It was the strangest request I have ever received: “Can you help me plagiarize my thesis?” asked the young Chinese student. I did not think I had heard correctly. When she repeated her request, I figured that she merely misunderstood the word, or had poor English and was asking for help avoiding plagiarizing.

I was speaking at five universities last year, and I had a free day between lectures. I am known for helping proofread papers. She had her flash drive in hand. It was the last month of their school year and she was fretting about finishing her thesis. I asked her to sit down and talk.

“You want me to help you a-v-o-i-d plagiarism, right?” I emphasized.

“No,” she repeated back to me, in slow English so I would clearly understand. “I need help plagiarizing my paper.”

(OK, Schrock, maintain composure Don’t roll your eyes. Don’t hold your head in your hands and moan.)

“Tell me what plagiarism means to you,” I directed.

“I need to change enough words so it won’t be detected by the computer.”

Now I knew exactly why she was asking.

Five years ago, China’s Ministry of Education issued a directive to universities to check every master’s thesis and doctoral dissertation for plagiarism. Plagiarism has become a worldwide problem, thanks to online access and the ease of the cut-and-leave function.

Just as American professors use programs such as Turn-It-In to detect students who have bought their term papers from paper mills, Chinese universities installed plagiarism-check software on well-intentioned orders from above. And their universities passed the responsibility down to the students. Before they turn in their first draft, they are to go to the library where a designated computer runs it through the plagiarism-check. They are not to hand it in until it clears the check.

So students learn a functional definition of plagiarism: It is the number of English words (or Chinese characters) in-a-row that are identical to other works on file. To avoid plagiarism, some believe that all you have to do is change enough words so there are never seven or more in a row that match other work.

“Why not put quotes around all the sentences that are from other people, and then put their names in parentheses at the end of the sentence?” I asked.

“Oh, I know all about that,” she said. “My whole thesis will be in quotes.”

“Didn’t you add some ideas yourself?” (I really wanted to help.)

“No. We are just students. How can we come up with new ideas? Those people get Nobel Prizes. Everything in here I got from the books and articles I read.”

“How about putting some of these ideas in your own words. We still have to credit the authors — it’s called paraphrasing?”

“That’s what I want you to help do, so there is enough difference the computer wont detect it. But I cant list all the sources because that would be everything.”
She was beginning to suspect that I would not help her. We talked for a half hour. I never did succeed in getting her to understand why we give credit by citation.

This problem is pervasive throughout Asia and other countries that have a heritage of didactic teaching. Throughout their K-12 education, the teacher is the “master” and the students are apprentices. Whole classes engage in group recitation of identical texts. For 12 years, you are rewarded when you can repeat the teacher’s explanation or the textbook answer, word-for-word. And now in college, they change the rules on you, and call this copying plagiarism.
She was certain that this plagiarism rule was just a way to force people to pay money to buy permission to use the words, similar to copyright and trademarks. I never did succeed in teaching her the value of giving credit to sources. I asked her how old her major professor was — he was old school. She was not a bad person. She just needed to be taught. The young Chinese professors coming back from study in the West have been doing that teaching and China is changing fast.

Tomorrow, I fly to Harbin in far northeast China to work with faculty and graduates on research and publication integrity. Their Office of Science Integrity in their Ministry of Science and Technology is holding these sessions nationwide. I hope that I will never be asked by a student to help them plagiarize, ever again.

Dear Dave,
What things do you advise buying used versus buying brand new?
Amy

Dear Amy,
I’m afraid there’s not one good, across the board answer, because it all depends on where you are in your financial plan.

When it comes to cars, you should always buy good, used vehicles, unless you have a million dollars or more in the bank. New automobiles drop in value like a rock, so buy smart and let someone else take the hit in depreciation. You don’t become wealthy by investing in things that go the wrong way.

If you’re talking about clothing, and you’re broke or trying to get out of debt, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with shopping consignment stores — especially for kids. They wear things three times, and then they’ve outgrown them. “Experienced” clothing is a great buy for adults, too.

Of course there are other things, but here’s the deal. As your money situation improves, you’ll be able to buy more new things. The price of “new” will become a smaller and smaller percentage of your financial world.

