College News
Ag Student Blogs About his College Adventure
Clark Richardson has four majors and a minor, but is taking time to write about his college experience. Richardson began blogging about his college experiences last week with an introduction about who he is and providing advice to students searching for a college. Richardson is a senior from Sioux City who has participated in the study abroad program and lived in six states. The blog will be one way to communicate with high school students and parents about the student experience in the College of Agriculture. To view Clark's adventures go to: http://www.ag.iastate.edu/.
College Team Participate in Teaching and Learning Summit
The National Academy of Sciences will hold a live Webcast Tuesday and Wednesday, Oct. 3 and 4, of its Leadership Summit to Effect Change in Teaching and Learning. The summit is part of a National Academies' study to explore opportunities for institutions of higher education to improve the learning experiences so that undergraduate students are better prepared for careers in agriculture, environmental and life sciences and related disciplines. Six College of Agriculture faculty members will join 300 leaders of the nation's food and agricultural system to help define the future of undergraduate education in agriculture. The live audio webcast will be from 1 to 3:20 p.m. Tuesday and from 7 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. Wednesday at http://www.nationalacademies.org/.
College Office Wins Student Friendly Award
The College's administrative area won first runner-up overall and most student friendly in the Cyclone office decorating competition last week. This year's theme "Let's get CY-ked" was in preparation for the Cyclone Family Weekend activities and the football game on Saturday. The administrative services office includes Kathey Schuckert, Cathy Good, Rita Knight, Janet Ross, Michele Rogers and Josie Six. The staff also provided sugar cookies decorated like footballs and Cy chocolates for Cy and the judges who stopped in on Thursday.
Researchers Bioengineers Plants Resistant to Pathogen
Researchers at three universities, including Iowa State, have designed a new way to make plants resistant to the root-knot nematode, a microscopic, parasitic worm that is one of the world's most destructive plant pathogens.
Grape and Wine Institute Gets Regents' Green Light
Iowa State's proposal for a Midwest Grape and Wine Industry Institute received the go-ahead from the Board of Regents, State of Iowa, during its meeting Sept. 27. The institute will be in the College of Agriculture and will focus on research, teaching and outreach that support the Midwest's evolving grape and wine industry.
Grant to Enhance Women's Careers in Science
The College of Agriculture is one of Iowa State's colleges involved in a five-year, $3.3 million grant from the National Science Foundation to focus on institutional transformation in advancing the careers of women in science, technology, engineering and math, or "STEM" fields. The grant from NSF's Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences will fund programs that will support the recruitment, promotion and retention of women scientists at ISU. Bonnie Bowen, executive director of Iowa Lakeside Laboratory, adjunct assistant professor of ecology, evolution and organismal biology, and adjunct assistant professor of natural resource ecology and management, and Diane Debinski, associate professor of ecology, evolution and organismal biology, are co-principal investigators in the project.
$5 Million Pledged For New Abe Facility
Virgil Elings, a 1961 graduate of Iowa State's College of Engineering, has committed $5 million toward a new building to house the agricultural and biosystems engineering department. The facility is part of a 166,000 square-foot complex that will include three separate buildings to replace outdated laboratories, classrooms and offices on campus. The ISU Office of Biorenewables Programs also will be housed in the complex. Learn more: http://www.foundation.iastate.edu/news/homepage.php?id=246
Corn Research Plots to be Commemoration Oct. 12
A tour and commemoration ceremony of Iowa State's long-term continuous corn research plots will take place Oct. 12. The plots have been in continuous corn since 1915. They were originally part of an extensive crop rotation/soil fertility study established when the agronomic plot work was moved from central campus in 1915 to south of Ames on State Avenue. The land is now part of the ISU Animal Science Teaching Farm complex. The long-term continuous corn plots have been maintained although the experimental treatments have been modified. They are being named after W.H. Stevenson and P.E. Brown, former ISU soil scientists who were instrumental in establishing the plots. Both were faculty members who served as agronomy department heads. The tour will be from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. with a brief program at 3 p.m. Directions to the plots: From the intersection of Lincoln Way and State Avenue, proceed south 2 miles, turn west on Zumwalt Road and proceed 1/8 mile. The plots are on the south side of the road.
