And for members of the SAES faculty and staff who’ve never had occasion to download a photo but always wondered how that was done, the NCSU Web page has concise instructions.]]> http://www.ag.ncat.edu/agedispatch/2008/05/deadline-for-selfdiscovery-is.html http://www.ag.ncat.edu/agedispatch/2008/05/deadline-for-selfdiscovery-is.html Wed, 28 May 2008 16:20:00 -0500 Small Fruit Field Day at the Sandhills Research Station (73 miles and an 80 minute drive from Greensboro, according to mapquest) is Tuesday, June 17. Strawberry, blueberry, grape and bramble research demonstrations will be open for inspection, and horticulture specialists will have some tips on cultural practices, and disease and insect management. Small fruit producers who find it difficult to set aside an entire day for an update on new varieties and production methods should take note of the Small Fruit Day’s accommodating schedule: registration begins at 4:30 p.m. and the field day itself will run from 5 to 8:15 p.m.]]> http://www.ag.ncat.edu/agedispatch/2008/05/loom-of-the-fruits-the-ag-edis.html http://www.ag.ncat.edu/agedispatch/2008/05/loom-of-the-fruits-the-ag-edis.html Wed, 28 May 2008 16:19:00 -0500 With summer vacation travel plans at the forefront of many personal agendas right now, it’s an appropriate time of year to review some basics of professional travel policies of significance for SAES faculty and staff:
• Only state employees are allowed to operate state-owned vehicles.
• Students at A&T and other state institutions who travel on official state business — including to conferences to make presentations — are reimbursed at the same rates as state employees. But state funds may not be used to compensate students for travel expenses. Funding for student travel must come from other sources.
• While University policy doesn't state that you must have a N.C. driver’s license to operate a state-owned vehicle, state law regarding residency trumps University policy. New residents to North Carolina are required to obtain a valid N.C. drivers license within 60 days of establishing residency. More information is available at the N. C. Department of Transportation Web site.
• SAES employees are required to file travel reimbursements within 30 days of the end of the travel period for which the reimbursement is being requested. (For example, if you perchance go to Memphis for the AEA/ARD conference and return to Greensboro June 11, then you have until July 11 to file the paper work for travel reimbursement.)
• The reimbursement rate for using personal vehicles for SAES business use is 48.5 cents per mile. Personal vehicles cannot be used when a state-owned vehicle is available, and the round-trip does cannot exceed 100 miles. If a state vehicle is available, and the employee chooses to use a personal vehicle instead, the reimbursement reimbursed is $.25 per mile.  
• All SAES faculty and staff who have professional travel plans in mind that will involve reimbursement should remember that a higher level of accountability is being stressed, and that SAES travel policies are at all times in complete compliance with University travel polices.]]> http://www.ag.ncat.edu/agedispatch/2008/05/travelers-advisories-the-ag-ed.html http://www.ag.ncat.edu/agedispatch/2008/05/travelers-advisories-the-ag-ed.html Wed, 28 May 2008 16:18:00 -0500 Dr. Marihelen Glass of Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Design is one of the co-authors of a new textbook, Fundamentals of Plant Science, that Delmar Cengage Learning has ready for publication. According to the advance publicity, “Fundamentals of Plant Science contains 22 chapters ranging from the importance of plants to plants and ecology, to biomes, to reproduction, to energy conversions, to plant, soil and water, to genetics and biotechnology, to traditional crops, to ornamentals, to wood, to fruits and nuts, to pastures and grasses. Fundamentals of Plant Science helps every student develop an understanding of how plants, impact, grow, reproduce, and function. This understanding promotes informed decision making concerning the role of plants in a functional world.”]]