Grassland FFA Members Tour RSU College Of Ag
NEW HOLLAND (Uncaster
Co.) Selected members of the
Grassland FFA from Garden Spot
High School recently participated
in an all-day tour of Penn State’s
College of Agriculture. Ag
Instructors Phil Ogline arid Bob
Uuffer set up the tour with the
cooperation of Marianne L.
Houser, Coordinator of Undergra
duate Recruitment for the College
of Agriculture.
Garden Spot agriculture stu
dents who took part in the tour,
which was designed to orient them
to the possibilities within the Col
lege of Agriculture, included:
Mike Diem, Steve Horst, Alan
Houck, Bob Jenkins, Corey
Kunkle, Chris Long, Shelly
Ogline, and Greg Huber.
The day started with a tour of
Penn State’s Deer Research Facil
ity where the group saw the results
of various research projects on
nutrition, antler growth, genetics,
etc. A highlight was a close-up
look at Penn State’s prize buck
who weighed well over 300
pounds at 2 'A years of age (a Penn
State record).
Also of interest was the
research being done on the Blue
Duiker, a member of the deer fam
ily that is the world’s smallest
ruminant animal. These tiny deer
will ultimately become the “white
mice” of ruminant digestion and
nutrition research since they are
small and lend themselves well to
laboratory research.
Next the Garden Spot group
toured the Penn State University
Creamery and were exposed to the
rapidly growing technologies in
handling, processing, storing and
marketing of milk and milk pro
ducts. They saw everything from
milk to ice cream to cultured pro
ducts such as cheeses and yogurt.
Penn State Names Extension Directors
UNIVERSITY PARK (Centre
Co.) Dr. Theodore R. Alter,
Diane V. Brown and Dr. Paul J.
Wangsness have been named reg
ional directors for Penn State
Cooperative Extension. As reg
ional directors they will supervise
county and regional staff, coordi
nate program development and
administer budgets for their geo
graphic regions. Pennsylvania is
divided into five geographic reg
ions and the regional director is
the administrative officer for the
region.
Alter, professor of agricultural
economics, began his new duties
as director of the southeast region
July 1. The counties in the south
east region include Berks, Bucks.
Chester. Delaware, Lehigh, Mont
gomery. Northampton, Philadel
phia and Schuylkill.
In the department of agricultur
al economics his major responsi
bilities centered on the develop
ment and implementation of
extension and research programs.
Those programs focused on gov
ernment finance and its relation
ship to environmental quality, the
provision of public services and
economic development.
In 1985, he received the Ameri
can Agricultural Economics Asso
ciation Distinguished Extension
Program Award. The award rec
ognized his efforts in developing a
program designed to help citizens,
local government officials and
extension agents meet the increas
ingly sophisticated demands of
government financial manage
ment and public financial policy
making.
He earned his bachelor of arts
degree in economics from the
University of Rochester and his
They were then treated to a fam
ous Penn State ice-cream cone of
their choice.
Marianne Houser gave the
group an overview of the College
of Agriculture. She stressed the
importance of getting a strong
background in math, science and
communications to be successful
in today’s agricultural world. She
told the students that the agricul
tural background they are obtain
ing in high school and the leader
ship skills they are obtaining
through FFA participation will put
them in a good position when it
comes to being successful in col
lege and ultimately in their
careers. She also outlined proce
dures for application and admis
sion and the many possibilities for
financial assistance and scholar
ships in the agricultural areas.
The group was then exposed to
a series of short presentations
from various departments within
the College of Agriculture includ
ing; Dairy and Animal Science,
Agricultural Economics and Agri
cultural Business Management,
Food Science (which stresses the
practical applications of science as
relates to the food industry). Agro
nomy (crops and soils), ERM
(Environmental Resource Man
agement) which is an interdisci
plinary program which works with
seven departments in the College
of Agricutlure, Forestry, Wildlife
and Fisheries Science.
Next on the agenda was a trip to
the Forest Resources laboratory
on campus where they were
exposed to research being done on
the effects of acid precipitation on
various tree species, methods of
propagating trees, etc.
The last stop of the day was a
side trip to the Pa. Fish Commis
sion’s Fish Culture Station at Ben
master of science and Ph.D. in
resource economics from Michi
gan State University. He also
served three years in the U.S.
Army.
Brown most recently was assis
tant to the regional director in the
southeast region. She began her
new duties as regional director of
the western region Aug. 1. The
region consists of 17 counties
including Allegheny, Armstrong.
Beaver, Butler. Clarion, Craw
ford. Forest. Fayette, Erie,
Greene, Indiana, Lawrence, Mer
cer, Warren, Washington, West
moreland and Venango.
As assistant to the director she
worked closely with the director
in developing programs and prior
ities for the region. She began her
career in extension working as an
extension home economist in Vir
ginia for two years. She held simi
Wart!
Steve Horst, Corey Kunkle and Bob Jenkins a research project In the foresty depart
ment on the effects of acid rain on forests.
ner Springs where the students
saw the lastest methods of feeding
and rearing trout in raceways.
The consensus of the group
after a 14-hour day and whirlwind
tour was that they were exhausted
but had gained a lot of insight and
had some definite food for thought
as the considered future schooling
and employment possibilities.
Students suggested the possibility
of expanding the program to two
days next year so that they could
absorb more and go into more
depth on some of the areas to
which they had been exposed.
lar positions in Maryland for nine
years and in lowa for two years.
Brown came to Pennsylvania in
1980 as a regional extension home
economist in the southeast. Her
responsibilities in an eight-county
area included providing program
leadership in family resource
management, energy, equipment
and food economics.
Throughout her career in exten
sion. she has been a leader in state
and national professional associa
tions and a spokesperson for
extension at the national level. In
1988 she received the Ruby
Award, a state distinguished ser
vice award given in recognition of
outstanding contributibns and
excellence in programming by an
individual. It is the highest award
given to a state cooperative exten
sion professional.
In 198 S she received the Out
less
Afl Instructor Phil Ogllne (front) and Steve Horst, sopho
more at Garden Spot, examine the plant science projects
during the tour of Penn State’s College of Agriculture.
standing Pennsylvania Home Eco
nomist Award from the National
Association of Extension Home
economists. She was the first
extension home economist in
Pennsylvania to be so honored.
The award is given to an individu
al who has received the associa
tion’s Distinguished Service
Award and who has been active in
personal and professional
improvement programs.
Brown has a bachelor’s degree
in home economics education
After
me Brnwn
from Bridgewater College,
Bridgewater, Virginia. She earned
a master’s degree in family man
agement and community develop
ment from the University of
Maryland. Currently, she is com
pleting the requirements for her
doctorate in education in adult
education from Penn State.
Wangsness, head of the depart
ment of dairy and animal science
and professor of animal nutrition,
will direct efforts for the seven
counties in the capital region.
Those counties include: Adams.
Cumberland, Dauphin. Franklin,
Lancaster, Lebanon and York. He
will begin Sept. 1.
Wangsness has been head of
dairy and animal science since
1980. As department head, he has
had responsibility for departmen
tal programs in support of exten
sion, research and teaching.
During his tenure the depart
ment has continued to attract top
faculty with more than half of the
faculty hired over the last eight
years. External -funding is now
four times greater and several
research areas have gained inter
national recognition. Wangsness
is very proud of a new graduate
major in animal science, a new
undergraduate major in dairy and
animal science and the depart-
(Turn to Pago A 36)