Grant Applications for Distance Education Sought
The Brenton Center seeks grant proposals for a program to expand and strengthen College of Agriculture distance education offerings. Seed money for Distance Education Grants available through this program will enable College of Agriculture departments and faculty to move existing degree programs online, develop new online certificate programs or convert/develop additional key online courses for asynchronous web-based and/or CD-ROM/DVD delivery. Proposals are due by e-mail by Oct. 15 More: http://www.brenton.iastate.edu.
Holiday Hams Sold by Meat Science Club
The ISU Meat Science Club is selling hams for Thanksgiving and Christmas as a fundraiser. Hams are purchased from the ISU Meat Laboratory and club members cure, smoke, cook and vacuum-pack them. Hams are $3.25 a pound and sold as whole (10-14 pounds) or half (5-7 pounds). Orders may be placed by calling 4-1548 or 4-8294, emailing holiday_hams@hotmail.com or by filling out an order form at the Meat Lab Sales Counter. The deadline for ordering is Oct. 13. Contact: Kohl Danielle Schrader, 4-8294 or kds@iastate.edu.
Etiquette Dinner Set for Oct. 10
An Etiquette Dinner is scheduled for Oct. 10, sponsored by Agriculture Career Services and Sigma Alpha. The event includes students, faculty and industry representatives. Social time begins at 6 p.m. and entertainment will be provided by Paul Lasley and the Guys. Keynote speaker is Patricia Tice from Etiquette Iowa, an author of numerous etiquette-related books as well as occasional columnist for Des Moines Register. The dinner will be from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Campanile Room, Memorial Union.
ISU Well-Represented at Central American Conference
Robert Rust, animal science emeritus professor, and alumnus C. Lynn Knipe, who is an associate professor, meat science at The Ohio State University were the two invited speakers from the United States last month at the first Curso Latinoamericano en Produccion de Embutitos in Costa Rica. Rust joined the animal science faculty as extension meat specialist in 1959 and retired in 1994. Knipe received his doctorate in 1982 from Iowa State and was a member of the meat science faculty from 1984 to 1997. The course was organized by Julio Chaves, professor at the University of Costa Rica, San Jose. Chaves received his master's degree from Iowa State in 1982. The course was sponsored by the American Soybean Association and the United Soybean board. The four-day program was held Sept. 18 to 21 at the Central American Livestock School in Atenas, Costa Rica. It attracted participants from Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras Mexico, Peru and Venezuela.
Economists Analyze Ethanol Trade and Prices in a Free Market
What would happen to fuel ethanol prices and trade in a U.S. market free of trade distortions and taxes? A recent analysis by Amani Elobeid and Simla Tokgoz, associate scientists at Iowa State's Center for Agricultural and Rural Development, addresses that question.
Deadline & Reminders
Oct. 16: 2006 Norman Borlaug Lecture, Margaret Catley-Carlson, chair of the Global Water Partnership, 8 p.m., Sun Room
Oct. 19-20: Agricultural Entrepreneurship Institute, Reiman Gardens, contact: Stacey Noe, 4-4945, more: http://www.entrepreneurship.ag.iastate.edu/Institute.html
Oct. 19-20: World Food Prize Symposium
Communications Kiosk
Who's on First?
