NSAC E-Bulletin

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March 31th , 2003 - Week 127

Principal's Jottings #78

Nutrient Management Course
On Monday morning, I had the pleasure of welcoming to the Campus the first class of 42 agrologists signed up for the nutrient management course developed under contract with the four Atlantic Provinces through the Atlantic Agricultural Coordinating Council. The group includes many NSAC alumni at various stages of their careers who are working with farmers in the development of environmental farm plans.

The course, which will run all week, has been developed under the leadership of Professor David Burton of NSAC, co-ordinated by Sarah Macdonald, Manager of Continuing Education, with input from others at NSAC and in partnership with the Eastern Canada Soil and Water Conservation Centre at Grand Falls, NB. The course will be offered in Moncton in french in early May. It is a very nice example of regional cooperation with many attractive features, including a bilingual presentation. The architects deserve our thanks and congratulations for this important initiative.

Student Information System
The contract for a new student information system has been awarded to Data-Tel after a thorough review spearheaded by Wayne Paquet, Acting Registrar. This is a major undertaking requiring many hours of work and analysis and with major cost implications for NSAC. Thanks to Wayne and his committee for their work and to Bernie MacDonald and Dave Ryan for having secured the majority of the purchase cost through the Tangible Capital Assets program of the Government of Nova Scotia, making it possible to move forward on this essential investment. Work will begin shortly with the system scheduled for implementation in September 2004.

MOU on Oenology with Brock University
Dave Percival and Bruce Gray are working with officials from Brock University to develop an articulation agreement that would allow NSAC students admission into their oenology (wine-making) program. The driving force behind this effort is the local wine industry which is experiencing difficulty finding properly trained personnel to work in the business. The agreement with Brock will facilitate student and faculty exchange with NSAC as well as credit transfers. To celebrate this exciting development, there will be a wine-tasting event in Cumming Hall, featuring Jost wines, on Friday afternoon, April 4th, at 3:00 P.M. Watch for more details by e-mail.

K.C. Irving Environmental Science Centre
Last Friday, while attending an AgraPoint Board meeting, I had an opportunity to visit the K.C. Irving Environmental Science Centre at Acadia University. In a word, it is spectacular. For those who have not had the opportunity to visit the Centre, I recommend it to you. There are many attractive features. The building, itself, is attractive and fits nicely into its university environment; the large Garden Room where faculty and students meet, or simply go to read or work, on their wireless computers, has magnetic appeal; the Conservatory, with it's display of native plants, including may flowers in bloom last week, has a soothing atmosphere; the state-of-the-art greenhouses, classrooms, labs, meeting rooms and the gardens are all breathtaking. We need one of these at NSAC!

More Student Success
Congratulations to NSAC students Mike Devanney, Justin Strong, Amy Burgoyne and Isabel Seager for having had papers accepted for presentation at international conferences in the coming months. Mike, Justin and Amy will be presenting at the joint conference of the Canadian Agricultural Economic Society (CAES) and the American Agricultural Economics Association (AAEA) meetings in Montreal in July and Isabel will be presenting a paper at the CAES Workshop on the economics of health and nutrition in Vancouver in May. These students did their work under the supervision of Professors Steve Clark, Diane Dunlop and Emmanuel Yiridoe. Bravo to all!

The Waste of War
Apart from all of the destruction, loss of life and suffering associated with wars, which we now hear about daily, there is a terrible economic cost. Some analysts have estimated the global costs of a short war effort to be in the order of $600 billion (U.S.) To put this in perspective, the cost of eliminating hunger among half the world's 840 million undernourished people by 2015, has been estimated at $24 billion (U.S.) Perhaps if more people were better fed and better educated, there would be less opportunity for ruthless dictators to govern and less reason for rich and powerful countries to exercise their technology and military prowess.

Speaking at a Conference in Rome recently, Dianne Spearman of the U.N. World Food Program, called the situation a scandal in that so many people are starving in a world of plenty. Industrialized countries, notably the U.S. and Western Europe, spend an estimated $300 billion a year in agricultural subsidies. A small fraction of this amount, or of the current war effort, could go a long way to ease the suffering.

There are, of course, many other costs of war. Last Friday morning, I had an opportunity, while traveling, to hear an excellent commentary by Elliott Leyton, an anthropologist at Memorial University, on CBC radio. Leyton, who has lived in a number of war-torn countries while the conflict was going on, spoke eloquently of the consequences of war, pointing out that "... those who die are only the first victims of a much deeper process." He spoke of how wars desensitize us to human suffering and contribute to an increase in murder rates across society for years to come; he spoke of how the killing, maiming, suffering and hatred generated by war perpetuates these activities and sentiments for years to come, and legitimizes "... the deep ethnic, religious and political hatred from which all our ancestors fled." Replacing the brutality of one regime with the destructive power of another poses a fundamental challenge to the logic of war as the preferred solution.

