Extension Office Hires New FACS Agent

RISON - Austin Compton, a life-long resident of Fayetteville, has been hired as the new family and consumer science agent for the Cleveland County Cooperative Extension office.Compton graduated from Fayetteville High School before competing as a decathlete for Stephen F. Austin University at Nacogdoches, Texas, and then transferring to the University of Central Arkansas at Conway. He earned a bachelor's and master's degree in family and consumer science from UCA, completing his post-graduate degree last year.He is the son of former University of Arkansas at Fayetteville longtime assistant track coach Bryan Compton, who retired this year after 26 years of service. His mother, Rene Baumgardner, is a sergeant major in the Army National Guard.This will be Compton's first job with the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture's Cooperative Extension Service. His first official day on the job was last Friday, Aug. 1.While family and consumer science covers a lot of topics, Compton, being a former collegiate athlete, said most of his expertise is in nutrition, health and wellness. Once he gets a better feel for what the community would like to see out of his position, he said he could lead some dietary classes on losing weight and getting fit.Compton said about 70 per-cent of weight reduction is related to diet with the remaining 30 percent related to exercise and other things. He said trick is finding foods that taste good yet "calorie deficient," which means you burn more calories than you take in.Cleveland County Extension Service Agent David West has spent part of his time this week introducing Compton to some of the community organizations and people around the county....