The Tuesday Letter
Agricultural Experiment Station & Cooperative Extension Service
Tuesday, June 04, 2013
(Vol. 19 No. 30)
IN THIS ISSUE...
WORD FROM THE ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR - EXTENSION AND APPLIED RESEARCH
I suspect everyone is anticipating this to be a discourse on
the budget just passed very early Sunday morning by the state legislature. I want to dispel rumors and confusion. First, be assured no one hired since March 15
is in any jeopardy. Contracts are being
honored. And, the salary sweep is not
sweeping away any position lines. It is
just the way in which legislature determined a budget cut. All your KSRE/COA administrative team are working towards the same goal from our President Kirk Schulz as he was reflecting on the impact of these
budget reductions. He said, “the
ultimate goal is to impact our rank and file faculty and staff as little as
possible.”
I’ve been using the
analogy of the budget being like an onion, and how with time we keep peeling
off layers of the onion and find different things and some level of
confusion. At my writing this message,
we still are a ways from knowing the final numbers. We do know that for FY2014 K-State Research
and Extension will have a 1.5%, roughly $724,000, across the board reduction. Additionally, a salary sweep with an estimated
impact of $1.9M is included for Research and Extension. At this time we don’t know how this will
divide out for the Experiment Station or for Extension. We just know those total numbers. In the spirit of Extension, we are going to patiently await the factual information, and to keep rumor and misinformation at a minimum. Thanks for understanding.
President Schulz hopes to have a message out to the K-State
community sometime today. Be watching
for that. If you have questions,
ask. If you have ideas and input, please
provide. We will work to keep everyone
informed as the true impact unfolds and planning begins.
And, for all our citizen leaders who went to bat for us, be
sure to express thanks on our behalf. I
continue to believe their contact with their local legislators made a very
positive difference.
On a different and more positive note, this past Friday, May 31, President Kirk Schulz put out his monthly message to the K-State faculty and staff through the K-State Today. Within that message he included a list of goals he has for himself and his administrative leadership that he presents to the Kansas Board of Regents. I want you to follow this link to that article and to track down through the goals. You will find included among his goals one related to engagement and Extension! The significance of this is that for the first time that I am aware, the President has included a goal relating to Extension. And, across the land-grant universities, very few, if any university presidents would include a goal relating to Extension. You can see it aligns with the grand challenges facing the future of Kansas in which we, as K-State Research and Extension, must be engaged and working through our educational programs to truly make a difference.
Have a great week! --Daryl Buchholz dbuchhol@ksu.edu
WHAT COULD YOU DO WITH $480?
If you received an email recently from HealthQuest about the health insurance premium incentive discount for 2014, you may be a very busy Extension professional. Or you may be a procrastinator. Perhaps both descriptions apply to you!
In any event, the bad news is that you could be in jeopardy of losing $480 of your hard earned dollars. The good news is that there is still time to earn 30 program credits and document your healthy behaviors on the Kansas Health Quest website at WWW.KansasHealthQuest.com. By doing so, you will receive a health insurance premium discount of $480 for Plan Year 2014. You can beat the July 31st deadline if you act now!
Take three simple steps toward earning your first 10 credits by making an appointment with your health care provider to obtain your biometric numbers. Next, click on the link below for a brochure you can print and take to the appointment to record your numbers. https://kansashealthquest.alerehealth.com/portal/server.pt/community/clientpage?id=alere://KHPHYRE2012&pageId=LEFT%3ARECOMMENDATION%3AHealth+Screenings%2FPhysician+result. Finally, return to the Kansas Health Quest website to complete the Health Assessment Questionnaire. It will take about 20 minutes to answer the questions and record the biometric numbers you obtained. Now, you’ve completed the mandatory health assessment and earned your first 10 credits!
Another quick 10 credits can be earned by completing the “Non-Tobacco User” declaration. Tobacco users could earn 10 credits by enrolling and completing a tobacco cessation program.
Only 10 more credits to go! Perhaps you’ve already had a dental exam, vision exam, or well woman/well man medical exam this year, and just haven’t recorded them in the Self-Report Forms section of the Kansas Health Quest website yet. Each visit is worth 5 points, so if you record two medical visits you’ve already had, you’ll be done! If you still need to have one or more of these exams, make your appointments now and record the completed visits before the deadline of July 31.
