March 15, 2002

For a complete legislative update, go to www.olympia.wsu.edu

The Legislature completed work on the necessary budgets for Washington State University to operate during the 2002-2003 school year, and wrapped up its scheduled 60-day session almost precisely on time at the stroke of midnight Thursday night. House members burst into applause as it approved a new transportation proposal that will be submitted to voters. The vote came just seconds before midnight. Lawmakers adjourned "sine die" with the drop of simultaneous gavels from each house at about 1 a.m. today. The university fared as well as expected in the final crucial hours of the legislative session, re-securing all of more than $100 million in construction and maintenance projects approved by the Legislature last year. Many of these projects are now well underway but were sometimes considered in jeopardy as revenues and debt limits were squeezed by a deteriorating state economy. The final capital budget not only confirmed those projects, but also added $3 million in new jobs-creation monies. The supplemental operating budget for WSU contained approximately $14.5 million in overall program cuts and compensation. That is a 7 percent reduction. It received final legislative approval with a Senate vote Thursday morning. This final operating budget was much closer to the WSU-supported House version sponsored by House Appropriations Chair Helen Sommers, D-Seattle. Her initial proposal cut $11.8 million. The Senate cuts were far more detailed and totaled $19.5 million for WSU.

COLLEGE KNOWLEDGE FOR WOMEN ON MARCH 19

CAHE Extension Engaged Satellite program College Knowledge for Women on March 19, from 6:30 to 8:00. This program will be delivered to 20 remote sites, including all 10 Learning Centers, 6 County Extension offices and all three branch campuses. The satellite program will provide information for those who have not started college, for those who have started but not completed a degree, and for those interested in pursuing additional education. Experts from WSU in careers and career counseling, admissions, financial aid and scholarship opportunities will be available to provide information and answer questions. At the remote sites, the program will go from 6:00 to 9:00, with an opportunity to discuss local educational options. For more information, visit the Web site at: http://ext.wsu.edu/ckw/

WASHINGTON E-SAFETY SUMMIT IN OLYMPIA, MARCH 26

The events of September 11th and after have highlighted the need for our emergency response agencies to have the most modern emergency communications and information systems to coordinate mitigation of and response to accidents, dangerous conditions, natural disasters, and terrorism. National organizations, state and local agencies and private sector partners are convening an E-Safety Summit in the State of Washington to set a national standard for safety and homeland defense. While the solutions for advancing emergency communications and information systems in the State of Washington are technological, the primary challenges to refining and deploying them are organizational.

As a formal launch to a broader statewide effort, the E-Safety summit, hosted by Senator Maria Cantwell, Senator Patty Murray and Governor Gary Locke will take place in Olympia on March 26th.

The day long summit is intended to launch the Digital Emergency Services (DES) Initiative and raise awareness and understanding of emergency management and response in the State of Washington; supporting public and private leaders to close the gaps in mitigation, response, emergency communications, homeland security and emergency communications and every day events.

The DES Initiative seeks to develop an open, non-proprietary, statewide strategy to activate a series of very diverse stakeholders and constituencies to become a national model for state deployment of modern emergency communications and information systems. The WSU Center to Bridge the Digital Divide will staff and lead the effort along with its partners the ComCARE Alliance, the State of Washington and Global Telematics. The effort will increase the visibility of the State as a leader in Homeland Security, technology and safety issues.

For additional information, see the WSU Center to Bridge the Digital Divide Web page at: http://www.cbdd.wsu.edu.

NEW SITE MAP AND SEARCH FEATURE

A site map is now available from the Cooperative Extension home page. By going to the address http://ext.wsu.edu/sitemap.html you can find virtually every site in Cooperative Extension and CAHE. Site maps are useful in cases when you don't know which word to search for, and when search engines don't produce the results you desired. If your site has been omitted from the site map, send a request for inclusion to Bob Hoffmann.

Cooperative Extension's home page has also switched from its in-house Webinator search engine to Google. By switching to Google, we can provide more relevant results while reducing site maintenance.