But when you’re broke, deep in debt or don’t have a big income, the money you spend on anything is a big percentage. At times like this, a decent $50 washer or dryer in the classifieds can be the best deal on the planet!
—Dave

Dave Ramsey is America’s trusted voice on money and business. He has authored five New York Times best-selling books: Financial Peace, More Than Enough, The Total Money Makeover, EntreLeadership and Smart Money Smart Kids. His newest best-seller, Smart Money Smart Kids, was written with his daughter Rachel Cruze, and recently debuted at No. 1. The Dave Ramsey Show is heard by more than 8 million listeners each week on more than 500 radio stations. Follow Dave on Twitter at @DaveRamsey and on the web at daveramsey.com.

If today’s crop of young farmers and ranchers plan to play a part in the future of agriculture, they must position themselves where this industry will be – not where it is.

There are four key considerations young farm and ranch couples must take to heart if they are to reach their full potential. These include: be willing to change; be part of something bigger than yourself; accept the future; and give up your own independence.

Addressing change is something young farmers and ranchers are familiar with. They have no trouble recognizing change – it’s doing something about it that is so difficult.

Everyone tends to give change a chance but when difficulty pops up all of us tend to revert to our old ways of doing things. Change requires new thinking.

Secondly, we as humans, especially young farmers and ranchers must strive toward something greater than self-actualization to fulfill our own unique potential.

This means challenging ourselves with something bigger than we are. To accomplish anything of greatness, we must work with others.

Agriculture is not just about the local community, the family or the farm and ranch operation. It is not just about growing corn, wheat or raising livestock. Producers must see themselves as part of the food industry which remains the most critical industry in the world.

As far as accepting the future, some people will continue to dig in their heels and think, “That may be what the future is like, but I want no part of it.”

What alternative is there?

We can’t recreate the world in the image we want. Instead, we must identify the world as it’s going to be. In agriculture we must focus on the consumers of our products and not make this an issue about what we’re doing on the family farm. It’s not about us, it’s about the customers we serve.

The fourth block on which to build a future in agriculture includes giving up independence. Americans revere their independence. The United States was born out of independence.

However, unless farmers and ranchers move to interdependence they will not survive.

We can’t be focused on a single issue. We must look at the bigger picture and understand that we’re all in this together.

A farmer and rancher cannot remain independent and farm in the future. Producers must be willing to dedicate themselves to a common purpose and impact the world with the help of others.

While these four building blocks may sound simple, implementing them is extremely difficult. Many will fail and start over. Some will not make it. For others it will remain a life-long commitment. The important thing is to begin.

John Schlageck, a Hoxie native, is a leading commentator on agriculture and rural Kansas.

The Kansas Legislature last week got good news—from some perspectives—that it pumped enough money into two specific funds for public schools to be off the hook from a potentially earth-shaking decision by a three-judge panel considering school finance.

The two funds were state support for capital outlays made by school districts and chipping in equally the state assistance for school districts that have local option budgets. It took about $130 million of new and shuffled funds to accomplish the equalization that the Kansas Supreme Court wanted.

Whew… The earth-shaking alternative was for the court to shut down the entire capital outlay and local option budget programs, which would have cost school districts about $1 billion in lost revenue. Imagine the problems that would have caused.

But, while lawyers for the state were seeking a decision to close the file on those funds, the three-judge panel instead told the state it had done good work — but the funding issue will remain open. School district lawyers reminded the court that the Legislature tends to make a deal, and once the deal is sealed, tends to ignore it.

So, the court essentially said, nice job; but we’re keeping an eye on you.

Why the fuss when it appears that the hot issue of the session was largely settled? It’s because this week, the State Finance Council, made up of the governor and top legislative leaders, will borrow money from state accounts to get through the fiscal year that starts July 1. Typically in November and February, there isn’t enough cash on hand to make payments to vendors and state agencies to pay their bills. And that’s what the borrowing is supposed to be about, the government equivalent of a pay-day loan.

