The Tuesday Letter
Agricultural Experiment Station & Cooperative Extension Service

  
Vol. 8, No. 5   December 11, 2001

IN THIS ISSUE...

...Additional Holiday for 2001
...University Holiday Schedule
...2002 Kansas City 4-H Global Conference Registration Due
...Health, Safety, and Environmental Coordinator Hired
...Professional Development Opportunity
...Time to Update your Listing in the K-State Research and Extension Directory
...Bienvenidos, a 4-H Spanish Video Now Available!
...Mid-America Fruit Growers Conference
...Publications/Production Services Update
...Forest Health Specialist, Kansas Forest Service, Kansas State University
...Master Schedule

...Tuesday Letter Archives  

ADDITIONAL HOLIDAY FOR 2001
Governor Graves has announced that he has designated Monday, December 24, 2001 as an additional state holiday for calendar year 2001.

Each county/district office follows either the state holiday schedule or the county/district holiday schedule. If the office follows the state schedule, December 24, 2001 is an additional holiday for 2001.

If you have questions about holiday leave, please contact your department or area office. --Dick Wootton rwootton@oznet.ksu.edu 

UNIVERSITY HOLIDAY SCHEDULE
The University will reduce activity from the close of business on Friday, December 21, 2001, through Tuesday, January 1, 2002. Although the University will close during this period, a few offices such as the University Police will keep a normal schedule. Since December 24, 25, and January 1 are holidays, the only normal workdays affected will be December 26, 27, 28, and 31, 2001.

K-State Research and Extension’s policy will be the same as the University: to close campus offices and encourage employees not to work during this period, although some employees may be asked to work. Prior approval from the departmental supervisor is required. Buildings will be locked and heat may be reduced to conserve energy. --Marc Johnson mjohnson@oznet.ksu.edu 

2002 KANSAS CITY 4-H GLOBAL CONFERENCE REGISTRATION DUE
Registration for the 2002 Kansas City 4-H Global Conference is due in the State 4-H Office by December 15. All completed forms and fees must be included by the deadline. Remember that delegates must agree to attend the Conference full time, Wednesday afternoon through Saturday morning. We always have more young people who want to attend the conference than we have space for, so if a delegate is not willing to commit to the conference full time, they should allow someone else to attend. --Lindy Lindquist llindqui@oznet.ksu.edu 

HEALTH, SAFETY, AND ENVIRONMENTAL COORDINATOR HIRED
Mr. Mitch Ricketts has taken the position of Health, Safety, and Environmental Coordinator, a position held earlier by Nick Huser. Mitch has a Master of Science in Occupational Safety Management from Central Missouri State University and has worked for the last nine years as the Safety and Environmental Compliance Coordinator for the Southeast Kansas Education Service Center (Greenbush). The Search Committee has found Mitch to be well qualified and an excellent communicator. This safety position is responsible for providing safety assessment and recommendations related to ergonomics, fire safety, laboratory safety,   research field safety, and many other areas. He will be responsible for safety operations of K-State Research and Extension at all off-campus sites, as well as laboratories in the College of Agriculture. We look forward to having Mitch Ricketts join us on January 7. --Marc A. Johnson mjohnson@oznet.ksu.edu 

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITY
All KSU staff are invited to attend the 2001 Sustainable Agriculture Roundup on February 15 in Salina, Kansas at the Salina Senior Center. Roundup will begin with a General Session in the morning, followed by a lunch prepared with locally raised food products, and concurrent sessions in the afternoon.

For those interested in human nutrition and food networks, Mary Hendrickson from The University of Missouri will define local food networks, and their value to a community. The afternoon will be spent discussing food labels such as "organic," "green," "environmental," and just what all these terms really mean to professionals and the consumers they work with.

For those interested in Grazing: Don Adams, Nebraska Beef Specialist will present "Matching Production Resources." Don will address how small changes such as delaying calving for several weeks can improve cow herd condition, reduce supplementary feed costs, and wean better calves.

