COLLEGE NEWS
- Iles named chair of horticulture department
- Welcome new ag students at Aug. 30 barbecue
- Attend College of Agriculture fall convocation Sept. 6
- 2001 Pierre Lecture in Soil Science on Sept. 12
- Tissue remodeling the theme for Sept. 13-16 conference
- Polouchkina to provide support for preparing grants
- Still room in teaching-extension grants workshop
- Student clubs capture national honors
- Ames Forester wins student publication award
- American Royal scholarship deadline Sept. 15
- Rural summit meeting Aug. 27-28
- Golf event raises funds for Christian Endowment
- Deadlines & Reminders
COMMUNICATIONS KIOSK
- Time-savers for Word users
INFOGRAZING
- Soar in 4: Helping students get their degrees in 4 years
- Joint ISU-UI Bioinformatics Workshop in September
EXTERNAL VOICES
- Paul Kennedy on biotech, ag and the environment
MARGINALIA
- A Spanish translation promotes ISU agronomy degree
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COLLEGE NEWS
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ILES NAMED CHAIR OF HORTICULTURE DEPARTMENT
Jeff Iles has been named the new chair for the Department of Horticulture. He will begin a three-year appointment on Sept. 1. Mike Kelly, chair of forestry, has been serving as interim chair since May 1. Mike Chaplin, who had been department chair since 1991, joined the ranks of the department’s faculty. Iles has been with the department since 1987. He received his bachelor's degree in horticulture from Michigan State University in 1977, his master's in horticulture from Pennsylvania State University in 1985 and his doctorate in ornamental horticulture from Iowa State in 1993.
WELCOME NEW AG STUDENTS AT AUG. 30 BARBECUE
Agriculture faculty and staff are encouraged to attend a barbecue to welcome new freshmen and transfer students on Thursday, Aug. 30. The barbecue, sponsored by the College of Agriculture Student Council, will run from 5 to 7 p.m. in the Agronomy Courtyard, with brief remarks by Associate Dean Eric Hoiberg at 6 p.m. Ag student clubs will have booths on their activities. In case of rain, the event will move to the Farm Bureau Livestock Pavilion, Kildee Hall. For more information: Stephanie Vinton, 817-0271 (that is an Ames number).
ATTEND COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE FALL CONVOCATION SEPT. 6
New faculty in the college will be introduced at the fall convocation on Thursday, Sept. 6. Refreshments will begin at 3:30 p.m. and the convocation will begin at 4 p.m. in the Sun Room, Memorial Union.
2001 PIERRE LECTURE IN SOIL SCIENCE ON SEPT. 12
William Jury, a distinguished professor of soil physics at the University of California at Riverside, will speak on the water needs of production agriculture at the 2001 Pierre Lecture in Soil Science on Sept. 12. Jury’s presentation, "The Emerging Global Water Crisis," will begin at 4:10 p.m., 2050 Agronomy. The lecture series honors the memory of William Pierre, who chaired the agronomy department from 1938 to 1964. It is co-sponsored by the Graduate College and the Iowa State Water Resources Research Institute. Jury also will be available to meet with individuals or groups on Sept. 12 or 13. To make arrangements, contact Michael Thompson, agronomy, 4-2415.
TISSUE REMODELING THE THEME FOR SEPT. 13-16 CONFERENCE
The theme of the 11th annual Growth Factor and Signal Transduction Conference will be "Tissue Remodeling." The symposium, which will be held Sept. 13-16 in the Scheman Building, will focus on the molecular and cellular mechanisms of tissue remodeling with angiogenesis, wound healing and hormonal regulation. The conference is sponsored by the Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology, the Office of Biotechnology and the Mayo Clinic’s Cell Biology Program. For more information: 4-7978 or gfst@iastate.edu.
POLOUCHKINA TO PROVIDE SUPPORT FOR PREPARING GRANTS
Elena Polouchkina has new responsibilities for helping College of Agriculture faculty members obtain external funding. Her new job as program assistant in agriculture administration includes coordinating grant writers’ workshops, identifying and maintaining databases on funding opportunities, liaison with funding agencies, and -- as time permits -- providing support for proposal preparation. In her previous position in Global Agriculture Programs, Polouchkina maintained data on international funding sources and helped with proposal preparation. She will report to Senior Associate Dean Wendy Wintersteen. Contact her at 4-8493 or elenap@iastate.edu.
