The Tuesday Letter
Agricultural Experiment Station & Cooperative Extension Service
Tuesday, August 07, 2012
(Vol. 18 No. 40)
IN THIS ISSUE...
KSRE AWARD NOMINATIONS DUE THIS WEEK!!
The K-State Research and Extension Awards Lunch will be on Wednesday, October 17, during Annual Conference.
This
is our annual opportunity to recognize outstanding colleagues. I
encourage you to review the award categories below and nominate someone
by today, August 7.
The
nomination should include a maximum of two pages of information
summarizing the criteria for which the individual is being nominated.
Include the name, title, address, phone number and email of both the
nominee as well as the nominator(s).
Previous recipients of the awards are listed on the Employee Resources website. Go to www.ksre.ksu.edu/employee_resources. Click on Nominations for Awards in the center of the page.
BUILDER AWARDS
- These awards recognize individuals who have exhibited extra energy
and creativity over a number of years in building new programs,
audiences or institutions within K-State Research and Extension.
DIVERSITY AWARD
- K-State Research and Extension is committed to diversity in
programming, workforce and relationships with other organizations.
Nominees for this award will be individuals who have embraced and
demonstrated this vision.
TEAM AWARD - The Team
Award acknowledges outstanding efforts by a group of individuals
addressing one of the Strategic Opportunities of K-State Research and
Extension.
MENTORING AWARD - K-State Research
and Extension faculty are encouraged to nominate a mentor who has helped
them and others achieve higher performance and productivity. One award
will be presented to an extension agent mentor and one to an area or
campus-based faculty mentor.
LOCAL UNIT OFFICE PROFESSIONAL OF THE YEAR
County
and district offices are encouraged to nominate an office professional
who demonstrates initiative, productivity, creativity, adaptability,
teamwork, and service.
UNCLASSIFIED EMPLOYEE OF THE YEAR
(for the College of Agriculture and all divisions of K-State Research
and Extension on and off-campus). This award recognizes individuals
who are in unclassified non-tenure track positions. The nomination
should include information about special efforts and accomplishments.
For questions about the nominations or awards contact Stacey Warner, Awards Lunch Chair, at 785-532-3080, or swarner@ksu.edu.
I look forward to receiving the nominations by today.
Send all nominations electronically to Dorothy M. Doan, ddoan@ksu.edu, and include in the subject line: KSRE Award Nomination: <and name of award>.
Thanks! --Daryl Buchholz dbuchhol@ksu.edu
ESP RECOGNITION NOMINATIONS DUE AUGUST 15
Now is the time to prepare an application for
yourself or a nomination for someone else for Epsilon Sigma Phi recognition.
There are twelve categories of awards to recognize members for outstanding
accomplishments (listed below). Recipients will be honored at the Epsilon Sigma
Phi annual recognition event at KSRE Annual Conference in October.
To be eligible for recognition by Epsilon Sigma Phi, individuals must hold
current ESP membership and meet the guidelines for the recognition category.
Applications and nominations must be received by August 15.
This year a new process is being used to align more with national ESP
requirements. There is a brief form to
submit and all nominations need to be submitted electronically to Libby Curry,
ESP Award Committee Chair, lcurry@ksu.edu,
by the deadline.
Full details, the form, and recognition descriptions are available on the ESP
website at www.ksre.ksu.edu/esp-AlphaRho.
Start preparing your application or nomination now!
ESP Recognition
Categories:
Administrative Leadership
Horizon - County/District (2), Area (1), State (1)
Early Career
Mid-Career
Visionary Leadership
Meritorious Service - County/District (2), Area (1), State
(1)
Distinguished Service
Distinguished Team
International Service
Diversity/Multicultural - Individual, Team
Retiree Service
Friend of Extension
--Libby Curry lcurry@ksu.edu
RISK MANAGEMENT AGENCY/CROP INSURANCE AND HOW KAMS MAY ASSIST
You may not be aware that the Kansas Agricultural Mediation
Services (KAMS) may be of assistance to producers receiving adverse decision
letters from the USDA Risk Management Agency (RMA). KAMS mediates disputes involving adverse
decisions made by USDA agencies as mediation is one of the options offered by
USDA as part of its informal appeal process. In addition to the Farm Service Agency (FSA) and the Natural Resource
Conservation Service (NRCS), one other USDA agency that producers may
encounter, especially with drought stressed crops, is RMA.
