K-State profs fill program at ADA

October 27th, 2009

K-State went to the head of the class last week at the American Dietetics Association annual meeting in Denver with seven presentations.

Stand-up presentations were:

“Exploring Restaurant Managers’ Beliefs about Food Safety Training” presented by Kevin R. Roberts, on research he conducted with Betsy Barrett. Both are in Department of Hospitality Management and Dietetics (HMD).

“Beliefs and Perceptions of School Foodservice Personnel about HACCP Implementation” by Lynn Riggins, University of Central Missouri. Her presentation was based on research she did here with Barrett.

Poster presentations were:

“Food Safety Practices in Ethnic Restaurants in Kansas” from Carol Shanklin, Junelee Kwon and Roberts. All are on the faculty in HMD. Shanklin is head of K-State’s graduate school.

“Multi-institutional Delivery of Internet-based Graduate Education to Dietetics Professionals” from Deb Canter, HMD department head, and faculty from other universities.

“Older Adults Technology Preferences Related to Food Safety Education” from Roberts; Valentina M. Remig, human nutrition; Toni J. Bryant, human nutrition extension; Gerry Snyder, multi-media specialist.

“Discussion Groups with Mature Adults Help Identify Food Safety Issues and Barriers” from Remig, Roberts, Bryant and Snyder.

“Food Safety Training Needs for Evacuation Shelters Operated by Faith Based Organizations” from Kwon and co-authors from Texas Women’s University, D. Ryu, L. Zottarelli and S. Kwon.

College boasts 2,275 students

October 16th, 2009

Kansas State University enrolled a record number of students this year: 23,581. A total of 2,275 of those are in the College of Human Ecology, 31 more than in 2008.

The 20th day enrollment figures show students with on-campus enrollment in Manhattan of 20,206. Last year’s total enrollment was 23,520, with 19,991 on campus students in Manhattan.

The college enrolled 1,902 undergraduates, 283 master’s degree student and 91 PhD students.  This fall the college has 229 undergraduate distance students and 185 distance graduate students.

Coila Farrell bakes winning raisin bread

October 16th, 2009

Coila Farrell, assistant instructor in the Department of  Housing and Dining, placed third in the America’s Best Raisin Bread Contest recently at the American Institute of Baking, Manhattan.

Farrell entered Golden Harvest Raisin Bread with Toasted Walnuts.

She is a hotel and restaurant management graduate.

“I was really proud of Coila. Her technique was wonderful and her bread looked absolutely fantastic,” said Mary Molt, assistant professor. “A special thanks to Fern Mayfield and Sarah Severns for all their work to help Coila shine.”

California Raisin Marketing Board sponsored the competition which drew 30 bakers from around the country.

Farrell was awarded an all-expense paid trip to California in March. She will visit the home office of the California Raisin Marketing Board, the Culinary Institute of America, and other attractions.

Restaurant food safety research featured

September 29th, 2009

The Packer, weekly business newspaper for the produce industry, interviewed Kevin Roberts, assistant professor in hospitality management and dietetics, about  K-State research in food safety practices in restaurants.

“Foodservice Study: Steps beyond training crucial to safe food handling,” published on Sept. 22, was written by Ashley Bentley.

Others on the research team were Carol Shanklin, Laura Brannon, Valerie Pilling and Betsy Barrett. Read the story on The Packer web site.

New Extension program focuses on distinctive military family problems

September 18th, 2009

Hug dolls have a photo of a soldier-parent replacing the doll’s face. They help young family members connect with the parent during absences.

In addition to typical problems, families of military personnel face special difficulties associated with deployment and frequent moves.

Separations, new roles of a single, but-not-single parents and sole responsibility for a household are just a few, said Toni Jo Bryant. She coordinates Extension Military Life Skills, a new program in which the Kansas State Research and Extension helps families assigned to Fort Riley.

Bryant is a former military wife who understands the stresses of military life. “After moving, families have to adjust to a new location, school and community, while also reaching out to make new friends are part of military life,” she added.

A special teaching team focuses on four areas of the program: family life and community, child development, health and nutrition, and family resources and financial management.

