COLLEGE NEWS
- Ag Convocation: The Dean’s announcement
- Ag Convocation: Academic Programs
- Ag Convocation: Extension
- Ag Convocation: National Programs
- Brown bag lunch with the President Sept. 9
- Pioneer endows new chair in CARD
- International research grant deadline Oct. 16
- Fair visitors learn about Carver and college
- College of Agriculture polo shirts for sale
- Special report on soybean pest
- Plant sale and ice cream at Reiman Gardens Sept. 13
- Deadlines & Reminders
COMMUNICATIONS KIOSK
- New ag faculty and staff list available
INFOGRAZING
- Agri-tourism may be boon to small farms
- Latest NRI program details on Web site
EXTERNAL VOICES
- Welcome to the century of biology
MARGINALIA
- Pet bugs and other questions from fair-goers
...................................................
C O L L E G E N E W S
...................................................
AG CONVOCATION: THE DEAN’S ANNOUNCEMENT
At last week’s college convocation, David Topel announced he would resign as dean at the end of this academic year. He will join the faculty in animal science. A search for a new dean will begin this fall, with plans for a successor to start July 1. ISU has had six deans of agriculture: James "Tama Jim" Wilson, 1891-1901; Charles F. Curtiss, 1901-32; H.H. Kildee, 1933-49; Floyd Andre, 1949-72; Lee Kolmer, 1973-87; and David Topel, 1988-present. The college has had three interim deans: Raymond Hughes, 1932-33; Marvin Anderson, 1972-73; and John Pesek, 1987-88.
AG CONVOCATION: ACADEMIC PROGRAMS
Eric Hoiberg, associate dean for academic and state programs, made the following comments:
- The college expects another enrollment increase this fall, continuing the decade-long streak of increases.
- The Brenton Center will continue to develop as the college’s hub for distance education, and a resource for instructors. Also, there will be an emphasis to offer more off-campus programs nationally and internationally.
- Internationalization of faculty and students remains a priority, with a goal of getting 10 percent of students involved in international programs by 2000.
- An ag entrepreneurship program will be developed. Faculty are encouraged to develop new courses for the program.
AG CONVOCATION: EXTENSION
Gerald Miller, associate dean for extension and industry programs, made the following comments:
- The college will continue efforts to integrate extension into teaching and research programs.
- Extension 21, a $916,000 initiative funded by the Legislature this year, includes programs in the Iowa Beef Center; Iowa Pork Industry Center; Iowa Grain Quality Initiative; field programs for grain, dairy, meat processing and dairy expansion; and value-added agriculture.
- A call for more proposals for Extension 21 funds will come later this year.
THE CONVOCATION: NATIONAL PROGRAMS
Gerald Klonglan, associate dean for research and national programs, made the following comments:
- The college will continue to develop ties with 1890 (historically black) and 1994 (Native American) land-grant schools. In the past year more than 100 faculty participated in building relationships with the 1890 institutions.
- The college will host a meeting of the 1890 research directors, July 6-9, 1999.
- The college invites participation in its new 1994 tribal colleges task force. There has already been a faculty exchange with Oglala Lakota College in South Dakota, and there are plans to visit Haskell Tribal College in Kansas this month.
- Faculty and staff are asked to look for ways to incorporate the university’s legacy of George Washington Carver theme into their programs.
BROWN BAG LUNCH WITH THE PRESIDENT ON SEPT. 9
A brown bag lunch with President Jischke will be held noon to 1 p.m., Wednesday, Sept. 9, in the courtyard of the Food Sciences Building. College of Agriculture faculty and staff are invited to attend. Coffee and iced tea will be provided.
PIONEER ENDOWS NEW CHAIR IN CARD
Gifts totaling $1 million from Pioneer Hi-Bred International will establish a new economics faculty chair and research program in the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development. The announcement was made today at ISU’s Fall Policy Conference. The Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc., Chair in Science and Technology Policy will study issues such as public vs. private ownership of intellectual properties and the impact of new technologies in agriculture.
INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH GRANT DEADLINE OCT. 16
The proposal deadline for the 1998-99 Dean of Agriculture's International Research Grants Program is Oct. 16. Applications can be found online. For more information: Elena Polouchkina, 4-8493 or elenap@iastate.edu.
