AG ONLINE
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The College of Agriculture Faculty/Staff Newsletter
Iowa State University
November 30, 2001 No. 184
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CONTENTS
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COLLEGE NEWS
- Ad hoc college advisory group to meet Dec. 6
- Membership of ad hoc advisory committee
- College hosts Dec. 4 forum on human/computer programs
- ISU student begins duties as National FFA secretary
- Ag leadership class restores pioneer cemetery
- Yes, Virginia, there are trees and wreaths for sale
- Yes, Virginia, there are meat and cheese gift packs on sale
- Deadlines soon for scheduling off-campus courses
- Four new grants offer more global experiences
- Global seminar on environment/sustainable food offered
- Using DVD in education: Next Brenton Center seminar Dec. 3
- Visual communication topic on AgComm workshop Dec. 4
- Extension and Spanish-speaking populations conference
- Agronomy distance learners take virtual field trip
- Animal science student clubs garner national honors
- Plant transformation workshop offered in spring
- Sign up for next research grant writers program
- ISU alum and former SDSU president dead at 88
- Deadlines & Reminders
COMMUNICATIONS KIOSK
- Dean Ross’ President’s Council presentation on the Web
- A reference guide for the spoken word
INFOGRAZING
- Apply for Miller Faculty funding for teaching projects
- CSREES seeks reviewers of higher education grants
- CSREES seeks proposals for higher education grants
INTERNAL VOICES
- I-HELP builds international understanding
EXTERNAL VOICES
- Hilton Briggs and ‘The Lecture’ at SDSU’s FarmHouse
MARGINALIA
- Holiday gift ideas in Iowa Family Farm Meat Directory
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COLLEGE NEWS
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AD HOC COLLEGE ADVISORY GROUP TO MEET DEC. 6
On Dec. 6, Dean Ross is convening a meeting of an ad hoc advisory committee that will examine College of Agriculture budget priorities and ways to strengthen and focus the college’s efforts. The committee will offer advice on structural changes, initiatives to emphasize and communications strategies. The committee’s recommendations will be shared with other groups, including college and university leadership and the Dean’s Executive Council.
MEMBERSHIP OF AD HOC ADVISORY COMMITTEE
The ad hoc College of Agriculture Advisory Committee on Budget Priorities and Strengthening and Focusing includes faculty members, stakeholders and others with broad experience in agriculture and higher education. Members are: Duane Acker, former president of Kansas State University and former USDA official; Diane Birt, food science and human nutrition; Ted Crosbie, Monsanto Company; Mark Drabenstott, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City; Walt Fehr, agronomy; Cornelia Flora, sociology; Robert Jolly, economics; Tim Kapucian, Dean’s Executive Council; Greg Lamka, Dean’s Executive Council; Vic Miller, Iowa Corn Growers Association; Bobby Moser, vice president, Ohio State University; Jim Pellet, Iowa Cattlemen’s Association; Craig Pfantz, Iowa Corn Growers Association; Marv Walter, Ames; and David Williams, Villisca farmer and chair of Leopold Center’s advisory board.
COLLEGE HOSTS DEC. 4 FORUM ON HUMAN/COMPUTER PROGRAMS
The study of human/computer interaction is emerging as a dynamic and important area of future research. Dean Ross invites College of Agriculture faculty and staff to attend an open forum Tuesday, Dec. 4, to learn more about ISU plans in this area. The meeting will be held at 4 p.m. in the CCUR Theatre, 1951 Food Sciences. James Bernhard and Adrian Sannier of ISU’s Virtual Reality Applications Center will discuss efforts to develop a graduate and research program on the human/computer interface. They also will speak about ongoing work and potential research opportunities.
ISU STUDENT BEGINS DUTIES AS NATIONAL FFA SECRETARY
Robin Niehaus, sophomore in public service and administration in agriculture, was named the 2001-02 National FFA secretary at the National FFA Convention in Louisville. Niehaus is finishing a month of training at the National FFA Center in Indianapolis. For the next year, she will travel around the country promoting the FFA, giving speeches, conducting member workshops, developing new partnerships with businesses and motivating FFA members to succeed. A photo of Niehaus and the other national officers is online. The website also will feature journals of their travels over the next year. The National FFA has 457,000 members.