It is very important that producers communicate with their
crop insurance agency as explained in a recent RMA Fact Sheet which can be
accessed at the following link: http://www.rma.usda.gov/fields/ks_rso/2012/droughtfaq.pdf.
However, there are times when the RMA will be directly involved in certain
decisions affecting the producer. If the RMA decision is adverse to the
producer, a letter will be issued by RMA giving certain informal appeal options,
one of which is requesting mediation through KAMS.
In addition, the reinsurance contract which is the basis for
crop insurance policies sets out options to resolve disputes between the
insurance company and the producer when they cannot agree on a determination.
The options for resolving the disagreement are mediation and arbitration. In
order for mediation to be used the insurance company and the producer must both
agree to mediation. Traditionally, arbitration has been the process insurance
companies choose, but if you have producers that are interested in seeing if
mediation might be possible, have them call us at 1-800-321-3276.
Additionally, KAMS is available to assist anyone who might
have drought related questions, including what the USDA disaster designations
due to drought conditions mean for the producer in terms of FSA disaster
loans, FSA loan restructure options, and various USDA disaster assistance
programs. Call us on our toll free number, 1-800-321-3276, or check out our new
website at http://www.ksre.ksu.edu/kams/.--Forrest Buhler fbuhler@ksu.edu
HELP WANTED IN OUR STATE FAIR BOOTHS AND AT FAIR ENTRANCE GATES
K-State Research and Extension and the College of Agriculture will once again have booths in the Pride of Kansas Building at the Kansas State Fair in Hutchinson from Friday, September 7, through Sunday, September 16, 2012.
In addition, K-State is planning the first annual "K-State Day at the Kansas State Fair" on Sunday, September 9. For this event, each of the 9 colleges as well as other K-State units and groups, including 4-H Youth Development, will have booths all together on the south side of the 4-H Centennial Building.
As part of "K-State Day at the Kansas State Fair," the Fair would like to have volunteers (agents, specialists, students, and alumni) work one or two hour shifts at the various entrances to the Fairgrounds. These volunteers will pass out maps of where the various K-State booths and events are on the Fairgrounds.
Everyone should wear purple K-State shirts, khaki pants or shorts, and comfortable shoes.
If you are coming to the fair anyway, we invite you to sign up to work a couple of hours in a booth before or after your activities or hand out maps at an entrance gate. Any volunteers who work in a booth or at an entrance gate will be provided with free tickets into the fair for the entire day.
Days and times that the KSRE/COA fair booths are open are:
Friday, September 7 - 11 a.m. - 9 p.m.
Saturday, September 8 - 9 a.m. - 9 p.m.
Sunday, September 9 - 9 a.m. - 9 p.m.
Sunday, September 9 - 9 a.m. - 9 p.m. (Fair Gate hours for us to work)
Monday, September 10 - 9 a.m. - 9 p.m.
Tuesday, September 11 – 9 a.m. - 9 p.m.
Wednesday, September 12 - 9 a.m. - 9 p.m.
Thursday, September 13 - 9 a.m. - 9 p.m.
Friday, September 14 - 9 a.m. - 9 p.m.
Saturday, September 15 - 9 a.m. - 9 p.m.
Sunday, September 16 - 9 a.m. - 7 p.m.
If you would like to work in the K-State Research and Extension booth or at an entrance gate, please contact Maria Sweet, marswe@ksu.edu, by August 24.
If you would like to work in the College of Agriculture booth or at an entrance gate, please contact Sandy Klein, sandy@ksu.edu, by August 24.
We will be in touch in late August/early September to finalize days, times, entrance tickets, etc. --Sandy Klein and Steven Graham sgraham@k-state.edu
2013 NATIONAL URBAN EXTENSION CONFERENCE
K-State Research and Extension is hosting the 2013 National Urban Extension Conference in Overland Park, Kansas, May 6-9,
2013. We want a strong Kansas presence at this conference that is held
every two years within the North Central region. In addition to all the
learning and networking that will be available to attendees, we want to
share our excellent Kansas Extension programming with our colleagues
from across the country. K-State Research and Extension will provide a
scholarship to pay the full registration cost for anyone selected to be a
concurrent session or poster session presenter. And even if you don't
choose to participate as a presenter, we hope you will put these dates
on your calendar and plan to attend. Registration and hotel information
will be available in a few weeks on the National Urban Extension
Conference Website: dce.k-state.edu/conf/urban-extension/.
