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COLLEGE NEWS
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COLLEGE CONVOCATION SET FOR NEXT WEEK
College of Agriculture faculty and staff are encouraged to attend the college convocation on Jan. 16 in the Sun Room, Memorial Union. College awards will be presented and recent retirees honored. A reception with refreshments will begin at 3:30 p.m., with the program at 4 p.m.
ANIMAL GENOMICS CENTER ANNOUNCES THREE NEW PROGRAMS
The Center for Integrated Animal Genomics (CIAG) has established three new programs to foster faculty development and collaborative research. The Genomics Scholar and Fellows Program will bring visiting scientists to Iowa State for two to six weeks to help develop and strengthen collaborative efforts of CIAG with off-campus scientists. The deadline for applications is Feb. 3. The CIAG Genomics Symposia and Workshops Program will support symposia and workshops during the 2003-04 academic year. Application deadline is Feb. 17. The CIAG Competitive Grants Program will promote innovative interdisciplinary research by providing seed money for research projects in animal, microbial and comparative genomics. Applications are due March 15. The CIAG is administered by the College of Agriculture with input from the colleges of veterinary medicine and liberal arts and sciences.
STUDENTS SERVE CAMPUS AND COMMUNITY
Students in the fall semester’s Agricultural Education and Studies 315 leadership class completed service projects on and off campus. One group tested the water quality of College Creek near Elwood Drive. The tests found little or no contamination of the water from nitrates and phosphates. Other students helped winterize Camp Hantesa Boys and Girls Club in Boone; cleared leaves and garbage from around Curtiss Hall; and conducted a food drive in the dorms for an Ames food pantry. The service projects help students learn how to use leadership and teamwork to start and sustain projects in partnership with the community, said Nancy Grudens-Schuck, who leads the class.
FRIEND OF ISU FUNDS SKUNK RIVER PROJECT
Harold Albers isn't a graduate of Iowa State University, but he has a soft spot in his heart for the institution. In 1994, Albers purchased a farm south of Ames through which the Skunk River flows. About 340 acres of the farm are tillable, but erosion along the riverbank was a growing threat to the cropland. An ISU team worked to design and install a buffer strip along a significant part of the river. Learn more in "Agriculture in Action."
AG CONCENTRATION CONFERENCE IN FEBRUARY
The Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture and ISU Extension will sponsor a Feb. 4 conference titled “Concentration in Agriculture: How much, how serious and why worry?” Speakers include Iowa State agricultural economist Neil Harl, Mary Henrickson of the University of Missouri, Doug Ross of the Department of Justice, Doug O’Brien of the U.S. Senate committee on agriculture and Richard Levins of the University of Minnesota. The daylong conference will be held in the Scheman Building.
AG STUDENTS PRACTICE COMMUNICATION SKILLS
Employers consistently rank communication skills in the top five qualities needed to succeed. To help prepare students for future careers, faculty in the College of Agriculture have been adding communication skill-building into their courses. The college's AgComm program began in 1990. A recent AgComm workshop highlighted the efforts of three faculty members. Details in "Agriculture in Action."
25TH SEED TECHNOLOGY CONFERENCE NEXT MONTH
Special-use corn production and pollen flow will be featured at the Seed Science Center’s 25th annual Seed Technology Conference, Feb. 17-19. Sessions will include liability issues involved with special-use corn, edible vaccines from corn, preventing transfer of transgenes, soybean rust, and soybean appearance and health issues. There will be workshops on seed-trait testing and sorting discolored seed.
FARMLAND TOPS $2,000 AN ACRE AVERAGE VALUE IN IOWA IN 2002
The average value of an acre of farmland in Iowa reached $2,083 in 2002, the second highest figure reported since Iowa State began conducting an annual survey of land values in 1941. While values increased by more than 25 percent in a few counties, 19 counties showed a decrease from 2001. The average increase over all 99 counties was 8.2 percent above the 2001 average value of $1,926. Details: http://www.extension.iastate.edu/newsrel/2002/dec02/dec0214.html
TEMPLE GRANDIN TO VISIT CAMPUS IN FEBRUARY
Temple Grandin, associate professor of animal science at Colorado State University, will speak on campus on Feb. 25. The title of her lecture is “Visual Thinking Process in Design: From the Viewpoint of a Person with Autism.” It will be held at 8 p.m. in the Sun Room, Memorial Union. Grandin teaches courses on livestock behavior and facility design and consults with the livestock industry on facility design, livestock handling and animal welfare. The lecture is sponsored by the College of Design, the Foundations of Design and Creativity Forum, the Vice Provost for Research, the Department of Animal Science, the College of Veterinary Medicine, the College of Agriculture and the Committee on Lectures.
