The Tuesday Letter
Agricultural Experiment Station & Cooperative Extension Service
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
(Vol. 19 No. 20)
IN THIS ISSUE...
COMMUNICATIONS AND AG EDUCATION, NEWS WRITER/COMMUNICATIONS SPECIALIST CANDIDATE OPEN FORUMS
The Department of Communications and Agricultural Education has identified four candidates to interview for the News Writer/Communications Specialist position.
The position announcement is available at the following link: http://www.communications.k-state.edu/about-us/Recruitment-News-Writer.html. Resumes and itineraries are available at the seminar website.
All meetings will be held in 137 Waters Hall. Three interviews have been set up for next week; a fourth candidate will interview later in April.
Monday, April 1 - Brad Beckman, 9:30 a.m.Tuesday, April 2 - Katie Allen, 9:30 a.m. Thursday, April 4 - Heather Daniel, 9:30 a.m.
The seminars will be broadcast live, as well as archived for viewing at a later time, at the following website: http://www.ksre.k-state.edu/Seminars/p.aspx?tabid=19. At the website, locate “Interviews” in the left side menu bar then locate the Department of Communications and Agricultural Education, News Writer/Communications Specialist.
Thank you for your continued support of the department. --Debbie Webb debwebb@ksu.edu
COMM TIPS: SMART SHOPPING WITH SMARTPHONES - MARCH 27
Comm Tips Next Program: Smart Shopping with Smartphones - Wednesday, March 27, 9 a.m.
Presented by - Valeria Edwards, KSRE Family and Consumer Sciences, Johnson County
This
week’s CommTips features Valeria Edwards talking about those handy little mobile devices call "smartphones." You've probably spent a lot of money to purchase your Smartphone. In this KSRE Comm Tips, we'll look at websites and apps you can use on your Smartphone to maximize your investment, manage your spending, and even find some great deals on line.
Join us for Comm Tips every Wednesday at 9 a.m. between February 20 and April 17. This online series provides you helpful
information with your communication and technology skills. Each program is 20 minutes with 10 minutes for Q&A.
Other
topics for the Comm Tips Spring 2013 series include iPad Productivity
Tools, Smart Shopping with Smartphones, Newsletter Content, Where to Get
Social Media Content, and much more....
This is a "live" online program. Simply log in to http://connect.ksre.ksu.edu/commtips as a guest with your name. These programs will be recorded in case you miss them.
For the Comm Tips schedule, program descriptions and previous programs, visit the Comm Tips webpage at http://www.communications.k-state.edu/communication-services/comm-tips/. --Gerry Snyder gsnyder@ksu.edu
WEEK 5 – GET FINANCIALLY PREPARED – TAKE STEPS AHEAD OF DISASTER CHALLENGE
After a Disaster. Disasters can be devastating, not only to your property, but also to your emotions, because they can cause injury or death to people you know and love. A disaster can destroy your home and everything that was once familiar to you. Under these circumstances, managing to call the insurance company or other small steps can be daunting. Relatives and close friends can be a terrific asset in helping you take control, but only if they know you need their help.
Document the disaster. You will need documentation when applying for disaster assistance, taking tax deductions for your losses, and submitting claims to your insurance company. Keep damaged items as material evidence for claiming losses until the initial meeting with your insurance representative. Document damage with video or photographs before any repairs are made to property.
Save receipts. Keep any receipt that has something to do with your recovery from disaster. This includes not just food, lodging, and clothing, but also the check stubs that come from vouchers you may receive from emergency service providers (Salvation Army, Red Cross, etc.). You will need all of these receipts and stubs for tax and insurance purposes at a later date. Consider how to keep your receipts safe, dry and readable.
Join fellow K-State Research and Extension staff in participating in the Get Financially Prepared Challenge being held by theFamily Resource Management PFT. It is not too late to register for the challenge! Click here to register for the challenge. Or,use this link: https://kstate.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_6Pw25VNcKvmJGfP. Details for completing each Challenge task are posted on our blog. We also post updates and other useful information there. The url for the blog is https://blogs.ksre.ksu.edu/getfinanciallyprepared/.
You have until March 31 to complete Challenge activities and prepare your home or workplace ahead of a disaster. --Family ResourceManagement Program Focus Team – Elizabeth Kiss dekiss4@ksu.edu & Jamie Rathbun jrathbun@ksu.edu
BEST PRACTICES FORUM FOR DROPOUT PREVENTION, IN KANSAS CITY; APRIL 14-17
The National Dropout Prevention Center/Network, in partnership with Camp
Fire USA, Communities In Schools of Kansas, Communities In Schools of
Nebraska, CVS Caremark, Iowa Department of Education, Kansas City Kansas
Public Schools, Kansas Consortium for Youth Voice, Kansas Enrichment
Network, Kansas Department of Education, Kansas State University,
Missouri AfterSchool Network, Missouri Department of Education, Nebraska
Child and Families Foundation, and The University of Kansas, would like
to invite you participate in the 2013 Best
Practices Forum on Dropout Prevention in Kansas City, MO, April 14-17,
2013.
