*Support for education is at a critical juncture in Arizona. Elected
officials will be meeting in a special session to discuss funding for
Education. Clearly support for funding K through 12 is paramount. But
equally important is support for higher education. As individual taxpayers,
you need to make known to your elected representatives the importance of
increased funding for higher education. We cannot sit on the sidelines.
Elected officials need to hear from us. We are also working with a task
force that is looking at the consequences to education if the state income
tax was eliminated. This would amount to a $23M reduction in the College
budget. These are critical times for education in Arizona.
*We are pleased to announce that Susan Pater has officially accepted the
position of County Extension Director for Cochise County, effective May 15,
2000. Congratulations Susan!
*Arizona Extension won four awards in Reno!!
Arizona was well represented at the 2nd Annual Association of Natural
Resource Extension Professionals (ANREP) Conference held May 16-18 in South
Lake Tahoe, Nevada. Faculty attending included Kim McReynolds, Barron Orr,
Susan Pater, Jeff Schalau, Deborah Young, and Mohammed Zerkoune. During the
opening general session Dr. Young participated on a panel discussion of
land grant administrators addressing "Meeting Challenges." Barron presented
a session on "Using Geospatial Information Technology in Natural Resource
Education Programs"; Kim, Susan and Jeff had poster presentations.
Arizona participants received numerous awards. Jeff was the first ever
recipient of the ANREP Early Career Award. The "Cochise County Water Wise"
program received the ANREP Team Award and was honored as one of four
Natural Resources and Environmental Management (NREM) National Flagship
Programs for the year 2000. "Arizona Natural Resource Wonders" developed by
Kim McReynolds, Susan Pater, George Ruyle and Larry Howery received the
Gold Award Plaque in the Long Publication Division. "Southeastern Arizona
Range and Livestock News" authored by Kim McReynolds, Dean Fish and Mike
Schneider received the Silver Award in the Newsletter Division.
It was an outstanding conference and those who attended encourage natural
resource extension professionals to get involved in ANREP and to attend the
next conference. For more information on NREM and how to submit a flagship
program: www.nrem.net For more information on ANREP and how to join:
www.anrep.org.
*Soyeon Shim was recognized as the new Director of the School of Family and
Consumer Sciences by the Council of Alumni & Friends at a reception last
Friday. Congratulations!
* Horse Advisory: The Arizona State Veterinarian, Dr. Rick Willer, is
advising all horse owners to make sure their horses are current on their
vaccinations against sleeping sickness in advance of the mosquito season.
Last year, two cases in horses were diagnosed in Arizona. The Western
Equine Encephalitis (WEE) virus variety of sleeping sickness is a serious
disease of horses and can affect humans. Although people are susceptible
to WEE, horses with sleeping sickness are not infectious to people or other
horses. For further information, contact the Arizona Department of
Agriculture Office of the State Veterinarian at 602/542-4293.