|
|
|
Greetings to our alumni and friends. We hope you enjoy this issue of the departmental newsletter. I greatly appreciate the efforts of Judy Rudin, Anna Whitney and Yulia Popova in helping to produce the newsletter. I have enjoyed hearing from a number of you, and we will continue to try to keep you informed of departmental events and changes.
We welcome two new faculty members who have joined us this year. Dr. Eric DeVuyst comes to us as an associate professor working in the areas of farm management and production systems. Eric has a joint extension and research appointment. He was formerly on the faculty of North Dakota State University and holds a Ph.D. from Purdue University. Dr. Dave Shideler joins us as a new assistant professor working in the area of economic development. Dave also holds a joint extension and research appointment and comes to us from Murray State University most recently. Dave holds a Ph.D. from Ohio State University. We are excited to have Eric and Dave join us.
We are very pleased to welcome Kathi Williams and Ginny Cornelsen to our staff working as administrative support assistants in the department. Ammid Burke has joined us helping with information technology, and Dr. Al Tongco is a new research associate. Our two new extension assistants in 2008 include Lara Brooks and Ilda Hersey, who will both be working with Drs. Whitacre and Doeksen.
Again, I express appreciation on behalf of the department for our generous donors this past year. Mr. Gene Rainbolt and AJ and Susan Jacques provided support for two new chairs in our department. Dr. Barry Pollard and the Oklahoma Farm Credit Associations both provided support for new professorships. The Baird family and Don and Linda Kloth provided support for two new endowed scholarship funds. This extraordinary support will allow us to attract and retain quality faculty members and support deserving students in the department. Thank you!
Mike D. Woods
Professor and Head
Department of Agricultural Economics
|
top |
|
| |
|
|
Ag Econ Senior Austin Horn selected as Homecoming King 
Austin Horn, agricultural economics senior from Yukon, won the 2008 Homecoming King title. He and his queen, Brooke Clay, agricultural communications senior from Perkins, were crowned at halftime of the OSU/Baylor football game.
Horn commented that the moment before the winners were announced were intense. He said, “I don’t know what I did any better than anybody else to be deserving of the title, but I do feel fortunate that they trust me to keep this title and represent OSU for a year.
Horn is Agriculture Council President, Student Government Association Speakers Board member, and a Greek Ambassador.
 Jered Davidson selected for national forum
Agricultural Economics major Jered Davidson (Fort Cobb) was one of 51 college juniors across the nation selected for the Inaugural Student Congress of the Henry Clay Center for Statesmen held in Lexington, Kentucky in July. The forum, according to Davidson, was created to bring “students from across the country to work together to proactively tackle issues facing America as a whole in the market.” Davidson’s minor is political science, and he believes that this interest combined with growing up in a small town gave him a unique voice at the forum. He said the group dealt with “issues we are facing that they are tackling at the same time in the European Union, Africa, and the Mideast.”
|
|
Robert Parrish wins 2008 Oklahoma Wheat Show Grand Championship
In his ninth and final year to show at the Oklahoma Wheat Show, agricultural economics freshman Robert Parrish (Kremlin-Hillsdale) won the grand prize at the annual youth wheat show, coordinated by Dr. Kim Anderson and Oklahoma State University. The show is sponsored by OSU, the Oklahoma Wheat Commission, and the Oklahoma Wheat Research Foundation. Parrish won a first and grand champion in the FFA division for his Overley entry, and he also won a third for his Endurance variety entry. He won $2,000 in scholarship money. |
|
Students make CASNR top ten and top twenty freshmen lists
Wyatt Swinford (Okema, Agribusiness) has been selected as one of the Top Ten Freshmen in the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources (CASNR) for 2007-2008.
Among the Top Twenty Freshmen Men and Women in CASNR for 2007-2008 are Paula Smithheisler (Tonkawa, Agricultural Economics); Rayne Austin (Ringling, Agricultural Economics) Paul Barbour (Guthrie, Agribusiness) Bryce Castonguay (Omega, Agribusiness) Justin Ladd (Perry, Agribusiness); and Cody Ott (Hartshorne, Agribusiness). |
|
Shea Griffin receives award at WAEA
Shea Griffin (Stillwater, Agribusiness), won the award for the 2007-2008 outstanding senior at the Western Agricultural Economics Association meeting this summer. |
|
Aggie-X News
(Submitted by Carol Cook, President)
Back-2-School Bash
 On September 2, 2008, Aggie-X held its annual Back-2-School Bash at Boomer Lake. Sixty students and ten Agricultural Economics faculty members attended. Dr. Joe Williams graciously donated the use of his meat smoker on which Dr. Derrell Peel grilled eighty hamburgers for everyone’s culinary pleasure. After visiting and meeting some of the new members, the students enjoyed a game of volleyball before the meal. Then everyone had a slice of cold, fresh watermelon donated by Triple S Farms of Hydro, Oklahoma. Although thunderstorms threatened to rain us out for the second year in a row, the precipitation held off, and the cloud-cover gave us a nice cool breeze. A great time was had by all and Aggie-X would like to thank all of the faculty members who took the time to come visit with them!
