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COLLEGE NEWS
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OPEN FORUM WITH PRESIDENT AND PROVOST ON DEC. 17
President Gregory Geoffrey and Provost Ben Allen will visit the College of Agriculture from 1 to 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 17. Faculty and staff are encouraged to participate in an open forum at 4:10 p.m. in 1951 Food Science Building. College students, faculty and administration are scheduled to meet with the president and provost and a tour of the Seed Science Center is planned.
COLLEGE RECEIVES 42 SPONSORED FUNDING AWARDS IN NOVEMBER
Federal funding sources made up more than half of the nearly $1.9 million awarded to college researchers in November. Twelve awards from the USDA, National Science Foundation and Department of Energy contributed a little more than $1 million to the total. Commodity groups accounted for $295,553 of the awards total. Companies awarded 19 grants for $258,183. University grants totaled $218,995 and the State of Iowa awarded one grant worth $81,000. The list of awards is online.
DEAN'S COMMUNITY VISITS CONTINUE
Catherine Woteki, dean of the ISU College of Agriculture, will be in southeast Iowa Wednesday for another in a series of community visits she's conducted since she joined the college nearly a year ago. In Ottumwa, she will meet with representatives of Indian Hills Community College and host a luncheon with area agriculture and business leaders. The day also will include a tour of the Cargill complex at Eddyville and a visit with company officials at World Food Park and FTE Genetics in Oskaloosa. Jeff Iles, chair of the horticulture department, also will participate in the day's activities. In January, Dean Woteki will visit Fort Madison, Keokuk and Waterloo.
COLLEGE EXCEEDS UNITED WAY GOAL
The College of Agriculture surpassed its United Way goal, winning the campaign's Gold Award as the largest contributor at the university. College faculty and staff donated $47,270 -- 19 percent of the Iowa State dollars pledged. The college's goal was $45,400. In all, Iowa State surpassed its goal of $241,500 with pledges of $250,578. Wendy Wintersteen and Carla Persaud coordinated the campaign for the college. The Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering received $450 for its scholarship account as an incentive from the dean's office to return 100 percent of its pledge packets.
CHINA FOCUS OF SPRING SEMESTER WORKSHOPS
"Understanding China," a professional development workshop series for faculty and graduate students, will provide a better understanding of the challenges China faces in transforming its agricultural sector and rural economy and what these changes might mean for U.S. agriculture. The five workshops will be held from 3:30 to 5 p.m. in Rooms 150/154 Scheman. The first will be held Jan. 22 with an overview of agriculture and rural development in China. Other sessions are: Feb. 19, China's food systems in transition; March 13, China's changing farming systems; April 23, assessing the sustainability of Chinese agriculture; and April 28, strategies for successful collaboration with Chinese agricultural and social scientists. For more information: Bob Jolly, 4-6267 or rjolly@iastate.edu, or Shen Difei at dfshen@iastate.edu. Support comes from the Council on International Programs and the College of Agriculture.
TWO COLLEGE RESEARCHERS AWARDED BIOTECH FUNDS
The Office of Biotechnology has awarded $825,000 in start-up funds to help nine new faculty members establish research programs. Each of the faculty recipients will receive up to $100,000 to spend over the next three years. The College of Agriculture recipients are Carolyn Komar and Chad Stahl, both in animal science. More details: http://www.biotech.iastate.edu/publications/news_releases/Dec_03_2002.h…
HORTICULTURE STUDENTS DONATE APPLES TO SHELTERS
Last week a horticulture learning community prepared apples for donation to two Des Moines homeless shelters and Youth and Shelter Services in Ames. About 1,000 pounds of apples will be given away. The service-learning project is part of a 110 course and was organized by Gail Nonnecke and Barb Osborn in the horticulture department.
EDUCATIONAL MEETINGS HELD FOR DEER MEAT PROCESSORS
About 180,000 deer hunters roam Iowa's timber and fields each fall. But concern about a disease found in deer and elk in a growing number of states has raised the caution flag for this year's hunt. Chronic wasting disease attacks the brains of infected deer and elk, causing the animals to become emaciated, display abnormal behavior and die. Because of the disease, Iowa State conducted informational sessions this fall for meat processors. Learn more in "Agriculture in Action."
