FFA New Horizons

FFBRIJARY

.M.VRCH,

1993

l^^ffl!»jir/tjiK

OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF THE NATIONAL FFA ORGANIZATION

\

-J^

.1

>

V9

'UOlSBLUOMi aivd aBejsod

STi

§J0;iiOJduoN

pa^sanbayuoijoajjoosssjppv

09T0-60EZ2 VA

^'eupuexaiv

Amh

ie!J0UJ8|/\|MaiJ3A

'm 2e99

ironiOH

MaN

_Vid

Talk about the

fast track!

Today's Navy has what

^it takes to

move both you and your

career.

Move you with the excitement of working on some of the

world's

most sophisticated high-tech equipment. Move your career with exciting opportunities

in aviation, electronics,

telecommunications and healthcare.

You can

get state-of-the-art

training

in

one of over 60

fields.

And have challenges.

Th«Navy'shands-onetpcrience providesavariftv0/high- tech challenges,likeworking onthisguidedmissile/rigate.

responsibilities

and growth

potential that other companies

can't offer a

person your

age.

You'll

learn leadership

skills,

the value of teamwork and how

to

handle

pressure.

The very things you need

to

chart

a successful

course into the

future.

Interested.^

Talk

to

your Navy

N.H, expenence,

RecRiitet

today.

Or

call

1-800-327-NAVY.

"'-.HshiiJmates or training -t-i 1 1 r

: ^'<ts- 1

hen get ready

to

make your move

fast.

Because

in

today, iti-tech Navy, you only go one way:

Full

speed ahead.

Teamwork^is. u'hetfier you're traveling

inone0)

NAVY

YOU AND THE NAVY.

FULL SPEED AHEAD.

FFA

Nev\WQri2ons

OFFICIAL M«««ZINE OF THE NATIONAL FFA

* 6A N I ZA TI N

February-March,1993 Volume41 Number3

FFA/FEATURES

14

Catch The Wave

Looking foracareer with traveland ex- citement? Mariieting agricultural prod- uctstoforeigncountriescould beforyou.

16

ltWasABIGYear...1992

Thisarticlewill

show

you what happened

in

FFA

and around theworld thisyear.

24

True Blue And Gold

FFA member

Jennifer

West

writesabout

how

this Utah family with ten children keeps the

FFA

traditionalive.

26

It's

Elementary

These

members

areeducatingelementary studentsaboutaariculture.

COVER STORY 12

High Tech Mechanics

Travis Karicofe, on cover, is one ofthe FortDefiance, Virginia, agricultural

me-

chanics students

who

uses up-to-date equipment.See

how

learning theseskills pays^off.

Photoby

Lawinna McGary INTERNATIONAL

10

My

Life In

Russia

What

is it like to live in Russia?

FFA member

and international traveller Tara Sathers takes usthrough24hours withher host family.

20

Mushroom Marketing Mania

Thesestudents are raising

mushrooms

and

sellingthemtolocalJapaneseresidents.

28

Tractors For

Nigeria

FFA members

in Kansas are helping Nigerians feedthemselves.

DEPARTMENTS

4

FrontLine

6 News

in Brief

6

^Mailbag

8

LookingAhead

12

JokePage

29 FFA

inAction

34

GetTo

Know

FFANewHorizons (ISSN 0027-9315). formerlyTheNationalFUTURE FARMER,^ispreparedandpublishedbimonthlyby theNationalFFAOrganization,5632Mount VernonMemorial Highway. Alexandria.Virginia22309-0160.incooperation withthe U.S.DepartmentofEducation asaserviceto stateandlocalvocationalagricultureeducation agencies.

Magazine

^Staff

Editor.AndrewMarkwart AssociateEditor.LawinnaMcGary ContributingEditor.John M.Pitzer Art&Production. LindaFlint Director of Advertising.GlennD.Luedke Publishing Assistant.Joyce Berryman Circulation FulfillmenlManager.DottieM,Hrnkle Assistants.SusanFernandes. HeatherM Boyington

National Officers

National President. Travis Park.RR3.Box112, Franklin, IN46131^;National Secretary.KevinWhite,21941 SunnysideDrive.Anderson.CA96007.National Vice Presidents.Dennis Degner, Route1.Box355,Malone, TX76660:ToddHingson.Route2,Box1300, LiveOak, FL32060 JohnKleiboeker,RR1.Box103. StottsCity,

MO65756;Rick Perkins,7215 East CountyRoad16, Bloomville.OH44818.

Board

ofDirectors

Chairman.LarryCase,MembersoftheBoard.Jamie Cano,EverettHarris,ManonFletcher,BobbyMuller,

TomMunter.DeweyStewart.LesThompson, Rosco Vaughn

National Staff

National Advisor. ChiefExecutiveOfficer.LarryCase;

ExecutiveSecretary.ColemanHarris,Chief Operating Officer,BernieStaller;National Treasurer.CharlesKeels:

TeamLeaders

—

StudentServices,AndrewMarkwart:

TeacherServices. Marshall Stewart;SponsorRelations.

DougButler;HumanSFiscalResources. Lennie Gamage:Communication Resources.William Slagg:

DistributionResources. Janet LewisandJamesLong;

FFAVentures.Dennis Shafer

AdvertisingOffices FFANewHorizons

PO Box 15160

Alexandria,VA22309 703-360-3600

TheBrassettCompany 1737Fairgreen Drive

Fullerlon,CA90036 714-523-2776

MidwesternStates

Karaban/Labiner Associates,Inc 75 EastWackerDrive Suite930

Chicago,IL60601 312-236-6345

Pennsylvania,Delaware,NewJersey Karaban/Labiner Associates.Inc.

130West42ndStreet

NewYork.NY 10036 212-840-0660

RobertFlahiveCompany 22Battery Street

SanFrancisco.CA94111 415-781-4583

ADDRESSCHANGES:Sendboth oldandnewaddress

to:CirculationDepartment.FFANewHorizons. P.O.Box 15160,Alexandria, Virginia22309-0160.

