Pennsylvania State University is doing a survey about NAIS. Go to this link and let them know how you feel.
Hat tip to Susan.
Update: Several people have commented on the password for the survey. For some reason Dr. Ann Swinker, the creator of the equine NAIS survey, has hidden the results. I would suggest that you email her at aswinker@psu.edu to ask about the survey results. Frankly, I find it rather rude that Dr. Swinker would hide the results of the survey from people who were good enough to invest their time in her survey. What does she have to hide?
Update: The password to the survey results is psuhorse for the survey results. Thanks to the several people who have gotten it and sent it. Results as about 6 pm Eastern Time 7/17/2007:
13. Are you in favor or opposed to participating in NAIS equine identification program?
In Favor
158
24%
Opposed
348
54%
Neutral
87
13%
Unsure at this time
57
9%
Total
650
100%
Update: Dr. Ann Swinker has emailed me that the survey will run until December 2007. I have asked her for a copy of the final report that will be based on the survey.
Update 20070726: Dr. Swinker just emailed me “We finish the studies Dec 19 2008 and will have a total final report by then.“
I do not raise horses, so the survey does not involve me.
Now, if they did one on dairy goats, bees, or poultry, that would be different…
[They do ask if you have other animals. They survey is very short and very much about NAIS and worth completing. -WJ]
Comment Patrick Weber — July 17, 2007 @ 10:26 am
After completing the survey, it requests a password to see the results… can Susan/anyone provide one so I can see? Thanks
[Bit of a bother that they are requiring a password for the results. What do they have to hide? Keep an eye on them. -WJ]
Comment Heather — July 17, 2007 @ 10:26 am
Please don’t make us do NAIS. We don’t want it, don’t need it, can’t afford it. Please do not put us in prison when we refuse to do mandatory NAIS. Please don’t - please don’t- please don’t do it. Darol
Comment Darol Dickinson — July 17, 2007 @ 10:58 am
Done. And I gave them an ear (or an eye) full.
Comment Kim P. — July 17, 2007 @ 11:05 am
Hey, Walter ~
I tried to access the survey results but didn’t have a password. Anybody see the results so far?
[For some reason Dr. Ann Swinker, the creator of the survey, has hidden the results. I would suggest that you email her at aswinker@psu.edu to ask about the survey results. -WJ]
Comment donna — July 17, 2007 @ 12:04 pm
Took it…every one who can should. Thanks!
Comment lyndeelou — July 17, 2007 @ 12:59 pm
#1 anyone who owns livestock weather its horses or not should help out all of the other group. Patrick you say you have goats I would be more then happy to say NO Nais. We are suppose to help each group out that is UNITY
Comment Gisela — July 17, 2007 @ 3:14 pm
password —psuhorse
Comment SUSAN — July 17, 2007 @ 3:48 pm
I don’t understand why there is a password either. However, try psuhorse.
Comment Ann Nelson — July 17, 2007 @ 3:49 pm
The password is psuhorse.
As of this minute, we’re ahead in the poll.
650 answers to the question
“Are you in favor or opposed to participating in NAIS equine identification program?”
In Favor 158 24%
Opposed 348 54%
Neutral 87 13%
Unsure at this time 57 9%
Total 650 100%
Comment Henwhisperer — July 17, 2007 @ 4:05 pm
Oh, what a relief to see the NO NAIS responses surge ahead.
I really believe that many people are believing the hogwash about using NAIS to find a stolen horse. How can they claim the database will be secure, but also say it can be accessed in search of stolen horses? You can’t have it both ways, but people are falling for it because that’s what the gov’t is telling them. I guess they never heard,
“How can you tell when a politician is lying? Answer- His lips are moving.”
