USU President Resigns
Utah State University President Kermit Hall is stepping down after four years at USU. President Hall served as Utah State’s 14th president. Hall leaves to become president of the State University of Albany in New York. He begins his new job on February 1.

A replacement for President Hall will be named sometime in the next few weeks.

For more information on President Kermit Hall’s impact at USU, visit www.usu.edu/featurestories/pklhall.

Gossner Classics
Utah State University owes much to Delores Wheeler and Gossner Foods for their continued support of this community and the university. December basketball at USU always brings to mind the Gossner Foods Holiday Classic. Delores Wheeler, president of Gossner Foods, began sponsoring the tournament 11 years ago to provide a fun family event during the holidays. Utah State remained undefeated in its own tournament (22-0) this year by defeating South Carolina State in the first round and Loyola Marymount in the championship game.

Gossner Foods has been a family tradition since 1966 with three hundred farm families throughout Utah and Southeast Idaho, along with hundreds of employees, contributing to this cheese empire. Gossner Foods is one of the largest cheese producers in the United States, specializing in Swiss, Muenster, Baby Swiss, and Mini-Horn cheeses with a full packaging line of all cheeses.

Recently, a new product offering has brought increased fame to Gossner Foods. Ultra-high temperature shelf-stable milk does not need to be refrigerated until it's opened. Gossner’s milk is also very popular. If you see Spiderman and Spongebob milk, as well as Hershey’s, you know it’s Gossner’s. This milk goes to nearly every U.S. military base on the planet, to schools nationwide, and is on grocery store shelves in Puerto Rico, Guam, the Philippines and Russia. Gossners has also been active in various disaster relief efforts, including Armenia after the country's devastating earthquake, the victims of the hurricane in Florida, and most recently, the victims of the tsunami.

Aggie Ice Cream Packaging Survey
Famous Aggie Ice Cream partnered with Utah State Public Relations and Marketing, Carnegie Communications and the USU Alumni Association to achieve increased student and alumni involvement in creating a new look for Aggie Ice Cream. We'd like to get your opinion and feedback on Aggie Ice Cream. In the following online survey, you can vote between two new looks for Aggie Ice Cream packaging. There are also six questions about Aggie Ice Cream. This survey is only for the use of Aggie Ice Cream and will not be used for anything else. At the end of the survey, you will get a coupon for a free scoop of ice cream. Thanks for your help.

Click here to fill out the survey and collect your free ice cream coupon. 

Craving some Aggie Ice Cream, but can’t get to the store? No problem! Now you can order famous Aggie Ice Cream online. To place an order, visit www.usu.edu/aggieicecream.

Aggie Calendar
For the first time ever, the USU Alumni Association has produced a large full color Aggie calendar for the 2005 year.  Featuring beautiful pictures of campus and Cache Valley, as well as historical photos from USU Special Collections, this project is part of a three year commitment as a gift to Alumni Association Sustaining Members.  For information on other benefits of membership . . .

USU Extension Challenges You to "RATE YOUR PLATE"
This five class cooking series could help you avoid, and help others in dealing with, diabetes. The class begins on Tuesday, February 8 and continues Feb. 15, 22, Mar. 1, and May 3, 2005 from 5:30-7:00 p.m. Curriculum focuses on low-carbohydrate cooking, portion control, meal planning, and making sure your dinner plate is rated 50-50. A healthy lifestyle learning experience is waiting for anyone wanting to improve their quality of life through proper meal preparation. Participants will learn to prepare their own meals for sampling while networking with others. Class fees are $45/person or $65/couple which includes two hemoglobin A1C blood tests (value of more than $75), curriculum, food samples and fabulous door prizes.

Come into the USU Extension office (1181 N Fairgrounds Drive, Ogden) to purchase a gift wrapped "Diabetes Class" Gift Certificate or register by calling (801)399-8200. Spaces are limited. Registration deadline is February 1, 2005.

Contact Person:     Treby Miller, MS, USU Extension Educator, (801)399-8200

Big West Basketball Tournament
Mark your calendars for the upcoming Big West Basketball Tournament. The tournament will take place in Anaheim, CA on March 11-13. Travel packages are available through Columbus Travel.

Back to the Buzzer

USU students try their hand at snowshoeing on Old Main Hill in 1964

EVENT LISTINGS

Utah State University Alumni Relations sponsors many exciting events throughout the year. To keep informed about the most current ones, visit www.usu.edu/alumni/events.html often.

CONNECTIONS

Classnotes
Check out the Classnotes section of the alumni website.  Included are recent postings.  Please feel free to add some of your own.  Click here to view the Classnotes web page.

Obituaries
Click here to view the Obituaries section of the alumni website to keep alumni informed.  If you are aware of related news, please send your information to alumni@cc.usu.edu.

