AG ONLINE
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The College of Agriculture Faculty/Staff Newsletter
Iowa State University
March 16, 2001 No. 166
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C O N T E N T S
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COLLEGE NEWS
- IFAFS grantsmanship workshop set March 26
- College’s spring enrollment at 3,219
- New reports highlight impacts of college programs
- Food Science Club to host college bowl March 31
- April 2 deadline to submit events for ISU alumni calendar
- Ag council gears up for world association conference
- Presentations on the Web from CARD, Iowa Grain meetings
- Deadlines & Reminders
COMMUNICATIONS KIOSK
- Three hard-and-fast rules on hyphens
INFOGRAZING
- Foot-and-mouth disease info for American travelers
- Access limited to rural areas of United Kingdom
EXTERNAL VOICES
- A beekeeping anthropologist learns about society
MARGINALIA
- New heights for animal science snowboarder
- New heights for ag business alumnus Lyle Campbell
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C O L L E G E N E W S
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IFAFS GRANTSMANSHIP WORKSHOP SET MARCH 26
"Preparing Winning USDA Initiative for Future Agriculture and Food Systems (IFAFS) Grants," a grantsmanship workshop, will be held March 26, 1:10 to 3:45 p.m., the Gallery, Memorial Union. The Office of the Vice Provost for Research and Advanced Studies and the Iowa Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station are co-sponsoring the workshop. Moderators will be Prem Paul, associate vice provost for research, and Wendy Wintersteen, senior associate dean of agriculture. Participants will hear from successful grant-writing faculty and an IFAFS reviewer. To register, call 4-6344 or e-mail lnschult@iastate.edu.
COLLEGE’S SPRING ENROLLMENT AT 3,219
The College of Agriculture enrolled 3,219 students this spring, a decrease of 95 from spring 2000’s total of 3,314. The college’s spring-semester enrollment includes 2,600 undergraduates -- 107 fewer than last spring. Graduate enrollment is 619, up 12 students from a year ago. Campus-wide, ISU had its highest spring enrollment in history -- 25,088 students. Last fall’s ISU enrollment of 26,845 also was the highest in history.
NEW REPORTS HIGHLIGHT IMPACTS OF COLLEGE PROGRAMS
Two recent reports highlight the ways College of Agriculture programs benefit people in Iowa and beyond. The "Impacts for Iowans" report shows how teaching, research and outreach programs of the college and ISU Extension make a difference in peoples’ lives. The project is coordinated by USDA to help in its advocacy efforts with Congress. The Council for Agricultural Research, Extension and Teaching (CARET) report includes data on employment in agriculture and the food industry for Iowa and each of its congressional districts. To see the reports on the Web, go to: http://www.ag.iastate.edu/news/impact.html and http://www.ag.iastate.edu/news/CARET01.pdf.
FOOD SCIENCE CLUB TO HOST COLLEGE BOWL MARCH 31
ISU’s Food Science Club will host the North Central Regional Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) College Bowl on March 31. Students from ISU, Kansas State University, Colorado State University, University of Nebraska, North Dakota State University, University of Minnesota and University of Missouri will compete. Winners will go on to the national competition June 23-27 in New Orleans. Participants also will tour the Center for Crops Utilization Research and the Center for Designing Foods to Improve Nutrition. Charles Hurburgh, agricultural and biosystems engineering, will speak to the group about GMO grains.
APRIL 2 DEADLINE TO SUBMIT EVENTS FOR ISU ALUMNI CALENDAR
The deadline is April 2 to submit events for the 2001-02 ISU Alumni Association’s Calendar of Events. The calendar will be available in July. Due to space limitations, not all events will be included. Inclusive dates are Aug. 1, 2001, through Aug. 31, 2002. Submit an event to Karen Knight, 4-6525 or karen.knight@alumni.iastate.edu.
AG COUNCIL GEARS UP FOR WORLD ASSOCIATION CONFERENCE
About 100 students from 20 American and Canadian universities are expected to attend the World Association of Agricultural Councils Conference at ISU, March 28-31. The event is hosted by ISU’s Agriculture Student Council. The program will include a roundtable discussion on agriculture, tours of ISU facilities and Iowa farms and agricultural businesses, and workshops on financial planning and other topics. Conference co-chairs are Amber Hill, agricultural business, and Carrie Slater, dairy science.
PRESENTATIONS ON THE WEB FROM CARD, IOWA GRAIN MEETINGS
The presentations of several speakers from two recent meetings are available on the Web. For speakers at CARD’s 2001 Agriculture Forum, check out http://www.agforum.org/presentations/home.html. For speakers at the Iowa Grain Quality Initiative’s biotech grain preplant meeting, see http://www.extension.iastate.edu/Pages/grain/gmo/conf/mar08/pres.html
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DEADLINES & REMINDERS
March 23: Deadline, letters of intent, USDA’s IFAFS grant program
March 23: Deadline, Teaching-Extension Grant Writers’ Program (agriculture and education colleges) nominations, 4-2517.
