Box 9656
410 Bost Extension Bldg.
DELIVERY: 190 Bost-North
Mississippi State, MS 39762
Phone: (662) 325-3207
Fax: (662) 325-8915
http://srdc.msstate.edu
August
2007, Vol. 3 No. 8
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- New Issue of the SRDC's Food Assistance
of the South's Vulnerable Populations Now Available
Overweight and obesity are leading public health concerns in the United States. Although overweight and obesity are preventable conditions in the majority of cases, their prevalence has increased significantly over the past two decades. Recent estimates indicate that 34.1 percent of Americans are classified as overweight, while 32.2 percent are classified as obese [17]. National estimates of obesity-related health care costs are alarming, yet, to date, no such estimates have been published for the Southern region overall or for population groups in the South. The Southern states have some of the highest rates of adult obesity in the nation. The objectives of this study, conducted by Jerome Kolbo, Wendy Bounds and Jacquelyn Lee from the University of Southern Mississippi and Amal J. Khoury from the University of Florida, were to determine the prevalence of overweight and obesity in the Southern region for adults overall and for population groups, and to estimate overweight- and obesity-related health care expenses for adults overall and for population groups, including age, gender, race/ethnicity, education and income groups. Read this brief at http://srdc.msstate.edu/focusareas/health/fa/fa_13_kolbo.pdf.
3rd Annual Access and Opportunity Summit
The Annie E. Casey Foundation has released its 18th annual KIDS
COUNT Data Book, providing national and state-by-state information and
statistical trends on the conditions of America’s children and
families. According to the book, the nation has seen improvement over
the past five years in key areas such as child death rates, teen birth
rates, high school dropout rates, and teens not in school and not working.
However, four areas have worsened, including low-birthweight babies,
children living in families where no parent has full-time year-round
employment, children in poverty and children in single-parent families.
Southern states did not fare well on many of the indicators, with nine
Southern states in the bottom ten in the nation in terms of the overall
KIDS COUNT ranking. Data is also available in an online database that
enables users to generate custom graphs, maps, ranked lists, and state-by-state
profiles. Access both the book and online database at http://www.aecf.org/MajorInitiatives/KIDSCOUNT.aspx.
The website of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation is now offering best
practices in areas such as rural development, health and volunteerism
has not only written profiles, but also videos, featuring over
100 different programs. The South is well-represented by efforts such
as the Enterprise Corporation of the Delta, the Rural Elderly Enhancement
program in Alabama's Black Belt region and the Pointe Coupee Community
Enrichment Fund in rural Louisiana. Browse the offerings at http://www.wkkf.org/default.aspx?tabid=1132&CID=-1&CatID=-1&NID=225&LanguageID=0&dg969pi=1.
This report presents a series of indicators on the status of education
in rural America based on their actual geographic coordinates into one
of 12 locale categories and distinguishes between rural areas that are
on the fringe of an urban
area, rural areas that are at some distance, and rural areas that are
remote. The findings of this report indicate that in 2003-04, over half
of all operating school districts and one-third of all public schools
in the United States were in rural areas. However, only one-fifth of
all public school students were enrolled in rural areas. To find out
more, download or order the full report from the NCES website at http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2007040.
In celebration of its 20th Anniversary, the Sustainable Agriculture
Research and Education (SARE) program has announced its first-ever national
photo competition. The theme is, "Groundbreaking Innovations, People
and Partnerships in Sustainable Agriculture." The
top four photos, one from each of SARE’s regions in the United
States, will receive grand prizes of free attendance and accommodations
at the anniversary conference, to be held March 25-27, 2008 in Kansas
City, Missouri. The deadline for submissions is October 31, 2007.
Full details can be found at http://www.sare.org/2008conference/photocontest.htm.
Due date: September 5, 2007
Request for Application: http://www.csrees.usda.gov/funding/rfas/pdfs/08_sbir.pdf
Volume 9, Number 6, August 2007
http://srdc.msstate.edu/funding/aug07.htm
-- Available August 27
The SRDC staff compiles Grant Connections primarily for the faculty
of land-grant colleges and universities in the South to provide funding
information in support of activities in agricultural economics, education,
human sciences, rural sociology, youth development, and other related
disciplines.
August 28-31, 2007
Louisville, Kentucky
http://srpln.msstate.edu/conferences/07pln/
September 14, 2007 -- June 13, 2008
Web Trainings
http://www.uwex.edu/ces/cced/communities/Building_Community.cfm
"Red Hot, Rural and Ready!"
September 23-25, 2007
Albuquerque, New Mexico
http://rcca.msgovt.org/rcca2007/
"Celebrating a Decade of Extending, Engaging, and Empowering"
Southern University AgCenter
September 26-28, 2007
Baton Rouge, LA
http://www.suagcenter.com/faithbased2007/FaithBased07.html
September 24-26, 2007
Washington, DC
http://nercrd.psu.edu/taluc/
October 15-19, 2007
Fayetteville, Arkansas
http://www.arnatural.org/water/
October 18-19, 2007
Kauffman Foundation
Kansas City, Missouri
http://dass.missouri.edu/agecon/mccel/workshop/
Strengthening the Partnership between Louisiana Community and Technical
College System, LSU AgCenter and the Southern Rural Development Center
October 30-November 1, 2007
Oak Grove, Louisiana
http://srdc.msstate.edu/rcci/07institute_la/
“Empowering Latino Student Success through Action and Multicultural
Partnerships”
Sponsored by Bluegrass Community and Technical College Office of Hispanic
Outreach and Services and Kentucky State
University Land Grant’s Hispanic Initiative
November 1-2, 2007
Lexington, Kentucky
**Call for Proposals deadline is August 25,
2007 -- email abstracts to: erin.howard@kctcs.edu**
"120 Years: Celebrating the Past, Embracing the Future"
November 11-13, 2007
New York, New York
http://www.nasulgc.org
January 17-18, 2008
Clarksville, Indiana
http://www.ces.purdue.edu/dearborn/diversityconf.htm
March 25-27, 2008
Kansas City, Missouri
http://sare.org/2008Conference/index.htm
"Leopolds legacy: Extension's Response to a Changing World"
May 20-23, 2008
Madison, Wisconsin
**Call for Proposals is now open**
http://www.anrep.org/conferences/news-460a75a1c6611.pdf
- Dr. Sylvia Blankenship has been named Interim Director of the North Carolina Agricultural Research Service, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
- Assistant Professor, Extension Specialist, Sustainable Rural Tourism
Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management / College of Natural Resources
North Carolina State University
View announcement: http://srdc.msstate.edu/news/jobs/ncsu_tourism.doc
- Assistant/Associate Professor, Extension Specialist, Community Viability
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
View announcement: http://jobs.vt.edu/applicants/Central?quickFind=185961
- Community, Natural Resource and Economic Development Agent
University of Wisconsin-Extension
View announcement: http://www.uwex.edu/ces/hr/listing.cfm?PVL=C08001
- Director
Western Rural Development Center
Utah State University
View announcement: https://jobs.usu.edu (Req #050671)
Job announcements and other items of interest may be sent to Rachel Welborn, rachelw@srdc.msstate.edu, for possible inclusion in future issues.
Subscribe to Around the South: http://srdc.msstate.edu/news/signup.htm
Some photos on this
page
courtesy of USDA NRCS.
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