CAHNRS Food Drive Nets Nearly a Ton and a Half
Many thanks to everyone who contributed food to the CAHNRS Food Drive, conducted in concert with our Tuesday holiday celebration. CAHNRS faculty and staff contributed approximately 1,400 pounds of food and paper products, which will be matched by Pam and Dan Bernardo, yielding a total contribution to the Food Bank of 2,800 pounds. This total is over three times what we collected three years ago when we started this activity. The College of Engineering is following our lead and holding a food drive of its own. Dean Claiborn has implemented a similar match to see if they can beat the CAHNRS record.
Call for Abstracts
President Elson S. Floyd and Provost Warwick M. Bayly invite Washington State University faculty, staff, and students to present original scholarship, research, or creative expression at the University’s Academic Showcase. Abstract submissions will be accepted through January 30. Learn more about submission guidelines here: http://showcase.wsu.edu/abstracts/submission.aspx.
Accepted abstracts will be published online and participants will present their work at Academic Showcase from 9 a.m. to noon, Friday, March 27, 2009, in Bohler Gym.
Academic Showcase is part of the all-day WSU Showcase event (get more info here: http://showcase.wsu.edu/default.aspx). Other activities include Celebrating Excellence, the University’s recognition banquet honoring faculty and staff, the Distinguished Faculty Address Luncheon, and a reception for WSU retirees.
Block and Bridle Club Food Drive
The Block and Bridle Club is conducting a food drive to benefit the local food bank. Boxes are located in Clark 116, FSHN outside the main office, and in the Fischer Ag Sciences Library in Johnson Hall. Club members will be checking boxes frequently. If you wish to donate a larger amount than will fit in the box, please contact Kris Johnson (5-4131) and a club member will stop by to pick up your donation. Thank you for your help and generous donations during this holiday season.
CareerLink – The Last Slice of the Pie!
WSU students who are getting ready to graduate this month should definitely utilize CareerLink to conduct a job search for post graduation positions. In this last CareerLink article for the semester, here’s a reminder on how to use CareerLink to connect students and employers.
Students
- Don’t forget to register to access CareerLink. Go to the following link to register and to review highlights of many CareerLink features: http://students.careers.wsu.edu/default.asp?PageID=1628
- If you already have a CareerLink account, don’t forget to update your resume and profile, especially if you have new information to add to your resume (such as the full title of the degree you will be receiving, your recently completed internship, relevant courses, membership or cabinet positions held in any club or organization, and recent job related experience).
- Once you’ve updated your resume, come in to have your resume reviewed at the Center for Advising and Career Development (formerly known as Career Services and SALC).
- Companies listed in CareerLink are always posting positions to recruit students, so make sure you check back frequently for new job postings. Better, sign up to receive emails so that you’ll automatically be notified when positions you are interested in are posted or your major is requested by an employer.
Employers
- Please continue to post your open positions in CareerLink. Contact us if you need any assistance with posting positions. Don’t forget to check out newly revised and newly posted resumes from WSU students.
- Don’t forget to check the calendar provided on CareerLink when scheduling recruiting dates. There are a number of special events coming up during spring semester that may interfere with students’ availability for interviews.
- Companies and organizations are currently booking now for January recruiting. If you would like a head start in recruiting top talent, call us today to discuss recruiting opportunities.
We recommend that both employers and students utilize many of the features that were showcased in the CareerLink series and to remember to check back for updates in CareerLink. Please feel free to contact the Center for Advising and Career Development about questions you may have about CareerLink, your job search, or posting positions. To contact us, call 509.335.2546 or visit www.cacd.wsu.edu. Happy Holidays!
All three parts of the CareerLink are archived on the CAHNRS Academic Programs Web site:
http://academic.cahnrs.wsu.edu/studentlife/careerlink.html.
Recruiting Videos on You Tube
The award-winning set of a dozen recruiting videos recently released by the offices of Academic Programs and Marketing, News, and Educational Communications are available on You Tube. You can watch the videos by browsing to http://www.youtube.com/CAHNRSAP. By using the embed code provided for each video on You Tube, you can stream them from any Web page or blog. If you have questions about how to use these videos, please contact Brian (509-335-3551) or Phil (509-335-7963) in Marketing, News, and Educational Communications for help.
As of December 11, here are the number of views for each video:
| Interior Design AMDT Horticulture Landscape Architecture CAHNRS: An Introduction Human Development School of Economic Sciences Crop & Soil Sciences Ag & Food Systems Natural Resource Sciences Food Science Animal Sciences |
853 770 770 489 448 398 347 311 189 163 124 119 |
Good Agricultural Practices Workshop
Many growers are seeking information about food safety and good agricultural practices in response to recent outbreaks associated with produce. Several commodity groups have established guidelines for good agricultural practices; however, differences in recommendations exist, leaving producers wondering how to proceed. This symposium offers science-based information from a multi-disciplinary group of WSU faculty along with producer, market manager and regulatory perspectives.
