December 2003 // Volume 41 // Number 6
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Editor's Page
Abstract
"JOE Commentaries" celebrates the fact that the "Commentary drought" appears to have abated, makes special mention of the two challenging Commentaries in this issue, and asks for more. "December 2003 JOE" points out a few common themes.
JOE Commentaries
It's been a while, so I am happy to report that the "Commentary drought" seems to be over for the time being. Besides the two Commentaries in this issue, I have reviewed and accepted five other Commentaries and sent two back to their authors for revision. I've also been promised a couple more. This is good news for all of us.
The two Commentaries in the December JOE are good news not because they deliver it but because they don't. As their titles suggest, Kirk Astroth's "Doorway, Doormat, or Doghouse? The Challenges Facing 4-H Youth Development Scholarship in Land-Grant Universities" and Theodore Alter's "Where Is Extension Scholarship Falling Short, and What Can We Do About It?" challenge us all.
Astroth tells it like it is, and Alter tells it like it should be. I urge you to read both articles and to respond to them and to each other in the JOE Discussion Forum. This is a conversation we've got to hold. Where better than in the Journal of Extension?
And, as you grapple with the issue of Extension scholarship, do not forget Charles Norman's "The Challenge of Extension Scholarship," from the June 2001 JOE.
If they or the Commentaries to come inspire you to want to submit a Commentary of your own, please do. Consult the JOE Submission Guidelines, of course. Read "JOE Is Looking for a Few (More) Good Commentaries," in my August 2000 "Editor's Page." And have at it.
December 2003 JOE
Certainly, many of the articles in this issue are notable for their scholarship, and all are notable for their usefulness to or implications for Extension. That's why they're published in JOE.
There are a number of articles dealing with youth development and outreach to teens. The Feature, Research in Brief, and Ideas at Work sections lead off with articles demonstrating that the challenges Astroth talks about in his Commentary are being met.
We also have a Feature, an Ideas at Work, and a Tools of the Trade about outreach to Hispanic audiences. And there are other fine articles too numerous to mention, but you'll have time over the holidays to read and learn from them.
Laura Hoelscher, Editor
joe-ed@joe.org