COLLEGE NEWS
- Freshman scholarships in agriculture awarded
- More ag students taking study-abroad programs
- What's new in the College of Agriculture?
- Agriculture in Action column available by Web, e-mail
- Microbiology club hosts 60 high school students
- Assistance available for ISU entrepreneurs
- Pre-proposals due on animal, poultry waste research
- Deadlines & Reminders
COMMUNICATIONS KIOSK
- Do as I say, not as I do
INFOGRAZING
- UCAP director provides overview of irradiation
- Target biodiversity hot spots, study says
EXTERNAL VOICES
- USDA programs on 'corporate welfare' list
- Decline in federal support for ag research decried
MARGINALIA
- Situation normal, all flubbered up
C O L L E G E N E W S
FRESHMAN SCHOLARSHIPS IN AGRICULTURE AWARDED
The College of Agriculture has awarded 46 freshman scholarships
to students who will be entering ISU next fall. The scholarships
total more than $73,000. They include 10 Scholarships for Excellence
in Agriculture, which provide in-state tuition for four years.
Later this semester, upperclassmen scholarships will be awarded.
MORE STUDY-ABROAD PROGRAMS ATTRACTING AG STUDENTS
In 1995-96, 46 students took part in seven study-abroad programs
offered in the College of Agriculture. In the current academic
year, 89 students have been involved in 17 study-abroad opportunities.
For more information: International Agriculture Programs, 4-8454.
WHAT'S NEW IN THE COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE?
A recent addition to the college's home page is a "What's
New" section. It will keep Web visitors informed of college
news and activities, and changes on the Web. The page is updated
regularly and provides direct links to Ag Online and the weekly
Agriculture in Action column (see item below). You can find "What's
New" from the college home page: http://www.ag.iastate.edu/
If you have information of interest to a college-wide audience
for "What's New," e-mail it to Ed Adcock, edadcock@iastate.edu.
AG IN ACTION COLUMN AVAILABLE BY WEB, E-MAIL
A weekly news column produced by Ag Information Services observed
its first anniversary this month. "Agriculture in Action...Notes
from ISU" was started last February as another way to reach
the public with college news. Each week, writer Susan Anderson
highlights an activity, program or person in the college. The
column is distributed to 160 news media. Each Wednesday it's placed
on Ag Information's Web site: http://www.ag.iastate.edu/aginfo/
You also can receive it via e-mail by contacting Anderson, sander@iastate.edu.
MICROBIOLOGY CLUB HOSTS 60 HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS
Today the undergraduate Microbiology Club is hosting its second
workshop for high school science students. Sixty students from
nine high schools were expected. The club normally holds one workshop
a year, but added a second when response to its fall workshop
was overwhelming. Club members lead lab sessions and presentations,
including a DNA murder mystery. Faculty members also give presentations
and hold mini-workshops for teachers who accompany the students.
The high school students tour campus and leave with an ISU Microbiology
Club "Biohazard" mug. For more information: Joan Cunnick,
club advisor, jcunnick@iastate.edu, 4-2070.
ASSISTANCE AVAILABLE FOR ISU ENTREPRENEURS
The ISU Pappajohn Center for Entrepreneurship aims to increase
the number, and skills, of entrepreneurial faculty, staff and
students. An overview of the center was presented at a forum for
agriculture faculty and staff last month. A few of the center's
programs: a free practical intellectual property law seminar on
March 21 at the Scheman Building; a summer camp for high school
students interested in agriculture and veterinary medicine; an
entrepreneurship and innovation class taught this semester. If
you have ideas or need information, call Steve Carter or Judi
Nielsen, 296-7828.
PRE-PROPOSALS DUE ON ANIMAL, POULTRY WASTE RESEARCH
March 10 is the deadline for pre-proposals on research projects
focusing on environmental issues in the livestock and poultry
industries. About $100,000 is available from the Animal and Poultry
Waste Management Consortium, of which ISU is a member. The consortium
is based at North Carolina State University. For more information:
Colin Scanes, 138 Curtiss Hall, 4-1823.
