Welcome to the 2008-2009 ALFSA: Welcome New Members and Welcome Back Old Members! For those of you who are new to the organization, we send out a monthly newsletter that allows all our members to know what we accomplished during that month. So that way if you weren't able to make it to an event you can always know how it turned out and what to look forward to in the following month.

On behalf of the AgForLife Student Association we would like to thank everyone for becoming part of this great organization. The AgForLife Student Association is a direct expansion from the AgForLife concept (AgForLife.com) which was developed by Edward Romero and Pablo Ramirez (graduate student) of Texas A&M University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. The main focus of the organization is to promote agriculture, food, and life sciences with an emphasis on underrepresented populations. In order to reach this goal the organization has started programs like our Valley Mills Tutoring program in which members go and spend a day with high school students in Valley Mills, TX giving them a chance to learn the opportunities in agriculture and participating in cultural awareness events. Not only do we reach out to future members, but we work on helping our current members gain access to many opportunities in the Agriculture Industry through networking with companies, gaining valuable leadership skills and community service. We are glad to see that many of our old members have returned and that many more have joined.

General Meeting: Please don't forget that our next meeting is on September 29th @ 6pm in Kleberg 117. It is our third general meeting of the year and we will be talking about upcoming events and socials as well as getting input from our member's concerning the upcoming years events. Some of the topics we will be discussing are:

1. Brazos Valley Worldfest
2. Valley Mills Mentoring
3. Upcoming speakers
4. Socials
5. ACE Day

Food will be provided at the end of the meeting and remember to bring your friends, because you get participation points for every referral you give.

Ace Day: Ace Day is scheduled for October 1st and 2nd of this week in Kleberg. For those of you that are not familiar with Ace Day it is when agriculture companies come together and look for full time employees and interns. It is a great opportunity for you to network with companies, so make sure to submit your resume to one of the officers (send through e-mail or give to in person). We receive many hits on our resume page due to Ace day so having your resume posted ensures that companies are noticing you. For more information click on this link: http://aceday.tamu.edu/companies.html

General Meetings: Please remember that our October general meeting will be on the 27th in KLCT 117 at 6pm. So mark your calenders because we want to see all of you there.

Food and fun!: Mark your calendars for October 13th at Olsen Park from 6-7pm because this is a day you're not going to want to miss. Hamburgers and pending speaker.

Game/Movie Night: If you are looking for a good study break come join AFLSA for our game/movie night once a month from 6pm to 10pm starting in October. It is a come and go event so you don't have to be obligated to stay the entire time. We will have good movies of any kind, a diverse game selection including board games and Wii games!! Feel free to bring any of your own. You will get an email in the future stating when the game nights will be and where they will be located.

Football games: If any of the members are interested in pulling for games together let one of the officers know so that we can arrange to get your sports pass from you and for once get to take a break from all that studying to enjoy some Fightin Texas Aggie Football!

Participation Points: The AgForLife Student Association likes to recognize its members for coming out and participating in our events. That is why we have our participation points set up so that the member with the most points at the end of the year gets recognized with our member of the year award. A great way to earn easy points is by ordering one of our AgForLife Student Association Polos. They are about $25 + tax and will earn you 5 points every time you wear it to our organizational events. They are navy blue and can be ordered in women's v-neck style or regular mens polos. Depending on the number of students requesting shirts we will submit a bulk order before the end of October. Other ways to earn points are, signing in at all AFLSA sponsored events and having your friends join. Also make sure to keep up with your points and if you think that what is posted online is wrong please see one of the officers or Edward Romero ASAP in order to get it fixed. Don't wait until the end of the year to try and add everything up.