DEADLINES AND REMINDERS
Jan. 16: College convocation, 4 p.m., Sun Room, Memorial Union
Jan. 22: Strategies for Successful Collaboration with Agricultural and Social Scientists in China workshop series begins, 3:30 p.m., Room 150/154 Scheman, contact Bob Jolly at 4-6267 or rjolly@iastate.edu or Shen Difei at dfshen@iastate.edu to register
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COMMUNICATIONS KIOSK
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TIMELY TIPS FOR THE NEW YEAR
In the December issue of Writing that Works, Jane Cleland, communications trainer and consultant, suggests some ways to manage time to cope with heavy workloads.
1. Get organized: Can you put your hands on important papers? Have you scheduled time to put things away? If you take time to file material, you'll save time finding it.
2. Set priorities: Every task seems important but Cleland recommends two criteria: time sensitivity and importance to the organization’s mission.
3. Update your skills: Cleland suggests learning the tools in your word processing program. Taking the time to learn new skills saves time later.
4. Say no tactfully: When facing impossible schedules, Cleland suggests a three-step approach. Request a change, decide if it works and, if not, suggest a specific solution.
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INFOGRAZING
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PRACTICAL FARMERS OF IOWA MARKETING WORKSHOP JAN. 24
Those interested in selling produce to hotels, food services and hospital and school cafeterias are invited to a one-day marketing workshop on Jan. 24 at the Gateway Center. The workshop, “Institutional Markets: Supply Chain Development and Risk Management Strategies,” is part of the Practical Farmers of Iowa annual conference, Jan. 24-25. Other workshop sponsors include the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture and ISU Extension. Cost of the workshop is $15 before Jan. 10. Non-PFI members must pay an additional $25, which includes a one-year membership.
NEW REPORT OUTLINES FRONTIERS OF AG RESEARCH
“Frontiers in Agricultural Research: Food, Health, Environment and Communities” is a new report from the National Academies' Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources. The report reviews the USDA's Research, Education and Economics mission area, the main engine of publicly funded agricultural research. The report recommends that the USDA refocus its $2 billion annual research budget to reflect changing public values and needs, shifting its emphasis from increasing food and fiber production to frontier issues such as the impact of globalization on U.S. agriculture, diet and health, food safety, environmentally sound farming alternatives and the quality of life in rural communities. A four-page summary of the report is available online.
SUSTAINABLE FORESTRY RESEARCH SOUGHT
The National Commission for Science on Sustainable Forestry is soliciting letters of intent for its competitive awards program. Based on the letters of intent, which are due Jan. 31, three candidates for each project will be invited to submit proposals for external review. Six projects will be funded on forest management and biodiversity.
WORLD FOOD IRRADIATION CONGRESS TO BE HELD IN MAY
The First World Congress on Food Irradiation will be held May 5-7 in Chicago. The meeting will focus on current and new issues involving food irradiation.
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EXTERNAL VOICES
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THE MOST IMPORTANT PRODUCT FROM FORESTS -- WATER
“Water is perhaps the most important forest product. Forests generate most of the water in the country, providing two-thirds of all the precipitation runoff -- the water that comes from the sky -- in the 48 contiguous states. Some 14 percent of all runoff comes from … our national forests, which take up only 8 percent of the land … . Water from our national forests has an economic value of more than $3.7 billion a year, according to a Forest Service report issued in 2000 … . New national-forest planning regulations should now specify that the remaining old-growth public forests should not be harvested, since these wild lands provide the cleanest water in the country … .The focus should be on how to let our forests do their job of producing high-quality water. Given our water supply problems, this should be the highest priority of forest management.” Mike Dombeck, writing in the Jan. 3 New York Times. Dombeck is a professor of global environmental management at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, and was chief of the U.S. Forest Service from 1997 to 2001. He also is a College of Agriculture alumnus, with a doctorate in fisheries biology.
Next issue: Jan. 13 Deadline: Jan. 10
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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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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."
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