College News
- ISU outlines research to state soybean leaders
- ISU a partner in new dairy program in northeast Iowa
- China study-abroad group returns home
- Barilla to provide scholarships for FSHN students
- Ag educators conference at ISU next week
- Research directors from 1890 colleges to visit campus
- A jazzy evening planned at the Reiman Gardens
- Higher education for ag conference in Amsterdam
- Students spending the summer in biotech labs
- Octopus found in basement of Molecular Biology
- Prime spots still available for State Fair volunteers
- ISU-based programs on Environmental Success Index
- Iowa Pork Industry Center launches new web site
- Summer issue of Leopold Letter now online
- Deadlines & Reminders
Communications Kiosk
- How to respond to spam -- don't
Infograzing
- The Web en Espanol -- a growing market
- By the numbers: English speakers and the Internet
Internal Voices
- The uncooperative hog house: A paradigm shift
External Voices
- Education shouldn't be the great leveler
Marginalia
- Revenge of the exploding bugs
College News
ISU Outlines Research to State Soybean Leaders
On Wednesday, Colin Scanes, executive associate dean, and several ISU faculty and staff met with 70 members of the Iowa Soybean Association and Iowa Soybean Promotion Board in West Des Moines. The session outlined ISU's accomplishments and future plans in soybean research. Faculty who presented information on their work and answered questions were Deland Myers and Diane Birt, food science and human nutrition; Walt Fehr and Dale Farnham, agronomy; Charlotte Bronson, plant pathology; and Bruce Babcock, economics. The ISU group also showed a video on current soybean research and displayed several soy-related research materials, such as wood products formed with soy adhesives.
ISU a Partner in a New Dairy Program in Northeast Iowa
A declaration of intent was signed Monday establishing the Northeast Iowa Dairy Education and Applied Research Laboratory near the Northeast Iowa Community College (NICC) in Calmar. A trio of partners came together to form the new program: NICC; the Northeast Iowa Community-based Dairy Foundation; and ISU (including the colleges of agriculture and veterinary medicine, the Experiment Station and ISU Extension). The foundation agreed to buy 140 acres near the NICC campus and raise funds for a building to house the lab. An articulation agreement between ISU and NICC will expand its nine-month dairy management program to a two-year associate degree, with the potential of finishing a bachelor's degree at ISU. There also are research and outreach components planned for the lab. Paul Brown, ISU Extension area director for northeast Iowa, said the goal of the lab's programs is to ensure the long-term success of the region's dairy industry, which accounts for 72 percent of the dairy cattle in Iowa and supports 3,000 farm families.
China Study-Abroad Group Returns Home
On Tuesday, ISU students returned from their summer study-abroad trip to China, accompanied by Eric Hoiberg, associate dean, and David Acker, director of International Agriculture Programs. During the trip, the students, equipped with a digital camera and a laptop computer, published a Web page featuring daily photo essays of their activities. Check it out at the "Summary" link found on the site.
Barilla to Provide Scholarships for FSHN Students
At this week's opening of the Barilla pasta plant in Ames, Guido Barilla, chairman of the company, announced the first Pietro Barilla Scholarships will be awarded in the upcoming year to ISU food science and human nutrition students. Five $500 scholarships will be given to undergraduate and graduate students. Details will be provided to students in fall scholarship packets.
Ag Educators Conference at ISU Next Week
About 200 agricultural education teachers from Iowa high schools and community colleges are expected next week for the annual conference of the Iowa Association for Agricultural Educators, June 27-July 1. President Jischke will deliver the keynote address. Agricultural education and studies department faculty will be among the presenters for workshops at the Holiday Inn Gateway Center. Tours of campus facilities are scheduled.