Comment Barbara — July 17, 2007 @ 7:42 pm
I filled it out,I noticed they wanted to know how much money we make,and how much gummitt schooling we have, nuts,I ain’t got any of either :)
“Live free or die tryin”
Comment LEE — July 17, 2007 @ 7:55 pm
For everyone who is wondering about the password needed to view the results, please be advised that this survey was created by Zoomerang, a polling contractor. On the page you’re presented thanking you for participating in the survey, I would think that the link that you can take to the survey results would take you to the page whether you have a password or not. I don’t know why you need a password to access the survey results, but I think that not including a password in the link, or a notice of the password, may be a function of someone who is unfamiliar with setting up an online survey. To go back and change anything now, may necessitate posting a whole new survey, and may be more indicactive of someone who is innexperienced in setting up an online survey. I don’t know how Zoomerang sets up surveys for clients, I’ve never hired them to do this type of work, I’ve taken plenty of surveys conducted by them, I used to take surveys from them and other contractors as a hobby - I know, I have no life, lol. When I conduct online surveys I write my own, and have purchased a license to a survey script. I do know that to change anything on a survey, even the thankyou page, can invalidate the survey results. It does appear that this survey is set up to log IP adresses or cookies so that, theoretically, a person can take the survey only once, which makes me a bit more comfortable about the validity of the survey’s results. It’s a shame though, that respondents’ comments aren’t visible. I’ve talked to Ann, and I’ll contact her and see if that wouldn’t be possible if not for this survey, then for future ones. It’s nice to see that a person can view survey results more than once, on my surveys, a respondent can see survey results when they complete the survey, but not after that. That’s why on the Oregon Small Holders Alliance website there is a link to survey results. I have to down load a .csv or .pdf file and then put it up on the web, or convert the stats into a web page, upload it and put up a link.
Zoomerang’s website can be found by doing a google search.
Joanne
Comment Joanne Rigutto — July 17, 2007 @ 8:39 pm
#11 if I remember correctly NAIS is not meant for stolen horses or to find farmers in need of hay due to a storm…
THE USDA is promoting the touchy feely part, then wam O
in 2009.
Comment Gisela — July 17, 2007 @ 8:54 pm
my hubby did the survey and said he was against NAIS and wanted it stopped for the main reason so he could have peace from my always talking/breathing/living/being on the warpath about NAIS.
Comment SUSAN — July 17, 2007 @ 9:32 pm
results as of tuesday 7/17/07 10:37 pm cst
In Favor 170 23%
Opposed 403 56%
Neutral 91 13%
Comment SUSAN — July 17, 2007 @ 9:38 pm
By taking this survey did you just register your animals? Your premises? Most programs at public universities and high schools are sponsored by Dept. of Ag. (Like FFA and 4H.
Not paranoid just curious. They have used more devious ways to get info.
I had ancestors at
“Shay’s Rebellion”. Almost nothing new under the sun.
[No, they didn’t collect enough info for that although one could argue it could be mined. However I seriously doubt that is occurring. I suspect Dr. Swinker mistakenly passworded the survey and thank her for sending out passwords to people who asked. -WJ)
Comment gordon — July 18, 2007 @ 5:41 am
This is our taxpayer dollars at work. I am sure that therre is federal funding for this poll on NAIS. I generally don’t answer any surveys because of datamining, but they can’t register your property just by knowing your isp. It’s not definitive enough…
Comment Doreen — July 18, 2007 @ 6:47 am
In the book, Dictionary of Word Origins, by John Ayto, the synonyms for the word “premise” are, admit, commit, mission, permit,submit and transmit. I’m not an attorney and I don’t play one on the internet but gee I smell a RAT.
Comment Dan Frantz — July 18, 2007 @ 7:09 am
#17
According to this email I received from Ann Swinker, they are not identifying individual participants in the survey.
*******************************
Barbara,
Thank you for expressing your opinions.
Penn State University is conducting a survey to provide information
about how the United States horse industry feels towards NAIS. Our
survey is anonymous; therefore no one participating in this survey
will be registered for any type of program. Additionally, those of us
working on the Penn State survey are neutral to the issue. We intend
to present the results of this survey without bias. The information
that we collect will present the voice of the people to the Equine
Work Group, USDA National Animal Identification System (NAIS). We
hope you recognize this as an opportunity for you to be heard. We
respect your concerns.