STILL ROOM IN TEACHING-EXTENSION GRANTS WORKSHOP
The first Teaching-Extension Grant Writers Program will begin in September. The six-month program will help College of Agriculture faculty in writing grant proposals. It will be conducted in conjunction with the College of Education. Participants will prepare a proposal to be submitted to a federal agency. Six participants from the college have signed up for the series, and other faculty or staff members are welcome. DEOs are encouraged to nominate faculty or staff. An orientation session will be held at 9 a.m., Sept. 6, in E105 Lagomarcino. For more information: Elena Polouchkina, 4-8493 or elenap@iastate.edu.
STUDENT CLUBS CAPTURE NATIONAL HONORS
Three Iowa State student organizations recently received top national honors. The Agricultural Business Club was named the outstanding student chapter in the nation by the American Agricultural Economics Association. The club has received the award four times in the past seven years. The Ag Business Club also received the association's Creative Club Award for the second straight year. The Agricultural Systems Technology Club won the Equipment Manufacturers Institute Competition for the nation's best preprofessional agricultural mechanization club -- the third year in a row the club has received the award. The award was presented at the American Society of Agricultural Engineers' annual meeting. Also at the meeting, ISU's Student Engineering Branch of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers won second place in the Equipment Manufacturers Institute Competition's division for agricultural engineering clubs.
AMES FORESTER WINS STUDENT PUBLICATION AWARD
The Ames Forester has been selected as the best student-produced publication in the Society of American Foresters’ Student Publication Contest. It is the second consecutive year that the publication has received first place. Co-editors for 2001 were forestry students Stacy Wickman, Brian Shirley and Scott Koebel. The Ames Forester began in 1913. It originated as a technical journal and has evolved into a publication that features articles on current forestry issues written by faculty, alumni and natural resource professionals.
AMERICAN ROYAL SCHOLARSHIP DEADLINE SEPT. 15
Academic advisers are reminded that the deadline is Sept. 15 for students to apply for the American Royal Scholarship Program. Twenty-four students will be invited to a recognition event in Kansas City Oct. 30-Nov. 1. From those 24 students, a male and a female student will be chosen for $5,000 scholarships and a paid summer internship. Second and third place winners will receive $2,500 and $1,000 scholarships, and all others will receive $500. Eligibility is full-time enrollment in an agricultural curriculum. For entry forms, contact Eric Hoiberg, 4-6614.
RURAL SUMMIT MEETING AUG. 27-28
On Aug. 27-28, the Iowa Communities 2010: Harvesting the Vision Rural Summit will focus on how communities are taking charge of their futures in the new rural climate. Iowa State, in cooperation with the Iowa Rural Development Council and Iowa Department of Economic Development, will host the meeting at the Scheman Center. For more information: http://www.extension.iastate.edu/.
GOLF EVENT RAISES FUNDS FOR CHRISTIAN ENDOWMENT
At the Aug. 4 Lauren L. Christian Pork Chop Open, $7,500 was raised for the Lauren L. Christian Endowment. The endowment, named for the distinguished professor of animal science who died in 1998, will support swine graduate fellowships, undergraduate scholarships and a distinguished lectureship in swine genetics. The golf event was organized by the Iowa Pork Industry Center and the Iowa Pork Producers Association. To see photos from the event, go online. Next year's Pork Chop Open will be held July 9, 2002.
DEADLINES & REMINDERS
Aug. 9-19: Iowa State Fair.
Aug. 27: Fall semester begins.
Aug. 27-28: Iowa Communities 2010: Harvesting the Vision Rural Summit, Scheman Building.
Sept. 6: College of Agriculture fall convocation, Sun Room, Memorial Union, reception at 3:30 p.m., program at 4 p.m.
Oct. 18-20: World Food Prize 15th Anniversary Events, Des Moines, http://www.worldfoodprize.org.
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COMMUNICATIONS KIOSK
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TIME-SAVERS FOR WORD USERS
Microsoft Word users may find these time-saving tips useful, from an Aug. 9 column by David Pogue in the New York Times:
- Select a whole sentence by double-clicking anywhere inside it while pressing the Ctrl key (Windows) or Command key (the one with the apple on it on a Mac).