Anyone using the all-CAHE or all-Cooperative Extension search on their Web sites should switch to Google (or remove the search field) by March 22. The Webinator CAHE and CE search indexes will be eliminated after this time. Webinator is still available for specialized searches, so don't worry if there is a search specific to your site. To add the WSU Google search to your page, go to: http://caheinfo.wsu.edu/webtips/misc/google.html and follow the instructions.If you have questions, contact Bob Hoffmann.

PROPOSED BIENNIAL 2003-2005 BUDGET REQUESTS

On March 1, President Rawlins entertained the submission of brief proposals for the university's biennial budget request 2003-2005. You heard this described by Dean Zuiches during last week's CAHE Update. Below is a brief description of what was submitted by CE.

Cooperative Extension Proposals

Homeland Security Coordination and Education. WSU Cooperative Extension will focus on training and technical assistance using a statewide network of highly trained, experienced professionals. In partnership with local, state, and federal agencies, Extension is able to educate the public for preparedness, mitigation, and recovery following any type of disaster. We propose to partner with the College of Vet Medicine and Intercollegiate Nursing. Request: $2.4 million for 2003-2005 biennium

Living Well with Diabetes, an extension diabetes education program. A diabetes epidemic is sweeping the country; it is a major risk factor for heart disease, stroke, blindness, kidney failure and amputations in the U.S. About one in eight adults aged forty or older has diabetes and almost one in five people sixty-five or older has this disease. We propose to expand the Washington Partnership for Diabetes Education and Awareness with the Joslin Diabetes Center at Harvard University, and add potential partners in other WSU collegesIntercollegiate Nursing Center and College of Pharmacyfor statewide delivery to at risk audiences. Request: $1.2 million for 2003-005 biennium

A third area of emphasis is Safe Families: Prevention of Youth and Family Violence $1.1 million program development efforts in Pierce and King Counties. This is not a statewide initiative proposal at this time and is not included with this document. The Washington State University Community Partnership for the Prevention of Youth and Family Violence identifies a pressing need for supportive relationships for young people and their families resulting in reduced youth violence and negative behaviors in our homes, schools and communities. Washington State University Cooperative Extension is proposing innovative collaborations and diverse partnerships to mitigate the community costs of youth and family violence in Pierce and King Counties. 4-H, the youth development program of WSU, has been effective in carrying out the university's mission to the young people of our state. In 2001, more than 85,000 of the state's youth were involved in life skills education through 4-H, making 4-H the largest youth development program in Washington. Life skills education is the transfer of those skills, knowledge, and abilities that lead to a productive and satisfying adult life.

Cooperative Extension supports the CAHE Proposals:

Viticulture and Enology Education, Outreach and Research. $4.0 million/biennium.
To expand and create a World-class educational research program in support of the fastest growing sector of Washington's agricultural economy.

Biologically Intensive and Organic Agriculture in Washington State. $1.8 million/biennium.
To provide educational and research leadership for all farmers adopting new strategies for agricultural sustainability and to link teaching and research programs across the state.

Watershed and Water Quality Management. $4.4 million.
The redirection of research and extension in Western Washington Research and Extension Centers to address watershed, water quality, riparian, and aquatic ecology issues complements the enhanced support for irrigation expertise at Prosser-IAREC, and instructional programs in Pullman.

PERSONNEL

Chair Appointment:

Effective April 2, Cora Vowell will be the chair of Yakima County.

SCHEDULE

Next week, March 18 22, is spring break for WSU. Mike will be in the office Monday and Friday, 3/18 and 3/22, and on the westside Tuesday through Thursday. Linda will be in the office only on Monday 3/18 and then attending the Parenting Conference in Vancouver.

Michael J. Tate
Dean & Director
WSU Cooperative Extension
411 Hulbert Hall
Washington State University
PO Box 646230
Pullman WA 99164-6230
(509) 335-2933
FAX (509) 335-2926
mtate@wsu.edu

Linda Kirk Fox
Associate Dean and Associate Director
lkfox@wsu.edu