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COLLEGE NEWS
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CORRECTION: SPANISH SHORT COURSE MOVES TO 15 CURTISS
A Spanish short course offered for beginners this semester will meet in 15 Curtiss. The classroom was incorrect in last week’s Ag Online. The class begins Feb. 15 and is taught Tuesdays and Thursdays through April 8. Contact: Eduarda Becerra, 4-3972 or ebecerra@iastate.edu.
ASSOCIATE DEAN ACKER HAS NEW OFFICE, PHONE NUMBER
David Acker, associate dean, recently moved to Room 134, Curtiss Hall. His new phone number is 4-6614. Acker became associate dean, academic and global programs on Jan. 1.
TRADE AND ECONOMIC ISSUES PANEL DISCUSSION TONIGHT
A panel discussion on "Trade and Economic Issues in the Second Bush Administration" will take place tonight at 7 in the Sun Room, Memorial Union. The event will examine United States issues such as Social Security and Medicare reform, policies on the outsourcing of jobs and industries, immigration and employment growth, tort law reform, domestic tax policies and issues surrounding the projected U.S. budget deficit. It will be moderated by Arne Hallam, professor and chair of the department of economics at Iowa State. The event is free and open to the public. It will set the stage for a speech on trade and economic issues by Sen. Charles Grassley, scheduled for 3 p.m. Feb. 20 in the Sun Room, Memorial Union.
BULB SALE JUST IN TIME FOR VALENTINE’S DAY
The Horticulture Club Spring bulb sale will take place Feb. 9 to 11 at three campus locations. The sale will begin at 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the ground floor of Curtiss Hall. On Feb. 10 it will move to the ground floor of Beardshear Hall from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. It will conclude at Horticulture Hall from 10 a.m. until the bulbs are gone on Feb. 11. Tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, anemones and other bulbs will be sold. Contact: Bob Smith at 292-3880 or smittyjr@iastate.edu.
AG PUBLIC RELATIONS FIRM CO-FOUNDER, ALUM DIES OF CANCER
Alumnus Gaylin Morgan, co-founder of public relations firm Morgan&Myers, died Jan. 21 of cancer. The Cedar Falls native earned a bachelor’s degree in agricultural journalism in 1962. Morgan formed Gaylin F. Morgan & Associates in 1973. In 1982, he co-founded Morgan&Myers with partners Gary Myers and Carol Knox. The public relations firm headquartered in Jefferson, Wis. specialized in agricultural accounts. The family requests that memorials be made to the Morgan&Myers Scholarship Fund at the Iowa State University Foundation, 2505 Elwood Dr., Ames, Iowa 50010-8644.
SEMINAR LOOKS AT WAYS TO SUPPLY GROWING NICHE MARKETS
Agricultural and consumer economist Peter Goldsmith will present a Feb. 9 seminar on “The Role of Group Action in the Post-Modern Food System: Working with Buyers.” Goldsmith specializes in ways that producers can work together to sell to buyers in much larger markets. Goldsmith is a National Soybean Research Laboratory Fellow in the Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics at the University of Illinois. The seminar will be 3:10 to 4:30 p.m. in the Pioneer Room of the ISU Memorial Union. The seminar is sponsored by the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, the Value Chain Partnerships for a Sustainable Agriculture project and the ISU Graduate Program in Sustainable Agriculture. Contact Rich Pirog at rspirog@iastate.edu.
2005 MWPS (MIDWEST PLAN SERVICE) CATALOG AVAILABLE
The MWPS (MidWest Plan Service) at Iowa State University has released its 2005 catalog, featuring free and low-cost agricultural-related materials and building plans. The free MWPS 2005 catalog includes more than 160 publications and CD-ROMs plus more than 100 building plans for agricultural producers, businesses, educators, regulators, homeowners and gardeners. MWPS is located on the campus of Iowa State University and is an educational publishing consortium of 12 universities and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
TEAM INVESTIGATES PLANT PROBLEMS
Last year, almost 5,000 Iowans contacted the ISU Plant Disease Clinic in Bessey Hall. The clinic received 1,719 samples -- including whole plants, dry leaves, green leaves, stems, roots, branches and twigs. The staff also answered 3,267 calls, e-mails, faxes and letters about plant problems.