Four Research and Extension specialists

Erin Bishop

Erin Bishop focuses on family life education. This skill includes helping families build communications skills that reduce and resolve conflicts before they become issues, and strengthening the role of fathers in families and the community.

“Stress from absences challenges families that, when reunited, may also have to cope with post traumatic stress,” said Bishop, who earned both a bachelor´s and master´s degrees in family studies and human services at K-State.

Sara Mietzner

Sara Mietzner specializes in child development. Cognizant of the ever-changing dynamics within the family and particularly within military families, she hopes to help parents learn how to parent successfully and to help families build skills that nurture resilience.

Susan Schoneweis

Susan Schoneweis, a registered dietitian, is the nutrition and health specialist.

Her teaching plans include tours of the commissary to share shopping strategies and tips for choosing foods that contribute to health and saving money. She is planning classes on adapting meals and snacks to reduce hypertension and aim for heart healthy eating, sports nutrition, and food safety.

Debra Wood

Debra Wood helps families build financial management skills. Military families can be vulnerable to the normal pitfalls in managing money, yet also have more relocation expenses or, after returning from deployment, be tempted to spend a bonus quickly, without considering long-term financial goals, she said.

Wood has a master´s degree in family studies and human services with an emphasis in personal financial planning. A Certified Financial Planner, she teaches financial management as part of a new youth apprenticeship program called Hired! The effort focuses on workforce preparedness, and classes are already scheduled through 2010. She and Schoneweis teach families how to manage food dollars when eating at home or in a restaurant.

Bryant earned a bachelor´s degree in marketing and management at the University of Texas El Paso-BBA and a master´s degree in hospitality management and dietetics-consumer food safety at K-State.

The effort is funded by a grant from the U. S. Department of Defense.

More information on the program is available by contacting the Military Life Skills office at 785-239-9991 or by visiting the program web site.

Prepared by K-State Research and Extension News Media Services and Human Ecology communications.
Photo by K-State News Media Services.

Students go global for internships, summer study

September 14th, 2009

The globe turned purple this summer when Human Ecology students spread their wings to study and work on internships. These are only a few of the student travelers:

HRM interns climb highest mountains

Fifty-three hotel and restaurant management students did professional internships, a requirement for graduation. Courtney Cole, left atop Mt. Healy, Casey Walker and Clayton Connor worked with Aramark in Denali National Park, Alaska. The experience offered career contacts and the chance to explore Alaska, Connor said. And see grizzlies. Also at Denali were Danielle Rodriguez and Anthony Fagan. Amy Armstrong traveled the farthest for her HRM internship. She worked with Maldron Hotels in Dublin, Ireland.

Volunteers in Africa research thesis, project

Courtney Held, left back row, and Valerie Stull, right back row, pose with the youngsters at Good Shepherd Children’s Home in Maai Mahiu, Kenya. The two K-Staters spent the summer working with the non-governmental organization (NGO) called Comfort the Children: Stull, graduate student in public health nutrition, for thesis research; Held, senior in dietetics and public health nutrition, for an Honors Project in which she is helping develop flip charts for nutrition education. In addition to volunteer work with the children’s home, they provided nutrition education to women in the community and spent time at the public primary school in Ngeya. Stull’s thesis work evaluates a community garden project. Both received College of Human Ecology scholarships to help fund their trips, the first to Africa for Held and third to Africa for Stull.

Junior studies Aboriginal families (and Aussie animals) first hand

Kelsey Flickner spent seven weeks in Perth, Western Australia, in the Aboriginal Studies program at Murdock University. Her class, called “Wanju Boodjah,” focused on Aboriginal culture and way of life. “I got first hand accounts of spiritual ceremonies, visited places of significance, and interacted with Aboriginal elders. Also, I learned how gender played an important part in the Aboriginal society,” she said. A junior in family studies and human services, with a minor in leadership studies, Flicker recalled the significance of a half-day hike up Bluff Knoll in the Stirling Ranges: “Bluff Knoll was called Bular Mial (many eyes) or Bala Mial (his eyes) by Nyoongar people, depending on the intent of the speaker. This was because the rocks on the bluff were shaped like the eyes of the ancestral master spirit that are visible on the mountain today. The peak is often covered with mists that curl around the mountain tops and float into the gullies. These constantly changing mists were believed to be the only visible form of the Noyt (meaning spirit).”

