Tuesday Morning Notes

January 20, 2009

FOCUS ON FACULTY:

Close to 300 people attended the Terry Mikel retirement party at the Phoenix Zoo last Friday. Dave Langston did a great job of emceeing the affair. Terry was honorably roasted and toasted and officially retires January 31. We wish Terry the best. James Truman, Manager of the Citrus Ag Center, has agreed to provide assistance in the Urban Horticulture area.
The team of Channah Rock, Susan Pater, Kitt Farrell-Poe, and Cado Daily were one of two nationwide recipients recently awarded a $30,000 4-H2O Replenish Project Grant. This grant, funded by Coca Cola in partnership with the National 4-H Council and the CSREES National Water Program, has the goal to promote a culture of water conservation through rainwater harvesting demonstration projects, education of 4-H youth and professional development of volunteers and staff. Within the next few weeks the team will be soliciting mini-grant applications to fund installation of 4-6 active or passive rainwater harvesting systems at public sites such as schools, youth camps, state parks, and botanical gardens statewide. The projects will provide simple, understandable models of sustainable methods for using harvested rainwater which could then be reproduced affordably by businesses and homeowners alike. Demonstration projects will be monitored by youth and results displayed so all participants can observe and document average monthly rainfall, annual water supply from catchments, total water reused and cost savings.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES:

Enhance your computer skills through the UA CBT (Computer-based Training uacbt.arizona.edu) available only to current UA students and employees. Access is by UA NetID. QuickTime 5 or 6 is required. There are over 220 online tutorials from the Virtual Training Center on various computer programs, such as Business Applications, Programming, Databases, Operating Systems, Internet & Web Design, Digital Photography, Graphics & Page Layout, Animation & 3D, and Multimedia & Video.

UPDATED FACULTY/STAFF ROSTER AVAILABLE:

The latest downloadable version (January 16, 2009, cals-cf.calsnet.arizona.edu/exact/roster/pdf/20090116Roster.pdf) of the on-line Faculty/Staff Roster is now available under the "Directory Listing" section of our Web site. A direct link is available by clicking the January 16 date above. If you have additional changes, email or fax (520.621-1314) them to Steven Crofts (scrofts@cals.arizona.edu).

UPCOMING EVENTS:

The 2009 Walk Across Arizona Campaign will kick-off on campus, January 20 (today) from 12:00-1:00 p.m. in the Student Union (Ventana Room, 4th floor) and on January 21 (tomorrow) from 10:00am-noon at the Pima County Satellite office in Green Valley (1100 S. White House Canyon Road). Information about forming teams and getting them set on the Walk Across Arizona Web site (cals.arizona.edu/walkacrossaz) will be presented at these meetings. The 8-week program is designed for teams of up to 10 people with a team captain to have a friendly competition and see who can get their pals, neighbors or co-workers out to build a healthy habit and walk for fitness. The official start of the walking program is February 1 and ends on March 28. Program incentives (pedometer & t-shirt) are included in the registration fee. For more information, contact Linda Block (lblock@cals.arizona.edu, 520.626.5161). Maricopa County will also kick off their program on January 21 at the Maricopa County Extension Office (4341 E. Broadway Road, Phoenix). Contact Sharon Hoelscher Day (shday@cals.arizona.edu, 602.470.8086, ext. 324) for more details and times. Last year, 284 teams from 7 counties in Arizona walked 663,453 miles to improve their health.

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

TMN submittal: http://cals.arizona.edu/extension/tuesday/submittal_form.html