Questions? Contact Jana Beckman at 785-532-1440 or jabeckma@oznet.ksu.edu . --Jana Beckman jabeckma@oznet.ksu.edu 

TIME TO UPDATE YOUR LISTING IN THE K-STATE RESEARCH AND EXTENSION ROSTER
It’s time to update the roster for the annual printed version. Please check your listing in the roster on the Web, http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/library/misc2/roster2001.pdf  to make sure that your name, title, location, phone number, e-mail, and page number(s) in the index are correct. If any changes need to be made, forward those changes to an office professional in your department, research center, or area office who can compile a list of corrections and additions.

Also, please check your listing under People Search on the Website, http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/ . If any information, (name, title, office, phone, fax, e-mail) is incorrect, send an e-mail to acctserv@oznet.ksu.edu . --Gloria Schwartz gschwart@oznet.ksu.edu 

BIENVENIDOS, A 4-H - SPANISH VIDEO NOW AVAILABLE!
Thanks to Clover Corner News for providing this information. I know that more and more of our Kansas Extension units are requesting Spanish resources. The Oregon State University Extension Service 4-H Youth Development Program now has a Spanish language video designed to explain the 4-H program and the important role that adult volunteers play. This video was produced as a Spanish language resource for 4-H outreach efforts to Latino youth and families.

It also showcases examples of how 4-H supports important values held by most Latino communities. These values include preserving cultural traditions, maintaining strong families, keeping children safe, and helping others in the community.

The 15-minute video cost (including shipping and handling) is $19.95 for 1-9 copies.

To purchase: Send check, money order, or purchase order (payable to Oregon State University) to: Publication Orders, Extension & State Communications, Oregon State University, 422 Kerr Administration, Corvallis, OR 97331-2119.

For further information on video content, please contact: Beverly Hobbs, 541-737-1319, mail to: beverly.hobbs@orst.edu . --Steve Fisher sfisher@oznet.ksu.edu 

MID-AMERICA FRUIT GROWERS CONFERENCE
The Mid-America Fruit Growers Conference will be January 22-24, 2002, at the Holiday Inn Olathe, (Exit 215 - Junction US 69 & I-35). Sponsors are: Kansas Fruit Growers Association, Missouri State Horticultural Society, Kansas State University, and University of Missouri - Columbia.

The Mid-America Fruit Growers Conference is the premier annual educational event for fruit growers in the central Great Plains. This year’s conference offers a full program of education and entertainment for both experienced and beginning commercial fruit growers and winemakers, including:

*Pre-conference fruit marketing tour visiting multiple direct-marketing sites in the Kansas City area
*Two-day technical program with three parallel sessions covering tree fruit production, small fruit production, 
  marketing, and grape growing and winemaking
*Tradeshow with 16 commercial vendors plus the Kansas and Missouri state agencies serving the fruit 
  growing and winemaking industries
*Gourmet banquet and meals featuring fruit-based recipes and regional wines
* Wine tasting, wine competition and silent auction 

For a complete program and registration information, contact Christy Dipman at 785-532-6173. The program and registration information are also available on the internet at www.kansasfruitgrowers.com . --Christy Dipman cdipman@oznet.ksu.edu 

PUBLICATIONS/PRODUCTION SERVICES UPDATE
Good News/Bad News
Bad news first: We must "adjust" some prices in Distribution Center inventory to reflect increased costs of production and shipping. As a nonprofit entity, we must be sure our prices continue to reflect the actual cost of doing business.

* Videotapes: Internal customer price is now $7.13; external customer price is $9.55.

* Shipping: Both United Parcel Service and Federal Express have announced rate increases effective January 2002. Items shipped via those services reflect our actual shipping costs. Although the U.S. Postal Service increased rates a year ago, the standard rates we have charged for fourth-class shipping have not changed for several years. We can no longer absorb the cost difference and will be forced to increase our rates as well. Please watch Tuesday Letter for more information.

Good news: "Insects in Kansas" is in stock this Christmas season, so place your orders now! It makes a wonderful gift for amateur, student or professional entomologists -- or anyone who is interested in the creepy-crawly, crop-crunching critters in our state. In its second press run, it remains a great value for a 500-page, full-color book, with the cost for personal copies and all external clients holding at $25 plus tax and shipping (if applicable). Internal clients (state and federal agencies paying with governmental checks or interfund vouchers) are charged $18.66, plus shipping. For more information, or to place an order, contact orderpub@lists.oznet.ksu.edu  or send a fax to the Distribution Center at 785-532-7938. 

