The Tuesday Letter
Agricultural Experiment Station & Cooperative Extension Service

Vol. 14, No. 38  August 5, 2008

IN THIS ISSUE... 

...Word from the Associate Director - Extension and Applied Research
...Program Development Committees
...Nominations for Awards
...Retirement Reception for Dean Davis
...Volunteers Requested to Help in Our Booths at the Kansas State Fair
...Brochure for Extension Elections
..."PDC Board Recruitment" Module Has Been Revised
..."Healthy Kids Times" Newsletters
...HomeTown YouthForce: Engaging the Entrepreneurial Generations
...EDEN Materials Available for National Preparedness Month
...National 4-H Conference Applications Available
...New Publications to Help Begin the New 4-H Year
...Kansas 4-H Resource Library
...July Extension Agent Personnel Changes
...Before They Sell
...Master Schedule

                                                                                                           ...Tuesday Letter Archives

WORD FROM THE ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR - EXTENSION AND APPLIED RESEARCH
Last week I introduced an embedded YouTube video into the Tuesday Letter. My thanks to Sue Robinson and Neal Wollenberg for making that happen.

You are going to get a couple more weeks of videos in my message. I guess you could say I have been "blogging" for the last four years with the weekly message, and I didn't even know it!

It is mind-boggling to think of how the internet is changing the availability of information, and how it can be delivered. As you saw last week, the information revolution has given everyone capability of finding and sorting information in the simplest ways through the use of google searches. Can you believe it? Just a few years ago, nobody knew what you meant by a google search!

So, here is another intriguing video put out on YouTube by Dr. Michael Wesch, Assistant Professor of Cultural Anthropology here at K-State, entitled "The Machine is Us/ing Us."

So, once again I have to ask, do any of these changes through the "information revolution" have any implications on the authoritarian, research-based, follow-along approach that Extension has used in much of its success over its recent history (meetings and conferences)? Are we ready for this new era of a mediated culture where quality information is no longer scarce or hard to find?

A second video focuses on a class experiment that Dr. Wesch did in collaboration with some 200 K-State students. The video summarizes some of the characteristics of students today. He further makes one think about how students learn in this new mediated culture. These are the potential clientele and audiences for our programs in just a very few short years. You thought life was changing fast in the past!

Next week, I will highlight an hour-long seminar given by Dr. Wesch that puts much more of his thoughts and research observations behind these videos I' ve shown this week and last week.

Have a great week! --Daryl Buchholz dbuchhol@ksu.edu

PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEES
The Kansas Extension Council law provides names and functions of program development committees. Over time names may tie to the past. While the specific language of the law hasn't changed, we will be using updated language with program development committees.

Four PDCs will be referred to as:

Agriculture and Natural Resources
Family and Consumer Sciences
4-H Youth Development
Community Development

Many are already using these terms so this will not be a major change. It would also be helpful for the entire system to be using these terms rather than acronyms in our daily work to best represent our programs.

In addition, the program focus team, Community and Economic Development, will change to Community Development. --Daryl Buchholz dbuchhol@ksu.edu

NOMINATIONS FOR AWARDS
Remember that Friday, August 8, is the deadline for nominating your colleagues for K-State Research and Extension Awards. Awards include Mentor, Diversity, Builder, Team, County/District Office Professional of the Year and Unclassified Employee of the Year.

Nomination information can be found on the Employee Resources website at http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/employee_resources/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=208 . Click on "Nominations for Awards" in the center of the page. --Fred Cholick fcholick@ksu.edu

RETIREMENT RECEPTION FOR DEAN DAVIS
Please join us for a celebration in honor of Dean Davis, Shawnee County Agriculture Agent. Dean will be retiring from K-State Research and Extension - Shawnee County, where he has been employed as the County Agriculture Agent for the past 19 years. Prior to his work in Shawnee County, Dean worked as an agriculture agent in Morris and Riley counties as well as with the Balanced Farming and Family Living Program with Kansas State University.

The Shawnee County Extension Council and Extension staff invite you to a reception honoring Dean on Friday, August 29, from 2:30 to 5:00 p.m. in the Extension Meeting Room, 1740 SW Western in Topeka.

Cards and letters for a scrapbook can be sent by August 15 to:

Shawnee County Extension Office
ATTN: Joanne Domme
1740 SW Western
Topeka, KS 66604

For more information, contact Joanne Domme at 785 232-0062 or jdomme@ksu.edu . --Laurie R. Chandler lchandle@ksu.edu

VOLUNTEERS REQUESTED TO HELP IN OUR BOOTHS AT THE KANSAS STATE FAIR
The College of Agriculture and K-State Research and Extension will once again have booths in the Pride of Kansas building at the Kansas State Fair in Hutchinson, KS. The Kansas State Fair runs from Friday, September 5, through Sunday, September 14, 2008.

We would appreciate faculty and staff from campus, area offices, counties/districts, Agronomy Fields, and Research-Extension Centers coming to the fair and working a few hours in one or both of the booths. Also, we would really appreciate agents and/or faculty, who are coming to the fair anyway, signing up to work a couple of hours in the booth before or after your activities.