CORRESPONDENCE: Addressall correspondenceto

FFANewHorizons.PO.Box 15160,Alexandria, Virginia 22309-0160.Officeslocatedatthe NationalFFACenter, appr:"'inatelyeightmiles southotAlexandria,Virginia.

SUBSi. -'"ON: $3,50peryearinUSand possessions (FFA me. -

1 75paid with dues). Singlecopy$1.50;

fiveormort ^••: '=oreignsubscnptions,$3,50plus

$2,00extrato, '-.-^"nght1992 by theNational

FFAOrganizatio. .-^T^ Thp

Audit Bureau

flZT

THE ^{FRONT LINE}

Let's

^{start at the very beginning.}

You're

bom. They

take you to a

housewithstrangepeopleyou

come

toi\nowlaterasyourfamily.It'sherethat

you begin to learn the bare essentials of

life

—

^yourname,

^how

^{to eat,}

^how

^{to talk.}

As

time passesyoulearn

some

ofthe

more

subtlethings

— how

topronounce andspell

wordscorrectly,whatfoodsyoulike,

how

to tightwithyourbrothersandsisters.Allof these things defineourviewoftheworld.

Do

you

remember

the first time you spent the night at a friend'shouse?

The

foodwaspreparedalittledifferently,their

houserulesweren'tthesame.Itwasnoth- ingtobeafraidof,butitwasn'tlikehome.

Chancesare. therewere

some

thingsyou likedabouttheirhouse ("Rongetstostay upuntil ten")and otherthings that

made

you appreciate

home

even

more

("Mrs.

Jones putsweird noodle thingsontopof hercasserole").

When

you travel outside your

home

state,youbegintoseeevenbiggerdiffer- ences.

You

can't order breakfast in the South without being asked if you want

grits withyoureggs. InMaryland, people armedwithknivesand

hammers

belly-upto tablescovered withbrownpaperand spend half the evening dissecting steamed blue crabsforthetasty parts.

Go

toasportsevent inMilwaukee andit'sjustaseasytofinda bratwurstvendorasahotdogsalesman.

It's not just the food that's different.

Anyone who

has ever attended national

FFA

convention hasenjoyedhearing the accents from Georgia. Vermont, Texas and Minnesota.It'sthese differencesthat give flavorandcolortoourorganization, whichisreally areflectionofthecharacter ofourcountry. Itisthesedifferencesthat

makes

our countryinterestingandunique.

But you can never fully understand this until youexperience it.

You

haveto get dillilicrc.

The same

goesfor internationaltravel.

Yes. peoplein far

away

placesdothings really differently than

we

do here in

America. Weren'tthings different^atyour friend'shouse?Aren'tthings reallydiffer- ent in

Oklahoma compared

to

Maine?

Listentowhat TaraSathers says about livingand workinginRussia

("My

Lifein

Russia" page

10.)

When

she returns to the U.S.. she will enjoythingsshe

never

consid- eredbefore,like

aregularshower

and supermarket shelvesfull offood. In themeantime,sheis

making

friends,learn- ing a

new

language and feels like she is

experiencingasliceofhistory. Itwillalso lookprettygood onherresume'.

Linda Flint,

who

designs this maga- zine,has lived inEngland.

Germany

and

in

many

states here in the U.S. Shehas traveled all over the world because her husband

was

in the Air Force. She says

"wheneverIhearaperson say"America, loveitorleaveit!'itcauses

me

to

wonder

abouttheperson sayingit.

Does

thisper- son love America solely because they wereborn here?Ithink the best thingany American could do forthemselves ^is to leave America

—

^for awhile." She says you can only really appreciate America

afteryouhave ^traveledto other countries andsee theU.S.fromanotherpointof view.

Travel. Takethetime

now

and ^visita distant relativeororganizeachaptertrip to an

FFA

chapter in another state. If you're interested in traveling overseas, there are a

number

ofgood international youthexchangeorganizations, including the

FFA. The

National

FFA

Organization offers programs that have been created justfor

FFA

members.

The

International team

would

be glad to helpyou explore whatexperiencewouldbe right foryou.

Write:

Time

to Go!.

FFA

International Programs.^{.'^632}

Mount Vernon

Memorial Highway.Alexandria.

VA

22309-0160.

Many

people are surprised that

FFA

evenhas intemational programs.It

makes

alotof sense

when

peoplelike Mrs. Flint ask questions like,

"FFA's

roots are in agricultureand Americanagricultureof- tenbragsthatitfeedstheworld,butdo

we know "who"

theworld is?"

f

AcwiLi^K'

G)wboys

trustour

new Mountain

Jackets to offerblanket-lined comfort, withjusttherighttouch ofstyle.

Walls fashionwilltake

you from

the rodeo

arena

totown,at apricethat won't take

you

tothe cleaners.

Maybe

that's

why

real

cowboys have been

choosingusfor about

50

^years.

"^lOalU

For

the store near

you

1-800-447-WEAR

ssTROY ^^

TROYMILLS

LEADING THE WAY OUTDOORS

»8,000 Over ⁱⁿ

Awarded IVIonthly

Draw Me

You

may

win one of five $1,495.00 Art Scholarships or any

one

^{of fifty}

$10.00cash prizes.

Mal<e your drawing any size except

likeatracing.

Use

pencil. Everyqualified entrant receives a free professional estimateof his orher drawing.

Scholarship

winners

will receive

Fundamentals

of Art taught by Art Instruction Schools,

one

^of America's leading

home

study art schools. Our objective is to find prospective stu- dents

who

appear to be properly

mo-

tivated and have an appreciation and

liking forart.

Your entry will

be judged

ⁱⁿ the

month

received. Prizes

awarded

for

best

drawings

of various subjects received from qualified entrants

age

14 and over.

One

$25 cash award for the best drawing from entrants age 12 and 13.

No

drawings can be returned.

Our students and professional artists not eligible. Contest winners will be

notified.

