{"id":11412,"date":"2000-01-06T20:47:30","date_gmt":"2000-01-06T20:47:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/funkaces\/?p=11412"},"modified":"2018-03-06T20:55:09","modified_gmt":"2018-03-06T20:55:09","slug":"acdc-news-issue-00-14","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/funkaces\/acdc-news-issue-00-14\/","title":{"rendered":"ACDC News \u2013 Issue 00-14"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3 align=\"left\"><b>Reconciling<a name=\"reconciling\"><\/a>\u00a0nature\u2019s jumble and straight-row beauty.<\/b><\/h3>\n<p align=\"left\">A new research report urges watershed management scientists to recognize, understand and work more closely with the perspectives that farmers bring to agricultural practices. During the past three years, a research team has interviewed central Illinois farmers to better understand their lives and habits, their agricultural and environmental practices, and the meanings behind those practices.<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">&#8220;We all need beauty in our lives, and farmers actively cultivate a form of beauty through practices such as straight row cropping and the straightening and dredging of stream channels,&#8221; the report says. &#8220;But modifying those channels also significantly reduces biodiversity and results in poorer stream habitats.&#8221; The researchers suggested that to communicate effectively with farmers, scientists must integrate an understanding of both natural science and social science. The Environmental Protection Agency and the National Science Foundation supported their study.<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">Reference: Use title search (&#8220;Cultivating common ground between scientists and farmers&#8221;) or author search (Kloeppel) for the full citation.<\/p>\n<hr align=\"left\" \/>\n<h3 align=\"left\"><b>What<a name=\"what\"><\/a>\u00a0are farmers thinking and feeling?<\/b><\/h3>\n<p align=\"left\">If you are wondering what\u2019s on farmers\u2019 minds these days, you may be able to locate useful information in the Documentation Center. For example, a Subject search on only one of the relevant subject terms &#8211; &#8220;farmer attitudes&#8221; &#8211; can identify more than 400 documents.<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">These documents can help you tune in on farmers\u2019 thinking (in various countries) about a wide range of topics: biotechnology, animal rights, food safety, wetland preservation and other environmental issues, risk aversion, government programs, universities and extension services, farm chemical usage, Internet and other information technologies, farming practices and others.<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">Let us know if we can help you locate information about farmers\u2019 attitudes \u2013 current, or in the past &#8211; toward specific topics of interest to you.<\/p>\n<hr align=\"left\" \/>\n<h3 align=\"left\"><b>Incentives<a name=\"in\"><\/a>\u00a0for telecommunication investment in rural areas<\/b>.<\/h3>\n<p align=\"left\">A paper entered recently into the Documentation Center collection describes some public strategies being used in various countries to reduce the telecommunications gap in rural and remote areas. Examples:<\/p>\n<div align=\"left\">\n<ul>\n<li>Issue licenses for franchises (as for cellular radio in Argentina and Mexico)<\/li>\n<li>Delineate territories that can be served by local entities (as for telephone service in Delhi, India)<\/li>\n<li>Open unserved areas to private franchises (as for wireless technologies in parts of the U.S.)<\/li>\n<li>Allow carriers pricing flexibility (as for cellular systems in the Philippines)<\/li>\n<li>Provide investment incentives (as for telecommunication facilities in Indonesia)<\/li>\n<li>Provide service incentives (such as telephones in kiosks that also sell soft drinks and newspapers in Rwanda)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p align=\"left\">Reference: Use title search (&#8220;Global information infrastructure: the rural challenge&#8221;) or author search (Hudson) for the full citation.<\/p>\n<hr align=\"left\" \/>\n<h3 align=\"left\"><b>New<a name=\"new\"><\/a>\u00a0National Science Board report<\/b>.<\/h3>\n<p align=\"left\">Public attitudes toward genetic engineering and the use of animals in scientific research make up part of the Board\u2019s biennial report to the President on the state of U.S. science, engineering and technology. Chapter 8 of the report cites findings from a public attitude survey (1999) sponsored by the National Science Foundation, as well as from other studies.<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">Reference: Use title search (&#8220;Science and technology: public attitudes and public understanding&#8221;) for the full citation. The\u00a0<i>Science and Engineering Indicators 2000<\/i>\u00a0volume is posted at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nsf.gov\/cgi-bin\/getpub?nsb001\">www.nsf.gov\/cgi-bin\/getpub?nsb001<\/a><\/p>\n<hr align=\"left\" \/>\n<h3 align=\"left\"><b>Challenges<a name=\"ch\"><\/a>\u00a0in covering environmental issues<\/b>.<\/h3>\n<p align=\"left\">Journalists identified some of their current challenges during an interesting discussion in Toronto, Canada, on May 27. They spoke as panelists during a conference session, &#8220;The state and future of environmental journalism.&#8221; The Canadian Association of Journalists (Toronto Chapter) and the Society of Environmental Journalism sponsored this conference, called &#8220;Environmental Notebook I.&#8221; Here are some of the challenges mentioned:<\/p>\n<div align=\"left\">\n<ul>\n<li>Environmental issues are getting murkier (even as some water and air are becoming clearer than during the days when we could see more easily the pollution in them).<\/li>\n<li>Assignment editors tend to favor &#8220;blood on the floor&#8221; news over environmental matters that may be much more important.<\/li>\n<li>Lots of voices are coming into environmental debates, from many sources.<\/li>\n<li>On-the-job training sometimes isn\u2019t enough for journalists as they try to cover increasingly complex environmental issues.<\/li>\n<li>Editors and others may see the environmental journalists as advocates.<\/li>\n<li>Pressures from advertisers and other interest groups may limit coverage.