COLLEGE NEWS
- To do on Saturday: Center dedication, alumni honors
- Reminder on upcoming dean candidate forums
- Student events scheduled for Ag Week, Nov. 1-5
- Fall session of Iowa foresters hosted by ISU
- Cheer on the ISU women’s basketball team Dec. 4
- Ag Career Day coming up on Nov. 9
- Students can learn more about meat careers Nov. 8
- Employers tell ag students what they’re looking for
- Grants for research at minority institutions
- Grad research assistantships for minority students
- Summer mentors needed for minority students
- Request Brenton Center rooms for spring classes
- Ag Council will host 2001 conference
- Summer sausage and cheese sale in Kildee
- ISU students serve as state FFA officers
- Deadlines & Reminders
COMMUNICATIONS KIOSK
- Recommendations on quotations
INFOGRAZING
- Ag Appropriations: President Clinton signs bill
- Ag Appropriations: Integrated activities a new focus
- Ag Appropriations: ISU Special Research Grants
- Y2K and agriculture topic of satellite conference
INTERNAL VOICES
- Hurricane won’t budget New York mosquitoes
EXTERNAL VOICES
- Watching the pigs at the Armstrong Farm
MARGINALIA
- This scarecrow was so scary that . . .
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C O L L E G E N E W S
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TO DO ON SATURDAY: CENTER DEDICATION, ALUMNI HONORS
This Saturday, Oct. 30, the National Swine Research and Information Center will be dedicated at 9:30 a.m., preceded by building tours and breakfast at 8:30 a.m. Speakers will include U.S. Rep. Leonard Boswell, Regents President Owen Newlin, President Jischke and Dean Topel. Also on Saturday, the ISU Agriculture Alumni Society will recognize Duane Acker, Reg Clause, David Hettinga and Harold Hodson Jr. for their achievements in agriculture and agribusiness. The ceremony will begin at 10:30 a.m. in the Ag Alumni tent in the southwest corner of the parking lot across from South Fourth Street, and west of Jack Trice Stadium.
REMINDER ON UPCOMING DEAN CANDIDATE FORUMS
Dates for upcoming open forums for the five remaining dean of agriculture candidates are: Nov. 2, Gary Minish; Nov. 11, Colin Scanes; Nov. 15, Joseph Jwu-shan Jen; Nov. 30, Cornelia Butler Flora; and Dec. 7, Alan Bennett. All forums begin at 3 p.m. in 1204 Kildee Hall. Each candidate will follow the forum with an ICN presentation for extension field staff, except for Minish, who will give his ICN program a day earlier, Nov. 1. The college’s Office of Budget and Finance, 133 Curtiss, will be closed during the candidate forums.
STUDENT EVENTS SCHEDULED DURING AG WEEK, NOV. 1-5
Students are planning several events for ISU Ag Week, Nov. 1-5. Ongoing activities during all five days include an equipment display near the Memorial Union; a ribbon drive to support Iowa farm families in 23 Curtiss; and a display in the Curtiss Hall rotunda. Events by day are:
- Nov. 1, wear college or club shirt and win prizes from prize patrol; costume dance at The Zone, 8 p.m.
- Nov. 2, ASAE barbecue in front of Davidson Hall, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.; people-pulling-tractor pull (student teams pulling tractors), location to be announced, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.; mock interviews in Agronomy Hall, 6:30 to 10 p.m.; volleyball tournament in Lied Rec Center, 7 p.m.
- Nov. 3, hayride at Dairy Farm, 7:30 p.m.; scavenger hunt beginning on steps of Curtiss Hall, 10 p.m.
- Nov. 4, chili cook-off at Kildee Pavilion, 5 p.m.; Ag Week awards ceremony at Pavilion, 5:30 p.m.; Kinze Industry presentation in 1414 Molecular Biology, 6:30 p.m.
- Nov. 5, faculty coffee in Curtiss Hall rotunda, 7:30 a.m.
