Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture
Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

A newsletter for faculty, staff and students

March-April 2005 • Vol. 31, No. 2

Thursday, April 21, AU Theatre
Awards to be presented at Honors Convocation

Faculty, staff and students are encourage to attend Honors Convocation at 1:00 p.m., Thursday, April 21 in the Arkansas Union Theatre.

Bumpers College and Division of Agriculture faculty, staff and student awards will be presented by Dean Greg Weidemann and Vice President for Agriculture Milo Shult.

Student Awards

Honors Program Distinguished Graduates completed the requirements of the Bumpers College Honors Program, which includes a thesis supervised by a faculty mentor. The graduates, faculty mentors and thesis titles are as follows.

Hallie Gale Dodson, daughter of Tommy and Bonnie Dodson of Forrest City. Mentor: Dr. Teddy Morelock. Thesis: Identifying Amounts and Types of Anthocyanins in Cultivars and Breeding Lines of Cowpeas.

Robert Scott Fry, son of Eldon and Anne Fry of Quitman. Mentor: Dr. Beth Kegley. Thesis: Level and Source of Supplemental Selenium in Beef Calves.

Crystal Garner, daughter of Stan and Betty Garner of Danville. Mentor: Dr. Charles Rosenkrans, Jr. Thesis: Effects of Dexamethasone, and Selenium and Vitamin E on Steers consuming Tall Fescue Baleage.

Blanca Cecilia González, daughter of Marcelo and María González of Quito, Ecuador. Mentor: Dr. Ya-Jane Wang. Thesis: Physiochemical Properties and Leaching Characteristics of Four Long-Grain Canning Rice Cultivars.

DeAnna I. Mitchell, daughter of Jim & Marlies Mitchell of Maumelle. Mentor: Dr. Edgar Garcia-Rill and Dr. David Kreider. Thesis: Effects of Passive Exercise in Spinally Transected Rats.

Nadine Obal, daughter of Curtis and Bobbi Obal of Cabot. Mentor: Dr. Nancy Jack. Thesis: The Inheritability of Cryptorchidism in Stallions.

Robert Scott Walnofer, son of Terry and Debbie Walnofer of Charleston. Mentor: Navam Hettiarachchy. Thesis: Effect of heating on hydrophobicity, viscosity, and gelling properties of soy meal, soy protein concentrate, and soy protein isolate.

Senior Scholars are graduating seniors with the highest grade point average. Seven students this year achieved 4.0 grade point averages. Those designated First Rank Senior Scholars took all courses at the University of Arkansas. First Rank Senior Scholars are:

• Megan Hardy, apparel studies major and agribusiness minor, the daughter of Scott and Kathy Hardy of Tumbling Shoals and the granddaughter of Dr. Glenn Hardy, former dean of Bumpers College;
• Peggy Jane Hirschey of Fayetteville, the daughter of Peggy Hirschey, is a Horticulture major with a Business minor.
• Abel Tomlinson of Mountainburg, a horticulture major and the son of Melody Tomlinson of Winslow and Craig Tomlinson of Denman Island, British Columbia.

Senior Scholars are:

• John Kauffman, turf and landscape horticulture major, son of John and Pat Kauffman of Stevensville, Mich.;
• Anita Sarathi, animal science major, daughter of Partha and Della Sarathi, Bartlesville, Okla.;
• Daniel Skipper, agricultural business major and the son of Roger and Connie Skipper of Cabot; and
• Maurice “Aldon” Taylor Jr., agricultural education, communication and technology major, son of Maurice and Ernestine Taylor of Harrison.

The John W. White Outstanding Student Award for 2005 is presented to Lindsay Marie West, the daughter of Randy and Cheryl West of Prairie Grove. West is an agricultural education, communication and technology major and served as the 2004-2005 Bumpers College Senior Ambassador.

Dale Bumpers Distinguished Scholar awards are for an outstanding transfer student and outstanding master’s and doctoral students.

Outstanding Transfer Student is Jeremy Don Huff, son of Jerry and Brenda Huff of Mena. Huff is a junior with a double major in animal science and poultry science. He was Outstanding Graduate in the agriculture department at Eastern Oklahoma State University.

Outstanding Master’s Student is Courtney Wimmer, daughter of Gary and Sheila Wimmer of Fulton, Kan. She is a candidate for an M.S. degree in agricultural and extension education with an emphasis in communications. As a graduate assistant, she has helped teach courses in communications and computer applications. Ms. Wimmer is a summa cum laude graduate of Kansas State University. Her thesis topic is “Selected Arkansas Consumers’ Perceptions of Genetically Modified Food Labels Designed through the Elaboration Likelihood Method.”

Outstanding Doctoral Student is James Austin of Athens, Texas, son of Judith Austin of Athens and Dr. James S. Austin, Jr. of Gilbert, Ariz. He received his B.S. degree from Texas A&M University in 1991 in urban entomology and worked in the pest control industry for 5 years. He received a master's degree in entomology from the University of Nebraska in 1999. As a 2000 J. William Fulbright Fellow he studied termites of the Middle East in Turkey at Middle East Technical University. His research is on the genetic variation and molecular systematics of economically important termite species of the south central United States.