Comment Barbara — July 18, 2007 @ 7:47 am
By doing these types of surveys, or by visiting any page on the web for that matter, your ISP is captured. I think that the only way that any data about your actual location could be obtained, that is your physical address etc., would be a subpoena from a court or a search warrant. Also, remember that if you use your real name, you can be found with an online phone book, or if you’re someone like me, who has a web page/site and is involved in politics through issues involing the NAIS and other ag regulations, all you have to do is google my name or probably even my email address to find out all sorts of info on me like my location, what kinds and how many animals I have, etc..
I talked to Ann for around 40 minutes the other day on the phone. I honestly don’t think that she or the study committee are trying to generate premises registrations with data gathered by the survey. They are generating premises registration etc., through enrolling 4H kids in the study, and I have some other issues with that. I have submitted a set of questions regarding the study and Ann said that she would pass them on to the study committee. I will notify Walter if I get a response to the questions I sent and send him a copy.
Joanne
[Excellent. Keep us all posted. -WJ]
Comment Joanne Rigutto — July 18, 2007 @ 7:54 am
As much as I would love to get in on the Penn State equine survey (and loan them a piece of my mind), I shuddered when I read the last line of the stipulative greeting: “Your participation is confidential and voluntary”. Now where have we heard THAT before? Perhaps I’ve become a bit of an alarmist, but I’d rather not risk the possibility that the survey information ends up in the hands of the USDA, weather deliberate or by “oops! How’d that happen?!” As far as I know, I’m still under the radar and would prefer to stay that way. There’s actually a feed store out here (Del’s Farm And Feed, owned by Tractor Supply Inc.) that asks EVERYONE for their phone number at the cash register(!). I don’t give it and don’t really go there anymore. They also have lots of “special offers” like the “10th bag of grain is free” that require filling out a detailed information card for the manufacturer (Allegra brand horse grain) that ends up who knows where? Since it has become clear that the USDA is not above cloak and dagger tactics, I act accordingly. Am I little paranoid? Maybe so, but at a healthy level. Am I quite Comfortable with my position on the subject? You bet!!
Comment Richard O. — July 18, 2007 @ 6:21 pm
survey results as of wednesday 7/18/07 9:18 pm cst
For 216 22%
Opposed 564 57%
Neutral 121 12%
Unsure 92 9%
Total 993 100%
Comment SUSAN — July 18, 2007 @ 8:15 pm
While I think the theory of the program is not a bad idea, I can’t imagine that it could be implemented without some serious side effects. Heck we can’t even keep track of illegal aliens, drunk drivers, people who collect welfare AND work, people who don’t pay taxes etc, etc. So how on earth do they expect this program to work. I think it will be a tremendous burden on the small farmer and the horse owners who are already struggling in expensive times. I think the program will be expensive to run and maintain.
Comment sue m — July 18, 2007 @ 8:31 pm
it is odd to me that they would take a horse survey in PA. .why dont they get tex-am,or col state, or nm state to take this survey? to get true results ,the survey needs to be taken where the horses are. mabe it would get trounced on . just a thought.
Comment nick — July 19, 2007 @ 4:52 am
Penn State has one of the so called premire Ag depts in the nation,and maybe folks would be suprised but Pa. has a huge amount of horses,even folks who live in citys and suburbs have horses,this may be a internal Pa. survey more than a national one,so PDA would naturally confer with PSU.
I have no idea as to compare states to each other,but almost everyone I know around here has at least one and sometimes twenty horses.There are hundreds of horses and ponies within a few miles of here,and this area is no longer that big of a Ag area.
A question I have is why they have to conduct a survey to find out about what people think about a unconstitutional issue?Its UNCONSTUTIONAL,what part of that don’t they get?
