College News
College Name Change Open Forum Feb. 14
Faculty, staff and students are invited to discuss the College's proposed name change to "College of Agriculture and Life Sciences" Wednesday, Feb. 14. The brown-bag session will be held from noon to 2 p.m. in the Pioneer Room, Memorial Union. Dean Wendy Wintersteen will make brief remarks followed by questions and comments about the proposal.
College Sponsors Student Visit Days at Iowa State
High school sophomores, juniors and seniors interested in any of majors within the College of Agriculture can experience a day in the life of an Iowa State agriculture student next month through the Ag Ambassadors program.
College has Table at NAACP Banquet
The College was well represented at this year's NAACP banquet on Feb. 2 in the Scheman Building. The theme was, "The Research Debate: In 2007 is Education and Excellence the Pathway to the Elimination of Segregation and Discrimination in American Schools, Colleges and Universities?" At the College's table were Senior Associate Dean Joe Colletti; Nina Grant, the College's Multicultural Liaison Officer; Aurelio Curbelo, College program assistant and students, Marcus Glenn, Liza Sharp, Armitra Jackson, Charlwit Kulchaiyawat, Christopher Hudson, Dedrick Davis and Adam Adams.
Agriculture's Impact on Iowa's Counties in Reports
ISU Extension developed fact sheets that provide county-specific numbers on the role agriculture plays in the economy of Iowa and each of the state's counties. The publications offer statistics on the agriculture industry in each of the state's 99 counties along with specific economic analysis of livestock, corn and soybean production in comparison to the non-agriculture industry. The analysis for these publications was taken from a more detailed report prepared by economics faculty and staff Dan Otto and Mark Imerman with assistance from Dave Swenson and Liesl Eathington. More: http://www.extension.iastate.edu/store/.
Iowa Pork Congress Honors Two from College
John Mabry, director of the Iowa Pork Industry Center, was named an Honorary Master Pork Producers for 2006 at the Iowa Pork Congress. The award recognizes individuals who have worked tirelessly in their professions to make a positive impact on Iowa's pork producers. Also, College freshman Rita Cook, agricultural business, was named the 2007 Iowa Pork Queen during the congress.
ISU Part of Online Community Development Masters Degree
The Community Development masters degree is part of an interdisciplinary graduate program through the Great Plains Interactive Distance Education Alliance and facilitated by the North Central Regional Center for Rural Development. This program is entirely online, and there are six participating universities offering courses, including Iowa State.
Pork Foundation Creates Graduate Fellowship
The Iowa Pork Foundation is offering a new graduate fellowship in the amount of $2,500. The College will review applications and make the selection. It is designed to provide support to a student studying at the master's or doctorate level in the College who is conducting thesis or dissertation research related to the pork industry. Applications are due May 31.
Brenton Center Newsletter Online
The latest Brenton Center newsletter celebrates 10 years of success in agricultural distance education. It is available for download online.
Leopold Center Joins Forces with Iowa Learning Farm
The Iowa Learning Farm, a project involving more than 30 Iowa farmers with an active interest in conservation, has joined forces with the Leopold Center. Leopold Center Director Jerry DeWitt is the new coordinator for the project. More: http://www.leopold.iastate.edu/news/newsreleases/2007/ilf_020607.htm
Climate Change and Agriculture Topic of Pesek Colloquium
The seventh John Pesek Colloquium on Sustainable Agriculture will explore the potential for the agricultural sector to respond to climate change.
2007 ISU Animal Industry Report Available on CD-ROM, Online
The fourth annual Animal Industry Report, which summarizes all animal research done at Iowa State, is available online and on CD-ROM.
Deadlines & Reminders
Feb. 14: College Name Change Open Forum, noon to 2 p.m., Pioneer Room, Memorial Union
Feb. 15: Application deadline for spring semester, Research Exchange Visits Program, contact: Mary M. de Baca, mmdb@iastate.edu or 4-8574
Feb. 23: Administrative deadline for Computation Advisory Committee proposals
Feb. 28: John Pesek Colloquium on Sustainable Agriculture, "Climate Change and Agriculture: Learning Lessons/Proposing Solutions," 7 p.m., Sun Room, Memorial Union
March 1: Nomination deadline for Gamma Sigma Delta awards and membership
April 1: Last day of Reiman Gardens Conservatory display "Stream of Passion: Plant Lovers of ISU," College of Agriculture faculty and staff and their children under age 17 receive free admission to the display by identifying themselves as College employees at the front desk of Reiman Gardens, spouses and friends are $5 each.