Research Directors From 1890 Colleges to Visit Campus
Research leaders from the 17 historically black (1890) land-grant colleges will meet at ISU July 6-9. The Association of Research Directors accepted an invitation from ISU to hold its regular summer meeting here, marking the first time the group will meet on a campus other than an 1890 school. President Jischke will welcome the group at a dinner in the Food Sciences courtyard on July 6. Besides holding business meetings, the group will tour research centers on campus; visit Pioneer Hi-Bred International and the Council for Agricultural Science and Technology; and discuss with ISU faculty and administrators possible research partnerships, student/faculty exchanges and other activities to strengthen relationships.
A Jazzy Evening Planned at the Reiman Gardens
Looking for a way to relax after work on a Friday this summer? Plan to attend Jazz in July at the Reiman Gardens on Friday, July 16, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. The Ames Jazz Quartet will play. The cost is $5, which includes two beverage tickets. There also will be popcorn and pretzels to munch on. Bring your lawn chairs or blankets and stick around for the fireworks from the Iowa Games opening ceremony at Jack Trice Stadium. Tickets can be purchased in advance at the Reiman Gardens or at the door. The event is sponsored by the Co-Horts, the gardens' volunteer group.
Higher Education for Ag Conference in Amsterdam
As of this week, more than 150 participants from 30 countries have registered for "Leadership for Higher Education in Agriculture," July 22-23, in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The conference is organized by the Global Consortium of Agricultural Universities. ISU President Jischke, who is president of the consortium, will lead a delegation from the colleges of agriculture, education and veterinary medicine to the meeting. The consortium was formed to foster global cooperation for the improvement of higher agricultural education. International Agriculture Programs is working with the President's office to organize the conference. Meeting sponsors include ISU, UNESCO, the World Bank, USAID, W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the Farm Foundation.
Students Spending the Summer in Biotech Labs
Ten students from around the country arrived at ISU on June 5 to participate in an eight-week research experience. The students, who are majoring in biological or agricultural sciences, are gaining practical knowledge of biotechnology through hands-on experience in labs in different departments. They also will visit biotech facilities on and off campus. The program began last year to provide research opportunities to undergraduates from small colleges and minority institutions. It also helps the students figure out if lab work is right for them before applying to graduate-level studies. Students are working on projects that reflect their interests, including generation of recombinant DNA, genome analysis and molecular genetics. The program is supported by the Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology; the Experiment Station; and the National Science Foundation.
Octopus Found in Basement of Molecular Biology
Last week an open house was held in the basement of the Molecular Biology Building for the "Octopus," a cluster of linked computers assembled by Volker Brendel's research group. Octopus will be used for intensive computing purposes of faculty and staff involved in bioinformatics. Brendel, an associate professor of zoology/genetics, will use the system for his work on assembling a database for the national maize genome project.
Prime Spots Still Available for State Fair Volunteers
Don't delay -- make plans now to help staff the College of Agriculture's exhibit at the Iowa State Fair, Aug. 12-22. Six people are needed each day -- two for each four-hour shift. Volunteers get free admission and parking tickets. Contact Marty Behrens, 4-5616 or behrens@iastate.edu.
ISU-Based Programs on Environmental Success Index
The Leopold Center, the Department of Forestry's Iowa Master Woodland Manager Program and Practical Farmers of Iowa (based at ISU) are listed among 1,400 programs nationwide that are models for effective environmental programs, according to Renew America's Environmental Success Index. The programs were recommended by environmental leaders for effectiveness, natural resource conservation, economic progress and human development. The index is online. Renew America, a non-profit organization, coordinates a network of community and environmental groups, businesses, government leaders and civic activists to exchange ideas and expertise for improving the environment.
Iowa Pork Industry Center Launches New Website
The Iowa Pork Industry Center has a new website. The site features center programs, events and people, and provides links to additional sources of information for pork producers, consumers and the public. Future plans for the site include on-line registration for seminars, access to the annual Swine Research Reports and links to ISU news releases.
Summer Issue of Leopold Letter Now Online
The summer issue of the Leopold Letter, the quarterly newsletter of the Leopold Center, is now online. Featured are a list of new grants; a survey of farmers' use of the Internet; and remarks by center director Dennis Keeney on the role of biotechnology in agriculture.
