e-Directions: 12/16/05

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.

• A Special Time of Year
• Wise Up, Stuff Happens!
• Call for Papers for Fall 2006 Issue of Journal of Youth Development: Bridging Research and Practice
• 4-H Caucus
• Ohio State to "Adopt" St. Bernard Parish Extension Office
• LSU AgCenter Recognized For Fight Against Childhood Obesity
• Rust Confirmed on Kudzu in Tangipahoa Parish
• USA Rice Issues News Release on Rice Industry Hurricane Relief Effort
• Rice Industry Award
• eXtension Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) Winners
• DSA & AA Winners
• Winners of LCAAA, LAE-4-HA, and LAEFCS

We are coming upon a special time of year when we celebrate with family and friends and look forward to a new year filled with hope, happiness and good health. As we reflect on the tragedies Louisiana has suffered this past year, we have to take note of significant AgCenter accomplishments and the important post-hurricane recovery work that continues across the entire state. I think it is important to remember that many (both within the AgCenter and throughout the state) lost homes and loved ones during the two storms and continue to need our help and prayers. As we enter a new year, we need to strive for excellence as we develop and implement high quality Extension programs that best meet the needs of all clientele. Parish Cooperative Extension Service programs are more relevant and needed today than any other time in history. Keep this in mind as we start 2006 with a commitment to addressing the most critical needs in all 64 Louisiana parishes.

I want to wish all of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

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Taken from Lanette Hebert’s 4-H Update, Dec. 1, 2005:

• Control your impulses. It's not what happens to you that's important; it's how you respond.
• Stuff happens. In a universe of unlimited opportunities, where things can change in an instant, stuff happens.
• With knowledge and controlled intelligent responses, you can handle any stuff that comes your way.
• You can't control everything, but you can always control how you respond to things.
• Impose discipline on your impulses by making it a practice to 'catch' your first impulse. Think before you act.
• Realize that you are ahead of the game because you won the race and showed up! For this moment in time, be thankful that you woke up this morning.
• Imagine that what is going on now is a movie. Now choose to act your role. Write the story and direct your own performance and desired outcome.
• Keep saying: 'It's not what happens to me that is important; it's how I respond to what happens.'
• Be prepared to shake stuff off and take those necessary steps up and out (Alston & Thaxton, 2003, p. 11-12).

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There is a call for papers for the Fall 2006 issue of the Journal of Youth Development: Bridging Research and Practice. This new journal is sponsored by the National Association of Extension 4-H Agents with funding support from the National 4-H Leadership Trust. The deadline for articles is March 15, 2006. For more information, please click on the Web site below.

http://208.50.49.10/nae4ha/profdev/joyd/index.html

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We are proud to announce that Congressman Richard Baker and Congressman Bobby Jindal have both joined the House of Representative 4-H Caucus. We hope to get more members of Congress to support our youth development efforts.

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The Clermont County Office from Ohio State University Extension has generously offered to “adopt” the St. Bernard Parish Extension Office in efforts to rebuild the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina. We continue to be impressed with the offers of help from throughout the United States as we help communities and our own parish offices recovery from the hurricanes.

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The LSU AgCenter is part of a team recognized by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for the fight against childhood obesity.

The award was presented to Wellness Inc. of Duluth, Ga., during the Third Annual Innovation in Prevention Awards this fall. It recognized Wellness for its role in Delta HOPE – a program aimed at improving children’s health through classroom-based intervention in the Mississippi Delta area of Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi.

Partners in Delta HOPE include the LSU AgCenter, the University of Arkansas and the University of Mississippi.

This award is an example of what can be accomplished when different groups work together to achieve important goals. This collaboration is just one of the positive results we have achieved from the tri-state initiative with Mississippi and Arkansas. By working together, we have more resources and are able to reach more people.

Delta HOPE grew out of a memorandum of understanding among the LSU AgCenter, Mississippi State and the University of Arkansas that was signed in May 2003. That agreement says the Cooperative Extension Services operated by those land-grant universities will participate in multi-state programs directed at childhood obesity, workforce preparedness, Master Farmer programs and rural community development.

The LSU AgCenter’s part in this effort includes bringing the OrganWise Guys, which were developed by Wellness Inc., to classrooms throughout the Delta to teach young people about proper nutrition and help stamp out childhood obesity. The OrganWise Guys are characters used to help young children understand physiology and healthy behaviors. Developed by Wellness Inc., these characters are Hardy Heart, Madame Muscle, Windy the Lungs, Peri Stolic the Intestines, Sir Rebrum the Brain, Peter Pancreas, Pepto the Stomach, the Kidney Brothers, Luigi Liver and Calci M. Bone.