Send

yourentry today.

MAIL THISCOUPONTOENTERCONTEST

ART INSTRUCTION SCHOOLS

studio3F-3540 500 SouthFourth Street Minneapolis,Minnesota55415 Pleaseentf- :riydrawinginyour

monthlyCO ' (PLEASEPRINT)

Name Occupation_

Address City

-Age_

-Apt.-

County-

fiZT

NEWS ^IN BRIEF

Just Tune

It

Cut

agricultural chemical costs by a dollarperacreperap- plication, reduce

down-

timeandsafeguardtheen- ..^i„j.:j:j,_

vironment,allwithjust .iiii^H;^;;;^;:;:;;;;:.

a couple of hours

work. Any

spray ^{SprayerTune-UpWeek}

_, , , February22-26,1993

parts dealeror agri- ^'

culturalchemicalretailerhasthe toolsand

know how

^to help you do a thorough sprayertune-up duringSprayer

Tune-Up Week,

February 22through26.

Gettingyour sprayer readytogo doesn"t

havetobe complicated."The few minutes

ittakestoputona freshset of spraytips can

make

hundreds ofdollars ofdiffer-

ence in reduced chemical costs and im- provedyields,"saysDr.StephenPearson,

ofSpraying SystemsCo.

"Sprayer

Tune-Up Week

gives chapters an ideal addition to ongoing

community

service, safety and education activities,"

says National

FFA

PresidentTravisPark.

Celebrate FFA, The

Spirit

Of Leadership

ChaptersfromacrosstheUnitedStates are gearing up forNational

FFA Week,

February 22-26.

To

help you plan for events, ask youradvisor to see the

FFA Week

brochure sent to every chapter. It

features sample radio announcements,a posterandartworkyou canclipandputin

yourlocalnewspaper.

of Leadership

M A

^I

L B A G

Agricultural

Education Convert

Thanks forpointing outthe diversity of anagriculturaleducationdegreeinthe latest issue of

FFA New

Horizons (De- cember-January, 1992,page 14).

The

va- riety ofthis degree,

combined

with

my FFA

experience,openedaworldofdoors

when

Ihitthejobmarketthisspring.Just becauseyoustudyeducation doesn't

mean

you have to teach. I ended up in farm broadcasting.

Carey Martin Tulsa.

Oklahoma

Animal Mishaps

While readingyour magazine,

we

no- ticedtheViceroybutterfly(December-Janu- ary 1992,page12).

We

thennoticedthatit

wasreferredtoasa

Monarch

butterfly.

We

realizethesebutterfliesare

commonly

mis- takenbecause oftheirstrikingresemblances.

BeckyGillman.CarlShiifeldt

and

Kent Spnigue

FFA

Entomology Team, Lenapah.

Oklahoma

TelephoneNumber

Pen

Pals,

Please

Ithinkthatyourmagazineisgreat,but

I

know how

youcan

make

itbetter.

Why

nothaveasection forpenpals?That

way FFA members

allover couldgetto

know

eachother!

Mandi

Pyles Carrollton,Kentucky Thisseemstobe apopularrequest,so

we

are looking intothe best

way

topro- vide thisservice to

FFA

members. With over400,000members,youwanttohave a

good

systeminplacetoget the bestpen palpossible!

—

Ed.

Correction

In our December-January, 1992-93 issue (page 11), three advisors should have been included with theother advi- sors listed. The listings shouldhave in-

cluded

David

Nilson.advisorofnational secretaryKevinWhite, California:Larry

Little.advisorofwestern regionvicepresi- dentDennis Degner. Texas

and

Roland

Zimmerman,

advisor of eastern region vicepresidentRick Perkins, Ohio.

FFANewHorizons

Hard Work

/larkYates ofFishtail,

Montana,

lefineshard

work

as

planning

his

lome and

farmstead

imprtivement

>roject...then

making

^it

happen!

JarahAhel, Laura

Davis and Mary

'aoli

—

the

Ruby Mountain FFA

AgriculturalSales

team from

Elko, vlevada,

—

consider

hard work

a

'ear's

worth

of dedication, study indpractice, practice, practice!

5ut theyallagree that being

named

vlational

FFA award winners makes

illthat

work seem

just like fun!

4ark, the

1992 National FFA Home

md/or Farmstead Improvement

iroficiency

award

winner, basedhis iroject

on improving

the efficiency ind

environment

ofhisfamily's600-

icre ranch.

And

Sarah,

Laura and

4ary,

winners

ofthe

1992 National

M(irl< ViUls, Fi^/iraiL

M"!ujna

Agricultural Sales contest,

learned that

teamwork,

goals

and confidence

ga\'e

them

greater insight into sales

and

marketing...as wellas their

own

career plans.

The Upjohn Company

and Asgrow Seed

Company

salute

Mark,

the

Ruby Mountain FFA

AgriculturalSales

team...and allthe other mdustrious

young

people

who make FFA what

it istoday.

As

sponsorsofthe

Home &

Farmstead Improvement

Proticiency

Award and

the AgriculturalSales contest,

we

realizethat thefutureof agriculture

depends on young

leaders like

Mark,

Sarah,

Laura and

Mary.

And

that'sa

comforting

thought.

Ri(/i\ Mt)i(?itiiinFF.A.\»ncultnrdlSa^LCiTeam, Elko.Nevada.

(!-r)SarahAbel. Chapter Adiisor

Tom

Klein. LauraDaiis, Coach]oePayne,

\iar\PaoU

Upjohn _ASGROW

The UpjohnCompan\- AsgrowSeed

Company

Kiilamaioo,NHch.

CR.OPS IN\0 ^MA7.iNe

Grow

_breakfast^your

^own

with kitchen^plastic.

^Make

uten- sils partially

made

of corn starch.No,these aren't outra- geous dreams of

mad

scientists or NationalEnquirerheadlines, they're patented projects researched by the U.S.Departmentof Agriculture's

Ag-

ricultural Research Service (ARS).