But if the state’s cash flow and projected ending balance—remember you have to repay those pay-day loans—drops to below $100 million, or even less than zero, the governor has to make budget cuts all by himself.

It’s either across-the-board cuts, which sound rather uneventful, an even-handed trimming, or agency- and program-specific cuts.

Those across-the board cuts sound relatively harmless. What’s a 1 percent or 2 percent cut…just a trim, and it can be handled with one press release.

But, if the court is going to keep an eye on that $130 million to meet the cost of equalizing that capital outlay and local option budget assistance, it probably isn’t going to be happy to see the bargain already being chipped away at with an across-the-board spending cut (which by some obscure old law prohibits school district capital outlay cuts but is OK with cutting local option budget support).

So, depending on how fussy the court is—and we recall that the Legislature littered the court’s budget for next year with some internal political language that the boys and girls in black robes didn’t like—that across-the-board business may be out of the equation.

Which means the governor may well have to make individual agency cuts, pitting department against department, program against program, and producing a bumper crop of political issues on whom the governor likes best during this election year.

So, while the Legislature skirted one problem, it just may have lined up a bunch of other political problems that mean either first-week of the 2015 session budget cutting or tax increasing or some combination of the two.

The Legislature and the governor got the good news on meeting the school finance requirements, but that move just may have been accompanied with an asterisk so big that it shadows that victory.

Makes for an interesting summer coming up.

Syndicated by Hawver News Co. of Topeka, Martin Hawver is publisher of Hawver’s Capitol Report. To learn more about this nonpartisan statewide political news service, visit www.hawvernews.com.

Upper-class, über-rich Brits pay a price. In exchange for being blessed with wealth and social standing, they’re expected to be at least slightly amusing to the general public, offering some combination of doofus, daffy, and scandalous.

Crispin Odey fits this bill.

He was born to old money, but most of it was lost by the time he came of age. So Odey set out with old-fashioned drive (and the help of some very wealthy, old-school backers) to make a new fortune.

As a London hedge fund huckster, he has scored big during Europe’s ongoing financial crisis by making cynical investments — such as betting that British banks would collapse. When he won that wager, ordinary Brits suffered and the hedge fund genius became a billionaire.

Of course, Odey now resides in a proper British mansion. But he isn’t satisfied to wallow selfishly in the wealth he raked in from his bets on the misfortunes of the masses. Rather, he is boosting the local economy by hiring architects, artisans, construction crews, and designers to build a snazzy $250,000 house on his estate.

In so doing, he is also boosting the spirit of an entire nation caught in an economic slump — indeed, Odey has ignited the fiery spirit of populist outrage in merry olde England. Why? The quarter-million-dollar house he commissioned is a chicken coop.

Really. The full-scale stone structure measures about 6,000 square feet. Designed as a Grecian temple, complete with two-dozen columns and carved flourishes around the roof, it’s a poultry palace. Adding to the merriment, a chicken and an egg are carved into one wall, with a Latin inscription asking: “Who came first?”

Like billionaires everywhere, Odey always puts himself first — the common people and the common good be damned.

OtherWords.org columnist Jim Hightower is a radio commentator, writer and public speaker.

Think it costs too much to eat a healthy diet?  Think again!

K-State Research and Extension presents our “top 10” list of frugal foods that combine great taste and a nutritious punch for a minimum cost. All of the frugal foods on our list are versatile — try them for breakfast, lunch, supper and snacks.

1.  Apples and bananas. A perfect on-the-go snack, both apples and bananas are naturally portable. Eat these satisfying and sweet nutritional powerhouses raw or cooked, or add them to salads, desserts and baked goods.

2.  Beans. Full of antioxidants, dietary fiber and protein, canned beans cost about 20 cents per serving. Dry varieties that you cook yourself cost even less. Try different kinds, colors and shapes of beans and experiment with flavor combos such as Mexican, Cajun, BBQ and more!  Keep beans on hand to make quick suppers, soups, dips, salads and side dishes.

3.  Brown Rice. With a slightly nutty taste, brown rice is a whole grain. It is more nutritious than white rice. Serve as a side dish, at breakfast or as a snack with cinnamon and milk, or add to casseroles and soups. Enjoy rice in ethnic dishes, too, for variety and fun.