Senior, New Zealand “challenge” each other

For Kelcii Peck, senior in nutrition, exercise science and dietetics, New Zealand was an obstacle course this summer. With 17 other North American college students, Peck participated in a 2-week Challenge New Zealand leadership program of GlobaLinks Learning Abroad. The students were challenged physically (climb Mt. Ruapehu on your own); emotionally (keep cool even when you are lost and run out of water); and culturally (learn about the indigenous Maori). “It felt almost as if we’d become a family in that short two weeks,” Peck told program leaders after the trek. “Everybody was on each other’s team and wanted each other to be successful.”

College part of new sustainability Web site

September 2nd, 2009

Human Ecology faculty are among the leaders on a new Web site that elaborates on efforts across campus to make K-State more sustainable.

The K-State Sustainability web site includes directories, courses, research and projects, ways for people to get involved, and a news blog.

Among the listings are:

• Research in the Department of Apparel, Textiles and Interior Design by Sherry Haar, associate professor, and graduate students Cosette Armstrong and Aditi Shukla.
• Work of Tonatiuh Melgarejo, assistant professor in the Department of Human Nutrition.

“This Web site can help connect people for interdisciplinary research projects, service learning projects and more. For instance, if instructors are wanting to develop class projects, they could tie in with ongoing sustainability efforts by our facilities department,” said Ben Champion, K-State’s director of sustainability.

“What we really want to do is work with other sustainability professionals throughout Kansas,” he said. “We want it to be about the needs of Kansas, not just K-State. This is a way that K-State can provide leadership in sustainability. We can help create a statewide network for sustainability throughout higher education in Kansas.”

Media mentions: Doll, ‘08 grad Luhrs

September 1st, 2009

Gayle Doll in Salina Journal

In a story headlined “Age-old questions about longevity,” The Salina Journal Sunday explored the topic of longevity featuring 104-year-old Anna Winslow. Gayle Doll was the only expert interviewed.

Reporter Gary Demuth wrote, “And there’s the conundrum — while no one wants to die, no one wants to live forever if it means a diminished lifestyle and watching those you love die, said Gayle Doll, director of the Kansas State University Center on Aging, which researches and educates in the fields of gerontology and aging. ‘I’ve been around a lot of older people, and I have yet to meet one who wanted to live another 50 years,’ she said.”

Graduate Lauren Luhrs in the KC Star

The Kansas City Star published a Q&A with ’08 graduate Lauren Luhrs in the “How I got the job” feature this weekend. Luhrs is a market distribution analyst with Payless Shoes in Topeka.

How did she get her job? She credits a K-State job fair, a sorority contact and an internship the summer between her junior and senior years of college at Lands’ End in Dodgeville, Wis.  She worked in global sourcing. “That gave me great expertise in product development,” she told the newspaper.

Luhrs graduated with a degree in human ecology and mass communications specializing in apparel marketing and public relations, with a minor in business and leadership studies. She gave the 2008 student commencement address and was one of the college’s Outstanding Seniors.

Students nosh on nachos to celebrate new school year

August 28th, 2009

Sophia Dongilli and Annie McBee

The food was spicy. The noise level was boisterous. The traffic was heavy. Hundreds of new and returning students lined up for free food and door prizes, joining college faculty and staff to celebrate the first week of school with a Nacho Fiesta Thursday. The event in Justin Hall’s Hoffman Lounge was part of Welcome Week at K-State.

Kelsha Donnell

Garrett Whollery

Amy Calderwood

For more, view the “Nacho Fiesta! 2009” photo set on Flickr.

Video highlights college research

August 25th, 2009

A new video titled “The Search for Solutions” examines the myriad of research conducted in the College of Human Ecology, research ranging from pioneering studies on family violence treatment to exploring avenues of cancer prevention through phytochemicals in the diet.

The video, written and produced by the college, is available on YouTube and Facebook. Check out other videos on the College of Human Ecology YouTube channel.