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VOLUME 62 NO.1 — January - March 2003
In this issue we are catching you up with Who’s Who at USDA. They include the following officials, in alphabetical order:
Nancy
Bryson, USDA’s General Counsel, came to USDA from the DC law firm
of Crowell & Moring where she focused on natural resources, administrative
law, and biotechnology. Prior to entering private practice she served first as
a trial attorney and then as assistant chief of the Justice Department’s
Environmental Defense Section from 1979-84… 
Jim Butler,
now deputy under secretary for farm and foreign agricultural services, served
as deputy under secretary for marketing and regulatory programs since September
2001…
Chief Information Officer Scott Charbo, responsible for the overall management of
USDA’s information resources and IT assets, came to the job after a short
stint as director of the Office of Business and Program Integration at the Farm
Service Agency. Before joining USDA, Charbo was president of mPower3, Inc., a
subsidiary of ConAgra Foods… 
Risk Management
Agency Administrator Ross Davidson came to USDA from the insurance giant
United Services Automobile Association (USAA) based in San Antonio. He also has
been a financial officer at Tesoro Petroleum and at Zapata Corp., an offshore
oilfield services enterprise in Houston…
Phyllis Fong is USDA’s Inspector General. Prior to joining USDA,
Fong was Inspector General at the Small Business Administration and earlier had
served as SBA’s Assistant Inspector General… 
Arthur Garcia, administrator of the Rural Housing Service, came to
USDA from the banking industry where he concentrated on serving small
businesses. He has also taught finance at the College of Santa Fe, Webster
University, and the University of Phoenix… 
Eric Hentges is director of the Center for Nutrition Policy and
Promotion. He brings 20 years of experience in human nutrition
research…
Mike Kelly
is USDA’s Deputy General Counsel and has worked in the Office of the
General Counsel since 1973, and also served as USDA’s ethics counselor
from 1975 until the Office of Ethics was created as a separate office in 1998.
During his tenure in OGC he served as associate general counsel for
legislation, litigation, and general law from 1975 to 2002…
Charles
“Chuck” Lambert, the deputy under secretary for marketing and
regulatory programs, comes to USDA after serving more than 15 years with the
National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, most recently as its chief
economist… 
Garry McKee, administrator of the Food Safety and Inspection
Service, has a strong background in public health issues having served as
director and cabinet secretary of the Wyoming Department of Health and chief of
Oklahoma’s Public Health Lab…
John Rosso, an expert in energy related matters, heads the Rural
Business-Cooperative Service. He is the former president and CEO of J. Rosso
and Co., which became the parent company of 34 diversified corporations
including real estate, insurance, development, construction, deep well
drilling, and alternate energy retail stores… 
Ellen
Terpstra, administrator of the Foreign Agricultural Service, was president
of the USA Rice Federation prior to coming to USDA. She also has served as
president of the U.S. Apple Association and worked for the Office of the U.S.
Trade Representative…|
Duane Smith affirmed he has long since spent the $9,300 he
won at a local fishing tournament, so what remains with him now are his
memories of that event. What stands out in his mind is how unique and unusual
the whole activity was. Smith, a Food Safety and Inspection Service processed foods inspector and the inspector in charge at a processed foods plant in Fayetteville, Ark., took first prize at the Busch Big Bass Tournament held on Beaver Lake in northwest Arkansas. “People win fishing tournaments around the country all the time,” he acknowledged. “But this particular activity had some unique twists to it.” For instance, he noted, professional bass fishing tournaments generally are limited to 300 participants, or 600 when there are two participants per boat. But he was one of 920 competitors--and this was a non-profit competition designed for amateur fishers. “And with 920 people competing, that made for a lot of fish--in any tournament,” he quipped. Second, according to John Paschal--a fellow FSIS processed foods inspector and the inspector in charge at a different processed foods plant, also in Fayetteville--during a typical bass fishing tournament the participants all begin the contest by leaving the shore from the same spot. But in this contest the competitors could launch their motorized fishing boats from any of the 20-plus public fishing ramps, located around the parameters of Beaver Lake. “The reason was to get those 920 participants out in the water, away from each other and busy fishing--presumably at their own favorite fishing spots--as quickly as possible,” he explained. Third, Smith pointed out that, unlike most amateur tournaments, which operate under an ‘honor system,’ the winner of this tournament had to take a lie detector test. “That was done because of the size of the winning purse,” he said. Accordingly, he was asked such questions as “Did you make sure to not begin fishing until the official starting time of 7 a.m.?” “Were you, in fact, the one who caught that fish?” “Did you abide by all appropriate Arkansas State Game and Fish Commission and U.S. Coast Guard regulations?” and “Did you use live bait?” “That last one is a particular ‘no-no’,” Smith advised. A fish is more likely to bite at live bait, he explained, so the contest requires participants to use artificial lures--in order to display their prowess as a fisher. “In other words, you have to finesse that li’l rascal,” he quipped. Smith said he landed his prize-winning bass after a two-minute struggle--“which seemed like two hours,” he recounted. “After I finally pulled the bass into my 16-foot boat,” he laughed, “I was so happy I almost kissed that fish.” --Ron Hall |