NATIVE SPECIES DIRECTORY ASSURES QUALITY AND ORIGIN OF SEED
The Iowa Crop Improvement Association (ICIA) has published the Native Species Directory as a resource for finding quality seeds that are native to the state of Iowa. The directory contains seed production information for more than 150 species of plants originating in Iowa that have been certified by ICIA.
LEOPOLD CENTER TASK FORCE LOOKS AT FARM POLICY
As the debate looms over what should be included in the 2007 farm bill, the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture suggests a global approach to formulate policies that govern food and agriculture. These views are outlined in the draft of a new white paper. Learn more: http://www.leopold.iastate.edu/news/newsreleases/2005/policy_012705.htm
DEADLINES AND REMINDERS
March 1: deadline for Center for Integrated Animal Genomics Spring Grant Program applications
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COMMUNICATIONS KIOSK
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EMAIL ERRORS CAN BE PREVENTED
The speed and informality of email is creating a typographical nightmare, says copywriter Karen Gedney. She is seeing a stunning number of typos and other mistakes in promotional emails, she writes in a recent ClickZ article. "Sometimes they're right in the subject line," she adds with exasperation. To prevent errors in your emails to students, parents, counselors and other key audiences, she suggests:
- Putting email through the same proofreading process as your printed materials.
- Sending a test message to yourself and anyone else involved in the approval process.
- Printing out the email to make sure all copy is legible.
- Reading once for meaning and once for typos.
- Pretending you're the recipient to make sure you can actually perform the desired actions, like clicking through a link and filling out a registration form.
- Paying special attention to subject lines.
Organizations risk turning off prospects with sloppy communications, Gedney writes, but especially institutions of higher education. Colleges and universities, after all, are assumed to practice what they teach -- check your work before you hand it in.
ClickZ Network, Jan. 26, 2005 http://www.clickz.com/experts/em_mkt/b2b_em_mkt/article.php/3463321
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INFOGRAZING
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CENTER FOR EXCELLENCE IN LEARNING AND TEACHING SETS FEBRUARY SESSIONS
Several workshops and discussions are scheduled for February at the Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching. Register through the center at 4-5357 or mailto:celt@iastate.edu.
Workshop Series: Teaching with Groups
Feb. 8 (second of two meetings), 12 – 1:30 p.m.
107 Lab of Mechanics
Workshop Series: Teaching Toolbox for Large Classes
Topic: problem-solving techniques in large classes
Feb. 9, 3:30-5 p.m., Gold Room, Memorial Union
Panel Discussion: My Best Teachers
Feb. 14, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m., Cardinal Room, Memorial Union
Workshop Series: Teaching Toolbox for Large Classes
Topic: technology in the large classroom
Feb. 23, 3:30-5 p.m., Cardinal Room, Memorial Union
Workshop/Discussion: Motivating Advanced Undergraduates
Includes: Sue Crull, HDFS; Steve Fales, agronomy; Laura Mielke, English
Feb. 24, 3:30-5 p.m., 107 Lab of Mechanics
CAST PUBLICATIONS AVAILABLE ON CD
The Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST) has introduced an new way to access CAST publications. CD collections of its subject groupings of reports, special publications and issue papers published between 1994 and 2001 are available. The material is searchable, making them especially useful for research on specific topics. The five CD collections are: Agricultural Uses of Biotechnology; Agriculture and the Environment; Animal Agriculture; Human Health Impacts; and Plant and Soil Issues in Agriculture. Details: http://www.cast-science.org/cast/CDcollections/CDcollections.php.
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EXTERNAL VOICES
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LIFE IS MADE UP OF LITTLE THINGS
"Life is made up, not of great sacrifices or duties, but of little things, in which smiles, and kindnesses, and small obligations, given habitually, are what win and preserve the heart and secure comfort."
--Sir Humphrey Davy (1778-1829) English chemist
Next issue: Feb. 7
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AG ONLINE
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EDITOR
Ed Adcock, edadcock@iastate.edu
Phone: (515) 294-5616 Web site: http://www.ag.iastate.edu/aginfo/
SUBSCRIBE
Ag Online, the newsletter for faculty and staff in Iowa State University's College of Agriculture, is e-mailed every Monday. To subscribe, send your name, e-mail address and the message "Ag Online subscribe" to edadcock@iastate.edu. To unsubscribe, send "Ag Online unsubscribe."
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