Explore additional opportunities to earn credits on the home page of the Kansas Health Quest website.
It will feel so good to be in the habit of taking care of yourself and saving $480 on your health insurance premiums.
What will you do with your savings? Take a little trip? Add to your emergency fund? Pay extra on a credit card bill? Getting a bit closer to your health and financial goals will be priceless. --Valeria Edwards, on behalf of the Family Resource Management Program Focus Team valeria.edwards@jocogov.org
TODAY - PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT WEBINAR
Today . .
. TUESDAY, JUNE 4, 2013, 1:00 p.m. CDT
The 21st
Century Extension Professional
Presenter: Chuck Hibberd, Dean and Director, University of Nebraska
Lincoln Extension
The Extension Committee on Organization and Policy (ECOP)
identified key characteristics of 21st Century Extension professionals by
studying Extension job postings, surveying Extension Directors/Administrators
and conducting focus groups with outstanding Extension professionals. Our
objective is to improve our ability to effectively search, screen and develop
Extension professionals. Application of the results should enhance the quality
and potential of our new hires and position them for success in modern
Extension work. Participants in this session will contribute to our understanding
of these important elements.
There will be five webinars throughout the year provided by
the National Association of Extension Program and Staff Development
Professionals, open this year to all extension professionals. Sessions will begin on
time, so please try to log on at least five minutes prior to the start time.
The sessions will last approximately 90 minutes each.
Participants do not have to pre-register for any of the
sessions. You will just need to go to the Adobe Connect link http://connect.cals.uidaho.edu/fourh
and sign in as a guest. Then type your full name (first and last name) and your
state.
For more information or questions
about the webinars, contact Carrie Stark, NAEPSDP 2013 Program Chair-Elect,
cstark@uidaho.edu, 208-885-2156.
The next webinar will be July 17--Introduction
to Extension’s Public Value. Presenter: Nancy Franz, Director, Extension to
Families, Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. -–Marie Blythe, NAEPSDP 2013
Program Committee Chair, mblythe@ksu.edu
2013 WALNUT COUNCIL FIELD DAY
On Thursday, June 13, the Kansas Chapter of the Walnut Council is sponsoring
the Walnut Council Field Day at the John Chase Walnut Plantation, 569 2700 Ave., in Abilene.
The
purpose of the field day is to provide an opportunity for landowners,
foresters, scientists, forest industry and other natural resource
professionals to learn the latest information about the growth,
management and marketing of black walnut and other fine quality
hardwoods. The field day will begin with a background and history of the
plantation provided by Larry Riat, former Dickinson County Ag Agent,
who for over 30 years has been responsible for the care of the
plantation. Other topics include: Thousand Canker Disease Update,
Projecting Future Value of Walnut, Managing Plantation Regeneration,
Soils and Black Walnut Growth, Wildlife Habitat & Killing Brome, and
Thinning & Crown Competition.
Registration
is $12, lunch provided, and can be mailed to Kansas Chapter of Walnut
Council, 5197 114th St., Meriden, KS 66512. Call Larry Rutter at
785-484-2509 or email lrutter@embarqmail.com if you have questions or need more information. Or you can visit our website to see a copy of the brochure at https://www.kansasforests.org/news/calendar.shtml.
Hope to see you all there! --Leslye Haller lahaller@ksu.edu
KARL CLASS XI TRIP TO PERU #11
The trip to Peru was organized so that Machu Picchu would be the culminating experience of the journey. Yes, it was an experience. The remnants of this, the Incan Empire, could be one of the most beautiful places on earth. For me, the greatest beauty of Machu Picchu is the engineering that went into the building of the structures.
Take a six-sided, three-dimensional stone block (square or rectangular). The block that you may be thinking of would be a large brick or solid concrete block. They usually have eight points where the facets meet. An Inca block (carved how many years ago?) could have up to 12 points where the facets meet. In Inca times, the stones were hand-fit using no mortar. There are some great pictures of those hand-hewn stones on the web, and the KARL website likely will have some. Can you imagine the engineering genius that went into carving stones that weighed, in some cases, more than 100 tons using tools of only stone and wood? I wondered why a civilization that advanced could be “conquered” by other nations such as Spain. If you look closely at the picture, you will notice the intricate fitting of the stones. Look even closer, and you will see a chinchilla basking in the sun.
