C O N T E N T S
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COLLEGE NEWS
- Update on Dean of Agriculture Search
- New Faculty, Staff Introduced at Fall Convocation
- With College’s Help, Jischke to Lead Consortium to 2001
- Be a Volunteer -- Corn Dogs and Cotton Candy Await
- Coach Orr Part of Extension’s State Fair Display
- Professors Visit 36 High Schools
- Seed Health Experts to Gather in Ames
- Prizes Offered for Most Valuable Grain
- Deadlines & Reminders
COMMUNICATIONS KIOSK
- Feds Boost Clear Writing
INFOGRAZING
- Distance Learning's Popularity Will Grow
INTERNAL VOICES
- Developing Leaders: Peace is the Ultimate Goal
- Developing Leaders: Universities Need to Enter New Age
EXTERNAL VOICES
- Taking Your Time to Speak
MARGINALIA
- Coming to an Elevator Near You
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C O L L E G E N E W S
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UPDATE ON DEAN OF AGRICULTURE SEARCH
The search committee is checking references of applicants for the College of Agriculture dean position, but remains open to additional applications until the position is filled. Committee chair Harley Moon said four to six candidates will be recommended to the provost by early September for possible on-campus visits and interviews. "It has been exciting to talk to these leaders from all over the country and hear of the high regard they have for Iowa State, our College of Agriculture and the extraordinary opportunity for contribution to agriculture they see provided by the position. These people have great vision and energy," Moon said.
NEW FACULTY, STAFF INTRODUCED AT FALL CONVOCATION
The College of Agriculture fall-semester convocation will be held Monday,
Aug. 23, in the Sun Room, Memorial Union. A social time will begin at 3:30 p.m., followed by the program at 4 p.m. New faculty and staff in the college will be introduced. A reception will be held at 5 p.m. in the South Ballroom. The university’s fall convocation will be held on Aug. 24 at 3:15 p.m. in the Sun Room.
WITH COLLEGE’S HELP, JISCHKE TO LEAD CONSORTIUM TO 2001
ISU President Martin Jischke will continue to serve as president of the Global Consortium of Higher Education and Research for Agriculture (formerly known as the Global Consortium of Agricultural Universities) through 2001. The consortium’s first conference was held July 22-24 in Amsterdam. The College of Agriculture will serve as secretariat for the consortium through 2001, and perhaps longer. As secretariat, the college will be responsible for supporting the consortium president and executive committee and managing the group’s day-to-day activities. Until a second conference is held in 2001, consortium working groups will meet to work on problems related to distance education, globalization of curricula and faculty and student exchanges. The consortium expects to attract a membership of about 200 key agricultural universities around the world. The Amsterdam meeting attracted 140 university representatives from 35 countries. President Jischke led an ISU delegation that included College of Agriculture administrators Dean Topel, Eric Hoiberg, Ramesh Kanwar, Robert Martin and David Acker. Also, three graduate students in agricultural education and studies attended: Nicole Gale, Tasha Hargrove and Mikel Stanek.
BE A VOLUNTEER -- CORN DOGS AND COTTON CANDY AWAIT
With the Iowa State Fair less than a week away, volunteers still are needed for the College of Agriculture’s exhibit. There are evening and weekend shifts still available. Volunteers receive free admission and parking tickets to the fair, Aug. 12-22. Contact Marty Behrens, 4-5616 or behrens@istate.edu.
COACH ORR PART OF EXTENSION’S STATE FAIR DISPLAY
ISU Extension’s exhibit at the Iowa State Fair will feature the dangers of carbon monoxide. The fair display will focus primarily on human poisonings, but carbon monoxide is a potential problem for animals as documented by ISU research. Former ISU coach Johnny Orr, who had a close call with carbon monoxide poisoning, will be at the booth during part of the fair to help provide information. A miniature house will be used to demonstrate how carbon monoxide moves through a dwelling. Prizes to be given away include carbon monoxide alarms and the ISU Extension garden calendar. The exhibit is located under the Grandstand with WOI Radio.
PROFESSORS VISIT 36 HIGH SCHOOLS
Last year, fall and spring semesters, 30 college faculty members made 69 presentations to classes in 36 high schools through the Visiting Professor program. The most popular lectures requested by the schools were: World Weather Puzzles: Climate Change, Ozone Holes and El Ninos; Antibiotic-eating Bacteria: The Next Scourge; Malaria, A Tropical Killer; and Microorganisms in Foods - Friends or Foes? Since 1990, there have been 506 presentations made by the college's "visiting professors."