I mean this type of thing from a place that is supposed to be a center of knowledge,come on, I know the answer to this thing and I am not a university.
The thing about PSU being neutral is a debateable point,Ag Sec Wolfe said in my presence that Pa Dept of Ag and PSU were working together,helping each other,and as I recall we had website pages that connected PSU to PDA,perhaps one of my fellow Pa No NAIS’ers remembers? Who are we to believe?
If I remember it was something called PaFarms and such?Hopefully this person is not a bad person at PSU but my suggestion would be to remain skeptical of any govt agentcy or funded institution in regards to all this.Thanks!
“Live free or die tryin”
Comment LEE — July 19, 2007 @ 5:42 pm
Two other things about Penn State–1) they are promoting a PA vegetable tagging scheme. One of the first in the US. When I last looked at it it seemed that every level of vegetable production was meant to be traced–especially geared towards CSA’s it seems. And this was before the Spinach and Lettuce crises of last summer.
2) At least one of the Prof’s at Penn State is a tool of Monsanto. His lectures read like an advertisement for rBST and everything he writes and says reeks of conflict of interest. A little investigating found he was affiliated with several organizations tied to Stamford which are trying at all costs to squash and discredit the organic and Raw Milk movements in the US. Combined these institutions have deep pockets and have members in many universities to spread their poison. It’s a shame the young student forced to sit through this puke to get a degree don’t have the experience or knowledge yet to know BS when the hear it.
Comment Podchef — July 19, 2007 @ 8:54 pm
You may have already discussed this on another page. I have been away from the NAIS struggle for a few months save for an occasional skirmish with the elected representatives.
I was going through the USDA How To Handbook 200702 on the Technical Documents sidebar and was shocked to read USDA’s justification for monitoring anti-NAIS websites in order to ‘know your enemy’. You will find Chapter 6 dedicated to the ‘fringe’ opposition, pages 22-26, I believe.
I am so tired of the bureaucratic arrogance of these parasites who live on our tax dollars.
Comment donna — July 20, 2007 @ 12:51 pm
I never saw that document before I read your message. How interesting. Now, I’d like to say something to the gov’t spy reading this site. We are watching you, watch us. How does it feel to spy on American citizens whose only wish is to get the government out of our lives? Does it make you feel like you are some kind of patriot? Your How To manual mentions Civil Liberties as one area of opposition, but it doesn’t tell you how to respond to that charge. For that matter, it doesn’t give you answers to any of the areas of concern - it just tells you to be prepared for the questions. Well, I’ve asked those questions myself, and I’m still waiting for a good answer - not ducking the issue or a change of topic.
IMO, the people in USDA who are behind this are a bunch of traitorous b*******.
Comment Barbara — July 21, 2007 @ 8:46 am
“as I recall we had website pages that connected PSU to PDA,perhaps one of my fellow Pa No NAIS’ers remembers? ”
Lee, I copied the following paragraph from the PDA website:
“The Department of Agriculture, working with Penn State University, has created a Web site and toll-free number for premises identification. To obtain a premises number or add an animal species to a premises, producers can call 1-877-722-4724 or visit http://farminfo.psu.edu.”
Comment Barbara — July 21, 2007 @ 7:31 pm
As of noon Sunday July 22 the tally is:
Are you in favor or opposed to participating in NAIS equine identification program?
In Favor 262 21%
Opposed 705 56%
Neutral 159 13%
Unsure at this time 143 11%
Total 1269 100%
Comment Davido — July 22, 2007 @ 9:51 am
If Penn States forwards this survey to the Equine Working group, its imperative to keep up and record those daily numbers to verify should a report actually is complied by the EWG.
Comment Gisela — July 22, 2007 @ 3:09 pm
lee if pa has the numbers of horses that you state then some one need to get busy telling the owners to answer the survey.according to davido only only 1269 people have responded to the survey, not many. this is one survey that can tell them how the people feel without some trickery attatched i do believe.
Comment nick — July 23, 2007 @ 9:27 pm