These exciting uses for agricultural productsarewaitingaroundfor

com-

panies oruniversitiestodevelopthem intohouseholdproducts.

Because ofthe Federal Technol- ogy Transfer Act of 1986, which encourages companies to

work

with

ARS

scientists,andgivesthe

compa-

niesfirstchanceatexclusivelicenses to use the technology,

more

patents than everbeforearebeing developed.

In all,

ARS

has 1,200 patents. One-

thirdofthepatents are

now

licensed.

As much

as 30percent of rubber products,whetherthey'reshoeparts, kitchenware orautomobile tires, can be

made

ofstarchesfromplantssuch ascom.Switchingtostarches asrubber reinforcing agents could significantly reduce relianceof aprime ingredient withapetroleumbase:carbonblack.

"Manufacturers start with a big chunk ofmaterial called elastomer.

andtheyaddas

many

as

40

ingredients to

make

it

become

therubber

we

know,"

saysWilliam

M.

Doane,PlantPolymer ResearchUnit,inPeoria,Illinois.

Up

to

30percentof atire

may

bereinforcing agents.

The

typeofstarchcanvary,

Doane

says, "but

we

found cornstarch is

generally less expensive.

As

far as performance, though,there'snot

much

difference

among

starchesfrom

com,

wheatorgrainsorghum."

"There's certainly still a market.

You

canget30pounds ofstarch per bushelof

com,

sosomethingthatuses three billionpounds ofstarch

would mean

amarketforanextra 100 million bushelsof

com."

Grow Your Own

Plastic

A

cropcalledcrambeisgrowing on

some

20,000acresintheUnitedStates thisyear.But ifyou wanttoseewhat

comes

from crambe.don'twatch your

local producesection

—

checkoutthe plastic goodsinstead.

Crambe

is a domestic source of erucicacid.

When

erucic acidistreated with

ammonia,

^it forms amides, an excellent material forkeepingvarious typesofplastic sheets orfilms from stickingtogetheras they'remanufac- ^' tured andused.

Anotheroutlet forcrambe use is

Nylon

1313.

"Nylonsareallverysolventresis- tant,tough,andstrong,"saysKenneth D. Carison,

ARS

researcher. "But

Nylon

1313isspecialbecauseitab- sorbstheleast

amount

of moisture of any commercial nylon

made

sofar."

This

means Nylon

1313 can be

molded

into items such as automo-

bile parts,gears,andtubingthatmust notswell orshrinkin

humid

settings.

Nylon 1313 absorbs only about 0.7 percent moisture;by comparison,its

cousin. Nylon 11, used in parts for autosand trucks, absorbs about 1.5 percent.

CommercializationofNylon131

3

was

hinderedbytheexpenseof

mak-

ingit.

Now new

processesdeveloped

atNorthDakotaStateUniversitywith stateand

USDA

funding

may

cutthat costinhalf.

"Nylon 1313 has also been held backbylowsuppliesoferucic acid, whichhasn'tbeenavailableatsuffi- cientlylowcost,"says Carlson."But

ifcrambeproduction

moves

alongas

itisnow,thatcostcould

come

down."

Source:AgriculturalResearch,Sep\em- ber 1992

X

--it^::

Chevy

:

Uptcj

Extendeil-Cali.

kSuMll

Room

^for

^four with

available

rear jump

seats.

Rear-wheel anti-lock brakes standard^

More than 98% of

all

Chevy trucks sold in the

last I

10 years are

still

on ^the road. Over the years, no other truck

J is

that dependable, foreign or domestic.**

Chevrolet. The Most Dependable, Longest-Lasting Trucks.

I r

Forafreeproduct brochure^call1-800-962-2868.

•Based onM.S.R.P. ofPreferredEquipmentGroupBAA6versusequipmentpurctiaseflsepal

yourdealerfordetails.tOn4WDmodelsanti-lockbrakesoperatein2WDonly."Based onfull-linetruckcfimpanyregistrationdata 1982- 1991.Excludes otherGMproducts.Chevrolet, theChevroletEmblemandS-.IOare registeredtrademarksandChevyandTahoearetrademarksoftheGMCorp.©1992GMCorp. AllRightsReserved. Buckleup,America!

My ^{Life In Russia}

Sathers, left,

went

to Russia at the

same

time as Kentuckian Heidi Vincent. Both of their travel ex-

penses were

paid for through a grant from the United States Information

Agency.

Forinformation about

how you can go

to Russia, contact Diane

Crow

at: National

FFA

Center, 5632 Mt.

Vernon

Memorial Highway,Alexandria,

VA

22309-0160.

Tara

_been^Sathers_{to the} Netherlands

^knows

^travel.and^She'sJa- panon

FFA

"s

Around The World

program. She's used to living indifferent timezones,soakinginvarious culturesand beingsurrounded byforeignlanguages.

The

Santa Fe,

New

Mexico, native says she went to Russia because, "I've alwayswonderedifwhatthemediatoldus about RussiaandRussian peoplewastrue.

They

werethe

enemy

forsolong

— why?

Itissointerestingtobe hereatthistimein history. I've met

many

other American peop! in

Moscow,

but I'm theonly one living h afamily. Just ayearago^it

was

illegal!

It'ssoa\ inie tohaveafamilyopen

their home...i ^' js to

me

for a few months.Inthe

U

^' Relievethis willbe looked at as one l ⁱ ';>st incredible 10

yearsinworldhistory, and

Ican say I

was

in

Moscow when

ithappened."

Here's her account ofa typical day.

Friday.

December

18, 1992.

Ugh.

Too

cold. I rolled overfor theumpteenthtime and tried to focus on the clock.8:20 a.m.Ach!Late!

Forget the cold. I

jumped

up.turnedontheradioand

tried tofind

my

toothbrush.

My

hostmother hadgone back to bed after helping

my

host fatheronhis

way

to work.

