Alpha volunteers needed: For those of you who are new, Alpha is a program designed for new incoming freshmen and transfer students. Students have an opportunity to get to know each other, learn about critical services, meet with faculty and have a great time. Alpha has been revamped this year, so the schedule will look a little different. The program has been reduced to three days and has been organized around our new Pillars of The OSU Experience. The pillars are academic excellence, leadership, service, finding your purpose, broadening your horizons (exploring diversity, international exposure and arts and cultural experiences), and wellness. We need many volunteers this year in a variety of areas. Please look over the list and let us know as soon as possible in which area you would like to volunteer. We need to order t-shirts for you, so the sooner the better. If you have any questions about volunteering or the activities, please call our office at 744-5328.

2009 Budget Approved: President Hargis sends a message to the campus following the approval by the OSU/A&M Board of Regents of the FY 2009 budget today. The budget calls for a 4 percent raise for faculty a 3% raise for staff and a 9.9 percent increase in tuition and mandatory fees.