"Who's" is a contraction for who is, as in "Who's on first?" "Whose" is a possessive, as in "Whose life is it, anyway?" Unlike "who" and "whom," whose may refer to things as well as people, as in "the Commerce Department, whose bailiwick includes intellectual property." (The Chicago Manual of Style, 15th ed., 2003)
Agendas Help Keep Meetings on Track
Successful meetings start long before the meeting, says consultant Suzanne Bates, author of "Speak Like a CEO." She says the most common meeting mistakes are lack of preparation and advance communication. A simple agenda sets expectations, keeps a meeting on track and creates accountability. During meetings, encourage participation; it taps employees' collective knowledge. Avoid letting a few individuals dominate the meeting, or allow personal attacks to poison the atmosphere and impede progress. Make it safe to disagree so participants can debate the issues on their merits. Allowing the discussion to get personal or issues to go unresolved can damage the entire organization. To manage negative conflict, identify your common goals, build on agreements, avoid placing blame and have zero tolerance for personal attacks. Finally, strive for consensus. The goal of most meetings is to gather enough information to either make a decision, agree on a course of action or take a vote. Consensus does not imply an absence of conflict, but that the conflict was resolved in a way that's acceptable to a majority. (Management Consulting News, September 2006)
Infograzing
Market-To-Market Segment Shows Extension Success Story
Iowa Public Television's Market-to-Market program featured the Iowa New Farm Family Project, which ISU Extension helps coordinate, in July. Three Iowa communities participating in the Iowa New Farm Family project are in the process of welcoming five immigrant families from The Netherlands who are establishing new dairy farms. These families are investing $12 million, will produce $7 million in annual milk and livestock sales, and will create 60 direct and indirect jobs. IPTV has given Iowa State permission to share the segment internally. It may be accessed at the following address or by pasting the address into the URL section of an existing web page: mms://wms.extension.iastate.edu/video/markettomarket/iowanewfarmfamlyprroject.wmv
Fall Blood Drive Through Friday
The 2006 Fall Blood Drive, "Donate Red with a Heart of Gold," began today, Oct. 2, and continues through Friday, Oct. 6. The hours are Monday through Thursday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Great Hall, Memorial Union.
Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching Holds Sessions
The Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching will hold several sessions this month. Professional development sessions include:
- Teaching and Learning Circle: Teaching with Technology: Millennial Students, Oct. 3, 10, 17 and 24
- Grad Student Programming: Preparing for Academic Interviews, Oct. 5
- Collecting Classroom Data for SoTL (scholars engaged in the scholarship of teaching and learning), Oct. 9
- Your Spring '07 Syllabus, Oct. 16
- Faculty Forum: Cheating is Wrong but I am not Wrong to Cheat: A Discussion of Ethical Distancing Among University Students, Oct. 18
The center's Teaching and Learning Technology Workshops are scheduled on:
- A Beginner's Guide to Creating Web Pages for Instruction, Oct. 3
- Flash Interactive Learning Activities for WebCT GOLD, Oct. 6
- Managing the Grade Book in WebCT GOLD, Oct. 18
- Creating and Managing Assessments in WebCT GOLD, Oct. 19
- StudyMate & Respondus for Learning and Assessment in WebCT GOLD, Oct. 19
- WebCT GOLD 101: Overview and Fundamentals, Oct. 20 and 27
- Electronic Portfolios for Learning, Program Assessment, and Institutional Accountability, Oct. 25
- Creating and Managing Groups and Assignments in WebCT GOLD, Oct. 26
External Voices
Agriculture is Critical Infrastructure
"The bottom line is that agriculture, just like buildings, bridges and tunnels, is a critical infrastructure in need of defense."
--John Pistole, FBI deputy director and keynote speaker at the second International Symposium on Agroterrorism, last week in Kansas City. (Associated Press)
Marginalia
English Couple Take Side Trip to Iowa State
Bill and Margaret Thompson of Lancashire, England took a side trip to campus last week before embarking on a cruise from New York City to see Canada's fall foliage. Bill wanted to see where his father, William, earned his master's degree in animal husbandry in 1912. Mark Honeyman and Palmer Holden, animal science, helped acclimate them to Iowa State. Holden took them on a tour of campus and helped them find William's master's thesis at Parks Library. They were able to copy it as a keepsake. After spending Sept. 27 in Iowa, the couple was scheduled to leave at 4 a.m. the next day for their cruise.
Next issue: Oct. 9
Ag Online
Editor: Ed Adcock, edadcock@iastate.edu
Phone: (515) 294-5616
Web site: http://www.ag.iastate.edu/aginfo/
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