e-Directions is an information-sharing newsletter issued at least bi-monthly to help keep you updated on Extension-related issues covering restructuring, programming opportunities, strategic plan initiatives and enhancements and other information.
If you have any comments or suggestions to improve e-Directions or the Director’s Web site, please contact me at pcoreil@agcenter.lsu.edu.
LSU Board of Supervisors Approves Financial Exigency for the LSU AgCenter
In mid-March, the LSU Board of Supervisors approved financial exigency for the LSU AgCenter. This allows the elimination or downsizing of lower priority programs and the cancellation of tenure and/or contracts for faculty who are currently assigned to these programs. Reductions and reassignments of staff and other support personnel currently assigned to these programs also may occur. Higher priority programs also will be enhanced during this period as we address critical vacant positions and try to provide the essential support funding that is needed to maintain programming quality.
For the past five to seven years, the LSU AgCenter has been forced to use almost every position that became vacant to cover budget cuts and cost increases. The problem, however, is that many positions that became vacant have been in high-priority programs that we cannot allow to remain vacant. For instance, we currently do not have a 4-H agent in Natchitoches and Franklin parishes. This is unacceptable and must be addressed!
Exigency, however, is not a solution – it is simply an emergency action that allows the AgCenter to adjust programs to meet available state financial support. The long-term solution requires some sort of funding formula that provides the AgCenter with additional funds when other student-based campuses receive additional revenues from increases in tuition and fees. We hope to provide key legislative leaders with options that would allow for increased state-appropriated funding to the AgCenter when other campuses increase tuition and fees in any given year. This would create a more level playing field, providing state funding that would at least allow us to keep up with the pace of increased funding for other higher educational institutions across the state. We have lost critical programming capacity without an equitable funding formula. We hope that this issue will be thoroughly debated and addressed during the upcoming legislative session set to begin in late March.
I know many of you are very concerned about the AgCenter's financial exigency declaration. I want to assure you that we will be as fair as we can in making programming priority and funding decisions – using the many priority reports many of you have contributed to over the past two years. Now is the time for all of us to re-commit ourselves to programming relevance and quality. Programming excellence will be the most critical determinant of how successful we will be in achieving a sustainable funding stream in the months and years ahead. We must address the critical hurricane-recovery needs across the state and remain committed to helping Louisiana build a brighter future – our citizens and clientele expect nothing less! Stay the course, and I assure you there will be a brighter day for the LSU AgCenter in the months and years ahead.
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Safer Growth in Coastal Louisiana Topic of Second Presidents’ Forum
A March 23 seminar on planning for safer growth in coastal Louisiana will be accessible online. The Presidents’ Forum on Meeting Coastal Challenges can be viewed at http://mediasite.lsuagcenter.net/mediasite/viewer/
?peid=5603cc3c-b9e0-40f9-9043-67befed92284.
The live Web cast begins at 8 a.m., but presentations made during the day will be archived online and available for viewing at your leisure.
Presenters at the 2006 Forum include Mark Davis, executive director of the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana; Marc Levitan, director of the Louisiana State University Hurricane Center; Dennis Hwang, an internationally recognized coastal zone management expert and attorney from Hawaii; John Lopez, director of the Coastal Sustainability Program of the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation; Charlotte Randolph, president of the Lafourche Parish Council; and Randy Roach, mayor of the City of Lake Charles.
Mike Jacobs, publisher of the Grand Forks Herald, also will discuss the North Dakota city’s recovery process following a 1997 flood.
Information about the Presidents’ Forum is available online at www.laseagrant.org.
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2005 Ag Summary
The 2005 Louisiana Summary of Agriculture and Natural Resources (the Ag Summary) is now available on the Web. To access the Ag Summary, go to the LSU AgCenter’s homepage (www.lsuagcenter.com) and click on “Money and Business” under the topics list on the left side of the page.
