The Tuesday Letter
Agricultural Experiment Station & Cooperative Extension Service
Tuesday, December 23, 2014
(Vol. 21 No. 8)
IN THIS ISSUE...
WORD FROM THE ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR - EXTENSION AND APPLIED RESEARCH
This is the final Tuesday Letter for 2014.
I encourage you to take a moment each day to better understand people who are different from you.
In a time when most of us probably think of Christmas coming, Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights, is being celebrated too. Hanukkah is celebrated for
eight days and began at sundown on December 16, 2014. If you wish to have a deeper understanding of this Jewish festival, I'd encourage you to search out sources through the web. Follow this link to a recent article in Huffington Post that provides some background to the dates, rituals, and history for the Jewish Festival of Lights.
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 2015 will bring!
The next Tuesday Letter will be published on January 6. Hoping in this holiday time that we'll also see a K-State football victory in the Valero Alamo Bowl on January 2. Offices at Kansas State
University will be closing on December 23 and will reopen on January 5.
Be
safe, have fun, and find some time to relax, reflect, and enjoy the
blessings that have come to you in 2014. Have a great two weeks, and I'll
look forward to seeing you all again in 2015! --Daryl Buchholz dbuchhol@ksu.edu
HEALTHY YOU: SNOW AND ICE DRIVING TIPS
Winter is upon us and with that comes snow and ice on the roadways. Under these conditions, motorists need to be extra cautious when venturing out onto Kansas roadways. AAA offers the following tips to keep you safe when driving in snow and ice. More information on winter driving can be found in AAA’s How to Go in Ice and Snow brochure. - Accelerate and decelerate slowly. Applying the gas slowly to accelerate is the best method for regaining traction and avoiding skids. And take time to slow down for a stoplight. Remember: It takes longer to slow down on icy roads.
- Drive slowly. Everything takes longer on snow-covered roads. Accelerating, stopping, and turning – nothing happens as quickly as on dry pavement. Give yourself time to maneuver by driving slowly.
- The normal dry pavement following distance of three to four seconds should be increased to eight to ten seconds. This increased margin of safety will provide the longer distance needed if you have to stop.
- Know your brakes. Whether you have anti-lock brakes or not, the best way to stop is threshold breaking. Keep the heel of your foot on the floor and use the ball of your foot to apply firm, steady pressure on the brake pedal.
- Don’t stop if you can avoid it. There’s a big difference in the amount of inertia it takes to start moving from a full stop versus how much it takes to get moving while still rolling. If you can slow down enough to keep rolling until a traffic light changes, do it.
- Don’t stop going up a hill. There’s nothing worse than trying to get moving up a hill on an icy road. Don’t power up hills either. Applying extra gas on snow-covered roads just starts your wheels spinning. Try to get a little inertia going before you reach the hill and let that inertia carry you to the top. As you reach the crest of the hill, reduce your speed and proceed downhill as slowly as possible.
- Do
not use cruise control when driving on snow or ice. Even a light tap on the
breaks at higher speeds can send you into a spin.
Stay
home. If you really don’t have to go out, don’t. Even if you can drive well in
the snow, not everyone else can. Don’t tempt fate: If you don’t have somewhere
you have to be, watch the snow from indoors.
--Doug Jardine jardine@ksu.edu
WEBINAR FOR KSRE PROFESSIONALS ON KS FARMERS MARKET REGULATIONS
With
the growing interest in farmers markets, KSRE professionals across the state may
be getting an increasing number of questions regarding what products can and
can't be sold at a farmers market without a license or how vendors can sell
things as safely as possible. In response to this, the food safety sub-group of
the Nutrition, Food Safety and Health PFT will be hosting a free zoom webinar
for KSRE professionals from 11 a.m. - noon on Tuesday, January 27. Londa Nwadike,
KSU and MU State Extension Food Safety Specialist, will present on “Selling at
Farmers Markets- regulations and food safety best practices” and will also
provide information on the updated KS Farmers Market regulations and best
practices publication, which was done jointly with KDA. She can also answer
questions at that time regarding the upcoming regional farmers market vendor
workshops and the state Farmers Market conference.
The
power point slides and webinar recording will be made available after the
webinar. To
join the webinar, use the following information on the day of the webinar:
Join
from PC, Mac, iOS or Android: https://ksu.zoom.us/j/878118682
Or
join by phone:
+1
(415) 762-9988 or +1 (646) 568-7788 US Toll
Meeting ID: 878 118 682
International numbers available: https://ksu.zoom.us/zoomconference
Or join from a H.323/SIP room system:
Dial:
162.255.36.11 (US East) or 162.255.37.11 (US West)
Meeting ID: 878 118 682
--Londa Nwadike lnwadike@ksu.edu
DIVERSITY PROGRAMS OFFICE UPDATE
The Diversity Programs Office (DPO) would like to wish students, faculty, and staff a joyous holiday season and a successful New Year. Thank you for your support of our office and our programs this year.The DPO would like to share information about our upcoming events:
• The 11th Annual College of Agriculture Diversity Student Leader Program will be held on Tuesday, January 27, at 12:30 p.m. in the Cottonwood Room. The guest speaker this year will be Rodney Patterson, CoBank director of Corporate Diversity and Talent Management. We encourage student leaders to come to this program to celebrate your efforts on campus. RSVP by Friday, January 23, to Carolina Camacho, carolinc@k-state.edu or phone 785-532-5793.
• On Tuesday, January 27, the Commerce Bank Presidential Awards for Diversity will hold a reception to recognize the awardees at 3:30 p.m. in the K-State Alumni Center. This year, Justine Floyd, senior majoring in Agribusiness from Wichita, KS, will be recognized as a recipient.
• The Laying of the Wreaths Ceremony will be held on Friday, January 30, at 2 p.m. at the Ahearn Fieldhouse at the MLK Bust. During this event, College of Agriculture and K-State Research and Extension (KSRE) will be laying a wreath.
• Black Faculty Staff Alliance (BSFA) and Alianza will have a fellowship luncheon in the K-State Union Staterooms at 12 noon.
Please continue to look for more diversity events as we continue to advertise. We appreciate your support. 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. --Zelia Wiley
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