Astronaut talks, musical laptops highlight exceptional weekend

The momentum built at our very own Coca-Cola Space Science Center (CCSSC) is extraordinary. In memory of the 25th anniversary of the Challenger tragedy, Director Dr. Shawn Cruzen invited former astronaut Col. Al Worden to our campus. Speaking to a variety of groups, including more than 350 Muscogee County School District children, Col. Worden reinforced the enormous value of space exploration and our space program to innovation, creativity, communications, medicine and more. Kudos to the entire CCSSC team for an extraordinary series of events. At the Schwob School of Music, while dozens of students and faculty were away participating in the Georgia Music Educators Conference in Savannah, professor Matt McCabe hosted the Latop Orchestra of Louisiana -- nine extraordinary musicians whose primary performance instruments are Apple MacBook Pros, supported by iPads, joysticks and a host of other unique technologies. The performance in our Studio Theater at RiverCenter was exceptional. These programs enhanced a special visiting lecture in the Department of Art, a hyper-busy new Student Recreation Center and Clear Channel broadcasts of Cougar basketball on the FM dial made to create another exceptional weekend at Columbus State.

Campus talent impressive in concert, with visitors; come see game Thursday

Monday brought a wonderful first-time experience. I attended a Bass Ensemble Concert conducted by Dr. Alex Pershounin. The music performed by this ensemble of five of our exceptional CSU Schwob School of Music students ranged from classical (Handel, Mozart, Brahms and Bizet) to funk (Pershounin). It was an amazing display of exceptional talent. One of the students, Jack Meisburg, just received word that he has been selected to perform for the LaGrange Symphony. The Schwob School of Music level of talent is extraordinary, and its concerts are so very impressive. My thanks to our Enrollment Management team and all other participants, faculty, staff and students for a great Parents Weekend this past weekend, as well as our earliest-ever Visitation Day on Saturday. We had exceptional weather and a great tour of the Student Recreation Center. This was a wonderful team effort. Finally, our club football team plays a team from the U.S. Army's 3rd Brigade at Doughboy Stadium on Thursday. This gives us great connectivity to the Maneuver Center of Excellence at Fort Benning and offers a great platform for our student-athletes to compete.