Vertical lists

Few documents come out of academia that don’t include a couple of paragraphs that are listings — a list of equipment, a list of collaborating agencies, course listing, etc. If you see that you’ve got a long listing (five or more entries) that’s horizontal, with entries separated by commas or semicolons, there are a lot of good reasons to convert it to a vertical list, with each entry on one line and introduced with a bullet or asterisk. Readers tend to skim listings instead of reading each entry closely, and a vertical listing makes it unmistakably clear that it’s text that can be skimmed. Vertical lists also work well on Web pages — an important consideration for almost every document these days.

Here are a few guidelines for vertical lists:

Use a colon — not a dash — to introduce the list.

Number vertical lists when the entries are part of a sequence, but when no sequence of actions is involved use bullets.

Sequential:

All students planning on attending the Career Expo should:

1. Pre-register two weeks in advance.

2. Update their resumes and make 25 copies the week before the Expo.

3. Dress in their best business attire on Expo day.

Non-sequential:

Students attending the Career Expo should bring along:

• At least 25 copies of their resume

• A print-out of their registration form

• Their university ID card

When bulleted items are sentences, capitalize the first letter of each and use appropriate end punctuation. When they consist of single words or phrases, lowercase is best.

In a bulleted list, the bullet takes the place of punctuation (such as commas or semicolons) between items in a list. Don't put periods or semicolons at the ends of bulleted entries that are not sentences.

When bulleted items are sentences, capitalize only the first letter of each word. And even when the entries on a bullet listing are short phrases instead of sentences, it’s best to capitalize only the first word.

Keep bulleted listings consistent. If some of the entries are sentences, make all of them sentences. If most entries begin with verbs, begin all entries with verbs.

Indent your bulleted list from text that comes before and after. Consider the density of the surrounding copy and whether your list might get lost, even with the bullets.

If you’ve got a sequential list and enumerate it, use numbers, not letters.

There’s no need to put numbers in full parenthesis, or to put a close-parenthesis after the period following the numeral.

Posted 4:17 PM | Comments (0)

SAES takes battle of New Orleans

Click here for the A&T roll call

The SAES was the dominant force at the first-ever joint conference of Cooperative Extension and research program staffs from the 1890 Land-Grant Institutions in New Orleans this week. Of the 40 Extension and research projects selected for spotlighting at the conference, 14 were from the SAES. Southern came in second with seven presentations, and none of the other 18 institutions had more than five.

Carrying the mantle for the SAES:

• Dr. Ipek Goktepe presented research findings on the “Effect of Tiger Milk Mushroom Extract on Cancer Cells’ Growth and Proliferation.” Drs. Jimo Ibrahim and Omon Ishikhuemhen were project collaborators.
• Dr. G. B. Reddy presented research findings from an investigation of “Nitrogen Cycling in Constructed Wetlands as Related to Swine Wastewater” that he and Dr. Richard Phillips have conducted.
• Dr. Hong Yang presented research into the “Microbiological Quality of Turnip Greens Treated with Oxine and Warm Water,” a project that Dr. C. W. Seo is involved with also.
• Dr. Keith Baldwin and Travella Free presented Cooperative Extension’s “Discover Agriculture” program that uses the A&T University farm to introduce grade school children to agriculture. Materials prepared by Drs. Ellen Smoak and Robert Williamson of Extension play an important role in “Discover Agriculture.”
• Dr. Valerie J. McMillan of the Department of Human Environment and Family Sciences presented “An Integrated Approach to Evaluating Youth Intervention Strategies,” a project that involves both Extension and Research. The SAES team is applying scholarly methodologies to “real world” testing of the Strong African-America Families (SAAF) program that was developed at the University of Georgia. Dr. Jean Baldwin, Cooperative Extension’s family life and human development specialist, and Dr. Gladys Shelton, HEFS chair, are also part of this effort.
• Dr. Claudette Smith presented her Extension program “Expanding Financial Literacy Resources and Program Reach Through Collaboration.”
• Dr. Jimo Ibrahim presented research that set the groundwork for an “Assessment of Minority Farmers’ Health and Safety in Selected Counties of North Carolina.” Dr. Raphael Okafor was Ibrahim’s partner in this research.
• Dr. Jean Baldwin presented a curriculum she has developed entitled “Parenting Matters: Parent Education for Court-Mandated and Department of Social Services (DDS) Referred Parents.”
• Dr. Ghasem Shahbazi presented his research into the potential for “Conversion of Cheese Whey into Value-Added Products” that he has been conducting along with Dr. Yebo Li.
• Extension Associate Mary Mafuyai-Enkanem was part of a team from three 1890 Land-Grants that investigated the “Social Acceptability of Agricultural Biotechnology: The Case of Genetically Modified Crops.”
• Dr. Salam Ibrahim presented an “Evaluation of the Microbiological Quality of Bifidobacteria Probiotic Dietary Supplements Available in North Carolina,” which was performed in collaboration with Drs. C. W. Seo and Ghasem Shahbazi.
• Research into the “Inhibition of Escherichia Coli 0157:47 in Meat Products Using Lactobacillus reuteri Supplement” was presented by Dr. Salam Ibrahim. Drs. C. W. Seo and Vestel Shirley are project collaborators.
• Dr. Keith Baldwin and Theresa Nartea of Cooperative Extension presented their program for “Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Production and Marketing Tools for Extension-based Education to Limited-Resource Small Farmers.”
• Dr. Daniel Lyons of Cooperative Extension worked with colleagues from Kentucky State University and Prairie View A&M on the ”Risk-Assessed Business Planning for Small Producers” project.
Much of the SAES research work presented at the conference was conducted with the assistance of graduate students, and some of the projects involved collaborating scientists from agribusiness partners.
Research and Extension programs were divided into six subject matter areas: Nutrition and Health, Small Farms, Community and Economic Development, Quality of Life for Families, Environment and Natural Resources, and New and Emerging Issues. At the conference awards banquet two programs from each area received special recognitions. “Discover Agriculture” (Dr. Keith Baldwin and Travella Free) took first place in the Youth Development group; “Parenting Matters” (Dr. Jean Baldwin) topped Quality of Life for Families; “Conversion of Cheese Whey into Value-Added Products” (Drs. Shahbazi and Li) came in first in the Environment and Natural Resources group; and “Nitrogen Cycling in Constructed Wetlands as Related to Swine Wastewater” (Drs. Reddy and Phillips) was singled out in the Small Farms group.

Posted 4:01 PM | Comments (0)

Time to propose

June 30 is the application deadline for proposals for Evans-Allen research proposals for the 2006 fiscal year. Researchers with new proposals should take note of the Agricultural Research Program’s (ARP) review and approval procedure, which requires approval by the appropriate department chair before the proposal is submitted to the ARP administrative staff for processing.

Posted 3:59 PM | Comments (0)

SAES Web work arose in San Antone

Ag. Communications & Technology’s Web developer, Stephen Charles, gave a presentation entitled “Stop the Static: How to Maintain Web Content” at a national conference for communications and information technology specialists in San Antonio in mid-June. The SAES Extension Web site is the case study for the presentation, so it’s recommended reading for the SAES faculty (the PowerPoint presentation is linked here). The presentation shows simple strategies that enable developers to maintain web content on a budget.

Charles was invited to share the SAES Web page story at the annual National Extension Technology Conference (NETC), which fuses with the Association of Communication Excellence (ACE) in Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Life and Human Sciences for a conference in odd-numbered years, while the communicators’ organization and the Extension Technology Conference have individual gatherings in even-numbered years. The Extension Video Producers Group and a student organization, Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow, also join the coalition for biannual NETC/ACE conferences such as the one in San Antonio.

