Issue: 220

................................................... COLLEGE NEWS ................................................... SPONSORED FUNDS TOP $4.6 MILLION IN SEPTEMBER In September College of Agriculture faculty received 53 sponsored funding awards totaling $4,628,243. Twenty-eight awards ($3,879,132) came from federal agencies. Eighteen of those ($2,406,955) were awarded by the USDA. Three awards ($217,106) came from state agencies; nine ($77,045) from businesses; four awards ($11,584) from foundations; six ($450,118) from commodity groups; and three ($83,258) from other universities and colleges. A list of awards by principal investigator can be found online. ALUMNI ASSOCIATION PRESENTS HONORS AND AWARDS On Friday, Oct. 11, the ISU Alumni Association held its all-university awards ceremony, honoring distinguished alumni, faculty and staff. Awards to College of Agriculture alumni or faculty/staff included: - Forestry alumnus Judson Isebrands and statistics alumnae Donna Brogan received Distinguished Achievement Citations, the highest alumni honors - Ronald Holden, retired CEO of Holdens Foundation Seeds Inc., received the College of Agricultures Floyd Andre Award, for outstanding contribution to production agriculture, agricultural business or whos had a significant influence on Iowa agriculture - Burton Endo, retired USDA researcher, received the College of Agricultures Henry A. Wallace Award, for outstanding contribution to national or international agriculture in agricultural writing, teaching, research or leadership - Richard Robson, biochemistry, biophysics and molecular biology/animal science, received ISU Faculty Citation - Jacquelyne Alleman, agronomy, and Marshall Ruble, animal science, received ISU Superior Service Awards - Animal science alumnus Marvin Walter, Dayton Road Development Corp., Ames, received the Alumni Merit Award For a complete list of awards, see http://www.isualum.org/services/awards/recipients.html PRESIDENT AND PROVOST TO VISIT COLLEGE IN DECEMBER President Geoffroy and Provost Allen will visit the College of Agriculture on Tuesday, Dec. 17, from 1 to 5 p.m. Put the date on your calendars. More details will be available later, including a time for a forum with faculty and staff. DEAN WOTEKI TO LEAD ART WALK ON OCT. 30 Learn more about art on campus with Dean Cathie Woteki on an art walk at Agronomy Hall on Oct. 30. The walk is part of the University Museums Wednesday Walks with the Deans. The monthly walks give college administrators the chance to talk about art displayed in buildings where their faculty, staff and students work and study. The walks also celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Arts in State Buildings program, which requires half of one percent of building budgets to be used for public art. The walk will include stops at the Janus Agri Altar in the Agronomy Courtyard and two murals inside the building. The tour begins at noon in the courtyard. DEAN WOTEKI ON FOOD SAFETY RISK ASSESSMENT PANEL Dean Woteki will be part of a panel discussion on risk assessment and food safety at an Oct. 15 symposium to be held during the annual meeting of the Food Safety Consortium in Manhattan, Kansas. Other panelists will be Anna Lammerding of Health Canada; Jenny Scott, National Food Processors Association; Lisa Lefferts, Consumers Union; and Doug Powell, University of Guelph. The Food Safety Consortium is made up of researchers at ISU, the University of Arkansas and Kansas State University. AGRICULTURE CAREER DAY PLANNED FOR OCT. 22 About 125 employers are expected to attend Agriculture Career Day on Tuesday, Oct. 22. The event will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the Great Hall and Campanile Room of the Memorial Union. Ag Career Day is the largest event of its kind in the country. More than 1,300 students, alumni and others interested in agricultural careers attend. A list of employers planning to attend can be found on the Web, https://www.career.cals.iastate.edu/cals-career-day. The event also is the unofficial kickoff for several weeks of campus internship and job interviews scheduled by employers. Ag Career Day is organized by the College of Agriculture and the Ag Business