The Tuesday Letter
Agricultural Experiment Station & Cooperative Extension Service
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
(Vol. 16 No. 20)
IN THIS ISSUE...
WORD FROM THE ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR - EXTENSION AND APPLIED RESEARCH
Let me continue to prime you for the 2010 Spring Action Conference in Great Bend on April 7-8, 2010. The focus will be on taking our logic models and moving them towards evaluation.
I am pleased and excited for the preparation that has gone into this year's conference. You can expect to gain knowledge and develop tools that will be useful to you in creating evidence of making a difference with your programs. And, maybe even more important, the evidence you gain through the evaluation processes will lend ideas and directions to continue to improve on your educational programs, better reaching your target audiences, using techniques and processes that are truly effective with your audiences, and being able to communicate with county commissioners, key stakeholders in your community, legislators, and any others who need to know how your educational programs are making a difference by delivering "Knowledge for Life."
If you haven't registered for Spring Action Conference, please do so now!
On another note, the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) has just released its request for applications through its Agriculture and Food Research Initiatve. Additionally, Dr. Roger Beachy, director of NIFA, will host a webcast on Tuesday, March 23, 2010, at 1 p.m. CDT, to discuss these grant opportunities. The webcast can be viewed online at www.nifa.usda.gov/newsroom/webcast.html. If you'd prefer to call, use (800) 857-5233 and PASSCODE: USDA, given verbally. All callers using the above pass code will be placed in listen-only mode. Webcast viewers who do not have questions do not need to call-in to hear the webcast.
And, last, but for K-State fans certainly not least,.... Isn't it Sweet to be among the last 16 in the Men's NCAA!?! March Madness at its best! Go Cats!! And, have a great week! --Daryl Buchholz dbuchhol@ksu.edu
BENCHMARKING YOUR SUCCESS - REMINDER
The next time that someone wants to know about the impact of your local PRIDE program, you will have all the information that you need to highlight the importance of your PRIDE work to your community. This training is for all PRIDE communities and we encourage each community to send a delegation to participate in one of the following trainings, which will be presented by Trudy Rice and/or Jeanne Stinson from the Kansas PRIDE program.
March 29 in Lenora, KS at the Lenora Library
April 5 in Perry, KS at the Perry American Legion Building
April 12 in Larned, KS at the J.A. Haas Exhibit Building
April 15 in Humboldt, KS at the Humboldt Library
April 19 in Park City, KS at the Park City PRIDE Building
Note: All trainings will be from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Buildings will be open at 5:30 with refreshments available. The meeting will start promptly at 6 p.m.
During the training you will learn how to collect the information you need to tell the story of your PRIDE program to the people who need to know. Everyone will go home with a 'tight, bright, and to the point' message about the importance of PRIDE to your community as well as knowledge on how to collect the right information and who to share it with. The ability to tell your story to the right people will enhance your community's ability to access outside resources.
For reservations, please e-mail PRIDE@ksu.edu or call the Kansas PRIDE office at 785-532 5840.
Addresses and driving directions are available on the PRIDE website. --Trudy Rice trice@ksu.edu
CELLULOSIC BIOFUELS WEB SEMINAR SERIES 2010—SEMINAR 1
Friday, March 26, 2010
11 a.m. ' 12 p.m. Central Daylight Time
'State of the Industry: Corn and Cellulosic Ethanol'
Presented by Todd Sneller, Nebraska Ethanol Board
Todd Sneller is the Administrator of the Nebraska Ethanol Board. The Nebraska Ethanol Board is a state agency, created in 1971 by the Nebraska Legislature - the first state agency in the United States devoted solely to the development of the ethanol industry. The Nebraska Ethanol Board is an invaluable resource to communities wishing to attract an ethanol plant - and to developers who are looking to locate an ethanol plant. The Board works closely with policy makers, economic development officials, utilities, regulatory agencies, and others to help coordinate and facilitate the development of ethanol industry.
*Webinar Series Purpose*
Cellulosic ethanol production is an emerging industry. Production practices, materials and business methods are expected to be different from those currently used in agriculture. This webinar series is intended to provide interested individuals with an overview of anticipated needs, from production, agronomic, and contractual perspectives for supplying cellulosic materials to an ethanol plant. This webinar series is presented by the High Plains Extension Energy Team for Community Redevelopment.
*Webinar Series Topics & Dates:*
The seminar series will consist of 1 hour long webinars approximately once a month for the next six to eight months. The current list of topics and planned dates are:
1. State of the Industry: Corn and Cellulosic Ethanol - Friday, March 26, 11 a.m. Central.
2. Economics of Cellulosic Biofuels - Friday, April 30, 11 a.m. Central.
3. Cellulosic Biofuel Logistics'TBA (Expected to be late May).
4. Agronomic Impacts of Cellulosic Material Harvest ' perspectives from the eastern and western corn belt TBA. (Expected to be in July).
