Tuesday Morning Notes

April 12, 2005


Please mark your calendars for the next Faculty Conference (August 23-25) and the next CALS/Extension Staff In-Service (November 9-10). More information will follow.

All counties are required to complete the inventory of firearms for the shooting sports program, as requested by Bill Peterson. This report is due to the state office by April 22, 2005. This is required whether or not you currently have a shooting sports program. Please note that, due to the audit in Maricopa County and concern from the President's office, failure to have complete compliance with university rules and reporting procedures will result in the termination of the shooting sports program. Please send to my office attention Lisa Lauxman. The survey form can be accessed at http://cals.arizona.edu/exact/temp/Arizona4HShootingEducationFirearms.pdf.

In 2000, Arizona was selected as one of three states to pilot the "Geospatial Extension Program," a federal-university partnership between NASA Science Mission, NASA Space Grant, USDA-CSREES, and in some states, NOAA Sea Grant. Barron Orr is our "GES" or Geospatial Extension Specialist. This initiative has now grown to 14 states and Arizona has played a central role in encouraging the federal partners to commit to further expansion. The Dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Eugene Sander, and the Director of the Lunar and Planetary Lab and Director of the Arizona Space Grant Consortium, Michael Drake, have been critical to the success of the program. They recently made the decision to support the development of a National Geospatial Technology Extension Network (NGTEN) website. We are proud to unveil the first draft of that website, please check it out and give us your feedback at http://geospatialextension.org.

The State 4-H Benefit Auction will be this Friday, April 15, 4:00pm, at the Maricopa County Fair. The auction will be in the Hacienda Building near the Wesley Bolin Youth Activity Center and will feature over 15 of the state's best auctioneers competing for the Grand Champion Auctioneer title. Over 50 items are listed on our website and more are coming in all the time. Even if you cannot attend, you can help support 4-H with your proxy bid (the form is available online-just print it, fill it out, and drop it by the 4-H Foundation Office or fax it to 520-621-1394). For more information and the forms, click on the links below:

http://ag.arizona.edu/4-h_foundation/4-h_auction.htm http://ag.arizona.edu/4-h_foundation/auction/auction_items.htm http://ag.arizona.edu/4-h_foundation/2005proxy_form.pdf

UPCOMING DATES

April 29: CALS Annual Spring Awards and Recognition reception and banquet will be held at the Student Union Memorial Center. The reception will be at 5:30 in the Fourth Floor Terrace and dinner at 6:30. The cost is $35 per person. For information and reservations, contact the Development and Alumni Office, 520-621-7190. Invited award recipients are Extensionists of the Year Basilio Aja and Cheryl Goar. For past recipients, go to http://ag.arizona.edu/alumni/alumni/.

May 20: The 14th Annual Desert Horticulture Conference will be held at the Tucson Convention Center. For program and registration information, please visit http://ag.arizona.edu/deserthort/.





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