4.  Canned Tomatoes. Canned tomatoes make a great base for countless main dishes, dips, sauces, soups, stews and chili. Tomatoes are rich in vitamin C and lycopene. Buy them without added salt if possible.

5.  Canned Tuna. A versatile addition to sandwiches, salads and casseroles, tuna is high in protein and vitamin D, and low in calories and fat.

6.  Eggs. Eggs are high in protein and low in cost. Boiled, fried or scrambled — eggs cook quickly, so they’re perfect for breakfast, lunch or supper. For variety, try French toast, frittata, huevos rancheros, or egg salad.

7.  Fat-free Milk. A natural convenience food, skim milk offers a healthy dose of vitamin D, calcium, protein and potassium. Serve skim milk with meals and snacks, and use in soups, smoothies and desserts.

8.  Kale. At about a dollar a bunch, kale is one of the least costly green vegetables you’ll find. Quick and easy ways to serve kale are to: Serve it hot after pan-frying with garlic and a small amount of vegetable oil; Steam and add to pasta salads or as a topping on homemade pizza.

9.  Potatoes. White potatoes and sweet potatoes are satisfying and are high in dietary fiber, vitamin C and potassium. Bake, boil, roast, pan-fry or oven-fry them, or add to casseroles or soups.

10.  Rolled Oats. At about 14 cents, one cup of cooked oats is a heart-healthy whole grain with 4 grams of dietary fiber. Cook oats with fruit for a breakfast or snack, add them to baked goods, or use them to “extend” the ground beef in meatballs or meatloaf.

For more great ideas for frugal food, ask to receive the K-State Research and Extension electronic newsletter “Dining on a Dime.” It’s available by email in English and Spanish on a bi-monthly basis.  Contact the Ellis County Extension Office at (785) 628-9430 to join the mail list or send an email request to Linda Beech at [email protected]. You can also check out the latest issue and archived back issues at www.ksre.ksu.edu/humannutrition/Dining.htm.

You can get even more great ideas when you find us on Facebook. Search for “K-State Research and Extension- Ellis County” to follow our page.  We’d love for you to be our friend!

Linda K. Beech is Ellis County Extension Agent for Family and Consumer Sciences.

I was unhappy. The new state-of-the-art molecular biology lab building had just opened last year at one of China’s premier universities. I attended one of the first presentations in that immaculate room. There was just one new high definition projector beaming the speaker’s programmed slides on a huge white screen—and nothing more. No black board with chalk. No white board with markers. Not even an “elmo” platform that projects your handwriting on the screen. And that was the problem.

“So you don’t want Nobel Prizes?” I asked the chair, after the students were gone and we were walking down the hall. That was definitely impolite, even if my Chinese hosts are very courteous toward guests.

“The PowerPoint is fine for reviewing past science, but how are you going to engage students in questioning and pursuing future avenues of research? No one gets Nobels for knowing what is already in textbooks. You get Nobels for asking new questions and finding new techniques, and that takes brainstorming—on the board,” I continued.

That graduate research building had just opened and it only had one lecture room. The rest of the facility was laboratories arranged in suites of 2-4 labs around each researcher’s office, and there were four wings and four stories—over 30 empty lab facilities waiting to be filled.

So this year, when I had the opportunity to visit that molecular biology research lab, my first question was: did they add boards? Three-fourths of the labs are now occupied. And although it was a Sunday, most labs had students and professors hard at work. Thanks to the labs having glass windows to the hallway, I could easily walk the 4-story building, all 4 wings, top to bottom, and view it all. Every lab had a large white board with a holder full of markers to the side. It was obvious from the smears left by markers (I still prefer chalk), that these boards were heavily used. And indeed, as I passed by one laboratory, the professor and students were gathered around the board arguing over some lab dilemma. I could not hear if it was a technical problem or change in procedure or a new direction when results are unexpected. But it was science and it was not in the textbook or cookbook lab manual.