Posted 3:57 PM | Comments (0)

Encore performance

Dr. Thessalenuere Hinnant-Bernard, an SAES housing researcher, was invited to conduct a seminar for the Summer Research Institute for students in A&T’s Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program. Hinnant-Bernard’s seminar — "A Snapshot of the Research Process" — covered the basic steps in research methodologies and the components of research planning and design. This is the second consecutive summer that Hinnant-Bernard was invited to kick off the Summer Research Institute for McNair Scholars with a seminar. Hinnant-Bernard’s research specialties are the social and economic aspects of housing, and such consumer issues as predatory lending.
A&T was one of 14 universities selected in 1989 to pilot a program named to honor Challenger crew member and A&T alumnus Ronald E. McNair. It has since grown into a major Department of Education scholarship program, serving thousands of students at colleges and universities across the United States. For an overview of the program’s national scope, visit http://www.ed.gov/programs/triomcnair/index.html. For a look at the McNair Program at A&T, go to http://www.ncat.edu/~remcnair/homepage.htm.

Posted 3:45 PM | Comments (0)

Peanut buttress

The news on a Louisville television station’s Web site is that, “Researchers in North Carolina say they’ve developed a special fermentation process that cuts the level of allergic proteins in peanuts by 70 percent.” A news service specializing in health and science which has more than two million visitors a month (http://www.news-medical.net/?id=10759) says that, “According to Dr. Jianmei Yu, and her colleagues at North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro, if the new processing method is successful it could allow for allergy-free peanut butter, cookies and other peanut products.” And London-based Reuters (which along with the Associated Press is one of the world’s two most influential news services) reported that, “A special fermentation process may significantly reduce the potential for allergic reaction to peanut products ... Dr. Jianmei Yu ... and her colleagues at North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro reported... in Atlanta at a meeting of the American Society for Microbiology.” (The complete article is at this link). Dr. Ipek Goktepe and Corrie Stowe, a graduate student, have been collaborating on the project, which is led by Dr. Mohamed Ahmedna, who was cited in a Greensboro News & Record story on children and food allergies (http://www.news-record.com/news/local/gso/peanut_062105.htm).

Research into peanut allergies is a hot topic because of the sometimes life-threatening reactions many children with allergies have when they ingest, or so much as come in contact with peanut products. There has also been a significant rise in the percentage of children with food allergies in recent decades.

Some school districts (including a few in North Carolina) have removed peanut products from school cafeteria menus, while others have gone so far as to set aside peanut-free tables in school cafeterias — where peanut products are banned even from lunches students bring from home. A Florida teenager’s severe allergies recently led to special permission for the teen to attend school with a helper dog trained to sniff out peanut products. The governor of Florida recently signed a bill allowing children with severe allergies to have anti-reaction EpiPens (a needle for a quick injection of epinephrine to reverse swelling) on school grounds, and the poster girl for the legislation was a 9-year-old with peanut allergies.

Although research into reasons behind the increased number of children with food allergies is just beginning, one theory is that the rise is a result of the reduction in infant illnesses because of better vaccinations, leading to immune system overreaction to the proteins in peanuts and other common stimulants. As for research such as Dr. Yu’s that holds potential for suppressing the allergic reaction potential in everyday foods, there’s no need to theorize. It’s of vital importance.

Posted 3:41 PM | Comments (0)

Big opportunities for Small Farm Conference

In mid-October the SAES will be hosting the Fourth National Small Farm Conference, and June 30 is the proposal deadline for:
• Posters presenting the work of public and private sector organizations that have improved the economic horizons for small-scale agriculture
• Presentations covering alternative enterprises, marketing, organic production, or programs and services for small-scale producers
• Exhibits promoting the work of public and private sector farm support organizations
• Success stories that showcase the impact of programs for small farms

For complete details, visit the Small Farm Conference Web site.

Posted 3:39 PM | Comments (0)

Staff update

Mike Bratcher has assumed responsibilities as the immediate supervisor for the information technology team within the Ag. Communications and Technology unit. Bratcher moves from support for day-to-day SAES computer needs to supervising the IT staff, developing long and short-term IT strategy and other projects. Bratcher’s IT staff will include computer consultant Lalit Rainey at Coltrane Hall, and Sabrina Roddy Snider, who will be joining the SAES as a computer consultant July 1. Snider’s office will be in Carver Hall.

Posted 3:37 PM | Comments (0)