Aggie-X Update
My, how the time flies! It’s hard to believe that we’re already halfway through the fall semester. Aggie-X has been busy, busy, busy this semester working on recruiting new members, preparing our community service activities, and planning our 1st Annual Ag Econ Tailgate! We started off the semester by participating in the CASNR Ag Roundup. Our officer team prepared a wonderful display, which was highlighted by a new digital scrolling sign donated by Dr. Derrell Peel, and took advantage of the opportunity to tell all the new CASNR freshmen about Aggie-X.
One week later, our hard work at Ag Roundup paid off when sixty students came to our annual Back-2-School Bash. We were thrilled with the wonderful turnout of the students and faculty who came and had a great time meeting all of the new members.
Our first meeting was September 16, 2008. We were pleased to have the largest turnout ever for an Aggie-X meeting – 75 students! The CASNR Career Liaisons came and gave a presentation over resources available through Career Services and how to access HireOSUGrads.com. The Aggie-X officers have set a goal to make Aggie-X more career-oriented this year. We have decided to invite a speaker in for each meeting to talk about their career path and give advice on how to start and build a career in different fields.
For our second meeting on October 7, 2008, we focused on our Agribusiness majors with a Pre-Law option. Mr. Derrick Davies, a 2004 Ag Econ alum and recent graduate of OCU Law School, gave a wonderful presentation over how to get into law school, what law school was really like, and why he chose his current career path. Drs. Damian Adams and Shannon Ferrell, both graduates of accredited law schools, also spoke with Aggie-X members about their experiences in attaining their Juris Doctors.
Aggie-X Tail Gate
We are very excited about our upcoming Ag Econ Tailgate on November 1st (see ad on front page), when OSU plays Iowa State. The tailgate time is noon, 2 1/2 hours before kickoff at 2:30. There will be a free meal, door prizes, and lots of fun and fellowship as we invite Ag Econ alum to come back on campus to catch up with their former professors and talk with current Ag Econ students about their career paths. We invite everyone to come to the lawn on the north side of Ag Hall and have a good time with us!
|
|
top |
|
| |
|
|
Graduate Student Team wins Case Study Award at AAEA
A graduate student team comprised of Ph.D students Kathleen Brooks (Haven, Kansas) and Shannon Sand (Alachua, Florida) under advisor Brian Briggeman, Assistant Professor, won first place, out of nine teams, in the AAEA graduate student case study competition at the 2008 American Agricultural Economics Association (AAEA) and the American Council on Consumer Interests (ACCI) Joint Annual Meeting in Orlando, Florida this summer.
Brooks’ and Sand’s case study dealt with promoting healthy eating lifestyles for children. For their target company, they chose Imagination Farms, the marketing group for Disney’s fresh produce line Disney Gardens, to whom they made marketing suggestions to improve brand awareness. |
|
Lusk announces Willard Sparks Graduate Student Paper Competition winners
Winners of this year’s Willard Sparks Graduate Student Paper competition in the Agricultural Economics department are Jae Bong Chang (Ph.D, Agricultural Economics, Korea), first place and $500.00 for “How Closely Do Hypothetical Surveys and Laboratory Experiments Predict Field Behavior'” and JonAnn Decker (MS, Agricultural Economics, Cope, Colorado), second place and $250.00 for “Economics of Five Wheat Production Systems with No-Till and Conventional Tillage.” The winners were announced by Professor Jayson Lusk, who said that several papers were judged by a committee of faculty members. Criteria included the quality of writing, the importance of the problem addressed, and the quality of the analysis. |
|
Graduate students receive scholarships/fellowships
Graduate Student Scholarships/Fellowships were announced at the September GSA meeting. Each recipient received a certificate.
Receiving the Spielman Scholarships were Ajita Atreya, MS; Jae Bong Chang, Ph.D; Taeyoon Kim, Ph.D; and Abdoulaye Djido, MS. The Spielman Scholarships were established by Jan and Hank Spielman to award outstanding scholarship by graduate students in Agricultural Economics. A total of four Spielman scholarships are awarded annually to the top two scholars in the M.S. program and the top two scholars in the Ph.D program. A student may receive an award only once in each program. To be eligible, a M.S. student must have completed at least 9 hours of a plan of study, and a Ph.D student at least 27 hours.
