Editor's Page

Dear Reader (or should I say Friend?),

This is my last issue as editor of your Journal of Extension. It has been an interesting and fun four years, thanks to you.

I have been fortunate to work with a splendid board of directors and a great group of reviewers. The reviewers are very thorough in their evaluations and careful in their comments. I hope that authors have learned from them.

The work done within the Extension System never ceases to astound and I will miss keeping up with the issues and concerns as reflected by your manuscripts. I will miss dealing with the authors. Although I have never met most of you, I feel that some of us have become acquainted. I will miss getting things from Barbara O'Neill in New Jersey, Rey Santos in Texas, Robert Fetsch and Bart Beaudin in Colorado, Stephen Duncan and Kirk Astroth in Montana, among others. It has been fun working with all of you.

I leave knowing you will be in good hands with Laura Hoelscher of Purdue as your new editor. Be patient with her during this change over. There's a lot of detail to learn in this job!

I can't stop without saying a big thank you to Patrick Robinson at Virginia Tech and Jim Lemon at Ohio State for their support and help with the technical end of JOE. They have really helped make the editor look good. And I can't forget Barbara Sawer, Oregon 4-H and evaluation specialist emeritus, who was my back-up reader and APA-style guru, who was invaluable.

Your Journal of Extension is entering the new century poised for even greater things as this issue demonstrates. In this issue, for the first time since the electronic version was introduced, you will find graphics in two of the articles. This capability will greatly enhance the effectiveness of JOE. Your Journal is receiving more articles each year. This year, the total should reach or exceed 140 articles submitted, which I believe is a record number. JOE published 99 articles in 1999.

In a way, this is my second retirement, the first being from 30 years with the Oregon Extension Service. But I will still be involved with Extension; in a moment of weakness I agreed to write a history of the Oregon Extension Service and now I will have the time to devote to that task.

Enjoy your December issue of JOE. As usual, it is full of good information about programs, evaluation, program planning, and trends in Extension.

Have a happy holiday season and a great new century!