Surrounded by the Politics of Food, Fuel and the Environment

Our students are getting a short course in the politics of agriculture, energy, the environment and nutrition here at the Farm Journal Forum in Washington. Among the lawmakers they have heard from is Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee.

After a speech at the forum today, Harkin, on the left in the photo above, asked Kate, right, and Katie, center, about the MU AgJ Program. In his speech, Harkin described Congressional action on the Farm Bill.

“I have every intention to finish the (Senate version of the) Farm Bill and get it passed before we go home for Christmas,” Harkin said. A House-Senate conference panel would then work on a compromise that Harkin hopes will be sent to the president “by the end of January.”

Former U.S. Rep. Larry Combest, R-Texas, chairman of the House Agriculture Committee during the debate over the 2002 Farm Bill, also met with the students.

"We need more of you trained in ag journalism," Combest said. "You are the journalists who can tell these stories accurately."

Check out the blog by Katie and Kate on the Farm Journal Web site: www.agweb.com (click on “blogs” near the top, then scroll down until you see “Farm Journal Forum Blog” near the bottom).

MU Students Blog from Farm Journal Forum

Katie Allen, right, a senior Agricultural Journalism major, and Kate Hill, a master's student at the Missouri School of Journalism, met with Washington-based agricultural journalists Monday morning at the National Press Club.

The students are in the nation’s capital this week blogging from the 11th annual Farm Journal Forum. They were selected as the 2007 Sonja Hillgren Fellows and have decided to record their impressions of the gathering at the Renaissance Washington Hotel.

You can follow their blog at the Farm Journal Web site: www.agweb.com (click on “blogs” near the top, then scroll down until you see “Farm Journal Forum Blog” near the bottom).

“The Magic Tree and the Holiday Spirit”

Written by Brady Bounds
Photograph by Kim Cottrell
TA: Traci Angel

As some students graduate they are dreaming of high paying jobs. One MU graduate spends her time amassing thousands of lights to put on her Crabapple Tree. I visited the large tree in her front yard this weekend and couldn’t believe my eyes! There were at least 5 cars driving by and I had to wait to get in line.

The fact sheet that was handed out mentioned the $250 electric bill that she receives every month just to keep it running. She said it is her personal mission each year to bring holiday cheer to the Columbia community by adding more lights that the previous year.

One of my friend’s fraternities decorates their house each year, covering their house in lights. I used to think that their house was the most impressive Christmas decoration in all of Columbia until seeing this impressive tree. If anyone would like to visit this tree it is the house on Old Plank Road, I don’t need to give the address because you could see the tree from space!

KU Football Ranks High on the PU Meter

Written by Brian Reiter
Photo by Sam Romersberger
TA: Jake Siegel

Kansas has about as many interesting things going for it as it does hills. This also translates into their overrated football team.

Kansas football?

Are you kidding me, my high school could put together a better team. Now the Jayhawks are taking their skills to the Orange bowl to face Virginia Tech. Yes, you heard me right, the Kansas Jayhawks, who were beaten by our very own Missouri Tigers earlier this year at Arrowhead, are headed to a BCS bowl.

Doesn’t seem fair to me!

Well, it’s not. My only explanation for this is that the football community has taken pity on the Kansas football team, and the state in general. The sports community must have felt so sorry for a state that will never experience sledding on hills or climbing a mountain. They know what mountains are, don’t they?

Senioritis… Yes it exists when you’re 21

Written by Renee Henry
Photograph taken by Tamika Jackson
TA: Andrell Bower

I thought my senior year would be the most exciting year of my college life. The first three years here at Mizzou were great- fun atmosphere, great sports, getting to sleep in. But come my fourth year of simple living and final exams, I look forward to graduating.

Senioritis hit me hard in high school. I could have cared less what I looked like, homework didn’t phase me and the fact that college was right around the corner was all I could think about. Four years later, the doldrums have hit again.

Here I am, 22 years old and sharing a bathroom with two other people. I sleep in a twin bed and eat ramen noodles for dinner. You would think being an adult would mean you have privacy and eat well-balanced meals; it doesn’t.

Despite the fact that I can drink in bars now, college life is not as fun as it once was. Talking with my friends, I find that I’m not the only one. It’s ironic that senior year is full of projects, because we have no desire to work on them. Motivation is at an all time low and tailgating is our main priority.

These last few months of class have been torturing. Pajamas are a must and coffee has become our best friend. (Starbucks has my drink memorized as well as my name.)

Come to think of it, we better enjoy college while it lasts. Sooner than we know it, the real world will be here and we’ll be stuck in a nine to five. I wonder what you call senioritis once you graduate?

An Age-old Saga: To Study or Not to Study

Written by SASHA WHITLEY
Photo by CARY SILVERMAN
TA:Bryan Wendell

Trying to study for finals week…. riiiiight….

I had plans this weekend to study, but somehow that just didn’t happen.

I feel like I did everything BUT study… I woke up on Saturday, determined to crack open my books, but the dishes in the sink were dirty, and then I needed to unload and load the dishwasher. After that I realized that I needed to go to Wal-Mart because I forgot to get contact solution from the night before. I finally got home, and I was really determined to study, but I needed to check my gmail and FACEBOOK! So after some facebook stalking and returning emails, it was time for the game and dinner with my roommates. By the end of Saturday I had nothing accomplished but a clean kitchen, and five new friends on facebook.

Sunday rolls around, after listening to the party upstairs most of the night – I slept in until 2pm. I thought to myself, I really need to study for accounting and economics, but in order to look at the study guides online -- I had to check my gmail and facebook again. This only took two hours. Well, then it was time for lunch, and then laundry. Before too long it was dinner-time again, and I continued on my cycle of procrastination.

Maybe this year I will finally study before my finals… but so far it’s looking very doubtful.

Drought-related deer disease on the rise in Missouri

Written by Kellar Nelson
Photo by Ty Northcutt
TA: Joe Kokenge

There’s a big problem in Missouri this year. An unusually dry summer caused a drought in many parts of the state, causing water levels to decrease. The water that remained in river and creek beds became stagnant and overcome with bacteria. As deer drank this water, they also consumed the bacteria. This particular type of bacteria attacks the immune system and intestine of the deer, leading to death. This has affected about one-third of the state deer population and is known as blue tongue disease.

The way this disease works is that it makes the deer unable to digest any food and they eventually starve. This could be seen as natural selection in action as a way of controlling expounding deer populations that have been observed in Missouri for many years.

Here come the AgJ 3210 blogs

After a long delay caused by the blogmaster's commitments to student meetings, faculty meetings, more teaching and other items, posting of the blog items written and photographed for today's AgJ 3210 class are on the way. I'll have them up shortly.

--Signed: Bill Allen, blogmaster and instructor

This site will be a “blogging lab” for Monday’s Ag Journalism 3210 class

On Monday, Dec. 3, the MU Ag Journalism blog site will serve as a training ground and a playing field.

The Training Ground: Students from my AgJ 3210 (Fundamentals of Communications) class will be introduced to blogging here. The class has 128 students with majors from all across MU. We’ve been studying writing, issues and trends in journalism, and how to be an intelligent consumer of news.

The Playing Field: During Monday’s class, one student will be selected from each of the five sections of the class. Each of the five students will write a blog item and take a photo. I’ll post all this to the blog.

Then the TAs and I will select the best blog posting. The winning student – and all of the students in his or her section – will get TWO POINTS EXTRA CREDIT.

Let the games begin!

--Bill Allen, instructor