COLLEGE NEWS
- More than 400 graduates recognized; senior honors given
- Creating a sustainable food system: Forum on May 16
- Student computer fees at work, Part 1
- Student computer fees at work, Part 2
- Proposals due for help on distance education materials
- More than 100 students studying abroad this summer
- The Engaged College: Ties to community colleges
- The Engaged College: The plant doctors are in
- The Engaged College: New approaches to learning
- Deadlines & Reminders
COMMUNICATIONS KIOSK
- Bug protection: what’s love got to do with it?
INFOGRAZING
- Find out more on American prairies on the Web
INTERNAL VOICES
- I am looking forward to seeing the world
EXTERNAL VOICES
- Students of biotech no longer isolated from society
MARGINALIA
- Hail and farewell: the next step after graduation
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C O L L E G E N E W S
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MORE THAN 400 GRADUATES RECOGNIZED; SENIOR HONORS GIVEN
About 420 spring and summer semester graduates were recognized at the College of Agriculture’s convocation on May 6. The Ag Council honored the following seniors with awards at the event: Jenny Butler, animal science, for academic achievement; Erik Heggen, agricultural business, for distinguished service; Justin Chestnut, agricultural systems technology, for leadership excellence; and Jon Schmidt, animal science, as outstanding senior. (See items in "Internal Voices" and "Marginalia.")
CREATING A SUSTAINABLE FOOD SYSTEM: FORUM ON MAY 16
Food issues -- including hunger, exporting, production and farmers selling to local consumers -- will be on the menu when a Connecticut food expert visits campus Tuesday, May 16. Mark Winne, executive director of the Hartford Food System, a nonprofit agency that works on food and hunger issues in Hartford, Conn., will lead a forum on creating a sustainable food system from 1 to 2:30 p.m. in the Memorial Union Gold Room. Winne's appearance is sponsored by the Leopold Center; Practical Farmers of Iowa; the departments of sociology, food science and human nutrition, and hotel, restaurant, and institution management; ISU Extension; the Iowa Food Policy Council; and the Iowa Network for Community Agriculture. Following the forum, Iowa-grown refreshments will be served. For more information: Leopold Center, 4-3711.
STUDENT COMPUTER FEES AT WORK, PART 1
Significant improvements will be made to student computer labs in Davidson and Kildee halls. The College of Agriculture’s Computation Advisory Committee had recommended the upgrade to the Provost, who approved the funds. The departments of agricultural and biosystems engineering and animal science will receive $37,518 and $55,548, respectively, from central student computer fees. Both of the labs are open to all ISU students.
STUDENT COMPUTER FEES AT WORK, PART 2
Three departments will receive student-computer-fee funds to upgrade computers. The college’s Technology Advancement Committee recommended the projects and Associate Dean Hoiberg approved them. Agricultural Education and Studies will receive $11,332 to upgrade computers at the Ag 450 Farm. The computers will be used with GPS and GIS systems and software. Horticulture was awarded $5,749 to purchase a ceiling-mounted projector for its student computer lab. Microbiology will receive $8,068 to begin a pilot project using a wireless network and portable computers.
PROPOSALS DUE FOR HELP ON DISTANCE EDUCATION MATERIALS
Proposals are due May 18 for this summer’s Instructor Assistance Program. The program, coordinated by the Brenton Center, helps agriculture faculty prepare or modify instructional materials for use in distance education. Work will begin May 24 on projects chosen to receive funding. Student workers will begin scanning slides, developing Web pages and WebCT courses, and providing expertise in PhotoShop and PowerPoint. For more information: Gaylan Scofield, ggs@iastate.edu.
MORE THAN 100 STUDENTS STUDYING ABROAD THIS SUMMER
This summer more than 100 students will be traveling on College of Agriculture study-abroad programs. They’ll be involved in travel courses and internships in countries that include Argentina, Mexico, China, England, Ireland, Spain, Costa Rica, Panama, Germany, Greece, Ghana, Australia and Thailand.
