College News
College Announces Distance Education Grants
The purpose of the Grants for Distance Education Program is to expand and strengthen College of Agriculture Distance Education course offerings. The Brenton Center for Agricultural Instruction & Technology Transfer will provide direct assistance in the development or conversion of courses for asynchronous delivery. Short proposals are due by March 15 for grants up to $9,000.
Open House for New CAD and ICIA Location
The Committee for Agricultural Development and Iowa Crop Improvement Association will have an open house Thursday, Feb. 17, at their new location. The open house will be from 2 to 5 p.m. at 4611 Mortensen Road, Suite 101. Refreshments will be served. Contact: 4-6921
Faculty and Staff Invited to Free Breakfast
The Collegiate FFA Chapter at Iowa State invites College faculty and staff members to a free Leaders in Agriculture breakfast from 7 to 9 a.m. Feb. 23, in the Farm Bureau Pavilion. The event is coordinated by student members of Collegiate FFA to express appreciation for agricultural leaders and helping build relationships between students, faculty and staff and industry leaders. Representatives of the Iowa Farm Bureau, Iowa Pork Producers, Iowa Agribusiness Association, Iowa State Grange, ISU Extension, Hertz Farm Management, Wallace's Farmer and the Iowa FFA Foundation will be attending the event to visit with student and college leaders. Contact: Betsy Ratashak, Collegiate FFA president, at betsy@iastate.edu.
Abstracts for International Symposium Due March 1
Abstracts are due March 1 for the Third International Symposium on Genetics of Animal Health. The symposium will convene July 13 - 15 at Iowa State University. The early registration deadline is April 15.
Fifth Pesek Colloquium on Sustainable Agriculture Planned
The fifth John Pesek Colloquium on Sustainable Agriculture will be March 9-10. As part of the colloquium, Hunter Lovins will give lectures both in Ames and Centerville. She is the president of Natural Capitalism, Inc., a company that helps businesses, government, academic institutions and communities become more profitable and environmentally and socially sustainable. Lovins also will speak at a March 9 banquet sponsored by the ISU Model United Nations student club and participate in a March 10 roundtable discussion sponsored by the ISU Office of Biorenewables Programs.
Leopold Center Funds 19 New Food Marketing Projects
The Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture has awarded competitive grants for 19 new projects that include development of place-based foods in Iowa, business training for farmers interested in niche markets, online resources for organic food processors and consumer research on differentiated beef products. Learn more: http://www.leopold.iastate.edu/news/newsreleases/2005/projects_020805.h…
Leopold Center Seeks Nominations for 2005 Spencer Award
The Leopold Center is seeking nominations for the 2005 Spencer Award for Sustainable Agriculture. Nominations are due March 31. The Spencer Award recognizes a farmer, researcher or educator who has made a significant contribution toward the stability of mainstream family farms in Iowa. Details: http://www.leopold.iastate.edu/news/newsreleases/2005/spencer_020805.htm
Campus Groups Help Sponsor Barbecue Event
Iowa State Meat Science Extension and the Meat Lab were among the sponsors of the third annual RIBS (Refining Individual Barbecue Skills) for Kids Fest in November. Youths from the Urban Dreams human service program in Des Moines assembled at the Cookies Barbeque Sauce Co. plant in Wall Lake for interactive activities and instruction on meat preparation and safety.
Alpha Zeta Sells Ribbons to Support Agriculture
The Iowa State Alpha Zeta Chapter is selling ribbons to show support for agriculture. The ribbons are two-tone green static cling stickers with non-permanent adhesive. They may be purchased for $5 at 468 Heady Hall. All proceeds benefit the Iowa State Alpha Zeta Chapter. Contact: isuaz@iastate.edu or 4-7969.
Deadlines and Reminders
Feb. 15: Beginning Spanish short course starts, meets from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays until April 8 in 15 Curtiss, cost is $50, to register send a check or intramural to Eduarda Becerra, 104 Curtiss
Feb. 17: College nominations deadline for Vice Provost for Research grant writers workshops program, contact Elena Polush at 4-8493 or elenap@iastate.edu
Feb. 28: Proposal deadline for College mini-grants program to support innovations in learning and teaching
March 1: deadline for Center for Integrated Animal Genomics Spring Grant Program applications
April 12: Science in Ag Day workshop, 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., more: http://www.agstudent.iastate.edu/biorenewables/biorenewables.htm
Communications Kiosk
Most Browsers Struck by Spoofing Flaw
A dangerous spoofing security hole has been found in nearly every browser on the market, according to MacWorld magazine. Mozilla, Firefox, Safari, OmniWeb, Opera and Netscape all suffer from the "moderately critical" vulnerability that allows the spoofing of address bar URLs and SSL certificates. Microsoft Corp.'s Internet Explorer is not affected with this problem. Secunia, an Internet security company, discovered the problem and has a way to test your browser at: http://secunia.com/advisories/14163/.
Infograzing
PI Eligibility Guidelines Available on the Web
The office of the Vice Provost for Research has posted a table that summarizes eligibility to serve as a principal investigator of sponsored funding and competitive internal funding and also for projects that require approval by a compliance committee.
Mothers Influence Kid's Farming Decisions
A new University of Illinois study of pre-teen farm youth suggests that the foundations for a career choice are set early and that maternal influence, rather than paternal expectations, may be the key. Successful Farming magazine reported that although previous studies have focused on high-school-aged youth, Angela Wiley's training in child development led her to believe farm kids would be influenced toward or against farming earlier than that. "Research implies that an important life decision such as this would be rooted in the early activities, education and relationships of farm children," she said. Wiley, an assistant professor in human development and family studies, surveyed 40 farm children aged 10 to 13 and also interviewed their parents. She found that children who did more work at home were more likely to plan to farm, that mothers had more influence than fathers on farm children's future plans and that perceptions of parental worry over the family farm's future also affected children.
Marginalia
Language Trivia on Valentine's Day
There are certain English words that we tend to think of as sex-specific, even though they are not defined that way in dictionaries. In a recent survey The American Heritage Book of English Usage polled its usage panel on a number of these words. Two-thirds of the panel felt that "vivacious" can only be used to describe female subjects, while more than 70 percent of the panelists believed only men or boys can be "debonair." Similarly, a majority of panelists felt "saucy, sassy, pert and demure" can apply only to women or girls. Surprisingly, 43 percent of the panel believed that "wanton" can apply to either women or men, and 64 percent believe the same of "prim." If you use the words "urbane, suave or lecherous," however, a majority of panel members believe you should refer to a man. (The American Heritage® Book of English Usage. A Practical and Authoritative Guide to Contemporary English, http://www.bartleby.com/64/C005/028.html)
Next issue: Feb. 21
Ag Online
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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