The
2013 Best Practices Forum on Dropout Prevention will feature national leaders (e.g, Dr. Karen Pittman), proven programs, and
research in the areas of (1) preventing and recovering
dropouts, (2) preventing truancy and improving attendance, (3) engaging
students, (4) positively developing youth, (5) engaging family and the
community, (6) instructing students, (7) applying quality data, (8)
preparing for college and career, (9) securing funding resources, and
(10) shaping school climate.
Register at National Dropout Prevention Center/Network - 2013 Best Practices Forum. For more information, contact Elaine Johannes, ejohanne@ksu.edu. --Elaine Johannes
BUILDING TRUST IN YOUR TEAM
Whether you're involved in 4-H or working with other teams in your community, initiatives are a great way to build trust in a team. Join us as Pat McNally takes us through simple to more advanced trust building initiatives. Pat is the retired Kansas 4-H Development Specialist and Kansas 4-H Program Leader from 1994-2011. She brings a wealth of knowledge, energy and enthusiasm to any group she works with.
"Building Trust in Your Team" will be held on Thursday, April 25, at the Ag Research Center Auditorium in Hays from 10:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. The registration fee is $10 which includes a Dutch Oven cooking lunch. Registration deadline is April 19, and should be sent to K-State Research and Extension, Post Rock District, Osborne Office, 113 N 1st, Osborne, KS 67473. Make checks payable to Kansas 4-H Foundation.
If you have questions, contact Nadine Sigle at nsigle@k-state.edu or 785-346-2521. --Nadine Sigle
FREE PERSONHOOD & DEMENTIA CONFERENCE AT K-STATE (HOLIDAY INN)
The K-State Center on Aging and the Life Span Human Development program in the School of Family Studies and Human Services at Kansas State University invite you to attend 'Personhood & Dementia'. This conference is free and open to the public.
The morning session features Dan Cohen, MSW, Executive Director of Music and Memory, a non-profit organization which promotes the use of digital music technology to improve the lives of older adults. He will discuss the use of music as a therapeutic intervention in caring for individuals with Alzheimer's disease or a related dementia. The afternoon session features Jim Vanden Bosch, Executive Director of Terra Nova Films, Inc., a not-for-profit company specializing in the production and distribution of documentaries and educational videos. Using movie and video clips, he will compare how we used to think about Alzheimer's and dementia and how we are learning to see them today, and the difference this makes in people's lives. Both presentations are followed by panel discussions.
The conference is scheduled for Tuesday, April 23, from 9 - 11 a.m. and 1 - 3 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Manhattan at the Campus. The conference is free and there is no need to register. Please email gerontology@ksu.edu or call 785-532-5945 for more information. --Debra Sellers dsellers@ksu.edu
SOUTHERN PLAINS WINDBREAK RENOVATION WORKSHOP
An outstanding regional workshop on windbreaks is being held in Dodge City, May 21-23.
The title is "Windbreaks: Just Gathering Dust: Or a Key Component of
21st Century Ag?" This event is expected to draw participants
from Texas to Nebraska. Speakers will be experts from across the
region. Note that the full registration fee is $95, if sent in by April 26, but there is also a single day option for just $55. The tour will visit several windbreaks that were renovated 8-20 years ago, near Spearville.
Topics range from Wind Erosion 101, to utilizing wood from windbreaks, to using windbreaks for odor mitigation. Sponsors for the event include the USDA -NRCS, -Forest Service, and National Agroforestry Center, along with KSRE, and the Kansas Forest Service. Conference lodging is being provided by the historic Dodge House Hotel.
The workshop is intended as a professional-level event, but producers with a real
interest in windbreaks will learn a great deal. NRCS is promoting with
their staff, so we expect quite a few to attend. Let me know if you have
any questions. A registration brochure can be downloaded at http://www.hfrr.ksu.edu/doc3703.ashx. --Charlie Barden cbarden@ksu.edu
PROMOTING FAMILY FARM SUCCESSION PROGRAMMING
Agriculture has changed along with the rest of the world. One thing the Agriculture industry has that seems to outweigh all others is the family emphasis placed on farming, ranching, and the supporting careers and businesses that come along with it.
