Extension News: September 2008 Archives

Ghostly apparitions emerge from the morning fog.

Many are old bedsheets and tablecloths draped over the vegetable garden's best tomato plant or still-green pumpkins. (Just another week without a frost is all I ask!)

But the most impressive of these spooky sightings are the trees draped with masses of light gray, silken webbing. They're inhabited by a caterpillar called the fall webworm, which seems particularly abundant this year.

I suspect it's because our cool wet summer favored caterpillar survival and reproduction over that of their natural predators, various wasps for instance.

Those hairy webworms eating your leaves at the moment will live in the soil this winter as pupae, emerging next July as pure white moths. Then the cycle will begin again.

Unlike that spring pest, the Eastern tent caterpillar, the fall webworm isn't very harmful to the plants it feeds on. Unsightly perhaps, but the leaf feeding happens so late in the year that little damage is done to the health of the tree.

Why not think of the nests as early Halloween decorations? I know I've seen worse draped over trees.

Article and photo by Steve Turaj, Coos County Agricultural Resources Educator

First N.H. Summit on Work and Family October 29

UNH Cooperative Extension in conjunction with the New Hampshire Legislative Task Force on Work and Family will host the first annual New Hampshire Summit on Work and Family October 29 at the Holiday Inn in Concord.

A single goal: Start the conversation about work/family balance
"This meeting has an elegantly simple yet profound goal: to initiate a dialogue between business leaders and human resource professionals, state legislators, labor leaders and representatives, researchers and bureaucrats on how to make New Hampshire a better place for working families," says Malcolm Smith, Extension Family Life and Family Policy Specialist.

Without balance, quality of both work and family life suffers
"We know when workers are forced to neglect their families' needs because of work related pressures, the quality and quantity of their work suffers," Smith says.

"In addition, when work pressures and job strain pile up at work, our families suffer. Therefore, it's vital that business, community, state and national leaders pay attention to the many issues involved in balancing work and family life."

Strong slate of state and national presenters
N.H. Governor John Lynch and UNH Provost Bruce Mallory will welcome attendees. Among the national and local experts and business leaders who will share ideas and information at the Summit:

• Cali Williams Yost, consultant, researcher, executive, and author of Work+Life: Finding the Fit that's Right for You. One of the leading voices and most creative thinkers in the work/life dialogue, Yost sees work and life-fit as a partnership between employers and individuals.
• U.S. Representative Carolyn B. Maloney, recently honored by Working Mother magazine as one the "best of Congress" for working families in the U.S. Maloney, who represents New York's 14th District, believes that the federal government should set a national standard for family-friendly workplaces. Her new book, Rumors of Our Progress Have Been Greatly Exaggerated, has garnered national attention and her work and policy initiatives have been featured on national news and talk shows.
• Connie Roy-Czyzowski, VP of Human Resources for NE Delta Dental, will host a panel discussion of business leaders from small to large companies that have increased profits and attracted vibrant employees by focusing on work and family balance. Included in the panel will be executives and human resource managers from Citizens Bank, Timberland, Hypertherm, and Badger Balm, among others.

Other sessions include:

• A research update on best company practices from the Work and Family Institute.
• An exploration of U.S. Department of Labor flex-time initiatives.
• Examples of how work and family practice, policy and legislation can work together to create family-friendly workplaces.

Note: Listen to Dr. Malcolm Smith and others discussing work/life balance issues on NHPR's The Exchange with Laura Knoy.