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IN THIS NEWSLINE ISSUED March 30, 2007:
- NEW FOALS AT CAMPUS AG CENTER
- VIRUS FOUND ON CUCURBITS IN ARIZONA
- BREAST CANCER RISKS DECREASED WITH SOUND NUTRITION
- GLOBAL RETAILING CONFERENCE APRIL 12-13 FEATURES VERA WANG
- PYGMY OWLS SUBJECT OF CALS RESEARCH
- GRANDPARENTS RAISING GRANDCHILDREN CONFERENCE IN TUCSON APRIL 28
- PECAN PRODUCTION IN ARIZONA PUBLICATION NOW AVAILABLE
- TINY PRODUCE STICKER YIELDS INNOVATION AWARD
- ARIZONA INVASIVE SPECIES ADVISORY COUNCIL REINSTATED
- THE STATUS OF BEES IN ARIZONA
- UA MEAT SCIENCES LAB FEATURED IN ARIZONA DAILY WILDCAT
- IDENTITY THEFT PUBLICATION NOW AVAILABLE
- DESERT HORTICULTURE CONFERENCE MAY 18 IN TUCSON
1 NEW FOALS AT CAMPUS AG CENTER
It's March in Tucson and another annual rite of spring, besides baseball, is slowly unfolding in lush green fields of barley, oats and rye. People stop by in their cars at the CALS equine center asking when the foals will be turned out into the fields.
The young colts and fillies are typically born from January to May at the UA Campus Agricultural Center on North Campbell Avenue at East Roger Road in Tucson. The newest baby horses were born earlier this month.
To read the entire story, as well as view the photo essay, go to The Arizona Daily Star archives: http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/education/172023.php
2 VIRUS FOUND ON CUCURBITS IN ARIZONA
A plant virus identified for the first time last fall on Arizona and Sonora melon and squash crops has the potential to cause severe damage to upcoming crops.
Cucurbit yellow stunting disorder virus, CYSDV, can infect members of the botanical family Cucurbitaceae, including all types of melons, summer and winter squash, pumpkins, gourds and cucumbers. Severe commercial damage occurred in 2006 on melons in southern Arizona, and on melons and squash in Sonora, Mexico.
A Cucurbit Yellow Stunting Disorder Virus (CYSRV) Workshop will be held at Yuma County Cooperative Extension, April 11. For more information on this workshop contact Kurt Nolte at (928) 726-3904 or by email at knolte@ag.arizona.edu.
Judith K. Brown, Department of Plant Sciences, jbrown@cals.arizona.edu
To learn more:
http://uanews.org/cgi-bin/WebObjects/UANews.woa/20/wa/CALSArticle?ArticleID=13711
3 BREAST CANCER RISKS DECREASED WITH SOUND NUTRITION
In cancer studies worldwide, diet is emerging increasingly as either culprit or cure: eat too much or too little of certain foods and you contribute to the disease or make cancer treatment less effective. Eat enough of the right ones and you may prevent or delay onset of cancer or ease treatment side effects.
Breast cancer, for example, is more likely to return in women who gain 13 pounds or more after chemotherapy, and the risk for a type of stomach cancer increases 2-1/2 times with every extra 150 grams (about five ounces) of meat consumed daily, researchers say.
The Women's Intervention Nutrition Study (WINS) found that a reduced-fat diet improved survival by 24 percent in post-menopausal women who had been treated for early-stage breast cancer. After menopause, body fat is a source of potentially damaging estrogen.
To view the entire story from Gannett News Services, written by Arizona reporter Connie Midey, go to: http://www.thnt.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070227/LIFE07/702270410
Cyndi Thomson, Nutritional Sciences, cthomson@u.arizona.edu
4 GLOBAL RETAILING CONFERENCE APRIL 12-13 FEATURES VERA WANG
Noted designer and retailer Vera Wang, who chairs and is the CEO of her own fashion design empire, has joined the line-up of retailing experts at the annual Global Retailing Conference in Tucson.
