COLLEGE NEWS
- Remember the ag convocation Aug. 27
- Freshman/transfer student barbecue Aug. 27
- Fall field days set around state
- Vans will bring you to swine hoops field day
- Ag Business Club named best chapter in nation
- Register by Sept. 4 for Spanish course
- Contracts the topic of fall policy conference
- Deadlines & Reminders
COMMUNICATIONS KIOSK
- Limit Web searches: quote, unquote
INFOGRAZING
- Number of living ISU ag alumni
- Enrollment at community colleges
EXTERNAL VOICES
- Rural revival may continue
MARGINALIA
- Conservation in the backyard
...................................................
C O L L E G E N E W S
...................................................
REMEMBER THE AG CONVOCATION AUG. 27
The fall-semester convocation for College of Agriculture faculty and staff will be held Thursday, Aug. 27, in the Sun Room, Memorial Union. There will be refreshments at 3:30 p.m., the convocation at 4 p.m. and a reception at 5 p.m.
FRESHMAN/TRANSFER STUDENT BARBECUE AUG. 27
The freshman and transfer student barbecue will be held Thursday, Aug. 27, 5-7 p.m., in the Agronomy Courtyard. The barbecue is free to all new freshman and transfer students in the College of Agriculture. For all other students and faculty/staff, cost is $3. Faculty are encouraged to attend and welcome new students. For more information: Sandy Honsey, 268-3272.
FALL FIELD DAYS SET AROUND STATE
Fall field days on ISU Research and Demonstration Farms and private farms begin next week. Four field days on precision agriculture kick off the fall season next week, Aug. 24-27. For more information, check online. Programs for the remaining Research and Demonstration Farm field days have been set; see the website. They include a Sept. 17 event to rename of the Southwest Swine Farm in honor of Lauren Christian. Agronomy Day will be Sept. 10 at the Agronomy and Agricultural Engineering Research Center near Ames. And a manure application field day will be held west of Ames on Aug. 28; for more information: 4-9806.
VANS WILL BRING YOU TO SWINE HOOPS FIELD DAY
Vans will take interested faculty and staff to the Swine Hoop Systems Field Day at the Rhodes Research and Demonstration Farm, 1-3 p.m., Sept. 1. The Leopold Center field day will review results of comparisons between swine hoop buildings and a confinement finishing facility. The vans will leave at 11:30 a.m. from Center Drive, just south of Stephens Auditorium. To reserve a space, call 4-3711 or leocenter@iastate.edu.
AG BUSINESS CLUB NAMED BEST CHAPTER IN NATION
ISU's Agricultural Business Club was recognized as the outstanding chapter in the nation for 1998 on Aug. 4 in Salt Lake City at the annual meeting of the American Agricultural Economics Association. The club, advised by Ron Deiter, also won the award in 1992 and 1995. Also, three of the six newly elected officers for the Student Section of AAEA were ISU students.
REGISTER BY SEPT. 4 FOR SPANISH COURSE
Registration deadline is Sept. 4 for the fall-semester short courses in beginning or intermediate Spanish. The eight-week course, which also will be offered next spring, is designed for faculty and staff participating in international travel or research. The course begins Sept. 15. Cost is $50 plus materials. Register by contacting Madeleine Henry, 4-4046.
CONTRACTS THE TOPIC OF FALL POLICY CONFERENCE
How are agricultural contracts affecting how farmers and agribusiness do business? That's the main question to be addressed Sept. 4 at "Agricultural Contracts -- Freedom or Restraint?," the 1998 fall policy conference sponsored by CARD and ISU Extension. The conference also will mark CARD's 40th anniversary. To register, call Deb Schmidt, 4-5961.
DEADLINES & REMINDERS
Aug. 13-23: Iowa State Fair.
Aug. 27: College of Agriculture Convocation, Sun Room, 4 p.m.
Aug. 31: Deadline, Experiment Station competitive grants proposals (1890 and 1994 institutions), 4-9376.
Sept. 2: Foreign travel grant applications due, 138 Curtiss.
Sept. 3: Deadline, Leopold Center grant preproposals, 4-3711.
Sept. 4: "Agricultural Contracts: Freedom or Restraint?", Fall Agricultural Policy Conference, Scheman Bldg., 4-6257.
Sept. 4: Deadline, registration for faculty/staff Spanish short course, 4-4046.
Sept. 4-5: Ag Alumni Weekend.
.......................................................................
C O M M U N I C A T I O N S K I O S K
.......................................................................
LIMIT WEB SEARCHES: QUOTE, UNQUOTE
Doing an Internet search with some of the common Web search engines can result in thousands of pages to sift through, especially when using several words for the search term. That's because the search engine finds all the pages with any of those words. Putting quotation marks around a search phrase will yield only the pages that include that specific phrase and should reduce the number of pages you have to scan.
...................................................
I N F O G R A Z I N G
...................................................
NUMBER OF LIVING ISU AG ALUMNI
ISU has approximately 30,000 living undergraduate and graduate agriculture alumni in the United States. About 14,500 live in Iowa.
ENROLLMENT AT COMMUNITY COLLEGES
Each year, 44 percent of the nation's undergraduates and 46 percent of first-time freshmen attend community colleges, according to the American Association of Community Colleges. (The Lawlor Review, Spring 1998)
...................................................
E X T E R N A L V O I C E S
...................................................
RURAL REVIVAL MAY CONTINUE
Between 1990 and 1996, the population of U.S. rural counties grew by nearly 3 million, or 5.9 percent. By July 1996, about 20 percent of the U.S. population lived in areas classified as "non-metropolitan." "Some trends suggest that the rural revival may continue for a long time. The aging of the affluent baby boom generation suggests that there will be a plentiful supply of retirees well into the future. And the revolution in communications, the improvement of transportation and the evolution of the organization of work are all unlikely to be reversed." (Kenneth M. Johnson and Calvin L. Beale, writing in the Wilson Quarterly, Spring 98.)
...................................................
M A R G I N A L I A
...................................................
CONSERVATION IN THE BACKYARD
Conservation practices can be useful in the backyard as well as the back 40. A free booklet, "Backyard Conservation," outlines 10 simple conservation practices for homeowners. The practices include terracing, tree planting, composting, mulching, wildlife habitat, wetlands, ponds, water conservation, nutrient management and pest management. Another goal of the booklet, produced by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, the National Association of Conservation Districts and the Wildlife Habitat Council, is to let non-farm audiences know about farmers’ conservation efforts. It can be ordered by calling toll-free, 888-LANDCARE.