Club. AGRICULTURE WEEK IS NEXT WEEK, STUDENTS PLAN ACTIVITIES Next week, Oct. 21-25, is Agriculture Week on campus. Student activities scheduled include: Monday: prize patrol for wearing college or ag club T-shirts; muffins for faculty and staff in Curtiss Hall rotunda, 7:30 to 9 a.m.; and barbecue in front of Curtiss Hall steps, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. During the barbecue, there will be an Ag Week kickoff, a ground-roping jackpot, electronic bull and bobbing for apples. Tuesday: Ag Career Day, Memorial Union, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.; volleyball tournament in Lied Rec Center, 7 p.m. Wednesday: barbecue in Agronomy Courtyard, 5 to 7 p.m.; costume dance at The Zone, 8 p.m. Thursday: chili cook-off, Farm Bureau Pavilion, 5 p.m.; hayride, bonfire and pumpkin carving at the Dairy Farm, 7 p.m.; scavenger hunt, Curtiss Hall steps, 10 p.m. LEADER IN PLANT SIGNAL TRANSDUCTION TO SPEAK OCT. 31 This years Distinguished Lecturer in Plant Stress Responses will be Jen Sheen of the Department of Molecular Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital. The seminar, Functional Genomic Analysis of Plant MAPK Signaling Cascades, will be held at 4:10 p.m., Oct. 31, 1414 Molecular Biology. Sheen is widely recognized as a leader in plant signal transduction research. Her work has focused on the discovery and characterization of the cellular signaling pathways that take place in response to sugar, hormones and biotic and abiotic environmental stresses. The seminar is hosted by the Plant Sciences Institutes Center for Plant Responses to Environmental Stresses. For more information: Diane Bassham, 4-7461. AG COMM WORKSHOP: CASE STUDIES FOR TECHNICAL COURSES Using case studies and scenarios in technical courses is the topic of the Ag Comm Workshop on Tuesday, Oct. 15, from noon to 1:30 p.m., 8 Curtiss. A light lunch will be available. RSVP to Cheryl Abrams, 4-5872 or cabrams@iastate.edu. BULBS AND APPLES ON SALE BY HORTICULTURE CLUB The Horticulture Club will be selling spring bulbs (daffodil, tulip, crocus and hyacinth) from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 16 through Friday, Oct. 18, in Curtiss and Beardshear halls. Also, the club will be selling apples from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Oct. 26 and 27, at the Horticulture Farm east of Gilbert. Apple varieties will include Jonathan, Golden Delicious, Liberty and Chieftain. CENTER FOR INTEGRATED ANIMAL GENOMICS TO BEGIN WORK A new Center for Integrated Animal Genomics will work to identify, map and understand the function and control of genes to improve both animal and human health. Max Rothschild, animal science, and Susan Carpenter, veterinary microbiology and preventive medicine, will be the centers co-directors. It will be administered by the College of Agriculture with input from the colleges of veterinary medicine and liberal arts and sciences. THINK TANK TO REVIEW NEW CENTERS ACTIVITIES OCT. 28 Activities of the new Center for Integrated Animal Genomics will be discussed at the Oct. 28 Think Tank on Animal Agriculture meeting. Max Rothschild, animal science, and Susan Carpenter, veterinary microbiology and preventive medicine, will make the presentation. The discussion begins at 7 p.m. with a social time set at 6 p.m. and dinner at 6:30 p.m. in the Cardinal Room, Memorial Union. RSVP by Oct. 25 to Julie Roberts, jrober@iastate.edu. Cost of the buffet dinner is $12, payable at the door. MINORITY STUDENTS IN THE COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE This fall, minority students make up 3 percent of the colleges undergraduate enrollment. Campus-wide, 7.6 percent of undergraduates are minority students. Minorities make up about 3.75 percent of graduate students in the college, compared with 5.6 percent for the university. A year ago, about 2.8 percent of agriculture undergraduates and 4.8 percent of agriculture graduate students were minorities. The Board of Regents, State of Iowa, has set a goal of 8.5 percent for minority student representation. AG MARKETING CENTER LAUNCHES VALUE-ADDED WEBSITE The Agricultural Marketing Resource Center, a three-state university effort to enhance value-added