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Urban Extension: Relevant, Reliable, Responsive and Remarkable
May 6-9, 2013
Overland Park Sheraton, Overland Park, Kansas
Hosted by K-State Research and Extension
Conference goals:
- Build cultural competency skills and the ability to successfully navigate differences
- Acquire strategies to build community capacity utilizing the strengths of diverse audiences
- Develop skills in building strategic collaborative partnerships
- Investigate innovative funding strategies and the development of public-private partnerships
- Explore effective technologies for delivering urban extension programs
- Explore contemporary and emerging issues for urban extension programming.
- Strengthen programming effectiveness through networking with and learning from urban extension focused colleagues
- Demonstrate techniques to evaluate, document and communicate positive impacts of urban extension programming
Call for proposals:
The
conference planning committee is seeking proposals for concurrent and
poster session presentations related to the conference goals. Submission
deadline is September 28, 2012. Conference website: dce.k-state.edu/conf/urban-extension/.
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--Jim Lindquist jlindqui@ksu.edu
KATHLEEN WARD RETIREMENT
Kathleen Ward, communications specialist
with the Department of Communications and Agricultural Education, will retire
September 3 (which, ironically, is Labor Day), just two months shy of completing
her 34th year writing about Extension in Kansas.
She’d love to
hear from her many friends on campus and across the state, as well as any
retirees who get this message. So, we’re soliciting contributions for her
“Retirement Notebook.”
Anything that
reminds you of Kathleen’s help, kindness, or humor is okay. She undoubtedly
would enjoy a note, letter, photo, joke, cartoon, or seeds from your favorite perennial.
A shared memory, program poster, brochure or newspaper clipping might be nice.
Send your
contribution to Donise Osbourn, 20 McCain, KSU, Manhattan 66506. Kathleen has
been involved in so many kinds of communications, training and marketing
activities that we’re all looking forward to seeing what comes in. --Elaine Edwards elainee@ksu.edu
MARIE'S PICKS . . .
This week my pick is a success story from Mindy Young, Doniphan County; which begins with a letter from Community Safety Net, one of their partners for the Rural Safety for Families Project:
"Dear K-State Research & Extension - Doniphan County,
We
just wanted to take this opportunity to share with you some great news.
Your recent Rural Safety initiative has received a terrific response
from the young people in your community.
How do we know? Well,
we've had numerous entries to the contest found on our interactive DVD
video "Smart Choices for Life" - from kids in Doniphan County, KS. As
you're likely aware, the only way to enter the contest is to fill in a
secret password on our website, which can only be achieved by
successfully completing all levels of the DVD's interactive personal
safety quiz.
That means the kids in your community are not only
using the valuable Safety Net resources, they're learning important and
valuable information. Of course, it also means your Rural Safety
initiative is a success!
You're undoubtedly very pleased to get
this exciting news, and we're sure you'll want to share it with the
project's supporters and all of the partners in safety from your
community who helped make this valuable initiative a reality.
Congratulations
again on the successful outcome of this project; we commend you for
your dedication to helping protect the young people in your community.
Yours in Safety,
The Community Safety Net Team"
*
The letter shows that the students are reading through
the books with their parents--who are able to help them log into the
website. This website filled with prizes was an initiative to keep
them focused in completing the activities.
* In other success,
there have been only a few serious rural accidents since this project
began. We're hoping to continue the project as well as continue to lower
the number of accidents each year. --Marie Blythe mblythe@ksu.edu
DIVERSITY PROGRAMS OFFICE UPDATES
Greetings from the Diversity Programs Office! It is sad
to say that our summer camps have all come to a close. On the other hand, we
are elated that they all had a successful completion and all the students have
benefited from the programs they have participated in. We would like to thank
all the students who were participants in the programs for taking the time
during their summer to continue their educational careers. The programs all
served their mission of fulfilling academic goals and personal gains for each
student in specific capacities.