Many diversified farmers are seeking information regarding food safety. This two-part workshop series offers an introduction to food safety and risk management and the opportunity to develop a GAPs program for the participant’s farming system. In the first workshop, participants will be provided with information on GAPs and assessment tools for their farming system. Between workshops, trainers will contact participants to assist with the assessment process. In the second workshop, participants will have the opportunity work with trainers to develop a GAPs program for their farming system.
| 8:00 8:30 8:45 9:15 9:45 10:15 10:30 11:00 11:30 Noon 1:00 1:30 2:00 2:30 3:00 |
Registration Welcome GAPs Overview Produce Food Safety Issues Department of Health Perspective Break WSDA Perspective Water Quality Manure Management Lunch Harvester Hygiene Food Safety in Harvesting, Transportation, and Storage Program Evaluation Bringing It All Together, Panel Discussion Adjourn |
Session Descriptions
Good Agricultural Practices Overview. The safety of food products requires a commitment at every step in the food chain and begins on the farm. Several recent widely publicized outbreaks of food borne illnesses have identified the farm or growing area as the source of the pathogens involved. Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) are guidelines for growers and handlers to minimize the risk of pathogens getting to consumers via produce and other raw materials. Application of these guidelines will be discussed throughout our program.
Food Safety Issues associated with Fruits & Vegetables. Several highly publicized outbreaks associated with vegetables and fruits have occurred recently, bringing increased attention to food safety for growers, packers, processors and consumers. What pathogens are most likely to be present in produce, and what practices are available to limit pathogen presence in produce? An overview of bacterial pathogen characteristics will be presented to provide a framework for discussion of how GAPs, processing interventions and consumer practices can reduce pathogen risk in produce.
Pre-Harvest Issues Water Quality. Water resources for crops, sanitation and employees contribute to on-farm food safety. The ability of water to introduce foodborne pathogens will be discussed as well as a system for assessing water resources and safety.
Pre-Harvest Issues: Manure Management. Manure management is critical to food safety on the farm. Practices related to raw manure use and processes to reduce pathogens during composting will be discussed.
Post-Harvest: Food Safety in Harvesting, Transportation, and Storage. Opportunities for contamination and recontamination of raw agricultural produce during and after harvest abound. Harvesting tools and aids, transporting containers and vehicles, and animals in fields can be sources and are usually controllable. Storage facilities must be properly maintained and operated to assure maintenance of safe products.
Harvester Hygiene Programs. Humans can introduce pathogens to foods, so communicating the importance of good personal hygiene to all members who handle food products is critical. A “hands on” activity, Germ City: Clean Hands, Healthy People will offer participants an opportunity to assess the contribution of hand washing to food safety. The roles of cleaning and sanitation in relation to hand hygiene will also be discussed.
GAPs System: Bringing it All Together. A panel discussion with food safety regulators from the WSDA, DOH Food Safety Program and symposium speakers will offer participants a forum for discussion of issues related to GAPs and food safety.
Program Evaluation. Your evaluation of the symposium will provide vital information to improve future workshops on GAPs. This symposium was organized as part of an ongoing effort by a partnership between a multi-disciplinary group of WSU faculty, commodity and regulatory partners. Funding for this program was provided by the Washington State University Western Center for Risk Management Education, the USDA Cooperative State Research Education and Extension Service (CSREES), and WSU Extension and WSU Agricultural Research Center.
Kudos
Dr. Catherine Black, Associate Professor in Apparel, Merchandising, Design and Textiles, received First Place in the SOLO category at the East Coast Quilter’s Alliance biannual international juried exhibition for a garment she designed.
At the 2008-2009 Wiley Research Exposition held recently, R. Andrew Rodstrom (Ph.D. student) was the first place winner in the Agriculture and Natural Science category. Rodstrom was one of two first place winners at last year’s event. The third place winner in this category was Samuel Hapke (M.S., Fall ‘08 graduate). Each of the awardees will receive a monetary award and Rodstrom will have a prominent place to display his poster at the spring Academic Showcase. A job well done representing the WSU Entomology Department and themselves.
Congratulations to the WSU Entomology Department Student Debate Team! They won their competition against Texas A&M at the national meetings of the Entomological Society of America, in Reno, NV. The debate team members are Ashfaq Sial (Ph.D. student), Jeremy Buchmann (M.S. student), Bonnie Ohler (M.S. student) and Nikolai Wiman (Ph.D. student). The team was coached by Dr. Allan Felsot (WSU-TriCities). This group of students worked very hard and put in many hours of preparation. Their efforts paid off in winning this national title. They were randomly assigned the CON position for the following proposition: “GMO’s should be incorporated into management programs for insect pests to reduce insecticide use while providing acceptable protection against all pests and improve crop yield”. The CON position was a difficult one, but the team came up with an excellent winning strategy by focusing on the tenets of integrated pest management. In addition to being on the debate team, Nikolai Wiman was the recipient of the ESA President’s prize in the 10-minute-talk competition in Reno.
On December 2, WSU Integrated Pest Management Coordinator and Extension Entomologist Doug Walsh was appointed to the Board of Directors of the National Alfalfa and Forage Alliance. Alfalfa and forages rank third in the U.S. in value of production at $16.9 billion. Alfalfa and forages rank 4th among agricultural commodities produced in Washington State with a value of $516 million. NAFA’s mission is to promote alfalfa and forage production and serve as an advocacy organization to support research on alfalfa and forage crops.
Dr. Jack Rogers, Regents Professor in Plant Pathology and 2006 WSU Eminent Faculty Award recipient, was recently recognized with a festschrift or “celebration writing,” a collection of papers published to mark a special milestone. The festschrift was published in the journal North American Fungi (www.pnwfungi.org) in honor of Rogers’ 45th anniversary at WSU. The special issue, consisting of original and review articles by the world’s leading mycologists, is a testament to his accomplishments in the field of mycology, and for his leadership and exemplary contributions to creating a center of excellence in mycology at WSU. Two papers included in this special issue describe new species named for Rogers.