There are two sides to the science coin. Part of science is what is already known. Students can memorize that from the textbook, although it does not guarantee they know what it means. The other half of science is the questioning skills to search beyond what is known. Chinese students are great at memorizing the textbook science—what is known. They memorize in order to score high on that single critical end-of-high school gao kao test.

But it has been the unique strength of the American classroom that our science teachers ask students to read, and then think, compare, and question. Is there another way to interpret that graph? How could we discover the cause. How can we measure it? We attempt to train our students in questioning and analysis—an experience that until recently, Chinese students never had.

But Chinese students have come to the United States by the hundreds of thousands and have experienced that questioning in their masters and doctoral research here. Large numbers have now gone back to become the science professors in their new universities. And many are now standing with their students at those boards, markers in hand, figuring out the questions and methods to answer new problems. Because their students have three times the science content knowledge under their belts as American students, this bodes well for future science breakthroughs here. And to be really effective, introducing this second aspect of science—this questioning—needs to begin across China in their K-12 classrooms. And that has barely begun. But China is on the right track.

Meanwhile, back in the United States, no less than 10 states are now basing teacher evaluation on students’ test scores. That is continuing the NCLB tyranny that forces teachers to replace open questioning, labs and field work with teach-to-the-test drill work. Along with our continued anemic coverage of science under the Next Generation non-standards, we are decimating our science education.

China is going the right direction. A direction many schools in America are abandoning.

After four years of protests, lawsuits, vandalism, arson, and a bomb threat, American Muslims in Murfreesboro, Tenn., can finally celebrate the power of religious freedom to triumph over hate and fear — at least in the courts.

Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court put an end to a lawsuit filed in 2010 challenging the permit issued by Rutherford County for construction of an Islamic Center near the city of Murfreesboro. By declining to hear the case, the High Court let stand a Tennessee Court of Appeals decision in favor of county officials.

Opponents of the mosque — convinced that Muslims are a threat to their community — had tried various tactics to halt construction of the Islamic Center. In a last-ditch legal maneuver, they filed suit, charging that the county had given inadequate public notice of a meeting to approve the site plan for the Center.

Now the Supreme Court has put an end to the legal drama — and the Islamic Center is in Murfreesboro to stay.

A remaining lawsuit — this one challenging the right of the Islamic Center to build a cemetery — remains to be resolved. But supporters of the mosque are optimistic that the courts will soon dismiss this final legal challenge.

Of course, history teaches that court victories don’t change minds and hearts overnight. Muslims in Murfreesboro have their new Islamic Center thanks to local officials doing the right thing, but they still face prejudice from those convinced that Islam has no place in America.

What’s heartening about this saga, however, is how local government officials stood up for religious freedom. Despite strong public opposition, members of the county planning commission voted to treat the building application of the Muslim community like applications from any other religious community.

That took courage. At the height of the conflict, political candidates and anti-Muslim activists worked hard to whip up opposition to the Islamic Center in Murfreesboro and beyond. Even televangelist Pat Robertson weighed in, suggesting that county officials may have fallen victim to Muslims’ “ability to bribe folks” and warning of a future Muslim takeover of the city council.

But through it all, county officials stood firm. Moreover, many local religious groups rallied in support of the Muslim community. Students at Middle Tennessee State University helped form Middle Tennesseans for Religious Freedom, a grassroots effort to counter anti-mosque protests. And the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty — one of the nation’s most effective defenders of free exercise of religion for all — provided legal support.

Despite this good news out of Tennessee, Islamophobia remains a national problem thanks to a cottage industry of anti-Muslim groups working to conflate terrorism and Islam in the minds of the American people.

“Anti-Sharia bills” are pending in at least 10 state legislatures — all of them motivated by anti-Muslim bias and based on a distorted understanding of both Islamic and American law. (For an accurate understanding of Sharia in America, see “What is the truth about American Muslims?” at www.religiousfreedomcenter.org.)

If past is prologue, however, Islamophobia in our country will fade as American Muslims become more visible in places like Murfreesboro.

We have been down this road before. Not so very long ago, anti-Catholic hatred was at its height in Murfreesboro — and across America. As described by Bob Smietana in the Tennessean, in 1929 angry residents of Murfreesboro marched to the courthouse trying to block the construction of the town’s first Catholic Church.