The Spitze Public Policy Legislative Internship award goes to Emerson Conner McNair, son of Malcolm and Martha McNair of Fayetteville. He will work as a summer intern in the Washington office of Sen. Mark Pryor. McNair is an agricultural business major with plans to attend law school. He has served in several student leadership positions including president of the Kappa Sigma fraternity, student government senator and Bumpers College Ambassador.

Presidential Scholar, the junior with the highest grade point average, is Tory B. Hodges, daughter of John and Cheryl Hodges of Alpena. An agricultural business major with a minor in political science, she is a Bumpers College Ambassador, a member of the Phi Alpha Delta Pre-Law Fraternity, a National FFA American Farmer Degree recipient and an Honors Program student.

Darlene Baker, representing the Bumpers College Alumni Society, will present a scholarship and two ring scholar awards (a UA class ring).

Alumni Senior Scholarship recipient is animal science major Marlow E. Ball, daughter of Wayne Ball and Dee Davenport of Little Rock. She is a Pre-Vet Club officer and represented Block and Bridle at the national convention the past three years.

Alumni Ring Scholars are Creenna L. Sheely and Matt Fryar.

Sheely, daughter of David and Cindi Sheely of Clarksville, is an agricultural education, communication and technology major with a minor in equine science. She has been active in Collegiate 4-H and FFA at the campus, regional and national levels and has been employed as a teaching assistant in the UA Equine Program.

Fryar, an agricultural education, communication and technology major, is the son of Jim and Sandy Fryar of Royal. He was a Spitze Legislative Intern in 2004. He has been a Pomfret Honors Quarters resident assistant, a National FFA American Farmer Degree recipient and served as a state FFA officer.

Faculty and staff awards

The prestigious Spitze Land Grant University Faculty Award for Excellence recognizes excellence in the three land-grant university missions of teaching, research and extension. The 2005 recipient is Dr. Derrick M. Oosterhuis, the Clyde Sites Professor of International Crop Physiology, in the Department of Crop, Soil, and Environmental Sciences.

Oosterhuis established the University’s cotton physiology program and is nationally and internationally recognized as a leader in that discipline. He works closely with extension specialists and farmers on issues such as drought stress, plant nutrition and growth regulators. Master’s and Ph.D. graduates trained by Oosterhuis are highly regarded in their field.

Dr. Gisela Erf, recipient of the Jack G. Justus Award for Teaching Excellence, is known campus-wide for innovation and dedication as a teacher in the Poultry Science Department. Dr. Erf used a USDA grant to equip a teaching laboratory and develop a course that provides hands-on research experience for undergraduate students, which is now a Bumpers College Honors Program course.

Both the Bumpers College Alumni Society Outstanding Advising Award and the John W. White Teaching Excellence Award are going to Dr. Jefferson D. Miller, Department of Agricultural and Extension Education. Miller’s students praise his demanding but personable style of advising and teaching based on their individual needs. He uses experiential (hands-on) learning methods in the agricultural communications courses he teaches.

The John W. White awards, presented by the College and Division of Agriculture, also recognize excellence in research, extension and interdisciplinary teamwork. Recipients, in addition to Miller for teaching, are as follows.

• Research: Dr. James C. Correll, Department of Plant Pathology, for basic and applied research on the diagnosis and control of plant diseases, particular in vegetables and rice. He was chosen in 2004 by his peers in the rice research community to lead a major national project funded by a $5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

• Extension (State): Dr. Charles “Chuck” Wilson, Jr., extension agronomist for rice based at the Rice Research and Extension Center near Stuttgart, has primary responsibility for developing and disseminating recommendations for rice production in Arkansas.

• Extension (County): Bill Dodgen was the first Area Rice Specialist in charge of Rice Research Verification Trials and is now Distinguished County Extension Agent-Staff Chair in Faulkner County.

• Team: The world’s most productive spinach research program is conducted by an interdisciplinary team of scientists who each devote a portion of their time to research on the genetics, production and health benefits of this important crop. Team members include Drs. Teddy Morelock and Brad Murphy, horticulture; Dr. James Correll, plant pathology; Drs. Nilda Burgos and Vibha Srivastava, crop, soil, and environmental sciences; Dr. Luke Howard, food science; Dr. Paul McLeod, entomology; Dr. Marjorie Fitch-Hilgenberg, human environmental sciences; and Dennis Motes, director of the Vegetable Substation at Kibler.

Awards for excellence in Division of Agriculture staff support of research and extension programs are as follows.

Non-Classified Staff: Judy Howard, graphic designer and project manager, agricultural communication services, has had a major positive impact on the image of the Division and Bumpers College through the quality of printed publications.

Classified (Agricultural Experiment Station): Joyce Wilbanks, an accountant based at the Southeast Research and Extension Center (SEREC) at Monticello, supervises accounting at three Division locations: the Rice Research and Extension Center at Stuttgart, the SEREC-Rohwer Division and the SEREC at Monticello. She also provides accounting services for the agricultural teaching program at the University of Arkansas, Monticello.

Classified (Cooperative Extension Service): Amy Hedges is an administrative office supervisor for the Animal Science Section at the Cooperative Extension Service headquarters in Little Rock. She is highly regarded for her administrative skills and has served on many committees with faculty and administrators to fill staff positions and to consider policy issues.