The event, hosted by The University of Arizona Terry J. Lundgren Center for Retailing, runs April 12-13 at the Loews Ventana Canyon Resort. The Lundgren Center is in the UA College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
The conference theme is "Powering the Innovation Wave," about how leading innovation can drive organizational alignment and approaches across the supply chain, which in turn impact the bottom line.
Melinda Burke, Lundgren Center, mburke@cals.arizona.edu
To learn more:
http://uanews.org/cgi-bin/WebObjects/UANews.woa/3/wa/MainStoryDetails?ArticleID=13596
5 PYGMY OWLS SUBJECT OF CALS RESEARCH
For the past seven years a UA researcher has camped out in northern Mexico during the hot summer months looking for owl pellets and excrement.
Aaron Flesch, a senior research specialist in the School of Natural Resources, has become skilled at finding the cactus ferruginous pygmy owl, a 3-ounce, 6-inch "reddish-tinged" owl that lives in lowland areas of Southern Arizona and Northern Mexico.
See link below for the full story from the Arizona Daily Wildcat, the University of Arizona student newspaper.
To learn more:
http://cals.arizona.edu/media/archives/10.12.html
6 GRANDPARENTS RAISING GRANDCHILDREN CONFERENCE IN TUCSON APRIL 28
In Arizona there are over 96,000 children or seven percent of all children under age 18 living in a household headed by a grandparent. Grandparent caregivers are 60% more likely to live in poverty than are those not raising grandchildren. In addition, custody issues, health challenges of children and providing a safe and nurturing environment all can contribute to increased stress levels on an aging population. Knowing how to navigate complex legal and medical channels can make all the difference.
The Eighth Annual Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Conference, sponsored by Pima County Cooperative Extension, Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Southern Arizona Coalition, will be held April 28, from 8 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. at the Inn Suites 475 N. Granada Avenue in Tucson.
Special topics at the conference include: advocating for grandchildren in school, using a school wellness center, insurance and mental health issues, as well as other common issues in grand-parenting.
Kristin Herman, Pima County Cooperative Extension, kherman@email.arizona.edu
To learn more:
http://cals.arizona.edu/grandparents/events.html
7 PECAN PRODUCTION IN ARIZONA PUBLICATION NOW AVAILABLE
Pecans (Carya illinoensis) are one of the most desirable trees to plant in home yards. Their size and natural beauty as a shade tree and its capacity to produce a nutritious food make them valuable.
Pecans are native to the lower Midwest and Southeastern United States. The tree is adapted to the diverse environmental conditions in Arizona but needs special care to produce high-quality, well-filled nuts.
The main ingredients needed by pecan trees in Arizona include adequate space, water, nitrogen, zinc and more water. A mature pecan tree requires nearly 34,000 gallons of water per year. With annual average yields of 40 to 50 pounds per tree, this amounts to nearly 680 to 850 gallons of water per pound of nuts, depending on soil type.
An updated publication on growing pecans in Arizona is available at: http://cals.arizona.edu/pubs/garden/az1400.pdf
Rob Call, Cochise County Cooperative Extension, recall@cals.arizona.edu
8 TINY PRODUCE STICKER YIELDS INNOVATION AWARD
A tiny label developed by a researcher at The University of Arizona in Tucson has the potential to save grocery shoppers and food producers hundreds of millions of dollars, and now has also won a new prize for creative technology.
Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano recently awarded CALS's Mark Riley the first ever "Governor's Arizona Innovation Award" for the RediRipe sticker. The award recognizes new technology developed in the state.
The award program was created to recognize education initiatives, companies, individuals and government entities that promote innovation, math and science and/or create a spirit of entrepreneurship that advances Arizona in the global economy.
For the fresh food industry--a multi-billion dollar enterprise in this country alone--RediRipe has the potential to save a sizeable percentage of the apples, pears, peaches, melons, tomatoes and avocados headed to market. Over-ripe and rotten fruit not only has almost no retail value, its mere presence tends to make nearby fruit ripen faster as well. The label detects the subtle changes in fruits and vegetables as they emit ethylene gas, a hormone that produce gives off as part of the ripening process. The label changes color to signal the fruit's maturation.
RediRipe is undergoing further trials, but could well be available to produce growers and consumers in the near future.
