COLLEGE NEWS
- Arizona alumni event draws 500
- Seed Technology Conference next week
- Plagiarism topic of Feb. 20 Ag Comm workshop
- Heads’ up: Fund for Rural America RFP coming soon
- Iowa Grain Quality Initiative plans biotech grain meeting
- StarLink news a popular download on IGQI site
- McNabbs’ scholarship will help minority high school students
- New Gould award will help plant pathology students
- Water research internships available for undergrads
- Deadline March 1 for computer proposals
- Deadlines & Reminders
COMMUNICATIONS KIOSK
- Directory of Iowa newspapers and other media
INFOGRAZING
- A busy year for sick plants: Plant Disease Clinic 2000 wrap-up
- ISU to host CLOUT Conference for farmers
INTERNAL VOICES
- Children know their logos but not their plants
EXTERNAL VOICES
- Teach children in class and by example
- Make plans, none of them small
MARGINALIA
- For their grub, early humans grubbed for grubs
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C O L L E G E N E W S
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ARIZONA ALUMNI EVENT DRAWS 500
The third ISU alumni event in Arizona drew an estimated 500 alums the week of Feb. 5. The activities began with gatherings in Tucson and Phoenix to watch the ISU-Kansas basketball game on TV. About 100 College of Agriculture alumni attended events that included golf outings, receptions, lunches, brunches and a gathering prior to the Chicago Bulls-Phoenix Suns game Feb. 6. The college was represented by Dean Richard Ross, associate dean Eric Hoiberg, alumni relations director Mike Telford and development director Rich Bundy. The ISU Alumni Association and ISU's colleges sponsored the week. More than 3,000 ISU alums live in Arizona.
SEED TECHNOLOGY CONFERENCE NEXT WEEK
ISU faculty, staff and students are invited to attend the Seed Science Center's 23rd annual Seed Technology Conference, "Working with Biotech Seeds," on Tuesday, Feb. 20, Scheman Building. Although there is no registration cost for ISU attendees, you are asked to pre-register. And if you stay for lunch or want a proceedings, the cost is $11 for each. The conference also will include a GMO seed testing workshop on Feb. 19 and a business management workshop on Feb. 21. To register, call 4-5961. For program information: Dan Curry, 4-0117.
PLAGIARISM TOPIC OF FEB. 20 AG COMM WORKSHOP
"Plagiarism and Communication Activities" is the topic of the next Ag Comm workshop, Tuesday, Feb. 20, Room 8, Curtiss Hall, from noon to 1:15 p.m. If you plan to attend, RSVP to Norma Hensley, 4-6614 or nhensley@iastate.edu. For more information: Robert Martin, drmartin@iastate.edu, or Rebecca Burnett, burnett@iastate.edu.
HEADS UP: FUND FOR RURAL AMERICA RFP COMING SOON
Time to begin thinking of proposals for the next round of the USDA’s Fund for Rural America. The RFP for FY 2001 is scheduled for release in late February or early March. Approximately $12 million will be available. The major focus will be community vitality, with likely topic areas including e-commerce, demographic changes in rural America, the role of new immigrants in the workforce, youth retention and workforce development. For more information: Jerry Klonglan, 4-4763 or klonglan@iastate.edu.
IOWA GRAIN QUALITY INITIATIVE PLANS BIOTECH GRAIN MEETING
The Iowa Grain Quality Initiative is planning a "Biotech Grains Pre-planting Update" ICN conference March 8. The 7 p.m. meeting, which is free, will originate from the Brenton Center and will be broadcast to more than 20 ICN sites. For more information: Darren Jarboe, 4-3137 or jarboe@iastate.edu.
STARLINK NEWS A POPULAR DOWNLOAD ON IGQI SITE
Since last fall, news and issue papers on the StarLink corn situation have been downloaded more than 16,000 times from the Iowa Grain Quality Initiative’s Web site. From October through January, the "StarLink Situation" paper, written by ISU faculty and the assistant Iowa attorney general, was downloaded 13,624 times. During the same period, a paper on elevators’ options to address the problem was downloaded 529 times; a GMO guidelines paper, 536 times; an action checklist for farmers and elevators, 587 times; a GMO grain testing directory, 452 times; a paper on GMO grain testing, 328 times; and news updates, 397 times.
MCNABBS’ SCHOLARSHIP WILL HELP MINORITY HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS
Harold "Sande" and Margo McNabb will provide $3,500 a year for one student to participate in the College of Agriculture’s Summer Research Internship for Minority Students program. Sande is an emeritus University Professor who spent 47 years teaching and researching in the departments of forestry and plant pathology. The Sande and Margo McNabb Internship is for a high school intern with an interest in forestry or plant pathology. The internship is a six-week paid summer experience for minority high school and college students. They are matched with faculty mentors to conduct research in the students' area of interest. The McNabbs said an endowment will be created after their deaths to fund future internships.
NEW GOULD AWARD WILL HELP PLANT PATHOLOGY STUDENTS
In honor of her late husband, Dorothy Gould has established the Charles J. Gould Student Travel Award in the Department of Plant Pathology. The funds will support the participation of plant pathology graduate students at professional meetings. Charles Gould, who earned his Ph.D. at ISU in plant pathology in 1942, worked at Washington State University for 36 years. He died in 1997.