These characters also are integrated throughout the Body Walk – another component of the Smart Bodies program, a joint venture of the LSU AgCenter and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana that integrates classroom activities with hands-on learning to teach children how to build strong bodies and develop active minds by focusing on healthful eating habits and physical exercise.

In addition to the latest award, Delta HOPE was recognized by the Cooper Institute in May (2005) as one of the programs with the greatest potential to reduce childhood obesity.

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Asian soybean rust (ASR) has been confirmed on kudzu in Tangipahoa Parish. The sample was collected by Dr. Billy Bond, a plant pathologist on the faculty of Southeastern Louisiana University, from a kudzu patch in Amite City on November 18. Word was received November 30 from the APHIS lab in Beltsville that the sample contained P. pachyrhizi urediosori with urediospores.

This is the first confirmation of P. pachyrhizi on kudzu in Louisiana. It is a very good host for the ASR pathogen. Of the 95 known hosts of ASR, kudzu is second only to soybean as a host, displaying prolific sporulation.

The LSU AgCenter Asian rust Web site will be updated soon with the latest information.

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The following is an article from USA Rice, November 30, 2005:

The Louisiana rice industry, including the Louisiana Rice Growers Association and Louisiana mills, donated more than 458,945 pounds of rice, equivalent to more than 5.5 million half-cup servings, to victims of Katrina and Rita.

The relief effort included a Louisiana rice industry donation of 11,700, pounds of milled rice in September for its annual National Rice Month donation to the Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank, a regional assistance entity that traditionally distributes food to needy citizens through more than 100 agencies in an 11-parish area around Baton Rouge.

Nearly 450,000 pounds of rice were donated and delivered to other relief agencies and shelters, including Food Net of Lafayette, the American Red Cross, the Office of Homeland Security, and church and community shelters in an effort to provide food for those displaced by the hurricanes.

Louisiana rice millers including Falcon and Supreme Rice Mills of Crowley, Riviana Foods of Abbeville, Louisiana Rice Mill of Mermentau and Farmers Rice Milling Co. of Lake Charles teamed up with members of the Louisiana Rice Growers Association to provide rice for the relief effort.

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Congratulations to Eddie Eskew, LSU AgCenter county agent in Jeff Davis Parish, who was presented the prestigious Rice Industry Award at the USA Rice Outlook Conference in Austin, Texas. Additional details can be found at the link below.

http://www.usarice.com/news/news_detail.cgi/202/5

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Congratulations to these winners of eXtension FAQ awards. We appreciate their outstanding contributions:

A. Kay Singleton	David Lanclos	Karol Osborne
Allen Hogan	Deborah Bairnsfather	Kim Evans
Allen Owings	Deborah Melvin	Krishanda Mayers
Ann Berry	Diane Sasser	Linda Uzzle
Barrett Courville	Donald Reed	Lorna Drach
Barry Crain	Donna Shaffers	Mary V. Boutwell
Barton Joffrion	Dora Ann Hatch	Matthew Stephens
Beth Reames	Ed Twidwell	Michael Dunn
Bill Branch	Elizabeth Gambel	Mimi Stoker
Bob Souvestre	Gary Hay	Myrl Sistrunk
Boris Castro	Glen Daniels	Paul Morris
Brian Chandler	Sonny Viator	Rebecca White
C. Greg Lutz	James Devillier	Rene Schmit
Carol Remy	James Summers	Richard Parish
Cathy Agan	Jane Jones	Ricky Kilpatrick
Cathy Holmes	Janet Fox	Ron Strahan
Cathy Judd	Jeanette Tucker	Shevawn James
Catrinel Stanciu	Jim McCann	Steve Kelly
Charles Overstreet	Joan Almont	Terri Crawford
Christine Navarre	Joe Bairnsfather	Thomas Koske
Chuck Griffin	Joe Barrett	Todd Shupe
Clayton Hollier	John Byzner	Trent Clark
Dale Pollet	Karen Martin	Wayne Wyatt

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Congratulations to Carlos Smith and R.L. Frazier as our DSA winners for 2006 and to Ron Strahan and Boris Castro as our AA winners.