THE ENGAGED COLLEGE: TIES TO COMMUNITY COLLEGES
(--The following items are part of a series of examples of engagement activities in the College of Agriculture.--) Several departments in the College of Agriculture have established two-way partnerships with Iowa’s community colleges. Staff members at both institutions work together to recruit students into agriculture, advise them on transferring to ISU's College of Agriculture and prepare printed materials that identify courses students need to take at the community colleges and at ISU to ultimately graduate with a bachelor of science degree. They also articulate courses that will transfer from the community colleges as equivalent ISU courses. Transfer students benefit from having accurate and timely information about degree programs and options. For more information: Ron Deiter, 4-5771, or rdeiter@iastate.edu.
THE ENGAGED COLLEGE: THE PLANT DOCTORS ARE IN
Plant disease questions and problems around the state create the need to network. The Plant Disease Clinic helps bridge community concerns and university research and expertise. The clinic’s clients include farmers, homeowners, extension personnel, industry representatives and others. A recent impetus for engagement was bean pod mottle virus, a soybean disease that is increasing in incidence and is raising concerns among producers. Plant pathologists and entomologists will work to provide more information about the disease. For more information: Paula Flynn, 4-0581 or pflynn@iastate.edu.
THE ENGAGED COLLEGE: NEW APPROACHES TO LEARNING
Agriculture instructors have learned how to approach teaching differently and engage students in a student-centered approach to learning. Faculty members from forestry and educational leadership and policy studies received a USDA Higher Education Challenge Grant to conduct introductory and advanced Project LEARN programs with ISU and Alabama A&M agriculture instructors. Participants discover that engaging students requires face-to-face interaction, individual accountability, interactive skills and group discussions on what’s working in the class, what’s not and how to fix the problem. They learn that knowledge is constructed, not given; contextual, not absolute; and mutable, not fixed. For more information: Steve Jungst, 4- 1587 or sejungst@iastate.edu.
DEADLINES & REMINDERS
June 8-10: ISU Alumni Days
June 10: College of Agriculture Alumni Society golf tournament, 4-3303.
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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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BUG PROTECTION: WHAT’S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT?
Here are some lessons from the recent "love bug" computer problem, says Tom Hillson, head of the college's computer support office. Be wary of e-mail attachments, even if you know the sender -- there’s no guarantee the file is bug-free. Never open an unsolicited or strangely titled e-mail -- it could activate viruses sent as attachments. Be skeptical of attachments that are programs ( like ".exe" or other binary files). Don’t open an attachment by double clicking it -- that can bypass safety features built into Word and other applications. To open an attachment, launch the application and open the file within the program. Back up your files on a regular basis. Update your virus software's virus definitions and make sure it scans for viruses weekly or every other week. Many virus-scanning programs allow you to update at night or other off-hours and then run a check. When in doubt, leave the message closed and ask someone if there are any new viruses out that create a message with the subject of your message. One final thing: don’t be surprised if a flood of new viruses modeled after the "love bug" appears.
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I N F O G R A Z I N G
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FIND OUT MORE ON AMERICAN PRAIRIES ON THE WEB
The U.S. Geological Survey has a Web site devoted to information from research on the prairies of the Great Plains. It includes checklists of birds, moths, butterflies and caterpillars for almost every state, plus parts of Mexico and Canada. You can search by state, species or keyword. When you click on your state, a map and clickable list of the state's national wildlife refuges appear with a list of species for each refuge. The site is located at: http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/resource.htm
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I N T E R N A L V O I C E S
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I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING THE WORLD
Some parting comments written by graduating seniors in the college and read at the convocation on May 6:
"After graduation, I will focus on enjoying life like I have the last four years."
"I hope to work for a public garden or greenhouse, but now I am just ecstatic to be graduating."
"I am graduating within four years with no complications."
"I will be playing football for the St. Louis Rams. When I’m done with football, I will attend vet school." (This last comment was written by Bill Marsau, who was vice president of the ISU Pre-Vet Club and a member of the Cyclone football team.)