 Kathleen Brooks, Ph.D, received the Leo and Betty Blakley Graduate Fellowship. Dr. Blakley served on the faculty of Agricultural Economics from 1947 to 1985. He spent much of his career working in the areas of dairy marketing and price analysis. Dr. Blakley established these fellowships for graduate students with a strong interest in dairy marketing or agricultural price analysis. To be eligible, candidates must be graduate students in the Department of Agricultural Economics with at least one semester of course work completed. Candidates should have experience in, be currently studying, or plan a career in dairy marketing or agricultural price analysis.
 The Leonard F. Miller Distinguished Graduate Fellowship in International Rural Development was awarded to Anh Vo, MS; and Sijesh Aravindhakshan, Ph.D. Dr. Miller served as Head of the Department of Agricultural Economics from 1954 to 1961 and established this fellowship for graduate students with a strong interest in rural development. Qualifications for this fellowship include:
- Candidates must be graduate students in the Department of Agricultural Economics with at least one semester of course work completed.
- Candidates should have rural experience in a developing country.
- Preference will be given to students from developing countries who have had practical experience in rural development.
|
|
Dissertation/Thesis Topics
“Essays on Import Demand for Edible Oils in India - An Application of Source Differentiated Models and Consumer Demand for Beef Variety,” Bharath Arunachalam, Spring 2008
“Food Demand in Urban China,” Zhihao Zheng, Spring 2008
“Entrepreneurial Communities in Rural Oklahoma,” Lara Brooks Bridenstine, Spring 2008
“Alternative Production Systems for Traditional Monoculture Wheat Acres in the Southern Plains for Two Farm Sizes,” JonAnn Decker, Spring 2008
“Determining the financial and Resource Management Impacts of Integrating Meat Goat and Beef Cattle Enterprises,” Rajendra Ratala Joshi, Spring 2008
“Effectiveness of U.S. Dairy Export Promotion Programs in Selected Countries,” Oluyemisi Olukoya, Summer 2008
“Making Pricing Decisions Based on Profit Margin Hedging and Real Option Values,” HyunSeok Kin, Summer 2008
“Essays on Business Location, Recruitment, and the Role of Evaluations in the University Classroom,” J. Ross Pruitt, Summer 2008
“The Feasibility of Growing Sweet Sorghum for the On-Farm Production of Ethanol in Oklahoma,” Chris Fryer, Summer 2008
“Modeling Potential Crop Land Shifts Into Biofuel Production for the State of Oklahoma,” Holly Ragan Bunt, Summer 2008 |
|
 Activities: International Dinner planned for October 25
This year’s International Dinner will be held October 25 in the Wes Watkins Center. The International Dinner is coordinated by the Ag Econ graduate students. The event is a potluck dinner, and those attending are encouraged to bring a dish from their country. A dessert contest will be featured toward the end of the dinner.
|
|
top |
|
| |
|
|
Faculty members win awards/recognition at AAEA meeting
The Agricultural Economics Department faculty garnered three major awards at the recent 2008 American Agricultural Economics Association (AAEA) and the American Council on Consumer Interests (ACCI) Joint Annual Meeting in Orlando, Florida.
Distinguished Teaching Awards
Two faculty members won distinguished teaching awards: F. Bailey Norwood, Associate Professor, for undergraduate teaching – less than ten years experience, and Francis Epplin, Charles A. Breedlove Professor, for graduate teaching – ten or more years experience.
Norwood has been a faculty member since 2003. Besides his teaching responsibilities, he currently serves as coach for the Academic Bowl Team. He is also the senior advisor for the student section of the AAEA. Norwood acts as a faculty mentor to the OSU dormitory reserved for new agricultural students. He has established two websites, one an online publication and the other an online academic journal, to provide students with publishing possibilities for their work.
In 2007, Norwood co-authored a new textbook, Agricultural Marketing and Price Analysis, which has already been adopted for several classes. As part of his research appointment, he has published 20 journal articles, won the 2005 JARE Outstanding Article, and last year won the Western Agricultural Economics Association (WAEA) Published Research Award.
Epplin has been in the agricultural economics department for over 20 years. He has been the advisor of the agricultural economics department’s graduate student association for over 15 years. He has served on the department’s graduate committee for 14 years, five as chair, and he has 18 years of service on the prelim committee. Epplin plays a large role as mentor, not only to his students, but also to other faculty. His recent Ph.D graduates work in various capacities all over the world, most of them dealing with pressing problems in society. During the 1980’s, agricultural economics students gave an award to the outstanding graduate teacher; Epplin won it every year it was awarded. In 2002, Epplin won the Phoenix Award as the outstanding graduate faculty member at OSU.
Distinguished Extension/Outreach Award
An Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service (OCES) group which included Professor Clement E. Ward, Professor Derrell S. Peel, Professor Stephen R. Koontz (Colorado State University), and Dr. James Trapp, Associate Director, OCES, won the group Distinguished Extension/Outreach Program group award for their program on “The Packer-Feeder Game – An Experiential Learning Program.”
