CALS Online and Dean’s Message
September 25, 2023
Dean’s Message
Hello CALS – I hope this finds you and yours well. This week is CALS Week. Please attend the many events our great CALS Student Council has worked so very hard to plan. From lunch on central campus to guest speakers to tours of the ISU Creamery - there is something for everyone! Also this week, there are two interesting lectures to attend. On Tuesday at 6 p.m., a lecture in the Memorial Union on the 1980s Farm Crisis, "When a Dream Dies: Iowa's Experience of the Farm Crisis of the 1980s”… We will also have this week the Deal Lecture on Wednesday evening at 5:30 p.m. in 127 Curtiss Hall. "Innovating Ag Innovation" will be presented by alumnus Al Tank.
Top Stories
CALS Worldwide – Celebrating CALS Week
The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Student Council is celebrating “CALS Worldwide” during 2023 CALS Week, Sept. 25-29. Activities include the following.
- Monday – Block and Bridle Club Hunger Fight, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Iowa Farm Bureau Pavilion, Kildee Hall; free lunch on central campus (pizza), 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.; speaker on central campus, noon; ISU Creamery tour, 3 p.m., Food Sciences Building; Mr. CALS competition, 7 p.m., Hansen Agriculture Student Learning Center.
- Tuesday – Free lunch on central campus (walking tacos), 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.; speaker on central campus, noon; ISU Creamery tour, 12:30 p.m., Food Sciences Building; CALS Study Abroad Fair, 3-5 p.m., central campus; CALS Olympics, 6 p.m., central campus.
- Wednesday – Free lunch on central campus (burgers and brats), 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.; speaker on central campus, noon; ISU Creamery tour, 2 p.m., Food Sciences Building; Deal Lecture, 5:30 p.m., Leonard and Evelyn Dolezal Auditorium, 127 Curtiss Hall.
- Thursday – Free lunch on central campus (pork chop-on-a-stick), 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.; ISU Creamery tour with Mike Naig, 11:30 a.m., Food Sciences Building; speaker on central campus, noon; Block and Bridle Club dodgeball tournament, 7 p.m., Beyer Gym.
- Friday – free breakfast on central campus (donuts), 8:30-10:30 a.m.
CALS Week: Speakers on Central Campus
The CALS Student Council has arranged speakers to be part of the activities during CALS Week on Monday through Thursday, Sept. 25-28, at noon on central campus.
- Monday, Sept. 25 – John Wyffels, Wyffels Hybrids
- Tuesday, Sept. 26 – Laurie Hujeneke, Merck
- Wednesday, Sept. 27 – Iowa Corn representative
- Thursday, Sept. 28 – Mike Naig, Iowa Secretary of Agriculture
CALS Week: Mr. CALS Competition, Sept. 25
Sigma Alpha, the professional agriculture sorority, is hosting its annual Mr. CALS competition today, Sept. 25, at 7 p.m. in the Hansen Agriculture Student Learning Center. Tickets are $5. Please note that this will be a cash only event. Contestants represent student organizations within the college and in this year’s Rural to Runway event, will be competing for four titles: Top Fundraiser, Mr. Congeniality, Reserve Champion Mr. CALS and Grand Champion Mr. CALS. Proceeds go to SHOP, the student run food pantry at Iowa State.
CALS Week: Study Abroad Fair, Sept. 26
CALS will hold its annual study abroad fair on Tuesday, Sept. 26, from 3-5 p.m. on central campus. Program directors will be available to talk with students interested in a study abroad (international) or Study USA (domestic) travel course, and will have information on other resources like student travel consultants and financial aid.
CALS Week: Deal Lecture, Sept. 27
Al Tank, ag and food entrepreneur, investor and consultant based in Bethesda, Maryland, will present the 2023 William K. Deal Leadership Lecture Wednesday, Sept. 27, at Iowa State. His presentation, “Innovating Ag Innovation,” will begin at 5:30 p.m. in Dolezal Auditorium, 127 Curtiss Hall. The event is free and open to the public.
CALS Week: Dodgeball, Sept. 28
The Block and Bridle Club will be holding a Glow in the Dark Dodgeball Tournament on Thursday, Sept. 28, at 7 p.m. in Beyer Gym. All students are welcome to form a 10-person team and sign-up for the event. Funds raised will be used for Cactus Cares.