5. Contracts for Cellulosic Biomass TBA.
6. Rural Community Infrastructure TBA.
*How to Connect:*
Start connecting 5 minutes prior to the start time. You need a computer with Internet access and speakers. At the meeting time, copy and paste this URL into your browser to enter the meeting:
http://connect.extension.iastate.edu/agenergy/.
At that URL you will find a login page. 'Enter as a Guest' with your name, and business or institution and click 'Enter Room.' The audio portion of the meeting will be come through your computer speakers.
Anytime before the meeting you can visit this URL to confirm your ability to connect. --Ed Brokesh ebrokesh@ksu.edu
LEADERSHIP SKILLS SURVEY
The Leadership PFT would like feedback from the entire system (county,district, area, and state staff) about your needs in the area of Leadership. We define leadership in a very broad sense --- including personal leadership within your office/department; your leadership role in working with boards, advisories, committees, groups, teams; your role in developing leadership skills in others; and any other role involving leadership.
It's a short survey (less questions than the census form!!! )
Please access the survey and record your information. Your input will be critical to the future offering of the Leadership PFT. The survey closes April 7.
Thanks in advance for your participation. If you have any questions, contact any member of the survey committee: Sarah Maass, Andrea Schmidt, or Jodi Besthorn. --Jodi Besthorn
DIVERSITY PROGRAMS OFFICE - 7TH DIVERSITY SUMMIT AT KANSAS STATE
The Diversity Programs Office is pleased to announce that the Seventh Diversity Summit at Kansas State University will be held Friday, April 9, from 8 a.m. ' 4:30 p.m. in the Kansas State Student Union Ballroom. The theme for the Summit is 'Looking Inward, Enhancing Our Effort, Supporting Diverse Faculty.' The keynote address, 'The Usual Suspect: Negotiating White Student Resistance and Teacher Authority in the Predominately White Classroom,' will be delivered by Dr. Dalia Rodriguez, Assistant Professor at Cultural Foundations of Education, Syracuse University. In addition, there are two other programs scheduled for the day. They are 'The Diversity Score Card for Kansas State University' and 'Multicultural Student Retention and Success: The Challenge We Can Meet.' Registration for the summit is $15 including a continental breakfast and lunch.
The poster for the Summit can be found at: http://www.k-state.edu/ddcd/DiversitySummit10.pdf. If you would like to attend the Summit or have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Office of Diversity at 785-532-6276. --Zelia Wiley zwh@ksu.edu
ENERGY INDEPENDENCE, BIOENERGY GENERATION AND ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
A regional group of interested professionals is meeting to develop curriculum related to Energy Independence, Environmental Sustainability, and Bioenergy Generation. A multidisciplinary team - primarily from the North Central Region, but with representation from other regions - is being assembled to advise and guide the project. Paramount to this group's work will be the development of a comprehensive training program. The Curriculum Design Team (CDT) will: (1) analyze the issues to be covered, (2)develop teaching objectives and identify outcomes, (3) suggest components of a training program and educational materials to accompany the training, (4) identify trainers, and (5) suggest components of an assessment and evaluation protocol. Curriculum will be used both for Extension education as well as informing the eXtension website.
We are currently looking for a representative (or 2) from Kansas to contribute to this project. If this project is something to which you would like to contribute, please contact Dan Kahl, Extension Liaison, Center for Engagement and Community Development at 785-532-5962. --Dan Kahl dankahl@ksu.edu
COMMUNICATION MINUTE: USING GOOGLE TO FIND WHAT YOU NEED
One of the most widely used tools on the web is Google. Here are a few simple tips to make your searches more powerful:
* Less is More: Instead of using a full sentence, such as "Which vegetable is the most popular in the United States" simply search for "popular vegetable united states" and quickly look through your results to find what you need.
* Use unique and descriptive terms: Try to use words that are unique to what you are searching for. For example, use "carnivore" instead of "meat eating animal."
* Use quotation marks to search for exact text: If you are looking for a quote, put it in quotation marks. This is especially useful for looking up computer error messages!
* Start broad, then narrow your scope: If there are a few good results in your first set that all contain the same word, add that to your search and look again.
* Use '-' to remove a word: If there is a word you don't want to include in results, add a minus sign in front. "Frankfort -Kentucky" would search for results that include Frankfort but not Kentucky.
* Use '~' to look for synonyms: Instead of using a thesaurus, you can have Google search for synonyms by simply putting a tilde (it's on the key above Tab) in front of a word. "Cow ~facts" will search for pages containing "facts," "information," "trivia" and many other words along with "Cow."
You can find more information on using Google on their help pages, http://www.google.com/support/websearch/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=134479 and http://www.google.com/support/websearch/bin/answer.py?answer=136861. --Russ Feldhausen russfeld@ksu.edu
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