February 28, 2003

FIRST DIALOGUE WITH PROVOST BATES IS MARCH 11
Faculty, staff and students are welcome at the first in a new series of Dialogues with Provost Bob Bates set for noon on Tuesday, March 11, at the Compton Union Building Cascade Room 127. The Provost will open the dialogue with comments about important current issues for our University, and then take your questions and comments in the open discussion session. The Dialogue will be available by videostreaming on the Web. Links will be posted on the Faculty and Staff and the Current Students Web pages.

EXTENSION ENGAGED: THE NEW ORGANIC AGRICULTURE STANDARDS
Date: March 21, 2003, 10:00 am - 12:00 pm. The program will feature a look at the new USDA standards for organic crops and our guest will include Jim Riddle from the National Organic Agriculture Standards board and Miles McAvoy, from the Washington State Department of Agriculture. For more information, and to register to view the event, please see http://ext.wsu.edu/noas/.

WSU EXTENSION IN THE “SPOTLIGHT”
We can all be proud that WSU Cooperative Extension is very visible right now! This week, February 27, Dean Mike Tate provided a verbal and written report “Building on our past to create our future” to the WSU Faculty Senate. In two weeks, on March 13, Dean Tate and Provost Bates will have a 2 ½ hour presentation and dialogue with the WSU Regents. This is a momentous occasion to have such much time on the Regents’s agenda to focus on the strengths and future direction of Extension for WSU.

EXTENSION CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS ON WEB SITE
We moved the proceedings from the All Extension Conference 2002 from currents events to a placeholder for proceedings. These can be found on the Extension site map under Proceedings.

KATHLEEN MANENICA NAMED TO NATIONAL PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT TEAM
A national program development team (initially called the FSNEP Planning and Coordination Team) has been identified. Primarily, individuals were selected based on recommendations received from the January survey sent to state coordinators. Team members represent a balance of responsibility, including Extension administrators and state and local program staff. Also, members represent a balance with respect to program size, geographic location and experience. In sum, each person brings a unique perspective important to moving nutrition education forward with our low-income population. Members include: Martha Archuleta/Linda Wells (New Mexico); Ann Ferris (Connecticut); Cindy Frederick (Wyoming); Candy Gabel (Missouri); Jan Goodman (New Jersey); Deborah Little (Mississippi); Kathleen Manenica (Washington); Joyce McDowell (Ohio); Lisa Sullivan-Werner (Massachusetts); Virginia Servies (Indiana); Kathy Volanty (Texas); 1890’s representative still to be announced; Larry Jones, (Program planning and evaluation); Linda K. Benning (NASULGC ex officio member); Anna Mae Kobbe (CSREES/USDA ex officio member); Helen Chipman (Team leadership); Karen Konzelmann (Team leadership). A key role of this team will be to incorporate state and national thinking with respect to FSNEP to work with national coordinators and serve as a conduit to peers in states and regions for strengthening FSNEP within the Extension/Land Grant System in states, regions, and the nation, as a whole. An initial team meeting is planned on March 18-19. For news updates, visit the national FSNEP Web site. Congratulations, Kathleen.

SATELLITE VIDEOCONFERENCE ON OVERWEIGHT ISSUES IN CHILDHOOD
Date: April 24, 2003, 11:30 am to 6:00 pm (Pacific Time)
32nd Annual Current Issues in Nutrition originating from Iowa State University

The proportion of overweight children has almost doubled since the mid 1980’s largely owing to the impact of social influences on children’s diet and physical activity patterns. Success in combating childhood obesity demands a coordinated effort by parents, school systems, communities, and government agencies. Speakers presenting at the satellite videoconference include:

• Patricia Crawford, DrPH, RD, Co-director, Center for Weight and Health, UC-Berkeley
• Harold W. Kohl III, PhD, Exercise Physiologist, Physical Activity and Health Branch, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA
• Susan Johnson, PhD, Department of Pediatrics, JFK Center, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver, CO
• John Peters, PhD, Associate Director, Food and Beverage Technology; Head, Nutrition Science Institute, The Procter & Gamble Company, Cincinnati, OH
• Mark Fenton, MS, Host, “America’s Walking”, PBS Television; Physical Activity Program Manager, University of North Carolina Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center

Lizann Powers Hammond has arranged for eight downlink sites in Washington state: Port Hadlock, Puyallup, King County, Yakima, Tri-Cities, Spokane, Wenatchee, and Pullman. If you have any questions, email her. Two not-yet-determined sites in the Skagit/Whatcom area and SW Washington are being determined by Sandy Brown.

AMBER WAVES: NEW ECONOMIC RESEARCH SERVICE PUBLICATION
The new Economic Research Service (ERS) magazine debuted in February 2003, replacing Food Review, Agricultural Outlook, and Rural America and covering the full range of ERS research and analysis. Published five times a year, with an Internet edition updated and supplemented more frequently, it will deliver high-quality information to readers. The magazine is called Amber Waves: The Economics of Food, Farming, Natural Resources and Rural America. Details can be found at www.ers.usda.gov. From the Web site, you may sign up to be notified via email when each issue of the magazine is released/updated.

You can access pdf versions of the former ERS magazines through the Web site. For example, “Weighing in on Obesity” was the focus of Food Review (final issue in December 2002), which analyzed trends in food consumption, food assistance, nutrition, food product development, food safety, food product trade, and food-related policies and programs.

PERSONNEL
New Hires:

Holly Freishtat, M.S., Program Administrative Manager, Food Sense, King County
Grant funding: 100% Extension
Administrative/Professional
Effective November 16, 2002

R. Michael Bireley, Extension Coord. Specialist, Gov. Studies & Services
Grant funding: 100% Extension
Administrative/Professional
Effective October 1, 2002

Janis Harsila, Extension Coordinator, SNAC, King County
Grant funding: 100% Extension
Administrative/Professional
Effective December 1, 2002

Elaine Anderson, Extension Coordinator, Horticulture, King County
State/Grant funding: 100% Extension
Administrative/Professional
Effective February 1, 2003

Alison Nichols, M.S., County Extension Agent, King County
Grant funding: 100% Extension, Interim Faculty
Effective December 1, 2002

Peter Rodionoff, Extension Coordinator, Chelan County
Grant funding: 100% Extension
Status: Administrative/Professional
Effective December 16, 2002

Markos Toscano, Extension Coordinator, Food Sense, King County
Grant funding: 100% Extension
Administrative/Professional
Effective November 16, 2002

Resignations:

Timothy Lichen, Extension Coordinator, Environmental Info. Cooperative, Clark County
100% Extension, Administrative/Professional
Effective February 28, 2003

Joan Vance
County Extension Agent, Mason County
100% Extension, Faculty
Effective November 30, 2002

SCHEDULE
Mike returns to Washington, DC next week to continue his half-time assignment at CSREES. He will also be participating in the visits to congress with WSU CAHE CARET (Council on Agriculture, Research, Extension and Teaching) representatives.

Linda will be in Pullman on Monday and then in Washington DC the remainder of the week to attend the annual meeting of the Board on Human Sciences of the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges (NASULGC).

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Linda Kirk Fox, PhD
Associate Dean and Associate Director
Cooperative Extension
Washington State University
PO Box 646230
Pullman WA 99164-6230
(509) 335-2933 Office
(509) 335-9223 Desk/Voicemail
FAX (509) 335-2926
lkfox@wsu.edu