Deadlines & Reminders
July 6-9: Association of Research Directors (1890 colleges) summer meeting.
July 12: Proposal deadline, Leopold Center conference/workshop support, 4-3711.
July 16: Jazz in July, Reiman Gardens, 6:30 p.m.
July 22-24: Leadership for Higher Education in Agriculture Conference, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Aug. 12-22: Iowa State Fair.
Aug. 23: College of Agriculture fall convocation, Sun Room, 4 p.m.
Communications Kiosk
How to Respond to Spam -- Don't
Have your ever received an unsolicited e-mail (spam) that includes the option of responding to remove your name from the sender's list? Don't do it, say Internet experts. That let's spammers know they have an active e-mail address and you will probably get even more. Instead, send your spam to the Spam Recycling Center (mailto:spamrecycle@ChooseYourMail.com). The Spam Recycling Center will take your spam mail and forward it to the appropriate federal authorities and makes your spam available to software companies that produce spam filter products. Another option is Spam Cop, a Web site that identifies where spam comes from and sends a message of complaint to the network administer of the Internet service provider the spammer is using.
Infograzing
The Web En Espanol -- a Growing Market
Many companies and Internet providers are planning initiatives to provide online services to accommodate the increasing numbers of Spanish-speakers in this country. The Hispanic population now accounts for 11 percent of the United States' total, and is growing at a 53 percent faster rate than the total population, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Of the speculated 60 million regular Internet users worldwide, 4 million are Latinos, and 53 percent of that group lives in the U.S., according to the Journal of Commerce. For more information, see the article on the DiversityInc website.
By the Numbers: English Speakers and the Internet
Percentage of world population whose native language is English: 8
Percentage of Internet users whose native language is English: 57
(Brill's Content Magazine, August 1999)
Internal Voices
The Uncooperative Hog House: A Paradigm Shift
In his Sigma Xi Presidential Address this spring, Earl Hammond, University Professor in food science and human nutrition, described an early foray (early '70s) into odor research: "Picture a beautiful Iowa spring day with (agricultural engineer) Richard Smith and me out by the hog facility, still funded by a patient and indulgent experiment station. We have built a little closet on the side of the facility to hold flowing odor standards of various dilutions of butanol. We plan to pump the odorous air of the hog house through a copper tube to the closet and compare the odor intensity with the standards . . . Much to our amazement, we are unable to get the intense odor of the confinement building to come out of the end of the tube . . . I have heard that Tyco Brahe, the famous Danish astronomer, changed his paradigm about the heavens when he beheld a blazing nova in a part of the heavens that he believed was perfect and unchanging. In our case, it was nothing so grand as a nova that changed our paradigm; it was a hog house that refused to stink on cue. We remembered that we had been told that one could remove the odor of the hog house by breathing through a folded pocket handkerchief or other simple filter. We found this true, and we began to consider seriously the role of particles in hog house odor."
External Voices
Education Shouldn't be the Great Leveler
"Education needs to reconsider its expectation of a universal common denominator, based on the industrial model of standardization. Rather than taming and sanitizing the minds of students, education has not only to acknowledge differences in aptitudes and interests but also to stimulate them. Every known form of energy is the expression of difference and not the result of leveling." Mihai Nadin, computational design professor, in "The Civilization of Illiteracy," Dresden University Press, 1997.
Marginalia
Revenge of the Exploding Bugs
There is a certain satisfaction that comes from plugging in the electric bug zapper on a summer evening, knowing that every zzzzzttt! means one less fly on the potato salad, one less mosquito on a forearm. But the bugs may be getting their revenge -- going out, if not in a blaze of glory, then in a shower of microbes. Kansas State University researchers studied what happens when an insect is electrocuted in a bug zapper. The heat from the electrical charge causes the insect to explode. But the heat isn't enough to kill all the bacteria and viruses on and in the bug. The result: a cloud of insect particles that, depending on where the bug has been spending its time, could be more or less contaminated. The researchers recommend that zappers not be used near food. (New York Times, June 15)