Chapter News

Cache County Aggie Chapter
March 4, 2005 – USU vs. Idaho Basketball Pre-Game Party. 
The Cache County Aggie Chapter will once again host a Pre-Game Event at Hamilton's Restaurant. The event will be held prior to the USU-Idaho Basketball Game on March 4. A Soup and Salad bar will be available for $10 per person from 4 p.m. until 6 p.m. (prior to the 7 p.m. start of the game).
May 2005 – Golf Tournament

Los Angeles County Aggie Chapter
March 11, 2005 - Golf Tournament Scholarship Fundraiser in Anaheim, CA.
Contact the USU Alumni Association at 797-2055 for more information.

Orange County Aggie Chapter
February 19, 2005 - USU vs. Cal State Fullerton Pre-Game Barbeque
Contact the USU Alumni Association at 797-2055 for more information.

Salt Lake County Aggie Chapter
January 21, 2005 – Aggie Night at the Utah Grizzlies Hockey Game
“E” Center, 3200 S. Decker Lake Dr. West Valley City
Tickets are $20 and include Pre Game Meal, Entry into Game, one free ticket for drawing.  Grand Prize: Grizzlies apparel.  Dinner is at 6:00 p.m.  Game time is 7:00 p.m.  For tickets, call (800)291-2586 by January 17.
April 20, 2005 – “To Kill A Mockingbird” at the Hale Center Theatre
June 20, 2005 – Utah/SLC Chapter Golf Tournament at Thanksgiving Point
July 30, 2005 – Family Swim Party and Aggie Ice Cream Night

Note: More information on these events will be forthcoming.

Athletics

Aggie Football Coaching Staff Coming Together
New Utah State University Head Coach Brent Guy is wasting no time getting his house in order. Two new assistants have been named.

Jeff Copp
Jeff Copp both played under and worked with Coach Guy in the past. Copp was a defensive end for Boise State when Guy was a defensive coordinator there. Following that, Copp worked as a graduate assistant at Arizona State, again under Guy. Most recently, Copp coached defensive ends at Idaho State last year.

Danilo Robinson
Former Aggie defensive end Danilo Robinson is the latest assistant to be hired. He lettered during the 1993-1996 seasons, including two seasons with Guy on the USU staff. Robinson was twice selected to the second-team all-Big West squad and also served as team captain. His coaching career includes five years at Navy and most recently coaching linebackers at Louisiana-Munroe.

Along with these new additions, Tom McMahon and John Rushing will retain their positions.

Tom McMahon
This will be McMahon’s tenth year with the USU football program. He has coached the defensive lineman since 2001 after earlier being in charge of the linebackers. McMahon will retain his duties as recruiting coordinator and will officially be named to a coaching position later.

John Rushing
Rushing joined the USU program in 2003 and coached an Aggie secondary that is ranked 44th in the nation in passing yards allowed. He spent two years as a graduate assistant at Boise State when Brent Guy was the defensive coordinator there.

Big Blue Club Golf Tournament
The Big Blue Club invites all Aggies to join them for the Big Blue Club Golf Tournament. The event will take place on February 28 in Mesquite, NV at the beautiful Falcon Ridge Golf Course. Tee-off is set for 10:00 a.m.

For more information, get in touch with Kathy Rigby at (435)797-BLUE or kathy.rigby@usu.edu.

New Radio Station for Aggie Sports
Utah State basketball has found a new home in Salt Lake City. The USU athletics department and Sports Radio 1280 The Zone announced that all Aggie games will be broadcast on 1280 AM for the remainder of the 2005 season.

KVNU (610 AM) will continue to broadcast the games, which are also available in Logan on 94.5 FM as well as on translator stations in the state of Utah, including: 98.3 FM (Salt Lake City), 106.3 FM (Ogden), 104.7 FM (Utah County), 102.3 FM (Bear Lake) and 105.5 FM (Randolph).

As always, Al Lewis handles play-by-play for all Utah State games home and away, while former Aggie coach and athletics director Rod Tueller provides analysis for home games.

Check out utahstateaggies.com for the latest news and information about Aggie Athletics.

Travel Opportunities Panama Canal Cruise February 6-15, 2005 Sail aboard the Coral Princess to visit the ports of Limon, Grand Cayman, Belize and Cozumel and marvel at the wondrous Panama Canal on the 10-day adventure. Branson, Missouri May 10-15, 2005 Enjoy the excitement of Branson, Missouri while seeing shows by Andy Williams, the Sons of the Pioneers, the Osmonds and more. An optional extension is also offered, visiting the historical sites of Nauvoo (extension dates: May 15-18, 2005). Norwegian Fjords Cruise July 29-August 9, 2005 This 7 day cruise departs Copenhagen, Denmark and visits Norwegian ports including Flam, Bergen, and Oslo while also sailing the beautiful fjords.    For more information on upcoming alumni travel events, visit www.usu.edu/alumni/travel.html.

From left-right
Randy Spetman, Delores Wheeler, Allen Wheeler
Photo by John Zsiray