The

briefradio report inEnglishtold

me

theworld

was

still there...Boris Yeltsin was still in parlia- ment,andtheexchangerate

was as lopsided as ever. I

made

up

my

bed,thatserved as a couch in the day, and went to get breakfast

—

a

huge cup oftea and bread with butter. After eating I

washed my

plates with hot water, (no soap), told

"mom"

goodbye,andwrapped upwellto catch the bus.

The New Mexico

winter jacketIbrought

was

thejoke of

Moscow.

When

^it hit 20 degrees Fahrenheit last

week, I found out why!

My

current coat was borrowed from

my

host family.

My work

placementiswithaninterior design

company

in

Moscow. When

^Igot towork,Tatiana,

my

bossandfriend,was already there.HerEnglishhad improved more than

my

Russian in the last three months.

"Good

morning Tara.

How

is it go- ing?" I smiled and said, "You'll be a professional

American

speaker in no time."

"What

isthis"innotime?'" sheasked.

Oh

yes,

American

slang. Icouldwrite abook onthatsubject alone.Tryexplain- ing a "couchpotato", "tossingyour cook-

ies' and "taking achillpilF toa foreigner sometime.

The

remainder ofthe office day was spentdrinkingtea,

making

telephonecalls, transplanting fernsandeating lunch.

After work, TatianaandIwenttofind abuildingwhere

we

hadameeting

Mon-

day morning.

"'Right in front of McDonalds," the

man

had said. "Can't miss it."

Twenty

minutes later and we'd missed it four times. Finally the address and

company name

matched,and

we

headed backtothe metro.

My

feetwerecold.

My

^{body was}

cold. If I opened

my mouth my

^teeth

froze, and

when

I

would

breathethrough

my

no.se,

my

no.se hairsiced together.

"Can'tevenbreathein thisplace with- outhaving problems,"Ithought.

My

^feet

slippedonthe icysidewalkagain.Tatiana looped her

arm

throughmine andguided

me

around acomer. Traffichonked and plunged on.

The

looming,

brown

brick buildingsseemedtoholdthe

smoggy

smell tothestreet.

"Tara,

remember

yourfirst day with

me

in the metro?

You

^said no one here smiles.

Now

you are here three months andyouareno

more

tosmile. Here..."She tookoff a ringI'dmentioned^Iliked afew weeks ago. "Take this.

And

remember, please,nottogrieve."Ithankedher,took thering,and thought about^it.

I asked Tatiana,

"How's

your life

going?"

""Oh."She shookher head."'I

am

very tired. Very tiredofwork.Tiredof being married. I

work

allday andthenmust go

home

and

make

dinnerand cleanand do dishes.

And my

husband doesnottohelp.

Do

you have this problem with

men

in

America?"

We

talked fortwohours.Shedecided she wanted to be introduced to

some

American men!

By

thattime, ^itwaslate.

I neededtogohome.

My

host mother

was

in the kitchen

warming

soup, potatoes and pork while

"dad"

hammered away

onthethirdpotato (Continued onPage33)

HI ,JJJM mm ^{KPY'S intn HE HI} _P

T] lEiiiNxrnjTyP uAmTj^ilt _astay.!.:

¹

^{1* •}

i

'HfF'/<5irt/cfc,

questionnaire First 1000resporr reo

NTUCKY HEADHUNTERS

PHOTOI

The Kentucky HeadHunters c/oMercury

66 Mualc Square West

Name

StreetAddress

City _State _Zipcode

Age

3

Under15

3

15-18

a

i9-25

^26-34 ^35-45

:JOver45

How manyalbumshave you purchased inthepast6months?

Jl-2 J3-5 116-10 Zlll-15 D

Over15

ZiMale -S Female Doyoureceive

J CMT 3

TNN Whichdo you watchthemost

^ CMT D

TNN

Who

areyour favorite artists?

Mostrecentmusic purchase?

High

Tech

Mechanics

Keeping pace

with the "real"

agricultural

business world

pays off

By

Lawinna

McGary

The

^{classroomisfullof}freshmen and sophomorestaking apartsmall engines. Piecebypiece theydismantle them.

Laterin thesemester they'll putthem all back together with advisor David Shitlett's help.

The

shop is stuffed with woodworking, welding andtractorrepairequipment and thewalls are linedwithtoolsonpegboards. Atfirstglance,this looks like a typical agricultural mechanics program.

Come

a littlecloser. Students atFort Defiance. Virginia,

learn traditional skillsbut theyalsokeep up with the latesttechnology.

Alongside the old

AC/DC

(electric) and oxy- acetylene(compressedgas) weldersareaplasma welder, computerized arc welder and a welding helmet with acomputerized light sensor. Before students get started on a project, they can use a Macintosh

LC

computertodrawthe plans. All of thisextra training gets students readyforjobs in the "real"world.

Few

full-time repairshopsjust use

AC/DC

or oxyacetylene welders anymore.

Newer

plasma welderscut metal at a

much

higher temperature resultingina.smoothercut. Advisor

Andy

Seibel says this welder works so fast it won't bubble paint.

And

since it works off ofelectricity and compressedair,youdon'thavetomesswith un- stable gasses thatcan be dangerous.

The

plasma welderworksbetterandfasteronmetal than oxy- acetylenecuttingmachines.

Anotherindustrystandard isthecomputerized arc or metal and inert gas

(MIG)

welder.

By

entering informationinto the computersuchasmetalthickness and type ofmetal, themachine will

make

sure youdon't

bum

throughthinmetal. Insteadof usingthestickweldingrods(also called electrodes)thatyou havetokeepreplacingasyougo, the

MIG

usesacontinuous-feed wire rod.

The MIG

can

make

veryprecisecuts. In fact,manufacturers areconfidenttheweldwillbeperfect justabout everytime.This

"It'sexcitingtolearn

how

toweld,"says

freshman Kim

Moats,(second from right). "You've got to learnto

have

concentration

and

to not get frustrated."

Vanessa Lam,

right,practices

gas

welding.

12

is usually the type ofequipment they use with computerized arms on assemblylines.

