The Tuesday Letter
Agricultural Experiment Station & Cooperative Extension Service
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
(Vol. 20 No. 8)
IN THIS ISSUE...
WORD FROM THE ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR - EXTENSION AND APPLIED RESEARCH
Partnership meetings
around the state are coming up in January. You can see information
about registering for these meetings by following this link to the Registration website. I really want you to invite
and encourage your executive board members to attend one of the
meetings. We will be engaging everyone in planning
processes, advocacy, and marketing. As I said last week, the Partnership meetings are all about your board members participation. This is a great opportunity for board members to share their
vision, hope, aspirations, and action steps for Kansas State to best
serve the people of Kansas through Research and Extension.
Making A Difference. Program Focus Teams have provided valuable summaries and impact statements on selected educational initiatives that have come through the work of those teams. Several of those 1 page executive summary impact reports are now posted and available for review through this link to our Extension Programming Website.
This is the final Tuesday Letter for 2013.
As you, your families, and your friends travel to be with one another
in this holiday season, I wish you all a safe and joyous holiday. May
you find peace and joy in this time where people of Christian faith
celebrate Christmas and all find opportunity to come together in celebration of family and friends. We all look forward to entering into a new year with joy and anticipation of what 2014 will bring!
The next Tuesday Letter will be published on January 7. Hoping in this Holiday time that we'll also see a K-State football victory in the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl on December 28. Offices at Kansas State University will be closing on December 24 and will reopen on January 2.
Be
safe, have fun, and find some time to relax, reflect, and enjoy the
blessings that have come to you in 2013. Have a great 3 weeks, and I'll
look forward to seeing you all again in 2014! --Daryl Buchholz dbuchhol@ksu.edu
EMAIL MIGRATION TO OFFICE 365 STILL SCHEDULED FOR JANUARY 6TH
On January 6, 2014, faculty, staff and student employees will be moved to Office 365, K-State's new email and calendaring system. K-Staters accessing email and calendaring via the web-based version will sign in as usual at webmail.k-state.edu. To prepare, be sure you follow the steps for pre-migration at the ITS office 365 pre-migration page or the KSRE Technology Office 365 page.
Those using a client (Outlook, Apple Mail, iCal) to access their email and calendar will need to configure the client after the migration on January 6. See the Help and Support page for configuration instructions. This page contains instructions for configuring your mobile devices as well as the supported email clients. For those using Outlook with the Zimbra connector, uninstall the VMware Zimbra connector before configuring Outlook for Office 365. Instructions on uninstalling the connector will be on the Office 365 page of the KSRE technology website as we approach January 6.
For those of you using Pegasus Mail, Please check the KSRE Office 365 page as we get closer to the 6th for information on how to configure Pegasus Mail for Office 365. You can also check out this page for pre-migration information and links about Office 365 from Information Technology Services.
Do not make any changes to your mail clients or mobile devices before January 6. The new settings won’t be valid for your account until your mail is moved January 6.
If you’re interested in learning about Office 365, take a look at these videos: •Introduction to Office 365 video •Introduction to the Office 365 Web app
You can also join the Office 365 Migration Yammer group (https://www.yammer.com/office365migration). This online forum allows users to ask questions and share ideas and thoughts. See how to get started with Yammer at http://www.livebinders.com/play/play?id=191096.
If you require assistance with your settings on January 6, you can contact KSRE support at 785-532-6270 and ksresupport@ksu.edu or the ITS help desk at 785-532-7722 or 800-865-6143 and helpdesk@k-state.edu. --Joe Lear learj@ksu.edu
A GREAT GIFT IDEA TO CONSIDER
This year, to honor World Food Day on October 16, we invited Norman Borlaug's biographer to speak at Kansas State. Noel Vietmeyer proved a popular and even inspiring speaker for both students and faculty.
This is a great moment to learn about Borlaug, who is soon to be elevated to the National Hall of Statuary in Washington DC. In that pantheon of American heroes beneath the Capitol Dome, his statue will be accompanied by wheat plants. They'll be the only plants and he'll be the only scientist honored in bronze alongside George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and the rest.
Vietmeyer's main biography, Our Daily Bread; the Essential Norman Borlaug is a great read. I really enjoyed it and even my wife has read and liked it. We are going to use it in some Agronomy, Grain Science, and other introductory classes.
The book is available on Amazon as an e-Book, as well as a classy hardback.
But Noel tells me that it's best to get the hardback direct from him at noelvi@cox.net. He charges less ($20 plus postage) and can sign and inscribe personal messages to you or anyone on your gift list. He provides free pamphlets on the statue and on the Borlaug speeches he's been giving to farmers groups and ag students across the country.
