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| This Week's Titles: |
| Reducing
Screen Time When School Begins |
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Reducing Disease Pathogens
From Poultry Litter |
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| Making
Fuel From Algae |
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| More
Children Being Expelled From Preschools |
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| Conservation
Tillage Making A Comeback in East Central Georgia |
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| Reducing
Screen Time When School Begins |
1:36 |
The computer or television
screen can become a one-eyed monster when school begins. |
With the internet and satellite
television only a click away, spare time has become screen time
for a lot of children. But a human development specialist with
the University of Georgia's College of Family and Consumer Sciences
says too much screen time could become harmful for children.
She adds it could also make it more difficult for children as
they get older. "There's certain qualities that we like to see
in youngsters so that they can jump right into school and do
well, and too much time in front of a screen tends to limit
the development of some of those school readiness skills." Don
Bower with the College of Family and Consumer Sciences, who
adds television is the number one activity for children ages
six to seventeen. By mid-adolescence the average child has watched
fifteen-thousand hours of television, which is more time they've
spent with teacher, friends, parents. The university specialist
goes on to say when it comes to success in school, a healthy
medial diet is just as important as what a child eats. So parents
should do their kids a favor and turn off, or limit those electronic
screens, so they won't become one-eyed monsters. John Harrell,
University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental
Sciences, reporting from Tifton. |
Links to audio files:
(files include a brief quote from the source for your use.)
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| Reducing
Disease Pathogens From Poultry Litter |
1:58 |
College scientists are working
to reduce the amount of disease causing bacteria that flow into
river watersheds from poultry manure. |
The poultry industry continues
to expand across the state, especially in South Georgia. With
fertilizer prices continuing to rise, poultry litter is being
used as a fertilizer substitute in fields. But there are concerns
about litter running out of fields into river watersheds, threatening
the health of the river. Scientists with the University of Georgia's
College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences are conducting
research along the Satilla River Basin in Southeast Georgia,
to learn more about the affects of agriculture and poultry facilities.
One important item being studied is the presence of disease
pathogens in the litter. "And we're also looking at how the
traditional indicators of fecal contamination, how well they
indicate the presence of pathogenic bacteria from the poultry
industry, and we're also looking at the impact of poultry processing
plants to determine if it feeds into the wastewater treatment
plants, if those bacteria, pathogenic bacteria are flowing through
the treatment plant." That was Paige Gay with the College of
Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. Samples were taken
from twelve sites in the Satilla Watershed, to analyze bacteria,
nutrients, and chemicals present. Determining the source of
pathogens in an agricultural watershed will provide critical
information for management of water quality in the Coastal Plain,
and other agricultural watersheds with large amounts of poultry
facilities. John Harrell, University of Georgia College of Agricultural
and Environmental Sciences, reporting from Tifton. |
Links to audio files:
(files include a brief quote from the source for your use.)
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| Making
Fuel From Algae |
1:43 |
That slimy, green algae that
clogs up ponds could ease gas pains at the pump. |
Many people think of algae
as a slimy mess that chocks up ponds, clouds swimming pools,
and clings to boat sides. But scientists with the University
of Georgia's College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
see algae as green gold. They are conducting research that could
soon produce biodiesel from that slimy mess. "Able to produce
a much larger quantity of biomass than most plants that we know
of. In addition, in certain species there is a lot of oil content
in the algae that make it suitable as a fuel, and that's the
area we are focusing on and trying to exploit." That was K.C.
Das with the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences,
who adds some species of algae can produce more than two-thousand
gallons of oil per acre a year. Many questions must still be
answered before the research will be complete. The ideal location
for growing algae is outside in ponds. But growing conditions
are difficult to regulate in a pond. Algae is also difficult
to harvest, and must dry. It also costs around five dollars
to make a gallon of fuel from algae. But university scientists
hope more research will help bring the cost down to $1.50 a
gallon. Despite the challenges, college scientists believe fuel
made from algae could be available commercially in about five
years. John Harrell, University of Georgia College of Agricultural
and Environmental Sciences, reporting from Tifton. |
Links to audio files:
(files include a brief quote from the source for your use.)
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| More
Children Being Expelled From Preschools |
1:40 |
It appears more young children
are being expelled from preschools across Georgia and the nation
for the wrong reasons. |
The study indicated around
five-thousand children were kicked out of state-funded preschool
programs in 2006. It further stated preschoolers had a much
greater chance of getting expelled from school than students
from kindergarten through grade twelve. Diane Bales, a human
development specialist with the University of Georgia's College
of Family and Consumer Sciences says not all children that get
expelled are brats with behavior problems. "I think more often
what's going on is that as we are pushing harder and harder
for children to be ready for school and to do well in school,
all of which is very important of course, we're sometimes pushing
young children to sit still and to do activities that they're
not ready to do developmentally, young children are not ready
to sit for long periods of time and they're not ready to concentrate
and when they can't do those kinds of things it's not because
they are problems it's because we have inappropriate expectations
of them." Diane Bales with the College of Family and Consumer
Sciences, who adds children that get expelled from preschools
are often labeled as a problem child, which could cause problems
when they move up into school. Those that work in preschools
should be properly trained, so they will know what to expect
of three and four year olds, and what is normal and abnormal
behavior. John Harrell, University of Georgia College of Agricultural
and Environmental Sciences, reporting from Tifton. |
Links to audio files:
(files include a brief quote from the source for your use.)
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| Conservation
Tillage Making A Comeback in East Central Georgia |
1:32 |
Conservation tillage is alive
and well in several East Central Georgia counties. |
Several years ago, farmers
in Jenkins County were giving conservation tillage the cold
shoulder. But recently the East Georgia Conservation Tillage
Alliance made a comeback. The Alliance is made up of farmers
in Jenkins and surrounding counties that want to use this technique
on their farms. Wade Parker, a county extension agent in Jenkins
County says conservation tillage can reduce fuel expenses on
a farm. "A major input to Georgia farmers is this four-dollars-and
a-half diesel fuel, if not higher. And with conservation tillage
the farmer can reduce trips in the field which in turn saves
fuel and labor." Wade Parker with the University of Georgia's
College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. The East
Georgia Conservation Tillage Alliance conducts meetings twice
a year. Topics covered include reduction of erosion, water conservation,
water holding capacity of soils, and cover crops. Field days
are also held, which allows growers to see equipment in action.
Thanks to the association, an increasing number of farmers in
Jenkins and surrounding counties now believe conservation tillage
is the way to go. John Harrell, University of Georgia College
of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, reporting from Tifton. |
Links to audio files:
(files include a brief quote from the source for your use.)
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