"I like thenewer ones a whole lot better," says senior O.J.

Crickenberger."It's

more

advanced andawholelot faster."

He

is isoneof22students

who

leaveschooleveryday towork on farmsandbusinesses.^"1usedtofiddlearoundat

home

ondad's welder,butInever thought^Icouldreallyweldwithit.Afterthree yearsofweldinginclass Icanturnouta prettygoodbead."

Thereareplentyofchances forstudentstoperfect the artof welding by working on their

own

projects as well as tractors

On some ^welding

work... a mistake could cost $ 1,000 or more.

community members

bring in. (Seibel says students overhaul five to sixtractorsayearand do minorrepairson

many

more.)

On some

ofthe welding work, suchas fixing the cast iron shield thatprotects internal parts ofatractor,amistake could cost$1,000ormore.

Jobslike this callforstudents tousetheweldinghelmet with acomputerizedlightsensorinside.Unlikemosthelmetsthatare pitchdarkallofthetime,youcanseethroughtheeyepieceinthis

Woodworking

ispartoftheagricultural

mechanics

courseall

freshmen must

take. Nextyear Daniel

Howdyshell

cantake both!agricultural

mechanics and

agricultural business.

new

version until you strike the arc. This

means

there's less

chanceof

making

amistakebecauseyouseeexactlywhere you need toplaceyour weldingrod.

Students

who

take time to use the equipment in the Fort Defiance agricultural shop say they will benetlt

when

high school isover.

"When

I applyfor a job, I

know

this willhelp."

sayssenior

Wayne

Marshall.

Knowing how

to

make

technology

work

foryou, he says,

makes

life easier. •••

Welding Terms

Bead — ^{continuous and}

uniform

line

of

filler

material

Electrode — ^{a metal}

welding rod coated with flux and used with an

electric

welder

Flux — ^{material that}

removes tarnish or corro-

sion,

prevents corrosion from developing, and

acts as an agent

^to

help solder spread over metal

Alternating current (AC) — current that

re-

verses

its

direction 60

times per second

Direct Current (DC) —

current that flows

in

one

direction continuously

WIX

designs highqualityoil, air,fuel

and

otherspecialtyfiltersforyourlineofwork.

Because we know how

importantyour lineof

work

is.

So

lookfor

WIX

atyourpartsprofes- sionalsstore.

Because

the lastthing

you need

isapiece ofequipment,

down on

thefarm.

WIXFILTERS

February-March, 1993

Looking for a career with travel and excitement?

iVIarketing agricultural products to foreign countries could be for you

Career J3 ^Watch

By

Carol Elder

lina.

By

Carol Elder

ntemational markets are the

wave

ofthe future

—

^the

^new

^frontierfor

business," says former Pink Hill, North Caro-

FFA

member Ken

Maxwell.

Now

a SeniorInternationalTradeSpecial-

istfor theNorthCarolinaDepartmentof Agriculture.

Maxwell

points outthatonly fivepercentoftheworld'speople live in theUnitedStates.

The

other95percent

—

more

than threebillionpeople

—

^represent

a huge potential market. Each year, he spendst\'. irthreemonthstravelingmostly toEastAsi Uipan,

Hong

Kong,Korea, and Singapoii. promote North Caro- linaagriculturalp. ictsattrade shows.

"A

^lotofwhat 1COis relatedto sales.

You

have tobe convinc'.ns: in what you say.

FFA

gave

me

the confidence to do

that,"saysMaxwell,

who

learned

how

to speakinfrontofpeople duringpar- liamentaryprocedureandjudging

contests.

Understandingthe"rules"of other cultures is another essen-

tial part of international busi- ness.

Maxwell

gives the ex- mpleofaNorth Carolina

com-

panyrepresentative

who

trav- eledtoJapan tomeet with a potentialbuyer.Afterorder- ing dinner, the representa- tivegotright

down

tobusi- nessand asked

how much

the Japanese firm

would

be willing to buy. Sud- denly, the tone of the meeting

became

chilly, asiftheairhad beenlet out of a balloon.

The

representative

was

not abletosignan agree- mentduringthattrip.

Maxwell

explains,

"The Japanese

wantto2etto

know

youbefore theystartdoing business, soyou havetobepatient. It's bestto let themdictate whetherornotto discuss business during a meal. If you don't, theythink you have norespect for theirculture ortheirways.

No

matter

how good

your product is. you can't sell it

unlessyoucanrelatetothe buyer."

Maxwell's interest in international

work was

sparkedbyhistraveltoEurope on

FFA's Greenweek

^{tour. "It}

was

the first time I had beenout ofthe country, and^it

was

aneye-openerforme. It'sone thing toread and seepictures ofanother place,butit'sanotherthingtostandthere andsee itforyourself."

He

believes international trade and businessjob opportunities will increase

as nations sign agreements, such as the North American Free Trade

Agreement (NAFTA)

thathasbeen proposed between the UnitedStates, Canada, and Mexico, andastrade barriers are

removed

innego- tiations for the General

Agreement

on TradeandTariffs

(GATT).

Ifyou'reinterestedinthis field.

Max-

well

recommends

you study a foreign language,doas

much

readingaspossible on internationaltrade, and gainpractical experience

—

^{evenifyou mustvolunteer}

—

ina

company

thatdoesinternational busi- ness,inyourstatedepartmentofagricul- ture or

commerce,

or in a world trade centerorassociation.

Incollege,you canmajorineitheran agriculturalfieldorinbusiness(Maxwell studiedagriculturaleducation),but

make

sure you have a solid background of courses withan internationalfocus.

Finally,"takeadvantageof

FFA's

in- ternational programs!" says Maxwell.

"Theexperience oftraveling internation- allyallowsyoutounderstandandappre- ciate differences.Thisisarealbenefitin

any job because you'll always have to

work

with people." ^***

Breaking

In

To

the International

Scene

The sfarting salary for entry level

government positions is $20,000 to

$30,000. For

more

information on international agricultural careers con- tact your state department ofagricul- tureorcommerce. Most have adepart- mentthat deals^v/ithinternational trade.