FALL SESSION OF IOWA FORESTERS HOSTED BY ISU
The forestry department hosted the annual fall technical session of the Iowa Society of American Foresters on Oct. 21. The meeting, attended by 65 people, focused on expected changes in the profession and likely changes in forest management and wood-fiber utilization. Keynote speaker William Libby, professor emeritus of forestry and genetics, University of California at Berkeley, said woody crops one day will be the renewable energy resource of choice. ISU forestry faculty spoke on current research on riparian buffer strips and on wood/soybean fiber products, and held field demonstrations on plant materials for buffer strips and on cottonwood breeding.
CHEER ON THE ISU WOMEN’S BASKETBALL TEAM ON DEC. 4
College faculty, staff, students and alumni are invited to a special event in conjunction with the ISU women's basketball game with Western Illinois University on Dec. 4. A spirit rally is planned at 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. (game time) at the Stage Door room in the Scheman Building. There will be light refreshments and presentations by student clubs. Free game tickets are being offered to students. Tickets priced at $1 are available to alumni, faculty and staff. Everyone must register to receive the free or reduced price tickets, 500 of which are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Alumni, faculty and staff are asked to pay for tickets at the time of registration in 20 Curtiss. Checks can be made payable to the Agriculture Alumni Society. Tickets will be distributed at the rally. For more information and registration: Sandi Kellen, 4-7677.
AG CAREER DAY COMING UP ON NOV. 9
Agriculture Career Day will be held Tuesday, Nov. 9, in the Memorial Union. Representatives from 145 employers are expected to participate, including 25 first-year participants. Ag Career Day also is the unofficial opening day for on-campus interviews for internships and full-time positions. After last year's event, more than 800 interviews were conducted before the semester's end. A similar number is expected this year.
STUDENTS CAN LEARN MORE ABOUT MEAT CAREERS NOV. 8
Students can learn more about careers in meats and foods industries at "Meat Your Future," Monday, Nov. 8, 1204 Kildee, 5 to 7 p.m. Employers will talk about job opportunities and answer questions. The first 50 students to register can sample meat products from Excel, Hormel, IBP and Swift. Call 663-8757 or e-mail tpaplow@iastate.edu, or contact Ag Career Services, 4-4725. The event is sponsored by the Block & Bridle Club and Ag Career Services.
BIOTECH CAREER DAY ATTRACTS 350 STUDENTS
More than 350 undergraduate and graduate students attended the Biotechnology Career Day on Oct. 20. Twelve companies, plus ISU Career Services, Iowa Department of Economic Development and the Office of Biotechnology, participated. It was co-sponsored by the Office of Biotechnology and the Iowa Biotechnology Association. Plans are underway to make the biotech career day an annual event.
EMPLOYERS TELL AG STUDENTS WHAT THEY’RE LOOKING FOR
A good attitude, a willingness to be flexible and a diverse background of experiences -- those are characteristics that employers look for when hiring recent college graduates, according to representatives from four companies who spoke at an ag career forum on Tuesday. More than 40 students attended the panel discussion sponsored by the Collegiate Farm Bureau. The companies represented were Monsanto, E-Markets, Mercantile Bank and Firstar Bank.
GRANTS FOR RESEARCH AT MINORITY INSTITUTIONS
The Experiment Station sponsors a competitive grants program to strengthen research linkages between ISU faculty and their counterparts at historically black land-grant colleges and Tuskegee University, tribal colleges and Hispanic-serving land-grant institutions. Grants up to $1,200 are available. Two-way exchanges are encouraged. Applications will be accepted through Feb. 1. The exchange must be completed by June 15. For more information: Mary de Baca, 4-8574, or check the web.
GRAD RESEARCH ASSISTANTSHIPS FOR MINORITY STUDENTS
The Experiment Station is providing quarter-time graduate research assistantships to newly recruited U. S.-born or permanent resident minorities. African-American, Hispanic, Native American and Asian-American candidates qualify. The assistantship must be matched by support from departmental or investigator funds. Four assistantships will be available for spring semester. For more information: Mary de Baca, 4-8574 or mmdb@iastate.edu.