. The only access to Machu Picchu is from Aquas Calientes (hotwaters), which is only accessible from Ollanta by train. From Aquas Calientes, buses leave about every half hour. The buses are full of languages. On my bus I heard, French, Japanese, Portuguese, English (U.S. and British), Spanish, Swedish, and German. As you can imagine, Machu Picchuis a world famous place. As a Rotarian, I had a special connection to the place because Hiram Bingham, a fellow Rotarian, led a scientific discovery of the former Inca Empire in 1911. He was known as one of Machu Picchu’s best champions for conserving the site as a national treasure and tourist attraction to which the people of Cusco are grateful. Also, before traveling there, I had read about Machu Picchu as a highly spiritual place. My tribe has a custom of spreading the ashes of our elders in spiritual places. During our 30 minutes of free time, I was able to bury a very small bit of my Father’s cremains in the ground near a tree overlooking the ancient place. Our cultural guides, Wilbur and Patricia, guided me on what was appropriate for the place. Some cultures let the breeze take an elder’s ashes. Wilbur and Patricia said that burial was the preferred method in Incan culture.
The Inca Trail linked about 25 thousand (25,000) miles of roadway and provided access to major population centers, of the times, that covered about 1,200,000 miles of territory. The trail starts along the Urubamba River, and the total extent of the road network is not known. Spanish rule destroyed or ignored maintenance to the road. About only 25 percent of the road is still visible. There are organizations working toward conservation of Inca Trail and Machu Picchu.
There are so very many things to discuss about Peru: her landscape,and her people. I will wind things down next week by telling you about the last day and about a few of our adventures. Thank you for reading. --Debra Bolton dbolton@ksu.edu
MARIE'S PICKS...
This week my picks are success stories
from Chris Petty, Graham County; John Forshee, River Valley District; and
Sheryl Carson Kearny County:
**Chris met with the Graham County
Public Library on April 3rd to discuss ways to reduce cost and
chemical usage on library grounds. They were able to reduce their cost by $300
and their chemical usage by 25% by making adjustments to their chemical spray program.
**This success story in the River
Valley District is related to their ongoing farm management programming that
includes transition planning. Sometimes it takes years for the true benefit of
our programs to be realized and so this success predates John’s time in the
district. It is the result of a lease meeting that was organized by Ross
Mosteller when he was a River Valley District Extension Agent, and the
subsequent work by Gordon Dowell of the K-State Foundation. Since becoming the
District Extension Director, John has worked with Gordon on numerous occasions
and has stayed abreast with the progress on this potential donor. Gordon
recently shared the success of that follow-up in the KSRE Tuesday Letter. He wrote: What does it take to raise several hundred
thousand dollars for K-State? At the KSU Foundation, three key factors are: 1)
an opportunity, 2) donor passion, and 3) patience.
An Extension-sponsored leasing program in Belleville almost four years ago
provided the opportunity to develop a relationship. Multiple meetings helped
uncover the landowner’s interests. Eventually, the College of Veterinary Medicine
and a scholarship for Republic County students will share more than $900,000.
It all started with Extension’s leasing meeting.
About 75 landowners and tenants attended the 2-hour program that ended with our
20-minute “What’s Next?” presentation. Follow-up with select landowners led to
a relationship, passions were uncovered, and a commitment was made to support
programs important to the donor.
Gordon asked that as you schedule extension meetings, consider including
the “What’s Next?” PowerPoint. The first step to similar financial benefits in
your area is an opportunity.
**Sheryl prepared a news article
regarding radon awareness, effects on health, minimum acceptable level, and
where to obtain a radon kit. Because of this newspaper article six people came
to the Extension office to purchase radon kits. One lady came back to purchase
seven more kits for the houses of her family members because her own home
tested at 10 pCi/L. She also requested further information for radon
mitigation. Our Extension office sold 20 radon kits in March! A review of
previous sales showed that we sold only 13 kits in the previous two years. --Marie
Blythe mblythe@ksu.edu
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