"I will be teaching agriculture next year, thanks to the blessing of two supportive parents."
"I am looking forward to seeing the world."
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E X T E R N A L V O I C E S
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STUDENTS OF BIOTECH NO LONGER ISOLATED FROM SOCIETY
"Those of us who went into molecular biology [in the ‘60s] sort of took a vow of poverty and of separation from the real world. We never imagined that molecular biology, in our life times, was going to revolutionize medicine as it has, revolutionize industry as it has . . . So, for students today, it's a very different mind set . . . They still have to be prepared to work extremely hard, to learn a tremendous amount. But those students, who can put off gratification a little and who have a very strong work ethic, can prepare themselves for the most exciting life possible. And it will be a life that will not only allow them to grapple with very exciting intellectual issues, but with issues that will run them right into society in any way that they want." Nobel laureate David Baltimore, writing in "Biotech 2030: Eight Visions of the Future."
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M A R G I N A L I A
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HAIL AND FAREWELL: THE NEXT STEP AFTER GRADUATION
Here are some career (and other) plans of agriculture seniors. They were read during the college’s convocation for spring and summer graduating seniors:
- virologist, Fort Dodge Animal Health
- sales representative, Hormel Foods
- sales representative, Monsanto
- grain merchandiser, Bunge Corporation
- ag and commercial loan officer, American Trust & Savings Bank
- bank examiner, Iowa Division of Banking
- financial analyst, DTNAg1.com
- elevator manager trainee, Cargill
- crop consultant, Crop Production Services
- work for Garst Seed Co.
- logistics analyst, Deere & Co.
- cattle buyer, Excel
- forester, White Sands Forest Products
- urban forester, Leed’s Nursery
- will work for U.S. Forestry Service, Colorado
- associate manager, Earl May Nursery and Garden Center
- environmental specialist, Iowa Department of Natural Resources
- park ranger, Saylorville Lake
- assistant groundskeeper and assistant manager of gift shop and membership, Iowa Arboretum
- athletic field manager, Washington University
- will work at Augusta National Golf Club
- will enter ISU College of Veterinary Medicine
- microbiology quality assurance manager, Farmland Foods
- will enter University of Iowa Medical School
- will enter Drake University Law School
- will enter graduate school, Harvard University
- lab technician in vaccine production, Schering-Plough
- molecular biologist, Hy-Line International
- beef production specialist, Land O’Lakes
- will specialize in acupuncture and chiropractic manipulation in rehabilitation of horses
- ultrasound image interpreter, ISU Centralized Ultrasound Processing Lab
- associate, Morgan & Myers Public Relations and Advertising
- will work for Holstein World Magazine
- breeding programs specialist, Genex Cooperative
- ag education/youth development specialist, ISU Extension
- will apply to veterinary school in Japan
- has formed partnership with a brother to farm grandfather’s farm
- ag education instructor, Southeast Warren Community School
- business analyst, E-Markets
- will work in chemical and seed sales, plus farm with the family, raise Angus cattle and auctioneer on the side
- management assistant in production, Pioneer Hi-Bred International
- ag technology specialist, Midwest Independent Soil Samplers
- will work in precision agriculture for Ag Leader Technology
- estimator, Morton Buildings Inc.
- will begin ISU Master’s of Agronomy distance education program
- research associate, ExSeed Genetics
- park attendant, Hancock County Conservation Board
- will work at raptor rehabilitation clinic in New Jersey
- will study fish pathology in graduate school, University of Idaho
- instructor for summer safari program, Blank Park Zoo
- zookeeper, Pueblo Zoo
- soil, water and wildlife conservationist, Heartland Pork Enterprises
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AG ONLINE
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NEXT ISSUE: May 26 DEADLINE: May 24
EDITORS
Brian Meyer, bmeyer@iastate.edu, and Ed Adcock, edadcock@iastate.edu
Phone: (515) 294-5616 Web site: http://www.ag.iastate.edu/aginfo/
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