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The 2006 LCAAA winners are:

Distinguished Service Award
Carlos Smith
R.L. Frazier

Achievement Award
Ron Strahan
Boris Castro

The 2005 LCAAA winners are:

Distinguished Service Award
Alfred Guidry
Ed Twidwell

Achievement Award
Denyse Cummings
Jimmy Flanagan

The award winners recognized at the 2005 LAE4-HA Conference in August were:

Achievement in Service Award (Young Agent)
Kimberly Jones, Iberville Parish
Katherine Pace, Caddo Parish
Jan Morgan, Plaquemines Parish

Distinguished Service Award (DSA)
Jeannie Crnkovic, Bossier Parish
Debbie Hurlbert, State Office
Rebecca Kelley, Winn Parish

Meritorious Service Award (MSA)
Ada Palermo, Iberia Parish

The 2005 LAEFCS State Winners are:

Distinguished Service Award
Dr. Jan Hicks – FCS Project Coordinator, Northeast Region
Joan Almond – Extension Agent, Webster Parish

Continued Excellence Award
Dr. Sally Soileau – Extension Agent, East Baton Rouge Parish
Dr. Diane Sasser – Professor, School of Human Ecology

Betty Jane Fairchild Award
Dianne Glasgow – Extension Agent, Caddo Parish

Maxine Reeve Memorial Award and Community Partnership Award
Terri Crawford – Extension Agent, Concordia Parish

Education Publication Team Award
Cynthia Richard – Extension Agent, Calcasieu Parish and
Margaret Burlew – Extension Agent, Terrebonne Parish

Paraprofessional Award
Sarah Sims – Nutrition Educator 2, Madison Parish

Early Childhood Childcare Training Team Award
Kimberly Evans – Extension Agent, LaSalle Parish and
Ester Vanderlick – Associate Extension Agent, Rapides Parish

Marketing Package Team Award
Carolyn Leperi – Extension Agent, St. Bernard Parish and
Denise Zeringue – Extension Agent, St. Charles Parish

Communications Awards
Written News
Deniese Zeringue
Dianne Glasgow

Educational Technology
Terry Toombs
Dianne Glasgow

Educational Curriculum Package Award
Dr. Beth Reames (and Team) – Professor, School of Human Ecology
Alexis Navarro – Extension Agent, Jefferson Parish
Berteal Rogers – Extension Agent, Madison Parish
Dr. Sally Soileau – Extension Agent, E. Baton Rouge Parish
Terri Crawford – Extension Agent, Concordia Parish
Bertina McGhee – Extension Agent, Jefferson Parish
De’Shoin Friendship – Specialist, S.U. AgCenter
Ramona Gentry – Extension Agent – Plaquemines Parish
Sheila Haynes – Extension Agent – W. Carroll Parish
Dr. Alfred Trappey (nonmember) – Professor, Food Sciences
Dr. David Bankston (nonmember) – Professor, Food Sciences

Food Safety Award
Dr. Sally Soileau – Extension Agent, E. Baton Rouge Parish

New Professional Award
Terry Toombs

The 2005 LAEFCS National Award Winners are:

Southern Region - Continued Excellence
Dr. Sally Soileau – Extension Agent, East Baton Rouge Parish
Dr. Diane Sasser – Professor, School of Human Ecology

Southern Region - Distinguished Service Award
Dr. Jan Hicks – FCS Project Coordinator, Northeast Region
Joan Almond – Extension Agent, Webster Parish

Educational Curriculum Package Award
National Winners – 2nd Place
Dr. Beth Reames (and Team) – Professor, School of Human Ecology
Alexis Navarro – Extension Agent, Jefferson Parish
Berteal Rogers – Extension Agent, Madison Parish
Dr. Sally Soileau – Extension Agent, E. Baton Rouge Parish
Terri Crawford – Extension Agent, Concordia Parish
Bertina McGhee – Extension Agent, Jefferson Parish
De’Shoin Friendship – Specialist, S.U. AgCenter
Ramona Gentry – Extension Agent – Plaquemines Parish
Sheila Haynes – Extension Agent – W. Carroll Parish
Dr. Alfred Trappey (nonmember) – Professor, Food Sciences
Dr. David Bankston (nonmember) – Professor, Food Sciences

Educational Curriculum Package Award
Southern Region – 1st Place
Dr. Beth Reames (and Team) – Professor, School of Human Ecology
Alexis Navarro – Extension Agent, Jefferson Parish
Berteal Rogers – Extension Agent, Madison Parish
Dr. Sally Soileau – Extension Agent, E. Baton Rouge Parish
Terri Crawford – Extension Agent, Concordia Parish
Bertina McGhee – Extension Agent, Jefferson Parish
De’Shoin Friendship – Specialist, S.U. AgCenter
Ramona Gentry – Extension Agent – Plaquemines Parish
Sheila Haynes – Extension Agent – W. Carroll Parish
Dr. Alfred Trappey (nonmember) – Professor, Food Sciences
Dr. David Bankston (nonmember) – Professor, Food Sciences

Food Safety Award
Southern Regional Finalist
Dr. Sally Soileau – Extension Agent, E. Baton Rouge Parish

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