Tuesday Morning Notes

April 8, 2003


The 16-week Walk Across Arizona Campaign recently ended with 36 teams participating, including 12 teams from Extension. Teams varied from 5-10 members that cumulatively walked 61,435 miles. The 12 Extension teams with 108 participants walked 20,895 miles with teams from Apache, Cochise, La Paz, Pima, Maricopa, Santa Cruz and Yuma Counties. The campus team, The Shufflers, walked the most miles with an incredible 4,492 miles. Their team captain was Rebecca Hindman and other team members included Joseph Brewer, Anne Marie Jones, Paul Kohn, Shelly McGrath, Julie Adkins, Alma Williams, Bobby Browning, Eddie Camacho, and Dusty Conner.

A $10 million endowment to provide resources for a class and outreach to teach college students about personal financial management was recently secured by the University of Arizona. Take Charge America, a Phoenix-based nonprofit organization that provides education, counseling and debt management, announced that it is giving the university $1 million a year for 10 years to pay for the consumer issues, rights and responsibilities class while also developing consumer financial education programs. The endowment will establish the Take Charge American Institute for Consumer Financial Education and Research. Approximately $2 million of this endowment is planned for county programs though it will take 10 years to secure the full $10 million or the $2 million county component of the endowment.

Small Grains Field Day will take place on April 17 from 10:00am-1:00pm at the Maricopa Agricultural Center. Lunch is provided. For more information, contact Steve Husman (husman@ag.arizona.edu or 520-836-221) or Pat Clay (pclay@ag.arizona.edu or 602-470-8086 x313).

On Saturday, May 3, the Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Southern Arizona Coalition will present "Survival Skills For Grandparents and All Child Family Caregivers" at the Clarion Hotel Tucson Airport, 6801 S. Tucson Blvd. The registration for the conference is $15 per adult which includes a continental breakfast and lunch. A limited number of scholarships are available and childcare will be available at no charge, but advanced registration is required. For additional information and to register for the conference, contact Mario Madril at 323-4476 x108 or Linda Block at 626-5161. Deadline for registration is April 25.

The 2003 Southwest Indian Livestock and Family Days will be held May 6-8 at Hon-dah Resort and is hosted by the Navajo Nation Department of Agriculture and the White Mountain Apache Tribe. To receive the conference rate of $59/night, call 1-800-929-8744 or 928-369-0299 by April 22 and mention "Southwest Livestock and Family Days." For more information on the conference, call 928-871-7406 or 928-871-7686.

The Community Development Workgroup is offering a Community Capacity Building workshop beginning at 8am on May 21 and ending at noon on May 22. The workshop is intended for all Cooperative Extension field faculty and any staff who work within the community and will be held at the Pima County Extension office, 4210 N. Campbell. The intent of the workshop is to provide training that will help field faculty become more effective working in and with communities, and provide techniques that will make the job of field faculty easier. Training will be provided by Steve Daniels (Director, Western Rural Development Center) and Gregg Walker (Department Chair in Communications and Director of Peace and Conflict Studies at Oregon State University). The working group is offering travel grants of $200 per county for counties to send one or more attendees. A special hotel rate of $49.00 double occupancy has been retained. Registration is $50.00 (in-state) and $100.00 (out-of-state) and must be received by May 9, 2003. For more information, including an agenda and registration form, link to (http://cals.arizona.edu/extension/ccpw_flyer.pdf) or contact Barry Bequette (Yuma), Cynthia Flynn (Pima), or Juanita O'Campo Waits (Maricopa).





James A. Christenson, Ph.D.
(jimc@cals.arizona.edu)
Associate Dean and Director
Arizona Cooperative Extension
Forbes, Room 301
Tucson, Arizona 85721
520/621-7205
520/621-1314 FAX