Days and times that our KSRE/COA fair booths are open are:
(Notice the new, shorter days - closing at 9 p.m.!)

Friday, September 5 - 11 a.m. - 9 p.m.

Saturday, September 6 - 9 a.m. - 9 p.m.

Sunday, September 7 - 9 a.m. - 9 p.m.

Monday, September 8 -  9 a.m. - 9 p.m.

Tuesday, September 9 - 9 a.m. - 9 p.m.

Wednesday, September 10 -  9 a.m. - 9 p.m.

Thursday, September 11 - 9 a.m. - 9 p.m.

Friday, September 12 - 9 a.m. - 9 p.m.

Saturday, September 13 - 9 a.m. - 9 p.m.

Sunday, September 14 - 9 a.m. - 7 p.m.

If you would like to work in the K-State Research and Extension booth, please contact Steven Graham, sgraham@k-state.edu , by August 27.

If you would like to work in the College of Agriculture booth, please contact Sharon Thielen, sthielen@k-state.edu , by August 27.

We will be in touch in late August to finalize days, times, entrance tickets, etc. Thank you. --Sharon Thielen and Steven Graham

BROCHURE FOR EXTENSION ELECTIONS
The County Extension Council Election and Serving as a Council Representative brochure has been updated: http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/library/misc2/pm43.pdf .

Planning the Election, Serving on the Council, Benefits and Responsibilities are included in this brochure.

Updates:
Current titles of program Development Committees
Reinforces the Board Leadership website as a source of information in planning the election

This brochure is included as a reference for the PDC/Board Recruitment Module which is one of many resources located on the Board Leadership site, http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/boardleadership/DesktopDefault.aspx . --Margaret Phillips margaret@ksu.edu

"PDC/BOARD RECRUITMENT" MODULE HAS BEEN REVISED
The Board Leadership module titled "PDC/Board Recruitment" has been revised. The current version may be found at http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/boardleadership/DesktopDefault.aspx .

Select Board Leadership Modules from the center of the window; then select the title from the list that opens.

Revisions include:

PDC Recruitment for both counties and districts
Consent to be nominated form added
Extension Nominee Information form added

This module provides a strategic process for identifying needs, identifying potential nominees, contacting nominees and providing information about each nominee. It also reinforces the importance of serving on PDCs and Boards by sharing the mission, reinforcing the law and communicating the value of ongoing work to identify local needs and educational efforts to meet the needs. --Margaret E. Phillips margaret@ksu.edu

"HEALTHY KIDS TIMES" NEWSLETTERS
A new family nutrition education tool is now available on the Kansas Family Nutrition Program website. The "Healthy Kids Times," http://www.humec.ksu.edu/fnp/healthy_kids.html , are nutrition newsletters designed for the entire family. The front page contains nutrition information for the parents. The back side features an age appropriate nutrition activity for the parent and child to work on together to help reinforce a nutrition message. Newsletters can be personalized to add local office contact information. For instructions on personalization, click on the "Sample" link.

The website currently features newsletters for PreK-Kindergarten, 1st-2nd grade, and 3rd-4th grade. Issues include Handwashing, Food Safety, MyPyramid, and several different fruit and vegetable topics. Spanish versions are being edited. They should be posted to the web by September 15. In the coming year, look for 5th-6th grade level newsletters, as well as an expansion of the topic list.

To help teachers expand the learning in their classrooms, an online resource is being developed. Teachers will be able to click on a topic and find additional activities to use with their students. During the 2007 federal FNP review, the federal staff reinforced the importance of extending the learning in the classroom and making sure the nutrition messages are shared with the families. We hope you will utilize these new resources to help achieve both of those goals. --Evelyn Neier eneier@ksu.edu

HOMETOWN YOUTHFORCE: ENGAGING THE ENTREPRENEURIAL GENERATIONS
A new learning opportunity for communities interested in engaging and attracting youth and young people will be introduced this fall in a three-day academy, entitled "HomeTown YouthForce: Engaging the Entrepreneurial Generation." This academy has been developed by the Heartland Center and the RUPRI Center for Rural Entrepreneurship as part of the HomeTown Competitiveness (HTC) initiative. The inaugural event will be held November 18-20, 2008, at the Lied Conference Center in Nebraska City, Nebraska.

HomeTown YouthForce will focus on how to engage entrepreneurial youth in community building while they are growing up in their hometowns and how to attract young people back to their hometowns (or other small towns) after they have moved away for further education or career development. The academy will underscore the linkages among entrepreneurship education, leadership development and community engagement with youth in a systems approach to community and economic development.

