College News
Floods of 2008: ISU Extension Has Resources Online
ISU Extension has a Disaster Recovery website that includes many resources for people dealing with flooding issues. Check it out here. Extension has held meetings around the state for producers coping with crop issues associated with the wet weather. It also has released information for livestock producers. Information for homeowners and renters includes helping children cope, testing wells that have been flooded and cleaning up.
Economists Prepare Report on Economic Impact of 2008 Floods
It will take months or even years to access the actual economic impact of Iowa's flood-damage losses, according to a new report by economists from Iowa State University's Regional Capacity Analysis Program (ReCAP). The report details how the economic impact of this year's flooding will be calculated.
Global Resource Systems Bachelor's Degree Approved
The Board of Regents, State of Iowa, has approved a new bachelor of science program in Global Resource Systems which will be administered by the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. The program will provide an interdisciplinary approach, matching a technical component from one of the 21 minors in the College with an understanding of that technical subject within the context of a geographic area. Students will develop expertise in their discipline and will develop transnational leadership skills through an experiential learning component, the study of a foreign language, an immersion experience abroad and a senior thesis. A minor in meat science, undergraduate certificate in occupational safety, bachelor's degrees in biological systems engineering and culinary science, new names for undergraduate degrees agriculture and life sciences education and insect science were also approved.
College Takes Award at Bio Energy Awareness Days in D.C.
Joe Colletti, senior associate dean; Larry Johnson, director of the Center for Crop Utilization Research, were presented a plaque Thursday for the College's winning entry in the Grand Challenge vision for agriculture and forestry's contribution to the energy economy in 2017. The competition was part of the second Bio Energy Awareness Days in Washington, D.C., sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Research, Education and Economics Agency. A College display on the New Century Farm was one of several exhibits at the USDA's Whitten Building June 19 and 20.
Leopold Center Seeks Project Ideas for 2009
Ideas for projects that will lead to sustainability in agriculture are being sought by the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture. Each of the Center's three initiative areas -- ecology, marketing and food systems, and policy -- is looking for innovative new projects to enhance the long-running competitive grants program at the Leopold Center. More
Science Fair Scholarships Encourage Enrollment
Megan Bartholomew from Montrose has enrolled in the college and is redeeming $2,500 in Iowa Science Fair scholarship certificates. She was awarded the scholarships for her exhibits at the State Science + Technology Fair of Iowa during the past three years. Bartholomew also is a recipient of a $2,000 C.R. Musser scholarship. The annual spring event brings more than 450 students in grades six through 12 to Ames. Since 2006, the college has awarded 28 certificates for $500 or $1,000 to high school science fair participants. Only projects related to agriculture and life sciences are eligible. The students are judged on their posters and presentations by a team of reviewers from the college. To redeem the certificates students need to enroll at Iowa State and pursue a major within the college.
Deadlines and Reminders
June 25: Northwest Research and Demonstration Farm field day, 9 a.m., near Sutherland
June 26: Southeast Research and Demonstration Farm field day, 1 p.m., controlled drainage field day at 10:30 a.m., near Crawfordsville
June 27: Armstrong Research and Demonstration Farm field day, 9:30 a.m., near Lewis
July 1: Northern Research and Demonstration Farm field day, 9:30 a.m., near Kanawha
July 15: Lauren Christian Pork Chop Open, Veenker Golf Course, registration deadline July 8
Communications Kiosk
Capitalizing Associations and Conferences
The full names of associations, societies, unions, meetings and conferences and sometimes their short forms, are capitalized. The word "the" preceding a name, even when part of the official title, is lowercased in running text. Such generic terms as "society" and "union" are usually lowercase when used alone. A title given to a single conference is enclosed in quotation marks. "Planning for Computer Chaos at the Turn of the Millennium," a symposium held at Future City, Atlantis, in February 1999. (The Chicago Manual of Style, 15th ed., 2003)
Infograzing
4-H-ers on Campus for Conference
More than 1,000 teenagers will attend the 2008 Iowa 4-H Youth Conference on the Iowa State campus starting Tuesday, June 24. The conference will consist of three days of speakers, workshops, mixers, dances, a banquet and community service activities, titled Ignite the Flame.
External Voices
NASULGC President Sees Extension Expanding
"I think the extension out in the counties is going to continue to be very important, and I see this as an augmentation, not a replacement. The bottom line is that the county extension structure, in my view, will continue to stay in place, but people's functions are gradually changing some, and technology is enabling us to communicate more regularly and more broadly than we did in the past..." Peter McPherson, president of the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (NASULGC), on the success of the eXtension web site (InsideHigherEd.com, June 9)
Marginalia
Power Plants Exhibit Includes Biomass Feedstock
A living exhibit featuring existing and potential bioenergy crops, called Power Plants, opened June 21 at the U.S. National Arboretum in Washington, D.C. The 21 plants on display include field crops, palms, trees, flowering annuals and algae. Interpretive materials provide information about how each plant can be used for biofuel production. This one-acre exhibit is the first of its kind in a U.S. botanical garden. The National Arboretum is operated by the Agricultural Research Service, a scientific research agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Power Plants was unveiled during the second annual Bioenergy Awareness Days, which included several exhibits at the arboretum.
Ag and Life Sciences Online
Editor
Ed Adcock, edadcock@iastate.edu
Phone: (515) 294-5616
Website
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