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AG ONLINE
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The College of Agriculture Faculty/Staff Newsletter
Iowa State University
November 9, 2001 No. 183
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CONTENTS
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COLLEGE NEWS
- Evaluation forms for ag dean candidates due Monday
- Advisory on site security and bioterrorism; new team forms
- Livestock biosecurity and terrorism guidelines
- Budget comments? Check out task force website
- Students and faculty recognized at FFA convention
- Wireless computing seminar rescheduled for Nov. 26
- AgComm workshop on oral presentations Nov. 15
- President Geoffroy to speak at animal ag think tank
- All-Iowa meals focus on local menus
- Poultry history reflects a changing agriculture
- Deadlines & Reminders
COMMUNICATIONS KIOSK
- Five worst web writing mistakes
INFOGRAZING
- Volunteers needed for Science Bowl
- Teaching goals of full-time faculty members
- External funding alerts by e-mail
- Global Consortium proceedings now available
- Deadline Feb. 28 for World Food Prize nominees
- CDC website examines health rumors
EXTERNAL VOICES
- Private funding of land-grant ag research questioned
MARGINALIA
- Quilt, plane ride features in Extension silent auction
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COLLEGE NEWS
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EVALUATION FORMS FOR AG DEAN CANDIDATES DUE MONDAY
The three candidates for dean of the College of Agriculture have completed their visits to campus. Evaluation forms are available on the Provost's website. They need be returned to the Provost's office by Monday, Nov. 12.
ADVISORY ON SITE SECURITY AND BIOTERRORISM; NEW TEAM FORMS
A site security and bioterrorism advisory has been sent to supervisors of College of Agriculture farms, labs and offices. It includes steps to follow in the case of suspicious activity. The advisory is on the web. The advisory is one of the first efforts of a new college issue team on site security and bioterrorism. The team, working in coordination with the College of Veterinary Medicine, will play a scientific/advisory role for the Dean as well as laying groundwork for tactical operations in the case of a bioterrorism incident. Three emphases are: personal security (including mailroom procedures, decontamination plans); facilities security (focusing on research and demonstration farms and operations near the university and around the state); and information for county extension offices and Iowa citizens. The issue team is led by associate dean Gerald Miller.
LIVESTOCK BIOSECURITY AND TERRORISM GUIDELINES
The College of Veterinary Medicine has posted information on livestock security and bioterrorism on its website. Extension veterinarian Nolan Hartwig presents a series of guidelines for producers and agribusinesses. "Livestock producers and all others associated with the livestock industry should be alert to unusual activities and take all possible precautions, including physical security of their operations whenever possible."
BUDGET COMMENTS? CHECK OUT TASK FORCE WEBSITE
ISU’s Task Force on Strategic Effectiveness and Budget Priorities has a website for updates on budget issues. The site features an FAQ, budget documents, news articles and a feedback form for your suggestions and comments. Task force members include Don Beitz, animal science/biochemistry, biophysics and molecular biology; Danette Kenne, economics; Bonnie Glatz, food science and human nutrition; Lee Fletcher, economics; Ron Irvin, extension livestock field specialist; and William Woodman, sociology.
STUDENTS AND FACULTY RECOGNIZED AT FFA CONVENTION
Several ISU students and faculty members attended the 74th National FFA Convention in Louisville Oct. 24-27. Activities and honors included:
- In conjunction with the convention, ISU’s Ag Education Club hosted the National Collegiate Agricultural Education Conference and Alpha Tau Alpha Conclave.
- Retired faculty Eldon Weber, agricultural education and studies, and F.C. Parrish, animal science, received Honorary American FFA Degrees.
- Robin Niehaus, public service and administration in ag, was a finalist for national secretary.
- Laura Dierickx, Cathy Striegel and Ann Wenger, all in agriculture education, placed first in the fundraising category of the Alpha Tau Alpha Program of Excellence Competition.
- Joe Hungerford, agricultural and biosystems engineering, was a finalist in Ag Mechanics Proficiency.
