Feb. 11, 2008 |
1. Student Mentors Needed in New Bumpers College Program
2. Science Days Set for Prospective Students
3. Sossamon Selected for USDA 'Future of Agriculture' Forum
4. Student-Faculty Team Continues Belize Project
5. FarmHouse Team Wins First Ag Olympics
6. Turf Bowl Team Places in National Competition
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1. Student Mentors Needed in New Bumpers College Program
Current students in Bumpers College can apply to serve as personal mentors to new students starting next fall. Those selected as mentors will receive a $500 scholarship for each semester they serve in the program.
The new Bumpers College Peer Mentoring Program was developed by the college's Retention Task Force with the goal of providing the opportunity for each new student to have an upperclassman who will provide one-on-one advice and guidance on adjusting to college life.
Alice Griffin, coordinator of advising and retention, said the Retention Task Force researched mentoring models across the country and met with representatives from each of the college departments to develop a proposal, which was approved by Dean Greg Weidemann and Associate Dean Donna Graham.
The Peer Mentoring Program application form is available online on the Bumpers College Advising web page, from your academic adviser and at the Dean's office.
Mentor applications will be accepted through March 3 and must be submitted to Alice Griffin, AFLS E108. Interviews will be conducted March 10 - 14. The Retention Task Force will approve the final selection list before an offer is made to the students. The selected mentors must be able to participate in a spring training event scheduled for Saturday, April 5, 2008.
Mentors will be selected based on the following criteria: Good communication and interpersonal skills. Positive attitude. Willing to work in a group setting. Cultural sensitivity. One year of experience on the UA-Fayetteville campus (by beginning of fall 2008). Good academic standing. Willing to commit 3-5 hours a week.
For more information, contact Coordinator of Peer Mentoring John Kelley, jkelly@uark.edu, or Coordinator of Advising and Retention Alice Griffin, agriffin@uark.edu.
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2. Science Days Set for Prospective Students
The Prospective Student Relations Committee in Bumpers College is sponsoring two "Science Day" events at area high schools, based on good response to such an event last year in Harrison.
Coordinator Diana Bisbee said the goal is to introduce students to the types of work going on in the expanding world of agricultural, food and life sciences.
The first event will be in Harrison at North Arkansas Community College on Monday, February 25, and is aimed at 9th and 10th graders, along with their science teachers.
The second event will be held in Farmington at the Northwest Education Service Cooperative on Monday, March 10 and on Thursday, March 13. These sessions are for 11th and 12th grade students from Benton and Washington counties.
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3. Sossamon Selected for USDA 'Future of Agriculture' Forum
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Laura Sossamon |
Laura Sossamon, a senior agribusiness major with a pre-law concentration and a minor in Spanish, was selected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as one of 17 students invited to discuss the future of agriculture at USDA's 2008 Agricultural Outlook Forum.
The conference, "Energizing Rural America in the Marketplace," will be held Feb. 21 and 22 at the Crystal Gateway Marriott Hotel in Arlington, Va.
Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer said, "Agriculture's future grows from the inspiration and innovation of our next generation of agriculturalists. USDA's Outlook Forum places students at the doorstep of what government and industry leaders envision for the economic outlook, policies and direction of agriculture's future."
University juniors and seniors majoring in agricultural-related studies at Land Grant universities were selected based on their essays, "Agriculture as a Career" and recommendations from their deans.
Sossamon, the daughter of Bill and Liz Sossamon of Ozark, said in her essay that, "Pursuing agriculture as a career does not limit you to the farm, but instead opens the door to a world of opportunities unrivaled by any other career field."
As a Bumpers College student, Sossamon has been on an agricultural study tour in Scotland, served as an intern to U.S. Rep. John Boozman, and helped establish a school farm in the village of Pomona, Belize, as part of a service-learning project.
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4. Student-Faculty Team Continues Belize Project
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| Students participating in the St. Matthew's Sustainable Farm Project this summer include, seated from left, Raymond Jones, Lindsay Copenhaver, Jillian Harper, Amanda Simpson, Ashley Gatlin, Edison Froelich and Audrey McCoy; (not pictured are Brooke Jackson and Ashley Jones.) Standing are, from left, Laura Sossamon, Nilda Burgos, Jennie Popp and Misti Clark. |
Students and faculty members will continue a service learning project in Belize this summer. They will continue work started last spring in Belize as part of a campus-wide project sponsored by the UA Honors College in collaboration with Peacework, a nonprofit international volunteer agency based in Blacksburg, Va.