Research
Schnables Develop Crop for the Future
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has declared 2023 as the International Year of Millets, but these crops are unfamiliar to many Iowa farmers. Expect that to change soon, say plant-breeding father and son team Patrick and James Schnable, co-founders of the Ames-based company Dryland Genetics. Patrick is director of the Plant Sciences Institute at Iowa State. James is a professor of agronomy at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Small Town Poll to Focus on Rural Iowa’s Growing Community
The latest version of a once-a-decade Iowa State poll will survey rural Iowans about quality-of-life issues and how small town residents can come together as one community to build prosperity. David Peters, sociology and rural sociologist for ISU Extension and Outreach, coordinates the poll. Team members include Ramesh Balayar, sociology, Das Biswa, community and regional planning, and Himar Hernandez, community and economic development with ISU Extension and Outreach.
Teaching and Students
CALS Student Spends Summer with Dairy Cows in New Zealand
Regan Kramer, junior in agricultural studies and international agriculture, spent her summer interning on a New Zealand dairy farm owned by Chad and Jan Winke. Of particular use during Kramer’s internship were the lessons learned in the dairy cattle science class she took at Iowa State.
CALS Pre-Vet Club Holds Paws to Cure Cancer 5K
The Pre-Vet Club will host its annual Paws to Cure Cancer 5K on Saturday, Sept. 30, at 9:30 a.m. on central campus. Registration is $20 and includes a T-shirt. Dogs are welcome and encouraged to attend. They must be leashed, friendly and up-to-date on vaccines. Register at ISU Marketplace and select Paws to Cure Cancer 5K Sign Up. Proceeds will go to the Boo Radley Foundation to support medical research for diseases common to companion animals and humans.
Extension and Outreach
Thoms on Fall Lawn Care Following Drought
Fall is a key time for lawns across Iowa, especially following a dry, hot summer. Adam Thoms, horticulture and turfgrass specialist with ISU Extension and Outreach, discusses watering, seeding, fertilizing and mowing lawns following drought.
Safety Tips for Grain Handling Equipment
In 2022, Iowa had more cases of grain entrapment than any other state. ISU Extension and Outreach offers a safety checklist to lower the risk of injury when working around grain.
Around the College
Conference will Tackle PFAS Solutions
A one-day conference, PFAS: Impact on the Planet and Solutions for the Packaging Industry, will be held Nov. 2 in Madison, Wisconsin, co-sponsored by the Polymer and Food Protection Consortium at Iowa State. Speakers will include consortium director Keith Vorst and Greg Curtzwiler, food science and human nutrition.
Calendar
Sept. 25: Retirement Reception for Dan Loy
A retirement gathering will be held for Dan Loy, animal science, on Sept. 25 from 3:30-5 p.m. at Jethro's BBQ in Ames. RSVPs requested (or email bethr@iastate.edu). Loy, director of the Iowa Beef Center and extension beef specialist, has been at Iowa State for more than 40 years.
Sept. 28: Feeding the World Seminar Series
The Feeding the World seminar series continues Thursday, Sept. 28, from 3:40-4:55 p.m. in 1204 Kildee Hall, Ensminger Room. Saskia Hendrickx, Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Livestock Systems, will present “Animal Source-Foods: Importance to the Development of People and Economies.”
Communications Kiosk
Distinctive vs. Distinguished vs. Distinguishable
A distinctive feature is something that makes a person (or place or thing) easy to recognize (U2’s distinctive sound). But it does not necessarily make that person distinguished (respected and admired). The distinguished professor wears a distinctive red bow tie. It does, however, make the person distinguishable (easy to see as being different from something else) – a term that does not carry the positive connotation of distinguished. (The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition, pg. 326)
Infograzing
History Professor Speaks on ‘When a Dream Dies’
Pamela Riney-Kehrberg, history and author of “When a Dream Dies: Agriculture, Iowa and the Farm Crisis of the 1980s,” will be speaking on Tuesday, Sept. 26, at 6 p.m. in the Memorial Union, Room 2630. Her lecture will explore the trauma the people of Iowa faced in the 1980s when two-thirds of its farmers were in distress, and half of those were in imminent danger of foreclosure.
Greenhouse Safety Training Available through Workday
Environmental Health and Safety has an online Greenhouse Safety Fundamentals training course available in Workday. The course provides basic safety policies and procedures that apply to everyone working in a greenhouse setting at Iowa State.
Guidelines for Faculty and Staff on Political Activity
Iowa State supports the full freedom of its faculty and staff, within the law, to express their opinions regarding political candidates and issues. But when engaged in political activity, employees must make it clear that their opinions are their own and do not represent the university. As a state institution, the university is politically neutral and is prohibited from endorsing any candidate for political office and using state property to campaign for candidates or ballot initiatives.
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Online
Julie Stewart, Editor
jstewart@iastate.edu, (515) 294-5616
https://www.cals.iastate.edu/news/agonline
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Online, the newsletter for faculty and staff in Iowa State University's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, is published by email every Monday. The deadline for submitting content is 12 p.m. on Thursday.