Today some 2,000 families are members of St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church in Murfreesboro. Religious freedom trumped anti-Catholicism 80 years ago — and religious freedom, if we work at it, will trump Islamophobia today.

We may have a distance to go, but we have come a long way. Consider that six of the current nine justices on the U.S. Supreme Court — the very court that put an end to the fight to against the building of a mosque in Murfreesboro — are Roman Catholics.

Only in America.

Charles C. Haynes is director of the Religious Freedom Center of the Washington-based Newseum Institute. [email protected]

“Gentlemen, start your engines.” That message, played repeatedly in a commercial beamed on the Jumbotron at this year’s Indianapolis 500, had nothing to do with racecars. A coalition of faith, business, and law enforcement leaders used the iconic event to launch their call for House Republicans to get moving on immigration reform.

 

“It’s time for effective, commonsense, and accountable solutions that respect and enhance the rule of law,” says Mark Curran, a Lake County, Illinois sheriff in the commercial.

Unfortunately, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor can’t shift gears. The Virginia Republican won’t allow the most incremental of immigration bills, known as the ENLIST Act, to go forward.

This bill would let immigrants who were brought to the United States illegally as children to enlist in the military. If they serve and are honorably discharged, they would then be eligible for a green card, which would put them on a path to citizenship.

These are young people who didn’t choose to come here. Their parents brought them. An opportunity to serve in the military would give them a chance to demonstrate their loyalty to the United States. In the long run, the ENLIST Act would allow these folks to become full, productive members of society.

Naturally, the ENLIST Act has a broad support base. Republican Jeff Denham of California introduced the measure, which 26 Democrats and 24 Republicans co-sponsored.

Conservative commentator Linda Chavez called the ENLIST Act “the right — and principled — thing to do,” in her syndicated column.

When asked about the ENLIST Act, Cantor suggested that he supported it. “If you’ve got a kid that was brought here by their parents — unbeknownst to the child — and that they’ve grown up in this country and not known any other, and they want to serve in our military, they ought to be allowed to do that and then have the ability to become a citizen after that kind of service,” he told Politico.

But actions speak louder than words. Cantor blocked the ENLIST Act from being included in a military authorization bill, and it doesn’t look likely that it will come up for a vote anytime soon.

Meanwhile, the public continues to support an overhaul of our broken immigration system. Even Fox News pollsters find that most Americans support reform, including majorities of Republican voters. In fact, a May poll conducted by conservative advocacy groups found that tea party Republican voters favor immigration reform. The Tea Party Express and Americans for Prosperity report that over 70 percent of tea party-aligned voters want Congress to pass immigration legislation this year.

It seems like everyone is on board. Why is this issue going nowhere?

For one thing, Cantor isn’t willing to lead on immigration. If he won’t permit a vote on something as narrowly targeted as the ENLIST Act, it’s doubtful that House Republicans will tackle a more comprehensive approach.

That’s a loss for our military, which will lose out on a group of qualified, dedicated recruits. And it’s a loss for the Republican Party, which is destined to win scant numbers of Latino voters in 2016. More importantly, our country as a whole will suffer if our broken immigration system continues to hobble along as is.

Sure, illegal immigration is contentious. Representative Steve King, an Iowa Republican, has compared offering undocumented veterans citizenship to “handing out candy at a parade.” But one study showed that non-citizen enlistees were “far more likely to complete their enlistment obligations successfully than their U.S.-born counterparts.”

King himself avoided serving in Vietnam in the 1960s through multiple deferments. How ironic that he and his colleagues are now squashing the military service dreams of others.

Of course, not all undocumented immigrants want or are able to serve in the armed forces. They still deserve a chance to get right with the law, pay fines and back taxes, and become citizens.

But young immigrants who are willing to put their lives on the line for our country should be allowed to do so. It’s time to pass the ENLIST Act, then move ahead with immigration reform.

Raul A. Reyes is an New York City attorney and columnist. Distributed by OtherWords.org.

