COLLEGE NEWS
- Faculty-staff workshop Feb. 28
- Odor lawsuit appeal
- New Ag Council officers
COMMUNICATIONS KIOSK
- Pocketful of ISU facts
INFOGRAZING
- Plant Health Clinic '94
- Agriculture, aerospace, copyrights
EXTERNAL VOICES
- Tomorrow's jobs . . .
- . . . Jobs tomorrow?
MARGINALIA
- Licking a problem
- Whistleblower
C O L L E G E N E W S
FACULTY-STAFF WORKSHOP FEB. 28
More details on the upcoming College of Agriculture professional
development workshop: Faculty and staff are encouraged to attend
"Human Resources: Enhancing the Professional Work Environment
in the College of Agriculture," Tuesday, Feb. 28, Scheman
Building, 5:00-8:30 p.m. with a light supper at 6:30. The workshop
focuses on sexual harassment and diversity issues. Participation
will satisfy the university requirement that all faculty and staff
receive training in these areas. Note: Managers and supervisors
are welcome, but they'll also be required to attend a special
workshop on these issues. Reservation forms (return deadline,
Feb. 17) have been sent to departments. Questions? Contact Robert
Martin, 294-0896.
ODOR LAWSUIT APPEAL
Last week the Iowa Court of Appeals rejected four Boone County
residents' appeal of a 1993 district court decision involving
ISU. The district court had ordered ISU to pay the residents $5,000
each for damages resulting from odors from the Swine Nutrition
and Management Center. The residents appealed, seeking the more
than $1 million in damages they had asked for in their original
lawsuit.
NEW AG COUNCIL OFFICERS
College of Agriculture Student Council officers serving this semester
and the next are Colby Entriken, horticulture, president; Ryan
Bailey, agronomy, vice president; Deanne Dennison, ag education,
treasurer; and Brian Eipers, ag engineering, secretary.
C O M M U N I C A T I O N S K I O S K
POCKETFUL OF ISU FACTS
Need quick, concise information about ISU for visiting groups
or as a personal reference? "How It Works, 1994-95"
is a pocket-size brochure of current facts and figures, important
phone numbers, undergrad academic costs and more. Copies are available
by calling ISU's News Service, 294-4777, with the quantity you
need and how they will be used.
I N F O G R A Z I N G
PLANT DISEASE CLINIC '94
In 1994, the Plant Disease Clinic in the Department of Plant Pathology
received 2,843 plant samples and 1,055 phone inquiries. The clinic
diagnoses plant problems and suggests management strategies for
homeowners, commercial growers and Extension personnel. Trees
accounted for 49 percent of the samples. The clinic also received
553 soil samples for soybean cyst nematode (SCN) testing. Four
counties were added to the list of those known to have SCN infestations;
the total is now 64. Specialists in several departments routinely
contribute to diagnoses of problems submitted to the clinic.
AGRICULTURE, AEROSPACE, COPYRIGHTS
U.S. copyright industries have foreign sales of $36 billion annually
-- a figure exceeded only by the agricultural and aerospace industries.
Copyright industries account for nearly 6 percent of the nation's
GNP and are creating new jobs at three times the national average,
says the International Intellectual Property Alliance. (Wall Street
Journal, Jan. 25)
E X T E R N A L V O I C E S
TOMORROW'S JOBS . . .
Reengineering (radical redesign of a company's processes, organization
and culture to dramatically improve performance) squeezes out
work that's nonvalue-adding, say "Reengineering the Corporation"
authors Michael Hammer and James Champy. "If you can't do
real work, I'd get real nervous . . . A successful career will
. . . be about mastery," says Hammer. They add that the few
remaining managerial jobs will be the process planner, who figures
out how; the coach, who teaches and helps people improve; and
the leader, who creates an environment where people get work done.
(Wall Street Journal, Jan. 24)
. . . JOBS TOMORROW?
Skill requirements of the emerging workplace
are more general than specific, crossing traditional disciplinary
lines and leaning much more towards flexibility and resiliency
than to the rigid norms of the traditional "job," says
William Bridges, author of "JobShift." He says the job
is poorly adapted to the needs of a fast-moving, information-based
economy and has outlived its usefulness. Many organizations are
moving toward being "dejobbed" -- meaning job definitions
go out the window and workers' tasks and responsibilities evolve
as projects evolve. (Fortune, Sept. 19, 1994)
M A R G I N A L I A
LICKING A PROBLEM
Canada spreads 4 million tons of salt a year on snowy roads, creating
a big salt lick for moose and, in turn, a moose hazard for drivers.
To keep moose off roads, researchers tested repellents redolent
of wolf urine or rotten eggs. But moose got used to the odors.
Digging drainage ditches to divert salty water reduced accidents,
but is costly and time-consuming. Bumper whistles claiming to
alert moose of approaching vehicles are popular, but "after
people finished picking the moose hair out of their car grill,
they realized they didn't work very well." (Wall Street Journal)
GAME OVER, MAN
Now there's a software program that literally blows the whistle
when it senses an employee playing a computer game on company
time. GameCop can be programmed to recognize more than 100 games.
(Information Week, Jan. 30)