The Tuesday Letter
Agricultural Experiment Station & Cooperative Extension Service
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
(Vol. 18 No. 17)
IN THIS ISSUE...
WORD FROM THE ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR - EXTENSION AND APPLIED RESEARCH
Jamie Rathbun, FCS Agent in Ellsworth County, shared a great idea with me very recently. It's about a new US Postal Service (USPS) option for mailing, called "Every Door Direct Mail." Items that meet requirements go to every
mailing address in a zip code (PO Boxes included) and there is no
mailing list needed. Items must be under 3.3 oz. and be kept as a flat
(not folded to letter or booklet size), must go to a minimum of 200
addresses, but no more than 5000 addresses. Cost is 14.5 cents per item.
No bulk mail permit required.
Jamie had picked up on our need to reach new people, and realized this may be the ticket! As she puts it, "A great way to get Extension in
the hands of everyone in our counties (and districts)."
Jamie has talked with her
postmaster and showed her a newsletter that was printed with KSRE University Printing. The postmaster indicated it met requirements. Staples in the side are ok, it
should not be folded, does not need to be hooked shut on the sides. In checking with our KSRE Communications folks, they indicate additional savings might be achievable by mailing direct from KSU through something called saturation mailings.
Jamie believes it would be quite the money saving option for
bulk mailings. To mail to all Ellsworth (67439)
residences it would cost just under $190. Jamie's exploring options to see that mailings could get to all rural/small town residences as well when they may not achieve the 200 residences threshold.
The website for more info is http://www.uspseverydoor.com/. We'll follow up to get more information regarding this neat idea. If any of you have experience with this, let us know. And, thank you, Jamie!
If you have more ideas to share that can improve our ways of doing the business of Extension work, please do as Jamie has done and just send it to me or anyone who can get the ball rolling in sharing such ideas with everyone in the system!
And, have a great week! --Daryl Buchholz dbuchhol@ksu.edu
COMM TIPS: IMPROVE YOUR WRITING SKILLS - MARCH 1
Communicate better by learning easy tips to improve your writing: avoid
common mistakes, improve clarity, and review some grammar basics.
Next Comm Tips Program: Thursday, March 1, 9 a.m.
Program: Improve Your Writing Skills
Presenter: Sarah Hancock, Department of Communications, Publishing
KSRE publication's editor Sarah Hancock will share her knowledge in writing for newsletters, reports, and even for the web.
Comm Tips is a weekly 30-minute
series featuring new and innovative communication technologies,
information and tools. There's something to learn for everyone.
This series is offered online at http://connect.ksre.ksu.edu/commtips/. No need to register. Just click on the Connect link and sign in as a Guest.
For more information and our schedule of the upcoming Comm Tips programs, go to http://www.communications.ksu.edu/p.aspx?tabid=1102.
Archived programs from the Fall 2011 series can also be found at this link. --Gerry Snyder gsnyder@ks.edu
WALK KANSAS BEGINS MARCH 18
 The Healthy You Leadership Team invites
you to join thousands of others in our state for Walk Kansas 2012! The 8-week
program begins March 18 and KSRE employees can participate at no cost.
This is how Walk Kansas works: Form a team with six people, one serving as
captain. Register your team, before March 16, at www.walkkansas.org under “Walk Kansas for
KSRE Employees” (right side bar on the homepage.) From March 18 through May 12, log minutes of
moderate and/or vigorous physical activity each day and the amount of fruits
and vegetables you eat. Report weekly to your team captain and check the
progress of all WK teams on the website. You will receive a weekly newsletter
with health tips, Walk Kansas news, and a recipe. Winners of incentives will be announced weekly
from a random drawing of KSRE teams that report regularly.
This program is motivational and fun!
More information about Walk Kansas, including registration forms, logs,
physical activity guidelines, program goals, and apparel/accessory items for
purchase can be found at www.walkkansas.org. Please contact Sharolyn Jackson, sharolyn@ksu.edu, if you have questions. (Walk Kansas information and
new monthly bulletins are also available at www.healthyyou.ksre.ksu.edu.) --Sharolyn Jackson sharolyn@ksu.edu
MARIE'S PICKS . . .
This weeks picks are "smoke management continued" with outcomes and
success stories from Ben Allen, Rolling Prairie District; and Brian Rees, Lyon
County:
**Ranchers became very aware of where the smoke created by their pasture fire
was going and whom was being affected. Many learned that the smoke wasn't only a
local problem, but also had far reaching impact, not only to the people of
Wichita but also those living in Kansas City, Topeka, Lawrence as well as Omaha
and St. Louis. They learned that pasture burning is not a "free"
environmental impact . . . and that over time . . . this management practice
could be reduced or taken away completely if not better managed.
Through meetings, newsletters, and one-on-one visits, producers became aware of
the website for burn management. They made many calls to the extension office
for information about wind speed, smoke impact, and other issues relating to
fires and smoke management. They were better about calling local fire officials
before starting a fire.
Did we solve the problem? No. But we have made 95% of the population more aware
of smoke management and by doing that, hopefully we can lessen the impact of
the smoke from fires in the Flint Hills and prolong our use of fire as a management
tool.
**The Flint Hills Smoke Management Plan arrived during this program year and
was met with some skepticism in the country. This provided a great opportunity
to educate the general population about the need for fire to preserve the
native prairie ecosystem and the economic impact of burned versus unburned rangeland
for the community, as well as educating producers about the impact of their
smoke downwind. The meeting held in January had 55-60 producers and community
members attending. The numerous interviews in the local media encouraged land
managers to do a more thorough job planning their burns, and to be neighborly
and conscious of how their actions will impact a much larger community than
those people just down the road. The cooperative effort between local media,
law enforcement, and this office helped minimize the smoke impact locally. --Marie Blythe mblythe@ksu.edu
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