January 16, 2007 |
1. MANRRS Co-Sponsors MLK Speaker -- Friday, Jan. 19, Hembree Auditorium, AFLS Bldg.
2. Indica Rice Lines Released to Broaden Genetic Base
3. Ten Students Complete Professional Development Program
1. MANRRS Co-Sponsors Dr. Handy Williamson as MLK Speaker. Dr. Handy Williamson, Jr., Vice Provost for International Programs at the University of Missouri in Columbia, will speak Jan. 19 on "African Americans' Struggles and Achievements in Agriculture" as part of a weeklong observance of Martin Luther King Day at the University of Arkansas. The public is invited to hear Dr. Williamson at 12 p.m., Friday, Jan. 19, in the H.L Hembree Auditorium in the AFLS Building, and to meet him at a reception following his talk.
The event is co-sponsored by Bumpers College and the Arkansas chapter of Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences, said MANRRS president Jeremiah Wilson, a UA graduate student in agricultural business.
Dr. Williamson was raised on his family's farm and graduated from high school in Smith County, Miss. He was the seventh of 10 siblings to earn a college degree and has conducted extensive research in agricultural economics and rural sociology, economic development, agricultural policy and international issues.
"I am pleased to talk about African Americans' contributions to American agriculture and rural society. While those contributions have been staggering they are often eclipsed by focusing only on the downside associated with our previous condition of servitude," Williamson said.
Prior to his current appointment in 2001, Williamson was a faculty member and administrator in agricultural economics and rural sociology departments at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, Tennessee State University at Nashville, Tuskegee University in Tuskegee, Ala., and currently holds tenure as a professor on the agricultural economics faculty at MU.
Research and publications by Williamson include studies of land use, resource management, manpower training, research and extension development, and efficiency of small and large farms in diverse geographical settings. He has served on many university program study teams and as a consultant on projects and review teams in Africa, the Caribbean, the Far East, the European Union and the United States.
Williamson has served on the White House Committee on Historically Black Colleges and Universities and as an administrator in the U.S. Agency for International Development in Washington, D.C.
As a fellow of the American Council on Education, Williamson spent a year in the chancellor's office at the University of California, Davis. He participated in the Harvard University Executive Leadership Program, the Annual U.S. Congressional Leadership Summer in Washington, DC, and as a Fellow of the Salzburg Seminar in Salzburg, Austria.
Williamson received a doctorate in agricultural economics from the University of Missouri in 1974, M.S. degrees from Missouri and Tennessee State, a B.S. degree from Alcorn State University, at Lorman, Miss., and an associate's degree from Pineywood Jr. College, Pineywood, Mississippi.
Alcorn State, Tennessee State and Missouri have honored Williamson as a distinguished alumnus. He has been recognized for leadership and contributions by USAID and the USDA. Other awards include Outstanding Black Agricultural Economist, Outstanding Young Man of America, Who's Who in America, Tennessee Men of Achievement, and American Men and Women of Science. Williamson has been inducted into the Gamma Sigma Delta, QEBH and ODK honor societies and is a member of Phi Beta Sigma and Sigma Pi Phi fraternities.
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2. Indica Rice Lines Released to Broaden Genetic Base. The Agricultural Research Service, USDA, and the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, U of A Division of Agriculture, have announced the release of three indica germplasms of rice, indica-16 through indica-18. These mutants are part of a base broadening effort to develop indicas for the US, where very narrow genetic bases, essentially all in japonicas, have evolved because of need for adaptation to temperate climates.
There are three different types of rice: japonica, indica and javanica. Japonica rice varieties are high yielding and tend to be resistant to disease. Although quite hardy, indica yield less than japonica types and are most often grown in the tropics. Javanica types of rice fall between japonica and indica varieties in terms of yield, use and hardiness.
The new lines are induced early flowering mutants of Oryzica llanos 5 (PI 584668, henceforth abbreviated as OL5), a highly blast disease [Pyricularia grisea (Cooke) Sacc.] resistant cultivar from Colombia, which in itself is a month too late in maturity for the US. These three germplasm lines are 24 to 36 days earlier than the parent, making them 6 to 18 days later than the southern tropical japonica long grain cultivar Francis (PI 632447). These germplasms retain the blast resistance of the OL5 parent. Their early maturity and blast resistance make them useful sources of indica diversity for US rice improvement programs.
The lines were derived by gamma radiation of OL5 in late 1999 at rates of 270, 300, and 320 Grays (Gy). The M1 generation was grown in the 1999/00 Puerto Rico winter nursery.
Germplasm amounts of seed (ca 5 grams) of the above lines may be obtained by writing to: J. Neil Rutger, Dale Bumpers National Rice Research Center, USDA-ARS, P.O. Box 1090, Stuttgart, AR 72160. Requests from outside the US must be accompanied by an import permit. Seed also will be placed in the National Small Grains Collection, USDA-ARS, 1691 South 2700 West, Aberdeen, ID 83210, where it is available for research purposes, including development and commercialization of new cultivars. If this germplasm contributes to the development of new cultivars it is requested that appropriate recognition be given to the source.
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3. Academic Enhancement Program Workshop Schedule. All students are invited to attend AEP workshops in the Carroll and Sue Walls Classroom, HOEC 106, from 12:30 p.m. to 1:20 p.m. on the dates listed. For more information, contact John Kelly, Ph.D., L.A.C. at 575-5716 or jkelly@uark.edu.
January 25 - Time Management and Study Skills
February 13 - How to be Successful in College
February 27 - Conquering Test Anxiety
March 8 - Learning to Manage Stress
March 29 - Rapid Guide to Job Hunting
April 12 - Rapid Guide to Interviewing
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3. Students Complete Professional Development Program. Nearly 120 Bumpers College students are members of the UA Professional Development Institute, and 10 graduated from the PDI Career Development Training Program in November.
The Institute, now in its second year, is designed to prepare students for life after graduation with training on professionalism and how to present themselves to potential employers or as candidates for graduate school. It includes career-building workshops, guest speakers and activities sponsored by the UA Career Development Center.
Students from all UA colleges are invited to participate as PDI members. Those who attend a specified number of workshops and meet other requirements receive certificates at an annual PDI graduation program and other incentives.
Details are available online at http://www.career.uark.edu/students/pdi.asp
Students who received certificates at the PDI graduation program in November were: Corrie Adams, Apparel Studies; Krystalyn Bolding, Interior Design; Casey Clippinger, Interior Design; Keiana Hunter, Interior Design; Mary Morrison, Dietetics; Amara Perumalla, Poultry Science; Leila Pollard, Interior Design; Kaci Schack, Human Development/Family Sciences; Marty Smith, Human Environmental Sciences; and Mikelle Thompson, Interior Design.
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AAES and Bumpers College Web sites:
http://aaes.uark.edu/
http://bumperscollege.uark.edu/