Community Development in a Global Context: An International Service Learning Program, includes seven teams in the areas of literacy and creative writing, education, health, engineering, business, social work and agriculture. The goal is to help improve conditions in Belize's economically depressed Stann Creek District over a period of five years.
Associate professors Nilda Burgos, CSES, and Jennie Popp, AEAB, are faculty sponsors for the St. Matthew's Sustainable Farm Project to help students and volunteers at a rural school raise vegetables and other food products for use at the school.
Students participating this year and their majors include Edison Froelich, agribusiness; Audrey McCoy, art history; Amanda Simpson, agribusiness; Jillian Harper, agribusiness; Ashley Gatling, agricultural education; Raymond Jones, horticulture; Brooke Jackson, agribusiness; and Ashley Jones, agribusiness. Lindsay Copenhaver, crop management and environmental sciences, is assisting in the planning efforts, but will not join the team in Belize this summer.
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| Students at the for St. Mathew's Elementary School near Dangriga, Belize, work in the garden established last summer with help from Bumpers College students. Chile peppers have been harvested for several months for use in school lunches and as a cash crop to benefit the school. Another group will work in Belize this summer to help plant a variety of vegetable crops and on other projects. |
Last summer's team, working with local people, cleared land for a pepper garden, planted the crop and helped arrange marketing. The students also taught science classes in the school.
Popp said last summer's work on the project was very successful, thanks in part to the participation of local volunteers and agencies in Belize. Peppers from the garden were harvested and marketed throughout the fall and into January.
This summer's team will renovate the garden and plant a variety of vegetables for use in the school, Popp said. She and Burgos are seeking funds to help provide a storage building for garden equipment and supplies.
The team also hopes to lay the groundwork that will allow the school to eventually raise pigs and chickens in addition to the vegetable garden, Popp said.
The project is scheduled for a total of five years. "Our goal is, in five years, to walk away and have the local people sustain the garden and other activities," Popp said.
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5. FarmHouse Team Wins First Ag Olympics
The FarmHouse Fraternity team won the first Ag Olympics games competition and chili cookoff Friday, Feb. 8, at the Pauline Whitaker Animal Science Center, according to Amy Guernsey, president of Block and Bridle, which sponsored the event. Other teams represented Sigma Alpha, the Animal Science Graduate Students Club and animal science faculty members.
Events included horseshoes, hay bale throwing, seed spitting, a wheelbarrow race, tug-of-war, obstacle course and three-legged race in addition to a chili cook-off.
Members of the winning team were Nathan Brown, Chris Scarborough, Grant Hunt, Steven Hutter, TJ Haynes, Ryan Siebenmorgen and Kris Bunnell.
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| FarmHouse Fraternity team members (not in order) Nathan Brown, Chris Scarborough, Grant Hunt, Steven Hutter, T.J. Haynes, Kris Bunnell and Ryan Siebenmorgen with the winner's trophy for the first Ag Olympics games. | The faculty team made a valiant, but futile, effort in the wheelbarrow race vs. the Animal Science Graduate Students team. | The faculty team made a valiant, but futile, effort in the rope pull vs. the Animal Science Graduate Students team. |
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6. Turf Bowl Team Places in National Competition
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| The first ever UA Turf Bowl team of, from left, Scott Wasser, Michael Moyer, David Johnson and Matthew Bottoms, placed 17th in the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America Turf Bowl competition. |
A UA student team placed 17th out of 92 teams at the 14th annual Golf Course Superintendents Association of America Turf Bowl competition in Orlando Feb. 1.
This was the first UA team to enter the competition, which consists of a written exam on turf science and golf course management. The three-hour turf bowl competition included questions on identification of soils, seed, grasses, diseases, insects and weeds. The competition also covered mathematics, plant physiology, growth and development, soil fertility, business, and an essay response to a case study of real-life scenarios that golf course superintendents experience. The students have been preparing for the exam weekly since September of last year.
Team members -- all of whom are horticulture, landscape and turf sciences majors -- were Matthew Bottoms, David Johnson, Michael Moyer and Scott Wasser.
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