WIRELESS COMPUTING SEMINAR RESCHEDULED FOR NOV. 26
"Is Wireless Computing Ready for Primetime?," the professional development seminar, has been rescheduled. It was originally set for Monday, Nov. 12, in the Brenton Center. It will now be held at noon on Monday, Nov. 26, in 8 Curtiss. Tom Hillson, system support specialist for the College of Agriculture, and Jeff Kenton, system support specialist with the College of Education, will discuss the pros and cons of wireless computing and a demonstration of the technology.
AGCOMM WORKSHOP ON ORAL PRESENTATIONS NOV. 15
"Assessing Oral Presentations," an AgComm workshop, will be held Thursday, Nov. 15, at noon in 224 Curtiss. A light lunch will be served. If you plan to attend, contact Cheryl Abrams, 4-5872 or cabrams@iastate.edu.
PRESIDENT GEOFFROY TO SPEAK AT ANIMAL AG THINK TANK
President Geoffroy will speak on "Thinking Big: What are the Bold New Initiatives for the Animal Sciences?" at the next Think Tank on Animal Agriculture meeting, Monday, Nov. 26, in the Oak Room, Memorial Union. Social time begins at 6 p.m. with dinner at 6:30 p.m. and discussion at 7 p.m. Respond with your plans to attend by noon Friday, Nov. 16, to Don Beitz, 4-5626 or dcbeitz@iastate.edu, or Gene Freeman, 4-3352 or genef@iastate.edu. Cost of the dinner is $12 payable at the door.
ALL-IOWA MEALS FOCUS ON LOCAL MENUS
Menus at Iowa State’s Tearoom have a local flavor thanks to a two-year grant from the Leopold Center. The tearoom is one of nine food service operations in central Iowa participating in a research project to find local sources for foods. The project is coordinated by Cathy Strohbehn in hotel, restaurant and institution management. She is working with restaurants in Ames, Story City and Colo, food service managers at a Story City nursing home, three school districts and the ISU Tearoom. To view Tearoom menus: https://aeshm.hs.iastate.edu/current-students/facilities/the-joan-bice-underwood-tearoom/tearoom-menus/.
POULTRY HISTORY REFLECTS A CHANGING AGRICULTURE
Professor emeritus Jerry Sell has written a history of ISU’s poultry programs. Sell, a distinguished professor of animal science, was an ISU poultry nutritionist from 1976 to 2000. Poultry courses appeared for the first time in the 1907 catalog, hitting a peak of 18 courses in 1928. Student numbers declined in the mid-1960s and the poultry department was eliminated in 1971. For more information: Sell, 4-4002.
DEADLINES & REMINDERS
Nov. 12: Deadline, agriculture dean candidate evaluation forms, Provost’s office
Nov. 12: Sustainable Agriculture Colloquium, Entrepreneurial Development and Farmers’ Markets, Clare Hinrichs, 1204 Kildee, 12:10 p.m.
Nov. 12: Deadline, preproposals, NSF Major Research Instrumentation Program, 4-8493
Nov. 15: Deadline, proposals, NRI for plant responses to environment, managed ecosystems, soils/soil biology, watershed processes/water resources, and improving human nutrition, 4-8493
Nov. 26: Sustainable Agriculture Colloquium, Reflection/Evaluation: Open to All, 1204 Kildee, 12:10 p.m.
Nov. 26: "What are Bold New Initiatives for Animal Sciences?," Think Tank on Animal Agriculture with President Geoffroy, 6 p.m., Oak Room, Memorial Union
Nov. 30: Deadline, Wallace and Andre ag alumni award nominations
Dec. 1: Deadline, Block & Bridle summer sausage and cheese holiday gift orders
Dec. 1: Deadline, proposals, ISU Subvention Grants Program, 4-8493
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COMMUNICATIONS KIOSK
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FIVE WORST WEB WRITING MISTAKES
(...According to Jane Cleland, a New York City-based communications trainer and consultant, from the September issue of Writing that Works: The Business Communications Report newsletter)
1. Not thinking through the purpose and audience
2. Writing long blocks of text
3. Ignoring the limits of technology
4. Using improper grammar
5. Forgetting the web reaches the world
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INFOGRAZING
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VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR SCIENCE BOWL
About 90 volunteers are needed to serve as moderators, judges, timekeepers and scorekeepers at the annual Ames Lab Science Bowl on Jan. 26 in the Memorial Union. This is the 12th year for the competition that tests high school students’ knowledge in science, math and engineering. Volunteers receive a T-shirt, lunch and free ramp parking. For information: Saren Johnston, 4-3474 or sarenj@ameslab.gov.