From there you will be able to access the summary in two formats. The first format is the entire publication as a pdf file. To open it, simply click on the Louisiana Summary title or picture under the Farm and Business heading in column two.
The second format is an interactive database that allows you to select and review individual components of the publication. To open it, click on AgSummary under Data & Statistics in the topics list on the upper right side of the page.
A direct link to the Ag Summary publication in pdf format is:
http://www.lsuagcenter.com/en/money_business/farm_business/agribusiness/
Louisiana+Summary+Agriculture+and+Natural+Resources+2004.htm
A direct link to the interactive Ag Summary is:
http://www.lsuagcenter.com/mcms/webtools/viewExternal.aspx?url=http://www2.lsuagcenter.com/agsummary/
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NutraCea will build Louisiana operation
Nutritional rice product maker NutraCea announced Wednesday it will build a new manufacturing operation in Louisiana to triple its domestic production of stabilized rice bran. The El Dorado Hills-based company cited an upcoming contract and a location advantage for its decision to build at Louisiana Rice Mill LLC in Mermentau, La. The plant will open this fall to supply stabilized rice bran to producers of animal feed.
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eXtension FAQ Initiative
The eXtension FAQ initiative launched last fall with a bang, and LSU AgCenter personnel did a great job of helping to populate this system. As you may recall, as of November, 2005, LSU AgCenter personnel were in second place behind Tennessee for the most number of FAQs submitted. It is important to note that the FAQ initiative is an ongoing effort, and we are still looking for interesting and pertinent FAQs to be submitted. By looking at http://faq.extension.org/Metrics.html you can see how the LSU AgCenter is doing versus other land-grant institutions in number of FAQ submissions. Let’s stay at the top of the list! Go to http://faq.extension.org/Login.html and submit your FAQs today!
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4-H Risk Management Update
The Louisiana State University AgCenter takes seriously it’s obligation to provide a safe, positive environment for the youth served in 4-H programming.
Risk Management Think Tank
As a result, a State 4-H Risk Think Tank under the direction of Dr. Janet Fox was formed with field, regional and state faculty throughout the state to identify and address priority risk-management issues within the 4-H program. The group identified youth protection, overnight events and transportation as their top three high-risk categories. The Risk Management Think Tank and other groups such as the Volunteer and Leadership Initiative Team and the 4-H Regional Coordinators have provided feedback and support for the development of risk-management strategies.
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LSU AgCenter Home Economist Receives "2006 Lifetime Achievement"
Congratulations to Ramona Stamper Gentry, Home Economist for the AgCenter, for receiving the 2006 Lifetime Achievement Award. Ramona was recently honored for her many years of service to Plaquemines Parish at the LSU AgCenter. She was awarded a "Lifetime Achievement Award" for her energetic commitment to this community and for her 12 years as Secretary of the Plaquemines Parish Prevention Partnership.
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Pinnell-Alison Named 2006 County Agent
Congratulations to Carol Pinnell-Alison for winning the 2006 Louisiana Cooperative Extension Service County Agent Award by the Louisiana Agricultural Consultants Association. The announcement was made at the annual meeting in Alexandria Feb.16-17.
Pinnell-Alison, county agent in Franklin Parish, is the second winner of this award. Last year, it went to Glen Daniels, county agent in Concordia Parish. Bob Hutchinson, Northeast Region director, said Pinnell-Alison is "a truly outstanding agent who is highly respected by the entire agricultural community in northeast Louisiana."
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Vermilion 4-H’er Wins Louisiana High School Prudential Spirit of the Community Award
Congratulations to Victoria LeBlanc, 17, of Abbeville, Louisiana, a member of the Vermilion Parish 4-H and a home-schooled high school senior, for being awarded the Louisiana High School Prudential Spirit of the Community Award.
The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards honor young people in middle level and high school grades for outstanding volunteer service to their communities. Created in 1995 by Prudential Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP), the awards constitute the United States' largest youth recognition program based solely on volunteering. Over the past 11 years, the program has honored more than 70,000 young volunteers at the local, state and national levels.