AG LEADERSHIP CLASS RESTORES PIONEER CEMETERY
This semester's Leadership in Agriculture class, AgEdS 315, is finishing up the restoration of a pioneer cemetery northeast of Ames for its service learning project. Cary Trexler’s students are repairing headstones, mowing, trimming, cutting down dead trees and branches, replacing fences and installing a monument and sign. The students’ goal is to make the cemetery an historical site and have it maintained in the future. The class is seeking freewill donations to use towards improvements.
YES, VIRGINIA, THERE ARE TREES AND WREATHS FOR SALE
The Forestry Club and Arboriculture Club are selling holiday trees and wreaths the next several weekends. They will be sold at the Reiman Gardens’ new maintenance building. Sales at Reiman Gardens are: Fridays, Nov. 30, Dec. 7 and Dec 14 from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.; Saturdays, Dec. 1, Dec. 8 and Dec. 15 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and Sundays, Dec. 2, Dec. 9 and Dec. 16 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Also, for this weekend only, trees can be chosen and cut at the Forestry Club plantation east of Scholl Road near the Applied Science Center. Those times are: Nov. 30, 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.; Dec. 1, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and Dec. 2, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
YES, VIRGINIA, THERE ARE MEAT AND CHEESE GIFT PACKS ON SALE
The Block & Bridle Club will sell summer sausage and cheese gift packs in the foyer outside Lush Auditorium on Wednesday, Dec. 5, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., and on Dec. 10 and Dec. 14 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
DEADLINES SOON FOR SCHEDULING OFF-CAMPUS COURSES
Deadlines are approaching to schedule off-campus credit and noncredit courses. Dec. 7 is the deadline for summer courses and Jan. 11 for fall courses. If you plan to offer a course off-campus, notify your DEO or departmental coordinator, or contact Richard Carter, ricarter@iastate.edu, or Neena Bentley, nbentley@iastate.edu, for help in preparing the course initiation form and in establishing preliminary budgets.
FOUR NEW GRANTS OFFER MORE GLOBAL EXPERIENCES
Four recent grants received by ISU will help College of Agriculture students and faculty gain more international experiences. With a U.S. Department of Education grant, the college will lead development of joint U.S.-European Community programs on global food issues. Partners with ISU are the University of Nebraska, University of California at Davis, and educational institutions in Denmark, France and Ireland. The college is a partner in a project to develop joint U.S.-Brazil programs, including an agroecology curriculum, funded by the U.S. Department of Education and the Brazilian Ministry of Education. Grace Marquis, food science and human nutrition, will lead an international nutrition program in Peru supported by a USDA Higher Education Challenge Grant. The college is one of four partners in another USDA Higher Education Challenge Grant to develop tropical agriculture and sustainable development courses with Panama.
GLOBAL SEMINAR ON ENVIRONMENT/SUSTAINABLE FOOD OFFERED
Students at ISU and around the world will take part in a distance-education course next spring on international issues in the environment and sustainable food systems. Sophomore through graduate students may register for "Global Seminar: Environment and Sustainable Food Systems," which is listed with the departments of ag education and studies, agronomy, anthropology and food science and human nutrition, and with the graduate program in sustainable agriculture. Local and international student teams will discuss case studies in class and on the Internet, and engage in live interactive satellite videoconferencing seminars. The Global Seminar is a consortium of educational institutions led by Cornell University. For more information: Deb Muenchrath, 4-7232 or mnchrath@iastate.edu.
USING DVD IN EDUCATION: NEXT BRENTON CENTER SEMINAR DEC. 3
"An Introduction to DVD" is the topic of the next seminar in the Brenton Center’s professional development series. It will be held Monday, Dec. 3, noon to 1 p.m. in 8 Curtiss. Brent Hayward, Apple Computer Systems engineer, will speak on how DVDs can be used in education.
VISUAL COMMUNICATION TOPIC ON AGCOMM WORKSHOP DEC. 4
Paula Curran, associate professor of art and design, will speak on "Visual Communication" at the next AgComm workshop on Tuesday, Dec. 4, noon to 1:15 p.m., in 8 Curtiss. Faculty, instructors, staff and graduate students are invited. A light lunch is included. Register with Cheryl Abrams, 4-5872 or cabrams@iastate.edu.