agriculture, has launched a new website, http://www.AgMRC.org. The site contains contacts and directories, new business development and commodity-specific information designed to help value-added agricultural enterprises. The AgMRC is funded through a USDA grant to ISU, Kansas State University and the University of California. THE VIDALIA ONION STORY: LESSONS FOR IOWA PRODUCERS? A new report from ISUs Midwest Agribusiness Trade Research and Information Center (MATRIC) traces the history of Vidalia onions from a single producer to a trademarked product, in hopes of discovering lessons suitable for Iowa crop growers. Details in "Agriculture in Action." NSF GRANT FUNDS $4.2 MILLION FOR COTTON GENOMICS Jonathan Wendel, botany, has received a five-year, $4.2 million grant from the National Science Foundation to study the comparative evolutionary genomics of cotton. Wendel will work with researchers at the University of Georgia and the University of Arizona. CORN BORER CORNBREAD? MUST BE INSECT HORROR FILM TIME Get ready for tasty insect cuisine at the Insect Horror Film Festival on Nov. 1 beginning at 6 p.m. in the Sun Room, Memorial Union. All ages are invited to taste crispy critters or visit the insect petting zoo. The event also includes a butterfly tent, honeybee and other insect displays and a free viewing of "A Bug's Life." For more information: 4-7400. ISU PLACES FOURTH IN ANNUAL MEAT JUDGING CONTEST The 25th annual Iowa State Intercollegiate Meat Judging Contest was held Saturday at the Meat Lab with 64 contestants from 11 universities. ISUs team placed fourth overall, with Colorado State first. The top individual places included: Jon Jacobs, sophomore, second in beef grading; Ann Leed, junior, second in pork judging and fourth in beef judging; Kim Widmayer, senior, second in beef judging; and Tara Wellman, junior, third in lamb judging. Matt Gardner, graduate student in animal science, coaches the ISU team. AGEDS GRADUATE STUDENT TO BE HONORED BY YWCA Mona Othman, a graduate student in agricultural education and studies, is the recipient of the Student Woman of Achievement Award from the Ames-ISU YWCA. Othman will be honored at an Oct. 23 luncheon for her volunteer work with the Campfire girls, as a regular speaker in an agricultural education leadership in agriculture class and for her research on women and learning in Egypt. IOWA ASAE EVENT RAISES FUNDS FOR SCHOLARSHIPS In September, more than 170 people -- including 80 ISU students -- attended the Iowa Section of American Society of Agricultural Engineers 18th annual steak fry for scholarships in Sheffield. The event raised funds for four Iowa Section of ASAE scholarships, as well as funds for ISU student activities. The group toured Sukup Manufacturing in Sheffield before the dinner. Speaking to the group were national ASAE President Lyle Stephens, national Executive Vice President Melissa Moore and Dean Cathie Woteki. DEADLINES AND REMINDERS Oct. 15: Food Safety Consortium Symposium, 8 a.m. to noon, Kansas State University, http://www.uark.edu/depts/fsc/index.html Oct. 15: Ag Comm, using case studies and scenarios in technical courses, noon to 1:30 p.m., 8 Curtiss, 4-5872 Oct. 15: Norman Borlaug, "Feeding a World of Ten Billion People: Our 21st Century Challenge," inaugural Borlaug Lecture, 8 p.m., Sun Room, Memorial Union Oct. 21-25: ISU Agriculture Week Oct. 21: Professional development seminar on digital television, Bill Hayes, Iowa Public Television, 12:10 to 1 p.m., 8 Curtiss, 4-1862 Oct. 22: Ag Career Day, Memorial Union Oct. 23: Strengthening Linkages between Researchers, Extensionists and Farmers: An example from western Kenya, Cheryl Palm, visiting scholar at University of California at Berkeley, 3 p.m., Pioneer Room, Memorial Union Oct. 24: World Food Prize Laureate Ceremony, 7:30 p.m., C.Y. Stephens Auditorium Oct. 24-25: World Food Prize International Symposium, "From the Middle East to the Middle West: Managing Freshwater Shortages and Regional Water Security," Des Moines Oct. 26: Four Iowans Who Fed the World, symposium, noon, Herbert Hoover Library, West Branch, (319) 643-5301 Nov. 18: Deadline, college and university award submissions Nov. 20: Competitive grants funding