SEED HEALTH EXPERTS TO GATHER IN AMES
More than 120 seed-disease experts from 24 countries will meet in Ames Aug. 16-19 to discuss international seed health issues. The third Seed Health Symposium, which is held every three years, is organized by ISU’s Seed Science Center and the International Seed Testing Association's Plant Disease Committee. Attendees are seed pathologists working for universities, government agencies and industry. They work to ensure seeds are free of disease, which is a key aspect of international trade and of crop agriculture around the world. Among the topics to be discussed are standardization of seed health tests; new seed-borne diseases; and new testing methods.
PRIZES OFFERED FOR MOST VALUABLE GRAIN
The Grain Quality Initiative will be testing corn and soybeans again at the Iowa State Fair and awarding prizes for the grain with the highest estimated processing value. Using a whole-grain, near-infrared analyzer, staff from the Iowa Grain Quality Lab will obtain information about oil, protein and starch (oil and protein in soybeans) in a little more than a minute. Testing will be done Aug. 13 and 14 at the Ag Building and a winner announced at 5 p.m. Aug. 14.
DEADLINES & REMINDERS
Aug. 12-22: Iowa State Fair
Aug. 23: College of Agriculture fall convocation, Sun Room, 4 p.m.
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C O M M U N I C A T I O N S K I O S K
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FEDS BOOST CLEAR WRITING
The federal government is trying to be understood better by requiring civil servants to write in plain English. The Plain Language Action Network is a government-wide group that is helping agencies comply with the presidential memorandum on plain language. The network has issued writing guidelines with three goals: engaging the reader, writing clearly, and writing in a visually appealing style. The guidelines, "Writing User-Friendly Document," can be downloaded from the networks' Website at: http://www.plainlanguage.gov
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I N F O G R A Z I N G
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DISTANCE LEARNING'S POPULARITY WILL GROW
The number of college students enrolled in distance learning courses will rise from 710,000 last year to 2.2 million in 2002, according to a report released by International Data Corp. The proportion of two-year colleges that offer distance learning courses will jump from 58 percent last year to 85 percent in 2002; the proportion of four-year institutions offering distance learning will go from 62 percent to 84 percent during that period. The proportion of college students taking distance learning courses will reach 15 percent in 2002, up from 5 percent last year.
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I N T E R N A L V O I C E S
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DEVELOPING LEADERS: PEACE IS THE ULTIMATE GOAL
From remarks given by ISU President Martin Jischke at "Leadership for Higher Education in Agriculture," the first conference of the Global Consortium of Agricultural Universities, held in Amsterdam, July 22-24. "[The] combination of a constantly escalating population and the desire for a better quality life is putting tremendous strain on our environment -- to produce the food to sustain this growing population, and to provide the other resources that are needed to attain a higher standard of living … These are challenges of global scale, which is why there has never been a more urgent need for the people of the world to begin coming together and to begin acting globally … Peace is, after all, the ultimate goal of what we are doing. To achieve peace, we need to institute reform -- and to institute reform, we need leaders."
DEVELOPING LEADERS: UNIVERSITIES NEED TO ENTER NEW AGE
From remarks given by Walter Gmelch, dean, ISU College of Education, following a session examining ways to build leadership capacity at the "Leadership for Higher Education in Agriculture" in Amsterdam. "Around the world, scholars and administrators alike speak about a great leadership crisis in higher education … None in this session (24 participants representing 14 countries) had systematic training for their academic leaders, and of the over 2,000 academic leaders I have surveyed, only 3 percent have leadership development programs in their universities … In higher education, leadership development is at a critical juncture. While the corporate world complains that they have simply progressed from the Bronze Age of leadership to the Iron Age, we fear that in higher education we may still be in the Dark Ages. We hope this consortium will help shed some light to lead us into the Building Age of our leadership capacity."
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E X T E R N A L V O I C E S
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TAKING YOUR TIME TO SPEAK
"If I am to speak for 10 minutes, I need a week for preparation; if 15 minutes, three days; if half an hour, two days, if an hour, I am ready now." Woodrow Wilson
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M A R G I N A L I A
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COMING TO AN ELEVATOR NEAR YOU
Captivate Network Inc. is retrofitting elevators around the country with networked flat panel displays that dispense timely information such as stock and weather updates, traffic reports and sports scores. The information is packaged for a 25- to 35-second ride, and is refreshed every 20 minutes. The company has signed agreements with Reuters, Accuweather, BostonHerald.com, Sidewalk.com and Smartraveler.