Order Form Clarification
The order form for new publications and major revisions scheduled to be mailed by March 2002 and second quarter publications due by April 2002 were sent Friday, December 7. Please note that orders for publications listed on BOTH are due by January 2, 2002, and the "Ship to/Bill to" information sheet has been omitted from the Second quarter form. Please return the monthly and quarterly forms together, since both have the same deadline. If you are unable to return both forms at the same time, please be sure to include the shipping/billing information with your quarterly order.

The March order form includes a series of Insect Management Guides that also appeared on the first quarter order form. As mentioned in a previous Tuesday Letter, all orders will be filled with the new guides. One publication, MF2242 Economic Comparison of SDI and Center Pivots for Various Field Sizes, is due for revision. So orders will not be accepted at this time. It will be listed later on a monthly order form. Several grant-funded items were inadvertently omitted from the second quarter publication list: L869 Guidelines for Use or Propeller-type Irrigation Water Meters, MF2174 Predicting the Final Irrigation for Corn, Grain Sorghum and Soybeans, L795 Soil Water Measurements: An Aid to Irrigation Water Management, L909 Subsurface Drip Irrigation for Field Corn: An Economic Analysis, L796 Tensiometer Use in Scheduling Irrigation, L915 Using Evapotranspiration Reports for Center Pivot Irrigation Scheduling, and L914 Using Evapotranspiration Reports for Furrow Irrigation Scheduling.

Deadfiles
MF2467 has been deadfiled in both printed and electronic versions; printed version of SRP865 has also been deadfiled.

Are There Enough to Go Around?
When making copies to be distributed through the packet mail system set up in the Distribution Center, please note that more copies may be needed. Although Kansas includes 105 counties and five area offices, if you want copies of your document to go to research centers, the Haskell Indian Nations University Extension Center, the Watershed Specialists, Farm Management Fieldmen, Kansas Forest Service, or College of Agriculture department heads, state leaders or other administrators, you may need more copies than originally thought. Check out the online Directory for target audiences for your document, or for assistance call the Distribution Center Customer Service number at 785-532-1146. --Nancy Peavler npeavler@oznet.ksu.edu 

FOREST HEALTH SPECIALIST, KANSAS FOREST SERVICE, KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY
The Kansas Forest Service is currently recruiting to fill a Forest Health Specialist position to be located at the state office in Manhattan, Kansas.

Description: Operate a statewide forest health program; conduct forest health inventory field plot work across the state; provide assistance to district foresters in insect and disease diagnosis and control; cooperate with university, state and federal agency programs; and educate agency, organization personnel and public on control of rural and urban forest pests.

Minimum Qualifications: Bachelor's degree in forestry or closely related field of study with an emphasis in entomology and/or pathology. Ability to work effectively with others, both individually and in a team setting; organize work priorities and carry them to completion. Effectively communicate both orally and in writing. Computer skills such as database and word processing. Willingness to travel frequently within and out-of-state. Valid driver's license.

Salary: Minimum of $29,000. Salary varies depending upon education and experience.

Application procedures: Qualified applicants must submit (1) letter of application; (2) current resume; (3) academic transcripts; and (4) three professional references to Ray Aslin, State Forester, Kansas Forest Service, 2610 Claflin Road, Manhattan, KS 66502. Screening of applicants begins February 15, 2002 and continues until the position is filled. Interested candidates may call (785) 532-3300 for more information or view the Kansas Forest Service web site at www.kansasforests.org.

Kansas State University is an equal opportunity employer. KSU actively seeks diversity among its employees. --Ray Aslin raslin@oznet.ksu.edu 

VIEW THE MASTER SCHEDULE OR ADD NEW ACTIVITIES AND EVENTS . 

Submit corrections to previously submitted items to jzarger@oznet.ksu.edu .

DATES TAKEN FROM THE MASTER SCHEDULE FOR DECEMBER 19, 2001, THROUGH DECEMBER 25, 2001:

CORRECTION:

The Certified Crop Advisor Course on December 18-19, 2001, will be held in Salina at the Holiday Inn instead of in Manhattan as previously listed.

Tuesday, December 25
.... Christmas

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