Yet, it happens all too often that we see our farms, ranches, and family businesses not make the generational transition. It is a sad state of affairs when you see a family go through this or even worse when it happens to you. The truth of the matter is that changing dynamics make it hard to transition effectively. One key way to make a transition smoother is communication. I know this from personal experience.
As extension agents, we have a responsibility to disseminate information to the people of our state. It is important to promote and foster the conversations and meetings that are difficult for families to have. Encouraging proactive thought in succession planning is meaningful, as the outcome affects both business and social structure of a family. We have a neutral position that we can use to encourage the proactive thought process.
Kansas State University also provides ag mediation through Forrest Buhler and his team at Kansas Ag Mediation Services. Forrest and his team can work with individuals to identify more of their needs and provide a truly neutral mediator. As extension agents it is important to begin cultivating the thought process for producers; although it may be daunting, it will be gratifying if the plan prevents a family from going through a difficult farm or ranch succession.
I am passionate about this issue for many reasons, but especially because I have lived it. My family farms in South Central Kansas, in the corners of Pratt, Stafford, Edwards, and Kiowa Counties. My father came from a family of five. His oldest brother passed on in May, 2002. Grandfather Smith preceded him in February, 1998. This left two brothers, two sisters, and my Grandmother Smith. All who wanted to continue on with life in a fair and equitable manner, or at least that was what was assumed.
Fast forward to October, 2011. My grandmother passed on. There were two Trusts, one for Grandfather and one for Grandmother. Perfect Trusts, divide by four. Easy as pie, right? Not quite. Between appraisals, boundary lines, and bad attitudes my aunts, uncle, and father have not been able to settle the Trusts yet to this date.
It has been quite a difficult situation for all parties involved. The Executor, my uncle, has no children, yet he farms and wants control. My one aunt wants nothing to do with the farm, except the rent from her ground. Then there is my other aunt and my father. Between them there are six children, five of which would like to farm, two of my cousins, one of my sisters, my brother, and myself. We have no say in what happens with the current generation in settling the Trust. We would all like to farm together and eliminate any issues that have risen to the surface.
The definition of equal is difficult to determine. Family feuds have made it difficult to see through this and look on toward the future. Greed has played a role, instead of the continuance of everyone’s interests and a common goal to see the farm go on. There are enough assets to support all interests and create side ventures that could keep my generation around. Mediation through Kansas Ag Mediation Services has been suggested, but the side with control refuses to negotiate. Therefore, a power struggle and lack of communication have kept us from pursuing any opportunities.
My story is just one of many out there. I feel that if there had been further thought and structure on my grandparents' part, the family could have weathered the situation better. I now have a passion instilled in me to help families make successful transitions. Wouldn’t you feel great as an agent to some-day have a farmer walk up to you and thank you for helping them initiate the conversation and keeping their farm together?
Through presenting agriculture succession programming, we are improving the quality of life of our community members. What kind of impact will this have in 2025? Here we can measure outcomes and impacts on our community, with inputs we already have. Programs are available and there are many agents who have knowledge in presenting them. Initiating the thought process in farm families is important, especially if we can provide solutions for families to continue working together into the future. Impacting farm and ranch families in a positive manner will lend us as agents, credibility and ensure that Kansas State University Research and Extension remains valid through 2025 and beyond. --Barrett A. Smith, Kiowa County KSU Ag and Natural Resources Agent basmith@ksu.edu
ASK THE OEIE EVALUATOR: A METHOD TO DETERMINE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN GROUPS
The worksheet, Analyzing Program Impacts: Data Analysis Plan, which accompanied the October 2011 installment of Ask the OEIE Evaluator, illustrates a variety of techniques that you can use to analyze the results gathered by your evaluation instruments. In this installment we take a closer look at the technique known as cross-tabulation, also often referred to as crosstabs. Crosstabs is an analysis technique that can be used to assess differences between two groups of participants (for example, youth and adults).
Q: How do I determine if there is a difference between two groups of participants?
One method used to determine if there are differences between two groups of participants is cross-tabulation, or crosstabs. This particular method of analysis will allow you to examine your participants’ answers to two or more questions at the same time by showing you the distribution of responses for two of your survey questions in a table or matrix format, where the rows provide the different groups you want to compare and the columns present the frequency of each group’s responses to a particular question in your evaluation instrument.