Theycanalsogiveyou alistof firmsin

yourstatethatv/orkinternationally.

FFAoffersavariety of international exchangeprograms,from 10-dayagri- cultural tours in Europe to year-long stays in Australia.

More

information and anapplicationfor 1

993

programs are in the February issue of ff^

Advisors...MakingaDifference.Besure tohaveyour advisorwatchforit!

FFANew

s?

oo:c1rv^

iivg

^ee ^{.^etv d/t^°^}

.^s/V ^{ea^^}

,1>>S

»«^

BE ALL YOU CAM BE. 1-800-USA-ARMY US.ARMY

RESERVE

IT WAS ^{A BIG}

By

Lawinna

McGary

It

wastheyear ofa

BIG

anniversaiy:

a record 29,541 people

showed

up forthe65thyearcelebrationof

FFA

atthe nationalconventioninKansas City, Missouri. There's plenty for

FFA members

to feel

good

about:already

more

than 382,000 strong in 1991, the organization

grew

byabout18,000

mem-

bers in 1992. That'sthe firsttime

mem-

bership went upin 11 years.

And

it'sall

happening while the total population of teenagersisdecreasing.

A

presidentialcampaign monopolized conversationfor

much

ofthe year.

Former

president George Bush, Ross Perot and

BillClinton

(who

promised

BIG

changes) battleditout.

Young

votersturnedoutin droves.

Therewere

BIG

victories.

About

¹,350

FFA members

developedtheirleadership skills attheWashington ConferencePro-

gram

this summer. Those

who

attended

State President's Conference metPresi- dentBush.BonnieBlair

became

^thefirst UnitedStates athletetowinamedalatthe Winter Olympics in Albertville,France, by striking gold in the

women's

500- meter speedskatingcompetition.Ameri- cans

won

108 medalsatthe

summer Olym-

pics in Barcelona.

Adding

to the pileof gold medals

was

the men's basketball

"dreamteam."

BIG

natural disasters took the spot- light at times: Hurricanes

Andrew

and

Iniki,volcanoeruptionsinSicily's

Mount

Etna, an earthquake in California, and starvation in Somalia.

FFA members

across the country (Indiana, Virginia, Wisconsin, South Carolina and

Ohio

to

name

afew) helped ease the painofthe August hurricanes by sending supplies and

money

tothe

FFA

chaptersinFlorida, Louisiana and Hawaii that were para- lyzed.

Members

from Gallatin, Tennes-

see,decided sendinggoodswasn't good enough.

They

^organized a relief trip to

oneofthe hardesthitareasof Louisiana.

St.Mary'sParish.AlsoinAugust,Presi- dent Bushorderedashipmentoffoodto Somalia, where, accordingto

Red

Cross estimates, 1.5millionpeoplewerestarv- ing.

A

couple ofweeksbeforeChristmas,

Bush

senttroopsintothecountryto

make

surefoodgottothepeople

who

neededit.

Bringingin

BIG

^dollars

was

toughfor

many

families in 1992. There weren't really any noticeable gainsin the reces- sion. Despite a sluggish economy, the National

FFA

Foundationbroughtin

more

dollarsthanever before ($4.75million)to support

FFA

and agricultural education programs.

The

General

Agreement

on Trade and Tariffs

(GATT)

negotiations brought about riots inFrance.If

GATT

passes,it

could

mean BIG

changes for American farmers.

There were rising stars and retiring stars.

The

"CyrusVirus"sweptthe nation.

Billy

Ray

Cyrus' first single,

"Achy

BreakyHeart",

made

theBillboardcharts before it

was

released. Itthen soared to

number

oneonboththecountryandpop charts, and

was

awarded "Single of the Year" bytheCountry MusicAssociation.

Magic

Johnson,

who

continued playing probasketballafterheannouncedhewas

HIV

positive, finally called it quits on

November

2.

Change

is the only thing you could count on to be constant in 1992. At the National

FFA

Convention,

November

^12-

14,delegatespassedarecommendationto

modifythefourregional

FFA

boundaries.

The

change

would

mainlyaffect selection ofnational officers. Delegates will vote on whetherto approve regional realign-

ment

atnextyear'sconvention.

VEAR...

More

than100stateofficers

and

the nationaloff icer

team met

with President

Bush

this

summer.

The

delegates also

recommended

an honoraryFTAjacket,similartothe advisor's jacket,beavailable forpeople

who

willuse thejacketin a positive

way

for

FFA,

and that the

FFA

stop selling chapter sweet- heart items.

The

National

FFA

Board of Directorswillvoteonthese issues.

BIG name

speakers:

Mary Lou

Retton:

ZigZiglar;JoeDiffie,countrymusicen- tertainer; and Miss

America Leanza

Comett captured the attention of

FFA members

atthenationalconvention.

And

the Kentucky HeadHunters(a band that includes threeformer

FFA members)

gave

afestive conventionkick-offperformance.

To

bettermeetthe informationneeds of

FFA

Advisors, the publication

FFA

Advisors...Making

A

Difference

was

launched.

For the first time ever the Ventures SupplyServiceMarketing

Group

didtwo

BIGtime

nationwide surveys.

They

con-

tacted

more

than 2,000

members

to find outwhatkind ofcasual clothestheywanted

FFA

tosell. See ifyou agree with what these

FFA members

said.

What To Wear

Most members

surveyed wantedtheir dresstomeettheapproval of peers

—

^both

thoseinagriculturaleducationaswell as those

who

don'tenroll. Comfort andca- sualappearance wereimportant.

Jeansandteeshirtswere mostpopular.

Cotton-polyester blends and all-cotton fabricswerepreferred.

Wool

andcorduroy weretheleastpreferredfabrics.

Official

FFA

Jacl(et

More

than 2,700

members

wereasked abouttheofficialjacket.Both

members

and advisorswanttochangethe jacket butkeep the

same

general "look."

