their licensure exam this summer with average scores that surpassed all other from District 4 which includes Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin. The highest score attainable is 146 and two of our students had scores in the 140’s.
Our co-op centennial celebration continued this month with a re-dedication of the Herman Schneider Quadrangle, which will be completed this next spring. Our groundbreaking ceremony also honored three employers who have been involved in co-op since the very beginning, 100 years ago: Makino, Siemens and Milacron.
Last month, UC, the Health Alliance and the Lindner Foundation broke ground on the Craig and Frances Lindner Center of HOPE (Helping Other People Excel) at a 35-acre site in Mason. This new mental health facility is made possible through a generous gift from the Craig and Frances Lindner and Carl and Edyth Lyndner, Jr. families and it is expected to be completed by mid-2008.
Later this week, our Infectious Disease Center will mark its 20th anniversary during World AIDS Day. Each year, the center provides care for nearly 1600 people with HIV and sees 200 new cases a year, caring for 85 percent of the HIV cases in the Cincinnati USA region.
This fall our UC men’s soccer team made history as the first Bearcat team to win a Big East Championship and earned the Bearcats first appearance in the NCAA tournament as a Big East contender. I want to congratulate, as I am sure you do, Hylton Dayes and the entire team for their Big East title.
UC’s Hank Hildebrandt, professor of interior design, has been named one of five “A+” teachers. This top designation appears in the fall 2006 issue of Perspective Magazine, the journal of the International Interior Design Association.
Cincinnati Magazine again recognized UC in its “Best of the City” issue. Among the 101 favorite things cited by the magazine were the DAAP fashion show and the new Campus Recreation Center.
While we are on the subject of the Rec Center, I should add that the Rec Center is set to “pig out” on fitness as we team with the city to get students in shape for the May 2007 running of the Flying Pig Marathon. Beginning in January, the center will host 32 lunch-and-learn sessions to teach students the fundamentals of running.
Internationally this fall, we hosted two major delegations: one a high-level visit from leaders of Shandong University in China, to sign our agreement to open a joint Center for Urban Research, and the other involving high-ranking law enforcement officials from Turkey. The latter will work with UC Criminal Justice on joint research on terrorism and continuing studies for Turkish students interested in advanced degrees. UC currently hosts more than 20 representatives from the Turkish National Police who study here.
And, speaking of the police, our own UC “finest” earned city-wide recognition this fall for their efforts to create a safer environment in and around campus. The Cincinnati Police Department presented UC Public Safety with an award for community-based policing.
That is a lot of good news and I have seen a lot of people this morning who were a real part in leading us to the distinction that we have recognized this morning and I just want to thank everyone who has played a role in today’s good news.
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