The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1920-07-11
FLORIDA WILL:
help EVERYONE

Act as a clearing house through
which all kinds of information can he
secured for the residents of the state,
except along lines pertaining to agri-
culture and home economics, has been
definitely established by the General
Extension Division of the University
of Florida and State College for Wom-
en- and should be of great service to
the people of the state, according to
Director B. c. Riley, who says:
Through the General Information
Bureau it is our purpose to help Flor
ida find answers to a hundred and
one perplexing problems which con-
front individuals and communities
everywhere today. 1t Is not our pur
pose to answer these questions through
| the General Extension Division staff:
however, all inquiries, whenever pos
sible, will be taken care of promptly
| by securing the desired information
from the resident faculty members
and other specialists on the campus
| or by referring the inquiries to the
proper government departments. or
| the boards or bureaus in a position to
give the information. There is a place
| in every state for a clearinghouse for
| public information of this kind, since
thousands of people have not found
time to acquaint themselves with all
the ramifications and restrictions, as
well as the operation of many gov
| eminent agencies.
I'm dealing with questions it is the
purpose of the Bureau to acquaint
| the inquirer with his rights in asking
| for information and to put him in
touch with the agencies that can help
| him. The General Extension Division
will not attempt to answer questions
| concerning agriculture and home eco
nomicS because these questions are
| taken care of by the Agricultural Col
| lege and Experiment Station; neither
VIII it be possible for the division to
take up questions which would ordin-
arily involve the necessity of hiring
| an attorney, an engineer or some
| specialist who must be on the job In
order to handle the situation. Cues
tons coming through the division must
| be more or less of general nature
| and it is preferred that they be large
| ly requests as to what kinding of in
| formation can be secured through gov
eminent agnecies; nevertheless, much
| information in the form of bulletins,
circulars and letters will be secured by
| the division and supplied directly to
the individual requesting the informa-
| ton, as we'll as direct answers to
questions which can be taken care OF
| by the force of specialists found on
| the campus of the University or the
State College for Women.
MANY questions concerning com
| munity development, public service
and welfare have already passed
| through the hands of the Extension
Division staff and have been answered
for people living in Florida or those
interested in the state. Since the es-
adjustment of the Extension Division
| last October many people have got
ten the impression that General Ex-
tension work consists mainly of cor
respondence-study, however, many
other activities have been started and
several new bureaus will be estab-
lished in a very short time.
THAT the General Extension Dlvl-
| sion has been very busy place, TAX
| ing care not only of students but gen.
eral inquiries and by furnishing val
liable information which brought out
| the. necessity for the GeneraT lnror-
nation Bureau, can be readily seen
when it is known that since the or
eanization of the division on OCTOBER
II. 1902 pieces of second class mail,
including bulletins, and circulars OF
all kinds carrying information on num-
her1ess questions, have been supplied
and sent out by the division, while
80 AIT pieces of first-class mail; large
1v letters to individuals have been
Saot out"