He also offers a double deep discount for copies bought in bulk. One milling company just bought 24 copies for gifts to its staff, suppliers and customers. Several universities and colleges have also bought them by the box for classroom use.
Among the many comments posted on Amazon, here are just a couple:
"This would make an excellent primer for any student considering a career in agriculture, international relations, engineering or any applied science." Wendy A Fink
"What especially surprised and impressed me about this book is that the author managed to make it a genuine page-turner." agwallah
I read the book last summer on my Kindle and really enjoyed meeting Noel in person this fall. Please consider ordering his book as a gift for yourself or others to read. Thanks. --Steven Graham sgraham@k-state.edu
MARIE'S PICKS . . .
This week my
picks are from the Crop Production Team.
Team members working on Reducing Impact of Wheat Diseases in
Kansas reported the following outcomes:
Participants in the programs improved
their skill at identifying symptoms of the common wheat diseases in Kansas and
learned about the appropriate stages of wheat growth for wheat disease
management. They also learned about K-State Research and Extension publication
resources that help practitioners select most appropriate fungicide products
for disease control and disease resistant wheat varieties.
Post meeting surveys of selected
programs suggested that nearly all participants experienced moderate or high
levels of improvement in their skill at identifying disease problems and
production scenarios that place their farm at risk for disease-related yield
loss. The surveys also indicated that more than 85% of program participants
planned to improve their wheat disease management by selecting varieties that
were more resistant to disease and applying fungicides to manage wheat disease
when appropriate.
Team members
working on Managing Soil Nutrients and Fertility stated that Extension programs and applied research on soil fertility
and nutrient management will be increasingly important to achieve optimum crop
production while minimizing the potential environmental impacts.
The team reported the following outcomes:
* Improved
nutrient use efficiency by increase in yields while minimizing environmental
impact.
* Increased
number of producers implementing nutrient management plans.
* Increase in
the number of producers and acres involved in soil testing programs. -–Marie
Blythe mblythe@ksu.edu
DIVERSITY PROGRAMS OFFICE UPDATE
Happy Tuesday from the Diversity Programs Office (DPO)! We have experienced a very eventful beginning of December and we encourage everyone to stop by 139 Waters to inquire about events.
First off we would like to congratulate all the undergraduate and graduate students on graduation! The DPO is supporting the Giving Tree outside of the office. The items donated to the Giving Tree benefit children attending the KSU Center for Child Development. Donations provide the children with spare accessories and clothes, learning supplies, and toys. They will be accepting gifts until December 18 and we ask that everyone stop by and get an ornament with something to donate on it. The DPO is also the drop off location for the gifts.
The DPO coordinated a College for a Day event sponsored by Cargill on December 4th at the Flint Hills Student Union. There were 54 high school students from Manhattan, sponsored by the USD 383 Migrant Education Program and the Black and College Bound Program in the Kansas City Kansas and Missouri area that attended the event. The event gave high school students insight on the spectrum of majors and career options in the College of Agriculture. Also, current MANRRS chapter K-State students talked to the high schools students along with a Cargill corporate representative about college experience and career opportunities. We would like to thank the departments of Horticulture, and Agribusiness, Veterinary Medicine, and Food Science Institute participating as guest speakers at the event.
On Saturday, December 7, the Office of Diversity hosted a College for a Day partnering with the Colleges of Business and the College of Agriculture’s DPO. Wichita high schools were in attendance and there were about 45 high school students at the event. The students went on a campus tour and had the opportunity to speak with admissions representatives. Lastly, the students attended the Black and Gold Pageant.
The DPO participated in the MAPS Project Impact Holiday Social on Monday, December 9. The event was from 6 to 8 p.m. in the International Student Center. Many of the DPO’s MAPS scholars were in attendance. The event consisted of music, food, and games while celebrating another successful semester.
Along with the K-State MANRRS Chapter, we hosted a successful DPO Study Hall during dead week. Finally, if you would like to sign up for Navigating Difference training or interested in being a trainer, please contact Dr. Zelia Wiley, zwiley@ksu.edu, or Dr. Charlotte Shoup Olsen, colsen@k-state.edu. You can also register for training at http://www.ksre.ksu.edu/employee_resources/p.aspx?tabid=206. For more information about upcoming events or to collaborate with the DPO, please call 785-532-5793 or contact Dr. Zelia Wiley, Assistant Dean of Diversity, zwiley@ksu.edu; or Carolina Camacho, Coordinator, carolinc@ksu.edu. Happy Holidays! --Zelia Wiley
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