Vol. 2 — No. 1
January 14, 2002
Mark Your Calendars: Ken Pinkston’s retirement reception will
take place January 18 from 10:00 a.m. to noon on the third floor of the Noble
Research Center. Faculty, staff, and friends still have time to submit letter of
best wishes. Letters should be sent by January 16 to Geraldine Smith, Department
of Entomology and Plant Pathology, 127 NRC, Stillwater, OK
74078-3003.
Publication
Receives Award: The extensively revised publication, “Wheat Management
in Oklahoma, A Handbook for Oklahoma’s Wheat Industry,” was recognized by
the American Agronomy Society for “Outstanding Educational Materials” in the
category of “Publications Greater Than 16 Pages.” The award was presented at
the 2001 Educational Materials Awards Program. Tom Royer, Extension
Entomologist, and Gene Krenzer, Extension Wheat Specialist, edited the
publication.
Welcome
Aboard: Rachel Neal joined the Cooperative Extension family on January
7. She is the new Personal and Family Relationships Assistant State Specialist.
She will provide leadership for the Prevention and Relationship Enhancement
Program (PREP) for the Oklahoma Marriage Initiative. She has a bachelor’s
degree in Psychology, and a master’s degree in Child Development, both from
OSU. She currently is a Ph.D. candidate in Human Environmental Science with a
specialization in Family Relations and Child Development. Neal can be reached at
405-744-3346, or by email at nrachel@okstate.edu.
OQBN
Off to a Bright Future: The
Oklahoma Quality Beef Network is getting positive reviews around the state. OQBN
is owned and operated by beef producers for the benefit of beef producers as
well as beef consumers. Extension Educators and Area Livestock Specialists
teamed up to determine the price difference between cattle sold through the OQBN
program and traditional cattle auctions. The final set of data included 10,107
head of cattle. Data indicates the negative margin (or slide) averaged
approximately $7 per cwt. Results show that cattle buyers were willing to pay
$4.50 to $6.50 per cwt more for Network calves compared to traditionally managed
and marketed calves, depending on the method used to analyze the data.
Considerable variation in the premium existed among sale location. This
variability could be due to many factors, including dynamic market, weather and
wheat pasture conditions, the number of preconditioned calves available at any
given location, location of the sale itself, and the quality of the cattle. Over
the past few months, six auctions were held, featuring 7,300 OQBN certified
calves from 118 Oklahoma ranches.
Technology
Specialists: The
Extension family continues to grow with the addition of two new Training and
Technology Specialists. Nancy Michael and Jared Kellenberger have been hired and
are responsible for conducting training programs related to Information
Technologies for OCES county, area, and district personnel, as well as
off-campus OAES employees. The pair also will provide basic technical assistance
to field staff in local area networking, troubleshooting, maintaining hardware,
and software selection and utilization. Technical support will be provided
through telephone support, electronic mail, and by traveling to OCES county,
district, and area offices, and OAES research stations for on-site systems
analysis. They will assist staff in the use of new and existing technologies and
will become a primary training and support resource for Extension Educators,
county-based support staff, and off -campus OAES personnel
If you would like to schedule an office visit by an
Extension Technology Specialist, need phone numbers and email information, or
would like to submit a technical support request, please feel free to visit the
Extension Technology Support website at http://www.dasnr.okstate.edu/support/
You may also find phone numbers,
email addresses, and District assignments for each Technology Specialist at this
site.
Mileage Rate Increases: Effective January 1, 2002, the
federal mileage rate increased from 34.5 cents to 36.5 cents per mile.
The State of Oklahoma and OSU follow the federal rate; therefore, the
effective mileage rate for any travel claims on
or after January 1, 2002, is 36.5 cents per mile.
New
Address: The Southwest
Research and Extension Center has a new mailing address. All correspondence
should be mailed to 16721 U.S. Highway 283, Altus, OK
73521-7914.
Courses Offered: Several classes are being offered on-line this
spring semester, in addition to the traditional class offered on campus. Make
sure you get your fee waiver sent
in on time Call 405-744-6550 if you
need further information about the
fee waiver. For campus enrollment at OSU Stillwater, call Bonnie at
405-744-5129. For on-line enrollment, call Lou at 405-744-9719. The classes
include: AGED 5823, Advanced Methods of Teaching Agriculture, Weeks, OSU
Stillwater, Wednesday, 1:30 p.m.-4:20 p.m.; AGED 6223, Program Evaluation in
Agriculture and Extension, Kelsey, OSU Stillwater, Monday, 4:30 p.m.-7:10 p.m.;
ANSI 3423, Animal Genetics, Buchanan, OSU Stillwater, Monday, Wednesday, and
Friday, 8:30 a.m.-9:20 a.m.