DEADLINES & REMINDERS
March 6: ISU Protecting Groundwater Quality Through Management
of Agricultural Practices, Ramesh Kanwar, ag & biosystems
engineering, 7:30 p.m., Brenton Center
March 10: Deadline, pre-proposals, Animal and Poultry Waste Management
Consortium, 138 Curtiss
March 17: Foreign travel grant applications due, 138 Curtiss
C O M M U N I C A T I O N S K I O S K
DO AS I SAY, NOT AS I DO
Some tongue-in-cheek rules for writing, from Pulitzer Prize winner
William Safire: Remember to never split an infinitive. The passive
voice should never be used. Proofread carefully to see if you
words out. If you reread your work, you can find on rereading
a great deal of repetition can be avoided by rereading and editing.
A preposition is a terrible word to end a sentence with. Place
pronouns as close as possible, especially in long sentences, as
of 10 or more words, to their antecedents. Writing carefully,
dangling participles must be avoided. If any word is improper
at the end of a sentence, a linking verb is. Take the bull by
the hand and avoid mixing metaphors. Avoid trendy locutions that
sound flaky. Everyone should use a singular pronoun with singular
nouns in their writing. Avoid clichés like the plague;
seek viable alternatives.
I N F O G R A Z I N G
UCAP DIRECTOR PROVIDES OVERVIEW OF IRRADIATION
"Food Irradiation: Methods, Risk, and Food Safety" is
the topic of a new Current Research Information System (CRIS)
theme report and bibliography available on the Web. Included in
the report is an overview of the topic by Dennis Olson, director
of ISU's Utilization Center for Agricultural Products. You can
view the document online. Adobe Acrobat Reader is needed to
view or print the document.
TARGET BIODIVERSITY HOT SPOTS, STUDY SAYS
Saving endangered species has often been random and unfocused.
But a new study by Conservation International suggests a big payoff
from targeting a relatively few but species-rich areas: More than
half the earth's species are found in 17 "hot spots"
covering only 2 percent of the land area. (U.S. News & World
Report, Feb. 24)
E X T E R N A L V O I C E S
USDA PROGRAMS ON 'CORPORATE WELFARE' LIST
"As a matter of simple fairness, Congress has an obligation
to ensure that corporate interests share the burden of deficit
reduction. This commission will give Congress an enormous, one-time
opportunity to restore fairness (and) plug loopholes . . ."
said U.S. Senator John McCain, announcing plans for a commission
to review "wasteful corporate welfare programs" in the
federal government. The USDA Agricultural Research Service and
Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service were
included on a list of the worst corporate welfare programs. In
total, 16 USDA programs were identified.
DECLINE IN FEDERAL SUPPORT FOR AG RESEARCH DECRIED
"While private contributions [for agricultural research]
have been on the increase, federal support has been eroded by
some 20 to 30 percent during the past five years. This is a trend
that must be stopped . . . In the past, public investments in
agriculture research have paid large dividends to society, and
the global, high-tech, environmentally sensitive era we have now
entered requires support of public research." From a statement
by the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture,
announcing it is making support for research programs a number-one
priority.
M A R G I N A L I A
SITUATION NORMAL, ALL FLUBBERED UP
University of California-Berkeley chemistry grad student Jeff
Cruzan is a science consultant on the movie set of "The Absent-Minded
Professor," a re-make of the Disney classic, starring Robin
Williams. In a scene in which Williams, playing an accident-prone
chemist at a small Midwestern college, blows up his basement lab,
the script called for him to exclaim, "What a bang!"
Cruzan was consulted: what do scientists call an experiment that
goes wrong? With the attention of the entire film crew focused
on him, Cruzan looked up from his laptop computer, on which he
was writing his thesis, thought a minute and replied, "Normal."
The movie is due to be released in December. (Reaction Times,
February)