The inaugural Transfer Student
BRIDGE program had their program closing
ceremony on July 27. There were two students participating in the BRIDGE
program and they are both from Seward
County Community
College. Roberto Sanchez's faculty mentors were Dr. Hikaru Peterson and Dr. Mykel
Taylor in Agricultural Economics and Socorro Martinez was paired with Dr.
Teresa Douthit in Animal Sciences. Roberto and Socorro were both enrolled in
Gen Ag 200 Multiculturalism in the Food and Ag Industries and completed
research projects with their faculty mentors/advisors as part of the course
requirements. They finished up their
class assignments, projects and papers as well as concluded their research,
which they presented at the closing ceremony. As part of their academic and
cultural experiences here at K-State, both students were able to take trips to
the Flint Hills Konza Prairie and attend the Fiesta Mexicana in Topeka. Based on their evaluations, they both enjoyed their summer learning experience!
The
5th Kansas State Research and Extension
(KSRE) Multicultural Fellowship Program began on June 4, and concluded
their summer research and expectations by July 27. It was hard to bid farewell to the four
students who joined us from surrounding universities to conduct research and
engage in their ongoing studies here at Kansas State
University. KSRE Fellowship
program is designed to expose students to research within agricultural related
fields. The participants this year were Adrian
Craft, focusing on Agricultural Economics from Praire
View A&M
University; Victoria King; majoring in
Agricultural Economics from Fort Valley State
University; Briony Miller, majoring in
Communications and Journalism from University
of Texas at San
Antonio; and Bradley Nzinga who is from Tuskegee University
and was interested in Animal Sciences. The students all conducted research on
campus with their faculty mentors who are Dr. Ted Schroeder, Dr. Andrew
Barkley, Dr. Lauri Baker and Dr. James Drouillard, respectively. All the students were compensated for their
research hours with a paid research stipend and were provided housing and
dining services as well as traveling expenses as part of their program. Through their involvement in the program, the
students participated in the activities hosted by the Graduate School’s
Summer Research Opportunity Program (SUROP). The interns also had the
opportunity to take a field trip to the Salt Mines and the Riley County
Research and Extension Office.
Supplemental educational trips to aide in their experience and research
were trips to the Flint Hills Konza Prairie and Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center.
The students presented their research findings at the closing ceremony which
was held on July 27. They all worked exceptionally hard this summer
and we wish them success in their future endeavors.
Project IMPACTS’ Multicultural Academic Program Success
(MAPS) had six full weeks of packed activities, classes, cultural
experiences, field trips and projects that the students participated in this
summer. MAPS is in its fourth year here
at Kansas State
University and will be hosted by the College of Agriculture,
College of Business
and College of Engineering. MAPS is a six week structured academic and
residential summer program in which students participate to earn five or six
college credits in courses that apply to their respective major. There were 43
students attending the MAPS program this year, which is the highest number of
participants since the program started! Out of the 43 students, 12 of them were
Agriculture majors. They participated in
a collaborative Biofuels research project that integrates all three colleges in
their research and presented their posters and research on July 25. Here is a list of the experiences that the
MAPS students participated in:
High and Low
Ropes Course
Industry tour:
Agricultural Biofuels Farm in Kansas
City
Brown vs Board
Tour in Topeka KS
Industry tour:
Cargill industry in Blair, NE
Omaha Zoo Field
Trip
Fourth of July Family Picnic
Professional
Development: Flint
Hills Discovery
Center
Fiesta Mexicana
in Topeka, KS
Industry Tour: Cargill Innovation
Center in Wichita, KS
As
you can see they had a busy summer! Their excursions were additional to their
full daily programs which included a Roadmaps course to acclimate them to
Kansas State University, either a College Algebra course or Chemistry I course,
Kinesiology class, Biofuels workdays, Study Hall nights, and College Nights,
which were themed according to their college. For the College of Agriculture,
the DPO scheduled their themed nights in several different areas. Each night was focused on creating a
well-rounded supplement to the student’s experience. MAPS students' graduation and closing
ceremony was held on July 26. The
students feasted on a dinner surrounded by their mentors, faculty, staff and
family that came to accompany them on their success. Also in attendance we had Troy Anderson,
representative from Cargill; and Kurt Haberscoth, representative from
ConocoPhillips. We are excited to see
their return as full-time freshmen this Fall semester! Go Wildcats!