SUMMER MENTORS NEEDED FOR MINORITY STUDENTS
Agriculture faculty are needed to serve as mentors to minority students during the summer of 2000. The Experiment Station provides half the funding for the undergraduate and high-school students. Faculty from the 1890 (historically black colleges) and 1994 (tribal colleges) land-grant institutions are interested to know what areas will provide mentors so they can advise students to apply for the experience at ISU. For more information: Mary de Baca, 4-8574 or mmdb@iastate.edu.
REQUEST BRENTON CENTER ROOMS FOR SPRING CLASSES
The Brenton Center is scheduling classes and events for the spring semester. Faculty should make their requests through their DEOs or the persons in their departments who handle scheduling. To qualify for priority scheduling, requests must be received by Nov. 12. Courses planned for ICN and/or videotape delivery have been scheduled. They include three courses in agricultural education and studies; two in animal science; and one each in agronomy, economics, entomology, horticulture, microbiology and statistics. For more information: Richard Carter, 4-6950 or ricarter@iastate.edu.
AG COUNCIL WILL HOST 2001 CONFERENCE
ISU’s Ag Student Council will host the Western Association of Ag Councils annual conference in the spring of 2001. The association is made up of members of student councils at colleges of agriculture. This fall students will form a central committee to plan the event.
SUMMER SAUSAGE AND CHEESE SALE IN KILDEE
Block & Bridle Club is conducting its annual summer sausage and cheese sale. Processing was completed this week. Order forms are available in 119 Kildee or by calling the animal science department, 4-2160. For more information: A.J. Lewis, ajlewis@iastate.edu.
ISU STUDENTS SERVE AS STATE FFA OFFICERS
At the Oct. 16 Iowa FFA Soils Judging Event, which involved 30 high-school teams and which ISU helps to coordinate, the state FFA officers handled registration and conducted the awards ceremony. Seven of the nine officers are ISU students: Nick McKenna, president (animal science); Ryan Foor, secretary (ag education); Debbie Kleitsch, reporter (journalism/mass communication); Hilary Johnson, Northeast vice president (animal ecology); Brad Hammes, Southeast vice president (agronomy); Amber Wiebbecke, North-central vice president (ag education); and Kari Zevenbergen, Northwest vice president (agriculture).
DEADLINES & REMINDERS
Oct. 30: Dedication, National Swine Research and Information Center, 9:30 a.m.
Oct. 30: Ag Alumni Society award ceremony, tent west of stadium, 10:30 a.m.
Nov. 1-5: ISU Agriculture Week
Nov. 3: Wither the Farm?, Gordon Bultena Lecture Series, featuring Iowa DNR’s Paul Johnson, Sun Room, Memorial Union, 8 p.m.
Nov. 5-6: BBMB Symposium, 4-6116
Nov. 8: "Meat Your Future" career event,
Nov. 9: Agriculture Career Day, Memorial Union
Nov. 10: File Format Fundamentals, Brenton Center professional development series, 8 Curtiss, noon
Nov. 15: Deadline, International Funding for Ag Graduate Students and Post-docs, 4-8493
Nov. 30: Wither the Farm?, Gordon Bultena Lecture Series, featuring the Rosmanns, family farmers, Sun Room, Memorial Union, 8 p.m.
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C O M M U N I C A T I O N S K I O S K
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RECOMMENDATIONS ON QUOTATIONS
When preparing a speech, looking up quotes related to your topic can spark ideas even if you don't use the quotation directly, says Richard Dowis, author of "The Lost Art of the Great Speech." Quotes are usually used for an opening, the most important and usually most difficult part of the speech to write. They also are helpful in reinforcing a point. When using quotations, be sure they fit your topic, that you credit the source and clearly identify what is the direct quote. Dowis recommends these collections of quotations: "The Home Book of Quotations" by Burton Stevenson; "The Oxford Dictionary of Modern Quotations" by Tony Augarde; "And I Quote" by Ashton Applewhite, William Evans and Andrew Frothingham; "The Ultimate Book of Business Quotations" by Stuart Crainer; and "The World's Greatest Speeches," a Windows CD-ROM by Softbit, Inc.