Classes at OSUTulsa that are also offered in the
traditional classroom setting, as well as on-line, include: AGED 5990, Problems
in Agricultural Education - Grant seeking, Kelsey, OSU Tulsa, March 18-22,
Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-3:00 p.m., Short Course; AGED 5983, Research Design, Key,
OSU Tulsa, Monday, 4:30 p.m.-7:10 p.m. Enroll at OSU Tulsa for traditional
enrollment and on-line enrollment.
An evening class is also being offered this spring
semester, but it is available on campus only. The class is AGED 5940, Styles of
Leadership in Agriculture, Pennington, OSU Stillwater, Tuesday, 4:00 p.m.-6:50
p.m.
Epsilon
Sigma Phi: This is the last opportunity for OCES employees with five or
more years of service to join the Honorary Extension Fraternity. Dues must be
received by February 15. New membership dues are $40, and annual renewal fees
are $35. Lifetime membership dues are $150. Checks should be made payable to
Epsilon Sigma Phi and mailed to Janie Morrow, ESP Treasurer, 930 North Portland,
Oklahoma City, OK 73107-6120.
Condolences:
To Doug Maxey, Extension Educator, Agriculture/4-H Youth Development,
and CED, Okmulgee County, on the death of his mother, Wahleha Ann “Sissy”
Maxey. She passed away December 27.
Funeral Services were held December 29 at the First Baptist Church in Beggs, OK.
Condolences:
To the family of Bob Hemphill, retired Area Extension Agricultural
Economics Specialist, who passed away January
6. Funeral services were held January 9 at the First United Methodist Church in
Okmulgee. Memorials may be made to
the Oklahoma Lions Service Foundation, c/o Steve McGuffin, 1001 Fox Hill Drive,
Edmond, OK 73034.
APPOINTMENT:
Brenda L. Hill, Extension
Educator, 4-H Youth Development, Cleveland County, effective 12-28-01
Gina B. Schutte, Coordinator,
Special Programs & Promotions, 4-H Youth Development, effective
1-2-02
Michael J. White, Research
Engineer, Biosystems & Agricultural Engineering, effective 12-17-01
Rachel A. Neal, Assistant
Extension Specialist, FCS, effective 1-7-02
SEPARATION:
N/A
TITLE CHANGE:
James H. Stiegler, Professor & Head, Plant & Soil Sciences, effective
1-1-02 (was Professor & Interim
Head)
TRANSFER:
N/A
January 11-12: Horticulture Industries Show (Tulsa)
January 12: In-Service – Getting Off On The Right Foot
(Jenks)
January 12: In-Service – Getting The Most Out of 4-H
(Jenks)
January 14-15: Second Annual OK/AR Turfgrass Short Course
(Tulsa)
January 14-15: In-Service – 4-H Wonderwise (Oklahoma
City)
January 14: 2002 KOMA Beef Cattle Conference (Dewey)
January 16: Southeast District CED Meeting (TBA)
January 17: Southeast
District FCS/4-H In-Service (McAlester)
January 17-19:
Oklahoma Nursery and Greenhouse Trade Show/Conference (Tulsa)
January 19: In-Service – Getting Off On The Right Foot
(Lawton)
January 19: In-Service – Getting The Most Out of 4-H
(Lawton)
January 19: Northwest District 4-H Invitational Air Rifle,
Air Pistol, and Archery Shoot (Woodward)
January 22: In-Service – Land and Range Judging in
Oklahoma (Watonga or Oklahoma City)
January 23: Living With Diabetes (Poteau)
January 25: In-Service – Getting the Most Out of the 4-H
Experience – 4-H Volunteer Core Comp. Training (Stillwater)
January 25: In-Service – Reducing Risk in 4-H
(Stillwater)
January 25-26: Southeast District 4-H Omniplex Lock-In
(Oklahoma City)
January 29: Northwest District Livestock Judging Contest
(Enid)
January 31: In-Service – Stream Trailer Training
(Kingfisher)
January 31: Delaware County Litter Marketing Event (Grove)