TEACHING GOALS OF FULL-TIME FACULTY MEMBERS
In the Aug. 31 issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education, a survey identifies what full-time faculty members at four-year public universities consider important goals in teaching undergraduates. Results included:
99 percent, help students develop the ability to think clearly
64 percent, prepare students for employment
55 percent, enhance students’ self-understanding
53 percent, prepare students for responsible citizenship
53 percent, prepare students for advanced degrees
50 percent, enhance students’ knowledge of and appreciation for other racial/ ethnic groups
50 percent, help students develop personal values
46 percent, develop moral character
35 percent, enhance out-of-class experience for students
28 percent, instill commitment to community service
28 percent, provide for students’ emotional development
EXTERNAL FUNDING ALERTS BY E-MAIL
If you’d like to receive a weekly e-mail on new external funding opportunities, contact Sreeparna Mitra, mitra@iastate.edu. The Office of Sponsored Programs alert will contain web links to program announcements. The message typically is sent on Fridays.
GLOBAL CONSORTIUM PROCEEDINGS NOW AVAILABLE
Proceedings from the 2001 Global Consortium of Higher Education and Research for Agriculture Conference are available for $10. The conference was held last July in San Francisco. Contact Janet Schwanke, Purdue University, jschwanke@agad.purdue.edu.
DEADLINE FEB. 28 FOR WORLD FOOD PRIZE NOMINEES
The World Food Prize Foundation is accepting nominations for the 2002 prize. Submission deadline is Feb. 28. World Food Prize laureates are recognized for achievements that resulted in increasing the quality, quantity or availability of food for those most in need. For more information: http://www.worldfoodprize.org.
CDC WEBSITE EXAMINES HEALTH RUMORS
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website has a page to check out health-related rumors.
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EXTERNAL VOICES
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PRIVATE FUNDING OF LAND-GRANT AG RESEARCH QUESTIONED
(The following excerpt is from "Universities For Sale?," a story appearing in the November issue of Progressive Farmer. The complete story is on the magazine’s website, http://www.progressivefarmer.com/issue/1101/research/default.asp.)
You might as well hang a "For Sale" sign on the front doors of land-grant universities. So say critics who charge that in a rush for research dollars, public institutions are making too many deals with agribusinesses… "At land-grant universities today, the guy who puts up the loot is the guy who benefits, and that’s not always farmers and ranchers," says Fred Stokes, president of the Organization for Competitive Markets, an advocacy group for family farms… Farmers have long thought of state universities as their own, ever since the Morrill Act of 1862 gave federal lands to states as a way to fund education based on "agriculture and the mechanical arts"… The perception that universities have sold out is unfair and inaccurate, says Mike Chippendale, former head of Extension Research at the University of Missouri. [Chippendale says,] "Only 8 percent of total college support comes from outside industries. The rest is nonindustry support. But it’s that small piece that gets everyone’s attention.’"
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MARGINALIA
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QUILT, PLANE RIDE FEATURES IN EXTENSION SILENT AUCTION
A silent auction at the ISU Extension Annual Conference on Oct. 30 raised $776 for Excellence in Extension grants for extension faculty and staff. Bidding was done online prior to the meeting. The largest bid was $130 for a quilt donated by Bertha Shaw, county extension education director in Eagle Grove. Her counterpart in Onawa, Cheri Hardison, was the winning bidder. Letitia Wetterauer, a graphic designer with Midwest Plan Service, paid $80 for a birthday gift for her husband, Don, an agronomy scientist -- a ride in an RV-6 airplane built (and piloted) by Jeff Lorimor, agricultural and biosystems engineering. Lorimor had warned that the winning bidder would need to be "somewhat svelte and agile" because the plane is small and is boarded by stepping over the side.
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AG ONLINE
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NEXT ISSUE: Nov. 30 DEADLINE: Nov. 28
EDITORS
Brian Meyer, bmeyer@iastate.edu, and Ed Adcock, edadcock@iastate.edu
Phone: (515) 294-5616 Web site: http://www.ag.iastate.edu/aginfo/
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