EXTENSION AND SPANISH-SPEAKING POPULATIONS CONFERENCE
The North Central Regional Center for Rural Development will host a meeting, "Enhancing Extension’s Capacity to Work with Spanish-Speaking Populations in the North Central Region," Dec. 5-7, in Chicago. The workshop will explore immigration issues in Midwest communities, increase the capacity for multicultural leadership among extension staff and demonstrate ways extension can engage Spanish-speaking populations in programming. For more information, contact Pam Cooper, 4-8321.
AGRONOMY DISTANCE LEARNERS TAKE VIRTUAL FIELD TRIP
Agronomy faculty and staff have created a virtual field trip that takes students to a real family farm from their computers. Students use an interactive CD to explore panoramic views of the farm, weather data, community information, marketing plans, topography maps, soil series and other data. Students get to know the farmers through video interviews. The CD was created for the capstone course in the master of science in agronomy distance education program. Mary Wiedenhoeft led the project, which has won an Award of Excellence in Educational Materials from the Agronomy Society of America.
ANIMAL SCIENCE STUDENT CLUBS GARNER NATIONAL HONORS
This month the Block & Bridle Club placed first in chapter activities and second in yearbook at the National Block and Bridle Convention in Louisville. Also, the Livestock Judging Team finished second at the North American International Livestock Exposition, also in Louisville.
PLANT TRANSFORMATION WORKSHOP OFFERED IN SPRING
The Plant Transformation and Transgene Analysis Workshop (Zoo/Gen 542D) will be offered during spring semester. The one-credit lab course is offered to graduate students or anyone interested in learning basic knowledge and techniques on plant genetic transformation and molecular analysis of transgenic plants. Enrollment is 12 students. For more information: Kan Wang, 4-4429, or Gary Polking, 4-1813.
SIGN UP FOR NEXT RESEARCH GRANT WRITERS PROGRAM
The deadline is Jan. 11 to sign up for the seventh College of Agriculture Research Grant Writers Program, which will be offered next summer and fall. Faculty members who participate will submit a grant proposal to a federal agency. Program costs are split between the college and departments. For more information: Elena Polouchkina, 4-8493 or elenap@iastate.edu.
ISU ALUM AND FORMER SDSU PRESIDENT DEAD AT 88
Hilton Briggs, an ISU animal science alumnus and Iowa native, died Nov. 23 in Omaha as the result of an automobile accident. He was 88. Briggs was president of South Dakota State University from 1958 to 1975. He was born in Cairo, Iowa, in 1913, and earned his bachelor’s degree in 1933 at Iowa State. During his career he also served as dean of agriculture at the University of Wyoming and was a faculty member and associate dean at Oklahoma State University. (See item in "External Voices.")
DEADLINES & REMINDERS
Nov. 30: Deadline, proposals, MATRIC research projects to increase exports of Midwest agricultural products. Contact: rclemens@iastate.edu
Nov. 30: Deadline, Wallace and Andre ag alumni award nominations
Dec. 1: Deadline, proposals, ISU Subvention Grants Program, 4-8493
Dec. 3: Sustainable Agriculture Colloquium, Sustainability of Organic Agriculture in Iowa, Kathleen Delate, 1204 Kildee, 12:10 p.m.
Dec. 4: Open forum, human/computer interaction programs, 1951 Food Sciences, 4 p.m.
Dec. 7: Deadline, scheduling summer 2002 off-campus courses
Jan. 1: Study-abroad proposals for 2002 winter break due, Shelley Taylor, 4-5393
Jan. 11: Deadline, scheduling fall 2002 off-campus courses
Jan. 28: "Agroterrorism," Think Tank on Animal Agriculture with Norman Cheville, dean of veterinary medicine
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COMMUNICATIONS KIOSK
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DEAN ROSS'S PRESIDENT'S COUNCIL PRESENTATION ON THE WEB
Dean Ross shared information on the College of Agriculture's past, present and future at the October President's Council meeting. The Powerpoint slides he presented are online, with notes from Ross's comments.