- Highlight a paragraph by moving your cursor to the left side of the document where it becomes an arrow pointing to the right. Once it’s there, a double-click selects the entire paragraph. Three clicks selects the whole document.
- The Go Back command scrolls back to the last place you clicked in your document, even if it was in another open document. Each time you use this command, your insertion point will jump among four places -- the last three edit spots and your current position. The Go Back keystroke in Windows is Ctrl+Alt+Z; on the Mac, it’s Command-Option-Z.
- To delete the last word you typed, use Ctrl+Backspace (Windows) or Command-Delete (Mac). It can be useful when you can’t decide on the perfect word.
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INFOGRAZING
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SOAR IN 4: HELPING STUDENTS GET THEIR DEGREES IN 4 YEARS
Surveys show 66 percent of students entering ISU plan to graduate within four years. Only 28 percent achieve that goal. "Soar in 4" ISU's four-year graduation plan, is an advising tool to encourage students to accept the challenge to earn their undergraduate degree within eight academic semesters. By the end of the spring semester, 227 new students had signed the plan. Last year the number was 177. For more information on four-year plans offered for agriculture majors, look online. Here's a breakdown by college of the 227 new students on the plan:
Agriculture: 7
Business: 69
Design: 3
Education: 1
Engineering: 9
FCS: 12
LAS: 126
JOINT ISU-UI BIOINFORMATICS WORKSHOP IN SEPTEMBER
The second ISU and University of Iowa Joint Bioinformatics Workshop will be held Sept. 21-22 in the Molecular Biology Building.
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EXTERNAL VOICES
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PAUL KENNEDY ON BIOTECH, AG AND THE ENVIRONMENT
"An environmental concern is that biotech agriculture will encourage the evasion of fundamental ecological reforms. . . . If crop species can be developed that thrive in salty soil or in hot, dry climates, will farmers ignore the sources of environmental damage and simply wait for scientists to engineer new seeds for new conditions? Would genetically modified fish, able to flourish in acidified lakes, undercut the determination to clean up air and water? Instead of dealing with global warming, or the salinization of the soil through excessive irrigation, or the too-swift reduction of the bamboo forests, scientists are inventing plants that attempt to ‘collaborate’ with the environmental changes that human activities are causing . . . Ironically, a counterargument has been put that because natural habitats for wild plants are disappearing so fast, it is becoming more necessary to develop alternative sources in the laboratory -- suggesting that as population pressures erode rain forests and other plant habitats, the greater will be humankind’s reliance upon laboratory-based rather than natural produce." Historian Paul Kennedy in his 1994 book, "Preparing for the Twenty-first Century."
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MARGINALIA
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A SPANISH TRANSLATION PROMOTES ISU AGRONOMY DEGREE
"Uno pensaría que el programa de postgrado de maestría más grande y que está creciendo más rápidamente en el Colegio de Agricultura de la Universidad Estatal de Iowa traería muchos estudiantes a Ames, Iowa. Pero no es así . . ." So begins the Spanish version of a recent "Agriculture in Action…Notes from ISU" column written by Susan Thompson, Agriculture Communications. The column tells about the master of science in agronomy degree program. The article was translated into Spanish by a couple college staff members at the request by David Hansen, executive director of the MidAmerica International Agricultural Consortium. Hansen is using the article to promote a potential collaboration with the Colegio Postgraduados in Mexico. Ken Moore, who directs the degree program, visited the Mexican institution last fall, and said agreements with other international institutions are likely to follow. (The first sentence, in English: "One would think the largest and fastest-growing graduate degree program in Iowa State’s College of Agriculture would bring a lot of students to Ames. But it doesn’t.")
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AG ONLINE
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NEXT ISSUE: Aug. 31 DEADLINE: Aug. 29
EDITORS
Brian Meyer, bmeyer@iastate.edu, and Ed Adcock, edadcock@iastate.edu
Phone: (515) 294-5616 Web site: http://www.ag.iastate.edu/aginfo/
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Ag Online, the newsletter for faculty and staff in Iowa State University’s College of Agriculture, is e-mailed every other Friday. To subscribe, send your name, e-mail address and the message "Ag Online subscribe" to bmeyer@iastate.edu. To unsubscribe, send "Ag Online unsubscribe."
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