Mark Riley, Agriculture and Biosystems Engineering, riley@ag.arizona.edu
To learn more:
http://cals.arizona.edu/media/archives/14.11.html
9 ARIZONA INVASIVE SPECIES ADVISORY COUNCIL REINSTATED
Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano recently permanently reinstated the Arizona Invasive Species Advisory Council to address threats from non-native species such as the roof rat, the yellow star thistle and the recently discovered quagga mussel.
Napolitano's executive order, issued Jan. 24, came shortly after the quagga mussel, an organism that caused extensive damage in the upper Midwest, was found in Lake Mead, Lake Havasu and Lake Mohave along the Colorado River.
Napolitano created the council by an executive order in 2005, but it disbanded after issuing a report last year that called non-native species 'a serious and growing problem in Arizona'. The group recommended that it be made permanent.
The full story can be found at: http://www.azstarnet.com/metro/170929
10 THE STATUS OF BEES IN ARIZONA
State agriculture officials say a mysterious disorder that has killed off half the commercial bees in some parts of the country is now in Arizona. It hasn't yet been reported in Southern Arizona, but a positive side effect has been.
One Tucson commercial beekeeper reports the price paid by California almond growers for use of a standard commercial hive has soared to as much as $160, up from $45 as recently as three or four years ago.
Arizona crops that need bees include melons, apples and the state's small but lucrative vegetable-seed crops.
To read the entire story from the Arizona Daily Star, go to the link below.
Peter Ellsworth, Maricopa Agricultural Center, peterell@cals.arizona.edu
To learn more:
http://www.azstarnet.com/dailystar/176014
11 UA MEAT SCIENCES LAB FEATURED IN ARIZONA DAILY WILDCAT
The UA meat lab, part of the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, is a federally inspected facility used for research, animal processing and educating students on food safety and meat sciences.
The state-of-the-art facility is outfitted with freezers, refrigerators, meat smokers and other cooking and cooling equipment. Refrigerators cool the classrooms where subjects such as meat sciences and food safety are covered.
See link below for the full story from the Arizona Daily Wildcat, the University of Arizona student newspaper.
John Marchello, Department of Animal Sciences, jmarchello@cals.arizona.edu
To learn more:
http://cals.arizona.edu/media/archives/7.11.html
12 IDENTITY THEFT PUBLICATION NOW AVAILABLE
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reports that identity theft tops the list at 37% of complaints they receive. Consumers in the United States reported losses of more than $680 million from fraud.
An identity thief obtains some piece of your sensitive information and uses it without your knowledge to commit fraud or theft against you.
Identity theft is a serious crime. Victims have lost job opportunities; been refused loans for education, housing or cars; or even been arrested for crimes they didn't commit.
You cannot completely control whether you will become a victim. However, according to the FTC, you can minimize your risk by managing your personal information cautiously and with heightened sensitivity.
A new CALS publication on identity theft is available at the link below.
Evelyn Whitmer, Cochise County Cooperative Extension, emarkee@cals.arizona.edu
To learn more:
http://cals.arizona.edu/pubs/consumer/az1431.pdf
13 DESERT HORTICULTURE CONFERENCE MAY 18 IN TUCSON
A packed day of sessions about trees, landscape design and maintenance and the latest innovations is planned for May 18 in Tucson.
The Desert Horticulture Conference: Keeping Your Competitive Edge in Horticulture, will be held at the Tucson Convention Center.
CALS scientists presenting include Mary Olsen on the year of plant diseases, Ursula Schuch will discuss capillary mats for nursery irrigation, Carl Olson will feature beneficial insects, Bill McCloskey will talk about urban obnoxious weeds and Dave Kopec will outline the latest challenges to maintaining quality turf in the desert. In addition, Libby Davison will feature the UA Campus Arboretum and Katheryn Hahne will introduce the International Tree Failure Database.
Registration information and the schedule can be found at the link below.
Libby Davison, Campus Arboretum, davison@cals.arizona.edu
To learn more:
http://cals.arizona.edu/deserthort/
To find out about available CALS publications and upcoming events, go
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