People walking across campus early this morning, and again after lunch, kept looking to the sky when they heard a loud engine overhead. Most of the time the sound came from an enormous black helicopter. Since the temperature has stayed around six degrees today, most people just hurried on to class rather than wait outside for a chance to see Air Force One as it headed to and from the Peoria airport.

All the talk today has been about President Bush’s visit to a Caterpillar Inc. factory in East Peoria. He arrived in town just after 9 a.m. and then stopped for coffee at the Sterling Family Restaurant. Once at Caterpillar, he shook hands with President and CEO Jim Owens, as well as many of the workers, and then talked about the economy and trade issues.

Since Bradley alum Ray LaHood traveled with the Mr. Bush today, most of us on campus hoped they would stop by and meet some of our wonderful students. But, the president had to hurry back to Washington to prepare for his State of the Economy speech tomorrow. Students walking to class after lunch did, however, get to see Air Force One flying right above the Hartmann Center. It’s just a tiny speck in this photo, but we all enjoyed our brush with history.

The first day of the spring semester often finds students bundled in coats and scarves as they make their way to new classes. Today is no exception as the temperatures are in the low 20s and snow flurries covered the ground last night giving campus a fresh, clean look.The best part of spring semester is the promise of the warm days soon to come. Students will trade boots for sandals and today’s bare branches will host colorful blossoms and a wonderful variety of birds in a month or so…

I can tell it’s going to be an exciting semester. I’ve heard that author Jane Smiley will be on campus and that the Bradley International Print and Drawing show will be here in March. The men’s basketball team continues to sell out Carver Arena and tonight they face our longtime rival ISU. Some students have already put on their red shirts and seem excited that they can end their first day of classes with what should be a thrilling game.

Today, quite the middle of January, the weather turned cold. Last night dipped into single digits, but this morning, warmer air brought a beautiful powdery snow. All the buildings, branches, and walks on campus are lightly dusted in white.

I noticed how beautiful the Hartmann Center looked with its white roof against the white sky. This place has been the center of great excitement of late as director George Brown has been preparing for an innovative interpretation of a play from 1923, The Adding Machine. Every day I see George emerging from the building looking so excited, chatting with students or with Jim Ferolo, director of the Multimedia Program. Jim and his students are also working on the production.

They are integrating virtual scenery and remote actors on the stage to interact with the live actors. I don’t pretend to understand all that they have been talking about, but they do have a website that details the work they have done so far. It sounds exciting - I can’t wait till March 6, when the play opens, to listen to the audience’s reaction!

With a beautiful sun shining down through clear, cold air, the sound of the flag blowing in the wind echoes across campus. Today is the first day of January Interim classes. Today the country also remembers President Gerald Ford with a national day of mourning and flags flying at half-mast.

A few people on the Bradley campus, and many alumni, remember when Ford visited Bradley University in 1976. WCBU reporter Jonathan Ahl found the archived recording of his speech and provided excerpts, which you can hear at http://www.bradley.edu/irt/wcbu/audio/Ford.MP3.

With the beautiful sunshine and the cold air, the conditions are perfect today for a phenomenon known as a sun-dog, a small rainbow glow in the sky created from light hitting ice crystals high in the atmosphere. One appeared just above me this morning to brighten the day.