They

alsowanted

tochangefromcorduroymaterialandpre- ferredonejacket foryear-round wear. ^•••

If anythins counts on

Some things never change.

All

the toughness and

durabilitythat

made

Ford America's Number One farm pickup truck

is

here

today.

Even

better, it'll

be there tomorrow. This truck

isbuilt

Ford Tough.

What else can you expect from Ford?

The

big

payload and

flex- ibility

you need with the longest cargo box

initsclass.

Power

that's right for

the task with the wide range of

multi-port

EFI gas engines,

plus,

the new-and biggest-turbo

diesel,

the

7.3L*

FbrdTnicks.

The Best Never Rest

I farm, ^it's toushness.

You'llfind

unexpected comfort with the spa- cious

interior,

the long

list

of luxury options.

And, Ford

offers

the added protection of 6-year/100,000-mile corrosion coveragef*

Obviously, Ford never

forgets:

on a farm, what counts most

is

getting plenty of

real

value

for

your

dollar.

For an Informative brochure,

justcall

1-800-258-FORIX

Available captain'schairs mith power lumbarsupports help maketoughdayseasier.

SalesbyDivision.*Askdealerfor availabilityonF-250,350and SuperDuty models.

"Askyourdealerforacopyof this limited warranty.

Seri

THEBEST-SELLING

AMERICAN TRUCKS

AREBUILTFORD TOUGH.

Mushroom

Marketing Mania

By

LynnHamilton

Agriscience

^attheSumner.

^Wash-

ington.

FFA

Chapterhas been gettingcultured

—

ⁱⁿ

^mushroom

culture,that is.

Theirproject.initsthirdyear,involves bothscientific skillsand marketing savvy onthe partofthestudents. Shiitake (pro- nounced shi-ta'-kay)

mushrooms

are an important element in the Japanese diet,

and the

Sumner community

hasa broad baseofJapanese Americans. Sinceapound

afresh Shiitakessellsforabout $10.and thereisareadymarketinthecommunity, the

Sumner

studentsset outtolearn

how

toget partofthemarket.

The

chapter has an international exchangeprogramsetupwith Japan. Sev- eral students each

yeartravel overseas to learn

more

about theJapaneseculture.

"One

thing

we've

learnedfromourin- temationaltrade pro-

gram

with theJapa- nese is that to do business with the Japanese, theyreally want to

know who

they're

buying

from." says

Greg

Pile.

Sumner FFA

advisor. "First ofall

you have towintheir trustand convince them thatyou'regood people."

The

ideaforasurvey

came

outoftheir

Marketing PlanProject.

"The

^first thing

we

learn is to identify a target market,"

Pilesays.

The

studentscanvassedthe

com-

munityfor current Shiitakeconsumersto learnaboutconsumptionpatterns,accept- able price levels and local demand.

A

Japanese

American member

of the chapter's advisory council helped them contact key 'ipanese Americans to sur- vey.

From

tl. results, they concluded there

was

a deii id for the

mushrooms

theycould meet.

Tuey

justneededtofind the best

way

togrow ihem.

20

In Japan, Shiitake

mush-

rooms are

grown

in logs, with oakbeingthepreferred species.

The Sumner

students found a

way

tosimulatethis,andhelped out the local furniture factory thathadtonsofwastesawdust and

oak

shavings. Chapter

members

turnedthiswasteinto a "synthetic log" toculture the

mushrooms.

Sincetheparticle sizeofthe sawdust varied greatly depend- ingonwhatthefactorywas mak-

ing on any given day. several students began researching the effectsofthe saw- dust particle size on

mushroom

growth.

Michelle Hagfors,a seniorin1991, took on a special inter- est.Sheenteredthe Agriscience Stu- dent Recognition program.

Hagforsandher classmates bagged

more

than 30bags of sawdust.

They

usedabenchtopau- toclave,whichster- ilizes materials by heatand pressure,to sterilize thebags of sawdust oneata time."Ispentalotoftime with the project." Hagfors says. But the sawdust

became

contaminated. She had

torepeat theprocess usingacommercial sizeautoclave.

Mushroom

spawn,

grown

frommush-

room

tissue,

was

then injected into the sawdustbags,andthebagsweresealedso noaircouldgetinorout.

Mushrooms

take from 30to60daysto

grow

inthe synthetic logs.Theirsizedepends onthe

amount

of carbondioxideandoxygen exchangethat takes place.Hagfors" hypothesis wasthat smallerparticleswouldfostersmallermush- rooms,since therewouldbeless

room

for thegasestoexchange.

Through their

agriscience

project, this FFA chapter is grow-

ing and ^selling mushrooms

Michelle Hagfors

was

a national finalist In the Agriscience Student Recognition Program.

She won

$3,500 Incollege scholarships.

As

the

mushroom spawn

starts togrow, thesawdustturnsintoafirm block.Hagfors foundthatthe fine particlesdidproduce smallermushrooms.Sinceprice structure of Shiitakes depends on their size and quality,this wasan important findingfor the chapter.

These days, a

new

2000-square foot agrisciencefacilityisunderconstruction, withapreparationroom,sterile

room

and growth

chamber

all designed to accom- modate Shiitake cultivation. Hagfors is

happy tosee the improvements. "Every- thing

was

held together with stringand rope

when

Iwentthrough," shesays.

Butnomore.Withthe

new

facility,the chapterhopestohaveenoughcapacityto

grow mushroom

blocks they can selldi- rectly to consumers.

The

blocks would weighfourorfivepounds andyieldtwoto three pounds of mushrooms.

They

are alsoexploringamarketforShiitakeblocks to be used for educational activities in other scienceandagricultural programs.

Pilenotes thatthe students' skills are

now

in

demand

by local biotechnology fimisthatneedtechnicians skilledin ster- iletechnique. Those

who

go ontocollege find the lessons learned through experi- ments and marketing strategies invalu- able.Hagforssays,"Itreallygot

me

ready for college and gave

me

a lot of self-

confidence." •••