More information is available at http://heartlandcenter.info/documents/YouthForcebrochure2.pdf . --Robert Wilson rmwilson@k-state.edu

EDEN MATERIALS AVAILABLE FOR NATIONAL PREPAREDNESS MONTH
The Extension Disaster Education Network folks have been busy preparing materials for agents, specialists and communicators to help with any activities you may have in conjunction with National Preparedness Month in September. Materials such as news releases, sample editorials, fact sheets, talking points, placemats, a quiz and a PowerPoint presentation are available for downloading at http://www.eden.lsu.edu/npm/materials.aspx . --Mary Lou Peter-Blecha mlpeter@ksu.edu  

NATIONAL 4-H CONFERENCE APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE
Applications are available now for the 2009 National 4-H Conference to be held Saturday, March 28, through Thursday, April 2, at the National 4-H Center in Chevy Chase, Maryland.

Each Extension unit is allowed to nominate one teen per county for this opportunity so time must be allowed for screening if multiple applications are received in your county or district. Delegates must be 15 to 18 years old by January 1, 2009. Up to six Kansas youth and one adult chaperone may be selected. 

Selected applications and letters of recommendation are due in the State 4-H Office no later than 5 p.m., Wednesday, October 1, 2008 to allow for screening and scheduling of interviews to be held at the Kansas Youth Leadership Forum.  Attendance at KYLF is required for interviewees.

The application and additional information is available on the Kansas 4-H web site at: http://www.Kansas4-H.org/Events/NatConf/ . --Justin Wiebers jwiebers@ksu.edu

NEW PUBLICATIONS TO HELP BEGIN THE NEW 4-H YEAR
The "Kansas 4-H Project Curriculum Guide" for 2008-2009 is an electronic version only, posted and linked on the front page of www.kansas4h.org . Look for the link in the center of the page under the photo.

This document lists the most current project curriculum with a brief description of each manual. Additional project and support materials are also listed for those interested in more in-depth study. Extension Units can download and use the information desired.

The "Kansas 4-H Project Selection Guide" will be printed in the next issue of the Kansas 4-H Journal. Check out the new look with project phase descriptions coordinated with the Enrollment Form. Members will be able to see what they can expect to Learn/Do at various age/skill levels in each project. --Jim Adams jadams@ksu.edu

KANSAS 4-H RESOURCE LIBRARY
The Curriculum Action Team plans to further develop this resource by asking all Extension Units to share their successful local programs. Please submit your successful lessons, activities, brochures, etc. to rcurry@ksu.edu  for posting in the Kansas 4-H Resource Library. Sharing your successes will help other colleagues from wasting their time developing something already done.

The Action Team is particularly interested in the listing of successful School Enrichment programs and lesson plans. We know several counties have school enrichment coordinators that have many lessons that are popular and proven. Please send these lessons in a format that can be easily downloaded and modified by colleagues to fit their situation. Sharing your successes will help other Extension Units "Grow 4-H." --Jim Adams jadams@ksu.edu

JULY EXTENSION AGENT PERSONNEL CHANGES
Jean Rowland, Family and Consumer Sciences Agent in Labette County, retired on July 1, 2008.

David Lott, Agriculture and Natural Resources Agent in River Valley District, resigned on July 12, 2008.

Jim Hoobler, Agriculture and Natural Resources Agent in Haskell County, resigned on July 19, 2008.

Angela Abts, Family and Consumer Sciences Agent in Pottawatomie County, resigned effective July 31, 2008. Angela has accepted a position with the University of Nebraska Extension Service.

Jamie Hancock, Horticulture Agent in Shawnee County, began employment on July 27, 2008. Her e-mail address is jamiehan@ksu.edu .

Karaline Mayer, Agriculture and Natural Resources Agent in Wabaunsee County, began employment on July 27, 2008. Her e-mail address is kamayer@ksu.edu . --Stacey Warner swarner@ksu.edu

BEFORE THEY SELL
Many retired and absentee landowners are considering selling their farm. Strategic planning can help landowners 1) avoid punitive taxes and 2) support local people and programs.

The sale of highly-appreciated property will trigger capital gains taxes. Planning can keep those dollars working locally, rather than flowing to the IRS. The key to avoiding taxes is a charitable remainder trust.

The trustee of a charitable remainder trust can sell appreciated farmland without incurring tax on the capital gain. Sale income, less sales costs, can be invested to provide lifetime income to the landowner. The remainder eventually benefits projects or programs identified by the donor. Options range from scholarships for local students, to support of Extension programs, to research.

Gordon Dowell, gift planning officer for Extension and Real Estate, can provide a personalized illustration for landowners considering a sale. Landowners are encouraged to review the illustration with their family and estate planning advisors. Contact Dowell at 800-432-1578 or gordond@found.ksu.edu . --Gordon Dowell

VIEW THE MASTER SCHEDULE OR ADD NEW ACTIVITIES AND EVENTS

To view the complete Master Schedule online or as a pdf, go to http://129.130.72.154/MasterSchAdd/

Submit corrections to previously submitted items to cthomas@ksu.edu .

DATES TAKEN FROM THE MASTER SCHEDULE FOR AUGUST 7 THROUGH AUGUST 13, 2008:

Wednesday, August 13 thru Thursday, August 14, 2008, SHICK Medicare Insurance Training – EC KS AAA, Days 3 & 4: Day 4 training for veteran counselors only, Ottawa, Carol Young cyoung@ksu.edu