WATER RESEARCH INTERNSHIPS AVAILABLE FOR UNDERGRADS
The Iowa State Water Resources Research Institute is offering summer research internships for undergraduates. Internships are available at Iowa’s three regents’ universities and at state and federal agencies in Iowa. Application deadline is March 15. Interested students should contact Jill Smart, 4-8921 or smarty@iastate.edu.
DEADLINE MARCH 1 FOR COMPUTER PROPOSALS
A reminder that the deadline is March 1 for proposals to receive a share of $600,000 in ISU student computer fees. The call for proposals is online. For more information: Philip Spike, 4-6030 or plspike@iastate.edu.
DEADLINES & REMINDERS
Feb. 20: Seed Technology Conference, Scheman Building.
Feb. 20: "Plagiarism and Communication Activities," Ag Comm workshop, noon, 8 Curtiss.
Feb. 28: Deadline, World Food Prize nominations, http://www.worldfoodprize.org.
March 2: CARD’s 2001 Agricultural Forum, Scheman Building.
March 1: Proposal deadline, Computation Advisory Committee projects, 4-6614.
March 1-2: John Pesek Colloquium on Sustainable Agriculture, 3 p.m., March 1, Benton Auditorium, Scheman Building; 1:30 p.m., March 2, Hotel Winneshiek, Decorah.
March 5-7: "Agriculture and the Environment: State and Federal Water Initiatives," water quality conference, Scheman Building.
March 7: "Leaders of a Visionary Future for Iowa Summit," West Des Moines, 4-9107.
March 26: Deadline, Leopold Center conference/workshop proposals, 4-3711.
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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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DIRECTORY OF IOWA NEWSPAPERS AND OTHER MEDIA
A directory of links to Iowa news media can be found online. Listed are the Web sites of about 60 Iowa newspapers. Also listed are links to Iowa radio and TV stations and Iowa-based magazines.
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I N F O G R A Z I N G
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A BUSY YEAR FOR SICK PLANTS: PLANT DISEASE CLINIC 2000 WRAP-UP
Last year ISU’s Plant Disease Clinic received 1,567 plant samples for diagnosis and 1,454 soil samples for soybean cyst nematode (SCN) testing. Trees accounted for most of the plant samples received (54 percent), followed by field crops (21 percent). Plant samples came from 97 counties; 53 samples came from other states. Fifty-eight percent of the plant samples were submitted by homeowners and commercial growers; the rest came from extension staff. The clinic fielded 1,197 phone inquiries and received many e-mails asking questions or submitting digital images of disease problems. Last year, two more counties were added to the list of those known to be infested by SCN; further tests will confirm those results. By the end of 2000, the number of counties with no known SCN infestations had shrunk to seven. The clinic’s e-mail address is sickplant@iastate.edu.
ISU TO HOST CLOUT CONFERENCE FOR FARMERS
ISU will host a March 16-17 conference on how farmers can take advantage of bargaining groups to market their products. The CLOUT (Cooperation and Linking Offer Unbeatable Transactions) Conference will feature Ohio Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur, who sponsored a bill to protect farmers participating in bargaining groups. Sponsors include ISU Extension, Successful Farming magazine, National Farmers Organization, W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the Iowa Institute for Cooperatives.
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I N T E R N A L V O I C E S
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CHILDREN KNOW THEIR LOGOS BUT NOT THEIR PLANTS
In the February issue of Gourmet magazine, writer Trish Hall relates a visit she made to the North Dakota organic farm of Fred Kirschenmann, director of the Leopold Center. She wrote: "When Kirschenmann comes in for a quick lunch and heads back alone to the field, his wife [Carolyn Raffensperger] laments the deep ignorance in this country about farms and farming. ‘Children know a thousand logos, and fewer than ten plants,’ she says. While she is looking out at her garden, a butterfly goes by. I see a beautiful creature; she sees an integral part of successful agriculture. ‘I see a pollinator,’ she says."
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E X T E R N A L V O I C E S
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TEACH CHILDREN IN CLASS AND BY EXAMPLE
"America's future will be determined by the home and the school. The child becomes largely what it is taught; hence we must watch what we teach it, and how we live before it."
- Jane Addams, social worker, 1931 Nobel Peace Prize winner, 1860-1935
MAKE PLANS, NONE OF THEM SMALL
"Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men's blood . . . Make big plans; aim high in hope and work."
- Daniel Hudson Burnham, architect, 1846-1912
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M A R G I N A L I A
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FOR THEIR GRUB, EARLY HUMANS GRUBBED FOR GRUBS
Early humans dined on insects for nearly a million years, according to a study of bone tools used to dig out termite mounds. The research, conducted by South African and French scientists, is the first evidence of early humans being methodical insectivores. Pat Shipman, a Penn State anthropologist, said a chemical analysis of early hominid bones had pointed to a diet with a richer source of protein than the vegetable diet they were thought to have eaten. Besides being nutritious, paleontologist Lucinda Backwell said termites "taste like herbs and are quite a delicacy. In fact, they are delicious." (The Independent, London, Jan. 16)
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AG ONLINE
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NEXT ISSUE: March 2 DEADLINE: Feb. 28
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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Ag Online, the newsletter for faculty and staff in Iowa State University’s College of Agriculture, is e-mailed every other Friday. To subscribe, send your name, e-mail address and the message "Ag Online subscribe" to bmeyer@iastate.edu. To unsubscribe, send "Ag Online unsubscribe."
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