April 5: College promotion and tenure workshop, 3:30 p.m., CCUR Theater, 1951 Food Science April 10: College promotion and tenure workshop, 3:10 p.m., CCUR Theater, 1951 Food Science
Communications Kiosk
The Difference Between Faze and Phase
To "faze" is to disturb or disconcert, "Marty isn't fazed by insults." To "phase," usually to phase in or phase out, is to schedule or perform a plan, task or the like in stages, as in, "phase in new procedures," "phase out the product lines that don't sell." (The Chicago Manual of Style, 15th ed., 2003)
Infograzing
Livestock Biosecurity Meetings Start Feb. 16
Iowa Pork Producers Association, Iowa Beef Industry Council and Iowa Farm Bureau Federation are teaming up to host a series of biosecurity meetings around Iowa. Producers are invited to learn about the importance of biosecurity to their livestock operations and find out what would happen locally in the event of an outbreak of a highly contagious animal disease.
Sticky Ideas Depend on 'SUCCESS'
Ideas that "stick" follow certain rules or principles, according to a new book by Stanford Business professor Chip Heath and his brother Dan, a consultant at Duke Corporate Education. In "Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die," the authors claim that sticky ideas tend to have at least one of six common traits, which fit the acronym SUCCESS: Simple, Unexpected, Concrete, Credible, Emotional and Story-based. Good old common sense is the enemy of sticky messages, they say, because it's so familiar: It goes in one ear and out the other. (Business Week, Jan. 25)
Internal Voices
Universities Help Students Transform Their Perspectives
Last month, at the College of Agriculture convocation, Gail Nonnecke, horticulture, and Jim Kliebenstein, economics, were recognized for national teaching awards they received from the USDA. Below is an excerpt from remarks that Nonnecke gave when she received the USDA honor at a National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges meeting last fall: "Land-grant and public universities have educated some of the world's greatest food and agricultural scientists and leaders. I believe as educators our roles are critical in supporting and ensuring our students' intellectual and personal development, because they will become the next generation of professionals in food and agricultural sciences ... This past summer I had the opportunity to be a faculty leader of a bi-national team of students to develop a school garden through a service-learning, study-abroad program in a rural district in Uganda. ... The experience was a life-changing event for all of us and made us aware of the food and agriculture needs from the view of a developing nation. This is a wonderful example of how our universities allow students to transform their perspectives about the impact of food and agricultural sciences around the world. Land-grant and public universities have a strong history of focusing on relevant, social, environmental and international issues to strengthen food and agriculture for our nation and the world. I am very pleased that I have been able to be part of training our future global leaders in food and agriculture."
External Voices
New Dynamic Seen in Price of Corn
"The historical cheapness of corn has driven it into nearly every aspect of our economy, in the form, most familiarly, of corn syrup. The low price of corn over the past half-century lies at the very foundation of America's historically (and unrealistically) low food prices. Gratifying our two major appetites - cheap food and cheap gas - used to seem easy because both corn and oil were abundant. Cheap oil helped keep corn prices low because it cost farmers less to run their tractors and combines. But we are entering a new dynamic now. While there has been talk recently about refining ethanol from sources other than corn, that could take a while. So at the moment what we are trying to do is gratify those appetites from the same resource: agricultural land. No matter how high prices go, what will need to change isn't the amount of corn acreage available or even the size of the enormous harvests we are already getting. What will need to change is the size of our appetites." --New York Times editorial, The Price of Corn (Feb. 6)
Marginalia
Creating a Diet Based on Your Genes
The science of nutrigenomics tries to identify links between nutrition and disease based on an individual's genome. While the field is still too young to offer personal dietary advice for the average consumer, research has uncovered links among genes, diet and heart disease. One challenge is that the huge number of combinations of genes and environmental factors require huge populations to study. "Most studies in the field are underpowered," says Jose Ordovas, director of Tufts' Nutrition and Genomics Laboratory. "We've done studies with 5,000 people, but that's just not enough. We need studies on the order of 100,000 people to take into account all the different factors. We also need better statistical tools." (Technology Review, Jan. 31) Next issue: Feb. 19
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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