session, Mark Bailey, national program leader, USDA CSREES economic and community systems, 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., 179 Scheman, 4-8493 ................................................... INFOGRAZING ................................................... ARTICLE ON RADICAL ENVIRONMENTALISTS TACTICS Last week, John Wott of the University of Washington at Seattle and director of the Washington Park Arboretum spoke on campus about the destruction of his research laboratory last year by ecoterrorists. During his presentation, he distributed copies of a Sept. 25 Christian Science Monitor story on the radical environmental movement. A PDF of the article is available by e-mailing Brian Meyer, bmeyer@iastate.edu. An opinion piece on ecoterrorism also was printed Oct. 7 in the Monitor: http://www.csmonitor.com/2002/1007/p09s02-coop.html NATIONAL WORKSHOP ON NANO-SCIENCE FOR FOOD AND AG A National Planning Workshop on Nanoscale Science and Engineering for Agriculture and Food Systems will be held Nov. 18-19 in Washington, DC. Workshop themes include bioselective surfaces, molecular motors, nanobioprocessing, biochips, bioNEMS, biosensors, drug delivery, composite biopolymers and nucleic acid bioengineering. The workshop is sponsored by USDA CSREES and Cornell University. NEW FEATURES IN CSREES HEC PROGRAM THIS YEAR USDA CSREES has $5.28 million available for the Higher Education Challenge Grants Program. Application deadline is Feb. 5. New this year: proposals on improvements at the master's degree level in multidisciplinary studies will be accepted in addition to those focused on undergraduate teaching improvements. EPA SEEKS WATERSHED CLASSIFICATION PROPOSALS The EPAs National Center for Environmental Research is seeking proposals for grants to develop regional watershed classification systems for diagnosis of biological impairment in watersheds. Proposals are due Jan. 29. ................................................... EXTERNAL VOICES ................................................... STIGLER ON A MOTHERS VIEW OF ACADEMIA I recall my mother asking me in 1946 what I was, and I replied proudly that I was a professor. A decade later she repeated her question and I repeated my answer. 'No promotion?' was her comment. George Stigler, (1911-1991), who won the 1982 Nobel Prize for economics and who taught economics at Iowa State from 1936 to 1938. ................................................... MARGINALIA ................................................... TALK ABOUT YOUR PERFECT DATE MOVIE Each day, in a small Indio, Calif., movie theater, moviegoers watch a short flick called "The Romance and Sex Life of the Date." (Date, as in fruit.) A date producer came up with the movie in the 1950s, according to the Associated Press. It runs continuously from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily and is free. "We still have people that ask us if they can take the children in," said Juanita Ottman, who works the counter at the theater. The plot is simple. Date trees come in male and female versions. Bees are drawn to the male's elaborate flowers, but avoid the female's. So workers cut off the male flowers, dry them and extract the pollen. The pollen is then applied to female flowers. Next issue: Oct. 21 Deadline: Oct. 18 ........................................................ AG ONLINE ........................................................ EDITORS Ed Adcock, edadcock@iastate.edu, and Brian Meyer, bmeyer@iastate.edu Phone: (515) 294-5616 Web site: http://www.ag.iastate.edu/aginfo/ SUBSCRIBE Ag Online, the newsletter for faculty and staff in Iowa State University's College of Agriculture, is e-mailed every Monday. To subscribe, send your name, e-mail address and the message "Ag Online subscribe" to edadcock@iastate.edu. To unsubscribe, send "Ag Online unsubscribe." Iowa State University does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, age, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, sex, marital status, disability or status as a U.S. Vietnam Era Veteran. Any persons having inquiries concerning this may contact the Director of Affirmative Action, 1031 Wallace Road Office Building, Room 101, (515) 294-7612.