COLLEGE NEWS
- Melvin named head of ABE
- Outstanding seniors
- Students in Service: In Appalachia
- Deadlines & Reminders
COMMUNICATIONS KIOSK
- How people communicate
INFOGRAZING
- Accent on teaching
- Job growth for Ph.D.s
EXTERNAL VOICES
- 'We do not even know what we are losing'
MARGINALIA
- Mower power
C O L L E G E N E W S
MELVIN NAMED HEAD OF ABE
Stewart Melvin has been named head of the Department of Agricultural
and Biosystems Engineering. He has served as interim head since
January 1994. Melvin, an ISU faculty member since 1970, has been
active in leading Extension and research programs in soil, water
and waste management. He begins as department head on July 1.
OUTSTANDING SENIORS
About 304 College of Agriculture seniors will receive bachelor's
degrees at commencement on Saturday. Last spring, 300 earned undergraduate
degrees. The total for the university this spring is about 2,180.
At Saturday's college convocation, the Ag Council will present
five Outstanding Senior Awards. The awards recognize seniors who
have been active in their curriculum clubs and within the college.
The recipients: Amy Church, dairy science/ag journalism; Curt
Diemer, ag business/public service and administration; Darren
Obrecht, ag business; Dak Rasmussen, microbiology; and Linda Sieren,
horticulture.
STUDENTS IN SERVICE: IN APPALACHIA
During semester break, some members of ISU's Farm House fraternity
traveled to Williamsburg, KY, to participate in an assistance
project for Appalachian families. Students assembled food baskets,
helped with community programs and unloaded truckloads of toys
and clothing at a charitable center. Also during semester break,
Farm House members worked on a Habitat for Humanity project, which
helps low-income families build houses.
DEADLINES & REMINDERS
MAY 13 -- College of Agriculture convocation, C.Y. Stephens
MAY - VISION 2020's 50/50 Conference, 220 Scheman (contact
294-2092)
C O M M U N I C A T I O N S K I O S K
HOW PEOPLE COMMUNICATE
Actions speak louder than words, especially in verbal communication.
North Dakota State University sociologist Patty Corwin says 55
percent of how people communicate is body language. Thirty-eight
percent is tone of voice. Only 7 percent is the words we speak.
Corwin spoke May 5 at an Agricultural Communicators in Education
meeting in Fargo.
I N F O G R A Z I N G
ACCENT ON TEACHING
A third of ISU's 720 teaching assistants are international students
(ITAs). Some win teaching awards. Some bring valuable international
perspectives to social science classes. And some have trouble
communicating with their students. In a 1993 ISU survey, 60 percent
of students who reported taking courses with ITAs said they had
difficulty communicating with an ITA. Only about 25 percent of
those students talked to anyone who could help correct the problem.
ITAs must pass a language testing and teaching program. The pass
rate this year is 52 percent. (A complete story on ITAs and their
students can be found in the March 10 issue of Inside Iowa State.)
JOB GROWTH FOR PH.D.s
Only about a third of new doctoral recipients will work in universities,
according to a report issued in April. Meanwhile, there is job
growth for Ph.D. recipients in business and industry, in applied
research and in non-research positions. The report recommends
curricular changes to prepare graduate students for positions
outside the academy. It is available for $34 from the National
Academy Press, 2101 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington DC 20418.
(Chronicle of Higher Education, April 28)
E X T E R N A L V O I C E S
'WE DO NOT EVEN KNOW WHAT WE ARE LOSING'
"Over the next century we will have to produce more food,
fiber, fuelwood and other agricultural commodities from less land
and with less water. If we are to build a world without hunger,
we will have to conserve and sustain biodiversity and use it equitably.
(Genetic erosion) arises from the loss -- due to commercial and
anthropogenic pressures -- of habitats rich in genetic wealth
. . . We do not even know what we are losing. Only about 1.5 million
species of plants and animals have been described so far. Biosystematists,
however, estimate that over 50 million species may exist . . .
The loss of every single gene and species limits our options for
the future." M.S. Swaminathan, joint winner of the UN's Sasakawa
Environment Prize for 1994 and the 1987 World Food Prize laureate,
in February's Our Planet, a UN magazine.
M A R G I N A L I A
MOWER POWER
In a span of 28 hours last month, students in the Agricultural
Systems Technology Club serviced 95 lawnmowers. Lawnmower Service
Days, the club's annual fundraising and service project, has been
held for 17 years. Students apply what they've learned in AST
258, a course on small power equipment.