If you need anything from the
Diversity Programs Office, please do not hesitate to contact us. In the office
this summer you can find Daja Menefee, Graduate Student Assistant; and Jeremy
Scott, Undergraduate Student Assistant. Give us a call at 785-532-5793 or email
Dr. Zelia Wiley at zwiley@ksu.edu. --Zelia Wiley
PART 4 FINNEY COUNTY HEALTH/WELL-BEING ASSESSMENT AND SOCIAL CAPITAL STUDY
In the fourth installment about a study recently completed in Finney County, there are a few more demographics to cover before we delve further into the results that give us a deeper look at this county with its 51% minority population which includes 48% Hispanic. Last week we ended with stats about language, let us now move to marital status, race/ethnicity, education, and income.
Marital Status
Marital Status: 19% never married; 37% are married or living with a partner; 32% are widowed; and 12.3% are divorced or separated. The surprise here was the high population of widow/widower. Females led men in this category 2:1.
Race/Ethnicity
The categories of Race and Ethnicity were taken from the United State Census survey. If respondents were going to be challenged, these two questions contributed to the most confusion. In observing raw data, it was noted that a few people who listed “Burmese” as an ethnicity also listed their race as “Black". Also, there were about 20 respondents who wrote in “American”, “White”, or “Caucasian” as an ethnicity.
Race: 93% (which includes Hispanic/Latino) are White; 4% list Black/African-American; 0.4% American Indian /Alaskan Native and 3.0% listed “none of these”, which was an added category by respondents.
Ethnicity: 46% listed “no, not of Hispanic origin”, 38% were of Hispanic/Latino ethnicity, 3% were Burmese, 3% listed “other African”, 4.1% listed “other European” and 1.5% listed “others not named above”.
Education
Of the respondents completing surveys, 26% have less than high school diploma; 37.3% have high school diploma; 25.0 % have a college degree; and 11.2% have an advanced or professional degree.
Household Income
Nearly 20% of respondents live on fewer than $12,000 per year. The most common yearly income was $25,000 to $49,000 per year. As will be illustrated in later analyses, income, as an effect, will be shown to make a significant difference in some instances but not others.
Own/Rent Your Home
Sixty-two percent (62%) of respondents own their homes, 36% rent their homes. Anglo respondents were twice as likely to own their homes as non-Anglo.
Health Insurance
Seventy-seven (77%) have some form of health insurance (Self/employer provided, Medicare, or state) and 23% do not have health insurance. If you break that down to Anglo vs. non-Anglo, 94.42% of Anglo respondents have health insurance and 57.14% of non-Anglo respondents do not have health insurance.
Other Health
Tobacco use: 85.3% do not use Tobacco.
Exercise: 51% exercise 1-5 times per week or daily, or 49% do not get any exercise at all.
The findings in the data become very exciting when we begin to look at comparisons of Anglo and non-Anglo respondents, and we start to see that social needs and health conditions may or may not be affected by income, ethnicity, or education. We will begin to look at the nitty-gritty of the data next week. --Debra Bolton dbolton@ksu.edu
JULY EXTENSION AGENT PERSONNEL CHANGES
Sarah Molzahn, Agriculture and Natural Resources Agent in Post Rock District, resigned effective July 6, 2012.
Martin “Marty” Gleason, Agriculture and Natural Resources Agent in Edwards County, began employment on July 8, 2012. His email address is mgleason@ksu.edu.
Candis Meerpohl, 4-H Youth Development Agent in Shawnee County, began employment on July 8, 2012. Her email address is candism@ksu.edu.
Chelsi Thissen, Family and Consumer Sciences Agent in Dickinson County, began employment on July 22, 2012. Her email address is chelsit@ksu.edu.
David Coltrain, Community Development and Horticulture Agent in River Valley District, transferred to Farm Management Fieldman in Abilene effective July 29, 2012.
Jennifer Carr, Agriculture and Natural Resources Agent in Barton County, transferred from Harper County effective July 30, 2012.
--Stacey Warner swarner@ksu.edu
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