ISU PLANT SCIENTIST RECEIVES NSF AWARD
Adam Bogdanove, an assistant professor of plant pathology and a researcher in the Plant Sciences Institute at Iowa State University, has received a Young Investigator Award in Plant Genome Research from the National Science Foundation (NSF).
REPORT SAYS NATION'S NUTRITION MONITORING SYSTEM IN JEOPARDY
Lack of funding is jeopardizing the federal government's system of monitoring the status of Americans' nutrition, according to a new report. For more than 70 years, the system has provided essential information about Americans' nutritional status, food intake and health factors, said Catherine Woteki, dean of agriculture and a professor of food science and human nutrition. Woteki chaired the American Society for Nutritional Sciences task force that wrote the report.
UPDATED STUDY GUIDE FOR MANURE APPLICATOR PROGRAM
Commercial manure applicators and confinement site applicators who want to become certified to apply manure in Iowa can access study guide materials that will help them prepare to take the certification exam. Learn more: http://www.extension.iastate.edu/newsrel/2002/dec02/dec0204.html
DEADLINES AND REMINDERS
Dec. 11-13: Horticulture Club's annual poinsettia sale, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Curtiss and Beardshear halls
Dec. 14: Christmas tree and firewood sale, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Reiman Gardens
Dec. 15: Christmas tree and firewood sale, noon to 6 p.m., Reiman Gardens
Dec. 17: President and provost visit the college, 1 to 5 p.m.
Dec. 21: College convocation for graduates, 9:30 a.m., C.Y. Stephens Auditorium
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COMMUNICATIONS KIOSK
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JOURNAL PAPER ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS UPDATED
As of July 1, journal-paper numbers are no longer needed on submitted papers, but acknowledgements should be included. The following is a sample of a statement for research funded through the Iowa Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station. "This journal paper of the Iowa Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station, Ames, Iowa, Project No. _________, was supported by Hatch Act and State of Iowa funds." If you have questions about special-request funding for journal papers, contact Barb McManus, 4-0707 or go online to obtain a special-request form under "Forms for PIs."
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INFOGRAZING
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DISTANCE TEACHING-LEARNING CONFERENCE INVITES PROPOSALS
Proposals are sought for the 19th Annual Conference on Distance Teaching and Learning. Deadline for proposals is Jan. 31. The conference will be held Aug. 13-15, 2003, in Madison, Wis., and is sponsored by the University of Wisconsin. For more information: http://www.uwex.edu/disted/conference/
CSREES LISTENING SESSION TRANSCRIPT ON THE WEB
A transcript of the Oct. 8 USDA-CSREES listening session held in Kansas City is available online as an Acrobat PDF. ISU Extension staff members were among those providing testimony. The session gathered stakeholder input on strengths and gaps in CSREES programs, including Hatch and Smith-Lever formula programs; Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP); Children, Youth, and Families at Risk Program (CYFAR); family economics programs; and the National Research Initiative (NRI) Nutrition Program.
CSREES GRANT APPLICATION DEADLINES APPROACHING
Several CSREES deadlines for grant applications are coming up:
- National Research Initiative (NRI) Grants Program, deadline varies by program from now through Jan. 15.
- Secondary and Two-Year Postsecondary Agriculture Education Challenge Grants Program, Jan. 15.
- Higher Education Multicultural Scholars Grants Program, Jan. 24.
- Outreach and Assistance for Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers Competitive Grants Program, Jan. 31.
- Higher Education Challenge Grants Program, Feb. 5.
- Children, Youth, And Families At Risk Programs, Renewal Of CYFERNET Projects, Feb. 14.
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MARGINALIA
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SOYBEAN OIL PRODUCT COULD PREVENT FRYING
SoyScreen is a soybean oil-based sunscreen recently developed by USDA researchers, reports the department's Agricultural Research Service. To offer protection from the sun, soy oil had to be chemically connected to ferulic acid, which absorbs ultraviolet light. SoyScreen provided the best protection against two kinds of sunlight radiation that can cause long-term exposure problems, when tested against four commercial sunscreens. Researchers hope such a product would help use some of the estimated 800 million pounds of surplus oil produced each year. More at: http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/dec02/tan1202.htm
Next issue: Dec. 16 Deadline: Dec. 13
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AG ONLINE
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EDITORS
Ed Adcock, edadcock@iastate.edu, and Brian Meyer, bmeyer@iastate.edu Phone: (515) 294-5616 Web site: http://www.ag.iastate.edu/aginfo/
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