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<hr align=\"left\" \/>\n<h3 align=\"left\"><b>Despite<a name=\"de\"><\/a>\u00a0the challenges<\/b><\/h3>\n<p align=\"left\">These journalists emphasized the importance of their efforts. They also shared some techniques they use and some opportunities they see. Among them:<\/p>\n<div align=\"left\">\n<ul>\n<li>New applications of web-based reporting about environmental issues.<\/li>\n<li>Reporting on environmental issues within the context of popular topics of the day (e.g., business, health).<\/li>\n<li>More investigative reporting, as extensions of the &#8220;awareness&#8221; reporting that characterizes much of current environmental coverage.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p align=\"left\">Reference: This discussion is available in the Center as an audiocassette. Use a title search (&#8220;The state and future of environmental journalism&#8221;) for the full citation. Contact us about how to get access to the audio proceedings.<\/p>\n<hr align=\"left\" \/>\n<h3 align=\"left\"><b>Here<a name=\"here\"><\/a>\u00a0are some of the information requests to which we have responded recently<\/b>:<\/h3>\n<div align=\"left\">\n<ul>\n<li>Role and future of professional communicators in land-grant universities<\/li>\n<li>Resources for communicating about farm worker safety<\/li>\n<li>Ethical dilemmas in agricultural journalism<\/li>\n<li>Lists of agricultural reporters for metropolitan newspapers<\/li>\n<li>Current communications efforts related to food biotechnology<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p align=\"left\">Please let us know when you need information about the communications aspects of food and agriculture. We will help in any way we can.<\/p>\n<hr align=\"left\" \/>\n<h3 align=\"left\"><b>Making<a name=\"making\"><\/a>\u00a0information available to all<\/b>.<\/h3>\n<p align=\"left\">You may have noticed the &#8220;Bobby Approved&#8221; logo on our home page. It reflects our desire and efforts to help make information in the Center accessible and usable to all persons, including those with disabilities. The Bobby software tests a web site, in terms of accessibility.<\/p>\n<hr align=\"left\" \/>\n<h3 align=\"left\"><b>Books<a name=\"books\"><\/a>\u00a0closely related to development communication<\/b>.<\/h3>\n<p align=\"left\">Professor Royal Colle of Cornell University recently provided such a list. Most of these books have been published within the past five years. You can view the list at:<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.devmedia.org\/documents\/DevCom.ref.htm\">http:\/\/www.devmedia.org\/documents\/DevCom.ref.htm<\/a><\/p>\n<hr align=\"left\" \/>\n<h3 align=\"left\"><b>Professional meetings approaching<\/b><a name=\"professional\"><\/a>.<\/h3>\n<p align=\"left\">Following are some conferences, workshops and other kinds of professional improvement events for agricultural communicators:<\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">September 2-12, 2000<br \/>\n2000 World Congress of the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists (IFAJ) in Australia. Opens in Adelaide, SA, then progresses via selected tours to Canberra.<br \/>\nInformation:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/agtour.com.au\/ifaj\">http:\/\/agtour.com.au\/ifaj<\/a>\u00a0and Sandy Grieve at\u00a0<a href=\"mailto:grieveas@bigpond.com\">grieveas@bigpond.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">September 28 \u2013 October 1, 2000<br \/>\n&#8220;CFWF 2000.&#8221; Conference of the Canadian Farm Writers Federation at Lethbridge, Alberta. Theme: &#8220;Farming on the green planet \u2013 the new age of stewardship.&#8221;<br \/>\nInformation:\u00a0<a href=\"mailto:cstanfie@fieldstone.ca\">cstanfie@fieldstone.ca<\/a><\/p>\n<p align=\"left\">October 8 &#8211; 10, 2000<br \/>\n&#8220;Engaged institutions\u2019 role in biotechnology education.&#8221; Symposium at Iowa State University, Ames. For representatives of educational institutions<br \/>\n(K-12, community colleges, universities) as well as producer, media and business\/industry partners that are involved in biotechnology education.<br \/>\nInformation:\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.biotech.iastate.edu\/symposium_oct2000.html\">www.biotech.iastate.edu\/symposium_oct2000.html<\/a><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3 align=\"left\"><a name=\"Best\"><\/a><b>Best<\/b><b>\u00a0regards and good searching<\/b>.<\/h3>\n<p align=\"left\">Please let us know if we can help you find information and\/or if you can suggest documents that we might add to this collection.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Reconciling\u00a0nature\u2019s jumble and straight-row beauty. A new research report urges watershed management scientists to recognize, understand and work more closely with the perspectives that farmers bring to agricultural practices. During the past three years, a research team has interviewed central Illinois farmers to better understand their lives and habits, their agricultural and environmental practices, and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":139,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11412","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-acdc_news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/funkaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11412","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/funkaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/funkaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/funkaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/139"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/funkaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11412"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/funkaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11412\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11413,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/funkaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11412\/revisions\/11413"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/funkaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11412"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/funkaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11412"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.library.illinois.edu\/funkaces\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}