The Packer-Feeder Game is the student label for the Fed Cattle Market Simulator, which was developed by these four gentlemen. Over the past 15 years, the market simulator has been used in the threefold mission of the Land Grant University system. During that time, it has been a mainstay extension economics program at OSU. The focus of the market simulator is on teaching adults the dynamics of price discovery for fed cattle. Since its inception, the packer-feeder game has reached over 5,000 producers, agribusiness managers and employees, educators, and youth and students; for an average of six hours each.
Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Award
Assistant Professor Damian C. Adams received honorable mention for the outstanding doctoral dissertation award for his dissertation at the University of Florida on “The Economics and Law of Invasive Species Management in Florida.”
Other Faculty Participation
Other faculty members attending the AAEA/ACCI meeting were Regents Professor Damona Doye, who served as AAEA Director, Professor Phil Kenkel, a member of the distinguished teaching award committee; Professor Clement Ward, who was co-chair of the outstanding choices article award committee, and Professor Jayson Lusk, who served on the AJAE article award committee. Faculty presentations included five posters, and ten papers plus one symposium presenter, four organizer presenters, and four track session presenters
Faculty win awards and make presentations at WAEA
Members of the Agricultural Economics Department faculty attended the Western Agricultural Economics Association meeting in Big Sky, Montana in June. Professor Wade Brorsen presented the keynote address entitled “Research: Are We Valuing the Right Stuff'” Assistant Professor Kellie Raper, Dr. H. Adam Love, Texas A&M, and Dr. C. Shumway, Washington State University, won the published research award for their paper, “Distinguishing the Sources of Market Power.”
New OSU faculty members Cheryl DeVuyst, Assistant Director of Instruction for CASNR, and Associate Professor Eric DeVuyst won outstanding undergraduate teaching awards at their former school North Dakota State University. Cheryl won for less than ten years, and Eric won for more than ten years.
Joe Schatzer elected to Ag Faculty Council
Professor Joe Schatzer was recently elected to serve a two-year term on the Ag Faculty Council. Joe joins Assistant Professor Kellie Raper, who is completing her second year representing the Agricultural Economics department.
Former faculty member dies
A former agricultural economics faculty member Dean Frederick Schreiner (70) passed away in July. Schreiner began teaching at OSU in 1968. He taught graduate courses in rural regional development and rural project appraisal. He served as major advisor for over 40 MS students and over 40 PhD students. Schreiner was born and raised in Colorado and received his BS from Colorado State University. He completed his MS and PhD in agricultural economics from Iowa State University.
|
top |
|
| |
|
Joe Neal Hampton selected as DASNR Distinguished Service Alumni
Joe Neal Hampton was selected as a 2008 DASNR Distinguished alumnus award winner. The purpose of this program is to honor CASNR graduates who have contributed significantly to society and whose accomplishments had brought distinction to DASNR. Hampton was a B.S. graduate (1971) and a M.S. graduate (1975) in Agricultural Economics. He is President and CEO of the Oklahoma Grain and Feed Association, Executive Vice President of the Oklahoma Seed Trade Association, and President and CEO of the Oklahoma Agribusiness Retailers Association. Hampton was honored at a reception on October 17 co-sponsored by the Departments of Agricultural Economics and Plant and Soil Sciences and at several other functions on Homecoming weekend.
Donations fund chairs, professorships, and scholarships
Several friends and alumni have recently donated funds for agricultural economics:
- The H.E. Rainbolt Chair in Agricultural Finance for $500,000
- AJ and Susan Jacques for the Jacques Chair in Agricultural Economics for one million dollars
- OK Farm Credit Associations for a $250,000 Oklahoma Farm Credit Professorship in Agricultural Economics
- Barry Pollard and P&K Equipment for a $250,000 professorship in Agribusiness
- M.J. (Guy) and Martha S. Baird for an endowed scholarship fund
- Don and Linda Kloth for an endowed scholarship fund
Recent alumni starts work at commissioner’s association
Timber Eaton, a recent agricultural economics and accounting graduate, began work at the Association of County Commissions of Oklahoma where she will handle the accounting for the Oklahoma Cooperative Circuit Engineering District Board Revolving Fund and the Emergency and Transportation Revolving Fund. Eaton is from Tuttle and graduated in 2008.
|
top |
|
| |
|
|
Ag Econ Faculty hosts picnic
The Agricultural Economics faculty hosted the annual departmental picnic on September 27 for graduate students, staff, and alumni. The meal featured a roasted pig prepared by Ralph’s with a vast array of salads, vegetables, and deserts from faculty members.
|
top |
|
| |
|
|
Yumiao Sun, Web Developer
Judy Rudin, Communications Specialist
Anna Whitney, Student Services Specialist
|
|
|