A REFERENCE GUIDE FOR THE SPOKEN WORD
National Public Radio's website includes an online style guide for pronunciation, usage and grammar. The information was compiled as a tool to help others use correct English when speaking. The guide lists standards for consistency and clarifies misunderstood usages. The guide can be found at http://www.npr.org/inside/styleguide/pug.htm.
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INFOGRAZING
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APPLY FOR MILLER FACULTY FUNDING FOR TEACHING PROJECTS
The Miller Faculty Fellowship fund provides money for innovative teaching projects through the Center for Teaching Excellence. Fellowships range from $1,000 to $25,000 per year. During the past six years, the fund has provided $1,250,000 to faculty. Proposals are due in your college dean's office by Friday Feb. 1, 2002. Application guidelines can be found online.
CSREES SEEKS REVIEWERS OF HIGHER EDUCATION GRANTS
The CSREES Higher Education Programs office seeks experts in food and agricultural sciences education and related disciplines to review proposals for its fiscal year 2002 competitive education grants. For more information, contact Elena Polouchkina, 4-8493 or elenap@iastate.edu.
CSREES SEEKS PROPOSALS FOR HIGHER EDUCATION GRANTS
The CSREES requests proposals for the FY 2002 Higher Education Challenge Grants Program. Deadline is Feb. 11.
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INTERNAL VOICES
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I-HELP BUILDS INTERNATIONAL UNDERSTANDING
"It is ignorance and a lack of understanding of one another that feeds hatred and prejudice. Those of you deeply engaged in international education have a special duty through the I-HELP program to continue to build upon the foundation of mutual understanding that has characterized the program for the past two years." Hamid Ghoddusi of Iran, speaking at a Nov. 13 dinner marking the completion of the 2001 International Higher Education Loan Program (I-HELP) program at ISU. Ghoddusi was one of 10 international fellows in the program, which provides loans for junior faculty and graduate students from the developing world to study at institutions recognized as leaders in agricultural higher education. The fellows spent the fall working with mentors in the agriculture and veterinary medicine colleges.
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EXTERNAL VOICES
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HILTON BRIGGS AND ‘THE LECTURE’ AT SDSU’S FARMHOUSE
Hilton Briggs, an ISU ag alum and former South Dakota State University president, died Nov. 23 (see item in "College News"). The following excerpt is taken from a Dec. 5, 2000, story in SDSU’s student newspaper:
Prior to "The Lecture" some members of FarmHouse Fraternity had no idea the old man was still alive. They had heard of him, partly because of his role in founding their chapter at SDSU in the 1960s and partly because the campus library bears his name. Some also knew he was a former president of the university. But to most of the young men in FarmHouse, Hilton M. Briggs existed only in legend -- a famous name without a face. With his eyes squinted tightly under a wrinkled brow, he stared coldly at a group of over 20 young men. "I've been known for speakin’ my piece -- if I had one," he said. "And some alumni, myself included, haven't been too happy with the way you boys have been running things lately." In a deep, eloquent voice that belied his age, Briggs expressed his disgust with the members of FarmHouse. Their GPA was poor, their activities were worthless and their membership was low. "At the time of that speech, I was about as disappointed with (SDSU) FarmHouse as I've ever been," said Briggs, who pledged FarmHouse at Iowa State some 56 years ago. "But somebody must have listened." The young men had listened; in fact, they were shamed into action. Last summer, SDSU was named the third-most outstanding FarmHouse chapter in the nation.
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MARGINALIA
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HOLIDAY GIFT IDEAS IN IOWA FAMILY FARM MEAT DIRECTORY
Ideas for holiday giving can be found in the Iowa Family Farms Meat Directory. Compiled by the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, the directory includes a county-by-county listing of farmers who want to sell the meat they produce directly to consumers. All meat is processed in a state or federally licensed facility. Each entry includes a description of how the animals were raised (certified organic, no drugs used, range fed, etc.) and types of livestock (cattle, hogs, sheep, poultry, turkey, buffalo, ostrich, emu, fish, duck, elk, goat, goose, rabbit, deer).
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AG ONLINE
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NEXT ISSUE: Dec. 14 DEADLINE: Dec. 12
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