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I N F O G R A Z I N G
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AG APPROPRIATIONS: PRESIDENT CLINTON SIGNS BILL
On Oct. 22, President Clinton signed the FY2000 Agriculture Appropriations Bill. (The process, however, may not be over yet. The House has proposed a 1.4 percent across the board spending cut.) The $954 million bill is an increase of almost $31 million over FY99. Bill highlights include: research and extension formula funds and National Research Initiative funds are maintained at FY99 levels; more funding is available for programs at minority institutions.
AG APPROPRIATIONS BILL: INTEGRATED ACTIVITIES A NEW FOCUS
A key part of the FY 2000 Ag Appropriations Bill is a new competitive grants program called Integrated Activities, which emphasize projects that closely link research, education and extension. Almost $40 million is allocated to six programs, including water quality, food safety and pesticide impact assessment programs that previously were funded by extension formula funds. To be competitive for the funds, universities will need to build strong research/extension teams. The first RFP for Integrated Activities is expected to be published in January.
AG APPROPRIATIONS BILL: ISU SPECIAL RESEARCH GRANTS
Special grants for ISU and ISU-related research projects appear to be fully funded for FY2000. These include funds for the Food Safety Consortium, food irradiation research, Center for Designing Foods to Improve Nutrition, Midwest Ag Trade Research and Information Center, North Central Regional Center for Rural Development, Food and Agriculture Policy Research Institute, Rural Policy Research Institute, National Animal Disease Center, and research on ways to prevent methamphetamine production from ag fertilizers.
Y2K AND AGRICULTURE TOPIC OF SATELLITE CONFERENCE
Agriculture-related Y2K issues and potential problems will be addressed during a national satellite broadcast on Nov. 18. Vice Provost for Extension Stan Johnson will be one of the presenters. The workshop will originate from ISU. The targeted audience is farmers, agribusiness, small-business owners and farm families. Organizers are ISU Extension, South Dakota State University Extension, USDA, U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. Small Business Administration. For more information, check online.
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I N T E R N A L V O I C E S
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HURRICANE WON’T BUDGE NEW YORK MOSQUITOES
An excerpt from a commentary on encephalitis-carrying mosquitoes in New York City in the Sept. 27 issue of The New Yorker, written by editor David Remnick: "Some experts on the Rolodex opined that perhaps the gusts and sheets of rain [from Hurricane Floyd] would, at least, wash away the mosquitoes, but the voices of doom were louder, more convincing. Professor Wayne Rowley of Iowa State University told us that he had been ‘chasing mosquitoes around the world’ for 35 years, and if we thought the rain would do the trick we were sorely mistaken. ‘It may even enhance the problem,’ he said. ‘Mosquitoes are very resilient. They hide in microhabitats: storm sewers, buildings.’"
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E X T E R N A L V O I C E S
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WATCHING THE PIGS AT THE ARMSTRONG FARM
"I think we sometimes get so busy trying to make ends meet and get everything done that we forget about the people side. It’s pretty well-accepted that people who enjoy their work do a better job. [One] example: One of the Iowa State outlying research farms is the Armstrong Farm in southwest Iowa. A few years ago, they remodeled a hog house into a farrowing barn that uses straw, box pens and group lactation. One end has a room with large windows for visitors. The first time I went to their field day, I got started watching the sows and pigs, lost track of time and missed lunch. The second time I visited, I started watching the people as well. Almost everyone had smiles on their faces. They were enjoying themselves. It was a people-friendly environment." Vic Madsen, an Audubon farmer, who spoke at the Swine Systems Options Conference held earlier this year, organized by the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture.
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M A R G I N A L I A
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THIS SCARECROW WAS SO SCARY THAT . . .
At an Oct. 20 panel discussion on the golden age of television at the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, comedian Steve Allen said a lot of humor comes from the art of exaggeration, and he gave this example from Fred Allen: "This scarecrow was so scary that not only did it scare away the crows, but they also came back with corn they had stolen two years ago."