Dear Dave,
My current employer offers a regular 401(k) and a Roth 401(k). I’ve got several years before I retire, so which one should I choose?
Jennifer

Dear Jennifer,

Take the Roth!

If you put your money into a Roth 401(k), and by retirement age there’s $1 million in there, that money is yours tax-free. By comparison, if it’s in a regular 401(k), you’ll pay taxes on that $1 million, which will come out to about $300,000—maybe $400,000 at the rate things are going now. You’ll lose 30 to 40 percent of your money.

My personal 401(k) is a Roth. And in this situation, yours should be too!
—Dave

Dave Ramsey is America’s trusted voice on money and business. He has authored five New York Times best-selling books: Financial Peace, More Than Enough, The Total Money Makeover, EntreLeadership and Smart Money Smart Kids. His newest best-seller, Smart Money Smart Kids, was written with his daughter Rachel Cruze, and recently debuted at #1. The Dave Ramsey Show is heard by more than 8 million listeners each week on more than 500 radio stations. Follow Dave on Twitter at @DaveRamsey and on the web at daveramsey.com.

When 300 people joined 50 local Walk Kansas teams in March to walk the distance across Kansas, little did they know they would log enough miles to circle the globe 1.5 times!

Ellis County team members participating in the 8-week Walk Kansas program sponsored by K-State Research and Extension met the fitness challenge to “walk” Kansas– and then some.  Our walkers reported a total of 37,955 miles — enough to cross the state 89 times, or to travel from New York to Los Angeles 15.5 times!

This averages 2.26 miles– or approximately 34 minutes– per person per day, for an average total of 238 minutes per week, surpassing the recommendation of 150 minutes of physical activity per person per week from the US Guidelines for Physical Activity.

In a parallel challenge to track fruit and vegetable consumption, team members reported eating 39,167.25 cups of fruits and vegetables during Walk Kansas.  That’s approximately 19,583 pounds or 9.8 tons of these healthful foods.

This averages 2.3 cups of fruits and vegetables per person per day. While this is a great effort, it still falls short of the daily consumption advised by the US Dietary Guidelines. The recommendations vary by age, sex and activity level, but most adults should eat 2-2.5 cups of vegetables and 1.5-2 cups of fruit each day, for a combined goal of 3.5-4.5 cups daily.  Low fruit and vegetable intake is a risk factor for premature death among Ellis County adults with 81% of adults in Ellis County consuming too few fruits and vegetables, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Kansas Department of Health & Environment.

Top mileage honors this year went to the Neighborhoods team which collectively logged 1636 miles of exercise. The team which consumed the most fruits and vegetables was the Happy Feet team with1465 cups eaten.

Team members reported many benefits from their participation in the Walk Kansas challenge.  While many reported that the team support kept them motivated, others mentioned specific benefits such as weight loss, increased energy, and the ability to sleep better, breathe easier and feel healthier.

Experts know that exercising controls weight, reduces risk of premature death from heart disease, helps to alleviate arthritis, reduces the risk of diabetes, decreases blood pressure, helps older adults become stronger and remain independent, helps lower cholesterol levels, decreases anxiety and helps to alleviate depression. A former K-State Extension health specialist once said “There is clearly no better ‘medication’ than exercise to maintain health and increase longevity.”

With all the health benefits of physical activity, it is no surprise that experts have determined there are also health costs associated with inactivity.  According to research done at North Carolina State University, the cost estimate for inactivity is $1,412 in direct and indirect health costs per inactive person per year.  By helping 300 Ellis County participants become more active, the potential estimated cost savings of Walk Kansas in Ellis County is $423,600!

Ellis County walkers were among nearly 16,000 people statewide who participated in the K-State Research and Extension Walk Kansas program. Local efforts were enhanced by a team of Leadership students from Fort Hays University who worked with me to organize, plan and promote Walk Kansas activities this year.

If you’d like enjoy the benefits of physical fitness with a fun team atmosphere, plan to join Walk Kansas next year, March 15 to May 9, 2015. Until then, keep moving and eating well!

Linda K. Beech is Ellis County Extension Agent for Family and Consumer Sciences.