> http://www.ag.ncat.edu/agedispatch/2008/05/new-plant-science-textbook-rea.html http://www.ag.ncat.edu/agedispatch/2008/05/new-plant-science-textbook-rea.html Wed, 28 May 2008 16:17:00 -0500 Chrystal Bartlett, the marketing specialist for Cooperative Extension, has a trilogy of workshops that will be down linked to satellite sites across the state, and the first program in the series will be Wednesday, June 11, from 9:30 to 11 a.m. Topics on the agenda are the “4 Ps of marketing,” Extension’s three main audiences, and work with Hispanic audiences. Cintia Aguilar, departmental Latino affairs facilitator in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at N. C. State, will be a guest speaker. The downlink sites for the Extension marketing workshop are Appalachian State, UNC-Asheville, Winston-Salem State, Elizabeth City State, East Carolina, UNC Pembroke, and the Hickory Metro Higher Education Center. The registration deadline is June 1, and the Extension Learning Management System is now taking online registrations.]]> http://www.ag.ncat.edu/agedispatch/2008/05/4-ps-at-seven-different-pod-th.html http://www.ag.ncat.edu/agedispatch/2008/05/4-ps-at-seven-different-pod-th.html Wed, 28 May 2008 16:17:00 -0500 Why is it correct to write that “Webb Hall is a large brick building” (without a comma between the adjectives large and brick), but then “Webb Hall is a smartboard, WiFi building” (with a comma between the two adjectives)? The second pair of adjectives are coordinate adjectives that should be separated by a comma, and there are two quick tests for determining whether a pair of adjectives is coordinate or not: I. Does the sentence still make sense if “and” is inserted between the adjectives? If so, then the adjectives are coordinate and there should be a comma between them. (While “large and brick building” doesn’t make sense, “smartboard and WiFi” does.) II. Invert the adjectives and if the result sounds like something only Master Yoda would say, then you don’t have coordinate adjectives and don’t need a comma between them. (While “WiFi and smartboard building” sounds okay, “brick large building” doesn’t.) Another mnemonic to remember when it comes to commas is “FANBOYS.” When the coordinating conjunctions for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so are used to connect two complete thoughts in a sentence—independent clauses, both with subjects and verbs—then there should be a comma before the conjunction:
• Webb Hall is a landmark, for it has been the first building on the eastern edge of the campus for decades.
• Carver Hall is a research and teaching facility, and it also has offices and meeting rooms.
• SAES students aren’t necessarily from small towns, nor are the majority of these students particularly interested in avoiding big cities once they have their degrees.
• Carver Hall is now equipped with computer labs, but the building continues to provide traditional classrooms also.
• SAES research projects address hot-button issues, or they serve as further underpinning for the basics of applied research.
• Coltrane Hall is usually one of the quietest SAES buildings, yet its potential to accommodate a noisy crowd is unmistakable.
• C. H. Moore is the closest SAES Building to downtown Greensboro, so it’s not surprising that the Agricultural Research Program is well known to the people who work in the city’s tallest buildings. And why is it correct to write that “Because Webb Hall is a brick building, there is no need for annual painting,” but incorrect to turn the clauses around and still separate them with a comma? (Incorrect: “There is no need to paint Webb Hall annually, because it is a brick building.) A subordinate clause is one that doesn’t express a complete thought (“because it is a brick building), and when subordinating conjunctions (e.g., after, although, because, how, if, less, since, while) introduce a subordinate clause, most of the time they should not be preceded by a comma.]]> http://www.ag.ncat.edu/agedispatch/2008/05/comma-mnemonics-the-ag-edispat.html http://www.ag.ncat.edu/agedispatch/2008/05/comma-mnemonics-the-ag-edispat.html Wed, 28 May 2008 16:14:00 -0500 The application deadline for the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Design’s summer program for high school students is Friday, May 31. The program, open to students starting their sophomore, junior or senior years next fall, will take participants through a weeklong exploration of energy production, consumption, efficiency and conservation. There will be demonstrations of how various forms of energy are generated, and experiments with solar energy, hydrogen fuel cells, and ethanol and biodiesel production.
Two sessions are scheduled: one the week of June 25 - 29; and another July 9 - 13.  During each session, the program will meet daily from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
The program is made possible with funding support from the Ford Motor Company.]]> http://www.ag.ncat.edu/agedispatch/2008/05/last-call-for-energy-camp-appl.html http://www.ag.ncat.edu/agedispatch/2008/05/last-call-for-energy-camp-appl.html Wed, 28 May 2008 16:13:00 -0500