Participant groups could be determined by demographics or responses to a question within your instrument. For example, you could use gender, male and female, as your participant groups; or you could group participants that responded ‘Yes’ to an initial question in one group and those that responded ‘No’ to that same question in your second group. Labels for the groups and the total number of participants in each group are placed in separate cells in the first column. Then each possible selection is placed in header cells of the proceeding columns. Finally, the frequency and percentage of each group’s responses to each of the available selections are placed calculated and placed in the appropriate rows and columns.
By placing your data in a crosstab you can easily compare the responses in a way that reveals differences and similarities between the groups, as well as within a group. The results of a crosstab analysis can provide you with information you can use for programmatic improvement and to indicate impact related to specific audiences participating in these programs.
What follows is an example of a crosstab table/matrix and a description of what information can be obtained from the crosstab.
| | Website | Radio | TV | Newspaper | | Youth N=328 | 54.3% n=178 | 7.6% n=25 | 28.9% n=95 | 9.1% n=30 | | Adults N=328 | 32.0% n=105 | 51.2% n=168 | 7.0% n=23 | 9.7% n=32 |
This particular crosstab table is being used to examine the relationship between the participant age group and their responses to a question asking how they found out about the program: website, radio, TV, and newspaper. Each cell in the table shows the percentage of respondents choosing a particular combination of responses to the two items of interest. In other words, each cell contains a single crosstab.
By examining the crosstab table above we can see that while youth participants were most likely to report they found out about the program via the website, adult participants were more likely to report that they heard about the program on the radio. The crosstab table also tells us which media the youth and adults in our participants were least likely to find out about the program (radio and TV, respectively). Using this information, we can then improve our advertising methods to reach our target audience(s) for specific programs.
Crosstabs can help you examine the influence of one variable, such as age group, on another, such as methods of advertising, and can be a fast way to draw some additional conclusions about the data you have collected.
Questions about evaluation? Visit the Extension Evaluation Resources website or contact Kathleen Gary (ksgary@ksu.edu, 785-532-5127) or Mandi Peters (mpeters8@ksu.edu, 785-532-0648) at OEIE. --Amy Hilgendorf aehilgen@k-state.edu
KARL CLASS XI TRIP TO PERU
“If you smile at me, I will understand; ‘cause that is something everybody everywhere does in the same language.” That is David Crosby’s first line of his song, Wooden Ships, and it was my greeting to security at Wichita Airport, and thus began my 4,234-mile (one-way) adventure to Peru. The quote was on the paper liner in the plastic boxes where travelers put their personal items to go through x-ray while they step through the metal detector. I thought, “What a perfect way to begin a trip!”
My philosophy of travel is to view every experience as an adventure, and I’m always grateful for whatever happens. I think it’s important when visiting other countries to go without expectation and to leave the lenses through which I see my middle-class life at home. If I expect that every part of the world should be just like home, then I should stay home. What would be the point of travel?
With that said, I must say that Peru was absolutely delightful. The food was marvelous no matter what part of the country we were in. The people were beautiful, happy, and welcoming. They were eager to share their culture, their food, their drink, and mostly, their country.
I will use this space in the next few weeks to tell you about what I learned in Peru. We were greeted at the Lima (the capital of Peru and its largest city with 9 million people) airport by many people waiting for loved ones to return from trips. When we loaded the bus, an ambitious young man helped us load our luggage. I appreciated his ambition, and I was glad to offer a tip. You see, Peru is a country of working poor. One-third of the population lives in poverty. Most affected are rural and inner-city people, so one becomes ambitious and entrepreneurial at a young age. Nationally, poverty is measured at 100% when a family of three earns the U.S. equivalent of $2,640 annually. Compare that to U.S. where a family of three is at 100% of poverty earning $19,530 annually. However, we must remember that poverty is relative to average earnings in a country.
In Lima, we visited the U. S. Embassy, where we heard from the Ambassador and had a USDA briefing. In the past 10 years since the horrors of Alberto Fujimori’s “reign”, Peru has seen a 6.4% annual growth in its gross domestic product, and it’s had a 1-2% budget surplus. Poverty is pervasive, because many people are still not convinced that democracy and prosperity are real. Right now, the Peruvian currency is appreciating against the U.S. dollar. The greatest booming economies are agriculturally related. Right now, the U. S. is not exporting as much wheat as usual because of the drought. Peru has a moratorium on genetically modified organisms, so that hurts some U.S. exports to Peru, too. More to come…
The international trip is the next to the last culminating experiences for Kansas Agricultural and Rural Leadership program members. KARL, Inc., is a non-profit leadership program with its office based in Umberger Hall on the K-State campus. My thanks go to, then Dean, Gary Pierzynski and the Finnup Scholarship fund at my Church in Garden City for supporting my KARL tuition. --Debra Bolton dbolton@ksu.edu
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