Although Canada is, thankfully, not directly involved in this war and although its remoteness may tempt us to ignore it, those of us fortunate enough to be in a safe and free academic community, whose business is the search for truth, are obliged by our social contract to reflect on these matters and what we might do, individually and collectively, to make the world a better place.

H.G.C.

News From the Road
Well Spring is finally here and it seems that we are getting some warmer weather. There is not much going on these days. There is a tour with 50 students from Stewiacke Elementary coming at the end of the week to do some activities with the Aquaculture facilities as well as some activities in the RAC. Jenna and Brian attended a Career Expo at Hants East Rural High School on Thursday and Friday of last week. Dara had the chance to speak to four Grade 11 and 12 classes in Pictou last week. She is currently enjoying some vacation time in Toronto. Brian attended West Pictou and Pictou Academy to speak to prospective students. The team is currently working on organizing for University Day which will be held Friday, May 30th. If anyone would like to help, please email reg@nsac.ns.ca.

ACS and IT-RCSU Merger
As you may know, Academic Computing Services (ACS) is now being managed by the IT-Resources Corporate Service Unit. All ACS staff remain NSAC employees and continue to carry out ACS mandated tasks.

Within the next two weeks a consultant will be hired to conduct a review of ACS and its current service delivery format. As part of the review, input will be sought from faculty and students as well as current ACS staff and the College Executive. Any future changes to ACS's service delivery will be based on recommendations that will be put forward by the consultant and approved by College Executive.

Preliminary discussion and the scope and mandate of the review has yet to be determined. For further information on this review contact Bernie MacDonald, VP Administration at (902) 893- 6719 or by e-mail at bmacdonald@nsac.ns.ca

Conference Announcement and Call for Presentations
7th Annual Dalhousie Conference on University Teaching and Learning

"Preserving and Adapting Core Values in the Contemporary University"

Keynote Presenter: Donald L. McCabe
Rutgers University
Promoting Academic Integrity in a Community of Learners

May 7, 8, & 9, 2003 Weldon Law Building Dalhousie University Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

Call for Presentations:
All interested individuals are invited to submit proposals for presentations at the 2003 conference. Presentation topics in keeping with the announced focus, "Preserving and Adapting core Values in the
Contemporary University" are particularly welcome.

Presentation can be 25, 50 or 90 minutes long. Conference organizers strongly encourage presenters to provide full opportunity for audience participation in their sessions. There will also be an opportunity for poster sessions.

Proposals should be no more than 250 words in length and must include the following information:

1. Name, position, organization, mailing and email addresses, fax and phone numbers of each presenter;
2. Presentation title;
3. Brief description of the proposed session and preferred format;
4. Description of plan to involve participants (required for 50 and 90 minute sessions);
5. List of any audiovisual equipment or other requirements;
6. Notice of scheduling restrictions.
7. Forward your proposal by regular mail, fax, or email to the address below. Submissions must be received no later than April 4, 2004.

Zita Hildebrandt
Office of Instructional Development and Technology
Dalhousie University
1234 Le Marchant St.
Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 3J5

Email: oidt@dal.ca
Fax: (902) 494-3767
Phone: (902) 494-1622

Scholarship News
The Scholarship Committee and the Awards Office staff are pleased to announce a number of new scholarships that have been established this winter.

The Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation has implemented a new national in-course awards program. NSAC has been allocated one award which will provide a minimum of a $4,000 scholarship to a student who has either completed one year of a technical program or two years of a degree program. Selection criteria includes academic achievement, leadership and commitment to community service. The student selected from NSAC will also be eligible for consideration for larger national awards. Application forms are available on the website:
www.millenniumscholarships.ca/incourse/howapply/appform/application_en_read_only.pdf (Application form is in Adobe.) Application deadline is May 15, 2003.

The Harrison McCain Scholarship Foundation has made available two renewable entrance scholarships valued at $13,500 over four years to be awarded annually at NSAC.

The Royal Bank has established a new $1,000 entrance scholarship open to students entering the B.Sc.(Agr.) program with farm backgrounds.

NSIA is providing a special $1,000 scholarship to be awarded this year in recognition of its 50th anniversary. NS students entering the second, third or fourth year of the B.Sc.(Agr.) program will be eligible.

The NS Vet Medical Association have provided a $500 bursary to be awarded annually to a student entering the AHT program based on financial need and academic performance.

Andre Lirette has provided for two $100 awards to be awarded to student athletes annually. Returning students will be eligible. The bursaries will be selected based on financial need, leadership and contribution to student life.

Two other new awards are currently in the works. We have been advised by Farmers Dairy of a new annual scholarship they will be establishing at NSAC in memory of Past-President and CEO Doug Bailey. A new $1,000 scholarship is also being developed for horticultural students. This gift has been received from Bill Collins of the Collins Horticulture Building family.

Development and Alumni Relations Update
The Development and Alumni Relations Office March report is now available online at the following link: www.nsac.ns.ca/development/section_reports/2003/mar.htm If you have any questions or suggestions please contact Jim at 893-7950 or JGoit@nsac.ns.ca