FAIR VISITORS LEARN ABOUT CARVER AND COLLEGE
Using the legacy of George Washington Carver as its theme, the College of Agriculture exhibit at the Iowa State Fair, Aug. 13-23, highlighted work in teaching, research and outreach. About 9,500 packets of peanut seeds and cards with planting instructions were distributed. More than 5,000 visitors created portraits of Carver by rubbing crayons and colored pencils on clipboards on which his image had been carved. About 2,500 children’s activity sheets and 2,000 cards with ISU phone numbers and Carver peanut recipes were distributed. A total of 3,800 people signed up for daily prize drawings. The grand prize winner was Doyle Sanders of Johnston, who won two tickets to Bill Cosby’s performance on Aug. 30. Four hundred also requested more information about ISU and the college. (See "Marginalia" item.)
COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE POLO SHIRTS FOR SALE
This year’s Iowa State Fair volunteers received new College of Agriculture polo shirts to wear. Now, while supplies last, other agriculture faculty and staff can purchase a shirt at cost -- $22. They come in red or navy in sizes from medium to XXL. They’ll be sold on a first-come, first-served basis. The shirts can be seen and bought in the Agriculture Information Service office, 304 Curtiss. Make checks payable to ISU. For more information: Susan Thompson, 4-0705.
SPECIAL REPORT ON SOYBEAN PEST
The August/September issue of Soybean Digest includes a 24-page special report on soybean cyst nematode. The report was produced by the magazine’s staff and the SCN Coalition, an educational partnership involving universities, state soybean checkoff organizations, seed companies and farm cooperatives. The coalition is coordinated by ISU plant pathologist Greg Tylka and the Iowa Soybean Association. The report contains customized information and management recommendations for each of 10 targeted states. More than 175,000 soybean growers will receive it. Individual reports can be requested from Tylka, gltylka@iastate.edu, or found online.
PLANT SALE AND ICE CREAM AT REIMAN GARDENS SEPT. 13
Reiman Gardens CoHorts are holding a plant sale (perennials, spring-flowering bulbs) and ice cream shop, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 13.
DEADLINES & REMINDERS
Sept. 4-5: Ag Alumni Weekend.
Sept. 9: Brown bag lunch with President Jischke, Food Sciences Courtyard, noon.
Sept. 11: Deadline, proposals for distance education experimental grants, 4-4803.
Sept. 17: Distance Education in the New Millenium Conference, 4-6229 (registration deadline, Sept. 11).
.......................................................................
C O M M U N I C A T I O N S K I O S K
.......................................................................
NEW AG FACULTY AND STAFF LIST AVAILABLE
Department heads introduced new agriculture faculty and staff members at the college’s fall convocation last week. For a list of these new people (hard copy or e-mail attachment), send an e-mail to Brian Meyer, bmeyer@iastate.edu.
...................................................
I N F O G R A Z I N G
...................................................
AGRI-TOURISM MAY BE BOON FOR SMALL FARMS
With a $200,000 federal grant, the small-farm program at University of California at Davis is bringing farmers together to consider ways to bring city folk to the country. Agri-tourism events may include hay rides, apple festivals, mazes at farms, on-farm processing of foods and year-round tours. The program notes that the Gilroy Garlic Festival has turned "an otherwise ordinary condiment harvest" into an event drawing thousands of visitors. (Wall Street Journal, Sept. 3)
LATEST NRI PROGRAM DETAILS ON WEB SITE
USDA CSREES National Research Initiative Competitive Grants Program has information on its FY99 program on the NRI home page.
...................................................
E X T E R N A L V O I C E S
...................................................
WELCOME TO THE CENTURY OF BIOLOGY
"We are now starting the century of biology," says J. Craig Venter, president of the Institute for Genome Research, who predicts that advances in biotechnology will be the driving force behind the economy of the 21st century. Harvard University-affiliated economist Juan Enriquez Cabot predicts, "In tomorrow's world, a significant and increasing chunk of the world economy will be dominated by the life sciences." Under development now: fish engineered to grow twice as fast as normal, crops altered to resist pests and contain higher nutritional value, livestock that produce drugs in their milk, natural hormones that stimulate growth of new blood vessels to bypass clogged ones, plants that produce biodegradable plastic, and computers that harness the information storage capacity of DNA. (Business Week, Aug. 31)
...................................................
M A R G I N A L I A
...................................................
PET BUGS AND OTHER QUESTIONS FROM FAIR-GOERS
At the college's state fair display, 45 people wrote down specific requests for information. Several teachers asked how the Carver clipboard etchings were done so they could do something similar in their classrooms. Other questions: Why is my elm tree losing its leaves? Why are there hard spots in peaches? How do you get rid of weevils in a kitchen cupboard? One person advertised hay for sale. An Ottumwa man simply made an editorial comment: "Damn moles" -- which was construed to mean he'd like information on how to eliminate them from his property. A Marshalltown man had a question on shoeing oxen. And a Des Moines woman wanted advice on whether a walking stick or a praying mantis would make a better pet.