LET'S COMMUNICATE
Agriculture Communication Newsletter
January 2001, No. 61

CONTENTS

WRITE THE RIGHT WORD
YOUR HOME PAGE
COMPUTER ASSISTANCE WEB PAGE

WRITE THE RIGHT WORD

"But words are things, and a small drop of ink, falling like dew upon a thought, produces that which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think." Lord Byron

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The Trained Professional Watch caught one on the radio recently, though technically it didn't come from a Trained Professional. A local car dealer was doing a live commercial on the air (something that probably should be left to the professionals). He said something like, "Oldsmobile has been a STALEMATE in the automotive industry." A stalemate, of course, is a situation in which no progress can be made. Maybe not a bad description of Olds given the news coming from General Motors. But the car guy was trying to sell cars and say good things. My best guess is he meant STALWART, meaning strong and forceful. Moral: Don't wing it when you are going to be heard by a lot of people.

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The Agricultural Communicators in Education (ACE) writers' group had some list-serve conversation about the plural of "youth." The original question was, "Another editor and I were just reviewing a 4-H-related item when I noticed the phrase 'Twelve youth participated.' I know 'youth' can be a collective noun, but...in this case I think an 's' after 'youth' is absolutely essential. Are my instincts right?" With only minor dissent, respondents agreed that "youths" is correct in this useage. "Youth" refers to young people as a group, but a plural of specific young people is "youths." Of course several respondents referred to the movie scene in "My Cousin Vinny" when Joe Pesci as Vinny refers to "two yoots."

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One respondent's interesting observation was that his own offspring despised being called "youth." "Youth(s)" in their mind is a definitely uncool term and they much preferred being called "kids," which apparently some educators have a major problem with. No recommendation from here, but it does raise the issue that how we refer to people can have a major impact on how they react to our message.

YOUR HOME PAGE

Ask four people to define 'home page' and you will get five different answers. For the purpose of this discussion, home page is defined as the Web page that automatically comes up when you load your Web browser, like Netscape or Explorer, or when you click on the Home icon.

You can set your Web browser to load whatever page you want for your home page. Those who work in units under the direction of the Vice President for Agriculture are encouraged to designate OUR main page as their home page. This page shows recent updates on our Web site, timely topics and feature sites. Links to your information should be available through one of our five subject matter menus. We should also reference this page to our clientele so they can see the wide variety of information we have available and select the topics of interest to them.

Please contact the Ag Webmaster drice@ndsuext.nodak.edu if you have suggestions on how to improve our menus or need a link to your information.

The URL for OUR home page is:

http://www.ag.ndsu.nodak.edu

To designate your home page in Netscape:
Load Netscape, go to 'Edit' then 'Preferences' and select 'Navigator.' In the middle of the dialog box enter the URL and click on OK.

To designate your home page in MS Internet Explorer:
Load Explorer, go to 'Tools' then 'Internet Options' and select the 'General' tab. At the top of the dialog box enter the URL and click on OK.

The menus may be slightly different depending on which version of Netscape or Explorer you use. Please contact the help desk by calling 231-9666 or sending e-mail to accs@ndsuext.nodak.edu if you need some help changing your home page.

The cliche "let's make sure we are on the same page here" also pertains to our use of the Web. We should become familiar with our Web site and its organizational structure so that we can better help our clientele find the information they need. We should also appear to be all on the same page in the eyes of our clientele and state leaders.

Dave Rice, Ag Webmaster

COMPUTER ASSISTANCE WEB PAGE

Agriculture Communication maintains a Web page dedicated to offering assistance with various computer applications and procedures. Examples of help documents include:

• Using the Majordomo mailing list manager
• Digital Camera basics and information resources
• Web development guidelines
• Computer Software Lessons Online
• Hard disk management
• Troubleshooting and maintenance of laser printers
• Using Microsoft FrontPage and Pegasus Mail
• Links to DakTech and Gateway Computers
• and many others

The Computer Support Website is linked from the AgComm Web page or go directly to: www.ag.ndsu.nodak.edu/comphelp.htm