March 26: USDA IFAFS workshop, Gallery, Memorial Union, 1:10 p.m.
March 26: Deadline, Leopold Center conference/workshop proposals, 4-3711.
April 19: Science in Agriculture Day, ISU.
April 23: Deadline, proposals, USDA’s IFAFS grant program
May 10-13: Post-transcriptional Control of Gene Expression in Plants, Plant Sciences Institute Symposium, http://molebio.iastate.edu/~gfst/phomepg.html
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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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THREE HARD-AND-FAST RULES ON HYPHENS
Here are three hard-and-fast rules to help you avoid missing the mark when using hyphens. 1. Avoid hyphens after "-ly" adverbs ("fairly close contest"). 2. Insert hyphens to avoid awkward doubled vowels ("anti-intellectual," "shell-like"). 3. Use hyphens to avoid ambiguity (strong coffee drinkers or strong-coffee drinkers; late evening delivery or late-evening delivery). (Copy Editor, February-March)
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I N F O G R A Z I N G
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FOOT-AND-MOUTH DISEASE INFO FOR AMERICAN TRAVELERS
In response to the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in Europe, Americans need to take extra care when traveling abroad. According to USDA-APHIS, all international travelers must state on their customs declaration form whether or not they have been on a farm or in contact with livestock and if they are bringing any meat or dairy products back with them. APHIS officials will inspect baggage of travelers who indicate they have been on a farm or in contact with livestock. Soiled footwear must be disinfected with detergent and bleach. If travelers are around livestock in the U.K. and they have livestock at home in the United States, they should avoid contact with their animals for five days after returning. Also, soiled clothing must be washed and disinfected prior to returning to the United States. For more information:
Foot-and-Mouth Disease Prevention for Travelers:
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/oa/fmd/travinfo.html
USDA APHIS Foot-and-Mouth Disease website:
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/oa/fmd/index.html
ACCESS LIMITED TO RURAL AREAS OF UNITED KINGDOM
According to the U.S. State Department, people can spread foot-and-mouth disease if they come into contact with infected animals or areas. The virus can ride along on articles of clothing and footwear. In order to prevent further spread of the disease, access to rural areas in the United Kingdom has been restricted. Roads near farms where the disease has been detected are closed. Many footpaths, rural tourist sites, parks and zoos have been closed. To minimize inconvenience, travelers should consult their travel agent or tour operator before traveling to the U.K. For updates on travel and access restrictions, consult the U.K. Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food website: http://www.maff.gov.uk.
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E X T E R N A L V O I C E S
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A BEEKEEPING ANTHROPOLOGIST LEARNS ABOUT SOCIETY
"Not too long ago I got a call from the entomology department. Someone had delivered a package there instead of anthropology. That happens. I try to understand the ways of people, not bugs. But bugs have taught me a lot about modern societies like our own. I used to keep bees . . . I checked on my bees more than I needed to because I just liked to see what they were up to in there . . . So while I’m not an entomologist, my bugs illustrated all the basic principles of modern societies: Provide the basics and bugs and people will work for you; keep them confused and disorganized and you can make off with the product of their work; blow smoke at them and they’ll be docile. And the females do the work." E. Paul Durrenberger, professor of anthropology at Penn State, in an essay written for the May 2000 issue of Research/Penn State magazine.
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M A R G I N A L I A
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NEW HEIGHTS FOR ANIMAL SCIENCE SNOWBOARDER
Instead of searching for fun in the sun over spring break, an ISU senior in animal science is preparing to go to a place with more snow than Iowa -- well, at least a place with more untracked powder. Carisa Ralph will compete in the U.S. Amateur Snowboard Association National Competition, March 18-25, at Mammoth Mountain, Calif. To qualify, Ralph placed first or second in three regional snowboarding competitions.
NEW HEIGHTS FOR AG BUSINESS ALUMNUS LYLE CAMPBELL
On March 3, ISU’s Ag Business Club honored Lyle Campbell with the Outstanding Agricultural Business Alumni of the Year Award. Campbell, who earned his ISU degree in 1966, is president and chairman of Founders Group Inc., Worth, Ill., which includes 12 banks in two states. If the ISU recognition didn't put him on cloud nine, his current endeavor gets him pretty close. Campbell heads a team that is competing in the London to Sydney Air Race, March 11 to April 7. He is piloting his World War II-vintage HU-16A Albatross. You can track of his progress on the Web: http://www.campbellairrace.com/.
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AG ONLINE
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NEXT ISSUE: March 30 DEADLINE: March 28
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