Victoria organized an annual talent show that raised more than $6,000 in its first two years for a local hospital and for deployed soldiers and their families. Victoria, an experienced piano player and a strong proponent of community service, was looking for a way to combine those two interests when she hit upon the idea of a fund-raising talent show. “I truly believe in the performing arts and their ability to enhance a person’s life,” said Victoria. A talent show, she reasoned, “would be a fun way to give 4-H’ers and community members an opportunity to get involved in the performing arts and raise money for a great cause at the same time.”
For the first “Showcase of Talent Benefit” in 2003, Victoria coordinated every detail, choosing performers, securing a location, promoting the event, selling tickets, encouraging donations and producing the show. The proceeds of more than $3,600 were donated to St. Jude’s Hospital. For the second benefit, Victoria asked the 4-H Junior Leader Club to take an active role in the production and ended up raising an additional $2,600, which was used to make “hero packs” for the children of deployed members of the 256th National Guard Infantry and to ship needed items to the troops.
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LA 4-H Story Makes It in National 4-H Publication
An episode of Food Network’s “How Do You Iron Chef?” aired on Tuesday, February 28 featuring Louisiana 4-H’er Christopher Burch from Haynesville, La. Christopher, while watching an episode of Iron Chef, thought it would be a great idea to add alligator to the menu. He sent a letter to the Food Network about his idea and was contacted shortly after. He and his competitor prepared dishes including alligator fettuccini, alligator salad and alligator balls.
Christopher has won numerous local and district awards and trophies for his tremendous cooking talent. During hurricane relief efforts, Christopher and his mother prepared and served supper for approximately 300 evacuees.
A preview article of the episode was featured in the 4-H National Online Newsletter, Volume 2 Issue 29, Feb. 15, 2006. The article can be accessed at http://4hblogs.org/ccn/archives/2006/02/index.html.
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Twidwell, Devillier Receive Top National Awards
Ed Twidwell and James Devillier received awards at the annual meeting of the American Forage and Grassland Council (AFGC), March 10-14 in San Antonio. The AFGC is a national organization with 2,500 members. Devillier, area livestock specialist for East and West Feliciana parishes, received the AFGC Merit Award and Twidwell, professor and extension specialist in the Department of Agronomy and Environmental Management Department, received the AFGC Medallion Award.
Devillier's award is presented to individuals who have made superior contributions in some phase of forage and grassland agriculture. Recipients have earned recognition among their colleagues for work and productivity in forage or grassland agriculture in research, teaching, extension, production or industrial development. Devillier was presented this award based on the excellent job he does in providing educational programs dealing with forages and beef cattle to his clientele.
Twidwell's award is the highest recognition given by AFGC. The recipient must have made such outstanding contributions on behalf of forages and grasslands and to AFGC to have earned national recognition for work in research, teaching, extension, production or industrial development.
Congratulations to Ed and James on these high achievements!!
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Cingular Wireless 15% Discount
All Louisiana state employees are eligible to receive a 15% discount from Cingular Wireless on their service each month. This does not apply to bundled service with a landline, which already offers discounts.
You can sign up for the discount via the internet at www.cingular.com, by calling customer service at 800.331.0500 or by visiting any local Cingular Wireless store. The State of Louisiana sponsorship FAN is 101274. This ID number will give you a 15% discount on your service plan and a 25% discount on phone accessories. If you choose to visit a retail store, bring a copy of your pay stub and your state ID. If you access the discount via the Internet, key in your state e-mail address and use lowercase.
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Please continue to visit the director’s website at:
http://www.lsuagcenter.com/en/administration/about_us/
extension/our+director/index.htm
If you have any comments or suggestions to improve e-Directions or the director’s website, please contact me at pcoreil@agcenter.lsu.edu.
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